Yeah, after 8 yrs of Republicans asking if this that or the other pending disaster was Obama’s Katrina, I find it beyond a little rich to hear Republicans complain about DEMs politicizing this, and tiresome to hear people warn DEMs not to, even as Republicans do.
Get a clue folks. In a time when, just as a matter of self preservation, one should assume everything the *trump admin* says is a lie until it is proven otherwise, the uttering of a simple unadulterated fact is a political act.
**for that matter, any Republican member of Congress toeing the admin line too. So all of them too.
I find myself remembering the ending of the first Jurassic Park movie which shows the Jeff Goldblum character’s prediction: Nature will find a way.
This will have to run its course. How long it runs and how we mitigate the consequences remains to be seen. Just remember: It is not in the coronavirus’ best interest to kill its hosts.
While, …back M4A, can be interpreted broadly, with Sanders you need to believe he wants a M4A partisan. Shrinking considerably the VP options that can help the ticket.
With the seeming inevitability of Tiny’s reelection, over dinner last evening the wife and I were bandying about the idea of spending the next few years splitting our time between Nova Scotia and Costa Rica.
@Scott: Seeing as the early #s say it only kills 2% while a much higher percentage can walk around for weeks with little more than a persistent, infectious cough, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the corona virus has a pretty good idea of what’s in it’s best interests.
This strain of Coronavirus is much more lethal than the normal ones. It is not true that viruses become less lethal over time. Some become less lethal, zone become more lethal. More
In a document published by Liz Truss’s Department for International Trade designed to kick-start post-Brexit trade talks with the Trump White House, the government said the British economy stood to benefit from an “ambitious and comprehensive” trade deal worth a fraction of GDP, equivalent to £3.4bn after 15 years.
Prompting warnings from economists that the benefits would be far outstripped by the losses from crashing out of the EU, the official analysis also showed that a more limited trade deal with the US would deliver benefits to the UK economy worth just 0.07% by the middle of the 2030s, or about £1.4bn.
The government had previously estimated the economy would be as much as 7.6% smaller should Britain leave the EU without a deal, and about 4.9% smaller under Boris Johnson’s preferred Canada-style agreement.
Dr Peter Holmes, an academic at the UK Trade Policy Observatory at Sussex University, said: “The numbers are very small. It just goes to show how tiny the gains are from an free trade agreement with the US compared to losing our present arrangements with the EU.”
Cutting off one’s British nose to spite their European face.
@Teve: Word has been giving me fits since the latest update. I find myself screaming at the computer, “WHY DO YOU FUCKS THINK YOU HAVE TO REINVENT THE WHEEL???”
I’m 62, an age where once I get used to the way a thing is, any “improvement” is detrimental to my mental health.
Harding Charter Preparatory high school student Korey Todd told KFOR-TV that during the 24 February assembly, the recruiter from Oklahoma Christian University “barely talked about the school itself”.
“He was like, ‘All right, let’s play a little game,’” Todd said. “Then he said: ‘OK everyone, now line up from darkest to lightest skin complexion.’”
The 11th graders were then told to shuffle again.
Student Rio Brown said: “He told us to line up nappiest hair in the back and straightest hair in the front.”
No doubt he thinks of himself as good and very devout Christian just following the words of Jesus.
Related to the discussion I’ve been having with Steven and others in recent threads related to voting, Bernie Sanders, the limits of #nevertrump, third parties, etc. is this oped titled, Against Sanders, Trump is the Lesser Evil which I saw at Dave Schuler’s site.
I don’t think that’s an isolated view among Republicans disaffected with Trump. I’ve already stated that Sanders will almost certainly drive me, a life-long independent – to a third party or, possibly, even a write-in (something I’ve never done before). And I’ve never been a Republican.
I would think it should be obvious, but forcing disaffected Trump Republicans to choose between Sanders and Trump is likely to bite Democrats in the ass.
Have you considered trying LibreOffice? It handles backwards compatibility better than MS Office does with it’s own stuff, and it doesn’t have that idiotic “ribbon”.
@Mu Yixiao: No, I am not the person to have in charge of any computer related decisions whatsoever, least of all in this household (that would be my wife). I’ll grit and bear it and probably accept it. If things get bad enough I might ask her to investigate other possibilities but in the end it will be her decision.
@OzarkHillbilly:
2% overall, 10-15% for patients aged 70+. If it really is highly contagious, and we’re going to lose an additional 10% of the 70+ population over the next year, that’s a massive (probably unplanned for) transfer of wealth between generations. OTOH, Social Security’s finances would look considerably better…
Yeah, that’s possible, I suppose. But historically, some Dems have been able to win rural whites with economic populism.
I understand Dems not wanting to hang their hat on that risk in this election. But I don’t think the “we’re doomed with Sanders” is as clear cut as portrayed.
I certainly don’t envy your position in this election, given your views on Sanders and Trump. That’s why I don’t tell you’re doing the wrong thing.
It’s not obvious at all that Sanders would need that group of usual Republican/Republican leaners to win. If he his appeal is as narrow as that, he wouldn’t have as high an approval rating. Nor would his head-to-head with Trump polls be as competitive as it is in certain states.
