Thursday, September 30, 2021

And another day of averting shutdowns, divided Democrats, school boards asking for help policing threats, death in rural America, the flu vaccine, ‘untapped’ wealth, and ‘wives need to be led with a firm hand’ comes to a close:

“Autumn’s the mellow time.” -- William Allingham

Deaths

US: 716,847 (+2894)

World: 4,797,151 (+8933)

Cases

US: 44,314,424 (+114,928)

World: 234,551,417 (+493,450)

Biden signs bill to avert partial government shutdown. With only hours to spare, President Joe Biden on Thursday evening signed legislation that would avoid a partial federal shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 3. Congress had passed the bill earlier Thursday.

Democrats divided: Progressives, centrists say trust is gone. In their fight over trillions of dollars, their paramount policy goals and perhaps their political fate, this isn’t helping: Democratic progressives and centrists say they don’t trust each other. They’re tossing around words like “stupid” and “insanity” and they’re drawing lines in the sand.

School board group asks US for help policing threats. A group representing school board members around the country asked President Joe Biden on Thursday for federal assistance to investigate and stop threats made over policies including mask mandates, likening the vitriol to a form of domestic terrorism.

Rural Americans are dying of Covid at more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts — a divide that health experts say is likely to widen.

It’s flu vaccine time, even if you’ve had your COVID shots. Amid all the focus on COVID-19 vaccinations, U.S. health experts have another plea: Don’t skip your flu shot.

A Black woman in Virginia alleges a neighbor plays monkey noises and racial slurs over speakers to taunt her family from inside his home, but authorities say there's little they can do about it.

Inside the Church That Preaches ‘Wives Need to Be Led with a Firm Hand’. A culture that normalizes sexual abuse and harassing survivors is just one manifestation of the authority and control that blends devotion to God with submission to church leaders.

Gloria Estefan says she was molested at music school at 9. Gloria Estefan has revealed that, at the age of 9, she was sexually abused by someone her mother trusted. Her mother called the police, but the officers advised her not to press charges because the trauma of testifying would be too harmful.

Leaked Facebook Docs Depict Kids as 'Untapped' Wealth. — Keep your kids off Facebook. 

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

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

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

And another day of subpoenas, preparing to obstruct, the Christian Right embracing voter suppression, YT bans content, Long Covid, shortages, LGBTQ+ gamers, TN parents, dinosaurs, firefighters wearing bulletproof vests, and criminal police officers rake in millions comes to a close:

“Welcome to the Monkey House.” -- Kurt Vonnegut

Deaths

US: 713,953 (+2731)

World: 4,788,218 (+9524)

Cases

US: 44,199,496 (+144,671)

World: 234,057,967 (+509,273)

House panel subpoenas organizers of Jan. 6 Trump rally. A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has subpoenaed 11 officials who were involved in planning rallies in support of former President Donald Trump ahead of the violent attack, including one the day of the siege at which the president told his supporters to “fight like hell.” The announcement follows a first round of subpoenas last week that targeted former White House and administration officials who were in contact with Trump before and during the insurrection.

Donald Trump is preparing to sue to block the release of White House records from his administration to the House select committee scrutinizing the 6 January attack on the Capitol by claiming executive privilege, potentially touching off an extended legal battle over disclosure. The former president also expects top aides – former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, strategist Steve Bannon and defense department aide Kash Patel – to defy select committee subpoenas for records and testimony. Trump’s moves to try to resist the select committee, informed by a source familiar with his planning, are likely to lead to constitutional clashes in court that would test the power of Congress’s oversight authority over the executive branch.

How the Christian right embraced voter suppression. Abortion isn’t the only victory conservative evangelicals have won in 2021. Trump’s defeat proves that even massive conservative Christian turnout is no longer enough to win. The strategy white evangelical supporters have coalesced around to supplement it: election laws built on the lie that the other side’s ability to turn out voters must be “fraudulent.”

YouTube bans all content containing vaccine misinformation. YouTube has banned all videos containing misinformation about vaccines that are currently administered and have been approved by local health authorities or the World Health Organization. The measure is an expansion of a policy covering COVID-19 vaccines…There are some exceptions. YouTube "will continue to allow content about vaccine policies, new vaccine trials and historical vaccine successes or failures." Users can also share scientific discussions of vaccines and personal testimonials about their experiences, as long as they don't have a history of promoting vaccine misinformation and their video complies with YouTube's other rules. Posting videos that "condemn, dispute or satirize misinformation" that violates YouTube's policies should be okay too.

