I feel like I’ve worked a full week this week, but it’s only Wednesday.
I haven’t been able to watch even a bit of news today, or even catch the BJ threads.
What’s everybody up to?
This post is in: Open Threads
I feel like I’ve worked a full week this week, but it’s only Wednesday.
I haven’t been able to watch even a bit of news today, or even catch the BJ threads.
What’s everybody up to?
by TaMara| 196 Comments
This post is in: Cat Blogging, Open Threads, Politics, Proud to Be A Democrat
I’ve received and accepted an invitation from @CNN for a debate on June 27th. Over to you, Donald. As you said: anywhere, any time, any place.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 15, 2024
I’ve also received and accepted an invitation to a debate hosted by ABC on Tuesday, September 10th.
Trump says he’ll arrange his own transportation. I’ll bring my plane, too. I plan on keeping it for another four years.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 15, 2024
Love when the President channels Dark Brandon
My current view while working:
Those are 2 plastic bins, stacked on my table, waiting for me to put away. Technically, he’s not “on” the table
Open Thread
Afternoon Open Thread: Who Wants To Debate? (Dark Brandon Does)Post + Comments (196)
This post is in: Open Threads, Pet Blogging
After last night’s disappointing baseball game, I watched the finale of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show while Bill and our own two dogs snoozed. As soon as I saw Sage, a miniature poodle from Houston, prancing around the ring, I figured she’d take home the top prize:
As many a grifty preacher has demonstrated, a fancy haircut and charisma can be an unstoppable combination! In a sense, it doesn’t seem fair for other dogs to have to compete against poodles, who seem to have the most elaborate coiffure options in addition to their formidable smarts.
Last night’s outcome is also a feel-good story from the handler’s perspective. Kaz Hosaka has competed for decades and went out a winner in his final show — all thanks to Sage! That very good girl received melon and chicken plates as treats after collecting her ribbons.
Open thread!
This post is in: 2024 Elections, President Biden, Proud to Be A Democrat, Religion, Republican Venality, Trumpery
Best wishes to those who celebrate!
Buddha's birthday: When is it and how is it celebrated in different countries? https://t.co/lviWHOgkhT
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 12, 2024
“I’ve been busy!” CNN’s fact checker Daniel Dale tackles all the lies (26 of them!) Donald Trump told during his New Jersey rally, and the list seemingly never ends. (Video: CNN) pic.twitter.com/gP8fsJ7qpv
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 14, 2024
Y’know, I’m beginning to suspect Joe is enjoying giving the NYTimes the… snub:
Lol he's going to do an interview with the Penny Saver before NYT. https://t.co/PKJjVrMUK9
— Enhanced Interrogated Poet (@agraybee) May 14, 2024
Joe Biden is going to do an interview with High Times before he sits down with NYT, isn't he?
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) May 14, 2024
Joe Biden can do the funniest thing and give Game Informer a sit down interview before the NYT pic.twitter.com/pgtWMsko2W
— vocational politics appreciation account (@Convolutedname) May 14, 2024
If Biden does Hot Ones he’s going to put up FDR numbers https://t.co/H541jv8pJx
— vituperativeerb (@vituperativeerb) May 14, 2024
Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Ritual — Sacred, Profane, & OtherwisePost + Comments (290)
by WaterGirl| 15 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
Every spring the Milwaukee Art Museum has an event where local florists make arrangements to go with selected artworks. These are my favorites from this year.
Yiew of the Calatrava wing.
On The Road – JCJ – Art in Bloom Milwaukee Art Museum April 2024Post + Comments (15)
This post is in: COVID-19 Coronavirus, Foreign Affairs
US pledges money and other aid to help track and contain bird flu on dairy farms https://t.co/4k5zt4E2QO
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 11, 2024
*Sigh*… It’s a start:
… The new funds include $101 million to continue work to prevent, test, track and treat animals and humans potentially affected by the virus known as Type A H5N1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said. And they include about $98 million to provide up to $28,000 each to help individual farms test cattle and bolster biosecurity efforts to halt the spread of the virus, according to the Agriculture Department.
