“So it goes for many media companies, at a loss for revenue and drooling over the profit potential in sports betting. As gambling swallows up sports media, anyone pausing to consider editorial conflicts (or, in the case of bets based on nonpublic information, possible law-breaking) might feel left out.”
“Indonesia says ‘Jurassic Park’ project on track despite UNESCO warnings”. There’s no way this ends well, is there?
“COVID-19 accounts for nearly half of all police deaths” in 2021 so far.
“There is a huge uptick in the request for vaccines. We’re back almost to how we were when the vaccine first came out.”
“If Americans truly wish to protect all children (and adults) from kidnapping, exploitation, and other forms of sexual and physical harm, we must recognize that cases like Johnny Gosch’s and Eugene Martin’s are extremely rare. Stranger abduction and exploitation understandably terrify parents and other family and community members in acute ways, yet family members and acquaintances are far more likely to perpetrate harm against children.”
“My reaction to the Dick Farrels of the world is: I’m sorry their friends lost a friend, and I’m sorry for all the people they fed bullshit to who are currently in danger of contracting a dangerous but easily preventable virus because he encouraged them not to protect themselves with a simple, safe and efficient vaccine. If his death and deathbed conversion to the efficacy of vaccines serves as a useful rebuttal to all his previous bullshit on the subject, so much the better. Beyond that, I wouldn’t have wished him dead, and I’m glad he’s no longer able to tell other people not to get vaccinated. It’s too bad the former was required for the latter, but, well. Here we are. If it takes more deaths like his for it to sink in, at least they will not be entirely useless deaths. This is about as kindly as I can put that.”
Pitchers really, really can’t hit. That’s all you need to know.
RIP, Lauryn Farris, leading voice for transgender advocacy in San Antonio.
“The audacity of the former President’s attempts to subvert the law by weaponizing the Justice Department not only underscores how close the United States came to a full blown constitutional crisis this year. It also emphasizes that any attempt by Trump to use a war chest already worth $100 million to try to recapture the White House in 2024 would represent a mortal threat to democracy and the rule of law from a leader who was undeterred even by his own first impeachment.”
“This is the core of good climate policy: pushing fossil fuels off the grid over the next decade and replacing them with zero-carbon energy.”
RIP, Tony Esposito, Hall of Fame goalie for the Chicago NHL team.
“Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said state and local governments should require teachers to get vaccinated against Covid-19.”
“Newsmax helped create and cultivate an alternate reality where up is down, pigs have wings, and Dominion engaged in a colossal fraud to steal the presidency from Donald Trump by rigging the vote.
RIP, Cameron Burrell, former NCAA champion sprinter at the University of Houston.
“What the crank is giving people is the *illusion* of not trusting an authority—unlike all those sheep who trust the *mainstream* authorities. A bit like the media elites who win large followings by telling you not to trust media elites.”
Let unvaxxed people complain about vaccination requirements for travel. They shouldn’t be traveling if they’re not vaxxed.
“Who should Americans be angry at? Can we narrow it down? Sure.”
RIP, Nanci Griffith, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter.
“More than 4,700 lives lost to Covid-19 in Florida and Texas could have been saved if those states had higher vaccination rates, according to a study released on Thursday.”
“Restaurant owners across the country are experiencing similar waves of backlash after announcing vaccination requirements for anyone who wants to dine indoors. Their Yelp pages get overrun with one-star reviews from people who have never eaten there; their Instagram posts get spammed with vitriolic comments; their inboxes and voicemails get flooded with messages. Many of the comments are eerily similar: angry anti-vaxxers accuse restaurateurs of medical segregation, comparing vaccine requirements to racial discrimination.”
Re: “Restaurant owners across the country are experiencing similar waves of backlash after announcing vaccination requirements for anyone who wants to dine indoors.
Comment: The backlash might work to their advantage, though.
Anti-vaxxers will stay away (hopefully not picket) while vaxxed people would want to eat there because they will fell more comfortable and safer. In other words, the pro and con customers will sort themselves out and frequent their preferred establishements, respectively.
As the size of the vaxxed population increases and the anti-vaxxers come down with COVID and die, the effect will further favor the pro-health establishments.
Call it survival not of the fittest, but of the smarter ones. Including the restaurant and bar operators.
LONE STAR LOONEY LAWS
Alas, in Texas, the morbidity-and-mortality friendly GOP-controlled Legislature has passed a law outlawing vaccination passports which is the TABC has since started enforcing with implied threats to jank licenses.
TABC: “Reminder: Businesses Prohibited From Requiring Customers To Show Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination”
https://www.tabc.texas.gov/news/announcements/reminder-businesses-prohibited-from-requiring-customers-to-show-proof-of-covid-19-vaccination-2021/
Stutory Reference: S.B. 968
Excerpt:
(c) A business in this state may not require a customer to
provide any documentation certifying the customer ’s COVID-19
vaccination or post-transmission recovery on entry to, to gain
access to, or to receive service from the business. A business that
fails to comply with this subsection is not eligible to receive a
grant or enter into a contract payable with state funds.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, each appropriate state
agency shall ensure that businesses in this state comply with
Subsection (c) and may require compliance with that subsection as a
condition for a license, permit, or other state authorization
necessary for conducting business in this state.