Feds fight governors’ mask mandate bans in schools: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-require-nursing-homes-mandate-vaccinations-staff-or-lose-federal-n1277107 . This puts children’s safety over GOP politics. The Department of Education suggests potential civil rights litigation: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-health-coronavirus-pandemic-5943b43e54f61861e65d8cb74f3a68f1 . That is a viable but surprising theory. I would have expected the feds to pursue a public health theory. There may have already been debate in the administration about the legal theory which is most politically attractive to the Democratic base.
Another GOP autocrat blocks funds from schools over mask mandate ban: https://apnews.com/article/health-arizona-coronavirus-pandemic-f4c807150376d4a1dc1ea88b3aecce7c . We won’t need to look back to conclude this is one of the most shameful political episodes in American history. We can see that clearly right now.
The GOP murders in Texas gain traction across the South: https://news.yahoo.com/tens-of-thousands-of-students-have-already-been-forced-into-covid-quarantine-mask-bans-are-making-it-worse-170341373.html . More on Florida: https://abcnews.go.com/US/8000-students-florida-school-district-isolated-quarantined-week/story?id=79517679 . Explaining “Floriduh”: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/florida-or-floriduh-as-it-battles-covid-19-surge-the-sunshine-state-proves-itself-as-weirdly-defiant-as-ever-11628275085 . WSJ: Florida school districts fight back: https://www.wsj.com/articles/miami-dade-votes-to-mandate-masks-in-schools-setting-up-fight-with-desantis-11629332377 . Mississippi school openings not going well: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/over-20-000-mississippi-students-covid-quarantine-after-first-week-n1277099 . Once again, the unvaccinated are the problem. The disgusting pandering of GOP governors to this anti-science manure is clearly endangering all of us and prolonging the pandemic. If a new, deadlier variant emerges in the US, I would be sympathetic to any person who catches it having a personal, maskless meeting with their GOP governor to explain the situation up close.
A forthright rebuke of Greg Abbott’s COVID policies: https://www.thedailybeast.com/greg-abbotts-texas-values-are-a-sick-and-lethal-contagion . The writer gets rather personal in exposing Abbott’s hypocrisy, but her general points are well supported.
Meanwhile, education is sorely needed in Texas: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/parent-teacher-masks-assault-texas/ . “Meet the Teacher” is not a contact sport. These losers demand personal liberty to not wear a mask. But they cannot accept a different decision from others, to the point of physical violence. You can see why the teacher would want to wear a mask around people more likely to be carriers. Violence like this should be prosecuted.
Texas school district uses dress code to mandate masks: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/08/18/schools-student-mask-mandate-dress-code/8177208002/ . There are sane people in Texas. Fortunately, some of them are also clever.
WSJ: Antibody treatment use growing in Florida, Texas: https://www.wsj.com/articles/florida-texas-turn-to-antibody-treatments-as-covid-19-surges-11629284400 .
DeMentis slime factor increasing: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-08-17/desantis-top-donor-invests-in-covid-drug-governor-promotes . The sequence of events here is unclear, but the appearance is not good.
WSJ: Anti-inflammatory COVID drug in short supply: https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-delta-variant-spreads-a-covid-19-treatment-is-in-short-supply-11629318278 .
Vaccines mandated for nursing home staffs: https://apnews.com/article/business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-nursing-homes-2e6189cd41068b1e0f643ee7e4bfbb92 . This limited mandate, involving the safety of the vulnerable, will be much more popular than a general vaccine mandate.
US daily deaths pass 1,000: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/08/18/us-surpassed-1000-daily-covid-deaths-on-four-days-in-the-past-week-that-figure-was-last-seen-in-may/?sh=7629c7ff32dd . Again, states with the lowest vaccination rates are the hardest hit.
WSJ: US hospitalizations continue to rise: https://www.wsj.com/articles/delta-variant-low-covid-19-vaccination-rates-push-u-s-hospitalizations-higher-11629318796 .
Hammering away at the unvaccinated: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/18/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html . Cause and effect is rather more complicated than the numbers presented here suggest. However, there is an undeniable connection between lower vaccination rates and higher COVID risk.
Boosters for the general public to roll out September 20: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/08/18/1028798003/covid-19-booster-shots-roll-out-september-moderna-pfizer . WSJ: The need for boosters: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-third-shot-booster-11623421703 . More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-booster-shot-11629232815 .
White House defends third dose strategy: https://news.yahoo.com/white-house-covid-booster-who-life-jackets-drown-175958280.html . Again, the WHO complaint is unrealistic, as noted here previously.
Brett Favre on CTE and vaccines: https://sports.yahoo.com/brett-favre-urges-no-tackle-football-for-kids-under-14-but-vaccine-comments-undercut-pro-science-message-193851358.html . This does raise the possibility that brain injury is a contributor to GOP politics.
Louisiana is still a COVID mess: https://www.nola.com/news/coronavirus/article_a0898ea2-003e-11ec-b2db-4fed0c4eed69.html .
Australia’s lockdown approach is losing control: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/19/sydney-rushes-to-vaccinate-as-delta-variant-tears-through-suburbs . Again, the lockdown strategy should have been seen as a way to create time to vaccinate the population. Australia failed, as other countries have, by putting all its chips on one strategy. That’s not how public health works. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/australia-vaccinates-thousands-of-high-school-students-to-stop-delta-11629288000 .
Ditto for New Zealand: https://thehill.com/policy/international/568410-new-zealand-reports-six-more-cases-after-locking-down-over-single .
WSJ: The Taliban’s victory explained: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-taliban-won-afghanistan-shadow-government-recruitment-11629299900 . Afghan president relocates to UAE: https://www.wsj.com/articles/deposed-afghan-president-ghani-turns-up-in-emirates-11629307780 . The question of leaving with cash remains unresolved. Showing up in UAE without cash does not prove he left Afghanistan without cash, or that he didn’t rip off the country.
Afghan military fled Taliban in US aircraft: https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghan-military-remnants-fled-taliban-takeover-in-u-s-supplied-aircraft-11629292300 . Um, do we get the planes back?
WSJ: How will the Taliban maintain Afghanistan’s finances?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-is-denied-foreign-aid-but-taps-billion-dollar-drug-trade-11629324383 . So get ready for more heroin in the US.
China’s artificial virtual person: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/angie-douyin-virtual-influencer/index.html . This is a deeply troubling direction for artificial intelligence.
Uplifting story of the day: https://news.yahoo.com/polish-olympian-auctions-silver-medal-002800572.html . So she may have been a silver medalist at the Olympics, but her selfless act shows a strength of personal values rarer than a gold medal. And the retailer paid it forward, back to her. By the way, the word “uplifting” has previously appeared only one time in this newsletter.