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Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

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A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. -- Edward R. Murrow

Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Thursday
Mar102022

March 10, 2022

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of Thursday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russian forces were making slow, bitterly-fought advances in Ukraine on Thursday as high-level talks failed to yield progress on ending the war or even a temporary cease-fire. Russian troops were laying siege to Chernihiv, near the Belarus border, where the mayor reported that the city was running out of burial space as the death toll rises. Although Russia has failed to capture major cities in the past week, its forces have gradually pushed forward into smaller population centers. Outside of Kyiv, Russian forces gained control of the town of Bucha and moved southwest in an attempt to encircle the capital. They were also approaching Kyiv from the east, with heavy fighting involving a line of Russian tanks reported in the suburb of Brovary, according to videos posted on Thursday."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "The Transportation Security Administration will extend its mask mandate for airplanes and other public transportation..., as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works with federal agencies to revise mask policies, the two agencies announced on Thursday. The requirement will extend at least through April 18 at C.D.C.'s recommendations, and will apply to public transportation and transportation hubs. Under the T.S.A.'s rule, passengers on airplanes buses and trains and people in airports, stations and transit hubs must wear masks."

A Very Trumpy Census. Maria Cramer of the New York Times: "The 2020 census undercounted the country's population by 18.8 million people, the Census Bureau said on Thursday, acknowledging that the count had underrepresented Black, Latino and Indigenous residents. At the same time, the census overcounted the number of white and Asian residents, the bureau said.... The 2020 census faced a series of challenges. The coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the count just as it was beginning in April 2020, forcing the bureau to extend its work by nearly two months. Later in the year, wildfires in the West and coastal hurricanes upended the bureau's work just as door-knockers were fanning out to survey millions of households that had not filled out their forms.

Neil Vigdor & Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "... the Interior Department, led by Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, is taking steps to strip the word ['squaw,' which is derogatory,] from mountains, rivers, lakes and other geographic sites and has solicited input from tribes on new names for the landmarks. A task force created by the department will submit the new names for final approval from the Board on Geographic Names, the federal body that standardizes American place names. The National Park Service was ordered to take similar steps.... Several states have passed laws mandating the erasure of the slur from nonfederal sites." MB: By contrast, Donald Trump turned the given name "Pocahontas" into a slur, too.

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The Guardian's live updates of Thursday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The British home secretary has pledged to streamline the online visa application system for Ukrainians following heavy criticism of her response to the crisis. Priti Patel said that from Tuesday, Ukrainian refugees will no longer have to go to a visa application centre to provide their biometrics before coming to the UK. A humanitarian convoy trying to reach Mariupol today has been forced to turn around due to fighting, Reuters reports the Ukrainian deputy prime minister has said.... A meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba, in Turkey ended with little progress appearing to have been made. In a news conference afterwards, Reuters reports that Kuleba said that no progress was made on a ceasefire and that Lavrov did not commit to a humanitarian corridor in Mariupol, where he said the situation was most difficult. The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, says she will discuss issues with Poland that will force Russia to pay a price for its invasion on Ukraine, reports Reuters. Speaking today during a visit to Warsaw, she also said that Poland was doing 'extraordinary work. to help Ukrainian refugees.... The UK has frozen the assets of seven Russian businessmen including Roman Abramovich, Igor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska and Dmitri Lebedev after they were added to the country's sanctions list, reports Reuters. Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea Football Club, Deripaska has stakes in En+ Group, Sechin is the chief executive of Rosneft and Lebedev is chairman of the board of directors of Bank Rossiya." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of Thursday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "At least three people, including a child, were killed and 17 more were injured in a Russian airstrike on a maternity hospital in Ukraine's southeastern port of Mariupol, city officials said Thursday, as foreign ministers from the two countries arrived in Turkey for their first high-level talks since the invasion.... The strike ripped through the hospital and buried patients under the rubble despite a cease-fire deal for people to flee Mariupol, the latest attack underscoring the conflict's civilian toll. The World Health Organization verified 18 attacks on health facilities, health workers and ambulances, resulting in at least 10 deaths.... As the White House warned that Russia may be considering using chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, Vice President Harris landed in Eastern Europe late Wednesday to reassure U.S. allies of protection and promise aid for Ukrainians who fled their country in a historic exodus. Her trip started in Poland...." ~~~

Vadim Ghirda & Yuras Karmanau of the AP: "A Russian attack severely damaged a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukraine said Wednesday, and citizens trying to escape shelling on the outskirts of Kyiv streamed toward the capital amid warnings from the West that Moscow's invasion is about to take a more brutal and indiscriminate turn. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter that there were 'people, children under the wreckage' of the hospital and called the strike an 'atrocity.' Authorities said they were trying to establish how many people had been killed or wounded. Video shared by Zelenskyy showed cheerfully painted hallways strewn with twisted metal and room after room with blown-out windows. Floors were covered in wreckage. Outside, a small fire burned, and debris covered the ground." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Do Putin & his military strategists think that slaughtering Ukrainian newborns, women in labor and healthcare workers is a good way to win the hearts and minds of Ukrainians?

Tucker Reals of CBS News: "The power supply was cut to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said, blaming Russia's invading forces for the blackout and warning that it could lead to 'nuclear discharge.' The U.N.-backed global nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, downplayed concerns of an imminent radioactive release, but a Ukrainian national emergency services agency said if power to the plant's cooling systems -- which keep spent nuclear fuel safely surrounded by water -- is not ensured, it could create a 'radioactive cloud' to blow over 'other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Henry Fountain of the New York Times outlines what could happen as a result of the power cut-off at the Chernobyl plant.

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "The House passed legislation Wednesday night banning U.S. imports of Russian oil and other energy sources, as lawmakers look to escalate U.S.-led sanctions on Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine. House Democratic leaders decided to move forward with the vote even though President Joe Biden announced a Russian oil embargo on Tuesday. The Senate is not expected to consider the House-passed bill, with upper-chamber Democrats wary of tying Biden's hands."

Fiona Harvey of the Guardian: "Oil and gas companies are facing a potential bonanza from the Ukraine war, though few in the industry want to admit it, and many are using soaring prices and the fear of fuel shortages to cement their position with governments in ways that could have disastrous impacts on the climate crisis.... The crisis gives western oil and gas companies such as BP, Shell, Exxon and Total leverage among governments. In the UK, prime minister Boris Johnson defended oil companies against calls for a windfall tax on Wednesday from Labour.... Green campaigners warned that oil and gas companies were using the Ukraine emergency to further their own interests, by encouraging governments to prioritise oil and gas production and make decisions now on investments that would have little impact on the current crisis but would vastly increase fossil fuel use for years to come."

