Holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas) in the age of Coronavirus

[Joe]

I don't have very many kids in my neighborhood, which is why I moved here lol

 

[DT]

Whew! Finally got the Halloween decorations back into the attic, and I'm only marginally injured ...

Got down our single tub of Thanksgiving goodies (some are just general "fall decor" type items).

 

[DT]

I posted a house shot in the "What are you doing ..." thread, but this is pretty cool, and will be out for the whole fall/winter season

Live photo from Halloween

 

[Thomas Veil]

We had two unvaxxed adults and a few kids at Thanksgiving dinner, so I wore a mask and kept distanced from the nonbelievers.

Actually though, this is my ideal arrangement:

 

[Apple fanboy]

Yet another blessing of not celebrating the holidays. No stress about socialising with coronavirus on the increase, or tying to find the needed presents or food ingredients in the shops that are half empty. Its just another day.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Yet another blessing of not celebrating the holidays. No stress about socialising with coronavirus on the increase, or tying to find the needed presents or food ingredients in the shops that are half empty. Its just another day.

While I deplore the (blatant, crass, opportunistic), consumerism behind the idea of "Black Friday", I will say that the idea of "half empty" shops in a supposedly First World country - a country, moreover, that has been a successful (and wealthy) country from trade for the best part of the past thousand years - is a cause for considerable concern, and is but one disgraceful legacy of the botched aftermath of the insanity of Brexit.

 

[Renzatic]

While I deplore the (blatant, crass, opportunistic), consumerism behind the idea of "Black Friday",

I love Black Friday. It's the only time of the year when it's not only legal, but expected of you to throw a bar fight in your local Target.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

We had two unvaxxed adults and a few kids at Thanksgiving dinner, so I wore a mask and kept distanced from the nonbelievers.

Actually though, this is my ideal arrangement:

View attachment 10058​

Unvaxxed adults (especially if this has been a choice) is something for which I have no words.

It is not just dangerously stupid, and stupidly dangerous, - indeed, almost illegally stupid, a veritable celebration of the most culpable ignorance, - it is also astonishingly, astoundingly, and unbelievably irresponsible.

 

[Renzatic]

It is not just dangerously stupid, and stupidly dangerous, - indeed, almost illegally stupid, a veritable celebration of ignorance, it is also astonishingly, astoundingly, and unbelievably irresponsible.

It's the American way!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

It's the American way!

Well, yes, but that this - nearly two years after the Corona virus first entered and disrupted our lives, and approaching a fourth wave of (quite lethal and extraordinarily contagious) infections in Europe - should even be a matter for discussion, acrimonious disagreement, and debate, in the US, simply stupefies me.

 

[Renzatic]

Well, yes, but that this - nearly two years after the Corona virus first entered and disrupted our lives, and approaching a fourth wave of (quite lethal and extraordinarily contagious) infections in Europe - should even be a matter for discussion, acrimonious disagreement, and debate, in the US, simply stupefies me.

If the last two years have taught me anything, it's that you really honest to god cannot do a single thing to fix stupid. All you can do is keep your head down, and try not to get caught in any crossfires while you wait for it to burn itself out.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

If the last two years have taught me anything, it's that you really honest to god cannot do a single thing to fix stupid. All you can do is keep your head down, and try not to get caught in any crossfires while you wait for it to burn itself out.

Well, education (state supported, the sort that doesn't hold with pure drivel or utter nonsense such as "intelligent design"), publicly funded public health campaigns, and an occasional mandatory public policy initiative might do something to address this.

Just because there are two sides to an argument, or a public policy/public health position, doesn't necessarily mean that they each have equal validity in science, in truth, or in terms of public health.

 

[Clix Pix]

Well, maybe the virus will eventually wipe out all the stupid unvaccinated people.....but the problem with this is that unfortunately it will probably also take along innocent (vaccinated) bystanders as well....

 

[Thomas Veil]

Well, yes, but that this - nearly two years after the Corona virus first entered and disrupted our lives, and approaching a fourth wave of (quite lethal and extraordinarily contagious) infections in Europe - should even be a matter for discussion, acrimonious disagreement, and debate, in the US, simply stupefies me.

