swordfish

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/zz-top-bassist-dusty-hill-dead-dies-1235029656/ RIP Dusty!!

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-new-mask-guidelines-politics-control DOOCY: If it’s a pandemic of the unvaccinated still, then why vaccinated people need to put the masks back on? JEN PSAKI: …If you are vaccinated, it can save your life. And I think the clear data shows that this pandemic is killing, is hospitalizing, is making people very sick who are not vaccinated. Does that still continue to be the case regardless of what the mask guidance looks like? PETER DOOCY: If vaccines work…why do people who’ve had the vaccine need to wear masks the same as people who have not had it. PSAKI: Because the public health leaders in our administration have made the determination, based on data, that is a way to make sure they are protected, their loved ones are protected, and that’s an extra step given the transmissibility of the virus. So the vaccines work, the only people getting sick are the unvaccinated, but the vaccinated still have to wear masks. Why is that? You just read it. Quote: "public health leaders in our administration have made the determination." In other words, because we said so. That’s the medical justification for suffocating your third grader with a paper mask forever. "Public health leaders in the administration have made the determination." They issue the rule, without explaining it. You then obey it. If you question it, CNN calls you a murderer. That’s how our government works. "Because we said so"

According to the news of today - we are SO on the VERGE of falling off the cliff thanks to the Delta variant and all the unvaccinated........and ....Yet deaths by COVID (IMHO) are pretty dagum low.......but -

Wouldn't the end result be the same if COVID originated from a vaccinated player (who can just as easily carry/transmit the same virus - kinda like the flu, common cold, etc.)?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9818503/FORTY-percent-new-COVID-cases-Missouri-Texas-Florida.html Alabama Governor Kay Ivey hit out at Americans who have refused to get vaccinated on Thursday 'It's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It's the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,' Ivey, a Republican, told reporters It came as cases have nearly tripled across the nation in the past three weeks as the Delta variant spreads Alabama and other states in the South have been hit hardest due to their lower vaccination rates Florida, Missouri and Texas accounted for 40 percent of active COVID-19 cases in the US as of Thursday In Florida, cases have increased by around 500 percent in the past two weeks White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients on Thursday said several states with the highest proportion of new cases are now seeing vaccination rates rise faster than the nation as a whole So now (according to the Alabama Governor) there are regular folks and there are unvaccinated folks........ Again - why in the world would someone who is vaccinated give a rat's patooty about someone who is not vaccinated? Why would they care? They've been vaccinated and are immune and "can't catch the virus" (according to the current President - look it up, he said it https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jul/22/joe-biden/biden-exaggerates-efficacy-covid-19-vaccines/ ) I say let em live with the consequences of their (in)actions if that's their choice. (Unless the vaccinated don't really trust the vaccine)

https://www.dailywire.com/news/rand-paul-im-making-criminal-referral-to-doj-for-anthony-fauci-because-he-has-lied-to-congress?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro&fbclid=IwAR33NY5yUcZS0WMhBSBnnuN0_DZVs9tB6I9QcH22l3qUqpddNDrIkxnSH7k Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced on Tuesday night that he is referring Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the chief medical advisor to the president, to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation because Fauci has allegedly lied to Congress. “You kicked off your questioning of Dr. Fauci emphasizing federal law makes lying to Congress a felony punishable by up to five years in prison,” Fox News host Sean Hannity said to Paul during an interview on Tuesday night. “Is it your belief based on the evidence, senator, that he lied before Congress and broke the law?” “Yes, and I will be sending a letter to the Department of Justice asking for a criminal referral because he has lied to Congress,” Paul answered. The remarks from Paul came after the two got into an explosive exchange during a Senate hearing that appeared to leave Fauci literally shaking in anger. FactCheck.org, which has covered the funding controversy in the past, previously reported that the answer to whether or not NIH funding was directed to the Wuhan lab and used to further gain-of-function research “depends on whom you ask and their definition of gain-of-function.” (Read the full report here.) The funding claim revolves around a six-figure grant that NIH provided to a group called EcoHealth Alliance, which in turn, directed money toward a Wuhan Institute of Virology project. Josh Rogin, a columnist at The Washington Post, summarized the exchange between Fauci and Paul by writing on Twitter: “Hey guys, @RandPaul was right and Fauci was wrong. The NIH was funding gain of function research in Wuhan but NIH pretended it didn’t meet their ‘gain of function’ definition to avoid their own oversight mechanism. SorryNotSorry if that doesn’t fit your favorite narrative.” Transcript and video of the exchange featured below: SF has opined since last March that Dr. Fauci is a brilliant bureaucrat who has the ability to spin both sides of the argument as the truth depending on the question or topic at hand. I have felt sooner or later he would get caught up in a situation like this where he was attempting to justify something questionable. (IMHO) In this situation before the Senate he realized he overplayed his hand relative to the funding Senator Paul is questioning, and his answer was a definite denial and a brazen rebuke of the Senator by telling him he doesn't know what he is talking about. Bottom line - Senator Paul may be splitting hairs on terminology, but based on the wording of both the definition and Dr. Fauci's previous testimony, he is correct, and Dr. Fauci knows it.

