Why America Scrapped Its Pandemic Travel Bans.

About fucking time. Now one of my friends might be able to visit me. That was a totally useless, worthless ban that did nothing but hurt people.

As much as I make fun of the stupid-ass Fat Acceptance bozos, by far the worst cultural phenomenon lately is the rise of those who refuse the Covid vaccines.

Damn, that’s powerful dumb. We need new names for the asshat-level dumbassitude of those people.

Being Fat in America Is Nothing Like Being Fat Abroad.

Reading this article, I realized something (probably because I am a low-empathy person in general): fat people feel like being fat is something that just, somehow, happens to them. However, when I was fat it was totally clear to me why it was the case: I ate way too goddamn much and thus made myself fat.

Body control and control of one’s own mind seem primary to me. Without those, what do you have? Not much. Not much at all. Glad I can do both of those things relatively easily.

I was thinking today about the liberal li(n)e that Covid is absolutely fated to become mega-virulent and that they somehow believe it’s like the bubonic plague, for which herd immunity was never developed*. SARS2 is absolutely nothing like bubonic plague, of course, and there are nearly no lessons to be learned from that. The below is far more likely (~99%+):

Zero Covid was a very harmful fantasy that is preventing the above. People are starting to abandon that now, luckily, and seeing the inevitable shape of future history.

*This is not exactly true, but herd immunity waned over time, which is why there were various waves, etc., separated by dozens to hundreds of years. Anyway, SARS2 is nothing like Yersinia pestis so it’s kind of like comparing a toad with a dolphin.

They have enough clowns in the Fat Acceptance movement to start several new circuses.

1. I've devoted much of my career to understanding authoritarianism and the breakdown of democracy. And I'm growing increasingly pessimistic about the prospects for American democracy, because of one simple question: what could slow down the GOP march toward authoritarianism?

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) September 21, 2021

I do agree. I think there’s about an 80% chance of a Republican coup in 2024, and if it does not occur that year, then nearly 100% chance in 2028.

January 6 was a trial run, similar to the (also-incompetent) 1923 Beer Hall Putsch in Germany.

Saw this tweet in a thread about supply chain shortages and I mostly agree:

That was not brilliant, no. And it was done poorly. Many mistakes preceded this, and many have followed, too, exacerbating the harm. Lockdowns should’ve been temporary and targeted; destruction from those is going to last decades.

Just realized that obesity is another area where liberals lie to you “for your own good.”

“It’s ok for a 10-year-old to weigh 300 pounds” is another bit of mendacity where they think they are protecting people but just harming them even worse in the long run. What’s odd is these same mooks will abuse others online when they see someone’s overweight cat (which everyone knows is very harmful to the cat), but then will not apply the same obvious conclusion to humans.

Another thought on obesity as it relates to medical care: the obese have better outcomes now than they formerly did because so much more care is thrown at them. Everyone in the medical field knows that obese people require vastly more treatment, and more drastic interventions earlier, to achieve the same results as those in the normal weight range. That is very hard to capture in the statistics, by the way, but it’s just generally true.

I shouldn’t have to point out (but knowing how poorly people read, I do) that this diverts resources away from normal-weight patients that they would otherwise receive.

COVID and the moral panic over obesity.

Wow, this is complete garbage. This is the real danger of smart people: they can lie to you so well that the average person cannot detect the deception.

This chucklefuck doesn’t really understand what the numbers they are citing mean nor what the statistical practices behind them are attempting to suss out. Combining cohorts in an unusual way? Check. Not understanding the difference between absolute risk and relative risk? Check. Not understanding that the “normal” weight group includes a lot of people who have dangerously and rapidly lost weight due to illness? Check.

This better portrays the reality of the situation.

Among 148,494 adults who received a COVID-19 diagnosis during an emergency department (ED) or inpatient visit at 238 U.S. hospitals during March–December 2020, 28.3% had overweight and 50.8% had obesity. Overweight and obesity were risk factors for invasive mechanical ventilation, and obesity was a risk factor for hospitalization and death, particularly among adults aged <65 years. Risks for hospitalization, ICU admission, and death were lowest among patients with BMIs of 24.2 kg/m2, 25.9 kg/m2, and 23.7 kg/m2, respectively, and then increased sharply with higher BMIs. Risk for invasive mechanical ventilation increased over the full range of BMIs, from 15 kg/m2 to 60 kg/m2.

What bothers me the most when people like this lie about obesity and its risks, they think they are helping their fellow fat people. But what they’re really doing is making it less likely they’ll be cared for correctly, less likely that real risks will be recognized and dealt with and worst of all, that children will be inflicted with obesity and have lifelong problems due to this severe abuse.

A better way to read this study than what this idiot clown does: Covid is not very high-risk if you are under 65 and normal-ish BMI, and a bit riskier if you are fat. But if you are over 65 and fat, the IFR goes way, way up.

That doesn’t mean obesity is great for Covid outcomes when you’re younger — it’s just that other risk factors swamp that one in the case of this disease.

Why, why, are so people invested in “proving” that being enormous is a-ok? Even if you don’t understand statistics and can’t read very well, at least have some fucking dignity and epistemological self-respect.

Are people really content being fat and unhealthy? Or is that something they tell themselves? A cope?

I can’t imagine actual happiness when waddling starts being involved. Maybe I just lack imagination. The only thing that should waddle is a duck.

Both the libs and conservatives are obsessed with masks, which work but are only mildly effective, when what both should be demanding is better ventilation.

Other than vaccination, this is by far the most effective anti-Covid measure. And its efficacy does not wane over time and it doesn’t matter who is vaccinated for it to function. Additionally, it helps prevent scads of other diseases.

That we didn’t go all out to achieve better ventilation is an indictment of our entire society. We leave easy victories on the table while we battle over trifles. China is going to grind us into dust.

The people angry that the world is re-opening and things are getting back to normal in more places are hard to explain. They’re very special. Lockdown lifers remind me of those people who get upset when anyone has any fun. Hell, they are those people.

Their tears sustain me.

Damn. I need to watch her more. She’d be frustrating to play. Fun to watch, though.