Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

Chip Roy deserves some kudos. He raised a challenge to say that if the Presidential election in PA, MI, WI, NV, AZ, and GA was illegitimate, then the House races in those states all were as well, and no Representatives from those states should be allowed to be seated.

This is basically going to force every Republican to go on the record as having accepted "disputed states" House results as legitimate while simultaneously claiming it was horribly flawed and corrupt but ONLY as it pertains to the Presidency, somehow.

Only 2 people have voted to reject the election of representatives from the "tainted states". Over 120 have pledged to do so when it comes to the Presidency, despite being determined by the same "illegal" systems that elected the Representatives.

[froot loops]

I don't follow the Ryan Day scenario. He is an good coach regardless. But certainly Loeffler and Perdue are not strong candidates, they can't even say Trump lost Georgia. He clearly lost it and he clearly lost the election. A strong candidate would not.lose.voters by merely acknowledging this fact. Nor would strong candidates cower in the tall grass on the NDAA.

[froot loops]

It's laughable that anyone is still contesting the Michigan results. He lost and lost badly, there was nothing fishy about it. Weak politicians who have no power center themselves have to go along with this charade.

[froot loops]

Mitt Romney is a strong candidate, he can easily say Trump lost. Perdue is an incumbent is such a subpar politician that he has to duck the questions in fear of MAGAs. That's not strength.

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[Jeff Buchanan]

There isn't anything startling in this STAT article on COVID but its interesting. The article is an interview of a STAT reporter, Helen Barnswell, who was the first to report on the SARS-2 virus just then emerging in China. Key points:

How varied in terms of effectiveness nation's response to the pandemic has been. There are nations that are pretty much living normally and others that have suffered PH disasters with accompanying social and economic trauma. She comments that the US outspent every nation in pandemic preparedness in the early 2000s but you'd never know it from the virus's trajectory and destructiveness on so many levels.

Actual disease burden in terms of serious illness and deaths has been lower than she anticipated they would be once she recognized China was not going to keep the virus within it's boarders and it had started spreading globally months before the Chinese locked down Wuhan. She adds the sheer numbers of infections, even though most don't develop serious symptoms or die, still produces a staggering number of deaths and hospitalizations.

Notes that we're not anywhere close to being out of the woods. We should be hopeful with the introduction of a vaccine but the simplest measures of masking and distancing must be rigorously continued to reduce viral spread.

My comments: Here is S. FL, COVID fatigue is rampant. The number of outrageous unmasked gatherings of large groups is reflective of this as well as an attitude that, "well, there's a vaccine available. We don't have to worry about it anymore." Going forward, this attitude is going to be problematic. I've previously commented that I thought Floridians as a whole were being pretty diligent and the COVID data reflected that. I'm a bit more disturbed and I think that's a national trend.

FL's numbers are up, not much more than elsewhere and, in fact, positivity rates have not skyrocketed. Daily new case numbers though are right up there. Increased local prevalence translates to increased risk of getting infected. There are places you shouldn't go and types of gatherings that should be avoided. It's not hard to know where these are and to evaluate your own risk tolerance compared to benefits derived from activities you'd like to participate in.

https://www.statnews.com/2021/01/04/how-it-started-a-qa-with-helen-branswell-one-year-after-covid-19-became-a-full-time-job/?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20210104&instance_id=25616&nl=the-morning&regi_id=66290138&segment_id=48286&te=1&user_id=eb3770cd26926d6908b2da6e075b25bf

[Dr. Strangelove]

From Thomas Massie, the lone wolf libertarian type Republican from Kentucky

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[crashcourse]

lot of positives on this board

must not be wearing masks and posting within 6 feet from their keyboards

tonya roberts and dawn wells--2021 already sucks

[lineygoblue]

Covid positives are nothing to laugh about, nimrod.

[AlabamAlum]

I think Covid positives should be laughed at.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I spoke of this earlier this morning. The pandemic is not over and won't be in 2021 either. It is a strong condemnation of the dismissive approach too many countries took towards the pandemic that are behind that ominous warning. It's a strong argument but I have problems with most of its premises:

(1) It argues that the type of government, i.e., democratic or communist, doesn't matter. To back that up it offers two democracies, Australia and New Zealand that have basically drive virus replication to zero. Bad example. It does matter. While they are democracies they are also island nations with easy to control entry, exit and inter and intra-city movement. Singapore is essentially an island. It did well. Japan is an Island dation. Korea, maybe ..... the rest are Communist (Vietnam for example) and draconian measures work in countries so governed.