That next wave isn't restricted to Europe. In simpler words, here we go again.

Michigan accounts for one in 10 new Covid cases in US amid surge

‘Astonishing’ rise is a warning sign for other parts of US, say experts as they urge vaccination

Michigan is now leading the country in new Covid cases and hospitalizations, accounting for about one in 10 new cases in the US, even though the state represents only 3% of the country’s population.

Cases across the US have risen by 18% in the past week, but some states have seen much more dramatic increases. In Michigan, new cases have gone up by 67% and new hospitalizations by 46% in the past two weeks.

“It’s actually as bad as or worse than it was during our last big peak in April or the peak that we saw the November-December before that,” Sousa said.

And what’s happening in Michigan is a sign of what’s likely to come in other parts of the US, particularly in states with low vaccination rates.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised about Michigan, seeing as how many of their citizens expressed abundant, defiant even, stupidity during the last go-around.

Michigan accounts for one in 10 new Covid cases in US amid surge — Guardian US

‘Astonishing’ rise is a warning sign for other parts of US, say experts as they urge vaccination

apple.news

 

[SuperMatt]

That next wave isn't restricted to Europe. In simpler words, here we go again.

Michigan accounts for one in 10 new Covid cases in US amid surge

‘Astonishing’ rise is a warning sign for other parts of US, say experts as they urge vaccination




I guess we shouldn't be surprised about Michigan, seeing as how many of their citizens expressed abundant, defiant even, stupidity during the last go-around.

Michigan accounts for one in 10 new Covid cases in US amid surge — Guardian US

‘Astonishing’ rise is a warning sign for other parts of US, say experts as they urge vaccination

apple.news

Maybe they could try kidnapping the virus this time.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

That next wave isn't restricted to Europe. In simpler words, here we go again.

Oh, I am very much aware of that.

However, for the most part, the (public) debate in Europe is not about the efficacy of masks, or distancing, or whether indoor social gatherings in winter serve as accelerants to the transmission of this virus, but, rather, tend to be about how to reconcile the need to save lives, protect (and promote) public health, while simultaneously attempting to ensure that economies, education, jobs, mental & psychological health, receive some degree of state support.

 

[Apple fanboy]

While I deplore the (blatant, crass, opportunistic), consumerism behind the idea of "Black Friday", I will say that the idea of "half empty" shops in a supposedly First World country - a country, moreover, that has been a successful (and wealthy) country from trade for the best part of the past thousand years - is a cause for considerable concern, and is but one disgraceful legacy of the botched aftermath of the insanity of Brexit.

Exactly. A problem partly of our own making. Coronavirus and the current transport issues globally are also playing their part.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Unvaxxed adults (especially if this has been a choice) is something for which I have no words.

It is not just dangerously stupid, and stupidly dangerous, - indeed, almost illegally stupid, a veritable celebration of the most culpable ignorance, - it is also astonishingly, astoundingly, and unbelievably irresponsible.

Had my booster today.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Right before our Christmas Eve party tonight, there's a flurry of texting going on, mostly involving my brother-in-law, the one who only just got his first shot on Tuesday. He's saying he's thinking of not coming.

Frankly I don't blame him.

But typically, one member of our party is urging him to come as long as he hasn't been near his Covid-infected sister in the last week.

Again, this speaks to how little people think about, or understand, how this works. This particular person (the one who's urging him to come) works checkout at a major store...and they were packed with customers the past week or more. She doesn't get that he's not afraid of him infecting us (although there's that possibility), he's afraid one of us will infect him. Especially her. Almost all of us are triple vaxxed, but she hasn't gotten the booster.

My daughter's in-law side also has somebody who's spending Christmas in the hospital with a fever and a Covid symptom I've not heard of before: psychosis. She wasn't specific, but apparently he was frightening his family by talking crazy.

Surprisingly, it's unusual but not unknown.

 

[Clix Pix]

A solo Christmas Eve and Christmas Day here. It's just safer all the way around, with this stupid Omicron attacking both the unvaccinated and the vaccinated.