Bumblebees are going extinct in a time of climate chaos | New research using a massive dataset found that the insects are far less common than they used to be; in North America, you are nearly 50% less likely to see a bumblebee in any given area than you were prior to 1974.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/02/bumblebees-going-extinct-climate-change-pesticides/
Trump says the military should consider disciplining former White House National Security Council aide Alexander Vindman, who provided some of the most damaging testimony during the House impeachment probe, He was ousted from his White House job last week.
https://twitter.com/phildstewart/status/1227349518099808256
Sudan agrees to hand over ex-President al-Bashir to International Criminal Court for war crimes, including mass killings in Darfur.
https://apnews.com/c6698024bdd7f1cade89b9b4101d25c1
Trump ordered via tweet this morning for the DOJ to drop sentencing on Roger Stone. So the DOJ are dropping their sentencing on Roger Stone. Judge Jackson will ultimately make the decision about Stone's sentence. He will be pardoned afterwards. He was found guilty on all 7 counts including lying & obstructing an investigation into Russian election interference. Trump has already been acquitted in the Senate after it was proved that he broke the law. He's already abused his pardon power multiple times. His entire Ukraine gambit is a long play at justifying the pardon of Manafort, which is 100% guaranteed to happen. He's already asked members of the executive branch to break laws and explicitly told them he'd pardon them if there were any trouble. I think people should have assumed all along that Roger Stone was going to be pardoned. We've already learned that Trump and his friends are all above the law. This looks bad but it's just par for the course. Trump is going to pardon everybody who helped him and who could take him down in future. That is guaranteed to happen.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/reports-doj-to-make-extraordinary-reversal-on-tough-sentence-for-roger-stone
Stone federal prosecutor resigns from case amid reports of DOJ overruling sentencing memo
https://www.axios.com/justice-department-roger-stone-sentencing-change-71e4253f-624a-465e-95b9-ea270faadfc6.html
Second Stone federal prosecutor on this case, Jonathan Kravis, has just file his Notice of Withdrawl with the court and resigned from case
https://twitter.com/awprokop/status/1227336064219656195
Third Stone federal prosecutor Adam Jed on this case withdraws from case and resigns from case
https://twitter.com/awprokop/status/1227346342512615426
And the FOURTH resigns from case: Michael Marando, a 4th federal prosecutor on Roger Stone case, has asked judge to withdraw from the case. Marando joins the rest of team, including Aaron Zelinsky, Jonathan Kravis, and Adam Jed, in leaving the case after DOJ sentencing change.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/doj-backpedalling-sentencing-recommendation-trump-ally-roger-stone-n1134961?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
All four prosecutors of Trump friend/adviser Roger Stone -- Jonathan Kravis, Michael Marando, Aaron Zelinsky and Adam C. Jed -- have now resigned from case in the wake of Trump criticizing their sentencing recommendation, and DOJ acquiescing.
Note that this is the same office that Barr is using to vindictively prosecute Trump's self-appointed enemy Andrew McCabe despite apparently not even being able to secure a Grand Jury indictment (a trivially easy step for a valid investigation), which is likely the reason he demoted the previous DC Attorney Jessie Liu. He is using the office as a sword against Trump's enemies, and shield for his allies. To get an idea of how fundamental an assault on our Republic this represents: In Plato's Republic, authored 24 centuries ago, the very first topic in Book I is justice, and the very first argument that Socrates dispatches is the idea that justice "the art which gives good to friends and evil to enemies." Barr is undermining the oldest, most fundamental concepts of a just, democratic society.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_(Plato)#Book_I
Today the High Court of Australia found Aboriginal Australians were not subject to the alien powers in the constitution and could therefore not be deported under immigration law.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-11/high-court-rules-aboriginal-people-cant-be-deported/11953012
MLB's play-off "expansion" idea is to distract everyone from the Astros/sign-stealing story as spring training gets underway
YEP: No idea who made this new playoff format proposal, but Rob is responsible for releasing it, so I’ll direct this to you, Rob Manfred. Your proposal is absurd for too many reasons to type on twitter and proves you have absolutely no clue about baseball. You’re a joke
https://twitter.com/baueroutage/status/1227053354741682176?s=21
