Oh dear. Gay young men are too young to remember SF in the 1980s. But I do.
I sincerely hope they curb their behaviors NOW. Acceptance of the gay lifestyle will take an awful hit if monkeypox hits American kids.
Well, monkey pox is no AIDS. ItтАЩs not very lethal. There have been outbreaks in the west before and they just donтАЩt result in death. Look it up if you can find an unbiased source. This article is classic fear porn and IтАЩm shocked itтАЩs published here!
But agree with you the way to stop this is to cut out sex parties. Monkey pox sounds gross, even if itтАЩs not lethal here in the west.
What concerns me is the possibility that this virus has been...tampered with. We already know that there are labs engaging in gain of function research---just a fancier way of saying "tampering with microbes to make them more deadly."
I recently read that the тАШfamousтАЩ Wuhan Lab was working with monkey pox a few years ago. Wish I could reference that news but I think it was on the TV news.
To be fair, the author does say there have been no deaths in the West. (Also, I think the reason he doesn't say "gay people should stop having promiscuous sex" is because the article is about his suggested government response, not what people should do with their lives. I think the personal responsibility part goes without saying, from his perspective.)
I don't see that he thinks "personal responsibility goes without saying" at all. I think he's afraid to say it. To a NYT Leftist progressive, the idea of personal responsibility is essentially unthinkable. And that's what he is: a Leftist progressive whose solution to everything begins with government. Remember, Dr. McNeil did fine at the Times for 35 years, only kicked to the curb when he accidently ran afoul of a modern shibboleth he likely didn't even know existed. Dr. McNeil is likely to the Left of Bari at this point, and despite having been voted off the island, it doesn't appear he's learned anything about the dangers of his own progressive tribe.
The truth is that out of half a dozen or so outbreaks in the west over the last ten years or so, no one has died. ThatтАЩs an important thing to mention yet heтАЩs implying that people WILL die.
IтАЩm sick to death of these alarmist pieces that donтАЩt present all of the actual information in favor of raising the fear. Without the fear is there anything to write about?
тАЬSince may, about a thousand party boys got a nasty infection through sexual contact that goes away after two weeks, leaving a scar maybe but otherwise they recover fineтАЭ isnтАЩt much of a story.
But AIDS hit American kids, and that didn't seem to affect our acceptance of the gay lifestyle. Maybe you mean if it hits American kids in larger numbers?
AIDS hit two groups of kids: 1) the children of women who got AIDS (either from bi-sexual partners or through drug use), and 2) kids with hemophilia (who got AIDS from contaminated clotting factor).
Neither of those groups is "that could be my kid" for most Americans. People pitied the children who were affected, but the risk was very, very low for the average American kid.
If my oldest son had been born a few years earlier, he would have been in that second group, but by the time his hemophilia B was discovered, blood products were carefully screened. I feel like we dodged a bullet.
You are great with facts, Celia. But we live in a world where facts donтАЩt matter. Whatever is on Twitter or Tiktok matters. I worry about the тАЬnarrativeтАЭ.
Bari put it best in her resignation letter: "Twitter has become the de-facto editor of the New York Times". That applies to essentially every major media outlet in America today (incl FoxNews).
Forget "if it bleeds it leads". The new motto is, "if it clicks it leads".
That is always the thing that is most worrisome. When we have an administration telling us that inflation is good, it's clear that it doesn't matter what the facts are, only how they can spin those facts.
Mr. McNeil seems more concerned with the backlash, or should I say disgust likely to be directed at the alphabet crowd than the actual threat to the population at large. If it "keeps spreading and even kills some children or pregnant womenтАЭ I suspect heтАЩs on to something. Just as with AIDs, itтАЩs clear how Monkeypox spreads and a simple behavioral modification could reduce itтАЩs spread until vaccines can be ramped up for those who canтАЩt resist excess promiscuity.
While Mr. McNeil clearly laments the somewhat muted response to Monkeypox weтАЩve witnessed so far, he shouldnтАЩt be surprised because old Joe and the democrats control the federal government. I suspect that self-imposed silence will all change when Republicans take over the House in November. ThatтАЩs when the shrill, gender fluid activists and their media toadies will begin accusing them of killing the тАЬqueersтАЭ just like they did to Reagan during the AIDS тАЬepidemicтАЭ.
It seems to me that, unless this strain is a result of the same gain-of-function research that gave us the Covid pandemic, it is most likely to remain primarily a sexually transmitted disease.
From the description it sounds like the disease is spread from contact with the pustules so no bodily fluids necessary. That puts healthcare workers at risk. Thankfully they're wearing masks and gloves pretty much all the time now since covid.
I'm assuming it's spreading more among promiscuous people because of their bare-body contact with so many anonymous people in a short span of time.
The greater the affected number people infected, the greater the opportunities for random variations to emerge that can spread into other potential populations or modes of transmission . This is especially true of infections with more mild symptoms. When a communicable illness largely тАЬkills the hostтАЭ (like HIV), the spread is much more restrained.
I wonтАЩt lose it over this, especially if the at-risk community is complacent about it.
Maybe we just need to rush a vaccine development and get all our 4 year olds vaccinated before the next election??
Oh dear. Gay young men are too young to remember SF in the 1980s. But I do.
I sincerely hope they curb their behaviors NOW. Acceptance of the gay lifestyle will take an awful hit if monkeypox hits American kids.
Well, monkey pox is no AIDS. ItтАЩs not very lethal. There have been outbreaks in the west before and they just donтАЩt result in death. Look it up if you can find an unbiased source. This article is classic fear porn and IтАЩm shocked itтАЩs published here!
