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Quick Jots: September 2021


Vaping bans cause an increase in teen smoking
#drugwar
San Francisco's vaping ban has, unsurprisingly to those who understand how prohibitions work, caused an increase in teen smoking. Moreover, the vaping ban caused people to return to smoking cigarettes, a far deadlier method of nicotine consumption. The ban was pushed by those that were alarmed that vaping would be a "gateway" to smoking. Another reason used was the alarmist craze that vaping caused deaths, which was later proved to be a specific black market THC cartridge that was causing the deaths, not some inherently deadly aspect to vaping. What?? Prohibition caused deaths? The only response must be MORE prohibition! Let's finally admit that the progressives in San Francisco that scream "My body, my choice!" are actually puritanical social conservatives that actually mean, "My body, my choice; your body, my choice!"

LP slams vaccine mandates
#covid-19 #joebiden
Joe Biden starkly dismissed mask mandates, saying they are definitely unconstitutional. Hey, good job, Joe! Apparently, his senility kicked in and now he's implementing vaccine mandates. Really? It's unconstitutional to require people to wear a certain piece of clothing, but it's perfectly fine for the government to require people to get stabbed with a needle and have stuff injected into their bloodstream? That is exactly the kind of capricious and nonsensical governing that makes me think we're going back to "normal". The Libertarian National Committee passed a resolution in defiance against the vaccine passports. Several state chapters stood against the mandate as well with some calling for mass noncompliance. This is a great, forceful answer to the tyranny of the state. Vaccines are a good thing. I am vaccinated, myself. Vaccine mandates, on the other hand, are tyrannical nonsense that will do more harm than good. It's amazing to see all these progressives so gung-ho about stripping rights from a group of people that are overrepresented by minorities, particularly young black communities. The cognitive dissonance it takes to scream "systemic racism" and in the next breath push for laws that result in the literal oppression of black people is mind-boggling.

Extreme COVID negativity in news
#covid-19 #media
In the United States, 91% of all COVID news has been negative, a new study reported. By contrast, 54% of COVID news has been negative in other English-speaking countries. This transcended partisanship between outlets. The news negativity also completely ignored positive news, as stories continued its percentage of negative news even as, for example, school openings showed insignificant infection spread. More importantly, the most read news outlets, in other words, the most corporate outlets, have been the most negative. The study's authors concluded that people click on negative news. I think that while there is some truth to this, I don't think it's a coincidence that the most corporate news outlets are the ones pushing the negative angle the most. There is a narrative to be pushed. While the lack of partisanship difference gives me a bit of pause, I bet that the more you get away from mainstream outlets, the more disparate the outcomes are between differing biases. Either way, this is not news reporting. This is intentionally creating a bias among the American people.

41% of Democrats think COVID hospitalization risk is over 50%
#covid-19 #democrats #republicans #media
As if to prove the above point, an embarrassing amount of people overestimate the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization by an embarrassing amount, according to a Gallup study. Of Republicans, 27.9% believe this and 41.0% of Democrats believe this. They think more than 1 in every 2 COVID infections result in hospitalizations?? The actual number is between 1 and 5 percent, though a study (linked below) suggests that the hospitalization rate could be inflated by nearly double. This is like betting on 22 black in Roulette, thinking they'll win half the time. Maybe worse still, of both parties, more than half of the respondents think that the risk is over 20% (50.6% of Rs, 68.5% of Ds), which is still many times higher than the actual rate. I mean, not even the same order of magnitude correct.

The share of deaths by age estimate is better, but not by much. On average, Democrats think people aged 24 and under have 8.7% of COVID deaths and Republicans think it's 7.7%. Reality is 0.1%. Again, not in the same order of magnitude. On the opposite end, Democrats think people aged 65 and up have only 35.7% of deaths while Republicans think it's 42.1%. Reality is 80.7%. 

