Post by mhbruin on Mar 9, 2022 8:51:13 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.
↓ 52.4% Cases, two-week change
↓ 29.6% Deaths, two-week change
966,279 Total confirmed deaths
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California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday March 8)
There was some rain in the Nor Cal. A little more in the ten-day.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
Florida, Florida, Florida
Florida's Senate has passed a bill to ban discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity in primary schools.
Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the measure, which would bar teachers from teaching these topics to children under 10 years old.
Critics say the bill will isolate LGBT youth. Proponents say it is about empowering parents on education issues.
Activists have dubbed it the Don't Say Gay bill. It is officially known as the Parental Rights in Education Bill.
The Republican-backed legislation passed on Tuesday.
It prohibits any instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity between kindergarten and third grade - when students are roughly between five and nine years old. It also calls on school districts to avoid LGBT topics "when not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students".
Today's Tip For Murderers: Don't Bite Your Victims. Better Tip: Don't Be a Murderer
A Southern California man has been charged with stabbing to death a woman in Desert Hot Springs nearly three decades ago after DNA from bite marks and blood linked him to the killing, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Sharron Gadlin, 48, of Glendale, was arrested last Friday and is charged in connection with the April 1994 murder of Cheri Huss. Huss, 39, was stabbed several times in her apartment and also was bitten by her killer, the Riverside County district attorney’s office said in a statement.
Still a Liar for Hire
Theater of the Absurd .. and Abominable
Meanwhile, we have a much more plausible answer for why gas prices are high right now. While he was pr*sident, Donald Trump pressured the Saudis into cutting production in order to elevate the price of crude.
An April 30, 2020, Reuters story provides the context:
As the United States pressed Saudi Arabia to end its oil price war with Russia, President Donald Trump gave Saudi leaders an ultimatum.
In an April 2 phone call, Trump told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that unless the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) started cutting oil production, he would be powerless to stop lawmakers from passing legislation to withdraw U.S. troops from the kingdom, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The threat to upend a 75-year strategic alliance, which has not been previously reported, was central to the U.S. pressure campaign that led to a landmark global deal to slash oil supply as demand collapsed in the coronavirus pandemic - scoring a diplomatic victory for the White House.
Why did the Trump administration’s few “victories” all seem to help Vladimir Putin more than our own people? Since Russia produces little more than fossil fuels and foolish fossils, it had a keen interest in buoying oil prices during the recession. And unlike, say, providing basic health information to the nation’s citizens during a deadly pandemic without sounding like a drunk howler monkey getting a hot Brazilian wax on a Tilt-a-Whirl, this is a task Trump somehow managed not to fuck up. Hmm, wonder why.
Oh, and not for nothing, Trump pulled us out of the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018 because of his searing hatred for President Obama, and in the process he took millions of barrels of crude off the global market.
The Demonstration Against Something or Other Does Something or Other
After taking a single lap around the Beltway on Monday afternoon, the so-called “People’s Convoy” once again failed at its goal of being a “huge pain” for the D.C. metro area. After their short-lived Sunday effort failed, on Monday morning, the anti-vaccine mandate trucker convoy’s organizer Brian Brase pledged to “escalate” the group’s tactics, calling on the truckers to take up two entire Beltway lanes. But that heightened plan did not come to fruition. Instead, the truckers and a bevy of upside-down American flag-bearing support vehicles quickly became separated for the second day in a row. Adding insult to injury, near the Temple Hills and Landover exits, both a semi-truck and pickup truck in the convoy had broken down. A white pickup truck with its hood flipped open caused traffic to reduce to stop-and-go on the outer loop up to the Greenbelt area around 3 p.m. on Monday. Nevertheless, organizers remained optimistic, pledging on Telegram, “We will hold the line!” as the group remained split over whether they should enter into Washington, D.C. proper.
Even a Fox "News" Reporter Doesn't Buy It.
Is Prince John the Ruler of Covfefe?
Maybe They Were the Same People Hugging Capital Police in January 6th
Former president Donald Trump has offered an alternative reality of what occurred at the Capitol on Jan. 6 when a mob of his supporters stormed the building, violently attacking law enforcement officers who tried to stop them.
Trump, who encouraged his supporters to fight against the confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory by Congress and to march to the Capitol, told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Thursday night that the rioters posed “zero threat.”
“Right from the start, it was zero threat,” he said. “Look, they went in — they shouldn’t have done it — some of them went in, and they’re hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know? They had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in, and they walked out.”
Lock Her Up!
Federal prosecutors charged a dual U.S.-Russian citizen Tuesday with illegally acting as an agent of the Russian government in the United States.
In a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in New York, the Justice Department said Elena Branson, also known as Elena Chernykh, had worked as an illegal Russian agent “to spread Russia interests, including through the lobbying of U.S. Government officials in favor of Russian policy positions” for almost a decade.
"Throughout, Branson has received funding and direction from the Russian Government, including from the Russian Embassy in the United States, and received tasking from high-level Russian Government officials and Russian Government-run organizations," the filing said.
QANON Ron and Cancun Ted? Of Course!
Trucker protesters against COVID vaccine mandates and restrictions met Tuesday with a pair of Republican lawmakers for two hours on Capitol Hill.
Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Ted Cruz of Texas spoke with a small group of protesters from "The People's Convoy," who said they won't end their now three-day long circuit along the D.C. beltway -- traveling around 55-60 miles per hour along the often congested corridors of Maryland and Virginia -- until they sit down with other members of Congress and their demands for the rollbacks of a national state of emergency and vaccine mandates are met.
It's So Easy to Forget to Mention Ukraine.
Beijing appeared to neglect Kyiv on Tuesday as President Xi Jinping backed a postwar settlement between the West and Russia but failed to mention Ukraine.
