The icefields, glaciers, sea ice, ice shelves, ice terraces and ice caps were there for a reason.

4 February 2022

A closeup view of the top of Everest, with South Col, south summit and Hillary Step

Climate change (click here) is causing the highest glacier on Mount Everest to melt at a rapid pace, a new study has found.

Researchers led by the University of Maine found that the South Col Glacier has lost more than 180ft (54m) of thickness in the last 25 years.

The glacier, which sits around 7,906m (25,938 ft) above sea-level, is thinning 80 times faster than it first took the ice to form on the surface.

The rate of decline has been blamed on warming temperatures and strong winds.

Scientists leading the study found that since the 1990s, ice that took around 2,000 years to form has melted away.

They also noted that the glacier's thick snowpack has been eroded, exposing the underlying black ice to the sun and accelerating the melting process.

Dr Mariusz Potocki, one of the study's lead researchers, said that the findings suggested "that the South Col Glacier may be on the way out - it may already be a 'relic' from an older, colder, time".

Another author of the report, Dr Tom Matthews, a climate scientist from Kings College London, observed to the BBC that there had been no single change in the region's climate to cause the surge in melting.

"Instead, the steady uptick in temperatures eventually pushes the glacier across a threshold, and suddenly everything changes," he said....

Ice (click here) that took around 2,000 years to form on the South Col Glacier has melted in around 25 years, which means it has thinned out around 80 times faster than it formed.

Tornadoes are now accompanying major storms.

Official tornado season begins in April at the earliest. The March equinox occurs every year on the 20th or 21st day of the month. That is when the direct solar rays cross over the Equator and concentrate heat on the northern hemisphere.

When Earth's troposphere was normal the heat would be the beginning of tornado season about a month later. But, this is the first days of February and we are seeing tornadoes brought with major storms that kill and destroy property. This is a new paradigm for the USA and it needs to be taken seriously. Basements to homes are no longer an option if tornado sirens are muted by chronic low pressure systems in the way of a storm.

This occurrence reminds me of the tornadoes that accompany hurricanes. This is real trouble for average Americans. They will be unaware that the railroad they are hearing is the one with the train or the impending tornado.

February 5, 2022
By Leigh Morgan

The tornado count from Thursday’s round of severe weather now stands at five. (click here)

The National Weather Service in Birmingham confirmed two additional tornadoes after doing storm surveys on Saturday. Both tornadoes were EF-0s and both were in Elmore County.

The weather service had previously confirmed three EF-2 tornadoes in parts of Sumter, Bibb, Greene, Hale and Tuscaloosa counties.

One of those tornadoes, in Hale County near Sawyerville, killed one person and injured eight others, according to weather service reports....

This FEMA announcement is for the December tornadoes in Kentucky.

February 5, 2022

A public notice is now available (click here) that addresses FEMA’s intention to reimburse eligible applicants in 23 counties in Kentucky for costs to repair and/or replace facilities damaged by the Dec. 10-11, 2021, tornadoes.

The notice is now posted on FEMA’s Kentucky disaster website at https://www.fema.gov/disaster-federal-register-notice/dr-4630-ky-public-notice-001; it will also be posted to the Kentucky Emergency Management website.

The public notice describes proposed activities that may affect historic properties and activities and critical actions that may affect wetlands and floodplains.

The president approved a disaster declaration Dec. 12 for the tornadoes....

February 1, 2022

By Erich Fisher

Alissa Wolfgram, left, and Isaac Wolfgram, right survey their backyard Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. Most of the remains of the roof of their rural Racine home was thrown in the backyard when it was struck by a tornado Dec. 15, 2021. This portion of the roof heavily gouged the ground of the yard.

Rochester - A storm so great it has its own Wikipedia page. (click here)

That was one of many details the National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wis., presented during a webinar Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, about the storm system that tore through the Midwest, including southeastern Minnesota, on Dec. 15, 2021.

“It’s turning out to be one of the biggest tornado outbreaks in US history,” said meteorologist Todd Shea.

When the dust finally settled, 118 tornadoes were counted in the Midwest, the fourth-largest outbreak in U.S. history. In the area covered by the La Crosse weather station, there were 27 tornadoes — 22 in southern Minnesota and five in Wisconsin.

For Minnesota, it was the first time tornadoes had touched down in December....

Considering the tragedy of nursing homes during the pandemic, it is wise to advocate for home care and not institutionalization.

It is easy to find Americans in instiutionalized care without a family advocate or the knowledge of an ombudsman to call to be rescued. This is not unique to California. There are programs in other states already engaged that maintain the elderly and disabled at home for less cost than if they were in a nursing home.

Rehabilitation facilities should not turn into permanent housing.

February 6, 2022
By Jesse Bedayn

Bradley Fisher, a 62-year-old retired mechanic, (click here) lived in a Bay Area nursing home for 14 years.

Entering at age 39, Fisher had been partially paralyzed when bone spurs severed tendons in his spine. After a few years of rehabilitation, Fisher said, he could have lived at home with proper care.

“You don’t need to be here,” Fisher remembers a certified nursing assistant telling him around 2005, seven years in, as he sat in his wheelchair in the facility’s cafeteria. “You got all your faculties.”