Of course, this isn't to say Democrats are the most wrong about everything. Republicans are less likely to understand asymptomatic spread and death risk compared to the normal flu and automobile accidents. But for the self-branded "party of science", this is not a good look. Do they think maybe risk tolerances would be different if people realize their actual chances of hospitalization is closer to picking the correct card in a poker deck than a coin flip? You think maybe this is why Democrat-heavy areas are so risk-averse? Don't these results point closer to my theory of news reporting based on agenda?

Half of COVID hospitalizations are mild or asymptomatic 
#covid-19
The Atlantic, of all outlets, has reported that COVID hospitalization numbers, a figure we and much of the establishment have relied heavily on, have likely been severely overreported. These figures can be generally split into two camps: those that have been admitted to the hospital specifically to treat COVID, and those that have been admitted to the hospital for other reasons and just happened to also have COVID. It turns out that 40 to 45 percent of the hospitalizations are for the latter. Going to the hospital for a broken leg, then finding out there that you have COVID and are asymptomatic is a misrepresentation of the hospitalization number, which we are constantly told is a major reason for all of these mandates and restrictions. This is a limited sample and the study is not yet peer-reviewed, but how is this not bigger news? Ground.news isn't showing any other major publishers reporting on this. A quick search shows mostly small independent sources reporting on the study. Kudos to The Atlantic for having the balls to write about it. I didn't think they had it in them.

NIH likely funded gain of research
#covid-19 #randpaul #anthonyfauci
In the ongoing feud between Rand Paul and Anthony Fauci, Paul had been claiming that the NIH had funded gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. When this exchange first happened, far left sources masquerading as news outlets were eager to gloat that Paul was wrong yet again, with no proof other than simply taking one side's argument as gospel over the other (in the MSNBC article, at least 3 of the 4 other incidents they outlined were actually false; Paul actually had the correct answer when viewing the actual evidence and isolating the proper variables while MSNBC also left out other arguments between the two that Paul obviously won, such as the lack of transmissibility between children). Well, the Intercept obtained some documents from a FOIA lawsuit that shed some more light on the funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It turns out that the NIH, the organization that Anthony Fauci oversees, actually did provide funds to EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology to the tune of several million dollars, several hundred thousand of which went to gain of function research. Seven of eleven The best arguments for Fauci are now that he wasn't aware of this funding so he wasn't lying, but rather, just ignorant of what his organization is doing when he was specifically asked about this topic by Congress, and that four of eleven scientists The Intercept interviewed said the research funded by the NIH fits their own definition of gain of function. That this had to be dragged out of the NIH from a FOIA lawsuit, it should make us all wonder what else they're hiding. Damn, Rand Paul scores yet another point on Fauci when the actual evidence comes out.

Lab leak theory dismissal from early 2020 now found to have major conflicts of interest
#covid-19
Goddamn. Another day, another story reveals impropriety from government authorities on COVID. The letter published on The Lancet which was used as the basis to dismiss the lab leak theory has now been retracted. The person who organized the letter was Peter Daszak, the head of EcoHealth Alliance. Hm. Where have I heard that name before? Do you think EcoHealth Alliance has a strong interest in the lab leak theory when they funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology? In fact, despite there being no declarations of conflicts of interest in the letter, it turns out that all but one scientist that signed that letter had close ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Social media sites banned any discussion that the lab leak theory could be true and anyone bringing this up was dismissed as a conspiracy theory nut, widely citing this letter as the reason. In case you have been living under a rock, the lab leak theory is now widely considered the most likely theory. But, the damage had already been done. The restriction of speech is a stupid idea? Who knew?

London Breed owns herself on COVID policy
#covid-19 #democrats #londonbreed
San Francisco mayor London Breed was caught on video showing her dancing in a small jazz club maskless. In a fiery response, she launched into a tirade about how ridiculous putting a mask on and off in between drinking was, and that while she was dancing, she was going to take a drink...uhm...within the next few songs for sure...well, maybe after posing for these pictures, too. She made a great point about how ridiculous and asinine the mask mandates are. We should be celebrating, going out to have fun, and realizing that putting a mask on only to take it off in the exact same setting to eat and dance is ridiculous. Great job, London! Way to show the "fun police", as she calls them! Wait. Who issues these mask mandates, anyway? Doesn't that make her the fun police?

