Supporting Ukraine

Above photo: Pro-Ukraine rally at the Brandenburg Gate - as seen on Twitter

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Here's how to help Ukraine’s Jewish community. For those looking for ways to help Ukrainian Jews, the Forward has compiled a list of organizations that are assisting them or collecting money for nonprofits on the ground.
"A country of 44 million people led by a Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s rich Jewish history dates back many centuries — Odessa was once the center of Jewish life in the Southern Russian empire — and has produced countless influential world figures, among them Golda Meir, Sholem Aleichem, and Haim Nahman Bialik."

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As if they're not suffering enough: "Ukraine, already contending with Covid and polio, faces mounting health threats.  Ukraine is coming off its highest spike in Covid cases and has been working to control a polio outbreak since October."

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These are some seriously sick people.  They  would have cheered for Hitler's purge of Jews, and Germany's Blitz on London.
QAnon Followers Celebrate Putin's 'Purge' of Ukraine.  "QAnon followers and influencers have celebrated Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, falsely believing it is part of a battle against the 'deep state.'  Numerous QAnon influencers flooded their social media accounts with posts that praised the Russian president after he ordered a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday."

"The End of a Surge, NOT The End of the Pandemic"

CDC issues long-awaited new guidance on when to wear masks. Don't throw your masks away yet! I'll continue to wear mine, thanks. Better safe than sorry.

I was relived to read Dr. Goldman's reply. You'd think Dr. Wen would know better! "In response to reports that the Biden administration would be loosening mask restrictions, Dr. Leana Wen, a professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, tweeted that it was 'excellent' that the CDC had 'heeded' the demands of governors and local officials in updating its mask guidance. The former Planned Parenthood head added that it is 'critical' to have 'clear on/off-ramps' as society continues to adjust to life in the pandemic. Dr. Lynn Goldman, the dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health, hit back with a quote tweet that read, 'No Leana. CDC decides on the basis of public health science and protecting of all of us and not political pressure. There is no clear off ramp … this is the end of a surge … not the end of the pandemic. 1000s died daily. Let’s honor those lives and prepare for the next one.” 

Art For Ukraine

Take a look at this page titled 30 Heartbreaking, Yet Moving Pieces Made By Artists All Over The World After The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine . I  particularly like #4, 6, 11 & 13.

It's War, and Putin Must Be Crazy

Let's hope Putin is overthrown by his own people, like what should have been done with Hitler. He has to be stopped, and fast. The Ukrainians are fighting back hard.

The best source for news is CNN, so don't even think of relying on Fox. On Twitter I saw CNN's Clarissa Ward sheltering in a  subway tunnel, reminiscent of the Blitz.  Daniel Dale on Twitter has a list of brave correspondents on the ground; see https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1496696867584987140

And while the people of Ukraine are literally fighting for their freedom, a convoy of anti-vax truckers are headed to Washington demanding their "freedom" from vaccine mandates.  What a disgraceful misuse of the word!

Phil Mickelson:From Fan Favorite to Pariah Overnight

Wow! With a few ill-chosen words and bad decisions, Mickelson (formerly compared to the great Arnold Palmer) has lost the goodwill of the his fans and is seeing his career go down the drain; while Tiger Woods, who I never expected to recover from his past scandals, is rehabilitating his reputation and becoming a more sociable golfer.  Who would have believed it?

Eamon Lynch describes his downfall in one paragraph:  "An old adage—often wrongly attributed to Sun Tzu’s 'The Art of War'—holds that if you wait by the riverbank long enough, the bodies of your enemies will eventually float by. That’s as good a metaphor as any for how some golf industry executives must have felt in the wake of recent comments by Phil Mickelson that incinerated his reputation, alienated most every constituency in the game, exposed him to disciplinary action, and otherwise cast him in a light so unflatteringly amoral that even Greg Norman might hesitate to be seen in his company."

Vaccines Saved His Life

Why immunocompromised people need vaccines and boosters: 

"Neil Cavuto, an immunocompromised Fox anchor who has dissented from the loudest voices at the right-wing network and spoken out in favor of Covid-19 vaccines, revealed on Monday that he had been hospitalized for weeks with a serious case of coronavirus and nearly died.

"Cavuto, who is vaccinated, had previously contracted the virus in October. But the anchor, a cancer survivor who has been public about his decades-long battle with multiple sclerosis, had a more mild case back then.

"This time, Cavuto said he had a 'far, far more serious strand' because his 'very compromised immune system' simply hasn’t benefited in the same way from the vaccines as those with healthy immune systems.

"Cavuto said that his most recent case of Covid-19 had led to pneumonia and landed him 'in intensive care for quite a while.'

"'It was really touch and go,' Cavuto said on his Fox Business show on Monday after a leave of absence. 'Some of you who’ve wanted to put me out of my misery darn near got what you wished for! So sorry to disappoint you!'

Cavuto used the opportunity to once again praise the life-saving Covid-19 vaccines.
"'Let me be clear: Doctors say had I not been vaccinated at all, I wouldn’t be here,' Cavuto said."

