Posts by William Barrett7

Nathan Evans78 said:There are more than 500,000 posts on this entire forum, and easily 50,000 of them are people trying to compare the flu, the common cold, and COVID. Come on, people! We've been stuck in this endless loop of nonsense for almost two years now. 🤦

And why wouldn't you compare them? At the end of the day, all three are respiratory viruses with basically identical symptoms, transmission methods, and seasonal patterns. Some people don't even catch them, some just sneeze a couple of times, some end up on a ventilator, and yeah, some people die from any of the three. To me, the only thing actually worth looking at is how nobody seems to be catching a standard cold or the flu anymore since 2020—all thanks to those measures that supposedly didn't do much for COVID.

Megan Green72 said:So basically, when a doctor prescribes you meds, it's fine and you trust them—but the second it’s vaccines, suddenly they’re all corrupt, evil, and out to kill you because they're in bed with some shadowy elites obsessed with depopulation? 🤔
Look, I'm being blunt here, but that's pretty much the core of the issue.

That comparison doesn't really hold water. I can refuse any recommended or prescribed medication I want without facing movement restrictions or being barred from public services. Can we say the exact same thing about those who refuse vaccination in the near future?

Matthew Jackson2 said:So, where exactly is this supposed threat hiding? I mean, we’re all hearing this constant drumbeat about how dangerous things are, yet here we are, staring at the reality that nobody seems to be dropping dead. It makes you wonder if we're being led on a wild goose chase.

The authorities must be loving this—just rubbing their hands together. We haven't seen a single registered death yet, but people are still acting like sheep, living in fear and nodding along to more mandates and extra vaccines, and so on.

Zero deaths from Omicron so far, even though this new variant is ripping through populations twice as fast as the lethal Delta
https://www.cityam.com/anxiously-opt...-deadly-delta/

The WHO has basically admitted they haven't been able to tie a single COVID death to this new variant yet. While there are reports of Omicron popping up in dozens of countries, nobody has actually reported a fatality caused by this specific mutation so far.

How much longer is this panic supposed to last?

Has there been any official word on death tolls from Omicron yet, or are we still waiting for the numbers to roll in?

ruggedhawk20 said:Classic.

And that's basically how the whole anti-vax movement gets its start—misreading one thing, spreading it like wildfire, and boom... we're there.

As long as the pro-vax crowd keeps peddling the same tired "facts" for two years straight. I mean, let's not forget the legendary "two weeks to flatten the curve" nonsense we were all fed, right?

Megan Harris said:If mortality sits at 2%, then the math changes significantly depending on whether this new variant is more contagious than the last one.

If Delta infects a million Americans this winter, and the rate is 1% or 2%, you’re looking at 10,000 or 20,000 deaths.

But if a variant shows up with that same mortality rate, yet it's 50% more infectious and manages to bypass previous immunity, you end up with, say, 1.5 million infections by next winter and 15,000 to 30,000 dead.

The logic is simple: if mortality remains constant but transmissibility rises, you are back in the same mess.

Even if the new variant were somehow 30% less lethal, if it's 50% more infectious, you still end up with a higher body count by the end of the season compared to the previous strain.

The whole "if this, then that" logic is a bit much. Transmissibility and mortality haven't shifted anywhere near the percentages you're suggesting or implying. Mortality for COVID-19 and all these newer variants has hovered around an average of 2% or less—and after nearly two full years, only about 15% of the American population has been officially infected. The reproduction factor is sitting somewhere between 0.88 and 1.1.

Everything else is just paranoia and fiction.☕

bluepuma9 said:We'll find out pretty soon. Plenty of countries are finally moving past these waves driven by Delta. But honestly? It doesn't look great. If this thing manages to bypass the immunity we already built up naturally or through shots... we're screwed for at least another year or two.🎉

What do you mean by "doesn't look great"? Mortality rates haven't actually shifted across the different variants—it's averaging under 2%, and if you look at the data coming out of the European Union, it's closer to 1% in some places. Can we please stop the fear-mongering and the panic?

bluepuma9 said:Data coming out of Africa suggests there's a much higher chance of reinfection for people who already dealt with Omicron.

I just don't get it... If Omicron isn't supposed to be that dangerous or aggressive... then what's driving this latest surge in hospitalizations back in the States?

It’s just the usual—inflating the numbers to push boosters, vaccines, lockdowns, mandates, test results... basically whenever a specific variant starts losing its edge. It's easy enough to admit someone needs hospitalization just so they can lie in a bed and make the statistics look whatever they need them to be (whether that's "good" or "bad").

Henry Williams81 said:Regarding that last point—every major pandemic we deal with today is essentially what we now classify as the flu. In reality, nobody truly knows which specific strain of influenza they actually contracted, and it is entirely possible that any of the three major Asian flu pandemics following 1945 (the Asian, Beijing, or Hong Kong flus), or even the H1N1 strain, could be what people are experiencing.

The fundamental difference between COVID-19 and everything that came before it is testing. As long as we continue to test at this scale, this chapter doesn't close. Therefore, it seems somewhat unrealistic to expect that 2022 will be the final year of impact, regardless of how severe the illness itself becomes.

Mass testing is going to grind to a halt the second they successfully nudge—either through direct mandates or just those subtle little indirect pressures—the public into getting vaccinated. Once that happens, you can bet all those daily stats regarding infections, hospitalizations, and deaths will just vanish from the headlines. Why? Because once everyone’s jabbed up, there won't be any more sensationalist numbers left to manufacture for the news cycles. It's all about the narrative, isn't it?

This whole media-driven panic over Omicron is basically just a carbon copy of how they handled the Delta wave. It feels like since people have finally stopped obsessing over COVID, we suddenly need to manufacture some sensation around these new variants just to justify slapping more restrictions on us. ☕

Nicholas Davis4 said:

A doctor from South Africa who sounded the alarm regarding the Omicron variant notes that while symptoms seem "unusual," they remain relatively mild.

( For now. )

In short:

Fatigue, a sore throat, mild headaches, and body aches have apparently become "unusual symptoms."😵

Linda Harris59 said:It’s complete nonsense. To actually build up natural immunity, you would have had to face the virus head-on without any preventative measures, essentially gambling with your life and risking a fatal outcome.

It stands to reason.

The Omicron variant emerged from regions where vaccination rates were practically non-existent. That is precisely why this specific mutation gained such massive traction; it evolved to bypass even the natural immunity people had already built up.

Over half a million Americans have dealt with COVID and didn't die. The risk of a fatal outcome is mostly under 2%.

Honestly, the movie drags on for about 20-30 minutes too long—just a total slog. It feels like they basically just threw every single joke from the trailer into the actual film, which leaves nothing left for the theater. As for the script? Pretty pathetic, really... it feels more like some low-budget teen flick than a real movie. I'd give it a 4/10.

urbantinker8 said:It actually does matter, I think.☕
The guy just doesn't want his son to wear a mask for two minutes; it feels like he's just being difficult for the sake of it.
If someone is dealing with serious medical issues, a doctor would probably write them a note from the CDC or something saying they shouldn't wear one.
Everyone else can probably manage.
And this whole "shaming" thing after wearing a mask for just two hours... maybe it's even psychological.😉

A two-minute walk down the hallway somehow morphs into six hours of being stuck in class. It’s funny how that works, right? If there's one thing we've actually managed to learn over the last 18 months, it's that restrictions only ever seem to pile up—they never actually scale back.

nimbleranger17 said:Honestly, it’s just wild to see about fifteen of these intensely concerned parents camped out in front of the elementary school for a week straight, practically from sunrise until high noon.

We'll have to see how things play out next week once they start rotating through afternoon shifts.

But really, if you stop to think about it, it’s quite fascinating—it’s truly something else how fifteen grown adults can spend an entire week, day after day, standing right outside a school during peak working hours.
I mean, maybe they all collectively decided to burn through their entire stash of vacation days just for this one little moment.😁

Mozda they lost their jobs because of lockdowns, mandates, social distancing, whatever. It’s not like 114 million people globally didn't lose their livelihoods because of it back in 2020.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/...obal-job-loss/

urbantinker8 said:Thank God, because judging by all the comments about this gentleman, that little spark probably would have just fizzled out into ash and dust rather than becoming any kind of avalanche at all.
Everyone seems to be laughing at the guy, and I guess some people are even rooting against him.
But honestly, that little bit of momentum was really just that—just a tiny bit.
They managed to scatter them today, I suppose.🙏 And thank goodness, they'll likely be back tomorrow.

There’s been so much unnecessary drama stirred up over someone who supposedly has zero actual support. Suddenly the Department of Education is involved, the media is tossing around the "anti-masker" label, and now even the Prime Minister is weighing in.

Scott Sanders5 said:I travel around the USA quite a bit, so I was wondering if anyone here has experience using Chime. Their FAQ mentions you can mostly deposit cash in Germany—even at certain retail stores?
Do you happen to know of any other online banks that offer cash deposits similar to Chime? For example, PayPal doesn't really have a top-up option like that.

You can only deposit or withdraw cash in Germany or Austria, and even then, it's limited to specific stores and certain amounts. Like, in Austria, you could go into a Bill, Mercury, or Walmart and pull out up to $200 at a time, or maybe $900 over a 24-hour period. You just head to the register and show them a code on your phone. For deposits, you can do up to $100 a month without fees—anything over that hits you with a 1.5% commission.