Dr. Gonzo

Florida, Texas and Georgia are all worrying states in terms of you can see what the GOP's schemes are for the future of America... and this new law in Florida, requiring students and faculty to report their political views to the state, is bizarre... https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/education/559881-florida-gov-signs-law-requiring-students-and-faculty-be I don't think anyone, regardless of their political affiliation, should support anything like this. I think it's makes the US's slippery slope into fascism all the more slippery.

Would anyone else's job be infinitely harder if Excel (or any sort of software that was anywhere remotely near it) never existed?

For me the soreness was less bad for the second jab… but I did feel more side effects overall after the second. But just for a day. Seems like there’s loads of possible reactions to it. If you’re lucky you won’t feel much for the second jab at all!

He hasn't been affiliated with the company for a very long time - and actually made a video about how he hates the company now and how difficult it is to get off your computer. They're a very awful company though with some horrible practices, like that auto-renewing shite... and then making it virtually impossible to cancel it and get refunded for the months of the subscription you wont use. So I'm sorry to hear they're still doing that (they've done the same shit to me, and I'm pretty sure the prices now are even more outrageous than they were a few years ago when they've done that). They're a bunch of cunts.

John McAfee, founder of McAfee antivirus and eccentric weirdo that made funny online videos/killed someone in Belize, has killed himself in a Spanish prison after it was revealed he was set to be extradicted for US tax fraud & cryptocurrency manipulation (this one's funny as Elon Musk did the same exact thing McAfee was accused of, on a much higher profile... and he seems to be in no legal trouble).

I'm not sure if that's right, tbh? I think the vaccine's meant to stop the virus at a rate of whatever it's efficacy rate is. These MRNA ones work different to other vaccines we've had in our lifetimes - but I think it's still meant to be thought of as working at a vaccine. Just like how getting a flu vaccine doesn't guarantee that you'll be protected against every flu variant out there. But they do protect against certain strains of the flu at a certain efficacy rate. That's what's happening here. So technically this is nothing abnormal. I think the concern comes from these following points, this: It's a novel virus - which means that we've got only so many vaccines out and they're all brand new. Now we're seeing a new variant spreading within a highly vaccinated population indicates that the virus can mutate into variants that our current vaccines can't handle. I'm no a virologist - so I can't tell you whether that puts us all the way back at the "mad scramble for the world to develop a vaccine" time period or if it would just be a minor setback. But it's definitely something to consider. I think it's pretty clear the vaccine works. But that doesn't mean there should be no cause for concern in a vaccinated population.

First jab or second? First moderna jab I felt nothing other than the arm soreness. The second one though is where the next day felt a bit shit. But magically the day after I felt totally fine Israel's now reporting an outbreak of the delta variant... and that's concerning because they're the most vaccinated country in the world.

Hahaha they can do that? Why didn't they do that a long time ago if they can do that? Interesting way of poking at Iran's hardliners though. It'll piss them off, but probably not get taken as seriously as killing off IRGC members like we'd seen under Trump/Netanyahu.

I get MLK day off. It does depend on the organization, but not everyone gives every federal holiday off & many companies give as few holidays as possible off because that's just how those companies operate. Sometimes state holidays are favoured over federal holidays too. Like in California, most people won't get Columbus day off. But a decent number of them get Cesar Chavez day off. But federal employees will be quite pleased they get another day off. Because they get all federal holidays off.

Some positive news from the new Israeli government - a nice change compared to recent news coming from that country! While I think Bennett is a right wing piece of shit like his predecessor - because his coalition is so broad and includes so many different parties, his health minister is the head of Meretz, a left wing, pro-peace, progressive party. And the health minister has announced they're going to be transfering 1.2 million Pfizer vaccines to the Palestinian territories. That's very big news compared to when the Israeli government was actively denying them vaccines not too long ago and it's something I'd like to see. It's a shame Meretz don't have more power in this coalition, but hopefully over time they gain more power in Israeli politics. In less positive news, Iran's bullshit elections are underway. Expect to see Raisi win that election. Tbh, I don't think he'll be much different for Iranians than Rouhani because late stage Iranian presidents basically always fall out with Khamenei and end their tenure as basically a figurehead rather than an actual leader, while the IRGC runs things. But Raisi's popular with Khamenei and the IRGC, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Iran's domestic policy become even more repressive - while it's foreign policy to become more aggressive. Raisi is someone I personally hate and someone that's really hated in my family. He was one of the leaders of the judiciary in the political purges in Iran of the late 1980s after the long war with Iraq. He's responsible for sending thousands of people to their deaths because of their political beliefs... including some relatives. I hope he dies slowly and painfully while in office.

Yeah after asking the question I just googled it... and it made me feel ignorant as fuck. But tbf, I never really learned much about US history... so I'm not surprised I'd never heard of it. I think it's pretty shameful that even in the senate 100% of Republicans voted for it, but in the house those 14 were against it. Especially the Texans that voted against recognising it - almost as though they're proud to have been the state to cling to slavery the longest. I do think it's funny though that they've ultimately voted to give themselves a holiday, as most people working in America aren't going to get Juneteenth off unless they're government employees. Makes me think the senate republicans, many of whom have been pretty openly racist, decided this would look good for them (it's easy to claim those that voted against it being a holiday are racist, so now they can say "look I'm not racist, I supported Juneteenth being a holiday) and figured by voting for it yesterday... they wouldn't have to bother to turn up to work today.

