Post by mhbruin on Mar 7, 2022 11:11:54 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 555 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
First time we have been below 50,000 cases since July 22nd.
↓ 54.1% Cases, two-week change
↓ 33.6% Deaths, two-week change
962,879 Total confirmed deaths
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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
It Doesn't Stand for "Zorro"
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak is facing disciplinary proceedings by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) for displaying the letter "Z" on the podium next to a Ukrainian rival in Qatar. But what does the symbol mean?
Initially, it was thought that the "Z" was in fact a number "2" - representing the 22 February (22/02/2022). That was the day Russia ratified an agreement on "friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance" with the self-proclaimed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine - Donetsk and Luhansk.
But it is now believed the symbol is simply a way for Russia's military to identify its own forces.
Last week, viewers to a news programme on Russia's state-controlled Channel One were told that a "Z" was a common marking on Russian military equipment. The Orthodox Christian pro-Putin website Tsargrad told readers the simple marking could "avoid friendly fire" and couldn't be "mixed up with anything else".
Shell has defended its decision to purchase Russian crude oil despite the invasion and bombardment of Ukraine.
The oil giant said in a statement that the decision to purchase the fuel at a discounted price was "difficult".
It confirmed that it had bought a cargo of Russian crude oil on Friday but it had "no alternative".
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hit out at the energy company, asking on Twitter: "Doesn't Russian oil smell Ukrainian blood for you?"
Commenting on its move, Shell said it was forced to buy oil from Russia in order to maintain timely supplies of fuel to Europe.
From the GOP to the QOP
Just compare the GOP primary TV ads of 2010, versus what we’re seeing now, especially in the biggest battleground states.
Here was Pat Toomey’s primary ad in Pennsylvania in 2010: “Trillion-dollar bailouts and deficits. Government-run health care. Record unemployment. Had enough?”
Now here’s a 2022 primary ad from David McCormick, one of the Pennsylvania Republicans vying to succeed Toomey in the Senate: “I'm anti-woke, anti-illegal immigration, anti-political correctness, anti-socialism and anti-Joe Biden and the radical left.”
Similarly, this primary ad from the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was one of the most controversial commercials of the 2010 cycle: “Complete the danged fence,” McCain says on a tour of the southern border.
Now check out this ad from Jim Lamon, one of the Arizona Republicans running for Senate in 2022: “If you are pissed off about the direction of our country, let's go. If you're ready to secure the border and stop the invasion, let's go... The time is now. Let's go, Brandon."
Finally, compare this 2010 TV ad from Ron Johnson in Wisconsin: "This 234-year-old experiment that we call America, it is something incredibly precious, and it is being squandered through unsustainable debt, unsustainable spending -- and my concern is we have reached that tipping point. And if we don't pull back from that tipping point we are going to lose the idea and the promise of America.”
Versus this 2022 ad from Johnson: “From open borders, increasing crime and rising inflation, Democrat policies are weakening America. When I ran in 2016, I intended to serve a second term and go home. But today our nation is on a very dangerous path.”
Spot a trend? GOP primary ads now lean heavily on culture-war battles and ramped-up rhetoric, rather than on fiscal policy. Yes, the GOP has changed in the past decade – at least when you watch their TV ads.
Voter Fraud! Voter Fraud! It's Here!
On Sep. 19, about three weeks before North Carolina’s voter-registration deadline for the general election, failed President Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, claimed to be living in a 14-by-62-foot mobile home in Scaly Mountain, North Carolina. The trouble is, it doesn’t appear to be true. And that my friends, is voter fraud—a federal crime—something Meadows has been ranting and raving about since Trump lost the election bigly in 2020.
According to The New Yorker’s Charles Bethea, Meadows does not own the Scaly Mountain property, which sits in the southern Appalachian mountains, but his wife, Debbie, did rent the house out for a couple of months. As for Mark Meadows, the (unnamed) owner of the house told The New Yorker, “He did not come. He’s never spent a night in there.” Although, the Meadows family did stay the home in the fall of 2020 when they were in the area for a Trump rally as nearby hotels were mostly booked.
Ukraine? The US Government? The QOP Says "What? Me Worry?"
Rick Scott is spearheading a group of Senate deplorables in threatening both government funding and a delay in that emergency aid to Ukraine. A group of 10 senators has sent two hostage letters to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, demanding “appropriate time” for consideration of the funding bill (which has been being debated since this time last year, as it is the budget that was supposed to have been adopted by Oct. 1, 2021), and a Congressional Budget Office score.
