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<title>24 January, 2024</title>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Evaluation of the cross reactivity of neutralising antibody response in vaccinated human and convalescent hamster sera against SARS-CoV-2 variants up to and including JN.1 using an authentic virus neutralisation assay</strong> -
<div>
New vaccines, therapeutics and immunity elicited by natural infection create evolutionary pressure on SARS-CoV-2 to evolve and adapt to evade vaccine-induced and infection-elicited immunity. Vaccine and therapeutics developers thus find themselves in an “arms race” with the virus. The ongoing assessment of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants remains essential as the global community transitions from an emergency response to a long-term management plan. Here, we describe how an authentic virus neutralisation assay using low passage clinical virus isolates has been employed to monitor resistance of emerging virus variants to neutralising antibodies from humans and experimentally infected hamsters. Sera and plasma from people who received three doses of a vaccine as well as those who received a bivalent booster were assessed against SARS-CoV-2 variants, up to and including JN.1. Contemporary or recent virus variants showed substantial resistance to neutralisation by antibodies from those who had received three doses of an ancestral vaccine but were still effectively neutralised by antibodies from individuals who had received a bivalent booster (ancestral/BA.1). In our recent studies, however, the JN.1 VOI was found to be significantly more resistant to neutralisation by antibodies from those who had received the ancestral/BA.1 bivalent boost. Convalescent sera from hamsters that had been experimentally infected with one of seven virus variants (ancestral, BA.1, BA.4, BA.5.2.1, XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, XBB.2.3) were also tested here. The recent contemporary variant, BA.2.86, was effectively neutralised by sera from hamsters infected with XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.16 but it was not neutralised by sera from those infected with BA.5.2.1. These data support the recommendations given by the WHO that a new vaccine was required and should consist of an XBB sub-lineage antigen.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.21.563398v2" target="_blank">Evaluation of the cross reactivity of neutralising antibody response in vaccinated human and convalescent hamster sera against SARS-CoV-2 variants up to and including JN.1 using an authentic virus neutralisation assay</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Comparing frequency of booster vaccination to prevent severe COVID-19 by risk group in the United States</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
There is a public health need to understand how different frequencies of COVID-19 booster vaccines may mitigate the risk of severe COVID-19, while accounting for waning of protection and differential risk by age and immune status. By analyzing United States COVID-19 surveillance and seroprevalence data in a microsimulation model, here we show that more frequent COVID-19 booster vaccination (every 6-12 months) in older age groups and the immunocompromised population would effectively reduce the burden of severe COVID-19, while frequent boosters in the younger population may only provide modest benefit against severe disease. In persons 75+ years, the model estimated that annual boosters would reduce absolute annual risk of severe COVID-19 by 199 (uncertainty interval: 188-229) cases per 100,000 persons, compared to a one-time booster dose. In contrast, for persons 18-49 years, the model estimated that annual boosters would reduce this risk by 14 (11-19) cases per 100,000 persons. Those with prior infection had lower benefit of more frequent boosting, and immunocompromised persons had larger benefit. Scenarios with emerging variants with immune evasion increased the benefit of more frequent variant-targeted boosters. This study underscores the benefit of considering key risk factors to inform frequency of COVID-19 booster vaccines in public health guidance and ensuring at least annual boosters in high-risk populations.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.10.23292473v4" target="_blank">Comparing frequency of booster vaccination to prevent severe COVID-19 by risk group in the United States</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Migraine inhibitor olcegepant reduces weight loss and IL-6 release in SARS-CoV-2 infected older mice with neurological signs</strong> -
<div>
COVID-19 can result in neurological symptoms such as fever, headache, dizziness, and nausea. However, neurological signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been hardly assessed in mouse models. Here, we infected two commonly used wildtype mice lines (C57BL/6 and 129S) with mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 and demonstrated neurological signs including motion-related dizziness. We then evaluated whether the Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist, olcegepant, used in migraine treatment could mitigate acute neuroinflammatory and neurological responses to SARS-COV-2 infection. We infected wildtype C57BL/6J and 129/SvEv mice, and a 129 CGRP-null mouse line with a mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 virus, and evaluated the effect of CGRP receptor antagonism on the outcome of that infection. First, we determined that CGRP receptor antagonism provided protection from permanent weight loss in older (&gt;12 m) C57BL/6J and 129 SvEv mice. We also observed acute fever and motion-induced dizziness in all older mice, regardless of treatment. However, in both wildtype mouse lines, CGRP antagonism reduced acute interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels by half, with virtually no IL-6 release in mice lacking CGRP. These findings suggest that migraine inhibitors such as those blocking CGRP signaling protect against acute IL-6 release and subsequent inflammatory events after SARS-CoV-2 infection, which may have repercussions for related pandemic and/or endemic coronaviruses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.23.563669v5" target="_blank">Migraine inhibitor olcegepant reduces weight loss and IL-6 release in SARS-CoV-2 infected older mice with neurological signs</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SOX9-regulated matrix proteins predict poor outcomes in patients with COVID-19 and pulmonary fibrosis</strong> -
<div>
Pulmonary fibrosis is an increasing and major cause of death worldwide. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of lung fibrosis may lead to urgently needed diagnostic and prognostic strategies for the disease. SOX9 is a core transcription factor that has been associated with fibrotic disease, however its role and regulation in acute lung injury and/or fibrosis have not been fully defined. In this study we apply a hypothesis based approach to uncover unique SOX9-protein signatures associated with both acute lung injury and fibrotic progression. Using in vivo models of lung injury in the presence or absence of SOX9, our study shows SOX9 is essential to the damage associated response of alveolar epithelial cells from an early time-point in lung injury. In parallel, as disease progresses, SOX9 is responsible for regulating tissue damaging ECM production from pro-fibrotic fibroblasts. In determining the in vivo role of SOX9 we identified secreted ECM components downstream of SOX9 as markers of acute lung injury and fibrosis. To underscore the translational potential of our SOX9-regulated markers, we analysed serum samples from acute COVID19, post COVID19 and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patient cohorts. Our hypothesis driven SOX9-panels showed significant capability in all cohorts at identifying patients who had poor disease outcomes. This study shows that SOX9 is functionally critical to disease in acute lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis and its regulated pathways have diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic potential in both COVID19 and IPF disease.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.21.576509v1" target="_blank">SOX9-regulated matrix proteins predict poor outcomes in patients with COVID-19 and pulmonary fibrosis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Policy makers believe money motivates more than it does</strong> -
<div>
To motivate contributions to public goods, should policy makers employ financial incentives like taxes, fines, subsidies, and rewards? While these are widely considered as the classic policy approach, a substantial academic literature suggests the impact of financial incentives is not always positive; they can sometimes fail or even backfire. To test whether policy makers are overly bullish about financial incentives, we asked county heads, mayors, and municipal government representatives of medium-to-large towns in Germany to predict the effects of a financial incentive on COVID-19 vaccination, and tested the exact same incentive in a field experiment involving all 41,548 inhabitants (clustered in 10,032 addresses) of the German town of Ravensburg. Whereas policy makers overwhelmingly predict that the financial incentive will increase vaccination—by 15.3 percentage points on average—the same financial incentive yielded a precisely estimated null effect on vaccination. We discuss when financial incentives are most likely to fail, and conclude that it is critical to educate policy makers on the potential pitfalls of employing financial incentives to promote contributions to public goods.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/jq28n/" target="_blank">Policy makers believe money motivates more than it does</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2 arises from serological recall of IgG antibodies distinctly imprinted by infection or vaccination</strong> -
<div>
We used plasma IgG proteomics to study the molecular composition and temporal durability of polyclonal IgG antibodies triggered by ancestral SARS-CoV-2 infection, vaccination, or their combination ("hybrid immunity"). Infection, whether primary or post-vaccination, mainly triggered an anti-spike antibody response to the S2 domain, while vaccination predominantly induced anti-RBD antibodies. Immunological imprinting persisted after a secondary (hybrid) exposure, with &gt;60% of the ensuing serological response originating from the initial antibodies generated during the first exposure. We highlight one instance where hybrid immunity arising from breakthrough infection resulted in a marked increase in the breadth and affinity of a highly abundant vaccination-elicited plasma IgG antibody, SC27. With an intrinsic binding affinity surpassing a theoretical maximum (KD &lt; 5 pM), SC27 demonstrated potent neutralization of various SARS-CoV-2 variants and SARS-like zoonotic viruses (IC50 ~0.1-1.75 nM) and provided robust protection in vivo. Cryo-EM structural analysis unveiled that SC27 binds to the RBD class 1/4 epitope, with both VH and VL significantly contributing to the binding interface. These findings suggest that exceptionally broad and potent antibodies can be prevalent in plasma and can largely dictate the nature of serological neutralization.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.22.576742v1" target="_blank">Hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2 arises from serological recall of IgG antibodies distinctly imprinted by infection or vaccination</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Biophysical principles predict fitness of SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 employs its spike protein’s receptor binding domain (RBD) to enter host cells. The RBD is constantly subjected to immune responses, while requiring efficient binding to host cell receptors for successful infection. However, our understanding of how RBD’s biophysical properties contribute to SARS-CoV-2’s epidemiological fitness remains largely incomplete. Through a comprehensive approach, comprising large-scale sequence analysis of SARS-CoV-2 variants and the discovery of a fitness function based on binding thermodynamics, we unravel the relationship between the biophysical properties of RBD variants and their contribution to viral fitness. We developed a biophysical model that uses statistical mechanics to map the molecular phenotype space, characterized by binding constants of RBD to ACE2, LY-CoV016, LY-CoV555, REGN10987, and S309, onto a epistatic fitness landscape. We validate our findings through experimentally measured and machine learning (ML) estimated binding affinities, coupled with infectivity data derived from population-level sequencing. Our analysis reveals that this model effectively predicts the fitness of novel RBD variants and can account for the epistatic interactions among mutations, including explaining the later reversal of Q493R. Our study sheds light on the impact of specific mutations on viral fitness and delivers a tool for predicting the future epidemiological trajectory of previously unseen or emerging low frequency variants. These insights offer not only greater understanding of viral evolution but also potentially aid in guiding public health decisions in the battle against COVID-19 and future pandemics.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.23.549087v3" target="_blank">Biophysical principles predict fitness of SARS-CoV-2 variants</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Cytoarchitecture of SARS-CoV-2 infected hamster lungs by X-ray phase contrast tomography: imaging workflow and classification for drug testing</strong> -
