leh-nerd skin-erd

He’s an American bon vivant, Russian double agent, reality tv star, brand Ambassador for an international hotel chain, Ukrainian power broker and now extra secret doublespeaker running the old I-helped-deliver-the-vax-said-I-got-vaxxed-but-really-didn’t-vax-thumbs-up-emoji long game. When you take the time to write it down, it’s not all that farfetched.

Fair enough. I’ve settled on intentional now, but your thoughts makes sense as well.

What makes you say an intentional release is unlikely?

The Fauch rolls out the emotional teenager false indignation play here. We can hear what Paul is saying, and Fauch goes full Greta Thornburg with his reply. Settle down, Fauch, stick to the point, and tell the truth about WuHan funding.

Frankish, while I disagree with some of what you wrote, I'm coming around to your way of thinking. First, the disagreements: 1. Currently, the decision to vax or not vax is between an individual and his/her doctor. There is no "we" as in "we've heard from you"---those folks aren't talking to you. They don't care what you think and frankly, you lack skin in the game simply because the decision is deeply personal. Take care of you, and yours, and respect the rights of others. That's what's really cool. 2. The vaccine reluctance group and anti-vaxxers are two different groups, and should be acknowledged as such. 3. 'Six months in' and the declaration that fears are irrational and dispelled...yowza dude. Six months is a pimple on the ass of time, a sneeze, a whisper in the wind. Respectfully, you've been bamboozled if you think the vast majority of the hesitant and anti crowd is out there worried about a radical lefty plot. Some, yes, but most are just trying to get through life and make sense of it all. 4. "Start" with business owners? Seriously? If 50% of the customer base is vaxxed, the other 50% are not. Why make the local sammich shop the bully on the block? It simply ain't their job. The government sets the standard as near as I can tell, every business owner I have visited has made the correct decision for the business itself---wear a mask if you want, non-vaccinated folks should mask up, and onward we go. 5. I've not heard any whining at all from the vaccine reluctant crowd. I've heard concerns about the necessity, concerns about long term effects, but mostly, those folks just want to be left alone. Honor that request. Now, the common ground part. The simplest solution to the problem you (and some others here) are complaining about is Executive Action by Joe Biden. He controls just about everything in Washington these days, the media is on his side, and he could provide clarity and cover to business owners to act as you have outlined. You correctly noted that Team Trump was vaccinated, so the sentiment that supporters of Trump re following his lead is just plain silly. We know for certain that dem leadership sent mixed signals on the trustworthiness of the vaccine being developed, so a Biden decree resolves all that. It seems to me that Biden has really failed in leadership here. The vax is either voluntary or it isn't, and Biden seems to lack the nuts to push this agenda forward. Trump served up the vaccine on a platter, wtf did it get off the rails??? Why not just get to it?

Jim, you know what they say. To be a successful investor, by all means react emotionally to every dip, spike, drop and the prognostications of talking heads pro/anti/neutral investing. Hang on every word, that’s the path to enlightenment and happiness. CRAHP—just saw a elk know ln blue chipper I’m in just dipped .15 c per share. It’s a long term holding, bought it 4 mos ago. I gotta dump that pig now!

What I offered is a matter of public record. Trump’s critics certainly have fodder to focus upon, but he quite literally lead the campaign from “We have nothing for this virus” to delivery of a vaccine in an amazingly short period of time. The partnership between public/private enterprise was exceptionally impressive, and you don’t have to rock a MAGA hat and dance in the sun under a Trump tent to acknowledge that. I suppose if one is interested in carrying water for opponents like Cuomo, Harris and Biden, it’s possible to pretend their comments about vaccinating under a Trump admin had no impact on vaccine hesitancy. That’s happened here before, when old friends here wanted to pretend the tens of millions of vaccine hesitant liberals and Dems weren’t a thing. It’s bs, of course, but there’s plenty of that to go around. @Sundancer This is how you do it! Calm, rational analysis.

I find the Chef’s gibberish quite prehensible, but I’m open-minded. 45 spearheaded the charge to defeat the virus, while his opponents sowed seeds of doubt about the trustworthiness of the vaccine. Open your heart.

