navan
/
Daily-Dose
mirror of https://github.com/navanchauhan/Daily-Dose.git
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Projects Releases Wiki Activity

Added daily report

This commit is contained in:
Navan Chauhan 2023-01-26 12:53:44 +00:00
parent 00b6c5da29
commit f400155ee6
3 changed files with 717 additions and 2 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

186
archive-covid-19/26 January, 2023.html Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,186 @@
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
<title>26 January, 2023</title>
<style>
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
div.hanging-indent{margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;}
ul.task-list{list-style: none;}
</style>
<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
<body>
<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Framing COVID-19 preprint research as uncertain: A mixed-method study of public reactions</strong> -
<div>
During the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists were encouraged to convey uncertainty surrounding preliminary scientific evidence, including mentioning when research is unpublished or unverified by peer review. To understand how public audiences interpret this information, we conducted a mixed method study with U.S. adults. Participants read a news article about preprint COVID-19 vaccine research in early April 2021, just as the vaccine was becoming widely available to the U.S. public. We modified the article to test two ways of conveying uncertainty (hedging of scientific claims and mention of preprint status) in a 2 × 2 between-participants factorial design. To complement this, we collected open-ended data to assess participants’ understanding of the concept of a scientific preprint. In all, participants who read hedged (vs. unhedged) versions of the article reported less favorable vaccine attitudes and intentions and found the scientists and news reporting less trustworthy. These effects were moderated by participants’ epistemic beliefs and their preference for information about scientific uncertainty. However, there was no impact of describing the study as a preprint, and participants’ qualitative responses indicated a limited understanding of the concept. We discuss implications of these findings for communicating initial scientific evidence to the public and we outline important next steps for research and theory-building.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/wcd58/" target="_blank">Framing COVID-19 preprint research as uncertain: A mixed-method study of public reactions</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>In the name of health and illness: An inquiry into Covid-19 vaccination policy in postsecondary education in Canada</strong> -
<div>
Since the launch of the Covid-19 global vaccination campaign in December of 2020, vaccination in postsecondary institutions has been a contested issue. International evidence indicates that these institutions have achieved high vaccination rates and Canadian public health agencies exclude them entirely from the list of institutions at risk of outbreaks. On the other hand, influential observers, and postsecondary institutions themselves insist that not only achieving, but also maintaining, “up-to-date” vaccination - through mandates if necessary – remains critical to contain the crisis. However, with the increasing recognition that vaccines do not stop viral spread, that young populations are at exceedingly low risk of severe Covid-19, hospitalization, and death - with a survival rate of over 99.98% - and that mandated medical interventions have a troubled history with repercussions to this day, the soundness of current vaccination policies in postsecondary institutions cannot be assumed. Drawing from the medicalization tradition and interpretive phenomenology, our study explores, through in-depth interviews, how vaccination policies within and beyond postsecondary institutions have shaped perceptions of the Covid-19 crisis, beliefs about the role, risks, and benefits of vaccination, and life choices and chances of students in Canada. We find that students largely comply with vaccination policies, whether by conviction, convenience, or coercion, and that the discourse and social practices promoted by the policies limit opportunities for free debate and exchange across vaccination statuses. Regardless of this status, students do resist, albeit very limitedly given the high cost of noncompliance. We discuss the implications of our findings for policy, equity, and for the power of medical social control in the Covid-19 era.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/gdbj3/" target="_blank">In the name of health and illness: An inquiry into Covid-19 vaccination policy in postsecondary education in Canada</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The Evolution of Local Energetic Frustration in Protein Families</strong> -
<div>
Energetic local frustration offers a biophysical perspective to interpret the effects of sequence variability on protein families. Here we present a methodology to analyze local frustration patterns within protein families that allows us to uncover constraints related to stability and function, and identify differential frustration patterns in families with a common ancestry. We have analyzed these signals in very well studied cases such as PDZ, SH3, alpha and beta globins and RAS families. Recent advances in protein structure prediction make it possible to analyze a vast majority of the protein space. An automatic and unsupervised proteome-wide analysis on the SARS-CoV-2 virus demonstrates the potential of our approach to enhance our understanding of the natural phenotypic diversity of protein families beyond single protein instances. We have applied our method to modify biophysical properties of natural proteins based on their family properties, as well as perform unsupervised analysis of large datasets to shed light on the physicochemical signatures of poorly characterized proteins such as emergent pathogens.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.25.525527v1" target="_blank">The Evolution of Local Energetic Frustration in Protein Families</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Adaptive trends of sequence compositional complexity over pandemic time in the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus</strong> -
<div>
During the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus underwent mutation and recombination events that altered its genome compositional structure, thus providing an unprecedented opportunity to search for adaptive evolutionary trends in real-time. The mutation rate in coronavirus is known to be lower than expected for neutral evolution, thus suggesting a role for natural selection. We summarize the compositional heterogeneity of each viral genome by computing its Sequence Compositional Complexity (SCC). To study the full range of SCC diversity, random samples of high quality coronavirus genomes covering pandemic time span were analyzed. We then search for evolutionary trends that could inform on the adaptive process of the virus to its human host by computing the phylogenetic ridge regression of SCC against time (i.e., the collection date of each viral isolate). In early samples, we find no statistical support for any trend in SCC, although the viral genome appears to evolve faster than Brownian Motion (BM) expectation. However, in samples taken after the emergence of high fitness variants, and despite the brief time span elapsed, a driven decreasing trend for SCC, and an increasing one for its absolute evolutionary rate, are detected, pointing to a role for selection in the evolution of SCC in coronavirus genomes. We conclude that the higher fitness of variant genomes leads to adaptive trends of SCC over pandemic time in the coronavirus.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.06.467547v6" target="_blank">Adaptive trends of sequence compositional complexity over pandemic time in the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Grandparents and Parental Labor Supply during COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
This study examines whether and to what extent the availability of grandparents in the home plays a buffering role in the labor supply of parents of children aged 0-5 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of grandparents as a childcare resource and its association with parents’ labor supply have received increasing attention in the literature. Limited childcare options during the pandemic underscore the need to investigate how working parents manage the double burden of family and work and what role grandparents could play. I use monthly data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) from January to May 2019 and 2020. Using a propensity score matching method, 6,599 parents in three-generational households were matched to 82,704 parents in two-generational households. Then, I employ a difference-in-difference approach with propensity score matched samples, taking advantage of two sources of variation: an exogenous shock from the pandemic and the availability of grandparents in the home. Parents living with grandparents are 2.90 percentage points more likely to have worked last week and worked 1.36 hours longer during the pandemic relative to parents in a two-generational household. The effects of the availability of coresident grandparents are more pronounced among single and low-educated parents than their counterparts. Results highlight that grandparents played a buffering role in mitigating the adverse impact of the pandemic on parental labor supply. This study sheds light on the importance of grandparental care specifically and informal care and home-based care in general. It also provides policy implications for strengthening the childcare system.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/jxyvn/" target="_blank">Grandparents and Parental Labor Supply during COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on a cohort of adults with recurrent major depressive disorder from Catalonia: a decentralized longitudinal study using remote measurement technology</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The present study analyzes the effects on depression levels of each containment phase of the first wave of COVID-19 in a cohort of adults with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD). This analysis is part of the Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse-MDD (RADAR-MDD) study. Depression was evaluated with the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) and anxiety with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). A total of 121 participants from Catalonia were registered from November 1, 2019, to October 16, 2020. Levels of depression were explored across the phases (pre-lockdown, lockdown, four post-lockdown phases) of the restrictions imposed by the Spanish/Catalan governments. Then, a mixed model was fitted to estimate how depression varied over the phases. A significant rise in the depressive severity was found during the lockdown and phase 0 (early post-lockdown), as compared with pre-lockdown phase in this sample with a history of MDD. Those with low pre-lockdown depression experienced a higher increase in depression levels during the new-normality. We observed a significant decrease in the depression levels during the new-normality in those with high pre-lockdown depression, compared to the pre-lockdown period. These findings suggest that COVID-19 restrictions impacted on the depression of individuals diagnosed with MDD, depending on their pre-lockdown depression levels.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.24.23284906v1" target="_blank">The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on a cohort of adults with recurrent major depressive disorder from Catalonia: a decentralized longitudinal study using remote measurement technology</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A role for Toll-like receptor 3 in lung vascular remodeling associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> -
<div>
Cardiovascular sequelae of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus-2 (CoV-2) disease 2019 (COVID-19) contribute to the complications of the disease. One potential complication is lung vascular remodeling, but the exact cause is still unknown. We hypothesized that endothelial TLR3 insufficiency contributes to lung vascular remodeling induced by SARS-CoV-2. In the lungs of COVID-19 patients and SARS-CoV-2 infected Syrian hamsters, we discovered thickening of the pulmonary artery media and microvascular rarefaction, which were associated with decreased TLR3 expression in lung tissue and pulmonary artery endothelial cells (ECs). In vitro, SARS-CoV-2 infection reduced endothelial TLR3 expression. Following infection with mouse-adapted (MA) SARS-CoV-2, TLR3 knockout mice displayed heightened pulmonary artery remodeling and endothelial apoptosis. Treatment with the TLR3 agonist polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid reduced lung tissue damage, lung vascular remodeling, and endothelial apoptosis associated with MA SARS-CoV-2 infection. In conclusion, repression of endothelial TLR3 is a potential mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 infection associated lung vascular remodeling and enhancing TLR3 signaling is a potential strategy for treatment.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.25.524586v1" target="_blank">A role for Toll-like receptor 3 in lung vascular remodeling associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Long-term respiratory mucosal immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 after infection and vaccination</strong> -
<div>
Respiratory mucosal immunity induced by vaccination is vital for protection from coronavirus infection in animal models. In humans, SARS-CoV-2 immunity has been studied extensively in blood. However, the capacity of peripheral vaccination to generate sustained humoral and cellular immunity in the lung mucosa, and how this is influenced by prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, is unknown. Bronchoalveolar lavage samples obtained from vaccinated donors with or without prior infection revealed enrichment of spike-specific antibodies, class-switched memory B cells and T cells in the lung mucosa compared to the periphery in the setting of hybrid immunity, whereas in the context of vaccination alone, local anti-viral immunity was limited to antibody responses. Spike-specific T cells persisted in the lung mucosa for up to 5 months post-vaccination and multi-specific T cell responses were detected at least up to 11 months post-infection. Thus, durable lung mucosal immunity against SARS-CoV-2 seen after hybrid exposure cannot be achieved by peripheral vaccination alone, supporting the need for vaccines targeting the airways.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.25.525485v1" target="_blank">Long-term respiratory mucosal immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 after infection and vaccination</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>RAMEN identifies effective indicators for severe COVID and Long COVID patients</strong> -
