Happy2BaMom
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Posts posted by Happy2BaMom
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17 hours ago, ScoutTN said:
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I don’t want the Second Amendment repealed. I want sensible limitations to this right, for public safety and order.
First Amendment rights are not a blank check, they have limitations. Freedom of speech is limited by libel and slander laws. Freedom of assembly is limited too - by all means have a parade, but you need a permit.
Demonstrations that block traffic or otherwise create chaos are either not permitted or disbanded by LE or result in people arrested.Semi automatic long guns are for killing people and no ordinary citizen needs one. Without these weapons, shooters would be so much less powerful. Background checks need to be thorough and include mental health. Permits, training, proof of correct storage etc. need to be required. Loopholes closed. I am a small government advocate, but gun laws need to be federal so limitations and enforcement can be uniform. Yes, all limits and enforcement will be problematic and inconsistent and incomplete. But WAY the heck better than where we are.
I completely agree with you, but, unfortunately, many states in the US have gone or are going in the completely opposite direction.
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Our house had ~99% totality.
It was OK. I know 100% is supposed to be different, but, honestly, I kind of don't get it.
I spent the day planting, as I'm working on a couple big projects to restore biodiversity to our land & help pollinators/birds. And while I do my best to never judge other peoples' harmless interests or obsessions, it would be interesting to know what the carbon and trash footprint of this event totaled.
I'd love to have 1-2% of the time, money, effort, etc spent on this (& other similar, large-scale human-interest-only) events directed to land care in some form, and I wonder why it is that humans have so little interest in that, and so much in pretty much everything but that.
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On 4/5/2024 at 9:56 AM, Katy said:
I got out of nursing in the last flu epidemic. I was required to get 4 flu shots at work (some for regular flu, some for the new strain), the last one was a “bad batch” and now I can’t get another flu shot because I’m at high risk.
At the time we (hospital staff) were told that bird and swine flu epidemics are common and occur at least every 10 years. They’re often noteworthy for killing the young and the pregnant, though at the time most of the patients we had hospitalized were male and either over 45, HIV positive, or both.
Flu reaches pandemic proportions much less often than epidemic. I know there has been speculation in the past that it was about every 100 years, but since then I’ve read theories that when it got bad it was only because of extenuating factors. I don’t recall the details but in 1918 it wasn’t just WWI, there were also concerns with nutrition, sanitation, and polio.
My point is that there’s no need to panic. Keep supplies on hand, but I wouldn’t stress about that unless & until we get information like we did at the beginning of Covid-19 that hundreds or thousands are dying from the flu. Until then, wear a mask out of courtesy if you’re sick. Consider it all the time if you’re immunocompromised. We’re having supply chain issues anyway so keep some emergency food, toilet paper, and medicines on hand. But otherwise don’t worry so much. Flu epidemics are predictable and generally nothing like Covid-19.
I recognize I & many others in this thread are definitely on the highly-to-mostly-cautious side of the pendulum, but I don't think most aren't panicking. I haven't altered my life in any way and don't intend to, but I am closely watching H1N5 news.
I'm confused by the statement from your hospital. To my knowledge, there has never been a human epidemic from a bird flu, or even a significant outbreak, and I was unable to find any evidence to that effect by searching, although I recognize that there might be a bird flu genetic lineage in one of the flu virus mixtures. I think the animal flu-to-human pipeline has been through pigs, not birds.
I respectfully disagree that H1N5 is similar to a regular flu virus or epidemic. The Swine Flu epidemic of 2009 had an estimated CFR of 2%-8% (there are entire research articles detailing the difficulty in computing an exact CFR for this virus, as so much depends on country, age, underlying conditions, and means of recording deaths & illnesses), but no studies that I know of had a CFR of >10%, and in modernized countries, the death rate was typically <2%. For those humans who have become infected with H1N5, the CFR has been between ~50 - 56%. The few dozen-to-hundreds sporadic human infections with other bird flu viruses (not H1N5) have still usually had CFRs of ~40%. While I don't believe anyone is calculating CFRs in mammals affected with H1N5, the virus has caused widespread deaths in most of the mammals who've become infected since H1N5 made the jump. (ETA: even the Covid CFR, in the most deadly stages, is estimated to 8-9%, although estimates vary widely.)
