Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Ghengis Jon]

Trumpsters want to form their own party in Michigan. Good for them! Help remove the stench of Trump from the GOP by signing the 'Patriot Party' petitions.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/26/michigan-man-wants-form-patriot-party-gop-alternative/6832209002/

https://apnews.com/article/michigan-gop-embraces-right-wing-d5e0b7626e0adaf07e6edf088e25e043

[Da Geezer]

In other news, Durham resigns from the Justice Dept. effective Sunday evening.

The $350 billion bailout for blue states, and the rest of the "covid relief package", passes the House 219-212. Virtually all of the bailout has its origin in the vast overpayment of public sector workers who have received pensions and health insurance far in excess of anything the private sector is able to offer.

Biden says he supports reparations. He is not a moderate.

AOC calls on Kamala Harris to overrule the Senate Parliamentarian's ruling that the $ 15.00 min wage cannot be done through reconciliation.

[lineygoblue]

Biden says he supports reparations. He is not a moderate.

I wish he was a real moderate, but he has not made one truly "moderate" move since his inauguration.

Well, unless you count the air strike into Syria. That made some of the Dem nutballs mad. Ilhan Omar wanted advance notice so she could warn the Iranians.

[Hannibal]

In a way, I am glad that he supports reparations. The anti-white agenda of the Democrats needs to be exposed.

[Dr. Strangelove]

In other news, Durham resigns from the Justice Dept. effective Sunday evening.

The $350 billion bailout for blue states, and the rest of the "covid relief package", passes the House 219-212. Virtually all of the bailout has its origin in the vast overpayment of public sector workers who have received pensions and health insurance far in excess of anything the private sector is able to offer.

Biden says he supports reparations. He is not a moderate.

AOC calls on Kamala Harris to overrule the Senate Parliamentarian's ruling that the $ 15.00 min wage cannot be done through reconciliation.

Durham resigned from his US Attorney position but he does still remain a Special Counsel overseeing the Russia investigation probe. Incidentally, if the Durham investigation continues until May, it will have lasted as long as the Mueller investigation did.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I find the FDA's vaccine approval process in the current situation weird - this even after it was supposed to be streamlined to meet the crisis. Since the completion of their trails over a month ago, the J&J vaccine received what seems like the 15th approval in a long list of news of, "it's approved." The one that occurred Saturday evening is apparently the final word and distribution from manufacturers will begin on Monday.

• It's a one shot vaccine with trials underway to determine if two shots of it are better. Trials are also underway for teens.
• It's a "cold virus analog" carrying the SARS-2 spike protein that stimulates a protective immune system response.
• This, unlike the mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, is a prototypical vaccine similar to AZ's and both the Russian and Chinese versions.
• The biggest advantage is that it can be stored in a fridge for up to 60d.
• Side effects are comparable to the Pfizer and Moderna shots - arm soreness, flu like symptoms.
• It's considered 85% effective in preventing serious disease and death v. all 6 of the troublesome variants that I posted about yesterday.
• It's 66% effective when moderate disease is included - the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines never included moderate disease in their trials.
• Comparing the effectiveness of the 3 isn't possible due to trial designs.
• Don't refuse one to wait for another you think is better. Take whatever is available as soon as it becomes available to you.
• 20M doses immediately available for distribution, 100M "by summer."

If I've got this right, the US will have enough vaccines distributed by the end of May to have inoculated everyone over 18 who accepts it.
When herd immunity is reached depends on the rate of vaccine acceptance. Obviously, the more idiots that refuse the vaccine for non-medical reasons, the later herd immunity will be reached. Anywhere close to 60% gets us there by the end of April.

But still we have this pessimistic messaging that I derided in a post up thread:

“This is exciting news for all Americans, and an encouraging development in our efforts to bring an end to the crisis,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “But I want to be clear: this fight is far from over,” he added, encouraging people to stick with masks and other public health measures.

