U.S. Select House Committee on January 6th HEARING
"The eighth Jan. 6 committee hearing on its finding is scheduled for prime time July 21 [Thursday] and will walk through the events of Jan. 6, 2021 "minute by minute," Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Tuesday. The hearing will focus in on the 187 minutes between Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally on the Ellipse and his tweet urging his supporters to go home," USA Today reports HERE. (check schedule where you live for date, time confirmation, where to view)
"Thank You for Your Servitude" by Mark Leibovich is a book worth reading about some in Congress who have been cynical and hypocritical "about-face" enablers now making excuses for our ex-President, shifting his accountability for words and actions by blaming others. Fear has been a factor which is a hallmark of authoritarianism. The author is interviewed on Amanour and Company-PBS with segments you can view on the site HERE, also on this video:
PBS NewsHour
Earlier today, Sat., July 16th as I write this, I received my Covid 2nd booster vaccination. Originally, I planned to wait for the next vaccine expected in October or November. Currently, scientific/medical reports convince me given the rapidly increasingly high level of Covid infections here in Los Angeles County that having stronger protection now would be wise. Outdoor exposure, especially in groups, may even be a more real possibility I also read.
This BA.5 omicron variant has evolved "...to be more contagious and evade the immune protection that people had from infection, vaccination or both" Dr. Gregory Poland, head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, is quoted saying in the "Mayo Clinic News Network" report HERE.
"A new study published in Nature found the variant was four times more resistant to messenger RNA vaccines than earlier strains of omicron. The Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines are messenger RNA vaccines."
Currently there is no evidence of a higher death rate from BA.5 but "...you have very little protection against BA.5 in terms of getting infected or having mild to moderate infection. You have good protection against dying, being hospitalized or ending up on a ventilator."
"...among the unvaccinated with this variant, they're about fivefold more likely to get infected than people who have been vaccinated and boosted, about 7 1/2 times more likely to be hospitalized, and about 14 to 15 times more likely to die if they get infected," says Dr. Poland.
I keep wearing my "N95 masks or a KN-94 mask when indoors and in crowded areas outdoors" as Dr. Poland recommends. What new variants may be in the offing, I wonder?
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Environmentally, the SoCal drought with hot temperatures rolls on, water usage restrictions continue -- so what's new?
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I've been trying to locate some lab sites that are easily accessible for parking, require minimal walking to the store and once I'm inside since I've been having some mobility issues. Most of the large chain drugstores place their pharmacies, clinics, labs where they can draw blood clear at the back of their stores. It sure would be nice if they provided riding carts as some grocery stores do but that seems not to be the case.
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Podcasts seem to be popular with many people though I haven't devoted time listening to any of them. They could be enjoyed I realize while engaged in other necessary activities about the house. Maybe some podcasts could be an entertaining source of humor. There seem to be an abundance of podcasts described as humorous including for seniors, older people, boomers, other age groups, various interest areas. Perhaps some of you have favored podcasts. We do need lots of humor.
Laughing is contagious but living alone can limit that shared stimulation. I recall when I was in undergraduate college some of us operating our campus radio station gathered in the control room one day. We decided to record ourselves laughing which started with artificial laughs. The next thing we knew we were laughing genuinely at the ridiculousness of what we were doing. Our laughing kept getting more hilarious to each of us until we all were laughing so hard our stomachs hurt, tears were coming from our eyes -- we were quite out of control.
I wonder if there would be a health care market for such a potentially therapeutic recording releasing all those healing endorphins -- a simple plain recording of laughter, nothing else, with which to laugh along?
I don't have the patience for listening to podcasts and prefer to read. My daily dose of cartoons in the newspapers and some TV shows give me enough scope to laugh even when I am alone.
ReplyDeleteI don't see as many cartoons as I used to enjoy since I cancelled my newspapers due to unresolved delivery problems.
DeleteYou bring up an excellent point about how pharmacies/labs/mediclinics in drug stores are always at the very back of these huge stores. It's a problem when I'm taking my 92-year old mother for her various vaccines or whatever. She needs a cane or walker for her mobility. What we usually do is grab a shopping cart for her to walk with. The walk is still very long, but she feels more stable.
ReplyDeleteStores are so enormous now that they've become unmanageable for many seniors, period. My mother could not use one of those scooters, even assisted.
