Vaccine race: 88-year-old Frenchman caught speeding at 191 km/h says he was late for Covid-19 jab

26 Feb, 2021, Russian News RT

https://www.rt.com/news/516697-france-elderly-speeding-late-vaccine/

FILE PHOTO: A motorist races past a traffic enforcement camera in northern France. © AFP/ Denis Charlet

An 88-year-old man in France had his license seized for exceeding the speed limit by more than 90 km/h. The veteran driver told the police that he was hitting the gas because he was late for his vaccination appointment.

The man was travelling at 191 km/h when he was pulled over by the officers in the northeastern region of Bas-Rhin on Thursday. The speed limit of the country road he was driving on is 110 km/h.

The driver “gave as a reason for his speeding that he was late for his anti-Covid vaccine,” the police said in a Facebook post.

Unsurprisingly, the officers determined that this was no excuse for reckless driving, as an accident at such speed could potentially lead to much harsher health problems than those caused by the coronavirus.

The elderly speed demon ended up with his driving license being confiscated and his car impounded.

“For everyone’s safety, let’s comply with speed limits, even after more than 60 years with a driving license,” police said

Amid supply issues across the EU, France has been criticized for a slow vaccine rollout. Only 1.3 million of its almost 70 million people have received both doses of the jab so far.

The program currently prioritizes those over 75 and people with serious health conditions, but according to the Local website, many of those eligible for the jab have been complaining about having significant problems in securing appointments at vaccine centers.

Some people said they’ve been trying to get a slot for weeks, but with no result – perhaps explaining the elderly driver’s determination to get to his appointment on time.

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Another Shot: Purim Then And Now

By Asher Schwartz 

13 Adar 5781 – February 25, 2021

 The Jewish Press

 

 

Neanderthal genes affect susceptibility to Covid-19

Two new studies suggest that the presence of genes passed down to humans from Neanderthals in the past could confer resistance or susceptibility to Covid-19, depending on what set of genes is present.

In recent years it has become clear that there was some measure of interbreeding between humans and Neanderthals, a human subspecies which died out about 40 000 years ago. Neanderthals were found in Europe and Asia and scientists believe they died out because of climate change or disease, with some speculation that they died out due to conflict with humans.

Most humans on Earth, with the exception of people with ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa, have evidence of some Neanderthal genes in their genome.

A new study from Nature shows that a certain set of Neanderthal DNA confers susceptibility to severe Covid-19.

The study, conducted by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig in Germany found that if one particular ‘string’ of Neanderthal DNA (known as a haplotype) was present in someone, their chances of going to intensive care because of Covid-19 was doubled. People of South Asian descent were most likely to have this genetic presence with 16% of people of European origin having it.

Conversely, another study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that if a different set of Neanderthal DNA was present it conferred some measure of protection. If present, this haplotype reduced susceptibility to severe Covid-19 by 22%. It is found in all human populations, except for people of Sub-Saharan African descent and is present in between 25% and 35% of people of Eurasian descent.

Understanding how the different genetic make-up affects susceptibility to Covid-19 will be an important tool in fighting the disease, although other factors, such as age, weight, sex, and the presence of other diseases (such as diabetes) will still have to be taken into account.

https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/02/26/neanderthal-genes-affect-susceptibility-to-covid-19/

Butterworth residents promised houses in 2008 won’t see them any time soon

 

South Africa: Butterworth residents promised houses in 2008 won’t see them any time soon

Formed in 1986, Yako informal settlement still has no services

26 February 2021 | By Nombulelo Damba-HendrikNews | Butterworth

Residents promised houses in 2008 have a long wait ahead of them. Photo: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

• Formed in 1986, Yako informal settlement in Butterworth still has no basic services.
• In 2008, 322 of its residents were promised houses within 12 months.
• To date, no houses have been built.
• The Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements says it is waiting for the completion of bulk water provision in the area.

---

People have been living in Yako Informal settlement in Butterworth, Eastern Cape, since 1986. It has neither proper roads, toilets nor electricity. Some people have dug pit latrines, others use an open field. For electricity, some people use illegal connections.

In 2008, some 322 beneficiaries were registered for RDP houses but, to date, nothing has been built for them. They say that the provincial human settlements department promised that construction of their houses would start in 2009.

Community leader Sivuyile Buyani said the department promised to move them into temporary houses while the RDP houses were being built. That never happened either.

He said the department and Mnquma Local Municipality are “playing hide and seek”.

“For years we have been in and out of the department offices with no proper answers. Instead, they would tell us to return to Mnquma and Mnquma will send us back to the department.”

