July 4, 2020

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Orders Masks, Is Liberal Socialist Tyrannizer Now, Sad!

Since late April, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has not only refused to order Texans to wear masks and slow the spread of COVID-19; he's also overruled any local governments or health commissioners who've tried. On Thursday, he finally reversed himself and issued what was effectively a statewide requirement that people cover their faces while in public. Technically, the order requires masks in all counties that have over 20 COVID-19 cases, which is nearly all of 'em.

Abbott's order came as the USA set yet another new record for new coronavirus cases (more than 55,000 nationwide) and Texas set a state record for a second day in a row, with over 8,000 news cases Wednesday. The new requirement also followed by just two days Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's insistence that Texas wasn't about to listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci and his silly worries about the virus and the need to stop its spread, because Texas knows what it's doing, y'all.

Yeah, Texas is gonna mask up, finally. But not because no fancy elitist commie doctor said so.

-snip-

Not surprisingly, some Texas Republicans reacted to yesterday's belated public health order with exactly the gravitas you'd expect. State Rep. Jonathan Stickland (who once placed a very official sign outside his office identifying him as a "FORMER FETUS" ) accused Abbott of very bad tyranny, indeed:

https://twitter.com/RepStickland/status/1278800518941474816

Read more: https://www.wonkette.com/texas-gov-greg-abbott-orders-masks

July 4, 2020

Glenn Beck's Plan to Restore America's Covenant With God Thwarted by COVID-19

A year ago, Glenn Beck announced that he intended to hold an event in the summer of 2020 during which he and those who gathered with him would renew America’s covenant with God.

“We have to repeat [George] Washington and [Abraham] Lincoln,” Beck said in July 2019. “We have to do it right and we, as a people, need to gather together and do it. So, next summer, we are going to do it.”

In December 2019, Beck announced that this “Restoring The Covenant” event would take place in Gettysburg, PA, on July 4, 2020, provided that God would perform some unnamed “miracle” that Beck said was needed to ensure the event could take place. Beck wouldn’t say what this miracle was, because that was all part of God’s master plan.

“I know I am supposed to do another Restoring event and that event is Restoring The Covenant, and it’s supposed to happen in Gettysburg, and it’s supposed to happen on July 4,” Beck said. “It’s just going to take a miracle. Pray for a miracle. I don’t want to tell you what it has to be because I think God wants me to understand, ‘It has nothing to do with you.’ And he wants, I believe, to show his power. So pray.”

Read more: https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/glenn-becks-plan-to-restore-americas-covenant-with-god-thwarted-by-covid-19/

July 4, 2020

Rick Perry Joins Capitol Ministries Project to 'Disciple' Local Officials to Right-Wing 'Biblical

Rick Perry Joins Capitol Ministries Project to ‘Disciple’ Local Officials to Right-Wing ‘Biblical Worldview’


Former Texas ​Gov. and U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry is partnering with a religious-right effort to “disciple” 500,000 local officials into a conservative Christian “worldview” and shape public policies in 40,000 U.S. localities. Perry’s undertaking was announced in a June letter to supporters of Capitol Ministries from the organization’s president Ralph Drollinger, whose weekly Bible studies teach members of Trump’s Cabinet and the U.S. Congress that the Bible instructs public officials to support right-wing social, economic, environmental, and criminal justice policies.

“I am passionate about Capitol Ministries’ efforts to reach today’s 500,000 elected local government leaders with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and disciple them with the Word of God​, so they may form a Christian worldview in their hearts,” Perry is quoted in the Drollinger letter. “I see this effort as critically important. America’s ideological future hangs in the balance.”

Drollinger and Capitol Ministries have aggressive expansion plans in multiple directions. Drollinger has previously announced Capitol Ministries’ goal of establishing “discipleship” ministries in 200 nations, all 50 states, and all 40,000 localities in the U.S. With help from Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Capitol Ministries is expanding its presence among high-level officials in foreign capitals. Perry has become the group’s “spokesman for Local Government Ministries.”

​As part of the partnership, Perry ​has begun emailing local officials offering to send them a weekly Bible study taken from Drollinger’s “Oaks in Office,” a guidebook for conservative Christian public officials.

Read more: https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/rick-perry-joins-capitol-ministries-project-to-disciple-local-officials-to-right-wing-biblical-worldview/

July 4, 2020

Due to coronavirus, NFL players could be fined for 'reckless' behavior like going out to eat and

Due to coronavirus, NFL players could be fined for ‘reckless’ behavior like going out to eat and using Uber, Lyft


A whole new set of fines could be coming to the NFL.

