Daily-Dose

Contents

• From New Yorker
• From Vox
• From The Hindu: Sports
• From The Hindu: National News
• From BBC: Europe
• From Ars Technica
• From Jokes Subreddit

From New Yorker

• Why Biden Refused to Pay Restitution to Families Separated at the Border - White House officials ultimately decided that a settlement had become a greater political liability than any potential fallout from a broken promise. - link

• N.R.A. Chief Wayne LaPierre’s Misleading Testimony About Free Yacht Trips in the Bahamas - Documents and accounts of former staffers, which raise questions about LaPierre’s statements, could strengthen the New York attorney general’s lawsuit to dissolve the gun-rights group. - link

• Pramila Jayapal on the Fate of the Build Back Better Act - The chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus on the difficulty of negotiating with Joe Manchin, and a “two-track strategy” for moving forward. - link

• Pope Francis Is Still Trying to Call Attention to the Migrant Crisis - World leaders have drawn together to combat climate change and COVID, Francis noted, but little has been done to help migrants. - link

• Getting Home for Christmas and Dodging Omicron - In London, with everything open, evading the coronavirus has felt like a warped game of tag. - link

From Vox

• The danger of treating body parts like fast fashion -

  

  Social media and the availability of new procedures have made our quest for physical perfection endless, setting women and girls up for failure.

  

  Part of the Fads Issue of The Highlight, our home for ambitious stories that explain our world.

    <img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-

    <img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-

    <img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-

Aubrey Hirsch is a writer and illustrator whose work has appeared in the Nib, the New York Times, the Rumpus, and elsewhere. She’s created comics for the Highlight about adult friendships and women leaving the workforce during the pandemic.

• Omicron collides with a struggling global vaccination campaign -

  

  A new variant is changing vaccination strategies, as many people still wait for their first shots.

  Less than a month ago, the omicron variant, first detected in South Africa, was labeled a “variant of concern.” Since then, the world has braced for another wave of coronavirus, as Covid-19 is spiking across Europe and, now, the United States.

  A lot of these countries — particularly the United Kingdom and the United States — are pushing aggressive booster campaigns in response. Three shots, rather than two, is becoming the refrain of many public health experts.

  Yet the rest of the world is still woefully under-vaccinated. Not just booster shots, but first doses. Close to 60 percent of the world’s population has received at least one shot, according to New York Times data. But it’s an unequally distributed feat. About two- thirds of those doses have been administered in high or middle-income countries. According to the Africa CDC, only a little more than 8 percent of the continent is fully vaccinated. The One Campaign, an advocacy group, estimates that there are more than eight times as many boosters being given in high-income countries compared to first doses in low-income countries.

  Omicron has offered another, if somewhat predictable, hiccup. According to some early data — and of course, these things are still evolving — omicron is pretty good at evading the two-dose regimen for a lot of the vaccines given worldwide. Vaccination still offers protection from severe illness, and some data suggests severe illness may be less likely with omicron on an individual level. But the mRNA vaccines — specifically Moderna and Pfizer — coupled with a booster, appear to be the best bets at preventing infection. Most of the world isn’t getting those vaccines.

  Though there’s still a lot scientists don’t know about omicron, it is unlikely to be the last variant that emerges from this pandemic. The question is whether omicron will now force the global vaccination campaign to recalibrate, especially if the definition of fully vaccinated begins to evolve from generally two doses, to three.

  To get a better sense of the broad challenges, Vox spoke to Wafaa El-Sadr, an expert on infectious diseases and global health at Columbia University. The bottom line: Omicron complicates an already complicated process. And unless the rest of the world acts (and invests) in vaccination, the one truism of the pandemic will persist: Coronavirus spread in one place poses a threat everywhere.

  The conversation, edited and condensed for clarity, is below.

  ---

  Jen Kirby

  Beyond needing to do more, does the emergence of this new omicron variant change the global vaccination picture?

  Wafaa El-Sadr

  I think it does, in terms of the choice of vaccines. Not only the choice of vaccines, but also the need for booster doses. So it gets even more complicated.

  We’ve seen data now that are pretty convincing that certainly, getting the third dose, a booster dose is associated with an increase in protective antibodies, as well as evidence of just the clinical protection from just getting sick or dying from Covid-19. And that adds complexities, of course, because now we not only have to make sure that people get the primary regimen of vaccines, but also the third dose, the booster dose.

