"Hurricane Sally made landfall early Wednesday morning near the Alabama and Florida border, with catastrophic flooding rainfall, damaging storm surge and strong winds. Sally will spread the threat of flooding rainfall well inland across the Southeast through early Friday."
"The Trump Team has a plan to not fight climate change… It may take decades to see the worst effects of global warming. Yet Jim Reilly, the director of the US Geological Survey, is committed to short-term thinking."
"Smoke from the wildfires ravaging much of the US West Coast has spread to the east of the country, casting a haze over New York and Washington DC… They have also caused some of the most unhealthy air on the planet in several western states."
"President Donald Trump again contradicted his own health officials' coronavirus statements -- this time on the importance of mask wearing and the timing for a vaccine… And he demeaned Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying the doctor was 'confused' in his congressional testimony." In an autocracy, only the leader's opinion is valid. "'Yesterday he was pointing to a quote, that event Dr. (Anthony) Fauci has noted, which is that masks can have unintended consequences. While we support wearing them, and it's patriotic to do so, the unintended consequence can be inappropriate usage,' (White House Press Secretary) McEnany said." That's not "unintended consequences", that's just poor aseptic technique. The same can be true if servers and wait staff don't wash their hands after using the bathroom. This isn't the mask's fault.
"President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that a White House staff member tested positive for the coronavirus."
"Preterm deliveries appear to be linked to coronavirus infections, according to a new study on COVID-19 and pregnancy published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC report also tracked miscarriages and stillbirths in patients with the virus."
"Health systems across the southern hemisphere were bracing a few months ago for their annual surge in influenza cases, which alongside Covid-19 could have overwhelmed hospitals. They never came… Many countries in the southern half of the globe have instead experienced either record low levels of flu or none at all, public health specialists in Australia, New Zealand and South America have said, sparing potentially tens of thousands of lives and offering a glimmer of hope as winter approaches in the northern hemisphere." Whispers, because they're still in lock down and have, mostly, effected precautions like wearing masks and social distancing. They also have been, for the most part, able to control COVID spread.
"In written responses to the House Committee on Natural Resources obtained by NPR, Major Adam DeMarco of the D.C. National Guard said he was copied on an email from the Provost Marshal of Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region. He was looking for two things: a long range acoustic device, a kind of sound cannon known as an LRAD, and a device called the Active Denial System, or ADS… It uses millimeter wave technology to essentially heat the skin of people targeted by its invisible ray." Also, the use of LRAD is not so everyone can hear, it's to create a painful, deafening noise. To inform the crowd they must disperse all you need are regular megaphones.
"The Trump administration’s crackdown has already led to more than 300 arrests on federal crimes in the protests that erupted following the death of George Floyd. An AP analysis of the data shows that while many are accused of violent crimes like arson for hurling Molotov cocktails and burning police cars and assault for injuring law enforcement, others are not — prompting criticism that at least some arrests are a politically motivated effort to stymie demonstrations."
How goes Brexit? "The Bank of England has warned that the rising rate of coronavirus infections and a lack of clarity over the UK's future trade relationship with the EU could threaten the economic recovery… It said much of output lost during lockdown had been recovered but the outlook remained 'unusually uncertain'."
How go the Trade Wars? "We can now say, officially, that Trump's trade war with China is an unmitigated, farcical disaster… The World Trade Orginization — a body the US once helped design —ruled that Trump's initial salvo of tariffs on Chinese goods were in violation of WTO rules. Symbolically this ruling crystalizes the fact that this trade war was a breach of the US's own principles."
"The WTO sided with a complaint from China over tariffs imposed on about $234 billion of goods in 2018. The panel found that the tariffs violated several rules, including one that countries apply equal tariff rates to all member trading partners."
"U.S. calls off tariffs on Canadian aluminum — for now… U.S. hit pause on 10 per cent tariff but could re-impose the levy after the November presidential election." But the tariffs on wood products is still in place.
Good news, everybody… "First-time claims for unemployment insurance beat Wall Street estimates last week as the U.S. economy enters a critical new stage… Filings totaled 860,000 for the week ended Sept. 12, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected 875,000, against the previous week’s upwardly revised 893,000." Or, ya know, the other thing.
"'We thought it was done,' (Comedian Jon) Stewart said, 'but it turns out that the veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering the same illnesses and the same toxic exposures, because of the actions of our own government.'… Hundreds of thousands of troops have signed on the VA's registry for those who believe they were exposed to burn pits. His voice filled with anger, Stewart said lawmakers should try creating burn pits in the towns of their home districts."
"A payroll company owned by Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's personal attorney, took between $150,000 and $350,000 in taxpayer-backed emergency small business loans this spring. It's unclear what Giuliani did with the money… Giuliani initially told Salon he was ignorant of the purpose of this company, which has handled payroll needs across more than 18 years and lists him as CEO. Financial experts tell Salon that one of two scenarios is likely true: Either Giuliani directly employs a number of people through this unknown company, and pays them substantial salaries, or the company misrepresented its finances to the government when it applied for the loan — which would likely constitute fraud, a felony." It's like they just can't help themselves.
"President Trump took to Twitter Wednesday to call for another round of direct stimulus payments as the country looks to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic… Calling Democrats 'heartless,' the president made his case for Congress coming together to pass a more robust COVID relief package." Dear Mr President, talk to your good friend Mitch McConnell, he's the one holding up the plan the House passed 3 months ago.
"As explosive allegations were coming to light about immigrant women who say they've been subjected to unwanted hysterectomies and other gynecological procedures, one of those detainees was put on a plane back to her home country… Pauline Binam was nearly deported Wednesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Cameroon, a country she left when she was 2 years old. Binam, now 30, was on the tarmac when members of Congress say they intervened."
"The nerve agent used to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detected on an empty water bottle from his hotel room in the Siberian city of Tomsk, suggesting he was poisoned there and not at the airport as first thought, his team said on Thursday."
"The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, on Wednesday refused to say which administration officials were working on a healthcare plan that President Donald Trump has long promised to unveil and recently said was 'all ready'… During the White House press briefing, CNN's Kaitlan Collins pointed out that three top healthcare officials in the Trump administration had said during testimony before a Senate committee that they were unaware of Trump's Obamacare replacement plan… McEnany responded that 'a wide array' of White House officials and 'multiple stakeholders,' including the Domestic Policy Council, were working on the plan." Because there is no plan.
"Michael Caputo, the top spokesman at the Department of Health and Human Services, is taking a two-month leave of absence from his post, the department announced Wednesday, a day after he apologized for a conspiracy theory-laden rant he made against career government scientists in which he accused them of 'sedition' and working to undermine President Donald Trump."
"As Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden continues to maintain his national lead over President Donald Trump, some Senate Republicans have indicated that they're willing to work with Democrats if he wins the election." This should be one of those "not actually a story" story, but for some of these GOP Senators, this could be troublesome. Also note that this is only happening because they feel they're about to be "out of power" and can't stall working with the president because he will be white (unlike McConnell's refusal to work with President Obama). Also, more than likely they will also lose control of the Senate this Fall (or at least it's better than 50/50), so this is the only way they'd be able to get anything done. We aren't at the point of "we will never compromise on our values!" yet. And Graham's statement is aimed at wooing back some less hard core conservatives to his side (as he's neck-and-neck with his challenger), but he's forgotten that his supporters are all still on the "never compromise" tile.
"Attorney General William Barr argued Wednesday that coronavirus-related lockdown orders were surpassed only by slavery as the 'greatest intrusion on civil liberties' in the nation’s history." Just to make the point that Barr is completely unhinged. And about his comment regarding junior prosecutors, it's also true that large corporations that are micromanaged from the top are doomed to fail. This is why you have managers. Also, he's not interfering with low-level prosecutions, he's interfering with prosecutions that take whole offices and include senior prosecutors.
And talking about using the DoJ as a political tool… "Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on Wednesday said a report that Attorney General William Barr suggested prosecutors consider filing charges against her is 'chilling and the latest abuse of power from the Trump administration.'… Barr, The New York Times reported, asked prosecutors in the Justice Department's civil rights division to investigate if they could charge Durkan as a result of protests this summer, when some protesters established a police-free zone in downtown Seattle."
"A televised town hall in Philadelphia exposed holes in the president’s explanation of basic facts about the coronavirus, health insurance and stock ownership in America. He fielded pointed questions from undecided voters in the swing state of Pennsylvania covering immigration reform, systemic racism, his attitudes toward the military and views on police officers’ treatment and use of unnecessary force. As top Trump aides watched from a control room, with ABC News determining the ground rules and participants, Trump dodged and blustered his way around pointed questions and fact-checks — skipping moment after moment that most politicians would have seized as slam-dunk opportunities to connect with voters’ everyday concerns."
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Linkee-poo late Wednesday
"Part of a bridge collapsed in Pensacola as 30 inches of rain and storm surge turned streets into white-capped rivers Wednesday morning after Hurricane Sally lurched ashore the Gulf Coast… Sally's strong winds battered Alabama and Florida as the center moved over the Panhandle by afternoon. In Pensacola, Florida, a section of the Pensacola Bay Bridge collapsed, and downtown was largely underwater." We're almost out of names for this hurricane season… and it's only September.
"Giant flares and eruptions from the sun can cause space weather, and stormy space weather can interfere with everything from satellites to the electrical grid to airplane communications. Now, though, there's good news for people who monitor the phenomenon — the sun has passed from one of its 11-year activity cycles into another, and scientists predict that the new cycle should be just about as calm as the last."
"Two of Antarctica's most important glaciers are breaking free from their restraints, a new study reports… This potentially has major consequences for rising sea levels around the world."
"More than 7,400 patients likely caught the coronavirus while seeking care for other conditions in U.S. hospitals between mid-May and mid-July, data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided The Wall Street Journal shows… The data, reported by half of U.S. hospitals to the CDC, indicates hospitals have struggled to prevent contagion within their walls, but experts don't want people to panic. Hospitals are still considered safe and seem to be improving at containing the virus, and the risk of becoming infected has remained low throughout the pandemic. Dr. Meghan Baker, an epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, told the Journal that avoiding hospitals out of fear of becoming infected with the virus is actually the 'bigger public health risk.'" Ta-da! And I guess relaxing standards of precautions is somehow "improving at containing the virus."
"Top Trump administration health officials testified Wednesday that a vaccine for COVID-19 is not likely to be widely available until next spring or summer, and that wearing a mask, in the words of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, remains 'the most important, powerful public health tool we have.'" Jazz hands.
"Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to push for in-person instruction across the Sunshine State. Even though his administration has released county-level data that indicates the 26% jump, it has not released school-level Covid-19 data for all K-12 public schools, which CNN began asking the state Department of Health for on August 31. On September 2 -- nearly two weeks ago -- state officials said by email the data would be released in the coming days and weeks… But still, the state hasn't provided this key information."
"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has admitted that the U.K. does not have enough testing capacity but said that the government was hoping that capacity will be up to 500,000 tests per day by the end of October." Just like in the US, adequate testing is coming Real Soon Now™.
"Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended the coronavirus testing system, saying it is trying to meet a 'colossal spike' in demand." We didn't know there would be such a run on cake…
"Eight people in Indonesia who refused to wear masks in public were ordered by a local official to dig graves for COVID-19 victims." Yet here, we can't force you to wear a mask.
"Florida‘s Republican governor will end a Trump program to boost unemployment benefits to out-of-work Americans because the state’s bare-bones jobless program is too poor to continue qualifying for the federal boost."
"'We think about ourselves in terms of being on a certain rung with some people above us, and other people below us. Where we think we stand on that ladder tells you a lot about a person's life and their life outcomes'… This week on Hidden Brain, we explore the psychology of inequality."
"The Justice Department announced charges on Wednesday against five Chinese nationals in connection with the hacking of more than 100 American and foreign companies as well as of nonprofits and universities."
"Barbados wants to remove Britain's Queen Elizabeth as its head of state and become a republic, the Caribbean island nation's government has said, reviving a plan mooted several times in the past."
"In a stunning podcast released by the Department of Health and Human Services, two top officials at the department repeatedly downplayed the COVID-19 pandemic, railed against mitigation efforts, called closures of in-person schooling 'nonsense,' and said US journalists do not '[give] a damn about public health information.'"
"A sweeping congressional inquiry into the development and certification of Boeing's troubled 737 Max airplane finds damning evidence of failures at both Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration that "played instrumental and causative roles" in two fatal crashes that killed a total of 346 people."
