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Saturday, July 12, 2025

Post #7277 J

 Pandemic Report

Pandemic Report 

The latest CDC weekly stats:


We see slight pickups in testing and hospitalization although the rates are relatively low. Still CDC is noting infection rates are up in about half the states. Whether we had a pickup over the recent holiday will probably take another week to flesh out. If you are wondering about the biweekly variant proportions, CDC indicated with the current response rates, it's adding another week to the cycle.

A few stories are dominating the past week. We have the recent Moderna approval expanded for immunocompromised children. Second, HHS is being sued by medical groups and a pregnant doctor over recently unduly restricted vaccine approvals violating decades-old policies in vaccine approvals. Third, an alleged Chinese hacker recently arrested  in Italy is awaiting extradition to the US over US charges on hacking into US universities on COVID-related IP theft, wire fraud, and identity theft.

Other COVID-related news items include:

Other Notes

Blogger still is dubiously reporting thousands of pageviews on the blog. I got to the 40 post month for the first time in months after March's health event and over a month without Internet access. My weekend extra posts are almost back to normal, and I should publish my first July essay over the weekend. On Twitter/X, I'm nearing the 140 follower mark. X occasionally teases some stats hoping to get me to pay for a premium account. So they suggested I had 1.7K impressions over the past week. However I ran into a taste of old-style censorship. I got one tweet restricted for "hateful conduct"; the judgment is irrational if you understand the tweet. I think it's motivated by a passing reference to Operation Wetback. This was the actual name to an Eisenhower Presidential border operation. I know from Texas high school and college that the term 'wetback' is considered a pejorative by Latinos, but I have never used the term myself to or about any Latino

I am working on another recertification of my Security+ (certificates are extended 3 years at a time). I've got 6 months left to get my extension. It is a prerequisite for many federal contractor gigs as a DBA.

Well, this week put to an end a health journey that started on an early March weekend, including weeks in a rehab facility. All I could think is how my dad's life ended with an incident at a rehab facility less than a day after discharge following back surgery. The first few weeks were boring; the facility  had WIFI but no gadgets; a visiting sister from Ohio retrieved key items, including a newer Windows 11 laptop, from my apartment (easier said than done because my landlord wanted legal paperwork for my sister to have access). I then was able to post to the blog, although at a reduced pace. Most of the days were mostly boring centered around a couple of therapy sessions on weekdays. my roommates and I had individual cable TVs. Two problems: first of all, their cable services often experienced individual frozen channels, e.g., FNC, I'm not a regular Fox viewer, but CNN coverage can get repetitious and boring. Second, I had hard-of-hearing roommates who would blare their TVs at 3:30 AM. When I was discharged ahead of schedule, my health insurer required a follow-up sequence of weekly home visits by nurses and/or therapists, and the nurse in charge finally signed off on my discharge this week.

As I transitioned back home, my car battery was dead, and I relied more on online groceries/delivery by a couple of Amazon grocery options and Walmart. I resumed driving a few weeks back and have largely resumed  my in-person shopping. Walmart+ is a Prime-like shipping free delivery service, but that doesn't include their grocery service. They normally add on a suggested tip. (They are now offering an add-on service that waives tip surcharges.) I normally accommodate, but the reason I'm bringing that up is I've had a few minor order errors like a missing box of linguine, grapes instead of the cherries ordered and in yesterday's order, a missing sausage. Now Walmart does a good job crediting my account for their delivery mistakes, but it annoys me I've been charged tips for incomplete orders. Amazon has been more consistent. Other than a couple of defective electronics items. I haven't had many issues with Amazon. The last I remember was years back when I ordered some low-carb mix and they substituted something else that wasn't even close to what I ordered.

In viewing, I've been binging on the Supergirl series on Netflix. This weekend is fully booked with WWE NXT's Great American Bash and Saturday Night's Main Event Saturday and Evolution (all-women) Sunday. Of course, the big event was Goldberg's retirement match against heel World champion Gunther. I fully expected for Goldberg to lose the championship, giving Gunther the rub.  It didn't make much sense to book Goldberg into a championship match since it's been over a year since Goldberg last wrestled. Still, they made Goldberg look strong almost pinning Gunther but the referee was incapacitated. It was nostalgic since I remember Goldberg's rise about 17 matches into his winning streak. I remember my road warrior days, often checking results back then at the 411wrestling website.

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