And another day of riskier births, returning to the pre-1973 definition of ‘obscenity,’ wanting more action on climate change, video games and brain function tests, and creative ‘anti-cheating’ exam hats comes to a close:
“Hate is the defining feature of the MAGA Republican movement. Remember that when you vote in 14 days.” — The Lincoln Project
Deaths
US: 1,093,338
World: 6,585,852
Cases
US: 99,141,254
World: 633,775,234
Abortion ruling means more and riskier births in Mississippi. In Mississippi, where health officials expect 5,000 more births each year as a result of the Supreme Court ruling upending abortion rights, children are more likely to die before their first birthday than in any other state.
Utah Republican Argues for Return to Pre-1973 Definition of 'Obscenity'. A Republican member of the Utah state legislature is arguing for a return to the pre-1973 standard for determining what speech or expression is “obscene” and therefore not protected by the First Amendment. Utah Rep. Ken Ivory (R-West Jordan), whose “Sensitive Materials in Schools” bill HB 374, banning what he considers “pornographic and indecent books” in the state’s public schools, was signed into law in March, last week demanded a total reversal of the last 50 years of legal and judicial practice. Ivory dismissed the “Miller test,” which has been the nation's legal standard for a half century, as merely the opinion of a few Supreme Court justices at the time. -- Stop voting for Republicans.
“They want to take away our abortions, birth control, books, porn, privacy! Our gay marriage, our drag queens, and ultimately our freedom. Vote like you mean it.” -- Mistress Matisse
Three dead, including gunman, after shooting at St. Louis high school, officials say. The shooter, who appears to be about 20 years old, was taken into custody inside the performing arts school, according to a tweet from St. Louis Public Schools. He was pronounced dead a short time later, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said during an afternoon news conference.
U.S. student test results document pandemic's toll on learning. U.S. students have experienced historic learning setbacks with math and reading scores falling to their lowest levels in years, national exam results released on Monday showed, the latest sign of the damage the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought on schoolchildren. Math scores saw their largest drop on record, a trend consistent across most U.S. states and almost all demographic groups, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the "Nation's Report Card," which tested hundreds of fourth- and eighth-graders nationwide.
Most in US want more action on climate change: AP-NORC poll. Nearly two-thirds of Americans think the federal government is not doing enough to fight climate change, according to a new poll that shows limited public awareness about a sweeping new law that commits the U.S. to its largest ever investment to combat global warming. Democrats in Congress approved the Inflation Reduction Act in August, handing President Joe Biden a hard-fought triumph on priorities that his party hopes will bolster prospects for keeping their House and Senate majorities in November’s elections. Biden and Democratic lawmakers have touted the new law as a milestone achievement leading into the midterm elections, and environmental groups have spent millions to boost the measure in battleground states. Yet the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 61% of U.S. adults say they know little to nothing about it. -- Stop voting for Republicans--all Republicans--to have any kind of chance of fighting climate change.
Doctors say ‘fossil fuel addiction’ kills, starves millions. Extreme weather from climate change triggered hunger in nearly 100 million people and increased heat deaths by 68% in vulnerable populations worldwide as the world’s “fossil fuel addiction” degrades public health each year, doctors reported in a new study. Worldwide the burning of coal, oil, natural gas and biomass forms air pollution that kills 1.2 million people a year, including 11,800 in the United States, according to a report Tuesday in the prestigious medical journal Lancet.
The soundtrack to the climate crisis is apocalypse pop. Gen Z is channeling climate anxiety and anger into music. A 2021 survey in The Lancet showed that 56 percent of people ages 16 to 25 believe “humanity is doomed,” and 75 percent describe the future as “frightening,” highlighting a generational divide in outlook on climate change…For young fans feeling like they’re watching the end of the world, Strange offers up the possibility that letting go of one idea of the future makes room for a new one to begin. He hints at what Ray calls the “radical imagination” needed to see a future that lies just beyond certain doom. That imagination is crucial for finding climate solutions, but the trick is that it can’t be accessed by trying to bypass climate emotions with dismissal or detachment.
Adidas ends partnership with Ye over antisemitic remarks. Adidas ended a partnership that helped make the artist formerly known as Kanye West a billionaire and lent the German sportswear an edgy appeal, but ultimately couldn’t survive a mounting outcry over the rapper’s offensive and antisimetic remarks.
Russian court rejects Griner appeal of her 9-year sentence. A Russian court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner of her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, a step that could move her closer to a possible high-stakes prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington.
Kids who play video games score higher on brain function tests. Kids who play video games have better memory and better control over their motor skills than kids who don’t, according to a new study looking at adolescent brain function. Video games might not be responsible for those differences — the study can’t say what the causes are — but the findings add to a bigger body of work showing gamers have better performance on some tests of brain function. That lends support to efforts to develop games that can treat cognitive problems.
Philippines: Student 'anti-cheating' exam hats go viral. Students at one college in Legazpi City were asked to wear headgear that would prevent them peeking at others' papers. Many responded by creating homemade contraptions out of cardboard, egg boxes and other recycled materials. -- Check out the hats. Very creative.
The hunt for habitable planets may have just gotten far more narrow, new study finds. Scientists had long hoped and theorized that the most common type of star in our universe — called an M dwarf — could host nearby planets with atmospheres, potentially rich with carbon and perfect for the creation of life. But in a new study of a world orbiting an M dwarf 66 light-years from Earth, researchers found no indication such a planet could hold onto an atmosphere at all.
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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