Out d’Coup | Pittsburgh bridge collapse; no student loan relief from Biden; book-banning continues; gas stoves; monarchists are coming; PA maps; Act 177; space junk and more

Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, made it clear this week that the Biden administration does not see canceling student loan debt as a priority. Instead, the Dems in power are turning to their old game of means-testing and “targeted” loan relief. In his speech on Thursday, he didn’t even mention Biden’s promise to forgive $10,000 for every student carrying federal student debt. 

The book-banning continues. This week, McMinn County school board in Tennessee banned the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel, Maus, from its schools. Board members said the book contained “inappropriate language” and depictions of a nude mouse in a concentration camp. Maus creator, Art Spiegelman, called the decision “Orwellian.” 

A new peer-reviewed study, scientists believe they finally figured out the large methane releases in cities. As it turns out, gas stoves release a significant amount of methane - even when they are off. Scientists found that nearly three-quarters of the methane leaking from stoves came from when they were not running. The study projected that methane emissions from stoves are about the same as the CO2 released by 500,000 gas powered cars in a year. 

Spotify is standing in Joe Rogan’s corner after Neil Young said that he would pull his music from the site if they continued to platform the coronavirus misinformation podcaster. Young issued the ultimatum after more than 1,000 doctors signed a petition calling on Spotify to crack down on COVID misinformation being spread on its site. By mid-week, Niel Young pulled his music. Young said he and his partners are losing 60% of their streaming income, but it was worth the hit to preserve “our integrity and our beliefs. Misinformation about COVID is over the line.” 

This morning, a few hours before Biden is scheduled to speak in Pittsburgh about infrastructure, a bridge collapsed in the Point Breeze neighborhood of the Steel City. People in the area Tweeted pictures three years ago of the bridge’s completely rusted through beam supports. No one was killed but several people were injured as several cars and a bus were on the bridge when it went down. Will Joe Manchin still refuse to support Build Back Better?

Map Wars continue. Looks like the Commonwealth Court will end up picking a map from several maps submitted by a variety of groups. That will set up the second time in a row the PA Supreme Court likely will be picking the maps again. 

The Commonwealth Court struck down Act 77 and no-excuse mail-in voting.  Governor Wolf is expected to file an immediate appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which will put a stay on the decision.  This is just another example of how the conservative led court is hostile to voting rights. 

A new report says that Pennsylvania is the Cyber Charter Capital of the nation. 

From the Philadelphia Inquirer: “Pennsylvania is the “cyber charter capital of the nation,” the report released Thursday by the PA Charter Performance Center said. It describes Pennsylvania as standing apart not just for its large number of students attending its 14 cyber charters — 61,000 in 2020-21, up from 38,000 the year before — but also for insufficient oversight and funding provisions that haven’t been updated since the virtual schools were first permitted in 2002.”

Monarchists were successful in getting a Harrisburg woman fired from her job because she has been talking about the royal family’s racism. You can help on Amanda recover from the monarchists’ assault. Throw her a few bucks on her newly launched GoFundMe site: Help @matta_of_fact cover living expenses

A SpaceX rocket booster launched in 2015 is on a collision course with the Moon after 7 years in a chaotic orbit. The 4.4 ton spent booster is expected to crash into the far side of the Moon some time on March 4th. The Falcon 9 booster carried a climate observation satellite 930,000 miles from Earth. 

The new season of Ozark is out. I’m almost through Foundation.

Here in SE PA I’m just waiting to see how much snow we get from this nice little Nor’easter heading our way.