Post by mhbruin on Apr 20, 2022 9:19:51 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 566 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
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California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday April 19)
We had some rain up north this week.
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A Terrible Summer For Humpty Dumpty, But He Had a Great Fall.
--------------
Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
Raise Your Hand If You Want to Be a School Teacher in Arizona. Without Teachers, They Won't Be Able To Spell "Teacher Shortage' or Count the Number Leaving the State.
An Arizona bill just centimeters away from passage could make it a lot easier for parents to sue their children’s teachers.
The bill gives parents the right to take teachers to court and file a civil suit against them or any other state or federal official for “usurping the fundamental right” to “direct the upbringing, education, health care and mental health of their children” as a violation of the Arizona Parents’ Bill of Rights law.
The catalyst for the bill, Raw Story reports, was “inappropriate questions” on student surveys, sent out from schools to help uncover any mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, as with so much of the recent restrictive education legislation that’s been proposed and passed by the GOP—like alleged critical race theory (CRT) content in math books and book banning—proponents use transparency as their primary excuse.
Raise Your Hand If You Want to Be a Worker in Arizona
The Biden administration says Arizona appears “unable or unwilling” to keep workers safe on the job and is taking steps to crack down on the state’s lax standards.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday that it’s moving to revoke Arizona’s state OSHA plan. The Grand Canyon State is one of more than 20 states that run their own workplace safety programs under federal approval, with inspections carried out by state officials. Under the law, a state plan must be “at least as effective” as the federal program. If it’s found not to be, then federal officials could move to take over enforcement.
Doug Parker, the head of OSHA appointed by President Joe Biden, said on a press call that Arizona had shown a pattern of ignoring federal requirements, including a new rule to protect health care workers from COVID-19. State plans were obligated to implement their own version of that rule, and Arizona was one of three states that OSHA officials warned when they hadn’t done so.
But Parker said problems with Arizona go back years.
The QOP Lurches. The Vulnerable Suffer.
New Math (Or Is it Q Math), Florida-Style
When Florida released the names Monday of the 54 math textbooks it had rejected, most for allegedly including “critical race theory” or other “prohibited topics,” I was struck by how the publishers had adjusted their titles to reflect the state’s singular interpretation of the subject matter.
The books had names such as “Florida Reveal Math,” or “Florida’s B.E.S.T. Math,” or simply “Florida Math.” The titles essentially codified what Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s censorship program has accomplished: There is math — and then there is Florida math.
On one level, we already understood that “Florida math” is not the same thing as “math”:
Problem 1: In an election, the Republican candidate gets 232 electoral votes and the Democratic candidate gets 306. Who won?
Answer: It was rigged.
Problem 2: Florida had 153 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people over the past year while California had only 58 per 100,000. How much higher is Florida’s death rate?
Answer: I’m going to do my own research.
The full column
Q Math at Work
Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) raised eyebrows on Tuesday when she tweeted a dramatic exaggeration of the immigration situation on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Border Patrol agents have apprehended more than 1,000,000,000 migrants at our southern border in just 6 months,” she wrote on Twitter. “President Biden’s open border policies are fueling this crisis!”
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics, between October and March, just over 1 million migrants were apprehended or expelled at the southern border.
Her post stayed up more than five hours before it was deleted.
I Wonder If She Will Suddenly Have Memory Issues.
Didn't Q Accuse Democrats of Sexually Abusing Young People
--------------
Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
Yahoo for Yazii!!
A doctor from Texas has already traveled to Ukraine three times to help local doctors treat the wounded of war.
"As a physician first, it's our duty and our ethics to help every needy person in the world," Dr. Monzer Yazji told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Yazji, a Syrian American, ran more than 30 medical missions to Syria during the war that began in 2011 there.
"What happened in Ukraine, it happened in Syria. And I feel myself that I'm part of that," he said.
As of last week, the World Health organization has verified nearly 120 attacks on health care since the invasion of Ukraine began.
