Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I am booked for my fifth dose on Sunday. This will be my first dose of a bivalent vaccine. I'll let you know how it goes, but I tend to lose a week after each dose.
2,041 2022-09-28 18:29:25
2,042 2022-09-28 22:26:44
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I am still masking.
While I have gone to a few restaurants where I felt the spacing and ventilation were okay, I'm still putting on a mask every time I step out of my apartment to put garbage down the chute and I even wear a mask outside even though that isn't necessary. At the office, I unmask in my space but put it on if I step outside.
My mask of choice right now is the Bio Medical Technology KF94 which I buy at a local Korean grocery store. One of the things that I found bizarre and likely due to low information: a lot of people declared that any non-N95 mask was worthless and couldn't protect. That's like saying that any non-Ford car can't start.
N95 may be the most well-known brand and Ford may have been the most prominent car, but prominence isn't exclusivity. Ford isn't the sole manufacturer of internal combustion engines and the electrostatic filtering is not restricted to N95 masks.
KF94 masks are reviewed and regulated firmly by the Korean government and lab tests have shown that KF94s tend to filter about 98 per cent if incoming particles even though they're only legally required to filter 94. KF94 masks have a negligibly lower level of filtering than N95 and KF94 have a boat-shaped side-flap design meaning it sits firmly on the face without having to be tight and can use earloops instead of a headband without creating gaps in the seal.
In contrast, the KN95 mask has proven highly unreliable: tests have shown that they filter as low as 30 per cent in some cases with poor manufacturing; there is no regulatory body to punish manufacturers for making poor KN95 whereas poor KF94 masks can't make it out of the factory. KF94s aren't as tight as N95s, but where KF94s filter 98 per cent, the N95 is only a bit higher at 99 per cent in lab tests, so unless you're regularly walking into operating rooms and biohazard bays, the comfortable earlooped KF94 is absolutely fine for consumer grade use.
But frustratingly... my mask of choice isn't always what I can use. The thing I like about the BMT KF94: it's thin. It's a three layer mask. Most KF94s are four layer, but the BMT KF94 omits a structural (non-filter) layer that's there to maintain mask shape. While the mask flattens to my face more, it's thinner and easier to breathe through. The perfect mask for hot summers.
Unfortunately, supply of KF94 masks is not super-reliable here in Canada. You can always get *a* KF94 but you can't always get the same brand of KF94. My niece's best-fitting KF94 is the Delcure bifold; there was a good five months last year where none could be found. My mother's best-fitting KF94 is the Kleannara; there was a good eight months where none could be found. I currently have about 40 BMT KF94s... but I'm saving them for the summer and wearing a four layer (sigh) ZeroGuard KF94 instead.
In my mother's case, I've bought about 12 months' worth of Kleannara and once a month, I pass through a Korean grocery store, I spend another $6 USD on another six Kleannara masks for her supply, hoping to stay somewhat ahead of the next shortage.
(Anyone who wants KF94 in America can buy them off Amazon. Good Manner has had good reviews: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HRSSTXR/ref=emc_b_5_t )
2,043 2022-09-29 05:37:39 (edited by RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan 2022-09-29 05:38:21)
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
Pandemic hasn't ended for me either. Horrible reaction to vax. Couldn't complete vaccination (obviously) and ongoing impairing medical condition since my reaction (which I suspect a covid infection would worsen). I kinda have no good options but hey that's life. I do find the stupidity on managing covid maddening. I don't think people shouldn't move on at this point if they like but we can have non invasive mitigation measures and we can have a time and place for masking. Especially in medical facilities. Which in the U.S. is going by the wayside. Biden has a lot of nerve on his words before the election vs. some of his words now.
2,044 2022-09-29 10:01:17
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
So what's the prevailing thought about how the masks with earloops aren't effective? I think I've heard that you have to have the ones that go around the back of your head to have the right seal. I don't know if that's true.
I still use the KN94s that ireactions recommended a while back but that thought has nagged me since I read about it.
2,045 2022-09-29 13:58:19
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
Slider_Quinn21 wrote:
So what's the prevailing thought about how the masks with earloops aren't effective? I think I've heard that you have to have the ones that go around the back of your head to have the right seal. I don't know if that's true.
I still use the KN94s that ireactions recommended a while back but that thought has nagged me since I read about it.
Taking a short break from work to respond to this because this is a matter of health and safety:
The prevailing thought among mask junkies (and I consider myself one) is that only headband masks are worthwhile. This is not my opinion nor is it the opinion of Aaron Collins, the mask expert/engineer who runs a YouTube account for mask testing.
Earloop masks tend to sit on the face whereas headband masks tend to grip the face. Not every earloop mask fits every face perfectly. The Kleannara KF94 earloop fits my mother's face perfectly, but the BMT KF94 has a huge gap over her nose. (Collins found that the Kleannara filtered 98.7 per cent.)
If there are gaps around your nose or at your cheeks, then the earloop mask you're wearing isn't the best fit. If there are no gaps, then it's fine. The mask doesn't need to be tight, it just needs to sit securely without openings. Unless you have some visual impairment (and some people do), you'll see mask gaps in the mirror if there are any to be found.
In contrast, headband masks exert such tight force around the head that they seal around nearly all faces. (Nearly all faces.) This leads to a lot of N95 headband mask enthusiasts declaring that only N95 headband masks are worth wearing which, to me, is like saying a Bentley armoured car is the only car worth driving.
Yes, the N95 is the best filtration and seal, but at 99 per cent, it's creating a lot of facial discomfort for only one per cent more protection than the KF94. If you're constantly exposed to biohazards and spraying blood and entering a ward filled COVID-19 patients, then yes, wear an N95 and goggles and scrubs. But I'm not sure you need an N95 mask and an armoured car just to go to the grocery store.
