Linkee-poo Tuesday Aug 31

"After nearly 20 years, the last U.S. troops have left Afghanistan, concluding the United States’ longest war and the largest non-combatant evacuation mission in U.S. military history." See you in ten years.

"Taliban leaders declared victory over the United States from the tarmac of Kabul airport on Tuesday, hours after the withdrawal of the last American troops left Afghanistan in the grip of the militant group."

"That number added to more than 130 others over the past 10 days who had been smuggled into the airport encircled by Taliban fighters since the capital fell to the extremists on Aug. 16 by Task Force Pineapple, an ad hoc groups of current and former U.S. special operators, aid workers, intelligence officers and others with experience in Afghanistan who banded together to save as many Afghan allies as they could."

"A team of Arctic researchers from Denmark say they accidentally discovered what they believe is the world's northernmost island located off Greenland's coast."

"A ferocious wildfire swept toward Lake Tahoe on Tuesday just hours after roads were clogged with fleeing cars when the entire California resort city of South Lake Tahoe was ordered to evacuate and communities just across the state line in Nevada were warned to get ready to leave."

"Hurricane Ida's fierce Category 4 winds and torrential rain left the Louisiana coastline badly beaten… Images of the effected areas days after the storm show crushed homes, debris scattered across streets, and flooded neighborhoods."

"The extra heat acted as fuel for the storm. Heat is energy, and hurricanes with more energy have faster wind speeds and larger storm surges. As the Earth heats up, rapidly intensifying major hurricanes such as Ida are more likely to occur, scientists say."

"A new analysis of data from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and BirdLife International found that 30% of 557 raptor species worldwide are considered near threatened, vulnerable or endangered or critically endangered. Eighteen species are critically endangered, including the Philippine eagle, the hooded vulture and the Annobon scops owl, the researchers found."

"The effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines against hospitalization appears to drop over time among adults over 75, although it still remained above 80% at the end of July, according to an analysis released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention… The new data was presented Monday to the CDC's independent panel of vaccine experts, who met to discuss federal plans for a potential booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine next month."

"All around the world, there seem to be signs that immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19, doesn't last very long after you're vaccinated." Oh look, finally a news story that actually asks experts what waning antibody counts really means.

"The variant they are watching, called C.1.2, has popped up across South Africa as well as in seven other countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the researchers report. They're not sure whether its constellation of mutations will make it more dangerous, but it carries changes that have given other variants increased transmissibility and the ability to evade the immune system's response to some degree." Just because it's mutated doesn't mean it's worse. Although that it appears to be successfully competing with Delta is a concern.

"With delta surging, many hospitals around the country are again under strain. The federal government regularly releases detailed hospital-level data which show how many inpatient and ICU beds are in use on a weekly basis — and what portion of them are occupied by COVID-19 patients."

"The Florida Department of Education made good on a threat to withhold funding from local school districts that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis' ban on mask mandates… Just days after a state judge ruled that the governor's ban was unconstitutional, Florida's education commissioner on Monday announced the state was withholding funds from Alachua and Broward counties 'for their continued violation of state law.'" So much for the conservative mantra, "local control."

"At the center of the department's concerns, according to Monday's letters, are students with disabilities who may be at heightened risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Goldberg's letters say these investigations will focus on whether the state bans are discriminatory by preventing students with disabilities from safely returning to in-person education."

"An HIV vaccine using the same basic technology as Johnson & Johnson’s Covid shot failed to prevent infection, the company said Tuesday, dealing yet another blow to efforts to create a vaccine against the virus."

"Leaded gasoline's century-long reign of destruction is over… The final holdout, Algeria, used up the last of its stockpile of leaded gasoline in July. That's according to the U.N. Environment Programme, which has spent 19 years trying to eliminate leaded gasoline around the globe." Well that only took entirely too long.

"Euro zone inflation surged to a 10-year-high in August with further rises likely, challenging the European Central Bank’s benign view on price growth and its commitment to look past what it deems a temporary increase."

"A supply chain crunch that was meant to be temporary now looks like it will last well into next year as the surging delta variant upends factory production in Asia and disrupts shipping, posing more shocks to the world economy."

And yet… "China’s factory activity decelerated in August as export demand weakened, a survey showed Tuesday."

"Walgreens will hike starting pay to $15 an hour beginning in October, as employers across the United States continue boosting wages to attract workers."

"Automobile quality rose last year, but glitches in pairing smartphones with infotainment systems frustrated owners more than anything, according to a large U.S. survey of auto owners."A Fuck. Yes.

"A gang of armed robbers in Brazil carried out a series of deadly bank heists using human shields strapped to their getaway cars on Monday… The attackers targeted banks in the small city of Aracatuba in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo early Monday."

More guns make us safer… not. "Accidental gunshot deaths by children handling a gun jumped 31% during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to a year earlier, new data shows… There were 98 deaths that resulted from unintentional shootings by children from March through December 2019 compared to 128 over that same period in 2020, research by the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety shows." As my friend Jim Wright says, there are no accidents. Do not store you firearms where they can be accessed without your permission, do not store firearms loaded, do not store firearms and ammunition together, use trigger locks.

"The Democratic-led House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued orders to 35 social media and communications companies to preserve records, as the panel continues to expand its probe into the deadly riot."