[CBS News] A homeless man on lifetime parole after serving time for killing his mother has been arrested in the brutal attack Monday on a 65-year-old Asian woman in midtown Manhattan. Police say Brandon Elliot, 38, was apprehended in a hotel where he was staying that's being used as a homeless shelter. The hotel is near the site of the attack.
He was charged early Wednesday with two counts of felony assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, assault and attempted assault. If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison, the district attorney's office said.
Numerous tips led to Elliot's capture, police told CBS News, adding that Elliot was released from prison in 2019. Police were offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest. There was no early word on whether the money would be awarded or to whom.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/01/2021 7:39 Comments ||
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#4
Ever notice how the media and movie industry portrays these people as police captains, wealthy musicians, or happy family men, but seldom as criminals? Portrayed even less often as actors in liquor or wine commercials.
Just a casual observation. Probably means nothing.
[Post Millennial via American News] Along with the mother and baby, the rafts contained 67 adults and 150 children. It was during the crossing that the child was tossed overboard into the Rio Grande.
US Border Patrol rescued a 6-month-old baby from the Rio Grande River after human traffickers threw the baby into the water from their raft. This after having assaulted the little girl's mother and broken her leg along the journey. The mother reportedly paid $3,500 to traffickers to get her and her baby across the border.
Despite full well knowing in advance it increases
Deaths, Rapes and outright murders of women and children.
A Human Rights group has even coined a new PC Newspeak word. Femicide.
Even the liberal Huffington Post says: "According to a stunning Fusion investigation, 80 percent of women and girls crossing into the U.S. by way of Mexico are raped during their journey. That's up from a previous estimate of 60 percent, according to an Amnesty International report."
Question:
Given these people are coming from a country where the average annual income is extremely low. How are they affording this $3,500+++ transport fee?
#7
How are they affording this $3,500+++ transport fee?
George Soros considers it an investment.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/01/2021 13:10 Comments ||
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#8
The Biden Border Policy is a step shy of using a microwave to dry the baby.
So they rape the s!t of the the woman, break her leg when she resists, then throws the baby into the river, and Biden awards them with another pay day.
#9
So they rape the s!t of the the woman, break her leg when she resists, then throws the baby into the river, and Biden awards them with another pay day.
That is Biden's Border Policy in a nutshell.
And before you whine about smearing all illegal aliens by the actions of a few - just who is smearing all americans by the actions of a very few on Jan 6th?
[NYPOST] The man busted for the hate-fueled attack on an Asian woman in Midtown was out on parole for killing his own mother back in 2002, authorities said Wednesday. Totes Rehabilitated™
Brandon Elliot, 38, who lives in a nearby hotel that serves as a homeless shelter, was arrested early Wednesday and hit with a number of charges, including assault as a hate crime and attempted assault as a hate crime, police said.
He was caught on video mercilessly punching and kicking the 65-year-old victim in front of an apartment building at 360 West 43rd Street around 11:40 a.m. Monday, yelling "F—k you, you don’t belong here," according to cops and police sources.
In April 2002, Elliot was charged with murder for using a kitchen knife to stab his mother, Bridget Johnson in the chest three times in their East 224th Street home in the Bronx, according to previous reports.
The deadly attack took place in front of Elliot’s 5-year-old sister, sources told The Post. It’s unclear what led to the slaying.
Johnson, 42, died a couple of days later.
Elliot was convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years-to-life in prison.
He was denied parole twice — first at a February 2017 hearing and again in December 2018, according to a state Department of Corrections official.
But the following year, he was approved for release in September and sprung on lifetime parole two months later. and Mom's still dead
Posted by: Fred ||
04/01/2021 00:00 ||
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#1
.... And now we return to our regularly-scheduled program, Wakandan Family Values
Brandon Elliot had also been charged and convicted of other crimes when he killed his mother in 2002. For some reason he was only convicted of 2nd degree murder for that killing, hence the 15 to life. His parole began in late 2019.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
04/01/2021 0:54 Comments ||
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#3
Out on Parole for killing his mother.
Yep!, that says a lot about NY right there.
I also noted the MEDIA circled the wagons on avoid reporting
the race of the Attacker. Who was Light Skin Black-American.
We need to address this RACE Based Violent Crime Issue quickly.
When 14% of the Population is documented to to committing
28+% of the Violent crimes and attacks against Asians.
