Random Rant Thread

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These things are pretty lethal.

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I keep mentioning the Ukrainian casualties, because few seem to care. They are all cheering for Ukraine, with all the blue and yellow, but it's hard not to suspect that they think the whole thing is some kind of a game.

It's gross, frankly.

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Another day, another new study that shows that an Omicron infection only gives you a joke immunity. It's weak, significantly weaker than vaccination, extremely sub-variant-specific, and wanes in a nanosecond.

Unless you got really, really, really sick with Omicron. Like hospitalized-for-days sick. Then you *might* have a pretty strong immune response to other variants/sub-variants too.

The current dominant status quo isn't likely to hold. *You* might be okay, but your diabetic neighbor won't be.

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The most interesting thing about that Musk-Twitter freakshow is that he has brazenly and effectively managed to nullify the securities laws. If you think that when I say that he should've been arrested in a truly law-abiding society I'm being hyperbolic or "Elon-hating" or something, you are too ignorant and aren't qualified to even talk casually about this. We now know that the guy is above the law.

Of course *you* would get your assets frozen or even arrested for defrauding the sellers if you tried the same (on a much smaller scale, presumably). But this development - or discovery, if you will - is highly, highly corrosive. We all say that billionaires are above the law, but this episode made it clear that they literally are.

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It's amazing that I'm saying this now, but we probably ought to listen to this man more. He's absolutely right on this.

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Tone-deafness is a sure-fire sign of corrosion/decline.

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I told you about this. You hear a lot about London, but it's largely a red herring.

World’s Top Enabler of Financial Secrecy Is the United States
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-16/world-s-top-enabler-of-financial-secrecy-is-the-united-states?srnd=premium-uk

According to this measure, the US has increased its supply of financial secrecy to the world by almost a third since 2020, earning it the worst rating since rankings began in 2009.

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Russia has announced a few hours ago that they will destroy the Azovstal factories and turn Mariupol into a "resort city".

Is that supposed to be some kind of a sick dark comedy? Talk about Pyrrhic victories. They sacrificed a huge number of their men's lives for THAT?

I mean, they pretty much leveled the city, and not much is left. It would be extremely hard to rebuild it into the industrial city that it was. I get that.

But Mariupol was supposed to be worth so, so, so much more than a fucking "resort city". And Russia definitely doesn't need another Black Sea resort when the ones that they already have aren't exactly successful.

The whole thing is an incredibly stupid disaster, for everyone. It's not like I've learned anything new here, but I'm nearly speechless.

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Heh.

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"Okay, we all understand that our current leader is not going to do it. He's not cutting through. And now, you may think I'm just taking it too far, and maybe I am, but hear me out, what about a... centrist white man who looks kind of like Starmer as our new leader?", said no one.

Oh wait.

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The answer is that there's no such data. It's just a product of a shitty amateur social psychology hour at the CDC, but Mandavilli will keep obfuscating it.

The fact of the matter is that both the anti-vaxx trolls and "vax-skeptic" vibes managed to successfully get into the heads of those at the CDC. They are so pathetic that they actually feel wounded whenever those right-wing trolls make fun of them. You might wonder why anyone would care about being ridiculed by logic-challenged mini-Glenn-Greenwald's, but that's the thing about narcissists.

Am I being unfair to them? Probably, but just a little.

And Mandavilli is a classic case of a journalist becoming a spokesperson for the entity that they are supposed to report on.

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I often quote Eric Topol on Covid, but this is just fear-mongering.

We need a definitive exit from our Covid-19 pandemic. Here’s the roadmap
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/16/covid-19-pandemic-exit-roadmap

Of course, he's the expert, I'm the amateur, but right off the bat:

As the virus accelerates its evolution, the humans capitulate.

This sentence means nothing. No one "accelerates" their evolution. That's just not a thing in evolutionary biology. Maybe it's just figurative, but an expert ought to be a lot more careful with words, don't you think.

And... damn. The rest is mostly garbage too, and it's too much. I'm definitely not ready to fisk it.

I don't know why he does this. I'm in the "pandemic ain't over" camp, but this won't help.

And he should know better than to talk about a "definitive exit" from the pandemic. There won't be a definitive exit, and that's what I mostly mean when I say the pandemic isn't over.

I know, I know, he's the expert, I'm the layman. And that's exactly why I'm baffled.

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At this point I consider the UK Defense Intelligence to be a propaganda wing of the Ukrainian government. Nothing but cheerleading and almost Pyongyang-style daily "Evil Russia is on her way to a catastrophe" reminders, and zilch about the Ukrainian side. I can get better information elsewhere.

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Remember this?

"verbal govt approval"

Needless to say, that's not a thing, lol.

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In case anyone cares: