Link-poo Friday

So, Hamilton is now on Disney+ streaming, and I'm seeing a lot of negative news about it. Not about the film itself, but about the content. The vast majority of which is coming from the right-wing ecosphere. Apparently having people know about our diverse, immigrant history of rebellion against real tyranny is somewhat troubling to the right-wing mindset at this time.

"NPR marks the celebration with what has become a Morning Edition tradition: the annual reading of that document. Below is the original text of the Declaration of Independence, alongside photos of the NPR staff members who performed the reading."

"The U.S. celebrates this Independence Day amid nationwide protests and calls for systemic reforms. In this short film, five young descendants of Frederick Douglass read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech, 'What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?' which asks all of us to consider America's long history of denying equal rights to Black Americans."

Thunder! "A bolt that lit up the sky over Argentina on March 4, 2019, lasted a mind-boggling 16.73 seconds, more than twice as long as the previous record holder, the World Meteorological Organization announced June 25. Meanwhile, a lightning bolt on October 31, 2018, set the new record for length. It stretched for 709 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean, across part of Brazil and into Argentina, a length more than twice that of the previous record."

"Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, said the program the (Minnesota) Legislature passed in April is unconstitutional and that drugmakers already offer alternatives to help people with diabetes. They are seeking a permanent injunction barring the state from enforcing the insulin act."

"Test monkeys infected with the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic were protected from reinfection for up to 28 days later, a Chinese study out Thursday in the journal Science said… While the monkeys displayed initial immunity, it's unclear how long such immunity will last in humans - it will be necessary to wait months, or even years, to know if the millions of people infected at the start of the pandemic are protected from re-infection."

"The United States reported a record number of new coronavirus cases as it headed into a holiday weekend. Health officials and experts attribute the rise in cases to reopenings across the country, uneven use of masks and increased travel. Three experts discuss what they have learned about coronavirus transmission during reopenings – and urge caution over the upcoming holiday weekend." It's pretty much what you'd think had you been following actual news.

"The U.S. reported more than 50,600 additional coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the largest single-day increase since the beginning of the outbreak, according to Johns Hopkins University data." So much winning.

"The Trump administration is urging airlines to leave some airplane seats empty to help protect travelers and crew members from the coronavirus but it is stopping short of requiring airlines to keep seats open to create physical distancing on flights."

Remember how I've classified some of the "Good News, People" announcements as attempts to run stocks up instead of actual medical news? "Moderna’s stock fell by as much as 9.4% in midday trading Thursday after a report said the biotech company’s late-stage trial for a potential coronavirus vaccine will be delayed, possibly by a few weeks." It goes both ways. (Grokked from Jim Wright)

"… Dr. Thomas Frieden, who led the CDC during the Obama administration. 'The CDC is not being allowed to speak,' Frieden told Yahoo News in May. 'It is just inconceivable that for more than two months, the best public health agency in the world has been prohibited from speaking to Americans.'… But as far as the White House is concerned, the CDC has been too concerned with its own stature. 'The CDC feels like they should be in charge of this,' said an official who works with the White House coronavirus task force."

"British officials announced Friday that those traveling from the United States would still have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine and would not be among those newly exempt from the rules."

"In what he called part two of his Thursday announcement, Ohio governor Mike DeWine turned to laying out how the state will continue to monitor and control the coronavirus for the remainder of the year… DeWine unveiled a new warning system that will break the state down by county change based upon the level of new coronavirus infections locally." While important for public policy making, for the general public this is just a show about the appearance of action.

The plight of the rural hospital (full disclosure, my full-time job is at a "rural" hospital, although ours is bigger than the one profiled). "'That's the tough part about all this, because you get all ready for this big emergency and then nothing happens and then you have to fight complacency a little bit," King says. 'We prepared for a flood, and then we were hit with a drought.'… That 'drought' has severely affected Syringa's bottom line. The irony is that small-town hospitals like this one are now on the brink of going broke during the pandemic. King says people just stopped coming into the hospital, its clinic and even its emergency room. All elective procedures were canceled. Since the pandemic took hold in March, revenue here has dropped by half… Across the U.S., rural 'critical access' hospitals were already closing at an alarming rate before the pandemic. Twelve have shuttered since the start of this year alone."

"As state and federal inquiries widen into the case of Elijah McClain, a young Black man who died last summer after Colorado police placed him in a chokehold, the decision by paramedics to inject him with a powerful sedative while he was handcuffed has raised questions about its use during police calls and whether such medical treatment violates a person's rights." Yes, it does.

"A Colorado police officer resigned ahead of his chief's imminent announcement of her disciplinary decision over troubling photos allegedly linked to him and his colleagues that were taken near the scene of where Elijah McClain was placed in a police chokehold and later died."

"Federal authorities in New York on Wednesday seized a shipment of weaves and other beauty accessories suspected to be made out of human hair taken from people locked inside a Chinese internment camp."

"On July 4, 1970, the countdown started. Originally hosted by Casey Kasem, American Top 40 played 'the best selling and most-played songs from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Canada to Mexico,' as he stated on the first program broadcast 50 years ago as of tomorrow."

"In recent weeks, the Trump administration has removed multiple people from key watchdog roles. On the week’s On the Media: how the president keeps weakening the tools meant to hold him accountable. Plus, looking for truth when police keep lying."

"Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth said on Thursday that she would put a hold on the confirmation of over 1,000 military promotions until Defense Secretary Mark Esper provided assurances on the promotion of a former White House aide who testified in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial." It takes a few paragraphs for them to get to the fact that Sen. Duckworth is a veteran.

"President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump head to Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Friday to celebrate an early Fourth of July at a gathering of an estimated 7,500 people during a global pandemic." I view most political advertising with contempt, especially those I agree with. It's part of my training. But this one got me, Eleven Films, The Dangerous Ones. And if the song speaks to you, Kasey Anderson performs The Dangerous Ones. The power of the people can never be defeated. The song was written in 2017.