No question that this latest Omicron BA.2 subvariant is increasing COVID-19 cases in the U.S.  There is a one week delay before hospitalizations increase, but early signs indicate that this effect will be minimal, and maybe not even that, for a combination of vaccinations and past infections have resulted in few serious illnesses.  From the   New York Times   this morning: About that Federal mask mandate: It was stricken down by Florida federal judge Kathryn Mizelle ( right ).  She was appointed to this position by Donald Trump after he had lost re-election, and she snuck through the Senate on a party-line vote before the Democrats assumed leadership.  She clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and at the age of 33, is now in a lifetime judgeship role. You would think that this decision was typically partisan, and that it would be a simple matter for the White House to appeal that decision.  Eventually the Supreme Court would uphold Mizelle's judgement, but the whole po