Tracker

Love it! Good casting, acting directing and writing- not quite as acidic as the British show it is modeled on but pretty darned good.

And they represent about 3% of truckers, but it doesn't take many skunks to make a big stink.

Aaaand.....nothing will happen, beyond a stern admonishment. And PM Johnson will apologize profusely.

Out of the mouths of intellectual babes...

NCIS’ Actor Who Decried Vaccine Dies of COVID Complications Vachik Mangassarian, a veteran character actor known for his roles on NCIS, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has died at the age of 78 from COVID-19 complications. Representatives for Mangassarian confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he passed away in Burbank, California. The Iran-born Armenian star moved to the U.S. at age 23 and landed his first Hollywood role in 1978. In the decades since, he held a slew of roles, starring as the architect Qasim Zaghlul in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and guest starring on Curb Your Enthusiasm. More recently, he appeared on NCIS: Los Angeles. In the months before his death, Mangassarian had frequently expressed his opposition to COVID-19 vaccines and veered into truther territory, posting memes to Facebook that suggested the pandemic was part of a grand conspiracy. In one post from September 2021, the actor posted a photo of a parody news report saying that “millions test positive for Sheeple 19.” In another post a month later, he posted a photo of a billboard stating that, “I am more afraid of a Democrat in the White House than I am of COVID-19.” In early November, he made his stance on vaccines clear with an image of President Joe Biden altered to show a syringe poking into his behind, along with the caption, “Here’s what you can do with my dose Joe Let’s Go Brandon.” It was not immediately clear if Mangassarian himself had been vaccinated in order to work on the set of his latest film, Moving On, where he had a supporting role amid Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Representatives for the actor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Vachik Mangassarian, ‘NCIS’ Actor Who Decried Vaccine, Dies of COVID Complications (thedailybeast.com) Some drugs (like alcohol) are disinhibitors, and the inappropriate stuff in our heads that we (rightfully for the most part) suppress falls out of our mouths.

Pretty much what a drug-addled rocker would say.

No coincidence, that.

Eric Clapton Pushes Bogus Theory Vaxxed People Are Under ‘Hypnosis‘ In a YouTube interview with “The Real Music Observer,” Eric Clapton spouted a discredited theory that’s made the rounds in anti-vaxx circles, claiming people have been getting the COVID vaccine because of “mass formation hypnosis.” The nonsense theory posits that people only get vaccinated because they’ve been hypnotized through “subliminal advertising.” As reported by the Daily Mail, Clapton said he became a vaccine skeptic after experiencing severe side effects from his AstraZeneca COVID treatment. “I should never have gone near the needle,” Clapton said. “But the propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone.” The 76-year-old musician also discussed his 2020 anti-lockdown song, “Stand And Deliver,” which is a collaboration with Van Morrison. The anti-lockdown song includes the lines: “Is this a sovereign nation " Eric Clapton Pushes Bogus Theory Vaxxed People Are Under ‘Hypnosis‘ (thedailybeast.com) (This is your brain on drugs)

Has it been posted here that Walters has said that he expects Brandon Alexander to be back?

God knows that would be a blessing. Some of those segments were embarrassing to watch.

Sheep are gonna be sheared. The sales of yachts and BMWs are gonna spike. There was much speculation about the effectiveness of both the Chinese and Russian vaccines, and now the worst seems to have be confirmed.

Good on Mike/Michael to know when enough is enough. He has enough days ahead of him that having a body that functions is something to be desired.

Any time a substance is used to cope with a life issue, it has the potential to stop the growth and learning that come with weathering that storm. Many, if not most stressors are psychogenic in origin- that is, an individual feels unable to cope and resorts to medicating or self-medicating. The dictum "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" still holds, within common-sense limits. A psychiatrist associate once told me that a cup of coffee (or tea) with a good friend and talking out what you are going through is often more effective than psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy. We are a lot more capable of dealing with stress and crises than most think, but we have been thoroughly indoctrinated into "A pill for every ill" with a promise of instant relief./gratification.

Before you go that route, consider getting a medical checkup, and if there are no medical concerns identified, you may wish to talk to someone to see if there are unresolved issues in your life that are cropping up. A short course of prescription sleep aids may break the pattern of insomnia.

If this is not illegal, it ought to be.

If he was to do that, we wouldn't have to worry about anyone roughing the punter.

Jones is off to a roaring (with laughter) start. Get the popcorn.

