Ancient Migration Patterns Offer Explanation
for Unequal Susceptibility to COVID-19
Posted By: Judy W., 12/31/2020 9:11:49 AM
A group of genes passed down from human cousins who went extinct 50,000 years ago explains why inhabitants of certain regions of the world are far more susceptible to COVID-19 than people living elsewhere, according to new interdisciplinary research. Two distinct phenomena—the migration of homo sapiens from east Africa to the north and east between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago and the spread of the novel coronavirus in the opposite direction over the past year—are connected, concludes Duke University scholar Adrian Bejan in his paper, “Coronavirus Invasion and Neanderthal Retreat.”
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A group of genes passed down from human cousins who went extinct 50,000 years ago explains why inhabitants of certain regions of the world are far more susceptible to COVID-19 than people living elsewhere, according to new interdisciplinary research.
Two distinct phenomena—the migration of homo sapiens from east Africa to the north and east between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago and the spread of the novel coronavirus in the opposite direction over the past year—are connected, concludes Duke University scholar Adrian Bejan in his paper, “Coronavirus Invasion and Neanderthal Retreat.”
A group of genes passed down from human cousins who went extinct 50,000 years ago explains why inhabitants of certain regions of the world are far more susceptible to COVID-19 than people living elsewhere, according to new interdisciplinary research.
Two distinct phenomena—the migration of homo sapiens from east Africa to the north and east between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago and the spread of the novel coronavirus in the opposite direction over the past year—are connected, concludes Duke University scholar Adrian Bejan in his paper, “Coronavirus Invasion and Neanderthal Retreat.”
8 Education Choice Wins in 2020
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This year, the coronavirus pandemic presented new hurdles for 55.1 million students and their families after 124,000 public and private schools closed nationwide. Despite these unprecedented challenges, policymakers and families responded quickly with innovative solutions, which helped to advance education choice in 2020.
Here are eight examples of education choice wins from this year:
1. Supreme Court Protects Religious Schools’ Rights
The Supreme Court case Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue was a victory for private school choice. The court affirmed that states cannot stop religious schools from participating in a state’s school choice program.
A group of retired military leaders is warning the Pentagon that most of America’s youth is too out of shape to defend the nation.
The organization, known as “Mission Readiness” wants the Pentagon to help set up an interagency committee to address what it considers the nation’s military recruiting crisis. (Snip) According to the Department of Defense, 71 percent of young Americans are unable to serve in uniform, largely due to obesity, drug abuse, a poor education or a crime record. “These factors largely fall outside of the Department of Defense’s purview but have an immense impact on the ability of the military to recruit new servicemembers
As one of ten children growing up in extreme poverty in Greensboro, NC, Mark Robinson has defied a lot of odds in life: an alcoholic and abusive father, foster-care stints, and an overwhelmed single mother. (Snip) So Robinson ran for lieutenant governor, and became the first black Republican to win a major seat in the state since William Woods Holden in the 1800s. He also earned more votes in his state than the two top Republicans on the ticket: President Trump and Sen. Thom Tillis, and nearly as many as Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who will now have a member of the GOP as his second-in-command.
The Lockdown Christmas
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My desk overlooks an intersection. Looking out on it, Christmas Eve was gloomy and depressing. No lights, no people, virtually no cars. Just dark and cold and rain. (Snip) It’s early yet and we’ve no idea who bombed Nashville or why. I hope that, unlike the 58 murders by Stephen Paddock in Las Vegas, the FBI will have some answers about motivation this time. It’s early yet and it’s always a good idea to wait a couple of days, ignoring so many speculative articles -- often pointing fingers at whoever the writer dislikes most. Still, one tweeter, Alex Little, a former federal prosecutor, has provided a thoughtful analysis.
Patrick Byrne, Overstock’s founder, has long suspected that Obama set up a police intelligence state that’s been calling the shots in American politics since 2015. On Sunday, he pushed back against those of Trump’s legal advisors demanding surrender. On Tuesday, he claimed Obama blackmailed Hillary Clinton to own her politically. If that’s true, what Byrne is saying can upend the American political scene. (Snip) While Byrne may be eccentric, he’s often right. He was the first to realize that investment firms and stock traders were colluding to drive stock prices down. He was accused of being paranoid, but the financial crisis proved he was correct.
