The Week reports:
The U.S. will officially surpass 500,000 COVID-19 deaths Monday — the number stood at 498,879 on Sunday night, according to Johns Hopkins University. And President Biden will mark the solemn milestone with a moment of silence and a candle-lighting ceremony at the White House at sundown, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Biden will also deliver some remarks, the White House said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and Biden’s chief medical adviser, said Sunday that crossing half a million deaths is “terrible” and “really horrible.” “It’s nothing like we’ve ever been through in the last 102 years since the 1918 influenza pandemic,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash. “People decades from now are going to be talking about this as a terribly historic milestone in the history of this country.”
how many more candles will be lit and how many more times will we hear “amazing grace” sung for the COVID dead?
Sounds trite, but this is a very grim milestone.
Time for FEMA to step up and get aid out to those in Texas who need it so desperately. And talk about adding insult to injury. The today show had a guy on who signed up for wholesale rates for his electricity, and as a result of price changes related to the severe weather, he ended up paying $16,000, which was directly withdrawn from his account, which was 80 times his normal rate of $200 per month. (apologies for the lack of detail, but they didn’t give the kind of detail to fully understand over what period the insane overcharges occurred in that spot although simple math says that was for one month.)
YouTube-Google is always ready to shove the right wing Big Lie on viewers. A part of that lie is that the cities are burning and the left is attacking to destroy America. So what do you buy? On the commercial with a video of what looks like a campfire overlaid on a picture of a major city is the ad for the “patriot generator” you will need when the power goes out. What a steaming pile of horse apples.
POGO – The power company is called Griddy. Lots of horror stories on that company this week. It’s basically gambling with your power bill, hoping wholesale prices don’t rise.
As for those with fixed rates, bills will still be high (if you power), as heat was running constantly just to keep conditions somewhat livable/keep water pipes from freezing. I lived in three layers last week and I had power. A few coworkers had no power for three days, but no burst pipes, although one said the dishwasher no longer works. All I had was a busted outdoor light from falling ice. It pulled the fixture completely away from the brick. A neighbor had the thawing stuff land on their car.
Fauci says we may wear masks into 2022.
“People decades from now are going to be talking about this as a terribly historic milestone in the history of this country.”
and who do you think historians those decades from now will attribute the blame for the hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths?
or will his name be whitewashed (so to speak) if the cult persists and the issue is dead and buried just as these 500,000 dead and buried.
bid – years ago when the Colorado Denver area power system was given to private industry I had occasion to be talking to one of the linemen. This was in March, one of the snowiest months in Colorado and Denver. Although we were living during a mild stretch of weather the man suggested I buy a generator because things will not be the same once Xcel took over. At that time there was a long term forecast for snow. Right after talking to him I went out and bought a decent sized generator. The snow storm hit, but it was a blizzard and the power went out. Due to the change over there were some changes to response to power outages. As soon as the power went out I hooked up the generator so I could have coffee. With coffee in me I plugged in the refrigerator and the blower motor of the fireplace. A nice fire started kept the house warm. The cable television system was still up and working, so we had entertainment, cooking, food storage and heat. This went on for almost a week. I like many people in Texas did not vote to make our power privatized, but I had to live with the results. Major infrastructure has to be run by the government instead of a for profit company. Streets, highways and sewers are communal not private too.
This pandemic well on its way to matching spanish flu deaths, altho as a percentage of population much higher then. Still, it’s unbelievable 100 years later we’re not much better at this. In both cases we had negligent presidents. Wilson wouldn’t even acknowledge it existed.
I like WH messaging on the COVID bill, same strategy for saving Obamacare. You don’t like it, what would you cut? Republicans fall silent because they don’t want to argue against popular individual provisions. First heard Biden himself say this, now all admin folks on that message.
Breaking news… Supreme Court allows release of Trump tax returns to NY prosecutor...
Maybe he’ll finally have to face accountability…. he’s the reason for patd’s awful headline…
Talk about short and sweet – “The application for a stay presented to Justice Breyer and referred to the Court is denied.” Issued without Comment or dissent. KaBoom!!
“Wilson wouldn’t even acknowledge it existed.”
craig, but one can plead vascular dementia in his case; however, come to think of it so might that other guy.
Almost 60 degree difference between last monday’s high and todays forcast.
Weather on the edge of the Great Plains, gotta love it.
Jack
No info just a quagmire on covid vaccine in Tejas. NO water for a week. No answers. Filed a complaint with the city. They said the rec centers are open to take a shower and use the bathroom.
