Althouse: At the Muskrat Café...

March 17, 2021

At the Muskrat Café...

... share the love. With comments.

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172 comments:

mockturtle said...: I always liked that song. Cute lyrics and catchy tune.; 3/17/21, 8:38 PM
tastid212 said...: Today I learned that both Boz Scaggs and Steve Miller went to UW-Madison. Never knew that before.; 3/17/21, 8:38 PM
Joe Smith said...: Big Twitter headline all day"

"The Asian American and Pacific Islander community speak out following reports of recent anti-Asian violence"

Imagine the outrage if you replace 'Asian American and Pacific Islander' with 'White.'

White people are suckers. We put up with getting ripped to shreds every single day and do nothing.

No white person was ever the victim of a crime at the hands of a minority.

Yet 'white supremacy is now the cause for every evil in the world.

What a crock...; 3/17/21, 8:39 PM
Humperdink said...: John F. Kerry flew commercial today. Big surprise. Without a mask. No surprise.; 3/17/21, 8:42 PM
rcocean said...: wizard of oz. Y'know, every time I see this movie I'm amazed. There is literally not one dull moment. Its like GWTW. or citizen kane. every single second has something interesting going on.

You need great scripts to do that.; 3/17/21, 8:49 PM
Josephbleau said...: "The Asian American and Pacific Islander community speak out following reports of recent anti-Asian violence"

Is that why the Guam, NG is in charge of going to republican reps offices and expressing disapproval/Hate? The fricking army hates Republicans!!!!; 3/17/21, 8:51 PM
rcocean said...: captain and tenille.; 3/17/21, 8:51 PM
DavidUW said...: When I fly I now I monitor the Karen stewardesses to make sure I’m sipping at a water bottle whenever they get up from the jump seat. Since I only fly first I get all the water I need and a good vantage point.; 3/17/21, 8:54 PM
Original Mike said...: "John F. Kerry flew commercial today."

Good. A few more trips like that and we'll be forgetting all that climate crisis nonsense.; 3/17/21, 8:54 PM
Mark said...: So, the impetus for the modern civil rights acts was widespread lingering "badges and incidents of slavery," including Jim Crow. In large parts of the country, Black people would need to pack their own lunches before traveling because they would not be served at restaurants on the road. They needed to be prepared to sleep in their own cars. If they got sick or injured, they needed to find some Black doctor to treat them because the white system would not. And so on. They were effectively shut out of wide stretches of civil society.

Contrast that with the LGBTQ+ of today. Do they face widespread oppression? Or are they not only accepted, but celebrated and promoted by the overwhelming majority of commercial business, medicine, education, media, etc.? Is there a single community in the country that they could not buy a wedding cake from someone or many places in that location? Any city they could not buy food or rent a hotel room or apartment? Any homes that they are prohibited from purchasing because of restrictive covenants? Anywhere they are denied the vote? Any locality where they cannot get a good, high-paying job being openly LGBTQ+ from some willing employer?

No. There is no city or state, much less large sections of the country, where the LGBTQ+ folks are denied a first class citizenship.

Yes, there are a handful of hold-outs, a very small percentage of cranks that will not give in and who have their own peculiar ideas about association, but nevertheless wishing the LGBTQ+ people well to go seek some service or product elsewhere, given that there are overwhelming numbers of other places to patronize.

So, the question arises -- what really is the point of the militant LGBTQ+ agenda to impose itself anywhere and everywhere, e.g. the "Equality Act"? Clearly, it is NOT to obtain equality or the ability to participate in civil society, something that was denied Blacks prior to the civil rights acts.

There is one and only one reason -- and it is not to overcome discrimination. It is to IMPOSE discrimination. It is to suppress and destroy any and all dissent, using the vast power of government to do so.; 3/17/21, 8:58 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: A very quiet day at Althouse.

No racism posts.; 3/17/21, 9:00 PM
walter said...: So was that (alleged) sex addict's Yellow Fever too hot to handle?; 3/17/21, 9:11 PM
narciso said...: So to speak

https://mobile.twitter.com/Ayjchan/status/1372346517370109954; 3/17/21, 9:12 PM
narciso said...: A blindspot i noted earlier

https://mobile.twitter.com/queens_parents/status/1372235782283476994; 3/17/21, 9:15 PM
Whiskeybum said...: rcocean said... captain & tenille

They had the most well know version of the song, but America recorded/released it before them under the title “Muskrat Love”.

The songwriter, Willis Alan Ramsey, originally recorded it under the title “Muskrat Candlelight”.

- your pop music trivia for the evening; 3/17/21, 9:21 PM
William said...: Eliot (Ellen) Page has a lock on all the cross dressing roles in Shakespeare....I saw Ran, Kurosawa's version of King Lear. It was made in 1985, and it succeeds in presenting an even bleaker, unhappier end than Shakespeare's. To be fair, Kurosawa lived through unhappier times than Shakespeare.....The Russian version of King Lear also has extra added bleakness....There was a period of about two hundred years when Lear was performed with a revised, happy ending. In the twentieth century, they felt a need to go for extra added tragedy.; 3/17/21, 9:27 PM
narciso said...: Oh

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tedmahan/2021/03/17/exclusive-biden-admin-halts-navy-operations-orders-soldiers-to-undergo-chilling-stand-down-training-n1433257; 3/17/21, 9:28 PM
narciso said...: Some progress

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2021/03/16/smart-move-by-arizona-legislature-lawmakers-move-to-block-private-funds-sent-to-election-officials/; 3/17/21, 9:29 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: The enviro-nuts keep telling us we're doomed in 9-years or 12-years or something. Have they said what's going to happen to us when our doom arrives? Not that I've heard. Every doomsday prediction has failed to materialize. Supposedly Britain was going to be both snow-free and have a Siberian climate in 2020. Neither happened. In fact, we're more likely to face a mini-ice age than a tropical apocalypse. The Sun is headed towards a quiet period with few sunspots. That will decrease solar radiation and increase cosmic ray hits, causing more clouds. This winter was a sample of this.; 3/17/21, 9:30 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Some progress

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2021/03/16/smart-move-by-arizona-legislature-lawmakers-move-to-block-private-funds-sent-to-election-officials/

You mean bribes. Just like happened in Green Bay by Mark Zuckerbot.; 3/17/21, 9:32 PM
narciso said...: See day after tomorrow, tidal wave followed by frozen street dogs and cats living together mass hysteria.; 3/17/21, 9:32 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: I enjoyed Day after Tomorrow Good movie. Terrible physics.; 3/17/21, 9:38 PM
narciso said...: Its like they told irwin allen, hold my beer, but i have a strong aversion to thr gylenhalli so it wasnt enjoyable.; 3/17/21, 9:40 PM
NCMoss said...: At least we already know what makes a muskrat guard his musk? C-ourage!; 3/17/21, 9:40 PM
Michael K said...: Blogger rcocean said...

captain and tenille.

Toni Tenille was an OC girl and her husband of 39 years was the son of Carmen Dragon a movie composer and conductor. She was briefly a member of the Beach Boys, the only "beach girl."; 3/17/21, 9:41 PM
Gospace said...: My guess from last night's open thread: First glance- targeting Asians- at massage parlors. Or massage parlors, that happened to be Asian. One or the other. Was he denied a Happy Ending at one? From the pics available, we could very well be looking at a frustrated incel. All the victims appear to be female. No racial aspect to the shootings- all about the sexual frustrations of a 21 year old extremely disturbed individual.

Apparently he used a handgun- the only mention I've seen says he used a 9mm weapon, a description most commonly used to indicate a semi automatic handgun. Another mass killing without dreaded assault weapons being used.

Meantime, another mass killing in Detroit, 4 people dead, including a 7 year old. In a dispute over what amounts to a few hundred dollars from a government stimulus check. Just another example of black on black violence, so no one cares, no one protests, no marches, no riots, no hand wringing from the chattering class, just a few more dead blacks at the hands of another black. Can't blame it on Trump, or the Republicans, or whites, so, nothing really happened.; 3/17/21, 9:41 PM
narciso said...: 2012 was very silly, and the core was ofc the charts crazy.; 3/17/21, 9:42 PM
narciso said...: Norman bates on deck

https://mobile.twitter.com/ChuckRossDC/status/1372336637414367232; 3/17/21, 9:47 PM
narciso said...: You didnt see this coming

https://mobile.twitter.com/SeanParnellUSA/status/1372352584720257024; 3/17/21, 9:51 PM
mockturtle said...: Narciso @9:51, that's terrible news. Another post-election 'we don't give a shit now'. Trump would have given Ford hell over this. But, hey, the bright side is that maybe some of those 'asylum seekers' will be hired at the plant in Mexico. LOL.; 3/17/21, 9:56 PM
narciso said...: Was i the only one who saw meteor which was the last of that cycle of disaster films? With henry fonda and sean connery (armageddon borrowed liberally from them); 3/17/21, 9:56 PM
mockturtle said...: Aren't most massage parlors staffed by Asians?; 3/17/21, 9:57 PM
narciso said...: One notice that the very stable larr'odonnell is usually the newscaster in both mcu and the banning trilogy, ataringtong with olympus has fallen; 3/17/21, 9:59 PM
Mark said...: I saw about the first half-hour of Meteor the other day. All-star cast. Really bad FX. And dialogue. And story.; 3/17/21, 10:01 PM
Ken B said...: Who was right about covid? Answer: those who said to flatten the curve because vaccines and effective treatments will come.
Who on this blog said that consistently? I did, Tim in Vermont did, even Inga almost did. I think Meade and Althouse kinda did. Farmer and Akker I think. One or two others. Please shout out if you did and I forgot you.

