Saturday, July 31, 2021

And another day of losing patience, percentages of the vaccinated, FL breaks record, police respect, women and men gymnastics rules, a urine test for cancer, AI as an inventor, the largest comet known on its way, and bacon may disappear in CA comes to a close:

“We should not grant an unreasonable minority the power to endanger public health.” — Max Boot

“The irony of antivaxers saying "they don't want to be part of an experiment" is they don't realize they are now the control group.” — Bert Gilfoyle

Deaths

US: 629,315 (+251)

World: 4,232,892 (+8768)

Cases

US: 35,745,024 (+56,518)

World: 198,547,026 (+536,059)

Some vaccinated Americans have lost their patience with those refusing the shot as Covid-19 cases surge and mandates return. Roughly 57.4% of the US population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and roughly 49.5% is fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. Much like face masks, the vaccines became highly politicized in some parts of the country, resulting in vastly different coverage rates. And vaccine hesitancy and refusal were fueled by misinformation and falsehoods that continue to run rampant online.

Less than 0.004% of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 experienced a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization and less than 0.001% died from the disease, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Florida breaks record with more than 21,000 new COVID cases. Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state’s highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic. -- That includes last year, 2020.

DeSantis will allow parents in Florida to defy school mask mandates, despite health officials saying younger people are COVID-19's "new target". — DeSantis is actively trying to kill you and your children.

Black drivers receive less respect from police officers, study says. A recent American Psychological Association study revealed that police officers speak to Black drivers in a more disrespectful tone during traffic stops than the way they speak to white drivers. The study analyzed body camera footage from more than 100 police officers and used 250 audio clips from an unnamed mid-sized U.S. city and revealed that officers spoke to Black men in a tone of voice that conveyed less warmth, respect and ease in comparison to white men.

Women gymnasts must perform their floor routines to music, while men do not have the same requirement. Some say it's time to do away with that rule. Between the 1910s and the 1960s, vigorous exercise was considered bad for women and their reproductive health, said Jane Rogers, a curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. "Even physicians thought strenuous exercise was bad for women since women were supposed to become wives and mothers," she said. "Sports might physically injure women and leave them unable to perform their housework. Women competed, but were not afforded the same opportunities as their male counterparts."…Judges award points to women gymnasts for artistry, musicality and choreography, while the men are scored mostly on their acrobatic skills -- giving them no incentive to add artistic elements to their routines, said Jason Woodnick, vice president of the men's program for USA Gymnastics.

Men's US soccer team backs women's in equal pay dispute. In the filing, the association said U.S. Soccer has “persistently treated the women as second class throughout the 35-year history of the Women’s National Team.”

New Zealand announces conversion therapy ban with prison sentences for abusers. The bill, likely to pass under the country’s Labour majority, would make attempts to change a person’s gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation punishable with up to five years in prison.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn tried to board plane with gun; could face fine, status loss.

MIT engineers have made a diagnostic tool that can detect cancer in urine. The tool, invisible to the naked eye at less than 100 nanometres wide, could also be modified to work as an imaging agent to highlight a confirmed cancerous tumour’s location from a scan…The world-renowned science and technology institute said the nanoparticle could in principle be used to detect cancer anywhere in the body - including tumours that have spread from their primary location, a process known as 'metastasis'. — Science. It matters.

Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect. The animal welfare law requires more space for breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens and veal calves.

Artificial intelligence can now be recognised as an inventor after historic Australian court decision. In a landmark decision, an Australian court has set a groundbreaking precedent, deciding artificial intelligence (AI) systems can be legally recognised as an inventor in patent applications. That might not sound like a big deal, but it challenges a fundamental assumption in the law: that only human beings can be inventors.

Largest known comet is heading close enough to us to become visible. Astronomers have discovered the largest known comet, and it's about a thousand times more massive than others.

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

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

Friday, July 30, 2021

And another day of ‘leave the rest to me,’ the biggest threat to democracy, the vaccines and delta, the eviction moratorium coming to an end, Trump tax returns, the DOJ suing TX, and gay and bisexual men’s weak earnings comes to a close:

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” -- George Orwell

Deaths

US: 629,064 (+572)

World: 4,224,124 (+9523)

Cases

US: 35,688,506 (+104,234)

World: 198,010,967 (+646,374)

Trump urged Justice officials to declare election ‘corrupt’. President Donald Trump urged senior Justice Department officials to declare the results of the 2020 election “corrupt” in a December phone call, according to handwritten notes from one of the participants in the conversation. “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen,” Trump said at one point to then-Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, according to notes taken by Richard Donoghue, who was then Rosen’s deputy and who was also on the call...“These handwritten notes show that President Trump directly instructed our nation’s top law enforcement agency to take steps to overturn a free and fair election in the final days of his presidency.”

