"An ancient Roman bust that went on display at a museum in San Antonio, Texas this week has a peculiar backstory: In 2018, the bust was bought at a Goodwill store in Austin, Texas. The buyer, Laura Young, was shopping for objects to resell and had no clue she picked up an artifact dating from the first century BC or AD."
"Her project, called Tender, took shape. She had 120,000 pennies inscribed with that phrase, and distributed them through New York City's bodegas, locally-owned convenience stories which were considered essential businesses when the city was shut down in the early stages of the pandemic. She also made a short film with a provocative set of images, juxtaposing Brink's trucks filled with pennies with rows of refrigerated trucks filled with bodies. It's saying the economy is sick; our bodies are sick, too."
"But recently, the small, automated helicopter has had problems with dust accumulating on its solar panels, NASA says. This dust reduces the ability of the vehicle to recharge its six lithium-ion batteries. And just as the helicopter needs all of the solar energy it can get, the northern hemisphere of Mars is approaching the dead of winter, which comes in a little more than two months."
"Four-and-a-half months after the James Webb Space Telescope's Christmas Day launch, engineers have achieved near-perfect alignment of its complex optical system, setting the stage for final instrument calibrations and the release of the first showcase science images in July, officials said Monday."
"NASA’s InSight Mars lander has detected the largest quake ever observed on another planet: an estimated magnitude 5 temblor that occurred on May 4, 2022, the 1,222nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This adds to the catalog of more than 1,313 quakes InSight has detected since landing on Mars in November 2018. The largest previously recorded quake was an estimated magnitude 4.2 detected Aug. 25, 2021."
"A spectacular full moon is fast approaching, with plans to grace the night sky on Sunday night. It marks not only a supermoon, but also a blood moon — thanks to a lunar eclipse… The last total lunar eclipse occurred a year ago, on May 26, 2021. If the weather is clear, millions of skywatchers in the Americas, Europe and Africa will be able to view the total lunar eclipse on the night of May 15-16."
"The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has spotted something incredible in the Milky Way galaxy — something its team is calling "groundbreaking." But what exactly that discovery is, we won't find out until Thursday (May 12)."
"With human-made climate change continuing, there's a 48% chance that the globe will reach a yearly average of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels of the late 1800s at least once between now and 2026, a bright red signal in climate change negotiations and science, a team of 11 different forecast centers predicted for the World Meteorological Organization late Monday." We're boned.
"Las Vegas is being flooded with lore about organized crime after a second set of human remains emerged within a week from the depths of a drought-stricken Colorado River reservoir just a 30-minute drive from the notoriously mob-founded Strip."
"Samples extracted from three American tourists who died at a resort in the Bahamas under mysterious circumstances have been sent to a lab in the United States to expedite results and help authorities understand what happened, officials said Monday."
"Researchers have hailed a breakthrough in the treatment of a common, incurable disease that causes hand deformities by bending the fingers firmly into the palm… A clinical trial at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities found that a drug used for rheumatoid arthritis appeared to drive Dupuytren’s disease into reverse when used early on, a result described as a potential 'gamechanger' for patients."
"As COVID-19 cases continue to rise around the United States, some experts are saying that the country could be entering a fifth wave of the virus as summer approaches… In the last week alone, COVID cases in the state of Illinois have gone up by more than 40%, while hospitalizations have also begun a slow increase, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health."
"West Hansen pilots his muddy Subaru through the industrial landscape of Southeast Texas where he grew up — past Bible churches, donut shops and the silver industrial towers of the refineries. The longtime social worker says he's given up trying to explain to his clients how safe the COVID-19 vaccines are." Not surprised, and it's the people we see most in the ER. Again, mostly pointed out in politics (and this resistance is political) a substantial portion of the American populace has decided that reality and truth no longer really matter to them.
"Shares of Rivian Automotive closed Monday at a new low following a CNBC report that Ford Motor is selling 8 million shares of the electric vehicle start-up… Rivian’s stock ended the day at $22.78 a share, down nearly 21%, adding to significant losses for the year. Monday’s decline marked the stock’s worst trading day since the company went public through its blockbuster IPO in November. The stock has fallen 78% this year."
"U.S. gasoline prices reached another record high on Tuesday as Russia's war in Ukraine continues to roil oil markets… The average cost of a gallon of regular fuel hit $4.374, according to data from AAA. That's the highest ever, not adjusting for inflation, surpassing the previous record high of $4.331 a gallon set in March, soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine."
"Prices at the pump are once again flirting with record highs. That's adding to inflationary headaches for families, the US economy and the White House.."
"A superyacht that American authorities say is owned by a Russian oligarch previously sanctioned for alleged money laundering has been seized by law enforcement in Fiji, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday."
"Russian President Vladimir Putin used a military parade marking the Soviet Union's triumph over the Nazis during the Second World War to defend his invasion of Ukraine on Monday, casting it as a response to Western policies. Despite widespread speculation, Putin did not declare victory in Ukraine or hint at any stronger push on the battlefield there."
"Russian troops pounded the vital port of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday, an apparent effort to disrupt the supply lines and Western weapons shipments critical to Kyiv’s defense."
"Ukraine is one of the biggest producers of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, and the war has wreaked havoc on the so-called "breadbasket of Europe." Ukraine and Russia together account for over a quarter of the world's wheat exports. Ukraine's Ministry of Agriculture now says that 30% of the country's farmland is occupied or unsafe… Kulibaba says Russian troops slept in his barn, slaughtered and cooked his pigs and parked their tanks in his cornfields."
