Breaking: President @JoeBiden to travel to Houston on Friday https://t.co/V6tYFeH2lt via @houstonchron
— Ben Wermund (@BenjaminEW) February 23, 2021
U.S. House plans vote on COVID-19 aid bill on Friday https://t.co/uFhH3tJc00 pic.twitter.com/GCavSu79Je
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 24, 2021
New Gallup polling:
Biden approval rating is 56%, with 40% disapproval
• On coronavirus response: 67% to 31%
• On foreign affairs: 56% to 40%
• On the economy: 54% to 44%Key point here: One-third of Republicans approve of his coronavirus response. https://t.co/YAq3uWbfmq pic.twitter.com/4zJ0CELyz2
— Kevin Robillard (@Robillard) February 22, 2021
Unrelated, but this is an excellent read:
Perspective: Tiger Woods’s genius has never been a free gift. Now his only task is to heal. https://t.co/3zKQb2O2vU
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 24, 2021
OzarkHillbilly
Wow. Mount Etna, just Wow.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone ???
OzarkHillbilly
A truly great prank.
eta: thanx to commentor sam at OTB.
Immanentize
?? regarding Biden’s trip to Houston. I hope he makes fun of Cruz. And Abbott. And Paxton. And Cornyn. And….
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: It’s a bit much to ask at his age, but I hope he’s electrifying.
Nicole
@rikyrah: Good morning!
NotMax
New tech, old dreck: revival of an ungolden oldie. May it land with a resounding thud. Guy is a (D) state representative for Illinois District 33.
Cameron
@OzarkHillbilly: All my siblings are in Texas; I think they’d settle for ‘reassuring.’
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
How is Little Imma ☺️
jeffreyw
Looks like the nomination is in serious trouble.
OzarkHillbilly
@Cameron: Let me guess, their electric is back on now.
NotMax
Le sigh. Where have all the blue pencils gone?
jeffreyw
In happier news, we have a noon appointment today for our first jab.
Ken
@NotMax: Well, there goes Animal Crossing. Maybe they can release a version where you don’t kill fish.
MJS
Not going to read the Tiger Woods piece. I’m sure being a child prodigy is very difficult, and has profound impacts later in life, but any adult who willingly associates with Donald Trump is, in my opinion, of low character, and not worth any time or sympathy.
Jeffro
So, two-thirds of Rs DON’T approve of President Biden’s coronavirus response? I wonder what part they don’t like: his actually having a response? Ridiculous.
Loving how Manchin’s real motivation for kneecapping Tanden is coming out.
Now if someone would just explain to Sinema that the GQP is going to voter-suppress her right the heck out of office if she can’t find it in herself to eliminate the filibuster, at least for the John Lewis voting rights act.
2liberal
I emailed my senior senatar (Sinema) about her support for keeping the filibuster. She responded with some history about the filibuster and ended with this:
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Skepticat
Apropos of nothing other than we all need light entertainment, check out https://www.facebook.com/bangormainepolice/ if you have a moment. Right out of college, I worked in television in Bangor, and a number of cops had part-time jobs as camera operators. They were great people, though they had a disconcerting habit of using blue lights to pull me over if they saw me on the road and wanted to chat. It seems the same sense of humor prevails in the department all these years later.
Baud
@2liberal:
The question is what she does if and when the GOP blocks every piece of legislation that can’t pass through reconciliation.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@NotMax: Wow. That would ban every game my son plays, with the exception of some cooking game he plays with his wife
artem1s
I hope he does do a meet and greet with Beto and the volunteers he’s been organizing. If Cruz has the guts to show up and stand next to Biden that will be enough for me. He’ll look like a clown in comparison. why am I absolutely sure Biden won’t be passing out boxes of crayons or paper towels?
Baud
@Jeffro:
They don’t like what political party Joe belongs to.
prostratedragon
@2liberal: Time for a Democratic talent search?
Baud
Mars, bitches.
p.a.
