Always_Ask_Questions

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 50 posts - 5,451 through 5,500 (of 7,304 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2015248

    2scents:> You are basing this on the assumption that.

    > a. More exposure equals greater viral load.
    yes, if two people are nearby, one is puffing virus, virus stays in the aerosol, ventilation is not working, the second person continues inhaling aerosol. I saw similar logic in multiple research papers on the topic.

    > b. Once someone is infected, additional contact with other infected persons will result in a greater viral load.

    only in a short time period. If one exposure leads to immune system reacting, then further exposures days later will be mitigated by the developed antibodies.

    > c. Greater viral load is a factor as to how effective the immune response will be.

    Yes. Virus starts with the initial intake, and then starts replicating. At the same time, immune system starts reacting. It is a race depends on initial starting point and quality of carious systems. Again, this is documented.

    > d. Better ventilation reduces viral load and additional infections.

    Yes, Ventilation removes aerosol containing virus. Best is increase in outside air intake. Many HVACs have a control – put outside intake to the maximum possible. Opening windows is as good. If can’t do it continuously, open windows every 30 minutes or so.

    Historical trivia: some houses built in 1920s have huge heat radiators covered by metal enclosures. They were built (sans enclosures) after 1918 flu with the goal of being able to open windows to ventilate and run heating at the same time. When Great Depression came and also fear of flu decreased, they put enclosures to slow down heating as it was too expensive.

    If air is circulated, filters should be MERV-15, I think, or better – need to check what HVAC can handle. The higher the filtration, the harder HVAC needs to work, there might be a limit.

    Also, see that HVAC is not blowing directly from one person to another.

    There were early suggestions to use dividers. This changed – dividers may create areas of non-circulating air. So, ok to put a couple in strategic areas – near a teacher or a cashier, for example, but not on all sides near every student.

    in reply to: Australia #2015241

    It is possible. As my daughter said 1.5 years ago: “if everyone in the country stayed at home for 2 weeks, this will be finished”. Then, she corrected herself “the whole world”…

    But the question also is: if a reasonable democratic government selects a policy, are we allowed to disregard it because we disagree with part of it. If there is, say, a vaccine mandate, are we allowed to forge a document to go do a mitzva?

    The question is really “what is the right thing to do”, not “what we can get away with”. Because, if Hashem does not agree with us, there is no point in trying to get to the minyan when shaarei shamayim are closed.

    in reply to: Are movies ok? #2015234

    RebE > Fiddler of Roof also teaches that going a little off the derech leads to going off the derech ending with marrying a goy.

    This also teach about what was happening with the Jews at that period. A deep view at one family v. reading books on sociology. And, of course, it is much more likely that the kids now will view the movie than read a sociology book.

    The questions that Avira raises depend on the person and background. One of my friends, a Chabad Rabbi in Midwest, had a kid watching a movie together with regular Jewish school kids. While all kids were enjoying the action, this kid ran out crying… So, will some kids learn from Disney that it is OK for a single lady to stay with seven little gentlemen? for some it sounds preposterous, for others it may be the case.

    in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2015120

    2scents, Syag – prolonged contact seems to be more dangerous.

    A simple explanation, not sure whether it captures the whole phenomenon: a person gets initial load, immune system starts reacting. Now, it is a race – virus propagating deeper and doing it’s job or immunity building up. So, the more initial load is, the more chances that the virus will win over immunity. There are a lot of secondary indicators of this: cases at home; increase in cases in US South during summer (AC, less outdoors) and in the North during winter (heat, less outdoors).

    Other than that, may depend on the lifestyle. I presume that the kids spend most of the day at school, adults at work and in shul and beis midrash. If someone spends the day in the airport, talking to passerbys in the mall, in medical offices, then, of course, they are at risk there also.

