Thursday, January 27, 2022

And another day of announcements, ‘religious objections,’ neurological symptoms, FL curtailing school lessons on sex and gender, banning books, the dangers of gas stoves, and pardoning women executed for witchcraft comes to a close:

"The voter suppression emergency has turned into a voter suppression apocalypse." — Ari Berman

Deaths

US: 902,140 (+7260 over two days)

World: 5,656,757 (+22,641 over two days)

Cases

US: 74,695,333 (+1,246,148 over two days)

World: 366,846,587 (+7,607,893 over two days)

Biden announces Breyer's retirement, pledges to nominate Black woman to Supreme Court by end of February. "The person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity, and that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court," Biden said. "I made that commitment during the campaign for president, and I will keep that commitment."

Mississippi bill would ban employers from requiring employees with "sincerely held religious objection" to get vaccinated. Mississippi's Republican-controlled state House on Thursday passed a bill that would bar public and private employers from requiring workers with a “sincerely held religious objection” to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The proposed bill, HB 1509, would also prohibit a number of government entities including state agencies, public colleges and city and county governments from withholding services or denying employment to unvaccinated people.

Man loses sight, other functions after contracting COVID-19. Dr. Frey says her brother is not the only one who has experienced disabling neurological symptoms from the virus. People can be healthy before the virus then after contracting it, they could possibly lose their vision, doctors say.

Florida GOP aims to curtail school lessons on sex, gender. Florida Republicans want to forbid discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools with a bill that activists say endangers children and echoes a previous wave of laws that sought to squelch LGBTQ conversations in the classroom.

Melania Trump said 'no' when given chance to call for peace on January 6, sources say. The sources told CNN that Trump's aide Stephanie Grisham sent her a text that said, "Do you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness and violence?" to which Trump replied with one word: "No."

Support your children if they are gay, pope tells parents. Conservatives in the 1.3 billion-member Church have said the pope - who has sent notes of appreciation to priests and nuns who minister to gay Catholics - is giving mixed signals on homosexuality, confusing some of the faithful.

Holocaust novel ‘Maus’ banned in Tennessee school district. A Tennessee school district has voted to ban a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust due to “inappropriate language” and an illustration of a nude woman, according to minutes from a board meeting.

Study: Gas stoves worse for climate than previously thought. Gas stoves are contributing more to global warming than previously thought because of constant tiny methane leaks while they’re off, a new study found. The same study that tested emissions around stoves in homes raised new concerns about indoor air quality and health because of levels of nitrogen oxides measured.

Catalonia pardons women executed for witchcraft. The Catalan regional parliament has formally pardoned hundreds of women executed for witchcraft between the 15th and 18th centuries. MPs passed a resolution by a large majority to rehabilitate the memory of more than 700 women who were tortured and put to death. Spanish historians have discovered that Catalonia was one of the first regions in Europe to carry out witch hunts. It was also considered one of the worst areas for executions.

Taking daily vitamin D and fish oil supplements may help protect older adults from developing autoimmune disorders, a new study found.

How to avert an asteroid apocalypse. NASA’s effort to dodge giant space rocks is going surprisingly well. “You can’t stop volcanoes erupting, or an earthquake happening, or hurricanes,” Andrews says. “But an asteroid? If you just flick it out of the way of the Earth, the threat is gone.” This may sound like science fiction, but scientists are already working on it. It’s arguably going a lot better than depicted in the film Don’t Look Up in which two astronomers struggle to convince the world that a deadly comet is coming. The US government is spending time and money to avert a future asteroid disaster.

Astronomers discover mysterious pulsing object that may be new class of star. Astronomers have discovered a mysterious object emitting a radio wave beam that pulsed every 20 minutes. The team behind the discovery believe the object could be a new class of slowly rotating neutron star with an ultra-powerful magnetic field. The repeating signals were detected during the first three months of 2018, but then disappeared, suggesting they were linked to a dramatic, one-off event, such as a starquake.

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

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