367 Comments

  1. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh’

  2. AlexinCT

    Democrats are desperate to stop Trump.

    Not just the democrats, but the deep state. Trump is anathema to them because he exposed the fact that they had been lying to the American people and selling is out to China and the globalist movement, and wrecked the game where they kept telling us to accept mediocrity from our government.

    • WTF

      I love how they gloss over the lack of any actual evidence of “insurrection”. Because insurrection has an actual definition that needs to be met.

      • AlexinCT

        Like they did with the Russia collusion and Ukrainian tit-for-tat impeachment bullshit, these accusations is based on pure fantasy and things THEY are doing. And it is all being done because they are desperate to make it impossible for Trump or anyone close to him to be allowed to hold office again, because the deep state is frightened the fucking unwashed masses will not let them keep stealing, erm I mean fortifying, elections when the candidate is one they don’t want but the people do (especially when the people want the candidate to fight the deep state and the globalist agenda). It’s lawfare warfare, based on lies, intended to break the people that will not bend the knee to the deep state’s demand they just accept the fate their betters have decided will be the people’s fate, and has nothing to do with any sort of justice or real insurrection other than from the deep state.

      • Rebel Scum

        has an actual definition

        As if that matters. Words mean what the left wants them to mean when the left wants them to mean. Hence the rendering of ever more words meaningless year after year.

      • Plisade

        “The process will still be continuing long after you and I are dead. Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Even now, of course, there’s no reason or excuse for committing thought-crime. It’s merely a question of self-discipline, reality-control. But in the end there won’t be any need even for that. . . . Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?”

    • juris imprudent

      Democrats are desperate to keep Trump in the game. He’s the only thing that unifies them and scares a fair portion of the country.

      • AlexinCT

        Right, that’s why they invented this whole insurrections shit to make it impossible for him or people connected to him (and they get to decide who is) to hold political office, Yes, they like to use him as a boogieman because he lives rent free in the heads of idiots, but they are far more focused on keeping him and people that believe like him that the machine is evil and needs to be upended, away from power.

      • Don escaped Cancun

        if not him, some other sociopath will come along (my money on this, in fact)

        identity politics never tires and cares not who is at the head

      • Atanarjuat

        Yep, midterms are likely to be a referendum on how much independents like DNC Covid hysteria, and so they’ll need something to win back seats in 2024. The Trump bogeyman makes up for their empty bench.

    • DrOtto

      “…accept mediocrity from our government.” That statement gives them more credit than they deserve. At this point, they would have to really strive to hit that high.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      The media needs him though, which creates a nice conflict.

  3. Count Potato

    “Raskin suggested that the constitutional provision preventing those who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding office may prevent Trump from becoming president for a second, nonconsecutive term. Having lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, Trump is eligible for another White House term. Polls show him the clear favorite to win the 2024 Republican nomination if he runs. ”

    “Why are you so obsessed with me?”

    • WTF

      “Ignore the fact that Trump was never convicted of insurrection, nor has anyone produced actual evidence showing Trump committed insurrection.”

      • juris imprudent

        Since when have the Democrats needed actual facts?

      • Not an Economist

        He was impeached -rather quickly after the “insurrection”. That might work.

  4. Shpip

    Michigan Democratic Party deletes social post claiming parents aren’t ‘client of the public school’

    Parents never have been. Certain people are just saying the quiet part out loud now.

    • WTF

      Neither are the students. The public school system is run for the benefit of the teacher’s unions and the education bureaucracy.

      • Chafed

        The pandemic response sure highlighted it.

    • robc

      It is like with google…if you aren’t paying, you aren’t the client, you are the product.

      The kids are the product, not the client. The government is paying.

      This is exactly why they oppose school choice and vouchers, it turns the parents into the clients, even if the money is coming from the government.

      PJ O’Rourke, back when he was still good, had a piece on the 4 ways money is spent.

      You spend your money on yourself.
      You spend your money on someone else.
      You spend someone else’s money on yourself.
      You spend someone else’s money on someone else.

      The 4th is obviously horribly wasteful. And that is how public school spending works.

      The first you get what you want. The second you get them what you think they need. Both involve careful spending. The 3rd is wasteful, but you really get what you really want, you splurge. The fourth is fuck all, who gives a fuck?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        ?

        Who’s paying the bill? That’s the customer.

        Same thing with hospitals. Even if you think you’re paying the bill for your COVID treatment, the government has subsidized the process behind your back and is calling the shots.

  5. AlexinCT

    Poll shows ‘dramatic shift’ in party preference from Democrat to Republican at end of 2021

    I am ecstatic to see people waking up and realizing the democrat party is a crime syndicate (or a bunch of crime syndicates working together) and feel like this should give us hope despite the fact so many people still take the democrat party seriously as a viable political entity. I am worried that the republicans will just fuck things up badly again because while they have not yet turned themselves into a criminal entity like the dnc, they are inept fucks.

    The republicans need to use the same shit, evil, and corrupt lawfare and fascist politics tactics that the left uses on the rest of us, not for reasons of vengeance, but to make the crime syndicate members know they too will be fucked over if the gloves come off the way they have done it. If team blue and the deep state’s plan is to make it impossible for a candidate not from team blue and approved by the deep state, elected by the people to fight the agenda of these corrupt entities, to be in charge, then we should return the favor and make it impossible for them to be in power. This shit about the only time these evil fucks call for unity is when they hold power needs to be killed off brutally.

    • WTF

      Unfortunately the Democrats still count the votes in all the major urban areas so they can keep manufacturing the votes they need, abetted by permanent vote by mail and loose vote security, to ensure they “win” no matter what the actual voters think.

      • UnCivilServant

        What I’ve always thought is that there needs to be more prosecution of the corrupt vote counters.

        Any of these obstructive shenanigans should land them in prison for years on end. Send rafts of them to rape cages and the machine starts siezing up.

      • WTF

        The problem being the areas of the corrupt vote counting are in the firm control of the corrupt vote-counters, including the DAs.

      • AlexinCT

        The system is broken by design. The people that count on stealing fortifying elections want the system to be impossible to audit or monitor, because if you can track each vote and verify the voter is a valid voter, then cheating becomes seriously difficult to do in the numbers they usually need to steal elections.

      • waffles

        The democrats do seem really concerned that several states have de-fortified their elections. Maybe it’s my priors but it seems like a massive tell that they don’t think they can pull it off again.

      • AlexinCT

        They are certainly worried that they can’t pull it off without too many people seeing they have again done it. In the past they could label those pointing out something was rotten as kooks and get away with it. After 2020, when they had to resort to punishing and silencing anyone questioning the mountain of evidence they swept under the rug to hide how much criminality was rampant in that election, that has become really difficult to do. I suspect their concern isn’t with doing it – they will cheat because that’s their nature – but with not being able to keep the criminal cheating hidden from the general public.

  6. Count Potato

    “In Rasmussen’s latest national poll on the issue, 78% of African-American voters supported voter ID.”

    What percent of white people?

    • db

      But I was told they can’t even get ID; why would they support requiring it?

      • Jerms

        And how did they participate in the poll? Ive been told they dont even know how to log onto a computer.

    • R C Dean

      Just like men’s opinions on abortion, white people’s opinions on voting don’t count.

    • robc

      Slighly less, as the overall total was a bit lower. Either that or hispanics hate IDs.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Asians. Asians despise IDs.

  7. invisible finger

    “In Rasmussen’s latest national poll on the issue, 78% of African-American voters supported voter ID.”

    I was expecting 60%.

    • Nephilium

      /golf clap

    • rhywun

      *chuckle*

    • Brawndo

      3/5ths?

    • Bobarian LMD

      That sounds like a good compromise.

  8. Raven Nation

    CDC & masks:

    1 first step to requiring N95s?

    2. Clearly a blatant attempt to get rid of Glib face masks

    • rhywun

      first step to requiring N95s?

      That is sure what it looks like. But surely they know it will fail miserably on multiple levels.

      • R C Dean

        Let’s see, a new N95 a day for 300 million people is 9 billion N95s every month. In the middle of a blown up supply chain.

        Sure. That’ll happen.

      • rhywun

        That’s one level.

      • Pope Jimbo

        You think they will change masks every day?

        My guess is that they will wear the same mask over and over again. Just like my wife.

        Don’t make the mistake of trying to point out that she is putting a wad of Rona viruses in her purse and carrying it around with her everywhere. She doesn’t like anyone throwing shade on her talismask.

      • The Last American Hero

        The pope is my brother-husband. My wife was pushing one on me and the kids.

      • robc

        I rarely wash mine, but its because I just don’t care. It sits in my car and I put it on if required.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        The virus bounces off the mask and falls to the ground, where it dies.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        We just need another $6 trillion.

      • Bobarian LMD

        I don’t remember…? What did we do with the first $6 trillion? Did anyone check the couch?

      • R C Dean

        I believe we sent a lot of it to overseas crime cartels.

    • Brawndo

      I can barely stand the shitty blue paper masks all day at work. I hope to God this insanity ends before they mandate the N95, I can’t even wear that for 30 minutes

      • WTF

        My wife works in a hospital, and when they wear N95s continuously, they must be changed out every so-many minutes (I forget the time but it’s not that long) because: 1) they start to clog up with moisture, etc. from the wearer’s breath making them less effective because air now tends to go through the sides of the mask, and 2) the accumulation of bacteria is bad for the wearer’s health. So people would be going through more than one mask a day if they are are wearing them properly for any length of time.

