Links 9/1/2020
Man Draws Cartoon Faces On His Expressionless Cats Animal Rescue (David L). Better than the headline.
Humans’ construction ‘footprint’ on ocean quantified for first time PhysOrg (Kevin W)
Fossil Fuels Are Here To Stay OilPrice. Resilc: “People who think we’ll all drive Teslas soon haven’t been to Guatemala or Liberia.”
#COVID-19
Coronavirus live news: India adds nearly 2m cases in August, France cases rise 50% in one month Guardian
Science/Medicine
Thailand Covid-19 vaccine proved successful in trials on monkeys Pattaya News (furzy)
Obese Patients at High Risk of Severe Covid Illness, Study Finds Bloomberg
US
How Trump Sowed Covid Supply Chaos Wall Street Journal. Important and I think not paywalled.
6 Million Stricken with Covid-19: Trump has turned the US into a Sh*thole Country Juan Cole (resilc)
The Real Reason Contact Tracing Is Doomed in the US: Spam Calls Vice (resilc). No, this is a second-order problem at this juncture. The infection is too prevalent for 1. contact tracing to have much impact and 2. To even be certain that a subsequent infection resulted from the contact chain, as opposed to an independent source. If we get the infection rate down, then contact tracing could be very productive…..in conjunction with testing.
China
Sink or swim: China’s ‘zero Covid’ strategy The Spectator
Political Responses
HHS bids $250 million contract meant to ‘defeat despair and inspire hope’ on coronavirus Politico (resilc). Everything is like CalPERS….
Berlin coronavirus protests trigger debate on basic rights DW
EU seeks to improve cross-border co-ordination as Covid-19 cases rise Financial Times
Plato’s Cave provides low-income housing in response to community shut down OzarksFirst
Heal the Country? Disease Specialists Running for Congress New York Times (Kevin C)
Japan’s Shinzō Abe Was an Uninspiring Leader Who Prospered by Default Jacobin. PlutoniumKun: “A very good take on Abe’s ultimate political failures (although it’s pretty bad on economics)”
France’s Macron calls on Lebanon to form new government BBC
New Cold War
Nord Stream 2 Troubles: An Uncertain Future for the German-Russian Pipeline Der Spiegel (resilc)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Andrew Yang Takes Lead Role In California Data Privacy Campaign Politico
FBI Worried Ring and Other Doorbell Cameras Could Tip Owners Off To Police Searches The Verge
Trump Transition
French justice minister supports prisoners rights group urging Trump to drop charges against Assange Lucy Komisar: “A French prisoners’ rights groups supporting Assange, may not be surprising, but the interesting part is that the French Justice Minister supports this.”
House Oversight Head Maloney Prepares to Issue Subpoena to Postmaster General DeJoy Wall Street Journal
The Uprising Decomplexified & the Madness of William Barr notesfromdisgraceland
2020
The Biden campaign is instructing volunteers NOT to talk about policy. pic.twitter.com/Cwlv2Z7UOM
— Prof Zenkus (@anthonyzenkus) August 31, 2020
That’s because this is what happens when they do talk about policy:
Biden doing everything he can to lose the election. In this part of the speech Biden confirms he’s pro-fracking even though it hurts him in the place where he thinks it helps him. That’s because, like Trump, lobbyists are in his ear instead of the actual voters. https://t.co/YjzZ5xzk8X pic.twitter.com/brwFydlo6q
— David Doel (@daviddoel) August 31, 2020
A Word Not Uttered by Republican Officials at the Convention: Obamacare New York Times (furzy)
Marko Kolanovic: Investors Should Position For Rising Odds Of Trump Victory Heisenberg Report (resilc)
Exclusive: Dem group warns of apparent Trump Election Day landslide Axios (David L)
The six political states of Florida Washington Post. Here I thought there were only four: retired Jews, DisneyWorld, drug dealers, and alligators. And please don’t get prissy. Any Borscht Belt comic could do a much better riff on this theme.
Kennedy-Markey race takes nasty turn in Massachusetts The Hill
This Massachusetts primary is everything wrong with the Democratic Party The Week (UserFriendly)
Trump at the RNC: Echoes of Saddam CounterPunch. Resilc: “I’m ready to tear down Trump statues with my John Deere tractor.”
Innocent Florida inmate released after 37 years Orlando Sentinel (UserFriendly)
America Divided
The Revolt of the Baristas Notes on Liberty
He was re-elected w/55% of the vote months later. He’s been sheriff for 18 yrs. A hideous would-be genocidaire leads law enforcement for Kenosha County. This moment is critical b/c it lays bare the truth abt the danger Black ppl face in this country. Now choose where you stand. https://t.co/ueVFJb8dkq
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) August 31, 2020
Hidden in Plain Sight: Racism, White Supremacy, and Far-Right Militancy in Law Enforcement Brennan Center for Justice
Trump defends Kenosha suspect as acting in self-defense The Hill
DHS Chief Chad Wolf Tells Tucker Carlson the Feds Are ‘Working On’ Corruption Charges Against BLM Leaders Daily Beast. UserFriendly: “LOL, charging imaginary people.”
It’s almost as if cash bail is intended as punishment of poor people who have been just accused, not convicted, and interfering with that punishment impairs what these people see as the function of the system. https://t.co/wBntTF0zgH
— HatsAreNotBullets (@Popehat) August 31, 2020
Former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin remembers the police stop that made him sweat CNN (Kevin W)
Skyrocketing demolition costs for riot-damaged Minneapolis, St. Paul properties delay rebuilding Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Dan K)
As a former health insurance exec, I know how rich corporations rake in billions by blocking life-saving procedures, hiking premiums & now exploiting a public health emergency. I often get asked what folks can do to help expose, shame & stop these swindlers. Here’s what: (1/4)
— Wendell Potter (@wendellpotter) August 31, 2020
What Apple’s landmark court win against the EU means for Ireland CNBC. UserFriendly: 🙁
Facebook is threatening to block Australians from sharing news on its platforms if planned government regulation goes ahead Business Insider (Kevin W)
CalPERS board member calls for no new private equity investments until CIO probe over Axios
Hotel Industry Remains On Brink of Collapse AHLA. Read the boldfaced headers. Grim.
Tesla’s nickel quest highlights metal’s environmental burden Financial Times
Mission Creep at the Federal Reserve? Or Mission Focus? Nathan Tankus
Class Warfare
The Social Fabric of the U.S. Is Fraying Severely, if Not Unravelling Glenn Greenwald, Intercept (resilc)
The Loan Company That Sued Thousands of Low-Income Latinos During the Pandemic — ProPublica (UserFriendly)
Antidote du jour. Furzy: “My sister’s new llama, Harvey, on left, 10 months old”:
And a bonus (Samuel C). As a kid, I always liked raking leaves. But this sort of thing would motivate just about anyone:
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
