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‘We could have prevented this’ The scientist Eric Topol on the Delta variant and its dangerous impact

‘We could have prevented this’ The scientist Eric Topol on the Delta variant and its dangerous impact

David Wallace-Wells writes: At present, there are two big anchors to conventional-wisdom thinking on the Delta variant: that those already vaccinated remain exceedingly well protected against the new, more transmissible strain; and that those who aren’t remain exceedingly vulnerable. But a third fact seems, to me, to be just as significant, in assessing the COVID risks the country faces going forward: that the age skew of the disease and the age skew of vaccine penetration, taken together, mean that the…

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GOP sees widening rift over promoting Covid shots

GOP sees widening rift over promoting Covid shots

Politico reports: The Republican Party is being torn apart by the debate over whether to more aggressively promote Covid-19 vaccines, pitting those alarmed by the virus’ resurgence against a faction that has spent weeks sowing fear about the immunization push. The deepening divide became apparent this week on Capitol Hill and across the party, with a contingent of prominent conservatives vocally advocating for the shots — even as others emphasized the need for the GOP to stick to principles of…

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The doctor who creates and profits from misleading claims about Covid-19 vaccines

The doctor who creates and profits from misleading claims about Covid-19 vaccines

The New York Times reports: The article that appeared online on Feb. 9 began with a seemingly innocuous question about the legal definition of vaccines. Then over its next 3,400 words, it declared coronavirus vaccines were “a medical fraud” and said the injections did not prevent infections, provide immunity or stop transmission of the disease. Instead, the article claimed, the shots “alter your genetic coding, turning you into a viral protein factory that has no off-switch.” Its assertions were easily…

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Why I’m sure Trump will run for president in 2024

Why I’m sure Trump will run for president in 2024

Michael Wolff writes: To write three books in four years about Donald Trump has been an immersion into his obsessions and fixations. This is why I know the obvious: Donald Trump will run for president again. This spring, in another of his compulsive bids for attention — indifferent to whether it is good or bad — he hosted me at Mar-a-Lago, even after I had written two unflattering books about him (one whose publication he tried to stop), for an…

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Bolsonaro once said he’d stage a military takeover. Now Brazilians fear he could be laying the foundation for one

Bolsonaro once said he’d stage a military takeover. Now Brazilians fear he could be laying the foundation for one

The Washington Post reports: In a television interview two decades ago, the fringe congressman didn’t hesitate to say it: If he were president, he would shut down the Brazilian congress and stage a military takeover. “There’s not even the littlest doubt,” Jair Bolsonaro said. “I’d stage a coup the same day [I became president,] the same day. Congress doesn’t work. I’m sure at least 90 percent of people would party and clap.” Now the congressman is president of Brazil, and…

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As pandemic worsens, ‘it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks,’ Alabama’s Republican governor says

As pandemic worsens, ‘it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks,’ Alabama’s Republican governor says

Politico reports: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued an impassioned plea for residents of her state to get vaccinated against Covid-19, arguing it was “time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks” for the disease’s continued spread. “I want folks to get vaccinated. That’s the cure. That prevents everything,” Ivey, a Republican, told reporters in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday. “Why would we want to mess around with just temporary stuff?” she said. “We don’t need to encourage people to just go halfway…

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Is climate change happening faster than expected? A climate scientist explains

Is climate change happening faster than expected? A climate scientist explains

Grist reports: Climate scientists have long warned that global warming would lead to extreme heat in many parts of the world. But the 120 degree Fahrenheit temperatures brought on by the heatwave in the Pacific Northwest in June were more in line with what researchers had imagined would occur later this century. “Astonished” is the word Michael Wehner, an extreme weather researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, used to describe his reaction to the heat in an interview with National…

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Arrest of a Trump friend, Tom Barrack, sends key message

