It’s time once again for news and views that you can peruse! It’s time for another Weekly Reader! As always, if you have something you’d like to share, drop a link in the comments section!
“Experts are desperate to warn the public”: Hundreds sign Dr. John Gartner’s Trump dementia petition ( from Salon): “We had more examples where Trump couldn’t complete a sentence and strung the fragments together incoherently. It’s worth noting that his demeanor changes dramatically at these moments. At one point, Trump was making nonsense sounds, struggling to form even a single word. At one of his events, he said “We’ll re-ve-du. Ohhhh..” At that moment, Trump took a long-defeated sigh, and looked up at the ceiling blankly, looking confused and de-energized. Finally, Trump is sometimes reduced to simply vocalizing nonsense sounds that are not words at all like an infant. For example, at a recent rally Trump said “Gang, boom. This is me. I hear bing”. Trump is literally babbling nonsensically and his followers at these rallies, or interviewers on right-wing media, are nodding their heads in appreciation like he makes sense. This is deeply disturbing.”
Proposed Missouri bill would make teachers register as sex offenders if found supporting transgender students who socially transition (from CNN): “The proposed bill joins a string of anti-LGBTQ measures that have been filed in states across the US and comes amid a growing “parental rights” movement that seeks to empower parents to decide what can be taught in classrooms about gender, sexuality and race.”
A lack of ice is reshaping winter life around the Great Lakes (from NBC News): “The lack of ice cover — which Kessler said was most likely linked to climate change, El Niño and natural variability — could offer a glimpse of the region’s future as the world warms. The lack of snow and lake ice has left some hearty Midwesterners who ski, skate and fish to question how their lifestyles will persist.”
Inside A Secret Society Of Prominent Right-Wing Christian Men Prepping For A ‘National Divorce’ (from Talking Points Memo): “It sounds like the stuff of fantasy, but it’s real. The group is called the Society for American Civic Renewal (the acronym is pronounced “sacker” by its members). It is open to new recruits, provided you meet a few criteria: you are male, a “trinitarian” Christian, heterosexual, an “un-hyphenated American,” and can answer questions about Trump, the Republican Party, and Christian Nationalism in the right way. One chapter leader wrote to a prospective member that the group aimed to “secure a future for Christian families.””
Fertility app maker Flo Health faces consolidated privacy lawsuit (from Reuters): “Flo Health allegedly violated users’ privacy by disclosing that information to third parties through software development kits (SDKs) incorporated into its app, despite the company’s privacy policies and “public assurances” that it would not share data, the complaint said. In using the third parties’ SDKs, Flo Health transmitted the personal information back to other defendants, which allegedly “knew that the data collected and received from Flo Health included intimate health data” but didn’t stop that because the data is “vital to their business,” such as for marketing and data analytics purposes, according to the complaint.”
‘They didn’t do it clearly enough’: SCOTUS ruling prompts worries of another Jan. 6 crisis (from Politico): “The debate underscores the fragility of America’s democratic institutions at their most vulnerable point — the transfer of presidential power — which is governed as much by norms, oaths and promises to exercise power in good faith as by the letter of the law. Trump’s allies claimed in 2020 that key aspects of the federal laws governing that process were unconstitutional and could be ignored by Congress in service of preventing Biden’s victory. The next electoral vote count will be the first operating in the shadow of the Jan. 6 attack, with the country on tenterhooks no matter the outcome of this year’s election.”
Iowa Republicans pass personhood bill that critics say could threaten IVF care (from NBC News): “Passage of the bill by the GOP-controlled state House makes Iowa the latest state where lawmakers have taken steps that could threaten IVF. The procedure involves the creation of embryos outside the body, and many are often discarded if not used.”
‘I want to get off the plane.’ The passengers refusing to fly on Boeing’s 737 Max (from CNN): “Pierson made it to New Jersey – after some back and forth, he said, Alaska’s airport staff rebooked him onto a red-eye that evening on a different plane. Spending the whole day in the airport was worth it to avoid flying on the Max, he said.”
ELON MUSK’S TUNNEL REPORTEDLY OOZING WITH SKIN-BURNING CHEMICAL SLUDGE (from Futurism): “At one of the dig sites, which sits underneath the Encore Las Vegas hotel, the chemical sludge was filled not only with the commonplace byproducts of sand, silt, and water, but also accelerants used to set the grout to build the tunnels. As the sludge built up, so too did its associated safety risks — and as the workers told Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), people getting burned by the sludge was an almost routine occurrence.”
A new book unearths a buried history of photography in West Africa (from CNN): “The dominant perception of early photography from West Africa is that it was taken through a colonizing lens. Of Europeans in the mid-19th century spreading through the arteries of the region, new technology in hand, documenting people and places under the aegis of empire. Of a balance of power that favored the person behind the camera over the person in front of it, authoring a story for Europeans, by Europeans.
But what if that image were only partly true? What if that story was merely one of many – and one that conceals a more complex and empowered story that West Africa claimed for itself?”
I worked in a call center for Walmart Spark workers. I got reprimanded for giving drivers tips they had earned, and most calls were frustrating and scripted (from Business Insider): “You can’t not be empathetic in some of these situations. I couldn’t believe how hard they rode over a few dollars when people are calling in complaining about how they can’t pay their bills or how they can’t afford gas. I was just over it, so I left.”
RFK Jr.’s VP prospect Aaron Rodgers has shared false Sandy Hook conspiracy theories in private conversations (from CNN): “Brown recalls Rodgers asking her if she thought it was off that there were men in black in the woods by the school, falsely claiming those men were actually government operatives. Brown found the encounter disturbing.”
Authors push back on the growing number of AI ‘scam’ books on Amazon (from NPR): “AI-generated biographies, summaries and even copycat books tend to offer low-quality writing that makes it easy to flag as AI generated, says Jane Friedman, a writer and publishing industry analyst. She says there’s a generic quality to the writing. “It just feels like a human didn’t write these,” she says. “Humans would — funnily enough — do a better job being bad.””
Andrew Tate Was Arrested After Adin Ross Blabbed About His Escape Plans (from Rolling Stone): “A highly controversial 23-year-old streamer from Florida, Ross, was permanently banned from Twitch in February 2023 for promoting “hateful conduct” after posting uncensored racist and antisemitic comments from his fans. He has been a longtime defender of the brothers, proclaiming their innocence on social media following their 2022 Romania arrest and detainment on separate charges of rape, trafficking, and forming an organized group to exploit women. Prior to their Tuesday arrest, they were awaiting trial in Romania and had been ordered by judges not to flee the county and its surrounding area.”
Republicans’ voter suppression obsession may end up helping … Democrats? (from Vox): “The conservative movement still faces long-term demographic challenges, with the Christian right claiming scant support among America’s rising generations. But that is not a problem that can be solved by restricting immigration, passing voter ID laws, or advertising your movement’s enthusiasm for autocracy. To the contrary, such actions are likely to be counterproductive.”
How a Sudden Halt to In Vitro Fertilization Shook Alabama Couples (from the New York Times): “The ruling disrupted fertility treatments that are expensive, physically and emotionally taxing, and extremely time-sensitive, guzzling precious resources that many couples did not have. Their experiences may soon be repeated in other states as anti-abortion forces push to redefine the beginning of life.”
That’s all for this week, but don’t fret! I’ll be back again with another info dump that might meet with your approval! Until then, have a great rest of your week and happy reading!
Iacon East 