swordfish

Klinger's ruse won't work anymore......

As we are nearing the 2 YEAR point of "2 weeks to flatten the curve" I am remembering when this thread started back in 2020. My tin foil hat remains firmly ensconced to this day as there is literally no other way to die in the US except by Covid. This thing came from a lab and is doing exactly what it was intended to do. According to the CDC, 61% of the US population has been vaccinated as of 12/14/21 (yesterday). The Northeast has the highest vax rate (70 - 75%) yet is leading in Covid cases. (Guess what - it's cold in the Northeast, viruses are going to spread at a higher rate - just they did in the South during the summer) Also, without fail - EVERY one of my relatives and friends that had past open heart surgery have ALL since getting the vaccine had re-occurring issues. 2 have had to have pacemakers put in, and 1 is waiting for a 2nd open heart surgery. I can't say with certainty the vaccine is the cause, but I can sure be suspicious. Again - The virus is real, but the orchestrated (over) reaction to this thing is so very obvious. Someone sneezes - they have to immediately go get tested for Covid. ANYONE can and does carry the vaccine regardless of vaccine status, but the unvaccinated are the cause of this outbreak today? Heading to Florida for a few weeks with the in-laws who are in their 80's now and fully, fully vaccinated as they should be. We are driving, towing a boat and not staying in a hotel while the 2 others (vaccinated) are flying in. I have to think that I should be more concerned of them than they should be of me? Okay - venting is over.....

Turns out it WAS staged......

https://nypost.com/2021/12/08/white-house-working-with-media-to-get-positive-biden-coverage/ White House ‘working behind the scenes’ with media to get positive coverage The White House has been secretly begging news organizations to give “favorable” coverage to President Biden rather than focusing on his failings, according to a report. The administration is “not happy” with the unflattering headlines and coverage of the supply-chain disaster and handling of the economy — and so “has been working behind the scenes trying to reshape coverage in its favor,” CNN’s Reliable Sources said. Senior White House and administration officials “have been briefing major newsrooms over the past week,” a source told the outlet’s media reporter Oliver Darcy. The meetings have been led by a trio of administration officials: National Economic Council deputy directors David Kamin and Bharat Ramamurti, as well as ports envoy John Porcari, Darcy wrote in his newsletter. “I’m told the conversations have been productive, with anchors and reporters and producers getting to talk with the officials,” Darcy wrote. Reliable Sources has itself been leading the way, with its latest tweet on Monday about how the White House is “absolutely right” to have grievances about brutal coverage of Biden’s time in office. Darcy’s report about the secret talks also linked to the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank, who recently wrote an op-ed titled, “The media treats Biden as badly as — or worse than — Trump. Here’s proof.” In it, he pointed to data analysis reportedly showing that “Biden’s press for the past four months has been as bad as — and for a time worse than — the coverage Trump received for the same four months of 2020.” He said that the findings during a time when Biden’s approval ratings have plummeted “confirmed my fear: My colleagues in the media are serving as accessories to the murder of democracy.” Milbank admitted that “Biden has had his troubles,” mentioning the Delta variant, Afghanistan and inflation, but not numerous other scandals that have seen the president’s ratings plummet. The columnist appeared on CNN Monday to further push his theories — admitting that the negative press was bipartisan, having ramped up from the spectacular failings of the doomed withdrawal from Afghanistan. “The left-wing media is tough on him … He has no real support,” Milbank said of Biden, showing his own feelings as he hailed the commander-in-chief as a leader “trying to restore the organs of democracy.” His views knocking the media were — unsurprisingly — shared by the White House, with chief of staff Ron Klain sharing the Washington paper’s op-ed, writing, “Submitted for your consideration.” Reports of the secret PR mission quickly had the administration roasted online. “Biden’s policies are so popular that he’s begging the MSM to do a better job at lying about it,” one person wrote on Twitter. Another wrote, “BIDEN’S HANDLERS MEETING WITH THE MSM ASKING FOR A BETTER SPIN ON HIS POLICIES AND A MORE POSITIVE IMAGE OF HIM. ALL THEY DO IS LIE.” Others suggested that the spin was “the opposite” by being favorable to the president, noting the lack of media coverage of The Post’s numerous scoops on first son Hunter Biden. “Had they not protected [Biden] and his con artiste son for months we wouldn’t be here now,” one person complained, while another urged the media to “strap their balls back on and show this pathetic president for exactly what he is.” Really? Does anyone have any sympathy for the current President considering the unrelenting negative press the former President had for 4 solid years?

