What's In That ARP Thingie?

Biden's American Rescue Plan is chock full of goodies for average folk - like mostly some stuff that helps local government work for us.

Daily Progress: (hometown paper)

Charlottesville Area Transit is planning not to charge for rides during the next three years, Director Garland Williams told the area’s Regional Transit Partnership on Thursday.

“That’s a big thing for the community,” Williams said. “For CAT, it’s the CARES money and the American Rescue Plan money that’s going to allow us to continue to go fare free, which is huge.”

CAT has been operating fare-free throughout the pandemic as a way to limit contact between drivers and passengers. Area transit provider Jaunt also is exploring a plan to not charge fares.

Williams said the change is part of both agencies’ fiscal year 2022 budgets and that he’s working with state officials on other grants to support a fare-free model in future fiscal years.

Williams added that his department is working on a study to see whether it’s feasible for CAT to go fare-free permanently. That study could start within the next month.

If additional state funds become available, Williams said the goal is that the increased ridership on CAT buses “will help us to close that funding gap on the back end after a five-year model.”

Albemarle County Supervisor Diantha McKeel, who chairs the RTP, said the board had discussed fare-free models before, recognizing that someone is paying.

“Someone is paying,” Williams said. “So in this case, it would definitely be the federal government.”

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that was passed earlier this month included $5.3 million for transit in and around Charlottesville, according to a news release from U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine.

Williams said that money and the remaining CARES stimulus money will support free fares for three years.

CAT’s proposed operating budget for the coming fiscal year is $11.8 million, according to city documents, and about $2.5 million comes from the city. Albemarle County also contributes to the agency based on a funding formula. Fares make up a small part of CAT’s revenues.

Boosting ridership could lead to more federal and state money for area transit providers. CAT currently is working on a plan to adjust routes with the goal of increasing the number of passengers on buses.

Jaunt interim CEO Karen Davis said at Thursday’s meeting that she’s also looking into going fare-free and wanted to put together a proposal for the RTP, as well the city of Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

“I do think that going fare-free in this next year will really enable us to get our ridership back up and running,” Davis said.

Both transit agencies have seen drops in ridership during the pandemic and have reduced their services.

Davis said Jaunt’s ridership is starting to tick back up.

“We’re putting more drivers out on the road,” she said. “More of them are able to have a full schedule, although we are at reduced capacity.”

Davis said the price of a fare can be a barrier for some people, as can figuring out the mechanism for paying.

“When you take that barrier away for passengers and everyone, the risk of trying to use transit is so low,” Davis said. “... So I think it’s really exciting if we can make this work.”

Update Update

We just can't quite resist playing Rona Roulette.

Axios:

With each shot in the arm, more and more Americans are letting down their guard — seeing family and friends outside the home again, venturing out to eat or relaxing social distancing precautions, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

The big picture: 

• Nine in 10 respondents said they know someone who's already been vaccinated, and 36% said they've been vaccinated themselves. Meanwhile, the share who know someone who died from COVID-19 has leveled off at around one in three, after climbing through 2020.

What they're saying: 

• "These are glimmers of hope," said Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs. "We’re seeing basically the reemerging of America."
• "Obviously, it’s the vaccine itself coming online," Young said. "That conditions the way they see the world, and that world is a less risky one compared to last year."
• "We’re in a different place than we were. Fundamentally, the vaccine changes the reality. That’s exciting."

By the numbers: 

• 45% said they'd gone out to eat in the past week, up 12 percentage points from a month ago and the highest share in a year.
• 48% said they visited friends or relatives outside the home, up nine points from a month ago and the highest share since October.
• 67% said they're staying home and avoiding others as much as possible, down seven points from a month ago and the lowest share since we began asking the question 11 months ago.
• 17% said their emotional well being has improved over the past week, the highest share in a year.

But, but, but: It's the unvaccinated in some cases who are returning to activities outside the home at the highest rates.

• 52% of unvaccinated Americans reported seeing friends and relatives outside the home in the past week, compared with just 41% of those who'd been vaccinated.
• The share of Americans saying they are "not at all" likely to take the vaccine remained steady at around one in five.
• Their reasons included not trusting the vaccine or in some cases not trusting the government; wanting more information about side effects; or thinking they don't need it because they feel healthy now or already got the virus.

Between the lines: Only tiny shares of Americans — in the low single digits — said they believe false assertions that the vaccine is deadlier than the virus; causes sterility; involves microchip tracking; promotes cancer; or can disqualify recipients from life insurance benefits.
One in 10 falsely believe one of the vaccines contains aborted fetal cells.

But, depending on the question, between one fourth and one half of respondents said they didn't know if those conspiracy theories were true or not, highlighting the power of disinformation to confuse Americans.

