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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
December 15, 2021
(Guardian UK) Amazon’s charitable program is paying tens of thousands of dollars to anti-vaccine groups in a move experts say is “shocking” as millions of Americans remain unvaccinated in the face of another Covid-19 wave.
AmazonSmile reportedly donated more than $40,000 to leading sources of vaccine misinformation in 2020, according to separate analyses by Popular Information and the Washington Post.
“That’s really shocking,” said Peter Hotez, dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. “That’s incredible that Amazon is supporting those groups.” ...................(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/15/amazonsmile-donations-anti-vaccine-groups
AmazonSmile donated more than $40,000 to anti-vaccine groups in 2020
(Guardian UK) Amazon’s charitable program is paying tens of thousands of dollars to anti-vaccine groups in a move experts say is “shocking” as millions of Americans remain unvaccinated in the face of another Covid-19 wave.
AmazonSmile reportedly donated more than $40,000 to leading sources of vaccine misinformation in 2020, according to separate analyses by Popular Information and the Washington Post.
“That’s really shocking,” said Peter Hotez, dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. “That’s incredible that Amazon is supporting those groups.” ...................(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/15/amazonsmile-donations-anti-vaccine-groups
December 15, 2021
Doctors and nurses at the intensive care ward in Leipzig University Hospital are fighting desperately to save the lives of corona truthers. It can be a thankless task.
By Tobias Großekemper in Leipzig
19.11.2021, 18.23 Uhr
(Der Spiegel) At 6 a.m. on a Monday morning, the start of the early shift, there are 19 extremely ill patients in the COVID-19 intensive care ward of the Leipzig University Hospital. And one dead body.
The man died a few hours ago in room B1115 and the corpse is lying on a bed, shrouded in a black plastic body bag. It will stay there for another two hours, in a room with two other patients. They are still alive, but have been put into artificial comas, sedated with benzodiazepines and opiates. Artificial lungs are supplying their blood with oxygen while dialysis machines have taken over the function of their kidneys.
At around 8 a.m., the morticians arrive and take away the body. There is no room set aside for mourning, no candles, no last moments of togetherness. That’s what it’s like to die in the coronavirus intensive care unit, where deaths are mounting as the fourth wave breaks over the country.
A total of 55 nurses work at Station IOI-C, and 12 of them are on duty on this Monday morning, along with an assistant who brings material into the room, picks up blood samples and returns with the results. With 18 patients already in the ward, it has actually reached full capacity, but new ones keep coming.
....(snip)....
Monday morning, 6:15 a.m., 19 patients in the station
"One thing we have learned is that COVID is an asshole," says Knauth, just beginning his third early shift in a row. He has two more ahead of him. The rings under his eyes tell you all you need to know about his work schedule: four late shifts, then a day off, five early shifts, two late, two early. And any time he doesn’t have off is full of stress. "You can have the perfect patient for seven hours, with all the values stable and everything going well. And then COVID will just rip him away."
....(snip)....
Leitner walks into a room saying: "Peace, freedom and no dictatorship." It is the battle cry of the those in Germany who oppose all measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The doctor dives into his work, but then looks up after a bit and says: "In my next life, I’m going to be a corona truther." He pauses briefly. "I’ll print T-shirts, make my money and then retire, that’s what they do." Sarcasm can be a helpful tool in surviving the madness. ...........(more)
https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-violence-of-the-fourth-wave-one-thing-we-have-learned-is-that-covid-is-an-asshole-a-9da60dbf-6311-472a-9fdf-60a6442b1235
"One Thing We Have Learned Is that COVID Is an Asshole"
"One Thing We Have Learned Is that COVID Is an Asshole"Doctors and nurses at the intensive care ward in Leipzig University Hospital are fighting desperately to save the lives of corona truthers. It can be a thankless task.
By Tobias Großekemper in Leipzig
19.11.2021, 18.23 Uhr
(Der Spiegel) At 6 a.m. on a Monday morning, the start of the early shift, there are 19 extremely ill patients in the COVID-19 intensive care ward of the Leipzig University Hospital. And one dead body.
The man died a few hours ago in room B1115 and the corpse is lying on a bed, shrouded in a black plastic body bag. It will stay there for another two hours, in a room with two other patients. They are still alive, but have been put into artificial comas, sedated with benzodiazepines and opiates. Artificial lungs are supplying their blood with oxygen while dialysis machines have taken over the function of their kidneys.
