Year 2 - Day #105- Sunny
Jun. 30th, 2021 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat[Reader Notes:
* This should have posted yesterday, but for some reason it didn't post. So, I've back dated it. (I've not skipped a day, I just sometimes make access only.)
* Resources that I've been using regarding the Corona Virus or where I am getting my information.
-The New York Times Corona Virus Evening Briefing - which I've been getting since roughly the beginning of 2020, prior to that I was following it in their evening briefings until they set up a separate email briefing for it. The NY Times by the way - was so respected in their extensive coverage and investigative reporting on the virus that they received the Pulitizer for it. That briefing cites this page which keeps track of all the information they've acquired recently: The New York Times Corona Virus Outbreak Updates Of the Newspapers and media, I've read, which is extensive, I find the NY Times to be the most reliable. It's not perfect, but it is highly reliable and has fact checkers. If you have a news source, make certain they have fact checkers, who are trained.
[Fox News is not reliable - their fact checkers are internet bloggers - and well I don't need to explain to you why you can't trust most bloggers - do I? Or they don't do it at all.]
- New York State Governor's Email - it comes bi-weekly now, and includes information taken directly from the New York State Department of Health Databases.
- New York State Government Web Site
- Work related materials
- Johns Hopkins University COVID Map of Doom . Johns Hopkins University established a database that began to track all legitimately reported cases of COVID-19 around the globe. They did this in concert with WHO and the CDC, but also on their own. They are the first to have actually done so. I started following their map in January of 2020. It's possibly the most conservative take on the data, since they only report data that has been confirmed, with no estimates. They also fact check everything.
I'm in a good mood tonight. Cheerful. I don't really know why. Does there have to be a reason?
Accomplished one thing at work - since work metaphorically speaking involves pushing boulders up a hill, only to see them slide back down again, getting one up is quite the accomplishment.
Found out via Twitter and Breaking News that Bill Cosby had been released due to technicality. (Found this out during my recording of my soap opera - why they felt the need to break in for this, I've no clue, it's not like they don't have breaking news after the soap. They couldn't wait thirty minutes? Also all we saw was Cosby's car pull up to his house and the news broadcasters discuss it.]
Bill Cosby was freed from prison after a Pennsylvania appeals court overturned his conviction for sexual assault.
The entertainer had served three years of a three- to 10-year sentence at a prison outside Philadelphia when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Cosby, 83, had been denied a fair trial in 2018. His case represented the first high-profile sexual assault trial to unfold in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement.
Note, he was supposed to be up for parole after three years, but they denied probation at that time.
Why Cosby Got Released
I read it and frankly, it made no sense to me. I'm not sure why Castor told Cosby there wasn't enough evidence and he wouldn't be convicted. Or why the judges felt that was grounds for overturning the conviction.
Personally I think throwing people over the age of 80 in prison is kind of counter-productive, particularly during a pandemic. I'm not sure what can be gained from that outside of vengeance. But most Americans view the rational behind prison differently than I do. They want revenge and punishment. We have a very punitive, judgemental and revenge seeking society and system. People want an eye for an eye. It's not a compliment, and while I too share that unfortunate emotion - it's not one I'm particularly proud of. For me, prison should be rehabilitative, and the act should be demonized not the individual. Granted there are a few folks out there - who aren't salvageable and should either be killed or locked up just to protect the rest of us, such as serial killers, psychopaths, sociopaths, and Donald Trump, but everyone else?
My old criminal law professor used to tell me - "but for the grace of god, go I", he's not wrong. We have no idea what another human being is going through or why, until we walk a mile inside their body.
That said, I think the conviction being overturned is bizarre and a miscarriage of justice. OTOH - it was weird that Phyllica Rashad, Cosby's television wife and producing partner on the Cosby Show, celebrated his release on Twitter. Making me question the whole thing. He confessed to it in Civil Suit, so why is she celebrating his release?
Covid
WHO and the CDC are fighting over whether we should all continue to wear masks. The problem we've had in regards to the pandemic - is both organizations were kind of gutted by dingbat greedy nationalistic leaders who had their own self-interests at heart. We all know who I'm referring to here.
CDC was gutted more than WHO, so of the two is the least reliable.