The funny line about people wanting to put him out of his misery refers to the nasty letters he receives from viewers, which he reads on the air.

Too bad the Fox News anchors aren't as grateful for the COVID vaccines as he is.

Americans Are Very Lucky!

Helen Branswell has a great column at Stat called Why Covid-19 vaccines are a freaking miracle. Read it if you are grateful for the vaccines you received since January 2021. We're also thankful to receive in the mail the COVID test kits we ordered at no charge. This was one USPS service that Louis DeJoy couldn't destroy.

Meanwhile, ungrateful "Freedom Convoy" protesters are being given the Noriega treatment: "New Zealand weaponizes Barry Manilow, James Blunt and the 'Macarena' against 'Freedom Convoy' protests." This is a great idea! High end stores and drugstores in the U.S. ought to blare this music to help prevent looting!

An Early April Fool's Joke

When I saw this story, I thought it had to be some sort of joke, but it unfortunately, it turns out to be the real thing. What next, graffiti-making supplies for vandals?  Kits full of guns and knives for criminals? Bats and rocks to mug Jews and Asians?

"The $30 million grant program, which closed applications Monday and will begin in May, will provide funds to nonprofits and local governments to help make drug use safer for addicts. Included in the grant, which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, are funds for 'smoking kits/supplies'. A spokesman for the agency told the Washington Free Beacon that these kits will provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and 'any illicit substance.'

HHS said the kits aim to reduce the risk of infection when smoking substances with glass pipes, which can lead to infections through cuts and sores. Applicants for the grants are prioritized if they treat a majority of  'underserved communities,' including African Americans and 'LGBTQ+ persons,' as established under President Joe Biden’s executive order on 'advancing racial equity.'

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Other 'harm reduction' equipment that qualifies for funding include syringes, vaccinations, disease screenings, condoms, and fentanyl strips. The grant program will last three years and includes 25 awards of up to $400,000.

An HHS spokesman declined to specify what is included in the smoking kits. Similar distribution efforts provide mouthpieces to prevent glass cuts, rubber bands to prevent burns, and filters to minimize the risk of disease."

How Can Covidiots Continue to Be this Ignorant & Self-Destructive?

Read about The coronavirus misinformation on Joe Rogan’s show, explained, by the Washington Post\'s Aaron Blake. After 2 years, it still continues to amaze me that half the population of this country actually believes this laughable, dangerous nonsense!  Included is "scientist" Robert Malone who says 'a third of the population [is] basically being hypnotized' to believe the mainstream media and Anthony S. Fauci by something called 'mass-formation psychosis. And cardiologist Peter McCullough "claimed the pandemic was 'planned' and that early treatments were deliberately suppressed 'in order to promote fear, suffering, isolation, hospitalization and death.' 

A.B.Stoddard has a good column at The Bulwark titled COVID Derangement Is Working Out Just Fine for the GOP. The Republicans are no longer a political party -- they're more like a death cult. About Ron DeSantis, she writes that he "has since realized that any Republican with ambition needs to curry favor with the anti-vaxxers. So he has spent much of the last year being performatively anti-vaccine. He has threatened the salaries of school officials who defy his ban on mask mandates. He intentionally let nearly a million stockpiled home tests expire. He battled Norwegian cruise lines in court to stop them from requiring proof of vaccination from their customers. And, most absurdly, he now refuses to say whether he received a COVID booster shot. The real-world fruits of DeSantis’s governance is that 65,000 Floridians have been killed by COVID".  She adds, "You might think that some voters, somewhere, might notice that it’s the Republicans who have tried to suppress vaccine adoption. That it’s the Republicans who have accommodated the craziest, most pathological claims about vaccines. That it’s the Republicans who have affirmatively been contributing to the deaths of people who listen to them. But you would be wrong. Republicans have paid no price for any of this. They come up with one nutty rant after another. They fundraise off of them. And they ignore their dead pawns, like Robert LaMay".

What an embarrassment this country has become!

Wishful, Dangerous Thinking

I saw this in one of my coronavirus newsletters yesterday and agree 100% with his thinking. It worries me to hear people in denial and jumping to conclusions, saying things like, "I'm done with this pandemic, I want to have fun and I can't go on vacation!" We all want fun, but not at the expense of our lives. I'd much rather be safe that sorry. Get vaccinated, get boosted, wear your mask, avoid crowds, ignore the conspiracy theories, and stop whining already!

"The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that it is starting to see a worrying increase in deaths in most regions of the world, and that it was premature for any country to give up attempts to halt transmission. 'We’re concerned that a narrative has taken hold in some countries that because of vaccines, and because of Omicron’s high transmissibility and lower severity, preventing transmission is no longer possible, and no longer necessary. Nothing could be further from the truth,' WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Tuesday.

'More transmission means more deaths. We are not calling for any country to return to so-called lockdown. But we are calling on all countries to protect their people using every tool in the toolkit, not vaccines alone. It’s premature for any country either to surrender, or to declare victory,' he added."