Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[LesPalenik]

Biden's not going to make four years.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1372937314477953027

Putin wished him good health, so that means he won't be sending any of his experts with Novichok.
Biden already fixed in 2 months more things than Trump did in 3 years, and he won't be firing every week any staff, so the situation looks quite promising.

[digitaldog]

The irony, this just in:

Trump's Mar-a-Lago partially closed because of COVID outbreak
The resort has shut down a section "for a short period of time” and quarantined some of its workers, a person familiar with club operations says.

[Alan Klein]

Putin wished him good health, so that means he won't be sending any of his experts with Novichok.
Biden already fixed in 2 months more things than Trump did in 3 years, and he won't be firing every week any staff, so the situation looks quite promising.

The border's a disaster, the North Koreans won't talk to him, he's pissed off the Chinese, he pissed off Putin who won't talk to us, he's damaged our relations with our old friends the Saudis, he screwed you Canadians with the XL pipeline cancellation, he's making America dependent on the Middle East again for oil and the need to protect it militarily, he's giving you Canadians and Mexicans a crap vaccine to pump into your arms at your peril, and is continuing a path to bankrupt America with more printing and higher taxes.   All in two months.  Did I mention destroying our fossil fuel industry with the green revolution? That's next.

[digitaldog]

After watching tonights news, and a video of Biden entering Air Force One, I'm going to get ahead of Alan's soon to be seen post about him: Alan may or may not have have ever tripped going up a flight of stairs. Only tripping over his tongue and keyboard. 
"In Washington, D. C., a gaffe is when you tell the truth". -JOE BIDEN

[TechTalk]

After watching tonights news, and a video of Biden entering Air Force One, I'm going to get ahead of Alan's soon to be seen post about him: Alan may or may not have have ever tripped going up a flight of stairs. Only tripping over his tongue and keyboard. 
"In Washington, D. C., a gaffe is when you tell the truth". -JOE BIDEN

Was there toilet paper stuck to his shoe like Trump?

[faberryman]

After watching tonights news, and a video of Biden entering Air Force One, I'm going to get ahead of Alan's soon to be seen post about him: Alan may or may not have have ever tripped going up a flight of stairs. Only tripping over his tongue and keyboard. 
"In Washington, D. C., a gaffe is when you tell the truth". -JOE BIDEN

Who could forget Trump's performance at West Point last year.

https://youtu.be/7pYoPCBGC0c

I hope you took note of the thunderous applause Trump received as he was drinking water out of his sippy cup.

[Alan Klein]

I promise. I won't laugh at Biden tripping until I show one about Trump.
https://twitter.com/TrumpDraws/status/826314938872246273

[Alan Klein]

OK  Enough time.  Now about Biden and Trump.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1372982815109840898

[TechTalk]

You may be right. But you're not an expert and you're not Fauci.  You kept telling us to listen to the experts.  Well, I am.  I am not listening to you but rather to Dr. Fauci, the expert.

No. You're not listening—you're hearing. You're reacting without understanding what you've heard. You still don't understand what vaccines do and don't do; the difference between a vaccine preventing disease and preventing infection; that there are different levels of immunity conveyed by vaccines; that a variant of a virus like influenza or COVID-19 is just that—a variant of the same disease. You lack a basic understanding of vaccines and immunization.

This might help you and Rand Paul...

Coronavirus: few vaccines prevent infection – here’s why that’s not a problem

https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-few-vaccines-prevent-infection-heres-why-thats-not-a-problem

Vaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you getting infected too. The latter is known as “sterilising immunity”. With sterilising immunity, the virus can’t even gain a toehold in the body because the immune system stops the virus entering cells and replicating.

There is a subtle yet important difference between preventing disease and preventing infection. A vaccine that “just” prevents disease might not stop you from transmitting the disease to others – even if you feel fine. But a vaccine that provides sterilising immunity stops the virus in its tracks.

In an ideal world, all vaccines would induce sterilising immunity. In reality, it is actually extremely difficult to produce vaccines that stop virus infection altogether. Most vaccines that are in routine use today do not achieve this.

The first SARS-CoV-2 vaccines to be licensed have been shown to be highly effective at reducing disease. Despite this, we don’t yet know whether these vaccines can induce sterilising immunity. It is expected that data addressing this question will be available from the ongoing vaccine clinical trials soon. Although even if sterilising immunity is induced initially, this may change over time as immune responses wane and viral evolution occurs.

* There is much more in the useful article linked above

[LesPalenik]

The border's a disaster, the North Koreans won't talk to him, he's pissed off the Chinese, he pissed off Putin who won't talk to us, he's damaged our relations with our old friends the Saudis, he screwed you Canadians with the XL pipeline cancellation, he's making America dependent on the Middle East again for oil and the need to protect it militarily, he's giving you Canadians and Mexicans a crap vaccine to pump into your arms at your peril, and is continuing a path to bankrupt America with more printing and higher taxes.   All in two months.  Did I mention destroying our fossil fuel industry with the green revolution? That's next.

