Probes And Cons
July 27, 2021
The Good News
- Norwegian church holds name change ceremony for a transgender woman (NBC)
- The Philippines Wins Its First Olympic Gold After Nearly 100 Years Of Trying (NPR)
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” — Ernest Hemingway
“The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do.” — B.F. Skinner
Probes And Cons
The Delta variant is bringing back memories of March 2020, as cities around the world weigh reinstating mask mandates and beg citizens to care for their fellow human beings. Now, infectious disease experts are concerned that China’s denial of the World Health Organization’s plan to investigate the origins of the coronavirus — this time on site in Wuhan — will prevent scientists from gaining valuable information that can help prevent future pandemics.
Scientists are practically begging to be let into the country to investigate how the virus moves from bats to humans, saying, “there is no way you can get to the bottom of this from 5000 miles away.” The Chinese government, meanwhile, is offended by the idea that the pandemic began in their country, and said it “has multiple origins and broke out in multiple places.”
The proposed probe would be a follow-up to a January investigation that was first blocked, and later bogged down by vetoes on participants and requests to include other countries. The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, outlined a plan that included “audits of relevant laboratories and research institutions operating in the area of the initial human cases identified in December 2019,” referring to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. China’s VP of the National Health Commission said that this plan “disregards common sense and defies science,” though experts are inclined to disagree.
Michael Osterholm, the director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said that China’s outright rejection of the probe only adds fuel to conspiracy theories that the virus was manmade and created intentionally. Chris Beyrer, professor of public health and human rights at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says that the Chinese Communist Party wants to maintain their current narrative that they’ve handled the pandemic perfectly, and they want to avoid negative press about the origins of the virus.
The coronavirus pandemic has left an enormous swath of destruction in its wake. Over 4 million deaths and 193 million cases have been recorded around the globe. One report revealed that “95 million people may have entered into extreme poverty in 2020 with 80 million more undernourished compared to pre-pandemic levels” as the result of the virus’s spread.
U.N. officials feel that the tone of the WHO probe was in poor taste, and that it’s a “very difficult tightrope walk” at a “very volatile time” in China’s position on the world stage. Many also feel that countries have done enough investigating, and anything beyond this is a waste of time. One thing’s for sure though, it seems unlikely that it will matter in the end, as China is unlikely to open up their borders for any investigating. (Politico, WSJ)
Climate Your Own Risk
- Scientists have warned that if the world follows the plans of four major G20 states, it would lead to “disastrous global warming.” The energy policies of China, Russia, Brazil, and Australia would lead to an increase of 5 degrees celsius, far higher than the 1.5 degree limit other countries have agreed upon as a global policy to combat climate change. The European Union and United Kingdom have outlined plans that would bring the world closer to that aspiration, but the aforementioned four countries have continued to rely on fossil-fuel burning.
- The disparity between goals was shown during a meeting of G20 nations last week in Naples. Some have criticized the G20, stating that they are “failing to deliver.” The G20 will hold a key role in the upcoming Cop26 summit in Glasgow, which will attempt to create a global policy for ending emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.
- Scientists say that if temperature rises can be kept below 1.5C, then the worst impacts of climate change could be prevented – though temperatures have already risen 1.2C, leaving the world with extremely tight margins to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. The International Energy Agency recently said that if the world was to stay within 1.5C of warming, all further development and exploration of new fossil fuel sources should cease from this year. (Guardian)
Vaccines And Passports And Protests, Oh My!
- France’s parliament passed a controversial law on Monday morning which requires special virus passes for all restaurants and domestic travel, and mandating coronavirus vaccinations for all health workers. President Emmanuel Macron and his government say the passes and vaccines are needed, both to protect the population as infections rates have rebounded and to avoid new lockdowns, but the measures have incited protests and created an air of political tension.
- The law requires all workers in the health care sector to start getting vaccinated by September 15, or risk suspension. It also requires a “health pass” to enter all restaurants, trains, planes and some other public venues. To get the pass, people must have proof they are fully vaccinated, recently tested negative for the virus, or recently recovered from the virus. Lawmakers worked tirelessly to pass the bill in just six days.
