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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / Pandemic Open Thread: Now That Kids Are (More) Threatened…

Pandemic Open Thread: Now That Kids Are (More) Threatened…

by Anne Laurie|  August 2, 20217:08 pm| 131 Comments

This post is in: COVID-19, GOP Death Cult

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Jackson, FL mayor tries to make lemonade out of… well, some yellow liquid:

peple are allowed to be upset that selfish and proudly misinformed people are prolonging a public health crisis. it’s a normal and correct feeling to have. https://t.co/xvUwcOniS9

— World Famous Art Thief (@CalmSporting) August 2, 2021

My kids can't get vaccinated, and we're burning through the Greek alphabet. Get vaccinated or fuck off.

— Fred Will Not Go To Space Today (@LesserFrederick) August 2, 2021

My son is 11. This is exactly what all vaccinated parents of young children are worried – and angry – about. https://t.co/KvD72MQ20B

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 2, 2021

Part of a thread from a pediatrician in Houston:

We are officially back to getting crushed by #COVID, and for #pediatricians this wave feels *worse* in many ways. And as a pediatric hospitalist who has been a front-line COVID doctor for the entire pandemic, I’m going to share what I’ve seen the last 8 days on service. 1/

— Heather #Vaccinated Haq, MD, MHS, FAAP (@heather_haq) July 31, 2021

COVID admissions in our medical center are up 500% and currently 80% of cases in our hospital are due to the highly contagious Delta variant. I worry that the Delta variant, in addition to being more contagious, *may* also be more virulent in children.

— Heather #Vaccinated Haq, MD, MHS, FAAP (@heather_haq) July 31, 2021

So we are on the front end of a huge COVID surge. But the difference this time compared to previous surges is we are simultaneously dealing with an unheard of summertime #RSV surge—creating a “surge upon surge” situation.

— Heather #Vaccinated Haq, MD, MHS, FAAP (@heather_haq) July 31, 2021

Reading more accounts from pediatricians, many sharing they are seeing respiratory complications in younger and younger children, including neonates. https://t.co/jA9zAX5AFm

— Heather #Vaccinated Haq, MD, MHS, FAAP (@heather_haq) July 31, 2021

Sidebar to teachers unions — I’d mute the ‘our FREEDUMBS’ yawps right now…

Parents do not care. Get the vaccine or stay away from our kids. https://t.co/ApLtbuKO7M

— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) August 2, 2021

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Reader Interactions

131Comments

  1. 1.

    Nina

    August 2, 2021 at 7:13 pm

    Inevitably we will get to the Mu and Nu variants. “Did you hear about the Nu variant?”

    “What new variant?”

    “Not the new variant, the Nu variant…”

  2. 2.

    featheredsprite

    August 2, 2021 at 7:14 pm

    I had always assumed that if covid started targeting children, the surrounding adults would come to their senses. I am really sorry that I was wrong.

  3. 3.

    dr. bloor

    August 2, 2021 at 7:15 pm

    My kids can’t get vaccinated, and we’re burning through the Greek alphabet. Get vaccinated or fuck off.

    Too soon to say, but Lambda might prove to be the stupid-proof motivation to get vaxxed.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    August 2, 2021 at 7:15 pm

    Very distressing to hear about all these kids.  Fucking people.  Pro-life my ass.

  5. 5.

    featheredsprite

    August 2, 2021 at 7:15 pm

    @Nina: Yeah. Lambda already has a bad reputation.

  6. 6.

    germy

    August 2, 2021 at 7:17 pm

    @featheredsprite:

    They didn’t care when children were gunned down in Sandy Hook.

  7. 7.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 2, 2021 at 7:17 pm

    The good news is, there’s still plenty of evidence the vaccines are highly effective!

    Assuming I did this right…
    Odds of covid given vaccination: 0.06%
    Odds without vax: 0.6%
    **Tenfold reduction** pic.twitter.com/nHNjs0MxI3

    — ☕️ Tynan ? (@TynanPants) August 2, 2021

  8. 8.

    Baud

    August 2, 2021 at 7:18 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Odds without vax seems low.

  9. 9.

    debbie

    August 2, 2021 at 7:18 pm

    I’ve never heard of NYSUT. They’re affiliated with the NEA and AFT, but the policies aren’t the same. Does anyone know about them?

  10. 10.

    prufrock

    August 2, 2021 at 7:18 pm

    At work we had a period of a few weeks where those of us who were fully vaccinated were exempt from masks. That ends tomorrow because of all the dumbasses who aren’t vaxed, but are also not masking.

     

    Morons.

  11. 11.

