TGIF 3/26/21

Time to make your good week/bad week lists. Ready?

The Capitol insurrectionists were "hugging and kissing" the police, according to Former Guy. 

It was zero threat, right from the start, it was zero threat. They went in, they shouldn't have done it. Some of them went in and they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards, they had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in and they walked out. 

Johnson & Johnson appears to be on track to meet their goal of delivering 20 million doses by the end of the month. 

The White House's announcement Friday was a surprise, then, with CNN's Kaitlan Collins noting that the goal had "been in doubt as of just a few days ago, given less than half the 20 million had gone out." Indeed, according to Politico, the administration on Tuesday said it only had four million doses of the vaccine to deliver. 

Georgia has decided that if I were to hand food or water to a voter in line waiting to cast their ballot, I'm trying to sway their vote, and I've committed a crime. At the same time, if I make food or water available to the same voter, but don't offer it to them, I'm not trying to sway their vote and haven't committed a crime. And boy, if I were a Georgian, I'd be ever grateful to my elected officials for “taking another step to making our elections fair and secure.” 

New York is on the verge of releasing the whole megillah of our new legal pot bill, maybe this weekend. One sticking point? Impaired drivers. According to Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, that doesn't seem like a big deal. 

There are almost 150,000 people in the state of New York who are medical marijuana patients, as we speak. And this is a multiple billion-dollar underground business, so there are tons of people who are already driving around in our communities with THC in their system. That doesn’t mean they are impaired.

Utah, on the other hand, has passed a bill that would require porn filters on new smartphone sold in the state - but the bill won't go into effect unless at least five other states pass the same requirement. Pretty sure NY won't be one of them; we're more likely to look at that as a revenue source, rather than a "public health crisis," which is how Utah views it. 

President Biden held a press conference yesterday, and more than one reporter asked whether he was going to run in 2024; add-ons were "will Kamala Harris be your running mate?" and "do you believe you'll be running against Donald Trump?" Because nothing's more important than talking about Former Guy to Current Guy. I did like this part of his answer, though. 

Oh, come on. I don’t even think about it. I have no idea. I have no idea whether there’ll be Republican party. Do you? I know you don’t have to answer my question, but I mean, you know, do you?

Virginia abolished the death penalty this week, becoming the first in the south to do so. Home of the first execution, in 1608, and more than any other state, it's now the 23rd to get rid of the death penalty. Here's what Gov. Ralph Northam said, before signing the bill.

We can't give out the ultimate punishment without being 100% sure that we're right. And we can't sentence people to that ultimate punishment knowing that the system doesn't work the same for everyone.

 I'll leave you with this info from AAA on gas prices. The average price of a gallon of gas in the US was $2.88 over the past week, and a third or so higher than this time last year. What's driving the price increase? It's not President Biden, no matter what your friends say. Rather, 

Fuel prices have gotten a boost from rebounding oil prices as the global economy recovers from the devastation of coronavirus lockdowns.

And that ship that's blocking the Suez Canal isn't helping, either; if you've got any ideas on that, be sure to let someone know.

TGIF, everyone.

Wondering on Wednesday (v216)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

I don't have a theme for tonight, so let's just meander, shall we?

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III will not be headed back to the United States Senate, having lost his primary to former football coach Tommy Tuberville. And he lost in spectacular fashion, getting not even 40% of the vote.  One could be forgiven for wondering whether Sessions might have thought about recusing himself from this race...

Peter Navarro, the president's Director of Trade and Manufacturing policy, might find himself manufacturing some sort of public mea culpa he can trade for a private pat on the back from his boss. Navarro, almost certainly doing his level best to do whatever he needs to for the team, wrote a nastygram whining about Dr. Anthony Fauci, and that got him in hot water with some folks. 

Even the president said Navarro was speaking for himself and shouldn't have written it, but I can't help wondering if Trump didn't let out a little squeal of glee when he heard about it.  Unless, of course, Navarro (a master of military language) was only following an actual directive of his commander-in-chief...

We had our first federal execution since 2003 this week, even though relatives of the three victims in the case had petitioned to not have the execution during the coronavirus pandemic, because they did not feel safe travelling to witness the execution. AG Snitty Snitty Bill Barr had said that it was the duty of the DOJ to carry out the death penalty sentences, in part to give closure to the families of victims and people in the communities where the capital crimes were committed. 

What's interesting, though, is that the family members did not want to see Daniel Lee executed; rather, they wanted to see him spend his life in prison, the same sentence given to the other person convicted in the crimes. So, I wonder: would there have been such a push to execute him, outside the presence of the victims' families, had they been supportive of the execution?  

And finally, we learned today that the 2012 Rose Bowl Parade has been cancelled because of the coronavirus.  Here's an excerpt from a statement making the announcement.

While the parade itself is more than five months from now, the preparation for such a large event typically begins in February. “In addition to the advance planning required by our band and equestrian units, the construction of our floats takes many months and typically requires thousands of volunteers to gather in ways that aren’t in compliance with safety recommendations and won’t be safe in the coming months,” said David Eads, Executive Director/CEO. “While we are extremely disappointed that we are unable to host the parade, we believe that not doing so will prevent the spread of COVID-19, as well as protect the legacy of the Rose Parade for generations to come.”

Now, what's got me wondering here?  Simply this: if it's not safe for adults to build floats and decorate them with flowers and other materials, how can it possibly be safe to send children to school?