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John Oliver destroys those willing to lift COVID restrictions as anti-vaxxers begin to die
July 25, 2021
"Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver unleashed on people like Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Olympic Committee and general fools for being so eager to bring loads of people together despite the seriousness of the COVID-19 delta variant.
He began by criticizing the Olympics for bringing together thousands of people from every country of the world and thinking that they could somehow keep people safe from a deadly virus that travels through the air everyone breathes. There has been a 122 percent increase in COVID cases in the area since the Olympics began in Japan. While the Japanese people desperately attempted to get the Olympics to pause the games a little longer, they went ignored.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is another of those who arbitrarily decided that COVID was over. He announced the UK Freedom Day, in which all COVID restrictions would finally be listed. Ironically, he made the announcement from quarantine after being exposed to COVID from his own health minister. But it was his argument that Oliver took issue with: "If not now, when?"
"Oh! I can actually answer that for you," said the HBO host. "Later. Just a later time. It's so brazenly disingenuous to frame this as a choice between lifting COVID restrictions now or never doing it. If you compare it to someone saying, 'If I don't take a sh*t now, in the middle of this Apple store, when will I ever take a sh*t?' I don't know exactly, but I do feel like there are a lot of other options available that you are choosing not to consider."
Then Oliver showed the shocking footage from CBS This Morning showed a man who'd been in the hospital from COVID and managed to survive. He still has no intention to get the vaccine. His reason, he explained, was that he feels the government is trying to shove it down his throat like a ventilator tube. He called the vaccine part of the "government agenda."
"Ummm yeah," Oliver agreed. The government's agenda is to get people vaccinated and COVID's agenda, he explained, "is to f*cking kill you. To burrow into your body through your hot little mouth, f*ck around with your lungs, flip your nostrils off, make soup taste nothing like it normally does and then kill you."
The delta variant accounts for 83 percent of known U.S. Covid-19 cases. Hospital admissions are also increasing again as many have refused to get vaccinated. While some may blame southern states, it isn't exclusive to places like Alabama and Georgia. Anti-vaccine people exist everywhere and no city, town, or state is safe from a virus that continues to mutate rapidly.
As Oliver explained, the choices are "death" or "vaccine that comes with a free Krispy Kreme donut," and he suggests the latter.
See his PSA below:
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Swim coach becomes an instant meme after losing his mind watching swimmer's win over Katie Ledecky
July 25, 2021
American super-swimmer Katie Ledecky did not win the 400m free swim in the Tokyo Olympics despite her incredible talent and abilities. She was beaten by another incredible swimmer from Australia, Ariarne Titmus. But it was her coach that is getting all of the attention Sunday as videos were replayed in the United States.
"The greatest female freestyler in history had completed her first swim of these Tokyo Olympics, rolling through the 400-meter freestyle in 4:00.45," Sports Illustrated reported of the early qualifying rounds. "The next heat was the one she had her eye on, led by Australian Ariarne Titmus. Her time: 4:01.66."
"Nice," said Ledecky after being told of Titmus's time, according to the report. "It's going to be a great race tomorrow."
This is what it looked like:
THAT FINISH 😱 Ariarne Titmus knocks off Katie Ledecky and wins gold in the women’s 400m freestyle 🥇 (via… https://t.co/bm4iAaPBSA— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) 1627266747.0
Dean Boxall took the success to a whole new level, losing his mind and almost his mask as he celebrated in the stands.
As one U.S. fan said, if Ledecky had to lose, at least the world got this out of it.
See the video below and comments from the US:
https://t.co/eNpeWUUj5O— Drip Studwell (@Drip Studwell) 1627266694.0
me after watching Dune https://t.co/rK3cmnxSyC— Ricky Valero (@Ricky Valero) 1627268327.0
My pup when I say we're going to the dog park #TokyoOlympics https://t.co/M6Etamdwsk— Josh Jordan (@Josh Jordan) 1627267543.0
Me, five minutes after the first time I kissed a girl. https://t.co/mZBusxPiT2— Bradley P. Moss (@Bradley P. Moss) 1627267055.0
Me after I get out of isolation at midnight tonight. #lockdownmelbourne https://t.co/UJPWS92tYm— 🎤Jo Woods 🎧🎀 (@🎤Jo Woods 🎧🎀) 1627268309.0
me at buffalo wild wings after lattimore intercepted foles during the 2018 divisional https://t.co/LJnx65vfTt— Mitch (@Mitch) 1627268206.0
Ariarne Titmus’ coach just had the best reaction of all time to her 400-meter freestyle gold medal win over Katie L… https://t.co/rfBEcNFy7x— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1627266875.0
Congratulations to Ariarne Titmus and her coach, The Ultimate Warrior: https://t.co/cXw4zSaWty— Jamie Wall (@Jamie Wall) 1627266710.0
If Katie Ledecky had to be beat by Ariarne Titmus in the 400m free, at least we got this out of it. 😂 #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/mpfd7ONu7B— Mandi Bierly (@Mandi Bierly) 1627266757.0
Ariarne Titmus’ coach’s reaction after she won gold in the 400 metres - instantly iconic https://t.co/dIdTgC6qv0— Josh Butler (@Josh Butler) 1627267075.0
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With the massive Bootleg Fire less than half contained and having burned nearly 409,000 acres in Oregon, Democratic Gov. Kate Brown appeared on CNN Sunday to discuss current conditions in her state, the climate emergency, and what the future may look like across the U.S. West.
