DP 8/24/2021
August 24, 2021
The Good News
- Diner leaves $10,000 tip for workers at Florida restaurant (ABC)
- Volunteers aid hundreds of Afghans at Northern Virginia Community College (WaPo, $)
“Pioneering spirit should continue, not to conquer the planet or space, but rather to improve the quality of life.” — Bertrand Piccard
Set Pfizers To Vax
The FDA’s full approval of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine on Monday is green-light-go for the “vaccine-hesitant” people concerned about the drug’s emergency use approval, and for more universities, companies, and local governments to make vaccinations mandatory.
The Pentagon promptly announced all members of the military would get shots, and the University of Minnesota and Louisiana’s major public universities will mandate vaccinations for students and staff. On the opposite end of the spectrum, as of Monday evening, only the employees at one private Florida university were required to be vaccinated, along with students at one private university in Oklahoma, one private college in Utah, and 4 private post-grad schools in Texas.
Pfizer administered over 200 million doses of its vaccine in the U.S. and millions more worldwide with emergency use authorization only; almost no serious side effects were reported. This month, 51.5% of adults are fully vaccinated in the U.S., and almost 22% more have received one shot. But 25% of the population remains unvaccinated, and at least half of those say they will definitely not be getting a shot.
This latter group is choosing to play Russian Roulette with the virus. But when they go to the hospital, it impacts taxpayers as well. Research by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows unvaccinated adults hospitalized with COVID-19 cost America’s health care system at least $2.3 billion in June and July. That cost will be borne mostly by society as a whole, not the unvaccinated patients.
Tragically, coronavirus isn’t the only thing sending unvaccinated people to hospitals. Last December, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R) held a hearing to take testimony from a right-wing group of doctors touting alternative treatments for COVID-19 and accusing “organized medicine” and governmental health agencies of suppressing their use. A Wisconsin pulmonary specialist, Dr. Pierre Kory, claimed the horse dewormer Ivermectin was a “wonder drug” and “the solution to COVID-19.” Kory, who received his medical degree in Grenada, is president of the Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a group insisting that Ivermectin used in the early stages of the disease can prevent patients from progressing to the hyper-inflammatory phase, and help critically ill patients recover. Kory told Senators the amount of evidence the FLCCC had amassed far exceeds the level required for a compassionate use authorization as defined by the FDA.
In April, a large “study” based on a “huge database” was published online on ResearchSquare before being peer-reviewed or accepted by a medical journal. The study, led by a doctor in Egypt, purportedly examined the effect of the anti-parasite drug Ivermectin on coronavirus hospital patients worldwide. The study methodology said its data had been obtained from the little-known U.S. company Surgisphere, which owns a data analytics system called QuartzClinical that monitors global healthcare in real time through data collection from 1,200 international hospitals.
Surgisphere is the same company that in 2020 caused the World Health Organization and a number of national governments to begin trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment. Subsequent investigations found the company’s data to be critically flawed, and hydroxychloroquine trials were halted. This time, independent researchers found glaring discrepancies in the data on Ivermectin as a COVID -19 treatment. In July, ResearchSquare withdrew the study due to “ethical concerns.”
Nevertheless, dangerous misinformation still persuaded some people to go to their local feed store and buy Ivermectin. That resulted in multiple hospitalizations, prompting the FDA to tweet another warning on Saturday: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” (AP News, University Business, CDC, KFF, Forbes, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Guardian, MarketWatch)
Ganging Up On Haiti
- The magnitude 7.2 earthquake that hit Haiti August 14 was followed two days later by torrential rains from Tropical Depression Grace. The death toll has risen to 2207. More than 12,000 people are injured, and 344 are still missing. Tens of thousands of homes and buildings have been destroyed. Relief operations are expanding, but authorities are struggling with security at distribution points.
- To add insult to injury, mobs have hijacked aid trucks and even ambulances, forcing relief workers to transport supplies by helicopter. A week ago, an obstetrician on his way to perform an emergency cesarean delivery was kidnapped, causing both his patient and her unborn child to die. One of the country’s few orthopedic surgeons was also kidnapped. The doctors’ families were contacted by the kidnappers, but no information on ransom demands was forthcoming. The doctors were released three days later.
- Since then, aid delivery and rescue teams have been pouring into the country. The USS Arlington arrived over the weekend, with doctors, nurses, medical devices, two helicopters, and 200 Marines. A German organization sent a team of 33 doctors, nurses, and orderlies, along with 11 tons of material. On Sunday, one of the capital’s most notorious gangsters, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, announced in a Facebook video that his G9 Revolutionary Forces and allied gangs had reached a truce and would assist in relief efforts. (Al Jazeera, Weather, ABC News)
Upping The Resistance
- Afghanistan’s Panjshir region — in particular the Panjshir Valley — is famous for having successfully fought off invasions, including from Soviet forces during the Soviet-Afghan war from 1979 to 1989, and the Taliban in the 1990s. And once again, an anti-Taliban resistance group in the Panjshir valley, northeast of Kabul, says it has thousands of people ready to fight.
- Ali Nazary, head of foreign relations for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), says the first priority is to pursue peaceful negotiations. The group’s ultimate goal is a decentralized form of governance in the country. “Afghanistan is a country made up of ethnic minorities, no one is a majority. It’s a multicultural state, so it needs power sharing — a power-sharing deal where everyone sees themselves in power.”
