The Frankish Reich

I don't want you to fall off your barstool in shock or anything, but ... ... I actually agree with this, at least as a general proposition. Although probably not for the same reasons. Roe v. Wade has given states cover. They can go ahead and pass outrageous, clearly unconstitutional laws (as long as Roe is the law) knowing they'll be shot down. They can posture as defenders of life and still attract all those nice tech businesses from California in which 85% of the new employees are avowedly in favor of legal abortion. Roe makes it all too easy.

The minute the WHO covered for China. - Probably true, at least to some extent. What we do know is that China was not, and is not, forthcoming about the facts and circumstances of the initial exposure/spread. But what does that have to do with what mitigation efforts in the United States TODAY are justified? Unless this is opposition of the mega-conspiracy sort - it was created to give the Secret Cabal a way to control your life, etc., etc. I can't argue with mega-conspiracy theories because, well, that's like arguing with committed Marxist ("See ... it all makes sense if you assume tha

Which has what to do with vaccine requirements? Seriously: I take it you accept some restraints on liberty. I live in a city with a chronic homeless problem. I don't want homeless people pitching tents on the strip of land between the sidewalk in front of my home and the street even though that strip is technically city property. I don't want unlicensed "doctors" performing surgery. In other words, I accept, and find essential, certain restraints on liberty that further my family's health and safety. I'm not saying that every incursion on liberty is justified. I'm just having proble

We had ration cards to get through WWII. We had the military draft to win various wars, from the Civil War onward. We have had security to get on an airplane for at least 50 years now. We have had vaccine requirements for schools - and for immigrants - for a century. We have had licensing requirements for drivers since 1903 (before most people had even seen a car) We had "blue laws" restricting store openings on Sundays in nearly every state for the first 200 years of our existence. We prohibited two consenting adults from touching each other's bodies in a certain

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/23/politics/alabama-governor-kay-ivey-unvaccinated-covid/ "Folks are supposed to have common sense. But it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It's the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down," Ivey told reporters in Birmingham.

I had totally forgotten about Neal Walk. Was the nickname because he sweated a lot? Interesting post-NBA history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Walk As for the Rochester Royals: I just looked at their roster and saw they had Red Holzman (later Knicks NBA championship coach) and George Mikan's little brother on those teams. Oh, and they played in the Western Conference ...

Please tell me you were not "Tail" Gunner Bill, a/k/a Charlie Perry. Bills Mafia, your move ...

Before this gets moved to OTW: 1. Folks who aren't NBA fans/didn't watch this finals missed some fantastic games. I'll admit it: I'm not much of a regular season NBA fan. But last year's "bubble" playoffs and this year's finals were awesome. 2. Why did I seem to care so much about the Bucks winning? It's a Buffalo/small market thing. It just meant so much more to Milwaukee than it meant to Phoenix, a city of non-stop growth with people resettling from any and every where. More people gathered outside to watch the games on a big screen than actually fit in the arena. Mea

NO! Trump is not the villain here. Trump got the vaccine! Trump exacerbated the problem in many ways, but I agree here: Trump was instrumental in making the vaccine available - Operation Warp Speed (remember, it wasn't the development of the vaccines; it was purchasing/stockpiling reserves of the promising vaccines even before they were approved for emergency use) was probably his single biggest success of his presidency. It's not my fault that his most ardent supporters seem to be the among the most reluctant to follow his lead. Nor is it my fault that he weirdly decided to run on "it's not a

I would like to see some kind of vaccine passport immediately. I don't know why Biden hasn't done it. He is certainly not my hero. "Not Trump" =/= My Hero. That's it? "Nope?" I just gave you the case citation. "Nope" is not considered an argument. A contrary case citation would be an argument. Get to work ...

The idea of the right to some kind of control over one's own body has already been mentioned here. I pointed out that there is no such overarching "right." The proper example here isn't state-mandated killing of innocent people. It's the whole "right to die" thing. Assisted suicide has generally been against the law. Some think it shouldn't be, that it should be allowed. But that's what elected governments decide. I don't want a court to "find" a right to assisted suicide. I also don't want courts to "find" (somewhere, hidden in all that rightsy language in the constitution, the Declarat

Yes, it typically has been a state issue. Under the U.S. Constitution, the federal government has only enumerated powers, not the general "police power" that the states have. But ... yes, vaccines have been mandated! Here's a discussion of a city (cities derive their powers from the states)-mandated smallpox vaccination, upheld by the Supreme Court way, way back in 1905: https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-the-supreme-court-rules-on-vaccines-and-public-health There is no constitutional principle that would preclude a state from manda

Wrong thread for your pro-abortion rights sentiment. Actually, it has long been understood that public health measures may warrant government mandated vaccinations. As for doing what you want with your body: we also tell you you can't collect certain freely growing lifeforms and ingest them. What were historically known as the state's inherent "police powers" - the state's rights to protect the health, safety, and morals of the populace - covers all of this.

Well, let's get 90+ percent vaccinated and then we'll see. You are assuming that if infection/hospitalization rates hit their late May levels and stay there we'll still be stuck with pointless mitigation theater. That's not what I saw. I saw masks come off, crowds return to baseball games and concerts, etc., etc. Which is why I'm annoyed as hell at the vaccine refusers for preventing us from making normal life a permanent thing.