AP-NORC poll: Virus fears linger for vaccinated older adults. In a sign of the starkly different way Americans view the coronavirus pandemic, vaccinated older adults are far more worried about the virus than the unvaccinated and far likelier to take precautions despite the protection afforded by their shots.

Long Covid is a bigger problem than we thought. A large study has revealed that one in three Covid-19 survivors have suffered symptoms three to six months after getting infected, with breathing problems, abdominal symptoms such as abdominal pain, change of bowel habit and diarrhoea, fatigue, pain, anxiety and depression among the most common issues reported.

CDC issues urgent alert: Pregnant women need the Covid-19 vaccine. Pregnancy is also considered an underlying health condition. (The guidance extends to women trying to become pregnant, as well as those who have recently given birth or who may be breastfeeding.) Pregnant women are at risk for complications of Covid. Overwhelmingly, these complications have occurred in women who were unvaccinated.

Universal Studios Hollywood to Require Proof of Vaccination Beginning in October. Falling in line with the latest Los Angeles County Department of Public Health order, masks will again be required throughout the theme park, both in and outdoors.

Police officers convicted of rape, murder and other serious crimes are collecting tens of millions of dollars during retirement. They have been found guilty of sexual and violent crimes, including murder and rape, or other serious job-related offenses, such as bribery and embezzlement. Some have admitted to molesting young children. Others have used their badges to enrich themselves or wield power over vulnerable members of their communities. Many are still sitting in prison cells. Yet the checks keep coming and will for the rest of their lives — all as taxpayers help foot the bill.

From paints to plastics, a chemical shortage ignites prices. Like other manufacturers, petrochemical companies have been shaken by the pandemic and by how consumers and businesses responded to it. Yet petrochemicals, which are made from oil, have also run into problems all their own, one after another: A freak winter freeze in Texas. A lightning strike in Louisiana. Hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. All have conspired to disrupt production and raise prices.

Mail delivery about to get slower and temporarily more expensive. Beginning on Friday, the Postal Service will “implement new service standards for First Class Mail and Periodicals,” spokeswoman Kim Frum told reporters. Some of the changes will result in increased transit times for cross-country and other long-distance deliveries, although according to Frum, 61 percent of first class mail and 93 percent of periodicals will not be affected by the changes.

Portland firefighters to get bulletproof vests as risks increase. The decision was spurred by a “changing landscape” and more calls that increase the possibility of firefighters being involved with aggressive patients and bystanders.

Petito’s dad: Give same attention to all missing people. The family of slain traveler Gabby Petito on Tuesday implored the public and news media to put the same energy into helping find other missing people as they did Petito, a 22-year-old woman who vanished on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend...“I want to ask everyone to help all the people that are missing and need help. It’s on all of you, everyone that’s in this room to do that,” he said, pointing to reporters and cameras in front of him. “And if you don’t do that for other people that are missing, that’s a shame, because it’s not just Gabby that deserves it.”

It's not all Doom and gloom – heartening study shows almost half of LGBT+ gamers find friends online. A new study suggests 47 per cent of LGBT+ gamers find friendship when playing online multiplayer games like shooters, and even fighting games. 

Tennessee parents say some books make students 'feel discomfort' because they're White. They say a new law backs them up. Steenman is counting on a new Tennessee law to force schools to end that curriculum -- and ban at least one book in the elementary school library written from the perspective of Mexican Americans. -- The privilege of being white.

Ivory-billed woodpecker, more than 20 other species declared extinct by U.S. government. Climate change, habitat loss and other human-related factors contributed to the extinction of the 23 species, according to wildlife officials.

Deep brain stimulation may ease opioid addiction when other treatments fail. The tiny electrodes surgeons implanted in the reward center of his brain are designed to carry electrical stimulation that could, in theory, help drown out the constant craving he feels for benzodiazepines, his drug of choice.

New species of dinosaur unearthed by Isle of Wight fossil hunters. The discovery of two new species of dinosaur, which likely roamed the south of England 125 million years ago, has shed new light on the predators. Palaeontologists have described one of the carnivorous reptiles as a "hell heron", comparing its hunting style to a fearsome version of the bird…They belonged to the spinosaurid group and are thought to have been 9m (29ft) in length with 1m-long (3ft) skulls.