- Nazary added that if peace negotiations fail “then we’re not going to accept any sort of aggression.” Those words may be put to the test sooner rather than later. The Taliban has massed forces near the entrance to the valley, and may have the NRF’s Panjshir valley stronghold surrounded. (BBC)
Additional World News
- Turkey reinforces border to block any Afghan migrant wave (Reuters)
- ‘Devastating’: how UK’s foreign aid cuts could hurt the world’s poorest (Guardian)
- Putin launches construction of new warships amid tensions (AP)
- Nord Stream 2: Russia must not use gas pipeline as weapon, says Merkel (BBC)
- Solar power in Australia outstrips coal-fired electricity for first time (Guardian)
- Swedish PM Löfven to resign in November (Politico)
- French virus health pass in full use but protests keep going (AP)
- Very few people love the actual process of grocery shopping, but delivery takes away your ability to choose your own products, leaving your lunchtime salad in the hands of a stranger. But now, there’s Picomart, a supermarket 10 feet from your door.
- Located in apartment lobbies, each Picomart kiosk presents fresh, locally sourced produce, pantry items, and drinks. Unlike traditional supermarkets, Picomart is available 24 hours a day and allows customers to see, feel, and smell the produce they buy.
- Picomart has zero startup cost for apartments. They’ll provide the kiosk, products, and maintenance, while utilizing minimal real estate to provide quality groceries just feet from your door. Check out Picomart today and see if it might be right for your building.
Holy Matt-rimony
- Love is blind — maybe deaf and dumb, too. Ginger Luckey, the 26-year-old sister of right-wing donor and former Facebook executive, Palmer Luckey, is the new bride of Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, 39, currently under investigation for sex trafficking an underage girl.
- Gaetz, the ultimate Trump acolyte, is a close friend and frequently traveled with Joel Greenberg, former tax collector in Seminole County, Florida. Greenberg pleaded guilty in May to six federal crimes, including sex trafficking of a child, identity theft, stalking, wire fraud, and conspiracy to bribe a public official. His plea agreement with prosecutors requires continued cooperation with an ongoing investigation into sex trafficking.
- Luckey leads a sales operations team for a California-based company dedicated to reducing food waste. Gaetz proposed to her in December at Mar-a-Lago. The couple was supposed to marry next year, but eloped to California instead. A former staffer for Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) performed the small ceremony on Catalina Island on Saturday. (WSJ, NYT, LinkedIn, Guardian)
Masks Spark Investigations
- On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he is “prepared to launch investigations” with the department’s Office for Civil Rights in response to states that have implemented bans on mask mandates for students. A number of Republican governors in GOP-led states, including Florida, Texas, and Tennessee, have signed executive orders that prevent the enforcement of masking requirements in schools.
- Last week, President Biden said he had told Cardona to use the education department’s broad powers “to take additional steps to protect our children,” including possible legal action against governors who are “setting a dangerous tone” with their orders against mask mandates and their threats against school officials who defy them. (The Hill, NYT)
Additional USA News
- Authorities identify off-duty New Orleans officer fatally shot at Houston restaurant (NBC)
- Jesse Jackson and wife remain under observation for Covid (Politico)
- Surgeon General defends US booster shot plan as much of the world awaits vaccines (ABC)
- Tropical Storm Henri Brings Power Outages and Record Rain to Northeast (NYT, $)
- Abbott tests negative for COVID-19 (The Hill)
- How Trump-hating California got a slate of recall candidates who supported Trump (LAT)
- ‘Don’t go down without a fight’: Texas Democrats’ effort to block voting restrictions sputters (Guardian)
21 Feet Under
The Salish Sea is an inland sea that encompasses Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, and the waters off of Vancouver, B.C. The area spans from Olympia, Washington in the south to the Campbell River, British Columbia in the north, and includes the large cities of Seattle and Vancouver. It’s a biologically rich body of water with an abundance of marine wildlife species. It also appears to be a great place to dump a body, perhaps hoping it will get eaten by marine scavengers?
Just imagine you’re a beachgoer in Everett, Washington — out celebrating New Year’s Day 2019 — when you happen upon a human foot inside a shoe that had washed ashore. You wouldn’t be alone. Since 2007, on the coasts of the Salish Sea in the U.S. and Canada, 21 human feet have been found in sneakers, completely unattached to bodies. It would be easy to assume there was another Green River Killer on the loose. But in many cases, authorities have been able to link the body parts to people involved in accidents or suicides.
So why are these particular body parts, still wearing their shoes, emerging from the ocean depths? It has to do with how sea scavengers break down bodies, and modern sneaker design. “It was actually because of the footwear industry,” explained Dr. Karan Raj, a surgeon with the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom. “When a human corpse sinks to the bottom of the ocean it’s quickly set upon by scavengers.”
“These scavengers are lazy feeders, they prefer to tackle the softer parts of our body than the tough grisly bits. Some of the softest parts of us are the soft tissues and ligaments around our ankles,” Raj continued. And scavengers can take the feet off the rest of the body fairly quickly.
“The reason it’s happened more since 2007 is due to the change in sneaker design. Over the last few decades shoes have become more buoyant, as a result we could be seeing more severed feet wash up on our shores.” Bottom Line: When you’re at the beach, watch where you step. (The Hill, All That’s Interesting)
Additional Reads
- California’s craft rum distillers make their own rules (LAT)
- Can This Sun-Reflecting Fabric Help Fight Climate Change? (Wired)
- Rare Nintendo Game & Watch unit fetches $9,000 at auction (Ars Technica)
- Filly escapes racetrack, runs on Kentucky highway (AP)
- AI Can Write in English. Now It’s Learning Other Languages (Wired)
- For Some College Students, Remote Learning Is a Game Changer (NYT, $)
- Why bitcoin entrepreneurs are flocking to rural Texas (Guardian)