Post by mhbruin on Mar 28, 2022 10:31:51 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 560 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
↓ 18.0% Cases, two-week change
↓ 39.4% Deaths, two-week change
981,852 Total confirmed deaths
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California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday March 22)
There was some rain in the Nor Cal. A little more in the ten-day.
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The Last Time Daily Deaths Were Below 700 was August of Last Year
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
Who Would Want to Poison Peace Negotiators? Any Guesses?
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators reportedly suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning when they met to discuss peace negotiations earlier this month, several news sources report.
Abramovich, along with another Russian entrepreneur, had taken part in the negotiations alongside Crimean Tatar lawmaker Rustem Umerov.
Three people who attended the meeting in Kyiv from 3 to 4 March felt initial symptoms consistent with poisoning with chemical weapons, it has been reported.
The Wall Street Journal reported that they had experienced red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands - however, they were said to have since improved, with their lives not in danger.
People familiar with the matter blamed the suspected attack on hardliners in Moscow who they said wanted to sabotage talks to end the war.
A person close to Abramovich said it wasn't clear who had targeted the group and western experts who looked into the incident said it was hard to determine whether the symptoms were caused by a chemical or biological agent or by some sort of electromagnetic-radiation attack.
Breaking Up Cock Fights is Good, But, ....
At least 19 people have been killed in an armed attack in the state of Michoacán, in western Mexico, officials say.
Gunmen swooped down on an illegal cockfighting pit in the community of Las Tinajas and opened fire, local media report.
The motive behind the attack is not yet clear but a number of criminal gangs operate in the region.
Bloody attacks on gatherings of rivals have become increasingly common.
In recent months, gunmen in various regions of Mexico have targeted funerals and wakes as well as bars and clubs in their attempt to take out as many of their rivals at one time as they can.
Forensic experts said all the victims in Las Tinajas - 16 men and three women - had been killed by gunshots. A number of people have also been injured.
Maybe the Judge Need to Tell the New York DA That Previous Guy is a Criminal.
A federal judge said Monday that former President Donald Trump and right-wing attorney John Eastman may have been planning a crime as they sought to disrupt the January 6 congressional certification of the presidential election.
"Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021," Judge David Carter wrote Monday.
Carter, a federal judge in California, ordered Eastman to turn over 101 emails from around January 6, 2021, that he has tried to keep secret from the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack.
Carter's reasoning is a startling acknowledgment by a federal court that Trump's interest in overturning the election could be considered criminal.
Trump has not been charged with any crime nor has Eastman.
It's Not Just His Hands That Are Small
Saturday evening, former failed President Trump was in Commerce, Georgia, for a rally. Trump’s mouthpiece claimed the crowd was “massive,” and that the “Fake News Media” didn’t show it. But local reporters from Georgia say the gathering was scant and similar to others held across the state recently.
Greg Bluestein, a politics reporter from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tweeted: “This is the smallest crowd I’ve seen at a rally of his in Georgia since he won the 2016 election—significantly smaller than the crowd in Perry [Georgia] in September.”
Georgia Public Broadcasting reporter Stephen Fowler tweeted: “It’s almost time for Trump to speak here in Georgia and there’s probably no more than 5,000 people here, the smallest Trump rally I’ve ever covered here. Way less than the Perry rally in 2021 (closer to 10k).”
Previous Guy Tells Them Not To Vote
"David Perdue, who is a wonderful man, and incredible family, and really got screwed by Kemp, is the only candidate in this race who can beat Stacey 'the hoax' Abrams this November. And you know the reason for that is because Trump voters — MAGA — Trump voters will not go out and vote for Kemp. They're not going to vote. And let's say it's gonna be a close election. I happen to think that Georgia is a very red state. I think it's red as hell"
Trump is effectively encouraging a voter boycott by Trumpian Republicans if his anointed candidate loses in the GOP primary.
Cancun Cruz Was Part of the Plot
Trump called Ted Cruz on December 8, 2020, to ask him to argue a lawsuit trying to overturn the election before the Supreme Court, and Cruz agreed. Cruz never got that chance, because the Supreme Court slapped down multiple such lawsuits. But in addition to pledging to argue what would have been his tenth case before the court, Cruz helped Team Trump chart the January 6 plan for members of Congress to try to overturn the election from within the Capitol.
Cruz, it turns out, is a longtime friend of John Eastman, the right-wing lawyer who pushed the idea that Mike Pence could refuse to certify the election. The two clerked together for then-U.S. Appeals Court Judge Michael Luttig—who Cruz has described as being “like a father to me”—and remained friends, to whatever extent Cruz has friends. Eastman’s plan for Pence and Cruz’s plan for the Senate worked together, with Eastman telling Pence he had the right to refuse to certify and Cruz offering up a proposal for senators to object to certifying state election results in favor of a 10-day delay for an “audit”—in translation, a chance for Republican state legislatures to find excuses to reject the will of the voters and throw their states behind Trump.
At the same time, Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, in concert with the White House, was trying to get the acting attorney general to urge state legislatures to do just that. And let’s not forget that the wife of a Supreme Court justice was texting the White House chief of staff about the lawsuits trying to overturn the election.
Trump’s effort to stay in power despite a resounding electoral loss, in other words, wasn’t just Trump individually being a sore loser. It didn’t just involve his staff. It was threaded throughout the Republican Party, involving not just outside lawyers like Eastman but high-profile senators like Cruz.
Praying for Peace While the Bombs Rain Down is Stupid. This is About Congress, not Ukraine.
