CIGARETTES WORK, TOO. MARIJUANA NOT SO MUCH. Experts now recommend taking up vaping to increase social distance.

LEAVE YOUR POLITICS BEHIND OR WE'LL FORCE YOU TO RETURN TO NY: Gov. Andrew Cuomo worries that wealthy New York City residents won't return.

MORE, PLEASE: Street Justice.

SARAH HOYT on our governing 'elites': most of these people couldn’t pour piss out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel.

She's being kind.

CORONAVIRUS BLUE, CORONAVIRUS RED: Some random thoughts.

Just for grins, I decided to see how the coronavirus pandemic fared in Red states and Blue states. Looking around online I found a 2016 (pre-election) map indicating the political leanings of the 50 states. There were 19 Blue states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin); 22 Red states (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming); and 9 swing states (Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia).

Then from the Coronavirus Dashboard, I pulled the latest (August 4th) death numbers from each of the 50 states. Finally I looked up the 2019 population numbers for the 50 states. Results:

1. Red state population is about 105 million; blue state, 170 million; and swing state, 53 million.

2. Red states had 30,456 coronavirus deaths for a per capita death rate of 0.0291%; blue states had 110,127 deaths for a per capita death rate of 0.0648%; and swing states had 15,524 deaths for a per capita death rate of 0.0293%.

3. New York alone has had more coronavirus deaths (32,798) than all 22 red states (30,456); New York and New Jersey together have had more coronavirus deaths (48,719) than the combined total (45,980) of the red states and swing states.

4. The top 5 states for per capita coronavirus deaths are New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. All are blue states and the total number of deaths in those 5 states is 62,815 -- 40% of the total. (Those 5 states have a combined 12% of the U.S. population.)

5. The 5 states with the least per capita deaths are Hawaii, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, and West Virginia. Of them, only Hawaii is a blue state. Their total number of deaths is 266 -- 0.17% of the total. (Those 5 states have a combined 1.70% of the U.S. population.)

6. Statistically, the 9 swing states roughly mirror the red states.

Don't be a blue state.

WUHAN FLU [CORONAVIRUS] UPDATE for August 4, 2020:

As noted on Friday, daily deaths remain high (~1,000/day) but relatively stable over the last 10 days. The daily reported cases (not on the graphs I post) appear to have peaked, at ~65,00 per day, and are now beginning to show signs of a slight decline.

My estimate of the number of uninfected Americans and daily death rate continue to decline, now at 17.628% and 0.0588% respectively.

Georgia coronavirus case data remains high but has declined to about 3,000 cases/day and seem to have peaked in mid-July. The same is true for daily deaths, still high (mid-to-upper 40s), but relatively stable over 2 weeks after the sharp spike from the mid-20s low.

IF YOU SUPPORT BLACK LIVES MATTER, don't call 911. Harsh, but that's what happens when you don't aggressively separate yourselves from Antifa.

POWERLINE: The case for charter schools.

The case for private schools is equally strong. Let the money follow the student to the school -- public, charter, private -- of his/her choice.

A FEW TIPS FOR WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF in a mandatory "anti-racism" struggle session.

THE BABYLON BEE JUST REPORTS THE NEWS: Violent riots are a myth says Rep. Nadler [D(umb)-NY] as Antifa sets fire to Congressional hearing room.

Guess where Antifa was sitting during the hearing....

POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures has a clear favorite this week:

Now go see the rest.

IT AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE: The limits of expertise.

More precisely, expertise never was what it is vaunted to be.

YA THINK? Democrats starting to panic that voters will blame them for riots.

Reality is catching up to their fantasies.

THINK 'CANCEL CULTURE' DOESN'T EXIST? My own lived existence says otherwise.

GET ON BOARD WHEN THE ROWBOAT COMES FOR YOU:

This may be the best and most honest political promotion statement you will ever read. It decidedly does not brush objections aside.

You hate Biden ? READ it. You hate Trump? READ it. You think there's no choice? READ it. And, read it with your grown-up hat on.

We've all been dealt huge responsibility with this election.

The first step toward accepting responsibility is accepting it, and the first step toward accepting it is recognizing it.

READ THIS. Read every single word. It'll take you about three minutes. Be sure to read to the end (take a few minutes and read all of it!)

Are you sickened and despondent with the current campaign and upcoming presidential election? I consider myself a conservative and do truly believe our country is at a political/economic/moral/ social crossroads. I need to let you know I could/would never vote for Joe Biden to lead this country. To me, he represents everything that is wrong with our current political structure.

On the flip side, I look and listen to Donald Trump and I cringe at every rude, insulting comment he makes.

If you find yourself in a similar state of mind, please read the following article:

A Message For Christians About Donald Trump.

Here's a famous joke about God and how he talks to us.

