Tracker

Okay, everyone who has been praying for snow, you can stop now.

Perhaps the anti-maskers could be offered a compromise. If they want to serve as companions or housekeeping staff in a COVID ward while not wearing PPE for a week, they could be allowed to skip the mask requirement. Everything You Need to Know About the New COVID Variant Anew variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, is thought to be driving increased transmission of the disease in parts of the UK. The government has placed some regions including London under new, stricter coronavirus restrictions, known as Tier 4. People in Tier 4 areas will not be able to gather with anyone outside their household for Christmas, while those in the rest of the country can only gather on Christmas Day itself. Boris Johnson, the prime minister, and his chief scientific advisors said that the new variant could increase transmission of COVID-19 by as much as 70% and increase the R or reproduction number by 0.4. What’s the significance of this new discovery? The Conversation asked Lucy van Dorp, a microbial genomics researcher and an expert in the evolution of pathogens, some key questions about what we know at this point in time. What do we know about this new variant? The new UK variant, known as VUI–202012/01 or lineage B.1.1.7, was first announced by Matt Hancock, the health secretary on December 14. It was subsequently confirmed by Public Health England and the UK’s COVID-19 sequencing consortium. Screening back through databases of SARS-CoV-2 the first sample was taken in the county of Kent on September 20. The variant carries 14 defining mutations including seven in the spike protein, the protein that mediates entry of the virus into human cells. This is a relatively large number of changes compared to the many variants we have in circulation globally. To date, genetic profiles—or genomes—of this variant have been largely sequenced and shared from the UK but include some in Denmark and two cases in Australia. There have also been reports of a case in the Netherlands. These countries all have very large genome sequencing efforts and it is very possible that these observations do not reflect the true distribution of this variant of the virus, which could exist undetected elsewhere. We will know more as more genomes are generated and shared. Thanks to the efforts of data sharing, genomic surveillance and COVID-19 test results in the UK, it seems that this variant is now starting to dominate over existing versions of the virus and that it may be responsible for an increasing proportion of cases in parts of the country, particular in regions where we also have rapidly expanding case numbers. More at: Everything You Need to Know About the New COVID Variant (thedailybeast.com)

This should be encouraged, even mandated. then quarantined together for 30 days without medical attention. 'It's nuts!' GOP lawmaker unloads on Trump for hosting martial law summit in the Oval Office Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) on Monday tore into President Donald Trump for hosting a summit at the White House last week in which he was implored to declare martial law in a desperate bid to retain power. Appearing on CNN, Kinzinger was asked what he thought of disgraced former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn floating a plan to declare the results of the 2020 election void and then deploy the United States military to do a re-do of the vote. "I think it's nuts," he said. "I think there's a lot of people that don't necessarily understand what martial law is. They know it basically sounds ominous. Martial law is basically the federal military coming in and suspending the authority of state or local governments." Kinzinger went on to demolish some of the other conspiracy theories being floated by the president's allies. 'It's nuts!' GOP lawmaker unloads on Trump for hosting martial law summit in the Oval Office - Alternet.org (Another Republican has a deathbed repentance)

Its southern Alabama, oops, I mean southern Alberta. No guarantees there.

Maybe they could name a sewage treatment plant after him. Or a toxic chemical dump.

Switzerland has as many guns per capita as the US, but only a fraction of the gun deaths and violence. The guns are just a means to express their fear and hatred of each other.

It is disheartening that, after all the horrid things Trump has said and done, he has approval in double digits. That says something very sad about the psychopathology of many Americans.

