And another day of commissions, science, economies, masks, hoaxes, warnings, returns, purity tests, child sex trafficking, censoring discussions, a water crisis, China lands on Mars, and the NFL’s horrible scoring algorithm for dementia comes to a close:
“Basically, Republicans have devolved back into 19th century peasant villagers who distrust anyone with education, anyone in a position of government, and anyone they don't personally know. Good job, GOP!.” — Tom Nichols
Deaths
US: 599,314 (+774)
World: 3,371,049 (+12,560)
Cases
US: 33,664,013 (+37,916)
World: 162,525,588 (+701,111)
House negotiators have reached an agreement on the parameters of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the "facts and circumstances" surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
What's the science behind CDC's decision to say fully vaccinated people don't need masks? The study found that real-life use of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines provided 94% protection for the front-line workers immunized at the beginning of the vaccine rollout. A single dose provided 82% protection, the CDC-led team reported in the agency's weekly report, the MMWR. It was the findings from the new study, on top of earlier studies, that pushed CDC to decide to loosen its advice on who needs to wear a mask and when
Local restaurants cheered the announcement that Washington state's economy is on track to fully reopen by June 30, with 100% capacity allowed at dining establishments.
Walmart, Trader Joe's and Costco say vaccinated customers don't have to wear masks in stores.
Just 12 People Are Behind Most Vaccine Hoaxes On Social Media, Research Shows. "The 'Disinformation Dozen' produce 65% of the shares of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms," said Imran Ahmed, chief executive officer of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which identified the accounts. Now that the vaccine rollout is reaching a critical stage in which most adults who want the vaccine have gotten it, but many others are holding out, these 12 influential social media users stand to have an outsize impact on the outcome.
US warns extremists may strike as virus restrictions ease. The alert does not cite any specific threats. But it warns of potential danger from an increasingly complex and volatile mix that includes domestic terrorists inspired by various grievances, racial or ethnic hatred and influences from abroad.
Return to the Joys of Full-time Office Work? No Thanks. CEOs are touting the benefits of office ‘culture’ as a reason to return to our cubicles. But that culture has often meant harassment, discrimination, and painful water-cooler conversations. What we do know is that normal office culture generally sucked for a whole lot of people. It’s a culture forged in the crucible of white male patriarchy and can be oppressive for those who don’t fit within its narrow margins...The goal should neither be to completely abandon the in-person office, nor treat working from home as some kind of extended sabbatical from real work. Instead, we should be listening to diverse voices, understand what has worked about working from home, and what has not, and try to implement those lessons as widely as possible. Do we need people in the office five days a week? Should every Zoom meeting be recorded so there’s an electronic trail of who said what and who couldn’t keep it in their pants? Maybe allowing people to be their full selves at work is a good thing and we shouldn’t require people to live in the box that is most acceptable to white people? Just throwing that out there.
Stefanik's win shows old GOP conservative purity tests replaced by a new one. Rep. Elise Stefanik’s overwhelming victory in a leadership race Friday to become the No. 3 Republican in the House came against an opponent who has aced the conservative purity tests that used to matter inside the party...But Stefanik passed the only purity test that matters today: Donald Trump’s endorsement. -- The Republican Party is insane.
Retired Black players say NFL brain-injury payouts show bias. Thousands of retired Black professional football players, their families and supporters are demanding an end to the controversial use of “race-norming” to determine which players are eligible for payouts in the NFL’s $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims, a system experts say is discriminatory...Under the settlement, however, the NFL has insisted on using a scoring algorithm on the dementia testing that assumes Black men start with lower cognitive skills. They must therefore score much lower than whites to show enough mental decline to win an award. The practice, which went unnoticed until 2018, has made it harder for Black former players to get awards. — Stop watching the NFL.
Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg to plead guilty to six charges, including child sex trafficking.
State Lawmakers Are Trying to Ban Talk About Race in Schools. A nationwide attempt to censor discussions of race in the classroom is underway. These bills don’t just set back progress in addressing systemic issues, they also rob young people of an inclusive education and blatantly suppress speech about race. The new bills target efforts to provide education about gender and race discrimination, including critical race theory, an academic concept and practice that recognizes systemic racism is deeply ingrained in American society and examines how our systems promote inequality.
Video shows South Carolina deputies repeatedly tasing Black man before he dies in jail.
Water crisis ‘couldn’t be worse’ on Oregon-California border. he water crisis along the California-Oregon border went from dire to catastrophic this week as federal regulators shut off irrigation water to farmers from a critical reservoir and said they would not send extra water to dying salmon downstream or to a half-dozen wildlife refuges that harbor millions of migrating birds each year.
China has successfully landed a rover on Mars, state media says.
The electric, self-driving tractor can be programmed to perform tasks such as plowing, harvesting and mowing, and can operate for up to 10 hours from a five-hour charge, according to its makers.
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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