I see Minnesota State Senator Jerry Relph has died:

Relph, 76, had been diagnosed with Covid-19 after discovering he was exposed at the State Capitol and had been admitted to an emergency room for his symptoms, CNN affiliate WCCO reported. [CNN]

Jerry Relph.
Source: Ballotpedia.

Local readers may remember the local Republicans have been quite cavalier concerning Covid-19, including a kerfuffle in which they failed to notify State House Democrats of Covid-19 infections.

And now that’s cost them one of their own.

This isn’t the time for schadenfreude; my heart goes out to his family. But it’s worth wondering about the repercussions.

First, his seat in the Minnesota Senate is no longer occupied, meaning it no longer has a vote. As the MN Legislature is currently in its seventh special session, this may be important. The current balance is tilted towards the Republicans, 35-30-2; I do not know if the two Independent caucus with the Republicans or the Democrats. Assume that they caucus with the latter: with Relph’s death, the balance is 34-32.

Minnesota Senate Chamber.

Three more serious infections in the incautious Republican caucus and the Democrats might hold, however temporarily, a 32-31 majority. I wonder if that would let them control the Senate as well as the House.

Second, while Relph’s death on its own has little symbolic capacity, if several more Republican leaders sicken and even die, that will endanger an important ideological tenet for the Minnesota GOP: that Covid-19 isn’t all that dangerous, and, even more importantly, the common sense of the individual is to be trusted on all matters great and small.

For the attentive independent thinker, that would be evidence to the fallacy of those two positions; even for the faithful Republican voter, it’ll have to be a jolt, an injection of niggling doubts.

I have no ill wishes for the Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature, even if they sometimes seem to deeply misunderstand the nature of American humanity. But keep a weather eye out to the future if the Republican leadership, through their own foolish behaviors, begin to fall prey to Covid-19. Simply noting that their behavior, despite multiple warnings from public health experts, led to their illnesses and at least one death, may be enough to shift some voters away from the Republicans to the Democrats.

And the Republicans don’t have much of a margin in the Senate as it is. Special elections could become very costly for them. Democratic tacticians may consider suggesting that Republican foolishness on this matter may also extend to other issues, making the Democrats more attractive choices. For non-single issue voters, it might tip the balance.

Right at the moment I’m incredibly frustrated with myself. A couple of days ago, a local news station broadcast an interview with MN State Senator Paul Gazelka, a Republican, concerning a collection of frustrated restauranteurs who desperately want to reopen their businesses for inside dining, and cannot because of the emergency policies of Governor Walz (R-MN). He was on the side of these business owners, who may be facing extinction if they can’t get help. I cannot find that damn interview.

So you’ll have to trust me. Or find a link for me.

The part of the interview with Gazelka which really came into focus for me this morning is this: At some point, he says he trusts the common sense of Minnesotans to follow health guidelines.

Meanwhile, the news station has been consistently showing scenes of packed bars, etc, full of unmasked people, shoulder to shoulder.

And the Minnesota Covid-19 situation? From MDH:

Gazelka may wish it would go well, but it isn’t.

Here’s the problem: humans, individually, are not equipped to measure and understand the problems of public health. Add into that non-existent leadership at the critical Federal level, and religious delusions on the part of certain sects, and it’s a really combustible situation.

I’m sure Gazelka means well. I’m not going to doubt his sincerity. But his proclamations of common-sense, which are line with the general GOP tenet that experts suck, are simply wrong.

Those charts above and at the MDH web site, as well as other State web sites around the country, are a measure of the common sense of the average American when it comes to Covid-19.

And it sucks.

And, BTW, that non-existent Federal leadership? Just blame that on Senator McConnell (R-KY) and his fellow GOPers. The House Democrats had a bill ready in May, and McConnell wouldn’t even bring it up for debate.

Gazelka should be screaming at McConnell, not Walz. Walz does not have the resources of McConnell.

Someone in this scene will end up dead. Maybe for squealing!

