Post by mhbruin on Jan 19, 2022 10:15:25 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 530 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
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California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday Jan 18)
We had a great December, but January has been pretty bad. There are no big storms in the 10-day forecast.
Reservoirs are still low, but they are filling up a bit.
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January 19, 2022
The day fair elections will die in America. The history books would record this, but the QOP will not allow honest history books to be written.
I mourn for my country.
We've Already Ordered Our Free COVID Test Kits.
COVIDTests.Gov
Mask Are on the Way
The Biden administration will make 400 million N95 masks available for free at thousands of locations across the country, a White House official said Wednesday, as health experts stress the importance of high-quality face coverings to protect against the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The plan consists of working with pharmacies and community health centers to distribute the nonsurgical masks, which will come from the Strategic National Stockpile. The administration will begin shipments this week and hopes to have the program fully operational by early February, the White House official said.
University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban and other prominent sports figures with ties to West Virginia have urged U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin to support sweeping legislation to protect the right to vote.
Saban was joined by NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West, a fellow West Virginia native, in a Jan. 13 letter penned to the Democratic senator ahead of the Senate's debate of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. The Senate took up the bill Tuesday, and it appeared headed for defeat.
The package before the Senate would make Election Day a national holiday and require access to early voting and mail-in ballots that became overwhelmingly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Voting advocates nationwide have warned that Republican-led states have passed laws making it more difficult for Black Americans and others to vote by consolidating polling locations, requiring certain types of identification and ordering other changes.
In the letter, the group said the principles that help ensure fair and free elections are “now under intentional and unprecedented challenge.”
“We are all certain that democracy is best when voting is open to everyone on a level playing field; the referees are neutral; and at the end of the game the final score is respected and accepted,” the letter reads.
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Is This Vile and Stupid or Stupid and Vile?
For the first time, the Biden administration is commenting on the Food and Drug Administration's long-time blood donation guidelines, which are impacting the LGBTQ+ community by preventing gay and bisexual men from being eligible blood donors.
The statement, made by a White House official exclusively to ABC News, acknowledges the painful origins of the policy and comes on the heels of the American Red Cross declaring their first-ever national blood crisis last week, as supplies at hospitals and blood banks become dangerously low.
Current U.S. policy holds that sexually active gay or bisexual men must abstain from sex for at least three months before they're allowed to donate blood. The rule applies to gay and bisexual men who are monogamous and those who test HIV negative and are practicing safe sex. It also includes gay and bisexual COVID-19 survivors who wish to donate convalescent plasma, rich with antibodies, for research.
Here's Why It's Stupid
In the realm of blood donation, there are U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations that require all of the nation's blood supply to be tested HIV (HIV-1 and HIV-2) — but that’s not all. Donated blood is also screened for a number of infections and conditions, including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and syphilis (among others).
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Imagine An Explosion in Salt Lake City That Could Be Heard in Los Angeles
The tremendous eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano was the blast heard and seen around the world.
Shock waves rippled at least twice around the globe, moving at the speed of sound as they radiated outward from the remote eruption about 40 miles north of the largest island in the Kingdom of Tonga.
“I am absolutely amazed at the acoustic wave still making laps and ripples around the world,” said Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate in marine and atmospheric science at the University of Miami. He observed yet another pressure wave in Miami Tuesday night, three days after the initial blast.
“That was remarkable," he said. "An explosion that can create such a wave is incomprehensible to me.”
He’s not alone. One of the biggest eruptions in decades sparked high interest around the world, though it was tempered by the loss of life and destruction in Tonga. Scientific researchers have been impressed not only by the eruption's massive size, but by the volume and timing of data being collected and shared.
The eruption was so intense it was heard as "loud thunder sounds" in Fiji more than 500 miles) away.
Sophisticated satellites and monitoring equipment captured the mushroom cloud of ash, seawater and steam and its resulting waves in the atmosphere and oceans in real time. Eyewitnesses and researchers posted observations on social media, comparing notes on the flow of data that will be studied for years to come.
In those terms, the event is unprecedented, said Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator for the National Tsunami Warning Center. “Our ability to measure and understand this is mind-boggling.”
When Two Disasters Strike, It's a Lot Worse
The United Nations is preparing for distanced relief operations in Tonga to avoid a COVID-19 outbreak in the Pacific island nation that is reeling under the impact of a volcanic eruption and tsunami, an official said on Wednesday.
All the homes on one of Tonga's small outer islands have been destroyed and three people have so far been confirmed dead, the government said in its first statement after Saturday's devastating eruption.
With communications badly hampered by the severing of an undersea cable, information on the scale of the devastation so far has mostly come from reconnaissance aircraft.
Fiji-based United Nations co-ordinator Jonathan Veitch said in a media briefing that the agency will conduct most operations remotely, and may not send personnel to the island.
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If She Had a Virus, She'd Spread It in the Morning. She'd Spread in the Evening. All Over This Land.
A folk singer from the Czech Republic has died after deliberately catching Covid, her son has told the BBC.
Hana Horka, 57, was unvaccinated and had posted on social media that she was recovering after testing positive, but died two days later.
Her son, Jan Rek, said she got infected on purpose when he and his father had the virus, so she could get a recovery pass to access certain venues.
Mr Rek and his father, who are both fully vaccinated, both caught Covid over Christmas. But he said his mother had decided not to stay away from them, preferring instead to expose herself to the virus.
Proof of vaccination or recent infection from the virus is required in the Czech Republic to gain entry to many social and cultural venues, including cinemas, bars and cafes.
His mother was a member of one of the oldest Czech folk groups, Asonance. She had wanted to catch Covid so there would be fewer restrictions on her movement, Mr Rek explained.
Two days before she died, she wrote on social media that she was recovering: "Now there will be theatre, sauna, a concert".
She's Gone to the Sauna in the Sky
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Van Gogh and Beautiful Nails? Now THIS is a Dutch Treat
Under the gaze of Van Gogh, Robyn is buffing her client's nails. Laden with primers and polishes, a long table beneath the Dutch master's self portraits has transformed the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam into a nail salon.
The museum's director Emilie Gordenker hopes this protest, along with others across the Netherlands, will highlight what she believes is an inconsistency in government policy.
Under Dutch rules, museums, theatres, bars and cafes aren't allowed to open, but hairdressers, beauticians and gyms can. That's why beauticians were offering cherry-blossom and starry-night nail art inspired by the master.
"A museum visit is a safe visit, and equally important as going to a nail salon, perhaps more so. We just ask them to be consistent... make the rules in a way everyone understands them. At this point that seems to be lacking," Ms Gordenker said.
It is Hard to Understand the Policies
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Where Is the Place in the World You Least Expect Snow ... After Death Valley
Snow falls in Algeria's Sahara Desert
This month's snow was not entirely surprising - it also happened in 2021, 2018 and 2017.
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Young Dumb andBroke Driving a Semi
With the trucking industry facing a shortage of qualified drivers, the US government is setting up an apprenticeship program for young truckers. The new program will allow people as young as 18 to drive big interstate semi trucks.
The new program is coming on-line as the industry complains of driver shortages, which have gotten worse during the coronavirus pandemic. Last October, the head of the American Trucking Associations said the industry needed about 80,000 more drivers. Safety advocates, however, are objecting to the program, saying it puts potentially dangerous, inexperienced drivers at the controls of some of the biggest, heaviest vehicles on road.
Currently, 49 states and the Washington DC give commercial driver licenses to people under 21, Nick Geale, ATA vice president of workforce policy pointed out in a statement. These younger drivers can drive semis throughout large states like California and Texas, he noted, they just can't cross state lines. This new program will just take some of those drivers and train them so they can cross state lines in their rigs.
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Can a Few Hertz Hurt?
Major international airlines are canceling flights to the United States over aviation industry fears that 5G technology could interfere with crucial onboard instruments.
But it's business as usual in Europe, where the latest generation of high speed mobile networks is being rolled out without a hitch.
"The technical data received from EU manufacturers offers no conclusive evidence for immediate safety concerns at this time," the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) told CNN Business on Wednesday.
"At this time, EASA is not aware of any in-service incidents caused by 5G interference," added the regulator, which oversees civil aviation in 31 European countries.
The story is much the same in the United Kingdom, where the Civil Aviation Authority issued a safety notice on Tuesday that said "there have been no confirmed instances where 5G interference has resulted in aircraft system malfunction or unexpected behavior."
Why is there a potential problem in the United States, but not Europe? It comes down to technical details.
Mobile phone companies in the United States are rolling out 5G service in a spectrum of radio waves with frequencies between 3.7 and 3.98 GHz. The companies paid the US government $81 billion in 2021 for the right to use those frequencies, known as the C-Band. But in Europe, 5G services use the slower 3.4 to 3.8 GHz range of spectrum.
The aviation industry is worried that US 5G service is too close to the spectrum used by radar altimeters, which is between 4.2 and 4.4 GHz. Europe does not face the same risk, according to the industry, because there is a much larger buffer between the spectrum used by radar altimeters and 5G.
It's Alive! It's Alive!
Verizon and AT&T turned on a major new part of their 5G networks Wednesday, the culmination of a yearslong process that saw both carriers invest billions in spectrum and equipment to upgrade their networks.
The networks that lit up on Wednesday are using wavelengths called C-band to cover a large part of the country with wireless service that should be noticeably faster than current 4G service.
Verizon says 90 million people will get access to the new 5G service this month in major cities including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. AT&T said it plans to cover as many as 75 million people with its C-band network by the end of the year.
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How Big Is Previous Guy's Thing?
New York Attorney General Letitia James has responded to attempts by Donald Trump and the adult children of his first marriage to defy subpoenas in her investigation of the Trump Organization’s financial practices, and she did not come to play. The new filings provide the most detailed view yet of an investigation that has happened mainly without public showboating or extensive leaks.
In two lengthy documents—one explaining why the Trumps should be legally compelled to testify and another detailing relevant facts uncovered by the investigation to date—James lays out the evidence for the Trump Organization having used “fraudulent or misleading” asset valuations to maneuver for the best possible loans or tax assessments, and the specific involvement of Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump. Eric Trump has already been deposed in the investigation after his efforts to refuse failed.
For each of the Trumps in question, the attorney general’s filings detail a series of documents they signed, and phone calls or meetings in which they participated, during which misleading or fraudulent valuations were attached to properties, loans were lobbied for, or tax benefits were obtained. Their testimony is therefore relevant to a legitimate investigation, the documents show—not the politically motivated “witch hunt” the Trumps have alleged in their efforts to avoid testifying.
But the really fun stuff comes in the supplemental verified petition laying out some of the factual basis for the investigation. A lot of it is creative bookkeeping—and some of it is close to home. Trump inflated the size and worth of his own apartment in Trump Tower. The apartment is an imposing 10,996 square feet, but that wasn’t enough for Trump, who claimed it was 30,000 square feet, and reported its value on that basis in official documents. Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, conceded that this inflated the property’s value by $200 million, “give or take.”
Trust Donald Trump to lie about how big his house is. It stands to reason, though. We already knew he lies about the size of everything else.
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They Will All Plead the Fifth, But ...
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, along with a handful of other Trump World figures who helped spread disinformation about the results of the 2020 election, have been subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee.
In addition to Giuliani, the committee also sent the demands for records and a deposition to election fraud conspiracy peddlers Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell. Onetime Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn was also on the receiving end of a subpoena late Tuesday.
Giuliani, Ellis, Powell, and Epshteyn all “advanced unsupported theories of election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former president about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” Jan. 6 committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement accompanying the subpoenas.
The Committee Is Moving Up the Food Chain
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Everything You Need to Know About Boris Johnson
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Omicron Isn't Omi-Gone, But ...
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I'll Have a Half-Caf Latte With Some COVID
Starbucks is no longer requiring its U.S. workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, reversing a policy it announced earlier this month.
In a memo sent Tuesday to employees, the Seattle coffee giant said it was responding to last week’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 6-3 vote, the court rejected the Biden administration’s plan to require vaccines or regular COVID testing at companies with more than 100 workers.
