https://youtu.be/-acHq7d0-2I
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff attended the DC Pride Parade, held Saturday in Washington. Harris becomes the highest-ranking federal government official to attend the event. “Happy Pride, everyone,” she wished the crowd.
An anonymous bidder won the final seat on the planned July 28th Blue Origin space launch that will carry Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and his brother, taking the spot with a $28 million bid, the Associated Press reports.
The winner of the online auction will spend three minutes in space after the crew capsule separates from the New Shepard rocket. The capsule will then have a parachute assisted landing in West Texas. It will be the first manned flight using the New Shepard rocket.
More than 7,500 people put bids in for the seats, with 20 qualifying for the final auction. The money will go to a foundation, set up by Bezos to promote STEM education in schools.
https://youtu.be/ZPY7fyS0ssE
Danish soccer star Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field just before half of a UEFA Euro 2020 match against Finland Saturday afternoon. Danish team captain Simon Kjaer made sure Eriksen didn’t swallow his tongue and began CPR while medical personnel rushed to give him chest compressions before he was taken off the field in a stretcher. (Video of Eriksen’s collapse available after the fold.)
The teams elected to resume the game when they were told Eriksen was awake and stable while being treated at a local hospital. As the teams readied to take the pitch for the second half, the crowd started a call-and-response, with Finnish fans yelling “Christian” and the Danish fans responding “Eriksen” in support of the fallen player.
“Since his presidency ended, Donald Trump has issued more statements lying about the 2020 election than statements talking about any other subject,” reports CNN. “Forty-three of the 132 post-presidency statements Trump had issued through June 9 included a lie about the election. That’s about 33%. These lies range from vague claims that the election was “stolen” and “rigged” to specific false assertions about what happened in various states he lost.”
The Torah ark, the decorative cabinet in which the Jewish scrolls transcribed with the first five books of the Bible are stored, at the Frankford, Germany airport Jewish prayer room was vandalized with a Nazi swastika spraypainted on it, the Houston Chronicle reports.
The prayer room was recently reopened after been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was discovered several days ago, but it is unclear when it was painted.
“It is simply sad. This hatred of Jews must finally stop,” Germany’s Orthodox Rabbinical Conference said in a statement. “The ugly grimace of antisemitism does not stop even in a highly secured area, at a place of encounter, silence and stopping, where people from all over the world meet briefly while traveling and are in transit.”
With more than 2,400 incidents of anti-Semitic violence recorded in the last year, Germany has been experiencing a spike in violence against Jews.
Several firms and research labs are working on a concept that some have dubbed “hydrocarbon farming”, a “carbon capture and storage” (CC&S) process that uses solar energy to capture CO2 and water vapor from the atmosphere. The process offers the potential to create “net-zero” hydrocarbons that will allow consumers to continue to use internal combustion engines without creating any net addition to atmospheric CO2 levels. The technology may also make it possible to convert massive quantities of CO2 into paraffins: hydrocarbon waxes (the exact same stuff that’s in a candle) that may then be stored in underground caverns where they can safely store enormous quantities of CO2 without the need for pressurization. This article will provide a brief introduction to how hydrocarbon farming works, and identify several challenges that exist for implementing this technology on a wide scale.
A Delta flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta was diverted to Oklahoma City Saturday morning after a passenger assaulted two flight attendants and threatened to explode a bomb on the plane, ABC News reports.
It’s the latest in a string of incidents where passengers are assaulting flight crews, prompting the flight attendants union to call for greater passenger screening and in-flight security. Airlines have reported 2,500 incidents of unruly passengers since the beginning of the year.
Stephon Jamar Duncan assaulted two members of the flight crew while stating he would take down the plane. He was subdued by an off-duty pilot with the help of other passengers on the plane. Upon landing in Oklahoma City, he was taken into custody and taken to a local hospital after complaining about chest pains. He will be held for a psychological evaluation.
“Moscow’s mayor on Saturday ordered a week off for some workplaces and imposed restrictions on many businesses to fight coronavirus infections that have more than doubled in the past week. The national coronavirus taskforce reported 6,701 new cases of infection in Moscow, compared with 2,936 on June 6. Nationally, the daily infection tally has spiked by nearly half over the past week, to 13,510. After several weeks of lockdown as the pandemic spread in the spring of 2020, Moscow eased restrictions and did not reimpose any during subsequent case increases. But because of the recent sharp rise, ‘it is impossible not to react to such a situation,’ Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.”