Masiza Mazizi, spokesperson for MEC for Human Settlements Nonkqubela Pieters, said the development was put on hold due to a scarcity of water and that the development first needs bulk water infrastructure to be completed by the district and local authorities.

He said no funds had yet been approved for the project.

Ward 2 Councillor Mondi Molose (ANC) said the land is there; they are waiting for the houses.

Community leader Loyiso Ntanjana points out that water was not raised as an issue in 2009. Butterworth was declared a drought disaster area by then Premier Phumulo Musualle in December 2015. Protests erupted in 2019 when Butterworth hit its day zero. Water protests continued in 2020.

“I’m part of the people who drafted the [housing beneficiary] list and I submitted it to the Department of Human Settlements in 2008. Now people are expecting answers from me and I don’t have them. We have disabled people here who are supposed to be living in houses,” said Ntanjana.

Makhwangi Daba has lived in Yako since she was in her 40s. She was registered for one of the houses when she was 62. She is now 75.

“My first shack was built of planks until it was [too] old. I changed to zinc, and they are also [now too] old. I’m no longer working. I rely on an old age grant. I can’t afford to build another shack.

“When they promised us houses they said we will get them within 12 months, but we have been waiting for years,” said Daba.

“At night I have no choice but to relieve myself in a 

bucket,” she said.

“I feel like we are being played. We are voters and when there are elections they act like they are fixing the housing issue. Then after elections, they are gone.”

https://www.groundup.org.za/article/butterworth-residents-promised-houses-in-2008-wont-see-them-any-time-soon/

House Democrats: Free Border Crossers into U.S. to Stop Coronavirus Spread in Foreign Countries

2,029

John Moore/Getty Images

JOHN BINDER

25 Feb 2021875

3:33

House Democrats are urging President Joe Biden to end migration controls at the United States-Mexico border to help slow the Chinese coronavirus in foreign countries.

In March 2020, former President Trump imposed a CDC order known as Title 42 that allows federal immigration officials to quickly return border crossers to their native countries to prevent adding to the current public health emergency in the U.S. 

Nearly 460,000 border crossers have been expelled and deported from the U.S. since March 2020 thanks to Title 42. In the last four months, alone, between 62,000 to 65,000 border crossers have been expelled and deported monthly under Title 42.

A group of 61 House Democrats, though, are asking Biden to end Title 42 — arguing that the U.S. is contributing to the global spread of the coronavirus by deporting border crossers to their native countries. Instead, the House Democrats say, the border crossers should be “safely” processed and released into the U.S. interior.

“At a time when travel is restricted worldwide, and we are observing the emergence of multiple alarming COVID-19 variants, continued expulsions and deportations threaten to export the virus to already vulnerable nations,” the House Democrats write to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

“Leading public health experts have repeatedly made clear that by employing sensible, science-based public health measures the United States can safeguard public health and safely process people seeking protection at our border,” the letter continues. 

Weeks ago, 52 House Republicans wrote to Mayorkas warning him that Title 42 is the only migration control keeping the southern border from experiencing record surges of illegal immigration after Biden ended the Remain in Mexico policy and cooperative asylum agreements with Central America.

“Notably, the Trump administration’s policy to use [Title 42] is perhaps now the only policy ensuring the southern border is not immediately rushed … if title 42 is indeed rescinded, the daily illegal flow will become catastrophic overnight,” the House Republicans wrote. 

As Breitbart News reported, the Biden administration is slowly releasing about 25,600 migrants enrolled in the Remain in Mexico program into the U.S. interior. Those migrants are being released into San Diego, California, and El Paso and Brownsville, Texas.

Border crossers not enrolled in Remain in Mexico do not have to undergo coronavirus tests and many do not have to adhere to quarantine requirements. In the first ten days of February, DHS has released at least 2,000 border crossers into the U.S. interior. For comparison, in December 2020 before Remain in Mexico was ended, DHS had released just 11 border crossers.

Ending migration controls is at odds with the majority of American voters. In exit polling following the 2020 presidential election, about 5-in-6 voters said closed U.S. borders were vital to slowing the spread of the coronavirus. 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/02/25/house-democrats-free-border-crossers-into-u-s-to-stop-coronavirus-spread-in-foreign-countries/

Farm attack, elderly woman shot in the head, Paarl

 

South Africa: Farm attack, elderly woman shot in the head, Paarl

Drakenstein Farm Watch

February 25, 2021

Farm attack, elderly woman shot in the head, Paarl. Photo: DFW

A farm attack took place on 25 February 2021, in Paarl, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It was reported that a white bakkie drove onto the Farm Vergesig on the R101 Paarl to Franschhoek road, around 09:31 with three of four black male occupants.

