Thursday, April 28, 2022

And another day of the GOP embracing American Orbánism, the cultural authoritarian era, OK not wanting to be left behind on abortion, GA not wanting history taught, TX teachers asked to sign ‘non-disparagement’ agreements, Lake Mead plummets, and student loan forgiveness comes to a close:

“The left went from wanting voting rights, a living wage, healthcare, & climate justice in 2008 to wanting those exact things in 2022. The right went from being centrist on those things in 2008 to the Big Lie, banning CRT, and openly promoting white nationalism & Nazism in 2022.” — Qasim Rashid, Esq.

“A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons.” -- Desmond Tutu

Deaths

US: 1,020,159 (+385)

World: 6,256,249 (+2822)

Cases

US: 82,954,768 (+66,521)

World: 512,181,416 (+642,402)

Ron DeSantis is Viktor Orbán’s true American disciple. The Florida governor isn’t doing “competent Trumpism.” He’s inventing American Orbánism…‘Oh yeah, we were watching the Hungarians, so yay Hungary.’…This is not a one-off example. DeSantis, who has built a profile as a pugilistic culture warrior with eyes on the presidency, has steadily put together a policy agenda with strong echoes of Orbán’s governing ethos — one in which an allegedly existential cultural threat from the left justifies aggressive uses of state power against the right’s enemies. Most recently, there was DeSantis’s crackdown on Disney’s special tax exemption; using regulatory powers to punish opposing political speech is one of Orbán’s signature moves. On issues ranging from higher education to social media to gerrymandering, DeSantis has followed a trail blazed by Orbán, turning policy into a tool for targeting outgroups while entrenching his party’s hold on power…DeSantis’s agenda in Florida is evidence that the Republican shift in this direction is continuing, maybe even accelerating. He has shown little interest in moderation or consensus-building instead centering his governing philosophy on using policy to own the libs. While Trump may have been an ideological catalyst for the GOP’s authoritarian lurch, DeSantis is showing how it could actually be implemented in practice. The consequences for democracy in Florida, and America in general, could be dire…For both men, the focus on academia is unsurprising: Universities are places where cultural liberal views flourish, and a forceful conservative agenda should take the fight to them. Conservatives believe state power can and should be wielded to prevent professors from “indoctrinating” students into a left-wing worldview (which doesn’t actually happen)…In such an existential struggle, the old norms of tolerance and limited government need to be adjusted, tailored to a world where the left controls the commanding heights of culture. Since the left can’t be beaten in that realm, government must be seized and wielded in service of a right-wing cultural agenda…That starker view of politics, and the foregrounding of the culture wars it entails, threatens to further undermine the status and security of marginalized groups. It also serves as a vehicle for maintaining and expanding Orbán’s and DeSantis’s own power and influence — at democracy’s expense…Today, the Hungarian political system is best described as a form of “competitive authoritarianism”: a system where leaders do not ban elections or nakedly stuff ballot boxes, but instead hold contests under profoundly unfair background conditions — pervasive state control of the media, for example. By combining repressive tools with a culture-war message that genuinely resonates in Hungary’s conservative countryside, the government can maintain a near-absolute hammerlock on power without needing to resort to the most obvious forms of electoral cheating. This model has been proven effective. Orbán has been in power since 2010 and has won three separate reelection bids — in 2014, 2018, and April 2022 — on an increasingly uneven playing field...In this political context, any diffusion of Hungarian-style culture-war authoritarianism to the state governments is extremely disturbing — potentially accelerating a decade-plus process of democratic decline in Republican-governed states. If DeSantis is in fact creating a blueprint for American Orbánism that Republicans across the country choose to follow, the implications for American democracy could well be disastrous. -- The GOP has fully embraced fascism, and many people are blindly following—just like what happened in Germany.

