…where were we? [DOT 13/12/20]

oh, yeah...day of rest...

13/12/20 SplinterRIP 30

…well, tomorrow’s monday…which kind of sucks…but today’s sunday at least…so we got that going for us…& on the upside last week showed signs of sucking for the petulant-est “president”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/12/trumps-bad-week-courts-congress

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/12/11/supreme-court-texas-trump

The latest big loss in the overwhelmingly failed effort has been met, as with its many predecessors, with some remarkable spin. But both of the prevailing claims ignore the reality of the situation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/12/trumps-spin-his-big-supreme-court-failure-is-bad-his-legal-case

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/12/us/as-bids-to-overturn-vote-fail-trump-supporters-at-protests-stick-with-him.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republican-officials-have-followed-trump-along-his-dangerous-and-destructive-path/2020/12/12/story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/12/us/politics/indelible-stain-how-gop-tried-to-topple-pillar-of-democracy.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ken-paxton-texas-trump/2020/12/11/story.html

President Trump on Saturday excoriated Attorney General William P. Barr, castigating him on Twitter for not violating Justice Department policy to publicly reveal an investigation into President-Elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son.

The Republicans Who Embraced Nihilism

…& with a little luck…& a positive shit-ton of effort from some people…there’s still a chance that mitch might not get to bitch everything up in the senate much past new year’s…apparently people called stacy kick major ass in georgia

https://www.thelily.com/this-woman-discovered-a-democratic-gold-mine-in-georgia-it-could-help-win-the-high-stakes-runoff

…while “the kraken” just seems to be a big pile of ass that’s taking a kicking

Sidney Powell’s secret ‘military intelligence expert,’ key to fraud claims in election lawsuits, never worked in military intelligence

…which is better than it could be…but still not exactly cause for celebration

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/kraken-trump-election-powell-giuliani/2020/12/09/.html

…so it almost sounds like things are starting to look up

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/delivery-first-covid-19-vaccines-expected-monday

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/12/coronavirus-vaccine-health-care-workers

…well, it would

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/12/us/politics/biden-administration-cabinet-advisers-diversity.html

…if it wasn’t for…well…all the other stuff?

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/already-struggling-nation-s-rural-hospitals-face-another-challenge-profit

If American states were treated as countries, the places with the highest per capita coronavirus death rates would be: Slovenia, South Dakota, North Dakota, Bulgaria, Iowa, Bosnia, Hungary, Croatia, Illinois, North Macedonia, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, San Marino.

This Is the Test of Our Lifetimes

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/experts-warn-low-covid-vaccine-trust-among-black-americans

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/coronavirus-surges-countries-spend-more-economic-aid-not-u-s

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/release-ppp-loan-recipients-data-reveals-troubling-patterns
[…we might have had that link before…but it’s arguably a point worth repeating?]

…& it’s not just the cash going to people who pay their rent to the family trump (&/or its creepy waxwork son-in-law) that seems like it could have found a more deserving home

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/accused-hate-groups-receive-pandemic-aid

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/anti-gay-nonprofits-businesses-received-millions-covid-19-aid

…all in all the sad thing is it’s probably the most predictable aspect of the whole pandemic scenario

No one could have predicted the coronavirus pandemic, which has taken nearly 295,000 American lives so far. In retrospect, it’s not surprising that Trump mishandled matters during the early stages of the virus when swift, decisive actions might have made a difference. We now know that he is that bad a human being and that lousy a leader. We’ve come not to expect just worse from him but the worst. If once I thought that he’d be at least rational — or I viewed his rallies as harmless sideshows — I’ve been thoroughly disabused of such notions.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-was-wrong-about-trump-he-won-and-he-broke-us/2020/12/11/story.html

so maybe it’s true what they say about how it’s important how you play the game?

There are only two scenarios in which a journalist can ethically disregard an off-the-record agreement with a source. The first is if a journalist learns a source lied during the conversation in an attempt to deliberately mislead the journalist. It’s clear that Burks lied to me in our conversation not once but relentlessly. The second scenario is if the source himself discloses the contents of the off-the-record conversation to other parties. Burks not only discussed our off-the-record conversation with other parties, he lied about it and mischaracterized it in a sworn declaration to obtain leverage in one of his lawsuits.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/11/im-burning-source-heres-why

…or at least it should be?

You cannot simply buy your way out of competition. Facebook, led by its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has taken that strategy to a smirking and egregious extreme, acquiring multiple companies to stifle the competitive threat they posed. To ignore the company’s conduct would be to license it, allowing a long-illegal practice to become a norm.

…but it is sunday & all…so maybe that’s the wrong kind of calculation entirely…I wouldn’t want to be lame, after all

…maybe it’d be better to look to the old school & try to relax a little & take it easy?

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30 Comments

  1. That’s interesting about Slovenia and basically the whole Balkans being so high up the list. Does the Times link (I don’t have a subscription and can’t be bothered to indulge in avoid-the-paywall gimmicks) mention what they’re (not) doing that led to this? I notice the American states are also small with low populations, so I guess it really only takes a few large clusters to spike the per capita rates. 

    • …sorry…meant to answer this before but got distracted…there isn’t really much at the end of the link to explain why slovenia/hungary are where they are in that ranking…but in the latter case I’d guess it’s because orban is a right-wing loon & hasn’t locked much down…whilst slovenia seems to have had a much bigger spike in its “2nd wave” for reasons I’m not sure I could guess at?

      …generally though it sounds like the balkans have been fairly susceptible to covid conspiracy theories so I’m inclined to pin it on side effects of that sort of thing 

  2. i love luis and ella…could listen to them all day long…and then some
    anyhoo…ive actually avoided news so far today…instead i bought myself a triple chocolate cake and some frosty the snowman shaped cheese 
    i really think im on track to discovering the secret to true happiness here

  4. I still see the words “President Trump” and my mind separates from my body. My kindle still autocompletes “Obama” after President so she doesn’t believe it either.
     
    And 2020 has done such a number on me that I won’t believe the vaccines are real until I’m actually getting one. 

  5. How much evil can you accomplish on the way out?
     
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/op-ed-trump-making-last-113020739.html
     
    and this asshole needs a beat down!
     
    https://www.dailyposter.com/p/gop-megadonor-celebrates-his-profits
    and how about Adam Schiff be appointed to be special council on investigations into the last administration and Mitch’s connections to Russia?
     


     

    • …if they can announce that they’re starting an investigation into the commencement of the one mueller wrote his report on then I don’t see why your thing shouldn’t happen…even if it ends up being an investigation into an investigation into an investigation I have a feeling it might turn out to be (as the saying goes) “turtles all the way down”?

  9. Yeah… I live in a ground floor condo with a 12ft sliding patio door. Plus, being a woman my body immediately becomes currency in an apocalypse. I do not anticipate, and would probably prefer not, surviving. Despite being raised by Romero, King, & Savini, not sure living in a mall has much practical application.

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