Mon - New Study Shows Who Should Take Ivermectin

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Today's Worst Joke in the World

What I if told you,

You read the top line wrong.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees

Some People Need to Relax

Fans are asking US singer Lizzo to delete and re-record her new single, Grrrls, to remove an ableist slur from the lyrics.

The song was released on Friday 10 June, and almost immediately received criticism from disability advocates.

Lizzo prominently uses a derogatory term for cerebral palsy, also known as spastic diplegia, in the first verse.

"It's absolutely shocking, It really made me flinch," says talent agent Abbie Hills, who has cerebral palsy.

"Why you would choose that word when there's so many other options? It's just completely wrong."

On social media, other fans have said there is "no excuse" for using the "derogatory and harmful" slur.

Here's the Dictionary Definition of "Spaz"

NOUN:  an incompetent or uncoordinated person.

Here Are Some of the Lyrics

[Intro]
(Girls) Bitches, uh
Bitches, uh, uh-huh

[Verse 1]
Hold my bag, bitch, hold my bag
Do you see this shit? I'ma spazz
I'm about to knock somebody out, yo, where my best friend?
She the only one I know to talk me off the deep end

[Pre-Chorus]

'Cause that's my girl, we codependent
If she with it, then I'm with it
Yeah, we tussle, mind your business
Zu, zu, zu, zu, zu-su-lu

That's my girl, we CEOs
And dancin' like a C-E-ho
We about to throw them bows
Let's fuck it up

Undertrained Amateurs With Guns in a Room Full of Screaming Kids.  Brilliant!

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday that he has signed a bill into law that makes it much easier for teachers to legally carry guns in schools.

The measure drastically reduces the amount of training teachers and other staff are required to undergo before they can possess a firearm on school grounds. Instead of 700 hours of training, teachers will be able to finish in less than 24 hours.

DeWine, a Republican, said in a statement June 1 that the bill would allow "local school districts, if they so chose, to designate armed staff for school security and safety," adding that it was more practical than the state's previous standard.

Don't Hold Your Breath





Bannon Tantrum





Things That Make You Wonder - The Timeline from Hell

1970s & 1980s: wave of Russian criminals arrive in New York and begin interfacing with established American organized crime networks (La Cosa Nostra/The Five Families aka Bonanno, Genovese, Colombo, Lucchese, Gambino) (source)

1977: KGB reportedly opens file on Donald Trump (source).

1979: Construction begins on Trump Tower. Trump purchases overpriced concrete from mafia bosses Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno and Paul Castellano of the Genovese and Gambino crime families (respectively). (source)

1980: Trump's mentor, Roy Cohn, introduces Donald to Roger Stone. (source)

1982: New York City Housing Commissioner Anthony Gliedman received what he described as an “abusive and profane” call from someone angry that Gliedman had opposed Trump’s request for a $20 million tax abatement. Gliedman reported the call to the FBI, saying the caller was “threatening his life.” (source)

June 3, 1983: Rudy Giuliani becomes US attorney for SDNY

January, 1984: Vladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov, First Chief Directorate of the KGB arm responsible for gathering foreign intelligence, urges his officers to be more creative with agent recruitment - and to use money and flattery vs. alignment with Soviet ideology. Additionally, he gives the directive to find "U.S. targets to cultivate or, at the very least, official contacts...The main effort must be concentrated on acquiring valuable agents." (source)

1984: Russian émigré David Bogatin pays cash for five apartments in Trump Tower. (source). Bogatin's brother ran a $150 million stock scam with Russian mafia boss Semion Mogilevich (source)

Do you want to know the rest of it?

Would You Take Advice From a Drunk?  Would Your Take Advice From Rudy?   How About a Drunk Rudy?

Donald Trump listened to drunken advice from Rudy Giuliani instead of his professional campaign advisers, a former Trump campaign adviser testified before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

“President Trump rejected the advice of his campaign experts on election night and instead followed the course recommended by an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani to just claim he won and insist that the vote counting stop to falsely claim everything was fraudulent,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said Monday while previewing witness testimony in her opening statement of the committee’s second public hearing.

