Winter Olympic Bubble

Posted on by Thor

Can the Beijing Winter Olympics  bubble stop the highly transmissible Omicron variant? This will be the ultimate test of China’s zero-Covid strategy. China is where COVID-19 originated, yet, the Communist Party claims its handling of the virus is superior because of its authoritarian political system.

To limit the spread of infection, it is sealing the entire Games inside what authorities have called a “closed loop system” — a bubble completely cut off from the rest of the city.

The Beijing bubble is welcoming an estimated 11,000 people from around the world — and they will be shuttling through three competition zones up to 111 miles (180 kilometers) apart. The amount of security required to secure the bubble is staggering.

Daily COVID-19 infections among athletes and team officials at the Beijing Winter Olympics jumped to 19 on January 28, 2022 from two a day earlier, as Games organizers warned of more cases in coming days. Including the athletes and officials, 36 Games-related personnel were found to be infected — 29 when they arrived at the Beijing airport and seven already in the “closed loop” bubble that separates event personnel from the public, the organizing committee said in a statement on January 29, 2022.

Long COVID

Posted on by Thor

Though hospitalizations in America have peaked, hundreds of thousands of Americans are still testing positive every day. All people who had COVID-19 infections, whether they were hospitalized or only had slight symptoms, can experience long COVID.

Long Covid is a condition that arises after acute infection and often includes shortness of breath, fatigue, and “brain fog” but can also involve a wide range of debilitating problems in the heart, brain, lungs, gut, and other organs. These symptoms last for many months after the person initially recovers from the disease. Many doctors do not even acknowledge the existence of Long COVID, so those who suffer have no options for treatment.

The Omicron variant which is far more infectious that previous variants of COVID, seems to be causing similar symptoms as previous variants. It should not be treated as mild, and the long-term effects are still unknown. Research shows that even mild cases of COVID-19 can trigger long COVID.

Covid brain fog, is similar to “chemo brain,” which is a mind-numbing side effect that cancer patients endure when therapy to burn tumors away also inflames the brain. A person experiencing brain fog, has difficulty doing simple math, concentrating for more than a few minutes, or finding the right words.

A new study out of Israel which is not yet pier reviewed, has found that long COVID-19 symptoms are less likely in fully vaccinated people, according to Nature.

DeathSantis Puts All His Eggs in One Basket

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Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis has a one track mind. He has done little to encourage mask wearing or getting vaccinated, instead he put all his eggs in one basket by opening monoclonal Antibody treatment sites.

Monoclonal antibodies have helped in treating the Alpha and Delta variant of the virus if given early enough. But a far cheaper and simpler way would be to protect Floridians before they get infected with free masks and vaccines.

It turns out that the two widely used monoclonal antibody treatments from Regeneron and Eli Lilly, do nothing against the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Because of this the Biden administration stopped shipping the now useless treatments to Florida and other states. You don’t need to be a virologist to understand this simple idea. They DO NOT WORK against Omicron. Let me state this more simply, in a way that even a 2 year old could understand, Regeneron is USELESS against Omicron.

Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund, has $15.9 million in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceutical Inc., according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin has donated $10.75 million to a political committee that supports Ron DeathSantis.

Florida continues to do nothing to stop the spread of COVID-19 while continuing to spread doubt and misinformation about vaccines and masks. The state has deaths so far from COVID-19. When Ron DeathSantis was asked if he had gotten a booster of vaccine, he blubbered and evaded the question. When the aspiring Florida Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, of demon sperm fame, was asked if vaccines worked, he dodged, ducked denied and deflected from giving a simple yes or no answer. Democrats walked out of the confirmation hearing since they were getting no meaningful answers from the DeathSantis stooge.

Lake Baldwin Dog Park

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For the final class of my Crealde Urban Sketching Class, I met my students at the Lake Baldwin Dog Park.My goal was to get the students to think of the people and the dogs just as small elements to the overall composition.

We met at a gazebo for the lesson itself and then I set the students free to explore the area. One student even brought her dog for the experience. I did a series of sketches to explain dog anatomy so that students understood how to draw the three masses and the legs.

In my sketch you can see one of the students sitting in his artist stool over on screen left. The great thing about this park is that the dogs will come right up to you for pets and attention. I also think the dogs suspect that artist supply bags much contain treats.

I wore my mask the entire time but not a single dog owner wore any form of mask. I agree that virus particles can better dissipate outside, but some of these folks stood clustered in tight groups for long periods of time talking at each others faces. This class starts up again January 30, 2022 and it is close to being booked full.

Stealth Omicron BA.2

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A “stealth” version of Omicron cannot be distinguished from other variants using the PCR tests that public health officials deploy to judge its spread around the world. Stealth Omicron (BA.2) has many mutations in common with standard Omicron, but it lacks a particular genetic change that allows lab-based PCR tests to be used as a rough and ready means of flagging up probable cases.