The group in the first letter included, along with Scott, Cynthia Lummis (WY), Ted Cruz (TX), Roger Marshall (KS), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Mike Braun (IN), Ron Johnson (WI), and Mike Lee (UT). Truly, the bright lights of the Senate there. The second letter laid out their opposition to any more funding for pandemic response, with many of those same senators and adding in Rand Paul (KY) and Steve Daines (MT). They promise to block any move to fast-track the omnibus spending bill if it includes this funding, writing that “at the very least” they would “require a roll-call vote on an amendment that defunds enforcement” of vaccine mandates.
Scott and team’s plan is to force Democrats to split up the omnibus spending bill from Ukraine relief, pass the latter, and force yet another continuing resolution on government funding to avoid a shutdown. Not that this crew would particularly care if they forced a shutdown, but what they really want is for President Biden to have to operate under the budget passed in Trump’s last year—to enforce the Trump spending bill until at least the midterms.
Here's a photo of Rick Scott:
How Scary is Vlad the Invader? This Scary
I Don't Think He was Inviting Her to His Prom
A teenager armed with a gun and another person drove through a security checkpoint at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington Sunday night, prompting a lockdown just as Vice President Kamala Harris, her husband, and four Cabinet members reportedly landed aboard Air Force 2.
The military base in suburban Maryland was locked down for roughly six hours as authorities took an armed 17-year-old into custody and searched the base for the second individual they said drove onto the base with the teen in a stolen vehicle around 9 p.m. That suspect ran away from the vehicle and remained at large Monday, apparently outside the Andrews perimeter, authorities said in a statement.
No shots were fired and no injuries were reported, authorities said. The base reopened about 3 a.m. Monday.
Putting the Biden Before the Previous Guy
An Iranian and a Russian Walked into a Negotiation
A revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal appeared to be imminent by the end of last week. The main parties to the talks indicated that an agreement was close, until an unlikely hurdle emerged.
Russia, which has largely stood by Iran in its conflict with the West, said Saturday that its own national interests would have to be taken into account for a deal to go through.
The warning came after Tehran said on Friday it had agreed a roadmap with the UN nuclear watchdog to resolve outstanding issues, suggesting that talks were close to conclusion.
The surprise Russian move demonstrates how far Moscow is willing to go to use its leverage in faraway conflicts to pressure the West while it wages war on Ukraine, even at the risk of displeasing its allies in Tehran. It also shows Russia's realization that the United States needs a nuclear agreement now more than ever to find a replacement for disruption to Russia's crude supplies on the global market.
Iranian officials criticized Russia's demand as "interference" on Monday, state media reported, though Iran's foreign ministry separately insisted Moscow's contributions to negotiations had been "constructive" and that a deal could quickly be reached.
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
Where Do You Buy Panther Chow in the Middle of a War?
For more than a week, an Indian doctor in war-torn Ukraine has been holed up in a basement at home with his pet big cats - a black panther and a jaguar.
Girikumar Patil, who bought the two cats from the Kyiv zoo, says he will not leave home without his pets. He has lived for over six years in Severodonetsk, a small town located in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
After the war began, Mr Giri, who is single, has been stepping out of his cramped basement only to buy food for his cats - the male jaguar is 20 months old and the female panther is a six-month-old cub - after the curfew ends early in the morning. (The jaguar is a rare hybrid between a male leopard and a female jaguar, he said.)
Let's Drink a Toast to Yuri
The Stoli Group announced last week that it was doing a "major rebrand" and ending "the use of the Stolichnaya name" because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The brand's founder, Yuri Shefler, said the factors behind the decision include his "vehement position" on the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin and "the desire to accurately represent Stoli's roots in Latvia."
"While I have been exiled from Russia since 2000 due to my opposition to Putin, I have remained proud of the Stolichnaya brand," Shefler said in a statement, adding the name no longer represents the organization. "More than anything, I wish for 'Stoli' to represent peace in Europe and solidarity with Ukraine."
Only 1.2% of U.S. vodka imports come from Russia, according to data from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States for the first half of 2021. Vodka is the only spirit listed as a Russian import in the report.
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Invasions Have Consequences
Oil Bet Shell Wanted to Offset Bad Publicity
Shell announced that it would end all of its joint ventures with the Russian energy company Gazprom following the invasion.
That will involve the company selling its 27.5% stake in a major liquefied natural gas plant and a 50% stake in two oilfield projects in Siberia.
It will also end its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany. The 1,200km pipeline under the Baltic Sea had already been put on hold by German ministers.
In a statement issued on Monday, Shell said that it expected the move, which will also apply to any "related entities" to Gazprom, would be worth about $3bn (£2.2bn). The associated costs will be marked on its balance sheet later this year.
Shell followed on from the likes of BP, which had already announced that it would offload its stake in the Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft - a potential hit of $25bn.
BP said earlier this week it was too soon to say how or to whom its stake in Rosneft would be sold.
Norwegian oil and gas producer Equinor has also announced its exit from Russia, saying the conflict made its current position "untenable".
