dpberr

If China is going to make a move on Taiwan, it'll be in the coming months. I don't think it's a Democrat or Republican issue - it'll be a calculation that Biden and his team will blink. They weren't ready in the Clinton era, and there's no way they'd try it with Bush, Obama or Trump. Obama is a lot of things, but a peacenik isn't one of them.

Conspiracy theories they said... When it comes to COVID, the so-called conspiracy theories have a tendency to be the truth simply being shouted down. My theory: This is 1) part of the push to "re-shore" the dangerous GOF research. Pegging it on China allows US-based virology academia to say to the White House, "see what happens when we don't do the work ourselves?" Besides COVID, don't be surprised new information comes to light about other mishaps at that lab and in others around the world. 2) to deflect blame from NIH, Fauci and Collins specifically, by focusing solely on the Chinese negligence and not that US government money was laundered via EcoAlliance to the Chinese to conduct the research the Obama Administration put a stop to stateside. 3) dovetails with #1 in that the Chinese continue researching things they can't handle at that lab.

The headline of that article catches my attention. In 2020, the "news" uses words like "just crushed" and instead of the President, it zeros in on Donald Trump the person. It makes it nice and personal. It's red meat thrown to the hysteric masses on both sides. Donald Trump is the villain, and Dr. Fauci is the most trustworthy individual in the government. Now if Fox News runs the story, it swaps it around: The President disputes Fauci's theory on origin of the virus." If this pandemic hit lets say in 1989, the headline would more or less read like "President, NIA Director disagree on origins of virus"

Doug Pederson's system is largely Andy Reid's KC system. Foles is average in any other system but that one. Another case in point is Chad Henne. I don't think he pilots the Chiefs to a playoff win under any other coach.

I said no for two reasons: 1. I think the injuries will start to accrue for PM this year. I don't think that foot is ever going to be 100%. He had a pretty severe case of turf toe that required a plate, and that's going to nag each and every season. That's not to say Josh Allen will zip through his career Tom Brady style, but I think PM will be more limited not only as a season goes on, but with each new year too. 2. Andy Reid's time on the sidelines is closer to the end than it is the beginning, and you really don't know if his system makes PM great or PM is just great. The Andy Reid system can make quarterbacks look incredible (see Nick Foles). I think the McDermott-Allen relationship has more years in it.

Now it'll be an indefinite number of vaccines and vaccine boosters. I think people who think that their two shot covax is the end of it. Couldn't be more naive. Just the beginning. It'll be flu shots and boosters, covax shots and boosters, pneumovax boosters.

Your first sentence made me laugh. Good one. That's legitimately his one sentence summary.

I think Rand Paul presented a strong line of questioning in that last back and forth. However, it'd be stronger if he had asked specific questions about Fauci's meetings with the WH in 2014 in and around the time the Obama Administration put the brakes on GOF research in the US. There needs to be a peeling back of the onion, which starts way back in 2013 and 2014 when the Obama WH freaked out over the dangerous GOF research that was being conducted in labs in this country *and* funded directly by the US. The pandemic was set in motion YEARS before it actually happened. Fauci and crew never stopped the GOF research. They just laundered the money through groups like EcoAlliance and universities who then passed it on to willing scientists and countries to do it.

Yes. You can sense it. Have you watched any remotely offensive stand up comedy or shows lately? I watched an episode of In Living Color the other day. It would never make it past the executives in today's climate. There would be calls to revoke the citizenship of the entire Wayans family over the Men On Film skit.

Pennsylvania voters appear to have curtailed the governor's powers with emergency declarations. The big take away is the governor can declare an emergency alone, but he or she will no longer be able to extend it indefinitely without the legislature being involved. The pandemic showed that those powers that solely rested with the governor can be abused and the check is not only appropriate, but necessary. The casus belli IMO wasn't masks, but the picking and choosing of businesses that were "essential" that really appeared random at best, politically motivated at worst. Wolf did himself no favors by refusing to share data on how those were picked and of course, marching with BLM maskless last summer in Philadelphia. I say "appear" because the tallies are unofficial but it's at 55% yes on both Constitutional amendments. It won't impact Gov. Wolf too much. He's at the end of his term and Dr. Levine is off to obscurity in Washington.

I think the experiences of the WFH employee, the small business owner and the employee in a non wFH trade or profession, and those that were laid off or furloughed due to the lockdown policies are *very* different. The most vocal group for masks and lockdowns I encounter are the WFH crowd who felt no economic hardship. They remained fully employed, never lost a dollar. They didn't lose a business. They didn't lose months of income from that business. They didn't have to layoff people they know. They weren't forced to work in the summer heat with a mask on, working in a factory with it on, or wear it for an 8-12 hour shift. They didn't have to quit their job because the daycare closed and couldn't reopen. I don't think people would have cared much at all about masks if the economy stayed open, and it certainly could have.

