Good Day, Gnusies! There is so much news, I am going to just jump right in — and start you off with some spine-stiffening courtesy of the brave fighters in Ukraine:
Ukrainian Pres. Zelenskyy addresses House of Commons, telling them his country has faced the Shakespearean question of “to be or not be.”
“I can give you a definitive answer: it’s definitely yes—to be.”https://t.co/0TkzKBLgBu pic.twitter.com/5jXRQyQ3BT
If they can do this, surely we can, too!
They are playing, ‘Don’t worry, be happy.’ pic.twitter.com/HEcEJVejqJ
“Biden’s faith in his own foreign-policy chops leaves him unconcerned about proving his bona fides. He knows the dangers of bluster and has steadfastly avoided them.”
Biden Answered the 3 a.m. Call, Franklin Foer, the Atlantic, March 8, 2022.
Joe Biden hasn’t received the full credit he deserves for his statecraft during this crisis, because he has pursued a policy of self-effacement. Rather than touting his accomplishments in mobilizing a unified global response to the invasion, he has portrayed the stringent sanctions as the triumph of an alliance. By carefully limiting his own public role—and letting France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz take turns as the lead faces of NATO—he has left Vladimir Putin with little opportunity to portray the conflict as a standoff with the United States, a narrative that the Russian leader would clearly prefer. He’s shown how to wield American leadership in the face of deep European ambivalence about its exercise.
His handling of the domestic politics of the crisis has been just as savvy. Although he could justifiably have portrayed Republicans as the party of Putin apologists, he refrained from dinging his political enemies. During his State of the Union address, he actively encouraged Republicans to feel as if they were his partners in a popular front.
This is surely redolent of the bipartisan foreign policy that Biden nostalgically yearns to revive. But it’s also an important tactic. By depoliticizing the issue, he has made it likely that Congress will quickly fund aid and arms for the Ukrainian military. And as gas prices spike, it will be rhetorically harder for Republicans to effectively pin the blame on him, because they have been fully supportive of sanctions.
‘The best of us’: Biden promises improved care for veterans, Josh Boak, AP, March 8, 2022.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday said U.S. veterans were the “backbone, the spine, the sinew” of the nation, as he pushed for better help for members of the military who face health problems, including after exposure to burn pits.
“You’re the best of us,” Biden said. ✂️
Biden begged veterans to ask for help when they need it, noting that 17 veterans die by suicide every day, more than in combat.
“They shouldn’t have to ask for a damn thing,” he said of veterans who suffer because of their service. “It should be, ‘I’ve got a problem’ and we should say, ‘How can I help?’
“We’re asking you to tell us. Tell us what your needs are. Don’t be ashamed. We owe you.”
He said there should be expanded access to health care and benefits for veterans affected by exposure to harmful substances, toxins and other environmental hazards, including those from burn pits, plots of land where the military destroyed tires, batteries, medical waste and other materials. Biden said the U.S. government made terrible mistakes during the Vietnam War, when troops returning home suffered mental health problems and physical symptoms that took years to link to Agent Orange.
He refuses to make the same mistakes with those returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Biden Announced The US Will Ban Imports On Russian Oil, Ryan Brooks and Lissandra Villa, BuzzFeedNews, March 8, 2022.
“The decision today is not without a cost here at home. Putin’s war is already hurting American families at the gas pump,” the president said in a speech from the White House on Tuesday morning. Biden said that since Russian President Vladimir Putin began the military buildup around Ukraine, US gas prices have increased significantly. “With this action, it’s going to go up further,” Biden said. “I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home.” ✂️
Biden emphasized other actions taken by the administration to dismantle the Russian economy and aid against its invasion, including providing “security assistance” to Ukraine, shipments of defensive weapons, and humanitarian relief. He also stressed that the current crisis highlights why it’s so important to become energy independent, including a transition to clean energy that would make domestic price hike considerations moot.
He said the US was moving forward with the bans knowing that other countries would be unable to take similar actions, given that they do not produce nearly the same amount of domestic oil as the US. “We’re working closely with Europe and our partners to develop a long-term strategy to reduce their dependence on Russian energy as well,” Biden said.
😫 But, but…the Republicans are going to slam Joe and Dems over gassss pricceeesssssss!! 😩
(taps earpiece) What’s that you say? Huh! ⬇️
Biden’s ban on Russian oil imports is so popular even 72% of Trump supporters say they’d be willing to pay more at the pump to do it.https://t.co/gNhIfeTiPb
😩 But, but…now Biden will throw away all our climate concerns and drill, babeee drilllllll! 😫
Wait. Hold on…incoming message from POTUS ⬇️
Loosening environmental regulations won’t lower prices.
