Jump to content

Tracker

Members
  • Posts

    24,588
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    78

Everything posted by Tracker

  1. Anti-vaccine movements shift their target to the vaccinated. Anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists are blaming vaccinated people for "shedding" virus in their presence Myths around infertility, pregnancy and miscarriages have run rampant in anti-vaccine circles for years — and in the universe of their conspiracy theories, vaccines are often to blame. While variations of such false claims have been part of misinformation campaigns around the COVID-19 vaccines, there has recently been a shift from demonizing the vaccine itself to villainizing those who are vaccinated. It's a peculiar repositioning for the anti-vaccination conspiracy movement — and as the false claim evolves into more extreme iterations, it has caught the attention of people who study and advocate against vaccine misinformation. "I think it is particularly interesting that people are saying that those who are those who are vaccinated are a risk to those who aren't," said David Broniatowski, who's the associate director for the Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics at George Washington University. "It's like taking the common vaccine conventional wisdom and flipping it on its head where people will say, 'if you have not been vaccinated, you're a risk to those who are more vulnerable and vaccinated.'" Broniatowski said he's never seen this before in the history of anti-vaccine rhetoric. "This is the first time," Broniatowski said. The conspiracy centers on one particular myth that people who are vaccinated can emit contagious particles of the coronavirus's Spike protein and can infect others, a process referred to as "vaccine shedding." Vaccine shedding is a very rare possibility with live-attenuated vaccines that use a diluted version of a disease to stimulate an immune response. In the rare case there's enough germ to spread, the shedding usually happens via feces— for example, with the polio vaccine or the measles vaccine. "For the measles vaccine, later in life — and again this is super rare — it's possible that the live virus could revert to a condition called Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE)," said Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease doctor and professor of medicine at the University of California–San Francisco. "But in no way can you shed it and give it to someone." Anti-vaccine movements shift their target to the vaccinated | Salon.com
  2. The show jumped the shark years ago. I gave up when Abby and Tim both typed on the same keyboard at the same time to speed things up. Why The Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch Don’t Stay on Skinwalker Ranch. According to the owner and the lead investigator of Skinwalker Ranch, phenomena from the paranormal hotspot have followed researchers home. History’s The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch features ongoing investigations into one of the country’s most mysterious locales. The titular ranch allegedly experiences paranormal activity regularly from UFOs and cattle mutilations to incarnate voices and poltergeists…and sometimes several at the same time. Strange occurrences on the ranch have been the focus of several scientific investigations, including from a secretive program housed in the Pentagon. What is not as well known is that some investigators claim the paranormal phenomena follow them home. Brandon Fugal, the elusive owner of Skinwalker Ranch, spoke with Den of Geek about how what happens at Skinwalker Ranch doesn’t always stay there. Fugal is a prominent businessman and real estate developer in Utah. He first heard about the Skinwalker Ranch at a local bookstore. “The ranch was first brought to my attention when I was at Barnes & Noble, back in 2006, and saw Dr. Colm Kelleher and George Knapp’s book Hunt for the Skinwalker on the shelf,” Fugal says. “I actually bought it and read it on the weekend. I found it to be very interesting.” Fugal says he didn’t think much more about the ranch until 2015 when two science advisors of another Utah real estate magnate, Robert Bigelow, approached him. Bigelow, who also founded Bigelow Aerospace, had been funding scientific investigation on the ranch since he had purchased it in the late 1990s. Kelleher was Bigelow’s lead investigator. Fugal says he had developed a relationship with the two science advisors during “another effort that I had been involved with a decade ago.” Why The Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch Don’t Stay on Skinwalker Ranch - Den of Geek According to Fugal, the advisors asked him “whether I would be willing to entertain a potential joint venture or acquisition of the property for the purpose of advancing the research beyond what Mr. Bigelow had done for 20 years.” “I disclosed to them that I was approaching the topic as a healthy skeptic and that I had never seen a UFO, ghost, or anything of the sort, and that I believe that there was most likely a natural prosaic explanation for what had been reported in the book and on the property,” Furgal says. “They were amused and shared with me the reality of what their investigation revealed. They also disclosed that the ranch had been part of a five-year Pentagon black-budget program studying the UFO phenomenon and that, although the results of that investigation remain classified and confidential – how do I say this? The phenomenon is real.” Fugal says he is no longer skeptical that something mysterious is happening at the ranch.
