News roundup for Tue, Jul 13, 2021

3 Comments on News roundup for Tue, Jul 13, 2021
Is there blood shortage

Haiti’s president was assassinated and the country is in turmoil. Gang violence and inflation are rising, while food, fuel, and pandemic medical supplies are scarce. Haiti has asked the US to send troops to the country, but so far the Administration has declined. Cuba is also in turmoil as the people take to the streets to make demands of a government failing them–the pandemic has compounded already terrible economic and quality of life woes:

Biden talks tough with Russia over cyberattacks—it’s unclear exactly what he means to do as the cyberattacks continue unabated:

Is China really going to attack Taiwan? Some experts think it’s inevitable in the near-term and that the conflict it sparks could be worse than we think:

Prenatal genetic tests made in China and offered to women around the world may have had an ulterior purpose—harvesting genetic information from millions.

The West is baking:

One BILLION sea creatures died off the west coast of Canada during the recent heat wave. Worse could be yet to come.

At least one hydroelectric power plant is dedicating some of its resources to mining bitcoin—Plant leadership says it’s more profitable than selling energy to the public. This is probably a really bad turn of events and it’s a huge argument against the deregulation of public utilities. Multiple states are already struggling to keep the power on for residents–what happens if they also decide it’s not a profitable venture?

A mass shooting ala Las Vegas may have been deterred in Denver thanks to the fast thinking of a hotel housekeeper.

Rents are rising again as people return to work in offices in cities.

The water wars are starting—Egypt and Ethiopia are sparring over the Nile. There are serious water shortages in Delhi as well, and the government it fighting protesters with—get this—water cannons.

The Red Cross is experiencing a critical blood shortage right now. Please go give blood:

The world has over 188 million COVID cases. The world has gained 3.1 million cases in the last week. There have been nearly 4.1 million deaths in total. The US has a cumulative 34.7 million cases. Over 622,000 Americans have died. The US has gained about 8,400 new cases since yesterday, which is a significant rise in cases. There have been 71 deaths reported in the US in the last day. Indonesia, the UK, and India have the highest number of new cases per day as Delta rages in each respective country. Delta is now the dominant variant in the US as well, and cases are rising in most states:

Many countries are experiencing a large 3rd pandemic wave:

Pfizer wants to offer boosters, but the FDA, the CDC, and the US government are not convinced there’s enough evidence to warrant boosters—it’s especially important to get this right considering the number of people in this country and around the world who have yet to have their first vaccine:

The CDC will allow vaccinated students and teachers to forgo wearing masks. The unvaccinated still need to wear masks:

The risk posed to children by COVID is generally very low, but Delta has me concerned–most of these cases in kids will have been caused by Delta:

Stephanie Arnold | cosmicpixle

Stephanie Arnold is an advanced practice psychiatric nurse and a doctoral candidate in UA Tuscaloosa’s DNP program. Stephanie moonlights from time to time at UCLA teaching mental health nursing. She also likes making cold-process soap.

  • 3 Comments
    • DuskStar July 13, 2021

      > This is probably a really bad turn of events and it’s a huge argument against the deregulation of public utilities. Multiple states are already struggling to keep the power on for residents–what happens if they also decide it’s not a profitable venture?

      Isn’t the problem there that the publicly regulated utility isn’t paying anywhere near market rates for the power that the plant in question is producing, under the theory that they’re a monopsony and there’s no one else to sell it to? Is that really a deregulation problem?

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      • Stephanie ArnoldContributor DuskStar July 14, 2021

        I suppose an interesting combination of ideas would result in cryptocurrency mining subsidizing the cost of utilities and lowering costs for consumers… 

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      • DuskStar Stephanie Arnold July 16, 2021

        Oh there’s no way this lowers costs for consumers. 

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