Says who?
Canadian expat residing in rural Bourgogne, France. From Saskatoon, SK. @usask alumnus. Farmer (market gardener), scientist, traveler, foodie, husband, & cat dad. He/him.
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Says who?
A quick Google search would've told you that the person in question (who invented CTM) was a U.K. citizen.
Social media has served as an easy tool to manipulate people. I'm seeing people on the center and even left turn into racists in real time.
I am just trying to understand what in the hell is going on worldwide. Why did the entire world seem to become anti-immigrant at the same time? And transphobic at the same time? And nationalist at the same time?
@charlieangus104.bsky.social
We have the same dangerous white nationalist voices in Canada and (obviously) the U.S. They are closely connected to Alberta separatists and MAGA lunatics. The hate rally in Toronto is connected to this. This is a coordinated movement that people need to be aware of and speak up against.
"Renditioned", more like. People can only be deported to their home country, which in this case is the U.K. This Nazi "remigration" buzzword, which IIRC originated in Austria (!!!) is used by white nationalists across Europe & North America. It's coordinated fascism that people aren't talking about.
Or Canadian. One-third of us have non-European heritage. I don't want to dunk on only Americans, though. The "But where are you originally from?" And "Oh, but you don't look Canadian *insert foot in mouth*" remarks have come from all kinds of people, united in their ignorance of the modern world.
I'm a Canadian living in France. I'm a member of several expat groups, and once in a while, there's a Brit or Aussie or Irish person asking for mundane travel advice for a US trip. I respond "Do NOT go" and it brings all the MAGAs out spewing venom.
I can empathize. A much smaller version of that happened to me in 2022 when I criticized the hicks behind the "Freedom Convoy" and some white supremacist from Tennessee tried to dox me on Twitter. I had to go private for a while. (Nobody stood up for me, not even among my 🇨🇦 followers).
I've always hoped for that.
Is there any country left that the US hasn't picked a fight with?
I think we would both have a rough time with Covid—she's older but I have more chronic illnesses.
My spouse & I do the same—to protect ourselves and each other. Unfortunately, people are pretty sexist in that "I'm protecting my wife" is somewhat better accepted (albeit in a condescendingly indulgent way) than "I'm protecting myself". I'm now using the former reason increasingly often.
It's not dangerous to get it right after, but if one isn't immunocompromised, the sweet spot is to wait 2-3 months for some affinity maturation to occur. Getting it immediately after an infection would blunt the booster's effect to some extent. Same goes for not spacing 2 boosters enough apart.
I don't think she's literate enough to read a book.
💯. Can I add a corollary to that? The folks who go "I've been here for X generations and so I'm higher up in the hierarchy than you". Every non-Indigenous person (in Canada, Aus, NZ, USA) is ultimately of settler origin. Know your history and don't look down on others.
I don't understand it either 🤷♂️
What did this MAGA fool Eric expect?
I had some hazelnut ice-cream for dessert tonight with a glug of frangelico. It was really good.
Everyone will unfortunately react the same way, I think. They're all terrified of 🍊. It's a shame because a coalition of nations could stand up to the US. That requires acknowledging them as the threat, first.
...going to prevent infection *indefinitely* for *everybody* when employed as the *sole* mitigation has been transmogrified by a few influential CC folks into "Vaccines have minimal effect on infection risk" and this has done tremendous damage. Excuse my going off on a tangent.
My in-laws stopped masking in public. We only eat with them in outdoor settings; we're N95ed up if indoors w/ them. That's how we limit our risk. I encourage them, especially my MIL, to vaccinate 2x or more a year; AFAIK she's never had Covid. The fact that (regular) vaccination isn't *necessarily*
Or to vaccinate extra-frequently if they can access extra doses. Contrary to what quite a few folks in the CC community argue ("no/slight effect on infection"), vaccination does reduce infection risk, sometimes significantly. The effect is *transient* and that's why regular dosing is necessary.
...respirator, that's excellent and stop picking fights where they aren't needed.
