Tuesday, June 30, 2020

And another day of America “going in the wrong direction” comes to a close:

“The absolute truth is what makes people laugh.” -- Carl Reiner

Deaths

US: 130,122 (+1339)

World: 513,913 (+5835)

Countdown: 126 days.

Fauci: US ‘going in wrong direction’ in coronavirus outbreak.

'We are getting clobbered': Six months into COVID-19, doctors fear what comes next. COVID-19 plus the flu could quickly overwhelm health care systems.

Senate strips a provision from an intelligence bill requiring campaigns to report foreign election help. — Now why would they do that?

South Dakota Gov. Noem says "we will not be social distancing" at July 3 Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore with President Trump. — Cool!

A Question That Won’t Go Away: Why Does Trump Love Putin So Much?

Most travelers from the United States will be barred from entering the European Union after it reopens its borders Wednesday because the coronavirus is still far too prevalent in the U.S., European officials announced Tuesday.

Judge temporarily blocks publication of tell-all book by President Trump's niece.

The Chinese government has deployed a mass sterilization campaign against Muslim ethnic minorities in the country's western provinces, according to a new report, which argues the tactics could amount to genocide.

Facebook bans extremist 'boogaloo' group from its platforms.

Facebook nears a tipping point when it comes to moderating hate speech.

Atlanta Hawks Arena To Host Voting Site, Team Challenges Rest Of NBA To Follow.

New York City will end solitary confinement in its jails following the death of Layleen Polanco in isolation at a Rikers Island facility last year, Mayor de Blasio says.

Hopes fade for reform of massive U.S. criminal justice system.

Mississippi governor signs bill into law removing Confederate symbol from state flag. Mississippi is the last state to have retained the Confederate battle emblem in its flag.

About bloody time: is cinema finally going with the flow of period sex? Hollywood has a horror of the twin taboos of intercourse and menstruation. But female writers and directors are starting to change the way women’s bodies are portrayed on screen.

Supreme Court opens door to state funding for religious schools.

260,000 sign petition to block film starring Paris Jackson as Jesus. Online petition claims Habit, starring Michael Jackson’s daughter, is ‘Christianophobic garbage’.

Koalas are on track to go extinct in Australia's New South Wales before 2050.

Whale sharks have eyeballs covered in tiny teeth.

Astronomers are baffled by the disappearance of a massive star.

RIP Carl Reiner. He was 98.

“The key to longevity is to interact with other people.” -- Carl Reiner

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.

Monday, June 29, 2020

And another day of phone calls [must read], the bounties known about much earlier than today, abortion rights, a new flu virus, twisting quotes, federal executions, all kinds of bans, and an increase in agoraphobia comes to a close:

“Let no such man be trusted.” -- William Shakespeare

Deaths

US: 128,783 (+346)

World: 508,078 (+3668)

Countdown: 127 days.

From pandering to Putin to abusing allies and ignoring his own advisers, Trump's phone calls alarm US officials. — Holy shit. This is the must read of the day. Just wow. There is so much here. Read it. There are no words to describe this man. He is a danger to all of us. Get him out. 

White House aware of Russian bounties in early 2019. -- Over a year ago. Trump’s a liar and an asshole. He is derelict in his duties. And oh yeah, he’s a traitor.

Never forget, though: Mitch McConnell is still an asshole.

John Roberts sides with liberals on Supreme Court to block controversial Louisiana abortion law.

"We all want this to be over, we all want to get on with our lives," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says. "But the hard reality is, this is not even close to being over."

The WHO chief is warning that the COVID-19 pandemic is actually speeding up globally. He criticized governments that have failed to establish reliable contact tracing to stop the virus's spread.

After asking Americans to sacrifice in shutdown, leaders failed to control virus. -- Most wouldn’t listen to the experts.

An enduring coronavirus mystery: Why do only some get sick?

Flu virus with 'pandemic potential' found in China. — And the hits keep coming.

Democrats have pushed an election-year package expanding “Obamacare” coverage through the House. The legislation, though, has no chance of survival in the GOP-led Senate. -- Healthcare is right, not a privilege. Vote all Republicans out.

Majority of Wisconsin Republicans voted absentee in April. Wisconsin Republicans who oppose making it easier for people to vote absentee have taken advantage of the opportunity to vote by mail in recent elections, with more than 80% of GOP members of the state Legislature doing it in April. — Republicans just don’t want YOU to vote. 

Fauci warns U.S. "unlikely" to reach herd immunity if too many refuse vaccine.

Pro-Trump media outlets are in denial as many states report new surge in coronavirus cases.

The Coronavirus Pandemic’s Wider Healthcare Crisis. 

Europeans' trust in US as world leader collapses during pandemic. — Because there is no ‘leading’?

Trump's 'white power' retweet set off 'five-alarm fire' in White House.

