Links for you. Science:

Fight Over Covid’s Origins Renews Debate on Risks of Lab Work. Talk of “gain-of-function” research, a muddy category at best, brings up deep questions about how scientists should study viruses and other pathogens.
The controversial approval of an Alzheimer’s drug reignites the battle over the underlying cause of the disease
SARS-CoV-2 immune evasion by the B.1.427/B.1.429 variant of concern (not as bad as B.1.351 for context)
Transmission event of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant reveals multiple vaccine breakthrough infections
Dominance of Alpha and Iota variants in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine breakthrough infections in New York City (“Both unmatched and matched statistical analyses considering age, sex, vaccine type, and study month as covariates supported the null hypothesis of equal variant distributions between vaccinated and unvaccinated in chi-squared and McNemar tests (p>0.1) highlighting a high vaccine efficacy against B.1.1.7 and B.1.526.”)

Other:

Would the Founding Fathers support critical race theory? Studying their writings — and other canonical documents in U.S. history — reveals how deeply racism is built into the nation’s structure
The Fall of the Billionaire Gucci Master
Biden to Sign Executive Order Granting Farmers Right to Repair Protections. The federal government is officially planning to fight policies that prevent farmers from repairing their tractors.
The vaccines work. So do cynical death cults
A Planned Biden Order Aims to Tilt the Job Market Toward Workers (“She said that having pressure from the White House to pursue those legal theories would help, but that congressional legislation explicitly charging antitrust regulators with focusing on labor market conditions would help more.” Good luck with that…)
Walmart’s Play for the Insulin Market Is the Latest Crack in Our Broken Health Care System. The big-box retailer has found a way to monetize the nation’s desperation.
‘I want to be alive’: Former Afghan interpreter fights to stay in US (DHS has a lot of bigots working for it)
Only Unvaccinated People Died Of COVID-19 In Maryland Last Month, State Says
The Tech Cold War’s ‘Most Complicated Machine’ That’s Out of China’s Reach
What Is Politics For
Aducanumab Approval, Part 2: Dirty Drug Dealings
A Banking App Has Been Suddenly Closing Accounts, Sometimes Not Returning Customers’ Money
Xinjiang Denialists Are Only Aiding Imperialism
United in Rage: Half-truths and myths propelled Kentucky’s war on opioids
‘No Pepco’ Pledgers Met With Energy Utility’s Lobbyists
Iceland Finds ‘Major Success’ Moving To Shorter Workweek
Far-Right Extremist Finds an Ally in an Arizona Congressman
In 2030, You Won’t Own Any Gadgets
More than 125 Covid-19 cases tied to South Texas church camp, pastor says
Far More Adults Don’t Want Children Than Previously Thought
Trump’s Latest Scam Has More Than a Few Deficiencies