Month: July 2021

CAPE COD OUTBREAK INTRIGUE!

ABC news is among sources reporting tonight about some troubling information regarding the Delta Variant..

Anne Flaherty andArielle Mitropoulos have this information:

A week after the crowds descended upon Provincetown, Massachusetts, to celebrate the Fourth of July — the holiday President Joe Biden hoped would mark the nation’s liberation from COVID-19 — the manager of the Cape Cod beach town said he was aware of “a handful of positive COVID cases among folks” who spent time there. “We are in touch with the Health Department and Outer Cape Health Services and are closely monitoring the data,” Alex Morse told reporters.

The outbreak grew from that point.. Then the situation turned more troubling: A large number of those infected were vaccinated Americans!

MORE!

As of Thursday, 882 people were tied to the Provincetown outbreak. Among those living in Massachusetts, 74% of them were fully immunized, yet officials said the vast majority were also reporting symptoms. Seven people were reported hospitalized.

The initial findings of the investigation led by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seemed to have huge implications.

MORE FROM ABC:

Delta was known for its “hyper-transmissibility,” or as one former White House adviser put it “COVID on steroids.”

“What has changed is the virus,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and Biden’s chief medical adviser.

When a vaccinated person gets infected with delta — called a “breakthrough infection” — “the level of virus in their nasopharynx is about 1,000 times higher than with the alpha variant,” Fauci said in an interview Wednesday with MSNBC.

And this:

All indications now are that the Provincetown outbreak investigation is among the pieces of new evidence behind the CDC’s decision to ask Americans to once again put on their masks indoors, even if they are vaccinated.

DEVELOPING…

July 29, 2021
Modern media exceptionalism: Did you really read the ‘news’ today?

All the news making headlines… good luck finding what matters!

This post just will take a brief out from the perils of modern life.

There ARE really things in the world happening besides the COVID hangover.. besides Democrats and Republicans fighting about the latest insignificant event.

And we are told to trust the ‘trusted’ sources.. the news media! Hear them snooze!

While real events occur, they are busy posting lame headlines for click bait and talking heads on TV for ratings. Do they even get ratings anymore? Ahh.. who cares, right? YouTube pumps them to the top of the algorithm .. Twitter brands them. They are number one baby.

But despite their accredited and heralded abilities to give you headlines that matter, they so often neglect news.

Like, the real news. The things that actually happen.

Local news had to report what big networks failed to: All this summer a hazy smoke has been in the air shading the sun even more orange near nightfall. Sure, it made for cool photos.. but where did this smoke come from, you ask? Yea.. everyone asked. Because the BIG networks failed to report on the ongoing Canadian wildfires.

An last night while you slept, a massive 8.2 quake hit near Alaska, and caused tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific. Luckily they didn’t come to fruition.

Bet you didn’t know it was the biggest there in 50 years and the shaking was continuous after the quake. You wouldn’t know because the “News” this morning did not even give it a passing mention. NOT A PEEP.

Thankfully Steve Lookner woke up in his Florida apartment to go live in the early AM. He is becoming the more trusted name in news for us!

Finally, just as quickly as news trucks descended on Florida to cover the apartment building collapse in Miami, they left.. most satellites gave up their feed long before the final body was removed from the wreckage..

I guess the attention span just isn’t ready for anything longer than a few characters of text.

We are supposed to trust them.
We are supposed to listed.

The fight so often seems to be about which network to trust. Democrats have CNN and MSNBC and Republicans get FOX and whatever other startup exists on a cable platform near you.

We debate endlessly which one is more biased when in fact they all are.

Sadly what has been lost?

Real news, real information, real reporting.

It has become obnoxious beyond repair.

July 29, 2021
Legal drama over BLACK WIDOW plays out in LA: Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney Over ‘Black Widow’ Release In Theaters, Disney+

The Walt Disney Co. fired back at Scarlet Johansson’s lawsuit over the release of Black Widow, in a biting statement in which it said that the litigation showed a “callous disregard” to the Covid-19 pandemic and even revealed that she has so far received $20 million from the project.

A Disney spokesperson said, “There is no merit whatsoever to this filing. The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson’s contract and furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date.”
— Read on deadline.com/2021/07/scarlett-johansson-walt-disney-co-black-widow-lawsuit-1234802440/

Note that more may follow!

The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal, could be a watershed moment for talent who feel they have been cheated out of money by studios that decide to release their films simultaneously on streaming services and in theaters, a practice that upended the way Hollywood’s biggest names are paid.

Multiple stars and directors have pushed back on media companies that placed their films on streaming services during the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of giving them a months-long exclusive release in theaters, which is typical for big Hollywood movies.

Developing ..

July 29, 2021
MASK ON. MASK OFF. MASK ON

POTUS MASKS UP AGAIN..

Just a few months ago as the birth of spring brought hope eternal..masks were off. President Biden said that it was once again time to greet each other with a smile..

A smile now turning to a frown..

Delta variant growing across America, the President and Staff are now appearing to don the masks again across the grounds of the White House.

The requirement was back after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said new research showed even vaccinated people could transmit, in rare cases, the more contagious Delta variant.

Showing how quickly the tide has turned in just two weeks:

Reporters and photographers wore masks. Members of the press office wore masks. Biden did too — he was photographed with a mask while talking with an opposition leader from Belarus before leaving for a trip to Pennsylvania.

Vice President Kamala Harris got a head start the day before, wearing a mask during a meeting with Native American leaders. An aide passed out masks to any journalists who had already fallen out of the habit of keeping one handy.

Meanwhile JoePA has called for $100 bucks to whomever gets vaccinated!

Cash for jabs!

The President said

Thursday called on state and local governments to use funds from his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to offer $100 payments to individuals in order to incentivize coronavirus vaccinations.

The payments would be offered to newly vaccinated Americans to provide “an extra incentive to boost vaccination rates, protect communities, and save lives,” the Treasury Department said in an announcement Thursday afternoon.

“Treasury stands ready to give technical assistance to state and local governments so that they may use the funds effectively to support increased vaccination in their communities, and Treasury will partner with the Department of Health and Human Services throughout this effort,” it said.

July 29, 2021
New wave 6 He-Man characters released
The most exciting appears to be Webstor.. and the one and only Stinkor.

And just like the 80s, he’ll have a real smell too.

No word on how bad good or indifferent.

But in this new age, if you Stinkor stops smells it’s time to get a Covid test!
July 29, 2021
The town of Kane PA rocked by insurrection arrest and subsequent national attention

CAPITOL RIOT ARREST OF RESTAURANT OWNER RATTLES HOMETOWN →

This is reporting from the Associated Press from a little small town named Kane, Pennsylvania:

A crank caller ordered an “insurrection pizza” from Pauline Bauer’s restaurant. A profane piece of hate mail addressed her as a domestic terrorist. She even became a punchline for Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show on CBS.
A swift backlash greeted Capitol riot suspects like Bauer when they returned to their homes across the U.S. after joining the mob that stormed past police barricades, smashed windows and disrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory on Jan. 6. Relatives, friends or co-workers reported scores of them to the FBI. Some lost jobs. Others lost their freedom, jailed awaiting trials.
In Bauer’s hometown in rural Pennsylvania, her arrest and that of a longtime friend have rekindled partisan bickering, more often on social media than on street corners, some residents say. As Bauer and William Blauser Jr. fight the charges in court, many in the town of Kane have struggled to comprehend how two of their neighbors could be among the hundreds of Trump loyalists bent on overturning the election that day.

At this juncture, here is what we know: Bauer was heard shouting at police to “bring Nancy Pelosi out” to be hanged during the riot, the FBI says..

