COVID Stupid

[User.45]

Texas GOP with an idiotic tweet about COVID...

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1479529037949292549/

Um, how about governing well and not having long lines for either?

GOP deciding to die on this hill is just pathetic.
Per the federalist logic we've been hearing in 2020 ad nauseam, it is purely their responsibility to optimize testing.
Which in this case would be a home testing system. So this logic is: if we can do a shitty job with COVID, it's totally fine to do a shitty job with elections too.

 

[User.45]

...and SO ironic that the bulk of the vaccine production is in the US.

I'm surprised that the Republicans haven't figured it out yet. The elections over the last few decades have been by thin margins. They DO realize that fewer Republicans means they may not win again?

This is especially poignant in Florida, where way more people died of COVID than DeSantis' margin of victory for governorship.

 

[lizkat]

This is especially poignant in Florida, where way more people died of COVID than DeSantis' margin of victory for governorship.

I was thinking about stuff like that yesterday during the high court hearing from plaintiffs arguing that a mandate for masking and testing (or getting vaxxed) would cause "small rural hospitals" to have to close because of staff quitting... (whereas my understanding was in fact the staffing has got easier at these establishments since implementation of mandates because of caregivers and ancillary staff not being so afraid to WORK there once people either were vaxxed or masking up and testing).

And meanwhile when plaintiff's attorney kept talking about effect of mandates on "small businesses" and "small rural hospitals...." Justice Breyer once or twice noted that "... yes but right now we have SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND new cases of covid a day" and that one of the reasons for the mandate was to preclude having to close hospitals (small and rural or f'g otherwise) because of sheer inability to round up enough non-sick staff to keep the damn doors open and try to accommodate needs of the influx of patients whether covid-related or not.

 

[SuperMatt]

I was thinking about stuff like that yesterday during the high court hearing from plaintiffs arguing that a mandate for masking and testing (or getting vaxxed) would cause "small rural hospitals" to have to close because of staff quitting... (whereas my understanding was in fact the staffing has got easier at these establishments since implementation of mandates because of caregivers and ancillary staff not being so afraid to WORK there once people either were vaxxed or masking up and testing).

And meanwhile when plaintiff's attorney kept talking about effect of mandates on "small businesses" and "small rural hospitals...." Justice Breyer once or twice noted that "... yes but right now we have SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND new cases of covid a day" and that one of the reasons for the mandate was to preclude having to close hospitals (small and rural or f'g otherwise) because of sheer inability to round up enough non-sick staff to keep the damn doors open and try to accommodate needs of the influx of patients whether covid-related or not.

Also, Neil Gorsuch refusing to wear a mask during the proceedings. So much for the appearance of impartiality.

There is no sense in these discussions. The precedent for OSHA to do something like this is WELL established. It’s total demagoguery from the court now. The constitution, rule of law, and the public interest are afterthoughts. Ideology is all that matters to the current right-wing justices.

 

[User.45]

Also, Neil Gorsuch refusing to wear a mask during the proceedings. So much for the appearance of impartiality.

There is no sense in these discussions. The precedent for OSHA to do something like this is WELL established. It’s total demagoguery from the court now. The constitution, rule of law, and the public interest are afterthoughts. Ideology is all that matters to the current right-wing justices.

Honestly, if people got their shit together, mandates would not be necessary because we'd have >90% vaccination rates. So people who argue against mandates aren't doing it in good faith as, "freedom comes with doing the right thing [vaccination] without coercion".

 

[Edd]

...and SO ironic that the bulk of the vaccine production is in the US.

I'm surprised that the Republicans haven't figured it out yet. The elections over the last few decades have been by thin margins. They DO realize that fewer Republicans means they may not win again?

Voter suppression should help with that.

 

[lizkat]

Voter suppression should help with that.

Plus changes that alter how audits and investigations are triggered, and how results are certified at state level. Ugh.

One assumes some of the recent bills propose or passed are unconstitutional but the problem in some cases will be one of standing, i.e. trying to get the ones enacted into law tossed out by the courts before attempts to use them occur.

 

[Roller]

Also, Neil Gorsuch refusing to wear a mask during the proceedings. So much for the appearance of impartiality.

There is no sense in these discussions. The precedent for OSHA to do something like this is WELL established. It’s total demagoguery from the court now. The constitution, rule of law, and the public interest are afterthoughts. Ideology is all that matters to the current right-wing justices.

Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barrett were chosen for one thing only: overturn Roe v Wade. Their other decisions that support right wing policies are icing on the cake.

