Post by mhbruin on Jan 1, 2022 10:49:15 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 508 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
--------------
It's a Really Slow News Day, Today.
Is that a bad thing?
Happy New Year!
--------------
Belgian Awful
A Belgian scientific research station in Antarctica is dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19, despite workers being fully vaccinated and based in one of the world's remotest regions.
Since 14 December, at least 16 of the 25 workers at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught the virus.
Officials say cases remain mild so far.
COVID Is Really Every-F'ing-Where
--------------
Something Changed At Midnight Beside the Year You Write on Your Checks.
Californians of legal drinking age had something else to cheer to at midnight: several more years of to-go alcohol sales.
The state had been allowing restaurants and some bars to sell alcoholic beverages to go since the early days of the pandemic, but a new law that went into effect Saturday extends the rule -- which was set to expire at the end of 2021 -- through December 31, 2026.
...
And in Montana, residents 21 and older will be allowed to purchase cannabis for recreational use in some counties starting Saturday.
A new law permits the possession and purchase of "up to one ounce of cannabis, which may include up to eight grams of concentrate and/or up to 800 mg of THC in edible form," according to the Marijuana Policy Project. Adults can also "cultivate up to two cannabis plants in their home, with no more than four plants per household," the group said.
...
In Washington, DC, a regulation passed in 2018 outlaws the use of gas-powered leaf blowers by residents and landscapers, and carries fines of up to $500.
The delay in the rule's implementation "allowed the city and others affected time to switch to more eco-friendly electric leaf blowers or some other alternative," according to The Washington Post, which said the gas-powered blowers "can be as loud as heavy traffic and cause health problems for people who breathe their fumes."
...
As of January, it will be illegal to chain up a dog in Texas. Any outdoor restraint must be lighter and more flexible, and dogs must have adequate shelter, shade and water. Fines can go as high as $500 for first offenses, and repeat offenders could get jail time.
I Guess Texas Didn't Ban Raining Fish
The East Texas city of Texarkana experienced a rare weather event to close out the year: It rained fish.
As an article in the Library of Congress explains, scientists believe tornadic waterspouts or updrafts to be responsible for fish and small animal falls that have been observed — but not thoroughly documented — around the planet for centuries.
A tornado could descend toward the water’s surface, sucking up objects and small animals into its vortex and raining them down elsewhere. A powerful thunderstorm’s wind currents could do something similar, another theory proposes.
In Kansas City, Mo., it rained frogs in 1873. In Japan, tadpoles rained down in 2009. In Australia, it was spangled perch in 2010.
In Texarkana, James Audirsch said he heard a thunderclap when he and co-worker Brad Pratt opened the car dealership’s doors. “It was raining real hard and a fish hit the ground,” Audirsch told NBC affiliate KTAL. “I said, ‘it’s raining fish.’ Brad was like, ‘no it’s not.’ I was like, ‘no it really is.’ And fish were dropping, here and everywhere.”
This One Needs to Become National
In Ohio, students entering high school in the new year won’t be allowed to graduate until they complete a course in financial literacy, covering such adult issues as taxes, interest rates and getting a loan. Sponsors of the legislation said the state has a duty to prepare young people for success.
We Don't Need Citizens Who Can Solve Quadratic Equations, But Can't Balance a Check Book.
--------------
This Should Be National, Too.
--------------
Paper or Plastic. More Taste or Less Filling? Candy Mint or Breath Mint? COVID or a Cold?
Early signs of cold, flu and Covid-19 tend to be similar, El-Sayed said.
Both Covid-19 and the flu often cause symptoms such as fever, fatigue, body aches, sore throat, shortness of breath and vomiting or diarrhea, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Covid-19 infection can be distinguished, however, by the headache and dry cough that often go along with it. The loss of taste and smell that has been the biggest warning sign of a Covid-19 infection is still a possible symptom, though it is less prevalent now than it has been with other variants, El-Sayed said.
