Category: The Current Situation

CNN quotes the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office’s grim but practical suggestion for people in the path of Hurricane Laura who aren’t evacuating:

Those choosing to stay and face this very dangerous storm must understand that rescue efforts cannot and will not begin until after storm and surge has passed and it is safe to do so.

Please evacuate, and if you choose to stay and we can’t get to you, write your name, address, social security number and next of kin and put it a Ziploc bag in your pocket. Praying that it does not come to this.

They wisely stopped at that point and left it to people to deduce why you should such waterproof ID on your person.

Recommended reading

• CNN: Those who didn’t evacuate before Hurricane Laura should put their name in a plastic bag in a pocket, official says
• WDSU 6 News (local station in New Orleans): Vermilion sheriff on those staying in path of Hurricane Laura: “Write your name…put it in a Ziploc bag in your pocket”
• New York Times: Hurricane Laura Live Updates: Storm Plows Through Louisiana
• Washington Post: Hurricane Laura strikes Louisiana as Category 4 storm, battering Lake Charles area and bringing flood threat
• NBC News: Live Blog / Hurricane Laura makes landfall as Category 4 early Thursday: Live updates and path tracker
• NPR: Hurricane Laura Knocks Out Power For Hundreds Of Thousands In Louisiana And Texas

From YouGov:

A majority of registered Republican voters (57%) say the number of fatalities from coronavirus is acceptable, according to a CBS News/YouGov Poll released on Sunday. At the time the survey was fielded, there were 170,000 coronavirus fatalities and more than 5.5 million cases confirmed in the United States.

About seven in 10 Americans (69%) say the number of COVID-19 deaths in America is unacceptable — a sentiment reflected among Independents (69%) and Democrats (90%). About two in five Republicans (43%) say the fatalities are unacceptable.

64% — that’s almost two thirds — of Republicans surveyed believe that the number of fatalities is actually lower than what’s being reported. No wonder we’re repeating 1918’s mistakes.

Remember this when you vote.

Recommended reading

• The details behind YouGov’s survey numbers, which includes a page explaining how the poll was conducted and how they calculated the margin of error.
• CNN: A coronavirus chart that will shock you
• Washington Post: What does it mean that most Republicans see the coronavirus death toll as acceptable?
• The Hill: 57 percent of Republicans say coronavirus death toll is ‘acceptable’
• And for context, from the end of March, not even half a year ago: The coronavirus has now killed more people in the US than the 9/11 terror attacks

It’s where Kamala Harris herself was born, not her parents, that makes her an American citizen. Beers seems to have forgotten that he himself is the descendant of “anchor babies”.

He’s also forgetten that the term — pejorative, bigoted tones aside — describes a baby with birthright citizenship.