Peter Thiel, hack, but a plutocratic, neo-reactionary one

You always knew Peter Thiel was a turd. Maybe you didn't know how big of a turd, though. A new book, excerpted here, will help with that, including detailing his connections with Cambridge Analytica.

The LA Times also has a review of the new book. It notes that, contra Emerson, Thiel lacks not only foolish consistency, but much of any, above all being an alleged Jeebus believer who allegedly drug-fueled orgies. This review notes that, while he's often called a libertarian, along with people noting his "following" Leo Strauss, he's really more of a neo-reactionary. In other words, a politer alt-righter.

Here's the takeaway from that:

Chafkin’s title has it exactly right: Thiel is a contrarian, a man who doesn’t truly stand for anything — only against. What could be more boring than that?

Boom!

The first piece reminds us, with more detail than the second, that Thiel is giving major bucks to the Senate runs of J.D. Vance, aka Shitbagger Vance, and Blake Masters. Both once worked for him. He's also closely tied to Intellectual Dark Web nutter Eric Weinstein. None of these people are libertarian types either. All are neo-reactionaries.

And, per President Biden's talk about reforming the IRS to give it a better shot at rich tax cheats? Or rather, the mega-rich ones? That's why they hate it. And, Thiel personally has reason to fear the House's Roth IRA reform bill.

Texas Progressives get ready for redistricting

The Lege (as we await the fate of a lawsuit that claims redistrictings can be done only in regular sessions, per the Texas Constitution so beloved of wingnuts) has dropped its first Texas Senate redistricting map. The Trib has the backstory. As others have noted, "cracking and packing" along with "splitting and diluting" in the Metromess and elsewhere. Beverly Powell targeted in an attempt to "whiten" District 10 after she narrowly beat wingnut Konni Burton. That's the dilute and split. Nathan Johnson's Dist. 16 is cracked and packed, in part to benefit the GOP in District 10 and 12. Taking white suburbs out of Dist. 16 is done primarily to benefit whatever GOP wins the primary to succeed Jane "I Lied about Term Limits (and many other things)" Nelson in Dist. 12. Look back at her last two races, esp. the last one. I wrote a blog post about this, this summer, noting that Dist. 10, Dist. 12, Kelly Hancock's Dist. 9 and, if possible but a distant fourth, Angela Paxton's Dist. 8 would all be targets of redistricting help. She's getting some help by being moved more into exurban areas, with rejiggering to the east of nutbar Bob Hall's Dist. 2 and other things. Springer's Dist. 30 is "safe," so the GOP can borrow from it as needed. I had mainly been focused on "borrowing" from Springer's seat; hadn't thought about borrowing from Bob Hall's.

Off the Kuff looks at 2020 Congressional results as we wait for further redistricting maps.

Texas Dems may have some slim chance that they are right that the Lege can only redistrict in a regular session, but they're almost certainly wrong. They're definitely wrong that the courts are the next alternative; it's the Legislative Redistricting Board. See more here. That second link also says that Texas Dems may not be right about the "only in a regular session" claim. Also, Kenny Boy is right that such suit should go through state courts first. (Sigh; when Texas Dems continue to be dumber than Ken Paxton ...)

 

Katya Ehresman shows people how to get involved in the redistricting fight.

Sixers AND Mavs fans, again, I got a trade for you: Porzingis-Simmons

Yes, I know, Daryl Morey and Doc Rivers say they're going to fix Ben Simmons' shooting. That assumes it is fixable, and that it's fixable in the context of playing for the Sixers in Philly, generally regarded as the toughest sports fandom city in the nation.

It also assumes Ben Simmons wants to continue to play for the Sixers. As of Sept. 21, he's said that's a big negatory and won't report to training camp.

And, the idea would be questionable coming out of many head coaches' and GMs' mouths. From these two? Even more so.

As for Dallas? Yes, Jason Kidd may make Kristaps Porzingis somewhat more at ease, but, he's probably worn his welcome thin as well.

Now, I'm nowhere near a genyus on NBA salary cap and trade rules, but I know that going by 2020-21 salaries, both teams are over the cap but (I believe) under the lux tax level. So, we have to match within 125 percent. Via Spotrac and looking ahead to next year, here's the Mavs and the Sixers.

Since this is the NBA, first, we have to get within 80 percent on salaries, right? Simmons is set for $33 million and change next year on his base salary. The Zinger? Spotrac says the same!