Professional Democrats Do Not Comprehend What They Are Facing
What Republicans put Jackson through today was appalling. The QAnon Reddit smear was appalling, the relentless shouting that she should answer questions she had answered multiple times was appalling, the snide insinuations that maybe she wasn’t bothered by violent child pornography because she’s OK with it was appalling. To be subject to an all-out inquisition about not having clairvoyance about which sex offenders would reoffend by some of the very same people who invited and justified the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol beggared belief.
The other recent Republican propaganda stream has been to accuse Democrats of supporting ‘grooming’ of children by gay people–a vile and pernicious smear–because Democrats are opposing “don’t say gay” (in schools) bills.
These might not seem related, but they’re both part of an attempt to link Democrats with pedophilia and child abuse. While this is red meat for the significant Q-Anon wing of the Republican Party, it is also an attempt to completely smear Democrats in the most vile way. Yet professional Democrats do nothing. Meanwhile, when a Republican senator says the Supreme Court was wrong to legalize interracial marriage, professional Democrats are quiet.
Professional Democrats suck at their jobs.
The QOP Thinks Jesus Hates Free Elections
Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows texted to Ginni Thomas that the “King of Kings” would ultimately “triumph” in the quest to overturn the election, which Meadows characterized as “a fight of good versus evil.” Thomas, a longtime conservative activist, replied: “Thank you!! Needed that!”
This sparked serious consternation on “Morning Joe,” with host Joe Scarborough delivering an emotional diatribe about it. “Think about the sickness of this,” Scarborough said Friday. “He summons the name of Jesus Christ for his help in overturning American democracy!”
The sentiment is understandable. But what this level of shock really indicates is this: We haven’t paid enough attention to the role of right-wing Christian nationalism in driving Trump’s effort to destroy our political order, and in the abandonment of democracy among some on the right more broadly.
More on Qinny Thomas
It's In the Plan! It's In the Plan!
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
I Couldn't Find One
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Invasions Have Consequences
He is Turning Russia Into North Korea, the Most Isolated Nation on Earth.
Russia is developing measures to restrict entry into country for nationals of "unfriendly" countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says.
Remember Radio Free Europe?
The Kremlin tries to stifle Radio Free Europe — and its audience surges
As the U.S.-funded broadcaster is forced to shut most of its Russian operations, its Web traffic indicates that Russian people are eagerly consuming its stories
But the story didn’t end there. The Russian people are searching for information, however they can. The proof is in the numbers,[Jamie Fly, the CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] told me.
In the first three weeks after the invasion, page views from Russia to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty sites skyrocketed to 26 million, more than 50 percent more than an earlier corresponding period. Video views from Russia to their YouTube channels more than tripled to 237 million. And this was happening despite sites being blocked within Russia.
“Despite the Kremlin pressure, people are still hungry for the truth,” Fly told me. “To some extent, they see through the propaganda, and they want to explore broader sources of information.”
They Didn't Do This at a Brisk Tempo.
Finland's national railway operator said on Friday it would suspend services between Helsinki and St. Petersburg in Russia on Monday, closing the rail link between Russia and the European Union.
VR, the operator, said it had been told by the Finnish state it was no longer appropriate to run the service, known as the Allegro, in light of sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
WTF Are You Going to Do With Million-Dollar Watches, Vlad? Sell them at a Russian Flea Market?
Russian officials have reportedly confiscated millions of dollars worth of luxury Audemars Piguet watches.
The Swiss timepieces were seized from a shop by security service agents on Tuesday for allegedly violating customs rules, Swiss media report.
It happened just days after Switzerland abandoned its traditional neutrality to join Western countries in imposing sanctions against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
There is no Swiss confirmation.
However, the government has said Switzerland's new luxury export ban has been causing "uncertainties" for some businesses.
Watches from Audemars Piguet can cost more than £700,000 ($921,000) a piece. The company has not responded to a BBC request for comment.
Let Them Drink Vodka
European brewers Heineken and Carlsberg said Monday they will exit the Russian market following reviews of their operations triggered by the invasion of Ukraine.
Denmark's Carlsberg, which has 8,400 employees in Russia, said it was seeking a "full disposal" of its business but would maintain operations at a reduced level "to sustain the livelihoods of these employees and their families" until the sale was complete.
Not-So-Great Expectations
The Kremlin tamped down expectations Monday that face-to-face talks with Ukraine negotiators scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday would result in a deal to end Russia's deadly, destructive invasion.
"Regrettably, we cannot say there have been any significant achievements or breakthroughs so far," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday. But he said the face-to-face meeting in Turkey could allow for "more focused, tighter and meaningful" talks.
The talks come as the mayor of Mariupol called for evacuation of the remaining 160,000 residents, saying the city is virtually without food, water, power and other supplies.
The Syrian Playbook
As Russian missiles bombard Ukrainian cities and the U.S. secretary of state has called Russia's actions in Ukraine "war crimes," an eyewitness to crimes against humanity in Syria says he fears for the Ukrainian people because he knows what the Russian president is capable of. He saw it in his own country.
"I see the news coming out of Ukraine, my heart hurts because I know what Russia has done in Ukraine — what it can do — because I know what it's done in Syria," said one Syrian eyewitness, who spoke with CBS News' investigative unit in his first U.S. television interview.
