More from the article...

... According to the South China Morning Post, the study was led by Shi Zhengli, a renowned virologist known as "batwoman" due to her extensive research on bat coronaviruses.

The research involved scientists from the Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangzhou Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell on Tuesday.

The newly discovered virus belongs to the merbecovirus subgenus, which includes the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus. It is a new lineage of the HKU5 coronavirus, initially identified in Japanese pipistrelle bats in Hong Kong.

The research found that HKU5-CoV-2 can bind to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2) receptor, the same receptor used by SARS-CoV-2 to infect human cells. "We report the discovery and isolation of a distinct lineage (lineage 2) of HKU5-CoV, which can utilise not only bat ACE2 but also human ACE2 and various mammalian ACE2 orthologs," the scientists wrote.

Potential spillover risk

The study warned that bat merbecoviruses "pose a high risk of spillover to humans, either through direct transmission or facilitated by intermediate hosts." ...

@#14 ... So That's what $200MM buys... ...

And then some.

Given the level of access they seem to have, "...With this level of control, Shedd would be able to not only view and modify federal data, but also grant and revoke access to other people..." and Mr Musk's coziness with Pres Putin, I wonder if Russian hackers may gain access into the systems.

More from the article ...

... In a lengthy post to X, formerly Twitter, Vance argued that the war in Ukraine would have never started if President Donald Trump were in office, echoing a sentiment frequently repeated by the president. ...

The vice president added that the ongoing conflict has put "stress" on American stockpiles and sanctions. "Given the above facts, we must pursue peace, and we must pursue it now. President Trump ran on this, he won on this, and he is right about this. It is lazy, ahistorical nonsense to attack as 'appeasement' every acknowledgment that America's interest must account for the realities of the conflict," Vance said.

"That interest -- not moralisms or historical illiteracy -- will guide President Trump's policy in the weeks to come. And thank God for that," he concluded. ...

In a reply on X, Cheney ripped Vance's breakdown of the current state of the war: "Rarely has so much ignorance and ahistorical BS been crammed into a single tweet. I know you and @realDonaldTrump are busy surrendering to a KGB butcher, abandoning the cause of freedom, and destroying the security of America and her allies, but you would do well, @JDVance, to spend some time actually studying history," Cheney said.

"Start here with Ronald Reagan: 'Perhaps you and I have lived too long with this miracle to properly be appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. And those in world history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.'" ...

@#7 ... With this level of control, Shedd would be able to not only view and modify federal data, but also grant and revoke access to other people." ...

... and with the backdoors in place, such access by Mr Musk may continue even after DOGE is ended.

@#14 ... Nuff said. ...

imo, not really.

I'll ask again, why don't I see Democrats on the right-wing news media. I have to be specific, I'd say Fox News.

Why don't I see Democrats on Fox News?

Are the Democrats so afraid of justifying their opinions and views that they are afraid of a critical interview?

imo, the Democrats should be all over the Fox News shows, telling the American public what they want to do for them.

But, for some odd reason, the Democrats seem to be scared of doing that.

Why?

@#8 ... It's not dumb. It's genius.

Putin's genius. ...

I wish I could offer one (or any) argument against that assertion.

But, sadly, I cannot.

Pres Trump now looks and acts as Pres Putin's personal sock puppet.

My comment on this Oval Office scene would center around how Pres Trump seems to move away when X approaches him.

Almost like Pres Trump does not like children.

But, that's just my view ...

@#11 ... when I visit google's street view of the place by the train tracks I used to visit ...

And, if I may proffer ...

Spend some time in google's street view.

Visit the neighborhood of your youth, walk along the paths you used to walk.

Look at the house you grew up in.

@#7 ... Trump will grab a third rail soon enough ...

Yeah. I guess that depends upon one's opinion of third rail.

imo, he has already done so, and his party seems to be quite OK with it.

And, fwiw, I know well what the third rail is. Back when I was a kid, I used to go down to the train tracks, the trains that were powered by the 600 volts in the third rail. I was told never to touch that third rail. That I am still here and able to write this indicates that I took that advice seriously.

Now, fwiw, again, when I visit google's street view of the place by the train tracks I used to visit back in my youth, I notice that there is a fence preventing a curious kid from going on to the train tracks near that third rail..

Curious that the full-fledged assault of the GOP against LGBTQ+ people seems to only have increased those who were targeted by the GOP.

