Coronavirus week 57, part 2: Lagging recovery, vaccine hesitancy, Indian concern

I decided to break the rest of my weekly update away from the longer news about Swanson Tucker Carlson and Gretchen Whitmer so it wouldn't be buried.

Now that we've got that, and warnings to readers not to go duopoly tribalist, out of the way from that post, here's the rest of the week's coronavirus news roundup.

First, Olivia Messer, formerly of Daily Beast, reports on journalism stresses on covering COVID. We give her a ding, assuming she writes her own headlines, for using "okay" instead of "OK."

Second, Texas lags the nation, at least in big cities, in coronavirus recovery in terms of things like unemployment. And, especially in Helltown, there's the additional tie of rebounding oil prices having a mostly jobless recovery in the oil patch. Friend Chris Tomlinson says the Saudis will turn the spigots back on if oil pushes much higher, and agrees that between this and lack of debt financing, automation of oilfield jobs looks more and more appealing to drillers big enough they can get a head start on that. 

More on the crappy recovery, in the Metromess, at the Dallas Observer.

Third, in case you haven't noticed, the ongoing effects of the pandemic continue to disrupt supply chains. Click the link to see everything affected. (Actually, it's not all COVID; in the case of chlorine, it's last year's monstrous Hurricane Laura.)

Fourth, as Texas shows, in more and more of Merika, vaccine availability ain't the issue. Vaccine hesitancy is.

Fifth, Texas Monthly has a bio piece on living with long COVID.

Sixth, WHO says the new Indian triple mutant variant is of global concern.

Coronavirus, week 57: The antivaxxer slime called Tucker Carlson; the social distancing hypocrite called Whitmer

• Swanson Tucker Carlson, good socialist friend of Brazilian 0.1 percenter Glenn Greenwald, is good at "just asking (RHETORICAL) questions." (Glennwald ain't so bad at it himself.

On vaccinations, he's trying to get people killed. I know most of the debunking of him without even reading the debunking at the WaPost link. VAERS is indeed a self-reporting system. Can't be verified. Adverse effects can mean anything. (In addition, Twitter had trending yesterday that Carlson himself is reportedly vaccinated. If true, that makes him a Pander Bear for ratings, not an antivaxxer. Not sure which is ethically worse.)

On post-vaccination deaths? Correlation ain't necessarily causation.

And, per Aaron Blake, given that COVID has shown itself, by raw death numbers, to be 10X as deadly as the seasonal flu, comparing COVID and flu deaths ain't even apples and oranges; it's apples and bocce balls.

• Yessiree, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has joined other #BlueMAGA Democrats like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Austin Mayor Steve Adler as among coronavirus hypocrites.

This one is really fun. She visited her reportedly deathly ill dad

• While not being vaccinated;
• By getting Michigan big bucks businesscritters to line up a charter jet instead of going through charter rental systems;
• And since then, won't say whether her office or personal account reimbursed them;
• But spent twice as long in Flor-i-duh as first admitted;
• Yet later told Michiganders not to visit Florida;
• And saw her dad make a miracle recovery from his "chronic illness."

Oh, Deadline Detroit does NOT appear to be one of those wingnut fake newspaper/news sites. In fact, its founders have some serious journalism chops. So, shut up, BlueMAGA.

Update, May 24: Whitmer has now been busted maskless without her state-mandated social distancing at a bar and grill and of course BlueMAGA is defending her. Undercutting them? She has apologized.

Leftists myths about corporate personhood

Per a Green Party push-email, it's time to dispel some myths about corporate personhood.

The GP noted today was the anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1886 ruling in what has been celebrated by Frank Norris' "Octopus" and other things, Santa Clara vs Southern Pacific.

Several notes.

First and foremost, the extension of some degree of "corporate personhood" to corporations is exactly that  — some degree. Since then, especially from the 1960s on, in things like advertising, for example, the court has ruled that regulatory restrictions can indeed be placed on corporations that, with individuals, would be clear violations of the First Amendment.

