My wife and I got our second Pfizer shots for the coronavirus last night. So I suppose there’s now a chip flowing through my bloodstream sending data to Bill Gates about the ongoing modification of my DNA?

14 days from now, my innards should be awash in antibodies. It’s just a little thing, but I’m really looking forward to being able to go to a coffee shop and sit down with a book and a latté, something I haven’t done for more than a year.

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Just when you thought you’d never have to hear from Sarah Palin again, Sarah Palin Reveals COVID Diagnosis and ‘Bizarre’ Symptoms, Urges Others to Continue Wearing Masks

Baseball's Opening Day reflects a politicized nation caught between Covid-19 and hope

Almost one in seven suffers long COVID, UK study finds

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

IRS Seeks Names of Circle Customers Transacting Over $20K in Crypto

Canada's Purpose Bitcoin ETF may be cutting into Grayscale's market share

The Texas Fiasco:

At Least 194 Died In Texas Blackouts

The tally, which is nearly double the state’s official count, comes from an investigation of reports from medical examiners, justices of the peace and Department of State Health Services, as well as lawsuits and news stories. The toll is almost certain to grow in coming weeks as death investigators in the state’s most populous counties clear a backlog in cases from the cold snap. The Travis County medical examiner alone is investigating more than 80 deaths between Feb. 13 and Feb. 20.

Politics:

F-35 Fighter Jet Is 85% Cost of Biden’s Infrastructure Plan

There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Biden’s idea, which is to raise corporate taxes back to 2017 levels, before Donald Trump’s irresponsible tax cut that — studies have shown — may have helped slightly fatten the bottom line for Big Business but did little for the everyday worker. Meanwhile, the money blown on that sleek fighter jet behind the padlock on America’s garage could have — OK, with help from a good accountant, perhaps — painlessly paid for 85% of what the Biden administration is seeking to do here.

Absurd Gaetz Alibi Draws In Global Circle Of True Believers And Grifters

The Strange New Doctrine of the Republican Party: The GOP’s version of freedom puts greater priority on right-wing cultural folkways than on rights of property and ownership.

Biden Abandons Trump-Era Cuts to Food Stamps

Serendipity:

The huge nuclear disaster hidden by the Soviets

Uranus is belching X-rays and is weirder than we ever thought

^{Badge thanks to @arcange}