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631,268 PEOPLE HAVE DIED FROM CORONAVIRUS IN THE U.S.
202.5 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE U.S. HAVE RECEIVED A VACCINATION DOSE
The New York Times
The resettlement of Afghan allies in the U.S. is revealing an internal divide within the Republican party
[The] withdrawal from Afghanistan… has… exposed a deep internal divide between party leaders over relocating Afghan refugees at home.
Many Republican lawmakers have accused Mr. Biden of abandoning the Afghan interpreters and guides who helped the United States during two decades of war, leaving thousands of people in limbo in a country now controlled by the Taliban.
But others — including … Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader — have sought to fold the issue of Afghan refugees into the anti-immigrant stance of the party’s far right. They are criticizing Mr. Biden not simply for leaving the Afghans behind, but for opening the United States up to what they characterized as dangerous foreigners.
“We’ll have terrorists coming across the border,” Mr. McCarthy said last week on a call with a group of bipartisan House members, according to two people who were on the call, where he railed against the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal.
‘The Worst Thing I Can Ever Remember’: How Drought Is Crushing Ranchers
[…] Ranchers across [North Dakota are] suffering through an epic drought as bad or worse than anywhere else in this season of extreme weather in the Western half of the country.
A lack of snow last winter and almost no spring rain have created the driest conditions in generations. Ranchers are being forced to sell off portions of herds they have built up for years, often at fire-sale prices, to stay in business.
Some won’t make it.
“It’s a really bad situation,” said Randy Weigel, a cattle buyer, who said this drought may force some older ranchers to retire. “They’ve worked all their lives to get their cow herd to where they want, and now they don’t have enough feed to feed them.”
The Guardian
‘Fire weather’: dangerous days now far more common in US west, study finds
The hot, dry and windy weather conditions fueling the huge wildfires that have besieged the western US this summer have increased in frequency over the past 50 years, a new study has found.
Since 1973, global heating has desiccated the west, driving increases in “fire weather” days from the Pacific coast to the Great Plains, according to research by the non-profit Climate Central. It found that the number of fire weather days increased steeply in parts of Texas and in California’s interior, and that southern Nevada, south-east California and swathes of New Mexico had the highest number of average annual fire weather days – with nearly a quarter of the year in some regions being characterized as having elevated risk. […]
The study’s findings, based on data from weather stations across the region, are consistent with other recent research suggesting that in many parts of the west, increased temperatures from human-caused climate breakdown are leading to more parched summers.
LED streetlights decimating moth numbers in England
“Eco-friendly” LED streetlights produce even worse light pollution for insects than the traditional sodium bulbs they are replacing, a study has found.
The abundance of moth caterpillars in hedgerows by rural roads in England was 52% lower under LED lights and 41% lower under sodium lights when compared with nearby unlit areas.
In grass margins, moth caterpillar numbers near LEDs were a third lower than in unlit areas, whereas sodium lights had little effect on abundance. The white LED lights are more energy efficient but produce more blue light, say scientists, which is the colour predominantly seen by insects.
EuroNews
WHO experts say time is running out to study COVID-19 origins
The scientists who studied the origins of COVID-19 for the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that the window of opportunity for conducting further studies of how the virus emerged was "closing fast".
The team of international scientists travelled to China for 28 days in January to speak with professionals and visit institutions to understand the first outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
In a report published in March, the team said that the virus likely jumped to humans from animals and that the scenario that it leaked from a lab was "extremely unlikely".
The scientists wrote in Nature on Wednesday that the March report was "meant to be the first step in a process that has stalled."
Deutsche Welle
Smuggling people from Afghanistan to Turkey
After the upheaval in Afghanistan, a large number of people are now trying to flee the Taliban. Many turn to people smugglers to get them out of the country…
"Brother, people have been smuggled across borders ever since there have been borders. This business will continue as long as borders exist," explains Baver — a 32-year-old smuggler operating at the border between Turkey and Iran. Wanting to retain his incognito, he declined to meet with us in person and talked with us via WhatsApp, using an acquaintance's phone.
Baver says his role in the organization is very important. According to him, he is responsible for bringing refugees into the "safe zone," which in this case is in the eastern Anatolian city of Van. "I have already brought thousands of people across the border," he says, with a certain degree of pride.