But transforming our economy to run on electric vehicles, powered by clean energy, will mean that no one will have to worry about gas prices.
It will mean tyrants like Putin won’t be able to use fossil fuels as a weapon.
More Than 200 Major Companies Have Pulled Out Of Russia So Far, Ryan Grenoble, HuffPost, March 8, 2022.
A rapidly changing list of the companies compiled by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, shows representation across a broad range of industries, from Apple to Exxon, McDonald’s to Maersk. ✂️
Sonnenfeld’s list is more than just a tally of companies wary of Moscow, however: It also inventories the companies doing business in Russia that have so far chosen to remain.✂️
While a humanitarian argument can be made for consumer brands like these choosing to remain in operation, Sonnenfeld isn’t convinced.
In an article comparing the current economic sanctions to those imposed on South Africa in the 1980s in an effort to dismantle apartheid, Sonnenfeld argued economic pain is kind of the point.✂️
“Vladimir Putin, the most vicious autocrat of this century, rules through tyranny and fear. As he continues to fail, people will lose their fear and he will lose his power,” he added.
For the White House, attacking monopoly isn’t just about reeling in behemoth corporations engaged in anti-competitive business practices. It’s also about equity outcomes. https://t.co/PVFMZUmsZh
Watchdogs are supposed to protect the public from bad actors, not enable them. @SenWarren and I are demanding answers from @FINRA about the specific actions it took when @WellsFargo tried to game the arbitration system against a customer. pic.twitter.com/aKOlOVMMUn
Congress passes bill to shore up the Postal Service without cutting back on delivery, NPR via AP, March 8, 2022.
The bill would end a requirement that the Postal Service finance workers’ health care benefits ahead of time for the next 75 years, an obligation that private companies and federal agencies do not face.
Instead, the Postal Service would require future retirees to enroll in Medicare and would pay current retirees’ actual health care costs that aren’t covered by the federal health insurance program for older people.
Gone for now are ideas for cutting back on mail delivery, which had become politically toxic. Also set aside, for now, are other proposals that have been floated over the years to change postal operations, including those to privatize some services.
Dominated by Trump appointees, the agency’s board of directors had tapped Louis DeJoy, a major GOP donor, as the new postmaster general. He proposed a 10-year plan to stabilize the service’s finances with steps like additional mail slowdowns, cutting some offices’ hours and perhaps higher rates.
To measure the Postal Service’s progress at improving its service, the bill would also require it to set up an online “dashboard” that would be searchable by ZIP code to show how long it takes to deliver letters and packages.
The legislation approved by Congress is supported by Biden, the Postal Service, postal worker unions and others.
Schumer asks if he should sing Stevie Wonder’s hit “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” after passage of the bipartisan US Postal Service legislation
I don’t how this guy — already under indictment for crimes unrelated to his egregious “service” as AG — was ever allowed to be in a position of trust and power in any government! Boy do we need to fix the law!
State bar complaint proceeds against Texas AG who sought to overturn election — as he enters runoff: report, Matthew Chapman, Raw Story, March 8, 2022.
On Tuesday, the Houston Chronicle reported that a legal ethics complaint against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is advancing with the state bar — and appears to be gathering steam.
“The complaint was filed in July 2021 by the nonprofit Lawyers Defending American Democracy and 16 Texas lawyers, including four former presidents of the state Bar,” reported Taylor Goldenstein. “It alleges that Paxton committed professional misconduct when he filed the December 2020 suit before the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn the presidential election results in four battleground states. The complainants say the suit was frivolous, knowingly false and deceitful.” ✂️
The Supreme Court threw out this suit.
All of this comes as Paxton, who separately faces indictment for stock fraud and an FBI investigation for allegations of official misconduct and retaliation, has been forced into a primary runoff with state land commissioner George P. Bush, nephew of former President George W. Bush.
Opinion: The sad, strange saga of Mark Meadows’s dream home, Kathleen Parker, Washington Post, March 8, 2022.
Meadows, who went on to serve as Donald Trump’s last White House chief of staff, might soon be begging for mercy again if a formal investigation finds that he falsified his North Carolina residency just before the 2020 election. As first reported by Charles Bethea of the New Yorker, Meadows allegedly registered to vote in September of that year, listing his domicile as a mobile home in Scaly Mountain, N.C.
It seems, however, that he never bothered to live there.✂️
On voter registration forms, a residential address is “where you physically live,” which one signs “under penalty of perjury.” But at the time of his registration, Meadows also had a home near Washington, D.C., and perhaps needed a North Carolina residence so he could vote there. The rules seem clear enough even for Meadows, a man known for working harder to secure television appearances than governing. Perhaps he was overbooked and couldn’t make it “home” to Scaly Mountain — except to vote.
If he’s charged with perjury and/or voter fraud, it may not be Meadows’s only rendezvous with justice. The House voted late last year to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress and to refer him to the Justice Department for a possible criminal charge over his refusal to respond to questions about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Mark Meadows should call his lawyer.https://t.co/oJ19K5xHQF
There was so much news related to the January 6 investigations I’m just going to have to throw in the links here with pictures that I found in twitter to give you and overview. Each one can take you to the story if you click on the story titles under the pictures:
Guy Reffitt, first Jan. 6 rioter to go to trial, found guilty on all countshttps://t.co/ybXY5cVErk
Reffitt GUILTY on all five counts. Huge victory for DOJ. Very short deliberations. Basically a rout. And a foreboding lesson for the 375 defendants waiting in the wings,
Texas Idiot F*cks Around (Goes To Trial On Jan. 6 Charges), Finds Out (He’s Going To Prison)https://t.co/Cryx5UcoNs by @EvanHurst
The grand jury that indicted Enrique Tarrio was convened on 2/14/22 making it at least the 5th GJ impaneled in this investigation).
The grand jury indicted Tarrio yesterday.
We didn’t know any of this until today when the indictment was unsealed.https://t.co/OFcjaom79Y
Indictment of Proud Boys leader hints at coordination with other insurrection actors, Jordan Green, Raw Story, March 8, 2022.
With the indictment of Enrique Tarrio, the government has laid out the case that the Proud Boys utilized a command structure to mobilize members to take part in the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol, while dropping tantalizing hints about connections between the nationalist street brawling group and other potential actors in the conspiracy to prevent Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s election as president of the United States.
The new superseding indictment — which also includes defendants Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Charles Donohoe, Zach Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — already charged in two previous indictments — notes that on Dec. 19, 2020, President Trump announced a protest to coincide with Congress’ certification of the electoral college vote via tweet: “Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” ✂️
Pointing towards coordination between Tarrio and other actors in the attempted insurrection, the indictment alleges that Tarrio communicated “with an individual whose identity is known to the grand jury” on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31. According to the indictment, the unidentified individual sent a nine-page document entitled “1776 Returns” to Tarrio that “set forth a plan to occupy a few ‘crucial buildings’ in Washington, DC on January 6, including House and Senate office buildings around the Capitol, with as ‘many people as possible’ to ‘show our politicians We the People are in charge.’”
Such a weird coincidence that Enrique Tarrio, who was arrested this morning on conspiracy charges for his role in Jan 6, is friends with all these Republicans. pic.twitter.com/8NTOHdpEt5
⬆️ That reminds me — didn’t Rep. Boebert tweet “Today is 1776” on the morning of Jan. 6? 🤔 What a coinkidink! Do you think the January 6 Committee and the DOJ recall that? I bet they do!
The new allegations in the Tarrio indictment change the entire scope of their Jan. 6 involvement — no more tiptoeing around the premeditated aspect of storming the Capitol.
The Proud Boys and their allies had plans in front of them, well before the 6th, to occupy the Capitol. https://t.co/JMNfJPBByZ pic.twitter.com/g2yuRl4GhC
Brad Pascal among witnesses questioned by the January 6 Committee’s “green team” — following the money!
Inside the Jan. 6 committee’s effort to trace every dollar raised and spent based on Trump’s false election claims, Josh Dawsey, Jacqueline Alemany and Tom Hamburger, Washington Post, March 8, 2022.
The questioning is part of an effort by the committee’s “green team” to scrutinize whether the Trump campaign, its affiliated super PACs, the Republican National Committee and protest organizers knowingly used false claims that the election was stolen to dupe donors and raise large sums of cash, according to people involved in the probe and witnesses who have appeared before the committee who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the panel’s work.
“People were swindled financially and psychologically,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), a member of the select committee. “People’s convictions were cynically exploited for Trump’s gain.”
