THE ATLANTIC: Millions Are Saying No to the Vaccines. What Are They Thinking?

The article is a non-scientific look at why the vaccine is being rejected. But even so, it provides a window into the larger issues at hand. 

The words "elite" and "civil liberties" and "liberal" come up a lot. And there's an undertone of a sense of what you might term "American exceptionalism." 

People figure they know their own bodies, are completely selfish, and don't understand a virus. They mostly care about the fact that are being told to do something. And gosh darn it, no one can tell them what to do. 

I sum it up as 'Murica. I got guns and I got religion. And that's good enough to protect *me* - so just let me live my life unencumbered by any rational thought. 

It's sad in a way. And this is what we're up against. In order to move forward as a society, we need to get a better message across. On many topics. 

We need to encourage people to think, and embrace science. 

Read in The Atlantic: https://apple.news/AVavfaaNMRaGi7n7oHxNg6w

Sports on TV

I cut the cord a while back, and that means that certain channels are unavailable to me. Among them are the (formerly) fox sports regional media channels. They air the local pro sports franchises, so we can't watch them.

And in a purely absurd move, we can't get the channels through any package (you can only get them if have local cable, which means cutting the cord is impossible) and due to outdated blackout policies, we can't watch them, even if we subscribe to the sports' league pass. I can watch every game of the Seattle baseball team or Oklahoma City's basketball team, but not my local teams. Go figure.

Anyway, I was visiting someone yesterday and the Marlins were on tv. I noticed that it's not fox sports anymore - it's the Bally network. What the frick is that?

I google it. It's complicated. Kind of. Going back, this was a small regional network that Wayne huizenga (owner at the time) invested in to get his Marlins and panthers (hockey) on the air.

Buy outs and acquisitions, it becomes a part of the fox sports regional networks and stays that way for a long time.

Then disney buys out fox - except for news, business, and sports.

News & business get turned over to the shareholders (not something they want to be in)

Sports ... well ... because they own espn, they can't own them under fcc rules and besides they don't really want it.

So they look for a buyer. Fox sports gets sold off on its own. But the regional networks get bought by Sinclair. They are this weird, conservative group that has been acquiring tv stations and having them air very specific pre-recorded things that are "opinions" that might just as well be tucker or hannity on Fox News. 

More on that topic here: https://www.vox.com/2018/4/3/17180020/sinclair-broadcast-group-conservative-trump-david-smith-local-news-tv-affiliate

So disney makes a buttload of money. And the regional sports have a new owner - but they try to bury their affiliation by finding a sponsor: the Bally casinos!

Because nothing says sports network like a casino tie-in. 

So, in a way, it's just as well that I can't see them and don't have to deal with their nonsense. 

This

Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.

Trump Collusion Exposed In 2021: Aide Caught Red-Handed In Russia Back C...

The word of the day, boys and girls, is "collusion"

secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, especially in order to cheat or deceive others.

Back in 2016, it seemed clear to me (and to anyone with half a brain) that Trump colluded with Russia in order to get elected. There was certainly enough evidence to support the theory, and the Mueller investigation bore that out (even though Barr tried to spin it, that was the conclusion).

Yet, I got into arguments with idiots who decided that anyone who said there was collusion was the equivalent of the old man yelling at clouds.

How you like me now? I was right, and now I can tell those of you who argued with me to go fuck yourselves.

Interesting to note, that as the guest points out, it would have been difficult to make the evidence admissible, especially under the circumstances. So we couldn’t do much then...

I don’t know what becomes of this revelation, but it certainly makes the case that trump was a Russian asset, who undermined “our way of life” and then aided and abetted the enemy during the Russian bounties.  

And of course, there are fools who still believe in him, and think this is nonsense.  Sigh.  We have a long way to go to “fix stupid”

 

I think someone needs a new editor

Uhhhhh. Dollar general and 5 below are not the same store....

A whole new (cr)Apple experience!

Got new iPhones. For the most part, they were easy to setup, and transferring data was simplified from last time. Hey no iTunes required!

But there was a minor issue that my phone needed an iOS update, and when I tried to do that during the setup, it hung for an hour.

I had to start over and set it up as a "new phone" and do the update first. Then start over again and do the transfer.

But then it came time for purchasing apple care...that was just stupid.

We had some money on apple gift cards, so we put it on the "apple account" and then set out to sign up for apple care.

Sorry. You can not purchase it online using your apple account.

You can, however, go into an apple store and use gift cards there.

Which meant that we had to make a call to refund the money from the account to the gift card, and make a trip to an apple store to simply buy apple care.

So much for "for everything apple"

** with some exclusions, which you won't know until you can't do something.

Funny how this all works (campaign fundraising edition)

Never forget that for some people *cough* Trump *cough* elections are about money and profit. 

I saw a headline yesterday that Trumps lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to the GOP; they weren't allowed to use his likeness in any fundraisers. Only he may do that. They summarily shit canned the letter; Trump is a public figure and former head of the organization. Of course they can, in their opinion. 

And here's where things get interesting. 

As I've noted before, at some point the RNC fundraising effort (you know the machinations, data, and fundraising for the GOP) was folded into the Trump campaign. 

Politico broke that news, and you can read about it here: 

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/18/trump-machine-swallows-rnc-1067875

And since, they've put the keystone cops in charge of it, and according to some it's basically a mess. 

And this latest move by trump to control rights to his own likeness builds on that. 

And while there are many examples of how this has gone wrong, one of the best summaries was in this article:

https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/gop-operatives-decry-move-to-merge-trump-campaign-national-party/article_9dec3bff-98b4-5c9c-9632-a14b04e67c7d.html

John Weaver, the chief political strategist for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, stressed that the Republican Party cannot afford to lose more members than it already has under Trump, especially given the changing demographics in the U.S. with a shrinking white majority and changes in voting patterns among those with a college degree.

In the big picture, according to Weaver, any short-term gains for Trump are far outweighed by the long-term implications for the party's standing.

"We're in a demographic death spiral, and math isn't spinnable," Weaver said. "... There's a (party) re-alignment taking place right in front of us."

In many ways, they know that if "something" doesn't change, it could be bad news for the GOP.