And another day of escalations, seeking aid, leaked memos, Trump stating he is striving for autocracy in the US, feeling left behind, long Covid, more abortion attacks from MO and TX, Israel bars Palestinian spouses, and counting ballots by hand comes to a close:
“It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States…” — Excerpt from a Kremlin memo to Russian state-friendly media.
“Some days I hate everything
“I hate everything
“Everyone and everything
“Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now.”
-- Everclear
Deaths
US: 993,811
World: 6,066,045
Cases
US: 81,174,677
World: 458,522,276
Russian airstrike escalates offensive in western Ukraine. Russian missiles pounded a military base in western Ukraine on Sunday, killing 35 people in an attack on a facility that served as a crucial hub for cooperation between Ukraine and the NATO countries supporting its defense. The barrage marked an escalation of Moscow’s offensive and moved the fighting perilously close to the Polish border. The attack so near a NATO member-country raised the specter that the alliance could be drawn into the fight and was heavy with symbolism in a conflict that has revived old Cold War rivalries and threatened to rewrite the current global security order. -- There’s just so much more shit we need to do as a species than be at war with each other. It’s sad there are so many men in the world who are driven by a seemingly uncontrollable lust for power.
US official: Russia seeking military aid from China. A U.S. official said Russia asked China for military equipment to use in its invasion of Ukraine, a request that heightened tensions about the ongoing war ahead of a Monday meeting in Rome between top aides for the U.S. and Chinese governments. In advance of the talks, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan bluntly warned China to avoid helping Russia evade punishment from global sanctions that have hammered the Russian economy. “We will not allow that to go forward,” he said.
Ukraine Conflict Is a Bonanza for Oil and Gas Companies. Oil and gas companies are facing a potential bonanza from the Ukraine war, though few in the industry want to admit it, and many are using soaring prices and the fear of fuel shortages to cement their position with governments in ways that could have disastrous impacts on the climate crisis.
Leaked Kremlin Memo to Russian Media: It Is “Essential” to Feature Tucker Carlson. “It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative behavior from the leadership of the Western countries and NATO towards the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally,” advises the 12-page document written in Russian. It sums up Carlson’s position: “Russia is only protecting its interests and security.” The memo includes a quote from Carlson: “And how would the US behave if such a situation developed in neighboring Mexico or Canada?” — Carlson is quickly moving from the most dangerous person in America to the most dangerous person in the world. Fuck him. And fuck you you if you support him.
Ukraine reveals ‘Russian warship, go fuck yourself!’ postage stamp. The country’s first deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzheppar, announced the stamp commemorating the Snake Island incident, in which 13 border guards stationed on a roughly 16-hectare (40-acre) rocky island about 186 miles (300km) west of Crimea reportedly replied, when asked to surrender: “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.” They were then attacked, and thought killed. The phrase has become a rallying cry for Ukraine’s defenders. — I want that stamp. And oh yeah: Russian warship, go fuck yourself!
War censorship exposes Putin’s leaky internet controls. Long before waging war on Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin was working to make Russia’s internet a powerful tool of surveillance and social control akin to China’s so-called Great Firewall.
"We will pass critical reforms making every executive branch employee fireable by the president of the United States. The deep state must and will be brought to heel." -- Trump proposes a drastic expansion of presidential power. — He is stating he, and the GOP, will take us to autocracy. Believe him.
Michael Flynn testifies in closed-door meeting with Jan. 6 committee. Flynn did not answer the committee's questions, exercising his Fifth Amendment right on the advice of counsel.
Missouri bill seeks to ban terminating life-threatening ectopic pregnancies. These pregnancies, which occur when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the uterus, most often in the fallopian tube, can be life-threatening for the pregnant person if left untreated, and the fetus can't survive being carried to term, according to Mayo Clinic. The bill, if passed into law, would make performing, inducing or attempting to perform or induce an abortion for such a pregnancy a class A felony. Insider reported that such a charge could carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Ectopic pregnancies comprise roughly 1 to 2 percent of all U.S. pregnancies, according to a 2020 study published by American Family Physician. Those that grow and cause the fallopian tube to rupture account for 2.7 percent of all pregnancy-related deaths in the country. — Republicans are so fucked in the head.
Texas GOP lawmaker attempting to make abortion punishable by death penalty. The legislation, filed Tuesday by state Rep. Bryan Slaton, does not include exceptions for rape or incest. It does exempt ectopic pregnancies that seriously threaten the life of the woman “when a reasonable alternative to save the lives of both the mother and the unborn child is unavailable.”…Under the bill filed Tuesday, women who receive an abortion and physicians who perform the procedure could be charged with assault or homicide, which is punishable by death in Texas…The bill bans abortions starting at fertilization; most abortions in Texas are currently prohibited after 20 weeks.
As masks come off, vulnerable Americans feel left behind. The Biden administration wants to move past Covid-19, state health officials are ending mask requirements in schools and public buildings, and employers across the country are bringing employees back to the office. But for millions of Americans, many of whom have chronic conditions or disabilities that make them especially vulnerable to Covid-19, the pandemic is far from over. They call the Biden administration’s decision to roll back mask recommendations shortsighted and dangerous, inconsiderate of those who don’t want to risk potential disability or death from an infection. They, too, must go to grocery stores, schools, work and doctor appointments. Several advocacy groups raised these concerns in recent meetings with the Biden administration but have grown frustrated by the tenor of the discussions. — One thing the pandemic has taught us is that many people—many we even love—are inconsiderate and uncaring when it comes to the health of others.