Permafrost Is Thawing So Fast, It’s Gouging Holes in the Arctic | As the ice that holds the soil together disappears, hillsides collapse and massive sinkholes open up. Researchers argue that without taking abrupt thaws into account, we’re underestimating the impact of permafrost thaw by 50%
https://www.wired.com/story/abrupt-permafrost-thaw/
Trump tweeted a clip from 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' that shows Larry David in a MAGA hat, seemingly not realizing it's an insult
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tweet-make-america-great-again-curb-your-enthusiasm-2020-2
Republicans Seek to Halve U.S. Funding for World Health Organization as Coronavirus Rages
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/10/trump-world-health-organization-funding-coronavirus-state-department-usaid-budget-cuts/
Justice Dept whistleblower complaint suggests anti-trafficking grants went to sex trafficking group:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/482438-justice-dept-whistleblower-complaint-suggests-anti-trafficking-grants
The agency that can’t pass an audit and brought you the F-35, billions in uniform waste, Fat Leonard, pallets of cash for Afghan warl-rds and millions paid to the NFL with no clear return want you to know it’s tightening its belt for a newspaper representing a rounding error: Acting DoD Comptroller Elaine McCusker confirms @starsandstripes' budget faces significant cuts, per DoD-wide review. "We essentially decided, coming into the modern age, that newspapers is not the way we communicate any longer."
https://twitter.com/reporterjoe/status/1226944885544161282
The idiotic proposed mlb postseason rules would
- make the regular season less important
- water down the talent displayed in the postseason
- actively encourage owners to be content with putting out a mediocre product (hell, a sub-.500 team would've made the playoffs in 2017)
- punish top teams with a 5-day off stretch to begin the postseason (this ain't the NFL where bye weeks are coveted)
- would force the no. 2 team in a league to play a best-of-three series (imagine playing a 162-game season, winning 100 games, and then going home after two games)
- exacerbate the existing problem of unbalanced schedules
'Thousands' of men jump college gates and assault female students at women's college in Delhi
https://www.9news.com.au/world/outcry-over-reports-of-mass-assault-at-new-delhi-india-womens-college/7586a050-b967-47bb-a2bd-580fcde579e8
Since Pete isn't progressive enough to be a real gay, I made a helpful guide of all the HIV/AIDS legislation Bernie Sanders introduced while in Congress during the height of the crisis (NONE)
https://i.imgur.com/NSmPwtA.png
Trump says he 'won't be changing his mind' on view that brain injuries suffered by US troops in Iran's attack are not very serious
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-says-wont-change-his-mind-on-troop-brain-injuries-2020-2
Xi warned officials that efforts to stop virus could hurt economy
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-xi-economy/xi-warned-officials-that-efforts-to-stop-virus-could-hurt-economy-sources-idUSKBN2050JL
Stress, heart attacks, and 135 coronavirus cases on quarantined cruise ship
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/stress-heart-attacks-and-135-coronavirus-cases-on-quarantined-cruise-ship/
Senate Republican blocks three election security bills
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/482569-senate-gop-blocks-three-election-security-bills
Protesters block trains, as police arrest 33 people opposing Canada gas pipeline - Protests have been ongoing since Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed an agreement to build the natural gas pipeline
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tc-energy-pipeline/protesters-block-trains-as-police-arrest-33-people-opposing-canada-gas-pipeline-idUSKBN20425C
The CIA secretly bought a company that sold encryption devices across the world. Then its spies sat back and listened.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/
EU president tells Boris Johnson his latest Brexit plan is just no-deal: 'We are fine with that' . Prime minister had claimed 'Australia-style' Brexit could be an option
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-brexit-deal-australia-eu-commission-latest-a9328681.html
Canadian telescope hears mystery radio signal repeating every 16 days.
https://globalnews.ca/news/6530585/repeating-fast-radio-burst-pattern/
Longtime CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera running against AOC
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/11/politics/michelle-caruso-cabrera-aoc-challenger/index.html
Martin Gonzalez becomes 1st Astros position player from the 2017 team to apologize for the cheating scandal. Gonzalez: Marwin Gonzalez’s opening statement to the media: “I’m remorseful for everything that happened in 2017, for everything that we did as a group, and for the players that were affected directly by us doing this ... That’s why I feel more regret and that’s why I’m remorseful.”
