‘Jason Rapert, an anti-gay Republican Arkansas state senator who has called face mask mandates “draconian” and shared articles calling COVID-19 a hoax, has tested positive for COVID-19 after speaking at a church service and other recent events without a face mask.

For the last three months, Rapert has been sharing articles on his social media about how “liberal quacks” are “spreading fear” about coronavirus, about how COVID-19 is the “biggest political hoax in history” and about how the recent face mask mandate ordered by Republican Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson is “draconian” and an “overreach of executive power.”

Though Rapert has occasionally mentioned the importance of using masks, he’s now in the hospital being treated for coronavirus and pneumonia….’

— via National Memo

‘A new systematic review of more than a dozen studies from around the world has confirmed an association between geographical areas with naturally high levels of lithium in the water supply and low rates of suicide. The researchers suggest trials should be undertaken to test whether adding trace levels of lithium to a community’s water supply could improve wellbeing and reduce suicide rates….’

— via New Atlas

Pharmaceutical lithium carbonate is used in psychiatry as a mood stabilizer, but some mental healthcliniicians believe that it has specific anti-suicidality effects. A credible explanation of the neurochemical basis for lithium’s benefits is not really known despite widespread speculation.