Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[THE_WIZARD_]

Well we know who you are pulling for cupcake...

[lineygoblue]

Today is one similar to the gay wedding/baker case but this time involving a website designer (I think?)

It is similar. Apparently, its a 'thing' nowadays to design a web page for weddings. LGBTQ wants to force Christian web designers who oppose gay marriage, to design web pages for gay weddings/couples. And they're playing the race card saying that if you allow them to refuse gays, then they can refuse blacks, asians, spotted kittens, etc.

I'd expect this Court to make a similar ruling as they did in the Colorado baker thing.

And Justice Ketanji Jackson still won't know what a woman is.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Breaking: large explosions reported at two military airfields outside Moscow. Both are home to the Tupolev long range bombers, the ones lobbing cruise missiles into Ukraine.

This is a big deal. Reaching out to make Muscovites and the Russian airforce know they are not safe from reprisals in Putin's war against Ukraine. No comment from Ukrain other than a crypticTwitter post from Ukrain's Kubela stating that those who cowardly lunch missiles into Ukrian should expect visits from UFOs.

[DaGeezer]

Not sure about the rest of the state, but the Repubs really got the vote out in my area. Every time I drove by the polling place there was a long line that looked like people waiting to get into a Trump rally.I'm

I'm amazed you can tell a Republican by sight or did you get a chance to smell them too?

[THE_WIZARD_]

They can spot a deplorable from a mile away. They are the ones that have jobs.

[DaGeezer]

Two Big Supreme Court cases being heard this week

Today is one similar to the gay wedding/baker case but this time involving a website designer (I think?)

Moore v Harper on Wednesday

Yes.

I listened to most of the arguments this morning in the website case. Ketenji Brown Jackson is the worst kind of Prog. She is profoundly stupid, but she thinks she is brilliant. She dominates the oral argument with questions that are all race centered. Clearly, she received a lot of participation trophies as a youth.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Yes...because wanting to be true to your religious beliefs at your own PRIVATE COMPANY is akin to being a racist. JFC she is dumber than CGVT.

[crashcourse]

does this government tell the truth about anything?


Scientist who worked at Wuhan lab says COVID man-made virus (nypost.com)

not that anybody is surprised but im sure going back to 2020 when trump argued the same point--the usual gang here was convinced it came from bats

but we will never do anything about it because we helped with the research didn't we anthony?

[lineygoblue]

She dominates the oral argument with questions that are all race centered. Clearly, she received a lot of participation trophies as a youth.

Thats what we get when Al Sharpton is allowed to pick a justice.

[Jeff Buchanan]

The NYTs, that publishes a decent picture of COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths - and these days without the hand wringing editorialization - is showing that new COVID cases are on the rise but, no surprise, death rates are down - SUBSTANTIALLY among the over 65s.You have to look for this, though, it's there, but exasperatingly, without editorial comment, that most assuredly would say, "no big deal." You know the NYts is woke so, that's why. If you cone down and look at serious illness (hospitalization) by age group, under 50s are fine, under 40s, hardly affected by COVID at all.

There is a rise in hospitalizations for flu (mostly in the over 65 cohort), but no more than usual this time of year. I got in the habit of just assigning the nightly COVID report from the NYTs to the trash bin. For the past couple of days, recognizing that cae numbers (obvious limitations to that count) are rising, I decided to look.

Fine.

If you're over 65 and have comorbid conditions, vaccinated or not, you're at risk for more serious COVID infection (the higher vaccination rates among this cohort the less the risk - you knew this). For the rest of you under 65s, carry on. Strongly resist mandates for mitigation protocols - they aren't needed for the majority. Chose wisely how you are going to behave. If you're in your 70s you may not want to go to a big concert or smaller spin class .... unless you have either had a couple recent bourts of COVID or have had the original vaccination series (Pfizer or Moderna) and subsequent booster.

