“We Have A Way To End This Pandemic”

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Dave Bradley

NOTE: Not Safe For Work {NSFW}

This woman is really good with numbers. Using those numbers, she spells out why being unvaccinated is, frankly, almost a death wish

One number that she didn’t mention is that since the beginning we have had (per world-o-meters) 684,000 deaths. That is one covid death for every 500 Americans:

684,000 X 500 = 342,000,000 (or slightly more than the US population).

1 in 500 and going up all the time!

Currently the daily average number of deaths is about 1500. But they are no longer dying from the pool of all Americans but almost totally from the pool of the non-vaccinated. This pool includes children under 12 who are not eligible to be vaccinated yet, plus those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. I would not include those who refuse to be vaccinated for religious reasons.

So if you take 1500/ day from a pool of @160 million that is one death in 106,666 per day. In a year that comes to one death by covid for every 292 unvaccinated Americans. (1500 X 365 /160,000,000). Remember that this number includes people who currently can’t be vaccinated through no fault of their own.

According to Wikipedia the US has sustained 666,481 combat war deaths in her history. As of Thursday morning we have 685,000 Covid deaths in approximately 20 months.

These numbers are incredibly scary. The scariest part of all is that since the vaccines were introduce for the public in February most of these deaths have been preventable. Yet there is a core of about 25% that refuse to get vaccinated for the worst reasons. Probably every one of them has been vaccinated for a variety of diseases such as polio, mumps and small pox. 

The reason they refuse to get the Covid vaccine that has been proven 1) safe and 2) effective is because of Republican leadership that from day 1 has worked against defeating this disease. They have done so to make the economy tank in a strategy to regain power. At election time most Americans vote their pocketbooks. If the economy is tanking, then the party on power gets blasted.

But it appears that most Americans are now smarter than Republicans give them credit for. Most Americans are putting the blame directly where it should be for the pandemic: on Trump, the Republican Party and their followers.

And ironically in their very cynical strategy to get voted back into power, Republican are killing their own voters at a rate of about 1500 a day. With midterms a little over 400 days away, Republicans may be killing as many as 600,000 of their own voters thought the country. That is about 1400 per congressional district on average. That is more than the 6 votes Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by in Iowa’s 2nd district.

Maybe President Biden, being the good American that he is, can help Republicans to stop killing their own before then.

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Today: Treasonous Insurrection Part 2

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Dave Bradley

In case you missed it, today is the followup to the January 6th treasonous insurrection. No one seems to to have any idea what to expect. Congress made a prudent move and took this weekend off. If we have groups that break down barriers again looking for government officials to sacrifice, they might have to look pretty far.

As stories from the January 6th insurrection continue to trickle out, one figure continues to look more and more pathetic. That is of course former (thank the gods) VP Mike Pence who did everything he could think of to subvert the constitution. He even turned to Republican intellectual heavyweight, fellow Indianan and also former VP Dan Quayle for some tips on how to steal the election for Trump.

Even as Pence was trying to steal the election for Trump, Trump himself rejected Pence’s showings of fealty. If Pence couldn’t steal one little election, then what good was he? So somehow Trump or somebody let it be known that Pence was expendable and a crude gallows was built supposedly for Pence to go out in style.

Ah, memories. Will today’s version include Republicans looking to thin their own herd and add it to the Covid pandemic as a way to keep the troops loyal or else.

Unlike the first go round, let us hope there are some arrests made including those hiding away from the action while directing the melee, like Trump did last time.

Protesting against government over reach and bad policies is one of the most civic things a citizen can do. Attempting to overthrow a duly elected government is one of the most dastardly. It must be met with force and the instigators must be punished.

That includes these little quasi-insurrections that are now becoming features of local school board meetings recently. As school boards are meeting to implement sensible mandatory masking policies in schools a rabid minority are disrupting open meetings and attempting to impose their will on the duly elected officials. 

In case you missed the story of the Council Bluffs school board meeting from last Tuesday, a group of rabid anti-maskers tried to take over the school board during the meeting:  

“One man, who emphasized that the board was elected, yelled for the board to “get out of our seats.”

Sowing chaos in government is an old tactic of those who are looking to impose their very narrow and rigid philosophy on the majority. It is not an accident that these tactics are being encouraged by Republican leadership across the country.

If you missed it, a similar situation took place in San Diego, California where anti-maskers declared themselves to be the new school board of the Poway School District:

 The anti-maskers decided ending the meeting meant school board members had vacated their seats, so they “brought in a constitutionalist” to verify this meant they could elect a new board “by quorum,” then made themselves the new school board, with a swearing-in ceremony and everything. Tragically, no sashes or crowns were involved.

