Jilly_in_VA
Jilly_in_VA's JournalA Federal Judge Has Blocked New DACA Applicants From Deportation Protections
A federal judge in Texas on Friday ordered the Biden administration to halt a program that shields undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children from deportation.
District Judge Andrew Hanen's split order doesn't affect current recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, but stops the Department of Homeland Security from approving any new applications. The decision comes amid a government backlog of thousands of first-time DACA applicants who were waiting to be approved.
The Supreme Court ruled against the former president Donald Trump's attempts to rescind DACA last year, saying the government had violated federal law when it rescinded the program. Then in December, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to begin accepting new applications for DACA, fully restoring the Obama-era program. The program not only protected undocumented immigrants from deportation, but also gave them permission to work.
Unlike the case the Supreme Court ruled on, which focused on how the Trump administration went about ending DACA, the lawsuit before Hanen focused on the original terms the program was created under. In the lawsuit, Texas and eight other states argued that DACA was illegally created by former president Barack Obama.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adolfoflores/judge-blocks-new-daca-applicants
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Texass. Might have known it. What are the chances he's a TFG-McTurtle ram-through, or a Shrub appointee?
Just 7% of our DNA is unique to modern humans, study shows
What makes humans unique? Scientists have taken another step toward solving an enduring mystery with a new tool that may allow for more precise comparisons between the DNA of modern humans and that of our extinct ancestors.
Just 7% of our genome is uniquely shared with other humans, and not shared by other early ancestors, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science Advances.
“That's a pretty small percentage," said Nathan Schaefer, a University of California computational biologist and co-author of the new paper. “This kind of finding is why scientists are turning away from thinking that we humans are so vastly different from Neanderthals.”
The research draws upon DNA extracted from fossil remains of now-extinct Neanderthals and Denisovans dating back to around 40,000 or 50,000 years ago, as well as from 279 modern people from around the world.
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/dna-unique-modern-humans-study-shows-78889066
If you are forced to leave the country, where will you go and why?
I think we've all thought about where we might go if it absolutely came down to it...if things got so bad we'd just have to leave this country and go somewhere else. I know I started thinking about it the minute TFG was elected and I still think about it. I may, at my age, just have to go down swinging, though. Husband and I are getting up there where emigration may not be entirely feasible. However, these are possibilities we discussed then and since, pros and cons (copied from an earlier post). I'd love to see yours.
Ireland--good tech climate, but the weather and cost of living were a deterrent
Uruguay--decent climate, language barrier, far from family
Costa Rica--good weather, lots of expats, language barrier
Fiji--fabulous weather except for cyclones, some political instability, far from family
One of the Caribbean nations--same as Fiji for weather
And the surprise entry--Botswana--most stable nation in Africa, booming tech economy, decent weather, but surrounded by unstable nations and very far from family.
Husband doesn't speak Spanish but I have enough tucked away that I could pick it up very quickly. He has been to Fiji and several of the Caribbean countries as a tagalong with a former partner who was a dive enthusiast (don't ask). He is also a tech lord and could probably find IT employment easily in an English speaking country. Age is a deterrent however.
Why not Canada? Two things. Age restrictions, for one, although a friend who lives in Alberta says she would sponsor us. Otherwise most of it is too cold for too long, and I just don't do winter. I would consider Vancouver Island (not the city) though.
White House turns up heat on Big Tech's Covid 'disinformation dozen'
The White House turned up the pressure on Silicon Valley to get a handle on vaccine misinformation Thursday, specifically singling out 12 people one group dubbed the "disinformation dozen," saying they were responsible for a great deal of misinformation about Covid-19.
"There's about 12 people who are producing 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.
That statistic is from the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) which identified in a report published in March about a dozen people it said were super-spreaders of anti-vaccine misinformation.
The CCDH had at the time called on Facebook and Twitter to shut down all pages run by those people. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine movement, is among the people whom the CCDH said should be kicked off social media.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/16/tech/misinformation-covid-facebook-twitter-white-house/index.html
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Here is a link to the report listing all of them
https://252f2edd-1c8b-49f5-9bb2-cb57bb47e4ba.filesusr.com/ugd/f4d9b9_b7cedc0553604720b7137f8663366ee5.pdf
Newly-Discovered 'Borg' DNA Is Unlike Anything Scientists Have Ever Seen
Scientists have discovered DNA sequences in wetland soil that are unlike anything ever found and which could have “important and unanticipated climate implications,” according to a new preprint study co-authored by a Nobel Prize Laureate, among other genomics researchers.
The authors of the new paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, named these genetic elements “Borgs” after the recurring villains in Star Trek, because they assimilate genes from other organisms.
Borgs are extrachromosomal elements, meaning that these DNA sequences are found outside the chromosomes that lie within the nucleus of most cells and that contain the majority of an organism’s genetic material. Examples of extrachromosomal elements include plasmids, which can replicate outside of a host’s chromosomes, and some viruses.