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "In the final years of Donald J. Trump's presidency, Republicans portrayed Ukraine as an Eastern European Wild West run by nefarious oligarchs and unlawful politicians, a bad actor that sought to tamper in American elections and channel millions of dollars to Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s son. 'We're talking Ukraine,' thundered Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, in 2019, describing the country as 'one of the three most corrupt countries on the planet.'... Now such voices are fading, as the bulk of the Republican Party tries to get on the right side of history amid a brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. Republicans are among the most vociferous champions for the United States to amp up its military response, and are competing to issue the strongest expressions of solidarity with Ukraine's leaders." Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: To the extent that Ukraine was a "Wild West run by nefarious oligarchs," the country was aided & abetted in those illicit endeavors by Americans like Republican operative & short-time Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was collecting bags full of cash from crooked, pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians. Then Vice President Joe Biden, on the other hand, was pressuring Ukraine's corrupt leaders to straighten up & fly right. Funny how that worked, innit? ~~~

~~~ To Wit. Aw, Shucks, a Dilemma for Shady Lobbyists, Lawyers & Super-Wealth Managers. Matthew Goldstein, et al., of the New York Times: "... a constellation of American and European advisers -- including some of the world's largest law firms -- ... have long helped Russian oligarchs navigate the Western financial, legal, political and media landscapes. Now..., lawyers and investment advisers are coming under intense scrutiny for work that weeks earlier was occurring almost entirely below the public radar.... Some firms parted ways with Russian clients whose praises they had been singing in the days leading up to the invasion."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "A cynic is rarely disappointed by this Republican Party. Yet even by that standard, the current attempt to blame President Biden -- and absolve Vladimir Putin -- for the spike in gas prices is a special case. For days, Republicans called for a ban on imports of Russian oil, a move that, while the right thing to do to counter Putin's attack against Ukraine, would cause already high gas prices to rise even further. Biden did as Republicans wanted -- and they responded by blaming his energy policies for spiking gas prices. It's not only that the charge is bogus -- the current price of gas has virtually nothing to do with Biden's energy policies -- but that the Republican officials leveling it are sowing division at home and giving a rhetorical boost to the enemy at a perilous moment when national unity and sacrifice will be needed to prevail against Russia."

U.A.E. Is Still a Refuge for Russian Oligarchs. David Kirkpatrick, et al., of the New York Times: "... even notoriously secretive banking centers like Switzerland, Monaco and the Cayman Islands have begun to cooperate with the freezing of accounts, seizing of mansions and impounding of yachts [owned by Putin's super-wealthy friends].... But not Dubai, the cosmopolitan resort and financial center in the United Arab Emirates. Although a close partner to Washington in Middle Eastern security matters, the oil-rich monarchy has in recent years also become a popular playground for the Russian rich, in part because of its reputation for asking few questions about the sources of foreign money. Now the Emirates may undercut some of the penalties on Russia by continuing to welcome targeted oligarchs.


Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House on Wednesday passed a sprawling $1.5 trillion federal spending bill that includes a huge infusion of aid for war-torn Ukraine and money to keep the government funded throug September, after jettisoning a package to fund President Biden's new Covid-19 response effort. Bipartisan approval of the first major government spending legislation of Mr. Biden's presidency marked the first time since he took office that Democrats were able to use their congressional majorities and control of the White House to set funding levels for their priorities, including climate resilience, public education and child care. But the exclusion of the $15.6 billion pandemic aid package, amid disputes about its cost that threatened to derail the broader legislation, infuriated the White House and frustrated Democratic leaders, leaving the fate of the Biden administration's coronavirus strategy uncertain." An ABC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Earlier. Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Congressional Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday finalized a roughly $1.5 trillion measure that would provision massive funding increases for key federal health, science, education and defense programs, setting in motion a bipartisan push to stave off a looming government shutdown set to occur at the end of the week. The release of the sweeping spending package, known in congressional parlance as an omnibus, put to end a tumultuous few months of bipartisan negotiations on Capitol Hill. It opened the door for the House to vote as soon as Wednesday on the measure, which lawmakers have used as the vehicle to advance roughly $14 billion in new humanitarian, military and economic assistance for Ukraine. But the chamber's attempts to take swift action ran into an unexpected snag, after a group of Democrats objected to the way that the bill sought to source roughly $15 billion in new coronavirus aid from an existing stimulus fund set aside for state governments." Related story linked below under "The Pandemic, Ctd."

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: Right-wing lawyer & Trump collaborator John Eastman knew that "interrupting the certification of Joe Biden's election win on 6 January last year as part of the scheme to return Donald Trump to office was ... unlawful..., according to an email exchange about the potential conspiracy.... [Eastman] conceded in an email to counsel for the vice-president Mike Pence, Greg Jacob, that the plan was a violation of the Electoral Count Act. But Eastman then urged Pence to move ahead with the scheme anyway ... [because] it was only a 'minor violation' of the statute.... The admission ... undercuts arguments by Eastman and the Willard war room team that they believed there was no wrongdoing in seeking to have Pence delay the certification past 6 January.... It additionally raises the prospect that the other members of the Willard war room -- including Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani and Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon -- were also aware that the scheme to delay or stop the certification was unlawful from the start." ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "A federal judge said on Wednesday that he would review 111 emails that the lawyer John Eastman, an ally of ... Donald J. Trump, is attempting to keep from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, as the panel works to force the release of documents from lawyers involved in plans to overturn the 2020 election. Judge David O. Carter, of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, said in an order that he would review emails Mr. Eastman had sent and received between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7 of last year as he decides whether to release them to the committee. Judge Carter made no mention of the committee’s most explosive argument in the case: that Mr. Eastman's emails are not protected by attorney-client privilege because they were part of a criminal conspiracy."

Myah Ward & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Republican National Committee is suing the Jan. 6 select committee after investigators sought fundraising information from Salesforce, a major RNC vendor. The select committee subpoenaed Salesforce on Feb. 23, according to the RNC's court filing, for information about the party's fundraising, including 'non-public information on Republican donors, volunteers, and supporters and the internal deliberative processes of the RNC.' The company was due to provide the documents to the committee by Wednesday, and it's unclear whether it complied.... 'Between Election Day 2020 and January 6th, the RNC and the Trump campaign solicited donations by pushing false claims that the election was tainted by widespread fraud,' select committee spokesperson Tim Mulvey said in a statement. 'These emails encouraged supporters to put pressure on Congress to keep President Trump in power.'"

Ken Bensinger of BuzzFeed News: "As the government's prosecutions of members of the Oath Keepers -- by most measures, the most significant of any to come out of the Jan. 6 insurrection -- move toward trial, defense lawyers..., it appears, are getting outside help. A nonprofit founded by Sidney Powell -- the former attorney for ... Donald Trump who has repeatedly attempted to reverse the results of the 2020 election -- has been covering the full legal expenses of at least one and potentially multiple defendants in the high-profile case, BuzzFeed News has learned. Since October, the organization, Defending the Republic, has been making monthly payments to the defense attorney for Kelly Meggs, a member of ... the Oath Keepers.... In an interview, the attorney, Jonathon Moseley, said he was aware of 'at least three or four other defendants who have that arrangement' as well."

John Wagner & Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "A bipartisan group of House Judiciary Committee members has alerted the Justice Department to 'potentially criminal conduct' by Amazon and senior executives in relation to a committee investigation into competition in digital markets. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the lawmakers, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), accused Amazon of engaging in a 'pattern and practice' of misleading conduct that appeared designed to 'influence, obstruct, or impede' the committee. The referral is a significant escalation of lawmakers' years-long questioning of statements Amazon executives made during lawmakers' 16-month investigation into competition in digital markets that concluded in 2020."

Gaby Goldstein & David Dailey, in Salon, argue that at least four Supremes, and maybe five, have written or joined opinions that appear to support an interpretation of the radical "independent state legislatures doctrine," which "threatens the very nature of our elections and makes it easier for gerrymanders, voter suppression and electoral subversion to succeed."

You're Paying for Police Misconduct, Especially for Repeat Offenders. Keith Alexander ,et al., of the Washington Post: "The Post collected data on nearly 40,000 payments at 25 of the nation's largest police and sheriff's departments within the past decade, documenting more than $3.2 billion spent to settle claims.... The Post found that more than 1,200 officers in the departments surveyed had been the subject of at least five payments. More than 200 had 10 or more. The repetition is the hidden cost of alleged misconduct: Officers whose conduct was at issue in more than one payment accounted for more than $1.5 billion, or nearly half of the money spent by the departments to resolve allegations, The Post found."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post on how Tucker Carlson's faint foray into "journalism" proved that Fox "News" acted with "actual malice" against Smartmatic, a voting machine company that even more reckless Fox hosts Maria Bartiromo & Lou Dobbs could not meet because their on-air false claims about Smartmatic were "so inherently improbable that only a reckless person would have put [them] in circulation." ~~~