Second, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment was only specifically referenced by a court reporter for the case. In other words, it was not cited by any justice. Hence, my "some degree" above.

Third, the Gilded Age was well established by 1886. Santa Clara may have abetted it to some degree, but no more than that.

Fourth, the undercutting of McCain-Feingold was NOT done on corporate personhood grounds. In Citizens United, the majority rather, and QUITE wrongly (and shut up Glenn Greenwald and many others) ruled that "money = speech," to put it bluntly.

Fifth and finally, per the second link above, there's many good things about corporate personhood:

Treating corporations as having legal rights allows corporations to sue and to be sued, provides a single entity for easier taxation and regulation, simplifies complex transactions that would otherwise involve, in the case of large corporations, thousands of people, and protects the individual rights of the shareholders as well as the right of association.

In addition, corporations can be criminally charged. 

Related? The Supreme Court has also specifically denied some aspects of personhood apply to corporations:

Generally, corporations are not able to claim constitutional protections that would not otherwise be available to persons acting as a group. For example, the Supreme Court has not recognized a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination for a corporation, since the right can be exercised only on an individual basis. In United States v. Sourapas and Crest Beverage Company, "[a]ppellants [suggested] the use of the word 'taxpayer' several times in the regulations requires the fifth-amendment self-incrimination warning be given to a corporation." The Court did not agree. Likewise, corporations and organizations do not have privacy rights under the Privacy Act of 1974, since the statute refers to any “individual,” which it defines as “a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.”

But, classes of leftists wanting to perpetuate easy legends don't really care.

Status Quo Joe still missing promises on Ill Eagles

President Biden still hadn't abandoned Article 42, and other recent actions of his in re Ill Eagles are head fakes, gaslighting or whatever other term you prefer.

The latest? Hiring immigration judges primarily originally hired by Team Trump. Some have zero immigration court experience.

Earlier, it was picking Ed Gonzalez to run ICE, who might hate Trump's immigration policies, but hated even more letting people out of his jail on reasonable bail.

Let's not forget the first 75 percent of Obama's tenure as president on this issue.

Let's not forget that Central American countries have become even more tumbled up since then.

All of this means that Biden isn't likely to soften up too much any time soon.

Besides, here in Texas and across La Frontera, a number of Mexican-Americans within the "Hispanic" world showed last year they want more toughness. That means, as a politician, Biden is trapped between that, and some Hispanic and non-Hispanic activists thinking he should loosen up.

Quo vadis Albert Pujols part two: The Rays?

With word out that the Angels will designate for assignment Albert Pujols, aka Phat Albert, aka The Machine, as I blogged at the time, likely leading to his unconditional release, what's next?

First, it WILL be his unconditional release. It's very, very unlikely that some AL team (and it will be an AL team, duh!) blows $20 million to sign him off waivers because they're afraid some other team will do the same.

That said, it's possible that he clears waivers AND some team then picks him up for the MLB minimum. But ... where might that be, especially if we take seriously his statement that he wants serious playing time, and also that he'd like to be on a contender?

The BoSox are fine at DH with J.D. Martinez, although they have a dog's breath at first with Bobby Dalbec listed as tops of the depth chart. The Yankees are loaded at DH with Giancarlo Stanton and OK at first with DJ LeMahieu there and Luke Voit about to return. The Jays are solid at both with Vlad Guerrero Jr. and George Springer. On paper, the stRangers and Astros could both use some degree of help, but I don't see either one shelling out money, certainly not the Arlingtonites.

It WOULD be weird to see him wearing RedSox togs or Rangers ones, per World Series history. Would be weird in a Stros uni, too, of course. 

And, again, it's only going to be the AL. He's not playing in the NL, where, except for interleague, he has to play first on a regular basis. Now, that said, I guess AL teams who really think he might have gas in the tank could get in a bidding war about the MLB minimum for his services. He HAS had a long reputation of starting slow, and a week ago, was around .240 on batting and over .700 on OPS.