    Elizabelle

    August 2, 2021 at 7:19 pm

    “Neonates with respiratory complications.”  Jebus.  Protect the babies, please, antivaxxers and rightwingers.

    Agree with Bradley Moss on teachers refusing vaccine.  No vaccine, no student-facing position.  Students are too vulnerable.  They can be too young to be vaccinated (or their siblings are),  or be in fragile health.

    Learn up, teachers and nurses.  And law enforcement.

  12. 12.

    MattF

    August 2, 2021 at 7:19 pm

    @dr. bloor: Lambda variant may be vaccine resistant… but is being crowded out by Delta. I guess we’ll just let the variants fight it outl

  13. 13.

    Martin

    August 2, 2021 at 7:19 pm

    @featheredsprite: Oh, like how having 20 6-7 year-olds got herded into their classroom and gunned down in a pile of carnage? And then half the country accused the parents of being actors and the whole thing a hoax?

    No, there’s an agenda that needs to be true, and we’ll dismiss any and all facts that threaten to undermine it.

  14. 14.

    germy

    August 2, 2021 at 7:20 pm

    So Lindsey Graham has covid?

    He was partying on Manchin’s houseboat a few days ago…

  15. 15.

    Elizabelle

    August 2, 2021 at 7:20 pm

    @debbie:   Guessing they’re an alternate union for those who don’t like the larger NYS teachers union??

  16. 16.

    dr. bloor

    August 2, 2021 at 7:21 pm

    @germy: I wouldn’t put it past TFG (or Moscow Mitch, for that matter) to tell Lindsey to get infected and go party hearty with Democratic senators.

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    August 2, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    @featheredsprite: Yeah, and when young kids were basically shredded in the Newtown shootings, I thought they would care about gun control.

    Pro-life does not mean what they think it means.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    August 2, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    I think a lot of unions aren’t being cool right now.  Although I think AFL-CIO is one of the good guys.

  19. 19.

    dr. bloor

    August 2, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    @Elizabelle: ​
     

    “Neonates with respiratory complications.” Jebus. Protect the babies, please, antivaxxers and rightwingers.

    Sorry, ma’am, they’re already born. Gotta learn how to fend for yourself sooner or later, right?

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    August 2, 2021 at 7:23 pm

    @dr. bloor: @featheredsprite:

    I am not getting the Lambda comments, what am I missing?

    Never mind.

  21. 21.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 2, 2021 at 7:23 pm

    @Baud: Not really. Arizona has 7.2 million people and during the period in question there were just under 30k cases.

  22. 22.

    Elizabelle

    August 2, 2021 at 7:23 pm

    @germy:   Hey there.  I don’t like that framing WRT Sandy Hook.  In its aftermath, the public at large absolutely supported stronger gun safety measures.  Large majorities.

    It was the GOP and NRA puppets who fought that legislation down.

    Credit (or blame) where it belongs.

  23. 23.

    Cameron

    August 2, 2021 at 7:23 pm

    @Elizabelle: Babies? They don’t give a shit about babies. Now, fetuses, that’s another story.

  24. 24.

    germy

    August 2, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    The public at large also supports vaccinations and masks.

  25. 25.

    Elizabelle

    August 2, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    @WaterGirl:   I think Lambda is a symbol/name used by many LGBT organizations/activities.

  26. 26.

    Martin

    August 2, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    @MattF: Yeah, there are no nations where Lambda has been observed (~30) where it has outcompeted Delta. My understanding is that it is more fatal than Delta but less transmissible.

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    August 2, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    @dr. bloor: Babies are just moochers.  They lie around all day, doing nothing!  //

  28. 28.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 2, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    @Nina: ha!

  29. 29.

    dr. bloor

    August 2, 2021 at 7:27 pm

    @WaterGirl: Lab studies showing it might be vax resistant, and a couple of other mutations that have the potential to make it Delta+ in terms of transmission.  To soon to say what happens to it in the wild.

    That’s enough for me to move it from Bloor: Variant of Interest to Bloor: Holy Fuck.

  30. 30.

    Baud

    August 2, 2021 at 7:27 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: 

    Unfortunately, I don’t think 0.6% is sufficiently frightening for people.

  31. 31.

    dr. bloor

    August 2, 2021 at 7:29 pm

    @WaterGirl: ​
     

    Counterpoint: they are excellent at turning adults into babbling morons and filling diapers with…well, never mind.

  32. 32.

    Cameron

    August 2, 2021 at 7:29 pm

    @WaterGirl: I think it’s a reference to that William Blake COVID poem “Little Lambda, who made thee?”

