The Genetic Lottery of Life
May 7, 2020
“Don’t ask for guarantees. And don’t look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore.”
“You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.”
A Panic Over Privacy During a Pandemic
Israel is currently taking steps toward a nationwide test of 100,000 citizens to see how widely the virus has spread across its population. Officials stated that they hope the survey will identify the portion of the healthy population that has not yet been exposed to the virus, and the portion that has already been exposed but has developed antibodies to it.
There is a great deal of concern over the privacy risks involved with submitting blood tests, however. Many citizens declined to download a government-sponsored tracking app, and lawsuits and protests were mounted after the government decided to track individuals confirmed to have contracted Covid-19.
If the nationwide survey shows a large portion of the population has gained immunity, the government may ease remaining restrictions faster, though officials have warned that preparations should be made for a second wave – which could come in conjunction with an influenza season. “This is the most important mission: Get ready for the next wave, especially a wave during wintertime,” said Moshe Bar-Siman-Tov, the director-general of Israel’s health ministry
Israel was quick to take aggressive measures against the Covid-19 threat, having just ended a 40-day lockdown this past Monday. As of Tuesday afternoon, Israel has only reported 16,268 confirmed cases and 237 dead from Covid-19, a fraction of what many other countries are currently facing.
- The United Kingdom’s contact tracing app could be a preview of America’s digital tracing future (Vox)
- Apple and Google show what their contact tracing system could look like (CNN)
- Would you let Google, Apple contact-trace your family? Here’s what Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian says (CNBC)
The Genetic Lottery of Life: Sew Sewer-y, Sew Sewer-y, Sew Sew Sewroo
- The dangers faced by Christian sewer sweepers in Pakistan gives us a glimpse into the legacies of the Hindu caste system in the Indian subcontinent. Many Christians in Pakistan were once low-caste Hindus who converted to escape the discrimination which accompanied their family status.
- Now, these Christians are being forced into the same cycle of exploitation. The caste system, formally abolished by India, still exists in Pakistan. When the Pakistani government was looking to hire sewer sweepers, their advertisements noted that only Christians should apply. While they make up only 1.6 percent of Pakistan’s population, Christians are 80 percent of all sewer sweepers. Further, these sewer sweepers are paid the bare minimum, earning $6 for a day’s work of three sewers cleaned, and they are not provided any protective equipment or even gloves.
- One sewer sweeper recalled a traumatic experience where his cousin was swept away by a flood of sewer water, debris, and gases. He tried to save his cousin, but was knocked out by gases. Another cousin jumped in to save them both, but was asphyxiated by gases and his body was carried off as well. The first two cousins were saved, but the last died. The excavation of his body took four hours. (NYT, $)
- Additional reference: Lottery of birth
Lintao Zhang via Getty Images
The Second Space Race: I’m A Rocketman. Burning Out His Fuse Up Here With Friends!
- China launched a new deep-space spacecraft, the Long March 5B, into orbit early Monday morning. The rocket contained a prototype space capsule, similar to NASA’s deep-space Orion capsule, which will potentially be used to ferry passengers to low Earth orbit or even around the Moon in the future.
- The successful launch comes after multiple failed attempts earlier this year, including two attempts to launch satellites into orbit. The Long March 5 has been underworks for many years – the launch having been pushed back after a major launch failure in 2017.
- China has announced multiple missions for the remainder of the year. Later this summer, China intends to launch its Tianwen-1 mission, which will send the country’s first lander and rover to Mars, as well as a spacecraft that will orbit the Red Planet. In addition, China plans to launch its next mission to the Moon near the end of the year, which will attempt to return a sample of lunar material back to Earth. (The Verge)
- From a few days ago: Pentagon releases UFO videos for the record (BBC)
- Additional book and opinion: given the pandemic blues we worry that if we meet alien life forms that one of the great dangers is that we pass viruses to one another. This fear is likely rooted from a scenario described in The Martian Chronicles.
- Additional quote: “We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over.” ― Ray Bradbury
- Additional songs: Spacehog – In the Meantime & Elton John – Rocket Man
- Boots on the Moon! Netflix drops official Space Force trailer (Ars Technica)
Covid-19
- Exclusive: Government scientist Neil Ferguson resigns after breaking lockdown rules to meet his married lover (Telegraph)
- Opinion | In Lebanon, a Pandemic of Hunger (NYT)
- New Studies Add to Evidence that Children May Transmit the Coronavirus (NYT)
- New Zealand coronavirus: Massive car heist under cover of lockdown (BBC)
- Trump contradicts nurse in testy Oval Office exchange over coronavirus protective gear (CNBC)
- Former CDC Official Warns Of 2nd COVID-19 Wave: Most Americans Are Still Susceptible (NPR)
- ‘What are we doing this for?’: Doctors are fed up with conspiracies ravaging ERs (NBC News) & Facebook ads, conspiracy theorists pushed bleach consumption and UV ray cures (NBC News)
Covid-19 and Money
- The European Union Is Facing Its Worst Recession Ever. Watch Out, World. (NYT, $)
- Will Gilead price its coronavirus drug for public good or company profit? (Reuters) The drug sure sounds like a weapon that Thor might use: remdesivir.