Yes. There's a related point I've brought up in the past. Infected (Covid or other) people who do wear a mask. There's an inevitable person going "Why didn't you stay home??!". If they're wearing a substandard mask, cajole them into wearing an N95. They're halfway there. If they *are* wearing a
I was disappointed as well by the numerous (non-MAGA) people rooting for him to recover. Made no sense even back then.
I understand the resentment against those being unscientific about masking. My spouse & I are the only N95 wearers here. Pragmatically, though, if the goal is to reduce transmission, we achieve a greater reduction by getting 100 people to vax every 6 months rather than 10 new ppl (good luck) to mask
Regular vaccination reduces the risk of infection, transmission, and Long Covid, so I'm glad they're concerned about it. I'd rather they demand one mitigation (even if imperfect) rather than none. 🤷♂️
They wouldn't. Even if their governments tried, the populace would revolt. I live in France and although there's plenty of resentment against the gangster regime, it's not universal, and economic/military self-preservation would take precedence over helping a friend. Arms supplies at BEST.
😂 I was rooting for SARS-CoV-2 in 2020. In this particular case. Too bad they pumped him full of monoclonal antibodies.
Sounds like a better ending than what is currently happening.
Not an impression but reality.
He's a fascist. Feature, not bug. I don't think Americans are realizing what they're up against, even now.
I love the fall colours in southern QC and ON. They tend to be more muted on the prairies (nights cool off too abruptly), and particularly so here in France (fall is too warm and wet).
Even as civilization crumbles under creeping fascism, we can continue to trust municipal councils to uphold lawn standards. Priorities matter!
Yes. The antivax and fascist mobster outfit cosplaying as your federal government is manipulating and empowering kooky politicians & other voices in my country (Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta) and across the pond in the EU. Dark times lie ahead.
This is a good first step. As a Canadian, I have to ask why you blue state folks aren't doing more stuff like this. Your federal government has power only because you allow it to. It isn't a government so much as a mobster outfit (and without a code of conduct). bsky.app/profile/greg...
Is she posting antivaccine nonsense again ? Of course with the four magic words, "I'm not antivax, but..."
Yeah, but it's in the US. That's the downside. I'm not visiting your country.
Also depends on the European country. AFAIK, anyone can get a vaccine in Germany. I often go there for extra doses. Here in France, being a household member or caregiver for an elderly person is a valid excuse (because contrary to what many people think, Covid vaccines do reduce transmission risk).
Arrest all the attendees and organizers of this hate rally. That would be the Canadian thing to do. The American approach, which unfortunately many Canadians are co-opting, is to let racists be racists in the hope that public recrimination shuts them up. That. NEVER. Works.
A significant minority of people in the UK and Canada are being whipped up into contrived rage. This is MAGA American strategy at work. They're playing the long game, unfortunately quite successfully, and we need to awaken to this threat before fascism takes hold everywhere.
Agreed. And Dana Parish as well. And a bunch of other antivax American nutters who've manipulated a fringe of the Covid-cautious community, especially in the US. Please stop following these charlatans.
"Vaccines don't have a meaningful effect on infection or transmission or Long Covid" ❌️ "Vaccines only reduce risk of severe illness" ❌️ "Vaccinated people are more likely to be asymptomatic spreaders" ❌️ Anyone fluent in English can perceive the distinction here between the 2 types of messaging.
Examples of accurate & honest phrasing in discussing Covid vaccines: Vaccines reduce but don't eliminate Long Covid or infection & transmission risks ✅️ Vaccine effectiveness wanes and requires periodic boosting with updated vaccines ✅️ Masking is an essential complementary mitigation ✅️ However,
Lorenz is an antivaxxer who blocked me when I pointed out she was spreading disinformation—and it's because of those words "not meaningful(ly)". There are much better ways to discuss the importance of masking without being antivax. I mask in public, FYI. For example : bsky.app/profile/adit...
