Trump and His Generals | COVID Coverup | Too Much Sun
June 3, 2020
“Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime.”
“Honest and earnest criticism from those whose interests are most nearly touched,- criticism of writers by readers, of government by those governed, of leaders by those led, – this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society”
WHO Didn’t Let Share COVID Information? WHO! WHO! WHO!
Image via Getty Images
International law requires countries to report information that could have an impact on public health to the World Health Organization. However, the WHO must rely on the cooperation of member states — it has no enforcement powers and cannot independently investigate epidemics within countries.
Throughout January the agency publicly praised China for its “speedy response” to the new coronavirus. But recently obtained recordings show it was a totally different story behind the scenes — one of significant delays by China, and considerable frustration among WHO officials over not getting the information they needed to fight the spread of the deadly disease.
Warnings and reports of a mysterious Sars-like virus started leaking out of Wuhan in December, but Chinese authorities suppressed them. WHO officials complained early on that Beijing wasn’t sharing data needed to evaluate the risk of the virus to the rest of the world. On January 2 a Chinese lab decoded the virus’s complete genome, but the government didn’t release the information until January 11. And it wasn’t until January 20 that Chinese officials admitted the virus was transmittable. Wuhan was locked down January 23, after some five million residents had left the city. Once it received detailed data on China’s patients and cases, the WHO declared a global emergency on January 30.
President Trump also initially praised China’s response to the outbreak. But in recent weeks he’s blasted the UN health agency for allegedly colluding with China to hide the extent of the crisis. The WHO has agreed to an independent probe of how the pandemic was handled globally. But Trump cut ties with the organization last Friday, jeopardizing the $450 million the US gives every year as the UN health agency’s biggest single donor.
- ‘Sacrificed’: anger in China over death of Wuhan doctor from coronavirus (Guardian)
- How Iceland Beat the Coronavirus (The New Yorker)
- Our cities may never look the same again after the pandemic (CNN)
- Dr. Anthony Fauci says there’s a chance coronavirus vaccine may not provide immunity for very long (CNBC)
- Out of Favor With Australia’s Central Government, China Targets States (WSJ, $)
- Global report: Asian markets at three-month high on hope of Covid-19 recovery (Guardian)
The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow (And The Next Day and The Next Day)
- 2019 was the hottest year on record in Europe. Last month was the driest May in 124 years in the UK, and this spring was its sunniest on record. That’s probably a welcome relief to many who’ve endured lots of dark, dreary days in England. The dry sunny weather also helped create new records for the amount of renewable energy in the British electricity mix. But a sign of what the future might hold, it’s not such great news.
- A scientist who studies soil moisture across Europe thinks these hotter, drier conditions spell trouble, and not just in the UK. Soil isn’t always able to regenerate after a rainfall because temperatures remain high. In the past two months, farmers in France, Czech Republic, Poland and Romania have all become victims of drought. And when the Rhine starts to dry out, even industrial goods can’t make it to their destination on time. The long-term solution is to cut emissions, slow down warming, and take care of our water.
- “…since global temperatures have already risen by 1.1 °C since pre-industrial times then all events are now affected by global warming,” said a professor of climate change impacts at Newcastle University. “So conditions at the moment are reflective of what climate models tell us future summers will be like.” (Bloomberg)
Costa Rica’s Goal: San Jose Sans Cars
- One country that takes global warming very seriously is Costa Rica. Its ambition is to become the world’s first zero carbon nation. It’s already an ecological paradise of sandy beaches, protected tropical forests and pristine waterfalls. Add to that its 99 percent renewable electricity and bold plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and the country is one of the greenest on the planet.
- Only one problem still looking for a solution: how to ‘unpollute’ its polluted capital city of San Jose, whose streets are typically filled with cars, daily traffic jams and often-unreliable public transportation. The coronavirus lockdown has meant strict limits on when people can use their cars, and traffic has slowed significantly. But as restrictions begin lifting the question becomes whether San José can morph into a cleaner, less car-dependent city in normal times.
- Car ownership in Costa Rica is the third highest in Latin America, and rising. One report found rush-hour commute times in San José center had increased by more than 40 percent since 2015. The country continues to reap the carbon benefits of decades-old hydroelectricity and forestry policies, but so far it has made little progress on limiting the climate impact of its transportation sector — responsible for 54 percent of Costa Rica’s greenhouse gas emissions.. (BBC)
A Check On Power For Those Who Have Power
- Six Atlanta police officers were charged Tuesday after bodycam footage showed them using stun guns to detain a young black man and woman who were in a car during protests Saturday night. Video showed officers forcibly pulling the two college students from their car at around 9:40 pm Saturday night. One officer broke the car window with a window punch.
- The young woman, a student at Spelman College, is heard in the video asking officers what is going on and crying that she is trying to get out of the car before being hit with an electric current from the stun gun. Both students say they are in shock from the ordeal. “This is an entire generation that has to deal with brutality and injustice and wrong-doing for nothing because of the color of their skin,” the young man said.
