Analytics

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Post #6457 M: McClanahan on What is American Liberty? ; New Record in Unaffordable Housing

 Quote of the Day

At one glance I love you With a thousand hearts.
Mihri Hatun

Weekend Update

 

McClanahan on What is American Liberty?

New Record in Unaffordable Housing

Choose Life

Political Cartoon



Courtesy of Steve Kelley via Townhall

 Musical Interlude: #1 Hits of 2021

 Coldplay X BTS, "My Universe"

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Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Post #6456 M: McClanahan on A republican President; What happens next in the Israel-Hamas war? ; Dumb BLEEP of the Week

 Quote of the Day

I must govern the clock, 
not be governed by it.
Golda Meir.  

McClanahan on A republican President

Here's the referenced article.

What happens next in the Israel-Hamas war?

Dumb BLEEP of the Week 

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Steve Kelley via Townhall

Musical Interlude: #1 Hits of 2021

Drake ft. Future and Young Thug, "Way 2 Sexy" 

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Monday, October 16, 2023

Post #6455 M: McClanahan on What if Congress Picked the Next President? ; Biden’s illegal Student Loan Bailout

 Quote of the Day

Truth nevër hurts the teller.
Robert Browning  

McClanahan on What if Congress Picked the Next President?

Political Cartoon

Biden’s illegal Student Loan Bailout

Choose Life

Musical Interlude: #1 Hits of 2021

The Kid LAROI, Justin Bieber, "STAY"

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Sunday, October 15, 2023

Post #6454 Social Media Digest

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Twitter

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Post #6453 J

 Pandemic Report

The latest stats from CDC:


The latest from Worldometer:


Well, all the major stats, including hospitalizations, deaths, test positivity rates, and relevant emergency room visits, continue to improve in the direction of the summer mini-wave ending. Still, just a reminder that it's still dangerous out there. My Mom caught it ironically just before she was due to take the new monovalent booster. [Correction: she got the shot days before testing positive. It can take up to 2 weeks or longer to metabolize the shot.]   Fortunately, despite being in multiple risk groups, she has made it through the quarantine period without serious consequence, no doubt in part bolstered by prior vaccine/booster shots. She is at least the second member of my nuclear family who has gotten infected; I was supposed to visit my youngest brother and his wife last winter but I got sick (unrelated) for a week or two; ironically, they both got infected around the time I was to visit. I don't get regular updates from my siblings, but I know at least 3 nephews and a niece (all grown and living separately) have been infected in the past.

So far at least 7 M Americans, including myself, have gotten the new monovalent shots; some stocking issues remain at many pharmacies. Pfizer has taken a hit on Wall Street based on smaller than expected vaccine revenues. 

Some new data have been reported for the new Moderna’s mRNA-1273.815 and Pfizer’s XBB.1.5 BNT162b2 vaccines:
In the present study, researchers modeled the clinical and economic impact of the mRNA-1273.815 vaccination in high-risk individuals aged 30-59 and older adults (≥ 60 years) in Germany.mRNA-1273.815 vaccination was associated with better clinical outcomes and lower costs than no vaccination. The model predicted 12.9 million symptomatic cases, 305,711 hospitalizations, and 11,125 deaths without vaccination between September 2023 and August 2024. However, mRNA-1273.815 vaccination would have reduced symptomatic cases, hospitalizations, and deaths by 13.1%, 27.9%, and 36.8%, respectively, relative to no vaccination. Further, the mRNA-1273.815 vaccination program was associated with better clinical outcomes and lower costs than the XBB.1.5 BNT162b2 vaccination campaign. mRNA-1273.915 vaccination would have prevented more than 90,000 symptomatic cases, 3,471 hospitalizations, and 157 deaths relative to XBB.1.5 BNT162b2 vaccination
[I should note I had chosen the Moderna updated vaccine a couple of weeks back.]

