News roundup for Fri, Jan 14, 2022

16 Comments on News roundup for Fri, Jan 14, 2022
Is Australia buying tanks in fear of China's expansion

The Supreme Court shoots down the federal mandate for testing/vaccines for companies employing over 100 people, but upholds mandates for health care workers:

Poland says the risk of war with Russia is higher than it’s been in decades:

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is forming a Domestic Terrorism Unit. Although it’s clear that polarization is producing violent radicalism in multiple factions in this country, I’m not convinced the DOJ has been immune from polarization, either.

Areas of the globe at risk for hurricane damage will expand with climate change. Mid-latitude regions (like NYC and Boston) which rarely suffer hurricane strikes will increasingly become prone to them.

Australia, weary of a territorially aggressive China, is spending billions to buy tanks from the US.

Allowing livestock to graze in overgrown areas is a great practice for reducing wildfire risk, and it’s also a great way to encourage reforestation and local temperature control. Grazing animals mow down what later becomes tinder, but their footfall also tamps down plant growth. This helps hold moisture in the ground, reducing desertification. The fertilizer they leave behind helps large tree growth, which provides shade—and if plentiful enough releases enough moisture into the air to precipitate cloud formation.

Hundreds of thousands are without power in Argentina as extreme heat slams the electric grid:

The world has 320.5 million COVID cases. The world has gained a staggering 20 million cases in the last week. There have been over 5.5 million deaths in total. The US has had a cumulative 65.1 million cases—about 5.6 million cases were added in the last week. Over 868,000 Americans have died—about 13,000 in the last week. The US is still leading global daily case gain followed by India, Brazil, the UK, and France. The US added over 854,000 new cases Wednesday and about 673,000 by late afternoon Thursday. Wastewater measurements of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 have peaked and are already declining in Boston and DC, so I’m hopeful the US is approaching an Omicron case peak soon:

Health care workers aren’t the only workers being forced to work while infectious with COVID—Australian meat plant workers are in the same boat. At least most (but not all) in that situation in Australia require a negative COVID test. In the UK, you need two consecutive negative tests. And, just to be clear, there is evidence that with Omicron peak infectiousness and peak viral load occur on days three to six after discovery, with infectiousness still quite possible beyond day seven. In the last two years I don’t think I’ve seen anyone test negative only five days out from initially testing positive…:

Salt Lake County is offering respirator-style masks at local libraries! This is what I like to see:

Struggling to get a COVID test? The White House plans to get more tests to American households, but fears the USPS won’t be able to handle the load. Struggling to get COVID test results in a timely manner, too? That supply chain might also be borked from over-demand:

Horrible shipping delays are also contributing to the timely test result problem:

China is employing millions to fight COVID, and they are not messing around:

Cannabis compounds may compete with SARS-CoV-2 for cell binding sites.

Stephanie Arnold | cosmicpixle

Stephanie Arnold is an advanced practice psychiatric nurse and a doctoral candidate in UA Tuscaloosa’s DNP program. Stephanie moonlights from time to time at UCLA teaching mental health nursing. She also likes making cold-process soap.

  • 16 Comments
    • brownfox-ffContributor January 13, 2022

      What you can do about it:

      Good luck out there.

      10 |
    • brownfox-ffContributor January 13, 2022

      Love the story about livestock improving the environment. Thanks for sharing, Stephanie.

      For anyone interested in discussing plans for the year (or getting inspiration) – I like this forum thread.

      10 |
    • Cia January 13, 2022

      Missouri is offering a free Covid test to all residents who request it. I ordered it last week and it came today. It has to be mailed back to the lab by Fed Ex. I put it on a shelf with the Binax Now I bought in November. I guess it’s harder on a national basis than the state one.

      6 |
    • Karl Winterling January 14, 2022

      Smoking weed won’t keep you from getting COVID.

      It’s a test tube study and not a clinical trial. Most recreational products (both at regulated dispensaries and what you’d politely call the “traditional market”) are relatively low quality and focused on helping you get high. Smoking a joint, vaping, or eating an edible from most recreational sources won’t do anything for you. Smoking or vaping any weed won’t do anything even if the dried flower or oil has the compounds because of how the delivery method works. An oral dietary supplement with the compounds might potentially help but there are no clinical trials yet showing any real efficacy (EDIT: It probably won’t, and those supplements are not FDA approved).

      Smoking or vaping anything is probably a bad idea during a respiratory disease outbreak, though smoking is clearly worse.

      0 |
      • Carlotta SusannaStaff Karl Winterling January 14, 2022

        The study is about finding out that certain cannabinoid compounds bind onto SARS-Cov-2’s spike proteins potentially preventing infections, and not about smoking weed. The compound “would need to be harvested separately to make a special medicine.” And these compounds have nothing to do with THC (so they won’t get you high). 

