READER QUESTION: If humans don’t die out in a climate apocalypse or asteroid impact in the next 10,000 years, are we likely to evolve further into a more advanced species than what we are at the moment? Harry Bonas, 57, Nigeria
Humanity is the unlikely result of 4 billion years of evolution.
From self-replicating molecules in Archean seas, to eyeless fish in the Cambrian deep, to mammals scurrying from dinosaurs in the dark, and then, finally, improbably, ourselves – evolution shaped us.
Organisms reproduced imperfectly. Mistakes made when copying genes sometimes made them better fit to their environments, so those genes tended to get passed on. More reproduction followed, and more mistakes, the process repeating over billions of generations. Finally, Homo sapiens appeared. But we aren’t the end of that story. Evolution won’t stop with us, and we might even be evolving faster than ever.
This article is part of Life’s Big Questions
The Conversation’s new series, co-published with BBC Future, seeks to answer our readers’ nagging questions about life, love, death and the universe. We work with professional researchers who have dedicated their lives to uncovering new perspectives on the questions that shape our lives.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) appeared disgusted on Wednesday as he told students at the University of South Florida to remove their masks before his press conference began.
“You do not have to wear those masks,” DeSantis told the group of students who were standing behind his podium. “I mean, please take them off. Honestly, it’s not doing anything and we’ve gotta stop with this COVID theater."
"So if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous,” he added with a groan.
During the press conference, DeSantis praised Ukrainians who are fighting a Russian invasion. But the Florida governor suggested that the French people would not stand up to President Vladimir Putin if he invaded France.
“A lot of other places around the world, they just fold the minute there’s any type of adversity," DeSantis opined. "I mean, can you imagine, if he went into France, do you think they’d do anything to put up a fight? Probably not.”
Watch the video below from WFLA.
'This is ridiculous': @GovRonDeSantis scolds students for wearing face masks during his @USouthFlorida visit https://t.co/v9XLjueCYi pic.twitter.com/TFeC6t6wL9
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) March 2, 2022
The first criminal trial stemming from the January 6 assault on the US Capitol by Donald Trump supporters began on Wednesday, a case that will be closely watched for its bearing on future prosecutions.
Guy Reffitt, 49, an oil industry worker from Texas, is accused of bringing a gun to Washington, battling police officers, impeding an official proceeding and other offenses.
His children are expected to testify against him at the trial.
Prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler, in his opening statement, described Reffitt as a "leader" of the "worst assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812," when British troops set fire to the seat of Congress.
"A mob needs leaders," Nestler said, and Reffitt was "the tip of this mob's spear."
William Welch, Reffitt's defense attorney, denied that his client had brought a handgun to the Capitol and said he never actually entered the building or assaulted anyone.
More than 750 people have been arrested around the United States for their roles in the failed bid by supporters of the former president to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the November 2020 presidential election.
Nearly 220 people have pleaded guilty to various charges but Reffitt is the first person facing criminal charges to go on trial for their role in the violent storming of the Capitol.
Reffitt, who has pleaded not guilty, came to the demonstration with other members of a right-wing anti-government group called the Three Percenters, according to the affidavit supporting his arrest.
Photographs released by law enforcement showed Reffitt on the steps of the Capitol wearing a black motorcycle helmet and bulletproof vest.
In one picture, Reffitt is seen washing out his eyes with water after being repelled with pepper spray by police defending the Capitol.
According to the affidavit, Reffitt's teenaged son and daughter told the FBI that their father, on his return to Texas, had threatened them if they cooperated with law enforcement.
"If you turn me in, you're a traitor and you know what happens to traitors... traitors get shot," Reffitt was quoted as saying.
Reffitt was arrested on January 19, 2021 and FBI agents recovered an AR-15 rifle and Smith & Wesson pistol from his home in Wylie, a suburb of Dallas.
Reffitt, who has been jailed in Washington since his arrest, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
His trial is expected to last at least a week. The jury is composed of nine men and seven women -- 12 jurors and four alternates.
The storming of the Capitol left at least five people dead and 140 police officers injured and followed a fiery speech by Trump to thousands of his supporters near the White House.
The maximum sentence meted out so far to a participant in the riot has been five years.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday praised coronavirus vaccines during his first State of the Union address — and it triggered Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
Biden urged Americans to, "stay protected with vaccines and treatments."