I think it's okay for civilians to accept 98 per cent filtration with a KF94, a mask that is more comfortable and easier to put on than a handband design. I cannot stress enough in the name of Quinn's Milky Way poster, Rembrandt's albums, Wade's teddy bear and the Professor's watch that the views of ireactions do not represent those of Sliders.TV and mask obsessives everywhere.
2,046 2022-09-30 19:00:12
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:
Pandemic hasn't ended for me either. Horrible reaction to vax. Couldn't complete vaccination (obviously) and ongoing impairing medical condition since my reaction (which I suspect a covid infection would worsen). I kinda have no good options but hey that's life. I do find the stupidity on managing covid maddening. I don't think people shouldn't move on at this point if they like but we can have non invasive mitigation measures and we can have a time and place for masking. Especially in medical facilities. Which in the U.S. is going by the wayside. Biden has a lot of nerve on his words before the election vs. some of his words now.
I think the problem with Biden: he is incapable of retreating and admitting that he made premature judgements or that he needs to change direction. In 2021, Biden declared that anyone with two doses of an mRNA vaccine could go mask free. He didn't update or reverse when Delta and Omicron hit; he's still maintaining that vaccination magically means people won't get sick when the reality: vaccines have lost effectiveness in the face of new variants and rather than prevent infection, they are now serving to help people get better after they get sick.
Do you mind me asking which vaccine you got? I'm not a doctor. I'd be curious if the issue was mRNA vaccines and if you might get better results with a more traditional viral vector vaccine like Johnson and Johnson or Novavax. I'd say that vaccines have proven safe for the general population. But you're not a population, you're a specific person and while a vaccine may be safe overall, there are going to be outliers.
AstraZeneca in Canada had four deaths due to a rare 1 in 200,000 blood clotting disorder; it was removed from use even though most politicians got AstraZeneca for their first two doses at their photo op vaccinations. I have one friend who has such extreme reactions to any and all vaccinations in addition to his underlying health issues that he hasn't gotten any doses. I have another friend whose immunodeficiencies mean her doses have to be spaced out: four months between her first and second dose and getting her third under strict medical supervision while being unsure about a fourth.
I would say nine-point-five out of ten times, vaccines aren't going to cause anyone any issues. Kari Wuhrer once said that that nine-point-five out of ten women never experience breast implant encapsulation and sudden hardening and warping of their implants and that she was unfortunately on the wrong side of that statistic. Outliers exist. I'm sorry you had such a bad reaction.
Let me know if I can send you any KF94s.
2,047 2022-10-02 17:35:55 (edited by ireactions 2022-10-04 15:07:13)
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
Got my fifth dose today. It's the new bivalent vaccine which targets the original COVID-19 and Omicron strain BA.1 (which preliminary studies indicate will mount a good defence against BA.4 and BA.5). I'm feeling soreness and a headache as I did with my last four doses, but I also feel this sense of being armoured up like Barry Allen waving a hand to summon his Flash-suit from his ring.
2,048 2022-10-04 16:38:14
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
New Omicron subvariants are coming. They may be immune to antiviral drugs. Immunity from previous infections may offer no aid at all.
It looks like the bivalent booster will likely prevent hospitalization and death, but not infection, as was the case when the Delta and initial Omicron variants hit just as the original vaccines were rolling out. However, for optimal protection, we may need a second dose of the bivalent booster within a few months of the first bivalent dose.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03157-x
There is a very simple countermeasure against Omicron, against any subvariant, against any future variant. It's cheap. It's effective against all viruses and bacteria. It's an electrostatic mask with a good seal. N95, KF94, ASTM or something comparable. Boat shaped or bifold. Or 2D surgicals with cordlocks.
If mask mandates were reinstated and enforced on public transit, in offices, in shopping centres, in grocery stores, in movie theatres, in performance venues, we wouldn't be seeing all these mutations and variants; the virus would have far fewer roads on which to spread.
It really is that simple.
2,049 2022-10-05 05:34:15
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
ireactions wrote:
New Omicron subvariants are coming. They may be immune to antiviral drugs. Immunity from previous infections may offer no aid at all.
It looks like the bivalent booster will likely prevent hospitalization and death, but not infection, as was the case when the Delta and initial Omicron variants hit just as the original vaccines were rolling out. However, for optimal protection, we may need a second dose of the bivalent booster within a few months of the first bivalent dose.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03157-x
There is a very simple countermeasure against Omicron, against any subvariant, against any future variant. It's cheap. It's effective against all viruses and bacteria. It's an electrostatic mask with a good seal. N95, KF94, ASTM or something comparable. Boat shaped or bifold. Or 2D surgicals with cordlocks.
If mask mandates were reinstated and enforced on public transit, in offices, in shopping centres, in grocery stores, in movie theatres, in performance venues, we wouldn't be seeing all these mutations and variants; the virus would have far fewer roads on which to spread.
It really is that simple.
Sadly, it appears as if our CDC has given up. They are proceeding with further loosening of guidelines against the direction of expert epidemiologists who are speaking out on Twitter.
This is not going to be over with for a while.
Because of this, I am still wearing my mask and getting my boosters. I've been through this entire pandemic without catching covid-19 and I plan on staying that way.
2,050 2022-10-06 22:04:52 (edited by RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan 2022-10-06 22:16:19)
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
ireactions wrote:
RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:Pandemic hasn't ended for me either. Horrible reaction to vax. Couldn't complete vaccination (obviously) and ongoing impairing medical condition since my reaction (which I suspect a covid infection would worsen). I kinda have no good options but hey that's life. I do find the stupidity on managing covid maddening. I don't think people shouldn't move on at this point if they like but we can have non invasive mitigation measures and we can have a time and place for masking. Especially in medical facilities. Which in the U.S. is going by the wayside. Biden has a lot of nerve on his words before the election vs. some of his words now.
