COVID misinformation threatens childhood vaccinations: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220704-covid-19-misinformation-bolsters-anti-vaccine-movement . This is just tragic. While many parents did not live through major vaccination campaigns such as polio, they should not be endangering their child’s health based on conspiracy theories and far right politics.
COVID fraudster resigns Missouri House seat: https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-springfield-4cae83eeb02e5ec1c494fcae6c6d8271 . You are wondering which party she represented. You guessed right, in more ways than one.
WSJ: COVID pill drug interactions: https://www.wsj.com/articles/merck-covid-19-pill-prescribed-frequently-in-some-countries-despite-low-efficacy-11656846180 .
Macau sinks under Zero COVID: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-07-03/macau-launches-more-covid-testing-as-infections-soar . We routinely criticize Macau’s approach as even more unsustainable than the general Zero COVID regimen. Here we learn that the casinos will have essentially no income for three weeks. So why not pay the employees to stay at home rather than come to work?
WSJ: Economics is what we specialize in … what is it, again?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-slowdown-could-tamp-down-global-inflation-11656853200 . This is a shameful tangle of speculation and misunderstanding. The key argument seems to be that if China has excess inventories, they will cut prices, and that is disinflationary. So where is the data that they have excess inventories? The article does mention an important data point, specifically that China’s production has shrunk due to their Zero COVID policy. Reduced production would suggest inventories have been drawn down.
WSJ: The crypto crash: https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-springfield-4cae83eeb02e5ec1c494fcae6c6d8271 . Will the last one out please turn out the lights? At least with Beanie Babies, you got a physical thing …
3 dead, 3 critically wounded in Copenhagen mall shooting: https://apnews.com/article/shootings-denmark-copenhagen-e5670b98e4b604da265028614652cbd3 . America is now exporting its devolution. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/several-people-shot-at-copenhagen-mall-11656873016 .
As readers know, we now have more guns than people in this country. With 400 million guns out there, who would think that no one would use their weapon? There are 11.7 million hunters in the US, and the number is in decline: https://cnr.ncsu.edu/news/2021/01/decline-in-hunting-threatens-conservation-funding/ . Even if these hunters own an average of 3 guns apiece, more than 90% of US guns are owned by people who do not hunt. Hunters are the historic basis of gun rights in the US.
So if you don’t hunt, your use of the gun would involve shooting and/or killing a person (most commonly suicide). Some people say they own guns for self-defense. Here is the best current research I found on US gun use: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/podcasts/daily-newsletter-self-defense-gun-use.html . Note that experts believe the claims of gun use in self-defense are wildly overstated. There are 40,000 gun deaths annually, the majority (21,000) suicides. That means about 58 Americans die each day by self-inflicted gun shots.
Russia captures Lysychansk: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-donetsk-c65edd033ee98362f031327ff748e31d . Russia now controls every city in Luhansk, one of the two provinces in the Donbas. Counterattacks by the Ukrainians will likely continue. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-claims-control-of-luhansk-as-ukrainian-forces-retreat-from-lysychansk-11656851582 .
Russians improve drone defenses: https://news.yahoo.com/ukraines-drones-becoming-increasingly-ineffective-090120379.html . I am skeptical as to how big a deal this is. US satellite intelligence provides considerable targeting information to Ukraine. Smart weapons systems (like Javelins) together with more advanced artillery systems continue to fuel Ukrainian success against Soviet armor and artillery.
Newsom runs campaign ad in Florida attacking DeMentis, Orange Julius: https://apnews.com/article/california-florida-donald-trump-ron-desantis-gavin-newsom-893f7924da60ee2adf7eee9e7bb133ae . So of course every politician in America is only interested in their current job. If we want them to tell the truth, perhaps we should rethink encouraging them to lie about their ambitions. Newsom’s ad is not helping Charlie Crist. If anything, it encourages DeMentis supporters to turn out this November.
Speculation increases that OJ will announce a 2024 presidential run in the next two weeks: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-donetsk-c65edd033ee98362f031327ff748e31d . While OJ has been teasing this news, this article states a very compelling reason for him to do so. He wants to put himself at the head of the parade.
As more commentators are noticing, OJ is not an asset for the GOP’s election strategy. OJ not only lost the presidency in 2020, he cost the Georgia GOP two Senate seats that have been crucial to Biden. His 3 Supreme Court nominees have put a significant dent in GOP 2022 hopes by overturning Roe v. Wade. A cat fight between OJ, McConnell and Kevin McCarthy fits the Democrats’ dream.