They've been fighting over the mask issue for about 18 months now. CDC told Americans not to wear masks in January through April 2020, because we didn't have any - and they needed them for the essential workers. It took a while to get them. Then they shifted and said, whoopsie, we didn't meant to tell you all that - yes, you must wear masks - they will protect you. And launched a marketing campaign to try and convince everyone to wear them. As a result of this - a lot of folks remain unconvinced masks actually work.
Anyhow, here's the fight:
This was supposed to be the United States’ great maskless summer. But along with many other parts of the world, we may be inching back toward indoor mask-wearing because of the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Last week, the World Health Organization, worried by a global surge in cases, reiterated its recommendation that everyone — including vaccinated people — wear masks, putting it at odds with the C.D.C. On Monday, health officials in Los Angeles County followed suit, recommending that “everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors in public places as a precautionary measure.”
Today, the director of the C.D.C. stood by advice that fully vaccinated Americans do not need to wear masks in most situations. Health officials in Chicago and New York said they had no plans to rethink their requirements.
How should we regard these conflicting recommendations?
The case for masks: The W.H.O.’s rationale for continuing to wear masks indoors is that while immunization is highly effective at preventing severe illness and death, the degree to which vaccines prevent mild or asymptomatic infections is unknown. (Officials at the C.D.C. disagree, saying the risk is minimal.)
The W.H.O. is also making recommendations for the entire world, where a vast majority of people are unvaccinated. Most countries are still struggling to gain access to vaccines.
Hot spots: We should continue wearing masks, some experts argue, because even countries with relatively high vaccination rates have seen increases in infections driven by the Delta variant. Britain is grappling with a sharp rise in infections because of the variant, and even Israel, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, has seen hundreds of new cases in recent days, including among people who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Mutations: We also know that the Delta variant contains mutations that may help it partly dodge the immune system. Several studies have shown that current vaccines are slightly less effective against the Delta variant than against most other variants, although the variant’s ability to infect vaccinated people is very limited. For those people who are only partially vaccinated, however, protection against the variant is significantly reduced, compared with other forms of the virus.
Inequalities: In Los Angeles, the county decided to reissue its indoor mask recommendation because of upticks in infections and because of its persistently high numbers of unvaccinated residents — particularly children, Black and Latino residents and essential workers. The county’s public health director told The Times that the goal of the policy was to keep community transmission low.
The argument for going without masks: Last month, when C.D.C. officials lifted mask recommendations, they cited research showing that fully vaccinated people were unlikely to become infected with the virus or have asymptomatic infections, which would make it unlikely for a vaccinated person to pass on the virus to others.
Coronavirus infections in the U.S. have been plunging for months, as have hospitalizations and deaths.
However, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the C.D.C., said today that there were instances when local authorities might impose more stringent masking measures to protect the unvaccinated. “We are still seeing uptick of cases in areas of low vaccination, and in that situation we are suggesting that policies be made at the local level,” she said.
Still, given previous mask missteps by the C.D.C. during the pandemic, reversing the agency’s guidance yet again may be difficult.
“It’s difficult to walk that back,” said David Michaels, an epidemiologist and professor at the George Washington School of Public Health. Yet with the rise of the Delta variant, he said, it is also “extremely dangerous to continue the cultural norm of no one wearing a mask.”
Q&A on the Delta Variant - when you should wear a mask, if vaccinated or not concerns.
“If you’ve had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, like me, you should be protected against the Delta variant,” said Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. “I could go maskless and feel fine about it from that perspective. I think for the U.S. — where we have states that have poor vaccination coverage and among populations who haven’t been vaccinated — the Delta variant is a problem.”
Dr. Gonsalves said that even though he is fully vaccinated, he will continue to mask up in the grocery store and other public spaces as we wait for more people to get vaccinated.
“Am I going to wear a mask among friends who are fully vaccinated? Probably not,” he said. “However, in public, I certainly will. This is about promoting a social norm: Right now there are enough people unvaccinated that we should be modeling good behavior, showing social solidarity.”
The gist is basically - if you've had both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna, you should be fine to go maskeless, but you might want to wear it in "public" and indoor public spaces.
If Johnson and Johnson - same.