Rather, he has the potential to win Obama voters that moved to Trump, as they are clearly not basing their decision on ideology, but their view that the system is broken.
The concentional wisdom may be correct that he won’t win. But to say he has zero chance is as foolish as assigning zero chance to Trump. It could be more foolish, because we know the 2016 result.
@Andy: Without wishing to go into detail, I really don’t think that Sanders has much scope for getting legislation passed, and that will leave him with issuing executive orders. Looked at that way, I really have a hard time imagining Trump as the lesser of two evils. Seems like people are weighing Bernie’s unrealistic vision against what Trump has already accomplished and will likely continue to pursue.
I really don’t think that Sanders has much scope for getting legislation passed, and that will leave him with issuing executive orders.
So, Trump again. The Republicans’ legislative accomplishments over the past three years amount to one round of tax cuts. Everything else significant has been changes in rules and regulations by executive branch departments and agencies. Well, none of the moderators have asked my debate question: What rules and regulations will you begin the process to change on day one of your administration?
If you ever browsed the web and were disappointed when a page you were looking for no longer existed, you can use a Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browser extension to automatically retrieve the deleted pages from Archive.org.
Archive.org is a non-profit library that archives books, music, software, movies, and websites so that they can be later viewed if ever deleted.
As part of this service, the organization runs a service called the Wayback Machine that has created an archive of over 400 billion web pages that were saved over time.
To help use their service, Archive.org has created a Google Chrome extension and a Mozilla Firefox extension called ‘Wayback Machine’ that will prompt you to load an archived web page when it is no longer exists on the original web site.
When visiting a site, if the page no longer exists and has been saved to archive.org, the extension will prompt you to view it via the Wayback Machine….
We haven’t heard a peep from the GOP about Burisma for a while. But the day after Biden won South Carolina (pure coincidence I’m sure *coughbullshitcough*) the GOP-controlled Senate Homeland Security Committee decided it’s necessary to start issuing subpoenas to a consulting company with ties to–guess who–Burisma. And then they leaked this news the day before Super Tuesday.
I guess that really depends on why disgusted Republicans hate Trump. Bernie would certainly infuriate people with open borders, but much of the rest that he could accomplish would probably be considered an improvement, at least by those who dislike Trump.
I really have a hard time imagining Trump as the lesser of two evils. Seems like people are weighing Bernie’s unrealistic vision against what Trump has already accomplished and will likely continue to pursue.
Yes. And for those people–including 80-some% + of GOP voters–Trump is most likely the lesser of the two evils available in a Sanders/Trump contest. I consider that a comment on the morality, citizenship, and character of 90-some% of the GOP (and of the editorial staff at WSJ). YMMV.
@Andy:
Dave is a good german. As soon as Trump was elected he, like so many older white men, suddenly dropped concerns he’d had forever and applied a whole new standard. He’s been a disappointment. I would have thought he would do better.
When I tell you Jews vote from a degree of fear, it’s guys like him that scare us. The open anti-semites are one thing, far more concerning is the general moral collapse of decent people.
@Polimom:
My guess is he stays in, hoping to play Man on the White Horse at the convention. But then, my prediction that Klobuchar would stay in through Super T had a shelf life measured in hours.
@Andy: “I don’t think that’s an isolated view among Republicans disaffected with Trump.”
Sure. Because they’ll write all sorts of saddened op-eds about the necessity of putting all minorities in concentration camps — but they’ll riot if someone tries to touch their tax cuts.
I checked in over at The American Conservative to see what they were up to and couldn’t keep myself from reading Dreher’s latest. Inevitably it was a repetition of one of his two hobby horse. Not the “The Gays! The Gays are coming for us!” but his second one, “The Libruls will blame Christians for the Corona virus! They hates us, they hates us they does, my precious…” I won’t bother rehashing his nonsense but am instead going to ask for help on the origin of an insult (?) he repeatedly used: Blue Chekists. He kept it up at a steady hum, referring to liberals in general and people who insulted Mike Pence specifically. I’m assuming it has to do with the old Soviet precursor to the KGB, the NKVD, whose functionaries were called Chekists. (Assuming I’m remembering correctly.). And Blue Chekists? Maybe because all Democrats want to march Christians and people who don’t want to sell cakes to gays into gulags? Is anyone familiar with this and knows what fever swamp it arose from?
Dave is a good german. As soon as Trump was elected he, like so many older white men, suddenly dropped concerns he’d had forever and applied a whole new standard. He’s been a disappointment. I would have thought he would do better.
When I tell you Jews vote from a degree of fear, it’s guys like him that scare us. The open anti-semites are one thing, far more concerning is the general moral collapse of decent people.
You’ve accused me of the same thing, and arguably worse. You’ve said more than once, without evidence, that I also suddenly developed a different standard for Trump and of being a closet racist against Obama. Yeah, I’m the closet racist that voted for Obama.
Of course, you were never able to provide any evidence to back up your ad hominems.
