iNow

What about it? It clearly describes outcome Z, even if imprecisely.

Of course it is. They're a fairly standard cross-section of the population just like the rest of us. Do you forget how the flu vaccine changes every. single. year... and is new EACH time it's administered? It's been happening for decades, mate. Have you been living under a rock or something? 500 MILLION doses have been administered. Tens of THOUSANDS of participants across MULTIPLE clinical trials show it to be safe AND effective. The LARGEST effect has been an allergic response in 0.2% (that's two-tenths of one percent) of participants and some soreness at the injection site for a day or two. Other effects considered serious were things like blot clots that it turns out were happening at the same scale as one would expect from general population even absent a vaccination event. But this has ALL been explained to you REPEATEDLY in threads here already and you just won't let the evidence change you're mind. You're too emotionally committed to your preconceived conclusions... or perhaps you don't grasp the concepts of scope and scale, or maybe need to refresh yourself on basic statistics? In another study, 20 MILLION people got the vaccine, and 25 (not million, not thousand, not hundred... just 25) had a bloodclot, and there's no evidence that the vaccine was even the cause... correlation is not causation.

Models accurately explain current behavior and make testable predictions about future behaviors observed in specific circumstances. It's not enough to say that X or Y will change, but instead must be able to forecast the outcome as Z.

Of course it can. Full stop. There is both an extremely well established and accepted precedent here AND in parallel an agreement from every single employee themselves in their employment contract that they WILL follow all regulations and guidelines around vaccination as a condition of their employment. So, just think this through for more than 2.61 seconds and you'll see what I mean... Healthcare worker applies for a job. Hospital system agrees they're qualified and hands them a contract that says, "Sure! We'll hire you, under the following conditions to which you must agree before starting in this role." The contract then explicitly spells out those conditions like "you will be vaccinated against X,Y,Z and others we deem necessary in the future for the protection of our patients and staff, and you agree to show up on time and not steal personal items from patients and not engage in felatio with coworkers in the supply closet, etc." The contract then asks, "Do you agree to these TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF YOUR EMPLOYMENT?" and the healthcare worker then either says No and goes to find another job elsewhere OR they confirm both A) their understanding of employment conditions, and B) their acceptance of them and then finally C) they follow-up by signing their name to complete the transaction around this entirely valid, justifiable, and LEGAL contractual agreement. THEN... on top of that and in terms of precedent... there is a LONG list of multiple vaccines that are ALREADY required of healthcare workers including things such as Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Varicella, Polio, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Typhoid, plus an annual Influenza shot in most cases. So, the real question here for you is: By what backwards chain of logic and blinkered blinded ideology have you arrived upon the conclusion that a Covid-19 vaccine is or should be ANY different and suddenly considered "unjustified" or "too burdensome?"

Back to the core thread topic, the Washington Post reports that “The Biden administration is threatening to use a novel export control to damage strategic Russian industries, from artificial intelligence and quantum computing to civilian aerospace, if Moscow invades Ukraine.” Axios further shared: “Why it matters: "Such moves would expand the reach of U.S. sanctions beyond financial targets to the deployment of a weapon used only once before — to nearly cripple the Chinese tech giant Huawei." "The administration may also decide to apply the control more broadly in a way that would potentially deprive Russian citizens of some smartphones, tablets and video game consoles."” Meanwhile, the Pentagon this weekend presented Biden with plans about “sending 1,000 to 5,000 troops to Eastern European countries, with the potential to increase that number tenfold if things deteriorate.”

Lol. Wouldn’t surprise me if he instead diverted attention away from the Olympics by invading at the exact same time just to say “screw you, I won’t do what you tell me.”

The US has now ordered all family members of embassy staff in Ukraine to leave the country

Not in Iowa where they’re also trying to make mask requirements in schools illegal. In a blatantly hackish political move and power grab, our governor just recently signed a law expanding religious exemptions to vaccines such that they basically include anyone who wants to say “this is against my religion” even if the claimant can’t or won’t share where or how their religion is against it, and even if they don’t practice religion in any traditional sense. This has forced our states largest hospitals to backtrack on their previously set vaccine requirements for staff. It’s expected that this law will be challenged in court on the grounds that “love thy neighbor” includes not killing them with covid while fixing them an aspirin or checking their blood pressure. https://www.weareiowa.com/amp/article/news/health/coronavirus/unitypoint-mercyone-des-moines-hospitals-vaccine-mandate-governor-kim-reynolds-law-unemployment-benefits/524-eb0a5b5a-eaaa-4699-9bb9-6e388be9cac9 First do no harm. Their oath is Hippocratic, but their adherence to it hypocritical.

Yes Unvaccinated healthcare professionals should be nowhere near unhealthy patients seeking care.

And that’s fine. You’re welcome to hold this position and advocate for change. However, as it stands today, those restrictions do exist and are being actively enforced, much like laws and regulations against driving drunk.

“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.”

“The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.“

You don’t have to be a scientist, or even confirm you accept basic scientific understandings, to join and become a member. Also… There is no debate. Just corrections of creationist ignorance and education of the misinformed.

From the Economist article cited within:

The only thing being denied is an exemption to their clearly outlined and clearly defined policies for entry to the country. I’m genuinely surprised this requires such forceful and repeated clarification with you given your regular passion for things like constitutions. Yes, the lack of equity in granting an exemption caused the public to say this type of hypocrisy is not okay. Are you a fan of and advocate for hypocrisy in general, or just on the topic of public health and vaccines? So you believe all laws and policies should be selectively enforced, or only when a celebrity is involved?

It’s frankly irrelevant, but you’re the one claiming Australia is trying “to exile him from all tennis tournaments” and subsequent exchanges responded to that. The country said: These are our requirements for entry. He did not meet those requirements, and thus was prevented from entering. This isn’t exactly rocket surgery.

No, they’re not. They’re determining / have determined he’s ineligible to enter the country as an unvaccinated foreign citizen. Perhaps your position isn’t quite as strong as you believe since you must continue setting up strawman to knockdown.

Much like we do when requiring clothing in public spaces, proof of residence when voting, valid identification when purchasing firearms, taxes to own property, vaccines to attend school, age thresholds to purchase alcohol and tobacco, proof of minimum skill when operating motor vehicles, and on and on and on ad infinitum. Voting is your mechanism to amend these policies our representative legislatures have the authority to pursue, but you’re badly mistaken when suggesting that authority is absent. These kindergarten level caricatures of freedom in the face of a global threat that’s already killed millions and millions of people were tiresome long ago, and are even more so now. Got polio?

You seem to have the impression that vaccinated people cannot get infected and die. You do realize that’s false, don’t you?

Consumers of the programs demand it. Few people want to eat their broccoli unless it’s swimming in cheese as a soup. Same with news. Folks will watch something that rewards them with laughter more than they’ll tune into C-Span to see firsthand what the joke’s about. They’d rather watch opinionated outrage on Fox and easy conspiracies on Newsmax than sit down for PBS Newshour. Civics not being taught in schools is another matter entirely. With the way the GOP and small minded small government ideologues keep cutting funding and taxes, schools can barely continue teaching arts, music, etc., let alone pay teachers well enough to encourage them to choose to even if such classes were offered.

Except in this analogy Trump is Longshanks

Britain says Moscow is plotting to Install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine and US intelligence agrees

I think you may want to re-read the quote. Looks like maybe you missed the joke ✌️

“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."