Yazji said there are complicated surgeries needed to be performed in Ukraine. One man lost half his shoulder, but he survived, he said. There are also issues with water, medical supplies and electricity shortages.
"When I see Ukrainian doctors suffering because [they're] exhausted mentally, physically and that attack on them, I see us, ourselves, we were there. That's why this ... all make me come to Ukraine and be with them," he said.
A Star is Born
--------------
Invasions Have Consequences
My Opinion: I'm No Expert on Military Tactics, But ...
"Russia assaulted cities and towns along a boomerang-shaped front hundreds of miles long and poured more troops into Ukraine on Tuesday in a potentially pivotal battle for control of the country’s eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories."
Most of what I've read says it is important for an army to concentrate their forces when attacking. However, the Russians are attacking with less force over a very long line.
Does this make sense?
This is Someone Else's Opinion. I Like People Who Agree With Me.
Exactly a week ago, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) concluded that “Russian forces will likely continue ongoing offensive operations in the Donbas region, feeding reinforcements into the fight as they become available rather than gathering reinforcements and replacements for a more coordinated and coherent offensive.” That’s exactly what seems to be happening now as Russia pushes broadly across the entire Donbas front lines, but exercises overwhelming force absolutely nowhere.
Let's Ask an Actual General About the War
I Don't Think This Guy is a General, But ...
So Far, So Good
Early in Russia’s expanded offensive in the Donbas, the US assesses there have been no major territorial gains for Russia so far since the start of the new push, according to two senior US officials with direct knowledge of the assessment.
The US has observed some new attacks by Russian forces, which appear to be probing attacks to test Ukrainian defenses, one of the officials said. However, the frontlines remain static with no major territory changing hands as of yet.
Or Is This Not Really the Offensive?
Ukraine has declared the start of the much-anticipated Russian offensive, but the Pentagon is less sure.
As the Pentagon sees it, Russia is merely softening up the frontlines for something bigger down the line. It could very well be that, because despite the massive artillery barrages, Russia’s gains have been minimal, mostly ground assaults repulsed by Ukrainian defenders. So really, more of the same, just at a higher intensity.
So why are they wasting men and material with these probes? Apparently, it’s what they do.
Slowly Turning the Oil Spigot and the Money Spigot
Germany has said it will stop importing oil from Russia by the end of the year.
"We will halve oil by the summer and will be at 0 by the end of the year, and then gas will follow," said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Germany currently gets a quarter of its oil and 40% of its gas from Russia and has warned that it could face a recession if supplies suddenly stopped.
The US has already banned Russian oil imports, while the UK plans to phase them out by the end of the year.
The EU has said it will switch to alternative supplies and make Europe independent from Russian energy "well before 2030".
Game, Set, Match
Wimbledon organizers confirmed a ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players in a statement on Wednesday, saying, "it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of Government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible."
Wimbledon, the third grand slam of the year, is set to begin on June 27.
The Kremlin said earlier on Wednesday that the ban on Russian players is “unacceptable.”
When Did Russian Mothers Become Marjorie Taylor Greene?
Has Oleg Been Arrested Yet?
Oleg Tinkov, the billionaire founder of a big Russian digital bank, has blasted Russia's "insane war" in Ukraine and urged the West to help President Vladimir Putin find an off-ramp to "stop this massacre."
Russia's brutal assault on its neighbor began nearly two months ago. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed and wounded, and millions have fled the country, according to UN agencies.
The Russian entrepreneur, who founded Tinkoff Bank in 2006, claimed in an Instagram post Tuesday that 90% of Russians were against the war and that Kremlin officials were in a state of shock that they would no longer be able to spend their summers in the Mediterranean.
"I don't see a single beneficiary of this insane war," he wrote.
--------------
Raise Your Hand If You Want Unqualified Judges Making Public Health Decisions Instead of Doctors and Scientists.
While face masks offer the most protection against the spread of virus-carrying particles in the air when everyone wears them, masks can protect the wearer alone, research suggests, by acting as a barrier between particles and their nose and mouth.
