All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

FDA panel approves COVID booster plan for elderly, high-risk – Los Angeles Times

An influential federal advisory panel has overwhelmingly rejected a plan to give booster shots of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to most Americans, but it endorsed the extra shots for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease…

The FDA advisory panel was the first major hurdle that the Biden administration plan faced. The FDA itself has yet to make its own determination but typically follows the recommendations of its expert panel.

In yet another step to the process, a CDC advisory committee that sets policy for U.S. vaccinations campaigns is set meet on Wednesday to debate who, exactly, should get boosters and how many months after their second dose should them receive the extra shot.

The CDC has said it is considering boosters for older people, nursing home residents and front-line health care workers, rather than all adults.

Source: FDA panel approves COVID booster plan for elderly, high-risk – Los Angeles Times

Without intervention, war in Michoacán will keep escalating: conference

The Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán is a war zone and the situation will worsen without federal intervention, according to attendees at a virtual conference organized by public policy think tank México Evalúa.

Jenny Pearce, a political scientist at the London School of Economics who specializes in Latin America, told Tuesday’s security-focused conference that she was extremely concerned about the situation in Tierra Caliente, a notoriously violent region of Michoacán that borders both Colima and Jalisco.

“… I’m hearing a lot from my friends in Tierra Caliente and … they’re suffering displacement, highway blockades [set up by organized crime groups], they can’t get food. It’s really a situation that I acknowledge as a state of war, it is war,” she said.

“The state ultimately has to take this problem seriously. I don’t see any progress if there is no federal policy against what is happening. It’s a war … [and] it needs an immediate response,” Pearce said.

If there is not urgent federal intervention, the “war” will continue to escalate, the academic said, referring to the conflict between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Cárteles Unidos.

Source: Without intervention, war in Michoacán will keep escalating: conference

Hostess Attacked at NYC Restaurant for Enforcing Proof of Vaccination Policy

While it’s unclear from the video footage exactly what happened, the beating is just the latest in a long string of abuses leveled at workers who have consistently been forced to enact covid safety policies handed down by governments and upper management without a whole lot of support. In August, a California teacher was hospitalized following an attack that occurred after asking a parent to wear a mask. A July 2020 survey found that 44 percent of surveyed McDonald’s workers said that they had been physically or verbally assaulted for trying to get patrons to wear masks.

As the Hospitality Alliance calls on lawmakers to increase penalties for those who beat the shit out of average citizens just trying to do their jobs, which now include being the vaccine police, there has to be a better solution than making every 22-year-old just trying to seat people at Applebee’s a public safety officer.

Source: Hostess Attacked at NYC Restaurant for Enforcing Proof of Vaccination Policy

L.A.’s New Reflective Streets Bounce Heat Back into Space – RTBC

The record heat waves that scorched the earth from Arizona to Antarctica this year will only get worse, and cities, where heat radiates off buildings and asphalt, will bear the brunt of this heat. “We’ve built our cities like ovens,” Spotts says. “We’re largely using the same materials we have been using since World War II. We need a large-scale change.” According to NOAA, highly developed urban areas can experience mid-afternoon temperatures that are 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than surrounding, vegetated areas. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions tackles the root cause, but in the meantime, cities are looking for ways to lower the temperature. One of the cheapest is to paint roofs and streets white.

santorini
Traditional architecture in Santorini is mostly whitewashed, an age-old method of combating the heat island effect. Credit: Michaela Loheit / Flickr

The Greek islanders of Santorini, with their whitewashed earthen buildings, were on to something: white surfaces can keep a densely populated area cooler. To this end, New York City has added white, reflective coatings to more than 10 million square feet of rooftop over the last decade. And Los Angeles has installed more than 30 million square feet of cool roofs as part of its new building code. These days, when you visit certain parts of L.A., such as Winnetka or Echo Park, you’ll notice the black asphalt changing to a light grayish-white on more than 50 city blocks.

Source: L.A.’s New Reflective Streets Bounce Heat Back into Space – RTBC

Zion Narrows X

Michael Stephen Wills Photography


The first of three long exposures of the Virgin River from the Narrows on the way back to Pam. Earlier on Pam headed back, concerned about thunderstorms and the possibility of flash floods. I hung on, for the perfect photo. I came pretty close here, with the flowing water coming aound this outcrop of picturesque boulders, canyon turning sharply right up ahead.. The Narrows, Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah

Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

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Ohio COVID cases top 8,000 in one day, hospitalizations rise (Me: Ohio school, and retail openings failing… need to tighten up, mask up and vaccinate ASAP)

Ohio’s daily COVID-19 cases climbed back over the 8,000 mark with 8,349 new cases reported on Thursday, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

It’s the fifth straight day the state has recorded an increase of cases.

In the last three weeks, Ohio is averaging 6,178 cases a day and 7,268 cases a day in the last week.

ExploreOhio’s daily COVID hospitalizations nearly triple vs. year ago, Vanderhoff says
ajc.com

As of Thursday, all 88 of Ohio’s counties meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition for a high transmission rate of COVID-19. Each county has reported more than 100 cases per 100,000 people over the last two weeks. Pike County has the highest rate in state with 1,937.2 cases per 100,000 people.

Source: Ohio COVID cases top 8,000 in one day, hospitalizations rise

My New Podcast and Tips + The Backyard Horse Blog’s Podcast!

Happiness Between Tails by da-AL

Don’t know where you’d record your podcast? Here’s Ira Glass, making one in his closet…

Photo of Ira Glass recording an episode of his radio show, "This American Life," in his small closet.

Hurrah!!! Picture me jumping up and down with as much glee as panting with relief after laboring over the ins and outs of producing The Happiness Between Tails Podcast. The HBT podcast is really an experiment — a hands-on classroom where I make most of my mistakes before I serialize my novels (“Flamenco & the Sitting Cat,” and “Tango & the Sitting Cat”) into audio fiction series. For the record, the fiction shows won’t use the automated readers. I’ve already posted a bit about podcasting HERE and HERE.

Here’s my Anchor page…

My podcast dream was kicked into higher gear when WordPress announced its link with Anchor, one where we bloggers can convert out blog posts into podcasts.

It’s not your imagination that the video transcriptions below for teasers are all the same…

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