pfizer

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s February 1st, the middle of the winter.  You need some warmth and comfort.  What better way is there to get that than to digest some Ten Piece Nuggets?

They’re served one at a time and randomly below.

  1.  Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau says that he tested positive for Covid-19.  Is he hiding from the convoy of truckers in Ottawa who are opposed to the jab, while he is vaxxed, boosted, and positive all at once? The irony.  It says here that he tucked his tail and ran.   He blasted them via a taped message calling their actions “racist” amongst other lies about their cause.  It’s always a good day to play the race card.  Should Canada insist that he go get tested for conniving cowardness as well?
  2.  If Trudeau and California Governor Gavin Newsom switched jobs in the middle of the night how long would it take for anyone to notice?  Newsom was caught on camera multiple times during the Rams/49ers NFC Championship Game yet again thumbing his non-masked nose at Californians who are under his mandate to mask up while indoors at work, events, and school.   He denied doing so.  Cameras don’t lie, people do.
  3.  While Joe Rogan apologized for exercising his right to free speech yesterday, Whoppi Goldberg exercised hers on The View.  The longtime co-host claimed the Holocaust “isn’t about race,” adding, “it’s about man’s inhumanity to man.”  There was no joy in Joy Behar’s face.
  4. By afternoon she apologized.  “On today’s show, I said the Holocaust is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man. I should’ve said it is about both.  I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused.”  That’s how you cancel the Cancel Culture Cops.
  5. And, rather than trying to cancel Rogan, why not ask to appear on his podcast?  He goes in-depth is why.  Superficial answers get followed up.  Fauci should be the first guest.  Rand Paul would jump at the chance.
  6. It was a busy Monday at the White House as well.  President Biden took to the podium to tell the assembled press that his team was trying to “figure out” why so many illegal immigrants were crossing our southern border.  Could it be that there is no enforcement and upon entry you get a free plane ride to a state of Biden’s choosing?  Stand-up comedy is not dead after all.
  7. Unvaxxed truckers cannot enter, but unvaxxed illegal immigrants with no IDs can.   Maybe next week old Joe can try to “figure out” why our supply chain is failing.  Could it be partially due to so few trucks crossing our borders due to the vax mandate?
  8. At least there’s good news for parents on the vax front.  Pfizer and BioNTech plan to submit a request for emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine in children six months to 5 years old as soon as Tuesday.  It’s even better news for the under-two crowd.  Pfizer reports sufficient immune effectiveness with only two jabs.  But, if you’re three or more you’ll need three or more jabs.  Approval from the “lost its mind” FDA could come early next month.
  9.  Meanwhile, several countries seem to be regaining their senses.  Today Finland joins England, Ireland, and Denmark in ending all covid restrictions.  Remember when the US was known as the home of the free and the brave?  Maybe in two more weeks after we flatten the curve we can join the crowd.
  10.  Changing gears, can the NFL be any hotter?  Four unbelievable games two weekends ago gave way to two nail-biters this past weekend.  We’ve not seen the ratings but we’re old enough to remember when we were told that the NFL was going to suffer for its activism, etc.   Doubtful.  Very.  The “home” LA Rams have been instilled as an early four-point pick over the “visiting” Cincinnatti Bengals.  Joe B. has them right where he wants them.

Less Zoom, doom, and gloom are right around the corner.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If you’re already done with the Keto diet New Year’s resolution, or if even if you never committed to it, a good serving of protein never goes out of style.  Our first 10 Piece Nuggets of 2022 are right below and right for you.  We start with the NFL, visit where the world turns, and end with the end of the college football season.

  1. Today in NFL circles is known as Black Monday, the day coaches are terminated.  GM’s are exempt either. But the clock has accelerated.  Urban Meyer and Jon Gruden beat their brethren to the punch.  One got a little handsy in his bar, the other got a little wordy in his emails.
  2. Urban’s former Jacksonville team shocked, and we mean shocked,  the NFL “experts.”  And, with that, the Indianapolis Colts got bounced right out of the playoffs.  The Colts stunk up the joint yesterday, losing 26-11 in a game that was 26-3 till late in the fourth.  WWFICJMHS?  What would former Indy Coach Jim Mora have said?  Playoffs?   It never gets old.
  3. Meanwhile, well west of there, Indy’s loss was The Las Vegas Raiders gain.  They beat the LA Chargers as the OT clock struck zero and backdoored their way into said playoffs. Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia is making the go-forward decision for Raiders owner Mark Davis harder by the week.  The game got very squirrelly at the end as a tie could have put both teams in.  Is that a squirrel on Mark Davis’ head?  We digress.
  4.  The Denver Broncos ousted Vic Fangio on Sunday.  Will the Minnesota Vikings push Mike Zimmer out into the northwest winter today? It’s very likely.   And, expect one or two surprises as always today or tomorrow.
  5. Who?  Bears Coach Matt Nagy would not be a surprise.  Pete Carroll would be a mild surprise.  How about Matt Rhule of Carolina?  He sacrificed Joe Brady, his OC, six weeks ago, but he’s done little to turn the Panthers around. Nothing that the Texans would do would surprise anyone.  The rudderless franchise ousted Bill O’Brien a year ago.  Is first-year coach David Culley safe?   Probably.  He’s cheap labor and the Texans aren’t going anywhere next year even if they had Nick Saban at the helm.
  6.  What were the chances that the San Franciso 49ers would make the playoffs after punting to the Rams while trailing by seven with 1:57 remaining in the game?  To win they needed to force a three and out, prevent the Rams from scoring in regulation, score a TD with no timeouts left, and win in OT.  Next Gen Stats, the authority on such matters, pinned the chance at 0.4 percent.  To state the stat differently, the chances were 1 in 250.  Bingo!  And, just like that the playoff air in New Orleans went poof!
  7. Changing gears, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a board member for Pfizer, agreed with Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel’s prediction that people will likely need a fourth shot of vaccine after the initial two doses and a booster. Gottlieb told Barron’s that Covid-19 vaccines will likely become an annual shot people get every year going forward in the fall.  Money, money, money, goes the Abba song.
  8.  Why as more and more double vaxxed and boosted folks test positive do government officials get angrier at the unvaxxed, even threatening them with economic harm?  Also, why are asymptomatic peeps standing or driving in long lines in the cold to get tested?
  9. Will we have a mandate that holds up?  We’re guessing that Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor thinks so.  Friday she claimed that over 100,000 children were “in serious condition” because of Covid -19.  The CDC has a slightly lower count at 4,132.
  10.  And, it seems like Alec Baldwin is out there just like Orenthal James Simpson once was looking for the real killer.  Baldwin is publically blaming right-wing zealots(reasons unclear)  and “cooperating” with the investigation of the Rust filming death by refusing to turn over his cell phone.  Both are accomplished actors, for sure.
  11.  And, a little lagniappe as we call it in the biz, Georgia is favored by 3 in Indy this evening over Alabama for the FBS Championship.  How can you bet against Nick Saban?  Vegas is telling you something.  Are you listening?  Georgia 30, Bama 24.

Bundle up.

Taking the Bad With the Good

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

So there’s bad news, more bad news, and even more bad news, and good news. Then there’s bad news and good news.  Which do you want first?

Ah, yes.  Understood.  Let’s get most of the bad out of the way first to get on to sunnier days.

The first bit of the bad is that those long lines that you’re standing in to get tested for Covid -19’s latest variant Omicron aren’t going to get shorter anytime soon.  New cases have exploded to surpass the previous highs of the late Spring of 2020.

And when you finally get to the front of the line and assuming they haven’t run out of test kits, the results might not be accurate so says the FDA.  “Covid-19 antigen tests may be less capable of detecting the fast-spreading Omicron variant,” the Food and Drug Administration cautioned on Tuesday.

If you test negative but exhibit the symptoms, stay home they ask.  Sure.

The new warning is based on preliminary studies by the National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative using patient samples with the live virus — analysis that “represents the best way to evaluate true test performance in the short-term,” according to FDA.

The good news is that help is on the way.  The Biden administration has signed a $137 million contract with a pharmaceutical company for the purpose of building a factory for COVID-19 test strip materials, a White House official confirmed yesterday.

But it’s going to take a while.  The new facility will not start churning out the materials for three years, according to the company.  Never mind that the administration is under fire for reportedly rejecting a deal in October that would have strongly ramped up the supply of COVID tests available now.  Remember, Biden always says, get vaccinated, NOW!  Maybe his new command will be, “Get tested, LATER!”