"For people who are feeling serious chest pain, particularly with a dry cough that has gotten worse, that's when you really ought to seek medical attention," he warned.
The most important factor to consider is exposure.
"If you are starting to feel any of these symptoms, it's worth asking: Has anybody with whom I've come into contact been infected with Covid? It's also worth isolating and taking a rapid test," he advised.
--------------
Even the Ice Is Too Cold
Wrap up warm if you're heading to Target Field in Minneapolis -- home of MLB's Minnesota Twins -- for the 2022 Winter Classic on Saturday.
The NHL has staged 32 modern outdoor games, but Saturday's match between the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues maybe the coldest yet, with sub-zero temperatures forecast.
The high temperature on Saturday is only supposed to reach -2 degrees, but it will be even colder when the game begins at 7 p.m. ET with a frozen temperature of -5 and the wind chill hovering around -20 degrees.
And it could go down as the coldest outdoor NHL hockey game in history if those temperatures pan out.
So much so that the National Hockey League says even the ice will need to be heated.
"When the air temperature is above the optimum ice temperature, the glycol and aluminum pans transfer heat away from the ice. But when the air temperature is below the optimum ice temperature, it transfers heat to the ice," said NHL.com.
"The NHL has used a custom-made inline heater before to warm the glycol in the pipes on the way to the floor, but here it will use two inline heaters for the first time, one at the refrigeration truck and another in the outfield. The crew can calibrate the temperature to a half-degree."
You Have to Be Nuts to Live Up There. I Know. I Spent a Winter in North Dakota. I Was Nuts.
--------------
You Can't Trust Your Feelings
And You REALLY Can't Trust Right-Wing Media
Fox News told viewers that “Christmas presents for your kids may not arrive on time or even at all” (Sean Hannity), that the president is “the Biden Who Stole Christmas” (Laura Ingraham) and that Biden is “facing a nightmare come Christmastime,” when “gifts are going to cost a fortune, and that’s even if you’re lucky enough to snag anything” (Jesse Watters).
Breitbart News trumpeted a Trump campaign adviser’s forecast for “a frankly miserable Christmas … the Biden Blue Christmas.” Newsmax foresaw “Biden’s Blue Christmas: Shortages, Frustration, Economic Malaise.”
And then — a Christmas miracle!
Holiday retail sales were the highest ever, jumping 8.5 percent from last year and nearly 11 percent from pre-pandemic 2019, as “consumers splurged throughout the season,” Mastercard reported Sunday.
--------------
One of the Victims of the Unvaccinated
--------------
The QOP War on Sandals
--------------
I Am Sure the People of Blackfoot Feel Safer Knowing Sheriff Rowland is On the Job.
An eastern Idaho sheriff accused of threatening a church youth group with a gun and assaulting one of its leaders can stay on the job but must surrender all of his firearms to the Idaho State Police.
A judge’s ruling Wednesday also requires Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland to have no contact with the alleged victims.
The Idaho attorney general’s office earlier this month charged Rowland with aggravated battery, aggravated assault and misdemeanor exhibition of a gun. Rowland did not enter a plea on Wednesday, his first appearance in court on the charges. First appearances involve procedural matters such as advising people of their rights.
In court documents, investigators with the Idaho attorney general’s office wrote that a youth group from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was participating in an activity Nov. 9 where they delivered thank-you notes to members of the congregation. The girls, aged 12 to 16, taped the notes to the churchgoers’ doors and then rang their doorbells, running away before they could be seen.
Seven of the youth group members and an adult leader went to Rowland’s neighborhood to leave a note for the sheriff and his wife, according to the court documents. In separate interviews with investigators, members of the youth group and Rowland both reportedly said that after the group left the note, Rowland stopped their car from driving away, pulled the adult driver out of the vehicle by her hair and pointed his handgun at her head, yelling profanities at her.
Rowland agreed to take a leave of absence shortly after the allegations arose in November, but has since returned to the job.
