You need to know Viagra can induce serious cardiac problems for those with a number of heart conditions.
Cialis,  on the other hand carries no similar risks although it’s capable of making your field of vision green and costs big money.

Me, I’m fully vaccinated with Astra Zeneka without any nasty side effects. Worth the small risk I recon..

(05-31-2021, 09:26 AM)Karl Rand Wrote: You need to know Viagra can induce serious cardiac problems for those with a number of heart conditions.
Cialis,  on the other hand carries no similar risks although it’s capable of making your field of vision green and costs big money.

Me, I’m fully vaccinated with Astra Zeneka without any nasty side effects. Worth the small risk I recon..

Heard Astra was pretty bad on the side effects. Glad you didn't catch any. I'm avoiding all of um' myself.

I got the Moderna back in March, sister got Pfizer, nothing to write home about. Perhaps you should consider getting the vaccine.

(08-19-2021, 12:06 AM)InbetweenDreams Wrote: I got the Moderna back in March, sister got Pfizer, nothing to write home about. Perhaps you should consider getting the vaccine.

I've considered it, and I think I'm gonna pass. I live extremely rural, and the chances of getting it are very low, and I'm 33, so if I did catch it the chances of being fine are extremely high. I'm just not comfortable with it being so new and all, no long term studies etc. Sure you've heard the whole spill on it. It also really, really creeps me out how hard the government is pushing it. The more they shove it, the more I'm digging my heels it to not take it. But it's all about personal choice for me, I by no means discourage anyone from getting it if that's their prerogative. But I do get rather annoyed when people freak out on me for not having it, or when people say it should be forced via government intervention, or taking away ones ability to work, travel,  or buy food (a suggestion I saw) without it. Extremism is never good.

(08-19-2021, 01:53 AM)Adam88 Wrote: I've considered it, and I think I'm gonna pass. I live extremely rural, and the chances of getting it are very low, and I'm 33, so if I did catch it the chances of being fine are extremely high.

Rural as in like western Texas or Alaska? I live in Western NC and it is fairly rural, county I live in has about 10,000 residents, neighboring counties a bit more with around ~30k and it's getting bad here. Bad meaning the local and regional hospitals are all on diversion, meaning there's no beds. One of my co-workers also works with the county EMS and they had an ambulance wait with a bleeding patient (who was also on blood thinners) for nearly 3 hours.

(08-19-2021, 01:53 AM)Adam88 Wrote: I'm just not comfortable with it being so new and all, no long term studies etc. Sure you've heard the whole spill on it. It also really, really creeps me out how hard the government is pushing it. The more they shove it, the more I'm digging my heels it to not take it. But it's all about personal choice for me, I by no means discourage anyone from getting it if that's their prerogative. But I do get rather annoyed when people freak out on me for not having it, or when people say it should be forced via government intervention, or taking away ones ability to work, travel,  or buy food (a suggestion I saw) without it. Extremism is never good.

I do agree in that people shouldn't be forced to take a vaccine. I think their outreach efforts have been an utter failure. Lotteries and bribes is not how you do outreach. People don't trust health officials and this dog and pony show our politicians are having is ridiculous. Most of it I feel is just virtue signaling, look at this for example.



Indoor dining bad...but building a shack outside and calling it outdoor dining is ok. Just so they can say they care. So I agree with you on that front.

I used to be really skeptical about taking a statin. Unfortunately I have wonderful genetics and have high cholesterol, trust me it's not just what I stuff my face with. I used to be in pretty decent shape, I used to run long distance, I even competed in a triathlon. I even changed doctors because I didn't like them trying to shove statins in my face and so on. My new doctor told me that she had lost plenty of her patients due to heart disease and so forth but she's never lost anyone from taking a statin. Something to that effect. I can say this, I know people who lost family members to covid but I know of no one who has died from the vaccine or any other vaccine. I'm sure there are exceptions and I know that the vaccines aren't 100% effective.

It does concern me that I might have to face burying both of my parents. It concerns me that my niece who is 2 years old can't play with other kids, not because my niece is risk but her dad is immunocompromised and the effects of covid on him are unknown and it would break my heart if she grew up without her father.

I don't think it should be a government mandate to get the vaccine but I do believe it is a moral issue. It's not just about you getting covid or getting sick from it. And perhaps you are correct that it is unlikely that you would contract COVID or spread it to others being in a very rural area. I do agree that it is a personal choice and I think people should more closely examine their choices.

It is certainly in the realm of possibility that in 20 years that the vaccines cause some sort of problem that we didn't know about. Perhaps ads will run saying "Did you take the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19? If so you may be entitled a cash settlement!" That certainly may be true (but probably not), but I would rather die thinking I did the right thing than to do nothing and potentially be part of the reason that many people die, that my nieces grows up without a father, without grandparents and so on all because someone flapping jaw on Fox News or CNN convinced me not to.

I see what you're saying, and I think it could be seen as a moral issue, unfortunately the government is so terrible these days they're beyond untrustworthy, and wouldn't even be the first time in the modern era that they've pushed drugs that they know are extremely harmful. Another thing I don't understand is why people who have got the vax get irate with people who haven't. Like, you're protected. Isn't that the entire point of getting the shot? Why the fuck do they care if some random person hasn't. I see them as people obsessed with government rules, and any stray from that cracks their bran. We all knew the kid in school who would volunteer every time to be hall monitor and would write peoples names down. Thats what they grew up to be. They seem to want to be a sort of gate keeper for the "rules", and if I'm being 100% honest, they contribute to my not wanting to get the vax. Just to piss them off. I love to see people have melt-downs over not being able to control another persons life. But thats all it really is for me. I distrust the government to an extreme degree, as all rational adults should. I've never seen them push something this hard, or apply such ludicrous regulations. Thats what makes me raise an eyebrow.

You asked how rural I live? Well. The last time I saw a person was almost a month ago. I'm surrounded by woods and a swamp. And just found an abandoned cemetery from the early 1800s. So yeah, that rural. As you can tell, I'm not a big fan of "people".

So...a distance runner. Not sure I believe you. Take that shirt off and prove it. Hahaha

(08-21-2021, 01:16 AM)Adam88 Wrote: I see what you're saying, and I think it could be seen as a moral issue, unfortunately the government is so terrible these days they're beyond untrustworthy, and wouldn't even be the first time in the modern era that they've pushed drugs that they know are extremely harmful. Another thing I don't understand is why people who have got the vax get irate with people who haven't. Like, you're protected. Isn't that the entire point of getting the shot? Why the fuck do they care if some random person hasn't.

Not trying to be a poindexter here but drugs like a statin for instance is very different from a vaccine. I'm sure you probably understand the difference, one is some chemical that does things the other is either a weakened/dead virus or in the case of these particular vaccines are mRNA. Beyond that I would consult with someone who's in the medical field or a biology teacher. That being said, sure the government (not just the US') has pushed all sorts of things that turned out to be pretty bad...



Now will the COVID vaccine cause me trouble down the road? Well, I don't suppose hitting up Burger King is going to help me much either.

So why do people turn into Karens and act like you're trying to kill their baby over the vaccine? People take shit personally, some people have lost family members to the virus and well I get why they might appear to have a stick up their ass. They see you as being selfish, without morals or worse...libertarian. Worried that you might spread the virus to someone they love. While others, like politicians, are probably virtue signalling, however, I do believe many people do in fact care. That is how you get rules and regulations and executive orders and so on. When people en masse bitch about something, the government will do something, even if it's effectively nothing.

(08-21-2021, 01:16 AM)Adam88 Wrote: I see them as people obsessed with government rules, and any stray from that cracks their bran. We all knew the kid in school who would volunteer every time to be hall monitor and would write peoples names down. Thats what they grew up to be. They seem to want to be a sort of gate keeper for the "rules", and if I'm being 100% honest, they contribute to my not wanting to get the vax. Just to piss them off. I love to see people have melt-downs over not being able to control another persons life. But thats all it really is for me. I distrust the government to an extreme degree, as all rational adults should. I've never seen them push something this hard, or apply such ludicrous regulations. Thats what makes me raise an eyebrow.

You asked how rural I live? Well. The last time I saw a person was almost a month ago. I'm surrounded by woods and a swamp. And just found an abandoned cemetery from the early 1800s. So yeah, that rural. As you can tell, I'm not a big fan of "people".

