Quote of the Day
Talent works, genius creates.
Neil Diamond, "Cracklin' Rosie"
I haven't flown since the start of the pandemic, but a recent American Airlines email got me to wonder if something had changed for domestic flights. A brief Google search took me to the Denver airport featuring COVID-19 testing in roughly the $100-200 range, which rapid results testing in the latter range. I believe there are some home testing (saliva sampling) kits which may be accepted. As far as I can tell, mandatory testing is mostly in play for international flights. And apparently you can qualify for expedited security if you can document recent negative test results, although it seems part of the regimen includes a temperature check. But for now, most domestic travel is by the honor system, e.g., voluntary quarantine after trqvel or completing symptom checklists. Obviously some people lie, like that United passenger to LA who fell ill during the flight and died of COVID-19 complications.
In discussing the latest weekly statistics below: I note that the positivity rate has fallen below 5%. (I don't know if they've been tracking it, but I've been closely following it over the past few journal posts.) I'm not saying 5% is a magic number, but it's been a baseline I've been informally using to judge the various waves of the pandemic. The improving hospital utilization rates are definitely a step in the right direction, given full/over capacity would imply a risk of higher mortality.
So how do we explain the declines of the current wave, which seems obviously has peaked? Well, obviously it's not vaccination because only small percentage of vaccinated people (although no doubt it's a welcome development towards the criterion of herd immunity, as in the recent emergency waiver for a third vaccine FDA emergency approval for Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, although Oxford/AstraZeneca's vaccine is still stuck at the FDA, yet approved elsewhere (notably Europe).) And it's not a miracle due to the familiar regimen of masks, social distancing and personal hygiene; let me be clear: these are good practical steps that can mitigate the risks of infection. The issue I have has to do with unrealistic expectations. But if their implementation (up to 85% or so in some studies I've seen) didn't prevent the second or third waves, they certainly can't be attributed for falling rates. At best, they might mitigate acceleration and peak of the wave.
I'm not an epidemiologist. But here are some some insights: While certainly hospitals have learned much in treating COVID-19, recent lower mortality may have more to do with proportionately higher infections among younger/lower-risk people and improved protection of older/higher-risk individuals. Sometimes viruses can respond to changing weather conditions like temperature and humidity. For instance, in cold weather people spend more time indoors where shed microbes, not filtered, can accumulate more densely and put others at increased risk for infection. Acquired or natural immunity and a variation of herd immunity may also be at play. The virus may never truly go away and may mutate, and we don't know the nature and extent of any acquired immunity (although reinfection, which can happen, is relatively uncommon for COVID-19 recovered victims, from the studies to date).
The latest stats from WashPo:
It's amusing how even an MIS PhD has to put up with life's little problems in computing. For example, I opened up my email software which, recently updated, apparently had the unintended effect of wiping our of my profile (it didn't show any email or a single email account). Now of course, I could manually reconfigure my profile (it didn't lose my email folders, which are stored separately) with a few minutes of busy work, but as familiar readers know, the DBA in me maintains backups; I copied and pasted backup profile folder files, and presto, the email client software was soon back to normal.
But we are now in an era of disposable computers. I have a small chromebook (think of it as a cloud-based computer) which I use occasionally for working, e.g., on my blog. I haven't owned it long--maybe a year or two back, only to find Google left me a nasty little surprise note after its latest update of the operating system, that this would be its last OS update of my chromebook. The "solution"? Buy a new model. Oh, I don't think so. I did an Internet search and there seems to be a hardware/software workaround, but to be honest it may be functional for some time with the current setup.
But I had bought an inexpensive Lenovo desktop about 9 years back, more as a backup PC to my HP notebook whose hard drive was on its last legs. I had mover helpers with my move to WV, where I had rented a furnished apartment, so I had most of my stuff put in storage, and my work schedule made it so I couldn't be there for the unloading of the truck. As a former professor I had like 40 book boxes. I had no idea where they put the desktop, and I didn't want to spend hours reorganizing my storage unit to find it. Long story short, on my next move (to SC) I made sure the movers put it into my apartment. And whether it was the cold storage room in WV, it was dead for all practical purposes. So I bought another laptop as a backup. As some point, I coaxed the Lenovo back to life.
