It’s a hot, busy day here in the CatBox. I’m waiting for Diana, my palliative care nurse, to come change my patch, hopefully at about 9:30 AM. I’m already running late, because I overslept. Tomorrow is a WWWendy day, but it will not affect my publishing as she won’t be back from Eastern Oregon until mid-afternoon tomorrow. I texted WWKristen, who is with her and promised they will both stay safe and naughty. Oh God, it’s Monday! Update: Diana came and changed my patch.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:12 (average 4:49). To do it, click here. How did you do?
From YouTube (CNN Channel): Georgia teen says school used students as guinea pigs
The school administrators were goose-stepping behind their beloved Nazi leader, criminal Fuhrer Trump*. Now that her suspension has been lifted, nine students have already tested positive for Trump* virus, and this GOP crime has been exposed, threats of physical violence are SOP for the Republican Reich! RESIST!!
It’s a frustrating day here in the CatBox, because criminal Fuhrer Trump* held his campaign rally for billionaires at his private club, pretending to be a Trump* virus relief executive action on Saturday, and the news analysis has not percolated to YouTube. There is no relief in his bullshit orders. It will be my lead article tomorrow, but this is my only article today. Tomorrow, I may run late, because my palliative care nurse, Diana, is coming to change my Fentanyl patch. Have a restful Sunday.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:15 (average 4:38). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Trump* Virus Update:
US Cases: 5,152,001 US Deaths: 165,093
Short Takes:
From Alternet: Tom Eckerle—a Republican road commissioner for Leelanau County, Michigan—is reportedly resigning after political pressure for repeatedly using the n-word, an anti-Black racist slur, to describe racial justice protestors.
Before a meeting of the road commission started last Tuesday, Eckerle was asked by a commission member why he wasn’t wearing a mask. He responded, “Well this whole thing is because of them (n-words) down in Detroit.”
When Bob Joyce, the commission’s chair, told Eckerle he couldn’t say that, Eckerle said, “I can say anything I want. Black Lives Matter has everything to do with taking the country away from us.”…
…When asked about his comments during a Thursday interview with Interlochen Public Radio, Eckerle said didn’t realize the public found out about his comments and said, “No, I don’t regret calling it an (n-word). A( n-word) is a (n-word) is a (n-word). That’s not a person whatsoever.”
Republicans are not racist, the Pope is not Catholic, Trump* is not an asshole, and bears never, ever shit in the woods! RESIST!!
From Buzzfeed (Hat-Tip Crooks and Liars): At least two students say they have been suspended at North Paulding High School in Georgia for posting photos of crowded hallways that went viral on Twitter.The photos show students packed into hallways between classes, not appearing to practice social distancing and with few masks visible, amid the coronavirus pandemic. They went viral after being shared by the account @Freeyourmindkid.
One of the teens who posted photos, 15-year-old Hannah Watters, told BuzzFeed News she received a five-day, out-of-school suspension for posting one photo and one video on Twitter.
She posted the above photo with the caption, “Day two at North Paulding High School. It is just as bad. We were stopped because it was jammed. We are close enough to the point where I got pushed multiple go to second block. This is not ok. Not to mention the 10% mask rate.”
Watters said she was pulled into the school’s office around noon on Wednesday and was told she had violated the student code of conduct.
“The policies I broke stated that I used my phone in the hallway without permission, used my phone for social media, and posting pictures of minors without consent,” she said.
Paulding County Schools has not responded to requests for comment on the alleged suspension.
Another student, who did not want their name used, also told BuzzFeed News that they were suspended for posting photos on Twitter.
When the Republican Reich weaponizes Trump* virus to murder children, they punish the children for telling the truth about it. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast of protest): “Trump Is an Asshole” – MUSIC VIDEO – NSFW
The monologue was the only clip I could find, and it took me almost two hours to even find a full show video. I bring that to you with brief notes on who is in it, and what the discussion was about, and the starting point in minutes and seconds so you can find them. You can tell roughly how long each is by looking at the start time of the segment and the start time of the next segment. There is CC. (when there isn’t, it’s because there are no words.)
Monologue – “The Incredible Sulk” “President Shrugemoji” Good ones. You know, it used to be bad form for nominees to go to the conventions. We may end up going back to that.