At around 8 a.m., the morticians arrive and take away the body. There is no room set aside for mourning, no candles, no last moments of togetherness. That’s what it’s like to die in the coronavirus intensive care unit, where deaths are mounting as the fourth wave breaks over the country.
A total of 55 nurses work at Station IOI-C, and 12 of them are on duty on this Monday morning, along with an assistant who brings material into the room, picks up blood samples and returns with the results. With 18 patients already in the ward, it has actually reached full capacity, but new ones keep coming.
....(snip)....
Monday morning, 6:15 a.m., 19 patients in the station
"One thing we have learned is that COVID is an asshole," says Knauth, just beginning his third early shift in a row. He has two more ahead of him. The rings under his eyes tell you all you need to know about his work schedule: four late shifts, then a day off, five early shifts, two late, two early. And any time he doesn’t have off is full of stress. "You can have the perfect patient for seven hours, with all the values stable and everything going well. And then COVID will just rip him away."
....(snip)....
Leitner walks into a room saying: "Peace, freedom and no dictatorship." It is the battle cry of the those in Germany who oppose all measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The doctor dives into his work, but then looks up after a bit and says: "In my next life, I’m going to be a corona truther." He pauses briefly. "I’ll print T-shirts, make my money and then retire, that’s what they do." Sarcasm can be a helpful tool in surviving the madness. ...........(more)
https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-violence-of-the-fourth-wave-one-thing-we-have-learned-is-that-covid-is-an-asshole-a-9da60dbf-6311-472a-9fdf-60a6442b1235
December 14, 2021
Researcher Andrew Lawrence marinates daily in the racist terror and apocalypse porn of Tucker Carlson and friends
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 14, 2021 6:00AM
(Salon) In the upside-down world alternate universe created by Fox News, "real Americans" are under siege in "their own country" from nonwhite, non-English-speaking immigrants, Black and brown people more generally, and street violence orchestrated by antifa, the Black Lives Matter movement and other bogeymen
America's suburbs are being overrun by criminals (understood by default to be Black or brown), and patriotic Americans face relentless censorship and discrimination from the forces of "wokeness." Teachers and activists are spreading "critical race theory" in public schools, devoted to brainwashing white children into self-hatred.
"Socialism" is running amok and destroying America. Gay men and lesbians have ruined the institution of marriage, and trans people are sexual deviants who loiter in public bathrooms seeking to molest children — or, more to the point, seduce true American heterosexual manly men.
....(snip)....
Many outsiders to Fox News, who still live in normal society, cannot navigate or decipher the power that Fox News holds over its public and the larger right-wing political cult. For that we have Andrew Lawrence, a senior researcher at Media Matters and a professional guide to the Fox News universe, who told me that he watches the channel so others don't have to.
....(snip)....
You said you watch Fox News so other people don't have to. Why are their viewers so dedicated?
What Fox News is doing is capitalizing on fear, more than anything. That is the formula for keeping their viewers enraged and engaged. Using the COVID vaccine as an example, Fox News understands that their audience has a distrust in the government and some type of "they" who, in their minds, hold power and are controlling things. Fox News leverages that more than anything else. What I have realized, especially over the last six months, is that Fox News is just a grift.
They're just grifting their viewers and they're going to say anything that they have to in order to keep eyeballs on their station for as long as they can. Fox News will say whatever they need to in the exact moment necessary to tell their audience what it needs to hear to keep watching
What are the long-term themes that Fox News is emphasizing in the Age of Trump?
The main theme on Fox News right now is that the only racism that exists is racism against white people. "They" are coming for white people. It's a constant theme throughout the network. I would say Tucker Carlson is a little bit more upfront about it. He'll do segments on supposed anti-white policies. ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/12/14/this-man-lives-in-the-paranoid-alternate-universe-of-fox-news--so-you-dont-have-to/
This man lives in the paranoid alternate universe of Fox News -- so you don't have to
This man lives in the paranoid alternate universe of Fox News — so you don't have toResearcher Andrew Lawrence marinates daily in the racist terror and apocalypse porn of Tucker Carlson and friends
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 14, 2021 6:00AM
(Salon) In the upside-down world alternate universe created by Fox News, "real Americans" are under siege in "their own country" from nonwhite, non-English-speaking immigrants, Black and brown people more generally, and street violence orchestrated by antifa, the Black Lives Matter movement and other bogeymen
America's suburbs are being overrun by criminals (understood by default to be Black or brown), and patriotic Americans face relentless censorship and discrimination from the forces of "wokeness." Teachers and activists are spreading "critical race theory" in public schools, devoted to brainwashing white children into self-hatred.
