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Hospital beds in Illinois are more full than they were during the COVID-19 pandemic’s deadliest surge last year, according to an analysis in The Chicago Tribune. The newspaper reported that a part of the problem is a staff shortage that makes it more difficult to staff beds. It said that even with such problems, hospitals in the state are now staffing about 900 more beds than at their busiest times last year, but that they are also caring for an average of 1,500 patients a day.

Korea’s soaring number of Covid infections follows the exact pattern we see in other areas with very high rates of mRNA injections of the population.South Korea was hailed in 2020 as the champion of Covid control. At first, the country had much lower case counts and deaths than most European countries. Then came the experimental “vaccines.” On Thursday, South Korea, which is almost entirely “vaccinated,” announced that it would reinstate stricter social distancing rules. The decision comes after the number of new infections and serious cases spiral out of control.The government will be imposing the country’s strictest corona restrictions since...

Pro-Trump broadcaster and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is suing the Jan. 6 select committee to block the panel from obtaining his phone records and compelling his testimony at a deposition next month. In the suit, Jones says he intends to assert his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination — confirming a statement he made on his show — and that the committee rejected his offer to provide “written responses” to their questions. The panel, he says, has asked him to appear for a deposition on Jan. 10 and has suggested it is considering offering immunity to compel his testimony. He also...

Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week. In much of the country, omicron’s prevalence is even higher. It’s responsible for an estimated 90% of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. The national rate suggests that more than 650,000 omicron infections occurred in the...

As if French President Emmanuel Macron didn't have enough on his plate, a rumor that was once dismissed as a conspiracy theory dreamed up by the far-right media is picking up new steam. The rumor: that his wife, Brigitte MEmmanuel Macron’s wife has found herself under a barrage of online claims that she is transgender, born as a male, with the media pointing the finger at far-right conspiracy theorists. Amid speculation over her gender that has taken the Francophone section of Twitter by storm this week, Brigitte Macron is going to file a complaint, according to French media citing people...

What the hell is this guy doing? His critics accuse him of being a megalomaniac, drunk on his own power and influence, rooting for a forever pandemic to remain relevant and ubiquitous. Even if you think that's uncharitable and unfair, it's pretty jarring to see him breezily reject the notion that we'll get back to a place where we don't have to wear masks on airplanes. Ever? He doesn't use that word, but the question was pretty open-ended, and his reaction was a pretty flat 'no:' How on earth does he not say something like, "yes of course, we will...

[Catholic Caucus] The Grinch Who Stole Tradition Every Trad down in Tradville loved the Old Mass a lot.But the man in the papal apartment, Did NOT!The Pope hated that Mass and all of Tradition!“If they love Mass in Latin, they favor sedition!”The pope paced back and forth, he couldn’t sleep through the night.He thought of their chanting, it gave him a fright.But I think what that Pope feared most of all.Was the thought that his Council was going to fall.The pope paced back and forth, he couldn’t sleep through the night.He thought of their chanting, it gave him a...

NEW - Trump: "You’re playing right into their hands" when you doubt the #COVID19 vaccines. Clip...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major step to fight climate change, the Biden administration is raising vehicle mileage standards to significantly reduce emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases, reversing a Trump-era rollback that loosened fuel efficiency standards. A final rule issued Monday would raise mileage standards starting in the 2023 model year, reaching a projected industry-wide target of 40 miles per gallon by 2026. The new standard is 25% higher than a rule finalized by the Trump administration last year and 5% higher than a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency in August. “We are setting robust and rigorous standards that...

Explanation: This picture was supposed to feature a comet. Specifically, a series of images of the brightest comet of 2021 were being captured: Comet Leonard. But the universe had other plans. Within a fraction of a second, a meteor so bright it could be called a fireball streaked through just below the comet. And the meteor's flash was even more green than the comet's coma. The cause of the meteor's green was likely magnesium evaporating from the meteor's pebble-sized core, while the cause of the comet's green was likely diatomic carbon recently ejected from the comet's city-sized nucleus. The images...

This article will contain a lot of spoilers so if you haven’t seen the movie and plan to, then I advise you to stop reading here, though you can read my thoughts on why the movie is going insane at the box office right now.(READ: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Going Gangbusters at the Box Office Proving Non-Woke Movies are What We Want)If you don’t care about spoilers or already have seen the film, then come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure nerd-toxication.I was surprised I managed to get tickets to a Sunday evening showing of Spider-Man:...