But 60% of the population (Whites) only about 24%. It is clear the problem mainly and clearly lays with Black Community.
The Attacks on Asian the Attacker is 4x's more likely to be Black-American.
[NYP] A "free-spirited" Maryland woman vacationing in Florida died when she got stuck in the window of her hotel room, authorities said.
Sydney Therriault, 22, of Beallsville had been staying earlier this month at the Pelican RV Resort & Marina in Grassy Key, Florida, Fox Baltimore reported.
"It appeared she did not have a hotel key was attempting to make entry to her room via the window," the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.
But when she tried to enter the window, she became stuck and asphyxiated, authorities said.
Emergency responders arrived around 7:28 a.m. on March 18 and pronounced her dead. No foul play is suspected in the case, authorities said.
Sydney Therriault reportedly got stuck in the hotel window and asphyxiated. It’s unclear how she became stuck, but photos of the hotel showed rooms with what appear to be rectangular, tempered-glass windows.
Friends remembered Therriault as "selfless" and a "free spirited soul."
#7
A bohemian Juliet arrived in
the sunshine state.
She sought love, life and the
deluxe vegan plate.
Alas! Compulsively wont
spatial reasoning to affront;
with nary a Romeo in sight,
poor thing came to quite a state.
[PAGESIX] Princess Meghan Markle ...unlikable American former starlet married to the formerly likable Prince Harry. Chock full of lefty political opinions, Markle's most important characteristic is that she is Black, even though she doesn't look it. Her mother, y'see, is half black and her father is white, which would make her a quarter Black. Her half brother described her (to her husband, before their marriage) as a jaded, shallow, conceited woman that will make a joke of you and the royal family heritage. Once married, she was too good for the Royals and she and Harry decamped to Beverly Hills, kind of like the Clampetts did, thus making a joke of Harry and the royal family heritage... ’s new biographer thinks the duchess has a "good chance" of becoming US president — but will "struggle" under the microscope of politics because of her "clear sensitivity."
"The prospect of Meghan running for president is possible and I’d even say likely," Tom Bower, who reportedly signed a six-figure deal to write about Prince Harry ’s wife, told Closer magazine in the UK, according to The US Sun.
"I really believe it’s where she sees herself going," the biographer told the mag. She has SO much to be humble about
"I think she has a good chance of getting into the White House," he insisted — noting that the role could finally see her reuniting with the royal family she ripped in her TV tell-all.
Markle, 39, would "perhaps visit the UK to have tea with the Queen one day as President of the United States!" he remarked.
Despite his optimism for the former "Suits" star’s likely success in a presidential race, Bower warned that she would face a "major" hurdle because of her "clear sensitivity."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/01/2021 00:00 ||
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#2
Congrats on the author for going public with his meth addiction!
... because only someone as addle-brained as a meth head would even come up with such obvious stupidity even in a desperate attempt for public attention.
Posted by: These Forkbeard7574 ||
04/01/2021 1:37 Comments ||
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#13
Remember, she has Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King backing her.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/01/2021 13:14 Comments ||
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#14
At first I wanted to laugh. But now I look at our nation and how the media controls the masses and I wonder if she would not have been a better choice than Biden. At least she remembers where she is....
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/01/2021 14:07 Comments ||
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[National Interest] It happened in the 1980s. Back then, the Blackbirds flew a flight path that was known as "The Baltic Express," which entailed flying through "a small gap of international airspace directly beside Swedish controlled airspace," before continuing towards Soviet airspace. Doing so would sometimes catch Swedish air defense radar.
The planes had been following this route for years, but by the 1980s, radar systems had gotten much more powerful.
"Devising a new plan for intercepting the SR-71s, a frankly terrifying, and un-orthodox strategy was devised," the HotCars report said. "Scrambling from their bases, Viggen fighters would enter a steep climb to reach an altitude just below the SR-71, accelerate to twice the speed of sound, then climb again to fly directly towards the SR-71 in a head-on approach, almost like a game of chicken. While typically intercepts would approach from behind, allowing missiles a better chance to lock on, the Viggen's Skyflash missile was capable [of] using its radar to lock on from the front, making the head-on attack the Viggen's only real window for an effective missile lock, as intercepting the Blackbird from behind was an impossible task." Posted April 1, but not a joke. The photo is a joke, however, since it's a Russian SU-34, from the archive. I could not find a Viggen or a Blackbird. This led to January 1986, when a Swedish pilot named Per-Olof Eldh, using a Viggen fighter jet, lined up with the Blackbird's flight path and even gained full missile lock. However, Eldh did not fire, and the two planes ended up merely crossing paths. The same pilot would go on to have five more interceptions using the same strategy.
