Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Manhattan prosecutors now have ‘millions’ of Trump documents after bombshell Supreme Court ruling
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-taxes-2650793968/

John Dean says that Donald Trump's children 'should be worried' about Manhattan DA case
https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-jr-legal-issues/

'Decades in the making': How mainstream conservatives and right-wing media fueled the Capitol attack
https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-riot-2650800366/

Capitol police chief reveals Jan 6 militia members want to 'blow up the Capitol' at the State of the Union
https://www.rawstory.com/militia-planned-for-capitol/

Ex-CIA director 'disgusted' by Ron Johnson, Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley for fueling violent Capitol attackers
https://www.rawstory.com/brennan-ted-cruz-josh-hawley/

The GOP isn’t even trying to hide the fact that they’re racist anymore: Conservative
https://www.rawstory.com/republicans-not-hiding-their-racism/

Trump caught on camera joking around with famous golfers day after his supporters' deadly Capitol riots
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-video/

Texas nuclear plant was just 3 minutes away from going completely off-line during blackout
https://www.rawstory.com/texas-nuclear-plant-hearing-offline/

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell spotted at Trump's Mar-a-Lago after Dominion sues him for $1.3 billion
https://www.rawstory.com/mike-lindell-and-donald-trump/

Republicans hit a startling new low as they desperately gaslight about QAnon and the Capitol riot
https://www.rawstory.com/qanon-2650744294/

Fox News' COVID denialism now threatens U.S. vaccine rollout — but its roots are deeper
https://www.rawstory.com/fox-news-2650740498/

GOP contenders learning Trump requires 100 percent loyalty -- or 'you're a damn traitor'
https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-on-loyalty/

[Rick Plant]

President Biden says US COVID vaccinations 'weeks ahead of schedule'
https://www.rawstory.com/bank/biden-says-us-vaccinations-weeks-ahead-of-schedule/

[Rick Plant]

Stunning new allegations further connect Trump to Russian mobsters and oligarchs
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-sater/

[John Tonkovich]

Hey John,

Hope all you guys (and gals) in the US are safe and well.

Variants vs vaccines is a sort of battle but the various amino acid substitutions and deletions that enhance binding are being closely tracked since the first major one, the UK variant first appeared. I think the South African and Brazilian variants are now thought to be the most contagious. Simply put they increase the chance of spread to more people with less particles. You lower the effective infective dose. That said the current vaccines in use, Pfizer, Moderna and Oxford are still effective although somewhat diminished in their ability to prevent infection. The key is if you do get infected the symptoms are mild. No need for hospitalisation. I believe the vaccine technology developed will allow for "tweaks" to take care of variants down the track before they get out of hand.

For the US the vaccine rollout looks to be reasonably good. Almost 2 million doses per day now I believe. Remember it takes almost three weeks for the vaccine to promote a protective response so there will be a lag. Also the second dose provides best protection. As the most at risk are first in line along with health workers et al I believe you will see a dramatic downturn in deaths and hospitalisations by summer. The only spanner would be the variants taking off. The case numbers have fallen lately which suggests they haven’t taken hold "yet". You might see a bounce in numbers again if they do.

As for comparison of administrations, as an observer I think the obvious difference is consistency of approach. It seems steady with less bluster and just getting on with the job rather than holding daily press conferences that were thinly disguised election promotions. Perhaps the best description is the depoliticising of a public health crisis, as much as we could expect to happen in a political environment.

I think there is great optimism for a much better 2021.

Dr. Crow:

J & J vaccine rolling out today, here in U.S.
Seems like good news. Requires much less freezing, handling, etc. Efficacy?
Your thoughts

[Steve M. Galbraith]

"All media is dominated by the far right."

I've read some crazy stuff on the internet - some of it here - but for someone to say that in the US "all media is dominated by the far right" has to be near the top of my list.

"All media"? "Far right"? Someone who thinks the NY Times and MSNBC and CNN are part of this "far right" domination - as they must be since they are major parts of the media - is either joking or....well, not all there.

[Richard Smith]

"All media is dominated by the far right."

I've read some crazy stuff on the internet - some of it here - but for someone to say that in the US "all media is dominated by the far right" has to be near the top of my list.

"All media"? "Far right"? Someone who thinks the NY Times and MSNBC and CNN are part of this "far right" domination - as they must be since they are major parts of the media - is either joking or....well, not all there.

I'm going with the latter.

[Colin Crow]

Dr. Crow:

J & J vaccine rolling out today, here in U.S.
Seems like good news. Requires much less freezing, handling, etc. Efficacy?
Your thoughts

Vaccine looks ok but I think production numbers are not high yet. Will be a help but need to ramp up production. Bonus is a one jab vaccination and can be kept in fridge. Also I have heard that the ultracold storage for Pfizer has been lifted to -20C.....normal freezer temp for about two weeks now. Will help storage issues.

Lots of good real world data about to come out on vaccines effect in Scotland and Israel I hear.