“We respect the court’s ruling and will comply,” Starbucks Chief Operating Officer John Culver wrote in the memo.
How Dishonest Is This? SCOTUS Said the Government Can't Require Vaccination, Not That Companies Can't
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Holy Oleo, Batman!
The Missouri State Highway Patrol alert sent cellphones blaring statewide: Authorities in Gotham City, Missouri, were searching for a purple and green 1978 Dodge 3700GT.
But there is no Gotham City, Missouri, and the car referenced was the one used by the Joker in the 1989 “Batman” movie. Soon after the Tuesday evening alert, the patrol sent another saying to disregard it.
In a brief news release, the patrol said a routine test of Missouri's Blue Alert system was inadvertently transmitted statewide. The system is meant to let the public know when a police officer is killed or seriously injured in the line of duty.
“During the test, an option was incorrectly selected, allowing the message to be disseminated to the public,” the news release stated. A message left with patrol on Wednesday seeking additional information wasn't immediately returned.
Holy Astringent Plum-Like Fruit! (It's An Actual Line from the Series)
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Biden Cares About the People of Florida, Even if Death Sentence Doesn't
The Biden administration on Wednesday said it will fund $14 billion in projects to improve the country's ports and waterways in an effort to increase climate resilience, improve drinking water sources and bolster the U.S. supply chain.
The funds, for fiscal year 2022, target more than 500 projects in 52 states and territories, including Florida's Everglades and the Port of Long Beach in California, the White House said in a statement.
Among the projects spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is $1.1 billion to preserve the Everglades in south Florida, which provides drinking water for more than 8 million people in the state, the administration said.
The Corps will also direct $1.7 billion to reduce inland flood risk via 15 projects and $645 million to reduce coastal flood risk through another 15 projects across the country including in costal Louisiana, Norfolk, Virginia, and Stockton, California.
The Stockton Project Protects So Cal's Supply of Water
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CDC doesn't do a good job of reporting around holidays.
Doses Administered 7-Day Average | Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses | Number of People 2 or More Doses | New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | |
| Jan 19 | 1,135,453 | 249,702,939 | 209,509,297 | ||
| Jan 18 | 1,158,537 | 249,393,487 | 209,312,770 | 755,095 | 1,669 |
| Jan 17 | No Data | 736,350 | 1,746 | ||
| Jan 16 | No Data | 771,131 | 1,851 | ||
| Jan 15 | 1,268,202 | 248,707,432 | 208,995,438 | 788,628 | 1,858 |
| Jan 14 | 1,286,773 | 248,338,448 | 208,791,862 | 798,335 | 1,784 |
| Jan 13 | 1,291,013 | 247,987,225 | 208,564,894 | 794,587 | 1,730 |
| Jan 12 | 1,234,672 | 247,695,845 | 208,182,657 | 782,765 | 1,729 |
| Jan 11 | 1,213,113 | 247,321,023 | 207,954,605 | 761,535 | 1,656 |
| Jan 10 | 1,307,445 | 247,051,363 | 207,796,335 | 750,996 | 1,633 |
| Jan 9 | 1,331,635 | 246,812,939 | 207,662,071 | 674,406 | 1,552 |
| Jan 8 | 1,286,783 | 246,447,823 | 207,452,448 | 680,330 | 1,544 |
| Jan 7 | 1,226,151 | 246,050,320 | 207,229,983 | 668,497 | 1,513 |
| Jan 6 | 1,164,127 | 245,653,518 | 207,016,514 | 614,552 | 1,350 |
| Jan 5 | 1,117,999 | 245,278,020 | 206,797,799 | 586,391 | 1,245 |
| Jan 4 | 1,093,005 | 244,947,293 | 206,581,659 | 554,328 | 1,238 |
| Jan 3 | No Data | 491,652 | 1,165 | ||
| Jan 2 | No Data | 438,082 | 1,174 | ||
| Jan 1 | No Data | 411,871 | 1,151 | ||
| Dec 31 | No Data | 391,098 | 1,135 | ||
| Dec 30 | 1,234,917 | 243,527,564 | 205,811,394 | 360,276 | 1,144 |
| Dec 29 | 1,042,911 | 243,182,423 | 205,638,307 | 316,277 | 1,100 |
| Dec 28 | 1,091,279 | 242,813,374 | 205,420,745 | 277,241 | 1,085 |
| Dec 27 | 1,034,442 | 242,433,620 | 205,196,973 | 240,408 | 1,096 |
| Dec 26 | No Data | 206,577 | 1,041 | ||
| Dec 25 | No Data | 196,511 | 1,053 | ||
