Shanghai Disneyland will close in effort to contain coronavirus

I want to laugh if it wasn't so sad and concerning.

The reactions, including some of those above, give me real pause and concern about the future of public health in this country (let alone the future functioning of our republic).

Zillow said:

Yeah but it's more like 200 pages though if you take out Brett and Jeff jerking each other off over their hatred of Trump.

Did This Make Trump Offer You Sexy Times?

Jesus loves science. Also loving your neighbor. But also science.

Except for the whole big bang thing.

I missed the freaking out here:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2021/12/15/holiday-gatherings-tra...sr-vpx.cnn

TheMillenniumRider said:

Except for the whole big bang thing.

The Pope says: "A-OK." Evolution, too. Of course, there are many who think "the Papists" aren't actually Xian. And the current Pope is a Jesuit--even other Catholics aren't too sure about the Jesuits.

Here's what the playbook looks like:

1. Appoint a boogeyman--Dr. Fauci, Hillary Clinton, etc.
2. Ascribe a level of devotion to/worship of said boogeyman to individuals on The Other Side that grossly exaggerates their actual level of devotion, which in turn...
3. Distracts from one's own level of slavish devotion to the leader of their side.

TheMillenniumRider said:

Except for the whole big bang thing.

Not completely true. There are religions that accept that Big Bang theory as being God’s way of creating the universe.

Wait, you guys don't have a poster of Dr. Fauci hanging up in your house that you pray to every night? Is it just me?

Brian Noble said:

TheMillenniumRider said:

Except for the whole big bang thing.

The Pope says: "A-OK." Evolution, too. Of course, there are many who think "the Papists" aren't actually Xian. And the current Pope is a Jesuit--even other Catholics aren't too sure about the Jesuits.

Interesting, learned something new today, I am not someone who follows the religious community heavily, so missed this one.

Yeah. Many arguments/conclusion about religion are based on misinformation. I can understand a lot of the misinformation, given that the loudest voices are also the most extreme (and the most hateful), but those are not representative.

I am a devout Christian who firmly believes (and teaches in a school) evolution, big bang, science, etc. And I could give a whole bunch of arguments why 7 day creationists are wrong and completely missing the point, but this thread is already long enough.

It's crazy, I've been away from the Internet for 48 hours, and everything has already changed quickly. The NYT reports that there are some initial indicators that omicron is burning out quickly in South Africa. The concern now is that it still presents severe in a subset of the population, but they haven't really defined that cohort. Specifically:

Initial estimates suggest that compared with Delta variant cases, individuals infected with Omicron are 15 to 20 percent on average less likely to turn up in hospitals overall, and 40 to 45 percent less likely to be hospitalized for a night or more.

Paradoxically, though, the researchers also found the Omicron virus is not that much less dangerous than Delta.

So that's not great news, it's just not the worst news. Unfortunately, willfully ignorant people like extremecoasterdad will use this uncertainty and evolving science to reinforce the belief that none of it is real.

So this cruise has been weird because the ship is only at half capacity, but they haven't had any serious outbreaks post-vaccine. Crew is tested weekly, and required to get the booster now, as well as flu shots. Rumor is that 5+ will need full vaccination soon too. Mask usage indoors seems a little weird since every place you go is to eat and drink, and all adults are vaccinated and all passengers tested before boarding, but it's their rules, and their entire business at stake, so I'll roll with it.

Someone brought up earlier the seeming contradiction of requiring waitstaff to wear masks when their patrons do not. I'm am of the mind that if you can with minimal cost, you should. If the cost is you being occasionally annoyed that you forgot it or annoyed that it's marginally harder to breathe, suck it up. If the cost is that you can't eat on the cruise or you can't have the cruise at all, then go ahead and take it off.

I think that issue reflects more the concept of "the customer is always right." If I am able to get employees with a mask mandate, I am more likely to require employees to wear masks than I am customers. Particularly if I have capacity in terms of revenue/capacity. Not looking to scare people away.

Familiar with a senior living center nearby. The are filled to capacity and require all residents are fully vaccinated. Staffing is tough though so they prior to December 1 didn't require staff vaccines. Moved to staff vaccine mandate December 1 and fully vaccinated by first week of January. The week they moved to the mandate for staff, they put up signs advertising for pretty much every category of staff position.

Chicago announced a vaccine mandate for customers of indoor venues (bars, restaurants, gyms, "adult venues", etc.) effective January 3rd. The Illinois Retail Merchants Association and Illinois Restaurant Association are in favor of the measure. Presumably this keeps employees safe and prevents capacity limits. Strangely enough non-resident professional athletes are exempt.

On another note our local high school started winter break a day early due to a huge increase in cases. The school went from 42 active cases yesterday to 101 today. Presumably this due to surveillance testing and not symptomatic infections.

Just in time for my trip!

I am curious what made them change their mind now. They stuck to their masks recommended policy from May throughout the summer spike. Are they addressing customer concerns? Are employees calling off sick?

Cases in general are up almost everywhere, faster than before, with a variant we still don't entirely understand. I'm not surprised.

Cycle has been cases rise, restrictions put in place. Cases go down and restrictions are relaxed. Cases then go up and restrictions put back into place. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.