<div>
X-ray Phase Contrast Tomography (XPCT) based on wavefield propagation has been established as a high resolution three-dimensional (3D) imaging modality, suitable to reconstruct the intricate structure of soft tissues, and the corresponding pathological alterations. However, for biomedical research, more is needed than 3D visualisation and rendering of the cytoarchitecture in a few selected cases. First, the throughput needs to be increased to cover a statistically relevant number of samples. Second, the cytoarchitecture has to be quantified in terms of morphometric parameters, independent of visual impression. Third, dimensionality reduction and classification are required for identification of effects and interpretation of results. In this work, we present a workflow implemented at a laboratory CT setup, using semi-automated data acquisition, reconstruction and statistical quantification of lung tissue in an early screen of Covid-19 drug candidates. Different drugs were tested in a hamster model after SARS-CoV-2 infection. To make full use of the recorded high-throughput XPCT data, we then used morphometric parameter determination followed by a dimensionality reduction and classification based on optimal transport. This approach allows efficient discrimination between physiological and pathological lung structure, thereby providing invaluable insights into the pathological progression and partial recovery due to drug treatment.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.21.576083v1" target="_blank">Cytoarchitecture of SARS-CoV-2 infected hamster lungs by X-ray phase contrast tomography: imaging workflow and classification for drug testing</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Pooled evidence precision of clinical trials on hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 treatment was stabilized eight months after the outbreak.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
OBJECTIVE At the beginning of 2020, hydroxychloroquine showed promising in vitro activity for Covid-19 and several studies were oriented to assess its safety and efficacy. However, after a few months, hydroxychloroquine has proved ineffective. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) developed quickly and in different settings represent the scientific community capacity to assess drug repositioning effectiveness during a sanitary crisis. Therefore, a critical evaluation of the evidence generated can guide future efforts in analogous situations. We aimed to analyze the RCTs assessing the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in treating Covid-19, describe their internal validity and power, and evaluate their contribution to the precision of the combined evidence for assessing the mortality outcome. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTINGS This meta-research included RCTs assessing hydroxychloroquine to treat patients diagnosed with Covid-19. It was part of an umbrella systematic review of methods/meta-research (PROSPERO: CRD42022360331) that included a comprehensive search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and the Latin America Database - Lilacs. We retrieved studies published until January 10th, 2022. The risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) 2.0. We analyzed methodology of the studies, precision and random error change through time from pooled evidence, study comparators, patient important outcome, power in different magnitude of effects proxy. RESULTS A total of 22 RCT were included, from that 17 (77%) assessed hospitalized patients and five (23%) outpatients setting. Mortality was related as primary endpoint in only four studies, however half of the studies included composite endpoints including mortality as a component. The internal validity analysis using RoB2 found that eight studies (36%) had a high risk of bias. Only one study had sufficient power to evaluate a moderate magnitude of effect (RR = 0,7 on mortality). The standard error to evaluate efficacy on mortality did not change appreciably after October 2020. From Oct 2020 to Dec 2021, 18 additional studies were published with 2,429 patients recruited. CONCLUSION This meta-research highlights the impact that collaborative, and network scientific research have on informing clinical decision-making. Duplicate efforts create research waste as precision analysis shows that after October 2020, there was not appreciably changes in the precision of the pooled RCT evidence to estimate the hydroxychloroquine effect on mortality.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.21.24301572v1" target="_blank">Pooled evidence precision of clinical trials on hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 treatment was stabilized eight months after the outbreak.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Pandemic-Related Post-traumatic Stress Symptomatology in COVID-19 Patients with and without Post-COVID Conditions</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Trauma and stressor-related symptoms have been frequently reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies compare post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) between patients and non-infected controls. Using data from an ongoing natural history study of COVID-19, this study compared PTSS between patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the first year of the pandemic and controls. Within the COVID-19 patient cohort, we also compared PTSS between patients with and without post-COVID conditions, also known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). This study also examined the association of PTSS with trait resilience and prior trauma exposure. PTSS were assessed using the Impact of Event Scaled-Revised (IES-R), which has a validated probable PTSD cutoff (score ≥33). The results showed that patients (n=131) reported significantly higher IES-R scores than controls (n=82) and had significantly higher odds of having scores indicative of PTSD [AOR: 4.17 p: 0.029]. IES-R scores among PASC patients (n=68) were significantly elevated compared to patients without PASC (n=63) and PASC patients did not have higher odds for probable PTSD [AOR: 2.60; p: 0.14]. Trait resilience was associated with lower PTSS. These findings help characterize the mental health impact of the COVID-19 illness experience and highlight elevated PTSS in patients with persistent post-COVID conditions.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.21.24301574v1" target="_blank">Pandemic-Related Post-traumatic Stress Symptomatology in COVID-19 Patients with and without Post-COVID Conditions</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Routes of importation and spatial dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 variants during localised interventions in Chile</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
South America suffered large SARS-CoV-2 epidemics between 2020 and 2022 caused by multiple variants of interest and concern, some causing substantial morbidity and mortality. However, their transmission dynamics are poorly characterised. The epidemic situation in Chile enables us to investigate differences in the distribution and spread of variants Alpha, Gamma, Lambda, Mu and Delta. Chile implemented non-pharmaceutical interventions and an integrated genomic and epidemiological surveillance system that included airport and community surveillance to track SARS-CoV-2 variants. Here we combine viral genomic data and anonymised human mobility data from mobile phones to characterise the routes of importation of different variants into Chile, the relative contributions of airport-based importations to viral diversity versus land border crossings and test the impact of the mobility network on the diffusion of viral lineages within the country. We find that Alpha, Lambda and Mu were identified in Chile via airport surveillance six, four and five weeks ahead of their detection via community surveillance, respectively. Further, some variants that originated in South America were imported into Chile via land rather than international air travel, most notably Gamma. Different variants exhibited similar trends of viral dissemination throughout the country following their importation, and we show that the mobility network predicts the time of arrival of imported lineages to different Chilean comunas. Higher stringency of local NPIs was also associated with fewer domestic viral importations. Our results show how genomic surveillance combined with high resolution mobility data can help predict the multi-scale geographic expansion of emerging infectious diseases.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.18.24301504v1" target="_blank">Routes of importation and spatial dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 variants during localised interventions in Chile</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Monitoring Report: Respiratory Viruses - December 2023 Data</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Few sources regularly monitor hospitalizations associated with respiratory viruses. This study provides current hospitalization trends associated with six common respiratory viruses: COVID-19, influenza, human metapneumovirus (HMPV), parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and rhinovirus. Objective: This study aims to supplement the surveillance data provided by the CDC by describing trends overall and for each respiratory virus. This study also provides valuable insight into two at-risk populations: infants and children (age 0-4) and older adults (age 65 and over). Methods: Using a subset of real-world electronic health record (EHR) data from Truveta, a growing collective of health systems that provide more than 18% of all daily clinical care in the USA consortium of US healthcare systems, we identified people who were hospitalized between October 01, 2019 and December 31, 2023. We identified people who tested positive for any of the six respiratory virus within 14 days of the hospitalization. We report weekly trends in the rate of hospitalizations associated with each virus per all hospitalizations for the overall population and the two high-risk sub populations, infants and children and older adults. Results: We included 502,484 hospitalizations of 471,401 unique patients who tested positive for a respiratory virus between October 01, 2019 and December 31, 2023. Overall, the rate of hospitalizations associated with respiratory viruses continue to increase through the end of December 2023 (92.8% increase since November 2023). The largest increases over the past month have been seen in influenza- (251.7% increase), HMPV- (115.0% increase), and COVID-associated (88.6% increase) hospitalizations. For infants and children, RSV accounted for the most respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations, despite decreases throughout December 2023. In this population, COVID-associated hospitalizations had the biggest increase in the last month. For the older adult population, respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations increased to 10.3% per all hospitalizations. COVID remained the largest contributor; 5.3% of all hospitalizations were associated with COVID in the older adult population. Discussion: Respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations continued to increase overall, including for the two high risk populations we studied. RSV-associated hospitalizations continue to be the main contributor to illness in infants and children, while COVID-associated hospitalizations are the largest contributor for the older adult population. We will continue to monitor trends in all respiratory viruses.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.20.24301528v1" target="_blank">Monitoring Report: Respiratory Viruses - December 2023 Data</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Impact of Vaccination Rates and Gross Domestic Product on COVID-19 Pandemic Mortality Across United States</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Objective: To investigate the relationship between vaccination rates and excess mortality during distinct waves of SARS-CoV-2 variant-specific infections, while considering a state9s GDP per capita. Methods: We ranked U.S. states by vaccination rates and GDP and employed the CDC9s excess mortality model for regression and odds ratio analysis. Results: Regression analysis reveals that both vaccination and GDP are significant factors related to mortality when considering the entire U.S. population. Notably, in wealthier states (with GDP above $65,000), excess mortality is primarily driven by slow vaccination rates, while in less affluent states, low GDP plays a major role. Odds ratio analysis demonstrates an almost twofold increase in mortality linked to the Delta and Omicron BA.1 virus variants in states with the slowest vaccination rates compared to those with the fastest (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.7-1.9, p &lt; 0.01). However, this gap disappeared in the post-Omicron BA.1 period. Conclusion: The interplay between slow vaccination and low GDP per capita drives high mortality.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.21.24301582v1" target="_blank">Impact of Vaccination Rates and Gross Domestic Product on COVID-19 Pandemic Mortality Across United States</a>
