Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

You can’t love your country only when you win.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Second rate reporter says what?

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

You cannot shame the shameless.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Keep the Faith

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Keep the Faith

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144Comments

  4. 4.

    Immanentize

    ?? regarding Biden’s trip to Houston. I hope he makes fun of Cruz. And Abbott. And Paxton. And Cornyn. And….

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    New tech, old dreck: revival of an ungolden oldie. May it land with a resounding thud. Guy is a (D) state representative for Illinois District 33.

    An Illinois legislator is looking to ban the sale of all violent video games in the state, according to amendments that would adjust a 2012 law, which currently keeps retailers from selling certain violent games to minors. The documents were filed on Friday by Rep. Marcus C. Evans, Jr. in response to an increase in carjackings and violent crime in Chicago.

    House Bill 3531 would prevent the sale of all “violent video games” in the state. As defined in the bill, a violent video game is described as one that “allows a user or player to control a character within the video game that is encouraged to perpetuate human-on-human violence in which the player kills or otherwise causes serious physical or psychological harm to another human or an animal.”
    [snip]
    A $1,000 fine was proposed for those that sell or rent a violent video game. Source

  15. 15.

    MJS

    Not going to read the Tiger Woods piece. I’m sure being a child prodigy is very difficult, and has profound impacts later in life, but any adult who willingly associates with Donald Trump is, in my opinion, of low character, and not worth any time or sympathy.

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    So, two-thirds of Rs DON’T approve of President Biden’s coronavirus response?  I wonder what part they don’t like: his actually having a response?  Ridiculous.

    Loving how Manchin’s real motivation for kneecapping Tanden is coming out.

    Now if someone would just explain to Sinema that the GQP is going to voter-suppress her right the heck out of office if she can’t find it in herself to eliminate the filibuster, at least for the John Lewis voting rights act.

  17. 17.

    2liberal

    I emailed my senior senatar (Sinema) about her support for keeping the filibuster.  She responded with some history about the filibuster and ended with this:

    I have long said that I oppose eliminating the filibuster for votes on legislation. Retaining the legislative filibuster is not meant to impede the things we want to get done. Rather, it’s meant to protect what the Senate was designed to be. I believe the Senate has a responsibility to put politics aside and fully consider, debate, and reach compromise on legislative issues that will affect all Americans. Therefore, I support the 60-vote threshold for all Senate actions. Debate on bills should be a bipartisan process that takes into account the views of all Americans, not just those of one political party. Regardless of the party in control of the Senate, respecting the opinions of senators from the minority party will result in better, commonsense legislation. My position remains exactly the same now that I serve in the majority. While eliminating the filibuster may result in some short-term legislative gains, it would deepen partisan divisions and sacrifice the long-term health of our government. I will continue working across the aisle with my colleagues in the United States Senate to ensure our legislative process upholds the integrity of our democracy.

  19. 19.

    Skepticat

    Apropos of nothing other than we all need light entertainment, check out https://www.facebook.com/bangormainepolice/ if you have a moment. Right out of college, I worked in television in Bangor, and a number of cops had part-time jobs as camera operators. They were great people, though they had a disconcerting habit of using blue lights to pull me over if they saw me on the road and wanted to chat. It seems the same sense of humor prevails in the department all these years later.

  22. 22.

    artem1s

     regarding Biden’s trip to Houston. I hope he makes fun of Cruz. And Abbott. And Paxton. And Cornyn. And….

    I hope he does do a meet and greet with Beto and the volunteers he’s been organizing. If Cruz has the guts to show up and stand next to Biden that will be enough for me.  He’ll look like a clown in comparison. why am I absolutely sure Biden won’t be passing out boxes of crayons or paper towels?  

  26. 26.

    p.a.

    @2liberal: translating her: “despite the fact the Leopards Eat Your Face Party eats the faces of their own too, I will willfully allow them to eat my face as well.  COMITY!”

  27. 27.

    artem1s

    @NotMax:

    perpetuate human-on-human violence in which the player kills or otherwise causes serious physical or psychological harm to another human or an animal.

    so angry birds is a no go.

    honestly, I’m less concerned with the actual games my nephews are playing than the toxic online community that they interact with while playing those games.  If the Illinois AG wants to look into whether the say, Ohio Militia or the Proud Boys used Call of Duty to plan and coordinate their treasonous attack on the Capitol on January 6, I’m all for that.

