unicorn

I feel cancelling the parade was a mistake. It's what the terrorist wanted. One can increase the security if needed, but the parade should have went on.

I'm a California Angel!

https://nypost.com/2022/01/19/folk-singer-hana-horka-dies-of-covid-after-exposing-herself-to-avoid-vaccine/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_7005994 "The Czech musician’s passing was confirmed by her son Jan Rek, who told Prague Morning that she “preferred to catch the disease than get vaccinated.” Her fatal goal: to regain access to her favorite off-limits sources of entertainment. Per her son’s account, Horká, lead vocalist for the popular international band Asonance, had wanted a “recovery pass” to the sauna and theater in her native Czech Republic, where either proof of vaccination or a recent infection is required to access specific cultural venues, the BBC reported. Horká, who hadn’t gotten the shot, saw an opportunity for the latter after both Rek and his father caught the virus over Christmas despite being vaccinated. Instead of self-isolating, she deliberately hung around the infected family members. The vocalist revealed her COVID-catching scheme on social media, claiming she was recovering well from the disease. “I survived… It was intense,” Horká wrote in the post, according to local news outlets. “So now there will be the theater, sauna, a concert… and an urgent trip to the sea.” “Life is here for me and for you too,” she added. Two days later, the folk artist reportedly died due to coronavirus complications, with her son reporting that she “choked to death” within 10 minutes. ... [Her son] Rek has since blamed the anti-vaxxer movement for her loss, noting that his mom frequently shared anti-vaccine articles to social media."

https://pagesix.com/2022/01/26/howard-stern-meat-loafs-family-should-address-covid-19/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_7020316 "Howard Stern wants Meat Loaf’s family to speak out about COVID-19 vaccines — and believes the late singer got sucked into a “cult.” The “Bat Out of Hell” singer died earlier this month at 74, reportedly of COVID-19. The late rocker had been vigorously opposed to masking and vaccine mandates. In a recent interview last summer, Meat Loaf griped that masks are “useless. They don’t do anything. They don’t stop you from getting COVID. They’re just a nuisance and make your nose itch and make it so you can’t breathe.” He added, “If I die, I die, but I’m not going to be controlled.” Speaking out about the performer’s death, Stern, 68, railed: “Poor Meat Loaf got sucked into some weird fucking cult. And somehow really believed that — he made a statement, ‘I’d rather die a free man than take that vaccine.’ And now he’s dead!” reports Uproxx. “I wish the family would come forward and say, ‘Ya know, when Meat Loaf was laying there in the hospital and he couldn’t breathe, he said, ‘I made a mistake,'” he continued. “‘I should have taken the vaccine.’ Like all these anti-vaxxers, they all say, ‘I made a mistake.'" The widow of Meat Loaf (né Marvin Lee Aday), Deborah Gillespie, issued a statement following his passing writing, “The grief I feel over the loss of my husband is gut-wrenching.” However, she didn’t specify how her husband of nearly 15 years died. This isn’t the first time the self-proclaimed “King of All Media” has bashed anti-vaxxers. Earlier this month, he went on a tirade about controversial tennis champ Novak Djokovic, who was thrown out of Australia after petitioning for an exemption to the country’s vaccination requirement for noncitizens. “That fuck-nut … Djokovic. The Joker, I call him the Joker,” the shock jock fumed. “What a fucking asshole.”"

A vocal opponent of Covid-19 vaccine mandates, singer Meat Loaf appears to have succumbed to the disease himself (death certificate hasn't been filed yet). As an obese 74 year-old, you'd think he would have chosen a wiser course, since he fit the profile as a prime risk for the illness. I have zero understanding of why entertainers think they're so much more knowledgeable about vaccine safety and efficacy than public health and medical experts. It's difficult to muster any empathy here. Hopefully his words and actions didn't lead to others losing their lives. https://www.tmz.com/2022/01/21/meat-loaf-dead-dies-singer/ "...Our sources say Meat Loaf has been outspoken about COVID, railing with folks in Australia recently about vaccine mandates..." https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/4509131/meat-loaf-died-catching-covid/ "...just months before his death he declared "if I die, I die - I'm not going to be controlled" when discussing Covid. In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published last August, he also labelled face masks a "nuisance".. ." Well, it looks like the only thing to control him was the virus... 🙄

Not that he's contagious any more, but to have lied on his visa application and to have promoted a false narrative regarding immunizations, I'm sure glad he received what was coming to him. He's a talented player with a despicable character, in my view... I'm glad he didn't receive some "exception" due to his fame. It would have sent the wrong message.