"We know how incredibly effective vaccines are," he continued. "If you're vaccinated and boosted, you have the highest degree of protection and we'll never give up on vaccinating more Americans."
Promoting the free, safe, and effective vaccines was immediately criticized by Boebert, who was tweeting from the floor during the speech.
READ: READ: Text of President Joe Biden's first SOTU address
Rep.Boebert is paying a lot of attention to her phone during this speech ....https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1498836728618041344\u00a0\u2026— Siobhan Hughes (@Siobhan Hughes) 1646187610
"Why doesn’t Joe just wear a Pfizer pin instead of the flag? We should know know [sic] who he’s really working for," Boebert tweeted after Biden urged Americans to get vaccinated.
Why doesn\u2019t Joe just wear a Pfizer pin instead of the flag?\n\nWe should know know who he\u2019s really working for.\n\n#SOTU— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1646189335
Watch:
SOTU www.youtube.com
In the past, Chris Wallace and Shepard Smith were often described as voices of reason and sanity at Fox News. But both of them are gone — Wallace is now with CNN, Smith is with CNBC — and these days, the person who often finds herself being described as Fox News’ “adult in the room” is Jennifer Griffin. During the Ukraine crisis, Griffin hasn’t hesitated to push back when someone at Fox News pushes pro-Vladimir Putin talking points or makes the absurd claim that President Joe Biden is responsible for Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
Biden, in fact, has maintained an aggressive tone with the Russian government, warning President Putin that the United States and its NATO allies would respond to an invasion of Ukraine with tough economic sanctions. In contrast, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson has defended Putin.
Journalist Justin Baragona, reporting on Griffin’s activity at Fox News in the Daily Beast, explains, “Throughout Russia’s transparent and brazen march to war in Ukraine, Fox News hosts and commentators have unleashed a flurry of deeply cynical, hyper-partisan rhetoric aimed at attacking Biden for the invasion or even deflecting blame from Russian President Vladimir Putin. While much of this unhinged commentary has gone unchallenged on Fox airwaves, in recent days one of the network’s last remaining well-respected journalists has taken on the role of schooling some of her colleagues on-air for pushing misleading or downright false claims about the unfolding crisis.”
Griffin has been with Fox News since the late 1990s, and she spent three years in Moscow as a correspondent for the right-wing cable news channel. Unlike Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro and many other colleagues at Fox News, Griffin doesn’t spend her time mindlessly parroting MAGA talking points.
Griffin, Baragona observes, has “delivered well-sourced and timely reporting on the likelihood of Russia invading Ukraine amid an increasingly fraught situation in Europe and beyond.”
Faulkner: People told us sanctions wouldn't work, why was that the only strategy deployed? [Goes to dismiss Griffin]\n\nGriffin: I need to follow up on that ... \n\nFaulkner: We had options around in our NATO countries\n...\n\nGriffin: That would have given Putin the pretext he wantedpic.twitter.com/fQwcmaNB0v— Lis Power (@Lis Power) 1645722271
“Considering that Griffin has had to deliver some of these on-air reports during the network’s opinion programming, however, has resulted in situations where she has had to pierce the Fox News bubble of preconceived right-wing narratives,” Baragona observes.
When “Fox and Friends” co-host Steve Doocy claimed that the Biden/NATO sanctions against Russia aren’t working, Griffin responded, “Overnight, the stock market in Russia fell by half, 50%. This is just the beginning of what is being described as a ‘shock and awe,’ if you will, of rolling sanctions that have not even begun to be felt yet by Putin, by his oligarchs and cronies there.”
And when Hannity claimed that Biden was to blame for the Ukraine crisis, Griffin schooled the pro-Trump talking head, saying, “Sean, how we got to this point is a long story, and it predates the Biden Administration. It includes mistakes made by every United States president since the Soviet Union fell apart. Putin has been laying the groundwork to retake Ukraine for years.”
NOW WATCH: Six new Jan. 6 committee subpoenas issued for Trump allies
Six new Jan. 6 committee subpoenas issued for Trump allies www.youtube.com
The United States top health agency on Friday drastically revised its guidelines for masking to stop Covid-19 transmission, a decision that means most Americans won't be advised to wear them in indoor public spaces, including school children.
