Republican leaders fiddle while Covid burns through their own supporters | Republicans | The Guardian

These Republicans seem intent on scoring political points by appealing to a pandemic-weary’s public yearning to get back to something like normal life. Still in thrall to former president Donald Trump, they fiercely oppose mask or vaccine mandates by invoking traditional party tenets of individual freedom, personal responsibility and resisting state interference.

But with America now averaging about 113,000 cases a day, an increase of nearly 24% from the previous week, and hospitalizations up 31% from the week before, Republicans stand accused of causing the deaths of their own voters as the highly contagious Delta variant scythes through red states where vaccination rates are low.

Elaine Kamarck, a Democrat who served in the Bill Clinton administration, said bluntly: “They’ve gone out of their minds. There’s just no other way to describe this. This is about the dumbest thing you could imagine because the only people listening to them are their voters. So this is the first time I’ve ever seen a political party advocating things that would harm their voters, maybe even kill their voters.”

Source: Republican leaders fiddle while Covid burns through their own supporters | Republicans | The Guardian

Accomplishments After 206 Days …

Filosofa's Word

Today, I would like to thank Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson for reminding us of the positive things that have happened since January 20th.  Yes, we have much to worry about, such as the For the People Act, gerrymandering, voter suppression, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, racism in both police and populace, the end of the eviction moratorium, but … to have been in office only 206 days, President Biden and the U.S. Congress have actually accomplished a lot!  There’s still a lot of work to be done, but let’s take heart in what has already been done.


Maybe it’s time for doubting Democrats to press pause on the angst

Opinion by 

Eugene Robinson

Columnist

Yesterday at 4:01 p.m. EDT

It’s time to entertain the possibility that President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi actually know what they’re doing and are really…

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Mississippi governor defends COVID-19 response after extending state of emergency | TheHill (Me: Death dealing self-delusion is still number one in Mississippi state government! Pray for those who live there…)

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Friday announced at a press conference that he has no plans of issuing a statewide mask mandate or requiring state employees to get vaccinated as the state experiences a spike in COVID-19 casesWJTV reported.

Reeves did, however, encourage residents of his state to get the vaccine.

“Either the vaccine works or it doesn’t. I believe it does, and it works in two ways; makes you significantly less likely to get the virus, and the second phase, makes it even less likely that you are going to end up hospitalized or in an ICU bed,” Reeves said, according to WJTV.

Reeves’s announcement that he will not issue statewide mask or vaccine mandates comes a day after he extended the State of Emergency Order that was initially going to expire Sunday. While issuing the emergency order, the governor reiterated his stance against mandating masks in schools.

Source: Mississippi governor defends COVID-19 response after extending state of emergency | TheHill

Alabama governor declares ‘narrowly-focused’ COVID-19 state of emergency | TheHill (Me: Self-delusion state-wide is still in place and will kill people)

“Alabama remains open for business,” Ivey said in a statement. “Alabamians do not need government telling us what to do or how to do it. Unlike last year when we were hoping for a miracle, our greatest weapon against covid-19 today is the vaccine, so, if you can, roll up your sleeve and get the shot.”

Alabama is currently battling a spike in coronavirus infections, with 4,000 new cases reported Friday, according to AL.com. The state had 2,430 hospitalized patients as of Friday.

Source: Alabama governor declares ‘narrowly-focused’ COVID-19 state of emergency | TheHill

Avian Flu Diary: Through A Scanner Darkly

Yesterday, the CEO of Oak Hill Hospital in Brooksville addressed the Hernando County County Commission, and reported:

  • They have 133 COVID-positive patients out of our 309 total patients in the hospital
  • They’ve had to dedicate five nursing units to COVID.
  • They are close to having their ICU being filled with COVID patients.
  • That 25 patients in the ICU have COVID-19. 17 are on ventilators, ages from 25-75
  • Of the patients on ventilators, 14 are under the age of 65.
  • Only one had been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Admittedly, this is but one small microcosm, nestled in a semi-rural region of Florida, but it probably represents much of the United States right now. Hospitals are overrun with COVID patients, with healthcare workers overworked, exhausted, and at high risk of infection themselves.

Importantly,  this is August –  traditionally the nadir of respiratory illness season – and yet hospitals are barely coping. Things could get really dicey if influenza, RSV, and other winter ailments return this winter alongside COVID.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: Through A Scanner Darkly

US Marines arrive in Kabul to evacuate embassy staff while other countries close embassies as Taliban onslaught continues

Joevic Africa

U.S Marines on Friday, August 13 arrived in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, to help evacuate embassy staff as the Taliban continued its offensive sweep through the country..   The battalions are expected to be fully in place by the end of the weekend, and will be capable of supporting the evacuation of several thousand people a…

US Marines arrive in Kabul to evacuate embassy staff while other countries close embassies as Taliban onslaught continues

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Captain Seeks a Sea-Going Cat to Sign on for a Trip Around the World, New York Times (1922)

Content Catnip

Captain Edwin Dyason, master of the freighter Woodfield will welcome any ablebodied seafaring cat wishing to join the crew of his vessel, sailing today for Manila and China. “We missed the ship’s cat shortly after we put into port here,” said the Captain. “Her name was Cleopatra. She joined on in Fremantle, Australia and did one voyage with us. Now she has left us flat.”

One of the party offered to give the Captain a fine angora kitten, but he refused the gift saying “It would be useless to try and keep it onboard. Only seagoing cats are any use on a vessel.”

“Joking aside, sea cats are a race in themselves. Why a land-lubber cat wouldn’t know how to take care of itself in a rough sea. But a sailor cat knows just what pile of ropes to hide under. It stays there and waits for fair weather before…

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Sacred Study Saturdays, Torah Portion Judges, or Shoftim, and Community

Context, Thought, and Learning: ShiraDest Offers Project Do Better

Parashat Shoftim / פרשתשׁוֹפְטִים

Read in the Diaspora on 14 August 2021 (6 Elul 5781).

Please accept my apologies as I am not feeling well this week, so the next few days posts will be rather brief.

I taught a class on Parashat Shoftim and Community with a follow up on this the next year in last week’s parashah at the DC Beit Midrash, some years ago.

Given the fact that one is not allowed to live in a place with no court, we are all part of a society in which a system of justice must be looked after. The existing justice system must become more fully inclusive for all of us.

Action Items:

1.) Search for two different sources related to this week’s section of the Bible, or, if you prefer, to the Holocene Epoch and to the Holocene Calendar.

2.) Share them with…

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