Monday, January 11, 2021
The University of Arizona will return to classes on Wednesday in stage 1 of its reentry plan where students can attend in-person instruction for essential courses, UA President Dr. Robert Robbins shared in a news conference Monday.
The university implemented a COVID-19 “testing blitz” from Jan. 6-12 where all dorm residents, students attending in-person classes and those who plan to spend time on the main campus must receive a coronavirus test.
So far, 108 individuals have tested positive out of 6,184 tests during the blitz. From Jan. 4-10, UA found 179 positive coronavirus cases after administering 8,060 tests for a positivity rate of 2.2%.
Out of the 1,336 students who have moved into their campus residences, nine have moved into isolation dorms and seven are self-quarantining off-campus, Robbins said. Most dorm residents will move in within “the next several days,” he said.
It is widely believed by intelligence officials that the plan of the 9/11 terrorists was to ram airliners into the World Trade Center — the symbol of American financial strength — the Pentagon — the symbol of American military strength —and either the White House or the Capitol building — the symbols of American democratic strength.
The terrorists only completed two of those objectives. Heroically, and at the cost of their lives and all those aboard, several of the passengers of Flight 93 foiled the last part of that wicked plan over a field of Stony Creek Township, where a memorial to their bravery now stands.
Trump's January 6th attack on Congress completed that evil mission.
Trump incited a mob of 'patriotic' Americans into attacking our Capitol, demonstrating that American democracy is not sacred, safe, nor stable. Demonstrating to the world that even our democracy — the oldest in the world — is, in fact, undeniably fragile and vulnerable.
Trump did what the 9/11 terrorists could not. Trump drove a stake into the heart of Americans' own confidence in the stability and durability of our democracy.
Trump's uniquely evil twist is that he used American patriots to carry out that attack.
And Trump also used the exact same method as the plotters and planners of Al Qaeda: lies.
Al Qaeda's lies were, at least, founded in some actual facts. America did, in fact, meddle in middle eastern wars for years, arming the combatants and intensifying the carnage. America did, in fact, station our troops on the soil of the "Holy Land" of Saudi Arabia for a time. Al Qaeda used these facts to fashion a web of lies so convincing, enraging, and monstrous to devout Muslims and Arab patriots that they gave their own lives in attempt to wound America.
On 1/6 Trump used absurd and patently 'alternative facts' to fashion a web of lies so enraging and monstrous to devout Christians and American 'patriots' that one of them, Ashli Babbitt, lost her life in a reckless bid to "save" America by "stopping the steal". It's a tragedy, and bitterly ironic, that all that she and her compatriots accomplished was to complete the mission of the 9/11 hijackers, who were stopped by the sacrifices of patriots.To make the actions of Trump's mob on 1/6 anything other than an act of terrorism by the President, you must believe that he and they were pursing a just cause to save American democracy. If they were not righteously preserving the will of America's voters, these 'patriots' were merely the dupes of a terrorist plot by the President of the United States against our democracy.
But Trump's claim that the election was stolen is a farrago of patent lies, absurdities, and conspiracy theories. All of it can be easily and thoroughly discredited given even the most basic understanding of elections procedures, law, and politics. But that will be done thoroughly and repeatedly by others elsewhere. Let's just look briefly at where the lies become so absurd and transparent that they become a black hole of bullshit: Georgia.
Trump's claim of a stolen election in Georgia requires that the Governor and Secretary of State of Georgia, both Trump-supporting Republicans, MUST be in on the "steal". You have to believe that Governor Brian Kemp — whom Democrats despise for immorally striking black Democrats from the election rolls just prior to his contest against Stacy Abrams in 2018 — and Republican Secretary Brad Raffensperger, are part of a conspiracy to hand the Presidency illegally to Democrat Joe Biden. You have to believe that these partisan Republicans have maintained this fiction through multiple audits and hand-counts of the actual physical ballots, and multiple lawsuits, to which the Republican Attorney General Chris Carr signed his name, stating that there was no fraud or misconduct in this election. That means that dozens, if not hundreds, of state employees and Republican Party officials overseeing the election also have to be in on the plot.
