TallGuyJohninBKK

So you managed to dig up a right-wing anti-vax, anti-face masks academic from Stanford. You can see what other scientists think of his opinions: "In January 2022, the conservative periodical City Journal published an opinion piece by Prasad in which he attempted to demonstrate that the American public health organizations were not being honest in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] Writing for Science-Based Medicine, epidemiologist Lynn Shaffer criticized Prasad's article for the various "mistruths" it contained about face masks as a COVID-19 mitigation measure, for example the unevidenced claim that mask wearing was stunting children's language development. In Shaffer's view Prasad's writing "lean[s] heavily on pushing people's emotional hot buttons" and amounted to a form of fearmongering.[28] Prasad was an early member of the Urgency of Normal, a group that in 2022 campaigned against quarantines and mask mandates in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.[29] He spoke in support of repealing such mandates in a March 2022 interview.[30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinay_Prasad#Covid_response And further: "If anyone wonders why I haven’t taken Dr. Prasad seriously for a very long time, the quote above should tell you why. He knows his audience and now completely caters to it. Whether he himself believes his antivax pandering anymore, only he can say, but for all practical purposes whether he believes it or not is irrelevant. His messaging is antivax even to the point where he credulously bought into one of RFK Jr.’s favorite old antivax tropes, undermined the childhood vaccination schedule. with EBM methodolatry, and echoed old antivax “do not comply” messaging, and that, unfortunately, is more than enough." https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/dr-vinay-prasad-vs-a-vaers-study-finding-more-reports-of-vaccine-injury-in-red-states/

I know there have been some reports of a connection there... There also have been reports disputing a clear connection. "Iran’s role in the October 7th attacks is not entirely clear. Although it certainly armed and trained members of Hamas, the evidence that it helped plan the attack is scant." https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/israels-momentous-decision-after-iran-attack

I'm fine with Windows 10 or 11 as my home / consumer PC platform OS... And anytime someone is buying new hardware at this point, unless they buy it bare, it's going to come with the W11 install. Time is eventually going to make the transition happen for most folks. A few months back, for other reasons (not the Win 10-11 issue), I bought my first ever Chromebook laptop... I wanted something lighter to carry when traveling vs my heavier and larger Win 10 laptop at home... Have taken the Chromebook on a few recent domestic trips here in Thailand, and it's served the purpose as a traveling stopgap... But I could never see it as a replacement for my full-time home computing needs.

You can also translate that as... Israel blew up a bunch of Iranian military commanders who were staying in Damascus, Syria, supposedly at an Iranian consulate building there. Israel ‘badly miscalculated’ Iranian response to Damascus strike – New York Times Outlet cites US, Israeli, and other officials as saying Jerusalem greatly underestimated possible retaliation, didn’t inform Washington of attack until last minute Israeli officials miscalculated the severity of Iran’s response to the April 1 strike on a building in Damascus in which several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders were killed, for which Iran fired a barrage of hundreds of missiles and drones in response, The New York Times reported Wednesday. “The Israelis had badly miscalculated, thinking that Iran would not react strongly, according to multiple American officials who were involved in high-level discussions after the attack, a view shared by a senior Israeli official,” the outlet said. Two generals were among those killed in the alleged Israeli strike on what Iran said was a consulate building in the Syrian capital. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-badly-miscalculated-iranian-response-to-damascus-strike-new-york-times/

Thanks for posting that...Yes, there have been many such "how to upgrade" hacks published for Win 10 users who have perfectly functional PCs that don't meet Microsoft's hardware requirements for Win 11... The Win 10 laptop I'm typing on right now is one of those... Thus far, I've held off on doing the Win 11 hacks, because I was hoping to see/hear a bit more about people's experience with having Win 11 on a technically unsupported Win 10 machine. I also was wondering whether, as time passed, Microsoft might relent and relax its hardware requirements for Win 11... But I don't believe they've done that thus far.... However, I did read the other day about how MS now will be offering businesses and academic users the option to PAY for continued Win 10 support and security updates after when the expiration deadline arrives in 2025. The listed price for students was gonna be dirt cheap. The business price was pretty expensive. And as of the report I read the other day, MS had not yet made public what its intended pricing for extended support for Win 10 consumer users was going to be. In the end, I'll probably wait until 2025 and see if my current Win 10 laptop is still functional then, or if I've decided in the meantime to get a new Win 11 compatible machine.... And if I haven't done that, at that point, I'll probably try the Win 11 hack. FWIW, I had to replace my even older Win 10 desktop a few months back because of hardware failures, and ended up getting a new Win 11 micro PC made by Dell... Thus far, despite various differences, the Win 11 experience for me hasn't been much different than it was on the prior Win 10 machine. PS - Originally, I was excited that MS had teamed with Amazon to make Android apps available to run within Windows 11, which I thought was a great thing. But now lately, MS has announced they're killing that functionality and existing installed Android apps within Win 11 will cease functioning by March 2025... YEESH! https://www.uctoday.com/unified-communications/microsoft-removes-support-for-android-apps-on-windows-11/