      • R C Dean

        I think it’s every four hours.

        Theoretically. I doubt very many actually do that.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Why would we require the vaccinated to wear masks?

      All of this is so far outside reality as to be cult behavior.

      • WTF

        Because the vaccinated can still get sick, and can still transmit the virus.
        So make sure everyone gets vaccinated.

      • juris imprudent

        Seems most of the irreligious don’t really give up religion, they just devote themselves to strange gods.

  9. Not Adahn

    Steve Inskeep was gushing on NPR this morning about how much better the tennis is going to be in Oz, now that Covid Novak isn’t there to steamroll everyone.

    • Brawndo

      I agree. We should kick LeBron out of the NBA

    • rhywun

      He has a point, if you’re sick of seeing the same two or three players dominate every Grand Slam.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      What a twat.

      He wouldn’t have dared say the same thing about Serena “Roids” Williams.

    • Plisade

      At least the trains ran on time.

      • UnCivilServant

        People keep getting confused. The trains were still late, but they’d been nodified to a new herbal propulsion system. The trains ran on Thyme.

      • Pope Jimbo

        That’s a spicy take. I like it!

      • WTF

        Where else can you get such sage commenting?

      • DrOtto

        You best stop peppering the comments with puns.

      • Plisade

        Are you trying to curry favor with Pope Jimbo by your lengthy pun?

      • UnCivilServant

        Sometimes you need to let it simmer. No need for a searing hot take every joke.

      • juris imprudent

        Swiss is going to take this pungent commentary as distasteful.

      • Grumbletarian

        He’ll certainly be salty about it.

      • Compelled Speechless

        Careful, he’s going to cumin here any minute and grill us.

    • Necron 99

      I guess he likes his competitive mediocracy, probably a big fan of the WNBA.

      Harrison Bergeron comes to mind… what is that noise, oh well, what was I saying?

    • Pope Jimbo

      I’m really hoping that Covid Novak wins the other big three tournaments and then proclaims that he won the grand slam. Because the Australian Open doesn’t count anymore.

      Then boycotts it next year with an excuse that he doesn’t feel like he needs to go to a minor tournament for a tune up.

      • rhywun

        He won’t get in to the French Open, either. They just passed a law requiring the Jab for all participants and spectators at sporting events.

    • robc

      What about Renata Voracova not being there?

  10. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Tard Tuesday: They Treated Our Disease, It’s An Outrage

    A group of men detained at Washington County Detention Center in Arkansas say that the jail’s medical staff gave them the anti-parasite drug ivermectin last year, without their consent, to treat COVID-19, while telling them the pills were “vitamins.” On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of the inmates, filed a federal lawsuit against the jail and its doctor.

    “They said they were vitamins, steroids and antibiotics,”

    For the record, steroids and antibiotics are more powerful drugs with more side effects than ivermectin.

    My favorite part:

    Based on Floreal-Wooten’s height and weight, according to the lawsuit, he should have only received up to 0.2 mg/kg in a single dose, roughly 14 mg.

    “Mr. Wooten, however, received 48 mg over a period of four days,” the lawsuit says, “3.4 times the approved dosage.”

    LD50 of ivermectin is somewhere around 50mg/kg or roughly 100 times the dose he was administered.

    • Nephilium

      I’m sure the ACLU has also taken up arms against the locations that vaccinated children without notifying their parents right?

      /waits… hears crickets…

      Fucking skinsuited ACLU…

      • WTF

        I bet they’re fighting against vaccine mandates, too. Right?
        /crickets…..

      • Ownbestenemy

        Forced medical procedures or denial of medical procedures is a civil liberty concern only if it involves one thing and one thing only.

      • l0b0t

        Sigh… The ACLU was never skinsuited. They started life as the legal defense wing of the Communist Party (CPUSA) and have never been anything other than Marxist/Leninist agitators. Here is, ACLU founder, Roger Nash Baldwin laying it out in a 1934 issue of Ramparts –

        “I believe in non-violent methods of struggle as most effective in the long run for building up successful working class power. Where they cannot be followed or where they are not even permitted by the ruling class, obviously only violent tactics remain. I champion civil liberty as the best of the non-violent means of building the power on which workers’ rule must be based. If I aid the reactionaries to get free speech now and then, if I go outside the class struggle to fight against censorship, it is only because those liberties help to create a more hospitable atmosphere for working class liberties. The class struggle is the central conflict of the world; all others are incidental.

        When that power of the working class is once achieved, as it has been only in the Soviet Union, I am for maintaining it by any means whatever. Dictatorship is the obvious means in a world of enemies, at home and abroad. I dislike it in principle as dangerous to its own objects. But the Soviet Union has already created liberties far greater than exist elsewhere in the world. […] While I have some reservations about party policy in relation to internal democracy, and some criticisms of the unnecessary persecution of political opponents, the fundamentals of liberty are firmly fixed in the USSR. And they are fixed on the only ground on which liberty really matters — economic. No class to exploit the workers and peasants; wide sharing of control in the economic organizations; and the wealth produced is common property.”

        https://www2.law.ucla.edu/volokh/blog/baldwin.pdf

    • Gustave Lytton

      There are potential side effects for ivermectin well before LD50 (and above what the jail used), not to mention no apparent screening for contraindication of it.

      This is no different that telling the inmates they’re getting saline shots and giving them covid vaxs. Uninformed consent is uninformed consent.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I agree.

        What I object to is the framing of the issue and the general stupidity of treating ivermectin like a dangerous drug while discounting the effects of steroids and antibiotics as well as the vaccines.

        I’d be all for actual informed consent for all of the options, but that’s impossible when the CDC and FDA are suppressing the data.

  11. Fourscore

    For some reason, I’m having doubts about the wisdom of my betters. After all, they were democratically elected or following the orders of those that were.

    Political might makes right, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?

    I can still wear my cloth mask though, right? For solidarity?

  12. Brawndo

    Going on 3rd week of not being able to send my son to daycare because of covid rules. I was sick for 3 days early in January. After I recovered, my wife and son both tested positive (no symptoms though). We were hoping to send him back to day care today but he still is testing positive. I remember, back during the before times, if you felt fine, you could go about your normal routine. Unfortunately, under the current regime, we’ve paid for 3 weeks of day care we can’t use and have lost out on 2 weeks of pay for my wife.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      It’s absurd. If you’re not symptomatic, you’re not contagious.

      And you will continue to test positive so long as your body is sloughing off the dead virus.

      • rhywun

        If you’re not symptomatic, you’re not contagious.

        That’s not what they’ve been telling us for two years. I wonder if proof of “asymptomatic spread” was ever furnished, or if the world just swallowed it with no evidence.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Given the very high R factor for Omicron, there is a possibility that it could spread asymptomatically. It certainly wasn’t true for Delta or Alpha.

        But Omicron is much less virulent as well and does not pose a significant risk.

      • Brawndo

        People should be hosting Omicron parties similar to how we had Chicken pox parties.

      • robc

        They did, it was called Christmas.

        That is how I got it.

        At least 7 of the 9 people at Christmas Eve dinner came down with it.

      • juris imprudent

        Why would you have any reason to believe anything “they’ve told us” the last two years? There was never any proof that asymptomatic were spreaders. Just assertions from authority figurines.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        They’re running out of things to lie about now.

      • ScoobaSteve

        At some point in 2020, a WHO representative did say that asymptomatic spread is rare. That lasted about 12 hours until a different WHO representative said that the 1st rep misspoke and asymptomatic spread is very likely.
        This was back in the early days when they didn’t have their lies straight and you could still get the truth occasionally.

      • AlexinCT

        That claim was one of the lies that immediately validated to me this was a manmade virus. When they decoded the virus sometime right before this and other bullshit WHO announcements, it was blatantly obvious that one of the things that had to be man made (this was never found in corona viruses in nature before, and while it could be possible, so far has never been detected) was the code that allowed this virus to prevent an immune system response (presenting as asymptomatic) for a very long time while the patient was contagious. The perfect bioweapon is the one where the infected spends days spreading the thing because they are not aware they are infected.

      • DEG

        WHO also played the game of “asymptomatic” and “pre-symptomatic”.

      • R C Dean

        pre-symptomatic

        Interesting. Is there a time machine, or perhaps a crystal ball, to tell you that you will have symptoms in the future?

      • R C Dean

        Also, the symptoms for the ‘Vid are also the symptoms for any number of other diseases. Mrs. Dean informs me that the new list of symptoms for Omicron includes the symptoms for menopause. There are millions of people who are “symptomatic” but don’t actually have the ‘Vid. I gotta wonder how that affects the math.

      • DEG

        I have a vague memory of the paper used to prove asymptomatic spread happens was withdrawn.

        The folks behind the paper never talked to the supposed asympotmatic spreader. Had they done that, they would have found out that the person was symptomatic but thought the symptoms were allergies.

      • Brawndo

        I think 10 days after his first positive test he can come back assuming no symptoms. But toddlers are disgusting vectors even when they aren’t sick

      • Plisade

        Are you required to test him?

      • Brawndo

        I’m not entirely sure. We could return him after 5 days with a negative test, but he was still positive after 5 days. I’m pretty sure we can just wait ten days from the initial positive test. He’s only 15 months old, which I’m not even sure the tests work for that age but the daycare said they would accept results from them. Everyone is also in the middle of changing their rules for stuff because of changing guidance from our Top Men.