"GOP senators, during floor speeches and press conferences this week, are pointing to chatter that a Democratic-controlled Senate could nix the 60-vote filibuster to make their case to voters that the party has shifted too far to the left in the run up to the election." I wonder what it means when they were discussing nixing the filibuster just 4 years ago, or that they eliminated the filibuster for most appointments (especially judgeships).
"(Trump) recently renewed his promise to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood. He drew bipartisan praise for brokering an agreement that’s expected to boost Israel’s influence in the Middle East. And he released an updated list of Supreme Court nominees on Wednesday… But so far, President Donald Trump’s overtures to religious voters appear to be falling flat."
Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "That is why we are announcing our Commitment to America with three specific objectives: restore our way of life, rebuild the greatest economy in history, and renew the American dream." That's part of the problem, those aren't specifics. Those are generalities. There's no definition of those things, and there's no roadmap to achieve them. Also, they could have done all these things already. But conservatives just don't give a shit. "To restore our way of life, we will work to triple rapid testing nationwide, deliver a vaccine that is safe, effective, and available by the end of the year…" Even if you win back the majority, Rep. McCarthy, the new congress will not sit until after January. How the fuck will your new majority deliver that vaccine by the end of the year (and isn't this already in the works)?
"Giant flares and eruptions from the sun can cause space weather, and stormy space weather can interfere with everything from satellites to the electrical grid to airplane communications. Now, though, there's good news for people who monitor the phenomenon — the sun has passed from one of its 11-year activity cycles into another, and scientists predict that the new cycle should be just about as calm as the last."
"Two of Antarctica's most important glaciers are breaking free from their restraints, a new study reports… This potentially has major consequences for rising sea levels around the world."
"More than 7,400 patients likely caught the coronavirus while seeking care for other conditions in U.S. hospitals between mid-May and mid-July, data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided The Wall Street Journal shows… The data, reported by half of U.S. hospitals to the CDC, indicates hospitals have struggled to prevent contagion within their walls, but experts don't want people to panic. Hospitals are still considered safe and seem to be improving at containing the virus, and the risk of becoming infected has remained low throughout the pandemic. Dr. Meghan Baker, an epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, told the Journal that avoiding hospitals out of fear of becoming infected with the virus is actually the 'bigger public health risk.'" Ta-da! And I guess relaxing standards of precautions is somehow "improving at containing the virus."
"Top Trump administration health officials testified Wednesday that a vaccine for COVID-19 is not likely to be widely available until next spring or summer, and that wearing a mask, in the words of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, remains 'the most important, powerful public health tool we have.'" Jazz hands.
"Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to push for in-person instruction across the Sunshine State. Even though his administration has released county-level data that indicates the 26% jump, it has not released school-level Covid-19 data for all K-12 public schools, which CNN began asking the state Department of Health for on August 31. On September 2 -- nearly two weeks ago -- state officials said by email the data would be released in the coming days and weeks… But still, the state hasn't provided this key information."
"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has admitted that the U.K. does not have enough testing capacity but said that the government was hoping that capacity will be up to 500,000 tests per day by the end of October." Just like in the US, adequate testing is coming Real Soon Now™.
"Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended the coronavirus testing system, saying it is trying to meet a 'colossal spike' in demand." We didn't know there would be such a run on cake…
"Eight people in Indonesia who refused to wear masks in public were ordered by a local official to dig graves for COVID-19 victims." Yet here, we can't force you to wear a mask.
"Florida‘s Republican governor will end a Trump program to boost unemployment benefits to out-of-work Americans because the state’s bare-bones jobless program is too poor to continue qualifying for the federal boost."
"'We think about ourselves in terms of being on a certain rung with some people above us, and other people below us. Where we think we stand on that ladder tells you a lot about a person's life and their life outcomes'… This week on Hidden Brain, we explore the psychology of inequality."
"The Justice Department announced charges on Wednesday against five Chinese nationals in connection with the hacking of more than 100 American and foreign companies as well as of nonprofits and universities."
"Barbados wants to remove Britain's Queen Elizabeth as its head of state and become a republic, the Caribbean island nation's government has said, reviving a plan mooted several times in the past."
"In a stunning podcast released by the Department of Health and Human Services, two top officials at the department repeatedly downplayed the COVID-19 pandemic, railed against mitigation efforts, called closures of in-person schooling 'nonsense,' and said US journalists do not '[give] a damn about public health information.'"
"A sweeping congressional inquiry into the development and certification of Boeing's troubled 737 Max airplane finds damning evidence of failures at both Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration that "played instrumental and causative roles" in two fatal crashes that killed a total of 346 people."
"GOP senators, during floor speeches and press conferences this week, are pointing to chatter that a Democratic-controlled Senate could nix the 60-vote filibuster to make their case to voters that the party has shifted too far to the left in the run up to the election." I wonder what it means when they were discussing nixing the filibuster just 4 years ago, or that they eliminated the filibuster for most appointments (especially judgeships).
"(Trump) recently renewed his promise to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood. He drew bipartisan praise for brokering an agreement that’s expected to boost Israel’s influence in the Middle East. And he released an updated list of Supreme Court nominees on Wednesday… But so far, President Donald Trump’s overtures to religious voters appear to be falling flat."
Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "That is why we are announcing our Commitment to America with three specific objectives: restore our way of life, rebuild the greatest economy in history, and renew the American dream." That's part of the problem, those aren't specifics. Those are generalities. There's no definition of those things, and there's no roadmap to achieve them. Also, they could have done all these things already. But conservatives just don't give a shit. "To restore our way of life, we will work to triple rapid testing nationwide, deliver a vaccine that is safe, effective, and available by the end of the year…" Even if you win back the majority, Rep. McCarthy, the new congress will not sit until after January. How the fuck will your new majority deliver that vaccine by the end of the year (and isn't this already in the works)?
Linkee-poo Wednesday Sept 16
Sorry, not able to read much this morning, so a short one for now.
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency fails to help tens of thousands of people whose homes have repeatedly flooded, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security… A 2004 law requires FEMA to keep a list of homes that have repeatedly flooded, and prioritize those homes for federal assistance. But the new report finds that FEMA's list is rife with errors and that nothing has been done to reduce the flood risk for most of the nearly 38,000 homes on the list." Breaking government.
"First Oaxaca's state legislature passed a ban on selling or giving out high-calorie packaged foods and sugar-sweetened drinks to minors on Aug. 5. Less than two weeks later, Tabasco state approved a prohibition, too. Now at least a dozen other states are considering similar legislation." Now they need to make sure there are "healthy" alternatives available and affordable.
"In fact, Wards Intelligence, an automotive research and analytics firm, found that vehicle production in North America has returned nearly to pre-virus levels — a remarkable recovery… But staffing levels within most plants, according to Orbital Insight's data, have not fully recovered… One challenge is absenteeism — a word that might bring to mind people playing hooky, but which actually covers all the reasons someone might not show up for work… And during a pandemic, there are lots of reasons workers might not show up, from not having child care to waiting for a COVID-19 test result, or even being quarantined after a positive result." Again, the economic shock of COVID didn't create these fault lines in the economy, it's just exposing them.
"The top communications official at the powerful cabinet department in charge of combating the coronavirus made outlandish and false accusations on Sunday that career government scientists were engaging in 'sedition' in their handling of the pandemic and that left-wing hit squads were preparing for armed insurrection after the election." Paranoia strikes deep… I would say this is someone in need of a "break", but I'm worried that's not the case here (or not entirely the case). Later news is Caputo is taking a "leave of absense." Governing is actually pretty hard and if you're not all that stable to begin with, the cracks appear quickly.
Such as… "Citing widely debunked claims of fraud around early voting, absentee balloting and voting by mail, (Roger) Stone told Jones Trump should consider invoking the Insurrection Act and arresting the Clintons, former Senate majority leader Harry Reid, Zuckerberg, Tim Cook of Apple and 'anybody else who can be proven to be involved in illegal activity'."
And… "Michael Scheuer calls Black Lives Matter a 'terrorist organization' and a 'semi-human mob.' On his blog and his podcast, Scheuer rages against a widespread, treasonous conspiracy targeting not only President Trump but the fundamental character of the American republic. It deserves 'punishment... we’ve not seen before in this country.'"
"Six members of a post-Soviet security bloc led by Russia will hold joint military drills in Belarus from Oct. 12-16, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday." That's, um, worrying.
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency fails to help tens of thousands of people whose homes have repeatedly flooded, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security… A 2004 law requires FEMA to keep a list of homes that have repeatedly flooded, and prioritize those homes for federal assistance. But the new report finds that FEMA's list is rife with errors and that nothing has been done to reduce the flood risk for most of the nearly 38,000 homes on the list." Breaking government.
"First Oaxaca's state legislature passed a ban on selling or giving out high-calorie packaged foods and sugar-sweetened drinks to minors on Aug. 5. Less than two weeks later, Tabasco state approved a prohibition, too. Now at least a dozen other states are considering similar legislation." Now they need to make sure there are "healthy" alternatives available and affordable.
"In fact, Wards Intelligence, an automotive research and analytics firm, found that vehicle production in North America has returned nearly to pre-virus levels — a remarkable recovery… But staffing levels within most plants, according to Orbital Insight's data, have not fully recovered… One challenge is absenteeism — a word that might bring to mind people playing hooky, but which actually covers all the reasons someone might not show up for work… And during a pandemic, there are lots of reasons workers might not show up, from not having child care to waiting for a COVID-19 test result, or even being quarantined after a positive result." Again, the economic shock of COVID didn't create these fault lines in the economy, it's just exposing them.
"The top communications official at the powerful cabinet department in charge of combating the coronavirus made outlandish and false accusations on Sunday that career government scientists were engaging in 'sedition' in their handling of the pandemic and that left-wing hit squads were preparing for armed insurrection after the election." Paranoia strikes deep… I would say this is someone in need of a "break", but I'm worried that's not the case here (or not entirely the case). Later news is Caputo is taking a "leave of absense." Governing is actually pretty hard and if you're not all that stable to begin with, the cracks appear quickly.
Such as… "Citing widely debunked claims of fraud around early voting, absentee balloting and voting by mail, (Roger) Stone told Jones Trump should consider invoking the Insurrection Act and arresting the Clintons, former Senate majority leader Harry Reid, Zuckerberg, Tim Cook of Apple and 'anybody else who can be proven to be involved in illegal activity'."
And… "Michael Scheuer calls Black Lives Matter a 'terrorist organization' and a 'semi-human mob.' On his blog and his podcast, Scheuer rages against a widespread, treasonous conspiracy targeting not only President Trump but the fundamental character of the American republic. It deserves 'punishment... we’ve not seen before in this country.'"
"Six members of a post-Soviet security bloc led by Russia will hold joint military drills in Belarus from Oct. 12-16, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday." That's, um, worrying.
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Linkee-poo Tuesday Sept 15
"Hurricane Sally is moving toward the Gulf Coast, threatening to bring possible historic flooding and "extreme life-threatening" flash flooding, according to forecasters… As of Tuesday morning, the storm was located about 65 miles east of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 105 miles south-southeast of Biloxi, Mississippi. Maximum sustained winds were 85 mph, with stronger gusts. It was moving northwest at 2 mph."
"The mammoth wildfires torching much of three states have already claimed 36 lives. Now, friends and families worry about 22 people missing as infernos in rural Oregon make it too dangerous to search for them."
"President Donald Trump on Monday baselessly asserted that climate change is not playing a role in the catastrophic wildfires overtaking forests across the west, rebutting an official briefing him who pleaded for the President listen to the science… 'I don't think science knows, actually,' Trump said at a Monday briefing with officials in McClellan Park, California, with a laugh." Our stable-genius president, everybody.
"Wildfires blazed along the Arctic Circle this summer, incinerating tundra, blanketing Siberian cities in smoke and capping the second extraordinary fire season in a row. By the time the fire season waned at the end of last month, the blazes had emitted a record 244 megatonnes of carbon dioxide — that’s 35% more than last year, which also set records. One culprit, scientists say, could be peatlands that are burning as the top of the world melts."
"Scientists at North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk, Russia, on Monday announced a finding of 'great importance' — a preserved Ice Age cave bear carcass, estimated to be to be between 22,000 and 39,500 years old."
"The type of pollution emitted by many chemical plants in Louisiana's industrial corridor is correlated with increased coronavirus deaths, according to new peer-reviewed research from SUNY and ProPublica." Not exactly shocking. Hazardous air pollution weakens the immune system and compromises the lungs.