I suppose all of that is POSSIBLE, but, my Republican countrymen, ask yourself, which is a vastly more likelyexplanation: that all these Republicans would plot against their own party and country, or that Trump is simply lying to preserve his power? You can believe that these Republicans are honest elected officials standing up for the rule of law, truth and democracy against Trump's lies, or you can believe Trump absurd lies. You can't believe both.
Of course, most of you do know Trump is lying, as he has done continuously, provably, and outrageously throughout his presidency.
I know that it is gratifying to at least pretend to believe Trump's lies when doing so "owns" the Dems and the media. But now, it is YOU who are being owned.
Owned into attacking your own democracy. Owned into betraying the institutions that have made America great. Owned into becoming domestic terrorists who can accomplish what Al Qaeda could not.
My countrymen, you have a choice - one you can no longer postpone or avoid - between American democracy and Trump's lies. And you MUST chose. Know that on your choice the fate of the American democratic experiment depends.
I beg you: don't let Trump's terrorist attack on our democracy destroy the target Al Qaeda could not. Don't make Trump America's Putin.
Trump must be removed from office and banned from public life by impeachment, and prosecuted for any and all crimes he can be proven to have committed in open court. Anything short of this legitimates a terrorist attack on America by its own President, and heralds the end of the American Republic.
Tags: coup , Trump , GOP , Republican , terrorism , sedition , riot , capitol , Washington
With nearly 9,000 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 627,000 as of Monday, Jan 11, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 1,189 new cases today, has seen 83,386 of the state’s 627,541 confirmed cases.
A total of 10,147 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,263 deaths in Pima County, according to the Jan. 11 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide continues to soar as the virus has begun to spread more rapidly, putting stress on Arizona’s hospitals and surpassing July peaks. ADHS reported that as of Jan. 10, 4,997 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state, one fewer than the record 4,998 number who were in hospital beds on Saturday, Jan. 8. The summer peak of 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients was set on July 13; that number hit a subsequent low of 468 on Sept. 27, or less than a tenth of the current count.
A total of 2,054 people visited emergency rooms on Jan. 10 with COVID symptoms, down from the record high of 2,341 set on Tuesday, Dec. 29. That number had previously peaked at 2,008 on July 7; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28.
A record number of 1,158 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Jan. 10. The summer’s record number of patients in ICU beds was 970, set on July 13. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22.
A website that tracks COVID infections across the globe reports that Arizona continues to have the highest rate of COVID infection in the world.
The website 91-divoc.com, which uses data from Johns Hopkins University, reports that Arizona is seeing a record 122 infections per 100,000 people on a seven-day average, compared to 74.2 infections per 100,000 for the United States as a whole.
Pressure on Pima County hospitals continues to rise. As of Friday, Jan. 8, a record number of 168 COVID patients were on ventilators, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all ventilators in use, according to the Pima County Health Department.
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover announced Sunday night that she was temporarily closing her Downtown offices after a COVID outbreak among her staff.
The Legal Services Building, 32 N. Stone Ave., will be closed Monday and Tuesday for cleaning and sanitizing while employees telecommute.
Conover has been feeling mild COVID symptoms and is awaiting test results, according to a news release.
Conover said the closure was necessary "to keep operations going and to make sure we don't hit that brick wall of not having enough healthy staff."
Conover thanked employees who had alerted HR to their positive tests.
"You are helping us keep your colleagues safe," Conover said.
President Donald Trump met with top military officials and gave his approval to activate the D.C. National Guard three days before he encouraged a mob of angry protesters to take their grievances to the U.S. Capitol.
A Pentagon memo released Friday offers these insights, as well as the first detailed timeline of the bungled law enforcement response to Wednesday’s insurrection.