Video from inside the attempted overthrow of the Poway USD is extremely concerning. They were trespassing telling… https://t.co/EfgFr2WDhh

— The Activated Podcast (@The Activated Podcast)1631373134.0

The trespassers then told the actual school board members in the building that they were trespassing and would have to leave, saying that they had just lost their jobs.

In the video, you can see proud “new school board president” Derek Greco talking about how the whole thing went down:

GRECO: Hey, good evening everybody, had a pretty interesting night here at the Poway Unified School District Board Meeting, of which they were only allowing select people that they chose to enter the meeting tonight, which is not legit or legal, you can’t just decide who’s allowed in and who’s not.

So we entered the building peacefully, we refused to leave, and we demanded accountability from the Poway Unified School District Board.

And the Board vacated their seats tonight. We then brought in a constitutionalist, who, uh, we held a quorum, and we voted in a new Board. You are looking at the new President of the Poway Unified School District apparently.

The hostile presence at governmental functions and political function has been a major strategy of Republicans since the Teabaggers were riled up into existence over some slight to them back in 2010. This is just another incarnation. Republican leaders and their dupes are using these people like puppets. This is how democracies end.

If tomorrow Republican leaders decided that killing their own voters was a bad idea, then the anti-maskers would become pro-maskers overnight and would be showing up at functions to demand masking mandates.

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Zach Wahls: Legislature Should Approve First Maps

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Trish Nelson

Zach Wahls

Zach Wahls is the Iowa Senate Democratic Leader. These are his remarks regarding the first redistricting maps that came out yesterday.  Follow Iowa Senate Democrats on Facebook and Twitter

“As we have said since Day 1, Iowans deserve a fair redistricting process, without interference from politicians, and without partisan amendments.

“The Legislature should approve Plan 1 during the October 5 special session if it meets all the legal and constitutional requirements.”

Review the maps here: www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/redistricting

Speak out at next week’s virtual public hearings: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/committees/publicHearings

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Freshman Miller-Meeks’ Partisan Antics Growing Tiresome Already In IA-02

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Trish Nelson

IA-02 may be somewhat conservative, especially in the rural areas but constituents are used to having a real congressman, Dave Loebsack, who served as a Democrat in a bipartisan manner for seven terms.  Seems like MMM’s partisan antics are wearing thin already out there in the district as reflected in this scathing editorial by the Ottumwa Courier. 

ottumwacourier.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-miller-meeks-and-her-irresponsible-tweets/article.html

Mariannette Miller-Meeks can, and must, do better.

The freshman Republican that represents Iowa’s second congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives has done some good things in her short tenure. But, particularly recently, has shown a concerning detachment from facts and reality — and now a refusal to apologize for it.

On Sunday night she retweeted a story from the website Delaware Ohio News. It’s a satire website, meaning its content is made up. It doesn’t hide this fact; the site even has posted a legal statement to make clear that all stories are “satire, fiction, fake, not real.”

The headline of this completely fake, made-up news story read, “Biden Orders VA To Withhold Health Benefits From Unvaccinated Veterans.” Miller-Meeks’ retweet comment was “If true, this is insane!”

In a statement provided to some media outlets, Miller-Meeks was dismissive and deflected:

“I retweeted a story about President Biden requiring the VA to withhold benefits from unvaccinated veterans, saying ‘if true, this is insane.’ The story and website is obviously satire and makes a powerful point. President Biden’s executive orders about COVID-19 have been classic examples of government overreach and these days the unbelievable has become reality.

“With Americans trapped in Afghanistan, a immigration crisis on the southern border, and an unconstitutional overreach by President Biden to mandate COVID-19 vaccines, the media surely has more important things to cover than satirical tweets.”

That brings a couple of obvious follow-up questions. What powerful point could a fake story possibly make? How is a congresswoman promoting fake, satirical news as though it could be real, not of legitimate newsworthiness?

Her team wouldn’t respond beyond their initial statement.

The tweet remains up two days later. There has been no apology or clarification other than to some members of the press. Clearly it has caused confusion among some of her constituents, some of which seem to believe the story is true.

Sunday’s Tweet was far from her first offense. Miller-Meeks — an eye doctor and not an expert on vaccines or infectious disease — has promoted natural immunity as being supreme to COVID-19 vaccinations. There isn’t enough information to make that statement, and currently, peer-reviewed studies point to vaccinations offering better immunity. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study that showed a vaccination against COVID-19 offered more protection than previous infection. This means two things: those who have had COVID should still get vaccinated, and those who haven’t gotten COVID should get vaccinated.

In July, she tweeted that children “don’t transmit virus to adults or other children.” She appeared on a Fox Business show with a similar message. We know that statement is patently false. Last week, children accounted for a third of new cases in Iowa.

We get that Miller-Meeks is not a supporter of President Joe Biden. Clearly, he will make mistakes much like any president, and there will be plenty of policy differences. Whether vaccinations should be mandated by the government is certainly a topic ripe for debate. However, before she turns to hyper-partisanship, we remind her she lost her first three runs at Congress, and only won her fourth attempt by six votes.

Our message to Miller-Meeks is simple: Listen to the experts on COVID-19, and stick to the truth.

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President Biden On Climate Change: It’s Time To Act

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Trish Nelson

Biden’s statement on climate change yesterday.

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Zero Republican Support For Voting Rights

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Trish Nelson


Preserving the integrity of our elections is the most important issue at this moment.  No progress can be made on climate or anything else if Republicans are allowed to lock in power. Democrats will have to go it alone to preserve voting rights and guarantee the future of our democracy.  Follow Marc Elias’ website Democracy Docket.

Before the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, voting rights were something Democrats and Republicans could agree on. Even when voting rights skeptics Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were in the White House, the parties were able to come to a compromise and reauthorize the Voting Rights Act twice with massive bipartisan support.

But when the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act came before the U.S. House this August, not a single Republican voted in favor.

In my new piece, “On Voting Rights, There Are No Moderates in the GOP,” I highlight what’s changed and why no Republicans in the House or Senate are willing to acknowledge the need to restore the Voting Rights Act or otherwise expand access to voting. As a result, there will either be a law protecting the right to vote passed with only Democratic votes or no law at all.

On voting rights, it’s time for Democrats to make peace with the fact that they will need to take decisive action alone. History will remember their bravery when they do.

Read “On Voting Rights, There Are No Moderates in the GOP” on Democracy Docket now.

Marc

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Al Franken Interviews Sheldon Whitehouse

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Trish Nelson

A great discussion on how the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence isn’t conservative. It’s corporatist.

And Al is going on tour.

Get tickets to see Al during his 15-city “The Only Former U.S. Senator Currently on Tour” Tour at https://alfranken.com/appearances.
Subscribe to The Al Franken Podcast on: Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TheAlFrankenPodcast-iTunes
Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheAlFrankenPodcast-Spo…
Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TheAlFrankenPodcast-Google
Amazon Music: http://bit.ly/TheAlFrankenPodcast-Amazon

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U of Arkansas Finds Possible Cause Of Long Covid

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Dave Bradley

Thanks to the ineptitude or rather the desire by the previous president and a group of Republican governors (including Reynolds) our nation was bequeathed a massive pandemic. With the pandemic came massive misinformation and a large core group of true believers who seem to be willing to die or be maimed for life to prove their political interpretation of the Covid pandemic is true.

In that vein many have remained unvaccinated. Many of those have gotten infected and died. But as before vaccinations were available, many have been infected and survived. Unfortunately those that survived have often been left with hangover problems known as Long Covid.

In a release Thursday researchers at the UAMS (U of Arkansas Medical School is my guess) have identified a possible cause for long-lasting symptoms for COVID-19 patients. From the thv11 website we get this report:    

According to the findings, there is an antibody that appears weeks after the initial infection and “attacks and disrupts a key regulator of the immune system.”

<< skip>>

“Everything that we’ve found is consistent with this antibody as the instigator of long COVID, so it’s an exciting development that merits further study,” said John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chief of the Division of Nephrology at the UAMS College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine.

In a press release, UAMS said the antibody causes problems for the immune system by attacking an enzyme the body’s response to COVID-19. The “attacking antibody” interferes with the enzyme’s work.

Researchers found that 81% of blood samples taken from patients with a history of COVID-19 in Arkansas and Oklahoma had the antibody that attacked the enzyme. They tested for the antibody in 67 patients who were infected with the virus and 13 with no history of infection.

“If we show that the whole hypothesis is right, that this interference of ACE2 really does cause long COVID, then it opens up many potential treatments,” Arthur said. “If our next steps confirm that this antibody is the cause of long COVID symptoms, there are medications that should work to treat them. If we get to that phase of research, the next step would be to test these drugs and hopefully relieve people of the symptoms they’re having.”