Utilizing “Good German’ and “white male” woke BS in lieu of an actual thought really says more about you than anyone else. You appear unable to debate many topics on the merits and instead descend into impugning motives.
I think you’re the one that has changed – name-calling and evidence-free fictionalized character assassination is now your normal response. You talk about others applying new standards when it comes to Trump, but the irony is that your behavior has become very Trump-like.
@MarkedMan :
Haven’t the foggiest since I’ve not read the article (and won’t -ewww) but could it be a Twitter reference? As in, that little blue checkmark next to your name to prove your bona fides. An new way of saying social elitists and he decided to misspell it to link back to Evul Socialism??
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg on Monday afternoon declared a local state of disaster and public health emergency to keep more than 120 coronavirus evacuees on Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland — and forbid the influx of new evacuees to the city.
The declaration could compel the evacuees to stay in quarantine for at least a week under state law, possibly pitting local and federal officials against each other over to handle the ship passengers.
Politically, regardless of the medical merits of the actions, this will generate some interesting left/right interactions as well as federal/state/local lines of authority.
I am feverishly…no wait, desperately poring over the Green Paper’s Northern Marianas Island’s Democratic Delegation web page. They vote Saturday March 14 and will select six soft pledged delegates.
After tomorrow’s circus and five more State Primaries and something called the North Dakota Fire House Caucuses a week later on March 1o, the Northern Marianas “soft six” could be the delegates that put a candidate over the top to get the nomination on the first ballot.
Since I live in Illinois and can’t vote in the Democratic Primary until Tuesday March 17th if the Islanders clinch the nomination for someone I will have little motivation to vote. I must figure out a way to stop them.
Of course if Reynolds and all the other Golden State inhabitants stay home tomorrow I might just have a chance to influence this nomination.
Stay home! Stay home!
You don’t want to die of the Corona Virus do you?
I forgot to include Democrats Abroad Global Party Run Primary the day after Super Tuesday. With their delegates added to this basket I just don’t have a chance to make any difference.
It’s a good thing a former student radical I know is running for the Democratic nomination to defeat Republican Mike Bost for the US House Illinois 12th Dist. seat or I would not have any reason at all to vote.
On quite irrelevant to most people aviation news, Interjet is rumored to have debts for $150 million. Mostly to the Mexican government for fuel and air traffic services, but also to aircraft lessors.
It would be sad if it went broke. It’s a nice airline. it started off in 2005 as a low cost, along with Volaris, but given the way service has downgraded over the years, it’s now more like a mainline operation. Its distinctive feature is legroom, with 34″ of pitch in all seats, except the over wing exit and bulkhead rows which have more.
For a long time, they charged no bag fees (they do now from the second bag, the first being mandated by law), and very low change fees (around US $15).
One time I flew from Mexico City to Monterrey, but had to stay a day longer. No problem, except the extra day was Friday, and all flights back were sold out already. So I asked if they had space on flights to Toluca (about 50 km from Mexico City). They did. But get this, the change fee was $15, but one also had to cover the fare difference. Ok. That’s fair. Turns out the flight I changed was like $5 cheaper. I assumed this meant no fare difference payment. Oh, no. quite the contrary. I was reimbursed the difference. So I only had to pay $10 for the change.
It’s not a lot, and the company was paying for the flight anyway, but that’s the kind of small gesture that goes a long way.
All that’s gone now, but the service is still good. and the seats all still have good legroom.
@Sleeping Dog: A lot of people want the option of choosing their health plans, not having the government do it for them. Many are shocked at what Medicare does not cover.
@Tyrell: The 50 million people with pre-existing conditions who could not get any insurance at all before Obamacare would like to have a word with you in this nice dark alley about what an entitled wretch you are.
Be happy you have health insurance at all, Tyrell. You have it better than many.
In his fourth year in power, Trump has largely succeeded in making the executive branch work on his personal behalf. He hasn’t done it by figuring out how to operate the bureaucratic levers of power, or by installing leaders with a vision of policy that he shares, or by channeling a popular groundswell into government action. He’s done it by punishing perceived enemies, co‑opting craven allies, and driving out career officials of competence and integrity. The result is a thin layer of political loyalists on top of a cowed bureaucracy.
Justice and State were obvious targets for Trump, but the rest of the executive branch is being similarly, if more quietly, bent to his will. One of every 14 political appointees in the Trump administration is a lobbyist; they largely run domestic policy. Trump’s biggest donors now have easy access to agency heads and to the president himself, as they swell his reelection coffers. In the last quarter of 2019, while being impeached, Trump raised nearly $50 million. His corruption of power, unprecedented in recent American history, only compounds the money corruption that first created the swamp.
Within the federal government, career officials are weighing outside job opportunities against their pension plans and their commitment to their oaths. More than 1,000 scientists have left the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, and other agencies, according to The Washington Post. Almost 80 percent of employees at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture have quit. The Labor Department has made deep cuts in the number of safety inspectors, and worker deaths nationwide have increased dramatically, while recalls of unsafe consumer products have dropped off. When passing laws and changing regulations prove onerous, the Trump administration simply guts the government of expertise so that basic functions wither away, the well-connected feed on the remains, and the survivors keep their heads down, until the day comes when they face the same choice as McCabe and Yovanovitch: do Trump’s dirty work or be destroyed.
