And another day of record numbers, not being eager to give back power, New Year’s celebration in Times Square, book bans make reading cool again, CO wildfires, rethinking gender-based dress codes, and fish falling from the sky comes to a close:
“When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail.” -- Pearl S. Buck
“It’s a crime to exploit patriotism in the service of hatred.” -- Emile Zola
Deaths
US: 845,737 (+1010)
World: 5,445,959 (+7343)
Cases
US: 55,246,781 (+589,915)
World: 286,856,517 (+1,951,441)
US unemployment claims drop to 198,000, lowest level since 1969. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell below 200,000, more evidence that the job market remains strong in the aftermath of last year's coronavirus recession.
US children hospitalized with COVID in record numbers. The omicron-fueled surge that is sending COVID-19 cases rocketing in the U.S. is putting children in the hospital in record numbers, and experts lament that most of the youngsters are not vaccinated.
COVID-19 has provided Governor Greg Abbott the chance to wield more power than anyone in Texas history. He’s not eager to give it back. “In politics,” says Bill Miller, a longtime Texas lobbyist, “the old adage is that the only abuse of power is to have it and not use it.” Just this summer, Abbott vetoed funding for the entire legislative branch and vowed not to restore it until the entirety of his political agenda was passed. He has also used his disaster powers to launch a state-run immigration dragnet in defiance of President Joe Biden’s federal immigration policy. Legal experts, political scientists, and Abbott’s Democratic foes have warned that his increasingly brazen power grabs threaten the state constitution’s separation of powers and co-equal branches of government. Yet the GOP-controlled Legislature and Texas Supreme Court have so far only aided and abetted Abbott’s expansion and consolidation of power.
Florida Democrats blast 'MIA' Gov. Ron DeSantis as Covid cases surge. DeSantis, an opponent of masking and vaccine mandates, has not held a Covid briefing since Dec. 17 as cases have reached record highs. The state's agriculture commissioner, Nikki Fried, said Wednesday that she had "no idea" where DeSantis was. Fried, who's running for governor as a Democrat, told MSNBC that DeSantis "canceled our Cabinet meeting in the middle of December" and "I haven't seen him since Dec. 17. I don't know where he is."
CDC warns against cruises, regardless of vaccination status. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned people on Thursday not to go on cruises, regardless of their vaccination status, because of onboard outbreaks fueled by the omicron variant. -- Um, duh.
Times Square show will go on despite virus surge, mayor says. New York City will ring in 2022 in Times Square as planned despite record numbers of COVID-19 infections in the city, the state and around the nation, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday. “We want to show that we’re moving forward, and we want to show the world that New York City is fighting our way through this,” de Blasio, whose last day in office is Friday, said on NBC’s “Today” show.
Travelers infected one another across hallway in Covid-19 quarantine facility, New Zealand research shows. A traveler isolated for Covid-19 at a quarantine facility in New Zealand managed to infect three others across a hallway, researchers reported. Closed-circuit camera footage, genetic testing and careful contact tracing show that the only conceivable way the virus could have passed from one room to another was in air that leaked out when both doors were briefly opened, the researchers said.
Israel approves 4th vaccine dose for most vulnerable. Israel has approved a fourth vaccine dose for people most vulnerable to COVID-19, an official said Thursday, becoming one of the first countries to do so as it braces for a wave of infections fueled by the omicron variant.
Decades of DOD efforts fail to stamp out bias, extremism. But an AP investigation found that despite the new rules, racism and extremism remain an ongoing concern in the military. The investigation shows the new guidelines do not address ongoing disparities in military justice under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the legal code that governs the U.S. armed forces. Numerous studies, including a report last year from the Government Accountability Office, show Black and Hispanic service members were disproportionately investigated and court-martialed. A recent Naval Postgraduate School study found that Black Marines were convicted and punished at courts-martial at a rate five times higher than other races across the Marine Corps. The AP investigation also shows the military’s judicial system has no explicit category for bias-motivated crimes – something the federal government, at least 46 states, and the District of Columbia have on the books – making it difficult to quantify crimes prompted by prejudice. As a result, investigative agencies such as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service or Army Criminal Investigative Division also don’t have a specific hate crime category, which impacts how they investigate cases.
US conservative parents push for book bans – and unintentionally make reading cool again. These books are rarely inflammatory or obscene; instead, they simply contain narratives about race, gender and inequality that chafe against prescribed American ideology. That’s more than enough for an emboldened conservative movement. But there is no evidence that the wave of book bans are actually accomplishing their intended ambition. If anything they’ve achieved the opposite effect.
I’m a climate scientist. Don’t Look Up captures the madness I see every day. A film about a comet hurtling towards Earth and no one is doing anything about it? Sounds exactly like the climate crisis.
Colorado wildfires burn hundreds of homes, force evacuations. An estimated 580 homes, a hotel and a shopping center have burned and tens of thousands of people were evacuated in wind-fueled wildfires outside Denver, officials said Thursday evening. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said only one injury has been reported, but didn’t rule out finding out later about more severe injuries or death due to the intensity of fires that quickly swept across the region as winds gusted up to 105 mph (169 kph).
Gov. Jared Polis has commuted the sentence of the truck driver who in 2019 crashed into traffic on Interstate 70, killing four people. Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos will serve 10 years in prison instead of his original sentence of 110.
Second former CNN producer under police investigation. Fairfax County Police said its child exploitation squad is investigating allegations against a former CNN producer involving “juvenile victims."
Texas schools rethink gender-based dress code policies after discrimination claims raise new legal issues. Legal experts say school districts have had wide freedom in crafting dress codes and grooming policies for decades, but they believe those rules — particularly those that directly or indirectly single out specific groups by gender or race — are approaching an inflection point where reassessment is necessary.
Māori journalist becomes first person with facial markings to present primetime news. A Māori journalist has made history in New Zealand by becoming the first person with traditional facial markings to host a primetime news program on national television. Oriini Kaipara made headlines worldwide after hosting her first 6 p.m. bulletin for Newshub on the TV channel Three, with many lauding the milestone as a win for Māori representation.
Colorado governor pardons over 1,000 people for minor marijuana crimes. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced on Thursday he has pardoned 1,351 people for minor marijuana possession crimes. Polis signed an executive order granting individuals pardons for their drug charges, also lifting three commutations and fifteen other individual pardons for prisoners, according to a statement.
The residents of Texarkana, Texas, had an interesting day Wednesday when fish fell from the sky. The phenomenon is unusual but not unheard of, but normally happens when fish, frogs and other small animals are picked up either by an updraft or tornadic waterspouts, the National Geographic Society said. But the National Weather Service said there were no weather systems were detected that could explain how it happened, KHOU reported.
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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