Thanks for the feedback fellas. I assumed that only a negative PCR test would be accepted, so I’m good there. What I wasn’t sure about was this pen-written card sufficing as “proof” of my vaccine status. It sounds like it will work. If I log on in a month from a Canadian gulag camp, you’ll know it didn’t work. 

(Dear jmog, I am aware Canada has no gulags - that was a joke. Nevertheless I’d love to get a rundown of your knowledge of Stalin-era crimes against humanity.). 

posted by jmog

Majority of Americans now believe it to be from a lab and not a wet market, Aka widely accepted.

Oh, now you put the qualifier for you mean as widely accepted. Ah, I assume you are referring to a poll? 

While it may be one thing to say the American public believes, it is another for the scientific and intelligence community. All different groups, and I give more weight to the scientific and intel community. 

Also, it is one thing to say it came from a lab; created in the lab and released on purpose vs. that it was simply an error in nature that allowed whatever animal that was being studied in the lab to then transmit that virus to someone. Both are equally plausible and fall under the umbrella of the virus came from the lab. 

So truckers - who spend all day driving by themselves - have to get vaccinated or face termination?!?

And Buttigieg blaming a transportation labor shortage on not enough unions?

posted by gut

So truckers - who spend all day driving by themselves - have to get vaccinated or face termination?!?

And Buttigieg blaming a transportation labor shortage on not enough unions?

Depends on what the trucker is hauling and how often he/ she does come in contact with people. We have truckers that routinely enter job sites/ work trailers, yards, etc. Only makes sense for them to be vaccinated. 

The labor shortage is not solely due to enough unions. That is one of many factors. Others are, the building boom is taking a lot of workers to other areas. Companies are fighting for a limited pool of talent due to building, commercial, and now infrastructure booms. So labors are in short supply. Also, finding highly trained and skilled foreman, supers, and engineers is quite a challenge. Those folks do not grow on trees and are getting top dollar from construction firms. My firm has been looking for project engineers now for a few months. 

The industry has been yelling from the mountain top for months that there is a severe worker shortage and even with the new funding, trying to build everything will be a challenge. 

posted by ptown_trojans_1

Depends on what the trucker is hauling and how often he/ she does come in contact with people. We have truckers that routinely enter job sites/ work trailers, yards, etc. Only makes sense for them to be vaccinated. . 

Not really.  Their contact is generally very limited, and could be virtually eliminated. 

There's really no need for a trucker to come in, sit down and shoot the shit with the billing clerk.  Literally only about 4 times the truck driver has to interact with anyone - receiving/delivering the shipping invoice, and gate check at security.  And those interactions don't need to take more than 30 seconds.

This makes 0 sense.  It would be like requiring people working from home to be vaccinated or get fired.  Same govt, by the way, that carved out exemptions for postal workers, who LITERALLY go door-to-door dropping off packages.

posted by ptown_trojans_1

Depends on what the trucker is hauling and how often he/ she does come in contact with people. We have truckers that routinely enter job sites/ work trailers, yards, etc. Only makes sense for them to be vaccinated. 

The labor shortage is not solely due to enough unions. That is one of many factors. Others are, the building boom is taking a lot of workers to other areas. Companies are fighting for a limited pool of talent due to building, commercial, and now infrastructure booms. So labors are in short supply. Also, finding highly trained and skilled foreman, supers, and engineers is quite a challenge. Those folks do not grow on trees and are getting top dollar from construction firms. My firm has been looking for project engineers now for a few months. 

The industry has been yelling from the mountain top for months that there is a severe worker shortage and even with the new funding, trying to build everything will be a challenge. 

Come on ptown, be serious, no valid reason to require OTR truckers to get vaccinated or fired.

Lunatics

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio says he wants to require children ages 5-11 show proof of COVID vaccine to access businesses

pic.twitter.com/X3iW0AcZes

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 9, 2021

posted by gut

well, now that the deer can kill you with Covid it seems a bit more sporting...

Big pharma can't meme.

It’s easy to get distracted by misinformation these days, but don’t worry…Science has got your back. #ScienceWillWin pic.twitter.com/aXVzAsfa6Z

— Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) November 9, 2021

posted by justincredible

Well played.

Haven't paid attention the past few days, but this seems like a potentially huge development....like an early Christmas for all the crazies on both sides of the debate.

Raises a ton of questions, foremost of which is this is probably never going away. 

The second big question is how did the deer catch this?  Deer fucker is all I got.  And I thought "wow, that guy must be super fast!".  But he probably just drugs 'em.