Why not?

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/dec/1/omicron-prompts-new-virus-origin-worries/ The emergence of the omicron strain of COVID-19 is raising new questions about the still undetermined origin of the coronavirus outbreak and whether it leaked from a Chinese research laboratory in Wuhan in 2019. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief Biden administration pandemic response official, said the virus mutations in the omicron variant indicate an unusual, rapid evolution. The mutations are “very different” from earlier virus offshoots, although some of the mutations can be found in the delta variant and are linked to increased transmissibility and immune evasion, he said. “There’s a very unusual constellation of changes across the SARS-CoV-2 genome, with greater than 30 of them in the important spike protein which is the business end of the virus, particularly in its receptor-binding domain where there are about 10 mutations there,” Dr. Fauci told reporters on Tuesday. SARS-CoV-2 is the formal name of the virus that causes COVID-19. The large number of mutations is raising new concerns about whether the virus was laboratory-derived or spread naturally from infected animals. According to a former military medical doctor, there are significant mutations close to what is called the “furin cleavage site,” the area that can increase the virulence of the virus, that are sparking new concerns among public health officials. An article from August in the journal Lancet Microbe states: “The presence of a furin cleavage motif at the SARS-CoV-2 S1–S2 interface is therefore highly unusual, leading to the smoking-gun hypothesis of manipulation that has recently gained considerable attention as a possible origin” of COVID-19. Viruses, according to medical experts, tend to evolve from existing viruses that are already circulating, such as the delta variant, not from the first virus strain that emerged in China. Beijing has thwarted efforts by U.S. and international investigators to obtain details of the original strain. However, the omicron variant appears to have derived directly from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, one that has not been observed in the wild in months. The online outlet Science: The Wire stated in a post on Monday that “the omicron variant has virologists in particular worried because it seems to be very different from the ‘original’ strain of the virus — the strain that the current COVID-19 vaccines were designed to fight.” The report said omicron has 50 mutations in all and 32 are linked to the spike protein that allows it to gain entry into host cells. The spike protein is the target of most current vaccines. This has raised worries that the strain will have an extraordinary ability to infect humans, although reports so far say that most cases of the omicron strain of COVID-19 have been mild. “Omicron’s genetic profile has raised legitimate concerns – but at the same time there is a marked shortage of real-world data to make sure. As a result, nobody has the complete picture of what the omicron variant is and isn’t capable of. We don’t know the magnitude of the threat posed by omicron,” the Science post said. The unusual evolution of omicron and the timing of its emergence — just as the world is coming to grips with the delta variant — should fuel new investigations of whether the virus was manufactured in China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided over whether the virus originated in a laboratory or emerged naturally from an infected animal carrier such as a bat or a pangolin. FTA - However, the omicron variant appears to have derived directly from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, one that has not been observed in the wild in months. The latest & greatest variant coming directly from the original that was introduced almost 2 years ago? Does anyone still think this virus is a "natural" event? Does Dr. Fauci really think we are that stupid? Or does he feel the walls of evidence closing tighter on him?

https://nypost.com/2021/12/03/alec-baldwin-blames-victim-in-sickening-interview/ Just when you think Alec Baldwin can’t go any lower, he blames Halyna Hutchins, the woman he shot to death, for getting shot to death. “Everything is at her direction,” Baldwin told a sycophantic George Stephanopoulos during a jaw-dropping, hourlong interview that aired Thursday night. “I’m holding the gun where she told me to hold it,” Baldwin said, “which ended up right below her armpit. Which is what I was told — I don’t know.” There was so much Baldwin claimed not to know. And Stephanopoulos, his longtime friend from the Hamptons — not that the average viewer would know that — was only too eager to pitch softball after softball. Yes, one of ABC’s leading journalists — I use that term loosely — hardly challenged Baldwin when he claimed, repeatedly, that he never pulled the trigger, that the gun just went rogue. “I would never point a gun at anyone,” Baldwin said — despite his earlier assertion that Hutchins had told him to point the gun at her, so he did — “and pull the trigger at them. Never.” “The bullet striking and killing that woman came out of the barrel of the gun pointed directly at her,” says retired FBI Agent Bobby Chacon, who now works as a writer and on-set consultant in Hollywood. “Bullets don’t curve. He isn’t in ‘The Matrix.’ The trigger would still have to be pulled.” “I’m not aware of any gun firing itself,” says Steve Wolf, a Hollywood firearms and special-effects expert since 1994. “I’ve never seen a gun self-discharge. A single action revolver like this” — the Colt that Baldwin fired — “can be discharged very easily, with minimal input required . . . The trigger still must have been pressed.” Wolf is also outraged by a larger concern. “It’s really important to discredit anyone who claims that guns fire themselves,” he says. “If this becomes an acceptable defense, there goes any accountability when it comes to shooting people. We can’t have this kind of ‘guns shoot themselves’ thing. They don’t.” Perhaps — perhaps — Baldwin is in denial. That’s the generous interpretation, but it’s hard to feel generous toward him when he and his wife have been behaving so deplorably. There was the jaunt to Vermont immediately after the shooting, shopping at Ralph Lauren and buying out a local tavern, sitting right in front of the window where paparazzi could get unobstructed pictures. Then came the bizarre roadside press conference in which Hilaria yelled self-righteously at the press while angling to get in every camera frame. All quickly followed by the gross Instagram posts on Halloween and after, raving about how happy their children are, while Hutchins’ son, only 9 when she died, was so traumatized he couldn’t speak for two days after her death. On Thursday morning, hours before this interview aired, Baldwin was photographed going for coffee and loading up his car — en route to the Hamptons, no doubt — while his gross fraud of a wife, Hilaria, strutted around in metallic leggings, four-inch heels and a gold $1,900 Moncler vest. Thursday’s little gambit, Baldwin attempting to elicit sympathy while pointing the finger at everyone else, was an epic miscalculation. He truly believes we’ll feel sorry for him — Alec Baldwin, one of Hollywood’s biggest bullies and rage monsters, attempting to squeeze out tears as he laments how this has ruined his love of moviemaking. Stephanopoulos is equally to blame here. This was an embarrassing line of questioning. “What was it that drew you to this project in the first place,” Stephanopoulos asked, “to ‘Rust’?” Who cares? What is this — an episode of “Access Hollywood”? “People who are watching this show,” Baldwin said — meaning people like you and me, the little people — “you have no idea how unique a motion-picture set is … the amount of care …” Care? That’s rich given what we know about this set, the seven crew members who walked that very morning over documented safety concerns, at least two accidental gun discharges, one accidental special-effects explosion and a young, inexperienced armorer — but, hey, sure, let’s go with “care.” “I looked at all these people, and I see how hard they worked and they’re so conscientious” — unbelievable — “and you’re part of one of the great collaborative processes in the world: moviemaking.” Here’s the essence of this tragedy: It was just a movie. A fast, cheap and out-of-control production that cost a young wife and mother her life. Ignore Baldwin’s excuses. Everyone from Chacon to Wolf to George Clooney and others has said safety protocols on set are specific, simple, exact, rigorous and to be followed to the letter every time. Every. Single. Time. In speaking to me a few weeks ago, Wolf presented an interesting hypothetical: “If that scene required [Baldwin] to put the gun to his head and pull the trigger, I’m sure he would have taken a look inside the gun. Wouldn’t you?” If only Stephanopoulos had asked that question. Instead, we learned that Baldwin now has nightmares (poor him!), feels no guilt, and fully expects Hutchins’ widower, Matthew, to sue — but is feeling pretty confident that he won’t be charged criminally and that Matthew won’t come after him personally. “Someone is responsible for what happened,” Baldwin said, “and I know it’s not me.” After this interview — and Baldwin’s callous demeanor these past few weeks — Matthew Hutchins, especially, might feel differently. Mr. Baldwin is trying to point blame everywhere except at the guy holding the gun that fired the shot......