Look, I'm not a virologist, an epidemiologist or an expert on this but everything I read, you know, the scientific facts, tells me that providing pessimistic messaging like this is counterproductive and encourages and continues the wholly unnecessary fear factor that is keeping people tethered to their homes and avoiding social contact.

FACT:

• You can't get COVID from touching a surface yet we persist with this silly sanitizing of surfaces in public venues.
• The risk of getting COVID outside, even in congregate settings, is lower than being involved in a serious car crash with injuries.
• Do we stop driving? Nope.
• Are there places where COVID mitigation measures include no public gatherings of more than X number of people and masking outdoors? Yes, a lot of places.This is stupid.
• In a gathering of vaccinated people, no one needs to mask or distance yet, in FL, because of the kind of messaging coming from Biden, fully vaccinated retirees living in community settings, won't play cards, dance or gather.
• In their "golden years" they are sacrificing what is most important for their mental health, face-to-face socialization. Ridiculous.

I'm more reluctant to discard masking and distancing for the unvaccinated under 65 crowd when out and about although I can make a case for that based on risk/benefit analysis. It's not because I think increased disease burden in the US will occur in this population. It won't. I do think the potential for increasing new cases and positivity counts is real. Of course, they'll mostly be asymptomatic or have a cold. But, if this population pursues testing and because of it case numbers rise, the problem is that public perceptions and how PH officials view this will harden. The MSM will augment the fear factor by reporting the rising case numbers as a new wave of the virus - the fifth! An increase in case numbers/positivity (sero-prevalence) will prompt a refusal to ease mitigation, mobility and restrictions to congregate settings measures. Pear-clutchers will stay home, won't shop, won't eat out, won't socialize. Stoking the fear factor will increase pressure from the public to keep unnecessary mitigation measures in place and everyone will nod their heads in agreement. So, for you youngsters, if you want to get back to normal ASAP, play along for a while longer.

[Ghengis Jon]

....But still we have this pessimistic messaging that I derided in a post up thread:

“This is exciting news for all Americans, and an encouraging development in our efforts to bring an end to the crisis,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “But I want to be clear: this fight is far from over,” he added, encouraging people to stick with masks and other public health measures.

.....Pear-clutchers will stay home, won't shop, won't eat out, won't socialize. Stoking the fear factor will increase pressure from the public to keep unnecessary mitigation measures in place and everyone will nod their heads in agreement....

You ignore one fact - half the nation are fucking idiots. If the person in the WH says anything other than 'hold the course' it will be (mis)interperted as 'All's clear!!!'. You have to look no further than the drooling idiot followers of the previous President to see that people are quite willing to ignore any truth/reality in order to fit their political identity. Any President today (Biden or the recently deposed Anti-Christ) would be /is in a no win situation. Say its getting better and all precautions will be tossed to the wind. Say its not getting better and the fruitcakes claiming concentration camp restrictions are being imposed come out of the woodwork. The only option is to state 'stay the course' - for now.

The media won't help. Their objective is to gather eyeballs, regardless of political bend. Opponents (and proponents) of the WH occupant will deliberately misstate the words/intentions, feeding whatever echo chamber they are addressing. This certainly isn't new.

Disseminating truthful statements without colorization would be helpful, but that will only work when people abandon their prejudices. Take the term Main Stream Media. If you tally the viewers/listeners of conservative media (Fox, OAN, NewsMax, Bloomberg, 99% of talk radio, etc) and the viewers/listeners of liberal media (CNN, major networks, etc) they are about even. "Main Stream" implies the majority. If the MSM are those bad commie leftists trying to destroy America, then it must also mean that the minority media are the bad cultural elite Nazi righties trying to destroy America. This is what happens when the population gives up examining pros/cons, and looks for truth not Truth.

[CGVT]

I'm far less concerned about the "pearl clutchers" who stay home than I am the Trump following, conspiracy believing morons that won't follow simple mitigation measures.

