With so many crazy things happening, sometimes things fall through the cracks. Here are some headlines that you may find interesting and worth discussing.
Biden Administration:
- The Biden administration announced a $230 million deal to ramp up production of the country’s first over-the-counter, at-home Covid-19 test.
- “These are over-the-counter, self-performed test kits that can detect Covid with roughly 95 percent accuracy within 15 minutes,” Andy Slavitt, the White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response, told reporters on Monday.
- The Biden administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to cancel upcoming arguments in cases challenging former President Trump’s border wall and policy requiring that asylum seekers remain in Mexico.
- Biden threatened sanctions on Myanmar after the Southeast Asian country’s military seized power and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top officials of her governing National League for Democracy.
Congress:
- A House Democrat is demanding the Biden administration vet social media accounts of military recruits and service members for possible links to extremist groups, citing an urgent threat in the aftermath of the storming of the U.S. Capitol last month.
- Rep. Jackie Speier of California urged President Joe Biden in a letter to issue an executive order that would ensure that security clearances for federal employees, and military troops in particular, include a review of social media posts for any ties to white supremacists or similar violent extremists.
- Democratic congressional leaders on Monday released a budget blueprint that could pave the way for passing President Biden’s stimulus plan with only Democratic votes. The move came shortly before the president was scheduled to meet with a group of Republican senators pitching their own smaller relief package.
- Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other House Democrats plan to introduce a privileged resolution against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to prevent her from serving on committees in Congress.
- A group of Senate Democrats on Monday said they are committed to “comprehensive cannabis reform” and called for the end of the federal prohibition of marijuana.
COVID-19 Updates:
- West Virginia’s GOP governor supports big pandemic relief bill: ‘If we throw away some money, so what?’
- Early data on U.S. coronavirus vaccinations released on Monday suggests that Blacks and Hispanics received a smaller proportion of shots than their representation among healthcare workers and nursing home residents, two priority groups for COVID-19 inoculations.
- New diabetes cases linked to covid-19
- Researchers don’t understand exactly how the disease might trigger Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, or whether the cases are temporary or permanent. But 14 percent of those with severe covid-19 developed a form of the disorder, one analysis found.
- A key House panel will debate a resolution this week that would remove freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from two committees in response to her pattern of inflammatory behavior and remarks, including her repeated endorsements of political violence and extremism.
- The measure, H. Res. 72, to be debated by the House Rules Committee, would strip Greene of her assignments on the House Education and Labor Committee and the House Budget Committee.
Riots/White ISIS/Wing Nut Watch:
- Typical Wing Nut Hate and Ignorance:
- Miss Margie will meet with Trump this week because he supports her bigly.
Other headlines:
- U.S. voting rights activist and Democratic Party politician Stacey Abrams has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her work to promote nonviolent change via the ballot box, a Norwegian lawmaker said on Monday.
- A major winter storm that buried millions across the Northeast on Monday brought blizzard-like conditions, forcing states across the region to cancel vaccine appointments, suspend flights, and close roads and schools.
- Legendary singer Tony Bennett has Alzheimer’s disease and was diagnosed in 2016, according to a profile in AARP magazine.