| Dec 24 | No Data | 195,713 | 1,108 | ||
| Dec 23 | 1,189,954 | 241,520,561 | 204,740,321 | 192,453 | 1,199 |
| Dec 22 | 1,283,244 | 241,583,543 | 204,818,717 | 176,097 | 1,213 |
| Dec 21 | 1,542,936 | 241,132,288 | 204,578,725 | 161,261 | 1,223 |
| Dec 20 | 1,554,261 | 241,881,712 | 204,098,982 | 149,331 | 1,188 |
| Dec 19 | 1,558,720 | 241,571,084 | 203,926,479 | 132,659 | 1,169 |
| Dec 18 | 1,562,366 | 241,205,528 | 203,727,446 | 127,445 | 1,182 |
| Feb 16, 2021 | 1,716,311 | 39,670,551 | 15,015,434 | 78,292 |
| At Least One Dose | Fully Vaccinated | % of Vaccinated W/ Boosters | |
| % of Total Population | 75.2% | 64.1% | 39.0% |
| % of Population 5+ | 79.9% | 67.1% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 85.2% | 72.0% | 42.1% |
| % of Population 18+ | 87.1% | 73.6% | 53.6% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 88.0% | 62.3% |
California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday Jan 18)
We had a great December, but January has been pretty bad. There are no big storms in the 10-day forecast.
| Percent of Average for this Date | Last Week | 2 Weeks ago | 3 Weeks ago | |
| Northern Sierra Precipitation | 134% | 149% | 158% | 170% |
| San Joaquin Precipitation | 121% | 138% | 156% | 170% |
| Tulare Basin Precipitation | 112% | 127% | 145% | 151% |
| Snow Water Content - North | 117% | 128% | 135% | 134% |
| Snow Water Content - Central | 114% | 129% | 148% | 148% |
| Snow Water Content - South | 121% | 135% | 160% | 158% |
Reservoirs are still low, but they are filling up a bit.
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January 19, 2022
The day fair elections will die in America. The history books would record this, but the QOP will not allow honest history books to be written.
I mourn for my country.
We've Already Ordered Our Free COVID Test Kits.
COVIDTests.Gov
Mask Are on the Way
The Biden administration will make 400 million N95 masks available for free at thousands of locations across the country, a White House official said Wednesday, as health experts stress the importance of high-quality face coverings to protect against the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The plan consists of working with pharmacies and community health centers to distribute the nonsurgical masks, which will come from the Strategic National Stockpile. The administration will begin shipments this week and hopes to have the program fully operational by early February, the White House official said.
University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban and other prominent sports figures with ties to West Virginia have urged U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin to support sweeping legislation to protect the right to vote.
Saban was joined by NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West, a fellow West Virginia native, in a Jan. 13 letter penned to the Democratic senator ahead of the Senate's debate of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. The Senate took up the bill Tuesday, and it appeared headed for defeat.
The package before the Senate would make Election Day a national holiday and require access to early voting and mail-in ballots that became overwhelmingly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Voting advocates nationwide have warned that Republican-led states have passed laws making it more difficult for Black Americans and others to vote by consolidating polling locations, requiring certain types of identification and ordering other changes.
In the letter, the group said the principles that help ensure fair and free elections are “now under intentional and unprecedented challenge.”
“We are all certain that democracy is best when voting is open to everyone on a level playing field; the referees are neutral; and at the end of the game the final score is respected and accepted,” the letter reads.
--------------
Is This Vile and Stupid or Stupid and Vile?
For the first time, the Biden administration is commenting on the Food and Drug Administration's long-time blood donation guidelines, which are impacting the LGBTQ+ community by preventing gay and bisexual men from being eligible blood donors.