The Power Of The Whistler (1945) is a slick anxiety thriller, set in the superfluous narrative framework of someone called The Whistler (also encountered in The Whistler (1944), where it’s equally useless). A man stalking through a busy city nearly gets himself run down by a car, and ends up with a bloodied skull – and damaged memory. When he stumbles into a restaurant and sits down at the bar, young Jean is playing at fortune-telling with the cards, and sees in them a prediction of his death. She takes him under her wing. What’s his name?

John March, he decides, after admitting he doesn’t remember who he is.

Jean, charmed already, takes up the mystery, working off of the clues in his pockets. But it’s her sister, engaged to be married, who stumbles across the fact that the prescription is for poison.

As March’s time marches towards its end, he gradually remembers more and more, and begins his own march, by foot and by train, towards those who tortured him – and Jean comes along for the ride. An adventure, another step into romance – and so much more.

In some ways, it’s too bad about the pitch-fork. It doesn’t really work into the metaphors otherwise present in this story.

If you can ignore the gaping plot hole in this story, this is quite enjoyable, and that gap is disclosed near the end. The acting is more than adequate, the plot was far better than we were expecting, the tension, while dated, is still appropriate, and the comeuppance is apropos. This is far better than its predecessor, the illogical The Whistler, while using the same lead actor.

If you like post-World War II mysteries and thrillers, this may be right up your alley.

That the Trump Administration used the unethical tool of baseless fear in his reelection campaign is as well-known as it is despicable. But it appears the Democrats aren’t entirely above its use, either. This is from a promotional e-mail:

I need you to know: Everything just changed in the race for the Senate. >>

— The ONLY way we win the Senate is flipping BOTH runoff seats.
— But McConnell just dumped $50 MILLION to sabotage our chances.
— So Joe Biden just held a MASSIVE rally in Georgia to close the gap.

I can’t overstate the importance. This is our last shot in a generation to flip the Senate — but we have to take on McConnell’s war chest to do it. Can I count on you to rush $10 to flip Georgia blue and finally win the Senate? I will personally 3X-match your generous gift >>

Did you catch it? This is our last shot in a generation to flip the Senate … except it’s not.

The Democrats get another shot in two years.

And the two years after that.

Etc.

But if you’re a Democrat, I’m sure your pulse increased and your mouse strayed towards the donation buttons, which appear later in the mail. Whoever wrote that said something terribly scary, and that’ll chase rational thought right out of your head.

So I’d rate this as an unethical email, and I’m disappointed in the Democrats.

And now, because my Arts Editor liked this performance, here’s Leslie Odom, Jr.:

https://youtu.be/weImyhyu_vE

From Jann Bellamy on Science-Based Medicine:

One media outlet in New York has already reported on recorded calls offering people a chance to avoid long lines and receive an early dose of the Pfizer vaccine for $79.99. The Better Business Bureau announced it is investigating vaccine distribution swindles offering consumers an earlier dose of the vaccine as well. Sometimes these calls come from a familiar caller ID name because “most consumers don’t realize that caller ID can be changed by a simple computer program”. (I added that last bit because, until I read it, I was one of those consumers.)

Check Point, a cybersecurity firm, found a number of vaccine “vendors” on dark web marketplaces exploiting the news of vaccine approval. For example, one vendor advertised the authorized Pfizer vaccine for $250 in Bitcoin, shipping from the U.S., the U.K., or Spain. Engaging in a dialogue with some vendors, researchers found another offering an unbranded COVID-19 vaccine for 0.01 Bitcoin (about $300), claiming that 14 doses were required.

It may be hard to believe, but yes these people exist. Think of them as mini-Trumps, out to make a buck regardless of how badly people get hurt.

Be careful out there, people.

As I read about more and more Trump Administration inadequacies, failures, and malevolencies – which may be colored by the writers, I’ll grant – I’m starting to get a vision of a future in which former President Trump will be wildly critiquing the Biden Administration, as well as any other Democratic Administrations which follow, from his perch as a former President.

