So, About That Plague · Storyflo

So, About That Plague · Storyflo

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These days I find it maddeningly hard to strike the right tone between “pay attention” and “load the kids into the car and head for the woods.” When you read that the plague may have escaped a lab in Siberia and the Kremlin is being tight-lipped about it, it is perfectly reasonable to assume the apocalypse has finally settled on a theme.

We’re all carrying some post-COVID scar tissue. One of my pet theories is that some of our collective rage, polarization, and hair-trigger reactivity comes from never really metabolizing the fear and anxiety of 2020. As a result, we are extremely available for a freakout. (Also, social platforms, AI bros, and our government are not exactly working to restore our inner peace.)

Here’s what we know: Pneumonic plague is hard to spread. There’s no evidence anyone in Russia has it. Unfortunately, our source for some of this is the Kremlin, which is not known for radical transparency. So we will stay vigilant.

On a serious note: Please know I’m not shy about telling you to prepare if and when the time is right. For now, the evidence says pay attention, not panic. And it never hurts to have water and a couple weeks of food on hand for whatever unexpected drama comes next.

I hope this has been calming (insert eye roll).

In today’s newsletter: Russia says don’t worry. Unfortunately, Russia is the source. New evidence in the Cornell 7 case. France’s students are in revolt. Encouraging news for Democrats. Is Hegseth nodding to the Nazis? And in News That Doesn’t Suck, the animal kingdom loses its dignity.

Breaking News: The White House blocked Politico from traveling on Air Force One today, leaving a vacancy in the press pool.Stay Calm, People: The U.S. and Europe are on alert after a 28-year old worker at an anti-plague research laboratory in Siberia died days after becoming sick at work. It’sunclearwhether Darya Shipilova was infected with plague. According to Russia’s health watchdog, she died ofpneumoniaof “unknown” origin, her body hadno tracesof micro-organisms from her research, there wereno accidentsat the lab, and thesituationis “stable.” But somelocal mediareported that Shipilova died of pneumonic plague, the most virulent form of the infamous disease, afterbreaking a test tubein the lab. Russian authorities haveimplementedanti-epidemicmeasures, includingquarantiningthe laboratory and other healthcare facilities in the area, andmonitoringroughly 200 contacts. Officials saidnoneof the contacts have displayed symptoms and there isno evidenceof person-to-person transmission. Secretary of State Marco Rubiosaidthe U.S. is “monitoring” the situation “closely,” noted there is little travel between the U.S. and Russia, and insisted there is “no cause for alarm.” Multiple expertsunderscored that message, saying an isolated incident like this is extremely unlikely to lead to a global pandemic.Yes, But: The situation is complicated by widespread distrust in the Russian government, which hasconcealedpublic health crises before. Multiple senior Russian officialschanged their storiesor deleted posts about the incident. Some expertsworrythe lab may have been conductingbioweapons research; the Soviet Union’s bioweapons program, which maystill be active,includedpneumonic plague. The U.S.called onRussia to be more transparent about what is happening. The risk of rapid undetected spread is limited by the fact that there is very little travel between Russia and the West.**Know Your Plague:**Plague is a bacterial infection, not a virus, caused by a bacterium calledYersinia pestis. There are cases every year. Most occur in Africa, though plague remains endemic to parts of Siberia, too. Other forms of plague are transmitted when humans get bitten by infected fleas or rodents. However, pneumonic plague is spread through respiratory droplets, which allows for person-to-person transmission. That said, it requires a very heavy load of droplets, which makes transmission difficult. It is almost always fatal if left untreated, but can be treated if caught early.

Case Deepens: [Trigger warning: Discussion of sexual assault.] Cornell police made adrug-related arrestat a frat house less than a day before a former student alleges she was drugged and gang-raped there. Cornell policehave not saidwhat drugs prompted the arrest, but when the university investigated Jane Doe’s allegations, it noted that someone had overdosed on ketamine the night of the drug arrest. Jane Doe and her friends later accused some of the fraternity members of trying to orchestrate what Doe called a “coverup” of the alleged assault, according to records reviewed byABC News. That failed in part because one outraged fraternity member reportedlyleakedto Jane Doe the Snapchat messages in which multiple men discussed her in crude terms. ABC Newsalso aireda recording of part of a phone conversation between Jane Doe and the frat brother who invited her over; in it a male voice says that he was too intoxicated to consent and he may himself be the victim. He also claimed that other men ended up in the room because the party was so crowded, without mentioning his text inviting others to join. Doe’s lawyersaysshe is receiving threats from the public now that this is national news, and that multiple women mistakenly identified as Jane Doe have been threatened as well.Firestorm: France has partially shut down up to 500 high schools across the country, after massive student protests over lack of education funding escalated into walkouts, fires, and confrontations with police. More than 5,000 mostly young people have been arrested. The governmentaccusesthe far-left of infiltrating the protests, which it says havedegeneratedinto “urban violence,” injuring hundreds of staff and police andcausingmillions of dollars in damages. Advocacy groupsaccusethe police of excessive violence, which has injuredmore than100 teenagers, including one whose hand wasblown offwhen he touched a police grenade today. The education ministerpromisedsome reforms, which protest organizersrejectedas insufficient.Who Pays the Bill: A new Supreme Court case could determine whether oil companies can be forced to help cover the mounting local costs of climate change. The Supreme Court began its new term today byhearing argumentsin that case. Boulder officials sued ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy in 2018, arguing the companies misled the public about the effects of burning fossil fuels andshould payfor some of the expenses related to disasters worsened by global warming. The oil companies, supported by the Trump administration, argue this lawsuit belongs in federal court, which they believe will be friendlier. At times the Supreme Court’s conservative justicesappeared sympatheticto the oil companies; if the Court sides with them, that would effectively kill dozens of similar lawsuits across the country. Justice Samuel Alito recused himself, raising the possibility of a 4–4 tie. That would leave the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling against the oil companies in force, but wouldn’t set any binding national precedent.Blue Wave Check: Here’s a number getting Republicans’ attention. A new NY Times/Seinapollfinds Democratic candidates tied with or leading Republicans in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and Texas. These are states Trump won by at least 11 points. Across them, voters disapprove of Trump by 17 points, a five-point slide since June. That helps explain why Trump and his allies arepouringtens of millions of dollars into races Republicans usually don’t have to worry about, and why the president is suddenlycampaigningon very red, very safe turf.

Keep reading to find out…

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