Post #6725 M: Did the MMT Camp Correctly Predict the Post-Covid Economy? ; House Payments hit record high; Decamping Campus Encampments

 Quote of the Day

Never attribute to malice 

what can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Unknown 

Did the MMT Camp Correctly Predict the Post-Covid Economy?

House Payments hit record high

Decamping Campus Encampments

Choose LIfe

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

"Out of Touch". Daryl Hall & John Oates

Post #6724 Rant of the Day: Gene Epstein on COVID-19 Vaccines

Familiar readers of my daily blog posts know that I generally have embedded SOHO Forum debates over the last few years  Gene Epstein, an Austrian School economist, has been the long-term moderator.

I will leave it to the interested reader to listen to the debate clipped below. The reader doesn't  have to listen long to get the anti-vaxxer twist in Epstein's opening argument. Basically Epstein is defending "real" capitalism his opponent (Joe Nocera) claims failed during the pandemic. In short, Epstein is arguing the example of COVID vaccine makers is one of "crony capitalism", an unholy alliance between government, which can mandate, and politically connected businesses which cannot impose conditions on its competitors. I'm generally with Epstein on the general topic, but I don't buy this opening argument

Some context for the unknowing reader: I am not an epidemiologist or a scientist, although I did very well in high school and college science and represented my Texas high school in science. I have done and published behavioral research in  information systems. In the blog I have often followed related topics like the Fukushima plant accident and the pandemic. Nearly every week over most of the pandemic I've included a weekly update, gemerally in "journal posts" on Saturday. Spoiler: I'm a pro-vaxxer. Incidentally, that is a very libertarian position, one I share with Walter Block; spreading your disease like Typhoid Mary. is a violation of the NAP.

To be blunt, trained economist Epstein is incompetent and ill-informed on the disease much like his podcaster historian buddy Tom Woods 

First, Epstein argues the governmrnt took a lot of money from mRNA vaccine vendor Moderna, arguing pay to play and government employees had a corrupt vested interest to push vaccine mandates, Several things to point out here. First, Moderna used USG IP; government employeee routinely sign over their royalties to the government. They signed an agreement before Moderna even knew the virus' sequence. The government has non-exclusive agreements on its licensed IP.  Moreover.the FDA has approved multiple vaccines (including the former J&J vaccine):

Not to mention that Pfizer complained that the government was paying a mere fraction of what they normally charged for vaccines. Another salient point Epstein failed to consider is except for federal employyes, the Feds don't control vaccine mandates; the states/local government enforce health security. And there is no evidence approved a vaccine contrary to prespecified criteria and safety data requirements

Second, Epstein mocks the effectiveness of the vaccines ,arguing they did little to control retransmission of disease, which he argues should have been criteria, that the benefits are temporary . This is just so misleading, absurd and incompetent it tests my patience to respond to it. First of all, not all vaccines are sterilizing. In part, not all viruses are stable. Some mutate rapidly, like COVID-19. It's not like the current vaccines, for instance, covers recently dominant JN.1 variant. Second, recall the reality of the first year without a vaccine. It became one of the leading causes of death almost overnight. Hospitals were filled to overcapacity. Much of the economy was shut down. The vaccines were designed to minimize risk of hospitalization and death The proof is in the pudding. While people are still getting sick and dying, rates are trending lower and are more manageable; patients of other diseases are getting diagnosed and treated.

There are no good data I've seen on transmission and breakthrough infections (a lot of vaccinated people haven't had a recent booster) but it stands  to reason that existing antibody support would weaken transmission and infections. Of course individual differences like age and health condition have an effect 

Finally, Epstein makes an old libertarian talking point about government liability protection for vaccine makers. As usual, Epstein is ill-informed.. Let me quote a relevant excerpt:

Liability for injury resulting from vaccination is a matter of state law.... No vaccine-related product liability litigation resulting in a publicly available opinion has occurred in most jurisdictions. A manufacturer who produces and sells a defective vaccine that creates a risk of significant injury to the recipient is liable to any person injured by that defect under the principles stated in section 402A of the Restatement of Torts 2d. This is thought to be the law in every American jurisdiction. A manufacturer is not liable for harm caused by a nondefective product due to its inherent or unavoidable dangerousness. Thus, if a properly manufactured vaccine will cause harmful side effects in some portion of the recipient population, the manufacturer of the vaccine is not liable for those side effects. This principle is the subject of comment k to section 402A.

