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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/22/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-increases-lending-to-small-businesses-in-need-announces-changes-to-ppp-to-further-promote-equitable-access-to-relief/
ACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Increases Lending to Small Businesses in Need, Announces Changes to PPP to Further Promote Equitable Access to Relief
February 22, 2021 • Statements and Releases
Small businesses account for 44 percent of U.S. GDP, create two-thirds of net new jobs, and employ nearly half of America's workers. Now, millions of main street small businesses – especially Black- and Brown-owned small businesses – are struggling to make ends meet in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis.
https://advocacy.sba.gov/2019/01/30/small-businesses-generate-44-percent-of-u-s-economic-activity/
The Biden-Harris administration has made delivering equitable relief to hard-hit small businesses a top priority. The latest round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding opened just one month ago and it represents a marked improvement on the prior round of the Program last year. Compared to the same point in the Program last year:
https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program/ppp-data
-The share of funding going to small businesses with fewer than ten employees is up nearly 60 percent
-The share of funding going to small businesses in rural areas is up nearly 30 percent
-The share of funding distributed through Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions is up more than 40 percent
The Biden-Harris administration is announcing several reforms to build on this success by further targeting the PPP to the smallest businesses and those that have been left behind in previous relief efforts. While these efforts are no substitute for passage of the American Rescue Plan, they will extend much-needed resources to help small businesses survive, reopen, and rebuild. Specifically, the Biden-Harris administration will:
- Institute a 14-day period, starting Wednesday, during which only businesses with fewer than 20 employees can apply for relief through the Program. 98 percent of small businesses have fewer than 20 employees. They are Main Street businesses that anchor our neighborhoods and help families build wealth. And while the Biden-Harris administration has directed significantly more relief to these smallest businesses in this round of PPP than in the prior round, these businesses often struggle more than larger businesses to collect the necessary paperwork and secure relief from a lender. The 14-day exclusive application period will allow lenders to focus on serving these smallest businesses. The Biden-Harris administration will also make a sustained effort to work with lenders and small business owners to ensure small businesses take maximum advantage of this two-week window.
- Help sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals receive more financial support. These types of businesses, which include home repair contractors, beauticians, and small independent retailers, make up a significant majority of all businesses. Of these businesses, those without employees are 70 percent owned by women and people of color. Yet many are structurally excluded from the PPP or were approved for as little as $1 because of how PPP loans are calculated. To address this problem, the Biden-Harris administration will revise the loan calculation formula for these applicants so that it offers more relief, and establish a $1 billion set aside for businesses in this category without employees located in low- and moderate-income (LMI) areas.
- Consistent with a bipartisan bill, eliminate an exclusionary restriction that prevents small business owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions from obtaining relief through the Paycheck Protection Program. Currently, a business is ineligible for PPP if it is at least 20 percent owned by an individual who has either: (1) an arrest or conviction for a felony related to financial assistance fraud within the previous five years; or (2) any other felony within the previous year. To expand access to PPP, the Biden-Harris administration will adopt bipartisan reforms included in the PPP Second Chance Act, co-sponsored by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Rob Portman (R-OH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and James Lankford (R-OK), which would eliminate the second restriction (the one-year look-back) unless the applicant or owner is incarcerated at the time of the application.
- Eliminate an exclusionary restriction that prevents small business owners who are delinquent on their federal student loans from obtaining relief through the Paycheck Protection Program. Currently, the PPP is not available to any business with at least 20 percent ownership by an individual who is currently delinquent or has defaulted within the last seven years on a federal debt, including a student loan. Millions of Americans are delinquent on student loans, including a disproportionate number of Black borrowers. Working with the Departments of the Treasury and Education, the SBA will remove the student loan delinquency restriction to broaden access to the PPP.
- Ensure access for non-citizen small business owners who are lawful U.S. residents by clarifying that they may use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to apply for relief. The PPP statute is clear that all lawful U.S. residents may access the program, but a lack of guidance from the SBA has created inconsistency in access for ITIN holders like Green Card holders or those here on a visa. The SBA will address this unfair inconsistency by issuing clear guidance in the coming days that otherwise eligible applicants cannot be denied access to the PPP because they use ITINs to pay their taxes.
In addition to these five changes, the Biden-Harris administration has taken – and will continue to take – steps to ensure equitable distribution of relief that values each and every taxpayer dollar. These steps include:
- Addressing waste, fraud, and abuse across all federal programs. Unlike the previous round of the PPP, loan guaranty approval is now contingent on passing SBA fraud checks, Treasury's Do Not Pay database, and public records. The SBA now also conducts manual loan reviews for the largest loans in the PPP portfolio and a random sampling of other loans. The SBA has worked, and will continue to work, with its lender partners to create streamlined processes to resolve issues as quickly as possible, while still ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.
- Promoting transparency and accountability by improving the PPP loan application. To encourage self-reporting of demographic data and better illustrate the impact the PPP is having across various population segments, the Biden-Harris administration has revamped the PPP application.
- Improving the Emergency Relief Digital Front Door. The Biden-Harris administration is working to update key areas of SBA websites to help more applicants find resources for understanding relief options and completing applications.
- Continuing to conduct extensive stakeholder outreach to learn more about challenges and opportunities in the implementation of current emergency relief programs. The President has spoken with several small businesses owners in recent weeks to understand their concerns about relief program. And as part of the Administration's efforts to support America's small businesses, especially those in LMI communities, the Vice President spoke last week with the CEOs of major banks, to highlight the critical period ahead, the vital role that lenders have to play during this time, and the Administration's focus on PPP lending to underserved small businesses. In recent weeks, the Vice President has also met virtually with small business owners and Black Chambers of Commerce to discuss the challenges that small businesses face right now, and how passing the American Rescue Plan will provide critical relief during a difficult period. At all levels and across agencies, the administration will continue to engage with communities to inform the design and delivery of vital programs that meet their needs.
- Enhancing the current lender engagement model. As part of the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to further improve access to capital for small businesses, the SBA is launching a new initiative to deepen its relationships with lenders. This model will increase opportunity for lenders to provide recommendations and ask questions about the PPP and drive resolution of open questions and concerns in a more streamlined way.
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President Biden sent aid to Texas, so far without hesitation, scolds or stunts
https://www.cleveland.com/letters/2021/02/president-biden-sent-aid-to-texas-so-far-without-hesitation-scolds-or-stunts.html
As Texans endured days in the dark, the state failed to deliver vital emergency information
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/19/texas-emergency-communication-power-outages/
Biden administration changes PPP rules to help reach the smallest businesses
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/22/politics/ppp-loans-biden-administration-small-businesses/index.html
The covid19 stimulus plan is headed for a House vote as early as this week. From bigger child tax credits to $1,400 checks, here's what's in it
https://businessinsider.com/what-is-in-bidens-stimulus-child-credits-checks-minimum-wage-2021-2
Biden, the 1st lady, VP Harris and the 2nd gentleman will be at sundown candle lighting ceremony this evening at 6:15p to remember people who died of coronavirus. US to reach 500,000 deaths, likely in the next few days depending on whose count is used.
"Dominion Voting Systems sued Mike Lindell, chief executive of Minnesota-based MyPillow Inc., and his company in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking more than $1.3 billion in damages."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/dominion-sues-mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell-over-election-claims-11613996104
Today would have been Congressman John Lewis' 81st birthday. While my dear friend may no longer be with us, his life and legacy provide an eternal moral compass on which direction to march. May we carry on his mission in the fight for justice and equality for all.
https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1363595601359831041
Italian ambassador to DR Congo murdered by Islamic terrorists in UN convoy attack. The convoy belonged to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP).
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56151600
Texas Republican governor finally issues order AFTER 7 DAYS stopping power companies from disconnecting service over nonpayment.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/539823-texas-governor-blocks-power-companies-from-disconnecting-service-over
We haven't seen a quarter of known bee species since the 1990s. A sweeping analysis shows an overall downward trend in bee diversity worldwide, raising concerns about these crucial pollinators.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/we-havent-seen-quarter-of-known-bee-species-since-1990s
SCOTUS Rejects Attempts by Trump to Shield Tax Records from New York Prosecutors
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/22/politics/supreme-court-trump-taxes-vance/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-trump-tax-returns/2021/02/22/05053b14-751c-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/us/supreme-court-trump-financial-records.html
Ted Cruz invited his college roommate on the Mexico trip he blamed on his daughters
https://theweek.com/speedreads/968199/ted-cruz-invited-college-roommate-mexico-trip-blamed-daughters
Pro-Trump terrorists beat police officers with Blue Lives Matter flags. Officer on Capitol riot: 'Is this America? They beat police officers with Blue Lives Matter flags'
https://thehill.com/homenews/news/539833-officer-on-capitol-riot-is-this-america-they-beat-police-officers-with-blue
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a series of illegal and unconstitutional challenges by Pennsylvania Republicans to the state's mail voting policy.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/539845-supreme-court-wont-review-pennsylvania-gop-election-lawsuit
Texas refineries used storm to hide illegal catastrophic release of tons of pollutants. Texas oil refineries illegally released hundreds of thousands of pounds of pollutants including benzene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide into the air as they scrambled to shut down during last week's deadly winter storm, Reuters reported Sunday.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-weather-texas-emissions/texas-freeze-led-to-release-of-tons-of-air-pollutants-as-refineries-shut-idUSKBN2AL0AA
Some journalist really needs to collar Manchin and ask him how he justifies opposing Tanden when he voted for Sessions, Barr, Grennell, Pompeo, Kavanaugh. He presumably thinks she is worse than they were, or that Biden has less right to pick his staff than Trump did. 81M people voted for Biden and a Democrat is refusing to give him the cabinet he wants? And you supported Kavanaugh? No problems with his behavior and "temperament" huh?
Democrats are pushing the possibility of a small business tax relief plan that could be paired with the minimum wage increase in order to alleviate any burdens on businesses required to increase their pay.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/22/democrats-minimum-wage-increase-plan-470860
Garland confirms that he will go wherever the facts lead on Jan. 6 investigations, including potentially up the chain, to people who were not physically present at the Capitol. That's key. At minimum, that should cover these folks who met on January 5th:
Donald trump
Donald Trump Jr
Eric Trump
Roger Stone
Charles W. Herbster
Adam Piper
Corey Lewandowski
David Bossie
Michael Flynn
Daniel Beck
Garland: I'll oversee the riot and investigate those responsible
Republicans: Oh shit he means us [votes no]
After five years Merrick Garland will finally get a Senate hearing. He should be a member of the Supreme Court. In any event, it is time for him to roll up his sleeves and help rebalance the scales of justice.
On January 6, Speaker Pelosi approved a request from the House sergeant-at-arms to seek support from the National Guard as soon as the request was made.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/21/us/politics/capitol-riot-security-delays.html
Attorney General Nominee Merrick Garland: "I come from a family where my grandparents fled anti-Semitism & persecution. The country took us in and protected us. I feel an obligation to the country to pay back and this is the highest best use of my own set of skills to pay back."
https://twitter.com/i/status/1363923659342172162
https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1363923659342172162
About Neera Tanden, who is wonderfully hardcore progressive with hard left-leaning domestic policy positions mirroring Bernie Sanders': The notion that the president should basically have the advisers he wants applies with special force to the director of the Office of Management and Budget. In fact, I don't think the OMB director should require Senate confirmation at all. The post is essentially a White House job. The OMB director is a presidential staffer who reports to the president's chief of staff, attends each morning's senior staff meeting, and participates in the internal processes of White House decision-making alongside other senior advisers. The job is one of a small number of positions within the Executive Office of the President that require Senate confirmation, and I don't think any of those should. The position of OMB director (and its predecessor position, director of the Bureau of the Budget, created in 1921) did not require Senate confirmation until 1973. That changed in the course of a much broader fight between Congress and the Nixon administration about the president's authority over spending. After a particularly nasty round of inter-branch warfare, Congress passed a bill in May of 1973 eliminating the jobs of OMB director and deputy director and then recreating them as Senate-confirmed positions. The immediate aim of the bill was to essentially force the dismissal of Roy Ash, the OMB director who was then serving, and who had aggressively advanced ideas about presidential impoundment of appropriated spending that members of both houses and both parties intensely opposed. Ash had disrespected members of both houses, but Congress's response was nonetheless out of line. President Nixon vetoed the bill, saying in his veto message that the legislation "would require the forced removal by an unconstitutional procedure of two officers now serving in the executive branch. This step would be a grave violation of the fundamental doctrine of separation of powers." The Senate overrode his veto, but the House lacked the supermajority to do it. So Congress then passed another bill requiring Senate confirmation for those jobs in the future, but taking effect only after the then-serving officials left their jobs. Nixon still didn't like the idea, but it was clear the Congress could override his veto of that second bill, so he signed it. In essence, both Congress and the president were saving face by that point — with legislators making sure the president couldn't just deny them the change they wanted and the president making sure Congress couldn't just fire his advisors. But the outcome, a set of White House staffers who require Senate confirmation, doesn't make sense even after almost 50 years. OMB has obviously grown a lot in that time, and the director now wields a lot of power — the job is, in some respects, more powerful than any of the cabinet secretaries. But the same can be said about the president's chief of staff and some other advisers. As a devoted congressional supremacist, I like any instance of Congress standing up for itself against a president, but what happened with that job wasn't a great fit for the structure of our system. We clearly have too many Senate-confirmed executive positions, and the next time Congress looks to trim the list, they might consider how to handle OMB again.
Defense Department inspector general reviews Trump's illegal order to relocate Space Command to Alabama
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/02/21/defense-department-inspector-general-reviews-trump-relocation-of-space-command/
Sen. Cornyn asks Garland to confirm that politics won't affect his decisions about prosecutions, which Garland, of course, affirms. And all I can wonder is where Cornyn was for the last 4 years? Dozens of people quit DOJ because Trump asked them to do things that were illegal. Cornyn never cared once.
https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1363879512652529667
It's been 2,189 days since Trump announced he would release his tax returns: In an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Feb. 25, 2015, Trump was asked if he would release his tax returns if he decided to ultimately run for president.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-release-tax-records-222887
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (then Texas Attorney General) proudly tweeting he sued EPA for winterizing Texas power grid in 2011
https://i.redd.it/1v9zqq1zfxi61.png
This is the Nikki we need to be reporting about: Florida's Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried says she won't lower flags at state offices under her direction to honor Rush Limbaugh:
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/fl-ne-nikki-fried-limbaugh-flag-20210222-nfrc6bx2pbhtzf2yoe6mrl6744-story.html
Very good news. This is an important thread and speaks to the importance of vaccines at ending this crisis, particular amongst those who are most vulnerable: ince vaccinations began in late 2020, we expected them to show up first in our Long-Term-Care data. And it finally has. We've seen signs over the last few weeks that vaccines, along with a broader decrease in community spread, are having a rapid, positive impact in LTCs.
https://twitter.com/COVID19Tracking/status/1363914162217185281
What does it say about us that we are having our first national moment of remembrance only now after 500,000 have died from COVIDー19? That we were led by a "president" who saw Covid-19 as a political hurdle rather than a once-in-a-century threat to our world
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/22/remarks-by-president-biden-on-helping-small-businesses/
Remarks by President Biden on Helping Small Businesses
February 22, 2021 • Speeches and Remarks
South Court Auditorium
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
12:29 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. I just had an opportunity to catch up with two small-business owners I met on the road in the last couple weeks. And the first was a very entrepreneurial woman named Pilar Guzman Zavala, and she's in Florida, Miami. And Tim Eichinger, who is in Wisconsin. They have different businesses and live in different places, but both shared the same message with me when I spoke to them on the road, and that was American small businesses are hurting and hurting badly, and they need help now. And it's in all of our interests to make sure they get the help now.
Small businesses are the engines of our economic progress; they're the glue and the heart and soul of our communities. But they're getting crushed. Since the beginning of this pandemic, 400,000 small businesses have closed — 400,000 — and millions more are hanging by a thread.
It's hurting black, Latino, and Asian American communities the hardest. Walk down any Main Street and you see it: empty storefronts, goodbye signs hanging in the windows. Maybe it's the pizza place you used to take your family to dinner, or the hardware store that always had the tool you needed. It's mom-and-pop shop that's sponsored by — that is supported by the community, and then, in turn, they support the community. They sponsor a Little League team; the barber shop with the first dollar bill that he or she earned is still taped to the wall, along with a picture of the kids who are now in college.
These small businesses — not the ones with 500 employees, but these small businesses that, with a handful of folks, they are 90 percent of the businesses in America. But when the Paycheck Protection Program was passed, a lot of these mom-and-pop business just got muscled out of the way by bigger companies who jumped in front of the line.
And I want to be clear: The Paycheck Protection Program is a bipartisan effort; Democrats and Republicans helped pass it. But Democrats and Republicans have also voiced concerns about improving it. With their input, that's what we're doing in our administration: improving it.
In the last month, we've increased the share of funding for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees by nearly 60 percent. For businesses in rural communities, the share of funding is up nearly 30 percent since we came to office. And the share of funding distributed through banks that traditionally help minority-owned businesses is up more than 40 percent.
And today, I'm announcing additional changes to the PPP program that will make sure we look out for the mom-and-pop business even more than we already have. As I explained to Pilar and Tim — the two small-business people I spoke to on Wednesday — the Small Business Administration is going to establish a 14-day exclusive PPP loan application period for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees. People can — can go out and find how to get a hold of these — these loans. People can find out more at the SBA.gov.
The Small Business Administration will also remove barriers that have stopped many businesses from being able to apply for these loans. For example, we're making it so that a student loan default or a non-fraud-related criminal record does not prohibit someone from applying for the program.
We're also making it easy for those one-person businesses — like the home repair contractors; beauticians; small, independent retailers — to secure forgivable PPP loans.
At the same time, we're increasing access by increasing oversight. I invite any inspector general in this program, with jurisdiction over this program, to closely look at these loans and report — publicly report on any issues they uncover inconsistent with what I'm saying today. We will ensure every dollar is spent well. These changes will bring much-needed, long-overdue to — help to small businesses who really need help staying open, maintaining jobs and making ends meet. And this is a starting point, not the ending point.
We need Congress to pass my American Rescue Plan. It deals with the immediate crisis facing our small businesses.
Now, critics say the plan is too big. Let me ask them a rhetorical question: What would you have me cut? What would you leave out? The American Rescue Plan targets $50 billion to support the hardest-hit small businesses after this program expires at the end of March. Would you not help invest in them? Would you let them continue to go under? Would you leave them out again, like the previous administration did?
One of the things I've heard again and again from small-business owners like Pilar and Tim is that knowing about support is one thing; being — gaining access to getting it is another.
That's why we proposed $175 million to bring community organizations in to serve as "navigators" who'll help them through this process of application.
We would also establish a hotline, with help available in multiple languages, so folks can pick up a phone and get the help they need to stay open and serve their community.
Again, the critics: "It's too big." Should we not — should we stop spending money on them? Do we not want a return on investment that we make in these businesses to be able to stay open and thrive and pay back?
Why would we not want to make sure a small business, who lack teams of lawyers, bankers, and accountants, have an advocate — someone they can rely on — to direct them to help that's there for them now — will be there for them?
The American Rescue Plan is a rescue plan for America's small businesses and America's mainstream businesses. And we need Congress to pass it right away. I'm grateful to the Senate and the House for moving so quickly.
And I want to make it clear: I'm prepared to hear ideas about how to make the American Rescue Plan better and cheaper. But we have to make clear who we're helping and who it would hurt.
I always try to help people like Tim and Pilar and all the country's small businesses, and families, the workers, the communities that depend on them to survive, recover, and grow.
And it's my hope — my hope that as Democrats and Republicans, who have backed the PPP program — that Democrats and Republicans will back the American Rescue Plan. The vast majority of the American people — more than 70 percent of the American people, including a majority of Republicans — want us to act based on all the polling data, and act big and act quickly.
Major economists — left, right, and center — here and abroad say we should focus on smart investments that can make jobs available and focus on the jobs and in the people to prevent lo- — prevent long-term economic damage to our nation and to strengthen the economic competitiveness going forward.
In fact, an analysis by Wall Street's firm, Moody's, estimates that if we pass my American Rescue Plan, the economy will create 7 million jobs this year. This year.
We've also been in constant contact with the mayors and governors, county officials, members of Congress of both parties in every state. That includes a letter, I might add, from more than 400 mayors from big and small cities, Democrat and Republican. They agree we have to act and act now. They understand we're not going to get our economy back in shape and the millions of people back to work until we beat this virus.
Getting our economy back means bringing our small businesses back. And that's what we're going to do. That's what I'm doing today. We're going to focus. The program ends at the end of March, but for the next two weeks, the only folks who can apply for that PPP money are businesses with fewer than 20 employees.
Thank you very much.
12:38 P.M. EST
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/22/president-joseph-r-biden-jr-amends-louisiana-disaster-declaration/
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Amends Louisiana Disaster Declaration
February 22, 2021 • Statements and Releases
Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. made additional disaster assistance available to the State of Louisiana by authorizing an increase in the level of federal funding for Public Assistance projects undertaken in the State of Louisiana as a result of Hurricane Laura during the period of August 22 to August 27, 2020.
Under the major disaster declaration issued for the State of Louisiana on
August 28, 2020, federal funding was made available for Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation, and Other Needs Assistance at 75 percent of the total eligible costs.
Under the President's order today, the federal share for Public Assistance, including direct federal assistance, has been increased to 90 percent of the total eligible costs, except for assistance previously authorized at 100 percent.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV.
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Trump to tell CPAC he is the Republican 2024 nominee for the Presidency even though he won 2020 which means he can't run for a third term
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/22/trump-cpac-republican-presumptive-2024-nominee
AG Ken Paxton and wife Sen. Angela Paxton went to Utah during Texas freeze
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/AG-Ken-Paxton-and-wife-Sen-Angela-Paxton-went-to-15970261.php
The judge who blocked Trump's first travel ban said he received 40,000 threatening messages, forcing US Marshals to guard his home
https://www.businessinsider.com/judge-who-blocked-trumps-muslim-ban-received-40000-threats-2021-2
Cam Newton on the possibility that he could stop playing: "Hell no! I can't go out like that. I hear all of that talk. My pride won't allow me to do it. There aren't 32 guys better than me."
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/02/22/cam-newton-there-arent-32-quarterbacks-better-than-me/
Panthers are looking to move on from QB Teddy Bridgewater due to "physical limitations" per Albert Breer
https://twitter.com/bthomps81/status/1363889543984865287
The Washington Football Team will announce its new name in 2022
https://www.washingtonjourney.com/
Eagles felt Carson Wentz couldn't handle hard coaching
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/02/22/report-eagles-felt-carson-wentz-couldnt-handle-hard-coaching/
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/22/a-proclamation-on-remembering-the-500000-americans-lost-to-covid-19/
A Proclamation on Remembering the 500,000 Americans Lost to COVID-19
February 22, 2021 • Presidential Actions
As of this week during the dark winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 500,000 Americans have now died from the virus. That is more Americans who have died in a single year of this pandemic than in World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War combined. On this solemn occasion, we reflect on their loss and on their loved ones left behind. We, as a Nation, must remember them so we can begin to heal, to unite, and find purpose as one Nation to defeat this pandemic.
In their memory, the First Lady and I will be joined by the Vice President and the Second Gentleman for a moment of silence at the White House this evening. I ask all Americans to join us as we remember the more than 500,000 of our fellow Americans lost to COVID-19 and to observe a moment of silence at sunset. I also hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset February 26, 2021. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of February, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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El Chapo's wife Emma Coronel Aispuro was arrested on federal drug charges today in Virginia
https://justice.gov/opa/pr/wife-el-chapo-arrested-international-drug-trafficking-charges
NASA's Perseverance rover has recorded the first audio clips captured on the surface of Mars, beaming back to Earth guttural sounds of wind gusting on the red planet.
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/nasa-rover-beams-back-first-sounds-ever-recorded-surface-mars-rcna303
Haunting to be listening to the bells of Washington National Cathedral tolling 500 times, one for every 1,000 Americans who have died from covid.
