Saturday, July 24, 2021

And another day of grim months ahead, Covid-caused brain damage, Australian protests, a drug-resistant superbug fungus, ‘Havana Syndrome,’ Team US fencers, Team Germany’s unitards, and Texas goes way off the rails comes to a close:

“If you can’t even say the phrase white supremacist fascism, then you have no clue what’s driving an existential threat to democracy. The fact that most of the folks behind it don’t consider themselves fascists or white supremacists doesn’t change the nature of the movement.” — Walter Shaub

Deaths

US: 626,713 (+55)

World: 4,167,937 (+8406)

Cases

US: 35,184,671

World: 194,372,584 (+361,588)

Grim months projected as delta tears through Oregon. Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist who worked on the grimmer forecast, called the recent rise in cases and hospitalizations starting in summer -- rather than in fall or winter -- “scary and alarming.” That’s because coronaviruses usually take hold in the colder months of fall and winter. “I wasn’t afraid two months ago. I’m afraid now,” Mokdad said. “I’m double-masking again when I’m indoors, and I’m fully vaccinated.”

Early details of brain damage in COVID-19 patients. “A key question is whether it is just the decrease in oxygen to the brain that is causing these white matter changes or whether the virus is itself attacking the white matter.”

Thousands of people took to the streets of Sydney and other Australian cities on Saturday to protest lockdown restrictions amid another surge in cases. — Narrator: In the end it wasn’t nuclear war or aliens from another planet that destroyed civilization on Earth. It was a virus. And the people’s reluctance to help one another eliminate that virus.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) says he wants to “prosecute” Anthony Fauci should the GOP regain control of the House in 2022. Cawthorn's remark underscores how Fauci has become central to GOP attacks on the Biden administration and the government's handling of the coronavirus, even as the delta variant sweeps through unvaccinated communities and it becomes clearer and clearer that vaccinations are a key to stomping out the disease. -- Many in the GQP are way off their rocker.

Outbreaks of a drug-resistant superbug fungus spread in two U.S. cities, CDC reports. Outbreaks of a drug-resistant "superbug" fungus spread among patients in hospitals and long-term care facilities in Texas and Washington, D.C., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. The fungus, Candida auris, preys on people with weakened immune systems. The CDC said evidence suggests these cases involved person-to-person transmission, which would be a first for the U.S.

Colorado officials confirm 10-year-old died from complications linked to plague. House noted the plague can be treated with antibiotics if caught early on, and people should look for signs of high fever and/or swollen lymph nodes.

 

As many as 200 Americans have now reported possible symptoms of 'Havana Syndrome,' officials say. Almost half of those reporting symptoms are linked to the CIA, say officials, with possible cases in Berlin and Vienna and on every continent but Antarctica.

'Insidious,' 'draconian,' 'cruel': New Texas abortion law empowers vigilantism, experts say. Abortion advocates in Texas say the law will encourage their opponents to flood courts with lawsuits that will cripple their ability to operate. That law, known as S.B. 8, bans abortions in Texas as early as six weeks into pregnancy — before many women even know they are pregnant. But unlike every other anti-abortion law, Texas' unique ban will be enforced through private citizens' lawsuits, rather than through state government. It includes first-of-its-kind language that allows anyone, even someone outside Texas, to sue an abortion provider or anyone else who helped someone get an abortion after the six-week limit for at least $10,000 per defendant. -- The people that run Texas are fucking whacked. I feel so bad for the people I know that live there.

The US Center for SafeSport was tasked with investigating sexual abuse claims at Olympic programs. But in the first Summer Games since the agency’s creation, Team USA fencers say the system failed them. Acknowledging the severity of the allegations facing Hadzic, USA Fencing, the athletic federation in charge of selecting the country’s Olympic competitors, created a “safety plan” to keep him away from women and out of the Olympic Village: He flew in on a separate plane from his teammates, is staying at a hotel 30 minutes away from the other athletes, and won't be allowed to practice alongside women teammates. After he appealed those conditions, the entire roster of Team USA fencers signed a letter demanding the restriction stay in place. — WTF?

The Powerful Story Behind the German Gymnastics Team’s Unitards. As team Germany headed to podium training today, they showcased a different kind of competition gear. Not the sleeveless or long-sleeved leotard which has been the standard since the 1930s, but a long-legged unitard. A new sight at the Olympic Games, sure, but Team Germany has been rocking them since earlier this year. Their outfits are, according to the German Gymnastics Federation, a statement against, “against sexualization in gymnastics.”

Almost half of gay and bi men have been sexually assaulted, troubling new research finds. Notably, 37 per cent of those who had been sexually assaulted said they felt they couldn’t talk to anybody about their experience afterwards. More than a third of sexual assault survivors were targeted in a bar or a pub.

Federal prosecutors in R. Kelly’s sex trafficking case say he had sexual contact with an underage boy in addition to girls. The government wants jurors in his upcoming sex trafficking trial to hear those claims.

Young Black athletes are launching a mental health revolution. Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, Raven Saunders and others have publicly taken their mental health into their hands in a way never seen before in elite sports.

Jackie Mason, comic who perfected amused outrage, dies at 93.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.