    But I presume that airports and malls do HVAC and most responsible medical offices (most of our doctors sent us email about that months ago). I helped a couple of mosdos on this, but don’t know what the overall picture is.

    in reply to: Sleeping in the sukkah #2015113

    back to the sukkah, I think there are legitimate reasons to consider this whole dor istanis, given our lifestyle. We also have different attitudes towards dwellings – we do not have dirt floors, people travelling for work sleep in separate rooms instead of the inn bar, etc. Add to that Ashkenazi habit of not sleeping in the sukkah for hundreds of years due to weather and even if NY is slightly warmer than Lyadi, the danger outside (where the honest people are behind bars) compensates. We all know that it is easier to accept a new explanation to a minhag than to change the minhag! You would not be wearing Polish clothes otherwise. So, there is some support to Lubavicher sensitivity to people’s sensitivities.

    Even if you look at classical examples of instanis from a quick Google. I am 4 out of 6, and I know those who are 6 out of 6 🙂 What are you?

    1. walking in non-leather shoes on 9AV [Rabbi Shlomo Oiyrbach allows because nowadays we all “istanis” (הליכות שלמה ה, טז-יז).]
    2. someone who is disgusted by drinking from a cup where someone else drank (Tamid 27b)
    3. someone too delicate to work (Sotah 11a)
    4. someone too delicate to bathe in cold water (Yoma 31b and Yoma 34b)
    5. an overly sensitive person whose days are made worse from constantly encountering unpleasant situations (Sanhedrin 100b and Bava Batra 145b)
    6. requiring a daily bath (Berachot 16b)

    in reply to: Anti Haredi Naftali Bennett (the supposed “dati” prez.) #2015099

    I understand that there are 2 issues: influence on the country and economic matters.

    On the first, I hope all flavors of religious Jews can come to a common platform. Maybe this requires some accommodation by increasing number of non-Haredim in positions of religious power. This will make the religious coalition stronger, not weaker, by bringing everyone, within halacha, into one bloc.

    On the second, it is unsustainable to require unwilling Israeli public to continue paying tzedokah and not complain. When Begin proposed to pay fully for Charedi schools, Rav Schach instructed Charedi politicians not to accept anything beyond the previous partial arrangement. His argument was: at some point, a different government will not be willing to pay, and you will dismantle your own support system already. Not sure why R Schach’s position is rejected now, unless I am not aware that he changed it later on.

    in reply to: Australia #2015058

    aposhiteyid, here in US we had such lockdowns for very short time period early on.

    I saw R Heineman (Baltimore) being asked whether several families can stand in their backyards and daven together. This would be within rules and the questioner was concerned whether this will constitute “one minyan”. The Rov answered that a passerby may not see a difference between standing on one yard or many yards, he’ll just see Jews doing something. As the result, he opined, when there will be a lack of ventilators, someone might decide not to give it to the Jewish person.

    Rov was using accumulated century of Jewish wisdom of how non-Jews may be suspicious of us. You are looking at the sunny side of a modern society, expecting everyone to look favorably at you. It might be so for a moment – until it is not.

    in reply to: How many active people are on cofferoom? #2015057

    how many people are not posting but reading? Site owners might count unique IPs

    in reply to: Are movies ok? #2015056

    ujm > Once you saw it you cannot unsee it.

    I am suggesting using software to delete or maybe “cover” the scenes. I am sure there is something out there, social media routinely censors nudity.

    in reply to: Are movies ok? #2015055

    maskil, I am not advocating movies, just trying to be helpful to those who are looking for some. I agree with Avira on most of his points here.

    The sad fact is that current generation is reading less and prefer visual-audio information. Maybe they just want easy information. This is general society trend and it is propagating into Jewish community. So beyond social distancing, we need some medicine and vaccine for it also.

    an old joke:
    – do you have a book “how to read a book”
    – yes, we do
    – do you have it on tape?

    in reply to: who started kiruv? #2015054

    Shimon > that her answering her questions inspired her to become a baalas teshuva
    +1
    Many people understand that. I was at the kosel many years ago and saw some Nordic people approaching a couple of haredim asking nicely whether they can make a photo. Haredim answered something confusing in a mixture of English and Yiddish. When the tourists left, I asked them curiously what is the isur in making photos (this was obviously pre-instagram). They answered in perfect English that they do not want their photos to end up in some Nordic houses of worship, but if I want to make pictures and take them to US and maybe inspire some Jewish people, they’ll be happy to oblige.

    in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2015053

    for the practitioners out here,
    so you get calls from people who got sick. These people are indicators that they were in unsafe environment. Especially if these people are from Jewish communities, maybe you can trace then to shul and schools they and their families attend? You can then review wit these schools their safety protocols, starting with most likely problem – ventilation.

    in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2014857

    whomever you are quoting on Bangladesh study raises a couple of interesting questions based on the fact taht a study like that is not blinded – people know that they are getting masks. But they skew the results somewhat – 7% number is for cloth masks, higher for surgical masks – and when compliance is only 40% indeed.

