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The lambda variant is ominous for what it says about the future trajectory of the pandemic Just when vaccinated Americans began to see a flicker of hope for the resumption of their pre-pandemic lives, the novel coronavirus started to mutate. Now the dominant strain in many countries, the ultra-contagious delta variant has torn through unvaccinated communities — and even infected some vaccinated folks — around the United States. Far from a surprise, this scenario was predicted back in March by CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who said then that her colleagues had a sense of "impending doom" for the possibility that mutant variants could sweep America. Experts also know that the delta variant is unlikely to be the last mutation. Viruses cease mutating for no one; and now, another variant appears to be spreading around the world, one that may be even more resistant to vaccines than delta. It is known as lambda. People are noticing. Forbes Magazine recently ran a story with the title, "It Is Time To Pay Close Attention To The Lambda Variant Now Devastating South America." On the other side of the equator, a Tulsa, Oklahoma ABC affiliate warned its audience that "New Lambda variant could make Oklahoma's COVID situation worse." Headlines regularly tout studies indicating that the variant could be able to evade vaccines, although the articles themselves always note that vaccinated individuals are much less likely to develop serious illnesses that the unvaccinated. But while the lambda variant may not be more infectious than delta, it prophesies what the future of the pandemic may look like — and reveals why it is important to educate the public about how mutant strains work. For biological reasons, virus mutations have a tendency to crop up as vaccination rates rise. As vaccination rates increase and SARS-CoV-2 has fewer people to infect, it inevitably evolves in a way that lets it thrive in new, less auspicious environments. "The virus needs to develop ways to increase its transmissibility as there are less targets to infect," Dr. Jonathan Zenilman, an infectious disease specialist and professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, wrote to Salon. He noted the regularity with which mutations arise: "We have been seeing a progression of increasingly transmissible variants about every two to three months." In the case of the lambda variant, health experts' concern is that it appears to resist some of our body's immune responses better than other mutant variants which have emerged. According to Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, that, plus its higher infectivity, "puts it on the list of viruses to watch." "Should it mutate in a more favorable form for infectiousness or lethality it could be a real problem," he added. If that happened, scientists would at the very least need to update our vaccines. At this point, Benjamin emphasized, the delta variant is the priority for now, in part because no one can predict the future of the lambda variant with any accuracy and it has not presently proved itself to be more infectious than delta. In the event that lambda outbreaks happen, we may need to again close schools, businesses and other facilities to protect people. The lambda variant is ominous for what it says about the future trajectory of the pandemic | Salon.com

AS an aside, I would not trust the FBI to be independent in their assessment of Antifa or any similar socially conscious or left-wing movement. They are very reactionary and right-biased, having surveilled MLK, protesters against fracking, MOVE and any attempts to mobilize the votes of coloured people and even gay and animal liberation organizations, but keep away from the Proud Boys and so forth.

How a 'wild-eyed' legal theory could bring a 'death blow to the republic': law professor When President Joe Biden was sworn into office on January 20, the former president/ex-U.S. senator inherited the most right-wing U.S. Supreme Court in generations — one in which only three of the nine justices were appointed by Democratic presidents. Legal expert and law professor Harry Litman, in an op-ed published by the Los Angeles Times on August 24, explains why he fears that the High Court may interfere with democratic election results at some point in the future. Litman, a former U.S. attorney, argues, "The truth is, the biggest threat to American democracy isn't a military coup…. The more probable danger is much less dramatic and much more terrifying: a horrible decision from the final arbiter of our constitutional system — the Supreme Court of the United States. A constitutional theory is gaining ground at the Court that could theoretically have awarded the 2020 election to Donald Trump, despite his having been swamped at the polls." Litman continues, "Its basis is an obscure and muddled argument that first surfaced when the Supreme Court stepped into the George W. Bush-Al Gore 2000 presidential contest and stopped a state court-ordered recount in Florida. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, straining to explain why the U.S. Supreme Court should meddle in the matter, seized on Article I, Section 4 and Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution, which specify that state legislatures may establish rules for the 'Manner' in which federal elections are conducted — unless Congress sets a contradictory national rule." How a 'wild-eyed' legal theory could bring a 'death blow to the republic': law professor - Alternet.org

Didn't he play second base?

Scores Of Florida Doctors Stage Walkout To Protest The Unvaccinated About 75 frustrated doctors staged a pre-sunrise walkout on Monday from several southern Florida hospitals to call out people who are refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and are overwhelming the health care system, making their work nearly unendurable. “We are exhausted. Our patience and resources are running low,“ internal medicine specialist Rupesh Dharia said at a news conference during the action representing hospitals in Palm Beach County. Jupiter Medical Center emergency room doctor Ethan Chapin lamented the “number of people that I’m going to see today who I don’t need to, who don’t need to be there, who shouldn’t have been there in the first place if they’d taken the simple advice of getting vaccinated.” Chapin added: “All we’re asking is, in the same way you trusted us to take care of you, your family, your friends, trust us now in what we’re telling you: The vaccine is safe, and it can save your life.” Infectious disease specialist Leslie Diaz emphasized: “The science is there. The clinical trials are in abundance, and we must stop denying the data .... The vaccine still remains the most effective and reliable way to stop this madness.” Scores Of Florida Doctors Stage Walkout To Protest The Unvaccinated | HuffPost