One drug store near me did have a riding cart but it was stolen and the manager said he wasn't going to replace it. I think we should start promoting this idea to the stores -- maybe letters to newspaper editors, various TV programs of the types that feature such matters, AARP would be a good one. My problem right now is not being able to stand too long so using a shopping cart wouldn't help and one of those walkers with a seat doesn't allow me to position my body upright well and safely for walking. Grocery stores, those huge home improvement stores with gardening areas, too, have riding carts that I've seen and used on occasion in the past.
DeleteLaughter is definitely a cure "for all that ails us". Though some days it's so hard to even bring up a smile.
ReplyDeleteI found someone who comes to my home to do the labwork. It would be impossible otherwise. I continue to be shocked at all elders have to do to visit clinics, docs and hospitals. Especially with mobility issues or pain.
And as Mary Trump says, if Drumpf is ever called to account he will lash out at all the sycophants remaining in his worship circle.
XO
WWW
I'm glad you have someone come to your home for labwork. I wish some companies who do that sort of thing in other states would set up business here. I don't know why they haven't. Another issue to promote I guess.
DeleteI think we clearly have an issue, riding carts, we should pursue -- getting some of these clinics, those pharmacies, my dentist for example, and others to better provide for patients. Even doctors, we often have to walk long hallways, go to distant waiting rooms.
I watched the first Jan 6 Hearing and haven't watched since. I prefer to read the news online or in the newspaper. I have been vaxed 3 times so far, just waiting now for a better booster to show up. Meanwhile, I wear my mask at crowded venues. Haven't gotten sick yet.
ReplyDeleteThere are several ways to be informed about the hearings as you note. I just like to see and hear matters first hand rather than their being filtered through the lens of others. That helps me determine who are reliable reporters and who are not when I read what they write and various publications print to compare with what I heard and saw. So, I know who to trust for other news I haven't seen first hand. Actually seeing the Jan. 6 events that day is what has been so powerful to most thinking people to negate the lies put forth by the insurrectionists.
DeleteSome people complain about being confused, or not knowing what reported news is reliable. This is one way of going about determining reliability.
I thought like you, too, about vaccines. I decided to get this second booster shot when medical studies reported the effectiveness of the initial vaccines and booster decreased by considerable percentages after several months. I want more protection these next few months until they decrease in effectiveness, too, about Oct., Nov. when they think that new booster will be ready though it may even be later if they try to adapt it further with what they're learning about BA.5..
FWIW the only reaction I've had from this second booster has been some soreness at the injection site.
Regardless of whatever the popular consensus, the virus doesn’t “spread”. We spread it. We cough, sneeze and breathe on each other. It's that basic.
ReplyDeleteHope you can stay well.
I enjoy podcasts on and off. But I usually fall asleep unless I am driving or ironing or maybe even doing a sudoku. I enjoyed Phoebe Judge's This is Love series and Awake at Night, where Melissa Fleming of the United Nations talks to various staff members about their field work over the years. Also, Outrage and Optimism, a sort of positive podcast on climate change options by former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres. Other than that, I really go for true crime stuff.
So true that "we spread it" so "we" can act to inhibit that virus spreading by basic techniques including wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings.
DeleteThanks for sharing information about interesting sounding podcasts. In the years before podcasts my mother who had become legally blind listened to "Talking Books" as they were called then, first on records, later tapes -- audio books now. Her frustration was falling asleep with them as you mention. To stay awake she began hooking rugs in a unique manner that ultimately became attractive to others. Eventually, unexpectedly a market developed so she began selling them.
I got my 2nd booster in April. Kind of wish I had waited and can only hope they have a 3rd booster that will be effective against the BA5. Have yet to listen to a podcast but since you said they had humorous ones, I may go hunting for one.
ReplyDeleteMy pharmacy is Walmart and fortunately they have a raft of motorized carts available and also pick up.
It's difficult to know how to time these vaccines any more than the virus variants and, perhaps, it doesn't make that much difference.
DeleteGlad your Walmart has motorized carts so that would help with a pharmacy. I'm interested in a lab for a blood draw which a few Walgreen's and CVS's offer here but lack the carts to navigate to the back of their huge stores.
Unfortunately, I don't think the people who should be watching the hearings are watching, listening or reading about it. The MAGA cult continues blindly. I've got all the vaccines available and just HOPING a newer one that protects against the variants is made available by the end of the year. And now Monkey Pox? Oh gosh!
ReplyDeleteYou're probably correct about those who are not paying attention to the hearing. Seems no end in sight for all the various vaccines we need.
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