Новости за 07.10.2020

The White House Coronavirus Superspreader Week is now among the biggest governmental outbreaks in the world, with the president’s residence ranking as one of the worst hot spots in the city of Washington. Grim photos show custodial staff decontaminating the press briefing room, now clad in head-to-toe personal protective equipment as they work. Trump, eager to appear healthy and vigorous, reportedly wants to work from the Oval Office today, which means that “staff coming in contact with him will wear gowns... Читать дальше...

On Monday, Trump declared victory in his battle with the coronavirus. By Tuesday, he had moved on, fighting the invisible enemy he apparently blames for keeping his (false) Covid-19 tweets from the public. “REPEAL SECTION 230!!!” he wrote, meaning Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which, in part, defines what kinds of user-generated content websites can host without facing legal liability. In Trump’s mind, Section 230 is enabling platforms to remove his content or any material they find politically objectionable. Читать дальше...

What will it take to save California? Around the world, fire season is growing increasingly severe and increasingly lethal. This year, wildfires have destroyed more than five million acres in the American West alone. The August Complex fire, which is burning California’s Mendocino Forest, has become the largest in the state’s history. On Episode 17 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene speak with the historian and urban theorist Mike Davis about the decades of poor... Читать дальше...

Soon after President Trump spiked a fever, shares of Regeneron, a pharmaceutical company he has previously invested in, also shot up—along with interest in the company’s experimental Covid-19 treatment. The president, his doctor announced within hours of the public learning Trump tested positive for SARS-CoV-2,
had received the company’s monoclonal antibodies cocktail, which has not been fully tested in humans yet. (His doctor initially incorrectly called the treatment a “polyclonal antibody... Читать дальше...

In 1978, Susan Sontag published a famous essay titled “Illness As Metaphor” which argued against perceiving illness metaphorically. “Illness is not a metaphor,” Sontag wrote, “The most truthful way of regarding illness—and the healthiest way of being ill—is one most purified of, most resistant to, metaphoric thinking.”

With a month to go before the November election, Donald Trump has returned to the Covid-19 message he, his administration, and his allies pushed in the early spring. “Don’t let it dominate you,” Trump said in a video released Monday evening, shortly after he left Walter Reed Medical Center, where he had been treated for several days for Covid-19. “Don’t be afraid. You’re gonna beat it!” Channeling Evita, he waved, maskless, from a White House balcony, posturing that he had beaten the virus despite... Читать дальше...