Science/Technology

BioNTech-Pfizer COVID vaccine effective against 2 variants DW (resilc). You have to read carefully to see that this is in vitro. See here: Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 spike 69/70 deletion, E484K and N501Y variants by BNT162b2 vaccine-elicited sera.

Vaccines Alone Are Not Enough to Beat COVID Scientific American (Robert M)

I have pointedly avoided reporting on accounts by MDs of Grade 4 reactions, but this is in the press: Man in his 70s collapses and dies just 25 minutes after receiving COVID-19 vaccine in NYC – as officials say he ‘didn’t have allergic reaction Daily Mail. And FWIW, the Mail is generally a vaccine cheerleader. Good charts in the article. Note Alabama and Oklahoma look to have the biggest gap between vaccine availability and uptake. Here, the process is a mess, so it may be that v. vaccine hesitancy.

Why the U.S. Is Underestimating COVID Reinfection Scientific American (Robert M). We’ve made occasional noises about observed cases of reinfections seeming to contract cheery analyses saying immunity lasts >6 months. And for those living in areas with high early infection rates, like NYC and California, we are more than six months past a case spike.

Why Opening Restaurants Is Exactly What the Coronavirus Wants Us to Do ProPublica

Wuhan mission unlikely to settle charged debate on virus origins Financial Times

US

Texas Rep. Ron Wright Becomes First Sitting Congressman To Die Of Covid-19 Forbes

Biden’s Herd Immunity Reality Check And Trouble In South Africa Heisenberg Report (resilc)

In the Absence of COVID Safety Plans, Teachers Are Resigning and Retiring Early Truthout

Nearly 10% of Americans Have at Least One Covid-19 Shot Wall Street Journal

Inside the Worst-Hit County in the Worst-Hit State in the Worst-Hit Country New Yorker (furzy)

A new study from a collaboration of scientists finds the faster spreading UK COVID-19 variant (B117) is spreading rapidly in the U.S.– particularly in FLORIDA. @DrEricDing on what that means and how to stop it. 👇

More of our interview to come. pic.twitter.com/LYGuOduv9x

— Jay O’Brien (@jayobtv) February 8, 2021

Washington state hospitals scramble to find counterfeit N95 masks, test staffers Seattle Times (furzy)

People are fed up with broken vaccine appointment tools — so they’re building their own MIT Technology Review. Resilc has been trying for a week to get a vaccine appointment for an 85 in North Carolina. Today he sent a photo of three laptops next to each other all dedicated to this task. I didn’t get an explanation as to how three machines in parallel seeking a time might advance the cause….

Joe Biden’s Super Bowl Moment of Silence Garners Boos From Crowd, Surprising Social Media PopCulture

‘It’s not safe or smart. It’s stupid’ MarketWatch

The NFL Honored Health Care Workers By Throwing A Superspreader Super Bowl Vice (resilc). Party across the street, and munchies looked cleaned out at the grocery store.

UK/Europe

The Crony Ratio – £800 Million In Covid Contracts To Donors Who Have Given £8 Million To Conservatives Byline Times (dk)

OUTBREAK OF #B1351 VARIANT IN AUSTRIA 🇦🇹—B1351 🇿🇦 variant now identified in 293 cases in western Austria state of Tyrol—at least 140 active cases. Germany🇩🇪 is considering closing the border to Tyrol. Austria govt has issued urgent travel warning. #COVID19https://t.co/87oqfd8XJ8

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) February 8, 2021

Finance/Economy

Gene Sperling: Joe Biden’s $1.9tn plan is necessary as economic recovery insurance Financial Times (David L)

I find it obscene that a Congress full of millionaires (funded by billionaires) is trying to means test the difference between $50,000 and $75,000 for a life-saving survival check during a pandemic. We need more working people in our government.

— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) February 8, 2021

“Everything has become an admin nightmare” due to Brexit say UK designers Dezeen (resilc)

As an EU member, the UK was party to the ban on importing shellfish from 3rd countries. For a decade, UK suppliers did very nicely. Now outside the EU, the UK is subject to that ban. The Govt knew this was an inevitable consequence of Brexit. It has no grounds for complaint.

— Keith Burge (@carryonkeith) February 9, 2021

Cancel the public debt held by the ECB and “take back control” of our destiny Defend Democracy. Impressively long list of signatories. Above my pay grade to identify how many are seen as Serious Economists.