I Think Ukraine Just Wants the Jets
American officials on Sunday identified three areas on which the United States could soon take action in an attempt to address Russia's intensifying war in Ukraine: a ban on Russian oil imports, a declaration of war crimes against Russia and help facilitating delivery of Polish fighter jets to Ukraine.
Bad News For All You Russian Bond Holders
Here is the latest Ukraine’s statements about Russian losses - Unverified
Eleventh day of Russia's war: over 11,000 Russian troops killed.
According to indicative estimates of Ukraine’s military, Russia also lost 285 tanks, 985 armored fighting vehicles, 109 artillery pieces, 50 MLRS, 21 anti-aircraft warfare, 44 planes, 48 helicopters, 447 cars, 2 speedboats, 60 fuel tanks, and 4 UAVs.
Mark Phillip Hertling is a former United States Army officer. From March 2011 to November 2012, he served as the Commanding General of United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army.
The Russians Are Coming ... To a Protest
Russian authorities arrested more than 4,300 protesters on Sunday who were demonstrating against the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to an independent watchdog group.
OVD-Info, an organization that tracks the arrest of demonstrators, said thousands of Russians turned out on Sunday to oppose the Kremlin’s military action in Ukraine. At least 4,357 people were arrested in 56 cities across the country, and could face years in jail.
Uh, Oh! Now He's Ticked Off Russian Mothers
The furious mothers of Russian soldiers have accused the Kremlin of deploying their sons as "cannon fodder" in President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, according to footage that purportedly shows a heated confrontation with a regional governor.
Sergey Tsivilev, governor of the Kemerovo region, was filmed on a stage in a gymnasium while women accused the government of "deceiving" their sons.
"We were all deceived, all deceived. They were sent there as cannon fodder. They are young. They were unprepared," one woman said, according to the footage that was shared online as early as March 5, according to analysis by RFE/RL.
Tsivilev repeated the Kremlin's narrative that the invasion launched by Putin on February 24 is a "special military operation" to disarm Ukraine and detain leaders it calls neo-Nazis. Ukraine and the West say the rhetoric is a false pretext to justify an invasion of the country.
Now They've Lost Inventing Anna Which Is a Story About A Russian With No Conscience
Netflix has suspended service in Russia just days after it said it would pause all projects and acquisitions in the country, the company said Sunday.
“Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia,” a Netflix spokesperson told Variety.
Russia is a relatively small market for the streaming giant and the company has about a million subscribers there. However, it’s the latest entertainment giant to limit its operations over the Kremlin’s ongoing invasion in Ukraine. Other major entertainment companies, including Disney, Sony, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., have halted the release of new films in Russia, like “The Batman,” “Turning Red” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.”
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COVID's Better
While the pandemic is not over, experts say the US may be in for, at the very least, a "near normal" spring and summer, based on new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
"I think the move from pandemic to endemic appears to be accelerating," said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious disease at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
According to the CDC's updated data on Covid-19 community levels, the number of counties with "high" Covid-19 levels dropped from about 1,200 on February 24 to 472 on March 3.
But It's Still Smells Like Dangerous
Even a mild case of COVID-19 can cause brain changes. It's too soon to know if the damage lasts.
A new study provides the most conclusive evidence yet that COVID-19 can damage the brain, even in people who weren't severely ill.
The study, published Monday in Nature, used before-and-after brain images of 785 British people, ages 51 to 81, to look for any changes. About half the participants contracted COVID-19 between the scans – mostly when the alpha variant was circulating – which left many people at least temporarily without a sense of smell.
Analysis of the "before" and "after" images from the UK Biobank showed that people infected with COVID-19 had a greater reduction in their brain volumes overall and performed worse on cognitive tests than those who had not been infected.
The 15 participants who were sick enough with COVID-19 to require hospitalization showed the most brain changes, but even those who had much milder disease showed differences, the study found. The oldest participants had more changes on average than younger ones.
The brain areas most affected were those that are related to smell, which makes sense, since many of the people infected around the world lost their sense of smell, said Gwenaëlle Douaud, who led the research.
People who lose their smell for prolonged periods also lose volume in brain areas related to smell. "Lose it or use it," said Douaud, a neuroscientist at Oxford University.
If smell recovers, usually the brain region does, too, she said.
The full story.
Good News, But MY Mask Stays On
New York City shed major COVID-19 precautions on Monday as masks became optional in city schools and restaurants and other businesses could stop asking patrons for proof of vaccination.
“We’re in that place right now where we’re lifting our across-the-board mandate for Key2NYC,” Mayor Eric Adams, who announced the relaxed coronavirus rules last week, said on WINS radio Monday morning.
