Destinations Unknown

The British Medical Journal is out with an investigative report that a key contractor for Pfizer may have cut corners while testing its vaccine in the critical Stage 3 trials. We've always known that the vaccines were developed at a breakneck pace -- unprecedented really -- by large corporations seeking profits.

The same corporations with a long history of cutting corners on regulatory matters and throwing their money around to influence the decisions of the government agencies that determine whether their products are effective and safe.

Nobody is suggesting that the Pfizer vaccine is unsafe or ineffective, or that the FDA emergency use approval process was influenced by the drugmakers.

But the new report adds a cautionary note to the current debate over mandates requiring vaccines for children. Prudence requires the authorities to slow down and make sure the vaccines are safe in the long run before taking any such radical steps.

***

For reasons unknown, my once-robust Facebook community has shrunk to just a few loyal friends each day. And I'm grateful for them because it requires effort to find my posts these days.

The social network's algorithm recently stopped featuring my posts in the news feeds of my friends and I noticed the drop-off immediately. I don't know why this happened -- Facebook has not sent me any notices. 

I really miss the interaction with a large vocal community on a daily basis. It helped motivate me to keep writing day after day for over 20 months.

But my presence on Facebook was always problematic. It was a convenient platform to host my daily essays and news summaries. I also often included song lyrics and photos. But I had no access to audience data, no income, and no control over how widely my posts were circulated.

It's also nearly impossible to include links to the articles I aggregate or find my past essays there. In that way, for me as a writer, Facebook began to feel like a prison. Like I was under house arrest. 

Thankfully, here on Blogspot, most of those problems can be avoided. Since I've started using Facebook's "Story" feature to highlight my blog posts here, traffic has slowly started to migrate from a trickle to a stream.

Next comes the river. This site is ad-supported, BTW. Google automatically picks the ads; I reject any I find inappropriate or offensive. Readers should alert me if they see any such ad. You can comment below.

***

Tuesday, in a melancholy mood, I took a path down into the woods from a park near here. It was the second time I've done so. Nobody was in the area, the ground was moist and new green shoots were a reminder of the recent storms.

The first time I took this particular walk was with a friend. We talked and admired the quiet beauty of the place together, crossing bridges over a dry creek's ravine.

But this time I was alone. There is a certain type of longing when you revisit a place without your friend. The place remains but no words are exchanged. 

Rather like posting on Meta.

***

NEWS HEADLINES:

* Covid-19: Researcher blows the whistle on data integrity issues in Pfizer’s vaccine trial (BMJ)

* As the devastating Delta variant surge eases in many regions of the world, scientists are charting when, and where, COVID-19 will transition to an endemic disease in 2022 and beyond, according to Reuters interviews with over a dozen leading disease experts. (Reuters)

* With Methane and Forest Deals, Climate Summit Offers Hope After Gloomy Start (NYT)

* Glenn Youngkin wins Va. governor’s race -- The victory was a dramatic reversal for a state that had appeared solidly Democratic in recent years and a significant loss for President Biden and the party’s establishment. (WP)

* VIDEO: Jeff Bezos Pledges Investments in Restoring the Earth (Reuters)

* After Jan. 6, threats and disinformation take hold across the U.S (WP) 

 * Will Supply-Chain Issues Ruin Christmas? (New Yorker)

* Reeling Democrats see threat to House and Senate control as Republicans crack their 2020 coalition (WP)

* The unequal toll of Covid-19 (Cal Today)

* Facebook to end use of facial recognition software, says it will delete data on more than a billion people (WP)

* Prominent Conservatives Back Letting States Limit Guns in Public (NYT)

* Signing leases: Facebook and ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, are looking to expand their office spaces in the Bay Area. (SFC)

* Boosted by the pandemic, ‘constitutional sheriffs’ are a political force -- The movement argues sheriffs’ power to interpret the law is above any state or federal authority — even the president. Its growing influence is evident in recent sheriffs campaigns. (WP)

* The largest U.S. private sector strike in two years is likely to continue as workers at John Deere voted to reject the latest tentative agreement negotiated between the company and their union. Deere has enjoyed record profits this year and strikers insisted that the company share more of this windfall with the workforce, especially with high inflation is eating away at wages. [HuffPost]

* The Justice Department sued Penguin Random House to block its proposed merger with Simon & Schuster. The move suggests that the Biden administration may take a different view of corporate consolidation than what has prevailed for decades in Washington. (NYT Book Review)

* Breitbart has outsized influence over climate change denial on Facebook, report says (WP)

* More than 100 countries pledged Tuesday to end deforestation in the coming decade — a promise that experts say would be critical to limiting climate change but one that has been made and broken before. Biden is now back at the White House after speaking at the COP26 U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, which continues this week. [AP]

* CNN has been widely mocked in Scotland after their anchor Wolf Blitzer posted a photo of himself reporting from Edinburgh “where 20,000 world leaders and delegates have gathered". Edinburgh is 40 miles east of Glasgow, where leaders have actually gathered. (Twitter)

* Cuban exile told sons he trained Oswald, JFK’s accused assassin, at a secret CIA camp (Miami Herald)

* Hundreds of QAnon supporters showed up in Dallas. They were expecting JFK Jr.’s return. (WP)

***

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

Green Day

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me, and I walk alone

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one, and I walk alone

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes, I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then, I walk alone

I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the borderline
Of the edge, and where I walk alone

Read between the lines
What's fucked up, and everything's alright
Check my vital signs
To know I'm still alive, and I walk alone