Bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station survived for years in the vacuum of space Salon (original).
How Bacteria-Eating Bacteria Could Help Win the War Against Germs NYT
The Fintech Debt Trap The Intercept
The Next Frontier Investor Amnesia. Real estate.
The Conscience of Silicon Valley GQ. Jaron Lanier
Electric car costs to remain higher than traditional engines FT
The Big Tesla Hack: A hacker gained control over the entire fleet, but fortunately he’s a good guy Electrek
California’s Prison Chief is Retiring Amid Virus, Protest Pressure NBC
#COVID19
Genomic Evidence for a Case of Reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 (preprint) The Lancet. From the Abstract: “Herein, we describe the data from an investigation of two instances of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the same individual. Through nucleic acid sequence analysis, the viruses associated with each instance of infection were found to possess a degree of genetic discordance that cannot be explained reasonably through short-term in vivo evolution. We conclude that it is possible for humans to become infected multiple times by SARS-CoV-2, but the generalizability of this finding is not known.”
FDA Chief Promises Transparency for Covid-19 Vaccine Review Bloomberg
LG has designed a wearable air purifier for your face CNN. When will creativity similar to this be unleashed for masks:
Sunglasses, Japan, 1966 pic.twitter.com/CLcKttBkgF
— Diane Doniol-Valcroze (@ddoniolvalcroze) August 30, 2020
U.S., Britain record worst anti-pandemic performance: poll Xinhua. Ouch.
The Case for a Coronavirus-Vaccine Bond The New Yorker
Surprising COVID-19 side effect: More companies adopt the 4-day workweek Fast Company
China?
China censors Thomas Piketty’s book that touches on nation’s growing inequality South China Morning Post. I bought it; I’m reading it. Heavy going!
US to declassify Taiwan security assurances FT. Hoo boy.
Chinese-Made Smartphones Are Secretly Stealing Money From People Around The World Buzzfeed
One Drought and One Volcanic Eruption Influenced the History of China: The Late Ming Dynasty Mega‐drought Geophysical Research Letters
China promises its Mekong neighbours priority access to a coronavirus vaccine developed in China South China Morning Post.
Mutated coronavirus strain found in Indonesia as cases jump Reuters. Fourth largest country in the world by population….
For some Indonesians, COVID-19 stigma worse than disease Jakarta Post
India
India Has Record Single-Day Infections as Virus Hits Hinterland Bloomberg
Tata: transforming a conglomerate for India and the world FT
Japan looks to AI as coronavirus challenges go-and-see quality control mantra Reuters
Syraqistan
Emmanuel Macron’s big Beirut challenge Politico
Saudi Aramco Discovers Two Oil, Gas Fields in Kingdom Bloomberg. Maybe we can make them World Heritage sites?
UK/EU
Five tense years since the 2015 migrant crisis Agence France Presse
New Cold War
‘Something Broke Inside Belarusians.’ Why an Apolitical People Rose Up NYT (Re Silc) vs. Anatomy of coup attempt in Belarus Indian Punchline (VP).
Trump Transition
Shutdown politics set to collide with coronavirus aid The Hill
Trump Program to Cover Uninsured Covid-19 Patients Falls Short of Promise NYT (Re Silc).
The Politics of Postal Reform Have Always Been Part of USPS History Time
2020
‘DemExit’: virtual convention aims to create US leftwing alternative Guardian. Oddly, or not, very thin coverage.
Biden campaign adviser: Trump ‘has been trying to incite violence this entire summer’ The Hill
The Money Says Kenosha Is Helping Trump Bloomberg
We Don’t Know How to Warn You Any Harder. America is Dying. Umair Haque, Medium. “We survivors of authoritarianism have a terrible, terrible foreboding, because we are experiencing something we should never do: deja vu.”
Protests and Riots
Wisconsin:
Trump Is Visiting Kenosha on Tuesday. The Mayor Would Rather He Didn’t. Slate. On Kenosha, a thread:
I used to live in uptown #kenosha. I’m not surprised by the #KenoshaRiots. The homeless population was being helped for years by a group in the area called First Steps. Some of yall might remember seeing all the homeless folks in the area sleeping in tents outside there (1/?)
— freya_haze (@freya_haze) August 26, 2020
Minnesota:
Marred by trauma after George Floyd’s death, Minneapolis hit with second wave of looting. NBC
Minnesota Paramedic Speaks Out Against Police Use Of Ketamine Injections The Intercept (Furzy Mouse). Ketamine was one of the drugs used to sedate the Thai cave boys, while divers pulled them out of the complex through underwater tunnels. So, yikes.
Oregon:
Man fatally shot after pro-Trump caravan was Patriot Prayer ‘friend and supporter’ Aaron Danielson The Oregonian. The caravan, a thread:
I’m out in the Portland suburbs, where hundreds of Trump supporters are gathering for an event. They say they will be driving into Portland later tonight. pic.twitter.com/NUHy5e4TnP
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) August 29, 2020
One local’s view:
This is our home.
I think people forget this, or just don’t care.
This is our home.
For the past four years we have endured an endless stream of right wing provocateurs who come to Portland looking for trouble.
And we have endured it… but not without cost.
— The British History Podcast (@BritishPodcast) August 30, 2020
Wheeler Condemns Protest Shooting, Offers Few Solutions to Continuous Violence Portland Mercury
Governor Kate Brown Announces Unified Law Enforcement Plan to Protect Free Speech, Bring Violence to an End in Portland State of Oregon. Including more cops. Naturally.
Biden condemns violence in Portland and calls on Trump to do the same CNN
* * *
A ‘Scary’ Show Of Force: D.C. Police Ramp Up Aggressive Tactics After March On Washington DCist
‘Queer Eye’, Jordan Peterson and the battle for depressed men Open Democracy
Police State Watch
Officer charged in George Floyd’s death argues drug overdose killed him, not knee on neck ABC
Police PR machine under scrutiny for inaccurate reporting, alleged pro-cop bias LA Times
Failed State
The Lesson Americans Never Learn The Atlantic
Imperial Collapse Watch
Pontifications: WA State frets about Boeing brain drain, but it’s already happening Leeham News and Analysis
Class Warfare
Agricultural Workers Lose Millions of Dollars Each Year to Employer Wage Theft In These Times
The New Face of Union-Busting The Baffler
Jackson Heights, Global Town Square (photo essay) NYT. Life’s little ironies….
Seeing like a city: how tech became urban Theory and Society. Dense but interesting; relevant to NC posts here, here, here, and here.
The Fever Wallace Shawn. From 1992, still germane.
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote:
Indian Black-lored Tit (Machlolophus aplonotus)🐦🦜🕊️🎵❤️ pic.twitter.com/pb0IAEZc4q
— World birds (@worldbirds32) August 29, 2020
Any Bostonians here who remember Robert J. Lurtsema? What a great way to start the day….
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