@2liberal: translating her: “despite the fact the Leopards Eat Your Face Party eats the faces of their own too, I will willfully allow them to eat my face as well. COMITY!”
artem1s
@NotMax:
so angry birds is a no go.
honestly, I’m less concerned with the actual games my nephews are playing than the toxic online community that they interact with while playing those games. If the Illinois AG wants to look into whether the say, Ohio Militia or the Proud Boys used Call of Duty to plan and coordinate their treasonous attack on the Capitol on January 6, I’m all for that.
Cameron
@OzarkHillbilly: Well, three of them have been electrified; fourth and her husband – not yet. Maybe Joe can pay them a visit.
Jeffro
That line is particularly breathtaking in its stupidity. They. Will. Voter-Suppress. You. Right. Out. Of. Office, genius!
As if our partisan divisions could be any deeper, or will somehow heal if/when the D majority bows to the wishes of 10 R Senators.
OzarkHillbilly
@2liberal: I want whatever drugs she’s on.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
He’ll be compassionate and that will be plenty good. Getting choked up like we know he will, will be icing on the cake.
Geminid
@Baud: President Obama got my attention last year when he spoke at John Lewis’s funeral and said that if the voting rights act named after Lewis was blocked by filibuster, then the filibuster needs to go. Obama stays in touch with Senators, and I think he spoke advisedly. So when Schumer and his caucus decide the time is ripe to try to push the voting rights act through, we may see a game of chicken with the Republican side. There could be a compromise to achieve 60 votes. Another compromise might to carve out another exception to the 60 vote rule, for voting rights legislation. Judicial nominations and budget reconciliation are already excepted from the 60 vote rule.
A Good Woman
@Skepticat:
I have been reading Cotton’s writeups for a while now. That guy has a true gift and Got Warrants is always funny.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: It’s a joke. You know, electrify?
Baud
@Geminid:
Agree. It’s easy to talk bipartisan when everything is on hold for Covid. But sooner or later, Sinema is going to see that her GOP colleagues don’t share her commitment to comity. That’s when we’ll find out if she has a red line and what it is.
waratah
Where are the bipartisan votes for Tanden that Manchin is so worried the republicans are not having a chance to vote on? I think that Manchin is the one that is being left high and dry as they clearly only want to disrupt.
Geminid
@Geminid: Once the Covid relief bill and major nominations are out of the way, the process to legislate other policy initiatives will begin in earnest. When commitee work is complete, legislative strategy, especially timing, will be key. I’m hoping Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation is introduced fairly soon. That is a wedge issue for Republicans, maybe the biggest of all. The “populists” are one side, and the Chamber of Commerce, Wall Street Journal, and the Kochs are on the other. Politics aside, immigration reform is a matter of justice and equity. The influx of millions of younger workers will help the Social Security system as well.
Baud
Baud
@Geminid:
Infrastructure is another wedge issue.
Immanentize
@rikyrah: Little Imma is fine. He had no classes last week because of the storm, which suited him because he had a big reaction to his first jab. But he got a little manual “Robot” espresso machine for his room for Christmas and this is making him happy.
It’s my FiL that is on trouble. It seems he got an infection in his legs, and couldn’t get to a Dr. during the freeze/power outage. Ended up in the ER Monday but became paranoid/disoriented while there. Meds? Infection? Dementia? Unknown, but it is not good.
OzarkHillbilly
Giuliani Desperately Tried To Dodge Process Servers In Dominion Defamation Lawsuit
He’s a lawyer. Did he think it was going to magically go away?
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: Isn’t one NotMax enough?
Danielx
@Baud:
Infrastructure…I know I’ve heard that word before…
Immanentize
@jeffreyw: Yay! Congrats!
Baud
@Immanentize: Yikes.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Access to oxygen is a wedge issue.
Betty Cracker
@2liberal: In a better country than the one we currently inhabit, that would be a noble sentiment. In the country we live in, where some of Sinema’s Republican colleagues encouraged a violent mob to invade her workplace at the seat of American democracy less than two months ago, it sounds naive AF.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Hey, I was just trying to beat him to the punchline for once.