        It’s a cluster fuck. Everyone’s natural inclination is to defer to the authorities and their guidelines. I understand that, nobody wants to be responsible. The problem is, the guidelines we are supposed to defer to make no sense and change constantly. My work, my wife’s work, day care, and the pediatrician all have different rules or suggestions, and trying to puzzle it all out has led to losing out on quite a bit of pay.

      • Plisade

        I’m just wondering why one would get tested if there was no upside to the result, and if getting tested was not a requirement.

        I have salaried staff here, workaholics, who’ve gotten tested and are genuinely pissed when they’ve gotten a positive result and had to miss work (corporate policy). Since they’re salaried they’d get paid anyway for staying home a day or 2 for a cold, so why not just do that, rather than get tested and miss out on the mandatory 5 (was 10) days?

        I ask them why they got tested and their answers are always along the lines of, “well I was exposed to someone else who tested positive and isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?”

        Do. Not. Comply.

      • Brawndo

        It was my wife’s idea to test him in the first place, I think because a neg test would have let him return to day care faster, which would in turn let her return to work. Unfortunately, she is fee for service which means she doesn’t get paid if she doesn’t work. This whole episode has convinced her to change her pay structure to salaried.

    • CPRM

      That’s why you need the government to pay for that day care. #infrastructure

    • waffles

      Getting mildly sick in the before times was just inconvenient. This is so much worse. I can imagine if this kind of thing writ-large is happening across the country is explains much of the economic malaise. Well, I really hope it is that simple.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      You need a new daycare?

  13. Rebel Scum

    Raskin suggested that the constitutional provision preventing those who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding office may prevent Trump from becoming president for a second, nonconsecutive term. Having lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, Trump is eligible for another White House term. Polls show him the clear favorite to win the 2024 Republican nomination if he runs.

    Straws are grasped. Tears will be had.

    • Drake

      Or you could get two Springfield SA-35‘s for the same price.

      • EvilSheldon

        This. The only people buying P-35s in 2022 are doing it for nostalgia (or Rhodesian Light Infantry cosplay). $1300 is a lot to spend on that.

    • Not Adahn

      Tisas makes/made a stainless Hi-Power clone.

      My 1911A1 clone by them is running fine, though it still has fewer than 100 rounds through it at this point.

    • db

      I have a 1990s Belgian P-35 with a hard chromed frame and black coated slide. It’s a really good looking gun in two-tone.

      • Not Adahn

        There’s a geezer that shoots action pistol with a Hi-Power that has got the most gorgeous bluing I’ve ever seen. No idea what vintage it is.

      • UnCivilServant

        Did you ever think to just ask?

      • Not Adahn

        Not a whole lot of chit-chat time between “make ready” and “are you ready.”

        He wears it in an Uncle Mike’s holster with a rubber band retaining it.

  14. Rebel Scum

    CDC Finally Admits Cloth Masks Were Always Political Theater

    It’s always been a symbol of compliance.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      But totally trust everything else we’re telling you.

  15. Count Potato

    “White women have never only been passive players in racist and extremist movements, and they’re not about to start now, @milleridriss writes.”

    https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1483318528291876864

    “Terrific conversation with @handrewschwartz for @CSIS podcast #TruthoftheMatter about my recent @nytopinion op-ed & why we need a public health approach to preventing violent extremism- including one that learns from global approaches -have a listen”

    https://twitter.com/milleridriss/status/1482768002642755591

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      When an actual extremist movement shows up, they’re not going to know what to say.

      • juris imprudent

        When a violent extremist confronts them, I can tell you exactly what they’ll say (and do).

    • R C Dean

      “why we need a public health approach to preventing violent extremism”

      I can hardly wait for this vaccine.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I have a vaccine application tool for that on my hip.

      • juris imprudent

        Public health hubris is a very dangerous vector to the body politic.

  16. Rebel Scum

    Poll shows ‘dramatic shift’ in party preference from Democrat to Republican at end of 2021

    People who don’t vote Democrat are domestic enemies, obvs.

    • Bobarian LMD

      Insurrectionists.

  17. Rebel Scum

    Rasmussen’s Daily Presidential Tracking Poll now has Biden sub 40.

    C’mon, man. This is the most popularly elected president ever.

    • WTF

      81 million votes! Far more than other candidate in history! Trust us, it’s totes legit!

      • juris imprudent

        He didn’t even win as big a percentage of the popular vote as Nixon.

  18. Rebel Scum

    Three-quarters of the battleground state voters supported ballot ID requirements, with black voters expressing the highest support at 79%.

    Black people are the black faces of white-supremacy.

  19. Pope Jimbo

    The article about probes/impeachments mentioned that Biden had removed Trump appointees to the military academies. I hadn’t heard a peep about that.

    Just looked up the details on that story. I can’t tell if these appointments are “at the pleasure of the President” or not. One of the people being fired said it was for a 3 year term.

    In any event, when any GOP president fires all the US DA’s and replaces them with his people, the media gets the vapors. My guess is that if the next GOP president fired Biden’s appointees the usual suspects would begin moaning about norms and decorum.

    Me? I’m all for eliminating the academies anyhow. All officers should be mustangs (come up from the enlisted ranks). Every officer should have done some time buffing hallways at 3 am.

    • UnCivilServant

      That would go on to be recorded as “Pope Jimbo appoints his horse as general of the armies.”

    • Fourscore

      But every Commander-in-Chief can send kids to combat, even if they’ve avoided military service themselves.

      • The Last American Hero

        You’re right. President McCain would have drawn on his military experience to keep us out of war and President Paul might callously go looking for giants to slay.

    • pistoffnick

      …buffing hallways at 3 am…

      You kids and your silly euphemisms!

  20. Drake

    Canada drops vaccine mandate for its truckers after pressure from industry

    The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said that unvaccinated, or partially vaccinated Canadian truck drivers arriving at the U.S.-Canada border will remain exempt from pre-arrival, arrival and post-arrival testing and quarantine requirements.

    However, truckers from the United States will still need to be vaccinated or they will be turned back at the border from Jan. 15, a CBSA spokesperson said.

    I think Trump was a pretty big disappointment, but this is the kind of trade bullshit he didn’t tolerate. He would have this fixed in a day by closing the border to Canadian truckers.

  21. Rebel Scum

    The client of the public school is not the parent, but the entire community, the public

    All your children are belonging to us.

    • Compelled Speechless

      If you want to play “stump a progressive”, ask them how they determine what the best thing for “the entire community” is. If they say it’s what the experts say, ask them what the experts criteria is. They cannot process the idea that there is no agreed upon “greater good” and trade-off aren’t real.

  22. Ownbestenemy

    A group of people, who were crapped on as a whole for some time in our nation’s history wants strong voting laws to ensure their voices are heard? That’s just Uncle Tom talk right there.

    • Brawndo

      Clearly they just hate Mexicans

  23. The Late P Brooks

    Let’s see, a new N95 a day for 300 million people is 9 billion N95s every month. In the middle of a blown up supply chain.

    Sure. That’ll happen.

    Pulling all those masks out of the magic hat will give Biden and Co something to do.

    • Ownbestenemy

      That is straight from the Bernie brain trust I believe. I actually want them to pass legislation and attempt this.

    • PieInTheSky

      Keep in mind you should recycle all the discarded ones

    • Brawndo

      If Pelosi recently bought stock in a company that produces those, I’d give it good odds that it happens

  24. Rebel Scum

    Hawaii Will Require Visitors to Have Booster Shots to Be Fully Vaccinated

    It’s not like tourism is big there.

  25. Pope Jimbo

    Solid sportz journalo-ism

    An entire article devoted to how happy Timberwoof’s fans are wearing masks at the stadium.

    It was also the first game the Wolves have played at home since the city introduced a new mask mandate on Jan. 6. And multiple tours of the concourses provided an incredible adherence to the return of that rule.

    It was like everyone made a shared decision: shed parkas, keep masks.

    While several other events in the city have been canceled since the start of 2022, the announced crowd of 17,136 was an eclectic mix of races and ages. And during an isolating winter, Target Center felt like a place to be seen, even if eyebrows dominated the facial queues.

    In what team officials have to hope portends ease of acceptance to the ordinance, the mask mandate did little to dampen the atmosphere.

    Three-inch heels and teased hair mixed with crisp hoodies and every assortment of Jordans you can imagine. A teenage fan wearing a Steph Curry jersey and Nike Air Max 270s was overheard, if somewhat muffled behind a blue mask, asking a friend if they should stop at another concession stand.

    “After everything we just ate?” his friend responded.

    Wolves cheerleaders and the slam squad danced and flew through the air with their usual revelry, though their smiles were hidden. The only lingering question over adherence was what Crunch had going on behind that furry snout.

    Most of those who weren’t masked were properly distanced.

    Karl Anthony Towns also demonstrates that we should not look to our sportz ball stars for guidance on any issues of import. He is for people making choices, but fully supports mandates?

    • PieInTheSky

      Karl Anthony Towns – but as long as he keeps winning titles the fans will love him

    • rhywun

      Sickening.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I can only imagine some crusty old sports editor from the ’50s being told to write a story about mask wearing at a basketball game.

        Of course, Crusty Editor didn’t have a degree in journalism. He just learned how to write news stories with on the job training. So we really shouldn’t listen to him.

  26. PieInTheSky

    I bought some plane tickets hoping to be able to do a holiday in March and am already regretting it… It was only 150 US dollars still. I am unsure if I will be able to go with the stupid thing

      • PieInTheSky

        apparently there is a 70 day waiting list for the interview.

