It Ain’t Over

Europe is once again the epicenter of the pandemic, with more Covid cases being reported each day on the continent than at any previous point.
NYT

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Author: craigcrawford

Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.

44 thoughts on “It Ain’t Over”

  1. ’til it’s over over there

     

    here’s something to remember from march last year and perhaps take to heart again

    A timely parody of George M Cohan’s World War 1 song “Over There”. Lyrics by Danny Gardner and Emily Larger
     New Yorkers sit right down, sit right down, sit right down. Don’t go into town, into town, into town. Here them calling you and me not just here in NYC! Take a load off friend, it’s the trend, To weekend. Make your parents proud Cause you’ve vowed not to crowd. Tell your relatives not to pine, If we sit here, by June we’ll all be fine! Stay At Home, stay at home Read a book, learn to cook, just stay at home. Cause the Comforts coming! The Comforts coming! It’s slowly coming so don’t roam! So take care say a prayer For the medical professionals everywhere. …[continues]

  2. by “stay at home,” it’s wiser for you and kinder to your fellow citizens to not hop on a crowded plane, bus or car just to see uncle bubba you don’t like anyway.  that also goes for frenzied midnight sales, bar hopping or  football and basketball games. 

    the song “i’ll be home for christmas” should be the anthem of the day.

    vaxed or unvaxed, stay away from crowds. if you can’t, wear a damn mask!
    🙂 please 🙂

  5. meanwhile

    from the guardian:

    Joe Biden is set to announce new actions to combat the coronavirus, including a nationwide campaign encouraging vaccine boosters, an expansion of at-home tests and tighter restrictions on international travel.
    Buffeted by the emergence of the Omicron variant and a political backlash from Republicans, the US president will visit the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, on Thursday and lay out a pandemic battle plan for the winter months.
    Biden will announce steps to ensure that the nearly 100 million eligible Americans who have not yet received their booster shot do so as soon as possible, the White House said. There is new urgency to the effort after the first US case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was identified in California on Wednesday.
    The president will pledge to expand pharmacy availability during December while pharmacy partners send millions of texts, calls, and emails to eligible customers with information on how to schedule an appointment or walk in for a booster shot.
    There will also be a public education campaign to encourage adults to get boosters, with a particular focus on the elderly. It will feature paid advertising across multiple channels, engagement with community organisations and media campaigns.
    […]
    The emergence of Omicron has demonstrated the tenacity of the virus, which continues to drag down Biden’s political fortunes. Voters are divided on his handling of the pandemic, with 47% approving and 49% disapproving, according to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll.
    But the White House defended his record, for example by pointing out that when he came into office more than half of schools were closed, where today 99% are fully open and in person. On Thursday, the president will unveil actions to get more children aged five and older vaccinated.
    These include the launch of hundreds of family vaccination clinics across the country, offering a “one-stop shop” of first shots for parents, teenagers and children, and boosters for those eligible. There will be “family vaccination days” with hundreds of community health centres across the country hosting family vaccination clinics throughout December.
    Biden will also set out a plan to ensure that Americans have access to free at-home testing. More than 150 million people with private insurance will be able to get at-home tests reimbursed; for those not covered, at-home tests will be distributed through health centres and rural clinics.
    […]
    The pandemic has killed almost 780,000 people in the US. Nearly 60% of Americans are fully vaccinated. This week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance recommending that every adult get a booster.

  7. Last night, I had a dream that the guy I asked about making an appointment for my booster started writing on my card.  I said it was too soon and I just wanted an appointment, so he whited out what he had written down as well as my second shot.  I was so upset, but it turned out to be a copy and I still had my original card. Pandemic dreams.

  10. “… there’s still a risk that your power will go off in the face of a big winter storm in the next few months.“

    [gregg, the unluv guv]

    BiD, that sounds like he knows it’s certain to happen.  motto for texans: better buy better blankets.

    probably no need for tx legislature to fight the mandates, their beloved unvaxed will likely be frozen to death before dying of covid anyway.

  12. The only guarantee Abbott can make is that he’ll do everything he can to pander to the most stupid 50%+ 1 of Texas voters. 

    BTW District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty and U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp , each of whom issued a nationwide injunctions against the Biden administration healthcare vaccination mandate for healthcare providers receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds and Doughty said the injunction — which is subject to appeal — was needed to protect the “liberty interests of the unvaccinated.” should be immediately appealed and impeachment proceedings against them should be initiated immediately. Stupid fucks.

  14. I just read Schlep’s opinion and IMHO it is an embarrassing results oriented display of legal sophistry posing as legal analysis. If this is the future of opinions from the federal bench we are truly screwed. 

