"NASA's Perseverance rover, which touched down inside the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, captured some nice shots of its own shadow over the weekend with its hazard-avoidance cameras." Which means six more weeks of winter.
"Abusive relationships are disturbingly common. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in three U.S. women has experience experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by a partner, and one in four men has. Chances are we all know someone who has, is or will experience this form of violence… Here are some ways to help a friend or loved one."
"A safer future is just a few months away, but it's crucial that Americans keep practicing Covid-19 safety precautions and heeding health officials' advice as the country works to vaccinate more people, one expert told CNN on Monday."
"A Florida hospital diverted vaccines from the general public to an ultra-wealthy community where its CEO and Republican donors lived… Gov. Ron DeSantis insists 'the state was not involved' in helping to vaccinate 1,200 residents of the wealthy Ocean Reef community in January, but a spokeswoman for Baptist Health Systems, which administered the doses, told Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald that state officials did intervene." (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"They're not alone in making big moves during the pandemic. With millions of Americans suddenly working remotely, some took the unprecedented opportunity to shift their lives in a new direction — crossing their fingers that when it's safe to go back to the office, they won't have to." I love that many of the people interviewed didn't want their full name used to protect their employment, but then give enough personal details that their employers could probably identify them (I'm guessing their protecting "future" employment opportunities).
"Abortion is illegal in Nigeria except to save a woman's life and carries a heavy jail sentence for both the provider and the patient. But post-abortion care is a form of emergency medicine that all countries have pledged to provide to women with complications of a miscarriage or an induced abortion, irrespective of the legal status of the latter. And many do so with the technical and financial support of the United States."
"Blackouts are becoming increasingly common as extreme weather causes electricity demand to skyrocket, while simultaneously damaging the aging electric grid. Climate change-driven disasters, like more intense storms and hurricanes, only increase that risk… So, some communities are looking for new ways to ensure that vulnerable people and infrastructure can withstand power outages. They're installing solar panels and large batteries to create tiny "microgrids" that continue working when the larger grid goes dark."
"The Biden administration said Monday that it will allow many Venezuelans who are already in the country illegally to remain because of the humanitarian and economic crisis in the socialist South American nation that is an adversary of the U.S.… Carrying out a promise President Biden made on the campaign trail, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas granted Temporary Protected Status to an estimated 320,000 Venezuelans."
"A post-coup crackdown by Myanmar's military appeared to intensify Monday as security forces revoked the licenses of five independent media companies before a late-night standoff that saw hundreds of young protesters trapped in Yangon."
"Myanmar's military - the Tatmadaw - began its involvement in business after the socialist coup of Ne Win in 1962… For years, military battalions were required to be self-sufficient and encouraged to develop stakes in local enterprises to fund their operations… While this practice has been phased out, two military-run conglomerates were established in the 1990s as the government began privatising state industries." Unfortunately there are many militaries across the world that function like this.
"The European Parliament has voted to waive the immunity of former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and two other Catalan separatist MEPs… The politicians left Spain in 2017 following a failed independence referendum, which Madrid said was illegal… The vote left the country facing its deepest political crisis in decades." Someone's going to jail.
"Newsom’s popularity has fallen significantly after reaching record highs at the start of the pandemic and he’s likely to face a recall election later this year driven by critics of his stewardship during the crisis. That makes Tuesday’s State of the State a critical step for keeping voters on his side."
"The Senate passed its version of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Saturday, paving the way for the plan to be taken up by the House on Tuesday or Wednesday before heading to President Biden's desk for his signature. The colossal package known as the American Rescue Plan allocates money for vaccines, schools, small businesses and anti-poverty programs such as an expanded child tax credit that would mean new monthly payments to many parents."
"Monday, the South Dakota state Senate passed a bill that restricts transgender women athletes from competing on high school and college girls' and women's teams. The measure now goes to Republican Gov. Kristi Noem who has said she is excited to sign the bill into law." Because Republicans are all about big government when it comes to their social conservative ideology.
"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sided with a former Georgia college student who sued his school after it prevented him from expressing religious views in a free-speech zone on campus… The 8-1 decision, authored by Justice Clarence Thomas, said that Chike Uzuegbunam -- who was silenced by Georgia Gwinnett College officials even after he had obtained a permit to proselytize and handout religious literature -- can seek nominal damages despite the fact that the school ultimately changed course and Uzuegbunam subsequently graduated."
"For the first time in his nearly 16 years on the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts has filed a solo dissent. In it, he bluntly accused his colleagues of a 'radical expansion' of the court's jurisdiction."
"Twitter has filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claiming the Republican used his office to retaliate against it for banning the account of former President Donald Trump following the riot at the U.S. Capitol." Here we go.
"The spear-wielding self-described shaman who stormed the Senate chamber on Jan. 6 will remain behind bars pending trial, a federal judge ruled on Monday… '[D]efendant’s statements after January 6 indicate that he does not fully appreciate the severity of the charges brought against him,' Lamberth wrote in a 32-page opinion. 'If defendant does not understand the severity of the allegations against him, the Court finds no reason to believe he would not commit the same or similar actions again.'" So he failed the first test of trying to test his case in public.
"Federal prosecutors late Monday alleged that the leader of the Oath Keepers encouraged followers to come to Washington, DC, on Jan. 6 armed with less-than-lethal weapons and later stood outside the Capitol during the insurrection directing them toward a potential entry point… Just after 2 p.m. on Jan. 6, according to prosecutors in a new court filing, Stewart Rhodes sent a message on the encrypted Signal app to several of his followers saying: 'Come to the South Side of the Capitol on steps.' At 2:41 p.m., Rhodes, who is referred to in court filings as Person One, posted a photograph of the Capitol with the caption: 'South side of US Capitol. Patriots pounding on doors.'" Where the people who cheered for more government ability to surveil its citizens suddenly realize those tools can be used against them.
"Prosecutors say Minuta, who recently moved to Texas, is linked to the right-wing Oath Keepers militia, and was seen with Republican operative Roger Stone on the morning of the riot; Stone told a Tennessee newspaper last month that he needed to hire private security while in Washington, and did not personally know the men protecting him."
"The battle over voting rights in the US is a drama that's playing out concurrently in the Congress and state legislatures across the country… On one side are Republicans in state capitols, intent on passing laws curtailing when and where their citizens can vote - citing allegations of voting fraud repeatedly made by Donald Trump in the months after his presidential defeat to Joe Biden… On the other are Democrats in Washington, DC, who are pushing legislation to take those decisions out of the hands of state politicians by setting federal rules for conducting elections."
"Sterling, a Republican who is now the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state's office, says some of the measures backed by Republican Georgia state lawmakers go too far… But he argues that many of the proposals could end up helping elections administrators."v
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