As Threats Mutate

 As I try on a daily basis to wrap my mind around the challenges facing us if we are to better humanity’s chances for survival, much of it boils down to technology — both biotech and cyber tech.

By some measures, we have advanced further and faster in the past half-century in these realms than all of the millennia preceding, so much so that we may also have outpaced our intellectual ability to keep up with those changes.

But we know our brains are capable of much more than we demand of them, so the problem now boils down to focusing on which concrete steps can we take at present to harness technology to solve the problem of our impending extinction as a species.

There *must* be a solution to climate change, for example, as our brains tell us in our most optimistic moments — we just have to imagine that solution and implement it. Then again, the global nature of a problem like planetary climate change makes it seem impossible to grasp in a form that yields those solutions — other than escape.

And escape, of course, is precisely what the billionaire-financed space travel and ideas of colonizing other planets are predicated on — escape for the few, the rich, the selfish — forget about the great unwashed masses left behind to deal with the mess which the few, the rich, and the selfish have so prodigiously profited from.

In this context, the battles over science vs. fantasy and truth vs. fiction come down in our brains to synthesizing the opposites. Thus science fiction predicts and (at least in Hollywood) solves many of our greatest problems, just as literary non-fiction solves many of the issues facing a conscientious writer trying to communicate essential truths in this most ambiguous of eras.

Ambiguity — or what might better be termed the state of not knowing — is a very difficult state to maintain as we struggle with these challenges. Yet that is where we find ourselves.

A litmus test in the age of not knowing is where do you come down — with pessimism or optimism. Our brains allow either option; only one, however, may lead us to solutions. And that is the hard one to sustain.

***
TUESDAY’S HEADLINES:

• The Omicron variant of coronavirus carries a "very high" global risk of surges, the WHO warned, as more countries reported cases, prompting border closures and reviving worries about the economic recovery from a two-year pandemic. (Reuters)

• CDC Says Everyone 18 and Older Should Get Covid-19 Booster — The agency strengthened its recommendation as a result of the risk posed by the Omicron variant recently discovered. (WSJ)

• Countries are shutting down their borders out of fear of the omicron coronavirus variant, even though scientists warned that it wasn't clear whether the newly identified version was more alarming than other variants. The rush reflects anxiety about anything that could prolong the pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people. [AP]

• China vows to provide more vaccine doses to Africa (NHK)

• As omicron emerges, a tired public has little appetite for new restrictions (WP)

• A semblance of calm returned to world markets as investors waited for more details to assess the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant on the world economy, allowing battered stock markets and oil prices to recover. (Reuters)

• Dr. Anthony Fauci urged Americans to get vaccinated in light of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus. Fauci said there is still much that is unknown about omicron, but that vaccines offer a proven level of protection. “It may not be as good in protecting against initial infection, but it has a very important impact on diminishing the likelihood that you’re going to get a severe outcome from it,” he said. [HuffPost]

• Omicron Variant Has Vaccine Makers Preparing for Worst Case — Testing has just started, but drugmakers have expressed concern that Covid-19 vaccines won’t work as well against the new strain. (WSJ)

• As scientists ask whether Omicron can outrun the Delta variant, one top infectious disease expert said existing COVID-19 vaccines are probably effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalization. (Reuters)

• Covid vaccine makers race to address omicron variant (WP)

• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says that the appearance of a new COVID-19 variant could slow the economy and hiring, while also raising uncertainty about inflation. (AP)

• Will the coronavirus omicron variant disrupt the holidays? (SFC)

• The New COVID Drugs Are a Bigger Deal Than People Realize (Atlantic)

• Merriam-Webster chooses vaccine as the 2021 word of the year (AP)

• Endless Covid winter of our discontent (Politico)

• VIDEO: South African Scientists Advise Against Panic Over Omicron Variant— South African health officials said that while they need more data to be sure, existing precautions and treatments seem to be effective against the new coronavirus variant. (AP)

• Whatever Happened to the Exceptions for Rape and Incest? (Atlantic)

• Hunt for the ‘Blood Diamond of Batteries’ Impedes Green Energy Push — Dangerous mining conditions plague Congo, home to the world’s largest supply of cobalt, a key ingredient in electric cars. A leadership battle threatens reforms. (NYT)

• With China under President Xi Jinping stepping up its military intimidation of Taiwan, the island’s pursuit of a potent undersea deterrent is becoming a reality. Read our special report. (Reuters)

• The Secretive Prisons That Keep Migrants Out of Europe —Tired of migrants arriving from Africa, the E.U. has created a shadow immigration system that captures them before they reach its shores, and sends them to brutal Libyan detention centers run by militias. (New Yorker)

• ‘Taste this, it’s salty’: how rising seas are ruining the Gambia’s rice farmers (Guardian)

• Twitter CEO and founder Jack Dorsey is stepping down (WP)

• World's first living robots can now reproduce, scientists say — Meet the xenobot: world's first living, self-healing robots created from frog stem cells(CNN)

• The Science of Mind Reading (New Yorker)

• Ex-Google workers sue company, saying it betrayed 'Don't Be Evil' motto (NPR)

• ‘They’re all begging me’: Trump’s 2024 veep tryouts get underway (Politico)

• Russia will continue slowing down the speed of Twitter on mobile devices until all content deemed illegal is deleted, state communications regulator Roskomnadzor told Reuters, as Moscow continues to make demands of Big Tech. (Reuters)

• ‘Hate crime’ attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians spike in the West Bank(WP)

• Taliban and 9/11 Families Fight for Billions in Frozen Afghan Funds — The White House must figure out what to do with the Afghan central bank’s account at the Federal Reserve, now blocked under U.S. law. (NYT)

• Understanding the Body Electric (New Yorker)

• Steph Curry Is the New Roger Federer (WSJ)

• Saudi Arabia and China are accused of using sports to cover up human rights abuse (NPR)

• Simpsons Tiananmen episode missing in Hong Kong (BBC)

• K-Pop sensation BTS are playing their first in-person concerts since the onset of the pandemic, and legions of die-hard fans have descended on Los Angeles to see their idols in the flesh. (Reuters)

• Nonprofit Cofounders Have Screaming Match Over Whether Mission To Ignite Change Or Spark Community Impact (The Onion)

  ***

  TUESDAY LYRICS:

  “End of the Line”

  Traveling Wilburys

  (Songwriters: Robert Dylan / George Harrison / Jeffrey Lynne / Roy Kelton Orbison / Thomas Earl Petty)

  Well, it's alright, ridin' around in the breeze

  Well, it's alright, if you live the life you please

  Well, it's alright, doin' the best you can

  Well, it's alright, as long as you lend a hand

  You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring (at the end of the line)

  Waiting for someone to tell you everything (at the end of the line)

  Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring (at the end of the line)

  Maybe a diamond ring

  Well, it's alright, even if they say you're wrong

  Well, it's alright, sometimes you gotta be strong

  Well, it's alright, as long as you got somewhere to lay

  Well, it's alright, everyday is judgment day

  Maybe somewhere down the road a ways (at the end of the line)

  You'll think of me and wonder where I am these days (at the end of the line)

  Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays (at the end of the line)

  Purple Haze

  Well, it's alright, even when push comes to shove

  Well, it's alright, if you got someone to love

  Well, it's alright, everything'll work out fine

  Well, it's alright, we're going to the end of the line

  Don't have to be ashamed of the car I drive (at the end of the line)

  I'm just glad to be here, happy to be alive (at the end of the line)

  And it don't matter if you're by my side (at the end of the line)

  I'm satisfied

  Well, it's alright, even if you're old and grey

  Well, it's alright, you still got something to say

  Well, it's alright, remember to live and let live

  Well, it's alright, the best you can do is forgive

  Well, it's alright (alright), riding around on the breeze

  Well, it's alright (alright), if you live the life you please

  Well, it's alright, even if the sun don't shine

  Well, it's alright (alright), we're going to the end of the line

Omicron is not the Problem

 The Omicron variant will likely continue to dominate the news cycles for a bit, but over the longer term, it will probably prove to be just another aftershock from the main Covid-19 crisis, and not a new crisis in its own right. 

The basic framework remains: 

• The variant will quickly span the globe due to unvaccinated populations.

• But the vaccines developed to protect against Covid will either contain Omicron or will be updated quickly by manufacturers to do so.

• The main health damage from this variant, therefore, will be among the unvaccinated in the U.S. and overseas.

• The mental health impacts of this unending pandemic will last for years.

But the political controversies spawned by the pandemic may prove to be even more lasting and damaging than the health crisis. That’s because I believe there is a connection between the global plague that threatens everyone and the rise of extremism. 

