Thur - Putin Rolls the DIce. Governments Play Yacht-See

US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 554 Million Shots  (Population 333 Million)




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California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday March 1)

There is some rain in the Nor Cal forecast for the next two weeks, but no major storms.

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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees

Saudi Justice Sounds Like Our Southern Justice for Minorities

Abdullah al-Howaiti was convicted despite having an alibi and testifying that he was tortured into confessing

A Saudi man has been sentenced to death for a second time after being convicted at a retrial of a crime he allegedly committed as a child, his family says.

Abdullah al-Howaiti was 14 years old when he was arrested in 2017 on charges of murder and armed robbery.

Abdullah al-Howaiti was first sentenced to death in 2019, after he was convicted by the Criminal Court in Tabuk province of shooting dead a policeman while robbing a jewellery shop in the town of Duba.

Five other defendants were handed 15-year prison terms for allegedly aiding and abetting the crimes.

All six had pleaded not guilty, telling the judge that interrogators coerced their "confessions" through torture or the threat of it, human rights activists said. The judge also ignored CCTV footage showing that Howaiti was not near the jewellers at the time of the crime.

A Demented Attack is Punished

A former Colorado police officer shown on body camera video roughly arresting a 73-year-old woman with dementia and later seen joking about it with colleagues pleaded guilty to assault Wednesday in a plea deal opposed by the woman’s family.

Austin Hopp faces up to eight years in prison when he’s sentenced in May for second-degree assault, although the judge also has the discretion to sentence him to probation or a halfway house. He had faced a mandatory prison sentence of between 10 and 32 years under an original, more serious assault count he was charged with.

Oh Alabama, the Devil Fools With the Best Laid Plan 

Alabama lawmakers on Wednesday advanced legislation that would make it a crime for doctors to give transgender minors puberty-blockers, hormones or surgeries to help affirm their gender identity.



DeathSentence Takes Educating Youth Into His Own Evil Hands



I'll Take Tennessee's Fifth District for $200, Alex or Levar or Anderson or Mayim.

Morgan Ortagus, a former State Department spokesperson under Mike Pompeo, wants to be a congresswoman in Tennessee’s 5th District. The problem is, she knows less than nothing about the district she’s running in.

When Ortagus showed up to Nashville’s talk radio show on 1510 WLAC for an interview Monday, host Michael Patrick Leahy asked if she’d be up for a game of “Taking the Fifth.”

Leahy began with a simple question, asking Ortagus to name the three highways that ran through the district. “I’m a terrible driver,” she said laughing. “I don’t know that. I don’t drive anywhere that I go.”

Then Leahy asked her to name the multi-Grammy Award-winning country music singer who owns a popular winery in the district. She attempted to dodge the question saying, “I have been to that winery. It’s great—I love that winery. I bought some wine.” Leahy pushed on asking her to name the singer who owns the winery. She admitted to having no idea, but added that she’d gone there and had “a picnic outside,” and it “was beautiful.”

The answer is Kix Brooks, a country music artist, actor, and film producer best known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn and host of radio's American Country Countdown.

Leahy then asked her who Brig. Gen. Robert Reese Neyland was, to which she plead the fifth.

Neyland was a legendary football player and coach in the U.S. Army and served three stints as the head football coach at the University of Tennessee. There’s even a stadium in Tennessee named after him.

When she was asked to name the four previous Republican governors who are still living in Tennessee, she said:

“Well, let’s see. All four of them. No. I know Lee and Haslam. I met with Haslam right after I moved here. What a nice guy. And then, of course, I’ve met Governor Lee,” Ortagus said.  The correct answer is Don Sundquist, Lamar Alexander, and Winifield Dunn.

”One of the most famous NASCAR drivers living today lives in the 5th District and has a large auto dealership in Franklin. Who is that,” Leahy asked. To which she answered: “My husband is the car guy. He used to race. He knows all of the racing stuff.”  The answer is Darrell Waltrip.

In one final hope, Leahy asked her again about the political history of her state.

“Who was the only Tennessee governor who ever served time in prison for crimes committed while in office?” he asked, giving her the hint that the man was a Democrat, a well-known Confederate general, one whose name and history have been a source of enormous controversy in Tennessee the last few years and who was born and raised in the community of Chapel Hill, in the 5th district.  But, alas, Ortagus did not know.

