Post by mhbruin on Jun 15, 2021 9:11:06 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 311 Million Shots
Half of eligible people fully vaccinated
CALIFORNIA - California Breaks the 40 Million Dose Barrier!
More than 1 dose for every person in California (39.6 million).
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It's a Banned Substance for Athletes, But Not For Pigs
American middle distance runner Shelby Houlihan has been banned from athletics for four years after testing positive for a prohibited substance - which she blamed on a burrito.
The 28-year-old says she was told in January the anabolic steroid nandrolone had been found in a doping sample.
Olympian Houlihan said it may have come from eating a pork burrito, which she said could lead to a false positive for nandrolone, the night before her test.
She has denied ever doping.
The Athletics Integrity Unit confirmed she was handed the four-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday, backdated to 14 January.
Houlihan, the US record holder in the 1500m and 5,000m, said she had "never even heard" of nandrolone, which can help to increase muscle mass.
"I have since learned that it has long been understood by Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) that eating pork can lead to a false positive for nandrolone, since certain types of pigs produce it naturally in high amounts. Pig organ meat (offal) has the highest levels of nandrolone," she said.
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Make Sure You Wear Your Mask in Prison
California, the first state in America to put in place a coronavirus lockdown, is now turning a page on the pandemic. California lifted most of its Covid-19 restrictions Tuesday as part of a grand reopening in which the state will end capacity limits, physical distancing and -- at least for those vaccinated -- mask requirements.
The new health order went into effect Tuesday and allows vaccinated people to go without a face covering in most situations, putting the state in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Masks are still required on public transportation, in hospitals and jails, as well as at schools, child care centers and K-12, pending updated guidance from the CDC.
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"But It's a Dry Heat"
All-time records are in jeopardy this week as a dangerous heat wave bakes much of the Western United States, an area already begging for moisture due to exceptional drought.
"Record-high tempertures will just continue the vicious cycle that so often happens in droughts, where hot, cloudless skies result in increased evaporation of what little water is left in lakes and rivers," says CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. "This, in turn, worsens the drought."
The latest drought monitor released June 10 categorizes a majority of the southwestern US as experiencing extreme to exceptional drought conditions. Major heat on the way this week will only worsen the deteriorating outlook.
"This has a clear fingerprint of climate change, where increasing temperatures will drive this vicious cycle, especially in places like the Western US, where rainfall has been noticeably lessening," Miller says.
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DOJ - You Got Some 'Splainin' to Do
Documents released Tuesday by the House Oversight Committee detail then-President Donald Trump’s repeated efforts to pressure the Department of Justice to pursue his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election and help overturn Joe Biden’s victory.
The emails illustrate the behind-the-scenes efforts Trump's White House took to pressure federal officials while he simultaneously pushed the same unsubstantiated claims on Twitter. The messages were sent from mid-December to early January and were made public by House Oversight and Government Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.
Among the efforts was pressure on the Department of Justice to intervene in lawsuits being pursued by Trump's campaign and supporters to get the Supreme Court to overturn the results.
At the end of December, Trump’s White House assistant emailed then-Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and other top Justice Department officials with a draft legal brief that the president wanted them to file with the Supreme Court. Kurt Olsen, a private attorney for Trump, also contacted department officials requesting the federal agency file the brief.
The 54-page brief called on the Supreme Court to declare that Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada had administered the 2020 presidential election in violation of the Electors Clause and the 14th Amendment, claiming that the states changed election rules without legislative action. All six were swing states that Trump lost.
Trump's vocal public efforts to overturn the election were highly unusual, but had the DOJ intervened on his behalf it would have been viewed as an extraordinary use of the powers of the presidency to overturn the will of voters.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Also Apologized Monday for Saying the Earth is Flat after visiting a Store with a Globe.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., apologized Monday for comparing mask-wearing requirements at the Capitol to the Holocaust after visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
"And the horrors of the Holocaust are something that some people don't even believe happened. Some people deny, but there is no comparison to the Holocaust. And there are words that I have said remarks that I've made, that I know are offensive. And for that I want to apologize."
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Marooned More Than Five
He had been given a ticket out of prison, but Covid-19 killed him before could use it.
