This 13-Percenter Says It All -- May 31, 2022

At our pool yesterday. Living the good life. And this is her attitude. 

I assume she attended a Southern Baptist church earlier Sunday morning.

Texas Elementary School Shooting -- May 26, 2022

Two things.

One: at the federal level, it's not the courts, it's the legislature that needs to repeal the 2nd amendment and they have had over 50 years to do so.

Two: these school shootings are entirely preventable. Why do 18-year-olds go to an elementary school and not to an airport? This is not rocket science. We were stationed in Turkey for two years -- that's a big country overseas -- and this would never happen in Turkey.  

Later, 2:16 p.m., May 26, 2022: the more I read about this story, the angrier and sicker I get. Some of the one-liners coming out of this story:

• apparently the shooter walked right in with no "obstruction"
• "police" were inside the entire time trying to get the "right angle" on the shooter
• "loved ones outside the school begged police to go in as shooting unfolded"
• apparently this went on for upwards of forty minutes (needs to be fact-checked)

Just walks in -- an 18-year-old carrying two rifles and no one confronts him?  

Later, 7:02 p.m. May 26, 2022: link to twitter. 

May 27, 2022: things are looking worse and worse for the first responders. The tragedy played out over 90 minutes. Ninety minutes! Give me a break. The governor of Texas defends the first responders -- cops with guns -- as not wanting to get shot at. In other words, they were using the fourth graders as shields until the shooter ran out of bullets. I've lost respect for Texas law enforcement if this is the norm. Even the NYFD ran up the stairs in a skyscraper that was on fire. 

May 27, 2022: at least nineteen fourth-graders killed and two teachers killed, and not one
cop with a gun was even injured. Speak volumes. Not one hero among the two dozen or so first responders. 

May 27, 2022: it turns out a teacher propped a door open -- through which the shooter entered the school. There's only one reason for a teacher to prop open the door: for personal use. And there's only one reason I can think of why a teacher would need an "outside" door for a personal reason: to get a "smoke." Later, May 31, 2022, now they are reporting the door was unlocked, but not propped open. We may need to get definition of "propped open." But if unlocked, who unlocked it? Certainly not the janitor.

May 27, 2022: it turns out there were at least two cops with guns -- one or more outside the school and one or more inside the school -- when the shooter arrived on campus and before the shooter entered the school. The shooter began shooting at the school before he entered the school. Later: there are now reports that the cop with a gun that was supposed to be inside the school was actually in his car driving somewhere. Why was he not in school?

May 27, 2022: the tactical (SWAT) team arrived much earlier than originally reported. The tactical team may have arrived between 12:00 and 12: 10. The shooter entered the school around 11:30 and walked quite a distance in the school without being approached by any school official.

May 27, 2022: the Uvulde school district had not implemented the simplest of "barrier" rules. Lock all doors once class starts.

May 27, 2022: Governor Abbot is circling the wagons in support of law enforcement. He is clearly wrong. The Ulvalde school district, the Uvalde law enforcement department, the Uvalde school police officer (s), the teacher, need to be held independently responsible and responsible as entities in criminal and civil suits. If Governor Abbot does not make such a clear-cut statement by June 1, 2022, I will support any individual who runs against Abbott, including Beto. 

May 27, 2022: Imagine, using fourth graders as shields until the shooter ran out of bullets. I've lost respect for Texas law enforcement if this is the norm. Even the NYFD ran up the stairs in a skyscraper that was on fire. At least nineteen fourth-graders killed and two teachers killed, and not one Texas cop with a gun was even injured. Speak volumes. Not one hero among the two dozen or so first responders. How many NYFD personnel died "that" day?

May 26, 2022: kids made multiple 9-11 phone calls. The cops did not respond. 

May 27, 2022: I'm with AOC and the progressives on this one. It's time for the US Supreme Court to re-write, re-interpret the Second Amendment, the US Constitution. From the home page for SCOTUS, the opening paragraph:

"EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW"-These words, written above the main entrance to the Supreme Court Building, express the ultimate responsibility of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court is the highest tribunal in the Nation for all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution or the laws of the United States. As the final arbiter of the law, the Court is charged with ensuring the American people the promise of equal justice under law and, thereby, also functions as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution.

Those nineteen+ kids and two teachers will never receive "equal justice under the law."

May 27, 2022: there are so many solutions to the law. AR-15s. Anyone who wants one can have one. But they must be maintained at a state-run or federally-run armory. When checked out, they can only be used for target practice, etc., at regulated, licensed shooting range. The armory will be responsible for transporting the AR-15 to and from the shooting range. 

May 27, 2022: Governor Abbott knows he is in trouble. Says he is livid. Says he was lied to. Let's him say who is criminally responsible and criminally liable for this.

May 27, 2022: Governor Abbott needs to be voted out of office. Even if that means a Beto governorship. He won't name names. He says "misled," not "lied to," and the list goes on. If Beto can't unseat Abbott after this one, it means that no sitting Republican governor will ever be defeated. Abbott was more concerned about "protecting" his police unions than seeking the truth or focusing on the survivors and families. Talk about misplaced concerns.

