Links 10/7/2020
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747 soars past the competition as Katmai’s new Fat Bear Week champion Anchorage Daily News
Grapefruit Is One of the Weirdest Fruits on the Planet Atlas Obscura (Furzy Mouse).
Covid-19 downturn not as bad as feared; crisis not over: IMF chief Agence France Presse
Infighting, ‘Busywork,’ Missed Warnings: How Uber Wasted $2.5 Billion on Self-Driving Cars The Information. NC early and right here as well.
Coronavirus: World leaders must urgently phase out factory farming to cut future pandemics risk, says report Independent
Memories of the Killing Floor – The Magic of East Texas BBQ David Metcalfe
#COVID19
Airborne Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Science. “There is overwhelming evidence that inhalation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) represents a major transmission route for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).” NC was early and right.
Scientific Brief: SARS-CoV-2 and Potential Airborne Transmission CDC. “Updated Oct. 5, 2020”. Perhaps I stan for aerosols too hard, but I read this as a political document straddling the aerosol/droplet divide. Nevertheless, if as guidance it leads to aerosol-appropriate measures being taken, I am a happy camper.
EVMS Critical Care COVID-19 Management Protocol (PDF) Paul Marik, MD, Eastern Virginia Medical School (anon). Skip to page 15, “Key Concepts of the EVMS Treatment Protocol.”
White House Agrees to FDA’s Guidelines for Vetting Covid-19 Vaccines WSJ. So, no possible colorable claim of a vaccine by Election Day.
Trends in COVID-19 Incidence After Implementation of Mitigation Measures — Arizona, January 22–August 7, 2020 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Handy chart:
WHO: 10% of world’s people may have been infected with virus AP
COVID-19 cases keep rising in Capitol complex. Roll Call. “[C]ases among front-line workers on Capitol Hill continue to rise in the center of American government, which to this day lacks a comprehensive testing regimen for all workers.”
Ultra-Orthodox Community Members Gather to Protest New COVID Restrictions NBC
Evidence-Free ‘Lab Leak’ Speculation Boosts Trump’s Xenophobic Approach to Coronavirus FAIR
US medical supply chains failed, and COVID deaths followed AP
China?
China’s new economic ‘dual circulation’ strategy may not just be inward-looking, but also a pivot to Asia South China Morning Post
Chinese Citizens Are Already Receiving a Coronavirus Vaccine The New Yorker
Unfavorable Views of China Reach Historic Highs in Many Countries Pew Research
Southeast Asia Isn’t Interested In Joining A New Cold War The American Conservative
Pandemic prompts drive-through pet blessing in Philippines Reuters
India
How coastal areas, protests made Thiruvananthapuram epicentre of Kerala’s Covid resurgence The Print
India’s new paper Covid-19 test could be a ‘game changer’ BBC
Syraqistan
The war in Artsakh Yasha Levine, Immigrants as a Weapon
Kyrgyzstan on edge of chaos after opposition storms government buildings Reuters. Perhaps pertinent:
“London-listed miner Kaz Minerals KAZ.L said it had suspended production at its Bozymchak copper and gold mine and protesters showed up at smaller mines developed by Chinese and Turkish companies and demanded they halt operations, according to local news website Akipress. State-owned gold miner Kyrgyzaltyn said it had repelled an attempted attack on its office. Another group appeared to have broken into its gold refinery. Canada’s Centerra Gold CG.TO, which operates the country’s biggest gold deposit, said its operations were continuing uninterrupted.”
Oh.
The Campaign to “Kill” the BDS Movement Against Israel Extends Far and Wide Jacobin
Brexit
Brexit Talks Are Stuck on Fish, a Red Line for France’s Macron Bloomberg
Brexit Border in Ireland Could Lead to Violence, Spies Warn MPs Bloomberg
Brussels resists plan to safeguard post-Brexit share trading FT
UK/EU
What a Hancock-up: Excel spreadsheet blunder blamed after England under-reports 16,000 COVID-19 cases The Register. Giving me the opportunity to present Malcolm Tucker in classic form:
RussiaGate
Texas U.S. Attorney John Bash, tapped to investigate Obama administration for “unmasking,” resigns Texas Tribune
Comey’s Amnesia Makes Senate Session an Unforgettable Hop, Skip & Jump to Fraud Ray McGovern, Consortium News
Venezuela gold: Maduro government wins in UK appeals court BBC
Trump Transition
A tiny team of House staffers could change the future of Big Tech. This is their story. Protocol. Beat sweetener, but ok.
The IRS Is Being Investigated for Using Location Data Without a Warrant Vice
Some states overpaid unemployment benefits — and want the money back CBS
2020
Washington’s worst-kept secret Politico
Joe Biden Gettysburg Campaign Speech Transcript October 6 (transcript) Rev
October Surprise? You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet Bloomberg
Public health must be a priority in the 2020 US election The Lancet. A little late.
Manipulative tactics are the norm in political emails (PDF) Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP), Princeton. “Manipulative political discourse undermines voters’ autonomy and thus threatens democracy. Using a newly assembled corpus of more than 100,000 political emails from over 2,800 political campaigns and organizations sent during the 2020 U.S. election cycle, we find that manipulative tactics are the norm, not the exception.” Shocking but true!
On the Rule of Capital, Climate Crisis & the Rise of Fascism in the Pig Empire Nina Illingworth
Health Care
The Medicine Nobel for Hep C Should Force Us to Think About Patents, Patients, Profits The Wire
Assange
The Unprecedented and Illegal Campaign to Eliminate Julian Assange The Intercept
Our Famously Free Press
“This Gravy Train Is Coming To An End”: News Media Begins to Contemplate a Post-Trump White House Vanity Fair
Facebook bans QAnon across its platforms NBC
Police State Watch
‘Gang-like’ deputy clique exerts ‘undue influence’ at East L.A. station, report says Los Angeles Times. LA Confidential was a documentary?
Imperial Collapse Watch
Years after they fought in Afghanistan, US troops watch as their children deploy to the same war Stars and Stripes
Afghan task force will deploy to monitor U.S. election Duffel Blog
Guillotine Watch
Dalton Parents Revolt Over Prep School’s $54,180 Online Classes Bloomberg
Class Warfare
Global Capital Is the Tail That Wags the U.S. Economic Dog Michael Pettis, Foreign Policy
When Market Logic Comes for the Family American Compass
Amazon Study of Workers’ Covid Is Faulted Over Lack of Key Data Bloomberg. “But three experts interviewed by Bloomberg said the data was… essentially useless for employees trying to assess whether it’s safe to show up for work.” That’s not a bug. It’s a feature.
How to Potty Train Your Cat: A Handy Manual by Charles Mingus Open Culture. From 2011, still germane.
Black Hole Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Physics Scientific American. Very on-brand for 2020.
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