One-way masking — when one person is masked and others are not — depends mainly on two factors: how well your mask fits and how effectively the mask material filters out particles that can carry viruses, said Chris Cappa, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Davis who studies aerosol particles and masks.
Masks like N95s and KN95s will generally be more protective than surgical masks or cloth masks because they can make a tighter seal against your face, he told CNN. So, “a well-fit N95 can reduce the amount of potentially infectious particles that you inhale by more than a factor of 20 times,” Cappa said.
In addition to wearing a high-quality, well-fitting mask, taking steps including getting vaccinated, testing yourself for Covid-19 and making sure spaces you’re in are well-ventilated can make it safe for people — even those at higher risk for more severe illness — to travel, said Dr. Preeti Malani, chief health officer in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Only You Can Protect Yourself. Pay Attention to Fit.
--------------
Sitting Next to An Unmasked Person Makes Me Anxious. Did You Consider That, Judge?
A new quickfire poll put out by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 56% of U.S. respondents said there should be requirements to wear a mask on planes, trains or other public transport. Less than a quarter of respondents prefer no requirements, while another 20% don’t give a damn either way.
The poll was conducted with 1,085 adults across a range of political and age groups from April 14 through April 18, ending just as Florida federal judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle announced Monday that she considered the CDC’s mask rules unlawful. The judge wrote in her ruling that the CDC categorized masks as “sanitation” when “wearing a mask cleans nothing.” She also cited two individuals who claimed wearing masks on planes worsened their anxiety.
But the two individuals cited in that ruling seem to be in a minority, at least according to the AP-NORC poll. Older respondents aged 60+ were also more in favor of mask requirements versus younger people. Poll results also show that those in favor of masks on public transport are much more likely to be Democrats or Independents at 80% and 45%, respectively. Similarly, only slightly fewer Dems showed support for masking requirements for public events like concerts and movies, as well as for seated dining and stores.
Unqualified Judges Making Health Policy Worsens My Anxiety
--------------
They Need a New Naming Convention. BA.2.12.1? Are They Trying to Confuse the Public?
A new omicron subvariant, BA.2.12.1, is taking hold in the U.S. and was the second-most widely spread form of the coronavirus last week, according to a report published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
BA.2.12.1 made up 19% of total U.S. cases the week ending April 16, increasing its spread by almost 67% from the week before. The CDC says omicron variants overall cause less-severe illness, although they spread faster than previous variants like delta.
Mutations in COVID variants are allowing the virus to dodge protection offered by vaccines in some cases, Andy Pekosz, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNN.
“What we really just don’t know right now is how much those mutations are going to be contributing to increased spread or increased disease severity,” Pekosz said.
The New York Department of Health said last week that the subvariants BA.2.12.1 and BA.2.12 accounted for over 80% of cases in the state, and said both were more transmissible than BA.2 with a “23% – 27% growth advantage.”
--------------
Maybe They Should Try Producing Better Content, Instead of the Another Vapid Rom-Com or Cooking Competition
Netflix suffered its first subscriber loss in more than a decade, causing its shares to plunge 25% in extended trading amid concerns that the pioneering streaming service may have already seen its best days.
The company’s customer base fell by 200,000 subscribers during the January-March period, according to its quarterly earnings report released Tuesday. It’s the first time that Netflix’s subscribers have fallen since the streaming service became available throughout most of the world outside of China six years ago. The drop this year stemmed in part from Netflix’s decision to withdraw from Russia to protest the war against Ukraine, resulting in a loss of 700,000 subscribers.
Netflix acknowledged its problems are deep rooted by projecting a loss of another 2 million subscribers during the April-June period.
If the stock drop extends into Wednesday’s regular trading session, Netflix shares will have lost more than half of their value so far this year — wiping out about $150 billion in shareholder wealth in less than four months.
Netflix is hoping to reverse the tide by taking steps it has previously resisted, including blocking the sharing of accounts and introducing a lower-priced — and ad-supported — version of its service.