    Biggest objection seems to be – the commenter can not envision what is a mechanism of different rate of decreasing symptoms between older and younger.

    Effects on older people were indeed more significant. Was it partially due to increased distancing (as reported)? possibly. I don’t see anything bad in that. The whole goal of the study was to find public policies that work. Remember early incorrect predictions by virologists playing public policy experts saying that masks will cause decrease in SD? That seems to be wrong.

    But a simple explanation that removes the objection is that effect of the doze does not have to be proportional. An older person might get such more significantly with more exposure and masking mitigates those cases.

    Another note: mask compliance in “blue America” is well south of 100%.

    Again, the objections raise a couple of interesting points. I would try blinding it, for example, by providing defective surgical masks as controls. But a claim that “fancier” masks lead to consistently different rate of reporting is grasping for straws. To the strength of the study, there are multiple other intervention that they tried that did not show any effect. So, there is no easy bias introduced into this data.

    in reply to: Are movies ok? #2014842

    Silent movies? Charlie Chaplin?
    you don’t need a korbin, you can use software to auto-skip inappropriate scenes

    in reply to: who started kiruv? #2014781

    Far, I understand quoted sources that he did try to admonish people, just did it in a negative way. That clarifies the difference with Avraham. Idea: maybe Avraham provided his own food so that they could actually bench. If they eat their own food, it might have been gezelah and ineligible for brocha.

    in reply to: Rabbi Moshe Tendler AH #2014773

    several interesting quotes and footnotes from JOHN D. LOIKE AND MOSHE D. TENDLER Molecular Genetics, Evolution, and Torah Principles, 2006. I am not trying to summarize the paper, just finding interestig references for further research:

    genetic drift: Because human beings have only a small number of offspring, not all of the parents’ genes will necessarily be passed on to their progeny. In contrast, species that have many offspring tend to distribute all of the parents’ genes to various progeny of the next generation. Thus, a small surviving population is going to be affected more dramatically by natural disasters (such as earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, or fires) or by war and may not be representative of the original population in its genetic makeup.

    Neziv affirms that, prior to Abraham, randomness existed in all areas except when it impacted upon humankind as a whole and threatened the divine plan for the world. However, Abraham brought God “down to earth” to govern humankind with hashgah. haperatit and thus altered the relationship between God and humankind such that hashgahah became a force in the world

    Hullin 7b R Hanina v Rava whether Hashem controls every event
    See Mo‘ed Katan 28a, where Rava states that “length of life, children and sustenance depend
    not on merits but on mazzal.” Also Shabbat 156 ein mazzal le-Yisrael or yesh mazzal le-Yisrael. “Mazzal” here may mean not chance, but natural law

    Meam Loez God created man together with the animals to teach him that as far as his body is concerned, he has no advantages over lower animals. His only advantage is his divine soul

    Malbim (Gen. 1:25) points out that the description of creation in the Torah presents an evolutionary-like sequence of events whereby each day introduces a qualitatively higher level of life form

    Vilna Ga’on comments on Prov. 25:2 that God’s honor demands that we leave hidden what preceded creation and focus only on scientific studies that impact humankind directly. Sa‘adyah Ga’on interprets Eccl. 2:12 as an injunction not to waste time in the study of cosmology, since
    the truth will never be revealed and little will be accomplished despite the expenditure of great effort. We propose, however, that these authorities would have supported the study of the genetic basis of evolution had they been aware of the benefits to humankind—both medical and moral—that
    emerge from the molecular genetics of evolution. Shla Hagigah 11a) that it is legitimate to inquire into and examine the processes by which the world was created during the first six days

    In Eruvin (100b), R. Yohanan states that had the Torah not been given, we would have learned various (good) characteristics from different animals. Animal characteristics are also expressed in
    human beings and should be appropriately studied so that the knowledge gained from such study may be utilized to serve the Creator.

