And another day of inching closer to total annihilation, America’s mass shootings epidemic, House committees, librarians threatened with jail for stocking books, Senators grilling Ticketmaster, ‘Rick and Morty,’ and teaching in the age of AI comes to a close:
“Hey, kids! It's your old buddy Steve King telling you that if they ban a book in your school, haul your ass to the nearest bookstore or library ASAP and find out what they don't want you to read.” -- Stephen King
Covid Deaths
US: 1,129,618
World: 6,749,490
Covid Cases
US: 103,907,433
World: 673,709,318
The Doomsday Clock reveals how close we are to total annihilation. The Doomsday Clock has been ticking for 76 years. But it’s no ordinary clock. It attempts to gauge how close humanity is to destroying the world. On Tuesday, the clock was set at 90 seconds until midnight — the closest to the hour it has ever been, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which created the clock in 1947. Midnight represents the moment at which we will have made Earth uninhabitable for humanity. From 2020 to 2022, the clock was set at 100 seconds to midnight.
New year brings a grim wave of mass killings across America. A year ago, the U.S. marked its first deadly gun rampage of the year on Jan. 23. By the same date this year, there have been six mass killings that have claimed 39 lives, leaving communities nationwide reeling from the onslaught of violence. Eleven people killed as they welcomed the Lunar New Year at a dance hall popular with older Asian Americans. Seven Chinese and Latino farmworkers killed amid the serene beauty of California’s Half Moon Bay. A teen mother and her baby shot dead in an attack that killed six people across five generations of her family. “In the end, there are simply too many guns in this country. And there has to be a change. This is not an acceptable way for a modern society to live and conduct its affairs.”
No end in sight for America’s everywhere epidemic of mass shootings. It’s that quintessential American quirk – the split second, instinctive glance around a Walmart, a place of worship, a supermarket or a workplace for an escape route should the worst happen. A never-ending roll of mass shootings reflects the reality that while hundreds of millions of citizens go about their daily business safely, no one and nowhere is immune from the possibility of a sudden eruption of violence...But at the same time, the regularity of people being gunned down as they work, shop and play is raising growing questions about the extent to which one person’s freedom to bear arms suppresses another’s rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Many gun rights advocates are not willing to even entertain this issue. The same applies to the perennial debate whether constitutional guarantees necessarily mean people should be able to buy high-powered weapons of war for personal use...All of this explains why there’s little reason to hope that the mass shootings that rock America week after week, year after year, will abate. “No, I can’t believe it happened to us. But yes, I can believe it happened because it is happening in every community across the country.”
Suspect found dead after 'random' shooting that killed 3 in Washington state. A suspect was found dead Tuesday hours after three people were killed in a "random" shooting in Yakima, Washington, authorities said.
These Republicans will serve on panels to probe COVID-19, ‘weaponization’ of government. The subcommittee will be led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who was a close supporter of McCarthy during his speaker bid and who serves as the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. McCarthy previously said earlier this month that Jordan will chair the subcommittee. The other GOP members of the committee will be Reps. Darrell Issa (Calif.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Chris Stewart (Utah), Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Mike Johnson (La.), Chip Roy (Texas), Kelly Armstrong (N.D.), Greg Steube (Fla.), Dan Bishop (N.C.), Kat Cammack (Fla.) and Harriet Hageman (Wyo.).
McCarthy officially denies Schiff and Swalwell seats on House Intelligence Committee. “I appreciate the loyalty you have to your Democrat colleagues, and I acknowledge your efforts to have two Members of Congress reinstated to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,” McCarthy wrote in a letter to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries that he posted on Twitter Tuesday night. “But I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply recognize years of service as the sole criteria for membership on this essential committee. Integrity matters more.” McCarthy has cited a “new standard” from Democrats for why he would strip Schiff and Swalwell, both of California, of their committee assignments, after the Democrat-led House in 2021 removed GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona from their committees for inflammatory rhetoric and posts.
