WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT FAT TUESDAY?

The trends are pretty clear that both the USA and World show declines in COVID-19 cases and deaths. More details tomorrow.

Fat Tuesday is the English translation of the French Mardi Gras (which is today). While some may still dress up, New Orleans will have no parades, with bars closed.

Brazil, too, has canceled Carnival, for the first time since 1912. They consistently rank #2 to the USA in COVID-19 deaths/day. Ever wonder why this country celebrates Fat Tuesday? Brazil was "discovered" by Portuguese diplomat Pedro Cabral on his way to what he hoped would be India in 1500. Portugal is 81% Roman Catholic.

Surprisingly enough, Mardi Gras next year will be on March 1. Why?

Fat Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday, which next year will be on March 2.
Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins, occurs six and a half weeks before Easter.

Why this name? Relates to placing repentance ashes on your forehead.
Three days earlier was Palm Sunday, when palms were burned to use as the ash.

Fat Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday in British countries like the UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada, where they eat pancake on this day, while countries throughout Europe have similar variations.
For those countries celebrating Mardi Gras, this is a day for feasting on fat (of course) and other rich foods, for at midnight, Lent begins.

I lived in Louisiana for more than three years and went to two Mardi Gras. How can anyone forget Pat's Hurricane, those beads (and I still have a few), Acme Oyster House where I learned how to consume raw oysters and Cafe du Monde's beignets, the middle of the donut, with powdered sugar? The local Hawaiian malasadas is similar, but larger and not as crisp.

Mardi Gras season actually begins on Epiphany, or Three Kings Day on January 6.
From Wikipedia:

Women exposing their breasts during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, US, has been documented since 1889, when the Times-Democrat decried the "degree of immodesty exhibited by nearly all female masqueraders seen on the streets." The practice was mostly limited to tourists in the upper Bourbon Street area.^[26]^[27] In the crowded streets of the French Quarter, generally avoided by locals on Mardi Gras Day, flashers on balconies cause crowds to form on the streets. In the last decades of the 20th century, the rise in producing commercial videotapes catering to voyeurs helped encourage a tradition of women baring their breasts in exchange for beads and trinkets. Social scientists studying "ritual disrobement" found, at Mardi Gras 1991, 1,200 instances of body-baring in exchange for beads or other favors.^[27]

Carnival ends at midnight of Fat Tuesday, after which the Catholic Church discourages meat and sex for 40 days.
I talked about Noah's 40 days/nights yesterday, for during that cruise, sin was supposed to have been cleansed from the face of the Earth.

Actually, Mobile, Alabama has the oldest annual Mardi Gras celebration in the U.S., beginning in 1703. The key term is annual.
The first American Mardi Gras took place in Iberville, close to New Orleans in 1699. However, the annual New Orleans celebration with parades started in 1827, and became a huge tradition from 1857 when a secret society, Krewe of Comus, organized those rolling floats. Today, membership remains jealously guarded.

The colors of the Louisiana Mardi Gras are purple, gold and green. That's why LSU uses purple and gold.
The Rio Mardi Gras was first held in 1723.
As crazy as the New Orleans Mardi Gras can get, and it's a state holiday in Louisiana, here is an article that points out that the European carnival season is even wilder.

Nothing to do with Mardi Gras, but sometime during the next few days I'll feature DID YOU KNOW? Here is one:

A NEXT COVID SUBVARIANT?

By now most know that the Omicron BA.5 subvariant has become the dominant infectious agent, now accounting for more than 80% of all COVID-19 cases. Very few are aware that a new one, BA.4.6, is sneaking in and steadily rising, now accounting for 13% of sequenced samples . However, as BA.4.6 has emerged from BA.4, while there is uncertainty, the scientific sense is that the latest bivalent booster targeting BA.4 and BA.5 should also be effective for this next threat. One concern is that Evusheld--the only monoclonal antibody authorized for COVID prevention in immunocompromised individuals--is not effective against BA.4.6. Here is a reference as to what this means. A series of two injections is involved. Evusheld was developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, and is a t ixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab . More recently, Los Angeles County reported on subvariant BA.2.75.2 . which Tony Fauci termed suspicious and troublesome. This strain has also been spreading in

Part 3: OUR NEXT AROUND THE WORLD ODYSSEY

Before I get into my third, and final, part of this cruise series, let me start with some more newsworthy topics. Thursday was my pandemic day for years. Thus, every so often I return to bring you up to date on the latest developments. All these subvariants derived from that Omicron variant, and each quickly became dominant, with slightly different symptoms. One of these will shock you. There has been a significant decline in the lost of taste and smell. From two-thirds of early patients to now only 10-20% show these symptoms. JN.1, now the dominant subvariant, results in mostly mild symptoms. However, once JN.1 infects some, there seem to be longer-lasting symptoms. Clearly, the latest booster helps prevent contracting Covid. A competing subvariant, BA.2.86, also known as Pirola , a month ago made a run, but JN.1 prevailed. No variant in particular, but research has shown that some of you will begin to lose hair for several months. This is caused by stress more than anythi

HONOLULU TO SEATTLE

The story of the day is Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4 at 145 MPH, with a track that has moved further south and the eye projected to make landfall just south of Sarasota. Good news for Tampa, which is 73 miles north. Milton will crash into Florida as a Category 4, and is huge, so a lot of problems can still be expected in Tampa Bay with storm surge. If the eye had crossed into the state just north of Tampa, the damage would have been catastrophic. Milton is a fast-moving storm, currently at 17 MPH, so as bad as the rainfall will be over Florida, again, a blessing. The eye will make landfall around 10PM EDT today, and will move into the Atlantic Ocean north of Palm Bay Thursday morning. My first trip to Seattle was in June of 1962 just after I graduated from Stanford University. Caught a bus. Was called the Century 21 Exposition . Also the Seattle World's Fair. 10 million joined me on a six-month run. My first. These are held every five years, and there have only been

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