Soggy new year 2023

News blues…

…A pandemic has long been known to be far riskier for global security than conventional, nuclear or chemical warfare, said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of public health law at Georgetown University and a leading expert in global health.

Read “As COVID turns 3, experts worry where the next pandemic will come from – and if we'll be ready” >> 

***

Public health experts are concerned for omicron’s new subvariant XBB with one study suggesting the strain is resistant to Covid-19 boosters from prior infections. NBC News’ Valerie Castro has more on whether the U.S. is looking at another surge as hospitals are already overwhelmed with RSV and flu cases.
Read more >> 

No country has a perfect COVID-vaccination rate, even this far into the pandemic, but America’s record is particularly dismal. About a third of Americans—more than a hundred million people—have yet to get their initial shots. You can find anti-vaxxers in every corner of the country. But by far the single group of adults most likely to be unvaccinated is Republicans: 37 percent of Republicans are still unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated, compared with 9 percent of Democrats. Fourteen of the 15 states with the lowest vaccination rates voted for Donald Trump in 2020. (The other is Georgia.)

Read “How Many Republicans Died Because the GOP Turned Against Vaccines? Party leaders are unquestionably complicit in the premature deaths of their own supporters.” >> 

***

On war… and culture war
American comedian David Letterman interview Ukrainian comedian – and president – Volodymyr Zelenskyy . A touching interview well worth watching >>  (44:00 mins)
Note: More and more Russians are logging onto and reading this blog. If you are Russian, I hope you enjoy it. My pleasure to provide hard-to-get information about the war to you in Russia.

Healthy planet, anyone?

We aim to encourage a healthy planet. We understand, however that our aim and worldview has formidable foes. Take, for example, the tobacco industry and its tie to mesothelioma.

It’s hard to think of anything more reckless than adding a deadly carcinogen to a product that already causes cancer—and then bragging about the health benefits. Yet that’s precisely what Lorillard Tobacco did 60 years ago when it introduced Kent cigarettes, whose patented ‘Micronite” filter contained a particularly virulent form of asbestos.
Smokers puffed their way through 13 billion Kents between March 1952 and May 1956, when Lorillard changed the filter design. Six decades later, the legal fallout continues—just last month, a Florida jury awarded more than $3.5 million in damages to a former Kent smoker stricken with mesothelioma, an extremely rare and deadly asbestos-related cancer that typically shows up decades after the initial exposures.

Read “Remember When Big Tobacco Sold Asbestos as the “Greatest Health Protection”?” >> 
More on asbestos cigarette filters >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Along with torrential rain in Kwa Zulu Natal and California - dramatic flooding here, there, and everywhere – I stepped outside today for a quick walk in the park before the next deluge. Alas, I discovered trees along the park entrance toppled over sometime overnight. This includes a most spectacular and my favorite buckeye. No more walking up to this lovely tree and whispering how beautiful it is and how much I appreciate its glorious candelabra blossoms. 

So sad.

 

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:24am
Sunset: 5:01pm
More rain, rain, rain….

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:03am
Sunset: 7:02pm
More rain, rain, rain….