--------------
Unintended Consequences
In the American Civil War, soldiers were required to have at least four opposing front teeth, so that they could open a gunpowder pouch. Some draftees had their front teeth
removed to avoid service.
--------------
You Should Buy A House to Live In It, Not As An Investment
7.1%: The amount that stocks outperformed real estate annually in the last 50 years, according to Barron’s. Stocks gained 12.5% annually from 1972 to 2021 as opposed to 5.4% for real estate.
This Likely Does Not Account for Mortgage Interest, Property Taxes, and Maintenance. And If You Sell Your "Investment", You Still Need to Pay for a Place to Live.
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New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | |
| Apr 19 | 40,985 | 385 |
| Apr 18 | 37,132 | 380 |
| Apr 17 | 35,212 | 373 |
| Apr 16 | 34,972 | 379 |
| Apr 15 | 34,778 | 399 |
| Apr 14 | 35,475 | 446 |
| Apr 13 | 31,391 | 409 |
| Apr 12 | 29,401 | 452 |
| Apr 11 | 30,208 | 483 |
| Apr 10 | 28,927 | 500 |
| Apr 9 | 28,339 | 509 |
| Apr 8 | 28,169 | 516 |
| Apr 7 | 26,286 | 471 |
| Apr 6 | 26,595 | 496 |
| Apr 5 | 26,845 | 533 |
| Apr 4 | 25,537 | 537 |
| Apr 3 | 25,074 | 572 |
| Apr 2 | 25,787 | 576 |
| Apr 1 | 26,106 | 584 |
| Mar 31 | 25,980 | 605 |
| Mar 30 | 25,732 | 626 |
| Mar 29 | 25,218 | 644 |
| Mar 28 | 26,190 | 700 |
| Mar 27 | 26,487 | 690 |
| Mar 26 | 26,593 | 697 |
| Mar 25 | 26,874 | 705 |
| Mar 24 | 27,235 | 732 |
| Mar 23 | 27,134 | 753 |
| Mar 22 | 27,545 | 787 |
| Mar 21 | 28,657 | 861 |
| Mar 20 | 27,786 | 901 |
| Mar 19 | 27,747 | 909 |
| Mar 18 | 28,274 | 972 |
| Mar 17 | 29,317 | 1,035 |
| Mar 16 | 30,040 | 1,052 |
| Mar 15 | 30,934 | 1,107 |
| Mar 14 | 32,458 | 1,186 |
| Mar 13 | 34,113 | 1,187 |
| Feb 16, 2021 | 78,292 |
| At Least One Dose | Fully Vaccinated | % of Vaccinated W/ Boosters | |
| % of Total Population | 77.2% | 65.8% | 45.3% |
| % of Population 5+ | 82.1% | 70.0% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 86.9% | 74.2% | 47.0% |
| % of Population 18+ | 88.6% | 75.7% | 48.2% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 89.5% | 67.2% |
California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday April 19)
We had some rain up north this week.
| Percent of Average for this Date | Last Week | |
| Northern Sierra Precipitation | 79% (70%) | 73% (63% of full season average) |
| San Joaquin Precipitation | 65% (58%) | 65% (57%) |
| Tulare Basin Precipitation | 60% (54%) | 61% (53%) |
| Snow Water Content - North | 29% | 15% |
| Snow Water Content - Central | 33% | 27% |
| Snow Water Content - South | 23% | 24% |
A Terrible Summer For Humpty Dumpty, But He Had a Great Fall.
--------------
Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
Raise Your Hand If You Want to Be a School Teacher in Arizona. Without Teachers, They Won't Be Able To Spell "Teacher Shortage' or Count the Number Leaving the State.
An Arizona bill just centimeters away from passage could make it a lot easier for parents to sue their children’s teachers.
The bill gives parents the right to take teachers to court and file a civil suit against them or any other state or federal official for “usurping the fundamental right” to “direct the upbringing, education, health care and mental health of their children” as a violation of the Arizona Parents’ Bill of Rights law.