[iam416]

I'm more reluctant to discard masking and distancing for the unvaccinated under 65 crowd when out and about although I can make a case for that based on risk/benefit analysis. It's not because I think increased disease burden in the US will occur in this population. It won't. I do think the potential for increasing new cases and positivity counts is real. Of course, they'll mostly be asymptomatic or have a cold. But, if this population pursues testing and because of it case numbers rise, the problem is that public perceptions and how PH officials view this will harden. The MSM will augment the fear factor by reporting the rising case numbers as a new wave of the virus - the fifth! An increase in case numbers/positivity (sero-prevalence) will prompt a refusal to ease mitigation, mobility and restrictions to congregate settings measures. Pear-clutchers will stay home, won't shop, won't eat out, won't socialize. Stoking the fear factor will increase pressure from the public to keep unnecessary mitigation measures in place and everyone will nod their heads in agreement. So, for you youngsters, if you want to get back to normal ASAP, play along for a while longer.

This is pretty hard to argue with. The Media will continue to push their Fear propaganda and the uninformed will lap it up. The Ds will continue it as well -- blazenly disregarding #TrustScience -- to futher their power grab. They see Covid as a one-size-fits-all excuse to pass any and all of their agenda. And they won't let that go to waste and The Media continues to work for them. I'll also note that the delay in the J&J approval is bad. And, of course, if PDJT had delayed it so long their would have been howls. Of course, if it was expedited there would have been howls.

In any event, we are trucking toward a reality where the pearl-clutchers are going to be vaccinated and that means they don't have to worry about the folks who don't clutch pearls like they do and live their lives like they have about a 1 in 10,000 chance of dying from Covid. But, that's not enough for the pearl-cluthers.

[iam416]

This is what happens when the population gives up examining pros/cons, and looks for truth not Truth.

Indeed. The farcical search for Russian "collusion" is Exhibit A. I can't imagine how blindingly partisan and silly you'd have to be to examine the pros/cons of that utter fantasy and conclude -- "yeah, we need a 2-year investigation into THAT."

[lineygoblue]

I just got back from a trip to my local Wal Mart, where I used "mitigation procedures" while shopping. I made sure I bought a box of Kleenex to keep by my computer to wipe up the drool.

[Jeff Buchanan]

You ignore one fact - half the nation are fucking idiots.

I don't agree with this especially as it applies to the argument I'm offering to stop the negative, pessimistic COVID messaging from leaders and public health officials. I can haul out reams of research that shows, generally, people are convincible when it comes to public health. If this were not the case health authorities would have never taken on a seatbelt campaign, an anti-smoking campaign, a don't drink and drive campaign, these highly successful programs among many other public health initiatives.

I'm far less concerned about the "pearl clutchers" who stay home than I am the Trump following, conspiracy believing morons that won't follow simple mitigation measures.

What are the actual numbers of people who are these so called "conspiracy believing morons who won't follow simple mitigation measures"? I couldn't find a solid study that looked just at the question, "is the pandemic a hoax?" or ...... I'm not wearing a mask (or following any mitigation measures) because the pandemic is a hoax. There are many studies involving the question, how many people believe in the conspiracy theories being advanced by QAnon? None of those conspiracy theories involve the pandemic - the pandemic is a hoax thing didn't come from QAnon.

It was not at all surprising to me that 53% of Trump supporting Rs believe in the shit QAnon is advancing. So, it looks like you are right about the number of "morons" out there. The problem is that doesn't translate to a large number of this group not willing to mask or distance. The majority are willing but how this is measured is dependent on, again, not surprisingly, demographics, race and ethnicity. If you want to see the numbers, they're here:

https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/storie...ong-us-adults/

The study concludes that .....

Though a large majority of Americans believe wearing a mask is an effective way to protect themselves from COVID-19, many still don’t wear them — including three in 10 Angelenos — even while engaging in higher risk activities, according to new findings from the USC Dornsife Understanding Coronavirus in America Study.