  33. 33.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 2, 2021 at 7:32 pm

    I can’t find it now, but somebody tweeted today that we all have a good chance of learning the Greek alphabet

  34. 34.

    Elizabelle

    August 2, 2021 at 7:33 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:   If it’s not COVID, it will be extended hurricane seasons.

  35. 35.

    dr. bloor

    August 2, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: ​
     

    Edward Gorey approves, in his own way.

  36. 36.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 2, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    @Baud: Sure but this is about how the vaccine is 90% effective, consistent with the data from the UK. Given how freaked out everybody is about Provincetown Bear Week, I’m hoping to make folks feel better about the shots :)

  37. 37.

    Brachiator

    August 2, 2021 at 7:38 pm

    I am tired of the “don’t shame me” stuff about the vaccine and pretty much everything.

    Stop doing stupid shit.

  38. 38.

    MisterForkbeard

    August 2, 2021 at 7:41 pm

    @Baud: Not all those people were exposed, is the thing.

    The vaxx is really good if you’ve been exposed. This is just raw, historical odds per population type and it’s showing a 10x better response. That’s fantastic, I think.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    August 2, 2021 at 7:42 pm

    Senator Pittypat has COVID ?

     

    #ArrestTrumpNow NastyNastyVetBristola (@DWapenveld) tweeted at 5:30 PM on Mon, Aug 02, 2021:
    Lindsey other Senators were partying on houseboat belonging to Joe Manchin
    https://t.co/LVe5v2qTcI
    (https://twitter.com/DWapenveld/status/1422324009711116292?s=03)

  40. 40.

    Ohio Mom

    August 2, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    Yikes, just googled “Lambda variant” and found this on Reuters;

    “The Lambda variant of the coronavirus, first identified in Peru and now spreading in South America, is highly infectious and more resistant to vaccines than the original version of the virus…Japanese researchers have found. In laboratory experiments…that three mutations in Lambda’s spike protein, known as RSYLTPGD246-253N, 260 L452Q and F490S, help it resist neutralization by vaccine-induced antibodies. Two additional mutations, T76I and L452Q, help make Lambda highly infectious…Although it is not clear yet whether this variant is more dangerous than the Delta…Lambda can be a potential threat…”

    Let’s hope that what happens in test tubes doesn’t happen in people. Which very well could be — for example, a lot of the big cancer breakthroughs you read about take place in test tubes or mice but then fail to work in people.

    ETA: or what dr bloor says @28

  41. 41.

    Elizabelle

    August 2, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    @rikyrah:   Manchin lives on a houseboat while he’s in DC.  That would be cool.

  42. 42.

    RSA

    August 2, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m unclear on how to interpret P(B|A).  What is the probability of vaccination given COVID?

  43. 43.

    gwangung

    August 2, 2021 at 7:51 pm

    @Ohio Mom: We are fucking around and finding out, apparently.

  44. 44.

    Baud

    August 2, 2021 at 7:51 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Senatorial sex parties are getting out of control!

  45. 45.

    Baud

    August 2, 2021 at 7:52 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    @MisterForkbeard:

    Sure.  I’ve never had any doubts about the vaccine.  The media hysteria was clearly bullshit.

  46. 46.

    andy

    August 2, 2021 at 7:53 pm

    At this point the redcaps aren’t wrong, they’re complicit. They’re trying to run up the body count because they hope it’ll make Biden and the Democrats look bad, and other people’s kids in respirators are just meat to them. The irony here is that the vaccine is free, and NOBODY likes free stuff more than these people.

  47. 47.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 2, 2021 at 7:55 pm

    Dr Ashish Jha on the O’Bros podcast, in my ears right now, is a very good antidote to alarmism. He is concerned about children and the vulnerable elderly.

  48. 48.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 2, 2021 at 7:55 pm

    @RSA: Yeah. We know that 5.9% of the cases during that period were breakthroughs.

  49. 49.

    Kent

    August 2, 2021 at 7:58 pm

    @Elizabelle: Agree with Bradley Moss on teachers refusing vaccine.  No vaccine, no student-facing position.  Students are too vulnerable.  They can be too young to be vaccinated (or their siblings are),  or be in fragile health.

    Learn up, teachers and nurses.  And law enforcement.

    Teacher here.  Trust me, at least around here at LEAST 90% of teachers are completely on board and beyond frustrated with the few remaining dipshits.  But every faculty has a few dipshit Ayn Rand aficionados who have bought into the MAGA bullshit.  The Venn diagram between these folks and social studies teachers who are coaches has a lot of overlap.  And then there are the evangelical women who are married to MAGA dipshits.  they are not uncommon in education.

