Hmm... he has a point in it's unclear if there's much benefit to the individual if you're young and healthy.
The counter argument can be summed up as "herd immunity". There are people who can't take vaccinations at all. It'd be nice to protect them by vaccinating the rest of us.
Personally I'd like to get vaccinated just because some protection is better than no protection. It's sort of like how a bullet proof vest is only rated up to a certain level of bullet but if you get shot with something above that you're still likely a lot better off.
The editorial that my brother posted was written by a Jew.
It's behind a paywall so I didn't read it and wasn't replying to it.
Big picture my stance is we shouldn't have special rules for Jews and I am pointing out where that happens as faulty logic.
Normal countries are allowed to fight wars. They're allowed to be ethnostates. They're allowed to react harshly to their citizens being terrorized. They're forgiven the crime(s) of their creation. By normal standards the children of refugees are not refugees. By normal standards all wars are not "genocide". By normal rules of war one side isn't supposed to supply the other.
Subtracting Israel being Jewish brings a lot of clarity to the situation.
If it matters, I have no dog in this race. I am not a Jew nor Arab etc. I am a neutral bystander.
Time for some moral clarity using the normal definitions.
Someone who is claiming the Jews are at fault for existing is being antisemitic. That is the "No Israel, No Jews" argument in a nutshell.
That means a good hunk of the Palestinians are antisemitic (to the point of being Na.zis) and the Pro-Palestinians' moral backflips also become antisemitism after claiming 10-7 was the fault of the Jews. 10-7 was an act of open genocide, they killed every Jew they could.
Blaming the Jews for their own genocide because they exist is textbook antisemitism.
It's amazing that, after all these decades of wanting to fight Na.zis, they're not willing to denounce Na.zis because of the color of the Na.zis' skin.
The brutal truth is the Right is correct, the Left is indeed being antisemitic.
No, we already know Biden's staff wasn't telling the truth.
When the Special Council said Biden was having memory/mental issues, he was correct. Ergo they and the media were wrong when they claimed it was a political hit job and Biden was fine.
Whether or not Tapper is making stuff up is a different issue.
The belief that many Americans receiving government support are malingering, that they could and should be working but are choosing to be lazy, is a classic zombie idea.... It has, after all, been proved wrong by experience again and again.
After Clinton's welfare reform (which I think has been since undone) people went out and got jobs.
We can add my ex-wife to the list of people who could and should be working but choose to be lazy.
I waited several minutes and it didn't show up even after hitting "refresh", then I came back 50 minutes later and it was here. I'd thought you did something.
It was the post with "Big picture the human brain is a pattern matching device"
His cancer isn't related to his mental issues, but it's possible both of those are related to something else.
The use of automobiles and paperclips aren't related to each other but they're both related to economic growth (PPP and so on). Similarly (Discovery of) Autism and Vaccines aren't related to each other but they're both related a child's age.
Big picture the human brain is a pattern matching device and we should expect people to see faces in clouds and other worthless connections.
Are we not allowed to wonder if Biden was actually running things?
We're in "end of Reagan's 2nd term" territory. The President's core staff knows there is a serious problem and is "shielding" him. He's in charge and running things but he's also a lot less functional than he used to be so his minions pretty much do their own thing.
It's not a "conspiracy" if you're open about it and the reasoning is obvious.
Biden was very old when he was running for President the first time. Ergo the people who insisted he pick a Black Female VP though this would result in a Black Female President.
Having said that, the people in the White House shielding the President were probably motivated more by their own jobs and loyalty to the President than Team Blue identity politics.
The Conspiracy Theorists are engaged in spin and assuming super-competence rather than incompetence.
With the benefit of hindsight, the people who pointed out Biden had serious mental issues were correct. Which means shouting them down and gaslighting them was the wrong move.
A full primary would have resulted in much stronger candidate than Harris. The media certainly beclowned themselves, first by pretending Biden had no problems and second by pretending the Harris was strong.
I assume the people keeping mum about Biden's various health problems were mostly interested in keeping their jobs and/or denying reality.
The people forcing Biden to have a Black Female VP were "hoping" she'd be next, but that was open and obvious enough that I wouldn't call it a conspiracy.
I'm surprised "a routine PSA test isn’t recommended past age 70" because my family's experience has been it's a cheap, easy, great indicator and super aggressive cancers can be caught super early. If your score increases by 5x in a short amount of time, 5x a very small number is still a small number.