What a shame. I used to enjoy their plant-based chicken in tacos and arepas, and the veggie pepperoni as a protein boost on delivered pizza.
Don't bite your tongue next time. They need to hear it.
Yes, you need a high vaccination rate *and* it needs to be regular (every 6 months) to significantly tamp down transmission.
And regular Covid vaccination reduces infection risk as well, which then translates to reduced transmission in a community.
All part of Project 2025, replacing the government with a Christian extremist theocracy.
You're all ex-smokers 😉. (I say "you" because I'm not American and thankfully don't live in the U.S). You have to say what you have to say. Taking the high road all the time is why decent Americans lost their country to MAGA.
I was thinking the same thing. I can't even begin to understand their violent culture.
Thank you for clarifying. Unfortunately, the resentment is spilling over to the point where anyone who has Indian heritage (or even looks like they could have it) is a target, irrespective of their citizenship or how long they've been in Canada, or how integrated they are.
Convo in the wild: Is your account political? Me: not intentionally… As a doctor, vaccination was a given until it suddenly became ‘political’ As a Canadian, having an independent country was a given, until it suddenly became ‘political’ #WeirdTimeline
I just blocked her. Here in America, we heard and read comments such as that and LOOK where we are now. Please, I beg you. Crush that type of rhetoric now. Do not allow it to creep into Canada any further. You will live to regret it. Look south to see just how bad.
You are a racist who called me "unCanadian" for pointing out your racism. We don't need people like you pontificating about Canadian values when you have a tenuous grasp of those values.
You know nothing about me. I've called out folks for doing that.
If your way of life is being "obliterated" (How? You haven't elaborated), take it up with the specific folks engaging in that behaviour, not an entire ethnicity. That's textbook racism. I'm unCanadian for pointing this out? I'm more Canadian than you could ever hope to be be with that attitude.
If you see discrimination occurring in employment or elsewhere, call out those specific individuals, not an entire ethnicity, nationality, or race.
Don't get me wrong here—I know that *some* folks from India can be pretty racist/colourist (sometimes even against other folks from India). If they're new to Canada, they're not citizens yet and still learning how our society works. You & I don't have that excuse and can't paint with broad strokes.
FYI, I'm a Canadian, not "East Indian". Don't look at fellow Canadians through the prism of ethnicity.
That's funny, I don't see Canadians as "Indian" or "white". I see fellow Canadians as just that—Canadians, myself included. I suggest a perspective adjustment. Obsession with ethnicity/skin colour is unhealthy and not very Canadian.
You're only ~1/8 of the way through his term (assuming he even quits voluntarily at the end). Plenty of time for the US to start a war.
They've been doing this in Canada for a while. I never saw so much open racism from fellow Canadians (especially online) before MAGA ramped up their internal & external activities around 5 years ago.
The US is not our friend and many Canadians are still in denial about it.
Summoning an ambassador isn't going to do anything. Banning the entry of Americans to Greenland would. Denmark and Europe still don't get it.
He (Asim Malhotra) is such a POS.
AFAIK, Novavax isn't updating their vaccine this fall. Pfizer and Moderna are.
Wait another 2 months.
Malheureusement, presque une moitié des Américains sont exactement le problème.
They want it to hit zero. bsky.app/profile/thed...
Safer to use the "I was once a smoker" reason. Fascists will target autistic people as well.
Ah, gotcha.
Emergency rooms are very Covid-y! I was in one a year ago and refused to take my N95 off for an oral temp check (this was in QC).
?????
It's very important to get vaccinated regularly, at least twice a year. Effectiveness (against all aspects—from infection risk to severity to Long Covid risk) wanes with time. In addition to biannual vaccination (or more), I wear an N95 in all public buildings & vehicles. Never had Covid AFAIK.
It's tricky but not impossible to find all three vaccines here in the EU. Last fall, I headed to the US to get a Novavax dose. Needless to say, I will not be visiting that nation for years to come.