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<li><strong>Effect of Paxlovid Treatment on Long COVID Onset: An EHR-Based Target Trial Emulation from N3C</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Preventing and treating post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), commonly known as Long COVID, has become a public health priority. In this study, we examined whether treatment with Paxlovid in the acute phase of COVID-19 helps prevent the onset of PASC. We used electronic health records from the National Covid Cohort Collaborative (N3C) to define a cohort of 426,461 patients who had COVID-19 since April 1, 2022, and were eligible for Paxlovid treatment due to risk for progression to severe COVID-19. We used the target trial emulation (TTE) framework to estimate the effect of Paxlovid treatment on PASC incidence. Our primary outcome measure was a PASC computable phenotype. Secondary outcomes were the onset of novel cognitive, fatigue, and respiratory symptoms in the post-acute period. Paxlovid treatment did not have a significant effect on overall PASC incidence (relative risk [RR] = 0.99, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.96-1.01). However, its effect varied across the cognitive (RR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.79-0.90), fatigue (RR = 0.93, 95% CI 0.89-0.96), and respiratory (RR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.95-1.02) symptom clusters, suggesting that Paxlovid treatment may help prevent post-acute cognitive and fatigue symptoms more than others.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.20.24301525v1" target="_blank">Effect of Paxlovid Treatment on Long COVID Onset: An EHR-Based Target Trial Emulation from N3C</a>
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<li><strong>Fitness models provide accurate short-term forecasts of SARS-CoV-2 variant frequency</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Genomic surveillance of pathogen evolution is essential for public health response, treatment strategies, and vaccine development. In the context of SARS-COV-2, multi- ple models have been developed including Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR) de- scribing variant frequency growth as well as Fixed Growth Advantage (FGA), Growth Advantage Random Walk (GARW) and Piantham parameterizations describing vari- ant Rt. These models provide estimates of variant fitness and can be used to forecast changes in variant frequency. We introduce a framework for evaluating real-time fore- casts of variant frequencies, and apply this framework to the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 during 2022 in which multiple new viral variants emerged and rapidly spread through the population. We compare models across representative countries with different intensities of genomic surveillance. Retrospective assessment of model accuracy high- lights that most models of variant frequency perform well and are able to produce reasonable forecasts. We find that the simple MLR model provides ∼0.6% median ab- solute error and ∼6% mean absolute error when forecasting 30 days out for countries with robust genomic surveillance. We investigate impacts of sequence quantity and quality across countries on forecast accuracy and conduct systematic downsampling to identify that 1000 sequences per week is fully sufficient for accurate short-term fore- casts. We conclude that fitness models represent a useful prognostic tool for short-term evolutionary forecasting.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.30.23299240v3" target="_blank">Fitness models provide accurate short-term forecasts of SARS-CoV-2 variant frequency</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Beneficial Effects of Natural Products on Management of Xerostomia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Xerostomia; Diabetes Mellitus; Hypertension; Post COVID-19 Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: (Manuka honey-green tea- ginger) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: British University In Egypt <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Eficacia Ventilatoria y Remolacha</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS CoV 2 Infection; Muscle Disorder; Fatigue <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Dietary Supplement: Remolacha <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Hospital de Mataró <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Diet and Fasting for Long COVID</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long Covid19; Long COVID <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Low sugar diet and 10-12 hour eating window; Other: Low sugar diet, 8 hour eating window and fasting <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Effectiveness of a Health Promotion Program for Older People With Post-Covid-19 Sarcopenia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post COVID-19 Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Protein powder and Resistance exercise <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Mahidol University; National Health Security Office, Thailand <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Treatment of Persistent Post-Covid-19 Smell and Taste Disorders</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-covid-19 Persistent Smell and Taste Disorders <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Cerebrolysin; Other: olfactory and gustatory trainings <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Sherifa Ahmed Hamed <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chronic-disease Self-management Program in Patients Living With Long-COVID in Puerto Rico</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long Covid19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: “Tomando control de su salud” (Spanish Chronic Disease Self-Management) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Puerto Rico; National Institutes of Health (NIH) <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evealuate Safety and Immunogenicity of TI-0010 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Healthy Adults</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; COVID-19 Immunisation <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: TI-0010; Biological: Placebo <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: National Drug Clinical Trial Institute of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College; Therorna <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sodium Citrate in Smell Retraining for People With Post-COVID-19 Olfactory Dysfunction</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long Haul COVID-19; Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome; Anosmia; Olfaction Disorders <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Sodium Citrate; Drug: Normal Saline; Other: Olfactory Training Kit - “The Olfactory Kit, by AdvancedRx” <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Phase II, Double Blind, Randomized Trial of CX-4945 in Viral Community Acquired Pneumonia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Community-acquired Pneumonia; SARS-CoV-2 -Associated Pneumonia; Influenza With Pneumonia <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: CX-4945 (SARS-CoV-2 domain); Drug: Placebo (SARS-CoV-2 domain); Drug: CX-4945 (Influenza virus domain); Drug: Placebo (Influenza virus domain) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Senhwa Biosciences, Inc. <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Edge AI-deployed DIGItal Twins for PREDICTing Disease Progression and Need for Early Intervention in Infectious and Cardiovascular Diseases Beyond COVID-19 - Investigation of Biomarkers in Dermal Interstitial Fluid</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Heart Failure <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: Use of the PELSA System for dISF extraction <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Charite University, Berlin, Germany <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Identification of amentoflavone as a potent SARS-CoV-2 M<sup>pro</sup> inhibitor: a combination of computational studies and in vitro biological evaluation</strong> - Small-molecule inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 M^(pro) that block the active site pocket of the viral main protease have been considered potential therapeutics for the development of drugs against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we report the identification of amentoflavone (a biflavonoid) through docking-based virtual screening of a library comprised of 231 compounds consisting of flavonoids and isoflavonoids. The docking results were further substantiated through extensive analysis of the data obtained from…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Molecular dynamics simulation study on the binding mechanism between carbon nanotubes and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase</strong> - Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have potential prospects in disease treatment, so it is of great significance to study CNTs as the possible inhibitors of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Through the way of using the RdRp of SARS-COV-2 as a model, five armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) (namely Dn, which stands for CNTs (n, m = n), n = 3-7) and RdRp have been selected to study the interactions by means of molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation. After five SWCNT-RdRp complex…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A novel film spray containing curcumin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus infection and enhances mucosal immunity</strong> - CONCLUSION: Film spray containing curcumin possesses multiple actions against SARS-CoV-2 infection by inhibiting ACE-2 binding in target cells and enhancing mucosal innate immunity. The film spray can also inhibit influenza virus infection. Therefore, the curcumin film spray may be effective in preventing the viral infection of both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A basally active cGAS-STING pathway limits SARS-CoV-2 replication in a subset of ACE2 positive airway cell models</strong> - Host factors that define the cellular tropism of SARS-CoV-2 beyond the cognate ACE2 receptor are poorly defined. From a screen of human airway derived cell lines that express varying levels of ACE2/TMPRSS2, we found a subset that express comparably high endogenous levels of ACE2 but surprisingly did not support SARS-CoV-2 replication. Here we report that this resistance is mediated by a basally active cGAS-STING pathway culminating in interferon (IFN)-mediated restriction of SARS-CoV-2…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Innate Immune Activation and Mitochondrial ROS Invoke Persistent Cardiac Conduction System Dysfunction after COVID-19</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that long term dysfunction and immune cell remodeling of the CCS is induced by COVID-19, arising indirectly from oxidative stress and excessive activation of cardiac innate immune responses during infection, with implications for long COVID Syndrome.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Impact of leisure satisfaction on perceived risk of infectious disease during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from new worker classes</strong> - CONCLUSION: This study verified the risk factors that inhibit leisure satisfaction among new worker classes that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the psychological health of people suffering pandemic-related financial constraints was affected, as they experienced a lower quality of life owing to reduced leisure activities and satisfaction.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Anti-PD-L1 therapy altered inflammation but not survival in a lethal murine hepatitis virus-1 pneumonia model</strong> - INTRODUCTION: Because prior immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy in cancer patients presenting with COVID-19 may affect outcomes, we investigated the beta-coronavirus, murine hepatitis virus (MHV)-1, in a lethal pneumonia model in the absence (Study 1) or presence of prior programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) antibody (PD-L1mAb) treatment (Study 2).