Post by mhbruin on Mar 31, 2022 10:23:07 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 560 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
↓ 6.9% Cases, two-week change
↑ 2.2%% Deaths, two-week change - That's an INCREASE, but probably a one-day statistical anomaly
983,495 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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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
First He Invades a Country. Then he Commits War Crimes. Now He is Threatening to Breach Contracts? Is There No End to this Man's Evil?
Russia has told "unfriendly" foreign countries they must start paying for gas in roubles or it will cut supplies.
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree stating buyers "must open rouble accounts in Russian banks" from Friday.
"Nobody sells us anything for free, and we are not going to do charity either - that is, existing contracts will be stopped," the Russia president said.
Mr Putin's demand is being seen as an attempt to boost the rouble, which has been hit by Western sanctions.
Western companies and governments have rejected Russia's demands to pay for gas in roubles as a breach of existing contracts, which are set in euros or US dollars.
The Judge Holds Him in Contempt, Just Like the Rest of Us
A Connecticut judge is holding notorious conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in contempt of court after he failed to comply with multiple orders for Jones to sit for a deposition in a defamation suit brought against him by families of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. The judge did, however, stop short of issuing a warrant for Jones' arrest, which the plaintiffs had requested.
Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis announced her decision at a hearing Wednesday, saying Jones "intentionally failed to comply with orders of the court" and that there is no adequate explanation for why he did not follow her orders to sit for a deposition.
"The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant Alex Jones willfully and in bad faith violated without justification several clear court orders requiring his attendance at his depositions on March 23 and March 24," Bellis said.
Until he sits for a deposition, Bellis ordered, Jones will have to pay fines that will start at $25,000 a day on April 1 and increasing by $25,000 each business day.
Remember the "Truckers" Convoy? No One Else Will, Either
Three weeks ago, when the “People’s Convoy” and its 100 or so trucks pulled into the Washington, D.C., area, visions of repeating the shutdown of Ottawa by a similar convoy buoyed the hopes of its organizers, participants, and supporters. They set up camp at a racetrack in nearby Hagerstown, Maryland, where they revved up their engines and their far-right conspiracist rhetoric about COVID-19 vaccine mandates and masking and Joe Biden, or whatever was floating their boat that day.
This week, their ambitions deflated to some regular routine loops around the Beltway, a few photo ops with Senator Ted Cruz, and maybe going back to California and trying the same thing in Sacramento, they started filing out of Hagerstown. Some of them swore they would be back, but it’s not clear they’ll even make it back to the West Coast.
The convoy revealed just how pathetically thin their disguise of “nonpartisan” protest—as they claimed to reporters they were, despite the plethora of Trump 2024 and Let’s Go Brandon flags at the scene—really was: Besides their meetings with Cruz and other Trumpite Republicans, they had difficulty explaining just what it was they were protesting, what their demands might be, and what they intended to do force a response.
The whole circus, in fact, simply manifested what the operation appeared to be from the outset: right-wing agitprop, providing extremists an outlet for their impotent rage at being out of power in the White House. The final tally of convoy participants showed it was comprised of 258 cars, 68 motor homes, and 95 trucks.
COVID: A Disease Only a Racist Could Love.
Dumb Cliché: "It's Not the Crime, It's the Coverup." Both are Crimes
Donald Trump used an official White House phone to place at least one call during the Capitol attack on January 6 last year that should have been reflected in the internal presidential call log from that day but was not… The former president called the phone of a Republican senator, Mike Lee… the origin of the call as coming from an official White House phone, which has not been previously reported, raises the prospect of tampering or deletion by Trump White House officials.
The only instance where a call might not be reflected on the unclassified presidential call log, the officials said, would be if the call was classified, which would seem to be unlikely in the case of the call to Lee. The absence of Trump’s call to Lee suggests a serious breach in protocol and possible manipulation, the officials said.
The People Who Believed in Ivermectin will Ignore the Study, and the Rest of Us Already Knew.
Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug often used to deworm horses and cattle, does not reduce the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 despite its questionable rise as an alternative treatment for the disease, according to a large new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The clinical trial, which began in 2020, analyzed more than 1,300 patients in Brazil who were infected with the coronavirus. Half were given ivermectin and half a placebo in the randomized, double-blind study, meaning neither doctors nor trial participants knew what a patient received.
The results confirmed what U.S. health officials have long stressed: Ivermectin did nothing to aid those sickened with the virus or reduce the risk of ending up in the hospital.
CBS Wants to Hire More Partisan Hacks and Then Call Them "Experts"
CBS News’ controversial hiring of ex-Trump official Mick Mulvaney may have been foretold by CBS News President Neeraj Khemlani earlier in March.
In a recording obtained by The Washington Post on Wednesday, Khemlani told staffers: “If you look at some of the people that we’ve been hiring on a contributor basis, being able to make sure that we are getting access to both sides of the aisle is a priority because we know the Republicans are going to take over, most likely, in the midterms. A lot of the people that we’re bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation.”
CBS’s decision to employ Mulvaney as a paid on-air contributor “embarrassed” employees, one unnamed worker told the Post. An MSNBC op-ed called the far-right pol a “partisan hack.”
As Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mulvaney once claimed that media coverage of the coronavirus crisis aimed to bring down the president. He admitted that Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine in exchange for political dirt, telling reporters to “get over it.” He then walked back his comments.
Meet the New Boris and Natasha: TucKGBer Carlson and Russki Gabbar. Or Are They the New Russian Regis and Kelly?
Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s defenses of Russian President Vladimir Putin have evidently landed them comfortably in the Kremlin’s good graces.
During a broadcast on Russian state television this week, Gabbard was apparently referenced in very friendly terms by one of Putin’s most prominent propagandists, Vladimir Soloviev.
