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This just in:

Federal health officials on Tuesday called for a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, saying they are reviewing reports of six U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in people after receiving the vaccine.

All six cases occurred among women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms occurred six to 13 days after vaccination, according to a statement issued by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

I’m going to refrain from amateur epidemiology and virology. I’ll just note that, in the Rochester area, there’s a surplus of Moderna and Pfizer appointments at the time. So the notion that this will delay vaccinations, at least here, doesn’t seem to have much validity.

J&J PausePost + Comments (237)

I always thought this was a great headline:

Anyway, the cruise industry is whining about new CDC guidelines for cruise ships, and chucklefuck DeSantis is responding by suing the government so that cruisers would get the same freedom as any other Floridian under his rule — the freedom to get sick and die of COVID. As long as part of the deal for anyone boarding a cruise ship in Florida is the understanding that you’ll be locked on board until 14 days after the last positive COVID test, I’m fine with the cruise industry running full blast. The lucky riders on one of these hell boats might hit the cruise ship daily double: COVID and norovirus. They can puke, shit and cough themselves to death.

With the widespread availability of vaccines in the US, the obvious solution is for the cruise industry to require that all passengers be vaccinated. Then, the only issues facing cruisers will be diarrhea and ennui. Instead, since their target demographic includes Foxtards who think vaccination is part of a Jewish/Chinese/Black/Brown replacement strategy, the cruise industry has to do this stupid dance instead.

Since I have no interest in being locked aboard a boat, I would just point and laugh, except for one thing: DeSantis’ lawsuit is part of a plan to minimize the impact of COVID. Republicans who ran states where lots of people died are going to use a two-pronged strategy of whatabout and denial, and by the time 2022 rolls around, they’ll have convinced their moron followers that our entire COVID response was a typical, weak liberal overreaction.

Hey, Let’s Go for a Cruise!Post + Comments (85)

Josh Marshall has a good take on corporations’ approach to political activism. It’s members-only at TPM, but here’s his main point:

This part of the story should also focus us on the fact that to the extent corporate America is supportive of the aspirations and demands of cosmopolitan/urban-centric America (which I outline here), the support is essentially reactive and passive. The first goal is to avoid all involvement in America’s political polarization – since in the nature of things most corporations are focused on the entire consumer market, not one or the other main faction. (Note that in the aftermath of the January 6th insurrection many corporations decided to discontinue all political giving, to both parties.) But when it’s not possible to avoid picking sides many corporations now seek to avoid the reputational harm of being associated with views which the majority of the country – particularly the parts of the country that represent the future and the most disposable income – oppose. But voting rights aren’t first, second or third or even tenth on any corporate lobbyist’s list of asks from Congress or various state legislatures. Not even close. And that goes for race relations, any gender or LGBT rights, policing reform, and certainly any structural expansions of the safety which have been core to the early Biden legislative agenda.

Corporations may oppose or refuse to support things like the voting rights clamp down in GOP controlled swing states. But again, this is largely passive, an effort to disassociate and avoid reputational harm. The core agenda remains keeping taxes and regulations low because those are tied to maximizing profits, which is what corporations are designed to do.

If you subscribe to TPM, it’s worth reading his in-depth piece arguing that corporations are generally more reactive to concerns from the urban/cosmopolitan centers than they are to rural areas because that’s where the growth and money are. Part of the reason that Republican rural resentment politics work is that they are based on a core fact: rural areas are getting passed by, and it’s easier to stir up resentment and hate to keep rural votes than it is to do anything constructive about it.

Marshall’s post is a response to Mitch McConnell threatening “serious consequences” for corporate America if they continue to support voting rights. Riiight. The thing about Mitch is that it’s possible to be very evil and very good at one thing (maintaining a unifed obstructionist caucus), and still be shit at many other things. Banging the table threatening corporations with dire consequences at some unspecified future time is pretty fucking weak sauce, especially when those corporations know that all will be forgiven if they throw piles of Benjamins at Republican candidates and PACs. Why even open your mouth to make a laughable threat like that?

Big corporations sell a vision of a country full of shiny, happy consumers where their products are part of the reason we’re collectively happy. It’s “have a Coke and a smile” not “have a Coke and sneer at the other”. The current Republican strategy of division and suppression might work for them if it was a little more “morning in America”, but living in a Fox bubble has blinded Republicans to the reality that corporations need to market to everyone, not just 40% of the voting public.

Empty Threats are EmptyPost + Comments (187)

Today is the first day that anyone over 16 can make a vaccine appointment in New York. A couple of my daughter’s friends have gotten appointments for tomorrow at CVS. Apparently the state vaccination website does not list appointments at pharmacies, so it’s worth checking the CVS, Walgreens and Wegmans pharmacy sites. I don’t know about other states, but it’s probably worth researching if you’re looking for an appointment.

