We're doing okay up here, although Alaska's latest COVID wave is continuing to intensify and we currently have the highest rate of new cases in the country (and allegedly the world). Amadea's mom's funeral was Saturday. It was at the same time as the boys' football game, and we went through a lot of angst about how to handle that conflict. We ended up giving them the choice about which to go to after discussing the context and implications, and they both decided to go to the game. They recorded videos to play at the funeral talking about their mom, and we had some friends bring them out to their grandma's house after the game so they did make an appearance. There weren't any great options, but things worked out okay and there don't seem to be any festering conflicts within the family over it.
Well done for avoiding festering conflicts.
We had a ghastly funeral on Friday -- not someone I had ever met, but a cousin and childhood friend Ume's, with the most dreadful liturgy -- a vicar who dragged Jesus into things, but also read a truly embarrassing poem about "God's Garden" -- something which also turned up in the sentimental package from my mother's undertakers. Worse was to come. At the committal, he read out the Ould Oirish blessing (found originally on a tea towel miraculously preserved in the tomb of St Patrick) that starts "May the road rise up to meet you". As it became apparent that he meant to read out the whole tea towel I felt my breakfast rise up to greet me ...
That's on a lot of kitchen walls back home.
Is it polite to tell your supervisor "your face on Zoom looks like you're really super-disgusted at something you're hearing or reading", in case he doesn't realize how it looks, maybe has self-view off? (He also may just be squinting, I'm not sure.)
(A one-time thing, to be clear. He usually looks normal.)
2: Yeah, the minister at ours wasn't any great shakes either. It's tough when the deceased wasn't religious so there isn't a clergyperson available who actually knew them. This guy was a co-worker of Amadea's brother and a lot of his remarks were sort of rambling on about DNA and how the positive qualities he saw in the brother and presumably Amadea too were presumably due to their mother's DNA. (Not true! To the extent any of those qualities are hereditary they come from their dad.)
I think someone told him or he finally noticed - at some point he switched video off.
Big re-org at work, seemingly out of nowhere. Not a crazy realignment but I'm going to be working with totally different people and only maybe bringing my pet system along for the ride (there have been conflicting reports about whether my new team is taking over, or a different one, and if I'm really going to be working with a different team than I'm formally assigned to to avoid trans-atlantic management chains). Kind of nerve-wracking even if it does appear they don't want to fire me along the way.
At my mother's funeral -- 10 years ago now -- my six-year-old daughter was sitting with her cousins and wanted to know, regarding the priest: "This is grandma's funeral. Why is he talking so much about Jesus?"
2: My mother-in-law picked terrible hymns and a meh read8 g (Ecclesiastes) for my father-in-laws funeral, but the rector allowed very limited choices. He was a liberal, gay man with Anglo- Catholic sensibilities. He chanted part of the service but the parish didn't identify as Anglo-Catholic in a hard-core way, but he clearly valued form and aesthetics. I've always felt that one of the great things about the Book of Common and the various Anglican service books are that they reign people in and limit their ability to make absolutely ghastly aesthetic choices. The hymns at the funeral weren't good, but my MIL's selection of an Epistle (from a carefully curated list) was fine. I realize it could have been different with the priest at their former church but only SO bad.
I'm inclined to cut a lot of slack to eulogists who don't know the deceased. Seems like a tough-but-necessary job.
But that guy really was going on and on about Jesus.
The Infanta's first day back at preschool after a week home sick (103.5 fever after ibuprofen at one point). She was screaming when I dropped her off, but apparently it was fine. Thank god, because are desperately rushing to pack for moving into the new apartment on Wednesday. Which now has flooring in the kitchen, and some tiles in the bathroom! I'm not sure how they are going to get the bathroom and toilet fixtures in there *and* paint in time, but remain optimistic. Also, they seem to have forgotten to put in a light switch to the kitchen from the hallway, and the contractor is ignoring my query about it.
It's going to be an exciting week.
12: This priest had only known him for a couple of years and had one anecdote of his own, but he asked my MIL to bring in some info to the meeting where they planned the service.
Ok, my mom didn't actually go home from the hospital the other day, but she's now supposed to go today.
