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.