    Humility: The Talmud (Sanhedrin 38a) states: “Our Rabbis taught:
    Adam was created on erev Shabbat [as the last creature created]. Why?
    . . . . So that if man becomes arrogant, one can say to him in reminder: the
    lowly gnat preceded you in the order of creation of the world!” The
    remarkable genetic similarities between human beings and animals—
    the fact that each human being is about 99% genetically similar to the
    monkey—teaches us that human beings have a propensity to behave like
    animals if they are not in possession of morals and values that give them
    true human dignity and enable them to realize their z.
    elem Elokim.45

    in reply to: Are movies ok? #2014774

    maskil > Mitzvos and Aveiros that are in the realm of thoughts and personal feelings, Avoda, etc are not “Hashkafa”. They are “Halacha”.

    I agree. It is just the “halakha” may be complicated in these cases and change based on the person and environment, so it can not be easily summarized `in short lectures for children. And when it is, it does disservice to the topic and to the students.

    in reply to: who started kiruv? #2014778

    akuperman, even later than that. First, there was defense against the foreign influences and antagonists. R Salanter explained going from Lita to Paris: you can’t talk to people who are going down the slope, but you can talk to the ones who already landed at the bottom. I think 1967 war was a big source of teshuva movement in USA, including Chabad activities – turning the view of Judaism from a retreating to a more attractive entity.

    This kuruv period might be over by now: looking at statistics of Jewish community, I see very little movement from non-O to O at this point. Growth of O is via pru urvu and decline in non-O is due to the lack thereof and assimilation …

    in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2014731

    As advised, I looked at 4 top papers at FLCCC site ivermectin section:
    1 study: shows 75% improvement use in prophylactics reducing viral load in young people in Dominican Republic. Authors explicitly say that this is a tool in addition to vaccination.
    2nd: study is withdrawn by the referred journal
    3rd: Israeli preprint similar to (1) on a small sample, results claim 3x improvement, but plot over time shows less improvement with a jump up on the last day, others have questions about study design
    4th: a meta-review describing
    – multiple trials, some showing 3x or no improvement in PCR with lower death rates on small samples.
    – comparison of pairs of towns in South America – same idea as Bangladesh study, but without proper design. There is no way to check whether towns are comparable, etc. Claimed results are similar to mask wearing: 2x reduction rates.
    Many of the results above are pre-Delta

    Overall, this conforms to my impression: this is a hopeful tool, especially in poor countries, but even
    most optimistic claimed results say that this is another layer in defense, in now way a substitute for vaccines, masks, etc – and some of the authors say exactly same thing.

    in reply to: Australia #2014707

    aposhiteyid, I understand your point, still 58% agree with “We should not be easing Covid-19 lockdown restrictions until a substantial proportion of children are fully vaccinated”. Do you think that these people are going to sit in lockdowns themselves and welcome others who ignore the rules? I am not there, so it is hard to judge,

    in reply to: Real data: mortality of vaccinated vs non vaxed #2014704

    phil > as well, unfortunately, either from “breakthrough cases” or from side effects.

    the words you are using: “breakthrough” and “side” effects should be your clue that these are not primary effects and lower incidence than the original disease.

    in reply to: will china do our next holocaust #2014702

    5T > Didn’t China save the Mirrer Yeshiva by allowing it to relocate to Shanghai

    Shanghai was occupied by Japanese from 1937 and also had lots of international population – from Western businessmen to Russian refugees from Bolsheviks. Dutch council in Kovno was giving Jews visas to Curaso and Japanese Sugihara used this as a basis to give them transit visas via Japan, that included Shanghai. By some diplomatic miracle (and maybe some financial incentive), Soviets ewre rounding up Jews in Lita and Poland but honored the Jews with these visas to travel freely through, I guess, the same railroad that lead others to labor camps.