The NFLPA held a phone call with its players on Thursday, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports they were told “reckless” behavior in the coronavirus era could hit them in the wallet.

“One source told ESPN that players on the call were told that they could be fined for conduct detrimental if they are found to have engaged in ‘reckless’ behavior away from the team facility, such as eating out in restaurants and using ride-sharing services,” Schefter wrote. “They also were updated on the progress league and union medical personnel are making on protective face shields that could be worn while playing, practicing, working out and moving around team facilities, though sources who were on the call said the players are pushing back against those face shields for various reasons, including concerns about how it might affect their vision and their breathing.”

While there’s ongoing debate on how to handle the preseason, as it stands, the NFL is still planning on opening training camps July 28 despite the virus’ resurgence.

Read more: https://www.masslive.com/patriots/2020/07/due-to-coronavirus-nfl-players-could-be-fined-for-reckless-behavior-like-going-out-to-eat-and-using-uber-lyft-report.html

July 4, 2020

Man with Nazi flags charged in Sunday shooting in Oklahoma

HUNTER, Okla. — A 44-year-old Oklahoma man was charged Wednesday in Garfield County District Court with a single felony count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

Alexander John Feaster of Hunter, Oklahoma, faces up to life in prison and is accused of shooting a 26-year-old Enid, Oklahoma, woman early Sunday "without justifiable or excusable cause," according to the charges. Documents filed in the case show bond for Feaster was set at $500,000.

According to an affidavit filed in the case by Garfield County Sheriff's Office Deputy Marshall Woodson, about 3 a.m. Sunday, Woodson, along with deputies Travis Snowden, Dennis Voth and Sgt. Brant Bishop, was sent to 217 E. Cherokee in Hunter for possible shots fired call.

While en route, deputies were told a woman had been shot and there were weapons drawn and aimed at the original address, according to the affidavit. Woodson arrived at the address at 3:10 a.m. and could see a man with a pistol rested on the hood of a pickup. The man was aiming the gun at 217 E. Cherokee.

-snip-

Witnesses told deputies the woman shot went from 212 E. Cherokee across the street to 217 E. Cherokee to take down the Nazi flags on the front of Feaster's residence, according to the affidavit. After she pulled one of the flags down, the woman ran with it back across the street.

Read more: https://www.eagletribune.com/man-with-nazi-flags-charged-in-sunday-shooting-in-oklahoma/article_d1e7cab1-7b1d-58a6-98e7-a889ad5fc602.html
(North Andover Eagle-Tribune)

July 4, 2020

New bill would extend eviction moratorium by a year

REVERE RESIDENT Dolores De Blass has lived in the same apartment for 11 years and never had a problem making the $2,000-a-month rent, but then COVID-19 came along.

De Blass, her husband, her sister, son, and two daughters all tested positive in April. De Blass was in intensive care twice, and her sister was in a medically induced coma for two weeks from the virus. Between the illness and unemployment, the family was still able to pay the rent for April and May but they are $1,000 short for June.

Her landlord has said she “wants the money” and isn’t playing nice. De Blass said the landlord curses at them and sends threatening text messages. The landlord had the family car towed away and cut the locks on the children’s bicycles and removed them. They’re being threatened with eviction, despite a current statewide ban on expulsion that her landlord claims is “a lie.”

For now, the law is on De Blass’s side. An eviction moratorium signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker on April 18 put all eviction proceedings on hold. Now, worried about an avalanche of evictions once state and federal eviction moratoriums end in August, lawmakers on Beacon Hill and at the federal level are calling for an extension of the eviction moratorium. The big question is whether they can come up with a solution that safeguards tenants and homeowners while not driving landlords and banks out of business.

Read more: https://commonwealthmagazine.org/housing/new-bill-would-extend-eviction-moratorium-by-a-year/

July 4, 2020

Colleges are rescinding admissions offers as racist social media posts emerge

A star high school athlete recruited to play football for Cornell University will no longer be attending the school after a Snapchat video of him using a racial slur went viral.

Marquette University revoked an incoming freshman’s admission offer because of a Snapchat post mocking the death of George Floyd.

And an honors student bound for the University of Florida now has to make other college plans after the university learned of an Instagram post in which the student declared she was “most definitely” a racist.