So, in general, you are correct that a lot of people aren't wearing masks but it does not follow that they aren't wearing them because they are Trump supporters who think the pandemic is a hoax. In fact,

• White people were the least likely to consistently wear a mask (46%) while in close contact with people from other households, compared to Black people (67%), Latinos (63%) and people of other races (65%).
• The vast majority of Americans wore masks while grocery shopping, which was the most common activity reported. Of the 81% who shopped for groceries in early December, 90% wore a mask.

My point is that it is entirely incorrect to say that "half the nation are fucking idiots" or "conspiracy believing morons" and can't be convinced to act responsibly if given the virus facts and offered reasonable guidance on how to keep from getting infected by SARS-2 and transmitting it to others. I think they can be convinced. I strongly believe that.

[Da Geezer]

It was not at all surprising to me that 53% of Trump supporting Rs believe in the shit QAnon is advancing.

https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/storie...ong-us-adults/



I read the whole article, Jeff, and I found nowhere in it anything even hinting at 53% of Trump-supporting Rs believing Qanon. I can see Rs believing a single thing Qanon is advancing such as the election being stolen, but no way the average R buys into Qanon. Ask Hanibal. I'd put it at around 1%. No one believes the business about the world being governed by a bunch of pedophiles.

[Jeff Buchanan]

It was not at all surprising to me that 53% of Trump supporting Rs believe in the shit QAnon is advancing.

https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/storie...ong-us-adults/



I read the whole article, Jeff, and I found nowhere in it anything even hinting at 53% of Trump-supporting Rs believing Qanon. I can see Rs believing a single thing Qanon is advancing such as the election being stolen, but no way the average R buys into Qanon. Ask Hanibal. I'd put it at around 1%. No one believes the business about the world being governed by a bunch of pedophiles.

Sorry about that Geezer. I had been looking at multiple articles for the post I made and you observed correctly, the one I did post a link to does not say "anything even hinting that 53% of Trump supporting R's believing QAnon." I failed to post the link I got that data point from.

I went back and again found a shit-ton of polls that suggested "more than half" of Trump supporting R's believing QAnon's conspiracy theories are either wholly or partly true. I was too lazy to go back and find the 53% one out of the dozens that say a lot of Rs think QAnon speaks the truth. Here's a quote from a Forbes article that quotes a Daily Kos poll as claiming:

Some 56% of Republicans believe that QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory, is mostly or partly true, according to a new Daily Kos/Civiqs poll released Wednesday, a remarkably high number considering many of the outlandish assertions espoused by QAnon supporters.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybe...h=4bd3dc895231

[Whitley]

I think your reason for saying "you are not going to get this (boldness and leadership) from President Biden" because he is a moderate ..... and wanting to build consensus with Republicans is specious.
.

At this point in his administration--- President Obama had already got the economic relief package through Congress and signed it. FDR had a ton of his programs up and operating already. Outside of EOs (which is basically undoing Trump's EOs), there has been very little else. But we do know the following----

1) Biden administration is not willing to fight for $15/hr. In an interview before the Super Bowl, he said that he didn't think that it would make it into the package. Effectively killing that part. Furthermore, the WH has indicated that they are not going to ignore the Senate Parlamentarian on her ruling that you can't put that into the covid 19 relief package. It should be noted that the SP is is an advisory position and that VP Harris could very well ignore it. Of course, this will not happen because establishment Dems are all about the norms. And that they really did not want to raise the minimum wage in the first place.

2) Biden has never demonstrated boldness throughout his career. I would not expect it now when the man is in his seventies. His campaign was not run on boldness. His campaign was a return to normalcy that Trump was the cause of the problems in politics (he wasn't he was a result of those problems). His administration has been very quiet on the Amazon worker union vote. This doesn't surprise me, because Jeff Bezos/Amazon exerts a big influence on politics and I am sure Biden doesn't want to step on the wrong side of them.

3) Biden, I believe, is a good and decent man. I think his administration will be a lot more competent than the last one. But I am not sure that is going to be enough. This is a time for bold (which Trump was) and competent leadership (which he was not). I have every confidence that Dems are capable of grasping defeat from the jaws of victory. Biden administration will likely be the reverse of the Trump one.