Four years is an emergency. Eight years is a permanent condition. “Things can hold together to the end of the first term, but after that, things fall apart,” Malinowski said. “People start leaving in droves. It’s one thing to commit four years of your life to the institution in the hope that you can be there for its restoration. It’s another to commit eight years. I can’t even wrap my head around what that would be like.”
It is hardly shocking that Michael Reynolds would make the Good German/Nazi comparison…Trump represents a clear and present danger to this country, especially if he is reelected…Sanders is barely a head cold compared to Trump, who is more like the Bubonic plague…
Mr. Reynold’s accusation against Dave are against the website’s policies against the “use of ethnic, racial, or gender slurs.” Will you warn or ban Mr. Reynolds?
@CSK: Considering his ridiculous behavior recently, this is hardly surprising…of course, anything that Matthews has done is tame by comparison to the Sexist Pig-in-Chief…
@Jax: sounds like he’s complaining that the government should spend even more tax dollars on his socialized healthcare plan!
FWIW Medicare pays out way more than people put in.
According to the institute’s data, a two-earner couple receiving an average wage — $44,600 per spouse in 2012 dollars — and turning 65 in 2010 would have paid $722,000 into Social Security and Medicare and can be expected to take out $966,000 in benefits. So, this couple will be paid about one-third more in benefits than they paid in taxes.
If a similar couple had retired in 1980, they would have gotten back almost three times what they put in. And if they had retired in 1960, they would have gotten back more than eight times what they paid in. The bigger discrepancies common decades ago can be traced in part to the fact that some of these individuals’ working lives came before Social Security taxes were collected beginning in 1937.
Some types of families did much better than average. A couple with only one spouse working (and receiving the same average wage) would have paid in $361,000 if they turned 65 in 2010, but can expect to get back $854,000 — more than double what they paid in. In 1980, this same 65-year-old couple would have received five times more than what they paid in, while in 1960, such a couple would have ended up with 14 times what they put in.
Such findings suggest that, even allowing for inflation and investment gains, many seniors will receive much more in benefits than what they paid in.
I’m not on the M4A bandwagon, but I am in favor of Medicare for all who want it. Ensuring that most Americans have adequate medical coverage is primary giving them a choice in how they receive it is icing on the cake.
Do you believe an American shouldn’t have medical insurance?
@Teve: I’m not even sure it’s so much being racist and hating liberals as much as a serious case of “I got mine, fuck everyone else even more, and what I get better be better than what everybody else is getting!”
I’ve often wondered if that’s just the Boomer mentality, sort of an American Exceptionalism on steroids. Not so much racism as age-ism. They don’t freakin care what the skin color is, just that what they’re getting be better than what those “lazy youngsters” are getting.
the other day I got to wondering, as one who reads a lot of science fiction does, whether aliens would necessarily have names. Here and there, there are stories where an alien is not named, or has a number or designation (like Hugh in Trek was “named” Third of Five, or any Stormtrooper in Star Wars *), and more rarely a being part of a hive mind will have no name. but overall, aliens have names.
Since we have no aliens we can ask, I turned to whether animals have names. I know for a fact dogs understand their names, even diminutives and nicknames. For instance, Emm responded to Emmy and to chiquita (little one). This may mean either that they understand names, or that they understand a particular human sound means “me.” But I don’t think dogs give each other names. For one thing, they have a rather limited vocal repertoire.
I’ve read that dolphins use particular sounds to call out particular dolphins, but I can’t recall a source or whether it was valid. I think I’ve read the same about some whales.
Anyway, I’m now stuck trying to think of a way sentient being can tell each other apart, call each other, refer to an absent being, without using names.
(*) And the Kzinti in Niven’s Known Space, are called by descriptors or job titles, like Trainer-of-slaves, Eater-of-grass, Speaker-to-animals,etc.
@Jax: I’ve lived and worked in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. It’s a Lot about the racism.
In November 2008 I was tutoring high schoolers and junior high kids. You would not believe the things they said to me about Obama when only white people were around. And they were just repeating what their parents were saying.
Apparently Israel had yet another inconclusive election, though it seems a bit less inconclusive than the last two.
I don’t know. maybe parliamentary democracies need term limits. Even good leaders decay after staying too long at the top. After a while, one should step down regardless of one’s electoral prospects.
I wonder, too, that his party hasn’t told Bibi to take a hike and let someone else have a shot.
@Teve: I get that. I had lived in 10 different states west of the Mississippi my first 15 years out of high school/college, it was a real eye-opener for me when I moved to Memphis. I had never experienced that kind of racism towards black people, outside of some random stops in northern Idaho/eastern Washington.
A lot of people want the option of choosing their health plans, not having the government do it for them.
Those people are called “rich”. In the real world that 98% of working stiffs live in, their corporate masters pick their insurance for them and no matter how bad it might be they go with it because the alternative is to go without any insurance at all.