  Jen Kirby

  As you said, so many places are still struggling to deliver the first doses of vaccines. But there is also evidence that vaccines that aren’t mRNA (Pfizer and Moderna) — such as Johnson & Johnson, Oxford-AstraZeneca, or China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm, or Russia’s Sputnik — may not be effective in preventing omicron infections. So do should we even be giving people those vaccines, or is something better than nothing at this juncture?

  Wafaa El-Sadr

  This complexity with omicron is exactly what you’re talking about. Evidence shows that the boosting of mRNA vaccines provides potentially superior protection against omicron. This, of course, complicates the picture even further, because there are lots of other vaccines that are being largely used globally.

  Of course, it depends on the magnitude of the strain of omicron. Is this going to dominate in every country all over the world? Or is it going to be mostly the prevailing dominant variant in some countries, but not others? That’s what’s going to largely determine what can we do about the use of current vaccines.

  Jen Kirby

  It’s still sort of “wait and see” mode. But in terms of increasing access to mRNA vaccines, are there things we could be doing that we’re not doing to increase their dominance in global vaccination efforts?

  Wafaa El-Sadr

  There are things that can be done. One is, obviously, to increase the production of these vaccines. That will require substantial investments and resources to be able to scale up production. If there’s commitment to doing it, then it’s quite doable, and I think that’s probably the fastest way to get more supply of these mRNA vaccines.

  Now, there were also discussions, of course, about, establishing regional hubs for production of these vaccines, and technology transfer, and so on. But I believe that the fastest way to get vaccines into people’s arms is to immediately work hard at increasing the production of the vaccines by expanding factories where they’re currently being produced, or redirecting current factories to be able to do this.

  Jen Kirby

  If it’s going to take resources, where are those resources coming from?

  Wafaa El-Sadr

  I think it has to be from the wealthy countries of the world. There’s no getting around that. It is also in their self-interest. It has to become the number one priority now. It is going to be incumbent upon wealthy countries to be able to make that happen, especially because of the urgency of the situation.

  Jen Kirby

  You mentioned technology transfer. A lot of groups have been advocating for a TRIPS waiver, which would temporarily loosen intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, which would allow other manufacturers to produce vaccines. Where do you see that fitting in?

  Wafaa El-Sadr

  It’s a longer-term strategy, but it definitely should be part of the strategy. It won’t get us to the current, immediate needs. The current immediate needs are increased production. But we need to be building regional factories and we need to tackle the issues around patents.

  Jen Kirby

  I wonder if you are a clinician in a place where vaccines are in short supply, how do you approach this news that some vaccines might not be as effective against omicron? Or that you might need more doses? What does this do to already challenging, large-scale vaccination efforts?

  Wafaa El-Sadr

  We’re facing the same thing, even in this country. There’s always been this misconception or misperception that getting vaccinated means you are absolutely protected from ever getting infected with SARS-COV-2. That was never the case, from day one.

  We’ve been struggling with the messaging all along in terms of what do these vaccines do and what they don’t. That’s a major issue. We need to have clear messaging and go back to basics and say, “these vaccines decrease your risk of getting infection, but it doesn’t go down to zero. They certainly decrease your risk of getting very sick and hospitalized, but it doesn’t go down to zero, either.” But that’s been a struggle all along.

  I think we don’t know — I haven’t seen data say, if you’ve got an AstraZeneca, for example, and you get a booster with mRNA, would that protect you against Omicron? We don’t know that as of yet. In the context of omicron, the data I have seen have been largely people who got Pfizer, and they got a booster from Pfizer, or they got Moderna and got a Moderna booster.

  We’ve seen other data earlier that showed that, yes, if somebody got Johnson & Johnson and they got an mRNA boost that they did get a pretty robust response. But we don’t know whether that’s protective against omicron — I don’t see why not, but we haven’t seen those experiments. So it’s possible that for people to receive their primary vaccination with a non-mRNA vaccine, that getting a booster with an mRNA vaccine could offer them protection against omicron. Then the message is not like your vaccination was wasted. There’s waning of immunity and therefore the need for boosting. Having a new variant coming around, that also is the second reason why boosting is important.

  Jen Kirby

  I wonder about the infrastructure for the mRNA vaccines — extreme cold chains, and the like. Does that remain a challenge if we want to include more mRNA vaccines in the global repertoire?

