Posts from — January 2022

Year of the Black Water Tiger

Chinese New Year
[Spring Festival]

[Note: The Lunar New Year is tied to the Second New Moon of the solar year, which is on January 31st in my time zone and February 1st in China.]

Matas Maldeikis, Member of Parliament in Lithuania makes an historical point about Putin’s claims to the territory of the Ukraine:

I demand the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the historical sphere of influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, including #Belarus and #Ukraine. Russia’s westward expansion since the annexation of Novgorod in 1478 is an outrageous provocation.

Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson lashes out for the media noticing that he is spewing Russian agitprop on his show.

The media in Russia is split over Tucker Carlson (Такер Карлсон) with the “official state media” thinking that Carlson is just stating his opinion and the independent TV Rain (Дожд) thinking he is taking courses to be hired by the Russian Ministry of “Information”.

Carlson is a “useful idiot” (Полезный идиот). He has spent too many years wearing a bowtie that was too tight. He takes a contrary position to please someone else. Just another tool who is not bright enough to realize that he is being used.

FYI: Moscow is very late to the time line. The Rus settled around Kyiv and Ukraine uses an older character set and spelling than Russia. The presidents of both Ukraine and Rossia (the proper spelling of the country) have the same first name but Ukrainian president Zelensky spells it Volodymir while Putin uses Vladimir.

Falling Iguana Weather

The graphic is from January, 2020 but it is applicable today for South Florida as they are having a cold snap. No drop bears, just drop lizards.

January 28, 1986

Commander:
Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Pilot:
Michael J. Smith, Commander, USN

Mission Specialist:
Judith A. Resnik
Ronald E. McNair
Ellison S. Onizuka, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Payload Specialist:
Gregory B. Jarvis
Sharon Christa McAuliffe

NASA now has a Memorial Page honoring those who have been lost in the space program.

January 27, 1967

Virgil “Gus” Ivan Grissom, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Edward Higgins White, II, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Roger Bruce Chaffee, Lieutenant Commander, USN

NASA now has a Memorial Page honoring those who have been lost in the space program.

Digby provides the long form of unGovernor DeMentis’s battle againt medical reality, but Twitter feeds it to you in bite-sized chunks:

Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) notes:

After the FDA discontinued use of monoclonal antibodies because they don’t work on Omicron, which Eli Lilly and Regeneron acknowledge, Dr. Ron Desantis says they are wrong and vows, “We’re gonna fight back!”

DeMentis is definitely not a “doctor” in any sense of the word.

Lindy Li adds:

Regeneron, which makes monoclonal antibodies, says that they don’t work against Omicron

Ron DeSantis is falsely claiming that they do

Citadel owns $16 million of Regeneron stock. Citadel CEO, his biggest donor, gave DeSantis $11 million

I’m sure this is just a coincidence 🙁

You’re right, Lindy. It’s not as if Florida politicians are known for doing “special favors” for their big donors 😉

If DeMentis continues with the monoclonal antibodies, the state is going to be paying for them at $2K a dose. Up until now the Federal government has been paying for the treatment.

This is the anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns in Ayr, Scotland. The Burns Night celebrations conducted by Scots all over the world with haggis, whisky¹, and poetry.

Wikipedia has a description of the standard celebration, but easy on the malt or you may end up with a William McGonagall morning.

In honor of the occasion a bit of Robby Burns for the GOP “leadership”:

The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain
For promis’d joy!

To a Mouse

1. This is the correct spelling when referring to Scotland’s “water of life”.

The anniversary of the landing of the First Fleet under Captain Arthur Phillip at Port Jackson in New South Wales on January 26^th, 1788.

Here’s the official site, and more information at Wikipedia.

[I should note that recently this has taken on most of the controversy of Columbus Day in the US, with some people noting the event being celebrated was actually an invasion. I have no right to an opinion on the controversy. Also, the 25th in the US is the 26th in Australia.]