Robert Tombs – Perry Anderson: A Devastating Indictment of the EU Brave New Europe (Anthony L)

Myanmar

Myanmar coup: Police clamp down as protesters defy ban on gatherings BBC

Myanmar: Military Coup d’état violates principles of rule of law, international law and Myanmar’s Constitution International Commission of Jurists (furzy). I find this bizarre. “What about ‘coup’ don’t you understand?” Perhaps I missed it, but did this group make any noise when the Maidan lot tore up Ukraine’s constitution?

India—like the rest of the world—is moving away from the path of economic austerity Quartz. When you’ve lost Modi…

Pacific Islands Forum in crisis as one-third of member nations quit Guardian (Kevin W)

Syraqistan

Koch ads urge Biden to pull Afghan troops Axios

Can Biden get the US out of Afghanistan? Asia Times (Kevin W)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Biden DOJ Halts Trump Admin Lawsuit Against California Net Neutrality Rules ars technica

Trump Transition

Florida businessman gets year in prison in fraud case against Giuliani associates Politico (resilc)

Demagogues vs. Dictators by Michael Lind Project Syndicate (UserFriendly)

Where As a Nation Do We Go from Here? Pairagraph. UserFriendly: “A+++ back and forth between Chris Arnade and Michael Lind (addressed to each other).”

Impeachment

Senate looks to avoid dragged-out Trump impeachment battle The Hill

Trump’s Crack Impeachment Lawyers Misspelled ‘United States’—Again Vice (resilc)

Former FBI Agent Questions Police Response At US Capitol KSL. Useful confirmation.

In America’s ‘Uncivil War,’ Republicans Are The Aggressors FiveThirtyEight

The Boogaloo Bois Have Guns, Criminal Records and Military Training. Now They Want to Overthrow the Government. ProPublica. I only skimmed this piece, but I don’t see the key factoid, which is how many of them there are. The FBI keeps tabs on these groups (and if anything has an incentive to exaggerate their numbers because funding). They said the Proud Boys had 600 members, meaning their media presence was way out of proportion to their actual ability to do anything. Hence I am suspicious of the same re the new militia threat du jour.

Shelby won’t run for reelection The Hill. Really too bad. Shelby is tough on Wall Street and in the shrinking minority of not cray-cray conservatives. But he is an old coot. DiFi should take notice.

Hacker attempted to poison water supply of Florida city, officials say Guardian (Kevin W)

Black Injustice Tipping Point

George Wallace, segregationist Alabama governor, loses university honor Guardian

Our Famously Free Press

Facebook Says It Plans To Remove Posts With False Vaccine Claims New York Times

Fleet Street editors unite to demand ‘urgent’ action on Freedom of Information openDemocracy

Police State Watch

Can older and female recruits salvage the image of US police? RT (Kevin W)

NRA Examiner Motion Adam Levitin, Credit Slips. Schadenfreude alert! Way more fun than the headline.

Chinese regulators call in Tesla over customer complaints Reuters

Tesla’s Balance Sheet Not Volatile Enough. Needs Bitcoin, Musk Reckons Heisenberg Report (resilc)

Korea Inc seeks to corner global parts market for electric vehicles Financial Times

Boeing Board Failed to Challenge CEO on 737 MAX Safety, Lawsuit Says Wall Street Journal

Exclusive: Congressional Democrats set to back more than $50 billion for transportation sector Reuters. Resilc: “The Boeing/Delta et al welfare bill. The only trains we’ll see soon are Lionel.”

Family of Robinhood user who died by suicide sues company NBC (furzy)

Redditors’ Plan to Use GameStop Playbook for Glove Makers Unravels Bloomberg

EU’s Vestager Warns Apple To Treat All Apps Equally Amid Privacy Dispute Reuters

woah. just had time today to review Australia’s report on adtech (222 pages!) – hands-down the best report I’ve ever seen on adtech complex – creates an overwhelmingly clear picture of the problem. Hint in this image of a monopoly participating in all sides of the market. /1 pic.twitter.com/EWCYgRFUJ4

— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) February 8, 2021

Regulation of Big Tech will decide the fate of Western democracies Business Insider (furzy)

Class Warfare

A Historic Union Vote Gets Underway at Amazon Wired (resilc)

Orthodoxy of the Elites New York Review of Books (Jim B)

It’s Easy to Fix Inequality: Tax the Rich Counterpunch

What Jeff Bezos Hath Wrought New York Times (David L)

Antidote du jour. Tracie H: “Sebastian engrossed in bug watching.”

And a bonus (guurst):

pic.twitter.com/b0j7o3szT5

— John Williams (@williamsjohn76) February 7, 2021

And another bonus (Lance N):

This is Statler..

He is a 33 year old bat and loves to go on his daily morning ‘flights’.. pic.twitter.com/FkTgJbkvWY

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden_) February 1, 2021

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.