June 22, 20223 yr 4 hours ago, EaglesRocker97 said: Yeah, L.A. and San Diego for about a week each. What do the beautiful people do for fun? I want to be fake rich for a couple of weeks If you're a nerd like me, don't miss out on the science center and natural history museum. Legit one of the highlights of our trip there. Most people detest the typical tourist traps, but I'm a bit of a movie buff so I still really enjoyed Hollywood, the walk of fame, Gromman's theater, Dolby theater, Tussaud's, backlot tour of the studios, all that corny ish, haha. They even have a new Oscars museum there now which I'm definitely going to next time we're out there. I'm not one for shops but even Hollywood and Highland was pretty cool. We liked the Grove too. Rodeo Dr and Santa Monic pier are also super touristy but it's something you might want do at least once just for the experience of it. Malibu is definitely more low-key and slower paced. We ate at a place called Duke's there which is right on the shore. Food was okay but the view was incredible. The traffic blows huge hairy gorilla dong but other than that, Cali is pretty damn awesome so you can't really go wrong no matter where you go. Oh and make sure you hit up In N Out at least once!
June 22, 20223 yr 5 minutes ago, paco said: I'm imagining something like the house from The Purge I typed that, but then I remembered that hippies are more NorCa. I'm sure there are pockets down South, though.
June 22, 20223 yr https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10930501/WHO-chief-believes-Covid-DID-leak-Wuhan-lab-catastrophic-accident-2019.html WHO chief 'believes Covid DID leak from Wuhan lab' after a 'catastrophic accident' in 2019 despite publicly maintaining 'all hypotheses remain on the table'
June 22, 20223 yr 4 hours ago, we_gotta_believe said: Oh and make sure you hit up In N Out at least once! Definitely in the plans. GF has never been and I've only had it once last time I was out there at a really busy location near LAX. I want to try to find a less busy one this time. A lot people compare it to Five Guys, but I can't really remember which I thought was better. I seem to recall thinking that Five Guys had better fries, though.
June 23, 20223 yr 59 minutes ago, EaglesRocker97 said: Definitely in the plans. GF has never been and I've only had it once last time I was out there at a really busy location near LAX. I want to try to find a less busy one this time. A lot people compare it to Five Guys, but I can't really remember which I thought was better. I seem to recall thinking that Five Guys had better fries, though. In N Out is definitely the better burger but their fries are awful. Shake Shack has the best all around meal (burger + fries + shake.)
June 23, 20223 yr 9 hours ago, EaglesRocker97 said: Last time I was in the area, I stopped in Malibu for a hot minute at the beginning of my trip, basically just enough time for a swim and a meal. It was really nice. Ended up at this nice, little beachside shack type restaurant that had awesome fish tacos and drinks. Definitely plan on going back and spending some more time there with the girlfriend this time around, as well as Venice Beach since I didn't get that in last time. The beach scenery that really blew me away, though, was when I stopped at Laguna on the drive to San Diego. Just incredibly beautiful and spotlessly clean all-around. It had some pretty nice shops and restaurants, too. You should try to make it up to the Bay area if you can. Much more interesting place than LA
June 23, 20223 yr 3 minutes ago, Procus said: You should try to make it up to the Bay area if you can. Much more interesting place than LA I have a buddy up that way and definitely want to get back there. I was there in 2008 and had a great time. It's just too much to do both regions in one trip, though.
June 23, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, Procus said: You should try to make it up to the Bay area if you can. Much more interesting place than LA I honestly didn’t think you could post anything dumber than you already have, but I was wrong.
June 23, 20223 yr 8 hours ago, hukdonfoniks said: Duke's on the PCH is also pretty choice 8 hours ago, we_gotta_believe said: If you're a nerd like me, don't miss out on the science center and natural history museum. Legit one of the highlights of our trip there. Most people detest the typical tourist traps, but I'm a bit of a movie buff so I still really enjoyed Hollywood, the walk of fame, Gromman's theater, Dolby theater, Tussaud's, backlot tour of the studios, all that corny ish, haha. They even have a new Oscars museum there now which I'm definitely going to next time we're out there. I'm not one for shops but even Hollywood and Highland was pretty cool. We liked the Grove too. Rodeo Dr and Santa Monic pier are also super touristy but it's something you might want do at least once just for the experience of it. Malibu is definitely more low-key and slower paced. We ate at a place called Duke's there which is right on the shore. Food was okay but the view was incredible. The traffic blows huge hairy gorilla dong but other than that, Cali is pretty damn awesome so you can't really go wrong no matter where you go. Oh and make sure you hit up In N Out at least once! Duke’s has solid views, but the food is…meh. If you want the crazy views, go to Mastro’s Ocean Club or Nobu. 3 hours ago, we_gotta_believe said: In N Out is definitely the better burger but their fries are awful. Shake Shack has the best all around meal (burger + fries + shake.) Speaking of dumb posts… Shake Shack is bleh.
