Messages

1

General Comments / Re: Farewell to Ornery

« on: Today at 12:49:25 PM »

I enjoyed the additional European perspective. Take a break for as long as you like but just always know that there's a key under the mat and you're welcome back anytime for as long or as short of a time as you'd like.

On the bright side, it is something to be thankful for that the Farewell to Ornery thread can now be repurposed for people saying farewell, hopefully just for a while, as opposed to all of us having to say goodbye to Ornery forever.

2

General Comments / Re: Jussie Smollet got a sandwich

« on: December 04, 2021, 04:09:23 PM »

You just look at the first comments on this thread and it's pretty obvious there were red flags everywhere that this was a hoax and anyone with even the weakest critical eye could see it. Not one part of it made any sense at all.

Biden got taken in by this hoax just like he got sandbagged by the Taliban. Not a big deal with the hoax hate crime but losing a country was. Biden has a history of being wrong about things, both big and small and this was just another example in a long progression that continues to this day.

3

General Comments / Re: Jussie Smollet got a sandwich

« on: December 04, 2021, 03:01:54 PM »

There is all of that too, but I'm also thinking big picture, geopolitically. Looking that gullible can cost countries like it did Afghanistan. I think it's clear they actually are that gullible, Biden and Harris, but even if they aren't the perception that they are is a weakness that our adversaries will seek to exploit. It's one weakness on top of another, not being willing to make sacrifices to defend freedom as Biden demonstrated in Afghanistan which is emboldening Russia against Ukraine and China against Taiwan along with the weakness of being easily duped. There's the old saw about how the Russians are playing chess and the Chinese are playing Go and usually we'd hear how our leaders are playing checkers but that's actually overstating their gamesmanship level because they are really just playing Tic-tac-toe. And worse yet, where they should be at least able to draw, instead they are losing.

The other side has Alai and Han Tzu and Vlad but instead of Ender or Bean, Graff or Rackham, we get The Woke Army.

4

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: December 03, 2021, 02:50:08 PM »

https://news.yahoo.com/biden-announces-plan-prevent-winter-235014210.html

"Biden emphasized that his plan “doesn’t include shutdowns or lockdowns” and said he hoped Americans would rally around the new efforts."

His plan doesn't include emphasizing masks either, and the only mention of it is for transportation. We're going to keep doing what we've been doing and we're going to keep getting what we've been getting. Failure.

5

General Comments / Re: Jussie Smollet got a sandwich

« on: December 03, 2021, 02:47:28 PM »

Zero reason to believe it was a hoax?

A couple of racist homophobic white guys in a pickup driving around Chicago at 2 in the morning during a polar vortex carrying a noose and bleach yelling this is MAGA country, okay so far I guess that's plausible, but then they actually watch the show Empire and recognize Smollett from it? Come on now.

6

General Comments / Re: Jussie Smollet got a sandwich

« on: December 03, 2021, 02:32:43 PM »

“What happened today to @JussieSmollett must never be tolerated in this country. We must stand up and demand that we no longer give this hate safe harbor; that homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts. We are with you, Jussie.” — Joe Biden

“@JussieSmollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know … This was an attempted modern-day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.” — then-Sen. Kamala Harris

“The racist, homophobic attack … is an affront to our humanity. No one should be attacked for who they are or whom they love. I pray that Jussie has a speedy recovery & that justice is served. May we all commit to ending this hate once & for all.” — Rep. Nancy Pelosi

“This is a sickening and outrageous attack, and horribly, it’s the latest of too many hate crimes against LGBTQ people and people of color. We are all responsible for condemning this behavior and every person who enables or normalizes it. Praying for Jussie and his family.” — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

“There is no such thing as ‘racially charged.’ This attack was not ‘possibly’ homophobic. It was a racist and homophobic attack. If you don’t like what is happening to our country, then work to change it. It is no one’s job to water down or sugar-coat the rise of hate crimes.” — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

“Regarding the heinous attack on @JussieSmollett, yet another reminder that Trump’s ascendance and the resulting climate of hate has meant that lives have been increasingly at stake since 2015. Smollett could have been killed by those thugs screaming MAGA. Let that sink in.” — Karen Attiah, Washington Post editor

“The horrific attack on Jussie Smollett has no place in a decent human loving society. Homophobia existed before Trump, but there is no question that since he has injected his hatred into the American bloodstream, we are less decent, less human, & less loving. No intolerance! No DT!” — Director Rob Reiner

“Jussie Smollett was violently attacked by two white men who poured bleach on him and put a noose around his neck. He was targeted for being black and for being gay. THIS is why we have to have zero tolerance against homophobia and racism. Jussie’s life matters.” — Actress Olivia Munn

“Heartbroken and furious reading about the attack on @JussieSmollett. I want Trump and all MAGA lunatics to burn in Hell.” — Actor Billy Eichner

---------------------------------------------

Some quotes from our people courtesy of Ann Coulter, some of whom we are expecting to lead us against the wily Russians who are famous for using maskirovka as a common tactic, both military and political, as well as the Chinese whose Sun Tsu in The Art of War told us outright that "All warfare is based on deception."

And there we have our top two peeps Biden and Harris falling for such an obvious fraud from a third rate huckster, getting out in front of it and boldly proclaiming their gullibility for the entire world to see. That doesn't bode well for Ukraine and Taiwan.

7

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: December 03, 2021, 12:22:21 PM »

https://news.yahoo.com/missouri-withheld-data-showing-effectiveness-132036581.html

Missouri Withheld Data Showing Effectiveness of Mask Mandates

"Mask mandates were effective as the delta variant of the coronavirus was driving a surge in COVID-19 cases across Missouri, according to an analysis that the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services conducted in early November.

But the state did not immediately share that data with the public. Instead, the information was released Wednesday, a month later, because of a public records request by The Missouri Independent, a nonprofit news organization that reported the findings, and the Documenting COVID-19 project at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation.

The records include an email dated Nov. 3 from the director of Missouri’s Health Department to a staff member in the governor’s office. The email included two graphs that compared the rates of reported COVID cases and deaths in parts of Missouri with and without mask mandates...

... The study looked at the period from April to October, when the delta variant was driving an increase in coronavirus infections worldwide.

During that time frame, there were 15.8 cases per day for every 100,000 residents, on average, in the areas that required masks, compared with 21.7 cases per 100,000 residents in unmasked communities, according to The Missouri Independent’s analysis of the data. Regions without mask requirements recorded 1 death per 100,000 residents every 3.5 days, compared with 1 death per 100,000 residents every five days where masks were required, the Independent said."

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The only places I'm going into are the big box retailers like Walmart and Best Buy and they were requiring masks for all adults regardless of what state and local governments said up until Biden told them that people could take them off.

