Sunday, February 20, 2022

Chickadee


 

24 comments:

  1. Last night I had occasion to read the Wikipedia article about the ”Russian Flu” pandemic of “1890.” [Click] Sure sounds like it could have been a coronavirus, but we will probably never know. The fact that it was first reported in central Asia during the summer doesn’t sound like influenza. And its rapid worldwide spread is remarkable both for its speed and its documentation. Obviously railways and steamships are as fast as jet planes for the spread of respiratory viruses.

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  2. Experts warn ‘not to get too cocky’ as US contemplates life after Covid [Click] “Cases, deaths, and hospitalizations have plummeted – but transmission remains high across the nation”

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  3. Campaigning AOC electrifies crowds as Democrats fear brutal midterms [Click] Does anyone besides me wonder where the institutional Democratic politicians electrifying the crowds are hiding?

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    1. "Ocasio-Cortez travelled to Texas this month to campaign for two of the progressive candidates she has endorsed this election cycle, Jessica Cisneros and Greg Casar."

      I sent Ms Cisneros a little love a while back. I looked up Mr. Casar's Wikipedia entry and see that he's just the sort of fellow I would like to support. Looking now for his campaign web site.

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  4. digby Retweeted
    Abraar Karan

    @AbraarKaran

    “The death toll during the Omicron wave is about 17 percent higher so far than the death toll in the Delta wave.”

    People downplaying population level effects of #Omicron in the USA are in dangerous denial. @nytimes

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    1. That is a significant number. Not surprising, given the graphs of the peaks. But definitely cause to be super slow in letting down our...masks.

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  5. The Guardian: “Ottawa protests: conspiracies and accusations of betrayal as police end blockade” [Click] “Large parts of area in capital cleared after more than 191 are arrested and 37 vehicles are towed.” Sounds like a good start to me.

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    1. It amazes me that a number of the trucks were the property of truck lines, not of the drivers who took them there. Isn't that grand theft auto?

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  6. I am of a mind to watch The Ladykillers [Click]; the 1955 version with Alec Guiness, Peter Sellers, Katie Johnson et al. I’ve seen it twice before, but quite some time ago.

    Poking around, I discovered that Katie Johnson’s other big movie hit, How to Murder A Rich Uncle [Click] is available for free on YouTube!

    From her IMDB bio:

    Until well into her seventies, Katie's screen career consisted almost exclusively of smallish parts, until she was cast as sweet, frail Mrs. Wilberforce in the classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers (1955). A most quintessentially British role, it finds her in a crumbling boarding house with dodgy plumbing, surrounded by Victorian memorabilia, a parrot named General Gordon, and an assortment of genteel, but pixillated, old friends. . . . This was the defining role of Katie's career and it won her the 1955 BAFTA Award as Best Actress. She had another juicy role, as eavesdropping would-be sleuth Aunt Alice, in How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957). . .

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  7. Queen Elizabeth tests positive for Covid-19 (she got it from Charles)...
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60453566

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  8. Putin Has Made America Great Again [Click] “The Ukraine crisis has revealed that the U.S. can’t shed its ‘big brother’ image on the world stage.”

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  9. Replies
    1. I still wonder how much of Germany's gold stolen by the Nazis rests in Swiss bank vaults.

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  10. Canadian police secure downtown Ottawa as truckers’ protest ends [Click] “Three-week occupation over Covid precautions and Trudeau government ends with 76 vehicles towed and 191 arrests”

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    1. HUZZAH!

      It will be interesting to learn how many of the 191 were right wing Americans.

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    2. The Beaverton has been having a great time with items related to this event; and today they got in some humorous digs at The New York Times [Click] and Americans who don't know anything about Canada.

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  11. We got an email from Ford today, at looooong last, letting us know that our Maverick hybrid pickup truck is now "Built"!!

    Ordered 6/12; confirmed 6/14 Scheduled 10/21 for 12/13 Production, changed to 12/22 then to 12/16
    On 01/03/22 got email saying hybrid will be built week of 12/20/21. 🤷🏻‍♀️
    01/04/22 The truck's modules populated
    1/16-1/18 at external Body Company (for Spray-in Bedliner)
    02/20/22 "Built" email 😮 Delivery was to be 2/7 to 2/13
    Still says 5/8 to 5/14 because it's on "chip hold" 😕
    Eager to hear tomorrow whether our Vehicle Visibility Report shows an earlier shipping date...!

    We had a red Ford Ranger that lasted 17 years

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    1. At this rate you may have one that took as long to get as the previous one lasted! I am reminded of a story about my grandfather driving the family along The Alameda (a main street in San Jose) when their car broke down right in front of a car dealership for a different brand he had never bought before. He parked the car, left the family there, went into the car dealership and a short time later came out and told the family to come get into their new car, and then they went on their way.

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    2. I think that was in the 1930's.

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  12. How Covid changed medicine for the future [Click] It’s indeed an ill wind that blows no good. [I noticed two typographical errors, which could have been made by a spelling correction program, but that is quibbling.]

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