"But it is a very bad thing for this information to be public knowledge. I don't blame the journalists who've reported it. If high-ranking, trustworthy government officials reveal newsworthy information to a reporter, it's usually considered acceptable to publish it. I blame the officials — especially since the Biden administration has made clear that it has not authorized the disclosures. This is a person or group of people showing off to journalists about their role in hurting Russia. That's extremely reckless and could well lead to an exceptionally dangerous escalation of the conflict that ends up with the U.S. and NATO being draw into a direct military confrontation with Russia." I sometime weep about how much we've forgotten about how to survive in this world of detente, MAD, and global cold war conflicts. Now, there are sometimes things that are surprises, but mostly this is a highly coordinated and scripted dance. So is Biden's "being upset." We've established our roll, before Russia could frame the conversation and force even deep disclosures. We also gave the Russians a warning, we know exactly where your assets are and could hit them anytime we choose. That's an essential part of the balance of terror.
"Riccardi-Swartz's study focused on a community of mostly former evangelical Christians and Catholics who had joined the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). The West Virginia location, in addition to having a church parish, was also home to the largest English-speaking Russian Orthodox monastery in the world… Over a year of doing research, Riccardi-Swartz learned that many of these converts had grown disillusioned with social and demographic change in the United States. In ROCOR, they felt they had found a church that has remained the same, regardless of place, time and politics. But Riccardi-Swartz also found strong strains of nativism, white nationalism and pro-authoritarianism, evidenced by strong admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin." Well that and they get great deals on Xmas presents and Easter candy.
"Three people are dead after an out-of-control SUV crashed into pedestrians and then a SEPTA station in the Kensington section of Philadelphia… A police officer who was on patrol in the area saw a white SUV traveling at a high rate of speed at Kensington and East Allegheny avenues around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday."
Britain's Conservative government made sweeping promises to cut crime, improve health care and revive the pandemic-scarred economy as it laid out its plans for the next year in a tradition-steeped ceremony in Parliament — but without Queen Elizabeth II, who was absent for the first time in six decades."
"A former Alabama jail official has died after shooting herself when she and the murder suspect she was accused of helping to escape were captured Monday in Indiana after more than a week on the run, according to officials."
"A majority of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, but many are open to restrictions; many opponents of legal abortion say it should be legal in some circumstances." But, again, this isn't about popular opinion, logic, or even religion. This is about control, rolling back the sexual revolution, and a return to a non-existent "simpler" time that has become a fetish with social conservatives.
"Along with it, another case on abortion will also be affected: Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. The 5-4 decision upheld Roe in 1992, but paved the way for more restrictions on abortion access because it declared that restrictions were allowed as long as there was not an "undue burden." It was the first time the court set a new standard on validity of certain laws that restricted abortions."
"About 100 protesters marched to Justice Samuel Alito’s home in Alexandria, Va., on Monday night as tension over abortion rights continues to simmer in the wake of the breached draft opinion showing a majority of the Supreme Court prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade… The peaceful grassroots demonstration makes Alito the third justice to see protests at their private residence after the breach of the draft opinion last week. Protests over the weekend at the homes of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts sparked criticism from conservatives who argued that the abortion-rights groups behind the moves had crossed a line by pressuring Supreme Court jurists in their private spaces."
"As the Supreme Court appears poised to return abortion regulation to the states, recent experience in Texas illustrates that medical care for miscarriages and dangerous ectopic pregnancies would also be threatened if restrictions become more widespread… One Texas law passed last year lists several medications as abortion-inducing drugs and largely bars their use for abortion after the seventh week of pregnancy. But two of those drugs, misoprostol and mifepristone, are the only drugs recommended in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines for treating a patient after an early pregnancy loss."
"This week, OTM presents a story from our colleagues at The Experiment. There’s a common story about abortion in this country, that people have only two options to intentionally end a pregnancy: the clinic or the coat hanger. They can choose the safe route that’s protected by Roe v. Wade—a doctor in a legal clinic—or, if Roe is overturned, endure a dangerous back-alley abortion, symbolized by the coat hanger. But a close look at the history of abortion in this country shows that there’s much more to this story. As a draft of the majority opinion overruling Roe v. Wade was leaked to the media this week, activists are once again preparing to take abortion into their own hands."
"President Biden has named Karine Jean-Pierre as his second White House press secretary, replacing Jen Psaki later this month. Jean-Pierre, who has been Psaki's deputy since the start of the administration, will make history several times over."
"It's a refrain that former Sen. David Perdue has made a centerpiece of his campaign for governor in Georgia… 'The election in 2020 was rigged and stolen,' Perdue asserted at a recent debate.… 'I don't know whether he believes it or not. I really don't,' said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican. 'But I'm sure it's a political strategy.'"
"Nebraska Republicans will pick a nominee for governor Tuesday in a bitter primary race that was upended in recent weeks after a leading candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump was accused of groping at least eight women over the last few years." An example of "takes one to recognize one"?
"But Chambers doesn't know if one of her caregivers will be allowed to return her ballot in the next election because of an ongoing legal battle in Wisconsin… In January, a Waukesha County judge sided with a conservative legal group in a lawsuit and ruled that ballot drop boxes, which were widely used in the 2020 election, aren't permitted under state law and that voters must return their absentee ballots themselves."
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