Fantastic, informative, potentially life-saving…
Thanks a lot…
One thing I learned living for a few years in a place with real winter, is don’t leave your car if you have a problem. Your car will found in a day or so. Your bones won’t be found until next spring, if ever.
4 minutes without air, 4 hours without heat, 4 days without water, 4 weeks without food. Unless you are actually in the water you should probably stay in the car.
Florida. Ya won’t freeze. Other stuff, sure, jus’ not freezin’.
Apropos of my earlier posts, about how jury verdicts of large damage penalties are almost never going to be paid, and that other forms of punishment need to be assessed.
Here is a Texas jury’s “feel good” verdict of $3.4 million dollars in compensation which is never likely to be paid.*
@Snow on Pine:a Texas jury’s “feel good” verdict of $3.4 million dollars in compensation which is never likely to be paid.
Yeah, I read about that, but I am unimpressed by the “hoax” label. The kid was actually shot with BB guns and the other kids actually did trick him into drinking urine. The claims of racist animus were not substantiated, but that didn’t make them a “hoax” like when black students scrawl swastikas on their own dorm room doors and claim that mysterious racists did it.
Anyway some defendants are judgment proof and it has always been thus.
@sdferr:Florida. Ya won’t freeze. Other stuff, sure, jus’ not freezin’.
And remember, apropos of the chilling, if useful, video above, Japanese specializes in heated models (though it would be nice to know if they have an out-house version).
Owen: I sent this to (mom, vaxxing) friends who were kind of stunned to realize at the end that it was fictional (or semi-fictional or whatever we’re calling that). Reactions to that really ranged. I’m conflicted about it. I had one friend who texted “it feels kinda sensationalist in a way that’s maybe damaging but I am not the American public so it’s not really aimed at me.” It seems clear that a lot of people in the comments think it’s real or aren’t sure.
How were you thinking about this? I imagine you thought about it a lot. As a very pro-vaccinating mom, I am so split on this. On the one hand it’s a new way to reach people who just wouldn’t read pro-vaccination content otherwise. On the other hand, did you worry they’ll blow it off or think it is sensationalized?
Bruenig: I completely agree that this story is dramatic, and I can see how people might construe it as sensational. But measles itself is a dramatic and damaging disease, and there’s no way to lay that out faithfully without exploring those frightening and dangerous elements. About 40% of measles infections result in complications, ranging from diarrhea to pneumonia to ear infections to encephalitis or blindness. One researcher I spoke with told me that between 50 and 60 percent of measles cases will result in pneumonia. One in 5 unvaccinated people infected with measles will require hospitalization, and children under 5 are especially vulnerable. There is no way to be sure who will become catastrophically ill with measles, though the very young and immunocompromised are at greatest risk. I wanted the story to closely examine a couple of those complications in detail.
Because the measles virus in the United States has been suppressed for so long by vaccinations, it is easy to forget that this is a serious illness. I was surprised by several things I learned in the course of this reporting. (I had no idea, for instance, that measles suppresses the immune system, providing ideal conditions for secondary infections.)
Yet another case of the end justifying the means.
See Ya Chicago – The Chicago Bears are MOVING to THIS Red State… Video
About measles….
I’m an old person, but when I was about 6ish, measles started up in our neighborhood. My mother sent me out to play with the kids who had measles…as did other mothers in the neighborhood. That was the common practice – also when kids had chickenpox, and mumps. The theory was that these three diseases were easier dealt with when they infected youngsters than when they were contracted by adults. I didn’t immunize my kids – who are now mature adults. They managed to deal with it with no problems. I think immunization for these three diseases is less than desirable, though that’s just a personal opinion – no professional expertise.
Sure, Sue, we boomers got them all, and most of us suffered no serious side effects — but there were some who did. You took a smallish risk with your kids and came up lucky. And although I’m not sure, I think kids who’ve been vaccinated against chicken pox won’t get shingles over 50 or have to get those painful shots to prevent it.
Sue Klausner:
I am happy that your children are doing well.