As you know, many of you saw the President just made an announcement this morning about important changes to the PPP program to ensure small businesses, especially minority-owned and mom-and-pop businesses, get the help they need to keep their doors open and keep workers on payroll. Ninety-eight percent of companies have fewer than 20 employees, and a big part of this announcement will apply to those companies. Small businesses employ nearly half of America's workers and account for 44 percent of our nation's GDP. More than 400,000 small businesses have permanently shuttered due to the pandemic. Millions more have lost substantial value, so — revenue. So, clearly, an area where there is a need for great focus. His announcement includes instituting a two-week window, starting Wednesday, during which only businesses with fewer than 20 employees — so ninety- — ninety-eight percent of them — can apply for relief through the program. So they — but that we prioritize support to businesses who were previously left behind. The changes also include expanding eligibility so that sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed Americans, as well as immigrants who are lawful permanent residents can receive more support. And finally, the changes announced today will roll back restrictions that disproportionately impacted entrepreneurs of color from receiving relief, including Americans who are behind on student loan payments and business owners who were formerly incarcerated for non-fraud convictions.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/22/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-22-2021/
In the meantime, the President has asked FEMA to do everything it can to rapidly distribute aid to the state of Texas. So far, more than 1 million meals have been shipped to Texas; more than 4 million liters of water have been shipped to Texas. The Department of Defense's fixed-wing aircraft continue to deliver water in bulk to multiple locations in Texas. They have completed nine missions so far, with an additional 10 missions planned for today. Sixty-nine emergency generators and more than 120,000 blankets have been delivered to Texas.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/22/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-22-2021/
As it relates to Neera Tanden, let me just say that the President nominated her because he believes she'd be a stellar OMB Director. She's tested. She is a leading policy expert. She has led a think tank in this — in Washington that has done a great deal of work on policy issues but has done a great deal of bipartisan work as well. She has won widespread support and endorsements ranging from labor unions to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And she's rolled up her sleeves and done the work. She's met with more than 35 senators — Democrats and Republicans — herself. This is a process: confirmations — getting individuals confirmed is. She has two committee votes this week, and we're working toward that. And we'll continue to work in supporting her nomination.
Q So you still see a path to 50 votes or more?
MS. PSAKI: We do.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/22/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-22-2021/
Q And then, secondly, on Iran: We've seen some issues with regard to Iran restricting access to nuclear inspectors. And I was curious for how this works with Secretary of State Blinken saying he expects "strict compliance" by Iran in order to reenter the deal with the United States.
MS. PSAKI: Well, first, I think you're referring to the reports from the IAEA over the weekend and, kind of, discussions they had about Iran's compliance and access that they would have or were looking to have to Iran's facilities on the ground. And certainly I would send you to them on that. But I would say that what Secretary Blinken's announcement and what our announcement that came out last week is a reflection of is an openness to have a conversation, an openness to diplomacy. And that invitation was issued by the Europeans to invite us to invite the Iranians to the table to have a conversation. We have indicated — sent no indication that we are willing to take additional steps in advance of that. What we're willing to do is sit at a table and have a diplomatic conversation, because we are looking to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and we believe diplomacy is the best way to do that. Let's go to Jeff.
Q Thanks, Jen. Just a — one follow-up on Iran. Iran's Ayatollah said today that Iran may enrich uranium up to 60 percent purity if needed. What is the White House's reaction to that? And how does that impact the statement that you made last week about openness to talks?
MS. PSAKI: Well, again, Jeff, you know, Iran is a long way from compliance, and that hasn't changed. I said that last week, and many — and I believe my colleague, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, conveyed that just yesterday. That has not changed. I'll — what we are open to is a diplomatic conversation. And our view is that diplomacy is the beth [sic] path — the best path forward to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. That does not meet — they have clearly not taken the steps needed to comply, and we have not taken any steps or — and made any indication that we are going to meet the demands that they are putting forward either.
Q Does this kind of rhetoric concern you, though, in terms of the possibility for diplomacy?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I think we're at the stage where we're waiting. The Europeans are waiting to hear Iran's reply to their invitation to have a conversation. So that's the stage we're sitting at at this point in time.
Q Also, in the realm of diplomacy: China's Foreign Minister made some remarks today about wanting to re- — sort of rejig the relationship with the United States, and he called for tariffs to be removed. I know that this policy is under review, along with lots of policies, but can you give any reaction to what he has said and any update on President Biden's feelings about tariffs and broader China policy?
MS. PSAKI: Well, you know, I think as we said around the time when the President had a conversation with President Xi, we believe the relationship with China is one of strong competition. We want to come to that relationship from a position of strength. That means working in close coordination with our partners and allies around the world: Europeans, other partners in the region, also with Democrats and Republicans in Congress. And it also means we want to do work at home, and focus on doing work at home, to make sure we are coming to that from a position of strength. As you noted, there is, of course, a review of our tariffs and the tariffs that were put in place. I don't have any update on that at this point in time.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/22/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-22-2021/
MS. PSAKI: Well, here's what I can convey about her work. As somebody who ran CAP, the Center for American Progress, she worked with partners across the ideological spectrum to develop consensus solutions to addressing the federal tax code, to improving access to high-quality educational opportunities. They partnered with AEI in that effort. She worked with — led the effort to work with FreedomWorks and others on the R Street Institute on making progress on criminal justice reform. And again, she met with 35 members of the Senate, including Republicans. So she is willing and eager to meet with people who agree with her, of course, but also people who disagree with her. And what she brings to the table is not only decades of policy experience but — and expertise and leadership — again, of a major think tank in this city — but also somebody who has lived experience. You know, she grew up as the daughter of a single mother, somebody who benefited from many of the programs that she would be tasked with determining the recommendations on funding for. So she has a record of working with members of both parties — or views from both parties. And I — we have no doubt she would do that as budget director.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/22/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-22-2021/
Q Thank you so much. You know, President Biden — and you noted that he is — does not plan to speak with the Crown Prince. But I wanted to ask: What does that actually mean? I mean, the President has obviously called for accountability for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But how is the relationship actually going to change? I mean, is this just symbolism? Do — are we going to have some concrete changes that demonstrate this accountability?
MS. PSAKI: Well, what I conveyed last week, when we talked about this a little bit, is that we are certainly recalibrating our relationship with Saudi Arabia. And part of what I mentioned was that we will have officials communicate from counterpart to counterpart, and that means — as you may know, last week, the Secretary of Defense had a conversation with MBS and that is the right counterpart-to-counterpart. We expect the President will have a conversation with the King at an appropriate time. But there are other components, as you know, of our relationship, including the fact that the President, unlike the last administration, is not going to hold back in speaking out when he has objections, concerns about issues related to human rights, freedom of speech, any other concerns he may have about the way things are being run. At the same time, there's an important role we can play in relationship — as it relates to the threats that come into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from actors in the region. And that is a relationship that we will continue to work with them on.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/22/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-22-2021/
Q Right. The other question I have is that, as Vice President, the President met and talked to the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. Does he have any views on the current trial that's going on in Rwanda of Paul Rusesabagina, the central figure in the "Hotel Rwanda" movie, who many say was kidnapped illegally but who the government defends and says should be on trial?
MS. PSAKI: It's a great question. I have not spoken with our national security team about that particular trial. I'm happy to talk to them, and we can follow up with you after the briefing.
Q Would you do that, please?
MS. PSAKI: Happy to.
Q Thank you.
MS. PSAKI: Absolutely.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/22/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-22-2021/
Q Is there a reason she's not met with more? Has any GOP senator refused to meet with her?
MS. PSAKI: I don't think we're going to speak to, as we wouldn't in any case, who's she met to, or give you — met with or give you a list to protect the privacy of senators. But 35 meetings with Republican and Democratic senators is actually quite a significant number of meetings in the process. But
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/22/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-22-2021/
Neera Tanden is not in any way controversial, terrorist Republicans are
Q One other one on the semiconductor shortage, which I asked about, I think, two weeks ago, or a week ago now. Brian Deese and Jake Sullivan, I think, are working on this, and you confirmed that there was outreach to the Taiwanese and other countries.
MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
Q Do you have any update on responses that you got from these countries on how to fix it? And I know you guys have also acknowledged that there is no short-term fix but something in the medium term, since it is really impacting a lot of businesses.
MS. PSAKI: Absolutely. And there's been outreach to the manufacturing sector, and companies as well, to discuss the impact of the shortage. You mentioned the letter that was reported that Brian Deese, our NEC Director, sent to Taiwan. There has been a lot of outreach to international partners as well, as we work through this issue. But I expect we'll have more in the coming days to share with you on the next steps here.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/22/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-22-2021/
Q Thank you, Jen. I have one question and one from Canadian journalist. This is follow-up on Nord Stream 2. Several Republican members of Congress criticized the administration for a failure to name new targets for sanctions related to Nord Stream 2 in a report required by Congress. And Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen is also asking for explanation. And just today, foreign ministers of Poland and Ukraine urged President Trump — President Biden to stop the project. Your response?
MS. PSAKI: Well, President Biden's view remains that Nord Stream 2 is a bad deal. It's a bad deal because it divides Europe, it exposes Ukraine and Central Europe to Russian manipulation, and because it goes against Europe's own stated energy and security goals, which I think is a shared concern that many of the individuals you mentioned have expressed. We're continuing to monitor activity to complete or to certify the pipeline, and if such activity takes place, we'll make a determination on the applicability of sanctions. And sanctions are only one of many important tools to ensure energy security. So we're also going to work with our allies and partners to reinforce European energy security and to safeguard against the sort of predatory behavior we have warned against.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/22/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-22-2021/
The National Cathedral bells ring 500 times for the 500,000 Americans who died of COVID-19
https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1zqJVXbEwLdKB
https://www.pscp.tv/w/cwLNrTF4a2pEQmFkTlpvUXp8MXpxSlZYYkV3TGRLQveoQzeVv2U1t8wm0i1cpHC-TwvA1IQSKOGdJyS8Bo6H
The "majority" of Boost Mobile's 9 million customers will lose service in January when T-Mobile shuts down its 3G network. Many of these customers are low-income and had their accounts sold to Dish as part of the nearly $30B T-Mobile/Sprint merger.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-22/boost-mobile-users-face-service-loss-unless-they-upgrade-phones
The Nets say Kevin Durant (left hamstring strain) remains out for Brooklyn's next game against Sacramento. Jeff Green (right shoulder contusion) is questionable.
https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/1363970211167133699
White House Moment of Silence for 500,000 U.S. COVID-19 Deaths
https://c-span.org/video/?509220-1/president-biden-moment-silence-covid-19-lives-lost
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a forceful dissent showing support for former President Donald Trump and Republicans who have refused to accept the result of the 2020 election.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/22/politics/clarence-thomas-trump-election-fraud/index.html
Recent positive indicators regarding covid19 have been played down by a federal government that opted this week to focus on the grim pandemic milestone and is cautious of giving Americans an excuse to lower their guards prematurely.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-covid-deaths/2021/02/22/911952b0-7527-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html
Biden has already made some pro-union moves as president, but he's steering clear of endorsing the Amazon union drive. The union's president told me "this is a great opportunity for the administration to show working people what's important to them"
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-union-alabama-amazon-warehouse_n_603403d9c5b67c32961fbbb4
The Washington Wizards (11-17) defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (22-10) in OT, 127 - 124
Down by 11 in the 3rd, the Utah Jazz go on a 41-11 run in a span of 10 minutes and 35 seconds to take a commanding 19-point lead
https://streamable.com/5hc9dz
Russell Westbrook in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers tonight: 32 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists on 13-25 shooting. Wizards have now won 5 straight.
After losing for just the second time in 22 games, the Utah Jazz respond by dropping a franchise record 28 three pointers.
The Phoenix Suns (20-10) defeat the Portland Trail Blazers (18-12), 132 - 100
Booker puts some moves on Jones Jr. and converts the and-1
https://streamable.com/nfqi6a
Niang ends the game 7-7 from the floor, all of them from 3
Rudy Gobert making his case for DPOY with 2 huge blocks on the same possession, then Conley buries the 3 at the other end
https://streamable.com/anstij
Devin Booker Tonight: 34/4/4 on 12/17 shooting, 2/2 from three and 8/8 from the line
Beal hits reverse lay up
https://streamable.com/oqp5bv
LaMelo scores on Conley, then taunts him
https://streamable.com/hqmj6d
The Chicago Bulls (14-16) defeat the Houston Rockets (11-18) 120-100, led by 24 points from Coby White
The Jazz just had 22 Turnovers and won by 22 points while making 28 3-pointers
The Chicago Bulls just scored 46 points in the third quarter, most in any of their quarters this year
Tim Hardaway Jr Tonight: 29/4/0 on 9/14 shooting, 7/11 from three and 4/5 from line
___________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/22/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-more-than-500000-american-lives-lost-to-covid-19/
Remarks by President Biden on the More Than 500,000 American Lives Lost to COVID-19
February 22, 2021 • Speeches and Remarks
Cross Hall
6:01 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Each day, I receive a small card in my pocket that I carry with me in my schedule. It shows the number of Americans who have been infected by or died from COVID-19. Today, we mark a truly grim, heartbreaking milestone: 500,071 dead. That’s more Americans who have died in one year in this pandemic than in World War One, World War Two, and the Vietnam War combined. That’s more lives lost to this virus than any other nation on Earth.
But as we acknowledge the scale of this mass death in America, we remember each person and the life they lived. They’re people we knew. They’re people we feel like we knew. Read the obituaries and remembrances. The son who called his mom every night just to check in. The father’s daughter who lit up his world. The best friend who was always there. The nurse — the nurse and nurses — but the nurse who made her patients want to live.
I was in — just in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at the Pfizer vaccine manufacturing facility. There, I met a man when I walked in, whose father-in-law was dying of the virus. He was sad. I asked if I could call his father-in-law. He said his father-in-law was too sick to speak. But then he said, but could I pray for him — could I pray for him.
We all know someone — fellow Americans who lived lives of struggle, of purpose, and of hope. Who talked late into the night about their dreams; who wore the uniform, born to serve; who loved, prayed, and always offered a hand.
We often hear people described as “ordinary Americans.” There’s no such thing; there’s nothing ordinary about them. The people we lost were extraordinary. They spanned generations. Born in America. Immigrated to America. But just like that, so many of them took final breath alone in America.
As a nation, we can’t accept such a cruel fate. While we have been fighting this pandemic for so long, we have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow. We have to resist viewing each life as a sta- — as a statistic or a blur or on the news. And we must do so to honor the dead, but equally important, care for the living and those left behind.
For the loved ones left behind, I know all too well — I know what it’s like to not be there when it happens. I know what it’s like when you are there, holding their hands. There’s a look in your eye, and they slip away. That black hole in your chest, you feel like you’re being sucked into it. The survivor’s remorse. The anger. The questions of faith in your soul.
For some of you, it’s been a year, a month, a week, a day, even an hour. And I know that when you stare at that empty chair around the kitchen table, it brings it all back, no matter how long ago it happened, as if it just happened that moment you looked at that empty chair. The birthdays, the anniversaries, the holidays without them. And the everyday things — the small things, the tiny things — that you miss the most. That scent when you open the closet. That park you go by that you used to stroll in. That movie theater where you met. The morning coffee you shared together. The bend in his smile. The perfect pitch to her laugh.
I received a letter from a daughter whose father died of COVID-19 on Easter Sunday last year. She and her children — his grandchildren — enter Lent this season, a season of reflection and renewal, with heavy hearts. Unable to properly mourn, she asked me in the letter, “What was our loss among so many others?”
Well, that’s what has been so cruel. So many of the rituals that help us cope, that help us honor those we loved, haven’t been available to us. The final rites with family gathered around. The proper homegoing, showered with stories and love. Tribal leaders passing [with]out the final traditions of sacred cultures on sacred lands.
As a nation, we cannot and we must not let this go on. That’s why the day before my inauguration, at the COVID-19 Memorial at the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, I said to heal — to heal, we must remember. I know it’s hard. I promise you, I know it’s hard — I remember. But that’s how you heal: You have to remember. And it’s also important to do that as a nation.
For those who have lost loved ones, this is what I know: They’re never truly gone. They’ll always be part of your heart. I know this, as well — and it seems unbelievable, but I promise you: The day will come when the memory of the loved one you lost will bring a smile to your lips before a tear to your eye. It will come. I promise you. My prayer for you though is that day will come sooner rather than later. And that’s when you know you’re going to be okay — you’re going to be okay.
And for me, the way through sorrow and grief is to find purpose. I don’t know how many of you have lost someone a while ago and are wondering, “Is he or she proud of me now? Is this what they want me to do?” I know that’s how I feel. And we can find purpose — purpose worthy of the lives they lived and worthy of the country we love.
So today, I ask all Americans to remember: Remember those we lost and those who are left behind.
But as we remember — as we all remember, I also ask us to act. To remain vigilant, to sa- — stay socially distanced, to mask up, get vaccinated when it’s your turn. We must end the politics and misinformation that has divided families, communities, and the country, and has cost too many lives already. It’s not Democrats and Republicans who are dying from the virus. It’s our fellow Americans. It’s our neighbors and our friends — our mothers, our fathers, our sons, our daughters, husbands, wives.
We have to fight this together, as one people, as the United States of America. That’s the only way we’re going to beat this virus, I promise you. The only way to spare more pain and more loss — the only way these millstones [sic] no longer mark our national mourning — these milestones, I should say — no longer mark our national mourning. Let this not be a story of how far we fell, but of how far we climbed back up. We can do this.
For in this year of profound loss, we have seen profound courage from all of you on the frontlines. I know the stress, the trauma, the grief you carry. But you give us hope. You keep us going. You remind us that we do take care of our own. That we leave nobody behind. And that while we have been humbled, we have never given up. We are America. We can and will do this.
In just a few minutes, Jill and I, Kamala and Doug, will hold a moment of silence here in the White House — the People’s House, your house. We ask you to join us to remember, so we can heal; to find purpose in the work ahead; to show that there is light in the darkness.
This nation will smile again. This nation will know sunny days again. This nation will know joy again. And as we do, we will remember each person we’ve lost, the lives they lived, the loved ones they left behind. We will get through this, I promise you. But my heart aches for you — those of you who are going through it right now.
May G-d bless you all, particularly those who have lost someone. G-d bless you.
6:11 P.M. EST
___________________________
We're facing an extinction crisis, but our actions can make a difference. Conservation efforts have prevented 32 bird and 16 mammal extinctions since 1993. Here are some of the success stories.
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1362366299746299910
The California condor: Only 27 were left in 1987. Following a successful captive breeding programme, the condors were reintroduced into the wild starting in 1991. There are now 93 mature individuals in a population of 300 birds in the wild.
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1362366303747588103
Only 23 black stilts remained in New Zealand in 1981, largely because of invasive predators. Numbers had recovered to 106 in 2017, but predator pressure remains.
Tiger numbers fell to 3200 by 2010, when an international initiative was agreed with the aim of doubling tiger numbers by 2022. Official estimates are due next year, but numbers are now thought to be up in India, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Russia.
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1362366311477743616
Poaching and forest felling for agriculture reduced mountain gorilla numbers to around 250 in 1981. Since then, ecotourism took off and made gorillas more valuable alive than dead. Numbers now stand at a minimum of 1063 – the only great ape that is on the up.
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1362366315344900098
The Indus river dolphin has seen its habitat fragmented by barrages across the Indus. Educating fishing communities and recruiting local people for ecotourism and monitoring has been the key to its numbers rising in the past 20 years.
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1362366319199477763
Antarctic blue whales were almost wiped out by whaling, leaving only 360 individuals in the 1970s. Preliminary estimates show that numbers recovered to some 4500 individuals by 2015, following an international moratorium on whaling.
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1362366323280470017
The last wild European bison was killed in 1927. From 54 in captivity, it has been reintroduced across Eastern Europe. There are now 47 free-ranging herds in countries including Germany, Poland and Romania.
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1362366327499988994
The last Javan rhinoceros on the Asian mainland was found dead in 2010. Fortunately, around 50 survived in Ujung Kulon National Park on the island of Java. There are now 74 in the park, thanks to efforts led by the Indonesian government.
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1362366331652341760
The giant panda declined rapidly in the 20th century, but political will and protected areas turned the story around. China has created 67 giant panda reserves since the 1960s, and in 1988 banned logging entirely in their habitats.
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1362366335905325057
The Hainan gibbon is the world's most endangered primate. Only around nine remained by the 1980s. Monitoring by conservationists and local people since 2005 has deterred poaching, and there are now believed to be around 33 individuals.
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1362366340049346566
Multiple states aren't handing out the rental relief from the federal government because of partisan fights
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2021/02/22/tenants-struggle-amid-patchwork-of-state-rental-relief-efforts
The Supreme Court is about to hear two cases that could destroy what remains of the Voting Rights Act | A 6-3 Republican Court will hear one of the most aggressive attacks on voting rights since Jim Crow.
https://www.vox.com/22286213/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-arizona-brnovich-democratic-national-committee-republican-party
David Perdue will not run for Senate in Georgia in 2022
https://www.axios.com/david-perdue-senate-2022-0b449904-1689-4eca-bf14-b5a62ac9ff64.html
Six-time NBA All-Star and two-time champion Pau Gasol announces he has signed with FC Barcelona of the EuroLeague
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1364248848055607302
Joint Oversight Hearing on Security Failures During Attack on U.S. Capitol - 02/23/2021 | Live - 10:00 AM EST
https://www.c-span.org/video/?509061-1/joint-oversight-hearing-security-failures-attack-us-capitol
Biden administration preparing to sanction Russia for SolarWinds hacks and the poisoning of an opposition leader
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-russia-sanctions-solarwinds-hacks/2021/02/23/b77039d6-71fa-11eb-85fa-e0ccb3660358_story.html
Senate Confirmation Hearing | Rep. Deb Haaland - Interior
https://www.c-span.org/video/?509102-1/interior-secretary-nominee-rep-deb-haaland-testifies-confirmation-hearing
Linda Thomas-Greenfield confirmed UN Ambassador 78-20
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Zlj6Jr23D4a-Ajzh1VtC_5HGB55DGO-leVWzQkTc1h8/edit#gid=1830138682
https://apnews.com/article/linda-thomas-greenfield-confirmed-2ebb93df845e455c7200df76cf6998fd
Iran officially restricting UN nuclear inspections after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported in a confidential document distributed to member countries that Iran had added 38.8 pounds of uranium enriched up to 20% to its stockpile as of Feb. 16, more than enough to make a nuclear weapon. It was the first official confirmation of plans Iran announced in January to enrich to the greater purity, which is just a technical step away from weapons-grade levels and far past the 3.67% purity allowed under the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-europe-iran-iran-nuclear-united-nations-5d8d58dc633c0e2944b7933591083bc9
Much of today's Capitol security hearing is framing Jan. 6 as an "intelligence failure," which makes little sense. This was planned in plain sight for months, Trump's incitement was public - as we reported last month, it was just not taken seriously.
The White House says they still expect Neera Tanden to be President Biden's budget nominee by tomorrow when the committee is expected to vote on her nomination.
https://twitter.com/Kevinliptakcnn/status/1364264720052740098
Good: Biden won't make any commitments to Justin Trudeau on a waiver for Canada on his "Buy American" executive order when they meet virtually later today, the White House says. Canada has expressed concern.
Therefore, Senator Collins has been forced against her will by Ron Klain head shaking to support Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1364279375177412612
LOL Biden Adm reopens dentention camp to keep 700 illegal immigrant teenagers imprisoned instead of just either letting them the fuck go already or busing them to Mexico where they all come from
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/u-s-reopens-texas-tent-facility-to-hold-immigrant-teenagers
What the fuck is the point of these hearings if half the fucking senators asking questions are directly complicit in the g/ddamn insurrection in the first place - THEY ALL SPOKE AT MULTIPLE STOP THE STEAL RALLIES AND ALL GAVE FLOOR SPEECHES CALLING THE ELECTION STOLEN, our system is legit broken. Seeing Cruz, Hawley, Ron Johnson, Lankford all acting like they had nothing to do with it is absolutely sickening.
The phone call at 1:09pm on Jan. 6th is a discrepancy today. I've gone back and made a clip from the Joint Session (House Chamber) on January 6th from 1:08pm to 1:12pm. You can see House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving by the door on the left.
https://c-span.org/video/?c4947827/house-sergeant-arms-paul-irving-109pm&editTime=1614105502
Incredible timelapse of a giant section of ice covering Lake Michigan around the Chicago shoreline breaking off and drifting away. This video timelapse was captured by the WGN Hancock camera.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1364042459337089027
https://twitter.com/Emma_Hurt/status/1364261759675211779
Covid-19 takes the life of the last male from Brazil's indigenous Juma tribe
https://english.elpais.com/usa/2021-02-22/covid-19-takes-the-life-of-the-last-male-from-brazils-indigenous-juma-tribe.html
Wild numbers ... "South Dakota, with a population of just 885,000, has had more than 1,800 deaths from Covid-19. Compare that with South Korea, an entire country of almost 52 million people, which reported 1,573 deaths as of Tuesday."
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/23/kristi-noem-trump-fundraiser-471159
And the hearing on Jan 6 security failures is over! Less than 4 hours. It is insane that Capitol Police leadership has not held a press conference since Jan. 6. A congressional hearing is not the same.
Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on SolarWinds — with CEOs of SW, Microsoft, FireEye, and CrowdStrike — is starting now:
https://intelligence.senate.gov/hearings/open-hearing-hearing-hack-us-networks-foreign-adversary
Bofa: "The confidential information directly relates to the finances behind the displacement and genocide of the #Rohingya people - with details of foreign investments in the mining and petroleum industry directly linked to human rights abuses" https://bofa.substack.com/p/a4074cd8-71ea-4c72-91a6-8da0bdd9d2d3 #DDoSecrets
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https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/23/deb-haaland-interior-secretary-confirmation-republicans-native-americans-alaska-murkowski-471125
Native Americans Finally Have a Cabinet Nominee. Will an Adopted Tlingit Take Her Down?
With the GOP digging in against Deb Haaland as Interior secretary, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski faces a choice between her party and a powerful constituency that's come to trust her.
By JULIAN BRAVE NOISECAT
02/23/2021 09:00 AM EST
Julian Brave NoiseCat is vice president of policy and strategy with Data for Progress; narrative change director of the Natural History Museum; and a fellow of the Type Media Center, NDN Collective, and the Center for Humans and Nature.
When Congress considers Joe Biden's nominee for Interior secretary this week, Joe Williams Jr. will be following the proceedings closely from Saxman, Alaska. Committee hearings aren't usually on the radar in this small town more than 3,000 miles from Washington, D.C.; this time of year, its 353 residents are typically paying more attention to the sea lions passing through. And Williams, a retired, 76-year-old, conservative born-again Christian, doesn't usually pull for Democrats.
But this nominee is Deb Haaland, the second-term congresswoman who represents New Mexico's first district. If confirmed, Haaland, a tribal citizen of the Laguna Pueblo, would become the first Native American Cabinet secretary in United States history. Williams was also an Indigenous first, albeit on a smaller scale: In 2005, he became the first Alaska Native elected mayor of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, the second most populous borough in the state.
And like many Native people across the country, Williams, a Tlingit tribal elder, is all-in for Haaland. Over the past two months, he and thousands of others have been making phone calls, sending emails and writing letters telling their tribal leaders and congressional representatives to support the Democratic pick to oversee federal lands, natural resources and American Indian affairs. "I fully, 100 percent support her appointment," Williams said of Haaland, despite the fact that she's a progressive and he's been voting Republican since the Reagan years. "And the reason for that is I don't have to explain to her what it means to be an Indian."
Interior nominations are usually pretty uncontroversial affairs: The last six presidents all had their first choices for the job confirmed with the support of more than two-thirds of the Senate. But this time is gearing up to be different. Republicans have dug in against Haaland over her environmental views. Red-state senators have labeled her a "radical" and called her nomination "alarming," vowing that they'll try their best to block her from getting the job.
But opposing Haaland could come at a cost. Native voters are an often overlooked but surprisingly important swing constituency, less reliably partisan than other racial groups in the United States. They helped determine the outcome of elections in Arizona, Wisconsin and North Carolina in 2020 and may very well help pick the congressional winners in those same states and others in 2022. In lining up against Haaland, Republicans are promising to take down a nominee seen as pathbreaking for her people.
Some senators from the GOP aren't thinking twice about it. But for a few, the risk is more immediate. One of those is Williams' senator, Lisa Murkowski. Particularly if coal-friendly Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia goes against Biden on Haaland's nomination—he's still publicly undecided—the moderate Murkowski could be a deciding vote. Politically, she's in a squeeze: Her state depends on drilling, and she raised nearly three-quarters of a million dollars from the fossil fuel industry in 2020—more than from any other sector. But she also has close ties to Native communities; Alaska has the most voting-age Natives per capita in the country. And to add one more twist, Murkowski is one of only a few members of Congress with familial ties to a tribe. In 2011, she was formally adopted by one of the Tlingit clans in her home state.
https://www.ncai.org/initiatives/campaigns/NCAI_NativeVoteInfographic.pdf
Like many politically active Native Alaskans, Williams doesn't see his people in conflict with Murkowski, who declined an interview for this story: When push comes to shove, he expects, the senator will get behind Haaland. With the votes to confirm Haaland not yet in hand, Murkowski's predicament could become Indian Country's hope.
Williams' name in Tlingit, the tongue of the first people of southeast Alaska, is Kakéskée (pronounced "Ka-kish-kay"). It means, roughly, "Dirty Mouth," and describes the way that a salmon, freshly fished from the sea and bloodied, hangs from the beak of an eagle. Among the Tlingit, Williams' name signals that, like his mother, he is a member of the Eagle tribe and Killer Whale clan.
Just as much as eagles and killer whales, politics is in Williams' blood. Back in the day, his parents were grand officers in the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood—the oldest Indigenous civil rights groups in the country. His family used to host Alaska's first senators, Bob Bartlett and Ernest Gruening, both Democrats, at their house in Saxman for dinner. Like his father, Williams identified as a Democrat when he was young; however, he gave up on the party in the 1980s when he went away to Alaska Methodist University in Anchorage, he says, though he can't remember why, exactly. The change in party didn't change his commitment to Alaska Natives. In 2018, after decades of public service and civic involvement, including a year spent as borough mayor, city mayor and tribal president—the only Alaskan to have held all of those titles at once—Williams achieved his lifelong aspiration to become the grand president of the Alaska Native Brotherhood.
Murkowski's political story arose not far away, and is somewhat entwined. She was born three miles up the road from Saxman in Ketchikan. Her parents, Nancy and Frank, went to the same high school as Williams and ran Peace Health, a foundation that supports local hospitals, for which Williams also served as president. Frank, who was a senator from 1981 to 2002, appointed Lisa to be his successor when he won the governorship and vacated his seat in Congress. When, in 2010, the younger Senator Murkowski lost the Republican primary to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, she launched a write-in general election campaign. And in a state where Natives make up more than 17 percent of the electorate, Murkowski needed their votes. So, like her former colleague Ted Stevens, an Alaska senator who had dinner at Williams' house twice, and like Bartlett and Gruening a generation before, Murkowski's campaign committee requested an invite to join in the long tradition of Alaskan politicians dining with a Williams in Saxman.
Williams hosted Murkowski and more than 30 members of her entourage in his partially renovated Housing and Urban Development home—pretty much standard issue on reservations across country—the dining room floors still half-finished in plywood. Before the meal, he sang a Tlingit welcome song and prayed for a good meeting. During the feed of smoked salmon, a Tlingit staple, and hors d'oeuvres, they talked about their families. Williams' wife Suzi has one strict rule: no politics in her house. After the meal, Williams prayed again, this time for Murkowski's fortune and wellbeing. When they were finished eating, he took Murkowski's yard signs to every house in town.
Even though most Alaska Natives are Democrats, in villages like Saxman, they turned out for Murkowski that November. While Alaska Natives might have felt they could trust Murkowski because she took the time to get to know them, this was also a strategic vote: Miller, her opponent, was openly hostile to Native people, and the Democrat on the ballot didn't stand a chance of defeating him in the conservative state. When Murkowski became only the second senator in United States history to win a write-in campaign, Williams and Alaska Natives across the country rejoiced in her comeback reelection. "All I've got to say is praise G-d for that," he said.
At the start of Murkowski's second full term in 2011, the late Selina Everson of Angoon adopted Murkowski into the Deisheetaan (Beaver) clan of the Raven tribe, an honor that recognized the senator's bond and leadership to the Tlingit. At an event held to thank voters at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall in Juneau, Everson bestowed her esteemed mother's name, Aan shaawaatki'—Lady of the Land—on Murkowski. Because Williams' wife is a Raven, the adoption made Murkowski Williams' sister-in-law by clan, and virtually every Tlingit's auntie.
Adoption, as you might imagine, isn't something the Tlingit do willy-nilly. Traditionally, Tlingit adoptions occur across clans and tribes—so if you're an Eagle, you adopt Ravens or non-Tlingit, and if you're a Raven, you adopt Eagles or non-Tlingit. The bonds formed through the rite are designed to endure across generations. "Blood relationship is real thick," explained Williams. "And in the Tlingit culture, tribal relationship is thicker than blood. You get to clans: Clan relationship is thicker than tribal relationship, which is thicker than blood relationship."
"It is an honor and a tribute, unlike anything that I have possibly ever been recognized with," said Murkowski at a Senate Committee of Indian Affairs Hearing in 2015. "And it's a responsibility that comes with a name that I take very, very seriously."
The Alaska senator has repaid the honor with political attention; in public she speaks eloquently about the myriad issues facing Native people, including the disproportionate tragedy of coronavirus on reservations, the scourge of suicides in Native communities, the unkept promises to Native veterans and the decline of tribal languages. Murkowski was the Senate lead for Savanna's Act to improve data collection about violence against Native women—a bill that Haaland co-sponsored in the House. She was a co-sponsor of the Not Invisible Act to coordinate actions against the murder and human trafficking of Native people—a bill that Haaland led in the House. She often sports Native necklaces and earrings on Capitol Hill and has taken to wearing masks with Tlingit designs during the pandemic. Even her unusual vote against Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation aligned with the preference of the Alaska Federation of Natives.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/us/politics/lisa-murkowski-brett-kavanaugh-vote.html
https://www.adn.com/politics/2018/09/12/alaska-federation-of-natives-a-key-supporter-of-murkowski-opposes-kavanaugh-appointment/
Murkowski is the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs—a committee she has been a member of since her first day in Congress. "Even in the most partisan of Senate environments it is fair to characterize the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs as one of the most productive committees in the entire Senate," she said back in 2011. "The secret to our success is that we work together, across party lines, all of the time, for the benefit of Native people."
But crossing those lines is about to become harder as her partisan tribe, fellow Republicans in the Senate, grow increasingly vocal in their opposition to Haaland's confirmation as Interior secretary.
Republicans are looking to turn Haaland's confirmation hearing into prime-time viewing material for Fox News. Senator John Barasso of Wyoming, the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that the first Native Cabinet nominee's "radical views are squarely at odds with the responsible management of our nation's energy resources." Senator Steve Daines of Montana, who sits on the same committee, tweeted that he's "deeply concerned" with the New Mexico congresswoman's support of the Green New Deal and that he will try to block her confirmation. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, also on the committee, told E&E News that he would challenge Haaland on the Biden administration's plan to stop issuing new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal lands.
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063723619
For American Indians, the nomination of Haaland has a special symbolic power: A Native woman poised to lead a department once run by a man who declared its mission was to "civilize or exterminate" Native people. It strikes some as a rich irony that Republicans are now describing her as an existential threat to their way of life.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1409496
"They don't know what it means to be an Indian," Williams said of these elected officials from his party. "An old Indian proverb would say: 'walk a mile in his moccasins.' Then maybe they'd come to that understanding."
Normally, voting against the nomination of a progressive environmentalist would a be a no-brainer for an Alaska Republican like Murkowski. Her state more or less runs on oil, which most years contributes as much as 90 percent of Alaska's Unrestricted General Fund. Only about 3 percent of Alaskans work in the oil and gas industry, but all residents who have lived in the state for a year and intend to stay get paid an annual dividend based on industry revenues. In 2020, that was $992 in every Alaskan's pocket. The Biden administration's policies are designed, in part, to move beyond this oil-centric status quo, and Haaland, who went to the camps erected in the path of the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and cooked green chili stew for demonstrators, has been an outspoken champion of them. If she weren't Native, this would probably be an easy decision for Murkowski. But the senator's personal connection and electoral dependence on Native voters makes it a lot more complicated.
https://live.laborstats.alaska.gov/ces/ces.cfm
And American Indians are taking notice of the fight. "Opposition to her appointment would send a message that we're not worthy of such a high office," said Paulette Moreno, the Grand President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood. "And that message is not one that should be shared with the world."
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/22/gop-resistance-deb-haaland-470979
Across the country, Haaland is beloved by First Peoples. Her nomination has galvanized the Indigenous with the hope of representation, and it's not lost on these voters that the leaders of the Grand Old Party are lining up against them. The National Congress of American Indians has written a letter to senators, urging them to confirm Haaland and has created a template so that tribal leaders across the country can do the same.
When a Republican House member urged Biden to withdraw his nomination of Haaland, five tribes in the congressman's district wrote him a letter saying: "This historic nomination is more important to us and all of Indian country than any other Cabinet nomination in recent history. … Your opposition to the first and only American Indian ever nominated to a Cabinet position is likely to reverberate across Indian country."
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-biden-cabinet-duluth-native-americans-minnesota-97b679e7f76831ec5057d94d77a895ae
Gerald Gray, the Chairman of the Little Shell Tribe of North Dakota, criticized Senate Republicans' statements and said that it was "time to put the partisan politics aside, stop calling every Democrat a 'radical' and get things moving in Interior." In Daines' state of Montana, where, like Alaska, Native voters comprise a significant part of the electorate, the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council erected two billboards last week emblazoned with Haaland's image: one in Billings and another in Great Falls. "Deb Haaland's confirmation brings hope for Indigenous communities and the United States to have a true steward of natural resources that is in this high-ranking position," said Ronnie Jo Horse, executive director of Western Native Voice, a Native voting rights group active in the state. "Montana's Native voters are watching," added her deputy Tajin Perez. "Senator Daines has the opportunity to do what's right for all Montanans and all Americans."
https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2020/10/27/montana-indigenous-native-americans-swing-election-2020-barriers-voting/6043725002/
More Natives, like Williams' old friend Ron Allen, the chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe and former president of the National Congress of American Indians, who once served as an advisor to John McCain's presidential campaign, are reconsidering their support for Republicans. "My folks, they would refer to me as the token Republican Indian," he said. "I would joke back with them that I switched to 'I' for 'Indian.'" Perhaps that's a sign of the times. The Native American Caucus in Congress is comprised of six members: three Democrats, three Republicans. And Native voters are less likely than voters of other races to identify with either party. But, as Republicans move against Haaland and Indian Country, that partisan balance may be slipping into the past, as Native voters increasingly align themselves with the Democratic Party and as tribal leaders find their conservative friends in Washington aren't so friendly when it counts.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2016/05/16/american-indians-are-less-likely-to-claim-identification-with-major-american-political-parties/
So far, the Tlingit and Alaska Natives I talked to aren't too worried about Murkowski. She's a senator, maverick and auntie because of them, after all. Since voting to convict Trump, she has faced threats of censure from Republicans in her home state, and former governor Sarah Palin is reportedly considering a primary challenge.
With all that in mind, the Tlingit and Indigenous insiders I interviewed expect Murkowski to ask Haaland some tough questions about energy policy, but ultimately to honor Biden's choice for Interior. "I believe that she's a woman of integrity and that she's fair and that she will balance out the weight of the message of sister Haaland's potential nomination," said Moreno. Still, they're not taking any chances, writing and calling Murkowski's office to express how meaningful this vote is to them.
With Democrats out of contention in the state, Alaska Natives have little incentive to vote out a political ally. But for some, a betrayal of this significance could throw the very strength of her allyship into doubt. Native voters know too that with Murkowski already risking yet another right-wing primary, the senator has little incentive to offend them—many of whom are independent and have been able to vote in either of the state's party primaries, or sit out if they choose—since she likely needs their support to beat back such a challenge. Some of the Alaska Natives I talked to for this piece said they would be willing to withhold their votes in 2022, or could see their people doing so, if Murkowski doesn't vote to confirm Haaland.
"I'm trusting that she will do the right thing because she's keenly aware of what the Indian people have been putting up with for years," said Williams, referring to the long history of Native people being slighted by the federal government and by both parties, which has made many wary of politicians.
The retired tribal leader last saw his sister-in-law by clan in August of 2019. She brought up coming over for dinner again, according to Williams, and while he said he will be disappointed if Murkowski doesn't vote for Haaland, the senator has an open invitation to return, and they aren't allowed to discuss such matters in Suzi's house anyways. Politics may run in Murkowski and Williams' blood, but family, tribe and clan run thicker. As for the rest of Murkowski's party who don't share that kind of kinship, well, Native voters may not be so forgiving.
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Ahead of tomorrow's @OversightDems hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and other #USPS stakeholders, @APWUnational is releasing a petition signed by 400K Americans, encouraging the Biden administration to swiftly fill the vacancies on the USPS Board of Governors.
https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1364307036788436996
Doing so would allow a Democratic-majority Board to replace DeJoy as he plans to put in place another round of operational changes. WH press secretary Jen Psaki said today that filling the Board vacancies is "a priority" for the administration but did not provide a timeline.
https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1364307316259106816
More County Audits Show Maricopa County's 2020 election votes were counted correctly
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/02/23/maricopa-countys-election-audits-show-2020-votes-counted-correctly/4550644001/
Feeling nostalgic for long pointless road trips, I decided the next best option was to use Google Street View to visit the center point of all the nation's congressional districts.
https://twitter.com/DavidLJarman/status/1364253045328990210
Weighted centroids come from the Missouri Census Data Center Geocorr site, which is free to use!
Many centroids, as you might guess, aren't near roads (AZ-03 for example is 6 miles away from a road) so I tried to use the nearest spot accessible on Street View.
https://twitter.com/DavidLJarman/status/1364255364103823360
Another thing you'll notice: even in CDs that are mostly urban or suburban, you'll see few people, or even houses. Most of our daily lives are confined to narrowly drawn areas that have nothing to do with most of our land mass.
https://twitter.com/DavidLJarman/status/1364256160090492930
Four ERCOT board members who do not live in Texas quit the board after catastrophic Texas blackouts during winter storm
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/four-ercot-board-members-resign-after-major-texas-blackouts-during-n1258656
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/23/ercot-members-resign-texas/
Thomas Webster, a retired New York City cop, is arrested in Capitol riot. Feds say he went after police officer with aluminum pole while holding Marine Corps flag. Prosecutor: Webster attacked "like a junkyard dog -- teeth clenched and fists clenched."
https://nbcnewyork.com/investigations/retired-nypd-cop-once-assigned-to-secure-city-hall-charged-in-pipe-attack-on-capitol-police-officials/2904889/
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https://apnews.com/article/bills-impeachments-bernie-sanders-electoral-college-minimum-wage-8893a3f95038cac51ba66066554bcd20
For Senate rules arbiter, minimum wage is latest minefield
By ALAN FRAM40 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — She's guided the Senate through two impeachment trials, vexed Democrats and Republicans alike with parliamentary opinions and helped rescue Electoral College certificates from a pro-Trump mob ransacking the Capitol. She also does spot-on impersonations of senators including Bernie Sanders.
Elizabeth MacDonough, an English literature major and the Senate's first woman parliamentarian, is about to demonstrate anew why she's one of Washington's most potent, respected yet obscure figures. Any day, she's expected to reveal if she thinks a federal minimum wage boost, progressives' most prized plank in Democrats' $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, should fall from the bill.
Her decision, a political minefield likely to elicit groans from whichever side she disappoints, will play an outsized role in deciding the wage increase's fate. It may not be definitive — majority Democrats might try overriding an opinion they don't like.
"Elizabeth has a soul-crushing job, to which she brings an enormous amount of soul," said her predecessor, Alan Frumin, whom she replaced when he retired in 2012.
Part of MacDonough's job, in which she's supposed to be nonpartisan, is enduring high-stakes lobbying from both parties when she's making pivotal decisions. But she's found a home in the Capitol, where she's spent most of the past three decades after starting as an assistant Senate librarian in 1990. "She knows the names of every police officer and janitor," Frumin said.
Sometimes, the pressure can be extraordinary. Frumin said that when the Senate was enacting former President Barack Obama's 2010 health care law — which was opposed by Republicans and infuriated grassroots tea party conservatives — he had police protection at his home as a precaution. "And the political climate hasn't gotten friendlier," he said.
Even so, MacDonough, 55, has garnered high marks from both parties. Underscoring that, while she was initially appointed in 2012 by Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, Senate majority leader at the time, she was retained by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., when he became majority leader in 2015.
"She's very solid. She listens to all the evidence," Sanders, the independent Vermont senator and chief sponsor of the minimum wage proposal, said in a recent interview.
"She is a brilliant lawyer, a thorough and fair referee and a walking encyclopedia of Senate precedent and procedure," McConnell spokesman David Popp said Tuesday.
She's also used the time to hone an ability to replicate the voices and cadence of several senators including Sanders, associates say.
MacDonough's earned her reputation for fairness while helping steer the Senate through some of its highest-profile moments. Rulings she issued striking anti-abortion and other provisions from numerous failed GOP attempts to repeal Obama's health care law weakened their bills.
She helped Chief Justice John Roberts preside over then-President Donald Trump's 2020 Senate impeachment trial, and was beside Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., for Trump's second trial this month. Trump was acquitted both times.
And as Trump supporters fought past police and into the Capitol last month in hopes of disrupting Congress' certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College victory, MacDonough and other staffers rescued those ballots and hustled mahogany boxes containing them to safety. MacDonough's office, on the Capitol's first floor, was ransacked and declared a crime scene.
Raised by a single mother in the comfortable Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, MacDonough graduated with an English literature degree from George Washington University. She began her Senate career in its library before leaving to get a law degree at Vermont Law School.
She worked briefly as a Justice Department trial attorney before returning to the Senate in 1999, this time as an assistant in the parliamentarian's office. Less than two years later, she helped Vice President Al Gore preside over Congress' certification of electoral ballots that sealed his own 2000 election defeat to George W. Bush.
"It was very exciting and humbling," MacDonough said in a Vermont Law School alumni profile.
As Democrats begin pushing Biden's sweeping relief package through Congress, they're using a special procedure that shields the bill from Senate Republican filibusters, which require 60 votes to thwart. That's out of reach for Democrats in a 50-50 chamber they control with Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaking vote.
But Senate rules require that items in such a bill must have a substantial budget impact that is not "merely incidental" to the language's main intended purpose.
MacDonough has been meeting with Democrats who've tried persuading her that their minimum wage provision meets that test, and Republicans who've told her it doesn't. Democrats want to raise the federal floor, fixed at $7.25 hourly since 2009, to $15 over five years.
The Senate usually heeds the parliamentarian's advice, which is whispered to the senator presiding over the chamber. But the majority party will on rare occasion force a vote to overrule the parliamentarian.
If MacDonough decides the minimum wage hike should remain in the bill, it would likely survive because GOP opponents would need an unachievable 60 votes to remove it. But at least two Democrats have expressed opposition to the $15 proposal, so it still could be amended or even dropped.
If MacDonough says it should be stricken, Democrats would have no chance of garnering 60 votes to overrule her. But they might choose the rarely utilized, hardball tactic of having the presiding officer, presumably Harris, ignore her and announce that the minimum wage language meets the test to stay in the overall legislation.
That would force Republicans to find 60 votes to strip the provision, which they'd fail to do. Such a tactic is called the nuclear option because Democrats would be using their majority to muscle through rules changes, enraging Republicans and inviting a future tit-for-tat retaliation.
Majority Democrats overruled MacDonough in 2013, eliminating filibusters for executive branch and most judicial nominees. In 2017, Republicans extended that to Supreme Court picks. "It was a stinging defeat that I tried not to take personally," she said during a 2018 commencement speech at her law school.
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Today, on his weekly governors call with America's governors, our COVID Coordinator, Jeff Zients, announced the fifth consecutive week of supply increases. States will now receive 14.5 million doses this week, up from 8.6 million doses per week when the President took office. That's an increase in vaccine allocations of nearly 70 percent during the Biden-Harris administration. The Retail Pharmacy Program has also performed well, despite the winter storm. We announced last week an increase of 1 to 2 million doses. And the — our COVID Coordinator, Jeff Zients, I should say, conveyed to the governors we will increase that allocation by 100,000 doses this week. Thanks to the President's efforts, we are also on track to have enough vaccines for 300 million Americans by the end of July. And we continue to encourage Americans to mask up, respect social distancing, and abide by the public health guidelines.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
On the winter storm: Yesterday, FEMA announced that Texas homeowners and renters in 31 additional counties who suffered damage from the winter storm may now apply for individual disaster assistance. The 31 additional counties join the 77 counties previously approved for individual disaster assistance. In Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma, sheltering operations continue to decrease, power and transportation are back to normal, and water restoration continues. However, 9.8 million people are affected by water system outages and remain under boil water notices. Over 9 million liters of water have been delivered or are en route. There are over 200 locally managed water distribution sites supported by local, federal, private sector, and donated resources.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
Finally, the — I have one travel announcement, which you all have been asking about. We, of course, remain in close touch with state and local elected officials to monitor the recovery. And, on Friday, the President and the First Lady will travel to Houston. The President will meet with local leaders to discuss the winter storm — relief efforts, progress toward recovery, and the incredible resilience shown by the people of Houston and Texas. While in Texas, the President will also visit a COVID health center where vaccines are being distributed. Clearly, there are still more details of the trip coming together, and as we have those, we will make those available to all of you.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
MS. PSAKI: Well, the President is committed to ensuring homeownership is something that more Americans can participate in. He knows owning a home is a key measure of building generational wealth, and he's already taken steps through executive actions to help provide some security to Americans struggling to keep their homes in the midst of this crisis by extending foreclosure and forbearance moratoriums. The American Rescue Plan would also provide $10 billion for the Homeowners Assistance Fund to help struggling homeowners keep up. And as part of the broader Build Back Better agenda, which I know you're all eager to hear more about, one of the tenets he is of course interested in is looking for ways to increase the supply of affordable housing, making it easier for more people to buy homes.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
GOOD: MS. PSAKI: There's one candidate to lead the budget department, and her name is Neera Tanden. And I can give you a brief update though on, kind of, the outreach that's happened. And I know there's been a couple of questions along those lines. She has had 44 meetings now with senators of both parties. She's spoken with 15 senators from both parties since Friday. Some of those were repeats of people she had spoken with previously. But as I noted yesterday, she's committed to rolling up her sleeves, having those conversations, answering questions as they come up, reiterating her commitment to working with people across the aisle, and also sharing some of her own experience of working with people of different viewpoints.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
Q Okay. On Keystone XL, I know that's one issue that will come up today. Obviously, the Canadian Prime Minister feels differently about this than the President does.
MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
Q Administration officials said that this decision, which was a day-one decision, had essentially used the Obama administration's assessment as the reason to go back — I believe is what they said.
MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
Q There was no other reason to explore it. There is an economic effect though, of course, now: 11,000 people had jobs connected to this in the United States at least. What does the White House say to those people, to the Canadian workers, who now are going to be out of a job if this pipeline is indeed shut down?
MS. PSAKI: Well, let me first say that it was the Obama-Biden administration when the assessment was done and done by the State Department at the time. And the President was very consistent through the campaign, and even before then, about his view that that — that it should be revoked. And he had conversations, of course, with the Prime Minister about it. The Prime Minister raised his concerns directly with the President — has previously — and he's, of course, welcome to today. But the President made clear that this is a commitment he's — he has made in the past, that it's not in the interest of the United States, and that we want to try to address our climate crisis while also creating good-paying union jobs. And he has a — he has a plan. He has talked about his plan, I should say, on the campaign trail to create millions of clean energy jobs. And he is eager to continue to work with the policy team and outside stakeholders and experts on delivering on that in the months ahead. But he believes you can do both. And he has been consistent about his opposition to the Keystone pipeline.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
Q And then, on the Canada visit, I wanted to clear up something you had said the other day —
MS. PSAKI: Okay.
Q — which is on the — on the Buy America provisions, you had said there's essentially no changes, and the Canadians had raised concerns about whether they would be able to obtain waivers like they did during the Obama administration. So when you said you didn't anticipate any changes to that policy, did you mean to suggest that the Canadian companies will not be able to obtain waivers under the policy of the (inaudible)?
MS. PSAKI: No, I appreciate that — or I appreciate the ask for clarification, I should say. So, of course, the President signed and made — signed a Made in America executive order in the first week, I believe, of the administration, and we're still evaluating the application of that and how it will apply. I don't expect him to make any commitments during the meeting today.
that in the months ahead. But he believes you can do both. And he has been consistent about his opposition to the Keystone pipeline.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
Q And, to that point, why is the Biden administration reopening a temporary facility for migrant children in Texas?
MS. PSAKI: Well, first, the policy of this administration — as you all know, but just for others — is not to expel unaccompanied children who arrive at the border. And the process — how it works — is that Customs and Border Control continue to transfer unaccompanied children to the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement. That can take a couple of days. I just want to give this context, as people need to understand the process. But because of COVID-19 protocols, the — like social distancing requirements — the capacity at existing Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters has been significantly reduced, because of course you can't have a child in every bed. There needs to be spacing, and we abide by those spacing to protect the kids who are living in those facilities for a short period of time. And to ensure the health and safety of these kids, HHS took steps to open an emergency facility to add capacity, where these children can be provided the care they need while they are safely — before they are safely placed with families and sponsors. So it's a temporary reopening during COVID-19. Our intention is very much to close it, but we want to ensure that we can follow COVID saf- — COVID protocols, as we — as unaccompanied minors come into the United States.
Q But it's the same facility that was open for a month in the Trump administration. Summer of 2019 — that is when Joe Biden said, "Under Trump, there have been horrifying scenes at the border of kids being kept in cages." And Kamala Harris said, basically, babies in cages is a human rights abuse being committed by the United States government. So how is this any different than that?
MS. PSAKI: We very much feel that way. And these —
Q So if —
MS. PSAKI: These are facilities — let me be — let me be clear here. One, there's a pandemic going on. I'm sure you're not suggesting that we have children right next to each other in ways that are not COVID safe, are you?
Q I'm suggesting that Kamala Harris said that this facility — putting people in this facility was a human rights abuse committed by the United States government. And Joe Biden said, "Under Trump, there have been horrifying scenes of border" — "at the border of kids being kept in cages." Now it's not under Trump. It's under Biden.
MS. PSAKI: This is not kids being kept in cages. This is —
Q But it's the same facility.
MS. PSAKI: This is kids — this is a facility that was opened that's going to follow the same standards as other HHS facilities. It is not a replication. Certainly not. That's — that is never our intention of replicating the immigration policies of the past administration. But we are in a circumstance where we are not going to expel unaccompanied minors at the border. That would be inhumane. That is not what we are going to do here, as an administration. We need to find places that are safe under COVID protocols for kids to be, where they can have access to education, health and mental services consistent with their best interest. Our goal is for them to then be transferred to families or sponsors. So this is our effort to ensure that kids are treated — are not close — in close proximity and that we are abiding by the health and safety standards that the government has been set out.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
Q And just quickly, on climate: Last week, the Climate Envoy John Kerry said that there are only "nine years left" to save the world from the effects of climate change. Does President Biden share that assessment: nine years?
MS. PSAKI: I don't have a new timeline to give you from here. I can confirm for you, though, that the President agrees with former Secretary Kerry that it's a crisis, that time is of the essence. We need to act quickly, and that's why climate is a key part of his agenda.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
Q Well, yeah, just because — picking up on this discussion about the HHS facility versus Customs and Border Protection facilities, there's a law that says you're supposed to get kids out of those facilities — a CBP facility —
MS. PSAKI: Yeah.
Q — in three days.
MS. PSAKI: Yes.
Q But data we obtained said that there were at least 179 kids who had spent more than three days in those kinds of facilities in January, despite internal policy dictating that all minors should get out within three days. Immigration attorneys — attorneys that work with these kids, advocates — seeing all of this and saying, "This isn't that much better than what was going on before." In regards to the HHS — the use of the HHS facilities, they say, "It's a step backwards." So there's the criticism that was made by candidates Biden and Harris, and then there's the criticism concerned now of these attorneys who work with and represent these children who say, "This isn't much different than the Trump administration was doing."
MS. PSAKI: Well —
Q What say you?
MS. PSAKI: Let me — let me first say that you're right that kids — there's about a 72-hour time- — timeframe where kids should be transferred from CBP facilities to HHS-sponsored facilities, and that is certainly our objective. In terms of the specific kids that you mentioned, I would send you to DHS to give you more information on that. But that is not — that is not what we are hoping to achieve. We want these kids to be in facilities where they are getting access to health and medical assistance, to education. As you know, there are a number who have come into the country, and we're trying to manage that as well and ensure that we are able to transfer them as quickly as possible. Not just to stay in HHS facilities either — to get them into families and sponsored homes, that is our human and moral objective from this administration. But I would send you to DHS for any more specifics on those kids. It's a fair question.
Q And I asked you a few weeks ago when you guys announced the outlines of the immigration executive orders: What is the message to people in Central America who are thinking of making this trip? You gave an answer then. I guess I'd ask you: Is the administration — is the U.S. government doing enough to make clear to that part of the world it's not worth making this kind of a trip?
MS. PSAKI: Well, we can always do more. And I think the challenge here, as you know, is that people are fleeing prosecution. They're fleeing very difficult economic circumstances and hardship. And there hasn't been enough time to do enough to impact the circumstances on the ground in a number of these communities. And obviously, as these unaccompanied kids come to the border, it's completely heartbreaking. We're not going to expel these kids. We want to process and get them into facilities as quickly as possible. But certainly, we're always looking for ways to do more to communicate more effectively and clearly with communities in the region about why this is not the time to come. We need more time to put in place a humane and moral immigration system.
Q So parents should not be sending their kids north right now?
MS. PSAKI: Absolutely not. This is not the time to come. We don't — we have not had the time to put in place an immigration system, an immigration policy. We don't have the processing we need at the border. Obviously, we're continuing to struggle with facilities to ensure that we're abiding by COVID protocols. So this is definitely not the time to come.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
MS. PSAKI: Well, the President's view is that we've spent a whole lot of time — not we, but in this briefing room — talking about President Trump over the last few years. I guess for good reason; he was President. And that his view is: We're going to spend the time focusing about the American people, and our objective is to help them and our commitment to helping them. So I wouldn't say he's thought a lot about the President — former President's visit to per- — you know, I was going to say "performance." Maybe that's appropriate at CPAC.
Q But if he goes with the former guy's strategy, (inaudible) could boil it down to that — you know, obviously former President Trump isn't just sitting — going to sit on his hands. He's got his message to give out. And — but the point is: This message, according to President Biden, is literally dangerous. So, does he have a problem with such a high-profile person giving out what he thinks is a dangerous message?
MS. PSAKI: Well, we haven't even seen the former President speak at CPAC. Obviously, President Biden has spoken to his concerns about the rhetoric of the former President, how he was unfit for office. That's why he ran against him and why he defeated him. But we're not going to spend too much time here focused on or talking about President Trump — former President Trump.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
Q Yes. Two questions, if I may. The first, we're approaching tax season, and by some estimates, of the unemployment assistance that states have paid out, more than half of it, Americans have not withheld taxes on. So is the administration concerned that there may be millions of Americans who are going to face a surprise tax bill, some of whom are still unemployed? And has the administration considered changing the way the IRS looks at, at least, the pandemic-related unemployment assistance, treat it like disaster aid and so it doesn't have taxes withheld?
MS. PSAKI: That's a really interesting question. I would certainly send you to the Treasury Department for that. I'm happy to help you make a connection there to discuss that further.
Q Okay. And then, the other question is, does the administration have a response to the raid in the Republic of Georgia where the top opposition leader was arrested by government forces yesterday? Is there any consideration of sanctions or other kind of pressure on the government of Georgia?
MS. PSAKI: Yeah, I certainly saw the reports this morning. I didn't have a chance to talk to our national security team, but we'll venture to get you something after the briefing on that as well. I didn't help you much today. I will try to do that after the briefing.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
Q Okay. And on the topic of immigration, the Biden administration is also reopening a detention center in Florida, formerly known as the Homestead Detention Facility. The administration plans to house migrant teens in that facility. Will that also be a temporary emergency center like the one you were discussing before?
MS. PSAKI: I'd have to talk to the Department of Homeland Security about that. I would certainly send you to them to talk to them more specifically and directly about it.
Q It was also privately run before, which is part of the question here — is if whether or not the Biden administration plans to have that privately managed again, given the pledge by the President to close down privately run detention facilities.
MS. PSAKI: Absolutely. I know you've asked this question before, and I would be happy to connect you with someone from the Department of Homeland Security. They obviously oversee those facilities, so they're best prepared to answer any questions on it.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
Q Okay. Another one from a colleague regarding Postmaster General DeJoy and his appearance before the House Oversight Committee tomorrow and some proposed changes that he has put forth that some people are concerned will slow down mail further, raise the cost of mail, do away with airmail. The question is: Is there any indication of when President Biden will appoint members to the three vacancies of the Board of Governors for the Postal Service?
MS. PSAKI: Sure. It's a great question. It is a priority for the President to appoint — to announce the appointment of, I should say, additional members of the Board of Governors. As you are familiar with, but others may not be, it's really up to the Board of Governors to determine the future leadership of the Postal Service, and we certainly recognize that filling those vacancies is an important step in that process. So, it's a priority. I don't have a timeline for you on when those will be announced though.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-23-2021/
The White House released a policy statement on Tuesday saying the administration "strongly supports" a House package aimed at protecting lands and waters in Arizona, Colorado, California and Washington state. The legislation, called the Protecting America's Wilderness and Public Lands Act, combined eight bills that have previously been introduced. It is expected to receive a House vote this week. Altogether, the legislation would provide extra protection to about 1.5 million acres of public lands by designating them as wilderness, preventing new uranium mining on about a million acres near the Grand Canyon and preserving 1,000 river miles by adding them to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, according to the Natural Resources Committee. The White House statement said the bill "puts in place protections for some of our nation's most iconic natural and cultural resources and safeguards recreational opportunities for the benefit of current and future generations, while creating jobs and investing in the recreation economy." "It is also consistent with the recommendation of scientists that, to safeguard the health and productivity of the natural systems upon which we all depend, the Nation must pursue a goal of conserving at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and ocean by 2030," it added. House Republicans are pushing back on some of the legislation's provisions through a series of amendments, though changes will likely face an uphill battle in the Democrat-led House.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/540155-white-house-urges-passage-of-house-public-lands-package
https://naturalresources.house.gov/media/press-releases/chair-grijalva-hails-public-lands-package-for-floor-consideration-next-week_includes-his-grand-canyon-protection-act-wilderness-measures
SO the House is about to take a rare roll call vote on the renaming of a post office.
Why? The member on the bill is Rep. Trent Kelly, House GOPer who's been accused of aiding the insurrectionists on 1/6.
And a furious Rep. Sean Casten is actually forcing the full vote
https://twitter.com/sarahnferris/status/1364345424321126407
Casten objected to the bill being considered under suspension -- which some see as a privilege that shouldn't be reserved for Rs aligned with the insurrection.
And he went to the floor tonight to demand a full roll call vote -- requiring all 400+ members to vote
https://twitter.com/sarahnferris/status/1364345829465718792
This could be a big deal. Will Dems object to *every* suspension bill from the 100+ Rs who either voted to decertify or aided insurrection in another way?
One more example of how House members, particularly Dems, are very much NOT over what happened on Jan. 6.
https://twitter.com/sarahnferris/status/1364346293305417730
An Iowa co-sponsor of a bill to make big changes to the voting process says it's necessary because people don't trust it anymore. The reason they don't trust it, of course, is because of false claims from Trump and others.
https://19thnews.org/2021/02/iowa-lawmakers-elections-bill/
Intent on supporting Democrats downballot, Biden will house his political operation at the DNC, turning over donor and volunteer lists and breaking with Obama's strategy (which cost Democrats 1,000+ seats at the local and state and federal level between 2010-2016): President Biden has shifted the remnants of his campaign operation, including the donor and volunteer network that got him elected and several key staff members, over to the Democratic National Committee as part of a broader effort to build up the party before the 2022 midterm elections and a potential 2024 reelection campaign. The decision to house his operation at the national party, and to continue fundraising and organizing efforts there, is intended to signal his commitment to Democratic candidates at all levels, including members of the House and Senate who are supporting his legislative efforts, according to senior White House officials. | The decision also charts a different course than the approach taken by President Barack Obama in 2009, when he tried to maintain a separate political identity for his former campaign apparatus, rebranded as Organizing For America, inside the DNC. After his reelection in 2012, Obama transferred his political operation and his campaign donor and volunteer network to a separate nonprofit group, Organizing for Action, which operated independently for several years. Those decisions were criticized by Democratic lawmakers, who resented outside political pressure from their own president, and by party insiders, who said that Obama's focus on keeping his donor pool attached to his own brand allowed a withering of the party's national infrastructure.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-dnc-politics/2021/02/23/ba11c3da-75f6-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html
Coronavirus vaccine skepticism has come way down for Black and Hispanic people since last fall. Where skepticism remains high is among white Republicans. Nearly 60% of white Rs will either not take the vaccine or are unsure.
https://twitter.com/DrewLinzer/status/1364336878313295873
https://civiqs.com/results/coronavirus_vaccine
MR. ALFRED: We would like to make certain that we could get the funding down to the local level and to the fire departments in particular, so, like I said, we can still purchase the PPE to sustain us, to get our equipment, and things like that. And most importantly, we'd like to get support so we wouldn't have budget cuts or have to endure any pay cuts or layoffs. That's a big worry because, like I said, we respond to everything; we show up ready to go, very resourceful; and we adapt very well. But then, after things are over, once — once the crisis has passed, it appears that sometimes the local government or management — however you want to look at it — find that the department may be easy to cut because the crisis is over. And that's our — that's one of our biggest concerns. So if you ask me if I had a major wand — a magic wand, I would say that I'd wave that wand to make sure that we get the proper funding to sustain our jobs so we can respond and help the citizens of our community.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, that's what we do in this legislation we put together. And I hope to G-d it's going to pass. We provide for resources — $350 billion for emergency funding for state, local, and territorial governments. Now, we got 340 million people in America. We got a big country. And — and so what's happened is a lot of states have decided that they — because they have to balance their budgets — they can't — they can't continue to spend the same amount of revenue they were spending before. And what's happening is a lot of — everything from firefighters to school teachers to a whole range of people are being laid off. We're short 6,000 teachers, firefighters. And the only thing I know — working with your outfit, Al, for so long — is that the only thing keeps firefighters safe is more firefighters. Literally.
MR. ALFRED: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Literally. And — and so, you're being cut. We also find — provide for $160 billion for supplies. And that would be everything from, you know, making sure we can scale vaccine distribution and testing, make sure everybody can get in there and have an opportunity to get the test to EMTs and firefighters. When we get that done, we're going to have one less crisis you have to deal with.
MR. ALFRED: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: But, look, the funds we're talking about are designed to keep teachers and school workers on the job, including — including childcare; invest in personal protective equipment. I understand, from the story I was told, that you have the personal protective equipment in St. Louis but they don't have it in Kansas City — of the firefighters.
MR. ALFRED: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: And also to reduce, you know, any — just increase capacity across the board. So, you know, we owe you a lot.
My family owes you a particularly lot. You literally — as you know, when we talked, you saved my life. The EMTs in my state saved my life. Got me down to a hospital in time to save my life. And — and my boys; you saved their lives too, with the Jaws of Life much earlier. So we owe you big. But what I want to do is make sure you — I get more specific with you and find out that — you know, whether or not you have access to get in line. Last thing: States set the priorities for who gets the vaccine. We have now gone from having a shortage of vaccines to, by the end of July, we'll have over 600 million doses of vaccine, enough to take care of everybody in the country. And we're moving as the — as Ms. Owens knows, we're moving to make sure that drugstores, pharmacies are going to be able to be a place — just like for flu shots — you can go. We've just gone from — because we find that that's more accessible to an awful lot of folks who are — don't have the means to travel very far, don't have the access to get to where they need to go. And they're used to their pharmacy and they know their pharmacist, and they can get a shot. And we've gone from this week — last week, 1 million doses to pharmacies to 2 million this week. So, with the grace of G-d and the goodwill of neighbors, we're going to be able to significantly increase that. And, Carmen, I'm pushing really hard for — I mean this sincerely — for daycares to be able to open, and you need financial help to open. You can't just open just straight up. And — but we'll talk about that a little bit as we go on. I don't want to take too much time at the frontend here. So, look, Al, just — you know, don't be shy about letting us know what you need. And what you need in Missouri is not fundamentally different than what people need in Kansas and people need in Iowa and people need in Illinois, et cetera. So we ought to talk some more. Okay?
MR. ALFRED: Absolutely, Mr. President. And you know our famous statement: We have your back.
THE PRESIDENT: You have, man. As one of your guys said, "You have my back so much, you're breaking my shoulders," pushing me.
MR. ALFRED: (Laughs.) That's all right.
THE PRESIDENT: Anyway, thank you, Al.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/23/remarks-by-president-biden-in-roundtable-with-black-essential-workers-moderated-by-domestic-policy-advisor-susan-rice/
THE PRESIDENT: And one of the things that I've observed is that there is a reluctance to — if they don't know how to get online with you — a lot of people don't know how to use that — they may not have a cell phone; they may not have the ability to know how to pick the phone up and get online. They just — and — and so, they're reluctant. And what I found is — from the days when my dad was raising me — that sometimes people, when they don't know what to do, they're embarrassed to acknowledge they don't know how to do it. They don't know how to get it done. So, how — how important do you think it is — what — and one more piece of this. We also know, because of the way American medicine has taken advantage of African Americans for experimentation over the last 100 years, that there's a real — a real reluctance that still exists in the African American community to get the vaccination, even if it's available. And my — I've been pleading with people, "Get it." If you have a chance, get it. It will save not only your life potentially, but it'll save your family a little bit. So tell me about what you've sensed. I can tell you have a feel for this. Tell me — no, I really mean it. Tell me what you sense from your patients who come in to get the shot. Is it — I don't think they're afraid of a needle. It's not like, "Oh, a needle." But are they reluctant to say — to deal with it? Or is it because you're an African American woman they respect, does that make it easier for them to be able to take the —
MS. OWENS: So, I will say that my customer base, for the most part, is very excited. We haven't had many people come discussing whether or not we would get it ourselves or, you know, should they get it. It's more a "when" can they get it. I was more reluctant than most people — (laughs) — most of my customers to get it, actually. But then, you know, it just kind of felt like a — like an obligation when I started to go to long-term care facilities. You know, I'm here to protect them, so I needed it. And, you know, just listening to my parents, who are in their 70s, who were so eager to get it, and I was happy to be able to help them get it. You know, it just — it helped to change my mind. And I also had some administrative staff at the first long-term-care facility that I went to change their mind based on me changing mine, at that moment, to get it. So, I mean, I think it's just — you can be fearful. You know, you can have questions. But, you know, do your due diligence and figure out what is best for you. And, you know, like I said earlier, this is going — if this is a part of or a major key of what's going to help us move past this and then go back to being able to live normally, I feel like we should do it. You know, it's no harm in it.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/23/remarks-by-president-biden-in-roundtable-with-black-essential-workers-moderated-by-domestic-policy-advisor-susan-rice/
THE PRESIDENT: In addition, you know, one of the things we're going to be able to do is: Part of this investment is $20 billion in the National Vaccination Program. As you know, the funding helps deploy community vaccinators and vaccination centers. You're one of them. You're in the community. That's why — but some of the governors were not sure that's the way to go, that we — and I'm not picking on any governor. I really mean it. They didn't understand why we made the independent decision to send vaccine directly to 600-and-some — or 600 — 67 different drug chains or drugstores out there — why we send it directly to them. And they weren't sure why we were sending directly to childcare facilities. That's what we're going to try to do now. And so — because they thought they could better decide where to use it. But I am determined to make sure we service the communities that are the ones that are the most victimized by — "victimized" is the wrong word — most affected by — most affected by the COVID virus when they get it and the consequences of it. But I thank you for — for all you do, and I really mean it, and for going to those — into those — those long-term care facilities and helping there as well. So thank you very much.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/23/remarks-by-president-biden-in-roundtable-with-black-essential-workers-moderated-by-domestic-policy-advisor-susan-rice/
MS. PALMER: Of course. I just, you know, wanted to tell you, you know, thank you, President Biden and Ambassador Rice, for, you know, speaking with me and giving me this opportunity. I do appreciate that. Again, I'm Carmen Palmer. You know, I'm born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. I grew up in foster care. And after graduating high school, that's when I decided, you know, for a better environment, and I moved to Ohio. And that's where I found my home here at Kiddie Academy. I've been working here five years, and as Ambassador Rice mentioned, my two children both attend the childcare facility. I started working there as a toddler teacher, and I was offered to share my skills in the kitchen as — you know, the kids will call me the "school chef" because, you know, I think it's cool to cook sometimes. (Laughter.) And I — you know, I thought that was rewarding just to combine, you know, my love for cooking and, you know, children. And my role is to ensure not only zero to five children eat, but our school ages as well. I love providing, you know, for nutritious meals because I, you know, know what it's like not to, you know, eat or know where my next meal is coming from, especially growing up in foster care. I'm a single mother, and COVID has exposed not only the flaws in the childcare system, but how frail my personal situation is. I've worked every single day, you know, during the pandemic — I have not missed one day — to try to take care of our families and our children who, you know, need care. And me personally, if I was to get COVID or my kids was to get COVID, I'd have no other options. I am one of the only states that has not prioritized childcare for the vaccine. And that's concerning to me because, once again, I work every single day in the pandemic. And I'm –you know, I'm an essential worker and I'm taking care of essential workers' kids. So — and, as a parent, I want to make sure I have childcare and childcare that is safe. My — the Haynes have installed ionizers, you know, to improve our ventilation system. And I can only assume that is working. We provide masks for, you know, our staff. We are washing our hands. We social distance. We do temperature checks. But, you know, it's hard for the kids because they're used to, like, "I want to go play with my friends." We're like, "No, you have to social distance. You know, we have to keep our distance." It's hard keeping the zero — you know, the younger kids to keep their masks up, you know, to protect themselves. Our enrollment is down, and we are seeing less of our families because of the pandemic. They're not working, and, you know, they're losing their jobs. And I'm just really grateful that I'm able to still work, you know, during the pandemic, and that's important to me to keep an employment.
