Category: Science and Stuff,

Anti-malarial drug touted by Trump was subject of CIA warning to employees

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

A CIA website for employees with questions about the coronavirus addressed the topic on March 27, noting there had been media reports suggesting the drug “has activity against the COVID-19 virus.”

“At this point, the drug is not recommended to be used by patients except by medical professionals prescribing it as part of ongoing investigational studies. There are potentially significant side effects, including sudden cardiac death, associated with hydroxychloroquine and its individual use in patients need to be carefully selected and monitored by a health care professional,” the answer said, before adding in bold type: “Please do not obtain this medication on your own.” 

Anti-malarial drug touted by Trump was subject of CIA warning to employees – The Washington Post

hmmm

50,000 Year-Old String Shows Neanderthals Were Technologically Advanced

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

Bruce Hardy and colleagues discovered a six-millimeter-long cord fragment consisting of three bundles of fibers twisted together and adhering to a 60-millimeter-long, thin stone tool. The authors speculate that the cord was wrapped around the tool as a handle or was part of a net or bag containing the tool. They date the cord fragment, which they discovered in Abri du Maras, France, to between 41,000-52,000 years ago. Using spectroscopy and microscopy, they identified that the cord likely consists of fibers taken from the inner bark of a non-flowering tree such as a conifer.

50,000 Year-Old String Shows Neanderthals Were Technologically Advanced

cool.

Also, why do ALL of these articles start off the premise that any sign technology among out ancestors is such a surprise?

Ancestral type of COVID-19 virus mainly found in the US: study

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

Recent research conducted into the genetic network analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic, done jointly by British and German experts, testified the variant of novel coronavirus that is closest to that discovered in bats was actually found mainly among cases from the US, rather than in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei Province. 

…In reply to the question why the ancestral type of virus was not commonly seen in China and particularly in Wuhan, but instead the mutated type B virus, geneticist Peter Forster from the University of Cambridge, lead author of the study, told the Global Times that “type A isn’t fitting quite well with most locals’ immune systems in Wuhan” but has “become adapted to American and Australian immune systems.”

…But their study has evidence that the virus mutation rate is significantly faster outside China and the spread of the disease among humans likely occurred between September 13, 2019 to December 7, 2019. 

Ancestral type of COVID-19 virus mainly found in the US: study – Global Times

hmmm

CDC removes unusual guidance to doctors about drug favored by Trump | Article [AMP] | Reuters

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed from its website highly unusual guidance informing doctors on how to prescribe hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, drugs recommended by President Donald Trump to treat the coronavirus.

The move comes three days after Reuters reported that the CDC published key dosing information involving the two antimalarial drugs based on unattributed anecdotes rather than peer-reviewed science.

CDC removes unusual guidance to doctors about drug favored by Trump | Article [AMP] | Reuters

hmmmm

In the Midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Construction Is Set to Resume on the Keystone Pipeline

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Environment,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, The Americas,Leave a comment

So here’s the situation: in the middle of a pandemic, construction workers will move into isolated rural communities with already strained hospital resources. The “man camps” where many such workers in the industry live are associated with violence against women and other crimes, even in the best of times. Now, with the pandemic, many of the Native communities that live along the pipeline route fear for the worst. “This causes eerie memories for us with the infected smallpox blankets that were distributed to tribes intentionally,” Faith Spotted Eagle, a leader of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, said. (The coronavirus is already wreaking havoc on isolated reservations in other parts of the country, and the chronically underfunded Indian Health Service is struggling to meet the crisis.)

…I don’t know if corporations can be evil—I don’t think so, even if the Supreme Court insists on describing them as people. But this is capitalism at its most naked, willing to endanger people in the covid-19 crisis and to heat the earth in the climate crisis, all in search of a bit more profit. In a world running right now on bravery and love, it’s hard to imagine anything much darker.

In the Midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Construction Is Set to Resume on the Keystone Pipeline | The New Yorker

hmmmmm

Trump berates Yamiche Alcindor of ‘PBS NewsHour’ at coronavirus briefing

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

“Mr. President, I have two questions,” she said. “The first is you’ve said repeatedly that you think that some of the equipment that governors are requesting they don’t actually need. You said New York might not need 30,000 …”

Trump didn’t let her finish.

“I didn’t say that,” he said.

“You said it on Sean Hannity’s Fox News,” Alcindor responded, accurately.

…Alcindor, who is a black woman, tried to finish her question, but Trump interrupted again: “Look, let me tell you something. Be nice. Don’t be threatening. Be nice.”

Trump’s reaction to Alcindor’s question recalled past incidents in which the president has cast black female reporters as “stupid,” “a loser” and “racist.”

