Saturday, April 3, 2021

SpaceX rocket booster falls out of orbit

Costas reacts to MLB moving all-star game out of Atlanta

Egypt seeks billions in canal blockage

Hunter Biden Once Had Intervention Staged by Joe Biden

Rep. Gaetz Under Federal Investigation For Sex Trafficking

7 shot, 3 killed in mass shooting at Wilmington house party, police say

WEB EXTRA: Biden Calls Job Report "Good News"

Investigator: 'Totally unnecessary' force used on George Floyd during arrest | ANC

Boise family stuck in Mexico for 10 days after testing positive for COVID-19 while vaccinated

Gunman in Orange shooting charged

Noah Green, the man who killed a Capitol Police officer Friday, played high school football and ...

As COVID-19 cases rise, health officials recommend Wisconsin residents take caution with spring and summer gatherings

From JSOnline:
Drake Bentley
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel



The Wisconsin Department of Health Services updated its website to include recommendations for both fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people, as well as guidelines for spring and summer activities and gatherings. 

Recommendations for unvaccinated people remain the same, including wearing a mask, socially distancing, washing your hands, and avoiding gatherings. 

If you are not fully vaccinated yet, the state's health department continues to advise against attending or hosting gatherings with people who don’t live with you and who are not fully vaccinated. 

Fully vaccinated people are being asked to wear a mask and socially distance when in public, gathering with unvaccinated people from more than one other household or  visiting with an unvaccinated person who is at increased risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19.

Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2021/04/02/wisconsin-covid-19-guidelines-summer-2021-avoid-crowds-mask-up/7066014002/

Easter will be a super-spreader event.

CBD store raided in Menomonee Falls after two small children had a nonfatal overdose, sheriff says

From JSOnline:
Cathy Kozlowicz
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel



A CBD store in Menomonee Falls was raided and three people were arrested after two small children had a nonfatal overdose after unintentionally ingesting a CBD-related product bought from the store.

The investigation into the overdose incident led to law enforcement executing a search warrant March 30 at Superstar Buds, N88-W16733 Main St., according to the news release from the Waukesha County Sheriff Department.

In the investigation leading to the raid, authorities obtained evidence the business was selling products containing prohibited levels of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol or delta-9-THC, according to the news release.

The Sheriff's Department said in the news release that state law allows for the sale of CBD-related products only if the delta-9-THC levels are not more than 3%. Several of the products obtained from the store during this investigation had delta-9-THC levels of more than 20%.

Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/menomonee-falls/2021/04/03/menomonee-falls-cbd-store-allegedly-sold-products-illegal-thc-levels/7073054002/

Just Because I'm Drunk

Brain Drain

Suspect who smashed into barrier at US Capitol identified as Noah Green

From New York Post:

The driver who killed a US Capitol cop before he was gunned down by police is a Nation of Islam devotee from Indiana, according to reports and his social media.

Noah Green, 25, who may have been living in Virginia, described himself as a “Follower of Farrakhan” on his Facebook page, in reference to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Green appeared to have come on hard times from his Facebook page reviewed by The Post before his account was taken down.

“I was on the right track and everything I had planned was coming into existence. It required long hours, lots of studying, and exercise to keep me balanced while experiencing an array of concerning symptoms along the path (I believe to be side effects of drugs I was intaking unknowingly),” he wrote on March 17, signing the message Brother Noah X

Noah Green was identified in the suspect at the incident at the US Capitol on Friday.
Facebook

“However, the path has been thwarted, as Allah (God) has chosen me for other things. Throughout life I have set goals, attained them, set higher ones, and then been required to sacrifice those things,” he continued.

His Facebook posts were first reported by MSNBC, which read them on-air.

Read and see more: https://nypost.com/2021/04/02/suspect-who-smashed-into-barrier-at-us-capitol-identified-reports/

Open Blog - Weekend

If it does, you lead a boring life.

Friday, April 2, 2021

How Long Are COVID-19 Vaccines Effective?

