72 thoughts on “A Pox on Your House”

  1. but Faux is not the only accessory-to or accessory-after-the-fact

    ‘They’re killing people’: Biden slams Facebook for Covid disinformation | Social media | The Guardian

    Joe Biden says social media platforms such as Facebook “are killing people” for allowing disinformation about coronavirus vaccines to be posted on its platform, as the administration continued criticising the company.
    “They’re killing people. … Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they’re killing people,” the US president told reporters at the White House on Friday, when asked about disinformation and what his message was to social media platforms such as Facebook.
    Covid-19 disinformation has proliferated during the pandemic on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube. Researchers and lawmakers have long accused Facebook of failing to police harmful content on its platforms.
    […]
    Earlier on Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki also criticized Facebook.
    “Obviously, there are steps they have taken. They’re a private-sector company,” Psaki told a White House briefing. “There are additional steps they can take. It’s clear that there are more that can be taken.”
    On Thursday, she said the Biden administration was in regular contact with Facebook and was flagging problematic posts.
    Psaki said 12 people were responsible for almost 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms. The finding was reported in May by the Washington- and London-based nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, but Facebook has disputed the methodology.
    US surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, has also raised the alarm over the growing wave of misinformation about Covid-19 and related vaccines. On Thursday, he said it was making it harder to fight the pandemic and save lives.

  2. jamie,

    Image result for whirly pop lollypops

    see next to last comment on last thread  and make mine a whirly pop, please

    The Chordettes were one of the longest-lived vocal groups with roots in the mainstream pop and vocal harmonies of the 1940s and early 1950s.

  3. while on the subject of things kids like, i hope they’ll also like colin’s new venture

    600_APPROVED_CK_Cvr_Crayon_7_14_v3.png

    the hill:

    Activist and former NFL player Colin Kaepernick is releasing a children’s book focused on his upbringing as a Black child in a white family, according to a release from his company, Kaepernick Publishing.
    “I Color Myself Different” is centered around a childhood memory of Kaepernick’s. When he was participating in a drawing exercise in kindergarten, he put down the yellow crayon he was using to draw his family and picked up a brown one to represent himself. 
    “This moment crystallized for him the differences marked by his adoption, and how acknowledging those distinctions could encourage us all to be more accepting of ourselves and each other,” the release states.
    […]
    Scholastic Trade Publishing President and Publisher Ellie Berger said the book’s themes, which include identity and race, will “resonate deeply with all kids.”
    She added, “We are privileged to bring this work to young readers around the world for the very first time.”
    [continues]

  5. in keeping with thread topic

    Fox News reporter Peter Doocy’s ‘spying’ blunder – The Washington Post

    The White House press briefing room has been a little more boring over the past six months, which is probably a good thing. But there are occasional fireworks, mostly when Fox News’s Peter Doocy asks press secretary Jen Psaki to comment on the culture-war issue du jour on his network.
    But seldom has that effort been as poorly conceived as it was Friday.
    The White House announced a new effort this week to combat coronavirus misinformation on social media, particularly Facebook. It’s an effort that carries legitimate questions about what role the government should play in policing (or, in this case, helping to police) such things.
    But that’s quite different from what Doocy accused the government of doing. And he did so based upon nothing but innuendo and a dumbfoundingly apparent lack of research.
    Psaki had offered a statistic Thursday in her daily briefing: “There’s about 12 people who are producing 65 percent of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms. All of them remain active on Facebook, despite some even being banned on other platforms, including Facebook.”
    When Friday’s briefing began, Doocy was raring to go. He accused the government of spying on people to obtain this factoid.

    [continues]

  6. more from above, aaron had this to say:

    Even if the government were doing this, we would need to have a debate about whether looking at publicly available social media accounts is spying. But that’s not even what’s happening.
    I, like Doocy, was intrigued by where this number came from Thursday. I, unlike Doocy apparently, actually did 30 seconds of research on it. That’s all the time it took to find the publicly available study — which even has the number Psaki cited in its title, “The Disinformation Dozen” — from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The study was picked up by the likes of NPR and others in May.
    […]
    Doocy’s claim that the stat Psaki cited was proof of yet more supposed spying is just nonsensical, as he might have found had he done even the slightest bit of due diligence. But at least another spying conspiracy theory that can be turned into cable news segments has now been seeded.

