Run the World

Kamala Stays Making History

Vice President-Elect Harris has named her top three positions for the Office of the Vice President and they are all women. Her top aides are: Tina Flournoy, chief of staff; Rohini Kosoglu, Domestic Policy Advisor; and Nancy McEldowney, National Security Advisor.  How dope is that! All of these women are highly qualified and extremely smart. Congrats ladies!

You’re Not Fully Dressed Without a…Mask

President-Elect Biden said that he will ask everyone to wear a mask for 100 days as one of his first acts as President. “On the first day I’m inaugurated, I’m going to ask the public for 100 days to mask. Just 100 days to mask — not forever, just 100 days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction” in the virus, Biden said. CDC Director, Robert Redfield, warned that winter is here and could be “the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation.”  

Since, people can be stupid, I have no doubt that the backlash will be harsh, swift, and fierce. It’s definitely worth a shot despite it not being a national mandate. All I can say is, I’ll wear mine.

On another note, Dr. Fauci criticized the British government for approving a vaccine so fast. He said they rushed the process and did not fully vet the research. He said the FDA has the right idea and is doing the approval carefully and appropriately. Shots fired! 

Young and Dumb

Last night, the New York Young Republican Club held, in secret, its 108th annual gala. Sara Palin was initially booked to speak but, she had sense enough to cancel because of the pandemic. Fear not, though, she was quickly replaced with Florida Representative Matt Gaetz.

Prior to the event, when New York City officials questioned the 26-year-old president of the group, Gavin M. Wax, he purposely kept the location secret and refused to tell the number of people attending. Wax and others also managed to confuse whether the event was being held in New York or New Jersey. The Facebook page listed the Caldwell Factory in the Chelsea area of Manhattan, but this was a diversion. Images and video posted on Twitter showed attendees gathered inside Maritime Parc in Liberty State Park in Jersey City. Attendees were seated and standing close together and not wearing masks. 

The event’s other headline speaker was James O’Keefe, the conservative activist who runs Project Veritas. He posted several pics on his twitter account. (photo above) It shows people with no masks or precautions, living their best life. One of these less than intelligent people, Joel Fischer posted this on twitter: 

Are You Smarter Than a Naturalized Citizen?

The Trump Administration may be down but they are definitely not out. Tuesday, changes made to the citizenship test went into effect. The new test draws from 128 possible questions (up from 100) and now requires applicants to answer 12 out of 20 questions correctly instead of the previous 6 out of 10. The test itself is now more complex. Questions about simple geography were eliminated and dozens of questions were added that are nuanced and involve complex phrasing. For example,

Who appoints federal judges? 

  1. The Chief Justice
  2. The Senate
  3. The President
  4. The Attorney General

The answer is 3, The President. Did you get that right? For this question, you may want to say the Senate but, they confirm the candidate the President appoints/nominates. This is a nuanced question that would pose a problem for many Americans and anyone for whom English is a second language. According to a 2018 national survey by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, one in three Americans could not pass the old test. Most of the respondents did not know how many justices serve on the Supreme Court or which countries the United States fought in World War II.

Another question that is suspect is one that now has a new answer: “Who does a U.S. Senator represent?” Previously, the answer was “all people of the state”; on the new test, it is “citizens” in the state.

This administration has succeeded in adding yet another level of difficulty to legal citizenship. The new test will be required of all applicants who apply for citizenship after December 1, 2020. Biden can reverse or change this, but let’s be real, this is so far down on the list of things to do, it could take years, if at all.

An Offer You Can’t Refuse

Despite being one of the airlines with the least pandemic protections, Southwest Airlines is threatening layoffs. Southwest has been in negotiations since October with employee union representatives to reduce employee pay by 10%. Because those negotiations have failed, Southwest sent out just under 7,000 WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications) notices to ramp workers, flight attendants, pilots, and customer service workers. Similar negotiations are also in effect for the maintenance department. Meteorology and dispatch departments have accepted the pay cut and have been “spared” the furlough threat. 

Southwest, of course, says it can avoid the furloughs if employees agree to the temporary 10% pay cut for 2021. What is interesting is that while they are asking their workers to take less money, they are in negotiations with Boeing to purchase 30 of the recently ungrounded Boeing 737 Max 8s. 

Singapore, It Has the MEATS

Singapore is making chicken in a lab. They are the first country to approve “cultured meat” produced in bioreactors. This meat is produced without the slaughter of an animal. The “chicken bites”  were produced by the US company, Eat Just, and approved by the Singapore Food Agency. The company says this is being developed to provide cleaner, drug-free, and cruelty-free meat. 

How? Cells are biopsied from a live animal, grown in a bioreactor using fetal bovine serum as a growth medium, and then combined with plant-based ingredients. Whew! That’s a lot of science. To start, Singapore will have a limited amount sold in restaurants. Chicken bites will be more expensive than conventional chicken until production increases. Eat Just, however, predicts it will ultimately be cheaper. 

Several companies are working on developing more than just chicken, also beef and pork. They believe these types of products will wean meat-eaters off traditional sources. How do we feel about this?

We Are Not Alone

I owe Americans a minuscule apology. Turns out, we are not alone in our ridiculousness. Another, yes, another monolith “appeared” in Romania. In the city of Piatra Neamt they also found a 10-12 feet tall monolith composed of a reflective metal. It was reportedly found standing on the Bâtca Doamnei plateau, near an archaeological site. The mayor,  Andrei Carabelea said,  “There is no reason to panic for those who think there is still life in the universe. My guess is that some alien, cheeky and terrible teenagers left home with their parents’ UFO and started planting metal monoliths around the world.”  

Just when I thought I was out….California pulled me back in. You guessed it, another monolith appeared on Pine Mountain in Atascadero, a city in San Luis Obispo County.  

Yea ok. I’m done. I’m not talking about this anymore. 

Have a Great Weekend Everyone!