"The point had been proven [and] it was clear the Blackbird could no longer fly wherever it pleased without being challenged." However...
Then, in 1987, an SR-71 veered off-course into Swedish airspace and descended dramatically. Flying alongside it, the Swedish planes realized one of the jet engines on the Blackbird had exploded, so the Viggens protected the Blackbird, escorting it out of Swedish airspace. That mission would be declassified many years later, in 2017, leading to the U.S. Air Medal for Bravery being awarded to the Swedish pilots in 2018.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/01/2021 00:00 ||
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#8
I don't care. The SR-71 is the coolest plane EVAH! Any plane that sets a speed record on its retirement flight is cool.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/01/2021 21:21 Comments ||
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#9
Intercepting an SR-71 that is decelerating and descending in friendly territory is not the same as intercepting it at mission speeds with alert pilots and ECM and ESM active.
#10
Wow, those colors! Instant vivid Flankersim flashback, twenty years on. If sitting weren't death, damned if I wouldn't rather play the current version than get, er, drunk.
[RS] According to the New York Times, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the organization that has given us a year of misdirection, contradiction, lies, and superstitions in its response to the China virus, is now tentatively moving back into the business of treating gun ownership as a disease.
Dr. Bindi J. Naik-Mathuria, a pediatric trauma surgeon at Texas Children’s Hospital who grew tired of seeing toddlers die of gunshot wounds, has a $684,000 federal grant to track every gun-related death and injury in Houston. The goal: identify and address "hot spots" the way epidemiologists track and contain the coronavirus.
Dr. Garen J. Wintemute, an emergency room doctor and longtime firearm violence researcher in California, is supervising scientific research on whether community interventions in Detroit and Cleveland — including the greening of vacant spaces and the work of so-called violence interrupters like former gang members — can drive down gun-related deaths and injuries.
And Andrew R. Morral, a behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, a research group, is using sophisticated modeling tools to estimate rates of gun ownership in every state, with detailed demographic information. The purpose, he said, is to search for patterns in firearm homicides and suicides — a first, basic step in research that could lead to reducing them.
The recent mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colo., have once again left Democrats and Republicans in a stalemate over background checks for gun buyers and assault weapons bans. But public health experts say a new round of research could pave the way for gun policies that avoid partisan gridlock — and ultimately save thousands of lives.
The studies by Dr. Naik-Mathuria and the others are being paid for by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is once again funding research into gun violence after a nearly 25-year hiatus imposed by Congress. And while they might not reduce the number of massacres, mass shootings account for an extremely small percentage of the roughly 40,000 Americans who die each year from gun violence.
"There’s at least five different gun violence problems in the country and mass shooting is one of them," said Mr. Morral, who has a Ph.D. in psychology. "There’s also suicide, there’s urban gun violence which mostly affects minority young men, there’s family shootings and there’s police shootings. And they all have different risk factors, they all have very different motives and they often involve different firearms."
According to the story, this happened because the guy the NRA got fired, Dr. Mark Rosenberg of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, became great buds with Jay Dickey:
[All Africa] Tanzania's anti-corruption watchdog said on Tuesday it has arrested the Director General of Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), Deusdedit Kakoko, for questioning in connection with graft allegations.The arrest of the ports authority chief followed his suspension on Sunday by President Samia Suluhu Hassan to pave way for investigations over embezzlement of public funds amounting TSh3.6 billion (about $1.55 million).
President Suluhu suspended Mr Kakoko shortly after she was presented with the 2019/2020 reports from the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) that indicated that TSh3.6 billion was embezzled by TPA in the 2019/2020 financial year.
"It is true that we are holding the TPA director-general for questioning here at the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) headquarters," the PCCB communications manager, Doreen Kapwani, said in a phone interview with Xinhua.
On Sunday, President Hassan ordered the CAG, Charles Kichere, to investigate how the TSh3.6 billion was embezzled by the ports watchdog.
"I will stand firm in ensuring prudent management of public resources. I will also stand firm in the fight against corruption," she said in her statement televised live from Chamwino State House in the capital Dodoma.
DUE PROCESS
The watchdog, known as the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) confirmed that it is holding Mr Kakoko.
PCCB head, Brigadier John Mbungo, on Monday night said the top executive was arrested in Morogoro in what is said to have been an attempt to flee the country.
"He is now in the hands of the PCCB," Brigadier Mbungo told Mwananchi news agency, adding that all due processes will be followed during his detention.
While suspending the TPA boss, President Suluhu said some actions were earlier taken after Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa formed a committee to probe the claims of embezzlement at the TPA.
"But from the report that you submitted to me, at least Sh3.6 billion has been embezzled at TPA. When the Prime Minister conducted a probe, we only managed to fire junior staff. I now order the suspension of the TPA director-general to pave way for investigations into the embezzlement," she said on Sunday.
In December last year, Mr Majaliwa suspended two TPA officials - Finance Director Nuru Mhando and Financial Expenditures Manager Witness Mahela - to allow investigations into claims of embezzlement of public funds.
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04/01/2021 00:00 ||
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[All Africa] The International Criminal Court has upheld the war crimes conviction and 30-year sentence imposed on former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda. Ntaganda was a former army general who later became a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which signed a peace deal with the government in 2013. He was the first-ever suspected war criminal to surrender to the ICC in 2013 by walking into the U.S. Embassy in the Rwandan capital Kigali. An ICC warrant for his arrest was first issued in 2006. Dubbed the "Terminator," the Rwandan-born 47-year-old was found guilty of crimes against humanity, including murder, sexual slavery, rape and using child soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/01/2021 00:00 ||
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[ZH] The recent rise in tensions between the US and Russia over continued simmering conflict in Ukraine seemed to correspond with the Biden administration entering the White House. Many pundits have commented that on a foreign policy front things are eerily feeling like a throwback to the Obama years of 2014 or 2015, whether its the Ukraine and Crimea crises, or Syria returning to headlines again (including Biden's ordered airstrikes on the country in February), or the growing Russia-NATO standoff.
This past weekend we were among the very few to take notice of the Pentagon's latest large military equipment delivery to Ukraine's army via the port of Odessa, following Biden earlier pledging that "Crimea is Ukraine" and that he'd work to thwart Russian aims in the region.
And now this week the US European Command (EUCOM) has issued a notification of a raised 'threat level' in Europe. The designation has been officially raised to one of "potential imminent crisis" this week. It comes just as The New York Times and others are reporting a serious escalation in fighting in Eastern Ukraine, which has signaled the collapse of yet another cease-fire.
The raised threat level centers on Ukraine's commander-in-chief of national armed forces alleging that Russia has amassed more troops on its border this week, and further that "pro-Moscow separatists were systematically violating a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine," according to Reuters.
Kiev's parliament followed by announcing a sharp "escalation" in the east - a contested region which has seen 14,000 deaths going back to 2014.
The NY Times had linked the raised alert status by EUCOM specifically to Ukraine, writing "the U.S. military’s European Command raised its watch level from possible crisis to potential imminent crisis — the highest level — in response to the deployment of the additional Russian troops."
The report also described the infusion of new Russian military equipment to the Kremlin-backed rebels, something which the latest follow-up statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov downplayed, charging that it is the Ukrainian side now taking "provocative actions that would lead to war".
The Times report cited a US official who estimated that some 4,000 additional Russian troops remained behind along the Ukraine border region following the end of recent military drills, something which one retired Army general said could just be "posturing" designed to test the Biden administration.
Meanwhile Washington has apparently put Moscow 'on notice' over a potential Ukraine escalation...
Russia MOD says Milley initiates phone call today just as concern grows again about Russian presence along Ukraine border https://t.co/pZm2NFZlJl
— Barbara Starr (@barbarastarrcnn) March 31, 2021
Despite long ago falling out of daily and weekly headlines, the war in the Donbass region has remained a 'low-simmering conflict' which has never stopped. Battle lines and disputed fronts, along with rival checkpoints, have been consistently manned.
The usual military exercises that take place this time of year, or larger than usual troop build-up?
Russian forces are deploying massive amounts of military hardware into #Crimea. One of the largest deployments I've seen in recent memory. pic.twitter.com/KKZnGzS7y1
— The Intel Crab (@IntelCrab) March 31, 2021
However, as the NYT noted, "Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and another seriously wounded in a battle against Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk Region" on Tuesday, suggesting a severe flare-up on the horizon which could once again draw in external Western forces, especially as Biden has lately vowed to get "tough" on Putin's Russia.