The statement, made by a White House official exclusively to ABC News, acknowledges the painful origins of the policy and comes on the heels of the American Red Cross declaring their first-ever national blood crisis last week, as supplies at hospitals and blood banks become dangerously low.
Current U.S. policy holds that sexually active gay or bisexual men must abstain from sex for at least three months before they're allowed to donate blood. The rule applies to gay and bisexual men who are monogamous and those who test HIV negative and are practicing safe sex. It also includes gay and bisexual COVID-19 survivors who wish to donate convalescent plasma, rich with antibodies, for research.
Here's Why It's Stupid
In the realm of blood donation, there are U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations that require all of the nation's blood supply to be tested HIV (HIV-1 and HIV-2) — but that’s not all. Donated blood is also screened for a number of infections and conditions, including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and syphilis (among others).
--------------
Imagine An Explosion in Salt Lake City That Could Be Heard in Los Angeles
The tremendous eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano was the blast heard and seen around the world.
Shock waves rippled at least twice around the globe, moving at the speed of sound as they radiated outward from the remote eruption about 40 miles north of the largest island in the Kingdom of Tonga.
“I am absolutely amazed at the acoustic wave still making laps and ripples around the world,” said Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate in marine and atmospheric science at the University of Miami. He observed yet another pressure wave in Miami Tuesday night, three days after the initial blast.
“That was remarkable," he said. "An explosion that can create such a wave is incomprehensible to me.”
He’s not alone. One of the biggest eruptions in decades sparked high interest around the world, though it was tempered by the loss of life and destruction in Tonga. Scientific researchers have been impressed not only by the eruption's massive size, but by the volume and timing of data being collected and shared.
The eruption was so intense it was heard as "loud thunder sounds" in Fiji more than 500 miles) away.
Sophisticated satellites and monitoring equipment captured the mushroom cloud of ash, seawater and steam and its resulting waves in the atmosphere and oceans in real time. Eyewitnesses and researchers posted observations on social media, comparing notes on the flow of data that will be studied for years to come.
In those terms, the event is unprecedented, said Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator for the National Tsunami Warning Center. “Our ability to measure and understand this is mind-boggling.”
When Two Disasters Strike, It's a Lot Worse
The United Nations is preparing for distanced relief operations in Tonga to avoid a COVID-19 outbreak in the Pacific island nation that is reeling under the impact of a volcanic eruption and tsunami, an official said on Wednesday.
All the homes on one of Tonga's small outer islands have been destroyed and three people have so far been confirmed dead, the government said in its first statement after Saturday's devastating eruption.
With communications badly hampered by the severing of an undersea cable, information on the scale of the devastation so far has mostly come from reconnaissance aircraft.
Fiji-based United Nations co-ordinator Jonathan Veitch said in a media briefing that the agency will conduct most operations remotely, and may not send personnel to the island.
--------------
If She Had a Virus, She'd Spread It in the Morning. She'd Spread in the Evening. All Over This Land.
A folk singer from the Czech Republic has died after deliberately catching Covid, her son has told the BBC.
Hana Horka, 57, was unvaccinated and had posted on social media that she was recovering after testing positive, but died two days later.
Her son, Jan Rek, said she got infected on purpose when he and his father had the virus, so she could get a recovery pass to access certain venues.
Mr Rek and his father, who are both fully vaccinated, both caught Covid over Christmas. But he said his mother had decided not to stay away from them, preferring instead to expose herself to the virus.
Proof of vaccination or recent infection from the virus is required in the Czech Republic to gain entry to many social and cultural venues, including cinemas, bars and cafes.
His mother was a member of one of the oldest Czech folk groups, Asonance. She had wanted to catch Covid so there would be fewer restrictions on her movement, Mr Rek explained.
Two days before she died, she wrote on social media that she was recovering: "Now there will be theatre, sauna, a concert".
She's Gone to the Sauna in the Sky
--------------
Van Gogh and Beautiful Nails? Now THIS is a Dutch Treat
Under the gaze of Van Gogh, Robyn is buffing her client's nails. Laden with primers and polishes, a long table beneath the Dutch master's self portraits has transformed the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam into a nail salon.