Post #6723 M: The South and History; Why YOU should surveil the state; Where Hailey Lives - Doc Home Equity Theft

 Quote of the Day

Work while you have the light. 

You are responsible for 

the talent that has been entrusted to you.

Henri-Frédéric Amiel  

The South and History

Why YOU should surveil the state

Where Hailey Lives - Doc Home Equity Theft

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Adult Education" 

Post #6722 Social Media Digest

 Twitter

FINALLY, Foreigner has been selected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 22, 2024

When i heard the Angry Orange RINO Criminal whining about the separation of his minions from the courthouse, it immidediately ttriggered in me the thought he was fantasizing a J6-style invasion of the courthouse by his mob, disrupting the administration of justice.

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 23, 2024

All Presudents elected during my lifetime have sucked. Ask me if I give a damn about some overrated typically leftisr Hollywood celebrity thinks about politics. Biden's corruption is like supersizing Obama's Solyndra-style of crony capitalism. Trump has his own issues. https://t.co/p11nOtCWZU

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 23, 2024

A staatistical blip is not a trend or a trend reversal. https://t.co/e6Jgh6fetA

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 23, 2024

Trump engages in boring self-serving rhetoric. He thinks he's above the law and engages in victimization rubbish. He actually bragged about his extramarital affairs in one of his books and has political motives for denying the reality of his relationship with a porn star. https://t.co/EGrZ4SI0jT

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 23, 2024

Listening to Dumbass Trump try to deflect any responsibility for inflation when he was responsible with Dems for enacting massive unpaid spending during the pandemic when supply chains were crushed. Whereas Biden's spendaholic ways exacerbated things along wirh Slowdraw Powell...

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 23, 2024

Trump routinely lies about everyone opposing him, including Republicans. I remember during the 2016 GOP primary debate, Trump said he had bought and paid for "corrupt" Rand Paul. In reality, Paul had solicited donations for his Central American eye surgery charity. https://t.co/XNFRb1Q1kx

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 23, 2024

No, Trump didn't. and I'm a Never Trumper. He was spitballing whether things that worked on the virus like on surfaces could work inside the human body. It was stupid speculation, of course. but far from suggesting injecting stuff into the body. https://t.co/2V8NXxUB57

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 23, 2024

As a libertarian, I have mixed feelings on the the 3-part foreign aid bill. I generally oppose foreign aid. which basically amounts to international meddling at taxpayer expense, particularly in the case of developed countries like Israel & Taiwan. Victims of Russian wars differ.

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 24, 2024

"Four More Years". Is that how long we have to suffer under the reelection of either Biden or Trump?

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 25, 2024

I'm rather amused that Justice KBJ repeated a point I've specifically made several times over Trump's ludicrous, self-serving absolute immunity rubbish: why did Ford pardon Nixon?

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 26, 2024

Easy. Unlike Biden, Carter named to the Fed Volcker who engaged in shock therapy in breaking the back of inflation and Carter helped deregulate trucking and airlines. Biden brought back inflation and supersized the general government.

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 27, 2024

I really don't think either party wins the dog lovers vote. You have Biden's dog who wants to eat the Secret Service and the Noem/Romney wing of the GOP.

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 27, 2024

Trump as usual is trying to have his cake and eatit, too. Trump as POTUS wanted to ban TikToK as a national security threat. Now that Biden has managed to do what Trump couldn't, sign a de facto ban into law, Trump opposes it. Just like infrastructure.