<div>
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused catastrophic socioeconomic consequences and fundamentally reshaped the lives of billions across the globe. Our current understanding of the relationships between clinical variables (demographics, symptoms, follow-up symptoms, comorbidities, treatments, lab results, complications, and other clinical measurements) and COVID-19 outcomes remains obscure. Various computational approaches have been employed to elucidate the relationships between different COVID-19 clinical variables and their contributions to the disease outcomes. However, it is often challenging to capture the indirect relationships, as well as the direction of those relationships, with the conventional pairwise correlation methods. Graphical models (e.g., Bayesian networks) can address these limitations but are computationally expensive, which substantially limits their applications in reconstructing relationship networks ofumpteen clinical variables. In this study, we have developed a method named RAMEN, which employs Genetic Algorithm and random walks to infer the Bayesian relationship network between clinical variables. We applied RAMEN to a comprehensive COVID-19 dataset, Biobanque Quebecoise de la COVID-19 (BQC19). Most of the clinical variables in our reconstructed Bayesian network associated with COVID-19 severity, or long COVID, are supported by existing literature. We further computationally verified the effectiveness of the RAMEN method with statistical examinations of the multi-omics measurements (Clinical variables, RNA-seq, and Somascan) of the BQC19 data and simulations. The accurate inference of the relationships between clinical variables and disease outcomes powered by RAMEN will significantly advance the development of effective and early diagnostics of severe COVID-19 and long COVID, which can help save millions of lives.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.24.525413v1" target="_blank">RAMEN identifies effective indicators for severe COVID and Long COVID patients</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Second monovalent SARS-CoV-2 mRNA booster restores Omicron-specific neutralizing activity in both nursing home residents and health care workers</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
We examined whether the second monovalent SARS-CoV-2 mRNA booster increased antibody levels and their neutralizing activity to Omicron variants in nursing home residents (NH) residents and healthcare workers (HCW). We sampled 367 NH residents and 60 HCW after primary mRNA vaccination, first and second boosters, for antibody response and pseudovirus neutralization assay against SARS-CoV-2 wild-type (WT) (Wuhan-Hu-1) strain and Omicron BA1 variant. Antibody levels and neutralizing activity progressively increased with each booster but subsequently waned over weeks. NH residents, both those without and with prior infection, had a robust geometric mean fold rise (GMFR) of 10.2 (95% CI 5.1, 20.3) and 6.5 (95% CI 4.5, 9.3) respectively in Omicron-BA.1 subvariant specific neutralizing antibody levels following the second booster vaccination (p&lt;0.001). These results support the ongoing efforts to ensure that both NH residents and HCW are up to date on recommended SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster doses.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.22.23284881v1" target="_blank">Second monovalent SARS-CoV-2 mRNA booster restores Omicron-specific neutralizing activity in both nursing home residents and health care workers</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Real-world effectiveness of molnupiravir, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, and sotrovimab on preventing hospital admission among higher-risk patients with COVID-19 in Wales: a retrospective cohort study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Objective To compare the effectiveness of molnupiravir, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, and sotrovimab with no treatment in preventing hospital admission or death in higher-risk patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the community. Design Retrospective cohort study of non-hospitalised adult patients with COVID-19 using the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. Setting A real-world cohort study was conducted within the SAIL Databank (a secure trusted research environment containing anonymised, individual, population-scale electronic health record (EHR) data) for the population of Wales, UK. Participants Adult patients with COVID-19 in the community, at higher risk of hospitalisation and death, testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 between 16th December 2021 and 22nd April 2022. Interventions Molnupiravir, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, and sotrovimab given in the community by local health boards and the National Antiviral Service in Wales. Main outcome measures All-cause admission to hospital or death within 28 days of a positive test for SARS-CoV-2. Statistical analysis Cox proportional hazard model with treatment status (treated/untreated) as a time-dependent covariate and adjusted for age, sex, number of comorbidities, Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation, and vaccination status. Secondary subgroup analyses were by treatment type, number of comorbidities, and before and on or after 20th February 2022, when omicron BA.1 and omicron BA.2 were the dominant subvariants in Wales. Results Between 16th December 2021 and 22nd April 2022, 7,103 higher-risk patients were eligible for inclusion in the study. Of these, 2,040 received treatment with molnupiravir (359, 17.6%), nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (602, 29.5%), or sotrovimab (1,079, 52.9%). Patients in the treatment group were younger (mean age 53 vs 57 years), had fewer comorbidities, and a higher proportion had received four or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (36.3% vs 17.6%). Within 28 days of a positive test, 628 (9.0%) patients were admitted to hospital or died (84 treated and 544 untreated). The primary analysis indicated a lower risk of hospitalisation or death at any point within 28 days in treated participants compared to those not receiving treatment. The adjusted hazard rate was 35% (95% CI: 18-49%) lower in treated than untreated participants. There was no indication of the superiority of one treatment over another and no evidence of a reduction in risk of hospitalisation or death within 28 days for patients with no or only one comorbidity. In patients treated with sotrovimab, the event rates before and on or after 20th February 2022 were similar (5.0% vs 4.9%) with no significant difference in the hazard ratios for sotrovimab between the time periods. Conclusions In higher-risk adult patients in the community with COVID-19, those who received treatment with molnupiravir, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, or sotrovimab were at lower risk of hospitalisation or death than those not receiving treatment.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.24.23284916v1" target="_blank">Real-world effectiveness of molnupiravir, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, and sotrovimab on preventing hospital admission among higher-risk patients with COVID-19 in Wales: a retrospective cohort study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Influenza transmission dynamics quantified from wastewater</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Influenza infections are challenging to monitor at the population level due to a high proportion of mild and asymptomatic cases and confounding of symptoms with other common circulating respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. Alternate methods capable of tracking cases outside of clinical reporting infrastructure could improve monitoring of influenza transmission dynamics. Influenza shedding into wastewater represents a promising source of information where quantification is unbiased by testing or treatment-seeking behaviors. We quantified influenza A and B virus loads from influent at Switzerland9s three largest wastewater treatment plants, serving about 12% of the Swiss population. We estimated trends in infection incidence and the effective reproductive number Re in these catchments during a 2021/22 epidemic and compared our estimates to clinical influenza surveillance data. We showed that wastewater-based incidence is better aligned with catchment-level confirmed cases than national ILI, and that only the wastewater data capture a peak in incidence in December 2021. We further estimated Re to have been below 1.05 after introduction of work from home measures in December 2021 and above 0.97 after these measures were relaxed in two out of three catchments based on wastewater data. The third catchment yielded qualitatively the same results, although with wider confidence intervals. The confirmed-case data yielded comparatively less precise estimates that include 1 before and during the period of measures. On the basis of this research we developed an online dashboard for wastewater-based influenza surveillance in Switzerland where we will continue to monitor the onset and dynamics of the 2022/23 flu season.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.23.23284894v1" target="_blank">Influenza transmission dynamics quantified from wastewater</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>TONSILS ARE MAJOR SITES OF PROLONGED SARS-COV-2 INFECTION IN CHILDREN</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
In the present study, we show that SARS-CoV-2 can infect palatine tonsils and adenoids in children without symptoms of COVID-19, with no history of recent upper airway infection. We studied 48 children undergoing tonsillectomy due to snoring/OSA or recurrent tonsillitis between October 2020 and September 2021. Briefly, nasal cytobrush (NC), nasal wash (NW) and tonsillar tissue fragments obtained at surgery were tested by RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry (IHC), flow cytometry and neutralization assay. We detected the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in at least one specimen tested in 25% of patients (20% in palatine tonsils and 16.27% in adenoids, 10.41% of NC and 6.25% of NW). Importantly, in 2 of the children there was evidence of laboratory-confirmed acute infection 2 and 5 months before surgery. IHC revealed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein in epithelial surface and in lymphoid cells in both extrafollicular and follicular regions, in adenoids and palatine tonsils. Flow cytometry showed that CD20+ B lymphocytes were the most infected phenotypes by SARS-CoV-2 NP, followed by CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, and CD14+ macrophages and dendritic cells. Additionally, IF indicated that SARS-CoV-2-infected tonsillar tissues had increased expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2. NGS sequencing demonstrated the presence of different SARS CoV-2 variants in tonsils from different tissues. SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection was not restricted to tonsils, but was also detected in nasal cells from the olfactory region. In conclusion, palatine tonsils and adenoids are sites of prolonged infection by SARS-CoV-2 in children, even without COVID-19 symptoms.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.21.23284592v1" target="_blank">TONSILS ARE MAJOR SITES OF PROLONGED SARS-COV-2 INFECTION IN CHILDREN</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Shielding under endemic SARS-CoV-2 conditions is easier said than done: a model-based analysis</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues unabated, many governments and public-health bodies worldwide have ceased to implement concerted measures for limiting viral spread, placing the onus instead on the individual. In this paper, we examine the feasibility of this proposition using an agent-based model to simulate the impact of individual shielding behaviors on reinfection frequency. We derive estimates of heterogeneity in immune protection from a population pharmacokinetic (pop PK) model of antibody kinetics following infection and variation in contact rate based on published estimates. Our results suggest that individuals seeking to opt out of adverse outcomes upon SARS-CoV-2 infection will find it challenging to do so, as large reductions in contact rate are required to reduce the risk of infection. Our findings suggest the importance of a multilayered strategy for those seeking to reduce the risk of infection. This work also suggests the importance of public health interventions such as universal masking in essential venues and air quality standards to ensure individual freedom of choice regarding COVID-19.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.22.23284884v1" target="_blank">Shielding under endemic SARS-CoV-2 conditions is easier said than done: a model-based analysis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COVID-19 in Pakistan: A national analysis of five pandemic waves</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Objectives The COVID-19 pandemic showed distinct waves where cases ebbed and flowed. While each country had slight, nuanced differences, lessons from each wave with country-specific details provides important lessons for prevention, understanding medical outcomes and the role of vaccines. This paper compares key characteristics from the five different COVID-19 waves in Pakistan. Methods We used specific criteria to define COVID-19 waves, and key variables such as COVID-19 tests, cases, and deaths with their rates of change to the peak and then to the trough were used to draw descriptive comparisons. Additionally, a linear regression model estimated daily new COVID-19 deaths in Pakistan. Results Pakistan saw five distinct waves, each of which displayed the typical topology of a complete infectious disease epidemic. The time from wave-start to peak became progressively shorter, and from wave-peak to trough, progressively longer. Each wave appears to also be getting shorter, except for wave 4, which lasted longer than wave 3. A one percent increase in vaccinations increased daily new COVID-19 deaths by 0.10% (95% CI: 0.01, 0.20) in wave 4 and decreased deaths by 0.38% (95% CI: -0.67, -0.08) in wave 5. Conclusion Each wave displayed distinct characteristics that must be interpreted in the context of the level of response and the variant driving the epidemic. Key indicators suggest that COVID-19 preventive measures kept pace with the disease. Waves 1 and 2 were mainly about prevention and learning how to clinically manage patients. Vaccination started late during Wave 3 and its impact became apparent on hospitalizations and deaths in Wave 5. The impact of highly virulent strains Alpha/B1.1.7 and Delta/B.1.617.2 variants during Wave 3 and milder but more infectious Omicron/BA.5.2.1.7 are apparent.