Is Something Shady in a Previous Guy Business Deal?  Did the Sun Rise This Morning?

Special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp disclosed on Monday financial regulators probing its deal with former U.S. President Donald Trump's social media firm have sought more information, while warning this could potentially delay the deal.

Shares of the SPAC, which have lost nearly 15% so far this year, were down about 10% in premarket trading. The company signed a deal in October to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (TMTG), the creator of social media platform Truth Social.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have been investigating the deal since late last year.

The regulators have asked for additional documents on due diligence of potential targets other than TMTG, relationships between Digital World and other entities, including ARC Global Investments and advisors.

They had earlier sought documents on communications between Digital World and TMTG, meetings of Digital World's board, policies and procedures relating to trading, the identification of banking, telephone, and email addresses and the identities of certain investors.

The company said the regulators' latest action could delay the SPAC deal, which was expected to close in the second half of this year.
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees

The Price of Standing Up for the Truth in Russia

On February 24, Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

That same day, Arshak Makichyan, who had earned the title of Moscow’s “lone climate protester”, married his girlfriend, Polina Oleinikova – and both were quick to join peace protests despite a widespread Russian crackdown on dissent.

In March, as the atmosphere for anyone publicly opposed to Moscow’s so-called “special operation” grew more repressive, the couple decided to go to Germany.

Now, Makichyan, who was born in Armenia but has Russian citizenship, fears he may never be able to return home to Moscow.

On June 27, the question of Makichyan’s citizenship will be raised at a court hearing in Russia’s capital. While officials say he illegally obtained his citizenship, he along with other activists claim the case is politically motivated.

Volunteering to Rebuild

It’s now 110 days since Russian troops invaded Ukraine. They initially attacked and occupied multiple Kyiv suburbs before the Kremlin withdrew its forces from around the capital to concentrate on the east of the country. Even as brutal street-by-street battles continue to rage there, residents in Kyiv say it is time to rebuild and return.

The city’s population dwindled from 4 million to just 1 million at the height of the conflict. Now it has swelled back to 3 million, according to local officials.

District 1 posted a call on social media for volunteers to join the clean-up operations. Hundreds of people signed up in a matter of days, quickly fanning out across the capital’s destroyed suburbs to clear debris and restore hope.

“We are all different, different age(s), different interest(s) but we work here together as one and this makes me feel good,” said volunteer Dimitri Niktov, a marketing manager in his daily life.

One of the charity’s projects aims to restore a six-story residential block in the tiny village of Myla, which lies just outside Kyiv. It became a front line in early March when Russian tanks barreled east toward the city, firing directly at the building with families still inside, according to residents.

It's SOOOO Far From Enough, But It Will Save a Few Lives

Biden endorses it.

Cynics are ruminating over how to complain about it. Meanwhile, looks like it will happen with or without them. Next steps are writing the bill and holding Rs to their part of the deal.





When Texas Paul Speaks, You Should Listen



Best Hyena Escape in the World.   This Hyena Wasn't Laughing.



I Give Yelp a 5-Star Review

Many major companies have chosen to stay quiet on the abortion debate, but Yelp and its CEO Jeremy Stoppelman have chosen a different path.

The San Francisco-based online reviews site is among the handful of companies covering travel costs for employees and their dependents who must travel out of state to obtain an abortion, a thorny topic that's poised to become the chatter of many boardrooms if the Supreme Court overturns the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. If Roe falls, roughly half of U.S. states are expected to ban or put greater restrictions on abortion.
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Invasions Have Consequences

Day 110

Fighting

Russian forces have blown up a bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River, which links the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, cutting off a possible evacuation route for civilians, local officials said.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Russian forces should, in principle, be seeking to seize bridges rather than destroy them since they have struggled to get across the Siverskyi Donets River in the past.