How many annual flu shots do at-risk people / senior citizens get? I don't really hear people complaining about those each year when flu season is approaching. "According to World Health Organization data, 400,000 lives in England are estimated to have been saved up to March 2023 due to the COVID-19 vaccine programme." https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/04/16/whos-eligible-for-the-2024-covid-19-vaccine-or-spring-booster/ "The COVID jab protects against serious cases of the disease. Even one dose of the vaccine may reduce the risk of long COVID symptoms. Long COVID reportedly costs the NHS £23.4m in primary care consultations each year, so there would be clear benefits in making sure the vaccine is accessible to the broadest number of people possible. So why, then, is access being restricted to high-risk groups and those able to pay? While all the reasons behind this decision aren’t entirely clear, the cost of COVID booster campaigns may have been an influence in revising eligibility criteria." https://theconversation.com/private-covid-jabs-lead-to-concerns-about-creeping-privatisation-in-the-nhs-227471

The updated COVID vaccines now are also available in the UK via private pharmacies to people who do NOT meet the NHS criteria listed above. But the difference is, those shots have to be purchased instead of being provided free by the NHS. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/02/pharmacies-in-england-and-scotland-to-offer-private-covid-jabs-for-45 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/26/boots-to-offer-covid-vaccines-in-england-for-nearly-100-pounds-a-jab https://theconversation.com/private-covid-jabs-lead-to-concerns-about-creeping-privatisation-in-the-nhs-227471

NHS rolls out new variant Covid vaccine as virus kills 100 a week The new vaccination project started this week with jabs between now and June The NHS has started giving booster jabs of the Covid vaccine as the virus is still killing 100 people a week in England. People aged 75 years and older, residents in care homes for older people, and those aged six months and over with a weakened immune system will be offered a dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Those who are eligible will be offered an appointment between now and June, with those at highest risk being called in first. If you are turning 75 years of age between April and June, you do not have to wait until your birthday, you can attend when you are called for vaccination. ... Those getting the jab will be given a booster dose of a vaccine made by Pfizer or Moderna and approved in the UK. These vaccines have been updated since the original vaccines and target a different COVID-19 variant. These updated vaccines give slightly higher levels of antibody against the more recent strains of COVID-19 (Omicron). (more) https://www.mylondon.news/news/health/nhs-rolls-out-new-variant-29011931

As we move into spring, protection from any earlier COVID-19 vaccination you may have had will be starting to wane. For those who are more likely to become seriously ill from COVID-19, the NHS offers a free vaccine in the spring to top up their protection, previously known as the ‘Spring Booster’. Current vaccines provide good protection against severe disease and hospitalisation. UKHSA surveillance data relating to last spring’s programme shows that those who received a vaccine were around 50% less likely to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19 from 2 weeks following vaccination, compared to those who remained unvaccinated. According to World Health Organization data, 400,000 lives in England are estimated to have been saved up to March 2023 due to the COVID-19 vaccine programme. (more) https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/04/16/whos-eligible-for-the-2024-covid-19-vaccine-or-spring-booster/

'One of the greatest achievements of medical science' Australia's COVID-19 vaccination program saved the lives of almost 20,000 people in NSW alone between August 2021 and July 2022, according to new research released today. According to the computer simulations done by Victoria's RMIT and Monash universities, vaccines prevented 17,760 deaths in NSW's over-50 population during those 12 months. ... The study said that, without vaccines, 21,250 people aged over 50 would have died from the virus in the state over those 12 months — almost six times the actual 3495 deaths in that age group.  "The rapid development of safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 is perhaps one of the greatest achievements of medical science," Paul Griffin, director of infectious diseases at Mater Health Services, who wasn't involved in the study, said. (more) https://www.9news.com.au/health/covid-19-vaccination-australia-saved-18000-lives-early-omicron-wave-nsw/1b788d3c-e17c-4ef5-927d-2ec5261ccd8e

