StupidiNews!

• NYC fire officials say a space heater was most likely responsible for a Sunday Bronx apartment fire that left 19 dead, including 9 children, and injured 63 more.
• NASA has completed deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope over the weekend, with the orbital platform traveling to Earth's second Lagrange point over the next five and a half months.
• Australia has surpassed 1 million COVID infections as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the island nation.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is open to the idea of another round of federal relief aid for COVID ahead of a February deadline for keeping the government open.
• Game developer Sega says it will reconsider plans to explore gaming NFTs after a major customer backlash, saying the company will now "carefully assess" what is acceptable to users.
  

StupidiNews!

• On the one-year anniversary of the terrorist insurrection on the US Capitol, former president Jimmy Carter is warning that America's democracy "now teeters on the brink"
• Donald Trump says that the "MAGA Nation should rise up and oppose" COVID vaccination mandates and school closures across the country.
• President Biden and Vice President Harris will give remarks today observing the Capitol Police lost one year ago, asking Americans to be guided by the "light of truth".
• US Attorney General Merrick Garland says that the Justice Department will go after January 6th insurrection perpetrators "at any level".
• Facebook parent company Meta is dropping plans to develop its own VR software and will use Google Android in its virtual meeting applications.

StupidiNews!

• Updating guidance on Covid Omicron, the CDC says that those quarantining themselves because of the virus should continue to wear masks even after leaving quarantine due to the virus's fast spread.
• Senate Republicans say they are open to the idea of passing electoral counting reform laws to prevent another possible January 6th scenario, but voting rights legislation remains off the table.
• Toyota has finally surpassed GM as US auto sales leader in 2021, ending General Motors nearly century long domination of American auto sales.
• Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott is suing the Biden administration over federal mandates to vaccinate the state's National Guard against Covid-19.
• Digital scanning of the mummy of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep I suggests he was around 35 when he died, and that priests later repaired damage to his mummy by tomb raiders 3000 years ago.

StupidiNews!

 We're back from HoliDaze, and ready to fight into 2022.
 

• Jurors in the fraud trial of Theranos co-founder Elizabeth Holmes have found her guilty on four of the eleven counts including wire fraud, meaning Holmes faces up to 30 years in prison.
  
• Federal investigators are looking into a lesser-known white supremacist domestic terrorism group, the 1st Amendment Praetorian, and their role in funneling data to the Trump Campaign in 2020.
• Hundreds of school districts have delayed students from returning to school this week as COVID Omicron sweeps across the nation, with students starting off the new year with virtual classes.
• The Biden administration is using $1 billion in federal aid to smaller meatpackers to lower rising food prices across the country as ranchers and farmers are filing complaints about consolidation.
• Microsoft has fixed an Exchange server bug that prevented email systems from processing emails with the date year of 2022.
  

StupidiNews!

• New CDC figures confirm that COVID was the third-leading cause of US deaths in 2020, behind only heart disease and cancer for last year.
  
• News networks will commemorate coverage of the January 6th insurrection with several days of specials, Donald Trump says he plans his own news conference that day with "new evidence".
• San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Bank is the latest major US employer to delay employees returning to the office amid America's COVID Omicron surge.
• President Biden says he's considering lifting the travel ban from Southern African nations where COVID Omicron was first identified last month based on CDC advisors.
• Jury deliberations in the criminal fraud trial of Theranos co-founder Elizabeth Holmes continue as both sides made their closing arguments on Monday.
  

StupidiNews!

• A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Northern California on Monday with the epicenter near Cape Mendocino, no casualties or major damage was reported.
• Oklahoma state House Republican Terry O' Donnell is facing multiple felony fraud charges, including a ten-year prison sentence if convicted of conspiracy against the state.
• The case against Jeffrey Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell went to jury deliberations Monday, Maxwell is facing decades in prison if convicted on child sexual abuse charges.
• Quebec officials are closing bars and schools across the province as COVID Omicron cases are ripping across Montreal and Quebec City, hospital cases are up more than 75% in three weeks.
• The EPA has released tough new fuel economy standards, replacing far more lenient Trump-era standards requiring passenger vehicles to average 40 mpg across fleets by 2026 up from 25.
  

StupidiNews!

• Senate Republicans say they will block any Biden Supreme Court pick for two years if they regain control of the Senate in the 2022 elections.
• The Catholic Church is facing a major investigation into sexual misconduct of priests in Spain, with possible abuse cases dating as far back as 80 years ago.
• Chilean leftist Gabriel Boric is claiming victory in Sunday's presidential elections less than two years after nationwide protests against the Pinochet-defending party of rival Juan Antonio Kast.
• Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker both say they have tested positive for COVID Omicron and will be taking measures to control its spread among staffers and Senate personnel.
• ESPN and other Disney-owned channels are returning to YouTubeTV after Google and Disney reached a deal over the weekend for carriage of Disney channels on Google's service.
  

