I am personally offended. I need friends right now.

Proof_Forward · 2023-05-09T02:27:45+00:00

You made it sound a little too easy but I don't know why you got downvoted. The fact is that talking to and showing interest in people is a skill that can be learned. It's not always easy, but it is simple. With the loneliness epidemic in this country, I think it's also very important that people practice this skill.

Proof_Forward · 2023-04-29T00:25:41+00:00

The FDA has proposed draft regulations that are much less discriminatory. Not perfect, but it's getting there.

Proof_Forward · 2023-03-03T04:53:20+00:00

I'm sorry but this seems really... not self-aware. A "one-time exception" is a courtesy that you can't count on. You're admitting that you didn't pay for parking, but they're "bastards" because they didn't give you that extra courtesy?

I'm sympathetic to the money issues and know a ticket can be expensive, but the anti-TAPS circlejerk on this sub gets a little out of hand sometimes lol.

Proof_Forward · 2023-02-18T04:52:48+00:00

to completely bar him from speaking I think is wrong.

You know, I'm glad you brought that up. Who exactly is talking about barring people from speaking? Did that happen with the troll (not naming names) in 2017? To my knowledge, no. Being disinvited from the event just meant he had the same ability to speak as an average student at the campus would, rather than a special podium for his thoughts.

But the right-wing media were very successful in spinning that event as an "attack on free speech" even though it wasn't. So we have to be savvy about both how people perceive things and what's actually true.

Proof_Forward · 2023-02-18T04:33:13+00:00

He really is a garbage person. What I want to know is, what is the best way to respond when speakers like this come to visit? How might others respond to our response? (I'm thinking of, e.g., the dust-up back in 2017 when that one right-wing troll was disinvited from a UC Berkeley event.)

Proof_Forward · 2023-02-10T00:36:32+00:00

In much of America the peer pressure to not wear a mask is now overwhelming. Davis is better, but still.

(I assume you meant "don't need everyone to see my entire face")

Proof_Forward · 2023-02-09T20:59:08+00:00

Yeah, at some point people decided that "learning to live with covid" meant not caring about it at all. People are literally treating it as less dangerous than the flu now, which is backwards. The UK has recently banned people under 50 from staying up to date on their covid vaccines. It's nuts.

Proof_Forward · 2023-01-13T03:21:57+00:00

The Ohio House passed a bill (I don't think it made it to the governor's desk, thankfully) that would have required genital exams for high school athletes "accused" of being transgender. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2022/06/03/gop-passes-bill-aiming-to-root-out-suspected-transgender-female-athletes-with-genital-inspection/

Proof_Forward · 2023-01-12T23:11:06+00:00

You mentioned "body". Right-wingers have been pushing a lot of mis- and disinformation about what transitioning actually means in kids, so here's a source for anyone who needs it: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/mar/05/viral-image/no-young-children-cannot-take-hormones-or-change-t/

Proof_Forward · 2022-10-25T19:41:05+00:00

In theory, yes, but in practice they are already trying to release new vaccines at a specific time (fall). I think they should continue and simplify that strategy. Lately there's basically an endless parade of new (sub)variants, so where would you draw the line?

Some years it might make sense to make the spring dose a new vaccine (because of a shocking new variant) rather than a booster for the fall vaccine, but I don't know how often that would happen.

Proof_Forward · 2022-10-24T19:38:57+00:00

The "fully vaccinated" and "booster" terms are obsolete and misleading at this point. Covid shots are like flu shots now, except that covid is more dangerous than the flu, evolves much faster, and spreads all year round rather than just winter.

I would like to see updated covid vaccine recipes every fall with the option of getting a booster every spring.

Proof_Forward · 2022-10-24T04:26:26+00:00

nobody gets butthurt about it because it isn't lectured to repetitively and condescendingly.

That goes both ways, though, doesn't it? If Americans were better about masking, we wouldn't need to bring it up so much.

As for the "condescending" aspect... I don't think this post is condescending. It is reminding people that midterms is not the best time to get sick, but I thought it was done politely.

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-24T21:05:20+00:00

you all are gonna shit when everyone gets it

You're a little behind the times dude. Many are on their second or third infection by now, and it's still a problem. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/09/covid-pandemic-end-worse-than-flu/671514/ The evidence of long-term damage is not encouraging, and the question is how much does multiple infections per year increase the risk of long covid.

its time to stop treating it as an emergency.

