speak easy
speak easy's JournalReligion adds fuel to Covid disaster in India.
India's new coronavirus infections hit record as Hindu devotees immerse in Ganges
HARIDWAR/AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) -India's new coronavirus infections hit a record on Wednesday, as crowds of pilgrims gathered for a religious festival despite oxygen shortages and strict curbs in other areas.
The country reported 184,372 cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed, taking total infections to 13.9 million. Deaths rose by 1,027, to a toll of 172,085.
Still, hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus gathered to bathe in the Ganges river on Wednesday, the third key day of the weeks-long Kumbh Mela - or pitcher festival.
Sanjay Gunjyal, the inspector general of police at the festival, said around 650,000 people had bathed on Wednesday morning.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/indias-new-coronavirus-infections-hit-record-as-hindu-devotees-immerse-in-ganges/ar-BB1fCYdr
The forever war: What have we got for a 20 year deployment?
A: Not enough. These people are poor brown muslims, unlike the industrious, well educated people of South Korea.
Like Afghanistan, the deployment in South Korea, began with an international force (NATO; UN)
Life Afghanistan, the adversary was never defeated, and remains in a state of war.
Like Afghanistan, the government would likely fall if U.S. force/support were withdrawn;
Unlike Afghanistan, the U.S. has maintained a fighting force in South Korea for 70 years.
Unlike Afghanistan, the U.S. has maintained a fighting force of 30K - 40K for 50 years
Unlike Afghanistan, Samsung would be in trouble if the place was invaded.
Unlike South Korea, the Afghan people are poor brown and muslim. It's not worth it.
The United States - a Brilliant Mistake?
There is a DU post that got me thinking - if the Founding Fathers could have seen into the future, would the Constitution read the way it does
I think the bigger question is - if the Founding Fathers could have seen into the future, would there have even been a Constitution?. If Benjamin Franklin had been given the opportunity to be heard by TPTB, if the colonies had settled their differences with GIII, would we be all that worse off?
The obvious comparison is Canada, but the mother ship and all of it's english speaking former colonies, all have kept the hardest RW at bay, all- except this one. When was the last time RW thugs occupied the parliaments of the UK/Canada/Australia/New Zealand to overturn an election? A: There was not one.
I wish that I could push a button
And talk in the past and not the present tense
And watch this hurting feeling disappear
Like it was common sense
It was a fine idea at the time
Now it's a brilliant mistake
Elvis Costello
Prince Philip will not have a state funeral
The Duke of Edinburgh will not have a state funeral and there will be no lying-in-state, in line with his wishes, the College of Arms has said.The college said Prince Philip will lie at rest in Windsor Castle before a royal ceremonial funeral at St George's Chapel. The public are "regretfully" requested not to attend due to the pandemic.
...
The honour of a lying-in-state was bestowed upon the last three sovereign's consorts, including the Queen Mother in 2002, when an estimated 200,000 people queued to pay their respects over more than three days at Westminster Hall in central London
But the College of Arms, which helps to organise state occasions, said the plans for the duke's funeral were "in line with custom and with His Royal Highness's wishes".
An aide once said Prince Philip "doesn't see himself as important enough" for a state funeral. Such occasions are usually reserved for the death of a monarch.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56694327
It is hard to imagine any other country which would not have a state funeral, as a matter of course, for a person of such standing, and long record of service. UK Royalty is hind-bound by tradition. The palace cited custom and tradition for not lowering the flags after Princess Diana's death. Seriously out of touch with the times, as was Philip himself.
Boris was warned by Biden, but he stormed ahead ahead anyway.
Belfast is burning. Johnson's U.K./U.S. trade deal is going up in smoke.
EDIT: Johnson's Brexit deal is unravelling. The UK choose to be be outside of the Customs Union, so the choice was to put the EU Customs border in the Irish Sea or on the island of Ireland Neither option was acceptable to NI partisans. It was only a matter of time until smoldering resentment burst into flames.
Biden and Pelosi warn UK over risking Good Friday agreement
Leading Democrats tell UK foreign secretary that Northern Ireland peace deal cannot be casualty of Brexit
Joe Biden on Wednesday joined the clamour of Democrats warning Boris Johnson not to let the Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement become a casualty of his Brexit talks.
The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, is in Washington trying to repair relations with pro-Irish Democrats amid concerns that the UK’s attempt to leave the EU on its own terms will undermine the Good Friday peace agreement.
Democrats have warned that if the UK undermines the peace process or reinstates a hard border to secure Brexit on its terms, the UK’s chances of securing the required congressional support for a UK-US free trade deal will disappear.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/16/us-uk-trade-deal-in-danger-if-good-friday-agreement-jeopardised-democrats-warn
EU agency finds AstraZeneca vaccine can cause rare blood clots
Source: CNN
EU agency finds AstraZeneca vaccine can cause rare blood clots, as UK advises other shots for under-30s
(CNN) European drug regulators have confirmed a link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 shot and rare blood clots, as UK authorities recommended that people under 30 should take alternative vaccines.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said Wednesday that a particular combination of unusual blood clots with low blood platelet counts should be listed as a side effect of the vaccine, but stopped short of recommending its use be limited. The benefits of the shot outweigh the risks and Covid-19 is a "very serious disease," it added.