"We're in a stronger place today as a nation with more tools to protect ourselves and our communities from Covid-19," said Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a call with reporters.
The changes involve the metrics used to determine whether people should mask up.
Under current guidance, this is pegged to case rates -- with 95 percent of the country considered areas of high or substantial transmission, and thus covered by mask advisories.
The new metrics also include Covid hospitalizations and local hospital capacity, to create a new measure known as "Covid-19 community level."
Residents can look up on the CDC website whether their area is green, yellow or orange on a national map.
More 70 percent of the population live in areas that aren't advised to mask up according to the new framework, including schools in the green or yellow areas.
The revised guidelines don't however apply to transport systems. A federal rule on that will be reviewed in mid-March when it is set to expire.
The United States is coming out of its latest Covid wave, driven by the Omicron variant, which while highly transmissible, leads to less severe outcomes among people who were vaccinated or had a prior infection.
In recent weeks, the administration of President Joe Biden has increased its rhetoric around normalization as the pandemic transitions to a new endemic phase.
Both Republican and Democrat-led states and cities have already taken the lead, either dropping their mandates or setting imminent timelines for doing do.
© 2022 AFP
GOP gubernatorial candidate Garrett Soldano is once again stirring up controversy with his comments on the campaign trail, this time by spreading misinformation about COVID-19, discouraging people to go to the doctor and encouraging supporters to “let the kids get [COVID] naturally.”
The liberal news site Heartland Signal first reported on Soldano’s remarks Monday, via audio provided to the site by an anonymous Democratic source.
Soldano, one of 13 Republicans running in the August primary to challenge Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, told supporters at a Feb. 10 meet-and-greet event in Flint that he is unvaccinated and falsely believes that COVID-19 only kills people who were already unhealthy or overweight.
Soldano also downplayed the severity of the virus that has now infected more than 2,045,840 Michiganders and killed upwards of 31,383 residents. Nationally, Johns Hopkins University reports a total of 7.8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 939,213 deaths.
The Republican, who is a chiropractor from Southwest Michigan, falsely referred to COVID-19 as a “cold.” Soldano also discouraged Michiganders from seeking help from doctors.
“It’s accountability time. Do not depend on your doctor for help. It’s your responsibility to be healthy,” he said.
Soldano argued that children should not be vaccinated because of their lower COVID-19 death rates.
“You let the kids get this naturally, it’d be fine,” he said.
Dr. Farhan Bhatti, a family physician in Lansing and the Michigan lead for the Committee to Protect Health Care, told the Advance this week in response to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study on COVID-19 vaccinations benefitting pregnant people and babies that “contrary to some narratives, children and babies can get seriously ill from COVID-19.
“I personally have taken care of children in the hospital who were sick due to COVID-19, including newborns whose moms were sick with COVID-19 at the time of delivery,” he said.
Soldano was infected with the virus last year. Because of that, he claimed he is more protected from getting the disease than those who are vaccinated, similar to remarks from state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake), who also contracted COVID-19.
Numerous medical studies have shown that’s false. Those who have been fully vaccinated and boosted have more immunity than those who experienced a previous infection, and those who have recovered from the virus generally only receive an antibody boost for a few months before the protection wanes.
Last month, Soldano received criticism for similarly inflammatory comments he made about abortion.
Rape victims who become pregnant must “protect that DNA and allow it to happen,” Soldano said on a right-wing podcast in January, encouraging pregnant people to give birth no matter the circumstances. “… God put them in this moment.”
Despite the backlash, Soldano said the controversy gaining attention was “great news” because it exposed his candidacy to a national audience.
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.
NOW WATCH: Donald Trump Jr. served with lawsuit for witness intimidation of Alexander Vindman
Donald Trump Jr. served with lawsuit for witness intimidation of Alexander Vindman www.youtube.com
What was supposed to be a convoy of truckers protesting vaccine mandates got off to a slow start on Wednesday after the only big rig that showed up had two flat tires.
Reuters correspondent Julio-César Chávez reported that Bob Bolus was considering canceling the event unless more truckers show up. Bolus's Pennsylvania effort is just one of several convoys that are being assembled across the country with the hopes of duplicating similar protests in Canada.
ABC 7News reported that the truck at the Pennsylvania rally had two flat tires, delaying the event.
Bolus claimed that 10 to 20 trucks are ready to participate but he said that more are needed for a successful protest on the Washington, D.C. Beltway.
"Bolus told 7News Reporter Kevin Lewis that the convoy is ultimately about Americans' rights, and if not enough people care to show up, so be it," the 7News report noted.
Bolus has a history of participating in white supremacist protests.
"You don’t like America? Go back to Africa!" he was quoted as saying at a demonstration supporting confederate statutes.
WATCH NOW: Fox News host rushes to do clean-up for Trump after he gushes over 'genius' Putin
Fox News host rushes to do clean-up for Trump after he gushes over 'genius' Putin www.youtube.com
On Monday, progressive talk radio station WCPT 820 AM's Heartland Signal posted audio of Garrett Soldano, a Republican candidate for governor in Michigan, telling supporters at a campaign event that it would be "fine" for kids to get COVID-19 — and that people should not "depend" on their doctor.
"I am unvaccinated, I have natural immunity," said Soldano, who runs a chiropractic business. "COVID's a cold. It is, it's a coronavirus, that's a cold. You know how it is, it knocked me out, my wife lost her sense of smell and taste, I was out for ten days ... it's funny, you can't talk about your immune system. If God wanted you to have a covering over your face, he would have built you with one. He gave you something even more magical, it's called the immune system."
He went on to add that "it'd be fine" if kids get the virus, and that while the disease "has teeth" if you have other health conditions like obesity, it's no big deal if you live a healthy lifestyle: "Do not depend on your doctor for help. It's your responsibility to be healthy."
READ MORE: 'This is an echo chamber': CNN panel explains why Trump's 'Truth Social' app is doomed to flop
(In fact, there have been plenty of cases of young, healthy people dying from COVID-19, even if it is less common than in people with comorbidities.)
Soldano previously attracted national controversy for claiming that rape survivors should not get abortions because "God put them in this moment" to have a baby.
Listen here:
EXCLUSIVE: At a campaign event, MI GOP gubernatorial candidate Garrett Soldano revealed he's unvaccinated, called COVID a \u201ccold\u201d and said if kids \u201cget this ... it\u2019d be fine."\n\n\u201cDo not depend on your doctor for help. It's your responsibility to be healthy.\u201d\nhttps://heartlandsignal.com/2022/02/21/garrett-soldano-says-hes-unvaccinated-advises-do-not-depend-on-your-doctor-for-help-its-your-responsibility-to-be-healthy/\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/txFMvVARox— Heartland Signal (@Heartland Signal) 1645480590
The questions from state senators hadn’t even begun, and Donald Kauerauf’s staff were already in a panic.
Chants from protesters opposing his nomination as state health director echoed through the hearing room, and as she sat with Kauerauf waiting for his turn to testify, Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, sent a text message to her counterpart in Gov. Mike Parson’s office.
“In the hearing room,” Cox wrote. “It’s a nightmare.”
Kauerauf had been Parson’s health director for barely five months, but in that time he’d managed to become a villain in the eyes of hardline conservative senators who held his fate in their hands.
He showed up to his confirmation hearing on Jan. 31 a dead-man walking, with protesters gathered in the Capitol hallways calling for his head and members of the Senate conservative caucus out for blood.
Text messages and emails obtained by The Independent through open records requests detail the desperate efforts of Parson administration officials to salvage Kauerauf’s nomination in the final days before it went down in flames.
Close aides to the governor, as well as Kauerauf’s DHSS staff, tried to navigate the treacherous waters of a badly divided Missouri Senate. But in the end, a combination of factors — anger in the GOP base over COVID mitigation efforts, misinformation about Kauerauf’s positions, a delayed confirmation process due to a redistricting filibuster and a massive snowstorm on the eve of a constitutional deadline — rendered their efforts fruitless.
Kauerauf was supposed to get a confirmation hearing on Jan. 26.
But after hours of waiting, as the conservative caucus held the Senate floor to decry a proposed Congressional map, the hearing was canceled and rescheduled for the following Monday.
The delay gave Kauerauf the chance to continue making the rounds with state senators. But it appears, at least according to text messages that night, things weren’t going well.
Kauerauf texted Alex Tuttle, the governor’s legislative budget director, saying he was frustrated with the process.