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 27, 2024

No, there's nothing "decent" about a corrupt career political whore who buys votes using other people's money https://t.co/JMKxchVr4m

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 28, 2024

Jan. 6 was unfortunate, a poor lapse of security planning, a glorified riot where the only gunfire was from a killer cop. Dan Rather is a histrionic court historian, a contemptible mainstream media ideological hack whose lack of a moral compass justifiably ended his career. https://t.co/8uDMBbhK2I

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 28, 2024

Leftists are all about protests, unless protesters are from the other side of the ideological divide

"Jill Stein"

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 28, 2024

Jill Stein is a lying political whore. This is not about "protecting free speech"; violating university policies and intimidating others who have their own rights of free expression are abuses of natural rights.https://t.co/jmiBQlwaNm https://t.co/LhSQRNaDuC

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 28, 2024

The indisputable facts are both Trump and Biden have been failed Presidents. Trump led the spendaholic pandemic budget splurge that led to reigniting inflation (Econ 101 tells you about policy lags.) Biden's corrupt Big Green agenda, Solyndra on steroids, has worsened it
CNN poll https://t.co/3moiyEf8HO

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 28, 2024

My latest post reviews last month's Mace/Stephanopoulos kerfuffle.https://t.co/lBXExIPFob

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 28, 2024

Post #6721 Rant of the Day: Trumpkin Legislators

 Heaven knows Trumpkins have lately sorely tested my patience. (Incidentally, I didn't coin the term 'Trumpkin' for Trump's cultish minions; I don't know how popular the term was a few years back when I picked it up, but I borrowed it from CATO Institute executive/immigration scholar  Alex Nowrasteh.) Initially it was Congresswoman MTG who decided to target Speaker Johnson over his tactics on the floor which she thinks have been exploited to the benefit of the Dems. Trumpkins have become increasingly hostile to extending Ukraine aid, with or without a border deal. The last thing we need is yet a third round of Speaker succession selection given a razor-thin, shrinking GOP House majority.

But familiar readers pf my blog and/or Twitter feed may be aware of my"connection" with Congresswoman Nancy Mace {R, SC-1). In 2015-6 I had moved to North Charleston, SC to work on an expiring government contract. Tim Scott, the 2013 Congressman was appointed by Gov. Haley to serve out retiring Sen. DeMint's term. I think the seat had been conservative Dem until the Reagan Revolution during which you saw a realignment when you saw a general poliyical realignment where white Democrats trended Republican and blacks realigned themselves with leftist Dems. Former Gov. Sanford, a pro-liberty politician, succeeded Scott in SC-1 and was my Congressman during my residence there. [Note that I had relocated to AZ the summer of 2016

Trump had disdain for the few principled pro-liberty fellow GOP conservatives and explicitlt targeted Amash, Sanford, and Massie to primart, succeeding in the former 2 cases. The Trumpkin who defeated Sanford (Arrington) lost in the 2018 general election to the Dem. Cunningham, for the first time flip in nearly 4 decades. Nancy Mace, a former state representative and a first Citadel Corp female graduate, successfully challenged Cunningham in the next election.

Nancy is sort of pro-liberty, having  supported Ron Paul in 2012, but somehow transitioned to Trump in 2016. (This is something I've criticized in other libertarians reading something in Trump, a statist who claims absolute authority, who threatens trade and all but disregards international agreements; I think they read too much into his America First rhetoric)  Another relevant point for the current essay is that Mace claims to have been raped at 16, and in fact as a state legislator she pushed for related exceptions in SC's abortion law.

Nancy criticized Trump's J6 behavior, enough to draw a Trumpkin challenger in 2022. But she has reinvented herself this past session, enough to draw me into publicly criticize her on Twitter/X, notably for her pushing the rubbish Trump claim that former lead Ukraine key prosecutor Shokin was a victim of Biden who had allegedly been bribed to prevent investigation of Burisma which had recruited Hunter Biden onto its board. There have been rumors that Nancy has been auditioning for the Veep slot on the ticket.

