Red State Tradition of Obdurate DISinformation

No surprise in the operation of natural selection here. Those who cling to belief in imaginary protection are less likely to accept the reality of effective protection ...

Evangelical Christians More Resistant To Vaccine Than Most Other Groups > .

21-8-9 Half of America Now Fully Vaccinated, Yet Cases Still Climb In Parts > .

One wonders what DISinformation these people are swallowing ............ Oh, that's right, FAUX LIES and tRUMPian denialist bravura.

Are America's unvaccinated changing their minds?:

In the US, coronavirus infection rates are surging in every state, fuelled by the Delta variant - and a large pool of unvaccinated Americans.

In Baxter County, Arkansas, the vaccination rate is only 33%. It's now one of the nation's COVID-19 hotspots.

Mental Health Display Continues

Simone Biles says 'I have to focus on my mental health' after pulling out of team final:

Biles, 24, scored 13.766 - her lowest Olympic vault score - before withdrawing from the event.

[Awwwwwwwwww.]

Different type of sheep ....

 https://vimeo.com/568430412 .

American Dysfunction

 

American Dysfunction Is the Biggest Barrier to Fighting COVID nyt

No need to read the article, most of the Western world is probably aware that obdurate ignorance is the USA's worst pandemic.

Selfish and STUPID

Australia COVID: Anti-lockdown protesters condemned:

Authorities in NSW are expected to extend the current lockdown, which is set to end on 30 July. Australian politicians have condemned protests against coronavirus restrictions amid a rise in cases. Thousands marched through Sydney on Saturday to demand an end to lockdown measures, with smaller demonstrations taking place in Melbourne and Brisbane.

At least 57 people involved in the Sydney protest have been charged, while more than 500 have been fined. The state recorded 141 new infections on Sunday, the second-highest daily increase of the year. There are fears of a further rise in cases following 21-7-24's protests.

[Only a stupid moron does not realize that a protest-spreader event will prolong lockdown, not remove it.]

Dumbfuckistan lagging behind in sensible action

 Compare to 2020 election map ⇛ .

Credulous adherence to partisan rhetoric will increase COVID-19 deaths in stubborn-dumbfuck states.

21-8-9 Dumfuckistan still obdurately dumb ...

21-8-9 Half of America Now Fully Vaccinated, Yet Cases Still Climb In Parts > .

⇐ 21-8-29 Predictably, the defiantly unwise Sturgis rally proved to be a super-spreader event. Equally predictably, the defiantly-libertarian and foolishly-red vaccine "hesitant" states continue to suffer the worst COVID-19 infection (and mortality) rates.

Natural Selection, alas

LA man who mocked COVID-19 vaccines dies of virus: A California man who mocked COVID-19 vaccines on social media has died after a month-long battle with the virus. Stephen Harmon, a member of the Hillsong megachurch, had been a vocal opponent of vaccines, making a series of jokes about not having the vaccine.

Despite his struggle with the virus, Harmon still said he would reject being jabbed, saying his religious faith would protect him.

[Believing in a non-existence might feel comforting, but neither belief nor prayer has ever been incontrovertibly demonstrated to help with genuine problems. COVID-19 vaccines, on the other hand, have been demonstrated to reduce both rates of infection and -- in the reduced numbers who contract infection -- to reduce severity, need for hospitalization, and death.]

July '21 Is COVID 19 Vaccine Effective Against DELTA VARIANT? > .

Unwelcome Divorces are NOT Renegotiable, Boris

BrexTWIT: No breakthrough on NI protocol after PM speaks to EU chief.

It's Official -- Eric Clapton is an anti-social IDIOT

Eric Clapton refuses to play venues requiring vaccines for concertgoers.

[Yeah, why not insist on super-spreader events that might force society back into lockdown?]