With a little luck, the vaccinations will catch up with the idiots and provide the requisite immunity before the idiocy overwhelms prevention and we're right back in Spike Mode again.

We haven't won anything yet. 

The monster's still out there. 

Don't get stoopid. 

Keep your guard up.

Today's Tweet

It's simple projection - Trump identifies himself as a media creation.

Daddy State Awareness, rule 1:

Every accusation is a confession.

"I didn't really listen to him too much because I was doing the opposite of what he was saying" -- Trump on Dr. Fauci pic.twitter.com/WxGaEOb3dZ

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2021

COVID-19 Update

World

New Cases:   622,482 (⬆︎ .50%)
New Deaths:    10,418 (⬆︎ .38%)

USA

New Cases:   67,046 (⬆︎ .22%)
New Deaths:    1,165 (⬆︎ .21%)

Vaccination Scorecard

Total Vaccinations:           87.3 million (⬆︎ 2.11%)
Total Eligible Population: 32.7%
Total Population:              26.3%

Vaccine disparity is a thing, and in addition to the general weirdnesses pointed out in this Axios piece, it's shaping up to look just like food deserts and environmental racism and healthcare discrimination and the increasing attempts at voter suppression.

We have to make a point of doing a shitload better.

Axios:

Congratulations! You're about to be eligible to ... wait some more for the vaccine.

The big picture: States are expanding eligibility for COVID vaccines by broad age groups — and some are opening it to all adults. But that doesn't always mean they have enough vaccine supplies to offer appointments to everyone in the new groups.

• So even though the vaccine supplies are ramping up, many local leaders and health officials are trying to lower people's expectations so they don't get disappointed when their long wait for the vaccine isn't actually over.
• That's the reality check many newly eligible people will face throughout the country even as President Biden ups his goal to 200 million shots in his first 100 days.

What they're saying: “The problem is not the eligibility standards. The problem is the supply," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a local TV interview this week after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo expanded eligibility to everyone 50 and over.

• "As you add more eligibility, it's going to mean people in some cases will wait longer, because we still don't have the supply we need.”
• After Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan opened vaccinations to everyone 60 and over, Marc Elrich, the county executive of Montgomery County, Md., warned Wednesday that “being told you’re eligible does not mean that when you preregister, that you’re going to get an appointment ... The number of vaccines is behind the number of people who are eligible.”

Other local health officials are sending similar messages.

• “The thing that’s holding us back is just the number of doses," Gary Edwards, executive director of the Salt Lake County health department, told Axios after Utah expanded vaccinations this week to everyone 16 and over.
• “We have staff in clinics ready to do more. They’re not busy enough," he said.
• Here's how Dizhi Marlow, a spokesperson for the Harris County public health department in Texas, described Houston's readiness after the state announced that all adults will be eligible next week: “As of right now, we do not know if we will get more vaccines next week. However, we are preparing to administer more if we get more.”
• And Mitzi Kline, a health department spokesperson in Franklin County, Ohio, which includes Columbus, said, “We do expect the demand to outweigh the supply" after the state opened vaccines to everyone 40 and over and prepares to expand them to all adults next week.
• "We continue to ask residents to be patient as we expect the vaccine supply to continue to increase over the coming weeks," she said.

The other side: Russ Schwartz and Katherine Quirk, who launched a Facebook group to help Florida seniors find vaccines, say the state — which is expanding by age groups — has steadily increased its vaccine supplies and sites to the point where it's easier to help people find options now.

• "We’re not seeing that people in the [age 50 and over] group are saying, 'I can’t get an appointment anywhere,'" said Quirk. "It makes you think this is a good, progressive way to open it to the age groups."

Between the lines: Some states are moving a lot faster than Biden's goal of making all Americans eligible for vaccinations by May 1. The latest include Florida and California; all Florida adults will be eligible to get the shots as of April 5, and California will be open to all adults on April 15.

• So far, 40 states have announced dates when the vaccines will be open to all adults, and most of them are doing it before May 1, according to Jennifer Kates, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation who's tracking the vaccine rollout across the states.

The bottom line: "It could put some states and governors in a difficult position if they say 'yes, we’re opening the gates' and a lot of people can’t get appointments," Kates said.

• "It’s going to be a balancing act, and the messaging is going to be very important."

Today's Brain Buster

My anti-intellectual shit starts to leak out of my ears every time I try to sit through one of these math thingies.

I always feel the urge to fall back into that comfortable embrace of the old ignorance and superstition left over from the Dark Ages when people actually believed silly shit like, "Math is the language of Satan."

The old hag brewed up some willow bark tea and suddenly, my headache is gone - what sorcery is this!?!