6 Million. That's the Holocaust. How Many Were Avoidable?
The death toll from Covid-19 eclipsed 6 million Monday — underscoring that the pandemic, now in its third year, is far from finished.
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Remember: If You Don't Sell a Stock, You Haven't Lost Money
Stocks are falling in morning trading on Wall Street, as more gains for oil prices threaten to worsen the world's already high inflation.
The S&P 500 sank 1.5% after a barrel of U.S. oil leaped as high as $130 overnight on the possibility the U.S. could bar imports from Russia. Stocks around the world slid even more sharply earlier in the day, though they trimmed their losses as oil receded toward $120 per barrel.
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When You Fill Up Your Tank, Remember: This is the Price of Fighting Evil
The average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline has surpassed $4 per gallon for the first time since 2008.
Whey You Buy a Loaf of Bread, Remember: This is the Price of Fighting Evil
Wheat futures surged by their daily price limit again Monday, extending a relentless surge towards all-time highs and fanning fears of a global commodity shock as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shuts off a crucial source of exports and threatens future production of the key food grain.
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In the Long Run, Brazil Is a Bigger Threat to Us Than Russia
The Amazon rainforest may be nearing a "tipping point" of dieback, the point where rainforest will turn to savanna, a new study shows.
"Deforestation and climate change are likely the main drivers of this decline," said study co-author Niklas Boers, a professor at the Technical University of Munich.
Using satellite remote sensing data, researchers found what they call "resilience" – the ability to recover from events such as droughts or fires – has declined consistently in the vast majority of the Amazon rainforest.
Loss of resilience is most prominent in areas that are closer to human activity, as well as in those that receive less rainfall, the study said.
Overall, the Amazon rainforest is becoming much less resilient – raising the risk of widespread dieback, the research shows. "The rainforest can look more or less the same, yet it can be losing resilience – making it slower to recover from a major event like a drought," said study co-author Tim Lenton of the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.
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We've Seen So Many Reports of Teachers Hitting Children Lately.
A5-year-old student who left a teacher hospitalized after he attacked her at an elementary school in Pembroke Pines won't face charges, police said.
The incident happened Wednesday at Pines Lakes Elementary School, and a police report described the incident as an aggravated assault with hands, fist or feet.
Pembroke Pines Police officials confirmed Monday the student will not be charged in the incident.
According to the report, the incident began when two students, ages 4 and 5, started throwing things around the classroom and at the teachers, then started flipping over chairs.
One of the teachers took the 5-year-old into a smaller "cool down" room and that's where the student attacked her, the report said.
The teacher got on the school radio and said she needed help, and that's when an officer responded and found her sitting against a wall "appearing to be in a faint state," the report said.
The teacher needed help getting up and was "clearly weak and dazed" and began coughing and dry heaving, the report said.
The officer requested a rescue unit respond to the school as the teacher "continued to blink and breathe regularly but at no point was able to vocally respond or show signs of a response," the report said.
Rescue workers arrived and put the teacher on a stretcher, she was was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital.
There’s an old saying that goes like this: When a dog bites a man, that’s not news. When a man bites a dog, now that’s news!
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There's a Lot of Bad Info About Ukraine Floating Around on the Internet
This Article Fact Checks A Bunch of Them
Of Course, Everything I Post Here is 100% Accurate. Or at Least 25% Accurate
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First time we have been below 50,000 cases since July 22nd.
↓ 54.1% Cases, two-week change
↓ 33.6% Deaths, two-week change
962,879 Total confirmed deaths
New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | |
| Mar 7 | ||
| Mar 6 | 42,204 | 1,259 |
| Mar 5 | 43,665 | 1,281 |
| Mar 4 | 45,555 | 1,319 |
| Mar 3 | 49,888 | 1,413 |
| Mar 2 | 53,016 | 1,558 |
| Mar 1 | 56,253 | 1,674 |
| Feb 28 | 68,480 | 1,832 |
| Feb 27 | 62,556 | 1,686 |
| Feb 26 | 66,053 | 1,719 |
| Feb 25 | 69,203 | 1,751 |
| Feb 24 | 72,111 | 1,720 |
| Feb 23 | 75,208 | 1,674 |
| Feb 22 | 79,539 | 1,602 |
| Feb 21 | 78,306 | 1,872 |
| Feb 20 | 98,012 | 1,872 |
| Feb 19 | 100,129 | 1,890 |
| Feb 18 | 103,462 | 1,920 |
| Feb 17 | 112,653 | 1,998 |
| Feb 16 | 121,664 | 2,020 |
| Feb 15 | 134,468 | 2,100 |
| Feb 14 | 146,921 | 2,208 |
| Feb 13 | 161,197 | 2,196 |
| Feb 12 | 168,881 | 2,197 |
| Feb 11 | 175,395 | 2,241 |
| Feb 10 | 190,401 | 2,305 |
| Feb 9 | 215,418 | 2,313 |
| Feb 8 | 230,602 | 2,303 |
| Feb 7 | 247,319 | 2,404 |
| Feb 6 | 291,471 | 2,294 |
| Feb 5 | 298,890 | 2,331 |
| Feb 4 | 313,117 | 2,404 |
| Feb 16, 2021 | 78,292 |
| At Least One Dose | Fully Vaccinated | % of Vaccinated W/ Boosters | |
| % of Total Population | 76.5% | 65.1% | 444.0% |
| % of Population 5+ | 81.3% | 69.2% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 86.2% | 73.5% | 45.4% |
| % of Population 18+ | 87.9% | 75.1% | 47.3% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 88.8% | 66.5% |
California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday March 1)
There is some rain in the Nor Cal forecast for the next two weeks, but no major storms.