The CDC/WHO/etc have been clear that H1N5 is not a fit for our respiratory receptacles (not sure if I'm saying that correctly), so, as long as that remains the same, humans are really pretty safe, and, for that, we can all be grateful.
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9 hours ago, happypamama said:
This thread has me worried. DH's job involves being in old buildings a lot, and they are full of animal and bird droppings. What can he do to stay safe if this spreads even more, other than wearing respirator and glasses and gloves/washing hands (not that he can always do much of that on the job sites)? I don't think he normally wears a respirator unless it's a known hazard or super dusty. Here's hoping that a vaccine will be available for him. (Person to person worries me less than the birds -- the birds have me really scared for him because he cannot avoid old buildings at all.)
The CDC FAQs on H5N1 might be of help to you.
The CDC site also states, "(H5N1) viruses do not currently have an ability to easily infect the human upper respiratory tract, which would be needed to increase the risk of transmission to people", which answers one of my questions above.
I think the risk to the average person is quite low right now, but we're 100% banking that a virus that recently figured out how to jump from bird to multiple genuses of mammals is not going to mutate to infecting via airway contagion. And maybe that's a large enough jump that it won't happen for several/many years. Or not.
Having said that, I do now notice that the CDC statement includes the word, "easily", which might fall under the category of "I found it first", lol.
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3 hours ago, kbutton said:
How about a round of, “I found it first” where we spot problematic and probably currently true statements that will bite us in the butt later?!? This article is full of them.
I'm still stuck on "one change that allows the virus to better infect mammals....".
Echoes of prophecy? But I may just have watched too many dystopian sci fi movies.
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10 hours ago, Faith-manor said:
Agreed. The next one is going to bring this country to its knees.
That definitely could happen. Or the train(s) of late-stage capitalistic empire(s) could just roll on for some time to come yet, regardless of the bodies lining the streets. I definitely think many more people will die who might not have otherwise, though, due to further breakdowns in the HC system.
5 hours ago, kbutton said:I have so many thoughts on this. DH is a HCW. Around here, much of the abuse was self-inflicted or came from other coworkers—HCWs were not always masking in the hospital (taking masks off when not around patients) and definitely not masking in their personal lives. Many changed jobs to avoid getting vaccinated.
It was super difficult for DH to watch people be very sick and die when he knew that people we know were spreading the kinds of lies that we’re making people so sick in the first place.
I know there were other kinds of burnout too, but I don’t feel at all sorry for HCWs who bring it upon themselves.
I expect it to be terrible, but if I hear non-masking or anti-vax HCWs whine and spread conspiracies…
We better have PPE and support though. I am fine complaining about those kinds of things!
I think they will loosen restrictions in hospitals next time around to retain workers, and we’ll have insane spread in healthcare settings and nursing homes. They might do better in children’s hospitals (ours are better with protocols than the adult hospitals). That’s my two cents.
Very good points / reminder that there are many different complexities re: this issue. If I remember right, you were/are in a rural area which had a "covid is not real / overblown / conspiracy / etc" culture. My circle has been/is more exposure to urban/suburban HCWs, many of whom were on the the front lines of dealing with transfers from such areas. My HCW cousin (as one example) was kicked at, spit at, called a murderer (multiple times), followed to her car, harassed while wearing scrubs (her hospital actually banned workers from wearing them outside of hospital grounds due to ongoing harassment & safety issues), and more. It was effing ridiculous.
And you are probably right that hospitals, already short-staffed, will not have the stomach for implementing mandates, etc, the next time.
Ugh. We are weakening from within.
