In "Recommended Reading," the Washington Post headlines that The Department of Health and Human Services will elevate the "Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response" to be on par with the CDC and the FDA in terms of emergency powers. The idea is to "boost" pandemic response. You'd think the government would have learned that boosters aren't necessarily effective or free of side effects.
Covid-2019
Covid-2019
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Another one gets tagged -- Illinois' tyrannical "Governor Lockdown" J. B. Pritzker tests positive for Covid, after vaccination and double-boost. We despise his policies, but we wish him a speedy recovery.
Covid-2019
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Covid vaccines have been a disappointment, but then again jet aircraft were a disappointment in the closing months of WW2. But by 1951, passenger jets were in successful service. Now MRNA vaccines are being developed to deal with parasitic infections in honeybee colonies. We always stand on the shoulders of giants -- but sometimes we don't recognize them as giants in real time. It's in "Recommended Reading."
Covid-2019
Monday, July 18, 2022
The New York Times has always been a strong lab leak denier. Now, in "Recommended Reading," a story tut-tutting about gain-of-function research going on in Paris on bats, and worries that a more transmissible strain could be inadvertently developed and released. Why worry in Paris about something you've denied was possible in Wuhan?
Covid-2019
Sunday, July 17, 2022
In "Recommended Reading," the sad story of Australia, the nation that did everything right. Masks. Lockdowns. Closed borders. Vaccine mandates. Everybody boosted. Then why did it end up having horrible results in the pandemic?
Covid-2019
Saturday, July 16, 2022
In today's "Meme of the Day," we make a rare and principled exception in order to meet one of our heroes on the red carpet.
Covid-2019
Friday, July 15, 2022
China does the unthinkable -- it reports below-target GDP growth for Q2. Heads will roll. In the meantime, 2 people (out of 1.4 billion) reportedly died of Covid yesterday. We're making out the report now. Haven't quite decided if they were trying to escape.
Covid-2019
Thursday, July 14, 2022
On a global basis, we're definitely experiencing a new "wave" in cases. In all the debate about potential recession and its causes, we can't forget that even less lethal variants sideline their victims from working and consuming for at least five days -- that's not exactly pro-growth.
Covid-2019
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
In "Recommended Reading" today, from the You Just Can't Make This Up Department. "Jim Smith –- whose concurrent roles as a Pfizer board member and Reuters CEO appear to pose a conflict of interest -- serves as a board member of the World Economic Forum’s anti-corruption initiative."
Covid-2019
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
In "Recommended Reading," the nattering nabobs of negativism at the New York Times have a new thing for you to worry about -- that N95 masks aren't made in the United States. The answer? "Elastomeric respirators" -- gigantic, clumsy, expensive gear that look like gas-masks. But they're made in the U S of A.