Long Covid patients, in search of relief, turn to private company. "We do not know what constitutes long Covid or how to formally diagnose it," the authors wrote. "An improved understanding of this condition is needed to provide appropriate care for our patients."…The myriad symptoms that come with long Covid make it difficult to come up with a standardized treatment. The illness, characterized by lingering symptoms weeks to months after an infection, can take on many forms. Some people have daily migraines. Others lose their train of thought midsentence. Some can no longer walk the short distance from their front door to their mailbox…"Most patients have improvement over time," Abramoff said. But about half "don't get back to 100 percent."…For some patients, the long waits, the lack of clear answers and the slow steps toward recovery are too much to bear. That's why thousands have turned to IncellDx, a diagnostic company based in San Carlos, California…IncellDx clinicians don't prescribe drugs directly to patients, but do provide patients with a "treatment recommendation" that they can take to their personal physicians. It typically includes an HIV drug called maraviroc, and statins, which are usually used to lower cholesterol. Neither are approved to treat long Covid. Long Covid physicians affiliated with hospitals and major medical centers dispute whether the diagnostic test is valid…More than 18,000 people have taken IncellDx's test, Patterson said. Nearly all — 95 percent — have been diagnosed with long Covid based on it. That's a red flag, said Dr. Marc Sala, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist who sees long Covid patients at Northwestern Medicine's Comprehensive Covid-19 Center. A test can only be validated, he said, through using it on a diverse group of people — in other words, a large mix of people both with and without long Covid. What's more, there is no evidence to prove that raising or lowering any of IncellDx's long Covid markers can actually treat the condition, he said. "None of this is based on human trial data," he said.
Former President Barack Obama says he has tested positive for Covid-19. "Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative," Obama tweeted.
Israel’s Knesset passes law barring Palestinian spouses. Israel’s parliament has passed a law denying naturalisation to Palestinians from the occupied West Bank or Gaza married to Israeli citizens, forcing thousands of Palestinian families to either emigrate or live apart…Proponents say the law helps ensure Israel’s security and maintains its “Jewish character”. — There are many sick and fucked up people in this world.
US states up and down the country pushed cruel attacks on LGBT+ kids this week. But far more bills are not attracting media attention, with proposals ranging from restricting gender-affirming care to excluding trans students from school athletics and banning LGBT+ books in libraries. At least 195 anti-LGBT+ bills are currently making their way through legislatures across the US, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Over half of these bills target trans youth…These are just some of the bills seeking to attack LGBT+ youths that were advanced this week. — Check out the OK, TN, and WI ones. And the WI one…wow. Talk about child abuse.
Some in GOP want ballots to be counted by hand, not machines. Growing suspicion about the security of voting systems has kindled a back-to-the future moment among conservatives in some parts of the U.S. Republican lawmakers in at least six states have introduced legislation that would require all election ballots to be counted by hand instead of electronic tabulators.
New Mexico could become the fourth state to add a so-called Green Amendment to its Bill of Rights. That could place protecting the state's environment alongside other constitutional rights like free speech. If the resolution passes, New Mexico would become the fourth state in the nation to pass a Green Amendment that incorporates environmental rights into its Bill of Rights, following New York, Montana and Pennsylvania, which became the first state to adopt one more than half a century ago. Currently, New Mexico is one of a dozen states considering a Green Amendment. The United States is one of 37 countries globally that do not constitutionally recognize the right to a clean and healthy environment.
Companies are betting hundreds of billions of dollars on electric cars and trucks. To make them, they'll need a lot of batteries. And that means they need a lot of minerals, like lithium, cobalt and nickel, to be dug up out of the earth. These minerals aren't particularly rare, but production needs to scale up massively — at an unprecedented pace — to meet the auto industry's ambitions. And there's another big challenge: The existing supply chain is dominated by a single country: China. "China pretty much controls almost all the metals required.”
Saudi Arabia puts 81 to death in its largest mass execution. Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from killings to belonging to militant groups, the largest known mass execution carried out in the kingdom in its modern history.
Mississippi teacher fired for reading I Need a New Butt! to children. An elementary school administrator in Mississippi has said he was fired for reading I Need a New Butt!, a humorous children’s book about bottoms, to a class of second-graders. The incident has spurred criticism from free speech advocates, who claim the termination could have a chilling effect at a time of conservative-fueled pushes for book bans in schools across the US.
Congress overrides DC voters, keeps sales of marijuana illegal in District. A GOP-backed ban on weed sales in Washington, D.C., was preserved in a sprawling government funding bill passed by Congress on Thursday, despite opposition from advocates who say the provision overrides the will of the District’s residents years after they voted to legalize marijuana.
Researchers discover new species of rainbow-colored fairy fish in ocean 'twilight zone'. According to a press release from the California Academy of Sciences, the fish can live 160 to 500 feet beneath the ocean's surface in a "twilight zone" of unexplored coral ecosystems. Scientifically named Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa, it is the first new species to be named by a Maldivian researcher and one of the first species to have its name derived from Dhivehi language – the national language of the Maldives.
RIP William Hurt. He was 71.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
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