I don't know that it is so much that people are obsessed with government making rules as they expect the government to wave their magic wand it make it all better...and sure, some things work and some things don't. That it an endless debate in itself.

Those who are unvaccinated may also be controlling someone else's life, inadvertently anyway. After all, those who are unvaccinated may spread the virus to someone who might succumb to it. Likewise, it isn't only "stupid" people who are getting the virus, people who were otherwise in good health have died or nearly died (those who get it bad have damage to organs, liver, kidneys, heart, etc), while someone I know who had a 5 way bypass, smokes 3 packs a day, has had toes cut off from diabetes got it and lived through it.

Assuming your assessment of your ruralness is accurate then yeah it is unlikely you'll spread the virus and unlikely you'll contract it, but if you have to travel for some reason it is something to keep filed in the back of you head...like say you had to go to New York City, you know to visit Cuomo--I'm joking, glad that asshole resigned. I think reacting in such a manner for the purpose of pissing people off is, well, a waste. Draw your own choices from yourself, not because someone on TikTok had a meltdown. I done enough dumb shit to know that reacting or escalating things usually doesn't end well. I used to have particularly bad road rage, luckily nothing ever got out of hand but have had enough experiences with that to know that is a complete utter waste of energy and for no purpose and try to apply that to other things in my life. I just try to be cool. Same with being on GS. I usually go out of my way to be more understanding of others opinions, positions, cultures and so on...most of the time, I can be a pretty big douchebag but usually there's justifiable reasons for it (at least from my point of view).

Again, I don't think anyone should be forced to take the vaccine. I know in the past employers required certain vaccines, but they were your FDA approved stuff, not this wishy washy, emergency use. Is the vaccine safe? Well, we know that vaccinated people aren't dying in droves. Maybe we'll find out in 20 years, but by then, all the shit that gets leaked into the groundwater is probably going to kill us. Nothing like some PFAS , US military wouldn't know anything about that, neither would DuPont.

(08-21-2021, 01:16 AM)Adam88 Wrote: So...a distance runner. Not sure I believe you. Take that shirt off and prove it. Hahaha

Well, I have done a few things. I would use the word athlete very lightly. I have had a difficult time most of my life with weight. I have gone up, gone down over and over and this pandemic definitely didn't help and well neither does getting older. I suppose when I'm in the right headspace I'll do it again as I don't want to be featured on TLC.

Anyway this was me in the triathlon in 2016. I have done a couple other things. I did a color run in 2017 I think, I forget which events came in what order and more recently I did a 5k in 2019...and boy has my body revolted after that. Folks considering low-carb or keto beware, it will come back with a vengeance.

   

I used to call myself a Libertarian, I loved to live and let live vibe. But I quickly realized how many insane conspiracy theorists comprise their ranks. I've always had a pretty extreme political compass. In my late teens/20s I called myself National Socialist for about 10 years, then left them because...well, duh. Then I shifted a bit, maybe a bit to the Republican side, then realized they are the exact same as Democrats, then to Libertarianism, then just.... nothing. I don't think I'll ever identify with another political faction ever again, they've all led be to bad places for one reason or another. 

Just saw this on the news. "Get the vax or you don't get an education". This is the insanity that I hate. 

https://news.yahoo.com/more-240-universi...15342.html

If that they want to require vaccines to attend, on-campus, that's fine. After all you have to have MMR and all that other crap anyway. So I can let that pass. Now there's a couple things, one is you can fill out paperwork and claim that your religious beliefs or whatever are the reason you won't get the vaccine as an exemption. Is it extra red tape? Sure it is. The second thing and this is what I take exception to is that only 49 of the 242 students they're booting from class were taking on-campus classes, that's bullshit there. Finally, given the status of the vaccine, for emergency use, I don't know that it is correct in that sense. Is the vaccine safe, probably is and people should want to get it without lotteries and by force. The outreach effort is an utter failure in this country. We are basically trying to feed a 2 year old broccoli and the 2 year old is having a meltdown.

As far as aligning with political parties. I have certainly swung a bit in the last 10-12 years. Being young and impressionable way back I was more conservative and kind of realized all these flappy mouths like Rush Limbaugh and so on were complete hacks. Then I swung left and well like you have discovered the democrats aren't really better. But, I'd say I'm left of center but I vote according to what someone is bringing to the table.