Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[MattBurt]

Which is why when I go to Colorado, it's Woodland park. High yesterday was 75 F. Looking for a summer home there....

Also why I live in Gunnison (7700' and frequently the coldest spot in the contiguous US) but it still hit 90 here yesterday.

[digitaldog]

Also why I live in Gunnison (7700' and frequently the coldest spot in the contiguous US) but it still hit 90 here yesterday.

It's currently 73F in Fraser, CO (9000 feet) but there isn't much there.
But getting back to the Bear (Great show), I mean Bear Pit:

[marvpelkey]

Happen to be driving down to the Denver area (from Vancouver, BC), the end of next week. Usually take the Interstates through Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah, then decide whether to do I80 or I70, depending on our mood and schedule. Now, I'm just looking for the least hot route. Maybe as far east along I90 then hang a right and go straight south....

[PeterAit]

Here in central North Carolina, we feel "fortunate" to have heat only in the mid-90s. Humidity is 200% though!

[marvpelkey]

Watched a bit of CNN today, whilst eating lunch. They showed a graph of Trump's best campaign money solicitation days. Coincidently, almost every one occurred immediately after an indictment or similar legal action against him.

Am I the only one (I know I am not, it's just my way of emphasizing my incredulity at this whole thing) who sees the obvious scam being pulled?

I understand there are people who adore him, but does that make them so blind? Ya, I guess I can answer my own question on that one......

[digitaldog]

Study: Vaccine politics may be to blame for GOP excess deaths
Santa Fe New Mexican25 Jul 2023
The political divisions around coronavirus vaccines may be to blame for a higher rate of excess deaths among registered Republicans in Ohio and Florida during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study published Monday.
The report in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine underscores the partisan divide over coronavirus vaccines that have saved lives but continued to roil American politics even as the pandemic waned.
Yale University researchers found registered Republicans had a higher rate of excess deaths than Democrats in the months after vaccines became available for all adults in April 2021.
The excess death rate for Republicans and Democrats was about the same at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the study reported.

[marvpelkey]

I doubt, especially now that Covid is "in remission" (he says with some sarcasm), that this study will be of much interest to those who should be paying attention, for the next time.

Having said that, I wonder if the next pandemic will be approached/treated much differently, especially if it happens while this/these generation is still around? Or will it just turn into another political fist-fight?

[digitaldog]

Or will it just turn into another political fist-fight?

Without a doubt in my mind.

[dreed]

Having said that, I wonder if the next pandemic will be approached/treated much differently, especially if it happens while this/these generation is still around? Or will it just turn into another political fist-fight?

Depends on how many people die, or rather the proportion of people that die. If the next pandemic gets to the 1% or even 3-4% mortality rate, political fist fighting will get put aside. At present, CoVID-19 is only twice as lethal as the flu.

4% is 1 in 25. That's a lot of suddenly dead people.

[Robert Roaldi]

I doubt, especially now that Covid is "in remission" (he says with some sarcasm), that this study will be of much interest to those who should be paying attention, for the next time.

Having said that, I wonder if the next pandemic will be approached/treated much differently, especially if it happens while this/these generation is still around? Or will it just turn into another political fist-fight?

Is there much evidence that people learn from the past? I'm not optimistic.

Seems like half the internet is frothing about a dumb Barbie movie at the moment. How can that happen? It's way past stupid. I joked to a friend today that this might be a good time for another singer, maybe a trans singer, to show a nipple on TV, watch all the heads explode.

[PeterAit]

Y'know that Florida representative Matt Gaetz? The MTG wanna-be? I saw him in a hearing giving an Air Force general a grilling about ... wait for it ... the use of gender-inclusive pronouns on the Air Force Academy's admissions form. All while forests are burning, people are dying from the heat, oceans are rising, farmland is being flooded or parched, Ukraine is fighting for its life, etc etc etc.

[digitaldog]

This helps sum up Matt Gaetz.

[Chris Kern]

This helps sum up Matt Gaetz.

For those of you outside the United States, the witness being questioned in the cartoon, Chris Wray, the director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, is a conservative Republican who gave up an extremely lucrative private law practice to accept a nomination by President Trump to head the FBI.

Trump apparently was unaware that Wray believed the FBI should enforce federal law rather than cater to the whims of an angry, vindictive, celebrity-turned-politician who believed agencies of the government should act out his psychological urges.

Needless to say, the relationship quickly went downhill and never recovered.

[marvpelkey]

"Needless to say, the relationship quickly went downhill and never recovered."

That theme is a constant with this guy. He has a remarkable habit of turning on those he initially praises. More than any other person I know. And more bizarre, and sad really, is how all those who support him continue to find some excuse to justify this behaviour.

[Robert Roaldi]

I read that De Santis thinks that one of the benefits of slavery was that the slaves acquired some skills while in bondage. I think this comes out of the discussion about the new "de-woked" Florida school curriculum and about not tarnishing slavery with undeserved bias, god forbid. That would be expected coming from a klansman or a Bircher, but from a mainstream politician?

Aside from anything else, the conceit boggles the mind. Does he actually believe that Africans needed lessons on agriculture or of living off the land from a bunch of rich white boys from Dixie? How dumb is this guy.

[faberryman]

DeSantis is pandering to his base of ultraconservatives, some of whom are self-acknowledged white supremacists. They used to be a silent minority, but, with the advent of Trump, have come out of the closet so to speak, and have thereby exposed the sordid underbelly of the United States electorate. Since not everyone in the United States holds these beliefs, I expect it is as a result of nurture rather than nature.

[digitaldog]

DeSantis is pandering to his base of ultraconservatives, some of whom are self-acknowledged white supremacists. They used to be a silent minority, but, with the advent of Trump, have come out of the closet so to speak, and have thereby exposed the sordid underbelly of the United States electorate.

And elsewhere too:
How right-wing populism is gaining ground in Europe
https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/07/23/populism-europe-fareeds-take-gps-vpx.cnn

[Robert Roaldi]

I hate to keep harping on this De Santis guy. When I first heard of this I thought it was a joke, https://ca.style.yahoo.com/ron-desantis-says-blue-states-224306658.html.

The guy is supposed to be a lawyer. I think from Yale followed by Harvard law school. How can a "lawyer" say anything so absurdly incorrect. What about states with the death penalty? Is the death penalty considered a post-natal abortion?

Is it enough just to tick off "liberals" now? Is that what it's all about. Really? Is everyone now 13 years old?

[digitaldog]

De Santis is just a bad haircut.

[Robert Roaldi]

Interesting podcast interview with Cory Doctorow about how monopoly power is "killing" art, https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/bonus-cory-doctorow-knows-why-monopolies-are-killing-art/.

Doctorow is a novelist but is also an activist pushing the interests of artistic creators. He recently co-authored a book on the subject of how the online world is screwing over many artists (musicians especially) https://chokepointcapitalism.com.

The main theme is the problem of monopoly and "free market" competition about which there have been some discussions on these pages in the past. In the podcast he gives many examples of the unfair practices in the music industry but also touches on examples in other industries, e.g., chicken ranching.

The talk is crammed full of info, not a light listen but well worth it if you want a counterpoint to the propaganda out there.