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, February 1, 2021

Linkee-poo Monday Feb 1

Kathleen Ann Goonan, and so it goes.

"Captain Sir Tom Moore has been admitted to hospital with coronavirus, his daughter said… The 100-year-old, who raised almost £33m for the NHS, was taken to Bedford Hospital after requiring help with his breathing, Hannah Ingram-Moore said on Twitter." You may remember Cpt. Moore from his NHS fundraiser, which he did laps around his garden using his walker.

"A leading infectious disease expert predicted on Sunday that the deadlier British variant of Covid-19 will become the dominant strain of the virus in the US and could hit the country like a hurricane."

"The global rollout of coronavirus vaccines was never going to be easy. But it quickly descended into frustration at home and nationalistic acrimony abroad as countries around the world deal with a maelstrom of logistical and political challenges… All 50 states in the U.S. are reporting shortages as America's fragmented administrative and health care systems struggle to distribute even the limited vaccine stocks that have been produced." There was no plan.

"Philly Fighting Covid's promise of efficiently vaccinating the population was an alluring one as city leaders were desperate to pull out the pandemic. Doroshin told NBC's Today show that his company didn't think like a traditional medical institution. 'We're engineers, we're scientists, computer scientists, we're cybersecurity nerds. We think a little differently than people in health care do.'" And the plan went down in flames. How's your "disruption economics" working now?

"Congressman Stephen Lynch, a Democrat from Massachusetts, tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine earlier this month. Lynch is one of several members of Congress who have tested positive for the virus in recent weeks." Yes, the vaccine is not 100% protection. There's still a chance you will get sick. And then there's the language of the press releases where the vaccine "prevents severe symptoms" in patients.

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a sweeping order late Friday requiring the use of face masks on nearly all forms of public transportation Monday as the country continues to report thousands of daily COVID-19 deaths." Wear the goddamn mask.

"The average number of Latino residents dying from coronavirus each day in Los Angeles county has increased by more than 1,000% since November, according to county public health officials… Los Angeles is battling one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in the US, amid a winter surge that has left hospitals across the region overwhelmed. LA county’s Latino population has faced the brunt of the crisis." The virus may not be racist, but it will exploit the disparities of a racist system.

"AstraZeneca will deliver nine million additional doses to the European Union in the first quarter of this year, bringing the total number of doses to 40 million, but falling well short of earlier supply promises." Not to harsh anyone's mellow, but they couldn't make their previous numbers.

"Police in Rochester released two body-camera videos Sunday of officers restraining a distraught 9-year-old girl who was handcuffed and sprayed with what police called a chemical 'irritant.'… The Democrat and Chronicle reported that prior to the release of the videos, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren expressed her concern for the 'child that was harmed during this incident that happened on Friday.'"

How's Brexit working out? "The European Union reversed a brief decision to try to restrict the export of COVID-19 vaccines across the border from Ireland into Northern Ireland… European vaccination campaigns have been struggling as supplies of vaccines on the continent have run low. The decision to invoke an emergency protocol of the Brexit deal was seen as an effort to keep supplies from going from the EU to Britain."

"Since the Robinhood mobile trading app temporarily blocked its customers from buying stock in GameStop (GME), AMC (AMC) Entertainment, and 11 other companies last Thursday, it has been hit with at least 33 federal lawsuits across the country. Filed in 10 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, and New York, most seek class action status and allege violations of securities laws or consumer protection statutes."

"The meteoric rise in GameStop's stock price is being called a short squeeze by most. But that's not what's happening, says one expert, and that could mean that if and when the short squeeze does come GameStop's price could soar significantly higher than current levels." GameStop is now being shorted even more than before. Now it becomes a game of "who has more money." If I had helped GameStop beat the first short sellers and the price was above my entry point, I would get out. Because even if this movement is able to bankrupt these short sellers, it's doubtful they could hold up the 3rd round.

"Move over GameStop, Reddit mania is spreading to the precious metals market… Silver futures surged as much as 13% to Monday, touching five-month highs. That follows a 6% rally last week." I would beware these moves at the moment as they may have started as a benign way to lose money (and much money will be lost, and not just by the hedge funds) and stick it to "the man", the scene is now set for long time pump and dumpers to get involved.

"A critical shortage of containers is driving up shipping costs and delays for goods purchased from China… The pandemic and uneven global economic recovery has led to this problem cropping up in Asia, although other parts of the world have also been hit. Industry watchers said desperate companies wait weeks for containers and pay premium rates to get them, causing shipping costs to skyrocket."

"Thousands of Hong Kongers have already made the sometimes painful decision to leave behind their hometown and move to Britain since Beijing imposed a strict national security law on the Chinese territory last summer. Their numbers are expected to swell to the hundreds of thousands."

"Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's civilian government, urged people across the country to oppose a military takeover of the country on Monday… Suu Kyi and other leading officials were detained the day before legislators elected in November were due to start a new parliamentary term in office."

"Myanmar's military says it is taking control of the country in a coup against the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained along with other National League for Democracy leaders on Monday… The army said that power would be transferred to Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, in a statement broadcast on military-owned television that also declared a one-year state of emergency, Reuters reported."