https://nypost.com/2021/12/01/alec-baldwin-weeps-in-first-interview-since-rust-set-shooting/ Alec Baldwin is insisting he “didn’t pull the trigger” on the gun that killed a cinematographer and wounded the director on the New Mexico set of his film “Rust.” In his first interview since the deadly Oct. 21 shooting, a tearful Baldwin told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos he has “no idea” how the live bullet ended up in the firearm. “The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin said in a preview clip of the interview released on Wednesday. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never,” he said. Authorities have previously said Baldwin was holding the prop gun while rehearsing a scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe when it accidentally discharged. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured after they were struck by the live round. “Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Baldwin said in the ABC interview, which is set to air in full on Thursday. At one point during the hour-long interview, Baldwin could be seen sobbing and placing his head in his hands. Asked if the film set shooting was the worst thing that has ever happened to him, the Hollywood star said, “Yes.” Baldwin also paid tribute to the slain cinematographer, saying it “doesn’t seem real” that Hutchins is dead. “I think back and I think of what could I have done?” Baldwin said. “She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with [her] and liked by everyone who worked with [her], and admired…,” he said. “I mean, even now I find it hard to believe that [she’s gone]. It doesn’t seem real to me.” His interview comes after a new search warrant approved by a judge on Tuesday revealed the live round may have been left in the gun from a previous film production. Investigators revealed the developments in the case as they sought permission to search PDQ Arm & Prop, LLC — an ammunition store in an Albuquerque strip mall that supplied the ill-fated Western with props. No charges have been brought in the film set shooting, but authorities haven’t yet ruled them out. Baldwin’s claims are in direct contrast with what Mamie Mitchell, the film’s script supervisor, stated in a lawsuit filed last month. She said the actor “intentionally … cocked and fired” the gun. Baldwin’s full interview will air at 8 p.m. ET Thursday on ABC. His wife, Hilaria Baldwin, said on social media that she has had difficulty talking to the couple’s children about the fatal shooting. “I’ve had to have some conversations, explaining recent events to my oldest children recently,” she said in an Instagram story on Tuesday. “You can imagine how heart-wrenching it has been.” Wait - How does Mr. Baldwin explain the gun discharging if he didn't pull the trigger. Methinks he just figured out he may actually be charged here..... "I didn't pull the trigger!" Yet there he is on film..... Yes, a tragic accident, but we're all pretty sure you pulled the trigger Skippy.....

Will this be the variant (stick) that finally breaks the camel's back?

SF has found that most gas stations have those stickers removed within a day or so. Make sure you have more than just a couple on you........

