Tuesday, May 18, 2021

And another day of fear, hitting pause, ethics probes, ‘criminal capacity,’ the DOJ subpoenaed Twitter, a hospital chain suing patients, a church program accused of abusing teens, and Darwin’s Arch collapses comes to a close:

“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” -- William Shakespeare

Deaths

US: 601,330 (+797)

World: 3,418,430 (+14,151)

Cases

US: 33,774,945 (+27,506)

World: 164,886,821 (+614,226)

The real reasons for why Kevin McCarthy is afraid of a January 6 commission. So, what's really going on here? Why would McCarthy throw Katko directly under the bus -- sending a message to every rank and file Republican that the leadership has zero problem making you look like a fool if it behooves them? Two reasons, actually. 1) McCarthy doesn't want to testify under oath about his phone conversation with former President Donald Trump on January 6. And 2) 2) McCarthy wants to be speaker badly.

McConnell hits ‘pause’ on Dems effort to create Jan. 6 panel. Senate Republicans are signaling that they will try to block — or at least slow down — a Democratic effort to create a 9/11-style commission on the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, threatening the chances of a deeper, independent look at the siege and how it could be prevented from happening again. -- Republicans do not want the truth to come out about their complacency regarding the insurrection.

Dark Money Group Faces Ethics Probe After Boasting of Drafting Voter Suppression Laws. “They’re either lying [or] potentially in violation of the House ethics rules.”

New York attorney general adds 'criminal capacity' to probe of Trump Organization. "We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature. We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA.”

Trump DOJ subpoenaed Twitter for identity behind Nunes parody account. The subpoena sought identifying information from Twitter about the account @NunesAlt. There is little public information about the court proceedings around the subpoena. It's not clear whether Twitter ever complied with the demand or if it was ultimately quashed by a federal judge...The account criticized the subpoena in a post Monday afternoon that included a link to a fundraiser for its legal efforts to fight Nunes' various lawsuits. "There's nothing remarkable about me," the tweet reads. "I'm a basic smartass with a Twitter account. So then why am I being sued by a US congressman? Why would the DOJ ever target me? Is it the mean tweets and bad memes? It's not about me or this silly account. It's about silencing all of us."

One of America's largest hospital chains has been suing thousands of patients during the pandemic. Most of the patients being sued by CHS who spoke to CNN said that they couldn't afford to pay what the hospital was asking for. And letters to courts in cases around the country also raise questions about the company's claims that it only tries to collect from patients who can afford to pay..."It's not keeping the lights on for the hospitals -- they don't need to be doing this," Walsh said. "But for the patients, some of them go bankrupt, some of them have money taken directly out of their paychecks ... They're choosing between medical care and food.” — Healthcare is a right.

Businesses will now be forced to post signs announcing they serve transgender customers in Tennessee. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) has signed one of the cruelest anti-trans laws in the nation, which will require businesses and public buildings to warn cisgender customers that they serve transgender people like any other customer.

A group representing thousands of primary care doctors in Tokyo has called for the Summer Olympics to be canceled — saying hospitals "have their hands full" and have almost no capacity to spare.

This church program is accused of abusing teens with extreme 'boot camps,' 'fight nights' and shame. Teenagers pitted against each other during "fight nights" staged by a youth pastor running a Christian leadership training program. "Boot camps" where the trainees learn the Way of the Cross by exercising until they vomit or soil themselves — and by hefting heavy logs on their shoulders through the sweltering summer heat. Participants who are Black or suspected of being gay being taunted with racist and homophobic slurs, and female interns being fat-shamed. Those are just some of the alleged abuses that were described for this article by more than a half-dozen people who took part in the “220i” leadership program that Bethany Church, based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ran from 2005 to 2013. The program promised to turn participants — referred to as interns — into minister material while providing them with marketable skills like media production.

Amazon will block police indefinitely from using its facial-recognition software. Nearly a year ago, Amazon said it would stop providing its facial-recognition software, Rekognition, to police for a year. Now it appears that ban won't be ending any time soon — if ever.

Galapagos rock formation Darwin's Arch has collapsed. One of the most famous rock formations in the Galapagos Islands has collapsed into the sea. The top of Darwin's Arch, located in the northern part of the archipelago, fell as "a consequence of natural erosion," according to the Ministry of Environment for Ecuador.

RIP Charles Grodin. He was 86. 

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

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