In addition, dairy farmers will be compensated for the loss of milk production from infected cattle, whose supply drops dramatically when they become sick, officials said. And dairy farmers and farm workers would be paid to participate in a workplace study conducted by the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far, farmers have been reluctant to allow health officials onto their farms to test cattle because of uncertainty about how it would affect their businesses, researchers have said. Also, farm workers, including many migrant workers, have been reluctant to be tested for fear of missing work or because they didn’t want to be tracked by the government…
The new spending comes more than six weeks after the first-ever detection of an avian bird flu virus in dairy cattle — and one confirmed infection in a Texas dairy worker exposed to infected cows who developed a mild eye infection and then recovered. About 33 people have been tested and another 260 are being monitored, according to the CDC…
This thread shows in stark terms what the cost of #H5N1 #birdflu can be for a dairy farm, & why the programs announced Friday to try to incentivize farmers to report outbreaks, restrict spread & allow public health to study conditions on the ground may not succeed. https://t.co/iMnFXpi6VF
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@HelenBranswell) May 14, 2024
Thread for nervous wonks:
Many people are wondering how we can monitor this H5N1 situation. We sequence the whole virome from wastewater, and, well, H5N1 started showing up in our samples. https://t.co/sQYffuVZGP
1/ pic.twitter.com/do21xsT74z— Mike Tisza (@MikeTisza) May 11, 2024
CDC launches new influenza A wastewater dashboard, states report more H5N1 in dairy herds
The tracker will help with surveillance, but doesn't distinguish the influenza A subtype or determine the source of the virus.https://t.co/hCKAt7Xg4m pic.twitter.com/czPgVYo6Z3
— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) May 14, 2024
The political version of Oppositional Defiance Disorder (and the professional grifters who fatten off them):
I guess that explains this:https://t.co/Z0m3f2XBV7
— Lauren Windsor (@lawindsor) May 15, 2024
… Since March 25, when the bird flu virus was confirmed in U.S. cattle for the first time, weekly sales of raw cow’s milk have ticked up 21% to as much as 65% compared with the same periods a year ago, according to the market research firm NielsenIQ…
… CDC officials warned last week that people who drink raw milk could theoretically become infected if the bird flu virus comes in contact with receptors in the nose, mouth and throat or by inhaling virus into the lungs. There’s also concern that if more people are exposed to the virus, it could mutate to spread more easily in people.
States have widely varying regulations regarding raw milk, with some allowing retail sales in stores and others allowing sale only at farms. Some states allow so-called cowshares, where people pay for milk from designated animals, and some allow consumption only by farm owners, employees or “non-paying guests.”…
From 1998 to 2018, the CDC documented more than 200 illness outbreaks traced to raw milk, which sickened more than 2,600 people and hospitalized more than 225.
Raw milk is far more likely than pasteurized milk to cause illnesses and hospitalizations linked to dangerous bacteria such as campylobacter, listeria, salmonella and E. coli, research shows…
I’m willing to allow the argument that raw milk ‘tastes better’, but right now, I wouldn’t drink unprocessed milk even from a cow I *did* know personally!
#Today in 1796, Edward Jenner administered the first successful vaccination against smallpox, which was also the first vaccination ever.
Jenner is often called "the father of immunology": his work likely saved more lives than the work of any other human. pic.twitter.com/1JK3eGI4mG
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 14, 2024
Last night's update: 45,296 new cases, 460 new deaths https://t.co/t6BlFUxs31
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) May 13, 2024
This is the 43rd week in a row with more than 400 new COVID deaths in the U.S., or 57,971 deaths during the same period.
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) May 13, 2024
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Australia: Covid hospitalisations up by 30% in one week in Victoria
7 day hospitalisation figures have increased by approximately 30% in the last week.
Quantitative wastewater measures are indicative of high levels of COVID-19 transmission in Victoria.https://t.co/zjF8NcklQY pic.twitter.com/LXaBWPn3po
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) May 14, 2024
New Zealand: 3,922 new Covid cases, 13 further deaths
There have been 3,922 new cases of Covid-19 reported in the past week, and 13 further deaths attributed to the virus. There were 152 cases in hospital as of midnight on Sunday
RNZ News https://t.co/63F7JCPLsh pic.twitter.com/Ww5TVVAsVS
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) May 13, 2024
UK Covid cases on the rise once again – as three specific groups of people get urgent warning
Over the last week, the number of positive coronavirus cases increased to 7.1 per cent, compared with just 4.6 per cent the week before.https://t.co/jANFeCc9Iz
— SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19) (@COVID19_disease) May 12, 2024
Guardian: Nurses quitting the NHS after Covid
‘So much death and upset’
The Guardianhttps://t.co/b6jJDrwikS pic.twitter.com/LH5FhlFwcM
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) May 14, 2024
COVID-related US-Mexico border closure may have fueled #HIV spread
During the study, nine people tested positive for HIV, most of them during the pandemic, which the authors said is a higher number than expected.https://t.co/L58amCHeov
Photo: Alan Levine / Flickr cc pic.twitter.com/LTHcfEnTqb
— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) May 9, 2024
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Check your test kits!