https://gazette.com/news/looting-deemed-racist-term-california-experiencing-organized-robbery/article_0c801ee8-0793-5718-9ab7-2052b8101fa8.html 'Looting' deemed racist term, California experiencing 'organized robbery' Luke Gentile, Washington Examiner 21 hrs ago What happened in California this weekend when over $1 million in luxury goods were stolen was not "looting," authorities said. Calling it "looting" might be racist, they said. Instead, what happened was "organized robbery," according to a spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department. San Diego officials are not alone in this sentiment. "As the Bay Area grapples with a wave of seemingly organized smash and grab robberies this weekend, policing and journalism analysts are cautioning against the use of the term looting," a report said. In San Francisco, Louis Vuitton and Burberry stores were burglarized and lost a significant amount of their product, the report said. Similar incidents occurred in San Jose, Santana Row, Hayward, and Walnut Creek, with waves of people storming into stores, causing extreme losses. However, these events are not considered looting, according to the California Penal Code, which defines looting as "theft or burglary ... during a 'state of emergency,' 'local emergency,' or 'evacuation order' resulting from an earthquake, fire, flood, riot or other natural or manmade disaster." Calling the events in California looting carries a racist sentiment, said Lorenzo Boyd, a professor of criminal justice and community policing at the University of New Haven and a former police officer. "Looting is a term that we typically use when people of color or urban dwellers are doing something," he said. "We tend not to use that term for other people when they do the exact same thing." The public should also be wary of drawing a political connection between this weekend's "smash-and-grabs" and the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, Boyd said. "These types of massive, organized smash-and-grabs were happening before the Rittenhouse situation because it happens cyclically," he said. "It's a false equivalency. It's people trying to politicize crime." Martin Reynolds, co-executive director of the Robert C. Maynard Institute of Journalism Education, echoed Boyd's notion that proper media literacy is essential to address the complicated issues facing society. "People draw their own conclusions if the terminologies that you use are tethered to people's understanding of how they have been used in the past," he said. So the term "Looting" is now racist? When SF hears "organized robbery" he is thinking of an Al Capone type or a mobster...... I guess they are probably right that this was not "looting" per se, but linking the term looting to racism is quite a stretch. (IMHO) AND - Stop using the Rittenhouse verdict as a racist basis for criminal activity........Just an FYI - the Rittenhouse charges and verdict had NOTHING to do with race. A WHITE guy was found innocent when he shot 3 WHITE guys previously convicted criminals in self-defence.

SF has a lot to be thankful for this year. I hope everyone else can say the same thing as well. Still alive, breathing and able to take nourishment. Able to be cranky about the state of political affairs, and able to complain about them, but still able to smile and carry on. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on the GID.

