And another day of the Christian Nationalism threat, deleted Secret Service texts, forced birthers increasing pressure, protecting same-sex marriage, the violence against women epidemic, extreme temperatures, and nations lagging behind in climate-fighting goals comes to a close:
“Why would federal agents delete evidence of their communications on January 6th?” -- Renato Mariotti
You all know why.
Deaths
US: 1,049,683 (+409)
World: 6,391,619 (+2168)
Cases
US: 91,529,862 (+100,453)
World: 569,564,431 (+984,864)
Christian Nationalism Drove These People Out of Their Churches. This story is not unique to Grace Church. Politics and culture wars have crept into pulpits and pews across the U.S. in recent years. It’s not just the Evangelical church, whose ties to the GOP have been the target of heavy scrutiny for decades. It’s churches and parishes across denominations, state lines, and socioeconomic status. Christians from around the country who spoke to VICE News said they’ve witnessed their congregations lose focus and slide into Christian nationalism. Christian nationalists believe that America is an inherently Christian nation and that the nation’s laws should reflect evangelical values. This belief system directly undermines the founding philosophy of the United States: the separation of church and state. It also results in a murky moral framework where right-wing culture war issues—whether its Hunter Biden’s laptop, Drag Queen story hours, or the results of the 2020 election—take on biblical significance…Although many Americans might be just waking up to the threat of Christian nationalism, the radicalization happening in pews and pulpits has been happening for years. And faith leaders have been sounding the alarm…A Pew survey conducted in March 2021 found that 21 percent of Christians believe that the federal government should declare the U.S. a “Christian nation,” and a quarter of them believe that the federal government should stop enforcing the separation of church and state. Though these beliefs place them in the minority of Americans, it still adds up to an alarming number of Christians…But Christianity’s embrace of politics has raised a key question: Should these kinds of churches be allowed to maintain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status? According to the Internal Revenue Service, 501(c)(3) status only applies to churches or charities that do “not participate in, or intervene in… any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office).”…Tyler said that while churches have to address the most extreme examples of violent Christian nationalism, it’s important to think of the ideology overall as a “far-reaching threat.” And that means stopping the quiet encroachment of Christian nationalist ideas into houses of worship before they become even more normalized. — Christian Nationalism is a real and dangerous threat to democracy. We must not ignore it.
Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Jan. 6 committee, tests positive for Covid-19 ahead of Thursday's primetime hearing. Thompson's positive test will not impact the committee's upcoming prime-time hearing, which is scheduled for Thursday, even if the chairman is unable to attend, according to sources familiar with the committee's plans.
The National Archives is looking into reports that the Secret Service deleted texts. Reports that the Secret Service deleted text messages related to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack have caught the attention of the chief records officer of the U.S. Government. That officer, Laurence Brewer, said in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday that the National Archives and Records Administration "has become aware of the potential unauthorized deletion of United States Secret Service (Secret Service) text messages" that were dated Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021. If the department determines any messages were improperly deleted, then Homeland Security must send the National Archives a report describing the messages as well as why they were deleted and how the agency attempted to salvage them, Brewer wrote. -- Like that’ll happen.
“Somebody should be prosecuted for "spoilation," the legal term for when you delete documents after you've been told to preserve them by an official request or subpoena. I doubt anybody will be. Because holding powerful people accountable for crime is not what we do in America.” -- Elie Mystal
Georgia prosecutors tell 11 alternate Trump electors they are targets in criminal probe. The Atlanta-area district attorney investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia has informed 11 individuals who were put forward as an alternate slate of electors on behalf of the former president that there they are considered targets in the ongoing criminal probe.
What Pregnancy and Childbirth Do to the Bodies of Young Girls. The critical issue is that the pelvis of a child is too small to allow passage of even a small fetus, said Dr. Ashok Dyalchand, who has worked with pregnant adolescent girls in low-income communities in India for more than 40 years...“It is a pathetic state particularly for girls who are less than 15 years of age,” he added. “The complications, the morbidity and the mortality are much higher in girls under 15 than girls 16 to 19 although 16 to 19 has a mortality twice as high as women 20 and above.”
Texas abortion foes use legal threats and propose more laws to increase pressure on providers and their allies. Texas anti-abortion conservatives are intensifying their efforts to shut down access for residents seeking abortions, with a near-daily drumbeat of threats and court filings aimed at donors, employers and others trying to help those patients…In their crosshairs are not just providers, but also nonprofit funding groups and the donors who support them; people who volunteer time or give money to abortion providers; employers who support pregnant workers in getting abortions; and the abortion clinics and employees themselves…When the trigger law takes effect, the state will have at least three separate laws on the books that collectively make abortion from the moment of conception illegal in Texas, in almost all cases, and hold violators liable either civilly or criminally. But abortion opponents are ready to ask for more, threatening new laws that would extend Texas abortion laws beyond state lines, widen prosecutors’ powers to pursue abortion cases and further criminalize anyone who tries to help Texans get abortions. “I think they’re emboldened, and I also think that frankly, the base that they’ve become dependent on is going to demand that they just keep going.”…“They will go until the court says no.”
House votes to protect same-sex marriage in case the Supreme Court rescinds it. The Democratic-controlled chamber sent the bill to the Senate where its prospects are uncertain as it'll require at least 10 Republican votes to pass. The vote was 267-157, with 47 Republicans supporting it. The bill would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, enshrine legal same-sex marriage for the purposes of federal law, and add legal protections for married couples of the same sex. — 157 Republicans voted against it. If you value freedom, vote Democrat all the way down the ballot.