I’m going to suggest these be called the Nazgûl critiques, for the cursed Kings who accepted the gifts of Sauron in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings. Oh, look, here’s one now!

He’s riding his trusted steed, the GOP, nicknamed Marks. As you can see, his advice should be disregarded, even not heard, for the Nazgûl were motivated by, and punished for, their greed, not for their wisdom.

For all that we have a vaccine and are administering it, here’s the raw reality of our situation, via Kevin Drum:

This is no time to get cocky or careless. Stay safe, folks.

Governor Reeves (R-MI) has chosen to follow Governor Stitt (R-OK) when it comes to the pandemic, and Hemant Mehta has a partial transcript of the announcement:

… we have more trials that will bring us together, and we must come together. Regardless of our backgrounds, regardless of our geography, regardless of our political views, we must come together. As we close out this year, I felt the need to go to God in prayer for our state. Ever since the beginning of this pandemic, we’ve tried to hold opportunities for our fellow Mississippians to pray. To pray together so we can be together. We know that there is power in prayer. In fact, it is what God commands us to do… Today I will sign a proclamation to declare a Day of Prayer, Humility, and Fasting on this upcoming Sunday, December the 20.

As we’ve done throughout the history of this country, we will go to the Lord and ask for His protective hand over us as we conclude the year 2020 and as we enter the year 2021. [Friendly Atheist]

Mehta is fairly angry, but I see this as an opportunity to run an experiment in the wild, as they say. That is, we can measure natural behaviors.

Let’s divide the population of Mississippi into groups:

1. Those who choose to follow Reeve’s lead and pray for help in lieu of taking any vaccinations.
2. Those who choose to follow Reeve’s lead and pray for help but take a vaccination.
3. Those who choose not to indulge in prayer but also do not take a vaccination.
4. Those who choose not to indulge in prayer and take a vaccination.

The hypothesis behind the experiment can be stated in a couple of different ways, so let’s look at them.

• God’s protection will be extended to the prayerful. If this hypothesis is substantiated, populations [1] and [2] should be the best protected and have roughly equal levels of protection. We may have some variance in that the weakly faithful may be less well protected than the strongly faithful, although one must admit that the existence of such a phenomenon would reflect poorly on God’s character. Still, those best protected make take advantage of those less well protected to accuse them of being apostates, and then burn them at the stake, which would reflect poorly on the strongly faithful’s character as well. Populations [3] and [4] should suffer the most sickness and death.
• God doesn’t exist, or doesn’t care about Mississippi. In this case, the two populations accepting vaccinations, [2] and [4], should fare the best, with little difference between them, while [1] and [3], not having accepted the vaccinations, should see woe and disillusionment in their future.
• God exists, but Science is more powerful. In this case, [2], being both prayerful and having accepted a vaccination, should do best, followed by [4] and then [1]. [3] would be shit out of luck, having a lack of faith in all the Gods of the Universe.

The results of this experiment should be illuminating to the disinterested scientists running it, and infuriating to, well, whoever ends up the losers. I look forward to Gov. Reeves’ reaction to this idea!

This morning I wrote concerning Erick Erickson whining about the mainstream media’s misrepresentation of the facts of the vaccine for the coronavirus. He really shouldn’t neglect White House mistakes – wishful thinking, really – when it comes to the pandemic. Steve Benen has a helpful memory restorative:

We’ve revisited the Indiana Republican’s pitch from time to time, but at the half-year mark, it’s striking to see just how much conditions in the United States have deteriorated since Pence took his premature victory lap.

“While talk of an increase in cases dominates cable news coverage, more than half of states are actually seeing cases decline or remain stable.”

Most states are seeing increases coronavirus cases.

“Cases have stabilized over the past two weeks, with the daily average case rate across the U.S. dropping to 20,000 — down from 30,000 in April and 25,000 in May.”

Over the last week, we’ve seen totals of over 200,000 cases per day — roughly 10 times the figure Pence bragged about six months ago today.

And more and more. Erickson can be as angry as he likes, but his White House has been worse – Trump claiming the virus would magically disappear has been a highlight of their helpless, deer-in-the-headlights response.

