Supply chain issues in my area generally aren’t as bad as they were a year ago (although my local grocery store has some mighty skimpy stock in the cereal aisle, as well as for cooking oil) but the Dollar Tree nearest me is getting worse and worse. It’s as if the store’s been looted in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse:

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

MicroStrategy purchases 1,914 Bitcoin, now holds almost $6B in crypto

After Identity Theft, Salvadorans Now Report Funds Disappearing From Chivo Wallets

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Coronavirus Risk Calculations Get Harder

The altered guidance, ambiguous research findings and continuing unknowns about omicron — and, perhaps most of all, the overwhelming desire after two years of a pandemic to return to normal life — have left people once again in the predicament of making personal risk calculations that may be not terribly better than wild guesses.

The CDC’s Defense of Its New COVID Guidelines Is Complete Nonsense

Marines kick out 206 troops for refusing Covid-19 vaccine

One Million Covid Deaths by Spring

We’ve been doing more than 1,000 deaths a day since August 21. For most of this stretch, the daily average has been in excess of 1,500 deaths per day. Just do the math. Unless the daily deaths change, we’re headed to a million dead by spring.
Republicans are going to use this fact to attack the Biden administration, saying that Biden handled Covid worse than Trump, because there were more deaths on his watch.
This is an obscene argument. Republicans have done everything possible to prolong Covid and prevent the implementation of measures that would have saved lives. It’s like an arsonist pouring gasoline, throwing matches, and then complaining about the fire department not putting out fires fast enough.
But as a political matter? I suspect the Republican argument will be effective with voters.

Residents Struggle to Buy Groceries as Lockdown Upends Life in Xi’an

Politics:

Putin Warns Biden of ‘Complete Rupture’ of Relationship

President Vladimir Putin warned President Biden on Thursday that any economic sanctions imposed on Russia if it were to take new military action against Ukraine would result in a ‘complete rupture’ of relations between the two nuclear superpowers.

This probably falls into the category of TFB. Biden’s got zero incentive to cave to Putin. Хорошая попытка, но нет.

Why the new legal attack from Trump allies against the House January 6 committee is a long shot

China Warns of ‘Drastic Measures’ Over Taiwan

China will take ‘drastic measures’ if Taiwan makes moves towards formal independence, a Beijing official warned on Wednesday, adding that Taiwan’s provocations and outside meddling could intensify next year.

With fascism coming, America responds: LOL who cares? Let’s Netflix and chill