Week in review, 05/15 - 05/21

Photo: Boston Globe

Leading the nation in vaccinations, all remaining COVID-19 restrictions in Massachusetts will be lifted on May 29

‘Now is not the time to relax protective measures.’ Nurses union condemns CDC decision to relax mask protocols for vaccinated people

COVID-19 variant first discovered in India now has been found in the United States, with cases reported in Nebraska, Iowa, Nevada, and Tennessee

‘The highest vaccination rates are concentrated in the Northeast, while the lowest ones are mostly in the South.’ Big gaps in vaccine rates across the U.S. worry health experts

‘(P)eople should prepare for Covid restrictions to be revisited in the fall, especially given uncertainties around how emerging variants will impact vaccines’ effectiveness in preventing disease spread.’ Mask mandates might be going away, but don’t ditch yours just yet, scientists caution

Some major retailers dropping mask requirements, ‘largely moving to an honor system in which they trust that only vaccinated people will bare their faces.’ How can an ‘honor system’ be in place in a country without honor? Anyway, the mob rules: The anti-mask zealots have complained so loudly and for so long that they finally got their way. Widespread harassment and even oppression of those who still choose to mask is coming, and probably another major wave of new COVID infections. We haven’t gotten nearly enough people vaccinated yet, but everyone is just giving up and giving in before the battle is won, because that’s just the caliber of people we are now - a people without any honor or integrity to speak of

Fact-check time: No, HIPPA federal privacy law does not prohibit businesses from asking customers about their vaccination status

Fewer children spreading germs is always a good thing. The CDC says 600,000 kids aged 12-15 have been vaccinated in the past week

CDC study suggests schools are jumping the gun by removing mask mandates for students and teachers

‘Cabin fever’ is running high and human beings are very antsy right now. Kind of pathetic, actually, especially considering the pandemic hasn’t yet ended: Walmart reports stronger sales than expected, CEO says customers ‘clearly want to get out and shop’

Having spent years in service industries, I know the low pay, the mental abuse, and the complete lack of any appreciation for one’s efforts takes a toll: Changed by the pandemic, many workers are refusing to return to their old jobs

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

‘The New York state attorney general’s office said on Tuesday it has told the Trump Organization its investigation of the company run by former President Donald Trump is now a criminal probe, not purely civil’

‘If Trump has a political philosophy, one of its main tenets is toxic masculinity — the use of menace and swagger to cover his mental and moral impotence. And the mini-Trumps have taken their master’s lead.’ Michael Gerson: The threat of violence now infuses GOP politics, and we should all be afraid

Gutless sack of excrement: House Minority Leader McCarthy announces opposition to bipartisan committee to investigate the events of January 6

Veterans call out Sen. Ted Cruz after he says U.S. Army ad shows ‘woke, emasculated military’

Shouldn’t even give this twit the attention she so craves, but this is a particularly egregious and alarming analogy to make: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene compares House mask mandate to the Holocaust

‘They see themselves as heroic. And how can you be heroic in today's world? Well, you protect the children — you protect the children against this cabal that is out to turn them into sex slaves.’ America’s ‘Satanic Panic’ returns, via QAnon

Panic buying prolongs shortages and further drives up the price of gasoline. Watch, probably every single person who engaged in said panic buying are blaming President Biden for the higher prices

‘(T)hose advocating a nation of vegetarians aren’t helping. Like snatching a rattle from an infant, it only provokes an even more extreme response. And it’s just not a plausible solution: Most people like meat.’ Brent Cunningham: Beef isn’t being banned, but it’s always a staple of the culture war diet

Boston radio host returns to air day after controversial comments on pop music star’s ‘non-binary’ announcement. The real question here is, why is a 71-year-old man hosting programming on a radio station that plays music for teenage girls?

Noise pollution is a very real crime against nature. It is crucial we start recognizing it. All of this ‘freedumb’ is killing us (Note that I did not say ‘freedom,’ I mean free-DUMB - like being loud just for the sake of being loud, or putting others in danger during a pandemic because it’s one’s ‘right’ to not have to cover their mouths, and so forth.) ‘Noise from loud parties and dirt bikes is not only disturbing residents around Boston’s Franklin Park, it is also impacting the zoo animals’

‘(A) type of digital motion they once tolerated without realizing it was actually a strain on their systems.’ Endless scrolling through social media can literally make one sick

Supreme Court unanimously rules warrant-less home gun confiscation is unconstitutional

Disgusting: ‘A 6-year-old boy was shot and killed during an apparent road rage incident on the 55 Freeway in Orange on Friday morning, and the gunman remains at large, California Highway Patrol officials said’

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Following President Biden’s call to end hostilities, Israel and Hamas agree to ceasefire after eleven days of fighting

Antisemitic incidents, as well as anti-Muslim hate crimes, sharply increase across the U.S. during latest flare-up between Israel and Hamas

The U.S. and Russia hold parallel military drills in neighboring Balkan countries

China protests the latest passage of a U.S. Navy ship through the Taiwan Strait

Radical Muslim advocacy group CAIR to boycott the White House Eid celebration after President Biden refuses to cave to their demands that he condemn America’s ally Israel for the crime of protecting itself against a violent terrorist organization

Photo: AP

Was pulling for Midnight Bourbon, and he does finish second ahead of the infamous Medina Spirit, but it's 11-1 Rombauer that takes the Preakness

Trainer Bob Baffert is temporarily suspended by the NYRA from entering horses at Belmont, Saratoga, and Aqueduct

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