August 28, 2021

Jesse Jackson has been moved to a rehabilitation center. Jacqueline has been moved to the ICU

She's not on a ventilator but is receiving increased oxygen.



https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1431390909703274497?s=20

August 27, 2021

Sirhan Sirhan granted parole by parole board

https://twitter.com/WRAL/status/1431367094709403657?s=20




SAN DIEGO — U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's assassin was granted parole Friday after two of RFK's sons spoke in favor of Sirhan Sirhan’s release and prosecutors declined to argue he should be kept behind bars. The decision was a major victory for the 77-year-old prisoner, though it does not assure his release.

The ruling by the two-person panel at Sirhan’s 16th parole hearing will be reviewed over the next 90 days by the California Parole Board’s staff. Then it will be sent to the governor, who will have 30 days to decide whether to grant it, reverse it or modify it.

Douglas Kennedy, who was a toddler when his father was gunned down in 1968, said he was moved to tears by Sirhan’s remorse and he should be released if he’s not a threat to others.

“I’m overwhelmed just by being able to view Mr. Sirhan face to face,” he said. “I think I’ve lived my life both in fear of him and his name in one way or another. And I am grateful today to see him as a human being worthy of compassion and love.”

August 26, 2021

A military vet in TX. had gallstone pancreatitis. Needed surgery ASAP. Dr. couldn't find a hospital

https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1430936670170386435?s=20


Finding an open ICU bed in Houston is so challenging, due to the Covid, that 1 ER doctor in rural TX, spent 5hrs trying to find an available ICU bed for an Afghanistan war veteran who had gallstone pancreatitis. The Dr. used Facebook asking for help. The vet died. Here’s the Dr.:







This is how bad things are out there. Stay healthy and safe, DU'ers.

August 25, 2021

Unvaccinated Delta Airline employees will see their insurance go up $200/month

In a letter to employees on Wednesday, the carrier’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, said that those who have not been vaccinated will immediately be required to wear masks indoors. Starting on Sept. 12, they will also have to take weekly coronavirus tests.

On Sept. 30, unvaccinated workers will lose pay protection for employees who test positive for the virus and miss work while having to quarantine. Finally, starting on Nov. 1, any employee who remains unvaccinated will have to pay an additional $200 per month to remain on the company’s health care plan.

“This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company,” Mr. Bastian said. “In recent weeks since the rise of the B.1.617.2 variant, all Delta employees who have been hospitalized with Covid were not fully vaccinated.”

The average coronavirus-related hospitalization has cost the company about $40,000 per person, he said. Like many large employers, Delta insures its own work force, meaning it pays health costs directly and hires insurance companies to manage its plans.


https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/business/delta-covid-vaccine.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes

August 24, 2021

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has died

https://twitter.com/APDiploWriter/status/1430207702349791240







The Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has died, his publicist has said.

The musician, who marked his 80th birthday in June, had been a member of the rock group since 1963.

A statement from his London publicist, Bernard Doherty, to the PA news agency said: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Charlie Watts.

“He passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family.”

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/aug/24/rolling-stones-drummer-charlie-watts-dies-aged-80


I saw the Rolling Stones once in 1975 at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium. It was the inflatable penis tour, lol. I and a couple of my friends were only 14 and my parents made an older girl go with us as an escort. My first big concert and there was a guy a couple rows behind us who threw up all over everybody sitting around him . Had a good time , though. One of my uncles saw them on the Stones first American tour in the early sixties in a small club that was only half full. RIP




Haven't seen a cause of death but he did have surgery for an unspecified medical condition recently and had to cancel going on tour.



https://twitter.com/officialKeef/status/1430308089950085121?s=20

August 22, 2021

Look at this crowd. Not a mask in sight in the sundown town of Cullman

https://twitter.com/wsteaks/status/1429251299359473674?s=21



Cullman, AL is a KKK sundown town . Black folks in AL won’t go near it.

https://twitter.com/michaelharriot/status/1429280990237704194?s=21

August 20, 2021

Defense contractors spent big in Afghanistan before the U.S. left and the Taliban took control

In the months leading up to the U.S. ending its 20-year war in Afghanistan and the Taliban gaining control of the country, major defense companies were awarded contracts in Afghanistan worth hundreds of millions of dollars and spent tens of millions lobbying the federal government on defense issues.