It's nice to know though that state governments are so anti-mask that they are willing to cover up the data proving that they are effective. Nice to know so hopefully they can be held to account and voted out, the people willing.

8

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: December 03, 2021, 10:57:30 AM »

https://www.wsj.com/articles/madrid-the-city-that-wouldnt-lockdown-isabel-diaz-ayuso-freedom-covid-19-coronavirus-11638475346


"The Spanish capital wasn’t Florida. Some restrictions remained, including a curfew, neighborhood-based controls on movement, and a mask mandate, strangely even outdoors. I recall often walking through uncrowded streets with a mask on, only to remove it to eat once seated in a busy restaurant. Though locals sometimes described dodging targeted lockdowns, Spaniards seemed less resistant to masking than most. It was rare to see someone outside with an uncovered face, and plenty continued to wear masks after the mandate was narrowed to apply indoors only...

... Masks are still required indoors in Madrid. But unlike in France or Italy, restaurant and bar patrons don’t need to show a Covid health pass to enter."

So this lady is living in Spain with over an 80% vaccination rate constantly rails about freedom, and yet she had the good sense to make everyone including the vaccinated keep their masks on indoors (except while eating, the same as us) while Biden with a lower vaccination rate in America told everyone it was safe for the vaccinated to take them off with no checks to make sure the unvaccinated didn't do the same.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-shift-mask-politics/2021/07/28/906383ba-ef14-11eb-81d2-ffae0f931b8f_story.html

"Standing maskless in the White House Rose Garden on a sunny May afternoon, President Biden heralded some happy news. “If you’ve been fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask,” the president declared. “It’s vaxxed or masked.”

Less than three months later, amid rising cases driven by the delta variant and more breakthrough coronavirus infections, Biden was forced this week to back away from that proclamation. The administration issued new guidance Tuesday that encourages fully vaccinated Americans to wear masks indoors in places with substantial infection levels, encompassing more than 60 percent of the nation’s counties."

-----------------------------------------------

Yeah, new guidance. The problem is nobody is listening to the new guidance. Unlike in Madrid, people are unmasked everywhere because Biden couldn't put that toothpaste back in the tube.

It's my usual schpeel but I was just pleasantly surprised by this lady in Madrid who agrees with me 100% and it's working. Sure, get the high vaccination rate and that's fantastic but there is no need to take off the masks, in fact they need to stay on, and the lockdowns never made any sense to begin with. And they eventually got around to taking the masks off outside too which is fine unless you are in crowds. Maybe the main reason we had to have lockdowns was because our government had told us not to wear masks. If we'd had a leader like this wonderful lady Isabel Díaz Ayuso we would be in such a better place right now, hundreds of thousands of Americans still alive and the economy doing better too.

9

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 28, 2021, 07:11:45 AM »

So while the experts at the World Health Organization along with the leaders of other countries and even local leaders in America are all saying gird your loins and sharpen your steal for you will soon be tested and some are even screaming brace for impact we have Fauci dancing in the dandelions singing don't worry be happy and oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I've got a wonderful feeling everything's going my way.

He demonstrated that same carefree attitude with delta and look where that got us. Trump took a lot of heat, deservedly, for not taking the virus seriously enough and now we have Biden making the same mistakes and despite their differences the most obvious thing they both have in common is Fauci. I'm hardly saying anything crazy or even uncommon either. All I'm saying is the same thing leaders in other countries that have been more successful than we have in handling the virus have been saying all along. Common sense would say we just take a step back and say oh look at them they are doing so much better than we are hey maybe we should take a look at what they're doing differently.

10

General Comments / Re: Election Results

« on: November 27, 2021, 02:01:57 PM »

Wrong thread. Ah well, them's the breaks.

11

General Comments / Re: Election Results

« on: November 27, 2021, 01:30:45 PM »

Sure enough...

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/dr-fauci-not-surprised-omicron-181740793.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

"The Omicron COVID-19 variant could already be in the United States, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.

"I would not be surprised if it is," Fauci, 80, told Peter Alexander and Kristen Welker Saturday on Weekend Today.

Fauci said the strain — currently known as B.1.1.529 — "has a large number of mutations" particularly affecting the virus' ability to bind to cells in the nose and lung.

"We have not detected it yet [in the U.S.]," he added, "but when you have a virus that is showing this degree of transmissibility and you're already having travel-related cases that they've noted in Israel and Belgium and in other places — when you have a virus like this, it almost invariably is ultimately going to go essentially all over."

---------------------------------------------

So knowing this and with everyone freaking out because the vaccines may not provide the hoped for protection against this variant, he still went out and said it was safe for all the vaccinated to gather for the holidays anyway.

Maybe omicron won't live up to the hype and it won't be a big deal but that wasn't the case with delta which did live up to the hype and was a pretty big deal.

12

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 25, 2021, 05:56:58 PM »

https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1463620955096457220?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Well this is something along the lines that I like to see from the CDC.

"Before gathering with friends and family, consider using #COVID19 self-tests to protect those you care about. Along with vaccines, self-tests can help reduce the spread of COVID-19. View videos about how to self-test and learn more: https://bit.ly/2XuuySb"

13

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 25, 2021, 05:41:05 PM »

The unvaccinated were wearing masks though, in Walmart, in Costco, in HEB, at the library, in Boston Market, pretty much everywhere, everyone was wearing them, even in the states with Republican leadership that didn't like masks. Nobody passed a law saying that those companies and public facilities couldn't follow the CDC advice at the time which was to mask up indoors in places like those. Even DeSantis never called for a law saying Walmart couldn't require masks in its stores nationwide including in Florida. We had it. It was in the bag. We were winning. People by and large had gotten used to it and accepted it. If you don't like wearing masks you wear a loose fitting comfortable one that isn't really a big deal. Daily deaths were in the double digits. Then Biden along with the CDC suddenly came along and raised their arms in triumph saying it was safe for the vaccinated to take off their masks in those places but left it up to the honor system. And a couple of months after that we got the huge delta surge which we're still enjoying. We're seeing the same laissez-faire attitude now and it's going to get us the same deadly results.

14

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 25, 2021, 04:37:32 PM »

I can appreciate how the vaxxed refuse to punish themselves by not seeing their families in person in large friendly gatherings for the holidays. What we saw from Fauci and Biden on the unmasking debacle though is that it's not just going to be the vaxxed who do the gathering. Their advice is imprudent. The unvaxxed take every opportunity, every encouragement from Fauci that isn't even directed at them, to act as irresponsibly as possible. We see it every time. He says the vaxxed can do this or that, take off their masks and attend the great gathering. Then the unvaxxed declare themselves as good as vaxxed with their acquired or inherent immunity and do the same. They are a lot like little children. They see someone else being allowed to do something and by golly that looks like fun so they'll do it too even if, maybe especially if, they were specifically told not to, which Fauci is hardly even telling them anyway.

