Crooked Media - What A Day: Vlad habits die hard

Tuesday, December 7, 2021
BY SARAH LAZARUS, BRIAN BEUTLER, & CROOKED MEDIA

 -Kevin McCarthy, master of character judgments and English

It’s been almost two weeks since South African scientists alerted the world to the Omicron variant, which means we’re in that frustrating purgatory where anecdotes keep piling up but hard science is still weeks away. If you’re looking for good news: The anecdotes could be worse!
 

  • Omicron does appear to be, in clinical terms, “super-duper contagious.” But doctors who treat lots of COVID-19 patients still say the people infected with the variant are presenting with mild disease. Researchers at a “major hospital complex” in the South African capital of Pretoria say confirmed Omicron carriers there and at other hospitals are much less sick than their counterparts in previous waves, and, in a statement so fate-tempting we must quote it directly, “most of their infected patients were admitted for other reasons and have no Covid symptoms.”
     
  • That’s great news for those patients, but it’s still too early to say how great it’ll be for the anxious, global masses, particularly those in places with little vaccine uptake or availability. That’s because it’s unclear why these patients are weathering the disease well, or even if their cases are representative of Omicron’s general severity. So far the one thing scientists do seem quite certain of is that Omicron will cause more repeat infections and breakthrough cases among vaccinated people (boo). 
     
  • And that partly explains why the question about disease severity remains murky for now. Even if we assume the promising case reports out of South Africa hold up as Omicron spreads, we don’t yet know if it’s because this variant is less inherently virulent (the ideal scenario) or because vaccinated people and people with prior infections, while still vulnerable to contracting Omicron, still have significant protection (a better-than-worst-case scenario) or a mix of both.  

With the hypothetical good news out of the way, the non-hypothetical news seems...also good?
 

  • Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, along with a Canadian partner, has produced a highly effective new coronavirus vaccine derived from plant-based virus-like particles, a medical first if approved for human use. The companies will soon submit their findings to the Canadian health ministry for final approval. 
     
  • Glaxo also says its monoclonal-antibody therapy for people infected with coronavirus remains effective against the Omicron variant, even as other, similar therapies have not stood up as well to it in laboratory experiments. The company is now assessing whether it can significantly ramp up production of the therapy, called sotrovimab, in the event that Omicron evades immune protection and other monoclonal-antibody treatments worse than feared. Take that Regeneron! 
 

The early detection of the Omicron variant has allowed scientists to learn about its properties, and how to fight it, before it swarms through the population. That blessing feels like a curse when it means we have to wait in limbo to know whether and how badly we are fucked; fortunately the answers are right around the corner.

DEMAND SAFE ACCESS TO ABORTION IN TEXAS

Across the country, our right to abortion is under attack. A growing number of states are attempting to ban abortion and there are also more subtle and nefarious restrictions quickly being considered – bills that will push abortion out of reach, even while not banning it outright. Sign the ACLU’s petition and demand safe access to abortion now. 

Recently, we sued Texas over its blatantly unconstitutional abortion ban, Senate Bill (SB) 8. Over the past few months, politicians in Texas introduced a slew of extreme anti-abortion restrictions. Several of those bills passed, including SB 8, which bans abortions at about six weeks – before most people know they are pregnant. 

Join the ACLU in this fight today. Sign our petition.

SB 8 authorizes any person in the country to sue a person who performed or helped a patient access an abortion in violation of the ban. That means that anyone can try to block abortion access and dismantle abortion support networks by suing abortion providers and anyone who helps a patient access abortion like a family member who drives someone to an appointment or a trusted clergy member who advises a patient.

The ACLU, along with partner organizations, are fighting back in courts and legislatures every day and we will not be stopping any time soon. Are you with us? Add your name today.

Thank you for taking action,
The ACLU Team

Donald Trump’s new social-media startup Truth Social announced over the weekend that its financing company Digital World Acquisition Corp. had raised $1 billion, without identifying the investors who just bought their way into Trump’s favor. If Trump wins or coups his way back into the White House in 2024, his gobs of cash from mysterious investors will once again make him a national security threat: Suppose he’s now indebted to the Saudi government, for example? We might soon find out. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already begun investigating the new grift operation, requesting information about Digital World’s communications with Trump’s company ahead of their merger (which may have violated federal regulations) and “the identities of certain investors.”

Many Americans’ “excess savings” from pandemic-relief programs may be depleted by early next year, according to Moody’s Analytics. While low-income families saw the greatest boosts from each round of stimulus, they also (duh) spent those extra funds on things like housing, medical care, and food, while wealthier households were able to save them. In July, one-in-three Americans said they had less money to fall back on in an emergency than before the pandemic, and only one in six said they had more. Millions of Americans now face a continuing pandemic and high inflation with much lower cash reserves, and if economists are wrong about lower savings causing a drop in consumer demand and bringing down prices, those families finances’ will be stretched even thinner.

