Monthly Archives: October 2021

Spiritual Help for Caregivers

Whether asked overtly or not, profound questions about meaning, value, and relationship are posed by illness and death, questions that are transcendent, stretching beyond what can be known empirically.7 Patients struggle with these questions, but so do Health Care Providers.
They ask, “Why must my patients experience such pain, struggle to breathe, and die in isolation?” “How can I preserve their dignity in such catastrophic circumstances?” “Why do I experience real grief whenever any patient dies?” These questions could aptly be described as spiritual, regardless of whether a person believes there is a deity or a transcendent answer to these questions.
Although death cannot be avoided, human desire and hope may reach deeper than death. Ultimate hope is not a prediction but the conviction that events will make sense, no matter what the outcome. The opposite of hope is despair, but despair is just another word for meaninglessness.2 The hope that there is a meaning beyond the disease, pain, and distress they confront daily among patients may permit HCPs to continue their task of caring for patients with advanced disease and those who are dying.
Health care requires clinicians to accompany people as they experience pain, distress, functional impairment, doubt and death that result from illness and injury. Clinicians do so well when they provide care with empathy and compassion. Healing requires acknowledgment of what the patient is experiencing, along with empathy for him or her, and compassionate action, reminding patients of their intrinsic dignity, meaning, and value in the midst of dependency and fear.4
Healing in its deepest sense is a restoration of all the relationships that disease and illness disrupt, not only biological ones involving the patient’s body but also those between persons who have illness and their families, their communities, the natural order, and, for believers, their God.2
One of the deepest human fears is of dying alone. HCPs can help patients to regain their own humanity by establishing compassionate relationships with them. It is through genuine relationships with patients that HCPs reach their own humanity and identity, finding meaning in their profession along the way.

It is crucial, however, that HCPs be given opportunities for spiritual support as well.
Health care professionals have a duty to take care of themselves, take time alone, regenerate, and (re)construct themselves. It is precisely when time seems lacking and fatigue hampers motivation that HCPs must do something for their own well-being.
Social activity, association with others who share the HCP’s beliefs about life and death, provides strong support for such beliefs.
Worship in church, meeting and sharing with fellow believers, is the primary way Christians reaffirm our beliefs. Simply being with other believers reassures us of our beliefs.
As recently as 2018, Pew Research found seven in ten Americans say they are Christian so Christian doctors and nurses need not fear objection on gently mentioning their faith to patients.
A Christian doctor or nurse is often able to convey to patients their own confident and fearless view of death, greatly comforting the patient.
Although others can help, the choice to seek help or to help oneself is up to each HCP. An individual’s spiritual well-being is always a personal quest.

Info:  shpr.fyi/spiritualhealth

Tiny church leads online personal faith vaccination resistance

(Reuters) – From the outside, First Harvest Ministries in Waveland, Mississippi, could almost be mistaken for a storage shed were it not for the steeple.
From the modest building however, Shane Vaughn, the Pentecostal church’s pastor, has helped spearhead an online movement promoting personal faith as a way around workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
He posts form letters for U.S. workers seeking religious exemptions that have been downloaded from his website around 40,000 times, according to a screen shot of web traffic he shared with Reuters.
“This is the only way out,” said Vaughn, 48, of the letters, which he makes available for free, that mix Biblical scripture with warnings to employers of legal fallout if they are disregarded.
As the Biden administration prepares a federal vaccine mandate and more states and companies impose them to help accelerate the pandemic’s end, letter-writing efforts by religious leaders are being reinforced by legal advocacy groups such as Liberty Counsel.

Info:  shpr.fyi/religiousapply

Container ship afire 8 miles off Victoria

Fire is in hazardous chemical containers, 40 of which fell off and are afloat off Washington coast. Fire is said to be “contained” on Oct. 24. Gale winds are forecast.

Info:  shpr.fyi/containerfire

Amazon offering 500 jobs at Fife

Amazon is hiring more than 500 positions starting at $18/hr ahead of the launch of its 520,000 square-foot sort center in Fife. The facility will open later in October, in partnership with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and Marine View Ventures, the tribe’s economic development entity.

Info:  shpr.fyi/fifejobs

Boosters available of Pfizer, Moderna & Johnson & Johnson

Booster is suggested to be different vaccine than your initial dose(s).
Eligible: Age 65 and older,
Residents of long-term care facilities, Ages 18-64 with underlying medical conditions or who are at increased risk.
Find vaccination at:
https://vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/locations/98356
Info:  shpr.fyi/boosters

Electric vehicles mean loss of 4.7 million jobs.