Well yeah Chef JimboyRdee. Our running tally thus far is: 1. The dems encouraged mass gatherings and pretended covid wouldn't spread. Most lib/dem vax-blasters simply nodded like Spicoli and thought ""Jyeah, makes sense". 2. The dems locked down the compliant, and chose those that stepped out of line to knock a few heads and kick a few doors in. 3. The dems started relaxing guidelines in the full-throated roar of the pandemic, with Cuomo specifically lifting travel rules for his voting base down 'round NYC way. The lib/dem vaxblasterz nodded in compliance. 4. The lib leadership set the table by trashing the vax as we see here. They branded the vax with a large Trump logo. That's on them, and of course, our resident vax-blasters were nodding along, complicit or worse still, not quite following all the moving parts. 5. Now, our current dear leaders--perfectly capable of vax by decree, are spreading the Gospel According to Biden as if nothing ever happened before. That, in turn, riles the Sleeping Dragon, or in this case, Roaring But Mostly Harmless Sleepy Kitten, suddenly springing into action to target those who disagree. It's a combination of rage, anger, fear, and a touch of wackiness involving thoughts like non-zealots being banished to islands for exposure to disease. The hyper-tolerant frequently talk a good game, but man do they get ugly fast. Well, I would be flattered if that was the case. It's nice just to be noticed sometimes.

"Reach harder bro" means what? Pretend you're speaking to someone who can't understand internet-pretend-tough-talk.

It's not at all shocking that vaxx/hez crosses racial, gender (if there is a thing) and political lines. Time to target the real problem--leaders who trashed the vaxx while in development, giving the general impression that DJT was mixing it up in the basement at Mara Lago. The guy flat out delivered in this regard, came down with the Wuflu and got vaxxed bigly to boot. Biden is really screwing the pooch here. He almost has to mandate compulsory vaccinations by decree, and get serious about missteps on the dem side of things. Call some people out. Cuomo. Harris. Hell I'd even forgive him if he called out General Douglas MacArthur this time around. Too much confusion here.

At 50ish, 6pm or so, I was pulled over leaving a tavern, allegedly for crossing the white line on the side of the road, and pulled over into the parking lot of a large, retail establishment. I was accused of being in a vehicle that smelled "like a brewery", given a roadside sobriety test, subsequently failed the 'balance on one leg for 27 minutes' test. I was offered the opportunity to take a breathalyzer at the scene, requested a trip to the station and got one (back seat of the officer's car, cuffs on, officer going through my wallet). I had the occasion to speak with another friend, who owned a large restaurant across the street (the wait was an hour, hence our visit to the tavern across the street), asked if the coppers targeted the other place, his answer was "Of course. They mostly leave my people along because it's popular, but they wait for folks to leave the other place and pull 'em over. A friend of mine, high-ranking guy in public service at the state level, was in his mother's neighborhood in our town a year or so later. It was early evening, he got out of his car and wanted to give the house the once over. He slowly checked around the house, walking on the lawn, looking at windows and gutters. By the time he made it around, an officer had pulled up, got out of the car and questioned him. Whatcha doing? Who lives here? What's your story? At 15 or 16, my cousin and I had come from a movie, parked in a parking lot far from the UB Main Street campus, and were generally screwing around behind a bunch of shops. No damage, no vandalism, and as we ran up to the side street, an officer pulled up, questioned us, and placed us in the back of the car. After 10 or 15 minutes, he let us out and told us to stop being nitwits. At 10 years old, I was waiting for some friends on the main street in our town, sitting on a wall that bordered the parking lot --middle of the afternoon---and this cop rolled up, rolled down his window and yelled "Hey get your ^%$ off that wall and keep moving, ya little %$##@##*&!". Ironically I had met him on the street walking with my Dad a couple weeks earlier and it was a real "Leave it to Beaver" moment, with tousled hair, and nice comments to my Dad, who grew up with the guy. There are others, but it's a fact....police profile. I am not black, so I cannot speak to the collective experience, but understanding human nature, it seems likely that there are instances of pure BS stops. I'd even grant that the stops are disproportionately higher, but the magnitude of "he pulled me over for no reason" stops out of concern for public safety, something unusual afoot against white men has to be staggering. In fact, I know it is, because there are whoooooooolllllleeeeee lotta white guys complaining about cops who are d****s, a**holes and that they were pulled over for no reason. In fact, I think we all want the police to profile up to a point, it's just a question of where it starts and where the line is crossed.

