{"id":42260,"date":"2020-12-19T12:09:58","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T20:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=42260"},"modified":"2020-12-19T12:09:58","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T20:09:58","slug":"open-thread-12-19-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2020\/12\/19\/open-thread-12-19-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread – 12\/19\/2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a tired day here in the CatBox, combined with a severe case of Republicitis.  I’m late, because I just spent an hour on the throne.  It’s a Holy Day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, and it will be tomorrow too.  My Broncos are playing the Bills, and it will be televised here, because it’s a Saturday game, so I shall be meditating this afternoon.  May the blessed Orb shine its holy light on your team, unless they dump Buffalo dung on the prairie.  Tomorrow is a WWWendy Day, so please expect no more than a Personal Update.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>: <\/font><\/p>\n

Today’s took me 3:39 (average 5:12).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Cartoon<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

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Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From The New Yorker<\/a>: <\/font>Calling the prospect a \u201cnightmare scenario,\u201d Betsy DeVos warned that President-elect Joe Biden will pick an Education Secretary with a background in education.<\/p>\n

The outgoing Education Secretary warned that putting someone with a \u201cpro-education bias\u201d in her job would be like \u201cnaming a fox to be Secretary of Hens.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past four years, I have worked tirelessly to keep our schools free from education,\u201d she said. \u201cIt deeply saddens me to think that all of my hard work will go to waste.\u201d <\/p>\n

Even more alarming, she said, Biden may name a \u201cknowledgeable person\u201d to replace her, a decision she called \u201cdisastrous.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to be impartial toward education, an Education Secretary must be as ignorant as possible,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t mean to boast, but I am going to be a tough act to follow in that respect.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dang Andy! Is it true that Betsy Blackwater took this to Trump* with the recommendation that he appoint Colonel Sanders as his Secretary of Hens!  RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font> <\/p>\n

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>On Thursday, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel of outside experts voted to approve providing an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Moderna\u2019s COVID-19 vaccine. The agency is expected to complete the creation of the EUA on Friday, which would free up shipments of the vaccine to get on their way across the country this weekend. But they may have to get in line, because the first vaccine that was approved is already failing to reach states in the quantities expected.  <\/p>\n

Despite months of listening to Donald Trump brag about the incredible military operation he had put together to distribute a vaccine that did not then exist, states are suddenly discovering that the shipments they were expecting have been drastically reduced without explanation. Meanwhile Pfizer seems just as confused\u2014it says there are millions of doses sitting in its warehouse ready to go, but Trump\u2019s team is allowing them to gather dust. <\/p>\n

As Bloomberg<\/a> reports, some states were informed on Wednesday that their supply of Pfizer\u2019s vaccine would be cut drastically. For Oregon, that means a 40% drop in the 74,000 doses they had been expecting. Gov. Kate Brown tweeted<\/a> that this was a federal decision made through \u201cOperation Warp Speed.\u201d Oregon is not alone. As The Washington Post<\/a> reports, officials in multiple states were alerted that their shipments of the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech would be \u201cdrastically cut\u201d for next week. <\/p>\n

Notices that they would not be getting what they were earlier told was on the way went out to at least six states. That list includes Illinois, Washington, and Maine, in addition to Oregon. Meanwhile, Florida officials seem to have lost their shipments of vaccine altogether, saying they disappeared from the online shipping system. <\/p>\n

I trust that nobody is surprised that Oregon leads the shortage list, since the Republican Reich was unsuccessful attacking us with their Gestapo. I heard nurses in the hospital angrily speculating among themselves that it was intentional sabotage. As for Florida’s shipments, you will find the vaccine at Mar-A-Lago clinic. It may be obtained for $500,000 – $1,000,000 Bankster Bucks per dose.  RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font> <\/p>\n

From YouTube<\/a> (a blast of Christmas): <\/font>Low – Some Hearts (at Christmas Time)<\/font><\/p>\n