Sierra Nevada Mountains

It is estimated the Sierra Nevada Mountains have received as much as 7 feet of snow with the latest storms on the west coast.

A few of things:

There MAY be great skiing as soon as the roads are clear, but, be cautious of very loose powder. 

The rangers will have to scope out any potential avalanches before skiing begins.

Call ahead to hotels and/or listen to any radio broadcast known to carry ACCURATE road conditions as well as slope conditions. It takes awhile to remove 7 feet of snow from mountain roads.

Last, but, hardly least; there maybe people stranded and possibly deaths if people braved the snow to leave the area. All in all there are real life reasons to be cautious.

That all said; enjoy the holidays. 

The Democracy Summit, not necessarily a peace summit with those that would destroy democracy on a global basis.

President Biden gave a beautiful speech yesterday at the beginning of the summit with 110 countries that embrace and love democracy. He is correct, democracy is under attack. This summit is vital to the outcomes of free people. It is intended to be unifying and strong. Within that resolve is an understanding there are great dangers from those that hate democracy and would rather live in anarchy or under communists and dictators, sometimes both.

This comes at a time when the Indo-Pacific region is under a direct threat from China with it's expansionist borders and Russia which cannot accept the end of the Soviet Union. President Biden has offered greater intelligence sharing to bring the democracies in the Pacific the ability to understand their threat better.

Currently, USA companies involved in a major manufacturing hub in China that produces batteries, clothing, plastics and textile dyes are suspending any interest there due to an oppressive Chinese government. These products are often destined for the USA. There are several emergent problems, a loss of income to USA companies and a loss of product to the USA market place, either wholesale or retail. This is not inflation either. This is the Chinese government forcing USA companies to abandon THEIR supply chain.

The USA needs to ask these companies what they need in repatriating their much needed supply chain and the Secretary of Commerce should provide incentives to develop the manufacturing here in the USA.

All this talk about democarcy is not frivilous. It is vital to our lives.

The United States of America has a youth mental health problem.

As a rule young people don't die in numbers such as this from COVID.

December 13, 2021
By Madeline Mitchell

Anderson High School students and staff (click here) had only just begun to grieve the loss of senior Brock Vogel when, three days later, another senior student died unexpectedly in her sleep.

Skylar Due was 18, according to the Hamilton County Coroner's Office. An investigation into her death is ongoing, officials with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office told The Enquirer Monday afternoon.

On Monday, Forest Hills Superintendent Scot Prebles canceled end of the semester exams at both Anderson and Turpin high schools.

"The loss of student life is tragic. Moments like these are hard to understand and process for students as well as staff, parents and community members," the district wrote in a Monday statement. The full statement can be found at the end of this story....

...This was the second Anderson High School death in one week, and the fourth Anderson student to die in less than a year....

Reuters is reporting about Omicron and it's ability to skirt immunity.

The double vaccinated people of South Africa were 93 percent safe before Omicron, that has dropped to 70 percent. Omicron is able to still cause illness of a double vaccinated person 23 percent of the time.

The unvaccinated are no more safe from Omicron, than Covid-19 or Delta. In the South African study, the immunity from Delta was compromised in 13 percent of the cases. Delta is successful in circumventing the double vaccianted 13 percent of the time.

The largest number of people hospitalized at risk for death are the unvaccinated. 

Children are hospitalized at a 20 percent higher rate with Omicron.

One other fact that came out in the South African study is that double vaccinated became ill at a rate of 62 percent with Omicron. Obviously not all were hospitalized.

December 14, 2021
By Alexander Winning and Wendell Roelf

(Poster click here)

Johannesburg - Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine (click here) appear to have given 70% protection against hospitalisation in South Africa in recent weeks, according to a major real-world study which suggests weaker efficacy against the new Omicron variant.

The study released on Tuesday by South Africa's largest private health insurance administrator, Discovery Health, was based on more than 211,000 positive COVID-19 test results. Around 78,000 of those results from Nov. 15 to Dec. 7 were attributed to Omicron.

The 78,000 results are not confirmed Omicron cases, meaning the study cannot offer conclusive findings about the variant labelled "of concern" by the World Health Organization and reported in more than 60 countries....

Humiliating teachers in front of their students. The job isn't difficult the way it is, now, teachers are beggers.