(This is a bit off-topic, but related) Anti-vaxxers are becoming increasingly unhinged and 'violent': report With the COVID-19's highly infectious Delta variant overwhelming many hospitals in the U.S. — especially in red states with low vaccination rates — the Biden Administration is describing the crisis as a "pandemic of the unvaccinated." Far-right anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers, meanwhile, are doubling down on their message, and according to reporting by the Associated Press, they are becoming increasingly militant, confrontational and "violent." "Across the country, anti-vaccine and anti-mask demonstrations are taking scary and violent turns, and educators, medical professionals and public figures have been stunned at the level at which they have been vilified for even stating their opinion," AP reports in an article published on August 23. "And they have been terrified over how far protesters will go in confronting leaders outside their homes and in their workplaces." AP offers specific examples of how unhinged many anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers have become. In Northern California, according to AP, an anti-masker parent "barged into his daughter's elementary school and punched a teacher in the face over mask rules." "At a school in Texas, a parent ripped a mask off a teacher's face during a 'Meet the Teacher' event," AP reports. "A Missouri hospital leader was approached in a parking garage this week by a man from Alabama who handed him papers accusing him of 'crimes against humanity,' and it was not the only in-your-face encounter over vaccines and masks. School board members, county commissioners, doctors and local leaders are regularly confronted at meetings and in public with angry taunts that compare them to the Taliban, Nazis, Marxists and the leaders of Japanese internment camps." Democratic Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green, according to AP, "watched in horror as protesters showed up outside his condo, yelled at him through bullhorns and beamed strobe lights into the building to harass him over vaccine requirements." Green is Jewish, and some of the anti-vaxxer signs contained anti-Semitic slurs. Anti-vaxxers are becoming increasingly unhinged and 'violent': report - Alternet.org Fauci Says U.S. Could Have Handle On Delta Strain By Spring, But U.S. Needs More Shots Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday that the country could gain control over the highly transmissible delta variant of COVID-19 by the spring if an “overwhelming majority” of unvaccinated people get inoculated, but he warned another strain of the virus could appear if high rates of infection persist. “This is a very wily virus,” Fauci said in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “If we keep lingering without getting those people vaccinated that should be vaccinated, this thing could linger on, leading to the development of another variant, which could complicate things.“ The infectious diseases expert added that if the U.S. can get through the winter, he’s hopeful that the country “could start to get some good control in the spring of 2022.” “We could start getting back to a degree of normality,” Fauci said, then added: “There’s no guarantee, because it’s up to us.”

Mississippi health officials say 70 percent of recent calls relate to people using livestock drug to treat COVID As the Delta variant of COVID ravages the southeastern region of the United States, officials in a state with one of the lowest vaccination rates are pleading with residents to refrain from using a livestock drug to treat COVID-19. Approximately 70% of recent calls to the Mississippi Poison Control Center are in reference to Invermectin ingestion, according to notice released by the Mississippi Department of Health. Many individuals who called the center have mild COVID symptoms. The center is warning that the livestock drug, which is concentrated for larger animals, "can be highly toxic to humans." According to NPR.org, Mississippi health officials are sounding the alarm about residents using a livestock drug called Ivermectin as an alternative method of treatment for those suffering from COVID-19. On Monday, Saturday, August 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released brief statement via Twitter addressing the issue. The short tweet read, "You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it." In a detailed statement, the agency offered more comprehensive remarks explaining why the drug should be avoided for use in people. "Many inactive ingredients found in animal products aren't evaluated for use in people," the statement from the agency said. "Or they are included in much greater quantity than those used in people. In some cases, we don't know how those inactive ingredients will affect how ivermectin is absorbed in the human body." Mississippi health officials say 70 percent of recent calls relate to people using livestock drug to treat COVID - Alternet.org

What else would you expect from the great state of Alberta? Ain't nobody gonna tell nobody what to do!

GOP congressman denounces Speaker Pelosi with a Nazi slur It was barely months ago the U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) promised she finally understood how using Nazi and Holocaust references are "offensive," and can hurt and cause great pain to whole groups of people, and vowed to not do it again. Until she did, three weeks later. She apparently still hasn't learned her lesson. On Monday U.S. Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), a far right anti-LGBTQ extremist who has a history of using Nazi references, doubled down and repeatedly called the Speaker of the House the "Gestapelosi," a contrived word referencing Adolf Hitler's deadly, secret police force, known as the Gestapo. Congressman Weber falsely blamed Speaker Pelosi for the mask mandate in the House, a mandate caused primarily by the lack of Republicans – across the country and in the halls of Congress – being vaccinated. But the Speaker did not order the mask mandate, a rule to help keep everyone safe from coronavirus, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress did. in observance of the CDC's rules, something Congressman Weber knows. GOP congressman denounces Speaker Pelosi with a Nazi slur - Alternet.org

I think we will do well, but it will be December before things are "normalized" in a best-case scenario.

No matter how good you are or say you are, you still have to go out and prove it every time. One loss does not define you but you need to wipe that out of fan memory as soon as possible.

Got off cheap. All of these should be given the max as this was not a harmless prank.

Yup. Senility. Apparently Flora was offered the position but saw it as no-win situation and declined.

You may recall that when the Mulroney regime had so disgraced itself that the polls showed that they had no chance of being re-elected, they trotted out Kim Campbell as their sacrificial offering, and tried show that they were not a bunch of misogynistic miscreants by appointing her the new captain of the Titanic. This is probably the thinking in the inner circle of the provincial PC party.

New numbers show Florida's Covid surge is deadlier than ever before Florida has become one of the most dangerous states in the U.S. for COVID-19's highly infectious Delta variant. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of every five new COVID-19 infections is occurring in the Sunshine State. And according to a Twitter thread by a health expert for the Mayo Clinic, Florida is now the first state in the U.S. where the current COVID-19 wave has become deadlier than previous waves. Dr. Vincent Rajkumar, a Mayo professor and editor of Blood Cancer Journal, tweeted Financial Times graphs using COVID-19 data from the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University: Florida becomes first US state where the daily deaths in current wave have exceeded previous waves. https://t.co/xK9UK2don8 — Vincent Rajkumar (@Vincent Rajkumar) 1629651837.0

Apparently you can be double-vaxed, contract it again, be asymptomatic and still be a spreader. Thus there is NO valid reason to abandon the masks and distancing with the Delta variant looming.

One of the truest things that Trump said (and maybe the only one) was that he loved the uneducated. He knew who was gullible and stupid enough to vote for him.

Actor William Petersen was hospitalized after a health scare on the set of CSI: Las Vegas on Friday. Petersen had said he felt ill before asking for a break, his rep told TMZ. An ambulance was called on the actor’s behalf and he was taken to a medical facility. It’s possible that Petersen overexerted himself, as his reps say he’s been working long hours for the past few weeks. For now, Petersen is out of the hospital. It’s unknown when he’ll return to work.

But the microchips in the vaccine and how it lowers and pollutes sperm remains.

E.T., Phone Hell? Creationist Ken Ham Says Jesus Can’t Save Space Aliens Creationist Ken Ham, who built a giant Noah’s Ark-themed attraction in Kentucky, said he doesn’t think there’s life outside of Earth. And if such life existed, they shouldn’t expect any form of salvation from Jesus Christ. “Jesus came to save us, not to another planet to save another race of beings,” Ham wrote on Twitter, adding that it’s clear “salvation through Christ is only for the Adamic race,” aka human earthlings. On the bright side, however, Ham said they won’t need redemption anyway ... since they don’t exist. The Bible, according to his strict interpretation, says only Earth was made to be inhabited, “and the other celestial bodies were created for signs, seasons, days, and years,” he tweeted. Ham was responding to a recent poll that found deeply religious Americans are less likely to believe in intelligent life outside of Earth. He has made similar comments before, writing in 2014, “Jesus did not become the ‘GodKlingon’ or the ‘GodMartian’! Only descendants of Adam can be saved.”

FDA Grants Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Full Approval The Food and Drug Administration on Monday gave the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine its full approval ― the first to reach that status in the United States. The FDA has resisted letting the public know precisely when to expect full approval for the coronavirus vaccines, saying in statements that it was working “as quickly as possible” and it would complete the process by January. Reports indicated that a Labor Day deadline had been set internally. The agency has been allowing doctors and nurses to distribute the vaccine under an emergency use authorization since early December, but required more data from the manufacturer to issue full approval. The announcement may encourage some people to get vaccinated who had been hesitant. “While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in the agency’s statement. The FDA said Monday that the vaccine will be marketed under the name Comirnaty for people 16 and older. As the agency continues to study the vaccine, the shots will continue to be under an emergency use authorization for people ages 12 to 15, as well as for the administration of a third dose in immunocompromised people. FDA Grants Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine Full Approval | HuffPost

Anti-vaxxers are now freaking out about blood donations from the vaccinated Assuming we don't all die of the Omega! Omega! Omega! COVID-19 strain sometime before the year 2050, it's easy enough to imagine future archeologists rooting through our scattered, bleached bones seeking explanations for why TruckNutz suddenly disappeared from the fossil record in 2040 or so. Eventually, they'll discover that the Americanicus dumbfuckerus branch of the great apes' evolutionary tree suddenly shriveled up, died, and was employed for a time as God's go-to backscratcher before He noticed it gave Him a really gross rash. Sometimes I wonder how Charles Darwin, the inventor of evil-ution, would have reacted to what's going on these days in Florida and other boggy redoubts. After all, there's a certain piquant irony to the fact that the very people who don't believe in natural selection are eagerly proving its validity every day. The latest? Well, it's not enough that anti-vaxxers kill themselves with their scientifically ignorant rejection of vaccines. They've upped the ante making non-COVID-19-related procedures and emergencies problematic, too. Anti-vaxxers are now freaking out about blood donations from the vaccinated - Alternet.org