The Sydney Morning Herald
World must ‘wait and see’ whether Taliban has changed, says mediator
A former moderator in peace talks with the Taliban says the future of Afghanistan hinges on the Taliban demonstrating they are no longer the brutal regime that traumatised the nation at the turn of the century, and being recognised by other countries as a legitimate government.
Former Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla met four times with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar over the past two years to mediate between the militant organisation and the now deposed Afghan government, most recently in Qatar in January. […]
Kalla said he and Baradar “talked at length about the future of Afghanistan”. He said the world had to “wait and see” how the Taliban conducted itself after sweeping back into power amid the United States’ withdrawal.
Scientists turn to risky plan B as the world fails on climate change
[…] in the wake of the UN report published last Monday showing that even if the world quickly and massively reduces emissions we are still likely to see warming of 1.5 degrees in the coming two decades, some attention is returning to controversial technological climate fixes, particularly in the field known as solar geoengineering.
Simon Nicholson, an associate professor of international relations at American University who specialises in laws governing emerging environmental technologies, says he believes the report will help overcome the taboo around that research.
In its simplest terms, the process the Harvard team are researching may one day involve flights of specialist aircraft regularly dumping powder into the stratosphere, where it would linger for months reflecting a portion of inbound sunlight.
The Washington Post
Why Nancy Pelosi is being heralded as ‘masterful’
After House Democrats passed a $3.5 trillion partisan budget plan on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is getting all the credit for bringing together two diametrically opposed groups in her party to make it happen. “I want to thank Speaker Pelosi, who was masterful in her leadership on this,” President Biden said Tuesday.
The budget blueprint championed by liberal Democrats passed the House with all Democrats on board, after Pelosi promised moderates that they’ll get to vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill in a month. Just a couple hours earlier, both sides were threatening to tank both pieces of legislation. Yet after a day of intense negotiations, led by Pelosi, both sides somehow got what they wanted without really giving much to the other. […]
Pelosi is savvy enough to see through a lot of politicking…
Republicans struggle with what to do on employer vaccine mandates
President Biden this week responded to the Food and Drug Administration’s full authorization of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine by calling on employers around the country to mandate it for their employees — which it seems many will.
And Republicans as a party don’t seem to know what to do with that.
In the days since the FDA’s authorization and Biden’s call, Republicans who have otherwise fought tooth and nail against vaccine mandates have been surprisingly quiet about the prospect of employer mandates. And the few who have spoken out have generally said employers should be allowed to implement them.
The Hill
Pentagon requires military members get COVID-19 vaccine immediately
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered service members to “immediately begin” receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a Pentagon memo released Wednesday.
“To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force. After careful consultation with medical experts and military leadership, and with the support of the President, I have determined that mandatory vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is necessary to protect the Force and defend the American people,” Austin wrote in the memo.
The Dallas Morning News
Dallas judge sides with Jenkins, says Abbott can’t enforce mask mandate ban
A state district judge has ruled that Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask orders violates Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins’ ability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
Judge Tonya Parker’s decision to issue a temporary injunction will probably be appealed — first to the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas and later to the Texas Supreme Court — before a final ruling is made in the case. […]
“It’s a victory for humans who live in Dallas County against the virus,” Jenkins said. “I hope we’ll all take off our red hat and our blue hat and put on our human hat and listen to doctors.”
Houston Chronicle
Abbott again bans vaccine mandates, adds issue to special session agenda
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a new executive order on Wednesday clarifying that no localities or school districts can require their employees to get the COVID vaccine, after the federal approval of the Pfizer doses earlier this week muddied his previous directive on the matter.
Abbott’s new order, like the previous one, prohibits public institutions — including state agencies, universities, local governments, public schools and any other entities that receive public funding — from compelling employees to get the shots or asking people who use their services for proof of vaccination.