  3. Faster than a PCR test: dogs detect Covid in under a second Faster than PCR and more accurate than lateral flow tests, the latest weapons against Covid-19 have four legs and a wet nose. A study published on Monday found that people who are infected with coronavirus give off a distinct odour, which these highly trained dogs can detect with pinpoint precision. Tala, a golden Labrador in a red work jacket, greets me with a cursory sniff, before returning to his handler. I’m relieved to have passed the test, but feel a wet train of mucus on my hand where I petted him. This mucus fulfils an important purpose: dissolving odour molecules from the air and transporting them to olfactory receptors in the top of their nose, where the magic happens. Whereas humans have about 5m of these receptors, dogs have up to 300m. Dr Claire Guest has always been fascinated by dogs, and humans’ relationship with them. After studying psychology, she worked for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, where she met a woman who said her pet Dalmatian had diagnosed a malignant melanoma on her calf. “She kept saying, ‘The dog sniffed it,’” Guest recalled. In 2002, Guest joined forces with an orthopaedic surgeon, John Church, to test whether dogs could be trained to distinguish between urine from healthy people and those with bladder cancer. The research, published in the BMJ, showed that they could. Medical Detection Dogs was formed in 2008. The charity trains companion dogs that can detect odour changes in people with type 1 diabetes and other severe disorders, emitted shortly before their health deteriorates, alerting them to take action. It also researches dogs’ abilities to detect cancers, and other diseases, including Parkinson’s. When the pandemic hit it had just completed a study with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), demonstrating that dogs can detect malaria. Tala is one of six dogs who took part in the Covid study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. It found that dogs could detect Covid-19 on clothing worn by infected people with up to 94.3% sensitivity: they would correctly identify 94 out of every 100 infected people. This compares with a sensitivity of 58-77% for lateral flow tests, and 97.2% for PCR tests. However, dogs beat PCR tests on speed, making a diagnosis in under a second. “This includes people who are asymptomatic and also people with a low viral load,” said Prof James Logan of LSHTM, who co-led the study. Tala was the most accurate sniffer, achieving 94.5% sensitivity, and a specificity of 92% – the proportion of uninfected people that he would correctly identify.
  4. Fifth straight day for declining numbers. Still a long way to go.
  5. One shooter, seven victims. Just another day in paradise.
  6. Me too, dammit. Still no priority for ED sufferers.
  7. Why not? After all, the mass shootings are down lately.
  8. If you are expecting the Tories and/or Pallister to accept responsibility for the pandemic mishandling and avoidable deaths, you will be waiting for a looong time. The usual tactics are to deny, deflect, claim unavoidability and when the crisis is over, to say that its over, so no point in bringing it up again.
  9. Exclusive: Trump-endorsed radio show has promoted ex-CIA agent's call for right-wing rebellion Suppose there were a best-selling author, historian, essayist, public speaker, TV commentator, adviser to Ron Paul, secessionist advocate, Christian nationalist, Vladimir Putin apologist and expert on terrorism who was married to a senior intelligence official. Suppose he were a frequent commentator on an influential radio show with close ties to President Donald Trump, his family and his administration. Suppose this Trump-connected radio show routinely directed its listeners to this person’s blog, on which he wrote that it was “quite near time” for “well-armed citizens who voted for Trump” to “kill those seeking to impose tyranny,” of whom there was a “long and very precise list” that included journalists, activists, pundits, abortion providers, Republican and Democratic elected officials, federal judges, law professors, FBI agents, intelligence officials and Justice Department officials, along with “all who support them.” There is such a man, and such a show, on which he has declared that former President Barack Obama “deserves to be hung.” The broadcast promotes his blog (archived here), where for years, he has advocated the right of, and the approaching “necessity” for, “armed rebellion” by citizens seeking to “end the tyranny of their elected representatives,” and listed people cast as “tyrants” and “expendables” whom Trump voters should prepare to “eliminate” by stockpiling arms and ammunition. Michael Frank Scheuer, 66, of McLean, Virginia, a former CIA intelligence official and the author of four books, is the man. And John Fredericks Radio is the influential, nationally syndicated talk radio show that provides Scheuer a platform as a regular commentator and occasional host. In many ways, the show is a favored voice of Team Trump, as evidenced by its preferential access to Trump family members and White House officials, its payments from the Trump campaign, and “testimonials” from the president and people close to him. So it would appear significant that Scheuer has appeared on the show with increasing frequency for the last four years, including more than 25 times since January 2017. Each time, the show promotes his blog, where his violent rhetoric has been escalating. Exclusive: Trump-endorsed radio show has promoted ex-CIA agent's call for right-wing rebellion | Salon.com
  10. I think so.
  11. As an aside, you may not know that the Actress who played Ellen was living in Winnipeg for a time (and may still be for all I know) and involved with dinner theater. Also, the family had a son who was a total fitness freak- Gym Boy.
  12. It sure as spit looks that way. As even-handed as the law is supposed to be, the American prosecutors have to tread carefully around Trump. He is a public figure with the means to hire the best of lawyers to defend him and a slew of rabid followers. Thus, they will proceed with caution (hence the use of a grand jury) and will file charges when they as certain they have the SOB dead to rights.
  13. If I follow your logic, it makes no sense to have insurance on your house or car. After all, they're OK at the moment, right? Why plan for the eventuality that you might run into trouble? The system was NOT broken before Pallister came to power. There were inefficiencies, and there will always be, both on healthcare and every organization, but the province has been through this slash and burn of healthcare twice now- once with Pallister and under Filmon. The difference was that there was no pandemic for Filmon, but healthcare suffered- just less obviously.
