Post by mhbruin on Jan 30, 2022 9:35:38 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 539 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
--------------
California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday Jan 25)
We had a great December, but January has been pretty terrible. We have 3-4 months to get some significant rain.
There are no big storms in the 10-day forecast.
Reservoirs are still low, but they are filling up a bit.
--------------
About the COVID Data
Clearly there is a glitch in the CDC data. Vaccinations have not fallen off a cliff as the average number of doses suggests. In a few days, the 7-day average should be accurate again.
As everyone is reporting, cases and hospitalizations are down, but deaths haven't started to drop yet. The number is VERY high.
Although I have no sympathy for unvaccinated who die (except those who can't take the jab for some reason), it is still a tragedy for their family, a burden on the healthcare system, and an infection danger.
--------------
Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
America in 2022
The Washington Metropolitan Police Department and Amtrak Police announced Saturday the arrest of a man for allegedly spray-painting swastikas on columns at Union Station and for defacing three other buildings.
Police say the vandalism occurred Friday, a day after International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
For the graffiti at Union Station, police charged the 34-year-old with Display of Certain Emblems. They charged him with Defacing Private/Public Property for the incidents at the three other buildings.
CNN Affiliate WUSA9 reports dismayed visitors attending the press conference questioned why the culprit wasn't confronted while the vandalism was happening.
"I thought there was supposed to be a lot of security around train stations and airports," WUSA9 quotes traveler Vickie Elson of Massachusetts as saying. "Where were they? "
You Can Lie to People, But Don't Ruin Their Wordle
Twitter took down a Wordle spoiler bot that ruined the game for other people by automatically replying to their tweets with the next day's answer.
In a statement after it suspended the account Tuesday, Twitter said the account, @wordlinator, was "suspended for violating the Twitter rules and the automation rules around sending unsolicited @mentions."
According to Twitter's terms of service, accounts can't disrupt other users by sending high volumes of unsolicited replies.
Coal Joe's Legacy
When the payments stopped coming, a mother in Milwaukee had to decide between buying diapers and baby formula for her newborn or paying for the Wi-Fi her sons needed to attend online school.
In Chicago, a mom used the last of the cash she had saved from the payments to rent a hotel room for herself and her 2-year-old daughter after their apartment’s heat was unexpectedly shut off and the temperature dropped to 9 degrees.
A West Virginia woman who instructs low-income people about parenting and domestic violence said the end of the payments meant she and her kids were applying for financial support and eating meals of potatoes, beans, canned foods or pancakes.
Between July and December, the expanded child tax credit provided parents a cross the United States a small financial reprieve from the pandemic’s economic turbulence. On the 15th of each month, parents who signed up received payments of up to $300 per child under age 6 and $250 per child ages 6 to 17.
Many said it gave their families a little room to breathe.
Previous Guy Speaks to His Storm Troopers
Former President Donald Trump Saturday night called on his followers to stage massive protests in multiple cities should prosecutors act against him. He also said he would offer pardons to those charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol that he incited in a last-gasp attempt to remain in power.
“If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protests we have ever had in Washington, D.C., in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere, because our country and our elections are corrupt,” he said to a rally audience in Conroe, Texas, reading from teleprompters set up on either side of his lectern.
A few minutes later, he claimed his followers who stormed the Capitol building, assaulting police as they entered, were not being treated “fairly” and that should he run for the White House again and win: “If it requires pardons, we will give them pardons.”
Killing Them Softly With Their Meds, Killing Them Softly
Republican state lawmakers across the United States have proposed – and in some cases passed – legislation that they say keeps the government from interfering with doctors who want to prescribe ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to help prevent and treat Covid-19.
But those treatments have not proven effective at preventing or treating Covid and infectious disease experts see the bills as examples of right-wing lawmakers politicizing medicine – a trend that is increasing as the pandemic wears on in America in to its third year amid an increasingly fraught political atmosphere.
Grooming the Next Rittenhouse
During a Trump rally on Saturday in Conroe, Texas, Donald Trump Jr. said he took his 12-year-old son, Donald Trump III, to a gun manufacturer where he got to make his own AR-15.
"Oh, I love Texas. And today, by the way, I got to do the most Texas thing ever," Donald Trump Jr. said during his speech at the rally. "Since we came in late last night, I was able to bring my little son Donny to my buddy Dion's manufacturing facility at F-1 Firearms. And Donny, little kid from New York City, now Florida, thank God, got to make his own AR-15."
Feasting on the Dead
Sheriff's deputies in middle Georgia have arrested a woman they say stole lottery tickets after others shot and mortally wounded a clerk.
Houston County Sheriff's Capt. Jon Holland said Friday that deputies arrested 43-year-old Lakiesha Deshawn McGhee, of Bonaire, on Monday after finding evidence that McGhee stole lottery tickets from the same office at the Warner Robins business where clerk Sabrina Renee Dollar lay dying. Holland said deputies also believe McGhee briefly disconnected power from the building's security system before emergency workers arrived.
McGhee is charged with theft by taking and tampering with evidence and remains jailed in Houston County without bail set. It's unclear if she has a lawyer to speak on her behalf.
Holland did not accuse McGhee of being involved in the shooting of Dollar, saying McGhee called 911 after three unknown men entered the business, which offers video poker and sells lottery tickets, just after midnight on Jan. 18.