This combination of photographs shows, left to right, President of China Xi Jinping, President of France Emmanuel Macron, and Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz. The three leaders held a teleconference call on March 8, 2022, to discuss Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Xi spoke virtually with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and described the developments in Ukraine as "worrisome," according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry readout of the call. China still isn't calling Russian President Vladimir Putin's military operation an "invasion," but the Chinese leader lamented "the outbreak of war again on the European continent."
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
Don't Mess With AOC
"These are the Facts"
In an address to the American people on Tuesday morning, Biden announced that the U.S. would cease to purchase Russian oil. That's a move that has had bipartisan support in Congress. But he still had to debunk the lies that the right has been telling about oil production in the U.S. Which he did succinctly and, unlike the right, factually (video below):
"It's simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production. That’s simply not true. Even amid the pandemic, companies in the United States pumped more oil during my first year in office than they did during my predecessor’s first year. We’re approaching record levels of oil and gas production in the United States, and we’re on track to set a record of oil production next year.
"In the United States, 90 percent of onshore oil production takes place on land that isn’t owned by the federal government. And of the remaining 10 percent that occurs on federal land, the oil and gas industry has millions of acres leased. They have 9,000 permits to drill now. They could be drilling right now, yesterday, last week, last year. They have 9,000 to drill onshore that are already approved. Let me be clear. They are not using them for production now. That's their decision, These are the facts."
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Invasions Have Consequences
There is Now a No-Fry Zone in Russia
McDonald’s, an icon of post-Soviet Russia, has said it will temporarily close all its 847 restaurants in the country in a move commentators described as “hugely symbolic.”
The fast-food chain, the latest Western company to shutter operations in the country after its troops invaded Ukraine, said it would go on paying salaries to its 62,000 employees in Russia.
Because of its large size and global reach, the chain is often copied by other companies if it takes a stance on an issue or makes a major operational change.
The Big Mac became available in Russia on Jan. 31, 1990, when the opening of the first McDonald’s in the final months of the Soviet Union drew international attention.
That day over 30,000 people queued around the block for a first taste of U.S. fast food, representing the thawing of Cold War tensions and an increasing appetite among young people for a slice of Americana.
Maybe They Can Live Without special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun, but no Diet Coke?
Consumer giants including McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Starbucks have joined the list of firms halting business in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.
McDonald's said it was temporarily closing its roughly 850 restaurants in Russia, while Starbucks also said its 100 coffee shops would shut.
On Wednesday, Heineken stopped beer production and sales in Russia.
And Mothercare said all business in Russia, which represents 20% to 25% of its global sales, had been stopped.
The moves by McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Starbucks come after mounting pressure on companies to act over the war in Ukraine. All three firms said they would continue to pay their staff.
Anna MacDonald, a fund manager at Amati Global Investors, told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme that firms who were joining the wave of firms leaving Russia were doing so because "shareholders and wider stakeholders wouldn't stand for continued generation of revenues and profits" from the country,
"It was affecting their share prices and the feeling was that it was just utterly inappropriate to continue to do so," she said.
Who to Blame? It's All Putin's Default
Russia will soon be unable to pay its debts, according to a leading credit ratings agency.
Fitch Ratings downgraded its view of the country's government debt, warning a default is "imminent".
The move comes amid increasing international sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
A credit rating is intended to help investors understand the level of risk they face in buying a country's debt - or bonds.
A low rating means the chances of not getting repaid is considered to be high - and so an investor will charge more to lend to that country.
This week, Moscow itself said its bond payments may be affected by sanctions.
How Much Would You Pay to Rescue Your Family?
Wanted: multilingual former soldiers willing to covertly head into Ukraine for the handsome sum of up to $2,000 (£1,523) per day - plus bonus - to help rescue families from an increasingly grim conflict.
It sounds ripped from the script of an action movie, but the job advert is real - taken from an employment website, Silent Professionals, for those working in the private military and security industry.
And, insiders say, demand is growing. Amid a gut-wrenching war in Ukraine, US and European private contractors say they are increasingly eying opportunities, ranging from 'extraction' missions to helping with logistics.
There is "a frenzy in the market" for private contractors in Ukraine today, said Robert Young Pelton, a Canadian American author and expert on private military companies (PMCs).
But the demand for paid security workers - many of them former soldiers with ability to fight and kill - in the midst of a war leaves plenty of room for mistakes, and the potential for bedlam.
Even as Westerns volunteers are joining the fight in Ukraine, for which they can expect to be paid the same as their Ukrainian counterparts, money is being offered by private interests for security services like the one advertised on Silent Professionals.
The recruitment platform would not say who it was advertising for, but according to Mr Pelton, contractors are being hired for between $30,000 and $6m to help remove people from Ukraine. The higher-end figure is for whole groups of families wanting to leave with their assets, he said.
Are They Going to Use This as a Weapon?
Ukrainian authorities say the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, has been knocked off the power grid. Emergency generators are now supplying backup power.
The state communications agency says the outage could put systems for cooling nuclear material at risk.
The cause of the damage to the power line serving Chernobyl was not immediately clear, but it comes amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The site has been under control of Russian troops since last week.
Dollars Are A (Russian) Girls Best Friend
As it scrambles to keep the ruble’s value from plummeting further, Russia’s central bank on Wednesday announced that it is prohibiting citizens from using rubles to buy dollars and other hard currencies for the next six months.
“Banks will not sell hard currency to citizens during the period of the temporary order,” the central bank said in a statement posted to its website after midnight Moscow time. The order is to expire Sept. 9.
The central bank said it also will limit to $10,000 the amount of U.S. dollars that clients can withdraw from hard-currency accounts at Russian banks. Anyone wanting to withdraw more than that from a hard-currency account will have to take the balance in rubles, said the central bank, which is known as the Bank of Russia.
The measures are designed to prevent Russians from making a run for dollars as the ruble plummets to fresh lows in the wake of Western economic sanctions, which have limited the central bank’s access to its hard currency reserves.
We Are About to Have 100 More Satisfied Vlad the Invader Supporters
European Union governments are preparing a new round of travel bans and asset freezes on some 100 Russians over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and a decision could come later on Wednesday, the EU's top diplomat said.
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Insurrections Have Consequences, Too.
Lock Him Up!
A jury in Washington, DC, on Tuesday found January 6 rioter Guy Reffitt guilty of all five charges he faced related to the US Capitol attack, in the pivotal outcome of the first federal trial related to the riot.
Reffitt, a Texas Three Percenter and supporter of then-President Donald Trump when he went to the Capitol on January 6, was charged with five counts -- wanting to obstruct the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election, transporting guns into DC, carrying a Smith & Wesson handgun onto the restricted grounds of the Capitol, interfering with Capitol Police protecting the Upper West Terrace and obstructing justice by threatening his son and daughter when he returned to Texas.
The jury of six men and six women in DC's federal court deliberated for just under four hours Tuesday.
Reffitt sat very still, then sipped water as the verdict was read. His wife, Nicole, who had watched each day of the trial with some of her children, did not make it into the courtroom in time to watch it being read.
The maximum sentence for the most severe of Reffitt's charges -- obstruction of Congress and obstruction of justice -- is 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 8.
The Saudis Don't Give a Sheik About Us
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries of which Saudi Arabia and the UAE are members, in alliance with Russia, wants to keep a cap on oil production, one factor that has caused oil prices to soar the past year. In an effort to keep a lid on rising oil prices, President Biden wants Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production to fill the gap that will be created by the U.S. ban imposed on Russian oil imports because of President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
But Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the U.A.E.’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan have recently turned down White House requests to speak with the president. They have complaints about how the U.S. treats them and are unhappy with its Gulf policy. They did, however, speak on the phone with Putin. The Wall Street Journal reports tonight:
The Saudis have signaled that their relationship with Washington has deteriorated under the Biden administration, and they want more support for their intervention in Yemen’s civil war, help with their own civilian nuclear program as Iran’s moves ahead, and legal immunity for Prince Mohammed in the U.S., Saudi officials said. The crown prince faces multiple lawsuits in the U.S., including over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The Emiratis share Saudi concerns about the restrained U.S. response to recent missile strikes by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen against the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, officials said. Both governments are also concerned about the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, which doesn’t address other security concerns of theirs and has entered the final stages of negotiations in recent weeks.
The Man Can't Stop Assaulting Police
John Daniel Andries once maintained Presidential Helicopter “Marine One”. He was arrested on February 4, 2021 for his participation in the Capitol Riot. Two weeks ago he got himself into more trouble...
On Friday, February 25, 2022, at approximately 11:35 p.m., deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded to Action Lounge and Billiards in Leonardtown for a reported threats call.
Police arrived at the scene and were speaking with the caller, when an adult male, later identified as John Daniel Andries, 35, of Piney Point, was removed from the establishment by security.
The deputies advised Andries that he would not be able to re-enter the establishment and would have to leave, Andries then attempted to open the door back up and repeatedly stated that he wanted to go back inside and was pulling on the door handle. Police then told Andries that he would be able to leave on his own or he would be coming with them, Andries then poked Sgt. Fleenor in the chest, and was placed in handcuffs. Andries then refused to allow police to take him to their patrol vehicle, and sat down on the ground, forcing them to drag him to the patrol vehicle, once at the patrol vehicle, Andries refused to sit in the vehicle and repeatedly kicked Sgt. Fleenor as they attempted to place his legs inside the vehicle.
He was charged with two counts of felony assault (one on a cop), two counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and one count of resisting arrest…
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Lies Have Consequences, Too
A New York state judge on Tuesday said Smartmatic can pursue its $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit claiming that Fox News Network, Rudolph Giuliani and others falsely accused the electronic voting systems maker of helping rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election to favor Democrat Joe Biden.
Justice David Cohen of New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan rejected bids by Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corp, anchor Maria Bartiromo and former anchor Lou Dobbs to dismiss Smartmatic's claims against them.
Cohen also said Smartmatic can pursue some claims against Giuliani, who worked as a lawyer for former Republican President Donald Trump. He dismissed all claims against Fox host Jeanine Pirro and former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.
But the judge said an alleged misstatement by Pirro was not defamatory and that he lacked jurisdiction to consider claims against Powell.
Another technology provider, Dominion Voting Systems, has filed similar litigation against various defendants.
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He Didn't Have Ants in His Pants, But ...
A man who tried to slither past U.S. border agents in California had 52 lizards and snakes hidden in his clothing, authorities said Tuesday.
The man was driving a truck when he arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing with Mexico on Feb. 25 and was pulled out for additional inspection, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.
Agents found 52 live reptiles tied up in small bags “which were concealed in the man’s jacket, pants pockets, and groin area,” the statement said.
Nine snakes and 43 horned lizards were seized. Some of the species are considered endangered, authorities said.
“Smugglers will try every possible way to try and get their product, or in this case live reptiles, across the border,” said Sidney Aki, Customs and Border Protection director of field operations in San Diego. “In this occasion, the smuggler attempted to deceive CBP officers in order to bring these animals into the US, without taking care for the health and safety of the animals.”
The man, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested.
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More Exciting Than a Hollywood Cliffhanger! Can Congress Pass a Spending Bill? Yawn!
The House of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday to pass a massive $1.5 trillion government spending bill that will fund a wide range of priorities, including delivering desperately needed aid to Ukraine and additional money to fight Covid-19.
