Get caught up on all of the week's top headlines and breaking news with Quick News To Go from Quick News Daily. This week's news includes fallout from the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, how the flu shot may help your chances against COVID, new strains popping up in Ohio, a lawsuit against the NYPD for their conduct during the Black Lives Matter protests, Andrew Yang's candidacy for NYC Mayor, and more!

 

 

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The pet foods, made by Midwestern Pet Foods Inc., that are in the recall are:

Sportmix

Pro Pac Originals

Splash

Sportstrail

Nunn Better

Sources

Today's latest headlines from Quick News Daily include news from Moderna, information about possible new US COVID strains in Ohio and the South African variant, and why Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg did too little too late. Also discussed are the start of the WHO's COVID origins investigation and Andrew Yang's entrance into the race to become Mayor of New York City. 

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Transcript (mostly accurate):

First segment excluded so the subject of this portion of the show cannot find it as easily.

MODERNA

I guess the Moderna CEO is out on a media tour for some reason because he made some more notable comments at another conference. This time, it was at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference.

As for his notable comments, they were that he thinks COVID will be around forever. He said, “We are going to live with this virus, we think, forever”.

Viruses that are around continuously, like the flu and the common cold, are called “endemic viruses”. I just thought I’d put that in there in case it’s a trivia answer or you want to sound smart some time.

This actually led me down a rabbit hole, because this CNBC story had links to new information on the South African virus, as well as 2 possible new strains that researchers found that originated in the US.

For the potentially new US strains, it’s the same old story we’ve been hearing: the mutations seem to be making COVID more contagious but have no effect on how deadly it is or how well the vaccine will work.

One of the strains has only been found in one patient, which is pretty crazy. They said that this one had a mutation that’s identical to the UK one, so it made me wonder “are you guys not seeing this? It’s in one person and it’s identical to the UK one? Maybe it’s just the UK one?”

As for the South African strain, it’s spread to a couple of other countries now: the UK, France, Switzerland, Japan, Austria, and Zambia.

The UK Health Secretary said “I’m incredibly worried about the South African variant, and that’s why we took the action that we did to restrict all flights from South Africa. This is a very, very significant problem…and it’s even more of a problem than the UK new variant”. That’s scary enough in itself, but he just didn’t explain why he said any of this.

Thankfully, Dr. Scott Gottlieb (he’s the former CDC Director that I trust most) said that the South African one is concerning him because it seems to be rejecting antibody drug treatment. So, technically, it could become more deadly. But, for what it’s worth, the CDC still says there’s no evidence that it causes more severe illness or that it’s more deadly.  

Since this is the common pattern we’re seeing (every single new strain is more contagious but not more deadly), I just have to ask: are all of these mutations helping it spread more quickly, or are these changes actually not doing anything in terms of how easy it is to spread and it’s spreading more quickly because people are being dumb and getting tired of COVID rules?

Obviously, there are changes to the virus because it’s been confirmed by its genetics, but is it actually just some coincidence that it’s spreading quickly and they happened to catch the new strain when they test?  

The other interesting thing that was in this story about the US variants was about calling these the “UK variant” or “South African variant”. Now that I think about it, it’s probably just trying to shake the blame now that the US might have variants, but some expert in the article said that it’s not really fair to call the variants by where they’re from because it really could have started in another country that isn’t as advanced and isn’t looking for mutations, and it wasn’t found until it reached a country that was more scientifically well-equipped.

 

BIG TECH

One of my favorite podcasts to listen to, The New Abnormal with Molly Jong-Fast and Rick Wilson, had a gre

On this episode of the #1 quick news podcast, we go over several stories, including a pet food recall (see more info below), the impeachment vote in the House, new details about what happened during the insurrection at the Capitol, the New York AG going after the NYPD for their conduct during the Black Lives Matter protests, and more!

The pet foods, made by Midwestern Pet Foods Inc., that are in the recall are:

Sportmix

Pro Pac Originals

Splash

Sportstrail

Nunn Better

They are dry dog and cat foods that expire on or before July 9th, 2022.

