Post by mhbruin on Jan 18, 2022 9:33:43 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 529 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
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California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday Jan 18)
We had a great December, but January has been pretty bad. There are no big storms in the 10-day forecast.
Reservoirs are still low, but they are filling up a bit.
--------------
The Sky is Falling!
The 10 biggest US airlines have warned that the impending switch-on of 5G mobile phone services will cause "major disruption" to flights.
They said the start of Verizon and AT&T 5G mobile phone services, planned for Wednesday, would cause a "completely avoidable economic calamity".
Airlines fear C-band 5G signals will disrupt planes' navigation systems, particularly those used in bad weather.
I Am Very Confused. Haven't They Already Launched 5G?
All the major US carriers have already launched 5G networks and are working hard to expand nationwide. Some rely on millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology for higher speeds, while others favor lower-band spectrums for better coverage. This post looks at all the 5G cities in the US by carrier and talks a bit about speeds, frequencies, and more.
We should note that AT&T and Verizon have both agreed to pause their 5G rollouts for two weeks as of January 2022. The move comes at the request of Boeing and Airbus, citing that the 5G towers can interfere with planes. We will let you know when the rollout resumes.
WTF Is C-Band?
For 5G to offer an experience that's noticeably better than 4G, it needs broad, dedicated channels, ideally 50MHz or wider. Enter C-Band, the frequency that may save 5G in the US.
More than a half-dozen companies recently spent over $80 billion for C-band, a new set of airwaves that promise to fix the perilous state of American 5G.
According to wireless testing firm Rohde and Schwarz, the C-band is all frequencies between 4 and 8GHz. When US wireless geeks talk about C-band, though, they're talking about 3.7 to 4.2GHz—and specifically, in this case, the range from 3.7 to 3.98GHz.
Most of the rest of the world started to auction off C-band already; in terms of the number of countries, it's probably the most popular 5G band in the world. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) chopped C-band up into three chunks: band n77, band n78, and band n79. Most European and Asian countries currently use n78, which stretches from 3.3 to 3.8GHz. We in the US will use n77, a larger band from 3.3 to 4.2GHz. Japan also already uses n77, so equipment and phones are out there.
Do You Need a C-Band Phone?
AT&T users should think about their data performance now. If it's fine, C-band isn't urgent. If you want faster data in 2022 and live in one of the initial C-band markets, get a C-band phone.
Verizon is going in big on C-band. If you like in one of the 46 initial C-band markets, and data performance is important to you, you should definitely look to getting a C-band phone in 2021.
T-Mobile doesn't have any C-band airwaves which will be available before 2024. T-Mobile users shouldn't concern themselves with C-band yet.
US Cellular is in the same boat as T-Mobile.
-------------
Use a Beijing Burner Or You Might Get Burned.
The Beijing Winter Olympics app that all Games attendees must use contains security weaknesses that leave users exposed to data breaches, analysts say.
The My2022 app will be used by athletes, audience members and media for daily Covid monitoring.
The app will also offer voice chats, file transfers and Olympic news.
But cybersecurity group Citizen Lab says the app fails to provide encryption on many of its files. China has dismissed the concerns.
People attending the Beijing Olympics should bring burner phones and create email accounts for their time in China, cyber security firm Internet 2.0 said on Tuesday.
Several countries have also reportedly told athletes to leave their main devices at home.
-------------
Tonga consists of 169 Islands, 36 of Which are Inhabited.
I Don't Think These Two Were Populated
-------------
Maybe They Were Just Trying to Protect Him From COVID
A Tennessee man was awarded more than $9 million after he was served cleaning liquid instead of water at a Marion County Cracker Barrel.
William Cronnon was dining at the restaurant in April 2014 for lunch when a waitress accidentally refilled his glass with a mixture of water and Eco-San, a commercial-grade bleach, according to a lawsuit and press release by Cronnon's attorney.
"Plaintiff then ingested what he thought was ice water, only to immediately realize that it was not ice water, but was some chemical that caused a burning sensation in his mouth and esophagus," according to the lawsuit, which was shared online by local news station WTVC of Chattanooga.
"It was later discovered that the server who attended to the Plaintiff on that occasion actually served the Plaintiff a chemical, caustic substance that was being used as a cleaner in the kitchen area, which substance is known as Eco-San."
-------------
Hindu's Engage in Some Hin-Don'ts
India’s Supreme Court says it will investigate after complaints that Hindu nationalist leaders called on followers to take up arms against the country’s Muslim minority.
The notice of investigation was issued last week to the northern state of Uttarakhand, where a Hindu nationalist conference in the city of Haridwar was attended by hundreds of right-wing activists.
“We must prepare to either kill or be killed,” one of the speakers, Swami Prabodhananda Giri, said at the three-day conference, which was held Dec. 17-19.
Anti-Muslim sentiment has been rising in Hindu-majority India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist. But recent calls to violence are shocking in their extremity, experts say, going beyond hate speech to advocate ethnic cleansing.
-------------
Gaetz Girl Gets Immunity.
As part of an ongoing sex trafficking probe, the ex-girlfriend of Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz testified before a federal grand jury last week. Her reported cooperation has now earned her immunity.
Precisely why she would need immunity and for what crimes is at this time unclear.
-------------
News Flash: Electors Are Supposed to Be Elected
After Republicans in several states forged documents claiming Donald Trump had won their states and submitted the documents to the federal government, the attorney general of a second state has made a referral to federal prosecutors. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was the first to do so last week, but late Friday, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said he had done the same.
-------------
You Mean Manchin Shouldn't Be Shaping Legislation Affecting the Coal Industry?
John Fetterman, who’s seeking the Democratic nomination for Senate in Pennsylvania in one of the highest-profile races of 2022, is among the candidates calling for an outright stock ban. “Allowing members of Congress and their spouses to trade stocks is a clear conflict of interest,” Fetterman said in a statement. “Lawmakers should not be making profits off of the same companies they are supposed to be regulating, based on closed-door information that isn’t available to the public.”
-------------
This May Not Convince Anyone, But It Captures What I Feel
Mexican news anchor Leonardo Schwebel has had it with anti-vaxxers.
The presenter for Telediario Guadalajara exploded in anger while on-air this week, tearing into those who have refused the COVID-19 vaccine.
“If you’re anti-vax, you’re a moron,” Schwebel screamed at the camera, demanding that resisters at least wear a mask properly.
Turn Your Volume Down Before You Watch
Schwebel’s outburst came as confirmed coronavirus cases in Mexico reached record highs, thanks to the highly contagious omicron strain.
-------------
One Good Does Deserves Another, But Three Good Doses May Not Deserve a Fourth
An Israeli hospital on Monday said preliminary research indicates a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine provides only limited defense against the omicron variant that is raging around the world.
It's Amazing That Some People Get One Dose, But Not the Second
-------------
It Sure Seems Like There Are Solutions
The Biden administration is "actively engaged" with wireless carriers, airlines, airplane manufacturers and key federal agencies to address a looming aviation crisis, a senior administration official told Reuters.
Airlines are preparing to cancel a significant number of passenger and cargo flights in the coming hours to prepare for AT&T and Verizon's new 5G C-Band service that starts on Wednesday, after warning on Monday of "catastrophic" impacts.
Airlines want wireless carriers to not turn on some wireless towers near airport runways in a bid to avoid most of the flight disruptions.
-------------
The Chinese Often Don't Treat People in a Human Manner, But They Won't Torture Hamsters.
About 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, will be killed in Hong Kong after several tested positive for coronavirus. Officials in the city made the decision after a pet store employee was infected with the virus, as were several hamsters imported from the Netherlands to the store, the Associated Press reports.
The sale of hamsters will no longer be allowed in the city and small animals will not be allowed to be imported, officials from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said.
Anyone who bought a hamster from the store after January 7 will be required to complete a mandatory quarantine. They must also hand over their hamster to be put down.
About 2,000 animals, including hamsters and chinchillas, will be put down in a humane manner, officials said, according to the AP.