Hate to be an "I told you so" but..... In order for this pandemic (experiment) to get any major attention the maximum loss of life had to occur - noticeably and fast. Enter the "Granny Killer" team(s). (s) - because I think more Governors are going to be found to have aided Dr. Fauci in this "entity of excitement" event. https://nypost.com/2021/11/22/cuomo-team-talked-lowballing-covid-19-nursing-home-deaths/ Cuomo team talked lowballing COVID-19 nursing home deaths By Bernadette Hogan and Sam Raskin November 22, 2021 5:48pm We don’t want to say we told you so, but … After disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo spent more than a year blaming everyone but himself for the nursing home controversy – including The Post — the state Assembly’s damning impeachment probe revealed both Cuomo and his top aides hid nursing home data from the public while negotiating his $5.1 million book deal. According to a report released Monday, Cuomo was aware as early as March 2020 that nursing home deaths were being undercounted, and a special Department of Health team was assigned to reevaluate the figures following discussions with DOH and COVID-19 Task Force officials. In addition, the report shows Cuomo was directly involved in editing and reviewing the DOH’s supposedly exculpatory July 2020 report on the COVID-19 count in nursing homes in order to “strengthen” his defense of the notorious March 25 directive that required nursing homes to readmit residents who tested positive for the coronavirus. The infamous COVID-19 readmission policy was adopted March 25 and detailed in a Health Department directive that reads, “No resident shall be denied readmission or admission to the [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.” Notably, that July 6 report claiming the policy was not responsible for increasing COVID-19 deaths among medically vulnerable patients was released the same day Cuomo and an Executive Chamber official met with reps from Penguin Random House. Four days later, the $5.1 million book deal for what became the then-gov’s pandemic memoir “American Crisis” was finalized. The deal that was sealed in July 2020 began to take shape nearly four months earlier, as COVID-19 spread across the tri-state area. The Assembly report states that Cuomo began engaging with Penguin Random House employees on March 19 — just three weeks after New York identified its first COVID-19 case, and one day before Cuomo announced a shutdown of so-called “non-essential” businesses. The March 20 announcement followed days of the then-governor belittling and scoffing at Mayor Bill de Blasio when Hizzoner called for shutting down schools and non-essential businesses. In April and May 2020, after the Health Department had been publishing fatality data for “several weeks,” investigators found that Cuomo’s Executive Chamber staffers were aware that “certain fatalities in nursing home facilities due to COVID-19 were not included in the published data.” The lowballing was the topic of “multiple discussions” among Cuomo’s top staffers and members of the governor’s COVID-19 Task Force. Those high-level government employees exhibited a “reluctance to admit error” when their number-fudging was discovered, lawmakers say. The Assembly report shows the governor’s aides and task force members deliberately opted to publicize the smaller figure of 6,000 deaths — which included only fatalities in care facilities — instead of the larger number of 10,000, which represented all COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents. Witnesses told investigators that the same Executive Chamber official who was the “key point person” for Cuomo’s book deal also made the call that only in-facility deaths would be included in the health department report. Sources identified that “key point person” as Melissa DeRosa, a former top Cuomo aide who the report found “sent and received at least 1,000 emails” about the book between July and December 2020. While Cuomo claimed to be working 24/7 on managing New York State’s COVID-19 pandemic response, he and his employees were in fact spending time and resources to earn a profit for himself by authoring the memoir, which the Assembly investigators determined “detracted from their state duties during the intense period.” Meanwhile, an unnamed “senior DOH” official — who sources identified to the Post as state health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker — attempted to release the true number of nursing home resident deaths to the state Legislature in August 2020 and even prepared a letter with the figure in it. But that letter was not allowed to be released by the Executive Chamber. Also in August 2020, DeRosa attempted to coerce Zucker into testifying that the Chamber was not involved in the controversial March 25 directive, but the DOH boss refused to do so. “The evidence obtained in our investigation indicates that the former Governor and his senior staff were not fully transparent with the public regarding the number of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents,” the Assembly probe concludes. Cuomo has blamed “politics” for the scandals, despite DeRosa’s acknowledgement that the administration “froze” and refused requests from the US Department of Justice to make the nursing home data public because they feared retribution from then-President Donald Trump, The Post exclusively reported in February. Andrew Cuomo has blamed “politics” for his scandals. Mark Lennihan/AP Photo/Bloomberg via Getty Images Cuomo himself blamed The Post for the backlash he faced, writing in “American Crisis”: “On April 25, conservative columnist Michael Goodwin published a piece in Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post aimed at New York with the headline, ‘State lacked common sense in nursing homes’ coronavirus approach” … It was an orchestrated strategy and a Fox News drumbeat.” But independent reports, including those authored by the Empire Center for Public Policy, have found the March order did in fact contribute to an increase in nursing home facility deaths. A January report by state Attorney General Letitia James found that the nursing-home death toll from COVID-19 may have been more than 50 percent higher than state officials had claimed. Since March 2020, more than 15,000 nursing home residents have been confirmed or presumed to have died from COVID-19 in facilities or hospital. Cuomo and his former aides are being investigated by the FBI and the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office in connection with both the nursing home scandal and the book deal. The probe’s executive summary notes that “several law enforcement agencies” are undertaking investigations of Cuomo “that overlap with the Committee’s mandate.” The Assembly Judiciary Committee, which released the report, promised that it is “cooperating with law enforcement with respect to these issues.”

