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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by bolverk

  1. 6 hours ago, workswithseed said:

    A Holocaust memorial was just knocked down in California. Good job, people. Let's see what else we can destroy, cause it's fashionable.

    I looked this up and I think you're referring to the one in Santa Rosa that happened about a week ago. I haven't seen any assignment of blame, but I would bet that it's a different fascianable group than BLM. There was also another holocaust memorial in Nashville that was recently vandalized, as well as one in Boston a couple of years ago.

    If you've got a link handy that blames BLM for a holocaust memorial vandalism, I'd sure like to see it.

    • Like 1
  2. 36 minutes ago, stork642 said:

    So with cases going up if deaths don’t go up significantly is that proof that we are dealing with a weaker strain of Covid?   And if it is weakening doesn’t that change how we will treat this pandemic going forward?  

     

    23 minutes ago, stork642 said:

    Yes,  it seems to have mutated to a weaker strain therefore less deadly according to a medical journal out of Jerusalem.  People are living in fantasy land if they didn’t think a total shitload of people weren’t going to get Covid.  Question is is it still as deadly?   

    https://m.jpost.com/health-science/covid-19-is-weakening-could-die-out-without-vaccine-specialist-claims-632324

    We simply don't know yet. No one does. It may well have mutated to something less severe. It may be primarily hitting younger people now for whom it's not so fatal. The heat might be causing lower viral loads floating in the air. No one can say with any confidence.

    What we do know is that the increase in cases among a younger cohort is still resulting in a higher number of people being admitted to the hospital and also a higher number in ICU beds. We also know that there is some evidence, in at least one study, that even some asymptomatic cases show signs of ground glass, which puts into question the issue of permanent lung damage. Finally, we have some indications that the benefits of antibodies against the virus might well be a fleetingly temporary status.

    There are still a fuckton of questions about this thing. Go ahead and knock yourself out to see what your personal experiences are, but also know you have zero right to fuck over other people with your infested breath and finger germs.

    • Like 1
  3. 3 hours ago, mchookem said:

    *raises hand* i'm sure i'm considered part off the librul cabal on surly...but prior to 2016 i had in fact voted for the same number of Rs and Ds for president...and had actually voted 3rd party more than either (i am a rare Ross Perot Twice voter lol). 

    i have primarily voted for the individual over party platform. in 2016, i might have voted for Kasich.

    i still consider myself independent...but there's a malignant, rotting tumor that has taken over the republican party, i don't see myself swinging back any time soon. 

    I understand the hesitation, having voted for Nader twice and never voting for a Republican at any level of government.

    D > R, G > R, L > R

    There's just something about self-identifying a party affiliation that puts a bad taste in my mouth.

    Edit: OG Clinton was my first presidential vote.

  4. 1 hour ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:


    I’d definitely give him a heads up... especially if you’re able to work from home. Won’t hurt especially since your daughter lives with you and she’s potentially been exposed.

    ^ This. It's not just a CYA thing but a responsibility to those you work with. Even if you don't feel those who are in the office are "at risk," this can still wreck shop on the young and relatively healthy, who themselves could expose folks who are truly at risk in their homes. You just don't know, and wouldn't you feel like a real asshole if you even suspected that you were the vector causing another person's suffering.

    It's just the right thing to do, and I think you'd feel better about it not weighing on your conscious.

    That's my 2 cents anyway.

    • Like 5
  5. 1 minute ago, Bateshorn said:

    270towin is a tool, not a predictor. And the site owner will tell you as much.  He compiles polling data, but that’s not where you should be gathering your info. 

    That's well understood on my part, but that's why I prefer to look at the current polls map to get a better picture of their impact on the Electoral Votes picture rather than looking at the consensus or Cooke Report maps, which kind of are predictions because those are based on pundit opinions/predictions. I understand that the current polls map is a reflection of what it'd look like if the election were held today.

  6. 4 hours ago, Pig Bellmont said:

    Any lockdown won’t happen unless or until a city’s hospitals get overwhelmed. They’re all in on “open for business”

    Actually, he said Texas is "Wide Open for Business" which is the state's official tagline.

    77673_3461844a4bf983e34d146d890b620b00e8

    Because bragging rights are what's most important in times like these.

  7. 2 hours ago, Parliament said:
    5 hours ago, bolverk said:
    Oh, hey, Amarillo, Canyon, and Dumas are looking better!

    Perhaps. But it's still Amarillo, Canyon and Dumas.

