Rebane's Ruminations
June 2020
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[The value of anything is highly subjective, always determined by a 'seller' and 'buyer' when they strike a deal.  Therefore the value of any given 'thing', e.g. human life, varies according to who is the human and who is the 'buyer'.  Any values set by third parties with no skin in the game are arbitrary and quickly circumvented by/in markets.  So consider the back window yellow diamond sign that reads 'Drive carefully, Baby inside', and another one reading 'Drive carefully, young PhD in neuro-science inside', or even one that reads 'Drive carefully, Community organizer inside'.  How would you rate the implied value of these lives?  to you? to society? gjr]

Posted in

365 responses to “Sandbox – 18jun20”

  1. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Note to the pony tail of ignorance @617 you are still so burdened by the comprehension issue. Its more than just TDS –
    https://www.foxnews.com/media/pollster-nate-silver-trump-can-win-2020-election
    😉

    Like

  2. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    ‘Hundreds of NJ Republicans Receive Misprinted Ballots Listing Only Dem Candidates’
    https://bongino.com/hundreds-of-nj-republicans-receive-misprinted-ballots-listing-only-dem-candidates?

    Like

  3. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    I love the fact that AG Barr had a few weeks ago set the 54 terrorist centers to go deep on the whos of organizing and more importantly FUNDING!
    You have to wonder if we shall see some leading lights of the left on both coasts pop up? For LALA land there is going to be a point where the burn it all down revolution funding may come back to bite with an indictment. LOL
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/22/watch-live-stand-off-in-d-c-after-protesters-try-to-topple-statue-set-up-autonomous-zone/
    😉

    Like

  4. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Don
    I agree he CAN win the election but his poling needs to improve. I doubt if he can win being 14 down in 538 polls but there’s time for him to turn things around. This is what Nate says:
    “Trump can absolutely win reelection but he definitely has his work cut out for him,” @NAteSilver538 says. https://fivethirtyeight.com
    Glad we agree that Nate Silver is a credible source.

    Like

  5. Walt Avatar

    Emery forgets Trump beat the polls the first time.(like a redheaded stepchild.)

    Like

  6. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    The strongest case against Donald Trump I’ve heard, but you have to watch it until the end.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxxHV5vu1Mo

    Like

  7. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Naw just a foil to your TDS @843 no agreement, I don’t want to be an enabler to your TDS after all.
    😉

    Like

  8. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 June 2020 at 07:08 PM
    I think I’ll just wait until the the only poll that matters occurs! Until then I think I can do without the old guy who isn’t sure who he’s addressing while LARPing as political consultant.

    Like

  9. Robert Cross Avatar
    Robert Cross

    Don @10:55. — your Dunning Kruger syndrome is showing again.
    This from life long Republican operative and advisor Steve Schmidt..it’s really worth reading for you DKS victims even if the truth hurts. I know you all don’t like the truth and prefer trump’s lies to reality but some Republicans are able to see through his BS.
    “Donald Trump has been the worst president this country has ever had. And I don’t say that hyperbolically. He is. But he is a consequential president. And he has brought this country in three short years to a place of weakness that is simply unimaginable if you were pondering where we are today from the day where Barack Obama left office. And there were a lot of us on that day who were deeply skeptical and very worried about what a Trump presidency would be. But this is a moment of unparalleled national humiliation, of weakness.
    “When you listen to the President, these are the musings of an imbecile. An idiot. And I don’t use those words to name call. I use them because they are the precise words of the English language to describe his behavior. His comportment. His actions. We’ve never seen a level of incompetence, a level of ineptitude so staggering on a daily basis by anybody in the history of the country whose ever been charged with substantial responsibilities.
    “It’s just astonishing that this man is president of the United States. The man, the con man, from New York City. Many bankruptcies, failed businesses, a reality show, that branded him as something that he never was. A successful businessman. Well, he’s the President of the United States now, and the man who said he would make the country great again. And he’s brought death, suffering, and economic collapse on truly an epic scale. And let’s be clear. This isn’t happening in every country around the world. This place. Our place. Our home. Our country. The United States. We are the epicenter. We are the place where you’re the most likely to die from this disease. We’re the ones with the most shattered economy. And we are because of the fool that sits in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk.”

    Like

  10. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Walt @ 9:46 in the AM.
    What a great reelection campaign issue! Won’t go anywhere, but is the thought that counts. Maybe I will take the white man’s money and sell my soul. Money talks, BS walks. It is coming from my Great White Father in Washington, no? Yeah, keep it in the family and roll your own.
    What a fantastic re-election campaign issue. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Why didn’t Sen Flake of Arizona think of that? Maybe single digits to high teens in the polls before the primaries had something to do with it, I dunno. John McCain stood around 20% popularity, maybe 22-24% Arizona Republican support at the time his brain tumor problems emerged, but what difference does it matter at this point anyway……
    I do like the Senator’s imagination. 50 miles from here will get me a hotel room in Sacramento, and all meals and “entertainment” on the house. How cool is that? I might get me a place that has a swimming pool. It’s like Yang’s weekly basic income checks, but instead of 50k/year, Mc Nally will give ya 50k with a month. Sure, you gotta til you file taxes, but a week bashing in a cement pond with AC and fine restaurants sounds tempting. Especially when one considers Sac’s diversity. Tip those maids and waiters, people.

    Like

  11. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Walt | 23 June 2020 at 09:46 AM

    The Arizona Republican introduced the American TRIP Act Monday that would give each American a $4,000 tax credit to take a trip. The vacation credit, retroactive to Jan. 1, would increase to $8,000 for joint tax filers plus an additional $500 for dependent children.

    It oughta be clear to all by now that this country is finished!

    Like

  12. Scott O Avatar

    fish 10:29 – “It oughta be clear to all by now that this country is finished!”
    Nah – the US Treasury has the fastest printing plants in the world!
    As soon as we go to all digital currency – then we are truly done.

    Like

  13. Mary Wanna Avatar

    scenes: Tucker Carlson gets way more airtime than he deserves. But Trump happy about so called liberal cities going up in flames is evidence of his incompetent administration.
    But hey, they built some fence in the desert!

    Like

  14. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Mary Wanna | 23 June 2020 at 11:09 AM
    But Trump happy about so called liberal cities going up in flames is evidence of his incompetent administration.

    Nothing is happening that the progressive power structures of the Big Cities™ isn’t allowing to happen.
    I’m surprised at you…..these are your places and your people! Still can’t believe you don’t live in one of them! Cowardice I imagine……talk a good game but hide in the hills!

    Like

  15. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    MW: “But hey, they built some fence in the desert!”
    Luckily, there was scarcely any barrier to begin with.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJLzcKveCcg

    Like

  16. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Scott O | 23 June 2020 at 11:06 AM
    As soon as we go to all digital currency – then we are truly done.

    Already 85% there!
    Machine go brrrrrrr!
    https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1789428-money-printer-go-brrr

    Like

  17. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    re: Trump Walls.
    This was a rather soothing video….
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piVd_6VPpyM

    Like

  18. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Oh Fish @ 11:15 am
    The most sympathetic and important Democrat block of voters for ‘The Resistance’ and ‘Grievous Industry’ and socialism is none other that white suburban women…the soccers moms, the educated, the privileged class, the source of systemic racism to those left outside the good schools, safer neighborhoods, and just safer. Away from the stink. Farther away the better Resumes got to the top of the file.
    That’s the battleground. Suburban educated females and moms. Helicopter moms.
    Consider this. GV, NC are just bedroom communities of Sacramento, so they say. And what is the first name of the person you addressed @ 11:09 am? Put it together and Mary is a white educated suburban and educated female. They want his vote and they will get it.

    Like

  19. George Rebane Avatar

    Well, from the 1109am above, we see that our progressive’s heart beats true to form. He and his kind know exactly how much air time people like Tucker Carlson “deserve”. And with reins of power firmly in Democrats’ hands you can bet the ranch that Tucker will not get a minute more than he deserves (which most likely will be zero).