Science will try to make it disappear, now that magic has failed.

My Arts Editor spent hours this morning screaming with laughter at this. Note this may be a short term link, depending how Google wants to play it.

Erick Erickson just can’t help seeing everything through his prism of politics and mainstream media hatred, can he? From his post, “Some Self-Reflection, Please“:

On CNN in May, Bill Nye announced it’d be at least two years before there was a vaccine for COVID-19. He was not alone on that network with similar pronouncements.

On MSNBC, around the same time, Dr. Irwin Redlener said it would be “impossible” to get a safe vaccine by the end of the year. Tim O’Brien at Bloomberg, in August, claimed people within the Trump Administration denied a vaccine would come this year. He said it was, “Amazingly irresponsible for Trump to be touting this in the midst of this crisis.”

Also in August, NBC News ran this fact check claiming, “Experts say the development, testing, and production of a COVID-19 vaccine for the public is still months away, and it would take a medical miracle for one to be available this year, much less before Election Day.” It was heavily recirculated.

In October, NPR ran a “fact check” stating, “None of the large trials have been completed. Top health officials say a vaccine likely won’t be widely available until mid-2021.”

Yet …

Now the very same media that said it was impossible is giving live coverage to people getting the vaccine they said was impossible and also ridiculing those who are skeptical of a vaccine coming so fast. Pay no attention to the doctor on MSNBC who said if one came this year it would be unsafe to take.

Where is the self-reflection from the media?

They got it wrong.

No. Erickson needs to read what he himself just wrote: The doctor.

The doctor.

The expert.

Not the media.

All the media can do, unless they have a journalist with other areas of expertise – not unknown, of course – is report the expert opinion of the experts, after suitable cross-referencing and fact checks (like, Are they an expert or is it just Dr. Scott Atlas?). And the experts form their expertise based on their experience in R&D and studying history. They can make predictions, based on that knowledge, but it’ll necessarily be biased by that historical knowledge.

Blaming the journalists for not getting it right is rather like trusting anti-vaxxers to get it right, if I can cross my wires slightly. Oh, here’s a better one: It’s blaming the messenger for the message.

Pile on top of that the fact we’re two weeks short of the New Year, which means all of the end of the year predictions were two weeks off over an 10-11 month period, and I find Erickson’s message hard to take seriously. Then he piles this on:

When President Trump moved the American Embassy to Jerusalem, commentators from CNN to MSNBC to the New York Times expressed concern that it would start a war. Instead, Israel now has diplomatic relations with the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Sudan, and more — but not just diplomatic relations. They have trade relations and business relations now too. Only six months ago, textbooks in those countries were still tearing out pages that referred to Israel.

It’s the mark of the partisan amateur to judge foreign affairs accomplishments such as these within months – or days! – of their announcements. Morocco, as I’ve not mentioned, has infuriated elements of the GOP Senate for the apparent quid pro quo of recognizing a Moroccan land grab as legitimate. I’ve expressed concerns about the UAE deal here. The Sudan deal? That they became a secular nation prior to the deal makes the entire achievement less than it seems.

We may have bribed the nations in question to normalize relations, and in some cases they may go back on their word the next time Israel outrages them. (Notice I very carefully phrased that remark on purpose.) How will that hypothetical play into Erickson’s punditry if it does, indeed, materialize? This may be a case in which the “partisan media” has a better understanding of the subject than does Trump, Kushner, and Pompeo, themselves amateurs in a party that embraces amateurism and disdains expertise.

But, for Erickson, all he can see is a media that dislikes an ideology that has given rise to people that Erickson himself doesn’t like.

Self-reflection much?

Take it away, Randy!

I’ve mentioned before the savage, if ridiculous, nature of GOP primaries – that is, the attacks that GOPers find they must launch on each other just in order to survive a primary. Well, in a different context, here’s another:

President Trump @realDonaldTrump is a genuinely good man. He does not really like to fire people. I bet he dislikes putting people in jail, especially “Republicans.”