The biggest threat to democracy isn’t coming from China. It’s coming from within. In countries where democracy is at real risk of collapse or even outright defeated — places like India, Brazil, Hungary, Israel, and, yes, the United States — the real drivers of democratic collapse are domestic. Far-right parties are taking advantage of ethno-religious divides and public distrust in the political establishment to win electorally — and then twist the rules to entrench their own hold on power. Leaders of these factions, like former US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aid and abet each other’s anti-democratic politics. More traditional authoritarian states, even powerful ones like China or Russia, have thus far played at best marginal roles in this struggle…Elected authoritarians still bill themselves as defenders of democracy while in power — even after they start undermining the electoral system with tactics like extreme gerrymandering and takeovers of state election agencies. Their political appeal isn’t grounded in an overt rejection of democracy in favor of a Chinese model, but rather a claim to be taking democracy back from corrupt elites in the name of the “true” people, typically defined in ethno-nationalist terms.

CDC warns in internal document that 'war has changed' with the coronavirus. Vaccines continue to be effective, particularly at preventing severe disease, according to the document. But they may not be as good at preventing infection or transmission of the delta variant.

Study: Vaccinated people can carry as much virus as others. In another dispiriting setback for the nation’s efforts to stamp out the coronavirus, scientists who studied a big COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts concluded that vaccinated people who got so-called breakthrough infections carried about the same amount of the coronavirus as those who did not get the shots.

New study says vaccines can't stop the delta variant alone. Researchers recommended the use of masks and physical distancing until almost everyone is vaccinated.

Texas governor threatens to fine local officials who enforce new mask mandates. Local government entities that institute mask mandates may be fined up to $1,000. The order also specifies that government entities cannot “compel any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine administered under an emergency use authorization.”

Two groups on Friday said vaccinations in thousands of pregnant women over the past several months have shown the shots are safe and effective during pregnancy.

Masks Are the New Condoms for Public Health Education. So, how do I respond and address these issues? The same way as I did with condom education years ago. I try to deliver a message that is caring, culturally and community sensitive, and with honesty and hope. I try to explain that the science changes and so do our recommendations based on the latest data that are available from credible sources, not anecdotes. I explain that I am there to provide harm reduction techniques to try to reduce the risks, but I cannot eliminate the risks. There are no guarantees. There are no easy answers, only intelligent alternatives. There will be casualties, but masks, just as condoms, reduce the risks. I am not asking to take away anyone’s freedoms, only providing the strategies to help everyone protect one another with risk reducing techniques like masks and condoms, from the risks of deadly diseases, like COVID-19 and AIDS, and to provide the opportunity for others and themselves, the freedom to live disease-free.

Disney and Walmart mandate vaccines for employees. Disney (DIS) is requiring all its salaried and non-union hourly employees in the US to be vaccinated. Workers who are working on-site but are not yet vaccinated must do so within the next 60 days, according to a statement from the company to CNN Business. All new hires must be fully vaccinated before beginning their jobs...Walmart (WMT), the nation's largest retailer, said all its US-based corporate employees must be vaccinated by October 4, according to a Friday memo from Doug McMillon, the company's president and CEO.

House fails to extend eviction moratorium ahead of 6-week recess. The measure was objected to by Republicans, none of whom supported the bid. — Because the people at risk of being evicted are not rich.

$1 trillion infrastructure plan clears another Senate hurdle. The Senate further advanced a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure plan Friday with a bipartisan group of senators helping it clear one more hurdle and bracing to see if support can hold during the next few days of debate and efforts to amend it.

Justice Department says IRS must give Trump tax returns to Congress. The Justice Department, in a reversal, says the Treasury Department must provide the House Ways and Means Committee former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, apparently ending a long legal showdown over the records.

Georgia Republicans inch closer to a takeover of elections in state's largest county. Republican lawmakers in Georgia are requesting that the state undertake a performance review of local election officials in Fulton County -- a move that could result in a GOP takeover of election operations in a heavily Democratic region of this battleground state.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has directed his company's ad buyer to stop placing ads on Fox News after a reported disagreement over a commercial promoting an event linked to his repeated claims of voter fraud. — How’d we get to the point where the “MyPillow” guy is famous? Ugh. 

Temperatures dropped across Brazil - with rare snowfall overnight in some places - as a polar air mass advanced toward the center-south of the global agricultural powerhouse, threatening coffee, sugarcane and orange crops with frost.

