Virus Emerges from Sturgis
Biker dudes buy biker gear on splurges
Whenever they get those South Dakota urges.
But this year’s rally
Proved COVID-19’s ally,
As superspreaders brought home the virus from Sturgis.
Author: Buck Banks
Rudi Just Likes Scotch
“I’m not an alcoholic. I’m a functioning… I probably function more effectively than 90 percent of the population.”
He added: “I don’t think I’ve ever done an interview drunk. I have … sometimes … I mean, I drink normally. I like Scotch, I drink Scotch.”
— Rudy Giuliani denied having a drinking problem in an interview with NBC New York.
Green Sees Red Over Kabul Attack
“I’d start killing bad guys.”
— Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), to Fox News, on how he’d respond to the attack at the Kabul airport.
Sturgis a Stoopid Superspreader Event
3,400%
Daily Beast: “In western South Dakota’s Meade County, more than one in three COVID-19 tests are currently returning positive, and over the last three weeks, seven-day average case counts have increased by 3,400 percent. This exponential growth in cases is likely attributable to the 81st Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which drew an estimated half a million visitors to Meade County and its environs from Aug. 6 through 15, potentially acting as a superspreader event.”
School Board Meetings Finally Get Interesting
“Are you a Nazi?! … There’s a lot of bad things coming!”
— An anti-mask parent losing it at school board meeting.
Blue Counties Lead U.S. COVID Economic Recovery
“The geography of America’s economic engine is heavily concentrated in counties that Joe Biden won in 2020. These counties are much more heavily vaccinated than the rest of the country and thus better able to withstand the economic effects of Covid’s delta variant. … The 520 counties Biden won account for fully 71% of U.S. gross domestic product, while the 2,564 that Trump carried produced just 29%. In other words, America’s economic engine is bluer than ever.”
— Bloomberg Businessweek
Florida Seeing Nearly 300 COVID Deaths Per Day
277
New York Times: “More people in Florida are catching the coronavirus, being hospitalized and dying of Covid-19 now than at any previous point in the pandemic, underscoring the perils of limiting public health measures as the Delta variant rips through the state. … This week, 227 virus deaths were being reported each day in Florida, on average, as of Tuesday, a record for the state and by far the most in the United States right now.” Washington Post: “More than 17,000 people are currently hospitalized with Covid-19 in Florida, which has the most hospitalizations for Covid-19 of any state in the country.”
U.S. COVID Hospitalizations Top 100k
100,000+
Washington Post: “There are more than 100,000 people hospitalized with covid-19 in the United States, a level not seen since Jan. 30 — when coronavirus vaccines were not widely available — as the country grapples with the delta variant’s spread.”
What Was Spike Lee Thinking?
From the O’Dwyer’s newsletter op-ed section:
The Brooklyn filmmaker had featured 9/11 conspiracy theorists in the final installment of his four-part “NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021 ½” series to be aired next month on HBO.
He interviewed members of the nutjob “Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth” group, which spread the garbage that the World Trade Center was destroyed by controlled demolition and not by aircraft.
In giving them facetime, Lee justified the group. He then set up a false equivalency situation by including interviews with scientists who trashed the notion that 9/11 was an insider job.
The Architects and scientists shouldn’t be on the same set, Spike
The filmmaker defended his work, telling the New York Times on Aug. 23 that he survived past criticism of his films “Do the Right Thing” (racist), “Mo’ Better Blues” (antisemitic) and “She’s Gotta Have It” (misogynist).
He said it was up to viewers to make up their minds about 9/11. After reviewers hammered Lee for showcasing the 9/11 debunkers, Lee caved and is re-editing the last episode.
How out of touch could Spike be?
His endorsement of the 9/11 conspiracy spreaders is a boost to those who deny the results of the 2020 election and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Does Lee want to be a leader in the army of truth-deniers that is ripping the nation apart? One wonders if Lee has gotten his COVID-19 shot, or is that going to be part of his next documentary?
HBO also doesn’t emerge from the Epicenters mess smelling like a rose.
Dr. Democrat Assesses Afghanistan Ramifications for Dems
Dear Dr. Democrat,
I know that our team — the Democratic Party — is famous for unforced errors, but oh man. I’ve been against us leaving Afghanistan from the moment Biden announced he was following through on Trump’s deal to do so. Nothing, and I repeat, NOTHING has changed my mind on that, and as the withdrawal has progressed, I just wish we could turn back the clock and not do it. But we can’t, and here we are. I see only bad things ahead for the Biden administration at this point. The time to get the stuff done that we beat Trump in order to do is running quickly out. I don’t think we’ll prevail at the midterms, so it’s now or never and “now” evaporated today with ISIS attack on the Kabul airport. Please, Dr. Democrat, convince me I’m wrong.
Troubled in Toledo
Dear Troubled:
On a societal level, it’s tragic. But I’m having a hard time understanding how 75,000 Talibanis are able to hold a nation of 38 million hostage. There are about 40 million people in California. Could 75,000 MAGATs shut us down, take over our government, force women to wear burkhas and the rest?
