3 Things To Know Today

Vintage movie countdown, illustration

Photo: Science Photo Library RF

1 Bezos Readies Historic Blast-Off

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will try to make history this morning, shortly after 8am. Just over a week after fellow billionaire Richard Branson flew to the edge of space, Bezos will attempt a similar trip. And what makes his journey different than Branson’s? An un-piloted sub-orbital flight with an all-civilian crew. Bezos’ New Shepard rocket is set to blast off from a Blue Origin site in the West Texas desert. Bezos and his crew of three will be taking part in the first manned launch for his private space company. Aside from Bezos' brother, Mark, taking the ride...the former Amazon honcho’s crew is also offering some history-makers. At the tender age of 18, Oliver Daemen could become the youngest astronaut. At 82 years young, former test pilot Wally Funk,would be the oldest astronaut. For those who don’t know, Ms. Funk was one of the Mercury 13 women. They all underwent training in the 1960s to demonstrate that women could meet NASA’s standards for its astronaut corps, they completed training – but the program was scrapped. Godspeed to them all.

2 White House: "We’re Not At War With Facebook"

The White House is not at war with Facebook, it’s at war with the coronavirus. That’s the word from Press Secretary Jean Psaki during her daily news briefing. This, as her boss – President Biden – said big tech was “killing people” by not controlling people’s posts on Friday. Psaki again ripped vaccine misinformation on social media and said companies like Facebook are not doing enough to combat it. Psaki argued that bad, inaccurate information about vaccines is killing people. Her comments came after President Biden walked back his criticism of Facebook during an earlier event, acknowledging that the social media giant is not literally killing anyone. He said there are about a dozen people "out there" promoting misinformation on social media platforms. Biden added, "Anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it – it's killing people – it's bad information."

3 FL Man Sentenced To 8 Months In Prison For Role In Capitol Riot

A 38-year-old Florida man has been sentenced to eight months in prison for his role in the January 6th Capitol attack – one count of obstructing an official proceeding. Paul Hodgkins is the first person to get jail time since the riot six months ago. Hodgkins was photographed on the Senate floor with a Trump 2020 flag. Since his arrest, Hodgkins has had a pretty significant change of heart. Aside from offering remorse, he acknowledged that the less violent participants – like him – didn’t help matters that fateful day. "I have also thought at times,” he noted. “That the company of us who remained calmer in our protest may have made others feel emboldened to carry out the destruction that occurred." And by the way? He owns the reality about who won the election. "I wish to state,” he added in his statement. “I completely acknowledge and accept that Joseph R. Biden Jr. is respectfully and rightfully the President of the United States."


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