“Yeah,” Fisher replied, “but I don’t know how to get out.”...

The Barrington Declaration is pure malpractice.

This is what happens when a country has no profound leadership. This occurred before the elections of 2020.

The Great Barrington Declaration (click here) – As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection. Coming from both the left and right, and around the world, we have devoted our careers to protecting people. Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice. 

Keeping these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.

Fortunately, our understanding of the virus is growing. We know that vulnerability to death from COVID-19 is more than a thousand-fold higher in the old and infirm than the young. Indeed, for children, COVID-19 is less dangerous than many other harms, including influenza....

...Those who are not vulnerable should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal. Simple hygiene measures, such as hand washing and staying home when sick should be practiced by everyone to reduce the herd immunity threshold. Schools and universities should be open for in-person teaching. Extracurricular activities, such as sports, should be resumed. Young low-risk adults should work normally, rather than from home. Restaurants and other businesses should open. Arts, music, sport and other cultural activities should resume. People who are more at risk may participate if they wish, while society as a whole enjoys the protection conferred upon the vulnerable by those who have built up herd immunity.

The US Congress (click here) had already solved the greater problem of loss of income during the time of COVID-19. There was no reason for this panic to exist. Americans were hunkered down in their homes and receiving unemployment and/or other government programs.

...Since Dec. 11, 2020, (click here) the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine has been available under EUA in individuals 16 years of age and older, and the authorization was expanded to include those 12 through 15 years of age on May 10, 2021. EUAs can be used by the FDA during public health emergencies to provide access to medical products that may be effective in preventing, diagnosing, or treating a disease, provided that the FDA determines that the known and potential benefits of a product, when used to prevent, diagnose, or treat the disease, outweigh the known and potential risks of the product....

There was no reason to institute an idea/ideology when there was a vaccine on the way that would definitely stem the spread of the virus.

The duality of omincron.

COVID-19 and it's variants have resulted in cabin fever on steriods. That is not a reason to relent on prevention. The duality of the American society regarding the viruses is grossly misguided and very dangerous.

This is not over. The current duality in priorities by the American public can easily result in another variant that is spread as easily as omicron and more deadly than COVID-19.

February 5, 2022
By Brian MacQuarrie

That hint of optimism (click here) is seen in record advance bookings at some New England inns, a stream of tourists to Boston and beyond, and restaurants and clubs where tables are hard to reserve.

“I think that Omicron is signaling a change toward more normalcy. The time for cowering in fear is really over,” said Jacquelyn Wehtje, a 57-year-old Fitchburg woman who is yearning to visit the library without being required to wear a mask.

“I didn’t get vaccinated to wear a mask forever to protect people who can protect themselves by getting vaccinated,” Wehtje said.

But is it over? The curve of the pandemic has been frustrating: a surge of COVID cases, followed by a sharp drop in infections, followed by a new round of sickness. From COVID’s arrival in spring 2020, to its Delta variant last year, to the spread of Omicron in December, the virus has shown that it does not disappear....

New Zealand has an infection rate of 0.0041 percent of omincron.

And a Prime Minister that postponed a wedding due to the presence of still yet another variant.

208 cases in a country of more than 5 million. The USA is full of morons otherwise we would be surpassing New Zealand's outcomes.

January 23, 2022

Wellington, New Zealand - New Zealanders (click here) are set to face new COVID-19 restrictions after nine cases of the omicron variant were detected in a single family that flew to Auckland for a wedding earlier this month, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Sunday.

The so-called "red setting" of the country's pandemic response includes heightened measures such as required mask wearing and limits on gatherings, and the restrictions will go into effect on Monday.

Ardern stressed that "red is not lockdown," noting that businesses can remain open and people can still visit family and friends and move freely around the country.

"Our plan for managing omicron cases in the early stage remains the same as delta, where we will rapidly test, contact trace and isolate cases and contacts in order to slow the spread," Ardern told reporters in Wellington on Sunday.

New Zealand had been among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the omicron variant, but Ardern acknowledged last week that an outbreak was inevitable given the high transmissibility of the variant....

I thought it an interesting analogy. The people are not looking upstream.

February 5, 2022
By Dr. Megan Ranny

There’s an old adage in public health about a village by a river. (click here)

Every few days, the story goes, villagers hear cries for help coming from the river and pull out people who are drowning. This cycle repeats itself, over and over. The village builds floats; it trains search and rescue teams. But as time passes, people continue to drown, and it feels like an impossible battle to win. Some people in the village start to say, “We should just let them drown.” Arguments ensue, until one day they realize the drowning people are all coming from rapids upstream. When villagers put up a sign warning boaters about the rapids, boats stop capsizing — and drowning passengers stop drifting down into the village.

Today, as we suffer through yet another Covid-19 variant surge, I wonder why we are still merely saving the drowning people, instead of also looking upstream...

...If we’re lucky, this reality will be different from what we’re currently experiencing. Maybe, if the fates align, omicron will bring us to that fabled “endemic” state. Maybe, it’s possible, we will “all catch omicron.” But there is no guarantee that an infection with this variant will provide long-lasting immunity. And to be clear, the Great Barrington Declaration’s concept that we can just expose the young and let the chips fall where they may has been proven to be harmful. Covid is among the leading causes of death for all age groups in the United States. (Besides, condemning older people and people with chronic conditions to forever-lockdown is a morally bankrupt strategy.)...