</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Generation of SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor binding domain mutants and functional screening for immune evaders using a novel lentivirus-based system</strong> - The emergence of rapid and continuous mutations of severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike glycoprotein that increased with the Omicron variant points out the necessity to anticipate such mutations for conceiving specific and adaptable therapies to avoid another pandemic. The crucial target for the antibody treatment and vaccine design is the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike. It is also the site where the virus has shown its high ability to mutate and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Development of an Oral Solution Containing Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir and Assessment of Its Pharmacokinetics and Stability</strong> - Paxlovid^(®), a co-packaged medication comprised of separate tablets containing two active ingredients, nirmatrelvir (NRV) and ritonavir (RTV), exhibits good effectiveness against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the size of the NRV/RTV tablets makes them difficult for some patients to swallow, especially the elderly and those with dysphagia. Therefore, an oral liquid formulation that can overcome this shortcoming and improve patient compliance is required. In this study, we…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Retinoic Acid-Mediated Inhibition of Mouse Coronavirus Replication Is Dependent on IRF3 and CaMKK</strong> - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the shortfalls in our understanding of how to treat coronavirus infections. With almost 7 million case fatalities of COVID-19 globally, the catalog of FDA-approved antiviral therapeutics is limited compared to other medications, such as antibiotics. All-trans retinoic acid (RA), or activated vitamin A, has been studied as a potential therapeutic against coronavirus infection because of its antiviral properties. Due to its impact on different signaling…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Performance Analysis of Serodiagnostic Tests to Characterize the Incline and Decline of the Individual Humoral Immune Response in COVID-19 Patients: Impact on Diagnostic Management</strong> - Serodiagnostic tests for antibody detection to estimate the immunoprotective status regarding SARS-CoV-2 support diagnostic management. This study aimed to investigate the performance of serological assays for COVID-19 and elaborate on test-specific characteristics. Sequential samples (n = 636) of four panels (acute COVID-19, convalescent COVID-19 (partly vaccinated post-infection), pre-pandemic, and cross-reactive) were tested for IgG by indirect immunofluorescence test (IIFT) and EUROIMMUN…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AC-73 and Syrosingopine Inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Entry into Megakaryocytes by Targeting CD147 and MCT4</strong> - Coagulation disorders are described in COVID-19 and long COVID patients. In particular, SARS-CoV-2 infection in megakaryocytes, which are precursors of platelets involved in thrombotic events in COVID-19, long COVID and, in rare cases, in vaccinated individuals, requires further investigation, particularly with the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants. CD147, involved in the regulation of inflammation and required to fight virus infection, can facilitate SARS-CoV-2 entry into megakaryocytes….</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Transcriptome Analysis of LLC-PK Cells Single or Coinfected with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus and Porcine Deltacoronavirus</strong> - Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) are the two most prevalent swine enteric coronaviruses worldwide. They commonly cause natural coinfections, which worsen as the disease progresses and cause increased mortality in piglets. To better understand the transcriptomic changes after PEDV and PDCoV coinfection, we compared LLC porcine kidney (LLC-PK) cells infected with PEDV and/or PDCoV and evaluated the differential expression of genes by transcriptomic…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Structural Basis for the Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 M<sup>pro</sup> D48N Mutant by Shikonin and PF-07321332</strong> - Preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants is crucial in the fight against COVID-19. Inhibition of the main protease (M^(pro)) of SARS-CoV-2 is the key to disrupting viral replication, making M^(pro) a promising target for therapy. PF-07321332 and shikonin have been identified as effective broad-spectrum inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 M^(pro). The crystal structures of SARS-CoV-2 M^(pro) bound to PF-07321332 and shikonin have been resolved in previous studies. However, the exact mechanism…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Susceptibility and Resistance of SARS-CoV-2 Variants to LCB1 and Its Multivalent Derivatives</strong> - LCB1 is a computationally designed three-helix miniprotein that precisely targets the spike (S) receptor-binding motif (RBM) of SARS-CoV-2, exhibiting remarkable antiviral efficacy; however, emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants could substantially compromise its neutralization effectiveness. In this study, we constructed two multivalent LCB1 fusion proteins termed LCB1T and LCB1T-Fc, and characterized their potency in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus and authentic virus in vitro. In the inhibition of…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Dilemma of Gaza’s Christians</strong> - In the wake of two deaths at Holy Family Catholic Church, Palestinian Christians are weighing the costs of speaking out against the Israeli government. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-dilemma-of-gazas-christians">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sofia Coppola’s Path to Filming Gilded Adolescence</strong> - There are few Hollywood families in which one famous director has spawned another. Coppola says, “It’s not easy for anyone in this business, even though it looks easy for me.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/sofia-coppola-profile">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How to Eat a Tire in a Year, by David Sedaris</strong> - Walking and talking with my friend Dawn. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/how-to-eat-a-tire-in-a-year-david-sedaris">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rules for the Ruling Class</strong> - How to thrive in the power élite—while declaring it your enemy. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/rules-for-the-ruling-class">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Woman Who Spent Five Hundred Days in a Cave</strong> - Beatriz Flamini liked to be alone so much that she decided to live underground—and pursue a world record. The experience was gruelling and surreal. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/the-woman-who-spent-five-hundred-days-in-a-cave">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Fans have officially infiltrated Bravo. Is that a good thing?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Whitney Rose, Meredith Marks, Monica Garcia, Andy Cohen, Heather Gay, Lisa Barlow, and Angie Katsanevas standing on set." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/staR0VZA6RNA7wx01I3dgNsEZco=/167x0:2834x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73080597/GettyImages_1898120999.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
It’s becoming harder to ignore social media on “Housewives” — and it makes for irresistible drama. | Cllifton Prescod/Bravo via Getty
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Reality Von Tease bombshell on SLC points to a Bravo fan-pocalypse.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CwpoY5">
Earlier this month, <em>The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City</em> hit a major milestone in iconic-ness. During its highly anticipated season four finale — the series’ <a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/the-real-housewives-salt-lake-city-season-4-finale-ratings-1235867014/">highest-rated episode</a> since its premiere in 2020 — fan favorite Heather Gay outed new cast member Monica Garcia as one of the users behind the <a href="https://www.vox.com/instagram-news">Instagram</a> troll account <a href="https://www.instagram.com/realityvontease2/?hl=en"><span class="citation" data-cites="realityvontease2">@realityvontease2</span></a>, which had been targeting the women on the show for years.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kAc6t6">
Like a scene straight out of <em>Big Little Lies,</em> Gay delivered this bombshell to her fellow original castmates, Whitney Rose, Lisa Barlow, and Meredith Marks — all dressed in gowns on a windy beach in Bermuda. Later in the episode, the<em> Bad Mormon</em> author performed an Oscar-worthy rant that’s since been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vUXBZJaPxc">quoted by an actual Oscar winner</a> and a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/11/democratic-lawmaker-rhoslc-hunter-biden-donald-trump/72196262007/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAnd%20what%20do%20we%20have,the%20show's%20recent%20season%20finale.">member of Congress</a>. (Gay also claimed that former castmate and convicted felon Jen Shah was responsible for her <a href="https://people.com/rhoslc-recap-jen-shah-gave-heather-gay-black-eye-season-4-finale-8421152">mysterious black eye</a> last season.) Social media, increasingly accustomed to <a href="https://screenrant.com/real-housewives-beverly-hills-season-9-puppygate-story/">leaks</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/timeline-the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills-aspen-drama-2022-10">spoilers</a>, had no idea these revelations were coming.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cHTNNL">
Overall, Garcia’s unmasking made for an excellent hour of <a href="https://www.vox.com/tv">television</a> — and likely will be lauded as the funniest reunion the franchise has ever seen.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="48aYBg">
At the same time, <em>RHOSLC</em>’s finale underscored a prominent issue that looms over Bravo in the age of social media: A crucial separation between reality shows and their fan bases has been lost. Audiences have more access to their favorite — and least favorite — reality stars than ever before, through podcasts, through fan events, through a constant drip-drip-drip of leaks from tea accounts on social media. Now a stan has stirred up their own drama as a cast member of a show. What happens to <a href="https://www.vox.com/reality-tv">reality TV</a> as a genre when it becomes this penetrable?
</p>
<h3 id="LwwEb1">
<strong>The fourth wall on Bravo has been obliterated for a while now</strong>
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cVlsq8">
The rise of social media has given reality TV audiences a great deal of power over the past decade. In the Bravo <a href="https://www.vox.com/internet-culture">fandom</a>, viewers spend an ungodly amount of time on Instagram and on X, the site formerly known as <a href="https://www.vox.com/twitter">Twitter</a>, analyzing storylines <a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/i4z9ZuMCUgGoT3Le8">like Charlie Day</a> in that one <em>It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia</em> GIF. As a result, fans have also become an integral part of the shows they fervently post about.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FoPFu0">
On the <em>Real Housewives </em>franchise and other flagship programs, like <em>Vanderpump Rules</em>, you can expect a fair amount of drama to involve the masses of (usually angry or incessantly curious) fans on the internet. As the women have become more and more famous, it’s become harder to ignore the outside noise that’s affected their lives and, occasionally, made for some irresistible drama. In fact, several storylines involving social media chatter are playing out right now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EqB5jh">
On <em>The Real Housewives of Potomac</em>, Robyn Dixon is currently upset with Candiace Dillard Bassett for “weaponizing” social media against her after she hid <a href="https://people.com/rhop-season-8-premiere-recap-robyn-dixon-blasts-juan-dixon-affair-rumors-8384798">a scandal involving her husband</a>, Juan Dixon, during last season’s filming. Meanwhile, on the <em>Miami </em>franchise<em>,</em> viewers are being forced to watch Larsa Pippen and new beau Marcus Jordan, son of NBA legend Michael Jordan, poorly record a podcast, <em>Separation Anxiety</em>, in response to <a href="https://people.com/larsa-pippen-traumatized-michael-jordan-comments-relationship-marcus-jordans-7559518">online criticism</a> of their relationship. (Pippen is 16 years older than Jordan and famously the ex-wife of Michael Jordan’s teammate and former friend Scottie Pippen.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fevcYS">
Over on<em> Beverly Hills</em>, Kyle Richards seems to be getting pleasure out of indulging in <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@upandadamlive/video/7309208699749272862">TikTok</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@stephwithdadeets/video/7251288618692562222">theories</a> about her romantic life — mainly speculation about whether she’s dating a queer country singer almost half her age.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yBN8XP">
Wit social media commentary so often proving too juicy to ignore on Bravo, it’s no wonder the internet has become a supporting character in these franchises, the way New York City is the “fifth character” on <em>Sex and the City</em>. Still, these storylines rarely make for a compelling narrative, simply because viewers know what to expect because they’ve witnessed it on their timelines. Plus, the execution is usually underwhelming. (Look at the past five seasons of <em>RHOBH </em>if you need proof.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IB5RYO">
