All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Senate blocked 45's FED nom.

So now he has troops pulling out of Afghanistan.

From the clip shown McConnell was gonna see it get blocked because there wasn't enough Republicans right now to approve it so he pulled it til later. He plans to wait when they are there to put another Trump judge on the courts for sure. Democrats had assembled to block it and he had to stop it for now.

[Scott Taylor]

Yep, the Trump administration is circling the drain, feels like. Or just Trump is, after all its been mostly him. Its funny, I was thinking on the way in to work - Trump seems to actually believe he was a good president. He has no concept that he was just a means to an end for most 2016 conservative voters.

[Amadeus Arkham]

The sad part is that Voight is an actually talented actor. As is James Woods. It's always sad when the talented people turn out to be such a--holes.

Yeah, it’s a shame. Same goes with comic book people like Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan(who are also Trump supporters).

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Yeah, it’s a shame. Same goes with comic book people like Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan(who are also Trump supporters).

And Jim Steranko.

[AnakinFlair]

GOP members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers in Michigan are refusing to certify the election results, deadlocking the committee, thereby possibly disenfranchising everyone in Detroit.

[PwrdOn]

America is kind of the exception because if you look at most COVID deaths after USA it's Brazil, then India, then Mexico...so underdeveloped countries do have higher mortality rates. India's COVID cases are pretty high and expected to get higher. So I wouldn't say the "severity of the covid outbreak" is exactly contracted in "Western countries" as a whole (Unless you think USA alone is all Western countries). Some of the best responses to the virus are Germany and New Zealand. And of course it can't be forgotten that Taiwan and South Korea while not western are developed economies with high GDP...so developed economies do have a solid record of weathering this crisis.

However, it's generally true that leadership and political response counts for a great deal. Poor leadership in USA and UK (to a slightly lesser extent) made things worse. This also applies in Sweden which has higher deaths compared to other Scandinavian countries all thanks to the freakshow nutjob they have for health expert -- Anders Tegnell. So good leadership and civic societies in nations counts for more than GDP and so on.

Let's not get hasty because we don't know the full story of COVID in China. The numbers of deaths there, and cases of reinfection and other stuff and so on.

Pandemics only have the impact they do because of global trade networks. The Black Death happened during the time when trade routes between East and West, from China through the Black Sea through Renaissance Italy and Western Europe were established in the aftermath of the Mongol Conquests. So the more integrated global trade is the more likely the spread and devastation of the pandemic can be.

You have to adjust everything for population, while India's death toll looks large, on a per capita basis they are actually doing quite well, much better for example than just about every country in Europe, including Germany which has been touted as a success story. And while Taiwan and South Korea might be wealthy countries and might appear quasi-Western on the surface, their success with covid shows that in reality their culture still hasn't changed much. Specifically, people there are generally more socially isolated and tend to avoid close physical contact, and while this might make them seem rather cold and distant to us it certainly helps to explain why they were able to contain the outbreak pretty quickly while countries Italy and France that struggled badly, and it also explains why they were able to weather lockdowns much better without all the mental strains that we saw from people over here. Also, China probably fudged their numbers somewhat, but there really isn't any evidence to suggest that they're covering up a massive outbreak. Even if their numbers were off by a factor of 100, they'd still have fewer cases than we do, and that's without adjusting for population.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

And while Taiwan and South Korea might be wealthy countries and might appear quasi-Western on the surface, their success with covid shows that in reality their culture still hasn't changed much.

I guess, but I also have problem with judgments and reasoning based on presumed cultural ideas. Feels iffy to me.

[Amadeus Arkham]

Trump fires top cybersecurity official Christopher Krebs

[Jack Dracula]

COVID Kim here is Iowa finally issued a mask mandate as well. The trump train has derailed.

I'm just floored by this. Fucking Reynolds playing politics with people's lives and only waiting for the certainty of Trump's defeat to grow a spine.

I never thought it would happen but my aunt is starting to come around. Well not all the way. but this morning her and I were talking and she admitted that she is starting to question the voter fraud. She said she believed it at first. but no one has offered any evidence and she is getting sick of hearing the claims without proof.

I'm actually heartened by this and have no idea why. Good for her.

Yep, the Trump administration is circling the drain, feels like.

Good F**king Riddance.

[Tendrin]

GOP members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers in Michigan are refusing to certify the election results, deadlocking the committee, thereby possibly disenfranchising everyone in Detroit.

Trying to, anyway. They refused to certify unless they could 'ignore Detroit'. Gee, I wonder why they wanna do that? It goes on next to the state board, and then to the legislature if that doesn't work. It's dangerous.

[AnakinFlair]

Trying to, anyway. They refused to certify unless they could 'ignore Detroit'. Gee, I wonder why they wanna do that? It goes on next to the state board, and then to the legislature if that doesn't work. It's dangerous.

It was just reported that Board voted again, this time unanimously to certify the results. Apparently, they (the GOP members) spent the past few hours being yelled at by citizens over Zoom. Just confirmed by the Lieutenant Gov.

[Amadeus Arkham]

BREAKING: The Wayne County Board of Canvassers has just unanimously voted to certify the results of the election & called on Michigan SOS Jocelyn Benson to conduct an audit of the unexplained precincts in Wayne County that did not match.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Yeah, it’s a shame. Same goes with comic book people like Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan(who are also Trump supporters).

Nolan appears to be on the moderate side, over Dixon. It's a low bar but he made it.

Dixon: Brutal. The guy likes being the top of the heap and he likes staying there. He’d be an all-term president and probably serve as vice president and most of the cabinet, too. Except secretary of agriculture. Bane has no interest in where his food comes from. Only that it’s hot when it arrives. Or someone will pay.

Nolan: Bane serves Bane. He wouldn't be a leader in any democratic sense but rather a dictator in total control. He would kill off all of Congress as well as the Supreme Court. No need for those other pesky branches of government. I would not care to live under a Bane presidency. But in the world of Bane there is also the Batman. So we have nothing to worry about.

This is an interesting parallel, Nolan recognises living under Bane would be a nightmare and the description fits Trump when he conciliated his power over the government and the GOP itself. I have the slightest inclination that Nolan either didn't vote or voted Biden this year.

[Amadeus Arkham]

This is an interesting parallel, Nolan recognises living under Bane would be a nightmare and the description fits Trump when he conciliated his power over the government and the GOP itself. I have the slightest inclination that Nolan either didn't vote or voted Biden this year.

lol, then I’d advise you not to check out Mr. Nolan’s Twitter because he’s very much a dyed in the wool conservative. Same with Chuck Dixon. I’m 99% sure they both voted for Trump again this year.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump fires top cybersecurity official Christopher Krebs

Typical behavior for a pissed off man-baby who was told something he didn’t like. I hope Biden reaches out to Krebs after he takes office come January.