Sunday, February, 14, 2021

And another day of damn the Constitution, using video games and tech to radicalize teenage recruits, killing the Electoral College, conservative policies literally killing us, racist memes, and Valentine’s Day has always been a farce comes to a close:

“The most American thing I can think of is that 57 people voted to convict and 43 voted to acquit, and the 43 people won.” — Margaret Owen

“We can teach kids that the Declaration of Independence states all men are created equal, that our constitution guarantees equal treatment, but the reality is that "some people count more than others" was built into this country and until we exorcise it this will keep happening.” — Margaret Owen 

Deaths

US: 497,174 (+1111)

World: 2,411,471 (+6083)

Cases

US: 28,261,470 (+64,506)

World: 109,388,463 (+286,557)

Support grows for Capitol riot inquiry after Trump acquittal.

Is the GOP's extremist wing now too big to fail? Through their inactions on Trump and Greene, Republicans "are normalizing, they are mainstreaming, what counterterrorism experts would say is violent extremism: that it is acceptable to use inflammatory rhetoric and encourage violence to achieve your ends and ... it is acceptable to engage in public life through conspiracy theories.”

Republicans who acquitted Trump put their careers over duty, honor and the Constitution. Trump's acquittal proved with final certainty that Republicans are driven only by ambition, comfort and self-interest — and the Constitution be damned.

How far right uses video games and tech to lure and radicalise teenage recruits. After a 13-year-old was sentenced last week, a young victim of radicalisation talks about how white supremacists target children.

A Trump criminal probe in Georgia expands to include Sen. Lindsey Graham. A Georgia district attorney is investigating whether Graham violated state law in a call with an elections official.

The Electoral College is racist. Here's how to kill it without a constitutional amendment. The case against the Electoral College is straightforward: Because states are allocated electors based on the size of their congressional delegations, those with smaller populations have an outsize influence on presidential elections. The result is that a small number of voters in certain battleground states become kingmakers. By one analysis of the 2012 presidential election, four out of five voters had virtually zero influence on the outcome.

Compared to 16 other nations, the United States ranks dead last in life expectancy for males and second-to-last for females. What’s causing the health disadvantage? Recent work points to a surprising culprit: conservative policies. This idea stems from a new line of research focusing on individual states, rather than the country as a whole, which has found that states with more liberal policies have longer life expectancy rates than those with more conservative policies. If all states adopted policies similar to those of Hawaii, for example—including on labor, tobacco, and the environment—US life expectancy would increase to such an extent that it would be on par with other high-income countries, according to Jennifer Karas Montez, a sociologist at Syracuse University and lead author of the new research.

Average new US virus cases below 100K for 1st time in months.

Four people in Oregon who received both doses of vaccine test positive for coronavirus. The cases are either mild or asymptomatic.

Israeli study finds 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 cases with Pfizer vaccine.

Virus may never go away but could change into mild annoyance. Experts say it’s likely that some version of the disease will linger for years. But what it will look like in the future is less clear.

Germany implements tighter border restrictions in fight against virus variants.

Los Angeles police have launched an internal investigation after officers were reported to have shared a Valentine's Day image of George Floyd with the caption "You take my breath away."

Lawmakers pursue limiting public access to mug shots. Booking photos taken by police when a person is arrested are often made public, but some experts say releasing someone’s mug shot can undermine the presumption of innocence, perpetuate racial stereotypes and leave an indelible stain on a person's life.

New Ebola outbreak declared in Guinea.

All 254 Texas counties under winter storm warning as arctic blast heads east.

As traditional sports struggle to adjust to the pandemic, esports are thriving, with a new influx of players and spectators, according to those who study and play them.

Valentine's Day was always a farce. Covid showed us the farce is the pretense of equality. The reality is that American heterosexual relationships are nothing but a tritely scripted reality show based upon extreme gender performance, and that performance is breaking down.

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

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