FDA approves COVID breath test: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-authorizes-first-covid-19-breath-test-rcna24497 . The entire concept of COVID breath is disgusting, isn’t it?
Pfizer data indicates third COVID shot is desirable for kids 5 to 11: https://www.aol.com/news/pfizer-covid-booster-provides-strong-110200640.html . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/pfizer-says-covid-19-booster-sparked-immune-response-against-omicron-in-children-ages-5-to-11-11649933284 .
WSJ: BA2 cases continue to grow: https://www.wsj.com/articles/omicron-ba-2-is-advancing-but-covid-19-hospitalizations-stay-muted-11649939327 .
California delays school COVID vaccine mandate: https://abcnews.go.com/US/california-delay-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-students/story?id=84093350 .
Work continues on vaccine patent waiver: https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2022-04-14/last-few-tweaks-being-made-to-covid-ip-waiver-deal-wto-chief .
Oprah to highlight racial disparities in US healthcare: https://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2022-04-14/oprah-smithsonian-focus-on-health-care-racial-disparities .
DeMentis signs Florida abortion ban: https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-health-ron-desantis-florida-lifestyle-8e8fb722fcb84ae86fd6be17f48503a9 . This culture war crap makes me sick. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/florida-gov-ron-desantis-signs-15-week-abortion-ban-into-law-11649961049 .
Portland dissection-for-profit shows to be banned: https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2022/04/multnomah-county-moves-to-ban-for-profit-displays-of-human-remains-after-body-dissection-at-portland-hotel.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=oregonian_sf . No doubt, the macabre event described upset many people. But note the exception granted to accredited museums. In the past, the touring exhibit cadavers with the skin removed (showing muscle structure) has appeared at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI): https://omsi.edu/press-releases/omsi-to-host-gunther-von-hagens-body-worlds-the-cycle-of-life . The OMSI exhibits upset many people, too. So I don’t see how the “for profit” part really changes the content.
India’s massive undercount of COVID deaths: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-04-14/data-shows-indias-ahmedabad-may-have-massively-undercounted-covid-deaths . Some estimates are that India undercounted deaths by a factor of 10.
At least 44 Chinese cities under full or partial COVID lockdown: https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/15/china/china-covid-xi-jinping-shanghai-crisis-intl-hnk-mic/index.html . Can anyone in China’s government say “failure”? Maybe not.
Meanwhile, conversion of Shanghai residences into COVID isolation centers sparks protests: https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2022-04-15/shanghai-turns-residences-into-covid-isolation-facilities-sparking-protest .
WSJ: Another Alzheimer’s drug in the pipeline: https://www.wsj.com/articles/alzheimers-drug-developer-alzheon-secures-50-million-11649935800 .
US weekly jobless claims rise slightly last week: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-jobless-claims-week-ended-april-9-2022-174045858.html . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/unemployment-claims-rose-modestly-last-week-11649939961 .
WSJ: Global chip shortage to persist: https://www.wsj.com/articles/tsmc-warns-of-tight-production-capacity-prolonging-chip-shortage-11649935181 . This represents a further warning about the supply chain and global growth.
Bill Browder on the criminality of Putin and the oligarchs: https://news.yahoo.com/putin-nemesis-bill-browder-reveals-the-real-money-funding-kremlins-war-090014724.html . The description here of Russia as a gas station with a government was too kind. Russia is a gas station with a Mafia.
Russian Black Sea flagship sinks: https://news.yahoo.com/russia-admits-black-sea-flagship-seriously-damaged-as-ukraine-claims-missile-strike-132309458.html . Note that the Neptune missile is made in Ukraine. Just to be clear that this is the flagship, “Moskva” translates to “Moscow” in English. Russia has taken a serious punch in the nose even before initiating its eastern “re-do”. Ukraine’s chances of winning this war grow each day. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-black-sea-fleet-flagship-damaged-evacuated-after-ukraine-claims-missile-strike-11649920914 .
WSJ: Putin threatens stationing nuclear weapons in the Baltic if Finland and Sweden join NATO: https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-warns-it-could-station-nuclear-forces-in-europe-if-finland-sweden-join-nato-11649958396 . So, doesn’t this threat make you more, not less, likely to want NATO protection? But there’s another problem with this threat: Russia already has nuclear weapons there: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-04-14/russia-already-has-nuclear-weapons-in-the-baltic-region-says-lithuania .
Judge rejects the “Follow the Orange Furor” defense, convicts January 6 insurrectionist: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/04/14/Capitol-rioter-sought-Trumps-approval-convicted-six-counts/8181649983609/ . This is now certified as an idiotic defense.
Musk offers to buy Twitter: https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-offer-92fe6980cbcfdedea43637ac336c367a . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-offers-to-buy-rest-of-twitter-for-54-20-a-share-11649932296 . We will see how this plays out, but a 20% premium over the current closing value certainly deserves consideration. However, Musk’s failure to timely disclose his stock acquisitions in Twitter seems likely to lead to legal trouble.
Major League Baseball apparently not ready for prime time: https://sports.yahoo.com/athletics-of-christian-pache-scores-little-league-inside-the-park-rays-211919872.html . Tampa Bay makes a three-base error? Spring training was too short.