He gave @BrianKempGA & @GaSecofState every chance to get it right. They refused. They will soon be going to jail. pic.twitter.com/7PMBLc8L2N

— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) December 15, 2020

I understand Wood claims to be non-partisan, which is an ill-fitting statement with the above. Provocateur some? Approves of chronic liars?

I think it’s shameful on the one hand, and self-destructive on the other – but a small piece of me is also deeply amused. Internecine warfare, indeed. Thank you, Professor Turchin.

Ever wonder about martial law and the United States? Here’s the Brennan Center For Justice:

… martial law — a term that generally refers to the displacement of civilian authorities by the military — can be and has been employed in the United States. Indeed, federal and state officials have declared martial law at least 68 times over the course of U.S. history. Yet the concept has never been well understood. The Constitution does not mention martial law, and no act of Congress defines it. The Supreme Court has addressed it on only a handful of occasions, and the Court’s reasoning in these decisions is inconsistent and vague. The precedents are also old: the most recent one … was decided almost 75 years ago.

I had no idea that we’re nearly to seventy, but then we’re not a young, upstart country any longer.

This report aims to clear up the confusion that surrounds martial law. To do so, it draws on recent legal scholarship, the few rules that can be gleaned from Supreme Court precedent, and general principles of constitutional law. It concludes that under current law, the president lacks any authority to declare martial law. Congress might be able to authorize a presidential declaration of martial law, but this has not been conclusively decided. State officials do have the power to declare martial law, but their actions under the declaration must abide by the U.S. Constitution and are subject to review in federal court.

It sounds as if the legal niceties are nicely balanced, at least theoretically. I note this due to the occasional call for President Trump to impose martial law in order to make it easier for him to steal the election.

I suspect an actual attempt would end with President Trump sitting in a jail cell. The military doesn’t have much of a sense of humor.

But Georgia remains on many minds, now doesn’t it?

States’ use of martial law continued well into the 20th century, reaching a peak in the 1930s — a decade that also saw an increase in the flagrant abuse of this power by governors. In 1933, for example, Georgia Governor Eugene Talmadge declared martial law “in and around” the headquarters building of the state Highway Board as part of a scheme to force out some of the board’s commissioners, whom he had no legal power to remove. This “coup de highway department” was ultimately successful. Remarkably, Talmadge’s successor, Governor Eurith Rivers, tried to do the same thing in 1939, but his attempt failed.

Georgia governors appear to have a long and blotchy history.

And that “Latin writer” would be, of course, Martial, a poet of Rome, who I actually read in translation once. I don’t remember a word. But he was mentioned today in Max Miller’s Tasting History segment on globi.

Tyler Broker on Above The Law:

I bring attention to Cole’s arguments and continue to harp on the Fulton case because the moment warrants such focus and criticism. In a time of deep divide when the head of conservative party in Texas is openly flouting secession. The last thing this country with a rapidly increasing nonbeliever population needs, is for the Supreme Court to keep defining religious citizens as being in a class above all others, empowered with the ability to stomp out dissent or competing nonreligious views, even within government programs.

He might mean flaunt, but I think “flouting secession” is worth a grin. And grins in these grim times are hard to urn.

A reader writes concerning my commentary on Erick Erickson’s note on the right wing’s screaming incoherence and suggests a study of tolerance may be of use:

This seems an appropriate explanation for some of this flawed thinking. And it’s a really clear explanation of tolerance and peace treaties in political life. https://extranewsfeed.com/tolerance-is-not-a-moral…

And I understand where he’s coming from. It’s a lovely beckoning to the less-committed partisan of either side.

I fear I have a personality quirk that forces me to diverge from its course, though. I wish – I know this doesn’t happen – I wish that tolerance was an inverse function of rational certainty.

By this I mean – and I fear I’m talking about Vulcans and not humans – that the extent to which we tolerate the views of our fellows isn’t just a matter of survival, or lesser bloodshed, but a reflection of how certain we are of our position from a rational viewpoint; or, conversely, how much we doubt the correctness of our viewpoint.