Of course, the bad news is that the three-year timeline also signals that the administration expects the need for tens of millions of such tests per month into 2024 or 2025 and beyond.

So, Covid-19 has plans to have a sixth and seventh sequel called Covid-24 and Covid-25?  How many Friday the Thirteenth’s can you watch?

At least $137 million is cheap money for such non-entertainment in these inflationary times.

Further, the multi-department cooperation by our government is heartening.  The Department of Defense issued a press release stating that it had awarded the contract in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services.  It was funded through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Got that?  Government red tape never has supply chain issues.

The White House inked the agreement with MilliporeSigma, a subsidiary of German firm Merck KGaA, not to be confused with U.S. company Merck & Co.

“The money will allow the company over three years to build a new facility to produce nitrocellulose membranes, the paper that displays test results, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin,” the outlet reported. “That, in turn, will allow for 85 million more tests to be produced per month.”

Well, at least that’s some good economic news for Wisconsin.  After the Kenosha riots that never should have happened, the subsequent trial that never should have happened, and the SUV in Waukesha that ran down its citizens at a parade, they could use a dose of good news.

And, based on the above we could use another dose or two from Pfizer to boost our spirits as well.

 

 

 

Booster Palooza

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

This medical update is brought to you by Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J.  Or, should we have said their financial update?

Cue Sonny of Cher fame.  And the beat goes on.  And the beat goes on.  Cue your trustworthy government.  And the boosters go on.  And on.  And on.

Let’s start the check-up by looking at some very recent events.

“General Colin L. Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, passed away this morning due to complications from Covid 19,” the Powell family wrote on Facebook, noting he was fully vaccinated.  Maybe it’s just a rare breakthrough case you say?

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is vaccinated against Covid-19, tested positive for the virus on Tuesday morning, according to department spokesperson Marsha Espinosa.  Maybe it’s yet just another rare breakthrough case?

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday excused President Biden’s decision to not wear a mask inside a DC restaurant as “moments in time that don’t reflect overarching policy.”  “I would say, of course, there are moments when we all don’t put masks back on as quickly as we should.”

This brushed aside, unmasked, wordless “gaffe” happened just a few short days after Biden interacted with the now infected Secretary Mayorkas.  Don’t worry though, Biden’s recent coughing and sneezing was only a common cold.

Where is the contact tracing police? Ha, that’s a good one.  It’s a worthless exercise.  It’s like chasing loose change in a tumbling dryer.

Well, you get the picture, and it isn’t a pretty one.

But, it does seem clear that being vaccinated does significantly reduce the risk of getting a case requiring hospitalization pretty dramatically.  That is good.

Does natural immunity do the same?  Someone tell us yes or no, please.

But when will the American citizens get the bigger picture?  How much longer do you want to be told what you can and cannot do with or without a mask, socially distanced or not, vaccinated or not?

NCAA football fans seem over it.  Fauci worried weeks ago about these superspreader events that aren’t superspreader events.  If he placed money on black and red on the roulette wheel, you should get down on green.

Do you know that POTUS’s jab mandate for employers of 100 or more is making its way through the bureaucracy?  It’s not final yet, but should be in a few weeks.

It sounds like a good idea.  But, fully one-third of the nation’s workforce is employed by companies that have less than one hundred employees.  Why stop the soon-to-be legally challenged mandate at 100 plus?

And, can anyone tell you what your immunity is after contracting the disease versus a jab?  Two jabs?  Three?  Why stop at three?

That’s info that Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J would prefer you not really know, understand, or embrace.

The FDA fills the gap.  It now recommends that the heretofore J&J one-and-done shot gets an extra free shot. It even approved the booster, get this, by having one of its advisors say “we approved the booster more on gut feeling than facts.”  And to make it all the easier the FDA is expected to approve this week a mix and match of three companies elixir along the booster highway.    Comforting all, isn’t it?

Around and around we go as it’s money, money, money for the pharms, and free, free, free for the minions.  Didn’t your dad tell you “nothing is free?”

Biden actually said weeks ago that the time has come that “we must protect the vaccinated from the unvaccinated.”   It sounded ludicrous.  It turns out that maybe it didn’t go far enough.

Maybe we need to find a way to protect the vaccinated from the vaccinated.

Pfizer’s ears just heard its pockets jingle.