Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman, jck, and Besame. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Right now the news is all coronavirus all the time and it’s hard to find news about anything else. Most anything about the coronavirus I post here will be obsolete by the time you read this so I thought I’d try to find some misery that’s independent of our communal disaster.
Mexico's deadly toll of environment and land defenders catalogued in report
At least 83 Mexican land and environment defenders were murdered between 2012 and 2019, while hundreds more were threatened, beaten and criminalized, according to a new report.
Latin America is the most dangerous continent in the world to defend environmental, land and human rights, with Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala ranking worst.
In Mexico, this targeted violence has taken hold in the context of widespread impunity and escalating generalized violence since the ill-fated war on drugs was launched in 2006.
Locust crisis poses a danger to millions, forecasters warn
The locust crisis that has now reached 10 countries could carry on to endanger millions more people, forecasters have said.
Climate change created unprecedented conditions for the locusts to breed in the usually barren desert of the Arabian gulf, according to experts, and the insects were then able to spread through Yemen, where civil war has devastated the ability to control locust populations.
It was Cyclone Mekunu, which struck in 2018, that allowed several generations of desert locusts the moist sand and vegetation to thrive in the desert between Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman known as the Empty Quarter, breeding and forming into crop-devouring swarms, said Keith Cressman, locust forecasting expert for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Japan's Asteroid-Smashing Probe Reveals a Surprisingly Young Space Rock
Iwastheone shares a report from Space.com: A cannonball that [Japan's Hayabusa2 probe fired at Ryugu, a 2,790-foot-wide near-Earth asteroid] is shedding light on the most common type of asteroid in the solar system, a new study reports. [...] The cannonball, dubbed the Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI), blasted out a crater about 47.5 feet (14.5 m) wide with an elevated rim and a central conical pit about 10 feet (3 m) wide and 2 feet (0.6 m) deep. The artificial crater was semicircular in shape, and the curtain of ejected material was asymmetrical. Both of these details suggest that there was a large boulder buried near the impact site, the researchers said.
This conclusion matches the rubble-pile picture that scientists already had of Ryugu. Features of the artificial crater and the plume suggested that the growth of a crater was limited mostly by the asteroid's gravity and not by the strength of the space rock's surface. This, in turn, suggested that Ryugu has a relatively weak surface, one only about as strong as loose sand, which is consistent with recent findings that Ryugu is made of porous, fragile material. These new findings suggest that Ryugu's surface is about 8.9 million years old, while other models suggested that the asteroid's surface might be up to about 158 million years old. All in all, while Ryugu is made of materials up to 4.6 billion years old, the asteroid might have coalesced from the remains of other broken-apart asteroids only about 10 million years ago, Arakawa said. The findings have been published in the journal Science.
Small sign of progress:
Big Rigs Begin To Trade Diesel For Electric Motors
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Two years ago, the eCascadia [the electric version of the Freightliner Cascadia] was nothing more than a PowerPoint presentation -- a virtual rendering to expedite a diesel stalwart into a zero-emissions future for goods movement. Now it's one of several competing models, from start-ups as well as established truck makers, that are gearing up for production next year with real-world testing. Orders have poured in, from companies eager to shave operating costs and curb emissions, for trucks that won't see roads for months or even years. Volvo Trucks North America announced this year that it would test 23 of its VNR battery-electric heavy-duty trucks in and out of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The Washington-based truck maker Kenworth is already there, operating the beginnings of Project Portal, a 10-truck fleet of semis powered with hydrogen fuel cells. And Daimler Trucks North America is making deliveries in 20 of its preproduction eCascadias with two partner companies, Penske Truck Leasing and NFI.
Medium- and heavy-duty trucks are responsible for about 8 percent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Electrics not only reduce tailpipe emissions to zero, they cost less to operate. With fewer moving parts, they are also easier to maintain. On average, it costs about $1.38 per mile to operate a diesel truck, according to the trucking information website TruckInfo.net; $70,000 of the $180,000 annual operating cost is fuel, and $15,000 goes toward maintenance. Tesla, by comparison, estimates its electric Semi will cost $1.26 per mile. Electric trucks do, however, cost more to buy upfront. While most manufacturers have yet to set pricing, the longer a truck's range, the more batteries it needs and the more it will cost.Tesla plans to sell its 300-mile-range Semi for $150,000 and 500-mile Semi for $180,000. The price of a new diesel tractor and trailer is about $150,000. [...] The electrification of trucking is rolling out in three distinct phases, starting with medium-duty box trucks and vans, followed by heavy-duty semis used for regional hauling, like the ones Volvo, Kenworth and Daimler are testing at Southern California's ports. "With battery vehicles, it comes down to range, because batteries cost money and they add weight," said Jim Mele, an analyst with Wards Intelligence. "Long haul will probably be the last to see electrification because they'll probably need fuel cells to get the range they need, and those are still in development."
Windows, Ubuntu, macOS, VirtualBox Fall at Pwn2Own Hacking Contest
The 2020 spring edition of the Pwn2Own hacking contest has come to a close today. This year's winner is Team Fluoroacetate -- made up of security researchers Amat Cama and Richard Zhu -- who won the contest after accumulating nine points across the two-day competition, which was just enough to extend their dominance and win their fourth tournament in a row. From a report: But this year's edition was a notable event for another reason. While the spring edition of the Pwn2Own hacking contest takes place at the CanSecWest cyber-security conference, held each spring in Vancouver, Canada, this year was different. Due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and travel restrictions imposed in many countries around the globe, many security researchers couldn't attend or weren't willing to travel to Vancouver and potentially put their health at risk. Instead, this year's Pwn2Own edition has become the first-ever hacking contest that has been hosted in a virtual setting. Participants sent exploits to Pwn2Own organizers in advance, who ran the code during a live stream with all participants present. During the competition's two-day schedule, six teams managed to hack apps and operating systems like Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, Safari, Adobe Reader, and Oracle VirtualBox. All bugs exploited during the contest were immediately reported to their respective companies.