3:42 Col. Lawrence Wilkerson on Trump not leaving
13:36 Panel – Paul Begala, Meghan Daum on voting by mail and progressive lack of enthusiasm
34:06 Satire magazine “Better Homes and Kindergartens”
35:32 Chris Evans – His new website “A Starting Point” – for people who know absolutely nothing about politics. I provide the link, but haven’t really looked at it. Bill used the term “bipartisan,” which, sadly, makes me wonder about its factuality – a sad comment on America today.
45:26 New Rules: Some people should be out of work. “Goldilocks Bread.” A British man lost his penis and is growing a new one on his arm. Ellen. If even dead people hate you… (satire eulogy for Trump* – with no sound, because there’s nothing good to say. Sound starts again at approx 52:00)
Sorry – but at least it’s all here somehow, and hopefully won’t be too hard to navigate.
UPDATE
Sunday morning – I see they’ve taken the full one down. However, short videos are now available for three of the five<
It’s official. Criminal Fuhrer Trump* and Vladimir Putin [R-RU] are teaming-up in an attempt to steal the 2020 election the way they did in 2016. Republican Senators have joined the effort.
Russia is using a range of techniques to denigrate Joseph R. Biden Jr., American intelligence officials said Friday in their first public assessment that Moscow continues to try to interfere in the 2020 campaign to help President Trump.
At the same time, the officials said China preferred that Mr. Trump be defeated in November and was weighing whether to take more aggressive action in the election.
But officials briefed on the intelligence said that Russia was the far graver, and more immediate, threat. While China seeks to gain influence in American politics, its leaders have not yet decided to wade directly into the presidential contest, however much they may dislike Mr. Trump, the officials said.
The assessment, included in a statement released by William R. Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, suggested the intelligence community was treading carefully, reflecting the political heat generated by previous findings…. [emphasis added]
As long as criminal Fuhrer Trump*, aka Putin’s Piddle Pervert, fears the release of the pee-pee tapes, Daddy Vladdy [R-RU] will do all he can to keep his bitch* (apologies to female dawgs) in power.
Here’s coverage of the Senators, who are betraying America!
…Meanwhile, Senate Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee are holding hearings in an attempt to substantiate this charge — or, more realistically, to insinuate it. They have produced no evidence to advance their charge. The Russians have given Republicans stolen tapes of secret conversations Biden held with Ukrainians during his tenure as vice-president, and pro-Trump media outlets have hyped up the material, but nothing they have is inconsistent with the narrative that mainstream news organizations found. Biden was working to clean up Ukraine.
Senate Republicans tried to be cagey about their activities. After pro-Russian Ukrainians said they’d passed materials on to Republican officials, a Johnson staffer told NBC News in July that it was “‘false’ the committee has received any ‘oppo,’ or opposition research, without responding directly to whether that covers any materials from foreign sources.”
The Washington Post reported that Homeland Security Committee chairman Ron Johnson received secret documents from Ukrainians. And former Giuliani associate Lev Parnas has confessed to putting Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee and perhaps Trump’s most energetic defender on all things Russia, in touch with one of the Ukrainians releasing documents in the United States.
There is hardly any secret to what they’re up to. Johnson says he plans to release his report on Biden in September. It hardly matters if the information Russia gives him actually substantiates his allegations, or even whether it is authentic. The obvious plan is to splash some headlines into news screens in the heat of the campaign that seem to connect Biden to some kind of wrongdoing.
In reality, it is not a scandal about Biden at all. It’s a scandal about Republican cooperation with a Russian propaganda campaign…. [emphasis added]
It’s a very tired day, here in the CatBox. JD, would you please cover Bill Maher? I have another lead story that needs doing. Yesterday they increased my Fentanyl dosage to 25 mg, so I’ll be in less pain starting with my next patch change Monday. The PET scan was not good. My oncologist is seeking insurance approval for a drug called Pembrolizumab. The chances of severe side effects (excessive immune response) are less than 5%. If it works, which is a long shot, it will tag my cancer cells with markers that allow my own immune system to recognize and attack them. If insurance will not approve, because it’s a long shot, or if it doesn’t work, I’ll be fortunate to see 2021. I hope you have a great weekend.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:02 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Trump* Virus Update:
US Cases: 5,098,494 US Deaths: 164,144
Short Takes:
From Alternet: The Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle rally in 2015. This year’s rally, now underway, is expected to attract 250,000 people.
It would be too much to expect the millions of Americans who choose to celebrate their personal identity with intentionally loud and purposely obnoxious, high-polluting machines, operated at speeds in excess of 70 mph on our nation’s highways, with zero protection between themselves and the roadway, all to care equally about potentially infecting other people with an invisible virus.