At the wedding I recently attended, the father of the bride's speech consisted of a really, really long poem, of the sort that rhymes "girl" with "world" and "love" with "dove" and meters that scan only if you put the emphasis just so. It was mostly not boring as it recounted her basic life story and how devoted he was every step of the way, but wow, it was really long.
We're alive and well; our ICUs are slowly recovering spare beds, so hopefully we're riding out this wave.
I took Thursday and Friday off work. We were scheduled for a hike, but my wife's back prevented that option, so we enjoyed a few slow days at home. One of my roleplaying group was quarantining; his wife picked up Covid through her vaccination from students she's working with for a play they put on Saturday at the local theater.
The time off was nice, though I did start mentally rehearsing for a meeting today as I went to sleep last night. Fortunately, the backlog of emails wasn't too terrible when I logged in this morning.
[Goddamnit, the new Safari 15 is terrible, and also the tab just crashed, eating my comment. I hate everything.]
ANYWAY, I'm also depressed about the German election. The result could have been much worse, at least the social democrats barely came in first, but for months it looked like red-red-green was easily within reach. The social democrats would probably have walked away from it, because Scholz really is Merkel's heir, but at least it would have been possible, and it would have made for a much stronger negotiating position with the FDP liberals.
Now the best-case coalition scenario is red-green-FDP, and the German liberals are absolutely the worst. They've been getting steadily more "fuck you, I've got mine", especially re: Europe, for the last decade, and now they're going to ruin everything. If the EU response to COVID-induced debt, and to the recovery from the COVID recession generally, is anything like its response to the Great Financial Crisis, it's going to mean another lost decade for Southern Europe, and I'm not sure how the EU survives that. And because austerity is now hard-wired into the EU, it would take a serious break with the status quo to avoid this disaster. Red-red-green would have quite possibly made the necessary bold move, but the FDP will absolutely make this a red line in their coalition demands (and I'm not sure Scholz really would have wanted it anyway).
So the EU is completely fucked, Southern Europe in 2030 will likely be looking on almost two lost decades -- maybe three for Italy -- and all it would have taken to avoid this is a measly 5 more seats out of 735.
ARRRRGHHH FUCKING VOTERS WHY ARE THEY SO STUPID.
The most amazing eulogy I ever witnessed was delivered by the son of the deceased. He was a Catholic priest who had been removed from his parish years ago because of his refusal to relinquish the Tridentine mass. You would think that, being closely related to the deceased, he would have some touching personal stories to tell about the man (who had had, by any objective standard, a fascinating life story).
But no. The funeral home was a traditional Roman Catholic establishment and therefore would not allow the ex-priest to preside over the Mass. This apparently struck the son as a greater tragedy than the death of his father, as he barely mentioned his father and instead spent the entire eulogy railing against the funeral home, and its absolute criminal stupidity in preferring its own obviously inferior priest to himself, who had been a top student in his seminary and had received a special commendation from John Paul II himself, etc. He also managed to get a few digs in at his father's wife and their children.* The priest who had actually delivered the Mass was as gracious as could be, but clearly desperate to gtfo.
*This is a whole separate story: when the father's wife (the priest's mother) had died some twenty years prior, the father revealed that he had had a whole second family all along, and seamlessly moved in with them. The second family children were roughly ten years younger than the priest and his siblings, and I think there was some overlap in ages. Anyway, the priest was clearly still angry about it. And then, at the funeral, I met a third family! And maybe a fourth? Like I said, the guy had a fascinating life story.
The whole second family is just too much effort.
Does Red-Red-Green mean De Linke?
Canada opened its land border crossings to vaccinated Americans on 9 August 2021. The US has yet to reciprocate, has yet to return the favour. 70.282% of the Canadian population (that total including those too young to be vaxxed) is now fully vaccinated against COVID-19; 80.273% of eligible Canadians (Canadians aged 12+) are now fully vaccinated. I'm pretty sure we're not the problem here! Why won't the US open its borders to its northern neighbour?
I have a bunch of stuff in a storage unit in upstate NY (on the outskirts of Watertown, about half an hour from the Canada-US border). I hope my mother's good china is okay! Maybe by next spring I can go and pick it up?
Feeling cranky, and so damn sick of this pandemic.
Amadea's brother gave the eulogy at their mom's service, and to his great credit did not shy away from explicitly acknowledging that she was a difficult, abusive person. A lot of it was wrestling with the question of how to love and forgive a person like that.
