COVID ‘FLiRT’ Variants Are Spreading–Here’s
What to Know
Posted By: earlybird, 5/15/2024 12:45:05 PM
A new family of COVID-19 variants, known as “FLiRT,” is now dominant in the United States. The name comes from its mutation. It contains two new key mutations compared to the previous dominant variant JN.1. One mutation is “F456L,” representing an amino acid code change from “F” to “L” at the 456th amino acid of the spike protein chain. The other, “R346T,” represents the amino acid code change from “R” to “T” at position 346. These mutations are responsible for the behavior of the new variants.According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one out of three COVID-19 cases in the United States currently has this new variant.
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The First Lady of Bad Ethics 3 replies
Christine Grady underwrote Zika ethics rules. Her husband broke them. Together, they cashed the checks. Her silence wasn’t neutrality—it was complicity.
Christine Grady, HHS chief of bioethics (now retired, unless she chooses Alaska), and her husband, Dr. Anthony Fauci at NIAID, were central figures during the Zika virus controversy. Grady helped shape ethical guidelines, underlying those for a potential Zika vaccine, while Fauci disregarded them—most notably a 2017 ethics panel ruling against human challenge trials. Her silence during this breach raises questions about her role as the nation’s chief bioethicist.Under their watch, NIAID willfully ignored a 2017 ethics panel ruling against Zika human challenge trials,
Senate Continues Dismantling Biden’s
Green Energy Agenda By Voting To Repeal
Gas Water Heater Ban 3 replies
Green Energy Agenda By Voting To Repeal
Gas Water Heater Ban 3 replies
Senate Republicans continued their campaign Thursday to roll back stringent energy regulations that were issued during the final months of President Joe Biden’s term.
The Senate voted 52-42 to repeal a Biden Department of Energy regulation banning some natural gas water heaters by 2029. The resolution now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for signature.
No Republican Senators voted against the repeal. House Republicans, led by Republican Alabama Rep. Gary Palmer, voted to repeal the gas water heater ban in February.
A top Siemens AG executive from Spain, along with his wife and three children, have been identified as being among the six victims who died when a helicopter plunged into New York City's Hudson River on Thursday.
The helicopter's 36-year-old pilot also perished.
Agustin Escobar worked for the German global technology company for more than 27 years, most recently as global CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, a Siemens spokesperson told Fox News Digital. He was also vice president of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023, per his LinkedIn account.
Escobar's wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, worked for energy technology company Siemens Energy as a global commercialization manager,
Siemens Executives Killed In New York
Helicopter Crash—Here’s What We Know
About The Victims 4 replies
Helicopter Crash—Here’s What We Know
About The Victims 4 replies
TOPLINE Two Siemens executives and their children who were vacationing from Spain were killed after a sightseeing helicopter crashed in the Hudson River in New York City on Thursday, according to the company and Spanish officials, as details about the victims from the latest aviation disaster are revealed publicly. Agustín Escobar, who served as chief executive of Siemens’ rail infrastructure division, and his family were killed in the helicopter crash on Thursday, (snip)
Escobar’s wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, served as an executive with Siemens Energy, a separate company, according to her LinkedIn page (Siemens Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment).
The rapid change in Ursula von der Leyen now starts to make sense. According to a press release [SEE HERE] from European Big Pharma, they recently had a meeting with the EU Komisar and threatened to leave Europe if the trade system is not renegotiated quickly.President Trump is on the cusp of announcing a big change in tariffs against foreign pharmaceutical companies in an effort to get the manufacturing of medicines brought back to the USA.(snip)
In a proactive move, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), went to the European Commission (EC) yesterday to hold talks with von der Leyen, calling for radical change
Our government is broken. It’s not working. Only a Cervantean Greater Fool with the zenith combination of imagination, courage, and strength to stand up and tilt at this windmill will give us a fighting chance(snip)
We also need to trust the people we put into office; trust them to navigate this terrain effectively and to appoint people who will navigate this terrain effectively. RFK Jr. is in the lions’ den right now – not us.a(snip)
Senator Cassidy has the power to unilaterally block RFK Jr.’s picks for deputy, chief counsel, and other critical roles where he needs his generals.
Walmart’s shares soared nearly 10 percent during the April 9 trading session after the company maintained its sales outlook and pledged to keep prices low for customers amid economic uncertainty.
