"An Atlas V rocket lit up the predawn sky over Florida early Tuesday (Dec. 7) to launch a novel NASA laser space communications satellite into orbit alongside a host of other payloads for the U.S. Space Force."
"Space.com pointed out that 'mystery hut' is used as a placeholder name based on its appearance — it is not literally a hut. The site also offered a possible explanation for the object's true origin: It could be a large boulder that was 'excavated by an impact event.'"
"In a wide-ranging conversation, (Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health) answers NPR's questions as to why — for all the taxpayer dollars going to NIH research — there haven't been more gains when it comes to Americans' overall health. He also talks about how tribalism in American culture has fueled vaccine hesitancy, and he advises his successor on how to persevere on research of politically charged topics — like guns and obesity and maternal health — even if powerful lobbies might want that research not to get done."
"Viagra could be a useful treatment against Alzheimer’s disease, according to a US study."
"Using Allegheny County data in the Pittsburgh area, the Black Equity researchers have found a sobering racial gap during the pandemic: Black residents of the county have seen disproportionate hospitalization rates — and have been more likely to land in the ICU or on a ventilator. Weekly hospitalization rates were higher during surges of infection in April, July and December 2020 and again in March and October 2021. Deaths, too, were disproportionate but fluctuated after December 2020… For much of the pandemic, death rates have been higher for African Americans than for other racial groups, the coalition says."
"Signs of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been found in California's wastewater, officials said, as the number of cases associated with the new variant rose to double digits this week, including a newly confirmed infection in a Long Beach resident." Ta-da!
"Here is what scientists know: Vaccine-related myocarditis is extremely rare; estimates vary, but the highest figures suggest there have been fewer than 200 cases per million fully vaccinated males ages 12–15, the youngest age group for which such data currently exist. Only about 30 cases per million have been reported in vaccinated females of that age. Pfizer, whose mRNA vaccine was recently authorized for use in five- to 11-year olds, says it did not observe any myocarditis cases in its clinical trial for the latter age group… The risk of getting COVID itself is much greater." Medicine is sometimes playing the numbers. Most pharmaceuticals kill your liver or kidneys, but the effects they have in curing other diseases far outweigh the damage done in the majority of cases. Chemotherapy, when it started, could kill you and you literally had to be given an antidote at the exact time needed for you to survive. We've come a long way since those days, but chemo is still damn hard on the body. The hope is that it kills more of the cancer than of your healthy body tissue. Some people have a bad reaction to the flu vaccines, but the losses from that are far more rare than the potential losses from not vaccinating the population.
"A video obtained by ITV shows senior No 10 staff joking about holding a Christmas party - days after one was held there during lockdown… The PM's then-press secretary Allegra Stratton is asked by colleagues about reports of a party, as they rehearse a news conference in December last year… In jokey exchanges, she says: 'This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced.'"
"The so-called Great Resignation lost some steam in October, with the total number of workers leaving their jobs either due to dissatisfaction or better opportunities elsewhere declined, the Labor Department reported Wednesday… Job quitters declined by 4.7%, falling to 4.16 million from 4.36 million, the department said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The rate as a share of the workforce fell from 3% to 2.8%."
"The White House has declared that 'President Biden is committed to using every tool available in government to produce more affordable housing supply as quickly as possible.' Yet on Nov. 24, Biden's Commerce Department announced it was doubling duties on softwood lumber imported from Canada, from an average of 8.99% to 17.9%. Softwood lumber is a crucial material needed to build houses, and levying a large tax on imports only hurts the cause of expanding housing supply." Ugh.
"'If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off,' Garg said on a one-way webinar last Wednesday, which lasted three minutes. Garg started immediately and did not wait for workers to trickle into the meeting. 'Your employment here is terminated effective immediately.'" Fired over Zoom.
"The United Arab Emirates will move its weekend to Saturday and Sunday starting next year, the UAE media office said in a tweet on Tuesday… The shift is significant, given Friday has long been a sacred day for worshippers of Islam. Most countries in the Gulf have Friday to Saturday weekends." Money speaks.
"The prosecutor overseeing the case against the student accused in last week's deadly Michigan school shooting and who took the rare step of charging his parents left open the possibility Monday that school officials could also face charges, saying 'in this case, a lot could have been done different.'"
"Ukrainian and Western officials are worried that a Russian military buildup near Ukraine could signal plans by Moscow to invade its ex-Soviet neighbor… The Kremlin insists it has no such intention and has accused Ukraine and its Western backers of making the claims to cover up their own allegedly aggressive designs."
"Far more voters say they want the Supreme Court to leave Roe v. Wade in place than not, but the issue isn't a key motivator heading into the midterm elections, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll… Justices by next June are expected to decide whether to scrap the half-century-old decision underpinning abortion rights and let states chose if they want to ban the procedure early in pregnancy. Already, activists on both sides of the issue are framing the stakes for voters and pouring millions of dollars into ads, voter mobilization efforts and direct campaign donations." That's because the majority of people don't think anything will really happen… to them, at least.
"The Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court is to vote Tuesday on its final report and recommendations, but the panel steers clear of taking a position on many of the most controversial suggestions for changing the court."
"An effort to get back onto the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors by former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and ex-Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought has hit a roadblock after a federal judge blocked the two men's request for immediate reinstatement." Should have gone for the Fox News gig, fellas.
"In some ways, President Joe Biden’s long-promised Summit for Democracy could not be better timed… The virtual gathering, set for Thursday and Friday, comes as people from Cuba to Belarus have hit the streets in recent years to demand a say in their governance — or, at least, some accountability from their leaders. And it comes as Western leaders have grown increasingly wary of the tactics and intentions of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and alarmed about renewed Russian aggression toward Ukraine."
"Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., an ally of former President Donald Trump, is resigning from his congressional seat to become CEO of Trump's new media company that aims to launch its own social media platform." It's hilarious because Jim Jordan, who ignored sexual abuse of his student wrestlers when he was a coach at Ohio State, then states that Nunes won against the "DC Swamp." Nunes is leaving because he's been picked to run a social media company for a political operator. That is the very definition of the DC Swamp.
And then… "A planned merger between former President Donald Trump's social media startup and a shell company is being investigated by regulators."
"The Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday sided with Vladimir Putin over Russia's military activity near Ukraine, saying the Russian president 'just wants to keep his western borders secure.'… Russia has denied plans to invade and has said it was just responding to Ukrainian and NATO aggression." Tucker goes full Tokyo Rose.
No comments:
Post a Comment