The rube is always with us. They used to tell each other bullshit fairy stories and then run around looking for witches to burn. Now they watch DumFux News and run around electing idiots like Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Anyway, even though it's pretty gosh darn cool in a very hip and nerdly way, there's no magic. There's no mystery of the ages. There's no god hiding in the shadows of lost knowledge, and no evil creature with supernatural powers plotting against us.

In the end, it really is just an odd coincidence that evolution makes us interpret as a mystical thing, imbuing it with agency and intent.

Maybe that's the key. We want it to be precise; we seem to need it to be perfect, but it isn't - because it can't be. Because there's no evolution without imperfection.

Like Frank said -

Without deviance from normality,
there can be no progress

The more things change.

Today's Trae

Trae Crowder - Fuck Sydney Powell

The dumbass defense.

Today's Video

Rodents Of Unusual Size

Today's Pix

click

👁 👃🏻 👁

👅

COVID-19 Update

World

New Cases:   583,804 (⬆︎ .48%)
New Deaths:    10,505 (⬆︎ .38%)

USA

New Cases:   66,538 (⬆︎ .22%)
New Deaths:    1,405 (⬆︎ .25%)

Vaccination Scorecard

Total Vaccinations:           85.5 million (⬆︎ 1.67%)
Total Eligible Population: 32.0%
Total Population:              25.7%

And there are examples of a still-too-dim light beginning to shine through.

NYT: (pay wall)

Mississippi Will Remove ‘Misleading’ Language About Covid-19 Vaccine

Bobby Wayne, a retired reverend with prostate cancer and leukemia, had spent a week calling health agencies around his county in Mississippi, trying to find out where to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

But when Mr. Wayne, 64, called the state’s hotline on Monday, he said an operator, whose job was to help residents schedule vaccine appointments, gave him unnerving and incorrect information.

“This is the way she put it to me: They had no documentation that the vaccine was effective,” Mr. Wayne said. “And then she asked me did I still want to take it.”

When he told her “yes,” he said the operator replied that there were no appointments available and that he should call again the next morning.

The confusion was the result of “miscommunication” over a misleading script that the hotline operators had been given, according to the State Department of Health.

The script referred to pregnant women, women who were lactating and people with compromised immune systems.

It asked: “Do you still want to be vaccinated with an understanding there are currently no available data on the safety or effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines, including Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, in pregnant people, lactating people, or immunocompromised people?”

Most experts agree that the risks to pregnant women from Covid-19 are far greater than any theoretical harm from the vaccines. Doctors have said they believe that the vaccines are safe for people with autoimmune conditions.

Liz Sharlot, a spokeswoman for Mississippi’s State Department of Health, said that the wording in the script could be confusing “when read out of context.”

“We are replacing this confusing and misleading language,” she said in a statement

However, Ms. Sharlot said the operators were never told that there was no documented proof that the Moderna vaccine or any other vaccine authorized for use by the Food and Drug Administration worked.

“Just the opposite is true,” she said. “Both Moderna and Pfizer have high efficacy rates.”

Ms. Sharlot added, “I think the gentleman misunderstood.”

Mr. Wayne said he understood perfectly.

“I’m not confused at all,” he said. “I may be 64 years old and handicapped, but my brain is still functioning and my ears are, too.”

Mr. Wayne said it was unsettling to think people calling for information about getting vaccinated could be discouraged by the very people who are meant to help them get a shot.

“I wouldn’t want anybody else going through that,” he said.

Mississippi has administered at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to 22 percent of its population, according to a New York Times database, putting it among the states that have had a slower rollout. Just over 12 percent of state residents have been fully vaccinated.

Mr. Wayne’s daughter, Elizabeth Wayne, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, complained on Twitter about her father’s conversation with the state hotline operator and called it a “violence.”

“It’s dangerous,” Dr. Wayne said. “There is a therapy available. There is a way to treat something, and you’re making it difficult for them to have access to that treatment so it’s increasing the likelihood they may become sick.”

The Mississippi Free Press reported the story after Dr. Wayne wrote about her father’s experience on Twitter.

Dr. Thomas E. Dobbs III, the state health officer, responded to her post on Twitter, sharing a link to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed the Moderna vaccine was 94.1 percent effective at preventing Covid-19 and that “no safety concerns were identified.”

Dr. Wayne said she was pleased that the health department appeared to take her concerns, and her father’s, seriously.

“I think it was a really good example of the State Health Department trying to reach out because they actually want to restore faith” in the vaccine, she said.

Mr. Wayne said he got his shot on Wednesday morning.

“I feel a whole lot better,” he said.

Today's Tweet

A certain touch of larceny is an evolutionary thing pre-loaded in the human firmware.

Could I buy a 3D printer, print another 3D printer, and then return the first 3D printer?

— William He (@williamhe__) March 23, 2021