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

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

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

And another day of suspensions, firings, panic buttons, flu shots, ‘mutually assured destruction,’ a ‘strategic failure,’ warnings, investments, horrors, natural gas prices, women burning out, and more ‘blah, blah, blah’ comes to a close:

“I love mankind; it’s the people I can’t stand.” -- Charles M. Schulz

Deaths

US: 711,222 (+2108)

World: 4,778,694 (+9376)

Cases

US: 44,054,825 (+112,669)

World: 233,548,694 (+476,462)

Covid booster shot's side effects similar to 2nd vaccine dose, CDC study finds. Most side effects following a 3rd dose included pain at the injection site, fatigue and headache.

New York's Covid-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers leads to suspension of hundreds of holdouts. Hundreds of unvaccinated health care workers across New York were suspended Tuesday and could soon lose their jobs entirely as the state's Covid-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers went into effect overnight.

North Carolina hospital network fires around 175 staffers for not getting vaccinated. The departures will not impact staffing at the hospital system of over 35,000 employees, Priest said, because the hospital has been using temporary staff for the duration of the pandemic to make up for shortages from staff falling ill with Covid.

COVID-related attacks prompt hospital to issue panic buttons. Nurses and hundreds of other staff members will soon begin wearing panic buttons at a Missouri hospital where assaults on workers tripled after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What experts say about the best time to get a flu shot this year. "What you should do is get it as soon as you can and in the most expeditious manner," Dr. Anthony Fauci.

'Mutually assured destruction': House liberals dig in on halting infrastructure bill. House progressives are digging in on their resistance to passing the infrastructure bill this week, repeating their threat to block the measure despite Speaker Nancy Pelosi's call to pass it quickly and tackle the social safety net package later.

Joint Chiefs chairman calls Afghan war a ‘strategic failure’. The top U.S. military officer called the 20-year war in Afghanistan a “strategic failure” and told Congress on Tuesday that he believes the U.S. should have kept several thousand troops in the country to prevent the unexpectedly rapid takeover by the Taliban.

Yellen warns Congress has just three weeks before US expected to default on debt. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers in a letter on Tuesday that the U.S. is headed for a default on its national debt in three weeks if Congress does not act quickly to raise or suspend the debt limit.

Greta Thunberg roasts world leaders for being 'blah, blah, blah' on climate action. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg mocked world leaders -- including US President Joe Biden and the UK's Boris Johnson -- at a youth climate summit in Milan on Tuesday, saying the last 30 years of climate action had amounted to "blah, blah, blah."

Ford jolts auto industry with $11.4 billion investment in new electric vehicle, battery plants. The Ford Motor Co. gave the auto industry a jolt Monday with word that it plans to spend $11.4 billion on new production sites in Tennessee and Kentucky where it plans to build electric pickup trucks and cars — and the batteries to power them — on a massive scale. It will also create 11,000 jobs in the two states that have struggled to recover from the collapse of the coal industry.

Migrants returned to Mexico describe horror of kidnappings, torture, rape. Noticias Telemundo Investiga interviewed more than 30 men and women who were kidnapped in Mexico from 2019 to 2021, some abducted along with their children.

Automakers' problems are much worse than we thought. For a year and a half, a lack of computer chips has been plaguing the auto industry, forcing plants to shut down, delaying auto shipments and sending car prices through the roof. But that's not the only problem automakers face. Industry experts say automakers are having trouble getting all manner of parts and raw materials for a variety of reasons, including Covid-related plant shutdowns by suppliers, logistical problems involving shortages of ships, shipping containers and truck drivers, and difficulty that some suppliers are having filling jobs.

Home heating sticker shock: The cost of natural gas is up 180%. Prices for natural gas, the most common way to heat homes and a leading fuel source for generating electricity, have surged more than 180% over the past 12 months to $5.90 per million British thermal units. Natural gas hasn't been this expensive since February 2014.

More women are burning out at work, and that's a problem. The pandemic has amplified employee burnout across the board but it has been especially bad among women, who are increasingly considering scaling back. Of women surveyed, 42% said they were often or almost always burned out this year compared to 35% of men. Last year, 32% of women reported feeling this way, compared to 28% of men.

A woman who can see after being blind for 36 years describes the surreal experience of seeing her own face in a mirror.