AMBASSADOR RICE: Thank you, Carmen.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, Carmen, look, you know, we — this legislation, which we think is going to pass, is going to help childcare providers by allowing you to pay the rent; pay your utilities; your payroll, if there is one beyond you — as a loan; as well as increased costs associated with the pandemic. And those costs include PPE; you mentioned ventilation — paying for ventilation improvement; small group sizes; modifications to make the physical environment inside safer by providing more dividers. We're also temporarily going to increase the Child Care Tax Credit. Right now, if you make over a certain amount of money, you will get a tax credit of 2,000 bucks now. We're going to raise that to $3,000 per child, and $3,600 for a child under the age of six, and make it refundable, which is the big deal. Because if you're not making a lot of money and not paying taxes — you may have two or three kids — you don't get any help at all. But now what will happen is, if this passes, they will get a refundable credit for each child, if they're under six — a $3,600 check from the federal government. And — and the same thing for the $2,000, and so on. So they say we'll cut — if we get this done, it will cut child poverty in half. But in addition to that, it will provide those parents with access to not only your daycare center, but others across the country to be able to afford it. And we're also making sure that we provide money for folks who are about to be thrown out of their homes, or, you know, there's millions of people out there who can't — can't pay the rent. And so we've deferred any cost to have to pay the rent while this pandemic is going on, because otherwise you just have — we'd be vastly increasing the homeless population, which makes no sense. And so, you know, we know how — how important early childhood education and child development is. And to get through this crisis, I think we need to be sure childcare providers have the funding they need to stay afloat. And you mentioned something, Carmen, that is really important. You know, the — most of these kids you've been taking care of, if they were going to kindergarten or preschool, they'd be getting a free lunch program. Well, you know — well, we got to increase the amount of money available for what used to be called the "food stamp program," but it's not now. And — but we got to make more — make it available. Because did you ever think you'd see in your — (inaudible) in your hometown where you'd see miles of cars lined up in multiple lanes, waiting for one box of food?
MS. PALMER: No.
THE PRESIDENT: This is United States of America, for G-d's sake. And the idea there is that much food insecurity is — is just not right. So what — I believe if we get this bill passed — which we're not going to pass by a lot, but we're — we're optimistic we're going to make some real changes. And the childcare centers are at risk of closing all around the country. And what impact would it have — and last question I'll ask — if you had to shut down? What do you think it would do to the children and the parents that you — that now are your clients?
MS. PALMER: I mean, it will be — it would have a tremendous impact on our families. Our families are, you know, telling us now that they can't work, and it's definitely hard to find childcare if you don't have any employment.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
MS. PALMER: And even me, as myself, I honestly wouldn't know what I could do if I didn't have childcare so I could go to work. Because I have no family here; all my family is back home in Michigan.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Okay, kiddo, keep doing what you're doing. You're —
MS. PALMER: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: You're really — as my mom would say, you're doing G-d's work, kid.
MS. PALMER: (Laughs.) Thank you, Mr. President.
AMBASSADOR RICE: Mr. President, Carmen is also the only one with young kids in school. And I thought it might be worth just asking her to say a few words about how her kids have fared in the pandemic with the virtual schooling and then, now, hybrid schooling.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you able to take them to the daycare for the hybrid school?
MS. PALMER: Yes. Yes, I am. I actually made the joke with Ambassador Rice yesterday on saying, like, "I really fear for my youngest son. He's seven. He's a thumb sucker, and I for sure knew he was going to get COVID." Because I'm like, "You just keep — put your hands in your mouth." But — so I — they — I put them in — enrolled them in virtual, and then my oldest daughter, she — her grades — you know, she started to struggle. So I was like, "Okay, you needed the help." So I, you know, switched her over to hybrid. So on Mondays and Tuesdays, they attend school to get, like, the help they need — that one-on-one. And then, Wednesdays and Thursdays and Fridays, they attend the daycare. And our, you know, teachers there are willing to, you know, help assist them, you know, with their hybrid learning. But, you know, sometimes — you know, not even just my kids, but all the kids as well are dealing with their social and emotional needs of social distancing and really can't go anywhere but just school and home. So we have to, you know, deal with those aspects of the kids as well.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, an awful lot of children, as well as adults, are going through some real — they need some help in terms of depression and mental problem. I mean, you know, they're just — we're worried about their — they're just so off. They don't know exactly what's going on, and it has real impacts. And that's why we got to get them back into school; that's why we have to open up these schools. And, by the way, the other — a lot of you out there are struggling just to make ends meet even if you have a job, and — but we're going to make sure you get that extra $1,400 check during the pandemic that both parties had said they support it. Even the past President said he strongly supported it. We just got to get it done now. But it'll make a difference and give you some — just, literally, some breathing room just to be able to — just — just a little breathing room. That's what we need to give people right now. Because everybody in this shot, in this pro- — in this circumstance that is being hurt, it's through no fault of their own. It's not their fault that the pandemic started.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/23/remarks-by-president-biden-in-roundtable-with-black-essential-workers-moderated-by-domestic-policy-advisor-susan-rice/
MR. CARTER (business owner): But now, you know, I'd like to move forward, kind of, with what I call — I think we're in the recovery phase, I guess, of hopefully, you know, this virus. You know, we've dealt with trying to hold it at bay, keep people from catching it. Now I think we're in the phase of, you know, hopefully vaccinating people, that we can move through this so, hopefully, one day, you know, we'll be able to take down those Plexiglas shields and, you know, get rid of these masks that we no longer have to wear; maybe give a customer a handshake or a hug, thanking them for coming in.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/23/remarks-by-president-biden-in-roundtable-with-black-essential-workers-moderated-by-domestic-policy-advisor-susan-rice/
New York Grand Jury Votes Not To Indict Rochester Officers Who Intentionally Smothered Man (Daniel Prude) Having Mental Health Issue Despite The Fact Their Own Body Camera Footage Proved Murder
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/23/970580501/new-york-grand-jury-votes-not-to-indict-rochester-officers-in-daniel-prude-case
The Republicans who confirmed Betsy DeVos have problems with Xavier Becerra? Please
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-02-23/xavier-becerra-senate-confirmation
Make That 5: Five Board Members, Including the Chair, Resign from Embattled Texas Regulator ERCOT Following Outages
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/five-board-members-including-the-chair-resign-from-embattled-texas-regulator-ercot-following-outages/
Biden admin preparing plan to dramatically cut number of migrant families in ICE custody
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-admin-preparing-plan-dramatically-cut-number-migrant-families-ice-n1258227
Notable All-Star reserve snubs: Atlanta's Trae Young, Phoenix's Devin Booker, Philadelphia's Tobias Harris, San Antonio's DeMar DeRozan. The West squad will receive a replacement player should Anthony Davis miss the All-Star Game.
The Phoenix Suns are waiving center Damian Jones
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1364335244799795200
Bulls guard Zach LaVine named an NBA All-Star Game reserve for the first time in his career.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/sports/report-bulls-guard-zach-lavine-named-an-nba-all-star-game-reserve/2445661/
Knicks' Julius Randle earns first-career NBA All-Star selection
https://sports.yahoo.com/knicks-julius-randle-earns-first-233931669.html
Injury list for tonight's Blazers v Nuggets game: CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, Gary Harris, Paul Millsap, Zach Collins, JaMychal Green, PJ Dozier, Harry Giles, and Greg Whittington are OUT
For the first time since 2012, the Houston Rockets do not have an all star
TRAE YOUNG IN SHAMBLES
The All-Star game is in Atlanta ☠️☠️☠️
Colombia's Military Killed Three Times More Civilians During FARC War Than Previously Reported
https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx8a74/colombias-military-killed-three-times-more-civilians-during-farc-war-than-previously-reported
A candlelight vigil and moment of silence was held outside the US Capitol tonight by Members of Congress led by their bipartisan bicameral leaders for the over 500,000 Americans who have died from COVD-19.
https://c-span.org/video/?509255-1/lawmakers-observe-moment-silence-500000-lives-lost-covid-19
Hours after Republican Senators used a hearing on the pro-Trump Capitol terrorist attack to spread more conspiracy theories about who carried it out, a Republican Congressman's Chief of Staff is having a friendly conversation with the person who organized the January 6th rally that turned violent: Congressman @DrPaulGosar's chief of staff Tom @VanFlein is on Clubhouse right now with January 6th "Wild Protest" organizer Ali Alexander. Gosar was one of the invited speakers at the "Stop The Steal" rally that preceded the Capitol attack.
https://twitter.com/hunterw/status/1364377958086017026
Trump-appointed district judge illegally and unconstitutionally orders government to deport dark-skinned people. The Justice Department already appealed.
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-politics-immigration-coronavirus-pandemic-d83309628f757732c57a260ea99a48b1
Nikola Jokic Tonight: 41/5/5 on 17/32 shooting, 3/6 from three and 4/4 from the line
Curry blows by the Knicks and slips a beautiful pass to Oubre for the clutch two
https://streamable.com/dy7hfl
Draymond Green today: 7pts, 9reb, 12ast, 3stl, 2blk, 3to, 4 fouls, team high +19
Zubac recovers the loose ball and puts Bertans on a poster
https://streamable.com/fsxg1d
James Harden now sits second all time for Triple Doubles in Nets franchise history after 19 games
The Denver Nuggets set a new NBA record with only 1 total turnover tonight vs. Portland
Jokic receives a tech for asking the referee"Why are you laughing at me?" after a no-call
https://streamable.com/tsd9jy
Bruce Brown can't believe he had 29
https://streamable.com/zvc7jy
Giannis Antetokounmpo Tonight: 37/8/8 on 13/18 shooting, 1/3 from three and 10/13 from the line
Jokic blows by Kanter, side-steps the defender and throws it down
https://streamable.com/gao1bf
Oubre Jr strips Randle in the clutch and taunts him
https://streamable.com/5rbttw
Kelly Oubre Jr gets 1 dunk, 1 steal, and 1 block in the final 30 seconds of the game. He never stops playing.
Facu Campazzo with another crazy no look pass to Zeke Nnaji for 3
https://streamable.com/hslhw9
Steph Curry against the Knicks tonight: 37-6-6 on 9-22 FG, 7-14 3PT and 12-12 FT
Kawhi is not entertained
https://streamable.com/7nl2hp
Luka wins the game with a deep 3
https://streamable.com/8cykzi
The Brooklyn Nets (21-12) defeat the Sacramento Kings (12-19) 127-118, extending the latter's losing streak to 8 games
Alec Burks deflects the Draymond pass but ends up in the hands of Curry who splashes a long 3
Draymond having fun with the ref after winning the out of bounds challenge
https://streamable.com/972p76
Guard Iman Shumpert and forward Andre Roberson plan to sign 10-day contracts with the Nets when they clear waivers on Friday
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1364422913194090501
The Timel/rd puts back a thunder jam off a Tatum miss
https://streamable.com/ipbw04
Dame with the blow by and slam
https://streamable.com/phldbb
It's beyond galling for Ukrainians to hear this empty talk from Germany - the country actively screwing them by helping Russia gain leverage - and cutting off Ukraine's energy leverage and income stream - through NS2
https://twitter.com/GermanyUN/status/1364266809885605888
In a private meeting with pro-regime journalists, Assad was asked about Syria's economic meltdown. His suggestion for tackling it? "Television channels should cancel cooking shows so as not to taunt Syrians with images of unattainable food."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/world/middleeast/syria-assad-economy-food.html
a year ago today | Donald J. Trump: The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!
https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1364556239359901697
FBI arrests three more Kentuckians in Capitol pro-Trump terrorist attack, including nurse who said she'd 'do it again'
https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/crime/article249457150.html
This tweet from January 1st shows how Trump Org is still trying to sell the old Trump brand: indulgent luxury. In reality, the helicopter in the photo was sold long before the January 1st 2021 tweet and the airplane was decommissioned July 2019.
https://twitter.com/TrumpHotels/status/1345096706061459458
FDA review of Johnson & Johnson Covid single-shot vaccine finds it safe, effective and that it completely prevented hospitalizations and deaths in a large clinical trial. The Food and Drug Administration's scientists confirmed that overall the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, administered with a single dose, is about 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19.
https://washingtonpost.com/health/2021/02/24/johnson-and-johnson-vaccine/
Cass county MI Cass County Republican party attacked and censured RepFredUpton for voting to remove RepMTG from her committees. His statement: "Really? She taunted a Parkland school shooting survivor, argued that California wildfires were started by a Jewish space laser, accused Democratic politicians of running a pedophile ring out of a pizza parlor, and questioned whether 9/11 really happened. Does the Cass County Republican party really think someone like that represents Republican values and should be serving on the education committee? I stand by my vote
https://twitter.com/DanaBashCNN/status/1364560038107480072
https://twitter.com/DanaBashCNN/status/1364560039445463043
Neera Tanden is a leading policy expert who brings critical qualifications to the table during this time of unprecedented crisis.
https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1364565618872229890
She also has important perspective and values, understanding firsthand the powerful difference policy can make in the lives of those going through hard times.
https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1364565619576815626
She has a broad spectrum of support, ranging from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to labor unions, and has a strong record of working with both parties that we expect to grow in President Biden's cabinet as the first South Asian woman to lead OMB.
https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1364565620403150848
________________________________
https://news.yahoo.com/ilhan-omar-foreign-policy-leadership-sanctions-relief-130030385.html
Ilhan Omar seeks sanctions reform in her new foreign affairs leadership role
Hunter Walker·White House Correspondent
Wed, February 24, 2021, 8:00 AM
WASHINGTON — As Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. seeks to become a major voice on U.S. foreign policy, she is looking to make sanctions one of her hallmark issues.
Earlier this month, Omar, one of the members of "the Squad," was named vice chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, providing her with a platform to oversee legislation on foreign military deployments, aid and diplomatic policy.
On Feb. 11, the same day her position on the subcommittee was announced, Omar joined a group of Democrats who sent a letter advocating President Joe Biden and his administration to broaden their review of existing sanctions on foreign governments. Biden had previously ordered an assessment of sanctions to determine whether they were impeding the global COVID relief effort.
https://omar.house.gov/media/press-releases/warren-omar-and-garcia-lead-letter-calling-sanctions-relief
The letter encouraged the Biden administration "to consider the humanitarian impacts of sanctions more broadly."
In an interview with Yahoo News, Omar expanded on why she believes the U.S. needs to reconsider how it uses sanctions against other countries.
"In so much of our foreign policy, we rely on muscle memory and a limited tool kit to decide the best course of action as we engage in countries. Too often, sanctioning regimes becomes ill-considered and incoherent, and counterproductive," Omar said. "It's important for us to have, I think, a way that we look at to see what the desired goal in our interactions are and think about — in worst-case scenarios — will it hurt the people that we are actually trying to help."
Earlier this month, a group of human rights experts from the United Nations warned that sanctions were "killing people" by inhibiting pandemic aid to multiple countries, including Iran, Cuba, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Venezuela. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, other experts suggested economic sanctions may actually increase human rights violations while contributing to dire economic conditions.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/08/1069732
Omar believes America's diplomatic posture needs to be reimagined.
"In regards to Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, obviously there are behaviors that they're engaging in that we should be finding repulsive," Omar said, citing their role in the conflict in Yemen. "We have not only changed our behavior towards them. … We've actually brought them to a point where they think they're much closer and allied with us."
Omar's view of diplomacy has been shaped by her experience growing up as a refugee from war-torn Somalia.
"I survived a civil war. I witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of war and the impact it has on millions of lives, communities and entire societies," Omar said. "What drives me is making sure no child goes through what I went through."
Asked to define her approach to foreign policy, Omar described "a vision that centers on the experience of people that are directly affected by conflict."
"That takes into account the long-term effects of U.S. engagement in war and it's sincere about our values regardless of the short-term political conveniences," Omar said. "It's been really important for me that people understand that this means reorienting our foreign affairs to focus on diplomacy and economic and cultural engagements."
Omar also advocates broadening the foreign policy conversation to include countries and regions that don't always dominate the headlines.
"It's really important that there are voices in Congress that are not narrowly focused on these issues that have maturity in the American psyche, like China and Russia and Cuba and the Middle East," said Omar, "but also these other countries that are being impacted by our foreign policy and their populations that are being impacted by human rights violations from their own governments."
Omar's belief that both attention and conversation have been too focused on the Middle East, China and Russia also stems from personal experience as an African woman. "I'm someone who has seen the consequences of U.S. foreign policy for good and for bad for the global South," she said.
While Omar clearly wants to change the discourse and push it into new territory, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — certainly a long-standing and high-profile foreign policy issue — has dominated the discussion of her tenure in Congress so far. Soon after she took office in 2019, she was accused of using anti-Semitic rhetoric in her criticism of U.S. support for Israel. Omar apologized for her choice of words, but the incident still rankles many of her critics.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/ilhan-omar-trump-obsession-radical-support-bernie-sanders-204041095.html
Tommy Pigott, the Republican National Committee's rapid response director, suggested that giving Omar a position on the subcommittee meant Democrats "are embracing her radical socialist policies as the mainstream positions of the Democrat Party." He pointed to her past support for BDS, a campaign aimed at ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories, that some advocates of the Israeli government have called anti-Semitic. Pigott also cited Omar's criticism of former President Trump's decision last year to kill Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian military official.
"Rep. Ilhan Omar has a long history of supporting policies that harm the interests of the United States and our allies, including advocating for anti-Semitic [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] against Israel and calling the death of a top leader of terrorism an 'assassination of a foreign official,'" Pigott said.
A spokesperson for Omar noted Soleimani's killing was widely criticized by former national security officials and a number of European allies. A United Nations rapporteur also declared the strike unlawful.
As for Israel, Omar said she is eager to see a "more principled" conversation. When asked whether the lack of medical supplies in the Palestinian territories is an example of the need for sanctions reviews, Omar said that was looking at the situation backwards.
In other words, she suggested the discussion should potentially include sanctions for Israel, which has only given residents in the territories a relatively small supply of coronavirus vaccines.
https://www.bbc.com/news/55800921
"We need to lead this conversation and have human rights be at the center of it all," Omar said.
How much influence Omar will have on foreign policy remains to be seen. During the election, Biden positioned himself as a moderate alternative to the Democratic Party's progressives, but since taking office, his administration has made it a point to solicit input from them.
Omar believes Biden has done more to work with the party's left flank and called it a "relationship based on the common interest."
"That's because so many of the policies that we've been advocating for, the people that we've been fighting for, have given us the mandate to push for bold policies," said Omar. "The administration knows that we wouldn't get this opportunity to have the House, the Senate and the White House without our base."
https://news.yahoo.com/honeymoon-is-not-over-between-biden-and-progressives-203807168.html
________________________________
Ghost particle that crashed into Antarctica traced back to star shredded by black hole
https://www.cnet.com/news/ghost-particle-that-crashed-into-antarctica-traced-back-to-star-shredded-by-black-hole/
Beto O'Rourke raises $1.4 million for Texans recovering from storm, spotted buying pallets of water in Robstown — The water was purchased through a fundraiser O'Rourke created to help Texans recover from the winter storm with food, clean water, and shelter.
https://www.newswest9.com/mobile/article/news/local/beto-orourke-raises-14-million-for-texans-recovering-from-storm-spotted-buying-water-pallets-in-robstown/503-65c41abe-e297-4818-acc2-0add72e71e9a
More than 160 Confederate symbols came down in 2020, SPLC says
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/24/us/confederate-symbols-removed-2020-splc-trnd/index.html
Senate Confirmation Hearing | Rep. Deb Haaland - Interior Secretary | 02/24/2021 | Live - 10:00 AM EST
https://www.c-span.org/video/?509273-1/interior-secretary-nominee-rep-deb-haaland-testifies-confirmation-hearing
Deb Haaland's confirmation hearing was embarrassing to watch, Republicans are terrorists, exterminate them all already
Neera Tanden Once Criticized Joe Manchin's Pharma CEO Daughter: Tanden wrote: "The idea that only CEO contributes to a company's growth and not all employees is really pernicious."
In August 2016, Tanden shared a screengrab of an article about Bresch which focused on a significant rise in her pay while at Mylan. It highlighted that the company's board said this was justified as she had "contributed significantly to the company's growth in recent years."
https://www.newsweek.com/neera-tanden-criticized-joe-manchin-daughter-heather-bresch-1571531
Biden administration to deliver over 25 million masks to health centers, food pantries
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/24/coronavirus-white-house-deliver-25-million-masks-across-us/4575314001/
New filing from AGKarlRacine shows Donald Trump, Jr. was deposed on Feb. 11th. Prosecutors are seeking more info on an almost $50k payment by the inaugural committee, to cover a block of rooms reserved by the Trump Organization
https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20491102-dcag-motion-to-extend-discovery-time
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Postmaster General DeJoy Testifies Before the House Oversight Committee - 02/24/2021 | Live - 10:00 AM EST
https://www.c-span.org/video/?509149-1/postmaster-general-dejoy-testifies-house-oversight-committee
Nominee for CIA Director William Burns is testifying in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee
https://www.c-span.org/video/?509170-1/cia-director-nominee-william-burns-testifies-confirmation-hearing
Deb Haaland is one of the two most important candidates for the Democrats stay behind (Neera Tanden is the other). A smart woman with native roots running Interior is a huge step forward. A Native American in THAT position is tantamount to being the first Black President. (And Obama wasn't Black, he was half-African-American and half-white.) It's that important and historic for Native Americans. And she's ultra-qualified for the job.
________________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/24/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-new-actions-to-deliver-masks-to-communities-hit-hard-by-the-pandemic/
FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces New Actions to Deliver Masks to Communities Hit Hard by the Pandemic
February 24, 2021 • Statements and Releases
As part of his National Strategy to defeat COVID-19, President Biden announced a new effort to make masks more easily available to communities hard hit by the pandemic. The Administration will deliver more than 25 million masks to over 1,300 Community Health Centers across the country as well as 60,000 food pantries and soup kitchens, reaching some of the nation's most vulnerable populations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends mask wearing as a critical step to help slow the spread and protect people from getting COVID-19, but many low-income Americans still lack access to this basic protection.
Today, President Biden is announcing that, over the next few weeks, the Biden-Harris Administration will:
Deliver masks to community health centers. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in partnership with the Department of Defense (DoD), will deliver millions of masks to Federally Qualified Community Health Centers across the country. These approximately 1,300 health centers will be eligible to receive high-quality masks for free. Two-thirds of the people served by Community Health Centers are living in poverty, 60% are racial and/or ethnic minorities, and nearly 1.4 million are unhoused. Anyone in the community will be eligible to pick up masks from their local Community Health Center. Recipients will be encouraged to take an individually wrapped package of two masks for each person in their household. The staff of the Community Health Centers will distribute the masks to recipients.
Distribute masks through the nation's food bank and food pantry system. The Department of Defense (DOD), working with the Department of Agriculture (USDA), will deliver masks to many of the nation's roughly 300 food banks. These food banks reach a vast network of 60,000 food pantries, soup kitchens, and other food distribution points where masks will be distributed to individuals and families. Recipients will be encouraged to take an individually wrapped package of two masks for each person in their household.
About the masks:
These masks will be no cost, high-quality, washable, and consistent with the mask guidance from the CDC. All of these masks will be made in America, and will not impact availability of masks for health care workers.
The masks will be available beginning in March and into May. As a result of these actions, an estimated 12 to 15 million Americans will receive masks. More than 25 million masks total will be distributed.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/24/fact-sheet-securing-americas-critical-supply-chains/
FACT SHEET: Securing America's Critical Supply Chains
February 24, 2021 • Statements and Releases
Today President Biden will sign an Executive Order to help create more resilient and secure supply chains for critical and essential goods.
In recent years, American households, workers, and companies have increasingly felt the strain of shortages of essential products—from medicine to food to computer chips. Last year's shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line healthcare workers at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic were unacceptable. Recent shortages of automotive semiconductor chips have forced slowdowns at car manufacturing plants, highlighting how shortages can hurt U.S. workers.
While we cannot predict what crisis will hit us, we should have the capacity to respond quickly in the face of challenges. The United States must ensure that production shortages, trade disruptions, natural disasters and potential actions by foreign competitors and adversaries never leave the United States vulnerable again. Today's action delivers on the President's campaign commitment to direct his Administration to comprehensively address supply chain risks. The task of making our supply chains more secure can also be a source of well paid jobs for communities across our country, including in communities of color, and steps will be taken to ensure that the benefits of this work flow to all Americans.
