All posts by nedhamson

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

Foreign hackers breach US Treasury Department using Microsoft Office 365 flaws | AppleInsider

The U.S. Treasury Department and Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration have been breached by hackers working for a foreign government, possibly Russia, stealing unknown data in an embarrassing security issue for the U.S. government. A breach was alleged to have taken place, affecting both the U.S. Treasury Department and the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency that works on policy relating to the Internet and telecommunications. While details of the attack are largely unknown, it is thought to be serious enough to have forced a meeting of the National Security Council on Saturday. Sources of Reuters advised of the attack, which was conducted by a sophisticated group who were backed by a foreign government. Similar tools used in the attack were previously employed to gain access to other government agencies, the sources claimed.

Source: Foreign hackers breach US Treasury Department using Microsoft Office 365 flaws | AppleInsider

Surreal California: Ghost Towns and Sunsets

Kevin Hotter

“Golden Blue” (California, USA)

Hi Friends! Hope everyone is staying safe and sane during these crazy times. 🙂

“Primitive Gold” (California, USA)

Sunsets and ghost towns. I know. Very random pairing. There’s no theme here. haha

Nope – it’s just photos that I took, which I happen to really like.  🙂

Or…maybe that’s the theme? Just find things you really like and enjoy them. Life’s fast. So, just try to have fun while you’re here.

“Evenings at Home” (California, USA)

Anyway, hope everyone is excellent. Let’s hope this pandemic ends soon, so we can live our lives to the fullest once again. Take care and be well!! 🙂

“Dusty Hills of Silver” (California, USA)

“Foreshadow the Moonlight” (California, USA)

“Pioneer Living” (California, USA)

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MAGA Supporters and Proud Boys Burn Black Matter Signs in D.C.

Roaming bands of white supremacists trawled the streets of Washington D.C. on Saturday, setting fires to Black Lives Matter banners and getting into stabbing fights in what appeared to be a free-for all outpouring of racist rage.

Earlier in the day, MAGA supporters gathered in the nation’s capital for a rally to protest the election results, where the Washington Post reports they heard from Alex Jones and Michael Flynn (who was recently pardoned by Trump for lying to the FBI).

Videos posted on social media show a band of diminutive, pinch-faced, red-hatted white men chanting that they will “destroy the GOP” because the party has not ensured Trump stays in office—though he has absolutely no valid claim to do so because he undeniably lost the election.

By that evening, members of the white nationalist Proud Boys group began spreading out across the D.C., pulling Black Lives Matter signs off of churches and destroying them—including setting the signs afire:

Source: MAGA Supporters and Proud Boys Burn Black Matter Signs in D.C.

‘There are many roadblocks’: Fears grow over US Covid-19 vaccine rollout | World news | The Guardian

Eleven hospitals in Kentucky will receive doses of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer, perhaps as soon as Monday. Dr Nichelle Jadhav’s hospital is not one of them and she is confused. And she is not alone.

Saint Joseph hospital, where Jadhav works, includes a 433-bed facility in the state’s second largest city of Lexington, which regularly takes transfers of seriously ill Covid-19 patients.

“Working at a large referral center for Kentucky and seeing smaller hospitals on the list – I really don’t have an explanation for why those selections were made,” Jadhav said. “We all are confused about how those 11 hospitals were selected.”

Source: ‘There are many roadblocks’: Fears grow over US Covid-19 vaccine rollout | World news | The Guardian

‘Autoantibodies’ may be driving severe Covid cases, study shows | Science | The Guardian

Dramatic levels of “friendly fire” from the immune system may drive severe Covid-19 disease and leave patients with “long Covid” – when medical problems persist for a significant time after the virus has been beaten – scientists have said.

Researchers at Yale University found that Covid-19 patients had large numbers of misguided antibodies in their blood that targeted the organs, tissues and the immune system itself, rather than fighting off the invading virus.

The scientists compared immune responses in patients and uninfected people and discovered scores of aberrant antibodies in the former.These blocked antiviral defences, wiped out helpful immune cells, and attacked the body on multiple fronts, from the brain, blood vessels and liver to connective tissue and the gastrointestinal tract.

Further tests revealed that the more “autoantibodies” patients had in their blood, the worse their disease. The Covid-19 patients had more antibodies that had turned on them than people with lupus, an autoimmune disease caused by similar wayward antibodies.

Source: ‘Autoantibodies’ may be driving severe Covid cases, study shows | Science | The Guardian

COVID-19 slams San Joaquin Valley hospitals, as many resist restrictions – Los Angeles Times

Dr. Eyad Almasri of UC San Francisco in Fresno.

(Dr. Eyad Almasri)

“My own neighbor told me they thought COVID wasn’t real — a scam for hospitals to get money from the government,” he said. “I said, ‘What are you talking about? I’m there every day. I’ve seen people die.’”

In Fresno County, more than half of COVID-19 cases have been in the Hispanic community, and more people under the age of 75 have died than those older, according to data from the county. Cases in San Joaquin have also skewed young, with most of those who have contracted the virus between the ages of 20 and 60, the county says.

But now the ward is filled with people of every description.

Source: COVID-19 slams San Joaquin Valley hospitals, as many resist restrictions – Los Angeles Times