
Coronavirus Tidbits #195 6/5/22
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News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty
Announcements:
First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting.
Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that.
Post:
Medicines For Monkeypox – Antivirals And Vaccines Are Available
While monkeypox is spreading globally, there is no need for the level of alarm that we had with Covid-19. Why? First, monkeypox is not nearly as transmissible as Covid and requires close contact. There is a <10% household transmission. Second, is that we have several medicines and vaccines at our disposal. The first case of monkeypox in this outbreak was noted on May 6. Since then, it has traveled globally, with the UK, Spain, and Portugal in the lead, followed by others, including Canada and Germany. https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2022/05/28/medicines-for-monkeypoxantivirals-and-vaccines-are-available/
News
Covid:
Kiddie vaccine in sight!
Pfizer filing sets scene for FDA consideration
Pfizer and BioNTech said yesterday that they have finished submitting an application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use their COVID-19 vaccine in kids ages 6 months through 4 years old, according to the Washington Post.
The developments sets the scene for FDA vaccine advisers to consider the application on Jun 15, when they will also consider an EUA for the Moderna vaccine in kids ages 6 months through 5 years old.
Pfizer’s EUA submission comes in the wake of findings about 2 weeks ago that found strong efficacy and good tolerability for a three-dose regimen of a child-sized dose in young children. In February, the companies abruptly delayed the EUA application for the vaccine in youngsters after a two-dose regimen showed underwhelming immune response in kids ages 2 and older, suggesting that three doses would be better.
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News: Immune modulator drugs improved survival for people hospitalized with COVID-19 https://t.co/P3gCq6cHhu
— NIH (@NIH) June 2, 2022
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Study says dogs 97% sensitive at detecting COVID-19 in patients
Compared with reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing, dogs can detect COVID-19 infections via scent with high sensitivity (97%)-though lower specificity (91%)-even when patients are asymptomatic, according to a study in PLOS One yesterday.
The study authors conclude, “Our results show the excellent sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 detection by dogs using nasopharyngeal RT-PCR as the reference for comparison. These results are consistent with the results obtained previously in proof of concepts studies using sweat in hospitalized patients.”
The authors cite four studies conducted in 2020 and 2021, but an additional study published just last month demonstrated how trained dogs can detect COVID-19 in airline travelers.
Jun 1 PLOS One study
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/06/news-scan-jun-02-2022
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COVID-19 superspreader events found to originate from small number of carriers
by American Institute of Physics MAY 31, 2022
Among several infectious disease terms to enter the public lexicon, superspreading events continue to make headlines years after the first cases of the COVID-19 pandemic. How features of the SARS-CoV2 virus lead to some events becoming superspreading events while leaving others relatively benign remains unresolved.
In Physics of Fluids, researchers in Canada and the United States created a model to connect what biologists have learned about COVID-19 superspreading with how such events have occurred in the real world. They used real-world occupancy data from more than 100,000 places where people gather across 10 U.S. cities to test several features ranging from viral loads to the occupancy and ventilation of social contact settings.
They found that 80% of infections occurring at superspreading events arose from only 4% of those who were carrying the virus into the event, called index cases. The top feature driving the wide variability in superspreading events was the number of viral particles found in index cases, followed by the overall occupancy in social contact settings.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-covid-superspreader-events-small-carriers.html
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KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: Pregnancy Misinformation
There have been reports of widespread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine and its effects on pregnancy, breastfeeding, and fertility. With pregnant women excluded from initial COVID-19 vaccine trials and conflicting early messages about whether they should get the vaccine, vaccination uptake among those who were pregnant lagged that of adults overall. Though the CDC recommends COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant people, the latest KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor finds that one in seven adults (14%) have heard that pregnant women should not get the COVID-19 vaccine and believe it to be true, rising to nearly one in four (24%) among women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
The CDC also recommends COVID-19 vaccines for those who are breastfeeding, though about one in ten adults (10%) and about one in six women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant (17%) say they have heard and believe that it is unsafe for women who are breastfeeding to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Another 7% of adults overall, rising to 16% of women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant, say they have heard and believe that the COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to cause infertility.
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Effectiveness of Paxlovid in Reducing Severe COVID-19 and Mortality in High Risk Patients
— Ilan Schwartz MD PhD (@GermHunterMD) June 2, 2022
More real-world paxlovid data from 🇮🇱, this time in @CIDJournal
Appeared associated w/ ⬇️ severity/mortality in vax & unvax pts; benefit unclear in <60yhttps://t.co/WQIHIR1lB0 pic.twitter.com/ObrSdgoQbR
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For folks who had #COVID19 #LongCOVID make sure you have your annual gynecology visit & regular pap smears! There are reports of COVID-19 reactivating HPV and everyone needs to monitor. We don't want COVID to contribute to more cervical cancer. Get your paps! #ReproHealth
— Myra Batchelder – #StillMasking (@myrabatchelder) June 3, 2022
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1/ Captain Daniel Chertow (MD, MPH Head, Emerging pathogens Sections, Clinical Centre, NIAID, NIH) presents results from a series of 44 autopsies showing evidence of SARS CoV-2 infection and persistence through the human body and brain.https://t.co/aSxP8n9mau
— Dr K Fearnley (@fearnley_k) June 2, 2022
2/ All autopsies were performed & samples collected within 24 hours of death. “SARS CoV-2 can replicate within tissue for over 3 months after infection in some individuals, with RNA failing to clear from multiple compartments for up to 230 days.”
3/ He says they found indirect evidence of replication competent virus in the brain.
4/ “There were populations of viral variants found in the brain that were not detected in the respiratory tract suggesting there is seeding of the virus in the brain and ongoing replication in the brain”
5/ “The brain is an immune protected site that would allow replication and evolution of the virus.” They are now looking for direct evidence of replication competent in the brain.
More at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04569-5
[US Government/others/CDC’s whole support of “urgency of normal” and denial of long-term consequences of Covid looks worse and worse]
Monkeypox:
Cases and communication:
Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New York City now have initial or additional monkeypox cases, suggesting the poxvirus is spreading in the United States, and experts discuss how to communicate risks without stigmatizing sexual minority groups.
New cases in several cities
New York City officials said today they have identified a fifth presumptive case of monkeypox in a person who tested positive for orthopoxvirus. In Chicago, a man was isolating at home while waiting for confirmatory test results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Los Angeles County officials have also identified a case in an adult resident.
“The patient … recently traveled and had a known close contact to a case. Although the patient is symptomatic, they are doing well and not hospitalized. They are isolated from others,” the county said in a press statement.
16 of 17 initial US cases in MSM
There are now 21 confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States. Today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the CDC offered details of the first cases.
The MMWR report tracks the first 17 cases found in nine states through May 31. Sixteen of the 17 cases were in men who have sex with men (MSM). Fourteen of the 17 reported recent international travel. …
New Jersey-based risk communication expert Peter Sandman, PhD, said agencies such as the CDC and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) are working to counter stigmatizing MSM in their messages on monkeypox, but in doing so may be doing a disservice to communities most at risk for catching the virus….
Yesterday the ECDC and the World Health Organization’s European office released new risk communication guidance on the virus. Sandman said the guidance makes several good points but is lacking in certain important respects.
“Strangely missing from every list of target audiences in this report: people who have sex with MSM. Bisexual people are one obvious transmission path from the MSM community to everyone else,” he told CIDRAP News in an email. “There is nothing here about warning women (other than sex workers) of the risk that a bisexual male sex partner may have monkeypox.”
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/
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Genetic data indicate at least two separate monkeypox outbreaks underway, suggesting wider spread
STAT By Helen Branswell June 3, 2022
there are at least two distinct monkeypox outbreaks underway outside Africa – a surprise finding that one official said suggests international spread is wider, and has been occurring for longer than has been previously realized.
Three of 10 viruses the CDC has sequenced from recent U.S. monkeypox cases – two from 2021 and eight from 2022 – are different from the viruses that have been sequenced by several countries involved in the large outbreak that is spreading in and from Europe. That outbreak is currently being driven by infections in gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.
Statement by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe
…we do not yet know if we will be able to contain its spread completely. For that, we need a significant and urgent reduction in exposures through clear communication, community-led action, case isolation during the infectious period, and effective contact tracing and monitoring.
[Given that, the reluctance of some contacts to be vaccinated, the lack of adequate contact tracing, and that monkeypox can infect and become a reservoir in animals, I am not optimistic that it will be contained. It will not be another Covid, because transmission is more limited.]
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3. Vaccine acceptance among people who were identified as contacts of the UK #monkeypox cases wasn't great. Only 69% of health workers who had contact with cases agreed to be vaccinated; among other contacts of the cases, it was 14%. pic.twitter.com/IUpuQBnIiW
— Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 (@HelenBranswell) June 2, 2022
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Unprecedented bird flu outbreaks are sweeping around the world & raising concern among scientists. Mass infections in wild birds pose a risk to vulnerable species & are hard to contain. Outbreaks increase the opportunity for viruses to spill over to people https://t.co/skfyilFI7U pic.twitter.com/Didd1faikw
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) June 2, 2022
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The @CDCgov has uploaded sequences that support the analysis that there are at least 2 #monkeypox outbreaks underway globally. Keen to see what @firefoxx66, @trvrb, Andrew Rambaut and others make of it. https://t.co/t6u1JubV10
— Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 (@HelenBranswell) June 3, 2022
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#LGBTQ organizations are the secret weapon here. Public health departments are overstretched with COVID & our own orgs know our community best. Getting this outbreak under control means all-hands-on-deck, mobilizing #LGBTQ orgs to fan out and help with education, case-finding. 2/ pic.twitter.com/t8rLmFwdCG
— Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves) June 4, 2022
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent last of testing.
Drugs and Vaccines
Research scientists publish first head-to-head comparison of four COVID-19 vaccines
Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have published the first analysis of how four types of COVID-19 vaccines prepare the body to fight SARS-CoV-2. Their in-depth look at how T cells, B cells, antibody levels shift in the six months following vaccination is critical for understanding of how to protect people in the ongoing pandemic.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-scientists-publish-head-to-head-comparison-covid-.html
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The mandate effect: Official mandates can motivate the vaccine-hesitant to seek vaccination
Public health authorities seek to increase vaccine uptake, especially among those who are hesitant. But there is little evidence as to the best way to achieve this. New research suggests that rather than direct incentives, such as money, government-imposed mandates requiring vaccination to access certain public spaces could be the key. To explore this, researchers used the variation in the dates of mandates and subsequent COVID-19 vaccine uptake across Canadian provinces and European countries.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-mandate-effect-mandates-vaccine-hesitant-vaccination.html?
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Mandating flu jab, but not COVID-19 jab, ethically justified for healthcare staff
Mandating the flu jab for healthcare staff is ethically justified, but the same can’t be said of the COVID-19 jab, argue leading ethicists in an extended essay published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-mandating-flu-jab-covid-ethically.html?
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Three doses of the same or mixed COVID jabs work equally well against infections
Three doses of either the same vaccine or a combination of different vaccine types work comparably well in preventing COVID-19 infections, even against different variants, finds a study published by The BMJ today.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-doses-covid-jabs-equally-infections.html?
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First real-world assessment of Evusheld protection for immunompromised people during the Omicron wave:
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) May 29, 2022
Marked reduction of mortality, hospitalization and infectionshttps://t.co/q59gyiInui @AditGinde pic.twitter.com/zvpGL97JOX
Devices and Masks:
Great news in CA! Alameda County, CA just reinstated their mask mandate due to rising COVID cases. https://t.co/W96mQ5vSpN
— Myra Batchelder – #StillMasking (@myrabatchelder) June 2, 2022
Multiple counties across the US are reinstating their mask mandates. It is ridiculous NY is so far behind other places in #COVID19 prevention.
