Vaccine nationalism: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21439799/covid-19-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-priority-access-covax-who . Vaccine nationalism is bad only if you trying to do the right thing. If you’re interested in staying in power, it’s a no-brainer. And the world is run by no-brainers right now (puns intended).
Here is an argument that supports wealthy countries getting the majority of the initial doses. The people most at risk from COVID-19 death are those over 50, and particularly those over 65. The countries with the highest average age are precisely those with the most “advanced” economies. So if we’re trying to de-risk the mortality, the place to start is the elderly.
This approach is humane, but not particularly economically efficient. These people have a shorter future just because of their age. The elderly are a higher percentage of the populations of wealthy countries. But there are still plenty of elderly people in developing nations.
The other obvious place to start is essential workers. A few of those workers are highly paid – for example, practicing physicians. But most have low wages – nurses, garbage haulers, store workers. This is true across all countries. And the wealthy don’t like something less than immediate access.
Does science need better press?: http://nautil.us/issue/93/forerunners/when-science-was-the-best-show-in-america . Yes, it does. It used to have it. Russia gets it – Sputnik V, for example.
WSJ: Sputnik V to cost under $10: https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-looks-to-undercut-u-s-rivals-with-cut-price-coronavirus-vaccine-11606228319 . So, not only smart press but also a marketing plan.
COVID-19 now spreading “exponentially”: https://sports.yahoo.com/amphtml/covid-19-travel-airports-packed-experts-warn-surge-new-cases-after-thanksgiving-201005140.html . The Dakotas now have among the worst rates per capita in the WORLD. Considering them “flyover country” is now a health recommendation.
WSJ: US COVID-19 mortality declining: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-has-become-less-deadly-but-that-could-change-as-cases-rise-11606213802 . As you know, because of all the data problems, I have concerns about mortality measurement. Mortality is certainly declining. Quantifying the decline is subject to even more uncertainty.
WSJ: CDC to recommend shorter quarantine period: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cdc-finalizing-recommendation-to-shorten-covid-19-quarantines-11606247975 . This appears to be political rather than scientific. The assumption that testing reduces a quarantine period is nonsensical. The quarantine period is based on the period of time a suspected infection takes to appear. A negative test before the end of that period, even if accurate, is irrelevant.
Rapid testing could quash pandemic: https://news.yahoo.com/rapid-testing-could-drive-the-epidemic-toward-extinction-164845892.html . This is just common sense. However, as a large percentage of Americans don’t have any, the model here is flawed. At best, it would save the compliant population while the non-compliant crowd hurtles toward herd immunity. Hmmm ….
WSJ: Vaccine skepticism in New York: https://www.wsj.com/articles/nearly-a-quarter-of-new-yorkers-say-they-wont-take-covid-19-vaccine-11606213801 .
WSJ: Oregon implementing drug decriminalization: https://www.wsj.com/articles/oregon-decriminalized-drug-possession-now-it-has-to-offer-treatment-11606226400 . This is an interesting health (and crime) experiment, but complicated by the pandemic.
A Biden stimulus deal now?: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-backs-pelosi-massive-stimulus-235836390.html . The deal is needed sooner rather than later. If Democrats somehow win the two Georgia Senate seats, more can be passed. If not, this may be it.
Biden transition gets in gear: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-transition-moves-quickly-after-trump-agrees-to-share-resources-11606232517 . I almost wrote “cranks up”, but that’s the current administration.
Who are the WestExec Advisors?: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/23/westexec-advisors-biden-cabinet-440072 . A secretive consulting organization places many of its top dogs in the Biden Administration.
WSJ: France charts lockdown exit: https://www.wsj.com/articles/frances-macron-charts-exit-from-covid-19-lockdown-11606249769 . We know the recipe for success, we just refuse to stick with it. This balancing act BS just prolongs the agony.
WSJ: Credit Suisse: Too big to fail, too dumb to succeed: https://www.wsj.com/articles/credit-suisse-takes-450-million-hit-on-stake-in-u-s-hedge-fund-firm-11606230263 . More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/jamie-dinans-york-capital-management-to-largely-wind-down-hedge-fund-operations-11606178089 .
