Tues: The Only Voter$ That Count Write Fat Check$

The Party's Over. It's All Over, My Friend

When much of the world went through a major recession in 2008-2009, China, through enormous government spending efforts, managed to weather the storm and buoy the global economy.

With the world tottering “perilously close” to a global recession on the back of Russia’s war in Ukraine and three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, a repeat of a Chinese-led recovery seems less likely.

The country’s economy expanded by only 3 percent in 2022. Growth is projected to remain slow in the early quarters of 2023 before rebounding strongly in the second half of the year, according to a survey of 37 economists conducted by Nikkei in December. The average GDP growth figure put forth by the group was 4.7 percent, with the vast majority of predictions falling between 4.0 and 5.9 percent.

Yet even the most optimistic recovery scenario for China does not portend a return to the soaring growth rates that the country was used to for decades. China’s GDP has grown at an average of nearly 10 percent annually since Beijing embarked on economic reforms in 1978.

The world’s second-largest economy has had a tumultuous ride since the pandemic first began. After early optimism about its rebound in 2020, repeat crackdowns on the private sector and strict zero-COVID lockdowns have wreaked mayhem on supply chains and damaged investor confidence. And January brought more bad news: The country’s population declined last year for the first time in 60 years, raising worrying questions about its future workforce.

Now, with President Xi Jinping effectively established as China’s leader for life and the country finally transitioning out of zero-COVID, can the country ever hope to return to sustained high growth?

The short answer: No. China’s double-digit growth era is almost certainly over, economists and analysts told Al Jazeera. The growth rate that China does manage to sustain in years ahead will largely depend on how Beijing adapts to the structural challenges facing its economy and the impact of Xi’s new priorities.

With All the Nightclub Shootings, "Panic! At The Disco" Wasn't the Best Name for a Band Anyway.

Panic! At The Disco is calling it quits after nearly 20 years, the pop-punk group’s lead singer, Brendon Urie, announced Tuesday.

The Only Voter$ That Count Write Fat Check$ (Not Fat Czechs)

Regarding policy preferences, 68% of all 2022 voters support banning AR-15 style rifles. Similar to issue salience, there are significant differences based on race on this item. As reflected in the figure below, support for banning assault rifles is much higher among Black, Asian-American, and Latino voters. At 64% respectively, support for banning AR-15 style rifles nationwide is supported by a strong majority of both white and Native American voters as well.

Support for banning AR-15 style rifles varies by where voters live. Support is significantly higher in large urban areas, with 82% of voters who live in large cities expressing support for banning AR-15 rifles, compared to 70% of suburban residents and 59% of residents of small towns. Voters who live in rural areas are less likely to support banning AR-15 style rifles nationwide at 47% support.

Oath Keepers, Law Breakers

Four members of the far-right Oath Keepers group were convicted of seditious conspiracy on Monday, for their role in trying to keep former President Donald Trump in power after his 2020 election loss.

The defendants — 52-year-old Joseph Hackett of Florida, 38-year-old Roberto Minuta of Texas, 45-year-old David Moershel of Florida, and 64-year-old Edward Vallejo of Arizona — were also convicted on two additional conspiracy charges and obstruction of an official proceeding. Minuta, Hackett, and Moerschel were found not guilty of lesser charges, including destruction of government property.

Loony Luna. Five Hours???

Lost in the aftermath of the Monterey Park, California, ballroom dance hall shooting that left 11 people dead is an alarming fact: It took five hours for authorities to alert the public that the gunman was on the loose Saturday night.

Even after the 72-year-old shooter brought a submachine gun-style weapon into another nearby dance hall about a half-hour later, a potential attack thwarted by a hero who grabbed the weapon and chased the man away, it would be hours more before police held a news conference to announce the suspect was still at large.

Experts say the weekend mass shooting that sent fear through Los Angeles-area Asian American communities highlights the lack of national standards for notifying the public, and the need for an aggressive alert system — similar to Amber alerts — that would immediately set off alarms on cellphones in surrounding areas and post warnings on highway signs.

“Five hours is kind of ridiculous,” said Chris Grollnek, an expert on active-shooter tactics and a retired police officer and SWAT team member. “This is going to be a really good case study. Why five hours?”

Brian Higgins, a former SWAT team commander and police chief in Bergen County, New Jersey, said an alert should have gone out right away, and a half hour between the two incidents was more than enough time to do so.

“What took so long?” said Higgins, an adjunct professor at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “Maybe they were still doing their investigation. Maybe they didn’t have a good handle on what they had. But if they didn’t know, they should have erred on the side of caution and put this out.”

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna on Monday said his department was “strategic” in its decision to release information but that he would review what happened.

“When we started putting out public information, the priority was to get this person into custody,” Luna said. “Ultimately it worked. We will go back and look at it as we always do. Nobody is as critical as ourselves as to what worked and specifically what didn’t work, and evaluate that, and see what the wait was in determining what the public risk was at that time.”

Is It Just Me, Or Oscar Films Getting Worse?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its list of nominees for the upcoming 95th Oscars on Tuesday, with "Everything Everywhere All At Once" leading with a total of 11 nods.

The film won nominations for best picture, best director and its stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan won nods for best performance by an actress and actor in a leading role.

I Thought "Everything Everywhere All At Once" Was Mediocre At Best