Bear in mind that the U.S. is averaging around 900 deaths or so on weekdays lately. If the high end of bears out, the protests will have caused the daily national death toll to more than double.Trevor Bedford is the Seattle researcher who used genomic analysis early on in the pandemic to detect hidden community spread in Seattle, the first big clue that America had a more significant COVID-19 problem than it realized. He’s watching the mass demonstrations against police brutality this week with growing concern, knowing that from an epidemiological standpoint the “mass” part is all that...…Bear in mind that the U.S. is averaging around 900 deaths or so on weekdays lately. If the high end of bears out, the protests will have caused the daily national death toll to more than double.Trevor Bedford is the Seattle researcher who used genomic analysis early on in the pandemic to detect hidden community spread in Seattle, the first big clue that America had a more significant COVID-19 problem than it realized. He’s watching the mass demonstrations against police brutality this week with growing concern, knowing that from an epidemiological standpoint the “mass” part is all that...WW…

So now we have two outlets, , claiming that he was briefed about the matter and another, , claiming that he wasn’t. With a whole bunch of other media outlets silent on the matter, for the moment.A bipartisan briefing for Congress is set for tomorrow at the White House. Among the attendees: . A scenario in which Trump was never told about Russia possibly paying jihadis to kill U.S. troops is obviously waaaaay better than a scenario in which he knew about it and pushed for Putin to be included in the next G7 anyway. But Democrats will now start drilling down on the question of why the...…So now we have two outlets, , claiming that he was briefed about the matter and another, , claiming that he wasn’t. With a whole bunch of other media outlets silent on the matter, for the moment.A bipartisan briefing for Congress is set for tomorrow at the White House. Among the attendees: . A scenario in which Trump was never told about Russia possibly paying jihadis to kill U.S. troops is obviously waaaaay better than a scenario in which he knew about it and pushed for Putin to be included in the next G7 anyway. But Democrats will now start drilling down on the question of why the...WW…

After the FBI announced that the “noose” in Wallace’s garage , I couldn’t understand how Wallace and others might have mistaken a pull rope for a hate symbol. These guys spend half their lives in garages. Surely they’d seen slip knots fashioned to create hand loops for the ropes attached to garage doors.Why on earth would they jump to the conclusion that what they were looking at was a noose, unless they were eager to find some petty reason to treat Wallace as a victim of racism?This photo from NASCAR would seem to answer that. It’s not a basic slip knot. It’s a hangman’s knot, with the...…After the FBI announced that the “noose” in Wallace’s garage , I couldn’t understand how Wallace and others might have mistaken a pull rope for a hate symbol. These guys spend half their lives in garages. Surely they’d seen slip knots fashioned to create hand loops for the ropes attached to garage doors.Why on earth would they jump to the conclusion that what they were looking at was a noose, unless they were eager to find some petty reason to treat Wallace as a victim of racism?This photo from NASCAR would seem to answer that. It’s not a basic slip knot. It’s a hangman’s knot, with the...WW…

Is this as bad as it looks or am I missing a piece of information?Trump announced that he was going to speak in the Rose Garden at 6:15. Curfew in D.C. tonight is at 7 p.m. by order of the mayor. Protesters had been demonstrating in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, all afternoon.Shortly before Trump went to the podium, the attorney general came out towards the park to chat with law enforcement.AG Bill Barr just showed up with his security detail to seemingly take a look at the protest in Lafayette Square. He’s talking to law enforcement officials here. Right before, much more...…Is this as bad as it looks or am I missing a piece of information?Trump announced that he was going to speak in the Rose Garden at 6:15. Curfew in D.C. tonight is at 7 p.m. by order of the mayor. Protesters had been demonstrating in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, all afternoon.Shortly before Trump went to the podium, the attorney general came out towards the park to chat with law enforcement.AG Bill Barr just showed up with his security detail to seemingly take a look at the protest in Lafayette Square. He’s talking to law enforcement officials here. Right before, much more...WW…

Trumpers are dunking on him for this on social media, which I half understand. I don’t understand imputing to him some absolutist position like “don’t reopen until we have a vaccine.” That’s a caricature of his view pushed by people who want to reopen immediately and find it easier to contrast their own position with a straw man about locking down forever instead of with the that Trump announced last month. Remember those? Fauci contributed to them. The whole point of drafting them was to advise states on how to reopen for business.But I understand the criticism as a matter of tone. He...…Trumpers are dunking on him for this on social media, which I half understand. I don’t understand imputing to him some absolutist position like “don’t reopen until we have a vaccine.” That’s a caricature of his view pushed by people who want to reopen immediately and find it easier to contrast their own position with a straw man about locking down forever instead of with the that Trump announced last month. Remember those? Fauci contributed to them. The whole point of drafting them was to advise states on how to reopen for business.But I understand the criticism as a matter of tone. He...WW…

