caucus99percent

free-range politics, organic community

COVID Fatigue

Everyone is sick of COVID, literally and figuratively. With the Trumps' infection it is worth looking at the state of the pandemic. This winter appears to ensure continued spread. Today, we'll examine some new treatments and understandings of the nature of the virus and its disease expression. I'm not a doctor, I'm trained as a soil scientist, so take this as my understanding based on my research and not as advice. The most critical factor is age, something we can't control, however many other factors are... things like: optimizing our health, protecting ourselves and others when out and about, and being aware of best treatments if we become symptomatic. Much of this essay will be review, but there's also some new research and I hope I've put together an organized and logical approach to the pandemic. Let's begin with encouraging news which I rarely hear discussed. Up to 50% of us may have immunity already because of exposure to other corona-viruses.

“Our team also tested uninfected healthy individuals and found SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in more than 50 percent of them. This could be due to cross-reactive immunity obtained from exposure to other coronaviruses, such as those causing the common cold, or presently unknown animal coronaviruses. It is important to understand if this could explain why some individuals are able to better control the infection,” said Professor Antonio Bertoletti, from Duke-NUS’ Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) program, who is the corresponding author of this study.

President Donald Trump is currently in Walter Reed Hospital, being treated for Covid19, the infection caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus. According to the NY Times:

One of the therapies being given to Mr. Trump, a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies made by Regeneron, is in the earliest phase of testing and there is only a recent news release from the company on its effectiveness.

Why Are Democrats Praying for the Speedy Recovery of a “Fascist Dictator”?

Glenn Greenwald put up an interesting piece about the bizarre media narrative where he nails what bothered me so much about it, I've decided to include some excerpts from his article:

THE TYPICAL REACTION to the death of a tyrant — whether by revolutionary violence or natural causes — is not one of grief and sadness but joyous celebration. It is not hard to understand why: when a nation and its oppressed citizenry are finally liberated from the suffocating, savage grip of fascist dictatorship, they feel joy for themselves, their families and the future of their nation. That is the same reason people have always hoped for, or work toward, the death of despots: they want to rid themselves of those who impose tyranny on them....

Yet in the U.S., a radically different dynamic is playing out. Over the past several years, but particularly in the months heading into the 2020 election, it has become extremely common for prominent Democrats and their media allies to refer to President Trump as a dictator, a fascist, a tyrant hellbent on destroying U.S. democracy, a genocidal racist, and even a Nazi. And yet, the overwhelming reaction in those mainstream precincts to the news that the fascist dictator has contracted a potentially lethal virus is to hope and pray that he makes a speedy recovery whereby he can resume his democracy-destroying, genocidal, tyrannical, fascist rule.

And a few of her homies are dreamin' along with her...

The darkness begins to descend, so a decent clam chowder seems fitting.

Have a Covid free evening (unlike Dear Leader).

We all know the GOP is the party of Big Business.
This one party has pushed through almost all the largest and most significant deregulation and dereform bills of the last few decades.
Just look at how they bent over backwards for Big Business.

Deregulated Airlines

Deregulated Railroads

Here is a comprehensive article by a self-described Nagorno-Karabakh nerd, including recent and past history along with our policy challenges. Well worth a full read, from Antiwar.com, by the refreshingly common sense journalism of Dan Sjursen.

https://original.antiwar.com/Danny_Sjursen/2020/10/01/no-dog-in-the-figh...

WSWS journalist Thomas Scripp’s Oct. 2, 2020 overview of the proceedings: Assange’s extradition hearing concludes at London’s Old Bailey, with decision due January 4’

A few chilling passages:

“Julian Assange’s extradition hearing concluded yesterday as it began, with a denial of his legal right to a fair trial. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser refused to admit additional evidence on the US government’s flagrant abuse of due process.

When the evidentiary phase of the hearing opened four weeks ago, Baraitser refused the defence’s request that she excise additional allegations made against Assange at the eleventh hour by US prosecutors, in a superseding indictment. She refused a subsequent application made by the defence for an adjournment, to allow them to respond to the new indictment. Her ruling yesterday renders any challenge to this all but impossible.” […]