"University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers isolated the smallest biological molecule to date that neutralizes the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to a report published Monday in the journal Cell. The antibody component is 10 times smaller than a full-sized antibody and has been used to create a drug known as Ab8 for use as a therapeutic and preventative against SARS-CoV-2, the report says… The researchers reported that Ab8 is 'highly effective' in preventing and treating SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice and hamsters." This essentially is like the use of convalescent plasma, only this is manufactured not harvested. But just a reminder, there are many differences between rodent models and humans.
"Louisville's metro government is expected to announce a 'substantial' financial settlement Tuesday with the family of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman fatally shot by police in her apartment six months ago, The Courier Journal has learned… In addition to the payment, the deal is expected to include several policing reforms, including a requirement that commanders approve all search warrants before they go to a judge, the person told The Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network." You know, it would be cheaper to just get rid of the Nazis.
"'What she had around her neck was not a press credential. I think it said SCPR, that or KPCC,' (Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva) said. 'For the average deputy, doesn't mean anything. Unless it had a household name that they recognize, OK that's a reporter. You have two of their colleagues shot in the hospital, you have a crowd of protesters chanting for them to die. I think it's unrealistic to expect them to separate friend from foe and do it in a correct way. If they felt they were justified because she was interfering with a lawful arrest, well then the elements of the crime are met and they took action based on that. Could they have done it better? Everyone could have done better.'" Let me call bullshit right there. One, your deputies are not familiar with local media outlets? That's both a failure of training, observation, and community knowledge. It's "unrealistic to expect them to separate friend from foe and do it in a correct way" that is exactly your fucking job and if they can't do that, they shouldn't have the badge. And if you don't expect them to act professionally, you shouldn't be sheriff.
"Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost called for licensing police officers with tougher standards and accountability for their conduct during his annual law enforcement conference… The Attorney General also stressed the need for more funding for police training to help officers in Ohio better deal with the public while out on the job."
Remember when bar and restaurant owners said they couldn't bring back their employees because of the extra money they got on unemployment? "All of that, (AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez) said, 'means returning to our workplace,' according to the email viewed by CNBC. The company expects employees — even those who say they’ve been able to work from home just fine — to report to the office to foster creativity and innovation under its phased-in return-to-work plan, according to interviews with three current employees, anonymous complaints in public forums and internal company documents." While it's not exactly the same, as mostly it's telling people working remotely to return to the office, in principle it is the same.
How goes Brexit? "A key part of that deal is the agreement that Northern Ireland will continue to follow some EU rules even after Brexit happens. This is designed to prevent a hard border returning between Northern Ireland (which is in the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (which is in the EU)… But the latest bill would go against the withdrawal agreement - and therefore international law - by allowing UK ministers to 'disapply' previously agreed rules relating to Northern Ireland if there is no trade deal with the EU." That's an interesting way to say that UK leadership doesn't want to be bound to the deals they've already made… and mostly likely condemning Northern Ireland to a restart of "the Troubles."
"As the U.K. enters its fourth round of trade talks with the U.S. this week, Washington will be looking to push its own regulatory standards on the country, and drive it away from EU’s, an international trade policy expert has told CNBC." Here's the thing, if you want to sell into the EU, you have to meet their standards. Also, if the UK breaks the deal allowing a soft-border in Northern Ireland, it's not likely Congress will approve the trade deal anyway.
I'm still a little dubious about this story, but it's now being reported in more mainstream outlets… "Rights groups have filed a complaint against a migrant detention centre in the US, alleging medical neglect and a lack of Covid-19 safety measures… It is based on the allegations of a whistleblower, a nurse identified as Dawn Wooten… She worked at the centre, which houses immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)… As part of her complaint, filed on Monday, Ms Wooten expressed concerns about the high number of hysterectomies performed on Spanish-speaking women at the centre… The nurse said detained women told her they did not fully understand why they had to get a hysterectomy - an operation involving the removal of all or part of the uterus." Forced sterilizations are not unknown in the US, so this is more than possible. And the treatment of detainees, and especially ICE detainees is also not unheard of. But the story hits on all the prejudices all the things people might suspect and therefore falls into the trap of conformational bias. If these allegations are true, this is horrendous and people involved should go to jail over it (what's sad is it will mostly lead to fines and people losing licensure).
"The poisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is to return to Russia, his spokeswoman has said… 'It's puzzling to me why anyone should think otherwise,' Kira Yarmysh posted on Twitter… Mr Navalny also posted a picture on Instagram for the first time since he was poisoned, announcing that he was breathing free of ventilation."
"Normalising relations with Israel 'can't be the answer' to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a Qatari official has said, adding that Doha will not join other Gulf Arab states in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel." You might remember we have military bases in Qatar and they have their own political fight going on with their Gulf neighbors.
"South Dakota's attorney general struck and killed a man while driving on Saturday night, a death that was discovered after he initially told police he had hit a deer, the South Dakota Department of Public Safety said Monday."
"The mammoth wildfires torching much of three states have already claimed 36 lives. Now, friends and families worry about 22 people missing as infernos in rural Oregon make it too dangerous to search for them."
"President Donald Trump on Monday baselessly asserted that climate change is not playing a role in the catastrophic wildfires overtaking forests across the west, rebutting an official briefing him who pleaded for the President listen to the science… 'I don't think science knows, actually,' Trump said at a Monday briefing with officials in McClellan Park, California, with a laugh." Our stable-genius president, everybody.
"Wildfires blazed along the Arctic Circle this summer, incinerating tundra, blanketing Siberian cities in smoke and capping the second extraordinary fire season in a row. By the time the fire season waned at the end of last month, the blazes had emitted a record 244 megatonnes of carbon dioxide — that’s 35% more than last year, which also set records. One culprit, scientists say, could be peatlands that are burning as the top of the world melts."
"Scientists at North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk, Russia, on Monday announced a finding of 'great importance' — a preserved Ice Age cave bear carcass, estimated to be to be between 22,000 and 39,500 years old."
"The type of pollution emitted by many chemical plants in Louisiana's industrial corridor is correlated with increased coronavirus deaths, according to new peer-reviewed research from SUNY and ProPublica." Not exactly shocking. Hazardous air pollution weakens the immune system and compromises the lungs.
"University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers isolated the smallest biological molecule to date that neutralizes the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to a report published Monday in the journal Cell. The antibody component is 10 times smaller than a full-sized antibody and has been used to create a drug known as Ab8 for use as a therapeutic and preventative against SARS-CoV-2, the report says… The researchers reported that Ab8 is 'highly effective' in preventing and treating SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice and hamsters." This essentially is like the use of convalescent plasma, only this is manufactured not harvested. But just a reminder, there are many differences between rodent models and humans.
"Louisville's metro government is expected to announce a 'substantial' financial settlement Tuesday with the family of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman fatally shot by police in her apartment six months ago, The Courier Journal has learned… In addition to the payment, the deal is expected to include several policing reforms, including a requirement that commanders approve all search warrants before they go to a judge, the person told The Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network." You know, it would be cheaper to just get rid of the Nazis.
"'What she had around her neck was not a press credential. I think it said SCPR, that or KPCC,' (Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva) said. 'For the average deputy, doesn't mean anything. Unless it had a household name that they recognize, OK that's a reporter. You have two of their colleagues shot in the hospital, you have a crowd of protesters chanting for them to die. I think it's unrealistic to expect them to separate friend from foe and do it in a correct way. If they felt they were justified because she was interfering with a lawful arrest, well then the elements of the crime are met and they took action based on that. Could they have done it better? Everyone could have done better.'" Let me call bullshit right there. One, your deputies are not familiar with local media outlets? That's both a failure of training, observation, and community knowledge. It's "unrealistic to expect them to separate friend from foe and do it in a correct way" that is exactly your fucking job and if they can't do that, they shouldn't have the badge. And if you don't expect them to act professionally, you shouldn't be sheriff.
"Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost called for licensing police officers with tougher standards and accountability for their conduct during his annual law enforcement conference… The Attorney General also stressed the need for more funding for police training to help officers in Ohio better deal with the public while out on the job."
Remember when bar and restaurant owners said they couldn't bring back their employees because of the extra money they got on unemployment? "All of that, (AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez) said, 'means returning to our workplace,' according to the email viewed by CNBC. The company expects employees — even those who say they’ve been able to work from home just fine — to report to the office to foster creativity and innovation under its phased-in return-to-work plan, according to interviews with three current employees, anonymous complaints in public forums and internal company documents." While it's not exactly the same, as mostly it's telling people working remotely to return to the office, in principle it is the same.
How goes Brexit? "A key part of that deal is the agreement that Northern Ireland will continue to follow some EU rules even after Brexit happens. This is designed to prevent a hard border returning between Northern Ireland (which is in the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (which is in the EU)… But the latest bill would go against the withdrawal agreement - and therefore international law - by allowing UK ministers to 'disapply' previously agreed rules relating to Northern Ireland if there is no trade deal with the EU." That's an interesting way to say that UK leadership doesn't want to be bound to the deals they've already made… and mostly likely condemning Northern Ireland to a restart of "the Troubles."
"As the U.K. enters its fourth round of trade talks with the U.S. this week, Washington will be looking to push its own regulatory standards on the country, and drive it away from EU’s, an international trade policy expert has told CNBC." Here's the thing, if you want to sell into the EU, you have to meet their standards. Also, if the UK breaks the deal allowing a soft-border in Northern Ireland, it's not likely Congress will approve the trade deal anyway.
I'm still a little dubious about this story, but it's now being reported in more mainstream outlets… "Rights groups have filed a complaint against a migrant detention centre in the US, alleging medical neglect and a lack of Covid-19 safety measures… It is based on the allegations of a whistleblower, a nurse identified as Dawn Wooten… She worked at the centre, which houses immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)… As part of her complaint, filed on Monday, Ms Wooten expressed concerns about the high number of hysterectomies performed on Spanish-speaking women at the centre… The nurse said detained women told her they did not fully understand why they had to get a hysterectomy - an operation involving the removal of all or part of the uterus." Forced sterilizations are not unknown in the US, so this is more than possible. And the treatment of detainees, and especially ICE detainees is also not unheard of. But the story hits on all the prejudices all the things people might suspect and therefore falls into the trap of conformational bias. If these allegations are true, this is horrendous and people involved should go to jail over it (what's sad is it will mostly lead to fines and people losing licensure).
"The poisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is to return to Russia, his spokeswoman has said… 'It's puzzling to me why anyone should think otherwise,' Kira Yarmysh posted on Twitter… Mr Navalny also posted a picture on Instagram for the first time since he was poisoned, announcing that he was breathing free of ventilation."
"Normalising relations with Israel 'can't be the answer' to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a Qatari official has said, adding that Doha will not join other Gulf Arab states in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel." You might remember we have military bases in Qatar and they have their own political fight going on with their Gulf neighbors.
"South Dakota's attorney general struck and killed a man while driving on Saturday night, a death that was discovered after he initially told police he had hit a deer, the South Dakota Department of Public Safety said Monday."
Monday, September 14, 2020
Linkee-poo Monday Sept 14
"The mystery of how giant cyclones stay together in geometric patterns around the poles of Jupiter may now be solved, but new questions have emerged as to how these clusters formed in the first place, a new study finds."
"Scientists say they've detected a gas in the clouds of Venus that, on Earth, is produced by microbial life… The researchers have racked their brains trying to understand why this toxic gas, phosphine, is there in such quantities, but they can't think of any geologic or chemical explanation… The mystery raises the astonishing possibility that Venus, the planet that comes closest to Earth as it whizzes around the sun, might have some kind of life flourishing more than 30 miles up in its yellow, hazy clouds."
"While the idea of dark matter was originally proposed to explain the structure of galaxies, one of its great successes was explaining the nature of the Universe itself. Features of the Cosmic Microwave Background can be explained by the presence of dark matter. And models of the early Universe produce galaxies and galaxy clusters by building on structures formed by dark matter. The fact that these models get the big picture so right has been a strong argument in their favor… But a new study suggests that the same models get the details wrong—by an entire order of magnitude. The people behind the study suggest that either there's something wrong with the models, or our understanding of dark matter may need an adjustment."
"A big chunk of ice has broken away from the Arctic's largest remaining ice shelf - 79N, or Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden - in north-east Greenland… The ejected section covers about 110 square km; satellite imagery shows it to have shattered into many small pieces."
"David Legates, a University of Delaware professor of climatology who has spent much of his career questioning basic tenets of climate science, has been hired for a top position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration." Breaking government.