 

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Sources 

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Transcript (mostly accurate):

DOG FOOD RECALL

I want to get to this story right away though, because it could affect a ton of listeners. The following products made by Midwestern Pet Foods have been recalled due to contamination by a toxin from mold: Sportmix, Pro Pac Originals, Splash, Sportstrail and Nunn Better dry dog and cat foods. This affects products made with corn that expire on or before July 9th, 2022.

Aflatoxin (which sounds like it should be a type of insurance from Aflac) comes from a type of mold called Aspergillus flavus, which can be found on corn and grains that are used to make the food. If your pet ingests enough, it can cause general sickness and/or death, but the thing that’s almost scarier is that it can cause liver damage without your pet showing any symptoms.

The symptoms to look for in your pet are sluggishness, loss of appetite, vomiting, jaundice, and diarrhea.

So far, 70 dogs have died, and 80 have become ill from these products. No illness yet reported in humans or cats, but the FDA still recommends washing your hands after handling pet food at any time, not just when it might have aflatoxin/Aflac-toxin in it.

The types Midwestern Pet Foods products that are in the recall are listed in the show description.

IMPEACHMENT

You heard it from Nancy Pelosi in the beginning of the show: by a vote of 232-197, the House impeached Trump for a second time yesterday, which makes him the first president to ever be impeached twice.

I think that pretty much ends the debate on who’s the worst president in our history, especially post-slavery. I guess maybe I would argue that he’s certainly the most incompetent in history, because looking back Reagan did horrible stuff because he was effective and actually got laws passed (but the Senate and/or the House were always controlled by Democrats during his time, so he couldn’t go on a total rampage). Also, there were a bunch of pro-slavery presidents before Lincoln, so they’re awful in an even different kind of way, but I think it’s clear that Trump is mentally unfit and completely narcissistic, so he makes whatever decisions are best for him, including attacking his own government.

I guess the notable news was that this time, there were actually 10 Republicans who joined in and voted to impeach him in the House, as opposed to 0 last time.

One of the Republicans who voted to impeach, Peter Meijer, said he and some of his colleagues have started wearing body armor and changing up their daily routines because they’re afraid of being attacked. And that truly is sad, but I have to say, I have a real problem with all of these Republicans in Congress sending their staff to talk to news outlets anonymously and telling the reporters “so and so would have voted to impeach Trump, but they were afraid for their family’s safety, so they couldn’t”. That’s BS. Do these people think that the 222 Democrats who voted for impeachment are living in rainbow land with unicorns? No way! They’ve had to deal with threats for 4 years! Grow up and do your job, don’t try to get sympathy for being a racist sympathizer.

Now, here’s the problem: Mitch McConnell, of course, said that he’s not going to call the Senate back for a special session to hold this impeachment trial, which means that this thing won’t start until at least January 20th (though January 21st is more likely because the 20th is

Today on your favorite daily news podcast, we go take a small break from updates about the Capitol Insurrection fallout to talk about the other major issue in this country: COVID. Thankfully, it's mostly good news. 

Specifically, we'll look at the early tests of the Pfizer vaccine against the new COVID mutations from the UK and South Africa, then we'll talk about the crazy decrease in flu numbers for this year and why getting the flu shot will help you in the fight against the coronavirus.

However, we also have to talk about some bad news, which pertains to Curative, a major manufacturer of COVID tests, and the accuracy of those tests.

Lastly, I will still go over some new information about the Capitol Takeover. We'll take a look at the top 20 companies who have made donations to the congressmen and women who opposed certifying the election results, how much they donated, and what they've said about supporting these seditious politicians going forward.

 

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On this episode of Quick News Daily, we're still recovering from last week's insurrection in the nation's capital. As it goes with events like this, the information comes out slowly at first, then it builds and turns into an avalanche of news. We also briefly cover how the Biden Administration will distribute the COVID vaccine versus how the Trump Administration has been managing that so far.

Find Quick News Daily on your favorite podcast platform: https://www.rebrand.ly/QuickNews

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Get caught up on all of the week's top headlines and breaking news with Quick News To Go from Quick News Daily.

