Yes, it’s Doctor Jill Biden (Update #5)

Updates

  1. Originally published, December 14, 2020, at 8:28 am.

  2. December 14, 9:46 pm:

    • I know I wasn’t the only one to forecast violence following Donald Trump’s defeat. I’m sure it’s no consolation for any of us that this prediction is proving correct as violence is now widespread.[1]

    • They’re getting pretty brazen at the Crack’d Egg restaurant in Brentwood, a Pittsburgh suburb not far from where I live. Allegheny County has been trying to shut the place down for violating COVID-19 orders for months[2] but the restaurant, which has filed for bankruptcy,[3] keeps opening up and the owner was photographed with two sheriff’s deputies. Brentwood Police, who are supposed to enforce the governor’s order, refuse.[4]

    • There’s more coming. I’m having some technical issues that will require a reboot.

  3. December 14, 10:41 pm:

    • Honestly, Mac OS updates are usually not nearly so awful as Windows updates. With the latter, you might as well walk away from your system until the following day because it’ll take that fucking long. So when I say Mac OS updates aren’t as bad, this is what is called damnation by faint praise. They’re still awful, time-consuming, and disruptive. And Apple managed to box me into doing the update when I still had work to do. It isn’t just the operating system update. It’s a bunch of other stuff that is OS-version dependent, all keeping me from getting work done, and all of these upgrades buggy as hell. Are you getting that I’m really not happy with Apple right now? (I tolerate it because of proprietary hardware—yeah, I’d like to be able to fucking print something once in a while, for just one example, and Linux printing is a neglected and inexcusably horrible mess—that won’t work with free operating systems.) That’d be because right now, this upgrade is, for all practical purposes, acting like a Windows upgrade. Which means I’ll have to come back to this tomorrow.

  4. December 15, 7:00 am:

    • This seems to have been an unusually problematic Mac OS upgrade for me. I’m still trying to figure out what all is wrong. And it’s way too fucking early in the morning.

    • The electoral college has confirmed Joe Biden’s election victory as Bill Barr resigned. But, of course, Donald Trump and his supporters battle on, even as more Republicans start to acknowledge Trump’s defeat.[5] It’s hard to imagine Trump increasing his support here, but that obviously isn’t the point.

    • Almost every night when I get gas, there’s an ad on the damned gas pump television urging me to go work for Amazon. I, of course, know better. I know better even as the ad emphasizes, “Safety! Safety! Safety!” Because dehumanizing, unhealthy, and dangerous working conditions have long been the story of Amazon warehouses.[6] But you know, you’d think for a company that supposedly emphasizes safety, they’d be a little more forthcoming in response to the California Attorney General’s subpoena for COVID-19 information. But you know, Amazon.[7]

  5. December 15, 2020, 11:15 am:

    • Braddock is among the poorest communities in Allegheny County. Its former mayor, now Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, sought to revitalize the town and there are a couple businesses that seem meant to appeal to yuppies. Among them is a restaurant named Peppers N’At, which you may add to the list of likely COVID-19 scofflaws among restaurants in the county. Its owner claims to indulge in satire,[8] but it sure looks like his ‘jokes’ are in the mode of Donald Trump when the latter says something really stupid and bigoted and that attracts universal condemnation.


Doctor

Ahem, regarding Dr. Jill Biden. I completely endorse Monica Hesse’s column and the Wall Street Journal should not only retract Joseph Epstein’s column[9] but apologize for even considering it for publication.

Merriam-Webster, “The History of ‘Doctor,’” n.d., https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-history-of-doctor

Monica Hesse, “The Wall Street Journal column about Jill Biden is worse than you thought,” Washington Post, December 13, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/dr-jill-biden-wall-street-journal/2020/12/13/e43883a4-3d45-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html


Donald Trump

Peter Hermann, Marissa J. Lang, and Clarence Williams, “Pro-Trump rally descends into chaos as Proud Boys roam D.C. looking to fight,” Washington Post, December 13, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/proud-boys-protest-stabbing-arrest/2020/12/13/98c0f740-3d3f-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html

Hannah Knowles, Annie Gowen, and Tom Hamburger, “‘A dark, empty place:’ Public officials face personal threats as tensions flare,” Washington Post, December 13, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/public-officials-threatened-covid-election/2020/12/13/680bd380-3be7-11eb-bc68-96af0daae728_story.html

David Charter, “Trump announces law chief Bill Barr has quit as electoral college backs Joe Biden,” Times, December 15, 2020, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trump-announces-law-chief-bill-barr-has-quit-as-electoral-college-backs-joe-biden-wnzzxkczt


