1. Covid. Diving into the variant debate -- caused by the vaccines or not? "the Variants of Interest never seemed to emerge until vaccine trials were held, then emerged in the vicinities of where those trials were held. Also, the Variants of Interest strongly display the quality of escape from antibody classes" https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/variant-roulette-evolution-and-immunity-3ca

2. Legal. Another mask mandate lawsuit. https://www.pantagraph.com/news/state-and-regional/clinton-county-dad-suing-pritzker-over-school-mask-mandate/article_521b6cbf-9395-52e6-aee3-bad0fef37de2.html

3. Economic. There is more inter-relatedness here than often discussed: the reason for the disappearing ride share driver is both the dramatic rise in the cost of rental cars (coinciding with a crazy spike in used cars generally) and the labor shortage induced by supplemental stimulus checks discouraging work. Many uber drivers use rental cars, and the spike in those costs led them to opt out of Uber work too. Just one of the little hot spots of trouble in the Biden economy. https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Car-Rental-News/As-car-rental-and-ride-prices-soar-travelers-seek-alternatives

4. Political. The left starting to really sweat the California recall race. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/california-recall-election/

5. Cultural. Had fun hanging out with the Geeks & Gamers crew, Nerdrotic & the gang of the Friday Night Tights crowd at the Millennial Fandom bar in Vegas last night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MK-i6rhMLU

Bonus* My recommended current political bets: https://sportspicks.locals.com/post/957386/political-bet-recommendations-8-15-21