May 27, 2022: I’ve had enough of Abbott. And I'm done with Trump. Actually I was done with Trump on / about January 30, 2021. This is the best Fox News could say about Trump:

Former President Donald Trump Friday took a dig at politicians who didn't show up to the NRA's convention in Houston, after multiple speakers canceled appearances at the event, held days after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

May 28, 2022: Simply out of respect, the NRA could have postponed, if not canceled completely, its annual convention. 

May 28, 2022: on his eighteenth birthday, he buys two AR-15s and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Background check and no one asked why?

May 28, 2022: I was wrong earlier -- there was one hero that day (and two teachers who tried protecting their students). Link here.

May 28, 2022: not one cop was injured. They all waited to run in until after the shooter had run out of ammunition.

May 28, 2022: yes, I've had enough of both Cruz and Trump. I hope Texas goes blue. Link here.

May 30, 2022: showed her true colors, NRA more important than babies -- South Daktoa governor Noem has time to attend NRA convention but not pay respects to nineteen babies and two wonderful teachers. 

May 30, 2022: apparently the official time duration is 78 minutes. I know the police had to make split-second decisions. Now we know that they had 78 minutes in which to make those split decisions. Time for names to be named. I expected Trump and Cruz to act the way they did; I'm most disappointed in Noem.

May 31, 2022: Pete Arredondo has most likely "lawyered up." The Uvalde school district police chief has reportedly not responded to Texas Rangers in two days for a follow-up interview.

June 2, 2022: Daniel Defense goes into hiding. Forbes. Pulled out of NRA convention.

June 2, 2022: Daniel Defense goes into hiding. CBS News. 

June 4, 2022: At the first meeting of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) board since the deadly mass shooting, members took no action against school police chief Pete Arredondo. This is beyond belief. Nineteen fourth-graders used as shields and no accountability. 

June 7, 2022: Uvalde changes everything. I now self-identify as a Beto supporter. I am so tired (for lack of a better word) of Trump, Abbott, Cruz, DeSantis, et al. 

June 11, 2022: Uvalde is a wedge issue for me. The second amendment needs to be repealed. Link here. I'm so done with Trump, Cruz, Noem, et al.

June 14, 2022: why would 27 DEMS vote against increased security for US Supreme Court judges?

June 14, 2022: reply to those who e-mailed regarding gun control --

After Uvalde, everything changed for me.

These were fourth graders texting for help.

Law enforcement did nothing.

My Sophia is a third grader.  

Second amendment needs to be repealed.

June 21, 2022:

• investigation testimony now being reported:
• the police initially reported the classroom door was locked; they couldn't get in;
• they "waited" for the janitor to arrive with "the key"
• now, it's being reported the door was never locked; no key needed; law enforcement apparently didn't even try to enter;
• need to hear janitor's testimony
• Uvalde authorities won't allow testimony to be heard live
  

June 22, 2022:

• chief of police put on administrative leave
• to see the timeline explains it all
• I won't be supporting Governor Abbott in his re-election bid; Beto has my vote if it comes down to Abbott vs Beto

July 17, 2022: it simply gets worse and worse. Shame, shame, shame.

Monkeypox -- May 21, 2022

Stocks mentioned, action May 20, 2022:

• Emergent BioSolutions Inc (EBS): up 12%; up $4; trading at $36
• Chimerix, Inc (CMRX): up 7%, then up 13% after-hours; trading at $2.35 at the close; after-hours, $2.65.
• Bavarian Nordic A/S (BVNRY): up 4%; up 40 cents; trading at $11.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them.

As monkeypox quickly spreads, a handful of biotechs spring into action, May 20, 2022. Link here.

Emergent Biosolutions’ stock jumped more than 10% on Friday, four days after the company plumped down $225 million for the rights to Chimerix’s smallpox vaccine. Chimerix’s stock was up more than 3.8% on Friday. And Bavarian Nordic $BVNRY — which closed a $119 million deal with BARDA to provide the US government with freeze-dried doses of the Jynneos vaccine — was up nearly 2.5%. 

FDA approves first live, non-replicating vaccine to prevent smallpox and monkeypox, September 24, 2019. Link here. 

Emergent to buy Sanofi smallpox vaccine and take on CDC contract, July 18, 2017. Link here.

Smallpox vaccine, what you need to know, New York Health, April, 2003.

Scientific American, March 3, 2003. Link here.

There are two types of smallpox vaccine that would be administered in the event of an outbreak in the U.S. Both vaccines use the same strain of vaccinia virus, the so-called New York Board of Health strain, and they differ only in the way they are prepared. The old Dryvax vaccine, made in the 1970s by Wyeth Laboratories, was made by purifying vaccinia virus obtained from pustules removed from deliberately infected cows. The vaccine currently produced by Acambis-Baxter Laboratories is made using modern tissue-culture methods: the vaccinia is grown in cells in a laboratory and then purified.