    The Panhandle might be a bland, sterile landscape but it still beats the shit out of all the broken down rust piles strewn across Ohio.

    • Like 3
  8. 1 minute ago, SubliminalHorn said:

    11/4/20 and 1/20/21 will rise to that and '05 National Championship levels

    I'm already considering taking Wednesday, November 4, off from work. Either way the election turns out, I'm going to be doing some drinking.

    • Like 2
  9. Y'all might recall on the other threads, @Anastasisperiodically posting the Texas hot spot map from the NYTimes, which has been useful for contextualizing the outbreak showing previous outbreaks being isolated primarily to prison/meat processing towns.

    Right now, it's starting to look pretty fucking disturbing across the state (no paywall).

    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/texas-coronavirus-cases.html

    • Like 1
  10. NYTimes put together a little piece on who they think are the major candidates and a little background on each.

    Of these, I like Liz the most and she was my preferred candidate for president. Other than her, the one that intrigues me the most is Rice, though I can see why Harris would be considered the front-runner.

    Thought I'd share:

    Who’s in the Running to Be Joe Biden’s Vice President?

    Here are 12 women who are under serious consideration by Mr. Biden, and why each might be chosen — and might not be.

    Joseph R. Biden Jr. is deep into his search for a running mate. The process began with a list of more than a dozen potential candidates, all of them women. His team has narrowed that list, conducting multiple interviews and collecting sensitive personal documents from a number of the most important contenders.

    Biden, 77, says he wants a running mate who is ready to assume the presidency, who shares his priorities and with whom he is “simpatico.” He is aiming to announce his choice by Aug. 1.

    These are the women we know to be under consideration:

    Kamala Harris

    Bio: Senator from California since 2017; former presidential candidate; served as district attorney in San Francisco and state attorney general.

    How seriously is she being considered? Very seriously. Harris, 55, is in an advanced stage of the vetting process and is seen as among the likeliest candidates to be chosen.

    Signature issues: Proposed cutting middle-class taxes; recently advocated for policing reform; pushed a Senate bill to make lynching a federal crime; played a high-profile role in the confirmation hearings of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

    Relationship with Biden: Harris had a friendly relationship with Biden before they competed in the 2020 primaries, and Harris knew his late son, Beau, when they served as attorneys general. But Harris also attacked Biden more harshly than any other Democrat in the 2020 race, rebuking him in the first televised debate for having worked with segregationist senators to oppose school busing policies in the 1970s.

    Pros and cons: Harris is among the best-known black women in American politics, with appeal to both moderates and liberals. But she ran an unsteady presidential campaign last year and struggled with questions about her law-enforcement record. The way she and her advisers handled the 2020 primary left some in the Biden campaign with significant reservations.

    On being considered for vice president: “I know that conversation is taking place in the press and among the pundits, and I’m honored to even be considered, if that’s the case.”

    Spoiler

     

    Elizabeth Warren

    Bio: Senator from Massachusetts since 2013; former presidential candidate; former Harvard Law School professor and bankruptcy expert; architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

    How seriously is she being considered? Very seriously. Warren, 70, is among the strongest contenders and she has reached an advanced stage of the vetting process.

    Signature issues: Has long criticized wealth concentration and corporate power; proposed plans to break up big companies, tax the extremely rich and use proceeds to fund new social benefits; recently called for investigations of how the Trump administration has distributed economic stimulus money and pushed a measure to strip the names of Confederate generals from military bases.

    Relationship with Biden: Warren and Biden have a relationship of mutual respect, framed by significant ideological differences. When Biden was a senator and Warren a Harvard professor, they clashed in a Senate hearing over bankruptcy regulation. But when Biden was mulling a campaign for president in 2016, he met with Warren privately and considered the idea of asking her to run with him.

    Pros and cons: Warren would bring sterling progressive credentials and a forceful economic message to Biden’s ticket. But she does not represent racial or generational diversity, and her populist record could unnerve some moderates.

    On being considered for vice president: “I’m focused right now on this crisis.”

    Keisha Lance Bottoms

    Bio: Mayor of Atlanta since 2018; served two terms on the Atlanta City Council.

    How seriously is she being considered? Very seriously. Bottoms, 50, has been interviewed by the Biden team and she has drawn even closer review as her national profile has grown in recent weeks.

    Signature issues: Among the most prominent city leaders grappling with the coronavirus pandemic and answering the calls for police reform and racial justice; quickly called for the firing of the officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks and then announced new restrictions on the use of force by police; made criminal justice reform a major priority, including strictly limiting the use of cash bail.

