Updates
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Originally published, May 16, 2021, 12:06 am.
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May 16, 2021, 9:20 am:
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While the U.S. is basically doing nothing about vaccine passports,[1] largely due to conservative objections,[2] the rest of the world is moving forward, seeing them as a necessity to reviving the tourism business, and the United Nations has issued recommendations.[3] It seems to me like something’s gotta give here: If you like capitalism, indeed, if you like freedom to travel around the world, you now support them with vaccine passports, but the particularly stupid among conservatives have been crying “freedom” to object to vaccine passports,[4] lockdowns,[5] and mask requirements.[6]
Now, more than ever, it is apparent that for some conservatives, “freedom” is about spreading disease. On the other hand, self-contradiction doesn’t really seem to be a problem for Donald Trump’s supporters.
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May 16, 2021, 10:15 am:
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Stephen Richer is the elected recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona (Phoenix), a Republican, and also a friend whose word I trust. Everyone should listen to what he says here. https://t.co/fX00utvz7T
Wow. This is unhinged. I’m literally looking at our voter registration database on my other screen. Right now.
We can’t indulge these insane lies any longer. As a party. As a state. As a country.
This is as readily falsifiable as 2+2=5. If we don’t call this out…
— Stephen Richer—Maricopa Cnty Recorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) May 15, 2021
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) May 16, 2021 -
Through its absolute hypocrisy, #Zionism feeds #Holocaust denial.
Through its genocidal attempt to erase #Palestinians (even labeling them "Arabs"), Zionism undermines the legitimacy of Israel.
If you love #Israel, if you seek sanctuary for #Jews, Zionism is your enemy.
— David Benfell, Ph.D. (@n4rky) May 16, 2021
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May 17, 2021, 12:05 am:
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So if you’re feeling morbid, here’s a dashcam video of a collision I witnessed today. A young lady was speeding down Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh going the wrong way and smacked right into a car entering the intersection at Jumonville Street whose driver was presumably only looking in the direction traffic was supposed to be coming from. Apparently, no injuries.
Because it’s a dashcam, it’s a wide angle lens, so the cars appear very small. Really, it was only a couple short blocks ahead of me.
Rewatching the video, I see the intersection is controlled with a traffic signal. The wrong way driver, however, would not have seen a signal since none would have been pointed in her direction. I do not know if the other driver had a green light; the light in my direction had turned red by the time I reached the intersection.
This is the joy of driving in Pittsburgh: Shit like this happens all the time because it really is a terribly confusing place to drive and stuff isn’t always marked the way it should be.
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Pandemic
I’ve been inclined to discount the notion that the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic “escaped” from a Wuhan lab as bigotry against Asians and as a conspiracy theory[7] intended to exonerate our abuse of nonhuman animals. But while the virus was clearly not artificially developed, as some conspiracy theorists have claimed, even in my car, there apparently is insufficient evidence to say just how the pandemic started among humans.[8]
Deborah Netburn, “Did the coronavirus escape from a lab? The idea deserves a second look, scientists say,” Los Angeles Times, May 13, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-05-13/did-coronavirus-escape-from-lab-scientists-urge-second-look
Shannon McDonagh, “Here is what every country’s vaccine passport should have, according to the UN,” EuroNews, May 14, 2021, https://www.euronews.com/travel/2021/05/14/here-is-what-every-country-s-vaccine-passport-should-have-according-to-the-un
That link from the LA Times gives me a paywall; while it might be a good idea to subscribe, do you instead have any other source for this article?
Not off hand.