August 29, 2021

Near the point of Ida's landfall late this morning at Grand Isle LA... video from Christie Angelette

https://twitter.com/spann/status/1432012347468615683

August 24, 2021

Ultra-Vaxxed Israel's Crisis Is a Dire Warning to America

JERUSALEM—The massive surge of COVID-19 infections in Israel, one of the most vaccinated countries on earth, is pointing to a complicated path ahead for America.

In June, there were several days with zero new COVID infections in Israel. The country launched its national vaccination campaign in December last year and has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, with 80 percent of citizens above the age of 12 fully inoculated. COVID, most Israelis thought, had been defeated. All restrictions were lifted and Israelis went back to crowded partying and praying in mask-free venues.

Fast forward two months later: Israel reported 9,831 new diagnosed cases on Tuesday, a hairbreadth away from the worst daily figure ever recorded in the country—10,000—at the peak of the third wave. More than 350 people have died of the disease in the first three weeks of August. In a Sunday press conference, the directors of seven public hospitals announced that they could no longer admit any coronavirus patients. With 670 COVID-19 patients requiring critical care, their wards are overflowing and staff are at breaking point.

“I don’t want to frighten you,” coronavirus czar Dr. Salman Zarka told the Israeli parliament this week. “But this is the data. Unfortunately, the numbers don’t lie.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ultra-vaccinated-israels-debacle-is-a-dire-warning-to-america

August 24, 2021

Can't find everything you want at the grocery store? Here's why.

Grocery-store chains are still battling supply challenges that some executives said are as bad as what they saw in spring 2020, when hoarding left holes in stocks of some staples.

Industry executives say new problems are arising weekly, driven by shortages of labor and raw materials. Groceries including frozen waffles and beverages remain scarce as some food companies anticipate disruptions lasting into 2022. A wider range of products is running short and logistical challenges are compounding for many retailers.

Donny Rouse, chief executive of Louisiana-based Rouses Markets, said he is struggling to fill shelves as his company runs low on everything from pet food to canned goods. The chain of more than 60 supermarkets is sometimes receiving as little as 40% of what it orders, prompting Mr. Rouse and his staff to try to secure products earlier and more often. Before the pandemic, Rouses received well over 90% of its orders.

“It is difficult for customers to get everything they want to get,” said Mr. Rouse, grandson of the chain’s founder.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-you-cant-find-everything-you-want-at-grocery-stores-11629633601

Let me take a moment to thank all the hard workers who produce our food, staff the stores, warehouses, shipping, without them we would be FUBAR.

August 21, 2021

I miss the days when meeting an anti vaxxer was rarer than seeing a total lunar eclipse

I stole that quote from a friend, she is much more clever than I.

August 20, 2021

On this day in 1619 centuries of slavery in N. America begins

@matthewjdowd
on this day in 1619, slaves were first brought to America: 20 or so Angolans, kidnapped by the Portuguese, arrive in the British colony of Virginia; then bought by English colonists. This marks beginning of centuries of slavery in N. America. Let us know all our history.

https://twitter.com/matthewjdowd/status/1428679775795781636

August 19, 2021

MAGA Make Afghanistan Great Again

https://twitter.com/tomiahonen/status/1428427184536969224

Donald Trump released 5,000 Taliban warriors & Mullah Baradar from prison. Baradar is now ruler of Afghanistan

New meaning for MAGA

MAGA = Make Afghanistan Great Again

August 18, 2021

Bellowing anti-vaxxers terrify Walmart workers with execution threats --and it's all caught on video

An anti-vaxxer known for pushing "unsupported, dangerous" sports medicines terrified Walmart workers in Missouri after threatening them with execution for distributing coronavirus vaccines.

Christopher Key and other self-described "vaccine police" recorded video streamed live on Facebook as they confronted pharmacy workers at the Springfield store, where workers locked themselves behind the counter after being tipped off ahead of time by a concerned local resident and hid from the bellowing of group about a half dozen, reported the Springfield News-Leader.

"You are being put on notice!" Key shouted through the door. "And if they give one more vaccine, as of this day after being put on notice, then they can be hung up -- and they can be executed."

The Alabama entrepreneur and his "Missouri crew" taunted the pharmacists for nearly a half hour with false claims about a "sworn affidavit" showing that 45,000 recipients had died within three days of being vaccinated and other debunked conspiracy theories.

https://www.rawstory.com/christopher-key/

August 16, 2021

I bet Putin is celebrating today knowing that his agent orange, tRump, fulfilled one of his missions

by creating the perfect storm making our departure from Afghanistan as painful & demeaning as possible. I do believe President Biden will use his true leadership skills to get through this the best we can. I just hope that as a country we have finally learned that you can never successfully occupy a country no matter how good or bad your intentions are.

August 12, 2021

Global Billionaires See $5.5 Trillion Pandemic Wealth Surge

The world’s billionaires have seen their wealth surge by over $5.5 trillion since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, a gain of over 68 percent. The world’s 2,690 global billionaires saw their combined wealth rise from $8 trillion on March 18, 2020 to $13.5 trillion as of July 31, 2021, drawing on data from Forbes.

Global billionaire total wealth has increased more over the past 17 months of the pandemic than it did in the 15 years prior to the pandemic. Between 2006 and 2020, global billionaire wealth increased from $2.65 trillion to $8 trillion, a gain of $5.35 trillion.

Billionaires have reaped an unseemly windfall at a time when millions have lost their lives and livelihoods. The pandemic has supercharged existing global inequalities, with the wealthy profiteering from the shuttering of the main street economies around the world.

Global equality advocates are calling on national governments to levy a one-time 99 percent tax on these billionaire windfall pandemic gains, to pay for everyone on Earth to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide a $20,000 cash grant to all unemployed workers. The analysis and proposal were released today by Oxfam, the Fight Inequality Alliance, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Patriotic Millionaires. The organizations are calling on governments to tax the ultra wealthy who profited from the pandemic crisis to help offset its costs.

https://ips-dc.org/global-billionaires-see-5-5-trillion-pandemic-wealth-surge/

August 12, 2021

A THP caller, Julie, gave some advice when encountering an anti-masker

If someone in a store or wherever is upset because you're wearing a mask & questions your choice just tell them its not a mask, its an IQ test.

She did this and everyone in line started laughing except for the red faced idiot who was making fun of her for wearing a mask.