What good were Trump's lovey dovey talks with Korea? Kim Un Jong has been shooting lately more rockets than Elon Musk.
It's true that Trump didn't damage the relations with Saudis, but he ruined the cooperation with the rest of the world.
No worry about dependency on Middle East oil, the solar and wind energy are already cheaper than the fossil fuels. More jobs are being created in various technology fields than on farms. And maybe the farms will switch again to growing healthy food instead of ethanol fuel.

[digitaldog]

Was there toilet paper stuck to his shoe like Trump?

None. Unlike Trump, Biden knows how to wipe his own ass.

[digitaldog]

Who could forget Trump's performance at West Point last year.

https://youtu.be/7pYoPCBGC0c

I hope you took note of the thunderous applause Trump received as he was drinking water out of his sippy cup.

And afterwards, Alan and Trumps followers were (as expected) silent on the topic of senility and cognitive in-abilities. 

[Alan Klein]

No. You're not listening—you're hearing. You're reacting without understanding what you've heard. You still don't understand what vaccines do and don't do; the difference between a vaccine preventing disease and preventing infection; that there are different levels of immunity conveyed by vaccines; that a variant of a virus like influenza or COVID-19 is just that—a variant of the same disease. You lack a basic understanding of vaccines and immunization.

This might help you and Rand Paul...

Coronavirus: few vaccines prevent infection – here’s why that’s not a problem

https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-few-vaccines-prevent-infection-heres-why-thats-not-a-problem

Vaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you getting infected too. The latter is known as “sterilising immunity”. With sterilising immunity, the virus can’t even gain a toehold in the body because the immune system stops the virus entering cells and replicating.

There is a subtle yet important difference between preventing disease and preventing infection. A vaccine that “just” prevents disease might not stop you from transmitting the disease to others – even if you feel fine. But a vaccine that provides sterilising immunity stops the virus in its tracks.

In an ideal world, all vaccines would induce sterilising immunity. In reality, it is actually extremely difficult to produce vaccines that stop virus infection altogether. Most vaccines that are in routine use today do not achieve this.

The first SARS-CoV-2 vaccines to be licensed have been shown to be highly effective at reducing disease. Despite this, we don’t yet know whether these vaccines can induce sterilising immunity. It is expected that data addressing this question will be available from the ongoing vaccine clinical trials soon. Although even if sterilising immunity is induced initially, this may change over time as immune responses wane and viral evolution occurs.

* There is much more in the useful article linked above

What does this have to do with the discussion about what Fauci said in the senate meeting?

[Alan Klein]

What good were Trump's lovey dovey talks with Korea? Kim Un Jong has been shooting lately more rockets than Elon Musk.
It's true that Trump didn't damage the relations with Saudis, but he ruined the cooperation with the rest of the world.
No worry about dependency on Middle East oil, the solar and wind energy are already cheaper than the fossil fuels. More jobs are being created in various technology fields than on farms. And maybe the farms will switch again to growing healthy food instead of ethanol fuel.

NK and the west were almost at war.  They were testing nuclear bombs and ICBMs until Trump shook hands with Kim and Kim stopped. It's been that way since then.  Let's hope Biden  continues the work Trump completed to date.  If he does, I'll complement Biden as well.

We'll see what cooperation Biden gets in our attempt to reign in China.  The European will do nothing but make promises.  Their commercial interests in China will outweigh any tangible help they'll give us to cause CHiona any problems.  It will be mostly words. But they'll be working behind our back making commercial deals with the Chinese.

Green energy is not cheaper the fossil fuels because you need fossil fuels to back up green. Why do you keep repeating this erroneous statistic? Germany's electricity production is around 45% yet they pay 2 1/2 times more than Americans do for electricity.  Now Germany has to replace twenty-year-old wind generators that are already obsolete at huge costs to install and get rid of the old ones as well as pay for new ones.  I agree that we should stop making methanol for gasoline.  That's stupid and wasteful.  Gas should come 100% from oil, not 90%.  But that's government getting involved for political reasons, something I disagree with. 

[Alan Klein]

Is this Joe Biden?  Maybe it's the FBI concerned about big mouths and giving security clearances.

Same old Joe: Rebuffing staff who smoked pot fits Biden’s MO
The White House press secretary acknowledged Friday that marijuana use has led to five staffers losing their jobs.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/19/same-old-joe-rebuffing-staff-who-smoked-pot-fits-bidens-mo-477283

[digitaldog]

Looks like the big orange guy has money problems:

Glory days of Trump's gold-plated 757 seem far away as plane sits idle at a sleepy airport
Today it sits idle on an airport ramp in Orange County, New York, about 60 miles north of Manhattan**.
One engine is missing parts. The other is shrink-wrapped in plastic. The cost to fix and get it flyable could reach well into the high six-figures, a price-tag Trump doesn't appear to be dealing with right now. Though the current state of his finances aren't public, the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the hospitality industry home to so many of his businesses.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/19/politics/trump-757-repairs-gold-plated-glory-days/index.html
** maybe Alan can jog over and tell us what's actually going on?
No, not likely. 

[digitaldog]

Is this Joe Biden?  Maybe it's the FBI concerned about big mouths and giving security clearances.

Same old Joe: Rebuffing staff who smoked pot fits Biden’s MO
The White House press secretary acknowledged Friday that marijuana use has led to five staffers losing their jobs.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/19/same-old-joe-rebuffing-staff-who-smoked-pot-fits-bidens-mo-477283

This guy did more than just smoke pot (and he got away with it of course):
Officials rejected Jared Kushner for top secret security clearance, but were overruled
Jared Kushner was rejected for a top-secret clearance by two career security specialists, but their supervisor overruled them and approved him, sources say.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/officials-rejected-jared-kushner-top-secret-security-clearance-were-overruled-n962221
Naturally, Alan's utter lack of focus on the history and facts, shows his post above is simply more of his hypocrisy. 

[LesPalenik]

Green energy is not cheaper the fossil fuels because you need fossil fuels to back up green. Why do you keep repeating this erroneous statistic? Germany's electricity production is around 45% yet they pay 2 1/2 times more than Americans do for electricity.  Now Germany has to replace twenty-year-old wind generators that are already obsolete at huge costs to install and get rid of the old ones as well as pay for new ones.  I agree that we should stop making methanol for gasoline.  That's stupid and wasteful.  Gas should come 100% from oil, not 90%.  But that's government getting involved for political reasons, something I disagree with.

That was true at one time, but now it's obsolete thinking. Why do you keep repeating this erroneous statistic?
In the olden days, the electric utilities didn't use batteries to smooth out the fluctuations in energy production and use. Today, the utilities are starting to employ huge batteries (batteries of all kinds - lithium, earth mass, liquids, gas, etc).

In Australia, the Hornsdale Power Reserve project paid for itself within 2 years and improved dramatically the service. Two Years ROI, while improving the service!
Recently, Elon Musk entered the Texas power market, with a construction of a gigantic battery connected to an ailing electric grid that nearly collapsed last month.

At 100MW/129MWh, the Hornsdale Power Reserve is the largest lithium-ion battery in the world, and is providing essential grid-support services.
The 50MW/ 64.5MWh expansion, currently under construction, will further showcase the complete benefits that grid-scale batteries can provide to the National Electricity Market (NEM) and Australian consumers.

In its first two years of operation, the project saved South Australia consumers over $150 million.

https://hornsdalepowerreserve.com.au

Tesla Is Plugging a Secret Mega-Battery Into the Texas Grid
The move marks Tesla Inc.’s first major foray into the epicenter of the U.S. energy economy. The utility-scale battery located outside of Houston will connect to the same grid that faltered in February’s freeze.

A Tesla subsidiary registered as Gambit Energy Storage LLC is quietly building a more than 100 megawatt energy storage project in Angleton, Texas, a town roughly 40 miles south of Houston. A battery that size could power about 20,000 homes on a hot summer day.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-03-08/tesla-is-plugging-a-secret-mega-battery-into-the-texas-grid

Being non-residents of Australia and Texas, we can only marvel at the size and effectiveness of these projects. However, it's not too late to buy TSLA shares and benefit from these developments.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not not a financial advisor and my analysis and reporting are for education and entertainment only.

[TechTalk]

They were testing nuclear bombs and ICBMs until Trump shook hands with Kim and Kim stopped.

North Korea already had nuclear and ICBM capabilities when Kim and Trump met. The meetings produced no treaty or agreement, only love letters and a joint statement.

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/12/619168996/read-the-joint-statement-from-president-donald-trump-and-kim-jong-un

1. The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new U.S.–DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.

2. The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

3. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration [joint statement following meetings between Kim and South Korean president], the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

4. The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.

Afterward, talks were broken off by North Korea and they started testing sub launched missiles for the first time, which are more mobile and harder to detect than ICBMs making them even more dangerous. They played Trump's ego with flattery and moved on to expanding their range of capabilities.

[Robert Roaldi]

The border's a disaster, the North Koreans won't talk to him, he's pissed off the Chinese, he pissed off Putin who won't talk to us, he's damaged our relations with our old friends the Saudis, he screwed you Canadians with the XL pipeline cancellation, he's making America dependent on the Middle East again for oil and the need to protect it militarily, he's giving you Canadians and Mexicans a crap vaccine to pump into your arms at your peril, and is continuing a path to bankrupt America with more printing and higher taxes.   All in two months.  Did I mention destroying our fossil fuel industry with the green revolution? That's next.

That's quite funny, thanks for the laugh.