Yves here. We are on a holiday schedule through Monday. I nevertheless am busy with eldercare matters (interviewing new agencies, gah) which is why no original posts today. Hope your holiday is fun or at least restful.
A ‘Viral’ New Bird Song in Canada Is Causing Sparrows to Change Their Tune Gizmodo (David L)
Elk Return to Kentucky, Bringing Economic Life New York Times (resilc)
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Mozart New York Times
World’s Pile of Electronic Waste Grows Ever Higher: Study Associated Press
Climate change threat to tropical plants PhysOrg (Kevin W)
Scientists make light ‘flow’ like a river in incredible breakthrough experiment RT (Kevin W)
#COVID-19
Czech Republic scraps face mask rule as Prague hosts outdoor party Guardian (resilc). Hope vlade will pipe up.
Science/Medicine
The coronavirus may have mutated to become more infectious, Dr. Anthony Fauci says CNBC (David L)
Study shows SARS-CoV-2 can infect heart cells in lab dish MedicalXpress. Resilc: “Long term death rates have to go up too because of Covid attacks on various organs.”
A Broadway actor says he’s still feeling the effects of Covid-19 after contracting the virus in March.
“There’s nothing like the feeling of not being able to breathe. … I would feel better for a few days, and then it would come and smack me again.” https://t.co/tf5w7q8V3q pic.twitter.com/VlPB2UQWW1
— CNN (@CNN) July 3, 2020
Coronavirus: Testing sewage an ‘easy win’ BBC (David L)
CDC Director Redfield and NIH Director Collins Address Congress on a Coronavirus Vaccine C-SPAN (Kevin W)
UK/Europe
This will increase the cost of Sweden’s “do very little” approach:
Denmark, Finland and Norway have opened their borders to each other, but not to Swedes https://t.co/JSVPFiyIrX
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) July 3, 2020
US
‘It Makes No Sense’: Alabama Students Host Parties to Spread COVID-19 as US Cases Skyrocket Sputnik (Kevin W). This story appears to have gotten coverage all over the US.
‘We don’t live in a communist country!’: battle over masks rages in Texas Guardian (Kevin W)
CDC Criteria Not Met (out of 4), by State Menzie Chinn
U.S. Seeks Large-Scale Expansion of Blood-Plasma Collection for Covid-19 Wall Street Journal
Secret Service Agents Pulled From Pence’s Arizona Trip After Contracting COVID-19: WaPo Daily Beast
‘The barn’s on fire’: The Phoenix mayor and Arizona’s former health director detail how the state’s coronavirus response went from successful to catastrophic Business Insider (Kevin W)
Dr. Birx: “Thank you to your health team and the brilliant Dr. Christ. It’s just been a pleasure to spend time with you and your amazing county public health leaders…” @DrCaraChrist @AZDHS pic.twitter.com/ui3qstpSFA
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) July 2, 2020
Finance/Economics
Fear, Lockdown, and Diversion: Comparing Drivers of Pandemic Economic Decline 2020 NBER (Dan K)
U.S. farmers scramble for help as COVID-19 scuttles immigrant workforce Reuters (resilc)
China?
Hong Kong Security Law Stuns International Business Wall Street Journal
China sterilising ethnic minority women in Xinjiang, report says Guardian (resilc)
It’s incredibly creepy Germany lost control of part of its military. The nation foiled a coup by disbanding its neo-Nazi sympathizing special forces. https://t.co/YRYUYxt3H9
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 2, 2020
Petrol sold to Nigeria from Europe ‘dirtier’ than black market ‘bush’ fuel Guardian (resilc)
Syraqistan
Seriously, Get The Hell Out Of Afghanistan Caitlin Johnstone
(furzy)What Blocked Netanyahu from Beginning Planned Theft of Swathes of Palestinian West Bank on July 1? Juan Cole (resilc)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
How Police Secretly Took Over a Global Phone Network for Organized Crimen Vice
Hundreds arrested as crime chat network cracked BBC (furzy)
The New EARN IT Bill Still Threatens Encryption and Free Speech Electronic Frontier Foundation. Dan K: From that letter, a point that the article doesn’t articulate as clearly:
Finally, the amended bill creates a practical problem: by exposing online service providers to potential liability for user-generated content in over 50 jurisdictions, operators of these platforms would have to contend with following dozens of varying state mandates about how to run something as simple as a comments section.
Defeat the Obama Surveillance State!
Cameras cannot identify you thru N95 masks ! pic.twitter.com/9Xp4inSqQm— Barry Ritholtz (@ritholtz) July 2, 2020
The Security Value of Inefficiency Bruce Schneier (David L)
Trump Transition
President Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnunchin News Conference on the Economy C-SPAN (Kevin C)
Trump’s War on Asylum Seekers Struck Down by a Trump-Appointed Judge American Prospect (resilc)
Thousands of U.S. judges who broke laws or oaths remained on the bench Reuters (resilc)
America’s Two Right-Wing Parties Keep Accusing Each Other Of Being Far-Left Caitlin Johnstone (Kevin W)
2020
Biden Outraises Trump Again, With $141 Million June Haul New York Times (resilc)
L’affaire Jeffrey Epstein
Black Lives Matter
Gen. Milley: Some soldiers mobilized to DC amid Black Lives Matter protests were issued bayonets USA Today
How Did Police Unions Get So Powerful? Nation (resilc)
Dr Disrespect: Mystery surrounds Twitch suddenly banning one of the world’s most popular gamers 9news.com.au. Kevin W: “Dr Disrespect was in a Water Cooler link once. Article interesting for the details of the gaming scene.”
Why the Fed thinks Goldman is America’s riskiest bank Financial Times
Boeing Quietly Pulls Plug on the 747, Closing Era of Jumbo Jets Bloomberg. I know they are terrible fuel hogs, but I loved flying on 747s. Have many good memories of flights to the coast, the UK, and Australia on them.
Driving Older Cars: Light on Tech, Heavy on Fun DNyuz. Moi: I don’t need the fun, just the tech avoidance. Resilc confirms:
Tech is bad. Heat cooks all the connectors and electronics. Quicker fails and more limited life. The amount of tech on my 38hp John Deere tractor is bad enough, yet alone the Toyota.
Here Come the 4 Horsemen of the Techopolypse New York Times (David L)
Class Warfare
How Companies Fleeced American Workers Out of Wages and Benefits Bloomberg
There is no such thing as a millennial Financial Times
Antidote du jour. From LaRuse in VA:
Offering a story and a photo. Last Friday, an animal control officer turned up on my porch – said my neighbor had called regarding a kitten on her deck. The kitten had fled under my deck. The officer couldn’t really take the kitten forcefully because it didn’t appear injured, but said we could call to have it collected if it came out. He didn’t know that I am a desperate cat lover married to a person that has allergies so bad he gets 4 immunotherapy shots a week.
So I instantly put out a can of tuna by the deck. It was all I had. That evening, the food had been hit so I walked the yard. The kitten was in my shed, so weak and near to death she couldn’t get away from me. She kept blacking out in my hands as I inspected her. She never bit or scratched me. I put more tuna and water out and put her back where I found her since she could not come in the house and if she was there in the morning, I would go get kibble and such for her.
Well, she was there. And she was more lively. And friendly. Not feral at all. She was nothing but bones under all her fluff. So kibble and dewormer was achieved and she began recovering from near death.
This photo was taken last night, 5 days after her discovery. We think she is at least part Maine Coon and she is absolutely smitten with my family. Even Allergic Husband cannot resist offering her a few scritches now and then (followed immediately with handwashing and maybe a benedryl).
She is going to be a stunningly beautiful cat. We have several people interested in offering her a forever home but no one has committed quite yet. Today, she is zooming around the back yard tackling acorn caps and hunting grasshoppers. I named her Purrmengarde (after Ermengarde, the grandmother of Henry Plantagenet because I am a super 12th century history nerd).
Anyway, that is a long story for a tiny 5 ounce kitten, but I thought the Blog might find her Antidote-worthy.