I've continued using it on and off as a backup (most recently, playing the "White Christmas" DVD). I had just updated Windows patching et al. recently, only to find out a few days ago it wasn't powering up. Not sure why; maybe the power supply, power cord, a broken power switch, the port interface, whatever. I may tinker with it as time permits. But how much good money to throw after bad in getting an old PC repaired,
It turns out you can buy a new Dell, with 8 GM RAM, 1 TB of storage, speedy CPU, etc., for under $400, plus sales tax. The only things you need to buy are a monitor and speakers, and the ones I had bought for the Lenovo worked just fine. I think my first PC clone I bought while at UWM cost me around $2800, and its functionality is just a fraction of the Dell's capabilities. In fact, I wrote this whole segment on the Dell.
Well, my readership on Twitter and the blog are at months' lows. The blog will likely be a third below last month's pageviews. Of course, February is the shortest month, but part of it is lower output. I haven't been as inspired; in part, Trump's tweets are no longer there to stir people up.
I guess I don't make an impression on a lot of people. I recently scheduled an 18-month service appointment on my new(er) car, and I was getting lots of text and email reminders about my appointment. Fortunately they were open on Presidents' Day. Everything went okay, but they reset my display, so I'm having to go to the owner's guide to figure how to revert it (right now the odometer only shows when I turn the ignition off). They're surprised by my low mileage, but, dude, there's a pandemic, I telework, and I barely drive for groceries, medical appointments, and (say) occasional trips to the barber shop. So anyway, one or 2 days later, I get more texts and emails from the dealership: "We're sorry you missed your appointment; would you like to reschedule?" Dude, you serviced my car; how do you not remember? You gave me paperwork and everything? Apparently I didn't make a good impression or any impression...
Well, I'm on no one's key demographic when it comes to TV, but a couple of nationally telecast series are grabbing my attention. No, not American Idol, nearly a generation after its debut on Fox; I haven't watched since the Fox cancellation and its resurrection on ABC, and as I've tweeted, I'm not happy that they are exploiting the troubled teen Claudia Conway, daughter of famously politically split parents, her mother, the campaign manager during Trump's first election, and Never Teumper father.
"Mr. Mayor" I find probably the best new comedy series in years, as Ted Danson, former Cheers lead womanizing bar owner, now plays the accidental mayor of Los Angeles with his headstrong teen daughter, Holly Hunter as his politically-savvy (a little too full of herself) deputy Arpi, and the rest of the cast. Whether it's a spoof of ubiquitous sexual harassment training, the mayor preparing to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the baseball game, Food Truck day, etc., it has avoided polarizing political preaching and gently pokes fun at politicians. Great cast. Holly as Arpi shines; she is ultra-competitive, and this episode saw her repeatedly losing to her colleagues in various games/contexts, seriously messing with her head. As long as the deft writing continues, I'll be watching.
The new CW series "Superman and Lois" (see the premiere episode here) is an intriguing twist on the innumerable TV series and movies; Clark Kent has married his love interest Lois Lane (who knows he's Superman) and they are middle-aged parents to teenage twin sons, one who has inherited some of his powers. I don't want to give away the whole plot, but Clark comes out of the phone booth, so to speak, to his unsuspecting sons who think of him as a recently laid-off journalist.
In WWE the most interesting development was the Miz cashing in his reinstated Money in the Bank championship contract after McIntyre's grueling defense of his WWE championship belt at Elimination Chamber and Bobby Lashley's brutal post-match attack. The booking is curious because heel Miz is now the target of heel Lashley. I don't see Miz surviving their title clash next Monday. Lashley winning the belt sets up a dream match with Lesnar. I could see WWE doing a triple threat match (with McIntyre and Miz) after Lashley wins the belt with Lesnar confronting Lashley during/after the match.
Edge will confront Reigns, which was obvious given Edge's' babyface status. As for the female titles, somewhat muddled. they had booked Charlotte Flair's return to pair with former rival/current RAW champ Asuka to briefly take the women's tag titles. Now this sets up the formula storyline of tag team split-ups, in this context, Flair challenging Asuka for her RAW title. Deja vu? Yes. Flair ended Asuka's infamous win streak in a past Wrestlemania. It also looks like face Bianca meeting face Sasha Banks.I was hoping for a return of new mother Becky Lynch and/or Ronda Rousey.