  50. 50.

    Kent

    August 2, 2021 at 8:01 pm

    @Elizabelle: @germy:   Hey there.  I don’t like that framing WRT Sandy Hook.  In its aftermath, the public at large absolutely supported stronger gun safety measures.  Large majorities.

    It was the GOP and NRA puppets who fought that legislation down.

    Credit (or blame) where it belongs.

    So same exact situation as with Covid then?  It’s a GOP-driven minority that is bringing the country down.  Not the majority that has already been vaccinated nationwide.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    August 2, 2021 at 8:04 pm

    Samuel Hammond Globe with meridians?
    @hamandcheese
    · 5h
    The CTC expansion is a signature policy of the Biden administration. Our estimates are therefore surprising insofar as they show the largest relative benefits accrue to red states, as well as the rural, working-class regions typified as “Trump country.”

    Biden’s sort of admirably blunt. He should just say this over and over.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    August 2, 2021 at 8:07 pm

    @Kay:

    They’re going to be in for a financial shock when they secede.

  53. 53.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 2, 2021 at 8:09 pm

    What is it with RWNJs they want to be respected when they are out there doing self sabotaging and society damaging stuff. I see the same tendencies among Modi supporters among friends and family.

  54. 54.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    August 2, 2021 at 8:11 pm

    @WaterGirl: “Pro-life” means I’mma “let” you be born, then I don’t give a damn what happens to you until your spouse wants to end your life support.

  55. 55.

    lowtechcyclist

    August 2, 2021 at 8:11 pm

    @featheredsprite:

    I had always assumed that if covid started targeting children, the surrounding adults would come to their senses. I am really sorry that I was wrong.

    The only ‘babies’ they care about are the unborn ones.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    August 2, 2021 at 8:12 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Their whole thing is status.  When people they consider beneath them don’t respect them, they feel out of sorts.

  57. 57.

    Roger Moore

    August 2, 2021 at 8:17 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    What is it with RWNJs they want to be respected when they are out there doing self sabotaging and society damaging stuff.

    It’s not enough to them that they be allowed to do as they please; everyone else must agree with them.  I think it’s rooted in a lack of confidence in their convictions.  They are worried they can’t sustain their beliefs in the face of criticism, and they read any form of disagreement, even just people who choose to live their life differently, as a tacit form of criticism.  So they read your decision to wear a mask and get vaccinated as a criticism of their decision not to do those things.  That makes them angry, because they’re deeply uncertain and react to that uncertainty by attacking the person who makes them think about it.

  58. 58.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 2, 2021 at 8:20 pm

    @Baud:  I think you have a point. I have respect for my elders but if they are going to forward eliminationist and bigoted stuff not to speak of blatant lies by dear leader Modi I am going to call them on it.

  59. 59.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 2, 2021 at 8:22 pm

    @featheredsprite:

    I had always assumed that if covid started targeting children, the surrounding adults would come to their senses. I am really sorry that I was wrong.

    Optimistic with all of the Trump-humping fascist trash in this country.

  60. 60.

    lowtechcyclist

    August 2, 2021 at 8:22 pm

    I am glad to say that the school board in my county (Calvert County, MD) just mandated masks for anyone in a school building this fall.  Students, teachers, staff, casual visitors, everyone.  No masky, no entry.

    They just sent the word out a few hours ago.  And this is definitely Trump country, so they’re gonna get a lot of flak.  I’m gonna call up in the morning to thank them for doing the right thing.

  61. 61.

    Dan B

    August 2, 2021 at 8:27 pm

    @germy: A wry comment about Lindsey is that he’s another case of superspreader Provincetown.

  62. 62.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 2, 2021 at 8:30 pm

    @Dan B: Did you get my email?

  63. 63.

    NorthLeft12

    August 2, 2021 at 8:32 pm

    @featheredsprite: Yeah, I remember how everyone got behind gun control after a classroom full of five and six year olds were massacred. So, of course once Covid begins to impact children it’s a no brainer that the responsible adults will step up and do what they can to protect them.

    Cue the sad trombone.

  64. 64.

    Elizabelle

    August 2, 2021 at 8:32 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:   That’s excellent. Both the masking and your calling to thank them.

  65. 65.

    JMG

    August 2, 2021 at 8:34 pm

    No vaccination, no vote. That should be the mandate.

  66. 66.

    Elizabelle

    August 2, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    @Kent:  the Sandy Hook rhetoric always sounds like a blanket condemnation of Americans. And it was not like that. It was the minority holding the majority impotent to make change through national legislation. I am no fan of fake narratives.