StupidiNews!

• The workers at a candle factory hit by tornadoes on Saturday have filed a class-action lawsuit, claims of management telling workers they would be fired if they sought shelter from the storm.
• Project Veritas is under investigation for allegedly trying to blackmail President Biden with threats to publish claims in what they say are his daughter's diary unless he agreed to a live interview.
• A federal judge has thrown out a $4.5 billion settlement that would have shielded the wealthy Sackler family from legal repercussions from owning Purdue Pharma maker OxyContin.
• President Joe Biden is warning the unvaccinated that they face a winter of "severe illness and death" due to COVID Omicron, and once again asked all eligible Americans to get vaccinated.
• Washington University researchers have determined that fossil fuel emissions kill up to one million people per year globally, most deaths coming from coal particulate pollution known as PM2.5.
  

StupidiNews!

• Broward County, Florida's Parkland school district has reached a $26 million settlement with the victims and families of the 17 killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018.
• The House Transportation committee has found that Donald Trump's multi-million dollar loan from the federal government to buy the now sold DC Old Post Office was a massive mess.
• Canada is the latest country to issue international travel warnings as COVID Omicron continues to spread across the globe.
• Sen. Ron Wyden has blocked legislation to ban US imports of Chinese goods made with Uyghur detainee labor after Sen. Marco Rubio objected to Wyden' child tax credit amendment.
• Internet security experts are scrambling to plug a major exploit in the latest patch of logging utility Log4J, used by thousands of companies on the internet.
  

StupidiNews!

• The World Health Organization is warning that COVID Omicron variant is the fastest-spreading variant of the disease so far, and that countries need to take social distancing seriously.
• Members of a German anti-vaccine terrorist group were arrested this week in a plot to assassinate the Prime Minister of the German state of Saxony over COVID lockdowns.
• A federal judge has thrown out Donald Trump's legal case to block release of his tax returns to Congress, citing that Trump's defense gave no valid reason to stop the release.
• All but two House Republicans, January 6th Committee members Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, voted against contempt charges for former Trump WH Chief of Staff Mark Meadows last night.
• OSHA officials are now investigating Amazon over last weekend's tornado disaster where warehouse workers were told they would be fired if they left the work floor to seek shelter.
  

StupidiNews!

• The death toll from Saturday's tornado outbreak has risen to 74, with hundreds still missing across four Midwest states, as President Biden will tour the damage on Tuesday.
• The US Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to New York's vaccine mandate, with Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissenting.
• Norway is the latest EU country to enter a partial lockdown as COVID Omicron rips through Europe, officials in the country say cases could hit 300,000 per day in January.
• Donald Trump says he "expects to win" as he appeals his court loss over executive documents, a lower court said this week that Trump presented "no basis" to block the documents' release.
• Nine Minnesota hospital systems published a joint letter last weekend informing people that their ICU beds are full, and that COVID is overwhelming the state without more vaccinations.
  

StupidiNews!

• FOX News host Chris Wallace is leaving the network after 18 years and is joining CNN, Wallace's FOX contract is over and Wallace will helm CNN's new streaming news network, CNN+.
• The G7 nations are warning Russia of "massive consequences" if Moscow invades the country, including "crippling" economic sanctions against Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
• Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is requesting a major disaster declaration in the wake of Saturday's tornado outbreak which killed scores of people, hundreds remain missing.
• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has contracted COVID Omicron with "mild" symptoms as the country deals with nearly 20,000 new cases of COVID daily.
• Mercedes-Benz has become the first automaker to win approval for "level 3"self-driving vehicles, the company's 2023 S-Class sedans will be able to auto-drive in traffic and speeds up to 37 mph.
  

StupidiNews!

• Former TV star Josh Duggar was convicted on two federal felony child pornography charges on  Thursday and faces up to 40 years in prison.
• Donald Trump faces a January 7th deposition in New York's case against the Trump Organization, as NY Attorney General Tish James has dropped her gubernatorial bid to pursue the case.
• At least 53 people are dead in a major truck accident in Mexico as dozens of Central American migrants were killed when the truck carrying them flipped over near Tuxtla Guitierrez, Chiapas.
• President Biden is assuring Ukraine President Zelensky that the US will support the country NATO bid if it makes one, but not send US troops should Russia invade.
• Several northern states have deployed the National Guard to deal with another spike in COVID delta variant hospitalizations, where New York, Pennsylvania and Maine hospitals are full.
  

StupidiNews!

