Tuesday, August 10, 2021

And another day of resignations, suspensions, infrastructure bills, FL requesting ventilators from feds, TX hospitals running out of ICU beds, heat out west, a bias Twitter algorithm, CEO pay increases, and a pair of rare viruses make an appearance comes to a close:

“It's hard to overstate the sheer vicious gratuitousness of what's happening in Florida right now. Blocking schools from requiring masks or businesses from asking for proof of vaccination is basically killing people to satisfy MAGA psychosis. I mean, you can't even make the case that this is about saving jobs — business is actually pleading for the right to check vaccination status. And how does being terrified about who might cough on me (or my child!) enhance "freedom"? This is all about pandering to the crazies at the expense of sane people's health and lives. If DeSantis doesn't pay a price for this, it's hard to have much hope for America.” — Paul Krugman

Deaths

US: 634,662 (+863)

World: 4,326,795 (+10,690)

Cases

US: 36,892,215 (+111,735)

World: 204,774,333 (+641,076)

With Cuomo out, Kathy Hochul will become New York's first female governor. New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul is poised to take over running the state government after Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned Tuesday following a report from the attorney general that alleged he sexually harassed multiple women, including employees, and violated state and federal law.

Big win for $1T infrastructure bill: Dems, GOP come together. With a robust vote after weeks of fits and starts, the Senate approved a $1 trillion infrastructure plan for states coast to coast on Tuesday, as a rare coalition of Democrats and Republicans joined together to overcome skeptics and deliver a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s agenda.

Florida requesting hundreds of ventilators from federal government. The request comes as Florida is seeing more coronavirus cases and hospitalizations as the delta variant spreads mostly among unvaccinated individuals.

Dozens of Texas hospitals have run out of intensive care unit beds as COVID-19 surges faster than any other time during the pandemic, propelled by the new delta variant.

Newsmax, OANN sued by maker of voting machines. The lawsuits add to Dominion’s previous legal efforts to punish media outlets and individuals who spread widely debunked election conspiracy theories. Elections equipment manufacturer targeted by false conspiracy theories around the 2020 election is suing Newsmax and the owner of One American News Network, alleging the media outlets spread a deliberate disinformation campaign for profit.

Twitter has suspended Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's account for one week following another violation of the platform's rules, the company said Tuesday. Greene tweeted on Monday that the Food and Drug Administration "should not approve the covid vaccines." She also claimed the vaccines were "failing" and that they were ineffective at reducing the virus's spread. — She’s also one of the worst human beings on the planet.

Stevie Nicks cancels all 2021 tour dates: "I want everyone to be safe and healthy". “These are challenging times with challenging decisions that have to be made,” Nicks said in a statement. “I want everyone to be safe and healthy and the rising Covid cases should be of concern to all of us. While I’m vaccinated, at my age, I am still being extremely cautious and for that reason have decided to skip the five performances I had planned for 2021.”

Gov. Brown declares state of emergency in Oregon ahead of heat wave. The Portland area is expected to see temperatures near 100 degrees or higher Wednesday through Friday.

Student proves Twitter algorithm ‘bias’ toward lighter, slimmer, younger faces. The finding, while embarrassing for the company, which had previously apologised to users after reports of bias, marks the successful conclusion of Twitter’s first ever “algorithmic bug bounty”.

CEO pay at big companies rose nearly 19% last year to $24 million, report finds. CEO compensation at the top 350 companies jumped nearly 19% in 2020 to an average $24.2 million, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank. By comparison, pay for rank-and-file workers last year rose roughly 4%. The typical corporate leader at big companies in 2020 made $351 for every dollar earned by a typical employee, up from a ratio of 307-to-1 in 2019, according to EPI. — The gulf between the haves and the have nots widens.

Census data spurred GOP’s largest partisan edge in decades. Fresh off sweeping electoral victories a decade ago, Republican politicians used census data to draw voting districts that gave them a greater political advantage in more states than either party had in the past 50 years, according to a new Associated Press analysis.

Arizona state lawmaker resigns after arrest on child sexual abuse charges. Democratic Arizona state Sen. Otoniel "Tony" Navarrete resigned on Tuesday in the face of multiple felony charges in connection with allegedly sexually abusing a child.

Christina Applegate reveals multiple sclerosis diagnosis on Twitter. “Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS. It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some asshole blocks it.”

A patient with the rare, but highly infectious Marburg virus disease has died in Guinea, according to a World Health Organization statement. It's the first case of the Ebola-like virus in West Africa.

Alarming CDC report says new tropical disease had killed two in US. Alongside the rampant delta variant outbreaks, public health experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are now contending with new incidents of a rare tropical disease that has emerged in parts of the continental U.S. Melioidosis, also known as Whitmore's disease, is a bacterial infection usually found in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. The bacteria causing the infection is usually found in contaminated waters and soils, and spread within both animals and humans through contact with the contaminated source. Ingestion and contact with skin abrasions are the most common vehicles of infection.

Mars rock mysteriously vanishes, baffling NASA scientists. The rover is equipped with a hollow coring bit and a percussive drill at the end of its 7-foot-long robotic arm. All indications showed the sampling attempt was successful, until the rover returned with an empty sample tube.

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

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