Society's Child
In Saturday tweets, Associated Press reporter Colleen Long said she was on the Southwest flight from Houston, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and claimed she was almost "removed" after trying to ask the pilot about using the phrase.
"That feeling when you're trying to go on vacation and then the pilot says the very thing you're working on over the loudspeaker and you have to try to get him comment but then almost get removed from plane," Long tweeted, along with a story by her digging into the "let's go, Brandon" phrase, which has become common at sporting events and among Biden critics.
It is not surprising that all but the poorest Venezuelans have abandoned the bolivar as a medium of exchange, let alone a store of value or unit of account. US dollars are the exchange medium of choice in Caracas and other large cities, while the Colombian peso dominates along the Colombian border, particularly in the regional city of San Cristobal. The Brazilian real is current along the southern border with Brazil and the euro and cryptocurrencies have also found niche uses.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said two of the three attackers had been arrested, and denied they were acting on behalf of the Islamist movement.
"Last night, at the wedding of Haji Malang Jan in Shamspur Mar Ghundi village of Nangarhar, three people who introduced themselves as Taliban, entered the proceedings and [ordered] that the music stop playing. As a result of firing, at least three people have been killed and several others have been injured.Qazi Mullah Adel, spokesman for the Taliban governor in Nangarhar province, confirmed the incident but did not provide details. A relative of the victims said the Taliban fighters had opened fire while music was being played.
"Two suspects have been taken into custody by the Taliban in connection with the incident and one who escaped is still being pursued. The perpetrators of the incident caught, who have used the name of the Islamic Emirate to carry out their personal feud, have been handed over to face sharia law."
Music was banned the last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan and, while the new government has not yet issued such a decree, its leadership still frowns on its use in entertainment and sees it as a breach of Islamic law.
The content of the book, titled Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19, was previewed by one of its co-authors, Matt Ridley, in the Daily Mail. The tabloid posited that its authors would offer evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic could have started as a "laboratory leak of a possibly engineered coronavirus" followed by a "cover-up of epic proportions".
The article came days after US intelligence declassified its own assessment of the origins of the disease. The report from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the opinions of the "internet sleuths" behind the book differ quite a lot.
Comment: Regardless of its claims, the book serves to keep the focus on China, and away from the bio-warfare research the US is conducting. Qui bono?
- China's coronavirus: A shocking update. Did the virus originate in the US?
- Did COVID-19 escape Fort Detrick vaccine trial? Evidence that virus originated in US bioweapons lab
- Beijing renews its call for Fort Detrick biolab probe as 4.7 million Chinese petition WHO to search for Covid origins in US
- Did European athletes catch coronavirus while competing at World Military Games in Wuhan in OCTOBER?
- Chinese official speculates Americans may have infected Wuhan at army games, calls for them to be "transparent"
- New evidence the US did bring COVID-19 to Wuhan during the military games
- Sweden coronavirus chief: Country likely had Covid-19 cases in NOVEMBER
- Coronavirus Did NOT Originate in China: Lombardy Doctors Have Been Dealing With 'Strange Pneumonia' Since at Least NOVEMBER
- CDC suddenly shuts down US Army's Fort Detrick bioweapons lab due to 'lapses in safety'

The Save Navan Hospital rally which took place in Navan, Co Meath October 30, 2021.
A rally has been organised by the Save Navan Hospital Campaign following fears the current 24-hour A&E service could be replaced with a medical assessment unit.
Local TD Peadar Tóibín said the march today is the result of a proud Meath community coming together in a "serious time of need". He said the HSE's plan to close the A&E is "extremely dangerous".
"Six weeks ago, the HSE told senior medics, staff and Unions in Navan Hospital that the A&E and ICU was to be closed. Ministers told TDs asking questions in the Dáil that this was going to happen.
Police said one of the injured, a man apparently in his 60s, was stabbed and is unconscious.
The Metropolitan Police Department said the suspect, believed to be in his 20s, began attacking passengers on a Keio Line train near Kokuryo Station in the western Tokyo city of Chofu at around 8:00 p.m.
Investigators said the suspect also scattered what appeared to be oil and set it on fire. They said the blaze burned some of the seats.
90 per cent of Germans who haven't taken the COVID-19 vaccine say they won't get it, with only the remaining 10 per cent saying they will "probably" get it or remaining undecided.
A recent survey carried out by Forsa on behalf of the Ministry for Health found that 65 per cent of Germans say there is "no way" they will get the COVID vaccine over the next two months.
Comment: See also:
- Poll: Majority of the unvaccinated say they will not get the jab
- The unvaccinated are looking smarter every week
- 'This is totalitarianism': Unvaccinated doctor fired by UCLA hospital vows to keep fighting for freedom
- Whopping 70 percent of unvaccinated Americans would quit their job if vaccines are mandated
- Unvaccinated Diners Only! California restaurant says it's having fun watching 'heads explode' over mandatory no-vax policy

A sign reading "Let's go Brandon" is displayed on the railing in the first half of an NCAA college football game between Boston College and Syracuse in Syracuse, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. Critics of President Joe Biden have come up with the cryptic new phrase to insult the Democratic president.
South Carolina Republican Jeff Duncan wore a "Let's Go Brandon" face mask at the Capitol last week. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posed with a "Let's Go Brandon" sign at the World Series. Sen. Mitch McConnell's press secretary retweeted a photo of the phrase on a construction sign in Virginia.
The line has become conservative code for something far more vulgar: "F — - Joe Biden." It's all the rage among Republicans wanting to prove their conservative credentials, a not-so-secret handshake that signals they're in sync with the party's base.
Comment: See also:
- 'Playing with our free speech': Chart-topping author of anti-Biden rap 'Let's Go Brandon' censored by YouTube
- YouTube bans 'Let's Go Brandon' song, claims rap is 'medical misinformation'
- Another 'Let's go, Brandon' song goes viral with nearly 1 million views
- Liberal parent tries to figure out how to cheer for son Brandon
- Canada threatens to fire federal employees if they say the phrase 'Let's Go Brandon!' in any correspondence
- NASCAR fans chant 'F*ck Joe Biden', NBC reporter pretends it's 'Let's go Brandon'
It marks the biggest six-month increase in traffic fatalities since the Fatality Analysis Reporting System started tracking the numbers in 1979.
Vehicle miles traveled jumped about 13% to 173.1 billion miles, which may explain some of the increase in traffic fatalities, but the DOT also said that "incidents of speeding and traveling without a seat belt remain higher than during pre-pandemic times."

Protesters sit on the steps of the Victorian parliament in Melbourne on October 26, 2021
Photos and videos circulating on social media show a vast crowd outside Parliament House in Melbourne, the state capital, on Saturday, where activists were seen holding signs and placards - one reading "Sack Dan," referring to state Premier Daniel Andrews.
Comment: Are the protests too little, too late? Australia, along with New Zealand appears to be a laboratory, testing how far a population will allow itself to be pushed.
- Melbourne anti-lockdown protesters arrested and chased by police on horseback, UK contemplates second lockdown
- Police threaten 'zero tolerance' towards ongoing protests against increasingly tyrannical lockdown measures in Melbourne
- Breaking the Resistance: Melbourne police disperse co-opted anti-lockdown protest with teargas and arrested 200
- Video shows police officer choke Melbourne woman for not wearing a mask amidst tyrannical lockdown
- Australia's police now arresting citizens who were THINKING of protesting the lockdown
- Madness in Melbourne: A once great city turned into police state hell













Comment: Matt Tiabbi nails the absurdity (not to mention the hypocrisy) of it all: