Thursday, June 2, 2022

And another day of presidential speeches, revealing studies, arming teachers, the Republican “army” to overturn elections, DeSantis bans transition care, careening towards an energy crisis, Social Security not able to pay full benefits, and melatonin poisoning comes to a close:

“Right now the only place where schoolchildren are sure to be safe from gun violence is an NRA convention.” -- Ken Olin

“Only in America is a book more dangerous than an AR-15.” -- Frederick Joseph

“We become more dystopian each day.” -- Daniel

Deaths

US: 1,032,862 (+452)

World: 6,317,436 (+1715)

Cases

US: 86,271,283 (+124,328)

World: 534,122,368 (+583,861)

Biden ratchets up calls for gun control legislation with major address. He said lawmakers should reinstate the ban on assault weapons, like AR-15s, and a ban on high capacity magazines. If those weapons aren’t banned, the age to purchase them should be raised to 21 from 18...Biden said Congress should also strengthen background checks, including requiring them at gun shows and online sales, and enact safe storage and red flag laws and repeal the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability. He also called for actions to address mental health, including more school counselors and other mental health services for students and teachers...“This isn’t about taking anyone’s rights, it’s about protecting children, protecting families, it’s about protecting whole communities,” Biden said. “It’s about protecting our freedoms to go to school, to a grocery store, to a church, not being shot and killed.”

What studies reveal about gun ownership in the US. Take, for example, a report published in 2017 by researchers at Harvard and Northeastern universities. The authors estimate that of the 265 million privately owned firearms in the US, about half are owned by 3% of the US adult population. And while about half of gun owners own one or two guns, 8% of gun owners own 10 or more -- a figure that amounts to about 40% of the total US gun stock, according to the report. Another finding that bears that out: National polls show that gun ownership has declined modestly since the 1970s, while FBI firearm background checks show that gun purchases are at record highs. What that suggests is that while the share of gun owners in the US is getting smaller overall, those who do own guns are buying more and more of them.

5 shot during funeral service at Graceland Cemetery in Wisconsin.

Two states aim to arm teachers despite opposition from educators and experts. The measure to arm teachers is heading to the governor’s desk as Ohio also prepares, in two weeks, to formally lift the requirement that gun owners have a concealed carry license as the state’s “Constitutional Carry” law goes into effect.

Republican party building an 'army' to overturn election results. The alleged scheme includes installing party-trained volunteers prepared to challenge voters at Democratic-majority polling places, creating a website to put these workers in touch with local lawyers and establishing a network of district attorneys who could intervene to block vote counts.

Limits on early abortion drive more women to get them later. Now, if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, women will face even more hurdles in some parts of the country, and may have to travel to another state to get an abortion. That means more women could end up having the procedure later than they wish, and the burden falls more heavily on some groups, such as teens, poor, Black, Latino and Native American women and those who live in states where access to any abortion is limited. -- Fucking Republicans.

DeSantis moves to ban transition care for transgender youths, Medicaid recipient. The two-pronged effort, which ensures DeSantis can act quickly and without the need for legislative approval, drew instant opposition from activists and medical professionals. They have increasingly clashed with DeSantis, a Republican, as he seeks re-election and builds a national brand as a culture warrior and potential 2024 White House contender. — DeSantis is a fascist asshole. 

The world may be careening toward a 1970s-style energy crisis -- or worse. Unlike those infamous episodes, this one is not contained to oil. "Now we have an oil crisis, a gas crisis and an electricity crisis at the same time," Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency watchdog group, told Der Spiegel in an interview published this week. "This energy crisis is much bigger than the oil crises of the 1970s and 1980s. And it will probably last longer."...The extent of that perfect storm -- underinvestment, strong demand and supply disruptions from the war -- will have wide-reaching consequences, potentially threatening the economic recovery from Covid-19, exacerbating inflation, fueling social unrest and undermining efforts to save the planet from global warming...Today's energy turmoil is not simply the result of the war in Ukraine. It is also the byproduct of cratering investment in oil and natural gas, which are depleting resources that require massive sums of money just to maintain their production, let alone increase it..."We were heading towards a crisis anyway. Putin just brought us there faster and sharper," said McNally.

Dogs can detect Covid with high accuracy, even asymptomatic cases. Trained dogs were better at detecting positive Covid cases than a rapid antigen test, a study found.

Oregon dropping AI tool used in child abuse cases. Child welfare officials in Oregon will stop using an algorithm to help decide which families are investigated by social workers, opting instead for a new process that officials say will make better, more racially equitable decisions.

Social Security won’t be able to pay full benefits by 2035 if Congress doesn’t act. Americans will stop receiving their full Social Security benefits in about 13 years if lawmakers don’t act to address the pending shortfall, according to an annual report released Thursday by the Social Security and Medicare trustees.

For years White House interns have not been paid. That will soon change. For the first time in the history of the White House internship program, participating interns will be paid $750 per week beginning in the fall. Interns are expected to work a minimum of 35 hours per week, making the maximum hourly rate $21.42…The funding to pay the interns working across the White House Office and Office of the Vice President comes from a congressional spending bill President Joe Biden signed into law in March. It allocated $4.5 million toward the intern pay.

Melatonin poisoning reports are up in kids, study says. Parents may think of melatonin as the equivalent of a vitamin and leave it on a nightstand, said Dr. Karima Lelak, an emergency physician at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and the lead author of the study published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “But really it’s a medication that has the potential to cause harm, and should be put way in the medicine cabinet,” Lelak said.

Ancient city in Iraq unearthed after extreme drought. The ruins of a 3,400-year-old lost city — complete with a palace and a sprawling fort — have been unearthed in Iraq after extreme drought severely depleted water levels in the country's largest reservoir, archaeologists announced Monday.

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

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