I think the problem with Biden: he is incapable of retreating and admitting that he made premature judgements or that he needs to change direction. In 2021, Biden declared that anyone with two doses of an mRNA vaccine could go mask free. He didn't update or reverse when Delta and Omicron hit; he's still maintaining that vaccination magically means people won't get sick when the reality: vaccines have lost effectiveness in the face of new variants and rather than prevent infection, they are now serving to help people get better after they get sick.
Do you mind me asking which vaccine you got? I'm not a doctor. I'd be curious if the issue was mRNA vaccines and if you might get better results with a more traditional viral vector vaccine like Johnson and Johnson or Novavax. I'd say that vaccines have proven safe for the general population. But you're not a population, you're a specific person and while a vaccine may be safe overall, there are going to be outliers.
AstraZeneca in Canada had four deaths due to a rare 1 in 200,000 blood clotting disorder; it was removed from use even though most politicians got AstraZeneca for their first two doses at their photo op vaccinations. I have one friend who has such extreme reactions to any and all vaccinations in addition to his underlying health issues that he hasn't gotten any doses. I have another friend whose immunodeficiencies mean her doses have to be spaced out: four months between her first and second dose and getting her third under strict medical supervision while being unsure about a fourth.
I would say nine-point-five out of ten times, vaccines aren't going to cause anyone any issues. Kari Wuhrer once said that that nine-point-five out of ten women never experience breast implant encapsulation and sudden hardening and warping of their implants and that she was unfortunately on the wrong side of that statistic. Outliers exist. I'm sorry you had such a bad reaction.
Let me know if I can send you any KF94s.
Thank you for the offer on the KF94s. I have quite a bunch of 3M 95s. Your posting on here about Mask Nerd helped. Heck, you're Sliders upscaling experiments helped quite a bit during rough patches over the last couple of years.
I have considered getting an FFP3 for medical settings or high risk settings. I should probably do so. I have not gotten around to it but should.
With regard to the topic of vaccines, it's too emotionally charged of an issue for me to say all that much, in a way that will be 100 percent productive.
2,051 2022-10-14 18:42:47
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I'm going to the movies! To see HALLOWEEN ENDS. In a densely packed cineplex.
After two years, I've read and absorbed enough on masking to feel confident in my precautions. In addition to five doses of Moderna, I'm wearing a well-sealed KF94 mask that fits to my face with no gaps. KF94 masks are tightly regulated by the Korean government with masks from each batch needing to be tested before sale. Factories that fail mask tests get fined and their products are destroyed. To meet the requirements, KF94 masks only need to filter 94 per cent; manufactures get them to 97 and higher to be sure to pass.
With a KF94, it's safe for me to go anywhere and be around anyone even if they're not masked. The KF94 is filtering 97 per cent in and out; I won't make anyone sick and no one will make me sick.
2,052 2022-10-15 09:20:49
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I saw No Way Home and Dr Strange at midday screenings during the work week. There were some people but with the ability to choose my own seats, I was able to avoid people and enjoy the experience.
Because of busyness in my life, I didn't see Thor in theaters. I think I might try and see Black Adam in theaters but I don't know. I would like to see Black Panther in theaters next month.
I've always had a sort of appreciation for the Halloween franchise having seen every one of the Michael Myers movies. But I don't think it will make my theater-going cut.
********
Is everyone eligible for the new variant-specific booster? I think because of lack of information, I assumed it was only for high-risk and older people. Is it available for everyone?
2,053 2022-10-15 10:06:36
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
This is what I'm seeing for Austin, Texas at https://www.austintexas.gov/covid19-vaccines :
18 and Older:
Booster: Updated (bivalent) booster at least 2 months after 2nd dose or last booster, and can be Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.
I have to say, it feels a bit condescending for me to lecture you about your own home. Sorry. I owe you a Coke.
In my province (Ontario) in Canada, fourth doses weren't widely available until fall at which point the BA.1 bivalent was rolling out. I was able to get a fourth dose in June because I had signed up for the new Novavax dose (a protein based vaccine rather than mRNA), but the nurse switched it to Moderna at the appointment. (I would have taken the Novavax anyway.) I then got a fifth dose in October of the BA.1 bivalent, but there's now a BA.4 and BA.5 bivalent.
I was hesitant in early 2021 about going out again, but after two years and not having gotten COVID, I think it's pretty clear that electrostatic masks work and they work even if everyone around you isn't masked.
I find that most diligent maskers whose masks failed to protect them in 2020 - 2021 were unfortunately wearing cloth masks (which don't filter), cloth masks with insert filters (which don't cover the entire mask surface area) or surgical masks with unclosed gaps. Some people wore surgical masks under fashionable cloth masks and this worked because the firm seal of the cloth combined with the high filtration of the surgical... but I'd rather wear one good mask than two bad ones.
2,054 2022-10-26 21:18:41
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I have just had to settle and compromise when it comes to masks.
My mother's been tough to mask. She has a very flat nose bridge. Most masks don't seal well on her face; they hang half an inch off her face at the top, they leave huge gaps. Only the Kleannara KF94 boat shaped mask (98 percent filtration) and the Delcure KF94 bifold sit well. Delcure's been hard to find lately. Kleannara has been plentiful, but there's another problem: in the summer, she says she can't breathe through a Kleannara due to hot air. This four layer mask (water resistant layer, meltblown electrostatic layer, structural layer, skin friendly layer) is too thick for her, hot air gets hotter passing through this thick layer and she can't breathe enough.
In the past few summers, I've settled for having her wear ASTM Level 1 surgical masks. She found the three layers (fluid resistant/electrostatic/skin friendly) breathable. They left gaps at the nose and on the sides because they're a 2D shape for a 3D face. But with cordlocks to tighten up the earloops... well, the side gaps were gone, but there was still a bit of a gap on the sides of her nose.
I told myself that the gaps were mostly sealed and that she'd be fine with the 95 per cent filtration of ASTM L1... but I suspect that was wishful thinking. Most surgical masks, due to the gaps at the cheeks and around the nose, filter around 60 percent of particles due to the leakage. Likely, the surgical was filtering maybe 70 - 75 per cent with the gaps around the nose. It wasn't ideal, but it was the mask that my mother was able to wear from June to September. But it still worried me.
