Monday, May 10, 2021

And another day of vaccine approval, ousting Cheney, protecting LGBTQ, banning ‘critical race theory,’ the Golden Globes, driving a plant to extinction in pursuit of electric vehicles, and Amazon’s palm-reading tech in stores comes to a close:

“The problem with the Republican Party is Republican voters.” -- Chris Vance

Deaths

US: 596,179 (+367)

World: 3,317,492 (+11,179)

Cases

US: 33,515,308 (+38,527)

World: 159,596,578 (+640,396)

U.S. authorizes Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine for children 12 to 15.

78.8% of people in the United States live within 5 miles of locations that offer all three vaccines.

Fauci says wearing masks could become seasonal following the pandemic. “We've had practically a nonexistent flu season this year merely because people were doing the kinds of public health things that were directed predominantly against covid-19," Fauci said.

McCarthy schedules vote to oust Cheney for Wednesday.

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Monday came to the defense of soon-to-be-ousted House GOP conference chair Liz Cheney, arguing their party is poised to remove her from the influential post because she has consistently said former President Donald Trump is responsible for the US Capitol insurrection. "She is being run out for one thing: her consistency. She said the exact same thing that (House Minority Leader) Kevin McCarthy said on January 6, which is Donald Trump is responsible" for the riot, Kinzinger said at a virtual event hosted by the National Press Club.

Romney warns removing Cheney from House leadership will cost GOP election votes. -- I’d like to think so, but the GOP has the game pretty rigged at this point. And they’re trying to rig it more before 2022/2024.

The Biden administration has announced the government will protect LGBTQ people against discrimination in health care — effectively reversing a Trump-era rule that went into effect last year.

With no Republicans signed on, for now, Democrats are unlikely to win the 60 votes needed to pass the Equality Act, potentially putting it in limbo indefinitely.

Republican lawmakers across the country have proposed bills to ban "critical race theory" in K-12 schools. Here's what that really means. "Any anti-racist effort is being labeled as critical race theory,” Chism said. “Many that are condemning critical race theory haven’t read it or studied it intensely. This is largely predicated on fear: the fear of losing power and influence and privilege. The larger issue that this is all stemming from is a desire to deny the truth about America, about racism.”

Georgia governor signs bill barring large cuts in police budgets. The legislation bars cities and counties from reducing their law enforcement budgets by more than five percent in a span of five years. Kemp said during a signing ceremony at a gun range that “radical movements” were the reason why he signed the bill into law.

A county-by-county look at the broadband gap. If broadband access was a problem before 2020, the pandemic turned it into a crisis...After years of slowly widening, the broadband gap became impossible to ignore...Maps like this are important because, for much of the past decade, the scale of the problem has been maddeningly difficult to pin down.

Gay man brutally murdered and beheaded by family in Iran in 'honour killing'. He was just 20 years old. Women and LGBT+ people are often targeted in so-called “honour killings” under the belief that they have brought shame or dishonour on the family. A 2019 study in The Journal of Interpersonal Violence found that anti-gay “honour violence” is still used and encouraged around the world. A report compiled by 6rang in 2020 found that six in 10 queer people in Iran have been assaulted by family members, while almost half have been sexually assaulted in public. Same-sex sexual conduct is illegal in Iran and can be punishable by death or life imprisonment, and any display of LGBT+ identities is strongly condemned.

NBC says it won't broadcast the Golden Globes in 2022 after controversy surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's lack of diversity and questions about the organization's policies.

America's electric cars need lithium so badly it may wipe out this species. Fewer than 40 years after humans discovered Tiehm's buckwheat, a Nevada plant with yellow flowers, they may drive it to extinction in pursuit of electric vehicles, a technology widely hailed as being environmentally friendly.

Low pay and 'toxic' workplaces are driving workers away from restaurants. "This is not a worker shortage, this is a wage shortage.”

California expands drought emergency to large swath of state.

Mattel wants you to send back your toys when you're done with them. The 76-year-old toy company is launching a pilot program called "Mattel PlayBack" that is designed to recover and reuse materials in old toys for future Mattel products.

Amazon's palm-reading payment tech is now available in New York City. You no longer have to shop in Washington state to use Amazon's palm-reading technology. MarketWatch reports that Amazon has introduced One to New York City, making the biometric authentication available in the Amazon Go store at 11 West 42nd Street. It functions just like it did before. Once you've signed up, you just need to hover your palm above a reader to enter the store and approve your purchases. You don't have to touch a thing besides the goods you're buying.

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

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