Still, for at least a discrete subgroup of those folks who claim the “individual freedom” to face a fatality risk 26 times the rate of other motorists, attendance at the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota this year in the midst of the deadliest global pandemic in over a century, signifies a quantum leap of sorts in both irresponsibility and crass disregard not only for their own lives, but for the rest of the people in this country as well.
Certainly many bikers are not Republican fools. They will not be there. The deplorable Republican Sheeple will spread Trump’s* Republican plague far and wide! RESIST!!
From NY Times: Jerry Falwell Jr., one of President Trump’s most prominent and controversial evangelical supporters, will take an indefinite leave of absence from his role as president and chancellor of Liberty University, the board of trustees announced [pseudo-Christians delinked] on Friday.
The news comes days after Mr. Falwell posted, and then deleted, a photograph on Instagram of him posing alongside a woman with his pants unzipped and his arm around her.
Mr. Falwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier in the week, he apologized for the photo.
Franklin Graham, who leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, defended Mr. Falwell in an interview on Friday evening.
“He is a great leader and he has taken this school — it is one of the largest universities in the United States. He’s done an incredible job,” Mr. Graham said. “He is a great leader and I certainly support him.”
I thought you might appreciate this follow-up. I wonder how many BJs Graham has gotten on Falwell’s yacht. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast of protest): Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction
Are we in the eve of destruction from the Republican Reich? Kudos to left-wing demonstrators! RESIST!!
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
Once again, in connection with CoViD-19, the word “epithelial” comes up, and it is associated with something scary every time that it does. This is no exception. I doubt I could be more motivated to avoid getting CoViD myself than I already am. But I see a threat here beyond my own health which worries me. ================================================================
How COVID-19 might increase risk of memory loss and cognitive decline
These effects may be caused by direct viral infection of brain tissue. But growing evidence suggests additional indirect actions triggered via the virus’s infection of epithelial cells and the cardiovascular system, or through the immune system and inflammation, contribute to lasting neurological changes after COVID-19.
Many of the symptoms we attribute to an infection are really due to the protective responses of the immune system. A runny nose during a cold is not a direct effect of the virus, but a result of the immune system’s response to the cold virus. This is also true when it comes to feeling sick. The general malaise, tiredness, fever and social withdrawal are caused by activation of specialized immune cells in the brain, called neuroimmune cells, and signals in the brain.
These changes in brain and behavior, although annoying for our everyday lives, are highly adaptive and immensely beneficial. By resting, you allow the energy-demanding immune response to do its thing. A fever makes the body less hospitable to viruses and increases the efficiency of the immune system. Social withdrawal may help decrease spread of the virus.
Unfortunately, this also provides a way in which illnesses like COVID-19 can cause both acute neurological symptoms and long-lasting issues in the brain.
Microglia are specialized immune cells in the brain. In healthy states, they use their arms to test the environment. During an immune response, microglia change shape to engulf pathogens. But they can also damage neurons and their connections that store memory.JUAN GAERTNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty Images
During illness and inflammation, the specialized immune cells in the brain become activated, spewing vast quantities of inflammatory signals, and modifying how they communicate with neurons. For one type of cell, microglia, this means changing shape, withdrawing the spindly arms and becoming blobby, mobile cells that envelop potential pathogens or cell debris in their path. But, in doing so, they also destroy and eat the neuronal connections that are so important for memory storage.
Another type of neuroimmune cell called an astrocyte, typically wraps around the connection between neurons during illness-evoked activation and dumps inflammatory signals on these junctions, effectively preventing the changes in connections between neurons that store memories.
Because COVID-19 involves a massive release of inflammatory signals, the impact of this disease on memory is particularly interesting to me. That is because there are both short-term effects on cognition (delirium), and the potential for long-lasting changes in memory, attention and cognition. There is also an increased risk for cognitive decline and dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, during aging.
How does inflammation exert long-lasting effects on memory?
If activation of neuroimmune cells is limited to the duration of the illness, then how can inflammation cause long-lasting memory deficits or increase the risk of cognitive decline?
Both the brain and the immune system have specifically evolved to change as a consequence of experience, in order to neutralize danger and maximize survival. In the brain, changes in connections between neurons allows us to store memories and rapidly change behavior to escape threat, or seek food or social opportunities. The immune system has evolved to fine-tune the inflammatory response and antibody production against previously encountered pathogens.