“Anybody who thinks this transition is going to go smoothly is fooling themselves,” said Michael Robinet, executive director of automotive advisory services for consulting firm IHS Markit.
Making, selling and servicing vehicles employ an estimated 4.7 million people in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Info:  shpr.fyi/electriccarjobs

First it was toilet paper.

Then it was processors and other silicon. Now it’s cardboard. (And there’s a whole lot of other stuff in between.)
The latest kink in the planet’s ever-gnarled supply chain is one that is sending retailers, shippers, and consumers all scrambling. Cardboard supplies are unreliable, as are those for other packing materials like paper and plastic. And what is available costs more.
Info:  shpr.fyi/cardboardshort
 
Dave Bunting, Oct. 25, 2021
References in links below items.
See these columns on my blog: daverant.com

Union Gap landslide slowing down

Measurements taken in August show the slab is moving less than 2 inches each week. In 2020, the slab was sliding 2 to 3 inches each week. The slab is imagined continuing sliding south into a nearby quarry.
Info:  shpr.fyi/uniongapslide

Over-65 booster recommended

The FDA said last month that people 65 years and older and others at high risk of severe COVID-19 should seek a booster shot.
Info:  shpr.fyi/boosterover65

Mix, rather than match, COVID-19 booster dose

The study also shows mixing different kinds of vaccines appears to spur the body to make higher levels of virus-blocking antibodies than they would have gotten by boosting with a dose of the vaccine the person already had.
If regulators endorse the study findings, it should make getting a COVID-19 booster as easy as getting a yearly influenza vaccine.
Info:  shpr.fyi/mixbooster

Nobel Prize in Physics goes to climate predictors

Climate modelers deserved the physics award because they’ve been proved right again and again.
Climate prediction requires a mix of complexity and emergent behavior that shows up in many other systems involving aggregate human behavior, as well as in areas of physics, chemistry, and biology. This year’s Nobel in Physics is split evenly between two aspects of studying these systems. Half of the award goes to Giorgio Parisi, who helped find methods for understanding complex systems that can be applied more generally. And the other half is split between two climate modelers, Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann, who helped develop systems that we now use to understand how the climate’s behavior emerges from the complicated interaction of its components and influences—including the growing influence of greenhouse gases.
This award couldn’t be timelier, as the most recent IPCC report, based on state-of-the-art climate models, states unequivocally that humans are already influencing many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe.
Info:  shpr.fyi/nobelclimate

China tests nuclear & U.S. capable missile

China startled the U.S. military last week by successfully testing a hypersonic mach-five nuclear-capable orbit-to-cruise missile capable of hitting anywhere in U.S. The cruise stage missile flies low, often below radar, and so fast that current defenses couldn’t see and identify it quickly enough to attack it.
Info:  shpr.fyi/chinesemissile

Goose Prairie solar project planned near Moxee

OneEnergy’s plans call for building an 80-megawatt solar energy collection system with battery storage on 625 acres about 8 miles east of Moxee. The site is near State Route 24, Den Beste Road and Desmarais Road.
Info:  shpr.fyi/moxeesolar

China threatens US with nuclear attack if we defend Taiwan

China’s large ongoing military invasion exercises across the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan has invasion-ready forces 110-miles from Taiwan’s shores. China last week threatened the U.S. with nuclear attack with ICBMs if it tries to defend Taiwan.
Info:  shpr.fyi/taiwanthreat

New Yorkers still banging pots and pans for healthcare workers

 They yelled their thanks to healthcare workers and first responders for saving a city ravaged by COVID-19.
But as the pandemic wore on, and many succumbed to crisis fatigue, the whoops and hollers for the healthcare workers slowed, replaced by the usual noise of honking cars and pedestrians.
But 18 months later, some of the faithful are still saluting these heroes.
This nightly ritual has continued in neighborhoods throughout the city, including nightly renditions of “God Bless America” on the Upper West Side and noise-making minutes in Hell’s Kitchen, a New York City neighborhood that bore much of the brunt of the pandemic.
Info:  shpr.fyi/stillbanging

Johnson & Johnson booster recommended

A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee on Friday voted 19-0 to authorize second doses of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
Info:  shpr.fyi/jjbooster

Canadian had meteorite land on her pillow.

