US Politics: Ballot Mainetenance

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Just now, A Horse Named Stranger said:

You forgot Kash Patel. And when you look at Britain, some of the most distinguished polticians of Indian descent have been in goverment in recent memory. Priti Patel (no relationship afaik), Rishi Sunak and ofc Cruella Braverman.

Who was the weird guy who was always around George (if that is really his name) Santos before Santos was expelled from the House?

[A Horse Named Stranger]

3 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

Is a person too cynical to wonder how many of the 8,000 discharged soldiers died of Covid in the meantime?

Depends on your answer.

Too many is an acceptable one...

[mormont]

I've said it before: lots of folks are disinterested in politics. They don't care for it. It's complicated, messy, and often unpleasant to think about. So they don't pay attention to it. Some opt out altogether, some view voting as a chore that they have to do now and again, some look for short cuts and easy answers like 'which candidate would I like to have a drink with?'

Now some of those folks are going to pay more attention as the election nears and some are not. One way or another, they're part of the reason why polls at this point are unreliable.

Incidentally, one alternative way to think about the current polling is: at this stage, taking the personalities out of it, for an experienced challenger only to be marginally ahead of an incumbent who has strong political headwinds is an unusually bad performance.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

1 minute ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Who was the weird guy who was always around George (if that is really his name) Santos before Santos was expelled from the House?

Majorie Taylor Greene?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

10 minutes ago, mormont said:

I've said it before: lots of folks are disinterested in politics. They don't care for it. It's complicated, messy, and often unpleasant to think about.

So suck it up and be an adult. Under the future Tywin Administration all adults will be required to consume at least 15 minutes worth of political news a day. Those who don't will get slapped, and not by some dainty lady. It will be from one of those dude's in professional slap leagues, and we'll make sure to hire those with the biggest, meatiest hands. There's no excuse to be so disengaged. Those that still refuse will be kicked by a horse. 

Edited December 14, 2023 by Tywin et al.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

3 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

So suck it up and be an adult. Under the future Tywin Administration all adults will be required to consume at least 15 minutes worth of political news a day. Those who don't will get slapped, and not by some dainty lady. It will be from one of those dude's in professional slap leagues, and we'll make sure to hire those with the biggest, meatiest hands. There's no excuse to be so disengaged. Those that still refuse will be kicked by a horse. 

I don't think you can afford my services.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

I don't think you can afford my services.

We only want wild American horses, because that's freedom! 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

I see, you are a believer in MAHA. Make America Horse Again (not to be confused with Maher). I can get behind that approach.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Damnit, now the Spaceball Horses think they can take over Murika. That was not the point! Oh well, RDR2 taught me you only lose a little honor for shooting one of them. 

[Fragile Bird]

2 hours ago, Gorn said:

A number that I've seen earlier for Covid deaths in the military was 0.03% of cases, and this was during the first, deadliest wave, before the vaccine became available. So if all 8000 got sick and none of them had any previous immunity, statistically it was 2 of them.

I also heard of someone who used the Covid vaccine as an excuse to get out his term early, and then got vaccinated afterwards.

I was running errands when I posted and now I’m home and can do some research. 

You are way, way off. There are 1,400,000 members of the US military. According to them, exactly 100 US soldiers died of Covid. That blows my mind. They count from the first death, which occurred before Trump declared Covid was an emergency, all the way to some time this year. They also say only 1 fully vaccinated soldier died.

In the general US population, roughly 332 M people, about 1.19 M people died to date. Probably more people than that died but since such a high percentage were elderly, people denied Covid was the important factor in many deaths. That’s about .035%, or the number you are using for deaths in the military. So, yes, among the 8,000 maybe two or three died. The death toll has been reported to be higher in the unvaccinated, but I doubt that brings it more than possibly 5. It would still be interesting to know what the actual number was.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

14 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Damnit, now the Spaceball Horses think they can take over Murika. That was not the point! Oh well, RDR2 taught me you only lose a little honor for shooting one of them. 

Dude, just because you kida look like John Wayne's cockring doesn't mean you get to talk to tough to a horse. Bloody RDR.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

10 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Dude, just because you kida look like John Wayne's cockring doesn't mean you get to talk to tough to a horse. Bloody RDR.

Marion can go fuck himself. That world class asshole never deserved to ride a horse in the first place. 

(It's pretty funny he picked a stage name synonymous with a horrific serial killer though)  

Edited December 14, 2023 by Tywin et al.

[Fragile Bird]

24 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Marion can go fuck himself. That world class asshole never deserved to ride a horse in the first place. 