     ~~~ BTW, Blake points out here that TuKKKer is still on his Putin appeasement push, blaming the West for provoking Putin into attacking Ukraine.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Sheryl Stolberg & Madeleine Ngo of the New York Times: "... on Wednesday, Democrats in Congress stripped a $15.6 billion emergency aid package from a broader spending bill amid disputes over how to cover the cost. The move injects uncertainty into President Biden's plan, announced last week, to address 'urgent needs' in his pandemic response and to prepare for future variants. With Republicans blocking new spending on the pandemic, Democrats had agreed to take the emergency aid from existing programs -- including $7 billion that states had been counting on for their own pandemic responses. That led governors to protest, rank-and-file lawmakers to balk and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to plan on passing the coronavirus funding package separately, a risky move given Republican opposition to new federal spending in the evenly divided Senate."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.

Beyond the Beltway

Colorado. Trumpy Nitwit Indicted. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Tina Peters, a county clerk running as a Republican for secretary of state of Colorado, was indicted Tuesday evening on 10 criminal counts related to allegations that she tampered with election equipment after the 2020 election. The indictment, which the district attorney of Mesa County, Colo., announced on Wednesday, is connected to Ms. Peters's work as the top county election administrator, a role in which she promoted ... Donald J. Trump's false claims that the election had been stolen.... Ms. Peters's case is a prominent example of how false theories about election fraud and Republican-led calls for 'audits' of the 2020 vote count have created election-security threats involving the integrity of voting machines, software and other election equipment. And in running for secretary of state, Ms. Peters is among a group of brazenly partisan candidates who claim that Mr. Trump may have won the election and who are transforming races around the country for such once little-known offices." CNN's report is here.

Florida. Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "Two months after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a plan for a powerful elections police force that would answer to him, state lawmakers on Wednesday passed a watered-down version that barely resembles what the governor asked for but still worries voting rights advocates. DeSantis (R) had asked for nearly $6 million to hire 52 people, including sworn officers, to investigate alleged violations of elections laws. The GOP-led House and Senate instead gave him about $2.5 million for the new Office of Election Crimes and Security. The agency will be the first of its kind in the nation. Its staff of 25 will be part of the Department of State, which answers to DeSantis. Both chambers approved its creation by wide margins...." ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Whitten of CNBC: "The Walt Disney Company is now publicly opposing Florida's controversial 'Don't Say Gay' bill. On Wednesday, CEO Bob Chapek ... told shareholders that he will meet with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney will donate $5 million to organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, that work to protect LGTBQ+ rights. DeSantis' office confirmed that Chapek had called but said no meeting had been scheduled yet...."

Louisiana. Was It a Bird? Was It a Plane? It Sure Wasn't Superman. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: New Orleans' "power company said it believed that a bird of an unknown type had damaged an electrical substation serving parts of downtown and the Uptown neighborhood, affecting nearly 10,000 utility customers, according to Entergy New Orleans.... It was not clear what happened to the bird."~~~

     ~~~ Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's plane made an emergency landing on Saturday evening following his speech at a Republican National Committee-hosted donor retreat in New Orleans, according to two people familiar with the matter. The plane was in the air for between 20 and 30 minutes before one of the engines failed and the pilot of the private plane decided to turn around and return to the New Orleans airport, one of the sources said."

Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "Nearly two years after the police killing of George Floyd ignited fiery unrest in Minneapolis, a long-awaited report offered a scathing indictment of the city's response, suggesting the chaotic situation was made worse by a mayor who disregarded emergency protocols and a police department whose officers failed to follow 'consistent rules of engagement.' The 86-page report conducted for the city of Minneapolis by the Chicago-based security risk firm Hillard Heintze listed a litany of communications and leadership failures by Mayor Jacob Frey (D) and other city officials that left residents feeling 'abandoned' and fueled chaos on the ground amid days of escalating violence and destruction. The report's authors, including several former law enforcement officials, said police on the front lines operated without clear guidance or supervision as they fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds, including peaceful protesters...."

New York. Jesse McKinley & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "New York State will soon announce plans to usher in its first outlets for retail sales of marijuana by the end of the year, giving applicants access to stockpiles of the drug grown by local farmers and offering sweeteners like new storefronts leased by the state.... To be one of the state's first licensed retailers, you or a member of your family must have been convicted of a marijuana-related offense.... In favoring those with marijuana convictions and prepping their businesses for turnkey sales, New York appears to be trying to avoid pitfalls encountered in some other states, which have seen designated 'social equity' applicants and other mom-and-pop marijuana businesses struggle with issues like lack of capital or competition from deep-pocketed corporate operations."

North Carolina. Sad News (and I Missed It). Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times (March 4): "A judge on Friday blocked a novel electoral challenge that sought to disqualify Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina from running for re-election by labeling him an insurrectionist, issuing an equally novel order that invoked a post-Civil War law that forgave confederate soldiers and sympathizers. U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II, an appointee of ... Donald J. Trump, stepped in to squelch an effort by lawyers and voters in North Carolina who had filed a motion before the state's Board of Elections declaring Mr. Cawthorn, 26, ineligible for re-election under the Constitution. They had contended that the first-term Republican's support for rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, made him an 'insurrectionist,' and therefore barred him from office under the little-known third section of the 14th Amendment, adopted during Reconstruction to punish members of the Confederacy." Under North Carolina law, the challengers cannot appeal the ruling, though the state's AG or its board of elections could. CNN's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Dianne Gallagher of CNN: "North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn is facing a charge of driving with a revoked license for the second time since 2017. The Class 3 misdemeanor charge, which could carry a maximum penalty of up to 20 days in jail, is one of three pending traffic citations against the Republican congressman in his home state."

Way Beyond

South Korea. Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "A graft prosecutor turned opposition leader has won an extremely close presidential election in South Korea, reinstating conservatives to power with calls for a more confrontational stance against North Korea and a stronger alliance with the United States. With 98 percent of the votes counted, the opposition leader, Yoon Suk-yeol, was leading by a margin of 263,000 votes, or 0.8 percentage points, when his opponent conceded early Thursday. It was South Korea's tightest race since it began holding free presidential elections in 1987. Mr. Yoon will replace President Moon Jae-in, a progressive leader whose single five-year term ends in May."

News Ledes

New York Times: "The first person to have his failing heart replaced with that of a genetically altered pig in a groundbreaking operation died Tuesday afternoon at the University of Maryland Medical Center, two months after the transplant surgery. David Bennett Sr., who lived in Maryland, was 57. He had severe heart disease, and had agreed to receive the experimental pig's heart after he was rejected from several waiting lists to receive a human heart. It was unclear whether his body had rejected the foreign organ. 'There was no obvious cause identified at the time of his death,' a hospital spokeswoman said."

No Joy in Mudville, Ctd. New York Times: "Despite a marathon negotiating session that dragged from Tuesday morning until Wednesday night ... Major League Baseball and the players' union could not resolve a roadblock and reach a new labor deal ahead of a 6 p.m. deadline set by the league. As a result, M.L.B. Commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Wednesday night that another week of regular season games has been canceled. And the second-longest work stoppage in the sport's history continued."

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Tuesday
Mar082022

March 9, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Vadim Ghirda & Yuras Karmanau of the AP: "A Russian attack severely damaged a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukraine said Wednesday, and citizens trying to escape shelling on the outskirts of Kyiv streamed toward the capital amid warnings from the West that Moscow's invasion is about to take a more brutal and indiscriminate turn. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter that there were 'people, children under the wreckage' of the hospital and called the strike an 'atrocity.' Authorities said they were trying to establish how many people had been killed or wounded. Video shared by Zelenskyy showed cheerfully painted hallways strewn with twisted metal and room after room with blown-out windows. Floors were covered in wreckage. Outside, a small fire burned, and debris covered the ground." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Do Putin & his military strategists think that slaughtering Ukrainian newborns, women in labor and healthcare workers is a good way to win the hearts and minds of Ukrainians?

Tucker Reals of CBS News: "The power supply was cut to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said, blaming Russia's invading forces for the blackout and warning that it could lead to 'nuclear discharge.' The U.N.-backed global nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, downplayed concerns of an imminent radioactive release, but a Ukrainian national emergency services agency said if power to the plant's cooling systems -- which keep spent nuclear fuel safely surrounded by water -- is not ensured, it could create a 'radioactive cloud' to blow over 'other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe.'"

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "In the final years of Donald J. Trump's presidency, Republicans portrayed Ukraine as an Eastern European Wild West run by nefarious oligarchs and unlawful politicians, a bad actor that sought to tamper in American elections and channel millions of dollars to Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s son. 'We're talking Ukraine,' thundered Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, in 2019, describing the country as 'one of the three most corrupt countries on the planet.'... Now such voices are fading, as the bulk of the Republican Party tries to get on the right side of history amid a brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. Republicans are among the most vociferous champions for the United States to amp up its military response, and are competing to issue the strongest expressions of solidarity with Ukraine's leaders." Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: To the extent that Ukraine was a "Wild West run by nefarious oligarchs," the country was aided & abetted in those illicit endeavors by Americans like Republican operative & short-time Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was collecting bags full of cash from crooked, pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians. Then Vice President Joe Biden, on the other hand, was pressuring Ukraine's corrupt leaders to straighten up & fly right. Funny how that worked, innit? ~~~