What should you do with your vaccination card? |The Story with Dan Haggerty| April 1, 2021

Moderna mRNA 'hacked' by scientists, posted online | DW News

Dr. Jimmy Answers Questions About COVID Vaccine & mRNA Science - Sponsored by Moderna

IU is joining other universities to determine whether vaccinated people can still spread COVID-19

Officials say contagious Brazil COVID variant found in Michigan as cases surge

Johnson & Johnson faces scrutiny over vaccine mix-up | WNT

British regulators identifies 30 blood clot cases after use of AstraZeneca jab | COVID-19 Vaccine

Dire situation in North Korea drives 'collective exit' of diplomats

A worker in protective gear carries a disinfectant spray can through a nearly deserted terminal at Pyongyang airport. Photograph: Jon Chol Jin/AP

 Russian diplomats fleeing North Korea have described acute shortages of medicines and other basic goods in the country, indicating a crisis fuelled by one of the world’s strictest quarantine regimes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter posted online on Thursday, employees of the Russian embassy in Pyongyang described a “collective exit” of foreign diplomatic staff that they predicted would “unfortunately not be the last” due to unbearable conditions in the North Korean capital.

“It is possible to understand those leaving the [North] Korean capital. Hardly everyone can stand the unprecedented total restrictions [on individuals], the sharp deficit of essential goods, including medicines, the lack of any possibility to resolve health problems,” members of staff at the Russian embassy wrote.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/01/foreign-diplomat-collective-exit-from-north-korea-russian-embassy-staff-strict-covid-restrictions

US welcomes Iran meeting with world leaders over nuclear deal

New Texas Voting Bill Attracting Opposition, Support From Residents

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) addressed new, public allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on March 30. (The Washington Post)

Child Among at Least 4 Dead in California Shooting

Crazy Peeps, Palin Gets COVID & Clayton Kershaw’s Interview with Guillermo

Pfizer Says Its Vaccine Will Last Up To 6 Months After 2nd Dose | TODAY

Border Outrage: Smugglers Drop Two Young Children Over Border Wall

George Floyd’s brother: ‘I’m confident justice will be served’

Train derails in Taiwan killing 48, injuring dozens | NewsNOW from FOX

Open Blog - Friday

 Have a good one.

Thursday, April 1, 2021

Why You Can Be Forced To Get The Covid Vaccine

New Details Emerge About Man Accused Of Assaulting, Shooting 12-Year-Old Boy

Pfizer clinical trial shows 100% effectiveness in children 12 to 15 years old

VERIFY: Why experts say you still need to wear a mask after being vaccinated

Washington confirms 'breakthrough' COVID-19 cases after vaccination

Photographer Runs Away From Lava in Iceland

Mars Helicopter Prepares for Takeoff (Mission Trailer)

France tightens Covid restrictions as cases surge - BBC News

Man Who Murdered His Own Mom Arrested in Anti-Asian Attack in Manhattan | NBC New York

Texas Trooper Chad Walker Dies After Being Shot In The Line Of Duty Last Friday

FEMA megasite gives 6,200 COVID-19 shots on first full day

California to Add Nearly 1,400 Firefighters Amid Dry Weather

Rep Matt Gaetz's Sex Trafficking Investigation & Uncomfortable Tucker Carlson Interview

New York Times Report: Mixup At Baltimore Facility Ruined Millions Of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vac

Hong Kong democrats found guilty of illegal assembly

'We All Watched A Lynching': Testimony Details George Floyd's Death | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

4 killed, 1 hurt in California shooting

Biden Infrastructure Plan Will Be Big, Bold: NEC's Deese

Wisconsin Supreme Court overturns statewide mask mandate, blocks Evers from declaring multiple emergency orders

From JSOnline:
Molly Beck
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel




MADISON - The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked Democratic Gov. Tony Evers from issuing any new public health emergency orders to mandate face masks without the approval of the Republican-controlled state Legislature.   

In a 4-3 decision, conservative justices in the majority declared the statewide mask mandate invalid and ruled Evers exceeded his authority in issuing multiple emergency declarations over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Evers used the emergency orders to require face coverings be worn indoors statewide after lawmakers opted not to.

