You need to detach ISP's from crypto currencies, ISP's are not inherent to cryptocurrency. Yes, an ISP generally stands in the way of you and sending crypto, but by inherent nature cryptocurrency does not rely on an ISP, so it's not a productive argument to make.

Take it one step further from ISP's. Who controls the ISP? The government. You could argue that crypto isn't decentralized because you might live in a jurisdiction that proposes crypto taxes or strict regulations on any sort of trading. Again, governmental intervention isn't an inherent, by design, property of crypto, so you wouldn't correct in making that argument.

Your fundamentals aren't faulty, because you essentially make the case for free and fair internet without purview of the government. But tying this to bitcoin isn't the best application of your concern. It's comparing apples to oranges.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/15/omicron-found-to-grow-70-times-faster-than-delta-in-bronchial-tissue

Under perfect settings, a person can produce a viral concentration amongst bronchial tissue 70x that of someone with the delta. So it is only theoretically that someone could infect another person with omicron at some exponential rate. But real life is not in perfect settings.

An infected person with omicron is not sitting on a train, with access to hundreds of people coughing on everyone with close contact totaling 15 minutes or so (enough to build a sufficient viral load and get the person infected). So if you could individually take a concentration of the virus and distribute it amongst a portion of the population, you would find the viral load to be 70x that of delta.

Not that in the data we would see a 70x mark in cases.

This is a great point, and I like to explain to people using the logic you have above, when they minimize Bitcoin as worthless. The bitcoin private key that defines someone's balance is essentially a random string of numbers that is recognized by a network, in which you can transfer ownership of digitalized currency with other owners of the same type of randomized string. Banks utilize the same concept, except they attach personal information to each of the strings, and the central authority (whatever it is, government, the private bank itself, etc.) are able to modify any of the balances at their whim.

What security do you have the bank will honor their end of the deal, and maintain the balance they claim they hold for you? Banks require that you trust them, bitcoin requires that you trust yourself. And who do you trust more?

Perhaps they have gotten smart and recognize that traditional currency is no longer of use to them? Mexico's inflation rate over the past year has increased pretty dramatically. It's nearing 8 percent at the current moment, and Mexico's economy is so dependent on the US, and the US isn't doing so great either with their currency or economy.

A 20 percent discount today will about pay itself off with BTC in merely a couple of years if the inflation in Mexico stays at what it is. And that's under the assumption BTC's price is now below what it is today in 2 years.

How is he "throwing shade" at Bitcoin? This is more is his usual trolling antics that he spends a bit too much time doing. His ego won't allow him to concede that he was incorrect about Bitcoin and its energy consumption, so he'll pretend to be "pro cryptocurrency" by throwing a dart on a board and picking whatever meme coin the dart happens to land on.

He doesn't care about doge, he likes the attention.

He was certainly pro Bitcoin when Tesla bought billions. Didn't seem so pro-BTC *after* Tesla made all their profits.

It is not immoral to take advantage of the deductions given to you by the traditional tax system. Anyone that decides to pay more taxes than they're owed is a fool and deserves to lose their money. You pay taxes to the government, tell me -- do you view the governmental body as being capable of fiscal responsibility? When has any modern government ever been able to manage their financial system?No, that's why Bitcoin exists in the first place. Corporations avoid taxes because they generally reinvest their profits into the business.

Government targets crypto for tax purposes more than they target billionaires though, so if that isn't an indictment at how cozy politicians are with the elites, I don't know what is.

No that incorrect. It is 140x more transmissible than the original strain. 140% would make it 1.4x more transmissible.

For every 1 case, there would theoretically be 140x cases but that does not count for those who already have immunity, therefore would evade an infection. This is why the UK numbers do not add up. At some point, herd immunity kicks in with the naturally immunized and whatever percentatge is vaccinated (factoring in for the efficacy of the vaccine ie 30%, 40% ect. Some studies suggest the vaccines don't really do well against Omicron, but I am making the best case scenario for the sake of an example).

The numbers are at a peak, you expect them to go down rapidly just as they increased rapidly.

100k cases per day would be a dream. Everyone gets a mild cold, virtually no deaths, and robust natural immunity is achieved and pandemic's over. But, 100k cases (or whatever that number is) won't last long.

I am pro vaccine, in fact, but not before being pro liberty, meaning it is your choice to take the vaccine, and no one else's. And everyone makes the risk calculation differently (ie healthy 18 year old v. 70 year old with obesity). And I recognize that a vaccine must be presented in conjugation with other therapeutics because vaccination is not a catch all solution. Also the discussion about how mRNA vaccines may have potential side effects, which must be considered.

Then comes the discussion of variants, and the need for capturing data before recommending vaccination against variants, when the vaccine may not even bode well.

The strategy against Covid must be modified the moment it was evident that Covid would become endemic because vaccination would no longer end Covid, that ship has sailed. It's impossible for the vaccines to attack every possible variant, so the need for newly purposed vaccines that address variants will be required, just as is with the influenza vaccine (a new Covid shot every year, essentially).

So, that highlights the importance for alternative therapeutics for when someone actually gets Covid. Being pro alternative therapy is not being anti-vax, it's being pro medical science.

Right, let me clarify. The remaining 5 percent of a population that does get infected will still maintain some level of viral load, rendering the vaccine ineffective. But given how transmissible Omicron is (140x times original alpha variant), it's reasonable to expect that most everyone will get it unless you are living in the middle of a forest, isolated from human interaction.