  Wafaa El-Sadr

  That’s why I always say that first, it’s necessary to have those vaccines, but it’s not sufficient. You have to have the resources, the systems to get the vaccine into people’s arms. You need to have the effective vaccination program, and not just sufficient supply of vaccines. That’s not enough.

  I think we have to also put in the resources to help specific countries to be able to do it. That may involve training of the workforce, it may involve messaging communication to make sure that there are no misconceptions or misperceptions about the vaccines; it may include the need for vehicles and gasoline; it may mean the need for refrigerators and freezers. That’s all part and parcel of having an effective vaccination effort.

  Jen Kirby

  It does seem as if the global infrastructure failed us on this one. Knowing what we know know, what do we need to put in place now to prepare for the next big one?

  Wafaa El-Sadr

  There are so many things. How many hours do you have?

  When you think back, from day one, this pandemic was politicized. And from that really emanated all the pitfalls and all the sadness we’ve had, because of the politicization and, as you recall, the antagonism to the World Health Organization, the lack of support to the WHO. Then, again, once your country was purchasing large amounts of vaccines for their own population, [there was a] lack of a global response, incoherence, all the travel restrictions that are popping up right and left without any rhyme or reason.

  [There have been] poor investments in vaccine production and vaccine technology; I think we have a chance now with the mRNA technology to do better. We need to do better in terms of overall investments in public health overall, and surveillance systems, in laboratory systems. I feel like [we need] all of these bits and pieces of having strong public health systems to enable rapid and effective response.

• What makes the omicron variant so strange and surprising -

  

The mutations in omicron hint at what’s to come in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, discovered just a few weeks ago, is poised to dominate Covid-19 cases around the world. It’s a stunning new twist to the pandemic saga that has countries scrambling to prepare.

In places like South Africa and the United Kingdom where omicron has been spreading fast, Covid-19 cases have doubled every three days or less. This includes people who were previously infected or vaccinated against Covid-19.

“It’s the ability to evade immunity coupled with this really high transmission rate that are the two things that set this variant apart from all the rest that have come before,” said Andrew Pekosz, a professor of microbiology at Johns Hopkins University.

Omicron could therefore push the Covid-19 pandemic into its worst phase yet. Or it might not. It’s not yet clear whether these traits will drive up hospitalizations and deaths to record levels in the US and beyond, but epidemiological models show that omicron is likely to have a heavy toll this winter. Yet in South Africa, it appears that its omicron wave has already peaked without heavy casualties. How bad omicron gets also hinges on how people respond to it, particularly when it comes to getting vaccinated or boosted.

Researchers are now racing to understand the variant to anticipate its next moves, but it’s proving to be challenging. From its genetic origins to the way it infects people, omicron is unusual and perplexing. Through studying the genetics of the variant, scientists hope to get more clues about where it came from and potentially prevent the next variant from catching the world off-guard.

The mutations in the omicron variant make it more prolific, dangerous, and elusive

There are close to 50 mutations in the omicron variant compared to the original SARS-CoV-2 virus detected in China in 2019. These changes are manifesting in several key ways.

One of the most important areas is in the spike protein of the virus. This is the part of the virus that comes into contact with human cells, and a prominent target for the immune system. Antibodies attach to the spike protein and stop the virus from causing an infection. This makes the spike protein critical for how the virus functions and for how the immune system stops it.

Omicron has 36 mutations in its spike protein, compared to 10 in alpha, 12 in gamma, and nine in delta. Within its spike protein, omicron has mutations in the part of the spike that connects directly to a receptor called ACE2 on human cells. Omicron’s mutations seem to increase its affinity for ACE2, allowing it to more efficiently infect cells, thereby increasing its reproduction rate and transmissibility.

There are mutations on other parts of omicron’s spike protein as well. Because of these changes, antibodies have a harder time recognizing and sticking to omicron’s spike. That may explain why omicron seems to cause more reinfections and breakthrough infections in vaccinated people compared to other variants.

These changes to the spike protein also make therapies that use antibodies — monoclonal antibodies and convalescent plasma — less effective. So far, only sotrovimab, the monoclonal antibody therapy developed by GlaxoSmithKline, seems to be effective against omicron.

Other therapies like antiviral drugs should still remain as effective against omicron, since they act on how the virus replicates instead of targeting its outer structure.

