________
________
________
from BBC News (UK)
Notre-Dame fire: Work starts to remove melted scaffolding
PICTURES: The delicate work of removing melted scaffolding from Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris has got under way. When the fire broke out in April of last year, there was already work in progress on the roof of the cathedral, with a big structure of scaffolding in place around the spire. While the spire did not survive - it crashed down at the height of the conflagration - the scaffolding did. In fact in the intense heat, a lot of it melted and became attached to the building, like a great metal parasite. Now begins the exceedingly delicate operation of cutting away this metal, all 20 tons of it. The damaged scaffolding has been surrounded with yet more scaffolding, and an enormous crane has been brought in. Teams hanging from ropes 40 to 50 metres (130-164ft) in the air will be using electric saws to carve away the encrusted material piece by piece. The building is still not entirely out of danger and only when this operation is finished in three or four months' time can they start thinking about the real response to the disaster: reconstruction and maybe redesign.
________
from Bloomberg
Media/News Company
A Crash in the Dollar Is Coming
The era of the U.S. dollar’s “exorbitant privilege” as the world’s primary reserve currency is coming to an end. Then French Finance Minister Valery Giscard d’Estaing coined that phrase in the 1960s largely out of frustration, bemoaning a U.S. that drew freely on the rest of the world to support its over-extended standard of living. For almost 60 years, the world complained but did nothing about it. Those days are over. Already stressed by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. living standards are about to be squeezed as never before. At the same time, the world is having serious doubts about the once widely accepted presumption of American exceptionalism. Currencies set the equilibrium between these two forces — domestic economic fundamentals and foreign perceptions of a nation’s strength or weakness. The balance is shifting, and a crash in the dollar could well be in the offing.
A Crash in the Dollar Is Coming
The era of the U.S. dollar’s “exorbitant privilege” as the world’s primary reserve currency is coming to an end. Then French Finance Minister Valery Giscard d’Estaing coined that phrase in the 1960s largely out of frustration, bemoaning a U.S. that drew freely on the rest of the world to support its over-extended standard of living. For almost 60 years, the world complained but did nothing about it. Those days are over. Already stressed by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. living standards are about to be squeezed as never before. At the same time, the world is having serious doubts about the once widely accepted presumption of American exceptionalism. Currencies set the equilibrium between these two forces — domestic economic fundamentals and foreign perceptions of a nation’s strength or weakness. The balance is shifting, and a crash in the dollar could well be in the offing.
________
from The Chicago Sun-Times
18 murders in 24 hours: Inside the most violent day in 60 years in Chicago
While Chicago was roiled by another day of protests and looting in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, 18 people were killed Sunday, May 31, making it the single most violent day in Chicago in six decades, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab. The lab’s data doesn’t go back further than 1961. From 7 p.m. Friday, May 29, through 11 p.m. Sunday, May 31, 25 people were killed in the city, with another 85 wounded by gunfire, according to data maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
________
18 murders in 24 hours: Inside the most violent day in 60 years in Chicago
While Chicago was roiled by another day of protests and looting in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, 18 people were killed Sunday, May 31, making it the single most violent day in Chicago in six decades, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab. The lab’s data doesn’t go back further than 1961. From 7 p.m. Friday, May 29, through 11 p.m. Sunday, May 31, 25 people were killed in the city, with another 85 wounded by gunfire, according to data maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
________
from New York Times Newspaper in New York
When 511 Epidemiologists Expect to Fly, Hug and Do 18 Other Everyday Activities Again
Many epidemiologists are already comfortable going to the doctor, socializing with small groups outside or bringing in mail, despite the coronavirus. But unless there’s an effective vaccine or treatment first, it will be more than a year before many say they will be willing to go to concerts, sporting events or religious services. And some may never greet people with hugs or handshakes again. These are the personal opinions of a group of 511 epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists who were asked by The New York Times when they expect to resume 20 activities of daily life, assuming that the pandemic and the public health response to it unfold as they expect.
________
from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
________
________
No comments:
Post a Comment