--------------
Today's Best People in the World
On July 21st ( sorry, just recently discovered this ), in the afternoon of a scorching summer day, she was heading out of a convenience store she regularly frequents when she spotted a familiar homeless man outside sitting on the grass.
“I’ve seen him around several times. I’ve given him leftover food before, if I get a cancellation and have food leftovers in the car. He didn’t look good… like he was 10 seconds away from heatstroke.”
She also said he has “the mind of a child,” and she was concerned that he “doesn’t know he needs to stay extra hydrated when it’s super hot outside.”
She turned around and grabbed two more bottles of water, and seeing a long line, she called out to the lone cashier that she was taking the water to the guy outside and will come right back and settle up.
In her own words ( with permission )..…
When I came back in, the lady in front of me turned around, hands on hips, and told me that I was just enabling that 'homeless person' (said with a sneer) and that I shouldn't be wasting my money on him.
It's hot as hell in Florida right now. Mid nineties with humidity around 80%. It's a good day for heat stroke, and I told her so. I said I'd rather give him a water than call an ambulance.
I was gonna shrug it off. Let it go. Chalk it up to ignorance and the heat making everybody cranky.
And then she told me I should be ashamed of myself. That someone should call the police on him, and that it should be illegal to beg for money. That people who give the homeless money just encourage them to stay homeless and that should be illegal, too.
Ashamed. I should be ashamed for giving some poor old guy a water - it cost a whole dollar, BTW - and I should get in trouble for making sure he didn't stroke out in this heat.
I guess I look nice. Approachable. Like I wouldn't rip your head off. I am nice, most of the time. But not always.
And I lost my temper. I told her to call a cop and report me for buying sh*t at a convenience store.
I told her that I wasn't in the damn mood for crazy right now. That it's a hundred f***ing degrees outside, and I'm hot and tired and sick to death of stupid people. That if she had an ounce of compassion in her whole body, she'd buy him a cold drink, too. That maybe she should figure out why she needs to accost complete strangers. And how's about after that, she back the f**k up outta my face and outta my business and turn back around and not say one more damn word to me.
I'm just about deaf in one ear. I try to modulate my voice. Unless I get angry.
It got pretty loud there at the end. There was dead silence in the store and then someone said loudly "For real!"
And the guy at the front of the line told the cashier to add a sandwich to his purchases for the guy outside.
The guy behind him bought an extra ice cream. The girl behind HIM got change for a twenty 'cause that guy could probably use some cash.'
Every single person in line got him something. Every one, except the now very embarrassed lady in front of me, who slunk out without saying another word.
When I got to the cashier, she didn't charge me for either of the waters, because she was going to take him one anyway. And mine was free because of the entertainment.
When I went outside, he was eating his ice cream and drinking his water with a pile of stuff all around him, a big old grin on his face. He didn't look shaky anymore.
And there, people, is the story of why I hate people. And why I love people. All in the same damned minute.
I sat in the car and drank my water and laughed with tears in my eyes, same as I'm doing now."
--------------
It's Amazing What Two Vaccination Shots Can Do For You
Rafael Nadal won a record 21st Grand Slam men's title in the most stunning fashion, fighting back from two sets down to beat Russia's Daniil Medvedev in a classic Australian Open final.
Backed by a loud Melbourne crowd, sixth seed Nadal rallied to win 2-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4 7-5 on Rod Laver Arena.
Choke on that, No-Vax Novak!
--------------
The Other Big Lie: "It's Different This Time"
It's been a tough start to the year for investors in big tech companies. Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation fund, a big owner of Tesla, Zoom and Roku, has plunged nearly 30%. And speculative meme stocks like GameStop and AMC have been crushed.
But that's not causing Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett to lose any sleep.
Banks, energy firms and other value stocks have rallied this year, which is great news for Buffett since the Oracle of Omaha's conglomerate invests in many of these companies. Value stocks typically have lower price-to-earnings ratios, and they're definitely not trendy.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) shares are up about 3% this year and near an all-time high, while all the FAANGs, Microsoft (MSFT) and Tesla (TSLA) are deeply in the red. FAANG refers to Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and and Google.
Many of Berkshire's top investments are financial firms which have started the year in the green, including Bank of America (BAC), American Express (AXP) and US Bancorp (USB).
Berkshire's portfolio has also gotten a boost from Chevron (CVX), which is Buffett's twelfth-largest holding. The oil giant's shares are up 10% this year, making it the top performer in the Dow.
If this keeps up, Dave Portnoy of media company Barstool Sports, who has positioned himself as an investing guru for a new generation of traders, will have to eat these words from a June 2020 tweet: "I'm sure Warren Buffett is a great guy but when it comes to stocks he's washed up. I'm the captain now."
Companies That Earn Good Profits Are Good Investments
--------------
What's a "Bag", a Kilo, an Ounce, a Gram?
Police recovered about 100 bags of fentanyl from the bedroom of a 13-year-old who died after a presumed fentanyl exposure at his school in Hartford, Connecticut.
Forty bags of fentanyl were also removed from the teen's school, according to police. Both sets of bags were packaged the same way and marked with a similar stamp, according to a press release by the Hartford Police Department.
The young teenager died on January 15, two days after he was found unconscious after a presumed fentanyl exposure at the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy.
Dr. Gupta explains why opioids so addictive 00:55
Two other male students, also seventh graders, who came into contact with the fentanyl at the same time were taken to a hospital and later released, police said.
