Sunday, January 2, 2022

And another day of ‘firsthand testimony,’ schools adapting for return, coping strategies, searching for answers, cars stopping you from driving drunk, aquamation, and Twitter finally kicks MTG off its platform comes to a close:

“In a world full of Marjorie Taylor Greenes, be a Betty White.” — Lance Cooper

Deaths

US: 847,408 (+503 over two days)

World: 5,460,321 (+7421 over two days)

Cases

US: 56,142,175 (+445,675 over two days)

World: 290,634,356 (+2,121,090 over two days)

They’ve interviewed more than 300 witnesses, collected tens of thousands of documents and traveled around the country to talk to election officials who were pressured by Donald Trump. Now, after six months of intense work, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection is preparing to go public.

Majority of Americans think Jan. 6 attack threatened democracy. Sixty-five percent of Americans believe Biden's victory in the 2020 election was legitimate, which is similar to the results of a January 2021 ABC News/Ipsos poll (68%). Nearly all Democrats -- 93% -- think the election results were legitimate while most Republicans do not. Among Republicans, 71% sided with Trump's false claims that he was the rightful winner. — You read that correctly: 71%. I’m not sure how the country recovers from all this when so many people refuse to believe facts.

Jan. 6 panel has 'firsthand testimony' Ivanka Trump asked father to intervene in riot, Cheney says. GOP Rep. Liz Cheney said the panel also had testimony that the then-president was watching the attack on TV as allies, including his daughter, asked him to do something.

Schools adapt for return from break as COVID-19 cases surge. Mask requirements are returning in some school districts that had dropped them. Some are planning to vastly ramp up virus testing among students and staff. And a small number of school systems are switching to remote learning — for just a short while, educators hope.

Rare illness affecting kids who had COVID-19 reported in Pacific NW. While many kids aren't getting seriously sick from the virus in Oregon and Washington, doctors are worried about another illness called “Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children," or MIS-C. Doctors say they typically see children with MIS-C in their hospitals weeks after they have the coronavirus, adding that they’ve already seen some cases in the Pacific Northwest.

What the pandemic has done to our memories. When every day seems the same and stress is unrelenting, it can affect people's cognitive skills. Experts offer coping strategies.

Twitter permanently suspends Marjorie Taylor Greene's personal account. Greene's personal account was suspended over "repeated violations" of the company's Covid-19 misinformation policy, the company said.

“One of the biggest travesties of the Trump presidency was how America’s business elites stood silently by him in order to secure billions in tax cuts. This is how fascism takes hold.” — Robert Reich

A man died after being pushed into an oncoming train in San Diego. The victim and suspect exited a southbound trolley at the Old Town station and were walking on the platform when the suspect, without being provoked, pushed the man into the oncoming train, according to police. -- WTF?

Jake’s mice: Searching for answers to the puzzle of autism. A 16-year-old with autism recently visited a lab to view mice that have been bred to mirror the missing gene that causes his condition. Scientists are studying the mice in hopes of finding ways to treat the teen's rare disorder and other forms of autism.

What if cars could stop you from driving drunk? A peek at the latest tech. The recent infrastructure law included a provision mandating that, starting in a few years, all new cars must include some sort of technology to detect and prevent drunk driving. Some companies were already racing to figure out how to do this. Now, it's going to be required.

What is aquamation? The green alternative to cremation chosen by Desmond Tutu. Aquamation is a water-based process whose scientific name is "alkaline hydrolysis", in which a "combination of gentle water flow, temperature, and alkalinity are used to accelerate the breakdown of organic materials" when a body is laid to rest in soil, according to Bio-Response Solutions, a US company which specializes in the process. The company's website says the process "uses 90% less energy than flame cremation and does not emit any harmful greenhouse gasses." According to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), an international non-profit organization, alkaline hydrolysis is sometimes referred to as flameless cremation.

The new year kicks off with the Quadrantid meteor shower, which is expected to peak in the overnight hours from Sunday to Monday.

RIP Dan Reeves. He was 77.

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

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