That’s about all the non-virus news I could find that’s worth noting. I really don’t give a shit where Tom Brady goes. Here’s some virus-related news that could use a little more attention.
Returning troops denied water, bathrooms under quarantine
WASHINGTON (AP) — It wasn’t the welcome home that U.S. soldiers expected when they returned from war zones in the Middle East in the past week.
When their planes landed at Fort Bliss, Texas, they were herded into buses, denied water and the use of bathrooms, then quarantined in packed barracks, with little food or access to the outdoors. “This is no way to treat Soldiers returning from war,” one soldier told The Associated Press in an email.
The soldiers posted notes on social media about the poor conditions. Their complaints got quick attention from senior Army and Pentagon leaders. Now changes are under way at Fort Bliss and at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where the first soldiers placed under quarantine also complained of poor, cramped conditions.
Tired of all this winning yet? The Dow is now lower than it was when Dotard took office.
Dow tumbles 900 points to end Wall Street’s worst week since 2008
Stocks attempted to rally on Friday, but failed, concluding one of the most volatile weeks on Wall Street ever as investors grapple with mounting fears over the coronavirus’ economic blow.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 913.21 points lower, or more than 4%, at 19,173.98 after rallying more than 400 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 slid 4.3% to 2,304.92. The Nasdaq Composite closed 3.8% lower at 6,879.52 after jumping more than 2%.
The Dow dropped more than 17% for the week, its biggest one-week fall since October 2008, when it slid 18.2%. The S&P 500 lost more than 13% week to date after dropping another 11.5% last week. The Nasdaq fell 12.6%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also had their worst weekly performances since the financial crisis in 2008. The 30-stock Dow is now 35.2% below its all-time high level from February, while the S&P 500 is 32.1% below its high.
News from my neck of the woods:
Sonoma County nurses voice outrage over shortage of protective masks, other equipment
Santa Rosa nurses on the front lines in the local coronavirus outbreak are preparing for the day they may have to cut surgical scrubs into makeshift masks to protect themselves from contracting the widening infectious disease at work.
Others are leaning on family members to provide homemade protective masks fashioned out of cloth and filters bought online, multiple Kaiser Permanente nurses said Thursday.
That’s how bad the global shortage of respirator masks appears to have become locally amid the viral pandemic sweeping the world, straining the supply of health care equipment relied on by nurses and physicians to safeguard themselves, patients and others from a deadly disease.
This is a well-run business that does a lot of community work. We’re in for a recession:
Sally Tomatoes owner prepares for the worst amid coronavirus fears
A gas fireplace warmed the back of Rohnert Park restaurateur Gerard Giudice Thursday in the rustic, barnwood-walled dining room of his Heirloom Cafe, devoid of anyone else but a single visitor who didn’t come to eat.
The resident of more than 20 years was lamenting the major cutbacks and layoffs of people he considers family that Giudice already let go. Among the cooks, bartenders and catering staff, all but five of his 25 workers have been furloughed, and he’s begun desperately slashing utility costs, including shutting down one of his large refrigerators.
“I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t scared,” Giudice said, his eyes welling with emotion during an unprecedented week when Sonoma County officials ordered people to largely stay home for three weeks to curtail spread of the coronavirus through the community. “Yeah dude, we may go down. But if we go down, we’re gonna go down swinging.”
I wanted to see how Dotard’s little tantrum played to the major feeds. Not too good:
Trump blasts media as anxious Americans come to grips with coronavirus pandemic
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday capped a tumultuous week as Americans faced sweeping life changes and massive Wall Street losses amid the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak by turning to a familiar playbook: attacking the media.
Trump and top administration officials for weeks downplayed the outbreak, which began in China in December, before shifting their tone about the severity of the health crisis more recently.
The president, who is running for re-election on Nov. 3, has long sparred with the media, blasting coverage of him as “fake news” and “hoaxes,” and slamming news outlets and journalists on his Twitter feed. His re-election campaign also recently filed lawsuits against several outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Trump angrily defends his handling of pandemic
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defending his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, an angry President Donald Trump on Friday lashed out at reporters and broke with his own health officials on the science of the outbreak.
…
But Trump and Fauci broke openly during the White House briefing on the possible effectiveness of new drugs being explored to treat the virus. Trump said he believed that a combination of medications he announced Thursday would work to treat the virus. Fauci said no such declaration could be made without testing, again highlighting the sharp divide between data-driven health officials and a president who admits he follows his gut.
The president spent much of the Friday briefing in a fury, sparring with reporters he deemed overly critical of the response. And he again painted an unrealistically rosy picture of the outlook, as doctors and nurses have already made desperate appeals for help even as the anticipated wave of new patients has yet to hit.
Trump scoffed at questions about continued testing shortfalls and deficiencies in medical supplies, suggesting that even mentioning the issues was problematic. When asked to speak directly to those marooned at home and frightened, Trump voiced objection to the question itself.
“I say that you’re a terrible reporter,” Trump responded.
Yup, he’s still an asshole and will be until his dying breath.