61 thoughts on “Reckoning the wrecking”

  4. And the insanity of Texas is in full display. WaPo. I know BiD posted about the TRO and Judge Clay yesterday and about ICU bed shortages this morning but it needs to be held up for emphasis. 

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is asking hospitals to stop non-emergency medical procedures to free up space for covid-19 patients as a rise in new infections limits the availability of hospital beds to treat them.

    Yet as Abbott touted the move as “taking action” to combat coronavirus cases that are now averaging more than 10,000 each day in the state, his order to ban mask mandates is facing challenges.

    Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, a Democrat and elected official, said Monday evening he filed a temporary restraining order against the ban, declaring that the governor lacks the legal authority to impose it.

    “This is about ensuring there’s adequate medical resources and hospital bed capacity to take care of people with [coronavirus] and any other condition that requires medical care or hospitalization,” Jenkins tweeted. A children’s advocacy group also filed a lawsuit challenging Abbott’s order on Sunday. A representative for Abbott did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Dallas schools to require masks, defying governor

    Hospitalizations across the United States have soared past the peak seen in last summer’s Sun Belt surge, straining resources in hot-spot states, such as Texas, which have resisted renewing pandemic restrictions. Current hospitalizations for the virus passed 68,000 nationwide on Monday — well over last summer’s high of about 66,000 — as daily new admissions approached 15,000.

    In Texas, where the latest state data shows nearly 9,500 people are currently hospitalized with covid-19, Abbott announced that out-of-state health-care workers would come to assist. Florida and Louisiana on Monday also reported hospitalizations at all-time records. In Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said Monday that only eight ICU beds were open statewide and that the state hit its largest single-day increase in hospitalizations.

    Gee, on the insane end of the spectrum is the Abbott (and DeInSanity) administration. Who could have guessed? Lewis Carroll couldn’t have topped this.

  6. Continuing from the WaPo article above and moving from the insane to the same end of the spectrum….

    Yet medical experts and local leaders from across the state have said that Abbott’s executive order last month — which barred government entities including cities, counties and public schools from mandating masks or vaccines — has left communities vulnerable to the onslaught of infections brought by the more contagious delta variant.

    In a rebuke of the ban, the Dallas Independent School District will require, starting Tuesday, that all students and staff wear masks in school buildings. Announcing the decision on Monday, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said that “with numbers getting significantly worse, this decision is urgent.”

    Earlier this month President Biden called out Republican officials — after being asked about Abbott and Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) — for blocking efforts he said could curb the virus’s spread. “I say to these governors: Please help. But if you aren’t going to help, at least get out of the way,” he said.

    The Biden administration has directed agencies throughout the federal government to devise plans for requiring workers to get vaccinated. Defense officials said Monday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will require all active service members to get a coronavirus vaccine shot by mid-September, an acknowledgment of the way the virus can wreak chaos in military units.

    Some states have made similar moves. Washington state, where infections are rising, said it would require most state employees and all nursing home staff to get vaccinated against the coronavirus by October, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said Monday. Just over half the American population is now fully immunized, according to CDC data.

    Gee, on the sane end of the spectrum is the Biden administration. Who could have guessed?

  8. pogo, along those same lines from de-insantis-istan

    COVID Florida: Cancer patient’s surgery postponed as coronavirus cases rise (newsherald.com)

    PANAMA CITY BEACH — Grant Wittstruck said his mom, Jac E Chace, was unable to undergo a possibly life-saving surgery Monday because Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center is overrun with COVID-19 patients. 
    According to Wittstruck, a Panama City Beach resident, Chace has Stage 3, possibly Stage 4, colon cancer. She was scheduled to have her colon removed Monday, but doctors informed her on Thursday that the procedure had to be postponed “because there is (currently) no room at Gulf Coast for the surgery to happen.”

    “All the beds and rooms that would be used for this type of live-saving surgery are being (used for) COVID patients and things to do with COVID,” Wittstruck said. “Our town is no longer able to provide care for those who have issues unrelated to COVID.”

    […]
    Wittstruck noted that his mom was told last month that she had 17 months to live if the cancer wasn’t removed.
    “Waiting two weeks … means the cancer is growing and getting worse,” he said. “I wish people would go and get vaccinated because it’s now their decision to not get vaccinated that’s making it so that my mother can’t have access to life-saving cancer surgery here in her own hometown.”

  9. 8/4/21- Pundit Matthew Dowd, MSNBC Host Nicolle Wallace, and Professor Eddie Glaude Jr. were not kind as they described what the GOP has become.

