| | | | | | | Presented By Facebook | | | | Axios AM | | By Mike Allen ·Oct 19, 2020 | | ☕ Happy Monday! Today's Smart Brevity™ count: 1,183 words ... 4½ minutes. 💻 We hope you'll join us tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET for "Hard Truths," a virtual event that kicks off a year-long series on systemic racism. - We'll talk with Southwest Voter Registration Education Project president Lydia Camarillo, U.S. Election Assistance Commission chairman Benjamin Hovland, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition president Desmond Meade and "The West Wing" cast members Richard Schiff and Janel Moloney.
- Register here. ... Read about the series. ... Explore Part 1, on race and voting.
| | | | | | 1 big thing: Why remote learning still isn't working |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Tech stumbling blocks continue to bedevil remote learning, Axios' Ashley Gold reports: 1. The needs of IT departments and students can be at odds: A university's chief information officer or a school's IT administrator judge software on how secure it is, while students and parents just want a simple interface. - Ed tech has become a tough area for startups and capital investment because risk-averse school tech administrators tend to stick with software they're already using.
2. Existing tech can't just be grafted onto remote learning: - That means Zoom or Slack or Microsoft Teams, which have been vital for keeping offices going during the pandemic, may be ill-suited for young students, who may struggle with usability.
3. The digital divide looms over everything: Low-income students have less access to devices and the internet itself. This has been a concern since early in the pandemic, but there's little evidence it's improving in any real way. - A survey last month found that 75% of Black and Latino families with children in under-resourced schools in L.A. don't use computers regularly.
- 47% of parents surveyed had never visited the ed tech platforms used by their kids' schools.
Share this story. |     | | | | | | 2. How the pandemic is destroying energy efficiency |  | | | Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios | | | | The pandemic is systematically demolishing the entire concept of efficiency, Axios' Amy Harder writes in her weekly "Harder Line" energy column. - Why it matters: Using energy more efficiently accounts for the largest share — nearly 40% — of the reductions in heat-trapping emissions needed to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
The big picture: The virus, almost by design, hates efficiency of all kinds, energy included. - Public transit, where a bunch of people move together in one vehicle, is the pinnacle of efficiency. Its use has plummeted.
- In-person school features an efficient teacher/kid ratio of (roughly) 1:23. Ad hoc virtual school has a grossly inefficient ratio closer to 1:1.
- Single-use plastic, by definition not efficient and wasteful, is coming roaring back amid fears that the virus is lurking on reusable menus, bags and cups.
The pandemic is dismantling energy efficiency in three ways: - It has stalled retrofits in homes and buildings given the fear of close contact. This has also cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to Steve Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
- Our society's immediate, chaotic response is wasting a lot of energy — such as big buildings sitting mostly empty but still guzzling energy.
- We'll probably be using energy less efficiently for a while. This includes using heaters to warm the outdoors, recycling more outdoor air into ventilation systems, and — perhaps most ludicrous — "flights to nowhere" that begin and end at the same place.
Keep reading. | | | | | | | | 3. Online meddlers pose as local news outlets | This is an example cited by the N.Y. Times of a "seemingly run-of-the-mill news website" that actually has a political agenda. Political actors are now trying to manipulate elections by posing as fake media operations or by manipulating real media companies into reporting and spreading disinformation, Axios' Sara Fischer writes. - Why it matters: Consumers already struggle to differentiate between straight news, fake news, opinion journalism and political advertising. Partisans in today's information war are deliberately blurring the lines.
A sprawling network of over 1,300 partisan local news sites that hide their backing by Republican groups and corporate P.R. firms was uncovered by the New York Times. - The sites have innocuous names like North Cook News, Du Page Policy Journal, Illinois Valley Times, Des Moines Sun and Ann Arbor Times.
- Most of the sites falsely declare in their "About" pages "that they to aim 'to provide objective, data-driven information without political bias."