HHS of the USG is funding studies of next generation COVID vaccines, including alternative delivery systems like patches and nasal sprays. Why nasal sprays? See the next item:

One intriguing investigation is why children, although susceptible to COVID infection, are significantly less likely to contract serious illness/death; part of the answer may be the nose:

“For almost every infectious disease, the most vulnerable populations are at the extremes of age — the very young and the very old,” said Stanford Medicine professor of microbiology and immunology and of pathology Bali Pulendran, PhD. “But with COVID-19, the young are spared while the old are emphatically not. That’s been a mystery.” They [children] seem to harbor fewer receptors for SARS-CoV-2 on their cell surfaces. They’ve had more relatively recent encounters with benign coronaviruses than adults, bolstering immunity to newcomers. But much of the solution to the mystery COVID-19 poses may reside inside little kids’ noses...Infants’ blood-borne antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were a little slower to spike upward in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. But in stark contrast to adults, their antibody levels never dropped. In the blood of adults with even mild COVID-19 cases, there was a big increase in levels of a number of inflammation-promoting signaling proteins, previously shown to be associated with more-severe symptoms. In infected kids’ blood, this increase wasn’t seen. Also absent in kids’ blood, but relatively abundant in the mucous membranes of their noses, was an immune molecule that calls in the thugs: That is, it recruits all-purpose pugnacious immune-cell buddies known as neutrophils to the area.  

Novavax manufactures a more traditional protein-based (vs. mRNA) vaccine; its updated vaccine was approved earlier this month and is currently being delivered through pharmacy or government locations; its earlier versions ran into production issues, with only modest market share.

Harvard and Oxford have developed a new AI tool EVEscape, which attempts to forecast likely new virus mutations and variants:

EVEscape predicted which SARS-CoV-2 mutations would occur during the pandemic with accuracy similar to this of experimental approaches that test the virus’ ability to bind to antibodies made by the immune system. EVEscape outperformed experimental approaches in predicting which of those mutations would be most prevalent. More importantly, EVEscape could make its predictions more quickly and efficiently than lab-based testing since it didn’t need to wait for relevant antibodies to arise in the population and become available for testing.

Additionally, EVEscape predicted which antibody-based therapies would lose their efficacy as the pandemic progressed and the virus developed mutations to escape these treatments.

The tool was also able to sift through the tens of thousands of new SARS-CoV-2 variants produced each week and identify the ones most likely to become problematic.

Eight reasons for adults and kids to get the updated vaccines:

  • There is little downside. The vaccines are extremely safe. 
  • It’s not obvious who is high-risk. Universal recommendations are simpler and likely increase uptake in the most vulnerable.
  • Covid vaccines protect against Covid. I don’t want to get Covid.
  • Vaccination likely reduces the risk of long Covid and helps in the recovery for some. 
  • Fewer infections mean less transmission. Less transmission means fewer cases. Fewer cases mean fewer serious cases and deaths. That’s math. 
  • We do need updated vaccines, and lots of people didn’t get the last one. 
  • Kids benefit from the vaccine, too. Half of the deaths were in kids with no underlying conditions. The rate of Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths in kids is higher than pre-vaccine rates for chicken pox and meningitis. The majority of the time, children are the source of household Covid transmission: more than 70% of US household COVID spread started with a child.
  • The cost-benefit makes sense. Compared with only vaccinating those older than 65, universal vaccine recommendations were projected to prevent about 200,000 more hospitalizations and 15,000 more deaths over the next two years.
The Texas Senate has approved a ban against private businesses, including health care facilities, to establish vaccine mandates. Personally, I see that as an unreasonable on a business' right to promote a healthier, safer workplace for employees, customers, vendors, etc.

The ongoing investigations against COVID-era fraud continue, including but not restricted to:
  • federal law violations, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program; more specifically, 17 Broward (FL) Sheriff's Office employees
  • four Mid-South pastors alleged having collectively defrauded more than $950,000 from federal programs, including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Other Notes 

The blog seemed to improve over last week's numbers. There are now over 400 posts for the year, which has been achieved since 2016.

On the entertainment front I've mostly been tracking football and MLB. Mu UH Cougars and Minnesota Vikings are having off-years, the latter losing a number of close games, almost a flip from last year. Cougars almost blew a multi-score lead over West Virginia before a Hail Mary TD capped a 12 second game-ending come from behind drive; I've tweeted a link to a game summary Yoube clip. The Longhorns started off on their best winning streak in over a dozen years. And my upcoming battle of Alma Maters occurs next weekend. The Astros beat my first-love Minnesota Twins and advanced to the American League championship series starting tonight defending their championship against divisional rival Texas Rangers. (I was an Astros fan after spending my teen and young adult years in Texas, the last 6 years earning two graduate degrees at UH.)

