san diego: dialed in: Catching Up: Know Your BA.2 Symptoms | Boost Up | Biden Announced Oil Reserve Release | ICE Blasted By SPLC Report

Walrus Kisses at Sea World (Taken 4.1.22)

I'm sitting in Bob's Razzmatazz Room at the Casbah, currently selling merch for Bob Mould and it is a perfectly chill show to get my work done. On Friday we spent a few hours at Sea World. I had a little special moment with the walrus who was just giving me uninterrupted attention for about 10 minutes, about as curious about me as I was about him, thus the super blurry cell phone photos, but it was too cute and magical to not post. By the time we left Sea World, slammed some dinner, then went to help my dad, I didn't have much motivation to do any work. So today is kind of a hodge podge of yesterday's news, and I guess things will slow down as everyone seems to just be in the living with the virus phase of life, rumors swirl that Jen Psaki is leaving the White House for MSNBC, and the war in Ukraine rages on as mixed and unconfirmed intelligence continually report conflicting accounts. I'm gonna go shoot some pics of Bob before he finishes. Also, Darren finally got the call from Safari Park that he's starting on Monday!! YAY!!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Stay safe out there.

COVID-19:

One Million San Diegans Missing First Booster; Fourth Dose Now Available for 50 and Up - County News Center (3.30.22)
Omicron More Severe for Unvaccinated Children Than Other Strains - Bloomberg (3.30.22)
BA.2 Symptoms Doctors Are Seeing The Most Right Now. The new omicron subvariant is now the dominant strain globally. Here are the signs to watch for. - HuffPost (3.30.22)

Covid: Record 4.9 million people have the virus in UK - BBC News (4.2.22)
WHO: COVID deaths jump by 40%, but cases falling globally - AP News (3.30.22)

As Covid Restrictions End, Offices Have a Sick-Pay Problem. Countries aren’t just lifting pandemic restrictions, they’re cutting resources—forcing workers to choose between working sick and losing pay. - Wired (3.31.22)
Ivermectin fails to curb hospitalizations, 2nd large study shows - Becker's Hospital Review (3.31.22)
COVID antibody drugs work best when given as early as possible. Data from dozens of trials also suggests that antibody treatments could be given in much smaller amounts than current practice. (Preprint/Not Peer Reviewed) - nature (3.30.22)
More Evidence Hybrid Immunity Confers Highest Level of COVID Protection — Brazil, Sweden find fewest reinfections, severe disease cases among those infected and vaccinated - MedPage Today (4.1.22)

Politics:

Biden announces historic oil reserve release and presses oil companies to do their part to reduce gas prices - CNN (3.31.22)
Access Denied: SPLC and allies reject incomplete ICE report on counsel visits to detained immigrants - SPLC (4.1.22)
Washington State Passed a Contentious New Gig Worker Law. Uber and Lyft have legally cemented the independent contractor status of ride-hail drivers. Now other states are on the horizon. - Wired (4.1.22)

News:

U.S. economy gained 431,000 jobs in March, signaling shift toward pre-pandemic employment levels. The number of unemployed people decreased by 318,000 to 6 million — little changed from where the employment situation stood in February 2020. - NBC News (4.1.22)