Alien Things

Posted on by Thor

North Korea claims that “Alien Things” are to blame for it’s COVID-19 “Fever” Outbreak. South Korean activist for years have flown balloons across the border which distributed pamphlets that were critical of Kim Jong Un. The dictator is furious that this activity was never stopped. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in North Korea, the activists have been airlifting masks and pain killers to its suffering northern neighbor.

Kim Jong Un claims that people who touched one of these balloon care packages became infected by COVID-19 and spread it to the rest of the nation. The CDC has pointed out that COVID-19 is spread through aerosolized particles. Though infection through touch is possible is is far less likely. At the start of the pandemic I was using antiseptic wipes to disinfect all incoming groceries but that practicewas pushed to the wayside due to the more recent findings. A mask is far more important that wiping down groceries.

A far more likely reason for the vast spread of the virus in North Kora would be the Military parade superspreader event held by Kim Jung Un for promote his missile program. North Korea has reported some 4.7 million cases of “The Fever” among it’s population of 26 Million. Since the dictator wants to save face, that number is obviously under reported.

North Korea is a nation that is completely vaccinated and therefor very susceptible to the worst possible outcome from the fast spread of the virus. President Joe Biden and Covax have offered to airlift in vaccines by Kim Jung Un claimed that the North Korean Epidemic Prevention Center had everything under control. The health Ministry is clueless and has done nothing to protect citizens. News of the horrific outcomes has been downplayed by the Communist regime. We may never know just how many people suffered needlessly and died.

North Korea’s Epidemic Prevention Center claimed that an 18 year old soldier and a kindergartner came into contact with “Alien Things” in the town Ipoh near the southern border. They later tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The nation has stressed that anyone who finds “Alien Things” must notify authorities immediately so that the objects can be safely removed.

By laying blame of “Alien things” flown across the border, the agency hopes to ease public complaints about the absolute failing of the nation to handle the health crisis while also echoing past complaints about the balloon aid program. When West Berlin was cut off by Communists Russia after WWII, a comprehensive airlift program was initiated to help the citizens of that city.  South Korea in a much smaller way was trying to offer assistance to it’s besieged neighbor.

3 Commercial Plane Crashes a Day

Posted on by Thor

The United States is experiencing the equivalent death rate of 3 commercial plane crashes a day due to COVID-19. Your average commercial aircraft might have about 90 passengers on board. In a horrific crash all 90 might die and that is happening 3 times every day as most wrongly think the pandemic is over.

The pandemic is not over. The virus is till an ongoing challenge. The pandemic is not like a hurricane, or other natural disaster that quickly passes, it is an ongoing war and the end is not yet in sight. How the war ends is unclear.

In January of 2022 over 2 thousand people were dying every day, now hundreds are dying every day. Is that success?  Over 200,000 children have lost parents and care givers due to the virus. Is this  acceptable collateral damage? For those who are done with the pandemic, the answer is a resounding yes!

There is a lot of virus out there right now. Honestly it keeps hitting closer to home, with people I know getting infected. BA4 and BA5 are to blame. These new variants have a heightened immune evasion. Previous infection from the original Omicron variant offers little to no protection against re-infection. Re-infectionss can result in serious infections, hospitalizations, long COVID and deaths. Portugal is experiencing a surge in cases due to BA4 and BA5 and the deaths rates doubled to equal the worst days of the pandemic for them. Will the same happen in America? Only time will tell. Hospitalization have been slowly rising but not spiking like the last surge in January 2022. Israel is also experiencing a surge and they have reported their highest case rates since April 2022. Seriously ill patients in Israel have doubled in the past week.

Complacency and ignorance are our worst enemy. Vaccines are offering less protection against BA4 and BA5. Breakthrough deaths are becoming more common due to waning immunity and the ability of these new variants to evade our immune response. Before the Omicron variants became predominate, vaccinated individuals over the age of 65 were 9 time less likely to die of COVID. Those who were vaccinated and boosted were 20 times less likely to die. In the last 60 days, with BA4 and BA5 predominant, vaccinated people without boosters were only 1.1 times less likely to die. Vaccinated with boosters are only 3 times less likely to die. The odds of survival if infected have substantially dropped.

 

 

 

Newborn COVID Neurodeficiancy

Posted on by Thor

COVID-19 may affect a baby’s brain development in the womb. A study by the European Psychiatric Association and the University of Barcelona found babies exposed to COVID-19 in the womb had a higher risk of neurodevelopmental changes. Essentially, babies born to mothers who had COVID-19 while pregnant have a higher risk of their brains developing differently than babies who were not exposed to COVID in the womb.

The changes studied showed infants born to “infected mothers” had “greater difficulty in controlling head and shoulder movement.” The study said it suggests COVID-19 may have had an effect on motor functions for infants born to COVID-19-infected mothers.