It is hard to prove that connection; after all, Trump was already President when the pandemic hit, but Covid may well have accelerated a process that was already underway.

Now it appears that extremist beliefs will continue to be on the rise in a world where a majority of the global population (about 53 percent from estimates I’ve seen) already lives under anti-democratic rulers. 

And it would be difficult to over-emphasize the dangers of increasing authoritarianism in the specific communications environment we live in today. Authoritarians use the existing media systems, including social media, more effectively than democratic leaders can do.

Therefore, disinformation, conspiracy theories and outright lies (like Trumps’a claims about the 2020 election) will continue to compete successfully with honest, verified information here and around the world for the foreseeable future.

In that sense, the global heath crisis is ultimately also an informational crisis. The lack of strong journalistic institutions to wage battle against the propagandists is a key weakness of this particular moment in history.

We need to change that. We need a strong new international commitment to a free press, free speech, and the primacy of accuracy over lies if we are to withstand the authoritarian aftershocks of Covid-19. But how can we possibly accomplish that?

For now, I’m arguing that freaking out about Omicron is essentially a distraction from the main issue of our time — political extremism. If we are going to freak out about something, let it be that.

***

MONDAY’s NEWS:

• Will the Vaccines Stop Omicron? Scientists Are Racing to Find Out. — A “Frankenstein mix” of mutations raises concerns, but the variant may remain vulnerable to current vaccines. If not, revisions will be necessary. (NYT)

• As the omicron variant arrives in the West, wealthy countries are reaping what they sowed (WP)

• Dutch find 13 Omicron cases among S.Africa travelers (Reuters)

• Travel doors slam shut as new Covid variant triggers alarm, stranding hundreds of passengers (CNN)

• In omicron hot spot, somber mood as S Africa faces variant (AP)

• U.S. braces for Omicron ahead of southern Africa travel ban (Reuters)

• Organ transplant patients are at risk from covid. But some donors and recipients are fighting vaccination requirements. (WP)

• Omicron variant puts world in a 'race against time', says EU Commission President (CNN)

• Once rare, lung transplants for COVID-19 patients are rising quickly (NPR)

• China study warns of 'colossal' COVID outbreak if it opens up like U.S., France (Reuters)

• Covid live news: Omicron variant detected in Canada as Fauci warns two weeks needed to study new strain(Guardian)

• Omicron Likely Already in U.S., Officials Say (WSJ)

• U.S. focuses on booster shots as best strategy against new variant (WP)

• S.African doctor says patients with Omicron variant have "very mild" symptoms (Reuters)

• WHO calls for balanced response to new virus variant (Financial Times)

• How vaccine makers plan to address the new COVID-19 omicron variant (NPR)

• Anthony Fauci said claims he lied about certain research funding in the Wuhan lab smacked of contempt for science. (Politico)

• Fetal Viability, Long an Abortion Dividing Line, Faces a Supreme Court Test — On Wednesday, the justices will hear the most important abortion case in decades, one that could undermine or overturn Roe v. Wade. (NYT)

• Amid massive shortage, Canada taps strategic reserves — of maple syrup (WP)

• Researchers try producing potato resistant to climate change (AP)

• Nobel-winning stock market theory used to help save coral reefs (Guardian)

• Special Report: The Secretive Libyan Prisons That Keep Migrants Out of Europe (New Yorker)

• As Afghanistan’s economy collapses, international community looks for innovative ways to avoid humanitarian disaster (WP)

• Taliban Covert Operatives Seized Kabul From Within — Undercover agents—often clean-shaven, dressed in jeans and sporting sunglasses—spent years infiltrating Afghan government ministries, universities, businesses and aid organizations. (WSJ)

• ‘We will start again’: Afghan female MPs fight on from parliament in exile (Guardian)

• Researchers: HIV killed by vaccine in monkeys (NHK)

• News crew guard dies after being shot in attempted robbery (AP)

• The Black people who lived in Walden Woods long before Henry David Thoreau (WP)

• Organized Retail Thefts Continue Over Thanksgiving Weekend (WSJ)

• US and Iran seek to break impasse at talks on reviving nuclear deal (BBC)

• How Tucker Carlson became the voice of White grievance (WP)

• A Chaotic Rivalry Weekend Sets Up Final Sprint for College Football Playoff Spots (WSJ)

• AP Top 25: Michigan rises to No. 2; Oklahoma State up to 5th (AP)

• The voices we make when we pretend our dogs can talk (WP)