"Thousands of people took to the streets Sunday across Russia’s vast expanse to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up a wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Over 1,000 were detained by police, according to a monitoring group." Stay safe, my Russian friends.

"An investigation into what sickened 11 soldiers who ingested an unauthorized substance shows they drank an industrial compound found in antifreeze believing it was alcohol following a 10-day field training exercise at Fort Bliss in Texas, U.S. Army officials said Friday."

"A Dutch court has delivered a major victory to a group of Nigerian farmers in their 13-year-long effort to hold Shell's Nigerian subsidiary accountable for oil spills on their lands… The Court of Appeal in The Hague sided with farmers and environmentalists on most of their legal claims, ruling that the Nigerian subsidiary owes the farmers financial compensation for the oil spill pollution in two villages."

From the middle of last month, so some of what they discuss, especially GOP members positions, is outdated, but still worth it. "Evidence shows that insurrectionists used the walkie-talkie app Zello to help organize the riot at the capitol. On this week’s On the Media, a look at how the platform has resisted oversight, despite warnings that it was enabling right-wing extremism. Plus, how to sniff out the real corporate boycotts from the PR facades. And, how to build social media that doesn't exploit users for profit." And then, from just after the attempted insurrection, "On this week’s On The Media, journalists struggle to find the words to describe what happened at the capitol on Wednesday. Was it a riot? A mob? An insurrection? Plus, why supporters of the president’s baseless election fraud theories keep invoking the 'lost cause' myth of the confederacy. And, taking a second look at 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.'"

"And by cleaning house, Pascrell says everyone — the six current members of the board of governors, and the Postal Service's top leadership, including Postmaster General Louis DeJoy — should be removed."

"It's a last-minute, last-ditch effort at bipartisanship coming just days before House and Senate Democrats were expected to move on the first step of their efforts to pass a coronavirus relief bill along party lines… The bottom line: The chances that President Joe Biden's meeting with 10 Republican senators changes the final trajectory of Biden's first big legislative push are slim."

"GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and her staff allegedly 'berated' House Democrat Cori Bush of Missouri, who said Friday she’s moving her office away from Greene’s 'for my team’s safety.'… Bush also said in a tweet that the Georgia Republican 'targeted me & others on social media.'"

"Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has removed dozens of Facebook posts from 2018 and 2019 in which she endorsed fringe conspiracy theories and repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians… Searches of Greene's Facebook show the posts from 2018 and 2019 have been removed. Links saved by CNN's KFile during a review of hundreds of posts and comments from Greene's Facebook page are no longer available." Blame it on the intern.

"The list is long of the baseless conspiracy theories that Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has embraced. She's denied that a plane hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11; supported the idea that the Parkland school shooting was a 'false flag' operation meant to usher in tighter gun laws; seemed to agree that Hillary Clinton was recorded 'filleting' a child's face."

"With just over a week before his second impeachment trial begins, former President Donald Trump's legal defense team is in flux after at least two key departures… Two of his lead impeachment lawyers, Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, and Trump parted ways, a source familiar with the matter told NPR. The South Carolina-based lawyers' departure was a 'mutual decision,' the person said, but no explanation was given." Remember when Butch Bowers was brought on and how that was a major change. Could be with the vote to dismiss narrowly loosing, Trump is cutting his expenses.

"Former President Donald Trump has named two new attorneys to head up his impeachment defense ahead of next week's trial in the Senate… Trump was in need of new representation following the reported departure of all five members of his defense team this weekend. Now leading the team are attorneys David Schoen and Bruce Castor Jr. — both experienced in criminal defense." Notice how Trump, from his team, is not referred to as "the former president", but instead "the 45th President." It's ego and a need for validation. It's also a direct attack on the democratic process. Trump is no longer president.

"Donald Trump may have left the White House, but his shadow still looms large in Washington and the Republican party as the Senate prepares for his second impeachment trial… The 50 Republicans in the Senate are grappling with how to appease Trump’s supporters, who still make up a hefty share of the party’s base, while acknowledging that the former president incited the 6 January attack on the US Capitol."

"Dozens of Republicans in former President George W. Bush's administration are leaving the party, dismayed by a failure of many elected Republicans to disown Donald Trump after his false claims of election fraud sparked a deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol last month… These officials, some who served in the highest echelons of the Bush administration, said they had hoped that a Trump defeat would lead party leaders to move on from the former president and denounce his baseless claims that the November presidential election was stolen."

"In the week from Jan. 6 through Jan. 12, about 4,600 Republicans changed their party status in Colorado, according to a CPR News analysis. There was no comparable effect with any other party. CPR News was able to contact dozens of them by tracking changes in the state's voter file."

"Active military personnel and veterans are over-represented among the first 150 people to be arrested and have records released for federal offenses in the violence and insurrection at the US Capitol."

"Many involved in the insurrection professed to be motivated by patriotism, falsely declaring that Trump was the rightful winner of the election. Yet at least eight of the people who are now facing criminal charges for their involvement in the events at the Capitol did not vote in the November 2020 presidential election, according to,/a .an analysis of voting records from the states where protestors were arrested and those states where public records show they have lived." Doesn't really mean anything, but it's an interesting anecdote.

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