  67. 67.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 2, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    @WaterGirl: They should pull themselves up by their own onesie straps!

    And don’t get me started about them literally sucking on teats!

  68. 68.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 2, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    On the whole a net plus. A gift that keeps giving.

  69. 69.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 2, 2021 at 8:40 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: didn’t Dennis Green used to be a front-pager here?

  70. 70.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 2, 2021 at 8:42 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes the same. We are Twitter mutuals.

  71. 71.

    Delk

    August 2, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    CVS just texted me that my HIV med is ready for pickup. That’s for the virus I been dealing with for 36 years. Viruses are sort of smart when it comes to self protection.

  72. 72.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    August 2, 2021 at 8:51 pm

    So this was nuts.

    https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/31/business/it-has-be-known-what-was-done-us-natick-couple-harassed-by-ebay-tell-their-story-first-time/?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true

    Ebay just needs to write the check. Ultra vires isn’t going to get them out of this.

  73. 73.

    chrome agnomen

    August 2, 2021 at 8:51 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: and if the fetuses get covid, the mothers can always be blamed.

  74. 74.

    Spanky

    August 2, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: I saw an alert from the Cal Co Health Dept about the rise in Delta infections in the county. I would assume the BOE is working in concert with the Health Dept.

    And while the majority of the county voted for Trump, I don’t think he’d win today. Plus, the kids are really all right. They’re on board with the masking

    ETA: Health Dept alert here

    Edited again to post the relevant paragraph:

    The positivity rate is highest among high school-aged residents, clocking in at a very concerning 13.5%. Cases among elementary and middle school students have also jumped. If this trend continues through August, it will impact classroom learning, sports, and other extracurricular activities due to the number of students who will need to quarantine. Vaccinated students are less likely to get infected and do not need to quarantine if they have contact with an infected classmate.

  75. 75.

    Kent

    August 2, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    I am glad to say that the school board in my county (Calvert County, MD) just mandated masks for anyone in a school building this fall.  Students, teachers, staff, casual visitors, everyone.  No masky, no entry.

    They just sent the word out a few hours ago.  And this is definitely Trump country, so they’re gonna get a lot of flak.  I’m gonna call up in the morning to thank them for doing the right thing.

    Here in WA it is a state-wide mask mandate for schools so not something the local school boards even need to waste time debating and deciding.   Which is how it should be.

    I’m not really looking forward to dealing with all the school bullshit next month when school starts.  This has been my most-needed summer vacation ever.  But at mask debates at the school board won’t be one of them.

  76. 76.

    Baud

    August 2, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Read that earlier.  That’s insane.

  77. 77.

    Kent

    August 2, 2021 at 8:57 pm

    @Elizabelle:@Kent:  the Sandy Hook rhetoric always sounds like a blanket condemnation of Americans. And it was not like that. It was the minority holding the majority impotent to make change through national legislation. I am no fan of fake narratives.

    I never got the sense that lack of action after Sandy Hook was ever a condemnation of Americans.  Or that was the “narrative.”  I always had the sense that when it comes to gun control the narrative has always been that it is the strangle-hold that the NRA has over the GOP in Congress that always blocked any progress.  Along with a few weak-kneed liberals like Bernie Sanders who felt the need to coddle their gun-fondling rural base.

  78. 78.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    August 2, 2021 at 9:00 pm

    @Baud:

    “Just because this thing involved a half dozen employees and our global security manager acting on the so-far-as-is-known vague request of the CEO, we’ll offer up a boilerplate defense based on claiming they were all acting ultra vires. That’s sure to scare the claimants off and wear them down while we deny access to internal communications with discovery stalling tactics.”

  79. 79.

    Baud

    August 2, 2021 at 9:05 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    No true Scotsman ebay executive would do such horrible things.

  80. 80.

    Jeffro

    August 2, 2021 at 9:11 pm

    @germy: I was gonna say the same thing.

    It’s almost like…like we need a 24/7 propaganda network, complete with “BREAKING NEWS” gongs going off every 20 minutes and shit…one that tells people all day every day that the GQP is out to kill them and their kids.

    Because, essentially, that’s what they’re about.

  81. 81.

    zhena gogolia

    August 2, 2021 at 9:14 pm

    @featheredsprite:

    Two words for you: Sandy. Hook.

  82. 82.

    zhena gogolia

    August 2, 2021 at 9:14 pm

    @germy:

    You always beat me to it!

  83. 83.

    Jeffro

    August 2, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    @andy:the redcaps aren’t wrong, they’re complicit. They’re trying to run up the body count because they hope it’ll make Biden and the Democrats look bad, and other people’s kids in respirators are just meat to them.

