A Different Type Of Silicon In The Valley
January 17, 2020
“We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane.” – Kurt Vonnegut
“Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend.” – Lao Tzu
The Dangerous 21st Century: Computer & Real Viruses
Health authorities still don’t know what’s causing the mysterious, weeks-old pneumonia outbreak that has sickened dozens in Wuhan, the capital of China’s central Hubei province and home to 19 million people. Pneumonia is a serious respiratory infection usually triggered by the flu virus, but this illness is caused by an unknown pathogen. The outbreak, announced on December 31, was first thought to be linked to a food market where vendors peddle seafood and animals like birds and rabbits, leading to speculation that a new disease could have made the leap across species from animals to humans.
The infection had also spread internationally. The first case involved a 61-year-old Chinese woman in Thailand who had traveled to Bangkok from Wuhan. She presented with a fever on January 5, several days before Chinese officials announced the outbreak was likely caused by a new coronavirus in the same family of viruses as SARS. The deadly SARS virus, discovered in China in 2003, had jumped from civet cats to humans, then spread to two dozen countries, eventually killing 774 people and infecting more than 8,000.
This latest virus has now made its second international appearance — in Japan. The patient is a Chinese man in his 30s who returned to his home in Tokyo after visiting Wuhan. But significantly, neither of the two travelers had visited the food market linked to other cases.
Now Wuhan officials are reporting evidence of viral spread within one family — a husband who worked at the market, and his wife who hadn’t visited the market. This could mean the virus has potential to spread from person to person, which could massively expand the scope of the outbreak.
- What You Should Know About The New Strain Of Coronavirus In China (NPR)
- China’s birthrate falls to lowest level despite push for more babies (Guardian)
- China’s economic growth hits 30-year low (BBC)
- Yosemite national park: 170 recent visitors suffer norovirus symptoms (Guardian)
- Letting Go: What should medicine do when it can’t save your life? (New Yorker, $)
God Goes Dark In Panama
- 10 members of a little-known evangelical church, the New Light of God, were arrested by Panamanian authorities Tuesday for rounding up, torturing and murdering seven members of the Ngabé Buglé, an indigenous group living in a jungle community near the Caribbean coast. The church members were performing a bizarre religious ritual in which they beat, burned and hacked people with machetes to make them “repent their sins.”
- Police were able to free 14 members of the indigenous group who had been tied up and beaten with wooden cudgels and Bibles. Police were initially alerted by three villagers who had escaped and made their way to a local hospital for treatment.
- Authorities also found a fresh gravesite about a mile from the church that held the corpses of five very young children, their pregnant mother and a 17-year-old female neighbor. (Guardian)
A Tale of Two Popes
- Netflix’s 2019 biographical drama The Two Popes brings to life a pivotal moment in modern organized religion, when the soon-to-retire ultraconservative Pope Benedict XVI and the liberal future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path for the Catholic Church.
- When Benedict stood down and moved into retirement in February 2013, he was given the honorific title of pope emeritus, and he pledged not to interfere with the decision-making processes of his successor.
- The arrangement was historically unique: never before had two popes coexisted in the Vatican, not to mention their vastly differing theological views. Benedict mostly honored his word and remained silent, frustrating conservatives as Francis was charting a divergent, more liberal course.
- But Benedict began delving into major internal controversies; last year he wrote an essay on clerical sex abuse. Now he’s publishing a book in support of clerical celibacy, just as Pope Francis is expected to decide early this year whether to allow the ordination of married men in South America’s Amazon region to alleviate a priest shortage there. (Guardian, WSJ)
- Retired Pope to be removed as celibacy book author (BBC)
Sepsis: The Assassin Of Sicknesses
- A new analysis based on medical records from 195 nations shows there are 49 million cases a year of sepsis, aka blood poisoning. It’s the biggest cause of deaths globally, killing some 11 million people annually in mostly poor and middle income countries. But even good hospitals in wealthier countries must deal with this ‘hidden killer,’ so called because it is so hard to detect.
- Sepsis is caused by the immune system becoming hyperactive — instead of just fighting an infection, it starts attacking other parts of the body as well. Ultimately it causes organ failure, and those who survive can be left with long-term damage and disability.