He introduced Gabbard, a Democratic primary candidate for the 2020 presidential race, as “our girlfriend Tulsi,” according to a translation by Russian media analyst Julia Davis, a columnist for the Daily Beast.
A clip was then aired of Gabbard’s appearance on Monday’s episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in which she suggested President Joe Biden was secretly plotting to remove Putin from power.
After the clip aired, a panelist reportedly asked, “Is she some sort of Russian agent?”
According to Davis’ translation, Soloviev said she was.
In 2019, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested in an interview that Gabbard, then a long shot in the Democratic presidential field, was being groomed by Russia as an “asset” who would run as a third-party candidate and help usher in a Republican president. Gabbard filed and then later dropped a defamation lawsuit against Clinton over the “asset” comment.
Carlson, meanwhile, has been a favorite of Russian propagandists for weeks. The Fox News host has repeatedly been featured on Russian state-sponsored television for his defenses of Russia and criticisms of the U.S., NATO and Ukraine, and was even reportedly endorsed by the Kremlin in a leaked memo to state media.
Earlier this week, he promoted a bizarre theory to keep Putin in power, suggesting that Islamic extremists would somehow get hold of the country’s nuclear weapons and use them on Americans if he was removed.
Ted Cruz Does it Over and Over and Over Again
Previous Guy Does it Over and Over and Over Again
Donald Trump is doing it again -- putting his personal goals and burning zeal for revenge above the national interest -- as he once more appeals for Russian President Vladimir Putin's political help in the midst of the brutality in Ukraine.
Trump's call on the Kremlin strongman to dig up dirt on President Joe Biden is no surprise. He's called on Russia and China before to interfere in US elections to boost his chances and got impeached for trying to blackmail Ukraine to do the same.
But this may be the ex-President's most twisted and pathological attempt yet to corruptly advance his own political career ahead of a possible 2024 White House bid. His thinking seems to be clear. Putin might be raining atrocities on Ukrainian citizens, bombing hospitals, apartment blocks, razing entire cities and sending 4 million refugees west into Europe. But Trump seems willing to overlook all of that in service of his own perceived interests.
Not only is Trump seeking to cook up a self-serving conspiracy with a Russian President much of the world now regards as a war criminal. He's also asking an enemy of the United States, who has threatened nuclear war, to damage the American commander-in-chief who is leading the West in an effort to aid an innocent, invaded nation and to save democracy.
Trump's latest appeal offers a window into his twisted morality as he lines up again alongside Putin, whom he called a "genius" earlier in the Ukraine crisis even as much of his own party condemned the invasion. And it raises fundamental questions about the patriotism of an ex-President who sometimes hugs the stars and stripes at his rallies but who often showed while in office that he cared only for his own interests.
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
Insuring That They Won't Have to Live Like a Refugee
As the United States prepares to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees following Russia's invasion of their country, existing communities in cities like Sacramento and Seattle are already mobilizing to provide food, shelter and support to those fleeing the war.
The federal government hasn't said when the formal resettlement process will begin, but Ukrainian groups in the U.S. are already providing support to people entering the country through other channels, including on visas that will eventually expire or by flying to Mexico and crossing over the border.
“No refugee is waiting for you to be ready for them," said Eduard Kislyanka, senior pastor at the House of Bread church near Sacramento, which has been sending teams of people to Poland and preparing dozens of its member families to house people arriving in California.
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Invasions Have Consequences
Generals Lied to the President and the Public During the Viet Nam War. Generals Lied About Battles During the Civil War. This is Hardly New.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misled by advisers who are too scared to tell him how badly the war in Ukraine is going, the White House says.
Meanwhile, British intelligence says Russian troops in Ukraine are demoralised, short of equipment and refusing to carry out orders.
Mr Putin is also not being told about the full impact of sanctions on the Russian economy, the White House said.
This is a Blunderbuss
This is a Bus Blunder
A Ukrainian official said on Thursday that a convoy of buses en route to the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol had been held up at a Russian checkpoint in Vasylivka, a city between the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia and the Russian-held city of Berdiansk.
"Our task is to open a humanitarian corridor and help people survive, especially civilians — women, children, the elderly," according to Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukrainian minister of reintegration of temporarily occupied territories.
Vereshchuk said about 100,000 people requiring immediate evacuation remain in the city, out of a pre-war population of more than 400,000.
"That is, another 100,000 women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities who need our and the world's help," she said.
The Ruble Bubble
The barrage of sanctions imposed by the West following Russia's invasion of Ukraine decimated the ruble. But one month after the tanks rolled, the currency has made a full recovery and is now trading at levels seen prior to the war. How is that possible?
Russia's central bank has taken dramatic steps in recent weeks to intervene in the market, implementing policies to prevent investors and companies from selling the currency and other measures that force them to buy it.
What has Moscow done to boost the ruble?
-The central bank has more than doubled interest rates to 20%. That encourages Russian savers to keep their money in local currency.
-Exporters have been ordered to swap 80% of their foreign currency revenues for rubles rather than holding onto US dollars or euros.
-Russian brokers have been banned from selling securities held by foreigners.
-Residents are not allowed to make bank transfers outside Russia.
-Russia has threatened to demand payment for natural gas in rubles, not euros or dollars.
These measures have allowed Moscow to artificially manufacture demand for the ruble. The problem facing policymakers is that with Russia's economy in tatters, nobody actually wants to buy the currency of their own accord. When the restrictions are lifted, demand for the ruble will drop, and its value will slide — perhaps dramatically.
The same is true for Russia's stock market. The benchmark MOEX index trended higher when trading resumed a week ago after a long stoppage forced by the war, but analysts say that's due to restrictions in place on investors, including a ban on short selling. Only 33 stocks were allowed to trade when the market reopened. When trading was extended to all stocks this week, the index fell again.
