TOPIC: Try discussing here....

Brad Mortensen wrote: Thank you, Wade/Arcanist/Mike/Kaledor. Brian and KurtReznor, I wish you nothing but the best.

Everything I said came from sources. It may contradict the sources you're seeing, so one or the other is probably wrong. Maybe it's mine. If so, I'm really sorry. We work remotely so my employer isn't mandating vaccines but is implementing a surcharge. It's going to cost me almost 1% of my income next year to not get vaccinated. This choice is costing me real money regardless, and potentially my life. It's a life-and-death decision for me and everyone else, so if I'm wrong and it kills me then no one will regret my position more than I. And I like all of you (some more than others ) so I'm absolutely not trying to trick anyone into joining me in the grave.

My memory isn't what it used to be, but there are things I remember. When I was in high school in the 70s, our teachers were telling us how pollution was going to cause a new ice age by 2000. The solution was centralizing more control in the government. Then we had global warming that was going to melt the ice caps, same solution. Then when the planet didn't warm a bit over the last 15 years it changed to "climate change." Same prescription. Every year or two for the last few decades there was a new disease (swine flu, bird flue, hunta, AIDS) that was going to kill us all. Instead they all burned out. I've heard "wolf" cried so often I've lost count, and the answer has always been to give the government total control over every aspect of our lives. We didn't give it to them, and the crises passed. And here we are again, but this time they seem to have hit on something that'll stick. It's interesting how the lockdowns drove so many businesses into bankruptcy, but some big campaign donors (Amazon, Walmart, big pharma, etc) made record profits. I don't know how close it came to destroying TD, but Jeff was clever enough to weather the storm, for which we're all grateful. Many businesses weren't so lucky.

So I can't get spun up over every alleged crisis the power-grabbers come up with. I've heard too many. Many of today's problems (thousands of canceled flights, supply chain disruptions, dwindling hospital capacity) are IMO caused or exacerbated by vaccine mandates or threats thereof that are driving some people out of the workforce. It's funny how some roving "weather" seems to only knock out one airline at a time, and usually after they've announced some mandate for their crews. "No jab, no job" is the blackmail I was talking about earlier. These folks went from "essential workers" to "object lessons" for non-compliance, and we're all suffering for it.

And I'm really glad that no one here that got the jab had something bad happen to them. I don't want to be right at the expense of the suffering of anyone else.

So that's that. I hope to see you all again. It can't come too soon. We can kill some monsters and talk about things other than diseases, assuming we all survive until then.

On a side note: have you seen Adam Ruins Everything? Great show. He leans left but I've loved every episode he's done. (I like people regardless of their politics, so long as they aren't hateful.) I got hooked from his second episode called "Adam Ruins Security." Highly recommended.

Okay, I am going to address a few things here. There were zero scientists claiming there would be an ice age by 2000. There was a small group claiming that we could reach the end of the last ice age cycle and move into a new one in a few centuries, and even those scientists were skeptical of their own data. When the topic of global warming, and then climate change came up, that timeline was again on a much larger scale than you are claiming. You are trying to use the very alarmist opinions of a very small group to justify your skepticism of covid and vaccinations. The irony being that the opinions you are sharing about those topics are from a very small group of alarmists. You are even bringing up the fringe idea that there are stealth strikes among airlines. The supply chain disruptions are much more complicated than people rebelling against vaccines, it is a global issue.
I am not on board with blocking your posts, but you are continuously regurgitating misinformation.

Mike Steele wrote: I agree with Brad (at least I think this is what he was saying) that the COVID policies in the country seem driven as much or more by politics than by science. Social Distancing was absolutely necessary to the point of arresting people that weren't doing so and closing businesses that weren't complying - until a summer of BLM and Antifa riots when suddenly it wasn't important at all. Mask mandates were absolutely essential (even though one of Biden's own COVID experts admitted that a non-N95 mask does little to stop viruses) - except that the officials putting the mask mandates in place were caught over and over ignoring those mandates. Getting the vaccine is so important that tens (maybe hundreds) of thousands of doctors, nurses, police, firefighters and people of all walks of life are getting fired for not doing so - but hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are allowed/encouraged to come across an open border and are being transported throughout the country without any COVID tests or vaccine. Small children are being required to wear masks all day in school (which in itself is harmful to their health due to carbon dioxide build-up) and get vaccinated even though their risk from COVID is extremely small.

Tell me you watch Fox News and don't actually look anything up without telling me you watch Fox News and don't actually look anything up.

Mike Steele wrote: I agree with Brad (at least I think this is what he was saying) that the COVID policies in the country seem driven as much or more by politics than by science. Social Distancing was absolutely necessary to the point of arresting people that weren't doing so and closing businesses that weren't complying - until a summer of BLM and Antifa riots when suddenly it wasn't important at all. Mask mandates were absolutely essential (even though one of Biden's own COVID experts admitted that a non-N95 mask does little to stop viruses) - except that the officials putting the mask mandates in place were caught over and over ignoring those mandates. Getting the vaccine is so important that tens (maybe hundreds) of thousands of doctors, nurses, police, firefighters and people of all walks of life are getting fired for not doing so - but hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are allowed/encouraged to come across an open border and are being transported throughout the country without any COVID tests or vaccine. Small children are being required to wear masks all day in school (which in itself is harmful to their health due to carbon dioxide build-up) and get vaccinated even though their risk from COVID is extremely small.

Your claim about CO2 build up is bunk. People have argued that the microscopic holes in the masks are larger than a virus, but the virus travels in water droplets that ARE bigger than those holes. How can you be concerned about a few hundred thousand immigrants that may not have been tested/vaccinated when there are 10s of millions of your fellow Americans that aren't vaccinated? The person to blame for any political angle with Covid is the former President. The standard for public health emergencies was to have a single voice sharing info, usually a medical professional. Trump injected himself into the process, clouding the message, even to the point of saying he wouldn't be wearing a mask when the CDC finally came out and said they should be worn.

Mike Steele wrote: I agree with Brad (at least I think this is what he was saying) that the COVID policies in the country seem driven as much or more by politics than by science. Social Distancing was absolutely necessary to the point of arresting people that weren't doing so and closing businesses that weren't complying - until a summer of BLM and Antifa riots when suddenly it wasn't important at all. Mask mandates were absolutely essential (even though one of Biden's own COVID experts admitted that a non-N95 mask does little to stop viruses) - except that the officials putting the mask mandates in place were caught over and over ignoring those mandates. Getting the vaccine is so important that tens (maybe hundreds) of thousands of doctors, nurses, police, firefighters and people of all walks of life are getting fired for not doing so - but hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are allowed/encouraged to come across an open border and are being transported throughout the country without any COVID tests or vaccine. Small children are being required to wear masks all day in school (which in itself is harmful to their health due to carbon dioxide build-up) and get vaccinated even though their risk from COVID is extremely small.

Put down the Kool-Aid...

I'm amazed at the lack of math literacy and logical fallacies here.

I would struggle to make up a post with this much gibberish.

I used to be a member of a guild where the #1 rule was we dont talk politics. I miss that guild. Many people who could not stick to the rule were kicked. It was always rough to see friends get the boot but the guild held until the shut down the servers. I never knew any of their politics, they never knew mine, but we were all friends and we took down a lot of bosses.

Picc wrote: I used to be a member of a guild where the #1 rule was we dont talk politics. I miss that guild. Many people who could not stick to the rule were kicked. It was always rough to see friends get the boot but the guild held until the shut down the servers. I never knew any of their politics, they never knew mine, but we were all friends and we took down a lot of bosses.

I've got some college buddies that I've been getting together with for 30+ years for Superbowl parties. Our group of friends includes liberals and conservatives - we actually never even knew each other's political affiliations before the last few years. We still get together and have a great time at least once or twice a year, and just almost never talk politics.

I’d suggest that further discussion on these topics here isn’t beneficial true dungeon or the forum community and respectfully ask that this thread be locked.

Matthew Hayward wrote: I’d suggest that further discussion on these topics here isn’t beneficial true dungeon or the forum community and respectfully ask that this thread be locked.

No argument

Brad Mortensen wrote:

Matthew Hayward wrote: I’d suggest that further discussion on these topics here isn’t beneficial true dungeon or the forum community and respectfully ask that this thread be locked.

No argument

It's been open for quite awhile.

This community is immensely respectful.
I say it stays open, and we try to convince the other side,while also listening to them.

Brad Mortensen wrote:

Matthew Hayward wrote: I’d suggest that further discussion on these topics here isn’t beneficial true dungeon or the forum community and respectfully ask that this thread be locked.

No argument

Agree to the request to lock this thread.

No one is making any leeway on convincing anyone else. At this point it's just a powder keg waiting for a match to explode.

Here’s all I have left to say.

This all started on another thread, where everyone was rejoicing about the return of GHC. So was I, until they announced their vaccine mandate. And I shared that I was heartbroken.

That’s all. I wasn’t trying to start a big debate. I guess I was looking for some sympathy from the only people who were nerdy enough like me to understand why not being able to go to GHC and see some of my friends was so… I can’t even think of the word. “Tragic” is way too melodramatic.

If I had known where that was going to lead I promise you, I’d have just kept my mouth shut from the start and said “have fun guys!” I regret that very first post.