• A new preparedness study by Johns Hopkins university finds no country with a passing score on measures to face the next pandemic.
• The US Senate has voted 52-48 to block President Biden's vaccine mandate under the Congressional Review Act, but the vote has little chance to pass the House or Biden's signature.
• The FDA has authorized the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 antibody treatment for use in immunodeficient patients or those who would suffer side effects from the vaccine.
• Vice President Harris is spearheading a national effort to lower infant mortality rates, particularly among Black women in the US.
• With less than a day to spare before being pulled, Google has reached a multi-year deal with streaming device company Roku to provide YouTube and YouTubeTV apps on Roku devices.
  

StupidiNews!

• Manhattan billionaire Michael Steinhardt has surrendered nearly $70 million in stolen relics along with a lifetime ban on acquiring such objects in a deal with federal prosecutors.
• Israeli defense forces have completed the "Iron Dome" barrier along the Gaza border with the aim of shooting down Hamas rockets fired into the country.
• COVID Delta and Omicron variants are hitting Ontario "hard and fast" this winter as Canadian health officials are warning citizens to mask up and get vaccinated.
• Australia's government is joining the Biden administration in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in  February.
• Illinois Democratic state Rep. Jonathan Carroll wants unvaccinated COVID-19 patients to pay 100% of hospital costs out-of-pocket, but his legislation faces major legal and federal hurdles.
  

StupidiNews!

• After a record-setting blizzard last week in Hawaii, the island of Maui could see record flooding with up to 25 inches of rain through Tuesday.
• St. Louis police say a seven-year-old brought a loaded gun to school to show off to classmates, nobody was hurt in the incident.
• President Joe Biden will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a virtual summit on Tuesday as military tensions along the Ukraine/Russia border continue to rise.
• France will take a number of measures to curb the spread of COVID Omicron, including closing nightclubs and bars for the next four weeks.
• New archaeological evidence places human relatives walking the earth some 3.6 million years ago, with two Australopithecus afarensis species footprints found in Tanzania.
  

StupidiNews!

• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says a deal with the city of Richmond to remove the granite pedestal that a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee sat upon, the pedestal will be removed this week.
• Former Georgia GOP Sen. David Perdue has announced that he will mount a primary challenge to Gov. Brian Kemp, with Kemp saying the race is Perdue's "bruised ego" over his 2020 loss.
• Police are questioning a man connected to the disappearance and subsequent manhunt for the parents of a 15-year-old charged in a Michigan school shooting last week.
• With the Biden administration's expected diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, China is blasting next week's planned US democracy summit, calling American democracy "a joke."
• 2021 Game Awards founder Geoff Keighley now says embattled game developer Activision Blizzard will not be a part of this year's show in light of ongoing sexual harassment lawsuits.
  

StupidiNews!

• The House and Senate have passed a stopgap funding measure that will keep the federal government going through mid-February, defying a threat by Senate Republicans over vaccine mandates.
• Former Trump confidante Bernie Kerik says he will cooperate with the January 6th Committee's subpoena for documents, but only if he can testify in public, he says.
• Google says it will delay employees' return to office over COVID past its planned January 10th deadline, citing omicron variant concerns.
• Trump election fraud conspiracy theorists Lin Wood and Sidney Powell have been ordered to pay Michigan nearly $200,000 over their false Big Lie claims of voting machine fraud.
• A ransomware attack on Planned Parenthood has compromised the medical data of some 400,000 patients nationwide in October.
  

StupidiNews!

• Georgia Democratic voting activist Stacey Abrams says she will run against Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp in a rematch of 2018, but Kemp may not be her opponent if Donald Trump has his way.
• A WW II bomb unearthed at a Munich construction site exploded and injured several people, authorities are investigating why the 250-pound bomb remained undiscovered until work began.
• The teen arrested for Tuesday's school shooting in Michigan has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder along with multiple other counts and will be tried as an adult.
• Massachusetts GOP Gov. Charlie Baker says he will not run for a third term in 2022, citing a campaign being a distraction from ongoing efforts to fight COVID-19 in the state.
• US CDC officials say the COVID-19 Omicron variant has been confirmed in California as the Biden Administration considers far stricter international travel and testing restrictions.
  

StupidiNews!

• At least three are dead and eight more injured in a high school shooting in suburban Detroit on Tuesday, police have taken the 15-year-old suspect into custody.
• The Ninth Circuit has upheld California's ban on high capacity magazines, reinstating the ban on a 7-4 vote after a Trump-appointed federal judge ruled the ban unconstitutional.
• Two federal judges, one in Louisiana and one in Kentucky, have blocked the Biden administration from enforcing COVID vaccines for health care workers and for government contractors.
• China says the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will continue "on schedule" in February despite the COVID-19 Omicron variant spreading globally.
• Union organizers in Alabama will get a second unionization vote for Amazon warehouse workers after the company was found to have violated several NLRB union election regulations.