Adangerous Florida bill, misleadingly named the “Pet Protection Act” (S.B. 994 / H.B. 849), would nullify important reforms for animals.
Far from “protecting” companion animals, this bill would preempt new local retail sales bans for cats and dogs and stop local governments from enacting additional safeguards against puppy and kitten mills.
Commercial breeding mills prioritize profits over animals’ health and well-being. Pet stores are a common sales venue for puppies and kittens from these operations, and local efforts to ban such sales are an important tool in the fight to stop mill cruelty.
Please use the form below to send a message to your representative, urging them to oppose this harmful bill. Remember, personalizing your message will help it stand out.
Forbes has announced its 35th annual list of the world’s richest people for 2021.
The publication said the list now encompasses 2,755 people who are billionaires, 660 more than the prior year, with a record-high number of new names to make the cut — 493, many of whom come from China and Hong Kong.
There were 250 who had dropped off but have made a comeback.
A vast majority of people who had been on the 2020 list are richer than they were the previous year.
Former Amazon CEO and current executive chairman Jeff Bezos is once again the richest man in the world with a net worth of $177 billion. In 2020 he was worth $113 billion when he was at the top of that year’s rankings, Forbes reported.
Here are the rest of the top 10 richest people in the world and their net worth and the companies they lead, or in some cases general ways they made their fortunes.
Mask mandates and coronavirus restrictions are tumbling, as the Omicron variant continues to recede.
Infectious disease expert Katelyn Jetelina (https://sph.uth.edu/cv/jetelina.pdf) has created a framework for how to think smartly about when and where to wear a mask.
Her framework relies on two hyper-local metrics: % of positive tests, and case rates in each county.
Across the US, temperatures are warming up, and masks are coming off, as the Omicron variant continues to recede.
Mike Osterholm, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota,
Many Democratic governors are beginning to unravel mask mandates for businesses that had been in place for months, while others have suggested that schoolchildren and teachers may begin taking off their masks in class in the coming weeks — for the first time during the pandemic.
“Governors are reading the tea leaves,” infectious disease expert Mike Osterholm, who directs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said on a Thursday podcast.
“I’m not saying they shouldn’t, but know that it never was based on some objective criteria. It was just ‘we’re done, we’re tired, and it’s acceptable enough now.'”
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director CDC
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acknowledged during a White House COVID-19 briefing earlier this week that “we want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing.” However, she also said that, from the CDC’s perspective, that should only happen when disease “metrics are better,” and hospitals aren’t overflowing anymore.
“Our hospitals need to be able to take care of people with heart attacks and strokes,” Walensky said. “Our emergency departments can’t be so overwhelmed that patients with emergent issues have to wait in line.”
Katelyn Jetelina, Infectious Disease Expert
In order to provide an honest and independent scientific framework for this moment, public health expert Katelyn Jetelina (https://sph.uth.edu/cv/jetelina.pdf), an assistant professor at the University of Texas, created her own chart, which she shared with Insider (adapted below). It gives people a framework for how to “ride the waves,” as she puts it, of any potential coronavirus surges from here on out.
“We need a solution that addresses the ebb and flow of viral dynamics,” she wrote in a recent Substack post, “leveraging the tools we have at hand.”
How to use this COVID chart The chart is meant to be read based on two key measurements: the number of COVID-19 cases in your area, and the test positivity rate where you live. Both metrics are retrievable for all US counties on the CDC’s COVID-19 dashboards and can be found at the following link.
Current 7-days is Sat Feb 12 2022 – Fri Feb 18 2022 for case rate and Thu Feb 10 2022 – Wed Feb 16 2022 for percent positivity. The percent change in counties at each level of transmission is the absolute change compared to the previous 7-day period.
For example, in Seminole County, Florida, the percentage of positive tests is relatively high (16.67%), and the case rate per 100,000 puts the county in the red zone, at 179.09.
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/ – Sunday; February 20, 2022
Katelyn Jetelina’s chart suggests, then, that people in Seminole County should:
Still avoid indoor dining, for now
And wear masks when indoors in public
It should be noted that as of the publish date of this post, not one county in Florida is below the >=100 cases per 100,000 threshold in the chart above. Only 3 counties at this time have met the threshold for >10% test positivity rate, Miami-Dade (7.13%), Broward (8.01%) and Palm Beach Counties (8.45%)
New coronavirus cases in Florida dropped by more than half this week when compared to last week, the Florida Department of Health said Friday. There were 42,473 new coronavirus cases this week among Florida residents to bring the cumulative total to 5,775,171. With 1,330 more fatalities on record, 68,902 Florida residents have died.
This week’s 1,330 deaths reflect a slight increase from the 1,293 reported last week, but deaths can take several days or weeks to be reported. The majority of the newly reported deaths are people who died before this week.
The number of weekly cases decreased compared to the previous week’s 103,022. Positivity decreased to 8.2%. That’s for new cases only and excludes anyone who previously tested positive.
Across the state, 5,355 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 from Feb. 9-15, according to the latest White House report. In comparison, 7,397 were hospitalized the previous week. The week before that, it was 9,632.
Statewide, 15,379,508 residents, or 74% of people age 5 and up, have received at least one vaccination shot, including 8,235,681 who have completed their shot regimens but not received an additional dose through Feb. 17. Meanwhile, 24,004 received an additional dose last week, bringing the total to 5,007,337.
Central Florida added 9,876 resident infections this week, based on the actual date the state opened the case, for a total of 1,131,490: 3,073 more in Orange for 369,678; 928 more in Osceola for 111,633; 1,526 more in Polk for 197,390; 823 more in Lake for 83,315; 348 more in Sumter for 21,144; 1,017 more in Volusia for 114,833; 1,316 more in Brevard for 131,391; and 845 more in Seminole for 102,106.
The Bull has been running hard for 10 years now. Indicators are clear that we are in what Jeromy Grantham, co-founder of Boston’s GMO, calls a “Super Bubble”. This has only happened 4 times in the last 100 years – 1929, 1972, 1989 in Japan and 2000. One indicator is certainly the Buffett Indicator which tracks the ratio of the value of all public stocks in the US and GDP. We are currently at 218% which is 70% above trendline.
According to Grantham, the Russell 2000 small cap stocks are down and not making any money right now. In a Bull market, the Russell index should be up 30%.
After a five-month review of the Pasadena police investigation into allegations of sexual assault against him, Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer will not face criminal charges, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday.
That the district attorney decided criminal charges were not warranted does not mean Bauer has been cleared to rejoin the Dodgers. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred retains the right to suspend Bauer.
Manfred is widely expected to do so, but not soon. MLB issued a statement moments after the district attorney decision: “MLB’s investigation is ongoing, and we will comment further at the appropriate time.”
Bauer had two sexual encounters with a San Diego woman last year at his Pasadena home. The district attorney opted not to file assault charges in the first encounter in April and domestic violence charges in the second encounter in May, determining there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bauer committed a crime.
The district attorney’s office made the decision after reviewing electronic messages between Bauer and his accuser, the Pasadena police investigation and a transcript of the civil restraining order proceedings in August, according to two people with detailed knowledge of the review.
The declination of charges by the district attorney’s office included the following: “After a thorough review of all the available evidence including the civil restraining order proceedings, witness statements and the physical evidence — the People are unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Those charges were assault by means likely to cause great bodily harm, sodomy of a sleeping person and domestic violence.”