I finally bit the bullet and made a lateral transfer to a non-client facing role. Probably should have done so awhile ago, but people convinced me I should go for fancier gigs.
I was excited, and then disappointed, to hear about the salad dressing vaccines thing. Well, even if Michael Flynn had been right, we still would have the question of how to get M's parents to eat a salad.
It would be better to put it directly in the bacon and bypass the salad altogether.
When the Deep State gets around to it, I hope they'll also consider:
- Coffeemate, French Vanilla flavor
- Kern's Nectar, especially guava and mango
- the fried rice at Panda Express
22: Totally agree, but also really grateful that Canada made the cal it did. I think Tim might have been eligible in July, but vaccine plus test wlll now let him see his Mother. I think I could go but don't want to. I don't want to pay for a hotel right now, and he might be willing to sleep on the hide-a-bed in the living room of his mother's one bedroom apartment. The ones w/ dens weren't available and she thought the 2 bedrooms were not worth the extra cost, but I need an actual room, for sure, and, probably, a real bed.
I think Ontario might have higher vaccination rates than the 80.2% you're citing. As far as problems we don't want to let in to the US, Alberta kind of is a problem -- but no more than Idaho. Could we open the border by time zone?
Portugal supposedly is the best in the world at 85%. The source which said that had Canada at 70.2%
24: Good for him. That's a hard thing. I did not feel at all up to the task of eulogizing my mother, but mercifully, my sister and father spoke. Both were able to say much nicer things and remain honest.
I think Ontario might have higher vaccination rates than the 80.2% you're citing.
Yeah, probably. Alberta and Saskatchewan [dumbest goddamn provinces in the Dominion] really bring down the national averages.
I think Ontario might have higher vaccination rates than the 80.2% you're citing.
Yeah, probably. Alberta and Saskatchewan [dumbest goddamn provinces in the Dominion] really bring down the national averages.
After months of waffling, I bought an indoor air purifier. I considered getting MERV 12 filters for my furnace as a cheaper alternative, but I'm guessing there's prob enough dust in my home's ducts that the air purifier would be more effective.
We have a furnace filter that trapped a mouse.
Of 12+ population - Ontario 79.6%, Quebec 83.4%, BC 80%, Alberta 71.8%, Saskatchewan 71.6%. Nationwide average 79.6%, rounding off same as Ontario.
Which isn't to say that your filter only needs to have slightly smaller than mouse-sized pores.
I was really surprised how much higher vaccination rates are in Canada than in New England. Vermont (first in the US) is getting passed this week by Manitoba, and is only ahead of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nunavut. Alberta would be 11th in the US, behind only NM, WA, and most of the Northeast. https://twitter.com/prairiecentrist/status/1440833584659505158
Sorry for the double post. I blame the goddamn pandemic, about which I am still feeling very cranky.
And I now have to worry about mice in my furnace filtration system? Jesus Christ.
38: That is interesting. I wonder if it implies more impact from free health care (people not worried about surprise bills) and more universal paid time off. But there's also the less-measurable cultural difference.
I'm pretty sure it's just as simple as that Canada doesn't have Fox News.
I also didn't realize before that chart that Saskatchewan was dumber than Alberta but Manitoba was not. In my head Saskatchewan and Manitoba were interchangeable.
So, if you are in Canada and there are no rats in your building, you're probably in Alberta.
1. Alberta has no rats.
2. You don't see any rats.
3. Therefore you are in Alberta.
I'll say I'm in Alberta if it gets me the healthcare.
I didn't get that far in my logic class, but I don't think that works that way.
1. Alberta has no rats.
2. Alberta has socially-provided health care.
3. You don't see any rats.
4. You don't have socially-provided health care.
5. Therefore you are in a box waiting to see if a radioactive sample emits a particle that will tell if you are in Alberta or not. Like John Campbell at the start of his wedding night.
18: feh, RRG was mostly a thing for the Bernie fanbase outside Germany, who insist on trying to sell Die Linke as something other than a lobby for former East German policemen that's been running against doing anything about the Eurocrisis since about 2010, i.e. two thirds of the party's existence as such. It was only five minutes ago that their then leader was trying to convert the party into a "movement" she dreamed up that would be devoted to complaining about foreigners and culture-war bullshit. The only use for it in coalition would have been as a cynical mehrheitsbeschaffer but unfortunately for them, if you want to be the FDP of the left you've got to deliver some votes.