 
Ruth Hamilton, a resident of Golden, British Columbia, was asleep in her bed on the night of Oct. 3 when she was jolted awake by a fist-size 2.8-lb meteorite plummeting through the roof and landing right next to her head.
Info:  shpr.fyi/meteoritepillow

Most COVID-19 survivors experience long-haul illness

Most COVID survivors have functional mobility impairments, pulmonary abnormalities or mental health disorders for six months or more, often disabling them for work.
Info:  shpr.fyi/covidlong

China sends 150 planes into Taiwan airspace.

Over four dozen Chinese military aircraft flew into Taiwan’s air defense zone on Monday, Oct. 4, in the latest round in a weekend of provocation that has seen nearly 150 sorties since Friday– as Chinese state media issued threats to Australia.
Info:  shpr.fyi/china150planes

Have your kids learn Chinese?

Nicolas Chaillan, the Pentagon’s first chief software officer who resigned in protest against the slow pace of technological transformation in the U.S. military, said the failure to respond was putting the United States at risk.
“We have no competing fighting chance against China in 15 to 20 years. Right now, it’s already a done deal; it is already over in my opinion,” he told the newspaper. “Whether it takes a war or not is kind of anecdotal.”
He says China has already won the artificial intelligence battle and is likely to dominate also:
•  cyberdefense
• synthetic biology
•  genetics
•  media narratives
•  geopolitics
Chinese companies, Chaillan said, were obliged to work with their government and were making “massive investment” in AI without regard to ethics.
Among AI’s capabilities are creation of fake but very real-appearing videos with real people saying untruths that they would never say. China is already using such methods to convince world populations that COVID was developed and loosed by the U.S. military.
Info:  shpr.fyi/chinawin

Dave Bunting, Oct. 18, 2021
See these columns on my blog: daverant.com

Vaccination Doubt

Though very harshly buried by government and media (including by me,) there continue to rise to visibility serious questions from reliable sources concerning adverse results from the vaccination such as this report of patients over 65 dying two-thirds as often from vaccination adverse effects as from catching COVID preventable by the vaccination:

“Thus, for 6 (95% CI 2–11) deaths prevented by vaccination, there were approximately 4 deaths reported… that occurred after vaccination, yielding a potential risk/benefit ratio of 2:3.”

Above is from a reference provided in August 2021 in Medscape, a totally reliable medical source and website:

Info:  shpr.fyi/vaccdoubt

Info:  shpr.fyi/vaccdoubt2

Such serious questions about the vaccination cause peoples’ intelligent refusal of vaccination.

Government firing them is illogical, unjustified and travesty of justice but then twisting the knife by denying them unemployment is cruel despotism!

Liberals hate us wrongly assuming we are ignorant, deplorable Trump supporters. Will they ever recognize the truth that we are not?

Merck’s New COVID Pill

This new pill molnupiravir doesn’t cure or prevent COVID but, taken immediately by those already infected, does cut in half the chances of hospitalization or death.

“This anticipated drug has gotten a little more hype than it deserves,” says William Schaffner, MD, professor of preventive medicine and infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Many suggest a reality check.

“It’s not exactly a home run, like penicillin for strep throat,” agrees Carl Fichtenbaum, MD, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

“But it is encouraging,” he said. “It will probably be an incremental improvement on treatment we have, and anything we can do to keep people from getting sicker is a good thing.”

“The data in this higher risk group show molnupiravir reduces the risk of advancing to severe disease by 50%,” Schaffner said. That’s a clear benefit for half, but nothing for the other half, he said.

Info:  shpr.fyi/merckpill

Energy

Linked below is an excellent and very exhaustive library of charts issued in March 2021, by our U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The chart above is one of the charts. Here’s my reading of the numbers off the chart:

U.S. Energy Consumption
Quadrillions of BTU

• Fuel               Current     2050
• BioFuels               2          2
• Hydro                  3          3
• Nuclear                8          7
• Wind&Solar          8         18
• Coal                     9          7
• Natural Gas         32         37
• Oil,Gasoline,etc    34         39
• Total                  96       113

Thus, according to DOE, we are now using CO2-producing energy for 77 QBTU (80%) and non-CO2-producing energy for 19 QBTU (20%) of our total 96 QBTU. By 2050 if their forecast is accurate, we will still be using CO2-producing energy for 85 QBTU (75%) and non-CO2-producing energy for 28 QBTU (25%) of our total use of 113 QBTU.

