I feel that NASCAR is fast approaching its finish line. Just like the democrats, they are trying to make all things equal. The track is not wide enough for a forty-car field to all take the checkered flag at the same time, much less having forty cars in victory lane so everyone gets a trophy. Drivers have become prima-donnas who get their feelings hurt if someone bumps them or speaks ugly to them. They don't recognize reality. I mean Bubba Wallace cannot even identify a garage door pull and the FBI is called in to investigate. NASCAR has become a reflection of today's woke society. All the cars have to be equal so there is no room for the innovation that gave us things like rear view mirrors and seatbelts. Let NASCAR RIP, it started dying with Dale. America is not far behind.

https://patch.com/california/poway/s/imfsf/emerging-fungal-infection-spreading-at-alarming-rate-see-ca-data

Standby for more masks from China.

Emerging Fungal Infection Spreading At Alarming Rate: See CA Data
A drug-resistant, potentially deadly fungus has spread at a troubling rate in U.S. health care facilities, including some in California.

Updated Wed, Mar 22, 2023 at 9:17 am PT

Superbug fungus cases rose dramatically during pandemic FILE - This undated photo made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a strain of Candida auris cultured in a petri dish at a CDC laboratory.

CALIFORNIA— A drug-resistant, potentially deadly fungus has been spreading at a troubling rate in U.S. health care facilities, including some in California, according to a new government study.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found the number of cases of the fungus Candida auris, or C. auris, “spread at an alarming rate” from 2020 to 2021. Equally troubling, the agency said in a news release Monday, is that the number of cases resistant to a commonly prescribed antifungal medicine more than tripled.

According to the CDC, C. auris is an "emerging fungus that presents a serious global health threat."

The fungus is found normally throughout the body and on the skin. It’s not a threat to healthy people, but for people with serious medical conditions that land them in the hospital or other health care facilities, infections can be deadly. C. auris kills about one-third of people who contract it.

CDC data shows 359 clinical cases of C. auris have been reported in California in 2022, the most recent 12 months for which data is available. That’s up from 24 cases reported in 2019.

Data shows that California has the second-highest amount of cases reported. Nevada had the most, with 384.

The CDC said poor general infection and control practices in health care facilities are a likely cause of the spread, though increased screening may also explain the increase. The agency said the timing of the increase is also likely tied to the strain put on health care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The rapid rise and geographic spread of cases is concerning and emphasizes the need for continuing surveillance, expanded lab capacity, quicker diagnostic tests, and adherence to proven infection prevention and control,” CDC epidemiologist Dr. Meghan Lyman, the lead author of the paper, said in the news release.

The first U.S. case of C. auris was reported in 2016. Since then, 3,270 clinical cases in which an infection was present and 7,413 screening cases confirming the fungus but not an infection had been reported by Dec. 31, 2021.

Clinical cases have increased every year, but the most rapid rise was from 2020-2021, when 17 states identified their first-ever cases of C. auris, according to the CDC.

Nationwide, clinical cases rose from 476 in 2019 to 1,471 in 2021. Screening cases tripled from 2020 to 2021, for a total of 4,041. Screening is important to prevent spread by identifying patients carrying the fungus so that infection prevention controls can be used, according to the CDC.

By Jay Clemons-NEWSMAX | Thursday, 09 March 2023 03:07 PM EST

China has been building high-tech fighter jets for more than a decade, reportedly through the intellectual property theft of advanced American technology. According to Fox News Digital report from Thursday, dating back to 2008, Beijing started development on the J-20 stealth fighter for the People's Liberation Army Air Force, with the long-range goal of developing a warplane fleet that could compete with American fighter jets. "What we know is that because of the espionage efforts, [China's] J-20 is more advanced than it otherwise would be, and that's the important point here," former acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Anderson told Fox News.
The J-20 embarked on its first flight in 2011; six years later, it was reportedly deployed into service for the Chinese military.
Reports of property theft first surfaced in 2015. In one instance, The Associated Press noted that "some of [China's] technology, it turns out, may well have come from the U.S. itself." The emergence of the J-20 fighter jet is sufficient proof that China has been engaging in intellectual property theft of U.S. technology for decades, according to American military experts.
"They have profited greatly from their thievery over the years," Anderson said. "They've put it to good use, and they've come up with an advanced fifth-generation fighter." Despite the apparent information theft, Anderson couldn't speculate as to how China's J-20 fighter jets would stack up against America's F-22 Raptor jet — in the unforeseen event of "actual combat." According to Anderson, China's espionage techniques range from "old-fashioned" and "low-tech" — like using spies and setting "honey traps" — or bribing American contractors, university academics, and government officials.
The more advanced methods of espionage might involve cyber hacking to pilfer critical military information, noted Anderson. Matt McInnis, a senior fellow for the Institute for the Study of War's China program, said the Chinese have always been fixated on understanding the "more sophisticated jet engines" coming from the West.
"As someone who's watched China for a long time, that's always the joke ... will the Chinese ever be able to produce their own jet engine?" McInnis rhetorically asked. "So they've slowly been able to become more independent in creating jet engines for their more advanced aircraft." "Unfortunately, they've had some success there," said Anderson, while adding that Beijing has devoted a lot of energy into pursuing data breaches about the Joint Strike Fighter for use in the design and construction of the J-20.
"It saves the Chinese time and money. In effect, we end up subsidizing a portion of their research and development budget because they are successfully stealing some of our secrets," Anderson said. "Ultimately, this puts our men and women at greater risk on the battlefield."