And another day of clear and present danger, record virus infections, winter storms in the West, a heatwave in the Southern Plains, hazardous waste dumping, simple legal gender transitions, UFO sightings, and the loss of smell can impact your sex life comes to a close:
“If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn’t worship that God.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Deaths
US: 837,854 (+3399 over three days)
World: 5,416,415 (+15,806 over three days)
Cases
US: 53,222,424 (+433,973 over three days)
World: 280,334,356 (+1,809,999 over three days)
The clear and present danger of Trump's enduring 'Big Lie'. By inverting the narrative, attempting to slough off the "big lie" and pin it instead on his opponents, Trump exploited an age-old tactic, says Yale University history professor Timothy Snyder. "Part of the character of the 'big lie' is that it turns the powerful person into the victim," he says. "And then that allows the powerful person to actually exact revenge, like it's a promise for the future." Snyder, author of the books The Road to Unfreedom and On Tyranny, has spent years studying the ways tyrants skewer truth. Snyder points to Hitler's original definition of the "big lie" in his manifesto, Mein Kampf and the ways he used it to blame Jews for all of Germany's woes. "The lie is so big that it reorders the world," Snyder says. "And so part of telling the big lie is that you immediately say it's the other side that tells the big lie. Sadly, but it's just a matter of record, all of that is in Mein Kampf."…What's more, says Timothy Snyder, "the 'big lie' is not just in people's minds. It's also now in the law books."…All of it, Snyder says, is a direct outcome of Trump's "big lie" and is deeply troubling for the future. "All of those things set us up for a scenario where the candidate who loses by every measure, not just by the popular vote, but by the Electoral College, the candidate who loses by every measure will nevertheless be installed as president of the United States," Snyder says. "I think that is probably the most likely scenario in 2024 as things stand now." That scenario needs to be confronted immediately, Snyder says: "It's right in front of our eyes. The most interesting and the most distressing thing about American news coverage right now is that we don't treat the end of democracy in America as the story. That is the story." We delude ourselves, Snyder says, if we think we're immune from an anti-democratic turn. "We imagine that there's somehow this immovable American democratic background, which doesn't really exist," he says. "We can lose democracy just like anybody else can, just like most people have in the history of democracy. We can lose it, and we're losing it right now."…"It wasn't enough, but next time, it could well be enough. And the fact that it's been rehearsed makes me worry," he says. "This is what historians and political scientists who study coups d'etat say. They say a failed coup is practice for a successful one." What we're potentially looking at, Snyder warns, is nothing less than the end of the democratic United States as we've come to know it. "That's just the reality," he says.
Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich sues Jan. 6 committee to block access to his financial records. The move comes after the committee last month subpoenaed Budowich and other Trump allies involved in planning "Stop the Steal" rallies, including at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, before the US Capitol attack. "Budowich complied with the subpoena, producing more than 1,700 pages of documents and providing roughly four hours of sworn testimony," the lawsuit said.
France sees over 100,000 daily virus infections for 1st time. France has recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic and COVID-19 hospitalizations have doubled over the past month, as the fast-spreading omicron variant complicates the French government’s efforts to stave off a new lockdown.
Snow expected to continue as winter storm warnings extend from Seattle to San Diego. A heat wave continued to bake the Southern Plains, with temperatures in the 80s in Texas and Oklahoma.
Vladimir Putin uses annual four-hour speech to attack trans people for no reason other than hate. Russian president Vladimir Putin devoted part of his end-of-year news conference to comparing trans people to the coronavirus pandemic…Vladimir Putin has long targeted LGBT+ people with his bitter rhetoric and actions, his hate amplified by the Kremlin, the media, the Orthodox Church and even schools. Lawmakers, meanwhile, decry LGBT+ people as “extremists” to be weeded out.
California sues Walmart over alleged hazardous waste dumping. Retail giant Walmart illegally dumps more than 1 million batteries, aerosol cans of insect killer and other products, toxic cleaning supplies, electronic waste, latex paints and other hazardous waste into California landfills each year, state prosecutors alleged Monday in a lawsuit that the company labeled “unjustified.”
Swiss to allow simple legal gender transition from Jan. 1. Switzerland joins Ireland, Belgium, Portugal and Norway as one of the few countries on the continent that allow a person to legally change gender without hormone therapy, medical diagnosis or further evaluation or bureaucratic steps.
Home For The Holidays? Get Off The Couch! Young bodies may more easily rebound from long bouts of sitting, with just an hour at the gym. But research suggests physical recovery from binge TV-watching gets harder in our 50s and as we get older.
Lost your sense of smell? It may impact your sex life. For some, losing their sense of smell has meant sex feels like putting their arms "around a cardboard box."
Popular Home Bed Rails Recalled After Three Deaths. Carex brand bed rails, which are designed to keep people from rolling out of bed and assist them in getting up, have been recalled after three elderly people became trapped between the product and their mattress and subsequently died.
Giant marine reptile skull discovery reveals new evolutionary theories. The discovery of a giant marine reptile skull in the United States has revealed new theories about the speed of evolution and how quickly the process can produce diversity.
Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s moral conscience, dies at 90. Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning icon, an uncompromising foe of apartheid and a modern-day activist for racial justice and LGBT rights, died Sunday at 90. South Africans, world leaders and people around the globe mourned the death of the man viewed as the country’s moral conscience.
‘Aliens in bedroom’: UFO sightings on the rise in Northern Ireland. From mysterious discs over Slemish Mountain in Co Antrim to strange images spotted on CCTV, unexplained sightings increased in Northern Ireland again last year…“Sadly, the numbers are still fairly low, and I suspect there’s chronic underreporting, perhaps because of the perceived stigma.”
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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