"USA Today’s weekly chart of top-selling books is on indefinite hiatus after the newspaper’s parent company, Gannett, laid off the editor in charge of compiling the list that’s closely followed in the publishing industry."
"NASA's new multibillion-dollar spacecraft successfully returned from the moon Sunday, taking the agency one step closer to getting U.S. astronauts back on the moon by 2025."
"Stop the Energy Shutdown, a campaign organized by oil and gas industry groups, said Tuesday it has collected enough signatures for a referendum to overturn SB 1137, the law that banned new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet (975 meters) of highly populated places. It was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in September."
"Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy have reached a breakthrough in nuclear fusion… For the first time ever in a laboratory, researchers were able to generate more energy from fusion reactions than they used to start the process. The total gain was around 150%." Still a long way to get to a commercial product.
"Americans can order four more free COVID-19 tests through the mail, starting on Thursday. It's part of the Biden administration's plan to deal with an increase in COVID cases sparked by indoor holiday gatherings."
"A 'secret shopper' accountability study shows that medical patients can’t readily schedule appointments by phone through Medicaid providers in New Mexico, even as the state and federal government spend $8.8 billion annually on the health care program that serves nearly half of state residents."
"But this is a healthier place than West Virginia in many respects. The region's residents are less likely to die prematurely, data shows. And on average, they live four years longer than West Virginians… There is another important difference between this former coal territory and its Appalachian counterpart: West Virginia's economic struggles have been compounded by medical debt, a burden that affects about 100 million people in the U.S. — in no state more than West Virginia… In the Saarland, medical debt is practically nonexistent." While Germany has a "free market" of health insurance "like the US" their system is more that the government states that 1) insurance companies are non-profit and 2) details the plans to a greater extent than Obamacare and then allows the non-profits to administer that plan, and finally 3) standardized care, medical claims, and all the back end processes. They also have price controls.
"Still eager to hire, America’s employers are posting more job openings than they did before the pandemic struck 2½ years ago. Problem is, there aren’t enough applicants. The nation’s labor force is smaller than when the pandemic struck." Here we go again.
"Shares skidded in Europe and Asia on Thursday after a retreat on Wall Street by investors dismayed over the Federal Reserve’s warning that still more interest rate hikes are in store following its latest increase."
"But D.C.’s permanent free fare plan will be by far the biggest, coming at a time when major cities including Boston and Denver and states such as Connecticut are considering broader zero-fare policies to improve equity and help regain ridership that was lost with the rise of remote and hybrid work."
"Elon Musk, the billionaire who wants nothing more in life than to be adored by legions of fans, was loudly booed by a crowd in San Francisco on Sunday night after he was invited onstage by comedian Dave Chappelle. And the footage is pretty rough, even if you don’t particularly like Musk."
"Elon Musk’s Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, the advisory group of around 100 independent civil, human rights and other organizations that the company formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform."
"Musk and his allies promote these tweet threads — dubbed the 'Twitter Files' — as bombshell revelations proving that Twitter intentionally muzzled conservatives because of their political views. That's a long-running claim by Republicans who are convinced social media companies censor them, despite ample evidence to the contrary. Twitter's internal researchers, for example, have found its algorithms favor right-leaning political content."
"Rowe has been immersing himself like that in some of the toughest professions for years as host of 'Dirty Jobs' every Sunday on Discovery and streaming on discovery+. A new season started this month." Just a reminder that Rowe threw his hat in with Trump because he thought Trump would help out those people he highlights on his show.
"Business is bouncing back in Bethlehem after two years in the doldrums during the coronavirus pandemic, lifting spirits in the traditional birthplace of Jesus ahead of the Christmas holiday."
"The anger of Peruvians against their government is nowhere more visible than in Andahuaylas, a remote rural Andean community where the poor have struggled for years and where voters’ support helped elect now-ousted President Pedro Castillo, himself a peasant like them." Remember when I said there was a lot more to this story.
"In this Tuscan town, some cooks have rediscovered the energy-saving cooking box, a tool their grandparents used during World War II. An enterprising nonprofit here is producing useful — and stylish — insulating boxes that use less gas than traditional Italian cooking."
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed Western leaders again on Monday to provide more advanced weapons to help his country in its war with Russia, and he repeated his calls for Russian forces to withdraw from occupied areas of Ukraine, suggesting Christmas as a date to retreat."
"Benjamin Netanyahu, soon expected to return to office as Israel's prime minister, is defending his effort to assemble a government with far-right ultranationalists… Facing criticism in Israel and abroad, Netanyahu previously had not spoken in detail about Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's most polarizing far-right politician, now in line to be Netanyahu's minister of national security overseeing the police." Not a good look. "Netanyahu said, and maintained that he — not his allies — will call the shots on policy. 'They are joining me. I'm not joining them.'" Well, one, Benny, you ain't that moderate yourself. And two, well, tell me how that's worked out for the Republican Party here in the US.
"Supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro clashed with police Monday, setting fire to several vehicles and allegedly attempting to invade the federal police’s headquarters in capital city Brasilia."
"Most registered voters in Tennessee want exceptions for rape or incest in the state’s sweeping abortion ban, but they largely don’t know the specifics of what’s in the law as it stands today, according to new Vanderbilt University polling." This is my shocked face.
"A large study by U.S. highway safety regulators found that more than half the people injured or killed in traffic crashes had one or more drugs, or alcohol, in their bloodstreams." Not exactly a surprising finding.
"Seventy-four percent said Congress should compromise. But Americans have gotten more pessimistic that their leaders will try to reach across the aisle. The 58% who said they have no confidence Congress will do so is more than double the level found in 2008, when just 23% said so." No, what we want is for Congress to work, which we all believe means "compromise." We're tired of the political games and one upsmanship.
For example… "The top-ranking Republican in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives asked a court late Friday to prevent voters from filling three vacant seats in February that will determine majority control of the chamber."
"Weakness in any part of that voting bloc could have implications during the next presidential race. Biden, who will be a few weeks shy of his 82nd birthday on Election Day 2024, says he intends to run again. Trump, 76, has already announced his candidacy." Oh, it's time for the "Generational politics" process stories again. Yippie.
"The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said it has submitted to state prosecutors the findings of its voter fraud probe into Mark Meadows, a former White House chief of staff to President Donald Trump, who was simultaneously registered to vote in North Carolina and two other states earlier this year."
"At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of bills to tweak the initiative process, from 33 in 2017 to more than a 100 in 2021 and 2022, according to the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a group which provides research and support to groups promoting ballot measures… While not all would restrict the process, many propose new requirements for the number of signatures needed, where the signatures must come from, or increase the threshold to pass a measure."
"President Biden signed into law Tuesday a bipartisan bill that codifies same-sex and interracial marriages with a large celebration on the South Lawn of the White House."
Remember how conservative like "local control" of schools? "The latest proposal to give Ohio’s governor more power overseeing K-12 education cleared the state Senate with a ban on transgender student-athletes in girls sports but hit a roadblock hours later when the legislation fell several votes short of passage in the House early Thursday." They like local control right up until they lose control of those local school boards.
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