Quote of the Day
Virtue means doing the right thing,I recently posted on this topic. This podcast is consistent with my discussion.
Diana Ross, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
Quote of the Day
I was gratified to be able to answer promptly.
Edwin Starr, "War"
Quote of the Day
I can think of nothing less pleasurableBread, "Make It With You"
First of all, I have to stop watching CNN leftist propaganda early in the morning. (I actually multi-task most of the time; I 'll usually be working in the morning or blogging in the evening, just like people might listen to music on the job. CNN had this graphic, for instance, pointing out Republicans oppose Biden's $1.9 T while "polls" suggest 70% of Americans support it. These polls are so phony. Context is everything. Suppose I point out to poll takers that the US is paying hundreds of billions of dollars each year in interest to service a $28T national debt: Taxpayer money is going to China and other foreign countries loaning their money to the Treasury, not to mention rich people. What if I tell you historically nations which spend money they don't have pay a price in terms of inflation, an implicit tax which disparately affects lower-income people? The whole illusion here is the duped poll participants are voting for a free lunch. Santa Claus is very popular--until January's credit card bills hit your mailbox or email inbox.
I disagree with almost every aspect of the Biden spending proposal, except for maybe COVID-19 testing and vaccines (and I sill think the free market could do that faster, better, and cheaper). I know I would be willing to pay a fair price for a vaccine versus a "free" vaccine, where the supply is being controlled by an incompetent, unresponsive government bureaucracy. The fact is the 3 vaccines could have been released weeks before they were, and how many more people lost their lives needlessly?
A lot of the bill is on usual Democrat spending priorities as usual; we've this this pattern time after time. A large pot of the bill is going for local/state bailouts. I heard a good Cato Institute podcast on this while working today by Chris Edwards (see here for his written comments).. While there are some exceptions, most cities/states overall hit their overall revenue goals, with only some adverse effects, e.g., softer sales tax collections. Lincicome provides a more comprehensive view of Biden's $1.9T folly here.
The minimum wage is a mandate, not a government-funded program like an earned income credit. Now there is no doubt that Draconian local pandemic business restriction have had a disparate effect on lower income workers, like restaurant workers, but increasing wage costs on struggling businesses doesn't assure lower-income people will make more money; employers may respond by cutting jobs and/or hours. A large plurality of minimum-wage worker (at last check, maybe less than 5% of overall workers) are household dependents, e.g., spouses or children, and job experience is a fungible benefit which typically results in higher-paying employment in the long term.
When I have faced recessions, I could offer to work for less money. Let me give an actual example from my prior career as an MIS professor. Providence College offered me a campus visit (an expenses-paid academic job interview where you usually make a research presentation). They told me going into the interview the maximum the job would pay was $35K. (I was paid in the 40's during my prior 5 years at state universities.) [I have at least 2 cousins who earned their degrees at Providence College.] I still didn't get the offer. But the point is, I was willing to make my candidacy more appealing to accommodate their budgets. [On a side note, I, as a Catholic, earned my bachelor's at OLLU, a Catholic college. I went on 2 other campus visits to Catholic colleges and also negotiated with a fourth, which waived a campus visit. Not one offer from any of them. Not sure why, although I suspect ISU blackballed me with the last (the chair mentioned she had met married ISU professors I knew during my year as a visiting professor at a conference).]
If you are struggling to find a job paying $7.25/hour, you sure the hell won't find one paying $15/hour. You face more competitors willing to work for more money. As I mentioned in an earlier tweet to an economically illiterate "progressive" troll, if Amazon decided to double its prices for TVs overnight, I am not likely to buy a TV. This is Economics 101. Maybe Big Labor wants to protect its members from competition in the market; it's certainly not in the interest of lower-paid workers. A minimum wage law is fundamentally immoral. This is not to say we oppose the concept of higher wages, just the method of getting there. We think the free market provides the best way of getting there. One of my favorite economists and bloggers explains below debunks the $15/hour argument.
Quote of the Day
The Carpenters, "Close To You"
Quote of the Day
Let no one delay the study of philosophy when youngThe blonde interviewee/advocate is so economically illiterate and morally corrupt that I almost threw something at my monitor.
Three Dog Night, "Mama Told Me Not To Come"
Quote of the Day
Aim at the sun and you may not reach it;
The Jackson 5, "The Love You Save"
Quote of the Day
It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice,
The general context for this essay was yet another Twitter trend bashing Rand Paul. Now I've had my differences with Rand Paul, particularly his defense of Trump during the two impeachment trials, but I feel he is more principled and on the right side of most public policy issues. The Rand Derangement Syndrome is very real, and I have on occasion sharply rebuked partisan trolls on Twitter, saying things like the neighbor who attacked Rand (eventually resulting in partial loss of Rand's lung) didn't go far enough.
I'm not sure what led to the latest bashing of Rand Paul but I do know Sherrod Brown (D-OH) went after him for not wearing a mask in session several days back. The ignorant asshole wrote this: "In a packed Senate chamber with stenographers and colleagues just feet away from him, @RandPaul refuses to put on a mask - and puts the health of everyone around him at risk." First of all, Rand Paul doesn't have COVID; he's healthy. There is no risk from a healthy person who doesn't wear a mask. If Sherrod Brown had any knowledge about COVID, he would know, at most, most face masks protect little more than protecting oneself from virus-laden respiratory splatter from those infected. Now you could argue it's in Rand Paul's best interests to protect himself against the splatter from others, but what Brown is saying is pure nonsense. Cloth masks have next to no defense against microbe aerosols; that's the reason most hospitals were worried about a possible run on N95 respirators by the public, leaving them with no masks for health professionals treating COVID patients. If conventional cloth/other masks were equally effective, why didn't hospitals simply use the more available, cheaper masks? So even if Rand Paul had COVID, the masks that he and Brown wore wouldn't protect Brown from those aerosols if he was near or downwind from Paul. Brown has an amateurish, oversimplistic understanding of masks, their purpose, and limitations. It really shouldn't matter to Brown whether Paul was wearing a mask if presumably Brown wasn't prohibited from wearing a mask just in case a contagious Paul was coughing or sneezing on him.
This isn't the first time this kind of pseudo-scientific rubbish. Paul, around 11 months back, became perhaps the first major politician diagnosed with COVID-19. He went swimming in a Congressional facility before getting test results; he wasn't symptomatic. He promptly went into quarantine upon hearing the news. He explained he had taken the test because he does a lot of traveling and hence could have been exposed and took the test proactively. But other politicians were obsessed that he put everyone who uses the pool at risk. (That whole hand washing or social distancing protocol just doesn't connect with these people.) I am unaware of a single person who has been infected by Rand, and the media would have been right on top of that.
Never mind that Rand Paul is a licensed doctor. But the left-fascists dismiss that because it doesn't fit their definition of an expert. Sure, he can prescribe and administer vaccinations, but unless he's published a relevant paper in a peer-reviewed journal, he doesn't have a right to his own opinion.
So here is the Twitter kerffufle:
Excuse my ignorance as a Brit, but I thought President Biden had mandated the wearing of masks in all federal buildings. So why is Rand Paul not wearing a mask in the Senate?
— Peter Chalcraft ⚡⚡ (@chalkypj) February 12, 2021
Yeah, only a Brit would not realize that the Congress, not the President, makes laws, not to mention face masks are not constitutional. And, of course, Rand Paul notoriously caught COVID-19 some time back.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 13, 2021
Um… Congress passes laws, the president signs them to enact them(EOs are federal-level rules/laws). Face masks aren't unconstitutional, nowhere mentions facemasks. Rand Paul may have caught COVID, but the anti-bodies might have gone away by now because COVID sucks.
— Casey Ontiveros (@contiveros) February 13, 2021
Wrong. Executive orders can exceed statutory and/or constitutional restrictions. Congress and the President have enumerated powers by the Constitution. Wearing face masks isn't unconstitutional; making a healthy person wear one is. It's highly unlikely for Paul to reinfect/others
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 20, 2021
Paul has just as high of a likelihood for reinfection since he can still carry w/diminished symptoms. COVID antibodies can flush from a body in as little as 3 months and so far last over 7. Wearing a mask is no more unconstitutional than wearing a seatbelt.