Committee members and aides said the goal of scrutinizing and documenting the money flow is twofold. The primary objective is to determine whether email solicitations spreading false claims of election fraud served as a powerful source of misinformation, prompting the need to make proposals for strengthening campaign finance laws. The committee will also consider if any laws were broken and refer those to the Justice Department, which would then decide whether to pursue any prosecutions. The committee’s staff argue that the events of the day cannot be fully explained without explaining the months leading up to them.
REVEALED: Brad Parscale questioned by Jan. 6 Committee about Trump’s money trailhttps://t.co/rEAEQshcMr
Judge Lets $2.7B Smartmatic Suit Against Fox News Proceed, Drops Claims Against Jeanine Pirro & Sidney Powell, AJ McDougall, Daily Beast, March 8, 2022.
A state judge in New York ruled that voting software company Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News to proceed on Tuesday. Smartmatic has alleged that Giuliani, ex-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, and several Fox stars “created a story about Smartmatic,” using network airtime to “defame and disparage Smartmatic and its election technology and software” with debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. In a 61-page decision issued Monday, State Supreme Court Judge David Cohen rejected bids by Fox and hosts Maria Bartiromo and Lou Dobbs to get Smartmatic’s claims dismissed. Cohen dismissed some, but not all, claims against Rudy Giuliani, and all of the claims aimed at Powell and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro.
BREAKING: A judge has ruled that @smartmatic can continue to pursue its lawsuit over false election rigging claims & denies motions by defendants @FoxNews, @MariaBartiromo & @LouDobbs to dismiss the suit.
More evidence that the DOJ is (and has been) vigorously investigating an incredibly complex and far-reaching crime spree. This takes more time than we would like because it is so deep, so wide-spread and so sensitive. It looks like this next story is revealing entanglements from several of the ongoing concerns of all righteous Americans — January 6, Russia interfering in our elections and society (some might call is a type of hybrid warfare), NRA, cyber warfare, and so much more:
Dual U.S.-Russian National Charged with Acting Illegally as a Russian Agent in United Stateshttps://t.co/gpfrDpEGSS
More connections
There are some interesting intersections between this Elena Branson indictment and the Mueller probe. 🧵(1/6) https://t.co/nRHr7kSrTh
NRA connection
Elena Branson and Maria Butina:https://t.co/cfzGmEObhF pic.twitter.com/4TXZkeCPB0
And this guy ⬇️ is connected to Paul Manafort…
News today about dual-citizen Elena Branson charged as a Russian spy after she fled to Russia made me wonder if she and fascist pro-Kremlin American propagandist Charles Bausman — who fled to Moscow after storming U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 — crossed paths.https://t.co/8UGmQ2Zho4
It’s all connected and the DOJ is on it.
Wow, this New York-based HUMINT network had Putin’s direct support and targeted the U.S. Senate and the New York Mayor’s office…for starters. pic.twitter.com/3dHFlsdj8x
#LetFloridaSayGay 🏳️🌈 https://t.co/4m2YJy6nkU
Chicago!
Investing in the physical and mental well-being of our residents is a priority. If you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, we’re here to help.#ProtectChicago https://t.co/k7BTF3RKKZ
I don’t care if they make DST permanent or standard time permanent (I don’t even know which is which TBH) — but just STOP with the clocks falling back and springing forward, already!!! 😵💫
An area with surprising bipartisan support is getting its 15 minutes of fame this week: Whether to make daylight saving time permanent. https://t.co/VdO5OwyrJg
I applaud @OrganicValley for inviting 80 small farms in New England to send milk to them. This will go a long way to filling the gap created by the impending loss of Danone’s Horizon as a market for 89 organic dairies in the region. https://t.co/asffQIFp3x pic.twitter.com/uviQkEE2SQ
Teachers around the USA are wrestling with — and making progress on — teaching better history.
Teachers reimagine US history lessons with eye on diversity, Cheyanne Mumphrey and Annie Ma, AP, March 6, 2022.
Teachers have long sought ways to deliver a complete version of U.S. history that engages their students and includes contributions by people of color. They have been reenergized after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd to take different approaches in the classroom that would challenge an education system many believe doesn’t allow for critical thinking and forces a narrow worldview.
They also are facing increased pressure from politicians and other critics who take issue with how schools address diversity and representation, including a recent push to ban critical race theory, an academic framework centered on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions. While there is little evidence that critical race theory itself is being taught to K-12 public school students, some ideas central to it, such as lingering consequences of slavery, have been.
