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So just to make sure I understand. You claim people have realized the Covid vaccines were "far less safe than we were assured". Your source for this claim is the linked apnews article. Is that correct? Because if it is, you're not really making your case. The article is about a cautionary pausing from some countries based on some things that could be issues, maybe for children. There's a difference between pausing for some people based on caution, and "far less safe". I mean, yes, the administration and Faucci were messaging "100% and 100% effective" like the liar-liar-pants-on-fire they were. The massive push to get children vaccinated flew in the face of the data that kids were the least likely to get it or have complications. So many things were done wrong, some of it had to be intentional. But your claim was "covid vaccines were far less safe than we were assured", and that's simply not true. Not by a long shot. Your AP news article doesn't make the case, and although I've looked for years, no credible source does either.

There were some of us at work who did not get the covid shot. Pretty much everyone in the agency caught covid and many had it more than once. 100% of the hospitalizations from covid in my agency had taken the shot. Let me repeat that: 100% of the hospitalizations in my agency took the shot. I also took ivermectin while being treated. Seemed pretty dang effective to take an anti-viral for a virus.

Then there's me who really does think there is a Big Natural Health conspiracy that is intentionally trying to reintroduce diseases.

Well, to be honest, I still haven't realized any of that jargle, even after looking seriously for something to substantiate it for years. I mean, the vaccines were far less effective than we hoped (and the government pushed). And it's now becoming more accepted that 'vaccine' isn't an accurate description of it - it's better thought of as a 'therapeutic'. But far less safe? What's your data for that? The thing has gone into literally billions of arms. Every nation on earth has a health service or ministry or center of some sort - you'd think it would be easy to find. The negative impacts are indeed 'told', but the last I checked, it was a similar rate to any other sort of related therapeutic. I mean, you can't find it in the December '24 House report, full of Republicans more than willing to pin dirt like that to Biden. It claimed "The COVID-19 Vaccine, While Largely Safe and Effective, Had Adverse Events That Must be Throughoughly Investigated" It's chart, when compared with the billions of doses given, is pretty weak sauce: With 5.6 billion doses given worldwide, 10,000 deaths means the vaccine is safer than driving a car. You've got a better chance of being hit by lightning, twice, than having a serious negative covid vax event. Especially considering that any lying agenda driven yayhoo was able to submit an entry to VAERS on the topic.

D&C 93: 1 - 20 speaks of the grace Jesus received step by step through His entire life experience as He fulfilled all righteousness by faith (verse 17 refers to this as "continued from grace to grace" -- a practical expression of godly faith, which we need to develop and exercise) and obedience, until He received a fulness. The sense I get is that He began this process "before the world was" (verse 7).

Never heard of it. Not into comics much. I understand where you are coming from, to some degree. It’s usually white people whining about organic food, talking about natural cures, etc. It’s their way of bragging about how rich they are without actually bragging about how rich they are.

You seem to have missed the very next sentence and how that further shaped my position/reaction. My complaint was not that it was a conspiracy. It was that no one was even looking at the time. No one in power even cared what the "facts" were. It turned out that the numbers were indeed very large. But the percentage of people was very low. That would have been (or at least should have been) a satisfactory answer. But the fact that they simply blew off the question without really looking was objectionable.

I have attempted to help the homeless (and other poor) on a number of occasions. Each is an individual though there seems to be common threads. If recreational (sometimes prescription) drugs (including alcohol) are involved there is not much that can be done to help. There is a strong connection among the poor between drugs and mental instability. In my youth such mental instability was solved by committing those individuals to mental institutions. Individuals that resisted were medicated according to their level of resistance. There was a joke when someone acted stupid that the men in the white coats would soon be coming to get them. I wonder if that threat solved a lot of social problems that seem to have reared up in this era. There was a group we used to call the intellectual bleeding-heart liberals that determined that institutionalizing the mentally instable against their wishes was cruel punishment. Most mentally instable also suffer from degrees of paranoia and resist any intrusion ("helpful" relationship) into their life. I guess that such liberal intellectuals with bleeding hearts think that leaving the mentally instable and addicted to fend for themselves in society is somehow kinder and more charitable. I am not an expert, but I do believe that anyone that cannot manage themselves needs to be institutionalized. The amount of self-medication (like a DUI) ought to be an indication that institutionalization or at least some level of oversite is necessary. Most certainly they should not be registered to vote. The Traveler

I do think some hawk “natural cures” and know it’s snake oil. We all have families to feed but those are type of people are lower than common thieves. At least a thief doesn’t tell you he can cure your stage 4 cancer with peach pits.

I try not to attribute to malice what I can attribute to ignorance and stupidity. The natural health people mean well but are way off base. I think a minority of conspiracy theorists are the same. Mostly well meaning, but that doesn’t mean they are right. I absolutely think the majority of conspiracy theorists want to show off, pretend they are smarter than everyone else, have a martyr complex, etc

I have not found anyone (even scholars) who use this literary definition you describe. All definitions and descriptions refer to the line before writing and after. It can be used as a localized term, with Greek prehistory coming before the Iliad and Egyptian prehistory coming before the Narmer Pallette. Do you have some citations or examples?

