Sunday, March 13, 2022

And another day of escalations, seeking aid, leaked memos, Trump stating he is striving for autocracy in the US, feeling left behind, long Covid, more abortion attacks from MO and TX, Israel bars Palestinian spouses, and counting ballots by hand comes to a close:

“It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States…” — Excerpt from a Kremlin memo to Russian state-friendly media.

“Some days I hate everything

“I hate everything

“Everyone and everything

“Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now.”

-- Everclear

Deaths

US: 993,811

World: 6,066,045

Cases

US: 81,174,677

World: 458,522,276

Russian airstrike escalates offensive in western Ukraine. Russian missiles pounded a military base in western Ukraine on Sunday, killing 35 people in an attack on a facility that served as a crucial hub for cooperation between Ukraine and the NATO countries supporting its defense. The barrage marked an escalation of Moscow’s offensive and moved the fighting perilously close to the Polish border. The attack so near a NATO member-country raised the specter that the alliance could be drawn into the fight and was heavy with symbolism in a conflict that has revived old Cold War rivalries and threatened to rewrite the current global security order. -- There’s just so much more shit we need to do as a species than be at war with each other. It’s sad there are so many men in the world who are driven by a seemingly uncontrollable lust for power.

US official: Russia seeking military aid from China. A U.S. official said Russia asked China for military equipment to use in its invasion of Ukraine, a request that heightened tensions about the ongoing war ahead of a Monday meeting in Rome between top aides for the U.S. and Chinese governments. In advance of the talks, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan bluntly warned China to avoid helping Russia evade punishment from global sanctions that have hammered the Russian economy. “We will not allow that to go forward,” he said.

Ukraine Conflict Is a Bonanza for Oil and Gas Companies. Oil and gas companies are facing a potential bonanza from the Ukraine war, though few in the industry want to admit it, and many are using soaring prices and the fear of fuel shortages to cement their position with governments in ways that could have disastrous impacts on the climate crisis.

Leaked Kremlin Memo to Russian Media: It Is “Essential” to Feature Tucker Carlson. “It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative behavior from the leadership of the Western countries and NATO towards the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally,” advises the 12-page document written in Russian. It sums up Carlson’s position: “Russia is only protecting its interests and security.” The memo includes a quote from Carlson: “And how would the US behave if such a situation developed in neighboring Mexico or Canada?” — Carlson is quickly moving from the most dangerous person in America to the most dangerous person in the world. Fuck him. And fuck you you if you support him. 

Ukraine reveals ‘Russian warship, go fuck yourself!’ postage stamp. The country’s first deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzheppar, announced the stamp commemorating the Snake Island incident, in which 13 border guards stationed on a roughly 16-hectare (40-acre) rocky island about 186 miles (300km) west of Crimea reportedly replied, when asked to surrender: “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.” They were then attacked, and thought killed. The phrase has become a rallying cry for Ukraine’s defenders. — I want that stamp. And oh yeah: Russian warship, go fuck yourself!

War censorship exposes Putin’s leaky internet controls. Long before waging war on Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin was working to make Russia’s internet a powerful tool of surveillance and social control akin to China’s so-called Great Firewall.

"We will pass critical reforms making every executive branch employee fireable by the president of the United States. The deep state must and will be brought to heel." -- Trump proposes a drastic expansion of presidential power. — He is stating he, and the GOP, will take us to autocracy. Believe him.

Michael Flynn testifies in closed-door meeting with Jan. 6 committee. Flynn did not answer the committee's questions, exercising his Fifth Amendment right on the advice of counsel.

Missouri bill seeks to ban terminating life-threatening ectopic pregnancies. These pregnancies, which occur when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the uterus, most often in the fallopian tube, can be life-threatening for the pregnant person if left untreated, and the fetus can't survive being carried to term, according to Mayo Clinic. The bill, if passed into law, would make performing, inducing or attempting to perform or induce an abortion for such a pregnancy a class A felony. Insider reported that such a charge could carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Ectopic pregnancies comprise roughly 1 to 2 percent of all U.S. pregnancies, according to a 2020 study published by American Family Physician. Those that grow and cause the fallopian tube to rupture account for 2.7 percent of all pregnancy-related deaths in the country. — Republicans are so fucked in the head. 