| Percent of Average for this Date | Last Week | 2 Weeks ago | 3 Weeks ago | 9 Weeks ago | |
| Northern Sierra Precipitation | 87% (60%) | 93% (60%) | 99% (59%) | 105% (59% of average for full season) | 170% |
| San Joaquin Precipitation | 76% (51%) | 80% (51%) | 86% (51%) | 92% (51%) | 170% |
| Tulare Basin Precipitation | 70% (48%) | 75% (47%) | 79% (46%) | 84% (46%) | 151% |
| Snow Water Content - North | 59% (53%) | 61% (52%) | 68% (53%) | 80% (58%) | 134% |
| Snow Water Content - Central | 58% (66%) | 71% (59%) | 75% (57%) | 80% (57%) | 148% |
| Snow Water Content - South | 54% (63%) | 67% (54%) | 74% (54%) | 81% (57%) | 158% |
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
It Doesn't Stand for "Zorro"
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak is facing disciplinary proceedings by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) for displaying the letter "Z" on the podium next to a Ukrainian rival in Qatar. But what does the symbol mean?
Initially, it was thought that the "Z" was in fact a number "2" - representing the 22 February (22/02/2022). That was the day Russia ratified an agreement on "friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance" with the self-proclaimed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine - Donetsk and Luhansk.
But it is now believed the symbol is simply a way for Russia's military to identify its own forces.
Last week, viewers to a news programme on Russia's state-controlled Channel One were told that a "Z" was a common marking on Russian military equipment. The Orthodox Christian pro-Putin website Tsargrad told readers the simple marking could "avoid friendly fire" and couldn't be "mixed up with anything else".
Shell has defended its decision to purchase Russian crude oil despite the invasion and bombardment of Ukraine.
The oil giant said in a statement that the decision to purchase the fuel at a discounted price was "difficult".
It confirmed that it had bought a cargo of Russian crude oil on Friday but it had "no alternative".
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hit out at the energy company, asking on Twitter: "Doesn't Russian oil smell Ukrainian blood for you?"
Commenting on its move, Shell said it was forced to buy oil from Russia in order to maintain timely supplies of fuel to Europe.
From the GOP to the QOP
Just compare the GOP primary TV ads of 2010, versus what we’re seeing now, especially in the biggest battleground states.
Here was Pat Toomey’s primary ad in Pennsylvania in 2010: “Trillion-dollar bailouts and deficits. Government-run health care. Record unemployment. Had enough?”
Now here’s a 2022 primary ad from David McCormick, one of the Pennsylvania Republicans vying to succeed Toomey in the Senate: “I'm anti-woke, anti-illegal immigration, anti-political correctness, anti-socialism and anti-Joe Biden and the radical left.”
Similarly, this primary ad from the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was one of the most controversial commercials of the 2010 cycle: “Complete the danged fence,” McCain says on a tour of the southern border.
Now check out this ad from Jim Lamon, one of the Arizona Republicans running for Senate in 2022: “If you are pissed off about the direction of our country, let's go. If you're ready to secure the border and stop the invasion, let's go... The time is now. Let's go, Brandon."
Finally, compare this 2010 TV ad from Ron Johnson in Wisconsin: "This 234-year-old experiment that we call America, it is something incredibly precious, and it is being squandered through unsustainable debt, unsustainable spending -- and my concern is we have reached that tipping point. And if we don't pull back from that tipping point we are going to lose the idea and the promise of America.”
Versus this 2022 ad from Johnson: “From open borders, increasing crime and rising inflation, Democrat policies are weakening America. When I ran in 2016, I intended to serve a second term and go home. But today our nation is on a very dangerous path.”
Spot a trend? GOP primary ads now lean heavily on culture-war battles and ramped-up rhetoric, rather than on fiscal policy. Yes, the GOP has changed in the past decade – at least when you watch their TV ads.
Voter Fraud! Voter Fraud! It's Here!
