And another day of weak excuses, a new dominant variant, more covid related news, asking for records, filing lawsuits, Epstein flight logs, school book bans spreads to public libraries, the successor to Hubble, and sexual fluidity comes to a close:
"It's going to be a surge like we haven't seen before." — Andy Slavitt
Deaths
US: 828,836 (+1513)
World: 5,376,566 (+6261)
Cases
US: 52,059,667 (+293,953)
World: 275,790,573 (+779,391)
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., had privately raised concerns in recent months that parents would use their Child Tax Credit payments — a key piece of the Build Back Better legislation — to buy drugs, three sources familiar with the comments said. Manchin relayed these concerns in private conversations to his fellow Democratic senators, the sources said. — Manchin is a total prick.
“Manchin is apparently worried child tax credits to poor families could go to drugs, and I’m wondering what exactly he thinks rich people do with their money. Other than buying yachts and expensive cars, of course.” — Joshua Potash
“Manchin owns a yacht and drives a Maserati. Anybody who thinks he has any idea how working class West Virginians live is a total sucker.” — Elizabeth Spiers
Omicron variant accounted for 73% of new infections last week, becoming dominant strain in US. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron's share of infections in only one week. In much of the country, omicron's prevalence is even higher. It's responsible for an estimated 90% of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest.
Quebec shuts down schools, bars, gyms and more as COVID-19 case counts soar. Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said in the face of the variant, which appears to be doubling its spread every few days, the government had to take action to prevent the health-care system from being overwhelmed.
South African scientists - hailed for their discovery of Omicron - are investigating the "highly plausible hypothesis" that the emergence globally of dangerous new Covid-19 variants could be linked, in some cases, to extensive mutations taking place inside infected people whose immune systems have already been weakened by other factors, including, though not limited to, untreated HIV.
Pandemic poses short- and long-term risks to babies, especially boys. Stress levels among expectant mothers have soared. Pregnant women with Covid are five times as likely as uninfected pregnant people to require intensive care and 22 times as likely to die. Infected moms are four times as likely to have a stillborn child. Yet some of the pandemic’s greatest threats to infants’ health may not be apparent for years or even decades.
Boston to require proof of vaccines at restaurants, gyms. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced Monday that the city will require COVID-19 vaccinations to enter most indoor spaces starting on Jan. 15, as part of a campaign to increase vaccinations called "B Together." Additionally, Wu announced that those working in the listed indoor facilities will also be required to be fully vaccinated.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has pledged to take his fight against a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large businesses to the Supreme Court.
Harvard University has joined a growing number of schools and colleges across the U.S. returning to remote learning as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads at a rapid rate.
NIH director says Trump, Republicans pressured him to back unproven COVID-19 remedies. On his last day as director of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Francis Collins spoke on how former President Trump pressured him to endorse unproven medical treatments for COVID-19, such as "hydroxychloroquine and blood plasma." — Republicans literally tried to kill you, and they continue to do so.
The committee has asked for records from Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry. The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack is seeking information from Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pennsylvania, a leader of the House Freedom Caucus who communicated with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows ahead of the attack. This letter is the committee's first known request to a sitting GOP lawmaker.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is suing the Jan. 6 select committee to block them from obtaining his phone records and compelling his testimony at a deposition next month.
Trump sues NY attorney general, seeking to halt civil probe. Former President Donald Trump sued New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday, resorting to a familiar but seldom successful strategy as he seeks to end a yearslong civil investigation into his business practices that he alleges is purely political.
Maxwell case logs show how frequently Trump flew on Epstein jets; Bill Clinton, too. Donald Trump appears to have flown on Jeffrey Epstein’s private jets six more times than was previously known, according to flight logs released as evidence in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial…Decades before he became president, Trump flew four times in 1993, once in 1994 and once in 1995, in addition to a flight in 1997 that had been documented in portions of the flight log previously released…That’s still fewer than former President Bill Clinton, who flew on Epstein’s jets on at least nine different dates according to the flight records released as evidence, and reportedly far more times than that. The extent of Clinton’s travel on Epstein flights was already reported, however.
Pentagon issues rules aimed at stopping rise of extremism. Warning that extremism in the ranks is increasing, Pentagon officials issued detailed new rules Monday prohibiting service members from actively engaging in extremist activities. The new guidelines come nearly a year after some current and former service members participated in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, triggering a broad department review.
The push to ban books in Texas schools spreads to public libraries. Garvel, who describes herself as a conservative and has a 9-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, said she’s been very careful about what content they consume. — But she doesn’t want any children to consume any material she herself deems inappropriate. This is such bullshit. Fight against book banning.
Republicans view Reagan, Trump as best recent presidents. About four-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (42%) say Reagan has done the best job as president over the past 40 years, while slightly fewer (37%) say Trump has done the best job. — Seriously? A B-movie actor and a con-man? But when the other options are two Bushes…well…not much of a choice now is it?
Tensions rising between U.S. and Iran, New Year’s seen as potential flashpoint. The growing confrontation with Iran has prompted a debate inside the administration about how to respond to attacks and provocative acts by Iran and its proxies in the region, current and former U.S. officials said.
Food suppliers blame inflation for price hikes. Lawmakers say they're padding the bill. Some companies "appear to be passing costs on to consumers" and "taking advantage of inflation to add greater burdens,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said.
Study Estimates That More Than Half of U.S. Hospitals Not in Compliance With New Pricing Disclosure Rules in First Five Months. At least 75 percent of hospitals were compliant in the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Indiana, and Michigan. In contrast, at most, 25 percent of hospitals were compliant in Delaware, Maryland, Washington, and Louisiana…The Hospital Price Transparency Rule—managed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—requires individual hospitals to provide clear pricing information online about the services they provide. The information must be posted in a file format that can be imported or read into a computer system, also known as a machine-readable file. Hospitals must also include standard pricing for at least 300 services, ranging from colonoscopies to CAT scans. Hospitals are not required to disclose prices for emergency services under the new rule.
Straight people often more sexually fluid than they think, study suggests. A study has found that straight people’s perceptions of their own sexualities can become more fluid when they are exposed to different theories of sexuality.
Procter & Gamble has issued a recall for 32 aerosol dry conditioner spray and dry shampoo spray products under popular brand names that may contain a known cancer-causing agent, the company announced.
Lorne Michaels Considering ‘SNL’ Retirement: “A Really Good Time to Leave”. The 'Saturday Night Live' boss says the show's upcoming 50th anniversary could very well be the right time to exit.
Hubble telescope’s bigger, more powerful successor to soar. The Hubble Space Telescope’s successor is a time-traveling wonder capable of peering back to within a hair’s breadth of the dawn of the universe. And it’s finally on the brink of flight.
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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