In its Investment Community Meeting on April 9, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail giant reaffirmed its previous guidance of 3 to 4 percent sales growth for the first quarter of 2025 while keeping annual sales and operating income growth targets unchanged.
Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Inc., expressed confidence in the company’s strategy for driving sales growth and enhancing shareholder value.
Komisar von der Leyen informs the union members that she has decided to pause the retaliation tariffs against the USA, based on the 90-day pause announced by President Trump. However, in actuality there’s not much difference even within the pause as the German/EU autos are still tariffed (25%) and the steel and Aluminum tariffs’ (25%) still apply.
The only gain from yesterday’s modification in the global tariff regime for the EU was a switch from 20% EU tariff to a baseline 10% tariff during the pause.
The total EU relief is 10% for 90-days; but that was enough for Komrade Ursula to mount her high-horse and claim magnanimity status.
This is an excellent example of what Attorney General Pam Bondi should be focused on instead of her appearances on Fox News.
The Federal Housing and Finance Agency has released a public statement highlighting an internal review and investigation of conduct within Fannie Mae that has resulted in the termination of over 100 employees for “unethical conduct” including the “facilitation of fraud.”If the FHMA is finding intentional fraud within the housing loan offices, those federal employees should be arrested and legally prosecuted for their conduct. It is not enough to just fire people, there has to be legal accountability.
The case surrounding the firing of members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board has turned into one wild ride, and it just got wilder.
The Trump administration scored an initial victory, with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruling 2-1 that he could give the two Joe Biden appointees the boot. But just as the excitement over that began to settle, the appeals court decided to hear the case en banc, leading to a 7-4 decision essentially unfiring the two board members. Members of the National Labor Relations Board (snip) a federal appeals court reversed itself.
he U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a move to bring back federal workers who were fired by the Trump administration, handing a win to President Donald Trump as he works to downsize the government.
Trump asked the high court to intervene after a lower court judge ordered the administration to reinstate thousands of probationary workers to their jobs after they were terminated earlier this year.
Tuesday’s emergency ruling by the Supreme Court, presented to Justice Elena Kagan, is not final and is stayed pending the disposition of an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
President Donald Trump said on April 7 that the United States will be holding direct high-level talks with Iran.
The talks will be held on April 12, the president said during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
“I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious,” Trump said in an apparent reference to possible military action against Iran.“And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it,” he said. “So we’re going to see if we can avoid it.”
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed Friday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are doing “immense damage to our economy.”
Yellen said, “This is the worst self-inflicted policy wound I’ve ever seen in my career inflicted on our economy. The Trump tariff plans are doing immense damage to our economy. You can see that in the stock market, in the impact of these tariffs are expected to have on American households. And we’re even beginning to see what looks like a flight away from dollar-based assets in the financial markets, which is a really scary development.”
Cooper said, “How long?
One thing Americans can be sure of: At any given time, somewhere out there, a government decision-maker is finding new and inventive ways of flushing your hard-earned cash.
The latest: Government watchdog OpenTheBooks found that the feds spent an eye-popping $4.6 billion on new furniture and decorations for government buildings since October 2020, even though only half the federal workforce was consistently showing up for work in person as of last year.
In 2023, the Government Accountability Office found that 17 of 24 federal agencies used 25% or less of their headquarters’ buildings.
Prince Harry’s security woes appear to be taking an emotional toll on the royal. As the legal battle over his right to police protection in the U.K. intensifies, Harry’s concerns about his safety have been brought to the forefront. [Snip] While Harry fought for security to protect his family in the U.K., his wife enjoyed a night out in New York City. The Duchess of Sussex arrived in the Big Apple in a four-vehicle motorcade. An unmarked NYPD car accompanied Markle on her 1.5-mile journey, as she grabbed dinner at the Polo Bar in Midtown Manhattan with friends before heading to the Broadway production of "Gypsy"...
Left Has a Meltdown After White House
Moves Pic of Obama, Replaces It With Much
More Powerful One 15 replies
Moves Pic of Obama, Replaces It With Much
More Powerful One 15 replies
What would the left do if they weren't screaming about something?
They could be celebrating the rescue of an American Ksenia Karelina, who had been wrongfully detained by the Russians -- until the Trump team got her out. Or inflation dropping to its lowest point in four years.
But instead, Friday's meltdown involved portraits at the White House.
The White House announced the addition of this powerful moment when President Donald Trump -- after being shot in the ear -- stood up amid the Secret Service agents and shouted, "Fight, fight, fight!"