The Executive Order launches a comprehensive review of U.S. supply chains and directs federal Departments and Agencies to identify ways to secure U.S. supply chains against a wide range of risks and vulnerabilities. Building resilient supply chains will protect the United States from facing shortages of critical products. It will also facilitate needed investments to maintain America's competitive edge, and strengthen U.S. national security.
First, the order directs an immediate 100-day review across federal agencies to address vulnerabilities in the supply chains of four key products.
1. APIs are the part of a pharmaceutical product that contains the active drug. In recent decades, more than 70 percent of API production facilitators supplying the U.S. have moved offshore. This work will complement the ongoing work to secure supply chains needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Critical minerals are an essential part of defense, high-tech, and other products. From rare earths in our electric motors and generators to the carbon fiber used for airplanes—the United States needs to ensure we are not dependent upon foreign sources or single points of failure in times of national emergency.
- Semiconductors and Advanced Packaging. The United States is the birthplace of this technology, and has always been a leader in semiconductor development. However, over the years we have underinvested in production—hurting our innovative edge—while other countries have learned from our example and increased their investments in the industry.
- Large capacity batteries, such as those used in electric vehicles: As we take action to tackle the climate crisis, we know that will lead to large demand for new energy technologies like electric vehicle batteries. By identifying supply chain risks, we can meet the President's commitment to accelerate U.S. leadership of clean energy technologies. For example, while the U.S. is a net exporter of electric vehicles, we are not a leader in the supply chain associated with electric battery production. The U.S. could better leverage our sizeable lithium reserves and manufacturing know-how to expand domestic battery production.
The 100-day review will identify near term steps the administration can take, including with Congress, to address vulnerabilities in the supply chains for these critical goods.
Second, the order calls for a more in-depth one-year review of a broader set of U.S. supply chains. The one-year review will include:
- A focus on six key sectors: the defense industrial base; the public health and biological preparedness industrial base; the information and communications technology (ICT) industrial base; the energy sector industrial base; the transportation industrial base; and supply chains for agricultural commodities and food production.
- A set of risks for agencies to consider in their assessment of supply chain vulnerabilities: Agencies and Departments are directed to review a variety of risks to supply chains and industrial bases. For example, these reviews must identify critical goods and materials within supply chains, the manufacturing or other capabilities needed to produce those materials, as well as a variety of vulnerabilities created by failure to develop domestic capabilities. Agencies and Departments are also directed to identify locations of key manufacturing and production assets, the availability of substitutes or alternative sources for critical goods, the state of workforce skills and identified gaps for all sectors, and the role of transportation systems in supporting supply chains and industrial bases.
- Recommendations on actions that should be taken to improve resiliency: Agencies are directed to make specific policy recommendations to address risks, as well as proposals for new research and development activities.
- A sustained commitment to supply chain resiliency: The government will commit to a regular, ongoing process of reviewing supply chain resilience, including a quadrennial review process.
- Consultation with external stakeholders: The government cannot secure supply chains on its own. It requires partnership and consultation with the American people. The E.O. directs the Administration to consult widely with outside stakeholders, such as those in industry, academia, non-governmental organizations, communities, labor unions, and State, local, territorial, and Tribal governments.
The E.O will build on bipartisan Congressional action and leadership on this issue, and the Administration will remain in close touch with Congress to solicit recommendations during the review. President Biden has also directed his Administration to work with U.S. partners and allies to ensure that they too have strong and resilient supply chains.
President Biden has directed his Administration to ensure that the task of building resilient supply chains draws on the talent and work ethic of communities across America, including communities of color and cities and towns that have for too long suffered from job losses and industrial decline. As the Administration implements the Executive Order, it will identify opportunities to implement policies to secure supply chains that grow the American economy, increase wages, benefit small businesses and historically disadvantaged communities, strengthen pandemic and biopreparedness, support the fight against global climate change, and maintain America's technological leadership in key sectors.
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Some states, unable to wait for more federal help, have been moving ahead with their own virus aid plans. Maryland and California approved aid for small businesses, jobless people and more. New Mexico and Pennsylvania are giving grants to businesses.
https://apnews.com/article/business-personal-taxes-pennsylvania-north-carolina-coronavirus-pandemic-af2c61f434baec02797cd407642aaca6
Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers.[2] He was the author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, and film narration. Ferlinghetti was best known for his first collection of poems, A Coney Island of the Mind (1958), which has been translated into nine languages, with sales of more than one million copies.[3] When Ferlinghetti turned 100 in March 2019, the city of San Francisco proclaimed his birthday, March 24, "Lawrence Ferlinghetti Day".[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Ferlinghetti
The seven-figure ad campaign by Fair Fight Action slamming restrictive Republican voting measures is amping up, with a new 30-second spot drawing a line between the Jan. 6 insurrection and Georgia proposals limiting ballot access.
https://www.ajc.com/politics/the-jolt-why-georgia-elections-may-never-be-the-same/5DE25526RVCEFE3OMLYFLJXURI/
The "Schumer Bridge" thread. Senate Republicans have been bashing Chuck Schumer for a $1.5 million provision inside the "American Rescue Plan" to "build Chuck Schumer a bridge." But there's more to it than that - of course - and it goes back to when Elaine Chao (Mitch McConnell's wife) ran the Department of Transportation. The funding request actually was made in the spring of 2020. The Seaway International Bridge across the St. Lawrence River is one of the busiest crossing points between the two countries. But the Covid19 pandemic has crushed traffic over the bridge. DOT estimates revenues collected from tolls for bridge crossings is down 10-15 percent, with truck traffic down significantly. The Seaway International Bridge Corp., the authority that operates the bridge, went back to the Canadian and American governments for more money. That's where the $1.5 million request came from. The request was denied by Elaine Chao.
Senate Confirmation Hearing | Xavier Becerra - Health and Human Services Secretary | 02/24/2021 | Live - 02:00 PM EST
https://www.c-span.org/video/?509117-1/hhs-secretary-nominee-xavier-becerra-testifies-senate-finance-committee
There appears to be a regulation that allows a president to waive a service member's right to refuse a vaccine authorized by an EUA, even if FDA hasn't given formal approval...
https://twitter.com/stevenportnoy/status/1364649238957854721/photo/1
With some in the U.S. military hesitant to take the COVID vaccine, stevenportnoy asks if President Biden has considered mandating vaccinations.
"That's a really interesting question," Jen Psaki says
"I have not spoken with him about that or to Secretary Austin about that"
https://twitter.com/i/status/1364646845922869248
https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1364646845922869248
The key to success for Democrats in 2022 & beyond will be redefining Florida's electorate by engaging with communities that have long been ignored and overlooked.
We're ready to lead the way & have already raised $60,000 towards that goal.
https://peoplepowerforflorida.com/press-releases/newvoterreg
One of these Democrats is likely to raise a lot of money in a very loooooooooooongshot run in 2022
https://twitter.com/Politics1com/status/1364646221281861635
Reminder: A majority of House Republicans voted to overturn the election results in Arizona. A new audit from Maricopa County (Phoenix) shows no evidence of voting machine problems. Translation: It wasn't rigged.
https://maricopa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/66842/Forensic-Audit-Transmittal-Letter
The Biden administration is in the process of vetting candidates to nominate to serve on the USPS Board of Governors. Filling existing vacancies would give Democrats majority control of the Board
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1364655413124157441
The Manhattan DA has subpoenaed financial records related to Steve Bannon's crowdfunding border-wall effort, signaling the criminal investigation into former President Trump's chief strategist is advancing, people familiar with the matter tell CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/24/politics/bannon-investigation-gains-steam/index.html
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/not-all-anti-racist-ideas-are-good-ones-the-left-isnt-being-honest-about-this/2021/02/22/c83d4870-7179-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html
Not all 'anti-racist' ideas are good ones. The left isn't being honest about this.
On some topics, progressives prefer pointing out right-wing hypocrisy to debating substance.
By Matthew Yglesias
Matthew Yglesias writes the Slow Boring newsletter, hosts "The Weeds" podcast and is the author of "One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger."
Feb. 23, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. EST
The same Republicans championing free speech and deploring "cancel culture" are trying to pass laws criminalizing protests, bar classroom discussions of the New York Times' 1619 Project on slavery and penalize people who advocate boycotts to oppose Israeli settlements. Combine that with the idea that we've got more important issues to deal with, from the pandemic to the Jan. 6 insurrection, and many progressives think they don't have to engage with the argument that the left is too conformist and dogmatic on certain topics involving race. They don't want to hear about the San Francisco Board of Education stripping Abraham Lincoln's name from a high school, or Oregon teacher-training materials claiming that asking math students to "show their work" reinforces white supremacy.
https://truthout.org/articles/republicans-are-using-capitol-breach-as-excuse-to-promote-anti-protest-bills/
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/lawmakers-push-to-ban-1619-project-from-schools/2021/02
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html
https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/congress-laws-suppressing-boycotts-israel-are-unconstitutional-sincerely-three
https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1358644252146880515?s=20
https://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/Washington-and-Lincoln-are-out-S-F-school-board-15900963.php
https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/1361076234378166278
"One of America's major parties has turned against democracy," Vox's Zack Beauchamp tweeted Feb. 9, after a Times a reporter who had used the n-word in a discussion with students about racism was compelled to resign, "and we're talking about . . . the Times' staffing decisions?"
https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp/status/1359175733810262018
But it would be a significant mistake for mainstream progressives to duck the substance of these controversies. After all, it is progressives who in recent years have attempted to increase the stigma attached to racist speech while also expanding the scope of what's "racist." That double move introduces complications into discussions of racism that should invite more argumentation, not less.
In educated liberal circles these days, everyone knows that racism is not just a question of individual prejudice or hatred. The conversations are about "structural" or "systemic" racism — impersonal properties of systems, embedded in processes. Certainly it's true that race and racism have shaped many legal, political and social institutions, since America's earliest days. But when you make the scope of racism so expansive, that necessarily means pushing the conversations into contestable terrain.
The shift from dismantling monuments to the Confederacy to erasing homages to Lincoln, for example, raises important questions about how to balance the praiseworthy and lamentable aspects of political figures. (The school board noted that during Lincoln's presidency, the military hanged 38 rebellious Native Americans in Minnesota.) But whether to cancel Lincoln is — for most people — a fairly easy case. Consider a more challenging one, involving land use restrictions in American cities. Having studied the issue, I believe that excessively strict regulations embody structural racism in housing: Such rules price low-income people, who are disproportionately Black and Brown, out of many areas. To me, it's clear that the sensible (and progressive) course of action is to allow denser construction in the most expensive neighborhoods; increasing housing supply will have ripple effects that reduce housing prices for everyone. But I'm also aware that many people sincerely believe that allowing real estate development fuels gentrification and displacement — and that the key to racial justice is even more stringent regulations.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-21/to-tackle-housing-inequality-try-upzoning
Nothing is gained if the different parties in this debate call each other racists or invoke the specter of "white supremacy" to discredit their opponents. The affordable-housing question requires dispassionate analysis, not the censoriousness and scolding that might be appropriate for combating expressions of traditional prejudice, such as redlining.
Yet many commentators urge a more fiery approach. Ibram Kendi, author of the bestseller "How to Be an Antiracist," argues for an extremely expansive concept of racism that pushes the boundaries of structural analysis to the limits. According to Kendi, any racial gap simply is racist by definition; any policy that maintains such a gap is a racist policy; and — most debatably — any intellectual explanation of its existence (sociological, cultural, and so on) is also racist. He has famously argued that anything that is not anti-racist is perforce racist.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525509283?ie=UTF8&tag=thewaspos09-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=0525509283
This reaches its most radical form in Kendi's conflation of measurements of problems with the problems themselves. In his book — ubiquitous in educational circles — he denounces not the existence of a large Black-White gap in school performance but any discussion of such a gap. Kendi writes that "we degrade Black minds every time we speak of an 'academic-achievement gap' " based on standardized test scores and grades. Instead, he asks: "What if the intellect of a low-testing Black child in a poor Black school is different from — and not inferior to — the intellect of a high-testing White child in a rich White school? What if we measured intelligence by how knowledgeable individuals are about their own environments?"
We certainly could do that. But the fact remains that if African American children continue to be less likely to learn to read and write and do math than White children, and less likely to graduate from high school, then this will contribute to other unequal outcomes down the road. Education is not a cure-all for labor market discrimination, and educational disparities don't fully account for the Black-White earnings gap. But they partially account for that gap while also leaving people less able to organize politically, protect themselves from financial scams and otherwise navigate the modern world. Stigmatizing the use of test scores and grades to measure learning undermines policymakers' ability to make the case for reforms to promote equity — from providing air conditioning in schools to combating racially biased low expectations among teachers.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-political-science/article/abs/education-and-political-participation/D17F1067290DFBEB1EC01F8B4C166C28
https://www.nber.org/papers/w17821
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/as-the-temperature-climbs-test-scores-drop-in-schools-without-air-conditioning/2018/05
https://www.educationnext.org/power-of-teacher-expectations-racial-bias-hinders-student-attainment/
More broadly, identifying a racial gap and declaring it to be racist is often insufficient. Such an approach impedes actually thinking about problems — particularly in media, academic and nonprofit circles, where the accusation of racism can carry severe consequences. And so to avoid controversy, people avoid important debates rather than risking offense.
For example, maps of various American cities now sail across social media depicting higher vaccination rates in White neighborhoods than in Black ones. A Kendi-type analysis would conclude that gap is racist, full stop. And certainly it is often framed that way, as if city officials were making vaccinations available on a discriminatory basis.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/07/covid-vaccination-disparities/?itid=lk_inline_manual_18
Perhaps that is true, in some cases. But surveys also show that Black Americans are considerably less eager than White Americans to get vaccinated. That's a serious problem on its own terms. But it's not a problem of overt discrimination (although the distrust gap may stem from past medical discrimination). Insisting that all gaps reveal racism elides the critical question of what's actually happening and how to fix it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/23/covid-vaccine-hesitancy/?itid=lk_inline_manual_19
Imprecision in the definition of racism can have unintended consequences, and it can also be weaponized. An essay by activists Tema Okun and Kenneth Jones "The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture," for instance, has been widely disseminated in progressive nonprofit circles: It alleges that such things as "perfectionism," a "sense of urgency" and an emphasis on "measurable goals" are manifestations of white supremacy. The intent is to subvert and disrupt malign hierarchies, but a side effect may be to disrupt the normal conduct of work, where goal-setting, urgency and avoiding mistakes are in fact important. Wielding such essays, workers can transmogrify intellectual disputes or banal office politics into high-stakes conflicts with the allegation that certain ideas or statements make them feel "unsafe."
https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/white-supremacy-culture-characteristics.html
Meanwhile, schools, nonprofits and businesses increasingly embrace diversity training programs that, Columbia University sociologist Musa al-Gharbi argues, meet public relations goals without actually accomplishing anything worthwhile — and may even make it harder for people from diverse backgrounds to work together. You don't need to "internalize left-progressive views on inequality and identity issues" to effectively collaborate on the job, al-Gharbi points out, and people of color may themselves not embrace the left perspective. Debate over such programs should be encouraged, not deemed taboo, even if conservatives oppose them in knee-jerk fashion.
https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/diversity-training-doesnt-work-this-might/
By all means, let's dispense with the frustrating and at times hypocritical meta-debate about "free speech" (in the context of racism) and "cancel culture." But the newly fashionable anti-racist thinking contains a mix of good ideas and bad ones — including some that are dangerously counterproductive for the people they are intended to help. Bland agreement that "racism is bad" does not suffice when racism is reconceptualized as an abstract attribute of policies and systems, as opposed to bigoted individual behaviors. Understanding complicated social phenomena is difficult. Solving social problems, almost all of which involve race, is contentious. Liberals can't respond by ceding huge swaths of the political landscape to the hardcore right — or to whichever activist happens to have most loudly proclaimed their own anti-racism.
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Deb Haaland is everything the Biden Administration needs to be. No Biden Cabinet pick has so much potential to frame this administration's vision and to inspire support for transformational change. When Joe Biden tapped Deb Haaland to serve as the nation's 54th secretary of the interior, she accepted the designation as no nominee before her. "A voice like mine has never been a cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior," declared the representative from New Mexico. "Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household made me fierce. I'll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land." Haaland's promise to bring that fierce commitment to advocating for environmental justice and for a new relationship between the US government and indigenous peoples has not set well with Republican senators who are in the service of the fossil fuel industry and even some Democrats - most notably West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin - but it is why Biden desperately needs her in his administration. While the new president gets high marks for filling top positions with experienced and competent people, and Haaland is surely that, this administration has to provide bold leadership for the planet and the people. With a track record of activism that extends across decades and that embraces multiple struggles for economic, social, and racial justice in New Mexico and Washington, D.C., Haaland has a capacity to engage and excite millions of Americans that the Biden administration and the congressional Democrats will need to advance what must be a bold agenda for transforming debates about the climate crisis, the preservation of public lands, and respect for Native communities. If she is confirmed and given the freedom and flexibility to lead as she is capable of doing, Haaland - to a greater extent than any of Biden's many cabinet nominees - can frame a progressive vision for this administration and this country. That's what makes the fight to confirm this nominee - which Republican senators such as Montana's Steve Daines have promised to block - so critical. Biden cannot afford to lose Haaland. The president has to go all-in for his nominee, using lobbying, cajoling, and whatever else is required to secure the confirmation of a cabinet secretary who holds out what former Progressive Caucus chair Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sees as a "mystical opportunity" for Biden and the country. "The agency that was set up eons ago, Interior, to basically disenfranchise and colonize Indigenous America, for Deb to be secretary," says Grijalva, "America will have its first indigenous person in a cabinet but more historic, in Interior, in the agency that was set up for that purpose. Maybe I'm naive but there are certain political scripts that are almost written for you." A 35th generation New Mexican who is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna, and also has Jemez Pueblo heritage, she would be the first Native American cabinet secretary in the 232-year history of the American presidency. Specifically, Haaland would be the first Native American secretary of the cabinet department that oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service and that manages 55 million surface acres and 57 million acres of subsurface-minerals estates held in trust by the United States for indigenous peoples with a mission to "enhance the quality of life, to promote economic opportunity, and to carry out the responsibility to protect and improve the trust assets of American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives." "I can tell you from experience that having people who come from a Native background matters," says Ada Deer, a member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin who served as assistant secretary of the Interior and headed the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1993 to 1997. When Representative Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat who is a member of the H0-Chunk Nation, and Melanie Benjamin, the cochair of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and a cofounder of Women Empowering Women For Indian Nations, joined leaders of Native women's organizations in calling on Biden to name Haaland, they wrote: Unlike most Interior Secretaries over the past 170 years, she is neither a former Governor or Senator of a western state nor is she a corporate executive, who have all had a stranglehold on the Secretary of Interior position since 1849. She does not come from a family of means or power, she has lived in poverty, and is the only candidate for this position who has the experience of living on an Indian reservation as an indigenous woman whose daily life is impacted by the Secretary of Interior. If Haaland is confirmed, she has the potential to restore the Department of the Interior to the stature it had when Stuart Udall led it in the 1960s and, to an even greater extent, when Harold Ickes led it throughout Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. But what matters is that she can do so with a vision that builds on the progress that society has made. This is what Haaland spoke to when she delivered a visionary address to last summer's Democratic National Convention. "The promise of this country is older than our Constitution. Over 500 years ago, thousands of Indian tribes were vibrant democratic societies with rich cultures and traditions and communities that had sustained them for millennia on lands they loved and respected," she explained. She recalled in the speech: "My people survived centuries of slavery, genocide, and brutal assimilation policies. But throughout our past, tribal nations have fought for and helped build this country." Haaland held out a promise when she spoke. "Whether your ancestors have been here for hundreds of years or you're a new citizen," she said, "know this, whether we vote and how we vote will determine if our nation's promise of social, racial, and environmental justice will outlast us." That is the essential calculus of our time. To make it work, Biden and Senate Democrats must fight - fiercely - and break down every barrier to Deb Haaland's confirmation.
I'm Kyrgyz. So I take Navalny's past ethno-nationalist and xenophobic statements personally. But Amnesty's decision is wrong, and I don't like the cynical misapplication of western liberal standards of debate around racism and hate speech. 1/x
https://twitter.com/ser_ou_parecer/status/1364645136572022789
Navalny isn't a western celebrity or politician. We don't have the option to support him or not in a fair, democratic contest. He is a politician who was poisoned w/ chemical weapon & is locked up for his opposition to Putin's corrupt rule. Putin's regime is the biggest issue 2/x
https://twitter.com/ser_ou_parecer/status/1364645488620933122
Sure, Navalny's old statements against Central Asian and Caucasian migrants are terrible, but they don't cause nearly as much damage as Putin's ongoing support for the real dictators, autocrats, and crooks in power. 3/x
https://twitter.com/ser_ou_parecer/status/1364645589695291395
In my home country of Kyrgyzstan, lawmakers copy Russia's repressive laws. Russian state-owned TV channels continue to fill our airways with propaganda, often infused with racism and xenophobia as bad or worse than anything Navalny said 4/x
https://twitter.com/ser_ou_parecer/status/1364645806263926785
The efforts to promote our national language and culture are attacked by Putin's propaganda outlets as "Russophobic" or "violating the rights of Russian speakers" i.e. as an assault on his idea of the greater "Russian World" 5/x
https://twitter.com/ser_ou_parecer/status/1364646020672593920
Putin's policy towards Kyrgyzstan has been nothing short of political extortion, and Kyrgyz presidents traditionally acquiesce in exchange for political support&subsidies. As Kyrgyz and having lived in Ukraine, I dislike Navalny's views but Putin's actions bother me more 6/x
https://twitter.com/ser_ou_parecer/status/1364646883243810822
We can talk about Navalny's old and current views (as of 2019, he was still in favor of visa regime w/ Central Asian and Caucasian countries to curb unskilled migration) but later. Right now, this debate is just a diversion that plays into Kremlin's hands /END
https://twitter.com/ser_ou_parecer/status/1364647475294986249
In the span of one year, our country has experienced not one, but three big lies: the pandemic is exaggerated and covid19 is a hoax, the election was stolen, and Jan 6 was "festive". How can the US address any of these effectively when a large portion of the population still believes the lies?
Our neighbor, @RepMTG, tried to block the Equality Act because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is "disgusting, immoral, and evil." Thought we'd put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door
https://twitter.com/i/status/1364658561809346564
https://twitter.com/RepMarieNewman/status/1364658561809346564
.@ChandraBrownUSA says one of the bright spots of the pandemic has been the increased focus on supply chain issues. @SandeepDadlani says the pandemic has also amplified the value of data and made the supply chain much more resilient and digital.
https://twitter.com/postlive/status/1364662797087481859
William Burns, Biden's pick for Director, CIA, said in his opening statement to SSCI he believes CIA's interrogation program included torture
He will not commit, however, to making the full torture report available to attys representing Gitmo detainees in military commissions.
https://twitter.com/JasonLeopold/status/1364659996504383492/photo/1
https://twitter.com/JasonLeopold/status/1364659996504383492/photo/2
https://twitter.com/JasonLeopold/status/1364659996504383492
Biden set to nominate two Democrats and one unaffiliated to USPS board of governors. President Biden will nominate a former U.S. Postal Service executive, a leading voting rights advocate and a former postal union leader to the mail service's governing board, according to three people briefed on the nominees, a move that will reshape the agency's leadership and increase pressure on the embattled postmaster general. Biden will nominate Ron Stroman, the Postal Service's recently retired deputy postmaster general; Amber McReynolds, the chief executive of National Vote at Home Institute; and Anton Hajjar, the former general counsel of the American Postal Workers Union, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy. If confirmed, the nominees would give Democrats a majority on the nine-member board of governors, with potentially enough votes to oust DeJoy, who testified Wednesday before a House panel that his new strategic plan for the mail service included continuing the Trump-era policies of basically bringing to USPS to a halt to end the USPS
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/02/24/dejoy-hearing-usps-live-updates/#link-6CTKIUPGPZCRLKIPBL2ZQAFVO4
Domingo Germán started his press conference with a prepared statement. He apologized to the Steinbrenner family and thanked Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman for their patience. The lengthy statement did not include a mention his girlfriend. It was an apology to the Yankees org.
https://twitter.com/lindseyadler/status/1364640785912709123
Luke Voit on Domingo German: "We have his back but he's skating on thin ice." #Yankees
https://twitter.com/brendankutynj/status/1364659450880081923
More than a dozen companies exit $11bn Nord Stream 2 project to avoid US sanctions
https://www.cityam.com/more-than-a-dozen-companies-exit-11bn-nord-stream-2-project-to-avoid-us-sanctions/
LUCHA Arizona is among the Latino and immigration group's still mad at Mark Kelly's over his vote on aid to undocumented immigrants and has floated publicly and privately that they could walk away from Kelly re-election effort.
https://newsweek.com/mark-kellys-re-election-support-latino-groups-risk-over-undocumented-immigrant-aid-vote-1571692
Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy 'seriously considering' Senate bid against Rubio in 2022
https://nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/florida-rep-stephanie-murphy-seriously-considering-senate-bid-against-rubio-n1258769
Warren says the White House should stick by Tanden. "The idea that the Republicans are going to complain over someone who has sharp elbows on Twitter is pretty outrageous."
https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1364697997574082568
Sen. Duckworth: "In order to truly build back public trust in this vital agency, President Biden must replace all members of the board who looked the other way when DeJoy implemented and accelerated devastating policies that caused widespread delays and system-wide backlogs."