"We can confidently say that the fentanyl that caused the overdose [of the juvenile] was the same fentanyl that was located in the juvenile's bedroom," Hartford police said in the release.
The bags were initially collected by the Drug Enforcement Administration and given to Hartford police for fingerprint and DNA testing, said Hartford police Lt. Aaron Boisvert.
Police found no evidence that anyone other than the child brought the drugs to school, he added. Officials are still investigating how he came to be in possession of the fentanyl.
The teen's mother is cooperating with authorities, who have found no evidence that suggests she had prior knowledge of her son's fentanyl possession, the release said.
The 13-year-old had no prior history of narcotics, according to the release.
--------------
He's Still a Bizarre-Looking Mascot
The University of Nebraska has changed its mascot's hand gesture after more than 47 years, the university said, after the traditional one became associated with racist groups.
The Herbie Husker mascot changed from making what appears to be an "OK" hand gesture with his thumb and forefinger forming an O, to one with his index finger raised in a "number one" gesture.
The "OK" hand symbol is listed on the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) website as having been co-opted as a "racist" hand sign.
"The concern about the hand gesture was brought to our attention by our apparel provider and others, and we decided to move forward with a revised Herbie Husker logo," Nebraska Athletics said in an email to CNN.
And Where's the Corn? You Can Be a Cornhusker Without Corn. He's Just a Weird Dude on Drugs.
--------------
What's the Difference Between a Cornhusker With Epilepsy and a Prostitute With Diarrhea?
Answer at the end
--------------
As I Understand It, New Abortion Restrictions Affect Minorities More Than White People
So apparently, the QOP wants more babies of color
--------------
How Much Money Are We Saving By Not Dealing With Climate Change?
For the first time on record, 2021 had four individual weather events topping the $20 billion economic loss threshold: Hurricane Ida, July flooding in Europe, summer seasonal flooding in China, and a February winter weather disaster in the U.S./Mexico. “This was just the second time on record in which four $20+ billion events had been registered in a calendar year,” Aon reported, “but the first time that four events were weather/climate related. In 2004, there were two hurricanes (Charley and Ivan) and two earthquakes (October 23 Japan Earthquake and the December 26 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami).”
Considering insured losses, 2021 was the most expensive ever for winter weather, at $17 billion, and third-costliest for severe weather (including severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hail)—nearly $27 billion. Only 2020 ($38 billion) and 2011 ($33 billion) had higher severe weather insured losses.
Insured damage from wildfires in 2021 was $5 billion, marking the seventh consecutive year that insured wildfire losses surpassed $2 billion. Prior to 2015, the globe recorded just four years in which aggregated wildfire-related insured losses topped $2 billion.
Thankfully, drought losses in 2021 were below the 2000-2020 average, at $21 billion. The pandemic helped push global food prices to their highest levels in 46 years in 2021, and food prices would have been dangerously high if above-average drought losses had hit the major grain-growing breadbaskets of the world.
--------------
Who Won the Week?
Amy Schneider, who ends her 40-game reign on "Jeopardy!" with over $1.3 million and national admiration as a role model for the trans community
Federal judge Mark Walker, for ruling that 3 University of Florida political science professors can give expert witness testimony in a lawsuit challenging a new state election law
Neil Young: for standing up to Spotify, which he says has become “the home of life-threatening Covid misinformation,” by pulling his music from the service
The federal court that struck down Alabama’s newly drawn congressional map because it's viciously racist against Black voters
The Arizona Democratic Party, for censuring turncoat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, whose approval there among Democrats is now around 8 percent
The French National Assembly, for criminalizing "ex-gay" therapy, a quack science that claims to "cure" LGBT people. Said President Macron: "There is nothing to be cured"
President Biden: $15 min. wage for fed employees, circles NATO wagons, smooth mask/test rollout, & gets chance to make mark on the Supreme Court.
Guerrilla warfare, as people from around the country clog Virginia Republicans' "snitch line," created for GOP-cultist parents to rat out teachers teaching truth about American history
The Democratic party, for promoting economic policies on behalf of everyday Americans that resulted in 5.7% GDP in 2021, the biggest economic expansion since 1984
Federal Judge Rudolph Contreras, for invalidating a huge gov't oil/gas lease sale for 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico because it didn't factor in the impact on climate change
--------------
Payton Manning Captures My Feelings Bout Tom Brady Perfectly
Former NFL star Peyton Manning turned up on “Weekend Update” on “Saturday Night Live” to talk football and address reports that Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady may be considering retiring. But what Manning couldn’t stop thinking about was the Netflix series “Emily in Paris.”
Manning admitted to co-anchor Colin Jost that he didn’t even watch last week’s NFL blockbuster games — which he heard were “incredible.” Instead, he turned on “Emily in Paris” and couldn’t stop watching the entire (second) season.
“Oh, my God, Colin, this show has everything: romance, adventure, sensuality, culture, a fresh take on feminism — finally,” he said. “Not to mention, a culinary tapestry so rich, I can only describe it as food porn.”
Cliché, Thy Name is Emily
--------------
MTG Isn't Landing Here
A Cincinnati-area venue has booted a scheduled rally featuring far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) following a surge of complaints, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Saturday.
Greene was promoted as a “special guest” at a gathering Sunday with Ohio Senate candidate and “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance. The controversial lawmaker has endorsed Vance in his bid for the Republican nomination to replace retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman.
