And another day of Manchin being Manchin, unreleased texts, Omicron may sideline two drugs, all kinds of Covid news, ranked choice voting, Justice Breyer, a ‘catastrophe for humanity,’ capitalism and mobile home parks, and Americans fighting for sewage disposal comes to a close:
“It’s unbelievable Senate went home for the year without passing voting rights legislation after insurrection & wave of new voter suppression laws, extreme gerrymandering & election subversion by GOP.” — Ari Berman
“I never knew there were that many people who think individualism is an excuse for selfishness.” — Steve Redmond
“We've become a country that casually hands a couple of trillion to the wealthy but balks at lifting millions of kids out of poverty and saving hundreds of thousands of lives by reducing pollution. Hard not to feel grim about the future.” — Paul Krugman
Deaths
US: 827,323 (+604 over two days)
World: 5,370,305 (+9516 over two days)
Cases
US: 51,765,714 (+155,433 over two days)
World: 275,011,182 (+1,033,035 over two days)
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is key to President Joe Biden's hopes of passing a $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill, said he would not support the package. — One person should not have so much power.
“Progressives were absolutely right to insist on the linkage of the infrastructure bill and BBB. They got played.” — Aaron Rupar
“Just a reminder that the House (363-70) and the Senate (88-11) just overwhelmingly passed bill with $768 BILLION in defense spending for ONE YEAR and no one made a peep about how to pay for it or if it was inflationary or its cost over 10 years.” -- Judd Legum
Manchin says Build Back Better's climate measures are risky. That's not true. Here's what's really going on:
“Manchin is Manchin. But what kind of healthy democracy is structured in a way that can allow one man elected by 290,000 voters in one of the least populous states to thwart the agenda of his party and the President who was elected with 81 million votes. We need structural change.. “ -- Sherrilyn Ifill
Covid contrasts. People in major cities waited in long lines for Covid tests over the weekend... but millions also queued up to watch "Spider-Man" in crowded theaters.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger said “it’s possible" some of his GOP colleagues in Congress are responsible for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. "I will tell you, yes, there are more texts out there we haven’t released.” The Illinois Republican also revealed that the committee investigating the insurrection is not ruling out issuing subpoenas for sitting members of Congress.
Jan 6 investigators believe Nov. 4 text pushing 'strategy' to undermine election came from Rick Perry.
Omicron may sideline two leading drugs against COVID-19. As strained U.S. hospitals brace for a new surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the fast-spreading omicron variant, doctors are warning of yet another challenge: the two standard drugs they’ve used to fight infections are unlikely to work against the new strain.
Sens. Warren and Booker test positive for Covid-19. The Massachusetts Democrat, who is vaccinated and boosted, said she is experiencing mild symptoms. The New Jersey Democrat, who is also vaccinated and boosted, also reported mild symptoms.
The Netherlands has just gone into a month-long nationwide lockdown in response to the Omicron surge. Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte on Saturday announced that restaurants, bars, non-essential shops, beauty salons, and concert venues and cinemas would all close from Sunday. Most indoor sports facilities will close, and supermarkets and chemists remain open on restricted hours. Schools and colleges will also close until January 9. Funerals are restricted to 100 attendees or fewer.
Ontario reports 4,177 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday. Starting early Sunday morning, social gatherings are once again limited to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.
Why Republicans, moderates see opportunity in ranked choice voting. Progressives embraced the system early on as a way to box out establishment-friendly candidates. But several recent and higher-profile elections have rendered a different reality.
Democrats walk on eggshells around Breyer as GOP plans another blockade for any Biden Supreme Court pick. Senate Republicans are poised to deny President Joe Biden an appointment to the Supreme Court if they take the majority in the 2022 midterm elections. Five Republican senators raised the stakes around Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement, telling CNN they'd oppose any likely nominee out of this White House. But Democrats in the Senate and the White House, though they've come off the November elections more worried in recent weeks about a potential wipeout in the midterms, are still avoiding calling directly for Breyer to quit, fearing that it would backfire and encourage the 83-year-old to stay on the bench.
How the government helps investors buy mobile home parks, raise rent and evict people. A generation of mom and pop owners of mobile home parks are retiring and looking to sell. And investors and companies are swooping in to buy up these parks. They raise fees and rents for the land under the homes, and evict people who can't pay. Housing advocates say it's a disturbing trend that's happening to residents in parks around the country. What's more, these companies are getting help doing that from billions of dollars worth of low-interest-rate loans backed by the federal government. And the volume of that financing has risen sharply in recent years…In Hunt's case, the new owner is a real-estate investment firm named Havenpark Communities. It started raising her lot-rent and fees. Since 2017, the rent and fees have risen about 40%, from less than $350 per month to more than $480. And, just as problematic for Hunt, Havenpark is quick to file for eviction. She says the company wouldn't be flexible with her and take partial rent payments the way Stan and Nancy would. She says, instead, when she fell behind on the lot rent, Havenpark filed an eviction case against her. — The ugly side of capitalism.
Ranchers and farmers are destroying the rainforest. Is Bolsonaro to blame? Activists say Bolsonaro’s policies are leading to the rapid destruction of the rainforest, which they say amounts to “ecocide” and should be considered an international crime. The Amazon is the biggest in a belt of forests that wraps the planet’s midsection. Its soil and vegetation store 150 billion to 200 billion tons of carbon — roughly five times the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions — helping provide a counterweight to global warming. If the planet loses the Amazon, it will be almost impossible to maintain that balance. “A vast amount of carbon would be converted from organic matter into carbon dioxide, and that would add to the carbon dioxide we’re already putting into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels,” said Scott Denning, a Colorado State University atmospheric scientist. “That would be a catastrophe for humanity and for everything else.”
The NHL and Chemours Are Spreading ‘Dangerous Misinformation’ About Ice-Rink Refrigerants, a New Report Says. The league is promoting the company’s synthetic Opteon refrigerants as “sustainable,” even though they are thousands of times more warming of the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
Americans fighting for access to sewage disposal. Today people in Lowndes are fighting for another basic right: access to sewage treatment. By some estimates more than half the impoverished, rural residents have raw sewage running into their yards and even their houses.
GOP Oklahoma House leader, wife accused of multiple felonies. An Oklahoma County grand jury indicted a top Republican House leader on multiple felony counts, alleging he misused his power to change state law so his wife could become a tag agent. -- It’s the Republican way.
Real-life sport of Quidditch changing name due to JK Rowling's 'anti-trans positions'. “The leagues are hoping a name change can help them continue to distance themselves from the works of JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series, who has increasingly come under scrutiny for her anti-trans positions in recent years,” the leagues said. The USQ and MLQ said that the sport has “developed a reputation as one of the most progressive sports in the world on gender equality and inclusivity”, citing its “gender maximum rule”.
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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