"Socialism" is running amok and destroying America. Gay men and lesbians have ruined the institution of marriage, and trans people are sexual deviants who loiter in public bathrooms seeking to molest children — or, more to the point, seduce true American heterosexual manly men.
....(snip)....
Many outsiders to Fox News, who still live in normal society, cannot navigate or decipher the power that Fox News holds over its public and the larger right-wing political cult. For that we have Andrew Lawrence, a senior researcher at Media Matters and a professional guide to the Fox News universe, who told me that he watches the channel so others don't have to.
....(snip)....
You said you watch Fox News so other people don't have to. Why are their viewers so dedicated?
What Fox News is doing is capitalizing on fear, more than anything. That is the formula for keeping their viewers enraged and engaged. Using the COVID vaccine as an example, Fox News understands that their audience has a distrust in the government and some type of "they" who, in their minds, hold power and are controlling things. Fox News leverages that more than anything else. What I have realized, especially over the last six months, is that Fox News is just a grift.
They're just grifting their viewers and they're going to say anything that they have to in order to keep eyeballs on their station for as long as they can. Fox News will say whatever they need to in the exact moment necessary to tell their audience what it needs to hear to keep watching
What are the long-term themes that Fox News is emphasizing in the Age of Trump?
The main theme on Fox News right now is that the only racism that exists is racism against white people. "They" are coming for white people. It's a constant theme throughout the network. I would say Tucker Carlson is a little bit more upfront about it. He'll do segments on supposed anti-white policies. ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/12/14/this-man-lives-in-the-paranoid-alternate-universe-of-fox-news--so-you-dont-have-to/
December 13, 2021
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Ghana will fine airlines $3,500 for each passenger who arrives in the West African country without being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the latest measure taken by the country with some of the strictest restrictions in the region.
Airlines also will be penalized the same amount for passengers who did not fill out a health declaration form before boarding their flight to Kotoka International Airport, the state-owned Ghana Airport Company announced Monday.
While Ghanaians who fly in without meeting the requirement will be allowed to enter the country and undergo a 14-day quarantine, foreigners may be refused entry, the airport authority announced.
The new penalties come a day after Ghana began requiring all passengers over the age of 18 to provide evidence of full vaccination against the virus, saying that about 60% of the total new cases recorded in the country had come from the airport during a recent two-week period. ...................(more)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-12-13/ghana-to-fine-airlines-3-500-for-unvaccinated-passengers
Ghana to Fine Airlines $3,500 for Unvaccinated Passengers
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Ghana will fine airlines $3,500 for each passenger who arrives in the West African country without being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the latest measure taken by the country with some of the strictest restrictions in the region.
Airlines also will be penalized the same amount for passengers who did not fill out a health declaration form before boarding their flight to Kotoka International Airport, the state-owned Ghana Airport Company announced Monday.
While Ghanaians who fly in without meeting the requirement will be allowed to enter the country and undergo a 14-day quarantine, foreigners may be refused entry, the airport authority announced.
The new penalties come a day after Ghana began requiring all passengers over the age of 18 to provide evidence of full vaccination against the virus, saying that about 60% of the total new cases recorded in the country had come from the airport during a recent two-week period. ...................(more)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-12-13/ghana-to-fine-airlines-3-500-for-unvaccinated-passengers
December 13, 2021
Jan. 6 PowerPoint reveals many more Republicans were in on Trump's coup plot
A newly released PowerPoint emphasizes just how desperate Trump and his team were
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 13, 2021 10:02AM
(Salon) Last week a federal court agreed to schedule Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress criminal trial for July of next year — just as the fall campaigns go into full swing. He must be very pleased. Bannon would like nothing more than to have a big show trial at that moment and be carted off to jail where he can write his Great Replacement manifesto.
With the news that there was a PowerPoint presentation called "Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for JAN 6", reported here by Brett Bachman, Bannon's revolutionary proclamations in his podcast on January 5th have become clearer. Recall what he said:
It's understandable that people would suspect that he was talking about the violence that took place when Trump incited his crowd to converge on the Capitol and he may very well have been. He and the others who were plotting at the Willard Hotel in the days before the insurrection were very close to groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who had an outsized role in the attack.