Megachurch pastor who served as Trump evangelical advisor diagnosed with COVID after attending White House party Pastor Jentezen Franklin, the senior pastor at Georgia megachurch Free Chapel, tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a White House Christmas party with his daughter earlier this month, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Trump allies floating increasingly 'anti-democratic' ideas as their ‘desperation’ grows — and officials are 'scared' President Donald Trump can't stand rejection, and his campaign has had a lot of it since the 2020 presidential election — from judge after judge dismissing his legal team's election lawsuits to the Electoral College certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Following all that rejection, journalist Charlotte Klein stresses in an article published by Vanity Fair on December 20, Trump and his supporters are resorting to increasingly extreme ideas in the hope of preventing Biden from being inaugurated less than a month from now. "Having effectively exhausted his legal options — at least 86 judges, including dozens appointed by Republicans, have shut down the president's unprecedented attempt to overturn his defeat through the courts — Donald Trump is apparently now entertaining even more anti-democratic paths to preserving his power," Klein explains. "During a White House meeting on Friday, nearly a week after the Electoral College certified Joe Biden's victory, Trump reportedly discussed invoking martial law to overturn his losing election result — a strategy one of the meeting's attendees, former national security adviser and recent pardon recipient Michael Flynn, had recently proposed on cable television." According to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, far-right Republican attorney Sidney Powell was also present in the White House during that Friday, December 18 meeting with the president — who floated the idea of choosing her as a special counsel to oversee an investigation of voter fraud. Powell, in her lawsuits, has been alleging that Trump was the victim of widespread voter fraud during the election but has offered no proof of it. Others who were present during that meeting included attorney Rudy Giuliani, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Klein writes, "As others in the room pointed out Powell's failure thus far to support her fraud claims with verifiable evidence, (Powell) 'accused other Trump advisers of being quitters,' according to the Times. Another reported an idea weighed during Friday's meeting was an executive order to seize voting machines to examine them for alleged fraud, after Giuliani separately asked the Department of Homeland Security to do so earlier in the week — apparently to no avail." Trump allies floating increasingly 'anti-democratic' ideas as their ‘desperation’ grows — and officials are 'scared' - Alternet.org

No doubt the Trumps have contingency plans to flee the country in the event that charges are laid. Kushner, for example, would head for Israel which, I believe, has a policy of no extradition for ethnic Jews who come from other countries.

That sort of attitude among the rich and powerful will destroy the US quicker than any foreign attacker.

A statistic quoted on CNN Saturday was that 11% or one in five American homes are now food-insecure. That is, they don't have enough food on hand for three days. That was a pretty big gun to the heads of any Democrats who care about their constituents. Those cheques are not going to get there overnight and children are going to go hungry because of the GOP jackholes, who care for no one apart from their mega-donors. Our political system is imperfect but when you look at the US system, we look damned good by comparison.

And now the dumb cluck is refusing to have Biden and Harris updated on intelligence and security briefings any longer, contrary to every other transitional process in modern US history.

For those who think the worst of Trump is over, or that he will not resort to a coup, you may be in for a shock. Ironically, Trump supporters have been supporting him out of fear that their rights and liberties will be taken away from them by the Democrats and their is Trump, fantasizing about becoming a dictator. The only thing stopping him is his fear that if he tries and fails, he would be executed.

3 ‘External’ Experts Who Worked On Revera Report Have Ties To Company THE CANADIAN PRESS Three of the “independent experts” long-term care home operator Revera chose to contribute to its recently released pandemic report have prior ties to the company, raising questions from advocates and family who say the report is unobjective and doesn’t reflect what has really been happening in the company’s homes during the pandemic. The report, written by a panel tasked by Revera with examining the impact of the first wave of COVID-19 on the company’s residents and staff, said there was a “series of systemic breakdowns that allowed the virus to flourish in long term care,” including a sector-wide shortage of personal protective equipment and a “woeful lack” of laboratory testing. It also found there were “mixed messages” and inconsistent information about infection prevention and resident cohorting from government ministries, public health units, hospitals and other bodies involved during the pandemic’s first wave. It does not mention, however, the affiliations Revera has with three of the experts on the panel, whom the company says “contributed their advice and recommendations on a voluntary basis.” The report does acknowledge the 266 deaths related to COVID-19 in the company’s homes across the country in the first wave of the pandemic. To date, 279 more people have died in Revera’s Canadian homes in the second wave — since Sept. 1, 2020 — according to the company’s media releases. Revera currently faces multiple proposed class action lawsuits, one of which alleges the company was “systemically negligent” during the pandemic. (I think that this report was commissioned by the Ontario government)

Or anything else, for that matter.