The answer is Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was not just any Confederate general, but the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth as a cotton plantation owner, horse and cattle trader, real estate broker, and slave trader.

Leahy asked her to name the county Chapel Hill is in. Again, she did not know.  “Marshall County. It’s in your district,” Leahy said.

TucKKKer Doesn't Want to See Previous Guy's Tax Returns, But ...



And Mexico Did Not Pay For It

Former President Donald Trump promised his supporters an “impenetrable” border wall between the United States and Mexico. Instead, the $15 billion wall was reportedly breached thousands of times in areas where it was completed, and the smugglers who cut through it were able to do so with cheap power tools available in retail stores.

Unpublished data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection obtained via the Freedom of Information Act showed that Mexican smugglers cut through the wall 3,272 times over three years, according to The Washington Post. In some cases, they replaced the areas they cut with tinted putty, essentially creating secret passages.

“You have to look really closely to see it,” one source told the newspaper.

The incidents cited by the Post referred to cases where the wall had been cut. But it was also breached in other ways. One report last year found some smugglers were building effective ladders with about $5 worth of material. In another famous case from 2020, a stiff wind knocked over a segment.

I Nominate the Folks at the Daily Show Who Put Her Through This.



She Was Supposed to Investigate Herself

A Texas judge issued a temporary ruling Wednesday cracking down on Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s new policy classifying gender-affirming care for transgender kids as child abuse.

The decision follows a lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal filed Tuesday on behalf of a transgender teen and her family who are among the first to face scrutiny under Abbott’s new directive. The teen’s mother, who works for the agency in charge of enforcing the new policy, was put on leave from her job and visited by investigators because she’s sought out hormonal treatments and puberty-blocking medication for her daughter.

VoteVets Reminds Us About Previous Guy



American Terrorists

A Nevada man filmed himself accosting Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) while he was in a restaurant with his family over the weekend, with video of the expletive-filled incident showing the unhinged man threatening to hang the governor for being a “new world order traitor.”

Video posted to social media shows the man first approaching Sisolak for a selfie in a Las Vegas restaurant Sunday before launching into a vitriolic terror. Sisolak turns to leave the restaurant with his wife, but is followed outside by the man, who only stops once Sisolak’s daughter catches up with them in the parking lot.

“I’m surprised you have the balls to be out here in public, punk. Out here without a cop, out here without security,” the man hollered while filming in Sisolak’s face. When Sisolak’s wife, Kathy Sisolak, catches up to him, the man appears to target her Asian heritage, the video shows.

“You working for China piece of shit,” the man calls to the couple as they walk ahead of him. “You fucking traitor. We should string you up by lamp posts now pussy boy.”

A second man who followed the family outside of the restaurant echoed the calls for violence, saying: “You know what they do to traitors. They hang traitors.”

Right-wing blogger Justin Andersch took responsibility for the foul-mouthed screed while reading from a statement outside of his attorney’s office on Tuesday.

Somehow, I Don't Think He is Feeling Much Pain

Alexei Mordashov, Russia's richest man and largest shareholder of Severstal, one of Russia‘s biggest steelmakers, has been blacklisted by the Europe Union as of Monday.

Mordashov is also chair of Severgroup, which the EU said controls television stations that promote Moscow’s policies of destabilizing Ukraine. The EU also said Rossiya Bank, in which Mordashov is a shareholder, is the “personal bank” of senior Russian officials who have profited from the occupation of Crimea.

On Monday, the EU announced sanctions against presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov and 24 other Russians, including politicians, businessmen, top managers and journalists close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mordashov became Severstal’s chief executive officer in 1996 at age 31 and has a net worth of about $21.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Is This the Highway to Hell?

A miles-long convoy of Russian military supply trucks and attack vehicles that has come within 20 miles of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, “has made little discernible progress in over three days,” according to an intelligence assessment released by Britain’s defense ministry on Thursday.

The convoy, seen in a number of satellite images taken this week, had raised alarm among military strategy experts who saw it as an indication that Russian forces were preparing for a potentially new phase of unrestricted warfare. But so far the convoy has appeared to stall in place.

Analysts believe that it includes food supply trucks for soldiers, fuel for vehicles and heavy artillery.

The bulk of the convoy remains about 18 miles from Kyiv, “having been delayed by staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion,” according to the British assessment.