Allegheny County

Paula Reed Ward, “Crack’d Egg flouts shutdown as deputies quarantined for dining, taking photos with owner,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 14, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/crackd-egg-flouts-shutdown-as-deputies-quarantined-for-dining-taking-photos-with-owner/

Paula Reed Ward, “Restaurant owner sues Braddock mayor, claims defamation,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 14, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/restaurant-owner-sues-braddock-mayor-claims-defamation/


Amazon

Patrick McGreevy and Suhauna Hussain, “California demands that Amazon comply with COVID-19 investigation,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-14/california-lawsuit-amazon-workplace-conditions-covid-19


  1. [1]Peter Hermann, Marissa J. Lang, and Clarence Williams, “Pro-Trump rally descends into chaos as Proud Boys roam D.C. looking to fight,” Washington Post, December 13, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/proud-boys-protest-stabbing-arrest/2020/12/13/98c0f740-3d3f-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html; Hannah Knowles, Annie Gowen, and Tom Hamburger, “‘A dark, empty place:’ Public officials face personal threats as tensions flare,” Washington Post, December 13, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/public-officials-threatened-covid-election/2020/12/13/680bd380-3be7-11eb-bc68-96af0daae728_story.html
  2. [2]Paula Reed Ward, “Brentwood restaurant defies order to close for covid-19 violations, faces court action,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 18, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/brentwood-restaurant-defies-order-to-close-for-covid-19-violations-faces-court-action/
  3. [3]KDKA, “Brentwood Restaurant That Sued Allegheny County Over Coronavirus Restrictions Files For Bankruptcy,” October 9, 2020, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/10/09/the-crackd-egg-files-for-bankruptcy/
  4. [4]Paula Reed Ward, “Crack’d Egg flouts shutdown as deputies quarantined for dining, taking photos with owner,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 14, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/crackd-egg-flouts-shutdown-as-deputies-quarantined-for-dining-taking-photos-with-owner/
  5. [5]David Charter, “Trump announces law chief Bill Barr has quit as electoral college backs Joe Biden,” Times, December 15, 2020, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trump-announces-law-chief-bill-barr-has-quit-as-electoral-college-backs-joe-biden-wnzzxkczt
  6. [6]Daniel D’Addario, “Amazon is worse than Walmart,” Salon, July 30, 2013, https://www.salon.com/control/2013/07/30/how_amazon_is_worse_than_wal_mart/; Josh Eidelson, “Amazon Keeps Unions Out By Keeping Workers in Fear, Says Organizer,” Alternet, January 22, 2014, https://www.alternet.org/2014/01/amazon-keeps-unions-out-keeping-workers-fear-says-organizer/; Nichole Gracely, “‘Being homeless is better than working for Amazon,’” Guardian, November 28, 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/nov/28/being-homeless-is-better-than-working-for-amazon; Simon Head, “Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers,” Salon, February 23, 2014, https://www.salon.com/control/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/; Mac McClelland, “I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave,” Mother Jones, March/April 2012, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor/; Nathaniel Mott, “From Amazon warehouse workers to Google bus drivers, it’s tough working a non-tech job at a tech company,” Pando, October 9, 2014, https://pando.com/2014/10/09/from-amazon-warehouse-workers-to-google-bus-drivers-its-tough-working-a-non-tech-job-at-a-tech-company/; Michael Sainato, “‘I’m not a robot’: Amazon workers condemn unsafe, grueling conditions at warehouse,” Guardian, February 5, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/05/amazon-workers-protest-unsafe-grueling-conditions-warehouse; Alex Seitz-Wald, “Amazon is everything wrong with our new economy,” Salon, July 30, 2013, https://www.salon.com/test/2013/07/30/amazon_is_everything_wrong_with_our_new_economy/; Spencer Soper, “Inside Amazon’s Warehouse,” Lehigh Valley Morning Call, September 18, 2011, https://www.mcall.com/business/mc-xpm-2011-09-18-mc-allentown-amazon-complaints-20110917-story.html
  7. [7]Patrick McGreevy and Suhauna Hussain, “California demands that Amazon comply with COVID-19 investigation,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-14/california-lawsuit-amazon-workplace-conditions-covid-19
  8. [8]Paula Reed Ward, “Restaurant owner sues Braddock mayor, claims defamation,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 14, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/restaurant-owner-sues-braddock-mayor-claims-defamation/
  9. [9]Monica Hesse, “The Wall Street Journal column about Jill Biden is worse than you thought,” Washington Post, December 13, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/dr-jill-biden-wall-street-journal/2020/12/13/e43883a4-3d45-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html

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