Post by mhbruin on May 29, 2022 9:38:59 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 585 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
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I Got My Wife a New Fridge. Her Face Lit Up When She Opened It.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
Texas Deserves What They Get. They Keep Electing These "Leaders".
There’s a disconnect in Texas between public sentiment toward guns and the state’s increasingly lenient public policy toward gun ownership. As part of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, we’ve been polling Texas voters for more than a decade on this topic, and it turns out that Texans, like most Americans, favor stricter gun control laws. But for the past decade, up to and including laws passed in 2019, the first legislative session after mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa, the state Legislature has continuously and steadily loosened the state’s gun laws. And in the wake of another horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, it’s hard not to imagine more of the same.
Despite this consistent desire for stricter laws, or at least, to maintain the status quo, GOP leaders and the Republican dominated state Legislature have continued to advance legislation limiting requirements for firearm training while expanding access. A smattering of examples includes, but is not limited to: giving Texans the right to store firearms in their cars; allowing licensed gun owners the ability to openly carry a handgun in a holster in public; requiring the state’s public universities to allow those licensed to carry a concealed weapon to be able to do so on campus (including in dorms, classroom, and campus buildings); removing the cap on the number of school marshals who can carry a firearm in K-12 schools; clarifying the right of handgun owners to carry their weapon in a church or other place of worship; and, most recently, allowing anyone over the age of 21 who is not prohibited from owning a gun to be able to carry one in public without a permit or training.
At the same time, Texans have also continually expressed an openness to the kinds of gun and firearm restrictions that most Americans appear to embrace. As recently as June 2021, 71 percent of Texans, including 61 percent of Texas Republicans, expressed support for universal background checks on all gun purchases. Polling in October 2019 found 68 percent of Texas voters, including 53 percent of Texas Republicans, in support of red flag laws — one of a handful of policy responses considered (but eventually jettisoned) by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick following mass shootings that had occurred around the time. Even Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s apparent Achilles’ heel in the gun debate — his support during his failed presidential bid for a mandatory assault weapon buyback program — found 59 percent of Texans roughly on his side and in support of a far stricter nationwide ban on semi-automatic weapons.
Editorial: Who is to Blame?
Of course, many of the parents of the victims may not have voted for Democrats, but the have chosen to live in that cesspool of macho white male privilege.
However, every adult who votes for a Republican or doesn't vote is just as responsible for the deaths of those kids as any card-carrying NRA member.
Not every individual gets the government we deserve, but as a nation, America is getting the government we deserve.
More Guns Are Coming
“In states with Republican-controlled legislatures, a mass shooting roughly doubles the number of laws enacted that loosen gun restrictions in the year following the incident,” the authors write. “We find no significant effect of mass shootings on laws enacted when there is a Democrat-controlled legislature. We also find no significant effect of mass shootings on the number of enacted laws that tighten gun restrictions.”
The Qwazies Are Still Doing Crazy
Don QANON-uixote Still Tilts With Windmills
Not to Be Outdone by Daddy
In an incredible display of utter tastelessness, Donald Trump Jr. insisted in a rage-fueled video on social media Saturday that the Uvalde mass shooter could have killed 19 children and two teachers with a “bat.”
Assault rifles are being stigmatized when “screwed up people” are the real issue, he railed in a Facebook video.
The red-faced, nearly teary-eyed Trump Jr. shouted that the shooter was a “sociopath” who could wreak the same havoc with nearly any other weapon.
“It’s the gun; it’s not the sociopath wielding it,” people are claiming, he complained. “He wouldn’t have done the exact same thing with a bat, or a bomb, or some sort of improvised device — or a machete?” he added.
And He Wonders, Still He Wonders, Who'll Stop the Rain
In what many critics deemed a spectacular self-own, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in a Tweet that he welcomed a global recession so money would stop “raining” down on “fools.”
Musk posted the comment Thursday in response to a question concerning his attitude about a possible coming recession.
As for raining money, critics were happy to point out that Musk has been the recipient of millions of dollars in tax breaks ($64 million from Texas alone), and a very hefty government loan, among other support.
Tesla scooped up a $465 million loan in 2009 as part of a federal stimulus package, which financed the development and manufacture of Tesla’s groundbreaking Model S.
In 2015, the Los Angles Times estimated that Musk’s companies had already benefited from some $5 billion in government support.
She Missed it by THIS MUCH! Sorry About that Chief.
A candidate for the GOP nomination for governor of Georgia refused to concede defeat even though she received only 3.4% of the vote on Tuesday.
Kandiss Taylor, a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, came third in the race.
She received significantly fewer votes than David Perdue, who had Trump's formal endorsement, and incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, who won by 73.7% and secured the nomination.
After the results were clear, Taylor complained that the election was "rigged" against her, The Daily Beast reported.