Oh, yes. It sure will.

I was once scammed by a business. When I documented the scam on a Yelp review, I received a threatening phone call from the business owner. I told him to go f**k himself and never call me again. I then amended my review to add the threatening call I received, and also alerted Yelp of the call, which subsequently flagged the business. I never heard from them again.

I received an ad for a service in the mail that really got me laughing! 😄 You can actually pay someone to clean your trash can! I can't imagine who would want to have this done. Just don't let it get dirty again! shinybinsusa.com It looks as though there are people who want this to be done monthly (???), but if you only want it done once, they charge $50 per bin!!! WTF?

One of the problems my sister had in finding someone to tutor her in Portuguese is that in the US almost anyone teaching Portuguese will be teaching Brazilian Portuguese. To become a Portuguese citizen, one has to take an oral test to ensure Portuguese proficiency (strangely, unlike many countries, no test on Portuguese civics or history!). I don't think they'd bar you for having a Portuguese accent, though. I know some basic Brazilian Portuguese and was frequently corrected when I visited Portugal. No one was offended, though. Since there are over 20 times as many Brazilians as there are Portuguese citizens, I'm sure the Portuguese are used to it. I asked them if the Portuguese language from Mozambique and Angola were closer to Brazilian or Portuguese and was told it was in between the two.

My sister moved to Portugal. All you need do is buy a $500,000+ home and live there, and you're on track to EU citizenship in some 5 years. The climate of Canada is so horrid, I can't imagine living there, except maybe Vancouver or Victoria. If you think you can learn Portuguese, Portugal is a great place to live. They're all fully vaccinated, have no problems with Covid or anti-vaxxer nuts, and the climate is decent. The only thing to be aware of is that the waters, even in the Algarve on the southern coast, are quite cold year-round. You have to be on the Mediterranean (Spain) to get warm waters, but I think immigration to Spain is more difficult than Portugal. I've thought of it myself.

Well, I do have a scholarship fund in my name to help university students who've suffered on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity, which is designed to last into perpetuity. I suppose the recipient many never bother to learn anything about me, but at least he or she will know my name.

I don't know how things are in Australia, but charities in the US are happy to help you navigating donations in ways which will lower your tax burden most efficiently. The laws are complex in the US, and these people know these laws well. An accountant can help you as well. I know that in the US, for instance, I have to pay heavy taxes if I donate from my retirement accounts before I turn 70. I have donated some from my non-retirement accounts, but hope not to touch my retirement accounts until I turn 70. If you donate to individuals with substantial sums, you know you will be fondly remembered for years to come. If you donate towards building schools, you can ask for buildings to be named after you, so that you will also be fondly remembered long after you're gone.

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-deaths-by-vaccination It looks like for those fully vaccinated and boosted, the death rate is about 1 to 5 in a million, unvaccinated some 20 times higher, albeit falling, perhaps due to their getting some immunity from infection, which may offer some protection?

I wouldn't say never. I'd go for usually. It's OK to out someone who profits from anti-gay activities and promotes an anti-gay agenda (for example the late Senator Daniel Craig and Senator Lindsay Graham).

Well, a good deal is going to my partner. No children. I have two nieces, one of whose parents is extremely rich, so no need from me. The other niece's parent is also wealthy, so a fairly token amount to her. As of this time, most of my estate will go to charities, including a scholarship fund for university students who've suffered on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity (i.e. parents kicked them out).