        8 |

      • EDIT: CBD is not approved by the FDA for over-the-counter use but it was taken off Schedule I in 2018. It probably isn’t that high of a priority for enforcement.

        The articles went viral on social media on Wednesday and many people erroneously assumed the study was about compounds found in recreational weed, or possibly the (non-FDA-approved) CBD supplements you can buy on Amazon.

        Recreational drug use isn’t the best idea (obviously) and you probably shouldn’t stockpile CBD supplements unless your doctor tells you to take them.

        The compounds under investigation are cannabinoid acids THC-A, CBD-A, and CBG-A, which transform into THC, CBD, and CBG when heat is applied. CBD supposedly makes people feel relaxed and gives a sense of well-being but does not produce euphoria (you won’t feel “high”), so it’s not Schedule I at the federal level. Smoking applies enough heat to any leftover cannabinoid acids that no cannabinoid acid substance enters your bloodstream when you inhale cannabis smoke.

        Cannabinoid acids are naturally present in the cannabis plant and do not have psychoactive effects because they (including THC-A) don’t bind to human cannabinoid receptors. The researchers did not test THC-A because of federal drug laws. In fancy terminology (and my AP Chemistry is a bit rusty), cannabinoids that have not been decarboxylated by applying heat will not bind to human cannabinoid receptors and therefore won’t have any psychoactive effect.

        Recreational THC products and CBD supplements tend to be focused on the psychoactive effects of the substances, so they’ll be processed so that most of the substances are decarboxylated.

        0 |
      • Cia Karl Winterling January 14, 2022

        The FDA approved Epidemiol to treat epilepsy, a drug derived from cannabidiol, or CBD. It has anti-inflammatory properties. I think they should continue with this research. It might lead to effective treatments for Covid, even if it is derived from hemp or what used to be an illegal plant. 

        4 |
      • Karl Winterling Cia January 15, 2022

        The process for approving a dietary supplement just means the product is safe if you take the recommended dose and has the ingredients in the amounts listed on the label. Most studies of natural substances that show initial promise end up not being clinically effective.

        The bottom line still is that getting vaccinated is your best option.

        0 |
      • Karl Winterling Cia January 15, 2022

        I wouldn’t use the unapproved “OTC” CBD supplements. Many contain more CBD than what’s listed on the label or contain THC, and anything that makes you feel “high” can lead to some type of dependence or addiction.

        0 |
      • Haus Monkey Karl Winterling January 16, 2022

        Epidiolex (the drug referred to by Cia) is not an OTC supplement so I don’t understand why do you keep going off topic?

        4 |
      • Karl Winterling Haus Monkey January 16, 2022

        It’s only approved for treating epilepsy and likely has none of the substances in the study. The epilepsy treatment involves binding to cannabinoid receptors, which the substances in the COVID study don’t do. Epidiolex is CBD, not CBD-A.

        Given that unapproved cannabinoid supplements are sketchy and the research is very preliminary, I wouldn’t recommend taking a drug off-label to try to avoid getting COVID. Most of what’s available likely doesn’t have acidic cannabinoids in the correct concentration.

        We already know that different compounds in cannabis reduce inflammation, so there’s interest in studying them as an option for treating different diseases. I don’t think cannabis is inherently bad or that natural remedies are bad or even that choosing to use a drug to get high in moderation is inherently bad—that’s silly.

        I’m not promoting myself or getting paid by Pfizer or the Royal Family or something to promote vaccines and make people distrust natural therapeutics. I’m not trying to argue with Cia or change the subject. I’m trying to post helpful information.

        0 |
      • Haus Monkey Karl Winterling January 16, 2022

        Still off topic mate.

        3 |
      • Karl Winterling Haus Monkey January 16, 2022

        Fair enough.

        2 |
      • Carlotta SusannaStaff Karl Winterling January 16, 2022

        Karl, we appreciate your knowledge and input. I don’t want to push you out of your comfort zone, but if you ever wanted to write more in-depth about OTC supplements, CBD, or THC for prepping, you could start a forum thread? This is a topic that has never been discussed before (apart from a brief comment about CBD in the Home medical supplies list), and I’m sure a lot of folks would appreciate it. That way it would also get the attention it deserves. Just a thought.

        3 |

      • Alright. I’ll write up a post about medical benefits/uses of THC/CBD, legal status, regulated vs. unregulated supplements, and how everything fits into home medical supplies for prepping. I’ll try to be nuanced and avoid political arguments or arguments about personal drug use.

        4 |
    • Hardened January 16, 2022

      Stephanie I always enjoy the images you select for these articles and this one is the strangest by far!

      3 |
      • Carlotta SusannaStaff Hardened January 16, 2022

        Thanks! That’d be me 🙂 Stephanie curates and writes the roundup, and I edit and publish them. 

        3 |