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December 5, 2020
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Today I was working on the bundle sorter and saw the latest batch of Time magazines. On the cover was the number 2020 with a big red X across it and the title of the lead article: "Worst Year Ever." I laughed to myself and wondered what Millenial history major came up with that. There have been a lot worse years in human history. Not recently, of course, but within living memory of our eldest citizens. The Great Depression and World War II certainly were worse. And that's not even mentioning years in earlier centuries when there were pandemics, famines, wars, volcanic eruptions... The pampered Millenial who wrote that article no doubt has no clue what really bad times are like.
a little perspective, on recent events,
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/12/parsing-iranian-responses-to-the-killing-of-mohsen-fakhrizadeh-mahabadi.php
What's happening with the racist boulder? The suspense is almost too much.
I was recently interested in characterizing Althouse commenters' thoughts on Covid 19. It seems that, very very broadly speaking, there a good amount of pandemic skepticism. This is likely poorly formulated, but I just wanted to see what people thought of how I characterize things, as I see them, from some recent thread's comments.
From what I picked up on--
Government incompetence; resistance to accepting privilege as white people; media sensationalism; distrust of experts; superiority complex (others); fear mongering; pandemic profiteering; totalitarianism; and finally general skepticism.
Below are the comments that led me to the above. Feel free to ignore/pick apart/comment.
Government incompetence: Which could be useful information in identifying other safe/dangerous activities if government were really concerned about instituting only really necessary restrictions.
Resistance to accepting one’s privilege: White man's burden is the price of white privilege.
Media sensationalism: Are the players actually getting kung flu or are they just testing positive?
Distrust of experts: Experts say this, experts say that, do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that. Its like we're playing Simon Says only the only ones making the rules are the "Experts".
Media sensationalism: CV-19 will soon be over. And the death rate among people who are under 50 and healthy is almost zero. THis is boring.
Is there a statistically large enough sample to draw any conclusions? Or is this WaPo stirring up trouble?
Cases mean nothing.
How many deaths?
Better than thou/superiority: 1. Appeal to people’s desire to feel superior (“We obviously know what is going on. Not like those misguided or evil people over there.”)
Fear mongering: 2. Stoke their fear.
War (pandemic) profiteering: And when the media company’s CFO orders you to drive more revenue, turn up the volume.
Distrust of experts: The masks act as collectors/concentrators and petri dishes for viable viruses and bacteria.
At best, the masks in general use decrease infection by 4% and increase infection by 2%.
Apparently, he also took a sleeping pill, and the medical examiner thinks that along with COVID did him in.
General skepticism: It will be gone soon. It’s burning through the population.
War profiteering: Bezos/WaPo have been enriched by the spread of social contagion. F
That said, the Covid-19 deaths are correlated with certain comorobidities correlated with age
Totalitarianism: This is a wildly insane statement. It’s the statement of a prisoner of a totalitarian state.
General skepticism: It's not as though people are champing at the bit to get this vaccine.
Tl;dr
JRTFP
(just read the first paragraph)
Althouse captures the exact moment the light pierces the center of the dome--
...the sign ushering in the season of Brumalia ?
Slippen & Sliden Biden calling for a "virtual inauguration"?
...cuz virtually no one would show up?
Pro tip, when the media says something is “debunked” it means that something is true that they wish were not.
HT, you missed the point of my comments completely. I was not commenting on COVID, I was commenting about the business drivers and challenges that the press now face in the internet age of commodity media channels.
"...cuz virtually no one would show up?"
I'm sure his handlers understand there's no upside to having him appear in public.
Squiggy is dead@73. MS
Weird Scott Adams podcast today. Mr. watch your blindspots repeatedly missing salient points.
If you can't score touchdowns, it's hard to win a game.
serious question... Is This a surprise? To ANYONE?
President of Soros’ Open Society Foundations resigns, clearing way for potential Biden Cabinet position
Grey, light rain this morning during the morning walk at sunrise. Snow, high winds, and cold this evening. Winter Storm warning, should be a Late Fall Storm warning, it's not winter yet. The new truck is working out great.
