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Magdi Semrau Profile picture
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Jan 30 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I'm curious about what leftists' position is on Russia/Ukraine. Are they isolationists? That would at least be consistent. But I'm also told they are anti-imperialist & care about human welfare, in which case Ukrainian civilians & sovereignty seem like important considerations.
If the U.S. was about to invade Venezuela, would the DSA oppose Venezuelan allies coming to their aid?
I'm not ra-ra-ra-ing military action. I am in favor of maximum soft power. But, as someone who actually cares about civilians, I realize that foreign policy raises really tough dilemmas and we need to have nuanced cost/benefit analyses about maximizing welfare & mitigating harm
*not all leftists, of course

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Magdi Semrau Profile picture
Jan 31
Let's set the conservative death cult aside for a moment & just think about left, center-left, & moderate discourse on COVID. There seems to be a dichotomy where some are arguing the pandemic is over & others are effectively undermining vaccines. Both of these views are wrong.
The pandemic is not over. We still need targeted mitigation strategies to protect vulnerable people + unvaccinated kids. Kids should absolutely be wearing masks in schools, for example. Further, we need to work to protect the hospital system.
On the other side of things, I'm seeing some undermining of vaccine efficacy. All the data we have indicate vaccines are highly effective at preventing disease & death. Boosted vaccinated people are, in general, doing very well against COVID.
Read 5 tweets
Magdi Semrau Profile picture
Jan 31
A whole series of vaccines are required for organ transplantation as 1. they improve survival & 2. organ transplantation requires immunosuppressive therapy to prevent rejection. No doctor wants to suppress the immune system of an unvaxx'd person during a pandemic.
Imagine if this article were written about the myriad of other reasons we deprioritize or deny transplants. You can't get a transplant if you're still drinking or smoking & substance addiction is a problem that is tragically difficult to overcome. Quite different than a quick jab Image
The narrative makes me mad for this reason alone. Many need organs & can't get them b/c they struggle to overcome addiction. If someone who is addicted to a substance could get a quick jab to 1. help their addiction & 2. qualify them for transplantation, they'd likely do it.
Read 4 tweets
Magdi Semrau Profile picture
Jan 31
Once again: both theory & data indicate that you are more likely to get a breakthru infection if exposed to an unvaccinated infected person than a boosted infected person. We don't have a ton of data here, but we do have enough that aligns w/ theory to say this is likely the case
This is an under-recognized factor when speaking about vaccine efficacy. We can't just look at breakthru infections in a vacuum & say, "There have been X number of breakthroughs." We have to look at *whose* viral shedding is more likely to spur a breathrough in a vaxx'd person
You definitely *can* get a breakthru after exposure to a boosted infected person. But it also appears to be less likely than from an unvaxx'd person. In the boosted case, the virus has already been subject to a more refined immune response. Our immune systems protect one another.
Read 8 tweets
Magdi Semrau Profile picture
Jan 29
Mitchell was partially paralyzed by polio, including in her left hand. She learned to play the guitar in a way that compensated for this, which ultimately influenced her distinctive song-writing style." Her compensation was, she said, "a tool to break free" of standard structure
Joni Michell was discovered by David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young. Neil Young, like Mitchell, had contracted polio in the last Canadian epidemic before the vaccine was available. Here is Mitchell's description of how the disease afflicted both of them:
Here are Neil Young and The Band in 1978 playing "Helpless." Joni Mitchell is in the shadows, contributing back-up vocals. It's an astonishing performance. Listen hard for Joni, as she really elevates the song:
Read 4 tweets
Magdi Semrau Profile picture
Jan 28
These stories need to be amplified & placed in the context of the war on education about racism. Diversity programs have specifically been implemented in response to incidents like these. Then the programs are called "CRT" & the conversation revolves around white kids' discomfort
I wrote about the need to center Black students' stories in the education debate for @PostOutlook.
wapo.st/3AGbz6j
When I was researching the piece, I searched for articles about racist incidents in public schools. I found scores of *weekly* examples from across the country. Local news reports on these incidents, but they are rarely centered in national coverage wapo.st/3AGbz6j Image
Read 5 tweets
Magdi Semrau Profile picture
Jan 25
I am boosted. I was exposed to Omicron from a boosted person w/ a breakthru infection. I didn't get sick. This is an anecdote & no one should broadly infer anything from it. I share it b/c we hear anecdotes about breakthrus, but rarely anecdotes about cases when it didn't happen
Again, anecdotes are essentially meaningless, particularly in cases where something *didn't* happen. Still, on a personal level, I am feeling grateful for the vaccine, as well as for both my immune system *&* the immune system of the person I was exposed to.
There's a lot we don't know about the viral dynamics of Omicron between vaxx'd people. We do have reason to postulate, on a theoretical level, that a vaxx'd person's immune system may "hinder" the virus. In this sense, even if they have a breakthru, their immunity protects others
Read 5 tweets

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