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Texas Mass Murders, Russia Military Advances, and COVID’s Global End

Hundreds of Texans Mourn Losses From Violent Weekend

DESENSITIZED.

Great Evening! It’s Monday, May 8th and we’re covering everything from AI skepticism, WGA protests, Taylor Swift’s rocketing net worth, McDonald’s child labor violations, and so much more. First time reading? Sign up HERE.

Let’s look at the top stories over the weekend:

  • 8 Killed in Texas Mall Shooting, 8 Killed in Texas Migrant Shelter Killing.

  • WHO Declares End to Covid Global Health Emergency

  • Russia Launches Massive Strikes in Ukraine as It Edges Closer to Capturing Bakhmut.

  • + So much more you need to know.

U.S. Politics & Policy

Violence In Texas Continues To Rise As 8 Killed in Texas Mall Shooting & 8 Killed In Migrant Shelter Killing.

This week, Texans mourn the 199th mass shooting in the U.S. this year as gun violence struck the city suburb of Allen while Brownsville, a border town, suffered casualties by way of an SUV rampage.

Allen Mall Shooting

On Saturday, a tragic incident occurred at an outlet mall in the Dallas area where a gunman killed eight people ranging from ages 3 to 65.

The culprit was a 33-year-old neo-Nazi sympathizer with an AR-15 style-assault weapon.

Fortunately, a police officer at the scene could take down the shooter.

This unfortunate occurrence marks the second deadliest mass shooting in the United States for this year and the second one in Texas in slightly over a week.

Brownsville Border Town Road Rampage

On Sunday, a SUV slammed into a bus stop outside of the migrant shelter in the Texas border city killing at least 8 people. 10 others were injured in the collision.

According to the director of the shelter, Victor Maldonado, an SUV lost control and flipped over, hitting several pedestrians who were walking on the sidewalk. The driver was detained by eyewitnesses who held him until the police arrived.

Most of the victims were Venezuelan men, as the city has seen a surge of Venezuelan migrants lately.

The driver sustained injuries and was taken to the hospital, but his identity is still unknown. Around 2,500 migrants have crossed the river into Brownsville daily, and the city is considering expanding its services to cater to their needs.

Although the majority of people released from federal custody leave the same day, there has been a bottleneck in the past few days.

Global Affairs

Russia Launches Massive Strikes in Ukraine As It Edges Closer To Capturing Bakhmut

American Chronicles.

Russia has launched a series of strikes on Kyiv and throughout Ukraine, resulting in significant damage and injuries ahead of its Victory Day holiday.

According to Ukrainian officials, at least five people have been hurt in Kyiv, while a food warehouse in Odessa was setOdesae by Russian missiles.

On Monday morning, explosions were also reported in various other regions of Ukraine.

These new attacks coincide with Moscow's preparation for its Victory Day parade on Tuesday, which is an important anniversary for President Vladimir Putin, who has invoked the defeat of Nazi forces in his statements regarding Ukraine's invasion.

Why is Bakhmut important?

The eastern Donetsk city of Bakhmut has been a battleground for Russian and Ukrainian forces for months, resulting in severe destruction.

Russia considers capturing the city as a strategic objective to sever Ukraine's supply lines in Donetsk.

Recently, they claimed to have almost fully encircled Bakhmut.

According to a Russian special forces commander, Russian troops have taken control of several streets as of last Wednesday.

Pandemic

WHO Declares End To Covid Global Health Emergency

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the pandemic of the novel coronavirus had come to a halt, after having disrupted the world for three years.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, took to Twitter to announce that the organization's COVID emergency committee had recommended the end of the public health emergency of international concern and that he had accepted this suggestion.

How It All Began

On January 30th, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus, originating in China and rapidly spreading to many other countries, as a public health emergency.

Despite being aware of the virus' virulence, WHO was slow to suggest travel or trade restrictions.

The weekly death toll due to the coronavirus pandemic has dropped to a fraction of what it was at its peak, with the World Health Organization (WHO) recording a figure of 3,500 fatalities in the week ending April 24th, 2023 compared to over 100,000 per week in January 2021.

