Know what’s really irreparable to our country? The conservative nut jobs and the looney tune fringe of the GOP that spins lies about life saving vaccines that keep people (the majority of their adherents) from getting inoculated.

The lies they have spread about the election process that make citizens question our Democratic institutions, even to the point of inducing weak minded individuals to commit a seditious storming of the capital to disrupt the lawful certification of electors.

The lies they spin about history, various races and ethnic groups, the economy, the environment, etc. is mind boggling. They’d love to suppress progress made on civil rights and throw us right back into the dark ages. That’s where the irreparable damage is occurring.

I get the SSoB comment.

 

The Northern extension was to put an *additional* 830,000 barrels of oil in to the US. While we *could* ship that oil out of the country, we also could *keep it* if need arose. Now we don't have that option and have to ask OPEC to cover our shortfall at whatever price they choose to sell to us. How is that NOT harmful to us?

The pipeline extension is no longer being built, and won't be built in the future, the loss of this oil is therefore irreparable.

 

Historically, the right wing has always believed in vaccination. The modern anti-vax movement was really started by Jenny McCarthy and other LEFT wing nuts that didn't like the thought of their precious children getting vaccinated, some nuts in the right wing have subsequently adopted their beliefs. At the end of the day, it's probably attributable to the left wing as well, as the Democratic party and the media DID conspire to keep Trump from his presidency by claiming the Steele dossier to be credible, etc. Once the right wing legitimately felt like the media and supposedly unbiased governmental agencies like the IRS and FBI were being used for political purposes against them, it's no stretch to see how some of them came to believe that anything the government recommended was being weaponized against them.

It is kind of stupid, though. After all, it was *Trump* that forced through rapid vaccine development and production with Operation Warp Speed. How his followers came to believe that vaccination was bad is beyond me.

Please. The Jan. 6th people were having a peaceful protest that an extremely small minority took too far. If it was an insurrection, D.C. would have been burnt to the ground.




Civil rights? How about Title 9? Who is trying to overturn that?

 

A NY judge has struck down NY's new mask mandate.

"
0:00 / 1:32
BeyondWords
A New York judge on Monday ruled that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s effort to reinstate the state’s mask mandate is unlawful and "therefore void and unenforceable."

Hochul announced in December that masks will be required in all indoor public places in the state unless the businesses implement a vaccine requirement. The move came shortly after the emergence of the omicron variant.

State Supreme Court Judge Thomas Rademaker said the state Department of Health did not have the legal authority to implement the mandate — and should have been approved by the state Legislature."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-judge-hochul

 

I actually believe Jenny McCarthy as well as many other parents were duped by an unscrupulous doctor’s now debunked theory that the MMR vaccine led to autism in children. Perhaps the only positive thing resulting in all that ado was that Thimerosal was removed from children’s vaccines out of an abundance of caution.

Trying to connect people’s unfounded fears of a vaccine that was spearheaded by their idol Trump, and received by millions of people without any problems, to any number of conspiracy theories is plain and simple BS.

The Jan. 6th insurrection which the dictionary defines as: a violent uprising against an authority or government is why 11 far right extremists are being charged with sedition. Trying to gaslight the situation doesn’t change the facts. One might argue however that you’ve laid the foundation for what happened during some BLM protests, that a small minority in a peaceful protest took things too far. At least you understand now how such goings on could occur.

 

As if this the end of it.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/us/new-york-state-mask-mandate-ruling/index.html


New York's state mask mandate is still in effect -- for now.

After two days of court hearings, a judge ruled the mandate will stay in place at least until the end of the week, so all sides can respond.
On Monday, a judge struck down the mandate, but an appellate court judge on Tuesday put it back temporarily after the state attorney general's office tried to block the new ruling from going into effect, citing "irreparable harms."
The judge on Monday ruled that the state's Department of Health did not have the authority to enact such a mandate without approval from the legislature.

But Attorney General Letitia James' office filed a motion to stay the ruling.
"A judge has granted our motion to keep New York's mask mandate in place while our appeal process continues," Attorney General Letitia James tweeted after the appellate judge's stay. "Protecting the health of New Yorkers during the #COVID19 pandemic is our top priority."