    Lack of historical animosity is not a good indicator: Jews had a lot of tensions with Poles – but that is where most of us decided to live over centuries, had our own government (Vaad Arba Artzos), and grew large communities. Many countries did not have tension with Jews by simply not allowing them in or expelling them (Spain, England, Russia).

    in reply to: Is the 27th booster effective? #2014696

    Is there any data how getting healthier (or younger) affects you? Getting rid of weight, reducing blood pressure whether medically or through exercise? I realize CR may not be the best place for such questions, though.

    in reply to: Is the 27th booster effective? #2014695

    Phil, Right,
    disease and vaccines have similar effects on the immune system – they both create antibodies that decrease with time and variants, and they also create B and T cells that do not attack virus immediately upon entering the body but provide some protection against severe disease. There might be differences – which one is waning faster and how much antibodies are created, but differences are smaller than similarities. Protection from B and T-cells are hard to measure, so less is understood about them.

    One difference is that disease may do invisible internal damage and thus a second disease may _sometimes_ be really bad. I know people who sneezed first time and ended up in ICU second time.

    So, bottom line – if 6-8 months passed after your last immune stimulation by either of them, you should at least measure antibodies and possibly get a vaccine – and behave more responsibly.

    Timing is not surprising. Overall, most similar viruses, both disease and vaccines, give protection on the order of a year. People have colds annually … I do have a feeling though how COVID differs from normal colds: neither my wife or me went to big schools or attended tishes. And kids were at home until school. When our oldest kids went to school one year, we evidently encountered “new to us” viruses – and the whole family was sick for several months, a much harder hit than an occasional cold.

    in reply to: who started kiruv? #2014684

    Noah was the first person, but he was not successful. He would talk to them about the bad stuff they were doing, try to explain why bad behavior is damaging: if you are robbing someone today, then tomorrow someone else will rob you, better to have justice and work hard. But he did not explain/show them an alternative of how to live a good life (ad kan Sforno, R Schwab). He would fit well into CR, lambasting people with opposing views.

    in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2014674

    > Cavalierly dismisses what is claimed to be a miracle drug

    I am not dismissing anything. I am just looking at less controversial ways to help our communities. Even the most miraculous drugs may stop a person from dying, but the virus already did damage to the body. Obviously, prevention is a key. So, we have certain measures that also became controversial for whatever practical and political reasoning. So, I am suggesting people do CO2 monitoring of their mosdos – easy to do, does not involve medical procedures. Could you help people in your community?

    in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2014643

    > I challenge you to explain what they measured

    I read the study, maybe not extremely carefully. Here is my imperfect recollection: the goal was to see group effects, not just individual people. They chose 100s of villages in different parts of the country, divided them in pairs of similar ones, then applied public measures in one set and kept the rest as controls. Most of measures were giving out masks of different types publicly, combined with public messages, and various incentives. Then, they measured number of people who turned up visibly sick, and send observers to measure mask compliance and level of SD. I summarized the results here previously.

    in reply to: Was the 2020 election stolen? #2014584

    coffee > קרקע אינו נגזלת

    I was thinking the same question. Is it karka – White House, or is it movable – Obama’s “a phone and a pen”, and I presume also a red button. Also, I think we presume that non-Jews always steel karka so you let them cut the arovos and they seem to agree now (happy indigenous day!): Brits stole White House karka from Indians, Colonists from Brits, Brits burnt it by halakha of a rebellious city.

    Ctlawyer, what happens on Jan 20 if an election continues being in legal dispute – supreme-court-ordered recount or revote, electors deadlocked, House deadlocked?

    Also, is gezelah a high crime and can a President be impeached for that? probably not of movables

    in reply to: Random funny jokes! #2014568

    ?ווי פילע אַנטי -ציאָניסטן

    in reply to: Real data: mortality of vaccinated vs non vaxed #2014424

    Philosopher, in a year 90% of hospitalized will be vaxxed – because most people will be vaxxed and remaining will get sick one or more times. Over the whole period, 10 times proportionally more non-vaxed will pass away. What exactly are you trying to prove? that it is safer to get sick and die or be immune than to get a vaccine?

    in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2014420

    when I check w/ Ivermectin, I did not see any large studies quantifying the effect, so it is hard to judge. Given the low cost, I am surprised why the proponents were not able to organize that.