48:
Do I have no tea, pocket fluff, or a thing that my aunt gave me that I don't know what it is?
I wouldn't be too exercised about anything that relies on FDP principles, either, those being some of the more elastic things in the political world.
Further to 18, Die Linke think that it is just fine and dandy that Russia seized the Crimea because it could. If you think Europe is fucked over economics, just wait until you see what taking territory by force is like.
This is not an idle issue, either. How many of the European states (including the Caucasus) that were formerly part of the USSR and are not now part of NATO have Russian troops on their territory? All of them.
Anyway, red-red-green will not happen at the national level, nor should it. Slightly fewer appartchiks in Leipzig and they wouldn't have been in parliament at all.
Two more days on the old job. I'm moving to the West Bay in a couple of weeks, new employer provides accommodations and doesn't give a housing allowance though they're giving me two months allowance for the balance of my current lease. The move is beyond fine with me, it's in a tower with a very large balcony, Gulf views from the 2 bedrooms and is so much larger and nicer than what I have now. Huge gym and a nice swimming pool and jacuzzi too. I went to check it out with a friend and she said I'd won the lottery.
36: Quebec is getting strict about vaccines. I'm hoping Ottawa is about as high as Eastern MA - though the towns I go to all have around 90% rates.
Speaking of things that surprised me about Canada, I was truly shocked when I saw a map with how high life expectancy is in Quebec and consequently learned that smoking rates are very low in Quebec. I know it's ridiculous to assume that speaking French makes you smoke, but nonetheless I actually thought that...
It's because they speak a debase version of French.
Alberta has 10% of the Canadian population but 50% of the cases and may have to send people to Ontario for care.
I'd really like to know what's going on in Portugal and Spain. MA is at 67.8% fully vaxxed based on total population, not eligible, 77.2% with one dose. Is Portugal getting everyone who is eligible vaccinated?
55: They provide affordable childcare too. I think they are less good at some of the high-tech intervention stuff. Like, if I was in a skiing accident, I'd probably prefer to be in Ontario, because their air ambulance set up is better, but the overall health due to social causes is probably better in Quebec.
53: Congratulations, that sounds like a great apartment, and a great start to a new job. I think I missed the announcement -- what's your new position? (I did see your interview discussion, just hadn't realized that you'd selected and gotten a start date.)
Thanks! I'll be a research librarian at the branch campus of a major US university here. It's an inaugural position and I'm really looking forward to it.
If I wear a jacket to jury duty, am I less likely to be selected?
||
Some interesting bills getting signed by Newsom on the election processes, not just making VBM permanent.
Electioneering ban extended from within 100 feet of a polling place to also directed at anyone in line to vote (I guess in case of long lines) and around dropboxes.
The loophole of the fake GOP dropboxes has been closed - fines around vote tampering extended to cover anyone who "displays a container for the purpose of collecting ballots, with the intent to deceive a voter into casting a ballot in an unofficial ballot box" (writing "official" on the box can be evidence of intent), or "directs or solicits a voter to place a ballot in [such a] container".
Some reworking of the scheduling of how US Senate vacancies are filled, I think with the practical intent of making it more likely that there is a special election if Feinstein retires or dies shortly after the 2022 election, rather than a Newsom appointee serving two years (partly, it says, stemming from doubts the current system is Constitutionally compliant).
Higher burden required to find ballot signatures do not match.
|>
53: new employer provides accommodations
How common is that there? Is it because the employer is more foreign-affiliated? Or is it just something some employers typically do? (Sounds weird to me and provokes fear of the company town, but it's very much not my part of the world).
I guess that's a good way to avoid the pissed-off cat.
Saskatchewan has been my favorite province since fifth grade, when we all had to write a report about a province that included a hand-drawn map. I was good at reports but sucked at maps, so Saskatchewan it would be. I recall being confused about why the sources discussed the importance of the potash industry, without making clear what potash is.
Also there was the time I was taking a deposition, and the witness (about whom I knew nothing) described his education: "I graduated from high school in Saskatoon, went to University in Regina. . ." . "In her what?" I did not follow up.