The museum's director Emilie Gordenker hopes this protest, along with others across the Netherlands, will highlight what she believes is an inconsistency in government policy.
Under Dutch rules, museums, theatres, bars and cafes aren't allowed to open, but hairdressers, beauticians and gyms can. That's why beauticians were offering cherry-blossom and starry-night nail art inspired by the master.
"A museum visit is a safe visit, and equally important as going to a nail salon, perhaps more so. We just ask them to be consistent... make the rules in a way everyone understands them. At this point that seems to be lacking," Ms Gordenker said.
It is Hard to Understand the Policies
--------------
Where Is the Place in the World You Least Expect Snow ... After Death Valley
Snow falls in Algeria's Sahara Desert
This month's snow was not entirely surprising - it also happened in 2021, 2018 and 2017.
--------------
Young Dumb and
With the trucking industry facing a shortage of qualified drivers, the US government is setting up an apprenticeship program for young truckers. The new program will allow people as young as 18 to drive big interstate semi trucks.
The new program is coming on-line as the industry complains of driver shortages, which have gotten worse during the coronavirus pandemic. Last October, the head of the American Trucking Associations said the industry needed about 80,000 more drivers. Safety advocates, however, are objecting to the program, saying it puts potentially dangerous, inexperienced drivers at the controls of some of the biggest, heaviest vehicles on road.
Currently, 49 states and the Washington DC give commercial driver licenses to people under 21, Nick Geale, ATA vice president of workforce policy pointed out in a statement. These younger drivers can drive semis throughout large states like California and Texas, he noted, they just can't cross state lines. This new program will just take some of those drivers and train them so they can cross state lines in their rigs.
--------------
Can a Few Hertz Hurt?
Major international airlines are canceling flights to the United States over aviation industry fears that 5G technology could interfere with crucial onboard instruments.
But it's business as usual in Europe, where the latest generation of high speed mobile networks is being rolled out without a hitch.
"The technical data received from EU manufacturers offers no conclusive evidence for immediate safety concerns at this time," the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) told CNN Business on Wednesday.
"At this time, EASA is not aware of any in-service incidents caused by 5G interference," added the regulator, which oversees civil aviation in 31 European countries.
The story is much the same in the United Kingdom, where the Civil Aviation Authority issued a safety notice on Tuesday that said "there have been no confirmed instances where 5G interference has resulted in aircraft system malfunction or unexpected behavior."
Why is there a potential problem in the United States, but not Europe? It comes down to technical details.
Mobile phone companies in the United States are rolling out 5G service in a spectrum of radio waves with frequencies between 3.7 and 3.98 GHz. The companies paid the US government $81 billion in 2021 for the right to use those frequencies, known as the C-Band. But in Europe, 5G services use the slower 3.4 to 3.8 GHz range of spectrum.
The aviation industry is worried that US 5G service is too close to the spectrum used by radar altimeters, which is between 4.2 and 4.4 GHz. Europe does not face the same risk, according to the industry, because there is a much larger buffer between the spectrum used by radar altimeters and 5G.
It's Alive! It's Alive!
Verizon and AT&T turned on a major new part of their 5G networks Wednesday, the culmination of a yearslong process that saw both carriers invest billions in spectrum and equipment to upgrade their networks.
The networks that lit up on Wednesday are using wavelengths called C-band to cover a large part of the country with wireless service that should be noticeably faster than current 4G service.
Verizon says 90 million people will get access to the new 5G service this month in major cities including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. AT&T said it plans to cover as many as 75 million people with its C-band network by the end of the year.
--------------
How Big Is Previous Guy's Thing?
New York Attorney General Letitia James has responded to attempts by Donald Trump and the adult children of his first marriage to defy subpoenas in her investigation of the Trump Organization’s financial practices, and she did not come to play. The new filings provide the most detailed view yet of an investigation that has happened mainly without public showboating or extensive leaks.