  29. 29.

    Jeffro

    @2liberal:While eliminating the filibuster may result in some short-term legislative gains, it would deepen partisan divisions and sacrifice the long-term health of our government.

    That line is particularly breathtaking in its stupidity.  They. Will. Voter-Suppress. You. Right. Out. Of. Office, genius!

    As if our partisan divisions could be any deeper, or will somehow heal if/when the D majority bows to the wishes of 10 R Senators.

  32. 32.

    Geminid

    @Baud: President Obama got my attention last year when he spoke at John Lewis’s funeral and said that if the voting rights act named after Lewis was blocked by filibuster, then the filibuster needs to go. Obama stays in touch with Senators, and I think he spoke advisedly.                    So when Schumer and his caucus decide the time is ripe to try to push the voting rights act through, we may see a game of chicken with the Republican side. There could be a compromise to achieve 60 votes. Another compromise might to carve out another exception to the 60 vote rule, for voting rights legislation. Judicial nominations and budget reconciliation are already excepted from the 60 vote rule.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    @Geminid:

    Agree.  It’s easy to talk bipartisan when everything is on hold for Covid. But sooner or later, Sinema is going to see that her GOP colleagues don’t share her commitment to comity.  That’s when we’ll find out if she has a red line and what it is.

  36. 36.

    waratah

    Where are the bipartisan votes for Tanden that Manchin is so worried the republicans are not having a chance to vote on? I think that Manchin is the one that is being left high and dry as they clearly only want to disrupt.

  37. 37.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: Once the Covid relief bill and major nominations are out of the way, the process to legislate other policy initiatives will begin in earnest. When commitee work is complete, legislative strategy, especially timing, will be key. I’m hoping Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation is introduced fairly soon. That is a wedge issue for Republicans, maybe the biggest of all. The “populists” are one side, and the Chamber of Commerce, Wall Street Journal, and the Kochs are on the other.                         Politics aside, immigration reform is a matter of justice and equity. The influx of millions of younger workers will help the Social Security system as well.

  40. 40.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah: Little Imma is fine.  He had no classes last week because of the storm, which suited him because he had a big reaction to his first jab.  But he got a little manual “Robot” espresso machine for his room for Christmas and this is making him happy.

    It’s my FiL that is on trouble.  It seems he got an infection in his legs, and couldn’t get to a Dr. during the freeze/power outage.  Ended up in the ER Monday but became paranoid/disoriented while there.  Meds? Infection? Dementia?  Unknown, but it is not good.

  47. 47.

    Betty Cracker

    @2liberal: In a better country than the one we currently inhabit, that would be a noble sentiment. In the country we live in, where some of Sinema’s Republican colleagues encouraged a violent mob to invade her workplace at the seat of American democracy less than two months ago, it sounds naive AF.

  50. 50.

    hueyplong

    @OzarkHillbilly: Admittedly, I’ve only seen clips and not his entire appearances in court, but the difference between him and a RW blowhard non-lawyer is difficult if not impossible to discern.

    He uses the terminology, but inaptly (if that’s a word) and ineptly.  Judges have had to watch him say things that flat out translate into confessions of violations of Rule 11.

  51. 51.

    JPL

    @Baud: Nice!    Even though it doesn’t appear to be as effective as Pfizer and Moderna, Sanjay pointed out on CNN it was tested at time that variants were present.   Next week there is a good chance that a few million more vaccines will be available.

  52. 52.

    prostratedragon

    @Immanentize: Sorry to hear that. Hopefully that will clear when they find the right antibiotics for the infection (been there, done that; didn’t become flagrantly delusional or anything, but would say that there can be mental effects that disappear with treatment).

  53. 53.