FDA warns of false results from Cue Health COVID tests
An FDA inspection revealed that Cue Health had made changes to the tests that reduced the reliability.https://t.co/Hy82OCZrmu
Photo: Banc d'Imatges Infermeres, Ariadna Creus i Àngel García / Flickr cc pic.twitter.com/a7KOUPygha
— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) May 14, 2024
Study shows virus that causes COVID-19 can penetrate blood-retinal-barrier and could damage vision
SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen can cause retinal microaneurysm, retinal artery and vein occlusion, and vascular leakage.https://t.co/mf7o3UDy5K
— SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19) (@COVID19_disease) May 14, 2024
TB-COVID co-infections increasingly common, tied to worse outcomes, data show
The estimated fatality rate among hospitalized patients with TB-COVID co-infection was 11.4%.https://t.co/kx0CPGcUvM pic.twitter.com/YQRw6GcKoO
— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) May 14, 2024
Sweden: Risk of several years of "brain fog" after mild covid
Being infected by covid can cause several years of brain fog, difficulty concentrating and fatigue even if you only have cold symptoms, new research from Danderyd Hospital shows.https://t.co/B8dRcnCxiI
— SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19) (@COVID19_disease) May 11, 2024
Norwegian study: People who have had Covid-19 have a poorer memory
They also have a worse memory than those who have not had Covid-19.
This study is among the largest of its kind in Norway, with around 200,000 participants.https://t.co/Y1DtVABWPe
— SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19) (@COVID19_disease) May 12, 2024
Data: Heart-failure patients have 82% better odds of living longer if vaccinated against #COVID
Vaccinated patients also had a 47% lower risk of hospitalization for heart failure and a 13% reduced risk of infection over 6 months.https://t.co/ZMN8K1wGy2 pic.twitter.com/MdS6tzG6BP
— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) May 13, 2024
Virginia Tech researchers developing portable COVID AIR tests
Imagine being able to walk into a crowded store, restaurant or even movie theater and be able to detect if there’s COVID-19 in the air.https://t.co/C0Zz5ynTVJ
— SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19) (@COVID19_disease) May 13, 2024
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New Covid 'FLiRT' variants now account for more than a third of US cases
The FLiRT variants – which has its own set of symptoms – made up a projected 35.3 per cent of Covid-19 infections this week, up from 7.1 per cent a month ago.https://t.co/NJHJByXnKE
— SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19) (@COVID19_disease) May 12, 2024
Only 4% said they remember COVID. This is the national amnesia that's leading us head-first into fascism. https://t.co/s5eq0rJafc pic.twitter.com/v0dYyhhOXu
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) May 12, 2024
@mtosterholm, Director of @CIDRAP, explains that it's reasonable and justifiable for COVID-19 policy to change as the virus' impact on society changes. “This is not about abandoning ship, this is about the reality we’re in right now.”- Osterholm @TIME https://t.co/TGhXE7jp5m
— UMN School of Public Health (@PublicHealthUMN) May 9, 2024
I understand (even if I don’t agree personally) with the widely cross-partisan impulse to want to forget the 2020 COVID / zombie-apocalypse-vibe period ever happened, but that doesn’t stop me from getting physically furious whenever I see the “better off now than you were four years ago” poll Q
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24.bsky.social) May 12, 2024 at 8:51 PM
Brihana Joy Gray lending credence to "vaccine injuries" and calls the "negativity" surrounding it "absurd and outsized", and complains about criticism of Ivermectin and Hydroxycholoroquine.
Then she compares vaccine injuries to Long COVID. pic.twitter.com/vFhTwgZvqm
— Post-Left Watch (@PostLeftWatch) May 11, 2024
COVID-19 Coronavirus (& H5N1) Updates: May 15, 2024Post + Comments (29)
This post is in: 2024 Elections, Open Threads, Trumpery
Trumpism is maybe better understood as a pride movement for bad people than as a political movement
Imagine youre a piece of shit, living with resentment for everyone treating you as such
Then one of you emerges, rises to take the WH. Would you care about policy? Hypocrisy?
— Giacomo Volpe ?????? (@_giacomo_volpe_) May 13, 2024
Donald Trump's GOP allies show up in force as Michael Cohen takes the stand in hush money trial https://t.co/1Q2oJ5tyKn
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 14, 2024
With Donald Trump barred from publicly attacking the key witness in his hush money trial, his campaign brought to court a phalanx of Republican elected officials to speak for him.
“The thing that the president is prevented from saying, which is a disgrace, is that every single person involved in this prosecution is practically a Democratic political operative,” U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio said outside the courthouse Monday during a morning break…
Bringing allies to court allowed Trump’s campaign to press his message without violating the gag order. It also gave those allies a high-profile platform to demonstrate loyalty to their party’s presumptive nominee and perhaps audition for higher office.
