Vaccine skepticism lingers: https://apnews.com/article/ap-norc-poll-3rd-adult-skeptical-vaccine-3779574a6d45d38cfc1d8615eb176b2d .
WSJ: Vaccine skepticism demographics: https://www.wsj.com/articles/which-americans-are-least-willing-to-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-11612979857 . Blacks, young Americans, and Southerners are the most skeptical.
Instagram tosses RFK Jr. over anti-vaccine remarks: https://www.wsj.com/articles/instagram-bans-robert-f-kennedy-jr-over-covid-19-vaccine-misinformation-11613029259 .
Predicting our future with COVID-19: https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-endemic-new-normal-pandemic-94cb05ac-e3f5-4b2c-ab16-c4883ace1e65.html .
WSJ: NYC subway air highly polluted: https://www.wsj.com/articles/air-in-new-yorks-subway-systems-is-highly-polluted-nyu-study-shows-11613001497 . Once again, there must be a lot of grant money out there. Also, once again I am persuaded not to ride the subway in a pandemic.
CDC says two masks better than one: https://apnews.com/article/cdc-study-2-masks-better-against-virus-90ef98d5047318c2e95fafc1e78f594e . The study has a variety of limitations, as noted in the article.
CDC says fully vaccinated individuals don’t need to quarantine after exposure to COVID: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-cdc-quarantine/us-cdc-says-fully-vaccinated-people-need-not-quarantine-after-covid-19-exposure-idUSKBN2AB0EG . This makes perfect sense if the vaccine is 100% effective and no variants exist. Since neither of those things is true, Americans become the test subjects for variant spread. It would be nice for CDC to get back to pure science.
WSJ: DOJ adjusts position on ACA with Supreme Court: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administration-asks-supreme-court-to-reject-challenge-to-affordable-care-act-11612990888 .
French nun, 116, survives COVID: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/10/europe/oldest-woman-europe-covid-scli-intl/index.html .
WSJ: Black clergy vaccine outreach: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-efforts-get-a-boost-from-black-communities-pastors-11612953001 .
Ohio significantly underreports COVID deaths: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/ohio-department-of-health-covid-19-death-toll-underreported-4000/95-df492af5-744c-455e-9a96-bd9310bf8743 . 4,000 underreported and 11,000 currently reported means deaths have been underreported by over one-third. That is a huge mistake by any standard. More: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/02/10/ohio-add-up-4-000-previously-unreported-covid-19-deaths-tally/6712867002/ . And Indiana announced last week they had underreported by about 1,000 deaths last year.
Biden helps Texas build 3 vaccination centers: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/10/covid-vaccine-biden-administration-partners-with-texas-to-build-three-new-mass-centers.html .
WSJ: Readjusting the school reopening bar: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-goal-for-school-reopenings-draws-criticism-from-gop-11612992575 . Based on the threat of new variants, adjustment makes sense. Kevin McCarthy has no idea about anything, including how to pick a fight.
When and where did COVID begin?: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/chinese-hospitalizations-before-wuhan-covid-discovery-who-investigation?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=msn_feed . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/possible-early-covid-19-cases-in-china-emerge-during-who-mission-11612996225 .
WSJ: EU admits it fumbled vaccine strategy: https://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-fumbled-covid-19-vaccine-campaign-top-official-says-11612979034 .
WSJ: WHO recommends AstraZeneca vaccine: https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-recommends-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-against-south-africa-strain-11612977926 . This seems more like politics than science given recent news that South Africa stopped using the vaccine because it is ineffective against the South African variant.
What did WHO learn in Wuhan?: https://apnews.com/article/who-coronavirus-experts-learned-in-wuhan-86549d1189f3d174273a26e39d177d05 . Apparently, they learned nothing, at least nothing they are willing to make public.
WSJ: China’s domestic vaccination program going slowly: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-covid-19-vaccine-makers-struggle-to-meet-demand-11612958560 .
COVID-similar coronavirus discovered in bats in Thailand: https://nypost.com/2021/02/10/new-coronavirus-discovered-in-thailand-bats-similar-to-covid-19/ . But this version’s spike protein means it cannot infect humans.
WSJ: TikTok sale shelved – again: https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-sale-to-oracle-walmart-is-shelved-as-biden-reviews-security-11612958401 . Another idiot move by the Trump enterprise is sinking into the past.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Will moderates leave the Republican Party?: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-party-exclusive/exclusive-dozens-of-former-republican-officials-in-talks-to-form-anti-trump-third-party-idUSKBN2AB07P . The Republican Civil War continues.
Did Trump DOJ delay search warrants of Giuliani records?: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/10/politics/search-warrant-rudy-giuliani/index.html .
Day 2 of the Senate impeachment trial was the first of 2 days for the Democrats. My expectations were high because the evidence is both damning and plentiful. Still, today’s session completely exceeded my expectations.
The two women today were excellent. Both did a tremendous job of blending the facts with a compelling emotional tone. Madeleine Dean, of Pennsylvania, methodically catalogued the pressure Trump exerted on election officials in each of the battleground states. Stacey Plaskett, the delegate from the Virgin Islands, dissected Trump’s social media posts. She was the star of the day. And she was literally the perfect choice for her section of the argument: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/538355-stacey-plaskett-becomes-first-non-voting-delegate-in-history-to-serve-as .
Considerable new evidence not previously public was presented today. Here’s a sample (with Stacey): https://news.yahoo.com/trump-impeachment-trial-new-video-capitol-security-footage-220834562.html . More: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/capitol-riot-videos-shown-in-trump-impeachment-trial-watch-them-here/ .
CNN’s take on Day 2: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/10/opinions/most-devastating-evidence-impeachment-trial-honig/index.html . WSJ’s take: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-impeachment-trial-five-takeaways-from-the-second-day-11613011621 .
We’ll see how the Democrats wrap tomorrow, but the real question is whether the defense can massively improve on their prior performance. The answer is almost certainly no. My guess is that such a result will win Portman for the Democrats, giving them 7 Republicans (which is a tremendous accomplishment). The only shot for 17 in my view is whether McConnell decides to vote to convict and looks for 9 additional votes. In other words, all paths to 10 go through McConnell. John Thune, another member of leadership, may well flip in that scenario.
Temperature check of Senate jurors today: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senators-got-teary-eyed-lost-their-appetites-and-expressed-anger-after-house-impeachment-managers-new-video-footage-showed-how-close-they-were-to-danger/ar-BB1dAlAl?li=BBnb7Kz .
Jeep pulls “unity” Super Bowl ad after Springsteen arrested for DWI: https://people.com/music/jeep-pulls-bruce-springsteen-super-bowl-ad-after-dwi/ . Note that the arrest was November 14. Somebody didn’t do their homework. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/bruce-springsteen-to-appear-in-court-over-drunken-driving-arrest-11612994536 .