Do British people want me to mail them some petrol and a Christmas goose? The news said you were lacking.
Do British people still roast a goose at Christmas? I'm pretty sure Nigella has moved on to an American-style roast turkey (but with British-y side dishes like bread sauce, and an adorably twee Christmas cake [all mixed- peel and marzipan] for dessert). Possibly Nigella Lawson is plumping for the American market, though.
I'm not going to make any of the obvious jokes because she seems like a nice lady.
They had a segment on DW last night showing that a very high percentage of FDP voters were under 35. Very high.
Kids these days!
63 I guess it might be like a company town in the case of laborers who live in dormitory style camps but it's hardly the case with the professional class whose employer leases flats in luxury towers or villas in compounds for families. My current (last day!) employer used to provide accommodation with the option to take the housing allowance but made us all move out and take the allowance about 4 years ago. For professionals I think it's mostly the foreign universities and colleges that have branch campuses here that provide accommodation.
Good luck Barry!
Christ, the news from Lebanon is depressing. I have nothing clever or even pithy to say, other than noting that my survivalist fantasies for potential social collapse seem to be dismayingly selfish. There may still be time to turn that around.
Personally we had partridge last Christmas for logistics reasons, but it'll be goose this year. Most people have turkey though.
69: I thought it was only us.
I have been completely converted to a German recipe, where you brine the goose for 12-24 hours first with mugwort and other herbs and a bottle of red wine along with the salt and water. Then stuff it with apples, onions, oranges, and herbs roast it at a fairly low heat until you crisp up the skin with a coating of honey and apricot jam at the end. The fat lasts till the end of February but the goose itself is eaten in a twinkling.
(It must be so unutterably dreary to be a professional recipe writer after a while, condemned to think of new twists on things every week. Drearier still, though, to sub it and to have to think up headlines for eg the Washington Post's food section every week.
In real life, people with families use, what, fifty recipes a year, max, of which maybe 20 will be experiments. People with children are only allowed about ten. Yet the pretence continues that everyone wants half a dozen new recipes every week.
76 sounds really good. My Danish grandmother used to stuff a goose with fruit, then throw away the fruit when it was cooked on the grounds that it was too fatty to eat, but the flavours infused the meat. I don't think brining poultry was a thing until fairly recently, and I wouldn't do it because I think meat is salty enough as it comes.
the recipe I use is in German but I'm happy to share. I can't remember whether we actually eat the fruit stuffing. By that stage in the meal everything tends to be a bit blurred.
Please do share recipe. I imagine a cut down version would do for duck if there are only two of you. Address behind sig. Thanks.
My mother tried to cook a goose once. Almost started the kitchen on fire.
Just unprepared for dealing with that much fat.
You have mail, Chris: they reckon the goose will feed eight people, which is a bit of a stretch, but gives an idea of how much it would have to be cut down.
I'm getting the machine for living resided. The radio the crew has is playing the exact same songs as the radio played when I did that kind of work for summer break.
Today is my name day. I think someone Swedish is supposed to give me a cake.
86: Today is my birthday AND the Feast of St. Michael and all the Angels. It is also Teo's birthday. Happy Birthday, Teo!
I did have a delicious Othello cake.
Happy birthday to both of you, but really it's an insult to Sweden if you don't consider my name day to be a bigger deal.
Sadly, Amadea probably has COVID, so not the happiest of birthdays for me. She's was feeling sick yesterday and got tested but hasn't heard her results yet, but then this morning she lost her sense of smell so she's pretty sure it's the Rona. She's quarantining with a friend for the duration. I feel fine but I'm going to get tested today.
Yikes. Stay/get well. Obviously the vaccine helps, but being sick isn't fun regardless.
Yeah, seems like it's just one damn thing after another these days. September is the worst.
You probably didn't even get a chance to get drunk in a roofless tent.
We probably could have if we wanted to.
Oh man, that sucks, Teo. Hope she feels better soon. We really need to get some oral, outpatient antivirals soon.
Or to not create a public that's basically a giant petri dish for the development and spread of new variants.
Sure, if you're going to be one of those people who value human life.