~~~ To Wit. Aw, Shucks, a Dilimma for Shady Lobbyists, Lawyers & Super-Wealth Managers. Matthew Goldstein, et al., of the New York Times: "... a constellation of American and European advisers -- including some of the world's largest law firms -- ... have long helped Russian oligarchs navigate the Western financial, legal, political and media landscapes. Now..., lawyers and investment advisers are coming under intense scrutiny for work that weeks earlier was occurring almost entirely below the public radar.... Some firms parted ways with Russian clients whose praises they had been singing in the days leading up to the invasion."

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Congressional Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday finalized a roughly $1.5 trillion measure that would provision massive funding increases for key federal health, science, education and defense programs, setting in motion a bipartisan push to stave off a looming government shutdown set to occur at the end of the week. The release of the sweeping spending package, known in congressional parlance as an omnibus, put to end a tumultuous few months of bipartisan negotiations on Capitol Hill. It opened the door for the House to vote as soon as Wednesday on the measure, which lawmakers have used as the vehicle to advance roughly $14 billion in new humanitarian, military and economic assistance for Ukraine. But the chamber's attempts to take swift action ran into an unexpected snag, after a group of Democrats objected to the way that the bill sought to source roughly $15 billion in new coronavirus aid from an existing stimulus fund set aside for state governments."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "New York Supreme Court Judge David B. Cohen has now ruled that voting-machine company Smartmatic's $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and Rudolph W. Giuliani can proceed. The case involved numerous false and baseless claims made on Fox about voter fraud involving the company's voting machines.... The ruling ... says that claims made by Giuliani, Fox host Maria Bartiromo and now-former Fox Business host Lou Dobbs could meet the legal standard of claims being 'so inherently improbable that only a reckless person would have put [them] in circulation.'... The judge noted that the company must prove Fox met the standard of acting with 'actual malice.'... And on that count, the judge says the best evidence that it did is [Tucker] Carlson. That's because ... Carlson said ... that [Trump lawyer Sidney] Powell ... had yet to substantiate [her claims about Smartmatic, even though he had asked her to provide evidence of the company's wrongdoing].... 'Therefore,' [the judge noted,] 'there are sufficient allegations that Fox News knew, or should have known, that Powell's claim was false, and purposefully ignored the efforts of its most prominent anchor to obtain substantiation of claims of wrongdoing by [Smartmatic]." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: And you thought TuKKKer wasn't a journalist!

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's War, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Wednesday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russia's Central Bank limited withdrawals of foreign currency, hoping to shore up the plunging ruble as Western economic penalties take a serious toll. In Ukraine, efforts to evacuate civilians from battered cities resumed, but many remain trapped in the areas of heaviest fighting."

The Washington Post's live updates of Wednesday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Attempts to evacuate civilians continued on Wednesday, as both sides announced routes to allow people to leave hard-hit cities. But Ukraine said it remained skeptical of Russia's new commitments to temporary cease-fires -- after accusing ... Vladimir Putin's forces of shelling the escape routes four days in a row.... China on Wednesday restated that it considers the United States and NATO responsible for pushing tensions between Russia and Ukraine to a breaking point, as Beijing steps up support for the Kremlin even while claiming it is not taking sides in the war."

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "The United States will ban imports of oil and natural gas from Russia, President Biden announced Tuesday, a decision reached after days of behind-the-scenes talks that revolved around protecting the global economy from an energy shock. The move represents one of America's most far-reaching actions to penalize Moscow since the beginning of its invasion into Ukraine. It would carry enormous geopolitical consequences, as the price of oil has already skyrocketed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, creating huge new costs for businesses and consumers.... Europe, which is far more dependent on Russian energy than the United States, announced Tuesday a plan to cut gas imports from Russia by two-thirds this year. If successful, this move would sharply reduce but does not completely sever energy ties to Moscow.... Russian oil accounts for about a quarter of the European Union's oil imports, but just 3 percent of the United States' imports." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "The de-facto leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have declined to arrange calls with US president Joe Biden in recent weeks as the US and it allies have sought to contain a surge in energy prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. According to the Wall Street Journal, citing Middle East and US officials, both Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the UAE's Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan have been unavailable to Biden after US requests were made for discussions.... Last week, OPEC+, which includes Russia, declined to increase oil production despite western entreaties.... Relations between the US and Saudi Arabia have chilled during the Biden administration over American policy in the Gulf region." MB: Okay, I'll admit this would not have happened if Trump were president*.

Zelensky Is No Hamlet. Mark Landler & Marc Santora of the New York Times: "In a dramatic video address to Britain's Parliament, clad in his now-famous military fatigue T-shirt, [Ukraine's President Volodymyr] Zelensky echoed Winston Churchill's famous words of no surrender to the same chamber at the dawn of World War II as Britain faced a looming onslaught from Nazi Germany. 'We will fight till the end, at sea, in the air,' Mr. Zelensky said with the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag draped behind him. 'We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.' The speech, the first ever by a foreign leader to the House of Commons, was the climax of Mr. Zelensky's darkest-hour messaging to fellow Ukrainians and the world in what has become a typical 20-hour day for him in Kyiv, the besieged capital.... To Shakespeare's elemental question, 'to be or not to be,' he said, Ukrainians had decided 'to be.'"

Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "The Pentagon on Tuesday evening dismissed Poland's proposal floated hours earlier to transfer its MiG-29 fighter jets to the United States for delivery to Ukraine. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement that the Pentagon did not believe Poland's proposal was 'tenable,' just hours after Polish officials released a statement saying the government was ready to deploy all of its MiG-29 fighter jets to US Air Force's Rammstein Air Base in Germany so they could then be provided to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.... The idea as laid out by Poland was too risky, Kirby said, as the US and NATO seek to avoid an outright conflict between the alliance and Russia." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Alexander Vindman, appearing on MSNBC, said the way this proposal & rejection rolled out in public was the result of the Biden administration's mishandling of the matter. Vindman said that, in general, the Biden administration was not very nimble in its reactions to fast-changing circumstances. Even though the Pentagon had done a good job of getting massive amounts of weapons & related materiel to Ukraine, those transfers were pre-planned. MB: When you also consider the Afghanistan pull-out catastrophe, it's kind of hard to argue with Vindman. There appears to be some kind of serious breakdown among the White House, the National Security Council, the Pentagon & State.

Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "Top U.S. intelligence officials said on Tuesday that ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had been surprised and unsettled by the problems that have hampered his military in Ukraine, issues that will make it more difficult for Russian forces to control the country. But Mr. Putin is determined to succeed in Ukraine, and will try to double down and use ever more brutal tactics, the officials said during an appearance before the House Intelligence Committee. America's intelligence agencies, which before the attack released information on Russia's troop buildup and war plans, will work to highlight Russian atrocities and crimes, a continuation of the information war that helped rally the West to impose tough sanctions on Ukraine, the officials said.... Given the problems the Russian military has faced, and the rising will of Ukraine to fight, intelligence officials predicted the war would intensify. William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director [MB:and former ambassador to Russia], is anticipating an 'ugly next few weeks.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "U.S. intelligence agencies estimate that between 2,000 and 4,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the two-week invasion of Ukraine -- possibly more than the number of Americans killed in the 20-year war in Afghanistan. Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said during a worldwide threats hearing before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday morning that analysts give the estimate low confidence.... The estimate underscores the steep price Russia is already paying for a conflict that Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, in the same hearing, called 'a shock to the geopolitical order with implications for the future that we are only beginning to understand.'"

Sahil Kapur & Scott Wong of NBC News: "Congressional Republicans are championing President Joe Biden's decision to ban Russian oil imports to the U.S., a highly anticipated move that could continue to push gas prices to record highs. But in the same breath, GOP leaders ... are trying to capitalize by blaming Biden and his energy policies for Americans' having to pay more at the pump. Republicans argue that Biden could have it both ways -- sanction Russian oil but also keep U.S. prices down by allowing a rampant increase in domestic production, which they argue Biden isn't doing in furtherance of liberal environment goals. But oil production isn't a spigot that can just be flipped on, and the domestic market has been suppressed not just by federal rules, but also by an international market that depressed the price and made drilling unprofitable. Democrats point to the thousands of wells that have been approved but aren't being drilled." See also Akhilleus' commentary at the top of today's thread.

U.K. Rowena Mason of the Guardian: "The UK will phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022 and is exploring options to ending gas imports, the energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed. The decision ... came as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky prepared to address the House of Commons. The day after Boris Johnson said western nations would need a 'step-by-step transition period' away from Russian hydrocarbons, Kwarteng warned businesses they should 'use this year to ensure a smooth transition so that consumers will not be affected'." (Also linked yesterday.)

Paka Paka, Big Mak. Social Media Boycott Campaigns Worked. Julie Creswell of the New York Times: "Amid mounting pressure to act, McDonald's announced on Tuesday that it was temporarily closing its nearly 850 locations in Russia and halting operations in the country. Soon after the McDonald's announcement, other prominent food companies and restaurants followed. Starbucks said it, too, was closing all of its locations in Russia, where they are owned and operated by the Kuwaiti conglomerate Alshaya Group. Coca-Cola said it was halting sales there. And PepsiCo, whose products have been in Russia since the early 1970s, said it would no longer sell Pepsi and 7-Up there but would continue to produce dairy and baby food products in the country as a 'humanitarian' effort and to keep tens of thousands manufacturing and farm workers employed.... Yum, which owns KFC and Pizza Hut, said on Tuesday that it was suspending operations at 70 company-owned KFCs and all 50 franchise-owned Pizza Huts in Russia. (The vast majority of the 1,000 KFCs in Russia are franchise-owned and, at this time, not part of these suspensions.)" A CNBC story is here.