With that in mind, the rebound of the ruble and stock market moves shouldn't be taken as a signal that Russia's economy is on the mend. The country is facing its deepest recession since the 1990s, and the economy will shrink by a fifth this year, according to a recent forecast from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Who's Destroyed More Equipment, the Ukrainians, or the Russians?
Russian troops deployed to invade Ukraine are undermining their own offensive by rejecting orders and destroying their equipment, including aircraft, according to Jeremy Fleming, the head of British intelligence agency GCHQ.
Today's Health Tip: Don't Visit Chernobyl. And Don't Kick Up the Dust.
Russian soldiers who seized the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster drove their armoured vehicles without radiation protection through a highly toxic zone called the "Red Forest", kicking up clouds of radioactive dust, workers at the site said.
The two sources said soldiers in the convoy did not use any anti-radiation gear. The second Chernobyl employee said that was "suicidal" for the soldiers because the radioactive dust they inhaled was likely to cause internal radiation in their bodies.
Ukraine's state nuclear inspectorate said on Feb. 25 there had been an increase in radiation levels at Chernobyl as a result of heavy military vehicles disturbing the soil. But until now, details of exactly what happened had not emerged.
I'd Be Happy to Give Up Florida and Texas for Peace.
Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression has proven critical in warding off Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces, but that same national fervor puts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a tight spot when it comes to compromises that could end the war.
Russia has suffered massive losses in the war against Ukraine and has made surprisingly little progress in the five weeks since Putin launched the attack. After failing to quickly crush Ukrainian forces, Russia has pulled back on some of its demands, but Zelensky will have to work hard to convince Ukrainians that ceding anything to Russia is the right move.
"Zelensky has impressed his country as a wartime leader, but it'll be a political problem if he tries to sell a deal that isn't that good," Daniel Fried, the former assistant secretary of state for Europe who's now at the Atlantic Council, said.
A national hero that's captured the world's admiration, Zelensky worked tirelessly to motivate Ukrainians to maintain the fight against Russia. He's called the war a battle for the world's freedom and rallied people around the message that Ukrainians are holding their own against Russia despite their underdog status.
At this point, Fried said, Ukrainians realize they have a shot at winning "by not losing" and that their immense sacrifices have meant something. With that mentality, he questioned, "what are Ukrainians going to want to give up?"
It's a question Ukrainian Parliament Member Inna Sovsun posed on Twitter, as well. On Monday, she acknowledged that the Donbas region and Crimea were on the negotiating table and that some people may see it as a small concession to achieve peace. However, she asked people to consider what regions in their own countries they'd be willing to sacrifice if Putin started bombing their cities.
Moving away from the "denazification" of Ukraine that Russia used to justify the invasion, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia's "main goal" is the liberation of the Donbas. But, negotiating away territory, a move that could be seen as infringing on Ukraine's sovereignty, won't be easy for Zelensky, Michael Kimmage, history professor at Catholic University and fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told Newsweek.
It's possible Zelensky could offer a compromise on parts of the Donbas that were Russian-controlled before the current invasion. That might not be enough to satisfy Putin though and Russia is likely to try to take total control of the region, which means sacrificing Mariupol, a key Ukrainian coastal city that's been ravaged by Russian troops.
"It would be very difficult for Zelensky to concede and his people would be very upset. That's Russia, in effect, winning part of the war and an almost intolerable outcome," Kimmage said. "It's completely a political tightrope."
Should We Call It Texit?
Russia’s tech workers are looking for safer and more secure professional pastures.
By one estimate, up to 70,000 computer specialists, spooked by a sudden frost in the business and political climate, have bolted the country since Russia invaded Ukraine five weeks ago. Many more are expected to follow.
For some countries, Russia’s loss is being seen as their potential gain and an opportunity to bring fresh expertise to their own high-tech industries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has noticed the brain drain even in the throes of a war that, according to the U.N. refugee agency, has caused more than 4 million people to flee Ukraine and displaced millions more within the country.
This week, Putin reacted to the exodus of tech professionals by approving legislation to eliminate income taxes between now and 2024 for individuals who work for information technology companies.
Some people in the vast new pool of high-tech exiles say they are in no rush to return home. An elite crowd furnished with European Union visas has relocated to Poland or the Baltic nations of Latvia and Lithuania.
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This is What We Have a Strategic Reserve For
US President Joe Biden has ordered a major release of oil from America's strategic reserves in an effort to bring down high fuel costs.
The release of up to 180m barrels of oil over six months is the largest since the reserve was created in 1974.
Oil prices dropped on reports of the move, which is aimed at easing a supply crunch sparked by war in Ukraine.
But the release - of about 1m barrels a day - is unlikely to fully resolve the energy crisis, analysts say.
Mr Biden promised further action to boost US output, saying the release would "serve as a bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up".
He called for companies to pay extra if they choose not to use oil wells on land they lease from the government, as well as investments to speed up the adoption of greener energy sources.
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Crude oil prices fell around $5 a barrel on Thursday following reports that the Biden administration was planning to tap into its strategic reserve, a move that comes after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions have caused global oil prices to soa
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The Mystery of the Jars.
Researchers have uncovered giant "mysterious" jars in India that may have been used for ancient human burial practices.
The 65 sandstone jars were found scattered over four sites in the north-eastern state of Assam.
They vary in shape and size. Some of the jars are tall and cylindrical, while the others are partly or fully buried in the ground.
Similar stone vessels have previously been found in Laos and Indonesia.
"We still don't know who made the giant jars or where they lived. It's all a bit of a mystery", said Nicholas Skopal, a researcher at the Australian National University who was part of the research team.
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Let the Water Wars Begin
As the climate crisis intensifies, battle lines are beginning to form over water. In Arizona -- amid a decades-long megadrought -- some communities are facing the very real possibility of losing access to the precious water that remains.