So the Chinese Treat Hamsters Better Than Uyghurs
-------------
How Valuable is An Unreliable Test? Seems Worthless.
The promise of at-home tests to tell people whether they are infectious has been undercut not just by anecdotal reports, but also by preliminary data that suggests some of the rapid tests may be less sensitive to the now-dominant omicron variant. Studies suggest they detect infections most reliably two to five days after exposure in people with high viral loads who are experiencing symptoms, which is why people are urged to take the tests serially. But even then, they are not foolproof. And for those who have taken pains to find out whether their sniffle and sore throat might be harbingers of covid-19 to protect others, contradictory test results are often dismaying.
-------------
How Facist Does This Sound?
A plan by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would establish a special police force to oversee state elections — the first of its kind in the nation — and while his fellow Republicans have reacted tepidly, voting rights advocates fear that it will become law and be used to intimidate voters.
The proposed Office of Election Crimes and Security would be part of the Department of State, which answers to the governor. DeSantis is asking the GOP-controlled legislature to allocate nearly $6 million to hire 52 people to “investigate, detect, apprehend, and arrest anyone for an alleged violation” of election laws. They would be stationed at unspecified “field offices throughout the state” and act on tips from “government officials or any other person.”
-------------
They Were Loaded For Bear --- Or Flight Attendants
Nearly 6,000 guns were found in carry-on luggage at checkpoints nationwide in 2021, breaking a record set just two years earlier, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
The 5,972 guns intercepted at U.S. airports last year represent a 35% increase, or more than 1,500 more weapons, compared with 2019, even as travel remains below pre-pandemic levels,. The agency also reports that 86% of those firearms were loaded.
-------------
Dr. Evil and Mini-Me Are Fighting
Back in June, my colleague Philip Bump asked what turned out to be a prescient question: “So when is Trump going to turn on Gov. Ron DeSantis?”
It’s begun to happen, and DeSantis is giving it right back — albeit with both doing so in the kind of indirect, plausible-deniability-seeking way politicians are so fond of. Trump has gone after politicians who decline to state their coronavirus vaccine booster status (of which DeSantis happens to be the prime recent example), and now DeSantis is signaling he disagreed with the Trump administration’s early-if-brief covid lockdown.
It’s a very notable decision from DeSantis to hit back, however gently and indirectly, in that it’s not something most other Republicans are doing. Those Republicans have generally rolled out the red carpet if Trump wants to run again in 2024, but DeSantis has declined to say that he’d defer to Trump — which is reportedly the chief source of the tension.
-------------
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 18 | 1,158,537 | 249,393,487 | 209,312,770 | ||
| Jan 17 | No Data | 701,277 | 1,746 | ||
| Jan 16 | No Data | 771,131 | 1,851 | ||
| Jan 15 | 1,268,202 | 248,707,432 | 208,995,438 | 788,628 | 1,858 |
| Jan 14 | 1,286,773 | 248,338,448 | 208,791,862 | 798,335 | 1,784 |
| Jan 13 | 1,291,013 | 247,987,225 | 208,564,894 | 794,587 | 1,730 |
| Jan 12 | 1,234,672 | 247,695,845 | 208,182,657 | 782,765 | 1,729 |
| Jan 11 | 1,213,113 | 247,321,023 | 207,954,605 | 761,535 | 1,656 |
| Jan 10 | 1,307,445 | 247,051,363 | 207,796,335 | 750,996 | 1,633 |
| Jan 9 | 1,331,635 | 246,812,939 | 207,662,071 | 674,406 | 1,552 |
| Jan 8 | 1,286,783 | 246,447,823 | 207,452,448 | 680,330 | 1,544 |
| Jan 7 | 1,226,151 | 246,050,320 | 207,229,983 | 668,497 | 1,513 |
| Jan 6 | 1,164,127 | 245,653,518 | 207,016,514 | 614,552 | 1,350 |
| Jan 5 | 1,117,999 | 245,278,020 | 206,797,799 | 586,391 | 1,245 |
| Jan 4 | 1,093,005 | 244,947,293 | 206,581,659 | 554,328 | 1,238 |
| Jan 3 | No Data | 491,652 | 1,165 | ||
| Jan 2 | No Data | 438,082 | 1,174 | ||
| Jan 1 | No Data | 411,871 | 1,151 | ||
| Dec 31 | No Data | 391,098 | 1,135 | ||
| Dec 30 | 1,234,917 | 243,527,564 | 205,811,394 | 360,276 | 1,144 |
| 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 |
| Feb 16, 2021 | 1,716,311 | 39,670,551 | 15,015,434 | 78,292 |
| At Least One Dose | Fully Vaccinated | % of Vaccinated W/ Boosters | |
| % of Total Population | 75.1% | 64.0% | 38.7% |
| % of Population 5+ | 79.9% | 67.0% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 85.1% | 71.8% | 41.8% |
| % of Population 18+ | 87.0% | 73.6% | 53.4% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 88.0% | 62.2% |
California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday Jan 18)
We had a great December, but January has been pretty bad. There are no big storms in the 10-day forecast.