  15. George Seurat’s 162 birthday.  So soon after Sondheim’s death you can understand why all the stars gathered to sing about all the colors

  16. david horsey column in seattle times

    Ah, remember those days of late summer when, not only was the sun beaming down on this soggy corner of the country, it also felt like we were emerging into that sunshine from a COVID-19 cave in which we had all been entrapped for nearly 18 months? Well, welcome back to the cave.
    Maybe.
    Dubbed omicron, a new coronavirus variant has emerged in South Africa. Medical scientists, vaccine manufacturers and world-health officials are scrambling to gather information about this new variant because it contains multiple mutations that could make it easier to transmit and, perhaps, more able to bypass both natural antibodies and the defenses provided by vaccines.
    Biden administration pandemic specialists are cautioning against undue panic. They point out that the world is far better prepared to deal with a new coronavirus strain than was the case two years ago. Another round of booster shots or a quick reconfiguration of the vaccine recipes may quickly head off this new threat.
    Nevertheless, the appearance of a pesky new variant is a reminder that a return to normal — life as it was before COVID-19 — is still out of reach. In truth, we may never go back to things exactly as they were. The good news is that we now have medical weapons to fight off this deadly virus. The bad news is that the viral enemy is resilient and persistent.
    The new normal may be a protracted war with many battles yet to come.

  17. I put my mask back on last summer after my exBIL’s sister was in the hospital for 3 weeks. This was a woman who as a nurse, had caught covid, pre vaccine, then was vaccinated. She should have been totally immune. 
    Since then I know of a covid death from a vaccinated person in the neighborhood. 
    So I’m fully vaccinated and doing all precautions. 
    Jack

  18. angela’s one tough lady

    BBCnews:

    New Covid rules are act of national solidarity – Merkel
    The Covid measures just announced by Germany are an “act of national solidarity” in order to “get the infection rate down and take the pressure off our health system”, Chancellor Angela Merkel says.
    “The number of infections has stabilised, but on a far too high a level,” she adds.
    On Thursday, Germany recorded 73,000 new Covid cases and 388 deaths.
    Just under 70% of Germany’s population is vaccinated against Covid – lower than several European countries, including France and the UK.
    Germany is also restricting the number of people who can meet inside and the country is closing nightclubs in regions with high numbers of cases.
    Merkel announced the new measures alongside her successor Olaf Scholz, who is set to formally take over as chancellor next week.
    Scholz says Germany is in a “very, very difficult situation” and getting unvaccinated people to get the jab is crucial to halt a new wave of infections.
    […]
    Germany bans unvaccinated people from shops and bars
    Germany has announced sweeping new restrictions for people who have not been vaccinated against Covid.
    Chancellor Angela Merkel says unvaccinated people will be barred from many public places, including non-essential shops and events, unless they have recently recovered from Covid.
    “Culture and leisure nationwide will be open only to those who have been vaccinated or recovered,” Merkel says.
    “We have understood that the situation is very serious and that we want to take further measures in addition to those already taken,” she adds.
    Merkel also says a nationwide vaccination mandate could be imposed from February 2022, after it’s been debated in parliament.

  20. All this knee-jerk terror about omicron is unjustified, it might not be so bad

    You can live a life in society safely, you don’t need to lock yourself in a closet unless you’re immunocompromised

  21. Still moving.  No real kitchen now and with my covid fears I’m eating a lot of baloney sandwiches and drive through food. Interesting thing about baloney as opposed to almost everything else I buy. The price on good baloney has gone down. And no “good baloney” is not an oxymoron. If you think so then you really haven’t had to live on cheap baloney.
    btw, if you talk about eating cat food as living in poverty, you are showing how out of touch you are, It costs more to feed my cat or dog than it does me.
    Jack

  22. Remember in the beginning when people would say “i wear my mask, i must have gotten it through my eyes!”
     
    Nah.  They got sloppy and probably had snot-nosed kids.

  23. if you talk about eating cat food as living in poverty

    You can live on eggs, rice, and beans for $20 a week

  24. “i wrapped myself in cellophane i musta gotten it through my toenails, guys, never go anywhere!”
     
    😒

  25. Bink
    I don’t have time to find it again but there was a study of how this virus changed overtime in in one individual. It was interesting in that the virus seems to be diverse enough genetically to rapidly evolve as different treatments were used on the patient.
    Jack

  27. ok wear your mask, keep a bottle of purell (sp?) in your pocket, stay away from kids and republicans, and have a great day! 🌞✌️😎

  28. In comparing insurance plans, I happened to go to Social Security and was stunned.  The payment to SS is now over $170 a month.  Even with the super low Medicare insurance plans that means a “take home” of $1400 or less for majority of recipients.

    Highest cost for most seniors even if they can care for themselves is rent which varies greatly by location.  

    Bink that menu didn’t include any fruits or vegetables, the cat food might be more nutricious.

     

  31.  
    our governor had the state health department do a study on the effectiveness of mask mandates. Didn’t like the results so it was never release. 
    It is what happens when you politicize a pandemic.  
    Biden doesn’t have to politicize it by calling it a death cult, Just get the truth out there.
    Jack

  32. …that menu didn’t include any fruits or vegetables

    You’re right, i forgot “ketchup”
     
    *runs, ducks, grins in that order*

  34. this has the makings of one of those old-fashioned murder mysteries worthy of detective lt. colombo and ofc friday.  could it be someone (a rabid magaT perhaps who was offended by his SNL portrayal of former guy) was out to get alec by planting a gun set to misfire? a new conspiracy ready to go viral.

    ‘Rust’ assistant director maintains Alec Baldwin’s claim he didn’t pull trigger in fatal shooting: attorney | Fox News

    “Rust” assistant director Dave Halls has maintained Alec Baldwin‘s claim that he didn’t pull the trigger of the gun that fired and left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead and director Joel Souza injured, his attorney says.

    Lisa Torraco, who is representing Halls, said in a new interview that the assistant director has said from the first day she met him that he believes a misfire took place.

    “The entire time Baldwin had his finger outside the trigger guard, parallel to the barrel, and that he told me since day one he thought it was a misfire. And until Alec said that it was just really hard to believe. But Dave has told me since the first day I met him that Alec did not pull that trigger,” Torraco said in an interview that aired on “Good Morning America” on Thursday.

  35. Baloney with yellow mustard. 
    I have been working on being calm.  The group formerly  known as the Supremes are hell Benton forcing women and children to be breeding stock again. Chattel. Next will be gay marriage.  Loss of any protections for non-white people.  Only cerwhite males will have ant standing, just like 1740.

  36. If I know my ma man Biden he ain’t gonna take this court acting out….playin the fool……

  37. If you wake up around 1 or 2 am and can’t sleep……baloney sandwich…..like a sleeping pill.    —zzzzzzzzz—

  39. Sometimes I wonder what can be done to calm our nerves.  Although not original, get out of the house.  Go do something.  A walk or run. A stroll though somewhere.  Visit an art exhibit. Buy a fishing lure.  The worst thing I have seen is people (like me) hiding in the house.  For some of us this is extremely difficult. But, as I have found, it is worth doing.
     
    Of course protesting bad things is good and a way of getting out of doors.

  40. Poobah, is it ever?

    Gotta say I’m getting fatigued. And disgusted.  And disillusioned. I went to law school  and developed a healthy respect for SCOTUS  and a deeper respect for the institutions of this country.  I have lost that respect in the course of 2 years – after 33 years in the profession and a couple weeks shy of 70 years knocking around this place.  And to think I thought the Reagan years were bad.  They were a fucking oasis in comparison to the DUMBASS YEARS.  The problem – we’re stuck with the DUMBASS SCOTUS lineup for decades.  Italy or Argentina are beginning to look really attractive to me. Mrs. P is thinking Italy (she is eligible for Italian citizenship if she can sustain through the application process).  I, on the other hand, love Malbec. It’s an intriguing prospect, and until now, other than just being in love with France, I never rally considered moving to a country whose language i don’t speak.  I’m past that. Babel and I may just become acquainted.

  41. “Republican bill that limits how race, slavery and history are taught in Texas schools becomes law”

    https://www.texastribune.org/2021/12/02/texas-critical-race-theory-law/

    “The new civics training mandated by the new law that requires attendance by at least one teacher and one campus administrator from each district will be created by the Texas Education Agency and it must be implemented no later than the 2025-2026 school year.“

    “There are more than 1,200 school districts in Texas. The cost to develop and implement the training program alone would be about $14.6 million annually…”

    “Abbott said more needed to be done to “abolish” critical race theory in Texas classrooms…”

    ~Greg Abbott, abolishionist~

  42. Jamie – I’m betting at least one of my relatives will have that calendar proudly displayed somewhere. 

  43. https://www.cnet.com/health/moderna-booster-shot-update-new-guidance-programs-stats-to-know-as-omicron-arrives/

    “Moderna is currently working on an omicron-specific booster vaccine, along with testing a COVID-19 vaccine that could protect against several mutated strains of the coronavirus.“

    “The Moderna booster authorized by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a 50-microgram dose, while the first two shots were each 100 micrograms.”

    “If Moderna needs to make a new vaccine modified for the variant, it could be available early in 2022.“

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