But people who make decisions such as yours and fail to immunize their children rely on the fact that the vast majority of people ARE immunized, and therefore outbreaks are limited. If everyone did as you did, measles would be ubiquitous again, and measles can be very dangerous.
I am probably even older than you. Friends of my parents had a child who died of measles, and I heard about this now and then from my parents. But more importantly, they didn’t have to remind me, because my first cousin – my only first cousin, by the way – had measles encephalitis and died of complications from it. I was two when he got measles encephalitis, and he was brain-damaged from it, and I was six years old when he died.
I wrote at greater length on these subjects here. Please read.
When I was eight neighbor kids from up the block came into our back yard hunting squirrels with BB guns. I went out and told them to leave, they were older but not wiser, and proceeded to pull up my t shirt and shoot me above my naval with a BB gun point blank. My mother was not at all pleased and took me to have a serious talk with their father. That was the early 1960s the kids never came back into our back yard again, ever.
No 3.4 million dollars, no hoax, a stern warning was all that was needed. How society has changed.
I was born in 1942. Measles, mumps, etc. were childhood diseases, in that you got infected when young and you were thereafter immune. Or, you could be vaccinated for the same result without the known secondary risks associated with infection. Yeah, well I had measles three times before I was 14. When measles was “going around” again I was given a shot of something that was supposed to prevent measles infection. Gamma globulin? A vaccine? But I got measles again for the 4th time. The point is that infection, immunity, and vaccination is a lot more complicated than many people think. Especially now that for many people it is now of political concern.
My gripe against the Covid vaccine is that it sure wasn’t as effective as the smallpox vaccine. We kicked smallpox a**!
Admittedly a high bar.
An anti-free-speech remark by the present German Chancellor reminded me of some relevant history:
“Patriotic Germans Are Proud to Show How They Vote”
As a kid I had chickenpox, measles and mumps. I was out of school for two weeks with measles.
Measles could get very serious, though I didn’t know it. I had no idea what parents must have been going through then.
huxley on February 19, 2026 at 10:08 pm:
“My gripe against the Covid vaccine is that it sure wasn’t as effective as the smallpox vaccine.”
But the real dishonesty was vaccine proponents claiming (or perhaps really only implying) that it was essentially 100% effective and thus necessary for “everyone” to get vaccinated; with draconian and authoritarian responses if you didn’t.
And in the “I probably should have known that already department”, during that time I also learned that the flu vaccines my employer provided free every November, or that I religiously obtained after retirement, were maybe only ~70% effective and only for 2 or 3 months. I had been getting vaccinated for the flu as early as August or Sept. when they became available, thinking I was getting protection early. Now I wait until October or November.
I suppose our history with polio and small pox, etc., gave us a distorted view of what medical science could accomplish. With all of the gradual and hard won successes addressing some forms of cancer, heart disease, and some others, I am surprised we have not made better progress in understanding how to minimize or avoid arthritis in our joints.
Disclaimer: I am not an epidemiologist so take what I say with a few shakers of salt. But while some vaccines (famously smallpox) have been very successful in virtually eradicating the disease this was never in the cards for COVID. I believe because while there was a lot about it that we didn’t know (and that’s a whole other can of worms, that the “experts” had to pretend that they did) we knew it was a virus not dissimilar to the one that causes flu. And flu vaccines are notoriously hit-and-miss because the target infection mutates so rapidly. We saw that with COVID, within a year or so there was the whole Greek alphabet soup of “variants” (delta, omicron etc).
I read once that the way the flu vaccine is developed every year is they try to *guess* what variants will be most common. Sounds a little suspect, I suppose the justification is that if more people are vaccinated there is more overall immunity and therefore less impact on the healthcare system. Even though we know that some people who get the shot get flu anyway and others have bad reactions. A COVID vaccine was not likely to be any better, mRNA or not. Feel free to discuss or trash as need be:).
I learned the hard way that there is a small, but not insignificant, risk of developing a serious neurological condition as a reaction to the flu shot. No one volunteers this information, although it has been known for quite some time. A flu vaccine had to be taken off the market during the Ford administration because it had caused an unusually high number of incidences of this. But, the risks from getting the flu are considered to greatly outweigh the risks from this adverse reaction, so it is still advised. But no vaccine is risk-free.