Who was wrong about covid? The rest. That's most here. A few though were so egregiously and flamboyantly wrong they need mention.
Yancey Ward, who is perhaps first among equals, Pants, both bars, Michael K, Achilles, Drago, Fled, narcisco, Big Mike, Original Mike, John Henry, mockturtle, Spatula, Walter, Shouting Thomas. I am sure the list is longer. Some are just idiots, but a few are not and they are the ones who should be ashamed of their perversity.

As for countries? I think the US, Israel, India, and the UK stand out for getting it right because they went hard at vaccines from the get go. They screwed up a lot naturally, no one can get every detail right. But they got the priorities right. Too many murky questions to say that China got it right.; 3/17/21, 10:05 PM
narciso said...: Like i said much like armageddon, natalie wood played a russian translator brian keith was also in it; 3/17/21, 10:05 PM
narciso said...: The only real fiction, is that govts would be remotely as competent as in either film.; 3/17/21, 10:07 PM
mockturtle said...: William observes: I saw Ran, Kurosawa's version of King Lear. It was made in 1985, and it succeeds in presenting an even bleaker, unhappier end than Shakespeare's.

Ran is my favorite Kurosawa film. Bleak but beautifully filmed. And Lady Kaede one of the coldest villains in filmdom. I have the DVD and watched it again just the other night.

Other great cold villains include Jo-Yoon [Gang Dong-Won] in Kundo: Age of the Rampant [Korean] and of course Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men.; 3/17/21, 10:07 PM
narciso said...: See that whole michael senger thread i posted some days ago.; 3/17/21, 10:09 PM
walter said...: Blogger mockturtle said...
Aren't most massage parlors staffed by Asians?
--
You are SO lucky this is about Asians.
Happen to have a VPN?; 3/17/21, 10:11 PM
Michael K said...: Yancey Ward, who is perhaps first among equals, Pants, both bars, Michael K, Achilles, Drago, Fled, narcisco, Big Mike, Original Mike, John Henry, mockturtle, Spatula, Walter, Shouting Thomas. I am sure the list is longer. Some are just idiots, but a few are not and they are the ones who should be ashamed of their perversity.

I have tried to avoid the lunatics on the blog for a few weeks but you keep picking at the scab. You know NOTHING about viruses or biology. You are a creepy troll who keeps posting crap. I have no interest in discussing anything with an ignoramus like you.

Go back to Canada, This is enough for me.; 3/17/21, 10:11 PM
DavidUW said...: Who was right about covid? Answer: those who said to flatten the curve because vaccines and effective treatments will come.
>>
Anyone who thought the facemasklockdowndistance religion did one iota to flatten the curve was wrong.; 3/17/21, 10:11 PM
narciso said...: After what the whole crew of murder govwenors did, you have the unmitigated gall to revisit your category error.; 3/17/21, 10:12 PM
Mark said...: Sigh.

Couldn't resist the bait, could you?; 3/17/21, 10:12 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Mark:

So, the question arises -- what really is the point of the militant LGBTQ+ agenda to impose itself anywhere and everywhere, e.g. the "Equality Act"? Clearly, it is NOT to obtain equality or the ability to participate in civil society, something that was denied Blacks prior to the civil rights acts.

Unfortunately, the most interesting aspects of this are verboten to discuss publicly. For a variety of historical, social, and cultural reasons, elites in western society have tended to be disproportionately Jewish and/or gay. And because of the role elites play in the culture, these perspectives tend to be overrepresented. Jewish-Americans played a central role in a lot of quintessential 60s activism, from the SDS to second-wave feminism to the folk-rock protest movement. One of the innovators of cancel culture was the Anti Defamation League. A lot of it is rooted in the Jewish experience with European nationalism, the stat of political Zionism, the experience of antisemtism among the WASP hegemony in America, and the Shoa.

As any black comedian can tell you, jokes about Jews or gays are most likely to produce a backlash and a visit from the PC police. Unsurprisingly, blacks are more likely than whites to express negative attitudes about Jews and gays.

"Earlier this week, Marlon Brando met with Jewish leaders to apologize for comments he made on Larry King Live, among them that 'Hollywood is run by Jews.' The Jewish leaders accepted the actor’s apology and announced that Brando is now free to work again." -Norm MacDonald, Weekend Update

"The only identifiable groups of white men who vote reliably for Democrats are Jews and gays." -Barney Frank, gay Jew; 3/17/21, 10:15 PM
wildswan said...: "all the cross dressing roles in Shakespeare"

I'm stuck in project of reading Shakespeare's plays in the order written because I can't make myself actually focus and read Measure for Measure. The plot of Measure for Measure is that beautiful, talented Helenus get awarded Claudio as her husband by the King because she has saved the King's life. Claudio does not like Helenus who was originally the daughter of his mother's doctor, effectively a servant's daughter. He marries Helenus reluctantly but goes immediately to the wars and while he is there Helenus persuades the woman Claudius is seducing to let her take her place in bed with Claudio. And they live happily ever after when he finds out.
I've searched among Shakespeare critics trying to find a way to like the play as I read it; and it's kind of surprising how unpopular this play is. They all hate it. And these days, you'd think the feminists would be putting it on every other minute. But no. This role reversal in a story line where the original story line was unjust (woman forced to marry man reverses into man forced to marry woman) seems to be specially and universally unlikable.; 3/17/21, 10:15 PM
iowan2 said...: Who was wrong about covid? The rest. That's most here. A few though were so egregiously and flamboyantly wrong they need mention.

Right and wrong are subjective words. Nothing but ego driven babble until you define the metrics. But you kind of give away the your game with a purely emotional scribble.; 3/17/21, 10:15 PM
narciso said...: Was claudio that inattentive, like a reverse dave scenario?; 3/17/21, 10:19 PM
Ken B said...: Iowan2 shouts out, unwittingly asserting 2+2=5 because “right and wrong are subjective words”.

DavidUW shouts out. Yes, I forgot you.; 3/17/21, 10:19 PM
narciso said...: Also face off,; 3/17/21, 10:19 PM
narciso said...: If this is the casting

https://www.actorstheatre.org/shows/2019-2020/measure-for-measure/cast-and-creative-team/; 3/17/21, 10:23 PM
Mark said...: Wikipedia must have screwed up because their entry for Measure for Measure is NOTHING like that summary.; 3/17/21, 10:25 PM
mockturtle said...: Happen to have a VPN?

Yes, but I don't always have it connected. Why? Am I afraid of exercising freedom of speech?; 3/17/21, 10:27 PM
narciso said...: Maybe this snippet

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qylRL01l7Po; 3/17/21, 10:28 PM
mockturtle said...: Wildswan: The Taming of the Shrew would probably not cut it today.; 3/17/21, 10:30 PM
mockturtle said...: ""Earlier this week, Marlon Brando met with Jewish leaders to apologize for comments he made on Larry King Live, among them that 'Hollywood is run by Jews.'"

Yeah, that's like saying, most NBA players are black. Why should anyone apologize?; 3/17/21, 10:32 PM
Mark said...: All's Well That Ends Well; 3/17/21, 10:32 PM
DavidUW said...: Less than 0.5% separates the cumulative case and death rates between California and Florida; 3/17/21, 10:33 PM
narciso said...: Yet the paris fashion show (dont ask) and the grammies descent into depravity is totes fine; 3/17/21, 10:33 PM
Inga said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/17/21, 10:38 PM
JPS said...: J. Farmer, 10:15:

Interesting. And Norm MacDonald was a lot funnier on Weekend Update than I realized back then.; 3/17/21, 10:38 PM
Inga said...: “Who on this blog said that consistently? I did, Tim in Vermont did, even Inga almost did. I think Meade and Althouse kinda did. Farmer and Akker I think. One or two others. Please shout out if you did and I forgot you.”

Of course I said numerous times until I got sick of dealing with the intractable denial, the distancing, and mask wearing were buying us time to get effective treatments and vaccines.

There are few long time commenters who have been missing since March and then more went missing during the summer. I wonder what happened to them? AngelDyne was one who said early on that she thought Covid was real and not a hoax, or just the flu, while others here were still calling it the “flu”. Last I heard from ExiledonMainStreet, she was saying how she was going to bars with no mask and lots of people.

AngelDyne
ExiledonMainStreet
SeeingRed
Alan; 3/17/21, 10:41 PM
Hey Skipper said...: @Ken B: Who was right about covid? Answer: those who said to flatten the curve because vaccines and effective treatments will come.