This Is All Too Common

A 28-year-old homeless man has been charged with hate crimes after a string of unprovoked attacks on women of Asian descent in New York City, police said.

Steven Zajonc was arrested Wednesday in connection with assaults on seven women in different Manhattan neighborhoods over a two-hour period on Sunday.

The victims were all women of Asian descent ranging in age from 19 to 57, police said. Most were punched in the face; one was shoved to the ground. Two were treated at hospitals.

Zajonc was arrested on seven counts each of assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment.
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees

I Love Yelena




The Definitely Need Another Hero ... And Another ...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said that 16,000 foreigners have volunteered to fight for Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
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Invasions Have Consequences (At Least This One Does)

Authorities Play Yacht-See.  Then They Play Yacht-Take.

Authorities have seized super yachts owned by oligarchs as part of the sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

A yacht owned by Igor Sechin, boss of Russian state energy company Rosneft, was grabbed by French customs officers near Marseille.

German authorities seized a $600m vessel owned by Russian metal tycoon Alisher Usmanov according to reports.

Putin Protected His Own Yacht

As Europe and the U.S. bear down with a raft of aggressive sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, the super yacht he is believed to own has found safe harbor in a highly militarized port in Russian territorial waters. In new satellite imagery obtained by CBS News, the yacht can be seen docked in a port in Kaliningrad, near Russia's nuclear weapons operations.

Experts say Putin's luxury vessel has become a symbol not only of his vast hidden wealth, but also of how challenging that money has been to find.

"He's a KGB agent, so he's crafty. He knows how to hide when he needs to," said John Smith, former director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers and enforces all foreign sanctions.

Data from MarineTraffic, a global intelligence group, shows Putin's alleged yacht, the Graceful, left Germany two weeks before the invasion of Ukraine.

Aeroflop is Pierced by a Sabre

Sabre Corp. on Thursday said it terminated a global distribution agreement with Russia’s Aeroflot, crippling the country’s largest airline’s ability to sell seats.

The Texas-based airline software giant provides airline ticket distribution and reservation services for airlines around the world. Sabre’s decision to end the distribution agreement means Aeroflot’s flights won’t show up on online travel agencies or other third party sites. Aeroflot didn’t immediately comment.

Who Could Be Putin Him Out?

Russian affairs expert Fiona Hill said there is one group of people in particular that Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably has to worry about” more than anyone else if his invasion of Ukraine doesn’t go as planned.

It’s not Russia’s obscenely rich oligarchs, who face economic sanctions and seizures of their assets worldwide, the former top analyst on the National Security Council told Stephen Colbert on Wednesday’s broadcast of “The Late Show.”

Instead, it’s the “very small circle” — such as Russia’s heads of intelligence, military and security services — who cooked up the invasion plan with Putin, said Hill.

“These are not the kind of guys who have yachts off Monaco, palaces in Paris or anything like this,” Hill explained. “These are people who are very much rooted in Russia itself and I don’t think they’re too worried about all of these sanctions and everything that’s cut off, because they’re not invested in the West. They’ve really got that bunker siege mentality — fortress Russia.”

If Only It Were That Easy to Get Rid of the Real Putin

A waxwork of Vladimir Putin was unceremoniously removed from the Grévin Museum in Paris following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A statue of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may take its place alongside U.S. President Joe Biden, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and China’s Xi Jinping in the display of world leaders, museum officials told Agence France-Presse.

“Current events mean we don’t want him here and the staff don’t want to walk past him every day,” museum director Yves Delhommeau said.
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How Could the War End?  

Short war

Under this scenario, Russia escalates its military operations. There are more indiscriminate artillery and rocket strikes across Ukraine. The Russian air force - which has played a low-key role so far - launches devastating airstrikes. Massive cyber-attacks sweep across Ukraine, targeting key national infrastructure. Energy supplies and communications networks are cut off. Thousands of civilians die. Despite brave resistance, Kyiv falls within days. The government is replaced with a pro-Moscow puppet regime. President Zelensky is either assassinated or flees, to western Ukraine or even overseas, to set up a government in exile. President Putin declares victory and withdraws some forces, leaving enough behind to maintain some control. Thousands of refugees continue to flee west. Ukraine joins Belarus as a client state of Moscow.

