brooklynite
brooklynite's JournalFirst confirmed US death related to Omicron variant was unvaccinated and had been infected before
Source: CNN
A Texas man, whose death was the first confirmed Omicron-related in the US, was unvaccinated and had previously been infected with the coronavirus, according to a press release from Harris County Public Health.
"The individual was at higher risk of severe complications from Covid-19 due to his unvaccinated status and had underlying health conditions," the release said.
County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced the death on Monday, saying the man was in his 50s. The case is the first known confirmed Omicron-related death in the US.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/omicron-variant-coronavirus-news-12-21-21-intl/h_4b2c2a65d6e94951dc987c52a4dd27f0
Japan hangs 3 death row inmates in first executions since 2019
Source: CNN
Japan executed three death row inmates by hanging on Tuesday, marking the first executions the country has carried out since 2019 and the first under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
One of those put to death was Yasutaka Fujishiro, 65, who murdered seven people including his aunt and neighbors in 2004, according to Japan's Justice Ministry.
The other two, Tomoaki Takanezawa, 54, and Mitsunori Onogawa, 44, killed two employees in pachinko (game) parlors in 2003, the Justice Ministry confirmed.
"These are extremely brutal cases, taking precious lives for selfish reasons. I think these are terrible incidents not only for victims who lost their lives but also for bereaved families," Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said at a news conference.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/21/asia/japan-executions-death-row-intl-hnk/index.html
Laurie Garrett...
https://twitter.com/laurie_garrett/status/1473120199012491265We were part of the dinner group; now isolating and testing.
COVID Dilema
I had dinner Saturday night with a friend who has now tested positive for COVID and has symptoms. Fortunately I have done an at home test (negative) and will do another tomorrow. IF I turn out to be infected, I am staying with my MIL in a Senior living center, and got here on a full plane for a six hour flight…
Dallas QAnon Cultists Are Drinking Toxic Chemicals from A Communal Bowl, Family Says
Dallas ObserverMultiple members of the Leek family confirmed that their relative, who left her husband and children behind in Delaware to follow a fringe QAnon cult leader to Dallas last month, has been drinking a chemical cocktail containing chlorine dioxide, an industrial disinfectant, among other substances.
Their relative has been drinking this cocktail alongside her fellow cult members and has been the one to mix it up and distribute it amongst the group as well, says family, who have declined to reveal the name of their relative in the group.
"She was proud to tell us that she was the one mixing it up and giving it to everybody," a family member said.
I understand adding some Kool-Aid makes it taste better…..
Andrew Yang uses the Joe Manchin situation to slam...Joe Biden (email)
But this episode also indicates that the dysfunction within the Democratic Party is even higher than I would have thought.
Joe Biden’s strength is meant to be his relationships on Capitol Hill. Joe Biden and Joe Manchin were colleagues in the Senate for decades as Democrats. They worked together countless times. They had a call last week that was meant to usher Build Back Better forward after months of negotiation.
Whatever happened, the meeting didn’t have the desired effect. After Manchin’s announcement on Fox, the Biden White House issued a public statement accusing Joe Manchin of going back on his word and said that he should change his mind again.
The Biden White House’s statement struck me as counterproductive – if you need a guy to come back to the table, characterizing him as dishonest publicly doesn’t seem like the right approach, regardless of what you might feel. Keep in mind that Trump won West Virginia by 39 points, so Manchin is in a position where the politics are complicated at best.
Joe Manchin said on Monday, “It’s staff driven” of the White House on a radio interview, which could easily be seen as a dig at the President.
Again, these guys were colleagues for years. Massive legislation was proposed along party lines via reconciliation because bipartisanship is nearly nonexistent. That legislation is on life support –at best - because the Democrats didn’t have the unanimity they needed. Families home for the holidays are unsure of whether the check they just received in December was the last.
Moderna booster shot should provide 'good level of protection' against omicron, vaccine maker says
Source: Washington Post
Vaccine manufacturer Moderna said Monday that a booster dose of its coronavirus vaccine significantly raised antibody levels against the omicron variant, amid growing concerns about its rapid spread in the United States.
A booster dose of Moderna’s vaccine — half the dose used in the original shots for adults — increased antibody levels against omicron by 37 times, the company said in a statement, citing preliminary data.
Those antibodies “should provide some good level of protection as we go into the holiday season,” Paul Burton, Moderna’s chief medical officer, said in an interview.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/12/20/moderna-covid-booster-omicron-protection/
Meet the people getting paid $10,000 for moving to West Virginia
Washington Post“Try before you buy” is a classic sales maneuver: Car dealerships want you to test drive. Costco wants you to sample. Clothing stores want you to hit the dressing room. And West Virginia wants you to come live in the Mountain State and see if you want to stay forever.
That’s the mission of Ascend West Virginia, a program that pays full-time remote workers $10,000 to move to the state. They will also get $2,500 worth of outdoor recreation experiences and access to a co-working space, along with other perks. If they stay a second year, they get $2,000 more.
When West Virginia’s program was announced in April, about 7,500 people from 74 countries applied to move to Morgantown, which is home to West Virginia University. According to the Ascend website, the city has 1,400 climbing routes, 200 mountain-bike trails, 100 paddling runs and access to seven different ski areas
In the end, 50 people were chosen, and about 10 have made the move, including Samantha Fagan, a web designer and WordPress developer who was living in Berlin when she applied.
SNL scraps show and sends cast home amid coronavirus fears; Tom Hanks and Tina Fey pitch in
Source: Washington Post
“Due to the recent spike in the Omicron variant and out of an abundance of caution, there will be no live audience for tonight’s taping of 'Saturday Night Live’ and the show will have limited casts and crew,” read a statement posted to the show’s Twitter account on Saturday afternoon. Charli XCX, the musical guest, tweeted that she was told she would no longer be able to perform due to coronavirus pandemic precautions.
Instead, as the show kicked off at 11:30 p.m., none other than Tom Hanks strolled out in front of a mostly empty, eerily quiet studio. “Thank you, surviving crew members,” Hanks said, as a few people applauded.
He noted that SNL planned to do its big Christmas show and induct host Paul Rudd into the “five timer’s club” — celebrities who have hosted the show five times — but thanks to the surge of coronavirus cases and in the interest of safety, that was not meant to be. (Before the show, the New York Post and Variety reported that multiple cast members tested positive for the coronavirus, though this did not come up on the air.)
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/12/19/snl-covid-show-tom-hanks-tina-fey/
White House not budging on Feb. 1 end to student loans forgiveness
PoliticoBehind the scenes, that political reality has led the Biden administration to conduct Zoom meetings with allies in the student loan forgiveness space in an effort to make the resumption of loan repayments as smooth as possible.
But despite their no-drama intent, the confabs have not always been smooth sailing.
One such “tense meeting,” described by someone familiar with what happened in the conversation, happened Wednesday. Loan forgiveness advocates relayed to members of Biden’s domestic policy and economic teams that beyond the actual economic, legal and policy implications of lifting the loan repayment pause, the move was “bad politically.” They wanted “to sound the alarm to them about what we believe to be a very serious political mistake that they’re about to be making,” said a second source familiar with the conversation.
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Name: Chris BastianGender: Male
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Home country: USA
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 94,571
