Offering asides, recommended links, blogworthy quotations, and more, In Brief is the Northwest Progressive Institute's microblog of world, national, and local politics.
Brazil, 1904: “Senator Rui Barbosa, pigeon-chested and smooth-tongued orator, attacks vaccination using judicial weapons flowery with adjectives. In the name of liberty Rui Barbosa defends the right of every individual to be contaminated if he so desires. Torrential applause, thunderous ovations interrupt him from phrase to phrase.”
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“More than 1,500 people on the company’s cruise ships have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and dozens have died,” a report from Bloomberg says. How did this happen? Austin Carr and Chris Palmeri explain.
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“A global pandemic of this scale was inevitable. In recent years, hundreds of health experts have written books, white papers, and op-eds warning of the possibility.”
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“What better platform is there going to be than the Olympic Games when the world has pulled through the virus… You’ve got a dynamic that will be even more powerful for Japan and the rest of the world. But you are going to have a tough road getting there.”
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“The novel coronavirus presents an unprecedented challenge for scientists: The speed at which the virus spreads means they must accelerate their research. But this is what the world’s fastest supercomputer was built for.” CNN explains.
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“Isolation can be toxic. Let’s increase physical distance, but stay connected,: writes Dr. Kenneth E. Miller.
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Unlike several years ago, when President Barack Obama ordered the Department of Defense to mobilize to respond to the ebola outbreak, Donald Trump has failed to involve the military in the United States’ response to the rapidly worsening coronavirus pandemic.
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“Trump gambled very early and very often on the idea that the coronavirus wouldn’t turn out to be nearly as severe as some health officials have warned it could get,” Aaron Blake writes.
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“I am going to ask that all of our parishes in western Washington, in the Archdiocese of Seattle, effective today, suspend the celebration publicly of the Eucharist,” Archbishop Etienne said.
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“A president who is at his strongest politically when he has a human target to attack has found it harder to confront a growing outbreak that has rattled the country,” The New York Times assesses.
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Read a transcript of Governor Jay Inslee’s appearance on one of the nation’s major Sunday morning talk shows.
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“No doubt canceling SXSW was a tough call for the city,” data scientist Spencer Fox writes. “But public health concerns must take priority.”
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Via The New York Times: “Dr. Bruce Aylward, of the World Health Organization got a rare glimpse into Beijing’s campaign to stop the epidemic. Here’s what he saw.”
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As coronavirus spreads to the United States, John Oliver discusses what’s being done to fight the illness, what’s gone wrong, and how to stay safe.
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“Allegations of abuse have surfaced at a Bangladeshi factory whose multinational owner manufactures for some of the most popular outdoor brands we love. Here’s why that should surprise no one,” Joe Lindsey writes.
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The United States isn’t the only prominent democracy with a fossil fuel loving chief executive who refuses to act on climate. Australia’s current prime minister is an ignoramus who has no solutions to offer as the country chokes on horrific smoke from devastating brushfires.
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Norweigan Cruise Line is phasing out plastic water bottles and switching to lower impact containers made by Just Water.
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Major made the remarks to an audience at the CBI annual dinner.
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If you aren’t paying attention to what’s happening on the other side of the Atlantic, you should tune in. British politics has entered a moment of incredibly high drama.
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In this provocative article, aviation writer Doug Gollan challenges the notion that private jets are wasteful and elitist.
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If the electronics industry sneezes, few places will catch a cold as quickly as Portland, Oregon.
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