Geminid
@Baud: Split those assholes up! And separate them from the majority of voters.
hueyplong
@OzarkHillbilly: Admittedly, I’ve only seen clips and not his entire appearances in court, but the difference between him and a RW blowhard non-lawyer is difficult if not impossible to discern.
He uses the terminology, but inaptly (if that’s a word) and ineptly. Judges have had to watch him say things that flat out translate into confessions of violations of Rule 11.
JPL
@Baud: Nice! Even though it doesn’t appear to be as effective as Pfizer and Moderna, Sanjay pointed out on CNN it was tested at time that variants were present. Next week there is a good chance that a few million more vaccines will be available.
prostratedragon
@Immanentize: Sorry to hear that. Hopefully that will clear when they find the right antibiotics for the infection (been there, done that; didn’t become flagrantly delusional or anything, but would say that there can be mental effects that disappear with treatment).
Betty Cracker
@Immanentize: Sorry to hear that. Do you know if they gave him blood pressure meds? My gran had a severe reaction to that one time. I had to physically restrain her from confronting imaginary car thieves, and she kept complaining about hearing trains passing by even though she was stone deaf. The effects passed in a day or so. Hope your FIL recovers fully.
jeffreyw
Cameron
@2liberal: I guess she’s planning on running for re-election as a Republican.
Baud
SFAW
@Immanentize:
Or an acceptable substitute thereof
And Hawley, too, although he’s not a Texan like Cruz.
raven
@JPL: Aren’t you going to complain about the Tiger post?
Geminid
@Cameron: The Republicans of Arizona would not have her. Sinema will run in the 2024 Democratic primary as a Democrat and a moderate. She knows she will have at least one challenger from the liberal side.
Baud
@JPL: No hospitalizations is huge, even if it’s not as effective.
OzarkHillbilly
Mission Impossible?
No stopping her.
raven
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, celebrated Beat poet and publisher, dies aged 101
One of the last surviving members of the Beat Generation, Ferlinghetti played a key role in expanding the literary movement’s focus to the West Coast. An online tribute, posted to City Lights’ website on Tuesday, said that Ferlinghetti had been “instrumental in democratizing American literature.”
\
Immanentize
@prostratedragon: @Betty Cracker:
Thanks All,
The scary thing is that his mother became paranoid/violent in dementia. It was awful to watch. But my FiL had to keep her in their home because his Dad, when dying, made him promise not to put her “in a home.” Of course, my FiL’s parents, years earlier, put their parents in a home as soon as they could.
Don’t ever promise not to get the professional help for seniors when they need it. It won’t do anyone any good to try and handle the situation yourself.
Baud
@Geminid:
She’s not up until 2024. Mark Kelly has to win again in 2022. I’m sure she’ll see what happens with him and then maneuver.
Soprano2
I’m talking my mom to get her first shot this afternoon. I’ll feel a lot better after she has the second one. Mine is still a long ways away, but I’m hoping my husband can get his pretty soon – he turned 74 yesterday.
Immanentize
@raven:
I saw that last night and pulled up some of his poems to read. He was so great. Saw him read when I was in college and saw him one day at City Lights (1992?) just hanging out and chatting with a couple people.
Amir Khalid
@OzarkHillbilly:
He may still have his licence, but it’s painfully obvious that any semblance of lawyerly judgement is long gone. I mean, the guy promotes legal arguments he learned watching My Cousin Vinny.
WereBear
@MJS: Sadly, I knew Tiger Woods would likely never have a chance to be a fully functioning person when he was in his early 20s.
His father was asked if Tiger was dating anyone, and his reply was a long string of golf achievements that his son would have to perform before he could even thinking about dating, personal life, time off… etc.
And I’m like, the poor guy is doomed.
Immanentize
@Amir Khalid: No shame in using arguments from My Cousin Vinny!
Mud in the tires.
raven
@Immanentize: He did “Tyrannus Nix” at the U of I campus lo those many years ago.