      • Gustave Lytton

        The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.

      • Fourscore

        I brought in some starter cups today, gonna stick some apple seeds in and see what happens. You’re right about the 20 years but I want to leave a legacy to whomever eats one of the apples. I started 10 last year.

        “That crazy Ol’ Fourscore, planting apple trees at his age, doesn’t he know that they won’t have fruit for 8-10 years”

        Actually I probably won’t know if they ever have fruit.

      • Gustave Lytton

        The second best time!

    • Nephilium

      I’m keeping an eye on the mandates and flight rules, as the girlfriend and I have flights, tickets, and hotel for our trip coming up in April.

      • PieInTheSky

        My tickets are for Spain who gave some signal they may be less crazy about restrictions but I don;t know.

        I still don’t want a booster… My vaccine second doe was May 15th so based on the EU 9 month rule it expires on the 15 of February

      • Nephilium

        Mine is for Las Vegas, the annual trip to Viva. Neither the girlfriend or I have gotten any of the vaxes, she’s got a positive test in her record, I do not (same symptoms, but my test was negative). Looking at the website, it looks like there’s still an indoors mask mandate (which was spottily enforced when we were there in fall).

      • Ownbestenemy

        Its 50/50 now regarding if people will harass. In casinos, at the tables, they are strict. Everywhere else? No one cares.

      • db

        (same symptoms, but my test was negative)

        Now, that’s interesting.

        Wonder if the symptoms she had were from another pathogen and she just happened to have a SARS-CoV-2 infection as well.

      • Nephilium

        I got sick the week before the test, but didn’t plan on getting tested until I lost my sense of smell and taste (since Thanksgiving was coming up, and I had gotten over all the other symptoms). Rapid test came back negative, and the testing site never did my PCR test (instead telling me a week later to go take another test). Girlfriend started getting sick, and went and got tested the next day, she popped positive, and got the letter from the county board of health and everything.

    • PieInTheSky

      If it wasn’t already, it is obvious she was never a real Democrat but a Russian plant. Should be jailed for sedition if you ask me.

      • Count Potato

        You just want the lesbian sex tape.

      • robc

        Her economics are horrible, but she was easily the best of the lot of Democrats running last time. The fact that Hillary hates here is good enough for me.

      • Bobarian LMD

        The savaging she gave Camel-Ah in the debates is still in the spank-bank.

    • The Other Kevin

      Check out her Twitter. She’s got video after video calling out Biden and the Dems for dividing the country and going after anyone who disagrees with them. Good for her.

    • Count Potato

      “Justice Correspondent: @thenation Alignment: Neutral Good. Str:12 Dex:8 Con:15 Int:13 Wis:10 Char:14 Class: Paladin. Strong Against: Republicans.”

      Totally serious person.

      • UnCivilServant

        What fuckin ruleset are they using? None of that shit is legal.

      • robc

        He admits to not being Lawful. Isn’t that pretty much a requirement for a paladin?

      • Nephilium

        Yep. Chaotic Good was the Cavalier class IIRC.

        Not to mention the STR and CHA appear too low for a Paladin.

      • EvilSheldon

        …and way, way high for a Nation drone.

      • Ownbestenemy

        And with that DEX….good luck on saving throws and a terrible AC

      • robodruid

        Could we get a glibs gamming group going?

      • Ownbestenemy

        I’d be game, but I am a horrible D&D player.

      • AlexinCT

        That game would never get off because people will end up in endless battles about what version to use, which supplements are or are not allowed, and indubitably there will be someone complaining about why their Paladin/Assassin with a 40 STR/DEX/CON combo with demi-god status and a triple bladed Vorpal/Slaying Mace of Disruption isn’t able to make Zeus his bitch to fly around in eagle form.

      • Nephilium

        robodruid:

        There’s been some set up of a group in the forums.

        There’s also been a couple other games that have gotten started here.

      • db

        I’d be interested, but I’ve only played RPGs once or twice. I got the system for the Firefly game, and was thinking about setting something up with friends, but we never made it happen.

      • Ownbestenemy

        You know db…that may be the inroads we are looking for. Gaming and bitching with snark.

      • db

        OBE, it’d be a good idea. Might need a game that is libertarian friendly. We have novices like me and some experts too, so it wouldn’t necessarily be completely oriented to hard-core gamers.

      • robc

        LIbertarian friendly? Like Paranoia?

        Its a good one because it isnt campaign based, they are almost always one offs.

      • UnCivilServant

        Remember, Citizen, Happiness is Mandatory.

      • robc

        Paranoia is also good online, because your “teammates” dont know when you are sending notes to the DM. When you dm the DM, they dont know.

      • robc

        There has to be a Paranoia scenario with a mandatory vaxx that has hilarious side effects. And at least one of the secret society goals is to not take the vax. And another to take as many doses as you can.

      • AlexinCT

        Just go with “Call of Cthulhu”… It is less stressful.

      • UnCivilServant

        db, OBE, never forget that Glibs are innately chaotic and will lie to you if they think it’s funny.

    • AlexinCT

      If the only arrow in your quiver to fight those that will not simply let you do whatever crazy evil and stupid shit you want is to accuse them of being racist/sexist/some-ist, then you know you are a leftist idiot.

    • Rebel Scum

      Racist says racist things.

    • Not Adahn

      Elie Mystal. TWO HARVARD DEGREEZ! No law license.

      • Not Adahn

        And yet lawbloggers seem to think he’s a legal jeanyus. When he ran “Above the Law,” he made it one of the first blogs to ban commenting.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Does SNL know that Keenan Thompson is moonlighting?

  27. The Late P Brooks

    The U.S. midterm elections are some 10 months away, but President Joe Biden’s administration and allies already foresee a possible scenario in which Republicans take the House of Representatives, the Senate, or both, and launch a series of investigations and attempts to impeach the president.

    Lawmakers, congressional staffers and strategists predict a slew of investigations targeting the Biden administration, particularly if Republicans loyal to former President Donald Trump gain important committee seats in Congress.

    Petty vindictive partisanship will be the death of DEMOCRACY! if the Republicans get control.

    • WTF

      You mean, the Democrats might possibly get a small dose of THEIR OWN MEDICINE!!!11!!!!!???
      The horror, the horror.

  28. juris imprudent

    Good stuff as usual from Bacevich.

    By the end of the 20th century, America’s spheres of influence spanned the globe, encompassing not only the Western Hemisphere, but also Western (and eventually Eastern) Europe, East Asia, the Persian Gulf, and large swathes of Africa. The chief substantive expression of these several spheres came in the form of proliferating U.S. regional military commands presided over by four-star viceroys. Whatever the euphemisms employed, each of these commands exists to prevent its assigned “Area of Responsibility” from becoming a source of trouble for the United States. To repurpose an old advertising slogan devised by the Sherwin-Williams Paint Company, the Pentagon’s Unified Command Plan “Covers the Earth.’’

    It is fascinating to speculate how Washington would respond to Vladimir Putin announcing plans to permanently station Russian troops in, say, Managua, or to China’s President Xi creating a People’s Liberation Army South American Command, with headquarters in Caracas. To answer that question, look no further than the U.S. response to the Soviet deployment of offensive weapons to Cuba in 1962: Washington would go bonkers.

    America doesn’t recognize spheres of influence because that would entail recognizing the legitimate interests of other sovereign nations. Instead, it is America Uber Alles – and all you other countries just do as you are told. It is no wonder our foreign policy establishment is a bi-partisan barrel of bullshit.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Yes. Our policy of “forward deterrence” has turned us into the crazy neighborhood watch guy who is wielding a shotgun while standing on his neighbor’s porches, telling them not to come out of their houses.

      • Don escaped Cancun

        friendly neighborhood watch guy who comes in and levels the infrastructure, murders anyone of consequences, and installs (or at least leaves the locals even more vulnerable to) a regime not terribly different from the one he “saved” you from: Korea, Phillipines, Iraq, Haiti, Afghanistan, but I tire….the only thing missing is shooting the dogs…and then hang a mission-accomplished/nothing-to-see-here banner and cut a nice check to Halliburton…..just like the founding fathers encouraged us to do

    • The Last American Hero

      It is a pile of shit, but China actually intends to conquer other nations and isn’t shy about concentration camps, so it is a bit different.

      • Count Potato

        Wait, I’ve seen this one!

      • juris imprudent

        So what are the legitimate interests of the sovereign nation of China? Versus what is over-reach?

  29. Count Potato

    “The AP deleted an earlier tweet that quoted the FBI saying the hostage taker’s demands were about an issue not connected to the Jewish community.”

    https://twitter.com/AP/status/1483094720234594304

    Either they said it or they didn’t.

    • AlexinCT

      Once they realized they couldn’t control the narrative they decided to come clean and cover up the coverup attempt…

    • Atanarjuat

      I need to see proof that the FBI wasn’t behind the whole thing.

  30. juris imprudent

    What to tell them? How about the truth? That in the safest districts (AOC, Pelosi, Waters) the Democrat could parade around in full Nazi regalia spouting nothing but Communist gibberish and because of the moron voters there – still get re-elected. That’s the fucking truth. And safe Republican districts aren’t any better.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Puzzling

    The puzzle of Biden’s unpopularity has many pieces, pollsters and political analysts say. “There’s an element of it that has nothing to do with Joe Biden,” Sarah Longwell, a prominent anti-Trump Republican strategist said. “It’s just a tough time.”