"The question in this case is not whether the Governor acted wisely; it is whether he acted lawfully. We conclude he did not," Justice Brian Hagedorn, writing for the conservative majority, said.

Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/31/supreme-court-blocks-tony-evers-extending-covid-mask-mandate/7060433002/

Art Howell bids farewell: Racine's first black police chief retires from the department

From The Journal Times.com:


Art Howell smiles for a photo inside his office on Tuesday, his next-to-last day as the Racine's chief of police.


RACINE — When Art Howell joined the Racine Police Department, the city was entering one of its darkest times. Upon his retirement Wednesday after 37 years with the RPD, Racine has been experiencing record lows, year after year, in major crimes since Howell became chief of police.

March 30, 2021: Goodbye

Art Howell's father, who died in 1995, worked at Case. Howell kept a miniature Case tractor in his office to honor his dad.

Howell grew up on Davis Place, just south of Downtown Racine. As he was graduating from high school in 1980, a recession was sweeping across the Midwest. Stable industrial jobs went overseas or south of the border. Unemployment rates, especially among workers of color, shot up.

“All the jobs that the people in my neighborhood normally had,” Howell, who had worked at McDonald’s as a teenager, “they were gone.” His father was one of those who managed to maintain employment, at Case Corp.; one of the last things Howell cleaned out from his office this week was a toy Case tractor honoring his father, who died in 1995.

Hired at age 21 in 1984 by the Racine Police Department, the city was facing a crisis.

The crack cocaine epidemic arrived in the mid-1980s. It preceded what may have been the worst time in Racine’s history. Gangs, many of them coming south from Milwaukee or north from Chicago, set up shop in Racine: living expenses were lower and drugs could be sold for higher profit here, an inviting combination for vice.

Read more: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/art-howell-bids-farewell-racines-first-black-police-chief-retires-from-the-department/article_8be332ae-85c9-5c15-bccf-fffb37640ab5.html

Open Blog - Thursday

Watch out today. 

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

'Friends' hosts explain why Trump needs his own social network

Prosecutor beefs up team for Trump criminal probe

Police Arrest Man Who Threatened to Kill Asian Americans in San Francisco

Vaccinated Individuals Don't Carry Virus Or Get Sick: CDC

Talking Racine Episode 219 From Green Bay to Racine?





Sorry I didn't post this on Monday.  I keep forgetting . . .

German state suspends AstraZeneca vaccine use for under-60s

Britain is not institutionally racist, landmark report chief says

Third lawsuit filed over new Georgia election law

NYT: DOJ investigating Rep. Gaetz over sexual relationship with 17-year-old girl

The challenge facing Joe Biden at the US-Mexico border - BBC News

Hemingway Series PREVIEW

Republicans’ Dumb Fight Against Vaccine Passports & Trump is for Hire!

G. Gordon Liddy Dead At 90

COVID-19 cases spike in more than half the U.S. amid fourth wave fears

Man arrested for brutal attack on Asian woman in Midtown Manhattan

Off-duty firefighter, Genevieve Hansen, says she was stopped from helping Floyd | ABC7

Biden's massively ambitious and expensive infrastructure plan | WNT

"COVID arm" Moderna side effect, no cause for alarm

In latest shakeup, top Milwaukee Health Department staffer put on paid leave pending investigation

From JSOnline:
Alison Dirr
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel



A top Milwaukee Health Department staffer was put on paid administrative leave Friday, pending an investigation.

Claire Evers, deputy commissioner of environmental health, has been with the city since July 2010 and currently makes $112,626 annually, according to the city. She was appointed to the role by former Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik on May 17, 2020.

In the position, Evers' duties have included overseeing enforcement of the city's COVID-19 health orders in addition to lead program enforcement.

Evers told the Journal Sentinel in a Facebook message that she had not been told what the potential misconduct is, adding, "I haven’t even had so much as a ‘talking to’ in my career."

Department of Employee Relations Director Makda Fessahaye said the investigation was into "potential misconduct." She said she could not provide additional details, and there is not a timeline within which the investigation will take place.

Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2021/03/30/top-milwaukee-health-department-staffer-paid-administrative-leave/7046932002/

Wisconsin residents 16 and older eligible for COVID-19 vaccines starting Monday

From JSOnline:
Molly BeckAlison Dirr
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel




MADISON - Everyone in Wisconsin age 16 and older will be eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot starting Monday. 

Gov. Tony Evers made the announcement Tuesday, expanding the state's vaccine rollout to everyone in the state about four weeks earlier than planned. 

The move comes as President Joe Biden urged governors to make COVID-19 vaccines available to the general public by mid-April. 

Wisconsin will join six states — Kansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas — in expanding vaccine eligibility to all adults on Monday.

Vaccine supply is growing in Wisconsin. According to CDC data, the state got about 188,000 first doses of vaccine this week, which is nearly 45,000 more than the week before.  

Supply is more limited for teenagers, however. Currently, the Pfizer vaccine is the only COVID-19 vaccine authorized for individuals ages 16 and 17. No vaccines have been authorized for children younger than 16.

Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/30/wisconsin-residents-16-and-older-eligible-covid-19-vaccines-monday/4807242001/

Open Blog - Wednesday

 
So happy.

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Deal reached to legalize marijuana in NY

Dozens in Central Florida contract COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated

CDC study shows Covid vaccines are highly effective

NASA Seeks Water on the Moon to Fuel Its Mission to Get Humans to Mars | WSJ

Trending: Louvre Online

Amazon's US workforce: Alabama warehouse employees vote to unionise

Mafia fugitive caught after YouTube cooking show accidentally reveals his identity: Report

Man’s love for Italian cuisine tipped off law enforcement, leads to international arrest in Santo Domingo

mafia fugitive couldn’t take the heat, so he went to the kitchen.

But, that’s exactly how Marc Feren Claude Biart got caught after spending seven years on the run, according to Calabria News – an Italian news outlet.

Biart was hiding from national authorities for alleged drug trafficking, but was tracked down and arrested in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.

The 53-year-old man was found nearly 5,000 miles away from his hometown of Rome based on a cooking YouTube channel he launched with his wife in Boca Chica, a municipality near Santo Domingo –the Dominican Republic’s capital city.

Biart’s YouTube channel was not named, however, Calabria News described the channel as being focused on Italian cuisine.

Law enforcement officials were clued in that the YouTube channel belonged to Biart since the chef reviewed food while never revealing his face, the international report says. The body parts that were viewable revealed the mysterious chef had tattoos that matched what authorities had on record for the escaped mafia member.

Tracking down and arresting Biart was a group effort that included the Central Criminal Police Directorate, Interpol and multiple police forces from 10 countries

Biart was hiding out in a tourist resort that reportedly has a large Italian community present. Authorities told Calabria News he had been in the Dominican Republic for more than five years.


Before Biart made a home in Boca Chica, he was allegedly in Costa Rica, which is a little more than 1,800 miles away.

In 2014, the Court of Reggio Calabria subjected Biart to an order of custody in prison. He fled the country shortly after.

Italian authorities say Biart is a member of 'Ndrangheta, a prominent organized crime syndicate that reportedly operates in Calabria.

Other alleged members from the crime group have recently been busted as law enforcement agencies have convened under Interpol’s Cooperation Against 'Ndrangheta project.

From: https://www.foxnews.com/travel/mafia-fugitive-caught-youtube-cooking-show-accidentally-reveals-identity

Warm weather, easing COVID-19 restrictions drives people outdoors

Watch: Ships Resume Sailing Through Suez Canal After Ever Given Removed | NBC News NOW

Man seen with zip ties during Capitol riot, his mother get home confinement before trial


 By The Associated Press

A federal judge on Monday authorized the release of a Georgia woman and her Tennessee son on charges of involvement in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Lisa Eisenhart is accused of breaking into the Capitol with her son, Eric Munchel, who was photographed carrying flexible plastic handcuffs in the Senate chamber.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth in Washington, D.C., authorized the release of Eisenhart and Munchel to “third-party custodians” and placed them on home confinement along with other conditions. They will have their locations monitored and are banned from using the internet or contacting others involved in the Jan. 6 events.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-seen-zip-ties-during-capitol-riot-his-mother-get-n1262428