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One other side note for pandemic-cautious people to file away in their brain while they watch news & make preps.....a *lot* of hospital-based health care workers changed gears after the height(s) of the Covid pandemic. Many left their jobs, left the field, left the hospital, left the country....left bedside care however they could. Many of those who stayed changed gears in other ways - many nurses are now travelers, bound only as far as the end of the contract while they stockpile money. A not-insignificant-number of hospital-based doctors shifted or are shifting to per-diem or other short-term contracts. I've read several articles and a lot of SM-based posts about the "never-again" HCW crowd, meaning, at the first sight of another pandemic, a bunch more hospital-based HCW are gonna punch before they pay the price. While some people might blame them, the truth is that Covid knocked the stuffing out of a ton of HCWs. They suffered too much burnout, too many ridiculous expectations, and far too much emotional and mental (and sometimes physical) abuse.
TL/DR: Expect that the level of emergency / hospital-based health care to be sh*t when the next pandemic rolls around.
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I'm glad the CDC spun on a dime to get this analysis completed.
I'm relieved that there's no change (at least yet) to allow human-to-human transmission (although part of me wonders how they know that?).
I find the "one change that allows the virus to better infect mammals" to be quite alarming (like....humans are mammals.....). This is not good news, for multiple reasons.
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I remember a recent(ish) thread about your issues with your dh & his family. If I remember right, it's all pretty ugly & they (including your dh) frequently disregard your feelings & even needs & at times plain disrespect you. This is a pattern and not a fluke, and your dh has encouraged and enabled the situation through his behavior.
I think this whole issue is just another facet of that, and that's why it's eating at you.
I don't know how you can truly address this issue without opening a discussion - & holding firm on it - about all the rest. Which may be why your dh gets annoyed about your rather random (that's not a judgement, just an observation) attempts to pull out individual occurrence(s) for resolution.
If I also remember right, you have several children together, all of whom are still school-age, plus the whole farm-family-as-sole-income, so you're pretty tied into this marriage (solely focused on practicality here) for some time to come, or at least other options are not readily available, which complicates the picture.
I don't know what the answer is; I think the other thread had several recommendations which you might want to revisit. As for this particular instance, if you're not willing to dig into the underlying issues (& I'm not saying you automatically should be) and open that whole can of worms with your dh, I think you gotta accept it and just deal directly with your 12-yo with honest discussions and encouragements to keep his options open.
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15 hours ago, Katy said:
I can’t speak to the UK, but in the US public figures don’t have much right to privacy. They have the same private health information as anyone else, but they can’t sue for someone releasing false information about them unless they can prove the person both knew it was false and spread false information about them on purpose to cause them damage. So this idea that a public figure (who derives a great deal of power from being so) gets to unilaterally declare when they have privacy, then give into public requests for proof of life with obviously doctored photos taken more than a month prior to the initial request for privacy, thereby fanning the flames of their own conspiracy theories? Then another request for privacy seems pretty entitled on its own. Certainly blatantly hypocritical.
You're conflating a legal right to privacy with personal boundaries. It's obvious that many people have decided that a public figure has no right to personal boundaries, about health or anything else, simply because they are famous. Whether that's right (or humane) or not is another matter.
The BRF has always been a clusterf**k of dysfunction, PhotoshopGate is just another example.
I'm not sure why the issue of the British Princess of Wales' abdominal surgery & recovery time matters so much to Americans, but it has become quite the obsession. (ETA: not referring to general interest/commentary, but the fever pitch interest has reached in the last ~2 weeks)
14 hours ago, Katy said:There’s videos of people overlaying one face on the other. It’s a perfect match. I don’t remember if that was linked from Vogue or the Washington Post last week, but we’re not talking conspiracy filled tabloids here. It was done by a photo editor of one of the major fashion magazines.
I was unable to find such a link in either source.