— Casey Ontiveros (@contiveros) February 20, 2021
OK, there's a lot to unpack here (there is a subsequent exchange where the troll Casey called my response bullshit and we threw journal articles at each other). I only saw Casey's tweet not in my notifications but in my Twitter summary page as the top mention of the month. There's a complete misunderstanding of the Constitution by both trolls which I didn't fully address in my responses (because I have only 280 characters per tweet and I didn't want to write a long sequence of tweets, so I'll do it here).The troll is not only wrong but stupid. The evidence shows reinfection is trivial, less than 1%, and not only that but reinfected people have negligible transmission to others. A seatbelt mandate is stupid, but driving is a privilege and not a right on public streets. Not the same
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 21, 2021
The NCI research team, which I was a part of, was led by Lynne Penberthy, M.D., M.P.H., associate director of NCI’s Surveillance Research Program. Working with two health care data analytics companies (HealthVerity and Aetion) and commercial labs (Quest and LabCorp), we obtained serology (antibody) testing results for more than 3 million people, representing more than 50% of the commercial SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests conducted in the United States. Nearly 12% of these tests were antibody positive; most of the remaining tests were negative (less than 1% were inconclusive).
The research team then looked at what fraction of individuals in each group went on to later develop a positive result on a nucleic acid (PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2, which may indicate a new infection. We found that, 90 or more days after the initial antibody test, people who had been antibody-negative had evidence of infection (a positive PCR test) at about 10 times the rate of people who had been antibody-positive.
A complication in interpreting the results of this work is that people who have recovered from a SARS-CoV-2 infection can still shed viral material (RNA) for up to 3 months. These individuals are generally thought to have low risk for passing the virus on to others, even though they may continue to test positive for the virus on a PCR test.
Quote of the Day
My definition of an expert in any field is
The Beatles, "The Long and Winding Road". Several posts back I had mistakenly suggested "Let It Be" was the last top-charting hit for the Beatles. That was wrong; I had misread the chart. It's this song. I'll play the flip side in the next daily post.
For a long period recently I had averaged over 1000 impressions/views a day for my tweets. That's nothing for someone who has hundreds of thousands of followers (like the celebrity below), but I still have fewer than 10 on the current/new(er) account. I haven't had a "viral Tweet", my definition for a 1K impression tweet, for a few weeks now (My top tweet is like 400+ impressions.) I do write several tweets without regard to trending topics, but one of the best ways to build an audience is by posting on trending topics. And so I've been in a statistics slump over the last few weeks. And part of it has to do with the nature and extent of trends, most of which I haven't been interested in.
Probably the most famous celebrity to flame me on Twitter. (I had posted a tweet supporting COVID policy protesters on the Left Coast.) She's a well-known actress, e.g., played the lead on the multi-season show "Medium". It appears to be from her legit account.
