Let's start off with the "say what?" news of the day. Streaming services have pulled two episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants due to their content. In "Kwarantined Crab," a case of "clam flu" is found in a restaurant. The patrons are quarantined and, as expected, get very anxious. They get so anxious that they shun those assumed to have the virus and toss them into the freezer. My kids probably would have loved that episode and taken it out either farther, but then I've been told my family is weird. The second episode pulled from streaming actually has been gone since 2018. In "Mid-Life Crustacean," SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Knobs break into a woman's house and steal her underwear. Try explaining that one to the kids. I think I read somewhere a while back that SpongeBob SquarePants is actually aimed at adults rather than children, but its being a cartoon with talking sea animals does have "kids, too" written all over it.
Look to the left, look to the right. Covid is rising everywhere. Canada is experiencing more hospitalizations and lockdowns due to the various variants. France is looking at its third national lockdown. Daily new cases over the past week have averaged 37,000. Hospitals may have to start deciding who to try to save. Some 5,000 patients are in ICUs for the first time since last April. The ICU head at a Paris hospital said, "The outlook is worse than frightening ... We're already at the level of the second wave and we're quickly getting close to the threshold of the first wave. April is going to be dreadful."
Clinical trials suggest that the Pfizer vaccine is highly effective in 12- to 15-year-olds. It may actually be more effective in those kids than it is in adults. Research is also being done on mixing vaccines as in a first dose of one and a second dose of another, different one. There is thought that this might give better protection. It might also solve distribution bottlenecks. Every little bit helps.
Domestically, things could be a lot better. We've passed 551,000 deaths. The average number of deaths over the past seven days rose by nine percent. Vaccine demand appears to be waning in some states. When asked if they will definitely get a shot, fewer than 31 percent of respondents from North Dakota, Wyoming, and Mississippi said they would. Between 32 and 42 percent said yes in Montana, Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas. In five states, Washington, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine, over 64 percent said they would. All the other states fell in the 43 to 63 percent range. Mask mandates took another hit when the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the mask mandate there saying that the governor did not have the legal authority to issue it.
Tomorrow is Opening Day. That's in Major League Baseball for anyone who might not recognize who would be opening what. The NFL (American football) has added a 17th game to their regular season starting this year and has announced that stadiums will be filled. I wish them luck. Right now, fewer than half of Americans feel comfortable attending sports in person, especially in indoor settings. It may be that I've always sat in the less expensive nosebleed section up at the top, but I've always thought you see the game better on television than in person.
A short post, but it's been a long day fighting disorganization.
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