Yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I wrote about all I’m probably going to write about that here. While we’re at it, Thursday’s Gibberish was a meditation on old graveyards and ghost towns. Tuesday was just me complaining about professional fan fiction, which never seems to have the love of the amateurs’ stuff. Go figure.
A heads up for my friends and neighbors on the Gulf Coast. We got another possible hurricane coming our way. Tropical Storm Nicholas is building power just off the Yucatan Peninsula and early predictions has it landing somewhere in Southeast Texas or Southwest Louisiana. Louisiana is still trying to get out from under the mess Ida left and doesn’t need more of this shit. Weather folks are already warning about big rains and possible flooding, so y’all be safe.
Both college football and professional ball are up and running, for those of y’all who find joy in that. The Saints are currently whipping the Packers and ‘Bama had a good day yesterday. I really can’t tell you more than that. This isn’t a sports blog anyway.
The much-touted infrastructure bill is hitting a bump named Joe Manchin. Up until this weekend, most of the Senate Democrat leadership thought the West Virginia gadfly was on board with the $3.5 trillion plan. However, he’s spent the last 48 hours telling people he just can’t do it. He can’t explain why he can’t do it when pressed, actually, he just says he can’t.
This has, of course, brought him some fire from the rest of Congress. Bernie Sanders and Katie Porter both called him out, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez basically called him a lapdog for fuel companies and their anti-climate agenda. That chapped his ass, and he bucked, but he’s already been caught as one of Exxon’s favorites. Rumor says Manchin would agree to an even more cut bill, something like $1.5 trillion. Sanders noted that the bill already represents massive amounts of compromise from Congress’ progressive branch with very little give from the conservative side.
Virginia’s Mark Warner may also buck, but because he wants more money going to deal with racial disparities in housing. However, that comes from Axios and they’re pretty pitiful. The odds still seem to be pretty good for the bill’s passing regardless of Manchin’s prima donna act. It also seems he’s starting to wear out his welcome with the rest of the Democratic Party, particularly given how poorly he’s hiding how fuel lobbyists pull his strings.
And that’s about all I’m willing to waste of tomorrow’s copy. There’s a story out of Alabama about a gentleman named Ray DeMonia of Cullman. He had a cardiac event and because of unvaccinated COVID sufferers choking hospitals throughout the South, the local hospital had to turn him away. They had to check 43 different hospitals before finding an opening in Meridian, MS, a little over 200 miles away. He died there, just shy of his 74th birthday. Remember, he didn’t die of COVID but it could be said he died because of COVID.
Get the vaccine, you assholes.
Dear Y'all 