The Gas Scam and Delta Brand Covid: What I Learned Today – Tuesday, June 22

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We’re not out of the woods with Covid yet and it’s mostly because of anti-vaxxers:

I could watch Jen Psaki swat down gotcha questions all day:

Trump wanted the Dept of Justice to make SNL stop hurting his feelings:

The Honest Guide takes a look at a common scam that happens frequently in Europe:

I’m posting this now but the day is young. Subscribe to the newsletter for any updates that may occur as all hell potentially breaks loose on an otherwise normal day:

Dragon Blood Trees and Satan’s Promotion: What I Learned Today – Friday, June 18th

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Lisbon is the latest city to go back into lockdown because of the new variant of Covid-19.  It’s not over yet folks. Get vaccinated!:

What is taking so long though????

Juneteenth is now a federal holiday. But there is some confusion as to when it actually starts?

The MyPillow guy runs away from an interview on the Daily Show:

A brief history of Satan:

Satan, the beast crunching sinners’ bones. Lucifer, the fallen angel. Mephistopheles, the trickster striking deals. These three divergent devils are all based on Satan of the Old Testament. But unlike any of these literary devils, the Satan of the Bible was a relatively minor character. So how did he become the ultimate antagonist, with so many different forms? Brian A. Pavlac investigates.

These photos of dragon blood trees are phenomenal. And I had never even heard of a dragon blood tree until today:

Kordan’s photographs, which are shot at dawn, golden hour, and under a star-illuminated sky, frame this unique growth pattern that leaves the trees’ gnarled wood underbelly exposed. Combined with the deep red sap that seeps from its trunk, this otherworldly feature ties the species to local lore. “According to legend, the first dragon blood tree was created from the blood of a dragon who was wounded in a battle with an elephant,” the photographer says.

Italian Space Lasers – What I Learned Today – Wednesday, June 16th

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A man who has been charged for his involvement with the January 6th insurrection has decided to enter politics and run for a state seat. He is interviewed about his candidacy where he finds out  mid-interview that he is running for the wrong seat:

It’s a bit tricky trying to decide which GQP congressperson is the most despicable these days. Rep. Paul Gosar, who is even hated by his own family, makes a strong move to take the lead:

Rep. Jim Jordan, an odious puddle of sludge that somebody squeegeed into a dress shirt and put on a congressional committee, is upset that the Dept of Justice didn’t listen to Trump’s theory that Italian space lasers altered the votes to give Biden the win.

Headline of the day:
Virtually all hospitalized Covid patients have one thing in common: They’re unvaccinated

I don’t use or have TikTok. I’ve been weening myself off of most social media platforms because they are so terrible at just about everything. For example:

TikTok just gave itself permission to collect biometric data on US users, including ‘faceprints and voiceprints’

A change to TikTok’s U.S. privacy policy on Wednesday introduced a new section that says the social video app “may collect biometric identifiers and biometric information” from its users’ content. This includes things like “faceprints and voiceprints,” the policy explained. Reached for comment, TikTok could not confirm what product developments necessitated the addition of biometric data to its list of disclosures about the information it automatically collects from users, but said it would ask for consent in the case such data collection practices began.

The biometric data collection details were introduced in the newly added section, “Image and Audio Information,” found under the heading of “Information we collect automatically” in the policy.

 

Partisan Vaccines and a 600 Year Old Cello – What I Learned Today – Friday, June 11th

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States that Biden won have the highest vaccination rates. This is quite the graph if you want to see how divided the US is currently:

I just can’t believe that a life saving vaccine is a political issue.

Businesses with worker shortages are finding that if you pay people more money, you actually get people who want to work for you.

The owners of Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor had hit a wall.

For months, the 98-year-old confectionary in Pittsburgh couldn’t find applicants for the open positions it needed to fill ahead of warmer weather and, hopefully, sunnier times for the business after a rough year.

The job posting for scoopers — $7.25 an hour plus tips — did not produce a single application between January and March.

So owner Jacob Hanchar decided to more than double the starting wage to $15 an hour, plus tips, “just to see what would happen.”

The shop was suddenly flooded with applications. More than 1,000 piled in over the course of a week.

The Amati “King” cello, made in the mid-16th century, is the oldest known cello in existence. And it’s beautiful:

And why yes, there is a sample of what it sounds like:

Speaking of cellos, Yo-Yo Ma answers some questions about cellos and cellists.

Human Magnets and Changing the Moon’s Orbit – What I Learned Today – Thursday, June 10th

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A pregnant woman is being pulled over by a cop. She gets into the right lane, puts on her hazard lights while looking for a safe place to pull over.  The cop decides she poses a threat and decides to flip her car over. The police in this country is broken:

GOP Rep Louie Gohmert, one of the many low wattage bulbs in Congress, has a solution to global warming:

An anti-vaxxer nurse attempts to prove she is now a magnet:

This reminds me of the time a person declared himself to be magnetic which did little to impress James Randi who used some baby powder to disprove his magnetic powers.

A Rube Goldberg squirrel feeder:

Joints for Vaxx – What I Learned Today – Wednesday, June 9th

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Washington State is  giving out marijuana to people who get vaccinated. Lt. Governor of PA, John Fetterman, brings up a good point:

Merrick Garland and the Dept of Justice, thinks that it is perfectly fine for religious schools to have an exemption from anti-LGBTQ discrimination laws.  At this point I’m not sure why McConnell blocked Garland from the Supreme Court considering what a disappointment he has been for us liberals this week alone.

French president Emmanuel Macron got slapped while greeting a small crowd yesterday:

A man has invented a contraption that sees when something is in front of you. Finally.

This testimony by an anti-vaxxer…..

A City of Scarecrows – What I Learned Today – Tuesday, June 8th

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We haven’t done one of these in a long time.  Let’s see how long I can do it again before getting bored or busy with non-internet life.

The ultra-wealthy, who could easily pay a much larger percentage of their taxes without even noticing, are barely taxed.

In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes.

Michael Bloomberg managed to do the same in recent years. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn did it twice. George Soros paid no federal income tax three years in a row.

Wait, wut is this shit?

Twitter has finally banned Naomi Wolf for being an anti-vaxx kook

There is a Japanese town inhabited by scarecrows: