November 22, 2020

At the Soft Morning Café...

IMG_1340 

... you can write until late afternoon.

155 comments:

Attonasi said...

I have a long car ride today. I will probably be able to make it through the whole podcast even though I have not found a way to speed it up.

It will take a higher dose of caffeine than usual though.

Night Owl said...

Joe Biden is proof that if a man stays true to himself he will go far in life. After all, it's fitting, almost poetic, that a serial plagiarist and liar like Biden would be selected for the highest office in the land in an election rife with cheating, fraud and deception.

This is another historic first for the Dems. If - I mean- when he gets inaugurated, Biden will go down in history as the first president to earn a well deserved asterisk by his name. What a legacy for him and the party. Congratulations to the Dems for choosing the right man for this historic election.

Readering said...

Dream on.

Howard said...

I like the way the fractal tree branches are grasping at the sun.

Humperdink said...

I go to church in NY state. After church this morning, I spoke with one of our elders. When I say elder, I mean elder with both definitions. Early in the Covid game, he strongly urged the church to follow all the governmental edicts, which we did. Closed the church completely, then limiting people (still occurring). He didn't want to see our church on the front page for breaking the "law".

Today he admitted he was wrong. He stated the governmental officials had abused their power repeatedly. Not only abused their power, but abused the citizenry.

Progress, one step at a time.

Wa St Blogger said...

Are the leftist even remotely embarrassed by our election system?

1. Dead voters
2. Voters voting multiple times
3. People who did not vote being shown as voting
4. People voting having their vote lost
5. Election laws not followed
6. Election laws not being applied evenly

It is interesting that their refrain is "no massive fraud". Not one word about making it auditable and accurate and without a hint of question. They have only one goal with elections: making sure the democrat won. Everything that leads to that is a feature, not a bug.

All I see from them is excuses and downplaying. No interest at all in election integrity.

You would think that making sure their candidate has no hint of doubt about their win would be a beneficial thing. Instead they would rather live with a tainted win than to risk that they might actually have lost. A very telling position, suggesting that they are of the 30% who thinks it was stolen and rooting that the courts will not let it get proven.

Jake said...

The statement goes on to say: "Guns have no place in shopping malls or other places in which crowds of people gather. Mayfair has a strict no-gun policy. If the shooter had complied with that policy, no one would have been hurt (Friday)."

If the mayor of Wauwatosa was any more brain dead they would turn off his respirator. My. God.

West Texas Intermediate Crude said...

When Trump was accused of having inappropriate discussions with a foreign head of state (Ukraine, IIRC), he released the transcript of the call for all the world to read.
When Biden's people saw that he was losing despite months of propaganda and crooked polling, they stopped counting ballots until they could manufacture some more.
Democracy dies after midnight, when the poll watchers are sent home so that more perfectly marked, uncreased ballots can be "discovered."

Humperdink said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Humperdink said...

Wa St Blogger: "Are the leftist even remotely embarrassed by our election system?"

Here is your answer: When Harry Reid (D-Confessed Liar) was confronted about his false claim that Mitt Romney (R-Gracious Loser) did not pay taxes for ten years, Reid responded: "He didn't win, did he?"

It's a virtual impossibility to embarrass a lefty.

gadfly said...

@Night Owl said...
Joe Biden is proof that if a man stays true to himself he will go far in life. After all, it's fitting, almost poetic, that a serial plagiarist and liar like Biden would be selected for the highest office in the land in an election rife with cheating, fraud and deception.


Joe Biden's single incident of plagiarism, as cited by Google, occurred during the 1988 primary election campaign. So "serial plagiarist" doesn't apply. As for "cheating, fraud and deception" you cited no incidents but for every one you can name, I can find twice as many happenings applicable to the "King of Liars," Donald Trump. A flavor for Trump's illegalities is available on Wiki.

mccullough said...

Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

A communist scum killed an anti-communist president.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Whatever you think about mask wearing... set that aside. The bigger issue is government control over our lives.

These people fought back.

RESIST THE CORRUPT LEFT.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Gadfly - Good luck with your blind faith in Joe Biden. We all know he's a crook. We know he, his brother Jim and his son Hunter used Joe's position as VP to line their pockets.

Quayle said...

" [a] special respect for individual liberty in the home has long been part of our culture and our law" and "has special resonance when the government seeks to constrain a person's ability to speak there". City of Ladue v. Gilleo, 512 U.S. 43, 58, 114 S. Ct. 2038, 129 L. Ed. 2d 36 (1994)

Laymen’s translation: the government cannot tell you to limit your thanksgiving guests to only those relatives who agree with your politics. All your lousy and ignorant relatives can be legally hosted and yelled at.

Achilles said...

BidenFamilyTaxPayerFundedCrackPipe said...

Whatever you think about mask wearing... set that aside. The bigger issue is government control over our lives.

These people fought back.


Have you met Howard?

I am just letting you all know I am one of the nice ones.

Relatively speaking.

tim in vermont said...

Even though it’s obvious to anybody who reads the study start to finish and thinks about it for a minute or two that the Danish Mask Study should never have been published and instead of saying “If any journal is brave enough” the author should have said, “We never got enough cases to make any conclusion, unfortunately.” Obviously the guy was anti mask before he even did the study. I think it was wrong for Facebook to try to ban discussion of it.

Honestly though, it was like a review of hi-def TVs and the reviewer says “There’s no difference between them and the old TVs, but one limitation to this review is that I am legally blind."

Lawrence Person said...

How Soros-backed leftwing DAs refuse to enforce the law.

gadfly said...

@West Texas Intermediate Crude said...
When Trump was accused of having inappropriate discussions with a foreign head of state (Ukraine, IIRC), he released the transcript of the call for all the world to read.


Trump didn't release the taped conversation that was immediately transferred to an ultra-secure computer where it remains. Lt Col Alexander Vindman, who listened in on the conversation, disagrees that the Trump release was complete. However, the released "transcript" does show that The Donald repeatedly pushed the Ukrainian leader to reopen the investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son - which is illegal under the constitution, so Trump was impeached.

Michael K said...

Joe Biden's single incident of plagiarism, as cited by Google, occurred during the 1988 primary election campaign. So "serial plagiarist" doesn't apply.

gadfly you idiot. He was plagiarizing in law school !

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

Love that photo.

Night Owl said...

Joe Biden's single incident of plagiarism, as cited by Google, occurred during the 1988 primary election campaign. So "serial plagiarist" doesn't apply.

I do apologize. Let me correct myself:

After all, it's fitting, almost poetic, that a plagiarist and serial liar like Biden would be selected for the highest office in the land in an election rife with cheating, fraud and deception.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Gadfly has an excuse for all of Biden's crimes, plagiarism, lies and general corruption.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

but but but... Trump mocked someone once... he called John McCain a bad name.... and the birther stuff. OMG!

Much worse that actually using your position as VP (Biden)(or in Hillary's case Sec of State) to enrich your family in secret using corrupt insider channels that in some cases amounted to the money laundering of US tax dollars for democrat pol personal income.

Jersey Fled said...

Lt Col Alexander Vindman, who listened in on the conversation, disagrees that the Trump release was complete

And the other 11 people who were in on the call disagreed with Vindman.

mccullough said...

Biden got caught for plagiarizing in law school, as well.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

@ Gadfly

However, the released "transcript" does show that The Donald repeatedly pushed the Ukrainian leader to reopen the investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son - which is illegal under the constitution, so Trump was impeached.


Do show us where in the US constitution it states the illegality of "pushing" a Ukrainian leader to re-open an investigation into an obviously corrupt US offical?

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The impeachment of Trump over Biden's real crimes shows us all that that plan to install Biden was the fix from the beginning.

Biden didn't really win the nomination. (yes - he was probably going to - but still - it was never offical) Recall all the states that cancelled their primary vote due to covid. Just a happy coincidence.

Readering said...

Folks warming up for 4 years of sniping at incoming POTUS. Must be flattering to know so many people are reading up on you assiduously 4 years after everyone, me included, assumed you were out to pasture.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Should we stop asking why it's OK for the democrat party to rally around an old crook, and install him?

Or are we to go back to sleep and obey?

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Gadfly said... Lt Col Alexander Vindman, who listened in on the conversation...

I do not think that is accurate. I believe Vindman only "heard about the conversation."
How and why would Vindman be allowed access to a conversation between a sitting president and_____________ whoever?

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Readering said...

Is being POTUS boring? Me, if I owned a bunch of golf course I could use when I liked, and had a tenancy in the Oval Office ending in under 2 months, after which I would be off the clock, I would defer golf and spend more time in that cool office.

Readering said...

Maybe he's training for one of his club championships. WINNING!

Drago said...

LLR-lefty Chuck Mini-Me gadfly: "Joe Biden's single incident of plagiarism...."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Seriously, that offering is worthy of LLR-lefty Chuck's repeated defenses of Da Nang Dick's Stolen Valor lies told over many years multiple times in multiple venues which LLR-lefty Chuck lied about by saying it only occurred once.

gadfly is certainly quite the attentive student at the feet of his sensei LLR-lefty Chuck.

Howard said...

Re-litgating impeachment instead of voter fraud? It's the heavy burden of the permanently aggrieved. How very Middle Eastern.

I'm Not Sure said...

"You would think that making sure their candidate has no hint of doubt about their win would be a beneficial thing."

It would be helpful, especially when their candidate is a grifting sexual predator.

John henry said...

Gadfly,

Not a "single incidence of plagiarism"

He also plagiarized his campaign slogan "build back better"

John Henry

John henry said...

Attonasi,

Download it using the "podcast addict" app

Great app for a number of reasons. Including the ability to speed up any podcast. I just checked and they do have the althouse podcast.

John Henry

Yancey Ward said...

“We never got enough cases to make any conclusion, unfortunately.”

Oh, pray tell, Tim, how many cases would have been enough? Remember, these people were given the proper masks and trained how to use them, unlike 99.9% of the general population.

Let me just take a guess at your real answer- "Enough to prove masks work."

Yancey Ward said...

If they had just studied normal people with their wide variety of different masks and techniques, isn't it pretty fucking obvious at this point that they would have discovered that masks don't work- in the study they did do, they basically did everything necessary to sure they had the very best procedures for mask use? Seriously, that is what all the data suggests- that masks don't have a measurable effect- you see it pretty much everywhere. The only NPI (non-pharmaceutical intervention) that clearly works is complete social isolation- see Wuhan City, for the prime example, but then you need to be willing to ship people to internment camps or weld them in their homes under threat of death to make it work; and you have to actually have the outbreak isolated to a single city.

Mr. Forward said...

I have observed the faster I drive the quicker the music. 85 miles per hour is equivalent to 1.5 normal speed for most podcasts.

Yancey Ward said...

Years from now, it will likely be shown that the major mode of transmission of COVID is through surface contact and unclean hands- something that observant people notice about mask wearers- they are constantly adjusting them with their hands.

Yancey Ward said...

Take a look at this tweet, and explain why Twitter felt it needed to hide this video? What, precisely, was so sensitive about this video that it had to be hidden? There is no violence, no sexual content, no audio dialogue of any kind- just a video of people honking horns and actually peacefully protesting something.

stevew said...

I don't know what the percentage is but from what I am able to observe in public, including in stores, restaurants, and so forth, ALL mask wearers are doing it wrong. The masks are the wrong material. The masks fit poorly. The mask is not positioned to cover both the mouth and nose. The wearer is regularly touching and fidgeting with the mask. The masks appear to have been used over and over without cleaning in between.

Those are just anecdotes. The available science is simply corroborating, and devastating to the case for the mask.

rehajm said...

Most Presidents take grief for golf in office. Biden's frailty an asset in this instance.

exhelodrvr1 said...

The longer Trump drags this out, the more the fraud/potential for fraud will be brought into the light, and the more likely that corrective actions will be taken. So keep dragging it out!!

wild chicken said...

I read that JFK would not allow photos of himself golfing because he'd look like a duffer, like Ike.

And he loved golf.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Ike was an excellent athlete prior to injuring a knee at West Point

mccullough said...

There are a slew of photos of JFK golfing.

There’s also a home video of his swing.
JFK was a good golfer and had a nice swing.

tim in vermont said...

Yancey, is this an accurate quote of the author of the study or not?

The most important limitation is that the findings are inconclusive, with CIs compatible with a 46% decrease to a 23% increase in infection.

The study is accurate to +/- 30 points.

The study was only powered to detect an effect of 50% reduction, which would have been amazing given that of the members of the households of the people studied, only the mask wearers wore masks, and they did not wear them inside with other people who did not wear masks outside, and 95% of the people outside were not wearing masks, so that last bit means that this study sheds zero light on mask mandates, which the author of the study also confirms: It is important to emphasize that this trial did not address the effects of masks as source control

You just want to believe it really bad Yancey.

tim in vermont said...

Why is statistical significance golden to throw out the mask effect in the the numbers where fewer mask wearers caught COVID and half as many ended up seeing a doctor for it (Medically diagnosed with COVID) as mere quirks, but then we throw out tests of statistical validity when looking at the whole study?

If you want to say that the numbers are fine regardless of the low number of cases, then the centerline of the effect that he measured winds up being that the masks reduced infection by a little more than 10%, even under these extremely limited conditions. The centerline of his uncertainty range.

53 of the no mask group caught COVID vs 42 of the mask wearers. Are you sure you want to throw out statical tests?

Birkel said...

tim in vermont is yet to provide a single scientific article showing masks decrease viral infection enough to offset the known bacterial infections that masks encourage.

No trade-offs exist in either vermont or florida.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Yancey Ward said...
Seriously, that is what all the data suggests- that masks don't have a measurable effect- you see it pretty much everywhere.

Meta-analysis of observational studies provided evidence of a protective effect of masks (OR = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.03–0.62) and respirators (OR = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.06–0.26) against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). This systematic review and meta-analysis supports the use of respiratory protection.

Effectiveness of Masks and Respirators Against Respiratory Infections in Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Published in 2017.

Humperdink said...

Governor Ozzie Newsom (D-French Laundry) declared a 10 PM curfew, commencing last night. Also at 10 PM last night, the citizens of Huntingdon Beach hit the streets in protest.

https://noqreport.com/2020/11/22/on-first-night-of-california-curfew-huntington-beach-patriots-hit-the-streets/

Ignorance is Bliss said...

And for those who bring up the marines study, try reading it. It does not compare mask use to non-mask use. All the recruits were required to follow the same covid precautions, including mask wearing. There was no control group.

tim in vermont said...

"The available science is simply corroborating, and devastating to the case for the mask.”

You can puff up your chest like Yancey and use words like “devastating” but observational studies of mask mandates that have been performed against real populations with all of the weaknesses in mask wearing protocols that you describe still find that mask mandates reduce infection.

State policies mandating public or community use of face masks or covers in mitigating the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are hotly contested. This study provides evidence from a natural experiment on the effects of state government mandates for face mask use in public issued by fifteen states plus Washington, D.C., between April 8 and May 15, 2020. The research design is an event study examining changes in the daily county-level COVID-19 growth rates between March 31 and May 22, 2020. Mandating face mask use in public is associated with a decline in the daily COVID-19 growth rate by 0.9, 1.1, 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0 percentage points in 1–5, 6–10, 11–15, 16–20, and 21 or more days after state face mask orders were signed, respectively.

https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00818

I look forward to your reasoned critique of this study after you have read and digested it.

n.n said...

Postoperative wound infections and surgical face masks: a controlled study

The best case scenario for the effectiveness of a particularly well constructed mask in a controlled environment with trained personnel over a short time frame.

Directed droplets evaporate and the sub-micron material in the filter is either ingested or dispersed. Also, masks are effectively a breeding ground (petri dishes) for bacteria, and a source of cross-contamination through contact spread.

Birkel said...

tim in vermont,
And yet nothing on the trade-offs.

You support the power grabs by local officials, whether you intend to do so or not.
You support the suppression of freedom of religion.
Freedom of assembly.
Freedom of association.
Freedom of speech.

Trade-offs.

tim in vermont said...

"Governor Ozzie Newsom (D-French Laundry) declared a 10 PM curfew, commencing last night. Also at 10 “

The biggest problem with mask mandates is that they are abused by tyrants like Newsom. The best reason for mask mandates is that they are a cheap alternative to lockdowns, which are basically situations where rich people pay poor people to go out in the world and bring them stuff at their homes.

Here is an interesting thread where COVID infection rates are compared for neighborhoods where mostly service industry workers live v white collar neighborhoods.

https://twitter.com/ClimateAudit/status/1329522001074065408

Gospace said...

One other thing about Vindman- what f——-g idiot put him on a desk handling Ukrainian issues? He’s a native Ukrainian language speaker, and that disqualifies him from any intelligence work with Ukraine. Basic intelligence procedures 101.

The United States has lots of native Spanish speakers. The Army sent my son and daughter-in-law to Defense Language School to learn Spanish. Because English translations of intercepted Spanish communications cannot be trusted. There is an unconscious bias to translate the words the most favorable way possible. Training doesn’t overcome it.

tim in vermont said...

n.n. You know that viruses don’t reproduce in a petri dish, right?

But if you want to talk about hospital studies, here is one done in a Boston hospital where everybody from trained medical personal, to visitors, to patients, to administrative and janitorial staff to the parking validators, were asked to wear masks.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/15/metro/boston-hospital-worker-study-masks-work-fight-against-coronavirus/

This is specific to COVID, BTW.

Sprezzatura said...

“The longer Trump drags this out, the more the fraud/potential for fraud will be brought into the light, and the more likely that corrective actions will be taken. So keep dragging it out!!”

Does fraud related to voting mean any effort at all, or only any successful effort that tries to override legally cast votes? Presumably by definition, it is not fraud if folks try to override legally cast votes, but they fail in the effort. If this is true, then DJT and folks dragging this out will not be bringing fraud to light, just more of their repeated attempted fraud will be witnessed. I’m not sure what corrective action fixes this attempted fraud that we see is failing in courts. I do think it is SAD! that folks are fooled and joining a cult of personality. But, I have no idea what corrective action would fix damaged minds. Maybe all of this failed attempted fraud will eventually get folks to abandon the cult of personality. But I see no evidence. That’s not how cults work. IMHO.

Robert Cook said...

"Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

"A communist scum killed an anti-communist president."


A CIA asset was used as part of a conspiracy to kill the president. The reasons for and the other persons involved in the killing are undetermined (at least not publicly), though there are several competing theories, ranging from the kooky to the plausible.

n.n said...

tim in vermont: You know that bacteria reproduce in a petri dish, right?

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/15/metro/boston-hospital-worker-study-masks-work-fight-against-coronavirus/

This is specific to COVID, BTW.


The difference between the two studies is signal diversity. The observational report you cite lacks statistical power. SARS-CoV-2 spreads with a stochastic distribution, following physical laws, likely a fecal contamination in asymptomatic cases.

Spiros said...

I am concerned that science and "expert opinion" is now being used as a method of social control. Scientist experts and the technological elite are cheering on draconian controls. People are being arrested for playing catch with their children in closed parks or for surfing the waves. For the first time in its 200 year history, Scientific American even endorsed a presidential candidate. Give me a break. These people know that scientific and medical conclusions are never absolutely certain. So what is happening? Why aren't scientists "transcending politics" anymore?

Big Mike said...

The “Toys for Tots” boxes have been put out at our local eatery and my new gym. This will have been a pretty tough year for a lot of young working class families who lost their jobs due to the overreaction to the coronavirus epidemic. This is a year for the more fortunate among us to be generous.

tim in vermont said...

"The observational report you cite lacks statistical power.”

Suddenly statistical power matters? Yancey Ward has assured me that it doesn’t, at least in the case of the Danish study.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Yancey Ward said...
Years from now, it will likely be shown that the major mode of transmission of COVID is through surface contact and unclean hands...

One of my favorite rhetorical tricks: refer to what people in the future will know as if we already had access to their superior knowledge.

Always good for a laugh.

tim in vermont said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laslo Spatula said...

"Mandating face mask use in public is associated with a decline in the daily COVID-19 growth rate by 0.9, 1.1, 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0 percentage points..."

Between 1 and 2 percent?

Like, 1 or 2 out of a hundred?

That kind of percent?

It's like their decimal is barely working.

I am Laslo.

narciso said...

a defector who went to the soviet union, married the daughter of a local mvd official, was in association with two future high profile officials in the cuban regime, and took a shot at a leading anticommunist military figure, that's pretty cut and dry,

Sprezzatura said...

“This is a year for the more fortunate among us to be generous.”

I’ve been trying to tell myself that it’s charitable to buy a certain shoe for a bunch of folks in my life. For X-mas. I keep telling myself that doing so would represent me being for the people, and also me being for capitalism and letting the market place make decisions. A great gift for a lot of people.

Everybody knows that Ben and Jerry are commies + buying shoes on the secondary market is a free market = perfect gift.

I want to gift to get those Nikes to a bunch (more than a couple dozen) of people. Even though they look over the top, which is usually a terrible characteristic IMHO, I love mine. They succeed in being tasteful, even though they seem hideous. Anywho, more than 20% of the folks I give them to will love them. 20% will hate them. The rest will scratch their heads as they try to make sense of the gift. Which is better than nothing.

Anywho, maybe I’ll send some dough to the Tots (in addition to the ton of money I already donate to other places). According to Big M, that’s a meaningful thing that will make us feel like we’re generous.

Cool.

tcrosse said...

The worst result of the JFK assassination is not that we lost such a wonderful president (he wasn’t), but that it gave us LBJ.

tim in vermont said...

"it will likely be shown that the major mode of transmission of COVID is through surface contact and unclean hands..."

Below we present three lines of evidence that when considered together provide substantial weight of evidence that aerosols may be an important pathway for transmission. If this is so, a second tier of public health guidance that goes beyond the current recommendations may provide more specific relief going forward. Below we discuss specific research to expeditiously address the scientific uncertainties and potential importance of aerosol transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2.

There are many accounts of SARS‐CoV‐2 spreading by proximity with asymptomatic individuals who do not know they are infected; these individuals are presumably not coughing or sneezing


snip

Wei et al. (2020) investigated all 243 cases of COVID‐19 reported in Singapore between January 23 and March 16. The researchers were able to identify presymptomatic transmission as the most likely explanation in seven clusters of cases. In addition, researchers have estimated that in China that a large proportion of transmission cases, 79%, were from individuals who had not been tested, presumably a large fraction of these were asymptomatic (Li et al., 2020).