Mark Thompson of CNN: "Shell (RDSA) said Tuesday it was breaking completely with Russia's giant energy industry, halting all purchases of Russian crude oil immediately and shutting its service stations in the country. The UK-based company, which last week announced it was dumping its investments in Russia, said its decision to abandon all trade in Russian fossils fuels was 'aligned with new government guidance.'... Shell will also immediately begin to shut down its service stations, aviation fuels and lubricants operations in Russia in 'the safest way' possible, and begin a phased withdrawal from Russian petroleum products, pipeline gas and liquified natural gas." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "The New York Times said on Tuesday that it was temporarily removing its journalists from Russia in the wake of harsh new legislation that effectively outlaws independent reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 'Russia's new legislation seeks to criminalize independent, accurate news reporting about the war against Ukraine. For the safety and security of our editorial staff working in the region, we are moving them out of the country for now,' a spokeswoman for The Times, Danielle Rhoades Ha, said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.)

Venezuela. Ana Herrero & Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post: "The Venezuelan government has released at least two Americans detained in the country for years, according to five people with knowledge of the situation, days after a U.S. delegation made a rare trip to the socialist state. Among those released on Tuesday was Gustavo Cárdenas, one of the six executives of Citgo Petroleum Corp. who were arrested during a business trip to Caracas in November 2017 and later charged with corruption. The other was Jorge Alberto Fernández, a tourist who was detained and accused of terrorism for flying a drone early last year, according to a human rights defender in Venezuela.... The release comes after a group of senior U.S. officials traveled to Caracas on Saturday for a meeting with President Nicolás Maduro to discuss the possibility of easing sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports as the Biden administration weighed banning imports of Russian oil." ~~~

     ~~~ President Biden's statement is here, via the White House.


Sonia Moghe of CNN: "A dual Russian-American citizen has been charged with acting as a spy in the US, according to court filings that say she ran organizations that 'sought to spread Russian propaganda.' Elena Branson was charged Tuesday with acting and conspiring to act in the US illegally as an agent of the Russian government, willfully failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, conspiring to commit visa fraud and making false statements to the FBI, according to a criminal complaint. The complaint alleges that Branson fled to Russia in 2020."

The Good News. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Congress gave final approval on Tuesday to the most sprawling overhaul of the Postal Service in nearly two decades, sending President Biden legislation intended to return the beleaguered agency to solvency and address pandemic-era mail delays. The Senate voted 79 to 19 to approve the measure, which passed the House last month with overwhelming bipartisan support. Mr. Biden was expected to sign the bill, which the agency's leadership and an array of interest groups support." ~~~

     ~~~ The Bad News. Marie: No doubt there will be a signing ceremony in the Oval Office or thereabouts, and it's likely that Fat Bastard Louis DeJoy will shove his way to a prominent spot next to the President for the photo-op.

Jacob Kornbluh of the Forward: "Republican Sen. Ron Johnson on Tuesday blocked a vote on the nomination of Deborah E. Lipstadt as the Biden administration;s antisemitism envoy. Instead Johnson met with a group of truckers in Washington, D.C., in protest of the COVID-19 mandates and to support those imprisoned for participating in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. Jewish groups expressed outrage at the holdup, with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt calling Johnson's behavior 'disgraceful.' The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was scheduled to vote to advance Lipstadt's confirmation, one of about a dozen nominations, following a long-delayed and contentious hearing last month."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Tuesday laid out its theory for potential criminal charges against ... Donald J. Trump, arguing before a federal judge that he and the conservative lawyer John C. Eastman were involved in a conspiracy to perpetrate a fraud on the American public as part of a plan to overturn the 2020 election. The allegations, which the committee first leveled against the men last week in response to a lawsuit filed by Mr. Eastman, could determine just how deeply the panel can dig into emails, correspondence and other documents of lawyers close to Mr. Trump who have argued that such material should be shielded from scrutiny because of attorney-client privilege.... The House committee's argument is a risky one. If Judge [David] Carter were to reject its claims, the inquiry's legal team would be less likely to win support for a criminal prosecution unless investigators unearthed new evidence."

Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "The House Jan. 6 committee has ... [been attempting to trace] every dollar that was raised and spent on false claims that the election was stolen.... The [scrutiny] is part of an effort by the committee's 'green team' to scrutinize whether the Trump campaign, its affiliated super PACs, the Republican National Committee and protest organizers knowingly used false claims that the election was stolen to dupe donors and raise large sums of cash.... The primary objective is to determine whether email solicitations spreading false claims of election fraud served as a powerful source of misinformation, prompting the need to make proposals for strengthening campaign finance laws. The committee will also consider if any laws were broken and refer those to the Justice Department...."

** Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A Texas man who helped lead a pro-Trump mob in an advance on the police at the Capitol last year was convicted on Tuesday of obstructing congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election, bringing an end to the first criminal trial to stem from the violent assault. The guilty verdict against the defendant, Guy Wesley Reffitt, came only about three hours into the first day of jury deliberations and after a weeklong trial that included testimony from police officers, a Secret Service agent, one of Mr. Reffitt's compatriots in the Texas Three Percenters militia group and Mr. Reffitt's son. The jury also convicted Mr. Reffitt of wearing an illegal pistol on his hip during the attack and of later threatening his teenage son and daughter to keep them from turning him in to the authorities. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the obstruction count alone." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, has been charged with conspiring with other top lieutenants of the far-right nationalist group to attack the Capitol last year, according to an indictment set to be released on Tuesday by federal prosecutors.... Mr. Tarrio was not in Washington on Jan. 6, having been arrested two days earlier for having vandalized a Black Lives Matter banner at a Black church in the city after a pro-Trump rally in December 2020. Mr. Tarrio, who was also charged at the time with carrying two high-capacity rifle magazines, was ordered to leave Washington by a local judge as part of his release agreement. But prosecutors say that he issued orders before the attack on the Capitol for members of the group to be dressed 'incognito' when they arrived in Washington on Jan. 6. He also took part in a private Telegram group chat as several leaders and members of the Proud Boys stormed the Capitol." An NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Julianne McShane of the Washington Post: Ali "Fensome, a [Manchester, England,] software developer, built ... a bot, writing code that leads it to perform the function listed in its Twitter bio: 'Employers, if you tweet about International Women's Day, I'll retweet your gender pay gap,' it warns. By the end of the day on Tuesday, @PayGapApp had gone viral, with more than 120,000 followers. It had also sent out hundreds of tweets calling out companies with information about their hourly median gender pay gaps.... [In the U.K. in 2020,] women earned about 85 percent of what men did on average.... In the United States in 2020, women on average earned 83 percent of what men earned, according to the American Association of University Women. The disparities are starker along racial lines, with Black women being paid 64 percent of what White, non-Hispanic men did in 2020 and Latinas being paid 57 percent of what White men made that year, according to AAUW. Native American women typically earn only 60 percent of what White men earn, according to the National Women's Law Center, which also notes that the wage gap typically stands at 85 percent for Asian American and Pacific Islander women."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

David Fahrenthold of the New York Times: The F.B.I. has carried out a series of raids of supposed non-profit organizations around Minneapolis that claimed to be feeding thousands of children with federal pandemic relief funds administered by the state of Minnesota but was actually a "'massive fraud scheme' among groups that Feeding Our Future was supposed to oversee, saying they siphoned off tens of millions of dollars by charging taxpayers for nonexistent meals.... 'Almost none of this money was used to feed children,' the government wrote in one filing. 'Instead, conspirators misappropriated the money and used it to purchase real estate, cars and other items.'... In his State of the Union address last week, President Biden said that 'billions' in pandemic aid had been stolen, and that he would soon name a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud."

Congratulations, People! We All Own a Rare Pokémon Card. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: The federal government now owns, and will auction off, a Pokémon trading card a Georgia man bought with Small Business Administration funds intended for coronavirus relief. "The man, Vinath Oudomsine, 31, of Dublin, Ga., was sentenced to three years in federal prison on Friday.... Prosecutors said that he had claimed [to own a business that] had 10 employees and gross revenues of $235,000 during the 12 months before the coronavirus pandemic.... Prosecutors said there was no such business. The fraud scheme came amid a booming market for older cards and Pokémon Trading Card Game packs. Some veteran collectors said that has somewhat cooled off compared with earlier in the pandemic."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "Mask mandates have disappeared rapidly in the last few weeks in the United States as Omicron cases have receded. But some school districts, cities and one state are holding out, and some teachers, parents and students fear that dropping mask mandates in schools is premature. As of Monday, Hawaii remains the only U.S. state that is not lifting its statewide indoor mask mandate. About a third of the school districts in the United States still require masks, according to the school tracking site Burbio...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Covid-19 may cause greater loss of gray matter and tissue damage in the brain than naturally occurs in people who have not been infected with the virus, a large new study found. The study, published Monday in the journal Nature, is believed to be the first involving people who underwent brain scans both before they contracted Covid and months after. Neurological experts who were not involved in the research said it was valuable and unique, but they cautioned that the implications of the changes were unclear and did not necessarily suggest that people might have lasting damage or that the changes might profoundly affect thinking, memory or other functions." MB: And I'd like to add that this is no excuse for Donald Trump, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul & all the other Republicans who contracted Covid, often because they were careless. They were dopes three years ago, and they would be dopes today if they'd never had Covid. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Michigan. Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "A Republican candidate favored to win a seat in the Michigan House said he tells his daughters to 'just lie back and enjoy it' if raped, as he attempted to make an analogy about abandoning efforts to decertify the results of the 2020 election. Robert Regan, who is running to represent Michigan's District 74 in the state legislature, made the comments during a Facebook live stream Sunday."