#5
Poor woman, she has gas and looks constipated, while I am not a medical doctor, but play one on the burg from time to time, I would recommend she should consume massive amounts of kimchi and extra hot guacamole, washing it all down with 32 ounces of R.W. Knudsen's prune juice.
She will be 'right as rain' in no time.
#10
...they used to do that during the Cold War. Finally someone decided to do something about it. They threw up NATO all weather aircraft during a particularly nasty weather system. The Russians scrambled but lacked sufficient all weather frames. They had to disperse all over Eastern Europe to find an open airfield to land.
BREAKING: Russian military equipment is being moved to the Ukrainian border as part of a significant buildup of Russian forces. (h/t @Osinttechnical)https://t.co/zr6mbqhAaw
Russian engineers with floating bridges spotted on a small road that leads to the occupied Lugansk region in #Ukraine. That's a bridge over Glubokaya river, 25 km east of the Ukrainian border. #Russiapic.twitter.com/8t8VnVYIsp
#CRIMEA: A large convoy of russian military vehicles seen heading into the crimean peninsula. Said to have been filmed on the 31st of march 2021. pic.twitter.com/u4tRiOn8nn
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Italia expelled two Russian diplomats on Wednesday after police said they had arrested an Italian navy captain caught passing documents to a Russian official in return for money at a clandestine meeting.
The Italian, a captain of a frigate, and the Russian, a military official accredited at the embassy, were accused of "serious crimes tied to spying and state security" after their meeting on Tuesday night, Italian Carabinieri police said.
The suspects were not identified.
Italia immediately summoned the Russian ambassador Sergey Razov and expelled two Russian officials believed to be involved in what Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio called an "extremely grave matter."
The Italian navy captain was taken into custody. Officials did not say whether the Russian army official who had met him was one of the two who were expelled.
Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted a Russian politician as saying Moscow would reciprocate for the expulsions, standard practice in such cases.
However, women are made to be loved, not understood... statements from Moscow suggested Russia was keen to play down the incident. The Russian Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying that it regretted the expulsions, but that they did not threaten bilateral relations.
Earlier, the Kremlin said it did not have information about the circumstances of the case but hoped the two countries would maintain positive and constructive ties.
The incident was the latest in a series of spying accusations in recent months against Russians in European countries. Bulgaria expelled Russian officials on suspicion of spying in March, and the Netherlands did so in December.
NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure.... documents were among the files that the Italian passed to the Russian official, Ansa news agency said, raising potential security worries for other members of the Western military alliance.
The arrests were ordered by Rome prosecutors following a long investigation carried out by the Italian intelligence with the support of the military, the police force said.
Police did not specify where the arrests had taken place. No further comment would be made until a magistrate approves the arrest, they said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/01/2021 00:00 ||
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[TechCrunch] The killer use case for AR/VR might just be warfare. Why is this man smiling ?
Today, Microsoft announced that it has received a contract to outfit the United States Army with tens of thousands of augmented reality headsets based on the company’s HoloLens tech. This contract could be worth as much as $21.88 billion over 10 years, the company says.
Microsoft will be fulfilling an order for 120,000 AR headsets for the Army based on their Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) design. The modified design upgrades the capabilities of the HoloLens 2 for the needs of soldiers in the field.
"The program delivers enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing and decision-making in a variety of scenarios," a blog post from Microsoft’s Alex Kipman reads.
The contract builds on the two-year $480 million contract that Microsoft won back in 2018 to outfit the U.S. Army with augmented reality tech. At the time, the contract detailed that the deal could potentially result in follow-on orders of more than 100,000 headsets. "Augmented reality technology will provide troops with more and better information to make decisions. This new work extends our longstanding, trusted relationship with the Department of Defense to this new area," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement sent to TechCrunch at the time.
#2
A good movie idea would be a war movie where the deep state high jacks gaming competitions with actual real-time battle environments and has teenagers killing the enemy via gaming headsets.
#11
A good movie idea would be a war movie where the deep state high jacks gaming competitions with actual real-time battle environments and has teenagers killing the enemy via gaming headsets.
#14
And y'all thought $600 toilet seats were a waste of money.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/01/2021 12:37 Comments ||
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#15
See through battle field smoke and smoke screens, night vision, see real time overhead drone and ground combat robotics on and above the battle field, share what others see from different points of the battle field, patch in to medics to allow them to assess wounds remotely, etc. etc. etc. etc....
