"At 8.45 a.m. local time, a Soyuz rocket blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Russia’s sprawling and remote space launch facility in Kazakhstan, to the International Space Station… It was the last time NASA paid for an American astronaut to fly with the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, on such a flight. Next year, for the first time since the start of the ISS program 20 years ago, Russia will fly all-Russian crews on Soyuz."
"Half the corals on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have died over the past 25 years, scientists said Wednesday, warning that climate change is irreversibly destroying the World Heritage-listed underwater ecosystem."
Who needs regulations? "Pork and poultry with 'unacceptable' levels of salmonella and E coli are reaching supermarket shelves in the US, according to the preliminary findings of a study that may confirm the fears of campaigners currently fighting to ensure the UK’s agriculture bill will protect domestic food standards and consumers."
"Around the country, gifted and talented programs have come under fire for exacerbating school systems’ already stark racial and economic segregation. In 2019 in New York City, a group commissioned by Mayor Bill de Blasio, The School Diversity Advisory Group, recommended doing away with all gifted and talented programs, while that same year Seattle attempted unsuccessfully to eliminate its programs as a way to alleviate school segregation… Screens used to select students for high performing schools and advanced classes based on grades and test scores also face mounting criticism for exacerbating segregation. Last winter, a district near Philadelphia agreed to reduce its number of tracked classes at the middle and high school levels and increase access to Advanced Placement courses in response to a discrimination lawsuit brought by parents." People will fight bitterly to maintain that segregation and support their ideals of racial superiority. And then we have to talk about allowing high school students into college courses.
"The biggest World War Two bomb ever found in Poland exploded under water on Tuesday as navy divers tried to defuse it." Well, they tried, but then decided to do a controlled detonation. Yes, we're still dealing with deadly ordinance from a war that ended more than 70 years ago.
"'But what we're seeing as the increasing threat right now is actually acquisition of infection through small household gatherings,' Redfield said. 'Particularly with Thanksgiving coming up, we think it's really important to stress the vigilance of these continued mitigation steps in the household setting.'"
"Starmer accused British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of ignoring expert advice after reports emerged Tuesday that the government’s chief scientific advisors said several weeks ago that the country should go into a mini national lockdown to stop the spread of the virus."
"Eli Lilly’s late-stage trial of its leading monoclonal antibody treatment for the coronavirus has been paused by U.S. health regulators over potential safety concerns, the company confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday."
"Mid-pandemic in April, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine allowed restaurants to sell to-go alcoholic beverages and today the decision became permanent with a few changes, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States… Unlike the temporary provision where the limit was two drinks, there is now a three drink limit per meal… The new law also allows third parties to deliver alcohol--so companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash may deliver alcoholic beverages to your door with food." I'm sure this won't come back to bite us in the ass.
"On May 18, the FBI was months into investigating an alleged terror plot targeting Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. On that day, a local sheriff was sharing a protest stage with one of the men who would be charged with providing material support to terrorist acts… Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf said he knew nothing of the alleged crimes being planned. But his apparent friendly relationship with members of the armed group suggests there can be blind spots for local law enforcement." It also doesn't help that Sheriff Leaf is sympathetic to the goals of the terrorists (because, most likely, he's one of them).
"All the while, the threat posed by homegrown far-right extremists deepened. Groups operated in the shadows, spreading hate-filled messages and amassing unlikely followers as social media use soared. Right-wing and white nationalist terrorist attacks spiked, killing twice as many Americans in domestic terror attacks than radical Islamists have since 9/11." Actually before the refocus of 9-11, the FBI was damn good at disabling these groups. But then the Bush Administration took its eyes off the ball.
"President Trump again urged lawmakers to pass a large coronavirus relief bill, saying in a tweet on Tuesday that Congress should 'go big or go home.' The president has received pushback from Republicans opposed to a large package, and from Democrats who argue that a proposal by the White House does not go far enough." Which side was "going big"?
"Heavy fighting has erupted in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as Russia tries to shore up a ceasefire agreed by Armenia and Azerbaijan last weekend… Azerbaijan says it has destroyed missile sites inside Armenia which it claims were used to target civilian areas, and its president has said military operations are continuing."
"The US supreme court will allow the Trump administration to immediately end counting for the 2020 census, despite warnings that doing so would result in inaccurate data with severe consequences for the next decade." Breaking government.
"As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham had a unique opportunity: He got to kick off the questioning Tuesday of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett… How did he mark this historic moment? By giving a purely political speech about the Affordable Care Act in a transparent attempt to bolster his flagging reelection campaign in his home state."
"While Republicans for months have hyped the Obama-era unmasking requests as an enormous scandal, John Bash found no evidence of substantive wrongdoing in his investigation, which has concluded without a public report, the Post said. Bash left his role with the Justice Department last week." Shocked, shocked to find out nothing actually happened.
"President Donald Trump will participate in a town hall with NBC News on Thursday night, setting up a competing television event with Joe Biden in lieu of a presidential debate in which voters would have seen both presidential candidates engage with each other and discuss issues head-to-head." It's all about the ratings.
No comments:
Post a Comment