Mortos
Mortos's JournalLet's go, Brandon!
Under President Biden and Vice President Harris's leadership, jobless claims dropped to the lowest levels in 52 years. The stock market is up 37%. 20 million fewer people are living in poverty thanks to the child tax credit. The United States is not at war with any foreign country for the first time in two decades so no U.S. service member will be in harm's way this holiday. GDP is up 6.7% in the third quarter (higher than Trump ever achieved). The national unemployment rate is 4.6% down from 14.8% at its high point during Trump's presidency. Gas prices in Oklahoma are actually lower than they were ten years ago. Democrats almost single-handedly passed an 1 trillion dollar infrastructure bill that will create tens of thousands of jobs, repair our crumbling roads and bridges, and lower prescription drug prices. AND the grocery store had every item I needed (and more) in stock to help me eat like a glutton on Thanksgiving.
Don't let the doom and gloomers convince you things are terrible in America. Things are not. We are coming back from a recession (under Trump) and a worldwide pandemic (worsened by Trump's non-policies and false information about vaccines).
We need to support President Biden like Republicans support Trump, fearlessly, tirelessly, proudly, and loudly (but without those stupid %#&*^$ flags). The difference between the two leaders is stark, President Biden has not been plagued with scandals, indictments, and massive turnover in the Whitehouse staff and nominated posts. He hasn't embarrassed us on the worldwide stage. He doesn't cuss like a sailor and push world leaders out of his way like a petulant toddler. He is navigating an ongoing pandemic, obtuse resistance from the entire Republican party who are competing amongst themselves to be Trump's worst heir apparent, supply and demand issues, and a rising sense of worker entitlement and empowerment in demanding living wages and benefits (which is a good thing).
I am proud I voted for Biden and Harris. While Biden is not a flashy, spotlight-stealing, man-baby con artist...and competent bureaucratic leadership can be plodding and unexciting...he is not Trump, who decimated this country with a blizzard of lies and a torrent of hate for which we are still paying a price. The hubris, narcissism, and rote incompetence has been routed to Maralago. Joe and Kamala are slowly but steadily turning our country around and with our support, they can keep making positive changes for all Americans.
And let's not forget, Brandon won that fucking race.
#LetsgoBiden
Kyle Rittenhouse pretended to be a cop
now, he is using the tried and true cop defense for shooting people.
I feared for my life. Check
He reached for my gun. Check
I fired until the threat was eliminated. Check
I used force to defend myself. Check
If he had taken my gun, he would have killed me or others. Check
I used the legal amount of force authorized to protect myself and others. Check.
He reached for my gun (again). Check
I was protecting property and lives. Check.
He was coached on his testimony to the point of being robotic to repeat these legal justifications for use of deadly force by a legally armed law enforcement officer, which he repeated ad nauseum, no matter the question posed by the prosecutor.
The prosecution has been inconsistent and ineffective, in my opinion. They should have hammered over and over again in Kyle's cross-examination that he should have never had the gun in the first place. That the people he shot were upholding the law by trying to disarm a criminal. He was carrying an illegally obtained weapon. That he knew he wasn't legally allowed to possess the AR15. That he knowingly committed multiple crimes prior to shooting people with his illegally obtained and possessed gun. He was pretending to be cop and EMT. He is still pretending to be a cop and medic in his testimony. It benefits the defense to have him viewed as such. Fuck, he even looks like a cop with his haircut and his blue suit.
I have met dozens of these cop wannabe teenagers. They are all the same. They worship law enforcement and are in awe of the ability to have power over and use violence against others. Many of them end up on the police force. Watching him strut around with his gun and arrogance during the protests only reinforces this image.
I believe that he will be acquitted of the most serious charges unless there is a hung jury. The best bet for conviction is a mistrial (without prejudice) and start this thing all over again with a different judge and a better line of questioning from prosecutors.
Can you imagine how quickly a black 17-year-old, carrying an illegally obtained assault rifle would be convicted of murder if he went to a right-wing anti-vax protest and shot people who tried to disarm him?
Regeneron Ron's sickly flock lines up for experimental drug
Hundreds of mostly unvaccinated Covid infected Floridians packed Ron Desantis' pop-up monoclonal therapy treatment centers, some too weak to stand. The irony is, once again, lost on the folks who are sickened by a universally known pandemic that has been with us for over a year and a half and has had an extremely safe and effective vaccine widely available for 8 months.
The same crowd who endlessly and mindlessly retweets misleading memes and screams at public school board meetings that they won't take the vaccine because it is experimental and does not have full FDA approval are hacking and packing into public libraries and converted semi-trailers to receive Regeneron, an experimental drug that DOES NOT HAVE FULL FDA APPROVAL and is being administered under the same FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) as several vaccines for Covid-19.