June 23, 20223 yr Well, s*** Quote New coronavirus subvariants escape antibodies from vaccination and prior Omicron infection, studies suggest (CNN)Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 appear to escape antibody responses among both people who had previous Covid-19 infection and those who have been fully vaccinated and boosted, according to new data from researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, of Harvard Medical School. However, Covid-19 vaccination is still expected to provide substantial protection against severe disease, and vaccine makers are working on updated shots that might elicit a stronger immune response against the variants. The levels of neutralizing antibodies that a previous infection or vaccinations elicit are several times lower against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants compared with the original coronavirus, according to the new research published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday. "We observed 3-fold reductions of neutralizing antibody titers induced by vaccination and infection against BA4 and BA5 compared with BA1 and BA2, which are already substantially lower than the original COVID-19 variants," Dr. Dan Barouch, an author of the paper and director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, wrote in an email to CNN. "Our data suggest that these new Omicron subvariants will likely be able to lead to surges of infections in populations with high levels of vaccine immunity as well as natural BA1 and BA2 immunity," Barouch wrote. "However, it is likely that vaccine immunity will still provide substantial protection against severe disease with BA4 and BA5." The newly published findings echo separate research by scientists at Columbia University. They recently found that the BA.4 and BA.5 viruses were more likely to escape antibodies from the blood of fully vaccinated and boosted adults compared with other Omicron subvariants, raising the risk of vaccine-breakthrough Covid-19 infections. The authors of that separate study say their results point to a higher risk for reinfection, even in people who have some prior immunity against the virus. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 94.7% of the US population ages 16 and older have antibodies against the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 through vaccination, infection, or both. BA.4 and BA.5 caused an estimated 35% of new Covid-19 infections in the United States last week, up from 29% the week before, according to data shared by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday. BA.4 and BA.5 are the fastest spreading variants reported to date, and they are expected to dominate Covid-19 transmission in the United States, United Kingdom and the rest of Europe within the next few weeks, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. 'COVID-19 still has the capacity to mutate further' In the New England Journal of Medicine paper, among 27 research participants who had been vaccinated and boosted with the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, the researchers found that two weeks after the booster dose, levels of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron subvariants were much lower than the response against the original coronavirus. The neutralizing antibody levels were lower by a factor of 6.4 against BA.1; by a factor of 7 against BA.2; by a factor of 14.1 against BA.2.12.1 and by a factor of 21 against BA.4 or BA.5, the researchers described. Among 27 participants who had previously been infected with the BA.1 or BA.2 subvariants a median of 29 days earlier, the researchers found similar results. In those with previous infection -- most of whom also had been vaccinated -- the researchers described neutralizing antibody levels that were lower by a factor of 6.4 against BA.1; by a factor of 5.8 against BA.2; by a factor of 9.6 against BA.2.12.1 and by a factor of 18.7 against BA.4 or BA.5. More research is needed to determine what exactly the neutralizing antibody levels mean for vaccine effectiveness and whether similar findings would emerge among a larger group of participants. "Our data suggest that COVID-19 still has the capacity to mutate further, resulting in increased transmissibility and increased antibody escape," Barouch wrote in the email. "As pandemic restrictions are lifted, it is important that we remain vigilant and keep studying new variants and subvariants as they emerge." A separate study, published in the journal Nature last week, found that Omicron may evolve mutations to evade the immunity elicited by having a previous BA.1 infection, which suggests that vaccine boosters based on BA.1 may not achieve broad-spectrum protection against new Omicron subvariants like BA.4 and BA.5. As for what all this means in the real world, Dr. Wesley Long, an experimental pathologist at Houston Methodist Hospital, told CNN that people should be aware that they could get sick again, even if they've had Covid-19 before. "I think I'm a little bit worried about people who've had it maybe recently having a false sense of security with BA.4 and BA.5 on the increase, because