"None of this plastic will be turned into new plastic things. All of it is buried… 'To me that felt like it was a betrayal of the public trust," (Laura Leebrick, a manager at Rogue Disposal & Recycling) said. 'I had been lying to people ... unwittingly.'… But when Leebrick tried to tell people the truth about burying all the other plastic, she says people didn't want to hear it." The plastics industry has been lying to you. Most plastics are not recyclable, and those that are can only be recycled a few times. They may have the recyclable symbol on it, but nobody will make anything new from it because it's either too expensive to do so, or the plastic physically can not be renewed. But the industry has made sure you wouldn't ever figure that out.
"Authorities are asking for the public's help in finding the gunman who ambushed and shot two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies as they sat in their car… Local officials announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman."
You can always trust the police… "Federal authorities on Thursday arrested the police chief and the personnel director of Bridgeport, Conn. on charges of fraud, alleging the two rigged the process that led to the chief's hiring in 2018… The FBI and Department of Justice said in a statement that the police chief, Armando Perez, and acting personnel director, David Dunn, are accused of manipulating the police chief examination to ensure Perez would be a finalist for the position, and making false statements to federal agents in the course of their investigation."
"The report, released Thursday by Public Citizen, examines roughly two dozen products on Amazon’s site. Relying on its own observations and data from price-tracking sites, the nonprofit public interest group documented price increases of as much as 1,000% when compared with pre-pandemic levels or prices at other large retailers." When your automation comes back to bite you in the ass.
"The Justice Department's Criminal Division says it has charged 57 people to date over allegedly defrauding a federal program meant to provide relief to small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic… The Criminal Division's acting assistant attorney general, Brian Rabbitt, told reporters that those charged attempted to steal more than $175 million. They actually obtained more than $70 million, he said, and the Justice Department has been to recover or freeze over $30 million."
"When the coronavirus swept the country, a lot of things government did in response were controversial. Politicians fought over mask-wearing rules and quarantine restrictions… But one policy, making sure Americans have ready access to alcohol, was truly bipartisan." The new "bread" in Bread and Circuses.
How goes Brexit? "David Cameron has become the fifth former prime minister to criticise a new bill attempting to override the Brexit withdrawal agreement… No 10 says the Internal Market Bill was a 'critical piece of legislation for the UK'."
"Twenty-six years after Bahrain welcomed an Israeli delegation for the first time, the small Gulf archipelago last week became the latest Arab country to agree to normalise its relationship with Israel." "Latest" meaning, "the only other country besides the UAE."
"More than 100,000 protesters flooded the streets of the capital Minsk on Sunday in ongoing protests calling for Belarus' authoritarian president to resign."
"Russia has agreed to a $1.5bn loan with Minsk, President Vladimir Putin said at talks on Monday with Alexander Lukashenko, the embattled Belarusian leader, adding that the Belarusian people should resolve the crisis without foreign interference." I'm sure the $1.5b loan isn't foreign interference. Totally not.
"The Trump administration has secretly siphoned nearly $4 million away from a program that tracks and treats FDNY firefighters and medics suffering from 9/11 related illnesses, the Daily News has learned… The Treasury Department mysteriously started withholding parts of payments — nearly four years ago — meant to cover medical services for firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics treated by the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program, documents obtained by The News reveal."
"It’s not a matter of if a privately built border fence along the shores of the Rio Grande will fail, it’s a matter of when, according to a new engineering report on the troubled project… The report is one of two new studies set to be filed in federal court this week that found numerous deficiencies in the 3-mile border fence, built this year by North Dakota-based Fisher Sand and Gravel. The reports confirm earlier reporting from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, which found that segments of the structure were in danger of overturning due to extensive erosion if not fixed and properly maintained. Fisher dismissed the concerns as normal post-construction issues." If only the boat (and other items) We Build the Wall founders bought with money they stole from the "non-profit" sank as quickly.
"President Trump signed an executive order Sunday that he says lowers prescription drug prices 'by putting America first,' but experts say the move is unlikely to have any immediate impact." Or any impact at all. And it seems "putting America first" means (checks notes here) following other countries' prescription pricing models.
"The 2020 presidential campaign heads into the fall stretch with a dizzying pace of news developments threatening to upend the contest. But NPR interviews with voters across the country around Labor Day weekend found that most are locked into their support for either President Trump or Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The small contingent of undecided voters said they are unenthusiastic about their choices."
"An interview with top White House trade adviser Peter Navarro went off the rails Sunday when he was pressed about revelations last week that President Donald Trump intentionally downplayed the coronavirus in the early months of the pandemic… Navarro's interview cut out as he clashed with host Jake Tapper on CNN's 'State of the Union,' with the men shouting over each other… Navarro accused Tapper of 'cherry-picking' the president's comments. Tapper responded by saying Trump 'was not honest with the American people' about the virus's impact… '"You're not honest with the American people,' Navarro said. 'CNN is not honest with the American people.'" No, you're the puppet. Seriously, this is the level of debate these assholes have.
"Donald Trump asked Bob Woodward to include the deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in his book Rage, the author said on Sunday night – and when told that was not possible, tweeted that the book was 'gonna be fake'."
"'And so I'm asking the question, what did the president know, when did he know it, and how did he know it? And I worked for 2 1/2 months to find out and it was finally in May when I discovered that there was this meeting, Jan. 28, in the Oval Office.'… That January meeting is the opening scene of Rage, in which Woodward says national security adviser Robert O'Brien tells Trump that the coronavirus would be the 'biggest national security threat you face in your presidency.'… 'I wish I knew what I learned in May earlier. Unfortunately, I did not,' Woodward said… He added: 'I've done this almost for 50 years, and I think I have a public health responsibility, like any citizen does — or maybe a journalist has more of a responsibility. If at any point I had thought there's something to tell the American people that they don't know, I would do it.'" And, again, even if he had it would have changed nothing.
"Voters looking for a quick resolution this November might have to wait longer than usual to learn who won the presidency. On this week’s On the Media, a look at what we might expect as election night approaches. Plus, lessons on electoral chaos from presidential contests past. And, how QAnon is moving from the web to the streets." That last segment is an except of a podcast extra I linked to last week. Important if you haven't heard it. You can skip if you have.
"Remember hanging chads, Florida's 2000 election nightmare?… The 2020 equivalent could wind up being mismatched signatures… With voting already underway in two states, Democrats and Republicans are drawing battle lines across the country over voter signatures for mail-in ballots, with lawsuits over how signatures are evaluated and whether voters can fix ballots that get tossed. President Donald Trump and Republicans are arguing for strict matches, while Democrats are pushing for easier rules letting people prove they are who they say they are, even if their John Hancocks have changed a bit."
Friday, September 11, 2020
Linkee-poo Friday
Diana Rigg, and so it goes.
"Little did they know when they arrived that Trumbly and Paulsen's presence would spark national rumors that far-left activists were starting fires across the West Coast." Whackaloon quotient is sky-high.
"More than half a million people in the US state of Oregon are fleeing deadly wildfires that are raging across the Pacific Northwest, authorities say… Fanned by unusually hot, dry winds, dozens of fires are sweeping the state, and at least one is being treated as suspected arson."
"Deep channels discovered under the Antarctic's so-called 'Doomsday glacier' may be allowing warm ocean water to melt the underside of ice, according to scientists collecting data from an area crucial to understanding sea-level rise… The findings published in The Cryosphere journal show the ocean floor is deeper than previously thought, with more deep channels leading towards the grounding line, where the ice meets the bed." Summer is coming.
"Past and future trends in global mean temperature spanning the last 67 million years. Oxygen isotope values in deep-sea benthic foraminifera from sediment cores are a measure of global temperature and ice volume. Temperature is relative to the 1961-1990 global mean. Data from ice core records of the last 25,000 years illustrate the transition from the last glacial to the current warmer period, the Holocene. Historic data from 1850 to today show the distinct increase after 1950 marking the onset of the Anthropocene." We're boned.
"Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques will leave the Anglo-Australian mining giant by March over the destruction of Australian Indigenous sacred sites to access iron ore, the company said on Friday… 'Significant stakeholders have expressed concerns about executive accountability for the failings identified,' Rio Tinto said in a statement." I'm sure his money will keep him company.
"In February, China pulled off an impressive construction feat that caught the world's attention: Amid surging cases of COVID-19, China built two hospitals in the pandemic's epicenter, Wuhan, in under two weeks to isolate and treat COVID-19 patients. Consisting largely of prefabricated rooms and components, the two-story structures were dubbed 'instant hospitals.' NPR reported on the facilities just as the first one opened. But now the virus is under control in Wuhan, and life has more or less returned to normal. So, what happened to these 'instant hospitals?'"
"Nearly 30 US states are reporting downward trends in Covid-19 cases, but the pandemic will likely worsen again, according to the country's leading infectious disease expert… 'We need to hunker down and get through this fall and winter because it's not going to be easy,' Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday." Here we go again.
"Four Houston police officers have been fired for fatally shooting an apparently emotionally disturbed man who was on the ground, wounded and incapacitated, before a final volley of 21 shots, officials said… Police Chief Art Acevedo showed graphic bodycam video, later released publicly, and announced the department's findings into the April 21 shooting of 27-year-old man Nicolas Chavez."
"That's why many tenants and housing advocates welcomed the news of a temporary federal moratorium on evictions, which went into effect last week after an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention… As with any federal rule, there's lots of fine print. If you're behind on your rent or don't think you'll make it this month, here's what you need to do."
"When the coronavirus closed schools and child care centers and turned American parenthood into a multitasking nightmare, many tech companies rushed to help their employees. They used their comfortable profit margins to extend workers new benefits, including extra time off for parents to help them care for their children… It wasn’t long before employees without children started to ask: What about us?" I'm of two minds about this, but it just shows the dire need for adequate child care in the country. If we're going to build an economy where both parents needs to work (as well as helping single-parents) it is a necessity.
How goes Brexit? "The EU is demanding the UK ditches plans to change Boris Johnson's Brexit deal "by the end of the month" or risk jeopardising trade talks… The UK has published a bill to rewrite parts of the withdrawal agreement it signed in January."
"Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has warned that Britain will be unable to secure a trade deal with the US if it does anything to undermine the treaty that brought peace to Northern Ireland after decades of violence."
"The U.K. and Japan on Friday agreed in principle to a trade deal, in a move that sees the U.K. strike its first major agreement post-Brexit… The announcement, which the U.K. hailed as a “historic moment,” comes as Britain struggles to secure an agreement with its closest trading partners in the European Union."
How go the Trade Wars? "President Donald Trump has browbeaten his way into yet another expensive and politically loaded standoff with China — this time over an app populated with dancing ferret videos and at-home lip syncs… Trump’s order that TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, sell off its U.S. operations — initially seen as a potential opportunity for an American company — has turned into a quagmire."
"As US-China relations reach a boiling point, Washington has started to screen Chinese students at airports for technology theft… When Boston Logan International Airport's announcement asked Keith Zhang to come to the boarding desk, he thought it was a regular boarding check… But when he saw two armed American officers expecting him there, his heart sank."
"China and India said on Friday they had agreed to de-escalate renewed tensions on their contested Himalayan border and take steps to restore “peace and tranquillity” following a high-level diplomatic meeting in Moscow."
"Much of the country is facing a long, painful recovery from the coronavirus recession. But some communities are getting a head start… Owensboro, Ky., has already recovered most of the jobs it lost this spring, even as the rest of the country is experiencing a painfully slow improvement in employment." Lucky? Yes, but because of hard work and planning.
"The Senate failed Thursday to advance a Republican coronavirus stimulus plan, the latest blow to stalled efforts to pass another package to mitigate the pandemic’s economic damage… The measure fell short of the 60 votes needed on a procedural step to move toward passage. All Democrats present, and one Republican — Rand Paul of Kentucky — opposed it in a 52-47 vote. The nearly unanimous vote for the GOP followed weeks of disagreements within the Republican caucus about whether to pass any more aid at all." And so they'll say they tried to do something, but the Democrats blocked them and then throw up their hands and walk away until after the election. Just as a reminder, the House passed it's version three months ago.
"A panel of three federal judges in New York on Thursday prohibited the Trump administration from moving forward with plans to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count used to determine the number of seats states receive in the House of Representatives. The decision temporarily halts an unprecedented proposal with potentially seismic political ramifications."
