In Case You Missed it (v71)

Baby, it's cold outside, but nowhere near as cold as the experts said it was going to be. Which reminds me of this 2014 post about weather reporting and accuracy and translating that to the business environment - especially how the meteorologists use models to do their forecasts. Here' what that might have looked like, with me approaching my boss.

Hi -- got a sec? The auditors have asked us to provide ten years' worth of records related to the Doomaflatchey case, and they've given us five business days to provide the information.  I've reviewed the most reliable model on this and my forecast is that we don't have a snowball's chance in hell of producing the information in that time frame.  

See, that's the kind of thing that comes to mind when the forecasted low temp is off - by 16 degrees. But I digress. 

Here's your recap of last week's posts, starting with Sunday School, where Chuck Todd talked with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) about the election, among other things. The senator thinks a bipartisan investigation into the election is a good idea.

Let's point out that -- if there's misinformation out there, which I believe there was, then let's put that out and lay it out so the people can see it... Republicans and Democrats alike should support that... the best way to do it is to work our way through it and... show them publicly how well it was actually run.

I appreciate his stating that the election was well run and that there was misinformation out there, and agree we need to investigate, but only if the investigation is an overarching look  that includes the participation of members of Congress in the misinformation and interference. If we ignore that, we're idiots. 

For your Extra Credit, we heard from Dr. Deborah Birx's lengthy interview with Margaret Brennan for Face the Nation. This was an eye-opener for some people, I'm sure, who perhaps still don't believe that there was an active campaign within the White House to downplay the pandemic. Many of us felt that all along, and Birx makes it clear that's exactly what was happening. 

Birx said she wasn't doing national press, and wasn't going to ask to do it, either,

because there was so much leaking and so many parallel stories being leaked to the press that did not have grounding in truth that I didn't want to ever be part of that slippery slope. I know people started it with good intentions of trying to inform the American people, but then it became a way that they could silence those who didn't agree with them. And so, I knew that every time I had a significant disagreement in the White House that within days a story would be planted... I think a lot of people were doing that.

Some blame her for not quitting, and she does get into that in the interview as well. 

I had a séance of sorts, and called upon my inner conspiracy theorist Republican personality to drop a rant about unity and impeachment and Biden and Trump and yadda yadda yadda... obviously these are not my thoughts, they're the collected mashed up thoughts of a number of Rs - including elected officials - who are riding the whiny train right now, and complaining that the drinks are watered down and there aren't enough of them, or something.

He's gone! He's out of office! He's banned from Twitter! You stole the election from him! How much punishment do you think he deserves, for doing NOTHING wrong? How much is one man supposed to take?  What did he say that was so wrong?  NOTHING, that's what he said that was so wrong. Do you think people actually listened to him? Do you think the people who were arrested blame him?  Hell, NO - they blame ANTIFA and the DemoRATS and the Libtards and the socialists, that's who they blame! 

We know that's not true, but in a world of alternative facts, who cares about the truth? Seems lots of people don't.

And then it was time for Wondering on Wednesday, and I found myself scratching my head at how when Donald Trump promoted Buy American, it was the greatest thing since the Muslim Ban and the Border Wall that Mexico is Going to Pay For, but when Joe Biden strengthens the requirements to buy American, well, that's completely different.

"Now by putting these more restrictive 'Buy American' policies in place, we are further exacerbating some of the trade problems that we've had," (Brandon Arnold) opined. "It's annoying people to the north, it's annoying other countries."

"We have to tread lightly here," ((host Ainsley) Earhardt agreed. "Because we want companies in America to do well but, also, we need [personal protective equipment] from other countries. Then we don't want to do anything to upset that relationship, maybe with China or someone else -- even though China is such a big threat."

Only on Fox News...

On Thursday, I dropped a Meanwhile Back in Albany post from last January, in part to jump-start my focus on what my Sonofa Gov Andrew Cuomo has in mind for New York this year. In addition to his pet projects, he also announced in his State of the State that we have to "end the 'American cancer' " of hatred.

Racism and discrimination are not new... It is this country consuming itself from within. And if we do not confront it, and if we do not defeat it, it will defeat us — there is no nation on this globe that can beat this nation, but this nation can defeat itself. 

New York must be the antidote. 

NY has a long way to go, as does the country. FYI, Cuomo's 2021 State of the State was delivered over four days - I've got my work cut out for me, I think.

And before I knew it, it was Friday and TGIF time, and I was still in a New York  state of mind, after AG Tish James dropped her report on nursing homes and COVID deaths and honestly, I think people are focused on the wrong thing.

COVID-related nursing home deaths were under-reported, perhaps by as much as 50%. That's an eye-catching number, for sure, but those 'excess deaths' were reported as hospital deaths, because that's where the patients died. The bigger issue, to me, that the report found fault with a number of nursing homes for how they were handling patients, infection control, and so on. Hitting the Sonofa Gov is great fun, for sure, but is he the real issue, or is patient care the real issue? Hopefully, people will understand it's the latter - that would be good news, for sure.

Which is more important to you - trying to damage the future prospects of the governor, or ensuring that our loved ones in nursing homes are getting the kind of treatment they deserve, and we pay for?

 And that's it - you're all caught up!  I'll be back later with your Sunday School.