At Least 120 Republican Nominees Deny The Results Of The 2020 Election. And now that we’re halfway through the primary season, we can say definitively that at least 120 election deniers have won their party’s nomination and will be on the ballot in the fall. — Vote Democrat all the way down the ballot. It’s the only way to be sure US democracy will survive.
Republican activists organizing ‘surveillance’ of ballot drop boxes in WA. Republican activists in Washington are organizing "surveillance" of ballot drop boxes as midterm voting begins, echoing conspiracy theories about fraud in the 2020 election. Meanwhile, a group calling itself “WA Citizens United to Secure Ballot Boxes” is promoting drop-box surveillance statewide, encouraging people to sign up to watch ballot boxes and record video of people “dumping an in ordinate [sic] amount of ballots” and “taking pictures of themselves doing it,” according to the organization’s “Drop Box Watch” website…While it is legal for people to observe the county’s 76 ballot boxes, which are located on public property, the message on the signs has raised concerns about possible intimidation…Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall, a Democrat, said she’d been alerted to the statewide surveillance effort and doesn’t understand what the people running it expect to prove. “I’d characterize it as voter intimidation,” she said. Unlike some other states that limit the practice, Washington law allows people to drop off legal mail-in ballots for other voters with no restrictions.
Bolsonaro’s attack on Brazil’s electoral system sparks outrage. Electoral officials and senior politicians have criticised the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, after the far-right leader called foreign diplomats to the presidential palace and made unfounded allegations about the integrity of the upcoming election. Bolsonaro told them the electronic voting system in Brazil, which has been used without controversy since 1996, was vulnerable. The remarks raised concerns that the populist politician – facing poor polling results – may attempt to discredit the democratic process if he loses in October. — Following the Trump playbook.
Ukrainian boy held hostage by Russia tells of cleaning up torture rooms. A 16-year-old Ukrainian boy has described how he was held hostage by Russian soldiers for 90 days as he heard other prisoners being tortured in a nearby cell. “People were being beaten up and tortured with electric shocks. If someone didn’t say something, the torture would continue, sometimes for several hours.”
America's deadly epidemic: violence against women. The murders illustrate a persistent American crisis. In 2019, nine out of 10 murdered women were killed by men they knew, according to the Violence Policy Center (VPC), a national think tank. In nearly two-thirds of those cases the women were wives or other intimate partners of the men. Often, such killings follow years of abuse, which six experts interviewed by Reuters said raises questions about how police, courts and society at large support women.
Dallas middle and high school students required to carry clear or mesh backpacks. Officials said the rule would create a safer environment for students after the deadly mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde in May, which left 19 children and two adults dead. -- A band aid that does not in any way address the problem.
Judge sets October trial for Musk-Twitter takeover dispute. Elon Musk lost a fight to delay Twitter’s lawsuit against him as a Delaware judge on Tuesday set an October trial, citing the “cloud of uncertainty” over the social media company after the billionaire backed out of a deal to buy it.
Heat waves overlap as warming climate makes extreme temperatures more likely. Parts of North America, Europe, Africa and Asia are sweltering under extreme heat, with record-breaking temperatures fueling wildfires and severe drought in some areas. Pick a spot on Earth. Chances are, there's a climate emergency unfolding there right now...These are the kind of concurrent crises that climate experts have been warning will happen more frequently as the world warms. They are also yet another example of how climate change is already threatening people's lives and livelihoods in every corner of the planet.
UK breaks record for highest temperature as Europe sizzles. Britain shattered its record for highest temperature ever registered Tuesday amid a heat wave that has seared swaths of Europe, as the U.K.’s national weather forecaster said such highs are now a fact of life in a country ill-prepared for such extremes...The sweltering weather has disrupted travel, health care and schools. Many homes, small businesses and even public buildings, including hospitals, in Britain don’t have air conditioning, a reflection of how unusual such heat is in the country better known for rain and mild temperatures.
Australia report reveals ‘shocking’ decline in environment. The report found that Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent in the world. More than 100 Australian species have been declared extinct or extinct in the wild, including eight species of wallaby alone…Many of the worst changes have occurred in the past five years, with 202 animal and plant species having been declared ‘threatened’ over this period, bringing the total to 377 species becoming threatened in the last decade alone. There are now also more introduced foreign plant species in Australia than native species…“This report should act as a wake-up call to the damage we are doing to the world around us. We must decarbonise our economy and society as rapidly as possible to try and limit the environmental losses that we will experience as we keep warming the world.”
Most major nations lag in acting on climate-fighting goals. Among the 10 biggest carbon emitters, only the European Union has enacted polices close to or consistent with international goals of limiting warming to just a few more tenths of a degrees, according to scientists and experts who track climate action in countries. But Europe, which is broiling through a record-smashing heat wave and hosting climate talks this week, also faces a short-term winter energy crunch, which could cause the continent to backtrack a tad and push other nations into longer, dirtier energy deals, experts said.
Biden holds off on climate emergency declaration. President Joe Biden will travel to Massachusetts on Wednesday to promote his efforts to combat climate change but will stop short of issuing an emergency declaration that would unlock federal resources to deal with the issue, according to a person familiar with the president’s plans. -- Why should these old white men give a shit about the climate? They’ll be dead soon, anyway. To Hell with the rest of us.
“Almost more than anything else I wish people would stop saying things are okay. They are so not okay.” -- Don Winslow
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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