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Many people used to feel frustrated, like the authorities were not capable and/or willing to stop criminal activity - So lynch mobs felt justified in taking matters into their own hands. Personal freedoms are worth upholding - especially when confronted by an angry mob.

I've gone back and forth on feelings on it all. While the numbers 600k did count comorbidities and according to CDC charts I read awhile back 80% plus were from 2 or more, the most recent doctors I've asked about vaccine questions say the numbers are well over a million if they were properly reported. Never gonna know the exacts. I pulled up some individual hospitals and the numbers in some didn't even add up correctly. Out of this recent "delta" wave a lot more people I personally know have gotten it. One died and was a relative on wifes side. Older 68 years old no pre-existing conditions and pretty heatlhy overall. Was admitted July 15th or so and died Aug 2nd or 3rd. Died from kidney failure. Kidneys were perfectly healthy when admitted. Stayed in 2.5 weeks. Was intubated the last 4 days and passed away. His wife also got it and was fairly sick but not hospitalized and son in 40s got it and had nothing. Small town in FL where most probably don't believe in covid at all and most are unvaxxed. Got it at a funeral they attended. Other friend that was unvaxxed just lost the taste / smell (mainly the taste part) couldn't keep food down and was back to normal pretty soon. Those all in the last few weeks and all in FL. Out of the rest of the time of covid pre delta only knew one personal friend that had got it and was pretty mild overall. Then all my health stuff started while they were rolling out so been figuring out what to do. Wife and Kid got first shot today and I'm going ahead next Friday (have a heart MRI midweek and wanted all the tests done before scheduling). Figure with the multitude of weird **** my body has going on I really can't cause anymore damage then I have from no apparent reason. Last 2 doctors convinced me pretty well there is no disadvantage of me getting it. Probably will do the antibody test afterwards to see if my immune system has any response to them. I'm still not on anything to suppress it more so interested to see with the low cd4 score if it takes. As far as my diagnosis after getting one a lot more information came from these last few visits and looks like it might not be over. Glad they are confirming before treating and after reading some of what they suggest it is definitely a possiblity. Luckily from the new echo and carotid ultrasound it looks like the heart and carotids are ok and no issues but the MRI will be the full test. Also wearing a heart monitor for a week so we shall see but preliminary findings look like the sarcoid is not affecting the heart. Had the biopsy on my calf as well and very curious if it comes back Sarcoid or Vasculitis which has been brought into the picture again. I definitely have classic sarcoidosis that isn't in question but the neurological events might not be.

I agree with a lot of what you have to say but I disagree on your Trump assessment. I agree that he motivated the left, but not simply because he got them riled up. Democrats and Republicans are both for big government. Yes, liberals reside on the Democrat side and conservatives in the Republican side, but when all is said and done both parties desire power above anything else which always means bigger government. Democrats push to empower the government more and Republicans pretend to fight it. Trump got the left all fired up because he stood up to the Deep State and wouldn't play ball like a "good Republican". Just because the media and pop culture were all in a fuss about Trump doesn't mean those really in charge got their feelings hurt. They didn't like that a president was independent and not caving to their typical tactics. And what they are doing now by trying to destroy anyone associated with Trump is to prevent anyone in the future of even thinking about opposing them. And even if someone still has the fortitude to do so, they are trying to scare other people from joining the cause in the future.

Lordy, we are going to need a new thread soon for this. If we have fighting over ways to slow down a virus that is clearly killing people... imagine when we argue that humans burning fossil fuels for hundreds of years have had a significant impact on rapidly increasing climate change. July 2021 was the hottest month in recorded human history. We have politicians that do nothing but give deadline extensions at best, and scientists that are largely ignored for decades. Who could have seen this coming?

Understandably this was probably a tongue in cheek comment but a great representation of what would be consider okay in mass media. I dont know a single person that has not received the vaccine that says a negative word against those that have and respect their decision. My group consists of military, firefighters, LEO's, and teachers. We have committed our lives to this great country and the citizens that make it up in the name of freedom. Our media, with the support of the government, is driving us away from the freedom that is unique to the United States. Many will attack our freedom and compare us to other countries around the globe. I have spent a career traveling this planet. The places I go are not tourist destinations. Our country is the greatest on this planet. What makes us great is the freedom from our government to be individuals.