This is an amazing discovery in the short but horrendous history of Covid-19. While many groups have done all they can to aid the spreading of the virus, science continues to make amazing discoveries in fighting the pandemic. 

One of my greatest fears has been that children who are too young to be vaxxed will get Covid in unmasked schools and then suffer lifelong debilitating effects from it. While this is not a cure yet, it looks like a big step in finding that cure.

If only we could stop the disinformation and get the whole country unified in attacking the virus we could make great strides in defeating it. 

As Lincoln noted a century and a half ago “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”

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Sunday Funday: Amazing Women Of Iowa Edition

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Dave Bradley

Going back to the office is hard. From the Flemish TV show, De Ideale Wereld.

Just realized that Iowa may be on the cusp of something unique next year. With a long way to go before any voting starts for 2022, Iowa’s democrats are lining up a strong list of impressive women to compete for the top line positions in the 2022 election.

In the Governor’s race Des Moines business woman Diedre DeJear has her name in early and is campaigning hard. She is known from her run for Secretary of State. While it looks like there are many more candidates that may jump in, DeJear gives the Dems a chance of having a woman running for Governor. 

For Iowa’s senate seat to finally replace the decrepit Grassley, former 1st district congress member Abby Finkenauer looks to make a strong run for the nomination and may be able to topple Grassley. Add in three very strong women candidates currently at the congressional level. In the 3rd district we have incumbent Cindy Axne who has a strong record to run on. 

Looking to topple incumbents in the first and second districts are formidable candidates. In the first district is the well known and highly thought of Liz Mathis. In the second district is the relative new comer, yet very impressive U of Iowa law professor Christina Bohannan. Look for very strong races from both. Oddly, they will be opposing Republican women in their races. However these Republican incumbents are merely partisan cogs in the party apparatus and not really representing Iowans.

So we just need a strong woman to take out Randy Feenstra in Iowa’s fourth district and Iowa’s Democrats could potentially field all women for their top races. But the bottom line is that winning next year is by far the most important goal.

Another ‘what a week.’

A) To honor the memory of 9/11, the previous president did what? 

B) In a much anticipated ruling, what tech giant will be forced to loosen their grip on the payment system with their App Store for things like games and purchases?

C) The James Webb Space Telescope finally has an official launch date – one week before what major holiday?

D) In his major speech on the pandemic and vaccinations, President Biden noted that the pandemic is now killing what group of individuals specifically?

E) In another move, the President removed notable holdovers from the previous administration from the boards of what institutions?

F) Among directives the President announced in his pandemic speech was a requirement that employers with more than how many employees must vaccinate their employees?

G) Speaking of women in politics, what FDR cabinet member was almost singularly responsible for for social legislation such as the Social Security Act and various labor legislation?

H) No surprise – what year had the hottest summer on record in the US?

I) In climate news, what major university announced it will no longer invest endowment money in fossil fuels?

J) Also in climate news what island country will begin a carbon sequestration program?   

K) Finally on the climate, The Biden Administration announced goals to increase solar power by how much in the next 15 years this week?

L)  In California, what candidate was run out of a campaign stop after confrontation with residents of the area?

M) After a very long process, a statue of what treasonous leader was finally removed from Richmond, Virginia’s Monument Avenue?

N) Women’s marches are planned around the country on what date to protest the new Texas vigilante abortion law and the SCOTUS tacit approval of it?

O) What US Senator revealed that she had been treated for breast cancer and noted that due to the pandemic, many women are skipping check-ups?

P) Fake Covid vaccination cards have become a real cottage industry in the US. In Vermont, 3 members of what were caught participating in a scheme to make the fake cards?

Q) Last week, what country became the first to accept Bitcoin as legal currency?

R) More than 200 top medical journals cited what as the greatest threat to global public health?

S) Criminalizing abortion is unconstitutional said the Supreme Court in what country that boasts the second largest Catholic population?

T) Next Saturday there will be rioters returning to the US capitol in a rally called “  Justice for “ what?

I am fortunate to have someone call me every day to check on me. He is from India & he’s very concerned about my car warranty.

Answers:

A) Provided commentary on a heavy weight boxing fight at a casino

B) Apple

C) Christmas! Launch date is December 18, 2021. Merry Christmas, space fans

D) the unvaccinated

E) the military academies. Trump holdovers like Sean Spicer and Kelly Ann Conway were removed from these jobs

F) 100

G) Frances Perkins – Secretary of Labor under FDR

H) 2021 – and it isn’t even done yet

I) Harvard – been a long time coming

J) Iceland – if you are curious check here

K) 10X or 1000% from 4.5% to 45% 

L) Larry Elder – local residents of the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles resented Elders racist politics

M) Robert E. Lee

N) October 2 – check the internet for locations

O) Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

P) the Vermont State Troopers – whoops

Q) El Salvador

R) Climate change

S) Mexico

T) “J6” or January 6th. Expect a heavy police presence for these  “tourists.”

