I love the use of language in the article where they state that cases are “spiking”. Now a “spike” is usually a very sharp upward trend characterized by a steep slope. Cases have been rising in CT, but at a very gentle trend. In fact, the slope over the last 60 days has been linear and is 4.8cases/day. Now compare that to previous actual spikes for the state. Last May, during the early summer omicron variants wave, the slope over 45 days was 512cases/day. And, during the initial omicron wave the slope was a whopping 1845cases/day. So, the current “SPIKE!!!”, which apparently warrants masking up, is about 0.3% (2.6×10^-3) of the omicron spike. On a graph of cases since the beginning of the pandemic this “SPIKE!!!” barely shows up as a small bump. Sigh…..
The classifications have changed so much my college classes. Now we have domains of life & perhaps 5 kingdoms of life. One of which is fungi.
You’ve exposed a familiar scare tactic used by public officials, don’t provide a relevant comparison to earlier times. Reporters never catch on because they are stupid and innumerate.
My favorite example is Al Gore on a lift showing a huge blowup of the infamous hockey stick temperature graph that is supposed to demonstrate that the Earth is going to boil RIGHT NOW. If you look at it carefully, it shows that the temperature has increased by 2 F in the last 100 years. Whoop dee do, I can do that by walking from my living room to my kitchen.
Benedict XVI has died; may the Lord grant him eternal rest, and may everlasting light shine upon him.
Amen, PA Cat.
And, may his successor be visited by the Holy Spirit and be enlightened.
The current pope has stacked the deck against a sensible selection
A bit of humor; I know it’s an old one:
A mushroom walks into a bar and says to the bartender, “I’d like a free drink!”. The bartender says, “Why do think you can get a free drink?” The mushroom says, “Because everyone knows I’m a real fungi.”
On Pope Ratzinger:
“Joseph Ratzinger will be remembered as once having been Pope but in my view his true legacy is that he was the preeminent intellectual of his time. A great thinker. His characterization of free will is the best I have seen anywhere.”—
But aside from the fact that the Biden team, inasmuch as it is pursuing Obama’s diametrically opposite framework of Realignment, has expressed contempt or downright pathological aversion to the Abraham Accords, an Israeli accord with Saudi Arabia has to be a standalone, bilateral agreement. Netanyahu pointedly acknowledged this need, and spoke of “a new peace initiative” with the Kingdom, which he clearly set apart from the Abraham Accords, and appropriately so.
The importance of a bilateral framework, especially when bucking the destructive preferences, or follies, of an American administration, cannot be overstated. Removing the outside noise that could only sabotage bilateral interests is paramount.
Regarding Jake Sullivan’s trip to Israel: Netanyahu is one of the smartest people in the senior levels of government anywhere, in my opinion. I wonder why he doesn’t just say: “let’s do this by Zoom instead of a personal visit.”
This sentence really grabbed my attention: “Listed among Sullivan and the White House’s list of concerns is the potential for Israel’s backsliding on democracy. . .”
Heck, that’s high on my list of concerns for what Biden is doing in America. Pack the Supreme Court? D.C. statehood? Get rid of the Electoral College? Who can we send to talk to Biden about his anti-Constitutional tendencies?
Netanyahu is clearly more concerned about Iran’s efforts in nuclear armaments than Biden is. We should be too — they don’t need a missile to deliver a nuclear device to the United States. They can put it in a shipping container and move it around the world until our intelligence services lose track of it, then have it delivered to an American port. BTW — our nuclear talks with Iran have completely fallen off the radar, and no one asks Biden about them.
Mike Plaiss, thanks for that link to the Regensburg address.
the rights of palestinians, count more than that of native israelis, much as it is with this country, and qatar’s hand is pushing this confrontation, with their influence not only in the souks and mosques, but european capitals,
Re: Fungus
I was curious about that AMA molecule from fungus which preliminary testing indicated could restore the potency of some of our antibiotics. It sounded like big news.
_____________________________
In fewer than 1,000 tries — a small number for this type of work, Wright says — they found a compound that did knock out the NDM-1 gene’s powers. It was a molecule called aspergillomarasmine A — AMA for short — which is produced by a fungus called Aspergillus versicolor.
…
To confirm the finding, they tested the antibiotic and AMA combination on 229 strains of resistant bacteria isolated from patients around the world over the past decade. The combination was effective at restoring antibiotic susceptibility in 88 per cent of these strains.
To test it further, the McMaster team infected mice with what should have been a lethal dose of Klebsiella pneumoniae that contained the NDM-1 gene. More than 95 per cent survived the experimental infection.
But mice are not men and much testing remains to be done to see if this compound could be used safely and successfully in people.
“The next stage for us is to do the sort of hard slog — toxicology and pharmacology studies to make sure we’re not seeing any changes in physiology that might send this compound into the dust bin. So far the experiments are positive. But they could all turn in a second,” Wright admitted.
“I have no idea whether or not this will actually have legs in the clinic or not, but we’re certainly marching towards that direction.”
It’s been 8 years since that article and I haven’t found mention of any successful treatments emerging from AMA or even articles on attempts.
Perhaps I’m impatient. Fingers crossed.
I really enjoyed Benedict’s brief tenure as Pope. The Regensburg Lecture on faith and reason – the one that caused all the fuss, is brilliant.
Mike Plaiss:
Agreed!
The Regensburg Lecture led to one of the dumbest and funniest debates I had while attending a progressive Episcopalian church.
It was on the church mailing list in a thread started by an ultra-pacifist, Vietnam War vet, who always talked about peace and love, while at the same time ladling out viciousness towards conservatives.
When I disagreed and defended Benedict, he met my arguments with a masturbation metaphor. (This is a church mailing list.)
More people joined the pile-on. One fellow summed up the Regensburg lecture as the Pope angrily spitting in Muslims’ eyes.
When I objected to that characterization, he brought out his Big Gun. It’s not what Dumbledore (the all-wise teacher from the Harry Potter books) would do!
This guy wasn’t stupid. He was a Google engineer.
Indeed. What would Dumbledore do? We should all ask ourselves that more often.
huxley:
Wow. What would Dumbledore do. That’s, as we used to say in the 60s, heavy.
huxley:
I was wondering about that business about the resistant antibiotics, too, but hadn’t checked it out. Here is a site that lists the group’s recent research in the field of antibiotic resistance.
I hear the mice have gotten very very healthy, though. 🙂
neo:
I love the theory of finding some fungus or bacteria, or genetically modifying same, to do our bidding.
Shazam! Penicillin.
Generally it seems to be a little trickier and take a little longer than I would like.
We really do need to find some new antibiotics or to pep up the ones we have.
I had a friend with a very complicated medical history who got an infection. They gave him vancomycin, the last resort antibiotic.
It worked, but if it hadn’t …
F, the visit has everything to do with the Palestinians.
The Iranians are a non-sequitur in this particular case.
(A non-sequitur because they already got their billions from “Biden”—echoing Obama’s largesse—so that they can do pretty much what they want, e.g., further enhance their “civilian” nuclear program or send military drones to Putin for use against Ukraine…for just another instance of “interesting” circularity…oh, but I forgot to mention that “Biden” has “expressly” “criticized” Iran for doing this(!) of course, course).
No, this IS about a Palestinian state…
…seeing that it’s time that the Palestinians got their state…and “Biden” is all for this correcting of THIS 75-year-old “injustice”.
(Besides, “he” has a score to settle with Netanyahu…and “if not know, when”…as they say in the most exalted circles…)
Meanwhile, given the “opportunity” that “Biden”—and Netanyahu’s election(!)—provides, the Yurpeans are “acting out”…and why shouldn’t they: https://jcpa.org/the-eus-secret-palestinian-building-plan-for-area-c/
Wait for the U.N. and the International Court of Justice(TM) to up the ante, as they inject—or rather, re-inject—themselves into the act BIG TIME! (And why shouldn’t THEY?)…e.g.,
“UN asks world court to weigh in on Israeli ‘occupation’ and ‘annexation’”— https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-passes-resolution-asking-world-court-to-weigh-in-on-israeli-palestinian-conflict/
+ Related “Bonuses”:
“The Biden Administration’s Hostility to Israel”— https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19181/biden-hostility-israel
“Biden Administration and the Two-State Delusion”— https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19248/biden-two-state-delusion
To be sure, Obama’s/”Biden”‘s alliance with Iran was, itself, always about the Palestinians…so it’s not entirely the “non-sequitur” mentioned above.