The self-proclaimed officials also celebrated Russia Day on Sunday and began issuing Russian passports to residents in Melitopol, Russian state-owned RIA Novosti news agency said.

Moscow-backed officials are solidifying their hold on occupied territories by installing Russian flags in and around Melitopol and Mariupol, with the sign to the port city’s entrance painted in the Russian flag colours.

Amnesty International accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Russian cluster bomb attacks, the rights body said.

Ukraine has uncovered sabotage activities among 50 people in Lysychansk who were leaking Ukraine’s operational information to Russian forces to help Moscow with its offensive, the governor of Luhansk said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow’s tactics had not changed in the war and that poorly-trained Russian reserves were now being deployed in the battle for Donbas, where “every metre” is being fought over.

Diplomacy

Security concerns raised by Turkey in its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO are legitimate, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a visit to Finland.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met President Zelenskyy in Kyiv to discuss Ukraine’s candidacy for European Union membership that will be announced by the end of the week.

The risk of nuclear war is higher today than ever since the height of the Cold War, an arms research institute concluded.

The human cost of the war

Zelenskyy claimed Russian casualties since the start of the war may pass 40,000 in June.

The governor of Luhansk said about 500 civilians remain in hiding at the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk.

Three people were killed in Lysychansk on Sunday, including a six-year-old boy, and one person was injured, the governor of Luhansk said.

Russian forces’ attacks on a residential area in Kryvyi Rih region of Dnipropetrovsk killed one woman and wounded five peope, the head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration said.

Economy

Russian-owned successor of McDonald’s opened in Moscow three months after McDonald’s suspended operations in Russia.

Ukraine has established two routes through Poland and Romania to export grain and avert a global food crisis although bottlenecks have slowed the supply chain, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister said.

QatarEnergy signed a partnership deal with TotalEnergies for the North Field East expansion of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project as Europe seeks alternatives to Russian energy.

Did You See Headlines that Ukraine is Almost Out of Ammunition?

The Ukrainian government is saying this:

Ukraine has now almost completely run out of ammunition for the Soviet-era weapons systems that were the mainstay of its arsenal, and the Eastern European countries that maintained the same systems have run out of surplus supplies to donate, Danylyuk said. Ukraine urgently needs to shift to longer-range and more sophisticated Western systems, but those have only recently been committed, and in insufficient quantities to match Russia’s immense firepower, he said.

But the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is also saying this:

To this date, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has ensured the supply of 150 artillery platforms of 155 mm caliber to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The stockpiles of ammunition of this caliber are already 10% larger than the stockpiles of Soviet-type large-caliber shells that existed before 24 February 2022. Moreover, these new shells are more effective than their Soviet equivalents, and hence their consumption is lower.

What's Changed in 6 Weeks?

Russia has a little more territory in Donbas, measured in tens of kilometers of advance, and Ukraine has a little more territory around Kherson and Kharkiv, also measuring in the tens of kilometers.

So all the hysterics over Russia eventually taking Severodonetsk, a strategically irrelevant city, reduced to rubble, on the far eastern tip of Ukrainian territory, means nothing. It’s literally a dot on the broader map.

Russia is exhausting itself trying to take that little corner of territory, and that’s the easiest job it faces anytime soon. Beyond Severodonetsk, Lysychansk is protected by higher ground and river barrier. Meanwhile, any advancing Russian forces, and their artillery, are all within Ukrainian artillery range, blasting anything that moves.

For their part, Russia has honed its one winning strategy—flatten a town, send in some poor souls to see if any defenses remain. That probe gets smacked? Oh well. Must’ve sucked! Turn rubble into smaller rubble. Send in next probe. Lather, rinse, repeat, until all that’s left is dust and craters. Move on to the next town. Like Dovhen’ke.

Russia’s “bomb everything until nothing is left” strategy is slow going. It takes a a lot of time and manpower that Russia can’t easily replace. And Ukraine estimates Russia shoots 50-60,000 artillery shells per day. Assuming that’s an accurate number, can Russia keep that pace up indefinitely?