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1364704156099862531
Did we not just live through the last 4+ years of Trump facing zero pushback for his vitriol and abject racism? This is absurd. Advise and consent isn't about these Senators getting their feelings hurt.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/24/notice-on-the-continuation-of-the-national-emergency-with-respect-to-cuba-and-of-the-emergency-authority-relating-to-the-regulation-of-the-anchorage-and-movement-of-vessels/
Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Cuba and of the Emergency Authority Relating to the Regulation of the Anchorage and Movement of Vessels
February 24, 2021 • Presidential Actions
NOTICE
– – – – – – –
CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO CUBA AND OF THE EMERGENCY AUTHORITY RELATING TO THE REGULATION OF THE ANCHORAGE AND MOVEMENT OF VESSELS
On March 1, 1996, by Proclamation 6867, a national emergency was declared to address the disturbance or threatened disturbance of international relations caused by the February 24, 1996, destruction by the Cuban government of two unarmed United States-registered, civilian aircraft in international airspace north of Cuba. On February 26, 2004, by Proclamation 7757, the national emergency was expanded to deny monetary and material support to the Cuban government. On February 24, 2016, by Proclamation 9398, and on February 22, 2018, by Proclamation 9699, the national emergency was further modified based on continued disturbances or threatened disturbances of the international relations of the United States related to Cuba. The Cuban government has not demonstrated that it will refrain from the use of excessive force against United States vessels or aircraft that may engage in memorial activities or peaceful protest north of Cuba.
Further, the unauthorized entry of any United States-registered vessel into Cuban territorial waters continues to be detrimental to the foreign policy of the United States because such entry could facilitate a mass migration from Cuba. It continues to be United States policy that a mass migration from Cuba would endanger United States national security by posing a disturbance or threatened disturbance of the international relations of the United States.
Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing the national emergency with respect to Cuba and the emergency authority relating to the regulation of the anchorage and movement of vessels set out in Proclamation 6867, as amended by Proclamation 7757, Proclamation 9398, and Proclamation 9699.
This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 24, 2021.
_________________________________
A Letter on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Cuba and of the Emergency Authority Relating to the Regulation of the Anchorage and Movement of Vessels
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/24/a-letter-on-the-continuation-of-the-national-emergency-with-respect-to-cuba-and-of-the-emergency-authority-relating-to-the-regulation-of-the-anchorage-and-movement-of-vessels/
Georgia SecState Brad Raffensperger—who was pressured by Trump to "find" enough votes to reverse his electoral loss—is withholding support for Republican bills that would limit early voting. Says the legislation reflects "a three month disinformation campaign"
https://twitter.com/johnkruzel/status/1364706186126360583
Lawyers have made progress in locating parents of children who had been split from their families at the border under Trump, according to the latest court filing. They're still trying to reach the parents of 506 children, down from 611 last month.
https://twitter.com/priscialva/status/1364714772432891905
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/24/executive-order-on-americas-supply-chains/
Executive Order on America's Supply Chains
February 24, 2021 • Presidential Actions
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. The United States needs resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains to ensure our economic prosperity and national security. Pandemics and other biological threats, cyber-attacks, climate shocks and extreme weather events, terrorist attacks, geopolitical and economic competition, and other conditions can reduce critical manufacturing capacity and the availability and integrity of critical goods, products, and services. Resilient American supply chains will revitalize and rebuild domestic manufacturing capacity, maintain America's competitive edge in research and development, and create well-paying jobs. They will also support small businesses, promote prosperity, advance the fight against climate change, and encourage economic growth in communities of color and economically distressed areas.
More resilient supply chains are secure and diverse — facilitating greater domestic production, a range of supply, built-in redundancies, adequate stockpiles, safe and secure digital networks, and a world-class American manufacturing base and workforce. Moreover, close cooperation on resilient supply chains with allies and partners who share our values will foster collective economic and national security and strengthen the capacity to respond to international disasters and emergencies.
Therefore, it is the policy of my Administration to strengthen the resilience of America's supply chains.
Sec. 2. Coordination. The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA) and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy (APEP) shall coordinate the executive branch actions necessary to implement this order through the interagency process identified in National Security Memorandum 2 of February 4, 2021 (Renewing the National Security Council System). In implementing this order, the heads of agencies should, as appropriate, consult outside stakeholders — such as those in industry, academia, non-governmental organizations, communities, labor unions, and State, local, and Tribal governments — in order to fulfill the policy identified in section 1 of this order.
Sec. 3. 100-Day Supply Chain Review. (a) To advance the policy described in section 1 of this order, the APNSA and the APEP, in coordination with the heads of appropriate agencies, as defined in section 6(a) of this order, shall complete a review of supply chain risks, as outlined in subsection (b) of this section, within 100 days of the date of this order.
(b) Within 100 days of the date of this order, the specified heads of agencies shall submit the following reports to the President, through the APNSA and the APEP:
(i) The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a report identifying risks in the semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging supply chains and policy recommendations to address these risks. The report shall include the items described in section 4(c) of this order.
(ii) The Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a report identifying risks in the supply chain for high-capacity batteries, including electric-vehicle batteries, and policy recommendations to address these risks. The report shall include the items described in section 4(c) of this order.
(iii) The Secretary of Defense (as the National Defense Stockpile Manager), in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a report identifying risks in the supply chain for critical minerals and other identified strategic materials, including rare earth elements (as determined by the Secretary of Defense), and policy recommendations to address these risks. The report shall also describe and update work done pursuant to Executive Order 13953 of September 30, 2020 (Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain From Reliance on Critical Minerals From Foreign Adversaries and Supporting the Domestic Mining and Processing Industries). The report shall include the items described in section 4(c) of this order.
(iv) The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a report identifying risks in the supply chain for pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients and policy recommendations to address these risks. The report shall complement the ongoing work to secure the supply chains of critical items needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, including personal protective equipment, conducted pursuant to Executive Order 14001 of January 21, 2021 (A Sustainable Public Health Supply Chain). The report shall include the items described in section 4(c) of this order.
(c) The APNSA and the APEP shall review the reports required under subsection (b) of this section and shall submit the reports to the President in an unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
(d) The APNSA and the APEP shall include a cover memorandum to the set of reports submitted pursuant to this section, summarizing the reports' findings and making any additional overall recommendations for addressing the risks to America's supply chains, including the supply chains for the products identified in subsection (b) of this section.
Sec. 4. Sectoral Supply Chain Assessments. (a) Within 1 year of the date of this order, the specified heads of agencies shall submit the following reports to the President, through the APNSA and the APEP:
(i) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a report on supply chains for the defense industrial base that updates the report provided pursuant to Executive Order 13806 of July 21, 2017 (Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States), and builds on the Annual Industrial Capabilities Report mandated by the Congress pursuant to section 2504 of title 10, United States Code. The report shall identify areas where civilian supply chains are dependent upon competitor nations, as determined by the Secretary of Defense.
(ii) The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a report on supply chains for the public health and biological preparedness industrial base (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services). The report shall complement the work conducted pursuant to section 4 of Executive Order 14001.
(iii) The Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a report on supply chains for critical sectors and subsectors of the information and communications technology (ICT) industrial base (as determined by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Homeland Security), including the industrial base for the development of ICT software, data, and associated services.
(iv) The Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base (as determined by the Secretary of Energy).
(v) The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a report on supply chains for the transportation industrial base (as determined by the Secretary of Transportation).
(vi) The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall submit a report on supply chains for the production of agricultural commodities and food products.
(b) The APNSA and the APEP shall, as appropriate and in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, recommend adjustments to the scope for each industrial base assessment, including digital networks, services, assets, and data ("digital products"), goods, services, and materials that are relevant within more than one defined industrial base, and add new assessments, as appropriate, for goods and materials not included in the above industrial base assessments.
(c) Each report submitted under subsection (a) of this section shall include a review of:
(i) the critical goods and materials, as defined in section 6(b) of this order, underlying the supply chain in question;
(ii) other essential goods and materials, as defined in section 6(d) of this order, underlying the supply chain in question, including digital products;
(iii) the manufacturing or other capabilities necessary to produce the materials identified in subsections (c)(i) and (c)(ii) of this section, including emerging capabilities;
(iv) the defense, intelligence, cyber, homeland security, health, climate, environmental, natural, market, economic, geopolitical, human-rights or forced-labor risks or other contingencies that may disrupt, strain, compromise, or eliminate the supply chain — including risks posed by supply chains' reliance on digital products that may be vulnerable to failures or exploitation, and risks resulting from the elimination of, or failure to develop domestically, the capabilities identified in subsection (c)(iii) of this section — and that are sufficiently likely to arise so as to require reasonable preparation for their occurrence;
(v) the resilience and capacity of American manufacturing supply chains and the industrial and agricultural base — whether civilian or defense — of the United States to support national and economic security, emergency preparedness, and the policy identified in section 1 of this order, in the event any of the contingencies identified in subsection (c)(iv) of this section occurs, including an assessment of:
(A) the manufacturing or other needed capacities of the United States, including the ability to modernize to meet future needs;
(B) gaps in domestic manufacturing capabilities, including nonexistent, extinct, threatened, or single-point-of-failure capabilities;
(C) supply chains with a single point of failure, single or dual suppliers, or limited resilience, especially for subcontractors, as defined by section 44.101 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations (Federal Acquisition Regulation);
(D) the location of key manufacturing and production assets, with any significant risks identified in subsection (c)(iv) of this section posed by the assets' physical location;
(E) exclusive or dominant supply of critical goods and materials and other essential goods and materials, as identified in subsections (c)(i) and (c)(ii) of this section, by or through nations that are, or are likely to become, unfriendly or unstable;
(F) the availability of substitutes or alternative sources for critical goods and materials and other essential goods and materials, as identified in subsections (c)(i) and (c)(ii) of this section;
(G) current domestic education and manufacturing workforce skills for the relevant sector and identified gaps, opportunities, and potential best practices in meeting the future workforce needs for the relevant sector;
(H) the need for research and development capacity to sustain leadership in the development of critical goods and materials and other essential goods and materials, as identified in subsections (c)(i) and (c)(ii) of this section;
(I) the role of transportation systems in supporting existing supply chains and risks associated with those transportation systems; and
(J) the risks posed by climate change to the availability, production, or transportation of critical goods and materials and other essential goods and materials, as identified in subsections (c)(i) and (c)(ii) of this section.
(vi) allied and partner actions, including whether United States allies and partners have also identified and prioritized the critical goods and materials and other essential goods and materials identified in subsections (c)(i) and (c)(ii) of this section, and possible avenues for international engagement. In assessing these allied and partner actions, the heads of agencies shall consult with the Secretary of State;
(vii) the primary causes of risks for any aspect of the relevant industrial base and supply chains assessed as vulnerable pursuant to subsection (c)(v) of this section;
(viii) a prioritization of the critical goods and materials and other essential goods and materials, including digital products, identified in subsections (c)(i) and (c)(ii) of this section for the purpose of identifying options and policy recommendations. The prioritization shall be based on statutory or regulatory requirements; importance to national security, emergency preparedness, and the policy set forth in section 1 of this order; and the review conducted pursuant to subsection (c)(v) of this section;
(ix) specific policy recommendations for ensuring a resilient supply chain for the sector. Such recommendations may include sustainably reshoring supply chains and developing domestic supplies, cooperating with allies and partners to identify alternative supply chains, building redundancy into domestic supply chains, ensuring and enlarging stockpiles, developing workforce capabilities, enhancing access to financing, expanding research and development to broaden supply chains, addressing risks due to vulnerabilities in digital products relied on by supply chains, addressing risks posed by climate change, and any other recommendations;
(x) any executive, legislative, regulatory, and policy changes and any other actions to strengthen the capabilities identified in subsection (c)(iii) of this section, and to prevent, avoid, or prepare for any of the contingencies identified in subsection (c)(iv) of this section; and
(xi) proposals for improving the Government-wide effort to strengthen supply chains, including proposals for coordinating actions required under this order with ongoing efforts that could be considered duplicative of the work of this order or with existing Government mechanisms that could be used to implement this order in a more effective manner.
(d) The APNSA and the APEP shall review the reports required under subsection (a) of this section and shall submit the reports to the President in an unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
Sec. 5. General Review and Recommendations. As soon as practicable following the submission of the reports required under section 4 of this order, the APNSA and the APEP, in coordination with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall provide to the President one or more reports reviewing the actions taken over the previous year and making recommendations concerning:
(a) steps to strengthen the resilience of America's supply chains;
(b) reforms needed to make supply chain analyses and actions more effective, including statutory, regulatory, procedural, and institutional design changes. The report shall include recommendations on whether additional offices, personnel, resources, statistical data, or authorities are needed;
(c) establishment of a quadrennial supply chain review, including processes and timelines regarding ongoing data gathering and supply chain monitoring;
(d) diplomatic, economic, security, trade policy, informational, and other actions that can successfully engage allies and partners to strengthen supply chains jointly or in coordination;
(e) insulating supply chain analyses and actions from conflicts of interest, corruption, or the appearance of impropriety, to ensure integrity and public confidence in supply chain analyses;
(f) reforms to domestic and international trade rules and agreements needed to support supply chain resilience, security, diversity, and strength;
(g) education and workforce reforms needed to strengthen the domestic industrial base;
(h) steps to ensure that the Government's supply chain policy supports small businesses, prevents monopolization, considers climate and other environmental impacts, encourages economic growth in communities of color and economically distressed areas, and ensures geographic dispersal of economic activity across all regions of the United States; and
(i) Federal incentives and any amendments to Federal procurement regulations that may be necessary to attract and retain investments in critical goods and materials and other essential goods and materials, as defined in sections 6(b) and 6(d) of this order, including any new programs that could encourage both domestic and foreign investment in critical goods and materials.
Sec. 6. Definitions. For purposes of this order:
(a) "Agency" means any authority of the United States that is an "agency" under 44 U.S.C. 3502(1), other than those considered to be independent regulatory agencies, as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(5). "Agency" also means any component of the Executive Office of the President.
(b) "Critical goods and materials" means goods and raw materials currently defined under statute or regulation as "critical" materials, technologies, or infrastructure.
(c) "Critical minerals" has the meaning given to that term in Executive Order 13953 of September 30, 2020 (Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain From Reliance on Critical Minerals From Foreign Adversaries and Supporting the Domestic Mining and Processing Industries).
(d) "Other essential goods and materials" means goods and materials that are essential to national and economic security, emergency preparedness, or to advance the policy set forth in section 1 of this order, but not included within the definition of "critical goods and materials."
(e) "Supply chain," when used with reference to minerals, includes the exploration, mining, concentration, separation, alloying, recycling, and reprocessing of minerals.
Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 24, 2021.
____________________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/24/a-proclamation-on-revoking-proclamation-10014/
A Proclamation on Revoking Proclamation 10014 | February 24, 2021 | The suspension of entry imposed in Proclamation 10014 of April 22, 2020 (Suspension of Entry of Immigrants Who Present a Risk to the United States Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak), as extended by section 1 of Proclamation 10052 of June 22, 2020 (Suspension of Entry of Immigrants and Nonimmigrants Who Present a Risk to the United States Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak), and section 1 of Proclamation 10131 of December 31, 2020 (Suspension of Entry of Immigrants and Nonimmigrants Who Continue To Present a Risk to the United States Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak), does not advance the interests of the United States. To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here. It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world. And it harms individuals who were selected to receive the opportunity to apply for, and those who have likewise received, immigrant visas through the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa Lottery. Proclamation 10014 has prevented these individuals from entering the United States, resulting, in some cases, in the delay and possible forfeiture of their opportunity to receive Fiscal Year 2020 diversity visas and to realize their dreams in the United States.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/24/a-proclamation-on-revoking-proclamation-10014/
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MR. HARRELL: Thank you very much, Jen, and thanks to all of you. It's a privilege for me to be here. As Jen said, this afternoon, the President will sign an executive order that takes a critical step in ensuring that America's supply chains can withstand any crisis, as well as supporting jobs across the country. Last year, in the early months of the pandemic, frontline healthcare workers couldn't find the masks, gloves, and PPE that they needed to keep themselves safe as they treated COVID-19 patients. Today, automakers across the country are having to take workers off factory lines because they can't get access to enough computer chips to maintain full production. Last July, President Biden committed that, as President, he would direct his administration to take a comprehensive approach to securing America's supply chains. He said then, and he will reiterate later today, that America should never face shortages of critical products in times of crisis. Our supply chain should not be vulnerable to manipulation by competitor nations. The EO that the President will sign later today formally launches the initiative President Biden committed to last year to build strong and resilient supply chains. This is the first whole-of-government approach to promoting the resilience of America's supply chains, from pharmaceuticals to foods. We're going to get out of the business of reacting to supply chain crises as they arise and get into the business of preventing future supply chain problems. As Jen said, the EO the President will sign will direct immediate 100-day reviews of supply chains for four critical products: computer chips for everything from cars to phones; large-capacity batteries, such as those used in electric cards [sic] — cars, so that America leads in making next-generation electric vehicles; pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients — the key ingredients to American medicines; and critical minerals and strategic materials, such as rare earth minerals that are essential to American industry and to America's defense base. The EO will also direct six sector-specific reviews — to be completed within one year of today — to be focused on defense, public health and biological preparedness, information and communications technology, transportation, energy, and food production. These sectoral reviews will be modeled after the process that the Defense Department uses to regularly evaluate and strengthen America's defense industrial base. Make no mistake: We are not simply planning to order up reports. We are going to be taking actions to close gaps as we identify them, just as we have been working with industry in recent weeks to ensure that U.S. automobile manufacturers have the parts they need to keep making cars here in America. But we expect that by taking this type of comprehensive approach to supply chain resilience, we'll be able to strengthen our supply chains for the long term. And with that, I'm happy to turn this over to my friend and colleague, Sameera.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
MS. FAZILI: Thank you, Peter. Creating more resilient supply chains is an opportunity for our country to come together to create well-paying jobs for workers across our country. That is why today's action reinforces the President's overarching commitment to help our country build back better. We know that even before the COVID crisis, the economy was not working for most Americans. Worker pay was too low. Many families could not make ends meet. Many of the jobs that served as the heart of the middle class had been lost due to changes in both technology and the structure of the global economy. Disruption is inevitable. But over the past few years, we have moved from crisis to crisis when some essential product was suddenly in short supply. What we need is the capacity to respond quickly when hit by a challenge. This executive order moves the whole government towards being more prepared. These sector-specific reviews that the President orders today, we're going to be asking agencies to do the following: They're going to review risks in supply chains and in our domestic industrial base. They're going to think broadly about risk. There's climate risk and geopolitical risk, but there's also risk in not having enough workers ready to meet the needs of that sector, or enough factories or the right equipment to make a good — or retool a shift — to shift to a new spike in demand for an essential good. They're going to be recommending actions to improve resiliency. In some instances, that action might be the data that government can publish so the public sector can plan and mobilize and take action. But in other instances, we have levers, like procurement authority, that we can use to support stockpiling or support some level of domestic production. We are also going to be looking for opportunities to work with Congress to give us more tools so that we can improve our preparedness. And today's conversation with members of Congress is going to be part of an ongoing conversation we've been having with them on this. Finally, a big part of this executive order is consultation with stakeholders and experts. We are going to be reaching out to talk to the American people. Government action alone will not solve complex supply chain challenges. This is going to be broad engagement, broad conversations that will include business, labor, local communities, academia. This work is going to require a new commitment to public-private partnerships, and we need all voices at that table to help us design those partnerships. This is a real opportunity to invest in the future of America and build on our nation's strengths. There are opportunities for small-business development to help diversify supplier networks and alleviate the risk of "too big to fail" companies in the supply chains for critical goods. There are opportunities to improve worker readiness and training so they have the skills needed to ramp up research, production, or distribution of a critical good. And there are opportunities to bring more jobs to communities around the country, including communities of color, to leverage the ingenuity and grit of the American people. This is going to leverage U.S. scientific leadership. It's going to further advance our research and development prowess. It will do so while also recognizing that our ability to maintain our innovative edge in research requires us to invest in both research and manufacturing in communities across America. Because when you pair thinkers and doers, that's how you create the technologies and products that help us tackle tomorrow's challenges. I want to reiterate what my colleagues have said: This work is not going to be about America going it alone. The answer to these weaknesses is not always to be to ramp up domestic production. We know these vulnerabilities affect not just American households; it's a global problem in some of these supply chains. We are committed to working with partners and allies to reduce these vulnerabilities that are affecting all of us. The work ahead builds upon America's historic legacy of making strategic investments in our future that lay the foundation for broad-based economic growth. Smart investments in research, manufacturing, domestic capacity, and our workforce has, in the past, unleashed decades of economic expansion, and an expansion that raised wages and living standards for American families across the country. We can and should build upon that legacy, and that is how we will approach the supply chain work. This problem was decades in the making. We can solve it by making smart investments that are long term in nature, that will reach families and workers in all of America.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
Delayed shipments of COVID-19 vaccine doses are anticipated to be filled in the coming days, as we noted last week, and vaccination sites have reopened and are doubling up appointments to accommodate those canceled last week. All major airports are open. All rail carriers have returned to normal operations. Interstate and state highways are open. Transit agencies are returning to normal operations. And ports are operating under normal circumstances.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
Q Thank you. So, I just wanted to see if you could confirm that the President is speaking with King Salman of Saudi Arabia today, and if he'll do that in advance of the report on Khashoggi.
MS. PSAKI: Well, as we've noted in the past, we remain committed to releasing — through the DNI, of course — an unclassified report that we expect to happen soon. I don't have an updated timeline for you on that. I know there were also reports on a proposed call. We also expect that to happen soon. We're still in the process of scheduling when will happen.
Q And what are they going to be talking about in that call?
MS. PSAKI: Well, when we have the call and the President has the call, I'm sure we'll do a readout of it. Of course, we've had engagements at many levels with the Saudis to date, but we'll do a readout once we conclude the call.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
MS. PSAKI: Well, let me first state that, as the President repeated yesterday, we're fighting for the nomination, and she and our team remain in close contact and — close touch with senators and key constituency groups. She is an expert whose qualifications are critical during this time of an unprecedented crisis. And she has rolled up her sleeves. She's very engaged and doing outreach to senators, to members on the Hill — answering any questions they have and offering to do that. And we're doing the same. I know there was an announcement about a delay of a confirmation vote today. And they put out a statement to make clear that, of course, they're going to do due diligence, as are we, to continue that outreach and continue to fight for her nomination.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
MS. PSAKI: Well, as I noted a couple of times here, but it's worth repeating: Neera Tanden has a record of working with people who disagree with her, working with people who — who have different viewpoints and different objectives and priorities. And that's something she would certainly take into the job if she's confirmed.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
MS. PSAKI: Well, there's one nominee to lead the budget department; her name is Neera Tanden, and that's who we're continuing to fight for.
Q Are there discussions about Shalanda Young?
MS. PSAKI: We are — we are focused on fighting for the person the President has nominated. Go ahead, Kaitlan.
Q On Neera Tanden, one more follow-up on that. Has she offered to withdraw her nomination yet?
MS. PSAKI: We are working in close touch with Neera, and — with Neera Tanden and with members of Congress on continuing to do the outreach and engagement to fight for her confirmation. That's where our focus is.
Q But no "yes or no," whether she's offered to withdraw?
MS. PSAKI: That's not the stage we're in, Kaitlan. We're — the stage we're in is working to continue to fight for her nomination. And as you know, it's a numbers game. Right? It's a matter of getting one Republican to support her nomination. We're continuing to do that outreach, answer questions they have, and continue to reiterate her qualifications.
Q And on the call with King Salman that's expected to happen — you said you're still working on scheduling it — does President Biden want the Saudi Crown Prince to be on that call?
MS. PSAKI: The President's intention, as is the intention of this government, is to — to recalibrate our engagement with Saudi Arabia and to have counterparts communicate with counterparts. And Prince- — he communicated — Prince Salman communicated with the Secretary of Defense; that's the appropriate line of communication. And the President will speak with the King at the appropriate time. It will be soon. And as soon as we have an update on that being finalized and, of course, when it happens, we'll provide you all with a readout.
