Tuliptree

The way a tuliptree bud unfurls with exploratory leaf at the ready….

A big question around here in the epicenter is how long the virus lasts. The report that it was found on one of the plague ships over two weeks later is misleading. That was just particles, not active virus. Bits of RNA or DNA can’t hurt you. But the active virus does stick around on different surfaces for up to a few days. More detail here.

In Trump’s personalist rule, loyalty, the more groveling the better (see also: Mike Pence) trumps expertise. Combining this with the long libertarian goal of strangling government — except when it comes to policing the poor, controlling women’s bodies, and transferring wealth upwards — has cost the federal response dearly.