Fact check: Dishonest Trump video twists Democrats' quotes to make it sound like they endorsed riots. An egregiously deceptive campaign video posted on Facebook and Twitter by President Donald Trump on Saturday takes quotes from prominent Democrats out of context to wrongly make it seem as if they had encouraged or defended violence. — Facebook and Twitter have refused to pull the ad. 

Iran issues arrest warrant for Donald Trump over Qassem Suleimani killing.

Sara Gideon attacks Susan Collins on abortion rights after Supreme Court ruling. -- Susan Collins is a liar and an asshole.

Supreme Court makes it easier for president to fire CFPB head.

The Supreme Court just declined to take up the case of death row prisoners who had challenged the government’s lethal injection protocol, paving the way for the Trump administration to carry out the first federal executions in nearly two decades.

Amid ongoing uncertainty linked to COVID-19 and continuing unrest from racial injustice, mental health officials say they are seeing an increase in the number of patients suffering from mental disorders, specifically agoraphobia.

At least 143 people at the University of Georgia test positive for Covid-19.

A white couple pointed guns at protesters in St. Louis as a group marched toward the mayor’s home to demand her resignation after she read the names and addresses of several residents who supported defunding the police department during an online briefing. Trump retweets video.

YouTube bans Stefan Molyneux, David Duke, Richard Spencer, and more for hate speech.

Reddit banned over 2,000 subreddits Monday, including pro-Donald-Trump subreddit r/the_donald and community for left-wing political podcast r/chapotraphouse.

Twitch temporarily bans President Trump. A temporary suspension for ‘hateful conduct’.

Broadway shows will remain closed until at least January 2021.

Country star Chase Rice sparks outrage with video of a packed concert in Tennessee. — Spreading the love. 

The Facebook ad boycott is starting to rattle investors.

The Lie Behind Plastic Pollution Is That We’re Responsible. Instead of responding to alarming new studies by producing fewer plastic goods or seeking less harmful alternatives, the biggest plastic producers have responded by pointing at consumers as the ones to blame.

Disney's developed movie-quality face-swapping technology that promises to change filmmaking. In a few short years, neural-network-powered automated face swaps have gone from being mildly convincing to eerily believable. But through new research from Disney, neural face-swapping is poised to become a legitimate and high-quality tool for visual effects studios working on Hollywood blockbusters. — Followed shortly thereafter for other nefarious purposes. 

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.

Sunday, June 28, 2020

And another day of milestones, loneliness, minimizations, fallen flags, “white power,” antiracists, falling confidence, a movie legend, and so much more, all comes to a close:

“I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don’t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.” -- John Wayne

Deaths

US: 128,437 (+285)

World: 504,410 (+3112)

Countdown: 128 days.

The US is more alone than ever, just at the moment the world needs its leadership. That vein of often mercurial unilateralism has been the trademark of Trump's first term. His doctrine of America-first, multilateralism-last has shifted Washington from being the global center of gravity that generations of American policymakers built, to an unreliable centrifugal force in danger of scattering democratic forces.

Trump denies that he had been briefed on reported U.S. intelligence that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops, and he appeared to minimize the allegations against Moscow. — Putin’s bitch.

The United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 2.5 million diagnosed cases and at least 125,039 deaths.

Global COVID-19 death toll surpasses 500,000. -- And doesn’t look to be stopping anytime soon.

Only two US states are reporting a decline in new coronavirus cases.

Crowds pack Arizona river as U.S. posts record COVID cases for three days running.

Some COVID-19 patients aren't getting better. Major medical centers are trying to figure out how to help.

Mississippi will surrender the Confederate battle emblem from its state flag, more than a century after white supremacist legislators embedded it there a generation after the South lost the Civil War.

Trump promotes a video on Twitter showing a man in a golf cart with Trump campaign gear shouting "white power." — He’s trying to distract from the Russia bounties. He also said “Corrupt Joe is shot.” A thinly veiled shout-out to his supporters.

Anti-Trump Republican group's new ad slams the President over coronavirus deaths hitting the "Greatest Generation".

Black Americans say it’s not enough to just be “not racist.” True allies are “antiracist.” Here’s the difference. — Open your ears and listen.

Pence said the leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement push a "political agenda of the radical left." — Absurd bullshit. He’s trying to protect his white privilege. And really, not wanting to get shot is not a “radical left agenda.” Shut the fuck up, Pence.

Trump’s attacks seen undercutting confidence in 2020 vote. “What you’re seeing is someone who’s an autocrat or a dictator in action.”

Trump Had Four Years To Fill 93 US Attorney Spots. Seven Are Women And Only Two Are Black.

In Texas, questions grow about a lesser-known US Attorney ousted by Attorney General William Barr.

