“One in five Floridians is an immigrant,” said Ferro in an email. “Stop using Venezuelans as props for your political games! You cannot rail against Nicolás Maduro and then despise Venezuelan immigrants when they seek refuge in your state.”

Source: Venezuelans slam DeSantis after migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard

According to court documents, Mark Houck, 48, of Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, is alleged to have twice assaulted a man because he was a volunteer reproductive health clinic escort. The two-count indictment charges Houck with a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a federal crime to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate, and interfere with anyone because that person is a provider of reproductive health care.

The charges stem from two separate incidents on Oct. 13, 2021, where Houck assaulted the victim, identified in the indictment as “B.L.,” because B.L. was a volunteer escort at the reproductive health care clinic.

If convicted of the offenses, Houck faces up to a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of up to $350,000.

Source: Pennsylvania Man Indicted for Assaulting a Reproductive Health Care Provider | OPA | Department of Justice

Source: Antisemitic army reservist gets four years for role in January 6 Capitol attack | US Capitol attack | The Guardian

UK sees rises in hospitalization, positive tests

In Britain, Susan Hopkins, MBBCh, chief medical officer at the Health Security Agency, in a statement yesterday said COVID-19 rates are still low, but data from the past 7 days shows a rise in hospitalizations and a rise in positive tests reported from the community.

“For those eligible, the time to get your autumn booster is now. Getting a booster will give your immune system time to build up your protection against being severely ill from COVID-19 as we move into winter,” she said.

In a snapshot of COVID activity in the European region, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said it has observed increasing transmission over the past 2 weeks. COVID is becoming more widespread in some countries, especially affecting people ages 65 and older. Though levels are still low, the rising activity is starting to affect hospital and intensive care unit indicators, with limited reported impact on mortality.

“Changes in population mixing following the summer break are likely to be the main driver of these increases, with no indication that they are caused by changes in the distribution of circulating variants,” the ECDC said, adding that the epidemiologic patterns it’s seeing are consistent with earlier forecasts.

Source: European countries see early signs of autumn COVID-19 rise | CIDRAP

Source: Loss of Arctic Sea Ice to Give Rise to More Strong El Niños, Study Finds – Yale E360

 The sound you hear on the ultrasound is the machine translating electrical impulses from the embryo into what sounds like a heartbeat. It’s not a real heartbeat because, at that stage, an embryo doesn’t have a beating heart.

But to be totally fair here, McCain isn’t alone in this misunderstanding. Politicians in several states passed fetal heartbeat bills over the last few years. And I get the confusion. It’s really hard to explain to folks who think they’re hearing their babies’ heartbeats for the first time that it’s all just one big misunderstanding, but there’s a little less leeway when it comes to politicians and public figures.

Source: Here’s Why Meghan McCain Was Wrong for Coming for Stacey Abrams on Twitter