While the old order applied only to vaccines authorized for emergency use, Wednesday’s directive puts a blanket ban on the practice, regardless of approval status granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The Atlantic
It’s the Pandemic, Stupid
Losing a war undermines the public’s trust in any leader. But the setback causing the most damage to Joe Biden’s political standing likely isn’t the U.S. military defeat in Afghanistan—it’s the frustrating home-front struggle against the resurgent coronavirus pandemic. […]
…the resurgence isn’t Biden’s fault; millions of Americans, egged on by the skepticism and disinformation of conservative elites, have refused the inoculations, and COVID-19 is spreading fastest in places where vaccination rates are lowest. But Delta is everywhere now, and cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to rise nationwide. […]
Democrats are already favored to lose their slim congressional majorities in the midterm elections, thanks to the GOP’s advantage in gerrymandering and a historical disadvantage for the party in power. Their best hope is to be able to campaign on having defeated the virus and restored a booming, more equitable economy. The latest projections put that plan in serious doubt.
How the U.S. Could Slash Climate Pollution by 2030
[…] In the coming days, Democrats will start to show how, exactly, their plans will reduce America’s greenhouse-gas emissions.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will soon release an analysis showing that the budget-reconciliation bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill will combine to reduce U.S. emissions by 40 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, according to a person familiar with the situation, who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the report on the record.
The most important policies for emissions reductions are in Democrats’ reconciliation bill, the analysis shows. They are the Clean Electricity Payment Program, which would compensate utilities for switching to zero-carbon electricity, and an overhaul of the clean-energy tax credits. Consumer rebates for zero-emissions vehicles, a new agriculture-conservation program, and a fee on methane leaks from the oil and gas sector would also contribute significant emissions cuts.
Vox
The US is inching closer to passing a game-changing climate policy
A time when the United States runs mostly on wind- and solar-powered electricity could be a reality in only a few years. It wouldn’t require any scientific breakthroughs or technological leaps for clean energy to overtake coal and natural gas, which still dominate 60 percent of the US power sector. What it would take to challenge a century of fossil-fuel dominance in record-breaking time is one sweeping, underappreciated policy: a clean electricity standard.
This policy could be “the biggest change in our energy policy since the lights went on,” Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith told Vox in a July interview. She called it the “centerpiece” of Democratic climate policy under President Joe Biden.
This potentially game-changing policy is now inching closer to becoming law. The US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the outlines of a $3.5 trillion budget that includes at least $150 billion for a clean electricity standard. If the proposed budget survives negotiations in the coming weeks, it could solidify some of the Biden administration’s most ambitious climate goals — most of which were stripped out of the bipartisan infrastructure deal that the Senate passed on August 10.
The Supreme Court’s stunning, radical immigration decision, explained
The Supreme Court handed down an order Tuesday evening that makes no sense.
It is not at all clear what the Biden administration is supposed to do in order to comply with the Court’s decision in Biden v. Texas. That decision suggests that the Department of Homeland Security committed some legal violation when it rescinded a Trump-era immigration policy, but it does not identify what that violation is. And it forces the administration to engage in sensitive negotiations with at least one foreign government without specifying what it needs to secure in those negotiations.
One of the most foundational principles of court decisions involving foreign policy is that judges should be extraordinarily reluctant to mess around with foreign affairs. The decision in Texas defies this principle, fundamentally reshaping the balance of power between judges and elected officials in the process.
Bloomberg
Pentagon’s Afghan Exit Leaves Unused $6 Billion to Fight Over
The U.S. departure from Afghanistan is leaving the Pentagon with at least $6 billion in unspent funds for the now-defunct Afghan Security Force -- and a potential fight over how to spend the money.
The Defense Department’s Comptroller is consulting with lawmakers and the White House Office of Management and Budget over the funds, which included $600 million in previously approved but unspent fiscal 2020 funds, as well as $2.3 billion in this fiscal year as of June plus $3.3 billion requested for fiscal 2022. They were earmarked to what was once the Afghan National Army, National Police, Air Force and Special Security Forces.
“DOD will work with the congressional defense committees to determine the most appropriate use for those funds,” Pentagon spokesman Christopher Sherwood said. One possible route would be submitting to Congress a “reprogramming” request laying out the rationale for shifting the dollars and which programs would get them.
The Detroit News
Republican election lawyers ordered to pay state, city costs, face possible disbarment
A team of lawyers that sought to overturn Michigan's 2020 election have been ordered to pay the state and the city of Detroit for the cost of defending the lawsuit and complete continuing legal education, U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker ruled Wednesday.