So again, 5.6 billion doses went into ~5 billion humans. If the world suddenly saw an extra quarter million myocarditis cases, as that unsourced factoid claims, do you not think various national and world health organizations would have written a paper on it? I mean, they can't all be sharing the agenda to keep you in the dark, can they?

In a softer time, in an age when a President and the opposing Speaker could regularly sit down together for lunch together (Reagan & Kissenger) that would certainly be ideal. But we both know that we no longer live in such times. Trump actually asked Pelosi and Schumer to sit down in such meetings to hopefully become friends. They did meet. But the Speaker and Dem Leader simply couldn't get the picture of Hitler off of their minds during the entire meeting. They also couldn't get their minds off of all their kick-backs that they were getting from the many government programs that DOGE is shutting down. We live in a time when political rhetoric rules. And quite frankly, it is not just the politicians. The people are divided into only listening to partisan hackery...Like calling their political opponents "Hitler" and decrying every action as "unconstitutional". I've heard it said (and I'm inclined to lean to this belief) that we're in a "soft civil war." Do I want it this way? NO!!! Would I end these patterns? I certainly wish there were a way. Forgive me, but this reeks of straining at the gnat and swallowing the camel. We have district judges claiming equal authority to the President Yes, Boasberg actually said that. We have judges who violate the law (harboring fugitives who smuggle fentanyl and other drugs across the border) while supporters are cheering them on? There are times that political theater is all that gets through to people. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. Maybe it goes over the line. Maybe it doesn't. I'm confident that he has no plans to run again. And it seems that you agree. Today the political world includes people who prefer an illigal alien who beats his wife, participates in human trafficking, and rapes/murders litle girls to be returned to the US as a free man. I'd prefer the jokes and theater rather than the actual constitutional violations of prioritizing of such illegal monsters over everyday US citizens.

Speaking to the non covid shot. I think we give too many vaccinations to infants too quickly. I think they should be spaced out over a longer period of time. @Carborendum nailed it on the head in regard to Pres. Nelson and his urge to take the Covid shot. Then a whole crapton of LDS went on a self righteous tour of the world if you did not take the prophetically revealed Covid shot.

That's pretty messed up. I just figured that the advice was a mortal advice from a mortal doctor. And I treated it as such. Sometimes they're right. Sometimes they're wrong. Most of the time their advice is more educated than a layperson. But it doesn't make it gospel. I believed that Pres Nelson made the announcement because (as far as I heard) there were far too many Saints who were claiming a religious exemption, when it had nothing to do with our religion. The big concern I had was about the myocarditis and pericarditis. People raised the question, and no one seemed to be answering. They just blew it off without explanation. Just denial, denial, denial. That's what got me worried. I never claimed that I was sure the jab was causing it. But I was concerned that no one was addressing it. Now, after all the panic and hoopla is over... after Pfizer made their billions already and don't push it anymore... we find two interesting pieces of information. Normally, we see incidence of myocarditis in about 10 per 100,000. And it normally affects young men (regardless of health). But during the height of the jab, we saw this jump to 20 per 100,000. And it still predominantly affected young men. So, what are we to determine from this? The rate jumped by about 100%. But it is still an extremely small percentage of the population. Based on that data, I don't really know either way. Since a standard (that I've seen, anyway) is that if a drug/medication/etc. causes a mortality rate of 1/1,000 it is of concern. Sometimes 1/10,000 is enough to actually investigate further. If it is at a rate of 1/100, then they don't recommend the medication. And over 2% is automatically pulled off the market. Well, by that standard, it looks like the jab was on the borderline of being safe or not. And it is largely a matter of opinion. AFAIK, this information was available during the pandemic. Why didn't they just share this with us? I'd bet it would shut up a lot of conspiracy theorists. I just wanted to know the facts. But All I heard was that "you're too ignorant to understand that we're doing what is good for you." Yeah, that bugged me.

When it comes to the anti-vax side of things, they got a significant boost from the controversies over the Covid vaccines. The rollout of the Covid vaccines quickly went from "we know they didn't have proper medical trials, but there's no time for that" to "get the shots or we'll destroy your life". As part of it, initial reports of side effects or adverse incidents were forcibly suppressed by various social media platforms; even licensed and credentialed medical doctors found themselves silenced when they tried to tell the public that something was wrong. But by then, the US government and several other governments had already passed legislation that shielded the pharma companies from legal consequences. It wasn't until 2021 / 2022 that anyone realized the Covid vaccines were far less safe than we were assured, that an untold number of people were looking at a lifetime of compromised health, and that the lives of people who refused the shots or tried to blow the whistle were destroyed for nothing. I've even seen ex-members cite the church's support of the vaccines as part of the reason why they left, feeling that the church leadership should have known that the vaccines were dangerous. This has so utterly, totally, and completely destroyed trust in *all* vaccines that the anti-vax movement seemed logical in hindsight, hence why we now have a measles epidemic in West Texas.

