Natural disasters continue to wreak havoc around the world. Wildfires have decimated large swaths of the Mediterranean. Per Reuters, “People were evacuated from two villages west of Athens on Monday as firefighters battled a new blaze in a forested area that was devastated by flames last week. Authorities ordered the protective clearance of the villages of Vilia and Profitis Ιlias, about 50 km (30 miles) from the Greek capital, as strong winds fanned the blaze. There were no immediate reports of injuries. More than 500 wildfires have broken out across Greece since the beginning of August, ravaging swathes of forest and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people.” https://reut.rs/3kgErKI
The United States has been hit by storms and flooding as hurricane season wasted no time kicking into gear. Flooding in Tennessee has led to tragedy. Per the Tennessean, “At least 21 people were killed, and the number of missing at one point reached 51. By late afternoon Sunday, the authorities reported about 20 people still missing. a reported 51 others are missing. With cellphone service spotty, crews conducted door-to-door searches, sometimes in water up to their necks. Local churches were turned into shelters for the homeless.” So far, hundreds of homes have been lost. https://bit.ly/388vf5o
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A major storm has hit the East Coast of the United States. While downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, it has still caused serious flooding in some areas as well as power outages. Per the Boston Globe, “Tropical Storm Henri socked the Northeast with strong winds as it made landfall Sunday on the coast of Rhode Island and sent lashing bands of rain westward, knocking out power to over 140,000 homes and causing deluges that closed bridges, swamped roads and left some people stranded in their vehicles. The storm was downgraded from a hurricane before reaching New England, leaving many to breathe a sigh of relief, but the National Hurricane Center warned the slow-moving storm would continue dumping heavy rains on wide swaths of the region well beyond the weekend.” https://bit.ly/3B7KlV9
The rapid and deadly spread of the Delta variant across the world has done little to quell the urge of people averse to any sort of mitigation to avoid masking or vaccinating. An article in the Associated Press, takes a close look at the many ways individuals in authority positions have gone out of their way to exploit loopholes in public health measures. Per the AP, “An Oregon school superintendent is telling parents they can get their children out of wearing masks by citing federal disability law. A pastor at a California megachurch is offering religious exemptions for anyone morally conflicted over vaccine requirements. And Louisiana’s attorney general has posted sample letters on his office’s Facebook page for those seeking to get around the governor’s mask rules. Across the U.S., religious figures, doctors, public officials and other community leaders are trying to help people circumvent COVID-19 precautions.” Mask and vaccine requirements vary from state to state but often allow exemptions for certain medical conditions or religious or philosophical objections. In other words, there are obvious ways to cheat the system. What was it that’s been said about cheating death? https://bit.ly/3B1jI4r
To show how entrenched and irrational the aversion to all things related to COVID-19 mitigation is, the man who was at the center of COVID-19 misinformation for months upon months of the pandemic heard the boo-birds when he spoke positively (somewhat) about being vaccinated. Per USA Today, “Former President Donald Trump was briefly booed at a rally on Saturday in Alabama after telling his supporters they should get vaccinated against COVID-19. Trump, who held a rally in Cullman, Alabama, about 50 miles north of Birmingham, touted to rally goers that the three vaccines — Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — were developed in under nine months during his presidency. He then suggested that they get the vaccine. ‘You know what? I believe totally in your freedoms. You got to do what you have to do, but I recommend: take the vaccines. I did it, it’s good,’ he said.” So there you have it. Something that would have been unimaginable has become to pass – the Donald getting booed by his own base. https://bit.ly/3kgERkg
Thanks for reading. Let’s be careful out there.
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA