News Weakly - 11/13/2021

Open Your Wallets
The president finally won the day. The Democrats in the House, supported by 13 Republicans, finally pushed through the next big bill for your kids and grandkids to pay -- a $1.2 trillion "infrastructure" bill. And why not? Hasn't Biden demonstrated his ability to manage ... in the debacle in Afghanistan, the southern border, supply shortages, skyrocketing inflation, freedom-sapping vaccine mandates and all? Oh, but wait, this will "turn the climate crisis into an opportunity," big on my list of concerns. "Radical socialist spending spree," one Republican called it. Welcome to Soviet America.

Risk Mandate
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay on the vaccine mandate for larger businesses after 27 states filed lawsuits. They call it "unlawful overreach." OSHA says they have the "authority 'to act quickly in an emergency where the agency finds that workers are subjected to a grave danger and a new standard is necessary to protect them.'" Here's my question. For those who have recovered from COVID, who have, according to multiple medical reports have at least as good if not better immunity than the vaccinated, what is the "grave danger" they are being protected from? Certainly not the risks of this vaccine.

New Math
Germany has about 70% of the population vaccinated against COVID-19. (Remember the old "We need 70% to achieve herd immunity"?) Isn't it odd, then, that Germany is experiencing its highest infection rate since COVID started. Is this vaccine really helping? It just isn't adding up.

Papers, Please
It's interesting to see tourism advertisements for southern California when they are perhaps the most unwelcoming place in the country. If you'd like to go to a restaruant, a shopping mall, a theater, even hair and nail salon, don't count on it in Los Angeles without "your papers" -- your vaccine passport. The clichéd "Papers please" from totalitarian regimes is becoming the norm in parts of California.

The Short List?
According to NASA, global sea level has indeed risen since 1993 (when they started monitoring it). Currently global sea level has increased by about 100 mm. For you Americans, that is slightly less than 4 inches. So it's a bit of a surprise to see how amazingly short some people in Tuvalu really are.

Coming Soon
With heavy-handed vaccine mandates running around for the majority of Americans coming up, the government expects to rely on "a corps of informers to identify violations." Employees will need to inform on employers if co-workers fail to comply. You know, like the good ol' days in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Coming soon to a totalitarian-style America near you.

Diversity
In a bizarre story from Michigan, the town of Hamtramck outside Detroit became the first in the nation to elect an all-Muslim city council. The story is of mild interest, perhaps, but the commentary is stunning. It reflects, they say, a "more racially diverse landscape." "This City Council truly represents all the elements of Hamtramck history, whether they are Arabs, South Asian or European descendants," they said. How an "all-Muslim city council" "truly represents" "racial diversity" seems to be a bizarre form of diversity and inclusiveness, doesn't it? Or have we now redefined these terms, too?

Questionable Sources
The ad tells us, "Be sure to review CDC guidelines with your family." I have to wonder. Is that because they keep changing them? Or is it because they're crazy? When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- a supposedly top-notch source for medical info -- can't distinguish between males and "pregnant people," why would we trust them with our health issues? (Note: There is no medical test for "people" and pregnancy. Only females who are pregnant. Only those with female organs can get pregnant. Popular lunacy aside, males lack those organs and cannot get pregnant. The CDC seems unaware of that.)

Got to Beelieve
Sesame Street sent an important message this week when they had Big Bird get vaccinated, showing children that all good puppets get vaccinated. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers, out of the NFL's good graces for not getting vaccinated, opted to beat his fiancé and kill a couple of guys on the street so they would embrace him again. And we have assurances from California's governor that the booster shot had "absolutely no side effects" according to Newsom's second head.

Must be true; I heard it on the internet.

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Postscript: I wrote last week about the president opting to have me fired for not getting the vaccine. In a surprise turnabout this week, my employers decided not to make me get vaccinated. I won't be looking for work soon, Lord willing and the federal government don't rise.