| Percent of Average for this Date | Last Week | 2 Weeks ago | 3 Weeks ago | |
| Northern Sierra Precipitation | 134% | 149% | 158% | 170% |
| San Joaquin Precipitation | 121% | 138% | 156% | 170% |
| Tulare Basin Precipitation | 112% | 127% | 145% | 151% |
| Snow Water Content - North | 117% | 128% | 135% | 134% |
| Snow Water Content - Central | 114% | 129% | 148% | 148% |
| Snow Water Content - South | 121% | 135% | 160% | 158% |
Reservoirs are still low, but they are filling up a bit.
--------------
The Sky is Falling!
The 10 biggest US airlines have warned that the impending switch-on of 5G mobile phone services will cause "major disruption" to flights.
They said the start of Verizon and AT&T 5G mobile phone services, planned for Wednesday, would cause a "completely avoidable economic calamity".
Airlines fear C-band 5G signals will disrupt planes' navigation systems, particularly those used in bad weather.
I Am Very Confused. Haven't They Already Launched 5G?
All the major US carriers have already launched 5G networks and are working hard to expand nationwide. Some rely on millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology for higher speeds, while others favor lower-band spectrums for better coverage. This post looks at all the 5G cities in the US by carrier and talks a bit about speeds, frequencies, and more.
We should note that AT&T and Verizon have both agreed to pause their 5G rollouts for two weeks as of January 2022. The move comes at the request of Boeing and Airbus, citing that the 5G towers can interfere with planes. We will let you know when the rollout resumes.
WTF Is C-Band?
For 5G to offer an experience that's noticeably better than 4G, it needs broad, dedicated channels, ideally 50MHz or wider. Enter C-Band, the frequency that may save 5G in the US.
More than a half-dozen companies recently spent over $80 billion for C-band, a new set of airwaves that promise to fix the perilous state of American 5G.
According to wireless testing firm Rohde and Schwarz, the C-band is all frequencies between 4 and 8GHz. When US wireless geeks talk about C-band, though, they're talking about 3.7 to 4.2GHz—and specifically, in this case, the range from 3.7 to 3.98GHz.
Most of the rest of the world started to auction off C-band already; in terms of the number of countries, it's probably the most popular 5G band in the world. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) chopped C-band up into three chunks: band n77, band n78, and band n79. Most European and Asian countries currently use n78, which stretches from 3.3 to 3.8GHz. We in the US will use n77, a larger band from 3.3 to 4.2GHz. Japan also already uses n77, so equipment and phones are out there.
Do You Need a C-Band Phone?
AT&T users should think about their data performance now. If it's fine, C-band isn't urgent. If you want faster data in 2022 and live in one of the initial C-band markets, get a C-band phone.
Verizon is going in big on C-band. If you like in one of the 46 initial C-band markets, and data performance is important to you, you should definitely look to getting a C-band phone in 2021.