I wouldn't redshirt him. I think he will surprise early on because OLs haven't seen him before. You may see a sack or two in the first game or two and you'll be impressed by what he's doing. The Bills want their DL to do a lot of different things (see Oliver, Epenesa) so don't expect to see Rousseau just running downhill at the quarterback play after play, even if it's what he excels at. Around the middle of the season, you'll start to see the struggle set in as OLs have countermeasured. That's where you start to find out the kind of football player you have. Can you teach him new moves and strategies? Can he incorporate them into his game?

Drs. Fauci and Collins are faces of U.S. virology academia but there are thousands of scientists with a vested interest in keeping their virology research and the hundreds of millions of dollars funding it, out of the public spotlight. You're talking about universities, third party organizations, corporations. For a guy like Fauci, he's a true believer - he thinks the research is progress and he has every interest in keeping it going. He also controls a lot of the grant money so you're not going to have widespread questioning from his peers. I think there is an ugly truth - that SARS and SARS II were both the result of lab accidents, and there have been several close calls that were kept quiet by the very same people the public treats like prophets of truth and honesty. Is it really that much of a stretch that this is the result of human error? Nobody has yet to show either bug is from nature or that nature can replicate it on its own. It is no coincidence that the COVID bug was mapped so quickly and pharmaceutical companies just happened to have half built vaccine tech lying around for it. It's because it's *all* active research.

The CDC hasn't been the gold standard of anything for decades because it's filled with hall wallking academia and professional bureaucrats from academia. Even Robert Redfield, who retired from the Army as a colonel, spent the last 20 years writing papers and being in management. Walensky has a lot of titles, but she, too, has spent most of her time managing. That's why the CDC has nonsense guidance - bureaucrats are part weather vane, part political animal, all self preservationist.

He'll never do it but he needs the Fed to raise interest rates right now or else. Going to be deeply unpopular, but that's the fix, along with sending out the notice that stimulus is over and there are no more paychecks coming. Biden is sliding into that Nixon/Carter inflation quicksand and the longer he ignores it or assumes it's temporary, the certainty grows that you'll need a Paul Volcker-style intervention to fix it, and absolutely nobody wants that.

I think that's going to be his high water mark. He's no more competent than Trump was. While Trump's incompetency resulted from the endless chaos and hubris, Biden's comes from inaction and fear of making a mistake. I don't think this administration realizes the danger of the inflation, the shortages of nearly everything and the shortage of people in the workforce. There's also the border which hasn't improved and the violence in Israel and Afghanistan. I thought Biden would do ok so long as nothing major happened, and he didn't go out and start anything. If you're expecting decisive, shrewd action, don't hold your breath. His still wearing a mask like it's a safety blanket tells you a lot about the personality in charge.

Nothing a couple trainers, a little HGH and a couple workouts a day can't fix right quick. I can't imagine how hard and expensive it is to keep a truly top notch body. The Rock seems to work out literally every hour of the day. I can't imagine the work Stallone puts in to keep elderly age at bay. I figure he's hitting the HGH hard too, but at his age, it is nearly impossible to put muscle on the body.

Kenny Mayne was the bizarre uncle of those early ESPN hosts. When I hear his name anywhere, all I hear is his famous meats and cheeses line which always made me laugh.

IMO these are the moves you make when you are interested in selling the team, and making it look as financially healthy as possible on the balance sheet. You jettison as many long term contracts as you can. Trading Watson, which I feel will happen before the new season, is part of that strategy. Janice McNair is 85 years old.

I wouldn't use the words "truth" and "Cheney" in the same sentence.

I thought the 2008 Bills were legitimately AFC title contenders. Runner up: thought Steve Spurrier was going to be a great NFL coach.

You know the world is upside down when a Cheney is being portrayed as a sympathetic figure in the media.

I'm still waiting for COVID-19 to be found in nature. Science seems to have quick answers and retort for everything but that one sticky detail.

This draft won't be Brandon Beane's best draft work he will ever do. It was ok. I think this was one of the weaker overall drafts in the last couple years. Lots of good players but no generational talent like those early 90s drafts where you had zero hall of famers out of them.

Urban Meyer will do a year and then retire. When the going gets tough, Meyer gets going....in the direction of the exit. Softer than a brownie.