    Relationship with Biden: Bottoms was an early supporter of Mr. Biden in the presidential race, serving as a fiercely loyal campaign surrogate, even when he was down in the polls.

    Pros and cons: Bottoms has cut an impressive figure during a national reckoning over race and policing, and she hails from a crucial political battleground. But her short time in high office could be an obstacle.

    On being considered for vice president: “It’s going to be important for Joe Biden to have a strong V.P. who can help him heal our nation and lead our nation, and it’s going to be important to have a person beside him who can help him defeat Donald Trump.”

    Val Demings

    Bio: Representative from Florida since 2017; served as police chief in Orlando after a long career there as an officer.

    How seriously is she being considered? Very seriously. Demings, 63, has been interviewed at length and is being vetted intensively by the Biden team.

    Signature issues: Has been an outspoken voice in the House on issues related to gun control and law enforcement; served as an impeachment manager in the Senate trial of President Trump.

    Relationship with Biden: Demings and Biden do not have a longstanding relationship, but they campaigned together for Florida Democrats during the 2018 elections.

    Pros and cons: Demings is a strong campaigner with a résumé that matches the moment, and she comes from a crucial part of the country’s biggest swing state. But she has not been closely vetted by the press and her experience in elected office is relatively brief.

    On being considered for vice president: “I hope, regardless of how it turns out, that when boys and girls and young men and women around this nation hear my personal story and they’ve been told that they can’t make it for whatever reason, that they will be inspired.”

    Susan Rice

    Bio: National security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations under President Obama.

    How seriously is she being considered? Very seriously. Rice, 55, is among the candidates furthest along in the vetting process.

    Signature issues: Closely identified with the Obama administration’s foreign policy breakthroughs, including the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement; recently called for statehood for Washington, D.C.

    Relationship with Biden: Rice served with Biden in the Obama administration for eight years, and their working relationship dates back to the 1990s when Rice was an assistant secretary of state and Biden was on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

    Pros and cons: Rice’s international experience would leave little doubt that she is ready for the most sensitive parts of the job. But she has never been a candidate before and the learning curve of a national campaign can be a steep one.

    On being considered for vice president: “I’m humbled and honored to be among the extremely accomplished women who are reportedly being considered in that regard.”

    Michelle Lujan Grisham

    Bio: Governor of New Mexico since 2019; served three terms in Congress and was chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; former New Mexico secretary of health.

    How seriously is she being considered? Pretty seriously. Lujan Grisham, 60, is probably the top candidate among the governors and she has been asked to submit documents for vetting.

    Signature issues: Enacted sweeping clean-energy legislation and a minimum wage hike as governor; pushed for major liberal priorities like free public college; now heavily focused on containing the coronavirus outbreak and managing the damage of an economic recession.

    Relationship with Biden: Lujan Grisham and Biden do not have a close relationship. He endorsed her candidacy for governor in 2018.

    Pros and cons: Lujan Grisham appears to be the only Latina candidate under consideration, with the potential to give Biden a boost across the Southwest. She has a compelling story to tell about leading a state through a national crisis, but she is a lower-profile leader than many of the other candidates in the mix.

    On being considered for vice president: “What I hope the Biden campaign continues to do is to look for not just a V.P. pick, but to be really clear in building a cabinet and an agenda for America, that these are folks who can run government.”

    Tammy Duckworth

    Bio: Senator from Illinois since 2017; served two terms in the House; former director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs; a retired Army lieutenant colonel and helicopter pilot who lost both legs in combat while serving in Iraq.

    How seriously is she being considered? Pretty seriously. Duckworth, 52, has been interviewed by the Biden team and she has been asked to submit documents for vetting.

    Signature issues: Has been a prominent spokeswoman for her party on national security and the concerns of veterans and military families; championed policies to protect people with disabilities.

    Relationship with Biden: Duckworth does not have an especially close relationship with Biden, but as vice president he backed her 2016 candidacy to unseat a Republican senator, Mark Kirk. Duckworth introduced Biden’s late son, Beau, as a speaker at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

    Pros and cons: Duckworth’s personal story could be powerful in a presidential campaign; she would be the first veteran on a national ticket since John McCain, and the first female veteran ever. She is a less prominent voice on some of the issues most central to the campaign, like policing and the economy.

    On being considered for vice president: “I personally have always answered the call when my country has asked me to serve.”

    Tammy Baldwin

    Bio: Senator from Wisconsin since 2013; served seven terms in the House; the first openly gay person to win a seat in the Senate.