The catalyst for the bill, Raw Story reports, was “inappropriate questions” on student surveys, sent out from schools to help uncover any mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, as with so much of the recent restrictive education legislation that’s been proposed and passed by the GOP—like alleged critical race theory (CRT) content in math books and book banning—proponents use transparency as their primary excuse.
Raise Your Hand If You Want to Be a Worker in Arizona
The Biden administration says Arizona appears “unable or unwilling” to keep workers safe on the job and is taking steps to crack down on the state’s lax standards.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday that it’s moving to revoke Arizona’s state OSHA plan. The Grand Canyon State is one of more than 20 states that run their own workplace safety programs under federal approval, with inspections carried out by state officials. Under the law, a state plan must be “at least as effective” as the federal program. If it’s found not to be, then federal officials could move to take over enforcement.
Doug Parker, the head of OSHA appointed by President Joe Biden, said on a press call that Arizona had shown a pattern of ignoring federal requirements, including a new rule to protect health care workers from COVID-19. State plans were obligated to implement their own version of that rule, and Arizona was one of three states that OSHA officials warned when they hadn’t done so.
But Parker said problems with Arizona go back years.
The QOP Lurches. The Vulnerable Suffer.
New Math (Or Is it Q Math), Florida-Style
When Florida released the names Monday of the 54 math textbooks it had rejected, most for allegedly including “critical race theory” or other “prohibited topics,” I was struck by how the publishers had adjusted their titles to reflect the state’s singular interpretation of the subject matter.
The books had names such as “Florida Reveal Math,” or “Florida’s B.E.S.T. Math,” or simply “Florida Math.” The titles essentially codified what Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s censorship program has accomplished: There is math — and then there is Florida math.
On one level, we already understood that “Florida math” is not the same thing as “math”:
Problem 1: In an election, the Republican candidate gets 232 electoral votes and the Democratic candidate gets 306. Who won?
Answer: It was rigged.
Problem 2: Florida had 153 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people over the past year while California had only 58 per 100,000. How much higher is Florida’s death rate?
Answer: I’m going to do my own research.
The full column
Q Math at Work
Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) raised eyebrows on Tuesday when she tweeted a dramatic exaggeration of the immigration situation on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Border Patrol agents have apprehended more than 1,000,000,000 migrants at our southern border in just 6 months,” she wrote on Twitter. “President Biden’s open border policies are fueling this crisis!”
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics, between October and March, just over 1 million migrants were apprehended or expelled at the southern border.
Her post stayed up more than five hours before it was deleted.
I Wonder If She Will Suddenly Have Memory Issues.
Didn't Q Accuse Democrats of Sexually Abusing Young People
--------------
Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
Yahoo for Yazii!!
A doctor from Texas has already traveled to Ukraine three times to help local doctors treat the wounded of war.
"As a physician first, it's our duty and our ethics to help every needy person in the world," Dr. Monzer Yazji told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Yazji, a Syrian American, ran more than 30 medical missions to Syria during the war that began in 2011 there.
"What happened in Ukraine, it happened in Syria. And I feel myself that I'm part of that," he said.
As of last week, the World Health organization has verified nearly 120 attacks on health care since the invasion of Ukraine began.
Yazji said there are complicated surgeries needed to be performed in Ukraine. One man lost half his shoulder, but he survived, he said. There are also issues with water, medical supplies and electricity shortages.
"When I see Ukrainian doctors suffering because [they're] exhausted mentally, physically and that attack on them, I see us, ourselves, we were there. That's why this ... all make
A Star is Born
Invasions Have Consequences
My Opinion: I'm No Expert on Military Tactics, But ...
"Russia assaulted cities and towns along a boomerang-shaped front hundreds of miles long and poured more troops into Ukraine on Tuesday in a potentially pivotal battle for control of the country’s eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories."