“He ordered that enterprises that do not normally work on weekends remain closed for the next week while continuing to pay employees. In addition, food courts and children’s play areas in shopping centers are to close for a week beginning Sunday, and restaurants and bars must limit their service to takeout from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Earlier in the week, city authorities said enforcement of mask- and glove-wearing on mass transit, in stores and in other public places would be strengthened and that violators could face fines of up to 5,000 rubles ($70). Although Russia was the first country to deploy a coronavirus vaccine, its use has been relatively low; many Russians are reluctant to get vaccinated. President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said 18 million Russians have received the vaccine – about 12% of the population” – AP.
AP: “As middle school teacher Brittany Paschall assembled a lesson plan on the history of the Negro Baseball Leagues, she wondered how she might have to go about it differently next year under a new Tennessee state law that prohibits teaching certain concepts of race and racism. The unit was about baseball, but more importantly, it was about segregation and racism in America. ‘I kept thinking, in light of this bill, if this were next year, how would I teach this to my students?’ said Paschall, an English teacher in Nashville. ‘Do we teach students to ignore tough subjects?’ Laws setting guiderails for classroom instruction on race passed this year in Republican-controlled states have left some teachers worried about how they will be enforced. Particularly in districts with large numbers of people of color, educators say they worry everyday discussions about students’ experiences could land teachers in hot water.”
“In response to a push for culturally responsive teaching that gained steam following last year’s police killing of George Floyd, Republican lawmakers and governors have championed legislation to limit the teaching of material that explores how race and racism influence American politics, culture and law. The measures have become law in Tennessee, Idaho and Oklahoma and bills have been introduced in over a dozen other states. Professional teachers associations and some school boards have blasted the laws as disrespecting teachers’ judgment and opening the door to censorship. ‘This is an assault on the craft of teaching,’ said Paschall, who is Black. ‘It’s asking me to show up and ignore parts of my own identity.’ The Tennessee law that takes effect July 1 allows the state education commissioner to withhold funds from any school found to be in violation. Among other things, Tennessee’s teachers can’t instruct that ‘an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, is inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously.’ The law still permits ‘impartial discussion of controversial aspects of history,’ but teachers are uncertain how to square that with the main thrust of the legislation, as state officials begin working on finalizing rules on how to implement the new law.”
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) June 12, 2021
“As the world rapidly shut down last March and thousands of airplanes went out of service and into long-term storage in the desert, a Delta Air Lines pilot tucked a handwritten note inside a tray table only to be found by a pilot who would someday bring that plane back into service. First officer Chris Dennis wrote ‘It’s March 23rd and we just arrived from MSP [Minneapolis – St. Paul International Airport]. Very chilling to see so much of our fleet in the desert,’ according to Delta. As the fallout from the pandemic paralyzed air travel, dozens of planes had been arriving each day in Victorville Airport, an airport with no commercial service about two hours outside of Los Angeles primarily used to store airplanes for long periods of time” ABC News reports.
“First Officer Dennis had heard talks of a two-week lockdown but had no idea when the world would return to normal or when that aircraft would fly again, according to the airline. Another Delta pilot flew to Victorville 435 days later to bring Delta plane 3009 back into service. Inside the cockpit, he found the letter. ‘If you are here to pick up then the light must be at the end of the tunnel. Amazing how fast it changed. Have a safe flight bringing it out of storage!’ the note read. Delta shared this story in a Facebook post that has now been liked by more than 7,000 people.”
Cape Cod Times: “At a little before 8 a.m. Friday, veteran lobster diver Michael Packard entered the water for his second dive of the day. His vessel, the ‘Ja’n J,’ was off Herring Cove Beach and surrounded by a fleet of boats catching striped bass. The water temperature was a balmy 60 degrees and the visibility about 20 feet. Licensed commercial lobster divers literally pluck lobsters off the sandy bottom, and as Packard, 56, dove down Friday morning, he saw schools of sand lances and stripers swimming by. The ocean food chain was in full evidence, but about 10 feet from the bottom Packard suddenly knew what it truly felt like to be part of that chain.”