    If the Democrats had been smart, they would have let the cartoon villain win.

    • The Other Kevin

      There was a poll that just came out that said a majority of people think the Dems are spending all their effort on things people don’t care about. Call me crazy, maybe that has something to do with it.

  32. Count Potato

    “This is one of the more interesting narrative collapses I’ve seen.

    The 200 body-sized “mass grave” at a former Native Residential School was detected by LIDAR-style techniques that likely just found tree roots. “Zero” actual bodies have been unearthed…”

    https://twitter.com/wil_da_beast630/status/1483203397474000898

    • waffles

      They burned churches for this.

      • Fourscore

        Is that ground not sacred? It is an Indian Burial Ground (allegedly) and that’s good enough for me. Even using GPR may be a violation

        /sarc

    • EvilSheldon

      Ground Penetrating Radar has been an ongoing source of fraud pretty much since its invention.

      • db

        It has its uses, if you know what you’re looking for in the area and have a competent operator. For instance, if you’re looking for underground piping or conduit that you know is somewhere in the area…and if you know roughly the density and material…

      • juris imprudent

        You mean an anthropologist might not be well versed in such? Where is my shocked face…

  33. Rebel Scum

    Good look, Dems.

    Democrats refuse to applaud when @GovernorVA @GlennYoungkin tells parents they “have a fundamental right, enshrined in law by this General Assembly, to make decisions with regard to your child’s upbringing, education and care. And we will protect and reassert that right.”

    I guess they don’t realize this is literally the issue that cost them the governor’s mansion.

    • AlexinCT

      Oh they do. And they are furious that the fucking plebes have chosen to fight their totalitarianism rather than bend the knee…

      That’s why they want to use the power of the federal machine to punish these plebes…

      See DOJ’s AG Garland and the shit he is doing.

    • robc

      I said before that if I ever ran for office, my platform will be taken straight from CS Lewis:

      To live his life in his own way,
      to call his house his castle,
      to enjoy the fruits of his own labour,
      to educate his children as his conscience directs,
      to save for their prosperity after his death

  34. The Late P Brooks

    Democrats are back in a familiar spot this week, pushing hard for legislation they know will fail. And they’re grappling openly with what to tell their voters when they come up short.

    How about, “Hey, you fucked up. You trusted us”?

    • AlexinCT

      I have recently watched several people on team blue’s side – political, bureaucratic, and media – make the argument that team blue’s problem is that it has lost the ability to fix problems by fixing what people believed. Note that they admit they don’t want to fix problems at all, just what people feel is a problem or not. That’s why the whole house of cards is imploding: we have a bunch of evil retards in charge that don’t fix problems at all, because they are likely profiting from the problems, but try to fix your perceptions of what is or is not a problem.

      That’s some epic level fucking evil there…

      • waffles

        The problem is that you cannot fix people’s feelings about an issue when there are real problems to deal with. A vast majority of Americans feel that we are in a precarious position right now and fixing this will require real work, not political make-believe.

      • juris imprudent

        Good luck finding any politicians that will do real work instead of indulging in more make-believe.

      • AlexinCT

        I think you are remiss in dismissing the power of feelings when dealing with your average moron. My observation has been that you could make the most lucid of arguments, based on incredible logic and reasoning, using massive analytics, to define issues or problems – from the incredibly simple to the horribly complex – and provide obvious solutions, but if you leave people emotionally unsatisfied, they will ignore your case and go with the asshat peddling tropes, platitudes, and stupidities that allow the morons to have their heroes to cheer for and their villains to blame and revile.

      • juris imprudent

        It’s almost like the voters get the politicians they deserve.

      • AlexinCT

        Good and hard…

      • Fourscore

        Whoever comes after Biden will be even worse. Trying to make things better for some comes at the expense of others. The New Frontier/Great Society, ad infinitum have resulted in a diminished society.

        We need a “Great Leap Forward” with 5 year plans. That always seems to work. One more term, yeah, that’s the secret.

      • AlexinCT

        Need to break some eggs to make that omelet…

        Some 20-30 million people should do it…

  35. Rebel Scum

    Rule Britannia something something.

    A letter sent to sailors who have not received the coronavirus vaccination details the reasons for the order, according to the Daily Mail. The missive says in part:

    Records show that you have not yet received a complete course of vaccination against Covid-19. As an employer the Royal Navy has a responsibility to take such action as is necessary to ensure that it maximises operational effectiveness and meets its health and safety obligations.

    […]

    If after consideration you decided not to accept the offer of Covid-19 vaccination the Royal Navy reserves the right to review your employability and you may be subject to administrative discharge from the service.

  36. PieInTheSky

    One solution to water scarcity, brought on by drought and pollution: treating wastewater for human consumption.

    One facility in El Paso has been bold enough to try it.

    https://twitter.com/axios/status/1483191901029343234

    • UnCivilServant

      Whoever wrote that is ignorant of the history of wastewater processing.

      This isn’t new.

      • PieInTheSky

        I think it is pretty unlikely for a journalist to be ignorant

    • AlexinCT

      Cut out the middle man and go straight to the “Water Sports” and the “Cleveland Steamers”!

    • DEG

      The Dirndl picture is the best. Hacker-Pschorr Bier as a bonus.

      The lass who works for Twin Peaks is good looking.

  37. The Late P Brooks

    Maybe we can get the CDC to recommend soaking used N95 masks in a bucket of bleach and ammonia to rejuvenate them.

    • db

      Should clean COVID out of the lungs right quick.

  38. Rebel Scum

    This is fine.

    Mr. Putin wants to extend Russia’s sphere of influence to Eastern Europe and secure written commitments that NATO will never again enlarge. If he is frustrated in reaching that goal, some of his aides suggested on the sidelines of the negotiations last week, then he would pursue Russia’s security interests with results that would be felt acutely in Europe and the United States.

    There were hints, never quite spelled out, that nuclear weapons could be shifted to places — perhaps not far from the United States coastline — that would reduce warning times after a launch to as little as five minutes, potentially igniting a confrontation with echoes of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

    “A hypothetical Russian invasion of Ukraine would not undermine the security of the United States,” said Dmitry Suslov, an analyst in Moscow who gave a closed-door presentation on the standoff to Russian lawmakers last month. “The overall logic of Russian actions is that it is the U.S. and NATO that must pay a high price.”

    Someone needs to tell the admin that we should be trying to be friendly with Russia. But I suppose Dems are willing to create a major conflict just to use Russia fever dreams to maintain power.

    • PieInTheSky

      shouldev nuked the fuckers in ’45

    • AlexinCT

      They have sold out to China, so obviously the only boogie man left is the Russians…

    • Urthona

      This is the only thing that could save Biden’s popularity.

    • Brawndo

      Global warming is just a plot by NATO to expand it’s sphere of influence. Melting the polar ice caps will make the Atlantic Ocean larger, thus making more countries eligible to join. Like those countries that are real close to the North Atlantic like, *checks notes* Ukraine.

  39. The Late P Brooks

    From Juris’ link:

    “Republicans haven’t been forced into a conversation about why they would be opposing voting rights at this critical juncture,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters last week. “If we have to go back to people and try to explain why we don’t have voting rights, it is really important that they hear from Republicans themselves why they are blocking this critical legislation.”

    Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) said in an interview that “it’s sad that you need every Democrat to be able to pass this and that you don’t have enough Republicans in this country that care about democracy and care about voting rights.”

    Stuff like this undermines my opposition to forcibly institutionalizing the insane.

    • Brawndo

      I’ll say it. I don’t like democracy. I don’t want more people able to vote because that’s just more people asserting their world view onto me.

      • db

        Democracy – Restraint = Tyranny

    • Rebel Scum

      Everyone who should have the right to vote (adult citizens) already has the right to vote. These lying cuntes are lying.

    • juris imprudent

      Voluntary institutionalization in Congress isn’t enough?

  40. The Late P Brooks

    Someone needs to tell the admin that we should be trying to be friendly with Russia.

    But Trump!

  41. PieInTheSky

    Firearms Policy Coalition
    @gunpolicy
    “According to Timmons, the [Alabama Sheriffs Association] is working with Mom’s Demand Action… to fight against Constitutional carry laws that have been introduced into the current session of the Alabama legislature.”

    https://twitter.com/gunpolicy/status/1483199575146045446

    • db

      Don’t they mean “Firearm’s Policy Coalition?”

      ffs

    • Count Potato

      boom chika wow wow

    • Rebel Scum

      Looks like sheriffs are in violation of their oath of office. Knowingly and willingly.

    • Atanarjuat

      Funny to see what uncensored comments turn into.

      I bet he was at least aided by an FBI informant.

    • waffles

      A 21-year sentence of one of the worst attacks in history, and he has a parole hearing. Wild.

      • db

        That fucker should serve multiple lifetimes in prison just for the increased export controls imposed on US citizens because of his disgusting act.

      • R C Dean

        See, I was thinking more “unmarked shallow grave”.

      • juris imprudent

        That is a more enlightened democracy!

    • Urthona

      Well I mean it’s not like he walked around the US capitol.

  42. Atanarjuat

    I wonder what the voting demographics are in Hawaii. I know a bunch of wealthy Californians bought houses there, and certainly vote blue and most likely would prefer less tourism because their vacation/retirement property would be quieter.