    All of this is true.  The trumpies just want Covid to kneecap Biden & Co (despite the fact that he and his team were focused on it from Day One.  Day Minus One, if you want to count the Obama-Biden pandemic response ‘playbook’) because to do the right things is to admit that trumpov was a fucking moron who didn’t give a shit and didn’t do jack squat about the pandemic.  In face, his super-spreader rallies and “let’s open the churches for Easter!” and mocking mask-wearing has made it infinitely worse.

    It’s all part of their ‘burn it down’ mentality, and I wish they would just hurry up and jump into the flames.

  84. 84.

    JaySinWa

    August 2, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    @Nina: The Nu version of Who’s on first bit is coming.

  85. 85.

    zhena gogolia

    August 2, 2021 at 9:17 pm

    @prufrock:

    It’s infuriating.

  86. 86.

    Tim C.

    August 2, 2021 at 9:17 pm

    Not sure I know anything about NYSUT,  but my local is asking for a mandate for Teacher’s and eligible students.    We won’t get it, the board has a 4-3 spreadneck majority,  but we are hoping to push the needle the right direction when they set a policy.

  87. 87.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    August 2, 2021 at 9:23 pm

    @Baud:

    From Techdirt:

    This week saw the manager of eBay’s global security team Philip Cooke plead guilty to the charges in court. At his sentencing hearing, Cooke insisted that it was eBay’s “drinking culture” that was apparently responsible for his atrocious judgement:

    “A former eBay security official who pleaded guilty for his role in a cyberstalking conspiracy has asked for leniency in sentencing while blaming his actions in part on a “drinking culture” at eBay that contributed to his alcoholism.

    “eBay had a bar on campus that opened at 3:00 p.m., and drinking was part of the culture, with alcohol present throughout the office space where it was typical to take morning shots of alcohol with co-workers,” a sentencing memorandum for 56-year-old defendant Philip Cooke said yesterday. It was filed in US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.”

  88. 88.

    Jeffro

    August 2, 2021 at 9:24 pm

    @Jeffro: *in fact, not ‘in face’, LOL

  89. 89.

    Another Scott

    August 2, 2021 at 9:27 pm

    ObOpenThread – AP – Kathy Griffin says she is undergoing surgery for lung cancer.

    Sorry to read this. I’ve enjoyed her TV show and comedy shows. She’s had a tough time in her personal life, several times. Here’s hoping she pulls through this fully and comes back even stronger.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  90. 90.

    Jerzy Russian

    August 2, 2021 at 9:30 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    That has to be the nucking-futtiest thing I have read in the last 5 years.    I hope Ebay is taken to the cleaners.

  91. 91.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 2, 2021 at 9:34 pm

    Florida Chris @chrislongview
    I cannot stop laughing at this headline “California business owner, 61, is arrested for storming the Capitol on January 6 after he sent a selfie to his prayer group that was forwarded to the FBI“

    His fellow god-botherers turned him in!

    Huntington Beach, man, I don’t know

    ETA: Also, The Daily Mail, about which I also don’t know. Really shitty website

  92. 92.

    Another Scott

    August 2, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    ObOpenThread – TheVerge:

    Twitter’s verification process is notoriously slapdash, but you’d expect the company not to fall for the exact same fake twice, right? Wrong!

    In 2012, Twitter verified an account supposedly belonging to illustrious author Cormac McCarthy, which was in reality started by an unpublished novelist. Now, in 2021, it’s done the same thing again, briefly verifying a second McCarthy fake under the handle @CormacMcCrthy.

    “We need higher quality Algorithms.” – Kay, potentially.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  93. 93.

    Elizabelle

    August 2, 2021 at 9:41 pm

    @Another Scott:   It’s Stage One, and does not seem to have been there a year ago when they did a lung scan because she thought she might have Covid.

    KG says she may not need chemo or radiation, just surgery.  I hope that takes the cancer out, forever.

  94. 94.

    Ivan X

    August 2, 2021 at 9:52 pm

    I can’t wait to die.

  95. 95.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 2, 2021 at 9:56 pm

    @Another Scott: The tweets were deadpan and funny.

  96. 96.

    trollhattan

    August 2, 2021 at 9:57 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Now then, what about The Lambada?

  97. 97.

    trollhattan

    August 2, 2021 at 9:59 pm

    If I have an Omega watch, am I immune?

  98. 98.