- As coronavirus kills another Amazon worker, the company’s response is adding to employees’ fears (CNBC)
- Frontier will charge up to $89 for social distancing on flights (Ars Technica)
- Streaming remains lone bright spot as Disney prepares for an unprecedented fight (The Verge)
We Are Becoming Inoculated To Incompetence and Corruption Given Our Frequent Exposure
- A month after being sacked from his post as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Rick Bright has officially filed a whistleblower complaint regarding the circumstances around his removal.
- According to the complaint, Bright brought up concerns regarding preparation for the spread of coronavirus in January of 2020, but was met with resistance by White House officials. He also allegedly resisted billions of dollars worth of government investment in untested coronavirus solutions.
- In Bright’s complaint, he stated that his supervisor, Dr. Robert Kadlec was influenced by industry consultants to give them unwarranted contracts which were not approved by other scientists or experts.
- Bright maintains the reason he was removed from his position at BARDA was his leaking of unclassified emails to a reporter regarding the dangers of hydroxychloroquine, which was touted by Trump as a “game changer” in treating the coronavirus pandemic.
- Since his removal as director of BARDA, Bright says he hasn’t received a paycheck since April 20 and has not been given any new duties with the government. According to the HHS, however, he was reassigned to the National Institute of Health to work on coronavirus diagnostic testing. (NPR)
- “Political Connections and Cronyism”: In Blistering Whistleblower Complaint, Rick Bright Blasts Team Trump’s Pandemic Response (Vanity Fair)
Additional USA News
- As Hunger Swells, Food Stamps Become a Partisan Flash Point (NYT, $)
- The coronavirus killed American exceptionalism (Vox)
- Trump Vetoes Bill To Limit Military Powers Against Iran, Calling It ‘Very Insulting’ (NPR)
- The rent is too damn high here and there are other faults with the city mainly how to thoughtfully address gentrification and homelessness but San Francisco also has many things going for it: incredible weather and Where’s San Francisco’s spirit of tolerance came from (BBC)
- The Politics of the Judiciary Branch: 37-Year-Old Judge, Epitome Of McConnell Court Strategy, On Track For Confirmation (NPR) & A Supreme Court showdown over birth control got much messier Wednesday (Vox)
- A majority of coronavirus deaths in the US were in disproportionately black counties (The Verge)
- Ahmaud Arbery: anger mounts over killing of black jogger caught on video (Guardian)
- Republican donor named U.S. postmaster general (Reuters)
- Betsy DeVos Completes Sexual Assault Rules (NYT, $)
- A true confederacy of dunces: The Invasion of Venezuela, Brought To You By Silvercorp USA (Bellingcat)
Halt! Who Hacks There?
- Since 2005, more than 11.6 billion accounts have been breached and found on the dark web (an area of the internet that can only be reached with an anonymous browser called Tor). When a hacker gets their hands on one of these passwords, they are often able to get access to other accounts by using the same password or altering it slightly. While singular Zoom passwords were being sold for just pennies, certain passwords that can provide bank or medical information can sell for as much as $1,000.
- So how do you avoid being hacked (or at least set up the best defense)? Microsoft estimates that 73% of passwords are duplicates. The systems that hackers use to get into multiple accounts from one person use algorithms that predict obvious human repetition.
- There are many ways to tell if your accounts are on the dark web. Some companies will do free scans to see if your information is out there. Google Chrome is designed to tell you if your accounts have been breached. You can check for yourself at https://amibreached.com/ and https://haveibeenpwned.com/.
- If you have been breached, protecting yourself is as easy as changing your password ASAP. Make sure you change it to something complicated and not easily guessed! (CNN Business)
Additional Reads
- This is fascinating although we are still skeptical that bitcoin will become a mainstream currency: Bitcoin Revenue in Square’s Cash App Tops Fiat Revenue for First Time in Q1 (CoinDesk)
- A profile of the CEO of Square and Twitter: In the Coronavirus Era, the Force Is Still With Jack Dorsey (VanityFair)
- The pandemic has very likely resulted in a world where more kids are playing with digital games than offline games (like sports): Fortnite is now one of the biggest games ever with 350 million players (The Verge)
- Bad Arguments and How to Avoid Them (FS Blog)
College and Coronavirus
- How the Coronavirus Pandemic Has Shattered the Myth of College in America (The New Yorker, $)
- How will colleges recover from coronavirus? Campuses that survived disasters offer clues (NBC News)
- Incoming College Students Could Take Gap Year Over Covid-19 Uncertainty (WSJ, $)
- As Students Put Off College, Anxious Universities Tap Wait Lists (NYT, $)
LAST QUOTES
“I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.” ― Ray Bradbury
Daily Pnut’s Tim loves libraries and (apologies if we are repeating ourselves here) considers his greatest achievement at West Point to be when the librarian told him during out processing that he had checked more items out of the library than any of his classmates. He also considers himself incredibly lucky to also have checked out many books from the San Francisco library before the pandemic because he’s had good company the past few weeks.