https://twitter.com/dohyoungpark/status/1227296686025908229
Tim, one of Africa's last big tusker elephants, dies at 50
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/02/06/Tim-one-of-Africas-last-big-tusker-elephants-dies-at-50/5781581004486/
Fishing boats shot at activists protecting rare Mexican porpoise, group says
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-wildlife/fishing-boats-shot-at-activists-protecting-rare-mexican-porpoise-group-says-idUSKBN2042K0
Princess cruise ship forced to turn around after over 300 sickened with coronavirus
Germany reports outbreak of H5N8 bird flu
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/germany-reports-outbreak-of-h5n8-bird-flu-in-backyard-poultry-12419250
Once again, North Korea is accused of enhancing its nuclear and missile programs despite UN sanctions
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/11/asia/north-korea-un-report-nuclear-missile-program-intl-hnk/index.html
Iraqis wake up to snow for first time in over a decade
https://apnews.com/ac9350b8bf6cdaf9c4f40c60edb3eb24
Senior Chinese officials 'removed' as death toll hits 1,000. The deputy director of the local Red Cross was also removed for "dereliction of duty" over "handling of donations".
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51453848
Japan to build up to 22 new coal power plants despite climate emergency
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japan-new-coal-power-plant-climate-change-tokyo-a9316271.html
Australian Soldiers Are Using Their Time Off to Care for Koalas Displaced by the Fires
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/australian-soldiers-use-time-off-to-care-for-koalas/
Trump administration preparing to illegally deport hundreds of MN Hmong and Lao refugees
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/02/07/thousands-of-hmong-and-lao-americans-face-deportation-under-trump-proposal
Statement from Rep. Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee: Washington, DC — Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, released the following statement: “Roger Stone lied to the House Intelligence Committee and threatened a witness in an effort to cover up candidate Trump’s efforts to communicate with Wikileaks in releasing the Russian-hacked emails. He was found guilty on all charges. “If reports are correct, the Department of Justice and Attorney General Bill Barr are poised to overrule career prosecutors who made a sentencing recommendation yesterday, following a midnight tweet from the President attacking the proposed length of sentence. “I do not take a position on the proper prison term for Mr. Stone, but it would be a blatant abuse of power if President Trump has in fact intervened to reverse the recommendations of career prosecutors at the Department of Justice. “Doing so would send an unmistakable message that President Trump will protect those who lie to Congress to cover up his own misconduct, and that the Attorney General will join him in that effort. “Coupled with the President’s blatant retaliation against those who helped expose his wrongdoing, the Trump Administration poses the gravest threat to the rule of law in America in a generation.”
https://intelligence.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=927
“He disregarded it and steamrolled everybody,” one of the team members said. “Where do you go if you’re a young, impressionable player with the Astros and this guy says, ‘We’re doing this’? What do you do?” | ”Both McCann and Beltrán played for the Yankees during the 2014, ’15 and ’16 seasons before joining the Astros in ’17. But it was Beltrán who, according to multiple sources, told the Astros that their sign-stealing methods were “behind the times.”
https://theathletic.com/1600638/2020/02/11/details-emerge-about-carlos-beltrans-role-in-the-2017-astros-clubhouse-and-the-teams-sign-stealing-scheme/?source=shared-article
Over the past week, we've seen a descent into Constitutional madness. The President and his team argue that any conduct is okay, as long as a president thinks it will benefit him. That's an argument of pure desperation — one you only make when you know your client is guilty.
https://www.twitter.com/RepAdamSchiff/status/1222986279509536777
The pattern of his words and conduct is clear: President Trump thinks he is above the law. He thinks he is the state. Trump said it himself: Under Article II I can do whatever I want. Precisely what our Founders feared. Precisely why they drafted the remedy of impeachment.
https://www.twitter.com/RepAdamSchiff/status/1222624768819638284
The idea that abuse of power isn’t impeachable would’ve terrified our Founders. You can’t write off a consensus of Constitutional scholars by calling them “Never Trumpers,” Unless we're prepared to accept that Article II really does allow the President to do whatever he wants.
https://www.twitter.com/RepAdamSchiff/status/1222676757343588352
Biden fled the state, Warren pre-spun expected poor performance, Bloomberg not competing. That’s 3 of 4 leaders in national polls. The 4th, Sanders, won NH landslide in 2016 and is expected to do the same tonight. Only .6% of delegates are up for grabs. How much will NH matter?