It is time to address the country.

February 6, 2022
By Edward-Isaac Dovere

The stop (click here) at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU is part of a concerted, weeklong effort by the Secretary to erode doubt and build trust and confidence across the country in the recently available pediatric COVID-19 vaccine.

...In an exclusive interview, (click here) Becerra said he thinks the federal government's guidance on the Covid-19 pandemic has been way too confusing, and fixing that problem begins by acknowledging it.

"The American people don't have a lot of time to try to do the science and crunch the numbers," Becerra said. "They expect the experts to give them the answer."

Of course, the science around the virus is constantly changing, Becerra said, but he said administration officials need to realize that the confusion caused by how hard it's been to keep up with the guidance coming out has been counterproductive, and perhaps costing lives.

"Here's a difference between conveying a message that's accurate and a message that's clear: How you say it can be the difference between understanding it and not, or following it and not," he said. Asked if he could accurately peg the current guidance on testing, isolation, masking and more, he offered, "I probably could."...

Secretary Becerra's statement on January 13, 2022 after the Supreme Court decision:

“Allowing implementation (click here) of the rule that health care facilities require their workers to be vaccinated will undoubtedly save lives. This is an important requirement to protect patients. Health care workers are giving their all, every day, to battle this pandemic and save lives, and this rule will help ensure that our hospitals and health care facilities are safer environments. HHS has already begun implementing this rule in some states across the country, and today’s decision will enable us to go even further.

“At the same time, it is disappointing that broader vaccine requirements have been struck down. Vaccine requirements work. They save lives. They are common sense. They are based on science. Right now, all across the country, many businesses and institutions have already begun implementing vaccine requirements, and as the President has urged, I encourage even more to do so. We all have a responsibility to protect one another and keep our communities and workplaces safe. Let’s get more people vaccinated, let’s get more people boosted, and together, we can put an end to this pandemic.”

I think it is a double standard and very political.

To appreciate the dogged determination of Vladimir Putin, there are existing casualities.

The Russian - Ukraine Conflict has already seen at least 13,000 dead according to the United Nations as of one year ago. The number maintained by Ukraine has about one thousand more. No one knows the accounting by Russia. It nearly doesn't matter because Russia is a propagandist country and not a truth teller.

March 5, 2021

11 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine died (click here) as a result of hostilities in Donbass from the beginning of the year to March 1, another 37 were wounded. For other reasons, in addition to combat, eight Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the environmental protection zone. Such data were provided by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in response to a request from Radio Svoboda.

During the ceasefire, which took effect on July 27, 15 servicemen were killed and 58 wounded. Non-combat losses in the same period - 47, according to the Armed Forces. They did not specify how many of these casualties were killed and how many were injured.

According to the Armed Forces, during the first anti-terrorist operation, then - OOS against Russian hybrid forces in the Donbass from 2014 to March 1, 2021 killed 2,675 Ukrainian servicemen, 10,188 - were wounded in hostilities. The number of non-combat losses is 1,175 people.

The armed conflict in Donbass has been going on since 2014 after the Russian occupation of Crimea. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of armed support for the militants. The Kremlin denies the allegations and says only Russian "volunteers" may be in Donbass.

According to the UN, from April 2014 to January 31, 2021, the armed conflict in Donbass killed between 13,100 and 13,300 people....

According to the reporting of The Washington Post (click here), there were 3000 civilians killed thus far in the war. On the first attack upon Ukraine in 2014, it is reported 2000 died, both Ukraine military and civilians. It was the time of most intense fighting. Considering where we are now, it is easy to say there will be extensive deaths and injury to anyone in the path of the Russian military.

The yet realized commodity is the Ukraine military. As it stands today, it has been untried in wartime. The Ukraine national military have performed exercises to become familiar with their new weaponry, but, as to be able to assess their readiness and their capacity, no one is really saying anything which leads to the extensive build up by Russia.

Putin can't back down and become a sincere partner in peace because his politics don't allow it. But, considering the extent to which there is a build up of troops in eastern Ukraine, the support by The West of Ukraine must be impressive. 

The Ukraine national military was never nothing until Yanukovych disarmed them and installed oligarch militias in major cities and towns. The reconstituted Ukraine military may be fairly strong, including it's missile capacity. They probably need to be taken seriously.

The Ukraine people do not want Russia back in their lives and that has been stated through social media and mainstream media many times. The resistence to allow Russia it's way to save the lives of the innocent simply is not the will of the Ukraine people.

In recent weeks, many presidents and prime ministers have found their way to Kyiv to speak with President Zelenskyy. I am not surprised President Zelenskyy is stating that Europe will be appaled at a blatant Russian invasion with no basis in fact to deter peace. 

February 3, 2022
By Herb Scribner

...What happened: Zelenskyy, (click here) who spoke after a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday, said that any battle with Russia would impact all of Europe.