Garland is a shoo-in. Republicans drew no blood, even Lindsey hinted he’ll vote for him. I only listened to Republican senators to see if they could trip him up. He was so smooth after a while they quit trying. Loved his angle that while still a sitting judge he can’t comment on pending cases, excellent dodge Republicans couldn’t find a way around. And interestingly he did not commit to continuing ridiculous Durham probe, that’ll piss off FOX frauds.
PatD, sorry but Wilson doesn’t get a stroke pass. His pandemic negligence long before that happened. Palmer raids, his own racism, Woodrow was a horrible president even before Edith took over.
Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, appears for his confirmation hearing vowing to prioritize civil rights, combat extremist attacks and ensure the Justice Department remains politically independent. During the hearing, Garland chokes up when speaking about his family & anti-Semitism saying “My grandparents fled anti-Semitism and discrimination. The country took us in and protected us. I feel an obligation to pay back.” Garland is widely expected to sail through his confirmation process with bipartisan support.
hope cy vance rains on his parade before, during and after the cpac speech where according to the guardian he-who-shall-not-be named
wonder what ted, marco and josh think of his announcement.
So Dumbass gets a twofer from SCOTUS today – (1) Yes, Mazars, give Mr. Vance the asshole’s tax returns and other requested documents and (2) No, we aren’t going to go down the Rabbit hole to try and find voter fraud in PA.
And I heard a bit of Garland in the confirmation hearing – you’re right Poobah, they didn’t lay a glove on him.
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/power-struggle/
BB – If folks can’t access a generator themselves, maybe every community center/church/school should have a back-up system. So much finger-pointing going on now, but will the state fix it? IDK.
In the meantime, I received this message from my power company.
“You may have heard about sky-high variable rates in the news, but rest assured that as a TXU Energy customer, you won’t see any near-term impact to your rate due to this winter weather event. Whether you’re on a fixed or variable pricing plan, our customers are always insulated from extreme variable wholesale power price swings like the recent ones.”
We won’t see any “near-impact” this winter probably means they will stick it to us this summer.
Privatizing and splitting up power providers seems to have made things worse. I remember Lily Tomlin’s character saying something like, this is the phone company and we don’t have to care. Folks need power, so the power companies don’t have to care, either.
Early last week, there was a rumor that some providers were holding back in order to jack up the prices. It wi be interesting to see if that really happened.
Speaking of dumbasses, Steve Scalise and Tim Phillips have that down in spades.
Which is it? Strong recovery or struggling businesses and millions of Americans looking for jobs?
BiD, “some providers were holding back in order to jack up the prices.”, the thing is in Tejas, everything’s a secret. If it weren’t for the fourth estate, we’d know nothing.
Craig
Will you be doing anything special for David’s birthday?
Just got this e-mail,
“As Texas recovers from the recent winter weather emergency, here’s how you can count on us.
Insulating your RateYou may have heard about sky-high variable rates in the news, but rest assured that as a TXU Energy customer, you won’t see any near-term impact to your rate due to this winter weather event. Whether you’re on a fixed or variable pricing plan, our customers are always insulated from extreme variable wholesale power price swings like the recent ones.Payment FlexibilityLike many Texans, you may be experiencing higher usage due to the historic low temperatures. Please call us anytime if you need more time to pay or would like to set up a longer-term payment plan.Peace of Mind about UsageIf you’re seeing usage on days your home didn’t have power, it’ll be corrected soon. The information you may see online is due to estimated usage because your utility provider wasn’t able read your meter during the power outage. As soon as we receive refreshed data, it’ll be corrected.Here for You 24/7Last week was tough, but we’re here to assist you in any way we can. Please call us anytime at 800-818-6132 or click here for more information.”
Just pulled David’s birthday brownies out of the oven. My first attempt, looking good.
Reading Jennifer Rubin’s piece this afternoon on Merrick Garland and his confirmation hearing I am struck with the notion that there are a bunch of domestic terror groups – almost exclusively white, most not alive in the early 60s and most with this or that discriminatory intent toward non whites who have to be concerned that Merrick Garland may just remind them of what the DoJ was like under RFK. Attorney General Garland, unleash the hounds.
Craig… they look great! A very Happy Birthday David!
Excellent, Craig. Happy Birthday to David!
David, Happy Birthday!
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/22/business/texas-energy-company-loss/index.html
When gambling is your business model and Mother Nature is the house.
Happy Birthday, mysterious David 🍰🇺🇸
to David
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