It’s just that “Biden” wants to obscure that, focusing instead(!) on the “nuclear” issue…(as though that is entirely separate, unrelated to the reduction of Israel creation of a Palestinian state).
Should be “…unrelated to the reduction (i.e., destruction) of Israel and creation of a Palestinian state.”
Open thread (or open hyphae?) off topic not fungi.
Ammunition shortages in Ukraine – production, supply, & are Russia or the West running dry? – Perun
Roosia in Donbas currently has ammo shortages. Many suppliers available to Ukraine and it’s supporters in addition to USA.
If Russia has any ammunition “issues”, I’m sure the Mullahs would be only too happy to “help out”.
(With all the billions of buckeroos the Holy Men got from “Biden”—no doubt for all the very best reasons!—they certainly have the means to do so…ammunition, drones, whatever…)
And so, FULL CIRCLE: “Biden”-Mullahs-Putin (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg…since we haven’t yet factored Xi into the equation…e.g.,
[“Biden” + Mullahs + Putin = Xi**4]…(?)).
Talkin’ about “the perfect crime”!…
(I guess about on a par with all those “FORTIFIED” elections…)
File under: But OF COURSE, “Biden” has Zelenskyyyy’s back!! (Israel’s, too!)
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As predicted, Covid nuttiness from the CDC, the media, and the deep blue state of Connecticut:
https://www.wfsb.com/2022/12/30/department-public-health-recommends-masks-four-ct-counties/
I love the use of language in the article where they state that cases are “spiking”. Now a “spike” is usually a very sharp upward trend characterized by a steep slope. Cases have been rising in CT, but at a very gentle trend. In fact, the slope over the last 60 days has been linear and is 4.8cases/day. Now compare that to previous actual spikes for the state. Last May, during the early summer omicron variants wave, the slope over 45 days was 512cases/day. And, during the initial omicron wave the slope was a whopping 1845cases/day. So, the current “SPIKE!!!”, which apparently warrants masking up, is about 0.3% (2.6×10^-3) of the omicron spike. On a graph of cases since the beginning of the pandemic this “SPIKE!!!” barely shows up as a small bump. Sigh…..
The classifications have changed so much my college classes. Now we have domains of life & perhaps 5 kingdoms of life. One of which is fungi.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_(biology)#Five_kingdoms
You’ve exposed a familiar scare tactic used by public officials, don’t provide a relevant comparison to earlier times. Reporters never catch on because they are stupid and innumerate.
My favorite example is Al Gore on a lift showing a huge blowup of the infamous hockey stick temperature graph that is supposed to demonstrate that the Earth is going to boil RIGHT NOW. If you look at it carefully, it shows that the temperature has increased by 2 F in the last 100 years. Whoop dee do, I can do that by walking from my living room to my kitchen.
Benedict XVI has died; may the Lord grant him eternal rest, and may everlasting light shine upon him.
Amen, PA Cat.
And, may his successor be visited by the Holy Spirit and be enlightened.
The current pope has stacked the deck against a sensible selection
A bit of humor; I know it’s an old one:
A mushroom walks into a bar and says to the bartender, “I’d like a free drink!”. The bartender says, “Why do think you can get a free drink?” The mushroom says, “Because everyone knows I’m a real fungi.”
Hmm, not bad…but I’ll raise ye’:
“Sullivan To Visit Israel, Meet With Netanyahu, On Concerns Of Democratic Backsliding”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/sullivan-dispatched-israel-over-concerns-democratic-backsliding
On Pope Ratzinger:
“Joseph Ratzinger will be remembered as once having been Pope but in my view his true legacy is that he was the preeminent intellectual of his time. A great thinker. His characterization of free will is the best I have seen anywhere.”—
https://twitter.com/HansMahncke/status/1609226160277454848?cxt=HHwWgIDU6dWqj9UsAAAA
Barry Meislin, just what Israel needs, advice from Jake Sullivan. Sheesh.
If you are traveling on New Years or Monday:
https://www.mikesmithenterprisesblog.com/2022/12/snow-forecast-this-is-forecast-for-snow.html
The malevolence of Biden admin suffers no pause (why look, Netanyahu will aid the revolutionary women in the streets of Iran! He must go!).
I really enjoyed Benedict’s brief tenure as Pope. The Regensburg Lecture on faith and reason – the one that caused all the fuss, is brilliant.
https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg.html
I have several of Ratzinger’s books. A brilliant mind.
Tony Badran: Why bilateralism is key to any Saudi-Israeli agreement
https://english.alarabiya.net/views/2022/12/28/Why-bilateralism-is-key-to-any-Saudi-Israeli-agreement
File under “Sanctions”
https://onemileatatime.com/news/airbus-a340-disappear-iran/
Barry Meislen, Kate:
Regarding Jake Sullivan’s trip to Israel: Netanyahu is one of the smartest people in the senior levels of government anywhere, in my opinion. I wonder why he doesn’t just say: “let’s do this by Zoom instead of a personal visit.”
This sentence really grabbed my attention: “Listed among Sullivan and the White House’s list of concerns is the potential for Israel’s backsliding on democracy. . .”
Heck, that’s high on my list of concerns for what Biden is doing in America. Pack the Supreme Court? D.C. statehood? Get rid of the Electoral College? Who can we send to talk to Biden about his anti-Constitutional tendencies?
Netanyahu is clearly more concerned about Iran’s efforts in nuclear armaments than Biden is. We should be too — they don’t need a missile to deliver a nuclear device to the United States. They can put it in a shipping container and move it around the world until our intelligence services lose track of it, then have it delivered to an American port. BTW — our nuclear talks with Iran have completely fallen off the radar, and no one asks Biden about them.
Mike Plaiss, thanks for that link to the Regensburg address.
F,
Check out our radiation security.
https://www.epa.gov/radtown/radiation-and-shipping-port-security
the rights of palestinians, count more than that of native israelis, much as it is with this country, and qatar’s hand is pushing this confrontation, with their influence not only in the souks and mosques, but european capitals,
Re: Fungus
I was curious about that AMA molecule from fungus which preliminary testing indicated could restore the potency of some of our antibiotics. It sounded like big news.
_____________________________
In fewer than 1,000 tries — a small number for this type of work, Wright says — they found a compound that did knock out the NDM-1 gene’s powers. It was a molecule called aspergillomarasmine A — AMA for short — which is produced by a fungus called Aspergillus versicolor.
…
To confirm the finding, they tested the antibiotic and AMA combination on 229 strains of resistant bacteria isolated from patients around the world over the past decade. The combination was effective at restoring antibiotic susceptibility in 88 per cent of these strains.
To test it further, the McMaster team infected mice with what should have been a lethal dose of Klebsiella pneumoniae that contained the NDM-1 gene. More than 95 per cent survived the experimental infection.
But mice are not men and much testing remains to be done to see if this compound could be used safely and successfully in people.
“The next stage for us is to do the sort of hard slog — toxicology and pharmacology studies to make sure we’re not seeing any changes in physiology that might send this compound into the dust bin. So far the experiments are positive. But they could all turn in a second,” Wright admitted.
“I have no idea whether or not this will actually have legs in the clinic or not, but we’re certainly marching towards that direction.”
–“Antibiotic resistance may be reversed using fungus chemical, McMaster researchers find” (2014)
https://nationalpost.com/health/antibiotic-resistance-may-be-reversed-using-fungus-chemical-mcmaster-researchers-find
_____________________________
It’s been 8 years since that article and I haven’t found mention of any successful treatments emerging from AMA or even articles on attempts.
Perhaps I’m impatient. Fingers crossed.
I really enjoyed Benedict’s brief tenure as Pope. The Regensburg Lecture on faith and reason – the one that caused all the fuss, is brilliant.
Mike Plaiss:
Agreed!
The Regensburg Lecture led to one of the dumbest and funniest debates I had while attending a progressive Episcopalian church.
It was on the church mailing list in a thread started by an ultra-pacifist, Vietnam War vet, who always talked about peace and love, while at the same time ladling out viciousness towards conservatives.
