World record COVID-19 cases Sunday: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-54142502 . If we’ve turned a corner, it’s not a good one.
Rehab helps COVID-19 long-haulers: https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/persistent-covid-symptoms.html .
COVID-19 complicates wildfire evacuations: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-09-13/coronavirus-complicates-wildfire-evacuations-on-west-coast?src=usn_nl_coronavirus . Hey, but hotel occupancy is up …
Portland continues to have the worst air quality in the world; earliest rain possibility is Thursday …
WSJ: COVID-19 care affordability: https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-pays-for-covid-19-medical-care-that-depends-on-how-or-if-you-are-insured-11600075801 .
CDC scientists’ sedition: The follow-up on suppression of CDC scientists’ reports (see yesterday’s newsletter) is … well beyond “not normal”: https://www.axios.com/michael-caputo-hhs-cdc-sedition-62eeda84-9e49-49a2-a1bd-1a1acc654bbb.html . Caputo also stated that “his mental health had definitely failed” and that his (unnamed) opponents were preparing to kill him: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-operative-hhs-unravels-pushes-conspiratorial-nonsense-n1240061 . Hopefully he will be relieved of responsibilities immediately and provided with mental health assistance. Not something I would ever have imagined arising in the efforts to get CDC to protect COVID-19 scientific data and reports.
Scientists and physicians outraged by CDC report meddling: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/09/13/covid-scientists-white-house-meddling-cdc-mmwr/5787230002/ .
CNBC: US round-up: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/13/coronavirus-cases-are-growing-in-11-us-states.html .
Pfizer CEO: “We’ll know if vaccine works by end of October”: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-effectiveness-october-pfizer/ . This “competition” is likely to further raise vaccine skepticism.
WSJ: Gottlieb: The Emergency Use Authorization pathway for COVID-19 vaccines: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-emergency-use-can-help-roll-out-a-covid-vaccine-11600029175 . Two former FDA commissioners explain how emergency use might help vaccine roll-out through targeted groups.
Navajo Nation participating in vaccine trial: https://apnews.com/01c3ead17f7f0e31679d51c4a1666323 .
Trump: I’m safe at indoor Nevada rally: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/trump-defends-indoor-rally-by-focusing-on-his-safety-not-that-of-crowds/ . And … screw the crowd? WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-campaigns-indoor-nevada-rally-draws-governors-ire-11600059050 .
WSJ: Biden the spendthrift?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-after-rejecting-progressive-spending-plans-now-hones-multi-trillion-dollar-budget-11600075802 . Two points: (1) the issue is deficits; Trump’s tax cuts have already caused major deficits and more would create deficits similar to Biden’s, without meeting any of the country’s needs; (2) whoever is president, Congress controls the purse strings. Most (all?) White House budgets in recent years have been DOA on Capitol Hill.
Higher education battles ongoing virus spikes: https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2020-09-14/colleges-universities-continue-battling-major-covid-19-spikes . This was completely foreseeable and not worth it, either for the colleges’ balance sheets or for football and its revenues.
The pandemic’s education disaster: https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2020-09-14/report-coronavirus-school-closures-could-cost-us-economy-14-trillion . Considering that 2019 US GDP was $21 trillion, this is a stunning damage estimate. It shows the critical consequences of failing to control the pandemic (in addition to the deaths and health consequences) and the abject stupidity of failing to continue federal relief assistance.
WSJ: Fed pushes for relief package: https://www.wsj.com/articles/highflying-nvidias-bid-for-arm-signals-loftier-chip-ambition-11600027832 . The almost-unanimous view of the economic community is that this is necessary to reduce further damage to the US economy.
Amazon to hire 100,000: https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-to-hire-100-000-in-u-s-and-canada-11600071208 . A full warehouse which is productive … that’s why Trump hates Bezos.
Is Oracle-TikTok deal a partnership?: https://in.reuters.com/article/us-china-bytedance-tiktok-cgtn/bytedance-wont-sell-tiktok-u-s-operations-to-oracle-or-microsoft-cgtn-idUSKBN2650MC . Confusion reigns. There is still no apparent reason for TikTok to resolve this prior to the election.
WSJ: Nvidia grabs Arm: https://www.wsj.com/articles/highflying-nvidias-bid-for-arm-signals-loftier-chip-ambition-11600027832 . A major semiconductor deal moves Nvidia farther ahead of Intel.
India reports lowest daily case total in a week: https://apnews.com/35129aa9ca1b7193eabddbea91d3d91c . But India has significant case reporting problems in many states, and this could be the “weekend effect” we see in many places. Moving seven-day averages are much easier to assess.
US voter suppression: a detailed analysis from the UK: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/07/is-america-a-democracy-if-so-why-does-it-deny-millions-the-vote . It’s hard to get unbiased, well researched information on this topic – here’s the best recent summary I’ve seen, from The Guardian. One thing that caught my eye: “The US is ranked 57th in the world in electoral integrity – compared to other liberal democracies, it is second to last”.
See also: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58533f31bebafbe99c85dc9b/t/5ce60bd6b208fcd93be49430/1558580197717/Electoral+Integrity+Worldwide.pdf . It reminded me of an interview with Jimmy Carter during the 2000 election controversy in Florida; the Carter Center is an internationally renowned election supervisor. When asked about the Carter Center’s potential involvement, Carter said, “We wouldn’t get involved, because Florida’s election system does not meet our minimum standards for involvement.” Ouch.
Up to 48 species saved from extinction by conservation efforts: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/10/up-to-48-species-saved-from-extinction-by-conservation-efforts-study-finds-aoe .
Harshmallow: Peeps holiday pause: https://apnews.com/20caa708f15261c102ac9b19ffc0cc80 . Supply chain disruption hits Peeps – but who eats Peeps at Christmas? Or Halloween? Or Valentine’s Day? (well, or Easter for that matter).