Ukraine has fewer guns and claim they only shoot 5-6,000 shells per day. But remember, as the Ministry of Defense states above, “these new shells are more effective than their Soviet equivalents, and hence their consumption is lower.” Also, you don’t need as many shells when you’re not busy randomly destroying civilian infrastructure. The targets matter when you’re counting shells.

If there’s one thing the West has plenty of, it’s cheap artillery shells. Each one costs $800 (compared to an excalibur guided artillery round, cost $130,000). With Western artillery guns still arriving in Ukraine in large numbers, that and the steady supply of shells can be a great equalizer. MLRS and HIMARS rocket artillery will make Russian lives even more difficult.
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Is Buzz Too Gay for the UAE?

Disney and Pixar's latest animated movie Lightyear has been banned from cinemas in the United Arab Emirates, officials said on Monday.

The film contains a same-sex kiss, but the UAE's Media Regulatory Office did not give a specific reason for its decision.

The department just said the film was banned for its "violation of the country's media content standards".

The movie centres on the character Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story franchise.

The UAE's Media Regulatory Office posted a tweet featuring an image of Buzz, crossed out with a red line.

The Lightyear ban comes just six months after the UAE said it would stop censoring cinematic releases and announced a 21-plus age rating for films it classifies for older audiences.

The United Arab Emirates, a Sunni Muslim-ruled country, criminalises consensual same-sex sexual activity between adults.

Last year, Pixar's Onward was reported to have been banned by several Middle Eastern countries because of a reference to lesbian parents.

In April, Saudi Arabia requested cuts to "LGBTQ references" in Disney's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which was ultimately not screened in the country.

Other films featuring gay storylines to have fallen foul of censorship around the world include Elton John biopic Rocketman. It was banned outright in Samoa and sex scenes from the hit 2019 movie were cut by a Russian distributor.
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COVID:  Don't Play With Me, Cause You're Playing With Fire

‘We’re playing with fire’: US Covid cases may be 30 times higher than reported
(The Guardian, June 2, 2022)

Covid cases could be undercounted by a factor of 30, an early survey of the surge in New York City indicates. “It would appear official case counts are under-estimating the true burden of infection by about 30-fold, which is a huge surprise,” said Denis Nash, an author of the study and a distinguished professor of epidemiology at the City University of New York School of Public Health.

About one in five – 22% – of adult New Yorkers likely had Covid between 23 April and 8 May, according to the preprint study, which has not been peer-reviewed or published. That would mean 1.5 million adults in the city had Covid in a single two-week period – far higher than official counts during that time. …

There is also a “huge disincentive” for many people to get tested for Covid, said Lara Jirmanus, a family physician and clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. Americans have been told the virus is mild and won’t affect their lives, she said, but if they test positive, they need to stay home from work and school.

“It’s almost as though we’ve created a national ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ Covid policy – and that is a perfect way to promise that Covid will spread rapidly,” she said – especially concerning given as much as 60% of Covid transmission happens from people who never have any symptoms.

… “To just decide that it’s perfectly fine for everyone to be infected three to four times a year in the future with a new virus whose effects we don’t fully understand is a huge, huge gamble,” she continued. “We just don’t know what Covid could lead to in the future… We’re playing with fire.”



One in five people who catch Covid-19 are likely to go on to develop another health condition, research says.

The study from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention found survivors were twice as likely to develop a pulmonary embolism or respiratory illness compared to people who were never infected.

My Daughter Tested Positive Last Night
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This Study Says Trump Supporters Should Take Ivermectin to Treat COVID

Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug popularized as a way to treat COVID-19 at home despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration, was not shown to have a meaningful effect in shortening symptoms or decreasing the rate of hospitalizations or deaths, according to clinical trial results published Sunday.

The study, led by scientists from Duke University and Vanderbilt University, included 1,591 participants who received either 400 mcg/kg of the ivermectin, which is often used to treat livestock, or a placebo. Forty-seven percent of the participants said they had received at least two doses of a COVID vaccine.