Exactly what Borgs are remains a mystery at this point, but it is clear that they share genes and proteins with organisms that oxidize methane, called methanotrophs, that belong to the genus Methanoperedens, suggesting that they acquired these elements through past gene transfers. Methanotrophs are of immense interest to climate change researchers because they reduce atmospheric emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to rising global temperatures.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/88ndvp/newly-discovered-borg-dna-is-unlike-anything-scientists-have-ever-seen
19-Year-Old Protester Stomped On A 'Back The Blue' Sign. She Faces Hate Crime Charges
A Utah hate crime case is drawing national attention after local authorities charged a young woman with a hate crime over allegedly defacing a "Back the Blue" sign in front of a sheriff's deputy.
Utah is one of at least five states — along with Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Hampshire — that list law enforcement officers, along with race and gender, in their hate crime laws' protected categories, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Lauren Gibson, 19, is accused of stomping on a "Back the Blue" sign while "smirking in an intimidating manner" at a Garfield County sheriff's deputy. The deputy had pulled over a group of vehicles for speeding, the sheriff's office says.
"The officer wrote in court documents the incident should be treated as a hate crime because it was an 'attempt to intimidate law enforcement,' " as NPR member station KUER reported.
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/15/1016431004/a-woman-is-facing-a-hate-crime-charge-for-stomping-on-a-back-the-blue-sign-in-ut
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Is "Blueflake" now a word?
Parts Of The Amazon Rainforest Are Now Releasing More Carbon Than They Absorb
Portions of the Amazon rainforest are now releasing more carbon dioxide than they absorb, disrupting an important balancing act that signals a worsening of the climate crisis, according to a new study.
Findings from the nearly decade-long research project, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, suggest that deforestation and fire, among other factors, have dramatically undercut the Amazon's ability to absorb heat-trapping carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
Researchers who routinely tested the atmosphere at four areas in Amazonia twice a month over a nine-year period found that not only are carbon emissions higher in the eastern areas of the rainforest than in the western areas, but that the southeastern area is putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than it absorbs. The eastern Amazon is a hotspot of deforestation to facilitate logging and agriculture, including cattle ranches.
In addition to deforestation and fires, the study says the rise in emissions from the Amazon has been accelerated by warming temperatures and "moisture stress" during the dry season. The eastern areas have less moisture than the west during already-difficult dry periods, which now have become drier and have lasted longer due to climate change.
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/15/1016469317/parts-of-the-amazon-rainforest-are-now-releasing-more-carbon-than-they-absorb
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The "lungs of the planet" now have emphysema. Lovely.
Woman, 70, repeatedly punched by teenage Walmart employee
A 70-year-old woman says she was repeatedly punched in the face by a Walmart employee after the two had a verbal argument. She says no one tried to help her and is now encouraging anyone who witnesses a similar incident to step in.
Police responded to a Walmart location in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, around 7:00 p.m. July 7 for reports of a 70-year-old woman who was punched multiple times in the head by a 17-year-old cashier.
The victim, P.K. Shader, sustained injuries to the head and face but did not require immediate medical attention. She says this kind of behavior from employees is unacceptable.
“It has been quite a journey. Why anyone would do that? I don’t know. And why no one helped is even more, especially in a Walmart store,” Shader said.
https://www.wvlt.tv/2021/07/15/woman-70-repeatedly-punched-by-teenage-walmart-employee/
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I would ask that you confine discussion to this incident/type of incident and not turn the thread into Walmart bashing, no matter what you think of Walmart. Thanks.
Kingsport Axmen's season ends after police said a recently-dismissed player threatened to kill
KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The Kingsport Axmen baseball team's season has been called off after police said a former pitcher for the team threatened to kill people shortly after he was dismissed.
According to the Kingsport Police Department, officers were asked to come to Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport on Monday around 12:30 p.m. to stand by while management dismissed pitcher Matthew Taylor from the team and banned him from the premises.
Police said Taylor initially left the stadium without incident. About an hour and a half later, police were called back after Taylor reportedly made threats.
Police said they discovered he had sent messages on social media threatening to kill multiple people at the Axmen game scheduled for that evening.
https://www.wbir.com/article/news/crime/kingsport-axmens-season-ends-after-police-said-a-recently-dismissed-player-threatened-to-kill-people/51-cc7ddf60-ac2e-400d-bd13-7b70f646930e
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This is a level below minor league baseball, sort of, but emblematic of how things have been going lately, and could happen at any level in any sport, it seems to me.
Tennessee's former top vaccine official sent muzzle days before firing
A muzzle was sent to Dr. Michelle Fiscus just days before she was fired by Tennessee officials, according to her husband.
Dr. Fiscus’ husband confirmed with News 2 that the now-former top vaccine official for the state received an Amazon package containing the muzzle a week before she was fired.
The package was sent anonymously.
Fiscus commented on the muzzle saying, “they must not know me, this is for a beagle, but I’m a pit bull.”
https://www.wate.com/news/tennessees-former-top-vaccine-official-sent-muzzle-days-before-firing/
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Knowing how a few of the GQP legislators operate, I wouldn't be surprised if it was from one of them.......
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Gender: Do not displayCurrent location: Virginia
Member since: Wed Jun 1, 2011, 07:34 PM
Number of posts: 10,042