In 2020, Korea temporarily banned exports of KF94 masks. The company Air Queen started manufacturing a "nano"
a boat-shaped, KF94 style mask for international sale, but they didn't submit it for KF94 approval and didn't use KF94 materials. The Nano doesn't use electrostatic material to catch particles. Instead, the Air Queen Nano uses nanofiber material that is thin but densely interwoven to catch incoming particles; a net as opposed to a magnet.
The Air Queen Nano is thinner than KF94s and even surgicals and the company boasted 97 per cent particle filtration. Actual tests from mask experts, however, revealed that the Air Queen Nano actually filtered 87 - 90 percent, a bit lower than the average 98 percent filtration of KF94s and the 99.9 percent filtration of an N95. In 2020, with N95s expensive and rare and KN95s unreliable and with the most common mask being non-filtering cotton cloth, the Air Queen seemed like a godsend. In 2022, I find it inadequate and ridiculously overpriced ($1.20 - $2.50 USD per mask when you can get a KF94 for 75 cents each).
But, worried about summer in eight months' time, I bought a small quantity of Air Queen Nano masks and... they fit my mother's face really well, just as well as the Kleannara. And they feel as thin as Kleenex. My mother will find it breathable in the summer. The lack of gap around the nose thanks to the boat shape means it seals better than the surgical ever could. But the Air Queen Nano filters 87 - 90 percent, a drop from the Kleannara KF94 filtering 98 percent.
I've bought my mother enough Air Queen Nanos for the summer. These are her summer masks now. They're not the best and I would never wear one myself or encourage anyone to buy them... but they're the best that my mother can wear.
2,055 2022-10-26 22:42:39
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I never knew how strong I was until a couple of months into pandemic season.
I started an excersize regimen of jumping jacks/pushups/lifting/running laps and eating healthier. Dropped three pants sizes and went shopping for a new wardrobe. Took notes in my journal, and eventually started playing basketball, got in touch with friends that I haven't spoken to in years. I love jumping jacks!
2,056 2022-10-28 11:43:19
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I got my bivalent booster yesterday and MAN, it knocked me on my butt. I felt worse than I did with the second original shot or the regular booster. Chills, fever, fluish symptoms.
But still VERY MUCH worth it and VERY grateful to have received it.
2,057 2022-10-28 21:55:54
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I'm relieved Slider_Quinn21 got his booster. I... don't know if I should have gotten the bivalent booster.
They made me sign a waiver at the pharmacy noting that the usual schedule for a booster was six months between doses and that I was getting my fifth dose a mere 3.5 months after my fourth. I explained that with new variants coming, prevailing public health advice was to get a booster ASAP and not to wait for the longer interval. With winter fast approaching, it seemed best to get quintuple boosted. But I was warned that I wouldn't get as strong an immune response without waiting the full six months.
Previous vaccinations and boosters have taken me out of action for seven days. This fifth dose took me out for... two days. Does that mean it's not as effective?
Also, the booster I got was the BA.1 version whereas the current booster that SQ21 probably got is on BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants which should mount a more targeted defense against the newer strains.
It may have been more to my advantage to wait to the 4 - 4.5 month mark and get the BA.4/BA.5 booster then. Hopefully, we won't have to find out, and as of now, I'm comfortable waiting until April 2023 for my sixth dose.
2,058 2022-10-29 08:13:56
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
ireactions wrote:
Previous vaccinations and boosters have taken me out of action for seven days. This fifth dose took me out for... two days. Does that mean it's not as effective?
It's funny you say that - my mother said the same thing. While I had a fever, exhaustion, and a little bit of stomach discomfort (wouldn't characterize it as nausea), my mom said she didn't feel anything. Her cousin lost his sense of taste temporarily.
So she wondered if she got the wrong shot. I told her that different people have different reactions and not to worry about it. I don't know if that was the right answer, but she felt better.
I also feel better. My arm is still a little sore but I feel like I'm on my way back.
2,059 2022-10-29 08:55:39
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I got boosted Tuesday and I still feel terrible. Previous shots didn't hit like this one.
2,060 2022-10-30 15:35:52
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
A lot of people will get a COVID vaccination with no perceptible reaction. The vaccine is still working; the immune system of these particular people are is able to incorporate this specific dose of vaccine without raising the 'volume' of the body's defense mechanisms. However, in my case, the pharmacist did warn me that I wouldn't be getting the same protection of a booster as people who waited six months rather than 3.5..
2,061 2022-10-30 16:57:09
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
You know, I brushed off my COVID bivalent booster quite easily, but this year's flu shot has really taken it out of me. I fell asleep watching LOWER DECKS.
2,062 2022-11-18 16:58:34
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
So Trump is running in 2024. I don't see how this isn't a good thing for Biden (or whoever runs in 2024). If it's Biden vs Trump, I think people will vote for the same person they voted for in 2020. I can't imagine anything in the last two years would indicate that people would've changed their votes.
But for Trump's side, he has to beat DeSantis first. And I think that makes things so much harder. Trump will either p*ss off a bunch of DeSantis voters (who I assume would stay home rather than vote for Biden) if he wins, or DeSantis beats him. And if DeSantis beats him, I think there is no chance that all Trump's voters get in line. I think you'd see record numbers of people write in Trump, or Trump would just keep running.
Because I think there's no chance Trump would accept that he lost a primary. It'd be like 2020 except he'd just keep running afterwards. I don't know how that would even work with the Republican Party - they obviously can't have two candidates. I think the GOP's best bet is to tell DeSantis not to run, but that might make him want to run even more.
Either way, even with Biden being historically unpopular, I don't see how Trump running doesn't significantly help him.
