COVID19 Factors We Should Consider/Current Events

[Subby]

Rand Paul:



Was there ever really a difference with any of them?

Only tangentially related, but this brings to mind something that Trump could have done to damage the uniparty, but never did: bully the absolute shit out of congress over "omnibus" packages. I remember that first one he signed in 2017, he looked so distressed and promised it was "only this time" because he previously insisted he wasn't going to sign it. Of course, he kept signing them anyway.

The omnibus is one of the most openly egregious things congress does. It's like a kid trying to attach toys and allowance money to his food and shelter expenses, and then insisting that if he doesn't get the former, you are starving him to death. No one in their right mind thinks these bills make sense. The establishment is very rhetorically vulnerable here, making it a perfect place to attack. Either he and his staff were too dull to spot this vulnerability, or they had other reasons to leave it alone.

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Simplicius' sitrep on the Iranian strikes is worth reading.



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A noteworth article from Haaretz:

Saying What Can't Be Said: Israel Has Been Defeated – a Total Defeat

That's a pretty good analysis from simplicius. If Iran did actually use ballistic missiles that is somewhat impressive. One thing that he also didn't touch on much was that the fog of War affects Iran too, there's no way of telling how accurate to their plans the attack was. And while they might refine their tactics for round two, this was a surprise attack. And it's rare to be able to play the surprise attack card twice successfully.

[George Christiansen]

Towards the end of knowing ourselves, I think we need to appreciate how horribly public school has fucked up our thinking. We were all more or less being indoctrinated in a minimum security state prison during the formative years of our lives. This is even true of boomers and those who went to "good schools". The subversion was still there, but it was less obvious and easier to swallow.

The number one function of public school was to evangelize judeo-secular anti-religion and it has been tremendously successful. This is how the secular Jewish elite proselytize. They proselytized the same way in Russia.

People always point to social media and technology as the reason so many people have basically become passive livestock. But it is public schools that have actually done it. Social media is just giving the passive, godless masses something to distract themselves with. Every anxiety tranquilized, and all boredoms amused.

As much as public schools may or may not suck, it is not as if private schools have done much better, if at all.

A religious school may very well prevent an anti-religious disposition, but even here I've seen them create it to a larger degree than public schools.

Pretty much every American school I know of still taught the same post WWII pseudo-history and failed to teach critical thinking and such. Although the academic content was probably borderline irrelevant for most people because they either failed to learn it, failed to retain it, or both.

I'd say the big negative influence of schools in general is the subverting of parental "ownership" of children and the overall cultural influence of mostly lefty women and other poorly raised kids. TV, Music, and such probably trump all of that anyway.

All of which has been ramped up over my lifetime.

All that said: my kids go to public school in a small town and we don't really deal with any of that stuff.

Churches, from my experience, tend to suck, from priest/pastor to parishioner, when it comes to educating and influencing adults and children alike, which leaves both a vacuum and a lack of defenses against the spirit of the age.

Most don't even seem to recognize there's a problem, much less want to do anything about it.

It would seem that "Men go crazy in congregations, but only get better one by one." is the norm.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Journalism: These two stories were published on the same day a few weeks ago �� | Not the Bee

Bro, I kid you not these two stories were published on the same exact day — one from NBC News and the other from CBS News.

Melting polar ice is slowing the Earth's rotation, with possible consequences for timekeeping

Earth is spinning faster than it used to. Clocks might have to skip a second to keep up.

And of course, the tired old plea to ignore what you actually know:

CDC report finds no link between COVID vaccine and sudden cardiac deaths in young adults: Your guide to the latest virus updates

A lot has changed since SARS-CoV-2 (the virus responsible for COVID-19) appeared on the world stage four years ago. In 2020, the novel coronavirus infected and upended the daily lives of millions of people, but today life has mostly returned to normal: Restrictions have been lifted, people are a lot less cautious and the etiquette rules around keeping yourself and others healthy aren’t so clear-cut. So if you’re confused about the current state of COVID-19 and how to reduce your risk, here’s a guide with everything you need to know — from variant- and case-tracking to the most up-to-date public health recommendations on masking, vaccines, testing and more.

But whatever you do, never forget that we'll tell you what to do, and you'd better do it.

And MSNBC apparently thinks that we should force black people to play baseball: The decline of Black players in MLB should be a warning about the war on DEI

As Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson and his pioneering contributions to the game, I can’t help but think about the fact that the league is reporting a historically low number of Black American players in its ranks: only 6%.

I think this is a teachable moment at a time when diversity efforts across various arenas (no pun intended) have come under attack. Major League Baseball, unfortunately, is a prime example of what it looks like to talk the talk without always walking the walk.

Back in 2021, sports historian and professor Louis Moore wrote about the decline of Black players in MLB — and the league’s indifference to it:

It was, and remains, a valid question. Over the past few decades, Major League Baseball has shown what it looks like to outwardly celebrate diversity (with things like Jackie Robinson Day on April 15) while thumbing your nose at it in practice.

[Jason Donaldson]

In 2020, the novel coronavirus infected and upended the daily lives of millions of people, but today life has mostly returned to normal

A very important message in an election year... Also, Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

this was a surprise attack.

What? It was trailed for at least a week. They might not have advertised the exact date and time, but everyone knew the hits were due.

IPB