Science fights back: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-american-endorses-joe-biden/ . Oh hell YES. If you see something, say something. Scientific American was my favorite magazine to read in high school. It was nice to welcome back memories of Martin Gardner and his wonderful puzzles column. This is certainly my favorite piece of news in recent weeks.
Here is a thorough and loving tribute to Martin Gardner, in a most appropriate place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Gardner . There are many tremendous writers of popular mathematics in the Grapevine for Gardner group listed in this article.
Science fights back, Part 2: The editor of the journal Science states that the current situation “may be the most shameful in the history of US science policy”. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/11/science.abe7391?rss=1 . Another academically-oriented publication has seen the need to stand up against the bizarre policies of the trump enterprise. Science is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Science fights back, Part 3: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-coronavirus-response-154702039.html . An expert’s overview of how the US has screwed up its coronavirus response: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-explains-how-he-would-fight-coronavirus-if-he-was-president-dont-mislead-people-130857486.html . Note that this article appeared August 1, well before the news from Bob Woodward’s “Rage”.
A new global effort to save the planet: https://liabilityroadmap.org/ . This combination of science, the law and public opinion against polluters is an appealing one. It is gaining some traction in the press: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/15/global-coalition-issues-liability-roadmap-make-big-corporate-polluters-pay-planetary .
WSJ: US round-up: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-latest-news-09-16-2020-11600244664 . CDC Director Redfield indicated that vaccine will likely be distributed in late second or third quarter, 2021. While Trump stated that Redfield was confused, Redfield indicated he was not. Redfield also indicated that the states need $6 billion in funding to carry out the distribution.
WSJ: Lilly’s antibody drug reduces hospitalizations: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-antibody-drug-shown-to-reduce-hospitalizations-eli-lilly-says-11600253102 . Results on viral load reduction, the study’s primary goal, were unclear.
WSJ: US coronavirus plans: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-trump-draw-sharp-contrasts-on-covid-19-testing-11600250402 . Like the wildfires articles yesterday, the choice is between sanity and Trump. You don’t have to agree with Biden to realize the lunacy and failure of the current administration. This is why science endorses Biden. The alternative is not just anti-science, it is anti-civilization. WSJ: More vaccine back-and-forth: https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-the-fed-just-seeing-shadowsor-should-we-really-be-worried-11600290055 . COVID-19 is probably the central issue in the election.
WSJ: Harris focuses on coronavirus response, minority communities: https://www.wsj.com/articles/kamala-harris-woos-black-and-latino-voters-as-joe-bidens-running-mate-11600257600 . The Trump-Pence campaign is only able to respond through surrogates.
WSJ: Fauci: COVID-19 will end: https://www.wsj.com/articles/fauci-says-there-will-be-an-end-to-covid-19-11600309449 . Fauci is apparently seeking areas to sound like Trump. Fauci’s statement that we can “put this coronavirus outbreak behind us, the way we put the original SARS behind us” is inaccurate, because as the article notes, the original SARS virus was eradicated while COVID-19 is embedded in the global population and is very unlikely to be eradicated. Also, because virus load in the population is high and the virus has mutated already, there is risk that the virus will mutate in a way that reduces the effectiveness of the vaccinations. One hopes for a substantial reduction in cases that allows effective contact tracing, testing and isolation when outbreaks occur.
OSHA coronavirus ruling faces blowback: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/osha-labor-department-coronavirus-cases-at-work_n_5e91cc70c5b6f7b1ea8218bf?p9 . Yet another example of the dangers of politicizing data and science (as if we need more examples).
COVID-19 has raised dementia deaths: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/16/dementia-deaths-coronavirus-nursing-homes-416530 . WSJ: Report on nursing-home pandemic failures: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-response-in-nursing-homes-faulted-by-federal-panel-11600302869 . Note that over 70,000 of the 200,000 US deaths are attributed to nursing homes. The dementia deaths may raise both figures if they are attributed to COVID-19.
WSJ: Looney Tunes on fall hiatus: https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-caputo-takes-leave-of-absence-from-trump-administration-11600277980 . Hiatus scheduled to end just after the election.
WSJ: ICE whistleblower charges investigated: https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-seek-investigation-into-allegations-of-mass-hysterectomies-on-detained-migrants-11600291610 . The appalling allegations here demand investigation.
CRFB: Federal budget trackers detail existing relief aid to states: http://www.crfb.org/blogs/covid-relief-includes-360-billion-state-and-local-aid . The bipartisan group CRFB has many distinguished members. This particular analysis not only shows aid already provided to the states, but also does the math by state. Note that much of the money is Medicaid assistance, as so many more people are now on Medicaid.
