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In California, the U.K. variant now probably accounts for 40% of new coronavirus cases, Rutherford said, but unlike in Michigan, “it hasn’t driven the overall epidemic curve,” Rutherford said. Part of the reason for that is that the California variant may be outcompeting the U.K. variant for dominating the state. Of virus samples that have been genomically sequenced cumulatively, more than 12,000 cases of the California variant — also known as the West Coast variant (B.1.427/B.1.429) — have been identified in California, compared with 980 of the U.K. variant (B.1.1.7). The California variant is believed to be 20% more transmissible...

The judge in the George Floyd murder case refused a defense request to immediately sequester the jury Monday, the morning after the killing of a Black man during a traffic stop triggered unrest in a suburb just outside Minneapolis. The request came from the attorney for former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin. Defense attorney Eric Nelson argued that the jurors could be influenced by the prospect of what might happen as a result of their verdict. “Ultimately, your honor, the question becomes will the jury be competent to make a decision regardless of the potential outcome of their decision,” Nelson...

Getting that second dose is essential in order to get the fullest possible protection against the virus, experts say. There are a few exceptions to the two-dose rule — such as having an immediate or severe allergic reaction to the first dose — but so far, being a COVID-19 survivor isn’t one of them. “This has been rumored for a long time, that people with preexisting disease only need a single dose to get really long-lasting immunity,” said Dr. George Rutherford, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UC San Francisco. The researchers found that in the COVID-19 survivors, a single dose...

President Joe Biden trolled critics and sent a message to political Washington Monday with a tweet defending vice president Kamala Harris – calling her 'last voice in the room' on big decisions after a top Republican questioned who was in charge. To back up the assertion, the president included an image of the two of them talking inside the Oval Office – with Harris leaning in and gesturing, while Biden sits back in a chair with his jacket off as he appears to take in whatever information she is providing. Both of them are masked. 'When I served as Vice...

Based on data from the Ingenuity Mars helicopter that arrived late Friday night, NASA has chosen to reschedule the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s first experimental flight to no earlier than April 14. During a high-speed spin test of the rotors on Friday, the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to a “watchdog” timer expiration. This occurred as it was trying to transition the flight computer from ‘Pre-Flight’ to ‘Flight’ mode. The helicopter is safe and healthy and communicated its full telemetry set to Earth. Ingenuity Begins to Spin Its Blades NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter does a slow spin test of...

Most television news hosts are spokesmodels. They’re attractive and able to read. Somebody smarter develops the stories and writes the scripts and the telegenic anchor adds colorful inflection, emotive facial reaction and mechanical direction. Sometimes an anchor will engage in fiery debate with a guest. When that happens, often it is the producers who are intensely shouting information and talking points down the line to provide the illusion that the statuesque host has some depth. This is why good producers are so valuable, they are the ones furiously feeding cannon shells into the otherwise empty Howitzer (the host). When a...

Catholic Priests Who Have Maskless Moms Arrested Are Tyrants, Not HeroesPastors who bully parishioners over masks appear to have forgotten the soul-saving mission of the church, and are instead tyrannizing those they should serve.Despite Texas Gov. Greg Abbot’s repeal of the state mask mandate, a pregnant Catholic mother was kicked out of Mass in the Diocese of Dallas for failing to wear a mask.Father Milton Ryan, pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Parish, is alleged to have called the police while the service was underway and have the young mother threatened with arrest for trespass. Deidre Hairston returned to her pew...

President Joe Biden will nominate Tucson police Chief Chris Magnus to lead Customs and Border Protection, according to a report in the New York Times on Monday, April 12. Magnus’ nomination is one of six announced for roles in the Department of Homeland Security, the report says. Read the Times article HERE. Magnus has publicly criticized the immigration policies of former President Donald Trump. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero issued a statement in support of the nomination: “I want to congratulate Chief Magnus for his nomination to serve as Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” said Mayor Regina Romero. “During...

Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) Tweeted: Chris Cuomo calls Fox News "Hate TV" while pretending that Gov. Abbott changed his messaging on green energy (even though he didn't). Funny that Cuomo is inventing scandals for a Republican governor while completely ignoring the very real scandal of another governor: https://t.co/h28BkQbIer https://twitter.com/EddieZipperer/status/1362367665449414656?s=20 Feb.18.21

A Virginia Beach High School government teacher and finalist for teacher of the year recently posted on social media that “capitalism is racist.” An assistant principal in a different Virginia Beach high school advocated teaching critical race theory, sharing an article about the 1619 project. A Virginia Beach high school history teacher at a different school commented that he teaches critical race theory every year. A downtown instructional specialist in the social studies department promoted on Twitter that we should re-write all social studies curricula to be “social justice oriented,” referencing the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center’s document on the...

The coronavirus and the flu are two entirely different viruses. But a new study suggests those who get a flu vaccine face a considerably lower risk for being hospitalized if and when they get COVID-19. And the flu vaccine also appears to significantly reduce a COVID-19 patient's risk for ending up in an intensive care unit (ICU), researchers say. "COVID patients who had not received a flu vaccine within the last year had 2.4 times greater odds of being hospitalized and 3.3 times greater chance of being transferred to the ICU," said Yang, a third-year resident in family medicine in...

As more Americans get vaccinated — and more proof, albeit still inconclusive, emerges that the COVID-19 vaccines more than likely inhibit the spread of the coronavirus — it feels as if the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel is near.

Ways That People Can Help in Burma Now 8 April, 2021 Dear friends and family, Thank you for praying for the people here and being with us in this. Even in the midst of killing and displacement here in Burma we feel and see God’s love, and appreciate so much your help. Although many people in the cities have been captured and tortured, and hundreds killed, they have not given up and continue to stand for freedom. The ethnic people in the mountains, although chased from their homes, also refuse to give up and continue loving and helping each other....

Post your COVID insanity story here. Before I kick this off with my story, I observe Saint Fauci proclaims wearing masks is critical to protecting American lives, but if wearing a mask is necessary to save lives, how does Fauci explain homeless people? They hardly wash their hands, seldom practice social distancing, and don’t appear to ever wear a mask, BUT we aren't seeing droves of dead homeless people littering the streets. And. . .Why do Americans appear to be spring-loaded to following every government edict, no matter how silly? Which brings me to my COVID silliness experience. . .

The feud between the establishment and socialists continues. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unloaded on New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and members of the socialist "Squad" in a new biography by USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page. During the interviews, Pelosi mocked Ocasio-Cortez specifically for her youth and apparent ignorance. Pelosi unloads on the Squad, at one point adopting a child-like voice when discussing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and offers the Squad this blunt advice: “You’re not a one-person show. This is the Congress of the United States.”

A 20-year-old man was fatally shot during a traffic stop after a Minnesota police officer shouted "Taser!" but fired a handgun instead of the non-lethal stun gun, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said.

Antifa rioters in Portland, Oregon, set a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on fire while agents remained trapped behind blocked doors. The fire began after rioters smashed windows on the upper floors of the building. Antifa continued its months-long siege of the ICE facility in Portland on Saturday night. Videos posted on Twitter show the violence perpetrated by the Antifa rioters as they smashed windows and eventually set a fire on the front of the building while ICE officers remained trapped behind blocked doors.

Republicans slammed President Joe Biden's $2.7 trillion infrastructure plan as a 'dog's breakfast of slush funds' for Democrats as the Biden administration released a state-by-state breakdown of problems that need addressing in each state The GOP ramped up their criticism of the bill they say stretches far beyond traditional infrastructure ahead of bipartisan meeting at the White House. The White House breakdown included the money needed to fix roads in dire conditions, barely functioning bridges, the lack of residents with access to broadband and veterans health.

President Joe Biden has backtracked on a campaign pledge to establish a police oversight commission as Black Lives Matter riots erupted Sunday in Minnesota following a police shooting.

President Biden's administration is on track to admit a record low number of refugees into the United States, according to a report by the International Rescue Committee.