South Africa has passed its omicron peak in a flash

 

Map:  Britainnica

Number of new cases peaked on December 21, 2021

Worldometers (above and below)

Daily new deaths peaked on January 19, 2019

New York Times, 12/30/2021

“The speed with which the Omicron-driven fourth wave rose, peaked and then declined has been staggering,” said Fareed Abdullah of the South African Medical Research Council. “Peak in four weeks and precipitous decline in another two. This Omicron wave is over in the city of Tshwane. It was a flash flood more than a wave.” The rise in deaths over the period was small, and in the last week, officials said, “marginal.”

Meet Steve Nass, grandstander extraordinaire

 

Wisconsin State Journal, 12/31/2021T

The Senate co-chair of the Legislature’s GOP-led joint rules committee said on Thursday he is seeking to force the state elections commission to quickly create rules for absentee ballot drop boxes and to clarify what missing information clerks can fill in on absentee ballot envelopes. 

The request from Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, comes weeks after the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission unanimously voted to begin the lengthy process of creating administrative rules for ballot drop boxes and how to address errors on absentee ballot envelopes.

And yet the State Journal feels this is news that deserves a straight-faced headline.

Florida as GOP wasteland

 

Meet homophobe and
Florida Commissioner of Education
Richard Corcoran

masked up and ready to discriminate

Florida Politics, 12/23/2021

Following the removal of anti-bullying resources from the Florida Department of Education website, including information regarding LGBTQ students, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is providing that information instead.  

In a Tuesday press release, Fried announced a set of LGBTQ resources hosted on the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website. 

“Improving the health, safety, and prosperity of all Floridians, including the hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ Floridians, is my top priority as a member of the Cabinet,” Fried said in a written statement. 

“It’s so important that LGBTQ Floridians know that they matter, there are resources to help, and that we will continue to advocate for them,” Fried continued. “That’s why I believe it’s imperative that we make these resources available.” 

Advocates complain that removing resources for LGBTQ students is the latest attack on LGBTQ Floridians by the Ron DeSantis administration. Earlier this month, the department scrubbed dozens of informational links from its webpage on “Bullying Prevention.”