Oscar Villarreal was one of 18 paroled inmates who died behind bars last year because the programs he needed to complete before he could be released were slowed or stopped cold by the pandemic, according to "Dead Man Waiting," a new report compiled by University of Texas researchers.
"I knew he had to do the programs, but I didn't expect these programs to be six months or almost a full year," said Vicki Garcia, Villarreal's sister. "We were three months away. To get that call, it was shocking and upsetting."
The report, first obtained by NBC News, reveals that more than 10,700 parole-approved prisoners were marooned in their cells from five to 11 months before they were finally released — more than twice as long as the waiting period before the pandemic.
Villarreal died in September, just a few months shy of his 61st birthday and seven months after he had been approved for parole.
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The Power of Two
Two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalization from the Delta variant of the coronavirus, according to a new analysis from Public Health England released Monday.
The variant, which was first identified in India, has become the predominant strain in the United Kingdom. A previous analysis from PHE suggested that a single dose of the vaccine was less effective against symptomatic illness caused by the Delta variant compared to the so-called Alpha variant, or B.1.1.7, which swept the U.K. in the winter.
The new analysis found that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine were 96 percent effective against hospitalization from the Delta variant, and two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were 92 percent effective.
The Problem with Zero
The Delta variant is on its way to becoming the dominant strain of coronavirus in the US, raising concerns that outbreaks could hit unvaccinated people this fall.
And a new study shows the Delta variant is associated with almost double the risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha variant.
The Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant, which is "stickier" and more contagious than the original strain of novel coronavirus, became the dominant strain in the US this spring.
But health experts worry the Alpha variant could be trumped by the Delta variant, which appears to be even more transmissible and may cause more severe illness for those not vaccinated.
Here’s Who’s Facing a Nightmare ‘Vaxx Summer’
Last summer, the coronavirus pandemic exploded in the South even as it retreated from pandemic-battered northern states like New York.
This year, as vaccine hesitancy and refusal solidify in GOP strongholds, a confluence of new factors may place children, adolescents, and young adults living in southern states squarely in the pandemic crosshairs.
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The QOP's Infrastructure Scheme
Senate Republicans are mulling support for a massive amount of new spending on infrastructure — in part because they think it’ll help kill President Joe Biden’s liberal agenda.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has yet to tip his hand on whether he supports the bipartisan negotiations on Biden's plan for roads and bridges that are being led by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). But a growing number of Senate Republicans are betting that if a deal is reached on that sort of physical infrastructure, Democrats won’t have the votes needed to pass the rest of Biden’s “soft infrastructure” priorities, such as child care and clean energy.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) surmised Monday that if a bipartisan package comes to fruition, the only remaining ways for Democrats to pay for a second bill on social spending programs are tax increases — too toxic to pursue. Democrats can pass a spending bill with only Democratic votes, but they need all 50 of their members to be on board.
“It’ll be awful hard to get those moderate Democrats to be for that,” Thune said. “The stars are kind of lining up for an infrastructure bill. And if you do do something bipartisan on that, then I think doing something partisan on reconciliation — in some ways, with certain Democrats — it gets a lot harder.”
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Another Investigation Found that Happy People Smile More
But an investigation by Eli Rosenberg for the Washington Post, based on interviews of several business owners throughout the country, suggests that the hiring problem facing employers has less to do with extended unemployment benefits and more to do with the the fact that American workers simply don’t want to go back to jobs that won’t pay a decent wage. As Rosenberg found, businesses that increase their pay scales are actually being deluged with applications from willing workers.
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Laura Ingraham Can Smell a Liberal
Laura Ingraham revealed her liberal-detection system Monday ― and it’s a doozy. (See the video below.) The Fox News host apparently thinks she can read body language to divine political leanings.
On “The Ingraham Angle,” she renewed her attacks on former Trump coronavirus task force members Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, who Ingraham for months has sought to discredit for their warnings about the pandemic. Fauci has continued in a similar capacity under President Joe Biden.
Ingraham cited a passage in ex-Biden COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt’s new book “Preventable,” which says Birx once hinted that she favored Biden in the 2020 election.
Said Ingraham: “I had the feeling ― you know, I could just tell by her body language and the way she looked at President Trump. Same with Fauci. I mean, it was obvious to me from the very beginning that they were, you know, pretty liberal people ― which is fine. They’re liberals.”
