Links 12/4/2020 – Church Security

Cat standing up is ready to take on the world New York Post. My last cat, Gabriel, would regularly stand on his hind legs to have a look, but he would’t hang out in that pose.

#COVID-19

Coronavirus – Mindfulness is useless in a pandemic Economist (Dr. Kevin)

‘Covid ended our marriage’: The couples who split in the pandemic BBC (resilc)

Science/Medicine

Commentary: Want to avoid pandemics? Eliminate factory farming Chicago Tribune (David L)

Pfizer says supply chain challenges contributed to slashed target for COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2020 Reuters

102-year-old woman beats COVID-19 twice The Hill (UserFriendly)

Pfizer chairman: We’re not sure if someone can transmit virus after vaccination The Hill (UserFriendly)

US

Biden Says He’ll Ask All Americans to Wear Masks for 100 Days Bloomberg. But no mention of a plan to supply free masks. Even the Gerald Ford Whip Inflation Now program provided buttons:

Many Americans Ignored Thanksgiving Travel Warnings From CDC, Data Show NPR

CDC Director Dr. Redfield on the Surge in COVID-19 Numbers C-SPAN (Kevin C)

Virginia County Votes To Reject Gov. Northam’s Coronavirus Restrictions NPR (resilc)

Employers start preparing for the coronavirus vaccine with a question: Can we require it? Washington Post (MF)

62% of Americans say they would be uncomfortable being among the first to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Just 37% said they would be comfortable. https://t.co/QCLgtdi0QD pic.twitter.com/44eLsUwa4D

— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) December 4, 2020

First in line for Covid vaccine? Some US health care workers say no MedicalXpress (resilc)

Illinois nursing home workers strike in second week as pandemic surges: Build rank-and-file-committees to save lives WSWS

‘Everyone’s going to get that’: Americans to be issued Covid-19 ‘VACCINE CARDS’ to track doses RT (Kevin W)

UK

UK regulator defends rapid approval of vaccine after Fauci criticism Financial Times

NHS staff no longer top priority for Covid vaccine despite fear of third wave Guardian (Kevin W)

Finance/Economy

Democrats Just Caved on COVID Stimulus Checks Vice. In case you missed the implication of the smaller numbers.

We’re trying to get COVID relief and stimulus checks out to people and right now Republicans are trying to prematurely adjourn Congress.

People are going hungry and they’re treating this like a game. Leaders don’t abandon people in their time of greatest need. https://t.co/IGRyu6s5qc

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 3, 2020

Designing Vaccines for People, Not Profits Project Syndicate (David L)

China?

U.S. in Talks With Huawei Finance Chief Meng Wanzhou About Resolving Criminal Charges Wall Street Journal

How China Took Control Of Exxon’s Supergiant Iraqi Oilfield OilPrice

China’s Chang’e-5 Moon mission returns colour pictures BBC (resilc)

There’s a U.S.-China arms race in the field of Bad Tweets. pic.twitter.com/0w3KIh5ei7

— Noah Smith 🐇 (@Noahpinion) December 4, 2020

Special Report: Burner phones and banking apps: Meet the Chinese ‘brokers’ laundering Mexican drug money Reuters (resilc)

New Cold War

Turkey faces prospect of US sanctions over Russia arms deal Financial Times

YULIA SKRIPAL GOES HIKING, CALLS RUSSIA SECRETLY John Helmer (Chuck L)

RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 3 DECEMBER 2020 by Patrick Armstrong Sic Semper Tyrannis (Kevin W)

Syraqistan

How will Iran answer the assassination of Fakhri Zadeh? Elijah Magnier (Chuck L)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

New/exclusive: The government has used Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect logs of visitors to a website, according to an ODNI letter to @RonWyden. /1 https://t.co/GQ9q0Vtw1e

— Charlie Savage (@charlie_savage) December 3, 2020

Google researcher demonstrates iPhone exploit with Wi-Fi takeover CNET. Bill B: “This is why End-to-End encryption is a false god. As far as the heavy hitters are concerned, iPhones are glorified walkie-talkies.”

Imperial Collapse Watch

Collapsed Arecibo Radio Telescope Was Originally Built For Ballistic Missile Defense Research The Drive

Trump Transition

DOJ sues Facebook, alleging it improperly hired foreign workers and discriminated against Americans Washington Post (Kevin W)

Making John Durham a special counsel will cause problems for Biden Jonathan Turley, USA Today

Can Trump pardon himself, his children, and his allies? Boing Boing (resilc). I don’t understand why this is being debated. Prior to the onset of TDS, it was widely held that the President’s powers of pardon are unlimited. However, Trump could only pardon himself with respect to Federal law matters.

Pro-Trump legal crusade peppered with bizarre blunders Politico (UserFriendly)

2020

Fact: New York City swung towards Trump by 7.6 points between ’16 and ’20, far more than any state in the nation.

The rest of the state swung against Trump by 5.1 points.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) December 3, 2020

A lawsuit in Georgia claims that nearly 200,000 registered voters were improperly purged. New York Times (furzy)

Biden

Bomb Libya and take its oil: Biden budget chief pick Neera Tanden agreed with Trump Grayzone (resilc)

Will Biden End the Yemen War That He and Obama Started? Antiwar.com (resilc)

Scientist, Spy Chief, Apologist for Torture? Meet Biden’s New DNI American Conservative

Joe Biden’s Cabinet Is a Lost Cause for the Left New Republic (resilc)

Hispanic caucus unhappy with transition team treatment of Lujan Grisham The Hill

Extent of David Perdue’s Shady Stock Trading Revealed New York Magazine (resilc)

The DCCC chooses a leader — but needs some new rules The Hill. UserFriendly: “Good advice I’m sure they will ignore.”

Are Bill Gates’s Billions Distorting Public Health Data? The Nation (resilc)

Top AI ethics researcher says Google fired her; company denies it Reuters and Google Employees Say Scientist’s Ouster Was ‘Unprecedented Research Censorship’ NPR

Making Sense of Sky-High Stock Prices Project Syndicate (David L)

Warren Buffett’s favorite market indicator nears record high, signaling stocks are overvalued and a crash may be coming Business Insider (furzy)

Class Warfare

The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy Harpers. Micael T: “A classic to reread every now and then.”

Student Loan Horror Stories Matt Taibbi (Glenn F)

Reports of globalisation’s death are greatly exaggerated Gillian Tett, Financial Times

Explaining Our Morbid Political Symptoms Jacobin

No Escape From Our Techno-Feudal World Pepe Escobar, Asia Times (Chuck L)

Antidote du jour. Timotheus: “fFrom Ammons Reservoir in Galion, Ohio. Not sure if it’s a falcon or some sort of hawk.”