The Department of Defense issued nearly $1 billion dollars in contracts to 17 companies related to work in Afghanistan that was set to continue past the May 1 withdrawal date. It’s unclear what will happen with some of those contracts as the U.S. evacuates operations in Afghanistan.

Texas-based defense contractor and construction firm Fluor received contracts of at least $85 million this year for work in Afghanistan. The company recently said it will “continue to do everything we can to repatriate all employees required to leave Afghanistan.” Fluor spent over $1.4 million on lobbying in the first half of 2021, around $115,000 more than the firm spent in the same period in 2020.

In May, defense contractor Leidos was awarded a $34 million government contract to continue providing logistics support services for the Afghan Air Force and the Special Mission Wing. The U.S. Army Contracting Command awarded Leidos an initial $727.89 million contract on Aug. 17 in 2017. Leidos spent $1.18 million on lobbying in the first half of 2021. On March 11, the Defense Department signed a contract with Salient Federal Services for information technology infrastructure in Afghanistan, a deal worth approximately $24.9 million and set to be completed in March 2022.

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/08/defense-contractors-spent-big-in-afghanistan-before-the-us-left-taliban-took-control/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=twitt_afghanistan/8/20/21

August 20, 2021

Florida COVID update: 799 deaths are added to tally over the past month- Miami Herald

Florida on Thursday reported 15,586 more COVID-19 cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with 799 deaths over the span of the pandemic, all but one of which occurred in the past month, according to Herald calculations of CDC data.

The one-day jump in the number of reported cases and deaths comes amid a change in the way deaths and cases are counted. The change was implemented by the CDC last week, resulting in occasional one-day aberrations like the 799 deaths reported on Thursday.

The inclusion of the previously uncounted deaths is part of Florida’s ongoing latest wave. It is the largest single-day increase in the tally in Florida COVID pandemic history.


https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article253612503.html

August 19, 2021

Shows won't book voices supportive of withdrawal on TV says communication professional

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1428363331916599315?s=20




Yesterday's newsletter detailed how the media is largely overlooking voices that supported Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. Instead media reports are almost exclusively highlighting criticism of the withdrawal — often from people complicit in two decades of failed policy in Afghanistan.

We have reason to believe that this is not an accident. On Wednesday, Popular Information spoke to a veteran communications professional who has been trying to place prominent voices supportive of the withdrawal on television and in print. The source said that it has been next to impossible:



https://popular.info/p/where-are-the-anti-war-voices

August 19, 2021

If N.Texas runs out of ICU hospital beds, doctors can consider a patient's vaccination status

North Texas doctors have quietly developed a plan that seeks to prepare for the possibility that due to the COVID-19 surge the region will run out of intensive-care beds.

If that happens, for the first time, doctors officially will be allowed to take vaccination status of sick patients into account along with other triage factors to see who gets a bed.

A copy of an internal memo written by Dr. Robert Fine, co-chair of the North Texas Mass Critical Care Guideline Task Force, was sent to members of the task force -- and leaked to The Watchdog. It summarizes the latest work by the task force, a volunteer group that periodically updates medical guidelines for hospitals in our region. There are about 50 members from various hospitals in the group. Although their recommendations are not enforceable, the guidelines are generally followed.

One important note: A non-vaccinated person will not necessarily be denied care when competing with a vaccinated patient for an ICU bed, doctors say. Other medical factors come into play, such as underlying conditions and the likelihood that a patient will get better and leave the hospital.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2021/08/19/if-north-texas-runs-out-of-icu-hospital-beds-doctors-can-consider-a-patients-vaccination-status/