Tues: A Literacy Test for QOP House Members.

Back in Bakhmut

Over the last four days, Russia’s progress around the city of Bakhmut can be summed up this way: There isn’t any. Claims that they had surged past the town of Klishchiivka and were about to overrun Ivaniske on the south appear to have fizzled out along the line of a drainage canal that has proved to be an effective obstacle. The previous push on the north that saw Wagner Group forces move into Soledar appears to have not advanced in the last two weeks, and very well may have lost ground in the area east of Krasna Hora.

This isn’t to say that Russia did not gain ground over the last month in the Bahkmut area. That little town of Bakhmutske northeast of the city, now some 4km behind the line, was on the line back in November. However, the impetus that seemed to be carrying Russian forces to incremental advances on both side of Bakhmut appears to have stalled out, returning to the days of small forces being sent forward to their annihilation, followed by more of the same.

Already, there are hints that Russia is about to face another round of mobilization, so they can scrape together another mass of “mobliks” to grind down Ukrainian defenders at Bakhmut and other locations along the line.

Totalitarian States Love To Have Peope Turn In Their Neighbors

As reported by the Iowa Starting Line, House Education Committee Chair Sykler Wheeler has introduced House Bill 112, which seeks to create a system for parents or students to report suspected violations of the anti-CRT law the state already has on the books.

If this sounds like a means to get public school teachers who remotely touch on race or systems of oppression fired or scared into silence, I’d say you’re exactly right.

Here’s how this would work. HB 112 would allow folks to report any suspected violation of a public school teacher covering topics including racism, diversity, inclusion, and sexism. Specifically, people would be able to log onto the Iowa Department of Education’s website and report a suspected violation. The Department of Education would evaluate the complaint. If they found it valid, they’d reach out to the local school board. From there, the school board would have two weeks to respond to the violation.

If the school board doesn’t correct the violation, the school district could face a civil penalty of up to $5,000 with a minimum of $500. All suspected violation reports would be made available to the Iowa Legislature in a yearly report.

Somebody's Playing Poltics, and It Ain't the DOJ

The Justice Department on Monday denied a request by the House Judiciary Committee to turn over documents related to the special counsel investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.

In a letter addressed to the panel’s chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the department said it cannot turn over non-public files under its long-standing policy of not sharing information that could impact an ongoing probe.

“Disclosures to Congress about active investigations risk jeopardizing those investigations and creating the appearance that Congress may be exerting improper political pressure or attempting to influence Department decisions in certain cases,” the letter states.

The department added that a disclosure runs other risks too, including impairing the ability of prosecutors to interview relevant witnesses and bring charges.

But the committee doesn’t seem eager to accept the DOJ’s reasoning for not complying with its request.

“It’s concerning, to say the least, that the department is more interested in playing politics than cooperating,” Russell Dye, a spokesperson for Jordan, said, according to CNN.

This Should Give Santos More Time to Cure Cancer

Republican Rep. George Santos of New York told GOP colleagues Tuesday he is temporarily stepping down from his two congressional committees, a move that comes amid a host of ethics issues and a day after he met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

If They Want to Resurrect Extinct Species, How About Sane Republicans?

The list of extinct species that genetic engineering company Colossal wants to bring back to life is growing. The latest addition: the dodo.

Colossal gave life to real-world visions of Jurassic Park in 2021 with its mission of bringing back the woolly mammoth. In August 2022, the company, which has offices in Boston, Dallas and Austin, Texas, said it also planned to de-extinct the Australian thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.

This new project, announced Tuesday, would bring back a species that's historically highlighted as a case of how humans can contribute to the extinction of an animal species.