Thursday's Wild

Latest on vax mandates, infrastructure deal, a bunch of new poliitcal cartoons, and music from Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Ry Cooder and ZZ Top--plus a Van Morrison parody.

And aweigh we go….don’t forget to share, comment, subscribe (it’s still free).

Two sports briefs from The Onion: “NFL Warns Unvaccinated Players Will Face Consequences For Domestic Violence Charges.” And: “Conservatives Blast Simone Biles For Robbing Them Of Opportunity To Criticize Her Win.”

Not The Onion, but from Slate: “Turns Out Mo Brooks Was Wearing Body Armor to Trump’s Very Peaceful Jan. 6 Rally.”

It’s Ain’t Over Till It’s Over: On that grand infrastructure deal, observes Axios, “The actual text still isn't drafted. The 60 votes needed for final Senate passage aren't assured. The Senate bill would then face an uncertain future in the House.” And Politico notes that Sen. Sinema “threw everyone for a loop Wednesday night when she said she’d vote for the bipartisan infrastructure framework, but opposes the $3.5 trillion Democrats-only reconciliation bill. The left, as you can imagine, went nuts.”

Gizmodo: “Researchers found that vaccine resistance among people who get their info from Facebook was second only to Newsmax viewers."

The mask wars are back, Politico reports. Two members of Congress — Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) — had a tense encounter outside the House chamber after Huffman witnessed Donalds, unmasked, in an elevator. “Earlier in the day, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) threw a mask in the face of a floor staffer who offered her one for being unmasked. Roughly two dozen House Republicans disregarded the new guidance and opted not to wear a mask on the floor — risking a $500 fine.”

Southern Frights: Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina are suffering the biggest self-inflicted outbreaks in the nation. All five of those states have rates of full vaccinations below U.S. average and two of them — Mississippi and Louisiana — are in the bottom five.

Imperfect unions: Politico also observes, “A steep divide has emerged among labor unions — as well as between members and leaders — over whether to require workers to be vaccinated. On Tuesday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said he would support a mandate….But Trumka’s position was at odds with some of the AFL-CIO’s largest members, including the American Federation of Teachers…Other unions have also voiced opposition.”

One good Covid thing, via NYT: “The huge increase in government aid prompted by the coronavirus pandemic will cut poverty nearly in half this year from pre-pandemic levels and push the share of Americans in poverty to the lowest level on record, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet of a vast but temporary expansion of the safety net.”

Wolf at the door: Daily Beast reports, “Anti-Vaxxer Naomi Wolf Joins Trump’s Doomed Tech Suit.”

But wait, there’s (no) more: Ron Popeil, the TV pitchman and inventor known for loud TV hawking for the Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, Mr. Microphone and the Showtime Rotisserie and BBQ, has died in L.A. at 86.

This week’s always rewarding review of past days in Harper’s newsletter:

In Tarrant, Alabama, a white city council member who used the N-word to refer to a black female council member during a public session refused to apologize or resign, and then announced that he was considering a run for mayor. The police in Brockton, Massachusetts, continued searching for the person or persons who left several gallon jugs of urine covered in racist messages on the driveway of a black city council candidate.

An Indonesian man with COVID-19 wore a niqab and pretended to be his wife in order to fly, but was caught when he changed into his own clothes mid-flight. A Coast Guard helicopter rescued an Alaskan camper who had been harassed by a bear for seven nights in a row, and Florida homeowners yelled “Get the man out of here, have him die somewhere else!” at a man who had a seizure on their lawn.

The former dean of science at the University of Technology Sydney was found guilty of forging threatening notes to herself. A teenage refugee from Syria won a libel case against the U.K. far-right influencer and activist Tommy Robinson, whose comments led to the boy being beaten up by his classmates. It was reported that an unknown man has been masturbating as librarians read aloud the Supreme Court decision Brady v. Maryland.  Hardcore pornography was embedded across hundreds of websites, including the Washington Post’s, after the defunct Vidme ad network was purchased by 5 Star Porn HD.

More Cartoons

Music

Never a ZZ Top fan but this yesterday from Frank & Billy on their bass player since 1970: We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX.  We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top.'  We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C.’ You will be missed greatly, amigo. Here’s their “Sharp-Dressed Man” below.

Given the current state of the great Van Morrison, you may enjoy this expert parody….

Note on below: Willie later turned to acoustic guitar.

Song Pick of the Day

A special version of Jackson Browne’s classic “Fountain of Sorrow,” since it also features J.D. Souther and Ry Cooder. Allegedly about his romance with Joni Mitchell.