May be...

 

Although the World Health Organization continues to classify Mu as a 'variant of interest' globally, the CDC lists Mu simply as a 'variant being monitored. ' The CDC counts 10 variants in the variant being monitored group.

 The lambda variant, has been spreading rapidly in South America, particularly in Peru where the earliest documented samples of the virus date from August 2020.

Infectivity can occur 1-3 days before the onset of symptoms. Infected persons can spread the disease even if they are pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic. Most commonly, the peak viral load in upper respiratory tract samples occurs close to the time of symptom onset and declines after the first week after symptoms begin.

COVID-19 reinfections are rare, but they do happen. Reinfections might become more common with time and as new COVID-19 variants arise.

The new Omicron variant may be just much ado about nothing. Just a thought.

Devilshly...

 

But inflation, a complicated product of economics and mass psychology, is also devilishly difficult to understand, and even more difficult to control. 

Presidents have few tools to tame it, and the ones they do have can backfire. The inflation of the 1970s crippled Gerald Ford’s presidency and was doing the same to Jimmy Carter until he opted for an extreme cure – installing a chair of the Federal Reserve who dramatically raised interest rates, stopping inflation but also plunging the economy into a deep recession.   That handed the White House to Ronald Reagan. 

These experiences left inflation with a reputation as a presidency-killer, with either the disease itself or the medicine taken to combat it ultimately killing the patient.

Despite this, Democratic party elites have been slow to take the latest round of inflation as seriously as they should. American policymakers have not had to deal with levels of inflation as high as this for 30 years, and it shows. Many latched on to the message that inflation was “transitory”, a temporary consequence of the economy revving back into high gear as the country emerged from the coronavirus pandemic. 

Some liberals have even lashed out at those warning about rising prices, characterizing their concerns as an attempt to undermine support for Democrats’ plans to spend more to advance social welfare and combat climate change.

It is transitory until it isn't. Just a "permeant" thought.

Nitrates...

 

Used as a preservative and to enhance color in deli slices and cured meats like bacon, salami and sausage, nitrates may be connected with depression.

One recent study even suggests that nitrates can alter gut bacteria in such a way as to tip the scales toward bipolar disorder.

Sodium nitrate, a preservative that's used in some processed meats, such as bacon, jerky and luncheon meats, could increase your heart disease risk. It's thought that sodium nitrate may damage your blood vessels, making your arteries more likely to harden and narrow, leading to heart disease.

If you simply can't live without salami and sausages, seek out those containing buckwheat flour, which is used as a filler. Buckwheat flour contains important antioxidants that can counter some of the negative health effects of these meats.

Risk...

 

 

On Feb. 4, as President JOE BIDEN’s nearly $2 trillion stimulus bill was making its way through Congress, LARRY SUMMERS took to the Washington Post with a warning:

“[W]hile there are enormous uncertainties, there is a chance that macroeconomic stimulus on a scale closer to World War II levels than normal recession levels will set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation, with consequences for the value of the dollar and financial stability. 

This will be manageable if monetary and fiscal policy can be rapidly adjusted to address the problem. But given the commitments the Fed has made, administration officials’ dismissal of even the possibility of inflation, and the difficulties in mobilizing congressional support for tax increases or spending cuts, there is the risk of inflation expectations rising sharply. Stimulus measures of the magnitude contemplated are steps into the unknown.”

The reaction from the White House was fierce. Top advisers repeated the Biden mantra: “the risks of doing too little are far greater than the risks of going big.”

Complacency...

 

Larry Summers is urging Washington to tap the brakes on stimulus or risk unleashing a serious burst of inflation.

"I think policy is rather overdoing it," Summers said in recorded comments at a CoinDesk conference that were released Wednesday. "The sense of serenity and complacency being projected by the economic policymakers, that this is all something that can easily be managed, is misplaced."

The former Clinton and Obama official and Harvared professorl took issue with how the Federal Reserve and fiscal powers continue to turbo-charge the economy even though the once-real risk of a catastrophic deflationary spiral has since faded.

So what's Larry's saying?  

This White House is creating policies which will take the Country and the world to the abyss with speed.  Just a "Complacent" thought.

Failure...

 

Oil prices could climb higher despite the U.S. and other major consumers releasing millions of barrels of oil from their reserves to try to keep energy prices down, one analyst told CNBC.

"It's not going to work simply because the strategic petroleum reserve  any country's strategic petroleum reserve is not there to try to manipulate price," Stephen Schork, editor of the Schork Report, said Wednesday on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia."

Strategic petroleum reserves exist only to offset short-term, unexpected supply disruptions, he explained.

"There's a considerable amount of bets out there that we will see $100 a barrel oil," Schork said, adding it could happen as early as the first quarter of next year, especially if there is a cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Just a "Failed attempt" thought

Security ...

 

Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is calling on President Biden to restore the Keystone XL pipeline as gas prices across the country rise.

"I continue to call on President Biden to responsibly increase energy production here at home and to reverse course to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built which would have provided our country with up to 900,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada, one of our closest allies," Manchin said in a Tuesday statement.

"To be clear, this is about American energy independence and the fact that hard-working Americans should not depend on foreign actors, like OPEC+, for our energy security and instead focus on the real challenges facing our country's future," he added, referring to the group of major oil-producing countries.

Manchin's call for action came shortly after the Biden administration announced a plan on Tuesday to release 50 million barrels of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to curb rising gas prices, the news outlet noted.

The rest of the Democratic senators haven't noticed the INFLATION that is eating little people's lunch.  Just a thought.

Scratch...

 

Mayor Bill de Blasio called on ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to compensate taxpayers for using government employees to work on his pandemic memoir, even though Hizzoner has refused to cover the costs of using his NYPD detail for his failed presidential run.

Unlike the mayor, who owes taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds wasted on security costs during his embarrassing presidential campaign, staffers who volunteered on this project did so on their own time at no cost to the state,” said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi.

You scratch my back I'm sure I will do something for you.

NYS Democratic Parteeeeee at work.!!!  Just a thought.

Future...

 

Shell said Wednesday it had signed a deal to purchase power from a development dubbed "the world's largest offshore wind farm."

The 15-year power purchase agreement relates to 240 megawatts from Dogger Bank C, the third and final phase of the 3.6 gigawatt Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which will be located in waters off the coast of northeast England

Despite making deals related to renewable energy, Shell remains a major player in oil and gas. It has pledged to become a net-zero emissions energy firm by 2050.

Gradually moving forward.  Just a thought.

Creeping Up...