Why is the President opening the SPR to other nations? After cancelling the Keystone Pipeline and nixing getting more oil out of the US all in a push to accelerate the move to electric vehicles, this idiot is going to open the SPR. smh https://nypost.com/2021/11/23/biden-approves-release-of-50m-barrels-of-oil-amid-rising-gas-prices/ President Biden on Tuesday announced the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help combat rising gas prices across the country. The announcement was made jointly with several other nations including China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom. Out of the 50 million barrels, 32 million will be an exchange over the next several months, the White House said Tuesday. The other 18 million will be an acceleration of an oil sale already authorized by Congress. “The President stands ready to take additional action, if needed, and is prepared to use his full authorities working in coordination with the rest of the world to maintain adequate supply as we exit the pandemic,” the White House said. The announcement comes one week after Biden asked the Federal Trade Commission to look into whether oil and gas companies are involved in “illegal conduct” in order to keep prices up, noting “mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil-and-gas companies.” https://nypost.com/2021/11/17/schumer-biden-offer-utter-bull-to-fix-the-high-gas-prices-theyve-intentionally-given-us/ Democrats are admitting they have a pump-price problem — but their “answers” are utter bull. Sen. Chuck Schumer devoted his usual headline-seeking Sunday press conference to positioning himself as pro-lower-gasoline prices. But he dragged up the same answer he always offers: the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. As we’ve noted before, opening the reserve is a Band-Aid on a chest wound: At best, it offers brief relief without addressing the fundamental supply problems. But President Joe Biden sank even lower on Wednesday, calling for the Federal Trade Commission to probe supposed “illegal conduct” by large oil and gas companies who he argues are the real villains driving up your per-gallon pain. What garbage: The FTC lacks the power to do anything fast, and the issue is straightforward supply and demand. If prices didn’t soar, gas stations would rapidly see shortages, and we’d be back to the days of long 1970s lines at the pump (lines the prez is certainly old enough to remember). All this, because they won’t face the simple fact that Democrats’ own policies are creating the supply shortage and driving up prices. They want this to happen. The prez canceled he Keystone XL pipeline and nixed new oil and gas leasing on federal property. He’s seeking new taxes on fossil-fuel industries as Democrats aim to end all carbon-fuel use in the name of saving the planet. They don’t dare own up to it, though, when the public is furious. So instead they offer bogus solutions and phony villains. Pathetic.

SF finds the Sagarin predictor ratings which are normally spot-on this time of year a little troublesome for the Raiders. I do question the Strength of Schedule being as close as it is for the 2 schools, yet the Marauders are ranked so high in the Class. They did however dispatch the Roncalli Royals and the EM Tigers to earn their spot at LOC which by itself is a pretty tall task. Best of luck to both teams and congratulations for making to the big game, especially my hometown Raiders - great job guys.

Try this - The director of Engineering at my company WAS scheduled for a heart by-pass surgery last week that was pushed to next week (11/23) because of staffing issues at the hospital. He tested Negative for Covid for the prior, but today just got the results back for his pre-surgery test as "Not Positive, but Not Negative"???? He is fully vaccinated since spring. His question is - WTF is "Not Positive, but Not Negative" and why (TF) do I have to now wait for another 3 weeks to re-schedule and then be re-tested? (The abbreviations were actually spoken in a raised tone of voice) He is sure glad he spent the past 2 weeks wearing a mask everywhere.

Main Stream Media begins printing defamation settlement checks under the name Kyle Rittenhouse. Starting now. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10191575/Rittenhouse-walks-does-reputation-smears-Biden-Libs.html The liberals who acted as Rittenhouse's judge and jury before hearing a word of evidence: How Joe Biden, 'The Squad' and liberal media smeared Kyle Rittenhouse by branding him a white supremacist and domestic terrorist Then-Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden tweeted a campaign video depicting Rittenhouse as a white supremacist Politifact inaccurately reported that the teen violated the law by carrying a rifle in Wisconsin Esquire described Rittenhouse's behavior as 'terrorist tourism' The Intercept referred to the former youth police cadet as one of several apparent, 'white supremacist defendants' Rep. Ayanna Pressley accused Rittenhouse of being a 'white supremacist domestic terrorist' 'The View's' Joy Behar echoed the oft-repeated falsehood that the teen illegally crossed state lines with a weapon Rep. Ilhan Omar declared Rittenhouse 'executed two people' in Kenosha The chairman of the House Democratic Caucus called to 'lock up' the Illinois teen even as his trial was still underway MSNBC's Joe Scarborough falsely claimed that the then-17-year-old's mother drove him 'across state lines' to Kenosha