Warning: I am only somewhat less incandescent with rage over the SCOTUS thing. However, I also had my second booster this week, which took out most of my stuffing for about 12-24 hours. I’m Team Pfizer, but my local CVS had only Moderna. I’ve read a few things suggesting that cocktailing the two vaccines may give the recipient wider immunity, and I’m all for that. However, while I had zero side effects from Pfizer other than the usual sore arm, this Moderna made me feel like a very old person with aches, pains, ague and zero energy.
As I recall, Kate got Moderna and suffered a bit, too. Maybe it’s in our genes.
Anyway, I now feel pretty immune to everything. But I’m still bothered by the Supreme Court.
I was in high school, a sophomore as I recall, when Roe was decided. I lived in an affluent area, and the standard operating procedure for girls who got pregnant was the one-day trip to New York City. An ACLU lawyer described it to me years later: The gate at the airport for the 7 a.m. flight, full of youngish women, teens and their mothers. They’d arrive in NYC mid-morning, take a cab to the clinic of their choice and all be back at the LaGuardia gate for the 5 p.m. flight back to Columbus. Everyone knew what was going on.
You had to go to New York because the earliest states to liberalize abortion laws were Republican-led, and that was the Rockefeller era. Democratic governors were beholden to the Catholic vote then, and as others have pointed out, Catholics were pretty much the only religious group opposed to abortion then.
But not everyone could get to New York, and so one night the wife of a friend of mine told me about the abortion she’d had, pre-Roe. She, too, was from a reasonably well-off family, but she went to St. Louis, and had her abortion in a hotel room. She didn’t share a lot of details, but I gathered it was a very unpleasant experience. Just thinking about it made me mad all over again.
And now we learn the prime mover behind the J.D. Vance endorsement: Tucker Carlson. Behold the former president of the United States:
After promising Trump that Vance was with him on the issues despite the candidate’s past anti-Trump comments, Carlson — according to three sources familiar with the matter — turned to a lurid closing argument. “You can’t trust” David McIntosh, the president of the conservative Club for Growth and a top backer of Vance’s rival Josh Mandel, Carlson claimed. McIntosh had just concluded his own phone call with Trump during that same midday meeting. The reason, Carlson asserted, is that McIntosh has an embarrassing and “chronic” personal sexual habit.
Rolling Stone cannot confirm the claim and will not repeat it. But during that phone call, the twice-impeached former president spent a notable amount of time gossiping and laughing about the prominent Republican’s penis and how “fucking disgusting” and “fucking gross” he allegedly was.
Trump had already displayed a long, abiding interest in Mandel’s own sex life, having spent months privately regurgitating and spreading salacious, unverified rumors that he’s heard about “fucking weird” Mandel’s supposed debauched ongoings. Carlson’s comments about the proclivities of Mandel’s patron threw both Trump and his son into fits of laughter.
I’M MOVING TO MEXICO, CANADA OR WESTERN EUROPE ONE OF THESE DAYS AND GODDAMNIT YOU CAN’T STOP ME.
OK, time to take off the caps lock and prepare for the evening ahead. I believe we’re headed to Pontiac this evening for some Mongolian heavy metal and a potential face-to-face with LAMary’s roadie son. This should be epic. I’m getting a T-shirt.
Good weekend, all. Stay cool.
Deggjr said on May 6, 2022 at 1:06 pm
I had the Moderna booster on Wednesday morning. I was incredibly fatigued Thursday, peaking around 7:30pm. I was fearing the worst until I remembered the booster shot. OK today.
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JodiP said on May 6, 2022 at 1:32 pm
Nancy who is the Mongolian Heavy Metal you’re seeing? I *just* learned this is a thing. Here is one group, called The HU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xZUr0BEfE
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Julie Robinson said on May 6, 2022 at 1:36 pm
From what I’ve heard, Moderna has a rougher recovery than Pfizer. At least, among my acquaintances. We all got Pfizer the first three times and that’s all they had when we signed up for #4. I had read a few places that mixing might provide a fuller immune response, but couldn’t get a definitive answer.
