ODDS AND ENDS

The New York Times this morning showed a graphic that, surely, got to influence anti-vaxxers to get vaxxed.

Also:  

Once you get a booster, your risk of getting severely ill from Covid is tiny. It is quite small even if you are older or have health problems.

Further:

The average weekly chance that a boosted person died of Covid was about one in a million during October and November (the most recent available C.D.C. data). Since then, the chances have no doubt been higher, because of the Omicron surge. But they will probably be even lower in coming weeks, because the surge is receding and Omicron is milder than earlier versions of the virus. For now, one in a million per week seems like a reasonable estimate.

Plus:

That risk is not zero, but it is not far from it. The chance that an average American will die in a car crash this week is significantly higher — about 2.4 per million. So is the average weekly death rate from influenza and pneumonia — about three per million.

Part of the problem remains partisan politics:

For this you can blame conservative media like the FOX News channel.  Also:

Finally:  

In Times Opinion, James Martin, a Jesuit priest, argues that schadenfreude over vaccine skeptics’ suffering warps the soul.

Incidentally, you will more and more read that Omicron has three offshoots, BA-1 (the one that is dominant), BA-2 (sometimes called the stealth variant, which is perhaps slightly more contagious and evades PCR tests) and BA-3 (not worthy of your current interest).  A bit of a complication, but insufficient to create another major wave.

So how close is humanity to ending the pandemic?  

• First, if you're boosted, you can pretty much do what you want.  The pandemic for you is over!  
• Second, if you're not yet vaccinated, stay home, don't go out to eat, don't travel, stay scared.  Oh, you might want to get vaccinated and boosted so that in in a few months you too can better enjoy life. 
• 
  Third, Republican and Democratic governors are beginning to feel that the White House should, for once, get organized to have a plan to end the pandemic.  
• Sure, there are states like Texas, Florida and the South that still want to maintain a high sense of independence.  
• But as the Biden administration, especially the CDC, has screwed up going back to school, getting tested, wearing masks, not organizing a national vaccine card and just about everything else, maybe it's time for our President to do some leading.
• With Omicron still causing havoc and hospitalizations still high here and there, just saying the pandemic is over, hoping the economy improves and returning to normality is just not there yet.

Here are a few odds and ends I've collected over the past few days.  The next Supreme Court justice will be a black female lawyer.  Black females only represent 2% of the field.

Oil prices hit their highest since 2014. The surge seems influenced by global political tensions in the UAE and Russia. (Source: Reuters).  Of course, the price of oil, inflation adjusted, was much higher in 2008.  The $157/barrel then is nearly double the price of the past week of around $88/barrel.

Authorities at the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department in Hong Kong announced that the sale of hamsters and the import of small mammals would cease immediately after many tested positive for coronavirus at a pet store where an employee also tested positive.  While the U.S. CDC has said animals don’t appear to play a significant part in spreading the virus, Hong Kong isn’t taking any chances. 2,000 hamsters and small animals will be executed by the state, and anyone who bought a hamster after January 7th will have to quarantine and turn in their hamster for execution. (Source: AP)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams just converted his first paycheck into Bitcoin and Ether.  Then the crypto market crashed.  He lost around $1000.  For the year, Bitcoin is down 22% and Ether down 35%.

2022 is the beginning of the 50th year of Roe v Wade.

As the Supreme Court considers a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks, and whether to overturn Roe altogether, The Times examined how U.S. abortion law compares with other countries. While many rich democracies have earlier cutoffs for abortion, the U.S. is an outlier in another way — by considering rolling back abortion access.

Icebergs do eventually melt:

• The iceberg A68a was one of the biggest ever seen when it broke off an ice shelf in 2017. Now it has completely melted.

From worst to best:  The $4 billion Terminal B of LaGuardia Airport.   UNESCO has already recognized it as Best New Airport in the World.  This was a really terrible airport.  Too bad Hawaii doesn't have $4 billion to build something equivalent.

Meet Methuselah, the oldest known fish in captivity.  Not quite as old as the Bible's Methuselah, who was Noah's grandfather and lived to be 969 years old, this lungfish is only 90.  Came from Australia in 1938.  Now that this is a threatened species, cannot now be exported.  Having both lungs and gills, this specie is the evolutionary link between marine and land creatures.

Of course, other sealife have longer life expectancies.  Ming, the Quahog Clam, was found dead in 2006 at an estimated age of 507.  Then, too, above and below are the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii and hydra.  Both are potentially immortal.

Oleanolic acid found in raisins kills two kinds of bacteria that cause gum disease, and reduces plaque.  This knowledge has been around for decades, but there is as yet no advisory and how many raisins you should consume per day or week.  Then again, in the UK, there is some controversy about serving raisins, for they have too much sugar and can cause tooth decay.  But Contemporary Clinical Dentistry insists that raisin protects against cavities.

The Cincinnati Bengals will meet the Los Angeles Rams on February 13 in Super Bowl LVI.  That is 56 for those who don't know roman numerals.  For the second consecutive time, and this rarely happens, the game will be played on the home field of one of them, the Rams in SoFi Stadium.  If you had before the season started wagered $10 on the Bengals even reaching the Super Bowl, you would have won $1250 already.  Current odds show the Rams favored by 4 points and an over/under of 49.

So what junk food should I feature that day?  As this game will occur in Los Angeles, there is the Dodger Dog...but that is for baseball.  SoFi Stadium has four concession themes:  kind of a long cheeseburger sub, Japanese-inspired, Mexican and Italian.  There is also a chili dog, as shown here to the left.  or the meatballs with focaccia and ricotta below, shown next to the edge of a Stromboli Dog.

On the other hand, I am rooting for the Bengals, as their quarterback, Joe Burrow, came from the NCAA championship-winning LSU Tigers only two years ago.  What does Paul Brown Stadium feature?

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year 2022.  Celebrations go on for 16 days, but in China, the public holiday is from January 31 to February 6.  This will be the year of the Tiger.  Interestingly enough, this is the year of the Water Tiger.  Water Tiger?  What is that?  The last Water Tiger year was 1962 when I graduated from college.  

Maybe this will be a propitious year for the Blue Revolution.  Surely, this omens well for the Cincinnati Bengals.

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