The eyewitness' account is echoed by Stephen Rapp, a former U.S. ambassador at large for war crimes. Rapp told CBS News that Russian President Vladimir Putin crafted his Ukraine playbook years ago in Syria, when his longtime ally President Bashar Al-Assad cracked down on the pro-democracy movement. More than 250,000 civilians have died in the more than decadelong, brutal Syrian civil war that followed the Arab Spring movement in 2011.
Eyewitnesses to Syrian atrocities fear for Ukraine because they know what Putin is capable of
"When it looked like Assad was going to be overthrown by his own people, the Russians came all in and joined in the bombardment of hospitals and civilian neighborhoods," Rapp said.
With Russia's support, Assad remains in power amid allegations of widespread crimes against humanity.
"We have to recognize the critical role that Russia played in the crimes committed by the Assad regime and crimes, so horrendous that the UN stopped counting the dead at 400,000 years ago," Rapp said. (The last sentence is poorly written. It is 400,000 dead, not 400,000 years.)
"That Mine Isn't Mine." "Well, It's Not Mine."
Turkey and Romania have scrambled in recent days to neutralize potentially explosive mines amid concerns that the weapons may be drifting across the Black Sea from Ukraine’s shores toward neighboring countries.
Defense ministries for both countries, in separate announcements Monday, said they had dispatched their naval forces to defuse mines of unknown origin that appeared near their coasts.
A mine that appeared Monday was the second reported in the waters near Turkey in three days. Turkey’s government had said previously that it was in contact with both Moscow and Kyiv about the weapons, but did not specify which side, if either, was responsible for the mines.
Zelensky offers diplomatic opening as peace talks with Russia to resume in Turkey
Bulgaria’s government last week warned people living in three districts near its Black Sea coast to beware of possible drifting mines, according to local media reports.
The scramble comes after Russia’s intelligence service, the FSB, claimed on March 19 that poor weather had caused more than 400 naval mines to become disconnected from the cables that were anchoring them, and warned that the mines were “drifting freely in the western part of the Black Sea,” which includes the territorial waters of Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Ukraine at the time dismissed the assertion as untrue and politically motivated. “This is complete disinformation from the Russian side,” Viktor Vyshnov, deputy head of Ukraine’s Maritime Administration, told Reuters. “This was done to justify the closure of these districts of the Black Sea under so-called ‘danger of mines.’ ” The Washington Post was not able to independently verify either side’s claim.
Rubles Rub Them the Wrong Way
The Group of Seven major economies have agreed to reject Moscow’s demand to pay for Russian natural gas exports in rubles, the German energy minister said Monday.
Robert Habeck told reporters that “all G-7 ministers agreed completely that this (would be) a one-sided and clear breach of the existing contracts” for natural gas, which is used to heat homes, generate electricity and power industry.
He said officials from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada met Friday to coordinate natural and that European Union representatives also were present.
Jumping Jack Flash, It's the Gas, Gas, Gas.
Ukraine’s natural gas utility Naftogaz is caught in a complex geopolitical game. Even as Russia rains missiles onto Ukraine, it is still sending approximately 30 percent of the gas it sells in Europe through the country it has invaded. And although Ukraine’s leaders have called for the continent to immediately halt imports of Russian gas, they are doing nothing to interfere with the gas flowing through pipelines at a rate of 40 billion cubic meters a year to customers including Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
“It’s a very politically sensitive topic discussed at the highest political levels,” Vitrenko said. “We’re trying to persuade our partners in the European Union that they should reduce any purchases of Russian gas and oil or at least freeze all the money that Russia gets for the exports of energy.”
He said the money owed to Russia could go into escrow accounts.
If Ukraine took the initiative unilaterally and stopped the transit of natural gas supplies from Russia, Vitrenko said, the gas supplies would be diverted to other pipelines and make it to Europe anyway. That, he added, could make Ukraine even more vulnerable to Russian bombs.
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Did You Melt Your Oscar, Sean Penn?
Just asking.
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Wait Until Joe Manchin Gets Through With This.
President Joe Biden's fiscal 2023 budget proposal increases additional military spending as Russia's invasion of Ukraine rages on, and seeks tighter gun regulation and a new tax provision targeting billionaires.
The budge proposal includes $6.9 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative, NATO and countering Russian aggression to support Ukraine, among other partners.
The White House projects the budget proposal would reduce the federal deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next decade.
Congress takes the president's recommendations and crafts their own budget, often ignoring proposals that come from the White House.
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How Well Did Sweden's Herd Immunity Strategy Work?
How Well Did China's "Zero COVID" Strategy Work?"
China’s National Health Commission reported 3,507 new local Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, up from 1,337 on Monday.
The current outbreak appears to be largely centered around the northeastern city of Jilin, which reported 2,601 cases on Monday.
However, cases have also been reported in other parts of China including major urban centers like Shanghai and the capital Beijing.
In the first two weeks of March, China reported more than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases, making this the worst outbreak the country has faced since Wuhan in 2020.
The current outbreak has challenged China’s ‘dynamic zero-Covid’ strategy that aims to prevent large-scale spread of the virus by squashing emerging clusters of cases through swift lockdowns and mass testing. The ongoing surge in cases has been attributed to the so-called “stealth omicron” variant also known as the BA.2 sub-variant. This sub-variant has been reported to spread faster than earlier omicron subvariants, which were significantly faster spreading that other variants like delta. BA.2 has been called the “stealth variant” because it is missing several mutations present on other omicron subvariants, making it harder to distinguish from older variants using PCR tests.
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Then They Can Wait for Molasses Merrick to Do Something
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has wielded former U.S. trade adviser Peter Navarro’s own boast about overthrowing the 2020 election to make the case for holding him in contempt of Congress.