But it's clear now that Bannon was also talking about the plans laid out in that PowerPoint presentation which included some of what we knew but also reveals some rather chilling recommendations that add more detail to what was undeniably a coup attempt. When he said, "We are going into uncharted waters. We're going into something that's never happened before in American history," he wasn't kidding. ...........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/12/13/jan-6-powerpoint-reveals-many-more-were-in-on-coup-plot/
Jan. 6 PowerPoint reveals many more Republicans were in on Trump's coup plot
Jan. 6 PowerPoint reveals many more Republicans were in on Trump's coup plot
A newly released PowerPoint emphasizes just how desperate Trump and his team were
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 13, 2021 10:02AM
(Salon) Last week a federal court agreed to schedule Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress criminal trial for July of next year — just as the fall campaigns go into full swing. He must be very pleased. Bannon would like nothing more than to have a big show trial at that moment and be carted off to jail where he can write his Great Replacement manifesto.
With the news that there was a PowerPoint presentation called "Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for JAN 6", reported here by Brett Bachman, Bannon's revolutionary proclamations in his podcast on January 5th have become clearer. Recall what he said:
"Mitch McConnell's got to start taking care and focusing on these senators — because this is going to be very controversial. We are going into uncharted waters. We're going into something that's never happened before in American history. Tomorrow it's going — we're pulling the trigger on something that's going to be, it's going to be minute by minute, hour by hour, what happens. The stakes couldn't be higher right now."
"It's not going to happen like you think it's going to happen ...Okay, it's going to be quite extraordinarily different. All I can say is, strap in. … You made this happen and tomorrow it's game day. So strap in. Let's get ready...It's all converging, and now we're on the point of attack tomorrow."
It's understandable that people would suspect that he was talking about the violence that took place when Trump incited his crowd to converge on the Capitol and he may very well have been. He and the others who were plotting at the Willard Hotel in the days before the insurrection were very close to groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who had an outsized role in the attack.
But it's clear now that Bannon was also talking about the plans laid out in that PowerPoint presentation which included some of what we knew but also reveals some rather chilling recommendations that add more detail to what was undeniably a coup attempt. When he said, "We are going into uncharted waters. We're going into something that's never happened before in American history," he wasn't kidding. ...........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/12/13/jan-6-powerpoint-reveals-many-more-were-in-on-coup-plot/
December 13, 2021
Watching Gov. Andy Beshear get very emotional in a briefing just now....
.... and thinking about Gov. Gretchen Whitmer getting emotional after the Oxford shooting....
Just reminds of you how good leadership begins with being a good human.
It was easy to lose sight of that during four years of the DSM-5 psychopath's reign.
December 12, 2021
A woman fell off a Carnival Cruise Line ship balcony and into the Pacific Ocean early Saturday morning, spurring an ongoing international search effort.
The incident, which happened near the coast of Ensenada, Mexico, aboard a Carnival Miracle ship, occurred shortly after 3 a.m. and was captured on security footage, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Passengers were notified shortly after, Carnival Miracle passenger Josh Zufelt told NBC News.
The ship came to a near complete stop around 3:30 a.m. as crew members dropped a lifeboat into the water, Zufelt said.
Coast Guard crews are working with members of the Mexican Navy to locate the woman, who appeared to be in her 20s. ..............(more)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/woman-falls-overboard-carnival-cruise-ship-coast-mexico-rcna8481
Woman falls overboard from Carnival cruise ship off coast of Mexico
A woman fell off a Carnival Cruise Line ship balcony and into the Pacific Ocean early Saturday morning, spurring an ongoing international search effort.
The incident, which happened near the coast of Ensenada, Mexico, aboard a Carnival Miracle ship, occurred shortly after 3 a.m. and was captured on security footage, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Passengers were notified shortly after, Carnival Miracle passenger Josh Zufelt told NBC News.
The ship came to a near complete stop around 3:30 a.m. as crew members dropped a lifeboat into the water, Zufelt said.
Coast Guard crews are working with members of the Mexican Navy to locate the woman, who appeared to be in her 20s. ..............(more)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/woman-falls-overboard-carnival-cruise-ship-coast-mexico-rcna8481
December 12, 2021
You’ve heard tell of Florida Man. He is an American folk hero, equally at home catching gators in a trash can as he is tripping on mescalin, ranting about zombies trying to eat his brain. He walks among us in many forms, both corporeal and spiritual, plying his trade from Key West to Pensacola. There is no mistaking Florida Man. He is everywhere. He is all of us.
Lesser known is Florida Woman, but that’s all about to change thanks to Jodie Ann Harvey, a 60-year-old Floridian who led local police on a harrowing chase across a Vero Beach golf course on Tuesday afternoon. Witness the legend as it is born:
First of all, holy hell do not skip through that intro. Epic. The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office are straight killing the content game. Second of all, just this. This and only this. ........(more)
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/florida-woman-police-golf-course-chase-crime
Florida Woman leads police on wild golf-course chase, beats Florida Man at his own game
You’ve heard tell of Florida Man. He is an American folk hero, equally at home catching gators in a trash can as he is tripping on mescalin, ranting about zombies trying to eat his brain. He walks among us in many forms, both corporeal and spiritual, plying his trade from Key West to Pensacola. There is no mistaking Florida Man. He is everywhere. He is all of us.
Lesser known is Florida Woman, but that’s all about to change thanks to Jodie Ann Harvey, a 60-year-old Floridian who led local police on a harrowing chase across a Vero Beach golf course on Tuesday afternoon. Witness the legend as it is born:
First of all, holy hell do not skip through that intro. Epic. The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office are straight killing the content game. Second of all, just this. This and only this. ........(more)
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/florida-woman-police-golf-course-chase-crime
December 11, 2021
AFlorida man used a flamethrower on a car with three teenagers inside after he was angry about a running feud with his neighbor's parking habits.
Andre Abrams, 57, admitted to using a flamethrower, which shoots flames up to 20 feet, towards his neighbor's parked car over what he says is a long-running feud over their parking. However, he denied targeting the teens, police said.
"This family, how could I say this—the worst thing that could ever happen to a neighborhood," Abrams said. "They've had issues with other residents, and it needs to be brought to light." ..............(more)
https://www.newsweek.com/florida-man-angry-over-neighbors-parking-habits-uses-flamethrower-occupied-car-police-1658177
Florida Man Angry Over Neighbors' Parking Habits Uses Flamethrower at Occupied Car: Police
AFlorida man used a flamethrower on a car with three teenagers inside after he was angry about a running feud with his neighbor's parking habits.
Andre Abrams, 57, admitted to using a flamethrower, which shoots flames up to 20 feet, towards his neighbor's parked car over what he says is a long-running feud over their parking. However, he denied targeting the teens, police said.
"This family, how could I say this—the worst thing that could ever happen to a neighborhood," Abrams said. "They've had issues with other residents, and it needs to be brought to light." ..............(more)
https://www.newsweek.com/florida-man-angry-over-neighbors-parking-habits-uses-flamethrower-occupied-car-police-1658177
December 9, 2021
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has been awarded $285.7 million in American Rescue Plan funds by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
FTA explains the funds are intended to help transit agencies maintain service and jobs as communities continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Transit has played a crucial role throughout the pandemic, bringing essential workers to jobs and helping the American people get to vaccine appointments and increasingly travel as the nation opens back up.
“Public transportation has been a lifeline for communities and the American people throughout this pandemic,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This funding from President [Joe] Biden’s American Rescue Plan will help protect transit employees from layoffs, keep transit service running and ensure people can get where they need to go.” ..........(more)
https://www.masstransitmag.com/management/press-release/21249607/federal-transit-administration-fta-marta-awarded-more-than-285-million-in-covid-relief-funds
Atlanta: MARTA awarded more than $285 million in COVID relief funds
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has been awarded $285.7 million in American Rescue Plan funds by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
FTA explains the funds are intended to help transit agencies maintain service and jobs as communities continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Transit has played a crucial role throughout the pandemic, bringing essential workers to jobs and helping the American people get to vaccine appointments and increasingly travel as the nation opens back up.
“Public transportation has been a lifeline for communities and the American people throughout this pandemic,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This funding from President [Joe] Biden’s American Rescue Plan will help protect transit employees from layoffs, keep transit service running and ensure people can get where they need to go.” ..........(more)
https://www.masstransitmag.com/management/press-release/21249607/federal-transit-administration-fta-marta-awarded-more-than-285-million-in-covid-relief-funds
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,077