Teaching has evolved significantly in the past decade to focus more on critical thinking as opposed to rote memorization, said Anton Schulzki, a history teacher in Colorado Springs and the president of the National Council for the Social Studies. Some of the shift started with the implementation of Common Core, which placed an emphasis on teaching students how to find and analyze sources. Instead of just learning dates and names, students learn how to form arguments, to find factual evidence to support their claims and to challenge and defend different viewpoints.
The Future Turns Dark for Russia’s Oil Industry, Stanley Reed, New York Times, March 8, 2022.
A week after a chorus of Western executives from Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell and other companies denounced Moscow’s violent onslaught in Ukraine and pledged to pull their companies out of Russian ventures, it appears the turbulence for Russia’s energy industry has only begun.
For the oil companies, three decades of carefully nurturing investments in what was always a difficult political environment is poised to quickly go by the boards. But the high point of Western involvement in Russia passed years ago, pushed along in part by outrage over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The Russian oil industry, though, is likely to experience a wrenching reworking about how it does business in the coming weeks, months and even years. In the short term, this painful reckoning will come not so much because blue-chip oil companies are leaving, but because Russian oil and gas have suddenly become toxic to many buyers.
The Future Turns Dark for Russia’s Oil Industry … yup. best news of the day. Russia economy in shambles and will get worse https://t.co/J7RKK0WXYC
In case you thought there were no more Russia sanctions to draft, here’s another. The mood in Congress is to find every single way to economically pummel Russia. pic.twitter.com/4CXnbhfT1X
This next article mentions the difficulty in seizing oligarch assets because of the secretive and labyrinthine paper trails of ownership (these guys have perfected hiding their stolen wealth), but some seizures have happened and what is more, the maneuvers these crooks have used may let them evade capture, but they will also be trapped in the “safe” ports they’ve scurried to. It’s not much fun owning a super yacht if you cannot use it or show it off in the cool resort places of Europe where you so badly want to belong.
Fleeing sanctions, oligarchs seek safe ports for superyachts, Michael Biesecker, AP, March 6, 2022.
“We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets,” President Joe Biden said during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, addressing the oligarchs. “We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.” ✂️
French authorities seized the superyacht Amore Vero on Thursday in the Mediterranean resort town of La Ciotat. The boat is believed to belong to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the U.S. sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
The French Finance Ministry said in a statement that customs authorities boarded the 289-foot Amore Vero and discovered its crew was preparing for an urgent departure, even though planned repair work wasn’t finished. The $120 million boat is registered to a company that lists Sechin as its primary shareholder. ✂️
Since Friday, Italy has seized 143 million euros ($156 million) in luxury yachts and villas in some of its most picturesque destinations, including Sardinia, the Ligurian coast and Lake Como.
The Russian Elite Can’t Stand the Sanctions, Brooke Harrington, the Atlantic, March 5, 2022.
One pundit noted: “Our gov’t seems to be impotent. We’re never prepared for anything… How will people fix their cars without automobile parts?” Evoking the story of Cinderella, host bitterly pointed out, “And our phones are about to turn into pumpkins.”https://t.co/sSYbUgM62J
Of Course Putin Is Being Canceled, Helen Lewis, the Atlantic, March 8, 2022.
Since he invaded Ukraine, Putin has been canceled, and the effect on global politics has been extraordinary. Private companies have proved willing to make decisions that affect their profit margins, and the sanctions against Russia have united Western leaders. By creating a “them,” the past two weeks have strengthened “us.”
The ancient Greeks understood the power of creating outcasts. Athenians had a range of punishmentsavailable to them that would make even a southern Republican governor queasy, including death by exposure or being thrown into a chasm. But ostracism, or 10 years of exile, was considered so serious that it required a public vote, in which offenders’ names were written on ostraka—shards of leftover pottery. The toll of banishment is evident to modern researchers too. A 2003 studyfound that the effects of being ostracized even show up on MRIs. “Being the target of ostracism activates brain regions associated with pain, threatens fundamental needs, worsens mood and causes behavior changes,” note the authors of one psychology textbook. Ostracism is a feeling from which no amount of money or privilege can insulate you. ✂️
Economic devastation and cultural deprivation are powerful punishments. They are also an accurate description of what is happening to Russia as Western sanctions bite, private companies break links with the region, and Putin’s regime is excluded from international organizations and alliances. The official sanctions are the result of swift, effective diplomacy, but private companies have gone far beyond what has legally been required. Russia’s status in the world has abruptly and obviously changed. Russians cannot escape their isolation as long as they cannot watch Netflix, access TikTok, or see their footballers play in international competitions. Pro-regime oligarchs, who once spent holidays in Europe, bought mansions in Mayfair, and visited their children at English private schools, now face visa restrictions and asset seizures. They have been denied the ability to use the rest of the continent as their gilded playground.
