"Teeth from mammoths buried in the Siberian permafrost for more than a million years have yielded the oldest DNA ever sequenced, according to a study published on Wednesday, shining a genetic spotlight into the deep past."
"NASA's Perseverance Mars rover is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet today (Feb. 18) at 3:55 p.m. EST (2055 GMT) — or at least that's when NASA will find out if it landed."
"A blanket of snow covered portions of the Mediterranean basin after a winter storm swept through the region Tuesday night… Snow is common in the mountain ranges outside of Athens, Greece, but rarely does it fall within the city limits. Children opted to skip online classes to play. Adults did the same, including Norwegian Ambassador Frode Overland Andersen, who shared a video of himself skiing near the Olympic Stadium in Filothi on Twitter, The Associated Press reported."
"As winter storms and freezing temperatures continue to wreak havoc across Texas, many are having to fight for survival… Millions in the state remain without power on Wednesday, trying their best to stay warm and dry as burst pipes flood homes… Here are just some of the struggles some Texans said they are facing during this winter crisis."
"But the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which supplies about 90% of the state with its power, said Tuesday that wind power is responsible for just a fraction of the loss. Of the 45,000 megawatts of power offline during the peak, 30,000 megawatts stemmed from natural gas, while 16,000 megawatts were from wind turbines… Experts say traditional energy sources, including coal and natural gas, performed below expectations, while wind power actually performed above expectations." I guess ERCOT didn't get the memos in time.
"'Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,' (former Gov and presidential candidate Rick) Perry is quoted as saying. 'Try not to let whatever the crisis of the day is take your eye off of having a resilient grid that keeps America safe personally, economically, and strategically.'" Which is hilarious because that's exactly the opposite of what you have, Ricky. And Texans, I think you should let your former governor know exactly what you think of his proposal that you're willing to suffer for his gain.
"Police in Brazil are investigating allegations that healthcare workers are giving fake Covid-19 inoculations, amid reports of nurses injecting people with empty syringes… Police announced a criminal investigation on Wednesday, amid speculation that the nurses were either anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists, or were pocketing vaccine shots to be sold on the black market."
"As first reported by New Scientist, the B.1.429 variant of SARS-CoV-2 that originated in California has somehow had a "recombination" event with the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the United Kingdom. If confirmed by other scientists, this would mark the first recorded time that the novel coronavirus has developed a recombinant strain during the pandemic, although it is not unusual for coronaviruses in general to recombine." It's Thunderdome, two viruses enter, one virus leaves.
"Two men are accused of pretending to be federal marshals and flashing phony credentials to get out of wearing facial coverings at a South Florida resort hotel… When the staff at the Wyndham Deerfield Beach Resort asked Walter Wayne Brown Jr., 53, and Gary Brummett, 81, to cover their faces, the men refused, and threatened to arrest employees and saddle the hotel with a fine, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported." Just wear the goddamn mask.
"Prosecutors asked a Dutch court Thursday to drop the case against a 68-year-old father who is accused of isolating and abusing his own children, who were kept secluded from the outside world for years in a remote farmhouse." In case you thought Europe was more enlightened when it came to abuse.
"First-time filings for unemployment… totaled 861,000, the highest level in a month and above the Dow Jones estimate of 773,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday… The total for the week ended Feb. 13 marked only a slight uptick from the 848,000 a week earlier. That number was revised up from the initially reported 793,000."
"In a memo to U.S. associates obtained by Yahoo Finance, U.S. CEO John Furner said the wages for Walmart’s 425,000 store associates in the digital and stocking workgroups would increase to a range of $13 to $19 per hour, depending on location and market. The pay increase will take effect on March 13." The anti $15/hr wage arguments are starting to look a little ridiculous.
However… "Walmart said its minimum starting wage for workers will remain at $11 an hour. Its U.S. workforce numbers about 1.5 million people, making it the nation’s largest private employer." Nothing says you're special to your employer by creating a perverse incentive to cut costs by firing you.
"The 'meme stock' saga that began with wild swings in the price of GameStop stock last month opens a new chapter today. The House Financial Services Committee is convening a noon hearing to hear from major players touching several facets of the story… In announcing the hearing, Chairwoman Maxine Waters took particular aim at hedge funds, saying 'private funds engaging in predatory short selling to the detriment of other investors must be stopped.'"
No, no, no, see… "‘What I would like to point out here is that we have come dangerously close to the collapse of the entire system, and the public seems to be completely unaware of that, including Congress and the regulators.’… That’s Thomas Peterffy, founder and chairman of Interactive Brokers Group Inc., detailing Wednesday on CNBC the dire situation in which the market stood in late January as individual investors on social-media platforms banded together to send a handful of heavily shorted stocks, including bricks-and-mortar videogame retailer GameStop Corp.and movie chain AMC Entertainment Holdings to sky-high levels, with shockwaves registering throughout the market." It all depends on who you see as the hero and who you see as the villain.
So, with all the stories about how state GOP organizations are voting to censure those conservative representatives who voted for impeachment (both in the House and the Senate), kinda puts the lie to the "Big Tent" party line, doesn't it.
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