Links 10/14/2020 – Church Security

Amazon workers in Germany strike on ‘Prime Day’ Reuters

Amazon Offers New Blank Box Upcharge For Progressive Members To Discreetly Receive Prime Orders The Onion

Retail’s tick-box approach to supply chains is untenable FT

ESG Drives a Stake Through Friedman’s Legacy John Authers, Bloomberg

A fifth of countries worldwide at risk from ecosystem collapse as biodiversity declines, reveals pioneering Swiss Re index (press release) Swiss Re. Handy map:

New Maps Show How Climate Change is Making California’s “Fire Weather” Worse Pro Publica

Uber is attempting to colonize the California government Ryan Cooper, The Week

#COVID19

Genomic evidence for reinfection with SARS-CoV-2: a case study The Lancet. From the Findings: “The patient had two positive tests for SARS-CoV-2, the first on April 18, 2020, and the second on June 5, 2020, separated by two negative tests done during follow-up in May, 2020. Genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 showed genetically significant differences between each variant associated with each instance of infection. The second infection was symptomatically more severe than the first.”

Japan supercomputer shows humidity affects aerosol spread of coronavirus Straits Times

Why did J&J hit pause on its COVID-19 vaccine trial? Stay tuned, execs say Fierce Biotech

US Patent Boss Says No Evidence Of Patents Holding Back COVID Treatments, Days Before Pharma Firms Prove He’s Wrong TechDirt

Who Will Approve a COVID Vaccine in the US? Avalere. From September, still germane.

How to promote uptake of any COVID-19 vaccine Medical Journal of Australia

Coronavirus: Stanford doctors among leaders of global anti-lockdown movement Mercury News and The Great Barrington Declaration isn’t too worried about who makes the declaration Tax Research UK. “I used the name ‘Mad Scientist’….”

Covid in cabins: Low risk, no silver bullet Leeham News and Analysis

Coronavirus has exposed global leadership crisis: Milken survey Straits Times

China?

China braced for lose-lose scenario as US election fuels unease FT

Would China prefer Donald Trump or Joe Biden as the next US president? This is what people told us ABC Australia

China Cybersecurity: No Place to Hide China Law Blog. Parts two and three. Not just about cybersecurity.

BTS face backlash in China over Korean War comments – as ads and merchandise suddenly disappear Sky News. Comment from South Korea:

I would never, ever discount China’s ability to produce cultural products. What’s lacking is leadership and vision, backed by an understanding of how soft power is built and maintained.

— T.K. of AAK! (@AskAKorean) October 13, 2020

National security law: when disruption equals ‘subversion’, what’s left for Hong Kong’s opposition legislators? South China Morning Post

Xi Jinping tells marines to focus on ‘preparing to go to war’ in military base visit during southern China tour South China Morning Post

As Taiwan’s profile rises, so does risk of conflict with China Axios

US plans to sell more drones, missiles to Taiwan: Report Al Jazeera

India

These 4 states are lagging in India’s fight against Covid Times of India

Why are North and South India so different on gender? Alice Evans

UK/EU

Huge crowds gather in city centre as pubs shut just hours before new lockdown Liverpool Echo. Off to a good start, then.

No hope of normality until JULY: Vaccine expert warns facemasks and social distancing will be needed until next summer because coronavirus jabs are unlikely before 2021… and then only for key workers like frontline health staff at first Daily Mail

UK Labour calls for ‘circuit-breaker’ full coronavirus lockdown Politico

There’s a financial incentive for councils to lock down Spiked

Ukania Perpetua? (PDF). Perry Anderson, New Left Review. Grab a pot of coffee, it’s 76 pages long. Masterful synthesis of contemporary British history, concluding: “The price of departure, indexed by the EU to political not economic considerations, has left Britain’s rulers answerless politically and, in all probability, the wells of Brexit further poisoned economically. No part of the current configuration is independent of the others. Their nexus is bound to dissolve, in one way or another. When or how is anyone’s guess.” Not with a bang, then?

Brexit

EU has ‘serious concerns’ about UK implementation of Brexit treaty Reuters

Germany urges rapid progress in UK-EU talks as it warns of no-deal damage FT

Small investment funds buy Venezuela bonds to pressure Maduro and Guaido Reuters

New Cold War

Russia Rules Out Nuclear Deal With Trump Before U.S. Election Bloomberg

RussiaGate

‘Unmasking’ probe concludes without ‘finding any substantive wrongdoing’: report The Hill

Trump Transition

Robert Lighthizer Blew Up 60 Years of Trade Policy. Nobody Knows What Happens Next. Pro Publica

McConnell: Senate to Vote on ‘Targeted’ COVID Relief Bill as ‘First Order of Business’ after Recess National Review

Supreme Court grants Trump request to halt 2020 census The Hill

Five takeaways from Barrett’s Supreme Court grilling The Hill

2020

Carville predicts Biden will quickly be declared winner: ‘Not going to be close’ The Hill

How progressives should navigate their Biden conundrum Medium

To Stop an Electoral Coup, Study What Went Wrong in the 2000 Florida Recount Jacobin

Conspiracy theories, misinformation, COVID-19, and the 2020 election Survey Center on American Life

Democrats in Disarray

Holy moley:

Wolf somehow maintains his replacement-level boring anchor demeanor while just wrecking Pelosi, can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a politician get this lit up on TV pic.twitter.com/VAvsmivU0R

— Matt Bruenig (@MattBruenig) October 13, 2020

Qu’ils mangent de la crème glacée….

Transcript of Pelosi Interview on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer Nancy Pelosi Newsroom (pq).

Our Famously Free Press

Speak no good of the dead:

the guardian obituary of david graeber contains zero mentions of one of his primary areas of focus over the past 5 years: supporting corbyn and exposing the smear campaign against him. why? bc as david pointed out the guardian played a crucial role in this. it’s his pinned tweet! pic.twitter.com/miNUFQfZ1r

— ☀️👀 (@zei_squirrel) September 4, 2020

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch