And another day of pouring ‘gasoline on fire,’ launching criminal probes, resting its case, protecting contraception, supporting same-sex marriage, legalizing marijuana, a NY polio case, monarch butterflies, and it’s hot, hot, hot comes to a close:
““Restricting a citizen’s ability to travel freely throughout the United States is authoritarianism, it is fascism. We’re not talking about tax policy. We’re not talking about budget size. We’re talking about fundamental freedoms: the freedom to choose, to vote, freedom to marry, freedom to learn, freedom to teach, freedom to travel — these are foundational freedoms that are at stake. This is not a conservative view of a budget versus a progressive view of budget — we’re way beyond that.” — TX State Rep. James Talarico
“Without a livable planet, nothing else matters.” — Peter Kalmus
Deaths
US: 1,051,235
World: 6,398,234
Cases
US: 91,942,744
World: 572,508,191
Biden tests positive for COVID-19, has ‘very mild symptoms’. President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and is isolating with “very mild symptoms,” the White House said, as new variants of the highly contagious virus challenge the nation’s efforts to get back to normal after two and a half years of pandemic.
Jan. 6 probe: Trump “poured gasoline on fire” at Capitol. With the Capitol siege raging, President Donald Trump poured “gasoline on the fire” by tweeting condemnation of Mike Pence’s refusal to go along with his plan to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory, former aides told the Jan. 6 investigating committee in a prime-time hearing Thursday night. Earlier, an irate Trump demanded to be taken to the Capitol after his supporters had stormed the building, well aware of the deadly attack, but then returned to the White House and did nothing to call off the violence, despite appeals from family and close advisers, witnesses testified.
“I don’t want to say the election is over.” -- Donald Trump
DHS watchdog has launched criminal probe into destruction of Jan. 6 Secret Service text messages, sources say. The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the destruction of Secret Service text messages that may have been relevant to inquiries about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump ex-adviser Bannon rests case in trial, calling no witnesses. The defense in Steve Bannon's trial rested its case on Thursday without calling any witnesses and asked the judge to acquit Donald Trump's noted former presidential adviser on contempt of Congress charges for defying a subpoena by the committee investigating last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol. - Bannon is such trash.
Republicans Took a Woman’s Right to Choose. Now They’re Threatening Her Right to Travel. In Washington, Republicans say it’s ridiculous to accuse the GOP of trying to prevent women from traveling to access abortion care. In Texas, that project is already underway. The idea that these threats aren’t being made — that this isn’t happening — is just not credible on its face.”…”People need to understand how some of these extreme voices are taking over the Republican Party influencing policy. What seems fringe today is becoming mainstream in the Republican party tomorrow.”
“People are rightly suspicious if one justice leaves the court or dies and another justice takes his or her place and all of sudden the law changes on you.” – Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan
House OKs bill to protect contraception from Supreme Court. The House’s 228-195 roll call was largely along party lines and sent the measure to the Senate, where it seemed doomed. The bill is the latest example of Democrats latching onto their own version of culture war battles to appeal to female, progressive and minority voters by casting the court and Republicans as extremists intent on obliterating rights taken for granted for years. — 195 Republicans voted no. Vote Democrat all the way down the ballot.
GOP support for same-sex marriage bill reflects a shift among Republican voters. The move is a turning point for Republican lawmakers who have spent decades opposing the legalization of same-sex marriage and broader LGBTQ rights. It does, however, coincide with the country’s soaring support for marriage equality, which as of last year included a majority of Republican voters.
Senate Democrats roll out long-awaited bill to legalize marijuana. Senate Democrats on Thursday unveiled long-awaited legislation to end the federal prohibition of marijuana, but opposition from Republicans and some Democrats is expected to pose a challenge to passing the measure.
Supreme Court won’t let Biden implement immigration policy. The Supreme Court won’t allow the Biden administration to implement a policy that prioritizes deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk. The court’s order Thursday leaves the policy frozen nationwide for now. The vote was 5-4 with conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in saying they would have allowed the Biden administration to put in place the guidance.
Mississippi Education Board Removes Ban On Guns in K-12 Schools, Citing State Law. Though the prohibitions are gone, a temporary policy still requires “each local school district (to) have a policy concerning weapons on school premises.” Districts will be able to make policies allowing teachers and administrators with permits to carry guns on campus.
It's so hot, roads are buckling, they're putting foil on a bridge and roofs are melting around the world. The heat-related events also speak to aging infrastructures worldwide, most of which -- roads, bridges, railroads, buildings -- are not prepared for the sweltering conditions as of late. So how hot has it been, exactly? Well...
A 17-minute flight? The super-rich who have ‘absolute disregard for the planet’. Private jets are responsible for around 4% of all aviation emissions, according to a 2016 study, with the airline industry keen to point out that flying in general comprises just a small fraction of the overall sources of planet-heating gases. However, private aircraft still emit more than 33m tons of greenhouse gases, more than the country of Denmark, and because they carry so few people they are five to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes, per passenger, and 50 times more polluting than trains, researchers have found.
New York reports 1st US polio case in nearly a decade. An unvaccinated young adult from New York recently contracted polio, the first U.S. case in nearly a decade, health officials said Thursday...It appears the patient had a vaccine-derived strain of the virus, perhaps from someone who got live vaccine — available in other countries, but not the U.S. — and spread it, officials said. The person is no longer deemed contagious, but investigators are trying to figure out how the infection occurred and whether other people were exposed to the virus. Most Americans are vaccinated against polio, but this should serve as a wake-up call to the unvaccinated, said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Brown University pandemic researcher.
Monarch butterflies added to the endangered species list. The new classification, announced Thursday, comes after monarch populations on the continent have dwindled in recent decades due to habitat loss and climate change.
Comic-Con returns in full force with costumes, crowds. The pop culture extravaganza that is Comic-Con International is back to its old extravagance. Stars, cosplayers and hordes of fans are filling the San Diego Convention Center in full force for the first time since 2019. Here’s a look at this year’s version of the four day festival.
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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