Returning to St. Louis would be nice and sentimental, and I know Cards fans are saying, "YES" in many cases. But, he's not going ahead of Paul Goldschmidt, not when they also have Matt Carpenter as a backup 1B. So, he'd be riding as much or more pine than in Anaheim. (I'd be fine with him doing the one-day contract and retirement scenario.)

So, my guess is? He clears waivers, and Boston approaches him first, if  anybody does. 

Or maybe not.

The only reasonable place for him? AL, contender, and need? More reasonable than Boston, and where the "veteran leader" might also play?

The Rays. Austin Meadows and Yoshi Tsutsugo are both bad at DH. To be honest, Meadows is a bit better than Pujols, but he's listed as outfielder first. Tsutsugo is horrible. Horrible. Almost 140 points below the "Kozma line" named after Pete Kozma? 

Add in the "veteran leader" angle for a young team, and this is a possibility. (I know the Rays paid more than a Rays normal for Tsutsugo as a Japanese import. And? If he can't cut the mustard, or wasabi, you sit him down!)

Not saying it's likely. Am saying it is a possibility, even a reasonable one.

After all, old manager Tony La Russa said "no room at the inn" on Chicago's South Side. Like the ChiSox and like teams up top, the A's are also arguably loaded at DH and solid at 1B. The Mariners are weak AT FIRST. But not at DH. And, again, you'd have to be really desperate to sign him to be a primary infielder. And, they're no more weak there than the Rays are at DH.

Update:

Contra this guy, NO the Rockies are not a landing spot. Again, Pujols, even if he warmed up a modest amount, does NOT have the bat to offset his limitations at 1B on a regular basis. The Royals aren't as bad off at DH as the Rays, or as bad off as he claims. Cleveland? See Colorado.

Beyond that? Colorado's already out of it. Seriously. That loaded of a division? The Royals aren't that bad off, but they're not good. Cleveland would be, if Albert wants to play with a winner, the best of those three. I could halfway buy it as an option while still thinking Tampa's a better bet for both him and a team.

Yay-sayers of him going to a place like Cleveland, or even an NL team, may point that for 2018-21, he played more at 1B than DH. That still doesn't mean it was good. It's just that they had godawful options after trading C.J. Cron after 2017, at least bad options for 2018-19. Walsh was there, and the better option, last year, and Ohtani was of equal value at DH by OPS+.

And, to square a circle, although just placed on the IR, Cron is the Rockies' starting 1B.

Again, a GM is likely looking for a long-term boost. Certainly, Albert is. He's not looking to take the place of a Cron for 2-3 weeks and then move on again. I swear, on some baseball bloggers.

 

St. Pete 9 says in response to me on Twitter that Ji-Man Choi, coming off rehab, is "the answer." Well, Fansided has him at 1B. So, is Yandy Diaz going to then DH?

Update 2: Weirder yet? First, Albert is going to the NL's Dodgers. They have also picked up Yoshi Tsutsugo.

Quo vadis Albert Pujols: The Angels view, the Red Sox angle, the Cardinals fan view, and ONE outside possibility

With word out that the Angels will designate for assignment Albert Pujols, aka Phat Albert, aka The Machine, as I blogged at the time, likely leading to his unconditional release, what's next?

First, it WILL be his unconditional release. For anybody to seriously pick him up off waivers, it would have to be an AL team flush with money, if they can't get the Haloes to eat most the contract, and to be thin at DH, at a minimum, and maybe there and 1B both. Not happening. The BoSox are fine at DH with J.D. Martinez, although they have a dog's breath at first with Bobby Dalbec listed as tops of the depth chart. The Yankees are loaded at DH with Giancarlo Stanton and OK at first with DJ LeMahieu there and Luke Voit about to return. The Jays are solid at both with Vlad Guerrero Jr. and George Springer. On paper, the stRangers and Astros could both use some degree of help, but I don't see either one shelling out money, certainly not the Arlingtonites.