Most of what I've read says it is important for an army to concentrate their forces when attacking. However, the Russians are attacking with less force over a very long line.
Does this make sense?
This is Someone Else's Opinion. I Like People Who Agree With Me.
Exactly a week ago, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) concluded that “Russian forces will likely continue ongoing offensive operations in the Donbas region, feeding reinforcements into the fight as they become available rather than gathering reinforcements and replacements for a more coordinated and coherent offensive.” That’s exactly what seems to be happening now as Russia pushes broadly across the entire Donbas front lines, but exercises overwhelming force absolutely nowhere.
Let's Ask an Actual General About the War
I Don't Think This Guy is a General, But ...
So Far, So Good
Early in Russia’s expanded offensive in the Donbas, the US assesses there have been no major territorial gains for Russia so far since the start of the new push, according to two senior US officials with direct knowledge of the assessment.
The US has observed some new attacks by Russian forces, which appear to be probing attacks to test Ukrainian defenses, one of the officials said. However, the frontlines remain static with no major territory changing hands as of yet.
Or Is This Not Really the Offensive?
Ukraine has declared the start of the much-anticipated Russian offensive, but the Pentagon is less sure.
As the Pentagon sees it, Russia is merely softening up the frontlines for something bigger down the line. It could very well be that, because despite the massive artillery barrages, Russia’s gains have been minimal, mostly ground assaults repulsed by Ukrainian defenders. So really, more of the same, just at a higher intensity.
So why are they wasting men and material with these probes? Apparently, it’s what they do.
Slowly Turning the Oil Spigot and the Money Spigot
Germany has said it will stop importing oil from Russia by the end of the year.
"We will halve oil by the summer and will be at 0 by the end of the year, and then gas will follow," said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Germany currently gets a quarter of its oil and 40% of its gas from Russia and has warned that it could face a recession if supplies suddenly stopped.
The US has already banned Russian oil imports, while the UK plans to phase them out by the end of the year.
The EU has said it will switch to alternative supplies and make Europe independent from Russian energy "well before 2030".
Game, Set, Match
Wimbledon organizers confirmed a ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players in a statement on Wednesday, saying, "it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of Government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible."
Wimbledon, the third grand slam of the year, is set to begin on June 27.
The Kremlin said earlier on Wednesday that the ban on Russian players is “unacceptable.”
When Did Russian Mothers Become Marjorie Taylor Greene?
Has Oleg Been Arrested Yet?
Oleg Tinkov, the billionaire founder of a big Russian digital bank, has blasted Russia's "insane war" in Ukraine and urged the West to help President Vladimir Putin find an off-ramp to "stop this massacre."
Russia's brutal assault on its neighbor began nearly two months ago. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed and wounded, and millions have fled the country, according to UN agencies.
The Russian entrepreneur, who founded Tinkoff Bank in 2006, claimed in an Instagram post Tuesday that 90% of Russians were against the war and that Kremlin officials were in a state of shock that they would no longer be able to spend their summers in the Mediterranean.
"I don't see a single beneficiary of this insane war," he wrote.
--------------
Raise Your Hand If You Want Unqualified Judges Making Public Health Decisions Instead of Doctors and Scientists.
While face masks offer the most protection against the spread of virus-carrying particles in the air when everyone wears them, masks can protect the wearer alone, research suggests, by acting as a barrier between particles and their nose and mouth.
One-way masking — when one person is masked and others are not — depends mainly on two factors: how well your mask fits and how effectively the mask material filters out particles that can carry viruses, said Chris Cappa, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Davis who studies aerosol particles and masks.
Masks like N95s and KN95s will generally be more protective than surgical masks or cloth masks because they can make a tighter seal against your face, he told CNN. So, “a well-fit N95 can reduce the amount of potentially infectious particles that you inhale by more than a factor of 20 times,” Cappa said.