"We have a national data team working on the 2022 primary election fraud. More will be forthcoming," Taylor campaign spokesperson Christi Maude told The Daily Beast. "Dr. Kandiss Taylor does not concede."
(Taylor has a PhD in school counseling and supervision.)
Her approach contrasts with that of Perdue, who got significantly more votes than Taylor with 21.8%, but conceded to Kemp on the night of the count.
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
His Daughter Died in Parkland
How Easy Was This? (They Have Universal Health Coverage, Too.)
Shattered parents and gun control advocates went into action in 1996 after a former Scout master fatally shot 16 children and their teacher at an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland. After they battled to effectively ban handguns for civilians in the U.K. (automatic weapons were outlawed after a previous mass killing), there hasn’t been another mass school shooting in the U.K. since.
A Stylish Way to Respond to the Shooting
British pop star Harry Styles is giving back in a big way in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, shooting.
Styles, who begins the next leg of his high-demand world tour in June, along with concert promoter Live Nation, announced over $1 million in tour earnings will go toward gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.
The group began after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 26 people dead including 20 children in 2012.
O're the Land of the AK-47 and the Home of the Dead Children.
Several of Gabe Kapler’s fellow managers are offering their support for his decision to avoid the field during the national anthem as a protest following the school shootings in southwestern Texas.
Kapler, manager of the San Francisco Giants, said Friday he doesn’t plan to be on the field for the anthem “until I feel better about the direction of our country. I don’t expect it to move the needle necessarily. It’s just something that I feel strongly enough about to take that step.”
One day after Kapler's comments, no uniformed Giants were on the field for the anthem before the team's 3-2 loss to the Reds.
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Invasions Have Consequences
Day 95
Fighting
Fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk rages with Russian forces conducting assault operations.
Invading forces appear close to seizing all of the Luhansk region, one of the more modest war goals of the Kremlin.
Russian artillery pounded the Lysychansk-Bakhmut road, which Russia must take to encircle Ukrainian forces.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken full control of Lyman, west of Severodonetsk; however, Ukraine Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said the battle for the town continued.
Russia also said it had used missile attacks to destroy Ukrainian command posts in Bakhmut and Soledar.
Ukraine has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expected good news this week on weapons supplies without giving details.
Russia’s defence ministry said its navy successfully launched a new hypersonic missile from the Barents Sea that struck its target 1,000km (600 miles) away.
A Ukrainian soldier is buried in eastern Ukraine.
A Ukrainian service member is buried next to his comrade in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine [Bernat Armangue/AP]
Diplomacy
In a sign of frustration over Western differences on the war, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna said NATO had shown itself incapable of mounting a united response.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to release the 2,500 Ukrainian defenders of the Azovstal steel plant detained by Russian forces during an 80-minute call, the Elysee Palace said.
Putin warned Macron and Scholz that ramping up arms supplies to Ukraine would be “dangerous” and risk “further destabilisation”.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged his country’s continued support “including helping provide the equipment they need” in a call Saturday with Zelenskyy.
A European Union summit on Monday and Tuesday could see divisions between members who want to take a hard line against Russia and those calling for a ceasefire.
Economy
Putin told Macron and Scholz that Moscow was willing to discuss ways to make it possible for Ukraine to resume shipments of grain, the Kremlin said.
Mariupol’s port reportedly resumed operations after Russian forces finished clearing mines in the Azov Sea.
Johnson told Zelenskyy that international partners were working intensively to find ways to resume the export of grain from Ukraine to avert a global food crisis.
A ship entered the Ukrainian port of Mariupol for the first time since Russia completed its capture of the city to load metal and ship it east to Russia.
A Tiny Taste of What Ukraine Has to Look Forward To
An unexploded World War One grenade has been found by a child on a County Down beach, police have said.
The young boy contacted the Police Service of Northern Ireland after spotting the device on Cultra beach.
An Army technical officer went to the scene and confirmed it was a live WW1 "Mills Bomb" hand grenade.
It was then taken to Crawfordsburn Country Park where a controlled explosion took place.
Heard the One About the Moroccan Mercenaries?
The port city of Berdyansk had been occupied by Russian troops for less than a week, but a new pro-Kremlin online media outlet had already moved in.
The company, whose name translates as Southern Front, makes and distributes pro-Vladimir Putin propaganda across YouTube, social media app Telegram, and through a website that targets areas newly under Russian control.
The Southern Front news site posted its first message on day one of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and now has several correspondents filing stories on a daily basis.
The BBC has found evidence that the site's reporting contains falsehoods and misleading claims.
In early March, Southern Front's correspondent was at the scene in Berdyansk. They reported that Russian soldiers had apparently thwarted an attack, and killed two Moroccan men involved. The reporter alleged the men were working as mercenaries for Ukraine. But it appears elements of the video were staged.
