And another day of trouble in Texas, traveling to Cancun, misleading claims, Limbaugh lessons, a decrease in American life expectancy, Facebook blocks news, saliva testing, upset strippers, NASA success, and the beauty of Dolly Parton comes to a close:
“I’m safe on Mars. Perseverance will get you anywhere.” — NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover
Deaths
US: 505,309 (+2765)
World: 2,452,511 (+11,583)
Cases
US: 28,523,524 (+69,998)
World: 110,834,207 (+404,135)
Texas water shortage adds to power crisis as new winter storm moves in. Scores of Texans were urged to boil tap water before drinking it after days of record low temperatures damaged infrastructure and froze water pipes.
The Texas power grid is improving. But days of outages have caused heat, water and food shortages.
Jerry Jones' Company Hits 'Jackpot' As Harsh Storms Send Natural Gas Prices Surging. Comstock Resources Inc., a shale driller that operates in Texas and Louisiana, told investors on an earnings call this week that the surge in natural gas prices was providing it with a major — albeit almost certainly temporary — financial boost. The company is publicly traded but Jones holds a majority of the shares. "Obviously, this week is like hitting the jackpot," President and Chief Financial Officer Roland Burns said Wednesday.
Cruz travels to Cancun, Mexico, as millions of Texans remain without power amid historic winter storm. -- Cancun Cruz again prioritizing himself over the people of Texas.
Ted Cruz Is No Hypocrite. He’s Worse. Cruz’s error is not that he was shirking a duty he knew he should have been performing. It’s that he couldn’t think of any way he could use his power as a U.S. senator to help Texans in need. That’s a failure of imagination and of political ideology.
Ted Cruz has repeatedly slammed politicians for vacationing during crisis. Cruz has attacked public officials for vacationing or golfing during times of crisis and argued that it showed those officials were not paying attention.
The Houston Police Department confirmed to NBC that Cruz’s staff contacted them on Wednesday afternoon to assist him in his arrival and movements through Houston's international airport. -- WTF? He diverted public resources amid a statewide disaster for his own personal gain? Shocking, I know. The state Democratic Party has called him to resign. He should. Texas would be better off, as well as the entire country in general, if Cancun Cruz was not a member of the US Senate...or in politics at all.
Texas Republicans criticized for misleading claims that renewable energy sources caused massive outages. The crisis has turned into a political flashpoint in Texas about issues that are core to its economy, with some of the world's largest energy companies headquartered there, and the environment, with Republican leaders in Texas insisting they don't want to follow the lead of Democratic-led California and other states that have more broadly embraced renewable energy sources. -- And Texans will suffer. Renewable energy is the future. Texas better wake up or this will be merely a precursor to a dreadful future.
Rush Limbaugh Taught Republicans to Love an Angry, Racist Bully. He did not merely characterize his targets as misguided, or stupid, or even selfish. He rendered them for his audience as dehumanized targets of rage. He had special rage for feminist women, who were castrating harpies, and Black people, who were lazy, intellectually unqualified, and inherently criminal. The message he pounded home day after day was that minorities and women were seizing status and resources from white people and men, and that politics was a zero-sum struggle — and the victory would go to whichever side fought more viciously...What, then, was the glue? It was simple: “The thing that’s in front of everybody’s face and it’s apparently so hard to believe, it’s this united, virulent opposition to the left and the Democrat Party and Barack Obama.” Limbaugh, like Trump, understood the party’s id years before its putative leaders grasped it. They had the same feel for the conservative audience and nearly the same message to capture it.
Florida Gov. DeSantis stands accused of using the Covid-19 vaccine to reward powerful political supporters and developers by setting up pop-up vaccination sites in planned communities they developed and where Republican voters predominate.
The Supreme Court is still sitting on former President Donald Trump's tax returns, and justices aren't saying why.
Life expectancy in the US dropped a full year in the first half of 2020, according to a report published Thursday by the CDC. Experts say that Covid-19 was a significant factor contributing to the decline.
Biden administration says it's ready for nuclear talks with Iran.
At least 42 people, including students, were kidnapped in an armed raid at a state-run school in Niger state, in Nigeria's Middle Belt region Wednesday.
Facebook Inc said on Thursday that it blocked media content in Australia because the draft law did not provide clear guidance on the definition of news content and said its commitment to combat misinformation had not changed.
Outrage as Facebook blocks access to news content in Australia. Australia's prime minister has slammed Facebook for "unfriending" his country. Australians woke up Thursday to find they were unable to view or share news items on their Facebook feeds, while the pages of local and international news organizations were blank. -- We all really should just let Facebook die.
Walmart to hike wages for 425,000 workers to average above $15 an hour.
Horse racing is to become the first major sport in Britain to introduce saliva testing that will screen jockeys on the day for banned substances, including cocaine. Previously, jockeys were tested using blood, urine and hair sampling. By taking samples of saliva, results will be almost immediate, meaning jockeys can be stood down from racing that day.
Dolly Parton asks Tennessee lawmakers not to erect statue of her on Capitol grounds. "Given all that is going on in the world, I don't think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time," she said in a statement on Twitter. -- Excuse me while I go purchase some Dolly Parton songs.
Why Strippers Are Upset About Netflix’s Pole Dance Documentary. Strip Down, Rise Up follows both newbies and diehards who pull tricks on poles, sometimes for fitness, sometimes for competition, or in the case of the main group of students, as a raw journey of healing from trauma. But current and former strippers, including one who can be seen in the film, told BuzzFeed News they felt their profession was erased from the Netflix documentary.
NASA's Mars rover successfully touches down on the red planet. Perseverance is now set to begin a two-year mission to roam the Martian surface and search for signs of ancient microbial life. — If only we wouldn’t let petty bullshit get in our way. Imagine the things we as a species could accomplish.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
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