If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Policy / Politique
The fee for tournament organizers advertising on ChessTalk is $20/event or $100/yearly unlimited for the year.
Les frais d'inscription des organisateurs de tournoi sur ChessTalk sont de 20 $/événement ou de 100 $/année illimitée.
You can etransfer to Henry Lam at chesstalkforum at gmail dot com
Transfér à Henry Lam à chesstalkforum@gmail.com
Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
General Guidelines
---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
Some Basics
1. Under Board "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) there are 3 sections dealing with General Forum Usage, User Profile Features, and Reading and Posting Messages. These deal with everything from Avatars to Your Notifications. Most general technical questions are covered there. Here is a link to the FAQs. https://forum.chesstalk.com/help
2. Consider using the SEARCH button if you are looking for information. You may find your question has already been answered in a previous thread.
3. If you've looked for an answer to a question, and not found one, then you should consider asking your question in a new thread. For example, there have already been questions and discussion regarding: how to do chess diagrams (FENs); crosstables that line up properly; and the numerous little “glitches” that every new site will have.
4. Read pinned or sticky threads, like this one, if they look important. This applies especially to newcomers.
5. Read the thread you're posting in before you post. There are a variety of ways to look at a thread. These are covered under “Display Modes”.
6. Thread titles: please provide some details in your thread title. This is useful for a number of reasons. It helps ChessTalk members to quickly skim the threads. It prevents duplication of threads. And so on.
7. Unnecessary thread proliferation (e.g., deliberately creating a new thread that duplicates existing discussion) is discouraged. Look to see if a thread on your topic may have already been started and, if so, consider adding your contribution to the pre-existing thread. However, starting new threads to explore side-issues that are not relevant to the original subject is strongly encouraged. A single thread on the Canadian Open, with hundreds of posts on multiple sub-topics, is no better than a dozen threads on the Open covering only a few topics. Use your good judgment when starting a new thread.
8. If and/or when sub-forums are created, please make sure to create threads in the proper place.
Debate
9. Give an opinion and back it up with a reason. Throwaway comments such as "Game X pwnz because my friend and I think so!" could be considered pointless at best, and inflammatory at worst.
10. Try to give your own opinions, not simply those copied and pasted from reviews or opinions of your friends.
Unacceptable behavior and warnings
11. In registering here at ChessTalk please note that the same or similar rules apply here as applied at the previous Boardhost message board. In particular, the following content is not permitted to appear in any messages:
* Racism
* Hatred
* Harassment
* Adult content
* Obscene material
* Nudity or pornography
* Material that infringes intellectual property or other proprietary rights of any party
* Material the posting of which is tortious or violates a contractual or fiduciary obligation you or we owe to another party
* Piracy, hacking, viruses, worms, or warez
* Spam
* Any illegal content
* unapproved Commercial banner advertisements or revenue-generating links
* Any link to or any images from a site containing any material outlined in these restrictions
* Any material deemed offensive or inappropriate by the Board staff
12. Users are welcome to challenge other points of view and opinions, but should do so respectfully. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Posts and threads with unacceptable content can be closed or deleted altogether. Furthermore, a range of sanctions are possible - from a simple warning to a temporary or even a permanent banning from ChessTalk.
Helping to Moderate
13. 'Report' links (an exclamation mark inside a triangle) can be found in many places throughout the board. These links allow users to alert the board staff to anything which is offensive, objectionable or illegal. Please consider using this feature if the need arises.
Advice for free
14. You should exercise the same caution with Private Messages as you would with any public posting.
In my opinion, there's simple yet very valuable truth in Cody's post. It's unrealistic to already expect we can wipe out COVID, at this time what we're doing is managing it. Every mask that reduces transmission helps. Every vaccine that reduces use of hospital resources helps. In the end, it's about both the science and the math. On the math side, every non-transmission/non-hospital helps, think of a credit card company reducing the interest % on an overdue balance. Yes, it still hurts but it hurts less, and then "more less". Then on the science side, well, the current understanding is that variants like the omicron likely bred in someone who could not beat COVID, and it just kept replicating within them, mutating repeatedly (is it up to 50 mutations now?) - so every vaccination that helps someone from being overwhelmed like that by COVID would help. This is NOT a mate-in-three problem. It's positional grinding. Masks, vaccines, distancing, ventilation, stay home, etc.