2,063 2022-12-24 21:13:26
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I'm currently in the process of converting SLIDERS REBORN, which my therapist described as the equivalent of a graduate school thesis, into ePub format. I've blocked off some time over the holidays to get it all done. One of the ideas in the story is "Teslanium", a concept created by the brilliant Nigel G. Mitchell who helped me world-build an alt-Earth where the global water supply has been contaminated by a toxic fuel substance created by Elon Musk. This featured in Part 3 of SLIDERS REBORN.
Nigel offered the name and I referred to Musk because, back in 2015, I was under the impression that Musk was a diligent, ambitious, self-driven engineer with a desire for positive social and technology change as opposed to being Donald Trump with a crappy car company. I referred to Musk because Nigel's Teslanium seemed to provide reference to Musk's Tesla cars even though Nigel was, of course, referring to revolutionary scientist (and later madman) Nikola Tesla.
Given Musk's trajectory to becoming a deranged alt-right loon...
I actually find it fitting that "Teslanium" turns out to be a toxic substance in SLIDERS REBORN that poisoned an entire Earth; and I had a throwaway line in Part 6 where the sliders have, between Parts 5 and 6, found a way to remove Teslanium from that Earth's water. However, I'm no longer willing to use Musk's name or anything tangentially connected to this man in my writing. I've removed the reference to his name and I'm going to rename the "Teslanium" to be "Newtonium".
May God and Nigel G. Mitchell forgive me.
2,064 2023-02-05 19:57:44
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
Rewatching Season 4 of SUPERGIRL. It is clearly the best season, viewed as the season where Supergirl fights an analogue of the Trump administration.
But watching it today, it's clearly Supergirl versus Informant. SUPERGIRL even hired one of Informant's favourite actors, Sam Witwer (whom Informant loved from BEING HUMAN), to play the role of Informant as a refugee-despising racist cult leader.
All things being equal, the character of Manchester Black, an enraged refugee turned vengeful terrorist who has given into his hatred and fury, struck me as the equivalent of 2015 - 2020 era ireactions.
2,065 2023-02-08 16:59:18
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I think the most topically relevant aspect of SUPERGIRL's fourth season is Ben Lockwood: he's initially a mild-mannered, gentle teacher with a small amount of entitlement. A traumatic event followed by slights and challenges nudges him moment by moment from a kind history professor into a sociopathic murderer whose charm and sincerity are now to radicalize others into becoming murderers at his command.
Ben's value system is that aliens will replace humans and humans have to fight back and that the Earth is only for humans. He presents it with earnest language and emotional appeals. Ben offers a framework of colonial history and how colonialism is simply a kinder word for plunder and theft and it can't be allowed to repeat itself. Ben makes genuinely heartfelt pronouncements of love for humanity means taking a stand against those who aren't human.
Ben's has a highly literate presence. Ben's well-fitted suits and Sam Witwer's chiseled good looks and boyish sincerity make everything he says sound so rational, reasonable, well-considered, delivered with a chain of logic that sounds crisp and crystalline in its pronouncements.
But this is an illusion. Ben may be well-spoken and have a persona of professorial wisdom, but that is simply masking his trauma and broken mind which now instinctively reacts to the 'other' with hatred, loathing, contempt, terror and violence.
Furthermore, it's revealed soon enough: Ben may be smart, but his psychological damage has made him easy prey because his entire career as 'Agent Liberty' has actually been manufactured by Lex Luthor.
Lex wanted someone to fan the flames of human nativism against alien refugees. Lex ordered his henchman to look for "patsies". Lex wanted "a real American, someone charismatic, a radical". Lex wanted somebody traumatized and radicalized while having good looks, an academic background, and a talent for conveying empathy within despicable rhetoric.
Lex wanted someone with the capacity to articulate hate speech in the vocabulary of social justice and history, someone to bring America into a state of war so that Lex could 'stop' it and be hailed as a hero.
Ben's erudite, Ben's educated, Ben presents as intellectual, and none of that is an act, but the persona is ultimately a lie, just sugar to make his bitter hatred easier to swallow.
Of course, the Ben Lockwood character and Sam Witwer's portrayal is based on the real life figure of Ben Shapiro and not anyone we know personally... but the parallels are striking.
2,066 2023-02-08 19:18:46
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
In the third season of SUPERGIRL, the introductory voiceover for the show changed. Where Kara once opened her story with being sent to Earth in a pod, Kara now started with, "I'm from Krypton. I'm a refugee on this planet."
I just know that made certain people cry.
2,067 2023-02-20 14:40:46
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
And now, I don my political criticism hat to criticize SUPERGIRL:
SUPERGIRL in Season 2 starts to attempt some real world topicality: the Parasite is an angry, murderous scientist targeting climate change deniers and big business polluters and Supergirl tracks him down and stops him. The probably-unintended message here seems to be that anyone who tries to do anything about climate change is a homicidal maniac.
The tail-end of the season has Lena Luthor working with Daxmamites on matter-transporters via datastream which Lena thinks could solve climate change as well; the probably-unintended message seems to be that any technology that could battle climate change is too dangerous.
This is one of those awkward situations where SUPERGIRL's writers are drawing on real world issues for character motives -- but keep assigning those motives to antagonists like the Parasite and the Daxamites. And yet, having Supergirl work on climate change wouldn't be effective either. Supergirl's action-oriented character wouldn't have much to do standing in marches and crafting environmental legislation.
Supergirl voicing climate change concerns would leave you wondering why she and Superman aren't using Kryptonian technology to offer repair and alternative means of food production and fuel.
In fact, SUPERGIRL claiming that Earth-38 is experiencing climate change in some ways undermines its plot for Seasons 1 - 4: that alien refugees are coming to Earth as a safe haven. The viewer has to wonder why aliens keep gravitating to a warming planet of overpopulation diminished resources. There's some attempt to address this by noting that Kryptonians aren't any better than humans, blowing up their own planet whereas humans will merely render Earth uninhabitable for themselves and that no planet is really free of this no matter how advanced. But then why isn't climate change Supergirl's number-one priority? Why is fighting bank robbers more important?