- Macron has urged protestors to think about their peers, asking “What is your freedom worth if you say to me ‘I don’t want to be vaccinated,’ but tomorrow you infect your father, your mother or myself?” Over 100,000 people with the virus have died in France, with about 20,000 new infections daily. (CBS)
Additional World News
- Merkel aide says unvaccinated may face restrictions in Germany (The Hill)
- EU sends four fire-fighting planes to tame Sardinia fires (Reuters)
- New Zealand to allow IS-linked mother to be repatriated (BBC)
- Search for China flood survivors turns desperate as Typhoon In-Fa hits east coast (WaPo, $)
- Russian PM visits Pacific islands claimed by Japan (AP)
- Almost two-thirds of female UK military staff report bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination, landmark report says (CNN)
U.S. Accused Of Oppressing Beijing
- On Monday, during the highest-level diplomatic talks between the two powers in months, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused the U.S. of oppressing Beijing through tariffs and sanctions. The Biden administration has continued to take a firm stance on China’s human rights issues, despite Beijing’s calls to repair the two powers’ relationship, which was damaged under the Trump presidency.
- Earlier Monday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng stated that the U.S. was “demonizing” his country and saw China as an “imagined enemy.” According to Xie, the U.S. government’s positioning of China as an enemy, similar to Japan during World War II or the USSR during the Cold War, is simply a tool used by Washington to reignite a unified sense of national purpose against a foreign enemy. Xie said, “It is as if when China’s development is contained, all US domestic and external challenges would go away, and America would become great again.”
- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who participated in Monday’s talks as the most senior U.S. official to visit China in months, stated that “There’s no way to know in the early stages of building this relationship whether we will get to all the places that we hoped for.” (BBC)
A Meeting Of The Flames
- California’s largest wildfire this year, the Dixie Fire, combined with a smaller fire on Sunday and grew to cover over 200,000 acres by Monday. The burn area of the Dixie Fire is larger than New York City, but only roughly half the size of the Bootleg Fire, which tore across Oregon earlier this month.
- Despite being a smaller fire than the Bootleg Fire, the Dixie Fire, which merged with the Fly Fire, could affect a larger population: while only 300 people live within 5 miles of the Bootleg Fire, 4,900 people live near the Dixie Fire. Evacuation orders have already been issued as thousands of firefighters are trying to push back the blaze.
- The wildfire is not just remarkable for its size, however. Rick Carhart, a spokesman for Cal Fire, said that the most worrying thing about the Dixie Fire was its timing. Normally, firefighters would expect a blaze this size some time in September, after months of dry weather. A wildfire of this magnitude this early into the year signals that fire season is beginning earlier and earlier. According to Carhart, “We’re all kind of learning that fire season isn’t a three-month or six-month thing anymore.” (NYT, $)
Additional USA News
- If you are not vaccinated against Covid-19, you shouldn’t go into a bar or restaurant, expert says (CNN)
- Pentagon chief heads to Southeast Asia as US fortifies regional ties (CNBC)
- U.S. General Won’t Commit to Ending Airstrikes on Taliban (NYT, $)
- Major medical groups call for employers to mandate Covid-19 vaccines for health care workers (CNN)
- 7 people are dead and several more injured after sandstorm leads to 20 vehicle crash in Utah (CNN)
- How the Delta variant upends assumptions about the coronavirus (Reuters)
- Louisiana GOP Rep. Clay Higgins says he has COVID again: “This episode is far more challenging” (Axios)
Tok Tok Tok’in On Heaven’s Door No More
It’s been almost a year since Trump swore he would ban TikTok, the insanely viral video app that is taking the world (mostly your kids) by storm. A lot has changed in the last year, but unfortunately for TikTok, the heat is still on, even if the water has stopped boiling over.
Biden’s cabinet is less dramatic about the app, but is still wary of foreign apps and their access to our private data. He ordered the Commerce Department to conduct an inquiry into foreign-owned apps like TikTok, and may even force ByteDance, TikTok’s owners, to sell to an American company, as Trump previously desired. Ainikki Riikonen, a research assistant focused on technology at the Center for New American Security commented on the matter, “I think the Trump administration rightly identified privacy and security concerns… But then he created this whack-a-mole mess, ruling by executive order.”
Overseas, China is also cracking down on apps and tech in general, regulating its tech companies and trying to scrutinize any data they collect. While having a U.S. company buy the app would be great for the U.S., Chinese citizens are just as nervous giving their data to a foreign country as we are. Thankfully for TikTok users, ByteDance is no push over to the government, and previously has waded into hot water over the content posted on their news app, Jinri Toutiao. (Wired)
Additional Reads
- Nuclear power’s reliability is dropping as extreme weather increases (Ars Technica)
- Madrid’s Retiro park, Prado avenue join World Heritage list (AP)
- Nigeria school kidnappers abduct man delivering ransom (BBC)
- The Incredible Physics of Simone Biles’ Yurchenko Double Pike (Wired)
- After Covid Diagnosis, a Conservative Radio Host Sends a New Message (NYT, $)
- Meteor wows Norway after blazing through night sky (BBC)