But agree with you the way to stop this is to cut out sex parties. Monkey pox sounds gross, even if itтАЩs not lethal here in the west.
What concerns me is the possibility that this virus has been...tampered with. We already know that there are labs engaging in gain of function research---just a fancier way of saying "tampering with microbes to make them more deadly."
I recently read that the тАШfamousтАЩ Wuhan Lab was working with monkey pox a few years ago. Wish I could reference that news but I think it was on the TV news.
It seems thereтАЩs a new suddenly reappearing pathogen every week.
Well, it doesnтАЩt seem that way so far. The men are recovering fine and itтАЩs not spreading outside the party boy subcommunity.
Also hi Celia! I always appreciate your voice of reason and critical thinking skills!
To be fair, the author does say there have been no deaths in the West. (Also, I think the reason he doesn't say "gay people should stop having promiscuous sex" is because the article is about his suggested government response, not what people should do with their lives. I think the personal responsibility part goes without saying, from his perspective.)
I don't see that he thinks "personal responsibility goes without saying" at all. I think he's afraid to say it. To a NYT Leftist progressive, the idea of personal responsibility is essentially unthinkable. And that's what he is: a Leftist progressive whose solution to everything begins with government. Remember, Dr. McNeil did fine at the Times for 35 years, only kicked to the curb when he accidently ran afoul of a modern shibboleth he likely didn't even know existed. Dr. McNeil is likely to the Left of Bari at this point, and despite having been voted off the island, it doesn't appear he's learned anything about the dangers of his own progressive tribe.
He says тАШno deaths in the west тАж yetтАЩ
The truth is that out of half a dozen or so outbreaks in the west over the last ten years or so, no one has died. ThatтАЩs an important thing to mention yet heтАЩs implying that people WILL die.
IтАЩm sick to death of these alarmist pieces that donтАЩt present all of the actual information in favor of raising the fear. Without the fear is there anything to write about?
тАЬSince may, about a thousand party boys got a nasty infection through sexual contact that goes away after two weeks, leaving a scar maybe but otherwise they recover fineтАЭ isnтАЩt much of a story.
But AIDS hit American kids, and that didn't seem to affect our acceptance of the gay lifestyle. Maybe you mean if it hits American kids in larger numbers?
AIDS hit two groups of kids: 1) the children of women who got AIDS (either from bi-sexual partners or through drug use), and 2) kids with hemophilia (who got AIDS from contaminated clotting factor).
Neither of those groups is "that could be my kid" for most Americans. People pitied the children who were affected, but the risk was very, very low for the average American kid.
If my oldest son had been born a few years earlier, he would have been in that second group, but by the time his hemophilia B was discovered, blood products were carefully screened. I feel like we dodged a bullet.
You are great with facts, Celia. But we live in a world where facts donтАЩt matter. Whatever is on Twitter or Tiktok matters. I worry about the тАЬnarrativeтАЭ.
Bari put it best in her resignation letter: "Twitter has become the de-facto editor of the New York Times". That applies to essentially every major media outlet in America today (incl FoxNews).
Forget "if it bleeds it leads". The new motto is, "if it clicks it leads".
That is always the thing that is most worrisome. When we have an administration telling us that inflation is good, it's clear that it doesn't matter what the facts are, only how they can spin those facts.
Not to nitpick but I'd categorize 'Inflation is Good' under Desperate Pathetic Lie rather than Spin :)
Maybe acceptance of the gay lifestyle needs to take a hit.
That aspect of the lifestyle anyway. I don't think I'm a prude but reading descriptions of those parties was rather eye-popping.
My eyes didnтАЩt pop but I did have a gag-reaction,
Mr. McNeil seems more concerned with the backlash, or should I say disgust likely to be directed at the alphabet crowd than the actual threat to the population at large. If it "keeps spreading and even kills some children or pregnant womenтАЭ I suspect heтАЩs on to something. Just as with AIDs, itтАЩs clear how Monkeypox spreads and a simple behavioral modification could reduce itтАЩs spread until vaccines can be ramped up for those who canтАЩt resist excess promiscuity.
While Mr. McNeil clearly laments the somewhat muted response to Monkeypox weтАЩve witnessed so far, he shouldnтАЩt be surprised because old Joe and the democrats control the federal government. I suspect that self-imposed silence will all change when Republicans take over the House in November. ThatтАЩs when the shrill, gender fluid activists and their media toadies will begin accusing them of killing the тАЬqueersтАЭ just like they did to Reagan during the AIDS тАЬepidemicтАЭ.
Alas, I think you're right.
Especially if the lifestyle = heedless promiscuity.
It seems to me that, unless this strain is a result of the same gain-of-function research that gave us the Covid pandemic, it is most likely to remain primarily a sexually transmitted disease.
From the description it sounds like the disease is spread from contact with the pustules so no bodily fluids necessary. That puts healthcare workers at risk. Thankfully they're wearing masks and gloves pretty much all the time now since covid.
I'm assuming it's spreading more among promiscuous people because of their bare-body contact with so many anonymous people in a short span of time.
The greater the affected number people infected, the greater the opportunities for random variations to emerge that can spread into other potential populations or modes of transmission . This is especially true of infections with more mild symptoms. When a communicable illness largely тАЬkills the hostтАЭ (like HIV), the spread is much more restrained.
I wonтАЩt lose it over this, especially if the at-risk community is complacent about it.
Maybe we just need to rush a vaccine development and get all our 4 year olds vaccinated before the next election??