💯 I generally have a modest preference for Novavax, but since Pfizer's/Moderna's version (LP.8.1) is antigenically closer to current variants than Novavax's JN.1 (unchanged from last year), I'm going to choose mRNA for at least 1 of my 2-3 doses over the next year.
Not to mention that you don't live with your friends. Their infections don't become your infections. The bar is naturally far higher for household members.
Great point. The "2-way is better than 1-way" point was important when middling-efficacy cloth masks were in use. N95+ respirators are *designed* to protect the user as a 1-way solution. 2-way is still superior at popn. level b/c it covers for errors in use, but folks misinterpret this.
I think we're all on the same side here. Layered solutions are the best. The problem is that fringe voices have taken this completely to the other extreme and basically say that vaccination has no effect on infection & transmission, which is as wrong as asserting that it prevents it perfectly.
Needless to say, we use what NPIs we can as well, including bringing our own HEPA, requesting open windows, getting the 1st appointment in the morning, etc. See, it's pretty easy to advocate for all mitigations, including vaccination, simultaneously.
Yes. My spouse has a ton of dental work to catch up on (largely shelved because of Covid). We're trying to wait until we can get a dose of the updated (LP.8.1) vaccine this autumn. Why? Because regular vaccination reduces infection & Long Covid risk as well, not *just* the risk of severe illness.
Yup. I get the impression that if effectiveness against infection is less than 80%, people interpret it as equivalent to zero. There's nothing in between. It's frustrating, especially when it comes from people who should be full-throated advocates for vaccination (including for Covid).
Flu, pertussis...
When I was a kid, a hospital nurse decided to gauge if an anti-emetic was working on me by making me drink a full glass of 7-Up. It came back up at record speed. I've never been able to look at sweet lemon- or lime-flavoured products since (savoury is ok). Not in 30+ years.
She's the most racist of the three, too.
Hallo, LP.8.1 am 18.9?
Of course. The best approach is to use all the mitigations. That has always been my advice as well. If you look at the original QT & the responses on that thread, there are a number of people arguing with Sara. They're missing the point (it's not like she told people not to use other mitigations).
certainly not as high as in the summer 2021 era when most people had been freshly vaxed against the variants circulating then. Last year's version was a pretty good match. At the end of the day, 20% vax uptake once a year won't affect community transmission. But they do reduce infxn risk.
There's nothing *inherent* about current variants that makes them more or less resistant to vaccine-induced immunity. How distant they are from the most recent version (+ how many doses of that version one receives; one dose isn't enough!) will determine VE. I'd say we're above the 2022 nadir but
Hi, I just want to point out a nuance here. That meta-study looked at OG vaccines. It's no surprise they were less effective against BA.1 than Delta (much greater antigenic distance w/ the former). The 2-year era from BA.1/BA.2 Omicron emergence to the XBB.1.5 version was the nadir for VE.
Vaccination significantly reduces transmission, and high vaccination rates significantly reduce overall transmission in the community. Some people in the disabled community are loud and wrong about this, and it’s a really big problem.
To use an analogy, wearing an N95 is defensive driving, while vaccination is your seatbelt. Some of the fringe voices on here are asserting the equivalent of "I don't believe in seatbelts for myself or others because I'm a very safe driver". Nuts.
A much more honest & factual and less convoluted way to message Covid caution is this: Regular, updated vaccination reduces your risk and the number of infections, but can't be relied on as the sole mitigation to avoid Covid completely. Wear an N95 as well.
I've had to block some of the misinfo spreaders here like Michael Morton & "Covid Chronicles". They're doing as much harm as RFK. It's downright false to assert that Covid vaccines have no or minimal effect on infection & transmission. They do, and they did even at their nadir (we're above it now).
Vaccine effectiveness bounces around from year to year depending on how closely the available version matches the variants circulating. Peak VE was with Alpha & OG, yes. The nadir was in 2022 with the OG vaccine and bivalent against Omicron. Last winter's version was a pretty good match at the time.
Blocking you for posting antivax rubbish. I see little difference between the fringe voices here and the MAGA bunch.