Supposedly, there's a missing area eagle wandering around Pittsburgh. My guess is that the local bald eagles are hiding it.
It must be so unutterably dreary to be a professional recipe writer after a while, condemned to think of new twists on things every week.
It certainly leads to some questionable updates/'improvements' on the classics: Granny Mac's Traditional Scottish Scones, Now Updated! with crystallized ginger, or tahini, or some other damn thing that I just don't want to encounter in a scone.
There's a lot of pressure to be new and quirky and original.
Crystallized ginger in a scone actually sounds pretty good to me.
The English kind of scone or the one we use in America for holding a light fixture?
Crystallized ginger in a scone actually sounds pretty good to me.
Thank God for adventurous readers like Teo!
My dad passed last week. They found a sarcoma a little more than a month ago. We all thought we'd have a little more time. The memorial was lovely. No minister or service because that's just not my dad. Lot's of pictures and a playlist of his favorite songs and good people surrounding my family with love.
I'm sorry to hear that. My thoughts for you and your family.
How's things with you and pandemic disease?
No particular update. Amadea is still sick and quarantining but hasn't gotten her test result yet. I got tested yesterday but also haven't gotten a result. We'll be okay, but it's still a difficult, uncertain time.
Compounding the difficulties even more, our heat went out a couple days ago and we've had technicians come out several times to fix the boiler, including the middle of the night last night. They've gotten it fixed each time but then it seems to immediately break in a different way. They'll do another trip today to replace a part and hopefully that will be the end of it.
Hope they get they fixed soon and the tests are negative. Winter is coming.
I am so sorry for your loss, Di.
115: Thanks. Winter is here, really; it's 30 degrees right now.
Sorry for your loss, DK.
To Teo, it's just infuriating how uselessly slow tests are in the US. In Germany it literally took 15 minutes, and it was free at a tent outside the city hall in a tiny rural town. I keep having students with colds and they're usually feeling better and come back to class before the test results are even back, which negates the point of the tests.
Yeah, they're advertising (but not guaranteeing!) a 48-hour turnaround on the tests here. Which is fine, I guess, but that's a long time to be in limbo. Some pharmacies and medical providers have rapid tests, but in limited numbers and they're always swamped by demand. I was able to get one last time we had a scare like this, but I haven't even bothered to try this time.
My condolences, DK, I'm sorry.
Teo, that does sound like it's been a terrible month, beyond any reasonable measure.
I'm sorry for your loss, DK.
Teo, best wishes for Amadea's speedy recovery. To your second, is it "downstream" parts that are breaking each time? That would make sense at least, if one fresh part stresses another about-to-break part.
DK, I am very sorry for your loss.
I'm so sorry for your loss, Di Kotimy.
Teo, best wishes to you and Amadea.
Amadea's test came back negative, but her doctor is pretty sure it's a false negative; cold-like symptoms plus anosmia is pretty specific for COVID. She's just going to keep quarantining until she feels better.
She only needs to quarantine for ten days from onset of symptoms. Even if she doesn't feel better, she can re-join you guys without being infectious after ten days.
To your second, is it "downstream" parts that are breaking each time? That would make sense at least, if one fresh part stresses another about-to-break part.
There's just a bunch of stuff wrong with it and it's hard to tell what the connection is between the different problems. Apparently it was wired all wrong, so they fixed that, and now it's one of the temperature limit controls that keeps tripping off for reasons that are unclear. There's a reset button that works to get it to go back on, but the thing just needs to be replaced so they sourced a new one and the tech is on his way over now to put it in.
She only needs to quarantine for ten days from onset of symptoms. Even if she doesn't feel better, she can re-join you guys without being infectious after ten days.
Yeah, we'll see how long she actually ends up needing to quarantine. I expect she'll feel better before 10 days but we'll see.
129: I think NYS was doing 14 day isolation (as opposed to quarantine) not that long ago.
What's the difference between isolation and quarantine? You get to go for walks?
So I guess technically what Amadea is doing is isolation rather than quarantine. Anyway, my COVID test came back negative, which isn't a huge surprise but is reassuring.
Also the heat appears to be working for real now.
Also the heat appears to be working for real now.
I don't even have a boiler, but I've been making tea using water heated in the microwave.
Kids tested negative too. Good thing, since their last football game is today and they would be really bummed to miss it.
