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High COVID-19 vaccination rates were expected to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in populations by reducing the number of possible sources for transmission and thereby to reduce the burden of COVID-19 disease. Recent data, however, indicate that the epidemiological relevance of COVID-19 vaccinated individuals is increasing. In the UK it was described that secondary attack rates among household contacts exposed to fully vaccinated index cases was similar to household contacts exposed to unvaccinated index cases (25% for vaccinated vs 23% for unvaccinated). 12 of 31 infections in fully vaccinated household contacts (39%) arose from fully vaccinated epidemiologically linked index cases. Peak...

Urgent - Roche Christmas Massacre - CDW Instruction on Latin Mass in the form of Responses to Dubia RORATE: As we first published here, the Francis iteration of the Vatican came out today with an instruction in the form of answered "dubia" by the Congregation for Divine Worship.The summary of the responses: all Sacraments in the Pontificale Romanum are banned (Ordinations, confirmations); Sacraments according to the Rituale (Baptism, Matrimony, Extreme Unction) only in the setting of Personal Parishes. "Bination" (celebrating both the Traditional Mass and the new order on the same day) is forbidden. There are other points.Our opinion:...

A majority of Americans say they feel “worn out” by how COVID has impacted their daily lives, and nearly half feel “angry” about it. And the public’s exasperation may also be having an impact on how they view their political leaders’ handling of the pandemic, according to the latest Monmouth University Poll. Support for face mask and workplace vaccine mandates has also declined since the fall when the delta variant started to dominate. Six in ten Americans feel worn out by pandemic-related changes they have had to make to their daily lives over the past 20 months. This includes 36%...

Two Rottweilers that were attacking a jogger in St. Charles are dead after the dogs’ owner and a man who intervened tried unsuccessfully to pull the animals off the woman until the man, who has a concealed carry license, fatally shot one of the dogs, according to the Kane County sheriff’s office. “One had her by the leg and the other had her by the scalp,” he said. “Doctors had to use 6 feet worth of sutures to repair her body.” The horrific attack began innocently enough, according to Hain. A Labradoodle made it past an electric fence and ran...

Even though 2024 is still years away and President Joe Biden has said he plans to run for re-election at age 81, national publications and pundits have spent gobs of time discussing a hypothetical 2024 Democratic presidential primary. Polls suggest that Vice President Kamala Harris would be the front-runner in such a primary, though her team reportedly expects a challenge from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, among others. The already painfully premature discourse took a turn this week when some prominent pundits began floating a new name: California Gov. Gavin Newsom. All of the speculation is mooted if Biden runs, or...

By the grace of God, services should resume in the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Perm by next spring. The church, currently home to the Perm Art Gallery, will be returned to the Russian Orthodox Church once the artifacts are moved to another location, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced during a working visit yesterday. Construction on the cathedral began in 1798. It was closed and converted into an art gallery in 1933. Mishustin thanked all those involved in preserving the gallery’s 60,000 artifacts for so many years, and added: “What’s also very important is that you’re returning the Transfiguration...

After disclosing that he has not had a COVID-19 vaccination, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco has agreed to reschedule a parish visit at the pastor's request, due to parishioners' health concerns. Cordileone, who shared his vaccination status on a Dec. 1 podcast, was scheduled to visit St. Agnes Catholic Church in San Francisco on Dec. 19. According to the parish's policy, however, only priests who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 may celebrate Mass there. For that reason, and because parishioners shared their uneasiness about Cordileone not being vaccinated, Father George Williams, S.J., the pastor, called the archbishop and asked...

Dogs, snow, and boys fighting. The makings of a decent winter video. Fountains Of Wayne - Valley Winter Song

[Catholic Caucus] Response to Bergoglio’s Christmas Massacre – Press ReleaseDigital Mobile Billboard “God Save the Latin Mass” Campaign at the USCCB Fall General Assembly, Marriott Waterfront, Baltimore, Nov. 16, 2021While there will be much commentary in the next several days and weeks to the dreck that was just released by the Congregation for Divine Worship in regard to the so-called dubia about the Traditional Latin Mass, the Coalition for Canceled Priests wants to make clear to all priests of good will that we will support priests who feel they cannot go along with the draconian restrictions placed on the celebration...

