While at Wally World yesterday, I went ahead and got my flu shot (Yes, I do believe in vaccines. I am from South America and was either get vaccinated against the myriad of crap floating around or enjoying a nice warm death bed).  The missus got me a gaiter and I found out I can deal with it better than the mask, specially since it does not fog my glasses and it is much easier to breathe through while complying with the Mask Theater.

But dear Lord, I do look specially messed up.

It took me a bit to realize the unevenness is because of the beard that does not compress evenly and I really don’t care. It makes me look uglier and nastier which in today’s world might be a plus.

And since I am on the subject, might as well take it head on: Talking to the pharmacist assistant about my immunization record, she pointed out I had not received my shot for measles, mumps and rubella. I chuckled and explained to her that I had been immunized the hard way when I was a kid as it was the way back then:

Mom: “Pedrito caught the mumps, go visit him for a couple of hours.” 

I got mumps and rubella that way and mom never could figure how I got the measles since nobody close to us back then had it.  Rubella was particularly hard with our family as it was very painful for me at the time of infection, but mom also caught it just to find out a little later she was pregnant. My brother Angel was born with a heart defect which today can be addressed in womb if required, but back in the 60s was impossible to correct. He lasted all of three days.

So, if there is a proven vaccine against a malady I may get, I will take the chance if I deem I am at risk. You are free to do what you think is best for you and for your family.

An unkind thought popped as I was hitting the publish button in the last post: “What if the “recommendation” is nothing else than a veiled threat by the Biden Harris Administration?

“If you do not comply with what we “suggest” we will find ways to make you state suffer.”

And believe me, they can get creative and nasty if they want. A top of my head, The Federal government can “restrict” anybody coming from Florida to leave the state unless they prove they are not infected. An order by the FAA that airlines must demand a negative lab result prior boarding planes, trains and buses heading out of the state. The FAA can even demand proof of quarantine that ended the day before the trip.  After all, the FAA is in charge of making sure interstate commerce remains safe from threats, including the possibility of the virus spreading all over the nation, right?

And we are all in this together, we must be united in our fight to destroy this disease! [sarcasm off]

Florida bars, indoor dining, gyms and any other indoor spaces where masks are not worn 100% of the time should be closed down to stop the spread of COVID-19, according to a White House Coronavirus Task Force Report.

The recommendation comes as the state is seeing a slight decrease in new coronavirus cases, test positivity and hospitalizations.

The report, which was officially released on Jan. 17, was just recently made available following a News-Journal public records request to the Florida Department of Health.

The state did not respond to questions about how, if or when the recommendations will be put into effect.

WHITE HOUSE: Florida should close bars, restaurants, gyms to slow COVID spread

The political assassination of Ron DeSantis is now in full swing. I guess the talks that he could be the presidential nominee for the next elections and specially with the backing of Trump has the Democrats worried.

I can’t find a news article that is not critical of anything DeSantis does. It does not matter that the journo contradict him/herself in the same article, anything DeSantis does related to the Chinese Virus is just wrong and the worse governor ever. This quote is from the same source linked above.

Florida had 460 new cases per 100,000 population, lower than the national average of 478 per 100,000. The state currently ranks 22nd in the number of new cases per 100,000.

For all intents and purposes, Florida has been a “3/4s Open” State when it comes to the pandemic. There are masks mandates, but mostly enforced by the property owners while restaurants are enforcing social distancing with their seating.  I went to Home Depot and Wally World yesterday and other than people wearing the masks and an employee giving you a wipe for your car in the Big Orange Store, the traffic of people was pretty much the same as before the pandemic.  Those direction one-way signs on aisles are royally ignored and the only other precaution is the plastic shields separating the cashier from the customers.

So, rather than being the number one state in cases, Florida is somewhere in the middle of the pack.

The media lie is thick and it is only created to destroy a dangerous candidate against the Democrats. If anything, DeSantis has dare to prove the Political Doctors wrong and disrupting the conquering to the country by fear.

He cannot be forgiven for that.

One of the more (maybe most) horrible things to come out of this pandemic is the spike in teen suicides.

More teenagers died of suicide related to the lockdowns than died of COVID in Las Vegas.

Kids do not do well in isolation, locked away from their friends.  They need to play outside and socialize.  School lockdowns have been disastrous to the mental health of teenagers.