  43. PieInTheSky

    Hugh Grant
    @HackedOffHugh
    The BBC is something the whole world admires with envy. It is entirely appropriate that the insecure, spittle-flecked nut jobs of this government want to destroy it.

    https://twitter.com/HackedOffHugh/status/1482843908983898114

    which do you admire more glibs, BBC or NHS?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Hugh should stick to what the knows, tranny hookers.

  44. Count Potato

    “Did Republicans Pick the Right Time to Lose?

    As Joe Biden’s struggles mount day by day, it’s looking more and more like the GOP may have dodged a bullet in 2020….

    And this is before we consider the straitjacket into which the Democrats’ victory has placed them. One year into his presidency, Joe Biden is an aging joke. Worse still, his vice president, Kamala Harris, is even less popular. Come 2024, the Democrats will have three choices, none of them good. The first will be to run Biden again, at age 82. The second will be to convince Biden to drop out in favor of Harris. The third will be to spurn both Biden and Harris and host a brutal primary while the two of them are serving out their terms. It is too early to tell whether this month’s “Hillary 2024” talk is anything more than a trial balloon, but one thing is for sure: Such gossip only begins when the incumbent is considered DOA.”

    https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/01/did-republicans-pick-the-right-time-to-lose/

    • db

      I like how it went from Biden pledging to be a one-term president to begin the healing process after the Bad Orange Man did such violence to our Sacred Democracy to “to convince Biden to drop out in favor of Harris. “

      • Plisade

        It’s a better story to have Hillary ride in on the wild donkey to save the party than for her to continue looking like the last kid picked for the kickball game.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        More like riding in on a broomstick.

      • Sean

        With hot sauce in her purse.

    • Urthona

      Honestly? Yes. Their timing is usually horrible but this was a perfect
      time to lose.

    • R C Dean

      One year into his presidency, Joe Biden is an aging joke. Worse still, his vice president, Kamala Harris, is even less popular.

      Neither of those is exactly a recent development.

      • juris imprudent

        The elevation to their current offices though have highlighted it such that it’s become harder for many to overlook.

    • robc

      Only Trump lost. And the weird GA Senate races. GOP won everywhere else.

      • juris imprudent

        The presidency is all that matters – the mostest Toppest Man!

  45. The Late P Brooks

    Sell the sizzle, not the snake

    The chief executive of BlackRock has sought to defend a shareholder movement focused on putting the interests of wider society ahead of profits, saying so-called stakeholder capitalism is neither political nor “woke.”

    In his widely followed annual letter to corporate leaders, entitled “The Power of Capitalism,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink on Monday pushed back against accusations the asset manager was using its heft and influence to support a politically correct or progressive agenda.

    “Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics. It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not ‘woke,’” Fink said.

    “It is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships between you and the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities your company relies on to prosper. This is the power of capitalism.”

    What this country needs is an inexhaustible supply of vacuous platitudes. Pay close attention to the tent show revivalist, and give generously when the collection plate comes around.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Blackrock (as well as State Street) is a behemoth of unparalleled proportions. Never before has one company held so much sway over so many businesses.

      These abominations of capital pooling are only made possible by the Federal Reserve and its monetary policies and they are actual risks to our freedom. Fink is the very definition of an oligarch in bed with the government.

    • Don escaped Cancun

      The woke shit is stupid to me, but it’s a mistake to pretend it doesn’t have good will value (net positive or negative, I’m not speculating).

      Ben & Jerry and Nike sell a lot like this to those who want it: stupid shit sells to stupid people.

      My own guess is that it’s an inefficient standard to manage a firm to: other more basic principle should come first. But consider KO: I think it’s outperformed the SP500 by 300% since 1962; they sell sugar water with teach-the-world-to-sing ads.

  46. PieInTheSky

    Vibe check: lit or cheugy? #fyp

    Zarah Sultana and the rise of the MP influencer

    https://thecritic.co.uk/vibe-check-lit-or-cheugy-fyp/

    As well as being the Labour MP for Coventry South, Zarah Sultana is something of a social media influencer. Ms Sultana has a formidable 240,000 followers on the video-sharing platform TikTok, where she uploads clips of herself speaking in Parliament, discussing current events and showing off her new “BTS bucket hat” (yes, I do know what that means, and, yes, I do hate myself for it).

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I have no idea what any of that means, but it’s probably not good.

      • PieInTheSky

        in limey libertarian twitter Zarah Sultana is referred to as the MP for Teen Vogue

  47. Drake

    Carhartt Reportedly Sticks To Company Vaccine Mandate

    Talk about not knowing their customers or workforce. They could have let it just go away. I hope they are sued out of business.

    Warning – from a covid crazy site who think it’s funny that people can’t choice what goes in their bodies.

    • Rebel Scum

      Know your audience.

    • PieInTheSky

      I only buy Gucci anyway

  48. The Late P Brooks

    Fink is the very definition of an oligarch in bed with the government.

    To be sure, some stakeholders are more equal than others.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      The Twitter covid beat really needs to understand that loss of trust is something that has to be won back with active labor. It doesn’t just fade over time to be replaced by trust and oh that was last year but now you should listen to what they say. They keep fucking up now too!

      The public health experts don’t seem to realize that they have close to zero hope of regaining any credibility at this point. There must be accountability for the havoc and destruction they have wrought.

      • juris imprudent

        Public health won’t regain any credibility until they go back to what they built it on – sanitation and actual disease vectors. But there isn’t enough work there to support all of the MPHs. Tough, climb onto the back of a trash truck – we can’t seem to get decent service with that these days.

      • Gustave Lytton

        I’d add accountability as well. There’s no consequences for being wrong, a hypocrite, failing to acknowledge when you have been wrong, or even actively covering it up.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        ???

        I’m not settling for “We promise to do better.”

        People need to pay for what they’ve done.

  49. LCDR_Fish

    robodruid on January 18, 2022 at 5:32 am

    Still have a case of red-eye being treated. But it could be worse.

    LCDR_Fish, DOD right now has a policy of really not using AFFF unless absolutely necessary. Any mention of AFFF being tagged out so it could not be used?

    Missed this because I’m switching over to night shift…

    As far as I know the AFFF ban is only for flight-lines absent critical emergencies. All our ships are still rigged with it – particularly due to the way we have fuel moving throughout the ships depending on the mission.

    HALON has been largely phased out completely in favor of watermist, but I don’t see AFFF going away. Obviously you don’t want to light it off pierside unless it’s an emergency (and if you’re pierside you normally have an oil boom out already to present excessive spillage) – but that’s one of those environmental concerns that we don’t particularly care about in international waters – infinitesimally minor compared to a lot of other issues.

  50. Sean
    • Drake

      They had to giver her a fat bunt.

  51. Drake

    This is interesting and may be a big contender in my AR search later this year.

    • R C Dean

      I called the rangemaster to ask him the distance of that target — turns out it was set out to 1,300 yards. That was 1,300 yards with a 77-gr .223 out of an 18″ barrel.

      Dang. I mean, sure, he had to walk it in, but still . . . .

  52. The Late P Brooks

    See, I was thinking more “unmarked shallow grave”.

    Buzzards gotta eat. Same as worms.

    Or- leave him on the beach, for the crabs.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      And enforcement of Chinese speech standards? Blizzard seems to be real good at that.

  53. Tundra

    Wow, Banjos!

    That’s a lotta lynx!

    I just sent that Hawaii article to a buddy who is traveling there in March. I hope the mandate craters before then.

    • KSuellington

      We bought tickets there for April in October as they were super cheap then. We usually do Mexico once a year as we can get a beach vacation there for about a third the cost of Hawaii (and I find it a generally friendlier place than Hawaii). I see you can also take a test within 24 hours of departing. I guess that is what we will be doing as I am not getting a booster and my kids aren’t getting the shot. This doesn’t make me excited to plan any return trips there. We chose Hawaii partly because the Biden decree about foreign travel having to get a test before returning. With 3 kids that was a worry that we would have one of us pop positive and then have to scramble down there to figure shit out. The world needs to get back to normal.

      • Tundra

        The world needs to get back to normal.

        From your lips- er, fingers, to God’s ears. We had to jump through the hoops to get back, but the resort we stayed at provided an insurance policy to cover the quarantine period if someone popped positive. But my kids are adults – no way I would have gone through the hassle with little ones.

      • rhywun

        I just see the world getting more insane every day.

  54. The Late P Brooks

    When we said “get lean” we didn’t mean stop pissing your money away on consultants

    Peloton is working with management consulting group McKinsey & Co. to review its cost structure and potentially eliminate some jobs, CNBC has learned.

    The possible job cuts were discussed in a recent call with members of Peloton’s management team, according to a recording obtained by CNBC. The apparel division, which has seen particularly weak sales, is one area that could be targeted. The company doesn’t disclose revenue from its apparel business.

    How many HR diversity mavens and middle managers will get pinkslipped?

    • Drake

      I’ve actually seen corporate bills from McKinsey. Doing nothing would probably be cheaper.

    • PieInTheSky

      How many HR diversity mavens and middle managers will get pinkslipped? – only the untripple vaxxed ones

    • Gustave Lytton

      Gee, there’s a ceiling on expensive stationary bikes and subscription services?

      • Tundra

        Their solution was expensive treadmills and subscription service.

        I’d say “adios, Peleton!”, but Nordic Trac held on far longer than I ever would have imagined.

  55. juris imprudent

    Hey, I know – call it a Great Reset!