    I was wondering about nasal sprays myself. This would make sense, provided population can do it. Are there any reliable studies on that?

    Masks – I quoted recently a large high-quality study from Bangladesh about effects of masks in real communities. It is very convincing.

    SD – I am not calling for anyone (outside of my family) to do hasidut. But everyone could do some reasonable steps according to their abilities – limit travel, parties, stay home for a couple of days after visiting hotspots, do not leave kids with grandparents after schools, open windows in schools, etc. I see, unfortunately, a lot of people who would not lift a finger. There is no charitable explanation for that.

    Ventilation, again, would you be interested in testing CO2 levels in mosdos around you? Unlike mouth and hand-washing, this does not require making population do something daily – you can find who has bad ventilation and administration will fix it. Simple, non-intrusive measure.

    in reply to: Was the 2020 election stolen? #2014413

    RebE > The CHOOSID is clear. An election was done and to undo it proof must be given.

    Or you can read it that Trump was in office already, so Harris had to show that she was elected without hashash of geneiva. [Rosh Hasnana started with saying that count King’s years from inauguration, elector meetings do not matter]

    in reply to: Mayor of the fate of NYC #2014406

    philosopher, I had 2 lists – non-progs first and then progs – the one that you just listed. As I tried to sample proportionally, then yu can see that he has substantial, but probably less than 50% of non-prog ideas, especially in the areas of his expertise – policing. Now, you got to AOC site and tell us whether any of those non-prog ideas are there? I don’t know whether he qualifies as a “centrist” but definitely not as a 100% progressive.

    in reply to: Was the 2020 election stolen? #2014408

    RebE > I also have many typos which I correct.

    RebE’s posts are important, thus he bothers to correct them. Others, including mine, are not as important, so the grammer aint metter.

    in reply to: Australia #2014405

    Melbournian> i see it every day when i walk down the street

    As I mentioned, you see those who are outside, but not those who are not. When I stay OOT (my town), I see lots of people who moved here from denser cities. I did not see them in the city.

    I see people coming to a minyan, some careful, some not. Then, I called one guy who was not coming. He said that he is not coming because he had a contact with a sick person. I would not know that he is following rules unless I would have called.

    So, again – do you see same number of people in the street as pre-pandemic? The mobility numbers I posted (maybe you did not yet see my 2nd post) point that Australians is WAY more restrictive than Israelis and Americans.

    in reply to: Is the 27th booster effective? #2014369

    > not against the Upsilon variant

    worldwide cases go up again (3rd peak), but deaths are decreasing daily from May to the currently 2000 level and hopefully will continue down further. Hopefully, this is due to worldwide vaccine deployment – 45% of the world had at least 1 dose (USA is 10% above that, great job!) – and thus will continue decreasing. This lower level of severe disease reduces chance of developing new variants. Of course, if the variants are coming from a lab, then we would either continue jabbing or Pres Trump will nuke the lab in 2025. We can also try teshuva …

    in reply to: Are movies ok? #2014352

    Looks like Avira is so much against the movies that his post got censored…

    Any way, beyond the shmutz, Jews in general prefer listening and reading to visual information. There is an interesting difference – when you see an image/movie, it is very vivid and very convincing: all details are presented and it is very hard to disbelieve what you see. When you read, you have to imagine yourself what is happening. You can think logically whether the text makes sense, whether it is fully convincing.

    It is not a coincidence that most brutal modern regimes, Nazis and Commies, came right after movies became mainstream – video propaganda is very convincing. A simple example: Nazi had a documentary showing how Polish hoodlums are breaking windows in Jewish stores (message: we came to make order). Of course, what is not shown is Nazis who just brought the Poles to the filming location and stand with weapons behind the camera. Similarly, Soviet movies about happy peasants right when millions were dying from hunger.

    in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2014349

    Anyway, I am looking how those who are skeptical can positively contribute without causing controversies and opposition when they just call for medicines others like.

