Friday, January 21, 2022

And another day of executive orders, ‘last anniversaries,’ other health problems, where you’re most likely to catch COVID, vaxxing preteens without parental consent, ‘stand your ground’ laws, and ‘like a bat out of hell I’ll be gone when the morning comes’ comes to a close:

“This right-wing push against CRT is completely manufactured to rile up the base and long-term to chip away at any attempts of racial equity. And it's as damnably obvious as it is appalling.” — Phil Plait

“Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.” — Robin Williams 

Deaths

US: 887,643 (+3740)

World: 5,603,566 (+10,310)

Cases

US: 71,394,579 (+839,717)

World: 346,968,115 (+3,908,389)

DOJ wants Oath Keepers leader to remain in jail pending trial for seditious conspiracy charge related to US Capitol attack. "There are no conditions of release that can reasonably assure the safety of the community or the defendant's appearance in court," prosecutors wrote in a court filing on Thursday. "And based on Rhodes's evidence destruction aimed at hiding his crimes and the identities of his co-conspirators, he poses a risk of obstructing justice should he be released."

Oath Keepers Anticipated “a Bloody and Desperate Fight” to Overturn the Election for Trump. US prosecutors paint a chilling picture of the extremist group’s alleged seditious conspiracy. One filing, a detention memo in the case against Oath Keeper Edwards Vallejo of Arizona, hints that more people could yet be charged in connection with the conspiracy. Evidence it contains also shows that extremists have embraced Trump’s most recent rhetoric reinforcing the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him through fraud, messaging that continues to fuel a violent far-right movement. — Yes. It was an attempted coup.

Read the never-issued Trump order that would have seized voting machines. Among the records that Donald Trump’s lawyers tried to shield from Jan. 6 investigators are a draft executive order that would have directed the defense secretary to seize voting machines and a document titled “Remarks on National Healing.” The executive order — which also would have appointed a special counsel to probe the 2020 election — was never issued, and the remarks were never delivered. Together, the two documents point to the wildly divergent perspectives of White House advisers and allies during Trump’s frenetic final weeks in office.

Activists look ahead to what could be the 'last anniversary' for Roe. Nationwide polls suggest a majority of Americans support abortion rights. But years of activism by abortion rights opponents at all levels of government have brought Roe v. Wade and related precedent closer than ever to being reversed.

Booster shots needed against omicron, CDC studies show. Three studies released Friday offered more evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the omicron variant, at least among people who received booster shots. They are the first large U.S. studies to look at vaccine protection against omicron, health officials said.

Omicron surge is undermining care for other health problems. The omicron surge this winter has not only swamped U.S. hospitals with record numbers of patients with COVID-19, it has also caused frightening moments and major headaches for people trying to get treatment for other ailments. Less-urgent procedures have been put on hold around the country, such as cochlear implant surgeries and steroid injections for rheumatoid arthritis. And people with all sorts of medical complaints have had to wait in emergency rooms for hours longer than usual. -- Thanks, anti-vaxxers.

Where you’re most likely to catch COVID: New study highlights high-risk locations. Researchers behind the paper analyzed outbreaks and superspreader events and studied factors that hinder and aid the virus’ spread, to design a mathematical model that takes many factors into account before giving a percentage risk of infection. The percentage isn’t a perfectly accurate estimate, but it helps answer several complex questions: In what situations am I mostly likely to catch COVID-19? Least likely? And how likely is “likely?”

The Washington State Department of Health has launched a website for Washington residents to get free at-home COVID tests delivered to their door. Between the state and federal programs, each home in Washington will qualify for up to nine free at-home COVID-19 tests. However, the convenience comes with a potential downside if self-testing jeopardizes the accuracy of statewide case counts.

Preteens may be vaxed without parents under California bill. California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent, the youngest age of any state, under a proposal late Thursday by a state senator. Alabama allows such decisions at age 14, Oregon at 15, Rhode Island and South Carolina at 16, according to Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco who is proposing the change. Only Washington, D.C., has a lower limit, at age 11. Wiener argued that California already allows those 12 and up to consent to the Hepatitis B and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, and to treatment for sexually transmitted infections, substance abuse and mental health disorders. “Giving young people the autonomy to receive life-saving vaccines, regardless of their parents’ beliefs or work schedules, is essential for their physical and mental health,” he said. “It’s unconscionable for teens to be blocked from the vaccine because a parent either refuses or cannot take their child to a vaccination site.”

LGBTQ dating ban at BYU probed in federal investigation. Students at Brigham Young University, a private religious school, can be punished for holding hands or kissing someone of the same sex.

Kansas teen’s death has spotlight on ‘stand your ground’ law. Now even some Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature who support the idea behind the law want to revisit it. The reason: A prosecutor said this week that it prevented him from criminally charging employees of a juvenile intake center in Wichita in the death of a Black teenager who’d been restrained on the ground on his stomach, shackled and handcuffed for more than 30 minutes. Police took 17-year-old Cedric Lofton to the center after a foster care agency said he needed a mental health exam for increasingly erratic behavior. Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said any criminal charges were likely to be dismissed by a judge because Bennett concluded that the juvenile center’s employees believed they were acting in self-defense during the Sept. 24 altercation with Lofton. He said that Kansas courts have expanded self-defense rights to the point that, “How could any cop ever be prosecuted, then, for shooting somebody?” -- ‘Stand your ground’ laws are fucking bullshit.

The IRS has made tax season even worse, somehow. Tax season is quickly approaching. If you’re anything like me, you’re already annoyed by the mere prospect of having to interact with the International Revenue Service and all its bureaucracy. This year though, we have the added bonus of the IRS requiring you to scan your face to file taxes online. Not only is this an annoying, extra step, but it immediately begs the question: Why the hell is the IRS buying into surveillance software?…So what exactly is ID.me? As Krebs described, ID.me is an online identity verification service. To use it, people have to provide the company with a government identification document, copies of their bills, and a selfie. — WTF?

Nanoplastic pollution found at both of Earth’s poles for first time. Tiny particles including tyre dust found in ice cores stretching back 50 years, showing global plastic contamination.

Thelma Sutcliffe, the oldest living person in the US, has died at age 115. Born on Oct. 1, 1906, in Omaha, Nebraska, Sutcliffe was 115 years and 108 days old at the time of her death.

RIP Louie Anderson. He was 68.

RIP Meat Loaf. He was 74.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.