    Citizen Alan

    August 2, 2021 at 10:03 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    This is not true. They don’t care about fetuses either except as a means to impose suffering on the mothers. If they cared about the unborn, they would do something about this country’s abysmal infant mortality and miscarriage rates, and none of them give a shit.

  99. 99.

    James E Powell

    August 2, 2021 at 10:05 pm

    @Kent:

    The Venn diagram between these folks and social studies teachers who are coaches has a lot of overlap.

    LOL because it’s true, but would add that most schools I’ve worked at had a least one radical libertarian math teacher.

  100. 100.

    James E Powell

    August 2, 2021 at 10:09 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Hey there.  I don’t like that framing WRT Sandy Hook.  In its aftermath, the public at large absolutely supported stronger gun safety measures.  Large majorities.

    Hey, those large majorities were just, like their opinions, man. The Republican ones continued voting for Republicans. The low participation ones continued not doing anything about anything.

  101. 101.

    Citizen Alan

    August 2, 2021 at 10:10 pm

    @Kent: Honestly, I genuinely think it’s a moot point. I really don’t there’s any meaningful form of gun control that could survive SCOTUS scrutiny. Well, I mean, I guess if you could write a law that allowed unlimited gun ownership but only for white people while banning it for everyone else, maybe SCOTUS would be okay with that.

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    August 2, 2021 at 10:18 pm

    @trollhattan:   Straight to video!

  103. 103.

    Another Scott

    August 2, 2021 at 10:18 pm

    @Citizen Alan: Yup.  Their stand on abortion is just a tool for political power that divides natural Democratic constituencies.  They were explicit about it (see Jill LePore’s “Birthright” article).  They don’t care about fetuses.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  104. 104.

    NotMax

    August 2, 2021 at 10:23 pm

    @Citizen Alan

    For starters, adjust licensing fees and make them renewable by payment annually (as is done for vehicle registration)..

    Second gun, license costs 2× the cost of the first’s license. Third gun costs 3×, and so on.

    Exemptions to multiplicative costs for collectors who can certify a gun on display has been rendered inoperable.

  105. 105.

    trollhattan

    August 2, 2021 at 10:25 pm

    Lindsay Graham, Senator or patient zero–why not both?

    Punchbowl News says the senators on Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) houseboat — who spent time with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has tested positive for Covid-19 — include: Chris Coons (D-DE), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and John Thune (R-SD).

    This could impact expected votes this week on the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

  106. 106.

    NotMax

    August 2, 2021 at 10:27 pm

    @trollhattan

    If it’s one of those double sawbuck sidewalk specials bought in Times Square, don’t look now but it’s branded Onega.

    ;)

  107. 107.

    dr. bloor

    August 2, 2021 at 10:37 pm

    @trollhattan: We’ve evolved as a nation so much since the Brooks-Sumner affair.

  108. 108.

    NotMax

    August 2, 2021 at 10:42 pm

    @https://balloon-juice.com/2021/08/02/pandemic-open-thread-now-that-kids-are-more-threatened/#comment-8243800

    For the G.O.P., from raising cane to raising pain?

    //

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    August 2, 2021 at 10:43 pm

    #107 supposed to be @trollhattan.

  110. 110.

    debbie

    August 2, 2021 at 10:53 pm

    I’m looking forward to the shitshow tomorrow that will be the special election for Steve Stiver’s seat. Only 11 candidates! However will they decide? If you want to root for injuries or for a loss, Carey is the TFG-endorsed candidate.

    I also just learned 10 and possibly more white cops are planning to file a discrimination lawsuit against the city of Columbus. Oy.

  111. 111.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 2, 2021 at 10:57 pm

    @debbie:

    I also just learned 10 and possibly more white cops are planning to file a discrimination lawsuit against the city of Columbus. Oy. 

    Got anymore details on this?

  112. 112.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 2, 2021 at 10:58 pm

    Andrew Solender @AndrewSolender 10m
    Confirmed: a fourth officer who responded to Jan. 6 died of suicide. MPD officer Kyle DeFreytag, who was assigned to the 5th district, was found dead on July 10, MPD spoxes tell me.

  113. 113.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 2, 2021 at 11:02 pm

    OKay, I laughed

    ill Kristol @BillKristol
    Wow. I’ve spent most of my life as a Republican, and I may have voted for more Democratic presidential candidates recently than @ninaturner did.

  114. 114.

    gwangung

    August 2, 2021 at 11:25 pm

    @Another Scott: Ah. The same Twitter verification that refuses to give a blue check mark to Paula Vogel, Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner author and one the foremost playwrights of our time.

    Yup.

  115. 115.