Keep in mind, many of these deaths were simply COVID-related. The popularly touted data did not distinguish comorbidities from deaths in which the virus was the sole cause.

In other words, people with cancer or fatal injuries from a car accident who contracted the disease at the tail end of their lives were considered a COVID death.

Five Huge COVID Myths

  • Natural immunity offers little protection– A Lancet study assessed data from 65 major studies in 19 countries on natural immunity to conclude that natural immunity offered, at least, as much protection as the COVID vaccine series. In fact, over 160 additional studies shared this same conclusion despite violating Facebook’s arbitrary “misinformation” community guidelines.

  • Masks prevent transmission– This was one of Dr. Fauci’s favorite LIE-nes. A Cochran review out of the University of Oxford research team found that masks had an insignificant effect on preventing viral transmission. Therefore, the mask mandates did nothing but exercise psychological control of the masses.

  • Myocarditis from the vaccine is rare— Health officials initially dismissed worries about vaccine-induced myocarditis, citing studies with inadequate data on complication rates. However, recent well-designed studies have shown the opposite. It is now clear that myocarditis occurs significantly more frequently after the COVID vaccine than after natural infection among males aged 16-24 at a rate 6 to 28x higher. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of healthy children likely received the vaccine unnecessarily and developed myocarditis, many of them without even knowing it.

  • Wuhan lab leak theory is a racist conspiracy— Google has confirmed that they suppressed searches related to the "lab leak" theory during the pandemic. There is significant circumstantial evidence pointing to a lab leak origin, as suggested by two prominent virologists in a meeting organized by Dr. Anthony Fauci in January 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Earlier this year several government agencies released plausibility reports on the origin of the virus with the FBI issuing a moderate confidence level in lab leak origin, while the Department of Energy showed a low confidence level in the theory.

  • Young people need the booster– Boosters have proven to be effective in reducing hospitalizations among older, high-risk Americans. However, no evidence suggests that they can reduce COVID mortality in young, healthy individuals. The CDC has not released data on hospitalization rates among boosted Americans under 50, unlike those over 50.

The WHO's statement serves as a symbol of the conclusion of a pandemic that has drastically changed the world we live in, bringing about government-mandated lockdowns and economic hardship.

Numerous countries have already issued their own declarations regarding the virus.

Many of us are still wondering why it took so long for the WHO to call it quits.

On The Radar

Sports + Fitness

  • Horse deaths cloud this year's 149th Kentucky Derby. Yes, your mom’s favorite horse, Mage, won but seven horses died over the last week in the lead-up to the final race on Saturday prompting an investigation into the deaths and infuriating millions of animal rights activists.

  • Basketball phenom Bronny James USC commitment. Lebron James’ oldest son decided to take his talents to USC, much to the disappointment of Ohio State fans who hoped to see James in a Buckeyes uniform for the first time ever for what could have been.

  • Dominant Red Bull Performance at F1 Grand Prix in Miami. Red Bull dominated the races again with Max Verstappen winning Miami this week while Sergio Perez took the second-place finish. Red Bull drivers really have grown wings as the energy-drink company has yet to lose in five races this year, let’s see if they can keep the streak going.

Film

Music

  • Ed Sheeran Wins Copyright Case. The pop star was found not guilty of copying Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic “Let’s Get It On” for his own “Thinking Out Loud” in the industry’s highest profile copyright case in years.

  • Eye-Popping Taylor Swift Net Work Projections After Eras Tours. Currently, the teenage breakup song heroine is worth roughly $500 million but her 52-date concert tour is set to gross $620 million, with her keeping 80% of it. With the average ticket price in some cases being $700, she could triple her already absurd net worth.

  • Hip-Hop’s First Billionaire Just Got Richer. According to the latest Forbes estimate, Jay Z is now worth $2.5 billion. In recent years, his entertainment company Roc Nation, streaming service Tidal sale, and lucrative investment portfolio have ballooned in value.

Tech

  • “Father of AI” Quits Google and Warns About Chatbot Dangers. The man often touted as the godfather of AI has quit Google citing concerns over the flood of misinformation from chatbots and the possibility for AI to upend the job market. Dr. Geoffery Hinton said he quit the tech giant to speak freely about the dangers of AI and partially regrets his contribution to the field.

  • Elon Musk’s Boring Company might make transportation cheaper. Musk envisions a world where tunnels solve all of our car-centric concerns, but reducing the efficiency of developing cheap tunnels has proven to be challenging. In 2018, Musk unveiled the first proof-of-concept Tesla tunnel under the streets of a neighborhood in Los Angeles. In March, Las Vegas filed a proposal to expand the tunnel system by adding 65 miles, and a hyperloop, to the underground commuting system.

  • What Is BeReal? The French Social Media App That’s Exploding. BeReal is a social media platform founded by Alexis Barreyat & Kevin Perreau that prompts its users to upload unedited photographs of themselves daily. The app is designed to motivate individuals to showcase their real selves, rather than strive to display a picture-perfect version of themselves.

Business + Finance

  • Theranos Fraudster-Founder, Elizabeth Holmes, Addresses Her Business Failings In Her First Interview since 2016. Her phony blood-testing business made her the youngest self-made female billionaire in the country. She defrauded over $100 million from investors leading to a grand jury indicting her on 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Holmes decided her time awaiting prison was better spent at Burning Man, torching an effigy, and living in an RV for six months while prosecutors brought a case against her.

  • McDonald's Violated Child Labor Laws By Allowing 300 Minors To Work, Including Two 10-year-olds. Three McDonald’s franchises are being fined over $200,000 for child-labor violations. Bauer Food, Archways Richwood, and Bell Restaurant Group operated 62 locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio. Bauer Food even had the audacity not to pay the two 10-year-olds it employed who worked until 2 a.m. operating deep fryers.

  • Ex-Uber Security Chief Sentences To Three Years Of Probation For Data Breach Cover-up. The former security executive, Joseph Sullivan, attempted to cover up a 2016 data breach that exposed tens of millions of customer data. In reality, most white-collar crime is only met with a slap on the wrist. This is no different. Oh, you duplicitously hid your company’s security failings so you don’t look bad despite violating the data privacy of 57 million paying customers? Don’t worry, you probably won’t actually go to prison.

Global Affairs

  • King Charles III Crowned In Sumptuous Ceremony. On Saturday morning, King Charles III was crowned in Westminster Abbey according to the age-old tradition. He received the orb, sword, and scepter to match his bedazzling golden crown. While the ceremony may have pleased some, many have been critical of the royal family, remarking its antiquated customs are antithetical to preserving democracy.

  • Serbian Minister of Education Resigns After Recent Mass Shootings. This European country with a smaller population than New Jersey suffered two tragic mass shootings over the last week. One occurred at a primary school in Belgrade leaving nine dead, and the other resulted in the deaths of 8 people in a rural area south of the capital. The shootings prompted an immediate government-mandated gun registry.

  • Putin Faces Potential Arrest at BRICS Summit In South Africa. Senior South African government officials declared the country would be faced with a dilemma if the Russian President attended the summit in person. Instead, he wants Putin to join via Teams or Zoom from Moscow.

U.S. Politics

  • High-profile U.S. mass shootings. There have been 199 mass shootings this year according to the Archive of Gun Violence. Take a look at the ones that have made the most political impact.

  • North Carolina Passes Abortion Ban. North Carolina's legislature, controlled by Republicans, approved a bill on Thursday that reduces the period for the majority of abortions to 12 weeks, a decrease from 20. This change may significantly restrict millions of women's access to the process throughout the southern part of the United States.

  • U.S. Risks Default As Debt Ceiling Dilemma Deepens. Congress, which is currently split, has not yet come to a consensus on increasing the debt ceiling. This is a pressing matter as there is limited time to prevent a default. The treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has cautioned that the government may not be able to meet its financial commitments as soon as June 1st.

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