In the high-profile decision, Parker also ordered that a copy of her decision be sent to the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission and other state disciplinary boards for the possible suspension or disbarment of the lawyers: Sidney Powell, L. Lin Wood, Emily Newman, Julia Haller, Brandon Johnson, Scott Hagerstrom, Howard Kleinhendler, Gregory Rohl and Stefanie Lynn Junttila. […]
The suit seeking to overturn the election represented "a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process," the judge wrote, and sought to deceive the federal court and Americans "into believing that rights were infringed, without regard to whether any laws or rights were in fact violated."
AP News
US says 1,500 Americans may still await Kabul evacuation
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that as many as 1,500 Americans may be awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan, a figure that suggests the U.S. may accomplish its highest priority for the Kabul airlift — rescuing U.S. citizens — ahead of President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline.
Untold thousands of at-risk Afghans, however, still are struggling to get into the Kabul airport, while many thousands of other Afghans already have been flown to safety in 12 days of round-the-clock flights. […]
About 4,500 Americans have been evacuated so far, Blinken said, and among the rest “some are understandably very scared.”
Delta Air Lines will charge unvaccinated employees $200 per month
Delta Air Lines will charge employees on the company health plan $200 a month if they fail to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a policy the airline’s top executive says is necessary because the average hospital stay for the virus costs the airline $50,000.
CEO Ed Bastian said that all employees who have been hospitalized for the virus in recent weeks were not fully vaccinated.
The airline said Wednesday that it also will stop extending pay protection to unvaccinated workers who contract COVID-19 on Sept. 30, and will require unvaccinated workers to be tested weekly beginning Sept. 12, although Delta will cover the cost. They will have to wear masks in all indoor company settings.
Los Angeles Times
Democrats feel helpless on recall ballot’s second question
[…] With the recall election three weeks away, many Democrats are flailing for answers about how to approach the ballot’s second question: If Newsom is recalled, who do you want to replace him?
Newsom and the state Democratic Party are urging voters to leave the second question blank. That advice has landed well with some but left others confused and frustrated. Many party faithful say they feel powerless over how to meaningfully weigh in on such a crucial question.
San Francisco Chronicle
Gavin Newsom's grassroots work against recall showing success - but it's still early
After facing criticism from some Democrats for spending too much money on TV ads and not enough time on face-to-face campaigning, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s anti-recall campaign has kicked into high gear with what officials boast is the largest organizing outreach in the state’s history. And it’s producing dividends, although it’s still very early in the race.
Newsom operatives say that the early field work they quietly began in March to reach out to their base voters is resulting in ballots being returned at a faster pace than in the bitterly contested 2020 presidential election — and that Democrats are returning more of them — a lot more.
Of the nearly 1.1 million mail-in ballots that have been returned, 56% have been returned by Democrats, according to Political Data, a California firm that provides voter information to campaigns and pollsters in both parties. The firm found that 22% of the ballots have been returned by Republicans.
With the Caldor Fire creeping toward Lake Tahoe, officials weigh possible evacuations
With hot, dry winds casting embers into the dry vegetation as far as a mile away, the Caldor Fire continued spreading eastward toward the Tahoe basin Wednesday afternoon, as public safety officials prepared for possible evacuations and warnings.
The fire’s continued growth came despite an influx of hundreds of additional firefighters and, said Cal Fire unit chief Mike Blankenheim, “all the firefighting aircraft we need.” On Monday, fire officials said, the Caldor Fire was made the top priority among dozens of wildfires burning across the country.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. House advances $3.5 trillion spending package, John Lewis Voting Rights Act
The U.S. House on Tuesday advanced a $3.5 trillion social services spending package and approved a voting bill named after the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis.
The agreement to move forward with the spending package also set up a House vote on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill no later than Sept. 27. That was part of a compromise House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reached with 10 moderate Democrats, including Georgia’s Carolyn Bourdeaux, who had initially threatened to hold up the spending legislation unless an immediate vote was taken on the infrastructure bill.
The vote on the spending package, which also included procedural maneuvers regarding the infrastructure legislation and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, was strictly along party lines, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed.
