And another day of missiles, masks, cutting unemployment benefits, links to scandals, Taylor Greene accused of breaking the law, misdemeanors, an ACA sign-up surge, plastics declared toxic, a climate report, and no more SAT/ACT exam scores in CA comes to a close:
“The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, are all symbols of human failure.” — Andrea Junker
“Cults of personality function as loyalty tests. By forcing people to display devotion by repeating lies about a leader, they effectively separate the zealots from the dissenters. But it means that principles and debate become secondary to dogmatic repetition of official myths.” — Brian Klass
Deaths
US: 599,863 (+549)
World: 3,383,230 (+12,181)
Cases
US: 33,695,916 (+31,903)
World: 163,165,573 (+639,985)
A 12-storey Gaza tower block housing the offices of the U.S.-based Associated Press and Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera collapsed on Saturday after being struck by Israeli missiles.
The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today.
“Notably it makes no difference which administration is in office. Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, etc — constant deference and money flow to the Israeli government, regardless of the atrocities it commits or the threat to the US itself.” — Sarah Kendzior
CDC recommends U.S. schools continue to use masks. Schools in the United States should continue to use masks for the 2020-2021 academic year as all students will not be fully vaccinated, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Saturday. The CDC in its latest guidance said all kindergarten through grade 12 schools "should implement and layer prevention strategies and should prioritize universal and correct use of masks and physical distancing."
Republican governors are refusing aid from Democrats in Washington. In little more than a week, 17 governors have announced they'll be cutting off pandemic unemployment benefits early, the latest being West Virginia on Friday. This could cost nearly 2 million people as much as $10.8 billion in payments.
Republican Voters Say They Don’t Mind Trump Critics, But Liz Cheney’s Ouster Says Otherwise. Nearly every Republican who voted to impeach former Pres. Trump has been admonished by the party and has attracted at least one primary challenger.
Republican Arizona election official says Trump “unhinged”. The Republican who now leads the Arizona county elections department targeted by a GOP audit of the 2020 election results is slamming former President Donald Trump and others in his party for their continued falsehoods about how the election was run...“We can’t indulge these insane lies any longer. As a party. As a state. As a country.”
Before he resigned in disgrace last year, Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg doled out dubious contracts to a number of Republican politicians, political strategists and other allies, many with links to the scandals that have rocked Florida politics this month, according to audit documents, emails and other records reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel.
Marjorie Taylor Greene and her husband received tax breaks on two Georgia homes. Married couples are only allowed one, according to state law. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green has been accused of breaking Georgia state law by illegally filing for tax exemptions on separate homes in two different counties, according to an investigation by Atlanta's WSB-TV. The investigation found that Greene and her husband have two active homestead exemptions, WSB-TV said. — A Republican breaking the law? That would never happen. <\sarcasm>
New Washington state law makes drug possession a misdemeanor. The new law makes simple drug possession in Washington a misdemeanor instead of a felony, but that provision will expire in two years.
'A sea change': Subsidies and White House push leads to surge in Obamacare sign-ups. Those who signed up, especially older people who did not yet qualify for Medicare, said they felt as though Obamacare was finally living up to their expectations.
Canada Declares Plastics Toxic, Paving the Way for Restrictions. “I think the days of waiting for recycling to work are over,” notes one environmentalist. Plastic recycling was invented by the plastics industry in the 1970s to assuage environmental concerns without substantially reducing plastic consumption, according to Max Liboiron, an expert on plastic waste and a professor at Memorial University. It has never worked. Despite decades of effort, only about nine percent of Canada’s plastic waste is currently recycled, according to the 2019 ECCC-commissioned study.
PETA Slams The Offspring for Harmful Chimpanzee Music Video. Today, PETA sent a letter to The Offspring lead singer Dexter Holland asking him to pull the group’s We Never Have Sex Anymore music video immediately because of its egregious exploitation of chimpanzees. In it, two chimpanzees are dressed up and forced onto chaotic sets, including a set that looks like a strip club, where one is depicted drinking, tipping dancers, and swinging on a pole under bright lights. “There are plenty of things we all miss about the ’90s—but animal exploitation isn’t among them.”
US environmental agency releases climate report delayed by Trump. The Climate Change Indicators report charts the extent to which glaciers are shrinking, sea levels are rising and flooding is increasing...The report takes in data from dozens of US agencies, and shows the damage climate change has already caused. — And it’s not pretty.
Texas lawmakers move to raise penalties on owners of Teslas and other electric vehicles.
No, your (itchy, red) eyes are not deceiving you -- allergy season is getting worse, and climate change is to blame.
The University of California system will no longer use SAT, ACT scores in admissions. The decision is part of a settlement of a student lawsuit that was announced Friday. Activists have long argued that standardized tests put minority and low-income students at a disadvantage. Critics say test questions often contain inherent bias that more privileged children are better equipped to answer. They also say wealthier students typically take expensive prep courses that help boost their scores, which many students can’t afford.
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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