Grumpy Editor

WITH WINTER, SURGE LOOMS IN COVID-19 CASES

 

A winter surge is looming in COVID-19 cases, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

Triggering increased cases are the cold months when people are spending more time indoors (often with family gatherings), closing their windows and breathing stagnant air.

 

The contagious delta variant is driving up COVID-19 hospitalizations in some areas.

 

“We’re going to see a lot of outbreaks in unvaccinated people that will result in serious illness, and it will be tragic,” Dr. Donald Milton, University of Maryland School of Public Health, tells Associate Press.

 

Grumpy Editor observes many photos of people watching crowded events without masks --- not exactly the way to reduce the virus.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

AMERICANS SET RECORD IN QUITTING JOBS.   September breaks August's record for the most Americans quitting their jobs in a month.  About 8.7 million people--- about six percent of the work force --- bid farewell to their jobs in August and September.  The Labor Department says almost four and a half million workers left jobs in September, a record for a single month.

 

NAVY LAUNCHES ANOTHER USS NEW JERSEY.  The Navy on Saturday christened the USS New Jersey, a fast-attack submarine, at Newport News, Virginia.  It's the third naval vessel to carry the name of the Garden State.

 

ENGINEER SUES RAILWAY COMPANY IN JAPAN.  A train engineer in Japan is suing his employer, West Japan Railway Co., after it clipped his wages following a one-minute delay that he claims wasn't his fault.

 

KANGAROO MAKES IT TO ROOF OF HOME.  Australia's Queensland Fire and Emergency Services firefighters say a kangaroo that appeared to be trapped on the roof of a home ended up rescuing itself.  How it got onto the house remains a mystery.

CAT ROAMS 200 MILES.  New York's Montgomery County SPCA animal shelter says a cat brought in as a stray was scanned for a microchip and found to have been missing three months earlier from a Pennsylvania home 200 miles away.  A Fort Plain resident spotted the feline wandering through the neighborhood for multiple days.

VAN GOGH WATERCOLOR PAINTING BRINGS ALMOST $36 MILLION.  Seized by Nazis, a watercolor painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh sells at auction for $35.86 million, setting a new record, reports Christie's auction house. The painting, Meules de blé (Wheat Stacks), was completed in Arles, France, in 1888, two years before the famed post-impressionist painter's death.

GENERAL MILLS PONDERS SELLING NAME BRANDS.  Food giant General Mills Inc. is considering selling a portfolio of brands including Progresso soup and Helper, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company is aiming to raise around $3 billion from the sale, they say.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CURTAILS U.S. FOOD INSPECTIONS

The current partial government shutdown has dramatically curtailed routine food inspections by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, observed Grumpy Editor.

 

The FDA oversees the nation's food supply and regularly investigates foodborne illness outbreaks. 

 

The shutdown concerns many because not getting a close look are risky foods such as produce, cheese and infant formula.

 

However, according to the FDA, efforts were being made to bring back about 150 FDA workers this week to focus on riskier food items.

 

The agency usually conducts about 160 domestic food inspections a week.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said each year 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die.

 

CDC researchers have identified more than 250 foodborne diseases. Most of them are infections, caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

 

A Wall Street Journal report said the FDA, during the shutdown “has continued to conduct inspections at foreign food facilities, and it is still inspecting imported goods coming into U.S. ports.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

 

GOLDEN STATE EYES BANNING PAPER RECEIPTS.  The California State Assembly proposed a bill that would ban paper receipts by Jan. 1, 2022, replacing them with digital receipts.

 

MILDER FLU SEASON AHEAD?  While earlier reports saw a big flu season ahead, the latest from U.S. health officials predicted a "gentler" flu period, based on a milder flu strain, compared to last winter's "unusually brutal one."   

 

SURVEY FINDS CONSERVATIVES OUTNUMBER LIBERALS.  A Gallup survey revealed conservatives outnumber liberals in the U.S.  Thirty-five percent of adults said they were "very conservative/conservative." Twenty-six percent said they were "liberal/very liberal." Thirty-five percent said they were "moderate."

 

TESLA  MODEL 3 BEST SELLER.  CNBC reported Tesla's Model 3 was the best-selling luxury car of 2018.  It pointed out Tesla sold more cars in the U.S. last year than it did in every previous year of the electric automaker's existence combined.

 

SUBSCRIPTION RATES VARY.  Fortune magazine still continued with different subscription renewal rates, baffling subscribers.  With the mailed magazine, an “Act Now  and Save!” message offered a one year renewal for $59.95.  Then via mail to the same subscriber, a “Last Issue!” offer for one-year print and digital showed just $10.

 

51 STAFFERS USED ON FORTUNE REPORT.  On the positive side, the latest Fortune issue’s special report on the shrinking middle class, according to editor-in-chief Clifton Leaf, “brought together the talents of 19 writers, five editors, three copy editors, 12 photographers (in 12 different cities), three photo editors, four video producers, two illustrators, two designers and one data visualization artist --- 51 people in all.”

 

NEWSPAPER LAYOFFS CONTINUE.  As the newspaper industry struggles to stem a decline in revenue, The Dallas Morning News laid off 43 employees in its newsroom and other parts of the company.

 

HUNGRY MOOSE ENTERS HOSPITAL.  Staff and patients at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage were surprised to see a large moose wander inside for a quick snack on some greenery near an entrance.

TV ANCHORS ANNOUNCE BREAKING NEWS.  Two popular Cincinnati on-air TV personalities on WLWT announced they are joining forces beyond the anchor desk.  Co-anchors Sheree Paolello and Mike Dardis said they are engaged and expect to marry in late spring or early summer.