    Biden’s reset plan, senior administration officials said, is to make his conversations with members of Congress less of a public priority and to emphasize spending more time communicating directly with Americans.

    WCPGW?

    • rhywun

      “He’s mindful that he doesn’t want to send the message that his role is to be legislator-in-chief,” another senior administration official said.

      LOL

      A few more executive diktats ought to take care of that perception. ?

    • kinnath

      Translation: Congress isn’t returning calls.

  56. Rebel Scum

    A bold strategy.

    A proposed constitutional amendment (ACA 11) in California would increase taxes by $12,250 per household, roughly doubling the state’s already high tax collections, to fund a first-in-the-nation single-payer health-care system. The top marginal rate on wage income would soar to 18.05 percent—nationally, the median top marginal rate is 5.3 percent—and the state would adopt a new 2.3 percent gross receipts tax (GRT), at a rate more than three times that of the country’s highest current pure GRT.

    All told, the new tax package is intended to raise an additional $163 billion per year, which is more than California raised in total tax revenue any year prior to the pandemic.

    People weren’t fleeing fast enough.

    • rhywun

      Do it!

      • waffles

        Oh I want them to do it. I lived in Sacramento for 6 years. Long enough to feel a bit of attachment to the place and I love seeing them pile on the reasons why I departed.

    • R C Dean

      For low-margin businesses like supermarkets, 2.3 percent of gross receipts may literally exceed current profits even if the company is doing well.

      Also, hospitals. And hospitals can’t really raise prices – their pricing is locked in as either government payors, or commercial payors with long-term contracts.

      Consider, also, that raising prices to cover the new gross receipts tax will require prices to go up more than 2.3%, as your gross receipts grow with your price increase. I’m sure there’s a formula, but I’m guessing it would take at least a 4% price increase to “gross up” enough to break even on the tax.

  57. waffles

    My office currently operates on the restaurant rules of covid. The virus can’t get you if you are sitting but you need a mask to walk down the hallway. I’m on week three of this situation and it is mostly tolerable. Still eager to go mask free, which is clearly the optimal masking solution.

    • rhywun

      That’s how mine was before I stopped going sometime last summer. I believe it’s muzzle-up all the time now.

      But the MSM says I don’t want to go to the office because I’m afraid.

      • Tundra

        I am afraid…

        of calling my co-workers little pussies and dragging them into the bathroom for swirlies. HR probably wouldn’t be down with that.

      • UnCivilServant

        Start with HR and hold them under until they stop resisting.

    • Sean

      I’m in charge.

      We have no mandates in our office.

      • waffles

        I miss my old mask-free workplace. I do. But since a lot of my work will take me outside and deal with contractors and the like I don’t expect to be overly burdened.

        One question I’ve been asking friends is “how much easier would your job be if all the pandemic stuff just vanished tomorrow?” For the teachers, nurses, healthcare types the answer is “immeasurably”. Hopefully we can lift this yoke sooner rather than later. I know some D’s in swing districts are probably counting on that for the midterms.

    • Rebel Scum

      My office currently operates on the restaurant rules of covid.

      Mine too, but I treat it as more of a guideline that I ignore.

  58. The Late P Brooks

    The top marginal rate on wage income would soar to 18.05 percent—nationally, the median top marginal rate is 5.3 percent—and the state would adopt a new 2.3 percent gross receipts tax (GRT), at a rate more than three times that of the country’s highest current pure GRT.

    Gooble gobble! Gooble gobble!

    Fair share! Fair share!

  59. DEG

    Mornin’

    Author Dr Gili Regev-Yochay told a press conference: ‘These are very preliminary results. This is before any publication. But we’re giving it out since we understand the urgency of the public to get any information possible about the fourth dose.’

    SCIENCE DENIER!!!!! The Holy Jab must flow!

    “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”’” the bureau wrote in a Twitter post. “This [MLK Day], and every day, the #FBI remains dedicated to service and committed to protecting our communities.”

    Abolish the FBI.

    A recent poll by Gallup released on Monday shows a more than double-digit shift in party preferences at the US national level, shifting the balance in favor of the Republicans.

    I saw this on the news on one of the TVs at the gym. My first thought was, “LET’S GO BRANDON!” My second thought i the Establishment GOP will do what they can to keep from getting out of power.

    Four days earlier, a poll in Michigan told a different story: Three-quarters of the battleground state voters supported ballot ID requirements, with black voters expressing the highest support at 79%.

    Heh.

    “Not sure where this ‘parents-should-control-what-is-taught-in-schools-because-they-are-our-kids’ is originating, but parents do have the option to choose to send their kids to a hand-selected private school at their own expense if this is what they desire,” the deleted post read.

    A friend of mine in northern Virginia is doing that. He’s pissed about having to pay Catholic school tuition on top of property taxes.

    The U.S. midterm elections are some 10 months away, but President Joe Biden’s administration and allies already foresee a possible scenario in which Republicans take the House of Representatives, the Senate, or both, and launch a series of investigations and attempts to impeach the president.

    What goes around comes around. However, other than possible bad things happening to Fauci, I don’t see much coming of this.

    Under the state’s current “Safe Travels” program, visitors to the state must quarantine for five days or test negative for the coronavirus within one day of travel if they are not fully vaccinated, which previously meant two doses of the Pfizer/Moderna vaccines or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The new guidelines will now include booster shots in order for people to skip quarantine.

    Speaking to Hawaii News Now, Gov. David Ige (D) said the new guidelines will not be implemented for another two weeks, allowing visitors to adjust.

    Still fucking over the state’s tourism industry? Could you at least buy it dinner first?

  60. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Seems the 5G/radio altimeter interference issue is a much bigger deal than I thought. The FCC and FAA are either having a major spat or they failed miserably during band allocation/specification or both.

    This was behind a paywall.

    Delta Air Lines 737-88
    Credit: Nigel Howarth/AWST

    Interference with key aircraft systems that rely on radio altimeter data and a lack of approvals at high-traffic airports may force airlines to avoid operations in many 5G C-band wireless service areas debuting Jan. 19, despite FAA sign-offs that cover equipment in a majority of mainline fleets.

    The FAA in recent days has approved two Collins Aerospace radio altimeters, the LRA-900 and LRA-2100, as being safe to operate on approaches to hundreds of runways adjacent to 5G-C band transmitters. The at-risk runways were flagged in a series of notices to air missions (Notams) that detailed more than 1,000 airport-specific operational limitations issued beginning Jan. 13.

    The alternative means of compliance (AMOC) approvals, granted to Boeing and Airbus, cover 737s, 747s, 757s, 767s, 777s, MD-10s, MD-11s, A320s, and A350s equipped with either of the Collins units. But the AMOC are limited, applying only to low-visibility operations such as Category II and III approaches, Required Navigation Performance procedures with Authorization Required, and related “automatic landing operations,” as detailed in a December airworthiness directive that established the limitations.

    The approvals do not cover all onboard systems that use radar altimeter data, which details an aircraft’s precise distance above the ground.

    Airbus, Boeing and other stakeholders are working to determine aircraft model-specific ramifications and—if necessary—issue additional restrictions. With less than two days left before AT&T and Verizon Wireless begin the already twice-delayed initial rollout, many questions remain unanswered.

    A Boeing multi-operators message issued to 737 fleet stakeholders Jan. 16 reflected the level of uncertainty aviation is facing.

    “When operations are planned at a U.S. airport where the FAA has issued a NOTAM for 5G interference, the flight crew will need to be alert for system anomalies that may occur due to 5G interference,” Boeing wrote. “There may be some flight deck effects, and depending on the behavior of the radio altimeter system, there may be some impacts to autopilot [and] autothrottle behaviors.”

    An FAA safety alert issued in December 2020 provided a partial list of functions that rely on radio altimeter data in some aircraft. They include traffic alert and collision avoidance systems, enhanced ground proximity warning systems, windshear detection, and stall-warning.

    Some of the affected aircraft may be subject to airworthiness directives. The 787 fleet, which is not on the Boeing AMOC issued Jan. 15 and can therefore use restricted airports only in good weather, may experience 5G C-Band-related interference with engine and braking systems during approaches. Operators must account for the possibility when landing at any airport covered in a Notam, a directive slated for publication Jan. 18 said.

    While MOMs are not mandatory, operator compliance with limitations they contain is a foregone conclusion for legal reasons, regardless of whether regulators take additional action. With the Jan. 19 deadline looming, manufacturers elect to take conservative approaches and issue restrictions while they are validating specific concerns. This, the A4A letter suggests, could lead to significant operational disruptions.

    Another issue with the AMOC approvals is the lack of applicability at some busy airports. The list of hundreds of runways covered by each AMOC includes less than 20% of the busiest 100 airports ranked by both passenger and cargo traffic, an Airlines for America (A4A) analysis seen by Aviation Week concluded. Several of the 50 large airports flagged by the FAA as needing temporary buffer zones are among those not covered, including California’s Los Angeles International, New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International and Houston Intercontinental in Texas.

    Airlines’ concerns prompted A4A to ask Verizon and AT&T to hold off its 5G C-band deployment within 2 mi. of runways flagged by the FAA as at risk of interference.

    “Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies,” the association said in a Jan. 17 letter to the FAA, Transportation Dept., the White House and the head of the Federal Communications Commission.