If unvaccinated - wear it. Because you do not want the Delta Variant. It's like judging the weather - if it's pouring outside? Wear a rain jacket. If it's icy - wear boots that can handle ice.
* So Russia screwed up...they downplayed the virus and vaccine, and as a result: Some 23 million Russians, or about 15 percent of the population, have received at least one vaccine dose, Putin said. Recent independent polls showed that some 60 percent of Russians did not want to be vaccinated, even though the domestically produced Sputnik V shot is widely seen as safe and effective.
Compare this to the US with 325.8 million or 50%-60% vaccinated. [Source John's Hopkins COVID MAP OF DOOM, although they didn't update some of the charts.
*Weirdly, fireworks-related injuries spiked last year, perhaps because people tried to make their own fun at home. [You think? Honestly, it's already started, people on my neighborhood FB page have been complaining about the fireworks in the area since Juneteenth. I've not heard any or seen any - so fingers crossed.]
***
Other News
* More than 100 deaths in British Columbia have been linked to record-breaking temperatures that have roasted the region and sent thousands scrambling for relief.
In the U.S., where parts of Washington State and Oregon have been battered by extreme heat for several days in a row, President Biden talked with state leaders and pledged aid to try to minimize weather-related disasters. California is bracing for another summer of destructive fires, and punishing drought conditions are gripping the American West. Heat advisories are also in effect from Philadelphia to Boston in the Northeast.
“The big lesson coming out of the past number of days is that the climate crisis is not a fiction,” John Horgan, the premier of British Columbia, said.
[Meanwhile I'm watching a serious storm come in...slowly. It will cut our heat wave in half - with temperatures dropping to the 70s and 60s by Friday.]
* The Times keeps analyzing the Jan 6 - Attack on the Capital. [Note, my mother went into the hospital for a fractured hip on January 5, and she's still not healed. And my father has been in long-term care since then. That week was hell on multiple levels.]
In a 40-minute panoramic take of Jan. 6, our Visual Investigations team shows at least eight places where the rioters broke in, evidence of members of extremist groups inciting others to riot, and the impact of Donald Trump’s own words resonating with the mob in real time as they staged the attack.
The House voted to create a select committee to investigate the deadly attack.
Separately, the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, are expected to be indicted tomorrow on tax-related crimes. Weisselberg is under increasing pressure to turn on the family.
Continue reading the main story
From a quick scan - I've not changed my mind. Trump and GOP organized a coop on the US Capital for their own selfish ends, and to further a white supremacist agenda.
* Uh oh...the New York Board of Elections screwed up again. I knew they did last night, because I got an updated email telling me they had from the NY Times. They've been doing that a lot. Also it's a Republican Board.
A new, preliminary tally of ranked-choice votes in New York City showed a tightening primary, a day after a counting fiasco.
The results still showed that Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, held a much narrower lead than the one he held on primary night. About 125,000 absentee ballots that have yet to be tabulated.
But the new tally was overshadowed by an egregious error by the city’s Board of Elections late Tuesday: Roughly 135,000 sample ballots, used to test the ranked-choice software, had been mistakenly counted. The board, which has a long history of blunders, was forced to retract the results from a tabulation of ranked-choice preferences, just hours after it had published them.
***
Spoke with Mother, who is doing better. She got her bone stimulator package. Also apparently her visit with my father went well. They watched Wimbeldon together in his room.
Meanwhile niece is feeling a touch overwhelmed by spending so much time with new boyfriend and his family.
ME: So she's not in love?
Mother: I think she's just overwhelmed with how much time they've spent together in a short space of time, and well, seventeen.
Me: Well her father was head over heels in love with her mother at seventeen.
Mother: I'm not sure she's ready for it all yet.
Me: Guessing the romance isn't quite what it is wrapped up to be?
Romances often aren't. They get in the way of other things. Like plans to study in London, and go to Law School, and do cool stuff.
Good news about the 2020s, people are no longer stating that you only become a woman after you have sex with a man. God, I hate that 20th Century or rather 16th Century axiom. I wanted to kick folks for saying that back in the early days of live journal and before that actually. It's such a dumb statement on oh so many levels.
