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Saturday, February 21, 2026

Post #7573 J

 Pandemic Report

Note: In future posts, I'll likely retitle this section "Endemic Report". We still haven't seen an update on the 4 megastats since early January. We see the virus growing in a dozen states scattered among the continental US and Alaska.


The Sick Times



The latest COVID-19/other news items over the past week:

  • "US leads world in long COVID-19 brain fog"
  • Legal/political issues:
    • "Vet schools caught up in students’ COVID-19 legal claim"
    • "Moderna says FDA will now consider its new mRNA flu shot after initial refusal"
    • "NIH's Bhattacharya will also run the CDC while Trump administration looks for a permanent director"
  • Prosecutors are pursuing COVID relief fraud or other crimes:

Other Notes

The blog finally seemed to establish a long-term trend in pageviews, with most posts reaching double digits. I finally wrote my first essay of the month, a contrary opinion on the voter ID act. Given a short month, I may push out another essay--probably the overdue one on the Alex Pretti murder. I also intend to write essays on Venezuela and/or Iran, and another referencing the recent SCOTUS decision on tariffs. But reaching 40 posts seems unlikely as I write this month. X/Twitter for the most part really isn't promoting my content, many of which are supplemented by relevant AI summaries of facts. For instance, I compared the Trump record on economic and job growth vs that of Reagan and Clinton. But my followers seem to be drifting lower to near 200. It could be that my negative comments on Trump are turning off some followers.

I saw an old friend on Facebook from my PhD student days. I sent him a friends link but no response yet. It doesn't look like he's that active on Facebook, so I can't read too much into it. I don't want to use his name without his knowledge. But he was a good friend. I don't want to give broad details that would easily identify him (by his university or research interests, for instance). But, for instance, he was an IT manager for an oil company, and he got several questionnaires I needed for my dissertation research. I've been out of academia since the early 90's, and people get caught up in their own lives. I tried to get in touch a few times over the years. Maybe he was afraid I was hoping to get another academic job through him. Not really. Maybe I offended him for some reason I'm not aware of. Maybe he disagrees with my political views.I haven't heard from any UH contact in years. I think the last was when my officemate Bruce Breeding lost his life, and I contacted Dr. Scamell (who chaired our dissertation committees). Richard probably knew before I did. I had heard about it from a BIL: Bruce was involved in Scouts, and had met my 5 Eagle Scout nephews.

Then there was my Navy buddy Joe. I had met Joe and Lynn as fellow math instructors at the Navy Nuclear Power School. Lynn was originally married to a fellow Jew (an odd dude; I recall he once locked Lynn out of their apartment or house). I had a mad crush on Lynn, she had these gorgeous dark curls and a sweet personality. Joe sort of adopted me as his project; we had to go up before the CEO of the nuclear power school for our certification lectures. And apparently the CEO hadn't liked Joe's lecture and chewed our supervisor Wayne's ass. Wayne really wasn't going to go through a similar story with me. Anyway, getting back to Lynn, Joe could tell I liked her and said, "Cool it, dude. She's married." Still, Joe was a unique friend. We went out to dinner, and I thought he was going to drop me off at my apartment. Nope. He decided we were going to a strip bar. When I told him I didn't want to go, he threatened to dump me off in the middle of Orlando. (I have other Joe stories which I won't repeat here.) Anyway, back to Lynn. One day, she shows up with straight black hair.. I express my preference for her former curls. Then Joe says to Lynn, "Don't listen to Ron! Your hairstyle is perfect as it is." I think Lynn is absolutely thrilled with the attention she's getting. So, I'm pissed at Joe. "Why are you scoring points at my expense with Lynn? You yourself told me she was taken!" Joe said. referencing the estranged husband, "You never know what's going to happen." Long story short, the Navy decided to give me an honorable discharge earlier than expected; I spent my last few weeks working at the JAG office. I eventually moved to San Antonio, starting my IT career as a programmer/analyst at an insurance company. So over the next year, I got a wedding invitation--for Joe and Lynn! I also brought a date: Anne, the lovely yeoman I had met at the JAG office. I still feel bad about one thing: Lynn's pride was this beautiful black Mustang; some moron pranked them with limburger in the venting system. 

I think Joe and Lynn eventually served out the rest of their terminal 4-year appointments, and the last I heard Joe was working at a naval yard in Maine. They had 2 daughters and apparently got divorced. Joe has never written to me. I think Lynn and I exchanged a few holiday cards, which probably stopped during my doctoral studies. Maybe she thought it became awkward after the divorce. One of my other Navy buddies, Bill, reached out a few years back over Facebook. I think he may have told me about the divorce, but he has never discussed what happened to them after the divorce.

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