Lawmakers must pass the 2,741-page bill ahead of a Friday deadline when government funding is set to expire in order to avert a shutdown. The House is slated to move first to approve the sweeping legislation before sending it to the Senate.
The bill, known on Capitol Hill as the omnibus, was unveiled early Wednesday morning and is the product of months of talks between negotiators to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year. It also includes $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine and $15.6 billion in Covid relief money among other provisions.
A government shutdown is not expected to take place, in part because many lawmakers are anxious to demonstrate support for Ukraine amid Russia's deadly unprovoked assault on the country.
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It Was Inevitable, But All Those Unmasked People Still Make Me a Little Nervous.
Hawaii's mask mandate will expire March 25, Gov. David Ige said Tuesday, making it the last US state to announce its face-cover requirement will be dropped.
"It's taken the entire community to get to this point -- with lowered case counts and hospitalizations," Ige said in a tweet. He added in another tweet: "If we see another surge, we will be ready to reinstitute the mask policy, if needed."
The mandate will come to an end at 11:59 p.m., on the same day Hawaii's Safe Travels program, established to slow the spread of Covid-19 through safety precautions for travelers, is set to expire.
Progress, But COVID is Still the Second-Leading Cause of Death in the US
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More Minorities Want to Be Bruins, Bears, Anteaters, and Banana Slugs
Education experts say the recent record number of 2022 applications to the University of California system — the highest in its 154-year history — points to progress in increasing the representation of students, addressing the need to boost enrollment of Latinos and other students of color.
Chicano and Latino students were the largest ethnic group of freshman applicants for the third year in a row, at 38.1 percent, a 4.1 percent increase over the previous year, according to a recent University of California report.
Applications from Black students increased by 2.8 percent over the past year, while those from Asian American students increased by 5.8 percent.
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Oops! I Did This Yesterday
Anybody who is using social media to follow the Russian invasion of Ukraine has probably come across it by now: a 10-minute video of a man who appears to be a Russian prisoner of war, rejecting his homeland’s justifications for the invasion and the misinformation campaign that undergirds it.
One version, posted Sunday morning, has racked up more than 90,000 retweets and 220,000 likes on Twitter. (We’re not linking to the video, for reasons we’ll soon get to.)
It’s merely the latest in a string of such Russian POW videos that have been disseminated far and wide in recent days, as most of the world unites behind Ukraine. And it’s kibble for the social media crowd, in that it confirms their prior beliefs — and indeed, confirms much of what we know objectively about Russian misinformation — in a compelling and seemingly heartfelt appeal.
It’s also something you should be extremely cautious about, because human rights groups say it violates international law.
The Geneva Conventions have extensive rules for prisoners of war, and among them is a prohibition on turning them into subjects of “public curiosity.”
“Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity,” the document states.
As such videos have circulated, plenty of critics have urged people to stop sharing them. The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that sharing such videos of POWs very much falls under the Geneva Conventions’ prohibition. The ICRC and other human rights groups have reiterated this repeatedly in recent days. They note that, in cases like the 10-minute soliloquy, it is nearly impossible to conclude with certainty whether the sentiments are genuine or might have involved some type of coercion — either explicit or implicit.
None of It Seems Coerced
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Welcome Home!
The Venezuelan government has freed two jailed Americans, including an oil executive imprisoned alongside colleagues for more than four years, as it seeks to improve relations with the Biden administration amid Russia's war with Ukraine, the White House announced Tuesday night.
Gustavo Cardenas was released following a secret weekend visit to Venezuela by senior Biden administration officials, the first White House trip to the county in more than two decades. Also freed was Jorge Fernandez, who was arrested last year on what the White House described as "spurious charges."
"These men are fathers who lost precious time with their children and everyone they love, and their families have suffered every day of their absence," President Joe Biden said in a statement.
The release came hours after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro signaled an interest in improving relations at a time when Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked concerns in the United States over rising gas prices. In a televised address, he appeared to indicate he was willing to accede to U.S. demands that he resume negotiations with his opponents as a first building block for any relief from U.S. sanctions that have been punishing the OPEC nation for years.
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Now Can We Get Rid of DeJoyless?
Congress on Tuesday passed legislation that would shore up the U.S. Postal Service and ensure six-day-a-week mail delivery, sending the bill to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
The long-fought postal overhaul has been years in the making and comes amid widespread complaints about mail service slowdowns. Many Americans became dependent on the Postal Service during the COVID-19 crisis, but officials have repeatedly warned that without congressional action it would run out of cash by 2024.
"The post office usually delivers for us, but today we’re going to deliver for them," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Congress mustered rare bipartisan support for the Postal Service package, dropping some of the more controversial proposals to settle on core ways to save the service and ensure its future operations. Last month, the House approved the bill, 342-92, with all Democrats and most Republicans voting for it. On Tuesday, the Senate sent it to Biden's desk on a 79-19 vote.
The Postal Service Reform Act would lift unusual budget requirements that have contributed to the Postal Service's red ink and would set in law the requirement that the mail is delivered six days a week, except in the case of federal holidays, natural disasters and a few other situations.
The bill would end a requirement that the Postal Service finance workers' health care benefits ahead of time for the next 75 years, an obligation that private companies and federal agencies do not face.
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First time we have been below 50,000 cases since July 22nd.