Welcome to the cultural authoritarianism era. Across the country, local and state politics are beset by transgressions of liberal values. To be clear, I don’t mean progressive values. I mean what might be called capital-L Liberalism, those beliefs in the freedom of the individual and the commitment to tolerance, rights and conscience that are commensurate with a free society. Taken together, the trend in these red states represents a high-water mark of illiberalism in 21st century America. To call this phenomenon merely a new manifestation of the long-ranging culture wars, as so many are, is a mistake. It is no less than cultural authoritarianism, a strategy that has been modeled by the self-proclaimed “illiberal democracy” of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and adopted by populist political leaders in Central Europe, South America and Asia, as well. A number of America’s right-wing figures have become open cheerleaders of Orbán’s government and even frequent travelers to Budapest. The term “illiberal democracy” is apt because, as is true in Hungary, the majority of voters in many of these red states have put such illiberals in power. Orbán has proven his case that a hostile approach to ideas and speech he deems unfriendly, as well as to positions on hot-button social issues that don’t conform with conservative Christian values, can be democratically successful — and that, when the nation gives you such a mandate, the rights and dignities of those on the losing end can easily falter...Democracy is a process. And while it’s one that produces winners and losers, liberal democracy is one in which the losers aren’t abused and in which they can be assured that their right to remain and participate in society won’t be abrogated. Today, in state capitals across the country, a spate of illiberalism threatens that security.

Trump allies breach U.S. voting systems in search of 2020 fraud ‘evidence’. Chasing proof of vote-rigging conspiracy theories, Republican officials and activists in eight U.S. locales have plotted to gain illegal access to balloting systems, undermining the security of elections they claim to protect.

Oklahoma House sends Texas-style abortion ban to governor. The Oklahoma House gave final approval on Thursday to a Texas-style abortion ban that prohibits the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. The bill approved by the GOP-led House on a 68-12 vote without discussion or debate now heads to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is expected to sign it within days. The assault on abortion rights is one of several culture-war issues conservatives in GOP-led states have embraced, like restricting LGBTQ rights, that drive the party’s base in an election year. -- Freedoms are being stripped from all Americans...right before our eyes. Your body. Their choice. A vote for a Republican is a vote to give up freedom. The totalitarian GOP is on a path to crush us all.

Georgia becomes latest U.S. state to ban 'divisive' concepts in teaching about race. The measures are part of movement among conservatives targeting the teaching of critical race theory, an academic theory that looks at structural racism in U.S. institutions that is not generally taught at the elementary or high school level. -- Teaching history is not ‘indoctrination.’ Religion is, though. And hate toward those different than you. Republicans indoctrinate their youth. And they’re aiming to indoctrinate all youth across the country.

More than half of states have banned books as anti-LGBTQ and anti-race education laws spread. School districts in 26 states have banned or opened investigations into more than 1,100 books, according to an April report from PEN America, a literary and free expression advocacy organization that compiled data on such bans from July 2021 to March.

Teachers in Southlake, Texas, asked to sign ‘non-disparagement’ agreements. Officials added a clause to teacher contracts banning them from criticizing the school district. Legal experts say it's a violation of the First Amendment. Seven months after teachers at the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Texas, went public with their concerns about an administrator’s advice to balance books on the Holocaust with titles that show “opposing” perspectives, district employees this week discovered that a new clause had been added to their annual employment contracts, listed under the heading: “Non-Disparagement.” “You agree to not disparage, criticize, or defame the District, and its employees or officials, to the media,” it read...“Only a district that is knowingly doing something wrong would choose to silence its entire staff,” one of them wrote in a text message to a reporter on Thursday. -- Texas. Off the rails.

Kansas lawmakers uphold governor’s veto of trans sports ban. One of them, a transgender athlete ban, would have barred transgender women and girls from competing on school sports teams consistent with their gender identity. The other would have established a Parental Bill of Rights allowing parents to challenge classroom materials inconsistent with their personal beliefs. The state House of Representatives on Thursday voted to sustain Kelly’s veto of Senate Bill 160 – officially titled the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” – that would have required public schools from the elementary to the university level to designate sports teams by “biological sex,” or a student’s sex assigned at birth. “Compassion wins today.” -- Finally, some good news for a change.