My buddy sat next to a big dude on a plane once and caught the obesity.

It's always been the WWF. How people cannot see that now is beyond me. Politicians are punching bags by design. Lightning rods to absorb energy. There is a reason every president is so polarizing. It's by design. The magicians sleight of hand. You can't have the plebeians looking beyond the surface level and run a civilization. Its red team blue team. Pick you side and cheer them on.

That's fine. I like being blackmailed. I'm prepared to live with any rules government forces on me, society rejecting me, whatever. I don't really have a choice if I don't get it. Even if it makes zero sense, because I'm not putting any vaccinated person in danger, as they're vaccinated. Major paradox, but this pandemic wasn't about logic anyway. The 'be prepared to live with the consequences'-sentence can also be directed to those getting the vaccine. I really, really hope this all goes well. In 2-3 years we'll know more. Too early to say anything, we just don't know, nobody does. At this point you can't say the vaccine is safe or dangerous, you can simply compare risk to reward & decide if it's a good/bad trade off. I personally don't know a single person who died because of Covid, but I knew one person who certainly died to the vaccine, she died 6 hours after getting her 2nd shot of Pfizer/Biontech.

This came in the mail today, just in time for our stay at a hotel to avoid the heat. My son built this in our room. I thought it was a great set when I first saw it and it is even better at 40% off. Yay LEGO!

This discussion is pointless. No one here is going to change anyone's mind about anything. For some reason, we as humans seem to hold onto our opinions even in light of contradictory facts. It is next to impossible to change someone's mind about something once they have formed their opinion. My ex used to cram Q-tips way up her ear to "clean out all the wax". I told her over and over that ears were self cleaning and that a damp washcloth was all she needed to clean them. Showed her articles and papers written on the subject all the time. Yet there she was after each shower reaching for the box of Q-tips. I am one of those freedom loving, gun toting, conservatives and I have been vaccinated because for me it was worth the risk to help ensure no adverse effects of Covid. But, my daughter who is 8 will not be getting any shots for it anytime soon (I know that there are no vaccinations for 8 year olds, but even if there were...) because with the unknowns around the vaccine and her young age/health, the reward doesn't really outweigh the risk. I see both sides of the debate. Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

I join you:

funny thing here is; the "What LEGO to Buy" thread is so rarely posted on, relatively. A site devoted to resell yet most everyone holds their cards close to their vest (Yet the Non-LEGO thread is chock full of great tips).

They do not need physics, they just employ better hackers and copy your work.

yay another clown flooding the market with resellers. bravo

Is it possible you may be called to defend your country with your life?

Jim has split from shane. Seems Shane really owned the channel even though Jim was the figurehead. Really curious what the fight was about. (He seems less cheerful in this video) Jim's new channel:

*couldn't care less.

Counteroffer for $1 less.

I'm unclear on the bolded point here. What about masks? Social distancing? These were already seemingly rejected. Vaccines is how to beat respiratory viruses, there is no other game-plan. We don't know the long-term effects of Covid-19 infection. I don't want to beat this dead horse, but good golly I'll take all three of the US vaccines a couple times before I would voluntarily roll the dice with Covid on "long-term effects". How much long-term data would be enough to choose the vaccine over the risk of infection? I have a friend STILL suffering the cardiac effects of the Covid infection she had in April 2020, there is one data-point. FWIW, I got the Johnson & Johnson single shot, I'm not a youngish woman on birth control, so I wasn't particularly worried about the rare blood clotting side-effect. The pause in distribution started like two days after I got it. I felt zero ill effects and have not contracted Covid. Full immunity takes 6 weeks. I've read a few fantastical headlines about how it's not as good against the Delta variant, but that was also a single experiment done in a lab in petri dishes with blood serum. J&J is based on a genetically modified cold virus, not mRNA, if that gives you pause. I would encourage you to get vaccinated sooner rather than later, as all evidence suggests that any of these vaccines will greatly reduce your likelihood of having severe symptoms from the delta variant requiring hospitalization. Best of luck.

Practically speaking; this is never going to happen. The Delta originated in India and and there's a whole world (mostly 3rd world) out there not even close to a reasonable vaccination rate. The numbers say more variants are inevitable and most likely will originate from another country...so even if US reaches 100% vaccination, that won't stop variants from coming in the future (unless US also closes borders and stop all international travel).

