Today in Outrage, October 13th, 2021
Now for some quasi-random thoughts on stuff I saw in my news feed today, mostly the things that make me want to scream at the journalist, presented in no particular order….
Two stories concerning organ transplants from Ohio today, in one the recipient was refused the transplant for refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccination and the other was denied the organ because the donor would not take the shots. Let that sink in for a minute: We have transplant lists and routinely deny people transplants because of lifestyle choices. Why should we give a precious lung to someone who is just going to fuck it up by continuing to smoke? You want the liver? Get the damned shot! If your identity is so tied up in your anti-vax position that you are willing to die for it, I admire your conviction. I also find you stupid AF.
Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia is not using its natural gas resources as a weapon against Europe. This is the man who claimed Russian misinformation was not intended to influence the 2016 Presidential race. He is ex-KGB, people. Anything is a potential weapon to him. But Europeans, being pragmatic and somewhat fact-driven, see the energy crisis as a reason to abandon fossil fuels. And Putin says he’s ready to supply Europe with additional gas. Even Vladimir realizes when he’s outgunned.
Four point three million people quit their jobs in August. Despite losing their enhanced unemployment benefits, 4.3 million people thought low pay, gropy bosses, Karen and Ken bitching because, well, they’re Karen and Ken were not worth their time and labor. Considering it costs more to put a child in daycare than a minimum wage job brings in, I can understand why they quit. It actually costs less for them not to work and they don’t have to deal with the particularly American classes of asshole called bosses and customers. Union membership also appears to be on the increase. The Plutocracy is not amused.
Speaking of the plutocracy, it appears they finally got exactly the politician they wanted in Greg Abbot, Governor of the Democratic Republic of Texas. Abbot’s executive order prohibiting vaccine mandates landed with a resounding thud at the doors of the two major airlines headquartered in Texas. Both Southwest and American indicated they would comply with Federal law over the diktat of a petty state governor. It remains to be seen how many other companies will follow suit but one thing is clear: You do business with the Federal government, you follow their rules.
It is instructive that 206 House Republicans voted to allow the United States to default on its debt. Leaving aside the question of who ran up the bills, these guys indicated their willingness to bankrupt the United States for what? Points with their base? Why? Apparently Mitch McConnell got taken to the woodshed, he’s now indicating he will not raise the debt ceiling again. And these guys claim they’re the fiscally responsible ones?
Now from the Department of the Painfully Obvious, it appears that President Joe Biden’s slide in the polls is largely due to dissatisfied Democrats. Starting with the obvious, he had no Republicans to lose, so the dissatisfaction had to come from somewhere. Could it be that we are dissatisfied because we voted for the suboptimal candidate because we wanted Democrats to get shit done? We old folks need to see, to hear and to chew (one of the provisions of the Build Back Better plan, if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it). Biden’s poor poll showing has much more to do with Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema than with Biden, whose plan is wildly popular (2–1 of all Americans approve). Newsflash: None of us give a shit about filibusters, comity or any other of the Senate bullshit, we care about our teeth, ears, eyes and roads. Get some shit done, Democrats, and watch the numbers rise.
By the way, most of us are in favor of a bigger social and infrastructure bill.
There was a bow-and-arrow attack today in Norway that killed five people. Meanwhile, locally, someone decided to open up on a mail carrier just doing his job, killing him. Today, statistically, guns killed 110 people in the United States. So why did a guy with a bow and arrow that only got five make the news?
The Feds are launching an investigation of alleged physical and sexual abuse of juvenile detainees in Texas. Them Texans is raping kids at the border? Say it ain’t so…. But hey, by Texas logic, those kids had been packing heat, that’d have ended that abuse real quick now, wouldn’t it. So new rule, Texas: Arm juvenile detainees so they can defend themselves against rapists….
The FDA approved its first e-cigarette today. Let that sink in: Decades of lung cancer and addiction to nicotine and the FDA approves a device designed specifically to addict people. WTF?
And finally, I can quit taking my baby aspirin each night. Thank you, science, for learning.
