Endemic Report
The Sick Times: \
As we can see from the trend map, the virus is spreading in over 40 states, although at a much lower rate than in earlier pandemic summers. By far the biggest news was the contentious Senate hearing featuring Rand Paul's obsessive pursuit of Dr. Fauci, who lacked political authority and responsibility. Fauci, pardoned by Biden, is leery of a GOP perjury trap, designed to work around the pardon. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment some 111 times in testimony that also saw his lawyer expelled from the hearing. The GOP right seems determined to scapegoat Fauci for the pandemic and millions of lives. Even the Florida AG is now targeting Fauci.
COVID news items include:
- "European Commission Authorizes Pfizer and BioNTech XFG-adapted COVID-19 Vaccine in the European Union"
- "Ten-million-person study links semaglutide to lower COVID-19 mortality"
- "Animal spillover? Lab leak? What the science says about the origins of COVID-19"
- "Oral Antiviral Xocova Available for COVID-19 Postexposure Prophylaxis"
- COVID relief fraud/other crimes:
- "Phoenix family pleads guilty to lying for $2.2 million in COVID-19 loans"
- "Suspended Georgia lawmaker pleads guilty to COVID-19 unemployment fraud"
- Political/legal issues:
- "Acting CDC director says Fauci "abused the place of power" during the COVID pandemic"
- "Fact-checking Sen. Rand Paul's claim about COVID-19 testing in animals around Wuhan"
- "Could Fauci face criminal charges for refusing Senate COVID questions?"
- "Anthony Fauci Is Not the Villain in This Story"
- "Paul Distorts Fauci’s Diary Entry About COVID-19 and Wet Market"
- "Anthony Fauci’s diaries take aim at News Corp journalist Sharri Markson’s ‘nonsense’ Covid-19 investigation"
- "After Fauci Senate hearing, experts worry about 'chilling effect' on public health"
- "ER doctor: 'No doubt in my mind’ Dr. Fauci acted to save lives"
- "Ex-adviser at Fauci's NIAID indicted for allegedly attempting to hide records during COVID-19 pandemic"
- "COVID is still here. Is the pandemic?"
Other Notes
Blog hits over 10K page views per day, well above normal. I reached a 40+ month target again with a July essay on Trump and sports. X/Twitter followers increased slightly over last week; still, no popular new tweets.
It looks like ESPN has abandoned its first-hour free for WWE PLE's on today's first night of SummerSlam. I tracked results on an Internet website, I'm mildly surprised they kept the belt on Liv Morgan, expected Lesnar to job the rubber match with Oba Femi, and was relieved to see Punk retain against Rhodes with Orton's attack on the latter. It isn't my being a Punk fan, but I haven't been happy with Rhodes and Uso hogging title oxygen. I haven't been happy with booking recently, especially involving Breakker and Giulia.
Hallmark finally ended its Christmas-in-July promotion. It seems Great American Family is extending theirs, maybe over the weekend? I really haven't watched many GAF originals. They did carry 3 older Hallmark titles: the 2 "Mrs. Miracle (Doris Roberts)" movies and "Let it Snow", an older Candace Bure film.