Correctamundo. At some point, we have to recognize that the real problem isn’t the media. We have posters here yammering on about their conservative roots who tripped over themselves to vote for Biden. Not abstain, not demand a better candidate, not even suggest maybe a candidate without the sordid racial history and rapey vibe that has followed Biden throughout his career in the Senate. Even assuming one despises everything about Trump, it’s a weird line in the sand to suggest a vote for Biden doesn’t make a voter painfully and obviously hypocritical. The race will unfold the way it unfolds. Personally I think Biden will be totally out by then, but if he’s able to walk around without his Frank’s and beans hanging out of his presidential suit, who knows?

What the last 5 or 6 years have taught me: Assume anything can happen. -If you asked most voters 2013 or 2014 whether or not Trump would ever be a serious candidate for president they would have said no. Yet… -If you asked most voters —independent, dem, rhinos, or R—if Biden would ever be a serious candidate for president given the totality of his political private life, they would have said no. He was a career buffoon, acknowledged as such by the party as he ran and got bounced out when he wasn’t rocking pudding in the cranium. Yet… -If you asked most voters the likelihood of another Clinton presidency, they likely would have speculated the odds quite high. She was popular with rank and file, her past on display for all to see, and she was the heir apparent to the Obama legacy, hand chosen and teed up. Absent her playing fast and loose on the internet with national security she likely WAS president. If nothing else, mainstream Dems like the status quo. Yet…, I’m not so sure about Biden not running again. While Richard Nixon’s 5 o’clock shadow helped derail his chances of an early ascension to the crown, it has been revealed the standard is much, much lower these days. Biden had a major eye bleed on National television (likely from concentrating very diligently on not saying something racially insensitive or referring to the leader of England as Margaret Thatcher), had significant cognitive issues on full display and generally wandered around like an old man, and he was that too choice for millions. What would make one think he’d suddenly realize he has lost a step? More importantly, why would the folks behind the curtain think suddenly Biden supporters would pick up on his deficiencies? All that needs to happen is he makes it far enough in the game, offers to pay off a mortgage or car loan for select the perpetual victim class, and he’ll be the nominee.

You’re done a good job swimming upstream on these issues. I enjoy your posts. A couple things were obvious to me from this past November: 1. Once the ship sailed, Biden was going to be president. The reasoning was simple…not enough time, not enough money, not enough facts/evidence readily available to convince enough the average American, and whole buncha ra’tards repeating the talking point “most secure ever”. As you said…. Based on what? Career insiders/folks with the ability to put the thumb on the scale telling us so? To boot, after the govt came for Trump, it was highly unlikely a hero would emerge to spill the beans. Too dangerous to ones health and family. 2. The notion that rank and file govt agencies have access to state of the art gold standard voting software and that no corporation or special interest might influence the outcome is silly. Govt is notoriously behind the curve on such things. 3. As I said, Sens Warren et al raised serious concerns in December 2019. You’re telling me the govt fixed all the issues she was concerned about in the 11 mos that followed, with the vast majority of govt workers staying home? At a minimum, you’d think political leaders would be out reassuring Americans that her concerns, and those of DJT were addressed and the steps undertaken to fix the issues. You’d think a major media outlet would do the expose, but that’s a lot to ask. I have no doubt—zero, none, nada, zilch that actors (foreign, domestic, public and private) sought the influence the outcome and likely did. That said, when all is said and done, the old geez in steep cognitive decline is the prez. He’s been a player in the game for 50 years, but all that really happened was after a glitch in the machine in 2016, the program was corrected and the insider installed.

Elizabeth Warren, Amy Kloboucher and other prominent dens express serious & significant concern about election security, it’s news. No hand wringing about the death of democracy, the chilling effect of a political leaders words on the ability to trust election officials. 11 months later, the same sentiment is echoed by the other party and its reported as the most egregious affront to humanity since New Coke. The only difference is the concern that Donald Trump might continue to upset the apple cart of painfully entrenched ruling class.