"The US Postal Service has played a role throughout American history - from the Declaration of Independence to today's mail-in voting. It was conceived of by the founders as the way to create a united, informed and effective American democracy. But today, the postal service's future is in danger. How the postal service created the United States and the case for this pivotal institution." The Throughline podcast on on the importance of the postal service.
"Faced with undeniable evidence that he purposely downplayed the severity of the coronavirus pandemic this spring to a public desperate for credible information about the threat posed by Covid-19, President Donald Trump has come up with a novel defense that goes something like this: If what I said was so bad, then why didn't Bob Woodward go public with it at the time?!"
"Trump campaign aides are weighing another event on White House grounds around Election Day, despite criticism over the venue's use as a political prop during the Republican convention… There have been serious discussions about the logistics of pulling off an political event there in the closing days or hours of the race, following President Donald Trump's satisfaction with his convention address on the White House South Lawn, according to two people familiar with the planning." The campaign is saying they're paying for the damage to the White House lawn from the convention speech, but given past performance I'll believe that when the check clears.
"White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday defended President Donald Trump's crowded rallies that contradict local COVID-19 rules and his own administration's health guidance -- saying supporters are exercising their First Amendment rights." Yeah, that's stretching there Kayleigh.
"What we have here is simple: The official spokesperson for the President of the Unites States, appearing on the preferred network for a large number of conservatives in the country, suggesting openly that a) Democrats don't want people to know who won on election night and b) if the results aren't known on election night it means that the 'system' has broken down… What McEnany is doing is laying the groundwork for Trump to contest the election -- and for his supporters to back him on it -- if we don't have a declared winner on November 3."
"Deep channels discovered under the Antarctic's so-called 'Doomsday glacier' may be allowing warm ocean water to melt the underside of ice, according to scientists collecting data from an area crucial to understanding sea-level rise… The findings published in The Cryosphere journal show the ocean floor is deeper than previously thought, with more deep channels leading towards the grounding line, where the ice meets the bed." Summer is coming.
"Past and future trends in global mean temperature spanning the last 67 million years. Oxygen isotope values in deep-sea benthic foraminifera from sediment cores are a measure of global temperature and ice volume. Temperature is relative to the 1961-1990 global mean. Data from ice core records of the last 25,000 years illustrate the transition from the last glacial to the current warmer period, the Holocene. Historic data from 1850 to today show the distinct increase after 1950 marking the onset of the Anthropocene." We're boned.
"Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques will leave the Anglo-Australian mining giant by March over the destruction of Australian Indigenous sacred sites to access iron ore, the company said on Friday… 'Significant stakeholders have expressed concerns about executive accountability for the failings identified,' Rio Tinto said in a statement." I'm sure his money will keep him company.
"In February, China pulled off an impressive construction feat that caught the world's attention: Amid surging cases of COVID-19, China built two hospitals in the pandemic's epicenter, Wuhan, in under two weeks to isolate and treat COVID-19 patients. Consisting largely of prefabricated rooms and components, the two-story structures were dubbed 'instant hospitals.' NPR reported on the facilities just as the first one opened. But now the virus is under control in Wuhan, and life has more or less returned to normal. So, what happened to these 'instant hospitals?'"
"Nearly 30 US states are reporting downward trends in Covid-19 cases, but the pandemic will likely worsen again, according to the country's leading infectious disease expert… 'We need to hunker down and get through this fall and winter because it's not going to be easy,' Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday." Here we go again.
"Four Houston police officers have been fired for fatally shooting an apparently emotionally disturbed man who was on the ground, wounded and incapacitated, before a final volley of 21 shots, officials said… Police Chief Art Acevedo showed graphic bodycam video, later released publicly, and announced the department's findings into the April 21 shooting of 27-year-old man Nicolas Chavez."
"That's why many tenants and housing advocates welcomed the news of a temporary federal moratorium on evictions, which went into effect last week after an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention… As with any federal rule, there's lots of fine print. If you're behind on your rent or don't think you'll make it this month, here's what you need to do."
"When the coronavirus closed schools and child care centers and turned American parenthood into a multitasking nightmare, many tech companies rushed to help their employees. They used their comfortable profit margins to extend workers new benefits, including extra time off for parents to help them care for their children… It wasn’t long before employees without children started to ask: What about us?" I'm of two minds about this, but it just shows the dire need for adequate child care in the country. If we're going to build an economy where both parents needs to work (as well as helping single-parents) it is a necessity.
How goes Brexit? "The EU is demanding the UK ditches plans to change Boris Johnson's Brexit deal "by the end of the month" or risk jeopardising trade talks… The UK has published a bill to rewrite parts of the withdrawal agreement it signed in January."
"Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has warned that Britain will be unable to secure a trade deal with the US if it does anything to undermine the treaty that brought peace to Northern Ireland after decades of violence."
"The U.K. and Japan on Friday agreed in principle to a trade deal, in a move that sees the U.K. strike its first major agreement post-Brexit… The announcement, which the U.K. hailed as a “historic moment,” comes as Britain struggles to secure an agreement with its closest trading partners in the European Union."
How go the Trade Wars? "President Donald Trump has browbeaten his way into yet another expensive and politically loaded standoff with China — this time over an app populated with dancing ferret videos and at-home lip syncs… Trump’s order that TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, sell off its U.S. operations — initially seen as a potential opportunity for an American company — has turned into a quagmire."
"As US-China relations reach a boiling point, Washington has started to screen Chinese students at airports for technology theft… When Boston Logan International Airport's announcement asked Keith Zhang to come to the boarding desk, he thought it was a regular boarding check… But when he saw two armed American officers expecting him there, his heart sank."
"China and India said on Friday they had agreed to de-escalate renewed tensions on their contested Himalayan border and take steps to restore “peace and tranquillity” following a high-level diplomatic meeting in Moscow."
"Much of the country is facing a long, painful recovery from the coronavirus recession. But some communities are getting a head start… Owensboro, Ky., has already recovered most of the jobs it lost this spring, even as the rest of the country is experiencing a painfully slow improvement in employment." Lucky? Yes, but because of hard work and planning.
"The Senate failed Thursday to advance a Republican coronavirus stimulus plan, the latest blow to stalled efforts to pass another package to mitigate the pandemic’s economic damage… The measure fell short of the 60 votes needed on a procedural step to move toward passage. All Democrats present, and one Republican — Rand Paul of Kentucky — opposed it in a 52-47 vote. The nearly unanimous vote for the GOP followed weeks of disagreements within the Republican caucus about whether to pass any more aid at all." And so they'll say they tried to do something, but the Democrats blocked them and then throw up their hands and walk away until after the election. Just as a reminder, the House passed it's version three months ago.
"A panel of three federal judges in New York on Thursday prohibited the Trump administration from moving forward with plans to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count used to determine the number of seats states receive in the House of Representatives. The decision temporarily halts an unprecedented proposal with potentially seismic political ramifications."
"The US Postal Service has played a role throughout American history - from the Declaration of Independence to today's mail-in voting. It was conceived of by the founders as the way to create a united, informed and effective American democracy. But today, the postal service's future is in danger. How the postal service created the United States and the case for this pivotal institution." The Throughline podcast on on the importance of the postal service.
"Faced with undeniable evidence that he purposely downplayed the severity of the coronavirus pandemic this spring to a public desperate for credible information about the threat posed by Covid-19, President Donald Trump has come up with a novel defense that goes something like this: If what I said was so bad, then why didn't Bob Woodward go public with it at the time?!"
"Trump campaign aides are weighing another event on White House grounds around Election Day, despite criticism over the venue's use as a political prop during the Republican convention… There have been serious discussions about the logistics of pulling off an political event there in the closing days or hours of the race, following President Donald Trump's satisfaction with his convention address on the White House South Lawn, according to two people familiar with the planning." The campaign is saying they're paying for the damage to the White House lawn from the convention speech, but given past performance I'll believe that when the check clears.
"White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday defended President Donald Trump's crowded rallies that contradict local COVID-19 rules and his own administration's health guidance -- saying supporters are exercising their First Amendment rights." Yeah, that's stretching there Kayleigh.
"What we have here is simple: The official spokesperson for the President of the Unites States, appearing on the preferred network for a large number of conservatives in the country, suggesting openly that a) Democrats don't want people to know who won on election night and b) if the results aren't known on election night it means that the 'system' has broken down… What McEnany is doing is laying the groundwork for Trump to contest the election -- and for his supporters to back him on it -- if we don't have a declared winner on November 3."
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Linkee-poo Thursday
"Wildfires driven by strong winds were racing through more than a dozen Western states Thursday, taking lives and scarring a swath of land almost as big as Connecticut… At least seven people have died as more than 90 major fires burn through 13 Western states." I'm assuming you've all seen the orange sky photos from California by now.
"Humans are wiping out wildlife at a 'unprecedented' rate with wildlife populations down by 68 percent on average since 1970, according to a new World Wildlife Fund report published on Thursday… Unsustainable agriculture and deforestation are two of the main drivers, and urgent action is required to reverse the trend, the Living Planet Report 2020 said." The Great Extinction of the Anthropocene.
"A commercial satellite photo may reveal a new Chinese space plane just moments after it landed at a remote site on the western side of China… The photo, which is too low resolution to be conclusive, was snapped by the San Francisco-based company Planet. It shows what could be the classified Chinese spacecraft on a long runway, along with several support vehicles lined up nearby."
"By tracking the journeys of hundreds of ejected particles, Chesley and his collaborators were also able to better understand what might be causing the particles to launch from the surface of Bennu. The particle sizes match what is expected for thermal fracturing (as the asteroid's surface is repeatedly heated and cooled while it rotates), but the locations of the ejection events also match the modeled impact locations of meteoroids (small rocks hitting the surface of Bennu as it orbits the Sun). It may even be a combination of these phenomena, added Chesley. But to come to a definitive answer, more observations are needed."
"We’ve heard a lot of first words about SARS-CoV-2. Some of them turned out to be prescient, some of them turned out to not matter, some of them turned out to point us in the exact wrong direction. Together, they hint at what we’re up against in the months (years) to come, though none of them can tell us what, exactly, will happen. Holding up any single study as proof of a concept or even a tide shift in thinking can be a dangerous exercise—science after all is the sum of a vast collective of research, not a new paper."
What does "Defund the Police" look like? Well, here's one example. "This, Sailon explained, is Denver’s new Support Team Assistance Response program, which sends a mental health professional and a paramedic to some 911 calls instead of police… Since its launch June 1, the STAR van has responded to more than 350 calls, replacing police in matters that don’t threaten public safety and are often connected to unmet mental or physical needs. The goal is to connect people who pose no danger with services and resources while freeing up police to respond to other calls. The team, which is not armed, has not called police for backup, Sailon said."
"The group, founded in 2016, has also had close associations with far-right groups like the Proud Boys and with white supremacists. A man who murdered two people on a train in May 2017 had previously attended a Patriot Prayer event, giving fascist salutes and yelling racist slurs. (Gibson said in an interview with the Guardian that the man had 'nothing to do with' Patriot Prayer.)… The group’s goals seem, at best, amorphous. But their enemy is not: They want to fight the left, and win."
"Armed right-wingers are stoking violence in cities across the country. On this week’s On the Media, a look at the origins of the American militia movement. Plus, as things heat up, Facebook is fanning the flames. And, in the face of an incendiary headline from the Kenosha News, a digital editor resigns."
"The Labor Department on Thursday reported 884,000 first-time filings for unemployment insurance, compared with 850,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The total was unchanged from the previous week… Continuing claims from those filing for at least two weeks rose from the previous week, hitting 13.385 million, an increase of 93,000 from last week’s report and an indicator that the strong jobs improvement through the summer may be tailing off entering the fall."
"The European Central Bank discussed the appreciation of the euro at its latest policy meeting due to the downward pressure it puts on inflation, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday… The euro has firmed around 8% against the dollar since the spring and 4% against a basket of currencies, eroding the competitiveness of exporters and dampening inflation by making imports cheaper."
"Beijing on Thursday hit back at a U.S. decision to revoke visas for more than a 1,000 Chinese students and researchers who the American government deemed posed a security risk or had ties to China's military… Prejudice was behind the visa decision, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said."
"The Senate will vote on Thursday to advance a Republican proposal to address the health and economic crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic, four months after House Democrats passed their $3 trillion plan… The narrower Senate bill is expected to fail to reach the requisite 60 votes but could help Republican senators in tough reelection races by giving them a rebuttal to Democratic challengers attacking their delayed response." Again, it's an election year. Don't expect anything new to pass until the lame duck session.