It appears Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to move on from having her purely political motives for holding up a stimulus bill before the election scrutinized. Judging by the election returns, the voters held her accountable by nearly wiping out her majority in the House. (Snip) Now we have CNN host Wolf Blitzer taking Pelosi to task for dragging her feet on pandemic relief when so many Americans were suffering. This is not the first time she has been forced to address this, and she actually admitted during a recent press conference that her willingness to negotiate now was linked to having a new president. However, this appearance was even more
They Don’t Have Trump
to Kick Around Anymore 10 replies
to Kick Around Anymore 10 replies
There is substantial danger that the approaching Biden Administration will enter office determined to execute a 180-degree policy course change in almost every field, partly out of the spiteful and irrational antagonism that swiftly arose in opposition to Donald Trump, and partly from the perversity, obsolescence, and reactionary contrariety of current Democratic policy thinking.
Inevitably, the Democrats suffer from the polyglot composition of the contending factions that now compose that party. (Snip) In the atmosphere of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Democrats were able to avoid reconciling any of the contradictions in their positions and to focus the entire electorate upon the question: “Do you or do you not want Donald
Across the United States, many areas with large populations of Latinos and residents of Asian descent, including ones with the highest numbers of immigrants, had something in common this election: a surge in turnout and a shift to the right, often a sizable one.
The pattern was evident in big cities like Chicago and New York, in California and Florida, and along the Texas border with Mexico, according to a New York Times analysis of voting in 28,000 precincts in more than 20 cities.
Insisting that "the push to reopen schools is rooted in sexism, racism and misogyny," the Chicago Teachers Union is fighting plans to return children to the city's public school classrooms. Not only is the union seeking an injunction to keep kids at home, but it says "all options are going to be on the table"—an implied threat of a strike in an already chaotic year—if it's not happy with the school board's decision.
Amidst a multitude of such battles across the country, it's no wonder that families weary of being held hostage to other people's decisions are abandoning government schools to enroll their kids in private institutions or
2020: The Year of the Big Fraud
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This was a year in which a number of frauds were exposed: Election fraud, media fraud, and public health fraud, among them. Their exposure has stirred outrage and as the year ends, no relief seems in sight.
Election Fraud With No Apparent Judicial Relief
Many Americans -- according to some surveys, a majority -- believe that the presidential election was marred by massive fraud in five states without which the President would surely have been re-elected.
The short version of this disbelief in the integrity of the election results is this by Kenekoa the Great on the unrealistic belief that the frail, corrupt Joe Biden won:
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Dinesh D’Souza points out: “the GOP establishment must recognize there is no way forward without the Trump voters, and the Trump voters demand a challenge of the election results.” I would slightly disagree with the party linguistics, but essentially D’Souza has a point. Unfortunately, the GOPe doesn’t care. (Video) Also unfortunately the un-discussed aspect is the unity pact between both wings of the UniParty bird. The GOPe wants elimination of “Trump” supporters in exactly the same way the GOP wanted, and orchestrated, the elimination of the Tea Party.If America-First or “MAGA” ideology is the Republican brand, that means the elimination (ie. lots of republicans being primaried)
You’ve gotten the memo from the leftist chin-strokers on social media. It’s simple. You’re insane for questioning the 2020 presidential election result. Joe Biden is the president-elect so you just run along and ignore the copious news stories about election fraud and get over it. Man up!Political titans on Capitol Hill look visibly concerned when asked by MSM reporters about the president and his millions of voters who aren’t convinced that this election wasn’t filled with fraud.The party of Governor Stacey Abrams, President Hillary Clinton, and “Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances” dares to point the magenta cat-toy-feather-wand of shame at Republicans
In 2013, Marvel launched a new iteration of its decades-old character Ms. Marvel, which features a Muslim girl taking up the costume. It was Marvel’s first Muslim superhero, and now the comic book giant is set to bring the Muslim character to the small screen in a new Disney Plus series.
Marvel introduced its most recent version of the Mr. Marvel character by bestowing Muslim teenager Kamal Kahn with the powers to alter her shape at will. The new Ms. Marvel took her mantel from Captain Marvel The series portrayed Kahn as “normal teen” whose loving family doted on her as she learned how to control her powers.
The ball finally dropped on a year of ruinous Democrat lockdowns with the scenes from New York's Times Square resembling something out of a post-apocalyptic science fiction movie. Streets that are normally jam-packed with revelers partying to ring in the new year were abandoned as the nation's largest city was a virtual ghost town on the last night of a dismal 2020.Further contributing to the dystopian appearance of the Democrats' brave new world was the trotting out of the Bidens on national television in a propaganda exercise that one would expect in North Korea or some other totalitarian country but not in America.