Maybe He Can Do Something About Men Wearing Sandals
--------------
Wait, What? I'm Not Supposed to Use These. No Worries.
Ah, it’s that time of year again when we find out which words we should never use again — at least, that’s according to nominations sent to Lake Superior State University.
The university has released their annual Banished Words List, and to top it at No. 1 is “wait, what?”
No worries
At the end of the day
That being said
Asking for a friend
Circle back
Deep dive
New normal
You’re on mute
Supply chain
--------------
Don't The French Know How to Party?
Hundreds of empty, parked cars go up in flames in France each New Year’s Eve, set afire by young revelers, a much lamented tradition that appeared in decline this year, which saw only 874 vehicles burned.
The number of cars burned overnight has declined compared to New Year’s Eve 2019 when 1,316 vehicles went up in flames, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Saturday on Twitter.
Fewer arson attacks occurred because of massive police presence on cities’ streets this New Year’s Eve, enforcing law and order and restrictions on public gatherings and wearing face masks as infections driven by the fast-spreading omicron variant surge, he said.
--------------
I'm Not Sure This is the Big Problem With Judges
U.S. federal judges need "more rigorous" ethics training to ensure they are not hearing disputes in which they have a financial interest, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts said in a year-end report published on Friday, citing a recent Wall Street Journal investigation.
The newspaper reported in September that 131 federal judges broke disqualification rules and the judicial ethics code by presiding over cases involving companies in which they or family members owned stock.
In his annual report on the federal judiciary, Roberts said most judges scrupulously follow the rules, and the violations identified by the Wall Street Journal were mostly "isolated" and "unintentional" oversights caused by conflict-checking procedures failing to reveal a financial conflict.
He Might Take Look At Your Own Court. There is no Supreme Court code governing conflict of interest
Recent Times in Which a Justice Failed to Recuse Despite a Conflict of Interests
A Severe Case of Recusal Refusal
--------------
CDC doesn't do a good job of reporting around holidays.
Doses Administered 7-Day Average | Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses | Number of People 2 or More Doses | New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | |
| Jan 1 | No Data | ||||
| Dec 31 | No Data | ||||
| Dec 30 | 1,234,917 | 243,527,564 | 205,811,394 | ||
| Dec 29 | 1,042,911 | 243,182,423 | 205,638,307 | 316,277 | 1,100 |
| Dec 28 | 1,091,279 | 242,813,374 | 205,420,745 | 277,241 | 1,085 |
| Dec 27 | 1,034,442 | 242,433,620 | 205,196,973 | 240,408 | 1,096 |
| Dec 26 | No Data | 206,577 | 1,041 | ||
| Dec 25 | No Data | 196,511 | 1,053 | ||
| Dec 24 | No Data | 195,713 | 1,108 | ||
| Dec 23 | 1,189,954 | 241,520,561 | 204,740,321 | 192,453 | 1,199 |
| Dec 22 | 1,283,244 | 241,583,543 | 204,818,717 | 176,097 | 1,213 |
| Dec 21 | 1,542,936 | 241,132,288 | 204,578,725 | 161,261 | 1,223 |
| Dec 20 | 1,554,261 | 241,881,712 | 204,098,982 | 149,331 | 1,188 |
| Dec 19 | 1,558,720 | 241,571,084 | 203,926,479 | 132,659 | 1,169 |
| Dec 18 | 1,562,366 | 241,205,528 | 203,727,446 | 127,445 | 1,182 |
| Dec 17 | 2,065,555 | 240,775,382 | 203,479,206 | 125,775 | 1,182 |
| Dec 16 | 2,043,207 | 240,321,022 | 203,159,327 | 122,296 | 1,179 |
| Dec 15 | 1,795,384 | 239,975,167 | 202,748,005 | 119,546 | 1,187 |
| Dec 14 | 1,904,464 | 239,553,956 | 202,504,037 | 117,950 | 1,143 |