A lot of smart people here on twitter were saying this👇👇👇https://t.co/mM56xbYtYp
The Key Distinction That Helps Clarify the Path Forward on the Pandemic, Craig Spencer, the Atlantic, March 6, 2022.
What individuals can do to fight the pandemic is simple: Get vaccinated. This remains the most effective way to protect oneself and others. Early on in the pandemic, public-health experts asked everybody—everybody—to do their part and stay home to prevent COVID spread. But now that we have vaccines, that is no longer necessary—if you’re vaccinated (and boosted). Yes, Omicron increased the risk of breakthroughs, but boosted people are still significantly less likely to get infected, thus lowering the risk of them infecting others. The shots also dramatically lower the likelihood of developing long COVID, as well as increase the likelihood, for those who do, that their symptoms ultimately resolve. Perhaps most important, even if recent datasuggest that some benefits of a third dose wane slightly over time, boosted adults are still far less likely to require hospitalization and 41 times less likelyto die from COVID. This has relieved significant pressure from the health-care system as it has teetered on the brink. (In a population with near-universal vaccine uptake and boosting, COVID would never overwhelm the health-care system, which is an appealing daydream for health-care providers like myself who’ve been on the front lines for every wave.)
So if you’re not vaccinated (and boosted), get vaccinated (and boosted). But if you are thrice shot, you should feel comfortable reengaging. Whether that means dining indoors with friends, getting drinks at a bar, or jumping on a plane for a long-delayed trip abroad, public-health advocates (and their allies in the public) shouldn’t make the boosted feel like they’re doing something scandalous by enjoying themselves. They did their part.
Many may choose to continue masking even as mandates fall across the country. The transition will take time for a lot of people, and they should do what makes them feel most comfortable. Others might want to use rapid testing before a large family gathering. And still everyone should live with the expectation that things can always change again should another variant emerge. But the boosted can do things—enjoy the company of other people, attend cultural events, eat in restaurants—even if we do sometimes take these additional precautions.
Biden administration asks Fifth Circuit to reinstate vaccine mandate for federal employees, Cameron Langford, Courthouse News, March 8, 2022.
(CN) — Stressing the need to ensure the health, safety and efficiency of the civil service, President Joe Biden issued an executive order last September requiring all federal agencies to implement Covid-19 vaccine requirements for their staff.
More than 90% of the government’s roughly 2.1 million civilian workers have complied. But some members of a nonprofit called Feds for Medical Freedom have successfully resisted in court.
They convinced U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Donald Trump appointee, to block the mandate in January with a nationwide preliminary injunction. ✂️
Justice Department attorney Charles Scarborough pressed a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit to lift the injunction Tuesday.
“The vaccine mandate is a response to an unprecedented situation in this country,” Scarborough said. “So we can’t provide a situation where a president has acted in this way. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean it’s not a lawful exercise of authority.”
Me, taking social distancing into my own hands https://t.co/rMe6go8LUo
This could probably have gone in several sections, but I consider the rampant abuse that women experience every day all over the world to be a physical and mental health issue of the utmost importance. I hope this proposal will get a serious hearing and then becomes a model for the world.
Report urges Scottish government to introduce misogyny act, Libby Brooks, the Guardian, March 8, 2022.
The proposed Misogyny and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act would create a new statutory misogyny aggravation operating outside of current hate crime legislation, as well as new offences of stirring up hatred against women and girls – designed to target the growing influence of “incel” culture – public misogynistic harassment, and issuing threats of, or invoking, rape, sexual assault or disfigurement of women and girls online and offline.
It is time to “burst the balloon” of equality before the law, argues Kennedy, a campaigning human rights barrister of five decades, and create legislation that “concentrates the mind” of police, prosecutors, defenders and judges on women’s daily experience. ✂️
Misogynist offending occurs on a continuum, she says, “and this lower level stuff creates a normalising of behaviours that can eventually lead to much graver offending against women”. But even without escalation, “this lower level stuff absolutely degrades women’s lives, women choose not to put themselves in the public domain, women don’t go out late in the evening, women have to circumscribe their lives because of male behaviour. We have to do something about that”.
