Monthly Archives: August 2021

Public Health/Coronavirus

“Vaccine passports” expire unless you get your 3rd “booster” shot

Leave a comment

The country is upping the vaccine ante, pressing citizens to get Covid-19 booster shots and saying those who don’t will face restrictions on traveling, dining out and other activities.

Source: In Israel, Being Fully Vaccinated Now Means Three Shots – WSJ

Am expecting this will occur in the U.S. too – and I think this is why we will see continued restrictions on travel, borders, masks required, and access to venues – until everyone has had an opportunity to have a 3rd shot.

At which point, a 4th shot will then be recommended. Pfizer’s CEO has even said they are set to roll out a 4th shot…

Public Health/Coronavirus

Oh: “Cross-reactive CD4+ T cells enhance SARS-CoV-2 immune responses upon infection and vaccination”

Leave a comment

Very interesting paper

Cross-reactive immunity may account for the unexpectedly rapid induction of immunity following primary SARS-CoV-2 immunization and the high rate of asymptomatic/mild COVID-19 disease courses.

….

SARS-CoV-2 displays considerable homologies with endemic, human common cold coronaviruses (collectively referred to as “HCoV”) (2, 3). There is now strong evidence for cellular and humoral cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 (3–14), although the role of cross-reactive immunity in SARS-CoV-2 infection is unclear

Source: Cross-reactive CD4+ T cells enhance SARS-CoV-2 immune responses upon infection and vaccination

If you’ve had a common cold coronavirus, you may have a viable immune response to SARS-CoV-2, and this explains many asymptomatic and mild cases of Covid-19.

There paper says that immunity to common cold coronavirus also wanes with age.

Business, Economy

Postal service short staffed, not delivering mail

Leave a comment

On several occasions recently, we’ve had tracked mail items that, late in the day, are marked “DELIVERY EXCEPTION – UNABLE TO ACCESS DELIVERY LOCATION”.

Those errors are bogus – apparently the USPS lacks a proper code to indicate that they are short staffed and were unable to deliver mail to anyone on the route.

I just spoke with our mail carrier and she tells me our route had no deliveries on Saturday or Monday due to lack of staff. Oddly, today we may receive two separate deliveries as they catch up (we did, in fact, get a 2nd delivery).

She is working two route shifts today.

Meanwhile, my state has banned rental housing evictions through the end of the year, and unemployment benefits were extended until next week, Sep 4th, because finding a job is allegedly hard, even though nearly every business in town has a “Now hiring” sign in their window. Crazy. Have not seen a coherent explanation for the staffing problems.

UPDATE: This is nationwide. Some people in some cities only getting mail deliveries once every two weeks. And the problem appears to be getting worse, and not getting solved.

Public Health/Coronavirus, Science, Social media

“Credentialism” is an old argumentative form

Leave a comment

Credentialism is a form of the Appeal to Authority argumentative form. This is considered one of the worst forms of argument – but it is used because it is effective.

Regarding Covid-19, this form is used to shut down those who raise other perspectives and ask valid but perhaps difficult questions.

Rather than address the issues or answer the questions, the response is to say “I have a credential and you don’t, therefore you are wrong“. That is a logically invalid argument, but the Appeal to Authority form is effective at persuading many.

Bertrand Russell said a fact is true regardless of who says it. He had been awarded a Nobel prize (see what I did there?)

I would not imply this is a tactic used only by the Left; however, the Left does seem to favor rule by technocratic elite, so there is that.

Emerging Technology, Smart Phones

Probably not: iPhone 13 video calls while at sea?

Leave a comment

If the latest speculation from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is true, it means you could make calls from the mountain or do video chats while at sea.

Source: Analyst: iPhone 13 may be a satellite phone | Computerworld

Current service plans range up to $200/month for sat phone service, and offer voice capabilities. And currently, GlobalStar does not really service ocean coverage.

Perhaps a limited text message service, via iPhone 13, similar to how Garmin InReach communicators work over the Iridium network. But “video chats while at sea” from a handheld iPhone 13? Doubt it.

Crime/Corruption, Environment, Policy/Government, Public Health/Coronavirus

Climate Change to Be Treated as Public-Health Issue

Leave a comment

So it will be managed as competently as Covid-19?

The new federal office—designed to address what the White House says are health risks that disproportionately affect poor and minority communities—is likely to face pushback over actions that target the health industry.

Source: Climate Change to Be Treated as Public-Health Issue – WSJ

It is unfortunate when reality trumps the conspiracy theorists. More here.

Public Health/Coronavirus

Australia ends “ZeroCovid” policy

Leave a comment

… Prime Minister Scott Morrison determined that the country’s approach is not “sustainable” in the face of the more infectious COVID-19 delta variant.

Source: Australia to end ‘covid zero’ policy: ‘Not a sustainable way to live’ | Fox News

We are now in about week 10 of lockdowns in NSW and cases just keep rising. Mitigations generally do not work well, or work at all, and are not sustainable. This is well known in the epidemiology literature but they keep hoping “It’s different this time”.

Aviation, Crime/Corruption, Public Health/Coronavirus

More airlines ban cloth facial coverings

Leave a comment

Cloth masks became popular when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the spring of last year, many made individually with colorful designs, even more made by companies looking to cash in with messages.

From a medical standpoint, however, they might not be as protective as other masks.

According to the aviation blog The Points Guy, so far it’s mostly been international airlines that have banned fabric masks.

Since Feb. 1, German national carrier Lufthansa has required passengers and crew to wear medical masks on all flights to and from Germany – either a surgical mask or an FFP2 mask or mask with the KN95/N95 standard.

Swissair also requires a non-fabric mask.

Source: Some airlines starting to ban fabric face masks | The Seattle Times

And also Finnair, Air France and Croatia Airlines.

The cloth facial coverings orders of 2020 and extended into 2021 will go down as one of the grandest public health failures in world history. Filed this under Crime/Corruption.

 

Dueling Experts

Dueling Experts: #MasksForever and Well, they don’t work in the real world. Or something

Leave a comment

If you are an uncredentialed lay member of the public and find the daily contradicting experts confusing, this is your problem – you are obviously an idiot. Always listen to the experts, even if they are inconsistent, contradictory, unreliable and incoherent. Know your place peasant! Do not question!