On this week's show, we start off slowly on Monday and Tuesday with stories on the Wisconsin pharmacist who destroyed COVID vaccines and the UK's struggle with COVID before the week intensifies, starting with the Georgia Senate Runoff on Tuesday. We go over those results, and what they could mean for the future, before covering the failed, deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Understandably, on today’s Quick News Daily, we go over the disgusting display at the U.S. Capitol by domestic terrorists.

Sources

On this Quick News episode, we talk about the HUGE wins in the Senate runoffs in Georgia, where both Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won. We also talk about the disgraceful actions of the Pennsylvania legislature, and the equally horrid decision made by Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley in the Jacob Blake case.

Coming tomorrow: comments on the domestic terrorism at the US Capitol today. Listen to Joe Biden's speech here: https://www.quicknewsdaily.com/e/president-biden-addresses-nation-capitol-building-takeover/

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Rough Transcript:

OPEN

Today is Wednesday, January 6th, and all I can say is: wow! It's really not an exaggeration to say that the world that we woke up to yesterday morning vs. the world that we woke up to this morning are two completely different worlds. Not only did one Democrat win in Georgia, but they ended up winning both Senate runoffs, giving Democrats control of the Senate (because it'll be 50 R's and 50 D's when these two are sworn in, and VP Kamala Harris will be there to break most of the ties for Democrats). I really never expected them to win, and it's incredible when you think about what this means going forward. Let's stop beating around the bush and get right into it. 

GEORGIA

The race has already been called for Raphael Warnock over current Senator Kelly Loeffler (aka QAnon Kelly aka KKKelly for her embrace of conspiracy theories and white supremacy). They haven't called the race for Ossoff yet (as of the time of this recording), even though most of the votes are absentee votes from heavily-Democratic counties. I get that they want to be careful, but at some point, being cautious turns into being stupid and ignoring the facts of the situation. 

So, I'll give you the quick Wikipedia facts about Georgia's new Senators (and I literally am just reading off of Wikipedia, it's not like this is any great reporting). 

In the 1990s, Warnock served as the youth pastor and then assistant pastor at Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York (sorry if I'm butchering that church name). While Warnock was there, the church declined to hire workfare recipients as part of organized opposition to then-mayor Rudy Giuliani's workfare program. 

In 2005, Warnock became senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, which is Martin Luther King Jr.'s former congregation. He is the fifth and the youngest person to serve as Ebenezer's senior pastor since its founding. This says that Warnock has stated that he will continue in the post while serving in the senate, although I'm not quite sure how that'll be possible. 

 In March 2014, Warnock led a sit-in at the Georgia State Capitol to press state legislators to accept the expansion of Medicaid offered by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He and other leaders were arrested during the protest. From June 2017 to January 2020, Warnock chaired the "New Georgia Project", a nonpartisan organization focused on voter registration. 

In terms of his political positions, Warnock supports expanding the Affordable Care Act and has called for the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. He also supports increasing COVID-19-relief funding. A proponent of abortion rights and gay marriage, he has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood. He opposes the concealed carry of firearms, saying that religious leaders do not want guns in places of worship. Warnock has long opposed the death penalty, having advocated for death row inmate Troy Davis, who was executed in 2011 for killing a police officer despite evidence that supported his innocence. 

Warnock will be the first Black Democrat in history to represent a former Confederate state in the United States Senate, and the first Black senator from Georgia, period. That's not for lack of trying, it's just because that's literally how the system is designed in Georgia: so that Black citizens don't have any political power. In fact, the runoff process that Warnock just won was actua

On today's Quick News Daily Podcast, we finally learn the motive of the doctor who destroyed COVID vaccines in Wisconsin, and we have information about the lockdown imposed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Also, we go over issues you might be having when you try to track your COVID stimulus check on the irs.gov website, California Gov. Gavin Newsom floating new ideas to help distribute the COVID vaccine, and our good night on Twitter against Sen. Josh Hawley.

Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.rebrand.ly/QuickNews

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WISCONSIN DOCTOR

Well, when the news outlets confirmed that the pharmacist who intentionally damaged those COVID vaccines was, in fact, Steven Brandenburg, it didn't take long to find out his motivation behind what he did. 

According to Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol, Brandenburg "formed this belief they were unsafe." Gerol did not offer any more specific information on why Brandenburg was convinced they were harmful, but he did start to explain the problems going on in his life. He explained that the 46-year-old is in the process of divorcing his wife, and he said another Advocate Aurora Health employee reported that Brandenburg had taken a gun to work twice.

The story gets more complicated when we start to talk about what might happen to Brandenburg in terms of criminal punishment. 

Wisconsin Public Radio reports that the DA couldn't submit proof to the court that the drugs had been damaged and that therefore a crime had been committed. Gerol said that "apparently the only way they can discover that or tell us that is if they test them. It's unknown how much time that will take". There is a crime known as attempted criminal damage to property, Gerol said, and that "would be a misdemeanor and that would seem to apply at some point in time in the future."

But Brandenburg's troubles with the law don't end with the state of Wisconsin: The FBI and U.S. Food and Drug Administration are also investigating.

As for what happens with Brandenburg in the immediate future, Judge Paul Malloy set a $10,000 signature bond for Brandenburg and ordered him to surrender all his firearms to sheriff's deputies, not to leave Wisconsin, not to work in the health care field, and to have no contact with Aurora employees.

Brandenburg was released on Monday 

Brandenburg had already surrendered some weapons to police at the request of his ex-wife, said DA Gerol. Court records Brandenburg's former wife filed for divorce in June 2020. 

UK LOCKDOWN AND ASTRAZENECA

Well, it sounds like Britain is having a heck of a time with the coronavirus at the moment, whether it's related to the new strain of the virus or not.

It's gotten so bad that Prime Minister Boris Johnson reimposed measures that were in place during the first lockdown last spring, including closures of secondary and primary schools to everyone except the children of key workers and vulnerable children. I read that sentence from the CNN article so many times, and I still don't even know what that means. Why would they be sending vulnerable children to be around more kids? Do they mean vulernable to the virus, or kids with a bad home life? Someone from the UK can help me out on that. 

He also added that this means it will not be "possible or fair for all exams to go ahead this summer as normal," and alternative arrangements are being put in place. Yeah, I'm just saying, I think that's the least of their problems right now. Don't worry about the exams, man. 

People will be allowed to leave their homes for limited reasons like shopping for essentials, exercise, and medical assistance. Johnson also said people could still leave home "to escape domestic abuse", which is definitely an important thing to include (although I'd hope that if you need to flee because of domestic abuse, you wouldn't wait for the government to say you can do so. Just go!). 

International departures are now limited to those who have "a legally permitted re

On today's Quick News Daily Podcast (and the first one for this year), we talk a lot about COVID, including new guidance from the UK about "mixing and matching" and the Wisconsin pharmacist who deliberately destroyed COVID vaccines. Then, we take time to discuss Trump getting caught on tape while pressuring the Georgia Secretary of State to commit election fraud.

Find podcast platforms to listen and subscribe to Quick News Daily: https://www.rebrand.ly/QuickNews 

Part 1 of my review: https://www.podpage.com/quick-news/quick-news-reviews-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-part-1/ 

Part 2 of my review: https://www.podpage.com/quick-news/quick-news-reviews-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-part-2/ 

Full Batman v. Superman review: https://www.quicknewsdaily.com/e/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-full-review/

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Sources:⦁ https://www.citizensforethics.org/legal-action/legal-complaints/donald-sherman-testifies-gsa-transition/ ⦁ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/01/health/coronavirus-vaccines-britain.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur ⦁ https://www.npr.org/2020/12/31/952536531/pharmacist-arrested-accused-of-destroying-more-than-500-moderna-vaccine-doses ⦁ https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/health/pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine.html ⦁ https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/health/oxford-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine.html ⦁ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia-vote/2021/01/03/d45acb92-4dc4-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html