While Navarro has freely explained his aim and some of his activities in support of Donald Trump’s election fraud claims in television interviews and in his own book, he has ignored a subpoena to testify about them before the committee, claiming executive privilege.
In a 34-page report released on Sunday, the committee repeats its argument that executive privilege does not apply, because overturning a legitimate election was not one of Navarro’s official duties in the White House. The committee asserts that Navarro and fellow Trump ally and subpoena scofflaw Dan Scavino should be held in contempt of Congress for their refusal to testify.
The committee accuses Scavino in the report of working with Trump to spread “false information” on social media concerning election fraud, and “recruited a crowd” to Washington on the day of the riot. The committee believes Scavino was with Trump in the hours before the insurrection when plans were discussed to “challenge, disrupt, or impede the official congressional proceedings,” the report states.
The full committee will consider Monday whether to recommend contempt charges for both men to the House, according to the report. The House would then vote whether to refer the charge to the Justice Department for prosecution. Contempt of Congress carries a penalty of up to a $100,000 fine, and up to a year in prison.
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It's the 1950's All Over Again
Russia’s war on Ukraine has most Americans at least somewhat worried that the U.S. will be drawn directly into the conflict and could be targeted with nuclear weapons, with a new poll reflecting a level of anxiety that has echoes of the Cold War era.
Close to half of Americans say they are very concerned that Russia would directly target the U.S. with nuclear weapons, and an additional 3 in 10 are somewhat concerned about that, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Russian President Vladimir Putin placed his country’s nuclear forces on high alert shortly after the Feb. 24 invasion.
Roughly 9 in 10 Americans are at least somewhat concerned that Putin might use a nuclear weapon against Ukraine, including about 6 in 10 who are very concerned.
Remember the Kingston Trio?
They're rioting in Africa
They're starving in Spain
There's hurricanes in Florida
And Texas needs rain
The whole world is festering
With unhappy souls
The French hate the Germans
The Germans hate the Poles
Italians hate Yugoslavs
South Africans hate the Dutch
And I don't like
Anybody very much
But we can be tranquil
And thankful and proud
For man's been endowed
With a mushroom shaped cloud
And we know for certain
That some lovely day
Someone will set the spark off
And we will all be blown away
They're rioting in Africa
There's strife in Iran
What nature doesn't do to us
Will be done by our fellow man
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This Sounds Good on the Surface, But The Devil's in the Details.
Walmart will no longer sell cigarettes in some of its stores though tobacco sales can be a significant revenue generator.
Wall Street Journal was the first to report the development Monday. It noted some stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico were on the list, citing anonymous sources and store visits.
Walmart is not the first national retail chain to cut off cigarette sales even on a trial basis, but it is the largest.
Target ended cigarette sales in 1996 and the drugstore chain CVS Health did the same in 2014.
CVS Health sales in areas outside the pharmacy fell for a few quarters after it pulled tobacco products, and the company had predicted that missing tobacco products would hurt annual earnings by 7 to 8 cents per share.
Overall revenue has grown every year at CVS, however, after a number of acquisitions and changes to its stores bolstered the company’s health care offerings. CVS Health bought the health insurer Aetna in 2017.
Decisions about removing cigarettes at Walmart will be made on a store-by-store basis according to the business and particular market, the company said Monday.
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China Takes Half Measures
China's biggest and wealthiest city, Shanghai, is shutting down amid a surge of new COVID-19 cases. The 25 million residents of China's financial capital will be locked down in two stages, starting with the eastern half, which falls under the restrictions from Monday for five days. The lockdown will then shift to the other half of the city.
Streets in the normally bustling metropolis were deserted Monday as the lockdown took effect and all of its 25 million residents were told to line up for COVID tests.
The two-phase lockdown is China's biggest coronavirus closure since the city of Wuhan — believed to be the origin of the pandemic — was shuttered two years ago.
China reports 1st COVID-linked deaths in over a year
Over the weekend, residents flocked to Shanghai stores in a rush of panic buying that saw shelves emptied and even some fights as shoppers loaded up their carts.
From Monday, all residents must stay home in Shanghai's eastern Pudong district, which includes its primary international airport and the financial hub. Deliveries will have to be left at checkpoints on the edge of shuttered neighborhoods and only essential businesses will be permitted to open. Public transport was shut down, too.
Under China's "zero-COVID" strategy, aggressive city lockdowns have not been unusual, but closing down all of Shanghai at once was apparently not an option.
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↓ 18.0% Cases, two-week change
↓ 39.4% Deaths, two-week change
981,852 Total confirmed deaths
New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | |
| Mar 27 | 27,775 | 690 |
| Mar 26 | 27,895 | 697 |
| Mar 25 | 27,823 | 705 |
| Mar 24 | 27,784 | 732 |
| Mar 23 | 27,134 | 753 |
| Mar 22 | 27,545 | 787 |
| Mar 21 | 28,657 | 861 |
| Mar 20 | 27,786 | 901 |
| Mar 19 | 27,747 | 909 |
| Mar 18 | 28,274 | 972 |
| Mar 17 | 29,317 | 1,035 |
| Mar 16 | 30,040 | 1,052 |
| Mar 15 | 30,934 | 1,107 |
| Mar 14 | 32,458 | 1,186 |
| Mar 13 | 34,113 | 1,187 |
| Mar 12 | 34,253 | 1,210 |
| Mar 11 | 34,805 | 1,198 |
| Mar 10 | 35,269 | 1,197 |
| Mar 9 | 37,146 | 1,179 |
| 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 16, 2021 | 78,292 |
| At Least One Dose | Fully Vaccinated | % of Vaccinated W/ Boosters | |
| % of Total Population | 76.9% | 65.5% | 44.8% |
| % of Population 5+ | 81.7% | 69.6% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 86.5% | 73.9% | 46.4% |
| % of Population 18+ | 88.3% | 75.4% | 48.2% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 89.0% | 67.2% |
California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday March 22)
There was some rain in the Nor Cal. A little more in the ten-day.