Tuttle tried to lighten the mood, texting a joke about how “if we vented our frustrations to a random bartender” his “head would explode.”
But Kauerauf wasn’t having it.
“I’m serious Alex,” he wrote. “I need cover from senators that don’t have the stones to be honest with me. Getting real frustrated. Only one appointment was going to cause issues and feeling isolated.”
Tuttle suggested the two speak the following day.
“This is not your fault or anything you’ve done,” Tuttle wrote. “You’re fighting stupidity.”
Later that night, Adam Crumbliss, Kauerauf’s top lieutenant in DHSS, texted several Parson administration officials, including Robert Knodell, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff and former acting DHSS director who now serves as director of the Department of Social Services.
“We need to all circle up tomorrow morning,” Crumbliss wrote. “We have a few different paths toward tamping difficulties, but Don’s looking for some additional support on getting us where we need to close gaps and ranks.”
The group of officials — including Crubmliss; Knodell; Tuttle; Kyle Aubuchon, Parson’s board and commission chair; and Michael Oldweiler, DHSS’ director of legislative affairs — agreed to meet about the situation.
The next morning, Crumbliss and Aubuchon exchanged text messages in the group chat about which Republican senators they needed to focus on, with Crumbliss ranking them:
“We should be good on Bean,” Crumbliss wrote, referencing Sen. Jason Bean, R-Holcomb, who serves on the gubernatorial appointments committee.
Aubuchon texted that he just met with Wieland, R-Imperial, and that the senator wanted proof “that Don is pro-life… news article or something …thinks in Illinois Don said he’d be pro-choice to get a job there, then move to Missouri and say he’s pro-life to get a job here.”
Aubuchon said he’d been told by Sen. Kara Eslinger, R-De Soto, that she would vote for Kauerauf if he gave a straightforward answer in opposition to vaccine and mask mandates.
“She doesn’t want a long rambling answer on this,” Aubuchon wrote.
He also informed the group of his meeting with Moon.
“Just followed up with Moon,” Aubachon wrote. “Said Don just visited with him and it went really well. Hopes Don does well at the committee hearing on Monday, and says it’s ‘very likely’ he’ll be voting yes for Don.”
Aubuchon’s impression of Moon’s position, however, doesn’t correspond with emails obtained from the senator’s office through an open records request.
The day before the senator spoke with Aubuchon, Moon’s legislative assistant sent emails to more than a dozen people who had reached out to his office to express opposition to Kauerauf’s nomination.
“Thank you for contacting the office of Senator Moon,” he wrote in each response. “Also, thank you for allowing your voice to be heard by expressing your concerns to us about Donald Kauerauf. After some research and discussion, the senator has decided to oppose Mr. Kauerauf’s appointment.”
In fact, the same day Aubuchon expressed hope that Moon might support Kauerauf, Moon’s legislative assistant emailed the six other members of the Senate conservative caucus with a pair of documents that would prove fatal to the nomination.
“The first document is a timeline of everything he has said that may be of concern since he was appointed as Director of Health and Senior Services,” the email said. “The second document is a letter we received which explains SHIELD, a test to stay coercion tactic used by the state of Illinois to mandate a health passport. This document thanks Judy Kauerauf (the wife of Donald Kauerauf) at the beginning letter for implementing this system in Illinois. Donald Kauerauf wants to do the same in Missouri.”
The following day, Moon emailed a constituent who had voiced opposition to Kauerauf: “I agree with you and will use my influence on the gubernatorial appointments committee to oppose his confirmation.”
Tuttle wasn’t having any better luck with another member of the conservative caucus.
He texted the group of administration officials the he had spoken with Onder, who expressed concerns about Kauerauf’s public comments on a bill passed by lawmakers curbing the authority of local health departments, as well as “vax mandate rhetoric, stance on abortion, etc.”
But Tuttle did have some good news to report. He texted that he met with Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, and “his entire caucus is behind Don.”
The Friday before Kauerauf was scheduled to face the gubernatorial appointments committee, Aubuchon shared information with the group chat about an anti-Kauerauf rally that had been scheduled for Monday in the Missouri Capitol, the day of the confirmation hearing.
The rally’s announcement, which Aubachon shared via text, incorrectly implied Kauerauf supported “forced vaccination.”