Missouri. Caroline Kitchener of the Washington Post: "... a prominent antiabortion lawmaker in Missouri, from where thousands of residents have traveled to next-door Illinois to receive abortions since Missouri passed one of the country's strictest abortion laws in 2019, believes she has found a solution. An unusual new provision, introduced by state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R), would allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps a Missouri resident obtain an abortion out of state, using the novel legal strategy behind the restrictive law in Texas that since September has banned abortions in that state after six weeks of pregnancy. Coleman has attached the measure as an amendment to several abortion-related bills that have made it through committee and are waiting to be heard on the floor of the House of Representatives.... The measure would target anyone even tangentially involved in an abortion performed on a Missouri resident.... [The] amendment also would make it illegal to manufacture, transport, possess or distribute abortion pills in Missouri."

Pennsylvania. Possession of AR-15 Is 9/10ths of the Law. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Tuesday, The Daily Beast reported that a 72-year-old former lawyer from Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty to a plot to travel to D.C. and attack Senate Democrats. 'Kenelm Shirk III, 72, was arrested less than two weeks after the riot at the Capitol when his wife contacted authorities to say he had threatened her life during an argument over the 2020 presidential election,' reported A.J. MacDougall. 'Shirk had also told her he was planning to attack a number of unnamed federal lawmakers, according to police. State police stationed along an interstate subsequently spotted Shirk's car at a gas station and arrested him. In his car, officers found an AR-15 rifle, two handguns, and a box of ammunition.'" The Daily Beast story, which is firewalled, is here.

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Monday
Mar072022

March 8, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

** Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “A Texas man who helped lead a pro-Trump mob in an advance on the police at the Capitol last year was convicted on Tuesday of obstructing congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election, bringing an end to the first criminal trial to stem from the violent assault. The guilty verdict against the defendant, Guy Wesley Reffitt, came only about three hours into the first day of jury deliberations and after a weeklong trial that included testimony from police officers, a Secret Service agent, one of Mr. Reffitt’s compatriots in the Texas Three Percenters militia group and Mr. Reffitt’s son. The jury also convicted Mr. Reffitt of wearing an illegal pistol on his hip during the attack and of later threatening his teenage son and daughter to keep them from turning him in to the authorities. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the obstruction count alone.”

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "The United States will ban imports of oil and natural gas from Russia, President Biden announced Tuesday, a decision reached after days of behind-the-scenes talks that revolved around protecting the global economy from an energy shock. The move represents one of America’s most far-reaching actions to penalize Moscow since the beginning of its invasion into Ukraine. It would carry enormous geopolitical consequences, as the price of oil has already skyrocketed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, creating huge new costs for businesses and consumers.... Europe, which is far more dependent on Russian energy than the United States, announced Tuesday a plan to cut gas imports from Russia by two-thirds this year. If successful, this move would sharply reduce but does not completely sever energy ties to Moscow.... Russian oil accounts for about a quarter of the European Union’s oil imports, but just 3 percent of the United States’ imports." ~~~

~~~

Rowena Mason of the Guardian: “The UK will phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022 and is exploring options to ending gas imports, the energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed. The decision ... came as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky prepared to address the House of Commons. The day after Boris Johnson said western nations would need a 'step-by-step transition period' away from Russian hydrocarbons, Kwarteng warned businesses they should 'use this year to ensure a smooth transition so that consumers will not be affected'.”

Mark Thompson of CNN: "Shell (RDSA) said Tuesday it was breaking completely with Russia's giant energy industry, halting all purchases of Russian crude oil immediately and shutting its service stations in the country. The UK-based company, which last week announced it was dumping its investments in Russia, said its decision to abandon all trade in Russian fossils fuels was 'aligned with new government guidance.'... Shell will also immediately begin to shut down its service stations, aviation fuels and lubricants operations in Russia in 'the safest way' possible, and begin a phased withdrawal from Russian petroleum products, pipeline gas and liquified natural gas."

Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: “The New York Times said on Tuesday that it was temporarily removing its journalists from Russia in the wake of harsh new legislation that effectively outlaws independent reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 'Russia’s new legislation seeks to criminalize independent, accurate news reporting about the war against Ukraine. For the safety and security of our editorial staff working in the region, we are moving them out of the country for now,' a spokeswoman for The Times, Danielle Rhoades Ha, said in a statement.”

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, has been charged with conspiring with other top lieutenants of the far-right nationalist group to attack the Capitol last year, according to an indictment set to be released on Tuesday by federal prosecutors.... Mr. Tarrio was not in Washington on Jan. 6, having been arrested two days earlier for having vandalized a Black Lives Matter banner at a Black church in the city after a pro-Trump rally in December 2020. Mr. Tarrio, who was also charged at the time with carrying two high-capacity rifle magazines, was ordered to leave Washington by a local judge as part of his release agreement. But prosecutors say that he issued orders before the attack on the Capitol for members of the group to be dressed 'incognito' when they arrived in Washington on Jan. 6. He also took part in a private Telegram group chat as several leaders and members of the Proud Boys stormed the Capitol.” An NBC News story is here.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "Mask mandates have disappeared rapidly in the last few weeks in the United States as Omicron cases have receded. But some school districts, cities and one state are holding out, and some teachers, parents and students fear that dropping mask mandates in schools is premature. As of Monday, Hawaii remains the only U.S. state that is not lifting its statewide indoor mask mandate. About a third of the school districts in the United States still require masks, according to the school tracking site Burbio...."

Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Covid-19 may cause greater loss of gray matter and tissue damage in the brain than naturally occurs in people who have not been infected with the virus, a large new study found. The study, published Monday in the journal Nature, is believed to be the first involving people who underwent brain scans both before they contracted Covid and months after. Neurological experts who were not involved in the research said it was valuable and unique, but they cautioned that the implications of the changes were unclear and did not necessarily suggest that people might have lasting damage or that the changes might profoundly affect thinking, memory or other functions." MB: And I'd like to add that this is no excuse for Donald Trump, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul & all the other Republicans who contracted Covid, often because they were careless. They were dopes three years ago, and they would be dopes today if they'd never had Covid.

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's War, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia war on Ukraine are here: Hey, Ukrainians, Welcome to Russia! “Russia said Tuesday it was opening humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from several besieged Ukrainian cities after Ukraine accused Moscow of violating previous cease-fires and shelling people who were trying to flee to safety. Russia said the routes were from cities including Ukraine’s second largest, Kharkiv, and hard-hit Mariupol — and that evacuees from Kyiv would be flown to Russia after arriving in Gomel, Belarus. Ukraine has rejected the idea of evacuation corridors leading to Russia or its ally, Belarus, and said Tuesday that the only agreed routes were for regions in Ukraine.... Two million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion nearly two weeks ago, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Tuesday.... In a video interview that aired Monday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian soldiers of being 'war criminals.' A growing number of Western leaders are also raising questions about possible war crimes — which Moscow denies — citing reports of attacks on civilians.” ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's live updates are here.

Yuras Karmanau of the AP: "Evacuations of people fleeing embattled Ukrainian cities along safe corridors began Tuesday, while U.N. officials said the exodus of refugees from Russia’s invasion reached 2 million.... Previous attempts to lead civilians to safety have crumbled with renewed attacks. But on Tuesday, video posted by Ukrainian officials showed buses with people moving along a snowy road from the eastern city of Sumy and yellow buses with a red cross on them heading toward the southern port of Mariupol."

Michael Schwirtz, et al., of the New York Times: "Increasingly indiscriminate Russian shelling that has trapped and traumatized Ukrainian civilians magnified fears on Monday of an intensifying humanitarian crisis that has already left tens of thousands without food, water, power or heat in besieged cities of southern Ukraine and elsewhere.... The biggest conflict to engulf Europe since World War II has turned at least 1.7 million Ukrainians — half of them children — into refugees, according to the United Nations. Many are trapped in their own cities, pinned down by intense barrages from Russian forces."

From the Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine, also linked earlier yesterday: “A third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine ended without a breakthrough, Ukrainian officials said, as Russia continues to press Ukraine to give up Crimea and a large slice of eastern Ukraine as a condition for Russian to stop its attacks. The talks, which began as the war entered its 12th day, yielded some progress in logistical arrangements for local cease-fires and evacuation corridors, said Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak after several days of failed efforts to enable civilians to safely leave areas under Russian attack. 'So far, there weren’t results that significantly improve the situation,' said Podolyak.... Moscow is turning to Syria to help fuel its war effort as 'nearly 100 percent' of Russian troops pre-positioned around Ukraine have been sent into the country to fight, according to a senior U.S. defense official. 'We know that they’re trying to recruit Syrians for the fight,' the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity....” (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Yuras Karmanau of the AP: "The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine deepened Monday as Russian forces intensified their shelling and food, water, heat and medicine grew increasingly scarce, in what the country condemned as a medieval-style siege by Moscow to batter it into submission.... In one of the most desperate cities, the encircled southern port of Mariupol, an estimated 200,000 people were hoping to flee, and Red Cross officials waited to hear when a corridor would be established. The city is short on water, food and power, and cellphone networks are down. Stores have been looted as residents search for essential goods.... In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, heavy shelling slammed into apartment buildings....Russian forces also continued their offensive in Mykolaiv, opening fire on the city some 480 kilometers (300 miles) south of Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s military. Rescuers said they were putting out fires caused by rocket attacks in residential areas." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Martin Farrer of the Guardian & Agencies: “Moscow has stoked fears of an energy war by threatening to close a major gas pipeline to Germany after the US pushed its European allies to consider banning Russian oil imports over its invasion of Ukraine. In an address on Russian state television, Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said: 'A rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market', and claimed the price of oil could rise to more than US$300 a barrel. Novak cited Germany’s decision last month to halt the certification of Nord Stream 2, a secondary pipeline, saying: 'We have every right to take a matching decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline'.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This could be an idle threat if Russia is as dependent upon oil sales abroad as reports indicate; the late Sen. John McCain and others have called Russia "a gas station with nukes," or some variation thereof.

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "... nearly two weeks into President Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine..., the image of a Russian military as one that other countries should fear, let alone emulate, has been shattered. Ukraine’s military, which is dwarfed by the Russian force in most ways, has somehow managed to stymie its opponent. Ukrainian soldiers have killed more than 3,000 Russian troops, according to conservative estimates by American officials. Ukraine has shot down military transport planes carrying Russian paratroopers, downed helicopters and blown holes in Russia’s convoys using American anti-tank missiles and armed drones supplied by Turkey, these officials said, citing confidential U.S. intelligence assessments. The Russian soldiers have been plagued by poor morale as well as fuel and food shortages. Some troops have crossed the border with MREs (meals ready to eat) that expired in 2002, U.S. and other Western officials said, and others have surrendered and sabotaged their own vehicles to avoid fighting.... The result: Militaries in Europe that once feared Russia say they are not as intimidated by Russian ground forces as they were in the past." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm of the impression that Russia didn't send in its elite forces, assuming it has elite forces. Rather, the Russian soldiers I see on teevee are either policemen or young recruits, many of whom thought they were going to Belarus for training exercises. Russia's military establishment must have calculated that a ragtag Ukrainian army would lay down its rusty weapons as they fired the first shot into Ukraine. ~~~

