Odds and Ends — 29 May 2021

almost 3 years ago

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Covid’s Deadliest Phase May Be Here Soon

There’s troubling new evidence that the B.1.617.2 variant, first identified in India, could be far more transmissible than even the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in Britain, which contributed to some of the deadliest surges around the world.
In countries with widespread vaccination, like the United States and Britain, we can expect that Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths will continue to decline or stay low, especially because lab tests and real world experience show that vaccines appear to defend recipients well against the severe effects of both variants.
For much of the rest of the world, though, this even more transmissible new variant could be catastrophic.

Distribution of Eli Lilly COVID-19 therapy paused in 8 states over variant concerns

Employers Can (Mostly) Require Vaccines For Workers Returning To The Office

COVID-19 kills 32 members of Congo's parliament

Biden says he is likely to release full report on COVID-19 origins

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, and Debt:

Meet the bitcoin haters. They have their own shitshow conference, complete with a fake Satoshi, doomsday professors, sponsored by a billionaire with his own "better/cheaper" coin. Makes a nice block list. 🤡 pic.twitter.com/CQeXlbRwty
— PlanB (@100trillionUSD) May 28, 2021

Biden’s 2022 Budget Includes New Crypto Reporting Proposals

Vitalik argues that proof-of-stake is a 'solution' to Ethereum’s environmental woes

Texas Energy Grid Was Within Minutes of Collapse

The Texas electric grid came within five minutes of a complete collapse in mid-February.
If grid operators had completely lost control of the situation—they didn’t, although they came close—the spotty performance of the black start units could have left Texans without power for much longer than a few days. How long is impossible to say, though by the grid operators’ own estimate, a total collapse could have caused weeks or even months of outages?

Politics:

Republicans block probe of U.S. Capitol riot

Chuck hits the nail on the head.

“This vote has made it official. Donald Trump’s Big Lie has now fully enveloped the Republican party. Trump’s Big Lie is now the defining principle of what was once the party of Lincoln.”

American Democracy Isn’t Dead Yet, but It’s Getting There

“Turns out, things are much worse than we expected.”

A Government Under Duress

Russia Hacked System Used by U.S. Aid Agency

Hackers linked to Russia’s main intelligence agency surreptitiously seized an email system used by the State Department’s international aid agency to burrow into the computer networks of human rights groups and other organizations of the sort that have been critical of President Vladimir Putin.
Discovery of the breach comes only three weeks before President Biden is scheduled to meet Mr. Putin in Geneva, and at a moment of increased tension between the two nations — in part because of a series of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks emanating from Russia.

Ammon Bundy And Co. Are Eyeing Another Standoff With Feds In Southern Oregon

Call it a guess, but Biden probably won’t dink around. There’s a better than 50/50 chance that Bundy won’t live through a second armed seizure of federal property.

Colombian city beset by crime declares ‘Black Lives Matter’

Germany officially recognises colonial-era Namibia genocide

Feds Investigating Potential Ukrainian 2020 Election Interference

One of the subjects of the Brooklyn investigation is reportedly Andrii Derkach, a U.S-sanctioned Ukrainian MP who met with Giuliani in Kyiv in December 2019 in the attorney’s hunt for dirt on Biden and his son, Hunter.
The Treasury Department sanctioned Derkach in September 2020, accusing him of being an “active Russian agent for over a decade, maintaining close connections with the Russian Intelligence Services” who tried to meddle in the upcoming presidential elections.

Doubling down on stupid: Arizona Republicans Want Another Election ‘Audit’