  7. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/15/joe-manchin-texas-fundraiser-republicans/
    “Sen. Joe Manchin, key Democratic holdout on federal voting protections, coming to Texas for fundraiser hosted by several GOP donors“
    “The host committee includes titans of the Texas oil and gas industry — many of whom donate almost exclusively to Republicans.”
    “ is the chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the most powerful perch on Capitol Hill when it comes to oil and gas policy. He will be up for reelection in 2024.”
    “Among the hosts are oil billionaires like Jeff Hildebrand, who cofounded the energy company Hilcorp, and Richard Kinder, a cofounder of Kinder Morgan, an energy infrastructure company. “

  8. Patd

    Whirley Pops are a special memory for me as my Dad would tape one to the car roof and at some point in the drive would perform a magic act of reaching up and making it appear usually while mom was singing Alexander’s Ragtime Band. 

     More proof that life is not fair so you might as well laugh.  If life were fair, I would have gotten dad’s slender dancers’ body and mom’s voice.  Instead I got his voice and mom’s hips.  LOL

     

  10. Doocy is the dimmest bulb in the lamp that is Faux Spews.  If he thinks reading a public post on Facebook or Twitter is “Spying”, he really needs to look up the definition of spying.

    It’s under S in the dictionary, Peter

     

  11. “To see the Earth from space, it changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity,” Bezos said in an Instagram video announcing the launch. “I want to go on this flight because it’s a thing I’ve wanted to do all my life. It’s an adventure. It’s a big deal for me.”

    i guess that means he is going to decomission his 8 billion vans dumping CO2 in the atmosphere to deliver tchotchkes to compulsive internet shoppers, you know, after his “relationship with humanity” is changed🙄

  15. Health insurance companies must be facing higher costs for unvaccinated people going to hospital. Maybe they should just drop their policies. Or give discounts for proof of vaccination. Something. Just seems like there’s an incentive here for insurance companies to do something

  16. Wow…  if looking at social media means you’re a spy…  then we are all spies.
    Too bad the pay sucks!

  18. Well, i was looking forward to seeing a concert, this year (Phoebe Bridgers, maybe?), even though i had some suspicions concerning the safety of them, which have now been confirmed, as many are now being shut-down or cancelled due to C19 outbreaks😒
     
    …guess i’ll just keep dancing like no one is watching, as indeed, no one is
     
    ok pardon my blathering🤙

  19. My company jumped ship and gave us a crappier policy this month. Bait and switch, quite frankly, from the insurance broker.   I don’t how much the company saved, but my part of the premium was to be reduced over $400/year (in writing) but ended up only reducing it by $108/year. RX costs went up (it’s cheaper to go through GOOD RX than the insurance I’m paying for) and, lab work now comes with a $40 copay. ER was $500, then 80/20 (deductible waived), but is now $300 plus the full deductible of $5,000 (or more for couples/families) and then 80/20. Everyone is livid!

    So, yeah, maybe give those of us who’ve been vaccinated a break…or the break in premiums given to us in the paperwork last month.

    Moving in mid-year is stupid, too. It really messes with deductibles which run on a calendar year, unlike our new policy year.

    Even my doctor thinks socialized medicine would be better.

  21. jimmy fallon, among many many other things, talks about TN’s anti-vaxing according to the hill he said new state mottos are “Tennessee: Come for the music, stay for the polio,” “Tennessee. Nine letters, just like hepatitis” and “Tennessee. The only medicine kids need is Jack Daniel’s,” he joked.

  22. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/17/texas-democrats-coronavirus/

    “Three Texas House Democrats who traveled to Washington, D.C., test positive for coronavirus“

    “The three members who tested positive all have been fully vaccinated, which helps protect against severe illness.”