We’re rapidly reaching the point where there will be more vaccine than arms, which is great.

Open thread.

Update: Mike S recommended Find a Shot – looks promising!

PSA: Vaccination in New YorkPost + Comments (83)

Over the weekend, the New York Times’ version of Nate Silver, Nate Cohn, wrote up a “well, actually” piece about the Georgia voter restriction law. According to the best research available — two papers (!) — it seems that it’s hard to see a major impact on turnout, and partisan advantage, for some examples of voter suppression.

First, pardon my commitment to “data” and “science” if I don’t think that two studies of questionable applicability tell me much of anything about the effects of the Georgia law. This is, in general, my gripe about data journalism: there’s just not enough good data to draw evidence-based conclusions, so it devolves into speculative punditry with a patina of scientific respectability. I stopped following Nate Silver on Twitter because I can get uninformed speculation from the guy sitting alone at the end of the bar if I ever feel the need.

Second, some things are beyond the need to do a sketchy “well actually” analysis piece, and a fundamental right like voting is a great example of one of those things. “Well, actually, we found two studies of people who had their little toes amputated and they walk just fine” is not a justification for a program of toe amputation. Voting is a right, full stop, and people’s right to do it should not be unreasonably infringed. Six hour lines with no water is an unreasonable infringement. We don’t need to go further than that, and we certainly don’t need a privileged white dude who grew up in a Seattle suburb and moved to DC after private college to push out a “well, actually” piece about a Jim Crow revival.

In summary, cancel your subscription.

Not Everything Needs a ‘Well, Actually’Post + Comments (151)

Ron Desantis banning vaccine passports because it was an idea from a Democrat is getting some attention (I wrote about his previous dumb statements, before the ban, here). The more I think about it, and the more I look at research that shows that the mRNA vaccines are probably 100% effective at preventing death and hospitalization, maybe even from variants, the less I think passport opposition matters.

In addition to the high probability that corporations will bow to public pressure and use some kind of passport at mass events and for travel, by late Summer everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be. Then, as long as variants don’t cause problems, the only people engaging in risky public behavior will be the unvaccinated. At that point, who cares? These dead-enders can fuck around and find out if being a dead-ender will ultimately leave them dead.

I had to run to the store this morning to get a couple of items and saw an unusual sight for these parts: someone shopping without a mask. It was remarkable because it was extremely rare. This person looked distinctly uncomfortable as they strolled around in their camo coveralls, because everyone else at the store was shooting them dirty looks. The treatment this person was receiving will be what dead-enders can expect in their interactions with the healthcare system, at a concert or at an airport. Nobody will give a a mouse fart worth of attention to their precious freedoms. The only sympathy offered will be in Q enclaves or on Fox. The rest of us will simply accept (at best) their self-imposed isolation or (at worst) their illness and death, as the price they pay for not getting a goddam shot. And isn’t it about time that the people who don’t want to pay taxes, who want to walk around without a mask and infect us, and who want to suck up valuable hospital resources for avoidable illness, pay some price for their behavior?

Edited to add: Sorry, wrote the post and got called away before I noticed that Betty had posted something below. Also, two things in response to comments: 1) I am taking an optimistic view that these new vaccines are remarkably effective even against variants (“effective” = no hospitalization or deaths), so dead-enders circulating variants isn’t a big concern to the vaccinated (and, yes, I get it that there might be some super-variant created, but that’s gonna happen with or without dead-enders because huge swaths of the rest of the world aren’t getting vaccinated anytime soon). 2) By “everyone” getting vaccinated, I mean everyone, kids included. To date, the only contra-indication to the vaccine is previous allergic reaction to COVID vaccine and they’re already starting trials for 12 year-olds, and I’m assuming they’ll do it for younger kids soon.

Passport Noise Doesn’t Really MatterPost + Comments (119)

For some reason while reading about idiot/ephebophile Matt Gaetz, who is now loudly proclaiming that he won’t resign, the dumb term “third rail of American politics” came to mind. The idea behind that phrase is that American politics is like a subway (?), and there were many ideas that were so perilous that proposing them would lead to immediate, painful and grisly electrocution. Man, Trump and his Q buddies sure proved that the notion of a third rail was a load of horseshit. Those fuckers dance on the “third rail” every day and laugh.

The DC press is performing valiant CPR on the corpse of the third rail and notions like it now that their favorite punching bag, the Democrats, are back in office. Still, I live in hope that the phrase is as dead as its creator, who’s probably Tim Russert or David Broder. Democrats are definitely holding on to the third rail by proposing not one, but two massive bills that will benefit the poor and middle class and (gasp!) tax corporations and the rich. Judging from the polls, they’re not only surviving, they’re thriving.

That reminds me of another phrase that you don’t hear anymore (or, ever, really): “I wish David Broder and Tim Russert were still around.”

But, But, But — He Touched the THIRD RAIL!Post + Comments (131)