Share this story. | | | | | | | | A message from Facebook | | We support updated internet regulations | | |  | | | | At Facebook, we continue to take steps to improve our platforms such as tripling our safety and security teams, building privacy tools, and more. Updated internet regulations will set standards for addressing today's toughest challenges. Read why we support updated internet regulations. | | | | | | 4. Virus hospitalizations are rising |  Coronavirus hospitalizations are increasing in 39 states, and are at or near their all-time peak in 16 of those, Axios' Andrew Witherspoon and Sam Baker report. - Wisconsin is faring the worst, with 9.4% of the state's beds occupied by COVID patients.
Why it matters: Rising hospitalization rates are a sign that things are getting worse, at a dangerous time, and a reminder that this virus can do serious harm. | | | | | | | | 5. Pic du jour | | Photo: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Reuters President Trump dances to "YMCA," which ends each of his rallies, on Saturday night in Janesville, Wis. | | | | | | | | 6. Rolling Stone: "Biden's Moment" |  | | | Illustration by Sean McCabe, based on a photograph by Ryan Pfluger/AUGUST. Courtesy Rolling Stone | | | | In a collision of culture and politics, Rolling Stone endorses Joe Biden for president: His keen understanding of loss connects him emotionally to the honest struggles of Americans whom he seeks to serve. And it gives Biden the moral authority to ask the rest of us to sacrifice as well. Biden calls us to the responsibilities of citizenship — to think of ourselves as threads in the fabric of our society, of owing allegiance to one another, individually and as a whole, and of seeing ourselves connected to the values at the core of the American experiment. Keep reading. | | | | | | | | 7. 🇨🇳 Hope for U.S.: How China's economy bounced back | | Chinese officials said today that GDP "expanded by 4.9% in the third quarter from a year earlier, putting China's economy back toward its pre-coronavirus trajectory," The Wall Street Journal reports from Beijing (subscription). - Why it matters: This shows a superpower economy can bounce back quickly after the virus is defeated.
China revived its economy in roughly three stages, The Journal writes: - First, by shutting down most economic activity.
- In April, authorities got factories revved up again, allowing exports to increase.
- Then, in the third quarter, with the virus almost stamped out, authorities began encouraging consumers to venture out and open their wallets.
🍽️ Lei Yanqiu, a Wuhan resident in her early 30s, told the N.Y. Times: "You've had to line up to get into many restaurants in Wuhan, and for Wuhan restaurants that are popular on the internet, the wait is two or three hours." | | | | | | | | 8. Disney adds warnings to old films | | "Peter Pan." Image via Disney Disney's streaming service is adding a 12-second disclaimer, which cannot be skipped, to several classic animated films about racist stereotypes, the N.Y. Times reports (subscription): This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. A Disney website details the problems with depictions in "The Aristocats," "Dumbo," "Peter Pan" and "Swiss Family Robinson." | | | | | | | | 9. ⚾ World Series is set | | Photo: Tony Gutierrez/AP Game 1 of the 116th World Series is tomorrow, after the L.A. Dodgers won a thriller to advance to the Fall Classic for the third time in four years, facing the Tampa Bay Rays at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. - Above, Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts robs Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman of a home run during Game 7 yesterday.
| | | | | | | | 10. Ski resorts navigate virus | | Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort in Keystone, Colo., in May. Photo: David Zalubowski/AP Seven months after the coronavirus cut the ski season short at the height of spring break, resorts across the U.S. and Canada are figuring out how to safely reopen this winter, AP"s Thomas Peipert reports from Denver: - That means standing six feet apart in lift lines (about the length of a typical ski), less dine-in service, riding lifts only with your group — and no large gatherings for an après drink.
Some North American ski areas are requiring reservations, which has irked some skiers and snowboarders concerned about getting a spot on the mountain, especially during busy powder days. | | | | | | | | A message from Facebook | | We support updated internet regulations | | |  | | | We support new regulations that hold companies, including Facebook, accountable on issues including: - Combating foreign election interference.
- Protecting people's privacy.
- Enabling safe and easy data transfer between platforms.
Read why we support updated internet regulations. | | | | 📱 Thanks for starting your week with us. Invite your friends to sign up for Axios AM/PM. | |
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