Outside the city limits of Scottsdale, where the asphalt ends and the dirt road begins, is the Rio Verde Foothills community. Hundreds of homes here get water trucked in from Scottsdale, but those deliveries will end on January 1, 2023.
That's because last summer, for the first time ever, drought conditions forced the federal government to declare a tier 1 water shortage in the Colorado River, reducing how much Arizona can use.
Meredith Deangelis lives in the community, and the thought of losing access to water keeps her up at night.
"Every time I brush my teeth, I think, 'Oh my gosh, I can't imagine that I'm not going to have water to brush my teeth,'" Deangelis told CNN.
Scottsdale's water department told CNN in an email that "Scottsdale has continued to be a good neighbor in allowing Rio Verde to temporarily use its water supply." The department said that due to the current water shortage, by law it "must dedicate its limited water supply to its residents."
Deangelis and her neighbors are hoping to find another water source to purchase for their homes, but in order to do that they must get certain approvals from their county, which has not happened yet.
"To think, I have this beautiful home and I'm not going to be able to live here because water is not going to be approved and provided to my home is just incredibly unnerving and stressful," Deangelis said.
The Southwest is Going to Face a Lot More of This.
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The Fishing Wars Have Already Begun
Protesters from across Sri Lanka descended on the nation’s capital in February, shouting above the street noise and pumping their fists in the air in frustration.
The group was made up of fisherman and their supporters, and their rage was sparked by the Indian boats that regularly sail into Sri Lankan waters by the thousands, hauling away valuable sea cucumbers and prawns. Sri Lankan fishermen say they’ve lost business, and some have lost their lives in confrontations with foreign crews.
The protesters demanded more action from the government, even as Sri Lanka’s navy has used force to guard its fisheries — destroying Indian fishing gear, charging at the vessels, and in at least one violent episode, firing shots. Five Indian fishermen were reportedly killed last year in encounters with the navy, although Sri Lankan authorities deny they killed or shot at crews, and say they were not the aggressors.
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The QOP is Horrible, But the GOP is Terrible, Too.
Here’s what’s at stake: On the one hand, Biden is trying to rebuild the old liberal consensus that used to be shared by people of both parties, instituted by Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt to protect workers from the overreach of their employers and expanded under Republican Dwight Eisenhower to protect civil rights. To this, Biden has focused on those previously marginalized and has added a focus on women and children.
Biden’s new budget, released earlier this week, calls for investment in U.S. families, communities, and infrastructure, the same principles on which the economy has boomed for the past year. The budget also promotes fiscal responsibility by rolling back Trump’s tax cuts on the very wealthy. Biden’s signature yesterday on the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, making lynching a federal hate crime in the United States, is the culmination of more than 100 years of work.
Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are defending democracy against authoritarianism, working to bring together allies around the globe to resist the aggression of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
On the other hand, the Republican Party is working to get rid of the New Deal government. While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wanted to face the midterms without a platform, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), who chairs the committee responsible for electing Republican senators, has produced an “11-point plan to rescue America.” It dramatically raises taxes on people who earn less than $100,000, and ends Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act.
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I Am Sure the QOP Will Blame Workers for Being "Greedy"
An inflation gauge that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve jumped 6.4% in February compared with a year ago, with sharply higher prices for food, gasoline and other necessities squeezing Americans' finances.
The figure reported Thursday by the Commerce Department was the largest year-over-year rise since January 1982. Excluding volatile prices for food and energy, so-called core inflation increased 5.4% in February from 12 months earlier.
Robust consumer demand has combined with shortages of many goods to fuel the sharpest price jumps in four decades. Escalating the inflation pressures, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has disrupted global oil markets and accelerated prices for wheat, nickel and other key commodities.
The inflation spike took a toll on consumers, whose spending in February rose just 0.2%, down from a much larger 2.7% gain in January. Adjusted for inflation, spending actually fell 0.4% last month.
Yet Americans' overall incomes rose 0.5% in February, the highest gain since November and up from just 0.1% in January. Wages and salaries jumped 0.8%, the most in four months.
Businesses have been raising pay to attract and keep employees — a trend that is benefiting workers but also giving employers cause to raise prices to offset their higher labor costs. That cycle is helping fuel inflation.
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Grandma Never Had to Say, "It's Just As Easy to Fall In Love With a Man Who Is NOT on Death Row as a Man Who Is."
Anti-death penalty advocate Lea Rodger says she is keenly aware of the realities facing her and Richard Glossip, who she married this week inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary where he sits on death row.
Glossip, 59, already has narrowly escaped execution three times and could be the next man Oklahoma puts to death now that the state has lifted a nearly seven-year moratorium on executions put in place due to mishaps in his case and others.
Rodger, 32, a paralegal who has spent more than a decade advocating for an end to capital punishment, says that's one of the reasons she didn't want to waste time marrying her new husband.
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Hello Rhino!
A rare Sumatran rhino was born at an Indonesian sanctuary in a win for the extremely endangered species, environmental officials said.
The newborn Sumatran rhino’s mother, named Rosa, gave birth to the female calf in captivity at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary located in Way Kambas National Park in the Lampung Province on March 24, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment.
A highly endangered species, the World Wildlife Fund says only about 80 Sumatran rhinos are left. Once found across Southeast Asia, today the remaining population exists in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo islands.
The rare birth has brought the total number of Sumatran rhinos in the sanctuary to eight and sparked hope for the species.
“The birth of the Sumatran rhino is good news amid the efforts of the Indonesian government and partners to increase the Sumatran rhino population,” Wiratno, the director general of conservation at the environment ministry, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said in a statement.
Sumatran rhinos have long been in jeopardy due to poaching and habitat destruction.
