And another day of America’s rising rage, 70% vaccination rate, Covid surging in FL, many breakthrough cases, an “X” for social justice, YouTube bars posting videos, precognitive AI, TikTok and eating frozen honey, and acts of kindness at the Olympics shows we’re all in this journey together comes to a close:
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” -- Socrates
Deaths
US: 629,862 (+482)
World: 4,248,886 (+8555)
Cases
US: 35,895,980 (+127,056)
World: 199,595,039 (+586,285)
The Real Source of America’s Rising Rage. We are way, way angrier about politics than we used to be, something confirmed by both common experience and formal research…What accounts for this? It’s here that our popular explanations run aground. It can’t be all about a rise in conspiracy theories, since they’ve been around for decades. It can’t be social media, since Facebook and Twitter have become popular in the political arena only over the past few years. It can’t be a decline in material comfort, since incomes and employment have steadily improved over the past couple of decades. It can’t really be social trends, since most of them have improved too. And most of the specific issues that might cause alarm—immigration, racism, and more—are unlikely candidates on their own. They may be highly polarizing, but in a concrete sense they haven’t gotten worse since 2000. In fact, they’ve mostly gotten better. To find an answer, then, we need to look for things that (a) are politically salient and (b) have changed dramatically over the past two to three decades. The most obvious one is Fox News…And as anyone who’s watched Fox knows, its fundamental message is rage at what liberals are doing to our country. Over the years the specific message has changed with the times—from terrorism to open borders to Benghazi to Christian cake bakers to critical race theory—but it’s always about what liberal politicians are doing to cripple America, usually with a large dose of thinly veiled racism to give it emotional heft. If you listen to this on a daily basis, is it any wonder that your trust in government would plummet? And on the flip side, if you’re a progressive watching what conservatives are doing in response to Fox News, is it any wonder that your trust in government might plummet as well?…Why is Fox News so influential? Part of the answer probably lies in the fact that Fox News is cloaked in the trappings of news. Most conservatives who listen to talk radio shows understand that radio talkers are explicitly offering opinions and doing it with a large element of showmanship. But Fox News has well-dressed anchors and all the other accoutrements of a normal news outlet. So it’s no surprise that 65 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they trust Fox News—far more than any other news outlet. After all, why would a news outlet lie?…By itself Fox News is plenty damaging, but there’s one more thing that plays a supporting role in our story: religion…The share of Republicans describing themselves as fundamentalist has dropped by nearly a quarter since the mid-’90s, and conservative Christian beliefs are ever more at odds with broader society…And there’s one more thing: As we saw earlier, the past couple of decades have seen a steady increase in the belief among white people—particularly Republicans—that anti-white bias is a serious problem. Fox News has stoked this fear almost since the beginning, culminating this year in Tucker’s full-throated embrace of the white supremacist “replacement theory” and the seemingly 24/7 campaign against critical race theory and its alleged impact on white schoolkids. This is certainly not all that Fox News does, but it’s a big part of its pitch, and it fits hand in glove with Trump’s appeal to white racism…How, we wonder, can so many people believe what Trump says about election fraud? How can they be willing to jettison democracy in favor of a demagogue? The answer comes into focus when you look at the past couple of decades. Thanks to Fox News, conservative trust in government is so low that Republican partisans can easily believe Democrats have cheated on a mass scale, and white evangelicals in particular are willing to fight with the spirit of someone literally facing Armageddon…The answer to the increasing amount of hate in our politics, then—the only answer that fits the data—is almost certainly Fox News, along with the increasing despair and commitment of conservative evangelicals…I understand that this is not an exciting conclusion. Liberals have been fighting Fox News for years with little to show for it. It’s more interesting to go after something new, like social media or lunatic conspiracy theories. But the evidence is pretty clear: Those things act as fuel on the fire—and they deserve our opposition—but it’s Fox News that’s set the country ablaze. -- The evidence is clear.
US hits 70% vaccination rate -- a month late, amid a surge. The U.S. on Monday finally reached President Joe Biden’s goal of getting at least one COVID-19 shot into 70% of American adults -- a month late and amid a fierce surge by the delta variant that is swamping hospitals and leading to new mask rules and mandatory vaccinations around the country.
Covid is surging in Florida. Doctors and nurses are back in crisis mode. The weekly trends paint an especially bleak picture. Salemi pointed out that in the most recent weekly report from the state Health Department, for example, the state logged more cases in children younger than 12 than it had in its entire population just six weeks ago.