The kicker? Regeneron as described by the CDC:
"Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses. Casirivimab and imdevimab are monoclonal antibodies that are specifically directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, designed to block the virus’ attachment and entry into human cells."
So the dumbasses that believe the 'Rona" jab will alter their DNA because it uses laboratory-made mRNA to allow the body to build up antibodies against the coronavirus are begging for a treatment that uses "laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system's ability to fight off harmful pathogens (the coronavirus)..." The same ones who believe hospitals are profiteering off the virus by falsely diagnosing every illness as covid are rushing to have the government cram money into the pockets of Ron Desantis biggest donor, Ken Griffin's, for-profit company.
At this point, I think the vaccine needs to be either mandated nationwide or alternatively, anyone opting out of it needs to stand with their (idiotic) convictions and sign a waiver for the vaccine that includes the caveat that once they knowingly and voluntarily decline it, they also decline any and all medical treatment, insurance coverage, and government assistance should they become infected (GoFundMe would still be allowed).
As country singer Aaron Tippin sung, "You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything." It is time for Covidiots to literally put their (and our taxpayer money) where their mouth is.
You can't scream about not being Fauci ouchy sheep and then line up like sickly ewes for Regeneron Ron.
Written by: Mortos for Democratic Underground
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2021/08/19/photo-of-people-on-floor-monoclonal-therapy-regeneron-in-jacksonville-real/8204429002/
Anti-Vax arguments from a cat's perspective
My wife and I scheduled an appointment for our cats, Trixie and Maggie, to be vaccinated.
Trixie argued that she was young and healthy and didn't need a vaccine. Maggie countered that there are over 135 million cats and dogs in America and only 300 cases of rabies in domestic pets every year. She said that the chance of her getting rabies was one in 450,000. They both said that the rabies vaccine was not approved by the FDA and they didn't want an experimental medicine in their bodies (though both routinely lick their own buttholes). Maggie said she heard there was a microchip in the vaccine (I didn't have the heart to tell her, they all got 'chipped' a long time ago).
These were valid and accurate arguments. The chance of them getting rabies is extremely slim (primarily because the vaccine has nearly wiped the disease out in dogs and cats). But, we are responsible pet owners and would be devastated if one of our animals got a preventable and deadly disease that could be passed to others.
We considered their arguments and then crammed their asses into carriers and took them to get their shots. They were mad but they will get over it primarily by taking it out on our couch.
By the way, the Humane Society offers very low-cost vaccines, spaying, and neutering if your pets need services.
And every Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS offers free covid-19 vaccines if the human in your life hasn't had one yet.
My wife got a call from work today...UPDATE
UPDATE:
*************************We have both tested negative. Still pissed off.**********************
Two of her conspiracy theory-believing, anti-vax, anti-mask, Trump-worshipping co-workers have Covid.
They all work together and share a small office.
I am furious. These two women have refused to get vaccinated because: covid is a hoax. It will make them sterile. it's no worse than the flu. Natural immunity works better than a vaccine. It's part of a Bill Gates depopulation "plandemic." The vaccine is not FDA approved...etc. etc.
They both came to work with symptoms. Chalked it up to allergies. They sit 4 feet from my vaccinated wife and mock her for wearing a mask and getting the shot. They are despicably stupid and arrogantly confidant people.
I don't give a shit about them but they exposed my wife to it. They exposed me to it. And I visited my 82-year-old step-father and 77-year-old mother, who has congestive heart failure after they did. We are all vaccinated.
One of them is pregnant, the other hopes to be someday. Right now, they are both sick with a preventable disease because they believed Facebook posts over medical doctors. They believed outlandish conspiracy theories over scientific facts. I don't know how sick they are and I, frankly, don't care. Their arrogance, ignorance, and hubris have consequences. I just hope their selfish decisions don't impact my family who has done the right thing from the beginning.
My wife is going to get tested today as am I. If either of us has it, I will never forgive these two specific idiots or the ones who empowered and emboldened them in their imbecility. I am sick and tired of coddling the ludicrous beliefs of fucking morons. At this point, I think the only thing that will keep us safe from these modern-day Typhoid Marys is six feet, not of social distancing but of dirt between them and the rest of us.
I can't stand the morons who ask this question:
"If masks and vaccines work, why do we still need masks and vaccines?"
Because of you, you fucking idiot.
Covidiots are like pantsless people crapping all over the floor and asking, "If pants and toilets work, why are we sliding around in all of this shit?"
My cousin is in the hospital in Louisiana with Covid
We were pretty close as kids. We went hunting, fishing, swimming, and boating through Louisiana's rivers and marshes. He attacked me on social media after Trump was elected because I made several posts critical of Trump and those who voted for him. I blocked my cousin in 2015 and have only spoken to him briefly once since, at my sister-in-law's funeral.
My aunt, his mother, called me about a week ago to tell me he was hospitalized with Covid, proned, on supplemental oxygen. We spoke for a long time and she told me he was anti-vax, didn't believe Covid was that bad and had practically disowned her because she had voted for Joe Biden and was critical of Trump. She told me his wife and teenage son also have covid but were, so far, suffering only moderate symptoms.
At this point, I have no sympathy for adults, even family members, who have chosen to join a cult of arrogant ignorance when it comes to this disease. They have sided with conspiracy theorists and an extremist political party that is actively marching its adherents into hospitals and graveyards. Every social media post about Covid-19 and the Delta variant is filled with hundreds of comments from these morons who espouse lies and easily disproven conspiracy theories about a virus that has killed over 630,000 Americans and sickened tens of millions.
Every story I read by a former anti-vaxxer who now sees the error of their ways makes me want to vomit. They are all the same; they didn't give a shit about anyone but themselves until they got sick. Their attitude was, "I didn't believe in this disease or that micro-chipped, sterilizing vaccine invented by Bill Gates. Fuck everyone else in this country who is sick and dying, I won't do the simplest things to alleviate this pain and suffering because...Freedom!" until they can't breathe and need government-subsidized healthcare. The GofundMe pages they and their families put up after they are in the hospital on life support or dead are the ultimate in arrogance and hypocrisy. What happened to self resiliency and pulling yourself up by your boot-straps and Ayn Rand's ecomomic philosophy?
We no longer have animal predators to thin the evolutionary human herd. As this planet's resources become more scarce and we literally light the atmosphere that supports our existence on fire, I believe the planet is fighting back. Our world is a living organism, dependent upon an ecosystem that is balanced upon interdependency and natural cycles. Human beings have decimated these natural checks and balances and we now face the consequences.
Much like our bodies react to a hostile virus by creating and sending antibodies to attack, raising our temperatures to kill off invaders, and reacting violently by coughing, shaking, and purging deadly intruders, the earth is responding similarly. This rapidly changing virus is one of many attempts, I believe, of our planet trying to remove a parasitoid that threatens its very existence. Global climate change is another.
The irony of humanity is that we are intelligent enough to override the natural systems but too arrogant to use our knowledge to build a planet that is safer and more ecological because we value convenience and hubris over doing the right thing. We have created a world where food, shelter, clothing, and water are abundantly available to most of the planet's 7 billion-plus inhabitants. Scientists and doctors have created safe and efficient medicines that reduce mortality and extend life expectancy. We know that our actions are harming the planet and accelerating the demise of the ecosystems that sustain life.
In our world today, I believe that this virus is an evolutionary test for those who have easy, unlimited, and cost-free access to a safe, effective, and free vaccine (i.e. Americans). People will either accept and believe the voluminous medical and scientific data about this virus and the efficacy of the vaccine which can stop it or will continue to reject it and we will all suffer the consequences of their abject arrogance and ignorance. This is no longer an uncontrollable pandemic, it is a pandemic of the selfish and irresponsibly unvaccinated who refuse to join a community of compassion and selflessness. As a result, I no longer have the time, money, or sympathy to offer to the anti-vax bacchanalian holdouts who put themselves, their selfish wants, and unabashed obtuseness before their country and countrymen.
According to Darwin's Origin of Species, it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself. When it comes to anti-vaxxers and their inability to adjust to a changing environment, I have lost my desire or ability to hold them in anything but contempt. To quote Dickens, "If they would rather die, they had better do it and reduce the surplus population."
Why haven't any of the members of Vanilla Isis been charged with terrorism?
Most of the charges, so far, are relatively minor for the few, out of thousands who committed acts of domestic terror. Do you think if these weren't white, middle-aged, "patriotic" American men every single one of them would have a charge related to committing a terrorist act tacked on to their rap sheets.
What the fuck. These guys stormed the United States Capitol and put elected representatives of our government in fear for their lives. They literally shit and pissed on the worldwide symbol of democracy and freedom and ripped down an American flag to replace it with the flag of their dictator, Donald J. Trump.
Do better DoJ, pretend like they were people of color or worshipped in a mosque.
Find 'em, frisk 'em, and fire on them if they resist.
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