Texas GOP lawmaker attempting to make abortion punishable by death penalty. The legislation, filed Tuesday by state Rep. Bryan Slaton, does not include exceptions for rape or incest. It does exempt ectopic pregnancies that seriously threaten the life of the woman “when a reasonable alternative to save the lives of both the mother and the unborn child is unavailable.”…Under the bill filed Tuesday, women who receive an abortion and physicians who perform the procedure could be charged with assault or homicide, which is punishable by death in Texas…The bill bans abortions starting at fertilization; most abortions in Texas are currently prohibited after 20 weeks.

As masks come off, vulnerable Americans feel left behind. The Biden administration wants to move past Covid-19, state health officials are ending mask requirements in schools and public buildings, and employers across the country are bringing employees back to the office. But for millions of Americans, many of whom have chronic conditions or disabilities that make them especially vulnerable to Covid-19, the pandemic is far from over. They call the Biden administration’s decision to roll back mask recommendations shortsighted and dangerous, inconsiderate of those who don’t want to risk potential disability or death from an infection. They, too, must go to grocery stores, schools, work and doctor appointments. Several advocacy groups raised these concerns in recent meetings with the Biden administration but have grown frustrated by the tenor of the discussions. — One thing the pandemic has taught us is that many people—many we even love—are inconsiderate and uncaring when it comes to the health of others. 

Long Covid patients, in search of relief, turn to private company. "We do not know what constitutes long Covid or how to formally diagnose it," the authors wrote. "An improved understanding of this condition is needed to provide appropriate care for our patients."…The myriad symptoms that come with long Covid make it difficult to come up with a standardized treatment. The illness, characterized by lingering symptoms weeks to months after an infection, can take on many forms. Some people have daily migraines. Others lose their train of thought midsentence. Some can no longer walk the short distance from their front door to their mailbox…"Most patients have improvement over time," Abramoff said. But about half "don't get back to 100 percent."…For some patients, the long waits, the lack of clear answers and the slow steps toward recovery are too much to bear. That's why thousands have turned to IncellDx, a diagnostic company based in San Carlos, California…IncellDx clinicians don't prescribe drugs directly to patients, but do provide patients with a "treatment recommendation" that they can take to their personal physicians. It typically includes an HIV drug called maraviroc, and statins, which are usually used to lower cholesterol. Neither are approved to treat long Covid. Long Covid physicians affiliated with hospitals and major medical centers dispute whether the diagnostic test is valid…More than 18,000 people have taken IncellDx's test, Patterson said. Nearly all — 95 percent — have been diagnosed with long Covid based on it. That's a red flag, said Dr. Marc Sala, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist who sees long Covid patients at Northwestern Medicine's Comprehensive Covid-19 Center. A test can only be validated, he said, through using it on a diverse group of people — in other words, a large mix of people both with and without long Covid. What's more, there is no evidence to prove that raising or lowering any of IncellDx's long Covid markers can actually treat the condition, he said. "None of this is based on human trial data," he said.

Former President Barack Obama says he has tested positive for Covid-19. "Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative," Obama tweeted.

Israel’s Knesset passes law barring Palestinian spouses. Israel’s parliament has passed a law denying naturalisation to Palestinians from the occupied West Bank or Gaza married to Israeli citizens, forcing thousands of Palestinian families to either emigrate or live apart…Proponents say the law helps ensure Israel’s security and maintains its “Jewish character”. — There are many sick and  fucked up people in this world. 

US states up and down the country pushed cruel attacks on LGBT+ kids this week. But far more bills are not attracting media attention, with proposals ranging from restricting gender-affirming care to excluding trans students from school athletics and banning LGBT+ books in libraries. At least 195 anti-LGBT+ bills are currently making their way through legislatures across the US, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Over half of these bills target trans youth…These are just some of the bills seeking to attack LGBT+ youths that were advanced this week. — Check out the OK, TN, and WI ones. And the WI one…wow. Talk about child abuse. 

Some in GOP want ballots to be counted by hand, not machines. Growing suspicion about the security of voting systems has kindled a back-to-the future moment among conservatives in some parts of the U.S. Republican lawmakers in at least six states have introduced legislation that would require all election ballots to be counted by hand instead of electronic tabulators.