Hear hear. We canadians are watching in horror as states like Florida have 60 times as many deaths as Ontario with only twice the population. Thankfully the “freedom, guns, anti-masks” folks here are seen as kooks and have not stopped us from getting to almost 75% double vaccination despite a significant lag in getting vaccines compared to every other western country. Stay calm and science on.

Ah yes, the American rugged individualism. It doesn't work against a virus. Viruses don't care about your personal freedoms, your guns, or your toughness. Heaven forbid I care about my fellow man, woman, and child. You've blown up your spot, Mathew. For all your blather, in the end you complain because you simply don't care about other people. If it means I'm a sheep to care about others, then bah-ram-ewe. WE knew about the Delta outbreak in India - it was WIDELY reported and was basically concurrent with the widespread availability of vaccines in the United States in April. Since then the public has been pummeled with messaging from the government to get the vaccine. We've always known there are stubborn and disinformed people who would put off the vaccine or refuse it - folks who don't trust anyone and only want elderberry or thieves oil. You cannot blame WHO, the CDC, NIH, Fauci, the White House or 'liberals' for that. You are literally blaming public health experts for the disinfo spread by untrusting conspiracy theorists [the little? guy]. This is actually just you talking out of your butt parroting some disinfo you saw somewhere? All the science points to universal masking and increased barriers slowing the spread of pandemics. Remember when y'all were like, the Chinese invented this thing! They are lying! Nah, they just ALL wore masks and listened. https://www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118 This is a lit review on masks published in January. You're wrong because you're 100% focused on masks as a filter for the air you breathe in, but that's backwards, we're concerned with keeping our droplets to ourselves. So ideally we'd all have perfect filters on all the air we breathe in, but putting some filtration on all the air we breathe OUT actually helps everyone. And... we're back where we started at individual vs. community protection.

Iran has been six months away from the bomb for the past twenty years...

Last time you tried to tell us how much smarter you were than everyone else and now you're trying to us how much more important you are than everyone else. Please explain the physics of how you fit that massive head through a standard door.

Ah, another one of these kinds of days on Brickpicker.

When I saw the article, I first thought it was a joke. And for Christmas: I think I do not know enough children.😑

I don't understand. How are the unvaccinated dangerous to others? Aren't the vaccinated safe? Why worry if you already got the holy juice? Who is affected by an unvaccinated group in society that chose not to go that route? If anything, they are risking their own lives. Let them risk it, it's their choice. Same way the vaccinated are risking it. It's basically roulette, one's red, one's black. Covid does all kinds of damage, the vaccine does too. Heart inflammation in Israel & in the US (Pfizer): https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/06/israel-reports-link-between-rare-cases-heart-inflammation-and-covid-19-vaccination https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/covid-19-vaccine-cdc-meeting-myocarditis-heart-inflammation/ Blood clots (Johnson & Johnson): https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/us/politics/johnson-johnson-vaccine-blood-clots-fda-cdc.amp.html After these side effects, especially the heart inflammation, hundreds got that in Israel, Pfizer had to add that information to their vaccine papers. And I think doctors have to specifically inform young men that heart inflammation is most probable in their situation as it effected mostly young men between the age of 20-30.

How about Moff Gideon's TIE?

You’re way off. The vaccinated are also the ones most likely to mask up and distance, reducing spread by far. It’s the unvaccinated that are clogging the hospitals with the virus, exposing health workers like mad.

One group endangers others with their (in)actions, the other protects others with theirs. And a lot of us are getting frustrated with all that we’ve sacrificed for being put at risk by people refusing to step up.

I agree with you how it can psychologically spread through misinformation or lack of information. Especially among people with little to no will power. But that does not apply here. Obesity is a chronic disease, not an infectious disease b/c it cannot be transmitted through physical contact. But I’m sure you were well aware of that before comparing apples to oranges.

I guess you didn’t see this then (attempting to keep post to 1 sentence)

My dad had sarcoidosis. Suffered through it for several months (low grade fever, malaise, weight loss). Doctors were terrible about diagnosing it. I forget the treatment he received that finally helped. PM me if you want me to ask him any questions.

But how can I turn you in when the tin foil hat hides you oh so well? This has been a fun visit to conspiracy theory land filled deep state Qanon adherents, but sadly I’m taking my ball and going home. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And you’ll be one those turning the “undesirables” in to the authorities when the time comes I bet.