Ultimately, real-world climate change is extremely ill-suited to a superhero show that deals in escapism and action, and a show that does not have any real world solutions to a real world problem.
In fact, SUPERGIRL might have been better off avoiding this real-world subject in this direct fashion. It's not that I think fiction should avoid saying anything about obvious ecological catastrophe; it's that I don't think this fictional show can say anything worthwhile about it. Every time they try, they inadvertently present any character worried about the environment as a crazy supervillain. Meanwhile, the superheroes never actually voice any climate opinions at all.
What would Supergirl even have to say about it? In the context of Earth-38, one would think that Superman and Supergirl would have gifted Kryptonian technology to all of Earth, but that humans are going to need decades to recreate and adjust the technology to solve humans' problems. Furthermore, Kryptonian technology led to Krypton exploding, so Kryptonian solutions aren't actually solutions in themselves without a lot of extra work.
In terms of fictional functionality, Earth-38 cannot be the real world. If it were, alien refugees would likely choose another planet. I don't think superheroes like Supergirl are the right choice to address global warming in this manner because when the writers raise the issue, you wonder why Supergirl is stopping bank robberies and why Superman is coaching football teams instead of working on the environment.
I think that for SUPERGIRL to take on climate change, it'd be better to concoct an allegory: perhaps Kryptonian technology is being misused in a way that damages the Earth's core stability or drains human bodies of lifeforce, and Supergirl has to convince people to stop using it in this fashion. SUPERGIRL found a highly potent metaphor for immigration with the alien refugee storyline of Season 4 and found a somewhat less potent metaphor for social media with the VR contact lenses of Season 5.
But when SUPERGIRL tries to pretend that the show is set in the real world as opposed to a superhero reality, it raises questions that the show ultimately can't answer on subjects where the show doesn't really have anything meaningful to say.
On an adjacent note: another example of a goodhearted TV show inadvertently trivializing climate change is MACGYVER where, in the fourth season, MacGyver has a nervous breakdown over the climate emergency, but then goes to Washington to present ecological warnings to various politicians, and MACGYVER nonsensically presents this as MacGyver having somehow solved climate change with a PowerPoint and a speech.
2,068 2023-02-20 16:36:22
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
ireactions wrote:
On an adjacent note: another example of a goodhearted TV show inadvertently trivializing climate change is MACGYVER where, in the fourth season, MacGyver has a nervous breakdown over the climate emergency, but then goes to Washington to present ecological warnings to various politicians, and MACGYVER nonsensically presents this as MacGyver having somehow solved climate change with a PowerPoint and a speech.
But he’s MacGyver! He can stop a nuclear meltdown with a chocolate bar! 
2,069 2023-02-20 18:39:01
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
TemporalFlux wrote:
ireactions wrote:On an adjacent note: another example of a goodhearted TV show inadvertently trivializing climate change is MACGYVER where, in the fourth season, MacGyver has a nervous breakdown over the climate emergency, but then goes to Washington to present ecological warnings to various politicians, and MACGYVER nonsensically presents this as MacGyver having somehow solved climate change with a PowerPoint and a speech.
But he’s MacGyver! He can stop a nuclear meltdown with a chocolate bar!
On some level, MACGYVER's writers seemed to truly believe this. They threw MacGyver into a real-world crisis for Season 4's 13 episode run, and they seemed genuinely certain that MacGyver would have something to say. And I felt the same way for the first 12 episodes of Season 4; I desperately needed my hero, MacGyver, a Quinn Mallory-esque figure of boyish genius with interesting hair, to give me the answers I needed.
And MacGyver did have something to say. It was pretty much the same as what Al Gore said in 2006 in AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH to very little effect. MacGyver saying the same things in 2020 was not the impactful moment that MACGYVER's writers seemed to hope for.
In a mild defense (excuse) for the MACGYVER writers: COVID severely impacted the Season 4 finale in which MacGyver's victory over climate change is a slideshow in Washington. That scene was not supposed to be the Season 4 finale, but the episode was hastily assembled and re-assembled in the edit bay as a season-ender when MACGYVER had to suddenly shut down production and send its cast into lockdown.
Had MACGYVER not been shut down, I have to think that the writers would have reviewed the initial cut of the Season 4 'finale' and realized that the ending didn't work. I have to think they would have shot an extra scene of MacGyver at the US capitol. Maybe MacGyver's boss, Matty, asks him how it went. Maybe MacGyver says he failed; government is declaring that short-term economic gain is their priority. Maybe Matty tells MacGyver that real change doesn't come from one person with a slideshow and a Swiss Army knife; it's the product of many collective efforts across civilization, and that every time MacGyver averts a disaster, he's giving the world another chance to get things right. And maybe MacGyver says that the Phoenix Foundation can't just be content with spy missions and rescue work anymore and that Phoenix has to start building a better world, not just preserving it as it is.
TV trivializes real world difficulties when it has fictional characters 'solve' problems that remain unsolved in reality, but TV can certainly have characters pledge to be companions on the path to a better tomorrow. And Season 5's episodes would have benefitted from a regular mention of MacGyver's ecological work and some eco-focused episodes (villains who create oil spills to drive up fuel prices, climate change disasters where MacGyver has to deal with a flood or an earthquake). However, this didn't happen; MacGyver's nervous breakdown over the environment in Season 4 was completely gone in Season 5.
This appears to be due to COVID. When production resumed for Season 5, the world was experiencing an ecological new dawn: lockdowns had prompted a stunning level of environmental repair from travel and manufacturing having shut down across the globe. With Season 5 taking place at some unspecified point 'after' the pandemic, it didn't make sense to have MacGyver still in crisis until production actually found out what this post-pandemic world would be. Unfortunately, it once again left MACGYVER in this foggy landscape of somehow having 'solved' climate change in the previous season.
