Wednesday, January 12, 2022

And another day of refusing to cooperate, hanging up on an interview, wondering when you are contagious, closing schools, UK’s Johnson in trouble, Prince Andrew loses, Cruz and SCOTUS, and running low on chicken and french fries comes to a close:

“The party of Donald Trump is lecturing the Democrats about good faith and fair play. Paging Rod Serling.” -- Dan Rather

Deaths

US: 866,882 (+2986)

World: 5,530,352 (+9318)

Cases

US: 64,344,694 (+953,818)

World: 317,555,259 (+3,462,325)

Jan. 6 committee asks GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy to cooperate with probe. Chairman Bennie Thompson said in the letter that he believes McCarthy has relevant information that could speak into the facts, circumstances, and causes leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. It is not compelling him to provide information or sit before the committee.

Hours after the committee’s request, McCarthy issued a statement saying he would refuse to cooperate. He said the investigation was not legitimate and was an “abuse of power.”

"The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on congress by mob rioters." -- Rep. Keven McCarthy on January 13, 2021.

Pressed on his election lies, former President Trump cuts NPR interview short. The interview was six years in the making. Trump and his team have repeatedly declined interviews with NPR until Tuesday, when he called in from his home in Florida. It was scheduled for 15 minutes, but lasted just over nine. After being pressed about his repeated lies about the 2020 presidential election, Trump abruptly ended the interview.

When are you contagious if you're infected with omicron? It's not yet clear, but some early data suggests it might be sooner than with earlier variants — possibly within a day after infection.

Kids’ low COVID-19 vaccination rates called a ‘gut punch’. Distrust, misinformation and delays because of the holidays and bad weather have combined to produce what authorities say are alarmingly low COVID-19 vaccination rates in U.S. children ages 5 to 11.

Upgrading your mask? Here’s how to make sure you’re spending your money on an authentic respirator. Right now, the demand for N95 respirators is high, and there are counterfeits out there. When you're looking to buy one, a NIOSH mark is what you need to look for. It stands for National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Bonner Springs School District (Kansas) closes as nearly 25% of students out due to illness. On Wednesday, nearly 25% of students in the Bonner Springs Edwardsville Unified School District were absent due to illness, prompting the district to close on Thursday and Friday, according to district officials. Kaela Williams, a spokeswoman for the district, said it's not clear what percentages of students are sick with COVID-19, flu and other illnesses.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson fighting to save leadership over Covid party scandal. Johnson apologized in the House of Commons on Wednesday for attending a “bring your own booze” party in the garden of his Downing Street residence and office in May 2020. — Johnson is being held accountable (and rightly so) for attending a party during a strict lockdown in the country. Trump, and many other GOP operatives, have not been held accountable for anything regarding their roles in the January 6 insurrection.

A federal judge denies Prince Andrew's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, who alleges she was sexually trafficked to the UK royal when she was underage. Giuffre alleged in the lawsuit that the late financier Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends, including the prince, and that Andrew was aware she was underage (17) in the US at the time.

The Supreme Court takes up a case, brought by Ted Cruz, that could legalize bribery. And that brings us back to the Ted Cruz for Senate lawsuit. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) wants the Supreme Court to strike down the limit on loan repayments to federal candidates. That decision could potentially enable any lawmaker to make a high-dollar, high-interest loan to their campaign, and then use that loan as a vehicle to funnel donations directly into their pocket...And even if lawmakers do not enrich themselves by making high-interest loans to their campaign, the fact remains that every dollar a campaign donor gives to help a campaign pay back a loan from the candidate goes straight into that candidate’s pocket. As the Justice Department argues in its brief defending against Cruz’s lawsuit, “a contribution that adds to a candidate’s personal assets (and that can accordingly be used for personal purposes) poses a far greater threat of corruption than a payment that merely adds to a campaign’s treasury (and that can accordingly be used only for campaign purposes).”...While a decision in Cruz’s favor could effectively make it legal for wealthy donors to bribe lawmakers, Cruz has a very good chance of prevailing in a Supreme Court where Republicans control six of the Court’s nine seats.

Guaranteed income experiment for Black women aims to tackle racial wealth gap. Payments of $850 per month will roll out over the next two years in one of the biggest guaranteed income experiments in the country. Some participants in the $13 million initiative may receive lump sum payments totaling the same amount they would have received over two years. For now, the process of inviting and selecting participants is ongoing.

KFC Australia is running low on chicken and McDonald's Japan is restricting sales of french fries. Both companies attribute the setbacks to snarled supply chains, which are hitting other restaurants around the world.

Archeologists have uncovered ancient 4,500 year-old highway-like avenues in Saudi Arabia that date back to the 3rd millennium BCE where thousands of burial monuments surround the pathways.

Astronomers witness the explosive death of a giant star for first time. Supernovas are usually detected only after they explode, but this time the star was spotted 130 days before its end.

"I will never retire from rock & roll. Rock & roll will have to retire me." -- Ronnie Spector

RIP Ronnie Spector. She was 78.

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

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