WSJ: J&J single-shot vaccine enters Phase 3 trial: https://www.wsj.com/articles/johnson-johnson-begins-final-stage-testing-of-covid-19-vaccine-11600857900 . This is the fourth vaccine to begin Phase 3 trials in the US; J&J will also be tested as a two-shot vaccine in the UK.
COVID-19 early detection study utilizes troops: https://www.wsj.com/articles/thousands-of-american-troops-to-take-part-in-covid-19-early-detection-study-11600772402 .
WSJ: Vaccine update: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccines-whats-coming-and-when-11598882964 . J&J is mentioned near the end of the article, but doesn’t seem to be in the table at the end.
Herd immunity: Fauci educates Rand Paul: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fauci-corrects-rand-paul-herd-immunity-claims_n_5f6b7345c5b629afbe9996a1 . Or at least he tried. WSJ: More on hearing: https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-government-health-officials-vouch-for-covid-19-vaccination-effort-11600882661 .
WSJ: Reagent scarcity limits COVID-19 testing: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-testing-is-hampered-by-shortages-of-critical-ingredient-11600772400 . “Groundhog Day” was a much better movie, I’m sick of this one.
WSJ: Another take on reagent scarcity: https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-texas-tycoon-throws-millions-at-the-covid-testing-puzzle-11600878353 . Great. Spend your money to screw up testing for the country.
Bill Gates predicts “best case” end for pandemic is 2022: https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/bill-gates-has-a-predicted-date-for-the-end-of-the-pandemic . Good luck, everyone!
WSJ: COVID-19 heart damage: https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-covid-19-patients-show-signs-of-heart-damage-months-later-11600866000 . So, there is an explanation: the bradykinin hypothesis.
WSJ: More on FDA emergency use tightening: https://www.wsj.com/articles/draft-guidelines-for-covid-19-vaccine-authorization-require-strict-review-11600809917 . According to WSJ, there is no serious opposition within HHS but officials are on orange alert. WSJ also references The Washington Post article you saw here yesterday. Thanks to Andrew Martin for a suggestion that helped me edit the length of that link address.
CDC party-poopers issue holiday advice: https://www.axios.com/cdc-guidelines-winter-holiday-halloween-thanksgiving-christmas-ee1e5c14-01ec-45de-b80a-892b21586d5f.html .
WSJ: US round-up: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-latest-news-09-23-2020-11600851009 .
WSJ: Vatican denounces assisted suicide: https://www.wsj.com/articles/vatican-pushes-back-against-spread-of-euthanasia-11600770386 .
WSJ: NYC to furlough 9,000 workers: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-to-furlough-9-000-government-workers-11600876928 . Again, state and local governments need federal aid.
WSJ: Tokyo Olympics’ biggest COVID-19 challenge is USA: https://www.wsj.com/articles/tokyo-olympics-biggest-coronavirus-challenge-could-be-team-usa-11600773573 .
WSJ: Another sick guest creating sports problems: https://www.wsj.com/articles/notre-dame-postpones-game-the-latest-virus-disruption-for-acc-football-11600862401 .
WSJ: College entrance exams hit by COVID-19: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-is-making-sat-act-harder-to-take-11600862411 .
Harvard undergraduate enrollment drops 20%: https://www.voanews.com/student-union/harvard-enrollments-drop-20 . Must be because football is cancelled, right?
Cruise lines’ COVID-19 liability limited by Death on the High Seas Act of 1920: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2020/09/23/583823.htm .
WSJ: Fed coverage: https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-researching-options-for-digital-money-offerings-mester-says-11600866001 . Defining electronic money: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/electronic-money.asp#:~:text=Electronic%20money%20is%20currency%20that,such%20as%20Square%20or%20PayPal. WSJ: More on the Fed: https://www.wsj.com/articles/feds-evans-says-good-job-market-recovery-is-real-possibility-11600883265 .
WSJ: CEOs split on future of remote work: https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-ceos-really-think-about-remote-work-11600853405 . One possible take is that remote work will change the nature of innovation. That fits with “the medium is the message” – that is, the communication channel shapes the content.
WSJ: Another take on innovation: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-tech-chief-of-startup-hypergiant-envisions-closer-human-ai-collaboration-11600853401 . Quite the name – Hypergiant – for a startup.
WSJ: Business ethics: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-companies-can-create-an-ethics-program-for-a-new-era-11600869601 . I emphatically disagree. Having focused on large employers for almost my entire career, legal standards are of course the minimum. Any business that wants to attract and retain employees and clients has always needed ethics well beyond legal minimums. And without question ethics in government has been upended in the last four years in ways previously inconceivable. WSJ is free to print Ms. Taylor’s sales pitch, but it is embarrassingly uneducated.
WSJ: Compliance under COVID-19: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-poses-an-array-of-new-legal-risks-for-companies-11600869600 . Is there anything here that’s not obvious? Hands-on inspection is more difficult with COVID-19. Adjust.