↓ 52.4% Cases, two-week change
↓ 29.6% Deaths, two-week change
966,279 Total confirmed deaths
New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | |
| Mar 9 | ||
| Mar 8 | 37,879 | 1,161 |
| Mar 7 | 40,433 | 1,208 |
| 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 8)
There was some rain in the Nor Cal. A little more in the ten-day.
| Percent of Average for this Date | Last Week | 2 Weeks ago | 3 Weeks ago | 9 Weeks ago | |
| Northern Sierra Precipitation | 84% (61% of full season average) | 87% (60%) | 93% (60%) | 99% (59%) | 170% |
| San Joaquin Precipitation | 74% (53%) | 76% (51%) | 80% (51%) | 86% (51%) | 170% |
| Tulare Basin Precipitation | 71% (51%) | 70% (48%) | 75% (47%) | 79% (46%) | 151% |
| Snow Water Content - North | 55% (52%) | 59% (53%) | 61% (52%) | 68% (53%) | 134% |
| Snow Water Content - Central | 59% (64%) | 58% (66%) | 71% (59%) | 75% (57%) | 148% |
| Snow Water Content - South | 60% (66%) | 54% (63%) | 67% (54%) | 74% (54%) | 158% |
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
Florida, Florida, Florida
Florida's Senate has passed a bill to ban discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity in primary schools.
Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the measure, which would bar teachers from teaching these topics to children under 10 years old.
Critics say the bill will isolate LGBT youth. Proponents say it is about empowering parents on education issues.
Activists have dubbed it the Don't Say Gay bill. It is officially known as the Parental Rights in Education Bill.
The Republican-backed legislation passed on Tuesday.
It prohibits any instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity between kindergarten and third grade - when students are roughly between five and nine years old. It also calls on school districts to avoid LGBT topics "when not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students".
Today's Tip For Murderers: Don't Bite Your Victims. Better Tip: Don't Be a Murderer
A Southern California man has been charged with stabbing to death a woman in Desert Hot Springs nearly three decades ago after DNA from bite marks and blood linked him to the killing, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Sharron Gadlin, 48, of Glendale, was arrested last Friday and is charged in connection with the April 1994 murder of Cheri Huss. Huss, 39, was stabbed several times in her apartment and also was bitten by her killer, the Riverside County district attorney’s office said in a statement.
Still a Liar for Hire
Theater of the Absurd .. and Abominable
Meanwhile, we have a much more plausible answer for why gas prices are high right now. While he was pr*sident, Donald Trump pressured the Saudis into cutting production in order to elevate the price of crude.
An April 30, 2020, Reuters story provides the context:
As the United States pressed Saudi Arabia to end its oil price war with Russia, President Donald Trump gave Saudi leaders an ultimatum.
In an April 2 phone call, Trump told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that unless the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) started cutting oil production, he would be powerless to stop lawmakers from passing legislation to withdraw U.S. troops from the kingdom, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The threat to upend a 75-year strategic alliance, which has not been previously reported, was central to the U.S. pressure campaign that led to a landmark global deal to slash oil supply as demand collapsed in the coronavirus pandemic - scoring a diplomatic victory for the White House.
Why did the Trump administration’s few “victories” all seem to help Vladimir Putin more than our own people? Since Russia produces little more than fossil fuels and foolish fossils, it had a keen interest in buoying oil prices during the recession. And unlike, say, providing basic health information to the nation’s citizens during a deadly pandemic without sounding like a drunk howler monkey getting a hot Brazilian wax on a Tilt-a-Whirl, this is a task Trump somehow managed not to fuck up. Hmm, wonder why.
Oh, and not for nothing, Trump pulled us out of the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018 because of his searing hatred for President Obama, and in the process he took millions of barrels of crude off the global market.
The Demonstration Against Something or Other Does Something or Other
After taking a single lap around the Beltway on Monday afternoon, the so-called “People’s Convoy” once again failed at its goal of being a “huge pain” for the D.C. metro area. After their short-lived Sunday effort failed, on Monday morning, the anti-vaccine mandate trucker convoy’s organizer Brian Brase pledged to “escalate” the group’s tactics, calling on the truckers to take up two entire Beltway lanes. But that heightened plan did not come to fruition. Instead, the truckers and a bevy of upside-down American flag-bearing support vehicles quickly became separated for the second day in a row. Adding insult to injury, near the Temple Hills and Landover exits, both a semi-truck and pickup truck in the convoy had broken down. A white pickup truck with its hood flipped open caused traffic to reduce to stop-and-go on the outer loop up to the Greenbelt area around 3 p.m. on Monday. Nevertheless, organizers remained optimistic, pledging on Telegram, “We will hold the line!” as the group remained split over whether they should enter into Washington, D.C. proper.
Even a Fox "News" Reporter Doesn't Buy It.
Is Prince John the Ruler of Covfefe?
Maybe They Were the Same People Hugging Capital Police in January 6th
Former president Donald Trump has offered an alternative reality of what occurred at the Capitol on Jan. 6 when a mob of his supporters stormed the building, violently attacking law enforcement officers who tried to stop them.
Trump, who encouraged his supporters to fight against the confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory by Congress and to march to the Capitol, told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Thursday night that the rioters posed “zero threat.”
“Right from the start, it was zero threat,” he said. “Look, they went in — they shouldn’t have done it — some of them went in, and they’re hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know? They had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in, and they walked out.”
Lock Her Up!
Federal prosecutors charged a dual U.S.-Russian citizen Tuesday with illegally acting as an agent of the Russian government in the United States.
In a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in New York, the Justice Department said Elena Branson, also known as Elena Chernykh, had worked as an illegal Russian agent “to spread Russia interests, including through the lobbying of U.S. Government officials in favor of Russian policy positions” for almost a decade.
"Throughout, Branson has received funding and direction from the Russian Government, including from the Russian Embassy in the United States, and received tasking from high-level Russian Government officials and Russian Government-run organizations," the filing said.
QANON Ron and Cancun Ted? Of Course!
Trucker protesters against COVID vaccine mandates and restrictions met Tuesday with a pair of Republican lawmakers for two hours on Capitol Hill.
Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Ted Cruz of Texas spoke with a small group of protesters from "The People's Convoy," who said they won't end their now three-day long circuit along the D.C. beltway -- traveling around 55-60 miles per hour along the often congested corridors of Maryland and Virginia -- until they sit down with other members of Congress and their demands for the rollbacks of a national state of emergency and vaccine mandates are met.
It's So Easy to Forget to Mention Ukraine.
Beijing appeared to neglect Kyiv on Tuesday as President Xi Jinping backed a postwar settlement between the West and Russia but failed to mention Ukraine.
This combination of photographs shows, left to right, President of China Xi Jinping, President of France Emmanuel Macron, and Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz. The three leaders held a teleconference call on March 8, 2022, to discuss Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Xi spoke virtually with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and described the developments in Ukraine as "worrisome," according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry readout of the call. China still isn't calling Russian President Vladimir Putin's military operation an "invasion," but the Chinese leader lamented "the outbreak of war again on the European continent."
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
Don't Mess With AOC
"These are the Facts"
In an address to the American people on Tuesday morning, Biden announced that the U.S. would cease to purchase Russian oil. That's a move that has had bipartisan support in Congress. But he still had to debunk the lies that the right has been telling about oil production in the U.S. Which he did succinctly and, unlike the right, factually (video below):
"It's simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production. That’s simply not true. Even amid the pandemic, companies in the United States pumped more oil during my first year in office than they did during my predecessor’s first year. We’re approaching record levels of oil and gas production in the United States, and we’re on track to set a record of oil production next year.
"In the United States, 90 percent of onshore oil production takes place on land that isn’t owned by the federal government. And of the remaining 10 percent that occurs on federal land, the oil and gas industry has millions of acres leased. They have 9,000 permits to drill now. They could be drilling right now, yesterday, last week, last year. They have 9,000 to drill onshore that are already approved. Let me be clear. They are not using them for production now. That's their decision, These are the facts."
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Invasions Have Consequences
There is Now a No-Fry Zone in Russia
McDonald’s, an icon of post-Soviet Russia, has said it will temporarily close all its 847 restaurants in the country in a move commentators described as “hugely symbolic.”
The fast-food chain, the latest Western company to shutter operations in the country after its troops invaded Ukraine, said it would go on paying salaries to its 62,000 employees in Russia.
Because of its large size and global reach, the chain is often copied by other companies if it takes a stance on an issue or makes a major operational change.
The Big Mac became available in Russia on Jan. 31, 1990, when the opening of the first McDonald’s in the final months of the Soviet Union drew international attention.
That day over 30,000 people queued around the block for a first taste of U.S. fast food, representing the thawing of Cold War tensions and an increasing appetite among young people for a slice of Americana.
Maybe They Can Live Without special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun, but no Diet Coke?
Consumer giants including McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Starbucks have joined the list of firms halting business in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.
McDonald's said it was temporarily closing its roughly 850 restaurants in Russia, while Starbucks also said its 100 coffee shops would shut.
On Wednesday, Heineken stopped beer production and sales in Russia.
And Mothercare said all business in Russia, which represents 20% to 25% of its global sales, had been stopped.
The moves by McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Starbucks come after mounting pressure on companies to act over the war in Ukraine. All three firms said they would continue to pay their staff.
Anna MacDonald, a fund manager at Amati Global Investors, told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme that firms who were joining the wave of firms leaving Russia were doing so because "shareholders and wider stakeholders wouldn't stand for continued generation of revenues and profits" from the country,
"It was affecting their share prices and the feeling was that it was just utterly inappropriate to continue to do so," she said.
Who to Blame? It's All Putin's Default
Russia will soon be unable to pay its debts, according to a leading credit ratings agency.
Fitch Ratings downgraded its view of the country's government debt, warning a default is "imminent".
The move comes amid increasing international sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
A credit rating is intended to help investors understand the level of risk they face in buying a country's debt - or bonds.
A low rating means the chances of not getting repaid is considered to be high - and so an investor will charge more to lend to that country.
This week, Moscow itself said its bond payments may be affected by sanctions.
How Much Would You Pay to Rescue Your Family?
Wanted: multilingual former soldiers willing to covertly head into Ukraine for the handsome sum of up to $2,000 (£1,523) per day - plus bonus - to help rescue families from an increasingly grim conflict.
It sounds ripped from the script of an action movie, but the job advert is real - taken from an employment website, Silent Professionals, for those working in the private military and security industry.
And, insiders say, demand is growing. Amid a gut-wrenching war in Ukraine, US and European private contractors say they are increasingly eying opportunities, ranging from 'extraction' missions to helping with logistics.
There is "a frenzy in the market" for private contractors in Ukraine today, said Robert Young Pelton, a Canadian American author and expert on private military companies (PMCs).
But the demand for paid security workers - many of them former soldiers with ability to fight and kill - in the midst of a war leaves plenty of room for mistakes, and the potential for bedlam.
Even as Westerns volunteers are joining the fight in Ukraine, for which they can expect to be paid the same as their Ukrainian counterparts, money is being offered by private interests for security services like the one advertised on Silent Professionals.
The recruitment platform would not say who it was advertising for, but according to Mr Pelton, contractors are being hired for between $30,000 and $6m to help remove people from Ukraine. The higher-end figure is for whole groups of families wanting to leave with their assets, he said.
Are They Going to Use This as a Weapon?
Ukrainian authorities say the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, has been knocked off the power grid. Emergency generators are now supplying backup power.
The state communications agency says the outage could put systems for cooling nuclear material at risk.
The cause of the damage to the power line serving Chernobyl was not immediately clear, but it comes amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The site has been under control of Russian troops since last week.