Bravo has found ways to use social media to its advantage, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/3/7/23629293/vanderpump-rules-tom-sandoval-cheating-raquel-leviss-scandoval">frenzy around “Scandoval”</a> being a primary example. Still, the outsized role of social media has made the existence of a fourth wall increasingly harder to manage.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RLns7S">
It’s especially difficult with the media apparatus that surrounds Bravo: press, blogs, podcasts, DeuxMoi, and fan and troll accounts dedicated to dissecting every editing choice and exposing behind-the-scenes tea. If a <em>Real Housewives</em> or <em>Vanderpump Rules</em> star wants to do PR after a rough season, they’ll go to a podcast or even create their own to share the “real” side of the story.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ck6koy">
What’s more interesting, though, is how social media users have learned to engage with Bravo because their the network has indulged their reactions. Fans aren’t just commenting on the ridiculous antics or vexing cast members they watch on a weekly basis. In many cases, it seems like they want to participate in the production of the show itself. Monica Garcia’s entry onto <em>RHOSLC</em> is the most extreme example of this.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GX203q">
While working as an assistant to Shah, Garcia began exposing the now-felon’s abusive behavior toward her employees and other cruel comments about the cast through posts on <span class="citation" data-cites="realityvontease2">@realityvontease2</span>, which were discussed on the show. Her reporting jumped up a level when she became a witness in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jen-shah-sentenced-to-78-months-in-prison-for-fraud-2023-1">FBI case against Shah</a>, detailing her boss’s wire fraud to the feds. Soon after, she became a cast member on the Bravo show herself.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ApffZb">
Part of this phenomenon is Bravo’s own doing. The cable brand — delivering entertainment “<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/real-housewives-bravo-stars-thrive-cable-downturn-1235648008/">for the people</a>” — has encouraged fan involvement by featuring shady audience questions at reunions and during <em>Watch What Happens Live, </em>the late-night talk show where Bravo mastermind Andy Cohen and guests break down the network’s goings-on multiple nights a week. On that show, producers also poll viewers about whose side they’re on in a <em>Housewives</em> feud or which <em>Summer House </em>member they think is the hottest. And at BravoCon, the network’s annual convention, fans can speak directly to their favorite or most loathed Bravolebrities, often creating <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@devotedly.yours/video/7298154989917097259?lang=en">viral moments</a> in the process.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EJn88d">
But in recent years, Bravo lovers (and reality-TV fans in general) have also used their collective voices to challenge executive decision-making and the shows’ casts. Fans have pressured cast members to <a href="https://people.com/kyle-richards-wanted-to-shock-with-dating-women-comment-regrets-putting-spotlight-on-morgan-wade-8425399">address their relationships</a>, <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/rhony-erin-lichy-explains-trump-stop-the-steal-donation-1235683632/">who they voted for in 2016</a>, and their <a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/01/25/jennie-nguyen-fired-from-rhoslc-after-controversial-posts-surface/">posts on Facebook</a>. In the most severe cases, fan outcry has resulted in <a href="https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/stassi-schroeder-kristen-doute-fired-vanderpump-rules-1234629172/">several</a> <a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/01/25/jennie-nguyen-fired-from-rhoslc-after-controversial-posts-surface/">firings</a> (although the overlords at Bravo probably wouldn’t admit to that).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KY0Pcm">
“We’ve seen a lot of successful mobilization on the internet for good and legitimate causes,” Joan Summers, gossip reporter and co-host of the <em>Eating for Free</em> podcast, tells me.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mZag69">
“I think what Bravo fans have realized with social media is that you can control the story now. You can produce from your home the show that you want to see, whether that is trying to whip up people to get cast members fired or trying to double down on stories,” she said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dUPN93">
To be clear, this isn’t so much an observation about “cancel culture” or a “mob mentality” that exists within the fanbase — anyone who’s been fired from Bravo for some offensive wrongdoing has typically deserved to be fired. Rather, it’s fascinating to see how fans have learned to infiltrate and alter this particular medium to their liking. Instead of sitting back and enjoying the chaos as it comes to them, viewers have come to treat reality TV as an interactive format, gamifying the nature of these network-sponsored parasocial relationships.
</p>
<h3 id="j9tI8b">
<strong>Monica’s fourth-wall moment made good TV, but how long can audiences stay entertained?</strong>
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MXmRs4">
In the case of <em>RHOSLC</em>, Garcia’s social media storyline was genuinely fascinating to observe. For one, there was a refreshing element of surprise. In a rare feat, none of the cast members ran to the press beforehand. Bravo also went above and beyond to make sure the revelation didn’t leak, even <a href="https://www.accessonline.com/articles/whitney-rose-reveals-why-rhoslc-wont-have-a-panel-at-2023-bravocon-exclusive">axing the cast’s panel</a> at BravoCon this year to ensure no one would spill the beans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RdyELM">
Kara Berry, host of the <em>Everyone’s Business but Mine</em> podcast, also credits Garcia for being an enthralling, complex character outside of the revelation that she was just one of the avid stan accounts we scrolled by on our feeds every day.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mBfYnN">
“Without the Reality Von Tease reveal, Monica still would have had a stand-out season,” she says. “She was bright, scrappy, willing to admit things like sleeping with her brother-in-law, and had a relationship with a mother that is <em>Salt Lake</em>’s answer to <em>Mommy Dearest</em>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zbGWxK">
The revelation in the finale was also a testament to good production and Gay’s oratory skills. It’s typical online hyperbole to call a Bravo monologue “award-worthy.” But Gay’s performance was so convincing that it didn’t matter whether she spent an hour in her bathroom getting the timing of “Receipts! Proof! Timeline!” just right. And once it was clear this would be an iconic moment, the rest of the women rose to the occasion.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5t3yam">
At the reunion, it was equally amusing watching Gay and the rest of the cast’s performance be exposed as just that — a performance. In trying to condemn Garcia for her dishonesty and fakeness, the women only underscored the increasingly artificial world of reality TV they all play in. Even host Andy Cohen admitted that there was technically “nothing wrong” with Garcia plotting her way onto the show.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gq9thX">
Yes, Garcia has proven to be untrustworthy. But over the course of four seasons, these Housewives have shown themselves to be one of the most calculated and strategic casts on Bravo, often using the gossip mill to their advantage. This was highlighted during the discussion about Gay’s black eye: Cohen gently scolded her for all the deception tactics she used — including suggesting producers harmed her — to conceal Shah as her alleged assailant. By the end of the reunion, Garcia didn’t look <em>so</em> terrible compared to some of her peers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XFzuhu">
Going forward, it’s hard not to see Bravo continuing in this bizarre, meta direction. And I can’t say I won’t oblige. First and foremost, though, it has to be exciting TV.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5udWKS">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Pjp4HM">
</p></li>
<li><strong>Hawaii’s out-of-control, totally bizarre fight over stray cats</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A battered-looking stray cat lying down in a bare field." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Nv-ipatcYCHo6ZsWKeAF8W2CpVI=/381x0:2664x1712/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73080541/9U3A2122.0.png"/>
<figcaption>
Benji Jones/Vox
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Stray cats harm wildlife. Should we kill them?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xuroYW">
On a warm day last spring, dozens of protesters gathered outside a shopping center on the west side of Hawaii’s Big Island. They weren’t there to boycott a store or a pipeline or to deride a politician. They came to revolt against a new ban on feeding cats in the parking lot. “Stop starving the cats,” the protesters chanted, according to a <a href="https://bigislandnow.com/2023/04/18/protest-at-big-island-shopping-center-over-state-ordered-removal-of-cat-feeding-stations/">local newspaper</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dpzJIQ">
The lot outside Queens Marketplace, the shopping center, is home to one of the island’s many colonies of stray, or free-ranging, cats. While there are no formal estimates, experts guess that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of these colonies across Hawaii, each comprising anywhere from a few to more than a hundred felines. Hawaii is, to put it simply, teeming with cats.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SCmZtQ">
These furry strays are descended from, or are themselves, abandoned pet cats, though they’re not really abandoned. Most of them have at least one “colony manager,” a term you’ll hear in Hawaii and elsewhere for locals who provide groups of free-ranging cats with food, water, and even medical care. Sometimes colony managers (or their friends) will also build feeding stations, like the one pictured below. These are self-described do-gooders, common across the Hawaiian islands, who feed cats that don’t live with them.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bMoNCEUgvtB-apDEZB11IWO2pUc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25241969/IMG_1102.JPG"/> <cite>Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources</cite>
<figcaption>
Free-ranging cats lounge in the shade at a feeding station at the Queens Marketplace shopping center.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1ZmpVT">
Caring for stray cats sounds pretty harmless — sweet, even. What makes it so contentious in Hawaii and in many other parts of the world is that outdoor cats, which are not native to Hawaii, kill local birds and can sicken humans and other animals. Kibble fuels their deadly outings. Researchers <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380?WT.mc_id=FBK_NCOMMS#abstract">estimate</a> that free-ranging cats kill between 1.3 and 4 billion birds each year in the continental US. This number doesn’t even include Hawaii, where there are, according to <a href="https://www.mauiforestbirds.org/invasive-small-mammals-on-maui-cats/">various</a> <a href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2016/10/69-percent-of-voters-want-feral-cats-removed-from-hawaii/">estimates</a>, at least tens of thousands of cats — and <a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2023/12/14/23990382/extinction-capital-hawaii-endangered-species-act">more endangered species than any other state</a>. In Hawaii, many bird species are on the edge of extinction.
</p>
<aside id="u4DiD6">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SsaCZr">
That’s why Hawaii’s wildlife agency <a href="https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/blog/2023/04/13/nr23-67/">decided to ban cat feeding</a> outside the shopping center last year (the state still allows feeding stray cats in most other areas on the islands, <a href="https://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/12/22/hawaii-news/ige-signs-rules-banning-feeding-feral-cats-at-harbors/#:~:text=The%20new%20rules%20prohibit%20anyone,sharks%2C%20turtles%20and%20other%20creatures.">except at boat harbors</a>). During the protest, <a href="https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/blog/2023/04/19/nr23-72/">two women were cited</a> by state officers for putting bowls of cat food on the ground. The food was not only drawing in cats but attracting a federally threatened goose, known as the nēnē. The geese — which are the state bird of Hawaii and protected by federal law — were eating<strong> </strong>the cat food, exposing them to disease, predation by cats, and potential car collisions, the state said.