Where do I come into play? Only on a minor point: her staff had somehow procured my cellphone number, and the Android spam filter didn't catch it. It was a solicitation for campaign volunteer work, and I thought a tactful response was I'm a libertarian, and you don't want me. The staffer then did his/her best to cast her as my sleeper dream candidate. At this point, I soon discovered the text was not from MD but SC; I left SC in 2016   

So the key kerfuffle motivating this essay involves a March 10 exchange between ABC New This Week moderator George Stephanopoulos and Nancy Mace where Mace took offense at rhe moderator allegedly trying to shame her as a rape victim for criticizing E. Jean Carroll, who noably won a lawsuit against Trump for sexual misconduct. [The joke involved what Ms. Carroll would do with her $83M judgment from Trump during an MSNBC primetime interview.]

First of all,I loathe  right-wingers (including Trump and Mace) playing the victim card. Second, Carroll was not "joking" about Trump's misconduct; she was trying to provoke Trump by getting under his skin. I can't speak for the victims of sexual nisconduct, but I can understand where a victim of Trump wants to hit back where it hurts him most--his reputation of wealth and power. I also think it's highly hypocritical for Mace herself to put herself in judgment of Carroll the same way she stands in judgment of Stephanopoulos. I think Trump's own self-admission of imappropriate activity around women makes Trump's character a legitimate issue. Why does Mace's experience give her a wildcard excuse to avoid the issue? Doesn't she have a moral responsibility to speak out in solidarity with fellow victims? Finally, Mace's distinction between a criminal vs. civil verdict is frivolous and inconsistent. I don't think Mace's alleged rapist got convicted in a criminal or civil court. In fact, Trump was found guilty of penetrating Ms. Carroll's vagina; there's only a difference of which body part Trump used to penetrate. Mace's dissing a civil conviction in favor of the world's most powerful man abusing his authority to violate his victim a different way is unconscionable and inexcusable

I don't recall Stephanopoulos challenging Mace's rape victim claims or trying  to embarrass her with a legitimate question for any Republican female politician  If anything, Mace was using political correctness to intimidate  Stephanopoulos from doing his job.

Post #6720 M: Dumb Bleep of the Week; Soho Forum discussion of COVID with Tom Woods; Green Energy Guts Africa

 Quote of the Day

The heights by great men reached and kept, 

Were not attained by sudden flight, 

But they, while their companions slept, 

Were toiling upward in the night.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  

Dumb Bleep of the Week

Soho Forum discussion of COVID with Tom Woods

I used to sample Woods' content years back in the blog. I originally followed because of some earlier books he wrote on the Catholic Church and Western civilization, the free market and on American history. I've had 2 unpleasant exchanges with him. The first was on Facebook. The context is Woods idolizes Ron Paul and was involved in Paul's 2 failed GOP POTUS runs. So one day Woods posted a birthday wish for Paul and unnecessarily took a cheap shot at Mitt Romney, saying in effect Paul is not a phony like Romney. Me, I have my own issues with Romney, but I try to keep my differences objective. So I posted a related criticism, and Woods pounced on it, calling me a Romney interloper and encouraging his minions to attack me. I broke off his feed for some time. Eventually, I moved on and started sampling his content again in the blog. During the COVID pandemic, he became obsessed with public policy restrictions, one motive for my clipping this "debate" event. Keep in mind Woods is not a credentialed emprical researcher; his schtich is graphs and charts compiled from third parties and namedropping befriended elite university skeptics. And I was on his referenced email list, and his podcasts and emails soon reflected his obsession. Me, I have served as a peer reviewer for academic journals and national conferences and have published my own empirical research. I have a special interest in methodology, including the apples and oranges of interstate statistics that Woods liberally cites here.

So I eventually tired of Woods' rants and wrote back to one of his emails, I seem to recall it had something to do with COVID and its questioned relevance to kids. I cautioned him to tone it down. I was actually surprised that he replied to my response. He pushed back with a paraphrased response of the type "Who the f*ck are you--a credentialed epidemiologist from Yale?" He pushed my buttons enough to the point I challenged him to a debate, which he laughed off, claiming "I don't debate nimwits." I once again warned him he was risking my following his content, and he responded by dropping me from his email list. I already get 500 or more emails daily, so I really don't miss it.