Dollars Are A (Russian) Girls Best Friend
As it scrambles to keep the ruble’s value from plummeting further, Russia’s central bank on Wednesday announced that it is prohibiting citizens from using rubles to buy dollars and other hard currencies for the next six months.
“Banks will not sell hard currency to citizens during the period of the temporary order,” the central bank said in a statement posted to its website after midnight Moscow time. The order is to expire Sept. 9.
The central bank said it also will limit to $10,000 the amount of U.S. dollars that clients can withdraw from hard-currency accounts at Russian banks. Anyone wanting to withdraw more than that from a hard-currency account will have to take the balance in rubles, said the central bank, which is known as the Bank of Russia.
The measures are designed to prevent Russians from making a run for dollars as the ruble plummets to fresh lows in the wake of Western economic sanctions, which have limited the central bank’s access to its hard currency reserves.
We Are About to Have 100 More Satisfied Vlad the Invader Supporters
European Union governments are preparing a new round of travel bans and asset freezes on some 100 Russians over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and a decision could come later on Wednesday, the EU's top diplomat said.
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Insurrections Have Consequences, Too.
Lock Him Up!
A jury in Washington, DC, on Tuesday found January 6 rioter Guy Reffitt guilty of all five charges he faced related to the US Capitol attack, in the pivotal outcome of the first federal trial related to the riot.
Reffitt, a Texas Three Percenter and supporter of then-President Donald Trump when he went to the Capitol on January 6, was charged with five counts -- wanting to obstruct the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election, transporting guns into DC, carrying a Smith & Wesson handgun onto the restricted grounds of the Capitol, interfering with Capitol Police protecting the Upper West Terrace and obstructing justice by threatening his son and daughter when he returned to Texas.
The jury of six men and six women in DC's federal court deliberated for just under four hours Tuesday.
Reffitt sat very still, then sipped water as the verdict was read. His wife, Nicole, who had watched each day of the trial with some of her children, did not make it into the courtroom in time to watch it being read.
The maximum sentence for the most severe of Reffitt's charges -- obstruction of Congress and obstruction of justice -- is 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 8.
The Saudis Don't Give a Sheik About Us
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries of which Saudi Arabia and the UAE are members, in alliance with Russia, wants to keep a cap on oil production, one factor that has caused oil prices to soar the past year. In an effort to keep a lid on rising oil prices, President Biden wants Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production to fill the gap that will be created by the U.S. ban imposed on Russian oil imports because of President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
But Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the U.A.E.’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan have recently turned down White House requests to speak with the president. They have complaints about how the U.S. treats them and are unhappy with its Gulf policy. They did, however, speak on the phone with Putin. The Wall Street Journal reports tonight:
The Saudis have signaled that their relationship with Washington has deteriorated under the Biden administration, and they want more support for their intervention in Yemen’s civil war, help with their own civilian nuclear program as Iran’s moves ahead, and legal immunity for Prince Mohammed in the U.S., Saudi officials said. The crown prince faces multiple lawsuits in the U.S., including over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The Emiratis share Saudi concerns about the restrained U.S. response to recent missile strikes by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen against the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, officials said. Both governments are also concerned about the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, which doesn’t address other security concerns of theirs and has entered the final stages of negotiations in recent weeks.
The Man Can't Stop Assaulting Police
John Daniel Andries once maintained Presidential Helicopter “Marine One”. He was arrested on February 4, 2021 for his participation in the Capitol Riot. Two weeks ago he got himself into more trouble...
On Friday, February 25, 2022, at approximately 11:35 p.m., deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded to Action Lounge and Billiards in Leonardtown for a reported threats call.
Police arrived at the scene and were speaking with the caller, when an adult male, later identified as John Daniel Andries, 35, of Piney Point, was removed from the establishment by security.
The deputies advised Andries that he would not be able to re-enter the establishment and would have to leave, Andries then attempted to open the door back up and repeatedly stated that he wanted to go back inside and was pulling on the door handle. Police then told Andries that he would be able to leave on his own or he would be coming with them, Andries then poked Sgt. Fleenor in the chest, and was placed in handcuffs. Andries then refused to allow police to take him to their patrol vehicle, and sat down on the ground, forcing them to drag him to the patrol vehicle, once at the patrol vehicle, Andries refused to sit in the vehicle and repeatedly kicked Sgt. Fleenor as they attempted to place his legs inside the vehicle.
He was charged with two counts of felony assault (one on a cop), two counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and one count of resisting arrest…
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Lies Have Consequences, Too
A New York state judge on Tuesday said Smartmatic can pursue its $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit claiming that Fox News Network, Rudolph Giuliani and others falsely accused the electronic voting systems maker of helping rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election to favor Democrat Joe Biden.
Justice David Cohen of New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan rejected bids by Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corp, anchor Maria Bartiromo and former anchor Lou Dobbs to dismiss Smartmatic's claims against them.
Cohen also said Smartmatic can pursue some claims against Giuliani, who worked as a lawyer for former Republican President Donald Trump. He dismissed all claims against Fox host Jeanine Pirro and former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.
But the judge said an alleged misstatement by Pirro was not defamatory and that he lacked jurisdiction to consider claims against Powell.
Another technology provider, Dominion Voting Systems, has filed similar litigation against various defendants.
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He Didn't Have Ants in His Pants, But ...
A man who tried to slither past U.S. border agents in California had 52 lizards and snakes hidden in his clothing, authorities said Tuesday.
The man was driving a truck when he arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing with Mexico on Feb. 25 and was pulled out for additional inspection, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.
Agents found 52 live reptiles tied up in small bags “which were concealed in the man’s jacket, pants pockets, and groin area,” the statement said.
Nine snakes and 43 horned lizards were seized. Some of the species are considered endangered, authorities said.
