Wednesday, June 23, 2021

And another day of ‘indoctrination,’ hot weather, a decrease in life expectancy, SCOTUS sides with cheerleader, anti-crime plans, recall elections, Alan Turing, suicide, and Coke’s spectacular failure comes to a close:

"All of the things Trump tried to do in 2020 that he couldn't do are now on the table for future elections." — Ari Berman 

“So let me get this straight: the Republican Senate minority, which represents 41,549,808 fewer people than the Democratic Senate majority, can block the For the People Act — which is supported by 68% of Americans? That's what's truly radical here.” -- Robert Reich

“In light of today’s Supreme Court ruling, I’d like to take this opportunity to exercise my First Amendment right and tell the GOP to go fuck off.” -- David Leavitt

Deaths

US: 618,294 (+419)

World: 3,907,364 (+9973)

Cases

US: 34,449,004 (+14,201)

World: 180,360,606 (+447,691)

In his continued push against the “indoctrination” of students, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed legislation that will require public universities and colleges to survey students, faculty and staff about their beliefs and viewpoints to support “intellectual diversity.” — You read that correctly.

Pacific Northwest's hottest weather on record takes aim this weekend. The heat wave will affect a region where many people lack central air conditioning, raising the likelihood for public health impacts…The NWS is not mincing words about the severity of the heat event that is coming: "Triple digit heat arriving this weekend and persisting well into next week could rival some of the longest lasting and extreme heat waves in the recorded history of the Inland Northwest.”

U.S. life expectancy decreased by an 'alarming' amount during pandemic. “I naively thought the pandemic would not make a big difference in the gap because my thinking was that it’s a global pandemic, so every country is going to take a hit,” said Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, who led the new study. “What I didn’t anticipate was how badly the U.S. would handle the pandemic.”...“These are numbers we aren’t at all used to seeing in this research; 0.1 years is something that normally gets attention in the field, so 3.9 years and 3.25 years and even 1.4 years is just horrible,” Woolf said. “We haven’t had a decrease of that magnitude since World War II.”

Michigan Republicans eviscerate Trump voter fraud claims in scathing report.

Judge rebukes GOP for downplaying US Capitol riot as he hands out first sentence in insurrection. A Trump supporter who spent 10 minutes inside the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection was sentenced to probation Wednesday, avoiding jail, becoming the first rioter to learn their punishment in the riot investigation.

No evidence yet to suggest Covid vaccine booster is needed, CDC group says.

Saudis who participated in Khashoggi killing received paramilitary training in US: report. According to the Times, an Arkansas-based security company called Tier 1 Group provided training to some of the operatives, though the training was reportedly “defensive” and “devised to better protect Saudi leaders.” At the time, the unit was beginning a series of kidnappings, detentions and torture of Saudi citizens to crush dissent.

Supreme Court sides with high school cheerleader who cursed online. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a former high school cheerleader who argued that she could not be punished by her public school for posting a profanity-laced caption on Snapchat when she was off school grounds.

Biden targets law-breaking gun dealers in anti-crime plan. President Joe Biden announced new efforts Wednesday to stem a rising national tide of violent crime, declaring the federal government is “taking on the bad actors doing bad things to our communities.” But questions persist about how effective the efforts can be in what could be a turbulent summer.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom to face recall election. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will face a recall election, marking just the second time in state history that a special election will be held to recall a sitting governor.

History made as £50 note featuring gay war hero Alan Turing enters circulation. In dropping Wednesday (23 June), the release date coincides with what would have been Turing’s 109th birthday. With the £50 bill’s entry, it means all of the Bank’s printed banknotes are made of plastic for the first time – paper £50 notes will no longer be accepted at shops from October next year.

Coke's make-your-own label fail: The company's make-your-own label promotion lets customers write short messages on custom Coke bottles. Although Coca-Cola (CCEP)tried to block some slurs and trademarks, social media users were quick to discover that the company's restrictions were hardly comprehensive — and in some cases blocked inoffensive terms. For example, "Black Lives Matter," is blocked. But "White Lives Matter" isn't. Coke included a special rainbow label for pride month, but you can't write "Gay Pride" on the bottle. However, you can write "I hate gays." "Hitler" and "Nazi" are banned, but users can customize bottles with the phrases, "I am Hitler" or "I am a Nazi." -- What a spectacular fail.

Antivirus pioneer John McAfee found dead in Spanish prison. John McAfee, the creator of McAfee antivirus software, was found dead in his jail cell near Barcelona in an apparent suicide Wednesday, hours after a Spanish court approved his extradition to the United States to face tax charges punishable by decades in prison, authorities said.

Can ET see us? Study finds many stars with prime Earth view. Astronomers took a technique used to look for life on other planets and flipped it around — so instead of looking to see what’s out there, they tried to see what places could see us. There’s a lot.

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

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