Warmer and Wetter: As floodwaters recede in Germany and western Europe, the full extent of damage is just being revealed with 160 people confirmed dead and more expected. At least 90 of the dead lived in the hard hit Rhineland-Palatinate State. 

  About 15,000 first responders are working in Germany to help survivors and dig out the dead. Telephone, electric, and water services are still out. Cars were crushed, trees swept away, and bridges jammed with debris. Some villages have lost their only bridge to the outside world. 

  The extreme downpour that caused the flood is being blamed on global warming that causes more moisture to be held in the atmosphere until eventually it just dumps. Weather agencies had warned of extreme flood danger, but Europeans were still caught unprepared for the severity of what came.

  Uwe Kirsche, a spokesman for the German Weather Service, told The NY Times, “With these small rivers, they have never experienced anything like that. Nobody could prepare because no one expected something like this.”

Pandemic of the Unvaccinated: With infections by the Delta variant of the coronavirus causing a surge in cases of Covid-19 across the US, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky

warned yesterday that “this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

  The Delta variant accounts for more than half of new infections. An average of 28,000 new cases are reported every day compared to 11,000 a month ago. Dr. Walensky said, “Communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well.”

  Over in Japan, Olympic officials are fighting to keep Covid out of the games. With the host city Tokyo under a state of emergency, most events will be held without spectators and officials will not be allowed close enough to drape medals on the necks of champions. Yesterday, the organizing committee reported four new infections among Olympics personnel, bringing to 30 the total confirmed cases this month. 

Disinformed: An organization called the Center for Countering Digital Hate did an analysis and found that 12 sources they call “The Disinformation Dozen” are responsible for  65 percent of anti-vaccination material found on the internet.

  The effort to vaccinate the country against Covid-19 has hit a stall as vaccinations have become politicized as a matter of personal freedom. The anti-vaccination movement has seen this as an opportunity. 

  Most famous among the anti-vaxxers is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of the assassinated senator and presidential candidate. Among them also is Joseph Mercola, who promotes dietary supplements and denies that there’s been a pandemic. The couple Ty and Charlene Bollnger have promoted the conspiracy theory that Microsoft founder Bill Gates plans to inject everyone with microchips as part of a vaccination program. 

  The CCDH report says, “According to our recent report, anti-vaccine activists on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter reach more than 59 million followers, making these the largest and most important social media platforms for anti-vaxxers.”

  The report also says,  “As the anti-vaccine industry actively seeks to undermine the rollout of the COVID vaccine – capitalizing on a heightened sense of hesitancy from the public and targeting communities of color who have already been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic – we recognize that this is an all-hands-on-deck moment.” 

Women’s Work: For the first time, a female sailor has completed training to become a  Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman. She’ll be part of a unit that supports and delivers Navy SEALs to high-risk missions.  The sailor who got through 37 weeks of training has not been publicly identified. Only about 35 percent of sailors who apply to the SWCC program manage to complete it, the Navy says. Whoever this woman is, she’s got the stuff.

Line of Fire: As warfare intensifies while the Americans clear out, Pulitzer Prize-winning news photographer Danish Siddiqui was killed yesterday while covering a firefight between Afghan security forces and the Taliban 

  Siddiqui was an Indian national and staff  photographer for Reuters. He died while covering Afghan commandos trying to retake a district surrounding a border crossing with Pakistan. Reuters said the unit came under Taliban fire.  The 38-year-old had a wife and children.

  Siddiqui won the Pulitzer in 2018 for photos he took of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar. He died bringing truth to the world.

Lazy Day: It’s a Saturday in July. We’re quitting for the day.

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