Tuesday, January 3, 2023

And another day of Republican incompetence, the first female president pro tempore, muzzling professors in FL, the XBB.1.5 variant, a possible ‘bomb cyclone’ in CA, and submitting government ID to access porn sites comes to a close:

“Day 1 of 118th Congress led by the new Republican majority was a smashing success. Really showing the country incredible leadership, unity and organization. Very productive day.” -- Ron Filipkowski

Covid Deaths

US: 1,118,757

World: 6,700,964

Covid Cases

US: 102,747,552

World: 666,001,230

McCarthy fails in marathon votes for speaker, House adjourns. Failing to elect party leader Kevin McCarthy as the new speaker of the House, Republicans adjourned in disarray Tuesday night, ending a raucous first day of the new Congress but hoping to somehow regroup on Wednesday from his historic defeat. The abrupt end to a long, messy Day One showed there is no easy way ahead for McCarthy who promised to fight to the finish to claim the gavel despite opposition from the chamber’s most conservative members. Needing 218 votes in the full House, McCarthy got just 203 in two rounds — less even than Democrat Hakeem Jeffries in the GOP-controlled chamber — and fared even worse with 202 in round three.

Sen. Patty Murray becomes first female president pro tempore. The president pro tempore ranks second under the president of the Senate — the vice president — and presides over the floor in the vice president’s absence.

Muzzled by DeSantis, Critical Race Theory Professors Cancel Courses or Modify Their Teaching. As fewer faculty members are protected by tenure, they’re finding it harder to resist laws that ban certain racial topics. Their students suffer the consequences.

Omicron offshoot XBB.1.5 could drive new Covid-19 surge in US. He found that XBB.1 was the slipperiest of them all. It was 63 times less likely to be neutralized by antibodies in the blood of infected and vaccinated people than BA.2 and 49 times less likely to be neutralized compared with BA.4 and BA.5. In terms of immune evasion, Ho says, these variants have shifted as far away from the antibodies we have made to use against them as the original Omicron variant was from the Covid-19 viruses that preceded it roughly a year ago. He calls these levels of immune evasion “alarming” and said they could further compromise the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines. His findings were recently published in the journal Cell. Ho said Monday that XBB.1.5 was the same story in terms of antibody evasion as XBB.1, which means it has the potential to escape the protections of vaccinations and past infections. It’s also resistant to all current antibody treatments, including Evusheld. -- Great. Just great.

How an NFL hit could stop a heart. Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field Monday night. It’s rare, but a direct hit can cause cardiac arrest.

Atmospheric river expected to trigger 'bomb cyclone' and more flooding in California. Flood watches are in effect for 12 million people in Central and Northern California. Many of those communities were hit hard over the weekend by heavy wind and rain, and they will be walloped again starting Wednesday. In Los Angeles, where temperatures topped the high 70s less than two weeks ago, a cold front prompted local officials to declare a cold weather alert Tuesday as wind chill temperatures are expected to dip below 32 degrees in some communities.

FDA finalizes rule expanding availability of abortion pills. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday finalized a rule change that broadens availability of abortion pills to many more pharmacies, including large chains and mail-order companies.

Missouri executes transgender woman for murdering ex-girlfriend in 2003. Amber McLaughlin, 49, was put to death for the murder of Beverly Guenther. McLaughlin, then known as Scott, raped and stabbed Guenther, 45, twenty years ago in Earth City, Missouri, before dumping her body in the city of St. Louis.

Stars of Franco Zeffirelli’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Sue Over Underage Nudity. FRANCO ZEFFIRELLI’S 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet sits at the center of a lawsuit from the film’s leading actors. Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting have sued Paramount Pictures for sexual exploitation and child abuse over the use of nude footage in the movie, which was captured when they were 15 and 16, respectively. They are seeking damages amounting to more than $500 million.

Pornhub users in Louisiana now have to submit government ID to access the site. This is thanks to a recently passed law that requires age verification for any website that contains 33.3 percent or more pornographic material. The way it works is that porn websites verify a visitor's age using an app called LA Wallet, which requires a Louisiana state ID or driver's license...While Pornhub claims that it does not collect any data during this process, and that the process is "carried out by reputable service providers who specialize in verifying the age of online users," we can imagine some folks not being too comfortable with handing over official documents in order to access a pornographic site. Notably, Utah senator Mike Lee recently proposed a law that would require age verification for accessing porn websites on a national level (not to mention essentially criminalizing a big chunk of all sexually explicit content).

“Warning: While we are all enjoying the Republican House shitshow today, please keep in mind that consuming this much popcorn may cause abdominal distension.” -- Darrin Hall

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

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