- The leading triggers of sepsis are bacteria and viruses that cause diarrheal infections or lung diseases. Children are most at risk, with 40 percent of those under the age of five. Reducing the number of infections is vital, which means good sanitation, clean water and access to vaccines. Early treatment with antibiotics or anti-virals can make a massive difference. Another challenge is to get better at identifying septic patients so they can receive earlier treatment. (BBC)
Additional World News
- How thousands of Iranians went from mourning a general to protesting the regime, in a week (Vox)
- Iran plane crash: Khamenei to lead Friday prayers for first time since 2012 (BBC)
- Prince Harry, now back at work, is part of a long tradition of disgruntled ‘spare heirs’ (WaPo, $)
- Mukesh Ambani: Asia’s richest man in $13bn ruling boost (BBC)
Personally, We Prefer gunBay
- Armslist is the Craigslist for firearms buyers and sellers. There are no laws that explicitly target the sale of firearms over the internet, and individuals can legally sell them without a background check. Gun selling that bypasses the background check system through private transactions is commonly called the gun show loophole; in this case, the gun show just happens to be online.
- When people become “engaged in the business” of selling guns they’re legally required to obtain a license from the ATF and run checks on every sale. Armslist’s terms of use explicitly direct users to follow applicable firearms laws, but federal law can be ambiguous, the standard of proof very high, and enforcement quite rare — which leaves it open to exploitation.
- Armslist is home to many sellers whose activity falls in a gray area; the business has also become notorious for giving firearm access to people prohibited from owning guns. Critics say the site’s operators’ hands-off approach is not only and allowing private sellers to bypass getting a federal firearms license, but actually fueling violence. (Verge)
- TSA Says It Seized A Record Number Of Firearms At U.S. Airports Last Year (NPR)
A Different Type Of Silicon In The Valley
- The men of Silicon Valley are starting to feel the pressure to look young and attractive that women in the public eye have long felt. Midcareer male tech workers have witnessed their industry transform from providing largely behind-the-scenes services to some of the most influential products on Earth. Tens of billions of dollars have flowed into the region, skyrocketing incomes and property values and creating a new class of super-rich tech executives, hedge fund managers and venture capitalists.
- Under pressure to keep up financially — and surrounded by an influx of creative young workers with new skills and talents — middle-aged tech workers can find themselves immersed in a future-obsessed culture that celebrates youthful brainpower with the same vigor that Los Angeles or Miami celebrates youthful bodies.
- “In Silicon Valley, it’s commonly believed that if you’re over the age of 35, you’re seen as over the hill,” said a San Francisco-based plastic surgeon. “In meetings, middle-aged guys will notice that everyone around them looks fresh-faced and youthful, and they’ll tell me they feel like they stick out, and not in a good way.”
- As a result, a growing number of these men are considering plastic surgery, Botox, a facelift to counteract under-eye bags, midsection sculpting to resemble washboard abs — all to conceal their “advanced” late-30-something age. (WaPo)
- No free lunch, but almost: What DoorDash actually pays, after expenses, and what’s happening with tips (PayUp)
- There’s a new obstacle to landing a job after college: Getting approved by AI (CNN)
Additional USA News
- Impeachment trial opens as watchdog says Trump broke law on Ukraine (Guardian)
- Senate impeachment trial begins with rancor over witnesses and new evidence about Trump’s Ukraine dealings (WaPo, $)
- Justice Dept. Investigating Years-Old Leaks and Appears Focused on Comey (NYT, $)
- U.S. Virgin Islands Officials: Epstein Trafficked Girls On Private Island Until 2018 (NPR)
- Florida Republicans win latest attempt to restrict voting rights of ex-felons (Guardian)
- The Bloomberg Effect: Huge Spending Transforms 2020 Campaign Dynamics: Michael Bloomberg has spent roughly three-quarters of the amount spent by all other presidential campaigns combined on ads (WSJ, $) Money is political power. & ‘More billionaires than black people’: Cory Booker and Julián Castro are sounding off about the dwindling diversity of the Democratic field. (Politico)
- How the Texas Legislature saved billionaire John Paul DeJoria $123 million (Texas Tribune)
Weekend Reads
- Companies that make you faster: Why a ban on Vaporfly shoe could boost Nike’s bottom line (Reuters) & Companies that are getting richer: Which company just hit $1 trillion? Google it. (Reuters) & Companies that are getting cooler: Microsoft to erase its carbon footprint, past and future, in climate push (Reuters)
- William Gibson: ‘I was losing a sense of how weird the real world was’ (Guardian)
- Neanderthals Could Swim. They Even Dived. (NYT, $)
- Scientists Sent Mighty Mice To Space To Improve Treatments Back On Earth (NPR)
- How To Quit Smoking, With Help From Science (NPR) When possible: try to avoid starting in the first place!
- We’re Living in a Subscriptions World. Here’s How to Navigate It. (NYT, $)
- How New York’s Bagel Union Fought — and Beat — a Mafia Takeover The mob saw an opportunity. Local 338 had other ideas. (Grub Street)
- Did Twitter Help Stop War With Iran? (Wired, $)