On March 13, when Alcindor asked whether the suspension of the White House pandemic office slowed the country’s response to the coronavirus, Trump called it a “nasty question.”

…He got personal again Sunday with Alcindor, making what he seemed to consider disparaging comments about her career.

“Excuse me,” said the president at one point, “you didn’t hear me, that’s why you used to work for The Times and now you work for somebody else,” a reference to the New York Times and “PBS NewsHour.”

The president didn’t call on Alcindor to ask a second question, even though she had told him she had a follow-up.

But a few minutes later, in a display of professional support, CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond handed the microphone back to the “NewsHour” journalist so she could ask Trump which public health experts supported his claims that more people would die from the economic impact of social distancing than from coronavirus infections. Trump didn’t give any names.

Trump berates Yamiche Alcindor of ‘PBS NewsHour’ at coronavirus briefing – The Washington Post

An this is the racist, incompetent, narcissist who  a significant minority in this country supports no matter what.

We wouldn’t be in this mess if he wasn’t in the White House.

Your friends and family who support this monster will be culpable in THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of deaths before this is over. Blood is already on their hands from so many things but if this doesn’t bring it into focus for them, nothing ever will.

TX Lt. Gov: Older people would rather die than let Covid-19 harm US economy

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

The lieutenant governor of Texas went on Fox News to argue that he would rather die than see public health measures damage the US economy, and that he believed “lots of grandparents” across the country would agree with him.

…Patrick said he feared that public health restrictions to prevent coronavirus could end American life as he knows it, and that he is willing to risk death to protect the economy for his grandchildren.

“You know, Tucker, no one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’” Patrick said. “And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.”

Older people would rather die than let Covid-19 harm US economy – Texas official | World news | The Guardian

So stupid it is positively evil.

TX Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Rejects Social Distancing, Seniors Need to Risk Death

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

[Trump’s] comments are getting perilously close to urging Americans to ignore doctors and scientists, all of whom seem to be saying we need these drastic measures until the virus subsides. The irony, of course, is if Trump gets his way, we’ll clearly have way more deaths than if we were isolated from each other … and what does he think will happen to the economy then?

…The Lt. Gov. of Texas says to hell with social distancing, because old folks should risk death by COVID-19, so the economy can start recovering.

…That would seem to be an odd time to stop doing what every scientist says will prevent the virus from spreading and killing more people.

TX Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Rejects Social Distancing, Seniors Need to Risk Death

oy….

How Three Coastal Churches Became Hubs of Climate Resilience

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Religion,Leave a comment

With the help of an ecological restoration company, they coaxed back to the surface the stream that had been diverted through stormwater pipes and built a cascading streambed, with step pools and weirs—low dams to slow water flow—to filter the water as it makes its way toward Back Creek.

…In an age of climate crisis, marshes like this one are critical: As sea levels rise, marshes engage in a kind of dance with the rising tides through a process called accretion. …The marsh is also a carbon sink, more effective at sequestering carbon than the equivalent area of dry land.

By restoring their land to serve its intended purpose, the church created a climate sanctuary: absorbing higher tides, filtering polluted stormwater from extreme rain events, hosting displaced creatures, and drawing carbon out of the air.

…Three hurricanes, in 2015, 2016, and 2017, pummeled Crosstowne, each dumping enough water to require a massive rebuild of the sanctuary. After the third flood, the church interior was rebuilt in two weeks, but the church recognized that rebuilding wasn’t enough. The leadership team at Crosstowne decided to do something unusual for a church: gather scientific data. They hired a hydrology team and an environmental lawyer to analyze the onshore causes of the flooding so that the church could serve as a trustworthy hub of communication with their neighbors and the city.

The study found that as climate change exacerbates rainfall intensity, unsustainable development results in water flowing over concrete rather than percolating into the soil. When rain falls, streets and storm drains are inundated with more water than they can handle, and the excess water ends up 3 feet deep in the sanctuary of Crosstowne. According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment, by the end of the century heavy rainfall events in the Southeast U.S. are expected to double, and the amount of water falling on extreme rain days will increase by 21 percent. As more rain falls on hard surfaces around Charleston, Crosstowne has realized it will be underwater more frequently.

With their data-driven study, Crosstowne became experts on flooding in the area around Charleston’s Church Creek Basin. Rienzo worked with the city to develop new stormwater retention guidelines, reshaping how development is done in Charleston. The benefits of Crosstowne’s work extended beyond its walls, to local homeowners who “were looking at buyouts, flooding, delays,” Rienzo told the local Live 5 News. “So we began to see we were not just doing this study for ourselves. It was a study to do for the community around us.”

How Three Coastal Churches Became Hubs of Climate Resilience | Sojourners

hmmm