Expanding on resenting the English

Scotland has always considered itself a society that is “open, inclusive and outward-looking” according to its first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. But the nation’s popular and persistent belief that it does not have a problem with racism has been contradicted by a study by Tackling Islamophobia, a cross-party group of the Scottish government. This starkly reveals that 75% of Muslims experienced Islamophobia as a regular or everyday issue.

https://theconversation.com/islamophobia-report-reveals-scotland-not-quite-as-tolerant-as-it-would-like-to-think-164828 .

Heartless Ignorance that Reeks of Rationalization

Berlin authorities [deliberately and knowingly] placed children with pedophiles for 30 years: The 'Kentler Project' in West Berlin routinely placed homeless children with pedophile men, assuming they'd make ideal ["loving"] foster parents. A study has found the practice went on for decades.

Starting in the 1970s psychology professor Helmut Kentler conducted his "experiment." Homeless children in West Berlin were intentionally placed with pedophile men. These men would make especially loving foster parents, Kentler argued.

Helmut Kentler (1928-2008) was in a leading position at Berlin's center for educational research. He was convinced that sexual contact between adults and children was harmless.

A study conducted by the University of Hildesheim has found that authorities in Berlin condoned this practice for almost 30 years. The pedophile foster fathers even received a regular care allowance. Berlin's child welfare offices and the governing Senate turned a blind eye or even approved of the placements.

Guilty of Thoughtless Stupidity

An [ignorantly self-obsessed] US couple whose gender reveal party last year was blamed for starting California's deadly El Dorado wildfire face up to 20 years in prison after being charged with several offences -- including involuntary manslaughter and recklessly causing a fire resulting in injury and damage to homes. They face prison sentences "extending" up to 20 years if found guilty on all charges, prosecutors said. Officials say a "smoke-generating pyrotechnic device" used at the gender event last September sparked the blaze, in which one firefighter was killed and others were hurt.

The El Dorado fire lasted more than two months --- 5 September to 16 November -- and covered over 22,000 acres of southern California, destroying homes and other properties.
Firefighter Charles Morton was killed tackling the blaze and several other firefighters were seriously injured.

[Needless to say,] the Jiminez couple have pleaded not guilty.

Australia deports far-wrong ... er ... female Milo

Far-right-wrong British commentator Katie Hopkins has been sent home from Australia for bragging about flouting hotel quarantine rules.

Hopkins - who has often drawn anger for racist remarks - had entered the country to star in the reality TV show Big Brother Australia. [Scarcely a recommendation for the program.]

On Friday she posted a video from her Sydney hotel room where she joked about putting frontline staff at risk. In the video, Hopkins said she planned to "lie in wait" for workers to deliver food to her room so she could open the door "naked with no face mask".

[Understandably] Her comments sparked widespread anger.

She also called lockdowns the "greatest hoax in human history". Australia's two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, are both in lockdown after local cases of Covid-19 were detected.

The post has since been wiped from her Instagram.

On Monday, the Australian government confirmed it had cancelled her visa, after the TV programme sacked her.

Police said she had been fined A$1,000 (£537; US$737) for not wearing a face mask, and was escorted to the airport to be sent back to the UK.

[Good riddance to mouthy rubbish.]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57883692

Less afflicted

Canada's vaccination rate overtakes US: Canada has overtaken the US in second dose vaccination rates, after months of lagging behind its southern neighbour. 

As of 16 July, 48.45% of Canadians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, compared with 48.05% of Americans. Roughly 80% of eligible Canadians protected by at least one dose.

Of G20 countries, Canada is now at the head of the pack in vaccination rates. Worldwide, it is hovering around the 15th spot for percentage of the population fully vaccinated, with the US just behind, according to the New York Times global tracker.

In the US, a levelling-off of vaccine rates comes amid a concerning increase in COVID-19 cases.

[Canada is less afflicted by paranoid, rebellious, ignorant, arrogant, and/or selfish anti-vaxxers than is the USA.]

Assassin Riddle

R: How many gunmen does it take to assassinate a president?