My 2c worth (I am not an epidemiologist)
Just watched a new Youtube video, an interview with a U of T epidemiologist. Didn't catch the name or grab the link, but basically he is predicting 5K deaths per day in the UK a month from now. The UK seems to be the current canary in the coal mine. Everything is exploding there right now.
So 5K deaths per day in January in UK probably would extrapolate to 10K to 20K deaths per day in February / March in the USA. These are deaths, not cases. New cases would be in the millions per day.
Cases per day are now being discounted as not important. But they are! Because it is cases that allow for mutations. And what is coming out now is that one MUST have a booster shot, that is a 3rd jab, to be protected from being a new case.
Omicron is not going to be the last mutation, and millions of cases per day around the world means mutations up the ying-yang. And that means more deadly mutations around the corner in 2022.
Omicron is not going to be the last mutation, and millions of cases per day around the world means mutations up the ying-yang. And that means more deadly mutations around the corner in 2022.
The important thing is to keep growing the economy, create jobs and return to a "normal" life. We need lots of over the board chess events too.
Now that we have learned that the vaccinations only reduce symptoms but do not prevent the contracting and spreading of the disease, it is clear that we cannot vaccine our way out of this. All continuous vaccinations will do is prolong the pandemic forever since people will continue to spread the disease to one another whether vaccinated or not. Thus the only possible solution is a total lock-down for as long as it takes to eradicate the disease. But we are being told that all we need to do is vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate and then all will be well. This is a terrible lie. This mentality will ensure that the pandemic never leaves us. Only an extreme worldwide lock-down could possibly be effective. Will humans do it? Will I become the world chess champion?
Now that we have learned that the vaccinations only reduce symptoms but do not prevent the contracting and spreading of the disease, it is clear that we cannot vaccine our way out of this. All continuous vaccinations will do is prolong the pandemic forever since people will continue to spread the disease to one another whether vaccinated or not. Thus the only possible solution is a total lock-down for as long as it takes to eradicate the disease. But we are being told that all we need to do is vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate and then all will be well. This is a terrible lie. This mentality will ensure that the pandemic never leaves us. Only an extreme worldwide lock-down could possibly be effective. Will humans do it? Will I become the world chess champion?
I think it was known, and reported, as soon as the vaccines first appeared that they do not prevent infection, they only reduce the symptoms. And as more and more people got vaccinated, they were still spreading the virus, as reported even in highly vaccinated nations like Israel.
If the symptoms for the vaccinated can be reduced to that of a mild cold for those that don't have other issues (old age, obesity, diabetes, respiratory issues), the world can continue without lockdown. Also, the new Pfizer drug Paxlovid, taken as a tablet, promises 90% effectiveness against severe symptoms if taken within 5 days of first appearance of symptoms, and a year from now it will be widely available. That could be the real game-changer.
But the worrying aspect of people still getting infected is.... mutations. Further mutations that are almost guaranteed, and they seem to happen FAST. And while Omicron is being reported as milder than Delta, that may be just a lucky occurrence.
And for the vaccinated, there is the question of long-term effects of the vaccines. Especially if we have to keep getting "boosted". The thing Sid talked about was millions of spike proteins clogging up people's capillaries, reducing oxygen flow to their organs. Will this show up in another year or two? If yes, i would expect it to first show up in pro athletes. They would become more sluggish and tired and unable to perform at their usual levels. That would be the first sign, imo, that the vaccines are not without serious side effects.
The Globe and Mail, through The New York Times, recently reported on Monday of this week, citing leading-edge medical research, that the Astra-Zeneca vaccine does not combat the Omicron variant. Both Moderna and Pfizer were less effective than against the Delta variant, but still offered significant protection, particularly against severe illness.
This is a huge problem notably for the United Kingdom, where Oxford University was the leader in developing this vaccine, with government financial support. The nation naturally used the vaccine almost exclusively; it was an early arrival on the market. Despite a higher vaccination rate than Canada, the U.K has a much higher death rate from COVID.
Canada has not used Astra-Zeneca that much, since it was able to move to Pfizer and Moderna, after another problem emerged with Astra-Zeneca, fairly early in its adoption. Still, I have friends in Kingston who got two Astra-Zeneca doses early on. They have since gotten a full third dose of Pfizer, and so far have been healthy. But any Canadians relying on Astra-Zeneca only would be wise to get a different brand as well.