Albany Times Union
Hochul selects Harlem Sen. Brian Benjamin as lieutenant governor
Gov. Kathy Hochul selected state Sen. Brian A. Benjamin, a Black Democrat from Harlem, as her lieutenant governor. She is scheduled to make a formal announcement on Thursday.
The selection confirms Hochul's pledge to diversify her administration and to balance her administration with her upstate, Buffalo-area roots against Benjamin's deep ties to the New York City area. Benjamin is a self-described progressive and has linked himself to the "defund the police" movement.
Although Hochul's administration did not comment on Spectrum News' NY1 report of her selection of Benjamin as lieutenant governor, it did, later in the day, announce that Hochul is to be in Harlem at 1 p.m. on Thursday with Benjamin for a "special announcement." The event is scheduled for the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. state office building, one block east of the legendary Apollo Theater.
CNN
Biden administration details new steps to prevent evictions as moratorium faces Supreme Court
The Biden administration is taking new steps to prevent evictions as the Covid-19 pandemic continues, the White House and Department of Treasury announced Wednesday.
The new actions come as the Supreme Court could rule as soon as Wednesday on a request by landlords that it block the administration's new eviction moratorium.
The Department of Treasury … outlined seven specific steps Wednesday meant to expedite the assistance process and help processing delays, including a broader policy for self-attestation for documenting eligibility for assistance, new guidelines for providing estimate bulk payments to landlords and utility providers, guidelines for state and local programs to engage with non-profit organizations, and guidance on past debts for previous addresses.
New York state adjusts Covid death toll, adding nearly 12,000
New York's new governor said Wednesday that the state's Covid-19 death toll now aligns with the count from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after the state added nearly 12,000 deaths that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration didn't officially tally.
The announcement by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul means that New York's Covid-19 death toll is now at 55,395, a significant jump from the tally under Cuomo, who left office in disgrace earlier this week.
Minneapolis StarTribune
Minnesota judge orders transfer of Mike Lindell countersuits to D.C.
Mike Lindell's federal countersuits against a voting machine company are being moved to the Washington, D.C.-based federal court where the MyPillow CEO and his Chaska-based company face $1.3 billion in defamation claims.
U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz on Wednesday ordered the two lawsuits filed by Lindell and MyPillow against Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic transferred to the District of Columbia, where a judge recently ruled the defamation suit against Lindell over his claims that those companies helped steal the 2020 election can continue. […]
"Your lawsuit here is basically saying that lawsuit out in D.C. is illegal," Schiltz said. "I understand you're alleging it is part of a bigger conspiracy … but the lawsuit in D.C. is the centerpiece of your lawsuit here, and it kind of seems strange that we would take discovery and litigate whether the D.C. lawsuit is a good lawsuit here while you're out in D.C. taking discovery and litigating whether the D.C. lawsuit is a good lawsuit out there."
NPR News
Jan. 6 Select Committee Probe Expands To Trump And Top Officials In A Wave Of Demands
The House select committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a wave of record requests targeting communications by … Donald Trump and his top officials in the lead-up to the deadly riot.
It marks the most widespread list of demands since the siege, directing letters to eight federal entities, including the National Archives and Records Administration, which is charged with maintaining records for past White House administrations. The demands could be followed by subpoenas.
They target communications by Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials as well as White House visitor and call logs related to the day of the attack. Other agencies also included in the wave of requests include the Justice, Defense and Interior departments.
Harris Rebukes China In Major Speech On Indo-Pacific
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a sharp rebuke to China for its incursions in the South China Sea, warning its actions there amount to "coercion" and "intimidation" and affirming that the U.S. will support its allies in the region against Beijing's advances.
"We know that Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea," she said in a major foreign policy speech Tuesday in Singapore in which she laid out the Biden administration's vision for the Indo-Pacific. "Beijing's actions continue to undermine the rules-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations."
BBC News
India woman who accused MP of rape dies in self-immolation
The death of a 24-year-old Indian woman, who had set herself on fire last week after alleging harassment by police and judiciary at the behest of an MP she had accused of rape, has once again put the spotlight on the shameful treatment of women in India.