    “According to the CDC, fully vaccinated people do not need to quarantine if they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive and they are showing no symptoms. Also, if traveling in the United States, fully vaccinated people do not need to get tested or self-quarantine before or after travel.“

    “Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, said on Thursday he would charter a plane this weekend to Austin to retrieve Texas Democrats from the nation’s capital. A move to issue a “call of the house,” which permits lawmakers to track down lawmakers who have fled the House chamber, passed in the House on Wednesday. However, Texas law enforcement does not have jurisdiction in Washington, D.C., so it’s not clear if the procedural move has any power until lawmakers return to the state.“

  23. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/15/coronavirus-texas-austin-protocols/

    “Austin city and public health officials on Thursday raised the city’s coronavirus risk-based guidelines for the first time since the winter surge, urging unvaccinated people to avoid nonessential travel and take other precautions after seeing a dramatic increase in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent days.“

    “But the city’s move to Stage 3 guidelines has no weight of law behind it because Gov. Greg Abbott banned pandemic mandates in May.“

  24. So Joe Coal Brain  says he’s “concerned” about  the cost of  Biden’s climate plan / Then about 3 days later  he’s gonna go to Houston to suckle  on the great carbon tit. 
    This is why I’m sick of the word “Bipartisanship”. 
    That little party they just had in Germany  is coming to West Virginia , and given their mountains are  steeper than the ones in Germany , it’s going to be bigger and nastier. 
    The German elections are coming  this fall,  guess what the #1 issue will be ? 
     

  26. Another “spanner”  the plague  tossed into the gears our finely tuned world. 

    Union Pacific pauses service from West Coast to Chicago as congestion hits inland terminals

     
     

    Union Pacific will suspend service between the West Coast and its Global IV gateway in Chicago in an effort to improve congestion at the inland intermodal terminal, a spokesperson for the railroad confirmed. The suspension will begin Sunday and last a week.
    The Union Pacific spokesperson said that the railroad is dealing with “significant congestion at our inland intermodal terminals, most notably in Chicago.”
    “We believe this change will allow the transportation supply chain to begin working off the backlog of Global IV destined trains, while freeing up railcar assets to support import loading needs on the West Coast,” the spokesperson said. “We are working closely with the ocean carriers and collaborating wherever possible to improve the health of the supply chain.”

    https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/union-pacific-rail-west-coast-chicago-service-suspension-congestion/603452/

  27. That whole line about seeing Earth from Space  is horse shit.  It’s a  wonderful  fiction these days  to sell the most expensive tickets in the history of the world.  All in the name of “Inspiring People”. 
    It’s “Space Mountain”  for the very rich  .
    Their snack bar is going to be selling  an 8oz. Coke  for $700 dollars,  a box of  Jr. Mints  will be $550 , and tub of pop corn is going to come in at around $1200 bucks , butter  will cost ya another $260 dollars. 
     

  29. The Times  has a must read story –
     

    Last year, wildfires scorched more than 60,000 square miles of forest and tundra, an area the size of Florida. That is more than four times the area that burned in the United States during its devastating 2020 fire season. This year, more than 30,000 square miles have already burned in Russia, according to government statistics, with the region only two weeks into its peak fire season.
    Scientists say that the huge fires have been made possible by the extraordinary summer heat in recent years in northern Siberia, which has been warming faster than just about any other part of the world. And the impact may be felt far from Siberia. The fires may potentially accelerate climate change by releasing enormous quantities of greenhouse gases and destroying Russia’s vast boreal forests, which absorb carbon out of the atmosphere.

     
    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/17/world/europe/siberia-fires.html

  30. This is the Taiga forest burning . A belt  of trees  around the top of the world.  Fire is not part of their life cycle.  Growing very slowly , and finally blowing over was their fate.  They  shaded the permafrost  they grew in.  These fires in Siberia  are exposing  huge amounts  permafrost to direct sunlight  onto a black surface. 
    This sets off a whole other chain of events.  
    Years ago a park in Far Northeast Canada  with zero trees  had  a heat wave  .
    The carpet of the thawed  tundra that supported the life every season  for thousands of years  , flowed down the hills .
    Like a throw  rug on a slick wood floor.  It exposed  bare permafrost to direct sunlight. 
    The 10 inch layer of life  flowed down the hills  and into the drainages. 
    A muddy pile of dead flowers,  baby birds , and God knows what else. 