Who on this blog said that consistently? I did, Tim in Vermont did, even Inga almost did.

You apparently don't know what question begging is, do you? Let me help. Question begging is assuming the truth of the conclusion. Well, no, that isn't exactly right. Because you are assuming that saying something is identical to achieving that thing. But it gets worse than that. You have really stated a non sequitur. Vaccines would have come regardless of statements about flattening the curve.

You could help your case a great deal by explaining this. How is it a wide range of diktats produced a nearly synchronous nation wide rapid reduction in case rates?

Oh, and while you are at it, explain how it is that Yancey Ward, who missed the fatality count by 545,000 is more wrong than the experts, who missed it by more than 1.5 million.

All those diktats were — as anyone with even a glancing appreciation for the glaringly apparent has long known — utterly futile in the face of a highly infectious URI.; 3/17/21, 10:45 PM
Ken B said...: Hey Skipper pipes up to note that he got covid wrong too. And basic English.; 3/17/21, 10:48 PM
mockturtle said...: No one seems particularly interested in how this virus got started. This is a short article from the NIH. Read it and see if it doesn't sound familiar. And ask yourself whether the current vaccines are going to 'take care of' the problem in view of the nature of these viruses or if, in fact, we are going to be scrambling to stay ahead of it for the rest of our lifetimes. Gain of Function Research.; 3/17/21, 10:50 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Ken B was just flat out wrong- lockdowns and masks didn't work. All you need to see to know this is to look at the different states and different countries- they all ended up in the same place if they weren't able to stop the virus literally at the border.

How much evidence does Ken need? He was flat out wrong- we didn't flatten jack shit with our interventions. All we did was make everything else worse.; 3/17/21, 10:53 PM
mockturtle said...: And, KenB, I don't retract anything I have said regarding the obvious use of the pandemic to further the agenda of the Left. The lockdowns and mask measures have been their focus all along rather than on the nature and origin of the virus. It might very well be that some of them [Fauci?] know that the US financed and was heavily involved in the research that may have created it.; 3/17/21, 10:55 PM
Yancey Ward said...: You are just a fucking fool, Ken- unable to admit that you were wrong on pretty much everything- lockdowns, masks, etc. The only thing you got right and I got wrong was the lethality of the virus, but if we had actually followed my preferences we would have still the same numbers of dead, but perhaps a better chance economically to prevent the coming wave of deaths due to our stupid lockdown policies. We acted stupidly all along for literally no gain at all in preventing deaths. That you can't admit this even with the overwhelming data is just a sign of your lack of character. You are basically our Inga on the right.; 3/17/21, 10:58 PM
Joe Smith said...: "Norm MacDonald, Weekend Update"

Check out his YouTube clips...he is the funniest man in the world.; 3/17/21, 10:59 PM
Inga said...: Yancey, the guy who still thinks he has credibility. Seriously funny.; 3/17/21, 11:00 PM
Mark said...: Norm MacDonald was a lot funnier on Weekend Update than I realized back then

Note to self: When baited by the usual suspects, it is foolish to respond.; 3/17/21, 11:00 PM
Iman said...: Seems like that Muskrat Love song was in play at around the same time as Afternoon Delight, by the infamous Starlight Vocal Band. I could’ve wrong, but I seem to recall getting aurally assaulted by the first and then the second was well along before I could change the radio station. Truly saccharine.; 3/17/21, 11:01 PM
Yancey Ward said...: This is simple science- you don't lock down people who are are no risk of dying, and we knew that 80% of the population was at no risk of dying last March- we knew for certain at that time. And yet we locked down a large part of the country, and that part of the country looks just like the rest of the country in terms of deaths and cases. The same applies world wide. The non-pharmaceutical interventions were worthless, and the lockdowns almost surely will result in future deaths because of our halt in routine medical care. People like Ken really do have their blood on their hands.; 3/17/21, 11:01 PM
stephen cooper said...: wildswan - if you have just read a Shakespeare play that seemed devoid of genius, and you are wondering if it is "just you" who thinks that, Goddard (Harold Goddard) is the go-to guy for a pep talk on why you are wrong and why the play in question was actually a work of genius (although to be fair there are a few that are so bad that even Goddard can only say, there were a few good lines in that play). He was, I think, a professor in the mid-20th century, and Dover Press has kept a 2 volume set containing his essays on each play in print.

Harold Bloom, who considered Shakespeare to be almost unimaginably gifted, said more than once that there are several Shakespeare plays that are not works of genius. I am not sure if Measure for Measure was one of them.

Almost every play Shakespeare wrote has been preserved, and there are almost no artists who did not create some art which, in the grand scheme of things, should not have been created.; 3/17/21, 11:03 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Pretty much everything you write, Inga, is literally false these days. Yes, I got one thing wrong, but you are wrong pretty much every single day of your life. If you didn't live in America, you would probably be dead from stupidity.; 3/17/21, 11:03 PM
Inga said...: Even Michael K a doctor, predicted an extremely low number of deaths. He really should be ashamed. I forgot what his numbers were, Ken you my recall. You folks can keep arguing that any mitigation efforts were for naught, but you will never be able to prove that. We will never know how many less could’ve been infected and died if mask wearing and distancing had been practiced by most of the population. It wasn’t and the curve spiked and we ended up with 550,000 dead.; 3/17/21, 11:05 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I binged season 5 of The Expanse the last few days. Very impressive season. Well written with only very minor plot holes and implausibilities. Quite a bit better than the previous season, in my opinion.; 3/17/21, 11:06 PM
Inga said...: And it’s not ended yet, people are still dying.

As for Yancey, all I hear when he speaks is a whaa, whaa, whaa, like the teacher in the Peanuts cartoon. Just noise with an air of self importance.; 3/17/21, 11:07 PM
effinayright said...: DavidUW said...
When I fly I now I monitor the Karen stewardesses to make sure I’m sipping at a water bottle whenever they get up from the jump seat. Since I only fly first I get all the water I need and a good vantage point.
***********

And here at AA, we've got a wonderful vantage point for noticing your "snob signaling": "I fly only first class"....

You and Kerry are soulmates.

S N O R T; 3/17/21, 11:08 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Blogger Michael K said...

Blogger rcocean said...

captain and tenille.

Toni Tenille was an OC girl and her husband of 39 years was the son of Carmen Dragon a movie composer and conductor. She was briefly a member of the Beach Boys, the only "beach girl."

Well, she toured with the band, but she was never officially a member of the group (nor were Glen Campbell or Jeffrey Foskett).

For the record, the official Beach Boys have included: Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love, David Marks, Bruce Johnston, Blondie Chaplin & Ricky Fataar.

After going out on their own The Captain & Tenille did cover some Beach Boys songs such as "God Only Knows", "Cuddle Up" & "Disney Girls". "Disney Girls" was by Bruce Johnston, and the duo recorded a number of the Grammy winner's songs writen while he was on hiatus from the Beach Boys.; 3/17/21, 11:10 PM
narciso said...: Theres an interesting series on netflixthe irregulars its sherlock holmes and watsonwuth a dollop of love craft and holmea seems to have dissapeared.; 3/17/21, 11:14 PM
Mark said...: So I just read the final act of All's Well That Ends Well, the play where the King grants Helen the ability to choose her husband, who is Bertram, who does not love her and goes off to war before consummating the marriage. But Helen contrives to secretly change places with Diana, whom Bertram is hot for, and thinking he's bedding Diana, her actually does the deed with Helen, thereby consummating the marriage and also impregnating her. Now, Bertram had promised that he would truly be her husband if she carried his child and wore his ring. And it happens that Helen had prevailed upon Diana to acquire Bertram's ring, which Helen now wore, such that she had met his conditions.

Flash forward, Helen disappears and spreads the rumor that she is dead. Bertram hearing of her death, apparently has some feelings of guilt. The King hearing of her death is devastated, but initially forgives Bertram of his mistreatment of her. However, when Bertram enters the court with another ring, one that the King had given to Helen and Bertram cannot explain how he has it, the King is again enraged and has Bertram arrested and even suspects Bertram of murdering Helen. So, Bertram is fairly scared for his life at this point.

Cut to the chase, a pregnant Helen walks on stage to the astonishment of the King, Bertram and all. She does not seem altogether smitten with Bertram anymore. She tells him that she HAD found him to be wonderous kind before. Then she pulls out the letter where he had set out his conditions and says she has fulfilled them. "This is done. Will you be mine now you are doubly won?" she demands with some degree of anger and impatience.

Here is the mystery line, the one that confounds the audience, with much depending on how it is delivered. Bertram says, "If she, my liege, can make me know this clearly, I’ll love her dearly, ever, ever dearly." Helen then makes it clear to him that he BETTER be a good husband . . . or else, "If it appear not plain and prove untrue, Deadly divorce step between me and you."

So, what does Bertram mean by pledging to "love her dearly"? By my first-ever reading just now, I'll tell you that it does not sound like lovey-dovey romantic swooning. It sounds like a mixture of guilt at being such an asshole toward her, a renewed and grown-up sense of responsibility, and fear of the King who moments ago was ready to take some nasty action toward him.