New Mexico could become the fourth state to add a so-called Green Amendment to its Bill of Rights. That could place protecting the state's environment alongside other constitutional rights like free speech. If the resolution passes, New Mexico would become the fourth state in the nation to pass a Green Amendment that incorporates environmental rights into its Bill of Rights, following New York, Montana and Pennsylvania, which became the first state to adopt one more than half a century ago. Currently, New Mexico is one of a dozen states considering a Green Amendment. The United States is one of 37 countries globally that do not constitutionally recognize the right to a clean and healthy environment.

Companies are betting hundreds of billions of dollars on electric cars and trucks. To make them, they'll need a lot of batteries. And that means they need a lot of minerals, like lithium, cobalt and nickel, to be dug up out of the earth. These minerals aren't particularly rare, but production needs to scale up massively — at an unprecedented pace — to meet the auto industry's ambitions. And there's another big challenge: The existing supply chain is dominated by a single country: China. "China pretty much controls almost all the metals required.”

Saudi Arabia puts 81 to death in its largest mass execution. Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from killings to belonging to militant groups, the largest known mass execution carried out in the kingdom in its modern history.

Mississippi teacher fired for reading I Need a New Butt! to children. An elementary school administrator in Mississippi has said he was fired for reading I Need a New Butt!, a humorous children’s book about bottoms, to a class of second-graders. The incident has spurred criticism from free speech advocates, who claim the termination could have a chilling effect at a time of conservative-fueled pushes for book bans in schools across the US.

Congress overrides DC voters, keeps sales of marijuana illegal in District. A GOP-backed ban on weed sales in Washington, D.C., was preserved in a sprawling government funding bill passed by Congress on Thursday, despite opposition from advocates who say the provision overrides the will of the District’s residents years after they voted to legalize marijuana.

Researchers discover new species of rainbow-colored fairy fish in ocean 'twilight zone'. According to a press release from the California Academy of Sciences, the fish can live 160 to 500 feet beneath the ocean's surface in a "twilight zone" of unexplored coral ecosystems. Scientifically named Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa, it is the first new species to be named by a Maldivian researcher and one of the first species to have its name derived from Dhivehi language – the national language of the Maldives.

RIP William Hurt. He was 71.

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

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

Thursday, March 10, 2022

And another day of widening the gap, bombing hospitals, welcoming refugees, what the war in Ukraine has taught Palestinians, rising inflation, TX suing Biden admin, LA’s harshest juvenile lockup, ‘just lie back and enjoy’ rape, firing college professors in TX, and censoring same-sex affection in Pixar films comes to a close:

“Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is, and you must bend to its power or live a lie.” — Miyamoto Musashi

Deaths

US: 991,260 (+3645 over two days)

World: 6,051,362 (+15,176 over two days)

Cases

US: 81,108,786 (+95,831 over two days)

World: 453,746,151 (+3,766,052 over two days)

The polarization in today’s Congress has roots that go back decades. Republicans have moved further to the right than Democrats have to the left…Ever since, the gaps between the least conservative Republicans and least liberal Democrats in both the House and Senate have widened – making it ever less likely that there’s any common ground to find. The ideological shifts in the congressional parties have occurred alongside – and, perhaps to some extent, because of – geographic and demographic shifts in their composition.

Only 2% of Americans now live in counties with high Covid-19 levels. Just 2% of the United States population -- about 7 million people -- lives in a county where the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends universal indoor masking, according to the latest Covid-19 community level data, updated by the CDC on Thursday.

Every state has now moved to end universal indoor masking requirements. Over the last month, states from coast to coast have moved to end mask mandates as coronavirus cases have plummeted. By the end of March, there will be no more statewide or school mask mandates in effect.

Russian attack on hospital stirs outrage as talks stall. A Russian airstrike on a Mariupol maternity hospital that killed three people brought condemnation down on Moscow on Thursday…Ukrainian authorities said a child was among the dead in Wednesday’s airstrike in the vital southern port of Mariupol. Seventeen people were also wounded, including women waiting to give birth, doctors, and children buried in the rubble. — Remember, this is a war of aggression. Putin chose this path.