    How seriously is she being considered? Somewhat seriously. Baldwin, 58, has been interviewed by the Biden team and she is seen as a politically safe choice for the job.

    Signature issues: Has championed universal health care for decades and other changes to the health care system; has been an important voice on trade and manufacturing, and a critic of China’s trade practices.

    Relationship with Biden: Baldwin and Biden do not have a deep relationship, but she served in the Senate during his second term as vice president and they campaigned together in both the 2012 and 2018 elections, when Baldwin was on the ballot.

    Pros and cons: Baldwin would bring populist credentials and local popularity that could help deliver Wisconsin’s crucial Electoral College votes to Biden. But Baldwin is relatively little known nationally and many Democrats might object to an all-white ticket.

    On being considered for vice president: “I haven’t ruled it out.”

    Gretchen Whitmer

    Bio: Governor of Michigan since 2019; former Democratic leader in the Michigan State Senate; delivered the Democratic response to President Trump’s State of the Union address in February.

    How seriously is she being considered? Somewhat seriously. Whitmer, 48, has acknowledged she has had contact with the Biden search team, but seems like a less prominent candidate than she was a few months ago.

    Signature issues: Ran for governor on a platform of rebuilding Michigan’s broken roads, raising the minimum wage and investing in education; has grappled with the coronavirus pandemic reshaping her administration, putting public health and budgetary challenges at the center of her agenda.

    Relationship with Biden: Whitmer has described herself as having been friends with Biden for years, and he endorsed her campaign for governor in 2018. She returned the favor before the Michigan presidential primary in March.

    Pros and cons: Whitmer is a popular young leader from an important swing state, who has played a major role in responding to the coronavirus. But she would not bring racial diversity to the ticket and she has faced Republican attacks at home for engaging in national politics.

    On being considered for vice president: “I am making a little bit of time to stay connected to the campaign but the most important thing that I have to do right now is be the governor of my home state.”

    Stacey Abrams

    Bio: Former Democratic leader in the Georgia House of Representatives before narrowly losing a race for governor in 2018; the leader of an advocacy group, Fair Fight Action, focused on voting rights.

    How seriously is she being considered? Not too seriously. Some senior Democrats are supportive of Abrams, 46, but she does not seem to be a priority for the Biden team right now.

    Signature issues: Has championed voting rights; advocated for expanding health care at the state level during her time in the legislature and worked with then-Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, on criminal justice reform.

    Relationship with Biden: Abrams and Biden do not have a longstanding relationship, but they met privately last year as Biden was weighing his decision to enter the 2020 race and his advisers were floating the idea of announcing a running mate during the Democratic primaries.

    Pros and cons: Abrams is an agile political messenger with a strong national following. But the highest office she has held is state legislator, raising questions about her readiness.

    On being considered for vice president: “I would be an excellent running mate. I have the capacity to attract voters by motivating typically ignored communities.”

    Gina Raimondo

    Bio: Governor of Rhode Island since 2015; served as state treasurer; former venture capital executive; was chair of the Democratic Governors Association in 2019.

    How seriously is she being considered? Not too seriously. Raimondo, 49, has had some contact with the Biden team but she does not seem to be as far along in the process as others.

    Signature issues: Has made economic development her central cause, frequently pushing her party to adopt a more pointed message on economic opportunity and job creation; overhauled the state’s unstable public pension system, a political victory that yielded lasting bad blood with some labor unions.

    Relationship with Biden: Raimondo and Biden are cut from the same ideological cloth, and Biden has campaigned for her in the past. But Raimondo endorsed a different moderate in the Democratic primaries: Michael R. Bloomberg.

    Pros and cons: Raimondo may be more closely aligned with Biden in her political sensibilities than anyone else in the running. But she is viewed with distrust by the left and some important Democratic labor unions, and she is relatively untested as a national figure.

    On being considered for vice president: “Let me just say this. I’m spending zero time on politics right now.”

    Maggie Hassan

    Bio: Senator from New Hampshire since 2017; served as governor there from 2013 to 2017 and was previously the Democratic leader in the New Hampshire State Senate.

    How seriously is she being considered? Not too seriously. Hassan, 62, agreed to be vetted by the Biden team but it is not clear that her candidacy has moved much past that point.

    Signature issues: Has focused on health care and drug addiction; as governor, expanded Medicaid at the state level, and in the Senate, sponsored large-scale legislation addressing the opioid crisis.

