Tuesday, August 4th, 2020

1

Wallflower

"Vo and his wife, a nurse, emigrated from Vietnam as teenagers. They drifted west from New York to settle 10 years ago in Imperial County, which produces a major share of vegetables in U.S. supermarkets during the winter. Vo, 43, says he stayed because people are friendly and appreciative. He sees happiness in their eyes when they greet him. 'They really need a doctor here.'" There are stories of death and despair, and of course, political frustration. But there are also thousands of smaller stories about people saving lives and exemplifying the best of America by doing their job, day in and day out; even in a town we usually only see in stories about building a wall. A 'rock star' Doctor tackles the virus on the California Mexico Border.

2

Eviction Notice

"Around 30 state moratoriums have expired since May, according to The Eviction Lab at Princeton University. On top of that, some tenants were already encountering illegal evictions even with the moratoriums. Now, tenants are crowding courtrooms — or appearing virtually — to detail how the pandemic has upended their lives. Some are low-income families who have endured evictions before, but there are also plenty of wealthier families facing homelessness for the first time — and now being forced to navigate overcrowded and sometimes dangerous shelter systems amid the pandemic." The next big crisis is here. AP: Wave of evictions expected as moratoriums end in many states.

3

Swan Dive

While cruising the internet for news this morning, I saw a bunch of headlines like, The Five Craziest Moments From the Trump Axios Interview or Nine Things You Have To See From Jonathan Swan's Trump Interview. They're all fake news. You really have to watch it all and ask, how could this have happened? And why don't more reporters push back on the falsehoods like Chris Wallace and Jonathan Swan did? And how many times is Trump going to wish Ghislaine Maxwell "well?"

+ "Right now, they don't have any rights, unless we give it to them ... The United States should be reimbursed or paid a substantial amount of money, because without the United States they don't have anything." The bizarre shakedown of a potential Tik Tok deal. (I'm worried about Tik Tok, but I'm 10x more worried about the misinformation on Facebook.)

+ In order to be enabled, one needs enablers. MG Siegler: Microsoft Sells Its Soul To Buy TikTok.

4

Make America Gratis Again

Last year, I tweeted: Paywalls that decrease readership of real news will increase the influence of fake news that's available for free. Nathan J. Robinson wrote a piece on it, and I'm glad he did. The Truth Is Paywalled But The Lies Are Free.

+ Meanwhile, back at the platform... Facebook refuses to remove doctored Nancy Pelosi video.

5

Who Turned Out the Israelites?

I'm glad to see this story, that I've been hearing about from my sister and reading in international news, making headlines in the US. We're not opening schools in a vacuum. We have data from a country that tried it at a time when their curve was much more flat. NYT: "Confident it had beaten the coronavirus and desperate to reboot a devastated economy, the Israeli government invited the entire student body back in late May." It Didn't Go Well. (And "It Didn't Go Well" is the Middle Eastern way of saying it was a complete shitshow.)

6

Disappearing Tact

"Thousands of migrant children — including babies — have been expelled by the Trump administration since March. Some have been held in hotels without access to lawyers or family. Advocates say many are now 'virtually impossible' to find." Her Rapist Threatened to Make Her Disappear. Instead of Asylum, ICE Put Her in a Hotel and Sent Her Back. (Don't let this part of the era disappear from your mind.)

7

Lebanon Explosions

"The scale of the damage caused by the blast is huge, with buildings miles from the port explosion in ruin. While the cause is still unconfirmed, Lebanon's interior minister said stores of ammonium nitrate likely caused the explosion." The damage is incredibly widespread. Here's the latest from The Guardian: Beirut explosion: more than 50 dead and 2,750 wounded.

8

Sugar Rubes

You want to lower your blood sugar (check) so you start exercising more (OK, for the sake of argument, check), but your body doesn't seem to be responding to exercise and your blood sugar is still up. NYT: Is Your Blood Sugar Undermining Your Workouts? (I need to check.)

9

Ellen Disingenuous?

Over the past couple of years, we've seen a lot of public figures and celebrities taken down by unexpected controversies. I must admit, I didn't have Ellen on my Bingo Card. How the talk show host's nice reputation turned toxic.

10

Bottom of the News

"With Zoom call fatigue setting in and boozy lunches out of the question during the coronavirus pandemic, housebound executives are finding new ways to meet and bond in video games. The goal is to break up a day that is crammed with get-togethers that generally look, sound and feel identical." NYT: Free for a meeting? Let's go rob a bank in Grand Theft Auto. (Only in 2020 could Grand Theft Auto provide a relaxing escape...)

+ 3 men rescued from Pacific island after writing SOS in sand. (Wait, that actually worked!!?)

+ Watch Olympian Katie Ledecky swim with full glass of milk on her head.

+ The Winners of the Malofiej International Infographics Awards for 2020.

+ Mary Trump Has Sold More Books Than ‘Art Of The Deal' Sold In 29 Years.