So, no extra players need be thrown in.

Now, to make the trade happen, not in terms of salaries, but to make it happen, should this get serious consideration, would one team insist on an additional player, or a draft choice, from the other? 

Possibly, but neither should be dumb if it really thinks it's time to move on.

How does this affect both teams?

For the Mavs? Simmons can be point forward or even point center in some lineups. Teach him a Magic Johnson baby sky hook or jump hook in the post. Teach him a Magic-style push-set shot three-ball stroke even. With Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr,Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Brunson, the Mavs still have four three-ballers.

For the Sixers? The Zinger gives an additional outside threat, and one who's not afraid to let it rip. And, since Joel Embiid is already a defensive stopper, the Unicorn could go floating more in a "twin towers" lineup. When the Sixers go smaller, he pairs nicely with Tobias Harris inside.

There's one "small" problem with this. 

As I noted this summer in discussing what the Sixers should do with Simmons, they're kind of thin behind him at the point. George Hill is gone. Can Seth Curry be your PG? Uhh, probably not. If you're the Mavs, do you slip Trey Burke in to grease the skids? Include Brunson if you have to?

Would this make either team better? The ESPN Trade Machine says it's a wash for the Mavs and a big ding for the Sixers as a straight-up. So, throwing in one of those PGs would certainly help.  The trade machine calls it a near-wash for the Sixers if Brunson's in there.

That said, the trade machine only looks at things like PER. It's just a numbers-cruncher; it can't look at how players fit together.

If I'm the Mavs, I make that trade, including throwing in Brunson if necessary. If I'm the Sixers, I do it if a draft choice is also included ... maybe they hold out for both?

And, if I'm the Mavs? I would even throw in Brunson plus a swap of firsts and fall a bit lower in the draft.

Woj said this summer that the Sixers are looking for "Hardenesque" deals. Ain't.Gonna.Happen. Something like what I propose above is realistic. Daryl Morey is going to have to face that fact sooner or later. If he wants Damian Lillard, he needs to fork over more than just Simmons.

Per ESPN, yeah, the Sixers don't have to move Simmons this year; he's got contract years left. But, if they want to boost their playoff chances, yes, they "have to" make a trade this year.

It's not just that Simmons might mesh with Luka better than the Unicorn. We also know that Porzingis' defense, especially lateral defense, leaves something to be desired. Note: Here is where I call out one of FanSided's nutter blogs. The Smoking Cuban (no links) moaned about Zinger being ranked too low in SI's Top 100, but then in another post, listed him among players that need to up their D. SI had him at 41; ESPN has him at 40. Until he proves that he's regained lateral mobility and is relatively injury-free, both are too high.)

Coronavirus, Week 76B: More untruths refudiated

First, Atlantic reports on people saying their doctors told them not to get vaccinated, and looks at what may be behind the doctors' statements.

Second? For the COVID denialists touting "Dutch study" on social media? Here's a good breakdown of what that study actually says, linking to a Science mag piece for more information. TLDR? Natural immunity DOES protect you as well as a vaccine IF AND ONLY IF you get sick enough to have to go to a hospital and be ventilated.

Third, Jonathan Bernstein writes the 1 millionth "most are vax-hesitant, not vax-resistant" piece. Wrong. See my refutation of Yasmin Tayag earlier today.

Fourth, a note for antivaxxer and COVID denying leftists — ivermectin is made by "Big Pharma" Merck, which is explicitly NOT trying to run to the Big Pharma bank. As for money Pfizer is allegedly making? I'm not justifying all of it, but I will say there's first a difference between gross and net profits. And, lack of civil liability? Antivaxxers claiming that on Twitter are just gaslighting people versus the realities of the federal vaccine court, or else they're ignorant of how it works. In either case, they're spreading misinformation if they're ignorant, lies if they know better

Fifth? Lurking in the shadows? One new study says that almost half of those hospitalized with COVID are either asymptomatic or mildly so. 

Sixth and related, as for COVID denialists saying "we can't believe a disease can be carried asymptomatically by so many people," I present, after 10 seconds of Googling, salmonella and typhoid, including in the latter case Typhoid Mary, who had immediately popped into my mind. More on her here. Now, tis true, both of them are bacterial, not viral, but ... the person on Twitter just mentioned "disease," not virological disease.