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https://twitter.com/Billius27/status/1531711041532461057?s=20&t=SEDDazBbd0EpB1FYWBuJEA
Epidemiology/Infection control:
COVID kidney injury may be twice as common as diagnosed
A University of Queensland-led study has found millions of COVID-19 patients may have undiagnosed acute kidney injury (AKI).
AKI is a condition where the kidneys suddenly fail to filter waste from the blood, which can lead to serious illness or even death.
Existing data indicates approximately 20 percent of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 develop AKI, rising to roughly 40 percent for those in intensive care.
But UQ Ph.D. candidate and kidney specialist Dr. Marina Wainstein said the true numbers could be double those figures.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-covid-kidney-injury-common.html
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New Omicron variants are so infectious that South Africa had a 5th wave even though 97% had antibody protection https://t.co/CvlfnLrJYm
— Liz Szabo (@LizSzabo) May 31, 2022
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This suggests BA.4 and BA.5 are fitter than BA.2.12.1 as one might expect given the additional spike F486V mutation (plus mutations elsewhere in the genome), and that we expect BA.4 and BA.5 to continue to increase in frequency on the background of BA.2 and BA.2.12.1. 6/12
— Trevor Bedford (@trvrb) May 28, 2022
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Quite the lede
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) May 31, 2022
"The isolation of CCoV-HuPn-2018 from a child respiratory swab indicates that more coronaviruses are spilling over to humans than previously appreciated."https://t.co/GmUA4P289i @CellCellPress by @veeslerlab pic.twitter.com/RqZd6e9NL4
Tips, general reading for public:
Ventilate.
Mask.
Vax.
Politics:
Covid:
GOP:
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How many times do I need to say this. There are no (ZERO) pro-voting Republicans. The Big Lie is the unifying force behind the GOP.
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) June 3, 2022
Until everyone accepts this (including the both-sides media, nonprofits, & professors), we will not combat it effectively.https://t.co/jBXN9ZqeAa
Corporations/misc:
Scoop: Starbucks is closing an Ithaca cafe where workers recently unionized and went on strike. Company cites facilities, staffing, and "time and attendance" issues. Union filed retaliation claim with labor board and seeks injunction https://t.co/3dYgNJFwIm "Blatant act of war” https://t.co/JFDzfmMtX2
— Josh Eidelson (@josheidelson) June 4, 2022
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"Lakota elders helped a white man preserve their language. Then he tried to sell it back to them." https://t.co/VXfzU3iFtR via @nbcnews HT @dvnpete
— James Neal (@james3neal) June 3, 2022
Alabama:
Police respond to a call about a suspicious person, who turns out to be a guy from across the street watering his neighbor's flowers, give him crap for not carrying ID, arrest him for obstructing a government investigation before chief drops charges. Oy.https://t.co/quLn08OSGw pic.twitter.com/6nY7Stq88z
— Peter Bonilla (@pebonilla) June 3, 2022
Pennsylvania:
NEW: As Dr. Oz wins the GOP nomination, a photo showing him voting in the 2018 Turkish election has resurfaced—Oz claimed he has “never been politically involved in Turkey in any capacity.” National security experts are warning he would be denied security clearances as a senator.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) June 4, 2022
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Disastrous!
The cardiologist for John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania who is recovering from a stroke, disclosed Friday that the candidate also has cardiomyopathy, in which the heart muscle becomes weakened and enlarged. https://t.co/K611iCqaBX
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 3, 2022
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If Fetterman were smart, he would use this as a way to talk about the need for greater health coverage for a wider array of preventative measures. And how he personally has been impacted.
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) June 3, 2022
But that’s just me. https://t.co/pv15VxVZ97
Florida:
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The State of Florida threatened the Special Olympics with a fine of $27 million because of the organization's requirement that all athletes competing in the games in Orlando this weekend be vaccinated for COVID-19. https://t.co/VfM0k3G0nb
— ABC News (@ABC) June 3, 2022
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This is big news.
