7/29/21: Notes

Busy Day For Sport Today (And Yesterday, For That Matter)

The Dodgers landed Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. The Yankees got themselves a shiny new Anthony Rizzo. The NBA Draft was kicked off with Cade Cunningham going to the Pistons and got interesting when the Thunder selected an Australian boy who’s good at passing the ball to his wide open teammates. The United States Mens National Team knocked off Qatar 1–0 thanks to an 86th minute goal from Gyasi Zardes. The Fox broadcast called it a significant win over a “veteran, succesful Qatar squad.” Qatar is ranked 58th internationally. Big whoop.

Yesterday, NHL free agency kicked off. Blake Coleman got a nice overpayment and finds himself headed to Calgary. Dougie Hamilton, the market’s top dog, now calls Newark, New Jersey home. A blow thats lessened by his $63 million pre-tax contract.

The Bruins brought in a slew of new faces: defenseman Derek Forbort, forwards Erik Haula, Nick Foligno and Tomas Nosek, and goaltender Linus Ullmark. All told, the B’s spent $53.85 million to add two solid third liners, a 4th liner, a bottom-pairing defenseman and a capable starting goalie. They overpaid, but general manager Don Sweeney didn’t screw himself too bad because only Ullmark’s deal goes beyond 3 years. The have until the trade deadline to find a Top-4 LHD — which won’t come cheap, and they may not have the prospects to land an impact defenseman.

Delta Variant

In elementary school, one of the kids on my bus used to stand up while the bus was in motion and start screaming. It was never words, just a high-pitched noise as his arms violently swung side to side. One day, before we departed school in the afternoon, the bus driver said to us: “Peter won’t be on the bus anymore. We don’t have to listen to his screaming. Things will be a lot more peaceful around here.”

The next morning, Peter was on the bus.

COVID-19 is a lot like Peter. One minute you think you’re in the clear, and the next minute he’s back again, screaming and flailing and being a real pain in the ass. The only difference is that there wasn’t a Peter vaccine when I was 7.

The CDC changed their tune on masks for vaccinated people, and today they hinted that the Delta variant is actually quite a dickhead compared to other variants. Per the Washington Post:

The delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chickenpox, according to an internal federal health document that argues officials must “acknowledge the war has changed.”

It cites a combination of recently obtained, still-unpublished data from outbreak investigations and outside studies showing that vaccinated individuals infected with delta may be able to transmit the virus as easily as those who are unvaccinated. Vaccinated people infected with delta have measurable viral loads similar to those who are unvaccinated and infected with the variant.

Spreading the disease is now being done by both those who are vaccinated and not vaccinated. So, the want masks again.

Pfizer has done studies on the six-month efficacy of their vaccines and found that it’s not nearly as effective as first believed, dropping to 84% effectiveness after 6 months; still preventing severe illness, hospitalization or death in most cases. Moderna’s vaccine is 90% effective after six months. The Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine — the equivalent to being told you’re going to a fancy steak house and winding up at a food court Chinese restaurant — has a 95% effectiveness at making people piss their pants whenever their doorbell rings*

*Johnson & Johnson has not released an efficacy study.

In the coming months, it’ll be recommended that we receive a booster shot (which is just Pfizer’s way of making more money, you don’t actually need it). The Delta Variant will continue to spread and the number of breakthrough cases for fully vaccinated people will climb. This virus is never going to leave us the f*** alone.

How do I know?

Peter sent me a friend request on Facebook yesterday.