We continue to hit record highs in the number of daily cases; the last 3 days have all been over 50,000 new cases.
Data suppression by the White House: https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-denied-permission-to-brief-public-about-coronavirus-yahoo-2020-7 . And: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vice-president-mike-pences-arizona-trip-delayed-due/story?id=71589502 (link replaced 7/17/21).
COVID-19 is 10 to 40 times deadlier than seasonal flu: https://www.fox8live.com/2020/07/02/ochsner-health-study-reveals-numbers-covid-up-more-deadly-than-flu/ .
CBO and social distancing: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-economy-wont-grow-as-fast-as-expected-over-next-six-months-cbo-says-2020-07-02 . Today’s WSJ (see page A2) highlights a point also described in this article – that CBO assumes that social distancing will decline by 2/3 by the end of this year. This only makes sense if we get control of the pandemic very soon …
More economic fallout from COVID-19: Brazil: https://fr.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-economy-pmi-idUSKBN2441N2 (link replaced 12/31/20).
Wondering about your legal rights if you contract COVID-19 in a business setting?: https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/understanding-liability-waivers-in-the-age-of-covid-19 .
Texas mandates masks, and other COVID-19 news: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-latest-news-07-02-2020-11593675909 . A failure to appreciate the lagging nature of mortality statistics.
Oregon and face masks: https://sports.yahoo.com/oregon-governor-slams-state-troopers-seen-refusing-wear-152453885–abc-news-topstories.html (link replaced 7/17/21). Came out swinging? Kate Brown is at most 5 feet tall … she’d likely punch them in the groin.
Mexico: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/505806-mexico-closes-border-in-arizona-as-coronavirus-cases-in-both-country (link replaced 7/17/21).
WSJ: Plasma collection: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-seeks-large-scale-expansion-of-blood-plasma-collection-for-covid-19-11593691200 . If the 1% figure is accurate, 200,000 units could lead to 2,000 serious adverse reactions (print headline uses “wide” rather than “large-scale” in headline).
More on Moderna: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/02/moderna-stock-falls-8percent-after-report-says-late-stage-coronavirus-vaccine-trial-delayed.html .
Criticism from an American abroad: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/america-land-pathetic/613747/ .
WSJ: Mask tan lines: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-masks-nudist-resort-vacation-sandiego-reopen-coronavirus-11593705954 . WSJ has a unique, tone-deaf way of demonstrating the cartoonish nature of the theory of white supremacy. Or maybe it’s just California …
WSJ: Mt. Rushmore fireworks: https://www.wsj.com/articles/with-mount-rushmore-visit-trump-to-emphasize-history-and-court-controversy-11593693496 . So the headline in the print edition starts “Trump Courts Controversy by …”. As often as this problem comes up, it appears there is a sanitation staff at WSJ trying to make the unpalatable more palatable, which also hinders online searches for their materials. And “courts controversy” is a tremendous understatement of this ongoing effort to inflame racial tensions. This site is sacred to the Oglala Sioux, at least it was prior to the creation of the monument; we broke our treaty with them. Here’s another article from today’s edition (page A1) on the topic of race: https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/Wall-Street-Falls-Short-on-Race-Despite-Pledges-WSJ–30865591/ (link replaced 10/8/20). This shows the WSJ print edition headline; online WSJ titled the article “Wall Street is Too White. Fixing It Will Be Hard”. Really? What the article really documents is long-standing institutional racism. And by the way, in case you had the same problem, WSJ always sends a link to the print edition, but it didn’t show up today. The print edition on their website is much harder to read. Perhaps this problem is holiday-related and will be fixed by Monday.
Will football be back?: https://sportsnaut.com/nfl-owners-fear-2020-season-could-be-canceled-by-worsening-covid-19-pandemic/ (link replaced 7/17/21). At least there’s other work to do: https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/07/03/washington-dan-snyder-team-review-nickname/24544798/ . WEEKS of pressure? Let’s see, 52 weeks times 87 years would be 4,524.
For you benefits consultants out there: https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-true-economic-stimulus-plan-11593728372 . While I routinely avoid the WSJ editorial page in these notes as way-over-the-top political, I feel compelled to point out this abject lie. With millions out of work, cutting unemployment benefits in order to reduce payroll taxes makes no sense – it obviously does not help the people who need the most help, and that’s why Congress has so far refused to consider it. The only thing a payroll tax cut will accomplish is to substantially increase the funding problems of Social Security and Medicare (the writers’ likely objective, which they don’t mention). To dress this up as some sort of expert opinion is deeply offensive.