All I'm saying is it would be nice to get an acknowledgement from Fauci that it while it might be safe, should be safe, for the vaccinated to gather for the holidays it would be even safer if, taking the advice of the World Health Organization, they didn't. Just like while it might be safe, "should" be safe, for someone using condoms to have multiple sex partners, dozens of them, and some of them have stds, it would be even safer if they didn't. Just like though it might be safe, should be safe, for the vaccinated to take off their masks in crowded indoor places, it would be even safer if they didn't. I like the std angle come to think of it. If you don't have an std because you've been vaccinated against it, it should be safe for you to have gather in large crowds indoors and have sex for the holidays. So the obvious problem is that's probably not as safe as we're being promised and the other issue is a lot of people who aren't vaccinated to protect from stds so have them and presumably don't know it and don't care anyway or are susceptible to breakthrough std infections despite being vaccinated are going to be spreading them around for the holidays, giving them away like stocking stuffers.

15

General Comments / Re: Election Results

« on: November 25, 2021, 03:13:35 PM »

"I'm baffled about taking such a risk on 60 votes for a paltry gain."

Exactly. That would be a pointless exercise in futility just for 60 votes.

It makes no sense at all.

Unless... it's only a small part of a grander design.

16

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 25, 2021, 11:15:19 AM »

That a good article about masks.

Great article in fact.

Just what little nit to pick on this point:

"There was a lot of controversy about N-95 masks because there weren't enough for the health-care workers. So the message then, quite understandably, was: 'Save those for the health-care workers and we will use other alternatives,'" said Marianne Levitsky...

---------------------------------------

Actually, no, that's not what the message was. The message we got was the lie that masks wouldn't help the general public.

But besides that... yeah... masks, good ones. Maybe Canada will give us another control group to show us how it's done so we can see the difference masks can make. Or we're the control group that shows what happens when masking is willy-nilly instead of concerted. Their message is different from Fauci's though.

"Masks are important even when you're fully vaccinated, both PHAC and doctors say, because although it's much less likely, infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 — especially the highly transmissible delta variant — can still happen."

That's a direct contradiction to what Fauci just said. Somebody is wrong here and Fauci's track record of being wrong doesn't look good for him.

17

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 25, 2021, 11:08:06 AM »

I very seriously doubt it's going to be forever. The Spanish Flu pandemic lasted about three years. This one looks like it could do something similar but with the advances in treatment and prevention it could be less. The idea that if we practice social distancing for this Thanksgiving and Christmas, not referring to the stay six feet apart social distancing but referring to the don't gather in big groups social distancing, then that's going to be what we have to do from now on for the rest of our lives doesn't hold. We see the writing on the wall right now with the covid surges in America and around the world just like we saw the writing on the wall when delta first started taking off and Biden and Fauci said taking off the masks was safe for the vaccinated. Well it wasn't safe. And now we hear from Fauci that mass gatherings are safe if everyone is vaccinated. Just like in the beginning it was safe for the public to go around maskless as long as they washed their hands. Every time he says something is safe it turns out he's wrong, and many times he's contradicted by the World Health Organization. But it's what people want to hear so it's accepted. And then when calamity happens, when things get worse despite Fauci's assurances that it was safe, everyone says that nobody could have known better. Well people did know better. They said as much, like the WHO right now. They were simply ignored.

If we don't get a big holiday covid surge that puts pressure on the hospitals again I'll admit I was wrong. But if we do all I want for Christmas is for people to admit Fauci was wrong and doing what he said to do was not as safe as he said it was.

18

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 25, 2021, 10:41:46 AM »

I doubt the WHO is saying that families should be wearing masks at dinner but they did mention social distancing and that's still on the table so it may be premature to have the great big family reunion Thanksgiving dinners. Well the good thing is that nobody is going to listen to me. The bad thing is a lot of those people are going to get sick and die. People are going to travel all over the country and the world and gather in enclosed places for very long periods of time despite the WHO saying that the vaccines are only providing a false sense of security because Fauci seems to be contradicting the WHO and saying that the vaccines provide a true sense of security. Our holiday covid numbers will tell us who should have been believed and most likely Fauci will keep his consistent track record of erring on the side of danger instead of caution resulting in tens to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths by people who believed in him and prolonging the pandemic while giving the virus as many chances as possible to further mutate.

Anyway, enough doom and gloom. Everyone enjoy your Thanksgivings! I'm enjoying mine by going nuclear, nuclear family only.

19

General Comments / Re: Election Results

« on: November 25, 2021, 05:03:15 AM »

https://news.yahoo.com/jacksonville-men-charged-falsifying-voter-230541961.html



"The discovery of at least 60 voter registration applications for people who were dead or did not authorize them has led to the arrest of two Jacksonville men, the State Attorney's Office said."
Both the State Attorney's Office and Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan said the motive doesn't appear to be political but for financial gain.

"This was a group working with what we call a third-party organization," Hogan said. "... We did not see anything political about it. It was, I think, people who were greedy. There's an incentive there to get as many as you can in."

-------------------------------------------------


Not political. That was amusing.

Nothing political about it. Nope. Just wanted to make it look like as many people were voting so it seems like people care. They probably split the votes pretty much 47-47 between Democrats and Republicans with 6% thrown in for third parties.

Tip of the iceberg or we caught just about everyone doing this kind of thing? Not that it matters since it wasn't political anyway so each major party probably got an equal number of votes so it wouldn't influence the election.

20

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 25, 2021, 04:57:28 AM »

So Fauci is at again putting out dangerously misleading information about Covid at odds with health experts including the World Health Organization.

https://news.yahoo.com/fauci-says-families-fully-vaccinated-034318842.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

"NIAID director Anthony Fauci told CNN Sunday that families fully vaccinated against COVID-19 "absolutely" don't need to wear masks when gathering for the holidays."

----------------------------------------------------



Meanwhile, "Europe is once again the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic amid a "false sense of security" over the protection offered by vaccines, World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday...

... "In many countries and communities, we are concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic, and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions," he said.

Vaccination, wearing masks and social distancing remain key to halting transmission, WHO officials said.

"We are back to pre-pandemic levels of social mixing (in Europe)... even in the midst of very strong resurgence in cases and even in the midst of some of those countries under high pressure in health systems," WHO emergency director Mike Ryan said.

"And the reality is the virus will continue to transmit intensely in that environment,” he said.

WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove said that it was important to take measures during the holiday period, adding: "Social measures do not mean lockdowns."


https://news.yahoo.com/false-sense-security-around-vaccines-145355032.html


---------------------------------------------------------------

Fauci is not listening to the science or the World Health Organization. If he was he would be warning people that now is not the time to start letting our guard down even if you are vaccinated. We also know, and he should know by now, that people will lie about their vaccination status, lie by omission and lie right from their unmasked face to yours, so his advice is going to lead to much more transmission than we'd see taking the more prudently cautious advice of the WHO. This pandemic not only isn't over, it's not even going in the right direction, and Fauci at many critical junctures including this one puts out false information that facilitates spreading the disease and making matters much worse than they would be if someone more competent were in his position. Like who? Like someone from the WHO. That would be nice.

21

General Comments / Re: What are some things that Biden gets right?

« on: November 23, 2021, 12:58:59 PM »

Biden's renomination of Powell as Fed Chair was a good move compared to the possible disaster America would have faced if he'd chosen based on wokeness as AOC and Warren apparently would have preferred. Certainly Powell can be criticized as anyone in his position could be but sacrificing our economy on the alter of political correctness is the wrong move right now, and pretty much ever.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/biden-nominates-jerome-powell-second-term-federal-reserve-rcna4696

"While Fed nominees are confirmed by the Senate, five progressive members of the House, led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y, issued a statement in August agitating for a new Fed chair. “We urge President Biden to re-imagine a Federal Reserve focused on eliminating climate risk and advancing racial and economic justice,” the statement read, in part.

In the Senate, Elizabeth Warren, D.-Mass., emerged as the most high-profile Powell foe. She blasted the Fed chair at a hearing in October, calling him a “dangerous man to head up the Fed.” Warren was also the only member of the Senate Banking Committee to vote against Powell’s nomination in 2017."

22

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 23, 2021, 05:30:19 AM »

Some good news, if it works as well as the As Seen On TV infomercial.

https://news.yahoo.com/experimental-chewing-gum-may-reduce-183353601.html

"An experimental chewing gum containing a protein that "traps" coronavirus particles could limit the amount of virus in saliva and help curb transmission when infected people are talking, breathing or coughing, researchers believe. The gum contains copies of the ACE2 protein found on cell surfaces, which the virus uses as a gateway to break into cells and infect them."

Whether it works or not it's nice to see people thinking creatively.

I had thought of an idea that I might put in my next sci-fi novel, which would also be my first one, kind of along the idea of the Theranos blood test which would have let you take a very small sample of blood and test it for numerous pathogens and ailments. Maybe someone has thought of this already, but the idea is to take air samples and run them through high powered video and photographic equipment and then let a pattern recognition AI search for things like coronaviruses, black mold, asbestos, and pretty much anything you can think of as you just give the program the pattern and it looks for it. The air sampler would also be a high volume air purifier. The same idea could work for blood too. Instead of trying to get reactions out of the blood to test for everything, just have the AI do a visual inspection at the microscopic level.

Well I should have looked it up first before hoping I had thought of it first. I posted the above first and then looked it up:

https://innovationorigins.com/en/a-diagnostic-revolution-faster-blood-sample-analysis-through-ai/

"But RAPID does not stand for “fast” here, rather it is the abbreviation for “real-time analysis of physical phenotype in deformational flow.” The basis of this method is a technique in which a blood sample is sent through a transparent channel smaller than the diameter of a hair. In the process, a high-speed camera captures how the cells are deformed at about 2,000 to 4,000 photos per second. Artificial intelligence (AI) then searches these images for features that are signs of certain diseases and provides a specific suggested diagnosis. Another advantage of this method over the usual microscopic examinations is that the cells do not have to be elaborately stained in the process."

Maybe the same type of thing could be done for air except without channeling it as that may miss things, just taking like a wider angle picture or video but the resolution is so fantastic that the program can still pick out the searched for particles.

23

General Comments / Re: New trans laws

« on: November 22, 2021, 05:51:44 PM »

https://news.yahoo.com/jk-rowling-condemns-activists-for-posting-her-address-to-twitter-perhaps-the-best-way-to-prove-your-movement-isnt-a-threat-to-women-is-to-stop-stalkingus-165542194.html

"I’ve now received so many death threats I could paper the house with them, and I haven’t stopped speaking out," she wrote in part. "Perhaps — and I’m just throwing this out there – the best way to prove your movement isn’t a threat to women, is to stop stalking, harassing and threatening us."

I wonder if this might even be appropriate for the vigilante justice thread.

Was her crime really so terrible that this is the justice it deserved?

24

General Comments / Re: Predictions and thoughts on the Biden Presidency

« on: November 22, 2021, 11:07:36 AM »

You can see arguments on both sides about money printing and quantitative easing driving inflation but the danger with the used cars is to take one little detail about inflation and see that there is nothing we can do about that and so give up on the many other things we may be doing to drive inflation higher like our loose fiscal policy. I see the idea that running the money printing machines nonstop doesn't necessarily have to drive up inflation and I can appreciate that. There may be some cases in which it doesn't, but that doesn't mean it applies all the time or to us right now.

25

General Comments / Re: Predictions and thoughts on the Biden Presidency

« on: November 22, 2021, 09:36:40 AM »

I don't doubt it but we seem to be doing worse than most in the G20.

https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/inflation-rate


It says here we're at a 6.2% inflation rate. Like so much else with this administration the first step to fixing a problem is admitting that there is a problem and that's just something these people refuse to ever do when the reality is that Houston, we have a problem.

26

General Comments / Re: Predictions and thoughts on the Biden Presidency

« on: November 22, 2021, 12:27:51 AM »

Well it looks like if anyone predicted massive inflation for the Biden Presidency they were right on the money.

I did like one line by the media trying to carry water here:

https://news.yahoo.com/instagram-star-alexis-ren-says-110000294.html

"Ren went on to say that "the economy is collapsing" and that the dollar was getting less valuable. (This isn't quite true. In fact, since May, the dollar has gained nearly 6% against the British pound and nearly 7% against the euro.)"

Well I don't know about the economy collapsing but bringing up the exchange rate of the dollar as an argument against its declining value seems to miss the point. It doesn't matter how many euros and pounds you get for the dollar as most Americans aren't buying those. They are buying food and gas, shelter and sometimes vehicles.

27

General Comments / Re: We gotta talk about Uncle Joe

« on: November 22, 2021, 12:06:14 AM »

https://news.yahoo.com/biden-says-house-burned-wife-214922899.html

I just thought this was a really nice story that would have been even nicer during the campaign.

Maybe the media will start revealing more about the real Joe Biden as they see he is unlikely to win if he runs again and they want to set Harris up to take his place.