Lake Mead plummets to unprecedented low, exposing original 1971 water intake valve. The West is in the grips of a climate change-fueled megadrought, and Lake Mead – the largest manmade reservoir in the country and a source of water for millions of people – has fallen to an unprecedented low.

Biden taking ‘hard look’ at student loan forgiveness. President Joe Biden said Thursday that he’s “taking a hard look” at canceling additional federal student loan debt and will reach a decision within a month.

Wisconsin investigating 4 cases of unusual hepatitis in children, including one death. Wisconsin is the fourth state to announce that it is investigating cases of liver inflammation, or hepatitis, that doesn't seem to be caused by any of the usual suspects like hepatitis A, B, C or D. Alabama has reported nine cases in its cluster, including two children who needed liver transplants. Illinois has reported three cases, including one that required a liver transplant, and North Carolina says it has two cases that meet that definition.

FDA issues plan to ban menthol in cigarettes, cigars. The U.S. government on Thursday released its long-awaited plan to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, citing the toll on Black smokers and young people. “The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, in a statement.

Suicides put spotlight on how hard it can be for student-athletes to ask for help. Since the beginning of March, three high-profile college student-athletes have died by suicide across the United States. On their fields of play, the three young women projected indestructibility: Katie Meyer as a star goalkeeper on Stanford’s soccer team; Sarah Shulze as a top runner for the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Lauren Bernett as a standout softball player for James Madison University...Feeling like there is too much on their plates, experts say, is not uncommon for student-athletes, who put an enormous amount of pressure on themselves to perform at the highest level, both in their sports and in their academics. It’s a trait that may have motivated them in their sport, they added, but it can lead to unrealistic expectations.

‘Grace and Frankie’ Star June Diane Raphael Wrote Her Character a Spinoff Because “There’s Still a Stigma Around Women Who Don’t Have Children”.

Eli Lilly reports weight losses topping 20 percent with new anti-obesity drug. Eli Lilly said people in the test group who used the drug lost up to roughly 50 pounds, or 22.5 percent of their weight in its first phase 3 global registration trial. The drug is intended for people with obesity or who are overweight with at least one comorbidity, but who do not have diabetes, according to the statement.

The fossils of giant, extinct marine reptiles have been found in an unlikely place: within the high altitudes of the Swiss Alps. The fossils belong to three ichthyosaurs, and they may have been some of the largest animals that ever lived on Earth, according to a new study. The ancient creatures could reach 80 tons and 65 feet (20 meters) in length, rivaling modern sperm whales.

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

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

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

And another day of Russia antagonizing/threatening NATO, the pandemic is not over, measles cases, the first human infected with H3N8, a prisoner exchange, the out of reach living wage, 4 times more male characters than female in lit, student loan forgiveness, and 20% of reptiles at risk of extinction comes to a close:

“When billionaires like Elon Musk justify their motives by using ‘freedom,’ beware. What they actually seek is freedom from accountability.” — Robert Reich

Deaths

US: 1,019,774 (+766)

World: 6,253,427 (+4415)

Cases

US: 82,888,247 (+98,531)

World: 511,536,014 (+698,348)

Russia cuts off gas to 2 NATO nations in bid to divide West. Russia cut off natural gas to NATO members Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday and threatened to do the same to other countries, using its most essential export in what was seen as a bid to punish and divide the West over its support for Ukraine. The move, condemned by European leaders as “blackmail,” marked a dramatic escalation in the economic war of sanctions and countersanctions that has unfolded in parallel to the fighting on the battlefield.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warns NATO intervention in Ukraine will be met with a ‘lightning-quick' military response.

Fauci: US in ‘a different moment’ but pandemic not over. After a brutal winter surge, “we’ve now decelerated and transitioned into more of a controlled phase,” he said. “By no means does that mean the pandemic is over.” His comments came a day after he said on the PBS “NewsHour” that the U.S. was “out of the pandemic phase” and also told The Washington Post that the country was finally “out of the full-blown explosive pandemic phase.”