| Percent of Average for this Date | 2 Weeks ago | 3 Weeks ago | |
| Northern Sierra Precipitation | 79% (62% of full season average) | 84% (61%) | 87% (60%) |
| San Joaquin Precipitation | 69% (54%) | 74% (53%) | 76% (51%) |
| Tulare Basin Precipitation | 65% (51%) | 71% (51%) | 70% (48%) |
| Snow Water Content - North | 46% | 55% (52%) | 59% (53%) |
| Snow Water Content - Central | 55% | 59% (64%) | 58% (66%) |
| Snow Water Content - South | 52% | 60% (66%) | 54% (63%) |
The Last Time Daily Deaths Were Below 700 was August of Last Year
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
Who Would Want to Poison Peace Negotiators? Any Guesses?
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators reportedly suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning when they met to discuss peace negotiations earlier this month, several news sources report.
Abramovich, along with another Russian entrepreneur, had taken part in the negotiations alongside Crimean Tatar lawmaker Rustem Umerov.
Three people who attended the meeting in Kyiv from 3 to 4 March felt initial symptoms consistent with poisoning with chemical weapons, it has been reported.
The Wall Street Journal reported that they had experienced red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands - however, they were said to have since improved, with their lives not in danger.
People familiar with the matter blamed the suspected attack on hardliners in Moscow who they said wanted to sabotage talks to end the war.
A person close to Abramovich said it wasn't clear who had targeted the group and western experts who looked into the incident said it was hard to determine whether the symptoms were caused by a chemical or biological agent or by some sort of electromagnetic-radiation attack.
Breaking Up Cock Fights is Good, But, ....
At least 19 people have been killed in an armed attack in the state of Michoacán, in western Mexico, officials say.
Gunmen swooped down on an illegal cockfighting pit in the community of Las Tinajas and opened fire, local media report.
The motive behind the attack is not yet clear but a number of criminal gangs operate in the region.
Bloody attacks on gatherings of rivals have become increasingly common.
In recent months, gunmen in various regions of Mexico have targeted funerals and wakes as well as bars and clubs in their attempt to take out as many of their rivals at one time as they can.
Forensic experts said all the victims in Las Tinajas - 16 men and three women - had been killed by gunshots. A number of people have also been injured.
Maybe the Judge Need to Tell the New York DA That Previous Guy is a Criminal.
A federal judge said Monday that former President Donald Trump and right-wing attorney John Eastman may have been planning a crime as they sought to disrupt the January 6 congressional certification of the presidential election.
"Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021," Judge David Carter wrote Monday.
Carter, a federal judge in California, ordered Eastman to turn over 101 emails from around January 6, 2021, that he has tried to keep secret from the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack.
Carter's reasoning is a startling acknowledgment by a federal court that Trump's interest in overturning the election could be considered criminal.
Trump has not been charged with any crime nor has Eastman.
It's Not Just His Hands That Are Small
Saturday evening, former failed President Trump was in Commerce, Georgia, for a rally. Trump’s mouthpiece claimed the crowd was “massive,” and that the “Fake News Media” didn’t show it. But local reporters from Georgia say the gathering was scant and similar to others held across the state recently.
Greg Bluestein, a politics reporter from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tweeted: “This is the smallest crowd I’ve seen at a rally of his in Georgia since he won the 2016 election—significantly smaller than the crowd in Perry [Georgia] in September.”
Georgia Public Broadcasting reporter Stephen Fowler tweeted: “It’s almost time for Trump to speak here in Georgia and there’s probably no more than 5,000 people here, the smallest Trump rally I’ve ever covered here. Way less than the Perry rally in 2021 (closer to 10k).”
Previous Guy Tells Them Not To Vote
"David Perdue, who is a wonderful man, and incredible family, and really got screwed by Kemp, is the only candidate in this race who can beat Stacey 'the hoax' Abrams this November. And you know the reason for that is because Trump voters — MAGA — Trump voters will not go out and vote for Kemp. They're not going to vote. And let's say it's gonna be a close election. I happen to think that Georgia is a very red state. I think it's red as hell"
Trump is effectively encouraging a voter boycott by Trumpian Republicans if his anointed candidate loses in the GOP primary.
Cancun Cruz Was Part of the Plot
Trump called Ted Cruz on December 8, 2020, to ask him to argue a lawsuit trying to overturn the election before the Supreme Court, and Cruz agreed. Cruz never got that chance, because the Supreme Court slapped down multiple such lawsuits. But in addition to pledging to argue what would have been his tenth case before the court, Cruz helped Team Trump chart the January 6 plan for members of Congress to try to overturn the election from within the Capitol.
