The Coronavirus thread

Quote: SOOPOO

True story…. My wife has a friend for last 30 years, they went to Dental School together. The friend is an avid anti-vaxxer. Basically implied my wife was risking her daughter’s lives by having them get the vaccine. They couldn’t have a conversation that doesn’t eventually lead to some COVID issue that they argue about. The friendship is basically over. The friend just went to Texas and bought a house because she expects New York to crack down on the unvaccinated.

My question…. can you keep a friendship with someone you consider that stupid that they are refusing the vaccine? To my knowledge, I don’t have a single unvaccinated friend. I am not sure how I’d react to someone I cared about that was an anti-vaxxer.

It comes down to lifestyle, if you are a non-smoker most of your friends will be non-smoking. If you are vaccinated, most of your friends will be vaccinated (I heard that line from a Cardiologist in some Podcast). Whereas if you smoke, many of your friends will smoke, if you are anti-vaxx the same.

As for remaining friends, I have zero issue. I personally am probably friends with some people who are anti-vax (I don't ask people). But, it also depends what you mean by anti-vax, if they are public, and use their title as a medical officer to push the anti-vax narrative that would be just as bad (probably worse) than Doctors who do cigarette commercials.

If they just personally don't get the vaccine, but keep it to themselves, there is less of an issue. But, Dentists are right up in people's mouth, and for airborne diseases that can be bad, I can't see how this could be desired by your friend. But, I also know some dentists who smoke, and even more that dip, so being a Dentist does not make you perfect.

Quote: Mission146

I would imagine that accountants, payroll companies and, of course, the IRS employees would be against that, though.

It sure would make payroll easy. How many hours did the employee work? How much does the employee make per hour? Okay, multiply those two things together.

Now, retail businesses WOULD have to pay tax on whatever they buy to then offer for sale, but that's generally going to be more than negated by not having to really pay anything for payroll (multiply two numbers together), not having Federal income tax on the business and not matching those employee/employer shared taxes.

How much in sales tax should they pay? Let's call it 5%.

1.) What were your sales for the year?

2.) Multiply Result #1 by .05%.

3.) Write a check to the Federal Government for Result #2.

Payroll and sales tax accounting would consist of a four minute training video.

With a true VAT the business' don't pay any net tax. The business on a regular basis calculates what it has paid in VAT and deducts that amount from what it has collected in VAT. The difference is paid to the government if they collected more than they paid. If the reverse is true they get a refund of that portion of their VAT paid.

Consumers pay all the tax, which is always the case since expenses are always passed on to the consumer.

Quote: AZDuffman

Most people not getting it are for all those same reasons and most have thought it out. Only to be called all kinds of names by the left, as usual.

The mask and vaccination thing is a left-wing wet dream. Lefties love rules and they really love making people follow the rules, they live for it. It's their way or the highway. And because a disease is involved they can really get up on their high horse and scream their lungs out. They are loving every minute of this melodrama. It's their newest cause célèbre, like getting rid of the Confederate flag or tearing down statues of evil Europeans like Columbus.

cause célèbre
something that garners a lot of public attention

This has nothing to do with a desire to make rules, it has everything to do with enacting measures to stop an increasingly real threat in the face of idiotic political opposition.

Quote: missedhervee

This has nothing to do with a desire to make rules,.

Sure it does, it has everything to do with it. How many
conservatives do you see out there screaming vax vax vax.
Libbies love love love rules and making people conform.
This whole vax controversy is tailor-made for them.

Quote: missedhervee

This has nothing to do with a desire to make rules, it has everything to do with enacting measures to stop an increasingly real threat in the face of idiotic political opposition.

Sorry, it has to do with making rules. The masks are so silly it is hard to believe. Yet you see people alone on the street or in their car with them, all to show they follow the rules. Remember we had some DA who wanted to charge people not wearing masks with ATTEMPTED MURDER?

Yeah, tell me that it is not about making rules.

You birds just don't "get it."

Sure, rules need to be made TO ACHIEVE A GOAL, but the goal itself is not simply to enact more rules.

The goal is to save Americans.

But let me ask YOU anti-vaxxers a question: What do you think is the appropriate governmental response to covid, and why?

Quote: AZDuffman

Sorry, it has to do with making rules. The masks are so silly it is hard to believe. Yet you see people alone on the street or in their car with them, all to show they follow the rules. Remember we had some DA who wanted to charge people not wearing masks with ATTEMPTED MURDER?

Yeah, tell me that it is not about making rules.

DA?

I have never heard this story, and a quick Google search reveals nothing other than some City Council people in Tennessee musing about proposing this....

Though I think if you refuse to wear a mask in public while knowing you are infected this is not unreasonable (still would never happen, just my thoughts). It's like having sex with somebody with knowing you have HIV without disclosing....

As reported by CNBC.

"Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine is just 39% effective in Israel where the delta variant is the dominant strain, but still provides strong protection against severe illness and hospitalization, according to a new report from the country’s Health Ministry."

From the same article, far from the 99% number some people like to throw around on this forum.

"The two-dose vaccine still works very well in preventing people from getting seriously sick, demonstrating 88% effectiveness against hospitalization and 91% effectiveness against severe illness, according to the Israeli data."

The lady vet who put my dog down in early August is unvaccinated. She says there was no testing done because there was no time and she does not trust a vaccine that has not been tested for long-term consequences. There are going to be long-term negative effects for some people from being vaccinated but we don't have any idea what they'll be. I'll take my chances wearing a mask, a double mask actually, and social distancing. And staying home 98% of the time. I live in a township where 95 + percent of the people have been vaccinated. Let them take the risk, I'm opting out.