Nutrition is a fascinating thing. I am a little wary of those who claim it is everything. I've made no secret of my distaste for anti-vaxxers and Big Natural Health, who I find to be for the most part grifters.

It's absolutely overdiagnosed. I think to some degree we are in a time where disorders may be some variation of "cool". I definitely believe in circumstances that are so extreme they cause real issues and need to be treated, but people are also trying to categorize every little thing. My concern is that we're so scattered on how to approach not just ADHD but attention in general that we are at a loss for that elusive best way to learn. A common sadness among teachers is that we can't really do much that is more active because kids have no traditionally-learned limits, so all the time is spent practicing limits and boundaries. "I would love for you to run around. Can you do it without destroying something or hitting someone?" That's a surprising amount of steps and skills to get to that point.

The "disorder" part of ADD or ADHD may be a disorder, or may just be a way of existing. It seems like there are a bazillion of us with ADD/ADHD who are out just living our best lives the best we can, just like everyone else, but with some different coping mechanisms and learned habits and methods to make life work. The diagnoses themselves are probably waaaay over diagnosed with our youth, especially boys. "Sit still and pay attention" is a nice skill for a boy to develop, but it's often not the best way to learn.

There are mentally ill people, and there are scammers. There are lazy people, and there are low-iq people without the brain power to understand. There are entitled people and folks with PTSD who are struggling with being abused by people they should have been able to trust. Here's the thing - we often can't tell who is who by just looking at them or even working with them. The line from that hymn nailed it: Who am I to judge another when I walk imperfectly? In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can’t see. Scripture is pretty clear on things too: So we're left with a good reasonable basis for not judging, a scriptural commandment to not judge, and a very reasonable question about what help looks like and what it doesn't look like. - Giving someone help who could do it themselves isn't help, it's enabling their laziness. That's not charity, that's not love, that's not respecting someone's agency, that's being a sucker. - Giving someone help who can't do it themselves is help, is charity, and we're commanded to do it, and if we don't and get all judgey about it we're going to hell. It can be impossible to tell which sort of person we're dealing with. So we take our best guess, do our best, and try to live with the consequences. I'm pretty sure that while @Phoenix_person and his folks' hearts are in the right place, subsidizing single motherhood with taxpayer dollars is the most harmful thing white folk have done to the black community since slavery. Paying people to keep fathers out of the home is evil, and has ruined lives and increased all the bad things these programs seek to prevent. That said, each of us will personally be judged by how we've treated the lost and the least of us, and if we screw it up it'll have eternal consequences. So do your best and make up your mind and pray for guidance to do the right thing.

I don't believe any aspect of Backroads is curmudgeonly. That's for old men like me. It seems you've taken sincere measures to help someone who is operating at below optimal conditions. And she is swatting away your hand of charity.

I hate to say it, but this is almost what I suspect. Which sounds curmudgeonly, but there's that confession.

I hear you. Is this because of lack of knowledge/understanding? Or is it because she is intellectually challenged? If she simply doesn't know how, you go one route. If she's intellectually challenged, take another route. To clarify: When I say "intellectually challenged" she may not fit the clinical definition of "retarded" (IQ below 75). But if she's on the lower end of normal (80-85) she simply may not have learned a lot of what you and I take for granted. So, the first thing is to try to educate her (with a lot of patience). But if she's always been this way, then one problem you'll have is that she's told herself "I just can't..." Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. So, you'll have that to work through. And it will not be easy. A lifetime of programming has told her "I can't." You're not going to deprogram that overnight. Something similar to this has happened to the young lady that my wife and I have been helping. She basically needs to be walked through the process. We think it's easy to just print out a form. But she doesn't have a printer. We think it is easy to just look up a govt. bldg. on Google. But she can't spell. Sometimes she can't remember words like "vital records." And she may not quite understand the directions that Google gives from her GPS. We take all these things for granted. But if she's never been taught... Every person needs to make a judgment call about how much we can help, and when we have reached the limit. At some point, when we've really done what we can to help out, we need to make a call. And each call is situation specific. There is no rule. It's just judgment. And the limit for you will be different than it is for other. Put your own mask on first, then help the next person. Ponder and pray for guidance. Then understand your proper priorities. ALSO: If you think that all social links have been exhausted, it may be time to bring government into it as @Phoenix_person said. While I'd always encourage that as a last resort only, it may be that this situation is appropriate for government safety nets. But beware of one thing, the number of people who are able to ween themselves off of it, while a significant number, is still pretty low. The fact that she may never get off of it is a reason to try to avoid it. But if it is the last resort...

One of my favorite LDS mom group horror stories was a lady who claimed she had received revelation that she was on a higher spiritual plane than the prophet and that's why she didn't vaccinate her kids (any vaccines) and knew the prophet would one day be punished for allowing vaccines.

Sadly, people have tried that. She has no interest in a social worker. She refuses to work with anyone.

I hate yard work. But I've found that it's a little better if, while going as fast as the riding mower will go, you make vrooming noises.