• “There will be, unfortunately, a tragedy if the escalation against our state begins. That is why I openly say: this will not be a war between Ukraine and Russia — this will be a war in Europe, full-scale war, because no one will give up their territories and people anymore,” he told reporters after speaking with Johnson,

Another move: On Tuesday, Zelenskyy signed a decree that would increase the size of Ukraine’s armed forces by 100,000 troops within the next three years, per Reuters.

• The decree also raises soldier salaries.
• “This decree (was prepared) not because we will soon have a war ... but so that soon and in the future there will be peace in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy told lawmakers, according to Reuters....

No wonder Russia is opening it's nuclear missile silos in a stated delayed exercise at the invasion of Ukraine. Putin is a chronic offender of brinkmanship, but, is Ukraine such a linchpin that Putin has no reason not to act and preserve his power? I think that possibility is nothing but foolishness. Half of Russia wants honest and real democratically elected governments. For Putin to be so foolish as to not accept retirement over nuclear war is hideous. Anything is possible with a man that has lived his entire life in the idea of the supremacy of the Soviet Union.

The American people are used to a free and mostly trustworthy press.

That, however, is not the way of the world with enemy countries like Russia and/or China. I mean China assaulted a Dutch journalist at the Olympics of all places. This is not decent or behavior of a super power that should be tolerated. Communists by nature use propaganda within their practices of governance all the time. I might add it is used in diplomatic relations all the time and at the United Nations.

Flashback to 2001: (click here) At a press conference after their first meeting, President George W. Bush famously says he got a sense of Vladimir Putin’s soul.

One has to consider the degree at which Vladimir Putin completely disregards his own signature on documents intended to bring about peace. In the case of Ukraine, there are multiple documents and agreements that overshadow the aggression Russia has displayed in Crimea, eastern Ukraine and his ambitions to take Kiev. It is clear that Putin is not an honorable representative of his government if he can't live up to existing agreements. He manufactures his dialogue as he proceeds with aggression. 

February 6, 2022
By Robert Burns

Russia has assembled at least 70 percent of the military firepower (click here) it likely intends to have in place by mid-month to give President Vladimir Putin the option of launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials say.

The officials, who discussed internal assessments of the Russian buildup on condition they not be identified, sketched out a series of indicators suggesting Putin intends an invasion in coming weeks, although the size and scale are unclear. They stressed that a diplomatic solution appears to remain possible.

Among those military indicators: an exercise of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces that usually is held each fall was rescheduled for mid-February to March. That coincides with what U.S. officials see as the most likely window for invasion. The officials made no suggestion that a prospective conflict would involve the use of nuclear weapons, but the Russian exercise — likely involving the test-launching of unarmed long-range missiles on Russian territory — could be used as a message aimed at deterring the West from intervening in Ukraine....

Thinking back to the abandonment of the Ukriane presidency by Viktor Yanukovych, the invasion into Crimea was well executed with plans to carry it out. Russian leadership, especially that of Putin, dates back to the USSR. There is no reason to believe the communists are going to change their posture. Russian communists make long term plans. This build up at the Ukriane border with Russia has been long in coming. It has been ongoing since 2014. That is not a minor fact, it is a method of bring about an ambition for Putin's priority for more conflict at the Russian western border with any country he cares to engage.

No different than the nuclear exercises of Russia being postponed to enhance it's message to The West. And the idea they won't be exercises necessarily, only brings with it an opportunity for Putin to declare war on The West if Putin detects any nuclear activity opposing his so called exercises. Quite frankly, The West should be matching Russia's nuclear exercises at the same time.

The Kentucky Derby is coming up in May. Ready for this? It could be political.

Mitch McConnell usually makes a showing at The Derby for political purposes. Well, this year he will have to be willing to congratulate Klaravich Stales on the win by "Early Voting."

January 23, 2022

The Chad Brown-trained son (click here) of 2021 leading freshman stallion Gun Runner  completed the four-furlong move in :49.41 over a fast track with jockey Jose Ortiz aboard. The breeze was his third work following a debut maiden victory Dec. 18 at Aqueduct.

"He worked really well this morning. Jose was aboard and I was very happy with the work," said Brown's Belmont-based assistant Dan Stupp.

Breaking his maiden at a one-turn mile, Early Voting stayed in the clear down the backstretch under Ortiz while battling with two other runners up front. He fended off a late rally from Matt Doyle  to win by 1 1/2 lengths....

He sounds like a strong contender. The politics doesn't stop there, the next favored colt is Constitutionlawyer or Constitutional Law (click here). I didn't find Constitutionalawyer in the registry. Constitutional Law has Secretariat as his great, great, great grandfather. Then Courvoisier is the odds on third place according to two handicappers I read.

No matter how Mitch might try to get away from early voting, it looks like a winner in the end. The idea this ideology of political dialogue that dominates so much of American life these days has become this pervasive that racehorses can't even get away from it, is something to reflect on.

So, on the first Saturday in May, Moscow Mitch will be sipping Mint Juleps while Early Voting makes a run for the roses.

How does a democratic government protect the innocent from the ravages of a virus?

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE, in a flood of political misinformation. The body is caused permanent damage by the virus. This is not even remotely government over reaching. It is necessary. Unfortunately.

February 6, 2022
By Paula Newton

...Ottawa's police chief (click here) called it a "nationwide insurrection driven by madness," claiming his city was under siege and would need more reinforcements beyond those it had already received from other police forces.