"A deeply faithful Christian man is stuck on roof at home with massive flooding up to the 2nd floor. Rowboat comes. He says "No, I'm waiting for God. I prayed and I know he's coming." 2nd Rowboat. "No, I'm waiting for God." 3rd Rowboat. "No, I'm waiting for God."

Water rises. The man drowns. Now he's meeting God in heaven. The religious man says, "Where were you God? I prayed. I was faithful. I asked you to save me. Why would you abandon me?"
God says, "Hey, I sent you 3 rowboats."

Did you ever consider Trump is our rowboat?

Maybe God is trying to tell us something important -- that now is not the time for a "nice Christian guy" or a "gentleman" or a typical Republican powder puff.

Maybe now is the time for a natural born killer, a ruthless fighter, a warrior.

Because right about now we need a miracle, or America is finished.

Maybe the rules of gentlemen don't apply here.

Maybe a gentleman and "all-around nice Christian" would lead us to slaughter.

Or do you want another Mitt Romney, Bob Dole, John McCain, Gerald Ford or Paul Ryan?

Did any of them win? Did they lead the GOP to "the promised land?"

Did they change the direction of America? No, because if you don't win, you have no say.

Paul Ryan couldn't even deliver his own state, Wisconsin! Nice, but obedient. I mean Paul Ryan...not my dog. My dog is actually a pretty good defender and loyal.

Maybe God is knocking on your door loudly, but you're not listening. Maybe God understands we need a "war leader" at this moment in time.

Maybe God understands if we don't win this election, America is dead. It's over. The greatest nation in world history will be gone. Finished. Kaput. Adios.

And with one last breath, maybe what we need to save us at the last second, is someone different. Someone you haven't ever experienced before-- because you weren't raised in rough and tumble New York where nothing good gets accomplished unless you're combative, aggressive, outrageous, on offense at all times, and maybe just a tad arrogant too.

Someone with a personality you've never seen on stage at your church. Maybe, just maybe, being a nice gentlemanly Christian would not beat Biden and his billion dollars, and his best friends in the media who will unleash the dogs of hell upon the GOP nominee.

I guess you think God is only nice and gentlemanly. Really? Then you've missed the whole point of the Bible. When necessary, God is pretty tough. When necessary, God strikes with pain, death and destruction. When necessary, God inflicts vengeance.

Maybe you think God couldn't possibly be associated with someone like Trump. Trump is too vicious, rude and crude.

When we won WWII, was God "nice?" Were we gentlemanly when defeating Hitler? Were we gentlemanly when firebombing Germany? Were we gentlemanly when dropping atomic bombs on Japan ? Is God ever "nice" on the battlefield? Or does he send us vicious SOB's like General George S. Patton so the good guys can defeat evil?

It's pretty clear to me God sends unique people to be "war leaders." That's a different role than a pastor or church leader. God understands that.

And maybe it's time to re-define "nice." Maybe Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan aren't nice at all -- because they led us to defeat. And losing again would mean the end of America . And God can't allow that. Maybe Romney and Ryan mean well, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Or maybe they're just jealous they had their chance and blew it. Maybe they'd rather help elect Biden than allow a Trump victory that would make them look weak, feckless and incompetent.

"Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." (Isiah 40:30-31)

God is about miracles. We don't need a "nice guy" or a "gentleman" right now. It's the 4th quarter and we're losing 14-0. We need a miracle. So let me repeat my message to Christians: "YOU'RE MISSING THE BOAT."

I believe Trump is our miracle. I believe Trump is our rowboat. Except he's more like a battleship!

No one is saying Trump is perfect. No one is saying Trump is a perfect conservative. But he is a patriot. He is a warrior. He is a capitalist. He is the right man, at the right time. Yes, he's a bit rude and crude and offensive. But that may make him the perfect warrior to save America, American exceptionalism, capitalism and Judeo-Christian values. The choice should be easy for Christians.

It's Trump...or it's the end of the American dream.

From my email.

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ IS LIVING PROOF that zero is not the lower limit on the IQ scale: finding new ways to be stupid.

HE KEEPS BANGING ON MY DOOR, TOO. And mailing me. Ane emailing me. And calling me.

AMMO GRRRLL is thinking MOSTLY PEACEFUL thoughts.

BUT HE WEARS A MASK!

The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert. After they got their tent all set up, both men fell asleep. Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, "Kemo Sabe, look towards sky, what you see?"

The Lone Ranger replies, "I see millions of stars." "What that tell you?" asked Tonto. The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute, then says, "Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What's it tell you, Tonto?"

"You dumber than a Biden voter. It means someone stole the tent."

From my email.

AND YET we keep voting them in. Which says something about the average Democrat voter.

Perhaps it's time to return to literacy testing in order to register to vote....