That is all on that subject.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Ukraine has still not acknowledged it had anything to do with the attack's on the two Russian bomber bases. Only the Kremlin has asserted Ukraine sent two unmanned drones, allegedly both shot down, with the debris causing the explosions. Right. There's a video posted of a huge explosion at one of the air bases posted by an apartment dweller that taped it. Not debris but rather a direct hit with something in the order of a 500 to 1000 lb pound warhead.

The Kremlin also asserted that special forces had illegally entered Russian territory and aided in the terminal guidance of the two drones - kind of a stupid contradiction of, oh, we shot them down. Following the attack, it was reported that more than a dozen bombers launched from the airbases targeted and sent a barrage of cruise missiles into Ukraine as retaliation. I doubt it as they don't have any left. More likely the launches are a pre-planned contingency plan to evacuate a base in the event of an attack (get as many aircraft as possible into the air). I can tell you, these kinds of plans are always in the inventory of plans ..... but rarely practiced and almost certainly ignored by Russian base and squadron commanders that have better things to do.

[AlabamAlum]

Morocco wins on PKs. Did not see that result. The Spanish goalie stb.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Farthest Morocco has ever advanced from what I read

[Jeff Buchanan]

Ukrainian Air Forces struck another Russian airbase inside Russia but closer to Ukraine's border today. A fuel storage depot was hit. A video of a huge fireball that several hours later was still blazing was posted on line.

Neither side is talking much. No reliable damage assessments have surfaced. Various Ukrainians in government positions have been taunting the Russians on social media platforms. Russian pro-war milbloggers have been highly critical of the MOD for allowing the attacks on Russian strategic bomber bases whose aircraft are nuclear capable. In that sense, the drone attacks are symbolic of Russia's weakness in defending itself and by extension, Putin's own weakness.

Russia launched more cruise missiles, 70 to be exact in the last 24h. The latest wave was anticipated prior to the drone strikes inside Russia. Ukraine claimed to shoot down 60 of them but admits critical power stations were hit causing more power outages to hundreds of thousands Ukrainians. Analyst argue that while the Russian attacks on power infrastructure are creating significant difficulties for Ukrainian civilians, it is not affecting military operations nor will it help Putin to obtain any of his objectives. These remain focused on gaining military and administrative control of all Ukrainian territory and forcing the surrender of the Zelenski government. It's pretty clear, that isn't going to happen.

Analysts think that Putin is being shielded from this reality by the yes-men surrounding him which is why his spokes-people continue to come up with all these far-fetched conditions before any peace talks can start, i.e., recognize Russia's annexation of the 4 Ukrainian Oblasts that were announced in July. Never mind, Russia controls none of these. Crazy, in that his military may be feeding him a bunch of lies about what's going down on the ground in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, forces that could influence Putin to find an off-ramp, such as damage to the Russian economy from sanctions and rising discontent of Russian citizens are present but not as effective nor producing results as quickly as the west would like. An article today suggests things are going to get worse for Russia's economy and for Putin's hold on power. The factors forging that outcome are the brain drain of skilled workers who fled the country and the pull-out of just about all western companies.

It's estimated that 6 million Russians were employed by various western companies that had established operations in Russia. Auto and aircraft manufacturing being the biggest contributors to employment. Putin has boasted that Russian entrepreneurs will take over the vacated plants but that is fanciful. Given the brain drain and the level of business operation sophistication in Russia to begin with, those two factors combined are going to render that goal a failure.

All of this is going to ultimately lead to large decreases in GDP going forward and eroding standards of living for Russians who had gotten used to Putin's efforts to westernize the Russian economy. He did have some success with this which makes it all the more mystifying why he undertook this war to begin with and continues it under the circumstances. Once it became obvious with the loss of military and administrative control of Kharkiv and Kherson Oblasts in late summer/early fall that he wasn't going to achieve his goals of a military victory and the subjugation of Ukraine, assuming he actually understands the scope of his failure, that Putin didn't try to find some way to gracefully bow out of the mess he created for Russia is astounding.

[THE_WIZARD_]

In honor of the GA runoff election today...