Cruz, it turns out, is a longtime friend of John Eastman, the right-wing lawyer who pushed the idea that Mike Pence could refuse to certify the election. The two clerked together for then-U.S. Appeals Court Judge Michael Luttig—who Cruz has described as being “like a father to me”—and remained friends, to whatever extent Cruz has friends. Eastman’s plan for Pence and Cruz’s plan for the Senate worked together, with Eastman telling Pence he had the right to refuse to certify and Cruz offering up a proposal for senators to object to certifying state election results in favor of a 10-day delay for an “audit”—in translation, a chance for Republican state legislatures to find excuses to reject the will of the voters and throw their states behind Trump.
At the same time, Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, in concert with the White House, was trying to get the acting attorney general to urge state legislatures to do just that. And let’s not forget that the wife of a Supreme Court justice was texting the White House chief of staff about the lawsuits trying to overturn the election.
Trump’s effort to stay in power despite a resounding electoral loss, in other words, wasn’t just Trump individually being a sore loser. It didn’t just involve his staff. It was threaded throughout the Republican Party, involving not just outside lawyers like Eastman but high-profile senators like Cruz.
Praying for Peace While the Bombs Rain Down is Stupid. This is About Congress, not Ukraine.
Professional Democrats Do Not Comprehend What They Are Facing
What Republicans put Jackson through today was appalling. The QAnon Reddit smear was appalling, the relentless shouting that she should answer questions she had answered multiple times was appalling, the snide insinuations that maybe she wasn’t bothered by violent child pornography because she’s OK with it was appalling. To be subject to an all-out inquisition about not having clairvoyance about which sex offenders would reoffend by some of the very same people who invited and justified the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol beggared belief.
The other recent Republican propaganda stream has been to accuse Democrats of supporting ‘grooming’ of children by gay people–a vile and pernicious smear–because Democrats are opposing “don’t say gay” (in schools) bills.
These might not seem related, but they’re both part of an attempt to link Democrats with pedophilia and child abuse. While this is red meat for the significant Q-Anon wing of the Republican Party, it is also an attempt to completely smear Democrats in the most vile way. Yet professional Democrats do nothing. Meanwhile, when a Republican senator says the Supreme Court was wrong to legalize interracial marriage, professional Democrats are quiet.
Professional Democrats suck at their jobs.
The QOP Thinks Jesus Hates Free Elections
Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows texted to Ginni Thomas that the “King of Kings” would ultimately “triumph” in the quest to overturn the election, which Meadows characterized as “a fight of good versus evil.” Thomas, a longtime conservative activist, replied: “Thank you!! Needed that!”
This sparked serious consternation on “Morning Joe,” with host Joe Scarborough delivering an emotional diatribe about it. “Think about the sickness of this,” Scarborough said Friday. “He summons the name of Jesus Christ for his help in overturning American democracy!”
The sentiment is understandable. But what this level of shock really indicates is this: We haven’t paid enough attention to the role of right-wing Christian nationalism in driving Trump’s effort to destroy our political order, and in the abandonment of democracy among some on the right more broadly.
More on Qinny Thomas
It's In the Plan! It's In the Plan!
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
I Couldn't Find One
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Invasions Have Consequences
He is Turning Russia Into North Korea, the Most Isolated Nation on Earth.
Russia is developing measures to restrict entry into country for nationals of "unfriendly" countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says.
Remember Radio Free Europe?
The Kremlin tries to stifle Radio Free Europe — and its audience surges
As the U.S.-funded broadcaster is forced to shut most of its Russian operations, its Web traffic indicates that Russian people are eagerly consuming its stories
But the story didn’t end there. The Russian people are searching for information, however they can. The proof is in the numbers,[Jamie Fly, the CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] told me.
In the first three weeks after the invasion, page views from Russia to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty sites skyrocketed to 26 million, more than 50 percent more than an earlier corresponding period. Video views from Russia to their YouTube channels more than tripled to 237 million. And this was happening despite sites being blocked within Russia.
“Despite the Kremlin pressure, people are still hungry for the truth,” Fly told me. “To some extent, they see through the propaganda, and they want to explore broader sources of information.”
They Didn't Do This at a Brisk Tempo.
Finland's national railway operator said on Friday it would suspend services between Helsinki and St. Petersburg in Russia on Monday, closing the rail link between Russia and the European Union.
VR, the operator, said it had been told by the Finnish state it was no longer appropriate to run the service, known as the Allegro, in light of sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
WTF Are You Going to Do With Million-Dollar Watches, Vlad? Sell them at a Russian Flea Market?
Russian officials have reportedly confiscated millions of dollars worth of luxury Audemars Piguet watches.
The Swiss timepieces were seized from a shop by security service agents on Tuesday for allegedly violating customs rules, Swiss media report.
It happened just days after Switzerland abandoned its traditional neutrality to join Western countries in imposing sanctions against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
There is no Swiss confirmation.
However, the government has said Switzerland's new luxury export ban has been causing "uncertainties" for some businesses.
Watches from Audemars Piguet can cost more than £700,000 ($921,000) a piece. The company has not responded to a BBC request for comment.
Let Them Drink Vodka
European brewers Heineken and Carlsberg said Monday they will exit the Russian market following reviews of their operations triggered by the invasion of Ukraine.
Denmark's Carlsberg, which has 8,400 employees in Russia, said it was seeking a "full disposal" of its business but would maintain operations at a reduced level "to sustain the livelihoods of these employees and their families" until the sale was complete.
Not-So-Great Expectations
The Kremlin tamped down expectations Monday that face-to-face talks with Ukraine negotiators scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday would result in a deal to end Russia's deadly, destructive invasion.