And now, I’m just happy we got the booster when we did since Covid was waiting for us just three weeks later. Mom is still very weak and a call to the doctor’s office informed us it could be a couple more weeks. She’s quite depressed about feeling so crummy and even skipped the concert our kids sang in last night. Usually she loves going to concerts and plays so this was a bad sign and honestly it’s got me down too.
But the concert was a couple of hours of glorious distraction, full of Broadway music that had me singing along under my breath. So, there’s that.
And with that, back to the horrible, terrible, no-good news of the week.
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David C said on May 6, 2022 at 2:09 pm
My first was J&J. That wasn’t too bad. My boosters have both been Moderna. I had nothing more than a sore shoulder with either booster. When I get booster number 3 and who doesn’t believe that’ll be coming sooner or later I’ll probably get Pfizer unless someone else comes out first with a vaccine that’s updated for Omicron.
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Lou Gravity said on May 6, 2022 at 2:23 pm
If anyone’s counting – 4 Moderna shots (so far) no side effects whatsoever – not even a sore arm.
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Jeff Gill said on May 6, 2022 at 3:06 pm
Four Pfizers, no pfuss.
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alex said on May 6, 2022 at 4:53 pm
I had Pfizer. Hope to get my next one at CVS when I go pick up more insulin tomorrow and it totally cashes out my HSA. At least the booster shot is free.
My blood sugar has been out of control lately and now I’ve got a thing embedded in my arm that sends blood sugar readings to my cell phone instead of having to stick myself and draw blood. Instead I have to stick myself in the stomach when the alarm goes off which is constantly.
I was doing fine on oral meds and one injection a week, and then suddenly everything went to shit. And that stuff was already a king’s ransom. I don’t know what people do without insurance or shitty insurance. Just die I guess.
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tajalli said on May 6, 2022 at 5:37 pm
I had Moderna for the first two and the booster. The first was lethargy and a sore arm the next day, no big deal. The second was falling-asleep-standing-up fatigue within a couple hours with a sore red patch the next day that cleared up in a day, no big deal.
The booster 8+ months later was a whole different kettle of fish. Fatigue, muscle ache, joint pain, temp up 2°F, mild headache for this no-headache person, copious sinus drip, sneezing, and the arm was indurated: red, swollen, itchy, hot at that same red patch site. No lung involvement, thank the great spaghetti monster. Lasted about 6 days.
This is acknowledged as an Type 1 IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction and no surprise given my history of allergies, asthma, and a near anaphylactic reaction to egg – little old IgE maker me.
(JAMA Dermatol. 2021;157(6):716-720. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2021.1214. Published online May 12, 2021)
So, I have allergy-producing antibodies along with the regular IgM, IgA (not the grocery store chain, guys 🙂 ) and IgG to the vaccine/covid – what a treat. I’m delaying the second booster since the vaccine is obviously really working overtime for me. Maybe I’ll get the second booster at 6-8 months out and just take it on the chin. And yeah, I wear a mask at indoor venues.
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LAMary said on May 6, 2022 at 6:27 pm
Take a selfie with him. He’s going to be famous someday.
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susan said on May 6, 2022 at 6:40 pm
How’s about some forensics on that leaked SC draft opinion: “What We Can Deduce From a Leaked PDF”
My money’s on Justice Thomas’ Best Friend.
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Peter said on May 6, 2022 at 6:48 pm
Susan, I think she’s no. 1 with a bullet.
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nancy said on May 6, 2022 at 6:58 pm
We are indeed seeing the Hu! I was intrigued by the video and then Mary told me her son was a roadie. Sold.
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Deborah said on May 6, 2022 at 7:45 pm
Greetings from northern NM where four fires are raging. We flew over one, lots of smoke and some orange glow off of the smoke plumes. Our driver said it has been intense and we saw a lot of smoke coming from the fire in the Jemez in the west during the drive up to Santa Fe. Once we got to the condo in Santa Fe almost immediately my cellphone started screaming an alert to evacuate in Mora and small towns around there, and Las Vegas (the one in NM not NV). They indicated that they were only letting evacuees use certain highways to get out and no one else can use them. I must say this is the most extreme we can remember in the 30+ years we’ve been coming here. Winds are going to be fierce for the next few days which of course makes everything way worse.