A: 28 mercenaries  

Jovenel Moïse: Foreign hit squad killed Haiti's president, police say:

A group of 28 foreign mercenaries, including retired Colombian soldiers, assassinated Haiti's President Jovenel Moïse earlier this week, police say. After a gun battle in the capital Port-au-Prince, 17 were detained, some at the house they were using, others after entering Taiwan's diplomatic compound. Three suspects were killed by police and eight are still being sought.

Bloodied and bruised, arrested suspects were shown to the media on July 7th, along with a slew of seized weapons. It is still unclear who organised the attack and with what motive.

The attack took place in the early hours of Wednesday, when gunmen broke into the president's home in Port-au-Prince, shooting him dead and wounding his wife. Mr Moïse, 53, was found lying on his back with 12 bullet wounds and a gouged eye, according to authorities. Martine Moïse, 47, was seriously wounded and is in a stable condition after being flown to Florida for treatment.

Regressives not approved

EU votes for action over Hungary's anti-LGBT law:

The European Parliament has voted in favour (459/147/(58)) of urgent legal action over Hungary's new law banning the depiction of homosexuality to under-18s. The new legislation breached "EU values, principles and law", MEPs said. The parliament added that the law was "another intentional and premeditated example of the gradual dismantling of fundamental rights in Hungary".

In a resolution passed on Thursday with 459 in favour, 147 against and 58 abstentions, MEPs said the latest developments in Hungary followed a broader pattern of political censorship. The parliament urged the European Commission to use a new tool that allows the EU to reduce budget allocations to member states in breach of the rule of law, to ensure that the Hungarian government reverse the decision.

It also urged legal action against Hungary's right-wrong-wing nationalist government at the European Court of Justice.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban insists school policy is a matter for Hungary, not "Brussels bureaucrats". 

[Make the decision, endure the consequences, Diktator!]

ALWAYS a recovery operation

Beyond one boy fortunate to be rescued quickly, the Surfside search was always a recovery operation. The only consolation regarding this avoidable tragedy is that death would have come very quickly for all the tragically unfortunate victims.

"Rescue teams combing the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in Florida are switching from a search-and-rescue mission to a recovery effort.

The decision comes about two weeks after the 12-storey Champlain Towers South fell in the middle of the night. [Rule of 3s: survival = 3 minutes without oxygen, 3 hours in harsh environment, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food.]

Sixty victims have been found and 80 are still missing, Surfside city officials said on Thursday. No survivors have been found since the initial collapse, and rescue crews say many victims were found in their beds."

Why the delay of the obviously inevitable? Hope springs eternal, and families need time to adjust.

Fleeing Radical Religionists

Afghanistan: Soldiers flee to Tajikistan after Taliban clashes:

He only drugged and raped WHITE women, Phylicia

"Bill Cosby's on-screen wife is at the centre of controversy after tweeting her support for him when his sexual assault conviction was overturned."

No, myope, a terrible wrong has been supported.

Idiocy Knows No Bounds

Ukraine [ministry's] plans for women to march in high heels spark [justified] outrage: 

Plans by Ukraine's defence ministry to have female soldiers march in high heels instead of army boots in a parade next month have caused angry reactions. Iryna Gerashchenko, an opposition member of parliament, said it was sexism, not equality.

Imaginary Coups easier than Staging a Coup

 21-7-2 Lukashenko orders Belarusian borders closed because of [presumably imaginary] "planned coup".

Belarus has closed its border with Ukraine, claiming that arms are being smuggled into the country. President Alexander Lukashenko claims it is part of an attempt by outside powers to overthrow his authoritarian regime.

Lukashenko claimed - without providing proof - that his security services had uncovered a foreign-backed terrorist sleeper cells plotting to oust him from power. He alleged the weapons were being shipped to terrorist cells funded by Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and the US. [Funny that his chief worry - Russia - is not mentioned.]

"A huge amount of weapons is coming from Ukraine to Belarus. That's why I ordered border-security forces to fully close the border with Ukraine," Lukashenko said, at a ceremony marking the country's 30 years of independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

[Yeah, yeah, and you have a bridge to sell. As though Ukraine is not busy enough holding Russia's invasion in check.]