Across the country, teacher’s unions have been fighting reopening.

The Chicago Teachers Union has fought reopening and is on an illegal strike, deciding not to return to work out of “fear for their safety.”

https://twitter.com/CTULocal1/status/1353012995807457287

In Fairfax County Virginia, the teachers union got teachers moved to the front of the line, next to first responders, to get the vaccine, then claimed they can’t return to in-school teaching until the students get vaccinated, which is scheduled for some time next year.  They keep moving the goalposts so as not to go back to school full time.   They still collect full pay, of course.

But by far the worst happened in Washington.

A WA teacher's union president says reopening schools is an example of "white supremacy," concern over a child's mental health or suicide risk is "white privilege," and push to reopen schools is like rioters pushing to enter the U.S. Capitol.

READ: https://t.co/QxFazq2Taz pic.twitter.com/ny50MEZG7p

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) January 13, 2021

If you are a parent, watching your child suffer, terrified that he or she will commit suicide and there is little you can do because of the lockdown, you have white privilege and your concerns are just the product of racism.

This is an unmitigated evil.

I cannot fathom the evil, callous, soulless evil, that makes a teacher – or someone who represents teachers – turn a blind eye to teen suicide as privileged.

Every teacher that endorses not going back needs to be fired and replaced with a teacher who will teach in person.

Any teacher who called concerns from parents about teen suicide “white privilege,” needs to be fired out of a cannon – blown from a gun – in front of all the other teachers in the middle of campus as a warning not to be that much of a piece of shit.

The first one of 2021 and at least 2 more to come.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay on Tuesday blasted Gov. Ron DeSantis for giving Publix so much priority over the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in the county.
McKinlay criticized the governor’s decision, saying it severely limits the county’s ability to vaccinate significant portions of the population who don’t live close to a Publix, all while the COVID-19 vaccine supply remains so limited.

Commissioner is ‘absolutely disgusted’ by DeSantis’ decision to prioritize Publix for vaccine rollout

This eternal whining of the Democrats on anything related to the vaccine and how bad DeSantis is doing it.  Publix is not Whole Foods with selected stores in selected neighbors but a chain of supermarkets with 813 locations in Florida and at least 78 stores in Palm Beach alone of which 67 of them will be offering the vaccinations.

I extracted this from the Publix’s store locator. As you can imagine, the green dots are Publix locations and I added the filter to display only the ones with pharmacies. the ones enclosed in the red box are the ones contained (more or less) within Palm Beach County.

And yes, there are a bunch of stores on the east side of the county because (drumroll) that is where the immense majority of the people live.

I chose the city of Boynton Beach because it is about the middle of the strip and used it in the store locator to find the closest stores:

That is 15 stores within a 6 mile radius. can you imagine ANY government operation setting up that many close locations much less run a smooth operation of any sorts? Hell, in a vaccination location in South Carolina, they asked the manager of a Chic-Fil-A to come help with the back up… and he did!

The problem is having Publix distribute the vaccine efficiently diminishes the  glorification politicians are used to get. It means no opportunities for them to prance in front of a camera showing how merciful they are to the Little People. It robs them spotlight. And now that the weather is starting to warm back up down here, where do you rather wait for the vaccine? Hours and hours in some infernally hot parking lot, barely covered from the sun by a cheap tarp or inside an air-conditioned Publix while munching on one of their sub sandwiches?

Petty politician is petty.

The intake lately has been increasing way too much.

The mayor of Portland, Oregon, pepper-sprayed a man outside of a restaurant Sunday night, after the mayor said the man confronted him about mask rules and other issues and then got uncomfortably close, according to a police report.

Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, told police of the man: “I clearly informed him that he needed to back off,” before spraying him in the eyes, according to an incident report released by police.

Wheeler told police he was leaving a pub at around 8 p.m. when the man, filming him with a phone, accused the mayor of not wearing a mask while sitting in a restaurant as required by Covid-19 rules, and also other issues.

Portland mayor pepper-sprayed man who confronted him about Covid-19 rules

Any other regular human being would have been charged with aggravate assault at least this being Portland. But we know the Mayor will not even be chided.

However, it is fun to see the platter of unchecked political crap dropping on him like he was recreating the Singing in the Rain dancing sequence inside a septic tank.

Hat Tip Robert E.