Monday, May 31, 2021

And another day of finally remembered tragedies, BS from Abbott in TX, the fact most people can’t spot fake news, traitor Flynn, Osaka brings awareness, Christian discrimination, banning police from lying to minors, and a dangerous TikTok challenge comes to a close:

“Don’t underestimate the absolute will of white men to hold onto power.” — Dionne P

“Let's be clear. If 10 Republican Senators cannot even vote for a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6th insurrection, 10 Republican Senators will not vote for anything meaningful to improve the lives of the American people. We must abolish the filibuster & act now.” — Bernie Sanders

Deaths

US: 609,767 (+346 over two days)

World: 3,564,764 (+16,194 over two days)

Cases

US: 34,113,146 (+77,828 over two days)

World: 171,455,838 (+830,944 over two days)

Tulsa Race Massacre: 5 free online resources to learn about a largely forgotten tragedy.

In case you missed it: Texas Democrats abandon House floor, blocking passage of voting bill before final deadline.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vows to defund state Legislature after voting restrictions bill fails, threatening salaries. "This would eliminate the branch of government that represents the people and basically create a monarchy.” -- So he’s targeting legislators’ pay.

Most Americans think they can spot fake news. They can't, study finds. As many as three in four Americans overestimate their ability to spot false headlines -- and the worse they are at it, the more likely they are to share fake news, researchers reported Monday..."We show that overconfident individuals are more likely to visit untrustworthy websites in behavioral data; to fail to successfully distinguish between true and false claims about current events in survey questions; and to report greater willingness to like or share false content on social media, especially when it is politically congenial...In all, these results paint a worrying picture: The individuals who are least equipped to identify false news content are also the least aware of their own limitations and, therefore, more susceptible to believing it and spreading it further..."Finally, Republicans are more overconfident than Democrats, which is not surprising given the lower levels of media trust they report.”

Michael Flynn says Myanmar-like coup "should happen" in US. -- He is such a traitor.

117 employees sue Houston Methodist hospital for requiring COVID-19 vaccine.

Gig workers to lose all unemployment benefits in 20 GOP states: "You can't prepare for it".

Tennis star Naomi Osaka says she is withdrawing from the French Open. She'd been fined $15,000 for not talking to media at the event, citing mental health reasons. — She is bringing awareness to mental health. Listen. 

A major Rugrats character is gay in the new reboot: 'She's a beacon for young queer people'.

A Christian management company is suing for the right to discriminate against workers for being members of the LGBT+ community, having sex and using Grindr. Steve Hotze – a conservative Christian with a long history of opposing LGBT+ rights – has filed a lawsuit in Texas alongside the Bear Creek Bible Church asking for a religious exemption to employment equality laws...Hotze’s lawsuit goes on to request that he be allowed to discriminate against LGBT+ workers under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act or the free exercise clause of the First Amendment...The plaintiffs offer a series of examples of how they can exclude LGBT+ people from their workplaces while still meeting the obligations of the Supreme Court’s ruling. — They do. And they’re something else. There’s more. Check out the rest. Bigotry and hatred in the name of religion is still bigotry and hatred.

Illinois became the first state Sunday to pass a bill that will ban police from lying to youth during interrogations -- a practice that adds significantly to the risk of false confessions and wrongful convictions. It is expected to be signed into law by the governor in coming weeks. — It’s okay for the police to lie to e everyone else, though.

37% percent of the world’s heat deaths each year are due directly to global warming, a new study finds.

13-year-old girl severely burned while imitating TikTok video, family says. Parents warned of potentially dangerous TikTok challengeA 13-year-old girl was hospitalized after attempting to copy a TikTok video showing a person using alcohol to draw shapes on a mirror before lighting them on fire.

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

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