Venezuelan (and some foreign) journalists risk life and limb so the world can see how Maduro's regime functions. It's all here, in one video after another: Regime thugs beating up reporters and opposition activists at the Caracas airport this afternoon.
https://twitter.com/WSJForero/status/1227356751021867013
https://twitter.com/NTN24ve/status/1227355440348049409
Actor Jussie Smollett indicted again in connection with alleged 2019 attack in Chicago, clerk's office says.
https://twitter.com/RobElgasABC7/status/1227348899704246274
From special prosecutor Dan Webb's office: "a Cook County grand jury returned a six-count indictment charging Jussie Smollett with making four separate false reports to Chicago Police Department officers related to his false claims that he was the victim of a hate crime..."
https://twitter.com/RobElgasABC7/status/1227357072678846469
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jussie-smollett-indicted-over-false-reports-special-prosecutor-announces-n1135206
Senate Minority Leader Schumer sends letter to DOJ inspector general requesting an investigation into the reduced sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/doj-backpedalling-sentencing-recommendation-trump-ally-roger-stone-n1134961?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
Greenhouse gas emissions need to go down to stop rapid global warming. In Australia, even deadly wildfires won’t stamp fossil fuel exports.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/australia-leads-the-world-in-liquefied-natural-gas-production/2020/02/10/2ee373d8-3265-11ea-9313-6cba89b1b9fb_story.html
The repeal was stopped after the non partisan budget office concluded it would hurt state coffers. Promised to bring compromise bill up next session lying sack of shit article
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/va-dems-kill-pro-union-bill-after-learning-ceos-oppose-it.html
“This is a bad day for the Justice Department. Everyone knows Trump will pardon Stone. Just do it now. It’s better to abuse the pardon power than trash the Justice Department.” Strong words from @thejimbaker, former FBI General Counsel, on @CNN.
https://twitter.com/biannagolodryga/status/1227364591707074561
Trump Fires Defense Official for Refusing to Break the Law on His Behalf | McCusker’s crime is quite literally having attempted to follow the law. Over the summer, the Office of Management and Budget was trying to hold up aid for Ukraine that Congress had passed into law, because it was trying to extort Ukraine to investigate Trump’s rivals. Defense Department officials, who were supposed to allocate the funds, attempted to implement the policy. Just Security obtained the email chain through the Freedom of Information Act. Importantly, the Government Accountability Office later examined the question, and found that McCusker was right. Holding up the aid was indeed illegal. (It’s not complicated: Congress passed a law providing the aid, so refusing to carry it out would obviously violate it.)
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/trump-fires-defense-official-refusing-to-break-law-elaine-mccusker.html
https://www.justsecurity.org/67863/exclusive-unredacted-ukraine-documents-reveal-extent-of-pentagons-legal-concerns/
https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/703909.pdf
https://www.justsecurity.org/67863/exclusive-unredacted-ukraine-documents-reveal-extent-of-pentagons-legal-concerns/
I do agree: Outrageous and Un-American,' Sanders Says of City in Kansas Jailing People for Unpaid Medical Debt
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/11/outrageous-and-un-american-sanders-says-city-kansas-jailing-people-unpaid-medical
Bill to give electoral votes to candidate who wins popular vote passes VA House
https://wset.com/news/at-the-capitol/bill-to-give-electoral-votes-to-candidate-who-wins-popular-vote-passes-va-house
The compact has been adopted by 15 states and the District of Columbia, which equal 196 electoral votes, according to National Popular Vote, a nonprofit that advocates for the compact.
https://wset.com/news/at-the-capitol/bill-to-give-electoral-votes-to-candidate-who-wins-popular-vote-fails-in-va
74 electoral votes left...
