News of the day: The  Rittenhouse  killings occurred in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  The parade deaths this weekend were in Waukesha, Wisconsin.  The consensus seems to be that the Rittenhouse innocence verdict will mean more  AR-15 rifle s at protests and general outings, and further protect gun rights. The Ahmaud Arbery trial jury will begin deliberating tomorrow.  If all three white assailants are set free by the 11 white and 1 black panel, all hell will break loose.  Clearly, the timing was orchestrated for colder weather to minimize the potential backlash.  The defense strategy seems to be angling for a mistrial or deadlock. BTS got all the big awards at the  American Music Awards .  Their  Butter  won Favorite Pop Song.   Watch them perform this song last night. This weekend I viewed a special showing of  MASH:  Goodbye, Farewell and Amen  ( amazingly enough, you can watch the entire 2.5 hour movie if you click on that ), the  1983 finale of the TV series : Almost 40 years later, this fi

Last week Kyle Rittenhouse was found innocent of two killings and a wounding.  There were scattered protests, especially in Portland, which has recently become a hotspot for these events.  Why was the nation relatively controlled on this issue?   Simple, Rittenhouse was white, and so were his three victims . Speaker of the House  Nancy Pelosi has become a real playmaker .  She marshaled through the $2.1 trillion social welfare spending bill, now awaiting Senate action, and appears to have influence over Senators Manchin and Sinema. This second package will be enacted and signed by President Joe Biden because of something called reconciliation, which only needs 50 Democratic votes and the presence of Vice President Kamala Harris.  The only two questions are when, and how much. The only two Democratic senators voicing concerns are Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Turns out that both Manchin and Pelosi are of Italian heritage who grew up in political families an

This is one of those days, Friday, no less, when a range of issues and events is coming to conclusion: The most immediate is that  Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all counts . The FDA is close to approving boosters for all adults. House will vote today on the $1.85 trillion social welfare package.  Next, on to the Senate. Last year hardly anyone caught the seasonal flu.  This year the  H3N2 virus has made a strong return .  This was the Hong Kong Flu in 1968/9 and Fujian Flu of 2003/4. 90% of all flu cases so far this year linked to H3N2. College campuses, in particular, have shown outbreaks. While the positivity rate for the flu remains low today at 0.3%, it is 37% at the University of Michigan and 30% at Florida State.  77% of UofM cases were to students who did not get the flu shot this fall. This will only get worse into February. Who knew that the positivity rate for the seasonal flu was 17% for the U.S. in 2019, but only 0.15% last year. Not only that, but the flu hospit