Republican Oklahoma candidate says "we should try Anthony Fauci and put him in front of a firing squad". “We’re in a war with bureaucrats who have forced vaccine mandates on us, mask mandates on us, and you know what — they are pushing this wokeness confusion down our throats,” Bennett says in the clip. “And by the way, we should try Anthony Fauci and put him in front of a firing squad. -- Never forget the GOP has fully embraced fascism.

Measles cases jump 79% in 2022 after COVID hit vaccination campaigns. Measles cases jumped by 79% in the first two months of this year compared to 2021, after COVID-19 and lockdowns disrupted child vaccination campaigns around the world, according to data from UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO)...Measles is a very contagious disease that can be particularly dangerous for young children and babies. It spreads more quickly than Ebola, flu or COVID-19.

China reports first human infected with H3N8 bird flu strain. Chinese officials have reported the first human infected with the H3N8 bird flu strain, which has been detected in horses, dogs and even seals...Though experts said the risk of large-scale transmission is low, infections in humans can lead to viral adaptive mutations that increase the risk of rapid spreading.

Russia releases US Marine vet in surprise prisoner exchange. The deal involving Trevor Reed, an American imprisoned for nearly three years, would have been a notable diplomatic maneuver even in times of peace but it was all the more surprising because it was done as Russia’s war with Ukraine has driven relations with the U.S. to their lowest point in decades. On the other end of the swap was Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who’d been serving a 20-year federal sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.

New York court rejects congressional maps drawn by Democrats. New York’s highest court on Wednesday rejected new congressional maps that had widely been seen as favoring Democrats, largely agreeing with Republican voters who argued the district boundaries were unconstitutionally gerrymandered.

Elon Musk actually has a questionable record on free speech. That’s a problem for Twitter. Behind the fan base and the funny persona is a billionaire who isn’t afraid to weaponize his wealth against people who provoke his ire. There are numerous red flags in Musk’s checkered history that show him to be rather eager to suppress speech that goes against his interests…The world’s richest man has also shown himself to be against free speech when that speech is encouraging employees to organize…But even beyond these red flags of mistreating workers, anti-labor organizing sentiments, breaking the law and running afoul of the SEC, there’s an even greater concern: democracy. Musk has exhibited conflicting political views, claiming to be a libertarian while taking billions in subsidies and backing politicians from both parties. What remains consistent is his pursuit of profit, and the world’s richest man owning an international public forum does not bode well for the health of democratic society. He has already used Twitter to allegedly illegally attack unions and drive up stock prices, but there is now the very real possibility that he could use it to influence anything from elections to social movements on a much larger scale. It’s difficult to know what’s next for the social media company, or what’s next for Musk as he takes over Twitter and sorts out lawsuits with the SEC, and Black employees claiming discrimination. What does seem certain is that legions of fans will cheer his every move. Musk has cultivated a base who see him as the patron saint of crypto-currency, an icon, a genius businessman, and more. This hero worship on the platform where Musk can influence discourse on countless topics, paired with his numerous free speech infringements, makes for a concerning combination. — Another disgusting cult figure with too much power.

For many American families a living wage is out of reach: Report. Across counties, a family with two children spends, on average, a quarter of its household income on child care, the report said. For those making the hourly $7.25 federal minimum wage, child care costs would take up nearly 90% of their annual income. By that math, the average child care provider likely cannot afford their own services, which would consume more than half their average $25,460 annual income if they had two children. "That's pretty striking," Johnson said -- especially when contrasted with the government's suggestion that families not spend more than 7% of their income on child care.

Oklahoma bans nonbinary gender identities on birth certificates. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill Tuesday explicitly prohibiting the use of nonbinary gender markers on state birth certificates, a ban experts say is the first of its kind in the nation...Doctors and scientists say sex and gender are not the same thing. While sex typically refers to anatomy, gender identity is more an inner sense of being male, female or somewhere in between, regardless of physical anatomy, according to Dr. Jason Rafferty, a pediatrician and child psychiatrist at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Rhode Island and a lead author of the American Academy of Pediatrics' transgender policy. -- In case you missed it earlier: Never forget the GOP has fully embraced fascism.