When I disagreed and defended Benedict, he met my arguments with a masturbation metaphor. (This is a church mailing list.)
More people joined the pile-on. One fellow summed up the Regensburg lecture as the Pope angrily spitting in Muslims’ eyes.
When I objected to that characterization, he brought out his Big Gun. It’s not what Dumbledore (the all-wise teacher from the Harry Potter books) would do!
This guy wasn’t stupid. He was a Google engineer.
Indeed. What would Dumbledore do? We should all ask ourselves that more often.
huxley:
Wow. What would Dumbledore do. That’s, as we used to say in the 60s, heavy.
huxley:
I was wondering about that business about the resistant antibiotics, too, but hadn’t checked it out. Here is a site that lists the group’s recent research in the field of antibiotic resistance.
I hear the mice have gotten very very healthy, though. 🙂
neo:
I love the theory of finding some fungus or bacteria, or genetically modifying same, to do our bidding.
Shazam! Penicillin.
Generally it seems to be a little trickier and take a little longer than I would like.
We really do need to find some new antibiotics or to pep up the ones we have.
I had a friend with a very complicated medical history who got an infection. They gave him vancomycin, the last resort antibiotic.
It worked, but if it hadn’t …
F, the visit has everything to do with the Palestinians.
The Iranians are a non-sequitur in this particular case.
(A non-sequitur because they already got their billions from “Biden”—echoing Obama’s largesse—so that they can do pretty much what they want, e.g., further enhance their “civilian” nuclear program or send military drones to Putin for use against Ukraine…for just another instance of “interesting” circularity…oh, but I forgot to mention that “Biden” has “expressly” “criticized” Iran for doing this(!) of course, course).
No, this IS about a Palestinian state…
…seeing that it’s time that the Palestinians got their state…and “Biden” is all for this correcting of THIS 75-year-old “injustice”.
(Besides, “he” has a score to settle with Netanyahu…and “if not know, when”…as they say in the most exalted circles…)
Meanwhile, given the “opportunity” that “Biden”—and Netanyahu’s election(!)—provides, the Yurpeans are “acting out”…and why shouldn’t they:
https://jcpa.org/the-eus-secret-palestinian-building-plan-for-area-c/
Wait for the U.N. and the International Court of Justice(TM) to up the ante, as they inject—or rather, re-inject—themselves into the act BIG TIME! (And why shouldn’t THEY?)…e.g.,
“UN asks world court to weigh in on Israeli ‘occupation’ and ‘annexation’”—
https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-passes-resolution-asking-world-court-to-weigh-in-on-israeli-palestinian-conflict/
+ Related “Bonuses”:
“The Biden Administration’s Hostility to Israel”— https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19181/biden-hostility-israel
“Biden Administration and the Two-State Delusion”—
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19248/biden-two-state-delusion
To be sure, Obama’s/”Biden”‘s alliance with Iran was, itself, always about the Palestinians…so it’s not entirely the “non-sequitur” mentioned above.
It’s just that “Biden” wants to obscure that, focusing instead(!) on the “nuclear” issue…(as though that is entirely separate, unrelated to the reduction of Israel creation of a Palestinian state).
Should be “…unrelated to the reduction (i.e., destruction) of Israel and creation of a Palestinian state.”
Open thread (or open hyphae?) off topic not fungi.
Ammunition shortages in Ukraine – production, supply, & are Russia or the West running dry? – Perun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deK98IeTjfY
Roosia in Donbas currently has ammo shortages. Many suppliers available to Ukraine and it’s supporters in addition to USA.
If Russia has any ammunition “issues”, I’m sure the Mullahs would be only too happy to “help out”.
(With all the billions of buckeroos the Holy Men got from “Biden”—no doubt for all the very best reasons!—they certainly have the means to do so…ammunition, drones, whatever…)
And so, FULL CIRCLE: “Biden”-Mullahs-Putin (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg…since we haven’t yet factored Xi into the equation…e.g.,
[“Biden” + Mullahs + Putin = Xi**4]…(?)).
Talkin’ about “the perfect crime”!…
(I guess about on a par with all those “FORTIFIED” elections…)
File under: But OF COURSE, “Biden” has Zelenskyyyy’s back!! (Israel’s, too!)