"Regrettably, we cannot say there have been any significant achievements or breakthroughs so far," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday. But he said the face-to-face meeting in Turkey could allow for "more focused, tighter and meaningful" talks.
The talks come as the mayor of Mariupol called for evacuation of the remaining 160,000 residents, saying the city is virtually without food, water, power and other supplies.
The Syrian Playbook
As Russian missiles bombard Ukrainian cities and the U.S. secretary of state has called Russia's actions in Ukraine "war crimes," an eyewitness to crimes against humanity in Syria says he fears for the Ukrainian people because he knows what the Russian president is capable of. He saw it in his own country.
"I see the news coming out of Ukraine, my heart hurts because I know what Russia has done in Ukraine — what it can do — because I know what it's done in Syria," said one Syrian eyewitness, who spoke with CBS News' investigative unit in his first U.S. television interview.
The eyewitness' account is echoed by Stephen Rapp, a former U.S. ambassador at large for war crimes. Rapp told CBS News that Russian President Vladimir Putin crafted his Ukraine playbook years ago in Syria, when his longtime ally President Bashar Al-Assad cracked down on the pro-democracy movement. More than 250,000 civilians have died in the more than decadelong, brutal Syrian civil war that followed the Arab Spring movement in 2011.
Eyewitnesses to Syrian atrocities fear for Ukraine because they know what Putin is capable of
"When it looked like Assad was going to be overthrown by his own people, the Russians came all in and joined in the bombardment of hospitals and civilian neighborhoods," Rapp said.
With Russia's support, Assad remains in power amid allegations of widespread crimes against humanity.
"We have to recognize the critical role that Russia played in the crimes committed by the Assad regime and crimes, so horrendous that the UN stopped counting the dead at 400,000 years ago," Rapp said. (The last sentence is poorly written. It is 400,000 dead, not 400,000 years.)
"That Mine Isn't Mine." "Well, It's Not Mine."
Turkey and Romania have scrambled in recent days to neutralize potentially explosive mines amid concerns that the weapons may be drifting across the Black Sea from Ukraine’s shores toward neighboring countries.
Defense ministries for both countries, in separate announcements Monday, said they had dispatched their naval forces to defuse mines of unknown origin that appeared near their coasts.
A mine that appeared Monday was the second reported in the waters near Turkey in three days. Turkey’s government had said previously that it was in contact with both Moscow and Kyiv about the weapons, but did not specify which side, if either, was responsible for the mines.
Zelensky offers diplomatic opening as peace talks with Russia to resume in Turkey
Bulgaria’s government last week warned people living in three districts near its Black Sea coast to beware of possible drifting mines, according to local media reports.
The scramble comes after Russia’s intelligence service, the FSB, claimed on March 19 that poor weather had caused more than 400 naval mines to become disconnected from the cables that were anchoring them, and warned that the mines were “drifting freely in the western part of the Black Sea,” which includes the territorial waters of Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Ukraine at the time dismissed the assertion as untrue and politically motivated. “This is complete disinformation from the Russian side,” Viktor Vyshnov, deputy head of Ukraine’s Maritime Administration, told Reuters. “This was done to justify the closure of these districts of the Black Sea under so-called ‘danger of mines.’ ” The Washington Post was not able to independently verify either side’s claim.
Rubles Rub Them the Wrong Way
The Group of Seven major economies have agreed to reject Moscow’s demand to pay for Russian natural gas exports in rubles, the German energy minister said Monday.
Robert Habeck told reporters that “all G-7 ministers agreed completely that this (would be) a one-sided and clear breach of the existing contracts” for natural gas, which is used to heat homes, generate electricity and power industry.
He said officials from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada met Friday to coordinate natural and that European Union representatives also were present.
Jumping Jack Flash, It's the Gas, Gas, Gas.
Ukraine’s natural gas utility Naftogaz is caught in a complex geopolitical game. Even as Russia rains missiles onto Ukraine, it is still sending approximately 30 percent of the gas it sells in Europe through the country it has invaded. And although Ukraine’s leaders have called for the continent to immediately halt imports of Russian gas, they are doing nothing to interfere with the gas flowing through pipelines at a rate of 40 billion cubic meters a year to customers including Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
“It’s a very politically sensitive topic discussed at the highest political levels,” Vitrenko said. “We’re trying to persuade our partners in the European Union that they should reduce any purchases of Russian gas and oil or at least freeze all the money that Russia gets for the exports of energy.”
He said the money owed to Russia could go into escrow accounts.
If Ukraine took the initiative unilaterally and stopped the transit of natural gas supplies from Russia, Vitrenko said, the gas supplies would be diverted to other pipelines and make it to Europe anyway. That, he added, could make Ukraine even more vulnerable to Russian bombs.
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Did You Melt Your Oscar, Sean Penn?
Just asking.
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Wait Until Joe Manchin Gets Through With This.
President Joe Biden's fiscal 2023 budget proposal increases additional military spending as Russia's invasion of Ukraine rages on, and seeks tighter gun regulation and a new tax provision targeting billionaires.
The budge proposal includes $6.9 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative, NATO and countering Russian aggression to support Ukraine, among other partners.
The White House projects the budget proposal would reduce the federal deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next decade.
Congress takes the president's recommendations and crafts their own budget, often ignoring proposals that come from the White House.
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How Well Did Sweden's Herd Immunity Strategy Work?
How Well Did China's "Zero COVID" Strategy Work?"
China’s National Health Commission reported 3,507 new local Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, up from 1,337 on Monday.