Immanentize
@Baud: 2024 is not going to be a good year for right-leaning Democrats being a Pres election year and all….
Geminid
@Baud: Kelly basically ran as a moderate. I think he and Sinema will vote together 95% during this Congress. And I’d bet they both end up being reelected.
I’m hoping Arizona is now where Virginia was ten years ago, purple on the way to blue. Policy wise, Kelly and Sinema are not too dissimilar to Virginia Senators Kaine and Warner. Even though the Progressive Punch rating service gave both Kaine and Warner an “F” last year, Virginia Democrats really like them.
Immanentize
@raven: It is so odd to think he was considered one of the “beat” poets. And lived til now. Long life well lived.
prostratedragon
Dog doesn’t want to come inside from the snow, dog says, “No-o-o-o!
jonas
*rolls eyes*
Sigh. The 80’s called. They’d like their moral panic back. What’s next? Protesting “2 Live Crew”?
AWOL
@MJS: Yes. I stopped watching NY Mets games when I found out announcer Keith Hernandez was a regular at Mar-A-Lago. Always knew he was a wingnut to cover his past, but I didn’t realize his sadism was that deep.
As for Woods, I don’t follow golf, but being ancient, I remember when he went pro, he became a willing and cynical marketing tool to attract Black consumers to golf—and it was pretty much said aloud.
The Thin Black Duke
@2liberal: Cynical? Naive? Either way, that’s a terrible response.
The Dark Avenger
@WereBear:
This is from H. L. Mencken’s essay on Rudolf Valentino and the travails of fame and fortune:
JMG
@WereBear: Through my late parents, I knew one of the country’s top teaching professional golfers, one well wired into the world of elite golf, and back in the day he told me pretty much what you just posted about Woods.
Omnes Omnibus
@2liberal:
She is historically illiterate.
The Thin Black Duke
@Immanentize: I’m sorry, my friend.
The Thin Black Duke
@The Dark Avenger: I think this is why I find Billie Eilish a remarkable young woman. In spite of being only 19 and a rich and popular celebrity, Eilish still managed to stay true to herself and not get swallowed by the corporate marketing machine. Then again, having a loving family that doesn’t see Billie as an ATM, helps enormously.
jeffreyw
Cookie me, please.
MomSense
@2liberal:
The problem with this explanation is that the Founders envisioned that the three co-equal branches would work to check and balance each other. They did not envision that the political parties would use the branches of government to check each other! They certainly never imagined the modern GOP putting their power ahead of what is best for the country.
OzarkHillbilly
More dismembered body parts hijinx:
Matt McIrvin
@Betty Cracker: Even in a better country, it would have a gaping flaw–it openly endorses the abuse of the filibuster to create a 60-vote threshold for all legislation, which she doesn’t seem to realize is a recent innovation. It only reached full flower during the Obama administration!
Jeffro
Needz moar snooze media attention plz: GQP In Disarray! Like, way, waaaay in disarray
trumpov vs. McTurtle gonna keep on keepin’ on for a couple more years
So, half the GQP is firmly in trumpov’s camp; about a quarter would like to move on, and about a quarter haven’t made up their minds. (Hey with choices like trumpov and McConnell, who can blame them, amirite? LOL)
Always remember that for a majority of Rs, a trumpov endorsement is…(gag)…a seal of quality 0_0
Steeplejack
@Soprano2:
Today is your birthday, right? ??
Matt McIrvin
@Jeffro: I guarantee you, when they say this, it doesn’t mean they won’t vote for McConnell.
Benw
@raven: RIP
I was given a copy of Coney Island of the Mind way back in the day and was entranced.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Jeffro:
Filibuster only works when there’s horse trading going on by way of earmarks. It forces people to prioritize their deep abiding principles and party loyalty vis a vis tangible things which benefit constituents.
In a world where people need a critical bridge or dam rebuilt, that priority may come ahead of some Christofascist abortion performance art.