WSJ: House report criticizes Boeing culture, FAA oversight in MAX 737 disasters: https://www.wsj.com/articles/faa-boeing-blasted-over-737-max-failures-in-democratic-report-11600246802 . The WSJ take is that this is a partisan political document. But the planes were not grounded after the first crash, and it has been 18 months and counting since grounding to resolve the difficulties. And as previously reported here, Boeing has ongoing and significant quality control issues in its non-union facilities in South Carolina. This is completely unprecedented in airplane manufacture, which is supposed to have considerable safety redundancies built in. It seems obvious that the FAA oversight function needs outside review and repair.
WSJ: OECD sees more rapid recovery: https://www.wsj.com/articles/rich-countries-set-to-recover-more-quickly-from-covid-19-contractions-11600246800 . The more key comment in this article is that the OECD sees momentum slowing and consumer confidence remains weak. The earlier-than-expected growth due to early re-openings appears to be offset by continued outbreaks. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/us-economy-august-retail-sales-coronavirus-recovery-11600200513 .
WSJ: Fed continues deliberations: https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-meeting-to-focus-on-laying-out-interest-rate-strategy-11600248600 . The issues discussed above are key to the Fed’s projections of near-term economic direction. WSJ: Another view: https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-the-fed-just-seeing-shadowsor-should-we-really-be-worried-11600290055 . WSJ: Still more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-signals-interest-rates-to-stay-near-zero-through-2023-11600279214 .
WSJ: Relief package politics: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-calls-on-republicans-to-seek-a-bigger-coronavirus-relief-deal-11600287241 . Apparently the Democrats involved in the $1.5 trillion package have shortened the time horizon in order to gamble that this issue can be revisited after the election.
WSJ: Business supports more aggressive climate action: https://www.wsj.com/articles/business-shifts-from-resistance-to-action-on-climate-11600233503 . Drill, baby, drill is fading away.
WSJ: NY hotels fear closure wave: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-hotels-fear-raft-of-closures-due-to-coronavirus-11600257600 . More signs that the second wave (economic retrenchment) has not yet played out.
WSJ: Remote vs. in-person work: https://www.wsj.com/articles/our-company-gets-back-to-work-11600296615 . Sorry, no sale. I worked in offices for many years, but with clients and staff spread all over the country. My presence in the office had literally no effect on productivity. For the last 13 years, I have worked entirely remotely. Productivity goes up because the commute is eliminated and I can work whenever I choose. There may be some argument that the personalities on your particular team do better in-person, but frankly that has more to do with personal flexibility than the setting.
WSJ: Child care constraints: https://www.wsj.com/articles/manufacturing-recovery-stymied-as-workers-juggle-child-care-11600261107 . Another hindrance to rapid recovery.
WSJ: NYC school teacher goes outdoors: https://www.wsj.com/articles/worried-about-coronavirus-bronx-teacher-goes-outdoors-11600260223 . This hardly seems like a viable option in New York City beyond September. WSJ: More NYC school issues: https://www.wsj.com/articles/days-before-school-starts-new-york-city-changes-some-remote-learning-rules-11600268539 .
WSJ: NYC mayor and staff take one-week furlough: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-mayor-his-staff-to-take-one-week-furloughs-11600270485 . The timing seems questionable, the savings minimal.
WSJ: Quarantine gardeners have questionable results: https://www.wsj.com/articles/defeated-quarantine-gardeners-are-throwing-in-the-trowel-11600263092 . Having had a successful vegetable garden in New York City, it’s not the plants or the location because “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere” (and Redding should have been easy) …
WSJ: More on Oracle-TikTok deal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/oracle-will-review-tiktok-source-code-to-watch-for-chinese-access-11600294050 . WSJ: The federal position: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-pushes-for-u-s-control-of-tiktok-11600295711 .
WSJ: Europe rejects large lockdowns: https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-coronavirus-rebounds-europe-rejects-new-lockdowns-11600251871 . As in the US, localized lockdowns can work, but transit in and out must be severely limited.
WSJ: Protection from wildfire smoke: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-protect-yourself-from-wildfire-smoke-11600215988 . The article calls out potential damage to alveolar macrophages as a particular cause for concern in limiting the immune system response.
WSJ: Wildfire status: https://www.wsj.com/articles/smoke-from-west-coast-fires-spurs-health-advisories-11600268095 . Same as yesterday, Portland still has the worst air quality in the world, and this may continue into next week. There is hope for rain Friday, but the weather models continue to mis-predict because they cannot account for the effect of smoke, which has lowered daily highs by about 25 degrees.
WSJ: Big-10 football to return: https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-ten-reverses-course-and-will-bring-football-back-in-late-october-11600263634 . And guess who claimed credit?: https://news.yahoo.com/as-big-ten-reverses-course-on-football-postponement-president-trump-claims-credit-for-influencing-decision-140008075.html . “Well, Aunt Grace and Uncle Jim died of coronavirus, but hey, I get to see the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturdays again.” The Big-10 has 14 football teams, which is a function of money and not math.