Is this that surprising of a development? We knew it had an animal reservoir, right?

posted by justincredible

Is this that surprising of a development?

Yes?  No?  Maybe?

Obviously it had a reservoir originating in the bat population.  But I've not really heard of viruses mutating in humans, and then jumping BACK to a different animal species (and then, presumably, re-emerging in humans again down the road).

I'm sure it happens and I'm just ignorant.  But a virus that likely emerged in bats in China 24 months ago, give or take, is now spreading like wildfire in Iowa deer populations?!?

It was big news, to me, because previously we only heard of isolated incidents in zoos that seemed to originate from handlers.  Seeing it run thru a zoo population still gives you pause, but jumping to a wild deer population kind of blows my mind.  Honestly, how does that happen?!?  My only real guess is a person infected their dog, who then left a pile of shit in the yard, that some deer came along to smell.  That's a rube-goldberg vector!

And I don't know.  Someone would have to explain to me how this could start running thru the deer population and somehow never jump back to people.  Seems like a big "game over" moment in terms of any last hopes of eradication.

posted by gut

Well played.

Haven't paid attention the past few days, but this seems like a potentially huge development....like an early Christmas for all the crazies on both sides of the debate.

Raises a ton of questions, foremost of which is this is probably never going away. 

The second big question is how did the deer catch this?  Deer fucker is all I got.  And I thought "wow, that guy must be super fast!".  But he probably just drugs 'em.

so, i haven't traced your thoughts on this virus back too far (because i don't give a shit really) but unless i am way wrong, you think this virus is a natural mutation from a bat that jumped to pangolins and humans in almost simultaneous fashion. But mutating to infect and spread amongst the ungulate population is only possible if someone fucked a deer? 

"No. No deer. Ass too high, run too fast."

posted by gut

So truckers - who spend all day driving by themselves - have to get vaccinated or face termination?!?

And Buttigieg blaming a transportation labor shortage on not enough unions?

Just stop. Kizer already told us that there is nothing this administration can do to help with this labor shortage.

posted by like_that

Just stop. Kizer already told us that there is nothing this administration can do to help with this labor shortage.

Solve... as in he cant fix a global problem. Of course, you knew that already so not sure why I wasted time.

posted by like_that

Just stop. Kizer already told us that there is nothing this administration can do to help with this labor shortage.

They largely created it, haven't they done enough?

posted by queencitybuckeye

They largely created it, haven't they done enough?

They must have created in every other country in the world too huh?

posted by kizer permanente

They must have created in every other country in the world too huh?

Anything that we do greatly affects the entire planet. Add in governments around the world doing many of the same stupid things, and you get what we have.

posted by queencitybuckeye

Anything that we do greatly affects the entire planet. Add in governments around the world doing many of the same stupid things, and you get what we have.

I don't disagree with you. But to say this isn't due to a global pandemic is asinine. 

posted by kizer permanente

I don't disagree with you. But to say this isn't due to a global pandemic is asinine. 

It's what started it. What happened since was the main cause. What we have was not inevitable.

posted by like_that

Just stop. Kizer already told us that there is nothing this administration can do to help with this labor shortage.

According to his line of thinking firing people for not getting a shot is NOT causing or making the labor shortage worse.

posted by jmog

According to his line of thinking firing people for not getting a shot is NOT causing or making the labor shortage worse.

In right wing media make believeland, maybe. In reality we've seen differently. 

posted by kizer permanente

I don't disagree with you. But to say this isn't due to a global pandemic is asinine. 

It’s due to governmental overreaction to the global pandemic for sure.

We have literally fired people for not taking a shot.

We have shut down businesses and shut down the whole economy and told people not to leave their homes unless it’s an emergency over a virus that, statistically, is definitely worse, but not by far, than the seasonal flu. 

Look at the global death rate on a yearly basis before covid and during covid. The global death rate didn’t change when you compare to a range of numbers for previous years.

You keep trying to point out covid deaths are causing the labor shortage which is factually wrong. No more people have died the last two years on a percentage basis than the previous “x” number of years.

I don’t know where you pulled that BS from, that covid deaths are causing the labor shortage, but it’s one of the dumbest takes you have had so far.  We have had roughly the same death rate in the world that we have had for a decade.

Edit: throw in the fact that the vast majority of covid deaths were elderly (70+) and therefore retired already. It makes the assertion that covid deaths causing the labor shortage even a more laughable statement.

posted by kizer permanente

In right wing media make believeland, maybe. In reality we've seen differently. 

Please explain how firing people for not getting a shot has helped the labor shortage then.  This will be good.