COVID drives up US hospitalizations: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-variants-know-jn1-ba286-rcna127648 . Strikingly, COVID is currently causing 15,000 hospitalizations and 1,000 deaths per week in the US. We have effective vaccines which only a minority of adults keeps up-to-date. Politics has no place in medicine, and this mistake is killing people right now.
China respiratory illness surge attributed to known pathogens: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-12-02/no-new-infectious-diseases-found-in-investigations-chinas-national-health-commission-says . As we know China suppresses negative disease data, any report of widespread illness in China is cause for concern.
WSJ: The risks of medical AI: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/medical-ai-tools-can-make-dangerous-mistakes-can-the-government-help-prevent-them-b7cd8b35 . There is a more systemic risk here. We’d like to turn communication functions over to AI to increase worker productivity. But this communication is not two-way, and therefore it lacks the art of human communication. This problem applies more broadly than medicine. It will likely reduce as AI becomes more sophisticated, but that doesn’t help the victims of current mistakes.
Civilians are “center of gravity” in Gaza war: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/civilians-center-gravity-gaza-war-202727248.html . Secretary of Defense makes a compelling case for the strategic need for Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza and provide substantial humanitarian aid. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-steps-up-attacks-in-southern-gaza-following-collapse-of-cease-fire-73eec04e .
WSJ: The coming House battle over aid to Ukraine and Israel: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/house-speaker-mike-johnson-ukraine-71a87e17 . Once Johnson has been thrust into governance, he’s completely reversed course on Ukraine. This tells you that the House far right has not concept of or interest in governance, nor any interest in educating themselves on the issues. These people should not be in government, period. However, what we have currently is the Democratic and the Anti-Democratic parties, and both capital and small d’s apply. Sadly, Anti-Democratic is a popular platform among the uneducated, and therefore governance remains at great risk.
Liz Cheney speaks out against the coming Orange Julius dictatorship: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/liz-cheney-tells-cbs-news-sunday-morning-that-the-u-s-is-sleepwalking-into-a-dictatorship/ . As of today, OJ appears to have the GOP nomination sown up. Polls indicate he leads Biden in the swing states. The risk here is real and increasing.
Cellphone reception is getting worse: https://time.com/6340727/cell-phone-reception-is-getting-worse/ . This interesting article documents with considerable detail why Verizon’s reception is getting worse in highly populated areas.
WSJ: Dogs, love and grief: https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/dog-owners-death-lessons-love-grief-53c77511 . As someone who has had to put down a dog, I completely understand and empathize with what is being said here. However, relationships with other humans are far superior, for many fairly obvious reasons. To the extent a dog keeps you from spending that time with humans (and it does), in my view that is an opportunity lost.
WSJ: Alabama blows up the college football playoffs: https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/alabama-college-football-playoff-texas-washington-d10cca7a . Everyone agrees that Washington is in, as an undefeated Power 5 champion with many high-quality wins. Most agree that undefeated Big 10 champion Michigan is also in. That leaves two slots. Florida State is also an undefeated Power 5 champion, but after losing their starting quarterback two weeks ago, they have looked shaky with their second and then third string quarterback.
Of the one-loss teams, Alabama has the best argument by beating No. 1 Georgia for the SEC championship. I believe they are in. That leaves Georgia, along with Texas and Florida State, competing for the remaining slot. FSU may be undefeated, but they are clearly the weakest of these 3 at this time. Texas beat Alabama, but they lost to Oklahoma. Georgia has been No. 1 almost all season, and their loss to Alabama is a quality loss. I would pick Georgia as the fourth team. We’ll find out on Sunday.