Jimmy Kimmel on how hospitals should treat the unvaccinated:

“Vaccinated person having a heart attack? Yes, come right in, we’ll take care of you. Unvaccinated guy who gobbled horse goo? Rest in peace, wheezy.”

Tip of the hat to EarlG on democraticunderground.com

Hope Covid Kim felt a burn on that comment about “elected officials actively working to undermine the fight against Covid-19”

Posted in Covid-19, Humor | Comments Off on Sunday Funday: Amazing Women Of Iowa Edition

Bohannan Endorsed By 314action.org In Ia-02

Posted on September 11, 2021 by Dave Bradley

 https://314action.org/2021/09/09/314-action-fund-endorses-state-rep-christina-bohannan-in-ia-02-race/

314action.org is a website with this stated mission:

We’re on a mission to elect more scientists to Congress, state legislatures, and local offices. As trained problem-solvers, STEM professionals are ready, willing, and able to find solutions for the significant challenges facing America in the 21st century. 

With that in mind it was very good to see that 314action has made a call very early in Iowa district 02 and endorsed newly announced Democratic candidate Christina Bohannan. 

Here is the statement that 314action issued on endorsing Bohannan:

“From her work as an engineer to her leadership in the state legislature and lecture hall, Christina Bohannan has proven that she’s not just a reliable ally in the fight for science, facts, and evidence-based policies — she’s leading the charge,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action. “Rep. Bohannan is committed to ensuring that the families and small businesses of Iowa’s second district have the resources they need to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and to thrive. She’ll make that happen by fighting for pro-science policies in the U.S. House, and with control of that chamber on the ballot box, we’re proud to support her in this campaign. With her background, we know she is by far the strongest candidate to take on Rep. Miller-Meeks next November.”

A ringing endorsement I would say.

While it used to be that campaigns didn’t start until the Labor Day before the election, those days are long gone. One of the main reason that we have gone to nearly permanent campaigns is that the consequences of the issues are so important that they should be discussed on a daily basis.

Currently the two most vital issues in the district, state and country are science related. The most immediate is beating Covid-19 and rebuilding our country (building back better) from its effects. Bohannan’s science background as an environmental engineer bodes well for her ability to follow the science. 

The second issue and the one that is in the background for nearly everything we do these days is climate change. From more extreme temperatures to much larger storms to longer and harsher droughts that also create fuel for massive forest fires, climate change now seems to be in the very fabric of our daily lives. Who better to send to congress than an environmental engineer who is also a legal scholar?

Based on those credentials, Christina Bohannan is a perfect fit for what the country needs. But as 314action.org reminds us, Bohannan is more. Experience and hard work has made Bohannan an excellent choice to represent all Iowans, not just the special interests: 

When Christina was in high school, her dad got sick with emphysema, and his health insurance was cancelled, forcing her family to choose between paying for his medicine and paying for everything else.

Thanks to the support and guidance of strong public school teachers, student loans, scholarships, and Christina’s hard work, she became the first in her family to graduate college. She worked her way through engineering school and then law school by picking oranges, cleaning trailers, and working as an engineer. Christina graduated first in her law school class and was Editor-in-Chief of the law review, and after graduation went on to clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

More than two decades ago, Christina was given a life changing opportunity to move to Iowa and become a law professor at the University of Iowa. She is proud to have raised her daughter here on the Iowa values of decency, fairness, and hard work. Christina’s daughter recently graduated from City High and is in her second year of college. In their community, Christina and her family have been involved in several organizations, including groups that advocate for women and girls, support hard-working and low-income families, and serve underprivileged areas.

At the University of Iowa law school, Christina teaches and writes in several areas of law, including teaching Constitutional Law, Torts, and Intellectual Property. She’s spent her career working on business innovation, capitalism, and economic growth, and teaching our young people about the importance of democracy in a country founded on the promise of freedom and equality.”

While the election is a long ways off, consider donations to Bohannan to get the campaign rolling right:

https://bohannanforcongress.com

Posted in 2022 Election campaign, Climate Action, Climate Change, Covid-19, Environment | Tagged , | Comments Off on Bohannan Endorsed By 314action.org In Ia-02