And another day of lawsuits, mandates, vows, rage, appeals, infections, combinations, hospitalizations from police violence, beatings, ‘censorship’ bills, ‘stealthing,’ Amazon to pay tuition, and free contraception to women under 25 comes to a close:
"Authoritarianism isn't always tanks and brutality. It's also really expensive lawsuits and investigations and audits. It's meant to crush and demoralize and harass the opposition and ruin their lives." -- Andrea Chalupa
“This kind of scheme, to nullify the Constitution of the United States, is one that all Americans, whatever their politics or party, should fear." — AG Merrick Garland
Deaths
US: 674,547 (+3364)
World: 4,620,007 (+11,142)
Cases
US: 41,561,156 (+321,569)
World: 224,000,332 (+620,651)
Justice Dept. sues Texas over state’s new abortion law. The Justice Department on Thursday sued Texas over a new state law that bans most abortions, arguing that it was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution.”
Sweeping new vaccine mandates for 100 million Americans. In his most forceful pandemic actions and words, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced sweeping new federal vaccine requirements affecting as many as 100 million Americans in an all-out effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant. Speaking at the White House, Biden sharply criticized the roughly 80 million Americans who are not yet vaccinated, despite months of availability and incentives. “We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,” he said, all but biting off his words. The unvaccinated minority “can cause a lot of damage, and they are.”
GOP governors vow to fight Biden's new pandemic measures. Several Republican governors on Thursday vowed to take President Biden to court over newly announced measures requiring workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. — I wish Republicans cared about people.
“This is for anyone unironically posting #iwillNOTcomply. You don’t have to comply. You are free to lose your job and see how much you make looking at QAnon accounts on the internet all day.” — Jim Stewartson
We Found Rage In A Hopeless Place. A lot of people thought this summer would be great, but most people seem totally fried and at loose ends instead — expectations keep getting subverted, and anger keeps flowing into the void. In this totally busted version of how two years on this Earth ought to have gone, it is incredibly easy, like the bang-bang-bang of an old Britney Spears song coming into clarity, to get angry inside your heart about literally anything big or small interfering with the establishment or restoration of a cohesive life, free from these added complications, things that don’t even have to do with the pandemic and never will. This summer was supposed to be great, and it was supposed to move in a linear direction, instead of schismatically looping forward and backward, and for this to just feel like a state that will never end. “It’s lasted too long,” as one character says late into The Plague. “All the time’s one’s wanting to let oneself go, and then one day one has to.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis files emergency appeal on school mask mandates. Lawyers for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have filed an emergency appeal with the First District Court of Appeals in Florida in hopes of halting school mask mandates while the case goes through the court system.
Los Angeles County officials vote to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for students 12 and over, the largest school district in the U.S. to take that step. School board members approved the shots over the objection of several parents who said in Spanish they were concerned about the safety of vaccines and should have the right to make that decision for their children. "I do not see this as your choice or my choice," board member Jackie Goldberg said. "I see this as a community necessity. That means people have to do things they're not comfortable with, they're not sure of, that may even contain some risk."
More than 18,000 students catch COVID-19 in first month of Mississippi school year. Since August, 18,825 students in Mississippi have tested positive for COVID-19, according to state data. In the last week alone, more than 15,000 students had to quarantine due to a COVID-19 exposure.
Qantas says it will ban unvaccinated travelers from international flights. "Because we think that's going to be one of the requirements to show that you're flying safe and getting into those countries. We're hoping that can happen by Christmas."
Moderna developing combination COVID-19 booster and flu vaccine shot. “Today we are announcing the first step in our novel respiratory vaccine program with the development of a single dose vaccine that combines a booster against COVID-19 and a booster against flu.”
South African government offers free football tickets for fans with Covid jabs.
Black boys and girls ages 10-14 are hospitalized from police violence at 5.3 and 6.7 times the rate of white boys and girls, a new study by researchers at UC Berkeley finds.
Afghanistan: Journalists tell of beatings by Taliban. Journalists in Afghanistan say that they have been beaten, detained and flogged by the Taliban when attempting to cover protests. — There are photos.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs social media 'censorship' bill into law. Law would allow residents to sue Facebook, Twitter or YouTube if they feel they were unfairly banned. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday signed a bill that prohibits large social media companies from banning users or blocking content based on their political viewpoints. — I’m starting to feel like Texas is a lost cause.
Florida's new "anti-riot" law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as a way to quell violent protests is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, a federal judge ruled.
California is expected to outlaw “stealthing”, becoming the first state to make it illegal to remove a condom without verbal consent during sex.
France to offer free contraception to women under 25. Olivier Véran said those under 25 would not be charged for medical appointments, tests, or other medical procedures related to birth control.
“This will cover hormonal contraception, biological tests that go with it, the prescription of contraception and all care related to this contraception up until the age of 25.”
Amazon says it will offer to pay 100% of college tuition for its 750,000 US hourly employees. The e-commerce giant is following the lead of other large U.S. companies who are dangling perks like education benefits or more pay to woo workers in a tight job market.
Study links too much free time to lower sense of wellbeing. After crowdsourcing opinions on which activities would be equated with leisure time and then calculating this time for participants, the team found that while subjective wellbeing rose with the amount of free time up to about two hours, it began to drop once it exceeded five hours.
Strange, repeating radio signal near the center of the Milky Way has scientists stumped. It's not a fast radio burst, pulsar or low-mass star. So what in the heavens is it?
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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