A 52 minute long Youtube vid is not on my list of "gotta do that" today. Especially if the topic is "Racist History of Austerity Politics". Everyone knows there were mistakes made getting the US to the place it is today.

SF kinda thinks DE just learned "libel" and "defamation" and was looking for a chance to use those words...... BTW - I kinda think the old gal I talked to in 1990 (I mistakenly typed 2020 in that post, btw - the next election after my father's passing was 1990) is probably passed on now 31 years later.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/18/media-silence-on-kamala-harris-meeting-with-infected-texas-dems/ Imagine if three Republican lawmakers who fled a state, flying maskless in a private jet rather than voting on a bill they didn’t like, caught COVID. And they met with a Republican vice president who then refused to even be tested for the virus. The media would lose their minds. Reckless lawmakers subverting democracy, spreading the Delta variant, and an administration trying to hide the truth! Of course, you don’t need to imagine the scenario. Three Texas lawmakers did flee the state, did come down with COVID, did meet with Vice President Kamala Harris, and she refuses to get tested. But because there are “Ds” next to their names, there’s barely an outcry. But they’re all vaccinated, you say. True. Which means they probably will exhibit few symptoms and be just fine. The problem, as it has been this entire pandemic, is the hypocrisy. Like the George Floyd protesters last year, it’s OK for the liberal lawmakers to fly in a superspreader flight — because their cause is just. Meanwhile, in California, Los Angeles County is making everyone — vaccinated or not — mask again. Mayor Bill de Blasio has ordered the schools completely masked, even though everyone over 12 can get a vaccine. How about a little common sense? Flare-ups among the vaccinated are not a big deal, as this incident shows. They should be treated that way. Meanwhile, Harris needs to follow the protocols just like everyone else. Get tested, and see if she’s spreading the virus even if she’s not suffering from it. President Biden is blaming everyone — Facebook, ex-Prez Donald Trump, the GOP — for his failure to hit his vaccination targets. Perhaps he should take a look at Democratic hypocrisy. Again - apparently this incredibly smart virus knows not to target "real" democrats standing against voter reform. ALSO - this incredibly smart virus was certainly able to cure the flu in 2020.......

At my age, I kinda already know voter registration is local. I still believe (and will probably not be persuaded otherwise) that the Democrat party (in each of the states still currently under audit) was implicit in figuring a way to steal the election and was successful in their execution. BTW - is sharing a personally held opinion bordering on libel? We all better just close the OOB then........and never speak to anyone - ever again......Come on DE.....

1) What does it matter? Fraud is fraud. 2) I felt it had more to do with the local politics back then. Either way, my father was in his grave for almost 2 years, yet was still able to vote?

I believe this - The Democrat party stole the 2020 election by using the loopholes in the voting system to place unchecked and unverified votes from people on the voter roles who actually didn't even show up to vote. Pretty hard to prove anything was illegal without physically going to each voter to verify. These loopholes in the system are being closed with common sense laws meant to ensure that anyone who can LEGALLY cast a vote can actually do it securely and those that don't want to won't have to worry about it. Case in point, my father passed away in 1988. When I showed up to vote in the 2020 election, his name had a signature beside indicating he had already voted. I raised a fuss, and his name was removed from the voter roles the next election, but the election agent working the poll said she has had that happen many times before, but most people don't say anything.