The two Moroccan men identified in the attack were allegedly found with their Ukrainian residency permits still on them.
The BBC tracked down one of the men implicated. According to the report he was dead, but we spoke to him on social media. He requested anonymity but says he was not aware of the Russian report and that he left Ukraine before the invasion and returned to Morocco.
Southern Front regularly posts videos containing unsubstantiated claims.
The majority of the reports claim to show "peaceful life" has been established in occupied areas. The channel often runs stories that justify Russia's invasion.
Is Severodonetsk Strategic? Lots of People Will Die for a Pile of Rubble.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is inflicting unspeakable suffering on Ukrainians and demanding horrible sacrifices of his own people in an effort to seize a city that does not merit the cost, even for him
Putin is now hurling men and munitions at the last remaining major population center in [ oblast, Severodonetsk, as if taking it would win the war for the Kremlin. He is wrong
Severodonetsk itself is important at this stage in the war primarily because it is the last significant population center in Luhansk Oblast that the Russians do not control. Seizing it will let Moscow declare that it has secured Luhansk Oblast fully but will give Russia no other significant military or economic benefit. This is especially true because Russian forces are destroying the city as they assault it and will control its rubble if they capture it.
Meanwhile
Russia’s salient at Izyum is still stuck dead in the water, and the one at Popasna is struggling, going on three days without any major gains.
If you’re Russia, Bakhmut is the obvious target, a crossroad for several major highway supplying Ukrainian troops in the Severodonetsk salient. It is only 32 kilometers (20 miles) from Popasna, yet Russia has only advanced half that distance in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance. Observers are marveling at Russia’s new “combined arms” capabilities in this offensive, but what they’re really saying is that Russian artillery and air support are softening defenses before Russia tries to march in. In the end, that only seems to work for them as long as their artillery is near supply railheads, and as long as their aircraft don’t need to go too deep into Ukrainian territory. Russia’s problem is that the deeper they stretch into Ukrainian territory, the more exposed they get to Ukrainian artillery, particularly the deeper-range American/Canadian/Australian M777s and French Caesars.
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Who Won the Week?
The Massachusetts Supreme Court, for forcing ExxonMobil to go to trial for downplaying and intensifying the climate crisis as it hid evidence of its impact on the planet
Tuesday's Democratic primary winners, karma as Trump's candidates take massive dumps, and Republicans in PA who have suddenly decided that they love voting by mail
Terry Gross, Dan Rather, and TV Rain (Russia’s last independent television channel), for being recognized with Peabody Awards
Texas candidate for governor Beto O'Rourke, for confronting Gov. Greg Abbott at a BS-filled damage-control press conference after the massacre in Uvalde
Voters in Australia, for finally booting Rupert Murdoch's stooge Scott Morrison from office and voting in Labour's Anthony Albanese as new PM
Osprey, Florida high school class president Zander Moricz, for getting around "don’t say gay" restrictions on his graduation speech by instead using "curly hair" euphemisms
Career Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev, for quitting his post over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and describing it as a crime against humanity
The Michigan Canvassing Board, for booting five crooked Republican candidates for governor because they committed fraud by forging nominating-petition signatures
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Did Dot Win the Week?
The Saint Louis Zoo has welcomed two adorable – and incredibly rare – bundles of joy: Anya and Irina, critically endangered Amur leopard cubs.
Amur leopards are thought to be the world’s rarest big cat, with around 120 left in the wild in Russia and China, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The zoo, located in St. Louis, announced the exciting birth on May 19 via Twitter. The female cubs were born on April 21 to lucky parents Dot and Samson, said the zoo. Dot arrived at the zoo in 2020. She and the cubs will stay in a private maternity den for the next few months.
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Your Crazy Niece May Tell You They Found the Dominion Fraud. Your Crazy Niece is Still Crazy and Wrong.
Federal cybersecurity officials have verified there are software vulnerabilities in certain ballot-marking devices made by Dominion Voting Systems, discovered during a controversial Georgia court case, which could in theory allow a malicious actor to tamper with the devices, according to a draft analysis reviewed by CNN.
The vulnerabilities have never been exploited in an election and doing so would require physical access to voting equipment or other extraordinary criteria standard election security practices prevent, according to the analysis from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
But because the subject is Dominion voting equipment, which has been the target of conspiracy theorists who falsely claim there was large-scale fraud in the 2020 election, federal and state and local officials are bracing for election deniers to try to weaponize news of the vulnerabilities ahead of midterm elections.
“While these vulnerabilities present risks that should be promptly mitigated, CISA has no evidence that these vulnerabilities have been exploited in any elections,” reads the draft CISA advisory, which the agency shared in a briefing with state and local officials on Friday.
Not All the Crazy People Are Uncles.
