Monday, April 12, 2021

As If The World Weren't Suffering Enough

Prepare to be tutored about the relationship between Covid swabs and zombies, thanks to the good offices of the most Reverend Jim Bakker:

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Steve Quayle warns Jim Bakker's audience that nasal tests for COVID-19 are part of a plan to obtain DNA samples to be used in the creation of targeted biological weapons that will turn everyone into flesh-eating zombies. bit.ly/2PwdRC9



H/t Right Wing Watch

Clearly, there is no hope.

Sunday, April 11, 2021

UPDATED: Covidiot Roundup

I see that #COVIDIOTS is trending on Twitter. Here are a few nuggets I gleaned: 

    

H/t @alkorin



H/t DaddY



H/t Sass Chit

Amen, brethren.

UPDATE:  Since actions speak louder than words, I offer this as a further indictment of  covidiocy.



Monday, April 5, 2021

UPDATED: So Little Time, So Many Benighted Souls


As I have written elsewhere on this blog, my patience for those who willfully embrace ignorance, who prefer the blunt hammer of dark conspiracy to the hard work of thinking, is non-existent. And despite well-articulated arguments that the way to reach such people is not through confrontation, abuse or disdain but rather empathy and discourse, the well-entrenched cynic within me suggests that such an approach is both very time-consuming and of very limited efficacy.

Time is not on our side in our current Covid pandemic.

But if one were to judge by anti-vaxxer news reports, it is all much ado about nothing.

Take, for example, the anti-lockdown rally in Brantford Ontario over the weekend, which saw possibly a thousand unmasked protestors, bitter over our current lockdown and standing closely together in their solidarity.


The consequence of challenging such a benighted but obdurate mindset is both ugly and instructive. Last week, Martin Regg Cohn wrote a column advocating mandatory vaccinations:

The logical alternative to never-ending lockdowns is to make vaccinations mandatory. Yes, mandatory — like mask mandates.

No, I don’t mean physically restraining people and forcefully injecting them. After all, we don’t forcefully apply masks to people’s faces, we merely forbid them from forcing themselves upon us unmasked and unasked.

In other words, he says there must be restrictions on the freedoms of those who place their wants and beliefs above the requirements of public health. Those restrictions would include bans on overseas air travel, entry to nursing homes, and crossing the border.

This is the kind of response Regg Cohn received:

  • “YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM WILL GO FUCKING HYPERACTIVE UNTIL YOU DIE AND HOPEFULLY FOR YOU THAT WILL BE VERY SOON.”
  • “I HOPE YOU AN YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY ARE FIRST INLINE TO GET PUNCTURED WITH THIS EXPERIMENTAL INOCULATION.”
  • “How much did you get paid to run that PsyOp? ... End the lockdowns. End the mask mandates. Ban the vaccine.”
  • “You sir, are obviously a shill for the pharmaceutical industry and should be shut down.”
  • “Nazis didn’t give Jews the right to decide. Are you German? Have you heard of the Nuremberg Code? Created to protect against medical experiments.”
  • “Your article of forced vaccines is not only disgusting but actually a crime against humanity! Who the f__k do you think you are? I hope that you get what you deserve, God is always watching for demons like you!”
  • “How about we dump you off in a totalitarian country like China, where you can live anong like-minded sheep and dittoheads. In fact, perhaps North Korea is more your style.”
  • “This is the largest mass extinction event we can imagine and you are helping pushing along all the lemers until they fall off that cliff.”
  • “Do you have a monetary gain? Were you ‘asked’ to write your article by a member of the government or ministry of health to help them push the vaccine?”

  • “You are an aggressive participant in slow motion mass murder.... Vaccine dependency is mass murder in slow motion. You are an uneducated buffoon … who is your puppet master?”

Jesus said that we will always have the poor amongst us. It is obvious that today, we must also add a few other categories to that observation.

UPDATE: At least the above-mentioned Brantford rally netted a few arrests.

Police in Brantford have laid 12 charges following large protests held amid the provincewide shutdown over the long weekend and say more charges may be coming.

Saturday, April 3, 2021

Where Are you, Evangelicals?

That's the question pundit Roland Martin asks about their uniform silence over the sordid sex scandal engulfing Republican Matt Gaetz, who is a House Representative from Florida. Before getting to the video of Martin's comments, here is a short primer on the scandal.

First and foremost, it has been established that Gaetz is under federal investigation for sexual misconduct. On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that the justice department (DoJ) is investigating whether Gaetz, 38, “had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him”. If these allegations are accurate, then Gaetz could have violated federal sex trafficking laws.

Adding credibility to the allegation is this little nugget:

Gaetz has faced accusations of disturbing sexual conduct before. In January 2020 Chris Latvala, a Republican congressman, tweeted that Gaetz “created a game where members of the FL House got ‘points’ for sleeping with aides, interns, lobbyists, and married legislators”. Gaetz also reportedly bragged of his sexual exploits and showed other lawmakers nude photos of women he’d slept with. According to CNN, he showed his colleagues these photos while he was at work. Gaetz, by the way, was also the only lawmaker to vote against a bipartisan anti human-trafficking bill. A number of his colleagues have also spoken out about “love of alcohol and illegal drugs, as well as his proclivity for younger women”.

If you watch just the first two minutes of the following video, you will see what is sticking in Roland Martin's craw:


One thing that at least can be said about the evangelical set, I guess, is that they are remarkably and consistently selective in their moral outrages.




 

 

 

Monday, March 29, 2021

Who Invited This Guy?

For those planning their nuptials, here is a word of advice: make sure Donald Trump isn't there to offer a toast.



Saturday, March 27, 2021

Holding Back The Clock: Voter Suppression Writ Large

Despite both the overt and subtle nature of racism in Canada, it is hard to imagine living in a country where Black people are essentially told, "Your vote is undesirable. You are a threat to the status quo that so many white people have fought so hard to maintain."

Such is the situation in 28 American states, where legislatures have introduced bills that would severely circumscribe voters' rights with measures ranging from limits on absentee ballots to requirements for photo ID. Indeed, in the state of Georgia, it will now be a crime to offer food or water to people standing in line to vote. 

Please advance the following to the 9:45 minute mark to get a full flavour of these discriminatory measures:


It would seem that Republicans know their time is up, and they are doing everything within their (corrupt) power to hold back the clock.