Linkee-poo Friday July 2

The NPR reading of the Declaration of Independence.

"Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit delivered satellites from three countries into space Wednesday, its second successful rocket launch from a plane."

"On June 13, the Hubble Space Telescope took itself offline due to a fault in its payload computer, which manages the telescope's scientific instruments. Since then, NASA has been doing the sort of troubleshooting that's familiar to many of us—with the added pressure of the hardware being irreplaceable, in space, and about the same vintage as a Commodore 64."

"Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened into the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic storm season on Friday as it battered the eastern Caribbean, where officials closed schools, businesses and airports."

"Part of the Arctic is nicknamed the 'Last Ice Area,' because floating sea ice there is usually so thick that it’s likely to withstand global warming for decades. So, scientists were shocked last summer when there was suddenly enough open water for a ship to pass through." We're boned.

"Video clips released by the Greenpeace investigation project Unearthed show Keith McCoy, the oil giant's senior director for federal relations, talking frankly about Exxon Mobil's lobbying strategies. Channel 4 from the United Kingdom first reported the comments… McCoy was tricked by the activists who said they were job recruiters. He talked about working with 'shadow groups,' supporting a carbon tax that he believes will never happen and influencing senators to weaken climate elements of President Biden's infrastructure plan."

"The Navy’s decision to pause research at year’s end frees up resources for hypersonic missiles, directed-energy systems like lasers and electronic warfare systems, said Lt. Courtney Callaghan, a Navy spokesperson." Good-bye railgun.

"Dermatologists say cancer-prone areas are often left neglected. Joshua Zeichner, a dermatologist and researcher at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, says he regularly sees patients forgetting to slap sunscreen on the sides of their neck and the tips of their ears — spots, he says, that are particularly sensitive to UV rays owing to the thinness of the skin."

"Long hidden, such price variations are supposed to be available in stark black and white under a Trump administration price transparency rule that took effect at the start of this year. It requires hospitals to post a range of actual prices — everything from the rates they offer cash-paying customers to costs negotiated with insurers… But some hospitals bury the data deep on their websites or have not included all the categories of prices required, according to industry analysts. A sizable minority of hospitals have not disclosed the information at all." Notice how nobody is really expecting the industry to change because of these disclosures, just insurers negotiating better deals and some people dumping those insurers who don't have the best deal. Just wait until find out about pharmacy billing practices.

"Local officials are sounding the alarm over an increase in Covid-19 infections just as the nation prepares to celebrate a Fourth of July holiday that many hoped would mark the start of the resumption of normal life… In Arkansas, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, cases are surging, officials said. In Los Angeles County, where the vaccination rate is slightly above the national average, officials warned about a possible new wave of infections, especially given the rapid spread of the Delta variant."

"A California woman who wrongly accused a Black teen of taking her phone at a New York City hotel late last year and grabbed at him as he tried to leave is now charged with a hate crime."

"The Boy Scouts of America has reached an $850 million settlement with more than 60,000 men who sued the iconic institution over alleged sexual abuse by adults in scouting over several decades."

"Job growth leaped higher in June as businesses looked to keep up with a rapidly recovering U.S. economy, the Labor Department reported Friday… Nonfarm payrolls increased 850,000 for the month, compared with the Dow Jones estimate of 706,000 and better than the upwardly revised 583,000 in May. The unemployment rate, however, rose to 5.9% against the 5.6% expectation."

"It's a common complaint. Restaurants, beauty parlors and factories all have plenty of customers right now but not enough workers to meet the demand… States ending the benefits early hope to push more people back to work, but the effect so far is unclear. The scheduling software company HomeBase found somewhat stronger job gains last month in states that left the benefits in place."

"Ford Motor’s June and second quarter sales were below analyst expectations as a global shortage of semiconductor chips caused significant production cuts and inventory constraints."

"A Boeing 737 cargo plane made an emergency landing off the coast of Honolulu early Friday after pilots reported engine trouble, the Federal Aviation Administration said."

"Some 130 countries have agreed on a global minimum tax backed by President Joe Biden as part of a worldwide effort to keep multinational firms from dodging taxes by shifting their profits to countries with low rates." Good.

"After nearly 20 years, the U.S. military left Bagram Airfield, the epicenter of its war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, two U.S. officials said Friday."

"Gov. Tom Wolf has signed legislation to allow college athletes in Pennsylvania to start earning money based on their fame and celebrity without fear of sanctions from their school or athletic association."

"Adult recreational use of marijuana will become legal in Virginia this week, but the commercial production and sale of marijuana is still almost three years away."

"Officially called The Light of Truth Ida B. Wells National Monument, the commemoration created by sculptor Richard Hunt was dedicated in the South Side neighborhood where Wells lived out her life."

"A Canadian Indigenous group said Wednesday a search using ground-penetrating radar has found 182 human remains in unmarked graves at a site near a former Catholic Church-run residential school that housed Indigenous children taken from their families."

"Her acceptance of the donation from Johnson, who doesn’t even live in Noem’s state but rather in Tennessee, has drawn intense scrutiny. It landed in state coffers Tuesday and though it came from Johnson’s private foundation and appears to be legal, experts say it sets a troubling precedent in which a wealthy patron is effectively commandeering U.S. military might to address private political motivations." South Dakota National Guard unit sold out as mercenaries.

"But the site is more than just a local news outlet, it's part of the Star News Network - an expanding network of pro-Trump sites seeking to influence local politics with conservative opinion by mimicking the look and feel of local newspaper sites. The group operates eight state-focused news sites, including in key Electoral College states such as Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Florida… Steve Bannon, a former strategist for former President Donald Trump, described The Georgia Star News in a radio interview as content 'you can't get anywhere else… We're not Conservative, Inc.,' he said. 'It's very populist, it's very nationalist, it's very MAGA, it's very American First.'"

"Lawyers for the Trump Organization and one of its top executives pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges in a lower Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, as prosecutors alleged a 16-year scheme of brazen fraud and tax evasion by former President Donald Trump's namesake company… A grand jury returned a 15-count indictment against the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, its chief financial officer, late Wednesday evening. Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office detailed the alleged crimes at Thursday's initial court appearance and in the 25-page indictment filed in state court."