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Here Comes the Rain Again ... But Too Far South
A strengthening Agatha became 2022's first named hurricane in the Pacific early Sunday as it barreled towards Mexico’s southern coast, prompting the National Hurricane Center to warn of “life threatening flooding and mudslides.”
On Sunday morning the center of the hurricane was located around 200 miles west of Puerto Angel with winds of up to 75 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in a public advisory.
Agatha, the first tropical storm of the 2022 hurricane season in the eastern Pacific, was moving northwest at 3 mph, but was expected to take a turn further northward, the center said.
A hurricane warning was issued for parts of the coast of the southern state of Oaxaca, it added.
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A Possible Formula For Feeding a Baby
Baby formula can be easily found south of the U.S. despite the shortage, parents in a Mexican border town told Fox News.
"Well, right now, when I got the formula, I've seen two, three people getting formula from the other side," Jorge, of Tijuana, said. "They have it everywhere at the pharmacies, any store."
As the United States deals with a baby formula shortage due to a recall and pandemic-related supply chain issues, some Americans told Fox News they're purchasing baby formula from Mexico. The shortage prompted President Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act to ensure manufacturers have the necessary supplies for baby formula production.
"The very first Costco that I got [to], the formula is here," said Francisco, who was looking to purchase formula on behalf of his adult son in the U.S. "He's not able just to get it in the States."
.......................
As the baby formula shortage drags on, mothers are scrambling to find ways to feed their babies and at least one Michigan mom is making frequent trips across the border to Canada to buy baby formula.
And a Possible Formula For Not Having a Baby
A group of U.S. state legislators from Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and North Carolina toured Mexico and said this week they are impressed by efforts to expand abortion access south of the border.
The legislators visited the country's three largest cities, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey to meet with activists and Mexican legislators.
They praised the efforts of Mexican activists to guarantee access for women who want an abortion, even those from U.S. states like Texas.
"It is incredibly touching to see people opening their homes, opening their hearts, spending time and effort helping American women, Texas women predominantly for now, access care," said Texas state Rep. Erin Zwiener
There is anecdotal evidence that women from Texas are crossing into Mexico to obtain abortion pills, and some Mexican activists want to help them.
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China Relaxes a Little
Shoppers returned to the malls of Beijing on Sunday as the Chinese capital relaxed pandemic restrictions after declaring a small but persistent COVID-19 outbreak effectively under control.
A partial reopening of stores and offices in Beijing was welcomed by a weary populace and struggling shopkeepers eager for life to return to normal. Coupled with a gradual easing of restrictions in Shanghai, it signaled that the worst is over in the twin outbreaks in China's most prominent cities.
The lockdowns and other restrictions under China's “zero-COVID” strategy have increasingly frustrated residents as they see other countries ease up and reopen their borders. Some have resisted and staged protests at apartment complexes and university dormitories, in an authoritarian country where people think twice about speaking out publicly because of possible repercussions.
Restaurants remain closed in Beijing, except for takeout and delivery, and many people in Shanghai still can only go out with special passes and for a limited time period, even as the number of new cases has plummeted. Officials tend to err on the side of caution under a system that readily punishes them for lax enforcement if outbreaks flare up or come back.
China recorded 293 new cases on Saturday, of which 78 were among people who had arrived from overseas. Shanghai had the most non-imported cases, with 122, and Beijing had 21. That's in a population of more than 20 million people in both cities.
Beijing allowed public parks, gyms and cinemas to reopen on Sunday, all at 50% of their capacity. A portion of the Great Wall in a rural part of Beijing, about 40 miles from downtown, reopens to visitors on Monday.