Trump at POTUS is over, for now. I'm enjoying telling my lefty friends and family that Biden is not and will not be my president. Turn about is fair play. They are annoyed. That is the point. Saw this somewhere else but can't remember where: Biden's call for Unity is really a demand for Conformity. lolgf.
A pleasant evening to you all!
Althouse captures the exact moment the light pierces the center of the dome--
oh! oh! ANOTHER serious question
Hey Madison People? Do they Still let you go up into the dome, and walk out on the roof of the capital? 'cause back in 1979, they did; and it was one of the two coolest things about your state [the other, being that they made WWII submarines in Manitowoc]
I haven't read HT's 8:13 pm post carefully -- no offense, HT, but life is short -- but I think that for a lot of us the "experts" have destroyed their credibilty. The lockdowns in the Spring were supposed to flatten the curve and give us time to deal with the disease. And after awhile things did ease up. Or was that just because the weather got warmer? Well, now the weather is getting colder, and Covid is back big time. Did we accomplish anything?
We are told that "science says" we must wear masks, but the scientists told us back then that we shouldn't wear masks unless we were medical personell, and then they told us that we should only wear masks if we were or might be infectious, and now they are saying we have to wear masks even in our homes or outdoors and not in close contact with others.
And while all this is going on, the high government officials, who are imposing all sorts of stringent rules that destroy small businesses and kill a year (at least) of our kids' education, and burden all of us and our progeny with a huge burden of debt -- these high government officials are violating their own orders to enjoy their own entertainment and convenience. Does that mean that they -- the ones who have all the knowledge and expertise to impose rules on us -- don't believe their own rules?
I am doing my best to follow the rules, whether I believe they make sense or not. I wear my mask, I socially distance, I don't shake hands, I don't visit with my grandchildren -- I'm just that kind of person. I think I'm what they call a "sucker".
Godfather,
We live under rules by folks divorced from the harms.
"Does that mean that they -- the ones who have all the knowledge and expertise to impose rules on us -- don't believe their own rules?"
A difficult question, so I consulted my Magic 8 Ball. Response? "Signs point to yes".
Resistance to accepting one’s privilege: White man's burden is the price of white privilege.
@HT, "White man's burden" is a pretty good summary of Critical Race Theory. We are supposed to believe the blacks are inherently lazy, shiftless, and stupid. I must have had unusual luck during my career, that the blacks with whom I worked and who worked for me we the exception.
Manitowoc, Marinette, Sturgeon Bay, Kewaunee.... lots of shipbuilding in that corner of the country. And aluminum pots.
I was married in Manitowoc.
Of course I should mention that I grew up in a quarry town, so growing up my "white privilege" amounted to getting the shit beat out of me pretty regularly. But if you will post your name, address, and a recent picture, I will be pleased to share some of my white privilege with you.
Sound fair?
"US Military monitoring elections in Venezuela?"
Love the comments. Here's one:
"We're reaching levels of irony no one ever thought possible."
Daughter (17) tested positive today She is “isolating” in basement. Said wife and I do t take it seriously enough. Made her go to school when she had sniffles earlier in the week. We wear masks when we go out but go out regularly and try do distance. Have avoided visiting grandparents to limit their risk. Everyone has different risk tolerances. We are not going to lockdown for a year. Daughter was concerned as health folks will be reaching out about contact tracing and wanting to do her “civic duty”. Wife commented that she will likely be the one to turn us in to authorities in the future. Good times.
That Patrick Gaspard guy would be a disaster. But slojo is dead set on his rainbow coalition at the expense of, well, everything else. It’s just what do we end up with when slojo strokes out?
None taken, Godfather. From your reply, I take it that you are skeptical of the rules, but nonetheless follow them.
Quayle, apologies for missing the point of your comment.
https://legis.wisconsin.gov/assembly/03/tusler/news-updates/press-releases/representative-tusler-announces-hearing-date-for-committee-hearing/?fbclid=IwAR3gemXG6h0nUzO9KCTFKCWoOkSgBSoF65roddZeVhypT4PILlTIscKAae4
I mean, right in Althouse's back yard...