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.23.23284902v1" target="_blank">COVID-19 in Pakistan: A national analysis of five pandemic waves</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Digital Tools to Expand COVID-19 Testing in Exposed Individuals in Cameroon</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Digital based contact tracing<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation;   Find<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluation of the Outcome of COVID-19 Patients Discharged Home on Oxygen Therapy</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Phone satisfaction questionnaire<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Centre Hospitalier René Dubos<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluation of Corfluvec Vaccine for the Prevention of COVID-19 in Healthy Volunteers</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Corfluvec component 1 low dose;   Biological: Corfluvec component 2 low dose;   Biological: Corfluvec component 1 high dose;   Biological: Corfluvec component 2 high dose;   Biological: Corfluvec low dose;   Biological: Corfluvec high dose;   Biological: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Tatyana Zubkova;   MDP-CRO, LLC;   St. Petersburg State Pavlov Medical University<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study of Efficacy and Safety of Azvudine vs. Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir in the Treatment of COVID-19 Infection</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Azvudine;   Drug: Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Shandong Provincial Hospital;   Central hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University;   The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University;   The Affiliated Hospital Of Southwest Medical University;   Gansu Provincial Hospital<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Chatbot to Enhance COVID-19 Knowledge</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Device: chatbot;   Other: Printed educational booklet<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sun Yat-sen University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Low-Dose Radiation Therapy for Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Radiation: Low-Dose Radiation Therapy<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Jiangsu Cancer Institute &amp; Hospital;   Nanjing Chest Hospital;   The Affiliated BenQ Hospital of Nanjing Medical University;   Central South University;   Zhongda Hospital<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Tetrandrine Tablets Used in Hospitalized Adults With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Tetrandrine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Peking University Third Hospital<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Phase 2 Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of QLS1128 Orally in Symptomatic Participants With Mild to Moderate COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: QLS1128;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy of Megadose Vitamin C in Severe and Critical Ill COVID-19 Patients.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Vitamin C;   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Vitamin C;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Zhujiang Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Oropharyngeal Immunoprophylaxis With High Polyphenolic Olive Oil as Clinical Spectrum Mitigating Factor in COVID-19.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Dietary Supplement: High polyphenolic olive oil. (Early harvest olive oil).<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Hospital General Nuestra Señora del Prado<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Randomized, Phase I Study of DNA Vaccine OC-007 as a Booster Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19 Respiratory Infection;   COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Reaction<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: DNA vaccine OC-007;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Matti Sällberg<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>UC-MSCs in the Treatment of Severe and Critical COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Mesenchymal Stem Cell;   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells;   Drug: paxlovid<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Shanghai East Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Azvudine in Preventing SARS-Cov-2 Infection in Ousehold in China</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Azvudine;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Shanghai Henlius Biotech;   Huashan Hospital;   Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Industrial Development Co. Ltd.;   HeNan Sincere Biotech Co., Ltd<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Multicenter Randomized Double-blind Placebo-controlled Study to Investigate Azvudine in Symptomatic Adults With COVID-19 at Increased Risk of Progressing to Severe Illness</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Respiratory Infection<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Azvudine;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Peking Union Medical College Hospital<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>UC-MSCs in the Treatment of Severe and Critical COVID-19 Patients With Refractory Hypoxia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Mesenchymal Stem Cell;   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: UC-MSCs treatment<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Shanghai East Hospital;   Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacodynamics of Anti-C5a Antibody BDB-001 for Severe COVID-19: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase 1 Clinical Trial in Healthy Chinese Adults</strong> - CONCLUSION: The results of this phase I study supported that BDB-001 is a potent anti-C5a inhibitor with safety, tolerability, and no immunogenicity. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CTR20200429.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A genetically encoded BRET-based SARS-CoV-2 M<sup>pro</sup> protease activity sensor</strong> - The main protease, M^(pro), is critical for SARS-CoV-2 replication and an appealing target for designing anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents. Therefore, there is a demand for the development of improved sensors to monitor its activity. Here, we report a pair of genetically encoded, bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET)-based sensors for detecting M^(pro) proteolytic activity in live cells as well as in vitro. The sensors were generated by sandwiching peptides containing the M^(pro) N-terminal…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluation of a biotin-based surrogate virus neutralization test for detecting postvaccination antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants in sera</strong> - A severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT) was used to determine the degree of inhibition of binding between human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) and the receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike protein by neutralizing antibodies in a biosafety level 2 facility. Here, to improve the sensitivity and specificity of the commercial sVNT, we developed a new biotin based sVNT using biotinylated RBD and HRP conjugated streptavidin…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Multi-ligand molecular docking, simulation, free energy calculations and wavelet analysis of the synergistic effects between natural compounds baicalein and cubebin for the inhibition of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2</strong> - Combination drugs have been used for several diseases for many years since they produce better therapeutic effects. However, it is still a challenge to discover candidates to form a combination drug. This study aimed to investigate whether using a comprehensive in silico approach to identify novel combination drugs from a Chinese herbal formula is an appropriate and creative strategy. We, therefore, used Toujie Quwen Granules for the main protease (M^(pro)) of SARS-CoV-2 as an example. We first…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Down-regulation of KLF2 in lung fibroblasts is linked with COVID-19 immunofibrosis and restored by combined inhibition of NETs, JAK-1/2 and IL-6 signaling</strong> - Kruppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) has been linked with fibrosis and neutrophil-associated thromboinflammation; however, its role in COVID-19 remains elusive. We investigated the effect of disease microenvironment on the fibrotic potential of human lung fibroblasts (LFs) and its association with KLF2 expression. LFs stimulated with plasma from severe COVID-19 patients down-regulated KLF2 expression at mRNA/protein and functional level acquiring a pre-fibrotic phenotype, as indicated by increased…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 evolution influences GBP and IFITM sensitivity</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 spike requires proteolytic processing for viral entry. A polybasic furin-cleavage site (FCS) in spike, and evolution toward an optimized FCS by dominant variants of concern (VOCs), are linked to enhanced infectivity and transmission. Here we show interferon-inducible restriction factors Guanylate-binding proteins (GBP) 2 and 5 interfere with furin-mediated spike cleavage and inhibit the infectivity of early-lineage isolates Wuhan-Hu-1 and VIC. By contrast, VOCs Alpha and Delta escape…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Epitope-directed anti-SARS-CoV-2 scFv engineered against the key spike protein region could block membrane fusion</strong> - The newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 causing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) resulted in &gt;500 million infections. A great deal about the molecular processes of virus infection in the host is getting uncovered. Two sequential proteolytic cleavages of viral spike protein by host proteases are prerequisites for the entry of the virus into the host cell. The first cleavage occurs at S1/S2 site by the furin protease, and the second cleavage at a fusion activation site, the S2’ site, by the TMPRSS2 protease….</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Potent Dual Polymerase/Exonuclease Inhibitory Activities of Antioxidant Aminothiadiazoles Against the COVID-19 Omicron Virus: A Promising In Silico/In Vitro Repositioning Research Study</strong> - Recently, natural and synthetic nitrogenous heterocyclic antivirals topped the scene as first choices for the treatment of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and their accompanying disease, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Meanwhile, the mysterious evolution of a new strain of SARS-CoV-2, the Omicron variant and its sublineages, caused a new defiance in the continual COVID-19 battle. Hitting the two principal coronaviral-2 multiplication enzymes…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Neutralization activity of IgG antibody in COVID‑19‑convalescent plasma against SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong> - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We evaluated the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels, anti-spike (S)-immunoglobulin G (IgG) and anti-nucleocapsid (N)-IgG, and the neutralization activity of IgG antibody in COVID‑19‑convalescent plasma against variants of SARS-CoV-2, alpha, beta, gamma, delta, kappa, omicron and R.1 strains. The study included 30 patients with clinically diagnosed COVID-19. The anti-S-IgG and anti-N-IgG…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Botanical inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 viral entry: a phylogenetic perspective</strong> - Throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the use of botanical dietary supplements in the United States has increased, yet their safety and efficacy against COVID-19 remains underexplored. The Quave Natural Product Library is a phylogenetically diverse collection of botanical and fungal natural product extracts including popular supplement ingredients. Evaluation of 1867 extracts and 18 compounds for virus spike protein binding to host cell ACE2 receptors in a SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped virus system…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Potential Self-Peptide Inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease</strong> - The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^(pro)) plays an essential role in viral replication, cleaving viral polyproteins into functional proteins. This makes M^(pro) an important drug target. M^(pro) consists of an N-terminal catalytic domain and a C-terminal α-helical domain (M^(pro)C). Previous studies have shown that peptides derived from a given protein sequence (self-peptides) can affect the folding and, in turn, the function of that protein. Since the SARS-CoV-1 M^(pro)C is known to stabilize its…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Repeated SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: induction of high-avidity anti-RBD neutralizing antibodies</strong> - CONCLUSION: The data indicate that in cancer patients mRNA vaccine induces high avidity anti-RBD antibodies and neutralizing antibodies that increase after the third dose. The process of induction and selection of high-affinity antibodies is apparently unaffected by the treatment with anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 antibodies.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Inhibition of Enveloped Virus Surrogate Phi6 Infection Using Yeast-Derived Vacuoles</strong> - The periodic emergence of infectious disease poses a serious threat to human life. Among the causative agents, including pathogenic bacteria and fungi, enveloped viruses have caused global pandemics. In the last 10 years, outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and Middle East respiratory syndrome have all been caused by enveloped viruses. Among several paths of secondary transmission, inhalation of aerosols containing saliva with…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Valproate Coenzyme-A Conjugate Blocks Opening of Receptor Binding Domains in the Spike Trimer of SARS-CoV-2 through an Allosteric Mechanism</strong> - The receptor-binding domains (RBDs) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike trimer exhibit “up” and “down” conformations often targeted by neutralizing antibodies. Only in the “up” configuration can RBDs bind to the ACE2 receptor of the host cell and initiate the process of viral multiplication. Here, we identify a lead compound (3-oxo-valproate-coenzyme A conjugate or Val-CoA) that stabilizes the spike trimer with RBDs in the down conformation. Val-CoA interacts with three R408 residues, one from each RBD,…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Causal associations of tea intake with COVID-19 infection and severity</strong> - Tea ingredients can effectively inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection at adequate concentrations. It is not known whether tea intake could impact the susceptibility to COVID-19 or its severity. We aimed to evaluate the causal effects of tea intake on COVID-19 outcomes. We performed Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to assess the causal associations between tea intake (N = 441,279) and three COVID-19 outcomes, including SARS-CoV-2 infection (122,616 cases and 2,475,240 controls), hospitalized COVID-19…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>