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/risa.13500

Way too much to quote. Weird hill for you guys to choose to kill your credibility on.

Sprezzatura said...

Here’s what they look like:

https://stockx.com/nike-sb-dunk-low-ben-jerrys-chunky-dunky-ff-packaging?country=US&currencyCode=USD&size=14&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=OD-Segment-Sneakers-AdultSizes-(US)&utm_campaignid=1032998786&content=244607812448&keyword=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIq9igppqX7QIVZAnnCh2-5QBsEAQYAyABEgJJdPD_BwE

Would normal people like these?

Inga said...

Anti sitter space, consider donating to food pantries? I saw all those long lines of cars waiting for a food package in Texas and other places.

Birkel said...

Never any trade-offs for tim in vermont.

Michael K said...

The Army sent my son and daughter-in-law to Defense Language School to learn Spanish. Because English translations of intercepted Spanish communications cannot be trusted

Our Cuba policy was run for 25 years by a Cuba spy. She is now in prison but the damage was done.

Inga said...

“Way too much to quote. Weird hill for you guys to choose to kill your credibility on.”

Yancy already lost it when he predicted 7,500 tops would die of Covid in the US.

tim in vermont said...

“It's like their decimal is barely working.”

It adds up to hundreds of thousands of cases over time. I should have included that part of the snippet, I guess, but I didn’t because the exact number they used would certainly have invited pushback and it’s not about the exact number.

Anyway, here is what they think on the subject of the scale of it:

Estimates suggest that as a result of the implementation of these mandates, more than 200,000 COVID-19 cases were averted by May 22, 2020. That’s from the reduction in the rate of growth. Obviously they can’t know precisely, but they can make reasonable educated guesses based on the study of communicable diseases since forever.

Birkel said...

Much like Inga believes Obama caused the seas to quit rising,
Inga would believe Biden stopped Winnie Xi Flu from killing people.

But I prefer a scenario in which America won't tolerate voter fraud on an industrial scale.

Birkel said...

No mental health problems from all the lockdowns tim in vermont supports.
No trade-offs, bitches!!

tim in vermont said...

When the next alternative is shutdowns, then the tiny tradeoffs of mask mandates seem pretty small and inconsequential. But I know some of you guys have serious emotional problems with the idea of wearing a mask, so that probably seems really big and important to you.

tim in vermont said...

"No mental health problems from all the lockdowns tim in vermont supports.”

Here I went and broke my rule of not replying to morons just for you Birkel, and you lie about me. Why don’t you read my comment at 4:11?

FullMoon said...

Yancey Ward said...

If they had just studied normal people with their wide variety of different masks and techniques, isn't it pretty fucking obvious at this point that they would have discovered that masks don't work


Real time experiment here in SF bay area. Masked up, spread out, closed down.
Positives and hospitilizations up. EVERYBODY MASKED. (except Dem politicians, rioters/demonstrators who are immune)

If this ever ends, govt and MSM will claim the pain and suffering was worth it because without intervention
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WORSE!!

Narr said...

It's late afternoon. Can I quit writing yet?

It's wintery for the first time here, after an unseasonably warm and dry spell. Had to spend a bundle on chimney repair-recapping-recovering-sealing last week. We haven't had a true test yet, but SFSG.

I'll check in later; I'm limbering my fingers for some Althouse action tonight. Or maybe not.

Narr
Cheap facemasks that live in the car and get used for weeks start smelling ripe

Birkel said...

Well, tim in vermont, I ignore the lies of everybody who lies.
You are not different or special.

You supported the lockdowns and no amount of lying will change that.

FullMoon said...

Can voting machine software change votes?
Set up a machine and demonstrate. Simple!

Maybe not as simple as a bad link taking over computer and redirecting to unwanted site every damn time and causing ignorant user to have to fire up second computer and search for solution and download program to kill virus while reinstalling operating system in first computer.

But, possible?

The Godfather said...

Masks aren't a real big deal for me. I don't care whether they work or not. What I care about is that mask mandates may give the viral authoritarians cover to allow businesses and schools and other institutions to open or stay open.

Right now we're seeing a TERRIFYING rise in covid cases. Why, oh why is this happening???

Because it's Fall, the weather's getting colder. We're spending more time indoors, less outdoors. Next thing will be WINTER!!!! It will be even WORSE!!!

Wear your mask in public and tell your Governor that you're all for masks. But keep the schools, the restaurants, the gyms, the bars, the stores, etc., etc., open.

Thank you for your service.

narciso said...


a reminder:
https://cubanstudiesinstitute.us/principal/president-johnson-fidel-castro-got-kennedy-first/

mccullough said...

Cook,

There was no conspiracy to kill JFK.

No “CIA asset” was involved.

Oswald acted alone. He was a fervent, violent Communist.

tim in vermont said...

I am not vouching for this, but this is part of the rumor of what is to come out in GA tomorrow

Thousands of ballots listed as PO Boxes but they insert a "Suite" "Apt," "Unit," to give the appearance of a physical address as required by law.

Also rental boxes at UPS, & FedEx locations, and even private mailbox stores disguising the box numbers same way


https://twitter.com/RoscoeBDavis1/status/1330633334217707528

This is pretty much it happened or it didn’t. No statistical hocus pocus to try to uncover some hidden algorithm.

tim in vermont said...

This was systematic and organized. It's not individuals doing this. Stacey Abrams better be lawyered up, because the financials point directly to Fair Fight PAC and Act Blue.

[Insert giraffe eating popcorn gif here]

ActBlue is BLM, BTW.

mockturtle said...

It would seem to me that conspiracy was involved in Kennedy's assassination, mainly because of the all-too-convenient shooting of Oswald, followed by Oswald's shooter's all-too-convenient death from 'cancer'. Sorta like Epstein all-too-conveniently 'committing suicide' in his jail cell. Not saying Oswald didn't do the shooting but he wasn't a lone wolf.