    Here is my proposal – use CO2 monitors to measure ventilation level in your area schools, shuls, restaurants. CO2 400 is fresh air, CO2 800 is dirty, 1000+ means that the school is either not switching it off or filters are bad and thus all kids breath the same year and pass COVID to each other. Easy way to find most risky locations and help people without paying anything to the government. Just $100 for the hardware.

    I was mentioning it here a year ago and did measurements in mosdos near me, but I was not 100% sure it is worth doing around. According to NYT, there is now a whole movement of parents around the country who give kids these monitors and then look at the numbers over time and can see CO2 levels a class or a dining room is – and tell administration to fix the problem. No government involved.

    If any of you want to take this challenge we can further discuss details how to do this.

    in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2014345

    First question – do you accept that there is a pandemic. If you don’t – then, it is indeed easy: you don’t think that there is a threat, there is no need for any intervention, etc. There is no need to ivermectin either. This is, of course, refuted by statistics and personal experience of many people.

    Now, if there is a pandemic, there are many independent ways to deal with this – SD, masks, washing surfaces, washing hands, ventilation, (later) vaccines, vitamins, medicines. They were not just invented, these are standard public policies for pandemics. After some experience, some were judged less important (surfaces), the rest are multiple layers of defense. some are more expensive or inconvenient or risky, so I understand why someone will be against masks (convenience) or against SD (love of people), or washing hands (laziness), or vaccines (risk). You seem to say that they are all suspect because they are proposed by “corrupt government”, except the ones that are proposed by a group of “non-corrupt” scientists. This is strange, given that these are standard policies not developed specifically for COVID and accepted during initial emergency by multiple independent-thinking countries and bodies.

    in reply to: Real data: mortality of vaccinated vs non vaxed #2014188

    There seems to be one unfortunate psychological effect: observant Jewish community seem to react to COVID and government and life in general similar to US Southern population. There is one difference though: the Southerners live in large in rural areas, while Jews in very urban ones. I see in remote suburban areas that large groups of people walk without masks but most are walking around other people. The only side effect of this is that many still are maskless when coming inside stores, pubs, etc. But still they are doing not so bad. At the same time, Jews copy them (as we see here views mindlessly copied from talk shows and obscure sites) in urban environment with worse results.

    in reply to: Is the 27th booster effective? #2014186

    Research finally can make shalom between those who want to vax everyone and those who insist on their natural immunity rights. British research from ZOE Covid Study app show that
    VACCINE + COVID == VACCINE + BOOSTER
    that is, if someone had COVID and a vaccine does not need a booster.

    To recap, previous data was inconsistent whether COVID == VACCINE – some studies say one is better, some another. This makes sense due to high variability of effects of COVID – it could be mild or severe, short or long, etc. So, the results of the study may hinge on how you define “exposure” and average exposure at a particular time and location.

    BUT, when you combine COVID with a Vaccine, vaccine provides consistent protection, so variability of COVID exposure is less affecting the result.

    Bottom line – those who had COVID should get one or two vaccines when they are 6-12 months out.
    Also, there are papers saying that more time between 2 vaccines are better.

    Disclaimer, of course: this is not a medical advice, just an input for talking to your doctor.

    in reply to: WHATS A TROLL?? #2014184

    Original trolls are from Bavel (we discussed this Maharal before):

    Talmidei Chachamim of Bavel learned how to use pattern analysis to reconstruct missing information. Some students learned from that how to argue without commitment to truth and method that Amoraim had. Explains a lot of the CR.

    in reply to: Please explain Ivermectin #2014183

    > I see plenty of “rational and educated” professors, scientists and doctors being anti-lockdowns, anti-masks, and anti-covidvaccines.

    we just saw that almost all doctors actually took vaccine before mandate. For your good question – 50% of German doctors joined the Nazis, not 95%.

