Sunday, January 8, 2023

And another day of fascists trying to end democracy, McCarthy’s concessions, Conservatives taking aim at tenure for professors, ‘relentless’ cyclones, cancer vaccine trials, and schools suing tech giants over social media harm comes to a close: 

“Every country has Republicans.” — Brandon Friedman

“Democracy demands that people respect institutions.” — Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil

Covid Deaths

US: 1,121,097

World: 6,713,700

Covid Cases

US: 103,086,927

World: 668,664,437

Pro-Bolsonaro rioters storm Brazil’s top government offices. Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who refuse to accept his election defeat stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace in the capital on Sunday, a week after the inauguration of his leftist rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. -- The fascism movement is worldwide. Hard work is required to preserve democracy. Do not get complacent.

Here Are the Concessions Kevin McCarthy Had to Make to Become House Speaker. Here’s what the holdouts got from McCarthy in exchange for the speakership: — Ugh.

House GOP select panel will target DOJ and FBI and their ‘ongoing criminal investigations’. In addition to having the power to investigate all ongoing criminal probes of the executive branch, the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government would also “be authorized to receive information available to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,” giving it access to the most highly classified information in Congress, according to the proposal. — An intimidation technique to stop investigations against themselves and the greater MAGA leaders. These are dark times for democracy.

House Speaker Fight Shows Election Deniers Who Tried to Overthrow Democracy Still Control GOP. Trump coup accomplices Jim Jordan and Scott Perry have become two of the GOP’s biggest powerbrokers. Though the two men were on different sides in this battle royal, they were united in hypocrisy, for each of these decriers of abusive power had been collaborators in Donald Trump’s public crusade to promote the lies about the 2020 election that led to the January 6 insurrectionist attack on the Capitol and in Trump’s devious plotting to overturn the election and upend American democracy. Their roles in the House GOP’s crapshow illustrated a profound fact largely overlooked in this hullabaloo: The political chaos that brought the House of Representatives to a standstill was being perpetuated by a party that two years earlier had tried to sabotage the republic and had championed falsehoods and conspiracy theories that led to seditious violence in the very chamber where the speakership fight was now occurring.

Corporate America Condemned the January 6 Riot—Then Went Right Back to Funding Election Deniers. Two years later, it’s business as usual for many of the companies that vowed to suspend donations to stop-the-stealers.

Conservatives take aim at tenure for university professors. It’s a sentiment being echoed by conservative officials in red states across the country. The indefinite academic appointments that come with tenure — the holy grail of university employment — have faced review from lawmakers or state oversight boards in at least half a dozen states, often presented as bids to rein in academics with liberal views. Tenure advocates are bracing for the possibility of new threats as lawmakers return to statehouses around the country. -- A fascist move, meant  to promote state thought, and only state thought, and to crush all opposition to it. Republicans are dangerous to a free America. They want their beliefs to be the one true education, and anything that goes against those beliefs is to be rendered to the trash heap. Never, ever, vote Republican. Unless, of course, you’re a fucking fascist.

Virginia school district where 6-year-old allegedly shot teacher has had 3 school-related shootings in 17 months. Before Friday's incident, there were shootings at two other schools within the Newport News Public Schools system that shook the community.

Clemson to install lockdown devices to enhance classroom safety. Clemson University announced plans to install new lockdown devices inside of classrooms as part of of their commitment to ensure the safety and well-being of students, faculty and staff. -- Teaching, at every level, should never be a hazardous profession.

Hundreds of thousands left without power in California as forecasters warn of 'relentless' cyclones. The National Weather Service warns of “considerable flood potential with rapid river rises, mudslides, and burn scar flash floods or debris flows.”

Plan for mRNA cancer vaccine trials to start in United Kingdom this year. By the end of 2030, up to 10,000 people will receive the immunotherapy that will be tailored to individual tumours, either in trials or as an approved treatment.

On Musk's Twitter, users looking to sell and trade child sex abuse material are still easily found. A review conducted by NBC News found dozens of accounts and hundreds of tweets claiming to sell child sexual abuse material.

Seattle schools sue tech giants over social media harm. The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth.

Here are the states with the longest life expectancy. People in Hawaii, Washington, and Minnesota have the longest life expectancy in the country, according to a new study.

ChatGPT essays and more: How teachers and schools are dealing with AI writing. Teachers are both concerned and excited because ChatGPT and other chatbots can generate writing on any subject in almost any format...Outside the narrow topic of school essays, some teachers are excited about the potential of AI writing to enhance learning experiences, while others are hesitant to incorporate them into the classroom. Here's a look at how teachers and schools across the country and on the internet are dealing with ChatGPT:

CES 2023: Smelling, touching take center stage in metaverse. Taiwanese tech giant HTC unveiled a high-end VR headset that aims to compete with market leader Meta, and a slew of other companies and startups touted augmented reality glasses and sensory technologies that can help users feel — and even smell — in a virtual environment.

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

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