Linkee-poo Friday April 2

Sorry, was out of pocket and scrambling the past two days.

"They're purple, spiky and voracious, and just off the West Coast, there are more of them than you can count… Purple sea urchins have exploded in recent years off California, covering the ocean floor in what divers describe as a "purple carpet." And they devour kelp: the once-lush forests of seaweed that hugged the coastline are disappearing. Since 2014, 95 percent of the kelp have vanished across a large part of Northern California, most of it bull kelp."

"After more than two months of steep declines, coronavirus infections are on the rise again nationally — along with COVID-19 hospitalizations in many states… In the past seven days, the U.S. reported slightly more than 65,000 new cases per day on average, a jump of 20% from two weeks earlier. Many states have seen even more dramatic growth, as high as 125% in Michigan, according to an NPR analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University." While this is being called the fourth surge, we really have never stopped having the first surge.

"Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech's (BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine is proving effective six months after the second dose, according to an ongoing analysis of the Phase 3 trial participants."

For those still saying, "it's not that bad"… "COVID-19 was the third-underlying cause of death in 2020 after heart disease and cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Wednesday."

"Calling the new, faster-spreading variants of the coronavirus "an epidemic within the epidemic," French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday extended a lockdown to the entire country and closed schools through the end of April."

"A State Department fact sheet from mid-January highlights reports of sick lab researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the fall of 2019, notes the dangerous type of coronavirus research the lab was conducting and says there was also secret military activity at the lab… While Metzl and others, like Feith, believe there is more circumstantial evidence that SARS-CoV-2 came from a lab than naturally, many scientists say the opposite. Based on the available evidence, they believe, like the WHO team, that the coronavirus appears far more likely to have emerged naturally." Most likely SARS-CoV2 had been circulating in the population for months prior to the large outbreak in Wuhan, which would argue against a "lab accident." And yes, China won't allow one of their labs that does military research to be fully investigated (just like we wouldn't). And this is starting to take on a fanaticism that is leading me to believe that the main reason this theory continues to have life is there are those who want to use it to get into that lab. That's a dangerous game with consequences that are far more dire than the benefit of gaining a window into the Chinese military research.

"Nearly 140 documentary filmmakers have signed onto a letter given to PBS executives, suggesting the service may provide an unfair level of support to white creators, facing a 'systemic failure to fulfill (its) mandate for a diversity of voices.'"

"Internet collective MSCHF says it’s not infringing on Nike’s trademark with a pair of exclusive, blood-infused 'Satan Shoes,' setting the stage for a bigger legal battle." It was a superb example of cultural trolling.

"First-time claims for jobless benefits were higher than expected last week, with 719,000 more workers heading to the unemployment line, the Labor Department reported Thursday… The total compared with the 675,000 estimate from Dow Jones and was above last week’s downwardly revised 658,000."

"Hiring accelerated last month as U.S. employers added 916,000 workers to their payrolls. It was the largest job gain since August, fueled in part by an improving public health outlook and a new round of $1,400 relief payments… The unemployment rate dropped to 6%, from 6.2% in February. Unemployment among African Americans and Latinos remained elevated, at 9.6% and 7.9% respectively, but the gap with whites narrowed in March. Unemployment among Asian Americans rose to 6%, from 5.1% in February."

"As March Madness heads into its final days, college athletes are playing on a different kind of court: the Supreme Court. On Wednesday the justices heard arguments in a case testing whether the NCAA's limits on compensation for student athletes violate the nation's antitrust laws… The players contend that the NCAA is operating a system that is a classic restraint of competition in violation of the federal laws barring price fixing in markets, including the labor market."

"Facebook is making changes to give users more choice over what posts they see in their news feeds, as the social media company defends itself from accusations that it fuels extremism and political polarization… The changes, announced Wednesday, include making it easier for people to switch their feeds to a 'Most Recent' mode, where the newest posts appear first, and allowing users to pick up to 30 friends or pages to prioritize. Users can now limit who can comment on their posts." Yes, I no longer have to dig for the "Most Recent" option, but the rest is pretty much bullshit.

"The Biden administration on Thursday welcomed a European Union announcement that the participants in the Iran nuclear deal will meet this week to discuss a possible return of the United States to the 2015 accord."

"President Biden has allowed a ban on H1-B and other kinds of foreign work visas to expire, bringing to a close a dramatic clampdown on legal immigration put in place by the Trump administration last year as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic."

"A U.N. special envoy warned the 15-nation Security Council on Wednesday that 'a bloodbath is imminent' in Myanmar if it does not act to curb the violent military crackdown against protesters, according to a copy of her remarks obtained by CBS News."