Librarians threatened with jail if they stock LGBTQ+ books in North Dakota. Librarians in the US state of North Dakota could face jail for stocking books containing depictions of sexual or gender identity – which is considered “sexually explicit” under legislation currently under consideration by state lawmakers. — Yeah, this for public libraries. There is no freedom without the freedom to read.
Classified documents at Pence’s home, too, his lawyer says. Documents with classified markings were discovered in former Vice President Mike Pence ’s Indiana residence last week, his lawyer says, the latest in a string of recoveries of papers meant to be treated with utmost sensitivity from the homes of current and former top U.S. officials. -- Obama’s turn? Bush’s? Dick Cheney’s? Dan Quayle’s? Bill Clinton’s?
Justice Dept. sues Google over digital advertising dominance. The Justice Department and eight states filed an antitrust suit against Google on Tuesday, seeking to shatter its alleged monopoly on the entire ecosystem of online advertising as a hurtful burden to advertisers, consumers and even the U.S. government.
Oscars: Michelle Yeoh Makes History as First Asian Best Actress Nominee. It took 59 years for Michelle Yeoh to land her first lead role in a Hollywood film. And it’s taken 95 years for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize a woman who identifies as Asian in its best actress category.
Disney World closed Splash Mountain after allegations of racism. Not everyone's happy. The closure of the 30-year-old ride...follows a years-long call for change because it features several characters from Disney's 1946 film "Song of the South," which featured racist stereotypes.
Promising gene therapy delivers treatment directly to brain. When Rylae-Ann Poulin was a year old, she didn’t crawl or babble like other kids her age. A rare genetic disorder kept her from even lifting her head. Her parents took turns holding her upright at night just so she could breathe comfortably and sleep. Then, months later, doctors delivered gene therapy directly to her brain. Now the 4-year-old is walking, running, swimming, reading and riding horses — “just doing so many amazing things that doctors once said were impossible,” said her mother, Judy Wei. Rylae-Ann, who lives with her family in Bangkok, was among the first to benefit from a new way of delivering gene therapy — attacking diseases inside the brain — that experts believe holds great promise for treating a host of brain disorders.
Teaching In The Age Of AI Means Getting Creative. Indeed, ChatGPT and similar AI systems are being used in realms beyond education, but classrooms seem to be where fears about the bot’s misuse — and ideas to adapt alongside evolving technology — are playing out first. The realities of ChatGPT are forcing professors to take a long look at today’s teaching methods and what they actually offer to students. Current types of assessment, including the basic essays ChatGPT can mimic, may become obsolete. But instead of branding the AI as a gimmick or threat, some educators say this chatbot could end up recalibrating the way they teach, what they teach and why they teach it.
Adult Swim dumps 'Rick and Morty' co-creator and star Justin Roiland after domestic violence charges. In addition to co-creating and executive producing Rick and Morty, Roiland has provided the voice for both title characters for all six seasons of the show thus far. A spokesperson for Adult Swim's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has said these roles will now be recast(Opens in a new window).
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley wants to ban TikTok nationwide. U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican and China hawk, said on Tuesday that he would introduce a bill to ban the short video app TikTok in the United States.
Senators grill Ticketmaster after Taylor Swift fiasco. Senators grilled Ticketmaster Tuesday, questioning whether the company’s dominance in the ticketing industry led to its spectacular breakdown last year during a sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets. Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also debated possible action, including making tickets non-transferable to cut down on scalping and requiring more transparency in ticket fees. Some suggested it may also be necessary to split Ticketmaster and Beverly Hills, California-based concert promoter Live Nation, which merged in 2010.
‘Everything Everywhere’ tops Oscar nominations with 11. Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” landed a leading 11 nominations on Tuesday, including nods for Michelle Yeoh and comeback kid Ke Huy Quan, the former child star of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Released back in March, the A24 film has proven an unlikely Oscar heavyweight against the expectations of even its makers. Yeoh became the first Asian actor nominated for best actress.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
No comments:
Post a Comment