Georgia Senate race strategy: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/in-georgia-senate-runoffs-the-focus-%e2%80%94-and-the-fire-%e2%80%94-is-on-raphael-warnock/ar-BB1bkh7h?li=BBnb7Kz .
WSJ: Your collar and your vote: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-2020-election-deepened-americas-white-collar-blue-collar-split-11606219208 . This is urban/rural rather than white collar/blue collar. There is a meaningful difference.
Latest GOP nut harvest shipped to DC: https://apnews.com/article/laura-boebert-may-carry-glock-congress-1534f121e3944ad26bb87c6e7fd13808 . At first I wondered if this was Lorena Bobbitt …
McConnell told Trump to nominate Amy Coney Barrett on the night Ruth Bader Ginsburg died: https://www.newsweek.com/mcconnell-told-trump-nominate-amy-coney-barrett-night-ginsburgs-death-ex-chief-staff-says-1550036 . There’s no real surprise here. Trump knows nothing about policy or the effects of nominating one judge or another, nor does he care.
Is there a competition for most disgraceful Republican Senator?: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/senate-republicans-georgia-bullying-failed-lindsey-graham-s-ethics-violations-ncna1248748 . Only Romney voted to convict Trump. The evidence presented was not denied. The conduct is that which worried the Framers the most – foreign interference. When everyone’s grade is F, the curve is irrelevant.
It is also “ironic” that Romney is the only Senator in history to vote to convict a president of his own party. That’s only because Nixon resigned ahead of a vote that likely would have been unanimous in the House and Senate. That affair was prolonged because the Congress had to get Spiro Agnew out of the vice presidency, put their guy (Gerald Ford) in, and then dump Dick.
I am of the view that Nixon damaged the presidency in a way from which we may never recover. And still, Trump is worse. Nixon was a damaged, insecure, vindictive individual. Trump’s amorality is his defining characteristic. Every other aspect of Trump follows from this one.
Truth at Fox: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fox-news-host-laura-ingraham-tell-viewers-trump-has-lost-the-election-i-will-not-lie-to-you-11606245879 . Here is the real threat to democracy – earnest crooks peddling conspiracy as truth, otherwise known as the Fox Empire. “I will not lie to you” – here Laura quotes the first thing Kelly McEnany said to the press corps at her first briefing. It was Kelly’s first lie in that job. No one has a stat total on Laura. Oh, and MarketWatch is owned by Fox, too.
Nuts to CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/25/politics/joe-biden-donald-trump-cabinet/index.html . The suggestion that Biden’s chief objective is an anti-Trump presidency is offensive. If that’s true, by definition the Biden presidency fails. No Democrat wants to hear of Trump ever again, even if we know he will be lurking and babbling out there. The Biden presidency can only succeed if it effectively confronts the challenges we face – and there is nothing about that effort than involves reference to Trump.
Truth in polling: https://www.newsweek.com/trumps-job-approval-rating-rises-after-election-despite-covid-surge-poll-1550041 . So, either polling methodology is seriously screwed up in America, or a significant percentage of Americans are seriously screwed up. The overwhelming statistical evidence is that both are true. https://www.newsweek.com/most-americans-back-trump-2024-gop-primary-pence-don-jr-second-third-poll-1550038 . In other words, right now there are no Republicans contenders for 2024 other than Trump. He will be 78 in 2024 and faces a host of legal and financial problems in 2021. And: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/527227-trump-job-approval-slips-in-first-survey-after-election .
Truth from Obama: https://www.thedailybeast.com/obama-tells-colbert-that-trump-exceeded-his-worst-nightmares?ref=scroll . Now this I agree with.
WSJ: Couples therapy for the country: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-we-can-reconcile-with-each-other-when-our-politics-are-so-polarized-11606250555 . Pulling the plug on Fox would be more helpful, but here’s a Plan B.