The hard part is trying to distinguish between the stories in which he is just outright knowingly lying and the stories which feature his senility getting the better of him, and which ones might have a bit of both in play.

28

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 21, 2021, 11:30:20 AM »

But I do appreciate the assist with my point insofar as agreeing with me that the generally accepted idea out there is that our problem is delta and not enough vaccinations instead of the problem being masks.

There's pretty much nobody in America right now clamoring for the masks to go back on and nobody saying they are ten times more important than vaccinations.

We just disagree on what the misinformation is.

The idea that we are going to vaccinate our way out of this problem was always just wishful thinking. Biden never should have gotten our hopes up about it in the first place. That was a fatal mistake.

I could say that time will tell but we already have the results and they already tell us. Over a thousand deaths per day speaks for itself and when you turn around and look at Japan with an average of only three per day the masks are practically yelling in our ears.

People don't want masks to be the best defense right now just because they simply don't want to wear them.

29

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 21, 2021, 11:17:22 AM »

I do not think that's true and Japan proves it. If it was just delta they'd be getting a massive spike also but since they never dropped their masks they aren't getting what we're getting.

https://www.google.com/search?q=japan+covid+deaths&oq=japan+covid+deaths&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0i433i512j0i512l3j0i457i512j0i512j69i60.3001j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

The first chart I'm seeing shows zero deaths on November 19th with a 7 day average of 3 per day. Japan has been in double digits since may and is now in single digits of daily covid deaths. We are in quadruple digits. They are less vaccinated and more densely populated. The difference is so obvious is right in front of our face. Masks. I even offered a video of a rickshaw tour around town and all you see is mask after mask after mask, even outside where I don't insist it's necessary, but if they are wearing them outside they are wearing them inside too and that's where it counts.

They have delta in Japan and they are doing okay even with less vaccination. Not even just okay either. They are doing fantastic.

And that's the real danger of our government's misinformation campaign, blaming this on delta instead of not masking. If we went back to the masking policy we had in April before Biden opened his mouth and destroyed months of progress getting people to accept masks, we would be in a much better place than we are now. If Japan is any indication, even with delta we would see lower rates of infection and death than we had before it came along because we'd be getting the increasing protection of vaccines along with the constant steady protection of masks.

I'm just glad Japan didn't listen to Biden (and our Republicans) so we could have a good control population to see what a difference masks make. But the sad thing is the longer it takes people to stop blaming delta and start realizing that the masks make a huge difference, are the deciding factor way above vaccinations, the longer it will take to turn this pandemic around. What's becoming more and more clear is that vaccinations alone are not going to work.

30

General Comments / Re: Militia in the streets

« on: November 21, 2021, 10:58:36 AM »

They were probably astonished to find out the victims weren't black because it's hard to understand what all the fuss is about otherwise.

31

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 21, 2021, 07:01:41 AM »

https://news.yahoo.com/breakthrough-infections-raise-health-death-192154873.html

Just more of the usual evidence that our government messed up big time and still won't fix their mistake of underestimating the virus and being lackadaisical about reducing infections and deaths. Still over a thousand deaths per day and it seems like most people still aren't wearing masks because they got the message that vaccination only was enough.

--------------------------------------------------------

"But compared to people who never had COVID-19, those who had breakthrough infections had a 53% higher risk of death and a 59% higher risk of having at least one new medical condition, particularly problems affecting the lungs and other organs. Even when breakthrough infections did not require hospitalization, the increased risks of death and lasting effects were "not trivial," the research team reported on Monday on Research Square ahead of peer review. "The overall burden of death and disease following breakthrough COVID-19 will likely be substantial," the researchers conclude...

... Surprisingly," in August 2021, the rate of positive tests among vaccinated travelers was more than double the rate among the unvaccinated, said Retsef Levi of the MIT Sloan School of Management, coauthor of a report posted on the SSRN server ahead of peer review...

... When they analyzed results from eight of the studies in detail, they saw a 53% reduction in the incidence of COVID-19 with mask wearing and a 25% reduction with physical distancing."

-----------------------------------------------------


I thought this fact check was interesting.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/04/30/fact-check-post-detailing-covid-deaths-under-biden-ignores-trend/4889416001/

Apparently, they are celebrating the fact that Covid deaths were on a drastic downward trend under Biden toward the end of April, and history after that showed us that downward trend continued until July, about a month and a half after Biden put out the deadly misinformation that it was safe for the vaccinated to take off their masks. I had wondered if we would have more Covid deaths under Biden than Trump and I'm pretty sure we're long past that by now. And as evidence in Japan indicates, it's not just because of delta either otherwise they would have had a massive spike in deaths too. It's because people stopped wearing masks because Biden lied to them. We get the stories like this one supporting that, we get half-hearted statements from our government that even the vaccinated should be wearing masks, but what we don't get is that actually happening. Everywhere I go I'm seeing less people than ever wearing masks, and I'm only referring to indoor crowded places too as it's pretty rare in the U.S. to have to go to an outdoor place that's crowded enough to be dangerous.

32

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 20, 2021, 07:36:49 PM »

I wonder if riots could be considered a form of vigilantism by those who deem the justice system to be broken, for instance with the Rittenhouse not guilty verdict, and rioting is the way they take the law into their own hands.

33

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 20, 2021, 09:40:23 AM »

Until stores with those easy going policies close down because theft is so rampant that they become unprofitable to operate. And then people will say its racists because companies don't have stores in certain areas of a city.

34

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 19, 2021, 11:27:06 AM »

"More people in the United States would support the idea that the justice system is about balance, protection, fairness, and rehabilitation."

I guess that's my problem because for many crimes I don't believe in rehabilitation. So a child rapist murderer gets "rehabilitated" and set free. Best case, that person never commits anymore crimes and leads a good life. I'm actually not okay with that. After depriving innocent people of their lives, rehabilitation and freedom should not be an option.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-58408210

"Double child killer Colin Pitchfork has been released from prison, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.

He was jailed in 1988 for raping and murdering 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire.

In June, the Parole Board concluded it was safe to release Pitchfork, who was the first murderer to be convicted using DNA evidence.

The MoJ said Pitchfork, 61, would remain under supervision for the rest of his life."

----------------------------------------

And there's plenty more like him. Like Arthur Shawcross who raped and murdered two children, served less than 15 years and then murdered 11 women after he was set free.

I say I don't believe in rehabilitation for some of these people but that's not necessarily accurate. If they can be rehabilitated, that's fine. But they should never be set free. They can be rehabilitated in prison where they are less likely to ever hurt innocent people again. If I could weigh the damage done by the innocent people hurt after so called rehabilitated people are set free with the good done by the rehabilitated people who never hurt anyone again, I'd say the damage done far outweighs the good done, like easily millions of times more damage than good, not in lives but pain.

