Linkee-poo woke up this morning, Lucille was not in sight

Little Richard, and so it goes.

"When the pill was approved in 1960, women had few relatively few contraceptive options, and the pill offered more reliability and convenience than methods like condoms or diaphragms, said Dr. Eve Espey, chair of the Department of Ob/Gyn and Family Planning at the University of New Mexico." How the pill changed the world, and insight as to why some people what to put it out of reach. Mostly because it gives more control of the own bodies to women.

"Jupiter is known for its massive storms, but trying to peer inside them requires teamwork by the Juno spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope and the ground-based Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. Collective observations from this dream team have produced stunning images and revealed what's happening inside Jupiter's giant, continuous storms."

"A combination of heat and humidity so extreme that it’s unendurable isn’t just a problem for the future — those conditions are already here, a new study finds. Off-the-chart readings that were previously thought to be nearly nonexistent on the planet today have popped up around the globe, and unyielding temperatures are becoming more common." We're boned.

"This week, the question of mutation has been front and center in coverage of the coronavirus — from controversial claims about changes that make the virus more contagious to reassurances that any mutations are not yet consequential… Here are some of the questions being raised — and what the specialists can (and can't yet) say to answer them."

"More than 68,000 people have died from COVID-19 so far in the U.S. and as many as 1 in 5 of them lived or worked in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, reports show—illustrating that the institutions that care for the nation's elderly have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic." Maybe this will change how we care for the elderly and how much we fund for it. But probably not.

"A new report published Thursday by the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the 'peak of coronavirus in the world's poorest countries is not expected until some point over the next three to six months'…The report is an update to the U.N.'s plan to deal with the pandemic, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and other humanitarian agencies."

"A meat-packing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, where a coronavirus outbreak exploded a few weeks ago, resumed operations on Thursday after a two-week closure… The reopening of Tyson Foods' largest U.S. pork plant came the same day that health officials in Black Hawk County, where the plant is located, announced that 1,031 of the plant's estimated 2,800 employees have tested positive for the virus. That's higher than previous estimates by state officials." Pork, the other transmission vector (that's meant as satire, there's no evidence you can get COVID-19 from food unless someone recently coughed or sneezed on it).

"By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon." The new normal is going to look a lot like the old normal.

"The governor of South Dakota has given an ultimatum to two Sioux tribes: Remove checkpoints on state and US highways within 48 hours or risk legal action." While the BIA has said tribes need to negotiate closures with the states, technically reservations/tribal lands are separate and come under federal jurisdiction. Not that state governments haven't tried to force their way in.

"This is genuine footage of Pence. However, it does not show him 'caught on hot mic' admitting that he just delivered a bunch of empty boxes to a health care facility. This video actually shows Pence making a humorous quip after delivering boxes that were truly filled with PPE." This administration is too much of a dumpster fire to have to make things up.

"A slickly produced 26-minute video called Plandemic has exploded on social media in recent days, claiming to present a view of COVID-19 that differs from the 'official' narrative." Everybody is getting into the misinformation market.

"Former President Barack Obama delivered a blistering critique of the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus crisis, describing it as 'an absolute chaotic disaster' during a private call Friday night with people who worked for him in the White House and across his administration." It was bound to happen in this "unprecedented presidency" that a sitting president would be rebuked by a former president.

"On Friday, U.S. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas received his first haircut in three months from Shelley Luther, the owner of Salon Á la Mode in North Texas, who was jailed for violating the state's stay-at-home order by operating her business in defiance of court restraining order." Assholes patronizing other assholes.

"Protests over stay-at-home orders because of COVID-19 have become more common around the country. In California, a surprising group is behind some of them: those who oppose mandatory vaccinations." One Russia inspired group meets another.

"You don't have to think hard to imagine the huge smile on Putin's face when he heard those words from Trump. Because what it means is that Trump continues to be unable to decouple the findings that Russia actively sought to interfere in the last presidential election from the idea that admitting that fact somehow robs him of credit for winning."

"The Supreme Court has temporarily put on hold the release of redacted grand jury material from the Russia investigation to a House panel."

Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "Jesse Watters said on 'The Five' Friday that the prosecution of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was an 'Obama scandal' that went "all the way to the top" of the 44th president's administration." Projection is what they do best.