Which countries' refugees will Americans welcome? Americans support the U.S. accepting refugees fleeing violence in Ukraine by a margin of 54% to 25%, with Democrats and Republicans more likely than not to say the U.S. should do this. But for taking in refugees fleeing violent conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria, and Guatemala, there is less overall support and far bigger partisan differences. — To be a Republican is to embrace white nationalism. 

What the war in Ukraine taught us, Palestinians. In this past week, we Palestinians have been shocked time and again, realising that the global community has been gaslighting us for years…When Ukrainians do it against the Russian occupier, it is heroism. When Palestinians do it against the Israeli occupier, it is only terror.

US Rep. Madison Cawthorn calls Ukrainian president a 'thug'.  "Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug," Cawthorn said in a video obtained by WRAL. "Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies." — I know there are many options for the worst human being in Congress, but Cawthorn has to be near the top. Plus he’s just a shitty human being in general. Here’s the video.

U.S. annual inflation rate rose to 7.9% in February, highest in 40 years. Cost of gas, food and housing spurred much of the increase. Jump does not include recent oil price spike, so figure likely to get even worse.

WA advisory group recommends against adding COVID vaccine to school-required immunizations. A state advisory group has decided against recommending a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students in K-12 schools, leaving one more step before a final decision is made on the matter next month.

Texas files lawsuit against Biden administration over gender-affirming care. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday said he is suing the Biden administration after it issued federal guidance on gender-affirming care. Paxton, along with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), has previously equated gender-affirming care for transgender and nonbinary youth to “child abuse.” — I know I sound like a broken record, but fuck Paxton and Abbott. And fuck you if you support them.

'No light. No nothing.' Inside Louisiana's harshest juvenile lockup. The 15-year-old was being kept in round-the-clock solitary confinement. He was getting no education, in violation of state and federal law, nor was he getting court-ordered substance abuse counseling, according to two defense attorneys present. And no one in the room that day — not the judge, not the prosecutor, not the defense lawyers — appeared to have heard of the facility where Louisiana’s Office of Juvenile Justice was holding him, the Acadiana Center for Youth at St. Martinville. “It was as if a secret prison had been opened up,” one of the attorneys, Jack Harrison, said. “I could see on the judge’s face both shock and real anger — visceral anger.” They had no idea how bad it was…“It’s like you put all of the things that we talk about that are so wrong with our youth justice system and you put it in one facility,” she said…“These kids were in their cells with no beds on a concrete floor with a state-issued green mattress — flame retardant — a blanket and a sheet and nothing else. No light. No nothing,” the former staffer said. “Feces were being thrown every single day, multiple times a day. Not a surface in those pods has not had feces on it.” — There is so much that’s wrong here. 

Michigan state House candidate tries clarify comments on rape, Putin. Regan, a local entrepreneur, also used a rape analogy when discussing his beliefs that the 2020 presidential election should be decertified. Regan, a local entrepreneur, also used a rape analogy when discussing his beliefs that the 2020 presidential election should be decertified. “You know that’s kind of like having three daughters, and I tell my daughters, well, if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it. That’s not how we roll. That’s not how I won this election,” Regan said on the live stream. — He’s the favorite to win Michigan’s District 74 seat. How appalling. 

A third Collin College professor is suing the school, claiming that he was fired for publicly advocating for the removal of Confederate statues and criticizing the college’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s pledge to end both critical race theory teachings and faculty tenure at state public universities threatens to redefine academic freedom in Texas, a community college in North Texas has already become an early battlefield over faculty members’ free speech rights…Community college professors often do not have tenure protections and are usually hired on multiyear contracts, as is the case at Collin College. Phillips’ lawsuit argues that the lack of tenure protections at the school has allowed college administrators to terminate faculty members who say things they disagree with, creating a culture of silence on campus. — Texas is a national embarrassment.

Disney censors same-sex affection in Pixar films, according to letter from employees. The claim is part of a wider reaction to the company-wide memo sent to Disney employees by CEO Bob Chapek on Monday regarding its response to Florida's “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In a statement attributed to “the LGBTQIA+ employees of Pixar, and their allies” obtained by Variety, employees of the animation studio allege that Disney corporate executives have demanded cuts from “nearly every moment of overtly gay affection… regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar.”