I have multiple family members with this. You can (and SHOULD) take a blood test every year at his age which tells you if you have this cancer and how bad it is.
The PSA test measure the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood. So basically you should know you have cancer when you have just a few cells, and you should know how aggressive it is by the speed of the increase of your PSA level.
Biden most certainly should have known he's had cancer for years, maybe even decades. Long before he's hit this point he should have had his prostrate removed.
They're using the USA as the example on how things should work.
The USA has a lot more resources and a lot less on the line. We fight optional wars far away from our own cities. Sometimes we give up and leave rather than make a bigger body count.
None of that has anything to do with Israel. WW2 is a much better comparison.
More importantly, Israel isn't going full out (especially by WW2 standards). Afaict, Israel is trying to follow the actual rules of war, however Hamas isn't.
Hamas not following the rules SHOULD mean Israel gets a pass on issues created by Hamas' various crimes.
For example Hamas using ambulances as troop carriers means Israel gets a pass on killing people in ambulances if it suspects that they're a troop carrier.
On “Joe Biden the Man Interrupts Joe Biden the Narrative”
Here is his actual response: "It's a very very sad situation. I feel very badly about it".
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Iaw-4tQJISs
On “Open Mic for the Week of 5/19/2025”
Hmm... he has a point in it's unclear if there's much benefit to the individual if you're young and healthy.
The counter argument can be summed up as "herd immunity". There are people who can't take vaccinations at all. It'd be nice to protect them by vaccinating the rest of us.
Personally I'd like to get vaccinated just because some protection is better than no protection. It's sort of like how a bullet proof vest is only rated up to a certain level of bullet but if you get shot with something above that you're still likely a lot better off.
"
Being hated by your neighbors is also a normal country thing. The EU (and the various United States) are the exception, not the rule.
It is corrosive for international organizations to have a "Jewish exception".
"
The editorial that my brother posted was written by a Jew.
It's behind a paywall so I didn't read it and wasn't replying to it.
Big picture my stance is we shouldn't have special rules for Jews and I am pointing out where that happens as faulty logic.
Normal countries are allowed to fight wars. They're allowed to be ethnostates. They're allowed to react harshly to their citizens being terrorized. They're forgiven the crime(s) of their creation. By normal standards the children of refugees are not refugees. By normal standards all wars are not "genocide". By normal rules of war one side isn't supposed to supply the other.
Subtracting Israel being Jewish brings a lot of clarity to the situation.
If it matters, I have no dog in this race. I am not a Jew nor Arab etc. I am a neutral bystander.
On “Joe Biden the Man Interrupts Joe Biden the Narrative”
Now, was the news media ignoring, apologizing, or covering up what was going on? That’s a different question than the Democratic Establishment.
My assumption is the Democratic Establishment had a lot more access to Biden than the media and thus had a front row seat.
then we need to have more, more honest, and more forceful examination of the question of Trump Is Getting Too Erratic For This.
We're focused on the Dem establishment because them dropping the ball cost them the election and it's a great time for soul searching.
Trump has a massive list of obvious and open problems too long for me to list. IMHO he's unfit to be President.
And he was still the stronger candidate than both Biden and Harris. Amazingly, the Team Blue Establishment knew this and went with them anyway.
There really should be two discussions, one on Biden, and another on why Harris should never have been VP.
On “Open Mic for the Week of 5/19/2025”
Time for some moral clarity using the normal definitions.
Someone who is claiming the Jews are at fault for existing is being antisemitic. That is the "No Israel, No Jews" argument in a nutshell.
That means a good hunk of the Palestinians are antisemitic (to the point of being Na.zis) and the Pro-Palestinians' moral backflips also become antisemitism after claiming 10-7 was the fault of the Jews. 10-7 was an act of open genocide, they killed every Jew they could.
Blaming the Jews for their own genocide because they exist is textbook antisemitism.
It's amazing that, after all these decades of wanting to fight Na.zis, they're not willing to denounce Na.zis because of the color of the Na.zis' skin.
The brutal truth is the Right is correct, the Left is indeed being antisemitic.
On “The War on Immigration (Legal and Otherwise)”
I like both of those examples.
On “Joe Biden the Man Interrupts Joe Biden the Narrative”
No, we already know Biden's staff wasn't telling the truth.
When the Special Council said Biden was having memory/mental issues, he was correct. Ergo they and the media were wrong when they claimed it was a political hit job and Biden was fine.
Whether or not Tapper is making stuff up is a different issue.