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It Takes Two Teenagers With a Gun to Stop a Good Guy With a Gun
A 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl have been arrested for allegedly shooting a security guard at an Atlanta mall to try to get into the Apple store after hours, authorities said.
The security guard, a man in his early 40s, was in "critical but stable condition" on Monday, Atlanta police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton said at a news conference.
The mall had closed at 6 p.m. Police believe the teenagers' "end goal was to try to gain access into the Apple store" after the shooting but were unsuccessful, Hampton said.
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No Burgers for You! Next!
All 19 workers at a fast food restaurant in Pakistan were detained after refusing to give a group of police officers free burgers last week.
Staff at the chain Johnny & Jugnu in Lahore were rounded up at 0100 (2000 GMT) on Saturday and held overnight.
"This is not the first time something like this has happened... at our restaurant," a statement by the burger chain said.
Nine police officers involved in the incident have now been suspended.
Handcuffs for You! Next!
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Bezos Better Hope His Rocket for His Trip to Space has No Amazon Products
The federal agency responsible for overseeing consumer product safety is investigating Amazon-branded electronic products highlighted in a CNN investigation last year, according to records and interviews.
CNN reported last year that dozens of AmazonBasics electronics remained for sale on Amazon.com, despite customers reporting the products had melted, exploded or burst into flames. Lawmakers immediately called on the company to investigate and recall any electronics posing dangers to customers.
Dozens of Amazon's own products have been reported as dangerous -- melting, exploding or even bursting into flames. Many are still on the market
Now, at least eight of the items highlighted in CNN's investigation are being reviewed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, according to letters CNN received from the agency in response to public records requests. Among the products are surge protectors, phone charging cords, a patio heater, battery charger and a voice-activated microwave that consumers reported had caught fire.
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The Previous Guy's War on Whiskey Isn't Over. It's Not a Whiskey Rebellion.
Dozens of cases of whiskey sit on the ground floor of the James E. Pepper Distillery in Lexington, Kentucky, ready to be shipped -- but, because President Joe Biden hasn't moved to end trade disputes started under former President Donald Trump, none of it will be going to thirsty customers overseas.
Owner Amir Peay had big dreams for selling James E. Pepper in Europe when he started producing these bottles four years ago. He rented space in a warehouse in Europe, setting up a whole new distribution system. But then Trump started a series of trade fights with the European Union, which retaliated by slapping a 25% tariff on American whiskey, making Peay's bottles much more expensive for European drinkers.
Peay's European sales steadily declined, and over time James E. Pepper lost 75% of its foreign business. He hoped for a reversal once Biden took office, but like other exporters, he's been disappointed. Biden is meeting his foreign counterparts this weekend at the G7 summit in Britain, but it's unclear how long the tariffs will stay in place, despite recent signs that the American and European officials will begin negotiating on trade.
..........................
There is currently a tariff on the majority of the goods being shipped from China into the United States. The average rate is 19% -- more than six times higher than before the trade war began in 2018, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. American importers pay those duties.
The taxes have raised the price for items such as baseball hats, luggage, bicycles, TVs, sneakers and a variety of materials used by American manufacturers.
China has put tariffs on American-made goods, too. About 58% of US exports to China are affected, with an average rate of 21%. That means Chinese buyers have an incentive to buy certain items from other countries where they might be cheaper without the cost of the tariff.
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Note to Elon: All That Clean Energy They Are Using Means Someone Else Has to Use Dirty Energy
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sunday said the company will resume bitcoin transactions once it confirms there is reasonable clean energy usage by miners.
“When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing bitcoin transactions," said in a tweet.
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I'm Not Attending the Funeral
Reports of QAnon’s death aren’t exaggerated
That’s why QAnon, who made a messiah out of former President Trump, was always bound to lose steam. It will follow the arc of furious, loopy-loo American conspiracy theories that have existed since before the Civil War. Cults like QAnon burn bright, and they fade fast.
QAnon’s demise, in fact, is well underway. Its leader, Q, a figure from the internet’s dark side, is now widely suspected to be the creation of Jim and Ron Watkins. The Watkins men are a seedy father-son duo in Asia who serve up pornography and hate speech online.