529
archive-daily-dose/26 January, 2023.html Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,529 @@
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
<title>26 January, 2023</title>
<style>
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
div.hanging-indent{margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;}
ul.task-list{list-style: none;}
</style>
<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
<body>
<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Democratic Party’s Political Gift to Ron DeSantis</strong> - Republicans’ sustained and successful courting of Latino voters in South Florida could be a road map for the G.O.P. in 2024. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-democratic-partys-political-gift-to-ron-desantis">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>On the Picket Lines of Britain’s Shattered National Health Service</strong> - The N.H.S. is the country’s pride. But rolling strikes reveal a system in the midst of collapse. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/on-the-picket-lines-of-britains-shattered-national-health-service">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Gun Violence Is America’s Never-Ending Plague</strong> - The mass shooting in Monterey Park was one of dozens already this year. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/gun-violence-is-americas-never-ending-plague">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Two Supreme Court Cases That Could Break the Internet</strong> - A cornerstone of life online has been that platforms are not responsible for content posted by users. What happens if that immunity goes away? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/two-supreme-court-cases-that-could-break-the-internet">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“Argentina, 1985” Gets an Oscar Nod</strong> - The film tells the improbable—and history-making—story of how a military dictatorship was brought to justice. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/argentina-1985-gets-an-oscar-nod">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>The glories of dining out alone</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="An illustration of a table set for one, with salad, a meal, and flowers." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aB_wLYHTCzYXWvLfw4ZLeCAgMQU=/375x0:2626x1688/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71874119/STORY_5_SET_6.0.png"/>
<figcaption>
Dining out alone can be one of life’s greatest pleasures — and it’s a privilege, too. | Shaneé Benjamin for Vox
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Solo dining is one of life’s great pleasures — and privileges.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cWe3h4">
At a recent family gathering, the conversation turned to dining, and from there to a common practice of mine: eating alone in restaurants.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XHX9o3">
My grandmother, who’s in her 80s and grew up in the upstate town where they all live, said she’d never do it, that when she was a girl it was frowned upon and it still felt strange to her. Other female relatives a generation younger talked about their reticence to eat in a place where they thought they’d be judged by fellow diners, silently pitied as a loser. One aunt who waited tables at an upscale restaurant said she always felt bad for people who were eating alone, wondering if they were lonely. “Unless they had a book with them,” she added, smiling.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mArYEu">
I’ll be honest: It’s hard for me to wrap my head around any of this, even though history shows that my female relatives’ sentiments come from decades of American practices and prejudices. Though I’ve been with my husband for 18 years, nearly half my life, I spend a lot of time eating alone — while traveling for work, grabbing a bite between appointments, or just because I want to. I might have a book with me, or I might not. But a life without eating alone is unimaginable to me.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u2yt7x">
These days, I’m in good company. Solo dining <a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/53320-eating-alone-is-not-lonely">has risen sharply</a> in recent years, according to data collected by the restaurant reservation company OpenTable. The internet is full of people proudly <a href="https://www.seriouseats.com/in-defense-of-eating-alone">proclaiming</a> their <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/sep/19/table-for-one-the-joy-of-eating-alone">love</a> of eating <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/eating-alone-loses-its-stigma-11570024507">alone</a> and extolling its many <a href="https://delishably.com/misc/Advantages-of-Eating-Alone">virtues</a>, often over and <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/laurasilver/table-for-one-please#.efQz88lO4J">against</a> the same <a href="https://tagalongtravel.com/solo-restaurant-dining/">assumption</a> of my grandmother and aunts: that solo dining is socially unacceptable, something to be feared. (This fear even has a dubious psychological name: <a href="https://www.beenaroundtheglobe.com/solomangarephobia-fear-eating-alone/">solomangarephobia</a>.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dITGw0">
Yet the joys of eating alone <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/smarter-living/how-to-eat-alone-and-like-it.html">have been documented since ancient times</a>, and I’m happy that it’s never occurred to me to think of solo dining as anything other than an ordinary act. The history of solo dining, particularly for women, hasn’t always been welcoming, and even now there are some best practices I’ve developed to help me do it well. But<strong> </strong>for me, eating alone in a restaurant is almost meditative, even if I’m just wolfing down a plate of pasta between meetings.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Oh6rFP">
Dining out by myself is a form of self-care, a way to derive immense satisfaction from the experience — the ambience, the flavors and textures, the chatter around me. Without a dining companion to entertain, I can sit with my thoughts, watch the world around me, eavesdrop on fellow diners, maybe have a conversation with the bartender if I’m seated at the bar. I start to remember that I’m not alone at all; I’m part of a community of people, and most people, believe it or not, are friendly and interesting. Eating alone, in a paradoxical way, can get me out of my own head.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yroXAI">
On a recent solo research trip to San Francisco, I picked at random a seafood restaurant humming with activity, and took the last seat at the bar. The meal that followed — an octopus dish, and a strange little wine the bartender recommended — was transcendent, something to be savored. I was glad I was eating it surrounded by people who smiled when I sat and left me to myself. Not once did I feel out of place.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AvSANz">
But maybe I should rethink that feeling. When I started digging into the history of solo dining — particularly as a woman, unaccompanied by a man — I realized this act I take for granted several times a week is one that previous generations had to fight for. Just over a century ago, a woman dining without a man in a restaurant was presumed to be looking for business, so to speak; she was disreputable, and the restaurant that allowed her to do such a thing was, too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ASuWg6">
That stigma was relatively new in the 20th century. In the early 19th century, communal dining at long tables in restaurants was the norm. After the Civil War, the luxury restaurant was born, and with it the private dining table. Diners usually came in pairs. “Lone women” were frequently discouraged or even barred from fine restaurants, and as <a href="https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/2015/11/08/dining-alone/">restaurant historian Jan Whitaker</a> told me, a “lone woman” didn’t have to actually be alone — a group of women unaccompanied by any man were also considered to be “lone women.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FuiHSs">
A radical exception came in 1868, when the New York restaurant Delmonico’s <a href="https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/delmonicos-is-celebrating-150-years-as-the-first-u-s-restaurant-to-serve-women-independently-012318">became the first</a> to serve a group of women unaccompanied by men. Even then, it was a planned event <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/delmonicos-womens-lunch">hosted by a women’s social club</a>, not a regular policy. Things started to change when women entered the workplace and gained, almost by necessity, more freedoms. Lunch counters, diners, and establishments designed to make solo diners, especially women, feel more comfortable started to pop up, particularly in cities. “As a lot of women started working around World War I, that just had to break the system down,” Whitaker noted.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ydbJcH">
Even as late as the 1960s, however, some restaurants barred women diners altogether, or allowed them in only if accompanied by a man. In 1969, Betty Friedan and 15 other women <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/no-unescorted-ladies-will-be-served/">charged into the Oak Room</a> — the storied restaurant at New York’s opulent Plaza Hotel — bearing signs with slogans like “Wake up PLAZA! Get with it NOW!” and “The Oak Room is Outside the Law.” It worked: Four months after the protest, facing media coverage of the event, the restaurant overturned its no-women policy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6C9BBo">
As women slowly gained the freedom to dine alone in public, the fear of being bothered by others — especially men who assumed the women wanted attention — became more acute. The solution was a familiar one. “Taking a book to a restaurant, reading it while you’re eating, that was just universal,” Whitaker notes. It was an especially attractive option for women. “Sometimes women just did not want to look like they wanted to be disturbed,” she said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FSrb7X">
That certainly has continued. I love to bring a book to a bar, though I find it can be more of a conversation starter than a conversation ender these days. A phone is a more reliable way to signal your unavailability.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6n8ZbU">
And the use of the phone during solo dining is pretty noticeable. The art photographer Nancy Scherl recently released a book called <a href="https://www.nancyascherlfineart.com/dining-alone"><em>Dining Alone</em>: <em>In the Company of Solitude</em></a>, containing decades of her photos of solo diners around the world. “I feel that sometimes the phone becomes a bit of a crutch for people — that they are pulling out their cellphone instead of people-watching, or smiling at someone who might be sitting next to them, or starting up a conversation with someone who might be sitting across from them or two tables down,” she said. “It’s nice to break down the barriers and feel that you can say hi, instead of whipping out your cellphone.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a2os9w">
Guilty as charged, though <a href="https://wilkinson.substack.com/p/wont-you-celebrate-with-me">I love the random restaurant encounter</a>, especially after so many months of severely limited opportunities to chat with strangers. Looking at my phone or reading a book also robs me of the opportunity to single-mindedly enjoy the experience, savor the flavors, be fully present in the moment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ILgzCF">
So one of my intentions for 2023 is to continue to perfect the art of solo dining, basking in the experience<strong> </strong>whether I’m outside on the sidewalk letting the world go by or perched at a bar eating truffle fries. There’s no need to be afraid of what people think. “When we are in the position of observer, we have no clue what people are thinking or feeling,” Scherl told me. “We don’t know if they’re content or they are miserable — a lot of it is concealed.” Instead, I can remember that I’m exercising hard-won freedoms and doing something good for myself, too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XanFmB">
And in my years as an intrepid solo diner, I’ve learned a few tricks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4hsWTa">
The best way to start is to sit at the bar, especially in a fancy restaurant. I like to watch the bartender make cocktails, or maybe chat with a fellow diner. You almost never need a reservation at the bar, and the look of relief in the host’s eyes when you say “I’ll just sit at the bar” in a busy restaurant makes you feel like a saint. These days, bars are designed for solo dining.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="57d94Q">
Some people feel awkward dining alone because they worry they’re taking up space that could be used by two diners, thus generating more revenue for the restaurant. That’s a very compassionate position, but there are ways around it. Try, for instance, an early dinner, before the restaurant fills up. (In my city, that means getting there around 5:30 pm; it varies by place.) Or go for lunch, which is often less busy anyhow. Be sure to tip generously.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VB0lgm">
A communal table (or a chef’s table) can also be a great option, and gives the added benefit of inviting conversation with other diners. Not all restaurants have them, but they’re especially good options while traveling in another city or country. Call or research the restaurant ahead of time to see if it’s an option.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u2RRxA">
Of course, recognize that practice makes perfect. Bring a book or magazine if it makes you feel more comfortable. But know that the more you do it, the less “weird” it will seem. Focus on eating mindfully, allowing yourself to focus on the flavors and presentation. Ask for recommendations from the staff. If you’re at the bar and they’re not too busy, strike up a conversation with the bartender. Some of the most memorable experiences I’ve had dining out, especially while traveling, have come from recommendations I’ve gotten at bars.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DvVz1p">
And most of all, have fun with it. As someone wisely once told me, “Nobody is thinking about you, because they’re all thinking about themselves.” Even if they <em>are</em> thinking about you — who cares? Your solo dining might inspire someone else to try it.