  31. Four days of travels in Yakutia this month revealed a near-universal sentiment that the Russian government did not grasp the people’s plight. And rather than accept official explanations that climate change is to blame for the disaster, many repeat conspiracy theories, among them that the fires were set on purpose by crooked officials or businesspeople hoping to profit from them.
    “I haven’t seen it, but that’s what people are saying,” Yegor Andreyev, 83, a villager in Magaras, said of the widely circulating rumors of unnamed “bosses” burning the forests to further various corrupt schemes. “There’s no fires in Moscow, so they couldn’t care less.”

  34. To kick off Saturday night. If you can’t go out you can still listen to this. IMO one of the best versions of George Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently weeps 
    Santana Featuring India.Arie & Yo-Yo Ma
    Carlos does his usual but it was the whole package that blew me away

  35. Bob, floods in WV are epic.  I was involved in flood litigation in the southern coal and timber areas maybe 15 years ago from a series of storms in Wyoming County on July 8, 2001. The water level in J.D. Bailey Lake – the depository of several watersheds in Wyoming County – rose 31 feet. In Mullens, 80 percent of the business district was destroyed.  And the cause was a 4 hour rain event that was 11” of rain. (love the edit function BTW).

  36. Thanks Jamie 
    Our need for a 65 cent burger touched of this race to the bottom. 
    And all those chefs  on TV not telling about what fish to eat. 
    And the DYI people buying African hardwoods. 
     

  38. Pogo –
    You are spot on.  But the rains that are coming  to your neighborhood.  They will be epic , they will flush every hillbilly out of every holler. 
    And your topography  is really going to  play a huge part, 
    Everyone lives  next to a creek ,  your slopes are steep,  the loggers  running balls out. 
    And the cherry on top, no one is going warn you  that 70 tons of dead trees in coming down your valley being pushed by a 20 foot wall of water. 
     
    Coal head Joe  is betting this does not  happen. 
    I’m betting it’s coming right down his throat. 

  44. What wing nuts  believe , that they punch you in the gut and you fold .
    This voting fight  is the greatest gift  the left has ever seen.  Trust me , Stacy is going to make them pay. 
    Ain’t nobody  laying down and quitting. 
    And that is the fly in their honey. 

  46. i bought iii with my allowance money at Sugarman’s.   Mortonie remembers Sugarman’s😀

  58. https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/15/opinions/emmanuel-macron-bet-covid-health-pass-andelman/index.html

    “Macron announced Monday that all health care workers — in hospitals, nursing and retirement homes, even home-care nurses — must be fully inoculated against Covid or, quite simply, they won’t be paid after September 15.”

    “And beginning August 1, nobody will be allowed in any French bar, restaurant, shopping mall, concert hall, or any long-distance train or airplane without a “sanitary pass” attesting to full vaccination or a recent negative Covid test. Violators could face fines up to 45,000 euros ($53,000) and a year in jail.“

  60. Some days the Beatles and the Stones have trouble holding up for me. I still like wild horses it may be their best along with dead flowers.
    For some reason this one by the Allman Brothers always comes through. 
    https://youtu.be/yJ9twEldw_M

  66. There is whole subgenre of indie rock that sounds like you could have heard it on ‘70s FM radio 

  68. Nuff said, if you don’t any good music out there you just ain’t lookin’
    one more for last call

  71. As I’m thinking about moving I’m changing my style and buying new furniture. I put some pieces on craigs list and discovered a change in the world that I hadn’t noticed. Nobody buys used furniture not even nice oak tables.  So I stopped by and talked to a neighbor who is taking care of her mother and grown children. debbie is connected so that if she doesn’t need them then she knows somebody who does. She helped me get rid of all three pieces I advertised on Craigs list, in about 2 hours. I gave them away but It was good furniture, I was glad to see somebody get some use out of it. 
    Good  night it is time for this old man to get some sleep
    Jack

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