Put yourself in the shoes of black Americans, she says. Imagine if you caught someone breaking into your home and feared that calling the police might endanger you more than confronting the burglar yourself would.It’s “privilege” to know that you have less to fear from the cops than the criminals. Or so she insists.Must be a lot of “privileged” nonwhite Americans out there, then. I pointed to from a 2016 Cato Institute poll on policing in but it’s worth repeating: “9 in 10 black, white and Hispanic Americans oppose reducing the number of police officers in their community—and a third say...…Put yourself in the shoes of black Americans, she says. Imagine if you caught someone breaking into your home and feared that calling the police might endanger you more than confronting the burglar yourself would.It’s “privilege” to know that you have less to fear from the cops than the criminals. Or so she insists.Must be a lot of “privileged” nonwhite Americans out there, then. I pointed to from a 2016 Cato Institute poll on policing in but it’s worth repeating: “9 in 10 black, white and Hispanic Americans oppose reducing the number of police officers in their community—and a third say...WW…

Finally, finally, we know how to avert a second wave of the disease. And not a moment too soon.Tell Fauci to put on some gloves and hip waders, grab a bunch of plastic baggies, and head down into the nearest manhole. The answer lies below.Stories have been, uh, trickling out for weeks about the promising possibility of detecting new outbreaks early by analyzing a local community’s … output, shall we say. The idea isn’t novel, as scientists have used sewage for years for all sorts of epidemiological purposes. noted in a story last month that one biotech start-up had taken to scrutinizing...…Finally, finally, we know how to avert a second wave of the disease. And not a moment too soon.Tell Fauci to put on some gloves and hip waders, grab a bunch of plastic baggies, and head down into the nearest manhole. The answer lies below.Stories have been, uh, trickling out for weeks about the promising possibility of detecting new outbreaks early by analyzing a local community’s … output, shall we say. The idea isn’t novel, as scientists have used sewage for years for all sorts of epidemiological purposes. noted in a story last month that one biotech start-up had taken to scrutinizing...WW…

These latest figures, from Gallup’s Aug. 31-Sept. 13 annual Governance poll, are essentially unchanged from 2019 and match the averages recorded since President Donald Trump took office in 2017. They are also within one percentage point of the trust levels measured during former President Barack Obama’s second term, from 2013 to 2016, but below those in his first term.In 2012, after Obama had declared an end to the war in Iraq and was promising to end the war in Afghanistan, Americans were particularly confident in the government’s ability to handle international problems (66%).Gallup first...…These latest figures, from Gallup’s Aug. 31-Sept. 13 annual Governance poll, are essentially unchanged from 2019 and match the averages recorded since President Donald Trump took office in 2017. They are also within one percentage point of the trust levels measured during former President Barack Obama’s second term, from 2013 to 2016, but below those in his first term.In 2012, after Obama had declared an end to the war in Iraq and was promising to end the war in Afghanistan, Americans were particularly confident in the government’s ability to handle international problems (66%).Gallup first...WW…

A lucky break for Chuck Schumer, since he’s not going to have the votes in the Senate to pack the Court even if he ends up with a majority come January.That’s not to say progressives won’t make his life hell if he refuses. They will. It might even earn him a credible primary challenge in his next Senate election.But it’s nice for him to be able to point to polling data and say, “Not only do Americans not want this, even many in our own party don’t.”New from :A 54 percent majority of Americans oppose increasing the number of justices who sit on the bench in a way that would give the winner...…A lucky break for Chuck Schumer, since he’s not going to have the votes in the Senate to pack the Court even if he ends up with a majority come January.That’s not to say progressives won’t make his life hell if he refuses. They will. It might even earn him a credible primary challenge in his next Senate election.But it’s nice for him to be able to point to polling data and say, “Not only do Americans not want this, even many in our own party don’t.”New from :A 54 percent majority of Americans oppose increasing the number of justices who sit on the bench in a way that would give the winner...WW…

This feels like the start of a comedy skit in which they keep changing their name to make it progressively more distinct and absurd, only to find each time that there’s already another musical act using that name.“Lady A”? “Lady Confederacy”? An all-female death-metal band from Nashville. “Lady War Of Northern Aggression”? A middle-aged dude who produces chillwave in his basement in New Mexico.Just plain “Lady”? A lounge act featuring two sisters from Topeka.They should have taken my advice and renamed themselves “Lady Antifa,” which would have been maximum woke. Although there’s probably...…This feels like the start of a comedy skit in which they keep changing their name to make it progressively more distinct and absurd, only to find each time that there’s already another musical act using that name.“Lady A”? “Lady Confederacy”? An all-female death-metal band from Nashville. “Lady War Of Northern Aggression”? A middle-aged dude who produces chillwave in his basement in New Mexico.Just plain “Lady”? A lounge act featuring two sisters from Topeka.They should have taken my advice and renamed themselves “Lady Antifa,” which would have been maximum woke. Although there’s probably...WW…