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FCC Robocall Law Enforcement Does Little to Stop Illegal Calls, Senate Hears (Maria)
The author writes, “The Federal Communications Commission’s attempts to stop robocalls have failed to make a big dent in the problem, according to testimony at a Senate subcommittee hearing [yesterday]. … The hearing on robocalls was held by the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), the subcommittee chair, said that FCC enforcement is ineffective and that Congress should give the agency more power. He mentioned the long-standing problem that the FCC is unable to collect on most of the robocall fines it issues.”
Greta Thunberg Removed from Israeli Curriculum Over Gaza Support (Mili)
The author writes, “Israel has announced that it will remove all references to Greta Thunberg from its school curriculum, after the Swedish climate activist expressed support for Gaza. The Israeli education ministry said Ms. Thunberg had disqualified herself from ‘being an educational role model’ after she was photographed last week holding up a sign that read ‘stand with Gaza.’ … [Said the ministry,] ‘This stance disqualifies her from being an educational and moral role model, and she is no longer eligible to serve as an inspiration and educator for Israeli students.’”
Pope Francis: ‘Irresponsible’ Western Lifestyles Push the World to ‘the Breaking Point’ on Climate (Laura)
From Inside Climate News: “Pope Francis [has] doubled down on his earlier call for urgent action to tackle climate change, while also criticizing a failing global response to the crisis. Eight years after the Vatican published Francis’ landmark ‘Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home,’ the first papal teaching letter sent to all of the church’s bishops focused on the environment, the pontiff’s new writing comes in the form of a papal exhortation called Laudate Deum, or Praise God. On the climate crisis, Francis writes that ‘our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.’”
Oklahoma Attorney General Files Lawsuit to Stop First Publicly Funded Religious School in US (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Friday sued to stop a state board from establishing and funding what would be the nation’s first religious public charter school after the board ignored Drummond’s warning that it would violate both the state and US constitutions. Drummond filed the lawsuit with the Oklahoma Supreme Court against the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board after three of the board’s members this week signed a contract for the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, which is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.”
RFK Jr. Spent Years Stoking Fear and Mistrust of Vaccines. These People Were Hurt by His Work (Reader Steve)
From AP News: “When 12-year-old Braden Fahey collapsed during football practice and died, it was just the beginning of his parents’ nightmare. Deep in their grief a few months later, Gina and Padrig Fahey received news that shocked them to their core: A favorite photo of their beloved son was plastered on the cover of a book that falsely argues COVID-19 vaccines caused a spike of sudden deaths among healthy young people. The book, called ‘Cause Unknown,’ was co-published by an anti-vaccine group led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President John F. Kennedy’s nephew, who is now running for president. Kennedy wrote the foreword and promoted the book, tweeting that it details data showing ‘COVID shots are a crime against humanity.’”
Sick of Cancel Culture? One Man Has a Surprising Solution. (Al)
From Politico: “Greg Lukianoff is on a quest to heal a fractured nation and guard America’s liberties — if it’s not already too late.”
Your Very Own Consciousness Can Interact With the Whole Universe, Scientists Believe (Sean)
From Popular Mechanics: “When people talk about consciousness, or the mind, it’s always a bit nebulous. Whether we create consciousness in our brains as a function of our neurons firing, or consciousness exists independently of us, there’s no universally accepted scientific explanation for where it comes from or where it lives. However, new research on the physics, anatomy, and geometry of consciousness has begun to reveal its possible form. In other words, we may soon be able to identify a true architecture of consciousness.”
