The Political Divide

Social media posts continue to sadden

A Facebook friend who is clearly on one side of the political divide and frequently posts inaccurate information or lacks critical understanding of issues is an example of what saddens me about the current state of affairs in our country. In the past I have gently corrected the information she posts, only to receive retorts of “you must think I am stupid.” This week she reacted to an image I posted from the Mariposa County Health and Human Services Agency that shares the successes of 14 vaccines in addressing diseases. My Facebook friend said “Flu is not a disease, nor is Covid … I always thought it was a virus.” I didn’t engage, but other Facebook friends corrected her, pointing out that the official name of Covid is Coronavirus Disease 2019. She also misconstrued CDC advice about masking being advised because vaccines aren't working well, without understanding that masking was advised in an abundance of caution even though breakthrough cases are still a minor portion of new cases. This was also corrected by other friends. This lack of understanding by a very nice person who is vocal and cares about the issue leaves me wondering how we get past well-intended sharing fueled by a lack of understanding.   

Covid-19

The past offers clues as to when the pandemic will end

A comprehensive August 6, 2021, story in National Geographic provides insights and background into how the Covid pandemic will end. The article says that “only two diseases in recorded history that affect humans or other animals have ever been eradicated: smallpox, a life-threatening disease for people that covers bodies in painful blisters, and rinderpest, a viral malady that infected and killed cattle.” The article says that diseases don’t “typically literally disappear from the global biome.” Instead, “finding ways to slow the spread of a disease and manage it effects is by far the safer path.” When the death count has been brought down to a certain level, and we resume our lives normally, “one could say the pandemic has ‘ended.’”

What does the Delta variant have in store for the U.S.?

In early June 2021, the 7-day average of Covid cases in the U.S. was 13,500. By August 3, the daily case count had reached 92,000 nationally, according to an August 4, 2021, article in Science Magazine, a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The story reports that “severe disease and death are highly unlikely among the vaccinated, and U.S. vaccination rates are beginning to increase, if modestly.” There is significant uncertainty as to how many cases and deaths might be expected due to the Delta-driven surge, however, computer models analyzed on August 3 estimated daily case counts by August 21 would be between 29,000 and 176,000. A peak estimate “may bring as many as 450,000 daily cases.” According to the New York Times, the daily case count on August 19 was 159,787 with a 7-day average of 143,827, already on the high end of the projections.

The Future of Work / The Economy

The housing marketing is starting to cool, but not much

In a good sign for would-be homebuyers, the number of houses for sale rose by 10% in July, according to an August 16, 2021, story in Fortune. The story says this has been “one of the most competitive—and tight—housing markets in the nation's history.” Experts don’t see a market crash nor do they see prices falling, just a return to a normal market. “We were going 120 mph; now we're going 100 mph. A normal year is 75 mph,” said Devyn Bachman, vice president of research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

Companies delaying return to normal because of Delta variant

Because the Delta variant has been spreading rapidly (primarily in the unvaccinated), many companies are delaying their plans for returning to more normal operations this fall. In an August 8, 2021, story, the Wall Street Journal reports that companies were planning to reopen offices after Labor Day. They thought business travel would resume more broadly, and “work gatherings, conventions and off-site meetings would finally take place.” The pandemic has, once again, delayed those plans for many firms.

Bipartisan agreement critical for business certainty and avoiding electoral lurches from left to right

Former Dow CEO Andrew Liveris told Fortune’s CEO Daily on August 17, 2021, that bipartisan agreement is the only way to rid U.S. policy of the uncertainty that comes from lurching from left to right after each election. “Uncertainty created by short termism in financial markets and in politics has meant that business has started to lose appetite for investments. That’s because most of our investments in the manufacturing sector—whether it be pharmaceuticals, or whether it be chemicals, or whether it be building materials—require 15, 20, 30-year investments, and so your ROI calculations and NPV calculations would fall flat if you saw policy changes affecting key things that you need to count on, like access to raw materials, access to transportation, access to the ability to actually even transport your goods internationally. So, if the political side can’t give you certainty, how does business seek an investment trajectory?”

Climate Change

“Climate change is the crisis of our generation.”  Deanne Criswell, FEMA Administrator.

Climate change impacts may be irreversible

The recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that “rising seas, melting ice caps, and other effects of a warming climate may be irreversible for centuries and are unequivocally driven by greenhouse gas emissions from human activity,” according to an August 9, 2021, story in the Wall Street Journal. The IPCC is an organization consisting of 195 governments. According to WSJ, “the new report comes from a three-year analysis of 14,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies. It is the first major international assessment of climate-change research since 2013.”

Eight key solutions to the climate catastrophe

The changes caused by climate change are already upon us, but Impact Alpha, in an August 9, 2021, story, provided eight key climate solutions to the climate catastrophe. According to the story, “more than three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions can be mitigated within 15 years by a handful of key technologies that are able to scale immediately or ready to deploy. The deployable eight: solar photovoltaics, wind power, batteries, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, transportation-as-a-service, precision fermentation, and cellular agriculture. 

The Nett Light-Side

Trio of owls triggers Ring doorbell camera

In Arizona, a family started being notified by their Ring camera that someone was outside their door. It turned out to be a curious trio of owls. Check out the August 10, 2021, story in My Modern Met and the accompanying video.