DL Open Thread: Friday, September 24, 2021

Cyber Ninja Arizona Audit Shows Biden Got More Votes, Trump Less Votes Than Previously Recorded.  Biden with 99 more votes, Trump with 261 fewer votes.  Which is not stopping Trump and Texas Rethug Governor Greg Abbott from, well:

Eight and a half hours after former President Donald J. Trump made a public demand for Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas to back legislation to create a “forensic audit of the 2020 election,” the Texas secretary of state’s office announced a “comprehensive forensic audit” of the results from four of the state’s largest counties.

The quick response by state officials in Texas, which Mr. Trump carried last year by more than five percentage points, was the latest example of the former president’s enduring influence over the Republican Party, particularly when it comes to his efforts to undermine public confidence in the legitimacy of his loss last year to President Biden.

…Nevertheless, the office released a two-sentence statement late Thursday stating that it would examine ballots from the 2020 election in Collin, Dallas, Harris and Tarrant Counties. The news release called those counties the “two largest Democrat counties and two largest Republican counties” in the state, but of the four, only Collin County backed Mr. Trump against Mr. Biden in the 2020 election. The statement said the audit process had already begun.

The various reviews have not uncovered any significant evidence of fraud or impropriety in the vote counting. But they have created a new kind of security risk as third parties gain access to voting equipment and raised questions about the use of public resources to investigate Republican conspiracy theories.

Gee, maybe that was their goal all along?

Chuck Grassley To Seek Reelection.  Why, he’s older than every other US Senator–except Dianne Feinstein.

Yep, Publicly-Traded Companies Pocketed PPP Funds Intended For Small Business–Didn’t/Won’t Give Them Back.  Nobody could have anticipated that these huge enterprises would take advantage of loopholes in the legislation, right Chris?

The ProPublica analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings found at least 120 publicly traded companies that received loans of more than $500,000, grew their revenues last year and have been allowed to keep the money.

In addition, at least 30 companies announced plans to go public after receiving their loans, bringing in truckloads of investor cash that they often used to pay off other debts — but not the ones they owed to the federal government, all of which were forgiven.

Overall, ProPublica found at least $250 million that went to publicly traded companies with growing revenues and that has already been forgiven by the government. That’s just a sliver of the $800 billion PPP program. But it’s also almost certainly a significant undercount of the amount of taxpayer dollars that went to well-heeled companies. The count, for instance, doesn’t include any of the billions of dollars that went to firms backed by giant private equity funds. Their finances are not publicly disclosed. (Why not?)

Getting loopholes for business into legislation is Coons’ electoral bread-and-butter.  Doesn’t even have to dent the family trust.

Religious Vaccine Exemptions–A Scam Perpetuated By Facebook:

That’s likely because in many cases, vaccine hesitancy is the real issue, and the religious exemption is simply a convenient loophole through which to dodge externally imposed vaccine requirements. Medical exemptions can be hard to come by—they require a documented diagnosis of one of the very few conditions that prevents someone from getting vaccinated. Religious exemptions are easier: They rarely require proof that an employee belongs to an organized religious group that opposes vaccines. (Few faiths do.) Rather, the onus of explaining the religious beliefs is left to the individual—and the employer must then decide whether the belief they describe is sincere, explained Poonam Lakhani, an employment attorney with the Prinz Law Firm in Chicago. “That’s a really difficult line for the employer to walk.”

As more employers adopt vaccine mandates, a growing number of vaccine-hesitant workers are trying to figure out how to use religious exemptions to keep their jobs without getting the jab. Many are taking to online Facebook groups to strategize around how best to persuade their bosses.

Though most of the religious exemption social media groups are only a few weeks old, it’s clear that they have already become powerful sources of camaraderie and identity. Members bond over what they perceive as the injustice they are experiencing, forging alliances and even friendships in the comments section. They invite each other to antivaccine rallies, offer prayers, and praise each other’s fortitude. They accuse their employers of discrimination, of trampling on their free speech. When a group member posted that she was pregnant and worried about being terminated from her flight attendant job, one commenter wrote, “I love your mama bear protection for your unborn child and I love that you stand against tyranny.” Another chimed in, “Stay strong and believe that there are many other people like you putting their foot down and saying NO! Our unity will bring them down.”

No, your unity will bring you down.  Have at it.

Your Local Store Out Of Palak Paneer?  This Could Be Why.  Too much demand, not enough truck drivers.

‘No Horse Dewormer For You!’:

Chancery Court Vice Chancellor Morgan Zurn heard two hours of argument Thursday, September 23, 2021 in a lawsuit brought by Maryellen DeMarco, wife of David DeMarco. Zurn’s opinion, which she aims to file Friday morning, comes in a case of first impression.

“The preliminary injunction will be denied,” she said Thursday. “The plaintiff has failed on all three factors. The defendant does not have an enforceable duty to treat Mr. DeMarco with ivermectin, and Mr. DeMarco does not have an enforceable legal right to that treatment. The plaintiff has also failed to meet her burden of demonstrating irreparable harm, as she’s failed to prove that depriving Mr. DeMarco of ivermectin would deprive him of an effective treatment for his disease or that he would be worse-off without it,” said Zurn.

‘Neigh’, indeed.

What do you want to talk about?