Yep, and about three-fourths of the U.S. adult population at present are not up-to-date / current with the recommended COVID vaccinations, including less than half of the highest risk senior citizen population. So hardly a surprise that people there are continuing to get sick and die from COVID. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink (as the saying goes), even if it's for their own good: "The percent of the population reporting receipt of the updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine is 14.1% (95% confidence interval: 13.4-14.8) for children and 22.8% (22.1-23.4) for adults 18+, including 42.1% (40.7-43.6) among adults age 65+." https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/vaccination-trends-children.html When people actually take the COVID vaccines as recommended, they significantly reduce the risks of serious illness, as shown below: Latest COVID-19 vaccines reduce hospitalization risk by around half March 01, 2024 https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20240301/latest-covid19-vaccines-reduce-hospitalization-risk-by-around-half ------------------------------- PS - part of the reason the U.S. has such a high share of the global COVID deaths (besides its relatively large population) being tallied by the WHO is many countries have simply stopped publicly reporting them. The U.S., meanwhile, has continued reporting them and has one of the more organized systems for tracking the causes of deaths among its population. Just 39 countries (out of about 200 in the world) reported COVID deaths to the WHO in their most recent report, which noted: "Globally, during the 28-day period from 4 to 31 March 2024, 98 countries reported COVID-19 cases and 39 countries reported COVID-19 deaths. Note that this does not reflect the actual number of countries where cases or deaths occur, as many countries have stopped or changed the frequency of reporting" [emphasis added] ... "The highest numbers of new 28-day deaths were reported from United States of America (3189 new deaths; -41%), the Russian Federation (288 new deaths; +20%), Chile (112 new deaths; -12%), Australia (95 new deaths; -56%), China (91 new deaths; +8%), and New Zealand (79 new deaths; +14%)" https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/covid-19-epidemiological-update-edition-166

You may not like or believe the U.S. CDC, but their findings as reported here in this thread have been confirmed separately and previously by others.... "The MHRA directed Reuters to a study released by Britain’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) and Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) which analysed data on COVID-19 vaccination and mortality in people aged 12-29 during the pandemic and said it found “no indication” of an increased risk of death from cardiac-related or other causes in the age group, in the six weeks following vaccination (here)." On the other hand, when it came to COVID infections: "A 2022 study of UK Biobank members, published in the British Medical Journal’s Heart, found non-hospitalized COVID-19 cases had a 2x risk of cardiovascular death. “This increased to 8.8x for those with primary hospitalized COVID-19 and 14.6x for secondary hospitalized COVID-19 within the next year or so, with most of the deaths occurring within 100 days of infection,” Morris said (here)." https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-coronavirus-athletes/fact-check-no-evidence-covid-19-vaccines-are-linked-to-athletes-collapsing-or-dying-idUSL1N3451N2/

Yes, such news about the COVID vaccines... It's shocking! Latest COVID-19 vaccines reduce hospitalization risk by around half March 01, 2024 The latest COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk for hospitalization or visits to an ED or urgent care by around 50%, according to interim data published in MMWR. This season’s influenza vaccines were similarly protective against hospitalization among children and adults, early estimates published in MMWR showed. The updated, monovalent COVID-19 vaccines recommended by the CDC in September target omicron XBB subvariants of SARS-CoV-2. (more) https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20240301/latest-covid19-vaccines-reduce-hospitalization-risk-by-around-half

I've been using LotusS online more lately, usually for non-food household items, as they typically just don't have anywhere near the same availability of various imported food items as Tops. There also was a long period of time after the Tesco to LotusS conversion where their website payments system simply would not accept any of my U.S. bank cards.... But they seem to have improved that lately, and I now find I'm able to use them for online purchases via LotusS these days. As for Tops Online, the last time I tried them a few days ago, their ability to save items as "Favorites" via the little "heart" icon on the product pages was still broken. And of course, in their recent tech overhaul, they ended up erasing all of the long list of "Favorites" that I previously had stored in my account. Tesco used to have a kind of Favorites capability where items that you had previously ordered got saved to a list for a period of time in your account. But that disappeared with the conversion to LotusS, and they still haven't done anything to restore that functionality up till now. So as a workaround, I ended up saving as browser bookmarks folder a list of the various things I frequently order from LotusS, and I find myself going back into my LotusS online history of past orders to remind myself what I might want/need for an upcoming order.

Predictably, yet another in a continuing series here of right-wing Republican opinion pieces courtesy of what's supposedly the "World News" forum. Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration. https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4591632-this-one-problem-is-why-democrats-must-replace-biden-at-the-convention/ I'm still waiting to see posted, for any semblance of balance, a Democrat leaning version of the same kind of column as posted above... something like: This one problem is why Republicans must replace Trump at the convention... ...the fact that the presumptive Republican nominee for president is facing 90+ felony criminal counts.... https://www.npr.org/2024/02/22/1233132273/how-trumps-trials-for-91-felony-charges-in-4-states-could-take-over-his-campaign Still waiting on that one....