Ripped from the Headlines: May 2020: This Week In Words: May 17-23, 2020

Two dams in Michigan failed after heavy rainfall caused flooding, forcing the evacuation of 10,000 people in areas of Midland County around the Tittabawassee River. Boyce Hydro, the company that owns the Edenville Dam, had its power generating license revoked in 2018 because the dam was rated unable to withstand a flood. Downstream, the Sanford Dam, owned by the same company, also failed, inundating the city of Midland with nine feet of water.

Wilson Roosevelt Jerman, who served in the White House under 11 Presidents, died of Covid-19 at the age of 91. He began working in there in 1957 as a cleaner, receiving a promotion to butler during the Kennedy administration, reportedly because First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy liked him so much. After retiring in 2007, he returned to work under President Obama for five more years. Condolence comes from the Latin for "to suffer along with."

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca says it has the ability to manufacture one billion vaccines if the Oxford University effort proves effective. While the company and others are optimistic, there's no proof that this or any vaccine will turn out to be safe and also prevent infection by the coronavirus. In a scientific context, efficacy is slightly different from effectiveness; the former refers to performance under ideal lab conditions, the latter to performance in the real world.

Congress is investigating whether TikTok, the popular video app, is illegally using data, especially that of children. The company was ordered to remove all videos made by children under 13, but reportedly has not done so. In a letter to the company's founder, Zhang Yimin, two Representatives also asked about the company's close ties to the Chinese government and whether American user data is shared with Beijing. Late last year, the U.S. Navy banned the app, calling it a “cybersecurity threat.”

The Chinese government is implementing a new national security law in Hong Kong without any vote or input from the Hong Kong government. After months of protests, which only stopped because of the pandemic, Beijing sees this as the next step in crushing resistance to its rule in the former British colony that was granted significant autonomy. Observers say that this new law would effectively end the "one country, two systems" arrangement.

The economic collapse looks to be bad news for the President's reelection. The record-high unemployment has caused his approval rating to fall, and the election model from Oxford Economics predicts that he may only win 35 percent of the popular vote. The report has correctly predicted the results in all but two of the Presidential elections since 1948.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is receiving harsh criticism for having President Trump fire the State Department Inspector General. The I.G., Steve Linick, was reportedly investigating Pompeo for serious violations ranging from the improper sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia to the use of government employees to walk his dog.

A study by Columbia University found that 83 percent of U.S. Covid-19 deaths could have been avoided if lockdowns had occurred two weeks earlier than March 16, when the President told the country to avoid travel if possible. An earlier shutdown would have saved 54,000 lives. The report only considered data up to May 3, when 65,000 Americans had died. That number is now over 93,000. When you underline a word or piece of text, it emphasizes its importance. That's an underscore.

The dramatic drop in carbon emissions during the pandemic shutdown shows how dependent our economy is on fossil fuels but also presents an opportunity to change some fundamental issues contributing to climate change. Low fuel prices mean that subsidies can be eliminated and carbon taxes can be added, and the need for jobs means that large-scale carbon-neutral or negative infrastructure can be built. Unique is French, from the Latin unicus, meaning "one and only" or "single."

The President announced that the U.S. would be pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty, which allows countries to fly surveillance missions over each other to determine if missiles and other weapons are being deployed and thus help to prevent accidental war. Experts say that this move will make the world less safe; though the treaty isn't perfect and some countries violate it at times, it's far better than the alternative.