"A CNN investigation, carried out with Amnesty International and published Thursday, verified footage of soldiers executing a group of at least 11 unarmed men before disposing of their bodies near the Tigrayan town of Mahibere Dego… The Ethiopian government did not respond to CNN's request for comment until after the investigation was published and broadcast… A BBC-led investigation also published Thursday corroborated the same massacre near Mahibere Dego."

"Current and former officials at the U.S. Marshals Service said they are worried about an executive order from the Biden administration that phases out contracts with private prisons and jails… The order, which likely applies to 10,000 of the 60,000 people the marshals have in custody on any given day, could mean that some pretrial detainees are housed hours away from courthouses where their cases will be heard, and that marshals could be diverted from their work on fugitive task forces to transport those defendants over long distances."

"Although bike theft has always been a common issue, especially in urban areas, it increased during the pandemic in a number of cities. The pandemic led to an unprecedented boom in bikes sales. The rising demand, increase in ridership, and shortage of bikes nationwide among other factors, has likely contributed to a rise in theft, according to Bike Index, a nonprofit organization and national bicycle registry. Novice cyclists who picked up the habit recently or are relying more heavily on bikes for transportation may also be unaware of the basics of bike security — especially in urban areas."

"Shortly after a group of Black business executives called on corporate America to do more in pushing back against restrictive voting bills making their way through state legislatures, a handful of Georgia’s highest-profile companies took stronger public stands against the state’s recently passed voting law. The state is home to a host of America’s biggest companies—including Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Home Depot, and Aflac—all of which are facing criticism for not being more vocal in opposition to the Georgia voting bill, which was signed into law last week after weeks of winding its way through the state Legislature. On Wednesday, two of the state’s biggest companies, Delta and Coca-Cola, issued more forceful denunciations of the new law." Until they pull all funding of legislators and other politicians who were involved, I'll still continue to berate them. Money talks, bullshit walks.

"The Texas Senate in the early morning hours Thursday passed a package of election bills that would put new restrictions on voting in the state… The final version of the Senate Bill 7 is not yet online for review, but the original version of the bill banned overnight early voting hours and drive-thru early voting, while restricting how election officials handle mail voting."

"These are busy days for Republican state attorneys general, filing repeated lawsuits that claim President Joe Biden and his administration are overstepping their authority on immigration, climate change, the environment and taxes… Most of the action is in federal courts where former President Donald Trump was able to appoint conservative judges."

"Mitch McConnell on Thursday ruled out support from his Republicans for President Joe Biden's new infrastructure plan, all but ensuring that the proposal will have to pass with lockstep Democratic unity in the Senate… At an event in Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader pilloried the $2.5 trillion infrastructure proposal as exacerbating the debt and raising taxes. McConnell said the bill would not get a single Senate GOP vote, despite the White House's bipartisan outreach." I know, I'm shocked too. And it's surprising that after 4 years of huge deficit spending to reduce rich people's taxes the GOP is now concerned with deficits when it comes to actually improving everybody's lives.

"Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, a controversial conservative and boisterous ally of former President Donald Trump's, confirmed Tuesday he is being investigated by the Department of Justice over sexual misconduct but denied the allegations tied to the probe."

"In response to stunning New York Times reporting that the Justice Department is investigating a possible sexual relationship between Matt Gaetz and a 17-year-old girl, the Florida Republican congressman vehemently denied the accusation and told a broader story of intrigue involving himself and his father."

"The Government Accountability Office has issued a damning report about the implementation of legislation supporting Ivanka Trump’s signature women’s empowerment initiative, from her time as an adviser to her father, President Donald Trump… As Ivanka Trump traveled the world talking up the whole-of-government Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, deep problems were developing in roll out of the bipartisan Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018 at the U.S. Agency for International Development." Lots of hype and talk, very little actual action and effect.

"Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood took $50,000 from an associate of a billionaire who ran an illegal scheme providing foreign contributions to U.S. campaigns, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. LaHood later failed to disclose the check on two government ethics forms as required." Finally an actual, real life scandal in the Obama administration.

"The suburbs used to belong to the Republican Party. But those days are gone… Driven by demographic change and increasing diversity, the political leanings of the suburbs have shifted. In many areas, those shifts accelerated in recent years, because a large number of suburban voters disliked Donald Trump. On top of that, a lot of them are turned off by a GOP that has fully embraced Trump-style populism and grievance, and an eagerness to put culture wars front and center… The question for Republicans and Democrats alike, then, is whether suburban voters move at all back into the GOP tent, with Trump no longer on the ballot."