Josephbleau said...

“Meta-analysis of observational studies provided evidence of a protective effect of masks (OR = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.03–0.62) and respirators (OR = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.06–0.26) against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). This systematic review and meta-analysis supports the use of respiratory protection.
Effectiveness of Masks and Respirators Against Respiratory Infections in Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Published in 2017.”

I read this study and here is a direct quote:
“Wearing a medical mask or N95 respirator throughout the work shift conferred significant protection against self-reported clinical respiratory illness (CRI) (RR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.46–0.77) (Figure 2A) and influenza-like illness (ILI) (RR = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.14–0.82) (Figure 2B). Meta-analysis suggested a protective, but nonstatistically significant, effect against laboratory-confirmed viral infections (VRI) (RR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.47–1.03) (Figure 2C).”

So we have a 2200 study meta study showing that viral transmission is not reduced at a statistically significant level? And these studys were done in a clinical setting where the docs and nurses are well trained about masks and not just ordinary folks who don’t wash their simple thin masks? So we have no justification from this meta study to assert that masks reduce viral infection. Is COVID a VRI?

tim in vermont said...

GA Code TITLE 21 Elections Chapter 2 Elections Article 15 Miscellaneous Offenses § 21-2-561 - False registration is a felony, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to prison for not less than 1 & no more than 10 years &/or a fine not to exceed $100K,000.00, or both.

“Who wants to move to GA and falsely register as a permanent resident for the purposes of voting and face a year to ten years in the pokey?” - Andrew Yang (I paraphrase)

tim in vermont said...

"So we have a 2200 study meta study showing that viral transmission is not reduced at a statistically significant level?”

The problem with your objection is that it is well known that masks don’t work against most viruses and it is just a stroke of luck that they work against coronaviruses at all.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2?ContensisTextOnly=true

Read the part where the effectiveness of masks is tested against three types of viruses. Masks have zero effect on flu virus aerosols, unlike coronavirus aerosols.

tim in vermont said...

Trump should have kept his powder dry and let the smoke clear, because new facts seem to be arriving daily of the “Here are the facts ma’am, don’t have any theory how it happened.” variety that may show that the election was a farce of fraud enabled by the massive switch to voting by mail.

tim in vermont said...

Businesses:
MailStop
The UPS Store (13 locations)
Mail Center Etc (10 locations)
Mailboxes Unlimited (9 locations)
Hanmipost (7 locations)
MCS Executive Suites & Business Center
Mailbox Centers LLC
XPO Logistics

They've maxed out their inventory in the last 90 days.


Kept them live for the runoff no doubt.

Inga said...

MILWAUKEE - Election officials in Wisconsin’s largest county accused observers for President Donald Trump on Saturday of seeking to obstruct a recount of the presidential results, in some instances by objecting to every ballot tabulators pulled to count.

FullMoon said...

Thousands of ballots listed as PO Boxes but they insert a "Suite" "Apt," "Unit," to give the appearance of a physical address as required by law.

Also rental boxes at UPS, & FedEx locations, and even private mailbox stores disguising the box numbers same way


Pretty common for mail order. Had s friend who used to advertise "lists of good jobs in California" in back of magazines, using similar names for PO boxes. Charge five bucks or so.

Actually made a little extra money with that, would send out pages from local want ads to responders.


FullMoon said...

They've maxed out their inventory in the last 90 days.

Kept them live for the runoff no doubt.

Will be interesting to see who rented those boxes. Certainly not big leftist organizations. Simply independent private citizens who suddenly needed alternative addresses..

tim in vermont said...

MILWAUKEE - Election officials in Wisconsin’s largest county accused observers for President Donald Trump on Saturday of seeking to obstruct a recount of the presidential results, in some instances by objecting to every ballot tabulators pulled to count.

Were they allowed to meaningfully examine the ballots? Because if they weren’t, that’s exactly what I would have done.

Observers not allowed meaningful access:
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1330260516472836098

tim in vermont said...

BTW, Sidney Powell is not Trump’s lawyer and Trump teams says she’s free lancing with the Dominion stuff.

FullMoon said...

..in some instances by objecting to every ballot tabulators pulled to count.

Maybe they should stop pulling bad ballots.

Hey Skipper said...

“@tim in vermont: It is important to emphasize that this trial did not address the effects of masks as source control.”

Choose those states with mask mandates and occupational licensing. Compare the rate of Mao Tse Lung between dental hygienists and cosmeticians/hair stylists. (It is left as an exercise at home to figure out why these occupations.)

The surveys could get a representative sampling within a week.

Unless the MTL rate among dental hygienists is significantly higher than cosmeticians/hair stylists, then masks are worthless in terms of source control.

I have no idea why such an obvious and easily answered question hasn’t been asked.

My bet? There is no statistically difference between the two groups.

tim in vermont said...

"Unless the MTL rate among dental hygienists is significantly higher than cosmeticians/hair stylists, then masks are worthless in terms of source control. “

Except that dental hygienists wear amped up masks, not the simple surgical masks available to the general public in drug stores. I just had my teeth cleaned this week, the hygienist was wearing a mask, goggles, and a full face shield and a full gown. She looked kind of like a robot.

I'm Not Sure said...

I had my teeth cleaned this week. The hygienist wore a mask, but that was all- well, she was clothed, too. No clue what kind of mask, but it didn't strike me as anything exotic.

stevew said...

@timinvermont (really FL?): no chest puffing on my part, just stating what appears to be obvious, namely that masks are not proven effective against the spread of the virus. If the powers that be, i.e. the government, wants to trade 100% wearing of masks in public for a commitment to no lockdowns, no school closing, etc. then I'm game. But they won't because there will continue to be surges/spikes in cases through the winter months and, shit, don't you know masks aren't enough so we have to retreat to Step Alpha of Phase II of the great re-opening.