But the event was ejected from the Landing Event Center in suburban Loveland, Ohio, after a storm of complaints, venue general manager Jodi Taylor told the newspaper. Taylor said she had no idea the event would include Greene — and Vance was instructed to find another location.
Here's the Truth
Taylor explained to the Enquirer: “It doesn’t matter what we do; we have both sides upset.”
--------------
In Spotify News
Rock musician Nils Lofgren, best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band as well as Crazy Horse, on Saturday became the latest artist to join a protest kicked off by Young, saying in a statement that he, too, would “cut ties with Spotify” and urged “all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere” to do the same. Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell also said she plans to remove her music from Spotify in solidarity with Young “and the global scientific and medical communities.”
Separately, Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston who hosts the popular podcasts “Unlocking Us” and “Dare to Lead” on Spotify, tweeted Saturday that she “will not be releasing any podcasts until further notice” but did not list a specific reason or whether the announcement was linked to the protest. The Post could not immediately reach Brown for comment.
2 Years After Being Laid Off and Working Temp Jobs, My Daughter is Being Offered a Job By Spotify. She Is Conflicted.
--------------
It Makes Me Feel Even Better Than I Switched From AT&T To T-Mobile
T-Mobile will reportedly fire some of its unvaccinated corporate employees by April, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg.
The memo reads: "Employees who have not yet taken action to receive their first dose and upload proof by February 21 will be placed on unpaid leave. Affected employees who do not become fully vaccinated by April 2 will be separated from T-Mobile."
Other large companies such as Nike, have announced similar plans in recent weeks, as reported by Insider's Mary Hanbury.
--------------
Shark Tank Is Training a New Generation. Make a Counter-Offer
A 19-year-old who was offered $5,000 by Elon Musk to shut down a Twitter account tracking the billionaire's jet told Insider he refused the offer because it wasn't enough to replace the satisfaction he gets from running the account.
Protocol was the first to report that Jack Sweeney had been approached by Musk via private messages on Twitter. The DMs, a screenshot of which Sweeney shared with Insider, showed Musk asked him to take down the Elon Musk's Jet Twitter account, saying it was a "security risk."
Musk tweeted earlier this month, saying that social-media accounts discussing his whereabouts were "becoming a security issue."
"How about $5k for this account and generally helping make it harder for crazy people to track me?" Musk asked.
Sweeney responded: "Sounds doable, account and all my help. Any chance to up that to $50K?"
Or Is This Legal Extortion?
--------------
Give Us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. And They Can Revitalize Our Cities
About 1%.
That is how many refugees see a final resettlement on average, after violence tears them from home and refugee camps fill with families escaping torture, sexual assault, murder and other persecution.
A record-setting 82.4 million people were displaced worldwide by the end of 2020 alone, according to the United Nations. Roughly 3 million refugees have been resettled in the United States since 1975.
Along with over 20 other countries, the U.S. assists refugees through the process laid out by the Refugee Act of 1980. These individuals and families qualify due to persecution, or well-founded fear of the same, owing to their race, religion, nationality or social group. They have all fled their homes. Many languished for years in dangerous refugee camps, waiting to return. They do not choose their final destination.
The efforts reflect in layers of human geology molding many U.S. cities over generations, as waves of people have settled across all 50 states. But some landing grounds can go unconsidered. It's not New York City, and it’s not Miami Beach.
It's America's smaller cities — where refugees, still piecing their own lives back together, have helped boost economies.
Rust Belt cities such as New York’s Buffalo, Syracuse and Utica, which have suffered population declines for decades, have seen those trends reverse in the latest census.
More than 80% of refugees who've come to New York since 2002 arrive upstate, according to numbers kept by the U.S. Department of State.
And by 2017, one small Pennsylvania city had settled 20 times more refugees per capita than the rest of the country. The city of Lancaster alone carries 14% of its state's resettlements since 2002.
Affordable rent and fallow infrastructure in these smaller Rust Belt cites have made them attractive places to settle new Americans, allowing diverse populations to bring new culture, new food, new ideas and higher rates of entrepreneurship.
Today, the world watches an unprecedented resettlement operation following the withdrawal of U.S. military in Afghanistan. The more than 70,000 Afghan evacuees will exceed the total welcomed in the U.S. during the last two years of the Trump administration.
Send Us Some Caravans, While You Are At It
--------------
Answer
One of the shucks between fits.
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 30 | 603,030 | 249,892,470 | 211,695,131 | ||
| Jan 29 | 595,871 | 249,695,301 | 211,533,229 | ||
| Jan 28 | 626,946 | 249,473,925 | 211,343,818 | 543,016 | 2,265 |
| Jan 27 | 643,725 | 249,267,851 (I don't know why) | 211,162,083 | 577,748 | 2,300 |
| Jan 26 | 962,958 | 251,518,114 | 210,850,212 | 596,859 | 2,288 |
| Jan 25 | 1,011,603 | 251,289,667 | 210,682,471 | 627,294 | 2,246 |
| Jan 24 | 1,201,186 | 250,964,433 | 210,459,963 | 692,359 | 2,166 |
| Jan 23 | 1,101,405 | 250,763,600 | 210,358,008 | 663,908 | 1,936 |
| Jan 22 | 1,002,322 | 250,568,431 | 210,229,586 | 686,715 | 1,939 |
| Jan 21 | 1,035,111 | 250,262,153 | 210,021,766 | 716,829 | 1,974 |
| Jan 20 | 1,094,988 | 250,028,635 | 209,842,610 | 726,870 | 1,843 |
| Jan 19 | 1,135,453 | 249,702,939 | 209,509,297 | 744,615 | 1,749 |
| Jan 18 | 1,158,537 | 249,393,487 | 209,312,770 | 755,095 | 1,669 |
| Jan 17 | No Data | 736,350 | 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 |
| 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 | 75.3% | 64.8% | 41.5% |
| % of Population 5+ | 80.0% | 67.8% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 85.1% | 72.5% | 44.6% |
| % of Population 18+ | 86.9% | 74.1% | 56.0% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 88.3% | 64.4% |
California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday Jan 25)
We had a great December, but January has been pretty terrible. We have 3-4 months to get some significant rain.
