As you know, I rarely post fund raisers here, but there are times I make exceptions. You may know Laura J Mixon from the number of links I've grokked from her over the years, or for the twitter thread on ME I posted yesterday. Laura and her husband, Steven J Gould, are wonderful writers and wonderful people in general. I met them when they were instructors at Viable Paradise XIII and they were kind and generous with their time and advice. (Grokked from Sarah Goslee)
"In about two hours, a pair of large plastic bins were full of what Hunter estimated was about 5,000 needles. Hunter started the syringe redemption program as a pilot in December and has been surprised by the response."
"Across the country there is now an urgency to getting workers vaccinated, but how to get there is up for debate. While many companies are offering monetary incentives and paid time off for getting the shots, a growing number of firms are telling their employees to get it done now… Hospitals and health systems have led the way, with about 1,750 issuing vaccine mandates so far, according to the American Hospital Association. But in recent weeks, companies outside health care have followed suit — United Airlines, Tyson Foods and Walmart among them."
"The Biden administration is expected later this week to recommend that the majority of Americans get a booster shot eight months after their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The boosters would be administered once the vaccines are fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off on them."
"Young children may be more likely to transmit the virus that causes COVID-19 within households compared with older children, a new study has found… Specifically, children 3 or younger were more likely to spread the virus to household members compared with those aged 14 to 17." Whuuuut… you mean the idea that kids can't get it or spread it is wrong?! What madness is this? Who could have foreseen that kids who :: checks notes :: need constant close contact with others and really won't wear masks or understand the need to wash hands and maintain distances would be a tremendous problem in the spread of disease. You know, except for everyone with an actual brain.
"Now that home prices have surpassed the peak that preceded the 2000s housing crash, many people are worried. Are we in another bubble? Or maybe the housing bubble a couple decades ago wasn't really a bubble? If so, then why was there a crash?… A new study by economists Gabriel Chodorow-Reich, Adam M. Guren & Timothy J. McQuade helps to explain the dynamics of our bonkers housing market."
"Shoppers in the U.S. cut back their purchases in July even more than expected as worries over the delta variant of Covid-19 dampened activity and government stimulus dried up… Retail sales for the month fell 1.1%, worse than the Dow Jones estimate of a 0.3% decline and below the upwardly revised 0.7% increase in June."
Or… "Walmart (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue and sales results, driven by store traffic and stimulus check spending that bolstered its footprint in grocery sales in the face of surging COVID-19 infections nationwide."
"Beltran is one of at least 384 workers who died from environmental heat exposure in the U.S. in the last decade, according to an investigation by NPR and Columbia Journalism Investigations, the investigative reporting unit of Columbia Journalism School. The count includes people toiling in essential yet often invisible jobs in 37 states across the country: farm laborers in California, construction and trash-collection workers in Texas and tree trimmers in North Carolina and Virginia. An analysis of federal data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the three-year average of worker heat deaths has doubled since the early 1990s."
"The Taliban declared an 'amnesty' across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed a day after deadly chaos gripped the main airport as desperate crowds tried to flee their rule." Ouch. I think I hurt myself from that side-eye. Of course they're going to play it cool while the world is watching (except for the outlying cities and regions where they will show their true selves first). It classic abusive behavior.
"It's been more than nine months since Election Day 2020, but as the nation's top election officials met in Iowa over the weekend, it was clear the shadow of that race will stretch far into the future of American democracy… The conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was somehow stolen from former President Donald Trump has upended almost all aspects of election administration: Local officials who a decade ago would have gone about their bureaucratic business in relative anonymity are facing threats and intense pressure, and a large chunk of American voters have no confidence the system is fair." Why, it's like someone is continuing to agitate and has worked hard to erode confidence in institutions. I know, crazy, right? Stay safe, my Russian friends.
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