~~~ AND/OR. Polina Beliakova in Politico: "... , there is another factor that might have contributed to Russia’s incorrect pre-war assessments and poor performance on the ground — systemic corruption in the country’s defense and security sectors. On the operational level, the corruption in defense procurement has also likely undermined logistics, manifesting in soldiers receiving inadequate equipment and supplies on the ground. Poor logistics slows down the advancement of troops, undermines their morale and hinders military effectiveness."

Annie Linskey, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Biden White House inched closer Monday to a modest rapprochement with oil-rich Venezuela, a bitter foe due to the oppressive policies of President Nicolás Maduro, as it urgently sought ways to stave off the economic, diplomatic and political impact of soaring gas prices that nudged over $4 a gallon. The potential thaw arrives as the White House sent a delegation to Venezuela over the weekend to discuss energy sanctions imposed by the United States several years ago and to address the fate of American citizens who have been jailed in the country, including six oil executives from Citgo.... The potential for warming relations between the Biden administration and Maduro’s regime, which is being investigated by an international criminal court for crimes against humanity, illustrates how global relations and values are being scrambled during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Biden faced some strong pushback from allies on Capitol Hill."

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Senior congressional Democrats and Republicans on Monday announced they had reached a deal on a bill that would punish Russia for invading Ukraine, as they seek to ban U.S. imports of Russian oil while further empowering President Biden to impose tariffs on the country’s products. The announcement evinced the vast new flurry of legislative activity on Capitol Hill, even as lawmakers began to warn that the U.S. strategy threatened to further raise the cost of gas and other goods. Unveiled by the top lawmakers overseeing tax and trade on Capitol Hill, the new, bipartisan agreement would limit Russian energy imports, suspend normal trade relations between the U.S. and the Kremlin and task the Biden administration to seek Russia’s suspension from the World Trade Organization. The trade penalties would also apply to Belarus.... The proposed package of punishments is only one prong of a broader congressional response to the rapidly worsening crisis in Ukraine." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: “In less than a week, the United States and NATO have pushed more than 17,000 antitank weapons, including Javelin missiles, over the borders of Poland and Romania, unloading them from giant military cargo planes so they can make the trip by land to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and other major cities. So far, Russian forces have been so preoccupied in other parts of the country that they have not targeted the arms supply lines, but few think that can last.” U.S. “cybermission teams” also are conducting defensive & offensive cyber-warfare on Ukraine's behalf. “It is, in many ways, a more complex effort than the Berlin airlift three-quarters of a century ago.... U.S. officials say Ukrainian leaders have told them that American and other allied weaponry is making a difference on the battlefield.” (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Big Mak. Jacob Bogage & Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "... consumers can still get a Big Mac in Moscow. Or a Starbucks coffee. Or KFC’s chicken and Papa John’s pizza. As Western corporate titans flee their Russian connections — citing moral and economic imperatives — others, especially in food service and natural-resource-based industries, say they are stuck. McDonald’s, Starbucks, Papa John’s and Yum Brands — the conglomerate behind KFC and Pizza Hut — have all stayed mum on their plans for business in Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, as they come under growing pressure on social media and from large investors to quit Russia.... McDonald’s owns the vast majority of its more than 900 locations in Russia and Ukraine, though it sold off 15 percent of them to franchisees after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. But other food brands don’t have as much control over their Russian operations. Most Starbucks, Papa John’s, KFC and Pizza Hut locations in Russia are owned by franchisees.... "


Dino Grandoni of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Monday proposed curbing pollution pouring out of the tailpipes of new tractor-trailers, buses and other heavy-duty vehicles that forms smog, along with emissions warming the planet. The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule to cut the emission of nitrogen oxides — poisonous and reactive gases that can cause asthma attacks — from engines in some of the biggest vehicles on roadways. In the same proposal, the agency will also consider further limiting the amount of carbon dioxide these vehicles spew into the air. The proposed smog rule marks the first update to heavy-duty tailpipe standards in two decades and comes as Biden is seeking ways to advance his environmental agenda outside Congress. The standards would apply to not only huge 18-wheelers hauling freight on highways, but also many school buses, delivery vans and moving trucks." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Carol Rosenberg of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Monday repatriated to Saudi Arabia for mental health care a prisoner who had been tortured so badly by U.S. interrogators that he was ruled ineligible for trial as the suspected would-be 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks. The prisoner, Mohammed al-Qahtani, in his 40s, is the second to be transferred from the wartime prison under the administration. A government panel recommended recently that Mr. Qahtani, who had spent 20 years at Guantánamo Bay, be released after a Navy doctor advised that he was too impaired to pose a future threat — particularly if he was sent to inpatient mental care. The doctor last year upheld an independent psychiatrist’s finding that Mr. Qahtani suffered from schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder, and could not receive adequate care at the U.S. military prison."

Ali Zaslav of CNN: "The Senate passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act of 2022 on Monday night by unanimous consent. The bill, which would make lynching a federal hate crime, now heads to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature. The legislation was approved by the House of Representatives last week by a vote of 422-3. Passage of the bill is a long-sought goal of advocates, who have been working for years to secure its approval in Congress. 'After more than 200 failed attempts to outlaw lynching, Congress is finally succeeding in taking the long overdue action by passing the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. Hallelujah. It's long overdue,' said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in remarks on the Senate floor after the bill's passage. That it took so long to pass is a 'bitter stain' on America, the New York Democrat added." MB: Yes, but isn't it gratifying to know that Senate Republicans aren't racists, after all? I mean, they're willing to allow an anti-lynching bill to pass.

