Links 7/28/2020 – Church Security

Rare blue lobster sent to Ohio zoo after discovery at seafood restaurant New York Daily News (BC). Blue lobsters (and ones with weird shells, sadly often due to disease) often wind up at the cute aquarium run by the Maine Department of Natural Resources in Boothbay Harbor. The lobstermen bring them in. It also has a tank where you can pet a baby shark. BTW blue lobsters turn red when cooked just like normal lobsters.

Speaking of sharks….Woman dies in a ‘shark attack’ while swimming off the coast of Maine after kayakers tried to save her by dragging her to shore Daily Mail. Bailey Island is where I go every summer. My father’s family lived there since the island was settled.

Outback pub made famous by bizarre emu ban

How Do Dogs Find Their Way Home? They Might Sense Earth’s Magnetic Field Smithsonian (David L)

Drums, Lies, and Audiotape Nautilus (Lance N)

Locust Swarms Are Getting So Big That We Need Radar To Track Them Medium

What the heroin industry can teach us about solar power BBC News (Dr. Kevin)

Researchers develop a method for predicting unprecedented events ScienceBlog (Dr. Kevin)

#COVID-19

Hundreds jam airport as evacuations from Vietnam’s Danang begin Reuters (Kevin W)

We’ll Be Wearing Masks for a While. Why Not Make Them Nice? New York Times (resilc). Lambert talked about mask fashion early on.

Coronavirus: ‘I killed my mother with my own hands’ BBC

Empty beaches and fear of flying Telegraph

What’s needed for immunity from Covid-19 – and do Indians stand a better chance? The Scroll (J-LS)

Some Countries Reopened Schools. What Did They Learn About Kids and Covid? Wired (resilc).

Science/Medicine

Long-lasting COVID symptoms from lungs to limbs linger in coronavirus “long haulers”A growing number of people are suffering for months, but research is limited. Here are some of their stories. USA Today

Child hospitalizations from Covid-19 surge 23% in Florida as schools statewide must reopen CNN

Scientists Are 3D Printing Miniature Human Organs To Test COVID-19 Drugs The Week

This sounds interesting, esp. given the price-gouging with Remdesivir Rensselaer Polytech. Olivier: “This sounds interesting, esp. given the price-gouging with Remdesivir.”

In Social Insects, Researchers Find Clues for Battling Pandemics Smithsonian. Resilc: “Most merikins are not as smart as an ant.”

Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez confirms he’s dealing with heart issue stemming from COVID-19 infection CBSSports (resilc)

US

What America’s Coronavirus Response Looks Like Abroad New York Times

Can America Benefit from Covid? Ask 14th-Century Florence Politico (Dr. Kevin)

Seventeen Anesthesiologist Residents, Fellow At University Hospital System Contract Virus After Private Party WUFT (furzy). Florida.

‘Ellen DeGeneres Show’ Workplace Under Investigation by WarnerMedia (EXCLUSIVE) Variety. Kevin W: “Her reputation seems to have been collaterally damaged by Coronavirus.”

Coronavirus: Can this California prison save itself from Covid-19? BBC

The NFL season will be a disaster if it doesn’t change course Quartz

The California charter schools that have received coronavirus aid meant for small businesses In the Public Interest. From earlier in the month….

Political Responses

Stimulus Talks Could Snag on Social Security Review Panels Bloomberg

One lobbyist told me: “The idea that a small tax incentive is going to supersede the threat to people’s lives and livelihoods is a crazy and strange way to think about it.”

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) July 27, 2020

I know we were all worried defense contractors would be left out of the Republican Coronavirus package. You can calm down. Defense contractors got $10.5 billion. pic.twitter.com/TvPozfHwZJ

— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 28, 2020

The Growing Fight Against the School Death Trap New Republic

Finance/Economy

Money in pursuit of hopelessness: the gold price has hit an all time high Richard Murphy (UserFriendly)

China?

Quad alliance forms ‘arc of democracy’ around China Asia Times (Kevin W)

The World’s Largest Seaplane Pulls Off Its First Waterborne Flight Popular Mechanics (resilc). Not as big as the Spruce Goose!

India

Bangladesh’s snub another blow for India Asia Times (Kevin W)

Brexit

Post-Brexit replacements for the Italian foods you’ve come to love Daily Mash

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Pot, kettle, black: Facebook takes EU regulators to court for invading its privacy RT (Kevin W)

NIST Study Finds That Masks Defeat Most Facial Recognition Algorithms VentureBeat

Conservative Justices Declined to Take Up Second Amendment Case after Roberts Signaled He Would Side with Liberals: Report National Review (David L)

Eight in 10 Americans say the country is heading in the wrong direction, new poll shows MarketWatch

2020

Biden has 10-point lead over Trump: ‘It’s the virus, stupid’ The Hill

A slap in the face to the millions of Americans who have lost their healthcare in this pandemic. These cowardly fools are the best shot that working people have in getting a fair shake and are pathetically unable to meet the moment. https://t.co/OvssHKdg6m

— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) July 27, 2020

Democratic Party isn’t just moving rightward—they’re making a big show of stomping hard on whatever was dear to the Bernie insurgency. They’re dragging his political corpse behind their DNC Tesla and gloating all the way. Rotten country, ruled by suicidal maniacs

— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) July 28, 2020

The inside story behind Jared Kushner’s call to the CEOs of AT&T, Verizon, & T-Mobile after the Trump campaign was blocked from sending text messages to people who hadn’t signed up for them. Business Insider (Dan K)

Our Foreign Policy Nightmare: Vice President Susan Rice American Conservative