There are no big storms in the 10-day forecast.
| Percent of Average for this Date | Last Week | 2 Weeks ago | 3 Weeks ago | 4 Weeks ago | |
| Northern Sierra Precipitation | 124% | 134% | 149% | 158% | 170% |
| San Joaquin Precipitation | 110% | 121% | 138% | 156% | 170% |
| Tulare Basin Precipitation | 101% | 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.
--------------
About the COVID Data
Clearly there is a glitch in the CDC data. Vaccinations have not fallen off a cliff as the average number of doses suggests. In a few days, the 7-day average should be accurate again.
As everyone is reporting, cases and hospitalizations are down, but deaths haven't started to drop yet. The number is VERY high.
Although I have no sympathy for unvaccinated who die (except those who can't take the jab for some reason), it is still a tragedy for their family, a burden on the healthcare system, and an infection danger.
--------------
Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
America in 2022
The Washington Metropolitan Police Department and Amtrak Police announced Saturday the arrest of a man for allegedly spray-painting swastikas on columns at Union Station and for defacing three other buildings.
Police say the vandalism occurred Friday, a day after International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
For the graffiti at Union Station, police charged the 34-year-old with Display of Certain Emblems. They charged him with Defacing Private/Public Property for the incidents at the three other buildings.
CNN Affiliate WUSA9 reports dismayed visitors attending the press conference questioned why the culprit wasn't confronted while the vandalism was happening.
"I thought there was supposed to be a lot of security around train stations and airports," WUSA9 quotes traveler Vickie Elson of Massachusetts as saying. "Where were they? "
You Can Lie to People, But Don't Ruin Their Wordle
Twitter took down a Wordle spoiler bot that ruined the game for other people by automatically replying to their tweets with the next day's answer.
In a statement after it suspended the account Tuesday, Twitter said the account, @wordlinator, was "suspended for violating the Twitter rules and the automation rules around sending unsolicited @mentions."
According to Twitter's terms of service, accounts can't disrupt other users by sending high volumes of unsolicited replies.
Coal Joe's Legacy
When the payments stopped coming, a mother in Milwaukee had to decide between buying diapers and baby formula for her newborn or paying for the Wi-Fi her sons needed to attend online school.
In Chicago, a mom used the last of the cash she had saved from the payments to rent a hotel room for herself and her 2-year-old daughter after their apartment’s heat was unexpectedly shut off and the temperature dropped to 9 degrees.
A West Virginia woman who instructs low-income people about parenting and domestic violence said the end of the payments meant she and her kids were applying for financial support and eating meals of potatoes, beans, canned foods or pancakes.
Between July and December, the expanded child tax credit provided parents a cross the United States a small financial reprieve from the pandemic’s economic turbulence. On the 15th of each month, parents who signed up received payments of up to $300 per child under age 6 and $250 per child ages 6 to 17.
Many said it gave their families a little room to breathe.
Previous Guy Speaks to His Storm Troopers
Former President Donald Trump Saturday night called on his followers to stage massive protests in multiple cities should prosecutors act against him. He also said he would offer pardons to those charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol that he incited in a last-gasp attempt to remain in power.
“If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protests we have ever had in Washington, D.C., in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere, because our country and our elections are corrupt,” he said to a rally audience in Conroe, Texas, reading from teleprompters set up on either side of his lectern.
A few minutes later, he claimed his followers who stormed the Capitol building, assaulting police as they entered, were not being treated “fairly” and that should he run for the White House again and win: “If it requires pardons, we will give them pardons.”
Killing Them Softly With Their Meds, Killing Them Softly
Republican state lawmakers across the United States have proposed – and in some cases passed – legislation that they say keeps the government from interfering with doctors who want to prescribe ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to help prevent and treat Covid-19.
But those treatments have not proven effective at preventing or treating Covid and infectious disease experts see the bills as examples of right-wing lawmakers politicizing medicine – a trend that is increasing as the pandemic wears on in America in to its third year amid an increasingly fraught political atmosphere.
Grooming the Next Rittenhouse
During a Trump rally on Saturday in Conroe, Texas, Donald Trump Jr. said he took his 12-year-old son, Donald Trump III, to a gun manufacturer where he got to make his own AR-15.
"Oh, I love Texas. And today, by the way, I got to do the most Texas thing ever," Donald Trump Jr. said during his speech at the rally. "Since we came in late last night, I was able to bring my little son Donny to my buddy Dion's manufacturing facility at F-1 Firearms. And Donny, little kid from New York City, now Florida, thank God, got to make his own AR-15."