That people with type A blood were at higher risk of experiencing more severe illness was a hypothesis early in the pandemic and follow-up studies seem to confirm it. Luckily, we now have a vaccine which is as effective for Type As as it is for other blood types — but the important takeaway from the studies is that science has narrowed the blood factors that point to severe illness down to about a dozen — with blood type being one of them — and this knowledge has narrowed the field for further study and hopefully new therapies:
Your blood type may affect how sick you get from COVID-19, genetic study confirms, Matthew Rozsa, Salon, March 8, 2022.
“What we have done in our study is provide a shortlist for the next stage of research,” co-last author on the study Gerome Breen from King’s College London told New Atlas. “Out of 1,000s of blood proteins we have whittled it down to about 14 that have some form of causal connection to the risk of severe COVID-19 and present a potentially important avenue for further research to better understand the mechanisms behind COVID-19 with an ultimate aim of developing new treatments but potentially also preventative therapies.” ✂️
This is not the first study to link blood type with COVID-19 outcomes. Scientists had observed a correlation as far back as July 2020. In addition to helping to treat COVID-19, the blood type connection also provides them with a pathway to learn more about how human genes influence their ability to effectively combat this coronavirus.
“What I found helpful was thinking, let’s just assume there are some associations between blood type and Covid, dying of Covid or contracting the disease. What mechanism potentially could underlie this?” Michael N. Zietz of the Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told Salon last year. “Blood type is determined by a few positions within a certain gene. It’s possible that there are some true variants that are affecting Covid susceptibility within that gene. We don’t definitively know that blood type itself is causal, but it’s an indication something about this gene’s function is causal.”
Proud Boys Leader Arrested in His Underwear https://t.co/zOefFqir9x via @politicalwire
I’m on the Beltway where The People’s Convoy is struggling to occupy one lane of traffic let alone two. Most of them have been separated from one another – worse than yesterday. pic.twitter.com/aG17tFT7V9
Brutal assessment might dent Putin’s ego:
Ouch: “After all, beyond commodities, Russia is not all that relevant for the global economic outlook” — JPMorgan https://t.co/DkqD7tm3g2
It hurts my mouth to see this beautiful big bird with that hook in its beak! But luckily some humans were able to help him. And then, when they were planning to look after him for a few weeks until he healed, they realized he had feathers rubbed off his belly because he was brooding eggs with his mate! And so they hurried right back where they found him to let him get back to his family — after making sure he was probably going to heal OK anyway. YAY!
People spend hours trying to catch a bald eagle with a hook in his beak, then they find out he’s a dad… 😍 @RaptorOrg pic.twitter.com/BrDmawkpD3
President Jimmy Carter is one of Mama’s favorite people!
This ten year old boy’s only request after beating cancer was to meet Jimmy Carter, and he agreed to meet him pic.twitter.com/KDjQnEyLIB
I just think this is cool and so does Mama!
Archaeologists unearthed a small stockpile of seeds stowed in a clay jar dating back 2,000 years. Remarkably, attempts to grow one of the seeds was successful and researchers have now brought back the once extinct Judean date palm. https://t.co/gv2Me0gBMm pic.twitter.com/7UkeQYVbAl
That’s all for today! Bye! 🐾💙
⚡️ New world of war correspondence: Amateur open-source researchers went viral unpacking the war in Ukraine, Leo Schwartz, Rest of World, March 7, 2022.
⚡️ Needless to say, Joe was way ahead of him (but this is a good explainer): The Strategy That Can Defeat Putin, Eliot A. Cohen, the Atlantic, March 7, 2022.
⚡️ We’re definitely not giving up! Why voting rights activists aren’t giving up, Fabiola Cineas, Vox, March 8, 2022.
⚡️ The premise (that American feminists were complacent) is irritating, but the story has some good points: It’s Time for American Feminists to Learn From Latin America’s Abortion-Rights Movement, Amy Littlefield, the Nation, March 2022.
⚡️ Only “I” matter: “If I do this, what do I have to lose?”: New documents show Trump feared no consequences for a coup, Amanda Marcotte, Salon, March 4, 2022.
⚡️ If you’re weary, it means your heart is working properly: You Should Be Weary Right Now, John Pavlovitz, March 7, 2022.
⚡️ Lots of American hearts work properly: America the generous: U.S. leads globe in giving, Erica Pandey, Axios, March 8, 2022.
⚡️ Amazing story (these twins will be coming to Chicago!): A rescue team evacuates premature American twins from Kyiv in a daring mission, NPR, Marc h 8, 2022.
⚡️ A look at the Canadian Parliamentary system: Canada Has Long Feared The Chaos Of US Politics, Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy, TPM, March 8, 2022.