Trump Fires Back at Fauci & Birx and Makes Babbling Wedding Toast at Mar-a-Lago

Maryland mom charged with attempted murder of 3-year-old daughter

Where did COVID-19 come from? WHO study points to bats, animals

China formalizes sweeping electoral shake-up for Hong Kong, demands loyalty

Trial of former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd begins | ABC News

'Right Now I'm Scared': CDC Director Urges Americans To Keep Vigilant Against COVID

Over 1 million Wisconsin residents vaccinated as DHS signals opening COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older early

From JSOnline:
Drake BentleySarah Volpenhein
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel




As Wisconsin passed 1 million fully vaccinated residents, state health officials said they would likely move the date that all Wisconsin adults would be eligible from May to sometime in April. 

At a Milwaukee Press Club Newsmaker Lunch Hour Monday, Julie Willems Van Dijk, the deputy secretary of the state Department of Health Services, signaled that vaccine eligibility would open up to everyone 16 and older sometime in April, earlier than originally planned. She said the state would announce the date "very soon."

President Joe Biden says 90% of adults will be eligible for the vaccine by April 19. Ten states plan to open eligibility for the vaccine to all adults this week, ahead of Biden's target. Six states — Kansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas — expanded vaccine eligibility to all adults on Monday.

Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2021/03/29/dhs-signals-opening-covid-19-vaccines-everyone-16-and-up-april-wisconsin/7050377002/

Open Blog - Tuesday

Hung out to dry. 

Monday, March 29, 2021

Ship blocking Suez Canal is freed

Brazil’s coronavirus crisis poses ‘huge risks’ to world

Now vaccinated, older adults emerge from COVID hibernation

In this Monday, March 22, 2021 file photo, two older adults socially distanced, watch a spring training exhibition baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles in Bradenton, Fla. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

 Bill Griffin waited more than a year for this moment: Newly vaccinated, he embraced his 3-year-old granddaughter for the first time since the pandemic began.

“She came running right over. I picked her up and gave her a hug. It was amazing,” the 70-year-old said after the reunion last weekend.

Spring has arrived with sunshine and warmer weather, and many older adults who have been vaccinated, like Griffin, are emerging from COVID-19-imposed hibernation.

From shopping in person or going to the gym to bigger milestones like visiting family, the people who were once most at risk from COVID-19 are beginning to move forward with getting their lives on track. More than 47% of Americans who are 65 and older are now fully vaccinated.

Visiting grandchildren is a top priority for many older adults. In Arizona, Gailen Krug has yet to hold her first grandchild, who was born a month into the pandemic in Minneapolis. Now fully vaccinated, Krug is making plans to travel for her granddaughter’s first birthday in April.

“I can’t wait,” said Krug, whose only interactions with the girl have been over Zoom and FaceTime. “It’s very strange to not have her in my life yet.”

The excitement she feels, however, is tempered with sadness. Her daughter-in-law’s mother, who she had been looking forward to sharing grandma duties with, died of COVID-19 just hours after the baby’s birth. She contracted it at a nursing home.

Isolated by the pandemic, older adults were hard hit by loneliness caused by restrictions intended to keep people safe. Many of them sat out summer reunions, canceled vacation plans and missed family holiday gatherings in November and December.

In states with older populations, like Maine, Arizona and Florida, health officials worried about the emotional and physical toll of loneliness, posing an additional health concern on top of the virus.

But that’s changing, and more older people are reappearing in public after they were among the first group to get vaccinated.

Those who are fully vaccinated are ready to get out of Dodge without worrying they were endangering themselves amid a pandemic that has claimed more than 540,000 lives in the United States.

Read more: https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/now-vaccinated-older-adults-emerge-from-covid-hibernation/

COVID-19: UK study examines safety of mixing vaccines

German coal-fired power station partially destroyed

Covid rates in central Europe are among the highest in the world as third wave hits

Dozens of ‘defenceless’ civilians killed in Mozambique attack

Suspected suicide bombers attack Indonesia church