Well.... for a dose of lighter insanity, how about this?
Reminds me of a South Park episode.
Oddly enough, so will I, my friend. Who knew it'd be a little thing like a global pandemic to get us more or less on the same page?
Man, this is so sad.When I first glanced this headline, I figured it was going to be another Florida Man story.
Turns out I was wrong:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...atally-shot-by-anti-masker-police/ar-AAOFCjv?
A 20-year-old gas station cashier was fatally shot in Germany Saturday after telling a customer to put on a face covering, according to the Trier Police Department.
A 49-year-old man was taken into custody on suspicion of murder after the shooting in the town of Idar-Oberstein, in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The customer entered the gas station around 7:45 p.m. local time and got into an argument with the cashier, who asked him to mask up, police said in a press release. Germany currently has a requirement to wear masks in stores.
© Flowers are placed in front of a gas station in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, Sept. 21, 2021.
The suspect left the gas station but returned at 9:25 p.m., this time with a face covering on. But this time when he got to the checkout, police said he pulled down the mask, and after a short exchange of words, pulled out a gun and fatally shot the cashier, who police described as a student.
©
The suspect then fled on foot after opening fire, police said.
Using surveillance footage, police launched a manhunt for the suspect. He appeared at the Idar-Oberstein police station Sunday around 8:40 a.m., accompanied by a woman, where he was arrested, officials said.
Investigators found the alleged murder weapon as well as other firearms and ammunition during a search of the suspect's apartment, according to police. They said it's not clear where he got the weapons.
Police and public prosecutors said in a press release that the suspect “acted out of anger about the rejection” during his first visit to the gas station and the cashier's request to mask up.
"He stated in his interrogation that he rejected the coronavirus protective measures," police said.
© Police officers secure a gas station in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, Sept. 19, 2021.
Authorities haven't named the suspect or the victim.
Idar-Oberstein Mayor Frank Frühauf slammed the attack as a "quite inconceivable, terrible act," adding, "Such a crime is unprecedented. It will take time to come to terms with it," German outlet DW News reported.
Annalena Baerbock, the center-left Green Party's candidate for chancellor in the country's federal election slated for Sunday, tweeted, “I’m shaken by this terrible murder of a young man who merely asked that existing rules be followed."
The incident has raised debate in the country over the radicalization of Querdenker, Germany's anti-COVID-19 lockdown protest movement, where followers have become increasingly vocal online and off about their refusal to comply with public health mandates and their relationship to conspiracy theories.
"I am greatly concerned about the radicalization of the Querdenker. We are all challenged to stand against the growing hatred," Baerbock added.
Germany's COVID restrictions have triggered repeated protests from anti-mask demonstrators throughout the pandemic. Just last month 600 protesters were detained by police after thousands protested the COVID-19 measures and a ban on gatherings in early August in Berlin, the Associated Press reported.
There have been 4.1 million cases of COVID-19 and over 93,000 deaths related to the virus in the country, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center data.
Any updates, John?
Oh no! That’s terrible mate, so sorry. I wish them a full recovery.
I tried typing out a comment for this, but I just don't have it in me today.
'I don't have COVID': Doctor says some COVID patients deny virus, decry vaccines from their deathbed
Gabriela Miranda, USA TODAY 22 hrs ago
A Michigan doctor says some COVID-19 patients continue to deny their diagnosis or denounce vaccines from their deathbeds
Matthew Trunsky, a pulmonologist and director of the palliative care unit at a Beaumont Health hospital in southeastern Michigan, has gained national attention after recounting what some patents gravelly ill with coronavirus have told him.
© Kyle Green, AP Images Medical professionals pronate a 39-year-old unvaccinated COVID-19 patient in the medical intensive care unit at St. Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho.
"You’re wrong doctor. I don't have COVID" and "I'd rather die than take the vaccine" were among the eight examples he shared in a Facebook post earlier in September.
Trunsky told The Washington Post medical staff have at times been berated by patients and their family members. He said over 100 of his patients have died from the coronavirus and 9 out of 10 COVID patients are unvaccinated.
COVID death tally: COVID-19 has killed about as many Americans as the 1918 Spanish flu pandemicAs of Saturday, about 55.2% of Americans are fully vaccinated. Over 672,000 have died due to COVID-19 related complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC released a study in September that found unvaccinated people who get COVID are 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die.
Despite his frustrations, Trunsky said he remains dedicated to giving all his patients, unvaccinated or not, the same level of care.
“We took the oath, we take all comers. I think deep down that’s the reason most of us went into medicine — to take care of patients. And it doesn't really matter who they are and what decisions they make," Trunsky told Bridge Michigan.
Dr. Kristin Jacob, director of the wellness program at Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health, told Bridge it's normal for doctors to feel frustrated with patients not taking advantage of a vaccine "that can help end the pandemic."
"There's a natural inclination to feel defensive and really continue to worsen that compassion fatigue. That's hard to talk about. No one wants to admit that," Jacob told Bridge.
In his plea for more people to get vaccinated, Trunsky shared that his experience with eight patients. Six out of the eight died, the other two remain in critical condition, he told The Post.
"Numbers are on the rise. Get the vaccine," Trunsky said in his post.
