Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is phoning into oral arguments from her office rather than sitting on the bench with the other eight justices. The reason appears to be over the refusal of Justice Neil Gorsuch to wear a mask in the chambers. In a statement, Sotomayor and Gorsuch...
U.S. Faces a Wave of Omicron Deaths in Coming Weeks, Models Predict
The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, but COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing and modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March. Despite signs omicron causes milder disease on average, the unprecedented level of...
Virginia Gov. Youngkin’s Day-One Executive Orders Include CRT Ban
Virginia’s newly sworn-in Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed 11 executive actions on his first day in office, including prohibiting the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools and allowing parents to decide if their children should wear masks on campus. In addition to the executive orders, Youngkin signed two...
Most Independent Restaurants Experienced a Sales Decrease of More Than 50% in December
The National Restaurant Association estimates that more than 90,000 restaurants and bars have closed since the beginning of the pandemic. You wouldn’t know it from listening in on earnings calls from the big chains. Those well-capitalized companies with significant brand equity can weather most downturns, no doubt, even if...
COVID Helped Cause the Biggest Drop in U.S. Life Expectancy Since WWII
COVID-19 helped erase 1.8 years from the average American’s life expectancy in 2020, according to the latest federal mortality data released Wednesday, marking the greatest change in the American lifespan since World War II. During that one brutal year, COVID-19 became the third-most common cause of death in the...
Working in the Service Industry Always Sucked. During a Pandemic, It’s Unbearable.
No industry has seen more quitting during the last two years than leisure and hospitality, the Bureau of Labor Statistics category that covers hotels, restaurants, and many other areas of the service economy. These departures, memorialized in the “We all quit” signs in storefronts and beside drive-thrus, drove up...
At-Home COVID Test Deliveries Delayed By L.A. Train Robberies
A surge in Wild West-style train robberies outside the busy ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has delayed retail shipments of everything from at-home COVID-19 tests, fishing lures and parcels from Amazon, REI and UPS. Union Pacific says thefts targeting its trains are up 160% over the past...
COVID was Again the Leading Cause of Death Among U.S. Law Enforcement in 2021
Last year was the deadliest for active-duty law enforcement in nearly a century, with COVID-19 identified as the leading cause of death for the second year in a row. Some 458 local, state, tribal and federal officers died in the line of duty in 2021, according to a preliminary report from...
Study Finds Cannabis Compounds Prevent Infection By COVID-19 Virus
Compounds in cannabis can prevent infection from the virus that causes COVID-19 by blocking its entry into cells, according to a study published this week by researchers affiliated with Oregon State University. The researchers found that two cannabinoid acids commonly found in hemp varietals of cannabis, cannabigerolic acid, or...
The Silent, Vaccinated, Impatient Majority
Politicians rarely set out to anger their constituents, much less admit to doing so. So when French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his desire to antagonize France’s unvaccinated citizens into receiving COVID vaccinations, observers and many of his rivals were appalled, and some were a bit confused. But what looked like a risky move for...