Is that "happily ever after"? No, but it does resolve the problem of Bertram being a bad husband and Helen having the right to a good husband. Which, for much of human history, was what marital love was about -- giving oneself for the good of the other. If there is some genuine affection, that's nice too, but Bertram has now dedicated and devoted himself to his wife, as he should have from the beginning. All's well that ends well.; 3/17/21, 11:18 PM
Yancey Ward said...: It is hilarious watching people like Ken B and Inga taking victory laps when nothing they recommended last March and supported actually worked in the real world. We know none of it worked because the real world experiments were actually done by differential policy between different jurisdictions. The only thing that worked was stopping the virus at the border and keeping that border closed, something that only island nations were able to accomplish, and only those that acted early enough. There was never a chance for Europe or the Americas to do this- too many ports of entry and too many porous land borders.

If every country had followed the Swedish policies, for example, guess what- no difference in mortality or cases. There were better policies available than Sweden's, but from a practical point of view, Sweden was probably the best you could hope for in a first world country. The optimal policy would have been for the elderly and sick to isolate for 3 months and encourage the rest of us to get the virus ASAP- a policy proposal that the UK initially considered, but abandoned because they were afraid they would end up with 100K+ dead. We have known the true infection fatality rate for almost a year now- it is under 0.5%, and for people under age of 65 much lower than that- such a person is far more likely to die in an automobile accident.

Our policies were just foolish, and it was the foolish that supported them.; 3/17/21, 11:18 PM
effinayright said...: There are few long time commenters who have been missing since March and then more went missing during the summer. I wonder what happened to them? AngelDyne was one who said early on that she thought Covid was real and not a hoax, or just the flu, while others here were still calling it the “flu”. Last I heard from ExiledonMainStreet, she was saying how she was going to bars with no mask and lots of people.

AngelDyne
ExiledonMainStreet
SeeingRed
Alan
******************

I guess you're the last to know: All of them died horrible covid deaths in NY, NJ, CA and MA nursing homes.

There: that make you happ(ier)?; 3/17/21, 11:18 PM
Iman said...: Blogger mockturtle said...
Aren't most massage parlors staffed by Asians?

Is this some sort of challenge to personally survey as many establishments as is humanly possible?; 3/17/21, 11:19 PM
Francisco D said...: Karen B

Please explain your projected death rate from COVID from a year ago. That is assuming that you have finally grasped the concept of rates. Age stratified rates are even more interesting. Tell us about that. This is probably the fourth or fifth time I have asked you and have yet to receive a response.

The Resident Idiot made the profound announcement that "people are still dying" as if this is unique in human history. My question to the audience and to Karen is whether they are dying WITH COVID or FROM COVID (i.e., the WuFlu). The incentives given to hospitals to report COVID cases has created significant over reporting.

I do not address that question to the Resident Idiot because discussing things with her is akin to teaching pigs to sing. It hurts your ears and just frustrates the pig.

Discuss among yourselves.; 3/17/21, 11:19 PM
Mark said...: I agree that there is a focus problem there, wildswan, when you get both the title and name of a main character wrong.; 3/17/21, 11:20 PM
Inga said...: Ah the drunk, Dr.Lecter shows up again. Ate any good spleens with fava beans lately? I know you’ve been enjoying the Chianti.; 3/17/21, 11:24 PM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Yancey Ward said...

I binged season 5 of The Expanse the last few days. Very impressive season. Well written with only very minor plot holes and implausibilities. Quite a bit better than the previous season, in my opinion.

Season 4 definitely suffered from the lack of major threats and villains, it was kind of a let down after the story arc of the first three seasons. Marco Inaros is a much more satisfying as a bad guy.; 3/17/21, 11:31 PM
Hey Skipper said...: Ken B:

As that link I provided you clearly shows, case rates are correlated with season and climatic region.

They are not at all correlated with diktats.

It is about this point that you, and Inga, should realize that fatalities are meaningless, and predictions of them even more so.

Masks and restrictions had no impact on the course of the pandemic, those who were going to die were going to die, no matter how many that turns out to be, and regardless of our pathetic countermeasures.

CA and FL's case and fatality rates are nearly identical, despite FL having a much older population, and CA imposing far harsher restrictions.

Explain that.

You can't, and you won't even try.

Lesson learned: do not feed trolls.; 3/17/21, 11:32 PM
effinayright said...: Yancey Ward said...
Pretty much everything you write, Inga, is literally false these days. Yes, I got one thing wrong, but you are wrong pretty much every single day of your life. If you didn't live in America, you would probably be dead from stupidity.

***************

Analogy:

"Even a Blind Pig occasionally finds a truffle"--that would be Inga, but only rarely, perhaps during lucid intervals. Otherwise she's ga-ga, and "out of it".

Inga gets up on the "wrong" side of the bed EVERY morning.

Compare:

"I don't make many mistakes, but when I do, it's a doozy"----that would be Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, but it applies equally to Yancey Ward.

Now, if you had a choice between the two when you need important advice, who ya gonna call?; 3/17/21, 11:34 PM
Inga said...: Hey Skipper,

People in CA and Florida did not follow mask mandates. There may have been a mask mandate in CA, but people were not being compliant there either. People everywhere were growing tired and letting their guard down and bringing home Covid to infect their families, where the greatest transmission happened.; 3/17/21, 11:38 PM
Inga said...: Nor did people strictly follow social distancing in either CA or FL. People were still getting to getting together for family and friend visits and infecting each other. Most of the infections were happening in family groups. People were not practicing social distancing as was recommended, they were having functions with people outside of their own household family group.; 3/17/21, 11:43 PM
effinayright said...: Couple of weeks ago I heard "Afternoon Delight" broadcast in our local supermarket.

I wondered how many shoppers understood the lyrics.

And, there was that episode in "Arrested Development", where a father-daughter team sang the song together in a some sort of contest.

Ick!

Or, these days: "COOL!; 3/17/21, 11:43 PM
Hey Skipper said...: @Inga: People in CA and Florida did not follow mask mandates.

Nonsense. Go look at the IHME website for individual states. It has mask compliance in CA at 85%, ID, where I live, 55%.

Case trajectories for the two states are exactly the same.

I don't spend much time in CA, but in Boise, I'd estimate mask compliance in public places, until the last couple weeks, at very nearly 100%.

Yet case rates peaked in early December, and have sunk like a greased safe since.

That's what needs explaining, which you refuse to do. And when you do, please at least give a nod in the direction of Occams Razor.; 3/17/21, 11:44 PM
Hey Skipper said...: Edit: I meant to add that IHME shows widely varying mask compliance. I don't know where they get their data, but it bears no resemblance to extensive first hand observation.

I'll put it another way: assuming 100% compliance from the beginning, how many fewer cases would there have been? Show your work; use graphs, charts, and equations where appropriate.; 3/17/21, 11:47 PM
effinayright said...: Inga said...
Nor did people strictly follow social distancing in either CA or FL. People were still getting to getting together for family and friend visits and infecting each other. Most of the infections were happening in family groups. People were not practicing social distancing as was recommended, they were having functions with people outside of their own household family group.
&&&&&&&&&

Buncha unsupported assertions there, Inga. How a bout some real data about multiple covid cases and deaths within the same family?

Why aren't the geezers in FLA nursing homes dropping like Muscae Domesticae?; 3/17/21, 11:50 PM
Inga said...: Hey Skipper, people were not wearing masks in their homes during their get togethers where they had people attending who were not part of their household group. I know several people who got infected from birthday parties, etc. they claimed , “Oh but it was just my family!” But family members from a different household group. People were wearing mask below their noses, or around their chins.; 3/17/21, 11:50 PM
n.n said...: Planned Parent/hood is one of the few venues and practices with excess deaths on a year over year basis and from the beginning of the pandemic. Social contagion spreading misinformation and disfinformation driving herd stampedes and cross-contamination in medical facilities. Masks that, after discounting for chance, are as effective as flipping a coin or actually increase infections in a population. Denying and stigmatizing early, effective, inexpensive treatments that mitigate disease progression. Collateral damage forced by restrictive mandates, especially shelter in place policies that force people into environments with the greenhouse effect, depriving people of social contact, and natural nutrient sources.

Postoperative wound infections and surgical face masks: a controlled study

Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses; 3/17/21, 11:57 PM
Inga said...: Hey Skipper, at this point all the data that either you or I present won’t convince anyone of anything they don’t want to believe. Getting into the game of “who can find the best data” is just a monumental waste of time. There are mounds and mounds of conflicting data out there.; 3/17/21, 11:58 PM
n.n said...: Normalizing fat is beautiful is a comorbidity, past, present, and progressive.; 3/17/21, 11:59 PM
n.n said...: If you didn't have as many in the elderly population, you likely did not see as many elder CoVid deaths.

The statistics, starting from the cruise ship, is that disease progression and mortality is correlated with comorbidities correlated with age.; 3/18/21, 12:01 AM
Inga said...: Also Hey Skipper, the numbers of cases dropping can partially be because in nursing homes they were already vaccinating the residents in December.; 3/18/21, 12:10 AM
Mark said...: I never knew that Ralphie is in Elf. And apparently has had a long successful career.; 3/18/21, 12:15 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I think part of the problem that idiots like Ken B and Inga have is that they live in lockdown/work from home jurisdictions full of Karens like themselves. It is difficult, perhaps, for both of them to understand how different life has been since last Spring here in states like Tennessee or Florida when compared to Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, California, Illinois, Minnesota, etc.

There are no lockdowns here in Tennessee, and there haven't been since the first week of last May. There are no mask mandates either at the state level. The schools have been open since the beginning of the school year. We can go eat in restaurants with no problems, and have been able to do so since last May. People mostly work at their places of employment unless they work for the blue city and blue county governments. I do the shopping once a week, and the Walmart is nuts to butts, and has been since last Spring. You wouldn't know there was a pandemic here if no one wore a mask. And here is the thing- Tennessee is no worse off virus wise, exactly as I predicted would happen last Spring. We get the same virus results without the panic driven idiot government policies.

The various mandates don't work- if you can't understand that by now, I guess you never will. And I will warn you- don't expect the vaccine to work for very long. Most old people don't produce much in the way of IGG antibodies- they will still be vulnerable with or without a vaccine. You had better hope the vaccine works well enough on the young to stop the mutated strains, too. Our experience with flu vaccines should make a person doubtful that these COVID vaccines will be all that effective. Healthcare workers are likely going to have to take these vaccines on a regular basis. The virus is endemic, it isn't going away just because we developed this one set of vaccines.; 3/18/21, 12:20 AM
Drago said...: Russia Collusion Dead Ender Truther Inga: "Nor did people strictly follow social distancing in either CA or FL. People were still getting to getting together for family and friend visits and infecting each other."

Self-anointed mass populace mind reader extraordinaire Inga is now branching out and getting into the "mind" of individual virus cells.

Thats how Inga knows what happened to everyone.; 3/18/21, 12:22 AM
BudBrown said...: This woman got the covid. She's 95 and been on the verge of death for 2 years in a nursing home. Lousy heart, lungs, the works. All she had was a headache for a couple of days.; 3/18/21, 12:24 AM
Yancey Ward said...: For the Karens; 3/18/21, 12:26 AM
Yancey Ward said...: The conclusion of Tucker's essay:

"The lockdowners committed themselves to something previously unthinkable. To admit error at this point is too intellectually and psychologically upsetting. Regardless, we can be confident that as the years roll on, there will be a growing consensus that, as Jay Bhattacharya has said, lockdowns are the worst policy error of our lifetimes and many generations."

Amen.; 3/18/21, 12:30 AM
narciso said...: Ralphie (from christmas carol) was the bals scientist in ironman; 3/18/21, 12:32 AM
narciso said...: Bald, also spiderman far from home.; 3/18/21, 12:33 AM
Yancey Ward said...: LOL! That was Peter Billingsley! I have seen the movie a couple of times, and I remember the scene where Jeff Bridges is dressing the guy down for not being able to do what Tony Stark did in a cave. I never realized who that was.; 3/18/21, 12:36 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Here is the scene.; 3/18/21, 12:38 AM
narciso said...: Indeed around that time bridges was in tron, against all odds and a few other films downeys career was starting out his collapse after less than zero was a few yeas into the future.; 3/18/21, 12:39 AM
Yancey Ward said...: The first thing I ever saw Robert Downey Jr. in was a film staring Terri Garr called "Firstborn". He had a small role, but I hadn't remembered him in it. The first film that I actually remember him in is either "Weird Science" or "Back to School"- I just don't remember which film I saw first.; 3/18/21, 12:46 AM
Rt41Rebel said...: @Yancy

Exactly. We are in full tourist mode here, and everything has been open since last May. My parents in their mid 80s go out to dinner 4 times a week. They have not been vaccinated yet. They don't care, they know that they have maybe one or two more years before they are in a nursing home just waiting to die. We wear masks here to make others feel better. The median age of full time residents is 61. Nobody cares or buys the hype. I haven't seen my town or the state doing any worse than any other state under lockdown, although I do admit we do better because we're gifted with sunshine, heat, and plenty of outdoor living.; 3/18/21, 12:59 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I warned about this just last week. It looks like other people noticed the exact same thing I did about their data and forced the paper to be withdrawn until a new analysis can be done. I explicitly pointed out that their analysis fell apart as time went on. I wrote that it appeared they cut off the study and tried to rush it to publication because the differences in infection rates between those jurisdictions with mask mandates and those withou had likely been rushing towards zero or even into negative territory (where mask mandate places had higher rates). I based this solely on actually looking at the data for the different jurisdictions listed- the way they cherry picked the data suggested to me that the difference were very large last Summer, but by October when they had stopped collecting the data, the differences were down to where they reported- almost zero, but not quite. All the data since October would suggest to me that there is no difference, and maybe a negative one since it was the blue states with the steepest increases in COVID cases after October, including the blue cities in red states.; 3/18/21, 1:16 AM
Mr. Forward said...: Green beer will make the virus wish it were dead.; 3/18/21, 1:35 AM
gadfly said...: Is that Muskrat Susie or Muskrat Sam there in Muskrat Land?; 3/18/21, 1:57 AM
Ralph L said...: Nature on PBS was about foxes. When I tuned in, they were talking about foxes in Madison.; 3/18/21, 2:22 AM
gadfly said...: Humperdink said...
John F. Kerry flew commercial today. Big surprise. Without a mask. No surprise.

Writing for the Boston Herald in October 1979, Mr. Kerry said: “I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real.”

On the floor of the Senate on March 27, 1986, Sen. John Kerry issued this statement: “I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the President of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared — seared — in me.”

Now if he could only remember who the president was in 1968, perhaps he will recall that he has hired on for the new job of God-in-Charge when he makes generating CO2 a no-no.

But he surely is God if he can board a commercial aircraft without a mask.; 3/18/21, 2:36 AM
Humperdink said...: John Forbes Kerry, as he boarded: "Reporting for duty". Or did he say that when he married Teresa Heinz? My mind is fuzzy also.; 3/18/21, 4:37 AM
Humperdink said...: Tucker Carlson had Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, on last night. According to Bukele, the population loss in his country due to Biden's open borders policy is killing his country economically. Paraphrasing his words: bad for the US and terrible for El Salvador.

Is there anything the Commie-Pinkos can't screw up when in charge?; 3/18/21, 4:48 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Inga,
At this point, all available evidence points towards masks at best not helping at all, and at worst actually making things slightly worse. Those of you, including the government officials, who continue to deny this are just increasing the level of distrust many have.; 3/18/21, 5:51 AM
Original Mike said...: Yancey - Haven't you noticed a pattern? Karen B throws his chum in the water and then retreats to watch you rail against him all night. He's using you.; 3/18/21, 5:51 AM
Humperdink said...: No one can replace Rush, but Dan Bongino is going to give it a whirl.; 3/18/21, 5:53 AM
Humperdink said...: The is hilarious. The White House is now issuing doctored videos of Biden interacting with the press.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/03/its_not_possible_that_the_white_house_is_faking_biden_press_moments_is_it.html; 3/18/21, 5:56 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: Iman said...
Seems like that Muskrat Love song was in play at around the same time as Afternoon Delight, by the infamous Starlight Vocal Band. I could’ve wrong, but I seem to recall getting aurally assaulted by the first and then the second was well along before I could change the radio station. Truly saccharine.

As bad as that was, this: in 1969, a year with some of the greatest music around (don't agree, at least do a search on it), the number one song on the year-end 100 Top Songs (at least in the NE) was "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies.

THEOLDMAN

I could do a playlist of 1969 alone. Think I will try. In other news, got my $1400, going to go to Dollar General instead of Dollar Tree.; 3/18/21, 5:57 AM
Original Mike said...: "The is hilarious. The White House is now issuing doctored videos of Biden interacting with the press."

Pathetic is the word that comes to mind.; 3/18/21, 6:10 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Civilian masks should be disposed of as Medical Waste if this virus is so deadly.; 3/18/21, 7:06 AM
gilbar said...: Igna said....PEOPLE ARE STILL DYING!!!!!!!!!

and who's responsible for those?
As we ALL KNOW,
President Trump was PERSONALLY Responsible for the 400 thousand that died on his watch
because it was his watch (or something)

SO....
WHO is responsible for the 150 thousand that have died on "President" Jo Biden's watch?; 3/18/21, 7:11 AM
Humperdink said...: "People are still dying." When will it end?; 3/18/21, 7:19 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Who killed more New Yorkers, Bin Laden or Cuomo? Asking for a friend.; 3/18/21, 7:23 AM
gilbar said...: compare covid mask mandates to communism

True Communism has never been properly implemented

Mask mandates are EXACTLY the Same, in EVERY way
same cast of characters, same script

"Sure, there's no statistical differences between Florida and California...
Even though California is STILL locked down.. 'cause the mandate wasn't Properly implemented.; 3/18/21, 7:25 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Statistics blurred by mixing Covid and Flu deaths means death counts are meaningless.; 3/18/21, 7:25 AM
gilbar said...: If ONLY we could FORCE people to be Good Citizens! But NO! "People are still dying."