Feasting on the Dead
Sheriff's deputies in middle Georgia have arrested a woman they say stole lottery tickets after others shot and mortally wounded a clerk.
Houston County Sheriff's Capt. Jon Holland said Friday that deputies arrested 43-year-old Lakiesha Deshawn McGhee, of Bonaire, on Monday after finding evidence that McGhee stole lottery tickets from the same office at the Warner Robins business where clerk Sabrina Renee Dollar lay dying. Holland said deputies also believe McGhee briefly disconnected power from the building's security system before emergency workers arrived.
McGhee is charged with theft by taking and tampering with evidence and remains jailed in Houston County without bail set. It's unclear if she has a lawyer to speak on her behalf.
Holland did not accuse McGhee of being involved in the shooting of Dollar, saying McGhee called 911 after three unknown men entered the business, which offers video poker and sells lottery tickets, just after midnight on Jan. 18.
--------------
Today's Best People in the World
On July 21st ( sorry, just recently discovered this ), in the afternoon of a scorching summer day, she was heading out of a convenience store she regularly frequents when she spotted a familiar homeless man outside sitting on the grass.
“I’ve seen him around several times. I’ve given him leftover food before, if I get a cancellation and have food leftovers in the car. He didn’t look good… like he was 10 seconds away from heatstroke.”
She also said he has “the mind of a child,” and she was concerned that he “doesn’t know he needs to stay extra hydrated when it’s super hot outside.”
She turned around and grabbed two more bottles of water, and seeing a long line, she called out to the lone cashier that she was taking the water to the guy outside and will come right back and settle up.
In her own words ( with permission )..…
When I came back in, the lady in front of me turned around, hands on hips, and told me that I was just enabling that 'homeless person' (said with a sneer) and that I shouldn't be wasting my money on him.
It's hot as hell in Florida right now. Mid nineties with humidity around 80%. It's a good day for heat stroke, and I told her so. I said I'd rather give him a water than call an ambulance.
I was gonna shrug it off. Let it go. Chalk it up to ignorance and the heat making everybody cranky.
And then she told me I should be ashamed of myself. That someone should call the police on him, and that it should be illegal to beg for money. That people who give the homeless money just encourage them to stay homeless and that should be illegal, too.
Ashamed. I should be ashamed for giving some poor old guy a water - it cost a whole dollar, BTW - and I should get in trouble for making sure he didn't stroke out in this heat.
I guess I look nice. Approachable. Like I wouldn't rip your head off. I am nice, most of the time. But not always.
And I lost my temper. I told her to call a cop and report me for buying sh*t at a convenience store.
I told her that I wasn't in the damn mood for crazy right now. That it's a hundred f***ing degrees outside, and I'm hot and tired and sick to death of stupid people. That if she had an ounce of compassion in her whole body, she'd buy him a cold drink, too. That maybe she should figure out why she needs to accost complete strangers. And how's about after that, she back the f**k up outta my face and outta my business and turn back around and not say one more damn word to me.
I'm just about deaf in one ear. I try to modulate my voice. Unless I get angry.
It got pretty loud there at the end. There was dead silence in the store and then someone said loudly "For real!"
And the guy at the front of the line told the cashier to add a sandwich to his purchases for the guy outside.
The guy behind him bought an extra ice cream. The girl behind HIM got change for a twenty 'cause that guy could probably use some cash.'
Every single person in line got him something. Every one, except the now very embarrassed lady in front of me, who slunk out without saying another word.
When I got to the cashier, she didn't charge me for either of the waters, because she was going to take him one anyway. And mine was free because of the entertainment.
When I went outside, he was eating his ice cream and drinking his water with a pile of stuff all around him, a big old grin on his face. He didn't look shaky anymore.
And there, people, is the story of why I hate people. And why I love people. All in the same damned minute.
I sat in the car and drank my water and laughed with tears in my eyes, same as I'm doing now."
--------------
It's Amazing What Two Vaccination Shots Can Do For You
Rafael Nadal won a record 21st Grand Slam men's title in the most stunning fashion, fighting back from two sets down to beat Russia's Daniil Medvedev in a classic Australian Open final.
Backed by a loud Melbourne crowd, sixth seed Nadal rallied to win 2-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4 7-5 on Rod Laver Arena.
Choke on that, No-Vax Novak!
--------------
The Other Big Lie: "It's Different This Time"
It's been a tough start to the year for investors in big tech companies. Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation fund, a big owner of Tesla, Zoom and Roku, has plunged nearly 30%. And speculative meme stocks like GameStop and AMC have been crushed.
But that's not causing Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett to lose any sleep.
Banks, energy firms and other value stocks have rallied this year, which is great news for Buffett since the Oracle of Omaha's conglomerate invests in many of these companies. Value stocks typically have lower price-to-earnings ratios, and they're definitely not trendy.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) shares are up about 3% this year and near an all-time high, while all the FAANGs, Microsoft (MSFT) and Tesla (TSLA) are deeply in the red. FAANG refers to Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and and Google.
Many of Berkshire's top investments are financial firms which have started the year in the green, including Bank of America (BAC), American Express (AXP) and US Bancorp (USB).
Berkshire's portfolio has also gotten a boost from Chevron (CVX), which is Buffett's twelfth-largest holding. The oil giant's shares are up 10% this year, making it the top performer in the Dow.