A summary of the study produced by the European Congress of Psychiatry said the research showed babies born to infected mothers had “greater difficulties in relaxing and adapting their bodies when they are being held,” compared to other infants born to mothers who had not had COVID-19.

The infants were tested after birth to measure their movements and behaviors. “We found that certain elements of the NBAS measurement were changed in 6-week-old infants who had been exposed to the SARS-COV-2 virus. Effectively they react slightly differently to being held, or cuddled,” Águeda Castro Quintas, University of Barcelona, Network Center for Biomedical Research in Mental Health, said.

Research is ongoing, and this study was rather small, so a larger study can get a better idea of just how prevalent this condition is.

Vegas Scream

Posted on by Thor

Where do the unvaccinated go to gamble? You guessed right, that would be Las Vegas. COVID-19 emergency declarations for Nevada ended on May 20, 2022 as the public health agency for metro Las Vegas noted that the pandemic isn’t over.

While most of the state’s pandemic measures, including business restrictions and mask mandates, have already been lifted, the Southern Nevada Health District said it was important to remind the public that the virus that causes COVID-19 continued to circulate.

“Cases are currently increasing, and new variants are emerging,” said Dr. Fermin Leguen, chief medical officer for the district. “It is as important as ever to protect yourself and others by getting fully vaccinated and boosted if you are eligible.”

CES a tech convention was held in Las Vegas marking a return to in person conventions. The show reported attendance of over 40,000 people, with 30% of those attendees traveling from outside the U.S. Immediately afterward, about 70 show goers from Korea who attended  tested positive for COVID-19. “Many people who attended the CES international electronic product fair in Las Vegas, last week are testing positive for COVID-19,” said Son Young-rae, a South Korean senior health official. It is, of course, impossible to say exactly whether the people were infected on the show floor or in some other part of Las Vegas, such as casinos, where mask wearing is much less common.

Nevada has had over 10,909 deaths attributed to COVID-19 and over 744,000 reported infections. It is a great place to get infected and then return to your home state and infect friends and family.

COVIDCON Superspreader

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Seth Meyers  told the thousands who had packed Radio City Music Hall for NBCUniversal’s presentation, at the Upfronts, “What a historic room to be able to tell people you got Covid in.”

The NBCUniversal upfront, which kicked off proceedings at Radio City Music Hall with elaborate production numbers involving dozens of performers, was a largely mask-free affairs

Ten days later, Covid cases were sweeping through the ranks of those who attended the marathon of events in New York. Top-level executives at virtually all of the major networks and studios were impacted, along with support staff that worked on the presentations as well as media buyers and reporters who attended the string of events.

It is likely the largest Covid superspreader event in the senior ranks of the TV industry since the start of the pandemic.

The majority of attendees did not wear masks most of the time. None of the non-affiliated guests were required to take a Covid test throughout the week. Vax cards were mandated at all venues. On May 16, 2022 New York City health officials strongly recommended that people wear masks when they were in densely populated indoor spaces. But they didn’t go as far as mandating this, and for the next couple of days, there were not a lot of masks seen at the events targeting ad buyers.

So inviting senior studio executives, talent and ad buyers was a great way to spread the virus. How might you infect as many of the worlds billionaires as possible? You invite them to Davos, Sweden for the World Economic Forum. Davos returned to an in-person meeting format this year. Videos I saw showed mask less crowds huddled together gleefully spreading deals and the virus. They might be rich but that doesn’t mean they are smart.

COVID-19 Dating Game

Posted on by Thor

Your COVID-19 vaccination status is now a deal breaker for many singles. Your vaccination status can determine moral compatibility.

If you are dating a shlub who hadn’t gotten around to making a vaccination appointment, then that person cares only for themselves and isn’t very empathetic to the  health risks to people around them. It is a sure sign of moral ineptitude.

Across the country, about 41% of daters say they would not consider dating someone who is unvaccinated, while just over half say it wouldn’t matter to them, according to a Pew Research poll released in early April 2022. Only 2% report that they would only date an unvaccinated person.

About half of singles in their 20s and 30s are vaccinated, with some requiring that of potential partners and others having a more laissez-faire attitude. On the other hand most singles above 40 have gotten their shots, and they definitely want that in a match, too. OK Cupid, Bumble, and Tinder have added functionality where you can put your vaccination status onto your dating profile. The sites will even boost your exposure as a perk of getting the shot. Dating.com said 86% of its users list the vaccine as a deal breaker – no shot, no date. If someone is unvaccinated, then swipe left.

 

Naso Vax

Posted on by Thor

Only about 30% of Americans are fully vaccinated and boosted. That means about 70% of Americans are frightened of needles, or they are anti vax lunatics. People are tired of COVID-19. They are done with the virus although the virus is not done with us. The virus is becoming more transmissible with each new variant.

The vaccines that are available have turned the deadly COVID virus into something more akin to the common cold for the fully  vaccinated people who get infected. While these vaccines are great at protecting against severe illness and death, they cannot stop vaccinated people from contracting the virus and experiencing mild symptoms and possibly spreading the virus to others.