Soprano2
Yes, it is, I’m 60 and can barely believe it. Strangely enough I didn’t feel that way about 40 or 50, but it seems like I turned 50 just a few years ago!! Thanks for the birthday wishes!
burnspbesq
@Baud:
Committee meets Saturday. The probability of approval will be fully baked into JNJ’s share price within two minutes of the open today.
Jeffro
@Matt McIrvin: that’s what, six years from now? An eternity in politics. Both men could easily have shuffled off this mortal coil by then.
Regardless…the poll says what it says.
JPL
@raven: Bluestein said that Herschel Walker might run against Warnock, although Herschel has not commented himself.
germy
The Covington Kidz tried suing Kathy Griffin, but it didn’t go the way they wanted:
Benw
@Soprano2: have a happy day!
Steeplejack
@jeffreyw:
?
germy
@OzarkHillbilly:
Rudy’s apartment door man is certainly protective. The process servers had to fish the paperwork out of the trash!
Rudy must be a good tipper.
germy
Dogs feel empathy, which puts them higher on the evolutionary chain than Republicans.
rikyrah
So,
they approved Johnson and Johnson.
Get that to young people with no underlying conditions.
burnspbesq
@rikyrah:
Not yet. But it likely won’t be long after Saturday.
snoey
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: The other thing missing from the old school filibuster is the pressure of other legislation. The Senate was then single threaded, so that nothing else moved until the filibuster was resolved one way or the other.
Now it’s just ok that one’s fillibustered, on to the next.
Only having one party interested in actual legislation also reduces this effect.
Gin & Tonic
In case anyone is following the Navalny/Amnesty thing,
rikyrah
@Gin & Tonic:
Glad people have the receipts on these two.
Steeplejack
@2liberal, @Matt McIrvin:
Sounds like Kyrsten Sinema needs to read Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy. The 60-vote supermajority is directly tied to the filibuster.
The Guardian: “How the Senate Filibuster Props Up Republican Power.”
NPR interview with the author, Adam Jentleson.
Jentleson:
germy
@rikyrah:
One of those extra-long receipts, too. Like a Rite-Aid receipt.
germy
@Steeplejack:
And all this time we thought Sinema was an ally, just because she dresses flamboyantly and made Pence uncomfortable during her swearing in.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Gin & Tonic: this Matt Taibbi?
Maté is Aaron Maté, a Russia apologist from I forget which outlet, and I think the young woman in the hat is Katie Halper? Who was a big booster of Tara Reade, along with Ryan Gri
But remember that vampire squid thing? and “banksters”? that was awesome
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes, the same Matt Taibbi.
Gin & Tonic
@germy: Yeah, and Putin has those receipts as well. Sure would be a shame if Matt went out on the balcony for a smoke.
jeffreyw
@Steeplejack: Mmm..choc chip!
I bought the note 20 5g since they cut the price to clear inventory prior to a big push for the 21 series.
gene108
@p.a.:
I read Sinema’s statement to mean, “I live in a state that’s still very Republican, and with the filibuster, I won’t have to take any votes that could be used against me in attack ads”.
I think it’s political cowardice on her part.
Nicole
I read an interesting article that said that one can’t actually say firmly it’s less effective, because what the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines tested for was different from what the J&J vaccine was testing. It’s a case of apples to oranges, as this article says. Fact of the matter is, we don’t know if any of them protect against asymptomatic cases, or prevent a vaccinated person transmitting the virus (the earliest polio vaccines protected vaccinated kids from getting sick, but they could still transmit polio to another kid). Only time will tell that tale. But it looks like the J&J vaccine is just as good at keeping people out of the hospital, which is what we should be aiming for. And it’s easier to transport and administer.
I know you know this, I’m just concerned that the continual drumbeat of “the J&J is less effective!” will cause some people to delay getting a vaccine, holding out for Pfizer or Moderna, when the J&J will do just as well in getting society back to a place of feeling more like normal.
Captain C
@2liberal:
That ship sailed with Gingrich. At this point, I’m starting to hope she gets primaried by someone who can win the general.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
“You see, Biden is a divisive figure” some old white guy on TV.