— Sabrina Rodríguez (@sabrod123) June 3, 2022
“Univision is selling many of its Spanish-language radio stations — including Miami's ultraconservative Radio Mambi — to a group led by Democrats.”
Stations are located in 10 of biggest Latino markets including: Miami, NY, LA, Chicago.https://t.co/ImiC1K9tK5
Georgia:
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Kentucky:
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North Carolina:
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Ohio:
Texas:
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From the Texas Tribune —
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) June 4, 2022
This is what reporters are dealing with in Uvalde:
City Hall has locked its doors during business hours and declined to immediately provide any public records to reporters.
https://t.co/xvRGygAWzO
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Supremes:
Guns:
Your morning reminder that in the 10 days since Uvalde, there have been 20 more mass shootings in the United States. In those 20 massacres, 91 were shot and injured and so far, 19 died.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 4, 2022
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Cicilline: You know who didn’t have constitutional right to life respected? The kids at Parkland and Sandy Hook and Uvalde… so spare me the bullshit pic.twitter.com/xji3Cv7lFr
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 2, 2022
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People who do the hardest & most valuable jobs in our society — teaching & healing — must now confront a daily fear of being killed on the job.
— Amy Maxmen, PhD (@amymaxmen) June 3, 2022
But hey it's not so bad bc @DLeonhardt feels safe at his computer desk type typing away. pic.twitter.com/NdDEyS026t
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Fifty three years ago, Mr. Rogers testified before the US Senate about how the media could help prevent gun violence.
— Goodable (@Goodable) May 29, 2022
He was right.
It's the most powerful sixty seconds you'll see today. pic.twitter.com/N9PuryZ8zP
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Abortion:
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LGBT
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EXCLUSIVE: Gov. DeSantis' admin. asks state medical board to ban transition-related care for minors and Medicaid recipients; the two-pronged effort ensures DeSantis can act quickly and without need for legislative approval. https://t.co/CFBQSt1Xht
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 3, 2022
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Ukraine/Russia:
Feel good du jour:
Crotalaria cunninghamii, also known as green birdflower, is a plant of the legume family Fabaceae. Its flower strongly resembles a bird attached by its beak to the central stalk of the flowerhead [read more: https://t.co/HDJg2pytcx] pic.twitter.com/SEhx5Lqwdf
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 31, 2022
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In Brussels, this supermarket realized it was sitting on a massively underutilized resource — its rooftop.
— Goodable (@Goodable) May 27, 2022
So they planted a garden there.
Since then, they've grown more than two tonnes of produce and used it to feed those in need. pic.twitter.com/vA4W8gxrj4
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https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1532059531282264064?s=20&t=jXyF2Olv7CKYXQgg-j-U4w
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https://twitter.com/TheFigen/status/1532747394403782657?s=20&t=SEDDazBbd0EpB1FYWBuJEA
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This is an edited version of @ZedScience advice and speech to the grad class of 2022 at his high school.
— Bunsen and BEAKER (@bunsenbernerbmd) June 1, 2022
Comic relief:
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1532018597085822978?s=20&t=SEDDazBbd0EpB1FYWBuJEA
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https://twitter.com/silverpebble/status/1531966573786832902?s=20&t=SEDDazBbd0EpB1FYWBuJEA
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There's enough shit going on. Here's a wholesome story about a toddler ordering 31 cheeseburgers via DoorDash:https://t.co/IwTBPdn1kP
— Andon (@AndonRT) May 28, 2022
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https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1533022340887486466?s=20&t=jXyF2Olv7CKYXQgg-j-U4w
Perspective/Poem
"The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history, Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long the nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was”. Milan Kundera pic.twitter.com/zPfos4FREn
— Darrylisms FreeSpeech (@DarrylismsFS) May 15, 2022
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Also check out our film about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. https://t.co/EwunDUVNn5
— Nick Geidner (@ngeidner) April 26, 2022
Bits of beauty:

