We have had Covid with us for over two years and are being led to believe it will settle into a virus like the "common" flu even though its latest variant seems to be ramping up its infectious nature and heading for a summer spectacular as infections go.

 For the past few months there has been Monkey Pox roaming the globe, infecting almost 17,000 people (2 or 3 thousand in the USA), men, women and now children. Thankfully there have only been 5 documented deaths due to Monkey Pox so far. Emphasis on documented and the CDC has admitted that not only are the numbers probably massively under reported due to yet one more time a lack of testing facilities but also now admits that it can be transmitted by close contact with an infected individual that coughs or sneezes...yes, it is now being admitted it can be airborne.

If all that does not rile you enough then how about for the first time in over a decade a diagnosed and confirmed case of Polio in an ultra orthodox Jewish community in New York State that does not believe in vaccinations. My limited knowledge of the transmission of viruses would seem to indicate that the Polio virus could move within that community due to their avoidance of vaccinations and could conceivably move outside that community since there is really no such thing as an isolated community in the United States, much less a State as populated as New York.

Add to that the raising of its ugly head by the Marburg virus (a cousin of Ebola) in Africa and that so many of these new virus infections seem to get their global start in far flung areas of the world and my comfort level and faith in those agencies (both Federal and Global) that exist to "protect" us is waning quickly.

Now if all that is not enough to make you want to start wearing a sterilized suit of armor I don't know what will.

Yet there is even more "fun" on the horizon. I read an article this a.m. that calls into question all the research related to Alzheimer's. Seems that the original papers  from 2006 that identified the protein that is associated with Alzheimer's probably had data and images that were altered to fit the conclusion of the paper and not based on solid scientific research. Of course that erroneous data was used to create that new drug for treatment of Alzheimer's that costs 56,000.00 per dose and that will cause Medicare premiums to skyrocket since the vast majority of Alzheimer's patients fall within that coverage.

Where is the shame?????

In the local news it will be another scorcher today. I am about a week away from getting my electric bill and no matter how prepared I think I may be for the potential of an astronomical bill amount I think I need to prepare myself for just going into shock when it arrives.

Other than all the above all is quiet and pleasant in my little corner of paradise. Dogs have demonstrated their preference for an air conditioned house over being outside. Chickens and ducks are showing they have a unique ability to survive even the hottest days just as they did in our two past super cold winters.

And as for me. I have spent an inordinate amount of time reading and watching television. Right now I am reading Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar, Saint Odd by Dean Koontz and Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. As for television I am marathoning Warehouse 13, the first two seasons so far, of course my favorites Only Murders in the Building and The Orville; New Frontiers on Hulu and I watched an absolutely horrible movie titled Jason Bend; Queen and Country which does not even reach the status of a bad B movie (is there such a thing as a bad Z movie?)  Yet I watched the entire thing as bad as it was simply because I needed the laugh. It is a play on a Gay James Bond like character who works for a British agency called RIM and is charged with neutralizing a hair dresser who is trying to take over all the salons in the world. Yes, it was really that bad. And Jason Bend Agent 009 was not even that good looking by even my relaxed standards. Otherwise I continue to spend as much time as possible doing as little as I can get away with.

So, on that note, I wish you all a really blessed Sunday, a happy life filled with health and well being and may all your dreams and desires come true.