The timeline shows that the planning started at least as far back as Dec. 31 and included discussion with select Cabinet members of the potential need for Pentagon reinforcements.
But it also leaves many questions unanswered, including why the U.S. Capitol Police declined repeated offers of assistance from military officials and the full extent of how much Trump knew about the security planning or was involved in decision-making.
The memo, first reported on by NBC News on Friday evening, presents a limited account of the days before the insurrection, and reports have questioned the completeness of the Pentagon’s version of events and the effectiveness of its planning and response. But the memo may well provide a partial roadmap as legislators call for an investigation into how pro-Trump protesters breached the Capitol in a riot that left five people dead, including one Capitol Hill police officer. Three officials who supervise the force have already submitted resignations.
Here’s what we know so far, and what we don’t.
Friday, January 8, 2021
The Arizona Interscholastic Association's executive board voted 5-4 to cancel the upcoming high school winter sports season during a Jan. 7 special session.
The Sports Medicine Advisory Committee recommended the executive board cancel the winter season, citing hospital capacity concerns during a week when 93% of all ICU beds and 92% of all inpatient beds are in use. SMAC Committee Chair Dr. Kristina Wilson said their main concern is that injured students might be unable to receive proper care during this time.
“Unfortunately, it is expected that the state will see a continued rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations for some time,” Wilson said. “As medical professionals, we cannot in good conscience recommend that students engage in a winter season under the current conditions.”
While the board’s decision to once again cancel another high school season was not taken lightly, AIA Board President Toni Corona said at this point there isn’t enough time to have a winter season if delayed for a second time. The winter season was expected to start on Jan. 18 after originally scheduled to start in November.
“We do not see the situation improving very quickly,” Corona said. “Unfortunately, it does not appear that there will be adequate time before the start of the spring season for a winter season to occur.”
The Arizona high school spring sports season is still scheduled to start on March 1, but will depend on statewide COVID-19 metrics improving and continued evaluation by SMAC officials.
GREELEY, Colorado – Record-breaking wildfires in 2020 turned huge swaths of Western forests into barren, sooty scars. Those forests store winter snowpack that millions of people downstream rely on for drinking and irrigation water. But with such large and wide-reaching fires, the science on the short-term and long-term effects to the region’s water supplies isn’t well understood.
To understand, and possibly predict, what happens after a river’s headwaters goes up in flames, researchers are descending on fresh burn scars across the West to gather data in the hopes of lessening some of the impacts on drinking water systems.
On a sunny winter morning, a team of researchers led by Colorado State University hydrologist Stephanie Kampf roamed through the steep drainage of Tunnel Creek, a tributary to the Poudre River west of Fort Collins. Much of the area burned last summer and fall during the Cameron Peak Fire.
The superintendent of Tucson's largest school district announced it will not be returning to in-person instruction at least through January.
In the meantime, as Pima County is poised to begin administering vaccines to group 1B—which includes teachers—as early as next week, Tucson Unified School District is gearing up to help vaccinate its staff.
The county will set up a “supersite model” of six or seven vaccination centers where all district employees can receive the vaccine, said TUSD Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Trujillo.
On Friday, Jan. 15, a registration website will be set up for employees to make an appointment to receive a vaccination at one of the vaccine sites and schedule an appointment for a second dose 28 days later, he said. He made clear, however, that no employee will be mandated to receive the vaccine.
“We believe that it's our responsibility to create the conditions, create the opportunities for employees who want to go get the vaccine of their own free will and their own accord,” Trujillo said. “We will be creating conditions internally that will make it as easy as possible for an employee to choose to go get the vaccine.”
Some TUSD employees have already been vaccinated in their capacity as nurses, health assistants, athletic trainers, occupational therapists, speech therapists and language therapists that qualified under group 1A of vaccine recipients.
However, Trujillo noted, many who didn’t qualify also received the vaccine.
