90 Miles From Tyranny

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #2250 - Halloween Edition!

You have come across a mystery box. But what is inside?

It could be literally anything from the serene to the horrific,

from the beautiful to the repugnant,

from the mysterious to the familiar.

If you decide to open it, you could be disappointed,

you could be inspired, you could be appalled.

This is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended.

You have been warned.

Welcome Adventurer, To The Mystery Box!

Miscellaneous

serenity

The Truth About Vlad The Impaler...

Beauty

Need More Box?

The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #1

That's all for now folks!

Girls With Guns

The Delaware team knew the FD-1023 was not Russian disinformation, was not from Giuliani, came from a highly reliable CHS, and merited further investigation.

The Delaware U.S. attorney’s office received a detailed briefing that established the FD-1023 implicating Hunter and Joe Biden in a Ukrainian bribery scandal was not Russian disinformation and was not sourced to Rudy Giuliani, according to a transcribed interview of former Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney Scott Brady. Yet the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office seemingly ignored the work undertaken by the Pittsburgh office and acted with willful blindness to the evidence implicating the now-president and his son.

Last Monday, Brady sat for a transcribed interview before the House Judiciary Committee. Over the course of some six hours of questioning, the committee elicited testimony revealing the Pittsburgh office’s diligence in tackling the task given by former Attorney General Willam Barr: to screen evidence presented to the Department of Justice related to Ukraine.

The public has known for some time, thanks to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and IRS whistleblowers, that the Pittsburgh-based U.S. attorney’s office had provided the Delaware office information about an FD-1023 that summarized a “highly credible” confidential human source’s reporting that Hunter and Joe Biden pressured Ukrainian energy company Burisma to pay them each $5 million in bribes.

More recently, IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley revealed that Delaware Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Lesley Wolf had refused to accept a briefing from the Pittsburgh office until ordered to do so by Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General (PADAG) Rich Donoghue. According to Shapley, Wolf wanted nothing to do with the Pittsburgh-based U.S. attorney’s office because she believed that no information from that office could be credible, having, in her mind, originated from...

Visage à trois #1821

Three Videos For Your Viewing Pleasure:

Three Additional Bonus Videos:

Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #1411

Visage à trois #1820

Three Videos For Your Viewing Pleasure:

Three Additional Bonus Videos:

Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #1411

Recent Study: Black and Green Tea Can Inactivate the COVID-19 Omicron Subvariants

Japanese researchers set out to explore various foods and ingredients that may inactivate the strain of SARS-CoV-2 responsible for COVID-19.

As COVID-19 mutates over time, variants and sub-variants different from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus emerge. A recent study, conducted in Japan, found that green tea (Japanese sencha), matcha, and black tea can effectively inactivate certain Omicron subvariants. In addition, saliva produced after consuming candy containing green tea or black tea exhibited virus-inactivating properties in vitro, rendering the virus less contagious.

The COVID-19 virus primarily spreads through the saliva of infected individuals, including asymptomatic carriers. Saliva containing the virus is released when talking, sneezing, or coughing, forming droplets and aerosols that disperse into the air.
Professor Osam Mazda and his research team at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan believe that inactivating the virus in saliva is crucial for preventing COVID-19. Therefore, they explored various foods and ingredients that may inactivate the strain of SARS-CoV-2 responsible for COVID-19. A previous study they conducted found that polyphenols found in green tea or black tea reduced the infectivity of the virus in human saliva in vitro, demonstrating virus-inactivating properties. The polyphenols in tea can bind to the spike protein of the virus, preventing it from infecting cells.

The research team published their new study on Oct. 3 in Scientific Reports, indicating that green tea, matcha, and black tea rapidly and effectively inactivated some Omicron subvariants.

One of the experiments in the study involved seven healthy volunteers who consumed candies containing green tea, black tea, or no tea components, and their saliva subsequently collected. Researchers found that saliva collected immediately after consuming candies containing green or black tea had high concentrations of tea polyphenols, including epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and theaflavin digallate. When researchers mixed saliva samples with the early Omicron virus strain BA.1 for 10 seconds, they observed rapid inactivation of the virus by saliva containing tea polyphenols. However, the virus-inactivating effect gradually diminished between 5 and 15 minutes after the cessation of the candy.

The research team believes that if infected individuals consume candies containing green tea or black tea, it may be useful in inactivating the virus, decreasing the virus load in the oral and gastrointestinal tracts, and preventing the virus from spreading to nearby non-infected individuals.

Another experiment involved steeping black tea, green tea, or matcha in hot water and subsequently mixing the virus suspension with the tea beverages for 10 seconds, followed by assessing the virus's virulence. The results revealed that the infectivity of the BA.1 and other Omicron subvariants decreased to less than one percent.

Not only does freshly brewed tea have virus-inactivating effects, but bottled green tea beverages purchased from grocery stores also significantly reduced the infectivity of Omicron subvariants BA.1, BA.5, and BQ.1.1, although they were not effective against BA.2.75.

The study also found that different Omicron subvariants have varying sensitivity to tea polyphenols. For instance, EGCG at a concentration of 1000 μM can inactivate more than 99 percent of the BA.1 and BA.5 viruses. However, the BA.2, BA.2.75, XBB.1, and BQ.1.1 viruses remained infectious at the same EGCG concentration.

Black tea, produced by oxidizing green tea leaves, exhibits a vibrant reddish-orange color due to the transformation of tea polyphenols into theaflavins in the tea leaves. The researchers treated various Omicron viruses with theaflavin concentrations similar to those found in black tea and observed a significant reduction in the virulence of BA.1, XE, BA.5, XBB.1, and BQ.1.1 viruses. However, the same theaflavin concentration had little effect on BA.2 and BA.2.75.

The research also found that the antiviral mechanism of EGCG is to render the virus inactive, and when used to treat cells, it does not induce anti-virus effects in the cells.
The research team had previously suggested that holding tea in the mouth for 10 seconds before swallowing it while dining in a restaurant could temporarily inactivate the virus in...