  14. Manhattan DA convenes grand jury for possible criminal charges in Trump case: report Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. has convened a special grand jury to weigh possible criminal charges against Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and its officers or employees, possibly including Trump family members employed by the former president's business, and decide whether or not to indict. "The move indicates that District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.'s investigation of the former president and his business has reached an advanced stage after more than two years," The Washington Post reports, which describes Vance's investigation as "expansive." "It suggests, too, that Vance believes he has found evidence of a crime — if not by Trump then by someone potentially close to him or by his company." Manhattan DA convenes grand jury for possible criminal charges in Trump case: report - Alternet.org Kansas Republican Accused Of Kicking Teen In Testicles Says It Was God’s Plan TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A high school student reported that a Kansas House member working as a substitute teacher manhandled him and kicked him in the testicles during class, and the lawmaker told authorities that God told him to do it, according to a sheriff’s deputy’s written statement. The deputy’s affidavit, released to reporters Tuesday, said the boy showed him a golf ball-sized “road rash” and a 3-to-4 inch scratch on his back that he said appeared after Republican state Rep. Mark Samsel, of Wellsville, pushed him up against a classroom wall on April 28. Samsel, 36, was charged last week with three misdemeanor counts of battery following his “rude, insulting or angry” interactions with two students, ages 15 or 16, during an art class at Wellsville High School. He has pleaded not guilty. Each of the charges is punishable by up to six months in jail. The affidavit said Samsel acknowledged during an interview that he had “demonstrated a kick” after one boy disrupted class. He told the deputy he did not kick the boy and that the student had “embellished the heck out of it.” The boy told the deputy that after Samsel pushed him against the wall and kicked him, “his back and testicles were in pain” for approximately 15 minutes, the affidavit said. “I would just say that all an affidavit is, is a very brief recitation of allegations, and that they’re all allegations at this point,” said Samsel’s attorney, Christopher Scott. “He is innocent unless proven guilty.” Samsel did not answer a phone call, and it was not possible to leave him a message Tuesday. The Wellsville school district has banned Samsel from its property and events for a year. There’s no indication that Samsel might face disciplinary action from the House, which can censure or expel a member, and its top Republican leaders have said the courts “must be allowed to work.” On Monday, Scott asked the magistrate not to release the affidavit, but the judge released a redacted version. The sheriff’s deputy said in the document that he asked the lawmaker why he had put his hands on the boy, and Samsel pointed to the ceiling. When the deputy asked Samsel whether God told him to do so, Samsel answered, “Twice.” “He stated he knew it was wrong and he shouldn’t do it, he stated he did not want to do it,” the affidavit said. “He stated, ‘The whole world is telling me not to do it, God said, Yes.’ Mark believes this was God’s plan.” Kansas Republican Accused Of Kicking Teen In Testicles Says It Was God's Plan | HuffPost
  15. Better once again but still not good enough.
  16. If memory serves, the coaching had gotten so bad that, by mid-game, Dougie 97 was calling the defences.
  17. Wuhan Researchers Were Hospitalized With COVID-19 Symptoms Pre-Pandemic: Reports A month before China reported its first COVID-19 cases in 2019, three researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill and had to be hospitalized, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report The Wall Street Journal cited on Sunday. Sick researchers were previously mentioned in a Jan. 15 U.S. State Department fact sheet that didn’t say they had to be hospitalized. The fact sheet only stated that researchers had fallen sick in November 2019 “with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illness” and that the Chinese Communist Party had prevented them from being interviewed. CNN also later confirmed the intelligence report’s details, citing two people who were reportedly briefed on the intelligence. Wuhan Researchers Were Hospitalized With COVID-19 Symptoms Pre-Pandemic: Reports | HuffPost
  18. And the pastor is Leon Fontaine a former used-car dealer who found a more lucrative pastime.
  19. Basically a blood and guts documentary using every cliche known to directors.
  20. Better but far from good.
  21. An oxymoron like feminine logic and military intelligence.
  22. Much as I dislike Pallister, when he said that the impact of the pandemic would depend on Manitobans, he was right to an extent, but said it poorly. If there are enough covidiots who defy common sense and the law, they will wreak havoc on those of us who are doing it right. Police cannot be everywhere and if religious and community "leaders" voice support for refusing to recognize the pandemic as legitimately serious and/or denying the need for vaccination, we are all going to suffer for the stupidity of a relative few. Send the pastors to jail for the max. Its the only way to make them listen.
  23. Your lips to God's ear. We all live in hope of a better day to come.
  24. All this fond reminiscing about the good old days of the Mack era does make me wonder what the board who chose him was smoking at the time. Mack had to know that he was horribly ill-suited to be GM.
  25. These people who are clogging the ICUs all over the province are also dooming other who have life-threatening health crises such as cardiac events from having access to the ICU care that is required and more of these will die than necessary. You cannot pee in one part of the pool and expect it will remain there.
×
×
  • Create New...