    Like

  20. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Wonder how those looting and burning and spray painting on buildings images are sitting with suburban women lately? Wonder what they think, beyond the bumper sticker stuff, standard disclaimers (with denunciations)…..what are soccer moms thinking? Thinking about security for the family and kids, graffiti covered park buildings like bathrooms…spray painted stuff on sidewalks, the rising crime rate….what is she thinking about. What is she weighing in head head? Conflicting thoughts and making a quick list of priorities, I reckon. You can hold on to your beliefs and rage at injustice or the KKK and still put family first. You can stand In solidarity with the grieved anywhere on Earth, yet still be the mother hen closer to where you sleep tonight.
    I don’t know what large swaths of folks are thinking. Probably like our County’s real peaceful protesters. No prob with that, ever. Doesn’t mean I can’t poke fun at the students from Sunshine School House.
    What I do know is this: the big spike of gun sales/orders going on in America right now (some manufactures running 6, 8, 12 weeks behind new demand) is mostly due to first time buyers, such a single educated women, soccer moms and POC women, single or with kids, or all colors.
    Might be a glimpse what a large swath of vital Democrat voters are thinking. “I want it and I want it now! Lol. Don’t work that way. Gun control laws are not a myth.
    Call it they are getting educated. Sometimes a wake up kick in the rear is one step forward. A kick in the teeth is a quick way to break up with somebody, too.
    Where is the perfect compassionate conservative man?

    Like

  21. George Rebane Avatar

    What concerns me is that the lamestream is successfully hiding the blatant fact that this is an attempt to start a socialist revolution by America’s rabid Left, fully supported by the Democrats and their fellow travelers in academe, entertainment, corporatists, and news media. All the while the Republicans sit on the side cluck-clucking the weak-willed disapproval and the administration under Tweetin’ Trump does nothing but spews hot air.
    Bottom line, the double dummies and lightly read have at best no idea who really is doing the looting/killing/burning/toppling, and at worst believe the bullshit that it is the rightwing terrorists.

    Like

  22. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    re: BillT@ 12:01PM June 23, Year Zero.
    “the big spike of gun sales/orders going on in America right now”
    I swear there’s a profit opportunity somewhere.
    I was considering the possibilities in designing a good lookin’, California legal AR. Maybe not so tacticool looking, more like a Saiga Sporter or a Valmet Hunter. You get all of the bang and none of the scariness. All the pieces, minus the furniture, are mass produced of course. It would probably only take a few custom bits.
    The local woke people could buy them in good faith to protect themselves from the stenciled stinkass sign guy.

    Like

  23. Mary Wanna Avatar

    George: yes, Trump is incompetent, I got no disagreement there.
    https://twitter.com/RepsForBiden/status/1275505605873106945?s=19

    Like

  24. Mary Wanna Avatar

    Why so quiet around here about Ruinit’s latest Facebook tempest? I s it that you agree with her about your ‘right’ not to wear masks?

    Like

  25. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “George: yes, Trump is incompetent, I got no disagreement there.”
    So why not just wait for the election before burning down the cities?

    Like

  26. Walt Avatar

    Hummmm Mary is drinking hard…. Early.

    Like

  27. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “Why so quiet around here about Ruinit’s latest Facebook tempest? ”
    Who is ‘Ruinit’? What are you talking about?
    I have to admit you guys never stop though. Honestly, I admire your spirit.
    https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/hobby-lobby-cotton-stems-facebook-controversy-race-12208543.php
    Hang on, got it. ‘Reinette’. She’s crazy and represents a solid cohort of the town. I’ll look through the responses for anything noteworthy.
    The real facebook uproar are these three posts, cancel culture at it’s finest.
    https://www.facebook.com/olivia.steele.735

    Like

  28. Walt Avatar

    So it begins,,,https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/23/seattle-capital-management-unrest-chaz-chop/ That’s not going to look good come tax day for the city. The revenue makers are leaving.
    I say have the feral LIBrats make up the diff.🤣
    The Proggys letting the children run wild is sure going to get Biden the votes,,,, Right?
    BTW… Not a peep from Joementia on the spineless actions of Seattle.. Has anyone told him about it?

    Like

  29. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    moi@1:42 PM 23 June Year Zero ” I’ll look through the responses for anything noteworthy.”
    Wow, beaucoup crazy arguing people there. Reminds me of our own fight club except that no one brings any sources to the party. Lotsa anecdotes and TV knowledge.
    I spent my own minutes, some time ago, looking through the literature on masks…having posted a little of it here…pretty inconclusive. That’s not to mention poorly fitted, poor quality masks that people tend to wear. The first time I see a decently fitted P100 mask with goggles at the store, well, slap my ass and call me Mary.
    Failing the presence of a magic shot at the médico, I have a funny feeling that people forgot the whole ‘flatten the curve’ notion. C’est la vie, maybe the plague will actually disappear if we all wear masks for some magic reason (mutation?).

