Just a programming update. I work all these weekend (including Thanksgiving), and frankly, I feel tired and beat up from the last 4 years. So don't expect posts Thursday through Sunday this week unless something catastrophic happens. And given my previous track record on these predictions, you can expect at least one post.
"The strongest tropical cyclone ever measured in the northern Indian Ocean has made landfall in eastern Africa, where it is poised to drop two years' worth of rain in the next two days… Tropical Cyclone Gati made landfall in Somalia on Sunday with sustained winds of around 105 mph. It's the first recorded instance of a hurricane-strength system hitting the country. At one point before landfall, Gati's winds were measured at 115 mph."
"As the permafrost thaws with increasing rapidity, scientists' emerging challenge is to discover and identify the microbes, bacteria and viruses that may be stirring. Some of these microbes are known to scientists." We're boned. (Grokked from Dan)
"Chinese technicians were making final preparations Monday for a mission to bring back material from the moon’s surface for the first time in more than four decades — an undertaking that could boost human understanding of the moon and of the solar system more generally."
"The concept sends employees to individual insurance markets where they can find more choices for coverage. It also protects employers from huge annual cost spikes. But it’s a big change for workers who are used to having their employer give them benefit choices every year… This new approach — known as an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement or ICHRA — started with coverage plans for this year. More workers will likely see them offered this fall during their company’s annual sign-up window for 2021 coverage."
And then there were three… "U.K.-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has developed a vaccine that initial results show to be "highly effective in preventing" COVID-19, the company announced Monday… The vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, showed an average efficacy of 70% in preventing the coronavirus, according to the company. However, that is an average of two dosing regimens — one involving two full doses at least a month apart that proved to be 62% effective. A second regimen, involving a half dose followed by a full dose at least one month later was 90% effective, the company said."
"It has become the battle cry of public health officials around the world: 'Wear a mask to slow the spread.' Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new evidence supporting this advice… Researchers analyzed coronavirus infection rates in Kansas following a statewide mask mandate. They found that counties that chose to enforce the mandate saw their cases decrease. Counties that chose to opt out saw their cases continue to rise."
"Donald Trump appears to have admitted that coronavirus is 'running wild' across the US, in contrast with his statements throughout the election campaign that the country was 'rounding the turn' on the pandemic." Whelp, that only took :: looks at watch :: 8 months. Baby steps. I wish we were "rounding the turn" (something they've been saying since March), because if we're not, December is going to be extremely bad.
"In the past two weeks, the (University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha) had to convert an entire building into a COVID-19 tower, from the top down. It now has 10 COVID-19 units, each taking up an entire hospital floor. Three of the units provide intensive care to the very sickest people, several of whom die every day. One unit solely provides 'comfort care' to COVID-19 patients who are certain to die. 'We’ve never had to do anything like this,' Angela Hewlett, the infectious-disease specialist who directs the hospital’s COVID-19 team, told me. 'We are on an absolutely catastrophic path.'"
"Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered a three-week 'statewide pause' that starts Tuesday to fight the wildfire-like spread of coronavirus across Nevada, but said he was not yet ready to again shutter the state’s economy to battle spiraling infection rates and caseloads." A slow walked shut down by any other name.
"Since Gov. Ron DeSantis reopened Florida in late September, the number of reported Covid-19 cases per week in the state has tripled." Ya'll are gonna fuck up my vacation, aren't ya.
"U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler tested negative for the coronavirus on Sunday but will continue to self-quarantine as she awaits more results, the latest twist in a Jan. 5 runoff campaign that will determine control of the U.S. Senate." The tests are for shit. But while most tests are weighted toward the false positive, at least IMHO, these tests are weighted toward the false negative. Most of these tests are difficult to administer and a little tricky on the processing.
"U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Monday that a nationwide lockdown in England will be lifted next week, but the easing will come with conditions… Johnson told Parliament that the country’s coronavirus lockdown will end on Dec. 2, almost a month after this second lockdown was imposed. He is due to address the country later in the afternoon." He'll know if you've been naughty or nice.
"Hours after being released, L. Lin Wood of Atlanta, who is a member of Rittenhouse’s defense team, tweeted a photo of Rittenhouse, Ricky Schroder and attorney John Pierce, under a title of 'FREE AT LAST!!!' Lin earlier tweeted that a donation from Schroder helped put Rittenhouse’s bond fundraising effort 'over the top.'" Kyle is a murderer. He should be locked up.
"The men were detained in Yiwu, China, an international commercial hub on the country's wealthy east coast and home to a growing community of Muslims. The detentions are emblematic of increasingly harsh restrictions targeting spiritual and educational life for Muslims in China."
Will they or won't they… "Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has denied that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to the Gulf kingdom on Sunday to secretly meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman… 'No such meeting occurred,' Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud tweeted… Mr Netanyahu has declined to comment on the Israeli reports that he was on board a private jet that travelled from Tel Aviv to the Red Sea city of Neom."
"President Donald Trump is threatening to veto legislation to fund the military as one of his final acts in office unless a widely supported, bipartisan provision to rename military bases honoring Confederate military leaders is removed, according to White House, defense and congressional sources."
"Yes, Biden soundly defeated President Donald Trump — and there was even some partying in the streets — but the results were brutal down the ballot for Democrats in ways that could haunt them for years." The only good new is many states have enacted redistricting reforms since 2010. And yes, Democrats, you need to work on your ground game and communications. You still expect people to be able to see the truth and work out the implications of your initiatives beyond the immediate goal. You need to tell people explicitly where you stand, why you're fighting, and who stands to benefit. And tell them specifically how it'll work.
"In the two weeks since it became clear that President Trump lost the election to Joe Biden — a period bookended by befuddling press conferences from his longtime lawyer, Rudy Giuliani — the president has made it clear that he will spend his remaining days in the White House in the same way he spent much of his term in office: fighting."
"President Donald Trump appears to have cut ties with Sidney Powell, a key member of his legal team who also represents former national security adviser Michael Flynn in his long-running attempt to unravel a guilty plea for lying about his 2016 contacts with Russia… The abrupt shake-up came in a terse Sunday-evening statement from the Trump campaign that offered no explanation for Powell’s removal." You can't out-crazy the boss.
"Election officials in Wisconsin’s largest county accused observers for President Donald Trump on Saturday of seeking to obstruct a recount of the presidential results, in some instances by objecting to every ballot tabulators pulled to count."
"Georgia's nearly 5 million votes in the presidential race will be counted for a third time, as President Trump's campaign has formally asked for a recount because his loss is within the legal margin for that request."
"The envoy of Michigan Republican lawmakers who traveled to the White House Friday for a controversial meeting with President Donald Trump returned home Saturday… Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey refused to answer questions despite releasing a statement the day before. The Majority Leader was without Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield as he walked through Detroit Metro Airport. The Speaker and several other GOP legislators were on the trip."
"In a blistering decision, U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Matthew Brann dismissed the (Trump) campaign's lawsuit alleging that Republicans were disadvantaged because election officials in Democratic-leaning counties allowed voters to fix errors on their mail-in ballots."
"In the weeks before Election Day, the court weighed in on more than a dozen cases in a way that many portrayed as a mixed bag for voting rights—allowing voting expansions to stand in some cases and sharply curtailing them in others. But that scorecard approach obscures the principal effect of the court’s rulings: In all of the cases, regardless of whether the Trump campaign won or lost, the justices quietly—yet dramatically—rolled back Americans’ voting rights in ways that could do permanent harm—that is, unless Congress steps in."
"Citing the journalists' First Amendment protections, U.S. Judge Beryl Howell on Friday evening ordered U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack to stop interfering in the (Voice of America) news service's news coverage and editorial personnel matters. She struck a deep blow at Pack's authority to continue to force the news agency to cover the president more sympathetically."
"Of all the perks of being president, Donald Trump may soon miss most the legal protection that it affords… For four years, Trump has benefited from the de facto immunity from prosecution that all presidents enjoy while in office. But that cloak will pass to Joe Biden when he's sworn in on Jan. 20, leaving Trump out in the legal cold." There's a lot of calls (mostly from the right) for Biden to pardon Trump. This should never happen. We are in this position because Ford pardoned Nixon, and since then we have not held presidents to account for their actions in office. Plus most of Trump's legal jeopardy stems from actions before he took office.
"Few high-profile Republican members of Congress have publicly acknowledged Joe Biden's presidential win… And many Republican politicians have refused to denounce Trump's legal challenges and false allegations of widespread voter fraud… John Kasich, the former governor of Ohio who was a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, says it's because Republicans are 'either in complete lockstep with [Trump] or they're afraid of him.'" Thank you for weighing in, Capt. Obvious.
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