Friday, February 4, 2022

And another day of speeches, censures, job markets, death tolls, new blood tests that can predict Covid severity, the 13th amendment, record profit with little taxes, butterfly sanctuaries, and tracking toilet paper electronically comes to a close:

“Welcome to the Monkey House.” -- Kurt Vonnegut

Deaths

US: 924,530

World: 5,743,965

Cases

US: 77,496,860

World: 391,399,550

Pence: Trump is ‘wrong’ to say election could be overturned. In a speech to a gathering of the conservative Federalist Society in Florida, Pence addressed Trump’s intensifying efforts this week to advance the false narrative that, as vice president, he had the unilateral power to prevent President Joe Biden from taking office. “President Trump is wrong,” Pence said. “I had no right to overturn the election.”

GOP censures Cheney, Kinzinger as it assails Jan. 6 probe. The Republican National Committee censured two GOP lawmakers on Friday for participating on the committee investigating the violent Jan. 6 insurrection and assailed the panel for leading a “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

The job market surged in January, despite omicron cases spiking. U.S. employers added 467,000 jobs. Hiring might have been even stronger last month, were it not for the fresh wave of infections tied to the omicron variant, which dented employers' demand for labor and kept many would-be workers on the sidelines.

US death toll from COVID-19 hits 900,000, sped by omicron. Propelled in part by the wildly contagious omicron variant, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 900,000 on Friday, less than two months after eclipsing 800,000.

New blood test can predict how severe your COVID-19 infection will be. George Washington University researchers have reportedly developed a blood test that can quickly detect if someone has the coronavirus while also predicting how severely that person’s immune system will react to the infection. The innovation could help doctors determine the best course of treatment for people with COVID-19.

Austria became the first country in Europe to introduce a national Covid-19 vaccine mandate for adults on Friday after President Alexander Van der Bellen signed it into law.

Is Slavery Still Legal in the U.S.? Yes, Under the 13th Amendment Exception. Like most Americans, you probably missed the day in U.S. history class when the teacher explained that we abolished slavery — except as punishment for a crime. Or more likely, that lesson never happened. A recent poll commissioned by Worth Rises revealed that 68% of Americans don’t know that there’s an exception in the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — the amendment celebrated for abolishing slavery.

The Black woman sentenced to six years in prison over a voting error. Pamela Moses was sentenced to six years in prison for trying to register despite a felony conviction but officials admitted making a series of mistakes.

South Dakota governor signs 2022’s first trans athlete ban into law. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill Thursday that bans transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams, making the state the first this year — and the 10th nationwide — to enact such a bill into law.

Experts say that by 2050, only 10 of the 19 past Winter Olympic venues will have climates viable for hosting the games based on current emission trends.

Netflix Posts a Record $5.3 Billion in Profits and a Federal Tax Rate of Just 1.1 percent. Its pre-tax U.S. income of $5.3 billion is almost twice the record-breaking $2.7 billion in profits it enjoyed in 2020. The company’s current federal income tax bill is $58 million, which is just 1.1 percent of its $5.3 billion in pre-tax profits for the year and a pittance compared to the $1.1 billion it would have paid at the statutory federal rate of 21 percent. In other words, the company avoided more than $1 billion in taxes in 2021.

Amazon is raising the price of its annual Prime subscriptions from $119 to $139 per year and the price of a monthly subscription from $12.99 to $14.99. The Prime price hike wasn't the only major news in the report. The company's profits also doubled during the December-end quarter, to $14.3 billion, blowing past Wall Street analyst expectations.

‘Use These Dollars to Change Lives’. Community colleges, tribal colleges and minority-serving institutions that benefited from multimillion-dollar gifts from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott share how they plan to put the money to use.

Cancer patients cured a decade after gene therapy, doctors say. Based on the 10-year results, “we can now conclude that CAR-T cells can actually cure patients of leukemia.”

Texas butterfly sanctuary shutting after immigration-linked threats from Trump backers. A butterfly sanctuary caught in the crossfire of polarizing conspiracy theories on illegal immigration to the United States says it's shutting its doors Thursday due to security concerns after threats from supporters of former president Donald Trump...The private sanctuary's gardens are home to more than 200 species of butterfly as well as bobcats, coyotes, peccaries, armadillos and Texas tortoises. But it will now be closed until further notice because "the safety of our staff and visitors is our primary concern," Jeffrey Glassberg, president of the North American Butterfly Association, which runs the organization, said in a statement Wednesday. Conspiracy theories linked by U.S. media to the far-right group QAnon have claimed the sanctuary was helping to bring illegal migrants to the U.S. — There are no “good” Trump supporters.

TP Tracking Toilet Paper Holder Shames Excessive Wipers. The purpose of the device isn’t to encourage frugal wiping; by all means, the number one priority after a pit stop is to use as much TP as needed to get the job done properly. But if someone in your home is regularly reaching for a toilet plunger, there’s a good chance that over-usage is an issue, and no one’s going to volunteer to serve as your family’s toilet paper traffic cop.

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

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