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Federal prosecutors rested their case Monday against the first Capitol attack defendant to go to trial, telling jurors in closing arguments that Guy Reffitt of Texas was 'ecstatic about what he did' when he tried to storm the U.S. Capitol while armed on Jan. 6, 2021. Reffitt was the first Capitol attack defendant to take his case to trial out of hundreds who have been charged. Prosecutors, quoting Reffitt, argued that he 'lit the match' at the Capitol during the attack and relied upon testimony from Reffitt's son (who tipped off the FBI about his father before the attack) and Reffitt's friend (who took a weapon to the Capitol and testified with immunity)."

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: “A federal judge has thrown out an obstruction charge against a defendant charged with breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a ruling that could reverberate across hundreds of cases stemming from the attack on Congress. In a 29-page opinion issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols ruled that ambiguities in the federal obstruction law required him to narrow the case against defendant Garret Miller, who is facing multiple felony charges connected to the attack. Under that narrow interpretation, Nichols ruled, defendants can be charged with obstruction only if they directly attempt to affect 'a document, record, or other object' in order to hamper the ability of Congress to count Electoral College votes.... The ruling from Nichols, an appointee of ... Donald Trump, is at odds with a series of decisions from other judges in Washington who have considered similar issues in cases stemming from the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol....”

Josh Gerstein of Politico: “A judge warned the Justice Department on Monday that it might be seeking to pursue so many cases stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot that some defendants’ rights were being trampled. U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui delivered the stern rebuke to federal prosecutors at a hearing for a Texas man who the judge said was 'lost' in the court system after being arrested in December [2021] and accused of assaulting police officers during the storming of the Capitol.”

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday allowed congressional maps that had been approved by state courts in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to stand, giving Democrats an advantage in this year’s election in two key states. In issuing the orders, the Supreme Court rejected requests by Republicans to restore maps approved by G.O.P.-controlled state legislatures. Those district lines were thrown out and replaced by courts in both states after challenges by Democrats.... But in the North Carolina case, there were signs that at least four of the court’s more conservative justices could later rule that state courts are powerless to change congressional maps adopted by state legislatures.... The court’s three most conservative members — Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr., Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch — said they would have blocked the North Carolina map because it was likely that the State Supreme Court had violated the Constitution in overriding the State Legislature.... Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh filed a short concurring opinion agreeing that the question posed by the case was a substantial one. But he said the court should address it in the ordinary course rather than in response to an emergency application." The AP story is here.

Graham Bowley of the New York Times: "The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the bid by prosecutors in Pennsylvania to reinstate Bill Cosby’s criminal conviction for sexual assault. In an order issued Monday, the court said that it had declined to hear the case filed by prosecutors last November.... The Supreme Court’s decision leaves in place a ruling by an appellate court in Pennsylvania earlier last year that overturned Mr. Cosby’s conviction on due process grounds. In June, Mr. Cosby walked free after serving less than three years of a three-to-10-year prison sentence." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post has yet another story on former chief-of-staff & fake trailer-trash Mark Meadows' personal voter fraud: “Meadows, who served as a congressman for North Carolina’s 11th District from 2013 to 2020, sold his official residence in Sapphire, N.C., shortly before becoming ... Donald Trump’s chief of staff in March 2020. After the election, Meadows pushed Trump’s false claims that widespread voter fraud cost him the election.... Meadows did not purchase a new home in North Carolina..., nor did he register as a voter for the general election until Sept. 19, 2020, when he filed his registration using the address of the mobile home, the New Yorker said. In his form, he wrote that he would move into the mobile home the next day. But Meadows 'did not come. He’s never spent a night in there,' the former owner told the New Yorker. It is illegal to provide false information on a voter registration.... To register to vote in North Carolina, a citizen must have lived in the county where they are registering and have resided there for at least 30 days before the date of the election, according to the state’s board of elections. Steven Greene, a professor of political science at North Carolina State University, said that after reading the New Yorker’s reporting, he found it 'honestly hard to see how this is not a clear violation of federal law.'” (See also Mediaite summary of the New Yorker story linked early yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ AND Meadows' Wife Is a Scofflaw, Too. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: “Meanwhile, Debra Meadows appears to have voted twice under suspicious circumstances — first in the runoff primary from the address of a home that had been sold three months earlier, and then by signing a form under 'penalty of perjury' that her primary residence was a trailer home in the mountains when she did not live there.” MB: Maybe Club Fed can set up a special marital cell for the Meadows. What with his being such a VIP and all. ~~~

~~~ OR, Execute Them! Meagan Flynn of the Washington Post: "Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) has endorsed Jarome Bell, a far-right candidate who has flaunted support for ... Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election, in his bid for the Republican nomination in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.... On Twitter last September, he called for the execution of people convicted of voter fraud...."

Donald Trump writes a letter to NBC News' Lester Holt. Via Axios. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

      ~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Few Americans are as invested in the importance of television and television news as [Donald] Trump, and the advent of NBC News interviewing [Bill] Barr about a new book in which he offers constrained criticisms of Trump prompted the former president to extend his typical galaxy of complaints into full paragraphs.... It’s a document offered in response to questions from the network that’s transparent in its dishonesty but also one that collects a number of Trump’s favorite false claims in one place.... Here are claims made by Trump ... — and the reality." ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Stump of NBC's “Today”: “Former Attorney General Bill Barr has been called 'lazy' and 'cowardly' by ... Donald Trump, while Barr has described Trump as 'off the rails' and called his push to discredit the 2020 election 'a farce.' Yet despite the ugly back and forth between the two, Barr said on TODAY Monday that he would still vote for Trump in the 2024 presidential election if Trump becomes the Republican nominee. 'Because I believe that the greatest threat to the country is the progressive agenda being pushed by the Democratic Party, it's inconceivable to me that I wouldn't vote for the Republican nominee,' Barr told Savannah Guthrie.” MB Translation: "Child care tax credits are far more dangerous than a lunatic with his finger on the nuclear button & an itch to push it to see what happens." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) 

A Convoy of Loons, Ctd. Ellie Silverman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Hundreds of trucks, cars and SUVs protesting the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic circled the Capital Beltway on Monday for a second day as the group announced it secured a meeting in Washington with two senators.... Authorities said traffic disruptions Monday were minimal and there were no reports of convoy-related incidents during the group’s single loop of the 64-mile Beltway.... Members of the convoy will meet Tuesday with Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), although it wasn’t clear whether that would alter the convoy’s plans for the rest of the week." MB: IOW, the usual suspects.

If Russian Nukes Don't Get You, Then Huge Flying Spiders Might. Ben Turner of Scientific American: "New research, published Feb. 17 in the journal Physiological Entomology, suggests that the palm-sized Joro spider, which swarmed North Georgia by the millions last September, has a special resilience to the cold. This has led scientists to suggest that the 3-inch (7.6 centimeters) bright-yellow-striped spiders — whose hatchlings disperse by fashioning web parachutes to fly as far as 100 miles (161 kilometers) — could soon dominate the Eastern Seaboard.... Since the spider hitchhiked its way to the northeast of Atlanta, Georgia, inside a shipping container in 2014, its numbers and range have expanded steadily across Georgia, culminating in an astonishing population boom last year that saw millions of the arachnids drape porches, power lines, mailboxes and vegetable patches across more than 25 state counties with webs as thick as 10 feet (3 meters) deep, Live Science previously reported."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

David Rising of the AP: "The official global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 6 million on Monday — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over. The milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is the latest tragic reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Florida. Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: “Florida’s governor and chief health official announced a new state policy Monday that will recommend against giving coronavirus vaccine to healthy children, regardless of their age — a policy that would fly in the face of recommendations by every medical group in the nation. The announcement came at the conclusion of a 90-minute forum that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) hosted in West Palm Beach. 'The Curtain Close on COVID Theater' was live-streamed from a studio with hundreds of participants appearing on a towering screen behind the panelists. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo prefaced the change by deriding the school closures and mask and vaccine mandates issued by many states since the start of the pandemic as 'terrible, harmful policies.'... National data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that nearly 1,600 youths ages 0 to 17 have died of covid-19. More than 40 of those deaths were in Florida.” A Tampa Bay Times story is here. MB: Once again, we see Republicans affirming that the right to life ends at birth. ~~~

     ~~~ Steve M. "Florida governor Ron DeSantis spends literally every waking hour of his life trying to own the libs, boasting about how he owned the libs, or thinking of new ways he can own the libs in the future. Captain Ahab, if he knew Ron DeSantis, would probably say, 'Dude, even I think you have a bit of a problem with monomania.'... As The Washington Post's Philip Bump writes today, Dr. Ladapo 'announced not that the state was declining to recommend vaccination but ... that children shouldn’t be vaccinated.'" Steve points out how Ladapo introduces the New York Times into his argument, even tho the Times had nothing to do with a Trump policy Ladapo disparaged. Why? Because "Among media objects of right-wing hate, only CNN is a rival to The New York Times."

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