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↓ 6.9% Cases, two-week change
↑ 2.2%% Deaths, two-week change - That's an INCREASE, but probably a one-day statistical anomaly
983,495 Total confirmed deaths
New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | |
| Mar 30 | 25,732 | 626 |
| Mar 29 | 25,218 | 644 |
| Mar 28 | 26,190 | 700 |
| Mar 27 | 26,487 | 690 |
| Mar 26 | 26,593 | 697 |
| Mar 25 | 26,874 | 705 |
| Mar 24 | 27,235 | 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%) |
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
First He Invades a Country. Then he Commits War Crimes. Now He is Threatening to Breach Contracts? Is There No End to this Man's Evil?
Russia has told "unfriendly" foreign countries they must start paying for gas in roubles or it will cut supplies.
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree stating buyers "must open rouble accounts in Russian banks" from Friday.
"Nobody sells us anything for free, and we are not going to do charity either - that is, existing contracts will be stopped," the Russia president said.
Mr Putin's demand is being seen as an attempt to boost the rouble, which has been hit by Western sanctions.
Western companies and governments have rejected Russia's demands to pay for gas in roubles as a breach of existing contracts, which are set in euros or US dollars.
The Judge Holds Him in Contempt, Just Like the Rest of Us
A Connecticut judge is holding notorious conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in contempt of court after he failed to comply with multiple orders for Jones to sit for a deposition in a defamation suit brought against him by families of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. The judge did, however, stop short of issuing a warrant for Jones' arrest, which the plaintiffs had requested.
Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis announced her decision at a hearing Wednesday, saying Jones "intentionally failed to comply with orders of the court" and that there is no adequate explanation for why he did not follow her orders to sit for a deposition.
"The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant Alex Jones willfully and in bad faith violated without justification several clear court orders requiring his attendance at his depositions on March 23 and March 24," Bellis said.
Until he sits for a deposition, Bellis ordered, Jones will have to pay fines that will start at $25,000 a day on April 1 and increasing by $25,000 each business day.
Remember the "Truckers" Convoy? No One Else Will, Either
Three weeks ago, when the “People’s Convoy” and its 100 or so trucks pulled into the Washington, D.C., area, visions of repeating the shutdown of Ottawa by a similar convoy buoyed the hopes of its organizers, participants, and supporters. They set up camp at a racetrack in nearby Hagerstown, Maryland, where they revved up their engines and their far-right conspiracist rhetoric about COVID-19 vaccine mandates and masking and Joe Biden, or whatever was floating their boat that day.
This week, their ambitions deflated to some regular routine loops around the Beltway, a few photo ops with Senator Ted Cruz, and maybe going back to California and trying the same thing in Sacramento, they started filing out of Hagerstown. Some of them swore they would be back, but it’s not clear they’ll even make it back to the West Coast.
The convoy revealed just how pathetically thin their disguise of “nonpartisan” protest—as they claimed to reporters they were, despite the plethora of Trump 2024 and Let’s Go Brandon flags at the scene—really was: Besides their meetings with Cruz and other Trumpite Republicans, they had difficulty explaining just what it was they were protesting, what their demands might be, and what they intended to do force a response.
The whole circus, in fact, simply manifested what the operation appeared to be from the outset: right-wing agitprop, providing extremists an outlet for their impotent rage at being out of power in the White House. The final tally of convoy participants showed it was comprised of 258 cars, 68 motor homes, and 95 trucks.
COVID: A Disease Only a Racist Could Love.
Dumb Cliché: "It's Not the Crime, It's the Coverup." Both are Crimes
Donald Trump used an official White House phone to place at least one call during the Capitol attack on January 6 last year that should have been reflected in the internal presidential call log from that day but was not… The former president called the phone of a Republican senator, Mike Lee… the origin of the call as coming from an official White House phone, which has not been previously reported, raises the prospect of tampering or deletion by Trump White House officials.
The only instance where a call might not be reflected on the unclassified presidential call log, the officials said, would be if the call was classified, which would seem to be unlikely in the case of the call to Lee. The absence of Trump’s call to Lee suggests a serious breach in protocol and possible manipulation, the officials said.
The People Who Believed in Ivermectin will Ignore the Study, and the Rest of Us Already Knew.
Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug often used to deworm horses and cattle, does not reduce the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 despite its questionable rise as an alternative treatment for the disease, according to a large new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The clinical trial, which began in 2020, analyzed more than 1,300 patients in Brazil who were infected with the coronavirus. Half were given ivermectin and half a placebo in the randomized, double-blind study, meaning neither doctors nor trial participants knew what a patient received.
The results confirmed what U.S. health officials have long stressed: Ivermectin did nothing to aid those sickened with the virus or reduce the risk of ending up in the hospital.
CBS Wants to Hire More Partisan Hacks and Then Call Them "Experts"
CBS News’ controversial hiring of ex-Trump official Mick Mulvaney may have been foretold by CBS News President Neeraj Khemlani earlier in March.
In a recording obtained by The Washington Post on Wednesday, Khemlani told staffers: “If you look at some of the people that we’ve been hiring on a contributor basis, being able to make sure that we are getting access to both sides of the aisle is a priority because we know the Republicans are going to take over, most likely, in the midterms. A lot of the people that we’re bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation.”
CBS’s decision to employ Mulvaney as a paid on-air contributor “embarrassed” employees, one unnamed worker told the Post. An MSNBC op-ed called the far-right pol a “partisan hack.”
As Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mulvaney once claimed that media coverage of the coronavirus crisis aimed to bring down the president. He admitted that Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine in exchange for political dirt, telling reporters to “get over it.” He then walked back his comments.
Meet the New Boris and Natasha: TucKGBer Carlson and Russki Gabbar. Or Are They the New Russian Regis and Kelly?
Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s defenses of Russian President Vladimir Putin have evidently landed them comfortably in the Kremlin’s good graces.