</p>
<div class="c-float-left">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VgEUR7QJ92AFBhOfYtVXtrdmkBc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25241971/IMG_1104.JPG"/> <cite>Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources</cite>
<figcaption>
A nēnē sits in the shade next to a feeding station.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q8rSkM">
“We are lovers of all animals but have a responsibility to protect our native species first and foremost,” Raymond McGuire, a state wildlife biologist, said in a <a href="https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/blog/2023/04/13/nr23-67/">statement</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6li1Kb">
The protest at Queens Marketplace inflamed a longstanding tension in Hawaii between cat advocates and ecologists. The advocates want to keep feeding the islands’ colonies, and they blame ecologists for putting the lives of one animal over another. Ecologists, meanwhile, say that is exactly what cat lovers are doing by propagating colonies: When you protect cats, more native species die by their hands (or rather, fangs).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bg6Xz4">
Ultimately, cats are not the problem. It’s the humans who dump them on the street.
</p>
<h3 id="fbixo4">
How deadly is a cat?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FtHjdl">
Hawaii, like many islands, is a paradise for non-native species. The weather is warm and, at least historically, the state had a large number of native animals that evolved without predators, leaving them largely defenseless and easy to eat.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gVF1rS">
When cats arrived in the <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.179">1700s</a> — on European ships, where they were likely used to kill mice and rats — they had plenty to eat. Their numbers ballooned. When Mark Twain visited Honolulu in 1866, stray cats were already abundant. As he wrote in the Sacramento Union<em> </em>at the time, he saw “tame cats, wild cats, singed cats, individual cats, groups of cats, platoons of cats, companies of cats, regiments of cats, armies of cats, multitudes of cats, millions of cats.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nAzQIM">
<a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1111&amp;context=usgspubs#:~:text=Domestic%20cats%20(Felis%20catus)%20were,ships%20during%20the%20long%20voyages.">Not long after</a>, it became clear that cats are good at killing things. Although they often seem lazy at home, luxuriating on the couch and only occasionally springing for a shoelace or Ping-Pong ball, house cats are highly skilled predators outdoors. One cat can kill <a href="https://abcbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CatPredation2011.pdf">a hundred or more</a> animals in a single year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qTlzoS">
State officials in Hawaii <a href="https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/invasive-species-profiles/feral-cats/#:~:text=Feral%20Cats%20are%20wild%2Dliving,to%20Hawai'i%20by%20Europeans.">warn</a> that these animals are “devastating” to native wildlife, preying on everything from small native forest birds to waterfowl. Cats have almost certainly also <a href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/06/why-the-pandemic-made-it-harder-to-protect-birds-from-hawaiis-feral-cats/">contributed</a> to the extinction of birds in the state, helping turn Hawaii into the “<a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2023/12/14/23990382/extinction-capital-hawaii-endangered-species-act">extinction capital of the world</a>.”
</p>
<div>
<div class="c-image-grid">
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OEPkBkBsjUrJTO5mtiwXZT44upQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25241996/Cat_killing__A_o_A_Raine__2_.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of André Raine</cite>
<figcaption>
A free-ranging cat with a seabird in its mouth.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7tjpVoJXcvjdMWOsLAJ9BcqO9IU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25241999/Cat_killing__ua_u_A_Raine__2_.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of André Raine</cite>
<figcaption>
These shots were captured on cameras placed inside the burrows of seabirds in Kauai.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OvvonL">
André Raine, a seabird expert, has seen the damage that free-ranging cats can do. Much of his work is in remote seabird colonies in Kauai, which are home to the federally endangered ua’u (Hawaiian petrel) and federally threatened a’o (Newell’s shearwater). The birds nest in the ground, making them highly vulnerable to prowling strays. And while a number of other invasive species like rats will eat bird eggs and chicks, cats kill the adults, too, Raine said. That’s much more damaging to the colonies since only a portion of seabirds survive to adulthood even without feline predation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D3QjjK">
“[Cats] are an apex predator,” said Raine, who lives on Kauai, where he’s the science director at the ecological consulting firm Archipelago Research and Conservation. “In areas where you’ve got lots of birds, it’s like ringing a dinner bell. They’re cuing in on scent and sound. The cats are like, ‘Oh, here is a hole in the ground with a meal inside.’”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GunJJP">
A video he shared with Vox, below, shows a free-ranging cat killing an a’o chick and then returning to the burrow to kill its parent, according to Raine. (Warning: This video is somewhat gruesome.)
</p>
<div id="6t7AxH">
<div class="volume-video" id="volume-placement-386">
</div>
<div class="caption">
Courtesy of André Raine
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="178Qqd">
Jordan Lerma, a conservation researcher and native Hawaiian, has also come across nēnē with “obvious signs” that they’ve been attacked by a cat, he told Vox. Strays likely kill nēnē chicks more than adults, he said, though these kills are hard to document because cats typically don’t leave a carcass behind.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y93JzI">
Beyond directly killing things, <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.179">many</a> stray cats in Hawaii (and elsewhere) carry a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, which can cause the disease toxoplasmosis. The parasite only reproduces in cats, but it can infect warm-blooded animals, sometimes proving fatal in wildlife. Toxo has killed <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/outreach-materials/cat-borne-threat-monk-seals#:~:text=Hawaiian%20monk%20seals%20and%20toxoplasmosis%E2%80%94infographic%20and%20frequently%20asked%20questions.&amp;text=Toxoplasmosis%20is%20one%20of%20the,almost%20always%20lethal%20for%20them.">at least a dozen</a> federally endangered Hawaiian monk seals, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The parasite has also been linked to the death of several bird species and even spinner dolphins, <a href="https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/news/resolution-19-2-keeping-cats-indoors-using-peer-reviewed-science/">according to</a> the state.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H299pY">
Then there’s this whole question of how toxoplasmosis affects human behavior — an area of research that, at times, sounds like science fiction. Some scientists suspect, based on their read of animal and some human studies, that the parasite may alter human minds to make us less fearful of cats. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26859275/">One study</a> found that chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, lost their aversion to the urine of leopards, the apes’ main non-human predator, if they were infected by the parasite. Other research has linked toxoplasmosis to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41537-022-00292-2#:~:text=Toxoplasma%20gondii%20is%20a%20neuroinvasive,a%20higher%20prevalence%20in%20schizophrenia.">cognitive decline</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29068607/">schizophrenia</a>, and other behavioral disorders in humans.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1aq9YFUk3x28GO8C54nNE7gsf9o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25242030/9U3A1388.png"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
A nēnē, Hawaii’s state bird, standing in an agricultural field in Kauai.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VKz5Ee">
Leaning on this evidence, some ecologists in Hawaii suggest that people who manage cat colonies — who refuse to stop feeding cats — are infected by toxo, which makes them irrationally invested in caring for these animals. This claim remains untested. Colony managers say they just love cats.
</p>
<h3 id="JtIdrX">
The great cat divide
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KEp2Nt">
Free-ranging cats can do serious damage to native wildlife. That’s not controversial. The debate heats up when you start asking what to do about them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kZQ4ZE">
Many <a href="https://www.vox.com/animal-welfare">animal welfare</a> advocates want to keep feeding them. They claim that, by giving these cats kibble, they’ll have full bellies and be less likely to wander around, hunting down native species, entering buildings, and digging through trash. “They’re less likely to be a problem if you feed them,” said Debbie Cravatta, who runs the KARES pet adoption agency on the Big Island. “Starvation is not the answer.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bIkjod">
In an effort to rein in cat populations — which people like Cravatta very much want to do; she doesn’t want a world full of outdoor cats — these groups also tend to support a management approach called trap, neuter, return, or TNR. This practice essentially involves fixing stray cats and then putting them back outside, where they’ll no longer be able to breed.<strong> </strong>Feeding stations make it much easier to trap cats. And with enough TNR, the outdoor cat populations should eventually dwindle, these groups say.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6tzjZY">
The only reason this hasn’t worked yet, they say, is that there aren’t enough affordable spay and neuter services. “We could be fixing more cats if we had more resources,” said Malia Wisch, a designer in Oahu who works with Pōpoki Place, a nonprofit cat advocacy organization. “Supply [of spay and neuter services] does not meet current demand.”
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A black cat sitting on blacktop." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IcGrZYnzSHFWplXXa8Znq0cXrmU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25242022/9U3A2127.png"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
A free-ranging cat in a colony on the Big Island.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ow43kB">
Conservation scientists say that many of these claims are, in a word, bogus. Fed cats <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.3737">still hunt</a>, said Raine, who has a pet cat himself. While <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31896-0">some research</a> suggests that feeding cats food that is higher in meat may reduce the number of wild animals they kill, these animals are instinctive hunters. What’s more is that even if the cat colonies are in urban or suburban areas, they can still do damage to threatened species. That’s the thing about Hawaii: Endangered species are everywhere, not only in reserves but in parking lots and golf courses. What feeding does, ecologists told me, is help sustain these colonies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3SuYPi">
TNR, meanwhile, is largely ineffective, according to Christopher Lepczyk, an ecologist at Auburn University who’s one of the world’s top experts on free-ranging cats. Unless the cat population is fenced in, restricting migration, TNR typically fails to shrink colonies over the long term, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-022-02888-2">research by him and others shows</a>. Plus, outdoor cats tend to have a poor quality of life and live far shorter lives than indoor felines, according to <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.13018">additional studies</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YkHHOg">
For these and other reasons, some animal welfare groups, including PETA, don’t support TNR. “Having witnessed firsthand the gruesome things that can happen to feral cats, we cannot in good conscience advocate trapping and releasing as a humane way to deal with overpopulation,” PETA <a href="https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/what-is-petas-stance-on-programs-that-advocate-trapping-spaying-and-neutering-and-releasing-feral-cats/">states</a>. “Then there’s the inconvenient truth that TNR doesn’t even work. On the contrary, it actually encourages <em>more</em> people to abandon their cats because they think the animals will be cared for.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3fNtzN">
Lepczyk and other scientists say that effective control requires a mix of approaches: more adoption, enclosed sanctuaries, and, yes, euthanasia. “If you remove euthanasia from your toolbox, you’re not really going to solve anything,” he said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0ZexhP">
What’s frustrating, Lepczyk said, is that this reality often doesn’t reach colony managers. Understandably, they don’t want to kill cats. Understandably, it’s harder to choose to kill animals — especially pet-like animals — than to let them live, even if they’re unwell.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ctEx4G">
No one actually wants to kill cats, Raine said. Yet, he added, choosing not to kill cats is akin to choosing to kill native species.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<div id="0rvh33">
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h3 id="dHfQjm">
The human problem behind the cat problem
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tsvFIh">
In the weeks after the feeding ban at Queens Marketplace, cat advocates still found ways to feed the animals, Cravatta said. They’d go shopping, she said, and quietly dump kibble from their cars as they pulled out of the parking lot. Many of the resident cats have since been trapped, fixed, and relocated, <a href="https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/14/hawaii-news/despite-efforts-feral-cats-still-roam-waikoloa-queens-marketplace/">according to</a> the Tribune-Herald, but a number of them remain.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kijhvX">
The state’s cat crisis is a tough problem with equally tough solutions. It mirrors similar tensions between animal welfare advocates and conservationists the world over. In the West, for example, these two camps have been sparring for decades over what to do with free-ranging horses, which are technically nonnative. It seems impossible to make both groups happy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1tHG9D">
In Hawaii, cat advocates are still pissed at ecologists, accusing them of vilifying cats and fueling <a href="https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/07/18/police-searching-suspect-after-pregnant-cat-shot-by-pellet-gun-haleiwa/">violence</a> toward them. Ecologists are annoyed with colony managers for carelessly pushing native species closer to extinction. Meanwhile, both cats and wildlife continue to suffer.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Cats in a vacant lot, seen through a chainlink fence." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xU66MBuEwdV_jk_jjN-22dJXKBk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25242039/GettyImages_894545968.jpg"/> <cite>Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A colony of free-ranging cats in Maui.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0LXQhZ">
There is, however, a solution that everyone seems to agree on: Get people to stop dumping their pet<strong> </strong>cats on the street. It’s these actions that created the problem in the first place, and they continue to undermine control efforts today, be they TNR or euthanasia. Even if vets spay or euthanize free-ranging cats, more will still get dropped off outdoors.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d69nma">
In some cases, people can’t afford to spay or neuter their pets. Free services are hard to come by in Hawaii. And if you pay out of pocket, you could be charged as much as $300 per cat, Cravatta said, due in part to a vet shortage.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ndZQLd">
One simple solution, she said, is for the state government to make it easier for licensed vets from other states to practice in Hawaii; vets from the mainland could, for example, come to Hawaii for a few months on vacation and help out pet owners. (As it <a href="https://hawaiivetmed.org/for-veterinarians/hawaii-licensure/#:~:text=Veterinarians%20Already%20Licensed%20in%20Another%20U.S.%20State&amp;text=Submit%20a%20%E2%80%9CVerification%20of%20License,directly%20to%20the%20Hawaii%20Board.">stands today</a>, vets from other states have to take a licensing exam or work under the supervision of a vet licensed to practice in Hawaii.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ejkBRq">
More fundamentally, Lepczyk said, is that many people — in Hawaii but really everywhere — simply don’t understand the responsibility of owning a pet, whether it’s a cat, a dog, or an iguana. Fixing cats may be especially costly in Hawaii, but pet ownership is always expensive and full of unexpected costs. “It’s not your right to have a pet,” Lepczyk said. “It’s a privilege.”
</p></li>
<li><strong>A new Supreme Court case threatens to take away your right to protest</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RR7kT-H8GC9sW3BrZH3Ytf5bL6c=/309x0:3577x2451/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73080461/545751904.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Baton Rouge police rush a crowd of protesters and start making arrests on July 9, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. | Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Fifth Circuit has spent years harassing a civil rights activist, and they gutted much of the First Amendment in the process.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dSb1X5">
A renegade federal appeals court — one <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/27/23496264/supreme-court-fifth-circuit-trump-court-immigration-housing-sexual-harrassment">dominated by MAGA-aligned judges</a> who routinely read the law in ways that even the current, very conservative <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus">Supreme Court</a> finds untenable — has spent the last half-decade <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/6/21/23766954/first-amendment-protest-supreme-court-fifth-circuit-deray-mckesson-doe">harassing DeRay Mckesson</a>, a prominent civil rights activist and an organizer within the <a href="https://www.vox.com/race">Black Lives Matter</a> movement
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2AvxvE">
As part of this crusade, two of the Fifth Circuit’s judges effectively eliminated the First Amendment right to organize a protest in a case known as <a href="https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV4.pdf"><em>Doe v. Mckesson</em></a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EPYnHc">
Mckesson’s case has already been up to the Supreme Court once, and the justices strongly hinted in a 2020 opinion that the Fifth Circuit’s attacks on Mckesson’s First Amendment rights should end — labeling this case “<a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/mckesson-v-doe.pdf">fraught with implications for First Amendment rights</a>.” But the Fifth Circuit did not take the hint, issuing a new opinion last July <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/6/21/23766954/first-amendment-protest-supreme-court-fifth-circuit-deray-mckesson-doe">reaffirming its attack on First Amendment-protected political protests</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yk0oGj">
Now the case is before the Supreme Court again, and Mckesson’s lawyers want the justices to <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-373/284271/20231005143924647_Mckesson%20v%20Doe%20Petition%20for%20a%20Writ%20of%20Certiorari.pdf">restore the First Amendment as fast as they possibly can</a>.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/m_tog3dnywU0yHU61dlzEsqMWRc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25235348/1200262920.jpg"/> <cite>JC Olivera/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson accepts the Best Political Podcast award for <em>Pod Save the People</em> onstage during the 2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards at iHeartRadio Theater on January 17, 2020, in Burbank, California.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PvYt1Y">
In 2016, Mckesson helped organize a protest near Baton Rouge’s police department building, following the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/7/6/12105380/alton-sterling-police-shooting-baton-rouge-louisiana">fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling</a> in that same Louisiana city. At some point during that protest, an unknown individual threw a rock or some other hard object at a police officer, identified in court documents by the pseudonym “Officer John Doe.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wffb21">
Sadly, the object hit Doe and allegedly caused “<a href="https://casetext.com/case/doe-v-mckesson-7">injuries to his teeth, jaw, brain, and head</a>, along with other compensable losses.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pbr9nI">
There is no excuse for throwing a rock at another human being, and whoever did so should be held responsible for their illegal act, including serious criminal charges. But even Judge Jennifer Elrod, the author of the Fifth Circuit’s most recent opinion targeting Mckesson, admits that “<a href="https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV4.pdf">it is clear that Mckesson did not throw the heavy object that injured Doe</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AFhP3M">
Nevertheless, Doe sued Mckesson, claiming that, as the organizer of the protest where this injury occurred, Mckesson should be liable for the illegal action of an unidentified protest attendee. But that is simply not how the First Amendment works. The Supreme Court held in <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/458/886.html"><em>NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware</em></a> (1982) that “civil liability may not be imposed merely because an individual belonged to a group, some members of which committed acts of violence.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ymsbQr">
It should be obvious why protest leaders must not be held legally responsible for the actions of random protest attendees. No one will ever organize a political protest if they know that they could face financially devastating liability if a reckless or violent individual happens to show up.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DP35eT">
Indeed, as Judge Don Willett, a Fifth Circuit judge who dissented from Elrod’s opinion, pointed out, Elrod’s approach could potentially force protest organizers to pay for “<a href="https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV4.pdf">the unlawful acts of counter-protesters and agitators</a>” who show up for the very purpose of undermining the protest organizer’s political goals. Under Elrod’s opinion, Mckesson could be held liable if the unknown rock-thrower turns out to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan who showed up for the very purpose of undermining the Black Lives Matter movement by associating them with violence.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u9tJbM">
In their petition to the Supreme Court, Mckesson’s attorneys make an audacious ask claiming that Elrod’s “decision is so ‘flatly contrary to this Court’s controlling precedent’ to be <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-373/284271/20231005143924647_Mckesson%20v%20Doe%20Petition%20for%20a%20Writ%20of%20Certiorari.pdf">appropriate for summary reversal</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xRiAvd">
A “summary reversal” is the judicial equivalent of a spanking. It means that the lower court’s decision was so erroneous that the justices decided to skip a full briefing or an oral argument in a case, and issue a permanent order overturning that lower court’s decision.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KUyjlS">
This process is rarely used, and it is distinct from the temporary orders the Court frequently hands down on its so-called <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/8/11/21356913/supreme-court-shadow-docket-jail-asylum-covid-immigrants-sonia-sotomayor-barnes-ahlman">shadow docket</a>. The Supreme Court <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/3/23/22993107/supreme-court-wisconsin-race-gerrymander-voting-rights-act-legislature-elections-commission">typically requires six justices to agree</a> before summarily reversing another court’s decision.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fOXDxd">
Nevertheless, such a spanking is warranted in this case. Elrod’s opinion flouts exceedingly well-established First Amendment law. And it does so in a way that would make organized mass protests impossible, because anyone who tried to organize one would risk bankruptcy.