35

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 19, 2021, 11:08:28 AM »

I just read a good story about the Guardian Angels in New York City and how their brand of vigilantism took root across the world.

https://www.voanews.com/a/episode_nyc-guardian-angels-ramp-patrols-amid-spike-anti-asian-hate-4697541/6116831.html

Somebody should put a stop to these terrible vigilantes. Maybe we need to pass a law.

But they do answer the question asked, "How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?"

As broken as New York City was in the 80s. A the Guardian Angel brand of vigilantism is very moral, at least to a lot of people.

36

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 19, 2021, 09:08:43 AM »

Sentences like that though encourage vigilantism. If you're the relatives of those girls and you see this what are you supposed to do with that? Or if you are the girls themselves?

There may be acts that approach the level of vigilantism which might not necessarily be illegal.

For instance, what if the victims or their relatives just doxxed him through his life? Could that be illegal intentional infliction of emotional distress and stalking or let's say if he started working somewhere they send a letter to corporate with his criminal record attached and their victim statement, and maybe they go into the office and point at him and tell everyone that this man raped me and then they walk out; would that be illegal? Maybe. It probably depends. Just sitting back and doing nothing though doesn't seem like a reasonable way to handle it either though.

I do my part though. That's why when I vote I always vote for the people who are toughest on crime. It makes sense though why a lot of people aren't complaining and don't seem to be very worried about it because otherwise it wouldn't make a lot of sense to keep voting for democrats.

37

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 19, 2021, 02:49:40 AM »

https://nationalpost.com/news/world/man-who-raped-four-teenagers-gets-no-jail-time-judge-says-incarceration-isnt-appropriate

That's our "justice system" for you. Over three years for walking around the capitol in a hat with horns taking pictures while a serial rapist gets no jail time at all. A little bit of vigilantism might be moral in this case. Still illegal but probably moral.

38

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 18, 2021, 02:14:36 PM »

The media is making it out like they just saw a young black man jogging passed their house so they ran him down and murdered him because they are racists. I'm saying there was more to it than that.

They were starting to keep a more careful eye on the place. Do we know if they actually watched white people walk in and out and didn't care? Sure they have it on the surveillance video but that doesn't mean they saw it when it was happening. Those people probably drove there or were just walking by and lived in the neighborhood. If they did see them and they said stop I want to talk to you what would have happened? They probably would have just talked and nobody would have gotten shot, like normal people. Hey what were you doing it that house? Just looking. Well, don't. Okay, sorry, won't happen again. Same thing could have happened with Arbery but didn't. They didn't show their guns until he ignored them. If he would have just stopped and said yeah sorry about that I was just curious or whatever that might have been the end of it. Or maybe the police come over and talk to him and whatever happens happens. Now there are cases where black people are just attacked for being black but this wasn't that. He actually did trespass and had done it multiple times before.

It doesn't really matter though. They are white and he's black. Must be racist. They need to go to prison in any case so cities don't burn. Can't let facts get in the way of that.

And maybe they do deserve to go to prison for what happened after they tried to talk to him and he refused. Could have let the cops handle it at that point. Should have. But the idea that people just need to let crime happen in their communities and take it because otherwise someone might get hurt isn't right either.

Stealing catalytic converters was just a misdemeanor until recently in Texas. Does that mean if you see someone stealing your catalytic converter it should be illegal for you to say hey what are you doing? If you're stealing my catalytic converter the way it looks like then I'd like you to stop. Yeah, it's dangerous. You could get shot. People have been shot over it and they've been shot at over it too. So what, just let people do it then and only the cops can confront them? Well the truth is the cops hardly do diddly about it unless they can catch them in the act and the crime happens so fast and the people use lookouts so that's hard to do.

39

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 18, 2021, 03:55:54 AM »

And in some cases of trespassing it's not even trespassing until you tell the person to stop. That's literally what these guys were saying. Stop.

If someone rings your doorbell once a day because they want to talk to you and you ignore them hoping they'll stop but they don't, you can't say they're trespassing until you talk to them and say stop that and don't come onto my property anymore.

It's different in different places but that's how it can be. Usually when you put up No Trespassing signs that makes it trespassing without you having to say anything else. Apparently that wasn't enough here because he kept trespassing even with the signs up.

And for everyone saying they are always traipsing through houses under construction, that's one thing if those houses are still for sale and there aren't any No Trespassing signs around and it probably shouldn't be at night either. You're on pretty solid ground as a potential buyer or a looky-lou until someone tells you otherwise. But if the houses are already owned and / or there are No Trespassing signs up and you still go in there, which I highly doubt anyone talking about what how they often do what Arbery did is really talking about, then you know you're wrong, you know you're breaking the law too, and you shouldn't complain if somebody yells at you to stay off the property or if the police get called on you.

40

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 18, 2021, 03:24:54 AM »

Okay, let's grant that he was out running. The point is these guys say when he ran past his house it looked not like he was a guy just out running but a guy who was running away from just getting caught trespassing when he saw someone watching him go through the house.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-defendant-changed-story-suspected-arbery-81061380

"Greg McMichael said the chase began when he saw Arbery “hauling ass” past his home on a Sunday afternoon. Saying he recognized Arbery from security camera videos shown to him by a neighbor who wasn't charged in the case, he ran inside and grabbed a .357 magnum handgun...

... Prosecutors say the men had no legal reason to pursue Arbery with guns, as there's no evidence Arbery committed any crimes in the Satilla Shores subdivision outside the port city of Brunswick. Proseuctor Linda Dunikoski showed the jury security camera video from inside the house under construction recorded just before the deadly chase. Arbery can be seen wandering through the open-framed interior but doesn't seem to touch anything. He ran after a neighbor outside called police."

I like how the prosecutor outright lies here saying there's no evidence Arbery committed any crimes when he's caught trespassing.

Okay, I understand how everyone says that's not really a crime, like throwing your cigarette butt on the ground right outside my front door instead of on your own property or in the trash isn't a crime, or like playing your music so loud in your car driving through an apartment complex that the bass wakes up babies and starts them crying while rattling the fillings out of the teeth of people eating their dinner, or tagging local businesses with graffiti that they have to keep cleaning up. But guess what? Actually, those are crimes, and if someone suspects you of doing that, as these guys correctly suspected Arbery of trespassing, they've got every right as an American to come up to you and ask you what you're doing and then after confirming that you're doing what they thought you were doing and you don't have a legal reason to be doing it they've got every right to tell you to stop.

So that's what these guys tried to do at first. Making that part out to be a crime or racist on their part doesn't make sense.

