Weekend link dump for August 1

“Federal Courts Keep Shooting Down Anti-Trans Laws. Will That Hold at SCOTUS?”

“Your location data is for sale, and it can be used against you.”

Australian cockatoos can open garbage can lids, and what’s more, they can learn how to do it from other cockatoos.

“It seems like after the election, someone really did stop talking about COVID-19. It was the guy who never cared.”

“A Vaccine Or This Marriage: Conspiracy Theories Are Tearing Couples Apart“.

“Quick thread: I don’t think most people know what antivaxx posts on Facebook really look like. That’s good. Why would you? But I think people assume it’s Suzy Turmeric plaintively yelling at you about the microchip, and it’s not. It looks like this. Like code. Or gibberish.”

“Even in the face of Delta, vaccines are still doing what they’re designed to do. That is, they’re defanging the threat of a Covid-19 infection, protecting people from getting so sick they have to be hospitalized and from death. Pretty much nothing in medicine is absolute, so a tiny fraction of vaccinated people will still wind up getting really sick, but there’s a clear reason why some 97% to 99% of current hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among those who are unvaccinated.”

“A mysterious marketing agency secretly offered to pay social media stars to spread disinformation about Covid-19 vaccines. Their plan failed when the influencers went public about the attempt to recruit them.”

Want to buy some classic pinball machines? Now is your chance.

RIP, Bob Moses, civil rights leader and voting rights advocate.

“There is no way to understand the January 6th insurrection without beginning with the fact that it was led by, at the behest of and for the benefit of Donald Trump. It was the result of his actions. It was one of the final developments in a failed coup plot by Donald Trump.”

Rep. Mo Brooks is a traitor. Fortunately, he’s also an idiot. That may help to hold him accountable.

RIP, Dusty Hill, founding member and bassist for ZZ Top. I spent some time Wednesday afternoon , though please understand that the only correct way to listen to “Waitin’ For The Bus” is having it segue into “Jesus Just Left Chicago”. I played that for Olivia a couple of years ago, partly to explain how the age of streaming means a loss of such musical conventions. She was properly impressed.

“But the coverage of the hearing and the violence those officers experienced at the hands of people sent to the Capitol by Donald Trump could have unfolded very differently if Republican flamethrowers like Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio had been seated on the committee.”

“As we all know, Donald Trump isn’t the cause of the Republican Party’s descent into madness. He’s merely the result of decades of evolution that started when Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, Rush Limbaugh picked up a microphone, and Newt Gingrich reinvented modern conservatism. But these were just warm-up acts. It wasn’t until Fox News was up and running that we started to see permanent changes in the electorate.”

RIP, Ron Popeil, infomercial and “As Seen On TV” king.

“Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over Black Widow‘s Disney Plus release”. She’s due a bonus based on box office receipts, which are of course lower now that the movie was simultaneously released on D+.

We need to be placing the burdens on non-vaccination on the unvaccinated. And we need to be clear with the public that the problem is the non-vaccinated. They’re at fault. They’re to blame. And even more, the public influencers, celebrities and political actors who’ve driven resistance to vaccination are to blame.”

“This is a significant development that will clear the way for witnesses to provide evidence to the committees investigating post-election conduct, including the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. It also presents important questions for the doctrine of executive privilege in future cases.”

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4 Responses to Weekend link dump for August 1

  1. Jason Hochman says:

    Everyone keeps saying that the vaccines do what they are supposed to do, but the CDC is recommending that you wear your mask because the super spreader in Cape Cod had 75% of the infections that were fully vaccinated.

    They keep saying that if you are vaccinated, you have a very low chance of being in the hospital or dying. You already had a very low chance of that without being vaccinated.

    NPR just had a small study in Israel that was saying that vaccinated people with breakthrough illness had more Long Covid.

    I don’t understand the logic of the vaccination fanatics.

    For example,
    CL: Are you vaccinated?
    Bob: No.
    CL: You’re selfish! Why aren’t you vaccinated?
    Bob: I’m not in a rush to get vaccinated…maybe I will, how am I selfish?
    CL: You could make me sick!
    Bob: But aren’t you vaccinated?
    CL Yeah, but you can still get me sick!!!!
    Bob: So if I get vaccinated I can still get sick?
    CL: Yeah.
    Bob: And if I get sick, I can maybe make you sick?
    CL: Right, maybe.
    Bob: How am I selfish then?
    CL: Because it’s the right thing to do!!
    Bob: Who says that?
    CL: The people who make it.

    There you go. Dust off your mask. Wash your hands.

  2. Bill Daniels says:

    I saw ZZ Top during the Y2K scare. A New Years Eve concert with ZZ Top would normally have been sold out, but so many folks were frightened off, we scored nice first row lower prom tickets, DAY OF SHOW, from a scalper for well below face value.

    Great show, great memory. I’m sorry for Dusty’s family and friends, for their loss.

    One notable thing, though, is how music transcends our other differences. We can come together as Texans and have something in common, have a common love and common pride for the Little Ol’ Band from Texas.

    We should try to do more of that.

  3. Kibitzer says:

    Yah … great to watch Willie Nelson get on the road again, for democracy. Beto too.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEhreQJGYC4ol.

  4. voter_worker says:

    “For many in her position, the choice to betray a loved one’s trust in order to prioritize their own health isn’t easy, and may come at a great personal cost.”

    REALLY? How is concealing the fact that you got vaccinated from a “loved one” who is clearly off the rails and actively self-harming and inflicting harm on you betraying trust? Mitigating the stupidity of your spouse is certainly not easy, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

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