"We do not have sufficient resources to adequately and effectively address this situation while adequately, effectively providing policing in this city," Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly warned during a police services meeting Saturday....

I have stated I am teaching young people. That is correct. But, I am either online or in a mask mandated school.

Elected officials need to fulfill their oath and protect the people from entities that would use a virus to discredit existing government.

The fight against the virus is due to such propaganda reaching into the society of free countries. If citizens fully understood the science of ending the spread and why there are recurrent waves of variants, this would never be an issue.

Do citizens of free and democratic countries understand they are creating their own emergency? The hospitals are having a difficult time with staffing and having enough hospital beds for patients because of illness themselves. This protest is adverse to a good outcome in any country.

This request by nurses in North Carolina came before omicron, a year ago.

January 8, 2021
By McKenzie Stasko

Raleigh - As many hospitals across the state get dangerously close to capacity, (click here) the North Carolina Nurses Association is calling on Gov. Roy Cooper to add more COVID-19 restrictions.

“At one point back in the summer and early fall we were running somewhere between 50-75% capacity in the ICUs, and now we’re up to 90-99% capacity,” said Dr. Dennis Taylor, president of the association.

Taylor said the growing workload, dwindling number of hospital beds, and shortage of staff are critical. He and nurses across the state believe additional restrictions will help slow the spread of the virus and relieve the pressure on hospitals and health care workers....

If nurses weren't so under demand by the hospitals they could be counter demonstrating to bring home the point there is danger in these variants.

From Bloomberg:

By Carey Goldberg
January 15, 2022, 8:00 AM EST

The crowding wrought by omicron (click here) has made going to the hospital more dangerous and likely more deadly.

The variant is so contagious that it is deluging hospitals with patients at a moment of severe staff shortages. That combination risks eroding the advantages of omicron’s oft-touted milder symptoms compared to previous versions of Covid....

The long view of the stress in hospitals is a failure to open when their staffing is stretched. People will not be attracted to the profession. 

This is true also in police recruitment and retention. There is too much disease and the deaths that accompany it. Democracies are looking at a failure in their infrastructure if these tends continue. There has to be enforcement of standards that end the spread.

Democracies function because the people understand the truth and it's importance.

September 20, 2021

By Kelly Gooch

Nurses are leaving hospital settings (click here) or the profession amid extreme and sustained demands of caring for unvaccinated, hospitalized patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new American Association of Critical-Care Nurses survey. 

The survey was conducted in late August among more than 6,000 acute and critical care nurses. It found:

• 92 percent of respondents said they believe the pandemic has depleted nurses at their hospitals, and because of this, their careers will be shorter than they planned
• 66 percent of respondents said they feel their pandemic experiences have led them to consider leaving nursing
• 76 percent of respondents said unvaccinated people threaten nurses' physical and mental well-being
• 67 percent of respondents said they believe taking care of COVID-19 patients puts their own families' health at risk

In light of the number of nurses leaving their jobs, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses warned that the future of healthcare could be at risk....

The pre-pandemic problems still exist also. The pandemic is making those same probles worse.

The need for registered nurses (click here) is expected to grow by 9% from 2020 to 2030, as fast as average growth across all occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Similarly, the need for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) is projected to grow by 9% and nursing assistants by 8% over the same period. With an aging baby boomer population, climbing rates of chronic issues like obesity and diabetes, and a growing emphasis on preventative care, will the healthcare industry be able to keep up with the demand for registered nurses?

We analyzed future registered nursing employment as estimated by the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis in a 2017 report. We discovered that by 2030, the number of registered nurses needed in the United States is estimated to skyrocket by 28.4% from 2.8 million to 3.6 million. While most states are projected to keep up with demand, there are many places that are expected to have significant shortages in registered nurses.

California is expected to be short the most registered nurses (45,500), while Alaska is projected to have the most job vacancies (22.7%). Texas, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia and South Dakota are expected to experience shortages as well. Florida will have the most extra nurses (53,700), along with Ohio, Virginia and New York. Wyoming will have the biggest overage in RNs (50.9%), followed by New Mexico and Ohio....

All these protests are because of an underlying belief that the COVID restrictions are fraudulent. That is propaganda no matter who is saying it. Propaganda is dangerous to people. Government cannot run on propaganda. If demonstators had representative such as union officials to meet with government in transparent sessions, this public might finally understand what it takes to end a pandemic.

January 18, 2022
By Bayley Bischof

Lincoln, Nebraska - The Nebraska Hospital Association’s president (click here) made a message clear in the State Capitol building Tuesday afternoon; Nebraska legislators need to address the critical nurse shortage in the state.

“Inaction now will lead to a decade or more of chronic under-staffing in our healthcare system in Nebraska,” Jeremy Nordquist, president of the Nebraska Hospital Association said.

Nordquist said data collected by the association paints a clear picture of the shortage. Seventy-three of Nebraska’s 93 counties have less nurses than the national average, 66 counties have been deemed medically under-served and nine counties have zero registered nurses in their population....

THE DEMONSTRATIONS ARE MASS SPREADING EVENTS, now what are people going to do when met with hospitals that are understaffed and stressed?