During a broadcast on Russian state television this week, Gabbard was apparently referenced in very friendly terms by one of Putin’s most prominent propagandists, Vladimir Soloviev.
He introduced Gabbard, a Democratic primary candidate for the 2020 presidential race, as “our girlfriend Tulsi,” according to a translation by Russian media analyst Julia Davis, a columnist for the Daily Beast.
A clip was then aired of Gabbard’s appearance on Monday’s episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in which she suggested President Joe Biden was secretly plotting to remove Putin from power.
After the clip aired, a panelist reportedly asked, “Is she some sort of Russian agent?”
According to Davis’ translation, Soloviev said she was.
In 2019, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested in an interview that Gabbard, then a long shot in the Democratic presidential field, was being groomed by Russia as an “asset” who would run as a third-party candidate and help usher in a Republican president. Gabbard filed and then later dropped a defamation lawsuit against Clinton over the “asset” comment.
Carlson, meanwhile, has been a favorite of Russian propagandists for weeks. The Fox News host has repeatedly been featured on Russian state-sponsored television for his defenses of Russia and criticisms of the U.S., NATO and Ukraine, and was even reportedly endorsed by the Kremlin in a leaked memo to state media.
Earlier this week, he promoted a bizarre theory to keep Putin in power, suggesting that Islamic extremists would somehow get hold of the country’s nuclear weapons and use them on Americans if he was removed.
Ted Cruz Does it Over and Over and Over Again
Previous Guy Does it Over and Over and Over Again
Donald Trump is doing it again -- putting his personal goals and burning zeal for revenge above the national interest -- as he once more appeals for Russian President Vladimir Putin's political help in the midst of the brutality in Ukraine.
Trump's call on the Kremlin strongman to dig up dirt on President Joe Biden is no surprise. He's called on Russia and China before to interfere in US elections to boost his chances and got impeached for trying to blackmail Ukraine to do the same.
But this may be the ex-President's most twisted and pathological attempt yet to corruptly advance his own political career ahead of a possible 2024 White House bid. His thinking seems to be clear. Putin might be raining atrocities on Ukrainian citizens, bombing hospitals, apartment blocks, razing entire cities and sending 4 million refugees west into Europe. But Trump seems willing to overlook all of that in service of his own perceived interests.
Not only is Trump seeking to cook up a self-serving conspiracy with a Russian President much of the world now regards as a war criminal. He's also asking an enemy of the United States, who has threatened nuclear war, to damage the American commander-in-chief who is leading the West in an effort to aid an innocent, invaded nation and to save democracy.
Trump's latest appeal offers a window into his twisted morality as he lines up again alongside Putin, whom he called a "genius" earlier in the Ukraine crisis even as much of his own party condemned the invasion. And it raises fundamental questions about the patriotism of an ex-President who sometimes hugs the stars and stripes at his rallies but who often showed while in office that he cared only for his own interests.
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
Insuring That They Won't Have to Live Like a Refugee
As the United States prepares to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees following Russia's invasion of their country, existing communities in cities like Sacramento and Seattle are already mobilizing to provide food, shelter and support to those fleeing the war.
The federal government hasn't said when the formal resettlement process will begin, but Ukrainian groups in the U.S. are already providing support to people entering the country through other channels, including on visas that will eventually expire or by flying to Mexico and crossing over the border.
“No refugee is waiting for you to be ready for them," said Eduard Kislyanka, senior pastor at the House of Bread church near Sacramento, which has been sending teams of people to Poland and preparing dozens of its member families to house people arriving in California.
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Invasions Have Consequences
Generals Lied to the President and the Public During the Viet Nam War. Generals Lied About Battles During the Civil War. This is Hardly New.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misled by advisers who are too scared to tell him how badly the war in Ukraine is going, the White House says.
Meanwhile, British intelligence says Russian troops in Ukraine are demoralised, short of equipment and refusing to carry out orders.
Mr Putin is also not being told about the full impact of sanctions on the Russian economy, the White House said.
This is a Blunderbuss
This is a Bus Blunder
A Ukrainian official said on Thursday that a convoy of buses en route to the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol had been held up at a Russian checkpoint in Vasylivka, a city between the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia and the Russian-held city of Berdiansk.
"Our task is to open a humanitarian corridor and help people survive, especially civilians — women, children, the elderly," according to Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukrainian minister of reintegration of temporarily occupied territories.
Vereshchuk said about 100,000 people requiring immediate evacuation remain in the city, out of a pre-war population of more than 400,000.
"That is, another 100,000 women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities who need our and the world's help," she said.
The Ruble Bubble
The barrage of sanctions imposed by the West following Russia's invasion of Ukraine decimated the ruble. But one month after the tanks rolled, the currency has made a full recovery and is now trading at levels seen prior to the war. How is that possible?
Russia's central bank has taken dramatic steps in recent weeks to intervene in the market, implementing policies to prevent investors and companies from selling the currency and other measures that force them to buy it.
What has Moscow done to boost the ruble?
-The central bank has more than doubled interest rates to 20%. That encourages Russian savers to keep their money in local currency.
-Exporters have been ordered to swap 80% of their foreign currency revenues for rubles rather than holding onto US dollars or euros.
-Russian brokers have been banned from selling securities held by foreigners.
-Residents are not allowed to make bank transfers outside Russia.
-Russia has threatened to demand payment for natural gas in rubles, not euros or dollars.
These measures have allowed Moscow to artificially manufacture demand for the ruble. The problem facing policymakers is that with Russia's economy in tatters, nobody actually wants to buy the currency of their own accord. When the restrictions are lifted, demand for the ruble will drop, and its value will slide — perhaps dramatically.
The same is true for Russia's stock market. The benchmark MOEX index trended higher when trading resumed a week ago after a long stoppage forced by the war, but analysts say that's due to restrictions in place on investors, including a ban on short selling. Only 33 stocks were allowed to trade when the market reopened. When trading was extended to all stocks this week, the index fell again.
