Still imagining an alternate timeline in which our response to determining that there is basically zero outdoor masked transmission was to redesign our ventilation systems and enact new health guidelines so that they don't just recirculate viruses all the time. Ew

— Talia Ringer (@TaliaRinger) May 8, 2021

But Talia, some nutty buddy lib told me that you COULD still get Covid outdoors, if someone repeatedly spit in your face or held you down and coughed on your for a while, as so often occurs. I mean, it happens to me every time I go outside, as it does with nearly everyone.

So that means we should just hyperventilate about not wearing masks outdoors and do noting else.

See, totally obvious.

As COVID wanes, graduation 2021 disappoints hopeful students.

And they should be disappointed. It’s time to start getting back to normal. The anti-vaxxers and crybaby libs are just going to have to buck up or shut the fuck up.

We have the technology of safe and effective vaccines. Anyone who doesn’t take one, it’s now on them. Need vaccine passports ASAP.

Let’s Declare This the Summer of Play.

And 50 million liberals cried as one, their tears flooding the streets, sweeping away all before them. They don’t want a summer of play; they want a summer of hiding inside, preferably under a bed while they wear at least 10 masks, wailing about this or that while still refusing to go outdoors alone to even use a grill.

No, there can be no play while there is a yet a virus — any virus — left in the world. No sunshine shall mar their faces while there is merely a fleeting chance that a variant might take out a gramma somewhere, anywhere. And no joy, no merriment, no revelry shall there be until we achieve their longed-for complete safety.

Here We Go Again: Another Covid Case Brings More Uncertainty.

I wonder when countries who now run their territories as de facto prisons for their residents are going to ease up?

In some cases, I suspect the answer is “never.”

We're now in a bear market for the Pandemic Changed Everything takes pic.twitter.com/zXtOhhPFxh

— Greg Shill (@greg_shill) May 7, 2021

I done told ya’ll the MBAs would want everyone back in the office ASAP. And I was right.

cause for optimism. https://t.co/oX9fPW25Bo

— Steve Randy Waldman (@interfluidity) May 7, 2021

Biden is doing many of the same things Trump did or threatened to do, but achieving them more competently.

However that doesn’t explain at all why the Dems/libs support Biden and didn’t support Trump regarding these efforts. It’s all stylistics, no substance. Biden isn’t great. He’s not even good. But just as I agreed with many trade-related ideas of Trump’s, I agree with Biden’s. Let’s hope he can execute better; that remains to be seen.

Result: soviet-style scarcity with convenient illusion of abundance, and victim blaming narrative "market doesn't support that".

I maintain a long list of basic products I haven't been able to get on the market: can opener, dried fish, leather belt, pants that fit, etc etc…

— Wolf Tivy (@wolftivy) May 6, 2021

This is a great insight. I’ve had similar thoughts. For instance, my partner and I bought a good half dozen can openers before we found one that even basically functioned. Then we bought another copy of it.

Plenty of choice, but a scarcity of anything that’s not crap. The same with food: loads of absolute health-destroying offal and slop on offer, and even the “quality” choices are often little better, just with better branding. Think “Beyond Meat” is good for you? Ha.

Actual market failures are reinterpreted as personal failures, a malfunction of desire rather than a dysfunction of markets. Meanwhile, those of us who would pay 2-3x as much for an actual quality product are told are wishes aren’t realistic because we refuse to fall for scams.

no-contact delivery sesame chicken and spring rolls

this was one of my "things are improving" steps and now I'm tearing up a little

— bletchley punk (@alicegoldfuss) May 7, 2021

People treat themselves like garbage, force asceticism for no reason, and then wonder why their mental health suffers. And wonder why anyone looks at them askance.

Fucking Christ, I both feel pity for her and don’t understand how anyone thought getting takeout was so unsafe that it was untenable for 15 whole months. Now I understand I think why liberals are so screechy about people wearing masks outdoors. Many of them do truly live in terror and it obviously does nothing good for one’s mental balance at all.

This pandemic has made me like a lot less people that I formerly thought were pretty cool.

there's an extremely twitter form of "debate" where someone says "if the facts of this situation were totally different, then what you're doing would be a bad thing!"

I truly do not understand why they think they have a point

— badidea (@0xabad1dea) April 29, 2021

It is pretty funny. I’ve recently seen people say things on here like, “If the vaccines didn’t work, and if Covid were way, way more contagious, and if what is happening in India were to happen here, and if random people just ran up and licked your face all the time when you’re outside, then that means you’re bad and evil for not wearing a mask outdoors! GOTCHA!”

What are these people thinking? Just how do you think so incredibly poorly and then act like you’re a debate champion?