I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Monday, November 16, 2020

Linkee-poo Monday Nov 16

"Hurricane Iota has rapidly intensified into a Category 4 as it heads for landfall in Central America, where it will bring potentially catastrophic rainfall flooding, mudslides, storm surge and damaging winds. Iota will be the second major hurricane in two weeks to strike the region."

"Lighting up the night sky, four astronauts shot into orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Sunday for a 27-hour voyage to the International Space Station in the first operational flight of a commercially developed Crew Dragon capsule."

The year without a Santa Claus… "Kids will instead tell Santa what they want for Christmas from six feet away, and sometimes from behind a sheet of plexiglass. Santa and his visitors may need to wear a face mask, even while posing for photos. And some malls will put faux gift boxes and other decorations in front of Saint Nick to block kids from charging toward him."

I'll take "Exponential Growth" for $500, Alex. "More than 11 million confirmed coronavirus cases have been recorded in the United States, according to a COVID-19 tracker by Johns Hopkins University. The country reported 166,555 new cases on Sunday, with 1,266 new deaths… The staggering milestone was reached only six days after the U.S. hit 10 million cases. Positive test rates and hospitalization rates are on the rise across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

"Boris Johnson is self-isolating after meeting an MP who later tested positive for Covid-19… The prime minister said he was contacted by NHS Test and Trace on Sunday but is not showing symptoms."

"A fresh surge of coronavirus cases on Saturday and Sunday has alarmed Los Angeles County officials, who say they may consider imposing a curfew and other health measures in effort to stem the spread of COVID-19."

"The new coronavirus was circulating in Italy in September 2019, a study by the National Cancer Institute (INT) of the Italian city of Milan shows, signaling that it might have spread beyond China earlier than thought." Ta-da!

"Moderna Inc said on Monday its experimental vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19 based on interim data from a late-stage clinical trial, becoming the second U.S. company in a week to report results that far exceed expectations." It's another mRNA vaccine and so will face similar hurdles as the Pfizer vaccine (cold storage, enhanced training for delivery, etc). Also the same caveats, such as it's a small sample and the FDA reduced the test qualifications. At this point the difference in effectiveness could be just sampling error.

"After Whitmer announced Sunday a three-week pause on indoor dining, in-person learning and several other activities, Atlas wrote: 'The only way this stops is if people rise up. You get what you accept. #FreedomMatters #StepUp.'… In another tweet later Sunday night, Atlas wrote that he 'NEVER was talking at all about violence. People vote, people peacefully protest. NEVER would I endorse or incite violence. NEVER!!'" Amateur hour at the White House continues unabated. This is complete bullshit fuckery that's is going on. That Dr. Atlas, will full awareness of the plot to kidnap and kill Gov. Whitmer Atlas and all the other Yes People should be taken to the cleaners and hung out to dry. I mean, I would never endorse of incite violence. Never!!

"The family of Quawan 'Bobby' Charles, local activists and other community members took to the streets of a small Louisiana town to demand transparency into the 15-year-old's disappearance and death."

"PNC (PNC) is spending billions to cement its place among America's largest banks… The Pittsburgh-based lender is buying the American unit of Spanish financial group BBVA (BBVA) for $11.6 billion, the companies said Monday." My animus against PNC is personal.

How go the Trade Wars? "Analysts said economic benefits of RCEP are modest and would take years to materialize. But the deal is a geopolitical victory for China at a time when the U.S. appears to be retreating from Asia-Pacific given President Donald Trump’s 'America First' foreign policy, they added." This is exactly what the TPP was meant to avoid.

And the people say, "Nope." "Peru's interim president resigned Sunday as the nation plunged into its worst constitutional crisis in two decades following massive protests unleashed when Congress ousted the nation's popular leader. In a short televised address, Manuel Merino said Congress acted within the law when he was sworn into office as chief of state Tuesday, despite protesters' allegations that legislators had staged a parliamentary coup."

"After languishing for more than a year, Judy Shelton's controversial nomination to the Federal Reserve's board of governors appears poised for Senate confirmation in the final weeks of the Trump administration."

"The Atlanta Press Club extended an invitation to Perdue and Ossoff to debate on Dec. 6, and while Ossoff accepted, Perdue declined, CNN reports. Ossoff was quick to call Perdue out, tweeting that he was 'too much of a coward to debate me again,' adding that Perdue 'can't defend his lies about COVID-19, self-dealing stock trades, his bigotry, or his votes to take away Georgians' health care. Senator, come on out and try to defend your record. I'm ready to go.'" When you can't defend your record you don't even try.

"A self-styled US Postal Service whistleblower who eventually walked back his claim that mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania were being backdated was in the same room as a man who appeared to be the right-wing activist James O'Keefe when he formalized his original accusations in an affidavit, as captured in video obtained by Business Insider." Coached all the way through.

"Ahead of a Tuesday hearing in the case, Trump’s campaign dropped its request in the lawsuit that hundreds of thousands of mail-in and absentee ballots — 682,479, to be precise — be thrown out because they were processed without its representatives able to watch."

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