</p>
<p class="c-end-para" data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4CwF3V">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/alissa-wilkinson"><em>Alissa Wilkinson</em></a><em> covers film and culture for Vox. Alissa is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics.</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="auqLok">
<a href="http://www.vox.com/even-better"><em>Even Better</em></a><em> is here to offer deeply sourced, actionable advice for helping you live a better life. Do you have a question on money and work; friends, family, and community; or personal growth and health? Send us your question by filling out this </em><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfiStGSlsWDBmglim7Dh1Y9Hy386rkeKGpfwF6BCjmgnZdqfQ/viewform"><em>form</em></a><em>. We might turn it into a story.</em>
</p></li>
<li><strong>FairTax, the GOP plan for a 30 percent national sales tax, explained</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Mike Huckabee on stage playing an electric bass at a FairTax rally in Jacksonville, Florida, on January 27, 2008." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/67maO7V_c0cFndYAEDUYLIXm6DQ=/0x0:2592x1944/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71907751/79281718.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Former GOP Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, slapping da bass for a FairTax rally in 2008. Huckabee deserves a lot of credit for popularizing the idea. | Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Why Kevin McCarthy agreed to put a radical plan to remake the tax code up for a vote.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ft91s6">
Kevin McCarthy had a hell of a time getting elected as House speaker, and a list of all the concessions he made to the most conservative members of his party wouldn’t fit here. But one of the more important was a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-republicans-vote-bill-abolishing-irs-eliminating-income-tax">concession to hold a vote about a radical tax reform proposal</a> known as the FairTax.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9yZawb">
The FairTax, at its heart, is simple enough: it would take almost every federal tax and replace them with a fat 30 percent sales tax on everything. Virtually every American would get a monthly check from the government to cover the cost of paying the tax on essentials. It’s a radical idea, but one which since its <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/house-bill/2525">first introduction to Congress in 1999</a> has been a favorite of conservative Republicans. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) already has 23 cosponsors for the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/25">current iteration</a>. Prominent party figures like <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/155/cosponsors">Ted Cruz</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2007/12/13/17209388/huckabee-whips-up-debate-with-fair-tax-plan">Mike Huckabee</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-WB-3920">John McCain</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fed_Up/V8uoRGamur0C?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;pg=PT131&amp;printsec=frontcover">Rick Perry</a>, and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/herman-cains-9-9-9-plan-the-return-of-trickle-down-economics">Herman Cain</a> have all championed the idea over the years.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JHzfPu">
Not surprisingly, <a href="https://itep.org/fair-tax-plan-would-abolish-irs-shift-federal-taxes-from-wealthy/">liberal groups who judge the proposal regressive</a> are against it. But so are many enthusiastic conservative tax-cutters, like the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-gops-fair-tax-masochism-kevin-mccarthy-buddy-carter-house-republicans-sales-tax-11674248654">Wall Street Journal editorial board</a> and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/01/national-sales-tax-house-republicans-grover-norquist/672810/">Grover Norquist</a>. Here’s what the <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/what-house-republicans-should-know-about-the-fair-tax/">National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru</a> had to say about it:
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RShpg9">
“Any House Republican who backs this bill can accurately be accused of voting for … raising the price of everything by a huge amount at a time when inflation is already high; shifting more of the tax burden to the middle class; instituting a large new wealth tax on senior citizens; increasing federal spending by a massive amount; increasing the deficit; and creating large black markets.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8Zr99y">
Otherwise, it’s a great idea.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2hOefp">
There’s something oddly comforting to me about the return of FairTax discourse. I’ve been following the idea since 2004 or so, when I was 14, because I was not an athletic child. It somehow just keeps coming back again and again, despite its obvious and many weaknesses.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fr8EYf">
I’m here to help. Here’s everything you ever wanted to know about the FairTax but were afraid to ask.
</p>
<h3 id="cI6OCZ">
So, how big is this FairTax?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nR4hbn">
It’s 30 percent! And it would apply to just about everything, from groceries to health care to rent and home purchases to interest on your credit card.
</p>
<h3 id="ob2S2O">
Sales taxes are regressive, right? Won’t this hurt poor people?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b3Tmth">
Flat sales taxes like the FairTax are probably regressive on their own. <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/who-would-bear-burden-vat">Most economists’ view</a> is that rich people spend less of their income, and save more, so as a share of income a sales tax takes less from them than it does as a share of poor people’s income. (Some recent research <a href="https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/99709/BI-Brief-113017-CPF_ConsumptionTax.pdf?isAllowed=y&amp;sequence=1">disputes this in the US context</a>, mostly because sales taxes often exempt spending that makes up a bigger share of low-income people’s budgets, such as rent and groceries.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="na4mEx">
But sales taxes can still be good policy if <a href="https://lbo-news.com/2019/10/11/taxing-the-rich-is-only-a-start-though-its-a-good-one/">used to fund progressive programs</a>, as the Nordic countries do. The FairTax, for its part, tries to offset some of the negative impact on poor people by including what it calls a <a href="https://flfairtax.org/2022-fairtax-prebate-schedule/">tax “prebate.”</a> Each household would get a monthly check worth 23 percent of the <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines">poverty threshold</a> for a household their size.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cdoIQO">
In 2023, that’s $279.45 a month for a single adult, with an extra $98.52 per month for each additional person in the house. For a family of four, this adds up to $6,900 in no-strings-attached cash payments every year.
</p>
<h3 id="rohGsT">
Those checks are just for poor people, right?
</h3>
<div id="hvXwUp">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4viXnU">
No, they’re for everyone! Or at least every citizen and most legal residents. Everyone with a Social Security number would be eligible. It would instantly become one of the largest programs in the entire federal government. If you multiply the <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/HSD410221">number of households in the US</a> by the rebate size for the average household of 2.6 people, you get a total annual cost of about $650 billion. That’s around the size of the defense budget, and about what <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56324">Medicare cost</a> before the Covid-19 crisis. The $1,400 checks that the Biden administration sent out in March 2021 only <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57056">cost $402 billion</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="abgMvs">
So the government would just be mailing checks to people with no strings attached. Isn’t that a basic income?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q9XDfG">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/4/2/8332115/rubio-lee-basic-income">I think so, yes</a>. The FairTax would create the first permanent, unconditional cash program for which all Americans are eligible. That’s an enormous step toward basic income, even if it’s not enough money to live on.
</p>
<h3 id="dH7DxH">
That’s pretty neat. So this prebate, it makes the FairTax progressive?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bAW9aJ">
Lol, no, it does not. The FairTax gets rid of the personal and corporate income taxes, and the estate tax, which are the three most progressive taxes in the federal code. For most poor people, the personal income tax already <em>gives</em> them money through provisions like the <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-earned-income-tax-credit">Earned Income Tax Credit</a> or the <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-child-tax-credit">Child Tax Credit</a>. Getting rid of it means all those benefits go away.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sGJiKb">
At the top end, the rich go from paying a top rate of 40.8 percent on their wages, as well as 23.8 percent on their income from investments, to just paying the 30 percent tax on everything they buy. But wealthy people save more of their income than non-wealthy people do, and everything they save would be tax-free. By <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/straub/files/mss_richsavingglut.pdf#page=15">one measure</a>, rich people in the 2010s saved 8.5 percent of their income, while the <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/straub/files/mss_richsavingglut.pdf#page=19">bottom 90 percent</a> had a <em>negative</em> savings rate, spending 2.8 percent more than they earned.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WtuMLC">
I know of no credible estimates of the distributional impact of the FairTax, if it were to replace income and payroll taxes, but when the Bush administration appointed a panel to study tax reform proposals, it <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Report-Fix-Tax-System-2005.pdf#page=231">concluded</a> that using the tax to replace the income tax alone would sharply raise taxes on the middle class.