Vladimir Putin, the king of the doping athlete, has no right to complain.

Any transgender athlete has to compete on their merits alone. They have to meet all the criteria that other athletes have to meet. If they were born the gender they identify with, they would be competing in the same body anyway. There is no room for complaints of a female transgender athlete. 

There is discrimination in the governments of the USA, too. And guess what party it is? Yep, Republicans.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) (click here) on Thursday signed a bill into law that bans transgender athletes from competing on girls' and women's sports teams, NBC News reported.

"This bill has been an important priority for a lot of the people behind me," Noem said at a press conference, "and I appreciate all of their hard work in making sure that girls will always have the opportunity to play in girls sports in South Dakota and have an opportunity for a level playing field, for fairness, that gives them the chance to experience success."

The new law will apply to all state-accredited schools in South Dakota, according to NBC News. Under the law, if a student at such a school “suffers direct or indirect harm" as a result of the law being violated, they will be allowed to sue the school, association or government entity that caused the alleged harm.

Last month, Noem released an ad touting the legislation, then making its way through the state legislature, saying it “will give South Dakota the strongest law protecting female sports in the nation!”

Putin and Trump share the same narcisstic values that bind their politics, they hate to lose.

April 25, 2021
By Dawn Ennis

In a rare Sunday ruling, (click here) a federal judge in Connecticut today dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of four young women who are cisgender, challenging the transgender inclusive policy of the state scholastic sports agency and several school boards.

In response to the judge’s decision to toss its suit, the extremist Christian anti-LGBTQ law group vowed to appeal.

“Unfortunately, this court has chosen to ignore our clients’ demoralizing experiences of losing to male runners,” ADF’s legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb said in the hate group’s online statement, which misgenders two Black trans women named in the suit — former high school athletes Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood — by repeatedly referring to them as males.

In May 2020, District Judge Robert Chatigny, a Clinton appointee, ordered ADF attorneys to stop doing that. Their response was to demand the judge voluntarily step down from deciding the case, which, obviously, didn’t happen....

The issue was recently revisited because Lia Thomas is overtly transgender. She is an athlete that practices and competes, but, because her body still has significant male looking components, the discrimination surfaces again. Bathing suits don't hide much.

She competed as a man and didn't do well, but, as a female she is cleaning up with first place winnings.

February 4, 2022
By Valerie Hudson

Over the past several weeks, (click here) there’s been a shift taking place in the world of women’s sports. The catalyst is the University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who is breaking collegiate women’s swim records, beating the nearest competitors with unprecedented times.

The reckoning almost came last year, when Laurel Hubbard, a transgender powerlifter from New Zealand competed in the Summer Olympics, but Hubbard failed the lift, and so the proverbial can was kicked down the road. In retrospect, it was good that there was a pause between Hubbard and Thomas. It’s given sports associations and authorities time to think again about the fairness of including trans athletes in women’s competitions. That time has been well used, as many stakeholders and experts have now weighed in, broadening the debate in a way that was not previously possible. And the Thomas case is a turning point.

Thomas had competed for three years on UPenn’s men’s swim team, as recently as November 2019, when the swimmer’s performance was modest. After announcing a gender transition, Thomas joined the women’s swim team and has been smashing records ever since. Thomas ranked No. 462 as a male swimmer, but now ranks No. 1 as a female swimmer....

The discriminatory question hanging in midair is,"Did Thomas become a female in order to compete or does she compete because after sex reassignment surgery she still loves the sport?"

There are psychological sessions for transgender men and women. They honestly don't want to be the gender they were assigned at birth. Their genetics prove that to be true. 

There isn't a controversy most of the time, until, a transgender person is as successful as Lia Thomas has become. I am sure there will be all kinds of demands for change to take place, but, this is their reality as much as ours.

Last year I met my first transgender child that was transitioning and it was amazing. He/she was completely happy with their change and this was a child at the age of about 9 years old. The child's parents needed to be applauded for the deep and abiding love they have and it was the school system that could not seem to keep up with the change as the school records continued to reflect the birth assignment gender. The classmates knew of this transgender child, strongly approved and accepting of that reality. The class was fine and was no different than any other classroom I have experienced.

This is all very real and we need to understand there is dearly nothing we SHOULD do about what cis-athletes believe is unfair. I hate that word. It is a childish word and Trump used it all the time for sympathy. I think he still does.

There is nothing wrong with being transgender. They don't have an easy life, although the child I met was happy, gregarious and doing well as a student. There are no breaks in life for them that allows an advantage over others. They compete in the same world as all others do and to their credit they do exceptionally well. It is a perk I suppose in being treated unfairly by their genetics at birth. 

Russia has oppressive domestic policies for the entire LGBTQ community. It is not easy being different in Russia and Putin in no one to speak out on behalf or against transgender athletes. One has to recall, Putin is the Doping Athlete King and he sees women such as Lia Thomas as a manipulation in order to win in the Olympics. He sees a trend that is going to wipe out Russia's ability to compete. He views the transgender athlete as a reason that Russia cannot compete. He is biased to say the least. His American compatriot, Trump, has the same stupid outlook on citizens as he does.

