Insect apocalypse? Not so fast, at least in North America LiveScience
Why the Mauritius oil spill is so serious BBC
COVID-19 gives Sri Lanka’s threatened elephants a reprieve Channel News Asia
Feds say Yale discriminates against Asian, white applicants AP
Syracuse University Warns Students That They May Be Punished For Not Acting To Confront “Bias Motivated” Speech or Conduct Jonathan Turley
A California appeals court just ruled that Amazon is legally liable for defective products sold on its site by third parties Business Insider
#COVID19
Comparison of Estimated Excess Deaths in New York City During the COVID-19 and 1918 Influenza Pandemics JAMA. From the discussion:
This cohort study found that the absolute increase in deaths over baseline (ie, excess mortality) observed during the peak of 1918 H1N1 influenza pandemic was higher than but comparable to that observed during the first 2 months of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York City.
However, because baseline mortality rates from 2017 to 2019 were less than half that observed from 1914 to 1917 (owing to improvements in hygiene and modern achievements in medicine, public health, and safety), the relative increase during early COVID-19 period was substantially greater than during the peak of the 1918 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
Not “just the flu”…
‘We’ve hit the iceberg’: NCAA medical adviser warns as fall season sinks Politico and CDC director warns of ‘worst fall’ in history if people don’t follow COVID-19 guidelines The Hill
Coronavirus: Nearly two-thirds of Auckland’s COVID-19 border, isolation staff had never been tested a week ago NewsHub. Holy moley!
The Coronavirus Is Never Going Away The Atlantic
Why the U.S. Is Losing the War On COVID-19 Time. Good, but omits health care-for-profit and federalism. Too much about “leadership,” too little about systems.
Biden, Harris call for all states to mandate masks after first joint Covid-19 briefing Politico. Not substantively different from what Trump is doing.
‘It’s Not Who Has the Most Deaths; It’s Who’s Doing What to Prevent the Spread’ FAIR
COVID-19 vaccine will be free for Americans: officials Agence France Presse
What looks like aerosol tranmission in three other choirs. Thread:
I have now heard of 4 #COVID19 outbreaks in choirs and I am worried that choirs will not be back for a long time. Here a story on @BBCNews about a choir with a link to a traveller from Wuhan mid December: https://t.co/qeErjKypnS (1/n)
— Pleuni Pennings #BlackLivesMatter (@pleunipennings) May 11, 2020
From May, still germane; we now have additional examples besides the Skagit Valley Chorale. (Two are from non-English language sources.)
Prince George’s County Is Limiting Free COVID-19 Tests DCist. Take that, worker bees.
The Disproportionate Effects of COVID-19 on Households with Children Liberty Street Economics
Escalating Plunder New Left Review
Covid-19 is causing a microcredit crunch The Economist
China?
China’s days as world’s factory are over due to trade war, iPhone maker Foxconn says Straits Times
China’s debt collection firms flourishing as coronavirus batters economy South China Morning Post
After 500 Years Trying to Tame Fatal Floods, China Tries a New Way Bloomberg. Impermeable surfaces are bad!
Two countries, one oligarchy? A long and fascinating thread about Chinese real estate dealings:
THREAD! How we (mostly @jotted) documented that the daughter of the man who pushed Hong Kong’s national security law through China’s NPC ascended the ranks of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing elite, amassing great wealth. This thread will cover A LOT of territory. (1/x) pic.twitter.com/bcoJFSyn0J
— Mike Forsythe 傅才德 (@PekingMike) August 12, 2020
Jakarta is returning: The ‘neoliberal cookbook’ that guides Indonesia’s Omnibus Bill Lausan
The Koreas
Bus stop newest front in South Korea’s coronavirus battle Medical Express
Syraqistan
Israel and the UAE just struck a historic peace deal. It’s a big win for Trump. Vox. If this were Obama, there’d be already be a chorus of full-throated calls to give him a second Nobel.
UAE and Israel to establish full diplomatic ties AP
* * * US official says FBI joining Beirut explosion investigation Al Jazeera
Who owned the chemicals that blew up Beirut? No one will say Reuters
Report: Welders Set Off Beirut Blast While Securing Explosives The Maritime Executive
Brexit
Brexit: Johnson’s ‘dead body’ EU Referendum
UK/EU
The PPE debacle shows what Britain is built on: rentier capitalism Guardian
The Russian Interference Report, Without Laughing Craig Murray
Algorithms are no substitute for professional judgement: No. 10 needs to take note Tax Research UK
Assange
US attorney general may be using Assange case for political ends, court told Guardian. “Chaotic arrangements.”
Bolivia’s perfect storm: Pandemic, economic crisis, repressive coup regime Monthly Review Online
New Cold War
Operational Space as an Imperative of Russian Foreign Policy Valdai Discussion Club
West’s response to Russian vaccine owes as much to geopolitics as science FT
Vietnam Health Ministry to buy Russian Covid-19 vaccine Straits Times
Trump Transition
Senate breaks for August recess with no coronavirus deal in sight Roll Call
White House Says No Plan to End Payroll Tax Permanently Bloomberg. Good to see all sides accept that Federal taxes pay for Federal spending. That will come in handy when it comes time to impose austerity.
Payroll tax deferral looks like a whole lot of nothing AEI
* * * Mail sorting equipment being “removed” from post offices, leaving mail to “pile up”: union leader Salon. Since the House Democrats have gone on vacation, and since they didn’t rescue the Post Office in the first stimulus bill, when they had leverage, they are fine with this.
Trump Opposes Postal Service Funding But Says He’d Sign Bill Including It NPR (but see here from 2013).
Postmaster general under fire over Amazon stock holdings The Verge (Re Silc).
2020
AOC Only Gets 60 Seconds At Democratic Convention To Deliver Pre-Recorded Message Forbes. Commentary:
They gave Ocasio-Cortez a minute to speak because she is a better speaker than all of them. She’s an ally to their cause rather than a soldier, and isn’t afraid to push them; ten minutes and she’d be even more a national figure than now.
— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) August 13, 2020
The Wikipedia War That Shows How Ugly This Election Will Be The Atlantic (Re Silc).
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
The Internet as a Cold War Weapon Yasha Levine, Immigrants as a Weapon
Class Warfare
Another huge unemployment wave is coming—and there’s an obvious way to stop it Sara Nelson, Fortune
Some people are still waiting for a stimulus check to arrive: What’s the holdup? USA Today
Collaborative Approach To Public Goods Investments (CAPGI): Lessons Learned From A Feasibility Study Health Affairs
The Fallacy of the Civic Champion Ross Barkan, Political Currents
Did they even hang bears? LRB. On the Vikings.
A Lot of What Is Known about Pirates Is Not True, and a Lot of What Is True Is Not Known. Humanities (AL).
Antidote du jour (CV):
Imaginary feeders with real hummingbirds…
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