 

The judge's point was "this is the legislature's job". NY is a heavily Dem state, they should have no problem passing such a law -- if that is what they want. If it's no longer an "emergency", the executive wing shouldn't be using emergency powers to force through things they want to do. This isn't about covid at this point, it's about the executive trying to break down separation of powers. It is too bad it wasn't Trump ordering this mask mandate, if it was I'm sure New Yorkers would say how bad it was that he was running roughshod over the legislature.

 

I can well believe they were *initially* duped, and think they were not wrong in believing the doc. However, when it became apparent the doc was basically a criminal who faked his research, McCarthy et. al. had the obligation to come out and say, "we were taken in by this guy, there really isn't a problem". They didn't do that, though, they doubled down on their belief and convinced a lot of people a problem existed when it didn't, resulting in harm to the community. She deserves the scorn that's heaped on her.

How many people showed up to the peaceful protest on Jan 6th? 20,000 or so? And of that number they are charging 11 people with seditious conspiracy charges? Hardly a revolution, and considering the Billions of dollars of damages done in the George Floyd and antifa riots, and the flat out criminal behavior that wasn't prosecuted during them, it's pretty obvious that the charges against the Jan 6th people are politically motivated and not prosecutions based on actual damages done. Sure, it sucks for them that the swamp is punishing them, but who knows, one day they might be respected as the John Browns of our time.

 

As a person employed in a “health science” field I’m surprised to hear you say that. Yes, that was the judge’s reasoning but we know masks help to prevent the spread of not only covid but influenza and colds as well. The judge may be versed in the law but he knows squat about science. The mask mandate as ordered by the Governor was originally supposed to be reviewed in Feb. anyways but she has said if she has to go the legislative route she will and those who are whining and resisting can become law breakers when it passes. Ask and ye shall receive.

In the meantime some schools are making wearing a mask part of the schools dress code and will be enforced as part of the school’s code of conduct for students. That’s thinking outside the box. Why parents would resist an effort to keep their children healthy shows me they place “politics” above the well being of kids plus the fact that they’re dumb as fence posts.

 

Hey, I agree that McCarthy should have given it up when Wakefield’s theories were disproved but that’s a fine example of digging in which causes more harm than good. Those opposed to the Covid vaccines should also wise up and not just in the hospital when their loved ones are dying of covid and it too late to take it.

As I understand it, the eleven charged are considered ring leaders who helped steer the others into their attempted insurrection. Many have been charged with lesser crimes surrounding the event and I love to hear them apologize when it comes to a hearing. Some will say Trump called them there and they were following his orders. Has anyone stood in front of a judge and repeated the “big lie”? Hardly and they talk about “sheep”.

While charges in some case revolve around damages it’s usually accompanied by trespassing or other indictments as well. If they could catch more of the looters that desecrated the Peaceful BLM protests, I’m sure they would prosecute them for their behavior as well.

Now, this is just a thought but I was reading an interesting article in the new Time magazine written by someone involved in AI technology. She said that AI doesn’t work as well in identifying facial features of people with darker skin color so maybe when reviewing camera footage of an incident it’s easier to pick out those white faces. If I can find a digital link I’ll edit it in later. Too bad for the Jan. 6th crowd, lol.

 

I've got no problem with mask use.

However, the judge herself said her decision was not a referendum on mask use or usefulness, but was a question of the law. And actually, the legislature could pass this mandate in a day. After a call to order someone could propose passing the current mandate as a law until the state health authorities said it was no longer necessary, someone else would second it and they'd all vote on it. Total time necessary? Probably about half a day. This sets a precedent, is the problem. Just like when Reid had his nuclear option for the senate, etc., and everyone thought it was so wonderful.. until it was later used against them when the tables turned. LOL, now I can see you saying, "meh, there's not a snowball's chance that the Republs will take over control of NY", but *something* might happen you don't like, and now you are giving up the law's protection to stop it.

 

It’s obvious you aren’t familiar with the NY legislature. I doubt anything can be passed in one day, LOL, but from your lips to their ears. We can only hope.

 

On the apologizers, a long time ago I had a conversation with a criminal who admitted rolling over on his fellow criminals for a lighter sentence. He said it was really easy to be a tough guy when you're just talking about it, but when you are REALLY about to get sentenced to 20 years (or whatever it was), that toughness can go right out the window and you think about your own life. I bet it's the same here, those people probably still believe what they used to, but being faced with hard time are doing what they can to appease the judge.

On the BLM protests, that sounds good, but we know that most of these cases were dropped by the prosecution, meaning most of the people they CAUGHT were not prosecuted, which makes it pretty obvious the police aren't going to look for more people to arrest when they won't be prosecuted anyway. LOL, how unlike in the Jan 6th protest where hordes of police and FBI agents tirelessly pore over footage from the event trying to find anyone and everyone they can!

"
An analysis of NYPD data by NBC New York has showed that out of the 118 arrests that were made in Bronx in June 2020, most cases have been dismissed, a total of 73.

Another eighteen cases remain open and there are 19 convictions for lesser counts like trespassing, which carry no jail time, the report states.

The data shows that in Manhattan there were 485 arrests.

222 have now been dropped and 73 got lesser counts.

Another 40 cases involved juveniles and were sent to family court; 128 cases remain open.

Of the 485 cases just 128 remain open, with 40 cases involving juveniles and cases sent to family court."

https://www.the-sun.com/news/3123181/hundreds-blm-rioters-looters-vandals-charges-dropped/

 

On a normal bill, I wouldn't expect anything, but here? All they have to do is accept the current mandate as written. That shouldn't take long, IF the legislators actually cared about passing it.

 

Sure, it’s human nature to want to save your own skin. That’s why it’s a tool prosecutors use to good advantage. The way I look at it, if your actions are dictated by a strong belief, then you stick with it and take the consequences. Nelson Mandela served 27 years in prison as a result of his efforts to dismantle apartheid. He never “recanted” and later rose to lead his country. Now, not everyone has that sort of metal but how strong were their beliefs to begin with?

Getting back to Jan. 6th. In a few cases, with these people who were dealt with leniently, put on probation and were later found to be in violation of the conditions of their release were then remanded back to jail for stiffer measures.

I looked it up and here’s where we stand so far, although prosecutions are ongoing…

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/one-year-jan-6-attack-capitol

The walk of shame:

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/04/jan-6-insurrection-sentencing-tracker-526091


Who’s being lenient with who?

 

Well as someone who has followed all the precautions and has been vaccinated, I caught Covid last week and my home test came up positive last Tuesday. It was a mild case, scratchy throat, low grade fever and fatigue mostly. The scariest thing is your mind worrying that it'll get worse even though you know the odds are well in your favor. The weirdest thing was this rash on the roof of my mouth from the infection. Never had anything like that. But I'm back to 100% now and had a negative test yesterday.

I think I caught it from someone in the store. An unmasked person started coughing like an idiot and they were within 6 feet of me.

 

Sorry to hear you became infected, but glad to hear it was mild. Have there been any lingering symptoms like loss of smell/taste?

 

I’m so sorry to hear that! Goes to show how transmissible some of these variants are. I’m so happy you were vaccinated. Who knows how sick you may have gotten without the extra protection. I wish everyone would understand the importance of wearing masks in public. Welcome back to healthy.

 

My older brother also has covid, even though he’s been vaccinated. It’s what happens when you are around unvaccinated people. At least for him.
It’s settled in his lungs, but he said he’s feeling a bit better.
We’re still worried as he has diabetes and has had 3 heart attacks.


The truth is out there

 

Good to hear you are better. I think that omicron is going to touch everyone at some point. Some are going to get unlucky and get sick but most of us should just get mild symptoms. Its funny. I used to say the zombie apocalypse spread fast enough because we would get ahead of it and quarantine. Two years in, some have proven that they would go out of their way to spread the walker virus if given the chance. We are nowhere near as safe as i thought.


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