(It's pretty funny he picked a stage name synonymous with a horrific serial killer though)  

Dude, John Wayne was John Wayne by 1930, years before Gacy was born and more than 40 years before he killed his first victim. And the studio picked his name. He did not pick a name synonymous with a serial killer.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

26 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Dude, John Wayne was John Wayne by 1930, years before Gacy was born and more than 40 years before he killed his first victim. And the studio picked his name. He did not pick a name synonymous with a serial killer.

I know, but it's still funny. 

[Zorral]

It's not funny.

[The Anti-Targ]

 

5 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

I was running errands when I posted and now I’m home and can do some research. 

You are way, way off. There are 1,400,000 members of the US military. According to them, exactly 100 US soldiers died of Covid. That blows my mind. They count from the first death, which occurred before Trump declared Covid was an emergency, all the way to some time this year. They also say only 1 fully vaccinated soldier died.

In the general US population, roughly 332 M people, about 1.19 M people died to date. Probably more people than that died but since such a high percentage were elderly, people denied Covid was the important factor in many deaths. That’s about .035%, or the number you are using for deaths in the military. So, yes, among the 8,000 maybe two or three died. The death toll has been reported to be higher in the unvaccinated, but I doubt that brings it more than possibly 5. It would still be interesting to know what the actual number was.

Are you making the right comparison? By my reading @Gorn is saying that the death rate in the US military was 0.03% of cases, i.e. case fatality rate. You seem to be using per-capita death rate. These are not comparable death rates unless it has been confirmed that all 1.4 million military personnel have had C19, which would make the case fatality rate closer to (but not the same as) a per capita death rate.  

[Fragile Bird]

4 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

 

Are you making the right comparison? By my reading @Gorn is saying that the death rate in the US military was 0.03% of cases, i.e. case fatality rate. You seem to be using per-capita death rate. These are not comparable death rates unless it has been confirmed that all 1.4 million military personnel have had C19, which would make the case fatality rate closer to (but not the same as) a per capita death rate.  

You may or may not be right, but my question was about how many of the 8,000 died. We have no idea how many contracted Covid-19, so why would I even speculate about the percentage of those who got Covid died? Since they were out in the general public, the percentage of US deaths to population is a better guide. Of course, these would likely be all younger people so the death rate would be lower than the over all rate, but since the number looks like it’s only 2 or 3 deaths, it hardly matters.

eta: another search has yielded an additional article from the DoD. There were 453,456 cases of COVID in the military by the end of 2022, and at that time there were 96 deaths. Again, a number that blows my mind and is far lower than 0.03% of cases. (ie .002) In contrast in 2020 and 2021 the death rate in the general public, iirc, was 5.6% of the those who contracted COVID-19, which dropped to, I think, 3.2% in 2022. Of course most of those deaths were in the 60 plus age category, not many military are that old.

On the other hand their civilian employees contracted 167,988 cases and 417 people died, about .025%, but the death rate among contractors was higher. Out of 46,222 cases 141 died, .03%.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Fragile Bird

[Fragile Bird]

We all know that hard times have fallen on the print media, newspapers and magazines suffering from dramatic drops in readership and thus revenues from both sales and advertising. I see the New Yorker has taken a hit as well, and has been letting people go. Just the other day Andy Borowitz, who I follow on Facebook, announced that after 35 years writing for the magazine he’s been  let go by the New Yorker.

It looks like he’ll continue his writing on Facebook. He just posted a picture of Biden under the headline “Republicans Accuse Biden of Being Barely Conscious Senile Codger Who is Also a Criminal Mastermind”.

Fits right in with this thread!

[Phylum of Alexandria]

34 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

“Republicans Accuse Biden of Being Barely Conscious Senile Codger Who is Also a Criminal Mastermind”

I assume the MAGA folk are envisioning some sort of political Weekend At Bernie's scenario where Biden is an oblivious figurehead who drools in his chair while Kamala, Barrack, and others push their #RadicalLeft agenda.

Sort of a QAnon spin on the old liberal attack on Dubya being Cheney's bitch.

[Ormond]

On 12/14/2023 at 6:32 AM, IheartIheartTesla said:

Don't know why all the visible Indian-Americans in politics are batsh*t crazy loonies like Vivek, and to a lesser extent Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal (lets not forget Gabbard, on second thoughts lets forget about her). Would be nice if Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal could take equal prominence on the left, but they are more low-key and actually get things done.

Yes, you should forget about Tulsi Gabbard because she is NOT Indian-American. Her ancestry is European and Samoan. Her mother raised her in the Hindu religion, but I don't think that should get her called "Indian-American" any more than being a Zen Buddhist should make you a Japanese-American (I have a good friend who's a Zen monk with no East Asian ancestry) or  being raised a Roman Catholic should make you an Italian-American.