• What Stephen Sondheim Knew About Endings — His work was strongest when it lingered in the pain of knowing that no ever after lasts long. (Atlantic)

• Family Creeped Out By Alexa Playing Back Conversations They Haven’t Even Had Yet (The Onion)

***

MONDAY’s LYRICS

“The Truth”

Song by Jason Aldean

Songwriters: Brett James / Ashley Monroe

Tell 'em all I'm on vacation
Say I went to visit friends
That you ain't heard or seen from me in quite a while
When they ask you where I've been
Tell 'em I'm out on the west coast where it don't ever rain
And that I'm probably doing fine

Just don't tell 'em I've gone crazy
That I'm still strung out over you
Tell 'em anything you want to
Just don't tell 'em all the truth
Yeah don't tell 'em all the truth

Tell 'em all I'm out in Vegas
Blowin' every dollar I ever made
Tell 'em that I must be into something bad for me cause
I sure lost a lot of weight
Tell 'em I'm out on the road with some old rock and roll band
Living like a gypsy can

Just don't tell 'em I've gone crazy
That I'm still strung out over you
Tell 'em anything you want to
Just don't tell 'em all the truth
Yeah don't tell 'em all the truth

The truth is that I'm asking you to lie
And we both know that it ain't right
But if you ever loved me please
Have some mercy on me
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Tell 'em anything you want to
Just don't tell 'em all the truth
Yeah, don't tell 'em all the truth
I still need you
Yeah, that's the truth
I still love you
Baby, that's the truth

The Rhythm of Technology

 The Omicron variant is the latest reminder that the virus causing Covid-19 will continue to mutate as long as significant pockets of unvaccinated people remain to harbor it.

It’s time for everybody who has not yet been vaccinated to get the shots. Enough data is in; there are no significant long-term negative effects that would justify further resistance. 

Vaccination has never been an individual choice. Vaccination is about the whole of humanity. Mandates are fine. In fact, they are appropriate.

***

I want to give a shout out to fellow Substack author Ted Gioia, whose piece “How Music Created Silicon Valley” documents how the popular demand for music led to many of the technological breakthroughs that so define our age.

From the early successes of Hewlett-Packard, the transistor radio, Sony, Disney, RCA or the little known role played by Bing Crosby to the iPod and the ascendance of Apple as one of the world’s biggest companies, music has long the core driver of tech changes.

Of course, it is not the songwriters or even the singers who have profited from these historical developments but the massive companies — Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix and Google — that sit at the apex of the global economy. 

***

I rarely write about sports these days but my earliest journalism was sports reporting while a student at the University of Michigan 50+ years ago. In fact I was Sports Editor of the student-run newspaper, The Michigan Daily in 1968-69.

So it was no surprise that early Saturday I was watching the annual revival of the intense football rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State. Both teams entered the game with 10-1 records.

It was a chilly snowy day in Ann Arbor but the weather didn’t interfere with a huge celebration when Michigan won the game 42-27 to advance to the Big Ten title game next Saturday.

As Michigan fans flooded the field after the game, my youthful passion returned with a rush and I cheered out loud. Three of my grandsons watched the final moments and the celebration with me.

***

Sunday’s Headlines:

• Omicron variant detected from Britain to Hong Kong as countries race to impose controls — Experts say the emergence of the new variant reflects the risks from vaccine inequities around the world. (WP)

• We Know Almost Nothing About the Omicron Variant (Atlantic)

• UK, Germany and Italy detect Omicron coronavirus variant cases (Reuters)

• Variant Highlights Risks of Low Vaccination Rates in Poor Countries (WSJ)

• As Omicron Variant Circles the Globe, African Nations Face Blame and Bans — With countries trying to close their doors to the new coronavirus variant, southern African officials note that the West’s hoarding of vaccines helped create their struggle in the first place. (NYT)

• COVID fears spark Dow's biggest sell-off of 2021 (Reuters)

• N.Y. declares covid state of emergency as Gov. Hochul warns variant ‘is coming’(WP)

• As variant is detected around world, travel bans may be too late, experts say(WP)

• New Covid variant triggers urgent moment for Biden health team (Politico)

• CDC says no cases of Omicron identified in U.S. so far (Reuters)

• New data shows Merck’s experimental covid-19 pill is less effective than early results predicted (WP)

• What We Know About the Creator of Bitcoin — In an age in which it is hard to be anonymous, the identity of the cryptocurrency’s inventor remains a mystery (WSJ)