To help prevent mild COVID infections, what is needed are vaccines that protect us where infections start: in the mucus membranes of the nose, mouth, and throat. And for that, we are likely going to need nasal vaccines.

More than a dozen clinical trials with nasal sprays are under way, The Guardian reported, but the development process is tricky. Nasal vaccines must create an immune response but not be potent enough to make people sick. If the dose it too weak then the vaccine will not work. This sweet spot becomes even harder to find when some people already have some immunity to COVID from past infections.

A nasal vaccine could be more easily manufactured and distributed because it’s stored in a regular refrigerator rather than ultra-cold temperatures like the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines. A nasal dose could be produced for about 30 cents compared to $30 for a Moderna or Pfizer dose. Needle pansies might be more inclined to get vaccinated if they can just spray it up their nose.

Lake Eola: Falun Dafa

Posted on by Thor

I have started working with a new student on location and it is an opportunity to get out of the studio and explore the world with my sketchbook again. We met near the red pagoda at Lake Eola.

I decided to keep masked even though we were outside. My reasoning is that I have no idea when a person might get curious about my sketch and stand close behind me, breaking down my neck. Pam always jokes about some woman resting her huge boobs on my shoulder as she watched me sketch one time. I discovered there is an added benefit to wearing the mask in that people tend to stay clear, perhaps thinking I might be infected.

For the two hour duration of this sketch, I only saw one other person wearing a mask. Lake Eola was packed since the farmers market was in full swing. It would seem Orlando is done with COVID-19 although the virus is not done with Orlando.

There were 59,430 new coronavirus cases recorded over the last two weeks among Florida residents, bringing the cumulative total close to 6 million. With 230 more fatalities on record, 74,060 Florida residents have died so far.  Deaths have been dropping with the new BA.2 variant of COVID but there are reports that long COVID is more common with the new variant. Positivity increased over the past two weeks from 6.1% to 9%. On the risk assessment map of the United States Florida ticked up from yellow to orange today. The state reports only show Florida resident cases and exclude non-residents cases, which are no longer available. The state works hard to promote ignorance. Local NPR reporter Nichole Darden Creston tested positive for COVID-19 this week. The last time I saw her, she handed me a travel pack of free tissues to promote WMFE.

Falun Dafa is an ancient, high-level Chinese cultivation practice which uses gentle movements and meditation to cultivate the body, mind, and spirit. None of the practitioners were masked. It consists of five simple exercises that can be performed by anyone, regardless of age, physical condition, infection status or prior experience. The practice is meant to relieve stress and create harmony, as it cleanses the mind and body, and focuses on increasing wisdom, morality, and promoting spiritual growth. Falun Dafa is guided by the characteristic of the universe: Truthfulness–Benevolence–Forbearance. The practice began in China which is now allowing citizens to stave to death in it’s zero COVID policy lock downs.

As people went through the movements, a sales person handed out pamphlets and offered free COVID shaped plastic flower sculptures. I was offered a flower but don’t really need one right now.

Prom Superspreaders

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ABC News reported that close to 100 students tested positive for COVID-19 after attending their High School Prom. Masks were optional but “strongly recommended,” for the prom held at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

San Mateo High School held the party on April 9, 2022 about 18 miles from the school. 90 out of the nearly 600 students who attended tested positive for the virus.

According to San Mateo Union High School District Superintendent Kevin Skelly, all of the cases were mild.

Though the BA.2 variant is highly contagious, it is not having a major impact on hospitalizations or deaths.

Despite the outbreak, school leaders and students said having the prom was worth it to provide a sense of normalcy during the pandemic. Other schools in the district will be adding more mitigation measures to their proms so they don’t experience similar outbreaks. The plan is to test students attending the prom to find out of they are COVID positive before they spread the virus. This isn’t rocket science. It is clear that school leaders don’t give a crap about student health.

Stealth Omicron Special Operation

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COVID-19 is re-grouping in the North East for a renewed campaign of it’s “Special Operation.” The so-called Stealth Omicron (BA.2) variant is now the dominant COVID-19 strain in the United States, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

American however have let their guard down and turned their back on the enemy allowing for a full unchecked frontal attack.

A Trump appointed Federal Judge in Florida blocked the CDC’s masking guidelines on airlines. The CDC itself re-evaluated it’s guidance for the maps that shows where outbreaks are occurring. On top of that people are no longer using COVID testing sites instead relying on less accurate at home tests. Americans will simply not see this next wave coming. America has again decided to remain blind in fighting an enemy that can not be seen.

The Biden White House requested 22.5 Billion dollars to fight COVID-19 but that was cut down to 10 Billion allowing for no intentional aid. As long as the virus is anywhere in the world, it is everywhere in the world. This is a simple idea that legislators do not seem to understand. Of course all this aid will come too   late as the BA.2 variant begins it’s exponential growth in America in the coming weeks.