Scrolling the webz and news this morning....

 

 This caught my eye as well as the teaser on the side:

First up the the NH Coach fired << which yeilds quite an interesting statement at the end of article

PEMBROKE, N.H. (WHDH) - Pembroke Academy’s track and field coach says he was fired for refusing to require his athletes to wear a mask while competing.

It’s recommended all outdoor track and field athletes wear a face-covering during competition but Brad Keyes said when he learned his school would enforce those guidelines, he protested online by writing an article titled: “Fire me if you must.”

“There’s no rationale to it, there’s no consistency to it and I felt like I would be lying to the kids in telling them that it makes any sense,” he said.

When asked why he did not just quit in protest, Keyes said because he wanted to call attention to the issue.

“Nobody would’ve heard about it. They would’ve said thank you and I would’ve walked away,” he said. “I titled it that way because I assumed they would fire me. And I was hoping I would catch some attention and maybe get the word out and maybe get some other people to speak up.”

Keyes said he is not alone in feeling this way.

“I’ve heard from other coaches, their approach will be to wink, a nod to the kids, ‘Oh if your mask falls off or gets pulled down there’s nothing you can do about it.’ So now we are coming up with these rules and they are going to be told they aren’t really important,” he explained.

Tufts Medical Center Epidemiologist Dr. Shira Doron said mask-wearing during sports is encouraged for indoor events.

“Being outside is extremely safe. It is very rare to have transmission of COVID-19 in an outdoor setting,” she said. “If there’s a race, and people are running by each other you know short time periods of being within 6 feet outside would also not pose a very high risk.”

However, Doron said mask mandates are put in place for reasons other than preventing the transmission of COVID-19.

“I think sometimes these rules about masking outdoors are not just about trying to keep people safe but also about trying to keep make people comfortable,” she said.

(Copyright (c) 2021 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Irish adds:

If you watch the news clip at the link above, Dr Doron is interviewed at the end and her statement is highlighted above. The last sentence is quite interesting.  The media transcript changed her wording from "make people comfortable" to "keep people comfortable". 

So, here is an Epidemiologist, that realizes some the mask mandates are not in effect for stopping transmission BUT are in place because someone else might get scared or uncomfortable.Maybe those snowflakes should just stay home?

 I can also tell you that I am personally aware of 6 persons that have had positive tests in the past week. All of them are experiencing various symptoms associated with covid BUT all describe it as a bad cold or flu. Most are already on the mend. 

*******************************************************************

Moving on to the next clickbait headline:

 

(WHDH) — As millions of Americans are being vaccinated against the coronavirus, another variant has emerged.

The so-called “double mutant” variant has been discovered in San Francisco after first being detected in hard-hit India.

The variant got its name because it carries two mutations of the virus that helps it latch onto cells.

It is not yet known whether this new variant is more infectious or resistant to vaccines.

“To date we don’t know that the variants have completely escaped immunity, where for example, if you’ve been naturally infected or immunized you still may be hospitalized or in a ICU or die,” said Dr. Paul Offit, member of the FDA Vaccines Advisory Committee.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says part of the reason overall case counts are up 16 percent over the past two weeks is because of the variants.

There are currently more than 700 cases of the United Kingdom variant in Massachusetts.

While only one case of the “double mutant” variant has been reported in the United States, reports say doctors at Stanford University are screening seven other cases that could be the new strain.

 (Copyright (c) 2021 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

 I'll keep an eye open for the "triple- variant" when this one dies off.

 

************************************************************************

 Lastly,

Have any of you noticed we have had a rash of white supremacist,  MAGA hat wearing  

 shooters lately?

Ya, me neither.