ICE Program Foments Abuse, Hatred, and Fear — and Makes Us All Less Safe. Under Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) 287(g) program, such travesties are all too common. The 287(g) program — named after a section of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act — sounds wonky, but is relatively simple and terribly life-altering in practice: It allows local law enforcement agencies, primarily sheriffs, to carry out certain duties normally reserved for federal ICE agents, such as investigating a person’s immigration status and holding people for transfer to ICE detention. The result is that even the most minor of interactions with local law enforcement can lead to detention, deportation, and separation from their families.

Four times more male characters in literature than female, research suggests. As well as the statistics on male and female characters, the researchers also looked at the language associated with gender-specific characters. Nagaraj said: “Even with misattributions, the words associated with women were adjectives like ‘weak’, ‘amiable’, ‘pretty’ and sometimes ‘stupid’. For male characters, the words describing them included ‘leadership’, ‘power’, ‘strength’ and ‘politics’.”

The future of the middle class depends on student loan forgiveness. This path to the middle class was in place just long enough for it to seem secure: get into college, get a job, buy a house, watch your wealth grow, and then pass it along to your kids. But this was only really a safe bet if you were a white man, and when women and people of color began down the path in greater numbers, the government and taxpayers essentially stopped paying for its maintenance...Students were still encouraged to take out loans, but massive cuts to public higher education — and skyrocketing tuition costs at public and private institutions competing to provide the “college experience” — meant that students have to take out more and more of them. We’ve lost sight of public institutions, Seamster says, and the very idea that we all deserve them. For decades, these institutions were venerated and well-funded, but as soon as women and people of color gained more access — even took over as the majority of those accessing those institutions — we began to devalue them, or defund them altogether, shifting the cost burden onto the individual...When you insist on not seeing the student loan system in its current iteration as a driver of race-based economic inequality, you are perpetuating it. -- Literally everything goes back to racism.

A Third of U.S. College Students Consider Withdrawing. Among those who considered stopping out of coursework, the most common reason was emotional stress. Seventy-six percent of those pursuing a bachelor's degree who have considered stopping out report they did so because of emotional stress they were experiencing. A similar percentage, 63%, of associate degree students say the same. These represent significant changes from 2020 when 42% of bachelor's degree students and 24% of associate degree students considering stopping out reported they did so due to emotional stress. COVID-19, cost of attendance and coursework difficulty were the three next-most-often reported reasons students considered stopping out; however, COVID-19-related reasons declined significantly from 2020 for bachelor's degree students. Mentions of coursework difficulty increased significantly from 2020 to 2021 -- 17 percentage points for those pursuing a bachelor's degree and 10 points for those pursuing an associate degree.

One-fifth of reptiles worldwide face risk of extinction. Of 10,196 reptile species analyzed, 21% percent were classified as endangered, critically endangered or vulnerable to extinction — including the iconic hooded snakes of South and Southeast Asia.

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

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

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

And another day of more text messages, the risk of nuclear war, the new omicron mutant, more than half of Americans have been infected, Musk’s Twitter may repeat history, a lack of housing for college students, and more disasters coming comes to a close:

“This isn't about Elon Musk. It's about the fact a handful of billionaires now wield unprecedented control over our economic and political system. Conservatives used to decry concentrated economic power as a threat to ‘free markets.’ Now, they increasingly embrace strongmen.” -- Robert Reich

Deaths

US: 1,019,008 (+427)

World: 6,249,0112 (+3637)

Cases

US: 82,789,716 (+55,853)

World: 510,837,666 (+778,523)

Text messages from Greene put new focus on martial law testimony. In a Jan. 2021 text message, Greene told Trump's chief of staff that some lawmakers wanted the president to declare martial law. During court testimony, she said she didn't recall that. — Mmm hmmm. 

Moscow cites risk of nuclear war as U.S., allies pledge heavier arms for Ukraine. Russia accused NATO of creating a serious risk of nuclear war by arming Ukraine in a proxy battle as Washington and its allies met on Tuesday to pledge the heavy weapons Kyiv needs to achieve victory. U.S. officials have shifted emphasis this week from speaking mainly about helping Ukraine defend itself to bolder talk of a Ukrainian victory delivering a blow to Russia's ability to threaten its neighbours.

