There was a mass shooting in Boulder, CO on the 22nd, and 10 are dead. There’s typically a flurry of debate on gun ownership after mass shootings, along with the swift drafting of legislation—but in many places gun laws are broadened after shootings. It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen now, but the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit says states may restrict open carry. Meanwhile, the 6th Circuit says bump stocks are not machine guns. Biden is calling on Congress to consider a ban on assault-style weapons.
I never could have imagined myself covering Marco Rubio’s take on Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) over military installations, but here we are–and his take is surprisingly reasonable considering the topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xcg3H0uXJM
A massive container ship is occluding the Suez Canal, through which a significant portion of global trade flows. Every attempt is being made to get it out, but it’s been days and no luck so far. Another huge blow is being dealt to the global supply chain, potentially impacting anything you’d plan to see on store shelves. It might be time to stock up on coffee (which is dually impacted) and toilet paper (again):
New @planetlabs satellite imagery from this morning shows the shipping traffic backup in the Gulf of Suez behind the stuck Ever Given:
The Suez Canal handles 12% of global seaborne trade, with the blockage disrupting over $9 billion a day of goods.https://t.co/lIsmRAjzRO pic.twitter.com/hnN8uUDMl3
— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) March 25, 2021
Gas prices are rising:
Gas prices are surging again, with the national average approaching $3 a gallon.
And drivers are already paying a lot more than than that in some states.
In California, the most expensive market, average prices stand at $3.88, according to @AAA_Travelhttps://t.co/wgSQjvuBdc pic.twitter.com/V4wubH4DCq
— Steven Russolillo (@srussolillo) March 25, 2021
This is a fascinating article about the detective work needed to figure out why Eagles were dropping dead out of nowhere all over the American South. What irks me is the decidedly gentle, almost quiet, revelation of bromide in affected bodies of water. I understand that academics and journalists must be diplomatic this way at times, because if they’re too forward their funding and standing can be imperiled—if you’re going to fight Big Corp, you best not lose. My point here: there are huge amounts of bromide in the water! Identifying the source of a super terrible neurotoxin is important, and it’s essentially a passing mention.
Tornadoes did huge damage across swathes of Alabama and Tennessee, and 50 million people are still at risk of dangerous weather. Tens of thousands are without power.
The world has over 126 million COVID cases. The world has gained 3.7 million cases in a week. There have been over 2.7 million deaths in total. The US has over 30.7 million cases. Over 559,000 Americans have died. There have been over 990 deaths in the last 24 hours in the US. The US gained nearly 60,000 new cases in the last day. Brazil is leading the globe in daily deaths, with over 2,600 in the last day. Brazil is also leading the world in daily case gain, with nearly 100,000 cases in the last day.
Many states are opening COVID vaccination to all adults (and some for those over 16). Here’s a helpful timeline of the opening schedules for multiple states.
The US might have a glut of vaccines soon. We can help with a glut by opening up eligibility sooner, tasking primary care providers with educating their hesitant patients on the need for a vaccine, and by sharing a glut with other countries.
29 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses were being held illegally in an Italian factory. What infuriates me most about this is not simply the piracy, but that fact that half the population could have been vaccinated with it. Only ~4% of Italians are currently vaccinated.
FEMA will help you with funeral costs if you lost someone to COVID:
We all experienced so much grief during the last year. If you have lost someone due to COVID-19, we will start providing financial assistance in April for funeral expenses suffered after January 20, 2020. To be eligible: pic.twitter.com/e17Ezb4uGD
— FEMA (@fema) March 24, 2021
AstraZeneca (AZ) committed another gaffe in the comedy of errors that is its vaccine roll out. It gave month-old data for its recent US efficacy rate, and NIAID and the NIH had to make statements on the veracity of the data (or potential lack thereof). Ultimately, the efficacy was found to be a few percentage points less efficacious than stated (76% v. 79%) for prevention of symptomatic disease. It’s still 100% efficacious at preventing severe disease and death:
Updated figures from AstraZeneca's vaccine trial in the U.S.: 76% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19, down from the earlier 79%. Efficacy against severe disease remains 100% pic.twitter.com/8Ogik4bQog
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) March 25, 2021
I cannot imagine having to intubate someone without anesthesia. This horror is brought to you by out-of-control COVID in Brazil:
Brazil: 'It's like a punch in the stomach': anesthetist fears war scenes with a lack of sedatives for intubated patients https://t.co/nWK6NeqX6N
— Crawford Kilian (@Crof) March 25, 2021
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