DOJ Sues Texas Governor Over Using State Troopers To Turn Back Migrants. The Biden administration sued Texas on Friday to prevent state troopers from stopping vehicles carrying migrants on grounds that they may spread COVID-19, warning that the practice would exacerbate problems amid high levels of crossings on the state's border with Mexico.

Gay and bisexual men earn thousands less than their straight peers, eye-opening study finds. Their findings, published Friday (30 July) in the Journal of Population Economics, found that gay men earn on average 6.8 per cent less than straight guys across all three continents. Lesbian women, on the other hand, tend to earn more than heterosexual women – 7.1 per cent, to be precise. A difference that researchers attributed to lesbian women being perceived as more “masculine” by employers.

Amazon now employs almost 1 million people in the US — or 1 in every 169 workers.

68% of Republicans in the U.S. say they would feel somewhat or very uncomfortable using gender-neutral pronouns to refer to someone else; 67% of Democrats say they would feel somewhat or very comfortable with it.

In Hawaii, robot dogs join the police force. The handful of police officials experimenting with the four-legged machines say they’re just another tool, like existing drones and simple wheeled robots, to keep emergency responders out of harm’s way as they scout for dangers. But privacy watchdogs — the human kind — warn that police are secretly rushing to buy the robots without setting safeguards against aggressive, invasive or dehumanizing uses.

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

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

Thursday, July 29, 2021

And another day of spreading easily, sparring, ‘proof of being unvaccinated,’ mandating vaccinations, food programs, gerrymandering four states, the security bill, gymnastics, a bisexual game character, and melting Greenland ice comes to a close:

“People protect what they love.” -- Jacques Yves Cousteau

Deaths

US: 628,492 (+394)

World: 4,214,601 (+11,002)

Cases

US: 35,584,272 (+96,782)

World: 197,364,593 (+672,096)

The Delta coronavirus variant surging across the US appears to cause more severe illness and spreads as easily as chickenpox.

Biden orders tough new vaccination rules for federal workers. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced sweeping new pandemic requirements aimed at boosting vaccination rates for millions of federal workers and contractors as he lamented the “American tragedy” of rising-yet-preventable deaths among the unvaccinated.

House Republicans spar with Pelosi over return of mask requirements. -- Republicans are literally trying to kill you.

California restaurant says patrons must show 'proof of being unvaccinated'. The sign is taped to the window of Basilico's Pasta e Vino, an Italian restaurant in Huntington Beach southeast of Los Angeles. "We have zero tolerance for treasonous, anti-American stupidity. Thank you for pondering," text at the bottom of the sign reads. -- Literally trying to kill their patrons.

Netflix has become the first major Hollywood studio to implement a blanket policy mandating vaccinations for the casts of all of their U.S. productions, as well as those who come into contact with them on set.

Food programs helped fight hunger during the pandemic. But will they last?

GOP Could Retake the House in 2022 Just by Gerrymandering Four Southern States. Republicans need to gain just five seats to regain control of the House. This is their road map to getting there. The bulk of the attention on voting rights this year has focused on the wave of new laws in GOP-controlled states intended to make it harder for Democratic constituencies to cast a ballot, by doing things like rolling back voting by mail and shortening early voting periods. These new voting restrictions could certainly swing a close election, but the ultimate partisan effects are unknown, whereas the new redistricting maps enacted by Republicans will have a devastating and surgical impact on Democratic representation, voting rights advocates say. “There’s no question Texas, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina are enough to give Republicans the number of seats they need to win back the House,” says Michael Li, a redistricting expert at the Brennan Center. — Get out and vote. The GQP is counting on you not to.

Congress passes $2.1 billion Capitol security bill. The House and Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would secure funding for the U.S. Capitol and the Capitol Police in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot, which was at risk of having to furlough officers without additional money.

The amount of Greenland ice that melted on Tuesday could cover Florida in 2 inches of water.

Jamie Lee Curtis reveals her younger child is trans, expresses 'wonder and pride'. Proud mom Jamie Lee Curtis is opening up about her family, speaking publicly for the first time about her transgender daughter.

People have discovered that this iconic game character is canonically bisexual and they’re losing it. Om Nom, the cute green alien from popular mobile game Cut The Rope is canonically bisexual. That’s right, the little hungry blob originally had a boyfriend – but this was changed to a girlfriend during development.

Suni Lee becomes first Asian American woman to take gold in gymnastics all-around. With a gymnastics gold medal under her belt, Sunisa “Suni” Lee’s name is already in the history books. But the 18-year-old has broken another barrier, becoming the first Asian American woman to win gold in the Olympics’ all-around competition.

Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney for making Black Widow available to stream the same day as its theatrical release. The actor said she was promised the release would be exclusively theatrical, but the company released the movie on Disney+ on the same day it was released in theaters.

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

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

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

And another day of infrastructure bills, declining requests, photographic proof of lies, resentment, mandating vaccinations, ‘whites only’ covenants, 24,000 years in permafrost, and “Tush” comes to a close:

“I said, Lord, take me downtown. I’m just looking for some tush.” -- ZZ Top, written by Frank Beard, Billy Gibbons, Joe Hill. Sung by Dusty Hill.

Deaths

US: 628,098 (+747)

World: 4,203,599 (+40,621)

Cases

US: 35,487,490 (+133,567)

World: 196,692,497 (+712,294)

Infrastructure deal: Senate votes to start work on $1T bill. The Senate voted Wednesday night to begin work on a nearly $1 trillion national infrastructure plan after President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators reached agreement on major provisions of the package that is a key part of his presidential agenda.

The Justice Department has declined a request to defend GOP Rep. Mo Brooks against a civil lawsuit that accuses him of helping incite the mob in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

Photo emerges of Republican barricading chamber doors during US Capitol attack after he compared rioters to ‘tourists’. A photo has emerged of Andrew Clyde, the Republican congressman who claimed “there was no insurrection” and compared US Capitol rioters to “tourists”, barricading the House chamber during the attack. — The GOP is trying to get you to not believe your eyes.

As Covid cases surge, unvaccinated Americans trigger scorn, resentment from many vaccinated people. The poll also found that among American adults who have not yet received a vaccination, 35 percent say they probably will not, and 45 percent say they definitely will not. Only 3 percent of those who responded say they definitely will get the shots, while another 16 percent say they probably will.

CDC says nearly 67% of U.S. counties have substantial, high COVID-19 transmission.

Number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Florida surpasses peak of second wave.

Google offices to mandate vaccines. Google announced Wednesday it would require all in-office workers and visitors to be vaccinated and that employees could continue working from home through Oct. 18.

Chelsea fans will have to show proof of Covid jabs to go to matches. Fans will have to prove they had their second dose at least 14 days before the match to count as fully vaccinated, while proof of a negative lateral flow test carried out within 48 hours of kick-off time will also be accepted.

The obscene hypocrisy of Republicans blaming everyone but themselves: The COVID edition. They spent so much time owning the libs, they forgot to care about the lives of their constituents.

State lawmakers work to strip old ‘whites only’ covenants. Tucked in a list of rules on the home’s original deed from the developer was a provision that said: “No persons of any race other than the white race shall use or occupy any building or any lot,” with the exception of “domestic servants of a different race.”

Editorial: Rep. Nancy Pelosi is wrong. Her argument regarding student loans and taxes is bullshit. That same “logic” could be applied to everything. I would prefer my tax dollars going to health care, social services, education, and science instead of corporate bailouts and the military. But I don’t get that choice.

Other Olympians are talking about the intense pressures they face at the Games after Simone Biles' withdrawal. "Simone has so many eyes on her," champion swimmer Katie Ledecky said. "Every move you make is being watched and judged."

Washington is currently experiencing a statewide license plate shortage and vehicle owners will not be able to get updated hardware for at least 60 days.

“Arthur" Is Ending After 25 Years And So Many Iconic Memes. Carol Greenwald, one of the show's executive producers, said in a statement that the longest-running kids animated series in history will be remembered for "teaching kindness, empathy, and inclusion through many groundbreaking moments to generations of viewers."

24,000 Years in Permafrost Still Didn’t Kill These Ancient Critters. Rotifers aren’t the only living organisms to emerge from permafrost or ice. The same researchers behind this latest discovery had previously found roughly 40,000-year-old viable roundworms in the region’s permafrost. Ancient moss, seeds, viruses, and bacteria have all shown impressive longevity on ice, prompting legitimate concern about whether any potentially harmful pathogens may also be released as glaciers and permafrost melt.

RIP Dusty Hill. He was 72. 