The winter solstice sunrise will stream live this year from inside the passage tomb of Newgrange. The winter solstice is an astronomical phenomenon marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year, occurring on December 21st or 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere. At sunrise on the shortest day of the year, for 17 minutes, direct sunlight can enter the Newgrange monument to illuminate the chamber of the Stone Age tomb through a small opening above its entrance known as the ‘roof box’. With the chamber currently closed to the public in light of Covid-19, the event can be...

Pfizer’s Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten told investors that the company expects pandemic levels of COVID-19 cases in some locations for the next year or two. During the same time span, other countries will become “endemic” with low caseloads. The disease should be prevalent globally by 2024, the business predicts. “When and how exactly this happens will depend on evolution of the disease, how effectively society deploys vaccines and treatments, and equitable distribution to places where vaccination rates are low,” Dolsten added. “The emergence of new variants could also impact how the pandemic continues to play out.” Pfizer anticipates its...

Before Christmas became the holiday it is today, it was the original "Halloween" in which poorer people would visit homes of the wealthy in order to obtain a food treat - such as soul cake. The original trick or treaters. Sting - Soul Cake

Russia might take unspecified new measures to ensure its security if the U.S. and its allies continue to take provocative action and ignore Moscow's demand for guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine, a senior diplomat said Saturday. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused Western allies of continuously pushing the envelope in relations with Russia, and warned that Moscow could also up the ante if the West doesn't treat its demands seriously. Ryabkov's statement in an interview with the Interfax news agency came a day after Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former...

I'm thinking Hanukkah might be over, not sure, because I'm not Jewish. But I am a fan of Hanukkah music and this is set to become one of the all time Hanukkah classics. Adam Green - Dreidels of Fire.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong was voting Sunday in the first election since Beijing amended the laws that reduced the number of directly elected lawmakers and vetted candidates to ensure that only those loyal to China can run. The rubber-stamp Chinese parliament in March passed a resolution to alter Hong Kong’s election law that many saw as effectively ending the “one country, two systems” framework under which Hong Kong was to retain its separate legal, political and financial institutions for 50 years following the handover from Britain in 1997. The assembly voted to give a pro-Beijing committee power to...

Brexit is now secure. The challenge for the Government now is to deliver on the opportunities it gives us. You know my concerns about the current direction of travel. I hope we will move as fast as possible to where we need to get to: a lightly regulated, low-tax, entrepreneurial economy, at the cutting edge of modern science and economic change. Three hundred years of history show that countries which take that route grow and prosper, and I am confident we will too. We also need to learn to live with Covid and I know that is your instinct too....

State Sen. Doug Ericksen, a stalwart conservative, former leader of Donald Trump’s campaign in Washington and an outspoken critic of COVID-19 emergency orders, died Friday. He was 52. Ericksen had said last month that he tested positive for the coronavirus while on a trip to El Salvador, although his cause of death was not immediately confirmed on Saturday.... ...Ericksen, a Republican from Ferndale, had been in El Salvador, where he tested positive for the virus that causes COVID. He wrote last month to his Republican colleagues asking if they could help him get treatment.... ...A longtime foe of environmental regulations,...

It is tough to find a modern presidency that has collapsed as swiftly as Joe Biden’s.

CALIFORNIA POPULATION TALLY: LA County, all 9 San Francisco Bay Area counties lost residents in same year for 1st time - AP

There were 3,589 COVID-19 patients in the state’s hospitals as of Friday, an increase of roughly 12% from two weeks before... California had recorded 49 cases of the Omicron variant as of Wednesday, although not all samples are sequenced to identify variants. That’s much lower than the 184,700 identified cases of the Delta variant, which remains dominant in the state, but health officials expect the number will rise. Omicron is thought to be more contagious than Delta and better at evading immunity generated by vaccines or previous infections... While there are early indications Omicron might cause less severe illness than...