We don’t tolerate pedophilia, as we know it damages our young, at least by Western Civ standards.

But we tolerate divergent views about incarceration for, say, involuntary manslaughter. In reality, we do so because it’s easier to tolerate than to get into fist fights every time someone disagrees with us on the subject. But we should tolerate – and compromise – because we don’t really know what to do with the idiot who screwed up and killed someone. Our certainty quotient is low, and so we should compromise.

Sadly, we are not Vulcans. Many of us run on religious precepts which mandate certainty, and yet are desperately silly. How many witches have we stoned to death lately? No divorce? Really? But this remains true: many of us are very certain that xyz is wrong and we have to impose this view on everyone else.

Or that civil forfeiture is a great way to deter crime and fund police departments.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: doubt, not Christianity or other theology, is the basis of the United States. It leads to compromise and slow, steady improvement. Every time we become blindly certain of something, we end up looking like idiots. Or worse.

We really need to get back to self-doubt. Back to being humble.

I have a stapler. Who wants their pointy ears first?

Resigning AG William Barr:

Your record is all the more historic because you accomplished it in the face of relentless, implacable resistance. Your 2016 victory speech in which you reached out to your opponents and called for working together for the benefit of the American people was immediately met by a partisan onslaught against you in which no tactic, no matter how abusive and deceitful, was out of bounds. The nadir of this campaign was the effort to cripple, if not oust, your Administration with frenzied and baseless accusations of collusion with Russia.

Few could have, weathered these attacks, much less forge ahead with a positive program for the country. You built the strongest and most resilient economy in American history — one that has brought unprecedented progress to those previously left out. You have restored American military strength. By brokering historic peace deals in the Mideast you have achieved what most thought impossible. You have curbed illegal immigration and enhanced the security of our nation’s borders. You have advanced the rule of law by appointing a record number of judges committed to constitutional principles. With Operation Warp Speed, you delivered a vaccine for coronavirus on a schedule no one thought conceivable — a feat that will undoubtedly save millions of lives. [Salon]

A second politically loyal AG driven from position by President Trump, who professes loyalty even as he’s whipped from his chair – this resignation has been rumored for a month or two, ever since he failed to come up with any sort of bomb to drop on Biden. Do these guys have to take a shot of loyalty serum before Trump will nominate them? Or are they simply so deep into the right wing epistemic bubble that they can’t tell him to FOAD?

Here’s a link to the whole letter.

Necrotic:

Necrosis in the death of tissues of the body. Necrosis can be treated, with the dead tissue being removed, but the affected tissue can not be returned to good health. [verywellhealth]

I was going to post a picture of necrotic tissue, but it was too gross. Noted in “The GOP reckoning never came,” Catherine Rampell, WaPo:

Then, last month, something happened that seemed grounds for hope: Trump lost. Surely this, I thought, must force his party to finally excise its necrotic political tissue, once leaders recognized it had cost them not just their principles and 300,000 American lives but also the White House.

I think the healthy tissue has been excised by the necrotic, in a bizarre reversal.

The prosperity church tradition of Name it and claim it comes into view:

In another sign of the lingering unrest over President Donald Trump’s election loss, an Arizona group sent the National Archives in Washington, D.C., notarized documents last week intended to deliver, wrongly, the state’s 11 electoral votes for him.

Copies of the documents obtained by The Arizona Republic show a group that claimed to represent the “sovereign citizens of the Great State of Arizona” submitted signed papers casting votes for what they want: a second term for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Mesa resident Lori Osiecki, 62, helped created a facsimile of the “certificate of ascertainment” that is submitted to formally cast each state’s electoral votes as part of an effort to prevent what she views as the fraudulent theft of the election.

“We seated before the legislators here. We already turned it in. We beat them to the game,” she said. [azcentral]

Maybe Osiecki thinks this’ll work. If she is a prosperity church member, this may feel very logical to her.

I think she’s just another dumb amateur, although she could be in early dementia.

And, as the article suggests, I think she just committed … wait for it … voter fraud, if of an unusual sort.

In any case, it’s another example of right wing fringe loonies on the loose. It might not be a bad idea to round them up and give them a couple of years in the hoose-gow. Get their attention. Although if they played it as martyrs, then they wouldn’t have to learn. They’d get their attention and not feel reprimanded.

NewFlector has an observation – I don’t know if it’s correct – on how to take power away from Senator McConnell (R-KY), aka Senator No:

Even if the Democrats don’t win control of the Senate, there is a way to strip Mitch McConnell of his power for good: priority recognition.

According to Article I, Section 3, Clause 4 of the Constitution, the Vice President is also the President of the Senate. The Majority Leader is not a position that exists anywhere in the Constitution. The reason that the Majority Leader has near-dictatorial powers to control floor votes is because of a tradition that dates back to 1937. The tradition is that the Vice President gives the floor leaders priority recognition. Most notably, this is not a rule in the Senate.

As President of the Senate, Vice President Harris could give any senator priority recognition. That senator could then decide on all legislation that is brought before the entire Senate. Even with a minority in the Senate, Vice President Harris could simply give Chuck Schumer priority recognition. He could decide what is voted on and what isn’t.

Like I said, I don’t know if this is true, or if VP-elect Harris would do it. But to inflict this humiliation upon Senator McConnell, who is accustomed to holding power in the Senate due to this tradition, would certain bring on some schadenfreude. At least, for me.

The Australian Associated Press (AAP) is facing an existential threat:

It may not be the lost city of Atlantis, but a social media post questions whether another island – Australia – is also the product of fiction.

The Facebook post from June 3, shared to a group in which users debate flat Earth theories, features an aerial image of Australia with a red “FAKE” stamped over the picture. The text underneath reads: “Australia isn’t real. The people are either paid actors or robots.”

It goes on to claim, “It’s a hoax, made for us to believe that Britain moved over their criminals to someplace. In reality, all these criminals were loaded off the ships into the waters, drowning before they could see land ever again.”

The post continues by claiming that “plane pilots are all in on this, and have in all actuality only flown you to islands close nearby – or in some cases, parts of South America, where they have cleared space and hired actors to act out as real Australians”.

The post by a user whose profile states they live in the Netherlands had attracted more than 670 comments, 100 reactions and 60 shares at the time of writing. There is also a Facebook group dedicated to the theme.

I didn’t much care for the AAP rebuttal. I mean, dry recitation of fakeable facts? C’mon!

I think they should offer free air fare and free shipping to a representative of the group to Australia. Why the shipping? Because the doubting Thomases will be required to provide a high altitude, human bearing balloon, either hot air or helium, that can reach a high enough altitude to, well, survey the continent of Australia.

They should also provide a free sleeping mask to the representative so that they do not have to damage their frail sensibilities at seeing themselves flown to a non-existent continent.

The AAP should ship them to a suitable launch point for the balloon, provide them with a camera if they failed to bring one of their own, and then …

UP THEY GO!!!

At some point – hopefully before the air becomes too thin to breath, but perhaps they can wear a sealed suit with an oxygen tank – they’ll be able to discern the entire continent of Australia, take a picture or three of it, notice how it matches up with those damn artists’ renderings, and add to their cognitive dissonance load. I have thoughtfully provided a topological map for their use, above. Sadly, the colors may not be precise matches.

I do, however, draw the line at providing them an ax to use on any handy Australians they might interact with. After all, if they really aren’t robots, then it’s murder.

A friend post this to FB:

Trump just fired Barr. He did it to change the news cycle. So that the tv chyron would say BARR FIRED not BIDEN WINS ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTE.

And all I can think of is this should be Barr’s political epitaph:

A mighty Attorney General lies here,
    Felled by a scrolling chyron,
In the telling of lies he was someone to fear,
And now in Hades he’ll cry on. 

It should be so much more, almost all bad.

[My thanks to my Arts Editor for metering help.]