What do we know about the new omicron mutant? It’s a descendant of the earlier super-contagious “stealth omicron” and has quickly gained ground in the United States. BA.2.12.1 was responsible for 29% of new COVID-19 infections nationally last week, according to data reported Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And it caused 58% of reported infections in the New York region.

Harris positive for COVID-19, Biden not a ‘close contact’. Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the White House announced, underscoring the persistence of the highly contagious virus even as the U.S. eases restrictions in a bid to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.

Nearly 60 percent of Americans now have antibodies from Covid-19 infection.  Nearly 60 percent of the U.S. population has antibodies due to Covid-19 infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a steep rise that marks the first time during the pandemic when more than half of Americans have shown evidence of the virus infection. For children, the numbers were even higher, according to the new CDC data. About three in four children and adolescents had Covid-19 antibodies in the December 2021 to February 2022 study period, in keeping with the age groups’ lower vaccination rates compared to adults.

Musk’s ‘free speech’ push for Twitter: Repeating history? Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is spending $44 billion to acquire Twitter with the stated aim of turning it into a haven for “free speech.” There’s just one problem: The social platform has been down this road before, and it didn’t end well...Over the subsequent years, Twitter learned a few things about the consequences of running a largely unmoderated social platform — one of the most important being that companies generally don’t want their ads running against violent threats, hate speech that bleeds into incitement, and misinformation that aims to tip elections or undermine public health.

In a lawsuit, a group of Texas library patrons says a book ban amounts to censorship. A group of Texas residents who are "card-carrying members" of their local library system are suing officials in the county where they live, claiming officials engaged in censorship in violation of the First Amendment when they banned a slew of books the officials deemed inappropriate.

Housing shortage, soaring rents squeeze US college students. College students across the U.S. are looking for housing for the 2022-23 school year and if 2021 was any indication, it won’t be easy. Students at colleges from California to Florida were denied on-campus housing last fall and found themselves sitting out the year at home or living in motel rooms or vehicles as surging rents and decades of failing to build sufficient student housing came to a head.

Weary of many disasters? UN says worse to come. If current trends continue the world will go from around 400 disasters per year in 2015 to an onslaught of about 560 catastrophes a year by 2030, the scientific report by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said. By comparison from 1970 to 2000, the world suffered just 90 to 100 medium to large scale disasters a year, the report said.

With species under threat, orphaned rhinos in South Africa have baby for 1st time. Over the past decade, rhino numbers have decreased dramatically. Now, it’s a race against time to save the species, which experts believe could become extinct within as little as five years.

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

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

Monday, April 25, 2022

And another day of 2319 text messages, election police in FL, a delayed execution in TX, praying on the 50 yard line, Trump in contempt, disappearing Olympic glaciers, the world’s oldest person dies, and more Twitter and Musk drama comes to a close:

“It’s about how the richest man in the world, a son of Apartheid, raised by a white nationalist, wants to be sure his speech, and that of other white men, isn’t censored.” — Shaun King

“Musk buying Twitter is merely a symptom of a disease. The disease is control of public discourse by billionaire kleptocrats, extremists, and backers of mafia states. It’s the potential loss of documentation and the ability to track our own history, much less build our own future.” -- Sarah Kendzior

Deaths

US: 1,018,582 (+247)

World: 6,245,375 (+2176)

Cases

US: 82,733,863 (+71,115)

World: 510,059,143 (+516,406)

Mark Meadows’ 2,319 text messages reveal Trump’s inner circle communications before and after January 6. The vast trove of texts offers the most revealing picture to date of how Trump’s inner circle, supporters and Republican lawmakers worked behind the scenes to try to overturn the election results and then reacted to the violence that effort unleashed at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. -- Read this shit. They are horrible people. If you support them, then you, too, are a horrible person.