Bauer was arrested in May. Video showed her involved with another entering the Capitol through an east Rotunda door where at least three police officers were trying to block entry. Video from a police officer’s body camera captured Bauer saying to bring out Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House.“Bring them out now. They’re criminals. They need to hang,” she said.

Bauer has demanded to represent herself in court, appeared to threaten a court clerk with prison time, and declared herself a “self-governed individual” with special legal privileges.

Bauer does not simply appear in court, she clarified during a June 11 proceeding via Zoom. “I am here by special divine appearance, a living soul,” she told a judge that day, while stating that she did not want an attorney.

“I do not stand under the law,” she said. “Under Genesis 1, God gave man dominion over the law.”

More reporting from the AP on the ongoing legal battle:

Bauer has been combative with the judge presiding over her case and claimed the court has no authority over her. She was jailed for one night in June after she refused to answer a magistrate judge’s routine questions. During a recent hearing, she told U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden that she doesn’t want an attorney to represent her “or any lawyering from the bench.”
“I do not recognize your bar card, sir,” she told McFadden, who appointed a lawyer to act as her standby counsel.
She also told the judge that she wouldn’t allow a pretrial services officer to inspect her home, in person or virtually. The judge warned her that she could be jailed again if she refused to comply. He also denied her request to dismiss her charges, which include obstruction of an official proceeding and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
“On what terms?” she asked.
“You know what? You don’t get to demand terms from me,” the judge replied.

July 29, 2021
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE RAIN — IF YOU CAN

Some People Can Smell Rain & Scientists Know WhySome people can smell rain, and scientists now know why. Ever notice the air outside has a distinct smell after a rain storm? Some people aWEATHERBOY

In 2015, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used high-speed cameras to record how the scent moves into the air., testing roughly 600 experiments across 28 different surfaces to see what releases a scent and how that scent travels. Their experiment showcased that when a raindrop lands on a porous surface, air from the pores forms small bubbles, which float to the surface and release aerosols.

These floating aerosols carry the scent into the air, bringing bacteria and viruses up from the soil as well. Raindrops that move at a slower rate tend to produce more aerosols than a heavy rain.

This is why petrichor is especially noticeable on light rain days, but not so much after soaking storms.

I r really don’t know this wasn’t common.. until now I assumed everyone actually could smell rain..

July 29, 2021
The day Jason took Manhattan

July 28, 1989: A $5 mil movie went on to make over $14 mil at the box office..

Friday the 13th 8: Jason Takes Manhattan..

Some fond memories of 32 years ago

July 28, 2021
VACCINE MANDATE FOR FEDS!

BIDEN AND DOJ MAKE THE CALL: Vaccines for federal workers or submit to tests

X X X

President Joe Biden will announce on Thursday a requirement that all federal employees and contractors be vaccinated against Covid-19, or be required to submit to regular testing and mitigation requirements, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The announcement will come in remarks where Biden is also expected to lay out a series of new steps, including incentives, in an attempt to spur new vaccinations as the Delta variant spreads rapidly throughout the country. It will also follow the decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs to require its frontline health care workers to be vaccinated over the course of the next two months

July 27, 2021
COVID-21: MASK UP!

THE C.D.C. WILL RECOMMEND THAT SOME VACCINATED PEOPLE WEAR MASKS INDOORS AGAIN. →

The C.D.C.’s initial guidance in May said people fully protected from the coronavirus could go mask-free indoors, but recommended that unvaccinated people still wear masks. Those recommendations drew sharp criticism from some experts, who said it was premature given the vast swaths of unvaccinated people in the country.

ovid

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the C.D.C.’s director, at the time pointed to two scientific findings as significant factors. Few vaccinated people become infected with the virus, and transmission seems rarer still, she noted; and the vaccines appear to be effective against all known variants of the coronavirus.

This new guidance is a reverse from previous reversals of reversals and guidance.

COMING TO AN AREA NEAR YOU

July 27, 2021