Right now, one of the red herrings I keep seeing is that neither of the mRNA vaccines have full FDA approval. Knowing what I know about those who are using that excuse, they will find another excuse not to once full FDA approval comes out.
This.
If the voters in Iowa wouldn't get rid of Jodi Ernst, they will not beat Grassley. Even though there are at least two good candidates on the Dem side, one of which is a farmer.
I know a lot of people are comparing this to the end of the dictatorship in Romania. East Germany was quickly heading that way, too.
Unfortunately, most of Ceausescu's cronies ended up in the government that followed the dictatorship. Without a clear path defining what's next, that's what is likely with Cuba. Contrast it with the eventual reunification of Germany. It helped that the Kremlin wanted no violence.
In the early 1950s, when the Cypress Street Viaduct was designed (along with its twins, the Embarcadero Freeway in SFO and the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle), the impact of soil liquefaction due to earthquakes on structures was not well understood. IIRC, it wasn't until some time later that the engineers were able to quantify and determine methods to mitigate this.
IIRC the 35W bridge in Minneapolis was caused by a seized pier bearing that eventually overloaded a gusset plate. I don't remember if deck loading had much to do with it.
This is fucked up six ways from Sunday.