As you probably know, Woods' opponent had a family emergency and couldn't make the debate. Why present this clip? First, I've been covering SOHO events for some time in the blog, and unlike Woods' podcast, it's not a one-sided rant. Second, while I'm a COVID realist and pro-vaxxer, I do think it's legitimate to review effectiveness of public policy during the pandemic 

Green Energy Guts Africa

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Say it Isn't So"

Post #6719 J

 Pandemic Report

The latest weekly stats from CDC:

The winter surge continues to taper down, and once dominant JN.1 is finally beginning to lose market share (including the FLiRT mutations). I still caution for those of us in a risk category to be cautious, be aware of you local/county health profile (i.e., hotspots), and  to get additional protection, like an extra booster shot, when possible. I have to admit I start looking at any change in symptoms with alarrm and suspicion. For example, late lasr weekend I developed probably in hindsight a nasty stomach flu. I was constantly vomiting for over 24 hours, amd to be honest I don't remember a precedent. It was enough for me to stay off a tough hour-plus commute in my current work gig for a couple of days. My doctor prescribed a med to settle my stomach. I was skeptical when I purged shortly after my first 8-hour dose, but symptoms improved overnight for the most part.

Latest news items include but are not restricted to:

• Former Gov. Cuomo (D-NY) agreed to testify in Congress on the early pandemic nursing home advisory
• A Brazilian study concluded effectiveness for the bivalent vaccine booster but needed to be updated for most recent variants
• States/local governments continue to spend COVID relief funds on other spending, such as SC spending on a gunshot alerting system
• Maine's Supreme Court upheld a vaccine mandate for EMS personnel
• New York MTA employees got suspended without psy for submitting phony COVID vaccine data
• A number of posts reviewed the first college class spanning the pandemic

Other Notes

The unprovoked bloated blog statistics continue. In the meanwhile, my Twitter/X account is now uner 100 impressions daily, which is probably my lowest ever, even during periods I had been shadow banned or suspended. A lot of this is just lower published tweets, in part disinterest in hot trends. I also spend a lot of time commuting to and from mu current job.

I normally avoid discussing specific vendors and their products/services, but I'm goibg to make an exception here. I'm generally a good Amazon customer and have a favorable opinion of many devices I own and transactions. I own a lot of Kindle books (like over 1000). I've been a user of the Kindle for PC app, and I normally download my newly acquired titles. Amazon is good at syncing new purchases to the app, and you can easily right-click and download. new titles. Until some time over the past 2 weeks. For all practical purposes, I can no longer use app to view my books. This doesn't mean I  don't have alternatives; I can read on my Amazon Cloud reader. my Amazon Fire tablet, and (I installed and tested while writing this) the Amazon Kindle app on Android. But I spent much of one evening with literally over a half dozen Amazon employees or contractors, none of them who could explain or correct the issue I was experiencing, including the dreaded black exclamation point! You name it--they listed any BS reason you can think of it, including:

• utilization of VPN (I usually had VPN on without a Kindle issue but behavior didn't change with VPN turned off)
• deinstall/reinstall the app
• try pushing the content from Amazon to your device.
• one analyst said my digital account didn't a physical address  linked to it
• deregister the device (this basically meant all previously downloaded boooks were no longer usable)
• send a copy of my screenshot of the screen with failed download {next day Amazon customer service saying effectively they didn't know what to do with my email)

I have spent over 2 decades dealing with green Oracle analysts. I've heard it all. Almost nobody can analyze the problem directly:

Post #6718 M: House Squatters; Was FDR a tyrant? ; Mother of Bailouts: Government

 Quote of the Day

A good tale is none the worse 

for being twice told.

French Proverb

Was FDR a tyrant?

House Squatters

Mother of Bailouts: Government

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos:

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Family Man"

Post #6717 M: McClanahan on This American Symbol Gets You Jail Time; About Trans Kids...; Six Lessons to Save the World

 Quote of the Day

Reading maketh a full man, 

conference a ready man, 

and writing an exact man.