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

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

Monday, September 27, 2021

And another day of GOP blocks, corporate and GOP dark money ties, a pill to ward off Covid, fearing hospital staff shortages, CA will mail every voter a ballot, a spike in murders, and children face a dark future of climate disasters comes to a close:

“If we can afford to add $38 billion to our defense budget every year, we can absolutely afford to provide universal childcare, enact paid family leave, mitigate the climate crisis, and expand access to health care. It’s not about the price tag. It’s about priorities.” — Robert Reich

Deaths

US: 709,114 (+2797)

World: 4,769,318 (+7454)

Cases

US: 43,942,156 (+191,173)

World: 233,072,232 (+476,202)

GOP blocks bill to keep government going; new try ahead. Republican senators blocked a bill Monday night to keep the government operating and allow federal borrowing, but Democrats aiming to avert a shutdown pledged to try again — at the same time pressing ahead on President Joe Biden’s big plans to reshape government.

There's a flurry of studies trashing the Democrats' tax agenda. They have corporate and GOP dark money ties. But as Democrats race to finish their work in drafting revenue-raising measures to fund their sweeping economic agenda, the GOP is turning to studies backed by corporate interests and conservative dark money groups. This study-to-GOP-talking-points pipeline points to the parallel universe in which the ultrarich and businesses attempt to protect their interests through funding various white papers and pseudo-scientific studies.

Pfizer is testing a pill to ward off COVID-19. Pfizer said Monday that it is now testing a pill that could help people ward off COVID-19 if a close contact, such as family member, gets the virus.

Hospitals fear staffing shortages as vaccine deadlines loom. Hospitals and nursing homes around the U.S. are bracing for worsening staff shortages as state deadlines arrive for health care workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19. With ultimatums taking effect this week in states like New York, California, Rhode Island and Connecticut, the fear is that some employees will quit or let themselves be fired or suspended rather than get the vaccine. -- And if it happens, the country will survive the staff shortages. Get vaccinated.

Slow pace of vaccinations is largest drag on the economy in survey of business leaders. Corporate leaders are far less bullish about the economic recovery than they were back in the spring — and they fear that vaccination holdouts could stall or even reverse the progress that has been made. -- Just get vaccinated.

California to mail every voter a ballot in future elections. Every registered California voter will get a ballot mailed to them in future elections under a bill signed Monday by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. -- This should be the norm in every state.

FBI Data Show Unprecedented Spike In Murders Nationwide In 2020. The number of murders in the United States jumped by nearly 30 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year in the largest single-year increase ever recorded in the country, according to official FBI statistics released Monday. The data show 21,570 homicides in the U.S. in 2020, which is a staggering 4,901 more than in 2019. The tally makes clear — in concrete terms — just how violent last year was.

Triple jeopardy: Children face dark future of climate disasters. A study shows stark intergenerational inequities across the board, but the researchers say climate change will affect children in developing countries even more acutely. "We found that everyone under 40 today will live an unprecedented life in terms of their lifetime exposure to heat waves, droughts and floods," Thiery said. "This is true even under the most conservative scenarios."

Singer R. Kelly convicted of leading decades-long sex abuse ring. After six weeks of testimony the jury found superstar singer R. Kelly guilty of systematically recruiting women and teenagers for sex, before grooming and abusing them.

NBA star could be barred from home games due to vaccine refusal. — Unless you have a medical reason that prevents you from being vaccinated, get vaccinated. 

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

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

Sunday, September 26, 2021

And another day of hiring PIs, Iceland makes history, femicides in the US, nonbinary characters in children’s television, ‘probably the worst drug approval decision in recent US history,’ and dating while autistic comes to a close:

“To begin, begin.” -- William Wordsworth

Deaths

US: 706,317 (+259)

World: 4,761,864 (+4592)

Cases

US: 43,750,983 (+25,711)
World: 232,596,030 (+320,499)

Black Families Are Hiring Private Investigators Because Cops Won’t Find Their Kids. Other families have hired private investigators and lawyers—even ordered second autopsies because they felt the police investigation was insufficient—a time-consuming and potentially costly venture that advocates say should not be necessary because policing is a public service.

Iceland first country in Europe to have more female than male MPs. Of the 63 seats in the Althing parliament, 33 – or 52% – were won by women, projections based on the final results showed on Sunday. No other European country has had more than 50% female lawmakers, with Sweden coming closest at 47%, according to data compiled by the World Bank.

Femicides in the US: the silent epidemic few dare to name. According to analysis of FBI data, of all female homicides accounted for in 2018 where the relationship between perpetrator and victim could be identified, 92% of cases involved women or girls killed by a man they knew, 63% of whom were killed by current husbands, ex-husbands or current boyfriends.