    Like

  30. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: scenes | 23 June 2020 at 01:34 PM
    Living vicariously through Blue Mob™ as they immolate the cities is the only thrill an old poseur gets these days. Naked in the urine soaked chair….Greek Fishermans cap at the ready…..heady stuff for the newly geriatric.

    Like

  31. George Rebane Avatar

    MW 131pm – Now I didn’t say Trump was “incompetent”; that’s only you trying to have both sides of a conversation. There are other more plausible explanations for his not putting federales into our cities. Try to pay attention.

    Like

  32. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    oh fish, you’re so dramatic. Don’t you have a life? Dump the fish name, quit supporting Trump and join a dating service and you might have a chance for female companionship.
    I’ll even give you comp tickets for two to a couple of my shows once things get up and running.

    Like

  33. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    scenes
    What medical or scientific background do you have to bring authoritative information to the table about the effectiveness of masks which you say are inconclusive. Show some documentation.
    Here’s an opinion I respect:
    White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said he has “no doubt” that Americans who aren’t wearing face masks, especially in large crowds, are increasing the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
    “When you have crowds of people together and you have the lack of wearing a mask that increases the risk of there being transmissibility. I have no doubt about that,” he said Friday on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”
    Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also said Friday that the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. appears to be going in “the right direction” despite a few “blips.”

    Like

  34. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    There have been quite a few “blips” since this interview a couple of weeks ago. Tulsa comes to mind Also Arizona and texas.

    Like

  35. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    “Wow, beaucoup crazy arguing people there.”
    Some locals here in GV and especially Nevada City simply do not feel safe going out unless everybody is wearing a mask. Geez, they (the unmasked) are easy enough to avoid if one has reached their own risk tolerance. Walk down another aisle, circle back around grab what you need and do a little product comparison etc. Stuff I do. What, Senior Shopping Only hours not good enough. If you not feel safe, don’t do out or off the property without planning. Gas pumps here in my neck of the woods have plastic gloves and squirts of hand sanitizer upon request. Most places have the plexiglass shields for the employees at the cash register to protect them from the unmasked.
    I can do only so much, but I don’t think we can ever make some folks feel safe. My safe place may never feel safe again!
    Think that was a bunch of fighting? Let ‘em fight over masks; voluntary or mandatory? It’s just a distraction from the millions of peaceful protestors.

    Like

  36. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Wow
    Fox News has Trump down to 38% in head to head polls with Biden who is 50%. Pretty grim for the ‘ol Trumpster and getting worse every day.
    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_biden-6247.html

    Like

  37. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    re: Paul Emery 2:13PM 23 June 2020
    My day job involves a certain amount of readin’ of them fancy papers in other topics, mostly with more maths than yer typical medical paper. I’ll be happy to ask you for any advice on playing American folk music however.
    Sci-hub is the place to go, but is more work than you’re willing to put in (plus it’s mildly illegal).
    Just being Paul’s Google Bitch for a second….
    https://www.livescience.com/are-face-masks-effective-reducing-coronavirus-spread.html
    “Due to shortages, the CDC also does not recommend surgical masks for the general public. These masks don’t seal against the face but do include non-woven polypropylene layers that are moisture resistant. In a surgical mask, about 70% of the outside air moves through the mask and about 30% travels around the sides, Chu told Live Science. For that reason, they don’t offer as much protection as N95s.
    That leaves fabric masks, which currently are recommended for general use by the CDC. Fabric masks also allow air in around the sides, but lack non-woven, moisture-repelling layers. They impede only about 2% of airflow in, Chu said.
    All of this leakage in surgical and fabric masks are why public health officials generally don’t believe that wearing a mask prevents anyone from catching a virus that is already floating around in the environment. Airflow follows the path of least resistance, said Rachael Jones, an associate professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of Utah who was not involved in the new research. If viral particles are nearby, they have an easy path around a surgical or fabric mask. And in the case of a fabric mask, wearers may well be wafting in particles small enough to flow right through the fabric.”
    https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1342
    “In conclusion, both surgical and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARS–CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface.”
    from article above:
    “”To me, it’s not harmful to wear these masks, but it doesn’t look from this study like there is a whole lot of benefit,” Jones said. The sample size for seasonal coronavirus was small, she said, and there was a large amount of non-mask-related variation in how much virus people emitted, particularly given that the majority of samples without masks didn’t have detectable coronavirus.
    One thing everyone does agree on is that, whatever containment provided by non-fitted masks do provide, homemade fabric masks are the least effective. The recommendations that everyone wear masks are because “any kind of impediment is better than nothing,” Chu said. But fabric masks are not expected to be as protective as surgical masks, she said. That’s why public health officials are warning people to remain at least 6 feet apart from one another, even if they are wearing masks. In other words, homemade masks are likely to be just a small piece of the puzzle for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.”
    I’ve run into quite a few papers, usually concerning influenza, that show lack of real value.
    OTOH, lotsa web sites show how you’ll die otherwise.
    My general conclusion is (a)your friends on facebook don’t know what they’re talking about (b)the results aren’t conclusive and (c)I think that most people don’t wear them properly in any case, plus they use crappy masks.
    Any other questions? I really don’t want to just sit and fill up George’s blog with cut ‘n paste jobs from old medical research papers.