Ron DeSantis signs bill to create Florida voter-fraud police force. Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday to create a police force dedicated to pursuing voter fraud and other election crimes, embracing a top priority of Republicans after Donald Trump’s false claims that his reelection was stolen. -- We’re about to see elections really stolen.

Texas Prepares to Execute a Mother, Despite Evidence She Did Not Kill Her Child. Even several of Lucio’s jurors are calling for mercy, saying they would not have sent her to death row had they been given more information about her case. In recent years, growing evidence has suggested not only that Lucio is innocent, but that the crime for which she was blamed never happened at all.

Melissa Lucio’s execution delayed by Texas appeals court. A Texas appeals court on Monday delayed the execution of Melissa Lucio amid growing doubts about whether she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter in a case that has garnered the support of lawmakers, celebrities and even some jurors who sentenced her to death.

Editorial: Remember, in the US, police can legally lie to and browbeat suspects in order to get them to say what they want to hear. It’s a corrupt system.

Judge finds Donald Trump in contempt in New York legal fight. A New York judge found former President Donald Trump in contempt of court and set in motion $10,000 daily fines Monday for failing to adequately respond to a subpoena issued by the state’s attorney general as part of a civil investigation into his business dealings.

The Supreme Court ponders the right to pray on the 50-yard line. Joseph Kennedy, a coach for the Bremerton, Wash., High School Varsity and JV football teams began praying with his players before and after games in 2008. At the end of a game, he would take a knee and say a prayer with his players at midfield…Those in Bremerton who have spoken out against coach Kennedy's public praying are in the minority, but they contend that is the point. "Where is free expression of the non-Christian student, the Jewish student, the Muslim student, the Sikh student, the student of no religion at all?" asks Student Rabbi Emily Katcher of the Beth Hatikvah congregation in Bremerton. "Of course they have the freedom, but they are in a position of weakness."

The religious right had a great day in the Supreme Court. Most likely, the Court will leave in place some of the current rules against schools actively pressuring their students into religious behavior, while also taking a huge bite out of the Constitution’s establishment clause, which has historically prohibited the government from promoting or discouraging a certain religious view. A majority of the justices seemed eager to shrink this constitutional provision significantly, though it is unclear just how much they will reduce it. At the very least, it appears likely that public school teachers, coaches, and other school officials will gain some ability to subtly pressure students into religious activity that students, or their parents, may find objectionable.

Fox’s Kennedy suggests getting rid of public schools amid school prayer fight. A host on Fox News on Monday during a discussion on a school prayer case before the Supreme Court suggested local governments across the country should consider doing away with public schools, saying “maybe we should not have the government involved in education at all.” -- That is a Republican goal: the elimination of public education. Or, at a minimum, leaving low-funded public schools for the poor while the well-to-do and wealthy send their kids to private schools.

Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44B and will privatize company. Elon Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion on Monday, promising a more lenient touch to policing content on the social media platform where he — the world’s richest person — promotes his interests, attacks critics and opines on a wide range of issues to more than 83 million followers. The outspoken Tesla CEO has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.

“Elon Musk's real goal has nothing to do with the freedom of others. His goal is the freedom to wield enormous power without having to be accountable to laws and regulations, shareholders, or market competition—which is why he's dead set on owning Twitter.” — Robert Reich

Olympic Peninsula glaciers expected to disappear in 50 years. The Olympic Peninsula has lost 45% of its glacier coverage since 1980, according to a new study by Fountain and coauthors from Washington state and British Columbia. The peninsula’s remaining 250 glaciers, which covered about two square miles at last estimate, should be gone in another 50 years as humanity’s pollution continues to overheat the planet, the study found. Fountain said glaciers worldwide are getting a kind of double whammy: Less snow in the winter and more melt in the summer. Beyond the fascination they provide for a small community of researchers, glaciers serve as frozen reservoirs.

Scientist finds more than 100 people who attended a New Jersey high school now have brain cancer. At least 115 people over the last three decades have developed a rare form of brain cancer after attending or working at a New Jersey high school, according to an environmental scientist who has spearheaded the effort in finding the cause behind this medical mystery.