With that in mind, the rebound of the ruble and stock market moves shouldn't be taken as a signal that Russia's economy is on the mend. The country is facing its deepest recession since the 1990s, and the economy will shrink by a fifth this year, according to a recent forecast from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Who's Destroyed More Equipment, the Ukrainians, or the Russians?
Russian troops deployed to invade Ukraine are undermining their own offensive by rejecting orders and destroying their equipment, including aircraft, according to Jeremy Fleming, the head of British intelligence agency GCHQ.
Today's Health Tip: Don't Visit Chernobyl. And Don't Kick Up the Dust.
Russian soldiers who seized the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster drove their armoured vehicles without radiation protection through a highly toxic zone called the "Red Forest", kicking up clouds of radioactive dust, workers at the site said.
The two sources said soldiers in the convoy did not use any anti-radiation gear. The second Chernobyl employee said that was "suicidal" for the soldiers because the radioactive dust they inhaled was likely to cause internal radiation in their bodies.
Ukraine's state nuclear inspectorate said on Feb. 25 there had been an increase in radiation levels at Chernobyl as a result of heavy military vehicles disturbing the soil. But until now, details of exactly what happened had not emerged.
I'd Be Happy to Give Up Florida and Texas for Peace.
Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression has proven critical in warding off Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces, but that same national fervor puts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a tight spot when it comes to compromises that could end the war.
Russia has suffered massive losses in the war against Ukraine and has made surprisingly little progress in the five weeks since Putin launched the attack. After failing to quickly crush Ukrainian forces, Russia has pulled back on some of its demands, but Zelensky will have to work hard to convince Ukrainians that ceding anything to Russia is the right move.
"Zelensky has impressed his country as a wartime leader, but it'll be a political problem if he tries to sell a deal that isn't that good," Daniel Fried, the former assistant secretary of state for Europe who's now at the Atlantic Council, said.
A national hero that's captured the world's admiration, Zelensky worked tirelessly to motivate Ukrainians to maintain the fight against Russia. He's called the war a battle for the world's freedom and rallied people around the message that Ukrainians are holding their own against Russia despite their underdog status.
At this point, Fried said, Ukrainians realize they have a shot at winning "by not losing" and that their immense sacrifices have meant something. With that mentality, he questioned, "what are Ukrainians going to want to give up?"
It's a question Ukrainian Parliament Member Inna Sovsun posed on Twitter, as well. On Monday, she acknowledged that the Donbas region and Crimea were on the negotiating table and that some people may see it as a small concession to achieve peace. However, she asked people to consider what regions in their own countries they'd be willing to sacrifice if Putin started bombing their cities.
Moving away from the "denazification" of Ukraine that Russia used to justify the invasion, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia's "main goal" is the liberation of the Donbas. But, negotiating away territory, a move that could be seen as infringing on Ukraine's sovereignty, won't be easy for Zelensky, Michael Kimmage, history professor at Catholic University and fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told Newsweek.
It's possible Zelensky could offer a compromise on parts of the Donbas that were Russian-controlled before the current invasion. That might not be enough to satisfy Putin though and Russia is likely to try to take total control of the region, which means sacrificing Mariupol, a key Ukrainian coastal city that's been ravaged by Russian troops.
"It would be very difficult for Zelensky to concede and his people would be very upset. That's Russia, in effect, winning part of the war and an almost intolerable outcome," Kimmage said. "It's completely a political tightrope."
Should We Call It Texit?
Russia’s tech workers are looking for safer and more secure professional pastures.
By one estimate, up to 70,000 computer specialists, spooked by a sudden frost in the business and political climate, have bolted the country since Russia invaded Ukraine five weeks ago. Many more are expected to follow.
For some countries, Russia’s loss is being seen as their potential gain and an opportunity to bring fresh expertise to their own high-tech industries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has noticed the brain drain even in the throes of a war that, according to the U.N. refugee agency, has caused more than 4 million people to flee Ukraine and displaced millions more within the country.
This week, Putin reacted to the exodus of tech professionals by approving legislation to eliminate income taxes between now and 2024 for individuals who work for information technology companies.
Some people in the vast new pool of high-tech exiles say they are in no rush to return home. An elite crowd furnished with European Union visas has relocated to Poland or the Baltic nations of Latvia and Lithuania.
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This is What We Have a Strategic Reserve For
US President Joe Biden has ordered a major release of oil from America's strategic reserves in an effort to bring down high fuel costs.
The release of up to 180m barrels of oil over six months is the largest since the reserve was created in 1974.
Oil prices dropped on reports of the move, which is aimed at easing a supply crunch sparked by war in Ukraine.
But the release - of about 1m barrels a day - is unlikely to fully resolve the energy crisis, analysts say.
Mr Biden promised further action to boost US output, saying the release would "serve as a bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up".
He called for companies to pay extra if they choose not to use oil wells on land they lease from the government, as well as investments to speed up the adoption of greener energy sources.
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Crude oil prices fell around $5 a barrel on Thursday following reports that the Biden administration was planning to tap into its strategic reserve, a move that comes after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions have caused global oil prices to soa
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The Mystery of the Jars.
Researchers have uncovered giant "mysterious" jars in India that may have been used for ancient human burial practices.
The 65 sandstone jars were found scattered over four sites in the north-eastern state of Assam.
They vary in shape and size. Some of the jars are tall and cylindrical, while the others are partly or fully buried in the ground.
Similar stone vessels have previously been found in Laos and Indonesia.
"We still don't know who made the giant jars or where they lived. It's all a bit of a mystery", said Nicholas Skopal, a researcher at the Australian National University who was part of the research team.