    Betty Cracker

    @Immanentize: Sorry to hear that. Do you know if they gave him blood pressure meds? My gran had a severe reaction to that one time. I had to physically restrain her from confronting imaginary car thieves, and she kept complaining about hearing trains passing by even though she was stone deaf. The effects passed in a day or so. Hope your FIL recovers fully.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    Definition of infrastructure

    1 : the system of public works of a country, state, or region also : the resources (such as personnel, buildings, or equipment) required for an activity
    2 : the underlying foundation or basic framework (as of a system or organization)
    3 : the permanent installations required for military purposes
    4: a period of time, particularly seven days, characterized by ridiculous scandals.

  57. 57.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    regarding Biden’s trip to Houston. I hope he makes fun of  announces charges of Sedition for Cruz. And Abbott. And Paxton. And Cornyn. And….

    Or an acceptable substitute thereof

    And Hawley, too, although he’s not a  Texan like Cruz.

  59. 59.

    Geminid

    @Cameron: The Republicans of Arizona would not have her. Sinema will run in the 2024 Democratic primary as a Democrat and a moderate. She knows she will have at least one challenger from the liberal side.

  63. 63.

    Immanentize

    @prostratedragon: @Betty Cracker:
    Thanks All,
    The scary thing is that his mother became paranoid/violent in dementia. It was awful to watch. But my FiL had to keep her in their home because his Dad, when dying, made him promise not to put her “in a home.” Of course, my FiL’s parents, years earlier, put their parents in a home as soon as they could.

    Don’t ever promise not to get the professional help for seniors when they need it. It won’t do anyone any good to try and handle the situation yourself.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    @Geminid: 

    She’s not up until 2024. Mark Kelly has to win again in 2022. I’m sure she’ll see what happens with him and then maneuver.

  65. 65.

    Soprano2

    I’m talking my mom to get her first shot this afternoon. I’ll feel a lot better after she has the second one. Mine is still a long ways away, but I’m hoping my husband can get his pretty soon – he turned 74 yesterday.

  66. 66.

    Immanentize

    @raven:
    I saw that last night and pulled up some of his poems to read.  He was so great.  Saw him read when I was in college and saw him one day at City Lights (1992?) just hanging out and chatting with a couple people.

  67. 67.

    Amir Khalid

    @OzarkHillbilly: 
    He may still have his licence, but it’s painfully obvious that any semblance of lawyerly judgement is long gone. I mean, the guy promotes legal arguments he learned watching My Cousin Vinny.

  68. 68.

    WereBear

    @MJS: Sadly, I knew Tiger Woods would likely never have a chance to be a fully functioning person when he was in his early 20s.

    His father was asked if Tiger was dating anyone, and his reply was a long string of golf achievements that his son would have to perform before he could even thinking about dating, personal life, time off… etc.

    And I’m like, the poor guy is doomed.

  72. 72.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Kelly basically ran as a moderate. I think he and Sinema will vote together 95% during this Congress. And I’d bet they both end up being reelected.

    I’m hoping Arizona is now where Virginia was ten years ago, purple on the way to blue. Policy wise, Kelly and Sinema are not too dissimilar to Virginia Senators Kaine and Warner. Even though the Progressive Punch rating service gave both Kaine and Warner an “F” last year, Virginia Democrats really like them.

  75. 75.

    jonas

    @NotMax:  An Illinois legislator is looking to ban the sale of all violent video games in the state,

    *rolls eyes*

    Sigh. The 80’s called. They’d like their moral panic back. What’s next? Protesting “2 Live Crew”?

  76. 76.

    AWOL

    @MJS: Yes. I stopped watching NY Mets games when I found out announcer Keith Hernandez was a regular at Mar-A-Lago. Always knew he was a wingnut to cover his past, but I didn’t realize his sadism was that deep.
    As for Woods, I don’t follow golf, but being ancient, I remember when he went pro, he became a willing and cynical marketing tool to attract Black consumers to golf—and it was pretty much said aloud.

  78. 78.