• Israel and Iran Broaden Cyberwar to Attack Civilian Targets — Iranians couldn’t buy gas. Israelis found their intimate dating details posted online. The Iran-Israel shadow war is now hitting ordinary citizens. (NYT)

• Southern states fall behind in vaccinating kids as pediatric infections climb(WP)

• Australia’s spy agency predicted the climate crisis 40 years ago – and fretted about coal exports (Guardian)

• How ‘Climate Migrants’ Are Roiling American Politics — Refugees fleeing weather-related disasters are changing the political equation in Florida, Virginia, California, Idaho and beyond. (Politico)

• The Military’s Broken Culture Around Sexual Violence and Suicide — The Pentagon isn’t doing what is necessary to protect and care for service members facing trauma. (NYT)

• Digital Technology Poses New Obstacle for U.S. Spies (WSJ)

• He spent almost 50 years alone at 10,000 feet. His hobby helped shape climate research in the Rockies. (WP)

• Interior Dept. Report on Drilling Is Mostly Silent on Climate Change — The department recommended higher fees for oil and gas leases, but there was no sign the government planned to take global warming into account when weighing new applications. (NYT)

• The Cosmic Origins of Silver and Gold (BBC)

• George Orwell: how romantic walks with girlfriends inspired Nineteen Eighty-Four (Guardian)

• The Cosmic Origins of Silver and Gold (WSJ)

• Bob Dylan artwork show opens in Miami, new cinema paintings (AP)

• Adele tops UK music charts record-breaking comeback album "30" (Reuters)

• Guantánamo Bay: Beyond the Prison — With 6,000 residents and the feel of a college campus, the U.S. Navy base has some of the trappings of small-town America, and some of a police state. (NYT)

• How Music Created Silicon Valley (The Honest Broker)

• Michigan beats Ohio State 42-27, ends 8-game skid in rivalry (AP)

***

Sunday’s Lyrics: 
"The Victors" 

Now for a cheer they are here, triumphant! 
Here they come with banners flying, 
In stalwart step they're nighing, 
With shouts of vict'ry crying, 
We hurrah, hurrah, we greet you now, Hail! 

Far we their praises sing 
For the glory and fame they've brought us 
Loud let the bells them ring 
For here they come with banners flying 
Far we their praises tell 
For the glory and fame they've brought us 
Loud let the bells them ring 
For here they come with banners flying 
Here they come, Hurrah! 

Hail! to the victors valiant 
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes 
Hail! Hail! to Michigan 
The leaders and best! 
Hail! to the victors valiant 
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes 
Hail! Hail! to Michigan, 
The champions of the West! 

We cheer them again 
We cheer and cheer again 
For Michigan, we cheer for Michigan 
We cheer with might and main 
We cheer, cheer, cheer 
With might and main we cheer! 

Hail! to the victors valiant 
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes 
Hail! Hail! to Michigan, 
The champions of the West!

Saturday Headlines

 

• How Music Created Silicon Valley (The Honest Broker)

• New variant classed 'of concern' and named Omicron (BBC)

• Dow posts worst drop of 2021 amid variant news (WP)

• New ‘Variant of Concern’ Fuels Global Fear of Another Virus Surge (NYT)

• Announcement of new virus variant alarms world, crashing stocks and banning flights (WP)

• EU states agree on need to halt travel to southern Africa (Guardian)

• New Virus Variant Stokes Concern but Vaccines Still Likely to Work (NYT)

• Japan tightens entry measures over new variant (NHK)

• Omicron variant feared at Amsterdam airport as the Netherlands enters night-time lockdown (WP)

• Pandemic focus swings from Europe to southern Africa (Financial Times)

• Afghan Economy Nears Collapse as Pressure Builds to Ease U.S. Sanctions(NYT)

• NASA Is Practicing Asteroid Deflection. You Know, Just in Case. (Atlantic)

• Two more atmospheric rivers to blast British Columbia and western Washington state (WP)

• FDA seeks advice on whether to limit Covid-19 pill in pregnant people (Politico)

• Upcoming Moon missions spur the search for new spacesuits (BBC)

• As cases rise nationwide, a flood of covid patients causes ‘almost unmanageable’ stress in Michigan (WP)

• ‘There is nothing alive on that tree’: Inside a giant sequoia grove scorched by the KNP Complex fire (LAT)

• The Deadly Myth That Human Error Causes Most Car Crashes (Atlantic)

• Biden administration pushes to raise rates for oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters, citing climate change (WP)

• Stephen Sondheim | 1930–2021: Central figure in American musical theater dies at 91 (WP)

• New Report Finds Computers Actually Outpaced Human Intelligence Back With Commodore 64 (The Onion)

Covid Aftershocks

So once again there is a new Covid-19 variant, B.1.1.529, that has been detected in Southern Africa, and it has been described as “heavily mutated.” The good news about this, if there is any, is that it was detected early and therefore may be easier to contain.