The same Times / Globe article also reported that vaccines produced by both China and Russia were found to be completely ineffective against Omicron. These vaccines have been heavily used in the developing world.
Just another example of the things we are learning as we go along. Quite frightening, isn't it?
But the worrying aspect of people still getting infected is.... mutations. Further mutations that are almost guaranteed, and they seem to happen FAST. And while Omicron is being reported as milder than Delta, that may be just a lucky occurrence.
Far more lethal variants are inevitable. Omicron spreads very quickly, it is very transmissible. If we get a deadly variant which spreads as quickly as Omicron it will be too late to do anytihing about it. It will be game over for mankind. Only a lockdown that is in effect BEFORE a new deadly and very transmissible variant comes along will save us. Therefore we must lock down. We will not, of course. Thus, it is only a matter of time before the Omega variant wipes out mankind. This is obvious.
Unfortunately mankind is not frightened enough. Biden tells us not to panic, but this is exactly what we need to do. We are too stupid as a species to see the writing on the wall. A total lock-down would have the side benefit of dealing with climate change. This is our last chance, but we are missing it. Make the most of the time you have left.
There will be differential impacts around the world. The wealthier countries will suffer less; they will develop newer-generation vaccines to keep pace. The developing world is in huge crisis; its nations cannot pay for the better vaccines, so are not getting them. Corruption is also a massive issue, and they don't have the health care systems to distribute the large numbers they will need. We will likely see death totals in the hundreds of millions there, but these will not be reported as such. India right now is under-stating its COVID death totals by a factor of at least 7.
Canada is actually in a very good position, compared to many other developed countries. It may not seem that way, and there is differential damage to the less fortunate and racialized in our society. Those are clearly very serious issues, and they are being examined and hopefully solved. But our vaccine index is at 173 vaccinations per 100 Canadians (and rising by about 1 per day in recent days); the U.S.is at 150. We have 77 per cent of Canadians with at least two doses; the U.S. is at 60. We are hitting the boosters now; this will expand to 500,000 per day in a few weeks. Also, we are hitting the age 6-11 cohort, with nearly 40 per cent now with one dose.
I see us having three main problems:
1) Varying provincial responses. Health care is administered provincially, with an ideological approach to heath care funding, in many instances. We are very short in ICU beds, since the federal government is only funding health care to less than 25 per cent of the overall cost. It dates back to the Harper Conservative government; the Liberals, in federal power since 2015, have not seen fit to increase it. This is hitting Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan very hard. All are governed by right-of-centre parties. Quebec, with about 60 per cent of Ontario's population, has more COVID deaths than Ontario. BC, with a left-of-centre government and a higher population than Alberta, has more than 50 per cent fewer deaths from COVID than Alberta.
2) Vaccine resistance. The Toronto Star on Monday called in its editorial for mandatory COVID vaccinations. Cuba has done this. Right now there are more unvaccinated people in Ontario than the entire population of Atlantic Canada. Now, some of those people are in the 0-5 age group, which is not yet eligible, and some are in the 6-11 group, which is just now getting its chance. But the rest are still very significant numbers. Probably 1,000,000 unvaccinated people eligible for vaccination live with 100 km of downtown Toronto, and many of them travel in and out of Metro regularly. Dr. Fauci, White House ambassador for COVID, also spoke about this recently; the U.S. has the same problem but much worse.
3) Misinformation. MP Rachael Thomas, (Conservative, Lethbridge), was reported in the Globe today as spreading COVID misinformation. Huge problem. She should be criminally charged, in my view. With the resources she has available, she has no excuse for getting it wrong. At minimum, suspension from her role as MP.
The Canadian Medical Association last month released a report it commissioned from Deloitte Canada on the consequences of shutting down non-COVID related surgeries, treatments, diagnostic procedures and in-person hospital and doctors’ appointments that resulted.
It estimated that delays and cancellations of these procedures may have contributed to more than 4,000 excess deaths not related to COVID-19 between August and December 2020 alone.
Opioid-related deaths across Canada increased by 70% between 2019, the year before the pandemic, and 2020, when it began in March.
Tweet
Comment