On Sep. 19, about three weeks before North Carolina’s voter-registration deadline for the general election, failed President Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, claimed to be living in a 14-by-62-foot mobile home in Scaly Mountain, North Carolina. The trouble is, it doesn’t appear to be true. And that my friends, is voter fraud—a federal crime—something Meadows has been ranting and raving about since Trump lost the election bigly in 2020.
According to The New Yorker’s Charles Bethea, Meadows does not own the Scaly Mountain property, which sits in the southern Appalachian mountains, but his wife, Debbie, did rent the house out for a couple of months. As for Mark Meadows, the (unnamed) owner of the house told The New Yorker, “He did not come. He’s never spent a night in there.” Although, the Meadows family did stay the home in the fall of 2020 when they were in the area for a Trump rally as nearby hotels were mostly booked.
Ukraine? The US Government? The QOP Says "What? Me Worry?"
Rick Scott is spearheading a group of Senate deplorables in threatening both government funding and a delay in that emergency aid to Ukraine. A group of 10 senators has sent two hostage letters to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, demanding “appropriate time” for consideration of the funding bill (which has been being debated since this time last year, as it is the budget that was supposed to have been adopted by Oct. 1, 2021), and a Congressional Budget Office score.
The group in the first letter included, along with Scott, Cynthia Lummis (WY), Ted Cruz (TX), Roger Marshall (KS), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Mike Braun (IN), Ron Johnson (WI), and Mike Lee (UT). Truly, the bright lights of the Senate there. The second letter laid out their opposition to any more funding for pandemic response, with many of those same senators and adding in Rand Paul (KY) and Steve Daines (MT). They promise to block any move to fast-track the omnibus spending bill if it includes this funding, writing that “at the very least” they would “require a roll-call vote on an amendment that defunds enforcement” of vaccine mandates.
Scott and team’s plan is to force Democrats to split up the omnibus spending bill from Ukraine relief, pass the latter, and force yet another continuing resolution on government funding to avoid a shutdown. Not that this crew would particularly care if they forced a shutdown, but what they really want is for President Biden to have to operate under the budget passed in Trump’s last year—to enforce the Trump spending bill until at least the midterms.
Here's a photo of Rick Scott:
How Scary is Vlad the Invader? This Scary
I Don't Think He was Inviting Her to His Prom
A teenager armed with a gun and another person drove through a security checkpoint at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington Sunday night, prompting a lockdown just as Vice President Kamala Harris, her husband, and four Cabinet members reportedly landed aboard Air Force 2.
The military base in suburban Maryland was locked down for roughly six hours as authorities took an armed 17-year-old into custody and searched the base for the second individual they said drove onto the base with the teen in a stolen vehicle around 9 p.m. That suspect ran away from the vehicle and remained at large Monday, apparently outside the Andrews perimeter, authorities said in a statement.
No shots were fired and no injuries were reported, authorities said. The base reopened about 3 a.m. Monday.
Putting the Biden Before the Previous Guy
An Iranian and a Russian Walked into a Negotiation
A revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal appeared to be imminent by the end of last week. The main parties to the talks indicated that an agreement was close, until an unlikely hurdle emerged.
Russia, which has largely stood by Iran in its conflict with the West, said Saturday that its own national interests would have to be taken into account for a deal to go through.
The warning came after Tehran said on Friday it had agreed a roadmap with the UN nuclear watchdog to resolve outstanding issues, suggesting that talks were close to conclusion.
The surprise Russian move demonstrates how far Moscow is willing to go to use its leverage in faraway conflicts to pressure the West while it wages war on Ukraine, even at the risk of displeasing its allies in Tehran. It also shows Russia's realization that the United States needs a nuclear agreement now more than ever to find a replacement for disruption to Russia's crude supplies on the global market.
Iranian officials criticized Russia's demand as "interference" on Monday, state media reported, though Iran's foreign ministry separately insisted Moscow's contributions to negotiations had been "constructive" and that a deal could quickly be reached.
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
Where Do You Buy Panther Chow in the Middle of a War?
For more than a week, an Indian doctor in war-torn Ukraine has been holed up in a basement at home with his pet big cats - a black panther and a jaguar.
Girikumar Patil, who bought the two cats from the Kyiv zoo, says he will not leave home without his pets. He has lived for over six years in Severodonetsk, a small town located in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
After the war began, Mr Giri, who is single, has been stepping out of his cramped basement only to buy food for his cats - the male jaguar is 20 months old and the female panther is a six-month-old cub - after the curfew ends early in the morning. (The jaguar is a rare hybrid between a male leopard and a female jaguar, he said.)