The bad news is we don’t know much about it yet, so the markets are reacting negatively. As I write this, the stocks app on my cellphone is all red as investors scurry for safety.

If the first wave of Covid represented a major earthquake with Wuhan, China as its epicenter, the subsequent emergence of dangerous variants are the aftershocks that remind us that the terror could return, that we are not necessarily free of this scourge yet.

The problem, from a global perspective, is only a tiny proportion of the populations of the poorer parts of the world are vaccinated, giving the virus plenty of hosts to continue mutating and adapting to the vaccines deployed against it.

I’ve long assumed that humans will win this war, ultimately, but like in the final stages of any war, the enemy can still achieve major victories and inflict major damage before VC Day. (Victory over Covid)

***

FRIDAY’s HEADLINES:

• Global authorities reacted with alarm to a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, with the EU, Britain and India among those announcing stricter border controls as scientists sought to determine if the mutation was vaccine-resistant. Britain said the variant was of huge concern and was considered by scientists to be the most significant one yet found as it could make vaccines less effective. Global stocks tumbled and oil fell below $80 a barrel as the news sent investors scurrying to the safety of bonds, the yen and the Swiss franc. (Reuters)

• How a shaky cellphone video changed the course of the Ahmaud Arbery murder case (WP)

• How a Prosecutor Addressed a Mostly White Jury and Won a Conviction in the Arbery Case — Linda Dunikoski, a prosecutor brought in from the Atlanta area, struck a careful tone in a case that many saw as an obvious act of racial violence. (NYT)

• Afghan Teachers Defy Taliban by Secretly Schooling Teenage Girls (WSJ)

• Where Afghanistan’s New Taliban Leaders Went to School — Darul Uloom Haqqania in Pakistan argues that the madrasa and its graduates have changed. Some worry they could be the source of new radicalism. (NYT)

• Netherlands plans 'heavy measures' to stop COVID-19 spread (Reuters)

• Health agency warns Europe’s covid surge may be ‘window into the future’ for the Americas — The Pan American Health Organization said cases are up 23 percent over the past week in the Americas. (WP)

• Portugal reimposes COVID-19 restrictions as cases rise (Reuters)

• 1,600 migrants lost at sea in Mediterranean this year (AP)

• Native American tribes are gathering in Plymouth to mourn on Thanksgiving(NPR)

• G.O.P. Cements Hold on Legislatures in Battleground States — Democrats were once able to count on wave elections to win back key statehouses. Republican gerrymandering is making that all but impossible. (NYT)

• The Arctic Ocean began warming decades earlier than previously thought, new research shows (CNN)

• Japanese banks, firms to test digital currency (NHK)

• Hackney man first to receive 3D-printed prosthetic eye (BBC)

• Warning on tackling HIV as WHO finds rise in resistance to antiretroviral drugs (Guardian)

• Asia is the global inflation exception (Financial Times)

• What Slavery Looked Like in the West — Tens of thousands of Indigenous people labored in bondage across the western United States in the 1800s. (Atlantic)

• Albatrosses, known for monogamy, may be pushed to ‘divorce’ because of climate change, study finds (WP)

• EU regulator gives go-ahead to first COVID shot for 5-11 year olds (Reuters)

• Mexico’s drug war uses drones, human shields, gunships (AP)

• Saving History With Sandbags: Climate Change Threatens the Smithsonian

  — Beneath the National Museum of American History, floodwaters are intruding into collection rooms, a consequence of a warming planet. A fix remains years away. (NYT)

• Across the Mid-Atlantic, giant oak trees are dying (WP)

• A famously far-ranging gray wolf is found dead in Southern California (NPR)

• From serious to scurrilous, some Jimmy Hoffa theories (AP)

• Thanksgiving Conversation Devolves Into Just Stating Things Dog Is Currently Doing (The Onion)