I didn't know where to put this... but... that's the former president of Iran

Wtf is Juneteenth? I know it's meant to be tomorrow... but the name is so vague it could be anything between June 13th-19th... and that's all I know about it.

I remember at the start of the pandemic, I asked @DeadLinesman if I should wear a mask in the car and he said something that amounted to "but... it's your fucking car" So I don't think I've ever worn the mask in my car other than the times when I've forgotten to take it off after getting back in the car... so I'll take it off mid-drive. But I've definitely seen loads of people driving around with masks on. Even now when I'm in a similar situation to you where everyone over 17 here has had at least 1 jab (but over 60% of adults have both jabs now, pretty decent stat for the city I live in)... but you still will sometimes see people wearing masks in their car. Which is bizarre because I went to a supermarket after our restrictions had ended and I think I only saw about 2 people still wearing masks.

I have a friend here who was born in Israel and has family there - they left a few years after Rabin was assassinated because they felt that the political culture there was very much culminating in something very ugly. And they were right - I think Israel's always been an ethnostate since it's creation - but the situation has just been gradually getting worse and worse since Rabin's assassination. So in the people I know in my life personally, the most vocally anti-Israeli government person I know is... an Israeli. He gets some pretty horrible comments when he makes posts online by virtue of being Jewish and being vocal against Israeli policies.

Is that because of the quality of their defense, or because of the defensive setup Arteta uses? I'm glad it's not my job in trying to fix Arsenal and get them back to where their fans would want them to be, because I don't even know where I'd start.

California’s done a full reopen. No more tiered system where things get more restrictive as cases go up, no more mask mandate, no more reduced capacity for buildings. There will probably be a big uptick in cases as unvaccinated liars walk around unmasked going about their lives, but it’s interesting going out and still seeing so many people wearing masks.

Israel & Gaza heating up again. Israeli airstrikes in response to Hamas sending incendiary balloons over to Israel. No report on casualties that I’ve seen yet.

You did, and it was a great game. I'll play these remakes.

Jesus, what a fucking logistical mess. Planning a wedding with my wife was one of the most genuinely irritating things I've ever had to do in my life - I can't imagine doing it now with this fucking plague constantly changing what the rules are. It's got to be a fucking nightmare.

I think until a large chunk of the UK's population is fully vaccinated the delay is probably the right thing to do. Especially when the delta variant is the dominant strain now. It's definitely shit for people like @Stan and @Batard and I feel for them... It is absolute bollocks trying to plan an event that's likely going to be one of those life defining events, in weddings, which are fucking incredibly tough to plan when the world around you keeps changing. I did see that some of the restrictions on wedding guests are to be lifted though, so there's a bit of a silver lining? but considering how governments not being cautious enough early on led us to the absolute shitshow of 2020... I'm not going to fault a government that's taking a bit of extra precaution with the spread of this new variant so there are enough hospital beds and so the already very tested NHS infrastructure can cope with a potential worst case scenario with the delta variant.

They had to have infiltrated Iranian intelligence - and probably other members of Iran's political apparatus that keep everything "under control" like the Revolutionary Guard. Iran's cultivated a society where there's a lot of benefit to being "a traitor" to their government. They're incredibly repressive and continually mismanage the economy (granted, sanctions don't help - but they're not going to get sanctions removed while maintaining a hard line) while government elites somehow manage to keep getting richer and richer. But there's no way they conducted that really sophisticated assassination of the recent head of nuclear science for Iran without having people on the inside working for them. And I wouldn't be surprised if the reason they've got access to computer systems of critical infrastructure is due to similar infiltration. But also, what can Iran really do in response? Israel's basically given a free pass at whatever they want to do on the international stage due to the US intervening, whereas if Iran responds they'll get bombed back into the stoneage by Israel and the US. With hardliners coming back into power soon, I think the government isn't showing their hand... but it's easy to see how they're going to play their cards. They've got no interest in rejoining the JCPOA or any new deal with America - any deal will only be as good as Biden's administration is in power... which might not even be 2 full terms. And the US and Israel will act with inpunity for as long as Iran isn't nuclear. So unfortunately, I think the regime is going to be on a fast track to building up a nuclear weapon... as well as generally modernising it's military. And once they've got a nuclear weapon, I think all hope of reform in Iran is pretty much dead - the status quo will be maintained because turbulent politics and upheaval will be too much to worry about for the world powers to allow. Basically, Trump showed them the path they should follow with the way he treated North Korea compared to them.

I think there's pros and cons to working from home vs. working at an office. On some days I'm far more productive at home, but I think those days are more rare compared to how productive I am at the office.

Is the vaccine situation in Australia getting any better? The turnaround between how things were here before the vaccination rollout to how it’s been with the vaccine being open to all adults here has been staggering. Normalcy seems much closer here than it did in January or February & the biggest impediment to the states getting back to normal even quicker is the huge number of vaccine skeptics.

It comes back at different times for different people. My friend got his sense of taste back after about a month.