    Like

  38. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    I’ll stick with Fauci scenes. Why would they hire him in this crucial time if there wasn’t confidence in his recommendations?

    Like

  39. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Paul Emery | 23 June 2020 at 02:05 PM
    oh fish, you’re so dramatic.

    ….that’s so 96 Punch! Siri thinks so anyway.
    Who are you trying to talk to now Punch? Your phone again …….or are you in communication with the past like yesterday evening? Any other voices in your head that the public at large should be concerned with?

    Like

  40. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Paul Emery | 23 June 2020 at 02:05 PM
    I’ll even give you comp tickets for two to a couple of my shows once things get up and running.

    …what fresh hell is this?

    Like

  41. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    …and, ya know, it just depends.
    Findings from a household randomized controlled trial of hand washing and face masks to reduce influenza transmission in Bangkok, Thailand Simmerman, et al.
    “We report the largest study to date of the efficacy of interventions to promote hand washing and hand washing plus face mask use to reduce influenza transmission. Influenza transmission among household members of a confirmed index case was not reduced by promotion of hand washing and face mask use.”
    …but there’s more to it than that if you grind through the paper
    otoh.
    Effectiveness of surgical masks against influenza bioaerosols Booth et al.
    “The majority of the masks demonstrated that they would reduce the exposure to infectious influenza virus present in a direct challenge by around 10-fold on average.”
    etc. x 1000.
    As I said, if my life depended on it, which it does to a certain extent, my general take is that quality mask properly worn might make a difference. Of course your eyes are still a vector. OTOH, all these people with a bandanna? or the geniuses with their noses sticking out? I’m treating that as a pretty useless protection.
    Paul, if you ever want to actually look up something rather than get it fifteenth hand from Drudge or HuffPo, I can always fix you up with original sources. Teach a man to fish and all that.

    Like

  42. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Scenes
    So do you don’t you recommend wearing a mask. Is Fauci wrong in his recommendations?

    Like

  43. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Wow.
    Trump is down to 45% approval by Rasmussen.
    Obama was down to 44% on the same date of his first term.

    Like

  44. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Year Zero June, 0000 to scenes.
    “The real facebook uproar are these three posts, cancel culture at it’s finest”
    Well, she (the FB lady) maybe isn’t a good fit for The Mine Shaft. But she knows how to sling whiskey. Firewater. When she is on the other side of the bar, it’s “Barkeep, two shot of Bourbon. Whiskey! That’s my princess. Refined, just like Bourbon. Them old rednecks drink name brand domestic beer and whiskey. Unrefined bunch of deplorables and hillbillies. Ist have been hell on Earth for her. Might cause another nervous breakdown. I can definitely see why she said,”Take this job and shove it, I ain’t working here no more.” Probably smells worse than the old Silver Dollar in GV. Opens at 6:00 am and stuck of stale beer and cigs. Best to wait til 8:00 to get a little hair off the dog that bit ya.
    Any bets as to when the artifacts of the historic hydrology mining days in front of the Miners Foundry come down? Think of that racist name. Miner’s Foundry. Disgusting. Probably won’t catch fire, at least the thick metal parts won’t burn. Need big crusher. Heavy duty equipment to erase those sights from my eyes.
    At least they could but face masks on all the old water monitors. Greenhorns mistake them for cannons

    Like

  45. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    moi @ 2:48: my general take is that a quality mask properly worn might make a difference.
    Paul the Question Man @ 3:04: So do you don’t you recommend wearing a mask.
    More of that news craft I see.

    Like