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New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | New Hospitalizations 7-Day Average | |
| May 27 | |||
| May 26 | 109,643 | 315 | |
| May 25 | 109,564 | 305 | 3,609 |
| May 24 | 104,399 | 288 | 3,614 |
| May 23 | 104,480 | 279 | 3,604 |
| May 22 | 102,940 | 281 | 3,531 |
| May 21 | 105,198 | 283 | 3,226 |
| May 20 | 105,713 | 284 | 3,369 |
| May 19 | 101,029 | 279 | 3,379 |
| May 18 | 101,130 | 280 | 3,332 |
| May 17 | 99,347 | 273 | 3,250 |
| May 16 | 94,199 | 274 | 3,136 |
| May 15 | 90,337 | 263 | 3,013 |
| May 14 | 88,187 | 265 | 2,698 |
| May 13 | 87,831 | 266 | 2,798 |
| May 12 | 87,382 | 272 | 2,731 |
| May 11 | 84,778 | 272 | 2,652 |
| May 10 | 78,236 | 326 | 2,629 |
| May 9 | 74,712 | 323 | 2,597 |
| May 8 | 66,564 | 323 | 2,510 |
| May 7 | 67,561 | 335 | 2,310 |
| May 6 | 68,807 | 340 | 2,396 |
| May 5 | 67,263 | 341 | 2.363 |
| May 4 | 64,780 | 334 | 2,267 |
| May 3 | 61,712 | 325 | 2,219 |
| May 2 | 60,410 | 318 | 2.214 |
| May 1 | 57,020 | 307 | 2,072 |
| Apr 30 | 56,581 | 310 | 1,882 |
| Apr 29 | 56,166 | 308 | 1,946 |
| Apr 28 | 54,696 | 311 | 1,955 |
| Apr 27 | 53,133 | 334 | 1,941 |
| Apr 26 | 48,692 | 299 | 1,889 |
| Apr 25 | 47,407 | 330 | 1,840 |
| Apr 24 | 44,416 | 314 | 1,779 |
| Apr 23 | 45,413 | 315 | 1,629 |
| Apr 22 | 44,308 | 311 | 1,642 |
| Apr 21 | 40,744 | 346 | 1,647 |
| Apr 20 | 42,604 | 375 | 1,609 |
| Apr 19 | 40,985 | 385 | 1,582 |
| Apr 18 | 37,132 | 380 | 1,564 |
| Feb 16, 2021 | 78,292 |
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I Got My Wife a New Fridge. Her Face Lit Up When She Opened It.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
Texas Deserves What They Get. They Keep Electing These "Leaders".
There’s a disconnect in Texas between public sentiment toward guns and the state’s increasingly lenient public policy toward gun ownership. As part of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, we’ve been polling Texas voters for more than a decade on this topic, and it turns out that Texans, like most Americans, favor stricter gun control laws. But for the past decade, up to and including laws passed in 2019, the first legislative session after mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa, the state Legislature has continuously and steadily loosened the state’s gun laws. And in the wake of another horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, it’s hard not to imagine more of the same.
Despite this consistent desire for stricter laws, or at least, to maintain the status quo, GOP leaders and the Republican dominated state Legislature have continued to advance legislation limiting requirements for firearm training while expanding access. A smattering of examples includes, but is not limited to: giving Texans the right to store firearms in their cars; allowing licensed gun owners the ability to openly carry a handgun in a holster in public; requiring the state’s public universities to allow those licensed to carry a concealed weapon to be able to do so on campus (including in dorms, classroom, and campus buildings); removing the cap on the number of school marshals who can carry a firearm in K-12 schools; clarifying the right of handgun owners to carry their weapon in a church or other place of worship; and, most recently, allowing anyone over the age of 21 who is not prohibited from owning a gun to be able to carry one in public without a permit or training.
At the same time, Texans have also continually expressed an openness to the kinds of gun and firearm restrictions that most Americans appear to embrace. As recently as June 2021, 71 percent of Texans, including 61 percent of Texas Republicans, expressed support for universal background checks on all gun purchases. Polling in October 2019 found 68 percent of Texas voters, including 53 percent of Texas Republicans, in support of red flag laws — one of a handful of policy responses considered (but eventually jettisoned) by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick following mass shootings that had occurred around the time. Even Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s apparent Achilles’ heel in the gun debate — his support during his failed presidential bid for a mandatory assault weapon buyback program — found 59 percent of Texans roughly on his side and in support of a far stricter nationwide ban on semi-automatic weapons.
Editorial: Who is to Blame?
Of course, many of the parents of the victims may not have voted for Democrats, but the have chosen to live in that cesspool of macho white male privilege.
However, every adult who votes for a Republican or doesn't vote is just as responsible for the deaths of those kids as any card-carrying NRA member.
Not every individual gets the government we deserve, but as a nation, America is getting the government we deserve.
More Guns Are Coming
“In states with Republican-controlled legislatures, a mass shooting roughly doubles the number of laws enacted that loosen gun restrictions in the year following the incident,” the authors write. “We find no significant effect of mass shootings on laws enacted when there is a Democrat-controlled legislature. We also find no significant effect of mass shootings on the number of enacted laws that tighten gun restrictions.”
The Qwazies Are Still Doing Crazy
Don QANON-uixote Still Tilts With Windmills
Not to Be Outdone by Daddy
In an incredible display of utter tastelessness, Donald Trump Jr. insisted in a rage-fueled video on social media Saturday that the Uvalde mass shooter could have killed 19 children and two teachers with a “bat.”
Assault rifles are being stigmatized when “screwed up people” are the real issue, he railed in a Facebook video.
The red-faced, nearly teary-eyed Trump Jr. shouted that the shooter was a “sociopath” who could wreak the same havoc with nearly any other weapon.
“It’s the gun; it’s not the sociopath wielding it,” people are claiming, he complained. “He wouldn’t have done the exact same thing with a bat, or a bomb, or some sort of improvised device — or a machete?” he added.
