rjshae

To be fair, these vaccines are based on a new technology and nobody knows for certain what the long-term effects will be. Many people are understandably a little uncomfortable with having a foreign substance injected in their muscles. Even in the medical field, there are people who are a little uncomfortable with vaccines. That being said, at this point I'll feel relieved to get my booster shot and (hopefully) be fully immunized.

I was thinking about an aspect of the Capitol riots yesterday: we supposedly have non-lethal area weapons based on ultrasonic and microwave technology. Why hadn't those been previously deployed to the roof of the building, just in case? Did they just not expect this eventuality?

I suspect there's some political pragmatism at work. They'll claim they are targeting 50%, then stall by cutting 5%, primarily to address economic difficulties. But the damage to the city's image is done. Violent crime is up in the city this year, but then it's up everywhere. The bigger concern is the large numbers of camping homeless, who everybody is thoroughly tired of. There doesn't seem to be much to be done about that though.

Sure. The protesters in Seattle occupied an area of several city blocks surrounding a police station; I think the station itself was just boarded up. I didn't care that much about the situation because I figured it was yet another protest in an area of the city that is more prone to political activistism, and the event would eventually wind itself down. To me, Mayor Durkan's acts seemed intent on resolving the situation with a minimum of bloodshed, so I was okay with a measured response. I know there are those who wanted a more punative action against the protesters, but I think it was mostly resolved peacefully in the end. (There were a couple of unfortunate losses of life, but to me that's on the protesters who drove out the police.) What I really didn't like for was calls by the activists to "defund" the police, rather than reforming it. To me that's an ignorant, self-defeating proposition, bordering on the idiotic. The Seattle police is now suffering morale problems and their people are leaving in droves. Fortunately that hasn't happened out in the suburbs where I live, and I'm okay with that. I do worry Seattle city could become a crime haven. I'm already uncomfortable going downtown these days, such as for jury duty. They need more police, not less.

Before Star Trek, they all just wore red hats.

Ya know, I actually agreed with him on several of his policies. Not all of them, but at least some. If he hadn't been such a vile, hateful, ignorant man I might even have come to support him. As it is, his mental issues make him much too dangerous to remain in power. He makes me feel like Presidential candidates need to be put through a battery of mental health checks. The kind that astronauts need to pass.

Two Lunar Lander Missions for 2021 First U.S. robotic moon lander since Apollo era planned for mid-2021

Or... he's a mentally-ill man in a disturbed state of mind who is constantly looking for ways to feed his fragile ego. He's lost touch with reality, and the country is responding to the threat he poses. Occam's razor applies.

Ruh-roh, Trumps honorary degree from Lehigh University has been revoked. How will his ego ever recover from this blow? https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/08/954883159/lehigh-university-revokes-president-trumps-honorary-degree

I can't really speak for the people of my state, particularly since we're in lockdown. It's a pretty mixed bag of opinions really. If I had to guess I'd say many people are disgusted by the whole thing, as I am. Mostly though I'm just glad it's over, and that Trump's political career is likely wrecked beyond recovery. But the more I see of this whole operation, the more disturbing it gets. I'll root for the FBI to dig out the roots of this misdeed.

...and it turns out some of the rioters entering the legislature were wearing paramilitary gear and carrying zip ties. Yeah, for hostage taking.

A ban that would actually matter: Pelosi Asks Military To Limit Trump's Nuclear Authority. Here's How That System Works It's not going to happen though. Scary time.

It's a good game. You get used to the figures pretty quickly.

Well the mad king is going to snub the inauguration. Just imagine if he showed up anyway. Awkward...

Snake legs, I think.

Democracy is messy, yes, but still worth fighting for.

The woman who was shot and killed was a Trump supporter. I think as people get rounded up and jailed, the stark truth will come out.

That was my thought as well. Historically, it reminded me of the Beer Hall Putsch. In that case though, the German police responded with much greater use of force.