The fires are still distant from us but the smoke is thick. It will be good to get away for a few weeks while we’re on our road trip.
Global warming folks, it’s here and it’s bad.
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Jeff Borden said on May 6, 2022 at 10:03 pm
Nonsense, Deborah. The QOP assures me there is no such thing as global warming. It is fake news.
How can a party claiming to be pro-life allow the only planet on which humans exist to turn into a toxic cinder for their own children and grandchildren? Oh, yeah. That’s how.
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Mark P said on May 6, 2022 at 10:28 pm
They’re evacuating Las Vegas (NM)? That’s not a tiny town, maybe 13-14000? Where will they go? That’s gotta be a mess.
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Sherri said on May 6, 2022 at 11:54 pm
Clarence Thomas laments that people are unwilling to live with outcomes they disagree with, and that threatens institutions.
But only the people who disagree with him, I guess. His Best Friend trying to Stop the Steal, that’s no problem.
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Connie said on May 7, 2022 at 6:44 am
Moderna booster a week ago makes four Moderna with no issues.
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alex said on May 7, 2022 at 8:03 am
Sherri, I saw that Washington Post piece and thought the whole thing could have run in the Onion and it would have been passable as satire.
Clarence Thomas is concerned about people losing faith in the integrity of our institutions!
Like the kid who’s concerned he’ll be blamed for the fart permeating the room so he blames the dog.
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Mark P said on May 7, 2022 at 9:34 am
Respect for the Supreme Court? That train took off from the Revolutionary War airport long ago.
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Jeff Borden said on May 7, 2022 at 9:52 am
The breadth and severity of the attacks on women’s reproductive rights is almost astonishing to me.
Anybody see that law proposal in Tennassee? A felony and a $50,000 fine for anyone caught receiving “morning after” pills. In Oklahoma, a 20-year-old member of the Wichita Tribe was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison after she miscarried. Prosecutors said the miscarriage was related to her meth use even after the medical examiner ruled it may have been a genetic anomaly or a placenta abruption.
With the Federalist Society in firm control of SCOTUS, the states see clear sailing ahead for anything they want to do to women.
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Little Bird said on May 7, 2022 at 10:01 am
Evacuees are going everywhere. There are places here in Santa Fe that are taking in horses and other livestock. Places that are allowing RVs and campers. There’s a metric ton of Airb&bs in town, but I sincerely doubt any of those will be offering shelter.
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Jeff Gill said on May 7, 2022 at 11:38 am
The next few days of wind in northern New Mexico are going to be grim . . . and my son hits Cimarron in two weeks.
Dropping this tweet here because I recall we’ve discussed America’s leading car theft prevention system before: https://twitter.com/scalzi/status/1522937264023736320
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alex said on May 7, 2022 at 1:43 pm
So what was the throat-singing concert like? And how was the meetup with LA Mary’s son?
Beautiful if ever so slightly nippy day here. We’re wanting to plant some flowers but need to do some serious weeding first.
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Bitter Scribe said on May 7, 2022 at 2:06 pm
[D]uring that phone call, the twice-impeached former president spent a notable amount of time gossiping and laughing about the prominent Republican’s penis and how “fucking disgusting” and “fucking gross” he allegedly was.
This is who gets to make or break U.S. Senators now.
God help this country.
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Sherri said on May 7, 2022 at 2:55 pm
Just because you don’t think you’ll ever need an abortion doesn’t mean the assualt on reproductive freedoms won’t have an impact on you. Louisiana already has a “trigger” law, set to go in place when Roe is overturned, that defines personhood beginning at conception and criminalizes anything that intereferes with the process of implantation. So, the morning after pill, the birth control pill, IUDs, all criminal by this definition.