Both FDA-approved lab-based and at-home tests should detect BA.2, as well as the other Omicron (sub-lineage), BA.1.

This variant has been reported to be 50% more transmissible than the original Omicron variant (BA.1) first found in South Africa which spread around the world in a matter of weeks.

BA.2 has already been detected in California, Washington, New York, Texas, Utah, New Mexico and other states. It will likely overtake Omicron as the dominant variant in America.

It’s too soon to know for sure, but there are concerns that the specific mutations identified with the BA.2 sub-type could make it more contagious or better able to evade vaccines.

Preliminary research in Denmark, where cases involving BA.2 are rising, suggest that the sub-variant may be more contagious than the original omicron strain, which was already the most transmissible known variant to date. The BA.2 sub-type accounted for 20 percent of Denmark’s Covid-19 cases at the end of December, and it jumped to 45 percent of reported cases by the second week of January. Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said this week that the BA.2 sub-variant is now dominant in the country.

So far, there is no evidence to suggest that the sub-variant causes more severe illness or symptoms, but it may be too soon to tell. More research is needed, but early reports show that vaccines are roughly as effective against BA.2 as they are against the original strain of omicron. Vaccines protect against serious illness and hospitalizations.

The United States has the highest levels of hospitalizations in the world right now partly because so many Americans chose not to get vaccinated. Hospitalizations have just peaked in America and are starting on the way down but once BA.2 spreads those numbers will likely again rise because so many people will be getting infected with the stealth Omicron variant.

No Vax No Heart

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A hospital patient with has not had the COVID vaccine and has no intention of getting vaccinated, was denied a heart transplant. The Boston hospital defended itself explaining that most hospitals around the country have similar vaccine requirements to improve the patients chance of survival.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital declined to comment on the patient’s case, citing patient privacy laws. But it pointed to a response that it posted on its website in which it said the Covid-19 vaccine is one of several immunizations required by most U.S. transplant programs, including a flu shot and hepatitis B vaccines.

The family of the patient is turning this into a political issue to raise money on GoFundMe. They have raised $77,000 as of January 27, 2022.

The hospital said research has shown that transplant recipients are at higher risk than non-transplant patients of dying from Covid-19, and that its policies are in line with the recommendations of the American Society of Transplantation and other health organizations. There is a scarcity of donor organs, so transplant centers only place patients on the waiting list whom they deem the most likely to survive with a new organ. “Given the shortage of available organs, we do everything we can to ensure that a patient who receives a transplanted organ has the greatest chance of survival,” the hospital said.

Bail

Posted on by Thor

10,000 Americans died from COVID-19 last week. Over 860,000 Americans have died so far which is three times the number of casualties from World War II. 10000 deaths are like experiencing 3 to 4 devastating plane crashes every day, for the month, with about 90 people dying in each crash.

Despite this 25% of Americans refuse to get a life saving vaccine. Some journalist on the Bill Mayer show pronounced that she is done with COVID. She used to spray the Pringles cans, (who actually eats Pringles?) She stripped her clothes off fearing COVID might be on her clothes. She thought that when she got the vaccine life would return to normal. Now, she is over it.

She is of the new group of Americans that fit into the “Vaxed and Done” camp.” She is inconvenienced and only thinks of herself.  She really isn’t thinking about the true sacrifices of doctors and nurses all across America who are burnt out from having to watch so many people needlessly die.

Media like to point out that Omicron is less deadly than Delta. In the case of the original strain of COVID, if there are 10,ooo infections, and each patient then infects 1.1 other people, and of those 0.8% might result in death, in one months time you might expect 129 deaths. If the virus is more deadly like Delta then the number of deaths might rise to 193 in a month. If the virus is 50% more contagious like Omicron then in that case there would be 978 deaths.

The virus is controllable with simple masking, distancing and vaccines. However many Americans consider this an inconvenience. America has proven incapable of rationally responding as a society. 1 out of every 375 Americans has died from COVID and they continue to do so. a mask is 25 cents and the vaccine is free, yet that is a bride too far. Another 50,000 to 300,000 Americans will die from COVID by March 2023.

Doctors and nurses are trying to bail out the life boat while others not only refuse to bail but are actively trying to sink the boat.

William Cranshaw wrote in 1625, “Abhor more that poison wicked opinions that the pestilence us not infectious, that each can do whatever he wants, that avoiding persons and places, and diligent use of means for preservation, are needless and of no use…”

Supreme Court Wants Workers Dead

Posted on by Thor

On January 13, 2022 the Supreme Court blocked president Joe Biden  from enforcing a sweeping vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies. The mandate required that workers at businesses with 100 or more employees get vaccinated or submit a negative Covid test weekly to enter the workplace. It also required unvaccinated workers to wear masks indoors at work

The rulings came three days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency measure for businesses started to take effect.

Liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, writing that the majority has usurped the power of Congress, the president and OSHA without legal basis. “In the face of a still-raging pandemic, this Court tells the agency charged with protecting worker safety that it may not do so in all the workplaces needed,” they said in their dissent. “As disease and death continue to mount, this Court tells the agency that it cannot respond in the most effective way possible. Without legal basis, the Court usurps a decision that rightfully belongs to others. It undercuts the capacity of the responsible federal officials, acting well within the scope of their authority, to protect American workers from grave danger,” they wrote.

President Joe Biden, in a statement, said the Supreme Court chose to block requirements that are life-saving for workers. Biden called on states and businesses to step up and voluntarily institute vaccination requirements to protect workers, customers and the broader community.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has decided it is time to get the hell out of dodge. He is retiring.

After Pulse: Jennifer Foster

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Jennifer Foster is the owner of a company called Foster Productions which creates digital content. She is involved with the One Orlando Alliance. She had been active in the LGBTQ community since he moved to Orlando in 2001.

She started an Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in Orlando in 2004. She was on the local board for 10 years and on the national board for 8 years. It was a full time volunteer job. Once a month community members would meet at Pulse. Any time they needed to have an event they would ask Barbara Poma if they could have it at Pulse. There was room for socializing in one room, conversation in another and someone on a microphone in another. They always said yes. HRC Connect was a monthly LGBT community event. It got bigger an bigger.

Jennifer’s phone woke her up at about 4:30AM On June 12, 2016. She heard it vibrating. She started reading her text messages. A friend was asking if is she was OK. He had also left a voice mail in which he was sobbing. He needed to be sure she and her partner were not at Pulse. At 5AM she was still scrolling through messages and realized they needed to turn on the TV. Something was wrong. They sat in the living room trying to make sense of everything. It felt like a personal attack on her life, on her marriage, on the LGBT community, everything she had been fighting for. It was obvious that this was targeted at Pulse. It was Latin Night. What friends might have been there? She started texting and calling to check to be sure people were OK. Nothing made sense.

She called her tight knit group of friends that morning. Blood was needed so they went to One Blood on Michigan. They stood in line with thousands of other people. Cases of water were unloaded, they were given bananas and cookies, and sun block. She took pictures with her phone of the humanity, the beautiful outpouring our community, the response. There were brown people, and white people and gay people and straight people and old people and young people it was our community. This happened to all of us. The cities and the community’s response bears this out. They could not donate blood. They were sent home.

Back at home they drank wine and cried and ranted. They couldn’t stop watching the news. She realized that the community wasn’t ready for something like this. She called a community leader and they met the next day putting together lists of organizations and figuring out who ran what, and who knew, who and how everybody was working together, and what they were doing. That list didn’t exist. Everyone was out there doing their own thing. They started calling people and asking what they needed. Vigils were being planned and every organization called the mayor but all these organizations began overtaxing City Hall with all their separate  requests and demands. They were trying to create a funnel for information so the city could make an announcement once. Everyone’s fears and misconceptions were addressed. They got all the organizations in a room so they could ask questions. That was the first meeting of what is now the One Orlando Alliance on the Thursday after, the 16th of June. People met to communicate, collaborate. and help solve problems, to share information. to avoid duplication of things that were happening. It was a way to manage the chaos.

There were 18 organizations to start. 33 people showed up. People were there from the City, the County, the FBI, the Department of Justice, Seminole County Emergency Response Team, a team from Edelman. The goal was to create an equal hierarchy. At that meeting they were able to connect leaders with each other. By the end they all decided they have to work together. There was pre-Pulse but this was a post Pulse world. They set up a closed Facebook group to stay connected. All this was to happen behind the scenes. They were a coalition of community leaders. The strength and resolve created that day continues.

 

Crealde Urban Sketching Class

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Starting January 30, 2022 I will be teaching 6 Urban Sketching classes on Sundays starting at 9:30AM at Crealde School of Art. These sketches were a demo to sow how to do panoramas and think about foreground, mid ground and background in each sketch. I find that by having students work smaller they tend to finish more sketches and some might finish a spread like this in the course of a class.

I walk around each time I finish a stage of each sketch to show my progress and how long I take for each step. When I meet each student one on one I then often share quick sketch suggestions for the scene they are working on at the time.

We work outside which is a safer working environment. I wear masks even outside at this point in the pandemic. I have upgraded to wearing a KN-95 held in place with the cloth mask Pam made for me right at the start of the pandemic. I let students remove their mask if they are socially distanced outside but insist they put it back on if they get within 6 feet of another student or myself.

For a second time Pam and I hopefully have dodged a COVID bullet. A co-worker tested positive but an at home test has thankfully shown a negative result so far. A second at home test will likely be taken today. These test are expensive so we need to figure out how President Biden’s Plan to have insurance companies cover the cost works out in practice. I suspect lots of robo calls and red tape.

Anyway it is nice to get out of the studio on Sundays and enjoy the sun and breeze while sketching with like minded students. It is a breath of fresh air even if I am wearing a mask.