First day of the new job and what a difference. It seems like a very relaxing place to work.
Great to hear, Barry! You've earned the change.
Teo, did you see Alaska's COVID spike made the front page of the NYT? Yikes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/us/coronavirus-crisis-alaska.html
Barry, hearty congratulations!
The obvious solution for the Alaska doctors is to stop inpatient treatment of the voluntarily unvaccinated covid patients.
145.1: Yeah, it's getting pretty bad here. If you want death panels, we've got 'em.
148: You're not wrong, but "just let all your patients die" is a hard sell for the medical community.
"Fuck it, let's go get a beer" works for everyone.
I think there's a real and reasonable fear that 148 would lead to pretty significant violence, in addition to the Hippocratic oath concern.
it's almost a cliche liberal kneejerk grumble, but I do always think back with anger at the bullshit death panels thing, by the very party that's putting us in this actual death panel position.
There's nothing in the Hippocratic Oath about not giving people horse-deworming medication when they ask for it. At least not so directly specified.
152: Yeah, public testimony over a proposed mask mandate in Anchorage has already gone totally off the rails. The risk of violence is very real. One of the people who was arrested had a gun.
That piece is terrifying. However, I read to the end, and my other takeaway was that at least the reporter wasn't christened "Trashelle". I mean, Trashelle Goodykuntz" is a name straight out of a Great American Novel.
So I wrote up my old director in my exit interview for buying rare items from a vendor that I personally know has stolen cultural heritage items among his wares despite my repeatedly warning him (and me repeatedly being threatened for bringing it up) AIHMHB. They've opened an investigation at a very high level at the foundation and I'm to be interviewed tomorrow.
Well done, Barry! I'll be interested to hear if anything comes of it.
You know I think that's when I started drinking heavily. I mentioned that it took a mental health toll on me in the write up (not the boozing though).
Nice, Barry, hopefully it makes a difference (and there's no blow-back for you in the new position).
||
There should be somebody on unfogged who would be good at this contest.
A new season brings a new competition for Antigone. Inspired by Rosaria's pitch-perfect piece above, we invite our readers to set about crafting their own polite email to an ancient. It may be a Greek poet, it may be a Roman Emperor, perhaps a mythological heroine, perhaps a character from comedy. The choice of recipient is in some senses by the bye: the challenge is for you to pose as a modern-day figure of your own invention (so not yourself) who hold some soft power over the recipient, or at least thinks they do. It could be a literary editor, as we've just seen, or perhaps you'd prefer to channel a lawyer, a health and safety officer, a journalist, a psychiatrist, a personal trainer, or whatever else takes your fancy? You are charged with writing a polite email to a figure from Greco-Roman antiquity (factual or fabulous), gently but firmly taking them to task for not quite living up to the tastes, standards and fads of the modern day.
Does Socrates finally need pinning down on a few points of fact by his despairing students? Does Medusa need her Gorgonian away day risk-assessed? Does Cicero's account of the Catilinarian Conspiracy need a journalistic fact-check? Does Odysseus need EDI training? Does Callimachus need to change some of his Library's policies? Does Dionysus/Bacchus/Liber need an urgent intervention after last Tuesday's performance? Is the Minotaur problematically microaggressive?
Your email can run up to 250 words and the two winning entries will each win £250 ...
... [F[or this contest, the message should be written in English; the more it conveys the feel of email as a medium, the better. The winning entries will be playful and inventive: they may well be very funny (and we look forward to laughing) but they will certainly be deft and clever in reframing the Classics as we know it/them. We promise to host the 20 best entries on the site.
|>
It's not ethical to decline to treat, but it is ethical, according to a Twitter poll I ran, to deprioritize the voluntarily unvaccinated in triage scenarios.
That's not super helpful in practice, though, because it's everybody. I guess you could prioritize non-COVID patients over COVID ones in cases where that's the choice, but if you're prioritizing among COVID patients they're almost all going to be unvaccinated.
"if you're prioritizing among COVID patients they're almost all going to be unvaccinated."
Base rate fallacy! 12% of COVID patients in the UK from December to July had been vaccinated; if you have a high vaccination rate then most of the admissions will be vaccinated- about half the COVID admissions in Israel in August had been fully vaccinated.