Sir Francis Bacon 

McClanahan on This American Symbol Gets You Jail Time

About Trans Kids...

Six Lessons to Save the World

Choose Life

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "One On One"

Post #6716 M: Washington Uniparty Sellout; Stossel and Norberg: Sweden’s “Socialism" and Other Myths; McClanahan on Leftism is Literally a Mental Disease

Quote of the Day

The characteristic of genuine heroism is its persistency. 

All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. 

But when you have resolved to be great, abide by yourself, 

and do not try to reconcile yourself with the world. 

The heroic cannot be common, nor the common heroic.

Ralph Waldo Emerson  

Washington Uniparty Sellout

Stossel and Norberg: Sweden’s “Socialism" and Other Myths

McClanahan on Leftism is Literally a Mental Disease

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Margolis & Cox via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Maneater". My favorite...

Post #6715 M: McClanahan on The WaPo Gaslights on Democracy; Worst 4/20 Ever; Introducing The Donald Trump Bible Translation

 Quote of the Day

Time and money spent in helping men do more for themselves 

is far better than mere giving.

Henry Ford  

McClanahan on The WaPo Gaslights on Democracy

Worst 4/20 Ever

Introducing The Donald Trump Bible Translation

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Henry Payne via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Did It In A Minute" 

Post #6714 M: McClanahan on A Nation of Immigrants? ; Here comes the Green Bailouts; The Capitalist Manifesto

 Quote of the Day

To put up with. . . distortions and to stick to one's guns come what may

 - this is the. . . gift of leadership.

Mohandas Gandhi  

McClanahan on A Nation of Immigrants?

Here comes the Green Bailouts

The Capitalist Manifesto

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Tom Stiglich via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)"

Post #6713 M: Gold Prices are on Fire; Nobody really opposes the Deep State; Regulating smartphones? Jonathan Haidt vs. libertarians

Quote of the Day

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is 

that good men do nothing.

Edmund Burke  

Gold Prices are on Fire

Nobody really opposes the Deep State

Regulating smartphones? Jonathan Haidt vs. libertarians

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Private Eyes"

Post #6712 Social Media Digest

 Twitter/X

Mainstream pro-abort media talking points are beyond stupid. Trump's decision not to engage in national abortion policy (unlike pro-aborts looking to codify Roe) is at the heart of the correctly decided Dodd decision. Abortion was never constitutional until SCOTUS invented it.

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 14, 2024

"Ukrainian Nazis" means MTG has beome Putin's useful idiot. The implicit reference to the Azov battalion brigade is Putin's rationalization for war crimes in invading Ukraine The once right-wing group has been effective in fighting Russians but has never been in leadership.

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 14, 2024

Rubbish! Civil war "historian", my ass! Same with "treason". This is politically correct claptrap! Reminder: the South did not try to topple the outlaw Lincoln regime. "Heritage" is not a celebration of slavery, but Southern gentility, hospitality, music, cuisine and culture https://t.co/imwQkR51xQ

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 21, 2024

Showing solidarity with the Ukrainian people by waving their flag, defending themselves against the unprovoked aggression of war criminal Putin, is not "treason". During ou War of Independence, France was a crucial ally. No to Russian imperialism!

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 21, 2024

Showing solidarity with the Ukrainian people by waving their flag, defending themselves against the unprovoked aggression of war criminal Putin, is not "treason". During ou War of Independence, France was a crucial ally. No to Russian imperialism!

