Friday, June 17, 2022

And another day of calling for resignations, ID ruling against abortion protections, Uvalde hires private law firm, vaccinations for those under 5, belief in God decreases, menopause, flea collars, and TikTok data comes to a close:

“Coup plotters came to Mike Pence with a plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election. He did not go public to expose the scheme. He did not alert the FBI or other authorities. He called Dan Quayle for advice on whether he could go along with the coup.” -- John Nichols

Deaths

US: 1,038,265 (+337)

World: 6,339,468 (+1447)

Cases

US: 87,968,819 (+107,687)

World: 543,682,020 (+590,409)

House Democrat calls for Clarence Thomas to resign following report of wife’s email with Eastman. In a statement on Thursday, Pascrell said Thomas “cannot possibly be seen as a neutral actor,” labeling him “a corrupt jurist.” “Over the last few years, we have become numb to bad acts by powerful actors, but Clarence and Ginni Thomas have participated in one of the worst breaches of trust ever seen in our court system,” Pascrell said.

Iowa supreme court rules against abortion protections. The Iowa Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday that abortion is not protected in the state constitution, overturning a ruling from four years ago as federal abortion rights appear highly endangered.

Uvalde Hires Private Law Firm to Argue It Doesn’t Have to Release School Shooting Public Records. The City of Uvalde and its police department are working with a private law firm to prevent the release of nearly any record related to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in which 19 children and two teachers died, according to a letter obtained by Motherboard in response to a series of public information requests we made. The public records Uvalde is trying to suppress include body camera footage, photos, 911 calls, emails, text messages, criminal records, and more. -- Hmmm. That’s not a good sign. WTF did those cops say and/or do?

Russian state television has broadcast video of two U.S. military veterans who went missing last week while fighting in Ukraine, confirming that the men were taken captive and raising fears about their fate.

FDA authorizes 1st COVID-19 shots for infants, preschoolers. The Food and Drug Administration’s action follows its advisory panel’s unanimous recommendation for the shots from Moderna and Pfizer. That means U.S. kids under 5 — roughly 18 million youngsters — are eligible for the shots. The nation’s vaccination campaign began about 1 1/2 years ago with older adults, the hardest hit during the coronavirus pandemic.

Omicron less likely to cause long COVID than delta: study. The study from researchers in the United Kingdom published in The Lancet finds that 4.5 percent of omicron cases resulted in long COVID, compared to 10.8 percent of delta cases. While on one hand it is good news that the currently circulating omicron variant is less likely to cause long COVID than the earlier delta variant, the study also shows there still is a significant chance of getting long COVID, even with omicron. 

Americans Grapple With a Week of Scorching Heat, Floods, and Wildfires. By Wednesday as many as 107.5 million people, more than a third of the US population, had been warned to stay inside, as a potentially lethal combination of extreme heat and humidity settled over much of the country...Scientists have repeatedly warned that recurring and intense heatwaves could become the norm as the climate crisis intensifies. Other symptoms of increasing temperatures, including wildfires and extreme flooding, have occurred in recent weeks.

Belief in God in U.S. Dips to 81%, a New Low. The vast majority of U.S. adults believe in God, but the 81% who do so is down six percentage points from 2017 and is the lowest in Gallup's trend. Between 1944 and 2011, more than 90% of Americans believed in God. Gallup's May 2-22 Values and Beliefs poll finds 17% of Americans saying they do not believe in God…The groups with the largest declines are also the groups that are currently least likely to believe in God, including liberals (62%), young adults (68%) and Democrats (72%). Belief in God is highest among political conservatives (94%) and Republicans (92%), reflecting that religiosity is a major determinant of political divisions in the U.S…About half of those who believe in God -- equal to 42% of all Americans -- say God hears prayers and can intervene on a person's behalf. Meanwhile, 28% of all Americans say God hears prayers but cannot intervene, while 11% think God does neither…And while belief in God has declined in recent years, Gallup has documented steeper drops in church attendance, church membership and confidence in organized religion, suggesting that the practice of religious faith may be changing more than basic faith in God.

SpaceX fires at least five for letter criticizing Elon Musk. At least five employees were fired by private rocket company SpaceX after drafting and circulating an open letter criticizing founder Elon Musk and calling on executives at the start-up to make the company’s work culture more inclusive, according to two people familiar with the matter. -- Musk doesn’t want inclusiveness. He wants you to bow at his feet.

Menopause is not a disease. Experts call for new narrative for this natural stage of a woman's life. Women are not a monolith, their experiences of menopause are not all negative, and this stage of life should not be medicalized, argue an international group of experts.

California bill would reduce single-use plastic products 25%. An ambitious California proposal aims to reduce plastic production for single-use products like shampoo bottles and food wrappers by 25% starting next decade, part of an effort to rein in pollution from the ubiquitous material.

Seresto flea collar should be recalled after 2,500 pet deaths, lawmakers say. The popular Seresto flea-and-tick collar should be recalled following research showing the roughly $70 device poses risks to pets and their owners, according to a new congressional report. The findings link the collar to almost 100,000 incidents and 2,500 pet deaths.

Leaked Audio From 80 Internal TikTok Meetings Shows That US User Data Has Been Repeatedly Accessed From China. But according to leaked audio from more than 80 internal TikTok meetings, China-based employees of ByteDance have repeatedly accessed nonpublic data about US TikTok users — exactly the type of behavior that inspired former president Donald Trump to threaten to ban the app in the United States.

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

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