But, on the viral side? HIV long lurks asymptomatically. Asymptomatic polio has also been documented. 

Back on the bacterial side, cholera is highly asymptomatic, it seems.

Seventh? See just how much of a hypocrite butt-hurt COVID antivaxxer Robert Malone is. He built on a decade of previous work, was trying to invent an mRNA vaccine — the very thing he claims today is unsafe — a decade after he claims he was deliberately written out of patent opportunities — and much work had to come after him. He has a place, but not a big place.

Eighth? Contra the COVIDZero gaslighters on Twitter, most antiviral vaccines have never claimed to eliminate what they vaccinate against. (Unfortunately,  unlike Coke Zero, CovidZERO is not being phased out.)

And, now, a couple of protection items.

First? Want to know your COVID risk based on actual real world scenarios? Click the link.

Second? If you're one of the 1 million Texans who got ONLY the first shot of either Pfizer or Moderna and are 90 days or more overdue on the second shot, well, you're at risk. Derp.

Third, Daily Kos suggests Washington state should require vax passports to keep Idaho's vax resistant on their side of the state line and force Gov. Little to clean up his own mess. Agreed.

Coronavirus, week 76A: Neoliberals vs nutbars, big biz vs nutbars

The header applies to the first piece in this week's roundup.

So, let's start there. At the Atlantic, which has had decent to good stuff by Ed Yong and others, Yasmin Tayag says stop calling it a pandemic of the unvaccinated because it's not productive. So what? It's A. True; B. Fun. NOT calling it that won't be any more productive, will it?

Her piece, IMO, goes further off the rails from there, saying that vaccine mandates can also be counterproductive. Well, ANYTHING "can be" counterproductive if you believe the only final answer is continued coddling. I don't.

Otherwise, her framing of how to reach out to the unvaccinated presumes they're rational actors. I don't do that, either. Given that the likes of Jason Kimball are claiming that the COVID self-induced death of denialist Gregg Prentice was "really" murder, they're not even close to rational actors, as his whole Facebook feed clearly shows. Shit like this shows the old neoliberal fiscal, neoliberal in larger thought Atlantic of years and decades past remains that way at bottom line.

Meanwhile, big biz like the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce LIKE the mandate. They probably recognize, contra Tayag, that the resisters are NOT rational actors, that the compulsion is needed and that Biden's doing the dirty work for them.

(Note: I originally forgot to truncate items I left on here before I decided to split this blog post into two. They are here.) 

Finally, Tayag forgot to discuss tribalism. When a hospital in Missouri, last month, as Delta (we hope) peaked, created a private vax room so that antivaxxers couldn't be seen by family, antivax friends and tribalists, etc., as they got the shot, that's Tribalism 101. It also undercuts her claims to "they're really thinking." It also undercuts the likes of Jonathan Bernstein at the "here" link in the paragraph above that this is still really about vax-hesitant, not antivaxxers. No it's not. Whether it's wingnuts like the two of them, or never-Trumper (at times) wingnuts like National Review, also cited in the piece just above, they're making these claims for their own tribalist reasons.

Punking pro-life wingnuts on fetal stem cells

This is a story that is at root about COVID vaccines, but it has much larger import.

The CEO of an Arkansas hospital group noted how many of his staff were filing "religious exemption" claims to not get vaccinated, mandatory now at the hospital group in question. Specifically, he noted the number of exemption requests based on fetal stem cell lines in the vaccine.

Matt Troup, CEO of Conway Regional Health System, said fine.

And, one-upped them. You wanna avoid the vaccine? You must also avoid:

Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, aspirin, Tums, Lipitor, Senokot, Motrin, ibuprofen, Maalox, Ex-Lax, Benadryl, Sudafed, albuterol, Preparation H, MMR vaccine, Claritin, Zoloft, Prilosec OTC, and azithromycin.

That's not all on the list of 30 products in a counter-statement, but it is the most common.

More here. Employees wanting to claim the exemption but refusing to sign Troup's paperwork are given a provisional exemption, which can be revoked at any time. (One wonders if Troup is busy soliciting applications, to be prepared for such revocations down the road.)

Anyway, that second link cites an MD who also identifies as Catholic and says this is all true.

So, the next time some Catholic within three degrees of the world of Opus Dei says "I can't do X cuz fetal stem cells," ask them what they do for a headache. Ask them what they do for allergies.