Nonbinary characters like 'Gonzo-rella' are lighting up children's TV and encouraging self-acceptance. For children whose gender expression may not subscribe to preconceived notions of what a boy or girl should look or act like, it can be hugely significant to see themselves reflected onscreen, even if the characters are puppets or whimsical gem-people who live in a pastel wonderland, said Lindsay Toman, an assistant professor of LGBTQ studies at Colgate University.

Hurricane Ida power grid failure forces a reckoning over Entergy's monopoly in the South. Entergy says it's committed to storm-hardening and clean power. Critics say it works against those goals.

The road to Aduhelm: What one ex-FDA adviser called 'probably the worst drug approval decision in recent US history' for an Alzheimer's treatment. Of course, an advisory committee's recommendations are just that -- advisory. The FDA is not required to follow them. Indeed, one study found that between 2008 and 2015 the agency rejected advisory committee recommendations 22% of the time. But Kesselheim, along with the other experts CNN interviewed, could not recall a single occasion when the FDA had rejected the unanimous conclusion of an advisory committee -- which is what happened here.

Dating while autistic: romance isn’t easy when you miss the social cues – and the red flags.

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

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

Saturday, September 25, 2021

And another day of temporary blocks, vax cards in Wallet app, how Republicans are torpedoing voting rights in TX, getting around the TX abortion law, giving up on police reform, and sexual assault linked to brain damage in women comes to a close:

“I believe things cannot make themselves impossible.” -- Stephen Hawking

Deaths

US: 706,058

World: 4,757,272

Cases

US: 43,725,604

World: 232,275,531

Federal court temporarily blocks Covid-19 vaccine mandate for New York City teachers. The judge's ruling Friday means the mandate -- which required all New York City Department of Education employees to provide proof of at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by Monday -- may not go into effect at its planned deadline, unless the case is reviewed before then.

Apple to allow users to put vaccination cards in Wallet app. Like using metro cards and credit cards, showing vaccination through the Wallet app can be utilized by businesses or venues as a form of verification.

How are Republicans torpedoing voting rights in Texas? An expert explains. So this bill was written, really wholeheartedly, on just bias and misleading reports. From partisan actors in the county or perhaps across the state.

How people are getting around the new Texas abortion law. Providers have seen a surge in interest in online purchases of abortion pills since the state's near-total ban went into effect.

Medication abortion becomes latest GOP target. As Republican states move to restrict access to abortion generally, many of them also are limiting access to medication-induced abortions. Providers say medication abortion is safe and essential, especially as access to clinics in Republican-controlled states becomes more difficult.

Congress has given up on police reform. Both sides agree they missed the moment. Lawmakers had been on the cusp of the deal but couldn't get it across the finish line after political pressures took over. -- “Nothing ever stays the same, but nothing changes much.” -- OK Go

90% of households won't see a bigger tax bill under Democrats' $3.5 trillion plan. The President has pledged to raise taxes only on those who earn more than $400,000 a year and on corporations, and Democrats in Congress have come up with a complicated proposal that does just that -- though some Americans who earn less may still be indirectly affected by some of the changes.

Women who have been sexually assaulted have a higher risk of developing a type of brain damage that has been linked to cognitive decline, dementia and stroke, a new study found.

TikTok has new mental health resources for its users. Some experts say it's a good start.

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

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

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

And another day of seeking to control the next elections, optional quarantining in FL, inhaling hydrogen peroxide, FL replicates TX abortion bill, the debt limit explained, college harassment, Russian apps, and the largest telescope in history comes to a close:

“If we, as Democrats or pro-democracy Americans, are not willing to use every tool available to us—while Republicans are using every tool  available to them to constrict & demolish the right to vote—then we become complicit in the outcome” — Beto O’Rourke

Deaths

US: 699,748 (+2881)

World: 4,732,669 (+10,031)

Cases

US: 43,404,877 (+162,575)

World: 230,868,745 (+563,174)

Backers of Trump's false fraud claims seek to control next elections. Democrats and nonpartisan election experts say it appears that Trump allies - having been foiled in their attempt to reverse Biden’s victory - are now trying to make it easier to overturn future results.

FDA authorizes booster dose of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine for people 65 and older. The US Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it would grant emergency use authorization for a booster dose of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine in people 65 and older, people at high risk of severe disease and people whose jobs put them at risk of infection.