California rejects recall efforts
#elections #gavinnewsom #california
Gavin Newsom survives a recall effort and is allowed by the voters to continue to wreak havoc on the state. Although this was a loss for freedom and a win for poverty, this whole ordeal wasn't without silver linings. For one, this recall effort forced the Democrats and their big-time donors to flush tens of millions of dollars to fund massive and dishonest ad campaigns that dominated the pro-recall side. It's pretty obvious now, isn't it, that the Democrats are the party of the rich and connected? The recall effort, on the other hand, was a complete grassroots movement with little cash to speak of. Though King Newsom had all the money to fill the airwaves, the story on the ground was a bit different. In the few weeks prior to the election, I've seen numerous pro-recall signs put up across several towns. There was a "Democrats 4 recall" sign on the border of Dublin and Pleasanton. There were several "Asians for recall" signs in Fremont. I even saw a Jeff Hewitt sign in San Ramon. I don't recall seeing any anti-recall signs, though there were probably some in Oakland/Berkeley/San Francisco. Another bright spot is that this recall effort likely significantly damages Newsom's presidential ambitions.

Pentagon admits to murdering seven children
#war
Last month, a drone strike in Kabul was reported to have killed several innocent citizens as the US Military was leaving, as if it was one final middle finger to Afghanistan while departing. The Pentagon has now confirmed that the drone strike killed ten civilians, including seven children. No terrorists were hit. General Frank McKenzie said they are "considering reparations". What does that mean?? Are they going to hand out a few gift baskets? Will McKenzie be singing the "I'm Sorry" song on YouTube? Are they going to mail a few Bed Bath and Beyond coupons to the families? How do you have "reparations" for murdering seven children that don't include you at least resigning? What would you have done if the Taliban killed ten civilians including seven children in a car bomb in New York City? You would be finding that person and sending a gift-wrapped Tomahawk missile their way, wouldn't you? So how is this any different, just with the roles reversed? Here's an idea. How about the key personnel that was involved in the decision in the airstrike and to go to war in Afghanistan forfeit the entirety of their pensions to the aggrieved families, and they all move to Afghanistan to become these families' unpaid servants for the remainder of their pathetic lives? Dick Cheney's head can be a tabletop for afternoon tea.

Tulsi Gabbard proved Scott Horton right
#war #tulsigabbard
I supported Tulsi Gabbard during her race in the presidential primaries. I even gave her some money. I hoped that she would take command of the US military and withdraw them from these idiotic wars and have a Republican Congress that would stalemate her on all economic and domestic policies. Then I heard Scott Horton talk about Tulsi and he said that she's okay, but not great on the war issue, claiming that she wants to end a bunch of these wars, but she just wants to have different targets. Damnit all, Scott Horton was right...again. Tulsi was on Tucker Carlson's show recently. To call it severely disappointing is an understatement. Tucker himself is antiwar, so it made sense to put Tulsi on, especially given the recent news about the Kabul drone strike. Instead, Tulsi claimed it was Islamist ideology. What the hell, Tulsi. You are the biggest voice in the antiwar movement right now and you don't know that their reasoning is to push the United States out of Saudi land? And then just days after it was reported the Pentagon confirmed the drone strike killed ten innocent people, she went and pushed for the "targeted airstrikes" option! Seriously?? And she calls the jihadists the biggest threat in our lives in a year the federal government has ruined the livelihoods of thousands of families in the country? Caused young suicides to skyrocket through lockdowns? Continue to spend trillions of dollars with no hope whatsoever to reconcile this debt? When people are finally starting to open their eyes to police militarization and qualified immunity? The US government has piled up more bodies in military personnel alone, not even to mention innocent civilians, in the wake of 9/11 than al Qaeda did during 9/11. Say it with me, everyone, since it appears that not everyone has figured this out yet: The. US. Federal. Government. Is. The. Single. Biggest. Threat. To. The. American. People.

