Morning News And Comment From "Out West"; That Seasonal Flu Vaccine? "It's Better Than Nothing" -- CDC -- March 6, 2020

Note: nothing about the Bakken here. If you came here looking for the Bakken, scroll up, scroll down, swipe right, and dance all around.

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Exodus

BLM: cuts half of its Washington, DC-based staff in half -- at least that could be the headline. 

From The Free Republic:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has lost more than half of its Washington-based employees who were slated to move out West as the agency pushes ahead with a controversial plan to relocate staff.

New internal numbers from the Interior Department obtained by The Hill show 69 employees have left the agency rather than accept the new assignment. Another 18 left after the plans were announced but before they could be reassigned.

Those 87 employees outnumber the 80 who have agreed to the move.

The figures are at odds with the ones referenced in December by acting BLM Director William Perry Pendley, who said in an email that roughly two-thirds of staffers had agreed to move.

“This is a huge brain drain,” said Steve Ellis, who retired from BLM’s top career-level post in 2018. “There is a lot of really solid expertise walking out the door.” 

There is some question whether one can use "brain drain" and BLM in the same paragraph, much less the same sentence.

Not to worry: there are a lot of very smart, some of them even college-educated, patriotic Americans "out West." LOL -- the article doesn't even mention where the agency is moving. I guess "out West" is as close as the reporter could recall. 

Out West. Wow, I haven't used that phrase in ages. Out West.

Heard on the public address system, BLM headquarters, Washington, DC: 

Happy Trails, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

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Notes To The Granddaughters

You could do worse than reading Angel Unaware by Dale Evans.

I had never read the wiki entry for Dale Evans until now. Absolutely fascinating. Generally after reading the first few lines of a wiki bio, I quit and move on. This time, I read much more and am so glad I did.

I have very, very few memories of any specific events during the first seven or eight years of my life, but many of them are quite poignant. One of my favorite memories, for example, is taking the lead in the team project to draw an Eskimo/igloo/North Pole drawing while in first grade. LOL. So funny on so many levels. North Dakota in the winter -- the teacher must have told us to draw a picture of our town. I remember arguing with my classmates about the size, shape, and location of the hole that we were "drilling" in the frozen lake from which to fish. But I digress.

We had very, very few books in the house. I recall two. One: a set of encyclopedias. I honestly don't remember the publisher. Definitely not Britannica. Not Colliers. Maybe Funk and Wagnalls -- that would be best bet simply based on the odds. My maternal grandmother was a public school teacher; my mother had a great education and took education very seriously; it's possible my mother had access to Funk and Wagnalls when growing up and kept the tradition in our 722 17th Street West, Williston, ND, home. That set of encyclopedias was kept in the hallway closet, up out of reach until we could reach them about age eight or so. One really couldn't see the individual books because the hallway was so dark, so you sort of guessed when taking out a volume.

The only other book I recall in that hallway closet was Angel Unaware by Dale Evans. I remember reading the book -- at least starting it; I don't know if I finished it. I was greatly affected by something called "Down syndrome" or whatever it was called then. One wonders if that foreshadowed my eventual vocation: pediatrics. Who knows? God works in mysterious ways.

Pretty funny. Had a reader not sent me the story of the BLM moving "out West" ....

Of all the books my mother would have bought -- this is most interesting -- the book was first published in 1953. Doing the math, the book was probably in the house by 1961. Mom had very, very little money and did not spend money frivolously. There must  have been a backstory to why we had that book in the house, but we will never know.

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Seasonal Flu Update

Link here. Seems more user-friendly than the CDC site.