What was your fave "gotta have it" Christmas toy from your yute?
Hasbro should introduce a Biden version of "Mousetrap!"
Contestants construct a Rube Goldberg-style contraption consisting of
a puppy, a treacherous alley way, a shower stall, some throw-rugs, empty
Namenda bottles, etc to try to sideline their opponents with broken bones.
Yule have hours of fun!
I slogged through The Crown. It's amazing what you'll watch in your declining years what with diminished levels of testosterone. First Emily In Paris and now this. My God, maybe next year I'll be watching Real Housewives or some such crap.....This show was a bit more literate and involving than Emily in Paris but both both shows photographed the cast in elaborate clothes against extravagant backdrops. It was pleasant to watch the actors go through their paces....Prince Charles really came off as hateful. Not so much a cad as wounded, spiteful presence. They gave Maggie Thatcher some good lines but Gillian Anderson delivered them unsympathetically. Queen Elizabeth came out okay. Olivia Colman has a kind of Mother Courage persona, and she made Elizabeth seem warm and kindly even when delivering icy lines. No such courtesy was extended to Thatcher....Reasonably entertaining show.. You don't hate yourself for watching it.
So Nicholas Aliota, GM of Serb hall in Milwaukee, dies after being knocked down at Trump rally, has dead links to Milwaukee papers..
WK said...
Wife commented that she will likely be the one to turn us in to authorities in the future.
And will be genuinely shocked when you and your wife are drug off to a re-education camp or otherwise singled out for punishment.
This is what drives me crazy about this whole mess. There are plenty of past examples of how these things usually end up turning out, but the know-it-all youths of today have no clue.
(FWIW, I am in the same boat with one of my step-kids.)
Not exactly
Alioto’s death was caused by hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and the ME cited other significant conditions as diabetes mellitus, morbid obesity and sleep apnea. The report states Alioto tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 17, but he had not been hospitalized for COVID-19.
Feds Admit $2.3 Trillion In Improper Payments
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/feds-admit-23-trillion-improper-payments
yes- of course after a while this sort of thing adds up to real money,
But Sheesh! ...and YOU want to be my latex salesman?!?
narciso,
That's what JSonline reported before killing hyperlink.
You'd think they would have amended.
https://twitter.com/VickiMcKenna/status/1335215078371692544
BTW, the link-meister provides none? ;)
Surprise.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/it-was-no-longer-safe-me-live-china-former-chinese-communist-party-insider-breaks-beijing
"Squiggy is dead."
Dammit, 2020! This time you've gone too far!
What could go wrong
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/world-economic-forum-encourages-plebs-eat-weeds-drink-sewage
Here is an article showing how naughty the Danish mask study interpretation in the Spectator is (cited); and mentioning other dangers too from Facebook and public health authorities beholden to government and industry but not accountable to the public. It seems there ARE masks that do protect one very effectively from the general public. Bad, Danish mask study. Bad, Bad.
https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4586
Interesting, McClatchy crosses the 'shithole' line.
I mean, I'm not shocked or mortified or whatever, but I was a bit surprised the "We're a family newspaper" thing seems to be going by the wayside.
Somebody appoint a special prosecutor for all things Hunter.
If there's nothing there, libs won't mind...
Hunter is the smartest man Joementia knows.
Around this time next year when liberals are gasping at their heating bills asking "How did this happen!" I'll remind them it happened because of them. They voted for Biden, who promised to end fracking. My house is unusually efficient- I use about 1,000 gallons of fuel oil a year for both heat and hot water. My boiler heats the water in a separate tank. Most of my neighbors use over 1500 gallons just in the heating system. Right now #2 fuel oil is about $2.00 a gallon. This time next year it will probably be over $4.00. How much over is anyone's guess. According to city-data dot com Estimated median household income in 2017: $41,744. Datausa says median annual income of $52,292. In either case- you're looking at heating fuel going from 3% of income to 6% of income for an average family. Probably worse for those heating with propane- which per BTU tracks oil prices here- usually. In other areas of the country, propane is a bargain right now. With Biden's announced plans to end fracking- that will go away. And propane will get more expensive per BTU than fuel oil here.