Having sexual intercourse really doesn't say anything definitively about you on any level. Except that you had it, which I don't need to know about nor want to know about, thank you very much. Please keep these things to yourself. There is such as thing as too much information.
I know people who had a ton of heterosexual intercourse, who felt the need to brag about it, then either six months to six years later came out to as lesbians. For some reason they thought I'd be shocked by this news? I never am. I don't care about other folks sexuality. It has nothing to do with me. Just as my sexuality isn't really any of their business, unless we're dating and then yes, it is. (I don't know if men do this - men thankfully are uncomfortable relating their sexual exploits to female friends.) I've lost track of the number of lesbian friends who, for some reason or other felt the need to relate all their sexual exploits to me - "oh, I've had sex with so many boyfriends, it was so great...blah blah blah.." (Time passes) "Oh by the way, I've just come out as a lesbian, and feel so much freer now, and let me introduce you to my wife." [Folks - don't regale people with your sexual exploits - no one wants to hear them. Most people do not care.]
Also - it's no guarantee of an orgasm. You don't have to be in love to do it. It doesn't always result in pleasure. It doesn't mean you are straight or gay. It has no clarity on gender.
Me: virginity is kind of -
Mother: stuff of historical romance novels with no bearing on real life whatsoever.
True. The hymen heals. It can be broken and healed numerous times. The whole idea of female virginity is a myth. And everyone's body is different.
***
Television...
I'm almost done with the second season of Full Bloom, which is much better than the first season. Although the hosts are still getting on my nerves. However, they were apparently told to scale back on the forced sentimentality and crying. Because in S1, Maurice would have hugged Lufti, while in S2, he didn't and was just nice to him. This is far more restrained. Also the challenges and how its organized is completely different, with less emphasis on the whole floral team stuff.
I'd skip season 1, and just watch S2, to be honest.
Very subjective though - so hard to take seriously. Also kind of predictable.
**
Okay off for tonight. I have a four day weekend coming up - I'm going to the Van Gough Immersion on Friday. Doing little excursions into the city each week, building up to doing bigger outings. Baby Steps.
* This should have posted yesterday, but for some reason it didn't post. So, I've back dated it. (I've not skipped a day, I just sometimes make access only.)
* Resources that I've been using regarding the Corona Virus or where I am getting my information.
-The New York Times Corona Virus Evening Briefing - which I've been getting since roughly the beginning of 2020, prior to that I was following it in their evening briefings until they set up a separate email briefing for it. The NY Times by the way - was so respected in their extensive coverage and investigative reporting on the virus that they received the Pulitizer for it. That briefing cites this page which keeps track of all the information they've acquired recently: The New York Times Corona Virus Outbreak Updates Of the Newspapers and media, I've read, which is extensive, I find the NY Times to be the most reliable. It's not perfect, but it is highly reliable and has fact checkers. If you have a news source, make certain they have fact checkers, who are trained.
[Fox News is not reliable - their fact checkers are internet bloggers - and well I don't need to explain to you why you can't trust most bloggers - do I? Or they don't do it at all.]
- New York State Governor's Email - it comes bi-weekly now, and includes information taken directly from the New York State Department of Health Databases.
- New York State Government Web Site
- Work related materials
- Johns Hopkins University COVID Map of Doom . Johns Hopkins University established a database that began to track all legitimately reported cases of COVID-19 around the globe. They did this in concert with WHO and the CDC, but also on their own. They are the first to have actually done so. I started following their map in January of 2020. It's possibly the most conservative take on the data, since they only report data that has been confirmed, with no estimates. They also fact check everything.
I'm in a good mood tonight. Cheerful. I don't really know why. Does there have to be a reason?
Accomplished one thing at work - since work metaphorically speaking involves pushing boulders up a hill, only to see them slide back down again, getting one up is quite the accomplishment.
Found out via Twitter and Breaking News that Bill Cosby had been released due to technicality. (Found this out during my recording of my soap opera - why they felt the need to break in for this, I've no clue, it's not like they don't have breaking news after the soap. They couldn't wait thirty minutes? Also all we saw was Cosby's car pull up to his house and the news broadcasters discuss it.]
Bill Cosby was freed from prison after a Pennsylvania appeals court overturned his conviction for sexual assault.
The entertainer had served three years of a three- to 10-year sentence at a prison outside Philadelphia when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Cosby, 83, had been denied a fair trial in 2018. His case represented the first high-profile sexual assault trial to unfold in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement.
Note, he was supposed to be up for parole after three years, but they denied probation at that time.
Why Cosby Got Released
I read it and frankly, it made no sense to me. I'm not sure why Castor told Cosby there wasn't enough evidence and he wouldn't be convicted. Or why the judges felt that was grounds for overturning the conviction.
Personally I think throwing people over the age of 80 in prison is kind of counter-productive, particularly during a pandemic. I'm not sure what can be gained from that outside of vengeance. But most Americans view the rational behind prison differently than I do. They want revenge and punishment. We have a very punitive, judgemental and revenge seeking society and system. People want an eye for an eye. It's not a compliment, and while I too share that unfortunate emotion - it's not one I'm particularly proud of. For me, prison should be rehabilitative, and the act should be demonized not the individual. Granted there are a few folks out there - who aren't salvageable and should either be killed or locked up just to protect the rest of us, such as serial killers, psychopaths, sociopaths, and Donald Trump, but everyone else?
My old criminal law professor used to tell me - "but for the grace of god, go I", he's not wrong. We have no idea what another human being is going through or why, until we walk a mile inside their body.
That said, I think the conviction being overturned is bizarre and a miscarriage of justice. OTOH - it was weird that Phyllica Rashad, Cosby's television wife and producing partner on the Cosby Show, celebrated his release on Twitter. Making me question the whole thing. He confessed to it in Civil Suit, so why is she celebrating his release?
Covid
WHO and the CDC are fighting over whether we should all continue to wear masks. The problem we've had in regards to the pandemic - is both organizations were kind of gutted by dingbat greedy nationalistic leaders who had their own self-interests at heart. We all know who I'm referring to here.
CDC was gutted more than WHO, so of the two is the least reliable.
They've been fighting over the mask issue for about 18 months now. CDC told Americans not to wear masks in January through April 2020, because we didn't have any - and they needed them for the essential workers. It took a while to get them. Then they shifted and said, whoopsie, we didn't meant to tell you all that - yes, you must wear masks - they will protect you. And launched a marketing campaign to try and convince everyone to wear them. As a result of this - a lot of folks remain unconvinced masks actually work.
Anyhow, here's the fight:
This was supposed to be the United States’ great maskless summer. But along with many other parts of the world, we may be inching back toward indoor mask-wearing because of the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Last week, the World Health Organization, worried by a global surge in cases, reiterated its recommendation that everyone — including vaccinated people — wear masks, putting it at odds with the C.D.C. On Monday, health officials in Los Angeles County followed suit, recommending that “everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors in public places as a precautionary measure.”
Today, the director of the C.D.C. stood by advice that fully vaccinated Americans do not need to wear masks in most situations. Health officials in Chicago and New York said they had no plans to rethink their requirements.
How should we regard these conflicting recommendations?
The case for masks: The W.H.O.’s rationale for continuing to wear masks indoors is that while immunization is highly effective at preventing severe illness and death, the degree to which vaccines prevent mild or asymptomatic infections is unknown. (Officials at the C.D.C. disagree, saying the risk is minimal.)
The W.H.O. is also making recommendations for the entire world, where a vast majority of people are unvaccinated. Most countries are still struggling to gain access to vaccines.
Hot spots: We should continue wearing masks, some experts argue, because even countries with relatively high vaccination rates have seen increases in infections driven by the Delta variant. Britain is grappling with a sharp rise in infections because of the variant, and even Israel, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, has seen hundreds of new cases in recent days, including among people who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Mutations: We also know that the Delta variant contains mutations that may help it partly dodge the immune system. Several studies have shown that current vaccines are slightly less effective against the Delta variant than against most other variants, although the variant’s ability to infect vaccinated people is very limited. For those people who are only partially vaccinated, however, protection against the variant is significantly reduced, compared with other forms of the virus.
Inequalities: In Los Angeles, the county decided to reissue its indoor mask recommendation because of upticks in infections and because of its persistently high numbers of unvaccinated residents — particularly children, Black and Latino residents and essential workers. The county’s public health director told The Times that the goal of the policy was to keep community transmission low.