More from the article...

... The percentage is nearly double the amount who identified as bisexual, lesbian, gay, transgender or something other than heterosexual in 2020 and significantly higher than the 3.5% affirming such in 2012, Gallup announced Thursday. ...

Gallup polling shows LGBTQ+ identification among respective generations is:

- - - Generation Z (born 1997-2006) -- 23.1%

- - - Millennials (born 1981-1996) -- 14.2%

- - - Generation X (born 1965-1980) -- 5.1%

- - - Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) -- 3%

- - - Silent generation (born 1945 or earlier) -- 1.8%

The rate of Gen Z adults identifying as other-than-heterosexual rose from 18.8% from 2020 through 2022 to 22.7% during the past two years, according to Gallup. ...

Doesn't matter.

Pres Trump is now King Trump.

Just ask any GOP member of Congress.

@#29 ... Democrats are spinning their wheels ...

Yup.

Pres Trump is using the GOP to destroy the Constitution, and the Democrats seem to be doing little more than playing with themselves.

Which may be why we are in this situation in the first place.

@#25 ... Its ONLY $805 Billion ...

As usual with DOGE, asserted with no evidence or auditing whatsoever.

So, we should just believe those numbers ...

Why?

That's not the least of the problems Pres Trump has with Mr Musk's 4-year-old son.

But, wow ...

@#64 ... Runt is getting dragged bigly tonight. ...

Likely because the only tools it seems to have in its quiver are ad hominem attacks.

@#18 ... Yeah why SHOULD congress have any say in this just let the king send out them checks ...

March 14, 2024.

Mark that date.

We will be talking about it ....

@#169 ... the answer to the change was there all along. ...

Thank you for your sane comment.

@#62 ... You are completely pointless ...

Oh, so I am not the only one who has noticed that.

A random current alias that seems to post more degrading comments of others than informative comments.

Can you say, troll?

I knew you could.

              :)

More from the article ...

... While the exact mechanisms of this infection are something researchers are still trying to isolate, numerous studies suggest the deadly spread of Alzheimer's goes way beyond what we used to think.

One such study, published in 2019, suggested what could be one of the most definitive leads yet for a bacterial culprit behind Alzheimer's, and it comes from a somewhat unexpected quarter: gum disease.

In a paper led by senior author Jan Potempa, a microbiologist from the University of Louisville, researchers reported the discovery of Porphyromonas gingivalis -- the pathogen behind chronic periodontitis (aka gum disease) -- in the brains of deceased Alzheimer's patients.

It wasn't the first time the two factors have been linked, but the researchers went further.

In separate experiments with mice, oral infection with the pathogen led to brain colonization by the bacteria, together with increased production of amyloid beta (A), the sticky proteins commonly associated with Alzheimer's. ...

Oh, this ain't good.

What was Pres Trump's justification?

From the cited article ...

... The Department of Justice has widened the scope of President Trump's pardons for Jan. 6 riot defendants to include separate but related gun charges. The charges stemmed from FBI searches executed during the sprawling investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, which allegedly turned up evidence of other crimes not directly connected to the Capitol breach.

In legal filings this week, federal prosecutors asked judges to dismiss cases against two former Jan. 6 defendants, who had both faced federal gun charges.

This week's legal filings represent a more expansive understanding of Trump's Jan. 6 pardons than was initially clear. Trump's order, which he issued on his first day in office, gave clemency for "offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol" on Jan. 6.

Immediately after Trump's pardons " which included defendants who violently assaulted police officers and those with long criminal records " the Department of Justice appeared to stand by the separate gun charges. That was then.
A photo collage of different people charged with violent offenses in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.
Politics
Trump gave pardons to hundreds of violent Jan. 6 rioters. Here's what they did

In the case against Elias Costianes of Maryland, federal prosecutors alleged he joined the mob that breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and took videos of himself inside of the building. Costianes pleaded not guilty to the Jan. 6 charges, and his case was still pending when Trump took office and ordered the dismissal of all ongoing Capitol riot cases. But that was not Costianes' only legal problem. When FBI agents first arrested Costianes and searched his residence on Feb. 12, 2021, they found four guns, along with evidence that Costianes used and sold cocaine and testosterone.

Costianes pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a firearm or ammunition by an unlawful user of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to a year in prison, which he began serving earlier this month. ...

So, no justification?

@#42