Mr. Bill:
I don’t know why you say that no one volunteers the information – I often have to sign a paper when getting a shot, and the paper lists a host of possible complications, including Guillian Barre (I assume that’s what you’re referring to).
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Fantastic, informative, potentially life-saving…
Thanks a lot…
One thing I learned living for a few years in a place with real winter, is don’t leave your car if you have a problem. Your car will found in a day or so. Your bones won’t be found until next spring, if ever.
4 minutes without air, 4 hours without heat, 4 days without water, 4 weeks without food. Unless you are actually in the water you should probably stay in the car.
Florida. Ya won’t freeze. Other stuff, sure, jus’ not freezin’.
Apropos of my earlier posts, about how jury verdicts of large damage penalties are almost never going to be paid, and that other forms of punishment need to be assessed.
Here is a Texas jury’s “feel good” verdict of $3.4 million dollars in compensation which is never likely to be paid.*
* See https://revolver.news/2026/02/white-teen-awarded-millions-after-black-mom-labeled-him-a-racist-bully-in-online-hoax/
@Snow on Pine:a Texas jury’s “feel good” verdict of $3.4 million dollars in compensation which is never likely to be paid.
Yeah, I read about that, but I am unimpressed by the “hoax” label. The kid was actually shot with BB guns and the other kids actually did trick him into drinking urine. The claims of racist animus were not substantiated, but that didn’t make them a “hoax” like when black students scrawl swastikas on their own dorm room doors and claim that mysterious racists did it.
Anyway some defendants are judgment proof and it has always been thus.
@sdferr:Florida. Ya won’t freeze. Other stuff, sure, jus’ not freezin’.
Has the rightwise king born of all Florida revealed himself yet by pulling a knife out of an alligator’s head?
Nope, but we did have a brief chill-spell of trees raining iguanas about three weeks back.
@sdferr:Nope, but we did have a brief chill-spell of trees raining iguanas about three weeks back.
That was one of the foretold signs. His hour comes.
Looks like our future is truly in the toilet…
BUT for those of you looking for unusual investment opportunities…
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/japans-top-toilet-maker-undervalued-overlooked-ai-play-over-cryogenic-etching-technology
And remember, apropos of the chilling, if useful, video above, Japanese specializes in heated models (though it would be nice to know if they have an out-house version).
For the “you don’t hate the media enough” file, the Atlantic publishes a fictional story about a child dying from measles and originally presented it as nonfiction. Of course “fake but accurate” is the defense.
Yet another case of the end justifying the means.
See Ya Chicago – The Chicago Bears are MOVING to THIS Red State… Video
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2026/02/see-ya-chicago-chicago-bears-are-moving.html
About measles….
I’m an old person, but when I was about 6ish, measles started up in our neighborhood. My mother sent me out to play with the kids who had measles…as did other mothers in the neighborhood. That was the common practice – also when kids had chickenpox, and mumps. The theory was that these three diseases were easier dealt with when they infected youngsters than when they were contracted by adults. I didn’t immunize my kids – who are now mature adults. They managed to deal with it with no problems. I think immunization for these three diseases is less than desirable, though that’s just a personal opinion – no professional expertise.
Sure, Sue, we boomers got them all, and most of us suffered no serious side effects — but there were some who did. You took a smallish risk with your kids and came up lucky. And although I’m not sure, I think kids who’ve been vaccinated against chicken pox won’t get shingles over 50 or have to get those painful shots to prevent it.
Sue Klausner:
I am happy that your children are doing well.
But people who make decisions such as yours and fail to immunize their children rely on the fact that the vast majority of people ARE immunized, and therefore outbreaks are limited. If everyone did as you did, measles would be ubiquitous again, and measles can be very dangerous.
I am probably even older than you. Friends of my parents had a child who died of measles, and I heard about this now and then from my parents. But more importantly, they didn’t have to remind me, because my first cousin – my only first cousin, by the way – had measles encephalitis and died of complications from it. I was two when he got measles encephalitis, and he was brain-damaged from it, and I was six years old when he died.
I wrote at greater length on these subjects here. Please read.
When I was eight neighbor kids from up the block came into our back yard hunting squirrels with BB guns. I went out and told them to leave, they were older but not wiser, and proceeded to pull up my t shirt and shoot me above my naval with a BB gun point blank. My mother was not at all pleased and took me to have a serious talk with their father. That was the early 1960s the kids never came back into our back yard again, ever.
No 3.4 million dollars, no hoax, a stern warning was all that was needed. How society has changed.
I was born in 1942. Measles, mumps, etc. were childhood diseases, in that you got infected when young and you were thereafter immune. Or, you could be vaccinated for the same result without the known secondary risks associated with infection. Yeah, well I had measles three times before I was 14. When measles was “going around” again I was given a shot of something that was supposed to prevent measles infection. Gamma globulin? A vaccine? But I got measles again for the 4th time. The point is that infection, immunity, and vaccination is a lot more complicated than many people think. Especially now that for many people it is now of political concern.
My gripe against the Covid vaccine is that it sure wasn’t as effective as the smallpox vaccine. We kicked smallpox a**!
Admittedly a high bar.
An anti-free-speech remark by the present German Chancellor reminded me of some relevant history:
“Patriotic Germans Are Proud to Show How They Vote”
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/76165.html
“I am probably even older than you.”
Heh…no, you’re not…!!! For sure…!!
As a kid I had chickenpox, measles and mumps. I was out of school for two weeks with measles.
Measles could get very serious, though I didn’t know it. I had no idea what parents must have been going through then.
huxley on February 19, 2026 at 10:08 pm:
“My gripe against the Covid vaccine is that it sure wasn’t as effective as the smallpox vaccine.”
But the real dishonesty was vaccine proponents claiming (or perhaps really only implying) that it was essentially 100% effective and thus necessary for “everyone” to get vaccinated; with draconian and authoritarian responses if you didn’t.
And in the “I probably should have known that already department”, during that time I also learned that the flu vaccines my employer provided free every November, or that I religiously obtained after retirement, were maybe only ~70% effective and only for 2 or 3 months. I had been getting vaccinated for the flu as early as August or Sept. when they became available, thinking I was getting protection early. Now I wait until October or November.
I suppose our history with polio and small pox, etc., gave us a distorted view of what medical science could accomplish. With all of the gradual and hard won successes addressing some forms of cancer, heart disease, and some others, I am surprised we have not made better progress in understanding how to minimize or avoid arthritis in our joints.
Disclaimer: I am not an epidemiologist so take what I say with a few shakers of salt. But while some vaccines (famously smallpox) have been very successful in virtually eradicating the disease this was never in the cards for COVID. I believe because while there was a lot about it that we didn’t know (and that’s a whole other can of worms, that the “experts” had to pretend that they did) we knew it was a virus not dissimilar to the one that causes flu. And flu vaccines are notoriously hit-and-miss because the target infection mutates so rapidly. We saw that with COVID, within a year or so there was the whole Greek alphabet soup of “variants” (delta, omicron etc).
I read once that the way the flu vaccine is developed every year is they try to *guess* what variants will be most common. Sounds a little suspect, I suppose the justification is that if more people are vaccinated there is more overall immunity and therefore less impact on the healthcare system. Even though we know that some people who get the shot get flu anyway and others have bad reactions. A COVID vaccine was not likely to be any better, mRNA or not. Feel free to discuss or trash as need be:).
I learned the hard way that there is a small, but not insignificant, risk of developing a serious neurological condition as a reaction to the flu shot. No one volunteers this information, although it has been known for quite some time. A flu vaccine had to be taken off the market during the Ford administration because it had caused an unusually high number of incidences of this. But, the risks from getting the flu are considered to greatly outweigh the risks from this adverse reaction, so it is still advised. But no vaccine is risk-free.
Mr. Bill:
I don’t know why you say that no one volunteers the information – I often have to sign a paper when getting a shot, and the paper lists a host of possible complications, including Guillian Barre (I assume that’s what you’re referring to).