That's just heating fuel. Road fuel will go up too. I live in ruralville- anywhere you go, you go by car. I drive a hybrid- I commute 38 miles one way. About 2 gallons a day with side trips. Most people use more. Gas goes up $2.00 a gallon, That's $28 a week for me, x 52 weeks an extra $1456 a year. So for heating and car that's probably over $3500 a year extra. And that doesn't include my wife's trips. 10 miles to her primary care, 30 to any specialist. She's at one doctor or another once or twice a month, and in physical therapy 2X a week right now. 15 miles one way. I'm at rough;y 2X that average income, but still, that extra $3500 per annum for fuel means cutting back on other things. For households with the average income- they're going to be hurting.
But right now. enjoy the low fuel prices. They're not going to last. Biden plans on punishing us to save the Earth.
I meant to and forgot to add- Biden plans on punishing us to save the Earth, but at least we won't suffer from mean tweets. That's so much more important to many.
California already doesn't have the power that they need. The good news is that California will be a 3rd world hellscape in a few years, the bad news is that half of their idiot population will move to conservative states and spread their idiot poison.
@Big Mike said...
Resistance to accepting one’s privilege: White man's burden is the price of white privilege.
@HT, "White man's burden" is a pretty good summary of Critical Race Theory. We are supposed to believe the blacks are inherently lazy, shiftless, and stupid. I must have had unusual luck during my career, that the blacks with whom I worked and who worked for me we the exception.
Hmmm, "the blacks with whom I worked and who worked for me." Message there someplace, but perhaps there is another view in "The Last Resort" by The Eagles:
You can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina
Just like the missionaries did so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign 'Jesus is Coming'
Brought the white man's burden down, brought the white man's reign
Who will provide the grand design, what is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier, we have got to make it here
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds
In the name of destiny and in the name of God
And you can see them there on Sunday morning
Stand up and sing about what it's like up there
They called it paradise, I don't know why
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye
Blogger Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...
Slippen & Sliden Biden calling for a "virtual inauguration"?
...cuz virtually no one would show up?
If Trump had suggested such a radical concept as virtual anything, he would be brilliant from your point of view.
As was his brilliant move of throwing America's smallest and most costly inauguration celebration, complete with a generous filling of Trump Inc coffers. Donald was also amazing with his tariff wars that substantially raised our retail prices and cost $30+ billion in farm subsidies. And after four years, whoda thought that exactly 15 miles of new, primary border wall has been erected - for which the Mexicans didn't pay a nickel. The Army Corps of Engineers has let contracts for a total of 135 miles presently priced at $3 billion which was supposed to be done to honor Trump as he is drummed from the corps but that is not in the cards.
EPOCHTIMES
$400 Million SEC Filing Links Dominion, UBS, and China
"Attorney Lin Wood [who recently has been acting like a deranged asshole] claimed on Dec. 1 that communist China purchased Dominion Voting for $400 million dollars. Wood published a link to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, showing Dominion Voting Systems’ parent company receiving $400 million dollars from a Swiss bank subsidiary."
"...The transaction happened less than a month before the election."
"...The party that paid the money is UBS Securities LLC, a subsidiary of Swiss investment bank UBS."
"...One day before Lin Wood’s tweet about UBS, 12 out of its 15 board of directors quit including Ye Xiang.
Another who just quit the board is Cheng Yixun. The former CEO of UBS’s Beijing-based subsidiary and an expert hired in the Chinese Communist Party’s “Thousand Talents Program.”
The U.S. senate deems the program a threat to U.S. national security.
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, UBS is among the major western banks that played a key role as middlemen in helping Chinese communist officials set up trusts and companies at offshore centers usually associated with hidden wealth.
The SEC filing shows only two transactions related to Dominion’s parent company. Both are from UBS’s New York subsidiary. Other than the $400 million transaction in October. Dominion received $200 million from UBS in 2014."
https://outline.com/D7tA8H
Complicated, fishy, possibly worth exploring. By the Feds (particularly before Biden becomes President).