But most of these drugs have to be administered in the early stages of infection, which often requires testing to confirm. The Food and Drug Administration this week granted its first emergency use authorization for an oral antiviral drug to treat Covid-19, Pfizer’s Paxlovid, for high-risk patients.

    <img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-

  <figcaption>Masked pedestrians walk by a banner that reads, “Science will make the breakthrough,” in New York 

Most Covid-19 vaccines are optimized to help the immune system target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, and the changes in omicron do seem to render the first generation of vaccines less effective. But their efficacy against omicron isn’t zero, and with booster doses, protection from the variant improves dramatically. Moderna reported this week that a half-dose booster of its mRNA vaccine raised antibody levels against omicron 37-fold, while a full dose raised antibody levels 83-fold compared to just the two initial doses. That echoes a report from Pfizer that a third dose of its vaccine made it just as effective against omicron as the initial doses were against the original virus.

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong recently reported another change with omicron: where it replicates in the body. In a study that has not yet been peer-reviewed, the team found that omicron multiplies 70 times faster in the bronchi — the passages leading into the lungs — compared to delta, as soon as 24 hours after infection. But deeper in the lungs, omicron replicates at a rate lower than the original version of the virus.

In the upper airways, more virus replication may make it easier to breathe out virus particles, allowing them to spread more readily between people. And with lower numbers in the lungs, it may cause less severe illness compared to other variants.

But it’s still not clear how severe of an illness omicron can cause. And even if omicron causes less severe illness, it can still dangerously stress the health system if it spreads unchecked. The fraction of people becoming severely sick may be lower, but the absolute number could be higher, filling up beds in ICUs and devouring resources that would otherwise go toward treating other conditions.

Early reports from places like South Africa and the United Kingdom showed a precipitous rise in new Covid-19 cases, but so far hospitalizations have not surged as dramatically in their wake. That could be because omicron doesn’t make people as sick, but it could also be that those areas already have widespread immunity from previous waves of Covid-19 and from vaccines. Better treatment options may also be cushioning the blow.

It seems clear that omicron will become the dominant source of new Covid-19 cases in the United States as well, but whether that’s followed by extreme illnesses and deaths is less certain. The holiday travel season may fuel more infections, but high levels of vaccinations and boosters in some regions could absorb the impact. In states and cities with low levels of immunity, omicron could be far more devastating. It would further widen the divide in how the pandemic is playing out across the country.

Omicron is a distant relative of other variants, but its origins are a mystery

Omicron is the latest symptom of the rampaging global Covid-19 pandemic. The world has turned into a proving ground for SARS-CoV-2, giving the virus ample opportunity to spread, evolve, test its strategies against immunity, and optimize itself. With such large disparities in vaccination rates between countries, billions of people remain unprotected, creating opportunities for more variants. And when variants infect people with waning immunity, they’re spurred to change even more.

“It’s Darwinian evolution by natural selection working at incredibly fast time frames,” said Pekosz.

It’s important to remember that viruses mutate all the time as they replicate. Most of these changes are either inconsequential or harmful to the virus itself. Occasionally a concerning mutation will arise, one that makes the virus cause more severe illness, spread more readily, or better evade the immune system. Clusters of these mutations are categorized as variants.

These variants don’t spontaneously emerge; they evolve and iterate from existing versions of the virus. So by sequencing the genomes of different variants, scientists can trace their ancestry.

Scientists map out genetic relationships between variants in diagrams known as phylogenetic trees. Most of the previous variants were closer to each other genetically, but omicron isn’t descended from any of them, suggesting it stems from an even earlier version of the virus. In the phylogenetic tree of SARS-CoV-2, genetic sequences of omicron (seen in red below) form their own distinct branch:

On a lone red spoke, omicron sticks out with few genome sequences connecting it back to its ancestors, almost like it appeared out of nowhere.

“It’s very striking how far this variant has diverged from other variants,” said Brianne Barker, an associate professor of biology at Drew University.

“What we can tell from looking at the phylogenetic tree is that this version of the virus has been in a location where it was not caught by sequencing for a long period of time,” Barker added. While omicron was first reported in Botswana and South Africa, it may have been spreading elsewhere previously without anyone’s knowledge.

There are a few theories for why omicron seemed to spring up suddenly. It may have been spreading all along and was missed by genetic surveillance efforts. But if that’s the case, why didn’t such a transmissible variant change Covid-19 patterns earlier? It’s unclear.