And He Wonders, Still He Wonders, Who'll Stop the Rain
In what many critics deemed a spectacular self-own, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in a Tweet that he welcomed a global recession so money would stop “raining” down on “fools.”
Musk posted the comment Thursday in response to a question concerning his attitude about a possible coming recession.
As for raining money, critics were happy to point out that Musk has been the recipient of millions of dollars in tax breaks ($64 million from Texas alone), and a very hefty government loan, among other support.
Tesla scooped up a $465 million loan in 2009 as part of a federal stimulus package, which financed the development and manufacture of Tesla’s groundbreaking Model S.
In 2015, the Los Angles Times estimated that Musk’s companies had already benefited from some $5 billion in government support.
She Missed it by THIS MUCH! Sorry About that Chief.
A candidate for the GOP nomination for governor of Georgia refused to concede defeat even though she received only 3.4% of the vote on Tuesday.
Kandiss Taylor, a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, came third in the race.
She received significantly fewer votes than David Perdue, who had Trump's formal endorsement, and incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, who won by 73.7% and secured the nomination.
After the results were clear, Taylor complained that the election was "rigged" against her, The Daily Beast reported.
"We have a national data team working on the 2022 primary election fraud. More will be forthcoming," Taylor campaign spokesperson Christi Maude told The Daily Beast. "Dr. Kandiss Taylor does not concede."
(Taylor has a PhD in school counseling and supervision.)
Her approach contrasts with that of Perdue, who got significantly more votes than Taylor with 21.8%, but conceded to Kemp on the night of the count.
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
His Daughter Died in Parkland
How Easy Was This? (They Have Universal Health Coverage, Too.)
Shattered parents and gun control advocates went into action in 1996 after a former Scout master fatally shot 16 children and their teacher at an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland. After they battled to effectively ban handguns for civilians in the U.K. (automatic weapons were outlawed after a previous mass killing), there hasn’t been another mass school shooting in the U.K. since.
A Stylish Way to Respond to the Shooting
British pop star Harry Styles is giving back in a big way in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, shooting.
Styles, who begins the next leg of his high-demand world tour in June, along with concert promoter Live Nation, announced over $1 million in tour earnings will go toward gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.
The group began after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 26 people dead including 20 children in 2012.
O're the Land of the AK-47 and the Home of the Dead Children.
Several of Gabe Kapler’s fellow managers are offering their support for his decision to avoid the field during the national anthem as a protest following the school shootings in southwestern Texas.
Kapler, manager of the San Francisco Giants, said Friday he doesn’t plan to be on the field for the anthem “until I feel better about the direction of our country. I don’t expect it to move the needle necessarily. It’s just something that I feel strongly enough about to take that step.”
One day after Kapler's comments, no uniformed Giants were on the field for the anthem before the team's 3-2 loss to the Reds.
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Invasions Have Consequences
Day 95
Fighting
Fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk rages with Russian forces conducting assault operations.
Invading forces appear close to seizing all of the Luhansk region, one of the more modest war goals of the Kremlin.
Russian artillery pounded the Lysychansk-Bakhmut road, which Russia must take to encircle Ukrainian forces.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken full control of Lyman, west of Severodonetsk; however, Ukraine Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said the battle for the town continued.
Russia also said it had used missile attacks to destroy Ukrainian command posts in Bakhmut and Soledar.
Ukraine has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expected good news this week on weapons supplies without giving details.
Russia’s defence ministry said its navy successfully launched a new hypersonic missile from the Barents Sea that struck its target 1,000km (600 miles) away.
A Ukrainian soldier is buried in eastern Ukraine.
A Ukrainian service member is buried next to his comrade in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine [Bernat Armangue/AP]
Diplomacy
In a sign of frustration over Western differences on the war, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna said NATO had shown itself incapable of mounting a united response.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to release the 2,500 Ukrainian defenders of the Azovstal steel plant detained by Russian forces during an 80-minute call, the Elysee Palace said.
Putin warned Macron and Scholz that ramping up arms supplies to Ukraine would be “dangerous” and risk “further destabilisation”.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged his country’s continued support “including helping provide the equipment they need” in a call Saturday with Zelenskyy.
A European Union summit on Monday and Tuesday could see divisions between members who want to take a hard line against Russia and those calling for a ceasefire.
Economy
Putin told Macron and Scholz that Moscow was willing to discuss ways to make it possible for Ukraine to resume shipments of grain, the Kremlin said.
Mariupol’s port reportedly resumed operations after Russian forces finished clearing mines in the Azov Sea.
Johnson told Zelenskyy that international partners were working intensively to find ways to resume the export of grain from Ukraine to avert a global food crisis.
A ship entered the Ukrainian port of Mariupol for the first time since Russia completed its capture of the city to load metal and ship it east to Russia.