Top RNC official in Florida spreads Covid-19 conspiracies, calling vaccines the 'mark of the beast'. Amid recent surging coronavirus cases in Florida, a top Republican National Committee official in the state has spread anti-vaccine rhetoric and misinformation, comparing the Biden administration's vaccine efforts to Nazi-era "brown shirts," and twice calling the vaccines "the mark of the beast," comparable to a "false god." -- This guy is a whack job.
Sen. Lindsey Graham has become the first senator to disclose a breakthrough infection after being vaccinated against the coronavirus, saying Monday he is “very glad” he received the vaccine, without which his current symptoms would be “far worse.”
Hundreds of staffers at two San Francisco hospitals test positive for COVID-19. At least 233 staffers at a pair of San Francisco hospitals have tested positive for COVID-19, the majority of whom were fully vaccinated but became infected with the delta variant…Padilla told The Hill that none of those who tested positive at San Francisco General required hospitalization. Most of the infections caused mild to moderate symptoms, according to the Times. Asymptomatic cases were also detected through contact tracing. The infections were predominately spread through community exposure, according to Padilla.
Raven Saunders raises her hands above her head in an "X" formation to support the oppressed while accepting her silver medal. Team USA’s Raven Saunders used her second-place win in Tokyo to speak up for the “oppressed,” she said, likely violating Olympics rules on political protest during the games. Saunders, 25, raised her hands in an "X" formation above her head on Sunday during a photo op at the podium following the medal ceremony where she accepted the silver for the women’s shot put event. When asked what the symbol meant, she told the Associated Press, “it’s the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.” "Shout out to all my Black people. Shout out to all my LGBTQ community. Shout out to all my people dealing with mental health," Saunders said.
Canada’s Quinn poised to be first transgender Olympic medalist. Following Canada’s upset win over the U.S. women’s soccer team, the star is on the verge of winning a gold or silver medal in Tokyo.
Poland grants humanitarian visa to Belarusian Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya after Tokyo flight standoff.
YouTube bars Murdoch-owned news outlet from uploads over COVID-19 misinformation. The platform removed videos from Sky News and issued a “strike” to the channel, YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi said. The strike means the channel is barred from posting videos for one week. If a channel receives three strikes within 90 days, it will be permanently banned, based on the platform’s guidelines.
Long Drives, Costly Flights, And Wearying Waits: What Abortion Requires In The South. A tsunami of restrictive abortion regulations enacted by Republican-led legislatures and governors across the South have sent women who want or need an early end to a pregnancy fleeing in all directions, making long drives or plane trips across state lines to find safe, professional services. — Fucking Republicans.
Kathy Griffin Reveals Lung Cancer Diagnosis. “I’ve got to tell you guys something. I have cancer. I’m about to go into surgery to have half of my left lung removed,” Griffin, 60, wrote. “Yes, I have lung cancer even though I’ve never smoked!”
Pentagon believes its precognitive AI can predict events 'days in advance'. The US military's AI experiments are growing particularly ambitious. The Drive reports that US Northern Command recently completed a string of tests for Global Information Dominance Experiments (GIDE), a combination of AI, cloud computing and sensors that could give the Pentagon the ability to predict events "days in advance," according to Command leader General Glen VanHerck. It's not as mystical as it sounds, but it could lead to a major change in military and government operations. The machine learning-based system observes changes in raw, real-time data that hint at possible trouble. If satellite imagery shows signs that a rival nation's submarine is preparing to leave port, for instance, the AI could flag that mobilization knowing the vessel will likely leave soon. Military analysts can take hours or even days to comb through this information — GIDE technology could send an alert within "seconds," VanHerck said.
Big feelings are normal. How to help tweens and teens handle them. Awkwardness and big feelings? You must be talking about middle school. And while many parents assume that middle school is a rite of passage that kids need to stoically tough out, the opposite could not be more true. Your tweens and teens can navigate this developmental phase and come out stronger on the other side if they learn to tap into their feelings.
TikTokers are eating frozen honey. Experts say it could give them diarrhea.
At an extraordinary Olympics, acts of kindness abound. In an extraordinary Olympic Games where mental health has been front and center, acts of kindness are everywhere. The world’s most competitive athletes have been captured showing gentleness and warmth to one another — celebrating, pep-talking, wiping away one another’s tears of disappointment. -- And those moments have been beautiful to watch.
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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