We are so close to the singularity

Financial Times on protests in Paris: 

Staunch Communists marched with supporters of the far-right Rassemblement National party and some from the gilets jaunes movement against a new law making Covid-19 vaccination compulsory for healthcare workers and requiring a health pass for anyone wanting to enter public places such as restaurants, bars and high-speed trains.

But it will be war, specifically Russian wars, that eventually brings them together. 

The NYT paragraphs that nobody read

This was in the article before the Friday Morning Freak out article: 

"Still, when the virus tries to snake down into the lungs, immune cells in vaccinated people ramp up and rapidly clear the infection before it wreaks much havoc. That means vaccinated people should be infected and contagious for a much shorter period of time than unvaccinated people, Dr. Lund said.

"But that doesn't mean that in those first couple of days, when they're infected, they can't transmit it to somebody else," she added.

To stop the virus right where it enters, some experts have advocated nasal spray vaccines that would prevent the invader from gaining purchase in the upper airway. "Vaccine 1.0 should prevent death and hospitalization. Vaccine 2.0 should prevent transmission," Dr. Tal said. "We just need another iteration."

In a very real sense, aren't we all Credit Suisse?

From the already legendary law firm report into the Archegos fiasco --

Both Co-Heads [of Prime Services] were double-hatted with numerous responsibilities, and inundated with management information, underscoring the overall mismanagement of the business.

Quote of the Day

"Imagine Ricky Gervais’s fictional firm in The Office trading up from the Slough Trading Estate to a one-day-a-week meeting room off Piccadilly."

 

The end of mass commuting has revived suburbs and small towns in the commuter belt. Me on local coffeeshops, hot yoga, Penny Lane and neighbourhood spirit. A pretty momentous change: from commuting to community https://t.co/atKJp0QBFF

— Simon Kuper (@KuperSimon) July 22, 2021

Ulster says what now?

Ian Paisley MP in the latest House of Commons discussion of Brexit as applied in Northern Ireland: 

I must say for the record that I do not care what the Dublin Government think about this—I do not care at all. All these Pavlov dogs from academia and some political parties are salivating at supporting the EU and what it needs, but none of them has put their shoulder to the wheel to try to solve the business problems unfortunately created by the protocol.

German floods

 Important context here from Karsten Brandt (use Google translate). Climate of course the major factor but so also an apparent breakdown in the civil defence and emergency alert systems.