| Dec 13 | 1,951,329 | 239,274,656 | 202,246,698 | 117,890 | 1,147 |
| Dec 12 | 1,984,721 | 239,008,166 | 201,975,235 | 116,742 | 1,131 |
| Dec 11 | 2,020,853 | 238,679,707 | 201,688,550 | 116,893 | 1,131 |
| Dec 10 | 1,721,570 | 238,143,066 | 201,279,582 | 118,575 | 1,146 |
| Dec 9 | 1,583,662 | 237,468,725 | 200,717,387 | 118,052 | 1,089 |
| Dec 8 | 1,611,831 | 237,087,380 | 200,400,533 | 118,515 | 1,092 |
| Dec 7 | 1,781,389 | 236,363,835 | 199,687,439 | 117,488 | 1,097 |
| Dec 6 | 1,780,807 | 236,018,871 | 199,313,022 | 117,179 | 1,117 |
| Dec 5 | 2,264,301 | 235,698,738 | 198,962,520 | 103,823 | 1,154 |
| Dec 4 | 2,009,864 | 235,297,964 | 198,592,167 | 105,554 | 1,150 |
| Dec 3 | 1,700,056 | 234,743,864 | 198,211,641 | 106,132 | 1,110 |
| Dec 2 | 1,428,263 | 234,269,053 | 197,838,728 | 96,425 | 975 |
| Dec 1 | 1,116,587 | 233,590,555 | 197,363,116 | 86,412 | 859 |
| Nov 30 | 1,152,647 | 233,207,582 | 197,058,988 | 82,846 | 816 |
| Nov 29 | 937,113 | 232,792,508 | 196,806,194 | 80,178 | 804 |
| Feb 16 | 1,716,311 | 39,670,551 | 15,015,434 | 78,292 |
| At Least One Dose | Fully Vaccinated | % of Vaccinated W/ Boosters | |
| % of Total Population | 73.3% | 62.0% | 33.4% |
| % of Population 5+ | 78.0% | 65.9% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 83.5% | 71.1% | 36.3% |
| % of Population 18+ | 85.5% | 72.8% | 48.2% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 87.6% | 58.2% |
--------------
It's a Really Slow News Day, Today.
Is that a bad thing?
Happy New Year!
--------------
Belgian Awful
A Belgian scientific research station in Antarctica is dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19, despite workers being fully vaccinated and based in one of the world's remotest regions.
Since 14 December, at least 16 of the 25 workers at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught the virus.
Officials say cases remain mild so far.
COVID Is Really Every-F'ing-Where
--------------
Something Changed At Midnight Beside the Year You Write on Your Checks.
Californians of legal drinking age had something else to cheer to at midnight: several more years of to-go alcohol sales.
The state had been allowing restaurants and some bars to sell alcoholic beverages to go since the early days of the pandemic, but a new law that went into effect Saturday extends the rule -- which was set to expire at the end of 2021 -- through December 31, 2026.
...
And in Montana, residents 21 and older will be allowed to purchase cannabis for recreational use in some counties starting Saturday.
A new law permits the possession and purchase of "up to one ounce of cannabis, which may include up to eight grams of concentrate and/or up to 800 mg of THC in edible form," according to the Marijuana Policy Project. Adults can also "cultivate up to two cannabis plants in their home, with no more than four plants per household," the group said.
...
In Washington, DC, a regulation passed in 2018 outlaws the use of gas-powered leaf blowers by residents and landscapers, and carries fines of up to $500.
The delay in the rule's implementation "allowed the city and others affected time to switch to more eco-friendly electric leaf blowers or some other alternative," according to The Washington Post, which said the gas-powered blowers "can be as loud as heavy traffic and cause health problems for people who breathe their fumes."
...
As of January, it will be illegal to chain up a dog in Texas. Any outdoor restraint must be lighter and more flexible, and dogs must have adequate shelter, shade and water. Fines can go as high as $500 for first offenses, and repeat offenders could get jail time.
