Saturday, March 20, 2021

And another day of Republicans and elections, a more contagious variant, ‘sex addition,’ death threats, disguising real guns, weight rooms, the 40-hour work week, challenging family norms, and a metal with a memory comes to a close:

“It's rude to ask your friends how they "qualified" to get vaccinated. Lots of seemingly healthy people have underlying conditions they don't want to discuss with you.” — Tara Parker-Hope

Deaths

US: 554,871 (+767)

World: 2,722,032 (+8559)

Cases

US: 30,482,127 (+56,340)

World: 123,430,452 (+543,306)

‘An all-hands moment’: GOP rallies behind voting limits. For a powerful network of conservatives, voting restrictions are now viewed as a political life-or-death debate, and the fight has all-but eclipsed traditional Republican issues like abortion, gun rights and tax cuts as an organizing tool. — Republicans want to make it harder for people to vote.

Arizona Republicans push new laws to limit mail voting. One bill would purge infrequent voters from an early voting list while others seek to add restrictions to mail ballots. -- Republicans can’t win on their ideology.

Florida Democrats are demanding a special election take place for a state Senate seat after a Republican was accused of tampering with last year's contest that could have thrown the race to the GOP. The Democrats are calling on state Sen. Ileana Garcia (R) to resign and for officials to set up a special election after former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles was arrested on Thursday for allegedly planting a shadow candidate to defeat Democratic incumbent José Javier Rodriguez in state Senate District 37. — The contest was decided by 32 votes. Republicans cheat. 

A new, more contagious coronavirus variant is spreading across the US, and health officials are worried. The B.1.1.7 variant, first spotted in the UK, is not only more easily transmitted, but it also appears to be more deadly...But vaccines appear to protect well against B.1.1.7 and treatments such as monoclonal antibodies also appear to work against this particular variant, Fauci said. That makes it more important than ever to get people vaccinated quickly, he said. -- When you can, get vaccinated people.

Half of UK adults have gotten one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Denmark said on Saturday that one person had died and another fell seriously ill with blood clots and cerebral haemorrhage after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination.

I'm Vaccinated Against COVID-19, But My Kids Aren't. What's Safe for Us? As of now, kids younger than 16 are not authorized to get a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S., so there’s no way they can be fully protected. Does that mean parents and their children are staring down another year of isolation? Here’s what to know.

Miami Beach imposes 8 p.m. curfew to control spring break crowds.

How 'sex addiction' has historically been used to absolve white men. “Historically, the term ‘sex addiction’ has been used by white males to absolve themselves from personal and legal responsibility for their behaviors,” Apryl Alexander, associate professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver, told NBC Asian America. “It is often used as an excuse to pathologize misogyny.”

The IOC and the Japanese government announced Saturday that spectators traveling from overseas would be barred from attending the Tokyo Olympics. “Based on the present situation of the pandemic, it is highly unlikely that entry into Japan will be guaranteed this summer for people from overseas,” organizers say.

Two men sentenced to death for Pakistan gang rape: prosecutors.

Ohio State player says he received death threat after team's upset loss. In one message, a person wrote to Liddell: "You are such a f---ing disgrace. Don't ever show your face at Ohio State. We hate you. I hope you die I really do."

Police in North Carolina found a real gun disguised as a Nerf toy while conducting a drug raid in Catawba County, north of Charlotte, this week.

The NCAA has upgraded the women's basketball weight room after receiving widespread backlash that the women's facilities were subpar compared to the men's.

The 40-hour workweek became law when men went to work, and women managed the home. That's not how the world works anymore, and labor law needs to catch up.

How Polyamorists and Polygamists Are Challenging Family Norms. From opposite sides of the culture, parallel campaigns for legal recognition may soon make multiple-partner marriages as unremarkable as same-sex marriages. The campaigns of both polygamists and polyamorists to have their unions recognized point to the larger questions that swarm around marriage battles: what are the government’s interests in marriage and family, and why does a bureaucratic system sustain such a relentless focus on who has sexual relationships with whom?

How a metal with a memory will shape our future on Mars. A metal that can move on its own will play a key role in NASA’s next voyage to Mars.

An asteroid the size of the Golden Gate Bridge to make "very close encounter" with Earth this weekend.

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

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