"NASA does not plan to rename its new $10 billion technological marvel, the James Webb Space Telescope, despite concerns that its namesake, former NASA administrator James Webb, went along with government discrimination against gay and lesbian employees in the 1950s and 1960s."
"The fossilised remains of a dinosaur, nicknamed 'the horned crocodile-faced hell heron', have been unearthed on the Isle of Wight."
"Mars is one of the smallest planets in our solar system, but it's also home to some of the largest, deepest and most dramatic systems of canyons and valleys ever spied by human (or robotic) eyes. New research suggests many of these Martian features were formed by catastrophic climate-driven events of the sort that are currently becoming a more significant threat here on Earth."
"The Biden administration said Wednesday it will draft rules to govern the killing of wild birds by industry and resume enforcement actions against companies responsible for deaths that could have been prevented, a longstanding practice that ended under President Donald Trump… The move came as North American bird numbers have plummeted drastically in recent decades. That decline was punctuated by news Wednesday that the famed ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 other species of flora and fauna have gone extinct."
"A Danish artist was given $84,000 by a museum to use in a work of art. When he delivered the piece he was supposed to make, it was not as promised. Instead, the artist, Jens Haaning, gave the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, Denmark two blank canvases and said they were titled "Take the Money and Run."" Yeah, he's still in breach of contract.
"America’s Frontline Doctors, a right-wing group founded last year to promote pro-Trump doctors during the coronavirus pandemic, is working in tandem with a small network of health care companies to sow distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, dupe tens of thousands of people into seeking ineffective treatments for the disease, and then sell consultations and millions of dollars’ worth of those medications. The data indicate patients spent at least $15 million — and potentially much more — on consultations and medications combined." There's always a grift. (Grokked from John)
"Surveys have shown that as many as half of unvaccinated workers say they will leave their jobs if they're forced to get the COVID-19 shot, but in reality few of them actually quit. That's according to an article in The Conversation, a nonprofit news organization that covers academic research." It's all fun and games until you realize you won't get unemployment.
"New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed 16 states now have obesity rates of 35% or higher. That's an increase of four states --Delaware, Iowa, Ohio, and Texas — in just a year."
"Medical service: Two 'COVID tests' for the coronavirus — a diagnostic PCR test, which typically takes a few days to process and is quite accurate, and a rapid antigen test, which is less accurate but produces results in minutes… Total bill: $56,384, including $54,000 for the PCR test and the balance for the antigen test and an ER facility fee. Molina's negotiated rate for both tests and the facility fee totaled $16,915.20, which the insurer paid in full." Burn it all down.
"YouTube is cracking down on the spread of misinformation by banning misleading and inaccurate content about vaccines… The site had previously banned content containing false claims about COVID-19 vaccines under its COVID-19 misinformation policy. The change extends that policy to a far wider number of vaccines."
"The payments were part of a formal addiction treatment called contingency management, which incentivizes drug users with money or gift cards to stay off drugs. At the end of 12 weeks, after all his drug tests came back negative for meth, Lemon received $330. But for him, it was about more than just the money. It was being told, good job."
Signs of the Apocalypse… "McRib lovers, your day is coming – soon… McDonald's announced Thursday that its iconic barbecue sandwich will return to participating restaurants nationwide Nov. 1, nearly a month earlier than in 2020, but later than before the coronavirus pandemic. The fast-food giant said it will be available for a limited time."
"But moments after exiting his car, Mistic was blinded by the lights of a parked police cruiser. Two Idaho Springs police officers began shouting commands at Mistic, who was 24 at the time. One officer threw him to the ground, and the other stunned Mistic with her Taser, according to a new federal lawsuit… The officers claim Mistic resisted arrest, but the Coloradan says there was a different reason for his confused behavior when police confronted him: He couldn't hear them. Mistic is deaf in both ears, isn't able to lip-read and uses American Sign Language to communicate."