“Smugglers will try every possible way to try and get their product, or in this case live reptiles, across the border,” said Sidney Aki, Customs and Border Protection director of field operations in San Diego. “In this occasion, the smuggler attempted to deceive CBP officers in order to bring these animals into the US, without taking care for the health and safety of the animals.”
The man, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested.
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More Exciting Than a Hollywood Cliffhanger! Can Congress Pass a Spending Bill? Yawn!
The House of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday to pass a massive $1.5 trillion government spending bill that will fund a wide range of priorities, including delivering desperately needed aid to Ukraine and additional money to fight Covid-19.
Lawmakers must pass the 2,741-page bill ahead of a Friday deadline when government funding is set to expire in order to avert a shutdown. The House is slated to move first to approve the sweeping legislation before sending it to the Senate.
The bill, known on Capitol Hill as the omnibus, was unveiled early Wednesday morning and is the product of months of talks between negotiators to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year. It also includes $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine and $15.6 billion in Covid relief money among other provisions.
A government shutdown is not expected to take place, in part because many lawmakers are anxious to demonstrate support for Ukraine amid Russia's deadly unprovoked assault on the country.
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It Was Inevitable, But All Those Unmasked People Still Make Me a Little Nervous.
Hawaii's mask mandate will expire March 25, Gov. David Ige said Tuesday, making it the last US state to announce its face-cover requirement will be dropped.
"It's taken the entire community to get to this point -- with lowered case counts and hospitalizations," Ige said in a tweet. He added in another tweet: "If we see another surge, we will be ready to reinstitute the mask policy, if needed."
The mandate will come to an end at 11:59 p.m., on the same day Hawaii's Safe Travels program, established to slow the spread of Covid-19 through safety precautions for travelers, is set to expire.
Progress, But COVID is Still the Second-Leading Cause of Death in the US
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More Minorities Want to Be Bruins, Bears, Anteaters, and Banana Slugs
Education experts say the recent record number of 2022 applications to the University of California system — the highest in its 154-year history — points to progress in increasing the representation of students, addressing the need to boost enrollment of Latinos and other students of color.
Chicano and Latino students were the largest ethnic group of freshman applicants for the third year in a row, at 38.1 percent, a 4.1 percent increase over the previous year, according to a recent University of California report.
Applications from Black students increased by 2.8 percent over the past year, while those from Asian American students increased by 5.8 percent.
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Oops! I Did This Yesterday
Anybody who is using social media to follow the Russian invasion of Ukraine has probably come across it by now: a 10-minute video of a man who appears to be a Russian prisoner of war, rejecting his homeland’s justifications for the invasion and the misinformation campaign that undergirds it.
One version, posted Sunday morning, has racked up more than 90,000 retweets and 220,000 likes on Twitter. (We’re not linking to the video, for reasons we’ll soon get to.)
It’s merely the latest in a string of such Russian POW videos that have been disseminated far and wide in recent days, as most of the world unites behind Ukraine. And it’s kibble for the social media crowd, in that it confirms their prior beliefs — and indeed, confirms much of what we know objectively about Russian misinformation — in a compelling and seemingly heartfelt appeal.
It’s also something you should be extremely cautious about, because human rights groups say it violates international law.
The Geneva Conventions have extensive rules for prisoners of war, and among them is a prohibition on turning them into subjects of “public curiosity.”
“Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity,” the document states.
As such videos have circulated, plenty of critics have urged people to stop sharing them. The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that sharing such videos of POWs very much falls under the Geneva Conventions’ prohibition. The ICRC and other human rights groups have reiterated this repeatedly in recent days. They note that, in cases like the 10-minute soliloquy, it is nearly impossible to conclude with certainty whether the sentiments are genuine or might have involved some type of coercion — either explicit or implicit.
None of It Seems Coerced
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Welcome Home!
The Venezuelan government has freed two jailed Americans, including an oil executive imprisoned alongside colleagues for more than four years, as it seeks to improve relations with the Biden administration amid Russia's war with Ukraine, the White House announced Tuesday night.
Gustavo Cardenas was released following a secret weekend visit to Venezuela by senior Biden administration officials, the first White House trip to the county in more than two decades. Also freed was Jorge Fernandez, who was arrested last year on what the White House described as "spurious charges."
"These men are fathers who lost precious time with their children and everyone they love, and their families have suffered every day of their absence," President Joe Biden said in a statement.
The release came hours after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro signaled an interest in improving relations at a time when Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked concerns in the United States over rising gas prices. In a televised address, he appeared to indicate he was willing to accede to U.S. demands that he resume negotiations with his opponents as a first building block for any relief from U.S. sanctions that have been punishing the OPEC nation for years.
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Now Can We Get Rid of DeJoyless?
Congress on Tuesday passed legislation that would shore up the U.S. Postal Service and ensure six-day-a-week mail delivery, sending the bill to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
The long-fought postal overhaul has been years in the making and comes amid widespread complaints about mail service slowdowns. Many Americans became dependent on the Postal Service during the COVID-19 crisis, but officials have repeatedly warned that without congressional action it would run out of cash by 2024.
"The post office usually delivers for us, but today we’re going to deliver for them," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Congress mustered rare bipartisan support for the Postal Service package, dropping some of the more controversial proposals to settle on core ways to save the service and ensure its future operations. Last month, the House approved the bill, 342-92, with all Democrats and most Republicans voting for it. On Tuesday, the Senate sent it to Biden's desk on a 79-19 vote.
The Postal Service Reform Act would lift unusual budget requirements that have contributed to the Postal Service's red ink and would set in law the requirement that the mail is delivered six days a week, except in the case of federal holidays, natural disasters and a few other situations.
The bill would end a requirement that the Postal Service finance workers' health care benefits ahead of time for the next 75 years, an obligation that private companies and federal agencies do not face.
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