If this keeps up, Dave Portnoy of media company Barstool Sports, who has positioned himself as an investing guru for a new generation of traders, will have to eat these words from a June 2020 tweet: "I'm sure Warren Buffett is a great guy but when it comes to stocks he's washed up. I'm the captain now."
Companies That Earn Good Profits Are Good Investments
--------------
What's a "Bag", a Kilo, an Ounce, a Gram?
Police recovered about 100 bags of fentanyl from the bedroom of a 13-year-old who died after a presumed fentanyl exposure at his school in Hartford, Connecticut.
Forty bags of fentanyl were also removed from the teen's school, according to police. Both sets of bags were packaged the same way and marked with a similar stamp, according to a press release by the Hartford Police Department.
The young teenager died on January 15, two days after he was found unconscious after a presumed fentanyl exposure at the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy.
Dr. Gupta explains why opioids so addictive 00:55
Two other male students, also seventh graders, who came into contact with the fentanyl at the same time were taken to a hospital and later released, police said.
"We can confidently say that the fentanyl that caused the overdose [of the juvenile] was the same fentanyl that was located in the juvenile's bedroom," Hartford police said in the release.
The bags were initially collected by the Drug Enforcement Administration and given to Hartford police for fingerprint and DNA testing, said Hartford police Lt. Aaron Boisvert.
Police found no evidence that anyone other than the child brought the drugs to school, he added. Officials are still investigating how he came to be in possession of the fentanyl.
The teen's mother is cooperating with authorities, who have found no evidence that suggests she had prior knowledge of her son's fentanyl possession, the release said.
The 13-year-old had no prior history of narcotics, according to the release.
--------------
He's Still a Bizarre-Looking Mascot
The University of Nebraska has changed its mascot's hand gesture after more than 47 years, the university said, after the traditional one became associated with racist groups.
The Herbie Husker mascot changed from making what appears to be an "OK" hand gesture with his thumb and forefinger forming an O, to one with his index finger raised in a "number one" gesture.
The "OK" hand symbol is listed on the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) website as having been co-opted as a "racist" hand sign.
"The concern about the hand gesture was brought to our attention by our apparel provider and others, and we decided to move forward with a revised Herbie Husker logo," Nebraska Athletics said in an email to CNN.
And Where's the Corn? You Can Be a Cornhusker Without Corn. He's Just a Weird Dude on Drugs.
--------------
What's the Difference Between a Cornhusker With Epilepsy and a Prostitute With Diarrhea?
Answer at the end
--------------
As I Understand It, New Abortion Restrictions Affect Minorities More Than White People
So apparently, the QOP wants more babies of color
--------------
How Much Money Are We Saving By Not Dealing With Climate Change?
For the first time on record, 2021 had four individual weather events topping the $20 billion economic loss threshold: Hurricane Ida, July flooding in Europe, summer seasonal flooding in China, and a February winter weather disaster in the U.S./Mexico. “This was just the second time on record in which four $20+ billion events had been registered in a calendar year,” Aon reported, “but the first time that four events were weather/climate related. In 2004, there were two hurricanes (Charley and Ivan) and two earthquakes (October 23 Japan Earthquake and the December 26 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami).”
Considering insured losses, 2021 was the most expensive ever for winter weather, at $17 billion, and third-costliest for severe weather (including severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hail)—nearly $27 billion. Only 2020 ($38 billion) and 2011 ($33 billion) had higher severe weather insured losses.
Insured damage from wildfires in 2021 was $5 billion, marking the seventh consecutive year that insured wildfire losses surpassed $2 billion. Prior to 2015, the globe recorded just four years in which aggregated wildfire-related insured losses topped $2 billion.
Thankfully, drought losses in 2021 were below the 2000-2020 average, at $21 billion. The pandemic helped push global food prices to their highest levels in 46 years in 2021, and food prices would have been dangerously high if above-average drought losses had hit the major grain-growing breadbaskets of the world.
--------------
Who Won the Week?
Amy Schneider, who ends her 40-game reign on "Jeopardy!" with over $1.3 million and national admiration as a role model for the trans community
Federal judge Mark Walker, for ruling that 3 University of Florida political science professors can give expert witness testimony in a lawsuit challenging a new state election law
Neil Young: for standing up to Spotify, which he says has become “the home of life-threatening Covid misinformation,” by pulling his music from the service
The federal court that struck down Alabama’s newly drawn congressional map because it's viciously racist against Black voters
The Arizona Democratic Party, for censuring turncoat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, whose approval there among Democrats is now around 8 percent
The French National Assembly, for criminalizing "ex-gay" therapy, a quack science that claims to "cure" LGBT people. Said President Macron: "There is nothing to be cured"
President Biden: $15 min. wage for fed employees, circles NATO wagons, smooth mask/test rollout, & gets chance to make mark on the Supreme Court.
Guerrilla warfare, as people from around the country clog Virginia Republicans' "snitch line," created for GOP-cultist parents to rat out teachers teaching truth about American history
The Democratic party, for promoting economic policies on behalf of everyday Americans that resulted in 5.7% GDP in 2021, the biggest economic expansion since 1984
Federal Judge Rudolph Contreras, for invalidating a huge gov't oil/gas lease sale for 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico because it didn't factor in the impact on climate change
--------------
Payton Manning Captures My Feelings Bout Tom Brady Perfectly
Former NFL star Peyton Manning turned up on “Weekend Update” on “Saturday Night Live” to talk football and address reports that Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady may be considering retiring. But what Manning couldn’t stop thinking about was the Netflix series “Emily in Paris.”
