buzzsawmonkey 4/14/2020 6:38:05 AM

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vxbush 4/14/2020 7:02:44 AM

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In #1 buzzsawmonkey said: It's interesting how the Passover diet, in its own way, forces one to recall the Exodus.  It messes up the digestion so that one is first "in bondage," so to speak---indeed, in hard, laboring bondage---and then, suddenly, one is "freed."

Not being familiar with the Passover diet beyond the elimination of leavened breads, I didn't think eliminating leaven would cause such problems. But then perhaps there is more to the diet than I am aware of. 

Morning, campers. Still cold in Illinois. Snow expected tonight. 

lucius septimius 4/14/2020 7:20:51 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 1:

There was a big display of gluten-free matzoh at the grocery store.  I half expected the label to say "now with more affliction!"

Alice in Dairyland 4/14/2020 7:57:43 AM

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Well they finally counted the votes yesterday from last Monday's election.  The liberal State Supreme Court justice beat the incumbent conservative judge.  The Journal-Sentinel, Milwaukee's newspaper, was posting the results online last night.  I think Milwaukee really changed the game for this election when all 480 of their 475 precincts were finally tallied.  Yes, you read that right! 101% vote in Milwaukee.  Yeah, there's nothing wrong with voting in Wisconsin. 

https://projects.jsonline.com/topics/election/2020/4/13/wisconsin-spring-election-results-april-7.html

JCM 4/14/2020 8:09:22 AM

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OMG we've got more deaths than Italy!

And IT'S TRUMP'S FAULT!

That's the media line.....

But wait! When you normalized for population our rate is .... 10x less.

Occasional Reader 4/14/2020 8:12:35 AM

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Reply to JCM in 5:

"... Lies, god-damned lies, and statistics", to recall the famous line uttered by Groucho Marx to Winston Churchill (or something like that)... 

Occasional Reader 4/14/2020 8:13:39 AM

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In #4 Alice in Dairyland said: Yes, you read that right! 101% vote in Milwaukee

Where all the women are strong, all the men are beautiful, all the children are above-average, and all of the registered voters vote... and then some!

doppelganglander 4/14/2020 8:17:55 AM

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Occasional Reader 4/14/2020 8:23:09 AM

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In #8 doppelganglander said: It's still so scarce

And yet it's not, really; and yet, effectively, it is.  This is certainly one of the odder phenomena of the current situation. 

lucius septimius 4/14/2020 8:31:27 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

I read a piece a while back about the economics of toilet paper.  It's one of those items that stores carry, but the profit margin is so low that they make practically nothing on it.  And in many cases it's a loss-leader.  It stays on the shelf because people come into the store to get it (because they need it) and almost always buy something else. Since demand is relatively inelastic, there is never a worry it will disappear off the shelves.  This current "crisis" is entirely the result of panic over-buying and the natural economy of the product.

I thought it interesting that at my mom's Jewel/Osco the toilet paper section was right next to the liquor section.

Alice in Dairyland 4/14/2020 9:03:12 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 7:   You are not too far off.  Milwaukee/Madison are located at the very bottom of the state; about as far from Lake Wobegon as you can get, figuratively and literally.  I wish we could just give them both to Illinois and claim the Upper Peninsula for WI, makes more sense.

vxbush 4/14/2020 9:20:25 AM

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In #11 Alice in Dairyland said: I wish we could just give them both to Illinois and claim the Upper Peninsula for WI, makes more sense.

Better yet, put them with Chicago in their own state and leave the rest of Illinois out of it. 

Alice in Dairyland 4/14/2020 9:27:54 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 12: Sounds like an acceptable plan to me.

Alice in Dairyland 4/14/2020 9:29:39 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 12:   The state of Madchickee?

doppelganglander 4/14/2020 9:37:11 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 9:

At least the typical French Toast Alert during severe weather makes some kind of sense. So does the run on disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer,  and other cleaning products. For the rest of it, it's best explained by Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.

buzzsawmonkey 4/14/2020 9:41:30 AM

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Oh, food shortages threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shipments
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

Re-stock the shelves, and do it today
And do it today
Re-stock the shelves, and do it today
And do it today

Ooh, processing plants closin'
'Cause virus holdin' sway
And there ain't enough truck drivers
To deliver products anyway

Re-stock the shelves, and do it today
And do it today
Re-stock the shelves, and do it today
And do it today...

---the Rolling Stones, "Gimme Shelter Shortage"

vxbush 4/14/2020 11:14:47 AM

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In #14 Alice in Dairyland said:  The state of Madchickee?

Oh, I like that!

vxbush 4/14/2020 12:09:44 PM

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In #17 vxbush said: The state of Madchickee?

Or Chicagone. 

Occasional Reader 4/14/2020 12:15:23 PM

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At the risk of oversharing:  Should I buy a 'bidet seat"? 

