Your First Look at Today's Top Stories - Daybreak Insider

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Tuesday, January 4, 2022

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Facebook Blocks Ads for Children’s Books Honoring Reagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Thomas Sowell

They eventually claimed it was “an error” (Twitter) but it is the one error that seems to occur regularly. From the story: Facebook originally said that Heroes of Liberty – which has published books about Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, former President Ronald Reagan and author Thomas Sowell – violated the company’s rules against “Low Quality or Disruptive Content.” Facebook originally locked the ads account on Dec. 23, and after Heroes of Liberty appealed the ruling, the company permanently disabled the account (Fox Business). From Hugh Hewitt: The @Meta decision to ban children’s books about Ronald Reagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Thomas Sowell should be a story all across broadcast news and cable…but the decided political bent of all but FNC won’t allow it. @bethanyshondark should be all over the news. How nuts is @Meta (Twitter).

China Blisters Walmart for Daring to Cut China Products

From the story: On Friday, the country’s anticorruption agency harshly criticized Walmart and warned of a consumer backlash against it, days after social-media users alleged its China-based Walmart and Sam’s Club stores had stopped stocking produce from the Xinjiang. Walmart declined to comment on the issue (WSJ). From Nikki Haley: Kudos to Walmart for standing up to Communist China for its terrible human rights abuses despite Beijing’s bullying. More American companies should grow a spine and do the same (Twitter).

The Guardian Removes ‘Person of The Year’ Poll After J.K. Rowling’s Giant Lead

From the story: “Tell us: who is your 2021 person of the year?” ran the headline, posted on Dec. 15, with the subtitle, “Time Magazine chose billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk – but who would be your choice?” A short time later, when Rowling was far and away in the lead, the voting form disappeared, as did the results. A message in small print stated, “This form has been deactivated and is closed to any further submissions” (The Daily Wire). Rowling has stirred up controversy recently when responding to Scotland’s policy allowing rapists to identify as women. From Rowling: War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman (Twitter).

China Collecting Troves of Data from Social Media of Western Countries

From the story: China is turning a major part of its internal Internet-data surveillance network outward, mining Western social media, including Facebook and Twitter, to equip its government agencies, military and police with information on foreign targets. China maintains a countrywide network of government data surveillance services — called public opinion analysis software — that were developed over the past decade and are used domestically to warn officials of politically sensitive information online (The Washington Post). From The Hill: Other programs have reportedly been developed to observe Western and foreign language in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, two places where the international community has condemned China for its alleged human rights violations. The Post reported that these operations have been in the works since the beginning of 2020 (The Hill).

Los Angeles Gun Violence Hits a 15-Year High

From The LA Times: The city has seen nearly 400 killings at the end of 2021, a staggering loss of progress in reducing such violence over the last 15 years. As of Dec. 29, there had been 392 homicides — the most of any year since 2007. The causes are complex and hard to pin down, and have been politicized — exaggerated or minimized — to meet people’s chosen narratives about police, criminal justice and the best path forward.

The LA Times

Senator Manchin Resumes Negotiations Over Build Back Better

From the story: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has reportedly resumed negotiations with the White House on President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda after essentially torpedoing it before the Christmas break. Sources familiar with the situation said that many of his objections to the bill still stand, including the “size and scope” of the package, the possible $4 trillion price tag over the next ten years, and the potential for raised inflation (Breitbart). From Business Insider: This is a demand Manchin has long held. The expanded child tax credit would allow parents who earn below a certain income to receive monthly payments of $300 per child under 6 and $250 for a child between 6 and 18 for another year (Business Insider).

Poll: Most Americans “Fearful” for U.S. in 2022

The big jump is among Democrats.

Axios

Senator Schumer Pushing Voting Law Changes in Senate

This Axios story paints it in Democrat-pushed terms and managed to tell the story without a single quote from the opposition (Axios). From the Wall Street Journal editorial board: If you thought 2022 might see a return to the more “normal” politics that Democrats promised in 2020 but failed to deliver in 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to disabuse you. On Monday he announced that Democrats will revive their crusade to transform Congress by eliminating the Senate filibuster on the narrowest of partisan votes (WSJ).

NY COVID Treatment is Allocated by a Point System and BIPOC’s are More Likely Than Whites to Get it

From the story: Documentary evidence showing that the State of New York is discriminating against white people in providing access to covid treatments has provoked widespread outrage. So in order to get access to the best covid treatment, you need a score of four or more. How do you score points (Powerline)? From Health State: The MASSBP is calculated as follows, on a scale of 0-25: age 65 years and older (2 points), BMI 35 kg/m2 and higher (2), diabetes mellitus (2), chronic kidney disease (3), cardiovascular disease in a patient 55 years and older (2), chronic respiratory disease in a patient 55 years and older (3), hypertension in a patient 55 years and older (1), and immunocompromised status (4)*, pregnancy (4), or BIPOC status (2). It is ethically appropriate to consider race and ethnicity in mAb eligibility decisions when data show elevated risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes for Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC populations), and that this risk cannot be adequately addressed by determining eligibility based on underlying health conditions (Health State).

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NASCAR Repeals the Let’s Go Brandon Sponsorship from Brandon Brown’s Car Pending Evaluation

From the story: NASCAR is walking back its approval of driver Brandon Brown’s sponsorship with LGBcoin after initially approving the deal. However, Brown’s spokesperson Maxwell Marcucci told FOX Business that NASCAR pulled back its approval of the sponsorship deal on Dec. 30, after the partnership with LGBcoin was announced (Fox News). From The Daily Mail: Brown’s spokesman Max Marucci said the paint job was approved by NASCAR in late December, but on the day it was unveiled he was called and told that the racing body ‘apologized for any confusion and miscommunication,’ and said that the deal ‘needs to be reviewed at a higher level’ (The Daily Mail).