You do realize this, don’t you Tyrell? That your fabled “choice” is a Republican shibboleth to keep the rubes in line?
Mr. Reynold’s accusation against Dave are against the website’s policies against the “use of ethnic, racial, or gender slurs.” Will you warn or ban Mr. Reynolds?
I don’t think Dave is racially offended by being described as an old white guy of Swedish ancestry.
FWIW Medicare pays out way more than people put in.
I would hope so. My 401k and traditional IRA are also paying out way more than I put in. That’s rather the point. Otherwise, I might as well put the money in a mattress.
@Jax: three years ago I moved from Florida to a little town near Olympia Washington for six months, and I was driving through Montana then Idaho and into Washington, and I started seeing enormous Trump billboards and desolate landscape, and I briefly wondered what I’ve gotten myself into, before I realized oh yeah this is eastern Washington, not western Washington.
Two hours ago Brit Hume posted a screenshot saying Biden was now the favorite according to the political betting sites. What Brit didn’t notice was that one of the six tabs on his browser was titled Sexy Vixen Vinyl. 😀
I don’t think Dave is racially offended by being described as an old white guy of Swedish ancestry.
I had no idea that “good German” referred to “an old white guy of Swedish ancestry.” I always thought it was a veiled reference of some other type (sometimes classified under Godwin’s Law).
@Sleeping Dog:Back when the Medicare prescription plan was expanded (around 2004) I was for opening Medicare up to anyone who wanted it. That made more sense and would have been smother than cranking up a whole new government plan: the Affordable Health Plan. That would give people who need health insurance two options: the Affordable and Medicare. With Medicare they can get supplements if they want them. Those cover things like dental and vision. With my plan I get free gym membership.
Medicare does not cover everything. I would prefer a private plan if I could afford it.
Covid19: Could this be trump’s Katrina?
Yeah, after 8 yrs of Republicans asking if this that or the other pending disaster was Obama’s Katrina, I find it beyond a little rich to hear Republicans complain about DEMs politicizing this, and tiresome to hear people warn DEMs not to, even as Republicans do.
Get a clue folks. In a time when, just as a matter of self preservation, one should assume everything the *trump admin* says is a lie until it is proven otherwise, the uttering of a simple unadulterated fact is a political act.
**for that matter, any Republican member of Congress toeing the admin line too. So all of them too.
CDC: Coronavirus patient released in San Antonio later turned up positive for infection
I find myself remembering the ending of the first Jurassic Park movie which shows the Jeff Goldblum character’s prediction: Nature will find a way.
This will have to run its course. How long it runs and how we mitigate the consequences remains to be seen. Just remember: It is not in the coronavirus’ best interest to kill its hosts.
@Scott:
Gosh you’re encouraging Scott, helping me start my day on a
lowhigh note 🙂Bernie Sanders: My running mate will back Medicare for All
While, …back M4A, can be interpreted broadly, with Sanders you need to believe he wants a M4A partisan. Shrinking considerably the VP options that can help the ticket.
With the seeming inevitability of Tiny’s reelection, over dinner last evening the wife and I were bandying about the idea of spending the next few years splitting our time between Nova Scotia and Costa Rica.
Two confirmed Coronavirus cases in Florida now.
@Scott: Seeing as the early #s say it only kills 2% while a much higher percentage can walk around for weeks with little more than a persistent, infectious cough, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the corona virus has a pretty good idea of what’s in it’s best interests.
This strain of Coronavirus is much more lethal than the normal ones. It is not true that viruses become less lethal over time. Some become less lethal, zone become more lethal. More
Wtf. This site just went haywire for me. Anyway, my last comment was supposed to read some become more lethal, some become less lethal.
@Teve: And to think that all these years I thought it was my fault. 😉
@OzarkHillbilly: i mean, I’m not even drunk. WTF. Wouldn’t let me edit either.
Cutting off one’s British nose to spite their European face.
What is going to fun here in San Antonio is that we are already in spring pollen season. There is a lot of sneezing and sniffling going on already.
@Teve: Word has been giving me fits since the latest update. I find myself screaming at the computer, “WHY DO YOU FUCKS THINK YOU HAVE TO REINVENT THE WHEEL???”
I’m 62, an age where once I get used to the way a thing is, any “improvement” is detrimental to my mental health.
No doubt he thinks of himself as good and very devout Christian just following the words of Jesus.
Related to the discussion I’ve been having with Steven and others in recent threads related to voting, Bernie Sanders, the limits of #nevertrump, third parties, etc. is this oped titled, Against Sanders, Trump is the Lesser Evil which I saw at Dave Schuler’s site.
I don’t think that’s an isolated view among Republicans disaffected with Trump. I’ve already stated that Sanders will almost certainly drive me, a life-long independent – to a third party or, possibly, even a write-in (something I’ve never done before). And I’ve never been a Republican.
I would think it should be obvious, but forcing disaffected Trump Republicans to choose between Sanders and Trump is likely to bite Democrats in the ass.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Have you considered trying LibreOffice? It handles backwards compatibility better than MS Office does with it’s own stuff, and it doesn’t have that idiotic “ribbon”.