    “Because radio altimeters provide critical information to other safety and navigation systems in modern airplanes, multiple modern safety systems on aircraft will be deemed unusable causing a much larger problem than what we knew on January 5, 2022,” when the most recent deployment delay was announced, A4A added. “Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are huge swaths of the operating fleet that may need to be indefinitely grounded.”

    Reuters first reported the letter’s content.

    The FAA said Jan. 16 that the two AMOCs cover about 45% of the U.S. commercial fleet and runways at “as many as 48 of the 88 airports most affected by 5G C-band interference.”

    The initial C-band deployment covers areas in 32 states. Several regions with major airports, including Atlanta and Denver, are not part of the initial rollout.

    Aviation and wireless industry stakeholders have been sparring over the 5G C-band rollout ramifications for months. The wireless side points to successful deployments in other countries as evidence that U.S. aviation concerns, spearheaded by the FAA, are overblown. The FAA counters that an absence of evidence of any safety risk is not sufficient, and only testing and validation of how the new services, which use C-band frequencies close to ones long used in aviation, will satisfy the FAA.

    Retrofits are a likely long-term solution, but do not alleviate immediate concerns.

    Sean Broderick
    Senior Air Transport & Safety Editor Sean Broderick covers aviation safety, MRO, and the airline business from Aviation Week Network’s Washington, D.C. office.

    • TARDis

      So this a penis measuring contest. More people want their streaming porn and video gaming than want to fly. Prediction: FCC wins by several inches. That is until there is an actual deadly mishap.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        In researching it a little more, this is an actual safety issue and a colossal fuck-up on the part of the FCC and the FAA.

        When radio altimeters on planes were introduced there were no adjacent bands in use, so the filtration requirements for the altimeters were not stringent. The altimeters as currently designed will pick up signals in the newly deployed 5G C-band that could interfere with proper operation around airports.

        This isn’t “turn off your cell phone during take-off and landing” BS and the concerns from the airlines are quite founded.

        https://www.teoco.com/resources/5g-interference-and-radar-altimeter/

      • kinnath

        I said a week ago that it is a big fucking deal.

        The radios can be fixed (as noted in the news clip above). The issue is these radios have MTBFs measured in decades. This will force airlines and cargo carriers to retrofit and replace radios that shouldn’t need to be replaced. This is necessary not to take advantage of new procedures, but to keep doing what they have been doing for decades prior to 5G.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The question will be whether they can be fixed with a swap of the pre-filter. I can immediately see a major problem for them.

        Increased rejection in the adjacent band with no loss of signal in the operating band requires an increased package size. That is not going to be easy to deal with in a constrained environment like an aircraft. The package dimensions are quite often hard requirements.

      • Dr Mossy Lawn

        Its going to be new LRU’s I’m sure… I’ve seen a number that are available and with the newer DSP systems they can fit in the same space. I’m sure the big 2 already have the design, now it is who is going to pay?..

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Ah, so making space for the increased filtration with a reduction in the electronics package.

        In other words, a total unit swap. This is going to be expensive.

      • Ownbestenemy

        They can use those billions we gifted them

      • juris imprudent

        FAA is notorious for being spectrum dicks. That said, I don’t give a flying fuck about the glories of 5G.

        Now get your streaming ass off my lawn.

      • db

        Now get your streaming ass off my lawn.

        Now this is a man who knows how to deal with drugs falling out of asses.

    • R C Dean

      Retrofits are a likely long-term solution

      To be paid for by the 5G providers that made them necessary, of course.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        This one is going to get expensive.

        It’s hard to believe nobody saw this sooner, or if they did, they just ignored it.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Probably everyone ignored it. Seriously. There are times where some company or even our telco contractor will say “We want to put up this microwave link on your radar” and we always ask for our spectrum guys to come out and do an analysis. Know the types of replies we get? “Oh, we never thought about this or that!”

        So now multiply that with aircraft certification and they probably do the same thing. “Oh, it was just adjacent so we didn’t think to see if there were bandpass filters or a notch filters on the onboard equipment”

        That said, I want to see the information where the 5g is inducing interference on the radio altimeters…any links to that?

      • kinnath

        This problem has been known since 5G was proposed. The FCC doesn’t give a shit.

      • Ownbestenemy

        See the link above. I am asking our Traffic Management to pass on PIREPs to me of any interference with 5g.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Thanks for that porn

    • Dr Mossy Lawn

      The issue is that the radar altimeters were designed in an era where they didn’t need narrow filtering tolerances, and therefore used cheap and easy methods. The FCC has always said that any radio system must reject interference from outside of its band as part of its design, if you need a safety band, then your spectrum use must “own” that band. So it was on the avionics companies to do better. But now they have 30+ years of the old design hardware that might give spurious results, right when they matter, close to the ground.

      I would start suing them as providing equipment that was not to FCC specifications, and get them to replace the hardware at their cost. It will cost Collins and Honeywell some money, sorry you gambled wrong.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Legally speaking, the FCC is correct.

        The practical fallout of this is huge.

        Perhaps I should go back into designing filters, seems like there’s going to be some new demand.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That does seem to be what it looks like. 400 mHZ bandpass filter on the receiver in the schematics I found online. Given the US 5G band and the RA band… 5G adjacent is 3.7-3.98 gHZ and RA specturm is 4.2-4.4 gHZ….someone fucked up.

      • Dr Mossy Lawn

        The front end receiver masks were poor… huge shoulders with slow drop-off. “Why bother?.. nobody is within 2 GHZ of us!!”

  61. Rebel Scum

    Democrat voters have failed the Democratic Party.

    On the subject of Biden’s failing efforts to get voting bills passed in Congress, Begala was asked to react to a quote from Arndrea Waters King, daughter-in-law to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who told Politico, “What we’ve seen with President Biden is what happens when he puts his full force and power behind an issue like infrastructure. What we want to see is that same power and passion being put behind voting rights.”

    “Do you think that’s fair criticism? Did President Biden put more effort into getting infrastructure passed, for example?” CNN anchor Poppy Harlow asked during a panel discussion on Monday.

    “Well, he got infrastructure passed and that’s a good thing because success can breed success,” Begala responded. “He is putting the full force of the presidency behind it. I think the problem for the Democrats right now is not that they have bad leaders. They have bad followers, okay?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Now there’s a winning message.

    • Urthona

      I still contend that when people call the Republican party “the stupid party” they are really giving the other party short shrift.

    • Ed Wuncler

      From LA, to Chicago, to New York, the Democrats are basically telling their constituents to fuck themselves.

      • juris imprudent

        Openly. They’ve always been saying that, just not openly.

      • EvilSheldon

        Not really. They’re telling everyone, “Oh, you thought you were our constituents? LOL!”

    • Homple

      After the uprising of the 17th June
      The Secretary of the Writers Union
      Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
      Stating that the people
      Had forfeited the confidence of the government
      And could win it back only
      By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
      In that case for the government
      To dissolve the people
      And elect another?
      …Bertolt Brecht

    • rhywun

      Please explain which “voting rights” are missing and show your work.

      • AlexinCT

        RACIST!

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        You’re ballot doesn’t come prefilled yet. You are forced to make your own decision, which is a terrible burden, because you may not choose the way our democracy wants.

  62. Rebel Scum

    It will never end.

    “Dr. Fauci also said that the world is still in the first of what he considered to be the five phases of the pandemic. The first is the ‘truly pandemic’ phase, ‘where the whole world is really very negatively impacted,’ followed by deceleration, control, elimination and eradication,” The Times reported. …

    Further, Fauci insisted that countries needed to reach phase two, or the “control” phase, to make the virus a “non-disruptive presence” in society. When this happens, he said, the virus could be considered endemic, likening it to the rhinovirus and certain other upper respiratory infections.

    Fauci also said during the event that since the Omicron variant is more contagious but causes less severe symptoms, it could help spread collective immunity, but insisted “it is an open question as to whether or not Omicron is going to be the live virus vaccination that everyone is hoping for, because you have such a great deal of variability with new variants emerging.”

    “I would hope that that’s the case,” Fauci added, “but that would only be the case if we don’t get another variant that eludes the immune response.”

    • waffles

      I think we are nearing the last phase, acceptance.

    • Urthona

      The Democrats are trying to tee it up so they can declare victory right before the next election. Desperately need a victory.

      • waffles

        People are so sick of this they might just let them have it, at least publicly. Hopefully they remember who threw the yoke around our necks in the voting booth.

      • R C Dean

        Hopefully they remember

        Way to harsh my buzz, man.

      • R C Dean

        Its going to be hard to tee this up as a win for the Dems while they are flying off in all directions.

      • waffles

        They’ll get in line when it comes to reelection. If they have one skill, it’s self-preservation. Right now it’s hard to see it happening but November is a long way off and people have terribly short memories.

    • R C Dean

      elimination and eradication

      Of course, these two phases don’t actually exist for a coronavirus.

      control

      Depending on what is meant, this one may not exist either. “Non-disruptive” is remarkably ambiguous. What’s our benchmark for a non-disruptive disease? The flu? If so, we are likely there now, as Omicron appears to have a case fatality rate comparable to the flu. And let’s not include disruptive government responses in determining whether a disease is non-disruptive.

    • waffles

      Surely it’s merely a coincidence that all these top level athletes suddenly have cardiac issues. Perhaps this happened all the time and we only just started paying attention. Surely.

      • Tundra

        I really would love to see what was considered a normal distribution.

    • Grumbletarian

      World-class athletes are so fragile.

    • rhywun

      Whip Influenza Now!

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Whip The Flu!