A Concerned Scientist @BE@qoto.org

Thought experiment time:

Raw milk consumption seems to be widespread and this virus seems to be present in some form in ~20% of the commercial sampled pasteurized milk products in the country. 46 infected herds have been documents. At what point do we expect to see raw milk drinkers indisputably coming down with this? If, after a few months we don't see a wave of infections (possibly not transmitting onward) affecting raw milk drinkers, what can we conclude?

Is there a way to reverse the decision by five Republicans on the Supreme Court that it’s OK for billionaires and big corporations to bribe politicians?

https://hartmannreport.com/p/bribery-unleashed-the-supreme-courts-fe8

NC anti-mask bill HB237 approved.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=jXaJp_jSj4s4L2MF&v=UIft1R9Ltvw&feature=youtu.be

It's REALLY weird to me when people in software mine research papers for their content and say "researchers" instead of naming the scientists who actually did the work they're using. We're human beings and our work is our livelihood (at a fraction of yours I might add). Name us.

Blessed for the community around me that has this value, side eye at the content engine that doesn't.

"Since March 25, when the bird flu virus was confirmed in U.S. cattle for the first time, weekly sales of raw cow’s milk have ticked up 21% to as much as 65% compared with the same periods a year ago."

This is why we can't have nice things.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/raw-milk-sales-spike-despite-cdcs-warnings-of-risk-associated-with-bird-flu

US to raise tariffs on EVs, batteries, solar cells, and computer chips from China https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/14/24156249/us-biden-china-tariffs-ev-solar-battery-semiconductor-critical-minerals

North Carolina Representatives trying to make it illegal to wear respirator masks 😷 in public.

Sign a petition against the bill here: https://www.change.org/p/halt-the-passage-of-nc-bill-237-banning-masks-in-public

#CovidIsNotOver #LongCovid

"There is currently “no realistic or scalable alternative” to standard kerosene-based #JetFuel, and touted “sustainable aviation fuels” are well off track to replace them in a timeframe needed to avert dangerous climate change, despite public subsidies."

“It’s a huge #greenwashing exercise by the #aviation industry. It’s magical thinking that they will be able to do this.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/14/sustainable-jet-fuel-report

"The rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide increase is currently 10 times faster than at any point in the past 50,000 years, research in Scotland and the US has shown.

[They] identified a pattern that showed the jumps in #CarbonDioxide occurred alongside North Atlantic cold intervals known as #HeinrichEvents that are associated with abrupt climate shifts around the world."

https://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/co2-increasing-ten-times-faster-than-any-point-in-last-50000-years-study-finds-4626886

,,Het maakt echt niet uit waar de monsters vandaan komen. Of dat nou uit Groningen, Tholen of Zwolle is: overal kan #PFAS voorkomen. In twee derde van de gevallen worden de normen overschreden. In de helft van de eieren zit zelfs dubbel zoveel PFAS als volgens de normen veilig is. We hebben echt een probleem in dit land.”
https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/vijf-keer-meer-giftige-stof-dan-verstandig-wordt-geacht-nelleke-schrikt-van-uitslag-test-kippeneieren~aeb9778a5/

NC are proposing a bill to ban masks (including medical masks) in public settings. This is not only discriminatory - it’s dangerous. It’s removing the LAST tool we have to protect against COVID.

It also sets dangerous precedent & fuels damaging narratives about COVID.

The proposed bill would see all masks banned in public settings. If a person requires a mask - they would need to have a medical exemption. Disabled people are exhausted. We’ve been forced into dangerous situations for 4 years thanks to “you do you” COVID policy.

To now expect us to do additional work to procure a medical exemption just to be able to wear a respirator to help us prevent death or further disability? It’s unnecessarily cruel. Doctor’s appts & notes cost money. They’re not accessible to everyone.

COVID mitigation is already a significant social justice issue. By virtue of the fact our governments and public health have done nothing to protect people - individuals are left to procure protection for themselves. This protection isn’t affordable for everyone.

Respirators, HEPA filters, rapid tests, far UV… all these tools are out of financial reach for many people. We have fantastic organizations attempting to get respirators into the hands of those who need them - but some people are always left behind.

Now we’re adding an additional barrier by putting the burden of proof that a mask is required on the disabled individual. We’re forcing them to risk exposure to go to a doctor, spend money out of pocket for a note and then carry it around in the hopes they don’t get arrested?

If governments and public health would take Covid more seriously -
People wouldn’t need to don respirators nearly as often. But when the powers that be take away access to vaccines & anti-virals, refuse to clean the air, provide testing or paid sick leave? We have no choice.

Even if everything goes perfectly (which rarely happens) and a person has access to a respirator, can afford to see a doctor & obtain medical exemption… there’s still a good chance they’ll be forced to remove their mask while law enforcement analyze the exemption’s legitimacy

COVID infects extremely quickly. Breaking the seal on your respirator - even briefly - can result in infection. We’re asking people to jump through an inordinate amount of hoops and spend ridiculous amounts of money only to quite possibly end up infected anyways.

There’s also a bigger issue that stems from the idea that the “medically vulnerable” can and should obtain an exemption. It continues to drive the narrative that Covid is ONLY a threat to people who are already vulnerable. Which we know is untrue.

COVID is a multi system disease that has a 10% chance of causing disability. The odds of Long Covid go up with each infection. It’s not 10% in those that are already vulnerable - it’s everyone. Many young & healthy people have had their lives ruined by this disease.

The lie that only the vulnerable need to be concerned is one of the most devastating of the pandemic. People are getting infected over & over & think they’ve “gotten away with it”….When there’s good odds that they’ve got silent damage & their next infection will disable them

It also propagates the notion that the vulnerable are expendable. That it’s ok if we die or become further disabled because the rest of the world needs to “go back to normal”. There’s nothing normal about a society that turns its back on others.

This desperation to return to the way the world was in 2019 is quite literally killing people. It’s ruining lives. It’s dividing people, straining healthcare systems and causing long term health consequences that will have ripple effects for decades to come.

This NC bill to ban masks is just the latest in a string of terrible decisions that are costing lives. And it didn’t have to be this way. Had we admitted Covid was airborne and worked to implement clean air standards - we wouldn’t be in such a dire situation now.

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #ableism #Eugenics

The rise and fall of oxygen

https://theconversation.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-oxygen-18954

Visualising #ClimateBreakdown…

We have to stop just talking numbers and get images and sensations into people’s heads.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/11/brutal-heatwaves-submerged-cities-what-3c-world-would-look-like

Yeah ... my spouse never saw the inside of a hospital in 73 years. Had to go to the ER. Bang! Came home with Covid. >>

Seniors stranded in ER waiting for care suffer avoidable harm

https://www.yahoo.com/news/seniors-stranded-er-waiting-care-091746407.html

Is this a safe space to point out that the largest direct air capture plant in the world — designed to remove 36,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year — is a time machine that takes us back 28 seconds in a year? 🥲

https://wapo.st/3UTqMwC