Amid a national accounting over entrenched and systemic racism after Floyd’s death in police custody on Memorial Day, at least a dozen schools have rescinded admissions offers to incoming students over instances of racism that circulated widely online, often after outraged students and university alumni demanded swift action.

Read more: https://www.boston.com/news/education/2020/07/03/colleges-are-rescinding-admissions-offers-as-racist-social-media-posts-emerge

July 4, 2020

Columbia Gas to leave Massachusetts by fall, pay $56 million per AG settlement

Columbia Gas will leave Massachusetts by the fall and pay another $56 million for its role in the Merrimack Valley gas disaster, according to a settlement announced Thursday by state Attorney General Maura Healey.

The utility company faulted for the 2018 blasts will transfer its assets to Eversource on Nov. 1, pay for an “Energy Relief Fund” to help 26,000 low-income customers wipe out nearly $15 million in gas bill debt and put $41 million toward energy efficiency programs and incentives in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover run through the AG’s office and Department of Energy Resources.

“Today’s first-of-its-kind agreement ensures that Columbia Gas never does business in Massachusetts again, invests millions of dollars in the Merrimack Valley, and helps low-income customers pay their gas bills,” Healey said in a statement.

The settlement — now pending Department of Public Utilities approval — concludes Healey and DPU’s investigations into the explosions that killed a Lawrence teenager, injured two dozen others, damaged or destroyed more than 100 homes and displaced thousands.

Read more: https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/07/02/columbia-gas-to-leave-massachusetts-by-fall-pay-56-million-per-ag-settlement/

July 4, 2020

The Sonification of the Coronavirus Spike Protein (Amino Acid Scale)

More at https://bluemassgroup.com/2020/06/the-most-important-jigsaw-puzzle/



Markus Buehler on setting coronavirus and AI-inspired proteins to music

The proteins that make up all living things are alive with music. Just ask Markus Buehler: The musician and MIT professor develops artificial intelligence models to design new proteins, sometimes by translating them into sound. His goal is to create new biological materials for sustainable, non-toxic applications. In a project with the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, Buehler is searching for a protein to extend the shelf-life of perishable food. In a new study in Extreme Mechanics Letters, he and his colleagues offer a promising candidate: a silk protein made by honeybees for use in hive building.

In another recent study, in APL Bioengineering, he went a step further and used AI discover an entirely new protein. As both studies went to print, the Covid-19 outbreak was surging in the United States, and Buehler turned his attention to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the appendage that makes the novel coronavirus so contagious. He and his colleagues are trying to unpack its vibrational properties through molecular-based sound spectra, which could hold one key to stopping the virus. Buehler recently sat down to discuss the art and science of his work.

Q: Your work focuses on the alpha helix proteins found in skin and hair. Why makes this protein so intriguing?

A: Proteins are the bricks and mortar that make up our cells, organs, and body. Alpha helix proteins are especially important. Their spring-like structure gives them elasticity and resilience, which is why skin, hair, feathers, hooves, and even cell membranes are so durable. But they’re not just tough mechanically, they have built-in antimicrobial properties. With IBM, we’re trying to harness this biochemical trait to create a protein coating that can slow the spoilage of quick-to-rot foods like strawberries.

Read more: http://news.mit.edu/2020/qa-markus-buehler-setting-coronavirus-and-ai-inspired-proteins-to-music-0402

July 4, 2020

Trump's 'Sleepy Joe' nickname for Biden isn't working. Even Trump knows it

Among the things President Trump seems to pride himself on is branding his opponents with some devastating nicknames.

This should not be news to anyone even casually paying attention. From “low-energy Jeb” Bush to “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz in the 2016 Republican primary to “Crooked Hillary” Clinton in the general election, Trump has continued the mocking nicknames through his presidency. There is even a long Wikipedia page devoted to tracking all of the monikers.

But his nickname for Joe Biden, “Sleepy Joe”, just doesn’t seem to be effective in bringing him down. Biden is up double digits in national polling and leading in six important swing states, which would easily make Biden the next president. Of course, there’s a lot more behind those polls than an ineffective nickname.

That said, the polls have caused Trump apparently to rethink the Biden nickname, at least according to the Washington Post, which reported he is considering changing Biden’s nickname. The options? “Swampy Joe,” “Creepy Joe,” and “Corrupt Joe.”

Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/02/metro/trumps-sleepy-joe-nickname-biden-isnt-working-even-trump-knows-it/