An analysis of modern DNA uncovers a rough dating scene after the advent of agriculture.Once upon a time, 4,000 to 8,000 years after humanity invented agriculture, something very strange happened to human reproduction. Across the globe, for every 17 women who were reproducing, passing on genes that are still around today—only one man did the same...Another member of the research team, a biological anthropologist, hypothesizes that somehow, only a few men accumulated lots of wealth and power, leaving nothing for others. These men could then pass their wealth on to their sons, perpetuating this pattern of elitist reproductive success. Then,...

A California state judge struck down San Diego Unified School District’s student COVID-19 vaccine mandate Monday, ruling that it was “inconsistent with state law.” This means that all SDUSD students can continue in-person instruction regardless of COVID-19 vaccine status.Two lawsuits were filed challenging the mandate, one on behalf of a parent whose student was going to be forced to get the jab to continue in-person instruction, and one by the parent group “Let Them Breathe.” The lawsuits were joined for the purpose of hearing a petition for a writ of mandate, and oral arguments were held Monday morning. At 9...

POINTS Former President Donald Trump says he received a booster vaccine shot for Covid-19 “Oh don’t!” Trump said, waving his hand as some people in an audience in Dallas at a show with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly seemed to react negatively to him saying he got the booster. A relatively large percentage of Republican voters have refused to get even initial doses of the coronavirus vaccines. GOP governors around are resisting vaccine and mask mandates.

Faced with a revolt from county leaders in a majority of the state — including the suburban NYC counties in Long Island — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday reversed course and said state inspectors will conduct “spot checks” to enforce mandatory mask-wearing. The announcement reversed previous statements in which Hochul said local governments would be solely responsible for carrying out the controversial, statewide mask mandate she imposed on the private sector — including private offices — last week. It also came after officials in nearly two-thirds of the counties outside New York City refused to enforce the mandate...

White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 speech on Tuesday will not involve a push for lockdowns over the spread of the Omicron variant. Biden “will issue a stark warning” to people who haven’t yet received a COVID-19 vaccination, Psaki said. But the president, she said, will not be a push for locking down over the variant, which has caused few deaths worldwide. “This is not a speech about locking the country down,” Psaki remarked. While the World Health Organization named Omicron a “variant of concern” due to its high transmissibility, officials in South Africa...

If Sen. Joe Manchin bolts the Democratic Party, he'd be more likely to switch to independent — and caucus with the Democrats — than become a Republican, people close to him tell Axios. Driving the news: Manchin’s surprise body blow to President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda set off new speculation across the Democratic Party — including inside the White House — that he may leave the party next year. * The timing and destination of Manchin's declaration: "I can’t get there. This is a no" — on "Fox News Sunday," days before Christmas — seemed designed for maximum impact....

Fox News employees in New York City will be required to have at least one coronavirus vaccination dose by Dec. 27 in order to work in person at the company’s headquarters. “All workers in NYC who perform in-person work at an office location, including Fox employees, must show proof of receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine” by Dec. 27, according to an internal staff memo sent by Fox Corporation first reported by Washington Post media reporter Jeremy Barr. There will no longer be a testing requirement for Fox News employees in New York City. The memo goes...

In October, Brandon Brown made the biggest achievement of his career by winning the Xfinity Series Championship Race in Talladega, Alabama. Little did he know that his post-race interview would inspire US conservatives and critics of the Biden administration.NASCAR driver Brandon Brown has opened up about being the "perpetrator" of the anti-Joe Biden chant "Let's Go Brandon!". Speaking to The New York Times, the 28-year-old revealed that it was initially funny how the slogan was used as an oath for "F**k Joe Biden", but admitted that he became uncomfortable as the chant became popular with critics of the president.Brown fears...

It’s not too harsh a judgment to say that this is a man who has risen to the top of American public life without a trace of accomplishment. When you’ve been in national politics for almost 50 years, you ought to have achieved something, if only by accident. But this journeyman politician, when he wasn’t getting almost all the big issues wrong, was largely a bystander. He is now a husk of a leader, a dangerously debilitated figure, who oscillates between displays of vacuous incoherence and weird, angry outbursts, like a confused old man at the wrong bus stop. Meanwhile,...