When Kauerauf’s confirmation hearing two days earlier was rescheduled, it gave his critics time to organize, and they were flooding senate offices with calls and emails. Now, they were planning to gather in the Capitol in the hopes of sinking the nomination once and for all.
Crumbliss responded to the news by pushing for someone to reach out to Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz and Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden.
“The clock is the enemy here,” Crumbliss wrote, a reference to the fact that the state constitution required Kauerauf’s nomination be confirmed by the following Friday or he would be banned from serving in the position for life.
Crumbliss also floated the idea of trying to get an opinion piece written by Kauerauf published in a pro-Parson newspaper over the weekend. Knodell offered to help facilitate if need be.
Kaurerauf, however, later questioned whether that would be a good idea.
“Could be a huge mistake with the work that has been done by all,” he texted to Tuttle.
That day, Crumbliss also texted Parson’s chief of staff, Aaron Willard: “Don is going to call you at some point this afternoon.”
On Monday, protesters rallied in the Capitol rotunda, with members of the Senate conservative caucus addressing the group about their issues with Kauerauf’s nomination. Then they moved to the third floor, just outside the hearing room where Kauerauf was set to testify before the gubernatorial appointments committee.
In the midst of the protests, Knodell texted screenshots of tweets by Onder incorrectly referring to Kauerauf as “Ron” and saying the gubernatorial appointments committee was not planning on giving Kauerauf’s nomination a vote that day.
“Is this serious?” Knodell texted the group.
“Yes,” Crumbliss replied.
Less than a half hour into the hearing, and before Kauerauf had even been called to testify, Cox, the DHSS spokeswoman, sent her text sounding the alarm to the governor’s office.
She was quickly informed that a statement in Kauerauf’s defense would be released shortly.
“It’s concerning to see certain Missouri officials grandstanding for purely political reasons and fueling fears without any regard for the truth,” Parson’s statement read.
But the governor’s condemnation had little, if any, impact.
Senators grilled Kauerauf for nearly two hours on his views on how best to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, his past comments about vaccination, his wife’s job in Illinois and his position on abortion.
The next day, with senators eager to adjourn to avoid a looming snow storm, GOP leaders announced Kauerauf’s nomination would not get a vote.
It was over.
Kauerauf resigned, and Parson appointed DHSS General Counsel Richard Moore to replace him on an interim basis.
“Throughout this process, more care was given to political gain than the harm caused to a man and his family,” Parson said in announcing Kauerauf’s resignation. “Don is a devoted public servant who did not deserve this, and Missourians deserve better.”
For those who opposed Kauerauf’s nomination, it was time to rejoice.
“We won!” Moon wrote in an email to a constituent who’d reached out urging him to block Kauerauf’s nomination. “It was a team effort. I’m grateful to have been entrusted to play a part. What a great victory!”
Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and Twitter.
Fox News host Neil Cavuto revealed on Monday that his own viewers wished for his death while he was fighting for his life in the hospital with Covid-19.
After days of being off the air, Cavuto explained his absence during his Fox Business program on Monday.
The host kicked off his show by reading messages from viewers who had celebrated while he was in the hospital.
"Dead or alive, as long as he isn't on my TV, it's a good day," one viewer named Janice wrote.
"Well, then, sorry about today, Janice," Cavuto said.
The Fox News host said that he had not publicized his latest battle with Covid-19 because he did not want to become the story.
"I did get Covid again," he admitted. "But a far, far more serious strain. What doctors call Covid pneumonia. It landed me in intensive care for quite a while and it really was touch and go. So if you who wanted to put me out of my misery, you darned near got what you wished for. So sorry to disappoint you, but no, the vaccine didn't cause that."
Cavuto said that doctors told him that the vaccine may have saved his life because he also suffers from complicating issues.
"But let me be clear, doctors say, had I not been vaccinated at all, I wouldn't be here," he remarked. "It provided some defense but that is still better than no defense."
Watch the video below from Fox Business.
For years, Debby Montgomery Johnson didn't tell anyone she'd been scammed out of more than $1 million by a man with whom she believed she was in a loving, though virtual, relationship.
"It should not have happened to me," the business owner and former Air Force officer told AFP from her home in Florida, a common refrain among those defrauded by someone they met online and grew to trust.