Let's Drink a Toast to Yuri
The Stoli Group announced last week that it was doing a "major rebrand" and ending "the use of the Stolichnaya name" because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The brand's founder, Yuri Shefler, said the factors behind the decision include his "vehement position" on the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin and "the desire to accurately represent Stoli's roots in Latvia."
"While I have been exiled from Russia since 2000 due to my opposition to Putin, I have remained proud of the Stolichnaya brand," Shefler said in a statement, adding the name no longer represents the organization. "More than anything, I wish for 'Stoli' to represent peace in Europe and solidarity with Ukraine."
Only 1.2% of U.S. vodka imports come from Russia, according to data from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States for the first half of 2021. Vodka is the only spirit listed as a Russian import in the report.
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Invasions Have Consequences
Oil Bet Shell Wanted to Offset Bad Publicity
Shell announced that it would end all of its joint ventures with the Russian energy company Gazprom following the invasion.
That will involve the company selling its 27.5% stake in a major liquefied natural gas plant and a 50% stake in two oilfield projects in Siberia.
It will also end its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany. The 1,200km pipeline under the Baltic Sea had already been put on hold by German ministers.
In a statement issued on Monday, Shell said that it expected the move, which will also apply to any "related entities" to Gazprom, would be worth about $3bn (£2.2bn). The associated costs will be marked on its balance sheet later this year.
Shell followed on from the likes of BP, which had already announced that it would offload its stake in the Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft - a potential hit of $25bn.
BP said earlier this week it was too soon to say how or to whom its stake in Rosneft would be sold.
Norwegian oil and gas producer Equinor has also announced its exit from Russia, saying the conflict made its current position "untenable".
I Think Ukraine Just Wants the Jets
American officials on Sunday identified three areas on which the United States could soon take action in an attempt to address Russia's intensifying war in Ukraine: a ban on Russian oil imports, a declaration of war crimes against Russia and help facilitating delivery of Polish fighter jets to Ukraine.
Bad News For All You Russian Bond Holders
Here is the latest Ukraine’s statements about Russian losses - Unverified
Eleventh day of Russia's war: over 11,000 Russian troops killed.
According to indicative estimates of Ukraine’s military, Russia also lost 285 tanks, 985 armored fighting vehicles, 109 artillery pieces, 50 MLRS, 21 anti-aircraft warfare, 44 planes, 48 helicopters, 447 cars, 2 speedboats, 60 fuel tanks, and 4 UAVs.
Mark Phillip Hertling is a former United States Army officer. From March 2011 to November 2012, he served as the Commanding General of United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army.
The Russians Are Coming ... To a Protest
Russian authorities arrested more than 4,300 protesters on Sunday who were demonstrating against the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to an independent watchdog group.
OVD-Info, an organization that tracks the arrest of demonstrators, said thousands of Russians turned out on Sunday to oppose the Kremlin’s military action in Ukraine. At least 4,357 people were arrested in 56 cities across the country, and could face years in jail.
Uh, Oh! Now He's Ticked Off Russian Mothers
The furious mothers of Russian soldiers have accused the Kremlin of deploying their sons as "cannon fodder" in President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, according to footage that purportedly shows a heated confrontation with a regional governor.
Sergey Tsivilev, governor of the Kemerovo region, was filmed on a stage in a gymnasium while women accused the government of "deceiving" their sons.
"We were all deceived, all deceived. They were sent there as cannon fodder. They are young. They were unprepared," one woman said, according to the footage that was shared online as early as March 5, according to analysis by RFE/RL.
Tsivilev repeated the Kremlin's narrative that the invasion launched by Putin on February 24 is a "special military operation" to disarm Ukraine and detain leaders it calls neo-Nazis. Ukraine and the West say the rhetoric is a false pretext to justify an invasion of the country.
Now They've Lost Inventing Anna Which Is a Story About A Russian With No Conscience
Netflix has suspended service in Russia just days after it said it would pause all projects and acquisitions in the country, the company said Sunday.
“Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia,” a Netflix spokesperson told Variety.
Russia is a relatively small market for the streaming giant and the company has about a million subscribers there. However, it’s the latest entertainment giant to limit its operations over the Kremlin’s ongoing invasion in Ukraine. Other major entertainment companies, including Disney, Sony, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., have halted the release of new films in Russia, like “The Batman,” “Turning Red” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.”
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COVID's Better
While the pandemic is not over, experts say the US may be in for, at the very least, a "near normal" spring and summer, based on new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
"I think the move from pandemic to endemic appears to be accelerating," said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious disease at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
According to the CDC's updated data on Covid-19 community levels, the number of counties with "high" Covid-19 levels dropped from about 1,200 on February 24 to 472 on March 3.
But It's Still Smells Like Dangerous
Even a mild case of COVID-19 can cause brain changes. It's too soon to know if the damage lasts.