[Epoch Times] More than 100 people in Washington state have tested positive for COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated, authorities said March 30.
Epidemiologists have found evidence of 102 so-called breakthrough cases since Feb. 1. That number represents 0.01 percent of people in the state who have been fully vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19. Hence, the title of the article.
The CCP virus is also known as SARS-CoV-2.
Eight of the patients required hospitalization and two, both over 80 years old with underlying health issues, died. All contracted the virus more than two weeks after being fully vaccinated.
"It is important to remember that every vaccine on the market right now prevents severe disease and death in most cases. People should still get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible, and encourage friends, loved ones, and co-workers to do the same," Umair Shah, the state’s secretary of health, said in a statement. Because without the vaccines, 1.86% of cases resulted in death. {Worldometers total deaths divided by total cases.}
"Finding evidence of vaccine breakthrough cases reminds us that, even if you have been vaccinated, you still need to wear a mask, practice socially distancing, and wash your hands to prevent spreading COVID-19 to others who have not been vaccinated." Even though you're 186 times less likely to die after you're vaccinated.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/01/2021 00:00 ||
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#1
What are the recovery rates for COVID-19 if you don't get the vaccine?
[AlAhram] Leb ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... may have narrowly escaped a nuclear disaster following the discovery of nuclear material in storage south of the capital last week
Last year’s Beirut port explosions, caused by wrongly stored ammonium nitrate in a warehouse in the port of the Lebanese capital, were almost unimaginably destructive, leading to the deaths of 200 people, 6,000 others injured and a further 300,000 people made homeless.
The Lebanese authorities have failed to secure the funds needed to repair the damage, estimated at almost $15 billion, and divisions in the country’s political elites have grown to the extent that they cannot agree on a new government.
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... popular protests have become part of the nation’s daily routine.
But news this week has indicated that Lebanon could have experienced an even greater disaster in the shape of a nuclear one. Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, after a meeting of Lebanon’s Higher Defence Council, the highest security and military authority in the country, said on Friday that the German company Combi Lift had discovered "a highly pure nuclear substance" at the Zahrani oil installation 50 km south of Beirut.
Diab, whose cabinet resigned after last August’s port blasts, though it has stayed in office until a new one is formed, vowed to take "quick measures to deal with this matter of great concern".
According to Ziad al-Zein, head of the installation, the chemicals were found in eight small containers that weigh less than two kg each. They contain depleted uranium salts that have been stored there since the 1950s when Medreco, a US company then owned by Mobil and Caltex, was running the facility, he told the local media.
Golly. Sixteen kilos of depleted uranium, whose key characteristic is that it can no longer go kaboom. Of course it’s still radioactive, so no one will be melting it down to make lead soldiers.
The company had administered the site until the late 1980s. The material will now be transferred to the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission, though the latter will need to coordinate with the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on how to dispose of it.
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... Combi Lift has been looking for flammable substances in the wreckage of the Beirut Port since last November on the basis of a $3.6-million agreement with the Lebanese government. Lebanon has yet to pay $2 million, while the German government paid the remaining amount.
Before spotting the nuclear material, the company found more than 50 containers that included "hazardous and dangerous chemical material" at the Beirut Port. Some of them have been in place for more than 30 years. Andreas Kindl, Germany’s ambassador to Beirut, said the company was ready to transfer the materials to Germany.
Nice to see they’re finally cleaning the place up.
Last year’s Beirut Port explosions shocked both the Lebanese people and the world, but it seems that people in Lebanon will not be surprised to see similar incidents in future.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[NYP] A "free-spirited" Maryland woman vacationing in Florida died when she got stuck in the window of her hotel room, authorities said.
...unlikable American former starlet married to the formerly likable Prince Harry. Chock full of lefty political opinions, Markle's most important characteristic is that she is Black, even though she doesn't look it. Her mother, y'see, is half black and her father is white, which would make her a quarter Black. Her half brother described her (to her husband, before their marriage) as a 
This led to January 1986, when a Swedish pilot named Per-Olof Eldh, using a Viggen fighter jet, lined up with the Blackbird's flight path and even gained full missile lock. However, Eldh did not fire, and the two planes ended up merely crossing paths. The same pilot would go on to have five more interceptions using the same strategy. 
[Epoch Times] More than 100 people in Washington state have tested positive for COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated, authorities said March 30.
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