BUMBLE BEE said...

There's this... https://mobile.twitter.com/NYTScience/status/1330336870434283522 It is about 9 million children missing vaccine doses due to Covid-19 Fear.

Josephbleau said...

From:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2?ContensisTextOnly=true
“We detected coronavirus in respiratory droplets and aerosols in 3 of 10 (30%) and 4 of 10 (40%) of the samples collected without face masks, respectively, but did not detect any virus in respiratory droplets or aerosols collected from participants wearing face masks, this difference was significant in aerosols and showed a trend toward reduced detection in respiratory droplets (Table 1b). “

Seems like a good study but had only 10 cronovirus subjects. Shows significant for areosols but not for droplets. In small sample statistics the result turns on chance. It sounds interesting that there were no mask positives, but I wish they would do a 500 case study. Then have another lab replicate. Suggestive does not count in research, where you have to state your validation criteria in advance, and live with it.

Inga said...

“Many objections, few invalid ballots”

Birkel said...

And none of the studies ask about the increase in other types of respiratory illnesses.
No trade-offs allowed!!

tim in vermont said...

"just stating what appears to be obvious, namely that masks are not proven effective against the spread of the virus.”

If you call a tail a leg, a dog still has four legs, and calling your conclusion “obvious” doesn’t make it so.

"I had my teeth cleaned this week. The hygienist wore a mask, but that was all-“

Sure. Sounds right. Why would a dental hygienist wear a face shield? Goggles? I am sure your story is true.

“Many objections, few invalid ballots”

The point is that they are not allowed to examine them in the first place, so how. could they know whether they are valid or not, which is why they object. Not going to bother with your link, the real problem in Wisconsin is that 20% of absentee ballots that Republican voters called by phone bank claimed to have sent were never logged. They were lost.

Inga said...

Maybe if people wore their masks properly rather than below their noses, masks would be more effective. Maybe if people regularly changed their masks for clean ones, masks would be more effective, maybe if people weren’t so invested in denialism masks would actually work to stop the coming shut downs.

Laslo Spatula said...

Any studies showing mask effectiveness are really measuring the success of increased hand sanitizer usage.

Yay hand sanitizer.

This is my hill.

I am Laslo.

Whiskeybum said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Whiskeybum said...

Wauwatosa mall shooter who was initially described as a “white male 20-30 years old” turns out to be a 15 y.o. hispanic boy. This is why we wait for police confirmation on crimes after some arrests have been made or evidence gathered.

tim in vermont said...

50% of Republican absentee ballots appear to have gone missing in AZ. That’s not conspiracy theory, it’s just a hard fact, uncovered by the massive effort of a phone bank.

This stuff ain’t going away like the Sidney Powell nonsense.

Inga said...

“Any studies showing mask effectiveness are really measuring the success of increased hand sanitizer usage.

Yay hand sanitizer.

This is my hill.”

The virus is airborne, hand sanitizer even if you huff it won’t save you.

I'm Not Sure said...

"Sure. Sounds right. Why would a dental hygienist wear a face shield? Goggles? I am sure your story is true."

Do you want me to change my story so you feel better about it?

steve uhr said...

Tim. Can you send me a link for your 20% claim? Tks

Chuck said...

“Sidney Powell is practicing on her own and is not part of the Trump legal team.”

Signed,
Rufus T. Firefly, Senior Counsel to Trump for President, Inc.

https://twitter.com/mattglassman312/status/1330641299096166402?s=21

Inga said...

“Tim. Can you send me a link for your 20% claim? Tks”

So many claims, so little evidence.

Drago said...

mccullough: "Cook,
There was no conspiracy to kill JFK.
No “CIA asset” was involved.
Oswald acted alone. He was a fervent, violent Communist."

Cookie is a Stalinist dead ender. Also interesting to note is that Cookie is a strong October Surprise Trutherwho believes Reagan conspired with the Ayatollah to keep US citizens hostage longer in order to defeat Carter.

Sort of a Very Early Inga in that regard.

Hey Cookie, was Alger Hiss a spy for the Soviets? (This should be fun)

tim in vermont said...

I’m sure it’s true that your dental hygienist doesn’t wear a face shield, so maybe Skippy should have the study done in your town where dental hygienists don’t worry about any of the shit that lives in human mouths even without covid, stuff like herpes, cancer causing HPVs, plain old bacteria, getting splashed inadvertently in her eyes or on her face.

Qwinn said...

tim, don't but into the way the "Sydney isn't part of the legal team" stuff is being presented. It's not a split. Her case is independent for several valid strategic reasons. If Giuliani and Ellis weren't behind her efforts, she wouldn't have been part of the press conference.

Humperdink said...

"Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) on Thursday announced a new round of stay-at-home orders for the Golden State, which state “that non-essential work, movement and gatherings stop between 10 PM and 5 AM in counties in the purple tier.” Nearly every county in California is currently in the purple tier ..."

"Deadline reported that Newsom’s office said Thursday that the order would not apply to workers in the entertainment industry, saying those workers were deemed “essential.”

So why are peasants in Huntingdon Beach protesting? Don't they enjoy movies?

https://www.dailywire.com/news/gov-gavin-newsom-exempts-entertainment-industry-workers-from-new-coronavirus-restrictions

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

We're told "Wear your mask, wear your mask to stop the pandemic." If they worked, the pandemic would be over. Most infections occur in the home where masks are not worn. Wearing masks in the stores, the gyms, etc. is just a Potemkin village exercise. All for show. The gyms, restaurants, stores don't significantly contribute to infections.

Laslo Spatula said...