World’s oldest person, Kane Tanaka, dies at age 119. Tanaka was confirmed as the oldest living person on March 9, 2019. She was born on Jan. 2, 1903.

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

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

Sunday, April 24, 2022

And another day of new evidence, an election in France, Russia descend into barbarism, an ‘urgent and grim’ outbreak, notable books under attack, Twitter banning some ads, Abbott inspections, and SAFE banking comes to a close:

“‘Say stuff we don’t like and you should expect the government to retaliate’ is really an amazing new conservative position.” — Sarah Longwell

"Democrats have better ideas, better candidates, and a better vision for tomorrow. What they don't have is better messaging and I'm going to try and change that." — Don Winslow

Deaths

US: 1,018,335

World: 6,243,199

Cases

US: 82,662,748

World: 509,542,737

GOP lawmakers were deeply involved in Trump plans to overturn election, new evidence suggests. Republican members of Congress were heavily involved in calls and meetings with former President Donald Trump and his top aides as they devised a strategy to overturn the election in December 2020, according to new evidence filed in federal court late Friday. Deposition excerpts filed by the Jan 6. select committee — part of an effort to force former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to appear for an interview — suggest that some of Trump’s top allies in Congress were frequently present in meetings where a handful of strategies to prevent then-President-elect Joe Biden from taking office were discussed, including efforts to replace the leadership of the Justice Department with figures who would sow doubts about the legitimacy of the election. — Voting more Republicans into Congress will only endanger our Republic. Vote Blue and keep Republicans from turning our Republic into a totalitarian state.  

“Today’s Republican Party, which is by no means conservative, wants the state to regulate many aspects of our private lives: our political beliefs, what we read, who we marry, when we have families. They’re not anti-government, they’re anti-governments that aren’t run by them.” — Jon Favreau

Emmanuel Macron wins France's presidential election. Emmanuel Macron has won France's presidential election, fending off a historic challenge from far-right candidate Marine Le Pen during Sunday's runoff vote. Macron took 58.55% of Sunday's vote, making him the first French leader to be reelected in 20 years.

Russia descends even deeper into medieval barbarism, as a pundit argues on state TV that the exits at Azovstal should be sealed off with concrete. Host prefers the idea of capturing Ukrainians and showing them at public markets, allowing anyone to do "whatever they want" to them.

Utah Democrats throw support behind independent Evan McMullin to take on Mike Lee. The Utah Democratic Party on Saturday threw its support behind the independent candidacy of former presidential contender Evan McMullin to take on GOP Sen. Mike Lee. The decision to get behind McMullin could help bolster his Senate bid at a time when Lee is on the defensive over newly revealed text messages showing he communicated for weeks with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about the effort to overturn the 2020 election. -- Mike Lee is a traitor.

Beijing races to contain 'urgent and grim' Covid outbreak as Shanghai lockdown continues. Beijing is racing to track a Covid-19 outbreak that may have been spreading in the capital for a week, city authorities said on Saturday, raising the prospect more stringent restrictions could soon be implemented in line with other Chinese cities.

10 notable books that are coming under attack. Efforts to remove books from libraries or limit their availability to teenagers and younger children have stepped up amid culture wars on race, gender and sexuality…The American Library Association (ALA) reported a record number of “challenged” books in 2021, a designation it gives to books that have been subject to attempted removals or being restricted based upon the objections of a person or group. Here are 10 of the books that have repeatedly been the focus of attacks.

Twitter bans ads that contradict science on climate change. Twitter says it will no longer allow advertisers on its site who deny the scientific consensus on climate change, echoing a policy already in place at Google.

Gov. Greg Abbott truck inspections turned up zero drugs, migrants but cost Texas $4.2 billion. Abbott ordered the enhanced truck inspections in response to President Joe Biden ending Title 42, a border policy that allowed federal agents to quickly deport migrants attempting to enter the country citing COVID-19 restrictions.

Washington senator pushing for SAFE Banking Act to help stop violent pot shop robberies. The act would enable pot shops throughout the country, in states where marijuana is legal, to work with banks. Most stores are cash-only because of current federal regulations.

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

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