“‘All of a sudden, I felt this huge shove and the next thing I knew it was completely black,’ Packard recalled Friday afternoon following his release from Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. ‘I could sense I was moving, and I could feel the whale squeezing with the muscles in his mouth.’ Initially, Packard thought he was inside a great white shark, but he couldn’t feel any teeth and he hadn’t suffered any obvious wounds. It quickly dawned on him that he had been swallowed by a whale. ‘I was completely inside; it was completely black,’ Packard said. ‘I thought to myself, ‘there’s no way I’m getting out of here. I’m done, I’m dead.’ All I could think of was my boys — they’re 12 and 15 years old.’ Outfitted with scuba gear, he struggled and the whale began shaking its head so that Packard could tell he didn’t like it. He estimated he was in the whale for 30 to 40 seconds before the whale finally surfaced. ‘I saw light, and he started throwing his head side to side, and the next thing I knew I was outside (in the water),’ said Packard, who lives in Wellfleet.”
“Saudi Arabia announced Saturday this year’s hajj pilgrimage will be limited to no more than 60,000 people, all of them from within the kingdom, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The announcement by the kingdom comes after it ran an incredibly pared-down pilgrimage last year over the virus, but still allowed a small number of the faithful to take part in the annual ceremony. A statement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency quoted the kingdom’s Hajj and Umrah Ministry making the announcement. It said this year’s hajj, which will begin in mid-July, will be limited to those ages 18 to 65. Those taking part must be vaccinated as well, the ministry said.”
“‘The kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is honored to host pilgrims every year, confirms that this arrangement comes out of its constant concern for the health, safety and security of pilgrims as well as the safety of their countries,’ the statement said. In last year’s hajj, as few as 1,000 people already residing in Saudi Arabia were selected to take part in the hajj. Two-thirds were foreign residents from among the 160 different nationalities that would have normally been represented at the hajj. One-third were Saudi security personnel and medical staff. Each year, up to 2 million Muslims perform the hajj, a physically demanding and often costly pilgrimage that draws the faithful from around the world. The hajj, required of all able-bodied Muslims to perform once in their lifetime, is seen as a chance to wipe clean past sins and bring about greater humility and unity among Muslims. The kingdom’s Al Saud ruling family stakes its legitimacy in this oil-rich nation on overseeing and protecting the hajj sites. Ensuring the hajj happens is a priority for them” – AP.
“Arizona Senate Republicans overseeing a review of the 2020 election are ignoring a challenge from election experts who say they can prove the vote was not compromised. Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, has refused to respond to Pima County Republican Benny White and former executives from Boston-based Clear Ballot Group, an election-auditing company, after they issued the challenge Tuesday. The experts say they have counted the ballots from the election using publicly available data from batches of ballots as they were tabulated in November. They concluded that Biden won due in large part to voters who supported Republican candidates in several races but didn’t give their presidential vote to Trump” AZCentral.com reports.
“Their offer could provide a fast comparison on a portion of the ballot review that has come under heavy criticism from election-administration officials in Arizona and across the country. The Senate liaison for the effort has said he doesn’t see what it would accomplish, however. The Senate’s ongoing review is managed by Florida-based Cyber Ninjas, a company whose CEO has pushed former President Donald Trump’s false narrative of a stolen election and lending a partisan hue to the effort before it began. Those making the offer of a parallel count on a portion of the ballots are White, a prominent Pima County Republican data analyst, Larry Moore, the founder of Boston-based Clear Ballot Group and the retired Clear Ballot Chief Technology Officer Tim Halvorsen. ‘We are giving them a tool to check what they are doing, period,’ Moore said Friday. ‘If they don’t want that check, then they are on their own.'”
Virginia Heffernan, LA Times: “QAnon is hardly the first conspiracy theory to sweep the nation. What QAnon calls the Deep State was once known as ‘the hidden government behind a government.’ Where QAnon says that John F. Kennedy Jr. faked his death, past fantasists of yore believed that John Belushi’s death by overdose was a government hit. And when QAnon followers spin yarns about a phantom cabal of satanic cannibals and sex traffickers, twisted liars of the 1850s and 1860s warned of satanic bankers and Catholics who also drank blood and abused children.”