2,070 2023-02-20 19:20:19
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
On a side note: I've stopped wearing masks outdoors. I feel that the risk of outdoor transmission is negligible, so I'm now only putting on a mask before walking into a public indoor space like a grocery store or (on occasion) a movie theatre. I've been going to some restaurants, but I bring with me this USB-powered air purifier that I plug into a mobile powerbank. I also put this gel up my nose that's supposed to catch viruses before they infect the respiratory tract. I'm looking forward to a summer of not wearing masks outdoors and not having to search for a thin, summer-wearable mask.
I recently signed up for this medical trial to get a sixth dose COVID vaccine booster, but I'm not sure if they'll call or if I want to potentially get a placebo dose.
2,071 2023-02-20 20:26:47
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
Question - my friend's wife has Covid. My friend (who has had Covid twice so far) and two children have tested positive. I'm supposed to have dinner with my friend on Wednesday. If he tests negative by Wednesday, do we think I'm okay to have dinner? I'm torn about it but want to keep myself and my family safe. But also want to go if the risk is low / nonexistent. What do we think?
2,072 2023-02-20 20:53:35
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
The general CDC guidance is that you need to wait (a) 10 days after the first positive test and (b) for the testing to be negative.
The updated CDC guidance is that you can wait (a) 5 days after the first positive test and (b) for the testing to be negative. This updated guidance struck me as more about fewer sick days being paid out than reducing contagion.
My personal threshold: recently, my niece had COVID-19, but because I had responsibilities to her, I went to see her despite only five days having passed. However, I brought along an air purifier to situate in our space and also used the Vicks nasal gel. I did pre-emptively make some arrangements to self-isolate in case I tested positive, but this proved unnecessary.
My air purifier (not necessarily the one you should get, but I have four of these in my condo)
https://www.amazon.com/Kaz-Honeywell-HP … ref=sr_1_9
Vicks nasal gel
https://vicks.ca/en-ca/shop-products/vi … us-blocker
SLIDERS on SD blu-ray if you need a conversation starter
https://www.amazon.com/Sliders-Die-komp … 01JOCMST0/
I cannot stress enough in the name of Quinn's hair gel, Rembrandt's afro, the Professor's beard and Wade's leather jacket that the pandemic mitigation opinions of ireactions are not the views of the Sliders.TV community.
2,073 2023-02-20 23:12:54
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
@ireactions
You are one of the pillars of the sliders community, someone who has moderated this board for years, and given people like me a chance to show of their sliders fan projects. I understand that you want to protect yourself.
Regarding the medical trail for no.6 is exactly what the Professor said: the shot can cure (net positive-better/more protection), kill (net negative- could be a random vaccine from moderna/j&J/pfizer/other company that is close to expiring), or do nothing (placebo). You are the kind of guy who does his research before jumping into things, and I hope that you will continue to do so.
2,074 2023-02-20 23:20:14
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I'll actually be posting any and all information about the vaccine trial here for us all to contemplate.
I don't see it happening, I doubt I'll actually get into this trial, but it's certainly interesting to look into it.
2,075 2023-02-21 04:33:43 (edited by QuinnSlidr 2023-02-21 04:35:16)
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I won't be taking off my mask (or gloves) anytime soon until at least 6 months after covid cases hit much closer to zero. Even then, I prefer not getting sick with either the cold or the flu as well. So wearing KN95 masks and gloves while going out may continue to be my standard.
There are still around 475 new cases per day where I live in the O.C. While extraordinarily low in a 3.1 million-populated city, the threat of sudden surges is still there. Maybe after the end of March after Covid cases continue in the downward trend I will be more comfortable about where things are going.
Either way, I'll still be getting the latest booster once it's out of the trial phase and ready for production. I'm 5 times vaccinated and we have never had covid, and I prefer to keep it that way until the pandemic is really over.
2,076 2023-02-21 18:29:06
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
What I signed up for: it's apparently a Novavax trial. Novavax wasn't designed with any Omicron subvariants available for targeting, but it's prompted strong antibody response against BA.1, BA.4 and BA.5. I'm not sure it would be superior to an actual BA.4 and BA.5 bivalent dose, however.
I'm a little hesitant about KN95 masks. There is no real oversight on KN95 manufacturing. I could sell napkins as KN95 and there would be no consequences (aside from people not buying them). In contrast, KF94 masks are reviewed by the Korean government and have to filter at least 94 percent of incoming particles and withstand stretch tests for the earloops or the manufacturer will be fined. N95 masks are also reviewed by NIOSH.
It's interesting to me: KN95 masks are five layer masks: an outer water-resistant layer, two layers of meltblown polypropylene filtration to electrostatically capture particles, a layer of hot air cotton to catch larger debris, and a skin friendly layer.
KF94 masks tend to be three to four layers: the water-resistant layer, a structural layer for shape, one layer of meltblown polypropylene electrostatic filtering, and the skin friendly layer. Some KF94 masks omit the structural layer. Any KF94 mask on the market has had to pass filtration tests, most tend to filter in the 97 - 99 percent range. This means that you don't actually need two layers of electrostatic filtering or the hot air cotton. So why do KN95 masks have those two extra layers?
The hot air cotton may be helpful as a structural layer, but it seems to me that the cotton and the two layers of electrostatic filtering are probably the manufacturer using poor quality meltblown material, and having to stack two layers of meltblown filtration on top of the hot air cotton in order to keep the customer feeling like the air is being filtered and willing to keep buying the same brand of mask.
KN95 masks have been on a sad trajectory in my experiences with them. I would buy one great brand, but when buying more of the same, the newer masks would have poor stitching and rip apart at the center or at the earloops when I put them on. Newer batches of the same brand would use less material for the mask surface and earloops: the mask wouldn't fit or rip apart when stretching the loops to the ears. This has happened to me with four separate brands of KN95 masks and I just can't afford to keep buying unreliable masks for myself.