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8 hours ago, Condessa said:
The federal government owns the majority of the land in my state. (They own 47% of all land in the western states). I am totally in favor of the government maintaining national and state parks, but most of this land in my area is not in the form of parks that the public can make use of. It is mostly vast tracts of land managed by the BLM or the forest service, usually rented out for use by private ranchers as grazing here or to logging companies near our old town for profit. In our neighboring state, these vast government lands lie right on the edge of the state capitol which has been undergoing exponential growth in recent years. Within twenty minutes' drive of my town in more than one direction, I can reach vast tracts of government land that take hours to drive through. It is not the most desirable locations, but neither is it useless or so out of the way that no one would be interested in buying it, rather it is identical to the privately owned lands of ranches and smaller, affordable outlying communities like ours. The government lands near my old town on the other side of the state would actually be very desirable based on their proximity to desirable locations and are close to an area with an extreme housing crunch, but it is also very profitable to the government through the logging industry. I am not talking about the last bits of green or open space, but places where there is far more open space than there is land owned privately.
I recognise that this is a regional issue that doesn't apply in many other areas, but in much of the western U.S., government held lands are a huge factor in keeping the housing supply limited.
National Forests (30% of federal holdings & only 8% of total US land) supply ~3 Billion board feet of timber per year (mandated for use in the US), with hunting, mining, drilling and fracking also allowed. One can argue about the appropriateness of those uses, but the US has no other domestic sources to replace them. National Forests are also a significant source of recreation for many, many other people, and one of the few places left in the US for wildlife (whose populations are universally crashing) to continue to try and exist.
The state you're most likely referring to is Idaho (& it's capitol, Boise), with the Boise National Forest lying just outside. The BNF is a major source of recreation & tourism dollars for the Boise area, as well as the other products mentioned above. I'm sure there is some percentage of people willing to chop it into little parcels for suburban development and ranchettes, but it would also permanently remove that land (& the important economic & social benefits it supplies) from many in Idaho, as well as the rest of the US public.
I disagree that government held lands are a "huge factor" in keeping the housing supply limited in the West. Here's a breakdown/map of all federal land holdings in the US. The majority of it is in low & lower-populated areas. Much of it is BLM land, located in rural desert (& semi-desert) areas, but which still provide significant benefits to the US public.
To me, expecting public lands (that provide ongoing economic & social benefits to the US as a whole) to be sold to benefit a very few private individuals, constitutes a form of entitlement.
The US has one of the lowest housing densities in the entire world. Much of the housing crisis could be solved through building higher-density housing units, but we lack the will and don't want to face the fact that an ever-expanding population (>200,000 net people each day on earth, and >1 million new people each year in the US) on a planet and in a country with finite space will require many to live in high-density units.
(Side note: for the curious, remaining federal lands are held by Fish & Wildlife (from memory, ~14%), the National Parks, the military, and a few random other entities.)
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On 3/5/2024 at 2:06 PM, Condessa said:
I would much rather increase affordable housing options through other means than by restricting the property rights of individuals who have already acquired homes. (In my region, specifically, I think that the government should increase the supply of affordable property by gradually selling down their excess land holdings).I do not think any government should (further) restrict property rights of individuals who own & live in their own single family home/property. I disagree that government should be limited from restricting those individuals or corporations who own multiple homes (of any sort). I do think those restrictions should be driven by state and local governments, to allow more localized decision making, but citizens have little recourse to control STRs & corporate ownership other than through government.
I'm curious - exactly what excess land holdings are you referring to? The only excess land most towns hold are parks. Ditto for states, albeit there are also state forests. As far as federal lands, there are some states where the feds hold a lot of land, but much of that land is designated as National Forest, Wilderness Refuge, and/or BLM land. Most of the land the federal government holds are in the western states and much of the land is not near a population center, so it's not going to help anyone looking for housing near a city.
Not to mention that what you're really talking about is taking the last bits of green or open space that remain and allowing them to be carved up and paved over.
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4 hours ago, KSera said:
Did you see the very significant research last month showing mitochondrial damage in those with long Covid and that when long Covid sufferers with PEM exercise, it actually damages their muscles? Huge for explaining the symptom experience. If only there was a good way to do as the study you post says, and stop the virus from hijacking mitochondria in the first place.