The argument for going without masks: Last month, when C.D.C. officials lifted mask recommendations, they cited research showing that fully vaccinated people were unlikely to become infected with the virus or have asymptomatic infections, which would make it unlikely for a vaccinated person to pass on the virus to others.
Coronavirus infections in the U.S. have been plunging for months, as have hospitalizations and deaths.
However, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the C.D.C., said today that there were instances when local authorities might impose more stringent masking measures to protect the unvaccinated. “We are still seeing uptick of cases in areas of low vaccination, and in that situation we are suggesting that policies be made at the local level,” she said.
Still, given previous mask missteps by the C.D.C. during the pandemic, reversing the agency’s guidance yet again may be difficult.
“It’s difficult to walk that back,” said David Michaels, an epidemiologist and professor at the George Washington School of Public Health. Yet with the rise of the Delta variant, he said, it is also “extremely dangerous to continue the cultural norm of no one wearing a mask.”
Q&A on the Delta Variant - when you should wear a mask, if vaccinated or not concerns.
“If you’ve had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, like me, you should be protected against the Delta variant,” said Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. “I could go maskless and feel fine about it from that perspective. I think for the U.S. — where we have states that have poor vaccination coverage and among populations who haven’t been vaccinated — the Delta variant is a problem.”
Dr. Gonsalves said that even though he is fully vaccinated, he will continue to mask up in the grocery store and other public spaces as we wait for more people to get vaccinated.
“Am I going to wear a mask among friends who are fully vaccinated? Probably not,” he said. “However, in public, I certainly will. This is about promoting a social norm: Right now there are enough people unvaccinated that we should be modeling good behavior, showing social solidarity.”
The gist is basically - if you've had both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna, you should be fine to go maskeless, but you might want to wear it in "public" and indoor public spaces.
If Johnson and Johnson - same.
If unvaccinated - wear it. Because you do not want the Delta Variant. It's like judging the weather - if it's pouring outside? Wear a rain jacket. If it's icy - wear boots that can handle ice.
* So Russia screwed up...they downplayed the virus and vaccine, and as a result: Some 23 million Russians, or about 15 percent of the population, have received at least one vaccine dose, Putin said. Recent independent polls showed that some 60 percent of Russians did not want to be vaccinated, even though the domestically produced Sputnik V shot is widely seen as safe and effective.
Compare this to the US with 325.8 million or 50%-60% vaccinated. [Source John's Hopkins COVID MAP OF DOOM, although they didn't update some of the charts.
*Weirdly, fireworks-related injuries spiked last year, perhaps because people tried to make their own fun at home. [You think? Honestly, it's already started, people on my neighborhood FB page have been complaining about the fireworks in the area since Juneteenth. I've not heard any or seen any - so fingers crossed.]
***
Other News
* More than 100 deaths in British Columbia have been linked to record-breaking temperatures that have roasted the region and sent thousands scrambling for relief.
In the U.S., where parts of Washington State and Oregon have been battered by extreme heat for several days in a row, President Biden talked with state leaders and pledged aid to try to minimize weather-related disasters. California is bracing for another summer of destructive fires, and punishing drought conditions are gripping the American West. Heat advisories are also in effect from Philadelphia to Boston in the Northeast.
“The big lesson coming out of the past number of days is that the climate crisis is not a fiction,” John Horgan, the premier of British Columbia, said.
[Meanwhile I'm watching a serious storm come in...slowly. It will cut our heat wave in half - with temperatures dropping to the 70s and 60s by Friday.]
* The Times keeps analyzing the Jan 6 - Attack on the Capital. [Note, my mother went into the hospital for a fractured hip on January 5, and she's still not healed. And my father has been in long-term care since then. That week was hell on multiple levels.]
In a 40-minute panoramic take of Jan. 6, our Visual Investigations team shows at least eight places where the rioters broke in, evidence of members of extremist groups inciting others to riot, and the impact of Donald Trump’s own words resonating with the mob in real time as they staged the attack.
The House voted to create a select committee to investigate the deadly attack.
Separately, the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, are expected to be indicted tomorrow on tax-related crimes. Weisselberg is under increasing pressure to turn on the family.