Lia Thomas is tall, thin and fast in the water. She is obviously different than most other female competitors. She will probably set new records wherever she competes, but, she is a female and that is the reality she and the USA have in the year 2022. 

Putin has his detractors in Russia. American citizens need to ask themselves if that is the kind of country they want?

1 February 2017
By Katrina Patin

You won’t find any mention of Dr Dmitri Isaev’s clinic online, (click here) and patients can’t look up the number in a phone book. Both name and address are kept secret, and those who would like an appointment with Isaev, a leading gender identity expert, must discover the location of his St Petersburg clinic by word of mouth.

The doctor has been working undercover after conservative activists led a campaign of intimidation against his clinic for transgender patients at Saint Petersburg State Paediatric Medical University. Isaev, a 60-year-old psychiatrist, led a team of doctors at the university for nine years, issuing official permission for gender reassignment surgery and for changes to identity documents....

The communists are really bad hosts. If it ain't propaganda it doesn't belong in the media.

February 5, 2022

By Wenzill Ortiz

A Dutch television broadcaster (click here) was forcibly moved away from presenting a live news show by a Chinese security official at yesterday's Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics here.

Sjoerd den Daas, a correspondent for Dutch broadcaster NOS in China, was located outside the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the "Bird’s Nest" where he was presenting to camera.

But den Daas was stopped by a security official who shouted at the reporter before manhandled him away from the camera.

"We are now being pulled out of here," said Den Daas.

"We have just been expelled from another area, so I'm afraid we'll have to come back to you later."

In a post on Twitter, NOS said: "Our correspondent [den Daas] was pulled away from the camera by security guards at 12:00 pm [6:00am ET] live in the NOS Journaal.

"Unfortunately, this is increasingly becoming a daily reality for journalists in China.

"He is fine and was able to finish his story a few minutes later."

If it isn't CCTV, it isn't China (click here). Addressing the world's problems. They are addressing the world problems or causing them? Putin recently has stated, there will never be anything but men competing in the Olympics with transgender men taking over women's sports. That was an answer at a Russian news conference broadcast to the public. If he can't insult The West it isn't worth an effort to hold a new conference.

...A: President Xi Jinping and I have known each other for a long time, (click here) as good friends and politicians who hold largely the same views on addressing the world's problems; we maintain close and frequent contact. That is why, I immediately responded to his invitation to visit China and to join our Chinese friends in celebrating this year's main sporting event – the Winter Olympic Games. Moreover, the first ever Winter Olympics on Chinese soil will take place in the midst of the Chinese New Year, in Beijing – the first city in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Games....

\

An insurrection is not legitimate campaign speech.

The Repuglican Party is nothing more than a clown car show. Put them all in the same Trump car and have them emerge one by one. They are laughable.

Never in my wildest imagination would I expect such nonsense from any political dialogue in the USA. As the Repuglican Party self-implodes, the candidates serious about governance should run as indepentents and/or write in candidates. 

February 5, 2022

By Jarrett Renshaw

This is the new flag the Repuglicans fly now. To surrender a vote to them is to surrender the country to Putin.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania – Republicans in Pennsylvania (click here) chose on Saturday not to endorse a primary candidate in one of the most closely-watched U.S. Senate races in the country, amid concerns they could back a candidate in a crowded field who might put them at odds with Donald Trump.

The endorsement of the state committee is widely considered the early prize of primary season, catapulting its recipient to the general election. This year, the party emerges from its winter meeting less unified ahead of a wide-open primary season.

Trump has not said whether he will back any of the current candidates in the contest that could decide control of Congress in November’s midterm elections....

The Repuglican Party cowers from Donald John Trump. They deceive to be elected as in the Virginia governor's race. The hidden truths are their way of being pleasing to voters only to be opposed after the truth of that agenda surfaces. But, then they have the power and abuse it by tampering with the next election.

President Joe Biden was elected in 2020 because he was the one man that would protect our democracy and not end it. Trump and his Repuglicans are the party of authoritariansim and/or dictatorship, ie: Viktor Oban.

Americans need to understand what exactly the Repuglicans stand for and reject it. Not at the ballot box, but, in donations and loyalty. There is a great truth to this country and the Repuglicans have taken power away from the people and intend to keep it. Repuglicans despise democracy and all the power that gives every person in the USA. That is clearly demonstrated because of the deepening corruption in voter regulations which equal oppression and in the instillation of those in government responsible for an honest count of the vote with corrupted people only loyal to ONE MAN. One man. These people take their direction from one man.

Had enough yet?

Republicans have become repugnant to democracy and the political process that delivers this country from dictatorship.

Liberty. What a joke that has become. The Voter ID is now a weapon against the very people that it oppresses. The Voter ID roles are open for inspection and all that personal information is availed to those that ask. Personal security and liberty is what the Repuglicans wear as their moniker, and it was they that demanded Voter ID and all the personal information an American can provide. The Repuglicans are not about personal or national security, they are about sequestering power and eliminating democarcy and upward movement of citizens.

You will never hear a Repuglican say the word "inclusion."

Putin has already stated he is abiding his administration according to outdated treaties and aggreements.