100% It shouldn't be forced upon anyone (like it is) but I've known countless people who have pulled through things only because they were in such good physical health. My dad only made it through a heat attack and 4x bypass surgery only because he was still playing ball, working out and eating relatively healthy. I've also heard of people in fantastic health fall victim to terrible things but I'm not sure that's a reason to not practice good health.

There's a lot of big numbers being thrown around out there but many are misleading. I'm not going to dispute anyone's "numbers" here but there are at least things to consider and think about. One being that if you die in a hospital and they find you had the virus it gets recorded as a covid death. Hospitals also receive funding related to covid cases. Many of the studies are funded by the government. Many of these scientists and researchers receive their funding from the government. A lot of people are quick to point out how big businesses fund their own studies to support their causes so why not when the government does it? Is the government a body of saints with purely altruistic motives? We are supposed to be free country with free speech and press and yet the Federal Government is working with social media to censor opposing viewpoints and arguments against "officially sanctioned covid practices". People are constantly being banned and censored for expressing a different viewpoint or coming to a different conclusion. I can respect someone coming to whatever conclusion they come to about this virus but silencing people scares me. It doesn't stop with Covid either.

If you don’t like that some of the vaccines use MRNA tech, then take Johnson’s and Johnson’s. Covid might only make you mildly ill, it may also leave you with long term health complications, as it has for over 11 million Americans, and there’s a chance it could kill you. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What if this does not happen? It would an interesting turn of events.

The most reasonable reason to not get the vaccine is the lack of long term trial data of a new technology. No one knows for sure. On the flip side no other vaccine in history has EVER been tested in 100s of million "test subjects" and nothing in terms of the level of diversity in age (except children), race, and creed.

It's so backwards. We admire philosphers, scientists & revolutionaries but despise even the simplest thoughts of scepticism in society. I can't understand this mentality & I never will.

I can't count how many times I click on the Reebok/New Balance/J. Crew ads I get served on BP.

I thought that was Bilbo Baggins. No wait, nm. “I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”

That picture is supposed to be urine and pants. [Was beaten] Yay LEGO!

But who do "they" report to to coordinate this attack on "us"? I just don't believe there is a coordinated global effort to eradicate the population, not some sort of ultimate rulling class. Unless it's that humans ourselves have absolutely destroyed our own habitat, meaning more extreme weather variations, a warming atmosphere leading to more prevalent, diseases, many of which are trapped in permafrost being thawed out by our warming planet. So yeah, maybe you're right we live in perpetual fear, but it's hot as **** outside, the world is flooding and burning and it would be nice to make it more manageable by small changes. From that perspective, masks don't seem all that bad. Maybe im a sheep now in your eyes, but I like to think I'm the shepherd helping to guide my own flock through all of this. Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Another problem the initial messaging regarding masks allowed to circulate was this ⬇️ to become a popular theme among conservatives and the uneducated. You know, the people who are needing hospitalization and help from the very same people they claimed were trying to 'control' their lives. Masks are a layer of protection, that's it! Not one study, Physician, Dr, Nurse or other Healthcare workers have ever claimed for masks to be 100% effective. People need to stop with the Masks dont work campaign, you sound so silly. Maybe it would help the all the Murdocks out there if we stopped using the now polarized word Masks. Maybe we should call them what they are, physical barriers. Then people could stop making it a political issue. Lets see, a virus is spread through moisture or bodily fluids. Bacteria and Viruses have been proven to successfully transmit though simple conversation. If one person has a barrier, transmission rate drops. If both people have a barrier, the transmission rates drop even further. We are talking about elementary stuff right there. @Mathew, you must not wear your seatbelt either since its not 100% effective from saving your life in a car crash? By the sounds of it, you may have zero experience with n95s. This 'special fitting' you are refering is not so 'special' Its as simple as placing the mask over your face to allow the fitting to form to your face before properly securing them. once secure, the mask is vacuum tested with a deep breath. A step that takes all but 5 seconds. You would not fare well in a clinical setting my fellow BP'er.

I pretty much stopped using USPS for everything, except for First Class. UPS has been competitively priced for me.

Slave 1

My wife built the set, but she called in the big guns for the stickers.☺️ Does anyone have experience with any of the aftermarket or lego official display cases?