These need to pass second chamber & get signed:
13 Virginia
16 Michegan
15 North Carolina
10 Minnesota
11 Arizona
6 Nevada
4 Maine
We also have these unlikelies:
+7 Oklahoma +6 Arkansas
Virginia Senate passes bill giving localities authority to remove Confederate monuments
https://www.wric.com/news/politics/capitol-connection/virginia-senate-passes-bill-giving-localities-authority-to-remove-confederate-monuments/
How an ex-pro wrestler became a top welfare official in Mississippi and got indicted https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/08/brett-dibiase-how-former-wrestler-became-top-ms-welfare-official/4693335002/
The president, freshly empowered by the U.S. senators who voted to cover up his wrongdoing, has now demonstrated that he is willing to use the power of the Justice Department to cover his tracks and help his friends who were convicted of serious federal crimes.
https://twitter.com/amprog/status/1227370968252809217
Trump suddenly pulls former U.S. attorney for D.C.'s nomination to Treasury post | Liu was confirmed in September 2017 to lead the largest U.S. attorney's office in the country, overseeing a number of politically charged investigations that included the case against Trump associates Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and other spinoffs from the Mueller investigation.
https://www.axios.com/trump-jessie-liu-treasury-us-attorney-838d1a3b-1d4d-414c-ac7d-77a7ba6d4edb.html
He doesn’t want her to testify next week in her confirmation hearing and face questions on what she knows about what is happening at DOJ. She resigned to take the treasury post, then had that offer pulled, to force her out.
Justice Department is near a decision on whether to charge Blackwater founder Erik Prince, Betsy DeVos' brother, in connection with his testimony about a meeting in the Seychelles and potential violations of U.S. arms-trafficking regulations
https://www.wsj.com/articles/doj-nears-decision-on-whether-to-charge-blackwater-founder-erik-prince-11581442121
Mary McCord, a former acting assistant AG for the DOJ's National Security Division: "There is no way you can come away from this with anything other than an impression that Justice is taking its orders from the president and pandering to the president."
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1227370668058193926
Since the acquittal: 1. Removal of two witnesses who testified against him. 2. Pushes prosecution of Bolton. 3. Sends Giuliani for more dirt. 4. Interferes in Roger Stone sentencing 5. Threatens prosecution of other "enemies" Do you think Donald Shit learned his lesson yet?
Andrew Yang will be suspending his campaign | “I am a numbers guy,” Yang said in an interview before addressing supporters at Manchester’s Puritan Backroom. “In most of these [upcoming] states, I’m not going to be at a threshold where I get delegates, which makes sticking around not necessarily helpful or productive in terms of furthering the goals of this campaign.” His unconventional run put a focus on universal basic income.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/andrew-yang-drops-out-of-presidential-race/2020/02/11/4fe2c97c-4c2c-11ea-9b5c-eac5b16dafaa_story.html
Well this campaign for Andrew Yang and his wife was a deeply transformative experience for them, I hope everything he invested, all the time and money and words, all his campaign speeches and proposals and interviews and heart-to-heart discussions and townhalls and everything, all the endless time he spent with millions of people across the US, will help turn the tide against Republicans and flipp the country and government Blue again. I hope his base pay him back by voting Blue straight down the ballot in November. That is what he wants and that is what anybody with a half a brain wants. VOTE BLUE IN NOVEMBER.
Yang: “If my efforts and exertions can help ensure that Donald Trump doesn’t win, then I’ll be there every freaking moment of every freaking day. I’ll go fight for it. What are we doing here otherwise? What am I going to do, just watch Trump get reelected? That would be terrible.”
Warren on rivals’ negative ads and the behavior of some of their supporters: “Harsh tactics might work if you’re willing to burn down the party.”
NH: lower turnout than 2016 primary, lower youth turnout than 2016 primary, Bernie and Elizbath and Joe crashed and burned again, Pete and Amy surged, nobody won, Democrats lost because voters are deeply deeply deeply divided and voters aren't showing up to vote
Yang had great intentions and hopefully has a future helping our country meet all the challenges we're facing and hopefully his supports understand that by voting for whoever the Democratic nominee is they'll be voting for Yang.
Klobucharge is real. Warren and Biden, yikes. Sanders, like in Iowa, is doing notably worse in older rural areas than in 16.
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