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 21, 2024

No, Trumpkin MTG is not a conservative policy wonk. Like the endlessly self-promoting Trump, she engages in deliberately provocative antics and rhetoric, such as repeating Putin's propaganda for invading Ukraine https://t.co/E6mUhnJ1X5

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 21, 2024

Noem is auditioning for the role of Trump's running mate. Trump was indicted for this hush money crime long before a single vote was cast in the 2024 primary. Cohen was Trump's lawyer and fixer; he knows Trump better than a self-serving SD governor. https://t.co/qC7ReXQMVG

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 21, 2024

Nope. A vote for RFK, Jr. is just that. I will almost certainly vote LP, not anti-vaxxer RFK, Biden or Trump. We have 2 failed Presidents on the ballot. Dems have similarly been promoting GOP Trumpkins. knowing they'll be easier to beat this fall. https://t.co/envAQ9dGJX

— raguillemette (@raguillemette) April 21, 2024

Post #6711 M: Trump Juror Excuses; Dumb BLEEP of the Week; FDR's War Against Civil Liberties

 Quote of the Day

Give people a convincing reason 

and they will lay down their very lives.

Patrick Dixon  

Trump Juror Excuses

Dumb BLEEP of the Week

FDR's War Against Civil Liberties

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "You Make My Dreams" 

Post #6710 J

 Pandemic Report

The latest CDC weekly stats:

The most recent Worldometer daily stats:

You'll notice no daily differentials for the later chart. Worldometer indicates its feeds are no longer consistently ongoing and published its last statistical update earlier this week. So, this will be the last update of this chart. I don't know of a comparable source; I had come across this when CDC had stopped publishing its own dailies.

So, the interested reader may be wondering how long I'll continue publishing this segment. Years back I similarly following the Fukushima accident back in 2011. As the disease becomes more endemic, I'll probably transition off the regular updates, barring something like a more deadly emergent variant; similar considerations include CDC reporting changes.

.We continue to see recovery from the winter surge. As always, I caution readers to be aware of their own community disease statistics (particularly if it's a hotspot) and older or immunocompromised people need to be more proactive in their health because of their higher risk of severe health complications.

News items of interest include but are not restricted to:

• An elderly Dutchman died after being infected over 600 days despite vaccinated and a new variant emerged during the process. Long COVID has troublesome risks such as cardiac issues. 
• A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine revieed evidence of purported COVID vaccine effects. Note that vaccine harms are generally rare and vaccines prevented over 14 million deaths the first year of release; "The report concludes that two messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines, manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, can cause myocarditis — inflammation of the heart muscle. Evidence suggests the two mRNA vaccines do not cause infertility, Guillain-Barré syndrome, Bell’s palsy, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), or myocardial infarction (heart attack). Evidence also suggests the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine does not cause ischemic stroke."
• "The World Health Organization (WHO) and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives." For example, there was some emphasis on hands hygiene vs. ventilation earlier in the pandemic.
• "Aging affects immune response and virus dynamics in COVID-19 patients."
• Prosecution of COVID relief fraud and other crimes continues, including:
• an Alaskan businessman engaging in fraudulent EIDL applications
• a Canadian dad abducted his 7-uear-old daughter to keep her from being vaccinated
• Visitation restrictions for hositalized COVID patients had negative effects including on family members
• " A new study coming out of York University's Centre for Disease Modelling in the Faculty of Science shows that immunity after a COVID-19 booster lasts much longer than the primary series alone."
• An Oregon study "finds no link between COVID-19 vaccine and cardiac deaths".

Other Notes

Blogger readership statistics continue to be artificially high, and a recent work crisis kept me from Twitter/X more than usual.

My local utility for some reason is replacing its natural gas meters. I didn't understand why the utility's contractors were hassling me instead of the landlord. I think it may be to reset the pilot lights on the stove/oven. So, because work can often require driving to a worksite 2 hours away on short notice. The reason why that matters was the arrogant contractor was demanding to set an appointment when I was at home. We finally settled on Saturday morning (as granular as they get--so I was resigned to being here until 11:30 AM). I knew immediately the assigned technician was an arrogant  jerk from his previsit call to make sure I was home.  So the dude shows up and then asks an unexpected question--where's my water heater? I didn't know--not inside the aparment. I know because I lived in a complex a decade  ago where inside the aparment it sprung a leak. In my lasr apartment it was actually on a lower-level area; I knew that from a complaint over icy cold showers one week. I guessed it was probably in the back. The guy decides to leave before I can suggest to call apartment maintenance. He hung up my followup call. I tried texting apartment management--no response. I know the contractor already badmouthed me to the utility. What I don't understand is why the freaking contractor company didn't ask this at the time they made an appointment. It's not like I've gone through this particular hassle  before.

