"After a day as a hurricane, Tropical Storm Marco approached Louisiana for an expected landfall around midday Monday, while Tropical Storm Laura was forecast to move along Cuba's southern coast during the day before entering the Gulf of Mexico and heading toward the same stretch of U.S. coast later in the week, most likely as a hurricane and perhaps a powerful one."
"A lost medieval sacristy used by 13th century monks has been uncovered in the grounds of Westminster Abbey along with the bones of hundreds, if not thousands, of buried bodies." (Grokked from Deborah Beale)
"Massive stone structures in Saudi Arabia may be some of oldest monuments in the world."
"Mining giant Rio Tinto has cut the bonuses of three executives over the destruction of two ancient caves in Australia… In May, the world's biggest iron ore miner destroyed the sacred Aboriginal sites in Pilbara, Western Australia… The company went ahead with the destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters despite the opposition of Aboriginal traditional owners… They were among the oldest historic sites in Australia." How about firing them? Or maybe having them arrested.
"While appearing as a delicate and light veil draped across the sky, this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope actually depicts a small section of the Cygnus supernova blast wave, located around 2400 light-years away. The name of the supernova remnant comes from its position in the northern constellation of Cygnus (The Swan), where it covers an area 36 times larger than the full moon."
"It's a simple little tool that's been used by doctors for decades, but the system of measuring Body Mass Index, or BMI, is increasingly coming under fire. Critics have denounced BMI as not just unreliable but sexist and racist, and even many clinicians who see value in it also recognize its flaws."
"The US Food and Drug Administration on Sunday issued an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19, saying the 'known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.'" They say it's not political, but you read the FDA press release and tell me this is not a political action. I'm old enough to remember hydroxychloroquine being the next great thing.
"Blood plasma treatment has cut Covid-19 mortality by 35%, Trump claimed on Sunday. However, results of the study by the Mayo Clinic that the FDA cited in its authorization of the treatment indicates that patients below age 80 who were not on a respirator and received plasma with a high level of antibodies within three days of diagnosis were about 35% more likely to survive another 30 days compared with patients who received plasma with a low level of antibodies. The study acknowledged, however, that its findings are limited, particularly because it did not have a placebo comparison."
How is COVID playing out politically? "The poll found that 31% of registered voters thought the U.S. death toll of 176,000 was 'acceptable' when evaluating the U.S. efforts against the coronavirus pandemic, a number that is buoyed by a 57% majority of Republican voters. Only 10% of Democrat voters thought the death toll was 'acceptable' and 67% of independents said it was 'unacceptable.'" Debating the acceptable amount of casualties. Just in case a conservative tries to tell you they're the party of Pro-Life.
"The coronavirus crisis will see the world’s biggest firms slash dividend payouts between 17%-23% this year or what could be as much as $400 billion, a new report has shown, although sectors such as tech are fighting the trend."
"The $400 in extra unemployment aid for millions of out-of-work Americans is actually $300 in most states. And it won’t arrive for weeks, experts warn… Americans may just get three weeks’ worth of payments, according to guidance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will run the relief program through its Disaster Relief Fund, following an executive action from President Donald Trump this month."
"City officials in tony Danbury, Connecticut, are slinging sludge back at the famous host of HBO's 'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.'… After Oliver tore into the town on his Aug. 16 show, the city's mayor posted a now-viral Facebook video vowing to name the town's sewage plant after the HBO talk-show host." But they're not really doing that. I'll be back, I'm just going to go make some more popcorn.
"Lukashenko has denied allegations of electoral fraud and maintained that he won the election fairly. The 65-year-old has also ruled out holding another vote and vowed to crush the unrest… The president was shown in state media footage flying over the protests in a helicopter on Sunday, before landing at his residence and emerging wearing body armor and carrying an assault rifle in his hand."
"The German government says it is 'fairly likely' that Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was poisoned and will therefore need special protection… Navalny is being treated in a Berlin hospital after falling ill on a flight from Siberia last week. He was transferred to the German capital from the Siberian city of Omsk on Saturday morning."
On the Media podcast with "Recently, the president threatened the post office — and with it, the November elections. On this week's On The Media, a look at how decades of cuts to the mail system led to this emergency. Plus, the 'birther' lie reared its ugly head once more — but this time, journalists were ready for it. And, the so-called 'rising stars' of the Republican Party."
"Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is back in the hot seat Monday, testifying before a House panel amid Democratic accusations he's doing President Donald Trump's bidding to harm Postal Service operations ahead of the November election."
"White House counselor Kellyanne Conway announced Sunday evening she will leave her post at the end of the month while her husband, George Conway, said he was withdrawing from The Lincoln Project, both citing a need to focus on their family."
"But there was an equally remarkable story buried on page 16 of the indictment, one that seems to me to require more transparency on the part of the government. The prosecutors wrote, 'On or about August 15, 2016, the Conspirators, posing as Guccifer 2.0, received a request for stolen documents from a candidate for the U.S. Congress. The Conspirators responded using the Guccifer 2.0 persona and sent the candidate stolen documents related to the candidate's opponent.'" The DOJ has refused 60 Minutes FOIA request. Expect a lawsuit soon.
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