However, some of my friends find that KF94 masks don't fit them, and I've occasionally picked up some KN95 masks for them. And if a KN95 mask doesn't fall apart when you put it on, those two layers of meltblown material in the tent shape are probably better than a leaky surgical mask or a useless cloth mask
But the supply is highly unreliable, or at least it's been for me.
In other news, I recently ordered a water mister. I'm going to put artificial sweetener and water in the mister and create cool, sweet mist and see if I can taste the sweetness when wearing one of my masks. If I can't taste it, I'll know the mask is working correctly; if I can taste it, I'll know there are gaps in the seal.
The mister:
https://www.amazon.com/GIVERARE-Recharg … 08LGLZ8PT/
2,077 2023-02-22 03:45:24
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
ireactions - Yeah, it can be hit or miss regarding masks. But, we settled on these from Costco for the past 3 years. They fit both of us well, and have gotten us through the pandemic with no covid.
2,078 2023-02-22 12:43:49
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
The Costco masks are interesting. They use a boat-shaped style where the mask puts more pressure on the side flaps and the design doesn't have to grip into the face to get a good seal. Masks don't have to be in the traditional KN95 tent shape to be KN95 as it's a self-declared standard. The boat shape suggests that the manufacturer wasn't just meeting the KN95 identifiers (the shape, the label) but actually trying to develop a good product while meeting the (self-declared) standard. And Costco tends to buy quality products for their stores.
2,079 2023-02-22 20:33:42
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
You know what the absolute best purchase of all throughout the entire pandemic for me was? In terms of pandemic-related items?
These: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093S1H68B?re … =mask+tape
They are a godsend for those (like me) who wear glasses. Absolutely no fog when applied correctly while wearing your mask, and very little fogging up if you get it slightly off. No fuss, no muss!
2,080 2023-02-22 20:41:14
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
I haven't gotten any fogging up ever since switching to KF94 with the nose wire that folds in a rounded shape over the nose. But whenever I get haircuts, I use a bifold KN95 mask (sigh) because that's a mask where I can use double-sided mounting tape on the inside to attach it to my face.
Even when the KN95 earloops come off for my haircut, the mask stays on. Mounting tape on the inside of the mask isn't effective with KF94 masks because the grip is in the flaps and earloops resting on your face instead of gripping the face.
Mask tape might be better and work with my boat shaped KF94s.
2,081 2023-03-15 17:19:23 (edited by ireactions 2023-03-15 17:31:10)
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
From the Reboots thread:
QuinnSlidr wrote:
This world needs to stop the rallying cry of the white male base to attack something that doesn't need to be attacked. Everyone's identity should be respected without fear of reprisal or anything else that goes along with that. Sadly, the Rupert Murdoch media empire thrives on the hatred of white males, and uses it as a galvanizing tactic to further its agenda. And sadly, republicans have made white supremacists their base, for better or worse in this country. Sadly, it's worse.
And sadly, the election of the worst President in U.S. History, Donald J. Trump (Hitler), reinforced to these Nazis that it is okay for them to be bigots, a**holes, and terrible people. Where would we be if Hillary Clinton had been elected like we deserved instead of the electoral college cheating us out of her? She won the popular vote. Sigh.
One can only hope that his re-election does not happen in a similar vein to when Hitler was re-elected. Hopefully, his 20-30 years in prison for masterminding a violent insurrection will come sooner rather than later. Sometimes I wish I was in Hillary Clinton universe. Perhaps that universe never got covid and never had to experience falling victim to Q-Anon and the right wing extremists. Perhaps that universe never heard of Donald Trump (Hitler). Perhaps that universe is thriving and far more progressive. Sigh.
Hillary Clinton is no saint. I would say that even with a President Clinton, the United States might still be seeing the erosion of the victories of the civil rights movement. Deepening economic inequality. The mainstreaming of white supremacy. The emboldening of neo-Nazi values co-opting conservatism. I'm not saying Trump wasn't bad; I'm noting that it's not actually up to a US president to determine how transformative or competent their governance will be. Gerrymandering can leave a US president with as much power as the Queen of England; Clinton could have easily won a weak majority or even no majority in the House and the Senate.
President Clinton may have been a less-frightening face on a bad system, but it'd still be a bad system. Biden's inauguration didn't defeat extreme alt-right neo-Nazi conservatism. I would say that Trump put all those problems into focus, albeit by ratcheting them up to extremes and emboldening the fascist, racist, bigoted aspects of America to stop guising itself in family values and traditionalism. But that white supremacy was always present; it just hid better before Trump.
The damage Trump caused to America's social values and societal infrastructure is horrific, but I suspect it would have simply happened at a slower rate under President Clinton. Even with a President Biden in office, we're still seeing basic health measures like vaccines politicized when America welcomed vaccination for mumps and measles without question until the alt-right got into it. (In a painfully ironic twist, Trump is pro-vaccine.)
Even with a President Biden, gerrymandering and manipulation of the Supreme Court has made minority rule easier for Republicans. The Biden presidency doesn't have a lot of power and is very weak.
I wonder if the world where Hillary Clinton won might not be that different from the world we live in now. We'd still be facing a lot of the same problems. Slider_Quinn21 was against Trump, thinks Hillary Clinton would have dragged America into a crazy war with Russia, and I'm not sure he was wrong.
I suspect that in both worlds, we'd still have QUANTUM LEAP feeling like it has to teach people that transphobia is bad. I cannot stress enough in the name of Quinn's sneakers, the Professor's dress shoes, Rembrandt's loafers and Wade's boots that the views of ireactions are not the consensus of Sliders.tv P.S. transgender rights are human rights.
2,082 2023-03-15 18:03:14
Re: American Politics: Discuss and Debate
Trump was a symptom of the Obama backlash. Having a black president deeply angered many people and Trump rode that wave better than the competition.