No, I hadn't seen that, thanks for mentioning.
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I've been behind on my reading, just saw this (from last August):
"SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can cause lasting damage to energy production by mitochondria in many organs of the body. Stopping the virus from hijacking mitochondrial energy production may be a novel way to prevent serious complications from SARS-CoV-2 infection." Link here
Probably already covered here, but thought it was worth mentioning.
My PCP tells me (we occasionally still talk about C19, as she knows I'm interested in following the research) that while C19 is transmitted as a respiratory illness, it has also been classified as a vascular disease, with the ability to trigger severe inflammation in people. Somehow those last two parts seem to frequently get lost......
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32 minutes ago, Catwoman said:
It is encouraging to see that not everyone is as callous about this mass shooting as the people here on this forum.)
How has anyone been callous? I'm really curious where you are seeing that.
ETA: I'd really like to know the specific comments that anyone has made that makes you conclude they/we are callous about this mass shooting.
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1 hour ago, pinball said:
The desperation displayed to excuse Kelce’s behavior is astounding.
As is the desperation to single him out - and him alone.
Multiple teammates were also there....why aren't they the focus of any outrage? Patrick Mahomes was not only also there, but apparently it was his idea to have the party in the first place (this decision was prior to the shooting). Yet no one is raking him over the coals.
I guess it's easier to focus one's outrage on *one* bumble-headed football player rather than the politicians who have repeatedly enabled and encouraged mass shootings by promoting constant open carry as a point of machisimo and FREEDOM (TM)?
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Two depressing articles just out:
Covid-19 behind thousands of excess deaths in US (note: 90% of these were not reported as C19)
Insomnia common months after even mild C19 infections (side note: reported insomnia after C19 is MUCH higher than insomnia reported by general population....by >50%)
For extra funsies (/s), see the accompanying link on these to the article detailing the shortness of breath that nearly half of those hospitalized with C19 experience months later...including kids.
**********************************************
I've become convinced that humanity is going to largely off itself due to it's own stupidity.
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My sister took it for awhile. I can't take any product that has over-supplementation, given that I have low/early-stage kidney disease (which I manage successfully through diet).
Given everything I've learned, I would be cautious about dumping a lot of extra work on your kidneys (even if they are healthy) for vits/minerals that you may not even need, or need in such excessive amounts. Anything excess is extra work for kidneys (they must filter the excess), and CKD is rapidly increasing in this country, even in populations that did not previously experience it. I can't help but wonder if all the focus on high-protein diets (excess protein, esp animal protein, is quite hard on the kidneys) and high levels of OTC supplements, are contributing to the problem.
Sometimes taking care of your body means not giving it too much, as well as ensuring it has enough.
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1 minute ago, TexasProud said:
I don't know how the OP meant it, but poor record to me meant none of her relationships last all that long. That's it. Not a moral judgment exactly. I suppose for me, a good record of relationships would mean that she had at least a few relationships that lasted for awhile with healthy interactions and then left respecting each other and speaking well of each other. I have do clue about the football player. I don't follow him. Hers are just more public because she writes songs about her former boyfriends. No, she isn't a flighty whore. But if she does keep picking guys that are jerks, that don't treat her well, then she has a track record of poor record of relationships. If I were her, I would examine why I pick men like this. And again, not picking on her because she is a woman. I would say the same to a man who picks crappy girlfriends. She is just so public that even someone who barely keeps up with celebrities (Me) knows about her relationships.
How is a six-year relationship a poor track record? Did people sleep through that? That ended not that long ago and now she is dating Kelce.
Yes, she was flighty in her early 20's. Like no one else is or was? Especially when she was/is under endless public scrutiny.
Why does no one ever point out the 'poor track record' of the many successful men that exist in entertainment?
It's SUCH a one-sided criticism.