Of course what happened after that when Arbery also exercised his right to ignore them and kept running which he had a right to do, that's up to the jury to decide.

41

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 17, 2021, 11:34:24 PM »

Here's a pretty good rundown from NPR of all places.

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/05/1052065912/ahmaud-arbery-mcmichael-bryan-murder-trial-opening-arguments

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-asked-evidence-ahmaud-arberys-past-troubles-77638053

So he was wearing shoes that could be used for running. Some reports lied about him not. But he wasn't just jogging through the neighborhood either. Maybe he was doing sprints as he passed their house when they saw him? Maybe. He'd just come from trespassing in that house under construction, just saw himself spotted by a neighbor, was on probation so even a charge of trespassing could put him in trouble, is a diagnosed schitzoprhenic, illegally carried a gun onto school grounds, pleaded guilty as a thief for trying to steal a TV from Walmart, was known as a thief by "a local convenience store manager, Crystal Wilson, (who) told the judge about a young Black man who several times stole food. Wilson said she recognized it was Arbery after seeing his photo in the newspaper after his death." Should we mention the marijuana use? No, no need for that with everything else. The guy was no innocent guy just out for a jog. He was guilty of trespassing if nothing else. Just a misdemeanor? Sure, but when you're already on probation it's not "just a misdemeanor" anymore, is it?

If the jury isn't allowed to hear the whole truth then whatever, but is it the same for most of the press who are convicting these guys in the court of public opinion? The public doesn't get to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth either?

42

General Comments / Re: Trump Supporter Michael Flynn is against the 1st Amendment

« on: November 17, 2021, 06:13:30 AM »

Maybe he's one of those right wingers who in some ways admire the Taliban.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/27/opinion/alt-right-taliban.html

"As the Taliban swept through Afghanistan in August, a Gen Z alt-right group ran a Twitter account devoted to celebrating their progress. Tweets in Pashto juxtaposed two laughing Taliban fighters with pictures meant to represent American effeminacy. Another said, the words auto-translated into English, “Liberalism did not fail in Afghanistan because it was Afghanistan, it failed because it was not true. It failed America, Europe and the world see it.”

The account, now suspended, was just one example of the open admiration for the Taliban that’s developed within parts of the American right. The influential young white supremacist Nick Fuentes — an ally of the Arizona Republican congressman Paul Gosar and the anti-immigrant pundit Michelle Malkin — wrote on the encrypted app Telegram: “The Taliban is a conservative, religious force, the U.S. is godless and liberal. The defeat of the U.S. government in Afghanistan is unequivocally a positive development.” An account linked to the Proud Boys expressed respect for the way the Taliban “took back their national religion as law, and executed dissenters.”

43

General Comments / Re: Militia in the streets

« on: November 17, 2021, 01:24:14 AM »

"Fenring

"Not sure if it's still jury nullification of the same type of they vote to convict when the judge believes the evidence to be insufficient (or the charges to be invalid). Is the jury allowed to disregard the law in the direction of a vote to convict?"

I agree with TheDeamon, that wouldn't be jury nullification because instead of nullifying a law they are either ignoring the evidence to convict based on the laws that exist or they are paying careful attention to the evidence to convict based on laws they think should exist but don't. Maybe we need a new word for it. The best I'm coming up with is jury induction.

We may see the latter in the Arbery case in which the jury may convict based not on the citizen's arrest law at the time but on what they think should have been the law at the time which may in fact be the current law since the old law was scrapped.

We complain about judges writing laws from the bench but in this case with a jury conviction that is the opposite of jury nullification it may instead be by the jury writing laws from the jury box, for instance by telling themselves that it should have been illegal for Rittenhouse to have that gun and he should have just stayed home like a good little unracist sheeple so they're going to convict regardless of the law and the evidence. Neither were against the law but they should have been. Part of that will also be a calculation factoring in the loss of life and property that will result if they decide according to the law. Of course in their minds they won't see it this way. They'll tell themselves that if he wasn't guilty then it wouldn't even make any sense for the prosecution to be up there saying anything about this in the first place. All they have to do for rationalization is tell themselves that they agree with the prosecutor and with the violent mob and all their supporters on the woke left and they'll be able to sleep just fine at night, not realizing what role their subconscious played in the decision making process.

44

General Comments / Re: Militia in the streets

« on: November 16, 2021, 01:14:11 PM »

"I think this judge needs to be severely sanctioned, a mistrial declared, and a new trial."

There were some theories that the prosecution was intentionally engaging in provocative conduct hoping to get a mistrial too. I guess you're not supposed to make a big deal in front of the jury about a defendant exercising their right to remain silent after arrest and the prosecutor did it anyway.

The prosecution should know the laws and none of the facts about the type of gun used or his age have ever been in question. If it wasn't against the law they shouldn't have brought the charge in the first place. Going for a mistrial when it looks like the prosecution lost hoping for a different result next time hardly seems like justice. It may delay the expected riots for a while though which are probably the biggest factor in the case and the harshest "evidence" against the defendant insofar as it's the most likely thing to get him declared guilty. I don't think anyone can dispute that in cases like these we're living under the threat of mob justice.

45

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 15, 2021, 03:55:58 PM »

I agree with all of that. Those are very good points. Masking only works if people are willing to do it, if people make it work, if they care enough about others to make an ongoing personal sacrifice. Americans have proven that to a large extant that's just not in our character. We're not willing to make the small sacrifice to stop the bigger sacrifice. Though on the other hand we were doing it and it was working for a while there, and a large percentage of people are still masking, just not enough to turn the tide. I've got a bad feeling the vaccination priority route isn't going to work well either though for some of the same reasons, because too many people just aren't going to do it, but also for the other reason that it's more likely the virus will mutate its way around the vaccine than around the mask. The vaccinations over masks approach looks a lot like trying to fix stupid.

46

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 14, 2021, 07:15:17 PM »

All of them. Trump was against it before he was finally for it. Then we had it going on great and the cases and deaths were plummeting until Biden opened his mouth and said it was safe for vaccinated people to take off their masks and delta came along and smacked him and the whole country upside the head with a great big "Whatcha talkin bout Willis" while hundreds of thousands more died because of that government promulgated covid misinformation. Even though Biden and his CDC have now admitted their mistake we still haven't gotten back to the mask utilization that we saw before they spewed out their deadly covid misinformation and that's why we are still having the problems we're having, still spreading the virus even with people vaccinated and still giving it more chances to dangerously mutate.

As for the "masks are dangerous" crowd, which is largely made up of Republicans and not the Democrats, Japan and other Asian countries demonstrate that's nonsense too. If they were dangerous then we'd see some evidence of it over there by now especially since they have decades of experience with masks, and even more now with so many more people using them over the past couple of years.

