Wednesday, January 20, 2021

And another day of notable moments, poetry, renewed cooperation, executive orders, closing vaccination sites, a flurry of pardons, warping history, breaking silence, losing hope, and moving closer to extinction comes to a close:

“Hold on honey, there’s a new dawn coming, and a big bird to sweep you away.” -- Cowboy Junkies

"If you're ever working with me and I hear you treated another colleague with disrespect--talk down to someone--I promise you I will fire you on the spot. On the spot. No ifs, ands or buts." -- President Joe Biden to his appointees.

Deaths

US: 415,894 (+4405)

World: 2,083,257 (+17,585)

Cases

US: 24,998,975 (+192,011)

World: 97,306,557 (+682,153)

An inauguration like no other: Notable moments of a momentous day.

Amanda Gorman reads "The Hill We Climb" at Joe Biden's inauguration. Amanda Gorman made history Wednesday as the youngest known inaugural poet. The 22-year-old Los Angeles resident delivered her poem "The Hill We Climb" at President Joe Biden's inauguration in Washington, D.C.

Joe Biden, don’t repeat Abe Lincoln’s mistake. By forgiving the Confederates, Lincoln helped perpetuate another century of racial discrimination. Biden needs to punish those who engaged in sedition. America is at a critical inflection point and, dare I say, reflection point. We have to decide whether the men and women responsible for trying to overturn a free and fair election, and who later helped to incite a riot and insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, will be given pardon or punishment...One reason America has not healed is because we are stuck in denial about what really happened on Jan. 6. It was not a day of patriots protesting. It was a day of white grievances. White rage. And white nationalism run wild. It was a day that we have seen many times before in our nation’s ugly racial past, just not at the U.S. Capitol.

Biden repudiates white supremacy, calls for racial justice.

World hopes for renewed cooperation under new US president.

Paris climate accord: Biden announces US will rejoin landmark agreement. Biden's action sends a strong message that the US is prepared to cooperate in the fight against climate change and seek to reclaim the leadership role it once held, experts say. Under the agreement, countries are expected to enhance their commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions every five years.

Republicans call for Senate review before U.S. re-enters Paris climate deal. -- Republicans are literally trying to kill you.

President Biden signs his first executive actions as president, including mandating masks on federal property.

Joe Biden is ending Trump’s travel ban. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden is beginning the immense task of dismantling former President Donald Trump’s nativist legacy on immigration, issuing an executive order to end Trump’s controversial travel ban on noncitizens from 13 countries.

Senate confirms Biden’s pick for national intelligence director.

New York City temporarily closing vaccination sites due to lack of supply from federal government.

As part of a final flurry of pardons, former President Trump pardoned his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, who was indicted for using an online fundraising campaign to defraud hundreds of thousands of supporters of Trump's border wall.

How the Trump administration's 1776 Report warps the history of racism and slavery. Trump’s parting shot at diversity education gets panned by historians, as Biden prepares to disband the commission behind the report.

Shep Smith breaks his silence about why he left Fox News. "Opine all you like, but if you're going to opine, begin with the truth and opine from there," Smith said. "When people begin with a false premise and lead people astray, that's injurious to society and it's the antithesis of what we should be doing: Those of us who are so honored and grateful to have a platform of public influence have to use it for the public good."

Some QAnon followers lose hope after Inauguration. While Biden took the oath, one top post on a QAnon forum read: “I don’t think this is supposed to happen” and wondered, “How long does it take the fed to run up the stairs and arrest him?" Other users became immediately dejected, realizing their dreams of a bloody coup were not going to take place. “Anyone else feeling beyond let down?” one top post on a popular QAnon forum read. "It's like being a kid and seeing the big gift under the tree thinking it is exactly what you want only to open it and realize it was a lump of coal."

Monarch butterfly population moves closer to extinction. An annual winter count by the Xerces Society recorded fewer than 2,000 butterflies, a massive decline from the tens of thousands tallied in recent years.

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

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