Ernest Shackleton's Endurance ship found in Antarctica after 107 years. The ship, which sank in 1915, is 3,008 meters (1.9 miles or 9,842 feet) deep in the Weddell Sea, a pocket in the Southern Ocean along the northern coast of Antarctica, south of the Falkland Islands.

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

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

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

And another day of what they mean, banning oil, a Jan. 6 conviction, MO seeking to prevent women from leaving state to get an abortion, Covid risk for children, Covid and brain damage, ID upping the ante on hating trans people, a teacher’s strike in Minneapolis, the USPS and so much more comes to a close:

“Barr is literally saying he can’t mentally grasp the idea that voting for a Democrat would be a better alternative to voting for someone he directly observed trying to hijack American democracy. Someone, please make a commercial featuring this broken man: This Is Your Brain on Partisanship.” -- Amanda Carpenter

"What's the point of being on this Earth if you're to try to be someone you're not?" -- Zaya Wade

“Never forget that Mitch McConnell killed filibuster to confirm 3 Trump justices to take away voting rights but Manchin & Sinema refused to reform filibuster to protect voting rights.” — Ari Berman

Deaths

US: 987,615 (+3595 over two days)

World: 6,036,186 (+15,765 over two days)

Cases

US: 81,012,955 (+95,433 over two day)

World: 449,980,099 (+3,315,013 over two days)

International Women's Day: Dramatic deterioration in respect for women's rights and gender equality must be decisively reversed. Catastrophic attacks on human rights and gender equality over the past twelve months have lowered protection for and upped threats against women and girls across the globe, Amnesty International said today. On International Women’s Day, the organization called for bold action to reverse erosions of human rights for women and girls. “Events in 2021 and in the early months of 2022 have conspired to crush the rights and dignity of millions of women and girls.  The world’s crises do not impact equally, let alone fairly. The disproportionate impacts on women’s and girls’ rights are well-documented yet still neglected, when not ignored outright.  But the facts are clear. The Covid-19 pandemic, the overwhelming rollback on women’s rights in Afghanistan, the widespread sexual violence characterizing the conflict in Ethiopia, attacks on abortion access in the US and Turkey’s withdrawal from the landmark Istanbul Convention on Gender Based Violence: each is a grave erosion of rights in its own terms but taken together? We must stand up to and stare down this global assault on women’s and girls’ dignity.”

How To Know When They Mean It. Breaking ‘Against Trump’ means opposing him through a general election. Understand this: People like Barr, Christie, Haley, and Pence will offer their criticisms when there is a whiff of opportunity—either in the form of speaking fees, book sales, or the ability to test future political prospects...For most of the operators, the mental hurdle of putting country over party is, as Barr put it, “inconceivable.” If being a good Republican means voting for a twice-impeached, insurrection-inciting, Putin-praising, 2020 loser . . . then so bet it. As long as that’s the case, the idea that any Republican has “broken” with Trump should be on hold until they answer the following two questions. Is America better off today with Joe Biden as president rather than Donald Trump? If Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee in 2024, will you vote for President Biden? A buck gets you ten that they’ll balk and refuse to answer. Not because it’s an unreasonable question given the circumstances, but because of what it would do to damage their GOP credentials. -- Their actions are so much louder than their useless little words.

Biden bans Russian oil, warns of higher prices at US pumps. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the U.S. will ban all Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia’s economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, but he acknowledged it will bring costs to Americans, particularly at the gas pump.

Republicans cheer Russian oil ban and jeer Biden for rising gas prices. Congressional Republicans are championing President Joe Biden’s decision to ban Russian oil imports to the U.S., a highly anticipated move that could continue to push gas prices to record highs. But in the same breath, GOP leaders — eager to win back the House and Senate this fall — are trying to capitalize by blaming Biden and his energy policies for Americans paying more at the pump. -- Fucking disgusting.