@Mu Yixiao: No, I am not the person to have in charge of any computer related decisions whatsoever, least of all in this household (that would be my wife). I’ll grit and bear it and probably accept it. If things get bad enough I might ask her to investigate other possibilities but in the end it will be her decision.
The lost opportunity or how the quest for the perfect allied with the defenders of the status quo.
@OzarkHillbilly:
2% overall, 10-15% for patients aged 70+. If it really is highly contagious, and we’re going to lose an additional 10% of the 70+ population over the next year, that’s a massive (probably unplanned for) transfer of wealth between generations. OTOH, Social Security’s finances would look considerably better…
@Michael Cain:
More evidence that this is a Dem plot to kill off Tiny’s voters. How can people be so gullible?
@Andy:
Obviously…and the reason Trump and his Russian friends are trying to help Sanders.
@Andy:
Yeah, that’s possible, I suppose. But historically, some Dems have been able to win rural whites with economic populism.
I understand Dems not wanting to hang their hat on that risk in this election. But I don’t think the “we’re doomed with Sanders” is as clear cut as portrayed.
I certainly don’t envy your position in this election, given your views on Sanders and Trump. That’s why I don’t tell you’re doing the wrong thing.
@Daryl and his brother Darryl:
It’s not obvious at all that Sanders would need that group of usual Republican/Republican leaners to win. If he his appeal is as narrow as that, he wouldn’t have as high an approval rating. Nor would his head-to-head with Trump polls be as competitive as it is in certain states.
Rather, he has the potential to win Obama voters that moved to Trump, as they are clearly not basing their decision on ideology, but their view that the system is broken.
The concentional wisdom may be correct that he won’t win. But to say he has zero chance is as foolish as assigning zero chance to Trump. It could be more foolish, because we know the 2016 result.
The naysaying just isn’t warranted.
@Andy: Without wishing to go into detail, I really don’t think that Sanders has much scope for getting legislation passed, and that will leave him with issuing executive orders. Looked at that way, I really have a hard time imagining Trump as the lesser of two evils. Seems like people are weighing Bernie’s unrealistic vision against what Trump has already accomplished and will likely continue to pursue.
@Kit:
So, Trump again. The Republicans’ legislative accomplishments over the past three years amount to one round of tax cuts. Everything else significant has been changes in rules and regulations by executive branch departments and agencies. Well, none of the moderators have asked my debate question: What rules and regulations will you begin the process to change on day one of your administration?
I think this neat extension for Firefox and Chrome might be of interest: Chrome and Firefox Extension Lets You View Deleted Web Pages:
We haven’t heard a peep from the GOP about Burisma for a while. But the day after Biden won South Carolina (pure coincidence I’m sure *coughbullshitcough*) the GOP-controlled Senate Homeland Security Committee decided it’s necessary to start issuing subpoenas to a consulting company with ties to–guess who–Burisma. And then they leaked this news the day before Super Tuesday.
https://twitter.com/CBS_Herridge/status/1234486902226661378?s=20
It’s ludicrous how transparent they are.
@Michael Cain:
I guess that really depends on why disgusted Republicans hate Trump. Bernie would certainly infuriate people with open borders, but much of the rest that he could accomplish would probably be considered an improvement, at least by those who dislike Trump.
@Kit:
Yes. And for those people–including 80-some% + of GOP voters–Trump is most likely the lesser of the two evils available in a Sanders/Trump contest. I consider that a comment on the morality, citizenship, and character of 90-some% of the GOP (and of the editorial staff at WSJ). YMMV.
@Kurtz:
Don’t forget tomorrow Bloomberg will be playing the Mighty Mouse theme and singing, “Here I come to save the Daaaay!”
Bye Bye Amy. Says she supports Biden.
What’s the guess on Bloomberg dropping out if he gets shellacked tomorrow? My money says yes, he’ll head on down the road.
@Andy:
Dave is a good german. As soon as Trump was elected he, like so many older white men, suddenly dropped concerns he’d had forever and applied a whole new standard. He’s been a disappointment. I would have thought he would do better.
When I tell you Jews vote from a degree of fear, it’s guys like him that scare us. The open anti-semites are one thing, far more concerning is the general moral collapse of decent people.
@Polimom:
My guess is he stays in, hoping to play Man on the White Horse at the convention. But then, my prediction that Klobuchar would stay in through Super T had a shelf life measured in hours.
@Andy: “I don’t think that’s an isolated view among Republicans disaffected with Trump.”
Sure. Because they’ll write all sorts of saddened op-eds about the necessity of putting all minorities in concentration camps — but they’ll riot if someone tries to touch their tax cuts.