A Tiny Taste of What Ukraine Has to Look Forward To
An unexploded World War One grenade has been found by a child on a County Down beach, police have said.
The young boy contacted the Police Service of Northern Ireland after spotting the device on Cultra beach.
An Army technical officer went to the scene and confirmed it was a live WW1 "Mills Bomb" hand grenade.
It was then taken to Crawfordsburn Country Park where a controlled explosion took place.
Heard the One About the Moroccan Mercenaries?
The port city of Berdyansk had been occupied by Russian troops for less than a week, but a new pro-Kremlin online media outlet had already moved in.
The company, whose name translates as Southern Front, makes and distributes pro-Vladimir Putin propaganda across YouTube, social media app Telegram, and through a website that targets areas newly under Russian control.
The Southern Front news site posted its first message on day one of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and now has several correspondents filing stories on a daily basis.
The BBC has found evidence that the site's reporting contains falsehoods and misleading claims.
In early March, Southern Front's correspondent was at the scene in Berdyansk. They reported that Russian soldiers had apparently thwarted an attack, and killed two Moroccan men involved. The reporter alleged the men were working as mercenaries for Ukraine. But it appears elements of the video were staged.
The two Moroccan men identified in the attack were allegedly found with their Ukrainian residency permits still on them.
The BBC tracked down one of the men implicated. According to the report he was dead, but we spoke to him on social media. He requested anonymity but says he was not aware of the Russian report and that he left Ukraine before the invasion and returned to Morocco.
Southern Front regularly posts videos containing unsubstantiated claims.
The majority of the reports claim to show "peaceful life" has been established in occupied areas. The channel often runs stories that justify Russia's invasion.
Is Severodonetsk Strategic? Lots of People Will Die for a Pile of Rubble.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is inflicting unspeakable suffering on Ukrainians and demanding horrible sacrifices of his own people in an effort to seize a city that does not merit the cost, even for him
Putin is now hurling men and munitions at the last remaining major population center in [ oblast, Severodonetsk, as if taking it would win the war for the Kremlin. He is wrong
Severodonetsk itself is important at this stage in the war primarily because it is the last significant population center in Luhansk Oblast that the Russians do not control. Seizing it will let Moscow declare that it has secured Luhansk Oblast fully but will give Russia no other significant military or economic benefit. This is especially true because Russian forces are destroying the city as they assault it and will control its rubble if they capture it.
Meanwhile
Russia’s salient at Izyum is still stuck dead in the water, and the one at Popasna is struggling, going on three days without any major gains.
If you’re Russia, Bakhmut is the obvious target, a crossroad for several major highway supplying Ukrainian troops in the Severodonetsk salient. It is only 32 kilometers (20 miles) from Popasna, yet Russia has only advanced half that distance in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance. Observers are marveling at Russia’s new “combined arms” capabilities in this offensive, but what they’re really saying is that Russian artillery and air support are softening defenses before Russia tries to march in. In the end, that only seems to work for them as long as their artillery is near supply railheads, and as long as their aircraft don’t need to go too deep into Ukrainian territory. Russia’s problem is that the deeper they stretch into Ukrainian territory, the more exposed they get to Ukrainian artillery, particularly the deeper-range American/Canadian/Australian M777s and French Caesars.
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Who Won the Week?
The Massachusetts Supreme Court, for forcing ExxonMobil to go to trial for downplaying and intensifying the climate crisis as it hid evidence of its impact on the planet
Tuesday's Democratic primary winners, karma as Trump's candidates take massive dumps, and Republicans in PA who have suddenly decided that they love voting by mail
Terry Gross, Dan Rather, and TV Rain (Russia’s last independent television channel), for being recognized with Peabody Awards
Texas candidate for governor Beto O'Rourke, for confronting Gov. Greg Abbott at a BS-filled damage-control press conference after the massacre in Uvalde
Voters in Australia, for finally booting Rupert Murdoch's stooge Scott Morrison from office and voting in Labour's Anthony Albanese as new PM
Osprey, Florida high school class president Zander Moricz, for getting around "don’t say gay" restrictions on his graduation speech by instead using "curly hair" euphemisms
Career Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev, for quitting his post over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and describing it as a crime against humanity
The Michigan Canvassing Board, for booting five crooked Republican candidates for governor because they committed fraud by forging nominating-petition signatures
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Did Dot Win the Week?
The Saint Louis Zoo has welcomed two adorable – and incredibly rare – bundles of joy: Anya and Irina, critically endangered Amur leopard cubs.
Amur leopards are thought to be the world’s rarest big cat, with around 120 left in the wild in Russia and China, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The zoo, located in St. Louis, announced the exciting birth on May 19 via Twitter. The female cubs were born on April 21 to lucky parents Dot and Samson, said the zoo. Dot arrived at the zoo in 2020. She and the cubs will stay in a private maternity den for the next few months.