I basically spent a lot of time this past week resolving a high-profile production database replication technology failure. I interfaced with a talented client system administrator. He is much like my late best friend fellow former doctoral student Bruce Breeding who was a CPA and very detailed. Now, I  am very detailed as well (I have articles and book chapters citing hundreds of publications), and I have a pertectionist streak; I would rewrite articles multiple times, working hard on readability and organization. But I was enough of a pragmatist to let a manuscript go. My SA friend went down a lot of rabbit holes: obsessive technical threads. The replication breakdown was having a real world effect. He ran into an issue with database links. I provided him a workaround, but he spent hours until he resolved the database link issue. Functionally it didn't get us to the finish line any faster. He eventually bought into my iterative approach to resolving the problem  I do seem to have a talent for getting things done, for getting a project back on track, etc. But dealing with other people, especially those not reporting to you, can be challenging.  

Post #6709 M: Ben and Candace debate Israel; Small Businesses are Hurting; McClanahan on The Long History of "Civil War" Fiction

 Quote of the Day

Think as you like, but behave like others.

Robert Greene  

Ben and Candace debate Israel

Small Businesses are Hurting

McClanahan on The Long History of "Civil War" Fiction

Choose Life

Musical Interlude: Duos

"Kiss On My List",· Daryl Hall & John Oates

Post #6708 M: The Deep State Shows some Cards; Qualified Immunity; How Estonia Defeated Socialism

 Quote of the Day

An invasion of armies can be resisted, 

but not an idea whose time has come.

Victor Hugo  

The Deep State Shows some Cards

Qualified Immunity

How Estonia Defeated Socialism

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Henry Payne via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"

Post #6707 M: Stossel on Biden's Kill Switch; Turns out all the Jobs are Part-Time; McClanahan on The Scoop on "Civil War"

 Quote of the Day

Life is no brief candle to me. 

It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, 

and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible 

before handing it on to future generations.

George Bernard Shaw  

Stossel on Biden's Kill Switch

Turns out all the Jobs are Part-Time

McClanahan on The Scoop on "Civil War"

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Henry Payne by Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Wait For Me" 

Post #6706 M: Inflation comes in Hot … Again; Tax Resistance and the Birth of American Independence; McClanahan on New Right, Old Right, or a Third Right?

Quote of the Day

We come into this world crying while all around us are smiling. 

May we so live that we go out of this world smiling 

while everybody around us is weeping.

Persian proverb   

Inflation comes in Hot … Again

Tax Resistance and the Birth of American Independence

McClanahan on New Right, Old Right, or a Third Right?

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "It's a Laugh"

Post #6705 M: The White House lied about its IRS funding; McClanahan on The ClintonTrump Debate and Political Discourse; Why Libertarianism Is Flourishing in Polish Universities

 Quote of the Day

Anger is a prelude to courage.

Eric Hoffer  

The White House lied about its IRS funding

McClanahan on The ClintonTrump Debate and Political Discourse

I sometimes clip some of Brion's early (2016 ff) episodes I didn't embed at the time they were initially  released  Whether or not we'll see any debates this summer/fall between Biden and Trump, but what I hope the reader takes away is not his views on that election so much but how he talks of the inappropriateness of questions outside of the constitutionally strictly enumerated powers and role. POTUS is not a super-legislator, but e.g., he does conduct foreign policy

Why Libertarianism Is Flourishing in Polish Universities

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Hall and Oates , "Rich Girl"

Post #6704 M: Weekend Update; Helping poor Americans; The Rise of Anti-Semitism Is the Fall of American Liberty

 Quote of the Day

For every minute you are angry 

you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Weekend Update

Helping poor Americans

The Rise of Anti-Semitism Is the Fall of American Liberty

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Chip Bok via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Duos

Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Sara Smile"