The attackers had initially asked the elderly lady for sheep to purchase, which then ended in an armed robbery.

The attackers demanded money and firearms. And then one of the attackers fired a shot at the elderly lady hitting her in the back of her head.

The attackers then fled the scene.

Drakenstein Farm Watch (DFW) responded to the attack and the woman was treated for the headwound by DFW first responders who also secured the scene for police and waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Police are investigating but there have been no arrests. There is no other information available at this stage.

https://southafricatoday.net/south-africa-news/western-cape/farm-attack-elderly-woman-shot-in-the-head-paarl/

Escape from Egypt🐪🗻 moment on The Coconut Whisperer: Death Metal: Florida man uses uncle's skeleton to build guitar

Death Metal: Florida man uses uncle's skeleton to build guitar

The bizarre story begins with a heavy metal enthusiast from Tampa, Florida, looking for a way to commemorate his beloved uncle Filip who had died over 30 years ago.

By Tobias Siegal, Jerusalem Post, February 16, 2021

https://www.jpost.com/omg/death-metal-florida-man-uses-uncles-skeleton-to-build-guitar-659134

Prince Midnight with his skelecaster guitar. [ Facebook ]

If you think that you have seen it all, that the Internet cannot possibly surprise you anymore - you may want to think again after reading the following story. It has it all: heavy metal, a skeleton and an unusual way of remembering a loved one. 

The bizarre story begins with a heavy metal enthusiast from Tampa, Florida, looking for a way to commemorate his beloved uncle Filip, who died more than 30 years ago. 

"Prince Midnight," as he calls himself on heavy metal forums online, came up with the idea of combining his love for metal music with the memory of his dead uncle - literally - and used Filip's remains to build a functioning electric guitar. 

Maybe we should go back a step or two.

Sharing his story with MetalSucks.net, Prince explained that his uncle's skeleton had been used in anatomy classes at a local college for the past two decades.

At some point, however, Filip's services were no longer needed and his remains were sent back to the family. Defining themselves as Orthodox Christians, the family refused to cremate the remains, which ended up remaining in a box for quite some time.

For Prince, that just didn't feel right. Taking matters into his own hands, Prince decided to come up with a solution, but struggled to find a suitable one. "I didn't know what to do at first," he told MetalSucks.

 "Bury them? Cremate them? Put them in the attic? All seemed like poor ways to memorialize someone who got me into heavy metal."

'It's pretty metal,' says man who turned his uncle's skeleton into a guitar.

And just when he was about to give up, Prince came up with the idea that he believed would reflect Filip's life best. “I decided to turn Uncle Filip into a guitar."

But the process turned out to be more challenging than he originally anticipated. "I did a lot of research and no one has ever made a guitar out of a skeleton. So, I did it. I started out consulting with two guys in Dean Guitars’ wood shop in Tampa, but they got cold feet," he said.

Prince is sure that this is "how he would want it," noting that the one-of-a-kind guitar “plays perfect and sounds awesome.”

Who knows? Maybe Prince was always a fan of soul music but didn't know it.

If you are sitting there thinking "this is just too good to be true," you may be right.

Shortly after the human guitar story started circulating the Internet, a CBC report questioned the story, indicating that it may be an elaborate hoax planned by a known figure in Tampa's heavy metal scene.

According to CBC, two local reporters have questioned the story's credibility, pointing to a suspicious resemblance between Prince and "a local punk rocker/performance artist with a penchant for fooling newspapers."  

🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪🗻🐪

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Here’s what we know about Dawid Stuurman, the man behind PE airport’s new name

South Africa: Here’s what we know about Dawid Stuurman, the man behind PE airport’s new name

Business Insider SA

 Feb 25, 2021, 02:47 PM

• 
  
• 
  
• 

Formerly Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha. (Getty)

• Port Elizabeth airport has been renamed Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport.
• Stuurman got involved in political activism in the Eastern Cape during the 18th century after both the Khoi and San people were dispossessed of their land under Dutch and British colonial rule.
• He was one of the first prisoners to be sent to Robben Island.
• Here is what we know about the Khoisan leader.
• The names of the airports in East London, and the Nelson Mandela Bay city formerly known as Port Elizabeth, officially changed on Tuesday.

East London airport is now the King Phalo Airport, Port Elizabeth itself is now Gqeberha, Uitenhage is Kariega, King William’s Town is Qonce, and Maclear is now Nqanqarhu.