WaterGirl
@gene108: That’s a smart take.
WaterGirl
@Nicole: I get that. But if Moderna is 95% effective at keeping you from getting sick, and Johnson & Johnson is, say only 55% or 65% effective at keeping you from getting sick, that’s an important and I don’t think we should paper over it because we don’t want people to hesitate about getting vaccinated.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Sounds like the Russian government is blackmailing Matt Taibbi with that Moscow rape incident. Is there some reason why so many reporters are utter douches?
JPL
@Nicole: It’s unfortunate that the news didn’t report the results accurately. No hospitalizations after 28 days is huge.
Another Scott
@jeffreyw: dick_nixon on Twitter thinks that she’s a sacrificial lamb. Dunno. The reasons that are being given for opposing her are beyond ridiculous though.
Someone who was at a partisan think tank posted partisan tweets!! Gracious! Get my fainting couch!!1
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
JPL
@WaterGirl: We don’t know that is the case though, since they were tested at different times. If one study includes more variants, the results will be different. What’s important is the end result and both prevent deaths and hospitalizations. IMO
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@NotMax: Shades of Gore and that record label nonsense in the ’90s. But is Representative Evans aware that most video game sales are done over the internet now?
Another Scott
@2liberal: Somehow it’s ok for a bare majority to install wet-behind-the-ears RWNJs to lifetime positions on the courts. But passing legislation supported by the majority is a bridge too far.
(groucho-roll-eyes.gif)
Cheers,
Scott.
Gin & Tonic
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: That was Tipper Gore, Al’s wife, not Al. You may know that, but it wasn’t clear from your post.
Ksmiami
@Jeffro: I was one of her out of state donors and if she keeps this up she will lose everything
Nicole
@WaterGirl:
But that’s the problem- that’s not actually what the results say, because the vaccines were testing for different things and at different times. From what I can gather, the difference in efficacy is seen at the moderate level of disease, which is not life-threatening, nor hospitalization-necessary. We don’t know if any of them prevent asymptomatic cases, or prevent transmission and we won’t know for awhile, as only time tells that tale. In terms of preventing serious illness, the J&J looks to be as effective, and that’s what a Covid vaccine needs to do; prevent you from dying from something, or having to go to the hospital. And it may hit 90% efficacy with 2 shots (they’re testing that now); it’s just that what J&J set out to do was develop a vaccine that would stop you from dying, and do it in the most efficient delivery manner possible, and they appear to have done it.
If a vaccine turns what could have been a fatal case of Covid into a few days of mild fever, or a case of the sniffles, that’s enough. Again, at this point we don’t know if any vaccines stop asymptomatic cases or transmission; we won’t know that for awhile (and for all we know, the J&J could turn out to be better at that than the other ones. We just don’t have data yet). But I think better to make it clear to the public that, for what we as a society need to get back to what we think of as normality, the J&J is every bit as good and people should just get whatever vaccine is first available to them; that they will all do what they need to.
cain
@OzarkHillbilly:
I hope that was taken by a drone and not someone on the volcano!
Nicole
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
1980s, thank you very much. I remember much amusement from the media at the sight of John Denver and Dee Snyder both testifying at the hearings. And Denver pointing out it was hypocritical to go after popular music when the media was content to show video of people chanting, how did he put it, “The Blue Jays suck!” at sporting events. Back when “suck” was considered profanity. Oh, the olden days… ;
The podcast “You’re Wrong About” did a really interesting episode on Tipper Gore and the warning labels on music thing. I found their hypothesis that moral panics get triggered by steps forward in technology very interesting (in the 1980s, for example, music was becoming very portable, so parents were not as likely to know what their kids were listening to).
Steeplejack
@jeffreyw:
You’re piquing my consumer lust! I am well satisfied with my Galaxy S10e, which is coming up on two years old in May, but that price drop is very tempting. I’m not really a “short update cycle” guy, but I might have to do a little cipherin’ on this.