    The Dark Avenger

    @WereBear: 

    This is from H. L. Mencken’s essay on Rudolf Valentino and the travails of fame and fortune:

    I incline to think that the inscrutable gods, in taking him off so soon and at a moment of fiery revolt, were very kind to him. Living, he would have tried inevitably to change his fame – if such it is to be called – into something closer to his heart’s desire. That is to say, he would have gone the way of many another actor – the way of increasing pretension, of solemn artiness, of hollow hocus-pocus, deceptive only to himself. I believe he would have failed, for there was little sign of the genuine artist in him. He was essentially a highly respectable young man, which is the sort that never metamorphoses into an artist. But suppose he had succeeded? Then his tragedy, I believe, would have only become the more acrid and intolerable. For he would have discovered, after vast heavings and yearnings, that what he had come to was indistinguishable from what he had left. Was the fame of Beethoven any more caressing and splendid than the fame of Valentino? To you and me, of course, the question seems to answer itself. But what of Beethoven? He was heard upon the subject, viva voce, while he lived, and his answer survives, in all the freshness of its profane eloquence, in his music. Beethoven, too, knew what it meant to be applauded. Walking with Goethe, he heard something that was not unlike the murmur that reached Valentino through his hospital window. Beethoven walked away briskly. Valentino turned his face to the wall.

  79. 79.

    JMG

    @WereBear:  Through my late parents, I knew one of the country’s top teaching professional golfers, one well wired into the world of elite golf, and back in the day he told me pretty much what you just posted about Woods.

  82. 82.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @The Dark Avenger: I think this is why I find Billie Eilish a remarkable young woman. In spite of being only 19 and a rich and popular celebrity, Eilish still managed to stay true to herself and not get swallowed by the corporate marketing machine. Then again, having a loving family that doesn’t see Billie as an ATM, helps enormously.

  84. 84.

    MomSense

    @2liberal:

    The problem with this explanation is that the Founders envisioned that the three co-equal branches would work to check and balance each other.  They did not envision that the political parties would use the branches of government to check each other!  They certainly never imagined the modern GOP putting their power ahead of what is best for the country.

  86. 86.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Betty Cracker: Even in a better country, it would have a gaping flaw–it openly endorses the abuse of the filibuster to create a 60-vote threshold for all legislation, which she doesn’t seem to realize is a recent innovation. It only reached full flower during the Obama administration!

  87. 87.

    Jeffro

    Needz moar snooze media attention plz: GQP In Disarray!  Like, way, waaaay in disarray

    trumpov vs. McTurtle gonna keep on keepin’ on for a couple more years

    The February 19-22 Economist/YouGov poll cited above found that 48 percent of Republicans said they would not vote for a candidate critical of Trump, more than double the 23 percent who said they would. 29 percent were not sure.

    So, half the GQP is firmly in trumpov’s camp; about a quarter would like to move on, and about a quarter haven’t made up their minds.  (Hey with choices like trumpov and McConnell, who can blame them, amirite? LOL)

    Similarly, 61 percent of Republicans said a Trump endorsement would make them more likely to vote for a candidate; only 5 percent said it would make it less likely…suggest[ing] a weakening of Republican strength in upcoming general elections, but in terms of internal party conflict, the defections only strengthen Trump’s hand: As anti-Trump voters leave the party, the pro-Trump wing gains more power.

    Always remember that for a majority of Rs, a trumpov endorsement is…(gag)…a seal of quality  0_0

  91. 91.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Jeffro:

    Filibuster only works when there’s horse trading going on by way of earmarks. It forces people to prioritize their deep abiding principles and party loyalty vis a vis tangible things which benefit constituents.

    In a world where people need a critical bridge or dam rebuilt, that priority may come ahead of some Christofascist abortion performance art.

  92. 92.

    Soprano2

    @Steeplejack: Today is your birthday, right? ??

    Yes, it is, I’m 60 and can barely believe it. Strangely enough I didn’t feel that way about 40 or 50, but it seems like I turned 50 just a few years ago!! Thanks for the birthday wishes!

  93. 93.

    burnspbesq

    @Baud:

    Committee meets Saturday. The probability of approval will be fully baked into JNJ’s share price within two minutes of the open today.

  94. 94.

    Jeffro

    @Matt McIrvin: that’s what, six years from now?  An eternity in politics.  Both men could easily have shuffled off this mortal coil by then.

    Regardless…the poll says what it says.