47

General Comments / Re: coronavirus

« on: November 14, 2021, 06:56:37 PM »

Covid misinformation...

I was going to go off again about the covid misinformation that the vaccines are the superior way through the pandemic compared to masks, of course both are best but if you had to choose one then Japan is showing us masks are better, and certainly scrapping masks just because there are vaccines was a huge mistake, but then I saw this part:

"Buck Sexton, host of a program syndicated by Premiere Networks, an iHeart subsidiary, recently floated the theory that mass COVID-19 vaccinations could speed the virus' mutation into more dangerous strains. He made this suggestion while appearing on another Premiere Networks program, “The Jesse Kelly Show.”

The theory appears to have its roots in a 2015 paper about vaccines for a chicken ailment called Marek’s disease. Its author, Andrew Read, a professor of biology and entomology at Pennsylvania State University, has said his research has been “misinterpreted” by anti-vaccine activists. He added that COVID-19 vaccines have been found to reduce transmissions substantially, whereas chickens inoculated with the Marek’s disease vaccine were still able to transmit the disease. Sexton did not reply to a request for comment."

---------------------------------------------

Is it really misinformation that "COVID-19 vaccinations could speed the virus' mutation into more dangerous strains" or is that actually established science?

"... chickens inoculated with the Marek’s disease vaccine were still able to transmit the disease."

Um... news flash, people inoculated with the covid vaccines are still able to transmit the disease, contrary to the misinformation Biden and the CDC put out when they said it was safe for the vaccinated to take off their masks.

Of course that's no reason to give up on vaccines which do tremendous good but it is a good reason to keep masking even with vaccines.

For visual learners, here's a cute little visual of what a country with a population of 125 million with less than 19,000 covid deaths looks like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFSeq0lAfnk

Spoiler Alert: It looks like masks.

Just a little math here. Our population is 329 million and theirs is 125 million. Our Covid deaths are 762,000 and theirs are 18,321. About .23 percent of our population died of Covid. About .015 percent of their population died of Covid. If we had the same death rate we'd have less than 49,000 dead. The difference is their leadership never told them that masks won't help them and never told them that if they are vaccinated they don't need to wear a mask anymore.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/average-iq-by-country

According to this the average IQ in America is 97.43 and in Japan it's 106.48. It's amazing what a difference a few IQ points makes, the difference between life and death. We see a lot about how we need to fix the structural problems in America and yeah that would be nice but unfortunately you can't fix stupid.

48

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 14, 2021, 05:59:48 PM »

"They used the words "we don't know him". I have to wonder if that's just code for "he was black in this white neighborhood, so we gave the whites a pass."

Maybe. Maybe it just means that they knew the other people and didn't know him. So they could just go to the other people and say hey can you read? Do you understand what No Trespassing means? Stay off my property! Just like they wanted to do with Arbery. Or maybe they knew those people so didn't care but if it's a stranger that's a different story. I'm not sure how much it makes a difference in the case but it would be interesting to find out. Of course if it doesn't assist the narrative it would never be reported.

49

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 14, 2021, 08:34:27 AM »

https://news.yahoo.com/police-showed-defendants-video-ahmaud-161003826.html

So more information is coming out. Whatever happened, what we know for sure is that it wasn't a case of two racist white men seeing a black man out for a jog and just up and deciding to murder after falsely assuming he must be a criminal just because he is black and jogging in their neighborhood as the media makes it out. He was the specific guy the police had circulated pictures to be on the lookout for.


"Larry English, the property owner, previously testified he wanted police to identify the man in the videos and tell him he was trespassing and not to enter the property again.

Arbery was recorded again walking around the unfenced construction site on Nov. 18, 2019, though once again nothing was taken that day, according to English. Rash told the jury he would show screenshots of the videos to people as he made his rounds but no one was ever able to identify him."

So basically after hiding the fact that Arbery had trespassed in the house before, now it's coming out. And we now have the police going around asking people to look out for Arbery based on the surveillance photos they have of him trespassing.

It seems like it's not unreasonable to be able to ask a trespasser what they're doing and to stop doing it please. The No Trespassing signs mean that under the law you don't need to tell them not to trespass for it to be trespassing, and on all the properties of houses that are under construction that people talk about going into and I've gone into myself in new construction areas, there aren't No Trespassing signs on those and if there are nobody in their right mind would go into one as people kept doing with this property.

So why the guns? Hey you never know. People are getting shot and killed all the time, by kids younger than Arbery, for less reason that this, like that Nike big-wig who as a teen shot an innocent young black man for no good reason at all, got a slap on the wrist in juvie, and then went on to become a big shot. People get shot and killed for cleaning up graffiti, for asking someone to turn down their car stereo in an apartment complex, and supposedly a man was shot once just for snoring. I still do agree that the guns drawn are problematic so a trial is reasonable but there's more information coming out than what we've been led to believe all this time. But that always happens with this media and their rabble rousing race baiting stories now doesn't it?

For instance, they knew when they saw him that he wasn't just out jogging. He looked like he was running away from a crime scene and he was being pursued because that's exactly what was happening. Pictures of Arbery had been put out by the cops to the locals and one of them recognized him in that very house again. Now the guy pursuing him was doing what everyone says should be done, just follow him at a distance until the police show up. To these guys though they don't know that's what he's doing and it looks to them more like a criminal is fleeing the scene of a crime and someone is after him.

50

General Comments / Re: How broken does a justice system have to be before vigilantism is moral?

« on: November 13, 2021, 08:31:00 AM »

"He should have just let them take his gun and kill him?"

I think the point is he should have just let the riot happen, stood back and watched the city burn like the police were doing. If the government chooses not to do anything about it and the government is an extension of the will of the people then it was the will of the people for those riots and arsons and destructive acts of vandalism to happen. It's not his place or the place of any citizen to oppose the will of the people and the obvious intent of the government to pull back to give protestors "space to destroy". In fact, it's tantamount not just to vigilantism but to treason. Putting out a righteously started dumpster fire, repairing a wokely broken window, and cleaning up inspirational graffiti should be a crime but since technically it's not we need to come down as hard as possible on the people who do it, people like this here Rittenhouse. He's the one who started the trouble. If he hadn't been out there with a fire extinguisher putting out fires and trying to stop people from vandalizing a lot of used cars, if people had just cowered in their root cellars in the long proud history of true patriotic Americans who just let anyone and everyone walk all over them and never put up a fight, if he had done that then there wouldn't have been any problems. No problems at all.

Sure a lot of fires would have been set, businesses razed, cars destroyed, windows broken, and so on but that's not the problem. Racism is the problem and all that type of stuff is the solution.