T-Mobile doesn't have any C-band airwaves which will be available before 2024. T-Mobile users shouldn't concern themselves with C-band yet.
US Cellular is in the same boat as T-Mobile.
-------------
Use a Beijing Burner Or You Might Get Burned.
The Beijing Winter Olympics app that all Games attendees must use contains security weaknesses that leave users exposed to data breaches, analysts say.
The My2022 app will be used by athletes, audience members and media for daily Covid monitoring.
The app will also offer voice chats, file transfers and Olympic news.
But cybersecurity group Citizen Lab says the app fails to provide encryption on many of its files. China has dismissed the concerns.
People attending the Beijing Olympics should bring burner phones and create email accounts for their time in China, cyber security firm Internet 2.0 said on Tuesday.
Several countries have also reportedly told athletes to leave their main devices at home.
-------------
Tonga consists of 169 Islands, 36 of Which are Inhabited.
I Don't Think These Two Were Populated
-------------
Maybe They Were Just Trying to Protect Him From COVID
A Tennessee man was awarded more than $9 million after he was served cleaning liquid instead of water at a Marion County Cracker Barrel.
William Cronnon was dining at the restaurant in April 2014 for lunch when a waitress accidentally refilled his glass with a mixture of water and Eco-San, a commercial-grade bleach, according to a lawsuit and press release by Cronnon's attorney.
"Plaintiff then ingested what he thought was ice water, only to immediately realize that it was not ice water, but was some chemical that caused a burning sensation in his mouth and esophagus," according to the lawsuit, which was shared online by local news station WTVC of Chattanooga.
"It was later discovered that the server who attended to the Plaintiff on that occasion actually served the Plaintiff a chemical, caustic substance that was being used as a cleaner in the kitchen area, which substance is known as Eco-San."
-------------
Hindu's Engage in Some Hin-Don'ts
India’s Supreme Court says it will investigate after complaints that Hindu nationalist leaders called on followers to take up arms against the country’s Muslim minority.
The notice of investigation was issued last week to the northern state of Uttarakhand, where a Hindu nationalist conference in the city of Haridwar was attended by hundreds of right-wing activists.
“We must prepare to either kill or be killed,” one of the speakers, Swami Prabodhananda Giri, said at the three-day conference, which was held Dec. 17-19.
Anti-Muslim sentiment has been rising in Hindu-majority India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist. But recent calls to violence are shocking in their extremity, experts say, going beyond hate speech to advocate ethnic cleansing.
-------------
Gaetz Girl Gets Immunity.
As part of an ongoing sex trafficking probe, the ex-girlfriend of Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz testified before a federal grand jury last week. Her reported cooperation has now earned her immunity.
Precisely why she would need immunity and for what crimes is at this time unclear.
-------------
News Flash: Electors Are Supposed to Be Elected
After Republicans in several states forged documents claiming Donald Trump had won their states and submitted the documents to the federal government, the attorney general of a second state has made a referral to federal prosecutors. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was the first to do so last week, but late Friday, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said he had done the same.
-------------
You Mean Manchin Shouldn't Be Shaping Legislation Affecting the Coal Industry?
John Fetterman, who’s seeking the Democratic nomination for Senate in Pennsylvania in one of the highest-profile races of 2022, is among the candidates calling for an outright stock ban. “Allowing members of Congress and their spouses to trade stocks is a clear conflict of interest,” Fetterman said in a statement. “Lawmakers should not be making profits off of the same companies they are supposed to be regulating, based on closed-door information that isn’t available to the public.”
-------------
This May Not Convince Anyone, But It Captures What I Feel
Mexican news anchor Leonardo Schwebel has had it with anti-vaxxers.
The presenter for Telediario Guadalajara exploded in anger while on-air this week, tearing into those who have refused the COVID-19 vaccine.
“If you’re anti-vax, you’re a moron,” Schwebel screamed at the camera, demanding that resisters at least wear a mask properly.
Turn Your Volume Down Before You Watch
Schwebel’s outburst came as confirmed coronavirus cases in Mexico reached record highs, thanks to the highly contagious omicron strain.