I Guess Texas Didn't Ban Raining Fish
The East Texas city of Texarkana experienced a rare weather event to close out the year: It rained fish.
As an article in the Library of Congress explains, scientists believe tornadic waterspouts or updrafts to be responsible for fish and small animal falls that have been observed — but not thoroughly documented — around the planet for centuries.
A tornado could descend toward the water’s surface, sucking up objects and small animals into its vortex and raining them down elsewhere. A powerful thunderstorm’s wind currents could do something similar, another theory proposes.
In Kansas City, Mo., it rained frogs in 1873. In Japan, tadpoles rained down in 2009. In Australia, it was spangled perch in 2010.
In Texarkana, James Audirsch said he heard a thunderclap when he and co-worker Brad Pratt opened the car dealership’s doors. “It was raining real hard and a fish hit the ground,” Audirsch told NBC affiliate KTAL. “I said, ‘it’s raining fish.’ Brad was like, ‘no it’s not.’ I was like, ‘no it really is.’ And fish were dropping, here and everywhere.”
This One Needs to Become National
In Ohio, students entering high school in the new year won’t be allowed to graduate until they complete a course in financial literacy, covering such adult issues as taxes, interest rates and getting a loan. Sponsors of the legislation said the state has a duty to prepare young people for success.
We Don't Need Citizens Who Can Solve Quadratic Equations, But Can't Balance a Check Book.
--------------
This Should Be National, Too.
--------------
Paper or Plastic. More Taste or Less Filling? Candy Mint or Breath Mint? COVID or a Cold?
Early signs of cold, flu and Covid-19 tend to be similar, El-Sayed said.
Both Covid-19 and the flu often cause symptoms such as fever, fatigue, body aches, sore throat, shortness of breath and vomiting or diarrhea, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Covid-19 infection can be distinguished, however, by the headache and dry cough that often go along with it. The loss of taste and smell that has been the biggest warning sign of a Covid-19 infection is still a possible symptom, though it is less prevalent now than it has been with other variants, El-Sayed said.
"For people who are feeling serious chest pain, particularly with a dry cough that has gotten worse, that's when you really ought to seek medical attention," he warned.
The most important factor to consider is exposure.
"If you are starting to feel any of these symptoms, it's worth asking: Has anybody with whom I've come into contact been infected with Covid? It's also worth isolating and taking a rapid test," he advised.
--------------
Even the Ice Is Too Cold
Wrap up warm if you're heading to Target Field in Minneapolis -- home of MLB's Minnesota Twins -- for the 2022 Winter Classic on Saturday.
The NHL has staged 32 modern outdoor games, but Saturday's match between the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues maybe the coldest yet, with sub-zero temperatures forecast.
The high temperature on Saturday is only supposed to reach -2 degrees, but it will be even colder when the game begins at 7 p.m. ET with a frozen temperature of -5 and the wind chill hovering around -20 degrees.
And it could go down as the coldest outdoor NHL hockey game in history if those temperatures pan out.
So much so that the National Hockey League says even the ice will need to be heated.
"When the air temperature is above the optimum ice temperature, the glycol and aluminum pans transfer heat away from the ice. But when the air temperature is below the optimum ice temperature, it transfers heat to the ice," said NHL.com.
"The NHL has used a custom-made inline heater before to warm the glycol in the pipes on the way to the floor, but here it will use two inline heaters for the first time, one at the refrigeration truck and another in the outfield. The crew can calibrate the temperature to a half-degree."
You Have to Be Nuts to Live Up There. I Know. I Spent a Winter in North Dakota. I Was Nuts.
--------------
You Can't Trust Your Feelings
And You REALLY Can't Trust Right-Wing Media
Fox News told viewers that “Christmas presents for your kids may not arrive on time or even at all” (Sean Hannity), that the president is “the Biden Who Stole Christmas” (Laura Ingraham) and that Biden is “facing a nightmare come Christmastime,” when “gifts are going to cost a fortune, and that’s even if you’re lucky enough to snag anything” (Jesse Watters).
