🌞 Back To Work – February 22 2021

The Lead: Stimulus Week

credit: reuters

President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package will get its vote in Congress this week, although it is expected to receive passing votes from Democrats only. Not a single Republican so far is on board to pass this baby. Not a one!

The House Budget Committee will meet today to get the legislation ready. It should go up for a vote in the House by Friday or Saturday and in the Senate early next week. Time is running out quickly as current unemployment benefits expire in the middle of March.

If Republicans refuse to vote for this bill, the President is willing to use a tactic called reconciliation, which will allow for the bill to become law without full congressional approval. Republicans are balking at the $15 minimum wage and $350 billion in state and local aid that is included in this bill. They say that this bill pays “people not to work.” Which was kind of the point right? Pay people because they cannot work? What are we missing?

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Herdy Dur Mur, Flerpty Floopin

credit: giphy

Disney released five seasons of the 1970s original “The Muppet Show” this weekend with a disclaimer for “offensive content.”

The Muppet Show was created before Hollywood thought much about being sensitive to other cultures, races, or genders. For instance, in one episode, Johnny Cash sings in front of a Confederate flag. Disney has decided to go ahead with this content without altering it with this disclaimer:

“This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes are wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.”

And monetize it… Which is what they did not say but did not need to.

Disney will now put the same disclaimer on vintage films such as “Peter Pan,”

“Dumbo,” “Aristocrats” and “Swiss Family Robinson.”

Your Science Lesson Of The Day: Phthalates

credit: istock

Phthalates are harming our children’s brains, bodies, and mental health, according to a new study. This is a chemical most often used in plastics but is everywhere in our world – cosmetics, canned food lining, household products, you name it. It’s pretty tough to get away from it.

A group of scientists and health professionals published research from their group called Project TENDR. They found many links between phthalates and childhood brain development, hormone regulation, obesity, asthma, cancer, reproductive problems, and cardiovascular disease. It’s terrifying. They are asking for this chemical to be banned immediately.

“When you have the same kind of findings repeated in multiple populations, done by different investigators using different tools and approaches and you keep coming up with the same finding, I think you can begin to say that the data is pretty clear,” a toxicologist named Linda Birnbaum told CNN.

One study found that mothers with high levels of phthalates in their urine during pregnancy were three times as likely to have a child with ADHD.

The American Chemistry Council is not ready to commit to banning phthalates. A spokesperson for the organization said that they do not think that these studies have proven that the chemical is the actual cause of these terrible things.

So…let’s just keep it in our environment on the unlikely chance that these things are correlation and not causation, keeping our children at risk meanwhile? Shame.

News By The Numbers

credit: lightrocket

$2,000. That is how much one man paid for his wife to shoot and kill a giraffe for Valentine’s Day. The internet hates her for the photos she posted posing with the dead animal and its heart in her hand but she defended herself saying that she provided jobs and meat for the villagers.

$20,000. That is how much one man sold worth of sturgeon caviar illegally while working for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He was not supposed to sell those fish eggs and is now facing charges of a misdemeanor for illegally trading them. His criminal nickname: The Sturgeon General.

46%. That is how many Republicans say that they would join former President Trump’s new party if he decided to create one.

6. That is how many breeds of pythons wildlife officials want to ban Florida residents from owning and breeding. This includes the green anaconda, which we’re not sure why anyone would want as a house pet. Biologists say that these reptiles wreak havoc on the Florida ecosystem because they are not native.

Electric Bill = Heartattack

credit: dallasnews

Some Texans who did not lose power last week we charged quite the premium for it. One woman said that her bill for heating her 2,700-square-foot home was over $5,000. Another man had the same bill for a 900-square-foot townhouse. Choke!

These customers used a service called Griddy, which sells plans to consumers based on changing prices of electricity on the power grid. The company warned customers that they should change providers during the storm but those kinds of changes take days and in the interim, customers were being gouged for power.

At one point, the price soared to $9 per kilowatt-hour, which usually costs between 2 and 7 cents.

Griddy said that it will seek federal relief to help customers with these astronomical bills. The Governor and the Public Utility Commission have signed an order to stop companies from sending these bills and are also looking into ways to financially manage them.

Moving Day

credit: douglas zimmerman

San Francisco residents watched and cheered as a 140-year-old Victorian home was moved about six blocks through the city to a new location. The move came at a cost of about $400,000 but the mover says that it is worth it because the home is so historic and deserves to be preserved.

The house was moved on a hydrologic dolly operated by remote control. The city had to move power lines, street lights, and parking meters and cut back trees to make this happen.

The lot where the house used to live will now be turned into a 47-unit apartment complex. The house itself will be combined with a new housing development of its own with 17 units. Together the projects will offer 64 new housing units to the city of San Francisco so yeah, $400,000 to move the building is a good investment. They’ll recover that cost in a blink of an eye considering the cost of San Francisco rents.

Today’s Live Show

Join us on today’s live show as the stimulus battle kicks into high gear today. Join us at 9 AM Eastern over your cup of coffee or tea. Click here to watch and subscribe.

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