  96. 96.

    germy

    The Covington Kidz tried suing Kathy Griffin, but it didn’t go the way they wanted:

    I am legit humbled to have set a legal precedent. I promised you guys I would not back down from these Covington High lawsuits. While the magas have been whining about the 1st Amendment, I have actually been fighting it in Federal AND State court. https://t.co/aKjJ5YnXOs

    — Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) February 23, 2021

  103. 103.

    snoey

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: The other thing missing from the old school filibuster is the pressure of other legislation.  The Senate was then single threaded, so that nothing else moved until the filibuster was resolved one way or the other.

    Now it’s just ok that one’s fillibustered, on to the next.

    Only having one party interested in actual legislation also reduces this effect.

  104. 104.

    Gin & Tonic

    In case anyone is following the Navalny/Amnesty thing,

    your regular reminder that Matt Taibbi and Mark Ames confessed in their own book to raping Russian teenage girls while partying hard in 90s Moscow
    — Ilya Lozovsky (@ichbinilya) February 23, 2021

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    @2liberal, @Matt McIrvin:

    Sounds like Kyrsten Sinema needs to read Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy. The 60-vote supermajority is directly tied to the filibuster.

    The Guardian: “How the Senate Filibuster Props Up Republican Power.”

    NPR interview with the author, Adam Jentleson.

    Jentleson:

    [. . .] there is no question that the filibuster, both right now and in the last few years under Trump and historically, has always benefited the side of reactionary forces and the side of conservatives far more than it benefits the side of progress and the side of the liberals.

    The actual number of things that would have been blocked by Democrats if the filibuster had been in place under Trump are actually relatively low. Most of what Republicans wanted to do, they were able to do through end runs around the filibuster that already exist in the Senate rules. Many of those paths don’t address liberal priorities in the same way because liberals tend to want to do bigger things with government. Liberals primarily benefit from passing big legislation, expanding the safety net, expanding civil rights and those sorts of things. Most of those actions are only capable of being done through legislation. So it’s much easier to benefit from the ability to block things if you’re a conservative.

  109. 109.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Gin & Tonic: this Matt Taibbi?

    Matthew Dimitri@themattdimitri Feb 22
    Matt Taibbi claims that “there’s a core of emotional truth animating the Qanon conspiracy theory… but the Russia thing… doesn’t really have a correlation to anything that makes any sense.” Maté agrees.

    Maté is Aaron Maté, a Russia apologist from I forget which outlet, and I think the young woman in the hat is Katie Halper? Who was a big booster of Tara Reade, along with Ryan Gri

    But remember that vampire squid thing? and “banksters”? that was awesome

  113. 113.

    gene108

    @p.a.:

    translating her: “despite the fact the Leopards Eat Your Face Party eats the faces of their own too, I will willfully allow them to eat my face as well. COMITY!”

    I read Sinema’s statement to mean, “I live in a state that’s still very Republican, and with the filibuster, I won’t have to take any votes that could be used against me in attack ads”.

    I think it’s political cowardice on her part.

  114. 114.

    Nicole

    @JPL: Even though it doesn’t appear to be as effective as Pfizer and Moderna, Sanjay pointed out on CNN it was tested at time that variants were present.

    I read an interesting article that said that one can’t actually say firmly it’s less effective, because what the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines tested for was different from what the J&J vaccine was testing. It’s a case of apples to oranges, as this article says.  Fact of the matter is, we don’t know if any of them protect against asymptomatic cases, or prevent a vaccinated person transmitting the virus (the earliest polio vaccines protected vaccinated kids from getting sick, but they could still transmit polio to another kid).  Only time will tell that tale.  But it looks like the J&J vaccine is just as good at keeping people out of the hospital, which is what we should be aiming for.  And it’s easier to transport and administer.

    I know you know this, I’m just concerned that the continual drumbeat of “the J&J is less effective!” will cause some people to delay getting a vaccine, holding out for Pfizer or Moderna, when the J&J will do just as well in getting society back to a place of feeling more like normal.

  115. 115.

    Captain C

    @2liberal:

    My position remains exactly the same now that I serve in the majority. While eliminating the filibuster may result in some short-term legislative gains, it would deepen partisan divisions and sacrifice the long-term health of our government.

    That ship sailed with Gingrich.  At this point, I’m starting to hope she gets primaried by someone who can win the general.