"The harsh reality is that we're going to see more of these wildfires," Brown told host Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."
"They're hotter, they're more fierce, and obviously much more challenging to tackle," Brown continued. "And they are a sign of the changing climate impacts."
The governor acknowledged other crises her state has endured over this past year—the Covid-19 pandemic, a regional heatwave tied to over 100 deaths in Oregon alone, ice storms in February, and historic wildfires last year for which recovery is ongoing.
"Climate change is here, it's real, and it's like a hammer hitting us in the head, and we have to take action," declared the governor, who noted her state's efforts on renewable energy and electric vehicles.
As a bootleg fire consumes more than 408,000 acres in Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown says, "The harsh reality is that we'r… https://t.co/D1HKQpJVSf— State of the Union (@State of the Union) 1627224605.0
As for shorter-term action to address raging fires, Brown told Tapper she appreciates the "strong partnership with the Biden-Harris administration," pointing to forest management efforts that not only put Oregonians to work on federal lands but also reduce the impacts of wildfires.
Her comments come as U.S. senators are working to finalize a bipartisan infrastructure deal as early as Monday and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reiterated Sunday that she won't put the bipartisan plan up for a vote "until we have the rest of the initiative," referring to the reconciliation package that Democrats intend to pass without GOP support.
"We are rooting for the infrastructure bill to pass," Pelosi told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week," referencing the bipartisan deal, "but we all know that more needs to be done if we're going to build back better."
Pressed on not holding a vote on infrastructure until the Senate passes a much larger package through reconciliatio… https://t.co/C7L1LctlGL— This Week (@This Week) 1627219886.0
A key provision that progressive climate campaigners and lawmakers want to include in the reconciliation package is a fully funded Civilian Climate Corps (CCC). Inspired by a New Deal-era program, the new initiative would put millions of Americans to work in green jobs.
Earlier this week, 84 Democrats—including Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who proposed CCC legislation in April—sent a letter (pdf) to Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) outlining what they want the program to look like.
Meanwhile, Pelosi's state is also enduring intense wildfires. The Dixie Fire, California's largest, destroyed multiple homes and properties on Saturday. By Sunday morning it was only 21% contained and had consumed over 190,000 acres.
Devastating. #DixieFire https://t.co/DjiX6IMcxE— Jessica Pash (@Jessica Pash) 1627209418.0
There are 86 active large fires that have collectively burned 1,498,205 acres across 12 Western states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Experts and policymakers continue to point to the fires as proof of the necessity of ambitious policies and actions that meet the scale of the climate emergency.
"The climate crisis is here. We're living it," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) tweeted earlier this week, as the Bootleg Fire burned through his state. "And without immediate, meaningful action, it will get so much worse than we ever could have imagined."
In about three months, world leaders will come together for a United Nations climate summit in Glasgow to discuss governments' commitments to cutting planet-heating emissions in line with the Paris agreement goals—keeping global temperature rise this century below 2°C, and preferably limiting it to 1.5°C.
⏰#DeadlineGlasgow: 100 days to go until @COP26, where government & finance leaders must take bold climate action.… https://t.co/6xhTkp1B8I— 350PDX (@350PDX) 1627060738.0
The Biden-Harris administration rejoined the Paris agreement and pledged to halve U.S. emissions by 2030, relative to 2005—but critics say that falls short of what science and justice demand, especially considering that the United States is the world's biggest historical emitter and wealthiest country.
Other rich countries are also under fire for inadequate climate commitments.
The Guardian reported Sunday that an analysis by the peer-reviewed group Paris Equity Check found that Australia, Brazil, China, and Russia all have energy policies associated with 5°C rises in atmospheric temperatures.
"The research underlines what many of us fear," said Yann Robiou du Pont, the lead researcher for the analysis. "Major economies are simply not doing enough to tackle the climate crisis and, in many cases, G20 countries are leaving us on track [for] a world of more heatwaves, flooding, and extreme weather events."
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