Two cases of children winning a point against a politician.

In Britain a Five-year-old explains why Boris Johnson is “really naughty”. Boris wants people to believe that he didn’t think having a party with 100 people after putting the country in a lock down was a problem. The little girl isn’t having it – Boris is naughty and should go to the naughty room until he apologizes. Crooks & Liars version if you don’t “do” the ‘Blue Bird of Misinformation’.

Dan Crenshaw was called out by a ten-year-old girl. Crenshaw made the mistake of treating the Bible like another “hero tale” and the little girl wasn’t having it. That’s not what she learned in Sunday school. He reacted poorly and the audience of East Texas fundamentalists was on the girl’s side. Crooks & Liars version. (It has been confirmed that the young woman is not 10, but 18. She was identified as being 10 by someone in the crowd, and she is small. She still made her point.)

The Federal free Covid tests site is up and working. You provide your name, e-mail address (optional), and address to receive 4 at-home rapid antigen tests. Locally that would cost you just over $50. Depending on your typing speed it takes 1 or 2 minutes.

Even if you can afford to buy them, get them and pass them on to someone you know who needs a test. The test takes about a half hour. It’s worth the piece of mind of knowing. The PCR tests are most definitive but if you can’t find a free site site the test costs $90 to $120 and takes days to get an answer.

Many Australians believe Prime Minister Scott Morrison is incompetent, while many Floridians believe Governor Ron DeSantis is evil. Let’s compare Scomo to DeMentis…

Two tweets from Dean Obeidallah (@DeanObeidallah)

Australia compared to Florida:

As you read about Australia deporting Novak Djokovic for not getting vaccinated keep this in mind: Australia is a country of 25 million and only 2,670 people have died of Covid. Florida is 21 million people and OVER 63,000 people have died of Covid.

Florida vs the average and Florida vs New York:

BTW in 2021, Florida saw 190 deaths per 100,000 from Covid totaling nearly 41,000 dead, well above the 144 per 100,000 national average and far worse than New York’s rate of 107 dead per 100,000 that totaled 21,000 deaths. (this is only 2021 since vaccine) source

.

Thanks to a friend, I was able to obtain an at-home Covid-19 test and am currently adjudged to be negative – I got a C line but no T line on the test. I’ve been feeling better, but don’t want to take chances.

I’ll continue my practice of wearing a mask when I’m around people. There are people who suggest that having the Omicron variant doesn’t provide long term protection against getting it again. Why take a chance?

Fifty-three years ago, in the early hours of January 13th, 1969 I was forced to accept something that I had known for a while, but had pushed to the back of my mind: I was mortal and was going to die.

This was the first of several incidents when my chance of survival was a good deal less than 1 in 2. This wasn’t the scariest, but it was the first, and following on the heels of the terrible events of 1968, it had the biggest impact.

In the end the only “death” was an airplane, Rivet Ball, the Air Force’s only RC-135S. The military version of the Boeing 707, the fuselage broke in half, like an eggshell, on impact. A very talented pilot, John Achor, the aircraft commander, was responsible for that miracle.

I provide more detail on my other site.

So, ‘tattletale’ Gaetz is sucking up to DeMentis by claiming that
the “30A Songwriters’ Festival” that is funded in part by Walton County Tourism, is imposing a vaccine mandate and dissing ‘Big Ron’. Gaetz, naturally didn’t ask anyone associated with the Festival, a major cultural event in Walton County, what was going on. There is no vaccine mandate. Like most festivals you need a vaccine or a negative test for admittance. If you’re a singer/songwriter in folk/country/bluegrass/blues this is a place to go to network and get noticed. People like Emmylou Harris, Dar Williams, Kathleen Edwards, Mavis Staples, Patty Griffin, Rickie Lee Jones, Steve Earle are playing this year.

Meanwhile, one of Matt’s ex-girlfriends is talking to a Grand Jury about trafficking under-age women. This is the quality of representation I have to put up with.