But many tens of thousands of people are targeted by cons dubbed "romance scams" every year, their numbers skyrocketing during the Covid pandemic when lockdowns sent people flocking to the internet seeking a salve for isolation.
The US Federal Trade Commission, tracking scams reported to its Consumer Sentinel Network, said 2021 saw a record $547 million stolen in romance scams. This marked a nearly 80 percent increase compared to the year before.
Those figures cap an upward trend that leapt in the first year of the pandemic. People reported to the FTC losing $1.3 billion to the scams over the past five years, the most of any fraud category.
But it is just the tip of the iceberg, the FTC notes, as the vast majority of cons go unreported.
Tim McGuinness, founder of the non-profit Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams (SCARS), said numbers soared because of "the isolation, the loneliness and the utilization of the web as virtually the exclusive communication tool" during the pandemic.
Cancelled dates over supposedly positive Covid tests and disrupted travel plans due to lockdowns are ruses that feed into the well-worn script of romance scammers, the FTC warned.
One male victim told awareness-raising organization Silent Victim No More that Covid measures provided his supposed girlfriend with excuses to "bail out."
"Covid-19 benefited the scammers," he wrote.
He finally did a reverse image search on photos she had sent, discovering they were of a different person -- but only after he'd spent $400,000 on visa fees and other concocted urgent costs.
While awareness is growing -- through support groups, online forums and even a recent documentary on Netflix "The Tinder Swindler" -- many still fall prey to elaborate cons spun to get into a victim's heart.
When Montgomery Johnson, now in her early 60s, realized the scale of the problem, she decided to share how she was taken advantage of by a man who had come to feel like "family" over two years starting in 2010.
She spoke widely, wrote a book -- "The Woman Behind the Smile" -- and joined the board of SCARS, which has had contact with some seven million victims since 2015.
"I was looking for a confidant," she said, having waded into online dating following the death of her husband.
She said it was out of character to give money the way she did, but "he really had my heartstrings tugged."
"It's expert manipulation," said McGuinness, who himself was a victim of a romance scam. Interactions "will progress like a normal conversation, except that they'll utilize very specific manipulative techniques to begin the grooming."
Scammers, many based in West Africa, will adopt fake identities, often saying they work abroad and travel a lot or are in the military -- providing ready-made excuses for why they can't meet in person.
A period of intense contact is followed by requests to wire money for plane tickets, visa fees, medical expenses or other emergencies -- always with the promise of paying the amount back when they are finally united.
The internet was already a low-cost, high-return field, but scammers, often working in teams, now hunt everywhere from Instagram to online games like Words with Friends.
"Any place where you can begin a conversation with someone, that's where the scammers are," McGuinness said.
Another change has seen more young people being caught up, with the FTC saying the number of reports by Americans aged 18 to 29 increased more than tenfold from 2017 to 2021.
The rise in cryptocurrency is fueling scams involving bogus investments, though untraceable gift cards and wire transfers are still more common.
McGuinness said millennials are "scammed more often and for smaller dollar amounts" while older people are scammed "for larger amounts but less frequently."
Victims often still keep their experience under wraps, fearing scrutiny and judgement.
In the years after being scammed, Montgomery Johnson heard of many more people who had suffered similar fraud, "but nobody was talking."
"Something flipped within me that it's not about me anymore," she said. "It's about what I can do... to speak up and to be the voice of the survivor."
Bob Rae, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, lashed out at protesters who have clogged roads and bridges in his country for over three weeks because they object to vaccine mandates.
In a largely peaceful operation on Saturday, Canadian officials took advantage of an emergency powers law to arrest protesters and tow vehicles from the streets of Ottawa.
Rae spokes out about the protesters in a tweet on Sunday.
"A truck is not a speech," he wrote. "A horn is not a voice. An occupation is not a protest. A blockade is not freedom, it blocks the liberty of all. A demand to overthrow a government is not a dialogue. The expression of hatred is not a difference of opinion. A lie is not the truth."
Rae's tweet was shared thousands of times within minutes.
A truck is not a speech. A horn is not a voice. An occupation is not a protest. A blockade is not freedom, it blocks the liberty of all. A demand to overthrow a government is not a dialogue. The expression of hatred is not a difference of opinion. A lie is not the truth.
— Bob Rae (@BobRae48) February 20, 2022
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