Post #7648 J

Endemic Report

The latest CDC weekly stats:

The Sick Times:

Nationwide, the winter surge continues to taper down, although it's increasing in Vermont. A couple of notable news items favoring the Trump vaccine skeptic perspective: Musk argued for a lower vaccine dosage based on his own bad experience. Second, they argued that the Biden Administration basically suppressed the reporting of alleged vaccine injuries.

COVID-19 news items include:

• "Swiss national hockey team fires head coach after fake COVID-19 vaccine card admission."
• "Can’t Taste Like You Used To? COVID-19 May Be the Reason — Even Years Later. In a small study, patients reporting long-term taste changes showed molecular disruptions and structural irregularities in their taste buds."
• "Study finds long COVID leaves a distinct immune signature in the blood"
• "‘My husband had the Covid-19 vaccine – 11 days later he was dead’"
• "First inmate tests positive for COVID-19 at Linn County Jail"
• "Increase Seen in Pregnancy-Related Death Ratios During COVID-19"
• "Japan on Track to Log Highest Post-Pandemic Measles Cases"
• "COVID-19 could increase risk of lung cancer, Israeli-led research finds"
• "Study links long COVID in kids to worse grades, attention, and social life"
• "Use pharmacies earlier in future pandemics, says COVID-19 inquiry"
• "COVID-19 in mink farm reveals early lung damage"

• Prosecutors pursue COVID relief fraud/other crimes:
• " Kauai man sentenced for stealing $1.4M from federal COVID relief program"; "Federal court orders $1.4M-plus restitution, 14-month prison term for Kaua‘i man who stole COVID relief funds"
• "Seaside woman sentenced to federal prison for stealing COVID-19 unemployment benefits"
• "Michigan man accused of fraudulently receiving over $5.2M in pandemic-era federal relief funds"
• "Former Slidell resident sentenced for false statements, theft of over $350K in Covid-19 benefits"
• "Middlesex County Woman Sentenced to 20 Months for COVID-19 Relief Fraud"
• "Former VA employee charged with fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 benefits"
• Legal political issues:
• "COVID-19—3d Cir.: Hospital’s vaccination mandate was internal policy which did not transform it into a state actor"
• "Air Canada ordered to pay pilots who were denied religious COVID-19 vaccine exemption"
• "Wisconsin’s Covid-19 Liability Shield Upheld in Stillbirth Case"
• "Case dropped against Eggleston over COVID-19 writings"
• "Ex-Hialeah councilwoman avoids prison for false information on COVID relief loan"
• "Private Upstate NY club, accused of wrongly taking Covid relief funds, agrees to $1.5M settlement"
• "Georgia Official Charged With COVID-19 Fraud Runs for State Senate, While 2 Others Plead Guilty"
• "Elon Musk Amplifies Baseless Claim About COVID-19 Vaccine"

Other Notes 

Although blog pageviews are still about twice the long-term trend, most posts are (barely) breaking double digits. I'm still working on my Iran post. My X followers have continued to drift down to just above 200, after rallying to 207 earlier.  I did get my first 1k+ impression (reply) tweet, I think, for the first time in weeks, a comment reflecting on something Fetterman said. I never can tell why or when one of my posts goes viral.

I almost always use a self-service checkout when shopping (Lidl, Walmart, Home Depot, etc.) Lidl is very similar to Aldi (except for the latter's quarter shopping cart rentals): limited varieties or sizes, a large percentage of private labels often with large/multiple barcodes for ease of scanning, highly rotated treasure aisles (it could be anything from rice cookers to flip-flops to garden tools, often seasonal in nature). One annoyance I had with checkout was that almost every time it would freeze or time out, as if it thinks you didn't scan an item (it doesn't mean you didn't scan an item, but it posts it after it thinks you placed it in the purchased items area. I use plastic garbage bags. No free bags: you can buy them or bring your own). I think there's a timeout, and if I switch bags.... So, usually the clerk has to roll back the captured session to see where it froze and whether your last item is on the receipt to date. It can take 5 minutes for someone to come by and let you resume checking out. It just struck me yesterday that I now have a streak of 2 checkouts without a stoppage.

By the way, I'm probably the last to notice, but the contactless (tap-to-pay) credit card is a cool feature. Sometimes I've run into inserting or swiping the card. What annoys me is when they distance the tap target away from the conventional pay slot, like at some Royal Farms gas pumps. 

Tonight will be the first time I've missed Wrestlemania since I joined WWE Network and later Peacock. ESPN has had an expensive channel since late last year, when the contract was acquired from Peacock. I don't want to double or triple the cost of Peacock for WWE content. ESPN does offer a first hour free as a teaser on an ESPN channel each night. (So I'll refresh a PLE webpage at 411mania.)