I checked in over at The American Conservative to see what they were up to and couldn’t keep myself from reading Dreher’s latest. Inevitably it was a repetition of one of his two hobby horse. Not the “The Gays! The Gays are coming for us!” but his second one, “The Libruls will blame Christians for the Corona virus! They hates us, they hates us they does, my precious…” I won’t bother rehashing his nonsense but am instead going to ask for help on the origin of an insult (?) he repeatedly used: Blue Chekists. He kept it up at a steady hum, referring to liberals in general and people who insulted Mike Pence specifically. I’m assuming it has to do with the old Soviet precursor to the KGB, the NKVD, whose functionaries were called Chekists. (Assuming I’m remembering correctly.). And Blue Chekists? Maybe because all Democrats want to march Christians and people who don’t want to sell cakes to gays into gulags? Is anyone familiar with this and knows what fever swamp it arose from?
@Michael Reynolds:
You’ve accused me of the same thing, and arguably worse. You’ve said more than once, without evidence, that I also suddenly developed a different standard for Trump and of being a closet racist against Obama. Yeah, I’m the closet racist that voted for Obama.
Of course, you were never able to provide any evidence to back up your ad hominems.
Utilizing “Good German’ and “white male” woke BS in lieu of an actual thought really says more about you than anyone else. You appear unable to debate many topics on the merits and instead descend into impugning motives.
I think you’re the one that has changed – name-calling and evidence-free fictionalized character assassination is now your normal response. You talk about others applying new standards when it comes to Trump, but the irony is that your behavior has become very Trump-like.
@MarkedMan :
Haven’t the foggiest since I’ve not read the article (and won’t -ewww) but could it be a Twitter reference? As in, that little blue checkmark next to your name to prove your bona fides. An new way of saying social elitists and he decided to misspell it to link back to Evul Socialism??
BREAKING :San Antonio declares health emergency, orders coronavirus evacuees to stay in quarantine
Politically, regardless of the medical merits of the actions, this will generate some interesting left/right interactions as well as federal/state/local lines of authority.
I forgot to include Democrats Abroad Global Party Run Primary the day after Super Tuesday. With their delegates added to this basket I just don’t have a chance to make any difference.
It’s a good thing a former student radical I know is running for the Democratic nomination to defeat Republican Mike Bost for the US House Illinois 12th Dist. seat or I would not have any reason at all to vote.
On quite irrelevant to most people aviation news, Interjet is rumored to have debts for $150 million. Mostly to the Mexican government for fuel and air traffic services, but also to aircraft lessors.
It would be sad if it went broke. It’s a nice airline. it started off in 2005 as a low cost, along with Volaris, but given the way service has downgraded over the years, it’s now more like a mainline operation. Its distinctive feature is legroom, with 34″ of pitch in all seats, except the over wing exit and bulkhead rows which have more.
For a long time, they charged no bag fees (they do now from the second bag, the first being mandated by law), and very low change fees (around US $15).
One time I flew from Mexico City to Monterrey, but had to stay a day longer. No problem, except the extra day was Friday, and all flights back were sold out already. So I asked if they had space on flights to Toluca (about 50 km from Mexico City). They did. But get this, the change fee was $15, but one also had to cover the fare difference. Ok. That’s fair. Turns out the flight I changed was like $5 cheaper. I assumed this meant no fare difference payment. Oh, no. quite the contrary. I was reimbursed the difference. So I only had to pay $10 for the change.
It’s not a lot, and the company was paying for the flight anyway, but that’s the kind of small gesture that goes a long way.
All that’s gone now, but the service is still good. and the seats all still have good legroom.
@Sleeping Dog: A lot of people want the option of choosing their health plans, not having the government do it for them. Many are shocked at what Medicare does not cover.
@Tyrell: The 50 million people with pre-existing conditions who could not get any insurance at all before Obamacare would like to have a word with you in this nice dark alley about what an entitled wretch you are.
Be happy you have health insurance at all, Tyrell. You have it better than many.
No, that is absolutely not true…
It is hardly shocking that Michael Reynolds would make the Good German/Nazi comparison…Trump represents a clear and present danger to this country, especially if he is reelected…Sanders is barely a head cold compared to Trump, who is more like the Bubonic plague…
Multiple sources are reporting that Chris Matthews retired from MSNBC is the middle of Hardball and walked off the set.
Mr. Joyner:
Mr. Reynold’s accusation against Dave are against the website’s policies against the “use of ethnic, racial, or gender slurs.” Will you warn or ban Mr. Reynolds?
@CSK: Considering his ridiculous behavior recently, this is hardly surprising…of course, anything that Matthews has done is tame by comparison to the Sexist Pig-in-Chief…
@Jax: sounds like he’s complaining that the government should spend even more tax dollars on his socialized healthcare plan!
FWIW Medicare pays out way more than people put in.
@Tyrell:
I’m not on the M4A bandwagon, but I am in favor of Medicare for all who want it. Ensuring that most Americans have adequate medical coverage is primary giving them a choice in how they receive it is icing on the cake.
Do you believe an American shouldn’t have medical insurance?
@CSK: Chris Matthews was a loudmouth creep. Glad he’s gone, fear he won’t stay gone.
Today two different people asked me whether I though the coronavirus is real.
WTF??
@MarkedMan:
I think it’s referring to people with blue checkmarks on Twitter.
