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Covid-19 vs Past Pandemics
COVID-19 pandemic is the second deadliest pandemic in America, based on the numbers collated by Marshall Auerback. As of today, the US facility rate stands at 0.051 percent.
1918 influenza pandemic: 50 million deaths globally. World population: 1.8 billion, or 2.7 percent. US fatalities: 675,000 or 0.65 percent on a per capita basis out of a population of 103 million.1957 H2N2 flu virus 1.1 million deaths globally. World population: 2.9 billion, or 0.038 percent on a per capita basis. US fatalities: 116,000 out of a U.S. population of 178 million, or 0.065 percent on a per capita basis.1968 H3N2 virus 1 million fatalities globally. World population: 3.6 billion, or 0.028 percent on a per capita basis. US fatalities: 100,000 out of a population of 203 million, or 0.049 percent on a per capita basis.2009 H1N1 virus 284,000 fatalities globally and 12,469 <a… Continue readingContinue reading Covid-19 vs Past Pandemics -
What Work
Uber and Lyft, in response to a California court ruling that all drivers must be reclassified as employees with benefits, are threatening to quit doing business in the state. Putting the news, and the legal posturing of Uber and Lyft aside, the judgment and its possible impact on other gig-economy companies that rely on independent contractors will be a quagmire. But it raises more profound questions that go far beyond these startups, and our society.
How should we be thinking about work?
Why do we continue to classify work as either full-time employment or independent contractor? Why isn’t there a grey zone in between these two qualifications? Why do we assume that work should be tied to specific tasks and the amount of time spent doing that task?
More importantly, what is work? And where is work coming from in 2020 and beyond?
A lot of politicians and their sycophants talk
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An elephant’s 1700-mile pandemic trip
What an uplifting story about an elephant who spent most of her life in captivity, alone and finally found a friend and a place to roam free. If anything, just think of our past few months, and then imagine who hard past 25 years must have been for this animal. As an invasive species, it might be time for us to really rethink our planet in context with its other inhabitants. #nontech
How to move an elephant 1700-miles in the middle of a pandemic? / The New York Times
