Macau begins mass COVID testing as outbreak grows: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-06-18/macau-to-begin-mass-covid-testing-on-sunday-amid-locally-transmitted-cases . EARTH TO XI: ZERO COVID IS NOT SUSTAINABLE AS A LONG-TERM STRATEGY!!! China needs to vaccinate its population with a more effective vaccine. The only possible saving grace of China’s behavior is that the now-dominant COVID variants seem to be less lethal and generate less long COVID than previous strains. So possibly, when mass infection sweeps through China, the consequences may be less devastating than they were in the US in 2020 and 2021.
However, the ongoing disruption to the Chinese economy continues, increasing the likelihood of a global recession (Macau’s status within China is like Hong Kong’s).
More monkeypox cases in UK: https://apnews.com/article/covid-politics-health-world-organization-epidemics-38415163d095019d3ef3b22286c109e3 . Again, as far as we know, the disease is not particularly contagious and requires “close contact”. The British epidemic is among gay men.
WSJ: Fed sets the stage for another 75 basis point increase next month: https://www.wsj.com/articles/feds-waller-supports-0-75-percentage-point-rate-hike-in-july-11655584800 .
Rural New Mexico election “crisis” resolved: https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-presidential-government-and-politics-election-2020-13bb35849573513b1d1d0e95f6fee9e3 . Why this article sensationalizing the resolution of this problem? Previously, it appeared the commission would not certify the vote, with admittedly no evidence that there was any problem with the election. Two of the commissioners backed down, so the vote to certify was 2 to 1. And the 1 vote in opposition was just convicted and awaits sentencing for his activities on January 6.
This once again demonstrates the failure of the GOP generally to recognize the responsibilities of governance. These people would piss away the rule of law in favor of some sort of “reality TV” fantasy world. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court is about to do the same thing in reversing Roe.
GOP voters angered by January 6 panel: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/impeachment-no-3-jan-6-panel-isnt-swaying-swing-state-republicans-rcna34037 . In (limited and brief) defense of these voters, I can see the view that this is like impeachment number 3. But this ignores all of the evidence (most of it on videotape) and the very real physical threat to the Capitol and the Congress. This includes the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.
Yesterday’s note about cognitive dissonance is reinforced by the anecdotal poll in this article. Or, more darkly, these people do not have critical analysis skills. Or, there just aren’t any limits to stupidity. And very centrally, it places Orange Julius above the rule of law.
Orange Julius lashes out at January 6 panel: https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-donald-trump-south-carolina-nikki-haley-government-and-politics-eeeaef5b13a8a68361bd64bb8d9713f6 . As OJ continues his fact-free rants, he is supplying those with blind faith a path for their cognitive dissonance. But it is hard to see how this approach can gain him support. The plan seems to be to shift the focus to Biden for any 2024 run. This of course is heavily dependent on Biden running again. Part of the 2020 OJ run was to continue to run against Hillary, which didn’t work.
The fate of frozen embryos after divorce: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/what-happens-to-frozen-embryos-in-a-divorce-173018631.html . This article suggested to me another question which needs discussion but receives none in the article. We learn that when eggs (or sperm) are frozen, they are the property of the donating individual. However, when embryos are frozen, they are something like joint property. And the courts generally rule that the rights of the person not wanting children come before the rights of the person wanting children.
However, this view of the embryo as property assumes it is not a person. That view is consistent with Roe v Wade, where viability is the line between abortion freedom and some protection for the fetus. But the embryo is not property to those who believe life begins at conception – it is at the least “human potential”, and destroying it means destroying life. In this world, there does not appear to be a legal difference between an embryo and a fetus.
So what is best for the embryo? Isn’t our view of human life based on a belief to maximize potential? Then does the embryo have a right to life? Should we require forced pregnancies to carry the embryo to term? What if a woman volunteers to carry the embryo to term? What if this woman is a stranger to the couple who created the embryo? Surrogates can certainly carry an embryo to term.
We know a decision is coming from the Supreme Court which in draft overturned Roe. But the legal issues associated with fetuses and embryos had a clean solution under Roe. The draft shows no evidence that theses issues have been thought through if the Court reverses Roe.
WSJ: Crypto-currencies have a Great Fall: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-crypto-party-is-over-11655524807 . On the way to the airport before Memorial Day, my Lyft driver said he had invested his entire life savings ($10,000) in bitcoin. This seemed quite dangerous to me at the time. In retrospect, it was a major red flag. Crypto could recover some day, but that seems to be quite some time in the future. Bitcoin has lost ¾ of its value since November: https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoins-price-falls-below-20-000-11655542641 .