WSJ: The bullwhip effect?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/bullwhip-effect-could-boost-u-s-economy-11600858980 . This seems to ignore (1) current supply chain disruption and (2) uncertain times are likely to increase just-in-time inventory management once the supply chain stabilizes.
WSJ: Clock ticks on TikTok deal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-state-media-signal-beijings-disdain-for-dirty-and-unfair-tiktok-deal-11600878455 . WSJ: TikTok back in federal court: https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-asks-judge-to-halt-trump-administrations-download-ban-11600894254 .
WSJ: The guy who lit the match under Nikola: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-nikola-stock-got-torched-by-a-short-seller-11600867055 . It turns out our hero was broke and not a stock analyst. So far, the Hindenburg research report has knocked $19 billion off of Nikola’s $30 billion valuation. WSJ: More problems for Nikola: https://www.wsj.com/articles/nikolas-talks-with-major-energy-firms-stalled-following-short-seller-report-11600872115 .
COVID-19 drives AutoZone results: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-can-keep-autozone-in-the-fast-lane-11600793457 . To save money, you repair your own car.
WSJ: The coming oil glut?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/peak-oil-is-already-shifting-markets-11600863067 . Given that the world is now going to compete to reduce oil use, the glut argument makes sense.
WSJ: Saudi Arabia to reopen Mecca: https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-to-resume-religious-tourism-in-bid-to-revive-economy-11600866299 . If the oil glut materializes soon, forget about reviving the economy. The Saudis have enough reserves to drown the world markets in oil, but at a pathetic price.
WSJ: We don’t read our own stuff: https://www.wsj.com/articles/barbara-lagoa-would-bring-an-atypical-background-to-the-supreme-court-11600863300 . WTF is WSJ talking about? She spent 3 years at COLUMBIA Law School. This isn’t a New York connection?
Minneapolis visit for Pence and Ivanka: https://apnews.com/0a24a56787034874f9b5d7ea8c83cb0f . The citizens quoted in this article seem quite level-headed. Pence and Ivanka will meet with Cops for Trump. That’s not listening.
Supreme Court more a Trump issue than a Biden issue?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-plays-bigger-campaign-role-for-trump-than-biden-11600865107 . WSJ prints another head-scratcher. The article specifically says Trump is using the Court appointment to deflect attention from COVID-19 while Biden is maintaining focus on Trump’s COVID-19 performance. Meanwhile, voters are acutely aware that Trump’s nominee will be the antithesis of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, even though the nominee benefitted from Ginsburg’s life’s work.
Court-packing 2021?: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/22/biden-supreme-court-filibuster-ginsburg-419832 . This discussion is premature, of course, and the appropriate focus for both sides is the November 3 election. It does point up the mess Biden faces if Republicans ram through the unknown nominee and Biden is elected (currently both are likely outcomes). Biden gets nowhere unless the Senate is at least 50-50. Assuming there is some sort of workable Senate Democratic majority, it is still a massive challenge to steer the country in a “unifying”, non-divisive manner. Biden is already walking the tightrope; can he do that for four years?
Americans do have a plan for that: Cut him some slack.
But the main issue right now is turnout, as Politico explains in detail: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/23/poll-biden-trump-arizona-florida-420361 .
At least Wall Street remains calm: https://www.aol.com/article/finance/2020/09/23/ginsburg-vacancy-making-wall-street-nervous-that-trump-vs-biden-will-yield-an-illegitimate-result/24627913/ . This is only a base case if you are listening to Trump’s claim that mail-in votes inherently involve fraud; it seems likely we will hear this after November 3 if Trump loses, especially if he is leading the in-person vote count in some battleground states on Election Day. There is absolutely no evidence supporting this claim, and enormous evidence to the contrary. Voter fraud has been heavily researched for decades. Facts do matter. But Trump continues to stir the pot: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-ties-supreme-court-vacancy-to-possible-disputed-election-11600899074 .
The Trump campaign’s Debate Plan B: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/23/trump-biden-first-debate-420189 . How did we get to a world where everything is spin? Facts matter. Some facts can’t be ignored. 200,000 dead from COVID-19 with our leader pursuing “inject disinfectants” is a place to start, and to end for today … except for football:
Doc punctures QB’s lung: https://www.latimes.com/sports/chargers/story/2020-09-23/chargers-doctor-accidentally-punctured-tyrod-taylors-lung-with-injection . When rookie and former Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert got the start in Sunday’s Chargers game, it was a result of medical error on the starting quarterback, Tyrod Taylor. The “diagnosis” was first made by the former team doctor during a podcast. More: https://www.outkick.com/david-chao-md-expect-justin-herbert-to-start-at-qb-for-chargers-in-week-3/ .
Gale Sayers passes: https://www.wsj.com/articles/gale-sayers-hall-of-fame-chicago-bears-running-back-dies-at-77-11600871147 . As the article indicates, Gales Sayers was perhaps the greatest open-field runner of all time.