The literacy and education rates in the US have been falling for some 20 years, and I suspect this is the predictable result.

Trump and his followers consider him the greatest president/patriot/husband/economist/scientist/military strategist of all time.

Trudeau: Canada's Vaccine Rollout Is Ahead Of Schedule And More Doses ComingFederal officials say they're pushing for quicker shipments of COVID-19 vaccines. -Canadian Press Federal officials say they’re pushing manufacturers to accelerate shipments of more COVID-19 vaccine doses as calls grow to lock down more parts of the country for the holidays. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada is running ahead of schedule in its vaccine rollout, which is set to ramp up next month with scheduled deliveries of 125,000 Pfizer-BioNTech doses per week, for a total of 500,000 doses in January. Trudeau told reporters that 200,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will arrive next week. And pending Health Canada approval, he said 168,000 doses of Moderna’s vaccine candidate will be shipped by the end of the year. The federal government is also investing about $9 million through the National Research Council of Canada to support the development of treatments for COVID-19 and other viral infections, Trudeau said. The funding will go to four Canadian companies working on therapies, including two in Montreal and two in Vancouver.

'Baffling': Trump administration reportedly slashes vaccine shipments while millions sit on shelves Officials from more than a dozen states say the Trump administration has informed them that next week's Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine allotments to their jurisdictions are being substantially reduced, prompting confusion and outrage. The development comes even as Pfizer insists that it has millions of doses ready to ship if given instructions by the federal government. Coronavirus inoculation in the U.S. began Monday as the country's pandemic death toll surpassed 300,000. Hundreds of thousands of people—mostly frontline healthcare workers and nursing home residents whom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agreed to prioritize—have already received their first dose of the vaccine. But Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) tweeted Thursday that the CDC "has informed us that [Washington's] vaccine allocation will be cut by 40% next week—and that all states are seeing similar cuts." "This is disruptive and frustrating," Inslee added. "We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure on-the-ground success. No explanation was given." The Associated Press reported Friday that "California, where an explosion in cases is straining intensive care units to the breaking point, will receive 160,000 fewer vaccine doses than state officials had anticipated next week—a roughly 40% reduction." Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said his state was also told it would receive a smaller shipment than expected, The Hill reported Thursday. In addition, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) on Wednesday said he "anticipates about half as many doses as was originally promised." Other affected states, AP reported, include Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, and New Hampshire. Adding to the chorus of governors expressing concern was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who said Wednesday that "new shipments were 'on hold,' and that if they arrive, he is anticipating fewer doses than he was previously told," The Hill reported. But unlike his colleagues in other states, DeSantis blamed unspecified "production issues." Pfizer on Thursday denied that underproduction is the cause of diminished vaccine distributions, instead assigning fault to the lack of direction provided by the Trump administration. In a statement, the company said that it "successfully shipped all 2.9 million doses that we were asked to ship by the U.S. government to the locations specified by them.

Oh dear. How could anyone think that those paragons of virtue- McConnell and the GOP be involved in chicanery?

In the music business, the Eagles were referred to as "The Egos"- they needed to arrive at the concert venue and leave in separate vehicles every time.

White House Blocks a Statement Acknowledging Russia’s Role in Cyberattack Saul Loeb/Getty Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday night that Russia was “pretty clearly” behind a huge cyberattack on U.S. agencies that compromised sensitive information. But his commonsense conclusion pitted him against the president, who insisted on Saturday that it was only the “Fake News Media” blaming “Russia, Russia, Russia”—and the hack may have been the work of China. Now, CNN reports that officials at the White House were preparing to put out a statement on Friday that blamed Russia but others forced them to nix it. The statement was going to say Russia was at the forefront of the attack, while also claiming that other countries may have been involved. It wasn’t clear who stopped the statement from going out or why it was scrapped. Trump tweeted on Saturday that “everything is well under control” and the hack—which Bloomberg says hit more than 200 companies and government agencies—was no big deal. Read it at CNN

I still believe that Trump has not yet gone fully nuclear in his insane, desperate attempt to avoid being thrown out of the White house as final proof that he is a feckless loser.