Rift emerges among NATO allies as U.S. rejects Poland’s offer on jets for Ukraine. In a rare sign of disunity among NATO allies, the Defense Department on Tuesday rejected an unexpected offer by Poland to have the U.S. take custody of Soviet-era fighter jets that would be transferred to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. U.S. officials said they were blindsided by Poland's announcement, which differed from a previous proposal to have Warsaw deliver the MiG-29 jets to Kyiv directly. "We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

1st trial in Capitol riot ends with conviction all counts. A Texas man was convicted on Tuesday of storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun, a milestone victory for federal prosecutors in the first trial among hundreds of cases arising from last year’s riot...The verdict could be a bellwether for many other Capitol riot cases. It could give Justice Department prosecutors more leverage in plea negotiations and discourage other defendants from gambling on trials of their own. -- Lock all those fuckers up.

‘Fascist fitness’: how the far right is recruiting with online gym groups. The far right is increasingly recruiting via online fitness groups, whose popularity soared during the pandemic, prompting fears that new members are being radicalised to commit acts of violence, new analysis shows.

Missouri lawmaker seeks to prohibit residents from obtaining abortions out of state. An unusual new provision, introduced by state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R), would allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps a Missouri resident obtain an abortion out of state, using the novel legal strategy behind the restrictive law in Texas that since September has banned abortions in that state after six weeks of pregnancy...The measure could signal a new strategy by the antiabortion movement to extend its influence beyond the conservative states poised to tighten restrictions if the Supreme Court moves this summer to overturn its landmark precedent protecting abortion rights. -- Think about that. Think about what that really means, not just for abortion, but for just about everything. And, oh yeah. Fuck you if you think abortion should be illegal.

Send More Aid to Taiwan, Before It’s Too Late. There are decades when nothing happens. And there are weeks when decades happen. Vladimir Lenin may not have said that. But Vladimir Putin made it a reality.

Court rejects GOP redistricting plans in NC, Pennsylvania. In a victory for Democrats, the Supreme Court has turned away efforts from Republicans in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to block state court-ordered congressional districting plans. In separate orders late Monday, the justices are allowing maps selected by each state’s Supreme Court to be in effect for the 2022 elections. Those maps are more favorable to Democrats than the ones drawn by the states’ legislatures.

COVID-19 always leaves a trace, and in children there's a risk for even more. Unfortunately, recently-released research in children under 18 is not that encouraging. This new data, collected during the omicron surge, has significant ramifications for parents…But it doesn’t tell us the whole picture. The study did not evaluate the severity of disease experienced by these children. It did not explore the serious complications of COVID-19 infection in fully-vaccinated children. I am left wondering what these findings actually mean.

Even mild Covid is linked to brain damage, scans show. During at least the first few months following a coronavirus infection, even mild cases of Covid-19 are associated with subtle tissue damage and accelerated losses in brain regions tied to the sense of smell, as well as a small loss in the brain’s overall volume, a new British study finds. Having mild Covid is also associated with a cognitive function deficit. These are the striking findings of the new study led by University of Oxford investigators, one that leading Covid researchers consider particularly important because it is the first study of the disease’s potential impact on the brain that is based on brain scans taken both before and after participants contracted the coronavirus.

Florida to advise against COVID-19 vaccine for healthy kids, contradicting CDC. Florida’s Department of Health will recommend against coronavirus vaccination for “healthy children,” the state’s surgeon general said Monday, contradicting the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other experts. Florida “is going to be the first state to officially recommend against the COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children,” state surgeon general Joseph Ladapo said at the end of a roundtable discussion on the virus response.  Ladapo did not provide details such as who would qualify as a healthy child, or go into the reasoning for his decision. 

Mask mandates go away in schools, but parent worries persist. Major school districts around the country are allowing students into classrooms without masks for the first time in nearly two years, eliminating rules that stirred up intense fights among educators, school boards and parents throughout the pandemic.

In an era of optional mask wearing, Gov. DeSantis' outburst is a cautionary tale. He bullied students into removing their masks and, in the process, doubled down on claims about Covid that were unscientific and could lead to disproportionately harmful outcomes. -- DeSantis is a maggot infested piece of shit. You are too if you support him.

WHO says COVID boosters needed, reversing previous call. An expert group convened by the World Health Organization said Tuesday it “strongly supports urgent and broad access” to booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine amid the global spread of omicron, capping a reversal of the U.N. agency’s repeated insistence last year that boosters weren’t necessary for healthy people and contributed to vaccine inequity.