I agree. BUT - there isn't (currently) a vaccine requirement for the flu like is being considered for Covid, especially for international air travel.

Wouldn't being called a "bug" or "insect" be considered more offensive?

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/22/covid-vaccine-passports-everything-we-know-so-far.html Serious question(s) here relative to requiring carrying a vaccine card or having a negative Covid test document. 1) If you are vaccinated, what is your concern about someone who is not vaccinated? 2) Everyone still carry the virus, vaccinated or not. (FACT) 3) Even IF you test negative for the virus one day, can't you still come in contact with it anytime and be carrying it even after receiving a negative test? Yes - ANYONE can vaccinated or not. 4) With the newest variants that are discovered (everyday almost) and are supposed to be more contagious and deadlier (even though actual data is disproving that narrative) than before how then are we to trust the current vaccines? I'm not disapproving of anyone who has had the vaccine, it's your personal choice, and if you have had it, good for you. But if you have been vaccinated, what is your worry about someone else not getting it? FYI - The vaccine isn't going to eradicate the virus, contrary to the popular narrative being ran right now. https://nbc-2.com/news/2021/05/14/can-the-world-eradicate-covid-19/

https://nypost.com/2021/07/01/biden-mentions-good-side-of-florida-condo-collapse-during-visit/ President Biden struck an odd tone near the site of the Florida building collapse Thursday as he talked about finding a “good” side to the disaster that left at least 18 dead and nearly 150 missing. “You know what’s good about this?” Biden said at a briefing with local leaders. “It lets the nation know we can cooperate and when it’s really important.” Biden added, “I just got back from 12 days in Europe. You wonder whether we can do this. And you’re doing it. I mean, just the simple act of everybody doing whatever needs to be done.” Eighteen bodies have been recovered from the rubble and 145 people remain missing and are feared dead after the collapse of the beachfront building in Surfside, north of Miami. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, sitting to Biden’s right at a table in Surfside, thanked the president for federal support in the eight-day rescue operation, which was paused Thursday due to safety concerns. “This is your show. We just want to make sure [you have] whatever you need,” Biden told DeSantis. DeSantis applauded the federal response, saying, “You guys have not only been supportive at the federal level, but we’ve had no bureaucracy. When we’re dealing with FEMA, we’re literally getting requests routed from local to state to federal in no time and the approval is happening.” The Republican governor added, “What we just need now is we need a little bit of luck and a little bit of prayers, and we would like to be able to see some miracles happen.” Biden is expected to meet privately with the family members of victims Thursday afternoon before returning to the White House. During a brief pep talk to local police and other emergency response workers around noon, Biden said, “I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” before veering off topic. “As you all know, it’s not only what you’re dealing with now, but your brothers and sisters across this country are having more pressure put on them because of the drought, because when you have 121 degrees heats up in Vancouver you really got a problem,” Biden said. “I was on the Zoom call yesterday with all the Western governors and you know what they’re asking for? They need more firefighters… because, you know, last year the fire season didn’t start this early. And enough places burned down, enough territory burned to the ground — more than, bigger than the size of Rhode Island. And already it’s started early.” Biden also told the emergency personnel about how his first wife and daughter were killed in a 1972 car accident, with the “jaws of life” being used to free his two young sons. White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One that Biden’s goal for the trip is to “offer up comfort and show unity” in response to the disaster. “The White House and FEMA have been in close contact with the governor’s team to coordinate federal assistance throughout the entire process,” Jean-Pierre said. DeSantis is widely regarded as a leading potential 2024 presidential candidate. Former President Donald Trump also said that if he chooses to run again, he would consider DeSantis as a running mate. "You know what's good about this?" Said President Biden..... During a brief pep talk to local police and other emergency response workers around noon, Biden said, “I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” before veering off topic. "Before veering off topic" - They're not even trying to hide it anymore...... I mean - He really needed to be there - this is a tragedy his presence could help, but someone needs to reign him in a little.