[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[crazy canuck]

I saw a lot of Europeans wearing masks when I was in Sardinia.

Must be a UK thing

Oh, and by the way, the pandemic is not over. It's just that a lot of people are vaccinated now,  and the consequences of getting it have been lessened because of the vaccination.

It's a bit startlingly that you two seem to think that people who take personal precautions are making a political statements rather than just exercising common sense.

[Sheilbh]

I saw a lot of Europeans wearing masks when I was in Sardinia.

Must be a UK thing

Possibly an Italian thing.

I've recently been to France, Germany, Poland, Greece, Turkey and Spain and didn't really see any mask wearing. An odd one or two people maybe.

But I was also surprised, given my expectation, that not everyone was masked in Hong Kong or Taiwan. Very mixed which wasn't my expectation, I thought it'd be more or less universal.

Edit: Also incidentally the UK had the highest rate of people in polls during the pandemic saying they intended to carry on wearing masks - something like 40-50%. Needless to say, good intentions etc. (Or it might just be like the 30% who want lockdown restrictions imposed permanently And I feel like I see more masking outside of London than in it - which again reflects those demographics on vaccines.).

Edit:

Oh, and by the way, the pandemic is not over. It's just that a lot of people are vaccinated now,  and the consequences of getting it have been lessened because of the vaccination.

I think the pandemic is over.

There's two ways they end - one is you end them medically by eliminating the disease or risk to zero, which we haven't done. It's now endemic.

The other is social. That society kind of moves on and no longer perceives x disease as an emergency. There's a treatment or a vaccine that makes it safe enough that socially it is no longer a pandemic.  I think we're very much in that category.

[garbon]

I was just in Milan and Naples the other week. I saw fewer masks than I do in London.

[crazy canuck]

I saw a lot of Europeans wearing masks when I was in Sardinia.

Must be a UK thing

Possibly an Italian thing.

I've recently been to France, Germany, Poland, Greece, Turkey and Spain and didn't really see any mask wearing. An odd one or two people maybe.

But I was also surprised, given my expectation, that not everyone was masked in Hong Kong or Taiwan. Very mixed which wasn't my expectation, I thought it'd be more or less universal.

Edit: Also incidentally the UK had the highest rate of people in polls during the pandemic saying they intended to carry on wearing masks - something like 40-50%. Needless to say, good intentions etc. (Or it might just be like the 30% who want lockdown restrictions imposed permanently And I feel like I see more masking outside of London than in it - which again reflects those demographics on vaccines.).

Edit:

Oh, and by the way, the pandemic is not over. It's just that a lot of people are vaccinated now,  and the consequences of getting it have been lessened because of the vaccination.

I think the pandemic is over.

There's two ways they end - one is you end them medically by eliminating the disease or risk to zero, which we haven't done. It's now endemic.

The other is social. That society kind of moves on and no longer perceives x disease as an emergency. There's a treatment or a vaccine that makes it safe enough that socially it is no longer a pandemic.  I think we're very much in that category.

I saw a lot of Europeans wearing masks when I was in Sardinia.

Must be a UK thing

Possibly an Italian thing.

I've recently been to France, Germany, Poland, Greece, Turkey and Spain and didn't really see any mask wearing. An odd one or two people maybe.

But I was also surprised, given my expectation, that not everyone was masked in Hong Kong or Taiwan. Very mixed which wasn't my expectation, I thought it'd be more or less universal.

Edit: Also incidentally the UK had the highest rate of people in polls during the pandemic saying they intended to carry on wearing masks - something like 40-50%. Needless to say, good intentions etc. (Or it might just be like the 30% who want lockdown restrictions imposed permanently And I feel like I see more masking outside of London than in it - which again reflects those demographics on vaccines.).

Edit:

Oh, and by the way, the pandemic is not over. It's just that a lot of people are vaccinated now,  and the consequences of getting it have been lessened because of the vaccination.

I think the pandemic is over.

There's two ways they end - one is you end them medically by eliminating the disease or risk to zero, which we haven't done. It's now endemic.

The other is social. That society kind of moves on and no longer perceives x disease as an emergency. There's a treatment or a vaccine that makes it safe enough that socially it is no longer a pandemic.  I think we're very much in that category.

See that's the thing about science, it doesn't depend on some guys personal opinion of what a scientific term should mean.

I was just in Milan and Naples the other week. I saw fewer masks than I do in London.

Ah, do it turns out people in the UK do wear masks. 

Sheilbh's personal observations are 0-2

[viper37]

See that's the thing about science, it doesn't depend on some guys personal opinion of what a scientific term should mean.

It seems more seasonal now.  We're no longer seeing sky high number of people getting infected and reaching ER or even getting long covid.  It seems dormant, for now.  But there are other nasty respiratory viruses.

[Josquius]

Look at that. The bbc talking about Canadian housing.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjjjvnq4665o.amp.


It's funny how in recent years this stuff is becoming mainstream news.

[crazy canuck]

See that's the thing about science, it doesn't depend on some guys personal opinion of what a scientific term should mean.