Long war

Perhaps more likely is that this develops into a protracted war. Maybe Russian forces get bogged down, hampered by low morale, poor logistics and inept leadership. Maybe it takes longer for Russian forces to secure cities like Kyiv whose defenders fight from street to street. A long siege ensues. The fighting has echoes of Russia's long and brutal struggle in the 1990s to seize and largely destroy Grozny, the capital of Chechnya.

European war

Might it be possible this war could spill outside Ukraine's borders? President Putin could seek to regain more parts of Russia's former empire by sending troops into ex-Soviet republics like Moldova and Georgia, that are not part of Nato. Or there could just be miscalculation and escalation. Mr Putin could declare Western arms supplies to Ukrainian forces are an act of aggression that warrant retaliation. He could threaten to send troops into the Baltic states - which are members of Nato - such as Lithuania, to establish a land corridor with the Russian coastal exclave of Kaliningrad.

Diplomatic solution

Might there, despite everything, still be a possible diplomatic solution?

"The guns are talking now, but the path of dialogue must always remain open," said UN Secretary General António Guterres. Certainly dialogue continues. President Macron of France has spoken to President Putin on the phone. Diplomats say feelers are being stretched out to Moscow. And, surprisingly, Russian and Ukrainian officials have met for talks on the border with Belarus. They might not have made much progress. But, by agreeing to the talks, Putin seems to at least have accepted the possibility of a negotiated ceasefire.

Putin ousted

And what of Vladimir Putin himself? When he launched his invasion, he declared: "We are ready for any outcome."

But what if that outcome was him losing power? It might seem unthinkable. Yet the world has changed in recent days and such things are now thought about. Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at Kings College, London, wrote this week: "It is now as likely that there will be regime change in Moscow as in Kyiv."

I Like #5, But I Think #2 is the Most Likely
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I Think the Sub Was Making a Reasonable Point, but Said it Poorly, and It Doesn't Belong in a Spanish Class..

A Virginia substitute teacher has been suspended after expressing approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine and urging students to read Russian propaganda outlets.

Arlington Public Schools suspended John Stanton, 65, who made the comments during a middle school Spanish class Friday, The Washington Post reported.

Stanton said he offered an opposing viewpoint and told students to read as many news sources as possible, including Sputnik News, which the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency have declared a “state-run propaganda machine.”

“The statement I think that got me was I said, ‘I personally support the logic of Putin,’ and what I meant by that is, he made a rational decision from his perception,” Stanton said.

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Follow the Spiders.  Why Can't It Be Follow the Butterflies

Some Sydney funnel-web spiders are scrambling into the Australian brush carrying special cargo: a telemetry tracker to study how far a mature male can travel at night and whether their movements are affected by the environment and weather.

Caitlin Creak, a PhD candidate at the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of New South Wales, has been tracking the male Sydney funnel-web, one of the world’s deadliest spiders, for two summers. The nocturnal arachnid lives within around 100km (62 miles) of Australia’s largest city, and is mostly active between November and April.



Having grown up in Australia’s bushland, the 27-year-old is no stranger to spiders, but her love for them grew after she learned about them during her biology degree, and interacted with the creatures she thinks are wonderful.

Most studies on the Sydney funnel-web spider are about its venom and taxonomy, but Creak’s study focuses on its behaviour and ecology.


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Previous Guy Is a Criminal.  Who Knew?  (Just About Everyone)

The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol said Wednesday for the first time that its evidence suggests crimes may have been committed by former President Donald Trump and his associates in the failed effort to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump and his associates engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College, the House committee said in a court filing. Trump and those working with him spread false information about the outcome of the presidential election and pressured state officials to overturn the results, potentially violating multiple federal laws, the panel said.

“The Select Committee also has a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States,” the committee wrote in a filing submitted in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.

The 221-page filing marks the committee’s most formal effort to link the former president to a federal crime, though the actual import of the filing is not clear. Lawmakers do not have the power to bring criminal charges on their own and can only make a referral to the Justice Department. The department has been investigating last year’s riot, but it has not given any indication that it is considering seeking charges against Trump.
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Lost Amid the Ukraine News

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week reflecting a low number of layoffs across the economy.

Jobless claims fell by 18,000 to 215,000 for the week ending February 26, from 233,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell by 6,000 to 230,500.
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