@gadfly, have you ever hired anyone? Supervised anyone? Promoted anyone? Been responsible for producing anything, meaning if you don’t succeed, you’ll be fired or laid off or go bankrupt? Let me know the particulars. I imagine that you’re like Cookie, thinking that organizing, supervising, and leading people is trivially easy.
The Boston Globe says, "'Makes you ask why the hell we even bother.', Infectious disease experts face disillusionment as COVID-19 pandemic worsens."
Hahaha, all their rules and guidelines have failed to stop the spread of the virus. What is a good autocrat to do when the facts belie their expert status.
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...
WK said...
“Wife commented that she will likely be the one to turn us in to authorities in the future.”
And will be genuinely shocked when you and your wife are drug off to a re-education camp or otherwise singled out for punishment.
This is what drives me crazy about this whole mess. There are plenty of past examples of how these things usually end up turning out, but the know-it-all youths of today have no clue.
It was a proud moment when my daughter asked, unprompted by me, why we were supposed to root for the rebels, why was the Empire the bad guys? Why is Luke Skywalker a hero? Her love of animals might lead her to become an ecoterrorist, but she asks enough questions about what they tell her at school that I get plenty of opportunity to teach her about how to spot agenda-pushing and how to question what they tell her.
Big Mike said...
"@gadfly, have you ever hired anyone? Supervised anyone? Promoted anyone? Been responsible for producing anything, meaning if you don’t succeed, you’ll be fired or laid off or go bankrupt? Let me know the particulars. I imagine that you’re like Cookie, thinking that organizing, supervising, and leading people is trivially easy."
All you have to is read anything any one of the usual suspects have written. None of them have ever had to take responsibility for their actions. They're all in the public sector. They've never been responsible for the product going out the door. They've never had to ensure quality control. They never had to make a payroll. They never had to plant a crop. They never had to harvest one. Each one of them sincerely think that the government is the source of all things. They have no idea where wealth comes from or how economies work. They also have no idea that the vast majority of Americans can get along just as well without them.
Big Mike, I know of no Democrat who has ever signed the front of a paycheck. One recent shift is with doctors who, for 100 years, were typically small business people. Obamacare changed all that and now most doctors are employees with a shift in political ideology to match. That ignores the shift in doctors from 90% male to 60% female, which has been going on for 15 years.
Re: National Mask Mandate
Here in AZ people are wearing masks and social distancing even on hiking trails. I have not seen a single customer at a grocery store without a mask in over 6 months, yet we continue to have new COVID cases.
Anyone have an explanation? (aside from stating that most masks don't work).
Francisco said...
Here in AZ people are wearing masks and social distancing even on hiking trails. I have not seen a single customer at a grocery store without a mask in over 6 months, yet we continue to have new COVID cases.
As i've been asking since July.... If Masks Work, Why Don't They?
Hmmm, "the blacks with whom I worked and who worked for me." Message there someplace, but perhaps there is another view in "The Last Resort" by The Eagles:
Meh. Written before or after being found with two 15 year old coked-up (one OD’d) females in Henley’s hot tub?
I imagine that you’re like Cookie, thinking that organizing, supervising, and leading people is trivially easy.
Is it because they’re so easily led?
It's instructive that Althouse has yet to discuss the second round of "Lockdowns" in major Democratic State, County and Municipal locals? What I find interesting about this version is that the 'hype' of increased Covid infection numbers dominate the News. Yet, we're in the midst of 'Flue Season' and have yet to get 1 data point for our annual "Flu 'demic"? Wonder how our exalted 'Elites' our counting the regular flu - if at all? Probably all allotting it to Covid. Why not, when you get a 20% monetary premium for reporting Covit. It increases the money flow to hospitals and doctors. I smile at CDC's report that 60,000 + heart attacks attributed to Covid deaths. LOL! Or deaths in traffic accidents reported as Covid related despite the fact the death was caused by the crash. Why do we give 'Health Authorities' such creditability?
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