    Steeplejack

    August 2, 2021 at 11:59 pm

    Always interesting how commenting seems to go off a cliff when the cache goes into late-night snooze mode.​

  116. 116.

    Kay

    August 3, 2021 at 12:05 am

    The Department of Justice has launched a law enforcement task force to address the rise in threats against election workers, administrators, officials, and others associated with the electoral process.

    Good.

  117. 117.

    burnspbesq

    August 3, 2021 at 12:18 am

    ICYMI, Judge Easterbrook’s concise and elegant smackdown of the challenge to Indiana University’s vaccination mandate for students.

    http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2021/D08-02/C:21-2326:J:Easterbrook:aut:T:op:N:2741753:S:0

  118. 118.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 3, 2021 at 12:31 am

    @Steeplejack: You sure it’s not people going into late night snooze mode?

  119. 119.

    Steeplejack

    August 3, 2021 at 12:35 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    It’s 9:30 on the West Coast! Are we that doddering?

  120. 120.

    Steeplejack

    August 3, 2021 at 12:38 am

    @Kay:

    This is good.

  121. 121.

    Steeplejack

    August 3, 2021 at 12:40 am

    Well, new thread upstairs.

  122. 122.

    Ruckus

    August 3, 2021 at 12:41 am

    @Cameron:

    I’m not sure they actually care about fetuses either, what they really care about is winning the war on abortion. It is about control and women having agency. Women fall behind men in the order of control, it goes:

    white republican men

    white republican women

    white republican children

    white democratic men

    white democratic women

    white democratic children

    white fetuses (they can grow up to be republicans doncha know)

    minority fetuses (they can grow up to be low paid workers)

    minority men (they can work the jobs that WRM won’t do)

    minority women

    minority children. (they just require tax money to educate so they can work for low pay)

    I know it sounds callous but I didn’t make up the rules….

  123. 123.

    Ruckus

    August 3, 2021 at 12:44 am

    @Brachiator:

    Stop doing stupid shit.

    You want them to stop being republicans? Damn man, that’s harsh. I mean how will they get their hate and control on if they stop being republicans?

  124. 124.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 3, 2021 at 12:57 am

    @Steeplejack: You west coasters! (and NotMax) ?

  125. 125.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 3, 2021 at 1:34 am

    @andy: They’re trying to run up the body count because they hope it’ll make Biden and the Democrats look bad,

    Yes, but I don’t think it’s some plan to take power back, I think this is more of a childish tantrum because Trump sucked. “Well Biden sucks too, everyone sucks, so there” kind of thing like them refusing to take the vaccine. The polling is showing a lot of despair out in MAGA land.

  126. 126.

    206inKY

    August 3, 2021 at 2:55 am

    My son is starting 1st grade and open house was tonight. School starts later this week. No teachers were masked and very few parents or students. Total nightmare. We were hyper-vigilant through the pandemic, and now it looks like another year of homeschooling. Can’t express the despair.

  127. 127.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    August 3, 2021 at 3:24 am

    @206inKY:

    Are you in a MAGAt-ridden part of the state? Condolences.

  128. 128.

    RSA

    August 3, 2021 at 6:20 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Ah, breakthrough cases.  Okay, that makes sense. I didn’t realize that was the domain. Thanks.

  129. 129.

    Gvg

    August 3, 2021 at 6:31 am

    @206inKY
    My sympathies. My very social nephew has had a year and a half of homeschool including starting middle school. Now our part of Florida leads the nation in delta covid cases and the Governor and legislature have mandated no mask and in person school with penalties to districts that try. School starts in 9 days. My sister is a hospital doctor who is just beside herself. She feels it is inevitable he’s son gets Covid. A week ago an older doctor she admires died of it. So she is talking with grandparents about maybe another 9 weeks of home school. Guessing it will have peaked by then. Grandparents also very disappointed their hoped for summer travel couldn’t quite happen.

    the homeschooling plus mom is doctor in a hospital means nephew has to live with grandparents and mom can’t see him for weeks at a time. She knows nurses who have died too but has to try to stay calm and pleasant to anti vaxers and other idiots.

  130. 130.

    debbie

    August 3, 2021 at 7:05 am

    @mrmoshpotato: 

    Not yet.

  131. 131.

    206inKY

    August 3, 2021 at 7:28 pm

    @Gvg:  I’m so sorry—that sounds incredibly hard. I’m lucky to be able to work from home, so homeschooling is feasible even though my wife lives and works in another state and has to go back next month after 18 months of remote work. School was the glue that made the logistics of our professional lives possible, but it’ll be okay for as long as our son is back in school by the time my own ability to work from home comes to an end.

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