Links 11/8/2020
‘Australia’s biodiversity just got a lot richer’: Two new mammals discovered Sidney Morning Herald
A Plan to Save Appalachia’s Wild Ginseng Wired
The foul-smelling fuel that could power big ships BBC
Mount Everest Empties as Covid-19 Strikes Tourism in Nepal NYT
Can you trust that Amazon review? 42% may be fake, independent monitor says. Chicago Tribune
How a UK supermarket nourished Silicon Valley’s critics FT
#COVID19
Scientists on guard over ‘mutant’ mink coronavirus Agence France Presse
Could a Covid vaccine bring back normality? Guardian
Will vaccination refusal prolong the war on SARS-CoV-2? FREE British Medical Journal. From the Conclusion: “It is very important to start conducting educational public health activities on the topic of vaccination as soon as possible, before a vaccine becomes available, in order to improve attitudes towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Only by educating the general public about the benefits, safety and efficacy of vaccines can we hope to avoid the unnecessary prolongation of the COVID-19 pandemic.” I think the best approach would be scolding and shaming, especially when done by experts!
Small Tribe in Pacific Northwest Drop AZD1222 & Seek Participation in Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trial Trial Site News
COVID-19 Patient Zero: Data Analysis Identifies the “Mother” of All SARS-CoV-2 Genomes SciTech Daily. “They found the proCoV2 [progentior] virus and its initial descendants arose in China, based on the earliest mutations of proCoV2 and their locations. Furthermore, they also demonstrated that a population of strains with as many as six mutational differences from proCoV2 existed at the time of the first detection of COVID-19 cases in China. With estimates of SARS-CoV-2 mutating 25 times per year, this meant that the virus must already have been infecting people several weeks before the December 2019 cases.”
COVID-19 Wastewater Epidemiology: A Model to Estimate Infected Populations (preprint) medArxiv
Estimated Association of Construction Work With Risks of COVID-19 Infection and Hospitalization in Texas JAMA. More natural experiiments.
Contact Tracers Eye Cluster-Busting to Tackle Covid’s New Surge Bloomberg. Good litmus test for the Biden Covid task force.
China?
Could China’s new dam plans unleash more trouble with India? South China Morning Post
2020
Joe Biden & Kamala Harris Election Acceptance & Victory Speech Transcripts November 7 Rev
Sanders:
Bernies agenda is the agenda of our future – @johncusack: Any questions ? @CapaTosta122: Bernie’s address to progressives: pic.twitter.com/Q3Pz6a0LJ3“”
— John Cusack (@johncusack) November 7, 2020* * *
‘This isn’t over!’: Trump supporters refuse to accept defeat AP
Which Four Seasons? Oh, not that one. NYT. Wretched advance work:
How it started. How it ended. pic.twitter.com/mdxJWpGdGj
— 🏝Kim (@kim) November 8, 2020And in a country hungry for heroes:
The hero of this story, obviously, is whoever answered the phone at Four Seasons Total Landscaping and had the presence of mind to quote the campaign a rental fee, rather than correcting the WH staffer making the call.
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) November 8, 2020
Texas Democrats Thought 2020 Would Be a Banner Year. Instead, It Was a Catastrophe. Texas Observer. Beto, good job.
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Senate Control Likely Decided By Fate Of 2 Georgia Runoff Races NPR. But not so fast–
Meet David Keith, the brains behind ‘Bear Doctor’ Al Gross’ unorthodox, underdog and utterly colorful run for U.S. Senate Anchorage Press. This race has yet to be called.
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Biden Can’t Be F.D.R. He Could Still Be L.B.J. Anand Giridharadas, NYT
President-elect Biden has what America needs E.J. Dionne, WaPo
A president-elect with big ambitions but more prosaic skills FT
Ding-dong, the jerk is gone. But read this before you sing the Hallelujah Chorus Thomas Frank, Guardian
What we owe to Donald J Trump Branko Milanovic, Global Inequality
America’s Next Authoritarian Will Be Much More Competent Zeynep Tufekci, The Atlantic
The White House has been without dogs for four years – that’s changing with Joe Biden USA Today
2020 Reax
Pelosi:
We kept the republic! Congratulations to Joe Biden on his victory for the soul of our country. Congratulations to Kamala Harris for making history. It’s a time to heal and a time to grow together. E Pluribus Unum.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) November 7, 2020My problem with the “heal” trope is that the nature of the wound is never explained (beyond platitudes like “division”), the treatment is never identified (beyond “unity”), and those who inflicted it are never identified.
Harris:
❤️❤️❤️ aye aye, thank you Madam VP!!! I am crying so hard. https://t.co/fCLeumkxfd
— Guanyi Yang (@GuanyiYang) November 7, 2020“We”? Is there any data that shows Harris helped Biden anywhere but the Hamptons? Also, idpol erasure alert:
Per NPR guidance to reporters: Kamala Harris is NOT first POC VP. Charles Curtis, Hoover’s VP, was member of Kaw Nation.
— Joe Shapiro (@NPRJoeShapiro) November 7, 2020Champers (1):
Asked the guy working the register at this Mt. Pleasant liquor store about their champagne sales.
“Last ten minutes? Non-stop.” pic.twitter.com/QuENnDltmf
— David McCabe (@dmccabe) November 7, 2020Champers (2):
CRY WITH RELIEF: I am at 35,000 feet trying not to cry. But I will. As a native Philadelphian I thank all of you who voted for saving the American Democracy. YOU ALL SAVED AMERICA. THANK YOU. THANK YOU THANK YOU! NOW CHAMPAGNE!!! 🍾🍾🍾
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) November 7, 2020The Press:
CNN anchor cries with relief while delivering stunning monologue about Biden defeating Trump https://t.co/0ePHpAiFEs
— The Independent (@Independent) November 7, 2020Beltway Youth:
The marchers — their numbers swelling every second, now at more than a hundred — is dancing to music from Hamilton and cheering as it passes through a tunnel, headed to the White House.
People are screaming and cheering and weeping and just totally losing it pic.twitter.com/clPyrifB71
— Hannah Natanson (@hannah_natanson) November 7, 2020The French:
French media having to explain to readers who @GrittyNHL is as part of their election coverage wasn’t on my 2020 bingo card, but it’s definitely my fave moment of the cycle so far. pic.twitter.com/d8Pz0H8d9R
— Chris Sgro (@cristoferosgro) November 7, 2020
Biden Transition
Obama-Era Alumni Are Favorites for Biden’s Top Economic Posts Bloomberg. A survey of candidates for all Cabinet positions. See especially Flournoy for Defense and Haines for CIA. Politico’s list is similar:
Per @Politico, frontrunners for Biden cabinet include:
State: Susan Rice
AG: Doug Jones
HHS: Michelle Lujan Grisham
Transport: Eric Garcetti
Commerce: Meg Whitman
Energy: Ernest Moniz
Interior: Tom Udall
Agriculture: Heidi Heitkamp
VA: Pete Buttigieg https://t.co/SkN9Rsjhyr
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 7, 2020I can’t imagine a better team to improve the material conditions of the working class.
Scoop: Biden to announce COVID-19 task force Monday Axios
Biden’s ready to start his pandemic response immediately STAT
Now Trump has lost the election, Pence could pardon him — but it’s Biden who should Independent
Toomey calls for Fed special loan programs to end, setting up clash with Democrats Politico. So much for fiscal!
Syraqistan
Explosion at gas pipeline leads to blackout in Syria, says energy minister Energy World
UK/EU
Trident Must Be Destroyed, Not Given to Westminster Craig Murray
Brexit
Brexit: ‘Significant differences remain’ over trade deal BBC
Trump Transition
Democrats in Disarray
Worth listening to, given the House debacle. Thread:
One thing I’ll say: for the last two years, I and progressive candidates have been unseating powerful Dem incumbents supported by DCCC.
Not *once* has anyone in the party asked me what weaknesses I’ve found in their operation.
If they stop blaming progressives, we can help.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 7, 2020
Realignment and Legitimacy
‘Trump Has Given Us a Gift’: GOP Insiders See Victory in Potential Loss New York Magazine
The movement that backed Donald Trump is here to stay Christopher Caldwell, FT
A View from Trump Country? Tarance Ray, Verso. Ray is one of the Trillbillies.
No Matter the Liberal Metric Chosen, the Bush/Cheney Administration Was Far Worse Than Trump. Glenn Greenwald
Health Care
As pivotal ACA case heads to Supreme Court, potential outcomes are many Health Care Dive
Voters rejecting the war on drugs is a win for public health Ars Technica
Our Famously Free Press
Why the networks can’t bear to call the election Ryan Grim, Bad News
Imperial Collapse Watch
If Biden Wins, He Should Start By Ending American Primacy The American Conservative
The elephant (and the donkey) in the room Tempest
To see ourselves as others see us….
I have seen this image twice in the last 24 hours – posted first by a Kurdish friend, then by another in Brazil pic.twitter.com/4OrFZSLI53
— Vincent Bevins (@Vinncent) November 7, 2020
Class Warfare
Rahm Emmanuel:
On ABC, Rahm Emanuel literally says a Biden White House should tell people laid off from retail stores like JC Penney to learn to code.
He actually said this. Amazing. pic.twitter.com/xlSnVi7445
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 7, 2020Uber says it wants to bring laws like Prop 22 to other states MSN. So, the investment is worth it… Even if the benefits don’t show up on the balance sheet of any one firm.
Right temporoparietal junction underlies avoidance of moral transgression in Autism Spectrum Disorder Journal of Neuroscience (dk).
Antidote du jour (via):
I wouldn’t try this at home, even with a baby squirrel as cute as this one.
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