"The former chief of intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security has filed a whistleblower complaint describing repeated instances in which he claims the Trump administration sought to “censor or manipulate” intelligence for political purposes, including information about Russian efforts to interfere in the 2020 elections." Here we go again.
"Acting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told a former top aide to stop providing assessments of the threat of Russian interference in the Nov. 3 election and to play down U.S. white supremacist activity, according to a whistleblower complaint released on Wednesday."
"Author and veteran journalist Bob Woodward conducted 18 interviews with President Donald Trump for his new book, "Rage." The wide-ranging conversations are a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes… At times, Trump is serious and focused, divulging stunning details about his handling of the coronavirus and a new secret nuclear weapons system. In other interviews, Trump tries to show off and impress Woodward -- giving a tour of the Oval Office, discussing his preference for long neckties, and showing Woodward the hideaway office, which he smirked and called the 'Monica Room,' a reference to Monica Lewinsky."
"President Trump bragged about a supposedly secret nuclear weapons system in an interview with Bob Woodward, according to excerpts from the veteran journalist's new book." The president is a security liability.
And we've gone from "gotcha questions" to "gotcha books." Pretty soon conservatives will be complaining about "gotcha reality."
"President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched a new baseless accusation on how he believes Democrats will attempt to commit fraud during the presidential election, this time telling North Carolina rallygoers (SIC) to act as poll watchers to prevent fraud at voting locations." Poll watchers are registered. You can't just sit there and watch the voting space. "'Watch it,' (Trump) continued. 'Be poll watchers when you go there. Watch all the thieving and stealing and robbing they do. Because this is important. We win North Carolina, we win.'" There's this story of Jim Morrison of The Doors in Florida on stage telling people he was going to flash the crowd (despite being warned by the police), he warmed them up, told him he was going to do it, got the crowd in a lather over it and then pantomimed the action. People swear he flashed them and he was arrested for lewd behavior. But he never actually did it. The president is warming up the crowd in the same way. He's preparing their minds to see it.
"Humans are wiping out wildlife at a 'unprecedented' rate with wildlife populations down by 68 percent on average since 1970, according to a new World Wildlife Fund report published on Thursday… Unsustainable agriculture and deforestation are two of the main drivers, and urgent action is required to reverse the trend, the Living Planet Report 2020 said." The Great Extinction of the Anthropocene.
"A commercial satellite photo may reveal a new Chinese space plane just moments after it landed at a remote site on the western side of China… The photo, which is too low resolution to be conclusive, was snapped by the San Francisco-based company Planet. It shows what could be the classified Chinese spacecraft on a long runway, along with several support vehicles lined up nearby."
"By tracking the journeys of hundreds of ejected particles, Chesley and his collaborators were also able to better understand what might be causing the particles to launch from the surface of Bennu. The particle sizes match what is expected for thermal fracturing (as the asteroid's surface is repeatedly heated and cooled while it rotates), but the locations of the ejection events also match the modeled impact locations of meteoroids (small rocks hitting the surface of Bennu as it orbits the Sun). It may even be a combination of these phenomena, added Chesley. But to come to a definitive answer, more observations are needed."
"We’ve heard a lot of first words about SARS-CoV-2. Some of them turned out to be prescient, some of them turned out to not matter, some of them turned out to point us in the exact wrong direction. Together, they hint at what we’re up against in the months (years) to come, though none of them can tell us what, exactly, will happen. Holding up any single study as proof of a concept or even a tide shift in thinking can be a dangerous exercise—science after all is the sum of a vast collective of research, not a new paper."
What does "Defund the Police" look like? Well, here's one example. "This, Sailon explained, is Denver’s new Support Team Assistance Response program, which sends a mental health professional and a paramedic to some 911 calls instead of police… Since its launch June 1, the STAR van has responded to more than 350 calls, replacing police in matters that don’t threaten public safety and are often connected to unmet mental or physical needs. The goal is to connect people who pose no danger with services and resources while freeing up police to respond to other calls. The team, which is not armed, has not called police for backup, Sailon said."
"The group, founded in 2016, has also had close associations with far-right groups like the Proud Boys and with white supremacists. A man who murdered two people on a train in May 2017 had previously attended a Patriot Prayer event, giving fascist salutes and yelling racist slurs. (Gibson said in an interview with the Guardian that the man had 'nothing to do with' Patriot Prayer.)… The group’s goals seem, at best, amorphous. But their enemy is not: They want to fight the left, and win."
"Armed right-wingers are stoking violence in cities across the country. On this week’s On the Media, a look at the origins of the American militia movement. Plus, as things heat up, Facebook is fanning the flames. And, in the face of an incendiary headline from the Kenosha News, a digital editor resigns."
"The Labor Department on Thursday reported 884,000 first-time filings for unemployment insurance, compared with 850,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The total was unchanged from the previous week… Continuing claims from those filing for at least two weeks rose from the previous week, hitting 13.385 million, an increase of 93,000 from last week’s report and an indicator that the strong jobs improvement through the summer may be tailing off entering the fall."
"The European Central Bank discussed the appreciation of the euro at its latest policy meeting due to the downward pressure it puts on inflation, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday… The euro has firmed around 8% against the dollar since the spring and 4% against a basket of currencies, eroding the competitiveness of exporters and dampening inflation by making imports cheaper."
"Beijing on Thursday hit back at a U.S. decision to revoke visas for more than a 1,000 Chinese students and researchers who the American government deemed posed a security risk or had ties to China's military… Prejudice was behind the visa decision, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said."
"The Senate will vote on Thursday to advance a Republican proposal to address the health and economic crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic, four months after House Democrats passed their $3 trillion plan… The narrower Senate bill is expected to fail to reach the requisite 60 votes but could help Republican senators in tough reelection races by giving them a rebuttal to Democratic challengers attacking their delayed response." Again, it's an election year. Don't expect anything new to pass until the lame duck session.
"The former chief of intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security has filed a whistleblower complaint describing repeated instances in which he claims the Trump administration sought to “censor or manipulate” intelligence for political purposes, including information about Russian efforts to interfere in the 2020 elections." Here we go again.
"Acting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told a former top aide to stop providing assessments of the threat of Russian interference in the Nov. 3 election and to play down U.S. white supremacist activity, according to a whistleblower complaint released on Wednesday."
"Author and veteran journalist Bob Woodward conducted 18 interviews with President Donald Trump for his new book, "Rage." The wide-ranging conversations are a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes… At times, Trump is serious and focused, divulging stunning details about his handling of the coronavirus and a new secret nuclear weapons system. In other interviews, Trump tries to show off and impress Woodward -- giving a tour of the Oval Office, discussing his preference for long neckties, and showing Woodward the hideaway office, which he smirked and called the 'Monica Room,' a reference to Monica Lewinsky."
"President Trump bragged about a supposedly secret nuclear weapons system in an interview with Bob Woodward, according to excerpts from the veteran journalist's new book." The president is a security liability.
And we've gone from "gotcha questions" to "gotcha books." Pretty soon conservatives will be complaining about "gotcha reality."
"President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched a new baseless accusation on how he believes Democrats will attempt to commit fraud during the presidential election, this time telling North Carolina rallygoers (SIC) to act as poll watchers to prevent fraud at voting locations." Poll watchers are registered. You can't just sit there and watch the voting space. "'Watch it,' (Trump) continued. 'Be poll watchers when you go there. Watch all the thieving and stealing and robbing they do. Because this is important. We win North Carolina, we win.'" There's this story of Jim Morrison of The Doors in Florida on stage telling people he was going to flash the crowd (despite being warned by the police), he warmed them up, told him he was going to do it, got the crowd in a lather over it and then pantomimed the action. People swear he flashed them and he was arrested for lewd behavior. But he never actually did it. The president is warming up the crowd in the same way. He's preparing their minds to see it.
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Linkee-poo Wednesday
"Heavy winds sweeping across the West fueled fast-growing wildfires and forced mass evacuations as firefighters battled gamely to protect lives, homes and businesses."
"Nine years on, radiation levels have generally decreased, both from cleanup and from the natural decay of radioactive particles. Reports by the United Nations and the International Commission on Radiological Protection say radiation risks in Fukushima are low. Other organizations, like Greenpeace, contradict those findings, and many residents and evacuees remain concerned about radiation."
"But two spacecraft, built and launched in 1970s, have for the past few years been beaming back our first glimpses from this strange region we call interstellar space. As the first man-made objects to leave our Solar System, they are venturing into uncharted territory, billions of miles from home. No other spacecraft have travelled as far… And they have revealed that beyond the boundaries of our solar system lies an invisible region of chaotic, frothing activity."
"Even as Disney+ downloads increase, though, a social media-driven #BoycottMulan campaign is also gaining ground online."
"New data out Tuesday shows that more than 500,000 children in the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic started, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The group said children represented 9.8% of all COVID-19 cases in the U.S., where more than 6.3 million total cases have been reported, per a tally by Johns Hopkins University." So much for the myth that kids are immune.
"After a week and a half of in-person classes, West Virginia University announced Monday it was moving undergraduate classes online after seeing a spike in Covid-19 cases and the occurrence of several parties this weekend at the school… The Morgantown campus canceled all in-person classes Monday and will host online classes only starting Wednesday through September 25, the school said in a statement. Undergraduate classes started on August 26."
"With colleges around the country reporting outbreaks of COVID-19, some schools have placed the blame on students. But experts say shaming students and zero-tolerance policies may be making the situation worse." In case you ever wondered about the competency of management and leadership, here it is. Just what the fuck did you think students would actually do? But it's really not about that, is it. It's about how much money the colleges and universities stood to lose for not having in-person classes. And that's why they did it. And now they're attempting to shift blame to the students for the decision they took while fully aware that they were exposing the students to this risk. And they intentionally increased the risk for everyone in the country (not just the students and those who live an work in those college towns).
"BioNTech and Pfizer Inc., which are developing a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, said in a news release on Wednesday that they plan to pursue regulatory review for BNT162b2 in October, depending on the success of the vaccine in late-stage clinical trials. However, the companies did not say what countries they plan to seek review in." Again note the release is made in the business news, not in the health news sector.
"Drugmaker AstraZeneca has announced that it is pausing its COVID-19 vaccine trial because of a 'potentially unexplained illness' in one of the trial volunteers." Oops.
"The chief and entire command staff of the police department in Rochester, New York, resigned on Tuesday — among other department changes — as outrage continued over the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man with mental health issues who died after having been put in a 'spit hood' and restrained by officers in March."
"A quirky candy maker has launched a nationwide treasure hunt, sending sugar mavens into a frenzy. They'll need to pay to play for the ultimate prize -- one of his candy factories… Instead of Willy Wonka, participants get David Klein, one of the original inventors of Jelly Belly jelly beans who's since left the company. He's consigning a candy factory to whoever wins his treasure hunt, only this hunt skimps on Oompa Loompas and spoiled children." Oh gods, not again. And "A spokesperson for Jelly Belly says its company has nothing to do with a contest that sounds like it’s straight from a movie script: a golden-ticket treasure hunt where the winner gets a key to a candy factory."
"In America's four largest cities, at least half of people say they have experienced the loss of a job or a reduction in wages or work hours in their household since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. That's the finding of a new poll published Wednesday by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health."
"Fire has destroyed Greece's largest migrant camp, the overcrowded Moria facility on the island of Lesbos… About 25 firefighters with 10 engines battled the flames as migrants were evacuated. Some suffered injuries from smoke exposure… It is unclear how the fires began, with some blaming the migrants and others blaming Greek locals."
How goes Brexit? "Ahead of a crucial round of talks between London and Brussels over the future trading relationship between the UK and the European Union, the British government made a startling admission: That it would be prepared to break the terms of an international treaty… The threat was relatively technical -- over an aspect of the withdrawal agreement that allowed the UK to leave the EU at the end of January -- but the admission by a government minister in the House of Commons sent shockwaves through diplomatic circles and raised questions about whether the UK can be trusted on the world stage."
"A former high-ranking official within the National Rifle Association is breaking ranks with the powerful gun lobby, publishing a book that accuses its leaders of decades worth of mismanagement and fraud that he says has left the organization in a state of financial and moral disarray." Shocked. Shocked I am to discover…
"The U.S. plans to cut the troop presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 by the end of September as President Donald Trump seeks to fulfill a campaign promise to end America's 'endless wars.'"