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Post #6452 M: McClanahan on Will a New Speaker of the House Make a Difference? ; Hamas, Israel and what it means for the U.S.

 Quote of the Day

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, 
which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; 
but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.
Washington Irving  

McClanahan on Will a New Speaker of the House Make a Difference?

Hamas, Israel and what it means for the U.S.

The Debunkers DESTROY Vox on "AnTi-TrAnS LaWs"

Choose Life

Musical Interlude: #1 Hits of 2021

BTS, 'Permission to Dance' 

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Saturday, October 14, 2023

Post #6451 Commentary: "Some Thoughts on the Hamas Surprise War Criminal Assault on Israel"

 By high school I had read, of course, about Hitler's "Final Solution", the sheer evil of which staggered my imagination, up to 6 million dead Jews. There was Anne Frank's diary.  But the proverbial "picture is worth a thousand words": at some point in high school, I saw a documentary about the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp, and its images are seared into my memory: mounds of nude dead Jews, emaciated victims, a dark-haired girl with bulging eyes, all skin and bones with a haunting smile. I could not fathom the unspeakable evil of genocide. Never again!

As a devout Catholic boy and altar boy, I didn't know much about contemporary Jews. I was more curious about why Jews rejected Christ's ministry and about kosher dietary customs, which Christians don't follow. So, in high school I befriended SK, a Jew who succeeded me as valedictorian at a south Texas public high school.  One day I asked him about the restrictions against eating ham: he contemptuously glared at me, saying in a condescending tone, "I'm a REFORMED Jew." So, I learned there are different types of Jews, just like there are different types of Christians. Now, I didn't judge Jews over Christ's passion; I knew Jesus was a Jew, and these were the people He knew and loved. And God endowed each person with free will. I've come to befriend other American Jews as well, including a lovely fellow math instructor who eventually married my Navy best buddy Joe, and my project lead on a Brazilian project while we worked for a marketing research company later acquired by Equifax.

But to be honest, I've had a nuanced position about the Israel/Palestinian problem. Nothing questioning Israel's right to exist. But I remember back in primary school, the Scholastic Weekly Reader posed the question of the like if you had been forced from your home, did you have a right to return, i.e., Palestinians? And I have to admit I was somewhat empathetic to this perspective and the need for peaceful coexistence in the region.

The news of Hamas' surprise bloody attack on Israel a week ago shocked me, especially the brutal deaths of Israeli civilians. Whereas reports of beheaded babies, referenced by Biden, remain uncorroborated, but civilians, including babies, fell victim to the terrorists. But make no mistake; the USG has characterized Hamas as a terrorist organization since the late '90's, although others have restricted the designation to the militant (vs. political) wing. Hamas' original charter called for the destruction of Israel and still has refused to recognize its right to exist. Hamas' rise started in the context of the first intifada (1987) or uprising (violent resistance, boycotts, civil disobedience, etc.) ending in 1993. Frustrated by 90's diplomatic failures to establish a Palestinian state, a second intifada began in 2000, ending in 2005. Hamas won elections in Gaza in 2007 after an Israeli withdrawal. There have been skirmishes since then, including rocket attacks, kidnappings, and the 2014 Gaza war, with Israel attempting to neutralize Palestinian violence.

This is not to say Israel's responses have been beyond criticism in terms of the brutal nature of responses from a superior IDF, including numerous civilian casualties in collateral damage. Israel's response in an anticipated counterattack? It seems Israel's ultimatum for civilians to evacuate to southern Gaza is unrealistic, and cutoffs of power and fuel pose a threat to hospitals and evacuations. I tweeted earlier this week imploring Israel to minimize collateral damage and for IDF to act professionally. 

From a political principles standpoint, I'm wary of foreign entanglements, and the risk of moral hazard and/or corruption in foreign aid. there's no question that the US' largely one-sided support of Israel may complicate a regional settlement of a two-state solution.

Finally, American politics has taken a nasty turn on the crisis, especially on the GOP side:

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