Me and my domestic partner (who's 30 years younger than I am) went to a comedy club last night, where a bunch of stand-up comedians performed. We sat in the 2nd row because he doesn't like to be called out by the comedians. It all went find until the 5th and last comedian of the evening. He picked on almost everyone in the first 3 rows. He asked if I was his Dad, and I said we were domestic partners, and he said "Oh, I see, a sugar-daddy!". I just laughed it off but he was mortified. He hates being called a sugar-baby. I've been picked on by a bunch of comedians at these stand-up shows throughout the year, and I just laugh it off. Just part of the show. How do you feel about being picked on by stand-up comics?

People who don't have wills usually don't think their deaths are possible. And/or they don't care about their potential beneficiaries much. 🙄

Although I never met the man, someone I know who met him assures me that he was in quite poor health, and should have been quite aware of his precarious situation during this pandemic. I'm in great health, yet I have a will (although no children). Although I'm grateful he continued the site after Hooboy's death, from what I know about him (mostly, but not all, second hand, I'll admit), I'm not an adulating admirer....

I take it that you do have succession plans?

The reason we have to still wear a mask even after vaccination is that there's no way to identify the vaccinated from the unvaccinated. So far, the vaccines, which are against the spike protein, have shown to be effective against all variants studied: UK, South Africa, California, etc. Obviously, if there is a new Indian variant in the US, that hasn't been tested yet, but no reason to think it will prove any different from all of the other variants.

There has been tons of research on this subject of contagion.People seem to have a high viral load and are most contagious from just prior to getting symptoms, to about a week after getting symptoms. Once IgG antibodies (the long-term antibodies) develop, generally 2 weeks after infection or immunization, contagiousness really becomes negligible, as there is no more live virus: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-020-2228-9 "To what extent can simple antibody testing assist in addressing the first and second points above? Given that there is no overlap in time between the end of viral infectiousness and the earliest formation of IgG antibody, if specific antiviral IgG is detectable, that person is extremely unlikely to be infectious. As IgG antibodies are then detectable for weeks or months, non-infectiousness can be assured for at least as long as these antibodies are detectable, and probably a lot longer because of residual T cell memory."

Well, I had some when I was posting on this on the now-defunct website, but there have been no reports of transmission from a vaccinated individual, and that has been looked at. There have also been some studies that looked at transmissibility after the development of antibodies, starting with the South Korean CDC study almost a year ago, and it appears that except in highly unusual circumstances, once a person develops IgG antibodies, any viral particles, even if recovered by PCR, are not infectious: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/05/22/861061727/south-korean-study-shows-no-evidence-recovered-covid-patients-can-infect-others So it does not appear that vaccinated people transmit the virus even if they get sick, though it's still important to wear masks, because there's no way to visually identify the vaccinated from unvaccinated when they're out and about. Unfortunately, a lof of the links I provided in the prior website may be lost for good. https://www.krqe.com/health/cdc-evidence-suggests-fully-vaccinated-people-do-not-transmit-covid-19/

There was a false alarm about a week ago, but this time it may be permanent or nearly permanent. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. Getting things settled when he didn't even have a will could take a great deal of time. Too bad he didn't make any effort to make things easier for anyone who might have to take over...

Although perhaps counter-intuitive to those not in the medical field, as it turns out people who are vaccinated can get ill, but don't pass it on even if they do get ill. Although people often associate "testing positive" with "being contagious," that's actually not the case. Although protecting the vaccinee from getting sick is obviously one of the great benefits of a vaccine, the biggest benefit may be preventing further spread. That's also the case with almost every vaccine developed to date: may not provide complete protection against illness, but does make the vaccinee non-contagious. Also, people who get ill a 2nd time don't seem to be contagious the 2nd time around. We know this both from public health data and also from studies which have tried to grow out virus from people who've tested positive but been vaccinated or previously infected. Unless a person is taking medications which seriously wipe out the immune system, contagiousness stops 9 days after first testing positive (hence the current guidelines for stopping quarantine after 10 days of a negative test).