According to Trump’s campaign, all of his courthouse guests Monday volunteered to appear to support the former president and were not explicitly invited by people affiliated with the campaign. But U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who was at court with Trump last week, said Monday that he had been invited by Susie Wiles, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign and also a longtime Florida GOP operative who advised Scott’s 2010 gubernatorial bid…
Vance, widely seen as a contender to be Trump’s vice presidential pick, was part of a group that arrived at court with Trump and stood behind him as he addressed reporters before heading into the courtroom. It was the biggest single showing of the allies joining Trump in court for the hush money trial since it began last month.
Others in Monday’s group included Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, and a pair of attorneys general, Steve Marshall of Alabama and Brenna Bird of Iowa. Former GOP rival Vivek Ramaswamy, who shuttered his campaign earlier this year but is considered a likely part of a new Trump administration, planned to come to court on Tuesday, according to a spokesman for the entrepreneur…
Outside court with Vance, Tuberville on Monday questioned the citizenship of the jurors, suggesting there were “supposedly American citizens in that courtroom,” and portrayed Bragg as a publicity-seeker.
He described Trump as “going through mental anguish in a courtroom. That’s very depressing.” …
Tuesday, it was ‘Leader’ Johnson’s turn atop the klown car:
like a coward, Johnson refuses to take questions pic.twitter.com/3OCafGNd5y
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 14, 2024
The media’s horse-race touts are very excited!!!
🟡NEW: JD Vance is at the Trump trial today and @ShelbyTalcott reports Tim Scott is discussing a visit too. Sure looks like it'll be a VP litmus test by end of the week. https://t.co/N2IP0HSFdi
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) May 13, 2024
This outfit is like 'wearing white to honor suffrage' for serial tax fraud. https://t.co/18fkDOeomT
— zeddy (@Zeddary) May 14, 2024
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Notes from Saturday’s Wildwood rally:
Smart move. Make Tang the Conqueror pay you in advance. https://t.co/eH1Bw5o4y7
— Ragnarok Lobster ?? (@eclecticbrotha) May 10, 2024
The left is a pic of 50K people to see @Pink on the beach in Atlantic City….the right a pic of what MAGAs are saying is 80-100K people in Wildwood to see Trump ?? pic.twitter.com/w9JAQlQMJC
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) May 12, 2024
Roger Stone, doing what he’s best at, lying:
Roger Stone’s favorite Rod Stewart song is “Forever Wrong”. pic.twitter.com/dChOlhNTEz
— Matt Anderson (@mattbegins) May 12, 2024
Per Politico, “Trump, escalating attacks at rally, says Biden is ‘surrounded by fascists’ “:
… “All of this persecution is only happening because I’m running for president. If I wasn’t leading in the polls by a lot and running for president, they wouldn’t be after me. I’d have a nice place. I’d be down in Palm Beach. I’d be traveling the world,” Trump said, before repeating falsehoods about the 2020 election that he lost to Biden.
During the speech, Trump threw well-worn lines on the border, windmills and electric vehicles, China and migrants. And he compared himself to the infamous gangster Al Capone, which has become a regular bit on the campaign trail.
“Al Capone was so mean that if you went to dinner with him and he didn’t like you, you’d be dead the next morning. And I got indicted more than him. On bullshit, too. Just bullshit,” Trump said. The crowd erupted into cheers of “bullshit.”…
Trump on Saturday also went after some of New Jersey’s most famous residents, including Bruce Springsteen and former Gov. Chris Christie. Trump claimed he attracted a bigger crowd than Springsteen, and invited the crowd to boo Christie, a former Trump ally turned critic.
“Does anybody like Chris Christie?” Trump said, before calling Christie “unhinged” and suffering from a major case of Trump derangement syndrome.”
by the time this election is over fucking Pervert Hoover is gonna be walking to the stage with goodbye horses playing isn't he https://t.co/LcYbHKvkaW
— John Cole (@Johngcole) May 12, 2024
Of course, should take nothing for granted, making no predictions, etc.
But on that data point: There were 16+ million more votes *AGAINST* Trump (ie for Biden) than in 2016.
HRC beat him by 3 million. Biden by 7+ million.
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) May 12, 2024
Before you do, read the NYT account of the rally. You'd think the reporter was covering a Bush 1 rally in 1988.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) May 12, 2024
Looks like Burning Man, but without the sex, drugs, & Neal Katal https://t.co/Ut72t1zQAk
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) May 13, 2024
Late Night Open Thread: ‘A Pride Movement for Bad People’Post + Comments (42)