Thursday, October 6, 2022

And another day of nuclear ‘armageddon,’ pardons for marijuana possession, an attack at a Thailand daycare, weaponizing license plate readers, rising rents leading to homelessness, and ‘disrupted maturity’ comes to a close:

“It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.’ — Voltaire

Deaths

US: 1,087,350 (+665)

World: 6,557,697 (+2286)

Cases

US: 98,474,755 (+63,515)

World: 625,547,387 (+629,210)

Biden: Nuclear ‘Armageddon’ risk highest since ’62 crisis. President Joe Biden said Thursday that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine.

Biden pardons thousands for ‘simple possession’ of marijuana. President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana under federal law, as his administration takes a dramatic step toward decriminalizing the drug and addressing charging practices that disproportionately impact people of color. Biden’s move also covers thousands convicted of the crime in the District of Columbia. He is also calling on governors to issue similar pardons for those convicted of state marijuana offenses, which reflect the vast majority of marijuana possession cases.

CDC to stop reporting daily COVID-19 cases, moving to weekly reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will stop reporting daily COVID-19 cases later this month and switch to weekly reports after more than two years of near constant daily updates. — Let’s see how this winter goes.

Former cop attacks Thai day care center, kills at least 36. A former police officer facing a drug charge burst into a day care center Thursday in Thailand, killing dozens of preschoolers and teachers and then shooting more people as he fled. At least 36 people were slain in the deadliest rampage in the nation’s history. The assailant, who was fired earlier this year, took his own life after killing his wife and child at home.

How expanding web of license plate readers could be ‘weaponized’ against abortion. Flock Safety, a rapidly expanding company that sells license plate readers to police and neighborhoods across the US, has an ambitious mission: to eliminate crime…Now, privacy advocates are warning that the extensive surveillance network could be weaponized against people seeking abortions in states that have enacted bans and restrictions on the practice following the US supreme court’s decision to repeal federal abortion protections, including by allowing police to monitor abortion clinics and the vehicles that are seen around it. Technology like Flock’s could be used to “criminalize people seeking reproductive health and further erode people’s ability to move about their daily lives free from being tracked and traced.”

With rents rising fast, Texas homeless shelters see more families seeking help. More than 522,000 Texas renters — or about 8% of the state’s estimated 6.2 million tenants — said they were behind on payments this summer, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey. Of those renters, three out of five feared they would be evicted within two months. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, about 19% of renters earning less than $50,000 per year said they were behind on rent. Homeless shelters in Texas have seen a corresponding jump in demand.

Wyoming ranch for troubled teens closes following abuse allegations. A rural Wyoming ranch accused of subjecting troubled girls to forced labor and humiliating punishments has notified state regulators it halted operations. The closure of Trinity Teen Solutions comes amid an ongoing criminal investigation and a lawsuit against the ranch, and follows an NBC News investigation last month that revealed a long history of allegations of hard labor and abusive treatment at the for-profit facility offering Christian-based therapy in northwest Wyoming. The facility has denied many of the former residents’ allegations in court filings, and no charges have been filed.

Young adults are now more neurotic, less agreeable, study finds: The pandemic may have ‘disrupted maturity’. In 2021 and 2022, the 30 and younger group experienced a significant increase in neuroticism, which is a tendency to see the world as distressing or unsafe, and a decrease in agreeableness and conscientiousness. They changed more than older study participants. These findings suggest there has been “disrupted maturity” in that cohort.

Lionel Messi confirms Qatar will be his last World Cup. The 35-year-old Argentina star will play in his fifth World Cup but is still seeking his first title at the showpiece tournament.

Judy Tenuta, brash ‘Goddess of Love’ comedian, dies at 72. Tenuta died Thursday afternoon at home in Los Angeles, with her family around her, publicist Roger Neal told The Associated Press. The cause of death was ovarian cancer.

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

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