Yeah, it's possible that he clears waivers AND some team then picks him up for the MLB minimum. But ... is he going to go there, when he'll likely play no more than he would have for the Angels? 

Pujols says he still wants to play. The Angels essentially honored his desire after it being clear there's no room in the inn in Anaheim.

As for the Angels cutting him? It boiled down to whether they're better with Taylor Ward in RF and Jared Walsh at 1B rather than Walsh playing halfway out of position in right and Pujols at first. And, the answer is likely the former, and Pujols doesn't want to ride pine, with Shohei Ohtani ahead of him at DH, too, he would ride plenty. Neither did A-Rod at his end.

Per the top dogs in the AL, if he clears waivers?

It WOULD be weird to see him wearing RedSox togs or Rangers ones, per World Series history. Would be weird in a Stros uni, too, of course. 

And, it's only going to be the AL. He's not playing in the NL, where, except for interleague, he has to play first on a regular basis. Now, that said, I guess AL teams who really think he might have gas in the tank could get in a bidding war about the MLB minimum for his services. He HAS had a long reputation of starting slow, and a week ago, was around .240 on batting and over .700 on OPS.

Returning to St. Louis would be nice and sentimental, and I know Cards fans are saying, "YES" in many cases. But, he's not going ahead of Paul Goldschmidt, not when they also have Matt Carpenter as a backup 1B. So, he'd be riding as much or more pine than in Anaheim. (I'd be fine with him doing the one-day contract and retirement scenario.)

So, my guess is? He clears waivers, and Boston approaches him first, if  anybody does.

(I originally had just "Sox" in the header, but after old manager Tony La Russa said "no room at the inn" on Chicago's South Side, I thought I'd better be more specific. I don't doubt the Pony is right on Albert's desire to play; I do doubt that there's as much in the Machine's gas tank as Pujols claims or that La Russa thinks he's correct in claiming.)

Let us scratch some other ideas. Yes, Phat Albert would be better than Miguel Cabrera, but he's NOT going to Detroit, contra a poster on my original piece. I mean, Detroit is just hoping not to be relegated to AAA level. (Oh, sorry, this isn't the English Premier League.)

Contra this Fansided nuttery (Isn't all of it at Fansided?) which claims Miggy is up there with Pujols and Trout as the three best players of the last 30 years (Albert's WAA is as high as Cabrera's WAR), he's also NOT going to the Reds. Joey Votto will be back in a month and it's an NL team. Also, showing the typical Fansided posting of clickbait, he's not going to the Chisox as La Russa already said so.

The only reasonable place for him? AL, contender, and need? More reasonable than Boston, and where the "veteran leader" might also play?

The Rays. Austin Meadows and Yoshi Tsutsugo are both horrible at DH. Horrible.

Doubling down on his previous Fansided stupidity, Sean Millerick NOW thinks that Albert could sit out the rest of this year, get "recharged," be signed by some team next year AND hit 700 HRs. That's something he's not done in a single season since 2016. He otherwise repeats the stupidity of his previous post, and thereby reinforces stereotypes that baseball-knowledgeable people have about Fansided.

Contra this guy, NO the Rockies are not a landing spot. Again, Pujols, even if he warmed up a modest amount, does NOT have the bat to offset his limitations at 1B on a regular basis. The Royals aren't as bad off at DH as the Rays, or as bad off as he claims. Cleveland? See Colorado.

Beyond that? Colorado's already out of it. Seriously. That loaded of a division? The Royals aren't that bad off, but they're not good. Cleveland would be, if Albert wants to play with a winner, the best of those three. I could halfway buy it as an option while still thinking Tampa's a better bet for both him and a team.

Yay-sayers of him going to a place like Cleveland, or even an NL team, may point that for 2018-21, he played more at 1B than DH. That still doesn't mean it was good. It's just that they had godawful options after trading C.J. Cron after 2017, at least bad options for 2018-19. Walsh was there, and the better option, last year, and Ohtani was of equal value at DH by OPS+.