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

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

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

And another day of recounting trauma, domestic terrorism, the CDC reversing its position on masks, ‘medical freedom’ laws, Covid-19 and Alzheimer’s, mental health breaks, record virus cases in Tokyo, proof of vaccination, and the ‘cripple punk’ movement comes to a close:

“A reminder that the January 6 commission IS bipartisan — there are two arch conservative Republicans on it, who consistently voted with Donald Trump. The fact that there are no Trump apologists, professional trolls or potential witnesses on it does not make it ‘partisan.’” — Joy-Ann Reid

"This is how I'm going to die, defending this entrance." — Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell

“It is REALLY obvious why Republicans wanted to cover this up.” — Adam Parkhomenko

Deaths

US: 627,351 (+312)

World: 4,192,978 (+10,147)

Cases

US: 35,353,923 (+66,654)

World: 195,980,203 (+634,412)

US Capitol police officers recount trauma of the January 6 Capitol riot in emotional testimonies. Frontline officers were beaten and abused with racial slurs as the mob of then-president Trump's supporters overwhelmed them, broke through windows and doors and interrupted the certification of Joe Biden's presidential win.

Appearing before a House panel, four police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 recalled the violence they endured while fighting against Donald Trump’s supporters. Here are highlights of their testimony.

What will Republicans defend if not themselves, the Constitution and Capitol? If Republicans won't defend the Capitol, the Constitution or even themselves, it's hard to see how they can claim to stand for anyone — or anything — else. And that's what Tuesday's hearing was really about — for the Democrats, for the police who testified and for the two Republicans who said serving their party and the country aren't mutually exclusive goals. -- They defend power. Specifically white power.

Racism of rioters takes center stage in Jan. 6 hearing. It had only been hinted at in previous public examinations of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection: Scores of rioters attacked police officers not just with makeshift weapons, stun guns and fists, but with racist slurs and accusations of treason.

Tucker Carlson is a sociopath. And that’s being nice. 

The Republican Party has shown us who they are. -- We need to believe them.

CDC reverses mask guidance and urges vaccinated Americans to wear masks indoors if they are located in areas with high COVID-19 transmission.

New 'medical freedom' law outlaws requiring COVID-19 vaccine to access public spaces. New Hampshire residents cannot be required to get a COVID-19 vaccine in order to "access any public facility, any public benefit, or any public service" according to a new bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.

Los Angeles to require city employees show proof of vaccination or submit weekly negative test for COVID-19.

Tokyo reports record virus cases days after Olympics begin. Tokyo is under its fourth coronavirus state of emergency, which is to continue through the Olympics until just before the Paralympics start in late August. Experts have warned that the more contagious delta variant could cause a surge during the Olympics, which started Friday. — Experts? Who needs experts?

Saudi Arabia will ban its citizens from traveling abroad for 3 years if they break COVID-19 travel rules, the Ministry of Interior announces.

Doctors Worry That Memory Problems After COVID-19 May Set The Stage For Alzheimer's. What scientists have found so far is concerning. For example, PET scans taken before and after a person develops COVID-19 suggest that the infection can cause changes that overlap those seen in Alzheimer's. And genetic studies are finding that some of the same genes that increase a person's risk for getting severe COVID-19 also increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's.

Swastika is found carved into an elevator at the State Department. A swastika was found carved into an elevator at the State Department on Monday, leading Secretary of State Antony Blinken to condemn the hateful carving and describe it as a reminder that anti-Semitism is still alive.

Canada border guards vote to strike days ahead of U.S. border reopening.

'We're human, too': Simone Biles highlights importance of mental health in Olympics withdrawal. In making the stunning decision to withdraw from the team final competition Tuesday, Biles acknowledged the tremendous pressure she had been facing as the "head star of the Olympics" and said she needed to focus on her mental health.

How a teen punk led a movement for disabled people online. Realizing they were the leader of this new movement, Trewhella slapped together some rules and principles. “Cripple punk is exclusively by the physically disabled for the physically disabled,” they wrote. “Cripple punk rejects the ‘good cripple’ mythos. Cripple punk is here for the bitter cripple, the uninspirational cripple, the smoking cripple, the drinking cripple, the addict cripple, the cripple who hasn’t ‘tried everything’ […] Cripple punk does not pander to the able bodied.” Unlike the common inspirational depictions of disability, cripple punk allowed disabled people to be bitter, messy, and honest…She had never posted a photo of herself with her wheelchair, and now she was seeing pictures not just of people in wheelchairs, but of people in wheelchairs who had the freedom to represent themselves however they wanted. Suddenly she could see her own future, one she had struggled to imagine because she’d so rarely seen authentic portrayals of people with disabilities.

Facebook, Instagram to limit targeted ads for teen users. Facebook will stop allowing advertisers to target ads to teenage users across its platforms, including Instagram and Facebook Messenger, based on the users’ activity on other apps and websites, the social media giant said Tuesday.

Billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos offered to cover up to $2 billion in NASA costs if the U.S. space agency awards his company Blue Origin a contract to build a  spacecraft to land astronauts on the moon.

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

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