Rocknation

I put two candles in the window, share the good works of DU-er Symbolman, Jon Stewart, Michael Moore, and Black Sabbath; confront the irony of probably not ever becoming a DU-er if 9/11 had been just another day; and pat myself on the back for my eternal vigilance against being seduced or intimidated by the rightwing machine.

And then, I just proceed to get on with my life.




Rocknation

At the press conference, she said there was a 5 1/2-hour period after the morning workout during which she found herself "shaking" and "could barely nap," which she had "never" felt going into a competition previously (hope she got to eat during that time). Her warmups went "a bit better," but after her vault, she decided "No -- mental is not there."

She also said, "I was trying a two-and-a-half and I ended up doing a one-and-a-half. Just got a little bit lost in the air." Athletes refer to that as "the twisties," a form of vertigo due to your brain and ear canals (which monitor your sense of balance) NOT being accustomed to flipping through the air two and a half times.

That is to say, Biles' "mental" hesitation was due to "physical" symptoms -- a genuine "medical issue." Her timing couldn't have been worse, of course, making it easy for her to be subjected to accusations of being a loser, coward, diva, and disgrace to her race.


Rocknation

what "nobody could have anticipated" was 26 million people voting Democrat or Republican in 2020 who DIDN'T vote in 2016. That's where Duh Don got the 11 million votes that boosted him to 74 million. Unfortunately for him, the rest of those 26 million votes are what boosted Biden to 81 million!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=14890483


Rocknation

Even before the pandemic, I was saving for a second camera that would compliment my Panasonic Lumix FZ80, which I use for low-light stop action concert photography. With the weather improving and Covid restrictions easing, I also wanted to be equipped with a "daylight" camera better suited for quality stationary and portrait shots; outdoor concerts and events; higher-end video; and less-than-perfect weather.

The solution was the Lumix FZ300 camera on the left. A second Lumix saves me the time of having to learn it from the ground up, and also saves the cost of an additional set of accessories for the lens and flash. Most important, the price was right in more ways than one!

I bought the FZ300 out of the $600 that Biden immediately released -- the "rest" of the $1200 that then-President Duh Don "owed" us -- so I consider it to be "Trump's reimbursement." Meanwhile, I consider the $1400 stimulus to be "all" from Joe, especially since it allowed me to replace my FZ80, which I had purchased used nearly two years ago, with a brand new one -- that's the camera on the right!

Purchasing the FZ300 was a pre-planned business move that the stimulus merely allowed me to make ahead of schedule. But thanks to Biden, I was able to replace my FZ80 simply because I could afford to. I sure don't look at it as a "government handout," though -- after the past four years, it feels more like a war reparation. In retrospect, perhaps I should have put the FZ80 on the left and the FZ300 on the right!


rocktivity

Posted by Rocknation 3/12/21:

Newsflash, Salon (if you'll pardon the expression): Trump LOST the popular vote in 2016 and lost it by TWICE as much in 2020 -- why wasn't THAT worth mentioning? Why is it so far out of the realm of possibility that Trump's popularity could have simply diminished(?)

Posted By Rocknation 3/13/21:

...I suppose Biden WAS "lucky" that Trump DIDN'T inflate his popularity with his big lies, race-baiting, despotic management style, possible dementia -- oh, and escorting a half-million-casualty pandemic across the country. Which MIGHT explain why there were 26 million MORE voters in 2020 than in 2016, and why Biden was "lucky" enough that nearly sixty per cent of them sided with him...

rocktivity

than of taking a good photo of a hard rock drummer in mid-cymbal grab!!!




Rocknation

Imagine what would have been the outcome if there had been no pandemic.

I imagine that it would have been a replay of 2016, with most people voting in person by machine, and just enough swing state votes being flipped to Trump without arousing suspicion.

But in concert with Trump exposing his incompetence, bigotry, and flair for self-serving despotism, his handling of the pandemic took away mass in-person machine voting as a viable option, resulting in nearly 70% of the total vote being cast by mail-in or early request ballot. THAT'S why Trump immediately declared war on the postal service: out of fear that mail-in voters would comprise the real "landslide majority."

I also imagine that your 42,800 "margin of victory" votes out of the 11 million AZ/GA/WI votes cast for Biden or Trump would have been a LOT easier to flip if only thirty rather than seventy percent of them had been cast by mail.


rocktivity

the landslide majority of them came from the 26 million people who were either too young or too apathetic to vote Democrat or Republican in 2016. Biden won because he got the other 15 million -- a four million vote excess. Add those four million votes to the three million votes that contributed to Trump's popular vote margin of defeat in 2016 (how likely is it that the "landslide majority" of THEM changed their minds about him?), and you get Biden's seven million vote margin of victory.

You can also inform your disheartened heart that in addition to losing the popular vote TWICE in a row, Trump's 2020 margin of defeat was TWICE what it had been in 2016.


rocktivity

accounted for roughly 1 in 6 voters, and they broke markedly for Biden, especially in the 'Flipped' states. 1 in 10 voters say they decided their vote in the final month of the campaign, and contrary to conventional wisdom, they broke in Biden’s favor..."

1 in 6 averages out to nearly 17 per cent. In 2016, 129 million people voted Democrat or Republican; in 2020, 155 million people did. That's an increase of 26 million, which averages out to -- WAIT FOR IT!!! -- nearly seventeen per cent more!

I love the smell of vindication in the morning.


rocktivity