There is no reason to believe Putin will not stage a nightmare scenario via propaganda in Russian media that would justify his action in Ukraine. He has thus far provided all sorts of reasons for the Russian people to believe he is benevolent to Ukraine. He has supplied weapons and support to eastern Ukraine rebels that claim brutality. He has built a bridge for Crimea to become part of Russia and even decorated it as if a joyous addition to the waterway. 

It is nothing but a well planned entrapment of Ukraine's current government as unappreciative and courted by The West. The evil West. 

It would be better if there was a legitimate leader to Russia, but, the people of Russia have not had anything but a corrupt government for over a decade. The invasion into Ukraine will also be a pre-cursor to a plan to take back the post Soviet states. There is no reason to believe otherwise and as our leaders bring more and more information to Russia's preparations for invasion in the face of peace the inevitable war seems all too real.

President Biden is doing the right thing by meeting Putin's preparations with equal resistance from NATO. We are headed to war with NATO, Russia and China. China is allied to Russia and the Olympics are to set the stage for that deep understanding by the world. 

 

From previous entry.

...Still, speaking in a personal capacity, Woolhouse says that some influential modellers in the United Kingdom were wrong not to allow for any reduced severity, instead working with assumed hospitalization rates for Omicron that were identical to those of previous variants. “That’s clearly a pessimistic assumption,” he says. “I do think it could have been much clearer from the beginning that there was this possibility it was less pathogenic and, you know, being crystal clear on what the policy implications of that difference might be.”...

The number of hospitalizations being the same (and they were) reflects the bottom line vulnerability of those still unvaccinated. Every time a variant strikes, the same hospital statistic erupts as well. The people without the vaccine lack it's protections regardless of the immunity otherwise. I strongly believe the mRNA vaccines carry a far better identification of the virus than normal immunity does in reaction to an illness.

At any rate, the infection rate with omicron (a level three virus) was higher. We saw that increase in the waste water testing in Boston. So, in realizing more people were infected and the hospitalization rate remained the same, it was due to the increased number of infections and the steady state number of Americans UNDER PROTECTED.

The unvaccinated still remain a threat to more and more variants.

Natural immunity is interesting, but, is the body's reaction to contracting the virus the same as the ability of the mRNA vaccine? I think there may be a missing virility to the body's immune response considering the poor state of those infected and the length of time it took to recover. The body is hit hard by these viruses, it takes a lot of energy to fight it off and recover. That is energy not necessarily available to the immune system as people are so very ill.

COVID-19 didn't show up for five days. That is a lot of virus being dumped into the body to enter cells and replicate. It was only after a high number of virus (viral load) was in the body on the fifth day did any immune response become noticeable. It was so late in the infection that it was often too late for any effective response from medicine in critical care units or otherwise. I really don't trust the immune response with these viruses. Besides, there is the burgeoning evidence of brain damage. The blood clots are proving to cause irreparable damage. Even being willing to be infected seems to me to be a risky business.

THIS IS NOT THE FLU AND NEVER WILL BE.

It is too soon to draw any conclusions about the global pandemic.

Governments are doing the level best they can with this virus. There is absolutely no reason to be premature about making decisions to end precautions.

It isn't always possible to lead into Wall Street and make decisions that benefit them if the virus is acting in a manner that scientists dictate are reasons to be concerned. It is the people that need to listen to their governments and conduct behaviors that support ending the spread, but, more than that, end the lousy assault by this virus and it's variants. People are still dying. Get a clue.

31 January 2022
By David Adam

The Philippines has experienced one of the worst surges in Omicron cases in southeast Asia.

...And although the WHO and others (click here) have suggested that huge numbers of Omicron infections could signal the end of the pandemic, because of the short-term surge in immunity that will follow, researchers warn that the situation remains volatile and difficult to model.

“It moves so fast that it gives very little time to prepare any kind of response. So, decisions have to be made under huge uncertainty,” says Graham Medley, an infectious-diseases modeller at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who advises the UK government....

...That places policymakers and the researchers who advise them in an unenviable position. “It was a situation where you either put in restrictions very, very early, or you do nothing,” Pagel says. “But if you wait to see what happens, then it’s too late.”

Along with other countries, Britain tightened regulations in December. But it was a controversial move, particularly because reports from South Africa, which was hit by Omicron the previous month, suggested that the variant seemed to cause less severe illness and hospitalization — a conclusion now supported by the experience of the United Kingdom and other places....

Eliminating mask mandates is schools is premature

The idea all children are vaccinated and not susceptible is ridiculous. The WHO and CDC are watching four sub variants for trends in infection and and adverse outcomes. That is not at all saying this is over.

Vaccines are nothing more than a nice idea at this point now that there are third level virus. Masks are one of the mainstays of preventing the spread. Eliminating a successful shield from infection with continued variants spinning out is somewhat irresponsible.

I would like to see statistics and scientific rational as to those stating end mask mandates.

Teaching today and tomorrow

Now I tell you, right?

I am having a great time with a magnificent group of students.

I just quickly noticed Omicron has four variants that are being tracked and one is a variant of concern.

Get the vaccine and boosters.

Get tested when needed.

Mask up!

Masks work.

Social distancing works.

Hand hygiene works, especially when touching the face. 

This isn’t over!

DON’T MAKE IT WORSE!!!!!!!!!