The Chinese city of Wuhan—once the world’s epicenter of the COIVD-19 outbreak—saw large crowds taking to the streets to ring in the new year.
Photos of the festivities show some revelers wearing masks and little to no social distancing as they released balloons into the air at Hankow Customs House building—a popular New Year’s Eve spot in Wuhan, according to Reuters.
Police were seen trying to control the crowds and even urged people without masks to put one on if they wanted to continue the celebration, the outlet reported. The festivities come a year after the World Health Organization
Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden’s transition team continues to accuse members of the Trump administration of not cooperating, even as those same members keep arguing that the complaints from Biden’s team are bullschiff. The latest complaint comes courtesy Yohannes Abraham, the executive director of Biden’s transition team, and marked the third time this week alone that someone on the transition team has complained about the Trump administration.During a virtual briefing with reporters Wednesday, Abraham said his officials “have encountered obstruction from political leadership at various agencies, most notably at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern (D-MA) unveiled the rules for the 117th Congress on Friday, which contain “future-focused” proposals, including the elimination of gendered terms, such as “father, mother, son, and daughter.”
(Snip)
House Speaker Pelosi went on to say she is “pleased to join Chairman Jim McGovern in introducing this visionary rules package, which reflects the views and values of the full range of our historically diverse House Democratic Majority.”
“Thanks to the leadership of Chairman McGovern and our Members, Democrats have crafted a package of unprecedented, bold reforms, which will make the House more accountable, transparent, and effective
About 150 protesters blocked traffic in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral early on New Year’s Day—and someone marred the facade of the church with graffiti during the demonstration, according to cops. Police responded to a disorderly group of protesters at 51st Street and Fifth Avenue around 1:30 a.m., cops said. Video posted to Twitter by freelance reporter Oliya Scootercaster shows the group standing in front of police cars—which had their lights and sirens on—blocking their way. Some protesters pounded on the hoods of the cruisers. The protesters, affiliated with Black Lives Matter Brooklyn and Justice for George, started marching at the Stonewall Inn
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced legislation authorizing direct cash payments of $2,000 Tuesday, but with a catch to which Democrats will likely object.
The bill combines $2,000 payments with a repeal of Section 230, a provision that grants social media companies liability protections against content users post on their platforms, and the establishment of a commission to study allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Though Democrats supported President Donald Trump’s push for $2,000 checks, they have opposed his efforts to abolish Section 230 and investigate his allegations of fraud, giving McConnell’s bill little chance of becoming law
MDH: Flu activity remains
lower than usual 17 replies
lower than usual 17 replies
Influenza activity in Minnesota and across the U.S. remains lower than usual for this time of year, according to the Minnesota Department of Health's latest report released Thursday.
According to the report, Minnesota had two flu-related hospitalizations in the past week, moving the total number of flu-related hospitalizations in the state to 19, thus far this season.
No flu-related deaths have been reported in the state, so far.
New investigations reveal military ballots were major targets of Democrat voter fraud in November. According to reports on Thursday, thousands of military ballots were potentially tampered with at polling stations during the general election. (Tweet) On Wednesday, several witnesses came forward during a hearing. They presented both photo and video evidence of rampant fraud. Republican poll watchers also claim they got locked out of the counting stations when it came time to look over military ballots, which typically lean red.
Proposed changes to the rules of the House of Representatives would “honor all gender identities” by eliminating such specific terms as mother and father, son and daughter, and aunt and uncle.
Instead, only gender-neutral terms such as “parent,” “child,” “sibling” and “parent’s sibling” would be allowed in the text of the House rules, according to the proposed changes.
The proposed changes — which also include the establishment of a House “Office of Diversity and Inclusion” — will be voted on after the House convenes Sunday for the new 117th Congress.
Another rules change would prevent Republicans from amending a bill at the last minute, the Washington Examiner reported.
Comments:
Thanks to 23 and Me, we can find out if we have Neanderthal DNA. A particular gene cluster makes one more susceptible to the Covid virus, and sicker if you get the virus. This cluster is rare or absent in Africans and East Asians. So it's not Asians' superior reaction to Covid that makes their death rates so much lower than ours; it's their genes.