</p>
<h3 id="QXwwdZ">
The Fifth Circuit’s <em>Mckesson </em>decision openly defies the First Amendment and the Supreme Court
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eXzvZU">
To understand just how ridiculous Elrod’s decision is, and how egregiously she defies the Supreme Court’s caselaw, it’s helpful to start with the <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/458/886/">facts of the <em>Claiborne</em> case</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q0IPLk">
Like <em>Mckesson</em>, <em>Claiborne</em> involved a civil rights activist who organized a protest that allegedly included some violent individuals. In 1966, Charles Evers was the field secretary of the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP. In that role, he was the principal organizer of a boycott against white merchants in Claiborne County.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3alQuV">
The Mississippi Supreme Court claimed that some of the individuals who joined this boycott also “engaged in acts of physical force and violence against the persons and property of certain customers and prospective customers” of these white businesses. Evers, meanwhile, allegedly did far more to encourage violence than DeRay Mckesson is accused of in his case. He allegedly gave a speech to potential customers at these stores, where he said that “<a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/458/886.html">if we catch any of you going in any of them racist stores, we’re gonna break your damn neck</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zAto0Y">
The Supreme Court nonetheless held that this “emotionally charged rhetoric … did not transcend the bounds of protected speech.” <em>Claiborne</em> also warned that courts must show “extreme care” before imposing liability on a political figure of any kind.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VitxRh">
That said, the Court’s decision also listed <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/458/886/">three limited circumstances</a> when a protest leader may be held liable for the violent actions of a protest participant:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BUnZoH">
There are three separate theories that might justify holding Evers liable for the unlawful conduct of others. First, a finding that he authorized, directed, or ratified specific tortious activity would justify holding him responsible for the consequences of that activity. Second, a finding that his public speeches were likely to incite lawless action could justify holding him liable for unlawful conduct that in fact followed within a reasonable period. Third, the speeches might be taken as evidence that Evers gave other specific instructions to carry out violent acts or threats.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LRFMBZ">
None of these circumstances are present <em>Mckesson</em>. To the contrary, the Fifth Circuit <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/5977762/4-24-19-5th-Circuit-Doe-v-McKesson.pdf">admitted in an earlier decision in this very case</a> that Officer Doe “has not pled facts that would allow a jury to conclude that Mckesson colluded with the unknown assailant to attack Officer Doe, knew of the attack and ratified it, or agreed with other named persons that attacking the police was one of the goals of the demonstration.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lEhXMp">
So how on earth did Elrod arrive at the conclusion that Mckesson could be held liable for the actions of an unknown protest attendee? For starters, she claimed that <a href="https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV4.pdf">her court could just add new items to the list</a> of three circumstances that could justify such liability in her <em>Mckesson </em>opinion. According to Elrod, “nothing in <em>Claiborne</em> suggests that the three theories identified above are the only proper bases for imposing tort liability on a protest leader.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cy62G0">
This is, to put it mildly, a very unusual way to read a Supreme Court opinion that held that threats to break someone’s neck can be First Amendment-protected speech, which calls for “extreme care” before targeting protest organizers, and which laid out only three very specific circumstances that “might justify” an exception. Elrod cites no other court decision that has ever read <em>Claiborne</em> in such a counterintuitive way.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fBE0FM">
Then, after giving herself the power to invent new exceptions to the First Amendment, Elrod writes that this amendment does not apply “where a defendant creates unreasonably dangerous conditions, and where his creation of those conditions causes a plaintiff to sustain injuries.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ymdJP8">
And what are the “dangerous conditions” created by Mckesson? Mckesson “organized the protest to begin in front of the police station, obstructing access to the building.” He did not “dissuade” protesters who allegedly stole water bottles from a grocery store. And he “led the assembled protest onto a public highway, in violation of Louisiana criminal law.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vndaxs">
Seriously, she said that the First Amendment begins to fade the minute a protest occupies a street.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="The kings lead marchers in a black-and-white photo." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X-qgckYabznc-nQkGQJ_NfNlt5k=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25235343/51240107.jpg"/> <cite>William Lovelace/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King lead marchers in “unreasonably dangerous activity,” according to Jennifer Elrod.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j4gr0g">
It’s hard to imagine a more lawless, unpersuasive, and historically ignorant decision than the one Elrod put her name on in the <em>Mckesson</em> case. And if the Supreme Court can’t find the votes to reverse that decision, the right to engage in mass protest will become meaningless.
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>We need players with confidence in front of goal: Stimac after India’s Asian Cup exit</strong> - India lost all their three group matches and conceded six goals in the Asian Cup tournament, the worst in all the five editions the country had participated</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Siraj’s warning: If England play Bazball, the match might get over within two days</strong> - ‘Bazball’ coined after Test team head coach Brendon McCullum, gave England tremendous success last year</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Australian Open | Gutsy Medvedev outlasts Hurkacz to reach semis</strong> - The Russian, twice a losing finalist at Melbourne Park, went toe-to-toe with the big Pole for almost four energy-sapping hours on Rod Laver Arena</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mitchell Marsh to captain Australia for Windies T20 series, Pat Cummins rested</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Qualifier Dayana Yastremska beats Linda Noskova to book Melbourne semi-final spot</strong> - Dayana Yastremska creates history to become the first women’s qualifier to reach the last four in Melbourne since 1978</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>4 arrested in connection with Ambedkar statue desecration in Kalaburagi</strong> - When asked about the protests that followed, and the consequent damage to public property, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge said that action would be taken against them too</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Punjab CM Mann reiterates solo foray in Punjab for 2024 Lok Sabha election</strong> - Mann said that around 40 names of probable candidates for the 13 Parliamentary seats have come up after the party recently held deliberations on the election</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Gauhati High Court asks Assam government to explain its socio-economic survey of indigenous Muslims</strong> - The petition says the mixing of ethnic identity with religion is unconstitutional</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Congress Govt approached retired IAS Murali, former IPS Praveen Kumar before selecting ex-DGP Mahender Reddy for TSPSC chief post</strong> - Former DGP Mahender Reddy chosen among 50 applicants</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Present UNSC does not reflect today’s reality: UNGA President</strong> -</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russian jet crashes carrying Ukrainian PoWs - Moscow</strong> - A Russian transport plane with 65 Ukrainians onboard crashes in a region bordering Ukraine, says Russia.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Turkey parliament backs Sweden’s Nato membership</strong> - Sweden applied to join Nato in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>French protests: Female farmer and daughter killed as car hits French protesters</strong> - As French farmers expand their protests, a car crashes into a roadblock on a road south of Toulouse.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukrainian-born model winning Miss Japan re-ignites identity debate</strong> - A beauty queen has once again re-ignited a debate on what it means to be Japanese.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Spanish triple murder linked to online romance scam</strong> - Police say the motive appeared to be a debt linked to two sisters getting caught up in the scam.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mass exploitation of Ivanti VPNs is infecting networks around the globe</strong> - Orgs that haven’t acted yet should, even if it means suspending VPN services. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998442">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sierra Space is blowing up stuff to prove inflatable habitats are safe</strong> - “We are well on our way to having our habitats ready for launch in 2026.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998174">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The White House has its own pharmacy—and, boy, was it shady under Trump</strong> - It wasted $750K during the Trump years and freely handed out Ambien and Provigil. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998430">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A “robot” should be chemical, not steel, argues man who coined the word</strong> - Čapek: “The world needed mechanical robots, for it believes in machines more than it believes in life.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998255">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Patreon: Blocking platforms from sharing user video data is unconstitutional</strong> - The 1980s law is considered one of the country’s strongest privacy protections. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998335">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice, the Justice League meets to discuss their plan to defeat the evil Count Dracula.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Wonder Woman says, “The problem is, we don’t know where Dracula could be hiding! He moves around so much, we’ll never find him!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“I’ve been tracking his appearances for the past 72 hours,” Batman replies, “and based on his movements so far, I have good reason to believe he’ll be at the local cemetery, hiding in the crypt tonight.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Guys, I think I’ll sit this one out,” says Superman.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Meatslinger"> /u/Meatslinger </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dxcat/meanwhile_at_the_hall_of_justice_the_justice/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dxcat/meanwhile_at_the_hall_of_justice_the_justice/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How many Brexiteers does it take to change a light bulb?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
One to promise a brighter future and the rest to screw it up.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Orn46777"> /u/Orn46777 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19edama/how_many_brexiteers_does_it_take_to_change_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19edama/how_many_brexiteers_does_it_take_to_change_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Holiday Stress</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
An elderly couple was flying to Hawaii for a two-week vacation to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Suddenly, over the public address system, the captain announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am afraid I have some very bad news. Our engines have ceased functioning and we will attempt an emergency landing. Luckily, I see an uncharted island below us and we should be able to land on the beach. However, the odds are that we may never be rescued and will have to live on the island for the rest of our lives.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Thanks to the skill of the flight crew, the plane lands safely on the island.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
An hour later, the husband turns to his wife and asks, “Honey, did we pay the car bill this month?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“No, sweetheart,” she responds.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Still shaken from the crash landing, he then asks, “Did we pay our credit card bill yet?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Oh no! I’m sorry. I forgot to send the check,” she says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“One last thing, did you remember to pay the medical bill for the hospital visit last month?” he asks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Oh, forgive me, sweetheart,” begged the wife. “I didn’t send that one, either.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The husband grabs her and gives her the biggest hug in 50 years. She pulls away and asks him, “What was the hug for?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The husband answers, “They’ll find us!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/DocRogue2407"> /u/DocRogue2407 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19e025a/holiday_stress/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19e025a/holiday_stress/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A woman goes into labor</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She rushes to the hospital. When the nurse puts her into position, the baby pops his head out of the vagina and asks the nurse “are you my father?” The nurse surprised, gasps and runs off to get the doctor.<br/> The doctor comes and the baby pops his head out of the vagina and asks the doctor “are you my father?” The doctor surprised, gasps and tells the nurse to get the father of the baby. As the father arrives, the doctor pulls the baby out of the laboring woman and places him in the dad’s arms. The baby asks “are you my father?” The dad was super excited and shouts “yes yes I am your father!!!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The baby jams his finger into the dad’s eye repeatedly over and over again and shouts “how do you like that? Huh huh huh huh huh???”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/OverallVacation2324"> /u/OverallVacation2324 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dzz3k/a_woman_goes_into_labor/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dzz3k/a_woman_goes_into_labor/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Yo Mama so fat, when she breaks a plate…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
It’s usually of the tectonic variety.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Orn46777"> /u/Orn46777 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dxn39/yo_mama_so_fat_when_she_breaks_a_plate/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dxn39/yo_mama_so_fat_when_she_breaks_a_plate/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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