we have seen some cases of reinfection and I have seen some cases of reinfection with people who had a BA.2 variant in the last few months," he said. Some vaccine makers have been developing variant-specific vaccines to improve the antibody responses against coronavirus variants and subvariants of concern. "Reinfections are going to be pretty inevitable until we have vaccines or widespread mandates that are going to prevent cases rising again. But the good news is that we are in, I think, a much better spot than we were without the vaccines," said Pavitra Roychoudhury, an acting instructor at the University of Washington's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, who was not involved in the New England Journal of Medicine paper. "There's so much of this virus out there that it seems inevitable," she said about Covid-19 infections. "Hopefully the protections that we have in place are going to lead to mostly mild infection." Efforts underway to update Covid-19 vaccines Moderna's bivalent Covid-19 vaccine booster, named mRNA-1273.214, elicited a "potent" immune responses against the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, the company said Wednesday. This bivalent booster vaccine candidate contains components of both Moderna's original Covid-19 vaccine and a vaccine that targets the Omicron variant. The company said it is working to complete regulatory submissions in the coming weeks requesting to update the composition of its booster vaccine to be mRNA-1273.214. "In the face of SARS-CoV-2's continued evolution, we are very encouraged that mRNA-1273.214, our lead booster candidate for the fall, has shown high neutralizing titers against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which represent an emergent threat to global public health," Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, said in Wednesday's announcement. SARS-CoV-2 is the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. "We will submit these data to regulators urgently and are preparing to supply our next generation bivalent booster starting in August, ahead of a potential rise in SARS-CoV-2 infections due to Omicron subvariants in the early fall," Bancel said. The US Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is meeting next week to discuss the composition of Covid-19 vaccines that could be used as boosters this fall. The data that Moderna released Wednesday, which has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal, showed that one month after a 50-microgram dose of the mRNA-1273.214 vaccine was administered in people who had been vaccinated and boosted, the vaccine elicited "potent" neutralizing antibody responses against BA.4 and BA.5, boosting levels 5.4-fold in all participants regardless of whether they had a prior Covid-19 infection and by 6.3-fold in the subset of those with no history of prior infection. These levels of neutralizing antibodies were about 3-fold lower than previously reported neutralizing levels against BA.1, Moderna said. These findings add to the data that Moderna previously released earlier this month, showing that the 50-microgram dose of the bivalent booster generated a stronger antibody response against Omicron than the original Moderna vaccine. Moderna's data suggest that "the bivalent booster might confer greater protection against the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron strains than readministering the original vaccine to increase protection across the population. Although the information is based on antibody levels, the companies comment that similar levels of antibody protected against clinical illness caused by other strains is the first suggestion of an emerging 'immune correlate' of protection, although it is hoped that this ongoing study is also assessing rates of clinical illness as well as antibody responses," Penny Ward, an independent pharmaceutical physician and visiting professor in pharmaceutical medicine at King's College London, said in a statement released by the UK-based Science Media Centre on Wednesday. She was not involved in Moderna's work. "It has been reported previously that the bivalent vaccine is well tolerated with temporary 'reactogenic' effects similar to those following the univalent booster injection so we can anticipate that this new mixed vaccine should be well tolerated," Ward said in part. "As we head towards the autumn with omicron variants dominating the covid infection landscape, it certainly makes sense to consider use of this new bivalent vaccine, if available."
June 23, 20223 yr 8 hours ago, vikas83 said: Duke’s has solid views, but the food is…meh. If you want the crazy views, go to Mastro’s Ocean Club or Nobu. Speaking of dumb posts… Shake Shack is bleh. In N Out has the best burger, but their shakes and fries belong in a garbage can. It's pretty weird how large the disparity is, and spare me the animal style hack, which somehow makes really terrible fries even worse.
June 23, 20223 yr 9 hours ago, vikas83 said: I honestly didn’t think you could post anything dumber than you already have, but I was wrong. LA sucks. Phony people, lack of culture - just a horrible, plastic place.
June 23, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, we_gotta_believe said: In N Out has the best burger, but their shakes and fries belong in a garbage can. It's pretty weird how large the disparity is, and spare me the animal style hack, which somehow makes really terrible fries even worse. I actually do like the fries at Shake Shack, but the burgers are just blah. The shakes at In N Out are awesome.
June 23, 20223 yr 1 hour ago, Procus said: LA sucks. Phony people, lack of culture - just a horrible, plastic place. Says the guy who lives in...Florida.
June 23, 20223 yr 10 hours ago, vikas83 said: If you want the crazy views, go to Mastro’s Ocean Club or Nobu. Those places look awesome.
June 23, 20223 yr Just now, EaglesRocker97 said: Those places look awesome. I actually like Mastro's better, but Nobu is more of a scene and actually in Malibu. Mastro's is really between Malibu and the Palisades. I just find Nobu's food to be somewhat overrated.
June 23, 20223 yr 4 minutes ago, vikas83 said: I actually do like the fries at Shake Shack, but the burgers are just blah. The shakes at In N Out are awesome. You honestly prefer the shakes at In N Out over the ones at Shake Shack? That might be the craziest thing I've ever heard. I'll even take a Chic Fil A shake over the ones at In N Out.
June 23, 20223 yr 4 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said: You honestly prefer the shakes at In N Out over the ones at Shake Shack? That might be the craziest thing I've ever heard. I'll even take a Chic Fil A shake over the ones at In N Out. I honestly can't remember that last time I had a milkshake. I often skip the fries too. Just love the burgers.
June 23, 20223 yr 7 minutes ago, vikas83 said: I actually like Mastro's better, but Nobu is more of a scene and actually in Malibu. Mastro's is really between Malibu and the Palisades. I just find Nobu's food to be somewhat overrated. Yeah, the steaks at Mastro's are really what caught my eye as far as food goes.
June 23, 20223 yr 6 minutes ago, vikas83 said: I honestly can't remember that last time I had a milkshake. Oh man, I love a good milkshake. I don't get them too often, because I hate the crappy ones but a good shake or ice cream cone while on a walk on a warm summer night is basically like pure unadulterated happiness. My dad has gotten progressively more lactose intolerant as he gets older, so my thought is to enjoy them now while my body can still produce lactase.
June 23, 20223 yr 7 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said: Oh man, I love a good milkshake. I don't get them too often, because I hate the crappy ones but a good shake or ice cream cone while on a walk on a warm summer night is basically like pure unadulterated happiness. My dad has gotten progressively more lactose intolerant as he gets older, so my thought is to enjoy them now while my body can still produce lactase. Call me crazy, but raw egg in a homemade milkshake gives it depth and makes it extra frothy. From what I've gathered, the inside of the egg is sterile and, although there is a very small chance of bacteria from the eggshell contaminating it when you crack it open, a healthy individual should be fine as long as the egg is pasteurized (it should be) and you wash off the outside first. I also love to add some egg in burger meat.
June 23, 20223 yr Just now, EaglesRocker97 said: Call me crazy, but raw egg in a milkshake gives it depth and makes it extra frothy. From what I've gathered, the inside of the egg is sterile and, although there is a small chance of bacteria from the eggshell contaminating it when you crack it open, a healthy individual should be fine as long as the egg is pasteurized (it should be) and you wash off the outside first. I also love to add some egg in burger meat. That's basically a custard milkshake, and is what shake shack uses. If you're doing this at home, you can buy pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs to play it safe if you don't want to temper them (i think salmonella is present in about 1 out of every unpasteurized 1000 eggs).
June 23, 20223 yr 13 minutes ago, EaglesRocker97 said: Yeah, the steaks at Mastro's are really what caught my eye as far as food goes. The Bone-in ribeye is unreal. And when a Hindu is recommending a steak... But best steak in LA -- the Tomahawk at Baltaire is my favorite.
June 23, 20223 yr 1 minute ago, we_gotta_believe said: That's basically a custard milkshake, and is what shake shack uses. If you're doing this at home, you can buy pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs to play it safe if you don't want to temper them (i think salmonella is present in about 1 out of every unpasteurized 1000 eggs). CDC says 1 in 20,000, so it's relatively small.
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