If the Watkins hypothesis is true, it means that Q is not exactly the patriotic, principled avenger crusading against sex trafficking that his followers have put their faith in.
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Pity the Poor Slave Holder
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Hey, Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today
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Doses Administered 7-Day Average | Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses | Number of People Fully Vaccinated | |
Jun 14 | 1,113,416 | 174,234,573 | 144,919,339 |
Jun 13 | 1,097,710 | 173,840,483 | 143,921,222 |
Jun 12 | 1,120,571 | 173,391,711 | 143,119,077 |
Jun 11 | 1,055,610 | 172,758,350 | 142,095,530 |
Jun 10 | 1,138,099 | 172,423,605 | 141,583,252 |
Jun 9 | 1,120,083 | 172,054,276 | 140,980,110 |
Jun 8 | 1,074,204 | 171,731,584 | 140,441,957 |
Jun 7 | 1,131,867 | 171,310,738 | 139,748,661 |
Jun 6 | 1,133,361 | 170,833,221 | 138,969,323 |
Jun 5 | 1,166,993 | 170,272,150 | 138,112,702 |
Jun 4 | 1,199,416 | 169,735,441 | 137,455,367 |
Jun 3 | 1,215,518 | 169,090,262 | 136,644,618 |
Jun 2 | 1,303,431 | 168,734,435 | 136,155,250 |
Jun 1 | 1,359,049 | 168,489,729 | 135,867,425 |
May 30 | 1,315,466 | 167,733,972 | 135,087,319 |
May 29 | 1,394,832 | 167,157,043 | 134,418,748 |
May 28 | 1,500,632 | 166,388,129 | 133,532,544 |
May 27 | 1,618,194 | 165,718,717 | 132,769,894 |
May 26 | 1,703,162 | 165,074,907 | 131,850,089 |
May 25 | 1,750,524 | 164,378,258 | 131,078,608 |
May 24 | 1,782,714 | 163,907,827 | 130,615,797 |
May 23 | 1,827,882 | 163,309,414 | 130,014,175 |
May 22 | 1,872,697 | 162,470,794 | 129,006,463 |
May 21 | 1,879,526 | 161,278,336 | 127,778,250 |
May 20 | 1,828,681 | 160,177,820 | 126,605,166 |
May 19 | 1,801,333 | 159,174,963 | 125,453,423 |
May 18 | 1,771,807 | 158,365,411 | 124,455,693 |
May 17 | 1,830,360 | 157,827,208 | 123,828,224 |
May 16 | 1,886,917 | 157,132,234 | 122,999,721 |
May 15 | 1,926,448 | 156,217,367 | 121,768,268 |
Feb 16 | 1,716,311 | 39,670,551 | 15,015,434 |
Half of eligible people fully vaccinated
At Least One Dose | Fully Vaccinated | |
% of Total Population | 52.4% | 43.4% |
% of Population 12+ | 62.0% | 51.3% |
% of Population 18+ | 64.4% | 54.1% |
% of Population 65+ | 86.8% | 76.2% |
CALIFORNIA - California Breaks the 40 Million Dose Barrier!
More than 1 dose for every person in California (39.6 million).
7-Day Average Administered | |
Jun 14 | 142,649 |
Jun 13 | 150,217 |
Jun 12 | 157,966 |
Jun 11 | 161,902 |
Jun 10 | 161,232 |
Jun 9 | 178,150 |
Jun 8 | 165,790 |
Jun 7 | 182,811 |
Jun 6 | 183,406 |
Jun 5 | 179,462 |
Jun 4 | 165,253 |
Jun 3 | 165,225 |
Jun 2 | 170,223 |
Jun 1 | 179,213 |
May 30 | 173,351 |
May 29 | 193,204 |
May 28 | 213,796 |
May 27 | 230,733 |
May 26 | 244,708 |
May 25 | 258,249 |
May 24 | 268,071 |
May 23 | 276,166 |
May 22 | 285,578 |
May 21 | 293,987 |
May 20 | 281,184 |
May 19 | 278,632 |
May 18 | 269,324 |
May 17 | 271,943 |
May 16 | 286,457 |
May 15 | 279,347 |
Mar 1 | 214,579 |
It's a Banned Substance for Athletes, But Not For Pigs
American middle distance runner Shelby Houlihan has been banned from athletics for four years after testing positive for a prohibited substance - which she blamed on a burrito.
The 28-year-old says she was told in January the anabolic steroid nandrolone had been found in a doping sample.
Olympian Houlihan said it may have come from eating a pork burrito, which she said could lead to a false positive for nandrolone, the night before her test.
She has denied ever doping.
The Athletics Integrity Unit confirmed she was handed the four-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday, backdated to 14 January.
Houlihan, the US record holder in the 1500m and 5,000m, said she had "never even heard" of nandrolone, which can help to increase muscle mass.
"I have since learned that it has long been understood by Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) that eating pork can lead to a false positive for nandrolone, since certain types of pigs produce it naturally in high amounts. Pig organ meat (offal) has the highest levels of nandrolone," she said.
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Make Sure You Wear Your Mask in Prison
California, the first state in America to put in place a coronavirus lockdown, is now turning a page on the pandemic. California lifted most of its Covid-19 restrictions Tuesday as part of a grand reopening in which the state will end capacity limits, physical distancing and -- at least for those vaccinated -- mask requirements.
The new health order went into effect Tuesday and allows vaccinated people to go without a face covering in most situations, putting the state in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Masks are still required on public transportation, in hospitals and jails, as well as at schools, child care centers and K-12, pending updated guidance from the CDC.
-----------------
"But It's a Dry Heat"
All-time records are in jeopardy this week as a dangerous heat wave bakes much of the Western United States, an area already begging for moisture due to exceptional drought.
"Record-high tempertures will just continue the vicious cycle that so often happens in droughts, where hot, cloudless skies result in increased evaporation of what little water is left in lakes and rivers," says CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. "This, in turn, worsens the drought."
The latest drought monitor released June 10 categorizes a majority of the southwestern US as experiencing extreme to exceptional drought conditions. Major heat on the way this week will only worsen the deteriorating outlook.
"This has a clear fingerprint of climate change, where increasing temperatures will drive this vicious cycle, especially in places like the Western US, where rainfall has been noticeably lessening," Miller says.
-----------------
DOJ - You Got Some 'Splainin' to Do
Documents released Tuesday by the House Oversight Committee detail then-President Donald Trump’s repeated efforts to pressure the Department of Justice to pursue his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election and help overturn Joe Biden’s victory.
The emails illustrate the behind-the-scenes efforts Trump's White House took to pressure federal officials while he simultaneously pushed the same unsubstantiated claims on Twitter. The messages were sent from mid-December to early January and were made public by House Oversight and Government Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.
Among the efforts was pressure on the Department of Justice to intervene in lawsuits being pursued by Trump's campaign and supporters to get the Supreme Court to overturn the results.
At the end of December, Trump’s White House assistant emailed then-Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and other top Justice Department officials with a draft legal brief that the president wanted them to file with the Supreme Court. Kurt Olsen, a private attorney for Trump, also contacted department officials requesting the federal agency file the brief.
The 54-page brief called on the Supreme Court to declare that Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada had administered the 2020 presidential election in violation of the Electors Clause and the 14th Amendment, claiming that the states changed election rules without legislative action. All six were swing states that Trump lost.
Trump's vocal public efforts to overturn the election were highly unusual, but had the DOJ intervened on his behalf it would have been viewed as an extraordinary use of the powers of the presidency to overturn the will of voters.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Also Apologized Monday for Saying the Earth is Flat after visiting a Store with a Globe.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., apologized Monday for comparing mask-wearing requirements at the Capitol to the Holocaust after visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
"And the horrors of the Holocaust are something that some people don't even believe happened. Some people deny, but there is no comparison to the Holocaust. And there are words that I have said remarks that I've made, that I know are offensive. And for that I want to apologize."
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Marooned More Than Five
He had been given a ticket out of prison, but Covid-19 killed him before could use it.
Oscar Villarreal was one of 18 paroled inmates who died behind bars last year because the programs he needed to complete before he could be released were slowed or stopped cold by the pandemic, according to "Dead Man Waiting," a new report compiled by University of Texas researchers.
"I knew he had to do the programs, but I didn't expect these programs to be six months or almost a full year," said Vicki Garcia, Villarreal's sister. "We were three months away. To get that call, it was shocking and upsetting."
The report, first obtained by NBC News, reveals that more than 10,700 parole-approved prisoners were marooned in their cells from five to 11 months before they were finally released — more than twice as long as the waiting period before the pandemic.
Villarreal died in September, just a few months shy of his 61st birthday and seven months after he had been approved for parole.
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The Power of Two
Two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalization from the Delta variant of the coronavirus, according to a new analysis from Public Health England released Monday.
The variant, which was first identified in India, has become the predominant strain in the United Kingdom. A previous analysis from PHE suggested that a single dose of the vaccine was less effective against symptomatic illness caused by the Delta variant compared to the so-called Alpha variant, or B.1.1.7, which swept the U.K. in the winter.
The new analysis found that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine were 96 percent effective against hospitalization from the Delta variant, and two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were 92 percent effective.
The Problem with Zero
The Delta variant is on its way to becoming the dominant strain of coronavirus in the US, raising concerns that outbreaks could hit unvaccinated people this fall.
And a new study shows the Delta variant is associated with almost double the risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha variant.
The Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant, which is "stickier" and more contagious than the original strain of novel coronavirus, became the dominant strain in the US this spring.
But health experts worry the Alpha variant could be trumped by the Delta variant, which appears to be even more transmissible and may cause more severe illness for those not vaccinated.
Here’s Who’s Facing a Nightmare ‘Vaxx Summer’
Last summer, the coronavirus pandemic exploded in the South even as it retreated from pandemic-battered northern states like New York.
This year, as vaccine hesitancy and refusal solidify in GOP strongholds, a confluence of new factors may place children, adolescents, and young adults living in southern states squarely in the pandemic crosshairs.
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The QOP's Infrastructure Scheme
Senate Republicans are mulling support for a massive amount of new spending on infrastructure — in part because they think it’ll help kill President Joe Biden’s liberal agenda.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has yet to tip his hand on whether he supports the bipartisan negotiations on Biden's plan for roads and bridges that are being led by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). But a growing number of Senate Republicans are betting that if a deal is reached on that sort of physical infrastructure, Democrats won’t have the votes needed to pass the rest of Biden’s “soft infrastructure” priorities, such as child care and clean energy.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) surmised Monday that if a bipartisan package comes to fruition, the only remaining ways for Democrats to pay for a second bill on social spending programs are tax increases — too toxic to pursue. Democrats can pass a spending bill with only Democratic votes, but they need all 50 of their members to be on board.
“It’ll be awful hard to get those moderate Democrats to be for that,” Thune said. “The stars are kind of lining up for an infrastructure bill. And if you do do something bipartisan on that, then I think doing something partisan on reconciliation — in some ways, with certain Democrats — it gets a lot harder.”
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Another Investigation Found that Happy People Smile More
But an investigation by Eli Rosenberg for the Washington Post, based on interviews of several business owners throughout the country, suggests that the hiring problem facing employers has less to do with extended unemployment benefits and more to do with the the fact that American workers simply don’t want to go back to jobs that won’t pay a decent wage. As Rosenberg found, businesses that increase their pay scales are actually being deluged with applications from willing workers.
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Laura Ingraham Can Smell a Liberal
Laura Ingraham revealed her liberal-detection system Monday ― and it’s a doozy. (See the video below.) The Fox News host apparently thinks she can read body language to divine political leanings.
On “The Ingraham Angle,” she renewed her attacks on former Trump coronavirus task force members Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, who Ingraham for months has sought to discredit for their warnings about the pandemic. Fauci has continued in a similar capacity under President Joe Biden.
Ingraham cited a passage in ex-Biden COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt’s new book “Preventable,” which says Birx once hinted that she favored Biden in the 2020 election.
Said Ingraham: “I had the feeling ― you know, I could just tell by her body language and the way she looked at President Trump. Same with Fauci. I mean, it was obvious to me from the very beginning that they were, you know, pretty liberal people ― which is fine. They’re liberals.”
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It Takes Two Teenagers With a Gun to Stop a Good Guy With a Gun
A 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl have been arrested for allegedly shooting a security guard at an Atlanta mall to try to get into the Apple store after hours, authorities said.
