Linkee-poo Sunday Jan 2

Betty White, and so it goes.

"An historic wildfire hit Colorado Thursday forcing the evacuation of more than 30,000 people, including patients at local hospitals. Hundreds of homes are reportedly destroyed from the fast-moving flames… The Marshall Fire and Middle Fork Fire are considered the most destructive wildfires in Colorado history, according to a state legislator. Local meteorologists and climate experts say drought, heavy winds, and recent warm weather created the atmosphere for the wildfire to flourish." Wildfires, in Colorado, around the New Year.

"Rare 'low precipitation' (LP) supercells spawned tornadoes across at least two Georgia counties on New Year's Eve. Even though Friday's forecast called for severe storms, including tornadoes, it was a highly unusual event."

"December 2021 has seen multiple mass harassments carried out against people in the science fiction and fantasy community." Jason Sanford keeps us up to date on it all.

"NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced today the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to extend International Space Station (ISS) operations through 2030, and to work with our international partners… to enable continuation of the groundbreaking research being conducted in this unique orbiting laboratory through the rest of this decade."

"A whistleblower in the Canadian province of New Brunswick has warned that a progressive neurological illness that has baffled experts for more than two years appears to be affecting a growing number of young people and causing swift cognitive decline among some of the afflicted."

"The new year brings new protections for patients with private health insurance who will no longer be blindsided by "surprise" medical bills when they unknowingly receive out-of-network care… The No Surprises Act, passed by Congress in 2020 as part of the coronavirus relief package, takes effect Jan. 1."

"The toll on ICU workers has increased steadily, despite advances in both preventing and treating COVID-19."

"The variant's many mutations on the spike protein allow it to infect human cells more efficiently than previous variants could, leaving many more people again vulnerable. Because of that, 'immune escape' alone could be the major reason why the variant looks so contagious compared with delta, which was already highly transmissible… In fact, omicron has been spreading at a pace that's comparable to how fast the original strain of the coronavirus spread at the very beginning of the pandemic, despite the world's newfound levels of immunity."

"The uptick in Covid-19 among the under-50s coincides with a surge in cases among young children – and a troubling increase in pediatric hospitalizations… The US seven-day average for pediatric hospitalizations increased 58%, to 334, between 21 December and 27 December. The increase in hospitalizations for all age groups was about 19%. Less than 25% of US children are vaccinated, Reuters reported."

"Data from the website FlightAware shows more than 4,731 flights were canceled globally on Saturday -- by far the largest day of cancellations since the meltdown began Christmas Eve. At least 2,739 of the cancellations were within, into or out of the US."

"Gov. Ron DeSantis has been missing in action as Covid cases in the state have spiked to new heights, Florida Democratic officials charge." I'm sure he's fine and hiking the Appalachian Trail.

"Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis accompanied his wife to her cancer treatment while critics were accusing the governor of taking a vacation as coronavirus cases spiked, Fox News has learned." And he's supposedly taking meetings and is on phone calls. So you'd think someone would say they've seen him.

"The conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell on sex-trafficking charges this week has increased the scrutiny of others who worked for or socialized with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein for years, and their knowledge of the pair’s activities."

"(Liberty University) founded by evangelist Jerry Falwell ignored reports of rape and threatened to punish accusers for breaking its moral code, say former students. An official who says he was fired for raising concerns calls it a 'conspiracy of silence.'" "As the anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol approaches, three retired U.S. generals have warned that another insurrection could occur after the 2024 presidential election and the military could instigate it."

"Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Jelena McWilliams on Friday unexpectedly submitted her resignation after the Trump appointee faced partisan strife at the bank regulator, in a move that will give Democrats control of the agency in the coming weeks."

"Twitter has permanently suspended the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for 'repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy.'" Another one bites the dust.

"In other words, millions of Americans support the idea of political violence. Researchers call it 'an American insurrectionist movement' that, a year after the attack on the Capitol, is still alive and well." I have a different take on the whole "it wasn't us January 6th…" than the writers and the main thrust of thought on the issue. Most say it's because the lunatic right-wing wants to distance themselves from violence. No they don't. What they want to distance themself is from failure.

"The unanswered questions leave today’s Congress in a perilous position. Democrats, along with the two House GOP members of the Jan. 6 select committee, want to prevent a future effort by Trump or any other losing candidate to attack the transfer of power during certification. That makes Electoral Count Act reform a central part of the select committee’s mandate." The problem is the prospect of the reverse problem, that the insurrectionists control the state legislatures which overrule the will of the people (the vote) and instead submit an "official" slate of electors to select their preferred candidate who didn't win the popular vote (which is the scenario that lead to Jan 6th which was an attempt to delay the certification until new elector votes could be sent).

"The reality — and this won't allay all those fears — is that there are some Americans who generally view force or political violence undertaken by others as justifiable, depending on the situation. That applies to the violence on January 6, and to a few for whom 2020 remains unsettled, but also extends to other issues, from abortion to gun policy to civil rights. And it's partially related to beliefs that political opponents are an existential threat, or being convinced they'll do worse to you. We stress this is not how most people feel, and that those who do are a low number in percentage terms. But then, we've also seen that it doesn't take large numbers to provoke these wider concerns in the nation." That's the myth of the three percenters, that it only takes a small amount of "true believers" to change the government.