Weekend Reads 6/13/20

When 511 Epidemiologists Expect to Fly, Hug and Do 18 Other Everyday Activities Again

Epidemiologists say they are making decisions based on publicly available data for their region on things like infections and testing. Before choosing whether to do an activity, they might evaluate whether people are wearing masks, whether physical distancing is possible and whether there are alternative ways to do it. Because there is a chance of a second wave of infections, they say they may become less comfortable with certain activities over time, not more.

American Racism: We’ve Got So Very Far to Go

This is when I began to learn about conservative political correctness. If politically correct progressives are often guilty of over-racializing American public discourse, and they are, politically correct conservatives commit the opposite sin—and they filter out or angrily reject all the information that contradicts their thesis.

What's up with Sweden?

The contrast is far more dramatic if you compare Sweden to its most relevant neighbors, the other Scandinavian countries. Denmark, Finland, and Norway have all seen a spike in cases in late March/early April, but these countries quickly watched those increases fade after the imposition of significant social distancing policies. At this point, these countries are seeing very few new cases diagnosed most weeks. Sweden, by contrast, has seen its rate stay roughly constant throughout April and May—and it's now seeing about 10 times the number of new cases as its neighbors. Deaths show a very similar story.

An 18-Year-Old Said She Was Raped While In Police Custody. The Officers Say She Consented.

But Anna didn’t know that in New York, there is no law specifically stating that it is illegal for police officers or sheriff’s deputies in the field to have sex with someone in their custody. It is one of 35 states where armed law enforcement officers can evade sexual assault charges by claiming that such an encounter — from groping to intercourse — was consensual, according to a BuzzFeed News review of every state legal code.