- On Sunday Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the termination of two of the officers involved in the incident; three others were placed on desk duty. The mayor called the video of the arrest “disturbing on many levels.” All six officers were charged with various offenses including aggravated assault, simple battery and criminal damage. They have until Friday to turn themselves in. (NBC News)
- The power of crowds (Guardian)
- D.C. Protesters Hail The Hero Of Swann St., Who Sheltered Them From Arrest (NPR)
- There isn’t a simple story about looting (Vox)
- George Floyd, a ‘gentle giant,’ remembered in hometown Houston march (Reuters)
- Protests Continue Despite Curfews Across The Country (NPR)
- The protest was peaceful — then the cops arrived (The Verge)
- Pelosi Asks Black Caucus To Come Up With Police Reforms Following Protests (NPR)
Trump and His Generals
Aaron P. Bernstein via Getty Images
- Last month Justice Department prosecutors told Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan they were dropping the case against President Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn (a retired three star general). Flynn had pleaded guilty under oath twice to lying to the FBI, but Attorney General William Barr decided Flynn’s false statements weren’t “material” to any open investigation. Flynn later changed his story and said he didn’t lie to the FBI.
- Sullivan appointed John Gleeson, a hard-charging former prosecutor and judge to oppose the Justice Department’s effort to drop the case, and to explore a perjury charge against Flynn. Sullivan defended his position saying he wanted to have a hearing on whether dropping the case would be in the public interest. Flynn asked the federal appeals court in Washington to order Sullivan to grant the government’s motion and drop the case.
- A brief filed Monday by the Justice Department said the case should be ended because only prosecutors, not judges, can decide when to abandon a criminal case. But Beth Wilkinson, a former Justice Department lawyer appointed to represent Judge Sullivan, said the appeals court should give the judge a chance to rule first. “If Judge Sullivan’s decision is anything short of what the parties sought, this court will have a chance to review it, without writing on a blank slate,” she said. “There is no reason for this court to enter the fray now.” (NYT, NBC News)
- After George Floyd’s death, Trump administration told military’s service chiefs to remain quiet about unrest (WaPo, $)
- Trump threatens to unleash the military in the US. When will the generals speak out? (CNN)
- From the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs: I Cannot Remain Silent: Our fellow citizens are not the enemy, and must never become so. (Atlantic)
- This Sunday (6/7/20) Daily Pnut will be publishing a Sunday newsletter. In that Sunday edition Daily Pnut’s Tim will reflect on civil-military relations and an evaluation on US military generalship-leadership since post 9/11. Subscribers who have referred five other readers or who make a donation will receive our Sunday newsletters. Here are some of Tim’s previous thoughts-essays on civil-military relations and military leadership:
Additional USA News
- Former Presidents George W. Bush and Obama have shared their thoughts of America right now.
- America’s unrest sets up battle for nation’s soul between Trump and Biden Stephen Collinson Profile (CNN)
- Senate Republicans Set Summer Of Investigations Involving Biden (NPR)
- Joe Biden sees fundraising surge in wake of George Floyd’s death and Trump’s response to protests (CNBC)
- A most Trumpian move and perhaps the one event that will be forever ingrained in the country’s memory. At a moment of both pandemic and protests the president does a photo-op
- How Trump’s Idea for a Photo Op Led to havoc in a Park (NYT)
- Peaceful Protesters Tear-Gassed To Clear Way For Trump Church Photo-Op (NPR)
- ‘He Did Not Pray’: Fallout Grows From Trump’s Photo-Op At St. John’s Church (NPR)
- “it’s spiraling out of control”: Confronting a failed presidency, Trump plays politics with the protests (Vanity Fair)
- A fascinating read and statistical takedown on how unfortunately everything has become either politicized or in some cases finally being held account for its politicization from the military to the Supreme Court: Does John Roberts Need to Check His Own Biases? (NYT, $)
- From Jobs To Homeownership, Protests Put Spotlight On Racial Economic Divide (NPR)
- From a former Republican stalwart George Will: Trump must be removed. So must his congressional enablers. (WaPo, $)
- We’re 22 weeks into 2020. The next 22 could feel like another eternity Zach Wolf (CNN)
- A ‘Hamilton’-esque scandal helped give Trump his cudgel (CNN) additional reference: My name is Alexander Hamilton.
- How to be a good white ally, according to activists (Vox)
- Ban Them All (The Verge)
- And all along you thought you were incognito: Google in $5bn lawsuit for tracking in ‘private’ mode (BBC): “Many internet users assume their search history isn’t being tracked when they view in private mode, but Google says this isn’t the case.”
- How To Get Sleep In Uneasy Times (NPR)
- The medicalised life: Why do so many see vaccines and other medical interventions as tools of social control rather than boons to health? (Aeon) Our quick take: because people aren’t truly educated today.