Biden the comedian, I hope
#covid-19 #joebiden
Joe Biden said in a speech announcing the vaccine mandates which he earlier alluded was unconstitutional, that we must protect the vaccinated people from the unvaccinated. What kind of tortured logic is this? What is he saying, the vaccinated are more vulnerable than the unvaccinated and therefore must be protected? That the vaccines are so ineffective that they can so easily catch COVID? This is not how vaccines work. This is not how vaccines have ever worked. Vaccines protect the person that has been injected with them. In a population, herd immunity from vaccines protects the unvaccinated. This just points to the obvious politicization down to politicians' actual thought processes. Vaccinated = Democrats, Unvaccinated = Republicans, therefore, say good feelz about vaccinated and bad feelz about unvaccinated. Party of Science!

The COVID Charts Quiz released!
#covid-19
Take the COVID Charts Quiz to show off to your friends how well you understand "the science". Since "the science" is so clearly established that everything else blue state governments are doing clearly saves lives, you should be able to crush this quiz and point to which COVID result charts belong to which governmental COVID response. Sound science, after all, is highly predictive. For example, the theory of relativity predicted the existence of black holes, and just recently, an actual photograph of a black hole was taken. If the science isn't able to even come close to predicting an outcome, the science is either junk or is so far in its infancy that its conclusions are not yet sound enough to publish on a first-grade science project, let alone base major policy decisions on.

Contra Costa County vaccine mandate goes live
#covid-19
Contra Costa, one of the more conservative counties (that is, not that conservative) in the Bay Area, has gone live with its vaccine mandates for indoor dining. Never mind that 80% of COVID deaths are 65 years of age and older. Never mind that people with natural antibodies are more immune to COVID than people with vaccines. Never mind that some people shouldn't take the vaccine for various reasons. We'll just trample over their rights. 

New York hospitals face staff shortages as they fire health care workers en masse
#covid-19
Everybody was all in a frenzy to bang on pots and pans to "thank the healthcare heroes". McDonald's gave out free breakfasts to healthcare workers and first responders. Military jets flew overhead to say thanks. Now they're being unceremoniously fired in New York for not getting a vaccine, causing hospitals to curtail services. We've spent the past year and a half listening to panic about "flattening the curve" to avoid massive build-up in ICUs (which turned out to be overblown). Now the politicians are actually creating build-ups in ICUs by lowering supply. Sense appears to be in short supply these days, along with everything else except for contradictions.

Newsom orders all students over 12 to be vaccinated
#covid-19 #democrats #gavinnewsom
Mr. Party of Science has issued a mandate for all students over 12 to be vaccinated. In the Oakland Unified School District that has already passed vaccine mandates, 66% of black students are unvaccinated and 45% of Latino students have been vaccinated. I believe they call this systemic racism, right? Mark Ghaly, California's Health and Human Services Secretary said, "To date, protecting young kids from COVID has been led by getting the adults around these young Californians to be vaccinated." Seriously. Is it in the job description to be a total moron to hold high-ranking positions in government? Or is it just a requirement to be a total moron to be continued to be fooled by these people? There have been a grand total of 37 deaths for kids under the age of 17 in a state with a snapshot population of over 9 million minors. That's a death rate of 0.0004% before examining the accuracy of death by COVID as opposed to death with COVID (see above). Or as the data website says, 0.0%. So is their protection really from adjacent vaccinated adults? Really? Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson must be saying "All hail King Newsom!" Remember when the Democrats' rallying cry was "Big pharma bad!"? 

Australia blitz!
#covid-19 #australia
The protests are ramping up from last month. Just like in Hong Kong, the police are stepping up the violence and the people are forced to respond in kind. They put people out of work with few options afforded to them to make a living, creating a lot of pissed-off people with a lot of time on their hands. Stay strong, Australia. Stand up to the tyrants.

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