On “Open Mic for the Week of 5/19/2025”
The belief that many Americans receiving government support are malingering, that they could and should be working but are choosing to be lazy, is a classic zombie idea.... It has, after all, been proved wrong by experience again and again.
After Clinton's welfare reform (which I think has been since undone) people went out and got jobs.
We can add my ex-wife to the list of people who could and should be working but choose to be lazy.
People respond to economic incentives.
"
I waited several minutes and it didn't show up even after hitting "refresh", then I came back 50 minutes later and it was here. I'd thought you did something.
It was the post with "Big picture the human brain is a pattern matching device"
"
NM or thanks.
"
I just made a post and it's not showing up. Please check the post-jail. Also I don't understand why it would be held hostage.
"
His cancer isn't related to his mental issues, but it's possible both of those are related to something else.
The use of automobiles and paperclips aren't related to each other but they're both related to economic growth (PPP and so on). Similarly (Discovery of) Autism and Vaccines aren't related to each other but they're both related a child's age.
Big picture the human brain is a pattern matching device and we should expect people to see faces in clouds and other worthless connections.
"
Adams might be joking about his life expectancy.
On “Joe Biden the Man Interrupts Joe Biden the Narrative”
I guess we have to read the book.
"
Are we not allowed to wonder if Biden was actually running things?
We're in "end of Reagan's 2nd term" territory. The President's core staff knows there is a serious problem and is "shielding" him. He's in charge and running things but he's also a lot less functional than he used to be so his minions pretty much do their own thing.
"
It's not a "conspiracy" if you're open about it and the reasoning is obvious.
Biden was very old when he was running for President the first time. Ergo the people who insisted he pick a Black Female VP though this would result in a Black Female President.
Having said that, the people in the White House shielding the President were probably motivated more by their own jobs and loyalty to the President than Team Blue identity politics.
The Conspiracy Theorists are engaged in spin and assuming super-competence rather than incompetence.
"
With the benefit of hindsight, the people who pointed out Biden had serious mental issues were correct. Which means shouting them down and gaslighting them was the wrong move.
A full primary would have resulted in much stronger candidate than Harris. The media certainly beclowned themselves, first by pretending Biden had no problems and second by pretending the Harris was strong.
"
I assume the people keeping mum about Biden's various health problems were mostly interested in keeping their jobs and/or denying reality.
The people forcing Biden to have a Black Female VP were "hoping" she'd be next, but that was open and obvious enough that I wouldn't call it a conspiracy.
I'm surprised "a routine PSA test isn’t recommended past age 70" because my family's experience has been it's a cheap, easy, great indicator and super aggressive cancers can be caught super early. If your score increases by 5x in a short amount of time, 5x a very small number is still a small number.
"
I have multiple family members with this. You can (and SHOULD) take a blood test every year at his age which tells you if you have this cancer and how bad it is.
The PSA test measure the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood. So basically you should know you have cancer when you have just a few cells, and you should know how aggressive it is by the speed of the increase of your PSA level.
Biden most certainly should have known he's had cancer for years, maybe even decades. Long before he's hit this point he should have had his prostrate removed.
On “Open Mic for the Week of 5/12/2025”
Where the theory doesn't work you should change the theory, not insist that facts don't matter.
On “Weekend Plans Post: The Last Graduation”
We have a thousand plus in my kid's graduating High School class.
I think we're going to have them all walk across the stage. I'll moan about it in two or three weeks.
On “Open Mic for the Week of 5/12/2025”
That means people expect them not to go full out.
They're using the USA as the example on how things should work.
The USA has a lot more resources and a lot less on the line. We fight optional wars far away from our own cities. Sometimes we give up and leave rather than make a bigger body count.
None of that has anything to do with Israel. WW2 is a much better comparison.
More importantly, Israel isn't going full out (especially by WW2 standards). Afaict, Israel is trying to follow the actual rules of war, however Hamas isn't.
Hamas not following the rules SHOULD mean Israel gets a pass on issues created by Hamas' various crimes.
For example Hamas using ambulances as troop carriers means Israel gets a pass on killing people in ambulances if it suspects that they're a troop carrier.
"
it’s war logic hasn’t applied since World War II.
Russia v Ukraine (or Russia v anyone).
ISIS v anyone.
Various other Middle East Wars.
Various African wars.
Israel stands out as the exception in terms of our expectations.
"
Fair point. I did a more detailed read on them and they've been for and against ISIS (etc). A good summation is "it's complicated".
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.