"White supremacists present the gravest terror threat to the United States, according to a draft report from the Department of Homeland Security… Two later draft versions of the same document — all of which were reviewed by POLITICO — describe the threat from white supremacists in slightly different language. But all three drafts describe the threat from white supremacists as the deadliest domestic terror threat facing the U.S., listed above the immediate danger from foreign terrorist groups."
"The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday moved to assume responsibility for defending President Trump in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who says Trump raped her in the 1990s." No. The DoJ is not the president's personal law firm, neither is the president being sued in the performance of his duties. This is an attempt to kill the case.
"President Donald Trump on Tuesday went further than ever before in putting the degradation of the rule of law at the center of his reelection campaign… Trump called on his supporters in North Carolina to act as poll watchers, to watch out for 'thieving, and stealing and robbing' that he is warning without evidence will taint Election Day. He made his call at a packed rally in Winston-Salem where he and many of his fans made a mockery of the state's mask mandate -- as well as the advice of his own government amid a pandemic that has killed nearly 190,000 Americans and was exacerbated by his prioritizing politics over science." Encouraging voter intimidation. Great. If I were the cynical type, I would encourage all conservatives to vote by mail and show up at the polls to request a ballot. Please, by all means do so. Insist on the ballot in person. Make a stink. Because it's a felony, and felons lose their right to vote.
"Georgia's top election official sounded the alarm Tuesday because he said 1,000 people voted twice in the state's elections so far this year — although when pressed, he acknowledged he didn't know whether any of them did so intentionally… Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, made the announcement in a news conference on Tuesday. He said the thousand voters turned in absentee ballots and then voted in person in the state's June primary, but he provided few details apart from that."
"Asked in an interview with CBS West Palm Beach whether he plans to vote in person in his home state, Trump said Tuesday he hasn't 'made that determination' yet… 'I may do absentee, or I may do that. I'd like to do it in person. I prefer doing it in person,' he added." You may remember a long time ago when Trump went to vote while accompanied by a reporter… he couldn't find the correct polling station.
"In a county where more than half of the residents are born outside the mainland U.S. — mostly in Latin America — Trump has outspent Joe Biden’s campaign by about $4 million on TV in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale media market, much of it on Spanish-language ads. The president’s conservative allies have dominated Spanish-language social media and WhatsApp messaging to Spanish-speakers. And the Miami-Dade County GOP has fielded candidates in five key local races, all of whom are Cuban-American, which could help turn out the pro-Trump Republican vote."
Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "Just weeks after helping to broker peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), President Trump has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize." Oh Christ.
"Nine years on, radiation levels have generally decreased, both from cleanup and from the natural decay of radioactive particles. Reports by the United Nations and the International Commission on Radiological Protection say radiation risks in Fukushima are low. Other organizations, like Greenpeace, contradict those findings, and many residents and evacuees remain concerned about radiation."
"But two spacecraft, built and launched in 1970s, have for the past few years been beaming back our first glimpses from this strange region we call interstellar space. As the first man-made objects to leave our Solar System, they are venturing into uncharted territory, billions of miles from home. No other spacecraft have travelled as far… And they have revealed that beyond the boundaries of our solar system lies an invisible region of chaotic, frothing activity."
"Even as Disney+ downloads increase, though, a social media-driven #BoycottMulan campaign is also gaining ground online."
"New data out Tuesday shows that more than 500,000 children in the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic started, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The group said children represented 9.8% of all COVID-19 cases in the U.S., where more than 6.3 million total cases have been reported, per a tally by Johns Hopkins University." So much for the myth that kids are immune.
"After a week and a half of in-person classes, West Virginia University announced Monday it was moving undergraduate classes online after seeing a spike in Covid-19 cases and the occurrence of several parties this weekend at the school… The Morgantown campus canceled all in-person classes Monday and will host online classes only starting Wednesday through September 25, the school said in a statement. Undergraduate classes started on August 26."
"With colleges around the country reporting outbreaks of COVID-19, some schools have placed the blame on students. But experts say shaming students and zero-tolerance policies may be making the situation worse." In case you ever wondered about the competency of management and leadership, here it is. Just what the fuck did you think students would actually do? But it's really not about that, is it. It's about how much money the colleges and universities stood to lose for not having in-person classes. And that's why they did it. And now they're attempting to shift blame to the students for the decision they took while fully aware that they were exposing the students to this risk. And they intentionally increased the risk for everyone in the country (not just the students and those who live an work in those college towns).
"BioNTech and Pfizer Inc., which are developing a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, said in a news release on Wednesday that they plan to pursue regulatory review for BNT162b2 in October, depending on the success of the vaccine in late-stage clinical trials. However, the companies did not say what countries they plan to seek review in." Again note the release is made in the business news, not in the health news sector.
"Drugmaker AstraZeneca has announced that it is pausing its COVID-19 vaccine trial because of a 'potentially unexplained illness' in one of the trial volunteers." Oops.
"The chief and entire command staff of the police department in Rochester, New York, resigned on Tuesday — among other department changes — as outrage continued over the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man with mental health issues who died after having been put in a 'spit hood' and restrained by officers in March."
"A quirky candy maker has launched a nationwide treasure hunt, sending sugar mavens into a frenzy. They'll need to pay to play for the ultimate prize -- one of his candy factories… Instead of Willy Wonka, participants get David Klein, one of the original inventors of Jelly Belly jelly beans who's since left the company. He's consigning a candy factory to whoever wins his treasure hunt, only this hunt skimps on Oompa Loompas and spoiled children." Oh gods, not again. And "A spokesperson for Jelly Belly says its company has nothing to do with a contest that sounds like it’s straight from a movie script: a golden-ticket treasure hunt where the winner gets a key to a candy factory."
"In America's four largest cities, at least half of people say they have experienced the loss of a job or a reduction in wages or work hours in their household since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. That's the finding of a new poll published Wednesday by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health."
"Fire has destroyed Greece's largest migrant camp, the overcrowded Moria facility on the island of Lesbos… About 25 firefighters with 10 engines battled the flames as migrants were evacuated. Some suffered injuries from smoke exposure… It is unclear how the fires began, with some blaming the migrants and others blaming Greek locals."
How goes Brexit? "Ahead of a crucial round of talks between London and Brussels over the future trading relationship between the UK and the European Union, the British government made a startling admission: That it would be prepared to break the terms of an international treaty… The threat was relatively technical -- over an aspect of the withdrawal agreement that allowed the UK to leave the EU at the end of January -- but the admission by a government minister in the House of Commons sent shockwaves through diplomatic circles and raised questions about whether the UK can be trusted on the world stage."
"A former high-ranking official within the National Rifle Association is breaking ranks with the powerful gun lobby, publishing a book that accuses its leaders of decades worth of mismanagement and fraud that he says has left the organization in a state of financial and moral disarray." Shocked. Shocked I am to discover…
"The U.S. plans to cut the troop presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 by the end of September as President Donald Trump seeks to fulfill a campaign promise to end America's 'endless wars.'"
"White supremacists present the gravest terror threat to the United States, according to a draft report from the Department of Homeland Security… Two later draft versions of the same document — all of which were reviewed by POLITICO — describe the threat from white supremacists in slightly different language. But all three drafts describe the threat from white supremacists as the deadliest domestic terror threat facing the U.S., listed above the immediate danger from foreign terrorist groups."
"The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday moved to assume responsibility for defending President Trump in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who says Trump raped her in the 1990s." No. The DoJ is not the president's personal law firm, neither is the president being sued in the performance of his duties. This is an attempt to kill the case.
"President Donald Trump on Tuesday went further than ever before in putting the degradation of the rule of law at the center of his reelection campaign… Trump called on his supporters in North Carolina to act as poll watchers, to watch out for 'thieving, and stealing and robbing' that he is warning without evidence will taint Election Day. He made his call at a packed rally in Winston-Salem where he and many of his fans made a mockery of the state's mask mandate -- as well as the advice of his own government amid a pandemic that has killed nearly 190,000 Americans and was exacerbated by his prioritizing politics over science." Encouraging voter intimidation. Great. If I were the cynical type, I would encourage all conservatives to vote by mail and show up at the polls to request a ballot. Please, by all means do so. Insist on the ballot in person. Make a stink. Because it's a felony, and felons lose their right to vote.
"Georgia's top election official sounded the alarm Tuesday because he said 1,000 people voted twice in the state's elections so far this year — although when pressed, he acknowledged he didn't know whether any of them did so intentionally… Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, made the announcement in a news conference on Tuesday. He said the thousand voters turned in absentee ballots and then voted in person in the state's June primary, but he provided few details apart from that."
"Asked in an interview with CBS West Palm Beach whether he plans to vote in person in his home state, Trump said Tuesday he hasn't 'made that determination' yet… 'I may do absentee, or I may do that. I'd like to do it in person. I prefer doing it in person,' he added." You may remember a long time ago when Trump went to vote while accompanied by a reporter… he couldn't find the correct polling station.
"In a county where more than half of the residents are born outside the mainland U.S. — mostly in Latin America — Trump has outspent Joe Biden’s campaign by about $4 million on TV in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale media market, much of it on Spanish-language ads. The president’s conservative allies have dominated Spanish-language social media and WhatsApp messaging to Spanish-speakers. And the Miami-Dade County GOP has fielded candidates in five key local races, all of whom are Cuban-American, which could help turn out the pro-Trump Republican vote."
Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "Just weeks after helping to broker peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), President Trump has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize." Oh Christ.
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Linkee-poo Tuesday that feels like a Monday
"Almost every structure in the small farming town of Malden in eastern Washington state was destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire Monday as high winds created what officials described as a firestorm."
"Tom Brown, head of the Hubble mission office at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore—and no relation to Mike Brown--says that Hubble does indeed just sometimes aim in the wrong direction… 'It used to happen on the order of about one percent of the time,' he says. 'These days, it happens more like five percent of the time.'"
"In the United States, healthcare providers are typically paid based on services provided. The more tests a patient undergoes, the bigger the bill… Vivian Lee, a radiologist and healthcare executive, says this fee-for-service business model needs to be reconsidered." The Hidden Brain podcast… fuck yes.
"For now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association explicitly warn that antibody tests should not be used to make decisions about returning workers to the office or students to school, though some labs still promote them for those uses. The CDC recommends everyone — even those who were sick and recovered — take precautions to prevent getting and spreading the virus." Because we just don't know.
"President Trump has been hinting that a vaccine could be ready before the end of October, but Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to the administration's Operation Warp Speed, downplayed that possibility in an interview on NPR's All Things Considered… 'There is a very, very low chance that the trials that are running as we speak could read before the end of October,' Slaoui said." Jazz hands.
"When Dr. Zachary Sussman went to Physicians Premier ER in Austin for a COVID-19 antibody test, he assumed he would get a freebie because he was a doctor for the chain. Instead, the free-standing emergency room charged his insurance company an astonishing $10,984 for the visit — and got paid every penny, with no pushback."
"The good folks at the Brennan Center tasked one of their own—Michael German, a former FBI special agent—to study exactly how thoroughly white supremacy ideology has filtered into American law enforcement. With impeccable timing, German’s report dropped this week, not long after Kyle Rittenhouse, his Armalite dangling in front of him like a credential on a lanyard, blithely strolled past heavily armed officers of the Kenosha P.D. and went home. Thanks to German, that unforgettable tableau is sadly explicable."
"Pierce said he resigned from the #FightBack Foundation fund, which has raised money to defend Rittenhouse, to avoid any 'appearance of conflict,' USA Today reported. Pierce and his firm, Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht, have been accused of defaulting on millions of dollars owed to investors, according to court documents." The company you keep. With this and the arrest of Bannon for his "fund the wall scheme" it's almost like a trend among conservative fund raisers.
"Right-wing extremists in Oregon accompanying a car caravan of several hundred supporters of President Trump on Monday drove from a Portland suburb to Salem, the capital, where some members of the group brawled with left-wing activists… The clash, which apparently did not result in any serious injuries but led to at least two arrests, was the latest between Trump supporters in Oregon and protesters who oppose police brutality and racially motivated violence."
"At one point Monday afternoon, the right-wing crowd rushed a smaller group of Black Lives Matters counter-demonstrators, firing paint-gun pellets at them. There were skirmishes, and the Black Lives Matter group dispersed shortly after local police arrived on the scene."
"Shares of Nikola surged Tuesday after General Motors announced it’s taking an 11% stake in the electric truck maker and will produce its marquee hydrogen fuel cell electric pickup truck the Badger by the end of 2022."
