The people of Benton Harbor, Michigan have been told not to drink their tap water for at least three years because of lead contamination. The water is not safe for drinking, bathing, or cooking. The state is expanding free water distribution in the city but critics of the slow response say it’s too little, too late. The contamination is worse than that in Flint. It will take years to replace the water line infrastructure.
The White House is trying to address logistics woes by asking multiple private companies to move to 24/7 operations: Walmart, FedEx, and UPS. Glaringly absent from the list is the deliberately (maliciously?) hobbled USPS. The Administration is also asking the Port of Los Angeles to move to 24/7 operations. A big unanswered question here is where the Administration thinks all these workers are going to come from. The White House also acknowledges that scarcity could be a problem during the holidays:
REUTERS: "There will be things that people can't get," at Christmas, White House says
— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 12, 2021
4.3 million people quit their jobs this summer. We’ve heard there will be openings at Walmart, FedEx, and UPS, among others…
NEW – Record high 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August.
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) October 12, 2021
Apple is having trouble sourcing chips for their phones and will have to decrease production because of it. Getting the newest iPhone might be more difficult than usual.
Windy conditions in California are prompting electricity cuts to prevent wildfires. Again. 30,000 people will be without electricity today.
Hurricane Pamela made landfall in Mexico as a Category 1 and is expected to bring some flooding to Texas:
At @GovAbbott’s direction, TDEM has activated state resources in anticipation of severe storms, heavy rainfall and flash flooding associated with a cold front interacting with moisture from Hurricane Pamela.
Read more: https://t.co/HyQa9hSAEL#txwx pic.twitter.com/MmXm0ybPUe— Texas Division of Emergency Management (@TDEM) October 12, 2021
There was a mass killing in Norway—the attacker used a bow and arrows. Five people died. The attacker’s motivations are unknown.
The US is reopening cross-border travel to Canada and Mexico for those who are fully vaccinated.
Biomethane-electric hybrid tractors could help decrease industrial emissions to a serious extent—as much as 30% of global greenhouse emissions come from the farming industry. Widespread adoption of greener farming technologies is critical in the battle to lower harmful industrial emissions.
Speaking of farms: farmers who can’t find tires for their equipment can’t harvest their crops.
John Deere workers are on strike, and the strike could impact parts and equipment badly enough that harvest season could be tougher than it already is:
NYT—10,000 John Deere workers went on strike at midnight
"Our members are on strike to earn a decent living, retire with dignity & establish fair work rules”
The workers rejected Deere's offer of 12% raise over 6 years when Deere is making record profitshttps://t.co/tOmEI2sPgx pic.twitter.com/LL6zDUAVMB
— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) October 14, 2021
The Social Security cost of living adjustment will rise by almost 6% next year because of current inflationary trends.
The world has 240.2 million COVID cases. The world has gained 2.7 million cases in the last seven days. There have been nearly 4.9 million deaths in total. The US has had a cumulative 45.6 million cases—nearly 600,000 cases were added in the last seven days. Over 740,000 Americans have died—over 9,800 in the last week. The US added 100,000 new cases on Wednesday and over 1,800 deaths that day as well. The US is still leading global daily case gain.
Aspirin use to prevent first heart attack or stroke may cause more harm than good. Low-dose aspirin is such a potent blood thinner that the mortality and morbidity caused by bleeding events can cause more damage than the cardiac/stroke events it aims to prevent. Although this may be true for the prevention of first cardiac/stroke events, it may not be true for those at very high risk. The take-home here is to be careful and speak with your doctor to see if your risk profile meets the need for taking low-dose aspirin. Higher dose aspirin, contrary to what folks might expect, has lower blood-thinning properties than low-dose. Again, if you have questions about the use of aspirin, talk to your primary care provider.
A new treatment for Lyme Disease could rely on a novel compound that is toxic to the pathogenic bacteria that causes the disease. Clinical trials have not yet begun.
J&J is going to seek a second dose for its COVID vaccine:
Johnson & Johnson is seeking authorization of a booster dose at 6 months or later after the initial shot, or as early as 2 months, for people 18 and older.https://t.co/E1M3FMKF4V
— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) October 13, 2021
Malfunctioning vaccine passport apps cause travel and access woes—it was bound to happen.
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