Idaho House committee approves bill to prohibit gender-confirmation medical treatment. Should Skaug’s bill pass, any person convicted of a violation of the law would be guilty of a felony, punishable by up to life in prison. -- You read that correctly. Fuck Skaug. And fuck you if you support this complete and total bullshit.

‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill: Florida Senate passes controversial LGBTQ school measure. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has signaled he would sign the bill, which would ban “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity” in primary schools. The measure bans “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade. It also prohibits such teaching “in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students,” which critics say could be interpreted to extend to all grade levels. Parents can sue school districts for alleged violations. -- So many people get hurt when you vote Republican. Fuck the Florida GOP. And fuck you if you support this hateful fucking bill.

Disney employees furious the company won't denounce Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill. Siemon credits one of his middle school teachers for helping him understand that it was OK to be gay. Had there been a bill like the one being considered in Florida, Siemon says, "That would've never happened to me. I would've been left alone and scared. And LGBT kids are going to be left alone and scared and hurt by this bill." -- Evil flourishes when good people do nothing. Stand against this Florida atrocity that is happening before our very eyes.

Texas Children’s Hospital halts hormone therapies for transgender children in response to governor and AG’s recent actions. TCH said in a statement the hospital’s mission is “to create a healthier future for all children, including transgender children, within the bounds of the law.” -- Fuck Abbott and Paxton. And fuck you if you support them.

Mark Meadows might not have ever even lived in the place where he's registered to vote. Most allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election have been roundly debunked by media outlets, election administrators, and the courts. But as it turns out, Meadows might have been speaking from firsthand knowledge. -- One literally can not make this shit up.

Minneapolis teachers go on strike after contract talks fail. Teachers in the Minneapolis School District walked off the job Tuesday in a dispute over wages, class sizes and mental health support for students coping with two years of the coronavirus pandemic, pausing classes for about 29,000 students and nearly 3,300 teachers in one of Minnesota’s largest school districts. -- We need to stop treating teachers and students like shit. Fuck you if you don’t support the things these teachers are asking for.

The Texas General Land Office discriminated against communities of color when it doled out federal relief funds after Hurricane Harvey, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found. Despite catastrophic flooding, Houston didn't get a dime of the federal relief money that was distributed by the Texas General Land Office. -- Fuckers.

Senate passes sweeping bipartisan bill overhauling the US Postal Service. The Postal Service Reform Act – which cleared the House last month by 342-92 – would require retired postal employees to enroll in Medicare when eligible, while dropping a previous mandate that forced the agency to cover its health care costs years in advance. Those two measures would save the USPS nearly $50 billion over the next decade, according to the House Oversight Committee. The legislation would also require the USPS to create an online dashboard with local and national delivery time data.

Half of US adults exposed to harmful lead levels as kids. In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, they estimated that half the U.S. adult population in 2015 had been exposed to lead levels surpassing five micrograms per deciliter — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention threshold for harmful lead exposure at the time. The scientists from Florida State University and Duke University also found that 90% of children born in the U.S. between 1950 and 1981 had blood-lead levels higher than the CDC threshold. And the researchers found significant impact on cognitive development: on average, early childhood exposure to lead resulted in a 2.6-point drop in IQ.

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

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

Sunday, March 6, 2022

And another day of a far-right savior, Russian attacks, 6 million Covid deaths, the horribleness of Abbott and DeSantis, SCOTUS to help decide humanity’s fate, fighting book bans, reducing the number of college dropouts, and a huge fight at a Mexican soccer match comes to a close:

“This is your regular reminder that when Donald Trump withheld military aid for Ukraine to extort President Zelensky, 99% of republicans in Congress turned their back on Ukraine and refused to remove Trump from office.” — Bill Pascrell, Jr.

“Your taxes are not high because you're supporting food stamp recipients, those who can't afford health insurance or because of public schools. They're high because the ultra rich are not paying their fair share.” — Chris!