Starbucks is the latest company to say it will pause social media ads after a campaign led by civil rights organizations called for an ad boycott of Facebook, saying it doesn’t do enough to stop racist and violent content.

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England, has said the church should reconsider its portrayal of Jesus as a White man.

In the latest move to change place names in light of U.S. racial history, leaders of Orange County’s Democratic Party are pushing to drop film legend John Wayne’s name, statue and other likenesses from the county’s airport because of his racist and bigoted comments. — Yes, John Wayne was a racist.

Florida schools now must teach the Ocoee Election Day Massacre. Here’s why that matters.

Trump says Americans may soon receive another stimulus payment to help weather the coronavirus recession. — He’s just trying to buy your vote, hoping you’ll forget the clusterfuck of a shitshow he has put the country in.

Taylor Swift blasts US Census for excluding transgender, nonbinary people.

Astronomers are puzzling over observations that show a black hole smashing into a mystery object of unusual size.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.

Saturday, June 27, 2020

And another day where their savior lied to them, was a traitor to our country, and whose sole plan against the coronavirus is to just let people die comes to an agonizing close:

“Anyone who says ‘Well, I'm just going to overlook Trump standing by quietly while Putin put out bounties on American soldiers because I want tax cuts, deregulation,  judges, to be overt in my racism, and to pwn the libs,’ is an anti-American slime who deserves to burn in hell.” -- Kurt Eichenwald

Deaths

US: 128,152 (+512)

World: 501,298 (+4432)

Countdown: 129 days.

Outrage mounts over report Russia offered bounties to Afghanistan militants for killing US soldiers. Fierce response from top Democrats after US intelligence finding was reportedly briefed to Trump in March, but the White House has yet to act.

Back from golfing, Trump denies knowing about Russian bounties to kill U.S. soldiers. -- He’s full of shit.

Trump bruised as polls favor Biden – but experts warn of risk of dirty tricks. “You look at the polls and think ‘he can’t win’,” tweeted Bill Kristol, who served in two Republican administrations. “But Trump’s path to victory doesn’t depend on persuading Americans. It depends on voter suppression, mass disinformation, foreign interference, and unabashed use of executive branch power to shape events, and perceptions, this fall.”

Florida and four other states [AZ, NV, SC, GA] recorded daily highs for cases of COVID-19 as the number of confirmed U.S. cases of the virus rose to more than 2.5 million.

Washington state health officials reported 555 new cases of coronavirus Saturday - the second-highest daily increase since the start of the outbreak. -- Um, that’s not good.

There have been so many outbreaks in meat packing factories around the world that scientists are now examining whether the environment inside the plants could be part of the problem.

This Coronavirus Doesn't Change Quickly, And That's Good News For Vaccine Makers.

Have you seen this face mask exemption card? It's fake, U.S. Dept. of Justice says. The cards declare that the holder is "exempt" from mask requirements, falsely citing both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Department of Justice.

How the officers charged in George Floyd's death could get their jobs back. The Minneapolis police union has had great success convincing arbitrators to reinstate fired officers.

Torturers shouldn't walk the streets of America with impunity. But they do.

Nova Scotia marks 18 days without a new case of COVID-19.

Texas Republicans are moving forward with plans for an indoor convention in Houston, the state's biggest coronavirus hot spot, with an expected attendance of 6,000 people and no requirement to wear face masks. — Republicans are literally trying to kill you.

Trump campaign had social distancing stickers removed before Tulsa rally. -- Again, Republicans are literally trying to kill you.

American Airlines throws out social distancing measures during pandemic. Although the U.S. is still in the middle of a raging coronavirus pandemic that is breaking records in states like Texas and Florida and getting us banned from visiting Europe, American Airlines has decided to throw out social distancing measures on its planes. The airline quietly announced on Friday that it will start to fly its planes at full capacity beginning July 1.

Washington State Department of Health puts pause on counties moving to phase 4 in light of rising coronavirus cases.

Mississippi governor says he will sign bill, if it passes, to change 'divisive' state flag. -- Societies change. Other things must change when they do.

Princeton University has announced plans to remove the name of former President Woodrow Wilson from its public policy school because of his segregationist views, reversing a decision the Ivy League school made four years ago to retain the name. Wilson, governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913 and then the 28th U.S. president from 1913 to 1921, supported segregation and imposed it on several federal agencies not racially divided up to that point. He also barred Black students from Princeton while serving as university president and spoke approvingly of the Ku Klux Klan.

AI experts say research into algorithms that claim to predict criminality must end.

Trump administration wants to open up 82 percent of Alaska reserve for drilling.

The Rolling Stones are threatening to sue Trump if he keeps using the band's songs at rallies. -- Don’t threaten. Do it.

Recently discovered super-Earths could 'potentially host life'. At 11 light-years away, we're practically neighbors.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.