</p>
<h3 id="exFATS">
How did this idea come about, then?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kVYQI1">
The origins of the FairTax lie in that strange period of time called the mid-90s. Republicans had retaken the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/586638">in part</a> by campaigning hard against President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnibus_Budget_Reconciliation_Act_of_1993">Bill Clinton’s 1993 budget plan</a>, which included massive tax hikes on top earners. The richest taxpayers had seen the tax they pay on the next dollar they earn (their “marginal” rate) grow by about 12 cents, which <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/08/07/senate-passes-clinton-budget-bill-51-50-after-kerrey-reluctantly-casts-yes-vote/e9c37591-86f5-4ca8-ad84-f6e8368999cb/">made conservatives in Congress very, very mad</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p9RvcN">
Their response in 1995 and 1996 was a flurry of dramatic tax reform proposals from Republicans in Congress and in the 1996 presidential race (or both). Almost all of these ideas attempted to move the US away from taxing income, and toward taxing consumption. House Majority Leader <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/1995/0602/02082.html">Dick Armey</a> and presidential contender <a href="https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/analysis/time/9601/29/forbes.special/forbes.flattax.shtml">Steve Forbes</a> championed a 17 percent “<a href="https://web.stanford.edu/~rehall/Flat%20Tax%20Testimony%201995.pdf">flat tax</a>” designed by Stanford researchers Robert Hall and Alvin Rabushka.
</p>
<h3 id="5HIwbG">
The flat tax sounds vaguely familiar…
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="simuIC">
Yeah, the flat tax. The flat tax looks superficially like an income tax, but is really a sales tax in disguise.
</p>
<h3 id="dkWphb">
Exciting disguise!
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tj7IHo">
Do not taunt me. The way the Hall-Rabushka flat tax would work is that businesses would pay a form of sales tax called a “<a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-would-vat-be-collected">subtraction-style value-added tax,</a>” which is most notably used in <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4173861">Japan</a> and the <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&amp;type=pdf&amp;doi=b675d6a47701b9a62ebda2618e72923ddffaa373">state of New Hampshire</a>. The way subtraction VATs normally work is that businesses add up their sales, and subtract all their payments to other businesses, and pay a tax on the difference; the sum of the taxes paid by each business in this way is equivalent to if it had been levied as a sales tax when a consumer ultimately bought the product.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bvCLL0">
Hall and Rabushka’s version let businesses <em>also</em> deduct wages they paid. Then individuals would pay a flat tax on their wages, with a standard deduction to make it slightly more progressive. Income from capital gains or dividends would be totally exempt. The net effect is that you’re taxing the same consumption that a sales tax does.
</p>
<h3 id="tQHoSv">
They totally exempted all capital income? That seems a bit extreme.
</h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zupp8l2eMaGn_rt9dVGwUu09KZ4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24383356/94845920.jpg"/> <cite>Mike Mergen/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) holding up the postcard his flat tax return would fit on in 2004.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rQdAcX">
Yeah, but it was very much in vogue. Even the otherwise moderate Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), who would switch parties in 2009 and vote for Obamacare in 2010, wanted a <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1995-03-03-9503030672-story.html">20 percent flat tax</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4cE7cv">
But straight-up sales taxes, which effectively exempt capital income as well, were popular in this period too. Figures like then-House Ways and Means Committee chair <a href="https://www.supermarketnews.com/archive/house-mull-retail-sales-tax-measure">Bill Archer</a> (R-TX) and senator/presidential candidate <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/04/06/lugar-calls-for-a-national-sales-tax-to-replace-federal-levy-on-income/a55e7fb7-01d2-472f-aa82-d9b56bf00a20/">Richard Lugar</a> (R-IN) proposed replacing all personal and corporate income taxes with a single retail sales tax. And into this mix, a group of Texas businessmen launched <a href="https://fairtax.org/">Americans for Fair Taxation</a>, which offered an even more ambitious plan to replace not just income taxes, but Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, with one big 30 percent sales tax.
</p>
<h3 id="VB91QZ">
So that’s the FairTax! Did actual politicians embrace it too?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uY4xmt">
Yes, many!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LGGwc7">
FairTax wound up having much more staying power than its peers from 1995-96 like the flat tax, or alternative sales tax plans. AFT sought to build an actual movement around the idea, and got a congressional champion in Rep. John Linder (R-GA), later joined by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). Linder’s <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Fair-Tax-Book-Saying-Goodbye/dp/0060875496?sa-no-redirect=1">2005 book on the idea with talk radio host Neal Boortz</a> was a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/books/arts/best-sellers-august-28-2005.html">bestseller</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b0yl5X">
By 2008, former Arkansas Gov. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2007/12/13/17209388/huckabee-whips-up-debate-with-fair-tax-plan">Mike Huckabee</a> was running for the Republican presidential nomination on the idea, while rivals like former Sen. <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3428541&amp;page=1">Fred Thompson</a> (R-TN) and Sen. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-WB-3920">John McCain</a> (R-AZ) offered at least tepid support. Former Gov. Gary Johnson (L-NM) touted it in his <a href="https://reason.com/2012/08/22/fair-tax-gives-gary-johnson-some-hiccups/">2012</a> and <a href="https://www.aei.org/articles/gary-johnsons-unfair-expensive-national-sales-tax/">2016</a> presidential runs as a Libertarian. The idea even got a Democratic backer in 2008: longshot former Sen. <a href="https://mikegravel.com/democrats-should-love-the-fair-tax/">Mike Gravel</a> (D-AK), who quite possibly made history as the first person to support both the FairTax and single-payer health care.
</p>
<h3 id="lRe819">
Man, the tax must raise a lot of money if it can pay for single-payer.
</h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Mike Gravel stares directly into your soul" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9NNLkBbezI6AZYgo5F-RuywLz0Q=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24383363/Screenshot_2023_01_24_at_4.18.41_PM.png"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://capture.dropbox.com/2f0py5JqYxwUzowG" target="_blank">Mike Gravel</a></cite>
<figcaption>
Former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK) in a 2008 presidential campaign ad, wherein he says nothing and throws a rock into a lake.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FYib2w">
This may shock you, but Mike Gravel did not really know what he was talking about.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UT7x4H">
Unfortunately, we don’t have any super-recent estimates of what the FairTax would bring in revenue-wise. One of the reasons I hope the House winds up voting on the idea is that would mean the Joint Committee on Taxation will have to “score” the bill, producing estimates of how much money it would bring in, how it would affect the deficit, and which taxpayers would pay less or more. That’d be exciting!
</p>
<h3 id="38tT7i">
Your life depresses me.
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oynfYp">
Yeah, I know. For the time being, the most recent estimates we have of what the FairTax specifically would do come from Brookings Institution economist <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/51321/1000785-The-National-Retail-Sales-Tax-What-Would-the-Rate-Have-To-Be-.PDF">William Gale</a>, who ran the numbers in 2005.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hFe19O">
Assuming a reasonable amount of tax evasion (20 percent) — and the question of evasion is important, as you’ll see — he found that the FairTax would increase the deficit by about $10.6 trillion over 10 years. In order to avoid increasing the deficit 10 years later, the FairTax would have to be set at 64.4 percent.
</p>
<h3 id="dTolc3">
Are you kidding me?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p1UqID">
I am not! And in fact, that’s probably too low. Gale is assuming there that, as the FairTax proponents suggest, the tax would apply to purchases by the government, which would effectively force state and local governments to cough up hundreds of billions of extra dollars to the federal government every year. If government purchases were exempted, as is normal for sales taxes, the revenue-neutral rate would be 81.6 percent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZeKMBP">
The point is that at a 30 percent rate, it’s reasonable to expect the FairTax to increase the federal budget deficit by trillions of dollars a year.
</p>
<h3 id="xsbC3s">
I assume the FairTax people have … a response to this.
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ytumhv">
They do. For one thing, they don’t like it when you refer to their tax rate as “30 percent.” While it increases the cost of, say, a $10 item by 30 percent, or $3, they argue that because $3 is 23 percent of the $13 post-tax cost, it’s actually a 23 percent tax.
</p>
<h3 id="2occDo">
Wait … seriously?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uVXtmr">
Yes, it’s stupid. More substantively, Laurence Kotlikoff, a Boston University economist and avowed FairTax partisan, and a team of co-authors wrote a <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w12732/w12732.pdf">working paper</a> responding to Gale and the Bush tax reform panel, and insisting that a rate of 31.27 percent (23.82 percent “tax-inclusive”) would make the proposal revenue-neutral. That is, the FairTax proposal would barely increase the deficit as written.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3cYHDU">
But the paper implicitly assumes no, or very little, tax evasion under the plan, which seems absurd to me. It’s a sales tax of 30 percent or more; people will have very strong incentives to evade it. To take just one example: the FairTax wouldn’t apply to transfers of used goods; state sales taxes tend not to hit small yard sale-style sales of used goods, but they <em>do</em> apply to things like <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/auto-loans/do-you-pay-sales-tax-on-a-used-car">used cars</a>, which would be totally exempt under the FairTax. The tax would hit newly constructed houses, but <a href="https://mr.cdn.ignitecdn.com/client_assets/fairtaxorg/media/attachments/56c4/ad6f/6970/2d1c/f605/0000/56c4ad6f69702d1cf6050000.pdf?1455730031">not existing ones</a>. Obviously this is going to result in evasion schemes taking advantage of the wild discrepancy in how new and used goods are treated.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PUCIyB">
Business-to-business transactions are also totally exempt, unlike under a European-style value-added tax. (This is going to be fun when my wife and I found Scammin’ Inc., a small business headquartered in our apartment that, as a business, can purchase all our groceries tax-free.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wMc1CO">
Perhaps the biggest problem is that FairTax proponents insist they want to tax more sales than just about any sales tax currently existing in the real world. Gale estimates that about 91 percent of household spending would be hit by the FairTax. Meanwhile, a recent <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/how-broad-are-state-sales-tax-bases/full">Tax Policy Center study</a> found that state sales taxes in the US only cover 39 percent of spending; most states tax much less than half of spending, with California taxing 36 percent and Texas 38 percent. Value-added taxes in other rich countries, which generally work better than retail sales taxes because they also tackle business-to-business transactions, only hit <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/6525a942-en/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/6525a942-en">56 percent of consumption</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rNBXgf">
It’s of course <em>possible</em> that Congress would pass the FairTax without including a multitude of exemptions for things like food and medicine and cars and other things that people don’t like to see taxed. However, this is Congress we’re talking about, so this will not happen.
</p>
<h3 id="cz3fHx">
It seems like a federal sales tax is a bad idea that will never happen?
</h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A shopper passes a sign advertising the reduced rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) in a store in Bristol on December 1, 2008." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MESy8rC0lZbRRwFTzgI3EoaQRLY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24383400/83868044.jpg"/> <cite>Matt Cardy/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
VATs are just a normal part of life in most of the rich world, like Bristol, UK, where this photo was taken in 2008.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dAlX52">
When it comes to FairTax, yes. I expect the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation to report that it will increase the deficit by trillions of dollars every year, and increase taxes on the middle class, and I expect these findings to kill it in Congress. Much less ambitious tax reforms with many fewer problems have died for much worse reasons (<a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/step-up-in-basis-repeal-tax-reform-democrats-51631821032">for example</a>). The FairTax is never happening.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aUnmwQ">
But I wouldn’t be so quick to reject sales taxes more broadly. There’s a reason every rich country except the US has a value-added tax: it’s a very efficient, easy-to-administer way to raise lots of money for progressive social programs like universal health care, child allowances, long-term care, and more.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zNvZ2i">
Gale, the FairTax critic, is actually a vocal advocate for adopting a VAT in the US. I like his idea of <a href="https://www.hamiltonproject.org/papers/raising_revenue_with_a_progressive_value_added_tax">pairing a 10 percent VAT with a small universal basic income</a> to make sure low-income people come out ahead. He estimates the bottom 20 percent of earners would see their incomes rise by nearly 17 percent as a result, while households with income above $90,000 or so would pay more. If you use some of the revenue to pay for the now-expired <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23056876/expanded-child-tax-credit-poverty-american-families-impact">expanded child tax credit</a>, the net effect would likely be a substantial reduction in poverty.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e9xTsZ">
You could also, as Columbia professor <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/100-Million-Unnecessary-Returns-Introduction/dp/0300164572?sa-no-redirect=1">Michael Graetz</a> and Sen. <a href="https://www.cardin.senate.gov/pct/">Ben Cardin</a> (D-MD) have proposed, use the VAT to exempt all but the wealthiest individuals from the income tax, by creating standard deductions of $50,000 or $100,000 for couples. This isn’t as progressive as using it for a UBI, but it would vastly simplify income tax collection and enable the large majority of Americans to not worry about filing taxes ever.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2Gimb4">
Economist Larry Summers once <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/19/business/tax-watch-the-likely-forms-of-new-taxes.html">noted</a> that a VAT has not been adopted in the US because “liberals think it’s regressive and conservatives think it’s a money machine” that’s a little too good at raising revenue. But if conservatives realized it’s regressive and liberals realized it’s a money machine, he quipped, maybe it could happen. The popularity of the FairTax suggests conservatives understand very well that sales taxes are regressive. But their plan is extremely half-baked. Maybe if they let liberals use it as a bit of a money machine, we might get somewhere.
</p></li>
<li><strong>Asian Americans are reeling from California’s back-to-back mass shootings</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eW6wH60qRGLdUpBJBGTMV0PNYLk=/479x0:4312x2875/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71907696/1246516276.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
People hold candles as they pay tribute to the victims of a mass shooting at a candlelight vigil in front of City Hall in Monterey Park, California, on January 24, 2023. | Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“It’s been really hard to process all of this.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PRH7MK">
Two <a href="https://www.vox.com/23142734/america-mass-shooting-gun-violence-control">recent mass shootings</a> have Asian American communities in California — and the rest of the country — reeling.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JOBCg5">
The shootings, both of which included Asian American victims and perpetrators, have been shocking and devastating for a community that’s still grappling with the violence many of its <a href="https://www.vox.com/22274325/asians-racism-coronavirus-oakland-san-francisco">members experienced during the pandemic</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7r7vtd">
“These two particular tragedies have been jarring and triggering for a lot of Asian Americans,” says James Zarsadiaz, a professor at the University of San Francisco who’s written extensively on the history of Monterey Park, where one of the shootings took place. “It’s been really hard to process all of this … because for [many] Asian Americans, these last few years, it has been back-to-back tragedy.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wMhADY">
The shootings happened within days of one another this past week. In Monterey Park, California — a suburb near Los Angeles — <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mass-shooters-motive-elusive-monterey-park-mourns-10-dead-2023-01-23/">a 72-year-old Asian American man killed 11 people</a>, all of whom are of Asian descent, at a local dance studio on Saturday; he also wounded nine others. Police have yet to identify a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-23/jealousy-possible-motives-in-monterey-park-shooting">motive for the shooting</a>, though they’re reportedly looking into personal connections that the shooter had with patrons of the studio.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gP2iNI">
In Half Moon Bay — a beach town south of San Francisco — a 66-year-old Asian American man <a href="https://apnews.com/3eb00c19a36ad129ca7f0063f4b2aaf9">killed 7 people</a>, including Chinese and Latino farm workers on Monday. The suspect worked alongside some of the victims on a mushroom farm in Half Moon Bay and previously worked at a second farm that employed other victims. Police are reviewing the attack as a potential incident of “workplace violence,” though the investigation is still ongoing. In both cases, more information about the victims as well as the suspects’ motives are still being released.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EaYVbI">
Both shootings occurred as the Lunar New Year holiday, a time that’s typically a joyous opportunity for celebration with friends and family, was just getting underway. Community activists note that the shootings have only compounded past traumas, tapping into existing fears about anti-Asian violence and raising concerns about gun control and mental health. These shootings follow anti-Asian attacks that surged in recent years as Asian Americans were scapegoated for the spread of the coronavirus. Between March 2020 and March 2022, the Stop AAPI Hate advocacy group has received reports of <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/statement-report-shows-almost-11000-hate-incidents-most-reported-by-women/">nearly 11,000 anti-Asian incidents</a> including physical violence, verbal abuse, and property damage.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DJ7qqA">
“I feel like it’s just been an onslaught of violence, like one after another. We have just experienced a set of storms,” says Chrissy Lau, a history professor at California State University Monterey Bay, who specializes in Asian American studies.
</p>
<h3 id="3HCSyO">
The California shootings have been a terrible “set of storms”
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EMJud2">
The shootings have added to the pain and anxiety that Asian Americans have experienced in the last few years, activists say.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2SQwNd">
“Really, it is, you know, stacking it on top of each other,” says Manjusha Kulkarni, a co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, an organization dedicated to tracking anti-Asian violence and harassment. “Each incident becomes another one where the community is reeling.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yTtE97">
For some, the initial news of the Monterey Park shooting prompted fears of another racist attack on Asian Americans similar to violence that increased during the pandemic. In the last few years, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-rose-73-last-year-updated-fbi-data-says-rcna3741">there’s been an uptick of hate crimes</a> against Asian Americans, blaming the group for the pandemic. And as politicians have leaned into more incendiary anti-China rhetoric, experts have worried that such statements could inflame xenophobic sentiment and actions as well.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5GMRuT">
“There is still that feeling of being targeted, and being fearful, when we hear about a shooting like this,” Connie Chung Joe, the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/asian-community-reeling-after-lunar-new-year-shooting-96600587">told the Associated Press</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eg0LGz">
Exacerbating this fear were previous anti-Asian attacks including the 2020 stabbing of an Asian family in a Midland, Texas, <a href="https://www.kxan.com/news/crime/report-sams-club-stabbing-suspect-thought-family-was-chinese-infecting-people-with-coronavirus/">Sam’s Club parking lot</a> and a 2021 mass shooting in <a href="https://www.vox.com/22335666/asian-spa-shooting-atlanta">multiple Atlanta-area spas</a> that killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent. As more information has been announced, however, the revelation that the suspects in both recent shootings are <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/1/25/23571655/monterey-park-half-moon-bay-shooter-old-age-crime">older Asian American men</a> has prompted its own sadness and reflection. Given the limited information on the motives of these attacks, many in the Asian American community are still trying to wrap their heads around both the causes behind them, and some of the similarities between the shooters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lLBXGG">
“It’s from my people and against my people, so it’s very sad,” says Min Zhou, a sociology and Asian American studies professor at UCLA.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="46OAB6">
“He chose to do harm on his fellow Asian Americans, so I think that’s kind of like that additional level of hurt,” adds Kulkarni, of the Monterey Park shooter.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U6OXgB">
The shootings have shaken people’s sense of safety in both places. Historically, Monterey Park has been a “vibrant Asian American enclave,” says Kulkarni, and “one of the first suburbs in the United States to have an Asian majority,” according to Zarsadiaz. Since the 1970s, Monterey Park has established itself as a “suburban Chinatown” and become a central, middle-class hub of Asian American restaurants, strip malls, and gathering places.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UuNBGR">
“I go to dim sum in Monterey Park, I play volleyball in Monterey Park, I do my food shopping in Monterey Park,” says Lau, who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, where the suburb is located.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GaBdvy">
“Monterey Park, you know, holds a lot of cultural value for a lot of Asian Americans, because, again, it reflects where a lot of us live, or at least a lot of us grew up,” says Zarsadiaz.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CsoyKN">
The violence in a historically safe space for Asian Americans has inspired both immense grief and solidarity. “That fear is always there when you have such a devastating incident and experience,” says Zhou, who said her son’s in-laws frequented the dance studio where the shootings occurred.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CwYAU2">
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/25/1151384499/monterey-park-shooting-victims">released the names of the victims</a> in the Monterey Park shooting, and they include Xiujuan Yu, 57; Hongying Jian, 62; Lilian Li, 63; Mymy Nhan, 65; Muoi Dai Ung, 67; Diana Man Ling Tom, 70; Wen-Tau Yu, 64; Valentino Marcos Alvero, 68; Ming Wei Ma, 72; Yu-Lun Kao, 72; and Chia Ling Yau, 76. Many were older Asian Americans who frequented the studio and enjoyed ballroom dancing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PykkVv">
In Half Moon Bay, the shooter targeted farm workers on two mushroom farms including both Chinese and Latino laborers, fueling fears among a community that’s already vulnerable.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Lnm7et">
Currently, there are 2,500 to 3,000 farm workers who work in and around Half Moon Bay, a beachside town in Northern California, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-24/half-moon-bay-shooting-victims">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>. These include migrant workers and longer-term residents, people of Asian and Latino descent and some <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/half-moon-bay-mass-shooting-devastating-to-local-farmworker-community/">immigrants who are undocumented</a>. Historically, Asian Americans, including Chinese, Japanese, and FilIpino workers, have comprised a substantial portion of California’s agricultural workforce, although their numbers have declined since 1965, when US policy resulted in the influx of more Asian immigrants in other professions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h88wVQ">
Half Moon Bay Vice Mayor Joaquin Jimenez has said that some farm workers are afraid to go back to work following this horrific attack, which took place where many workers lived and was witnessed by children returning from school.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zMoH7w">
“It’s important to humanize who these farm workers are: They are mothers and fathers and uncles,” Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga, executive director of ALAS, a Half Moon Bay nonprofit dedicated to advocacy for Latino workers, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/half-moon-bay-s-close-knit-farmworker-community-17738895.php">told the San Francisco Chronicle</a>. Farm workers have long faced <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/living-in-shipping-containers-making-9-an-17742337.php">challenging working conditions</a> in the state, including low wages, overcrowded housing, and workplace exploitation. Now, added to those concerns is the fear of fatal violence at work.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hB8ryN">
Information about the victims in Half Moon Bay is not yet fully available, though six of the seven victims’ names have been released by the San Mateo County coroner’s office. They are Zhi Shen Liu, 73; Qi Zhong Cheng, 66; Marciano Jimenez Martinez, 50; Ye Tao Bing, 43; Ai Xiang Zhang, 74; and Jing Zhi Lu, 64.