  10. Lessee how this translates – From NYT:
    DAILY AVG. ON 8/9   14-DAY CHANGE     TOTAL REPORTED
    Cases               124,470                +118%              36,047,263
    Tests                 899,122               +47%                        —
    Hospitalized   663,999             +87%                        —
    Deaths                553                      +101%                617,314
     
    Bad 2 weeks, folks.
     

  11. patd, that PC article is appalling.  I spent months of my life in 1 week chunks in Panama City.  It’s not much of a town if you take the hotels and condos away.  And I’m sure that the locals in the hospitals are there because they were exposed directly or indirectly through the summer tourist trade – restaurants, beach gatherings – and the FL panhandle denial of the danger of the virus.  That part of the Flora-Bama area is full of RW idiots with all the stereotypes of the rural south, and not a mask to be seen, etc. unless I miss my guess. It’s the PC summer way.

  15. Well, there’s certainly a reason I don’t bet on things. I was certainly wrong about Cuomo. He’s stepping down

  16. The GQP is now trying to pin the rise in covid in POTUS Joe. Nope. They continued the politicization of masks and vaccines. The suffering and death in our country continues to fall at the feet of Republicans.

  17. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/07/ted-cruz-john-cornyn-infrastructure-bill/

    Republican Senators from Texas don’t care about their constituents. They are more concerned with not allowing POTUS Joe to claim a win than they are with creating jobs in Texas.

    “The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, with a $1.2 trillion price tag, had bipartisan support, but both Republican U.S Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz opposed the sweeping legislation. “

    Gee, I wonder who is giving them directions, ‘cuz the bastards are lost.

    “The U.S. House is expected to pass the bill, and Biden is likely to sign the bill once it reaches his desk. Overall, it passed the chamber by a 69-30 vote. All Senate Democrats backed the bill, along with 19 Republicans.“

    They have to know this, so why would they want to go on the record as opposing something that will help Texans?

    “Both Cruz and Cornyn voted for massive tax cuts in 2017 that were projected at the time to add about $1 trillion to the national deficit.”

    So, they lie they are both using (it’s all about the deficit), is just that. It’s a lie. They are liars. Lyin’ Ted Cruz and his buddy, Lyin’ John Cornyn.

  18. Anyone think Coumo announced he was packing his bags at the same time everybody (okay two or three people) are distracted by the Senate Infrastructure package passed?  Goodbye guy.
     
    One of the things YouTube creators, like me, enjoy is having someone you know far away suddenly send a message in FB saying he liked one of my videos and asked me to do more of them.  I do not have many subscribers or followers, eighty-eight, and my videos are currently not exciting.  But, I try to give a few minutes showing a bit of my life.  Bill made my day, and week.

  22. I am eager for the second bill because that’s where they put free Community College which I think is the most important part of Biden agenda. 

    My thing about free college is if we don’t get more people educated Trumpism never goes away. 

  23. Craig – I like to think of the 21st century should come with a new view of public education from K-16 to K-16 with optional 17-18.  The 17-18 can be community college or what is referred to as trade school.  Trade school is not the same as it used to be as many products are very complex and computer run now.  Those two more years are public schooling, just as the previous grades.

  24. Craig –
    The only way to get the wing nuts to support that new bill is by adding mandatory  gunsmithing classes to it, and the ever popular “Free 45’s For Fetuses” benefit. 

  26. Homebase and UKG, which offer time-management and payroll services, issued separate analyses indicating employment hasn’t increased in states that ended federal unemployment benefits early.
    Twenty-six states withdrew the federal assistance in June and July, ahead of the official Sept. 6 expiration date.
    Economists believe other factors, like Covid fears, care responsibilities and early retirements, play a larger role than benefits in a lack of job searches.

     
    https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/04/early-end-to-federal-unemployment-pay-in-26-states-not-getting-people-to-work.html

  27. The Covid Cul de Sac 
     

    cul-de-sac

    /ˈkəldəˌsak/

     

    noun

    a street or passage closed at one end.

     

     

    Gov. Abbott  is now pleading for nurses  wearing masks to come to Texas , to care for people who don’t wear masks..

