Volume 265 | No. 24

The Delta Blues

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This pandemic has been going on for so long now that it feels like we’re living in “Groundhog Day”—without Bill Murray to entertain us. Worse yet, there’s a sequel coming: “Dumb and Dumber.” According to a study published last month in The Lancet journal EClinical Medicine, “People who had recovered from COVID-19, including those no longer reporting symptoms, exhibited significant cognitive deficits versus controls when controlling for age, gender, education level, income, racial-ethnic group, pre-existing medical disorders, tiredness, depression and anxiety.” The study found that the average decline in IQ was seven points. We don’t mean to mock the afflicted, but that is a loss …

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AMOC Amok, or, Species Bites Environment

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This fortnight began with terrible news about the climate. It went downhill from there. The Guardian reported on July 27th—too late for us to deal with properly in our paper of July 30th, too important to leave out now—“many of the key indicators of the global climate crisis are getting worse and either approaching, or exceeding, key tipping points as the earth heats up.” “Overall, the study* found some 16 out of 31 tracked planetary vital signs, including greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat content and ice mass, set worrying new records. “‘There is growing evidence we are getting close to or have already gone beyond …

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Delayed Recognition is Better Than None

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by Paul Nichols I read recently about the only battalion of Black women to serve in Europe during World War II, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. This all-female Army Corps unit was deployed on missions to England and France during 1945 under daunting conditions for the purpose of processing undelivered mail to U.S. troops and Red Cross workers. The importance of their work cannot be overstated. They toiled around the clock, straightening out an enormous backlog of mail piled in disorganized heaps. Within a three-month period, about 17 million pieces of mail were straightened out and sent on to intended destinations. Despite the important …

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