It's just this pandemic and that lying son of a bitch, Trump!; 3/18/21, 7:28 AM
iowan2 said...: Nor did people strictly follow social distancing in either CA or FL. People were still getting to getting together for family and friend visits and infecting each other. Most of the infections were happening in family groups. People were not practicing social distancing as was recommended, they were having functions with people outside of their own household family group.

This so much fun.

Here we have what some consider facts. (for a moment you have to ignore the absence of evidence)

logically the population would see a spike 2 weeks following events where lots of people got together to celebrate.
Christmas? Would that be such an event were people of different "pods" gathered together in close proximity?
Incubation period is 9 to 14 days?
We can be confident that 14 days after a big event we would see a spike in cases, then a couple of weeks later a spike in deaths.

Now, all the experts here have to do, is align all of their predictions with the real world statistics that show the decline of cases started on January 8, 2021.
Two weeks after Christmas.

I will also ask again, to make a point, not because I expect an answer from the disingenuous Karen's here. What is the goal, and by what metrics are measuring success?; 3/18/21, 7:29 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: BTW this is significant Tucker reportage...
https://mediarightnews.com/tucker-carlson-guest-describes-gun-battles-near-the-southern-border-between-rival-cartels/
Cartels now in Full Automatic firefights!; 3/18/21, 7:35 AM
Humperdink said...: Just checked the local paper. Egad, people are still dying. Not sure what to make of it.; 3/18/21, 7:36 AM
chickelit said...: I will also ask again, to make a point, not because I expect an answer from the disingenuous Karen's here. What is the goal, and by what metrics are measuring success?

The goal is to mandate compliance in and of itself. Such behavior is transferable to other social experiments and scenarios too numerous to mention. Enforcement of mandates is the current sticking point which is why snitch culture is on the rise.; 3/18/21, 7:37 AM
tim in vermont said...: "... share the love. With comments.”

LOL, which blog are you talking about?

"What is the goal, and by what metrics are measuring success?”

To get as many people as possible alive to the point where vaccination brings the pandemic to background levels. You knew that of course, which makes me wonder why you pretend that you didn’t.

Part of the problem is that the left is using this is a Cloward Piven moment of course. But stats show that mask mandates reduce infections, and even without mandates many many people wore masks anyway, and the success of those efforts at limiting the spread of the virus does not show up in the measurements, but it only stands to reason tha the overall effectiveness of wearing masks is higher than that shown by studies that only look at mandates.

As far as demanding logistically impossible “perfect studies”? Well, we are in a pandemic. We know arsenic is poisonous based on observational evidence, nobody is demanding that we get more perfect data by giving various doses of arsenic to study volunteers so that we can scientifically determine the precise lethality.; 3/18/21, 7:37 AM
chickelit said...: We know arsenic is poisonous based on observational evidence, nobody is demanding that we get more perfect data by giving various doses of arsenic to study volunteers so that we can scientifically determine the precise lethality.

That's what rats and LD50's are for.; 3/18/21, 7:47 AM
iowan2 said...: ... means death counts are meaningless.

No need to post the first part of the sentence. This part is the undeniable truth

Biden centered his campaign on his superior knowledge covid and the proper response.
Biden declared on December 2cnd, that there would be another 250,000 deaths by January 1st

"During a virtual roundtable Wednesday with small business owners, Biden warned December could be the hardest time of the pandemic yet.

“We’re likely to lose another 250,000 people dead between now and January,” Biden said. "

258,242 was the death count on December 2cnd. Do the math, exactly what statistics was Biden, the expert, using to make that prediction.
Deaths as of 3-16-21? 508,142. This is my surprised face, learning Biden was wrong by 2.5 months.; 3/18/21, 7:50 AM
DavidUW said...: Of course I said numerous times until I got sick of dealing with the intractable denial, the distancing, and mask wearing were buying us time to get effective treatments and vaccines.
>>
Idiot Inga.

It bought nothing but higher unemployment and more than a year of schooling pissed away.

0.5%. that's all that separates California from Florida you moron.; 3/18/21, 8:02 AM
DavidUW said...: Idiot Inga:

Nor did people strictly follow social distancing in either CA or FL.
>>
False.

Google mobility data indicate that FL mobility declined about 15% overall while CA declined more than 30%.

Do you ever look at actual data or just regurgitate the legacy media's lies?; 3/18/21, 8:05 AM
320Busdriver said...: The demoRATS in Congress hate America and the American people.

I know this because of the disaster they have allowed to develop on the border.

They are despicable humans.; 3/18/21, 8:15 AM
Hey Skipper said...: @Tim in Vermont: But stats show that mask mandates reduce infections, and even without mandates many many people wore masks anyway, and the success of those efforts at limiting the spread of the virus does not show up in the measurements, but it only stands to reason that the overall effectiveness of wearing masks is higher than that shown by studies that only look at mandates.

No, stats do not show mask mandates reduce infections. I think it was you who linked to a study showing masks intercept viral particles. You clearly didn't read the study. The reduction is true — for particles embedded in droplets. But for pre/asymptomatic people, who are exhaling aerosols, there was no measurable reduction in expelled viral particles. It's on page 17, if memory serves.

It is here where I note you are leaning on "stands to reason". Make the strong assumption that masks intercept 70% of viral particles whether in droplets or aerosols. In a population of 10,000 people, all of whom are wearing masks, compared to an identical population wearing no masks, over time do they experience a) 70% fewer infections, b) 91% fewer, or c) the same number of infections as the unmasked population.

Inga, Ken B, you can join in.; 3/18/21, 8:15 AM
Fernandinande said...: This French hillclimb made me wonder if it counts when the motorcycle gets to the top but the rider doesn't.; 3/18/21, 8:26 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Russia Russia Inag Maddow-Hillary lair - somehow assumes we give a crap about her and her lies.; 3/18/21, 8:31 AM
iowan2 said...: "What is the goal, and by what metrics are measuring success?”

To get as many people as possible alive to the point where vaccination brings the pandemic to background levels. You knew that of course, which makes me wonder why you pretend that you didn’t.
My Short answer; Prevent death.
Why do you insist on cluttering up the obvious with meaningless filler?

But actions prove that is not the goal
If that was the goal, ALL, 100% of the vulnerable people would be vaccinated. My disabled brother in law, 73 years old, mentally challenged, with no bladder, living in a group home, just got his 1st shot last week. All the teachers in the county have had both doses since the end of February. Also the teachers in the county have been in the class room since early August...with no spikes that might have triggered closing buildings.

So you are wrong, saying saving the lives is a goal. Because the most vulnerable were not at the front of the line.

If saving lives was important, we would have administered just one dose. Doubling the number immunized.
With the ability to re-evaluate what is needed this summer to bring those single does persons up to full immunity.

Now. Try again. What is the goal?; 3/18/21, 8:47 AM
Hey Skipper said...: @Inga:

Nor did people strictly follow social distancing in either CA or FL. People were still getting to getting together for family and friend visits and infecting each other. Most of the infections were happening in family groups. People were not practicing social distancing as was recommended, they were having functions with people outside of their own household family group.

People in CA and Florida did not follow mask mandates. There may have been a mask mandate in CA, but people were not being compliant there either.

These are completely evidence free assertions. You have absolutely no idea what people in CA or FL did in private. Moreover, you have made an admission against interest: if mask effectiveness is reliant upon people wearing them in their own households, then you have as much as stated mask mandates are worthless. People will not wear them in their own houses.

Hey Skipper, at this point all the data that either you or I present won’t convince anyone of anything they don’t want to believe. Getting into the game of “who can find the best data” is just a monumental waste of time. There are mounds and mounds of conflicting data out there.

The difference is that I provided actual, no joke, nationwide data that you, Ken B and Tim in Vermont have resolutely avoided addressing, while you traffic in evidence free assertions.

If masks are effective, and private social gatherings are spreader events, then the sudden increase in unmasked people in close proximity at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and the Super Bowl must show up in case rates.

They don't.

Remember the brou ha ha over the big celebrations following the Bucs winning the Super Bowl, and how that was going to be a SuperSpreader™ event? Twenty three infections were traced back to those celebrations, for a rate virtually identical to the US over the same period (about one in 4200).

So address the data. Explain how every state in the US experienced a steep drop in case rates in the period between late November and early January. Despite widely varying mandates and mask requirements.

And no, vaccinations aren't an explanation. Here's a prediction: vaccinations will make no meaningful impact in the progress of Commie Cough. Cases plus infections amounts to somewhere between 120 and 150 million. People who aren't susceptible in the first place another, rough guess, 130 million.

That means about 82% of jabs are going into arms that won't benefit from them.; 3/18/21, 8:47 AM
iowan2 said...: Yancey - Haven't you noticed a pattern? Karen B throws his chum in the water and then retreats to watch you rail against him all night. He's using you.