"Seafarers, truck drivers and airline workers have endured quarantines, travel restrictions and complex Covid-19 vaccination and testing requirements to keep stretched supply chains moving during the pandemic… But many are now reaching their breaking point, posing yet another threat to the badly tangled network of ports, container vessels and trucking companies that moves goods around the world."
"Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced on Thursday to one year in prison for illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid, making him the first French head of state in modern times to receive two jail terms."
"Americans who have been frustrated with the slow service of the U.S. Postal Service since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic probably won’t be thrilled to hear this… The service is about to get even slower." Fire DeJoy.
"At Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon, Judge Brenda J. Penny decided to suspend Jamie Spears as the conservator of his daughter's estate. John Zabel, a certified public accountant, will step into that role for now. Penny installed Zabel as the new temporary conservator of Spears' estate only until the next court hearing, which is scheduled for Nov. 12. At that point, the judge plans to terminate the conservatorship — freeing the 39-year-old star."
"Public sentiment in Oklahoma seems to mirror recent NPR/Ipsos polling that finds most Americans support resettling the Afghans. But there is some loud dissent… In multiple Facebook videos, Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman John Bennett says the party does not consider the refugees to be welcome in the state." What I see here is the party operations is going from the established anti-immigrant stance of the GOP, even though the members think letting in the Afghans is the right thing to do.
"Nearly 20,000 Haitians, who are on their way to the United States, are now holed up in Necoclí, forming a human bottleneck even bigger than the recent migrant logjams on the U.S.-Mexican border."
"The Christian right’s ability to mobilize its own voters has long made it one of the most potent forces in American politics. But this year, evangelical leaders have embraced a new strategy, one with direct roots in the outcome of the 2020 election: Religious activists have taken up the cause of “election integrity,” pushing bills to crack down on voter fraud, even though no evidence of widespread fraud in US elections exists. In the process, they’ve helped restrict ballot access for millions of Americans — the most regressive wave of voting measures since the Jim Crow era — and drawn a direct connection between their new cause and their core religious beliefs."
"Facing multiple deadlines, Democratic leaders in the House tried to make some headway — even if only symbolically — by passing a bill Wednesday that would suspend the nation's borrowing limit through mid-December of next year… There's a more pressing problem: a looming partial government shutdown."
"The hostile questioning from Republicans underscored that, while America’s longest war is now over, the fight for the 2022 midterms is just getting started. Afghanistan has become a top issue in conservative media and a rallying cry for Republican candidates eager to make the demoralizing exit a referendum on Biden as his poll numbers fall. And if the Pentagon’s reputation becomes collateral damage in the process, so be it." Dear military leaders, they were always using you. It's just your time under the bus.
"But (January 6th), which has so far led to charges of conspiracy against 15 Proud Boys, has not been the heavy blow to the organization that many expected… Nor has the imprisonment of the Proud Boys' chairman, Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio, who was revealed to be a federal informant. Tarrio recently began a five-month term in prison for burning a church's Black Lives Matter banner and bringing high-capacity firearm magazines into Washington, D.C.… 'They're simply switching up their organizational style,' said Miller. 'Now they are organizing more at a local level, they're hosting local rallies, or they're joining into other rallies around political flashpoints like critical race theory or anti-masking.'"
"So today, about eight months into Biden's presidency, how do these voters view him?… In a pair of virtual focus groups NPR observed last week, featuring more than a dozen such voters from key states, a picture emerged of disappointment with Biden — but no regrets that they helped send Trump packing after one term."
"Top congressional Democrats are acknowledging for the first time that they’ll have to scale back their drug pricing plans to win centrist votes for their giant social spending package… Leadership may drop efforts to have the government directly negotiate the prices for medicines in private insurance plans and make fewer drugs subject to negotiations in Medicare, among the changes under consideration." Dear Democrats, these are popular ideas, no need to scale back. Tell the moderates that if they balk, you will hang the defeat of the program around their necks and support primary challengers.
"Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that senators have reached a deal on a stopgap government funding measure to prevent a shutdown." I'll believe it when I see it.
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