“That’s why QAnon, who made a messiah out of former President Trump, was always bound to lose steam. It will follow the arc of furious, loopy-loo American conspiracy theories that have existed since before the Civil War. Cults like QAnon burn bright, and they fade fast. QAnon’s demise, in fact, is well underway. Its leader, Q, a figure from the internet’s dark side, is now widely suspected to be the creation of Jim and Ron Watkins. The Watkins men are a seedy father-son duo in Asia who serve up pornography and hate speech online. If the Watkins hypothesis is true, it means that Q is not exactly the patriotic, principled avenger crusading against sex trafficking that his followers have put their faith in… QAnoners who are still on board aren’t sure what any of it means anymore. Some have stopped talking about Trump and now just preach antisemitism. Others urge supporters to take on debt because somehow the future belongs to cryptocurrency and the Iraqi dinar. Orthodox Q types, whose numbers are diminishing, are presumably still waiting for tribunals for Trump’s enemies and, of course, the storm. But then late last month, pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, one possible heir apparent to the Q empire, dismissed some of the most popular Q memes at a Dallas Q convention. ‘There are no military tribunals that’s magically going to solve this problem for us.'”
“Data shows that BTS is the most popular K-Pop group in Indonesia, and Indonesian K-Pop fans spend more time consuming content than any other country. So it should come as no surprise that the ‘BTS Meal’ has drawn excitement across the country. However, within hours of the meal’s launch, numerous Indonesian McDonald’s restaurants have been forced to close due to immense demand. After waiting several weeks since the initial launch date, Indonesian [K-Pop fans] were finally in luck on June 9 when the ‘BTS Meal’ finally became available in McDonald’s restaurants across Indonesia. However, it seems none were prepared for just how much demand there’d be.”
“After the buying frenzy skyrocketed within hours, more than a dozen Indonesian McDonald’s outlets have been forced to close. With Indonesia still under partial lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many residents have turned to the on-demand food delivery service Gojek to get their fast-food fix. So, when the ‘BTS Meal’ finally launched nationwide, numerous fans were quick to place their orders – so quick, in fact, that outlets soon became flooded with demand. After McDonald’s restaurants found themselves packed to the brim with Gojek drivers, leaving no room for social distancing, local authorities have had no choice but to close them temporarily to prevent the spread of COVID-19. So far, at least 13 outlets across Jakarta and other major locales have stopped serving the ‘BTS Meal’ and closed their doors” – Koreaboo.
Karol J. Chwiesiuk, a 29-year-old officer with the Chicago Police Department, was arrested Friday by FBI agents and members of the Chicago police force for his role in the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol in Washington, DC, NBC News reports.
Chwiesiuk had been relieved of his duties on the CPD on June 2nd after the department had been advised by federal investigators they suspected Chwiesiuk of participating in the attack.
“The fact that a Chicago Police officer has been charged in that attack on American democracy makes my blood boil, makes me sick to my stomach, and yes, if these allegations are true, it breaks my heart,” Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown said.
Chwiesiuk was arraigned Friday afternoon on five misdemeanors Friday afternoon, including knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building and violent entry or disorderly conduct at the Capitol.
Darnella Frazier, the 17-year-old Black girl who filmed the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, was awarded an honorary Pulitzer Prize for “the crucial role of citizens in journalists’ quests for truth and justice,” NPR reports.
Frazier’s nine minute video showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck and back, which lead to Floyd dying of a heart attack. Her video, which went viral, sparked international outrage and was a central piece of evidence in Chauvin’s murder trial, during which he was found guilty of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter.
The Pulitzer Prize, awarded by a committee put together by Columbia University, honors exceptional writing in journalism, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, playwriting, historical works and biography/autobiography in the United States. There is also an award for songwriting.
The committee does not annually award a special citation like the one Frazier received, but it has recognized work by Ida B. Wells (posthumously), for reporting about violence against Blacks at risk to her personal safety; the Annapolis (Maryland) Capital Gazette for work after their office was attacked by a gunman; and musicians Aretha Franklin and Hank Williams for their contributions to American culture.
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