I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Linkee-poo Tuesday Aug 10

"The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, has resigned following an investigation by the state attorney general that found he sexually harassed multiple women, most of whom worked for him, and also retaliated after some made complaints."

"A disturbance in the Caribbean is expected to become Tropical Storm Fred on Tuesday before it heads toward Florida, the National Hurricane Center said."

"The best-known meteor shower of the year should be a good time this year on the peak night of August 11, with no bright Moon to interfere."

"In the boglands of the northwestern United States and Canada, an unassuming plant has been trapping and eating insects, totally unbeknownst to science. Today, researchers report that Triantha occidentalis is now the 12th known independent evolution of carnivory—the consumption of animal flesh—in the plant kingdom."

"Analysis of ancient DNA found in Finland has unveiled a surprise a century later – the remains of an early medieval warrior thought to be female may have been nonbinary… The new findings challenge previous ideas about gender roles and expression and suggest that nonbinary people were valued and respected members of their communities, researchers concluded in their study, published in the peer-reviewed European Journal of Archaeology."

"An elephant herd that fascinated locals and people around the world by making a yearlong journey into urbanized southwest China, raiding farms and even a retirement home for food, appears finally to be headed home."

"The U.S. health care system ranked last among 11 wealthy countries despite spending the highest percentage of its gross domestic product on health care, according to an analysis by the Commonwealth Fund… Researchers behind the report surveyed tens of thousands of patients and doctors in each country and used data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Health Organization (WHO)… The report considered 71 performance measures that fell under five categories: access to care, the care process, administrative efficiency, equity and health care outcomes." Ta-da!

"A fourth person in a fourth US state has mysteriously contracted a deadly South Asian bacterium without leaving the continental US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday… Two of the four cases have been fatal, including the latest one identified in Georgia late last month during a post-mortem exam."

"Philip Morris's unlikely attempt to buy an asthma medicine company has forced a rare auction process… The tobacco giant has been locked in a £1bn bidding war with US private equity firm Carlyle over drugmaker Vectura… Now the regulator, the Takeover Panel, has given them a week to make their best offers for the FTSE 250 firm."

"It's inevitable that when kids mix — returning from camp or heading back to school — germs spread. And in a pandemic year fueled by the delta variant, some of those germs may cause COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advice for keeping your child protected from this highly contagious version of the coronavirus now and this fall: Mask up in schools and other crowded venues, and make sure everyone age 12 and older in the family gets a COVID-19 shot."

"More kids are landing in the hospital due to COVID and it's not yet clear if it's because the Delta variant is causing more serious illness in kids… Why it matters: Hospitals are raising concerns about the increasing impact of COVID on kids at the same time schools around the country are preparing to head back for in-person instruction — many without the protection of vaccination or mask mandates."

"More than 3,000 Louisiana children tested positive for the coronavirus in just a few days' time… According to Edwards, more than 6,000 Louisiana children now have COVID-19. Edwards said this is the most positive cases in children since the pandemic began."

"Arkansas on Monday set a new record for the number of people in the state hospitalized because of COVID-19 as its coronavirus surge continued." I'm shocked, I'm sure you are.

"Most Florida children are returning to school in areas where COVID-19 outbreaks are far more intense than they were when school started last year… In most counties, cases are at least four times higher than a year ago, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. Five counties report a more than tenfold increase."

"As the majority of Florida's K-12 schools prepare to reopen campuses at full capacity this week — many of them on Tuesday — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the state Board of Education could withhold pay from school leaders who implement mask mandates for students." Stop making the guv look bad.

"People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are highly protected against severe infection, hospitalization and death caused by the virus. But coronavirus cases among the fully vaccinated — so-called 'breakthrough' Covid cases — are still being seen among those who have had two doses… While it’s rare for vaccinated people in the U.S. or Europe to get sick from Covid, breakthrough cases are happening for a number of reasons, experts note… For a start, none of the vaccines being deployed in the U.S. or Europe are 100% effective at preventing infection." You might also remember me pointing out that the vaccines don't prevent disease so much as they prevent you from having a sever reaction to the disease.

"Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a memo Monday saying he will ask the president to approve making COVID-19 vaccines a requirement by mid-September. 'I have every confidence that Service leadership and your commanders will implement this new vaccination program with professionalism, skill, and compassion,' Austin said in the memo." Waits to hear how our brave men and women should have to be forced to :: checks notes :: protect themselves and others.

"Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday the current surge in Covid infections caused by the more contagious delta variant may be the 'final wave' of the virus in the United States." Hahahahaha. Every year a few Americans die from the bubonic plague (aka, the Black Death).

"As idiotic and abhorrent as all of the above is, it's not an exaggeration of the messages being spread by a growing group of Darwin Award finalists on the Internet—that is, germ theory denialists. Yes, you read that correctly: germ theory denialists—also known as people who don't believe that pathogenic viruses and bacteria can cause disease." There aren't enough eyerolls for these people.

"Half of small business owners (50%) say it’s gotten harder to find qualified people to hire compared to a year ago, according to the Q3 2021 CNBC | Momentive Small Business Survey. Almost one-third (31%) say they have open roles they have not been able to fill for at least three months, up from 24% last quarter and 16% in Q1 2020… The labor situation has resulted in 41% of small business owners saying they are currently experiencing a rising cost in wages, according to the new CNBC | Momentive survey, which was conducted between July 26 and August 3 among over 2,000 small businesses across the U.S."

But… "About 3.4 million Americans were long-term unemployed in July, a reduction of about 560,000 from the prior month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics… However, the figure remains elevated relative to pre-pandemic levels. About 2 in 5 jobless individuals are long-term unemployed, meaning they’ve been out of work at least six months."

"The U.S. labor market hit a new milestone recently: For the first time, average pay in restaurants and supermarkets climbed above $15 an hour. Wages have been rising rapidly as the economy reopens and businesses struggle to hire enough workers. Some of the biggest gains have gone to workers in some of the lowest-paying industries." They said it was impossible, that it would destroy the economy. But suddenly, when they had to do it, it wasn't all that hard to get there. But… "Economists caution that a higher average wage is not the same as a $15 minimum wage. Half of workers in these industries are still making below $15 an hour."

"A call about an 'active shooter' at a school in northeastern Tennessee forced an emergency evacuation on Tuesday morning, but there are no injuries or a suspect, the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office said in a preliminary statement." The new bomb threat.

"The U.S. Postal Service will pay $120 million over the next five years to a major logistics contractor that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy previously helped lead and with which his family maintains financial ties, according to DeJoy’s financial disclosure statements and a federal contracting database." Fire DeJoy.

"According to a recent decision from the National Labor Relations Board, this giant rat — and its brethren across the country — now have free speech rights, too. Giant inflatable rats have been used for decades as a widely recognized symbol of a labor dispute, but last year, the board signaled it could be persuaded to outlaw their use in certain situations."

"Masked men claiming to represent Mexico's most powerful drug cartel have taken the unusual step of circulating a video threatening to kill a national television news anchor for what they viewed as unfair coverage."

"The Senate passed a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan Tuesday, a huge step for Democrats as they try to push President Joe Biden’s sweeping economic agenda through Congress." Hey, we might actually have Infrastructure Week.

"Former President Donald Trump released a statement on Saturday threatening to withhold his endorsement from any Republican who supports the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Hours later, 18 Republican senators voted to advance the infrastructure package anyway."

"On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released an outline of a coming budget bill that includes a directive to the Senate Finance Committee to expand Medicare 'to include dental, vision, hearing benefits.' The catch – all the Democrats in the Senate and almost all in the House will have to agree on the entire budget bill for Schumer's proposal to become law."

"The nonprofit groups behind the Big Lie, Mayer reports, have all received funding from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, an obscure Milwaukee tax-exempt organization that supports "radical challenges to election rules — a tactic once relegated to the far right." Since 2012, the Bradley foundation has spent $18 million, Mayer says, supporting right-wing groups pushing to restrict voting rights." Following the money behind the coup attempt. (Grokked from Southern Coca).

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