Breitbart News trumpeted a Trump campaign adviser’s forecast for “a frankly miserable Christmas … the Biden Blue Christmas.” Newsmax foresaw “Biden’s Blue Christmas: Shortages, Frustration, Economic Malaise.”
And then — a Christmas miracle!
Holiday retail sales were the highest ever, jumping 8.5 percent from last year and nearly 11 percent from pre-pandemic 2019, as “consumers splurged throughout the season,” Mastercard reported Sunday.
--------------
One of the Victims of the Unvaccinated
--------------
The QOP War on Sandals
--------------
I Am Sure the People of Blackfoot Feel Safer Knowing Sheriff Rowland is On the Job.
An eastern Idaho sheriff accused of threatening a church youth group with a gun and assaulting one of its leaders can stay on the job but must surrender all of his firearms to the Idaho State Police.
A judge’s ruling Wednesday also requires Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland to have no contact with the alleged victims.
The Idaho attorney general’s office earlier this month charged Rowland with aggravated battery, aggravated assault and misdemeanor exhibition of a gun. Rowland did not enter a plea on Wednesday, his first appearance in court on the charges. First appearances involve procedural matters such as advising people of their rights.
In court documents, investigators with the Idaho attorney general’s office wrote that a youth group from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was participating in an activity Nov. 9 where they delivered thank-you notes to members of the congregation. The girls, aged 12 to 16, taped the notes to the churchgoers’ doors and then rang their doorbells, running away before they could be seen.
Seven of the youth group members and an adult leader went to Rowland’s neighborhood to leave a note for the sheriff and his wife, according to the court documents. In separate interviews with investigators, members of the youth group and Rowland both reportedly said that after the group left the note, Rowland stopped their car from driving away, pulled the adult driver out of the vehicle by her hair and pointed his handgun at her head, yelling profanities at her.
Rowland agreed to take a leave of absence shortly after the allegations arose in November, but has since returned to the job.
Maybe He Can Do Something About Men Wearing Sandals
--------------
Wait, What? I'm Not Supposed to Use These. No Worries.
Ah, it’s that time of year again when we find out which words we should never use again — at least, that’s according to nominations sent to Lake Superior State University.
The university has released their annual Banished Words List, and to top it at No. 1 is “wait, what?”
No worries
At the end of the day
That being said
Asking for a friend
Circle back
Deep dive
New normal
You’re on mute
Supply chain
--------------
Don't The French Know How to Party?
Hundreds of empty, parked cars go up in flames in France each New Year’s Eve, set afire by young revelers, a much lamented tradition that appeared in decline this year, which saw only 874 vehicles burned.
The number of cars burned overnight has declined compared to New Year’s Eve 2019 when 1,316 vehicles went up in flames, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Saturday on Twitter.
Fewer arson attacks occurred because of massive police presence on cities’ streets this New Year’s Eve, enforcing law and order and restrictions on public gatherings and wearing face masks as infections driven by the fast-spreading omicron variant surge, he said.
--------------
I'm Not Sure This is the Big Problem With Judges
U.S. federal judges need "more rigorous" ethics training to ensure they are not hearing disputes in which they have a financial interest, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts said in a year-end report published on Friday, citing a recent Wall Street Journal investigation.
The newspaper reported in September that 131 federal judges broke disqualification rules and the judicial ethics code by presiding over cases involving companies in which they or family members owned stock.
In his annual report on the federal judiciary, Roberts said most judges scrupulously follow the rules, and the violations identified by the Wall Street Journal were mostly "isolated" and "unintentional" oversights caused by conflict-checking procedures failing to reveal a financial conflict.
He Might Take Look At Your Own Court. There is no Supreme Court code governing conflict of interest
Recent Times in Which a Justice Failed to Recuse Despite a Conflict of Interests
A Severe Case of Recusal Refusal
--------------