@Teve: All I hear is “WAAAAAAA, I don’t have enough choices!”
He’s gonna be really mad if Trump succeeds at a second term and cuts his Medicare “choices” EVEN MORE.
What’s that thing about people continually voting against their best interests? Yup. They do.
@Jax: in a sense they Are voting their interests. They’re way more interested in being racist and hating Liberals than in having healthcare.
@Kathy: a doctor on Twitter said he heard someone say “I don’t believe in that Democrat coronavirus crap!”
Warren deserves some credit for not taking Chris Matthews’ shit.
@Teve: I’m not even sure it’s so much being racist and hating liberals as much as a serious case of “I got mine, fuck everyone else even more, and what I get better be better than what everybody else is getting!”
I’ve often wondered if that’s just the Boomer mentality, sort of an American Exceptionalism on steroids. Not so much racism as age-ism. They don’t freakin care what the skin color is, just that what they’re getting be better than what those “lazy youngsters” are getting.
A little glimpse of my mind:
the other day I got to wondering, as one who reads a lot of science fiction does, whether aliens would necessarily have names. Here and there, there are stories where an alien is not named, or has a number or designation (like Hugh in Trek was “named” Third of Five, or any Stormtrooper in Star Wars *), and more rarely a being part of a hive mind will have no name. but overall, aliens have names.
Since we have no aliens we can ask, I turned to whether animals have names. I know for a fact dogs understand their names, even diminutives and nicknames. For instance, Emm responded to Emmy and to chiquita (little one). This may mean either that they understand names, or that they understand a particular human sound means “me.” But I don’t think dogs give each other names. For one thing, they have a rather limited vocal repertoire.
I’ve read that dolphins use particular sounds to call out particular dolphins, but I can’t recall a source or whether it was valid. I think I’ve read the same about some whales.
Anyway, I’m now stuck trying to think of a way sentient being can tell each other apart, call each other, refer to an absent being, without using names.
(*) And the Kzinti in Niven’s Known Space, are called by descriptors or job titles, like Trainer-of-slaves, Eater-of-grass, Speaker-to-animals,etc.
@Jax: I’ve lived and worked in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. It’s a Lot about the racism.
In November 2008 I was tutoring high schoolers and junior high kids. You would not believe the things they said to me about Obama when only white people were around. And they were just repeating what their parents were saying.
@Teve:
I’ve long believed ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of, as we’re all born knowing nothing, and as I have plenty of ignorance of my own.
But willful ignorance, which I define as remaining ignorant of facts that are plainly obvious and often explained, is disgraceful.
Apparently Israel had yet another inconclusive election, though it seems a bit less inconclusive than the last two.
I don’t know. maybe parliamentary democracies need term limits. Even good leaders decay after staying too long at the top. After a while, one should step down regardless of one’s electoral prospects.
I wonder, too, that his party hasn’t told Bibi to take a hike and let someone else have a shot.
@Teve: I get that. I had lived in 10 different states west of the Mississippi my first 15 years out of high school/college, it was a real eye-opener for me when I moved to Memphis. I had never experienced that kind of racism towards black people, outside of some random stops in northern Idaho/eastern Washington.
@Michael Cain:
Imagine the reductions in plastic waste and greenhouse gasses. GO COVID19!
@Tyrell:
Those people are called “rich”. In the real world that 98% of working stiffs live in, their corporate masters pick their insurance for them and no matter how bad it might be they go with it because the alternative is to go without any insurance at all.
You do realize this, don’t you Tyrell? That your fabled “choice” is a Republican shibboleth to keep the rubes in line?
@PD Shaw:
I don’t think Dave is racially offended by being described as an old white guy of Swedish ancestry.
@Teve:
I would hope so. My 401k and traditional IRA are also paying out way more than I put in. That’s rather the point. Otherwise, I might as well put the money in a mattress.
@James Joyner: and it’s a fine program. But i doubt you’ll find private insurance doing that, was the point.
@Jax: three years ago I moved from Florida to a little town near Olympia Washington for six months, and I was driving through Montana then Idaho and into Washington, and I started seeing enormous Trump billboards and desolate landscape, and I briefly wondered what I’ve gotten myself into, before I realized oh yeah this is eastern Washington, not western Washington.
Two hours ago Brit Hume posted a screenshot saying Biden was now the favorite according to the political betting sites. What Brit didn’t notice was that one of the six tabs on his browser was titled Sexy Vixen Vinyl. 😀
@James Joyner:
I had no idea that “good German” referred to “an old white guy of Swedish ancestry.” I always thought it was a veiled reference of some other type (sometimes classified under Godwin’s Law).
@Sleeping Dog:Back when the Medicare prescription plan was expanded (around 2004) I was for opening Medicare up to anyone who wanted it. That made more sense and would have been smother than cranking up a whole new government plan: the Affordable Health Plan. That would give people who need health insurance two options: the Affordable and Medicare. With Medicare they can get supplements if they want them. Those cover things like dental and vision. With my plan I get free gym membership.
Medicare does not cover everything. I would prefer a private plan if I could afford it.