But putting that aside, it often puzzles me that judges, who are supposed to be experts on legal matters, are required to preside over cases that may be highly technical and far beyond their knowledge or experience. That's why courts rely on expert witness testimony. Although it's an imperfect system — experts are chosen based on their ability to support or refute various contentions — it at least introduces some level of expertise.

Cases are argued before the SCOTUS with no witnesses or jury, so the justices are expected to consider testimony and decisions by lower courts. But reading some of their comments during this proceeding, it seems some of them are mostly going on their personal feelings, politics, and misconceptions. And, as Elena Kagan asked, "Why in the world would courts decide this question?"

 

[JayMysteri0]

You can't make this shit up, just shake your head, and control yourself.

Lawyers Fighting Vaccine Mandate Argue Remotely Due to Covid-19

Some might say that's a sign from life that you should reconsider your ideas. That's unlikely to happen here.

gizmodo.com

Two officials fighting the Biden Administration’s covid-19 vaccine and testing mandates for employers and health care facilities before the Supreme Court ironically tested positive for covid-19 just before their scheduled court date, which forced them to argue their cases remotely on Friday. In other situations, that might be a sign from life that you should reconsider your ideas. However, that’s unlikely to happen here.

Ohio solicitor general Benjamin Flowers and Louisiana solicitor general Liz Murrill made their arguments to the court by phone on Friday, Reuters reported. Flowers got covid-19 in late December and has since recovered but tested positive on a PCR test on Thursday. Murrill, meanwhile, didn’t explicitly confirm she had covid-19 but said she would be arguing remotely “in accordance with COVID protocols,” according to the outlet.

Since the Supreme Court resumed in-person arguments in October, it has issued guidance requiring any attorney who tests positive for the virus to make their cases over the phone.

 

[Runs For Fun]

 

[Roller]

One of the stranger stories in a sea of craziness:

Cy-Fair ISD teacher bonds out of jail after allegedly putting 13-year-old in trunk for fear of COVID-19 exposure, officials say

A Cy-Fair ISD teacher who was charged with endangering a child has since bonded out of jail after her 13-year-old son was found in the trunk of her car at a drive-thru COVID testing site on Monday, officials say.

www.click2houston.com

 

[Yoused]

Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barrett were chosen for one thing only: overturn Roe v Wade.

My understanding is that Rape Kavanaugh and Amy Covid Barrett were nominated in large part due to their involvement in Bush v Gore, on the premise that, if the election was close, they would hand it to Individual-ONE.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Fuck these Qucumbers

 

[Eric]

Fuck these Qucumbers

They can avoid the hospital and die a hideous death on their own couch, or they can go into emergency care and get pumped full of enough chemicals of "unknown substances" to make the mRNA vaccine look like child's play. Whatever they decide is fine with me, I just don't want to be anywhere near them as they infect everyone.

 

[JayMysteri0]

And...

Geraldo Rivera tests positive for COVID

Rivera, 78, said his symptoms were mild. He got a booster shot recently.

www.nydailynews.com

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1480205169505841160/

 

[fischersd]

And...



https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1480205169505841160/

You need to use an example that doesn't surpass the digits on their hands.

 

[SuperMatt]

I have to wonder if this person spent time in prison... Smuggling contraband using a cute little stuffed animal? Except this time, the contraband is ivermectin and it’s a hospital they’re smuggling it into.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ivermectin-windsor-regional-hospital-covid-1.6307648

Oh, Canada...

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

On the way home from work the other day I approached an intersection with about a dozen handwritten signs planted in the dirt on one of the corners. I couldn’t read them but they were written in red, white, and blue which is usually a sign that I don’t agree with whatever it is they are going on about. The causes I believe in generally don’t drape themselves in patriotism, as if that somehow makes them more valid.

As I got closer I saw there were 2 people pacing in front of the signs, one older gentleman with a flag in hand and another holding a sign that said something about “globalist jab” and they were wearing a sheep mask.

My only real thought was “What are you doing and why here?” There was no medical or governmental building in sight. At the intersection are 2 high end malls, a real epicenter of liberal consumerism. So they probably picked the location because of the amount of likely traffic. To me they just looked like mentally unstable attention whores, not changing any minds. The whole sheep thing has just become comical to me as they are just displaying they are Fox News and conspiracy sheep, another of the many examples of how the right likes to flip definitions or use projection as deflection.

 

[shadow puppet]

Like this approach is going to solve anything. Temper tantrum much?

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1480562949806829570/

 

[JayMysteri0]

Uh...

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1480572127287861262/