I'm thrilled the Tampa Bay Bucs dominated KC in the Super Bowl against the odds. I'm also a Vikings fan who still holds a grudge over Kansas City beating them in the first of 4 Super Bowls.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 8, 2021
What the hell; was someone trying to get Cameron Diaz' hair gel effect from There's Something About Mary? Seriously, is the lady going to sue that Gorilla Glue didn't warn her against putting glue in hair?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 8, 2021
"Gorilla Glue"
I don't agree with Cuban's politics, but I agree that we need to stop injecting patriotically correct nationalist symbolism before sports events. The NBA's rule promoting the playing of the anthem is not in the interest of organized sports.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 10, 2021
"National Anthem"
He didn't call him Comrade Bernie?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 10, 2021
"Senator Kennedy"
Will exposes the morally hazardous sham rationale progressives are using to "forgive" debt at taxpayer expense for the benefit of the university industrial complex and yuppie voters trying to socialize their expenses. https://t.co/o1nnRSCJi9
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 12, 2021
Trump Derangement Syndrome never dies. Stop the disingenuous comparisons to a criminal trial. Personally, I favor conviction. But expecting a third of GOP senators to flip on Trump based on any evidence short of a smoking gun was never realistic.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 12, 2021
"Jurors"
Yeah, only a Brit would not realize that the Congress, not the President, makes laws, not to mention face masks are not constitutional. And, of course, Rand Paul notoriously caught COVID-19 some time back.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 13, 2021
I was not impressed with Trump's Senate trial counsels with their phone-it-defense that (1) Trump's words were taken out of context and hypocritically applied and (2) Trump as a private citizen would not have been criminally charged for inciting the Jan. 6 riot.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 13, 2021
Ask me if I'm impressed by Trump's wink and a nod act. "Oh, they can't accuse me if I put 'peacefully' in my speech to cover my ass." He tells the Proud Boys to stand by, and we're supposed to sing "Kumbaya"?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 13, 2021
I was not impressed either with the prosecutors' case against Trump in the Senate trial. The Capitol police report to the Congress. Reportedly Pelosi's office sidestepped multiple requests for standby National Guard assistance on Jan. 6. It's almost like Clinton and Benghazi.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 13, 2021
It's so sad that McCarthy is so worried that Trump could quash his career dream of becoming Speaker that he let Trump shit all over him on Jan. 6.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 13, 2021
"McCarthy"
My latest post criticizes the trite progressive comparison of Jan 6 to Benghazi, but also criticizes Trump's dereliction of duty on that day.https://t.co/YSs4D3GTXg
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 13, 2021
My latest post rebukes McConnell's politically convenient argument that a former POTUS cannot be tried for late-term misconduct.https://t.co/Vn122cqhkL
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 14, 2021
It's sad to realize that a retiring Portman lacked the political courage to do the right thing and vote to convict that cancer on the Presidency, Trump. The idea that the brilliant conservative Taft's seat could be won by an unprincipled Trumpkin is horrifying. https://t.co/v0OugIq3fJ
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
Let's get this straight: Trump barely held onto North Carolina before his Jan. 6 unconstitutional crimes; Trump pulled off the hat trick of losing the House, the Senate, and the White House; I can't believe NC voters would put a Trumpkin by marriage in the Senate
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
"Lara Trump"
Trumpism is a cancer on the GOP. After Trump decided to primary @justinamash, who eventually voted to impeach Trump the first time, it seems Trumpkins are targeting Meijer, Amash's successor, for voting for impeachment 2.0. https://t.co/OZnPyf2U3G
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
Justin is, of course, correct, but I seriously doubt that Biden will ever pardon Trump.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
However, I seriously doubt Trump will ever win another election. He is no Grover Cleveland. He lost the House, the Senate, the White House. Jan. 6 forever damaged his brand. https://t.co/r243nNpAxv
I can just see Trump playing "Claudia Conway"'s music for his 2024 comeback campaign. #sarcasm
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
I haven't watched the new incarnation of American Idol since it was canceled by Fox. I think perhaps it was obvious why ABC was promoting Conway's appearance: to exploit the tragedy of a dysfunctional family in the public eye. Her advance was predictable.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
"Claudia Conway"
I know this one is hilarious. I just thought it needed an alternative caption: this is why AOC doesn't believe in pulling oneself up by the bootstraps.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
Well, what fascist trolls like you don't understand, Clinton's issue was NOT adultery but victimizing people who worked under him. There are government sexual harassment policies. What Trump did was immoral; what Clinton did was illegal and hypocritical.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
Cruz shows he has more of a sense of humor than all these progressive trolls put together. They're not smart enough to realize he's yanking their chains.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