Another major illness with a similar cognitive complications is sepsis – multi-organ dysfunction triggered by inflammation. In animal models of these diseases, we also see impairments of memory, and changes in neuroimmune and neuronal function that persist weeks and months after illness.
Does COVID-19 increase risk for cognitive decline?
It will be many years before we know whether the COVID-19 infection causes an increased risk for cognitive decline or Alzheimer’s disease. But this risk may be decreased or mitigated through prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Prevention and treatment both rely on the ability to decrease the severity and duration of illness and inflammation. Intriguingly, very new research suggests that common vaccines, including the flu shot and pneumonia vaccines, may reduce risk for Alzheimer’s.
Additionally, several emerging treatments for COVID-19 are drugs that suppress excessive immune activationand inflammatory state. Potentially, these treatments will also reduce the impact of inflammation on the brain, and decrease the impact on long-term brain health.
COVID-19 will continue to impact health and well-being long after the pandemic is over. As such, it will be critical to continue to assess the effects of COVID-19 illness in vulnerability to later cognitive decline and dementias.
In doing so, researchers will likely gain critical new insight into the role of inflammation across the life-span in age-related cognitive decline. This will aid in the development of more effective strategies for prevention and treatment of these debilitating illnesses.
================================================================ Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, it was stupid and willfully ignorant voter who got us into the mess we are in. And in many cases it’s those same stupid and willfully ignorant voters who are daring the virus to infect them – and then going around infecting others, including some who are not stupid or willfully ignorant, but get into their path. If the virus can manage to get into patients’ brains, it will cause even more stupidity, as well as ignorance (through memory loss) which may not be willful, but is still damaging. How on earth are we going to deal with that? We need you. Desperately.
Yet again I’m violating that old dictum of “Don’t change horses in midstream”. But this time I’m changing to a llama! Specifically, to Caesar “The No Drama Llama” McCool, owned by Larry McCool of Jefferson Oregon.
(I just read about Caesar right after lunch – so I threw this together in a hurry. But trust me – this story has a lot more panache than what I had ready to go. But I’ll foist that on you another time.)
What makes Caesar so unique is his unusual demeanor for a llama, which are usually solitary animals and not all that fond of humans. But Caesar is loving and relishes interacting with people to the point he’s actually become a “llama therapist”.
Caesar is a 6-year-old Argentine grand champion show llama who lives at McCool’s Mystic Llama farm. Before the COVID-19 Pandemic and the BLM protests, Caesar was busy offering emotional support and hugs (he actually nuzzles back when he gets a hug “It’s all I can do to keep him from snuggling” McCool claims) to retirement centers, foster homes and schools.
But for the past several months McCool has brought him to Black Lives Matter marches at least ten times, including five in Portland (which is 75 miles from Jefferson) to help with emotional support.
McCool says Caesar is actually a “llamactivist” who’s been busy with social and charity events, and has participated in more than 50 marches over the years for various social justice and environmental issues.
It was this impressive résumé that inspired McCool to bring him to the Portland protests as a calming influence for both the protestors and police. And Caesar’s been a wildly popular success with all parties!
At 5′-8″ and 350 pounds, you would think Caesar might be intimidating. But people line up to pet his soft wool and give him a hug – and his calm demeanor just rubs off on folks.
McCool says that he’s very careful to monitor the situation, and the minute he sees or senses events getting too rambunctious, he and Caesar more to a safe zone.
Caesar may not be able to talk, but he can sense the vibe of his surroundings. McCool reports that on June 9th when 5,000 people laid down on the Burnside Bridge in Portland for 8 minutes 46 seconds in memory of George Floyd, Caesar was right there and stood stock-still for 9 minutes. He was able to grasp the gravity of the moment.
And Caesar travels in style. He has his own trailer with two inches of foam padding to protect and keep him comfortable and safe. And we’re thankful for that.
After all, McCool shares that he’s seen huge, muscular protestors in makeshift body armor come up and give Caesar a hug for over a minute with tears streaming down their faces. Then turning to McCool say “Man, did I need that!”
“Maybe they’re going to have a better day because of a llama hug. Who would have thought a llama could bring this much joy?”
Pretty sure ALL sides can give Larry McCool and Caesar a huge “THANK YOU!” hug for a job well done!
It’s a very busy day here in the CatBox. It’s the only time I’ve ever had WWWendy Day in the morning and Hospital Oncology Day in the afternoon. I’ll miss both naps and come home exhausted. This is my only article today. TGIF!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:58 (average 7:12). To do it, click here. How did you do?