(2) The article batters countries that are pursuing a strategy of "herd immunity." No country to my knowledge is actually doing that. There are components of it in strategies that keep economies and social activities only partially restrained. You accept that lock-downs are unsustainable and that there are going to be casualties pursuing a strategy that targets mitigation measures to at risk activities and cohorts.

(3) It has some of the same hand-wrining that has characterized pandemic reporting from the start. Giving O2 to the dire consequences meme is counter productive. If we were ever at a place where fuck-it wasn't at play, it is now. It's recoverable and that is what we should be emphasizing.

The points I do agree with:

Each new earthquake, tsunami, or emerging disease reminds us that nature is a dangerous force. If there was a reason why many Asian countries reacted more quickly and effectively to COVID-19, it was because they still harbored memories of SARS, H1N1, and the avian flu. Their experience in recent years shows that public-health measures that are ...... applied through strong leadership, governance, and social solidarity can quickly bring a pandemic under control and limit the death toll. That is the biggest lesson of 2020. If it is not incorporated into national policies in 2021, the pandemic may well last not just through the next year but for many more years to come.

This concluding statement is fundamentally accurate. In assessing the Trump administration's leadership, as I define that term, It was absent. It's not a problem and if there is one, it's not the federal government's responsibility to solve it ........ That pretty much defines Trump's approach and I find it disgusting that he sought pandemic response strategies that he wouldn't need to accept ownership of or responsibility for failures.

Looking forward to a Biden administration's approach, what we should see more of is federal accountability for a national plan that is executed top to bottom through the USPHS. The infrastructure, though seriously neglected is there. Build it out, staff it and fund it as war-time national strategy. Develop a strategy and deliver strong messaging involving social solidarity. Marginalize the Trump factor that has given rise to the ridiculous pandemic conspiracy theories, anti-masking and distrancing adherents. It's not hard. Americans turned to in WWII; they stopped smoking and started wearing seat belts and more after that. Public messaging was a factor. Peer pressure was too. Do it.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/th...wsviewer_click

[AlabamAlum]

Poster ratings for December 2020:

1. Mike. I don’t know a lot about this guy, but he’s funny. Well done, “Mike”.

2. hack. Excellent commentary on politics. Keep it up, sir.

3. Jeff Buchanan. He comes in, drops a Covid tome, and leaves. Nicely done.

4. froot. His white-hot hatred of Ryan Day is a constant. He’s the North Star of this forum.

5. WingsFan. He used an obscure word in a post. I forget what the word was now, but that’s still good enough for 5th place.

6. Liney. His admission that he can drink a Tervis full of mayonnaise in 7 seconds flat is impressive. Gross, but impressive.

7. CGVT. He was in the Coast Guard, and that’s almost like being in the military. Thank you for your cervix.

8. Cody. Cody is wrong in most of his opinions he shares here, but he puts them out for all to see. That’s bravery, folks.

9. Hannibal. He’s this forum’s Newt Gingrich and he’s sometimes an angry little elf, but you never have to guess what he’s thinking.

10. WM Wolverine. Level-headed, smart, good commentary. I often wonder if he’s in the wrong forum.

11. Tom W. Who doesn’t like the Dukes of Hazzard? Also, he’s funny and should really post more.


Dropped from rankings:

DSL. His refusal to get a fair treatment to the Braveheart documentary really dropped him. You can’t expect much from a graduate from the Ithaca campus of DeVry.

Talent. His sandbaggery is some shameful shit. Gone are the days when he would stumble in here full of slivovitz and scrapple and promote buggery and then rage against people who dare question Ohio State’s arduous 2-game schedule in a besotted rage. Sad.

Wizard. STFU.

[CGVT]

I demand a recount

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm looking for one more vote, just one you scallywag. You know there are serious criminal liabilities if you don't change this vote and make me the winner. You know I won.

[AlabamAlum]

I demand a recount

Sorry. I received 700 boxes of ballots all marked “Mike” delivered to me at 2am in a truck with the “Committee to Vote for Mike” spray painted over. Nothing suspicious there and the results have been certified.