"Babylon Bee"
Well, Hunter particularly recommends the fortune cookies. https://t.co/ENYKkMft1R
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
More like he decided to eat 8 vegan breakfast bowls. https://t.co/BYKsYk3pEo
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
She's down in the count 0-2 impeachments. She warns Biden she won't strikeout. https://t.co/pDpz0AiiZ1
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
I'll simply point out Portman some time back he announced he would not seek reelection. It's sad unlike retiring Burr, he didn't do the right thing. https://t.co/bjlIT5zXSb
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
I'll never forget my first Christmas in Laredo during high school: 95 degrees. Texans aren't used to this cold weather. I earned 4 degrees in Texas, one snowfall.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
"Texas braces for ‘unprecedented’ winter storm as White House approves emergency declaration request"
Sad.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
Stop molesting the flag, you pervert.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
He lost to a bipartisan Senate majority vote for conviction.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
No, 43 dishonest, self-serving Republicans acquitted Trump. And technically it is only a Democratic majority because of VP Harris, who breaks a 50-50 tie.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
Trump is an abomination in the eyes of God, and any cleric who panders to this abomination will be judged harshly by God.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
Claudia Conway is in need of psychological counseling; this troubled teen actually accused her mother of leaking nude photos. American Idol's exploitative use of a troubled girl to boost ratings is immoral. When I used to watch AI on Fox, contestants rarely got a second chance.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
Oh, yes. The man who told the rampaging protesters "We love you. You're very special," who had told the Proud Boys "to stand by", who chose to hold a rally in DC before the ratification vote is the one person Tim Scott won't blame? Put this on his political obituary. https://t.co/EjhUiTg9XG
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 15, 2021
The fact is the only death from gunfire was a Trumpkin by police.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 16, 2021
The politically correct police are still persecuting this poor woman who basically was responding to some bird watcher harassing her. She lost her job and apparently attended some racial sensitivity training to get her charge dropped. I would bet the attorneys Dem.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 16, 2021
"Amy Cooper"
If you're wondering why Massie tweeted about this, he is a key sponsor of the PRIME act for small cattle farmers.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 16, 2021
As a native Texan, when I was young, Texas had been a blue state since Reconstruction. The progressive Democrats turned Texas red. The current progressives are even worse. Don't count on Texas turning blue anytime soon. https://t.co/4q5EH5zq0f
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 16, 2021
Biden should be used to it now, after being a Democrat for over 40 years on Capitol Hill. That's a lot of bullshit. https://t.co/q9m4jLySnx
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 16, 2021
This is what "Dan Crenshaw" should be retweeting. https://t.co/z6czWwXafA
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 16, 2021
I am frankly very concerned about Speaker Pelosi's trying to hype the Jan. 6 riot into some "domestic terror" hype used to strip Americans of their liberty. Have we learned anything from 2 decades of unnecessary war and lost treasure and compromised civil liberties since 9/11?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 16, 2021
No doubt Frosty is a white supremacist. https://t.co/EvKgGTr7hE
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 16, 2021
The free market would be infinitely better than some moronic government whores arbitrarily rationing vaccines. Why would anyone trust the likes of Nursing Home Killer Cuomo to be in charge of their health?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 16, 2021
Biden is more like a Trump without the tweets. https://t.co/w1tm92eU4A
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
You're right: Biden is a fuck face.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
What an idiot: did you get an MD from a box of Cracker Jack? The vaccines were approved after the election. It takes a while to ramp up production; you retards are still opposing First Dose First. By the way, I didn't support Trump or the current Moron-in-Chief.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
Well, the "conservative in name only" Trump sycophant Hannity is right about one thing: we need a new face at the top of the GOP ticket in 2024. https://t.co/xJZlYumWdD
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
Well, this "progressive" troll is right about Biden; he's not the most radical socialist, just the dumbest, even more so than Comrade Bernie. https://t.co/aq9hV6QbHw
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
This is pretty stupid. Yes, 10% is not herd immunity. But arguing the decline is due to politically correct masking, social distancing and hygiene is stupid. This has had cycles which have also risen during the implementation of said protocols. For instance, seasonality factors.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