I was originally going to mention polio in my above post to illustrate that mass vaccination does in fact work, only in certain instances. Upper respiratory viruses like Covid are too transmissible for it to not end up endemic. Influenza is the same way.

So mass vaccination must only happen with the realistic expectation that the transmission can be controlled, and that's not feasible with Covid. So it's really a useless conversation to have.

You understand that even it's impossible to inoculate every person in the world simultaneously to prevent any variants from originating? Pfizer's vaccine had the highest efficacy at 95%, so even if everyone was vaccinated, there still would be transmission amongst a small portion of the population. It's how upper respiratory viruses work, they are too transmissible.

You also understand that there is data to suggest that the vaccines are not doing well against Omicron, correct? You seem to think the answer to anything Covid related is vaccination despite what the evidence might show.

You already have herd immunity because herd immunity is vaccinated population + natural immunity, but since the vaccinated can still transmit Covid, it's not really that effective.

And I would argue that those with natural immunity have more robust protection and don't require the need for continuing boosters, but that's another discussion.

We are at 2 years of Covid with world wide spread, had the vaccines been working as intended, the percentage of people with antibodies (or B cell/T cell immunity) would have long been past. At this point, it's in nearly everyone's interest to get infected with Omicron. High transmissibility, mild cold like symptoms. It's essentially the ticket out of the pandemic, yet there are failed attempts at trying to control it.

Still waiting from the "experts" for the data that Omicron is dangerous. The death counts for Omicron are negligible as of now.

Exactly.

Without reading the 25 page report that's linked in OP, "users" has a broad definition, which is greatly convenient for marketing purposes. User meaning a crypto holder, trader, or individual that conducted a single crypto transaction in a calendar year of negligible value? Probably the latter. And the portion of users also don't include the Robinhood type crowd dabbling in shitcoins trying to get in on the latest pump and dump scheme.

Numbers are grossly inflated.

Jury has been deliberating for over 20 hours at this point, asked to review evidence of the accusers. US justice system for federal criminal charges (and state, for that matter) involve a unanimous verdict, both for guilt or acquittal. Generally the longer deliberations take, the better it is for the defense because it usually means there are a few jurors disagree with the majority resulting in a deadlocked.

This is a clear cut case, leaving no possible room to be on the fence. Not sure how you could possibly be unsure in this case about what your position is, but juries are unpredictable.

Keep your eye out for a hung jury, resulting in a mistrial.

No, it's not. It's 140x more transmissible than the alpha strain, 70x more transmissible than the delta strain, and significantly less deadly than either the alpha or delta variants.

So yes, it's highly transmissible but not any more virulent than previous strains. You get it, vaxxed or unvaxxed, and at best your symptoms are a mild to moderate cold. The vaccine does show some efficacy against Omicron, but even if it doesn't, I wouldn't have too much anxiety over the chance of getting the sniffles and a head ache.

It's time to move on.

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-africa-johannesburg-south-africa-f4b59ecde3029295f7b96f2d0ff44042

Omicron cases seeming to peak in South Africa where original strain is detected, peak of 27k cases/day.

According to this source - https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/omicron-in-south-africa-the-latest-news, zero deaths in South Africa as of a few days ago among vaxxed population.

So, we now know the Omicron panic was overblown. Some of us were saying this from the start, and in fact, many doctors in South Africa themselves were saying that the reaction to Omicron was fear driven. So how long until Omicron drifts into irrelevancy until the new variant is put under the spotlight? If there's any consolation to the endemic nature of Covid, it's that you can expect more variants of similar nature to Omicron -- that is, high transmissibility and low virulence.

Is "Xmas" part of the broader attack on Christmas I keep hearing about from Christians?

"Happy holidays" may be too inflammatory for the Christians, they insist on you saying "Merry Christmas," anything other than that phrase is to be insensitive towards any believers in Christ.

Now "Xmas" is apparently under that umbrella. The Christians are the victims from this verbal abuse.

A bit of an oxymoron, isn't it, killing a democratic leader.

By virtue of democracy, sort of a built in mechanism, there isn't a need to kill their leader. A democracy has checks and balances to ensure authoritarianism is not allowed, partly by not allowing consolidation of power into one office.

So if you feel the need to kill your leader, chances are you're either mentally ill or not in a democracy.

Probably the former.

Be careful, if you mention that the vaccines might be a bit leaky, you're against "the science."

On that note, clinically obese and elderly former President Trump announced he is vaxxed with the booster, and even shuts down the small group of people that boo at him.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/20/world/trump-supporters-booster-shots.html

Naturally, the story is not about how Trump is vaxed, but rather how a small dozen started to boo.

But anyways -- point is, when you are vaccinated there is no need to be concerned about anyone else's vaccination status.

They kicked him out because he wasn't radical enough and found someone who's even nuttier to replace him. Jack Dorsey was either forced out or abandoned a sinking ship on his own.

Failed attempt at equating me to another forum conspiratard. A cheap comparison. The fact checkers at the early stages of the pandemic, for example, interjected their own useless opinions and conflated them what the facts actually were.

And when complex situations are not presented as a binary, but rather as a gradient with nuance, the fact checks don't have any problems using politics on deciding which side of the fence they are.

I'm not saying every fact checker implements their own bias on things. Facebook just has a unique skill at being extraordinarily bad at fact checking.


What does Facebook fact checks have anything to do with this?