And another day of a ‘precarious’ spot, less details about activities, record low hospitalizations, cutting retirement benefits, Cawthorn blaming Dems, it’s really bad for teachers, 40mpg, unions, housing the homeless, legalizing weed, Palin is back, and Smith resigns comes to a close:
“If you think cancel culture is a thing, you should definitely be angry about the GOP attacking Disney. If you're not, then you never cared about policing speech. You just wanted to be able to say shitty things without consequences.” — The Rude Pundit
Deaths
US: 1,007,989 (+669)
World: 6,171,238 (+4262)
Cases
US: 81,813,515 (+33,012)
World: 490,043,267 (+1,476,793)
Jan. 6 panel puts Garland in ‘precarious’ spot, ups pressure. Lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol are increasingly going public with critical statements, court filings and more to deliver a blunt message to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice. President Donald Trump and his allies likely committed crimes, they say. And it’s up to you to do something about it.
Trump's presidential diarist tells Jan. 6 committee White House officials provided less detail about his activities days before riot. Other witnesses also have told the panel there was significantly less information being shared with those involved in White House record-keeping during the same time period, according to three sources familiar with the investigation. One source described how White House record-keepers appeared to be "iced out" in the days leading up to January 6.
Number of COVID patients in US hospitals reaches record low. COVID-19 hospitalization numbers have plunged to their lowest levels since the early days of the pandemic, offering a much needed break to health care workers and patients alike following the omicron surge. The number of patients hospitalized with the coronavirus has fallen more than 90% in more than two months, and some hospitals are going days without a single COVID-19 patient in the ICU for the first time since early 2020.
Romney suggests cutting retirement benefits for younger Americans. In comments to the Senate budget committee on Wednesday, the Republican senator from Utah said that the spiraling costs of retirement programs had to be tackled to bring national debt under control. Romney raised the politically controversial idea of cutting benefits, but only for younger generations before they reach retirement age…The programs in question include two of the most popular benefits in the country – social security and Medicare, which make up more than 40% of government spending.
Cawthorn responds to GOP backlash over ‘orgy’ comments by blaming Democrats for his remarks. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., broke his silence Friday after days of GOP uproar over his remarks on a podcast claiming congressional colleagues were using drugs and inviting him to sex parties. But in a lengthy statement, Cawthorn attempted to distance himself from his own comments by suggesting it was Democrats and the media that made the allegations about cocaine use and orgies...On the podcast, Cawthorn discussed “the sexual perversion that goes on in Washington” and said some of his older colleagues had invited him to orgies. “I mean, being kind of a young guy in Washington, where the average age is probably 60 to 70, and I look at all these people, a lot of them that I’ve looked up to through my life — I’ve always paid attention to politics — then all of a sudden you get invited,” Cawthorn said, quoting one such alleged exchange. “‘Oh, hey, we’re going to have kind of a sexual get-together at one of our homes. You should come.’ I’m like, ‘What did you just ask me to come to?’ Then you realize they’re asking you to come to an orgy,” Cawthorn, 26, said. -- Yeah, the Democrats made that up? What a bunch of horse shit, Cawthorn. Own what you said.
Sarah Palin announces run for Congress in Alaska. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced on Friday that she is running for Congress, seeking to fill the state's lone US House seat after the death of longtime Rep. Don Young.
Teachers In America Were Already Facing Collapse. COVID Only Made It Worse. Teachers all over the country describe problems that touch every aspect of our culture and society, from technology dependence to stats-obsessed bureaucracy to a post-COVID behavior crisis. Left with no comprehensive way to staunch the flow of quitting teachers, the system has leaned on nominal stopgaps aimed at helping teachers cope. These may include professional development sessions focused on mental health and self-care, or regular school-wide appreciation emails. A teacher friend of Joe, the high school teacher in upstate New York, recently received a self-care kit from their school’s administration that came with a sheet of “reminders” printed out in colorful type on a sheet of paper. The advice includes affirmations like “I deserve to take care of myself” and “I am important & good at what I do.” Joe sent me a photo of it. “It’s my classroom & I can cry if I want to,” reads one of these reminders. “Teaching is rewarding, but hard work. It’s okay to cry in a bathroom stall.” “I don’t think you could go anywhere besides an Amazon warehouse and see a sign that says you can cry in the bathroom, it’s OK,” Joe said. “For $56,000.”
We All Know Teachers Are Underpaid. But Who Imagined It Was This Bad? Rothrock’s story is not exceptional—at least in her line of work, in this country. If she were any other highly educated American professional, that might be different. But Rothrock is a teacher. That a teacher must work a second, part-time job on weeknights and weekends, year-round, more than 20 years into her career, in spite of a master’s degree and a modest lifestyle, is so universally accepted among her peers and colleagues in education that it barely warrants notice…”It’s really kind of disheartening when you think that many teachers not only have bachelor’s degrees but master’s degrees and still have to hustle for their income. It sends a message.”…“The system is clearly broken when we have highly qualified professionals needing to supplement their income to survive, who are one catastrophe—one paycheck—away from complete ruin.” In a national survey of nearly 1,200 classroom teachers conducted in spring 2021 by the Teacher Salary Project, a nonpartisan organization, 82 percent of respondents said they either currently or previously had taken on multiple jobs to make ends meet. Of them, 53 percent said they were currently working multiple jobs, including 17 percent who held jobs unrelated to teaching…Among the public, misconceptions about the teaching profession abound, leading many to view teachers’ side hustles as innocuous. The assumption is that teaching is easy work, with short days ending at 3 p.m. and summers off, making the season well-suited for earning extra wages. Of the 30 teachers I interviewed, whose annual salaries range from $32,000 to $98,000, every single one disputed that idea. So did King, the Education Secretary during the Obama administration and a former classroom teacher…Even before the pandemic, but especially now, teachers are expected to be not only instructors, facilitators, and subject matter experts, but mentors, family liaisons, behavioral interventionists, and whatever else the crisis du jour demands…It’s true that, controlled for levels of education and years of experience, teachers make less money on the dollar than their peers in comparable fields, a concept known as the wage penalty. The Economic Policy Institute has been tracking this for years and found, most recently in 2019, that public school teachers nationally make about 19 percent less than employees in commensurate professions, or about 81 cents on the dollar. The trend has been getting worse over time; the wage penalty for teachers in 1996 was 6 percent.
Qatari official: Rainbow flags may be taken to protect fans. Rainbow flags could be taken from fans at the World Cup in Qatar to protect them from being attacked for promoting gay rights, a senior leader overseeing security for the tournament told The Associated Press. Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari insisted that LGBTQ couples would be welcomed and accepted in Qatar for the Nov. 21-Dec. 18 FIFA showpiece despite same-sex relations remaining criminalized in the conservative Gulf nation. But Al Ansari is against the overt promotion of LGBTQ freedoms as symbolized by the rainbow flag that FIFA and World Cup organizers had previously said would be welcome across Qatar’s eight stadiums.
New vehicles must average 40 mpg by 2026, up from 24 mpg. The new requirements increase gas mileage by 8% per year for model years 2024 and 2025 and 10% in the 2026 model year. For the current model year, standards enacted under Trump require the fleet of new vehicles to get just over 24 miles per gallon in real-world driving.
Chicago to offer prepaid gas cards to residents amid skyrocketing gas prices. “By subsidizing the cost of gas and transit, we’re helping residents get to work, school, the grocery store, the medical office or wherever they need to get to. Enabling physical mobility directly ties into economic mobility,” said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
In a stunning victory, Amazon workers on Staten Island vote for a union. Amazon workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, have voted to unionize, a first for Amazon, and a stunning win for a grassroots campaign led by former and current Amazon employees. The historic vote was 2,654 for the union to 2,131 against.
Los Angeles agrees to spend $3 billion to house homeless residents. The money would pay for up to 16,000 beds over the next five years, while more than 41,000 people currently live on the streets.
California snowpack is critically low, signaling another year of devastating drought. Snowpack in the California Sierra this winter is just 38% of normal, California water officials said Friday, in the latest sign the state's drought is growing more devastating by the month.
March sets record for most tornado reports. As of Friday morning, the current preliminary number was 233 tornado reports, breaking the record of 225 reports in 2012, with records going back to the year 2000.
The House passed it, Americans want it: Why is legal weed still a long shot? Most Americans think it’s time to legalize weed. A whopping 91 percent of our Republic says that marijuana should be allowed for medical use, according to the Pew Research Center, and nearly two thirds support legalizing it recreationally, as well. Recreational weed is already legal in 18 states, and decriminalized in 13 more. It seems like federal legalization is only a matter of time. But Congress isn’t always the best conduit for making public opinion into federal law—it just happens to be the only one we have. So, when the House approved a bill to decriminalize marijuana today, the vote fell mostly along party lines and came with the knowledge that there’s not too much hope for full legalization.
Will Smith resigns from film academy over Chris Rock slap. Will Smith resigned Friday from the motion picture academy following his Oscars night slap of Chris Rock and said he would accept any further punishment the organization imposed. Smith in a statement released Friday afternoon said he will “fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct. My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable.”
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
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