Of course, Trump doesn't like the fact McConnell said the truth about him post-acquittal. The two-time, two-time justifiably impeached son of a bitch is a corrupt, incompetent, stupid, narcissistic bastard and petty tyrant, who is a shit stain in American history.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
"McConnell"
I'm tiring of the repetitious nonsense on CNN as much as FNC. Look, personally I supported Trump's conviction as constitutional, but even Washpo concedes a mixed opinion by Constitution scholars. McConnell's refusal to whip is the reason we had as many Republican votes. https://t.co/Fy7MgFKsAp
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
CNN is continuing 24x7 pandering coverage of Biden. The latest rotation bit of a second-grader worried about COVID vaccine availability for kids. Biden didn't mention low risk of adverse events for children and generally vaccines work for children, too. https://t.co/Ll8jroWo4h
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
Actually, O'Reilly is right about Biden's trite unsupported leftist allegation on a purported rise in white supremacism. There are inconsistent reporting standards in stats, and not all hate crimes are white supremacist. No overall trend.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
"Bill O'Reilly"https://t.co/dovd5Z1MBj https://t.co/TcshbRbiKt
I'm Catholic, and I find this funny. More seriously, Christ taught the virtue of voluntary charity, not lobbying Romans for redistribution. https://t.co/z5ApgmV3i2
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
I don't know which one is more mentally ill--Trump or Bannon's notion that he himself is Trump 2.0 https://t.co/4GIm9c7nGs
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
No doubt inquiring minds want to know what shampoo Jill used to get Joe to propose. https://t.co/np1T5fzXb7
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
Yeah, I know. He's joking about the honehead prosecution move to have OJ to try putting on the gloves comparing it his difficulties to putting on latex gloves. That's not funny. What 's the tagline? "If they don't fit, you might transmit..."?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
"OJ Simpson"
Limbaugh had a great natural wit, more than all "progressives" put together, their incivility reflecting their frustration in not gaining as large an audience. My thoughts and prayers for his widow and surviving family.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
"Rush Limbaugh"
Yeah, I'm also glad that RBG is dead. #sarcasm
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
"Rest in Piss"
Biden has achieved something Trump never got his whole term in office--an approval rating above 50.https://t.co/UQ3nG18Faa
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
The Gaffe-in-Chief comes ready-for-satire. https://t.co/Mog6jkMFJo
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 17, 2021
How stupid is Joe Biden? He claimed at a Milwaukee townhall there was no COVID vaccine when he took office, even though he himself was vaccinated before he took office. https://t.co/FbaFahKkCn
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 18, 2021
Apparently Lightfoot learned something from Trump, like when he stole money from the Defense Department to spend on his border wall, which the Congress had refused to supplement.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 18, 2021
"Lori Lightfoot"
It took a while for the progressives to recognize Cruz because he was wearing a face mask. (They believe if you are right of center, you don't wear masks.) https://t.co/R0HQCF5Oq9
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 18, 2021
Idiotic "progressives" don't understand weather forecasts. This past week has been freakish for Texas. Dallas, for instance, will return to 50's-60's weather over the coming week.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 18, 2021
"Senator Ted Cruz travels to Cancun amid crisis in Texas, Fox News, AP and CNN report"
My Navy buddy posted this picture of the line to get his first COVID-19 vaccine job. This is also the type of line to expect in buying anything once the Dem socialists are also running the economy. pic.twitter.com/pF7JAOdHgM
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 19, 2021
Ted shouldn't have drunk the water down there. I could have told him that.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 19, 2021
"Senator Ted Cruz says traveling to Cancún amid winter weather crisis was a 'mistake'"
Biden's Lenten executive order is the first one I agree with. https://t.co/XUMUB9bJdz
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 19, 2021
Gates is probably trying to find a way to recycle cow farts into jet fuel. https://t.co/lFuJ8RUcQY
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 19, 2021
A UK court ruled against Uber by imposing certain employee mandates for drivers. It's counterproductive policies like these that make the economics of driverless vehicles more compelling.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 19, 2021
Just a reminder that Texas is emerging from the tragic "perfect storm" as temperatures are returning to normal. Texans don't need another (political) hero. https://t.co/hwm8WNtJah
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 19, 2021
"Beto and AOC"
Strange. I don't recall Saint Barry Obama admitting playing golf during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis was a mistake.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 19, 2021
"Senator Ted Cruz says traveling to Cancún amid winter weather crisis was a 'mistake'"
Strange. I don't have a Nobel Prize in Economics, but I understand risk analysis and a freakish once-in-century winter storm. You might think a real economist would understand that 92% of wind power capacity being shut down, nearly a quarter of Texas power supply, is a problem. https://t.co/VPcxmbfQKp
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 19, 2021