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Monday, September 21, 2020
Last Friday, associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at the age of 87, and many memorials appeared outside the Supreme Court over the weekend. Justice Ginsburg had been battling pancreatic cancer since 2009, and in the Supreme Court's announcement of her death, Chief Justice Roberts praised her as a historic jurist and cherished colleague. She had served since 1993 when she was nominated by President Clinton, and she was a strong proponent of women's rights. She was considered a liberal Justice, and her death brings about much political controversy. Justices serve for life, and although there are no requirements for a nominee, presidents have traditionally picked highly qualified, sitting judges. Once a judge is nominated, they are questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee and voted on by the Senate for confirmation. Because this is an election year, Republicans will probably try to get a nominee confirmed before November when they could lose the Senate and/or White House, and the Democrats will try to delay a vote as long as possible. In Colorado, an extinct type of apple is being brought back. The Colorado Orange apple was a key part of orchards when people originally settled the state during its gold rush. The last tree was found in an orchard in 2017, but there were no DNA samples of the apple to confirm that. However, Colorado State University had some wax models that matched the apples from the tree. It is now being grafted and given to orchard farmers.
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
In the US and across Europe, coronavirus cases are on the rise again. There are also many remaining questions about the disease. The CDC reported on Friday that the virus is more infectious than previously thought and that it could travel more than 6 feet through the air. On Monday, it reverted back to its old guidance, saying that COVID-19 is mostly spread by interpersonal contact. The US recently hit a milestone of 200,000 deaths, and cases have gone up in many states across the country. The good news is that European death rates and world infection rates are holding steady and that the increase in cases may have come from increased testing. College campuses are also taking a big hit; many opened only to send students home or restrict them to essential activities only for fear that they spread it back home. In one university, roughly 20% of dorm students have been infected, and many colleges are investigating COVID rule violations. President Trump is expected to nominate a replacement for former associate Justice Ginsburg this week, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell says that the Senate will vote on his nominee, and turn from his 2016 statement that he would not vote on President Obama's replacement for Antonin Scalia because it was an election year. What's different is that President Trump is a Republican, and he could be reelected this election cycle. Democrats say that they'll do everything they can do deny President Trump a vote. This means that the Supreme Court currently has 8 justices and there can be a tie. If a tie happens, then the lower court's ruling is upheld, but it doesn't provide a precedent for the nation. That means significant issues may remain unresolved and even come back to the divided court in a different lawsuit creating a lot of legal confusion.
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
The UN General Assembly has begun on the UN's 75th anniversary - virtually. The usually packed room of 2,500 people has been reduced to just over 200, who will show speeches from the leaders of their respective countries, and the secretary general. Although many say that face to face conversation is needed for effective diplomacy, there are a number of issues to be discussed - including the coronavirus. Hundreds of vaccines are being created, and 8 are already in Phase III testing. But making a vaccine is only part of the battle. It will then need to be distributed to billions around the world. Many countries have already ordered hundreds of millions of vaccines that may not even work, and companies like UPS are standing by to deliver them when they are ready. Yesterday marked the first day of Fall for the Northern Hemisphere, and the first day of Spring for the Southern. If you live up north, then you'll see the leaves changing color soon. But what makes them do that? All leaves actually have the vibrant red, orange, and yellow colors under the green. In the summer months, photosynthesis causes the chlorophyll in leaves to turn green, while in the fall, when there is less sunlight, photosynthesis slows, allowing the fall colors to show.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
The FBI is warning against disinformation this coming election. Disinformation is both fake information and the intentional spread of it. It says that Russia and China may attempt to interfere with the US election, which both countries have denied, and that Americans should be on guard against unverified information regarding slow vote counts due to high rates of mail-in voting and results. Even though election results may come in slowly this year because of mail-in ballots, one key state to watch is Florida. It's demographically similar to the rest of the country, and no Republican has won without the state since Calvin Coolidge and only two Democrats have won without it. It will also count its votes the fastest because it is one of the few states that require all votes to be in by the time polls close. There have been 23 named storms this hurricane season - so many that meteorologists ran out of names and started using the Greek alphabet. One storm, Paulette, lost strength while in the ocean then reappeared as a "zombie storm". In Spivey's Corner, North Carolina, farmers used to use a variety of hollers to communicate with one another. After that became obsolete, a National Hollering Contest was formed to preserve the tradition.
Friday, September 25, 2020
Next Tuesday, the first presidential debate will be held between President Trump and Democratic nominee Biden. There will be two more through October and one between Vice President Pence and Democratic VP nominee Harris. These events will all be an hour and a half long with no commercial breaks and they will be held by a nonprofit, nonpartisan Committee on Presidential Debates. Presidential debates have been a part of elections for a long time, but one of the most memorable are the ones between Kennedy and Nixon in 1960. It is said that people who heard it on the radio thought Nixon won, while those who watched it on TV thought Kennedy won because he was so much more smooth, an indication of how important style and TV would become. New research by the CDC shows that thousands of people may have been exposed to COVID-19 on over 1,600 flights since the pandemic began. That's not to say all of them contracted the disease, and airlines say that flying is perfectly safe with proper sanitization and masks being required. Still, passengers are terrified. The TSA is seeing only a fraction of the traffic it saw last year, and most airports are empty. Still, many people miss flying - so much that "flights to nowhere" given by many airlines are selling out in minutes. Halloween has also been impacted by coronavirus. Most public health officials are recommending not going trick-or-treating or attending large costume parties. Some counties even went so far as to ban them, but reversed the decision after lots of pushback. Authorities say its still safe to decorate your home and attend virtual parties.
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