Manning admitted to co-anchor Colin Jost that he didn’t even watch last week’s NFL blockbuster games — which he heard were “incredible.” Instead, he turned on “Emily in Paris” and couldn’t stop watching the entire (second) season.
“Oh, my God, Colin, this show has everything: romance, adventure, sensuality, culture, a fresh take on feminism — finally,” he said. “Not to mention, a culinary tapestry so rich, I can only describe it as food porn.”
Cliché, Thy Name is Emily
--------------
MTG Isn't Landing Here
A Cincinnati-area venue has booted a scheduled rally featuring far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) following a surge of complaints, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Saturday.
Greene was promoted as a “special guest” at a gathering Sunday with Ohio Senate candidate and “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance. The controversial lawmaker has endorsed Vance in his bid for the Republican nomination to replace retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman.
But the event was ejected from the Landing Event Center in suburban Loveland, Ohio, after a storm of complaints, venue general manager Jodi Taylor told the newspaper. Taylor said she had no idea the event would include Greene — and Vance was instructed to find another location.
Here's the Truth
Taylor explained to the Enquirer: “It doesn’t matter what we do; we have both sides upset.”
--------------
In Spotify News
Rock musician Nils Lofgren, best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band as well as Crazy Horse, on Saturday became the latest artist to join a protest kicked off by Young, saying in a statement that he, too, would “cut ties with Spotify” and urged “all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere” to do the same. Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell also said she plans to remove her music from Spotify in solidarity with Young “and the global scientific and medical communities.”
Separately, Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston who hosts the popular podcasts “Unlocking Us” and “Dare to Lead” on Spotify, tweeted Saturday that she “will not be releasing any podcasts until further notice” but did not list a specific reason or whether the announcement was linked to the protest. The Post could not immediately reach Brown for comment.
2 Years After Being Laid Off and Working Temp Jobs, My Daughter is Being Offered a Job By Spotify. She Is Conflicted.
--------------
It Makes Me Feel Even Better Than I Switched From AT&T To T-Mobile
T-Mobile will reportedly fire some of its unvaccinated corporate employees by April, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg.
The memo reads: "Employees who have not yet taken action to receive their first dose and upload proof by February 21 will be placed on unpaid leave. Affected employees who do not become fully vaccinated by April 2 will be separated from T-Mobile."
Other large companies such as Nike, have announced similar plans in recent weeks, as reported by Insider's Mary Hanbury.
--------------
Shark Tank Is Training a New Generation. Make a Counter-Offer
A 19-year-old who was offered $5,000 by Elon Musk to shut down a Twitter account tracking the billionaire's jet told Insider he refused the offer because it wasn't enough to replace the satisfaction he gets from running the account.
Protocol was the first to report that Jack Sweeney had been approached by Musk via private messages on Twitter. The DMs, a screenshot of which Sweeney shared with Insider, showed Musk asked him to take down the Elon Musk's Jet Twitter account, saying it was a "security risk."
Musk tweeted earlier this month, saying that social-media accounts discussing his whereabouts were "becoming a security issue."
"How about $5k for this account and generally helping make it harder for crazy people to track me?" Musk asked.
Sweeney responded: "Sounds doable, account and all my help. Any chance to up that to $50K?"
Or Is This Legal Extortion?
--------------
Give Us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. And They Can Revitalize Our Cities
About 1%.
That is how many refugees see a final resettlement on average, after violence tears them from home and refugee camps fill with families escaping torture, sexual assault, murder and other persecution.
A record-setting 82.4 million people were displaced worldwide by the end of 2020 alone, according to the United Nations. Roughly 3 million refugees have been resettled in the United States since 1975.
Along with over 20 other countries, the U.S. assists refugees through the process laid out by the Refugee Act of 1980. These individuals and families qualify due to persecution, or well-founded fear of the same, owing to their race, religion, nationality or social group. They have all fled their homes. Many languished for years in dangerous refugee camps, waiting to return. They do not choose their final destination.
The efforts reflect in layers of human geology molding many U.S. cities over generations, as waves of people have settled across all 50 states. But some landing grounds can go unconsidered. It's not New York City, and it’s not Miami Beach.
It's America's smaller cities — where refugees, still piecing their own lives back together, have helped boost economies.
Rust Belt cities such as New York’s Buffalo, Syracuse and Utica, which have suffered population declines for decades, have seen those trends reverse in the latest census.
More than 80% of refugees who've come to New York since 2002 arrive upstate, according to numbers kept by the U.S. Department of State.
And by 2017, one small Pennsylvania city had settled 20 times more refugees per capita than the rest of the country. The city of Lancaster alone carries 14% of its state's resettlements since 2002.
Affordable rent and fallow infrastructure in these smaller Rust Belt cites have made them attractive places to settle new Americans, allowing diverse populations to bring new culture, new food, new ideas and higher rates of entrepreneurship.
Today, the world watches an unprecedented resettlement operation following the withdrawal of U.S. military in Afghanistan. The more than 70,000 Afghan evacuees will exceed the total welcomed in the U.S. during the last two years of the Trump administration.
Send Us Some Caravans, While You Are At It
--------------
Answer
One of the shucks between fits.