The woman and a male friend did a Facebook live on 16 August before sprinkling petrol on themselves and lighting the fire. They were taken to hospital with severe burns. The man died on Saturday. The woman succumbed on Tuesday evening.
The duo had travelled from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh to the capital, Delhi. Their desperate act, outside India's Supreme Court, to attract attention to their plight has stunned the country.
The woman had accused Atul Rai, an MP from the regional Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), of raping her at his home in Varanasi city and registered a police complaint against him in May 2019.
Madagascar on the brink of climate change-induced famine
Madagascar is on the brink of experiencing the world's first "climate change famine", according to the United Nations, which says tens of thousands of people are already suffering "catastrophic" levels of hunger and food insecurity after four years without rain.
The drought - the worst in four decades - has devastated isolated farming communities in the south of the country, leaving families to scavenge for insects to survive.
"These are famine-like conditions and they're being driven by climate not conflict," said the UN World Food Programme's Shelley Thakral.
The UN estimates that 30,000 people are currently experiencing the highest internationally recognised level of food insecurity - level five - and there are concerns the number affected could rise sharply as Madagascar enters the traditional "lean season" before harvest.
UPI
Smell emitted by ladybugs may provide alternative to harmful pesticides
The "smell of fear" emitted by predator insects may help farmers and gardeners seeking to protect what they grow from plant-eating bugs resistant to traditional pesticides, research presented Wednesday during the American Chemical Society meeting found.
Herbivorous insects present a major threat to plants and crops but the predator insects that feed on these bugs emit odors that pests can sense, the researchers said. Smelling this odor causes pests to change their behavior and, in some cases, their physiology -- body structure -- to avoid being eaten, they said.
However, the researchers, from the Pennsylvania State University, have developed a way to bottle this smell to repel and disrupt destructive insects naturally, without the need for harsh chemicals that may also harm other, beneficial insects.
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville's ol' No. 1504 leaves the station en route to restoration
Atlantic Coast Line No. 1504 is on the move again, three decades after the century-old locomotive became a static part of the Prime Osborn Convention Center's parking lot.
But while the 80-foot-long engine and tender are rolling again, steam won't power its pistons for quite a while as it leaves the city it called home for most of its life.
Instead, it will spend about three years being carefully disassembled and each piece restored at FMW Solutions' Southeastern Office and Fabrication Shop in Chattanooga. Then the renewed parts of the 2,500-horsepower steam engine will be shipped 700 miles south to U.S. Sugar's Sugar Express railroad museum for reassembly and testing.
Ars Technica
FCC seeks $5M fine for robocalls telling Black people that voting helps “the man”
The Federal Communications Commission yesterday proposed a $5.1 million fine against two right-wing political operatives accused of making over 1,100 illegal robocalls. The calls were an attempt to convince people not to vote.
The recorded messages sent before the November 2020 election "told potential voters that if they voted by mail, their 'personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts,'" the FCC said. Those messages were apparently targeted at Black voters and told them, "don't be finessed into giving your private information to the man."
John Burkman and Jacob Wohl were already facing felony charges in Wayne County Circuit Court for "orchestrating a robocall to suppress the vote in Detroit and other cities with significant minority populations," as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced in November 2020. They were also indicted in Ohio, and New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking fines that would add up to $2.75 million.
COVID hospitalization averages $20K—and insurers want unvaccinated to pay up
Hospital care for seriously ill COVID-19 patients is costing the US health care system billions of dollars. And with vaccines highly effective at preventing hospitalization now widely and freely available to everyone over the age of 12, insurers and some businesses want the unvaccinated—who make up the vast majority of COVID-19 hospitalizations—to cover more of those costs.
This past June and July alone, the estimated cost of caring for unvaccinated people who were hospitalized for preventable cases of COVID-19 reached about $2.3 billion, according to a recent analysis by the Peterson Center on Healthcare and Kaiser Family Foundation. The analysis estimated that in those two months there were 113,000 unvaccinated people who were hospitalized primarily for COVID-19 and that their infection would have been prevented with vaccination. They then multiplied that number by $20,000, a rough estimate of the average cost of hospital care for COVID-19 patients, bringing the total to $2.3 billion.