"The virus is airborne, hand sanitizer even if you huff it won’t save you."

So then the nurses handling the Covid test swabs have no reason to be wearing gloves.

This is my hill.

I am Laslo.

Inga said...

“Most infections occur in the home where masks are not worn.”

This is true! People just don’t realize that others outside of their household can infect not only them, but the ones they live with, kind of a duh.

tim in vermont said...

@steve uhr

Results to be fully published this week:

You will have to read up and down the thread to get the gist of it.

https://twitter.com/MattBraynard/status/1329449463354695682

Inga said...

“So then the nurses handling the Covid test swabs have no reason to be wearing gloves.”

Sorry, but wearing gloves to do a medical procedure has been accepted practice for years. Besides how gross to not wear gloves when shoving a swab up some strangers’ nose.

Laslo Spatula said...

" Besides how gross to not wear gloves when shoving a swab up some strangers’ nose."

You obviously do not watch enough Pornhub.

I am Laslo.

Big Mike said...

Damn, Laslo! That was great!

Inga said...

“You obviously do not watch enough Pornhub.”

You guess correctly.

steve uhr said...

Sorry. Quinn. I think the breakup is for real. Apparently she’s too nutty for even Rudy. Pretty low bar.

Laslo Spatula said...

"You guess correctly."

Dang. But I kinda figured the 'Inga' on Pornhub wasn't you.

Even though she was wearing a nurse's outfit.

Well: 'kinda' wearing it, really.

And then mostly just the hat and nurse-stripper heels.

I am Laslo.

Inga said...

“Dang. But I kinda figured the 'Inga' on Pornhub wasn't you.

Even though she was wearing a nurse's outfit.

Well: 'kinda' wearing it, really.

And then mostly just the hat and nurse-stripper heels.”

She was my body double...

Laslo Spatula said...

"She was my body double..."

Well played!!!!!

I am Laslo.

Chuck said...

As George Conway said, this is the white Bronco pursuit stage of the Trump Presidency.

Sprezzatura said...

“The virus is airborne, hand sanitizer even if you huff it won’t save you.”

Everybody knows that’s why you inject the disinfectant, don’t huff it.

This one of the two things DJT most directly contributed to Operation Warp Speed.

The other thing most directly associated w/ DJT was pushing the Hydroxychloroquine remedy.

I guess there’s a third thing: making the lack of the prudent use of masks and social distancing part of some sorta mindless political battle where the cult followers must demonstrate their irrational but unquestioning submission to the cult of personality.

Operation Warped Cult

Hey Skipper said...

“@tim in Vermont: Except that dental hygienists wear amped up masks, not the simple surgical masks available to the general public in drug stores.“

This is a perfect example of assuming facts not in evidence.

My experience, limited though it is, has both groups wearing the same paper masks. Certainly one could ask what type of mask, goggles/face shield practitioners wear.

My bet is both groups are indistinguishable in that regard.

And the question remains: this is such an obvious question, easily answered, why we haven’t already read about it?

Sprezzatura said...

“And the question remains: this is such an obvious question, easily answered, why we haven’t already read about it?”

Because you don’t have access to a search engine.

If you didn’t you could have solved this mystery in a fraction of the time it took you to type your comment here.

Inga said...

Sorry, not sorry, for laughing.

“Attorney heading up Trump campaign’s Wisconsin recount effort is seeking to throw out his own vote”

“Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

The Dane County attorney overseeing the Trump campaign’s effort to recount and disqualify ballots in the state’s largest counties wants to throw out his own vote.

Jim Troupis, a former Dane County judge and Cross Plains attorney who is representing the Trump campaign’s recount effort, voted early using the state’s in-person absentee option — one of a group of voters whose ballots the Trump campaign has asked election officials to deem illegal.

Troupis and his wife appear on exhibits he submitted to the Dane County Board of Canvassers on Sunday, during the county’s third day of retallying ballots. The exhibits include lists of voters who voted in a manner the campaign alleges is illegal, which the Board of Canvassers has rejected. The information was provided by Dane County to both campaigns.”

Qwinn said...

Why exactly would that be funny, Inga? It is a tragedy that Democrat fraudsters disenfranchised all votes cast where they broke the law. You think it's amusing that the lawyer was one of the victims?

I'd say I was surprised that you're a psychopath, but your revelation today that you think the most important fact about Kavanaugh being repeatedly falsely accused of rape - and you now admit they accusations were false! - was that he got mad about it. It takes severe, deranged, probably violent mental illness to make that kind of calculation IMO.

Chuck said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
narciso said...


What the journal has been publishing


https://mobile.twitter.com/ChuckRossDC/status/1330690500249198592

narciso said...


Funny thR

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/burisma-consultant-and-hunter-biden-associate-requested-meeting-with-state-department-on-ukraine-affairs%3f_amp=true

Inga said...

Qwinn,

I’m not impressed with your reasoning skills, to say the least. The more you blabber on about the so called fraud the more it’s evident. I’m being kind here.

Hey Skipper said...

“anti-de Sitter Space: If you didn’t you could have solved this mystery in a fraction of the time it took you to type your comment here.“

Don’t restrain yourself, fire all links.

Qwinn said...

Inga, "reasoning" is something you've never once shown yourself capable of attempting, never mind doing successfully. You merely parrot whatever propaganda you're fed, and what passes for your own thoughts never get above the level of "Kavanaugh failed to display proper judicial demeanor when we falsely slandered him as a rapist for weeks on end." If you agreed with my reasoning, ever, I'd instantly go back and check my math. That you don't agree with me on any given subject is the purest possible verification that I'm correct about that subject.

walter said...

Rumor has it the Gesundheit III is about to be released mid-January.

The Godfather said...

Inga (7:13 pm) wins the thread! Great job Inga!

Please quit while you're ahead.