Yo

I have no love lost for Kennedy, but he's funded by Bannon in the same way all those MAGA idiots were funded by the DNC in the last election. It's pretty common practice these days for both parties to run interference in the primary cycle to try to get the worst candidate on the ballot or at least cause some chaos and wasted funds.

Totally agree, but I specifically didn’t mention the Russian flu, because it is highly suspected that the Russian flu was actually a Corona virus that may now live on as a cause of the cold. I went Spanish flu because it’s more recent and we know beyond doubt that it was a flu, so it was a good compare/contrast case in my mind.

Flu pandemics shaped the initial covid response and lo and behold, we basically wiped out flu in the winter of 2020-2021. Sadly, we weren’t dealing with a droplet but an aerosol transmission, so standing 6 ft apart does fuckall if you’re sharing air. The data were there is February and March, but the CDC had made their choices and there was no trove of data that we’re going to convince them to follow the evidence.

My mom was hospitalized with covid pneumonia as recently as May of this year. And an anti-vaxxer buddy of mine who was in his early 50s with two high school aged kids died from it in late 2021. I mention these not to elicit sympathy, but to highlight that I'm well aware of the damage it has wrought. That said, I'm actually more upbeat about the future than you (haha, big surprise, right?). There are two main reasons I think that covid will fade into the background as time goes on.

First, our best recent comparator is the Spanish flu. We think of it as the 1918 flu, but it was actually killing people from 1917 to 1923 (maybe it was 1922...anyway it was a hell of a long time). Eventually it just disappeared. We've seen this movie before. It's an ugly movie to be sure, but eventually the credits roll. Hopefully it won't be six years, but maybe???

The other reason is that the closest scientific comparator we have are the other coronavirus pandemics that have occurred in recorded history. There are at least 2 of the common cold viruses that started as high-death-rate pandemics. The viruses never went away, but either mutated or we just got inured to them or some combination thereof. Again, horror fades to background noise.

That's pretty fucking cold comfort for the families of the dead or the people suffering with long term or even permanent lung injuries. In fact it's no kind of comfort. It's just a reminder that no matter how shitty things are, they always get better. This will too.

The CDC squandered the best opportunity any has ever had to show how effective government can be when the situation is dire. Their leadership should all be ashamed. Not once in the entire pandemic did I hear an official statement from CDC that said, "This is what we currently believe, but the situation is evolving and we will update you all AND OUR RECOMMENDED POLICIES as facts on the ground change. Bear with us, because we're in the dark and doing our best with limited information." What a shit show. And they'll never be trusted again as long as there is living memory of 2020.

I can't for the life of me figure out why people aren't more up in arms about the covid thing. One doesn't need to have a perspective on lab vs. natural to be 100% sure that the CCP screwed the entire world in their response to the early covid signals. The world would respect them a lot more, not less, had they been forthright about the spread, even if they continued to stonewall and obfuscate on its origins.

They don't mention it in the piece, but I believe there is a regional treaty in place all over east Asia for novel pneumonia monitoring that was signed in the wake of SARS. It has a reporting system and a bunch of protocols that were just torn to shreds at the first second it was needed. To me, this is grounds for kicking them off the Security Council, ending all sorts of economic coordination, etc. There's almost no punishment too severe, so long as there's a defined path to rehabilitation so that they can be coaxed to behave better next time. And there will be a next time given their cavalier attitude.

Not a word from the Biden administration on it, so far as I've heard. I'm sure there are things that go on behind the scenes we'll never be aware of. But the public, not just the American public, deserves way better from our leaders.

Good on the Post for highlighting this. I am sensitive to whipping up anti-Chinese sentiment. I 100% do not want that. But this isn't about ethnicity. It's about accountability, and something's gotta give. They can't be just let off scot free.

See, there’s always a logical explanation for everything. Occam’s razor is never wrong.

He is opportunism personified, an actuarial table in slacks, the negative space left in a human husk once all morality or guidance have been blasted away by pure, naked greed.

I don’t disagree with anything you said, just wanted to take a minute to appreciate the above bit of rhetorical flourish. As he puts it, “The American Dream personified.”

I didn't (wouldn't ever) watch the debate, but these seem like direct quotes to me. I was mildly interested in Vivek based solely on his work at Roivant, but I would say he's squarely disqualified in my mind at this point. Almost comes off as a joke, actually.

That’s your opinion.

Costco, eh? Never would have crossed my mind. I'll check it out.

I also suggested to her that she look on the exchange and see if it's competitive. If so, I'd cover the cost via higher pay. Bad idea?

Real milestone yesterday, as my company had its first employee start. It's a big investment for me, but one I think will pay off. I feel good about it. She was already giving suggestions on improving the assays I'm running. New experience for me navigating all of the legal and administrative side of things...which agencies to register with, how to do payroll, where the hell to buy health insurance. If I can raise more money, I'm definitely making an administrative assistant my next hire!

I don't care what your legal theory is. You are so far off the map your compass is pointing at your car keys.

So far as I can tell, the conservative media sphere has more or less settled on the Sideshow Bob defense of attempted murder being nothing more than a liberal thought crime. WSJ keeps screaming "BUT IT DIDN'T EVEN WORK SO IT CAN'T BE A CRIME!!!!!!!!!"

Has there ever been a more open and shut case than "Find me the 11,780 votes"? It wasn't like he was oblique about it to try to preserve plausible deniability. He literally said make sure I win this by a single vote or I'm going to make sure you're charged with a crime. I mean, this will likely be a long trial but it should last for maybe like 6, 7 minutes.

Given Kemp's broad clemency powers in the state, I think the Georgia GOP picked a really bad time to piss him off. I remember reading a while back that he didn't even attend the state GOP convention. They've taken to labeling him a RINO. There's no longer any extreme version of conservatism that can't get you labeled RINO, given that their official platform is quite literally "Trump".

I've always hated cardio too, but finally at age 40 I'm learning to embrace it. I do all Tabata-style wind sprints on the exercise bike. It can keep my interest for about a half hour at a stretch at this point, which is way more cardio than I've ever done in the past in a single sitting. I haven't ice skated in a couple months, so I'm really interested to see how this has or hasn't helped me when the season starts in September. It gets harder every year to keep up with the 20-somethings.

Lol. That’s even more generous than my theory that it doesn’t matter because the controversial cases are already decided before they make it to argument.

My wedding took place under a massive banyan tree in Lahaina, Maui. It was sort of a symbol of permanence and might, given that it was 140 years old and like an entire city block wide. Guess it's a joke to think of anything as permanent. I visit Maui most years, so I guess this year instead of going I'll be looking for a good relief group to give my would-be tourist bucks to.

Ever heard of McDonnell v. United States?

https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/mcdonnell-v-united-states/

It's laughable in retrospect.

For about the past 2 months I've been going most days, and it's really making me feel good. Once upon a time I was a regular gym attendee. I quit for a few years, then tried to go back in 2019. I was doing really well until a shoulder injury that needed surgery to fix sidelined me for a while. Getting the mentality of going to the gym regularly is harder than actually doing the workouts.

I respect what he did with roivant, so I’m aware he’s a good thinker. I think he leans a little too hard into the culture wars, but I’ll vote for him in the GOP primary if he’s still a candidate by then. I hadn’t seen him as high as 10%, but it’s not surprising. Lots of people just want trump to fuck off and also can’t stand desantis. Will listen. Thanks for the link.