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4 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:
Isn't this rather inappropriate? I mean, when you talk about someone whose relationships tend to last over a year, while managing a career that keeps her moving around, this smacks of misogyny. What exactly do you mean by "poor record"? Has she gone off and got married after knowing a person for a week? Slept with several guys at once? Been in a pattern of abusive relationships? Or are you talking about the fact that sometimes people just find out their lives aren't compatible and break it off?
Like, you see how weird that statement is, right? And how you didn't exactly bring up his relationship record but make her out to seem like a flighty wh0re.
I don't even care much about her relationships but its really offputting to see such a cruddy view in 2024.
For the record, Taylor & Joe Alwen had a six-year relationship. Longer than many marriages.
I will admit to feeling a certain bit of enjoyment at watching all the heads explode over her relationship with Kelce. Like, seriously, the shiny outrage bubble needed a new place to land, and it has now found a home. And I've been wondering where it would go. (TravelingChris...I'm not aiming these statements at you, I mean them is a 'general culture' way.)
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13 minutes ago, Heartstrings said:
Honestly my first reaction to this thread is that people shouldn’t come into a new micro culture that they don’t know or understand with judgement but on reflection I’m hopeful that it will be a good thing. Football culture is aggressive and angry but that doesn’t mean that all of that is not incredibly damaging, both to those involved and to the wider culture. Maybe fresh eyes will finally start a bit of a change.
This.
Americans *worship* football. It's a religion, esp in certain subgroups/areas of the country. *High schools* spend tens of millions on football games, stadiums, support & coverups for behavior of football stars. That x100 for pro-teams. It's a BRUTAL, violent game. It's been known now for....decades?...several/many years at least....that participation in this sport permanently damages brains after not even much playing time. Has it changed anything? No, not really.
Last night's behavior is just another outbreak in a long string of players' losing it in one way or another. Nothing is going to happen to Kelce. He's one of the top players in the NFL and is in no small part responsible for the Chiefs' success, including last night's SB win. Many pearls will be clutched and it will all be forgotten by next week (which does not imply that I think it *should* be forgotten, I'm just cynical - and realistic, I think - that it will).
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11 hours ago, catz said:
I don't know why they don't just release some very basic info because it just feeds into more speculation and inaccurate coverage than it would otherwise.
I'd also like to counter-point that, even if that info is available now, KC may need a few days to personally process a (likely) major life blow before pretty much the entire world discusses his very personal health issue(s) on every media outlet known to man.
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20 hours ago, Amoret said:
That article is sobering.
Chances of long covid are 25% with each infection for the unvaccinated and 10% for the vaccinated. C19 infection can & does cause a persistent viral infection in the heart that damages heart tissue potentially leading many to potentially experience early heart failure.
These things are HUUUUUGGGGGEEEEE.
From a local article that a family member sent me:
"When you’re in clinical practice and see the accumulating number of people with long COVID, this is genuinely scary …. It can take your career away,” Matthew said. COVID is not only underreported and underestimated, he said, but also undertreated." (side note: Matthew is an MD and Medical Director of the Univ of VT Health Center.)
We're learning so much more about this virus - none of it good.
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11 hours ago, frogger said:
.....Many air b&bs are just average joes trying to make a buck.....
That's the way AirBnB started, but that isn't really the case anymore. According to AirDNA (a data & analytics company specializing in vacation rental companies; report available through link), only 38% of AirBnB listings are homeowners with a single listing. In some vacation hot spots, corporate ownership can be up to 90% of the listings.
Which is not to take away from the fact that 38% is still 38%, and those individuals should be exempted from any gov't requirements, restrictions, & taxes that should (IMHO) be applied to corporate & multiple-property ownerships.
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H5N1 news
in The Chat Board
Posted
Yes. It's interesting, but it still doesn't sound like they can confirm that either were specifically a bird flu that jumped to humans. Maybe more in the second than the first, but it's still not a direct leap.
Either way, it's still a long way from Katy's hospital telling her that bird (& swine) flu epidemics were common and occur about every 10 years.