Deaths

US: 984,020

World: 6,020,421

Cases

US: 80,917,522

World: 446,665,086

‘Key to white survival’: how Putin has morphed into a far-right savior. The Russian president’s ‘strong man’ image and disdain for liberals has turned him into a hero for white nationalists. Researchers who monitor far-right groups agree that the moment of Putin enthusiasm in the US has intellectual underpinnings with deeper roots. Burghart said: “For almost a decade the work of Russian fascist Alexander Dugin has found a home in American white nationalist circles.” Dugin’s ideology is steeped in Russian Christian nationalism and has chimed with Putin’s world view. At the same time, it echoes much of the Christian nationalist activism in the US, where liberal values, gay rights and a desire to keep religion out of the state, are seen as decadent and responsible for American decline…That sort of language – contrasting Putin favorably against Democrats on mainstream US television – has an impact. Burghart commented: “After four years of praise for the Russian leader there’s a large swath of the right that has internalized that message. Some of the right have embraced Putin while others have been slow to denounce the invasion of Ukraine.” — Fuck Putin. And fuck you if you support him. The Republican Party is shit.

Russian attacks halt plans to evacuate Ukrainian civilians. A second attempt to evacuate civilians from a besieged city in southern Ukraine collapsed Sunday amid renewed Russian shelling, while Russian President Vladimir Putin turned the blame for the war back on Ukraine and said Moscow’s invasion could be halted “only if Kyiv ceases hostilities.” -- That’s a fucking laugh. Putin, like Republicans in America, is an expert at gaslighting. Fuck him.

Two GOP senators share photos of Zelenskyy during call after lawmakers asked not to by Ukraine. Senators and House members on a call with the Ukrainian president were asked to not tweet or post pictures of the call while it was in progress. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Steve Daines of Montana posted pictures of Zelenskyy on their Twitter accounts during the Zoom meeting Saturday morning, writing that they were on a call with him. -- Both Rubio and Daines are legit fucking assholes.

Q: What’s the difference between a Republican and a Ukrainian?

A: A Ukrainian defends their Capitol.

Death toll nears 6 million as pandemic enters its 3rd year. The official global death toll from COVID-19 is on the verge of eclipsing 6 million — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over. -- But so many people have already decided that it is over.

As Texas targets trans kids, their families scramble to find lawyers. And lawyers who specialize in LGBTQ family law say the number of families reaching out in fear of potential child abuse investigations is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. — Fuck Gov. Greg Abbott. And fuck you if you support him.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis claims trans issues are 'injected' into classrooms. “When you actually look at the bill and it says ‘no sexual instruction to kids pre-K through three’, how many parents want their kids to have transgenderism or something injected into classroom instruction?” said DeSantis. He continued: “It’s basically saying for our younger students, do you really want them being taught about sex? “And this is any sexual stuff. But I think clearly right now, we see a focus on transgenderism, telling kids they may be able to pick genders and all of that.”

Supreme Court’s Climate Skeptics Will Help Decide Humanity’s Fate. The larger, more important, point here is that Alito is apparently not among those “people” who view climate change as a global existential crisis—and, tragically, he’s also a justice about to render a decision about the extent of the EPA’s climate authority. So will Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who has also engaged in climate-crisis denialism. During her Senate confirmation hearing, she refused to accept that “climate change is happening and is threatening the air we breathe and the water we drink.” Rather, she suggested that the question was inappropriate…Alarmingly, Barrett’s characterization suggests that she would deem many regulations aimed at responding to the climate crisis as attempts to address a so-called “major question” that agencies are supposedly without authority to address.

Activism grows nationwide in response to school book bans. Over the past year, book challenges and bans have reached levels not seen in decades. Dozens of bills have been proposed that restrict classroom reading and discussion, and virtually all of the laws focus on sexuality, gender identity or race.

Liga MX suspended after dozens injured as fans fight on pitch at Queretaro v Atlas. At least 22 people were injured, including two critically, on Saturday when fans brawled during a football game in central Mexico. Unconfirmed reports in the Mexican media said up to 17 people had died in the violence. The Liga MX match between the hosts Queretaro and Atlas from Guadalajara was suspended in the 62nd minute when fights broke out in the stands. Security personnel opened the gates to the field so that fans, including women and children, could escape the stands…Graphic videos and photos circulated on social networks showing apparent fans motionless on the ground, in some cases stripped naked and covered with blood. — WTAF?

Colleges’ new solution to enrollment declines: Reducing the number of dropouts. Self-interest is pushing higher education to change long-held policies that thwart success.

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

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