Why would you buy a mattress made for someone else? With Helix, you’re getting a mattress that you know will be perfect for the way YOU sleep. They have soft, medium, and firm mattresses, and even a Helix Plus mattress for plus-size sleepers. Helix even has mattresses with specialized cooling technology, if you and your family can never agree on the temperature. 

Helix has a quiz that takes just two minutes to complete and matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10 year warranty and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk free. 

Take Helix’s two minute sleep quiz and get up to $200 off your mattress order and 2 FREE pillows.

Chile has legalized same-sex marriage after a decade-long fight.

Gas prices are finally falling.

Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) has signed two laws aimed at clearing up Wisconsin’s backlog of sexual assault kits. 

Vermont is poised to elect a woman to Congress for the first time (?!) in state history.

. . . . . .


© Crooked Media 2021. All Rights Reserved. 
If you want to manage which emails you receive from Crooked Media, update your preferences here. If you prefer to opt out of all Crooked Media communications, you may unsubscribe.
Share this newsletter
7162 Beverly Blvd #212, Los Angeles, CA, 90036
Powered by Mailchimp
Twitter
Facebook
Link

Older messages

What A Year! | Today @ 5PM PT

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Crooked's last livestream of 2021 2021 brought a flood of insane news... sometimes multiple times a day. There was #FreeBritney, a billionaire space race, Nicki Minaj's cousin, and so much else

What A Day: No Nunes is good Nunes

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Across the pond it's actually "coucaine." Monday, December 6, 2021 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -Donald Trump, unfairly persecuted bioweapon The Justice Department has slapped

What A Day: Jobberwonky

Saturday, December 4, 2021

Nothing wrong with a few Toilet Bucks. Friday, December 3, 2021 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -Tucker Carlson emailing the one and only Hunter Biden in 2014 The November jobs report is out,

What A Day: 'Cronic fatigue syndrome

Friday, December 3, 2021

Alexa, blast “Love Hurts.” Thursday, December 2, 2021 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -Mark Meadows, on the contents of his own book With the up-and-coming Omicron variant officially circulating

What A Day: Roe to the wolves

Thursday, December 2, 2021

The low-stakes whodunnit we need. Wednesday, December 1, 2021 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -Chris Cillizza, Both Sides virtuoso Will the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade? Or will it just set

You Might Also Like

☕ I can see it now

Friday, March 29, 2024

Is video the next AI frontier? March 29, 2024 Tech Brew PRESENTED BY Infinity Fuel It's Friday. Today we've rounded up AI news from the extended Brewniverse: Tech Brew's Patrick Kulp kicks

The Police Have A Dark Money Slush Fund

Friday, March 29, 2024

Corporate interests are funneling far more money to law enforcement than previously known — often with scant oversight. Police are receiving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in secret funding

A very bad year for press freedom

Friday, March 29, 2024

Plus: Beyoncé's new album, Netanyahu's new crisis, and more. March 29, 2024 View in browser Good morning! I'm back, here to dig into a topic close to my heart. —Caroline Houck, senior

Numlock News: March 29, 2024 • Trading Cards, Kite Fights, Breadfruit

Friday, March 29, 2024

By Walt Hickey Have a great weekend! Kite Fighting A popular competitive sport in Brazil is kite fighting, where competitors try to cut down their opponents kites while avoiding getting their own kite

☕️ Floppy-haired fraudster

Friday, March 29, 2024

SBF is sentenced to 25 years... March 29, 2024 View Online | Sign Up | Shop Morning Brew PRESENTED BY Impact.com Good morning. Today marks one year since Evan Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American Wall

AI hallucinates software packages and devs download them – even if potentially poisoned with malware [Fri Mar 29 2024]

Friday, March 29, 2024

Hi The Register Subscriber | Log in The Register {* Daily Headlines *} 29 March 2024 Illustration of someone in a hoodie looking at a bench with a cloud over it AI hallucinates software packages and

What A Day: Clown by law

Friday, March 29, 2024

Trump's lawyers are having another rough one. And the mainstream media could learn a lesson from the legal world about handling corruption. Thursday, March 28, 2024 BY CROOKED MEDIA —Steve Bannon,

🌶️ Is it getting hot in here?

Friday, March 29, 2024

Introducing our theme for April plus fun stuff to read, watch, and click on. March 28, 2024 Open in new tab Did a friend forward this? Subscribe today! April's Theme is SPICY It was chosen by our

What 58 Famous People Smell Like

Friday, March 29, 2024

Here's what you missed on the Strategist. The Strategist Every product is independently selected by editors. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. What

Trump Would Need New Tactics to Steal the 2024 Election

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Columns and commentary on news, politics, business, and technology from the Intelligencer team. Intelligencer early and often Trump Would Need New Tactics to Steal the 2024 Election Many avenues Trump