Biden making progress against COVID: https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-health-government-and-politics-e7a24a9dfb0cacd26937286cb0a2b625 . You will recall that when Orange Julius got COVID, he was quite ill, although of course he lied about it. Biden is older, but he has had vaccination and boosters and is receiving Paxlovid. One hopes he will escape the Paxlovid rebound.
WSJ: US COVID testing labs retrench: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-lab-companies-retrench-as-rapid-tests-take-over-11658655002 . We are seeing another consequence of home testing.
Australian COVID patients fill hospitals: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-07-24/record-number-of-covid-hit-australians-in-hospital-as-omicron-surges . Specifically, the BA4 and BA5 variants are behind the current surge. Note that Australia is highly vaccinated, suggesting these variants have significant vaccine evasion capabilities. Also, remember that Australia is currently in winter.
How AP broke the Tuskegee Syphilis Study story 50 years ago: https://apnews.com/article/science-health-public-syphilis-7743bd8c7d51fe0ef9a855b4bec69b1f . This was a crime against humanity. Sadly, it is hardly surprising that the crime was committed against blacks in the southern United States. It does remain shocking that this malpractice occurred under the auspices of the US government.
WSJ: Democrats lining up to succeed Biden: https://www.wsj.com/articles/pritzker-newsom-boost-profiles-as-many-democrats-look-beyond-biden-for-2024-11658664001 .
WSJ: US heat wave sets records: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-continues-to-swelter-under-record-breaking-heat-wave-11658694402 . Europeans suffer under similar circumstances: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62216159 . It has been painfully obvious for years that the global warming day of reckoning was coming. As global warming ramps up, are we unable to respond because of Joe Manchin and the GOP? (Hint: Yes.)
Janet Yellen was on Meet the Press today. When Chuck Todd challenged her on whether we were already in a recession, she responded that two quarters of negative growth was not the definition of a recession, and pointed instead to the National Bureau for Economic Research: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bureau_of_Economic_Research . NBER’s definition of the start and end dates of recessions carries considerable weight in economic circles.
However, Todd wasn’t buying in. In the next segment, he asked the panel what they thought of Yellen denying that the technical definition of recession should apply. A panel member responded that the administration was being careful about messaging so as not to give the GOP another talking point. Again, this will all be academic if the third quarter shows negative growth. We will know that before the November election.