Another possibility is that it emerged from a longer-term infection in an immunosuppressed person who didn’t have a strong arsenal of B cells, T cells, and antibodies to rapidly clear out the virus. That would have given it time to acquire mutations that help it elude the immune system.

“I think the immunocompromised hypothesis is probably the most likely,” Barker said. However, she noted that usually variants that arise in such cases tend to be less able to infect people with robust immune systems.

A third prospect is that omicron may have come from an animal host. Given that SARS-CoV-2 has already shown it can spread to a number of different animals — minks, bats, tigers, apes — it’s not far-fetched that the virus could leap back into people. Some genetic analysis work does hint at this route, according to Barker, but animals are even less studied than humans when it comes to Covid-19. So far, no animal has been found with a virus that looks like it could have spawned omicron.

There’s also the chance that omicron arose from recombination. That’s when an individual is infected with two different varieties of the virus at the same time, allowing the viruses to swap parts, resulting in a new virus that has some traits from each of its parents. If that’s what happened, scientists would expect to see a closer genetic relationship between omicron and the viruses it came from than what is evident in the phylogenetic tree above.

Figuring out where omicron came from may seem like an academic discussion, but it can reveal potential routes for future changes to the virus and tactics to close them off. “In any case, we’re going to learn some interesting virology, but understanding the provenance of this virus can tell us some things about things we might need to do to further stop this pandemic,” Barker said.

More variants will come, but we can take steps now to stop them

While omicron may be more dangerous than its relatives, there are plenty of ways to contain its destruction.

Vaccination is critical, including getting boosters. But vaccines have to be administered around the world — not just in wealthy countries — to slow the spread of omicron and limit the emergence of new variants like it.

In addition, countries need to do a better job of sequencing the genomes of positive Covid-19 cases. That can provide a critical early warning of any new mutations. “It’s in places where we’re not looking where these variants seem to emerge,” said Pekosz.

Slowing transmission between people by wearing effective masks, social distancing, and ensuring adequate ventilation is also important. Testing for Covid-19 remains another pillar of the containment strategy to identify potentially asymptomatic cases and to commence treatment early in the course of the illness so that the medication is most effective.

None of these measures are new, but the will to enact them is fading. There are some encouraging signs that this winter may not be as devastating as the last one. However, omicron is not going to be the last major variant of SARS-CoV-2, and the steps taken to mitigate the current wave will help forestall the next one.

From The Hindu: Sports

• India Open | Srikanth-Loh Kean Yew face-off on cards; Sindhu, Sen get easy draws - Srikanth and Kidambi, who have been drawn in the same half, might clash in what will be a rematch of their World Championships final

• India in South Africa | Indian batting line-up good enough to tackle Protea pacers: Pujara - “I am very confident we will put up a good show”

• The Ashes | MCC hopes Boxing Day Test won’t be Superspreader event - There is no crowd cap for attendance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the third Ashes Test

• Mamallapuram’s skateboarder Kamali clinches silver at the Nationals - The star skater has won silver at the 59th National Roller Skating Championship held in Mohali recently

• Fit-again Nagarkoti wants to make up for lost time - ‘It was important for me to be back playing for my State again and perform well’

From The Hindu: National News

• Covid-19: Karnataka reports 12 new cases of Omicron - Three of the new cases are from a cluster in Bengaluru

• ED attaches ₹100 crore assets in IDBI Bank, Kisan Credit Card fraud case - The accused has been identified as Rebba Satyanarayana

• CVC to conduct management audit of vigilance units in government Departments - Initially, the audit would be taken up for the CBDT, the CBIC, the NHAI and PNB as a pilot project, which is expected to be completed by January 31 next year.

• Uttarakhand Congress president says he has similar feelings as Rawat - Ganesh Godiyal describes Harish Rawat as the tallest Congress leader from the state who has a place in the hearts of people.

• Dalit cook sacked in Uttarakhand after upper caste students refuse to eat food prepared by her - The incident occurred at a school in Sukhidhang in Champawat district of Uttarakhand

From BBC: Europe

• Russia-Ukraine crisis: Kyiv hopes truce will ease military tensions - Russia and Ukraine agree to restore a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, amid a build-up of Russian forces.

• Belgium agrees to close controversial ageing nuclear reactors - The plants have for years sparked safety fears from neighbours including Germany.