The current outbreak appears to be largely centered around the northeastern city of Jilin, which reported 2,601 cases on Monday.
However, cases have also been reported in other parts of China including major urban centers like Shanghai and the capital Beijing.
In the first two weeks of March, China reported more than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases, making this the worst outbreak the country has faced since Wuhan in 2020.
The current outbreak has challenged China’s ‘dynamic zero-Covid’ strategy that aims to prevent large-scale spread of the virus by squashing emerging clusters of cases through swift lockdowns and mass testing. The ongoing surge in cases has been attributed to the so-called “stealth omicron” variant also known as the BA.2 sub-variant. This sub-variant has been reported to spread faster than earlier omicron subvariants, which were significantly faster spreading that other variants like delta. BA.2 has been called the “stealth variant” because it is missing several mutations present on other omicron subvariants, making it harder to distinguish from older variants using PCR tests.
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Then They Can Wait for Molasses Merrick to Do Something
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has wielded former U.S. trade adviser Peter Navarro’s own boast about overthrowing the 2020 election to make the case for holding him in contempt of Congress.
While Navarro has freely explained his aim and some of his activities in support of Donald Trump’s election fraud claims in television interviews and in his own book, he has ignored a subpoena to testify about them before the committee, claiming executive privilege.
In a 34-page report released on Sunday, the committee repeats its argument that executive privilege does not apply, because overturning a legitimate election was not one of Navarro’s official duties in the White House. The committee asserts that Navarro and fellow Trump ally and subpoena scofflaw Dan Scavino should be held in contempt of Congress for their refusal to testify.
The committee accuses Scavino in the report of working with Trump to spread “false information” on social media concerning election fraud, and “recruited a crowd” to Washington on the day of the riot. The committee believes Scavino was with Trump in the hours before the insurrection when plans were discussed to “challenge, disrupt, or impede the official congressional proceedings,” the report states.
The full committee will consider Monday whether to recommend contempt charges for both men to the House, according to the report. The House would then vote whether to refer the charge to the Justice Department for prosecution. Contempt of Congress carries a penalty of up to a $100,000 fine, and up to a year in prison.
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It's the 1950's All Over Again
Russia’s war on Ukraine has most Americans at least somewhat worried that the U.S. will be drawn directly into the conflict and could be targeted with nuclear weapons, with a new poll reflecting a level of anxiety that has echoes of the Cold War era.
Close to half of Americans say they are very concerned that Russia would directly target the U.S. with nuclear weapons, and an additional 3 in 10 are somewhat concerned about that, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Russian President Vladimir Putin placed his country’s nuclear forces on high alert shortly after the Feb. 24 invasion.
Roughly 9 in 10 Americans are at least somewhat concerned that Putin might use a nuclear weapon against Ukraine, including about 6 in 10 who are very concerned.
Remember the Kingston Trio?
They're rioting in Africa
They're starving in Spain
There's hurricanes in Florida
And Texas needs rain
The whole world is festering
With unhappy souls
The French hate the Germans
The Germans hate the Poles
Italians hate Yugoslavs
South Africans hate the Dutch
And I don't like
Anybody very much
But we can be tranquil
And thankful and proud
For man's been endowed
With a mushroom shaped cloud
And we know for certain
That some lovely day
Someone will set the spark off
And we will all be blown away
They're rioting in Africa
There's strife in Iran
What nature doesn't do to us
Will be done by our fellow man
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This Sounds Good on the Surface, But The Devil's in the Details.
Walmart will no longer sell cigarettes in some of its stores though tobacco sales can be a significant revenue generator.
Wall Street Journal was the first to report the development Monday. It noted some stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico were on the list, citing anonymous sources and store visits.
Walmart is not the first national retail chain to cut off cigarette sales even on a trial basis, but it is the largest.
Target ended cigarette sales in 1996 and the drugstore chain CVS Health did the same in 2014.
CVS Health sales in areas outside the pharmacy fell for a few quarters after it pulled tobacco products, and the company had predicted that missing tobacco products would hurt annual earnings by 7 to 8 cents per share.
Overall revenue has grown every year at CVS, however, after a number of acquisitions and changes to its stores bolstered the company’s health care offerings. CVS Health bought the health insurer Aetna in 2017.
Decisions about removing cigarettes at Walmart will be made on a store-by-store basis according to the business and particular market, the company said Monday.
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China Takes Half Measures
China's biggest and wealthiest city, Shanghai, is shutting down amid a surge of new COVID-19 cases. The 25 million residents of China's financial capital will be locked down in two stages, starting with the eastern half, which falls under the restrictions from Monday for five days. The lockdown will then shift to the other half of the city.
Streets in the normally bustling metropolis were deserted Monday as the lockdown took effect and all of its 25 million residents were told to line up for COVID tests.
The two-phase lockdown is China's biggest coronavirus closure since the city of Wuhan — believed to be the origin of the pandemic — was shuttered two years ago.
China reports 1st COVID-linked deaths in over a year
Over the weekend, residents flocked to Shanghai stores in a rush of panic buying that saw shelves emptied and even some fights as shoppers loaded up their carts.
From Monday, all residents must stay home in Shanghai's eastern Pudong district, which includes its primary international airport and the financial hub. Deliveries will have to be left at checkpoints on the edge of shuttered neighborhoods and only essential businesses will be permitted to open. Public transport was shut down, too.
Under China's "zero-COVID" strategy, aggressive city lockdowns have not been unusual, but closing down all of Shanghai at once was apparently not an option.
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