UK regulators took a more cautious approach, saying healthy adults under 30 should be offered other vaccines. Officials described the move as a "course correction" that would not derail the country's rapid inoculation program.
The findings could have enormous implications for developing and middle-income countries, many of which are accessing the AstraZeneca shot through Covax, a vaccine-sharing scheme.
Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/07/health/astrazeneca-coronavirus-vaccine-europe-uk-ema-intl/index.html
UK advises limiting AstraZeneca in under-30s amid clot worry
LONDON (AP) — British authorities recommended Wednesday that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine not be given to adults under 30 where possible because of strengthening evidence that the shot may be linked to rare blood clots.
The recommendation came as regulators both in the United Kingdom and the European Union emphasized that the benefits of receiving the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for most people — even though the European Medicines Agency said it had found a “possible link” between the shot and the rare clots. British authorities recommended that people under 30 be offered alternatives to AstraZeneca. But the EMA advised no such age restrictions, leaving it up to its member-countries to decide whether to limit its use.
Several countries have already imposed limits on who can receive the vaccine, and any restrictions are closely watched since the vaccine, which is cheaper and easier to store than many others, is critical to global immunization campaigns and is a pillar of the U.N.-backed program known as COVAX that aims to get vaccines to some of the world’s poorest countries.
“This is a course correction, there’s no question about that,” Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, said during a press briefing. “But it is, in a sense, in medicine quite normal for physicians to alter their preferences for how patients are treated over time.”
https://apnews.com/article/eu-rare-blood-clots-possibly-linked-astrazeneca-vaccine-1ec87a9b7f14f98e29962e9d055d27ed
Shillin' 4 a remarkable podcast - Dave Broker's 'Industrial Revolutions' - Part 1.
https://industrialrevolutionspod.comhttps://open.spotify.com/show/6iWJLxio67QsMOlRnU2Q5p
If 'Industrial Revolutions' was a book, I would say 'I could not put it down'. Once in a while, the content was so good, I'd say to myself - who is this guy? And that is why I'm posting it at DU. I looked him up. The byline says -
Dave was a political consultant for over ten years serving Democratic campaigns and progressive causes
In 2021, that is the point - Partisan as I am, if a commentator is not opposed to the 'Fake-is -Good' mindset of the GOP - then I - I do not want to hear one more word through their lying teeth.
Anyway ... there's a treasure trove to explore.
When artificial light came to town.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1vekDVpGPfMt7htwpJomJ0
or Hamilton vs Jefferson
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1TW1rHWVtr9S0GtxfOXEqX
Jair Bolsonaro is planning his own January 6. U.S. invaders "Pitiful".
An Insecure Bolsonaro Prepares for His Own January 6...
When the mob stormed the US Capitol on 6 January, [Bolsonaro's] son took exception not to their assault, but their inefficiency:
“Pitiful. It was a disorganized movement.” said Eduardo Bolsonaro. “If they had been organised, the invaders would have seized the Capitol and made pre-established demands”.
“They would have had enough firepower to ensure that none of them died and to be able to kill all of the police officers inside [and] the congresspeople they hated”.
https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/an-insecure-bolsonaro-prepares-for-his-own-january-6/
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/05/the-guardian-view-on-jair-bolsonaro-a-danger-to-brazil-and-the-world
The Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama (photo)
Nearly 6,000 Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, have voted on whether or not to form a union. But the process to tally all the ballots and determine an outcome will continue for a second week, according to the National Labor Relations Board, a government agency that's conducting the election.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/analysis-amazon-is-on-edge-over-alabama-union-vote/ar-BB1fi5lD
Biden will push through infrastructure plan if no Republican support
Source: Yahoo Finance
Biden will push through infrastructure plan if no Republican support -energy secretary says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden would be willing to push through his $2 trillion infrastructure plan without the support of Republican lawmakers if he cannot reach a bipartisan deal, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Sunday.
Granholm said Biden would prefer that his plan have Republican backing but, if that does not work, he would likely support using a procedural strategy called reconciliation to allow Democrats to pass it in the Senate.
"As he has said, he was sent to the presidency to do a job for America. And if the vast majority of Americans, Democrats and Republicans, across the country support spending on our country and not allowing us to lose the race globally, then he's going to do that," Granholm said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Most Americans currently support the Democratic president's plan, said Granholm, one of several senior Biden administration officials who promoted the proposal on television news shows on Sunday.
Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-economic-adviser-says-job-133351704.html
Will be passed by a second budget reconciliation. Money would be available from October.
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