• US seasonal flu cases reach 32 million
• Pediatric hospitalization rates hit record high
• so far this season:
• 18,000-seasonal-flu related deaths
• taking 0.1% as the fatality rate, 18 million cases in the US so far this year
• 18 million / 180 = 100,000 new cases yesterday; 100 new deaths yesterday
• vaccine less than 45% effective; CDC: vaccine offers "substantial" benefits; really?
• From the CDC:

According to the CDC, for the younger populations, hospitalization rates have reached the highest on record since influenza reporting began in 2004-5. The hospitalization rate for children and young adults has surpassed the rate documented during the second wave of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

The percentage of deaths related to pneumonia and influenza is currently 6.9%, which is below the epidemic threshold of 7.3%. While mortality for this season is considered low, there have been 125 influenza-associated deaths in children thus far this season. This figure is also higher than every season since reporting began, with the exception of the 2009 pandemic.

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Coronavirus Update

Tracked here. 

Statistics for March 5, 2020: about in line with previous couple of days. We should start seeing number of cases rise significantly in the US over the next ten days. Reasons for this marked increase were presented earlier.

New data point on which mainstream media will focus today: globally, more than 100,000 cases have been reported; closing in on 3,500 deaths. Mostly deplorables, I suppose.

By country:

• Italy: out of control. We might see 1,000 new cases in Italy "today" -- March 6, 2020;  
• Vatican City reports its first case; the Pope is coughing and canceling all public engagements;
• by any definition: voluntary quarantine;
• Iran: out of control; up by an astounding 1,234 cases in one day: with 16 new deaths;
• Russia: still under control with only four total reported cases; which is two less than Belarus which Putin will soon "annex"; Alaska: Seward's Folly; Belarus: the Silent Annexation.
• China: now reporting about 150 new cases each day; about 35 new deaths each day;
• South Korea: 309 new cases; one new death; 45 / 6,593 = 0.6% fatality rate;
• US: at 233 total cases has 12 new cases so far today; by the end of the day, that number will increase significantly; clipboard nurses have just begun going on rounds;

Advice to VP Pence:

• daily updates with what to expect, not what happened;
• it will make it look like the "experts" know what it actually going on, rather than simply reacting
• AI should be a big help tracking trends; projecting "what's next"
• best method to communicate: one-on-one with media outlet; best bet: a media outlet that can do the math (that rules out MSNBC)
• announce a major effort to flood country with availability of masks; it's beyond me to understand why this hasn't already been done; shortages of perceived necessities lead to more panic buying; my hunch: there's a warehouse somewhere in St Louis, MO -- where the Ark is stored -- with a gazillion masks;

Vaccine:

• the vaccine bar is set very, very low
• seasonal flu vaccine less than 45% effective but CDC says it offers "substantial" benefits -- particularly for drug companies, and neighborhood corner drugstores
• if a vaccine only has to be 45% effective to be recommended by the CDC, we should have had a coronavirus vaccine out some weeks ago 
• new CDC marketing campaign: "better than nothing"

Rand Paul: the lone US senator to vote against the $8.3 billion Cororavirus Response funding bill. Two more unreported facts:

• Rand Paul: the only US senator to have actually read the bill
• Rand Paul: whether he wanted more or less to be spent?

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Politics

Tucker: is generally good. I can take him or leave him but his opinion piece today is particularly good. Google Tucker Carlson: Elizabeth Warren proved conclusively you can't get elected on identity politics.

Other headlines:

• Mitt Romney will block further Biden investigations; some folks are above the law [Later: if I heard correctly Mitt Romney will NOT block the US Senate subpoenas looking into Biden investigations];
• Brian Williams of MSNBC: Mike Bloomberg spent $1.53 million / American -- Brian has not made any correction; in fact, Bloomberg spent "only" $1.53/American based on reported figures

• Nadler supports end of FISA Court
• apparently the rhetoric was much worse than what was generally reported
  
  
  

Rush: wow, I'm going to really, really miss Rush when he's gone. He is truly incredible. With his beard, he no longer has a television face (probably never had a television face) but his radio voice is as strong and as good as ever. Love him, hate him: wow, he's good. 

From a reader:

"I've compiled a comprehensive list of all the people Bernie Sanders has lifted out of poverty in his 40-year career in politics:

1. Bernie Sanders.
2.🧐"