The minimum wage is increasing in 22 states this year. 

That means about 10 million workers will benefit from the wage hike according to a report by the Economic Policy Institution.

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West Coast Weather

Here in Oregon, we're bracing for powerful storms and snow in the next week. Forecasters are predicting the same for Washington and California. I'm not eagerly awaiting the snow like so many other people are here in the Rogue Valley (I'm in Medford). 

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Star Bound

An orange tabby cat named Taters was the star in the first video transmitted by laser from deep space. 

He stole the show chasing a red laser light around. The 15-second video was beamed from Earth from NASA's Psyche spacecraft, 19 million miles away.

Whoever gets this video in a galaxy far, far, away will probably wonder if humans look like cats.

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That's the highest amount ever recorded crossing the border in one month. Democrats and Republicans need to unite on this issue and come up with a game plan. 

As it is the immigration issue is being used as a cudgel by Republicans trying to make the Biden Administration look bad. For once I'd like to see Congress really take action and come up with a solution to regain control of our southern border.

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Opinion Piece from The Guardian

You have one life. Do you really want to spend it looking at your phone?

The apps on our phones are designed to be addictive, but if we recognize what is happening, we can claw back our free time.

Author Catherine Price says "There are many reasons we're tethered to our phones, but the one that I find most infuriating is that our most time-sucking apps are deliberating designed to hook us - because that' s how their creators make money.

"In this economy, we are not the customers of these apps; advertisers are.

"Look up your daily screen time and do the math to figure out how many days it adds up to in a year. For example, four hours a day - which is pretty typical - adds up to just more than 60 full days every year."

Price advises the reader to break the cycle of checking your phone and to minimize exposure to dopamine triggers by turning off most of your notifications, deleting your most time-sucking Apps (email news for example), and to turn the phones screen to black and white.

Price also suggests creating physical boundaries, like banning it from the bedroom and the dining room table and charging it in a closet at night.

"This is your life," Price tells the reader. "What do you want to pay attention to?"

(Condensed version)

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Odds & Ends...

Q - When did humans first start wearing clothes?

A - 90,000 years ago (give or take a millennium)

Suffice to say it was a long, long, time ago.

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Opinion/Politics

** Florida's CFO shared a proposed plan for taxpayers to foot Trump's legal bills. This is for real. I seriously doubt this MAGA-loving clown will see his idea come to fruition. There are some sane people in the state.

** Efforts to control anti-MAGA renegades has resulted in a massive surge of death threats. No one, or institution, is exempt from Trump's crazed followers. I expect it'll get worse this year. Our republic is being threatened from within by a cult.

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As it stands, if you like my new format and content don't be shy to comment at the end of the post. Any (constructive) suggestions or stories you'd like to see are fine by me.