Florida makes quarantine optional for exposed students. In terms of quarantine rules, Ladapo eliminated previous mandates requiring students to quarantine for at least four days off campus if they’ve been exposed. Under the new guidelines, students who have been exposed can continue going to campus, “without restrictions or disparate treatment,” provided they are asymptomatic. They can also quarantine, but no longer than seven days, provided they do not get sick.

Asthma group warns against inhaling hydrogen peroxide to treat COVID-19. "DO NOT put hydrogen peroxide into your nebulizer and breathe it in," the AAFA's blog said. "This is dangerous!"

More than 50 University of Georgia faculty members announce plans to mandate masks in their classrooms. Educators at the University of Georgia have announced plans to require masks in their classrooms despite their state university system not mandating mask-wearing, and say they face potential punishment for following through.

New Florida bill replicates Texas’ sweeping abortion ban. Medical experts say the cardiac activity is not an actual heartbeat but rather an initial flutter of electric activity within cells in an embryo. They say the heart doesn’t begin to form until the fetus is at least nine weeks old, and they decry efforts to promote abortion bans by relying on medical inaccuracies…Besides banning abortions after cardiac activity is detected, the bill would change all references to “fetus” in the state’s abortion laws to “unborn child.”

Uma Thurman says she had an abortion in op-ed against the Texas ban. "I have nothing to gain from this disclosure, and perhaps much to lose.”…"In revealing the hole that this decision carved in me, I hope that some light will shine through, reaching women and girls who might feel a shame that they can't protect themselves from and have no agency over. I can assure you that no one finds herself on that table on purpose."

EXPLAINER: Why the debt limit is again roiling Washington. The idea of the U.S. government breaching its “debt limit” sounds scary. But what, exactly, are lawmakers in Washington fighting about? The debt limit is a nearly century-old artificial cap that Congress placed on the U.S. government’s ability to borrow. Lawmakers have raised or suspended it nearly 80 times since 1960, but there is a deepening partisan standoff this time, underscoring how the debt limit has evolved into a political weapon. -- Because Republicans are not about governing. They are about power...at all costs.

Over the past decade, 95 percent of Texas’ population growth came from communities of color. Whites are now a minority in the state—yet 20 of 31 Senate districts still have white majorities. This is what extreme gerrymandering looks like.

Democrats introduce bill to fight LGBTQ college harassment on anniversary of Tyler Clementi’s death. Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) are introducing legislation in Congress to require colleges and universities to fight bullying and harassment against LGBTQ people…If passed, colleges and universities that receive federal funds – which is nearly all of them – will have to pass policies to address harassment and bullying that target a number of historically oppressed identities, including sexual orientation and gender identity. They will also have to recognize cyberbullying as a form of harassment. Last, the bill will offer grants to schools to encourage programs that fight harassment or provide counseling services.

Apple, Google raise new concerns by yanking Russian app. Big Tech companies that operate around the globe have long promised to obey local laws and to protect civil rights while doing business. But when Apple and Google capitulated to Russian demands and removed a political-opposition app from their local app stores, it raised worries that two of the world’s most successful companies are more comfortable bowing to undemocratic edicts — and maintaining a steady flow of profits — than upholding the rights of their users. The app in question, called Smart Voting, was a tool for organizing opposition to Russia President Vladimir Putin ahead of elections held over the weekend. The ban levied last week by a pair of the world’s richest and most powerful companies galled supporters of free elections and free expression.

A high school football player in northern New York died from a traumatic brain injury after he was hurt during a game. — He was a freshman. Please stop watching and playing football.

Why Liquor Shortages Caused By The COVID-19 Pandemic Persist In Some States. There's a liquor shortage in several states — thanks to rising import costs, a shortage of truck drivers, and producers not being able to source glass bottles.

Researchers detect malaria resistant to key drug in Africa. Scientists have found evidence of a resistant form of malaria in Uganda, a worrying sign that the top drug used against the parasitic disease could ultimately be rendered useless without more action to stop its spread.

The largest space telescope in history is about to blow our minds. The James Webb Space Telescope will be 100 times as powerful as the Hubble. It will change how we see the universe. The Webb is a machine for answering unanswered questions about the universe, for exploring what has been unexplorable until now. Here’s a guide to what the Webb is capable of. — This is going to be awesome. Can’t wait to see what comes back. 

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

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