WaterGirl
@Nicole: I am not disagreeing with those points. But even mild cases of covid can have long-term effects, so I do think that if one keeps another 30% of people from having the potential long-term side effects, that matters.
I totally agree that we don’t know enough, but that is the state of affairs with everything covid. We just don’t know enough, yet we have to make decisions without having enough information. It’s unsettling, but there we are.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Gin & Tonic: So it was Al Gore’s life partner who is the want to be thought police douche. Yes, that will made all the difference in world. Al never listens to his wife? Probably had nothing to do with 2000 being a hung election.
All snark aside, if you ask me, it’s this want to be busy body crap like this that turns off people from the Democratic party far more than Comfy. It’s a lot easier to convince voters the Democrats secretly want force straight people to engage in gay sex when those Democrats are trying to censor the games they play and the music they listen too.
Nicole
@WaterGirl: Oh for sure, but again, it’s not even a clear comparison because of how the trials were run and what they set out to do. The problem is, if someone thinks, well, I have a 30% less chance of a mild case of Covid with Moderna, so I’m going to wait a couple of months, even though there’s a J&J available to me right now, that’s a person who, instead of having, say, 65% protection, chooses to continue to have 0% protection for a longer period of time. As a society, that’s really problematic.
But it would certainly be worth researchers tracking post-Covid patients who participated in the vaccine trials, and got the virus even with the vaccine, to see if/how many become long-haulers.
A friend mentioned an article that I’m still trying to track down that speculated that lots of chronically ill folk going back decades, may be long-haulers from viruses aside from Covid. It’s Covid that has caused science to really start take a long look at whether and how often viral infections cause long-term inflammation, because so many people got sick in the same short time period. It would be great if it opened up more research into chronic illness after viral infection and recovery, wouldn’t it?
Brachiator
@Nicole:
I like this podcast, but haven’t listened to this episodes.
Music became portable with car radios in the 1930s, and again with transistor radios in the 1960s. Not sure that this triggered deep moral panic.
J R in WV
@Soprano2:
Hapy Hapy birfday, Soprano2 ~!!~
60 is doing pretty well.
Many happy returns, have a nice dinner and maybe raise a glass to toast the happy occasion … Best wishes from WV hillside folks.
Elizabelle
@Nicole: Thank you, Nicole. Very sensible.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Matt McIrvin: Outside of KY, the question of whether or not to vote for the Turtle is irrelevant.
J R in WV
Way back, now, I ordered a big bunch of Girl Scout cookies from Troop 6000 in NYC, for girls homeless or otherwise disadvantaged. Got the email that it was shipped Fed Ex, tracking # provided. Then came the ice storm / power outage. Nothing was moving, no trash pickup, no mail deliveries, no fedex either.
Finally FedEx delivered a huge load of GS cookies!! Hurray. Normally we put many of them in the freezer, but currently the freezer is full of actual foodstuff for corona reserve. Means we have to eat lots of cookies fast — oh noes1!
mrmoshpotato
@jeffreyw: Leave
Brittanythe tuna alone!rikyrah
@Immanentize:
????????
satby
@Soprano2: Very late to the thread, but I hope it’s a very Happy Birthday!
J R in WV
@Immanentize:
Many years ago my dad had lung surgery to remove what appeared on x-ray to be a potentially cancerous lump. While in the hospital afterwards (was not cancer at all, an encysted infection killed by the pre-op antibiotics…) he was on a powerful new antibiotic, and had some quite vivid hallucinations. Kittens in the arm of a LEO friend who came to visit. Cipro, not so new now, but hallucination was on the list of side-effects in the PDR. So drugs and their interactions definitely can cause disorientation and such.
Hope your FIL does well, gets over both the infection and the disorientation soonest! Best of luck !!!i
Matt McIrvin
My parents just got their first shot of vaccine.
Chris T.
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
They split up about a decade ago.
The wikipedia article on her is interesting. She seems to have a good heart, so the problem is likely in her head instead. //