In addition to wearing a high-quality, well-fitting mask, taking steps including getting vaccinated, testing yourself for Covid-19 and making sure spaces you’re in are well-ventilated can make it safe for people — even those at higher risk for more severe illness — to travel, said Dr. Preeti Malani, chief health officer in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Only You Can Protect Yourself. Pay Attention to Fit.
--------------
Sitting Next to An Unmasked Person Makes Me Anxious. Did You Consider That, Judge?
A new quickfire poll put out by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 56% of U.S. respondents said there should be requirements to wear a mask on planes, trains or other public transport. Less than a quarter of respondents prefer no requirements, while another 20% don’t give a damn either way.
The poll was conducted with 1,085 adults across a range of political and age groups from April 14 through April 18, ending just as Florida federal judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle announced Monday that she considered the CDC’s mask rules unlawful. The judge wrote in her ruling that the CDC categorized masks as “sanitation” when “wearing a mask cleans nothing.” She also cited two individuals who claimed wearing masks on planes worsened their anxiety.
But the two individuals cited in that ruling seem to be in a minority, at least according to the AP-NORC poll. Older respondents aged 60+ were also more in favor of mask requirements versus younger people. Poll results also show that those in favor of masks on public transport are much more likely to be Democrats or Independents at 80% and 45%, respectively. Similarly, only slightly fewer Dems showed support for masking requirements for public events like concerts and movies, as well as for seated dining and stores.
Unqualified Judges Making Health Policy Worsens My Anxiety
--------------
They Need a New Naming Convention. BA.2.12.1? Are They Trying to Confuse the Public?
A new omicron subvariant, BA.2.12.1, is taking hold in the U.S. and was the second-most widely spread form of the coronavirus last week, according to a report published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
BA.2.12.1 made up 19% of total U.S. cases the week ending April 16, increasing its spread by almost 67% from the week before. The CDC says omicron variants overall cause less-severe illness, although they spread faster than previous variants like delta.
Mutations in COVID variants are allowing the virus to dodge protection offered by vaccines in some cases, Andy Pekosz, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNN.
“What we really just don’t know right now is how much those mutations are going to be contributing to increased spread or increased disease severity,” Pekosz said.
The New York Department of Health said last week that the subvariants BA.2.12.1 and BA.2.12 accounted for over 80% of cases in the state, and said both were more transmissible than BA.2 with a “23% – 27% growth advantage.”
--------------
Maybe They Should Try Producing Better Content, Instead of the Another Vapid Rom-Com or Cooking Competition
Netflix suffered its first subscriber loss in more than a decade, causing its shares to plunge 25% in extended trading amid concerns that the pioneering streaming service may have already seen its best days.
The company’s customer base fell by 200,000 subscribers during the January-March period, according to its quarterly earnings report released Tuesday. It’s the first time that Netflix’s subscribers have fallen since the streaming service became available throughout most of the world outside of China six years ago. The drop this year stemmed in part from Netflix’s decision to withdraw from Russia to protest the war against Ukraine, resulting in a loss of 700,000 subscribers.
Netflix acknowledged its problems are deep rooted by projecting a loss of another 2 million subscribers during the April-June period.
If the stock drop extends into Wednesday’s regular trading session, Netflix shares will have lost more than half of their value so far this year — wiping out about $150 billion in shareholder wealth in less than four months.
Netflix is hoping to reverse the tide by taking steps it has previously resisted, including blocking the sharing of accounts and introducing a lower-priced — and ad-supported — version of its service.
--------------
Unintended Consequences
In the American Civil War, soldiers were required to have at least four opposing front teeth, so that they could open a gunpowder pouch. Some draftees had their front teeth
removed to avoid service.
--------------
You Should Buy A House to Live In It, Not As An Investment
7.1%: The amount that stocks outperformed real estate annually in the last 50 years, according to Barron’s. Stocks gained 12.5% annually from 1972 to 2021 as opposed to 5.4% for real estate.
This Likely Does Not Account for Mortgage Interest, Property Taxes, and Maintenance. And If You Sell Your "Investment", You Still Need to Pay for a Place to Live.
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