This clinical trial has not yet been peer-reviewed.

The main measure of effectiveness of ivermectin used in the study was based on time to sustained recovery, which was defined as three consecutive days with no COVID symptoms. The key secondary outcome included a composite of hospitalization or death by day 28, wrote Duke Clinical Research Institute’s Susanna Naggie, MD, MHS, one of the researchers involved in the study, in the document reviewing the study’s results.

Taking ivermectin for three days “resulted in less than one day of shortening of symptoms and did not lower incidence of hospitalization or death among outpatients with COVID-19 in the United States during the delta and omicron variant time periods,” the document stated.
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Texas Law Lets the Police Hide the Truth

As public pressure mounts for more information on the deadly Uvalde school shooting, some are concerned that Texas officials will use a legal loophole to block records from being released — even to the victims' families — once the case is closed.

Officials have declined to release more details, citing the investigation. Amid the growing silence, lawyers and advocates for the victim's families are beginning to fear they may never get the answers, that authorities will close the case and rely on the exception to the Texas Public Information law to block the release of any further information.

The law's exception protects information from being released in crimes for which no one has been convicted. The Texas Attorney General’s Office has ruled that it applies when a suspect is dead. Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old man who police say was responsible for the mass killing at Robb Elementary School, was fatally shot by law enforcement.

The loophole was created in the 1990s to protect those wrongfully accused or whose cases were dismissed, according to Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. “It is meant to protect the innocent,” Shannon said. But she said that in some cases “it is being used and misused in a way that was never intended.”
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CBS Gets the Award for Todays' Most Over-Wrought Headline

"Stocks crumbling as inflation fears mount"

The Market is Down Around 3%.  Bad Day.  Hardly "Crumbling".
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Crypto May Be Crumbling

Cryptocurrencies kicked off a new week with deep losses, extending weekend selling following surprisingly high U.S. inflation data and troubles for a major cryptocurrency lending platform.

Bitcoin has slumped around 12% over the past 24 hours, last trading at levels not seen since late 2020 of around $24,228, with a low in that period of $23,822. Those represent levels not seen since late 2020. Bitcoin is down more than 60% from its November 2021 high.

Ethereum fell more than 17% to around $1,246, hovering at an early 2021 low, after touching $1,180. Meme coin Dogecoin lost 17%.

Crypto May Be Crumbling - Exhibit 2

Another big name in crypto finance is taking drastic steps in the wake of plunging currency values. As The Vergenotes, lending heavyweight Celsius Network has 'paused' all withdrawals, inter-account transfers and Swaps in response to "extreme market conditions." The move is meant to stabilize the liquidity of assets and provide a better opportunity to meet withdrawal obligations, according the company.

The firm didn't say when it would lift the freeze, or what would happen next. It promise to restore usual operations "as quickly as possible," but cautioned that the effort would "take time" and could include delays.

Celsius has struggled like much of the cryptocurrency market. Its CEL token was worth $7 roughly a year ago, but had tumbled to $3 by early April and is worth just 21 cents as we write this. The company claimed on June 7th that it had the reserves and Ethereum to meet obligations, but CEL's value was cut by more than half in just the few days after that initial announcement.

Critics have raised concerns about Celsius' unusually high yields (currently over 18.6 percent for deposits) and its links to the failed stablecoin Terra. Its CFO was arrested in November over fraud, money laundering and sexual assault allegations. Regulators in Alabama, New Jersey, New York and Texas have also scrutinized Celsius' activities, with New Jersey issuing a cease-and-desist order last September. Simply put, there have long been worries Celsius' business was unsustainable — the activity pause doesn't help matters.

The temporary shutdown of Celsius isn’t the first major implosion in recent weeks. Terra and its cryptocurrency Luna melted down when its stablecoin went into a death spiral in just a few short days. What did Luna’s founder, Do Kwon, do after losing people millions? He started up a new coin called Luna 2.0.

You almost have to respect the audacity. Almost.
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Let the Games Begin!





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