The former Port Elizabeth's airport has been renamed Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport. Here’s what we know about the Khoi chief.

He was a Khoi leader who fought against Dutch and British colonial rule between 1799 and 1819

Wikipedia

Dawid (sometimes also written as David) Stuurman got involved in political activism in the Eastern Cape during the 18th century after both the Khoi and San people were dispossessed of their land under Dutch and British colonial rule. Stuurman, and other indigenous people, were forced to live and work on their land as labourers.

He was one of the first prisoners sent to Robben Island…

Wikipedia

Stuurman was arrested in early 1809 for offering refuge to escaped slaves and other fugitives, and refusing to appear before authorities about the matter. He and three others were imprisoned in Cape Town in early 1809. On 11 September, Stuurman was officially charged and sent to Robben Island.

…and managed to escape – twice.

Pixabay.

Stuurman and others escaped Robben Island using whaling boats. Most of them were recaptured, but Stuurman made his way back to the Eastern Cape.

He remained free until the fifth Xhosa War, when he was captured again and sent back to Robben Island.

On the 9 August 1820, Stuurman escaped from Robben Island once again – this time during a prison mutiny. 

He was sentenced to life in jail in Australia …

Stuurman was captured when he reached the mainland following his second escape, and was sentenced to life imprisonment on a penal settlement in New South Wales, Australia.  

… but was first sent back to Robben and Island – yet again – and chained to a wall before he could be transported.

Pixabay

On 16 December 1820 he was sent, for the third time, to Robben Island, and chained to a wall until he could be transported to Australia. 

He reached Sydney in 1823, and worked for the Australian government for 6 years 

Pixabay

In April 1823, the convict ship Brampton reached Sydney with Stuurman and 11 other South Africans on board. He worked at military barracks in government service for six years. Stuurman eventually obtained a ticket of leave which allowed him to work for wages. A petition to Queen Victoria for his release was in vain.

Stuurman died on 22 February 1830 and was buried at Devonshire Cemetery, which was later redeveloped into a railway station. 

Stuurman’s remains could not be repatriated, but a traditional ceremony was held in Sydney to repatriate his spirit

Wikipedia

His remains could not be repatriated because of the train station which stands where he is buried.

On 13 June 2017, a traditional ceremony was conducted in Sydney to repatriate his spirit. The ceremony involved the use of umphafa tree branches. The common name, Buffalo Thorn, refers its notorious thorns, one pointing forward and one backwards. In Afrikaans it is known as the wag-‘n-bietjie (‘wait-a-bit’) tree. A twig from the tree is used in certain cultures to attract and carry the spirit of the dead from the place of death to the new resting place.

A second spiritual repatriation took place at the Sarah Baartman Heritage Centre in Hankey.

In 2015, a statue was erected at the National Heritage Monument in Tshwane in honour of Stuurman. 

The call for Stuurman’s name to be used came from the Khoisan community of Nelson Mandela Bay

"He was a man that fought for the freedom and liberation of the people that were found here. We, as the descendants of the Khoisan in Nelson Mandela Bay, the name Chief David Stuurman is our first choice," Khoisan chief Prophet Crawford Fraser said in 2018, when they first proposed the name change, according to a report on IOL.

According to Stephen Langtry, who works at Cornerstone Institute, a private non-profit higher education institution in Cape Town, Stuurman “also opposed the conscription of the Khoi into militias that were created to defend the colony, and to attack San and amaXhosa”.

https://www.businessinsider.co.za/heres-what-we-know-about-dawid-stuurman-the-man-behind-pe-airports-new-name-2021-2

Buffalo schools fail kids when teaching that all White people play part in systemic racism

Buffalo schools fail kids when teaching that all White people play part in systemic racism: Rufo

'Woke academics and educators are transforming schools away from academics and education and into politics,' City Journal editor Chris Rufo says

Buffalo schools have adopted a curriculum that pushes the controversial idea that all White people perpetuate systemic racism, while 80% of its students fail to reach proficiency in reading and writing, an editor said Wednesday. 

City Journal editor Chris Rufo, during an appearance on "The Ingraham Angle," said the "diversity czar" of Buffalo public schools was caught on tape saying she believes that America's sickness leads some White people to believe Black people are less than human. 

One of the district's instructional materials also includes the assertion that "all White people play a part in perpetuating systemic racism."

He said the narrative of system racism has also spread to schools across the country, which shifts attention away from "their own abysmal failure to educate kids."

"Woke academics and educators are transforming schools away from academics and education and into politics," he told host Laura Ingraham. 

"It's certainly giving kids a sense that America is an awful rotten racist place -- at the very least," Ingraham said.

"You can absolutely see it at every stage of the curriculum," Rufo replied. "The lesson plans teach that America is a fundamentally racist place."

Rufo added that schools are also trying to teach "critical consciousness" an idea that students should be trained to identify and overthrow oppressors. "In this case the United States of America".

 https://www.foxnews.com/us/buffalo-schools-fail-to-educate-kids-while-teaching-that-white-people-play-part-in-systemic-racism-editor-say

 

Couscous-stuffed roast chicken

What’s cooking today: Couscous-stuffed roast chicken

By Tony Jackman

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 Tbsp olive oil

1 heaped tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander seeds

100 g sultanas

100 g almond flakes, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan

125 g couscous

200 ml liquid chicken stock

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise

For a baste: stir together (in a small bowl) 2 Tbsp honey and 4 Tbsp olive oil with 1 tsp ground cumin and a little salt and pepper.

Method

Heat the chicken stock and pour it over the couscous in a bowl. Stir immediately, then leave it for three minutes. Use a fork to flick the grains apart. Sauté the onions and garlic in a little olive oil with the sultanas, coriander and cumin. Stir this and the toasted flaked almonds into the couscous. Salt the inside of the bird, slip the whole cinnamon stick and the star anise into the cavity, and spoon in the couscous stuffing. If there’s couscous left over, leave it to one side to serve with the chicken later.

Tie the bird’s legs together, baste the skin all over (see the baste recipe above) and roast in a preheated 220℃ oven for 90 minutes, basting now and then. Leave it to rest in the turned-off oven for 20 minutes. 

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-02-25-whats-cooking-today-couscous-stuffed-roast-chicken/

Escape from Egypt - Puppy born with 6 legs, 2 tails called a 'miracle'

By Rachael Rettner - Senior Writer Feb. 24, 2021

https://www.livescience.com/puppy-six-legs-skipper.html

A newborn puppy named Skipper was born with six legs. 

(Image credit: Neel Veterinary Hospital)

The puppy, named Skipper, may be the first dog to survive with her rare conditions.

Every dog owner likely thinks their canine is one of a kind, but a newborn puppy named Skipper is truly unique — she was born with six legs and two tails, according to news reports.

Her vets say Skipper may be the first dog to be born alive with her particular set of congenital conditions, or conditions that are present at birth.

"This is a miracle named Skipper. Literally," staff at Neel Veterinary Hospital in Oklahoma, where Skipper was treated, wrote in a post on their Facebook page. "She has survived longer than we suspect any other canine has … with her combination of congenital conditions," the hospital wrote, adding that "published research does not indicate one [a dog with these conditions] has been born alive."

Skipper is a mix between a border collie and an Australian shepherd; and she was part of a litter of nine puppies born on Feb. 16, according to CNN.

The veterinarians diagnosed Skipper with two congenital disorders called monocephalus dipygus and monocephalus rachipagus dibrachius tetrapus, "which simply means she has 1 head and chest cavity but 2 pelvic regions, 2 lower urinary tracts, 2 reproductive systems, 2 tails and 6 legs among other things," the Facebook post said.


It's likely that Skipper was part of a twin in the womb, "and when the fertilized egg tried to split, it didn't fully separate," Dr. Tina Neel, owner of the Neel Veterinary Hospital, told CNN.

Skipper also has signs of spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal column doesn't close properly during development.

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Farm attack, man assaulted, tied up by 5 attackers, home ransacked, Standerton

 

South Africa: Farm attack, man assaulted, tied up by 5 attackers, home ransacked, Standerton

Oorgrens veiligheid

February 24, 2021

Farm attack, man assaulted, tied up by 5 attackers, home ransacked, Standerton

A farm attack took place during the day on 24 February 2021, 20 km east of Standerton, on the Morgenzon road, near the Thutukani turn off, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Mr Vernon Brandt was overpowered, assaulted and tied up in his home by at least five attackers.

The attackers ransacked the home and fled the scene with firearms, household items and mr Brandt’s White Toyota Hilux 2.4 bakkie. Emergency medical services responded to attend to the victim.

Police are investigating but there have been no arrests. There is no other information available at this stage.

South Africa Today – South Africa News

https://southafricatoday.net/south-africa-news/mpumalanga/farm-attack-man-assaulted-tied-up-by-5-attackers-home-ransacked-standerton/