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Let the Water Wars Begin
As the climate crisis intensifies, battle lines are beginning to form over water. In Arizona -- amid a decades-long megadrought -- some communities are facing the very real possibility of losing access to the precious water that remains.
Outside the city limits of Scottsdale, where the asphalt ends and the dirt road begins, is the Rio Verde Foothills community. Hundreds of homes here get water trucked in from Scottsdale, but those deliveries will end on January 1, 2023.
That's because last summer, for the first time ever, drought conditions forced the federal government to declare a tier 1 water shortage in the Colorado River, reducing how much Arizona can use.
Meredith Deangelis lives in the community, and the thought of losing access to water keeps her up at night.
"Every time I brush my teeth, I think, 'Oh my gosh, I can't imagine that I'm not going to have water to brush my teeth,'" Deangelis told CNN.
Scottsdale's water department told CNN in an email that "Scottsdale has continued to be a good neighbor in allowing Rio Verde to temporarily use its water supply." The department said that due to the current water shortage, by law it "must dedicate its limited water supply to its residents."
Deangelis and her neighbors are hoping to find another water source to purchase for their homes, but in order to do that they must get certain approvals from their county, which has not happened yet.
"To think, I have this beautiful home and I'm not going to be able to live here because water is not going to be approved and provided to my home is just incredibly unnerving and stressful," Deangelis said.
The Southwest is Going to Face a Lot More of This.
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The Fishing Wars Have Already Begun
Protesters from across Sri Lanka descended on the nation’s capital in February, shouting above the street noise and pumping their fists in the air in frustration.
The group was made up of fisherman and their supporters, and their rage was sparked by the Indian boats that regularly sail into Sri Lankan waters by the thousands, hauling away valuable sea cucumbers and prawns. Sri Lankan fishermen say they’ve lost business, and some have lost their lives in confrontations with foreign crews.
The protesters demanded more action from the government, even as Sri Lanka’s navy has used force to guard its fisheries — destroying Indian fishing gear, charging at the vessels, and in at least one violent episode, firing shots. Five Indian fishermen were reportedly killed last year in encounters with the navy, although Sri Lankan authorities deny they killed or shot at crews, and say they were not the aggressors.
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The QOP is Horrible, But the GOP is Terrible, Too.
Here’s what’s at stake: On the one hand, Biden is trying to rebuild the old liberal consensus that used to be shared by people of both parties, instituted by Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt to protect workers from the overreach of their employers and expanded under Republican Dwight Eisenhower to protect civil rights. To this, Biden has focused on those previously marginalized and has added a focus on women and children.
Biden’s new budget, released earlier this week, calls for investment in U.S. families, communities, and infrastructure, the same principles on which the economy has boomed for the past year. The budget also promotes fiscal responsibility by rolling back Trump’s tax cuts on the very wealthy. Biden’s signature yesterday on the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, making lynching a federal hate crime in the United States, is the culmination of more than 100 years of work.
Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are defending democracy against authoritarianism, working to bring together allies around the globe to resist the aggression of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
On the other hand, the Republican Party is working to get rid of the New Deal government. While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wanted to face the midterms without a platform, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), who chairs the committee responsible for electing Republican senators, has produced an “11-point plan to rescue America.” It dramatically raises taxes on people who earn less than $100,000, and ends Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act.
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I Am Sure the QOP Will Blame Workers for Being "Greedy"
An inflation gauge that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve jumped 6.4% in February compared with a year ago, with sharply higher prices for food, gasoline and other necessities squeezing Americans' finances.
The figure reported Thursday by the Commerce Department was the largest year-over-year rise since January 1982. Excluding volatile prices for food and energy, so-called core inflation increased 5.4% in February from 12 months earlier.
Robust consumer demand has combined with shortages of many goods to fuel the sharpest price jumps in four decades. Escalating the inflation pressures, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has disrupted global oil markets and accelerated prices for wheat, nickel and other key commodities.
The inflation spike took a toll on consumers, whose spending in February rose just 0.2%, down from a much larger 2.7% gain in January. Adjusted for inflation, spending actually fell 0.4% last month.
Yet Americans' overall incomes rose 0.5% in February, the highest gain since November and up from just 0.1% in January. Wages and salaries jumped 0.8%, the most in four months.
Businesses have been raising pay to attract and keep employees — a trend that is benefiting workers but also giving employers cause to raise prices to offset their higher labor costs. That cycle is helping fuel inflation.
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Grandma Never Had to Say, "It's Just As Easy to Fall In Love With a Man Who Is NOT on Death Row as a Man Who Is."
Anti-death penalty advocate Lea Rodger says she is keenly aware of the realities facing her and Richard Glossip, who she married this week inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary where he sits on death row.
Glossip, 59, already has narrowly escaped execution three times and could be the next man Oklahoma puts to death now that the state has lifted a nearly seven-year moratorium on executions put in place due to mishaps in his case and others.
Rodger, 32, a paralegal who has spent more than a decade advocating for an end to capital punishment, says that's one of the reasons she didn't want to waste time marrying her new husband.
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Hello Rhino!
A rare Sumatran rhino was born at an Indonesian sanctuary in a win for the extremely endangered species, environmental officials said.
The newborn Sumatran rhino’s mother, named Rosa, gave birth to the female calf in captivity at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary located in Way Kambas National Park in the Lampung Province on March 24, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment.
A highly endangered species, the World Wildlife Fund says only about 80 Sumatran rhinos are left. Once found across Southeast Asia, today the remaining population exists in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo islands.
The rare birth has brought the total number of Sumatran rhinos in the sanctuary to eight and sparked hope for the species.
“The birth of the Sumatran rhino is good news amid the efforts of the Indonesian government and partners to increase the Sumatran rhino population,” Wiratno, the director general of conservation at the environment ministry, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said in a statement.
Sumatran rhinos have long been in jeopardy due to poaching and habitat destruction.
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