Continue reading the main story
From a quick scan - I've not changed my mind. Trump and GOP organized a coop on the US Capital for their own selfish ends, and to further a white supremacist agenda.
* Uh oh...the New York Board of Elections screwed up again. I knew they did last night, because I got an updated email telling me they had from the NY Times. They've been doing that a lot. Also it's a Republican Board.
A new, preliminary tally of ranked-choice votes in New York City showed a tightening primary, a day after a counting fiasco.
The results still showed that Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, held a much narrower lead than the one he held on primary night. About 125,000 absentee ballots that have yet to be tabulated.
But the new tally was overshadowed by an egregious error by the city’s Board of Elections late Tuesday: Roughly 135,000 sample ballots, used to test the ranked-choice software, had been mistakenly counted. The board, which has a long history of blunders, was forced to retract the results from a tabulation of ranked-choice preferences, just hours after it had published them.
***
Spoke with Mother, who is doing better. She got her bone stimulator package. Also apparently her visit with my father went well. They watched Wimbeldon together in his room.
Meanwhile niece is feeling a touch overwhelmed by spending so much time with new boyfriend and his family.
ME: So she's not in love?
Mother: I think she's just overwhelmed with how much time they've spent together in a short space of time, and well, seventeen.
Me: Well her father was head over heels in love with her mother at seventeen.
Mother: I'm not sure she's ready for it all yet.
Me: Guessing the romance isn't quite what it is wrapped up to be?
Romances often aren't. They get in the way of other things. Like plans to study in London, and go to Law School, and do cool stuff.
Good news about the 2020s, people are no longer stating that you only become a woman after you have sex with a man. God, I hate that 20th Century or rather 16th Century axiom. I wanted to kick folks for saying that back in the early days of live journal and before that actually. It's such a dumb statement on oh so many levels.
Having sexual intercourse really doesn't say anything definitively about you on any level. Except that you had it, which I don't need to know about nor want to know about, thank you very much. Please keep these things to yourself. There is such as thing as too much information.
I know people who had a ton of heterosexual intercourse, who felt the need to brag about it, then either six months to six years later came out to as lesbians. For some reason they thought I'd be shocked by this news? I never am. I don't care about other folks sexuality. It has nothing to do with me. Just as my sexuality isn't really any of their business, unless we're dating and then yes, it is. (I don't know if men do this - men thankfully are uncomfortable relating their sexual exploits to female friends.) I've lost track of the number of lesbian friends who, for some reason or other felt the need to relate all their sexual exploits to me - "oh, I've had sex with so many boyfriends, it was so great...blah blah blah.." (Time passes) "Oh by the way, I've just come out as a lesbian, and feel so much freer now, and let me introduce you to my wife." [Folks - don't regale people with your sexual exploits - no one wants to hear them. Most people do not care.]
Also - it's no guarantee of an orgasm. You don't have to be in love to do it. It doesn't always result in pleasure. It doesn't mean you are straight or gay. It has no clarity on gender.
Me: virginity is kind of -
Mother: stuff of historical romance novels with no bearing on real life whatsoever.
True. The hymen heals. It can be broken and healed numerous times. The whole idea of female virginity is a myth. And everyone's body is different.
***
Television...
I'm almost done with the second season of Full Bloom, which is much better than the first season. Although the hosts are still getting on my nerves. However, they were apparently told to scale back on the forced sentimentality and crying. Because in S1, Maurice would have hugged Lufti, while in S2, he didn't and was just nice to him. This is far more restrained. Also the challenges and how its organized is completely different, with less emphasis on the whole floral team stuff.
I'd skip season 1, and just watch S2, to be honest.
Very subjective though - so hard to take seriously. Also kind of predictable.
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Okay off for tonight. I have a four day weekend coming up - I'm going to the Van Gough Immersion on Friday. Doing little excursions into the city each week, building up to doing bigger outings. Baby Steps.
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Date: 2021-07-01 07:40 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2021-07-02 03:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-02 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 11:22 pm (UTC)Enjoy the Van Gogh. (-:
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Date: 2021-07-02 03:01 am (UTC)Thanks, the Van Gogh is on Friday. I was supposed to do laundry today - but alas, too irritable.