The security guard, a man in his early 40s, was in "critical but stable condition" on Monday, Atlanta police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton said at a news conference.
The mall had closed at 6 p.m. Police believe the teenagers' "end goal was to try to gain access into the Apple store" after the shooting but were unsuccessful, Hampton said.
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No Burgers for You! Next!
All 19 workers at a fast food restaurant in Pakistan were detained after refusing to give a group of police officers free burgers last week.
Staff at the chain Johnny & Jugnu in Lahore were rounded up at 0100 (2000 GMT) on Saturday and held overnight.
"This is not the first time something like this has happened... at our restaurant," a statement by the burger chain said.
Nine police officers involved in the incident have now been suspended.
Handcuffs for You! Next!
-----------------
Bezos Better Hope His Rocket for His Trip to Space has No Amazon Products
The federal agency responsible for overseeing consumer product safety is investigating Amazon-branded electronic products highlighted in a CNN investigation last year, according to records and interviews.
CNN reported last year that dozens of AmazonBasics electronics remained for sale on Amazon.com, despite customers reporting the products had melted, exploded or burst into flames. Lawmakers immediately called on the company to investigate and recall any electronics posing dangers to customers.
Dozens of Amazon's own products have been reported as dangerous -- melting, exploding or even bursting into flames. Many are still on the market
Now, at least eight of the items highlighted in CNN's investigation are being reviewed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, according to letters CNN received from the agency in response to public records requests. Among the products are surge protectors, phone charging cords, a patio heater, battery charger and a voice-activated microwave that consumers reported had caught fire.
-----------------
The Previous Guy's War on Whiskey Isn't Over. It's Not a Whiskey Rebellion.
Dozens of cases of whiskey sit on the ground floor of the James E. Pepper Distillery in Lexington, Kentucky, ready to be shipped -- but, because President Joe Biden hasn't moved to end trade disputes started under former President Donald Trump, none of it will be going to thirsty customers overseas.
Owner Amir Peay had big dreams for selling James E. Pepper in Europe when he started producing these bottles four years ago. He rented space in a warehouse in Europe, setting up a whole new distribution system. But then Trump started a series of trade fights with the European Union, which retaliated by slapping a 25% tariff on American whiskey, making Peay's bottles much more expensive for European drinkers.
Peay's European sales steadily declined, and over time James E. Pepper lost 75% of its foreign business. He hoped for a reversal once Biden took office, but like other exporters, he's been disappointed. Biden is meeting his foreign counterparts this weekend at the G7 summit in Britain, but it's unclear how long the tariffs will stay in place, despite recent signs that the American and European officials will begin negotiating on trade.
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There is currently a tariff on the majority of the goods being shipped from China into the United States. The average rate is 19% -- more than six times higher than before the trade war began in 2018, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. American importers pay those duties.
The taxes have raised the price for items such as baseball hats, luggage, bicycles, TVs, sneakers and a variety of materials used by American manufacturers.
China has put tariffs on American-made goods, too. About 58% of US exports to China are affected, with an average rate of 21%. That means Chinese buyers have an incentive to buy certain items from other countries where they might be cheaper without the cost of the tariff.
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Note to Elon: All That Clean Energy They Are Using Means Someone Else Has to Use Dirty Energy
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sunday said the company will resume bitcoin transactions once it confirms there is reasonable clean energy usage by miners.
“When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing bitcoin transactions," said in a tweet.
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I'm Not Attending the Funeral
Reports of QAnon’s death aren’t exaggerated
That’s why QAnon, who made a messiah out of former President Trump, was always bound to lose steam. It will follow the arc of furious, loopy-loo American conspiracy theories that have existed since before the Civil War. Cults like QAnon burn bright, and they fade fast.
QAnon’s demise, in fact, is well underway. Its leader, Q, a figure from the internet’s dark side, is now widely suspected to be the creation of Jim and Ron Watkins. The Watkins men are a seedy father-son duo in Asia who serve up pornography and hate speech online.
If the Watkins hypothesis is true, it means that Q is not exactly the patriotic, principled avenger crusading against sex trafficking that his followers have put their faith in.
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Pity the Poor Slave Holder
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Hey, Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today
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