    Relationship with Biden: Like most top Democrats in the crucial primary state of New Hampshire, Hassan has known Biden for some time. They are not especially close but he consistently praised her during visits to the state last year.

    Pros and cons: Hassan has strong credentials as a governor and senator from a state Hillary Clinton barely won in 2016. But she is barely known outside New Hampshire. If she were elected vice president, a Republican governor would name her replacement.

    On being considered for vice president: “I am not going to comment about his process, whatever that may be. My focus each and every day continues to be serving the people of NH in the US Senate.”

    WITHDREW

    Amy Klobuchar

    The Minnesota senator announced on June 18 that she had withdrawn from the search process, after renewed scrutiny of her record as a prosecutor greatly diminished her chances.

    When protests swept her home state after the killing of George Floyd, Klobuchar found herself struggling to explain why she had not done more to take on police misconduct as district attorney. Pulling out of the V.P. search, Klobuchar said she urged Biden in a phone call to choose a woman of color for the ticket.

     

     

  11. 21 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

    https://www.statesman.com/news/20200621/third-day-in-row-of-record-breaking-daily-coronavirus-cases-506

    Hard to tell if the ~60% is of new cases or cumulative cases, but I was surprised it was this high.  

     

    Check the ZIP code map for Travis County, and you'll see which communities this is hitting hardest. West of MoPac = NBD. East of I-35 = Holy shit!

    Now, consider the current working conditions for those populations.

  12. 1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

    And, finally, I stumbled upon my whole problem with The Eyes of Texas.  Or the articulation of it.

    The things we've discussed here on this thread have racist or racial SYMBOLISM.  Meaning that they are  Invested "with a meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations."  That is, although perhaps not a literal meaning, the symbols have become imbued with a meaning usually through their appearance.

    When you have to go digging around in historical tomes to find non-literal meanings, or having arguments about the significance of the tomes as to the non-literal meanings, the non-literal meaning of that symbol -- its symbolism -- is weak to nonexistent.  Its impact, positive or negative, comes immediately upon recognition of the symbol.

    The confederate flag, the swastika, ethnic caricatures, all have instant symbolic racist meaning.  The Eyes of Texas does not.

    That may have true a week or so ago, but it's heavily laden with racist baggage for all of us now after having learned the history of its origin.

    • Like 2
  13. 3 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

    Whoa.

     

    I won't deny that driving around rural parts of Texas east of I-45 that you'll occasionally see a Confederate flag flying from some trailer park, but even as a white guy it's fucking creepy af to see the Mississippi state flag on poles at places of authority. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be Black and live in a state like that.

  14. 6 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

    Like I said, I am sure that somebody on staff was aware of the double meaning and should have screened it out. Wouldn't rule out gross incompetence either.  But I'll admit that I was not familiar with that particular piece of nazi flair. Mind your emojis. 

    That's kind of the worry though, isn't it? The fact that a member of the campaign is willing to traffic in that sort of symbology and "go there" should be a cause for concern.

    It was a pretty brazen move to unveil that filter to wink and nod at a particular message using a very specific code.

  15. 2 hours ago, Anastasis said:

    I am pretty sure somebody was aware of the double meaning. Or just gross incompetence, which is never too far out of the mix here.

     

    https://emojis.wiki/red-triangle-pointed-down/

    Meaning of 🔻 Red Triangle Pointed Down Emoji

    Red Triangle Pointed Down emoji is a red triangle with its top pointed pointing down. You can use this emoji as another version of an arrow. Use it instead of the ⬇️ Down Arrow emoji to tell the person you are talking to to pay close attention to what you are going to send next.

     

    They didn't use an emoji embedded within the text like you've just provided as an example. It was clearly an expanded image from a copy/paste that they attached to their post (and, yes, I did check to verify it was an actual post from the Team Trump FB account earlier today). They were not pointing downward at some subsequent post.

    I'm not saying Trump nor the majority of the Team Trump staff are Nazis, but it is clear that whoever created that post knew the message they were conveying by using that symbol given the context of the situation. I highly doubt it was an accident, and at this point, it's really difficult to provide Team Trump with the benefit of the doubt knowing that Miller likely has a few proteges working his angle.

    • Like 1
  16. 2 hours ago, TexArcher said:

    Looks like Jim Harbaugh and Butthead made a baby then hit it in the head with a 2-by-4 while its skull was still soft.

    He's got kind of a mid-transition Craig Sheffer vibe to me.

    Craig-Sheffer.jpg

    • Like 1
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