For that matter, one could probably argue that a hysterectomy in a pre-menopausal woman would be illegal under this definition. Like the one I had.
I’d call these states medieval, but medieval societies didn’t believe life began at conception.
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Sherri said on May 7, 2022 at 3:33 pm
I’ve been in a state of rage since at least the summer of 2016, when Trump won the Republican nomination for president. That’s why I started powerlifting. I pick heavy shit up so I don’t go around punching people.
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Jeff Borden said on May 7, 2022 at 4:12 pm
What I find maddening, Sherri, is how none of these state laws address the male component. If they’re going to force birth on an unwilling woman, why the fuck aren’t they requiring child support from the motherfucker who impregnated her? Why do the boys get off Scott free???
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Mark P said on May 7, 2022 at 5:08 pm
There is no male penalty because women who have sex are sinners and should be punished by god with a pregnancy. Men should be free to have sex with anyone without consequences because god Adam Eve snakes penises Jesus I’m horny something something. But mainly god. And women who have sex with someone not me. Babies are not real people, only me and fertilized eggs.
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Sherri said on May 7, 2022 at 5:19 pm
Jeff, it’s because it’s not about the baby, and never has been. It’s about putting those uppity women in their place. It’s about power and hierarchy.
If life and children were really the driving force, then these people would do something about health care for kids, poverty, stop trying to destroy public education, do something about guns, provide for quality child care, etc. They wouldn’t support immigration policies that included separating children from parents.
They say that abortion isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Constitution. Another place it isn’t mentioned anywhere is in the Bible, but love your neighbor as yourself is, as one of the two most important commandmants. I wish these self-righteous people calling themselves Christians would reflect more on the Two Commandments of Christ, and spend less on the Ten Commandments and whether they think the rest of us are living by them.
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Mark P said on May 7, 2022 at 5:31 pm
These “Christians” are like the rich man who didn’t want to hear what he should do to get to heaven. They’ll just walk away from the teachings of their own god. And I mean it’s their own damn god who told them how to behave, exactly how.
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Sherri said on May 7, 2022 at 6:04 pm
This article from 2021, comparing pellagra, hookworm, and Covid in the South, explains the mindset, along with the antipathy to democracy that goes along with it. When I say it’s about uppity women, consider it in this context.
https://www.politicalorphans.com/hookworm-pellagra-and-covid-diseases-of-dysfunction/
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David C said on May 7, 2022 at 6:15 pm
It seems like they thought about the “It’s not in the Constitution” thing when they said “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
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Icarus said on May 7, 2022 at 6:18 pm
So today marks 53 trips around the sun. Was gonna go have a steak dinner but not feeling like it right now. I don’t know how to act my age, I’ve never been this old before. And like the song says, “I’m still learning things I oughta know by now”.
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Scout said on May 7, 2022 at 6:24 pm
You know what is in the Constitution? The separation of church and state. I refuse to be governed by someone else’s choice of religion.
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Jeff Borden said on May 7, 2022 at 8:19 pm
Dem supporters need to be engaging yesterday!
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LAMary said on May 7, 2022 at 9:05 pm
As much as the men who are pushing this agenda are infuriating, the women who do the same are worse, at least to me. In a pointless conversation on line a woman wrote,”maybe now women will think twice before jumping into bed with every man they meet.”
I knew a thirteen year old girl who hung herself because she was impregnated by her seventeen year old step brother and her mother would not let her get an abortion. Her mother blamed her for getting pregnant. She prayed for her a lot.
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LAMary said on May 8, 2022 at 1:38 pm
Interesting NYT piece about Ed Koch, three time mayor of NYC.
https://tinyurl.com/4968fpk
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kayak woman said on May 8, 2022 at 2:13 pm
I had the J&J (NO vaccine side effects). I was procrastinating a booster (I “never” go “anywhere” yada yada) when omicron(?) caught up with me. Very mild case, milder than other people who had other vaccines and were also boosted. Who knows why? Vaccine? My immune system has always seemed to be very strong in any case so it could be that? A combination of factors that I’m sure I’ll never know. *Still* masking and distancing.