-------------
One Good Does Deserves Another, But Three Good Doses May Not Deserve a Fourth
An Israeli hospital on Monday said preliminary research indicates a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine provides only limited defense against the omicron variant that is raging around the world.
It's Amazing That Some People Get One Dose, But Not the Second
-------------
It Sure Seems Like There Are Solutions
The Biden administration is "actively engaged" with wireless carriers, airlines, airplane manufacturers and key federal agencies to address a looming aviation crisis, a senior administration official told Reuters.
Airlines are preparing to cancel a significant number of passenger and cargo flights in the coming hours to prepare for AT&T and Verizon's new 5G C-Band service that starts on Wednesday, after warning on Monday of "catastrophic" impacts.
Airlines want wireless carriers to not turn on some wireless towers near airport runways in a bid to avoid most of the flight disruptions.
-------------
The Chinese Often Don't Treat People in a Human Manner, But They Won't Torture Hamsters.
About 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, will be killed in Hong Kong after several tested positive for coronavirus. Officials in the city made the decision after a pet store employee was infected with the virus, as were several hamsters imported from the Netherlands to the store, the Associated Press reports.
The sale of hamsters will no longer be allowed in the city and small animals will not be allowed to be imported, officials from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said.
Anyone who bought a hamster from the store after January 7 will be required to complete a mandatory quarantine. They must also hand over their hamster to be put down.
About 2,000 animals, including hamsters and chinchillas, will be put down in a humane manner, officials said, according to the AP.
So the Chinese Treat Hamsters Better Than Uyghurs
-------------
How Valuable is An Unreliable Test? Seems Worthless.
The promise of at-home tests to tell people whether they are infectious has been undercut not just by anecdotal reports, but also by preliminary data that suggests some of the rapid tests may be less sensitive to the now-dominant omicron variant. Studies suggest they detect infections most reliably two to five days after exposure in people with high viral loads who are experiencing symptoms, which is why people are urged to take the tests serially. But even then, they are not foolproof. And for those who have taken pains to find out whether their sniffle and sore throat might be harbingers of covid-19 to protect others, contradictory test results are often dismaying.
-------------
How Facist Does This Sound?
A plan by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would establish a special police force to oversee state elections — the first of its kind in the nation — and while his fellow Republicans have reacted tepidly, voting rights advocates fear that it will become law and be used to intimidate voters.
The proposed Office of Election Crimes and Security would be part of the Department of State, which answers to the governor. DeSantis is asking the GOP-controlled legislature to allocate nearly $6 million to hire 52 people to “investigate, detect, apprehend, and arrest anyone for an alleged violation” of election laws. They would be stationed at unspecified “field offices throughout the state” and act on tips from “government officials or any other person.”
-------------
They Were Loaded For Bear --- Or Flight Attendants
Nearly 6,000 guns were found in carry-on luggage at checkpoints nationwide in 2021, breaking a record set just two years earlier, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
The 5,972 guns intercepted at U.S. airports last year represent a 35% increase, or more than 1,500 more weapons, compared with 2019, even as travel remains below pre-pandemic levels,. The agency also reports that 86% of those firearms were loaded.
-------------
Dr. Evil and Mini-Me Are Fighting
Back in June, my colleague Philip Bump asked what turned out to be a prescient question: “So when is Trump going to turn on Gov. Ron DeSantis?”
It’s begun to happen, and DeSantis is giving it right back — albeit with both doing so in the kind of indirect, plausible-deniability-seeking way politicians are so fond of. Trump has gone after politicians who decline to state their coronavirus vaccine booster status (of which DeSantis happens to be the prime recent example), and now DeSantis is signaling he disagreed with the Trump administration’s early-if-brief covid lockdown.
It’s a very notable decision from DeSantis to hit back, however gently and indirectly, in that it’s not something most other Republicans are doing. Those Republicans have generally rolled out the red carpet if Trump wants to run again in 2024, but DeSantis has declined to say that he’d defer to Trump — which is reportedly the chief source of the tension.
-------------