Discuss. 

(And no, this isn't because I'm worried about running out of TP; though it was prompted by an Insty thread on that subject, apparently bidet and bidet-seat sales are up for that reason.)

vxbush 4/14/2020 12:30:42 PM

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In #19 Occasional Reader said: At the risk of oversharing:  Should I buy a 'bidet seat"? 

Yes. You are oversharing. This conversation would probably be best had with your physician. 

Occasional Reader 4/14/2020 1:27:00 PM

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In #20 vxbush said: Yes. You are oversharing

Says you!  (As buzzsawmonkey famously put it)

This conversation would probably be best had with your physician. 

Oh, come now.  It's not a medical question, ferpetessake.  

vxbush 4/14/2020 2:13:29 PM

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In #21 Occasional Reader said: Oh, come now.  It's not a medical question, ferpetessake.  

Well, that's true, but they probably are dealing with such questions these days, to be honest. I'm sure they could give you far better advice than I could, but there very well might be someone here who can provide good advice as well. 

The other person you could talk to might be a plumber. Possibly. (They might be more knowledgable about potential problems and issues that are of a mechanical nature.) 

Kosh's Shadow 4/14/2020 3:00:09 PM

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In #3 lucius septimius said: There was a big display of gluten-free matzoh at the grocery store.  I half expected the label to say "now with more affliction!"

Especially since gluten-free matzoh is not suitable for the mitzvah of eating matzos

Kosh's Shadow 4/14/2020 3:04:16 PM

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State Department leaked cables renew theories on origin of coronavirus

A Chinese laboratory at the center of new theories about how the coronavirus pandemic started was the subject of multiple urgent warnings inside the U.S. State Department two years ago, according to a new report.

U.S. Embassy officials warned in January 2018 about inadequate safety at the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab and passed on information about scientists conducting risky research on coronavirus from bats, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

And...

The United Kingdom has said that the idea that the virus, which has turned into a full-blown global pandemic, was leaked from a Wuhan lab is "no longer being discounted."

A member of the U.K. government's emergency committee of senior officials claimed Sunday: "There is a credible alternative view (to the zoonotic theory) based on the nature of the virus. Perhaps it is no coincidence that there is a laboratory in Wuhan."

Foreign affairs expert Gordon Chang said in a recent opinion piece on Fox News that "many Chinese believe the virus either was deliberately released or accidentally escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a P4-level bio-safety facility."

Kosh's Shadow 4/14/2020 3:10:43 PM

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How about this idea for a children’s story?

It is a story about a rooster, Frank, who identifies as a hen, Francine, even though zhe can’t lay eggs.

All the barnyard animals support zher, and convince zher it is just fine to be a hen that doesn’t lay eggs.

The farmer Grump [guess who he looks like?], however, isn’t so happy.

But the animals smuggle zher into the henhouse anywhere, where zhe is very happy.

Until the farmer Grump decided hens that don’t lay eggs are not worth keeping around, so he calls the shochet, [kosher slaughterer], who shows up with large hooked nose and an Israeli flag, and proceeds to do his business on the non-laying hens.

However, the animals overthrow Grump, convince everyone to be vegetarian, and live happily ever after*.

*For the real ending, see Orwell, Animal Farm.

I think it will go over well with the woke set.

midwestgak 4/14/2020 3:20:46 PM

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Live:  Trump is withholding funds to the W.H.O. until further review . . . 

midwestgak 4/14/2020 3:24:03 PM

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Reply to midwestgak in 26:

Another common sense decision.  I love his backbone!

Kosh's Shadow 4/14/2020 3:24:09 PM

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In #26 midwestgak said: Trump is withholding funds to the W.H.O. until further review . . . 

Good, since they are accessories during the fact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The head should be tried with the rest of the Communist Party of China, and any bribes paid out to victims.

midwestgak 4/14/2020 3:36:07 PM

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In #28 Kosh's Shadow said: since they are accessories during the fact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accessories is being polite.  Puppets of the China machine, um, less polite. 

midwestgak 4/14/2020 3:40:37 PM

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Kosh's Shadow 4/14/2020 3:40:42 PM

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In #29 midwestgak said: Accessories is being polite.  Puppets of the China machine, um, less polite. 

I was using the legal term. Being a puppet isn't a crime. Releasing a bioweapon is a war crime.

And it seems like the evidence is getting stronger and stronger that this involved something from bioweapon research, accidentally released.

midwestgak 4/14/2020 3:42:50 PM

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In #31 Kosh's Shadow said: And it seems like the evidence is getting stronger and stronger that this involved something from bioweapon research, accidentally released.

As was originally suspected.

Kosh's Shadow 4/14/2020 3:47:52 PM

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Reply to midwestgak in 32:

At first, I thought this was just another SARS, but the response has been way too strong. That changed my mind.