Thanks for sharing. I’m in the keep pushing forward column. As we heard many times during the Trump is Russian days, if there is nothing to fear, there should be no concerns from the players on the other side of the audit. It is striking that no Dems are in attendance, and that subpoenaed routers continue to be withheld from investigators.

Or they could consider their options, decide the course of action they choose to follow, and if they get sick, avail themselves of all available medical options. I think they think my solution is much more fair.

So I’m 59, height and weight right on target. Blood pressure, cholesterol managed, pay attention to my diet, get regular exercise and have what the ladies call “bedroom eyes”. I am concerned about the necessity of the vaccine, concerned about some of the stories about adverse reactions and the like. I realize the risk is low, but someone always draws the short straw and so I ponder. I’m not a conspiracy guy, get the flu vaccine regularly, but am bright enough to know that I have no comorbidities, am not necessarily in the danger zone for Covid death, but also recognize I could be the guy who draws the very short straw and ends up sick and dies. At the same time, I’ve watched the people in the know pimping the vax as something necessary, noble and just absolutely disregard protocol that we’ve been assured was required to keep us safe, bandying about unmasked, undistanced, traveling in spite of their restrictions and begging forgiveness when exposed. To boot, they shout to the rafters about following the guidelines for the complaint and whistle past the super spreader mass protests last year, not a thing about noble just and necessary protocol during that time. Your positioning is that it’s incumbent on me to disregard what I know, read, and vax up because the people who ignore the last 4 or 5 decades of research on the perils of obesity, drug addiction, smoking, alcohol in excess, reckless driving have a reserved spot in front of me? That seems exceptionally unreasonable, and I’m vaccinated.

So, on this note.,,we’re back to choice, actions and consequences. Until there is a National referendum on obesity, drug addiction whatever…we’re right where we are with people who choose not to vaxx.

You’re framing the argument in wholly unproductive way. No one chooses to “skip the vaccine, get sick and die in (a) hole..”. You can keep repeating that over and over, it simply isn’t true. If your hot button issue is use of health care resources, welp, I can understand. Personally, I support the right to make an informed choice about one’s own health care.

The challenge here is they don’t think they’re going to die, they think the numbers support that analysis, and they think folks like you are presumptuous and a bit weak in the shorts for allowing yourself to be manipulated. They don’t think they’re selfish, they don’t care about your preferences, and aren’t worried about how you view them. Patrick Henry’s quote regarding freedom has endured for nearly 250 years: “Give me liberty, or give me death!” What people don’t remember is that his second cousin, Octavious ‘O’ Henry also made a declaration in 1775, albeit in private eating a bowl of lukewarm gruel he scrounged from the garbage outside the local redcoat officers quarters. He said “Liberty sounds scary, and geesh—-what will the neighbors think?!”.

I feel like this isn’t the correct answer, but my gut tells me to go with 26%. 26%?

Pressure on politicians to f#$& with the economy again by requiring vaccinated people to wear a mask indoors (or at all)? Many of the polis didn’t mask up when the crisis was running amok. It’s one of the reasons that some people think the vaccine is unnecessary. We have a fragile balance right now, people getting vaxxed, others exercising the right not to. Why confuse the issue further? Disclaimer: I know the answer—COVID, masking, and lockdowns for the complaint were treated like political fodder, and the same sh*tbirds who f*cked it up the first time are still in charge.

In those crazy early days of the virus, where the Fauc and his crew were pimpin' lockdowns and 3 people from 2 different apartments sharing the same air would kill the world, it was completely understandable that we really, really, really, really, really, really, really needed to wait for the data on whether or not CSPVH (Cause-specific Polysystic Virus Hover) was a real thing. Of course we knew the virus hovered over the tens of thousands of people crammed together on a block in Minneapolis--that was obvious obviously---but now we know that not every group and every social cause will benefit. CSPVH is real, so mask up freedom fighters, protest virtually, and flatten the curve--or stand next to a dem politician, a BLM protest or one of Biden's grandchildren.