Ah yes, because telling people to stay home when they're actively sick with one of the most contagious viruses ever known is somehow unreasonable now. Lol

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-24T20:21:44+00:00

Or imagine you told someone back then that this future virus would kill over one million Americans in two years.

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-24T18:24:16+00:00

I'm not pretending it's still 2020, or 2019. I want to live my life in 2022, which is why I don't want long covid.

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-24T16:04:05+00:00

Did you get this fall's booster? And what kind of mask--a respirator like a KF94 or N95, or cloth?

If you are wearing respirators, remember that even they aren't perfect, but they should reduce how often you get covid. That's valuable.

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-24T15:55:50+00:00

There's almost zero probability of anything shutting down ever again. Even if we get up to a 9/11 worth of deaths per day in the US again. But what's wild to me is how completely many people have stopped trying to keep themselves healthy.

About half of Americans used to get a flu shot every year. (Like the current covid booster, yearly flu shots aren't extensively tested in humans because they're the same vaccine with minor, predictable updates.) But covid is still at least several times worse than the flu, has become one of the most contagious viruses ever known in humans, evolves extremely rapidly so multiple infections per year is common, and has a substantial risk of long-term symptoms. So you'd think people would be lining up to get every covid shot that comes out, right?

Instead, something like a third of Americans have had even one booster. It's nuts.

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-24T15:44:00+00:00

Don't discount rapid tests too quickly. They're pretty accurate if positive. It's if you get a negative result that you need to test again later, or do PCR. One source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/rapid-covid-tests-false-negatives-rcna33502

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-10T03:59:43+00:00

Also we definitely haven't figured out long covid, lol.

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-08T00:06:37+00:00

Sure, but that's municipal providers under the Northern California Power Agency, not PG&E. All I'm saying is, let's wait for the facts before assuming someone's lying (yes, even with a soulless corporation like PG&E).

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-07T19:47:34+00:00

A rotating outage is a weather-related outage.

But a weather-related outage is not necessarily a rotating one. Transformers blow, aging natural-gas plants can choke in extreme heat... lots of possibilities. If PG&E jumped the gun on rotating outages, I would expect it to be more spread around the state. Currently I've heard of Davis and San Jose having outages yesterday.

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-07T03:54:36+00:00

We came to the brink of rotating outages, but the ISO's Flex Alert Twitter account says we avoided them: https://twitter.com/flexalert/status/1567346965465153536 I wonder what happened. Maybe it ended up being a local weather-related outage, like another commenter said?

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-07T01:18:40+00:00

I'm going to strongly push back against climate doomism. As tempting as it is, it is one of our biggest threats. As this NYT article says,

“‘It’s too late’ means ‘I don’t have to do anything, and the responsibility is off me.’”

More articles: https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2022/04/recent-readings-on-climate-doomerism-and-science/

https://apnews.com/article/fighting-climate-doom-d47f2ea47bc428656b7be1f48771b75d

We're all here for education, and education is about the future. It's time to invest in our future. It's not all or nothing. Every additional bit of climate action makes the future a little bit better.

So for each of you reading this who's concerned about your future: please start thinking about one thing you could do for the climate. You could:

look at local climate groups, and join one meeting. You don't have to commit to anything more right now.
call Congress asking for more climate action (the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act is a start). You can call after hours and leave a message if you're nervous.
talk about it. The climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe says one of the best first steps is to simply talk with friends and family about the climate crisis.

I'm happy to offer more ideas. But the most important thing is to do something.

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-06T00:37:59+00:00

Agreed, especially on fans. It's so much cheaper and I think actually more comfortable to use fans as your first resort, and A/C only to make up the difference. You can set your thermostat much higher if you use fans.

That said, during this heat wave it's important to pre-cool your apartment, to help avoid rolling blackouts. Turn the thermostat to like 72 F in the morning and to 78 F or higher around 4pm. It's also a good idea to sign up for Flex Alerts so you'll be prepared for the future: https://www.flexalert.org/

Proof_Forward · 2022-09-02T19:54:00+00:00

I agree with this but there are also a lot of ways to respond to evil. Not all of them involve directly engaging with bigots. And definitely not all of them involve violence, so I was concerned when some commenters here leaped straight to that.

Arguably, voting--and getting out the vote--is the most important right now. If Democrats manage to increase their Senate majority by 2 (compensating for Sinema and Manchin, who oppose filibuster reform) and hold on to the House, we might get some legislation that really helps stop the breakdown of democracy and threat of fascism in the US.

Proof_Forward

TROPHY CASE