Yes I understand, my observation tells me Yancey is more than aware.
I wont speak about others motivations.
I responded, once last night. Came back this morning.
What I found was exactly what I knew I would find.
Responses using statistics, studies, hot links. All exposing the Karen's as Karens. Emotional butterflies unable to even crack open a window to look at at reality, let alone embrace reality.
Also unsurprising, still dont know what goal, concerning covid, we are shooting for.; 3/18/21, 8:58 AM
gilbar said...: but it only stands to reason

but it only stands to reason; that Communism WOULD work, if people just IMPLEMENTED it correctly!; 3/18/21, 9:00 AM
MadisonMan said...: Google mobility data indicate that FL mobility declined about 15% overall while CA declined more than 30%.
Here's a reason I frequently leave my phone at home. Google does not need to know where I'm going.; 3/18/21, 9:05 AM
Inga said...: At this point, as far as I’m concerned, I’m not arguing for anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. Wear a mask or don’t, distance or don’t, get a vaccine or don’t. The “data” will be used to try to prove a certain point of view and as we are still in the pandemic a full and more comprehensive picture won’t be available for a couple of years after the pandemic is over, IMO.

Numbers of cases and deaths have fallen obviously as we all can see by the reporting, people are getting vaccinated and plenty of people have immunity from having been infected. I’m going to hope that’s enough to keep the case numbers and deaths falling.

Arguing about Covid, what it is and how it’s affected the population is about as worthwhile an endeavor as arguing about climate change. Denialists have their opinions and data and the other side has theirs and until very obvious in your face things happen no one will agree. IMO, over 550,000 Covid deaths is pretty obvious, but apparently to some it’s not.; 3/18/21, 9:14 AM
DavidUW said...: Here's a reason I frequently leave my phone at home. Google does not need to know where I'm going.
>>

Very few people do as you do.

But I hear ya.; 3/18/21, 9:16 AM
DavidUW said...: The “data” will be used to try to prove a certain point of view and as we are still in the pandemic a full and more comprehensive picture won’t be available for a couple of years after the pandemic is over, IMO.
>>
Ah yes, the shut up and forget about how wrong Inga was statement.; 3/18/21, 9:18 AM
I'm Not Sure said...: "Now. Try again. What is the goal?"

To keep you from knowing what the goal is. If people know the destination, it's harder to get them on the train.; 3/18/21, 9:20 AM
Francisco D said...: gilbar said...compare covid mask mandates to communism

That is an intriguing thought.

Neither were ever properly implemented of course.; 3/18/21, 9:28 AM
Inga said...: It’s human nature to want to be right. Declaring that all is known and can be proven by available data is a fool's errand. It’s like global warming believers saying that there is no further scientific evidence and that global warming due to greenhouse gases is absolutely happening right now and that the current data proves it to be so, so shut up I’m right and you’re wrong. We won’t know who was right and who was wrong for years.

We’ve learned so much more about the nature of Covid, the spike protein, how it’s spread, but we still don’t know all that we need to know and crowing about who is right or wrong, or who is doing what for what purposes (nefarious or not) seems like another fool’s errand. Believe what you will, I’m more concerned now with my immediate family and their well being. Any further voiced concern for the general population gets misconstrued as attempts to control people.; 3/18/21, 9:46 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “And no, vaccinations aren't an explanation. Here's a prediction: vaccinations will make no meaningful impact in the progress of Commie Cough. Cases plus infections amounts to somewhere between 120 and 150 million. People who aren't susceptible in the first place another, rough guess, 130 million.”

How then would you vaccinate, if you were in charge, and would you, if you had vaccines available?

I ask this out of curiosity. Today, I am getting the second Moderna vaccine shot. Regardless of what everyone says here, I would risk it for a number of reasons. I am a recently hatched septuagenarian with some comorbidities, but not a susceptibility to side effects. It might keep it out of the house where my partner stays, who is susceptible, for unknown reasons, to all sorts of things (her A- blood versus my O+ blood?) But probably more that we have my kid’s wedding coming up in VT in Sept, and that state requires it (hopefully won’t by then - but a lot of leftists there) or a ridiculous 2 week quarantine, plus I usually see a good friend, whom I dated 50 years ago, several times a winter. Not this winter, because she is living with her 99 1/2 year old mother, whom I also like seeing. Her Younger sister and husband down from Alaska for the winter, and can’t see her either, since their mother is now alternating daughters. The plan right now is for my partner to get the vaccine with the least side effects in late summer, if VT doesn’t moderate their requirements by then. My partner missed half my kid’s HS graduation, and both undergrad and PhD graduations - she is not going to miss their wedding.

I am fairly happy with the vaccine priorities here in AZ - essentially healthcare workers, first responders, and the really old (>=75) first, less old
(>=65) next, along with teachers, etc. at that point, it should be near risk less to fully reopen the schools (for the tender sensibilities of the teachers), to build up the population of previously infected so that we can quickly approach herd immunity.

Here in PHX, the lockdown hasn’t been that bad for most of us (restaurant and movie theater employees were hit hard). You still have to wear face diapers, and do some social distancing, but I don’t remember having a day since we got here in October when I didn’t go into a store or restaurant. My partner calls it getting “aired out”. I get out every day, pretty much without fail. Walmart and Costco meter people going in and out, and the restaurants have somewhat limited seating (but my partner prefers take out, despite living right by the best selection of good restaurants in AZ right by the house). In the last 5 months, I can remember only twice waiting outside to get into one of the big stores, and that was in 2020. My biggest problem has been not being able to see those friends up north of here with the 99 year old mother. And sometimes having to dig around the back seat for a new mask, when all the masks up front have disappeared - esp when the back seat is down when I am hauling something.

I look at vaccines mostly as a way to make the statists, leftists, and bureaucrats get out of our faces (figuratively and literally). Sure, governments in statist hells, like CA and NY, may continue to impose ridiculous things, but rational people don’t live there, if they possibly can avoid it, and we are financially capable of voting with our feet, if we have to. But we won’t have to - AZ hasn’t been bad, and another month until we move back to MT for the summer, where we finally got rid of our Dem Governor, in a county with less population density than WY.; 3/18/21, 10:05 AM
Hey Skipper said...: @Inga: At this point, as far as I’m concerned, I’m not arguing for anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. Wear a mask or don’t, distance or don’t, get a vaccine or don’t. The “data” will be used to try to prove a certain point of view and as we are still in the pandemic a full and more comprehensive picture won’t be available for a couple of years after the pandemic is over, IMO.

You are mischaracterizing your own position. You have strenuously argued that masks are effective in limiting the spread of C-19, and charged those who disagreed as being science deniers.

At this point in the pandemic's progress, there are plenty of opportunities to test that assertion against reality, every one of which you have completely failed to grasp. The sudden, nearly synchronous, plummeting in case rates demands an explanation. The complete lack of any evidence for widely and hysterically hyped SuperSpreader™ events demands an explanation.

I didn't invent the data, and I sure as heck didn't cherry pick it.

Does the data justify continued mandates, or not? How many people did the mandates save? If there isn't some data supporting either of these questions (and it is stunning how silent mandate manic governors have been on the goals for their mandates, or the expected benefits of them), then the conclusion you must be willing to accept is that they have done nothing to impede C-19.

This is important. If that conclusion is true, then the absolutely essential takeaway from the last year is that all measures against an infectious URI, other than rapid vaccine development, are futile. No, worse than futile: they gain nothing, and damage a great deal. And as for vaccines, if their development takes more than about eight months, they will be too late to make any meaningful difference.

Which means preparation for future pandemics should focus on rapid development and distribution. Oh, and stockpiling "Keep Calm and Carry On" t-shirts.

I noticed you dodged this, as well: It is here where I note you are leaning on "stands to reason". Make the strong assumption that masks intercept 70% of viral particles whether in droplets or aerosols. In a population of 10,000 people, all of whom are wearing masks, compared to an identical population wearing no masks, over time do they experience a) 70% fewer infections, b) 91% fewer, or c) the same number of infections as the unmasked population.

Why is that? I granted the most optimistic assumptions for masking, after all.

The correct answer is probably d) both b & c.

Why? Assume each exhalation of pre/asymptomatic individuals contains 10,000 viral particles, and that 100% mask wearing means uninfected people are exposed to only 9% (the remainder two stages of 70% filtering) of the original viral load, or about 900 viral particles.

C-19 is highly contagious — the slope of the case curve in the fall proves that. That means it doesn't take very many viral particles to start an infection. How many is not many? Two? Twenty? 500?

No one knows. But an explanation completely consistent with nationwide data is that even granting the most optimistic assumptions about mask effectiveness, they don't block enough viral particles to prevent infections among the susceptible.

This is important, too. Experts blathering on about how essential masks are to protecting ourselves from C-19 encourages people to do things they might otherwise not do if they were to be told that masks aren't effective enough.

Mindlessly invoking the precautionary principle under the guise of "it stands to reason" isn't merely a matter of opinion, it has real consequences.; 3/18/21, 10:30 AM
Inga said...: “You are mischaracterizing your own position. You have strenuously argued that masks are effective in limiting the spread of C-19, and charged those who disagreed as being science deniers.”