</p>
<h3 id="FOllVt">
The shootings have prompted calls for policy change
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QS88if">
An outpouring of support for the victims and calls for policy changes have followed the shootings. Members of both the Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay communities are responding with mutual aid and financial support for the victims and their families.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BlQf3w">
“For us, the focus is on what we can do for the victims, the survivors, their families, and community members,” says Kulkarni. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-23/monterey-park-shooting-victims-donate-gofundme">The LA Times</a> has compiled a list of fundraising campaigns to help victims of the Monterey Park shooting, and <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/01/24/how-to-help-families-impacted-by-half-moon-bay-mass-shooting/">the San Jose Mercury News</a> has also compiled a list to help victims of the Half Moon Bay shooting.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9niyNl">
Beyond the help that’s focused on victims, experts and organizers are also urging stricter gun laws, more mental health resources for aging people, and greater scrutiny of domestic violence within the Asian American community. In both cases, the shooters were older Asian American men, and in the case of the Half Moon Bay attack, the shooter had previously received a temporary restraining order for violence against a roommate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S0WGG7">
The similar age profiles of both shooters have led to calls for more investment in mental health and economic resources for Asian American elders, a group that often <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SAH-Elder-Report-526.pdf">faces gaps in such services</a> due to stigma, a lack of cultural fluency among physicians, and language barriers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y4fXGE">
“I think the general consensus is that a lot of Asian Americans, particularly older Asian Americans, do not have the language or tools … to address mental health issues,” says Zarsadiaz.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9wDjDW">
Advocates and lawmakers have also ramped up the push for more robust gun control measures in the wake of the two shootings, including supporting a federal assault weapons ban that’s been held up in Congress. In the past, Asian Americans have strongly supported robust gun control measures — with 77 percent backing them <a href="https://aapidata.com/2022-aavs/">in a 2022 AAPI Data survey</a> — advocacy that’s poised to continue in the wake of these tragedies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="109D6T">
“This is a big issue of gun violence,” says Zhou. “And violence is not just unique to a particular group, so that needs to be addressed across the board.”
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ICC awards: Babar Azam wins ‘ODI cricketer of the year’ and ‘Men’s cricketer of 2022’ awards</strong> - England skipper and allrounder Ben Stokes, who redefined Test cricket in 2022, was adjudged the best in the longer format.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Australian Open 2023 | Rybakina beats Azarenka to reach final</strong> - Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina has reached her second final in the past three Grand Slam tournaments by beating Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (4), 6-3 at the Australian Open</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>India vs NZ T20Is: India braces T20 challenge against New Zealand ahead of marquee Australia Test series</strong> - Hardik Pandya is back leading the T20 side with some regulars and fringe players in the squad.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>No surprises: World's top four battle out in semifinals of Hockey World Cup</strong> - While Australia faces Germany in the first semifinals, Belgium will take on Netherlands in the second.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dembele strike sends Barcelona into Copa semi-finals</strong> - Barcelona were the better side for most of the match after that but only scored once thanks to a brilliant counter-attack by man-of-the-match Dembele in the 52nd minute</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>People urged to soak in patriotic spirit of Republic Day</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Here are the big stories from Tamil Nadu today</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Powers of various organs of State clearly defined, says A.P. Chief Justice</strong> - Judiciary is trying to do its best in the delivery of justice, Prashant Kumar Mishra asserts at R-Day celebrations</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Padma Shri for Director of IISER Tirupati</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Union Budget 2023-24 | Government holds customary ‘halwa’ ceremony to mark final stage of Budget preparation</strong> - A customary Halwa ceremony is performed every year before the “lock-in” process.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine hit by Russian missiles day after West’s offer of tanks</strong> - One person died and two others were injured after strikes in Kyiv, the city’s mayor says.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: Zelensky urges speedy delivery of Western tanks</strong> - Ukraine’s president says the modern fighting vehicles must be supplied quickly and in significant numbers.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Germany delayed sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine</strong> - Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s indecision has earned him criticism both nationally and internationally.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Man held after fatal machete attack at Spanish church</strong> - A man was arrested shortly after the incident in the port town of Algeciras on Wednesday evening.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine’s Odesa designated Unesco World Heritage site</strong> - While Ukraine welcomes the decision, Russia says Unesco’s move is “politically motivated”.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>RSA’s demise from quantum attacks is very much exaggerated, expert says</strong> - Expert says the focus on quantum attacks may distract us from more immediate threats. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1912611">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Drug maker paid for “news” story on CBS’s 60 Minutes, doctors’ group alleges</strong> - The segment only had experts paid by the drug maker and didn’t mention drug risks. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1912598">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Tesla made an annual profit of $12.6 billion in 2022</strong> - High operating margins and good sales growth are responsible, Tesla says. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1912597">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rocket Lab’s first US launch: Big for the company and the site</strong> - The company’s first launch from US soil was pretty—and pretty important. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1912577">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Airborne poop probes: CDC considers testing airline sewage for pathogens</strong> - Wastewater testing has proven useful, and experts call for more sewage sampling. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1912571">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I bought a sweater that kept giving me static shock</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Thankfully the store replaced it with another, free of charge.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JohnKarlConwayThe7th"> /u/JohnKarlConwayThe7th </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/10lgf77/i_bought_a_sweater_that_kept_giving_me_static/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/10lgf77/i_bought_a_sweater_that_kept_giving_me_static/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Quasi NSFW</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A boy comes home from school at 7PM. His dad is PISSED.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Where have you been?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The son replies “I was at Megan’s house. We were studying for tomorrow’s algebra test.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He grabs a snack off the table and says “Wow, dad, these crab cakes are delicious!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Dad says, “Go wash your hands, you moron. Those are donuts.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Xkr2011"> /u/Xkr2011 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/10l4qk6/quasi_nsfw/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/10l4qk6/quasi_nsfw/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>nobody seems to upvote a cake joke on cakeday anymore</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Feeling desserted
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/forvelcrobug"> /u/forvelcrobug </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/10kz8fp/nobody_seems_to_upvote_a_cake_joke_on_cakeday/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/10kz8fp/nobody_seems_to_upvote_a_cake_joke_on_cakeday/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I got cut off by a taxi driver last week. I was walking through town today and I saw him at the back of the queue at the taxi rank. I got in the first taxi in the queue and said “How much to the station ?” “$5” said the driver. “And how much for a blow job ?” I asked him.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“That’s disgusting” he said “Get out of my cab” I got in the second taxi and said “How much to the station ?”. “$5” said the driver. “And how much for a blow job ?” I asked him. “I’m not having any of that” he said “Get out of my cab” I worked my way down the line, getting thrown out of each taxi in turn, until I came to my target at the back of the queue. “How much to the station ?”. “$5” said the driver. “Ok” I said “Let’s go” As we pulled out and overtook the other taxis I wound the window down and gave all the other drivers a thumbs up with a big grin on my face!!
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/AdeptLengthiness8886"> /u/AdeptLengthiness8886 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/10l5xa8/i_got_cut_off_by_a_taxi_driver_last_week_i_was/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/10l5xa8/i_got_cut_off_by_a_taxi_driver_last_week_i_was/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Old McDonald had to hire a manager for the farm. The manager asked, “What’s my title?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
McDonald said, “You’re the C I E I O.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/cortanitch"> /u/cortanitch </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/10ljvg1/old_mcdonald_had_to_hire_a_manager_for_the_farm/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/10ljvg1/old_mcdonald_had_to_hire_a_manager_for_the_farm/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>

4
index.html
View File

File diff suppressed because one or more lines are too long