In two lengthy documents—one explaining why the Trumps should be legally compelled to testify and another detailing relevant facts uncovered by the investigation to date—James lays out the evidence for the Trump Organization having used “fraudulent or misleading” asset valuations to maneuver for the best possible loans or tax assessments, and the specific involvement of Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump. Eric Trump has already been deposed in the investigation after his efforts to refuse failed.
For each of the Trumps in question, the attorney general’s filings detail a series of documents they signed, and phone calls or meetings in which they participated, during which misleading or fraudulent valuations were attached to properties, loans were lobbied for, or tax benefits were obtained. Their testimony is therefore relevant to a legitimate investigation, the documents show—not the politically motivated “witch hunt” the Trumps have alleged in their efforts to avoid testifying.
But the really fun stuff comes in the supplemental verified petition laying out some of the factual basis for the investigation. A lot of it is creative bookkeeping—and some of it is close to home. Trump inflated the size and worth of his own apartment in Trump Tower. The apartment is an imposing 10,996 square feet, but that wasn’t enough for Trump, who claimed it was 30,000 square feet, and reported its value on that basis in official documents. Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, conceded that this inflated the property’s value by $200 million, “give or take.”
Trust Donald Trump to lie about how big his house is. It stands to reason, though. We already knew he lies about the size of everything else.
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They Will All Plead the Fifth, But ...
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, along with a handful of other Trump World figures who helped spread disinformation about the results of the 2020 election, have been subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee.
In addition to Giuliani, the committee also sent the demands for records and a deposition to election fraud conspiracy peddlers Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell. Onetime Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn was also on the receiving end of a subpoena late Tuesday.
Giuliani, Ellis, Powell, and Epshteyn all “advanced unsupported theories of election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former president about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” Jan. 6 committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement accompanying the subpoenas.
The Committee Is Moving Up the Food Chain
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Everything You Need to Know About Boris Johnson
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Omicron Isn't Omi-Gone, But ...
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I'll Have a Half-Caf Latte With Some COVID
Starbucks is no longer requiring its U.S. workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, reversing a policy it announced earlier this month.
In a memo sent Tuesday to employees, the Seattle coffee giant said it was responding to last week’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 6-3 vote, the court rejected the Biden administration’s plan to require vaccines or regular COVID testing at companies with more than 100 workers.
“We respect the court’s ruling and will comply,” Starbucks Chief Operating Officer John Culver wrote in the memo.
How Dishonest Is This? SCOTUS Said the Government Can't Require Vaccination, Not That Companies Can't
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Holy Oleo, Batman!
The Missouri State Highway Patrol alert sent cellphones blaring statewide: Authorities in Gotham City, Missouri, were searching for a purple and green 1978 Dodge 3700GT.
But there is no Gotham City, Missouri, and the car referenced was the one used by the Joker in the 1989 “Batman” movie. Soon after the Tuesday evening alert, the patrol sent another saying to disregard it.
In a brief news release, the patrol said a routine test of Missouri's Blue Alert system was inadvertently transmitted statewide. The system is meant to let the public know when a police officer is killed or seriously injured in the line of duty.
“During the test, an option was incorrectly selected, allowing the message to be disseminated to the public,” the news release stated. A message left with patrol on Wednesday seeking additional information wasn't immediately returned.
Holy Astringent Plum-Like Fruit! (It's An Actual Line from the Series)
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Biden Cares About the People of Florida, Even if Death Sentence Doesn't
The Biden administration on Wednesday said it will fund $14 billion in projects to improve the country's ports and waterways in an effort to increase climate resilience, improve drinking water sources and bolster the U.S. supply chain.
The funds, for fiscal year 2022, target more than 500 projects in 52 states and territories, including Florida's Everglades and the Port of Long Beach in California, the White House said in a statement.
Among the projects spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is $1.1 billion to preserve the Everglades in south Florida, which provides drinking water for more than 8 million people in the state, the administration said.
The Corps will also direct $1.7 billion to reduce inland flood risk via 15 projects and $645 million to reduce coastal flood risk through another 15 projects across the country including in costal Louisiana, Norfolk, Virginia, and Stockton, California.
The Stockton Project Protects So Cal's Supply of Water
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