  116. 116.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Key point here: One-third of Republicans approve of his coronavirus response.

    “You see, Biden is a divisive figure” some old white guy on TV.

  118. 118.

    WaterGirl

    @Nicole: I get that.  But if Moderna is 95% effective at keeping you from getting sick, and Johnson & Johnson is, say only 55% or 65% effective at keeping you from getting sick, that’s an important and I don’t think we should paper over it because we don’t want people to hesitate about getting vaccinated.

  121. 121.

    Another Scott

    @jeffreyw: dick_nixon on Twitter thinks that she’s a sacrificial lamb.  Dunno.  The reasons that are being given for opposing her are beyond ridiculous though.

    Someone who was at a partisan think tank posted partisan tweets!!  Gracious!  Get my fainting couch!!1

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  122. 122.

    JPL

    @WaterGirl: We don’t know that is the case though, since they were tested at different times.   If one study includes more variants, the results will be different.   What’s important is the end result and both prevent deaths and hospitalizations.  IMO

  123. 123.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @NotMax: Shades of Gore and that record label nonsense in the ’90s. But is Representative Evans aware that most video game sales are done over the internet now?

  124. 124.

    Another Scott

    @2liberal: Somehow it’s ok for a bare majority to install wet-behind-the-ears RWNJs to lifetime positions on the courts.  But passing legislation supported by the majority is a bridge too far.

    (groucho-roll-eyes.gif)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  127. 127.

    Nicole

    @WaterGirl:

    But if Moderna is 95% effective at keeping you from getting sick, and Johnson & Johnson is, say only 55% or 65% effective at keeping you from getting sick, that’s an important and I don’t think we should paper over it because we don’t want people to hesitate about getting vaccinated.

    But that’s the problem- that’s not actually what the results say, because the vaccines were testing for different things and at different times.  From what I can gather, the difference in efficacy is seen at the moderate level of disease, which is not life-threatening, nor hospitalization-necessary.   We don’t know if any of them prevent asymptomatic cases, or prevent transmission and we won’t know for awhile, as only time tells that tale.  In terms of preventing serious illness, the J&J looks to be as effective, and that’s what a Covid vaccine needs to do; prevent you from dying from something, or having to go to the hospital.  And it may hit 90% efficacy with 2 shots (they’re testing that now); it’s just that what J&J set out to do was develop a vaccine that would stop you from dying, and do it in the most efficient delivery manner possible, and they appear to have done it.

    If a vaccine turns what could have been a fatal case of Covid into a few days of mild fever, or a case of the sniffles, that’s enough.  Again, at this point we don’t know if any vaccines stop asymptomatic cases or transmission; we won’t know that for awhile (and for all we know, the J&J could turn out to be better at that than the other ones.  We just don’t have data yet).  But I think better to make it clear to the public that, for what we as a society need to get back to what we think of as normality, the J&J is every bit as good and people should just get whatever vaccine is first available to them; that they will all do what they need to.

  129. 129.

    Nicole

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Shades of Gore and that record label nonsense in the ’90s.

    1980s, thank you very much.  I remember much amusement from the media at the sight of John Denver and Dee Snyder both testifying at the hearings.  And Denver pointing out it was hypocritical to go after popular music when the media was content to show video of people chanting, how did he put it, “The Blue Jays suck!” at sporting events.  Back when “suck” was considered profanity.  Oh, the olden days… ;

    The podcast “You’re Wrong About” did a really interesting episode on Tipper Gore and the warning labels on music thing.   I found their hypothesis that moral panics get triggered by steps forward in technology very interesting (in the 1980s, for example, music was becoming very portable, so parents were not as likely to know what their kids were listening to).

  130. 130.

    Steeplejack

    @jeffreyw:

    You’re piquing my consumer lust! I am well satisfied with my Galaxy S10e, which is coming up on two years old in May, but that price drop is very tempting. I’m not really a “short update cycle” guy, but I might have to do a little cipherin’ on this.

  131. 131.

    WaterGirl

    @Nicole: I am not disagreeing with those points.  But even mild cases of covid can have long-term effects, so I do think that if one keeps another 30% of people from having the potential long-term side effects, that matters.