A new study provides the most conclusive evidence yet that COVID-19 can damage the brain, even in people who weren't severely ill.
The study, published Monday in Nature, used before-and-after brain images of 785 British people, ages 51 to 81, to look for any changes. About half the participants contracted COVID-19 between the scans – mostly when the alpha variant was circulating – which left many people at least temporarily without a sense of smell.
Analysis of the "before" and "after" images from the UK Biobank showed that people infected with COVID-19 had a greater reduction in their brain volumes overall and performed worse on cognitive tests than those who had not been infected.
The 15 participants who were sick enough with COVID-19 to require hospitalization showed the most brain changes, but even those who had much milder disease showed differences, the study found. The oldest participants had more changes on average than younger ones.
The brain areas most affected were those that are related to smell, which makes sense, since many of the people infected around the world lost their sense of smell, said Gwenaëlle Douaud, who led the research.
People who lose their smell for prolonged periods also lose volume in brain areas related to smell. "Lose it or use it," said Douaud, a neuroscientist at Oxford University.
If smell recovers, usually the brain region does, too, she said.
The full story.
Good News, But MY Mask Stays On
New York City shed major COVID-19 precautions on Monday as masks became optional in city schools and restaurants and other businesses could stop asking patrons for proof of vaccination.
“We’re in that place right now where we’re lifting our across-the-board mandate for Key2NYC,” Mayor Eric Adams, who announced the relaxed coronavirus rules last week, said on WINS radio Monday morning.
6 Million. That's the Holocaust. How Many Were Avoidable?
The death toll from Covid-19 eclipsed 6 million Monday — underscoring that the pandemic, now in its third year, is far from finished.
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Remember: If You Don't Sell a Stock, You Haven't Lost Money
Stocks are falling in morning trading on Wall Street, as more gains for oil prices threaten to worsen the world's already high inflation.
The S&P 500 sank 1.5% after a barrel of U.S. oil leaped as high as $130 overnight on the possibility the U.S. could bar imports from Russia. Stocks around the world slid even more sharply earlier in the day, though they trimmed their losses as oil receded toward $120 per barrel.
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When You Fill Up Your Tank, Remember: This is the Price of Fighting Evil
The average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline has surpassed $4 per gallon for the first time since 2008.
Whey You Buy a Loaf of Bread, Remember: This is the Price of Fighting Evil
Wheat futures surged by their daily price limit again Monday, extending a relentless surge towards all-time highs and fanning fears of a global commodity shock as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shuts off a crucial source of exports and threatens future production of the key food grain.
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In the Long Run, Brazil Is a Bigger Threat to Us Than Russia
The Amazon rainforest may be nearing a "tipping point" of dieback, the point where rainforest will turn to savanna, a new study shows.
"Deforestation and climate change are likely the main drivers of this decline," said study co-author Niklas Boers, a professor at the Technical University of Munich.
Using satellite remote sensing data, researchers found what they call "resilience" – the ability to recover from events such as droughts or fires – has declined consistently in the vast majority of the Amazon rainforest.
Loss of resilience is most prominent in areas that are closer to human activity, as well as in those that receive less rainfall, the study said.
Overall, the Amazon rainforest is becoming much less resilient – raising the risk of widespread dieback, the research shows. "The rainforest can look more or less the same, yet it can be losing resilience – making it slower to recover from a major event like a drought," said study co-author Tim Lenton of the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.
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We've Seen So Many Reports of Teachers Hitting Children Lately.
A5-year-old student who left a teacher hospitalized after he attacked her at an elementary school in Pembroke Pines won't face charges, police said.
The incident happened Wednesday at Pines Lakes Elementary School, and a police report described the incident as an aggravated assault with hands, fist or feet.
Pembroke Pines Police officials confirmed Monday the student will not be charged in the incident.
According to the report, the incident began when two students, ages 4 and 5, started throwing things around the classroom and at the teachers, then started flipping over chairs.
One of the teachers took the 5-year-old into a smaller "cool down" room and that's where the student attacked her, the report said.
The teacher got on the school radio and said she needed help, and that's when an officer responded and found her sitting against a wall "appearing to be in a faint state," the report said.
The teacher needed help getting up and was "clearly weak and dazed" and began coughing and dry heaving, the report said.
The officer requested a rescue unit respond to the school as the teacher "continued to blink and breathe regularly but at no point was able to vocally respond or show signs of a response," the report said.
Rescue workers arrived and put the teacher on a stretcher, she was was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital.
There’s an old saying that goes like this: When a dog bites a man, that’s not news. When a man bites a dog, now that’s news!
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There's a Lot of Bad Info About Ukraine Floating Around on the Internet
This Article Fact Checks A Bunch of Them
Of Course, Everything I Post Here is 100% Accurate. Or at Least 25% Accurate
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