Tehran has played this game before: Agree to talks. Make vague promises. Extract sanctions relief. Then quietly continue nuclear development under the radar. This formula has worked for more than two decades. Right now, the only reason Iran is talking is to stall, to promise just enough to prevent America from striking it -- "We are almost there!" -- to keep its regime and avoid seeing its uranium centrifuges and enrichment sites blasted to rubble. The regime does not want war -- but it also cannot accept total nuclear disarmament.
Woke Former Anheuser-Busch Exec Blamed
for Tanking Brand Has New Role at Saudi
Funded LIV Golf 13 replies
for Tanking Brand Has New Role at Saudi
Funded LIV Golf 13 replies
In 2023, woke Bud Light Vice-President of Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid made a disastrous decision that canned her career and coined a new phrase for destroying a brand. No one wants to be the next “Bud Light.”
Heinerscheid greenlighted a partnership with a transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, that led to massive pushback from the public and a widespread boycott that cost the company, by some estimates, a staggering $1.4 billion.
After a leave of absence, Heinerscheid was out at the company.
Heinerscheid appears to have recently updated her LinkedIn profile, announcing a new role, Team Business Operations, at the Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
Americans Skeptical Of Climate Change
Movement, Support ‘Rolling Back’ Green
Rules: I&I/TIPP Poll 13 replies
Movement, Support ‘Rolling Back’ Green
Rules: I&I/TIPP Poll 13 replies
What looked like the Green Movement’s unstoppable momentum has stalled out recently, as Americans rethink the costs of some of the more draconian proposals to rid the world of industrial carbon dioxide. As skepticism grows, the movement to slash CO2 at all costs also may be nearing an end, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.
Americans have become increasingly wary of the “net zero” and other modern-day green movements after so many of their doom-filled prophecies of imminent environmental disaster failed to come true.
A video shared by a White House staffer captures press secretary Karoline Leavitt praying to Jesus for guidance before she heads out to another press briefing to take on the reporters in the room.
Leavitt has often cited her Catholic education for instilling discipline and making her the confident woman she is today.
“Lord Jesus, please give us the strength, the knowledge, the ability to articulate our words, have fun and be confident. In Jesus’s name. Amen," she says while waiting behind the entrance to the briefing room.
CNN data analyst Harry Enten did a report this week in which he was stunned to reveal that the Republican party is replacing the Democrats as the party of the working class and the party that cares more about average Americans.
This shift has been building for years but became especially apparent during the 2024 election, as Donald Trump made huge gains among average Americans of every color and ethnicity.
The Democrats have made their problem worse by defending the radicals that Trump is trying to deport. Democrats have also become fierce defenders of Wall Street in recent weeks as the debate about tariffs has unfolded.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has announced that effective May 7, 2025, all adult U.S. citizens must present a REAL ID-compliant form of identification or a valid passport to board domestic flights and access federal facilities.
This enforcement marks the culmination of the REAL ID Act, originally passed in 2005 following the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations to enhance the integrity and security of state-issued identification documents.
On December 17, 2018, President Trump signed the REAL ID Act Modification for Freely Associated States Act, Public Law 115-323.
Wrong, Colonel, the Concerns Are Yours! 10 replies
If you grow up in a military family, like I did, you don't just learn the rank structure or how to fold a flag. You grow up with an inherent respect for duty, service, and the rules that govern both. One of the biggest rules? Keep your politics to yourself when you're in uniform.
So when the story broke this week about the 821st Space Base Group commander at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland being relieved of duty after a snarky, partisan email targeting U.S. Vice President JD Vance, I wasn’t surprised. I was disgusted.
Colonel Susan Meyers, in a wildly inappropriate and insubordinate move, decided to flex her self-righteousness
Ten Tariff Questions Never Asked 10 replies
1. President Donald Trump's so-called "trade war."
Many call the American effort to obtain either tariff parity or a reduction in the roughly $1 trillion trade deficit and 50 years of consecutive trade deficits a "trade war." But then what do they call the policies of the past half-century by Europe, Asia, China, and others to ensure asymmetrical tariffs, pseudo-health and security trade restrictions, and large surpluses?
A trade peace? Trade fairness?
2. Do nations prefer surpluses or deficits? Why do most nations prefer trade surpluses and protective tariffs?
Are Europe, Asia, China, and others stupid? Are they suicidal in continuing their trade surpluses and protective or asymmetrical tariffs?