    Also, when you claim your scientists are against everything – what is the chance that someone can find scientific argument against vaccines and against masks and against lockdowns and for one specific controversial medicine. This is for me impossible coincidence. It means they all are drinking from the same bucket.

    in reply to: Is this a reliable kosher symbol #2014181

    this is Jacob Benzaquen, there are other Sephardi Benzaquens that seem to be running kosher kosher symbols – KoLA, and others. As we learned from Noah’s, not all the family is the same.

    in reply to: Australia #2014165

    Google has community mobility report by country and regions over time
    here are current levels comparing with pre-pandemic
    you can see how much lower AU indices are for retail, transit, and work comparing with USA and Israel.
    Baruch Hashem people are still eating, though.

    retail grocery transit work
    AU
    Capital Ter -43% -5% -75% -53%
    New South Wales -36% +4% -69% -41%
    USA
    FL -13% -2% -27% -22%
    NJ -7% +9% -27% -28%
    IL -6% +3% -22% -25%

    Israel
    Central l -2% +18% -14% -17%
    Jerusalem -7% +9% -7% -26%

    in reply to: Australia #2014166

    correction: did NOT do exhaustive research

    in reply to: Mayor of the fate of NYC #2014128

    As advised, I went to Adams site. I see a mixture of progressive and not progressive policies. In the area of his expertise – policing, he is especially specific and sometimes seem to express sensible ideas using language palatable to progressives (he suggests “gun control” where he clearly targets looking for guns used by shooters, not generic guns). here is a sample of not progressives and progressives policies:

    not progressive
    SAVE $1.5B AND AVOID LAYOFFS BY SIMPLY NOT HIRING ANYONE NEW FOR TWO YEARS

    we will reduce agency spending at least 3-5% by applying an efficiency mandate that eliminates ineffective programs and unnecessary spending, while utilizing an inequality impact test so that programs vital to lower-in-come New Yorkers are protected.

    By using real-time governing tools and tracking crime trends to become predictive, we can quickly shift NYPD resources from one community to another to reverse bad trends. For instance, we will regularly shift detectives and other officers from low-crime areas to crime hot-spots.

    work with private companies who are willing to sponsor spots for NYPD supervisors at the leadership academies they send their own management staff to, helping train a new generation of brass to think critically, behave honorably and lead effectively.

    Relocation Employment Assistance Program (REAP) has successfully drawn new businesses here from outside the state by providing a tax credit per employee per year if they locate in certain areas of the city.
    TAX-FREE TUESDAYS”
    ELIMINATE THE FEES FOR STARTING (OR RE-STARTING) A SMALL BUSINESS
    progressive

    We can generate $1-2 billion annually by instituting a “Recovery Share”—a modest increase to the income taxes of city earners who make more than $5 million a year, sunsetting after two years.

    reward businesses that hire local workers and benefit minority and female owners and workers—especially on City-financed projects.

    recruiting from the very same neighborhoods that are suffering from crime, which are mostly Black and Brown

    EMPOWER IMMIGRANTS WITH MUNICIPAL VOTING RIGHTS

    INVEST IN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
    ADD HOUSING—FOR EVERYONE—IN WEALTHY NEIGHBORHOODS

    in reply to: will china do our next holocaust #2014131

    Currently, Chinese do not actually occupy countries that are away from their immediate borders. They simply make them dependent on China economically, and then politically. So, if they can influence enough politicians, assisted by penetration of information networks, they can support first friendly, and later dependent, politicians to be in control of the country. Then, our trouble will come from the captured US state rather than Chinese directly.

    in reply to: Australia #2014134

    Melbournian, I did do exhaustive research.

    Surveys of 400 randomly selected people are generally reliable if done by a professional outfit and are not abused for political reasons. Abuse is usually in the form of leading question or a question asked in context of other questions. This one looks legit at the first glance.

    But if you are skeptical, you should present counter-arguments. Could you find a different survey?
    could you present your visual observations in the context? for example, compare number of people in public transit or in the stores comparing with pre-pandemic.

    in reply to: Whats 2+2 (need help with shvach math homework) #2013889

    just find anything that can measure 3 levels. Of electricity, most probable. But you can use water if you prefer. There is nothing fundamental in using binaries, except that we learned how to build transistors with certain properties.

Viewing 50 posts - 5,451 through 5,500 (of 7,304 total)