Llama nanobodies fight COVID-19: https://www.npr.org/2020/05/19/858499008/covid-19-researchers-study-llamas-special-antibodies . Once again, a newsletter sentence which was previously unimaginable to me. Competing llama nanobodies: https://www.post-journal.com/news/page-one/2020/11/llama-nanobodies-most-potent-weapon-to-fight-covid/ . These were from Wally rather than Winter. Here’s the technical publication: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41594-020-0469-6 . Thanks to reader Andrew Martin for tipping me off to this topic. We agree that “llama nanobodies” sound like they’re from a Star Trek script.
WSJ: Lipid nanoparticles in Pfizer vaccine: https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-one-leading-coronavirus-vaccine-works-thank-this-tiny-firm-in-rural-austria-11604664001 . This looks like linguistic gobbledygook, but it really is today’s news. Lipids are fatty acids which serve in some virus casings, including the coronavirus. The lipid nanoparticles serve as a casing for the vaccine’s mRNA.
WSJ: Pfizer in SEC bribery probe: https://www.wsj.com/articles/pfizer-receives-inquiry-from-sec-bribery-unit-11604674900 .
US COVID-19 case surge gains steam: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-records/u-s-daily-coronavirus-cases-exceed-129000-third-day-over-100000-idUSKBN27N06I . 20 of the 50 states reported record increases on Friday.
CDC reputation sinks further: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/06/929078678/cdc-report-officials-knew-coronavirus-test-was-flawed-but-released-it-anyway . This is inexcusable incompetence, plain and simple.
UK starts mass testing: https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-public-health-england-d5f3d7d8ca3ee5332dccb330d1e42645 . Could we just get to adequate testing? South Dakota’s test positivity rate is 52.2%!: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-covid-19-test-positivity-rates-july-14.html (this link updates, but as of November 6, 2020, South Dakota was first in the nation at 52.2%).
White House still unable to protect itself from COVID-19: https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-elections-mark-meadows-b38d5391dfdd8d74bc9930e92c52d915 . More: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54851759 . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/mark-meadows-trumps-chief-of-staff-has-contracted-covid-19-11604724214 .
WSJ: CVS appoints female CEO: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cvs-records-3q-profit-as-revenue-grows-11604664340 . Women continue to rise in Fortune 500 ranks.
WSJ: Is it time to drink yet?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/wine-and-beer-makers-wait-for-recovery-11604658601 . Wait, these people are in Napa Valley and they’re tasting at Inglenook? Is that all that’s open after the fires? The industry is definitely in trouble …
We don’t yet have a total vote count for the election. The projection is 159.8 million, which would be 66.8% of eligible voters. Other tallies indicate Biden is leading Trump 75 million to 71 million, with less than 3 million for third party candidates. Few ballots are uncounted. This indicates almost 11 million either did not vote for President or had their ballots rejected. This seems wrong.
Also, even with this recent record turnout, 33% of voters did not vote. Who are they? Here are some of the stats cited: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/04/2020-election-sees-record-high-turnout-with-at-least-159point8-million-votes-projected.html . Here is another source, which if updated may answer some of my questions: http://www.electproject.org/2020g .
Pissing off the troops: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-politics-virus-outbreak-elections-981baacc2b977f156a73d036e19e2d43 . My understanding from broadcast news is that military ballots break heavily for Biden in many of the swing states. And: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/524528-military-ballots-among-those-left-to-be-counted .
The “new” Trump “strategy: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-elections-electoral-college-0b26e5caa5180ed73a5ba5ef6fa57e17 . All the legal votes are being counted. And they say the same thing as your tag line: You’re fired!
Pennsylvania election litigation: http://amylhowe.com/2020/11/06/pennsylvania-election-officials-and-democrats-respond-to-trump-campaigns-plea-to-join-supreme-court-proceedings-on-ballot-deadline/ .
Kevin McCarthy is not helping: https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-mccarthy-trumps-false-claim-that-he-won-the-election-2020-11 . When John Boehner retired in 2015, McCarthy did not replace him for a reason: https://www.cnn.com/2015/10/08/politics/house-speaker-republican-vote-mccarthy-webster-chaffetz/index.html . The reason is, McCarthy is unable to see the obvious. He did the same damn thing with Paul Ryan: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/16/ryan-mccarthy-house-speaker-republicans-525375 . Now he’s been compromised by Trump. Is he pulling this crap to try to remain as minority leader with even more conservative Republicans joining the House? What a spineless bastard: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/martin-niemoeller-the-failure-to-speak-up-against-the-nazis .
The Founders regarded political parties as one of the greatest threats to democracy: https://www.history.com/news/founding-fathers-political-parties-opinion .
For those of you rethinking the US two-party system, here’s the latest “news” from the UK: https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7aadq/north-of-england-independence-devolution . Yes, Brexit may ultimately result in Northern Ireland rejoining Ireland and Scotland splitting away to also rejoin the EU. Yes, there has been sporadic talk of Welch independence as well. But now here’s talk of splitting England in two.
I continue to believe Brexit will go down in history as the stupidest political decision in centuries. And the root of it was Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson lying through their teeth about the economic benefits of Brexit: https://www.cnbc.com/2014/09/29/brexit-will-benefit-british-business-ukip.html . And: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/oct/18/experts-claim-boris-johnsons-thin-eu-deal-will-cause-major-economic-upset . In case you were wondering where Trump’s idiotic fascination with the trade deficit comes from, Farage is it. More background on Farage: https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/snake-jaws/ .
We are quite familiar with the break-up issue in the West: https://www.scpr.org/news/2018/04/13/45392/six-californias-from-jefferson-to-colorado-the-cal/ . The real issues are (1) the composition of the US Senate, the last major remnant of slavery; and (2) blue urban versus red rural. Those are discussions for another time.
Biden’s unity message faces immediate problems, unfortunately. Trump voters buy into the conspiracy theories. Trump and his family are obviously not exiting the White House graciously. And the two parties are about to launch hundreds of millions of dollars into Georgia. Those two Senate runoffs will determine Senate control as well as much of the Biden presidency. Biden can still make progress by emphasizing working together on things like the pandemic and reopening America. But it is a hell of a needle to thread.
WSJ: COVID-19 surges in the NFL: https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-one-leading-coronavirus-vaccine-works-thank-this-tiny-firm-in-rural-austria-11604664001 .
It’s opening weekend in the Pac-12, and it’s not going well: https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/pac-12-opening-weekend-football-disaster-01epfj9qn7dg . And now UCLA has a player test positive: https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30270017/ucla-football-player-3-positive-coronavirus-tests-athletic-department-game-on . Sigh…
In the wordplay/distraction department, one opposite of “nail biter” is “hands down”. The derivation of the first phrase is obvious, the second less so. The phrase “hands down” comes from horse racing. This is when a jockey is so far ahead he can loosen his grip on the reins – thus, hands down.
This was the morning headline from Daily Pnut – Biden His Time.