sjwalter

There was not a second of doubt that the emails were legitimate. Here's proof: the Biden campaign and Hunter himself never denied they were real. As well, while nobody in the mainstream bothered calling any of the people in the emails, Taibbi DID. They were obviously real the moment there was no denial. Because if they were just fabricated, denial would be the first public response.

What about the hundreds of pics of Hunter smoking crack in a bathrobe? What about the emails wherein Hunter describes in some detail his influence peddling operation? "10% for the big guy." Everyone focusing on Hunter's nudes are eliding the real story that Twitter buried. That is, the hard evidence that Biden is corrupt.

Asymptomatic spread is not nearly as prevalent as originally feared.

Also, those who do not get symptoms (that is, most who catch covid) do not spread the virus in general, which is why it's now called "presymptomatic" spread.

> Yes the vaccine does improve outcomes BUT the hospitalization rate for unvaccinated people is still lower with Omicron than previous variants.

Why "BUT"? Shouldn't the second part be, uh, a good thing?

There always are. Average hospital staffing and resource levels mean at its minimum ICUs are at ~78% capacity. Come low vitamin-D season, January or February, most ICUs hit capacity every year.

Google doesn't run its data centers at 5% capacity for the same reasons ICUs don't.

> I am in no way saying masks don't work, in fact I think that they do.

This is still so hilarious to me. It's pretty obvious that some masks work, that is, n95 or whatever actual respirator masks. It's pretty obvious that other masks don't work at all, that is, 99.99% of masks worn by the public at large.

Wild.

Here I am thankful that Montana recently reduced regulations and made it so small dairies can supply raw milk directly to customers without any inspection from a state or federal agency, so now my family drinks local, fresh, raw milk for the same price as organic UHT crap.

Germans can't get anything but this UHT stuff?

Can you explain what you mean with the German milk market? You can't buy fresh milk anymore?

I never said violence.

It's like this: I'm originally from Ontario. Every year, a few drunk teenagers drown while boating. It's a big tragedy, and I'd hate it if it happened to my kids.

Now, Ontario's politicians respond predictably to this, every year: A call for more safety. This comes in the form of stricter regulations and more enforcement. Now what it means is that whenever my family and I take the boat out for a spin, more than half the time we're stopped by police boats who have to check yes, we have our safety gear, no we haven't been drinking, no that's not pot you smell.

And yet, a few teenagers die drinking while boating that same year.

We'll never live in a zero-risk world, and what I desire is an acceptance of that.

My kids ride dirtbikes and hang out with livestock and shoot guns. They do all manner of dangerous things. More kids and more people should all do this and stop living in some dreamworld where the government makes them safe.

> This will mean more ...

One thing particularly strange about climate change alarmists is that they are just so damn sure of all these horrible outcomes that are absolutely sure to happen.

You're forecasting, dude. You don't have a crystal ball. Yet your statements, and those of all the alarmists, are those of the totally cocksure.

I live near Glacier National Park. In the early 2000s, some climate change model predicted the glaciers would be gone by 2020. All the entrance signs were modified to state this to every single visitor: Enjoy 'em while they last, friends, but climate change will render these glaciers puddles by just 2020!

Well, come 2020, the glaciers are still right there. A bit smaller. But also nowhere near gone.

Failed predictions and shrill screeching forecasting failures stack up over and over from all the alarmists and yet still they, as you do here, fail to have any humility, any sense that, hey, maybe you don't know it's the end of the world for sure.

I think that's part of the problem. I think we're already living in incredibly safe times, and a focus on even more safety and security is what's causing some good chunk of the malaise we're all experiencing.

I want my kids to increasingly face more insecurity and unsafety. This way they become more and more resilient and able to deal with the future without me.

Matt Taibi was on Joe Rogan a few days ago and during the interview Joe related a story about one of his Israeli friends. Joe went over to his friend's home for dinner, and hung out with his family, and the entire time the friend and his wife and kids were dancing and singing and celebrating, for no particular reason.

Joe asked why are you Israeli's so happy? The friend said that when you live in Israel, you live under the perpetual notion that a rocket strike will kill you at any moment. So you don't need a momento mori, you have death hanging over your head at every moment, so every moment is imbued with a heightened preciousness, so you engage happiness as much as possible, whenever possible.

I wish the modern, globally-homogenized mass culture that washes over us enjoyed this kind of apocalyptic thinking, rather than the dour, annoying "omg the ghgs!" crap we've got.