• Gay Santa ad highlights big shift in Norwegian society - The ad showing Father Christmas kissing a man highlights 50 years of changes in Norwegian LGBT rights.

• Turkey arrests US citizen over alleged passport handover - Police say the US man gave the document to a Syrian trying to travel to Germany from Istanbul airport.

• French outcry over academic in Grenoble Islamophobia row - Dozens of academics warn that freedom of expression is at risk after a German professor is suspended.

From Ars Technica

• Benedict Cumberbatch encounters dark double in Multiverse of Madness teaser - “The Multiverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little.” - link

• Omicron cases less likely to require hospital treatment, studies show - High rate of infectiousness could still strain hospitals around the world. - link

• T-Mobile, Amazon, and others are backing out of CES 2022 amid COVID resurgence - T-Mobile, Nvidia, Amazon, and others are canceling their plans or going virtual. - link

• FDA gives emergency authorization to Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill - COVID-19 patients as young as 12 are eligible for enzyme-inhibiting treatment. - link

• Reminder: Donate to win swag in our annual Charity Drive sweepstakes [Updated] - Add to a charity haul that’s raised nearly $9,000 in just three days. - link

From Jokes Subreddit

• A LADY lost her handbag.. -

  It was found by an honest little boy and returned to her.

  Looking in her purse, she commented, “Hmm, that’s funny. When I lost my bag there was a $20 note in it. Now there are 20 $1 coins.”

  The boy replied, “That’s right, lady. The last time I found a lady’s purse, she didn’t have any change for a reward.”

  submitted by /u/jflipside
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• I just finished writing my book on penguins. -

  My publisher said it would’ve been better if I’d written it on paper.

  submitted by /u/rebelwithakick
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• Two economists are walking in the park. -

  The first economist sees a pile of dog shit and says to the other, “I’ll pay you $50 to eat that dog shit.” So he does and gets paid $50. Later on, the second economist sees a pile of dog shit and says to the first, “I’ll pay you $50 to eat that pile of dog shit.” So he does and gets paid $50.

  The first economist says, “I can’t help but feel we just ate dog shit for nothing.” “Nonsense,” says the second economist, “We just contributed $100 to the economy.”

  submitted by /u/haddock420
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• A Viking is out shopping when he comes across an old woman in a wheelchair crying. -

  “What’s wrong?” asks the Viking.

  “Well,” the woman says, wiping her tears, “I have been living on my own for many months now, and my daughter and son-in-law have at last come to visit me. My daughter has brought me along on this shopping trip, but it’s the first time I’ve really been out and about since losing the use of my legs. It’s so disheartening.”

  “I’m very sorry to hear that,” says the Viking. “But at least your family is here! That should help to dry your tears!”

  “Yes,” says the old woman, "but I really wanted to get something to surprise my daughter while she is in that shop trying on clothes, and with this accursed wheelchair I can’t get around like I used to.

  “I was hoping to find an extra special cake or pie to celebrate their visit,” she sobs. “Oh, I can’t even bake my classic egg and bacon tart anymore, and I know my family always looks forward to that!”

  “You’re in luck then. That place over there is the finest bakery in the country!” says the Viking.

  “So I hear,” says the woman, “but the first floor is just breads and such. The fancy sweets and pies are all up on the second floor, and I can’t get up there with my chair.”

  The Viking thinks for a moment and says “Not a problem. I shall carry you!”

  With that, he lifts her from her wheelchair, hoists her onto his back, and trudges into to the bakery. After carrying her up the stairs and all about the display cases, he helps her bring a selection of delicious treats to the counter. She even finds her family favorite!

  The Viking then carries the woman and her purchases back to her waiting chair below.

  “I can’t thank you enough! I’m so much happier now!” replies the old woman. “Who are you, kind sir?”

  But the Viking simply smiles and walks off without a reply.

  As he turns the corner out of sight, the woman’s daughter appears at the bakery entrance.

  “There you are, Mom!” she exclaims with relief. “I was worried sick when you weren’t where I left you. What have you been doing in there?”

  “Oh!” replies the woman “I’ve been through the desserts on a Norse with no name. It felt good to get our quiche Lorraine!”

  submitted by /u/arothmanmusic
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• How do we know that Death is a man? -

  He always comes quicker than expected.

  submitted by /u/Zuriathon
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