The K shaped recovery… "It’s a scenario where big-box retail and Wall Street banks benefit and mom-and-pop shops and restaurants and other service profession workers lag. Though not readily visible in GDP numbers for the next several quarters that will look gaudy in historical terms, the uneven benefits of the recovery pose longer-term risks for the national economic health."
"Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the pace of jobs growth is rising faster than many people expected, but it may take years before the economy has fully recovered… Powell spoke in a wide-ranging interview with NPR on Friday, hours after the release of the August jobs report, which said unemployment continued to drift lower, falling to 8.4%."
"As employees of small businesses get their first September paychecks, they’re probably receiving their usual amount — company owners are still withholding money for Social Security despite a presidential order allowing the tax to be deferred." I haven't checked my stubs yet, but I recommend doing so.
In the richest country on Earth (well, not really, but it's our slogan)… "Across the country, people like Lordz have picked up roughly 75 million food boxes this summer through the program overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The effort began in the spring when efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus caused food demand at restaurants and schools to plunge. That left farmers with little choice but to dispose of produce, meat and dairy products even as millions of people desperately turned to help from overwhelmed food banks."
How goes Brexit? "The head of the British government’s legal department has quit over suggestions that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is threatening to override the Brexit divorce deal with the European Union, the Financial Times said on Tuesday."
"All over the world, from the US to Germany to the UK, some people decide to disappear from their own lives without a trace – leaving their homes, jobs and families in the middle of the night to start a second life, often without ever looking back… In Japan, these people are sometimes referred to as 'jouhatsu'. That’s the Japanese word for 'evaporation', but it also refers to people who vanish on purpose into thin air, and continue to conceal their whereabouts – potentially for years, even decades."
"The Trump administration must, for now, stop winding down in-person counting efforts for the 2020 census, a federal judge in California ordered Saturday, while a legal fight over the shortened schedule for the national head count continues."
"The Saudi trial into the killing of critic Jamal Khashoggi has lacked transparency and fallen short on assigning accountability for the crime, the U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday."
"Cheng Lei, a presenter for China Global Television Network (CGTN), is suspected of 'criminal activity endangering China's national security'… She has been detained since 14 August… The announcement comes after the last two journalists working for Australian media in China flew home to Sydney after a five-day diplomatic stand-off."
"Almost 300 Rohingya Muslims were found on a beach in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Monday after months at sea, officials said."
"A Russian national living in California with his American family is now facing deportation from the U.S. due to what experts say is a politically motivated request by Russia for his arrest — one of a number of cases in which U.S. immigration authorities have relied on such a request for prolonged detention and so-called backdoor extraditions." Stay safe, my Russian friends.
"Belarusian protest leader Maria Kolesnikova was detained while trying to enter Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday morning, a Belarusian border official told Reuters, a day after her allies said she had been grabbed off the street by masked men." Sounds like a forced pretext for an "official" arrest.
"A drone over Tel Aviv's Rabin Square dropped hundreds of bags of weed on Thursday, setting off a mad scramble by onlookers to stock up, the Jerusalem Post reported." What a marketing ploy!
"Russia and Syria plan to sign an economic pact before the end of the year that is partly aimed at circumventing U.S. sanctions, Russia’s deputy prime minister said Monday as he led a high-level delegation on a visit to Damascus."
"President Donald Trump launched an unprecedented public attack against the leadership of the US military on Monday, accusing them of waging wars to boost the profits of defense manufacturing companies."
"Expectations in July and August that a fifth bipartisan pandemic response bill would eventually be birthed despite increased obstacles has been replaced by genuine pessimism. Recent COVID-related conversations among key players have led to nothing." It's September in an election year, except for housekeeping nothing is going to get done. Well, there will be a lot of complaining in front of the press, and a metric shit ton of finger pointing. But not much else.
You might remember the initial story about this… "Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said on WTNH-TV that he would accept (John) Oliver’s challenge to name the city’s sewage plant after him following Oliver’s offer to donate $55,000 to local charities." But John has to come to the opening ceremonies, according to the mayor. Seriously, do you think he won't? And that he won't bring cameras?
"Maricopa, which encompasses Phoenix and it’s predominantly white suburbs, including Scottsdale, Chandler, and Glendale, represents about 60 percent of likely voters. Its changing demographics are the reason Arizona — which hasn’t been won by a Democratic presidential nominee since 1996 — is in play."
No exactly Bullshit Mountain, let's call them Bullshit Molehill… "Democrats’ new strategy for winning the White House: Threaten riots if they lose."
"QAnon, the scarily popular pro-Trump conspiracy theory, explained." Somewhat.
"Long before he came into office, Donald Trump was so preoccupied with then-President Barack Obama that he hired a look-alike actor — a 'faux-Bama' — to castigate and then pretend to fire on video… That's just one of many episodes recounted and accusations levied by Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, in his new book, Disloyal: A Memoir, which is being published Tuesday and which NPR obtained before its publication."
"Tom Brown, head of the Hubble mission office at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore—and no relation to Mike Brown--says that Hubble does indeed just sometimes aim in the wrong direction… 'It used to happen on the order of about one percent of the time,' he says. 'These days, it happens more like five percent of the time.'"
"In the United States, healthcare providers are typically paid based on services provided. The more tests a patient undergoes, the bigger the bill… Vivian Lee, a radiologist and healthcare executive, says this fee-for-service business model needs to be reconsidered." The Hidden Brain podcast… fuck yes.
"For now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association explicitly warn that antibody tests should not be used to make decisions about returning workers to the office or students to school, though some labs still promote them for those uses. The CDC recommends everyone — even those who were sick and recovered — take precautions to prevent getting and spreading the virus." Because we just don't know.
"President Trump has been hinting that a vaccine could be ready before the end of October, but Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to the administration's Operation Warp Speed, downplayed that possibility in an interview on NPR's All Things Considered… 'There is a very, very low chance that the trials that are running as we speak could read before the end of October,' Slaoui said." Jazz hands.
"When Dr. Zachary Sussman went to Physicians Premier ER in Austin for a COVID-19 antibody test, he assumed he would get a freebie because he was a doctor for the chain. Instead, the free-standing emergency room charged his insurance company an astonishing $10,984 for the visit — and got paid every penny, with no pushback."
"The good folks at the Brennan Center tasked one of their own—Michael German, a former FBI special agent—to study exactly how thoroughly white supremacy ideology has filtered into American law enforcement. With impeccable timing, German’s report dropped this week, not long after Kyle Rittenhouse, his Armalite dangling in front of him like a credential on a lanyard, blithely strolled past heavily armed officers of the Kenosha P.D. and went home. Thanks to German, that unforgettable tableau is sadly explicable."
"Pierce said he resigned from the #FightBack Foundation fund, which has raised money to defend Rittenhouse, to avoid any 'appearance of conflict,' USA Today reported. Pierce and his firm, Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht, have been accused of defaulting on millions of dollars owed to investors, according to court documents." The company you keep. With this and the arrest of Bannon for his "fund the wall scheme" it's almost like a trend among conservative fund raisers.
"Right-wing extremists in Oregon accompanying a car caravan of several hundred supporters of President Trump on Monday drove from a Portland suburb to Salem, the capital, where some members of the group brawled with left-wing activists… The clash, which apparently did not result in any serious injuries but led to at least two arrests, was the latest between Trump supporters in Oregon and protesters who oppose police brutality and racially motivated violence."
"At one point Monday afternoon, the right-wing crowd rushed a smaller group of Black Lives Matters counter-demonstrators, firing paint-gun pellets at them. There were skirmishes, and the Black Lives Matter group dispersed shortly after local police arrived on the scene."
"Shares of Nikola surged Tuesday after General Motors announced it’s taking an 11% stake in the electric truck maker and will produce its marquee hydrogen fuel cell electric pickup truck the Badger by the end of 2022."
The K shaped recovery… "It’s a scenario where big-box retail and Wall Street banks benefit and mom-and-pop shops and restaurants and other service profession workers lag. Though not readily visible in GDP numbers for the next several quarters that will look gaudy in historical terms, the uneven benefits of the recovery pose longer-term risks for the national economic health."
"Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the pace of jobs growth is rising faster than many people expected, but it may take years before the economy has fully recovered… Powell spoke in a wide-ranging interview with NPR on Friday, hours after the release of the August jobs report, which said unemployment continued to drift lower, falling to 8.4%."
"As employees of small businesses get their first September paychecks, they’re probably receiving their usual amount — company owners are still withholding money for Social Security despite a presidential order allowing the tax to be deferred." I haven't checked my stubs yet, but I recommend doing so.
In the richest country on Earth (well, not really, but it's our slogan)… "Across the country, people like Lordz have picked up roughly 75 million food boxes this summer through the program overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The effort began in the spring when efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus caused food demand at restaurants and schools to plunge. That left farmers with little choice but to dispose of produce, meat and dairy products even as millions of people desperately turned to help from overwhelmed food banks."
How goes Brexit? "The head of the British government’s legal department has quit over suggestions that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is threatening to override the Brexit divorce deal with the European Union, the Financial Times said on Tuesday."
"All over the world, from the US to Germany to the UK, some people decide to disappear from their own lives without a trace – leaving their homes, jobs and families in the middle of the night to start a second life, often without ever looking back… In Japan, these people are sometimes referred to as 'jouhatsu'. That’s the Japanese word for 'evaporation', but it also refers to people who vanish on purpose into thin air, and continue to conceal their whereabouts – potentially for years, even decades."
"The Trump administration must, for now, stop winding down in-person counting efforts for the 2020 census, a federal judge in California ordered Saturday, while a legal fight over the shortened schedule for the national head count continues."
"The Saudi trial into the killing of critic Jamal Khashoggi has lacked transparency and fallen short on assigning accountability for the crime, the U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday."
"Cheng Lei, a presenter for China Global Television Network (CGTN), is suspected of 'criminal activity endangering China's national security'… She has been detained since 14 August… The announcement comes after the last two journalists working for Australian media in China flew home to Sydney after a five-day diplomatic stand-off."
"Almost 300 Rohingya Muslims were found on a beach in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Monday after months at sea, officials said."
"A Russian national living in California with his American family is now facing deportation from the U.S. due to what experts say is a politically motivated request by Russia for his arrest — one of a number of cases in which U.S. immigration authorities have relied on such a request for prolonged detention and so-called backdoor extraditions." Stay safe, my Russian friends.
"Belarusian protest leader Maria Kolesnikova was detained while trying to enter Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday morning, a Belarusian border official told Reuters, a day after her allies said she had been grabbed off the street by masked men." Sounds like a forced pretext for an "official" arrest.
"A drone over Tel Aviv's Rabin Square dropped hundreds of bags of weed on Thursday, setting off a mad scramble by onlookers to stock up, the Jerusalem Post reported." What a marketing ploy!
"Russia and Syria plan to sign an economic pact before the end of the year that is partly aimed at circumventing U.S. sanctions, Russia’s deputy prime minister said Monday as he led a high-level delegation on a visit to Damascus."
"President Donald Trump launched an unprecedented public attack against the leadership of the US military on Monday, accusing them of waging wars to boost the profits of defense manufacturing companies."
"Expectations in July and August that a fifth bipartisan pandemic response bill would eventually be birthed despite increased obstacles has been replaced by genuine pessimism. Recent COVID-related conversations among key players have led to nothing." It's September in an election year, except for housekeeping nothing is going to get done. Well, there will be a lot of complaining in front of the press, and a metric shit ton of finger pointing. But not much else.
You might remember the initial story about this… "Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said on WTNH-TV that he would accept (John) Oliver’s challenge to name the city’s sewage plant after him following Oliver’s offer to donate $55,000 to local charities." But John has to come to the opening ceremonies, according to the mayor. Seriously, do you think he won't? And that he won't bring cameras?
"Maricopa, which encompasses Phoenix and it’s predominantly white suburbs, including Scottsdale, Chandler, and Glendale, represents about 60 percent of likely voters. Its changing demographics are the reason Arizona — which hasn’t been won by a Democratic presidential nominee since 1996 — is in play."
No exactly Bullshit Mountain, let's call them Bullshit Molehill… "Democrats’ new strategy for winning the White House: Threaten riots if they lose."
"QAnon, the scarily popular pro-Trump conspiracy theory, explained." Somewhat.
"Long before he came into office, Donald Trump was so preoccupied with then-President Barack Obama that he hired a look-alike actor — a 'faux-Bama' — to castigate and then pretend to fire on video… That's just one of many episodes recounted and accusations levied by Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, in his new book, Disloyal: A Memoir, which is being published Tuesday and which NPR obtained before its publication."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)