Arrest of a Trump friend, Tom Barrack, sends key message

Norman Eisen, Claire Finkelstein and Richard Painter write: This week, Tom Barrack, who was the chair of Donald J. Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee, was charged with multiple crimes, including conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The prosecution is a welcome first step to rein in both foreign lobbying generally and the corruption seemingly surrounding the former president specifically, but much more is needed on both counts. Barrack allegedly tried to influence Trump’s 2016 campaign and…

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What the Ben & Jerry’s decision reveals about Israel

What the Ben & Jerry’s decision reveals about Israel

Yasmeen Serhan writes: No company does progressive politics quite like Ben & Jerry’s. The Vermont-based ice-cream maker has a reputation for corporate activism, owing to its support for a wide array of left-wing causes, including marriage equality, Occupy Wall Street, and Black Lives Matter. But when the company announced this week that it will no longer sell its products in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, it faced an outcome that every ice-cream maker fears most: a meltdown. The matter of Israel’s…

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Covid vaccines have higher approval in less affluent countries

Covid vaccines have higher approval in less affluent countries

Nature reports: People in low- and middle-income countries tend to be much more willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine than are those in the United States, according to an analysis that included poll results from a dozen countries. The analysis, reported on 16 July in Nature Medicine, found that 80% of individuals surveyed in ten low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) in Asia, Africa and South America were willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, compared with 65% in the United…

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Suddenly, (some) Republicans are all in on the vaccine

Suddenly, (some) Republicans are all in on the vaccine

Susan Glasser writes: Since the end of the Trump Presidency, Republicans have been ratcheting up the doom-and-gloom quotient in their rhetoric. By this spring, they settled on a narrative of permanent crisis—to be blamed on President Biden, of course. There was the Biden Border Crisis. The Crime Crisis. The Inflation Crisis and its corollary, the High-Gas-Price Crisis. The Critical-Race-Theory Crisis. Even, this week, the Ben & Jerry’s-Is-Mean-to-Israel Crisis. America under Biden, to hear them tell it, has become a hellscape…

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Why vaccinated people are getting ‘breakthrough’ infections

Why vaccinated people are getting ‘breakthrough’ infections

The New York Times reports: A wedding in Oklahoma leads to 15 vaccinated guests becoming infected with the coronavirus. Raucous Fourth of July celebrations disperse the virus from Provincetown, Mass., to dozens of places across the country, sometimes carried by fully vaccinated celebrants. As the Delta variant surges across the nation, reports of infections in vaccinated people have become increasingly frequent — including, most recently, among at least six Texas Democrats, a White House aide and an aide to Speaker…

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Climate-driven changes in clouds are likely to amplify global warming

Climate-driven changes in clouds are likely to amplify global warming

Inside Climate News reports: Scientists know that global warming is changing clouds, but they haven’t been sure whether those changes would heat or cool the planet overall. It’s an important question, because clouds have been the main source of uncertainty in projecting just how sensitive the climate is to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, and because clouds have a huge effect on the climate system. Just a 20 percent change in their extent or reflectivity would have more of an impact…

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Startup claims breakthrough in long-duration batteries

Startup claims breakthrough in long-duration batteries

The Wall Street Journal reports: A four-year-old startup says it has built an inexpensive battery that can discharge power for days using one of the most common elements on Earth: iron. Form Energy Inc.’s batteries are far too heavy for electric cars. But it says they will be capable of solving one of the most elusive problems facing renewable energy: cheaply storing large amounts of electricity to power grids when the sun isn’t shining and wind isn’t blowing. The work…

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Biden’s obsession with scoring a bipartisan deal suddenly looks quite doable

Biden’s obsession with scoring a bipartisan deal suddenly looks quite doable

Politico reports: President Joe Biden may finally be nearing the bipartisan win he’s long yearned for but that some in his party say is politically unnecessary and may ultimately prove fleeting. Despite a failed vote on Wednesday to advance the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal, White House negotiators have been working aggressively to settle disagreements with GOP senators. The White House supported Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s move to force that vote, viewing it as necessary for kicking negotiations…

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