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Your Crazy Niece May Tell You They Found the Dominion Fraud. Your Crazy Niece is Still Crazy and Wrong.
Federal cybersecurity officials have verified there are software vulnerabilities in certain ballot-marking devices made by Dominion Voting Systems, discovered during a controversial Georgia court case, which could in theory allow a malicious actor to tamper with the devices, according to a draft analysis reviewed by CNN.
The vulnerabilities have never been exploited in an election and doing so would require physical access to voting equipment or other extraordinary criteria standard election security practices prevent, according to the analysis from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
But because the subject is Dominion voting equipment, which has been the target of conspiracy theorists who falsely claim there was large-scale fraud in the 2020 election, federal and state and local officials are bracing for election deniers to try to weaponize news of the vulnerabilities ahead of midterm elections.
“While these vulnerabilities present risks that should be promptly mitigated, CISA has no evidence that these vulnerabilities have been exploited in any elections,” reads the draft CISA advisory, which the agency shared in a briefing with state and local officials on Friday.
Not All the Crazy People Are Uncles.
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Here Comes the Rain Again ... But Too Far South
A strengthening Agatha became 2022's first named hurricane in the Pacific early Sunday as it barreled towards Mexico’s southern coast, prompting the National Hurricane Center to warn of “life threatening flooding and mudslides.”
On Sunday morning the center of the hurricane was located around 200 miles west of Puerto Angel with winds of up to 75 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in a public advisory.
Agatha, the first tropical storm of the 2022 hurricane season in the eastern Pacific, was moving northwest at 3 mph, but was expected to take a turn further northward, the center said.
A hurricane warning was issued for parts of the coast of the southern state of Oaxaca, it added.
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A Possible Formula For Feeding a Baby
Baby formula can be easily found south of the U.S. despite the shortage, parents in a Mexican border town told Fox News.
"Well, right now, when I got the formula, I've seen two, three people getting formula from the other side," Jorge, of Tijuana, said. "They have it everywhere at the pharmacies, any store."
As the United States deals with a baby formula shortage due to a recall and pandemic-related supply chain issues, some Americans told Fox News they're purchasing baby formula from Mexico. The shortage prompted President Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act to ensure manufacturers have the necessary supplies for baby formula production.
"The very first Costco that I got [to], the formula is here," said Francisco, who was looking to purchase formula on behalf of his adult son in the U.S. "He's not able just to get it in the States."
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As the baby formula shortage drags on, mothers are scrambling to find ways to feed their babies and at least one Michigan mom is making frequent trips across the border to Canada to buy baby formula.
And a Possible Formula For Not Having a Baby
A group of U.S. state legislators from Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and North Carolina toured Mexico and said this week they are impressed by efforts to expand abortion access south of the border.
The legislators visited the country's three largest cities, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey to meet with activists and Mexican legislators.
They praised the efforts of Mexican activists to guarantee access for women who want an abortion, even those from U.S. states like Texas.
"It is incredibly touching to see people opening their homes, opening their hearts, spending time and effort helping American women, Texas women predominantly for now, access care," said Texas state Rep. Erin Zwiener
There is anecdotal evidence that women from Texas are crossing into Mexico to obtain abortion pills, and some Mexican activists want to help them.
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China Relaxes a Little
Shoppers returned to the malls of Beijing on Sunday as the Chinese capital relaxed pandemic restrictions after declaring a small but persistent COVID-19 outbreak effectively under control.
A partial reopening of stores and offices in Beijing was welcomed by a weary populace and struggling shopkeepers eager for life to return to normal. Coupled with a gradual easing of restrictions in Shanghai, it signaled that the worst is over in the twin outbreaks in China's most prominent cities.
The lockdowns and other restrictions under China's “zero-COVID” strategy have increasingly frustrated residents as they see other countries ease up and reopen their borders. Some have resisted and staged protests at apartment complexes and university dormitories, in an authoritarian country where people think twice about speaking out publicly because of possible repercussions.
Restaurants remain closed in Beijing, except for takeout and delivery, and many people in Shanghai still can only go out with special passes and for a limited time period, even as the number of new cases has plummeted. Officials tend to err on the side of caution under a system that readily punishes them for lax enforcement if outbreaks flare up or come back.
China recorded 293 new cases on Saturday, of which 78 were among people who had arrived from overseas. Shanghai had the most non-imported cases, with 122, and Beijing had 21. That's in a population of more than 20 million people in both cities.
Beijing allowed public parks, gyms and cinemas to reopen on Sunday, all at 50% of their capacity. A portion of the Great Wall in a rural part of Beijing, about 40 miles from downtown, reopens to visitors on Monday.
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