    Texas governor appeals for out-of-state help to fight virus;

    https://www.stltoday.com/news/national/texas-governor-appeals-for-out-of-state-help-to-fight-virus-infrastructure-support-grows-and/article_22af66c6-85b8-5dfa-aeac-bef4ee9913b5.html

  28. Hey…  I just got back from being at my fair….   did anything important happen today?
    (tongue planted firmly in cheek)

  29. When Abbott dies,  he’s going to in the “Stalin Gardens” section pf Hell.
     
    Which is not wheel chair friendly.  And he’s gonna spend eternity  rooming with Charles Krauthammer on the 10th floor in a building  with no elevators. 

  32. CBob… everything is selling.  We are having record crowds and they are buying.  It’s like someone finally unplugged the drain!

  36. RR- 
    This just popped into my head , there is  woman in Slaton, Texas that developed colored cotton years ago . 
    Green , brown , rust  colored fibers.  All muted in tone but very pretty.  That was maybe 30 years ago.  Texas Tech worked with her.

  38. I used to make wonderful skunk hats.  It took two  pelts.  The largest one  , I made a slit in the center , the other , I cut out the crown , and sewed it into the slit.  Four strips .
    I loved making hats and hat bands.  The wilder the better. 

  39. So , I saw an article a few days ago, that we should be kind, and understanding  to the no vax  folks. 
    I find that tack to be  all played out.  As we all hold our breath , and watch  little kids march of to the bon fire of Delta. 
     

  40. This colorful array of cuboids found in the Salar de Atacama — a salt flat surrounded by mountains in Chile — is actually the world’s largest lithium plant, photographed by Landsat 8 on Nov. 4, 2018. Lithium is the main component of batteries needed to power our cars, cellphones, laptops and other rechargeable gadgets. This plant pumps lithium-rich brine from below the surface and diverts it into evaporation pools, where the sun evaporates the water away, leaving pure lithium. The different colors are a result of the varying stages of the evaporating process, according to the Earth Observatory.  10 out-of-this-world images of Earth taken by Landsat satellites https://www.livescience.com/best-landsat-images-of-earth.html
     
     

  41. Yep, I don’t see any point in “holding space” for anti-vaxxers .

    Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan signs 52 arrest warrants for absent Democrats in bid to end chamber’s weekslong stalemate

    “Pressure ramped up Tuesday morning, when a coalition of Democratic-aligned groups released a statement urging House Democrats to hold firm and continue breaking quorum. The 21 groups included ​​Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, the state’s Sierra Club chapter, the Texas Organizing Project, Progress Texas, the Communications Workers of America and several groups that advocate for Latino Texans.”

    “To every pro-democracy Texas lawmaker: the only way to preserve our right to vote and the best way to fight is to stay off the House floor…”

    “The Texas House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to authorize law enforcement to track down Democrats absent from the chamber and bring them back to the state Capitol, “under warrant of arrest, if necessary.”

  46. The really sad thing about America is it’s music, it all  really sucks.  Because big business  has it by the throat.  It’s been along time since this happened. 
     

  48. The really sad thing is you obviously haven’t listened to this amazing album i’ve posted here 100 times

  52. actually that one song isn’t about income inequality it’s a plea for unity and cooperation which i’ve noticed is a common theme among young musicians, these days

  55. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/three-us-airlines-no-vaccine-mandate-workers/index.html

    “The CEOs of Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines say they are not requiring unvaccinated employees to receive the shot, breaking with United Airlines’ mandate that workers get vaccinated by October 25 or face getting fired.“

    I think I can hear United’s stock price going up.

    Heck, I think you should be vaccinated to take a commercial flight.

    Hmmm. Were any flight attendants tussling with unmasked customers not vaccinated?

  57. So, you liberals need to chill with the doom and gloom.  Jump off a cliff, or improve your world, no one else cares, either way✌️

  58. i actually have a special machine here that calculates how many fucks the average person gives about your laments about the tragedy of human existence, hold on, let me feed it some data:
     
    *processing* 
     
    Ok, let me add in your comments and observations
     
     
    *processing*

    Ok, it’s almost done, let’s see what it says:

     
    ”Zero fucks given”

  59. “Everything sucks and we’re all gonna die, also, you’re stupid” will not win control of the House in 2022, just sayin’

  61. https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/haiti-earthquake-08-14-21/index.html

    Haiti, again.

    “The epicenter of today’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake near Haiti is approximately 60 miles west of the fatal 2010 Haiti earthquake, according to CNN supervising meteorologist Brandon Miller. The devastating 2010 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti struck on Jan. 12, 2010. The death toll from that quake is estimated at 220,000-300,000 people, with an additional 300,000 injured.“

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