    I totally agree that we don’t know enough, but that is the state of affairs with everything covid.  We just don’t know enough, yet we have to make decisions without having enough information.  It’s unsettling, but there we are.

  132. 132.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Gin & Tonic: So it was Al Gore’s life partner who is the want to be thought police douche. Yes, that will made all the difference in world.  Al never listens to his wife? Probably had nothing to do with 2000 being a hung election.

    All snark aside, if you ask me, it’s this want to be busy body crap like this that turns off people from the Democratic party far more than Comfy.  It’s a lot easier to convince voters the Democrats secretly want force straight people to engage in gay sex when those Democrats are trying to censor the games they play and the music they listen too.

  133. 133.

    Nicole

    @WaterGirl: Oh for sure, but again, it’s not even a clear comparison because of how the trials were run and what they set out to do.  The problem is, if someone thinks, well, I have a 30% less chance of a mild case of Covid with Moderna, so I’m going to wait a couple of months, even though there’s a J&J available to me right now, that’s a person who, instead of having, say, 65% protection, chooses to continue to have 0% protection for a longer period of time.  As a society, that’s really problematic.

    But it would certainly be worth researchers tracking post-Covid patients who participated in the vaccine trials, and got the virus even with the vaccine, to see if/how many become long-haulers.

    A friend mentioned an article that I’m still trying to track down that speculated that lots of chronically ill folk going back decades, may be long-haulers from viruses aside from Covid. It’s Covid that has caused science to really start take a long look at whether and how often viral infections cause long-term inflammation, because so many people got sick in the same short time period.  It would be great if it opened up more research into chronic illness after viral infection and recovery, wouldn’t it?

  134. 134.

    Brachiator

    @Nicole:

    The podcast “You’re Wrong About” did a really interesting episode on Tipper Gore and the warning labels on music thing. I found their hypothesis that moral panics get triggered by steps forward in technology very interesting (in the 1980s, for example, music was becoming very portable, so parents were not as likely to know what their kids were listening to).

    I like this podcast, but haven’t listened to this episodes.

    Music became portable with car radios in the 1930s, and again with transistor radios in the 1960s. Not sure that this triggered deep moral panic.

  135. 135.

    J R in WV

    @Soprano2: ​

     

    Hapy Hapy birfday, Soprano2 ~!!~

    60 is doing pretty well.

    Many happy returns, have a nice dinner and maybe raise a glass to toast the happy occasion … Best wishes from WV hillside folks.

  138. 138.

    J R in WV

    Way back, now, I ordered a big bunch of Girl Scout cookies from Troop 6000 in NYC, for girls homeless or otherwise disadvantaged. Got the email that it was shipped Fed Ex, tracking # provided. Then came the ice storm / power outage. Nothing was moving, no trash pickup, no mail deliveries, no fedex either.

    Finally FedEx delivered a huge load of GS cookies!! Hurray. Normally we put many of them in the freezer, but currently the freezer is full of actual foodstuff for corona reserve. Means we have to eat lots of cookies fast — oh noes1!

  142. 142.

    J R in WV

    @Immanentize:

    It’s my FiL that is on trouble. It seems he got an infection in his legs, and couldn’t get to a Dr. during the freeze/power outage. Ended up in the ER Monday but became paranoid/disoriented while there. Meds? Infection? Dementia? Unknown, but it is not good.

    Many years ago my dad had lung surgery to remove what appeared on x-ray to be a potentially cancerous lump. While in the hospital afterwards (was not cancer at all, an encysted infection killed by the pre-op antibiotics…) he was on a powerful new antibiotic, and had some quite vivid hallucinations. Kittens in the arm of a LEO friend who came to visit. Cipro, not so new now, but hallucination was on the list of side-effects in the PDR. So drugs and their interactions definitely can cause disorientation and such.

    Hope your FIL does well, gets over both the infection and the disorientation soonest! Best of luck !!!i

  144. 144.

    Chris T.

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    So it was Al Gore’s life partner who is the want to be thought police douche. Yes, that will made all the difference in world.  Al never listens to his wife?

    They split up about a decade ago.

    The wikipedia article on her is interesting. She seems to have a good heart, so the problem is likely in her head instead. //

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