Monday, July 12, 2021

And another day of summer camp outbreaks, TX Democrats fleeing the state, culture wars, exiting educators, protests, hunger, performance anxiety, ‘scromiting,’ and dementia risk comes to a close:

“The scam is to make you afraid of crime, immigration, terrorism, trans kids and critical race theory...so you won't focus on your crappy job, corporate greed, unavailable health care, rising college debt, the lack of affordable housing, climate change or voter suppression.” -- Keith Boykin

Deaths

US: 623,029 (+208)

World: 4,055,551 (+12,876)

Cases

US: 34,766,404 (+40,293)

World: 188,051,739 (+786,233)

U.S. to announce new warning on J&J coronavirus vaccine for autoimmune disorder.

Fauci Calls CPAC Cheering of Low Vaccination Numbers “Horrifying”.

Summer camps hit with COVID outbreaks — are schools next? The U.S. has seen a string of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to summer camps in recent weeks in places such as Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, in what some fear could be a preview of the upcoming school year. In some cases the outbreaks have spread from the camp to the broader community.

Texas Democrats flee state in effort to block GOP-backed voting restrictions. At least 51 Democratic members of the state House of Representatives fled the state Monday afternoon in two charter jets bound for Washington, D.C., in an effort to block the measures from advancing.

First It Was Sex Ed. Now It’s Critical Race Theory. The GOP has long made school curricula part of the culture wars. In fact, because critical race theory deals so explicitly with racism and discrimination, it has arguably animated the GOP base in a way that previous education battles haven’t…“They’re worried about what happens when a reckoning takes hold in their kids’ schools where their kids might learn some things about American history — or about themselves or people like them — that are uncomfortable truths.”

Critical race theory battles are driving frustrated, exhausted educators out of their jobs. Against the backdrop of hostility to discussions of race in schools — and as five states have passed laws limiting how teachers can address “divisive concepts” with students — administrators and teachers across the country say they have been pushed out of their districts. Some have opted to leave public schools entirely, while others are fighting to save their career. The result in these districts is what educators and experts describe as a brain drain of those who are most committed to fighting racism in schools.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in rare anti-government protests in Cuba, where the coronavirus pandemic and an economic crisis are spurring frustrations, with some demonstrators chanting “down with the dictatorship” and “we want liberty.”

A day after thousands of demonstrators took to Cuba's streets in rare protest of the island nation's economic crisis, large contingents of police have been dispatched to patrol in the capital of Havana and the island nation's president is blaming a U.S. embargo for the widespread shortages of food, fuel, medicine and other goods during the pandemic.

Several of the men involved in the operation that killed Haiti's president previously worked as U.S. law enforcement informants, according to people briefed on the matter, as U.S. investigators grapple with an increasing number of Florida links to the alleged hit squad.

Florida suspect in Haiti president killing deepens mystery. The arrest of a failed Haitian businessman living in Florida who authorities say was a key player in the killing of Haiti’s president deepened the mystery Monday into an already convoluted plot surrounding the assassination.

U.N. warns 10% of world undernourished as hunger "shot up" amid COVID pandemic.

Fact check: Progressive pundits falsely claim Rep. Lauren Boebert got a Paycheck Protection Program loan. Boebert's Colorado restaurant, Shooters Grill, did not receive PPP money, federal records show. An unrelated Ohio restaurant company with a similar name, Shooters Sports Grill LLC, was the entity that got a $233,305 PPP loan, according to a database run by the news nonprofit ProPublica. — She’s still a horrible person, though. 

How Emma Raducanu raised the profile of performance anxiety. The 18-year-old’s withdrawal from Wimbledon has focused attention on the pressure stars face. Performance anxiety is an acute response in the moment and occurs “when we feel like we don’t have the capacity or the capability to handle either a situation or specific stresses in front of us”, according to Dr Josephine Perry, a sports psychologist and author of Performing Under Pressure. Most people experience similar symptoms, such as an increased heart rate, heavy breathing and nausea, when taking an exam or giving a big presentation, Perry said. “It’s just that athletes and performing artists are doing it in a fishbowl where we can all watch.”

Doctors in Colorado and other states are expressing alarm over the increasing potency of cannabis and the health risks it may pose for young users — from psychiatric issues to mysterious vomiting. The condition — officially called "cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome" but now known to health care workers as "scromiting," a mashup of "screaming" and "vomiting" — has popped up with increasing frequency at hospitals in Colorado, doctors say.

The More Teeth You Lose, the Greater Your Dementia Risk, Study Suggests. However, older adults who get dentures to replace their lost teeth may be better protected against this increased risk.

Move over, Mars: Why the moons of Jupiter and Saturn may be key to finding alien life.

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

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