I still believe masks are effective, but I’m tired of trying to prove it when any studies presented are not believed. And yes I’ve linked to studies too as have Ken and Tim. If “my” science doesn’t agree with “your” science then we are at loggerheads. As I said yesterday, there is a massive amount of conflicting data out there. I’m not willing to debate it any longer, people who voice concern for the general population are painted as Karens or worse.

Nah, henceforth I’m taking care of my own family and stay focused on their safety and health and wishing you the best for yours.; 3/18/21, 10:45 AM
Inga said...: “Mindlessly invoking the precautionary principle under the guise of "it stands to reason" isn't merely a matter of opinion, it has real consequences.”

When a case is argued in court, isn’t it argued in a way that depends on the reasonableness of the judge or jury as well as the evidence? I don’t think Ken or Tim argue mindlessly and solely depend on reason, although when wading through massive amounts of data, being reasonable helps.; 3/18/21, 10:55 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Original Mike,

Of course I know what Karen B is doing, but I won't let blood libels lay unchallenged. Karen B was wrong about pretty much everything- the data is absolutely conclusive in this regard. The people who were wrong about the lethality and spread of the virus are not the cause of the lethality and spread of the virus since our recommendations for policy clearly didn't change anything in that regard- jurisdictions that followed policies I recommended did no worse and often did better than those that followed policies I opposed. This is the bug up Karen B's ass- he has never offered a mea culpa on this- he continues to pretend we flattened the curve even though all the curves look the same regardless of the policies enacted.; 3/18/21, 11:03 AM
DavidUW said...: I still believe masks are effective,
>>
Yes, you do Idiot Inga, because it's your one true faith.

It's not science.

It's not 70M+ person-years of real world experience.

It's just your silly stupid religion.; 3/18/21, 11:29 AM
Hey Skipper said...: @Inga: I still believe masks are effective, but I’m tired of trying to prove it when any studies presented are not believed. And yes I’ve linked to studies too as have Ken and Tim.

I think this is the study Tim cited.. On the last page:

When a mannequin exposed to the virus was equipped with various masks (cotton mask, surgical mask, or N95 mask), the uptake of the virus droplets/aerosols was reduced. A cotton mask led to an approximately 20% to 40% reduction in virus uptake compared to no mask (Fig. 2B). The N95 mask had the highest protective efficacy (approximately 80% to 90% reduction) of the various masks examined; however, infectious virus penetration was measurable even when the N95 mask was completely fitted to the face with adhesive tape(Fig. 2B). In contrast, when a mask was attached to the mannequin that released virus, cotton and surgical masks blocked more than 50% of the virus transmission, whereas the N95 mask showed considerable protective efficacy (Fig. 2C). There was a synergistic effect when both the virus receiver and virus spreader wore masks (cotton masks or surgical masks) to prevent the transmission of infective droplets/aerosols (Fig. 2D and E).

We next tested the protective efficacy of masks when the amount of exhaled virus was increased. The viral load was augmented to 108 PFU and exhaled by the spreader; then the uptake of the virus droplets/aerosols was measured when various types of masks were attached to the receiver. As with the lower viral load (5 × 105 PFU) shown in Fig. 2B, the N95 mask sealed with adhesive tape showed approximately 90% protective efficacy (see Fig. 2F and G for a comparison of two N95 products). When the amount of exhaled virus was reduced to 105 PFU or 104 PFU, infectious viruses were not detected, even in the samples from the unmasked receiver (Fig. 2H and I). Viral RNA was detected in all samples; however, due to the quantitative decrease, there was no difference in protective efficacy among all of the masks, including the sealed N95 masks.

...

Importantly, medical masks (surgical masks and even N95 masks) were not able to completely block the transmission of virus droplets/aerosols even when fully sealed under the conditions that we tested. In this study, infectious SARS-CoV-2 was exhaled as droplets/aerosols and mask efficacy was examined. To allow quantification, we conducted our studies by using a relatively high dose of virus, and under these conditions, it is possible that the protective capacity of the masks was exceeded. Although the efficiency of detecting infectious virus was reduced when the amount of exhaled virus was reduced, viral RNA was detected regardless of the type of mask used.

Emphasis added.

Remember, this is a study demonstrating masks are effective. And it is completely consistent with the scenario I outlined above — high rates of filtration provide no protection against a highly contagious virus — which, in turn, is completely consistent with the real world progress of C-19.

I believe your study shows masks are effective in reducing viral transmission. However, the conclusion that reduction yields lower risk of infection has no basis in reality. The notion that infection risk is proportional to lower viral transmission has no support.

Which is where my science differs from yours. The hypothesis that masks reduce infection risk ignores the contagiousness of the virus, and requires deductive consequences that just aren't there.

There is precisely zero evidence that widespread mask wearing impeded the progress of C-19 in the slightest. Instead, with the onset of winter, it progressed rapidly through the population until it started running out of susceptible targets.

That's what the real world says.; 3/18/21, 12:09 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “Today, I am getting the second Moderna vaccine shot.”

Done. Second one was even faster. I had a 10:00 appointment, was there a couple minutes early,they took the second timers first, and I was allowed to leave at 10:13. Previous vaccine shot went into my right (dominant) shoulder. This one into the left. No bandage this time - after telling them I had forgotten to remove it the previous time, and only did it a couple days ago. No soreness - yet.

Went shooting after the shot. Range is right across the street. Yesterday, being a quasi Holliday, the wait was an hour, so I got 11 am reservations for today. Was there by 10:25, and they gave me a lane immediately.

I hate Glock sights. In the past, I have paid for someone to install after-market sights in my Glocks. Front sights are easy to replace on a Glock, if you have the right tool, which is essentially just a hexagonal nut driver. Field strip the gun - Remove the slide, then the barrel and spring. Pain with Glocks, until you figure out the trick to removing the slide. Then, just use the nut driver to remove the bolt holding in the front sight, pop the new one in, and reverse the process. Easy, and fairly fool proof (ok, you might be able to install it backwards, but that is pretty obvious). Front sights are a bit harder. You need a sight tool, which clamps the slide tightly, then you push it off to the side with a crank, and slide the new one back in. Then, you have to adjust it right to left. Easiest way I know is using a laser bore sight - a laser that sits in the bore and indicates where the gun should shoot, ignoring elevation.

I bought a set of green fiber optic sights for my 10 mm G20 bear gun last summer, and switched the front sight almost immediately, but continued to run with the horrid Glock front sights until a couple days ago. Got a front sight tool awhile back, and figured out how to use it. Early this week, I swapped the Glock rear sights for the fiber optic ones. Took several repetitions, until I got them lined up. And, amazingly, the gun shot pretty well today with the new front sight. My shots look better with the new sights, than the old, but it is purely subjective.

My problem though is that I also have a laser/flashlight on the gun. Couldn't sight the laser in, in MT, because I was shooting outdoors, and the sun washed out the laser. Turns out, the laser isn’t properly sighted. It shoots low and left. Need the adjustment tool, which is not forthcoming.

Then another problem arose. There are several standard shooting stances, the most common being Weaver (with the dominant/power leg back), and Isosceles (with both feet parallel to the target). Supposedly a lot of advantages to Isosceles, so I had been trying to move there from a modified Weaver stance. But in an Isosceles stance, the laser jumped around on the target, like crazy. Much less so in the modified Weaver stance. I am pretty sure that it is because of a familial (grandmother, father, me, brother, and my kid) tremor, mostly on my left side. It has started to intrude when typing on a keyboard, but this is the first time that I have noticed it in my non-dominant left leg. So back to Weaver, and a warning to my kid, to whom I gave a year’s membership to a shooting range for Christmas. My partner has suggested seeing a neurologist, but warned that some of the meds for these tremors have side effects. I think I will follow up next fall, since we are just a mile (east) of the Mayo Clinic here in Phoenix.; 3/18/21, 2:10 PM
Jim at said...: but you will never be able to prove that

We can and have proven it, you stupid shit.
Compare the numbers between the states that locked down and those that didn't.

There's your proof.

I don't know why I even bother. The numbers are right there in front of your face and you ignore them.; 3/18/21, 5:19 PM
Inga said...: “We can and have proven it, you stupid shit.”

Ha, you haven't ever even engaged in any such discussion, not that you’re capable of it. All you are capable of is being an asshole who acts like a tough guy on the internet. Maybe your time would be better spent teaching your wife how to cook.; 3/18/21, 5:41 PM
Hey Skipper said...: @Inga: Ha, you haven't ever even engaged in any such discussion, not that you’re capable of it.

I have engaged, you have prevaricated.; 3/18/21, 7:18 PM
Marcus Bressler said...: Inga: "denialists" BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

THEOLDMAN

The Left and it's name-calling labels, sheesh. Some of us have DIFFERENT beliefs, we don't DENY science. The Left is dead set on its course of The Narrative on all subjects and if we don't agree, we're denying science rather than denying the Left's interpretation of it.

chuckle; 3/18/21, 9:52 PM