Odd and interesting things found on the internet.

My reading list needs to be trimmed...

One website had a thread complaining about what to do with a narcissist. There were multiple people weighing in with advice... (narcissists?)

Clearly some threads are simply a mundane idea that has popped into someone's head. (Narcissism?)

Multiple threads purporting to be about facts, that degenerate into myths and urban legends. Is it intentional?

In that same theme... Quotes of the day, which should be relabeled as MIS-quotes of the day.

Some folks, apparently, prefer to ask questions on social media about their medications, which could be obtained by reading the literature that is already available. Reading is reading... smh!

Ran across a piece regarding Fruitcakes! No, not us internet denizens but rather the actual fruitcake... The magnificent history of the maligned and misunderstood fruitcake. For me it was a fun read and not my usual material. But education comes in all forms. 

A few thoughts on Omicron. It was first detected in South Africa, where several cases were among 35~39 years of age and the symptoms were mild. Sounds good, but I wondered about some of the other statements. 

While South Africa has a poor vaccination rate, the general belief is the rest of the population has probably had covid. Which led me to wonder why their death rate was ranked 55th in the world. Turns out they have an average age of 27 and only 5.5% of the population is above 60, which seem to be the prime age group for severe cases and deaths. When adjusting the death rate to the USA's 16.5% of population in that age group... the ranking might be closer to #2, just behind Peru.

There is also the matter of cases being "mild" among that 35~39-year-old age group already infected. What is mild? Would the older age groups also be mild? IF South Africa is either vaccinated or had covid, then Omicron can overcome the vaccine and/or immunity from previous infection. 

A lot more questions, than answers at this point. In any case, I am certainly maintaining the hermit lifestyle I have adopted. I do wonder about the almost guaranteed potential wave of cases upon the working folks and how that might impact industry output, etc. 

Even with hermit lifestyle, I cannot avoid such impacts and need to prepare quickly... on top of might current preparations. 

And yes, I will likely pay more as inflation is going to continue the upward trend. I lot of folks are saying this and that about the FED, and the Fed has been banging the drums. Yet the FED has done nothing and clearly is waiting on inflation to taper, prior to doing anything meaningful, imo. Also in my opinion, the FED is at least 6 months behind on tightening and possibly 9+ months. Tightening should be done when growth is heating up, not when it begins to slow, and I think that will likely start at the first of the year. 

I might be wrong and certainly hope I am, but it seems the "good" news has to be viewed as suspect, much like the "bad" news. 

Finally, there is the "logic" being used. According to one internet sleuth, "we have tried masking, vaccinations, shutdowns, and social distancing... and none of it has worked, so anyone with basic logic skills should recognize none of it is working and should be ignored." 

It is sad that something akin to this is passed of as a logical deduction! It's a sad world that accepts this type of irrational thinking.

We have tried to get people to mask universally, but with limited success and strong resistance; we have tried to fully vaccinate people, but with very limited success; We have tried shutdowns in some areas, but only for short periods and thus with very limited success; and finally... social distancing was never really practiced in most places. So, to form some logical conclusion from any of this is rather idiotic. 

But we see evidence every day, as to how irrational the world has become. That is the sad reality.

It's All in the Name... Comirnaty/Pfizer!!!

 

Madness is rampant and when a politico says maddening things, then how can one reasonably expect the populace to act differently?

I can't remember exactly where I read it, but suspect I know where (I do read across the political spectrum). As I am not 100% certain, all will remain nameless. Of course, I may have hallucinated the entire thing, as the idea a U.S. Senator would be so loopy as to defy imagination... almost. 

It would seem a nameless Senator questioned whether the Pfizer Drug has really been fully approved for use in the U.S. As I understand it, the Pfizer Vaccine is now called Comirnaty. So it might be technically correct, after a fashion, that the Senator could be correct.

However, there is nothing different except the name. Imagine the U.S. deciding to change the name of a dollar bill to something like turkey gobbler bills. The turkey gobbler bills are now being printed and will say one turkey gobbler. In the interim, the dollar bills will still be treated and exchanged the same as the new turkey gobbler bills.

I had a friend that once asked to borrow 20 bucks, I gave him 20 dollars. Later he said "here is the 20 bucks I owe you". I took it and never gave it a thought. 

So really no difference... a buck is still a buck or a rose is still a rose, whatever!! I would, however, suggest that Pfizer made a sad choice in the drug name. I can't help mixing it with comoriarity which associates with the villain in Sherlock Holmes. 

Both Holmes and Moriarity were much smarter than I, but they were also fictitious characters. Perhaps the idea of all Senators being smart is also a work of fiction. Comirluminati???

The Sky is falling!

Sulphur Dioxide is making news in Europe. Apparently the volcanic eruptions spewing lava into the ocean is saturating the atmosphere. I spent the better part of an hour researching Sulphur Dioxide. I found out it makes breathing difficult and causes people that eat a lot of healthy vegetables... burp. I really need to burp more and simultaneously avoid breathing Sulphur Dioxide!!! Oh yeah, it also causes acid rain. 

That's about all I can come up with for now.