It seems more seasonal now.  We're no longer seeing sky high number of people getting infected and reaching ER or even getting long covid.  It seems dormant, for now.  But there are other nasty respiratory viruses.

Rates of COVID infection are difficult to track because most people who become infected no longer need to seek medical treatment.  Again, that is because enough people have been vaccinated to generally reduce the consequences of the infections.

But waste water sampling tells us it is definitely not gone, nor is it seasonal.  It continues to be a pandemic.

It would be helpful if people like Sheilbh don't distribute misinformation based on their own personal beliefs.  That can have real world consequences, like forming a view it is wrong for people who might be more vulnerable to wear a mask.

[Barrister]

Look at that. The bbc talking about Canadian housing.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjjjvnq4665o.amp.


It's funny how in recent years this stuff is becoming mainstream news.

We're seeing - well maybe not a lot, but some - development of 2/4/6-ples buildings in what are mature neighbourhoods in good locations, and were previously single-family-only neighbourhoods.

I went to my kid's ball practice on Sunday.  It was in a nice post-war neighbourhood - mature trees and definitely much closer to downtown than my neighbourhood built in the 90s (which is much closer still compared to new developments).  But anyways there were small post-war bungalos, mixed with new infill mega-houses, mixed with large 4-6 plexes.

As I understand it though the really big builders have a development model that works for them - they take farmland and build a neighbourhood with hundreds of homes.  It's very profitable since it's being done at scale.  Doing one-off infill developments is just more time-consuming and much less profitable.  So we almost need to develop a whole new industry of smaller-scale developers (because it still is profitable).

[Barrister]

See that's the thing about science, it doesn't depend on some guys personal opinion of what a scientific term should mean.

It seems more seasonal now.  We're no longer seeing sky high number of people getting infected and reaching ER or even getting long covid.  It seems dormant, for now.  But there are other nasty respiratory viruses.

Rates of COVID infection are difficult to track because most people who become infected no longer need to seek medical treatment.  Again, that is because enough people have been vaccinated to generally reduce the consequences of the infections.

But waste water sampling tells us it is definitely not gone, nor is it seasonal.  It continues to be a pandemic.

It would be helpful if people like Sheilbh don't distribute misinformation based on their own personal beliefs.  That can have real world consequences, like forming a view it is wrong for people who might be more vulnerable to wear a mask.

I feel like every time I click on the little "You are ignoring this user. Show me the post." my blood pressure goes up.

Sheilbh never said Covid-19 was gone.  He never said it was wrong for people to wear masks.

Instead he just made observations about relative mask wearing rates, and he said the pandemic is over.  I think he's right - the pandemic is over.  Covid-19 is now endemic - it's just part of the world we live in.  People have either been vaccinated, or have previously been exposed to Covid-19.  The virus has also mutated to be both more easily transmissible, and less lethal (though still serious).

People should absolutely wear masks if they think they are vulnerable.  Heck I was introduced to a new hire to our office today who was wearing a mask.  If asked I will wear a mask in response.

[HVC]

You really are a masochist BB

[Valmy]

One of the things I was kind of hopeful about during the pandemic was that perhaps the West would adopt the courtesy of wearing masks when you are sick like I see people in Japan doing.

LOL no. We are such selfish assholes.

[Josquius]

Look at that. The bbc talking about Canadian housing.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjjjvnq4665o.amp.


It's funny how in recent years this stuff is becoming mainstream news.

We're seeing - well maybe not a lot, but some - development of 2/4/6-ples buildings in what are mature neighbourhoods in good locations, and were previously single-family-only neighbourhoods.

I went to my kid's ball practice on Sunday.  It was in a nice post-war neighbourhood - mature trees and definitely much closer to downtown than my neighbourhood built in the 90s (which is much closer still compared to new developments).  But anyways there were small post-war bungalos, mixed with new infill mega-houses, mixed with large 4-6 plexes.

As I understand it though the really big builders have a development model that works for them - they take farmland and build a neighbourhood with hundreds of homes.  It's very profitable since it's being done at scale.  Doing one-off infill developments is just more time-consuming and much less profitable.  So we almost need to develop a whole new industry of smaller-scale developers (because it still is profitable).

Sounds good for those infills. Wish we had that here.
It's funny but it's not something I'd ever considered before but my gf comments a lot about the UK-it's weird how in our estates all the houses look the same. In Switzerland you've a lot more of a mish mash of different buildings in estates.
 She grew up in a 2 bedroom flat in a 3 story 3 flat building,... Whilst on her street was some lovely classic Swiss looking houses, a big home for a family with 7 kids, and apparently some really fancy houses where some local celebrities live.

And yep on developers preferring big suburban developments. It's one of many problems with those who have the idea that if you just toss out all regulation the situation  will naturally just sort itself out.

[Grey Fox]

There was no need BB. 

[Barrister]

There was no need BB. 

You're probably right.

[crazy canuck]

Hey sorry for introducing actually facts into a Languish circle jerk claiming the pandemic is over.