⚡️ Self-help! How to be less indecisive about everyday decisions, Frank Festa and Clare Marie Schneider, NPR, March 8, 2022.
Put your beautiful bleeding liberal heart into it! 🥰
Democratic litigation hero, Marc Elias was the legal eagle behind the 60 Big Lie losses after the election. Here’s his website, Democracy Docket. You can find information about current cases he is fighting to defend voting rights around the country, as well as actions you can take to help fight voter suppression at the link!
Write to voters around the country with Postcards to Voters. Progressive Muse usually posts an update on current campaigns in the comments and you can also check out the website. It’s easy, fun and it really works to GOTV!
🎩 Also, Goody posted a great list of links and I am going to borrow it because it’s great! 🎩
The only way they can win is by keeping people from voting. They are working like heck to make that happen and we need to do all we can to keep 2022 from being a year when they grab the Senate and House back from us.
How do we do that? Fight voter suppression!
What can you do?
Most important: DON’T LOSE HOPE. This is a giant and important fight for us but, win or lose, we keep fighting and voting and organizing and spreading truth and light. We never give up.
U.S. House of Representatives:* Telephone: 202-225-3121
* Website: http://www.house.gov/
U.S. Senate:* Telephone: 202-224-3121
* Website: http://www.senate.gov/
Find your member of Congress and contact him or her:
Let them know what matters to you!
Contact your Representative
Contact your Senator
And remember, all politics is local and personal! Let’s work to flip state and local elected positions Democratic!
Sister District Project — organization that is working to help Dems win state legislature races.
Finally, whenever you feel your hope fading, read this again:
The 3.5% rule: How a small minority can change the world — and recall that we are a majority.
Also check this out:
The Albert Einstein Institution’s 198 Methods of Non-Violent Action
There’s a multitude of people all over this country — in both so-called “red” states and “blue” — who feel just as strongly as you do about this world and its future. We can do this!
That’s it from me and CG for another Wednesday. This week there was so much I feel like I just had to kind of throw it all out there with not much commentary (maybe a good thing! haha). I hope you all can see the same threads and connections and the picture of a huge investigation taking shape that I see.
Sometimes when I’m feeling down about all the horrible things Republicans and conservatives are forcing on us (the majority!), I remind myself that they know the truth about them is coming out soon so they are going for broke. No more “dog whistles” nor cloaking their extreme, oppressive agenda in evil doublespeak (“protecting women” from abortion harm 🙄, “protecting” the country from “socialism” 😠, etc) — they are out loud and racing to do as much harm to the rest of us as they possibly can with whatever time they have left.
I remember in the waning months of President Obama’s second term, the swift investigation he ordered regarding the Russia interference, and the news we got leaked about the race to ensure preservation of documents and protection of sensitive investigation records. Remember that time? So many of us were in such shock and despair at that time, it may have slipped our minds. But I find myself remembering that lately — especially after Joe said “We’re going to be OK” during the SOTU. When he first said that, I was sort of 🙄- not the best, Joe! — but I’ve been thinking about it since. Honest Joe put that in there for a reason. He was signaling something deeper, I think.
Then I remind myself who we voted into government and how very well Joe and the Democrats are wielding their razor thin majority power. Getting anything done with the party of NO in opposition is extremely difficult and extremely precarious. Thankfully, we have a POTUS who is so experienced, so skilled in Congress, so loving and kind, so focused on doing better for the American people AND also resolute in his determination to fight evil. And this POTUS is leading an outstanding team, packed with experience and skill. For all of the challenges we face, I think we have one of the best possible teams to navigate them. And they are not just keeping our heads above water — they are making progress!
We will reverse every cruel thing they have done when we throw them out (and some of them in jail where they belong). We will begin to heal the terrible wounds they have caused to the country and the world. We will build a better world — more just, more environmentally sound, more loving.
Take good care of yourselves, my friends, because we still have so much work to do. None of these traitors and crooks are going to meekly accept defeat. We have known this forever. Nevertheless, I believe that the side of good and hope and progress may have outsmarted them. Most of them anyway; because evil never gets totally vanquished — no more than victory in WW2 vanquished nazism, sadly — but we can knock it back hard and stay vigilant in future to keep it knocked back. That’s the human condition, and hopefully we never forget it again. Meanwhile, I am feeling pretty confident that a much better future is in front of us. We just need to hold on, stay focused, GOTV, do all the work we have been doing… and harder!
Together, we can save the world. 💙