Trump instructed Michael Cohen to make sure Don Jr. went to jail instead of Ivanka According to a report from Business Insider, Michael Cohen admitted on Saturday that Donald Trump instructed him in 2012 to make sure that Don Trump Jr. be the one to take the fall instead of Ivanka Trump during an investigation by Manhattan's district attorney into lying about property sales. In an interview with MSNBC's Alex Witt, Cohen recalled that the former president was concerned about Ivanka's well-being if she was sentenced to jail and that Don Jr. would handle it better. According to the report, Cohen told the MSNBC host, "You may recall that there was the district attorney's case here for Trump Soho where it was either Don or Ivanka was in very big trouble as a result of lying about the number of units that had been sold." Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. "And Donald said it to me – I mean I wouldn't say it if it wasn't said directly to me – he goes 'if one or the other has to go to prison, make sure that it's Don because Don would be able to handle it, " he continued. Cohen later said that he doesn't expect Ivanka to willingly appear before the House committee investigating the Jan 6th insurrection and claimed the first daughter would likely plead the 5th before explaining, "Ivanka is only interested in Ivanka." Trump instructed Michael Cohen to make sure Don Jr. went to jail instead of Ivanka | Salon.com

He got what he wanted and has paid the price,

Jan. 6 Investigators Zeroing In On Apparent Plot To Hijack Election With Fake Electors The House select committee investigating the Capitol riot is intensifying its probe into the filing of counterfeit election certificates signed by slates of fake Republican electors for the 2020 presidential election in five states. The Republican electors falsely declared themselves “duly elected and qualified,” and sent signed certificates to Congress and the National Archives claiming to affirm former President Donald Trump as the winner in five states he had actually lost: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. All the states had legitimate Democratic electors for Joe Biden, reflecting residents’ votes. The brazen scheme involved Trump campaign officials in an operation coordinated by his former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, both The Washington Post and CNN reported. “We want to look at the fraudulent activity that was contained in the preparation of these fake Electoral College certificates,” said House committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Politico reported. “And then we want to look to see to what extent this was part of a comprehensive plan to overthrow the 2020 election.” “There’s no doubt that those people were engaged in a constitutional fraud on the public and on the democracy,” Raskin told The New York Times, referring to the fake electors. The select committee is expecting new documents from the National Archives related to the fake electors scheme, according to chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who called the apparent involvement of members of Trump’s circle in the plot a “concern.” Committee member Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) called the submission of the fake electoral certificates a “dangerous precedent,” according to Politico. The fake elector slates were apparently intended to be a go-to line-up of Republicans in the event then-Vice President Mike Pence rejected the legitimate electors in states Trump lost, which Trump was pressing him to do on Jan. 6, 2020. Trump ally and right-wing attorney John Eastman, author of the so-called coup memos, had suggested that Pence, armed with “multiple” elector slates, could introduce the pro-Trump fakes to challenge the legitimate Biden electors in the seven states Trump lost. Fake documents were also filed in Pennsylvania and New Mexico, but those GOP counterfeits were referred to as “electors in waiting” in case court challenges to Biden’s win were successful. The certificates from the other five states falsely claimed that the pro-Trump electors were the rightful electors. Officials in some of the states are either investigating the operation, or have referred information to federal prosecutors. Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel last week called the operation an “open-and-shut case of forgery of a public record.” She asked federal prosecutors to investigate the 16 Michigan Republicans who submitted false certificates. Jan. 6 Investigators Zeroing In On Apparent Plot To Hijack Election With Fake Electors | HuffPost Latest News

The kids are not alright: Data suggests 10% of children with COVID-19 become "long-haulers". "We are definitely seeing long COVID in children," said Dr. Amanda Morrow, Co-Director of the Kennedy Krieger Institute's Pediatric Post-COVID-19 Clinic in Maryland. "It does exist. And it is impacting day-to-day lives significantly."" Because the data is preliminary, estimates thus far vary wildly on the prevalence of what is now known as "long Covid" in children and adolescents. Available studies have reported wildly varying numbers on the proportion of children who suffer long Covid, ranging from 0.8% to 66% of total pediatric COVID-19 cases. "We don't really know a whole lot," said Dr. Sindhu Mohandas, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. "We are just starting to learn over the past few months what long Covid in kids is." Recognizing its existence, Mohandas said, has been a big advance. While there is no official definition of pediatric long Covid at this time, the parameters typically include the persistence (or return) of symptoms 12 weeks following the initial infection. Some criteria look for new or persistent symptoms 30 days out from the acute infection. Another key is ruling out of alternative medical explanations — making the process of diagnosis lengthy and requiring a multi-disciplinary team. However, there is now growing consensus that somewhere around 10 percent of COVID-19 cases in kids turn into long Covid — at least according to the data collected for primarily pre-omicron and pre-vaccine cases. At this time, most of the studies come from other countries. In September 2021, the Israeli Health Ministry announced the results of a survey showing that 11.2% of kids reported symptoms of long Covid. "No one is certain exactly how many people who've had COVID-19 end up being long haulers," wrote Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Professor of Pediatrics Dr. Peter Rowe on the American Academy of Pediatrics' "Healthy Children" website. He continued: "One study showed that as many as 52% of teens and young adults between ages 16 and 30 may experience lingering symptoms 6 months after having COVID. The U.K. Office for National Statistics estimated that 12.9% of children 2 to 11 years of age, and 14.5% of children 12 to 16 years old, still experienced symptoms 5 weeks after infection." "It will end up being about 10% — is my guess," said Morrow. "We do not know at this point what risk factors predispose children to developing long COIVD. It could be a possible outcome for anyone. We just don't know."

Its not about the COVID, its about his pig-headedness.

Not the years in our lives that counts, but the life in our years.