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Jim said on May 8, 2022 at 7:26 pm
For this who subscribe to Esquire Charles Pierce has a great Strip Search Sammy article.
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Deborah said on May 8, 2022 at 9:01 pm
So I broke down and subscribed to Apple + mainly so I can watch Severance. It’s only $4.99 a month (for a while anyway) and I’m seriously thinking about dropping Netflix, since it’s $20 a month now and we don’t watch it that much. We have Prime so I don’t think we need 3 streamers. I’ve watched 2 episodes of Severance today and I’m hooked. I had started Ozark on Netflix and watched 2 episodes, thought I was hooked, but not really.
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Sherri said on May 8, 2022 at 10:46 pm
The wife of the best man at our wedding died of breast cancer a few weeks ago. RIP, Merietta Norton.
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Sherri said on May 8, 2022 at 11:45 pm
Much pearl-clutching going on over protests happening outside Kavanaugh’s residence. What, he has a right to privacy?
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ROGirl said on May 9, 2022 at 5:44 am
I’ve been thinking about adding Apple + for Ted Lasso. I still have Netflix, although it doesn’t have the drawing power that it once had for me, and also have HBO. I watched Julia this weekend, it was OK. Saw Station Eleven a few weeks ago, and it was spectacular.
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alex said on May 9, 2022 at 9:48 am
This was my first Mother’s Day without a mother, so my partner and I took his mom out for brunch, and I was disheartened to find that she’s been sucked into Cult 45 and is talking derp. Mind you, this is a woman who survived WWII in Germany and obviously doesn’t see a parallel between then and now.
On the subject of restaurants and retailers being understaffed right now, she chimed in about how Biden is paying them to stay home. She also talked about the day’s church sermon, the substance of which was how the lazy-ass Palestinians live in a desert and don’t cultivate it while the good, industrious Israelis turned desert into kibbutzes, and that the Palestine-Israel conflict is just like the battle between welfare queens and hard-working taxpayers right here in the U. S. of A.
I think a big problem in this country isn’t just Carlson/Hannity/Igraham but also that churchgoers are being fed a lot of shit as being gospel truth as well.
All in all, the saddest Mother’s Day I’ve ever spent.
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Heather said on May 9, 2022 at 10:41 am
Also, it’s . . . fine if women jump into bed with whoever they want? As someone who has never been married and been without a partner for long periods, it’s not realistic to expect us to wait for “the one.”
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ROGirl said on May 9, 2022 at 10:51 am
Someone at work who was raising money for Ukraine blamed Biden for the whole thing.
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Deborah said on May 9, 2022 at 10:55 am
Sorry your mothers day was such a bummer Alex, it’s sad when people you know and love start spouting nonsense. My husband is going to be 75 in a few weeks and his mother only just died last year, really unusual to have your mother still alive when you’re that old. I’ve been motherless for 57 years so I’m used to it.
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Jeff Borden said on May 9, 2022 at 11:20 am
Though I’ve evolved into atheism, I try not to feel ill will towards those who find comfort and strength through their faith. But, yeah, a lot of the problems we face are exacerbated by religion. And it’s abundantly clear the Supreme Klown Court holds religious freedom far above all the others. These pecksniffs are just getting warmed up.
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JodiP said on May 9, 2022 at 11:54 am
Alex, I am also sorry that your Mother’s Day was so sad, both because your mom has passed and the need your MIL felt to spout nonsense. Yesterday was hard at times too, as my mom passed in November 2019. I miss our time together.
Heather @45: Yes! Completely agree. Thanks for putting that into our conversation.
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LAMary said on May 9, 2022 at 12:03 pm
My former evangelical co worker bitch (yes, she really was a bitch) went on and on about Savannah Guthrie announcing her pregnancy since Savannah was not married at the time and should be ashamed, not excited about getting pregnant. Savannah Guthrie was 37 at the time and had been with the same partner for years but still…it was sex outside of marriage! She should be ashamed. This was the same co-worker who swore that her two teenaged sons never masturbated and never would.
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