This is very bad news for our hopes to reduce our CO2 production greatly and quickly.

With the auto industry turning very strongly and quickly toward electric cars & trucks, my belief is that we must quickly build huge additional electric generation in non-CO2-producing sources. Though we will build more wind and solar farms, I believe our new electric sources must be primarily hundreds of new nuclear power plants to supply the huge coming increase in demand caused by massive change to electric vehicles.

Serious issues in our change to electric vehicles will be:

1. Charging stations, expensive, largely in homes, and with large multi-car stations along highways.
2. Vehicle range reductions, now typically maximum 200 or 300 miles between full charges.
3. Charging times, 30 minutes for each short drive, but 8 to 17 hours after a 300-mile drive.

There will need to be restaurants, RV campgrounds and motels near every highway public charging station for people while they wait during their charge.

CO2-producing liquid fuels, gasoline, diesel, aircraft fuels will continue to be required for some cars and trucks, locomotives and aircraft because they allow carrying the very high energy fuel in the vehicle.

Info:  shpr.fyi/energycharts

Electric Car Charging

One gallon of gasoline has about 120,000 BTU equalling 35 KWH of energy. To charge a car with electric energy equal to one gallon of gasoline on the typical small home 2 KW charger takes 18 hours, or with the large 7 KW home charger takes 5 hours.

Electric cars include a plug-in charger for home use. California already has over 17,000 public charging stands.

Electric car full-charge ranges are mostly from 200 to 300 miles, with some more expensive models going up to 400, even up to 550 miles.

Average electric cars “burn” about 0.34 KWH per mile with the best fuel-mileage achieved being 0.24KWH per mile in a Tesla 3.

A 20-mile trip in the average car takes 5.5 KWH and a 100-mile trip takes 34 KWH. A 300-mile trip takes 100 KWH.

Charging time on a 120VAC 2KW home charger for the 20-mile trip is about 3 hours and for the 100-mile trip is about 17 hours.

Charging time on a larger home 240VAC 7KW charger, the highest-power charger many cars accept, for the 20-mile trip is about 45 minutes, for the 100-mile trip is about 3 ½ hours and for the 300-mile trip is about 8 hours.

There are also larger 240VAC 11KW chargers and 480VAC 3-phase units outputting up to and over 50KW but few currently produced electric cars will accept these larger chargers.

BTU is British Thermal Unit, a worldwide standard unit of energy.

KWH is Kilowatt Hour, another unit of energy, use of one thousand watts or one kilowatt of power for one hour.

Consumer Reports recommends hybrid cars for now above full electric- the gasoline engine for long range with the electric motor for cost saving on our short around-town trips.

Their top recommendation today Oct. 9 is Toyota RAV4 Prime AWD Plug-in Hybrid in XSE version for better seats, price range $38,350 – $41,675.

They were unable to test the 2021 Ford Escape SE Plug-in Hybrid SUV at Base $33,075 which has similar characteristics and also received a major model upgrade in 2020 that much improved its reliability over 2019 and earlier models.

Dave Bunting, Oct. 11, 2021

See these columns on my blog: daverant.com

Millions of Android Phones Attacked

Google has taken increasingly sophisticated steps to keep malicious apps out of Google Play. But a new round of takedowns involving about 200 apps and more than 10 million potential victims shows that this longtime problem remains far from solved—and in this case, potentially cost users hundreds of millions of dollars.

Most non-Apple phones use the Android operating system.

Researchers from the mobile security firm Zimperium say the massive scamming campaign has plagued Android since November 2020. As is often the case, the attackers were able to sneak benign-looking apps like “Handy Translator Pro,” “Heart Rate and Pulse Tracker,” and “Bus – Metrolis 2021” into Google Play as fronts for something more sinister. After downloading one of the malicious apps, a victim would receive a flood of notifications, five an hour, that prompted them to “confirm” their phone number to claim a prize. The “prize” claim page loaded through an in-app browser, a common technique for keeping malicious indicators out of the code of the app itself. Once a user entered their digits, the attackers signed them up for a monthly recurring charge of about $42 through the premium SMS services feature of wireless bills. It’s a mechanism that normally lets you pay for digital services or, say, send money to a charity via text message. In this case, it went directly to crooks.

Info:  shpr.fyi/androidattack

NSA Mobile Device Best Practices

Users of mobile devices desire to take full advantage of the features available on those devices. Many of the features provide convenience and capability but sacrifice security. This best practices guide outlines steps the users can take to better protect personal devices and information. The information contained in this document was developed in the course of NSA’s Cybersecurity mission.

Threats to mobile devices are more prevalent and increasing in scope and complexity.

DO NOT install new apps offered to you. If you want a new app, search for its developer and install from there.

Disable location services when not needed.

DO NOT bring the device with you to sensitive locations. Power the device off and on weekly.

DO NOT have sensitive conversations on personal devices, even if you think the content is generic.

DO NOT open unknown email attachments and links. Even legitimate senders can pass on malicious content accidently or as a result of being compromised or impersonated by a malicious actor. Unexpected pop-ups like this are usually malicious. If one appears, forcibly close all applications.

Only use original charging cords or charging accessories purchased from a trusted manufacturer.

DO NOT use public USB charging stations.

Never connect personal devices to government computers whether via physical connection, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth®.

Update the device software and applications as soon as possible.

Consider using Biometrics (e.g., fingerprint, face) authentication for convenience to protect data of minimal sensitivity.

Use strong lock-screen pins/passwords: a 6-digit PIN is sufficient if the device wipes itself after 10 incorrect password attempts. PINs containing both numbers and letters, allowed on many phones, are very much more secure.

Set the device to lock automatically after 5 minutes.

Install a minimal number of applications and only ones from official application stores. Be cautious of the personal data entered into applications.

Close applications when not using.

DO NOT install TikTok.

DO NOT jailbreak or root the device.

Disable Bluetooth® when you are not using it. Airplane mode does not always disable Bluetooth®.

DO NOT connect to public Wi-Fi networks. Use your much safer 4G data connection instead.

Disable Wi-Fi when unneeded.

Delete unused Wi-Fi networks.

Maintain physical control of the device.

Avoid connecting to unknown removable media. Never connect a flash drive you find discarded.

Cover the camera when not using. Your camera may still be watching you.

DO NOT have sensitive conversations in the vicinity of mobile devices. Your microphone is often still listening.

Install Malwarebytes or Lookout security in your device.

Info:  shpr.fyi/mobilebestnsa

Havana Syndrome: CIA attacked again

Havana syndrome first emerged in Cuba in 2016. The first cases were CIA officers, which meant they were kept secret. But eventually, word got out and anxiety spread. Twenty-six personnel and family members would report a wide variety of symptoms. There were whispers that some colleagues thought sufferers were crazy and it was “all in the mind”.  

The mystery of Havana syndrome could be its real power. The ambiguity and fear it spreads act as a multiplier, making more and more people wonder if they are suffering, and making it harder for spies and diplomats to operate overseas. Five years on, reports now number in the hundreds and, the BBC has been told, span every continent, leaving a real impact on the US’s ability to operate overseas.  

Uncovering the truth has now become a top US national security priority – one that an official has described as the most difficult intelligence challenge they have ever faced.  

A member of CIA Director Bill Burns’ team experienced symptoms consistent with the elusive Havana Syndrome in a September 2021 trip to India.

The CIA has not commented on the incident, but sources familiar with the event said it was the second time in a month that a U.S. official exhibited symptoms related to the mysterious ailment. 

The official traveling with Burns received immediate medical attention upon returning to the U.S., first reported CNN.

Last month, a trip to Vietnam for Vice President Kamala Harris was delayed after two U.S. personnel were believed to have experienced symptoms consistent with Havana Syndrome.

The condition first emerged in 2016 when 26 diplomats and their families in Havana, Cuba, reported unusual cases of dizziness, headache, fatigue, nausea, anxiety, cognitive difficulties, memory loss and even brain damage. 

In the five years since the first reported cases, more than 200 incidents have been reported among diplomats and defense officials. 

Cases have been also reported in Russia, China, Austria and Germany.

Both Russia and Vietnam have denied involvement in perpetuating the ailment.

The CIA launched a task force in December to investigate the cause of Havana Syndrome after scientists for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identified “directed, pulsed radio frequency (RF) energy” as the most likely cause of the mysterious condition. 

The undercover official tapped with spearheading the agency’s search for Usama bin Laden will now lead the CIA’s effort in locating whether an individual or group is behind the ailment targeting U.S. officials abroad.

Info:  shpr.fyi/havanasynd

Info:  shpr.fyi/havanasynd2

Dave Bunting, Oct. 4, 2021

See these columns on my blog: daverant.com