Q I know that, again, they'll be speaking, but will he — is he okay if he's on the call?
MS. PSAKI: I would anticipate the call being directly with the King — a one-on-one call. Or a call, of course, you know, as — you know, those would be the primary participants.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
Q If the U.S. government believes that Mohammed bin Salman was behind or in some way related to the death of Jamal Khashoggi, how can this administration continue to deal with him? And in what way do you intend to?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I think we'll wait for the unclassified report to be released, which will be released through the DNI. And while I don't have an update on that, I expect that will be soon — to speak further. And, of course, as I — when I talked about recalibration, I was referring to, of course, the counterpart to counterpart, because that was, kind of, how the question was posed. But, you know, we always look — the President is taking a fresh approach to how he engages with foreign leaders around the world, and different from the prior administration. And that means he will not hold back, and he will speak out when there are concerns he has about human rights abuses, about the lack of freedom of speech or the lack of freedom of media and expression, or any concerns he has. At the same time, we have a long relationship with Saudi Arabia. They are being attacked in the region. And that is certainly an area where we continue to work with them on. But I suspect we'll have more to say when we get — post the release of that report.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
Q On an unrelated question, what is this President's view toward the loyalty that teachers union should have towards students? Teachers — this President is a strong supporter of unions — public sector unions. Is a teachers union's obligation to the workers and their concerns about safety, or is the teachers union obligation also to students?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I can't speak to the obligations or the — I'm not a spokesperson for the teachers union; I'm a spokesperson for the President of the United States. So I can convey to you that his commitment is to the students and to the teachers and to the parents who want to have their kids back in school, and he wants to do that safely. And that's what his focus is on, and that's the role he can play from the federal government.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
Q Well, a little more on this, and following on how you, sort of, think about this. We have a pretty good idea of what's in the declassified report — or when it comes out — because many elements of it leaked two years ago when it was first — first came out. If you come to the conclusion that there were any senior Saudi officials who were involved in the Khashoggi murder, would those officials be welcome to the United States? Could they conceivably be subject to criminal prosecution as accessories to a murder and thus not want to enter the United States?
MS. PSAKI ducking dodging diving: I certainly understand the line of questioning, and I know there's an eagerness for the full report to be released. I'm not going to get ahead of the policy process or the release of that report. And you'll have to come back — others will have to come back on the day after it's discuss- — released, or the days after, and we can discuss it further.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
Q Thank you, Jen. We spoke yesterday about immigration and this facility — HHS facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, for migrant children. And you said it is not "kids in cages." We've seen some photos now of containers. Is there a better description? Is it "kids in containers," instead of "kids in cages"? What is the White House's description of this facility?
MS. PSAKI: Well, let me — let me give a broader description of what's happening here. We have a number of unaccompanied minors — children — who are coming into the country without their families. What we are not doing — what the last administration did was separate those kids, rip them from the arms of their parents at the border. We are not doing that. That is immoral, and that is not the approach of this administration. These kids — we have a couple of options. We can send them back home and do a dangerous journey back. We are not doing that either; that is also putting them at risk. We can quickly transfer them from CBP to these HHS-run facilities. That's one option. Or we can put them with families and sponsors without any vetting. There were some problems that that process ran into as well. We've chosen the middle option. And these HHS facilities — this is one of them you're referring to — we had to expand and open additional facilities because there was not enough space in the existing facilities, and — if we were to abide by COVID protocols. That's the process and the step this facility in Texas, which has been reopened, has been revamped, has been — there are teachers, there is medical facilities. And our objective is to move them — move these kids quickly from there to vetted, sponsored families and to places where they can safely be. This is a difficult situation. It's a difficult choice. That's the choice we've made.
Q So just one step back from that. We've been talking to people down at the border who say that, right now, DHS and the Border Patrol are using the same kind of facilities now that they did during the Trump administration, and there's a facility right now — it's in Donna, Texas, instead of McAllen, Texas, but it's tents and chain-link fence around it. And so —
MS. PSAKI: A CBP facility before they're transferred to the HHS facilities? Is that what you're referring to?
Q Yes. And the issue would be that, just in the last couple days, they had hundreds of kids that they were holding for over 72 hours, which is the legal limit to keep somebody in a temporary facility. So I'm just curious: Why is this happening?
MS. PSAKI: Well, let's be clear though, because I know you want to be clear with the public —
Q Yes.
MS. PSAKI: — about the differences. The CBP facilities — which you're right: The objective is to move kids, unaccompanied minors, as quickly as possible, under 72 hours, to these HHS-sponsored facilities, which is the one where we've been referring to in Texas. They are two different things. There has been some — there were some delays last week because of weather and because some of these facilities to safely move these kids to did not have power and were not in a place where they could — they had the capacity to take in these kids and do it safely. That is not our objective; that is not our goal. So some, unfortunately, did stay four days, five days, or longer. But the objective is to move them as quickly as possible to the HHS-sponsored facilities.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
MS. PSAKI: — of the tweet that was — that she shared. But I would say the difficulty is what I outlined earlier: We have kids coming across the border. It is heartbreaking. I think we all, as human beings, are heartbroken — as parents, as mothers, as fathers too. We only have a couple of choices. What we are not doing is dividing these kids and separating them from their parents at the border, which is what the last administration did and why President Biden — or then-candidate Biden and then-candidate Harris were outspoken at the time about these kids being pulled from their parents. What we are doing is working as quickly as possible to process these kids into these HHS facilities, which have been revamped, which have medical and educational services available, so that we can then transfer them to families. That's what our approach is.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
Q About the President's visit on Friday. So the President's infrastructure plan includes a promise to, quote, "modernize [the] nation's electric grid, making it smarter and more resilient." Can that be done without federal oversight of the Texas grid, which we all got a reminder is not under federal oversight?
MS. PSAKI: You're right. And some parts of Texas are on the — are on the federal grid. As you well know, as somebody who knows a lot about Texas. Look, I think there's going to be a lot of time in the future to have a discussion and debate about what weather- — weatherization, what preparations should have been taken in advance. We're not going to have that debate today. We're not going to have that debate on Friday. The President is going to Texas because he wants to show this support, because he wants to survey the damage on the ground, see how people are impacted, see how we can tap into additional resources in the federal government. As you know, and as I noted at the top, Texas is still in a state of emergency. There are millions of people who are impacted. We can have a policy debate later. Right now we're going to help the people who are still suffering and going through a really challenging time.
Q Does the President consider what happened in Texas last week — and as you know, we still have the aftereffects — does he consider that to be a natural disaster or a manmade disaster? And how does that affect the policy response?
MS. PSAKI: Well, again, there'll be a policy discussion. And I'm sure, as we look ahead to delivering on the President's Build Back Better agenda — as you know, he's been a longtime fan of infrastructure. He loves infrastructure. So one of the things that I'm sure we'll be talking about in the months ahead, but — and protecting our nation's critical infrastructure, which we all know is outdated. But we're not going to put new labels on it today. We're just going to focus on how we make sure people have drinking water; how people have — you know, not in the cold; how families have a place to live. And we will have plenty of time to have a policy debate.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
Q Thank you, Jen. I have two questions on Iran and Yemen. On Iran, the President opted for diplomacy, but there's worries in the region, and Europe as well, that the ballistic missile development and Iran's interference in the region might not be addressed or linked to the nuclear file. Can you assure us that actually this is the case? And second, do you believe that Iran is testing your resolve in Iraq by attacking the Green Zone and Erbil Airport recently?
MS. PSAKI: Well, first, on the first question, can you just say the last part of it again? You were saying — I'm sorry, masks make it difficult.
Q I know. Whether you guys are going to link the ballistic missiles development and Iran's interference in — for Arab countries to the nuclear file, or are you guys — just leave it separately? Because there are worries that, actually, you're very eager to secure a deal and you're going to leave this behind, like it happened in 2015.
MS. PSAKI: Well, first, the President's — Iran is a long way from compliance, as you well know from covering this issue quite closely. And the President has been clear that if Iran comes back into full compliance with its obligations, we will do the same and, of course, then use that as the platform to build a longer and stronger agreement, including addressing ballistic missiles and many of the concerns that, as you noted, countries in the region, our European partners have about the actions of Iran. But we are not at that point. The point we are at is that the United States has expressed an openness to an invitation to have a diplomatic conversation. That's the stage we are at. As you know, we have not taken any steps to roll back on sanctions — or to provide, I should say, sanctions relief as has been requested. And we are in a place where we're waiting to see if Iran will — you know, what their response will be to the Europeans' invitation.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
Caught off guard: Q Iraq.
MS. PSAKI: Well — the attacks in Iraq, I should say. Well, first, we have not made a final attribution of — but I — of the attacks. We will — I will say, as you know, the President spoke with the Prime Minister last night. They — this was an extensive part of the conversation. We do hold Iran accountable for the actions of their proxies. And, of course, we reserve the right to respond in a manner and at a time of our choosing, but we will respond in a way that's calculated, on our timetable, and using a mix of tools seen and unseen. What we will not do — and what we've seen in the past — is lash out and risk an escalation that plays into the hands of Iran by further destabilizing Iraq. And that is our priority.
Q And if I may, on Yemen: Since you unlisted the Houthis as a terrorist organization, do you believe that the humanitarian situation has improved, considering that now they are trying to take Marib, which is a big city? And some say that they may be emboldened by lifting them from the terror list.
MS. PSAKI: Yes. And, as you know, our issue has never been with the people of Yemen. Right? And certainly the humanitarian situation has been a longtime concern. I don't have an assessment of the humanitarian situation on the ground. I — the State Department is likely going to have the best assessment of that, but I can also talk to them, or you can, of course, reach out them directly to get an assessment.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/24/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-24-2021/
White House chief of staff Ron Klain says on MSNBC they are "fighting our guts out" to get Neera Tanden confirmed. If not confirmed, they won't try to make her acting director, but will put her in a role that doesn't require Senate confirmation.
https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1364729766134358018
Lovato is going to MITRE, per two people familiar with the matter. I'm told he's going to be the director of their new National Election Security Lab, which will help test and analyze non-voting election equipment (which isn't covered by current federal guidelines).
https://twitter.com/ericgeller/status/1364726808189558789
A person familiar with the matter confirms that Jerome Lovato, who leads the EAC's testing and certification team, is leaving next month. Not great timing, what with the EAC just recently approving VVSG 2.0. Lovato's team needs to work with vendors and test labs to implement it.
https://twitter.com/ericgeller/status/1364671338951155713
NBA announces Devin Booker is Anthony Davis' injury replacement for the All-Star Game.
https://twitter.com/kylegoon/status/1364722083465363458?s=21
Georgia Counties Sue Trump for Expenses From His Failed Voting Fraud Suit
https://www.courthousenews.com/georgia-counties-sue-trump-for-expenses-from-his-failed-voting-fraud-suit/
Goran Dragic to Make Long-Awaited Return Tonight vs. Toronto Raptors
https://heatnation.com/game-news/miami-heat-goran-dragic-available-tonight-toronto-raptors/
Roger Marshall's argument for not raising the minimum wage is that he had a minimum wage job and it paid for his entire college tuition. When he graduated from Kansas State University, tuition was $898/year. It is now $10,000/year. The minimum wage then was $3.35. It's now $7.25
https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1364657790900449282
As Biden considers how to respond to SolarWinds, he faces the same problem that Obama faced in late 2016: we're uniquely vulnerable to Russian cyber retaliation.
https://nytimes.com/2021/02/23/us/politics/solarwinds-hack-senate-intelligence-russia.html
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/24/what-terrible-things-did-neera-tanden-tweet-truth/
What terrible things did Neera Tanden tweet? The truth.
Dana Milbank
Feb. 24, 2021 at 7:11 p.m. EST
Can you believe that Neera Tanden called Hillary Clinton the "anti-Christ" and the "real enemy"?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ryan-zinke_n_4702765
Oh, wait. It was Ryan Zinke who said those things. Fifty-one Republican senators (and several Democrats, including Joe Manchin III of West Virginia) confirmed him as secretary of the interior in 2017.
And how about the times Tanden allegedly called the NAACP a "pinko organization" that "hates white people" and used racial epithets?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/12/02/jeff-sessionss-comments-on-race-for-the-record/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/21/jeff-sessions-trump-attorney-general-racial-slur
My bad. That was Jeff Sessions. Again, 51 Republican senators (and one Democrat, Manchin) voted to confirm him as attorney general in 2017.
Surely Tanden went beyond the pale when she "liked" a tweet calling then-Secretary of State John F. Kerry a "traitor" and "Vietnam's worst export," and when she suggested Clinton supporters leave the country.
https://nypost.com/2018/04/10/pompeo-turns-to-foes-clinton-kerry-for-advice-before-hearings/
Except Mike Pompeo was the one who did those things. He won confirmation as secretary of state in 2018 with the votes of 50 Republicans and six Democrats, including Manchin.
But, really, the most appalling thing Tanden said was that Muslims have a "deficient theology" and they "stand condemned."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/31/russell-vought-trump-saboteur-undermine-biden-america/
Whoops. That wasn't Tanden but Russell Vought. Just last year, 51 Republicans voted to confirm him as director of the Office of Management and Budget — the same position Tanden is up for now.
Now, all 50 Senate Republicans, assisted by Manchin, are on the cusp of sinking Tanden's nomination because they object to her harsh tweets. Many have noted the hypocrisy, particularly when compared with the treatment of Richard Grenell, an online troll who won confirmation as ambassador to Germany with 50 Republican votes — and Manchin, natch — despite routinely disparaging women's appearances.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/02/24/neera-tanden-omb/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/richard-grenell-mitt-romney-online-attacks_n_1442726?1335105527=
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=2&vote=00085
But this isn't just about double standards. What really must sting about Tanden's tweets is not that they were mean, but that, for the most part, they were true.
In June 2019, she lashed out at then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for blocking bipartisan attempts to protect U.S. elections from foreign attack. "Can people on here please focus their ire on McConnell and the GOP senators who are Up This Cycle who enable him?" she asked in one deleted tweet.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/neera-tanden-mean-tweeted-gop-lawmakersuntil-she-needed-their-votes
Such pressure eventually forced McConnell to allow for more funds for election security.
Another deleted tweet charged: "Apparently a lot of people think #MoscowMitch is a threat."
A lot of people did. I wrote that his determination to thwart bipartisan election protections made him a "Russian asset."
After then-President Donald Trump called former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman a "crazed, lying lowlife" and a "dog," Tanden's now-deleted tweet said: "Trump just called a black woman a dog and about 80% of the GOP don't think he's racist. The whole party needs to be defeated in November."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/02/politics/kfile-neera-tanden-deleted-tweets-slamming-gop/index.html
Couldn't have said it better myself.
After Trump endorsed Senate candidate Roy Moore in Alabama and the Republican National Committee poured money into supporting Moore, accused by several women of sexually assaulting them as teenagers, Tanden's now-deleted tweet responded: "The Republican party is gleefully supporting an alleged child molester. And everyone who gives money to the RNC is doing the same."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/woman-says-roy-moore-initiated-sexual-encounter-when-she-was-14-he-was-32/2017/11/09/1f495878-c293-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0_story.html
Tough but fair.
She made a tactical mistake calling Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) "the worst" for taking Brett M. Kavanaugh's word over his sexual-assault accuser's, calling the theatrically dour Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) a "fraud" and saying Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Cancún) is as heartless as a "vampire." (But if the shoe fits . . .)
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/10/susan-collinss-kavanaugh-sexual-assault/572347/
Tanden, unlike most of the Trump nominees, apologized for her tone and promised that her words as a public official would be different. She explained that "the last several years have been very polarizing."
I feel the same way. I wince at some of the caustic and ad hominem things I wrote during the Trump era. Trump made almost all of us angrier.
Trump abandoned norms of democracy and decency and stoked racial hatred and violence. But equally infuriating was that elected Republican officials did almost nothing to stop him. In the end, 147 Republicans voted to overturn the election results, even after the bloody insurrection in the Capitol, and 43 Senate Republicans just voted to acquit Trump.
We all want healing. We all want unity. But it won't happen as long as the Party of Trump assigns Democrats sole responsibility for civility, while using President Biden's admirable talk of unity as a cudgel. Collins moralized about Tanden representing "the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend." In other words, apology not accepted.
And it's not just Tanden. Senate Republicans this week teed off on Biden's interior secretary nominee, Deb Haaland, another woman of color, over her 2020 tweet saying that "Republicans don't believe in science." Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who has cast doubt on the human role in climate change, called the tweet "concerning."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/23/deb-haaland-confirmation-hearing-interior-secretary
No, senator. What's "concerning" is that, after four years of excusing lies, racism, vulgarity, lawbreaking and self-dealing by the Trump administration, your idea of healing is to defeat Biden nominees for speaking the truth.
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Two men have been charged in Malta with providing the bomb that killed anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks" who exposed cronyism and sleaze within Malta's political and business elite
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210225-two-charged-with-supplying-bomb-that-killed-maltese-journalist
2 dead after Philippine Police and Drug Enforcement Agents shoot at each other after undercover narcotics operation
https://www.rappler.com/nation/pnp-pdea-shootout-bungled-buy-bust-operation-ever-gotesco-quezon-city
First successful birth of critically endangered Malayan tiger cubs at Wildlife Reserves Singapore in 23 years
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/wrs-tiger-cubs-first-birth-23-years-night-safari-endangered-14277868
Dort beats the Spurs at the Buzzer with the 3
https://streamable.com/62ijos
SGA Tonight: 42/8/4 on 13/20 shooting, 6/11 from three and 10/11 from the line
The Utah Jazz (26-6) defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (22-11), 114 - 89
Mitchell drives through the lane and throws it down
https://streamable.com/467lwi
Jarrett Allen tonight: 26 points, 18 rebounds, and 5 blocks on 10-11 shooting
Donovan Mitchell makes an incredible 3 to beat the shot clock and put Utah up 26 against the Lakers
https://streamable.com/td78xv
The Utah Jazz Closes Off Their Toughest 9 Game Stretch of the Season with an 8-1 record, finishing with a 25 point victory over LeBron James
Booker leans in to Hayward for the 3 AND 1. Hornets challenged and was unsuccessful
https://streamable.com/56kik1
The Atlanta Hawks (14-18) defeat the Boston Celtics (15-17), 127 - 112
Danilo Gallinari catches fire as he finishes with 38 points on 13/16 FGs and 10/12 3PTs with Hawks blowing out the Celtics
The Charlotte Hornets (15-16) defeat the Phoenix Suns (20-11) 124-121 behind 29 points from Malik Monk and 20/4/8 from LaMelo Ball
Zach Lavine Tonight: 35/2/2 on 14/21 shooting, 5/8bfrom three and 2/2 from the line
Zion tonight: 32/6/5 on 13/18 FG and 6/9 from the line
Draymond with the near triple double tonight: 12pts, 9rebs, 11asts, 3stls with the game clinching steal and free throws.
Patty Mills costly double-dribble with 3.9 left
https://streamable.com/imzgta
After tonight's loss against the Bulls, Karl-Anthony Towns is now averaging 51.5-40.3-94.8 through 13 games with per game numbers of 22.5 pts, 10.7 reb, 4.2 ast, 1 stl, 1.8 blk on 32.8 min.
Biden reverses Trump/Republican illegal and unconstitutional ban on legal immigration and reverses illegal and unconstitutional ban on federal funding for sanctuary cities
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/24/executive-order-on-the-revocation-of-certain-presidential-actions/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/24/a-proclamation-on-revoking-proclamation-10014/
Section 1. Revocation of Presidential Actions. The following Presidential actions are revoked: Executive Order 13772 of February 3, 2017 (Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System), Executive Order 13828 of April 10, 2018 (Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility), Memorandum of January 29, 2020 (Delegation of Certain Authority Under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute), Executive Order 13924 of May 19, 2020 (Regulatory Relief To Support Economic Recovery), Memorandum of September 2, 2020 (Reviewing Funding to State and Local Government Recipients of Federal Funds That Are Permitting Anarchy, Violence, and Destruction in American Cities), Executive Order 13967 of December 18, 2020 (Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture), and Executive Order 13979 of January 18, 2021 (Ensuring Democratic Accountability in Agency Rulemaking).
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/24/executive-order-on-the-revocation-of-certain-presidential-actions/
________________________________
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/politics/cherokee-nation-black-freedmen.html
Cherokee Nation Addresses Bias Against Descendants of Enslaved People
The tribe's Supreme Court excised language from its constitution that limited the citizenship rights of descendants of Black people who had been enslaved by the tribe before the Civil War.
By Mark Walker
Feb. 24, 2021
WASHINGTON — It has been a long-running point of racial friction between members of the Cherokee Nation and thousands of descendants of Black people who had been enslaved by the tribe before the Civil War.
Through a series of legal and political battles, those descendants, known as Freedmen, have been pushing to win equal status as members of the tribe, including the right to run for tribal office and receive full benefits like access to tribal health care and housing. And this week the Oklahoma tribe took another big step to resolve the issue by eliminating from its Constitution language that based citizenship on being descended "by blood" from tribal members listed on a late 19th-century census.
The change effectively codified in the Cherokee Constitution the effects of a 2017 federal court ruling that held that the Cherokee Freedmen should have all the rights of tribal citizens, based on an 1866 treaty that laid out the terms of emancipation. Julie Hubbard, a spokeswoman for the Cherokee Nation, said there had been about 2,900 enrolled Freedmen citizens before the 2017 ruling; another 5,600 have become enrolled citizens since then.
The Cherokee Nation is one of the largest tribes in the country with more than 380,000 enrolled citizens. More than half live within the tribe's reservation in northeastern Oklahoma.
"This is a big win because what this means is that the tribal government, including the tribal courts, are working to uphold the 1866 treaty obligation to the Freedmen," said Marilyn Vann, a Cherokee citizen and president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association.
The Cherokee and other Native American nations originally in the South had purchased enslaved Black people as laborers in the 18th and 19th centuries, and had brought them along when they were driven westward by white settlers.
After the Civil War, the practice ended with the 1866 treaty, which also guaranteed that freed Black people and their descendants would "have all the rights and privileges of native Cherokees."
But what followed were broken promises, exclusions and painful fights that only escalated in the past several decades over whether tens of thousands of descendants of the Freedmen were being afforded equal rights by the Cherokee Nation.
The latest development came on Monday, when the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court issued a ruling that removed the "by blood" language from the Cherokee Nation Constitution and made any related laws illegal.
"The 'by blood' language found within the Cherokee Nation Constitution, and any laws which flow from that language, is illegal, obsolete and repugnant to the ideal of liberty," the ruling states. "These words insult and degrade the descendants of Freedmen much like the Jim Crow laws found lingering on the books in Southern state some fifty-seven years after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act."
Sara Hill, the attorney general for the Cherokee Nation, said she pushed for the removal language after it was used to delegitimize Ms. Vann's candidacy for an at-large tribal council seat. When Ms. Vann declared her candidacy in December, a challenger and citizens claimed she did not meet the tribe's "by blood" constitutional requirement.
The complaints referred to a 2007 amendment to the tribe's constitution "to limit citizenship in the Cherokee Nation to only those persons who were descended from individuals who appeared on the Dawes Rolls as Cherokee, Shawnee or Delaware by blood."
More than 75 percent of Cherokee citizens had voted in 2007 to approve the amendment. The Dawes Rolls were lists of tribal members assembled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
"I saw those words being thrown around as if people wanted to give them new meaning again, and I thought it was time to get those words removed from our law and our constitution," Ms. Hill said, "because I could see they were being used to belittle and demean the rights of Cherokee Freedmen."
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. of the Cherokee Nation said the tribal nation needed to confront its history of enslaving humans and the lasting repercussions of failing to recognize the Freedmen as citizens. Mr. Hoskin said the tribe had shifted toward recognizing the Freedmen after the 2017 ruling and believed removing any anti-Freedmen language from its Constitution was fulfilling a promise made by its ancestors.
"The United States government has broken all of its treaty obligations," he said. "The Cherokee Nation is better than that."
"We ought to be a nation that keeps its word," he said. "I think this just reaffirms that what we are doing is the right thing, which is achieving the equality our ancestors believed in 155 years ago."
Similar legal challenges are unfolding in other tribal communities. The Freedmen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation were given the same right as Cherokee Freedmen under the same 1866 treaty. But they were disenfranchised from the tribal nation in 1979 and are still fighting for re-entry.
"The Cherokee Nation Supreme Court equalized their nation by removing racist lingo which had established an unfair class system based on race instead of nationality," said Eli Grayson, a Muscogee (Creek) citizen, who has Freedmen ancestors. "Does my heart good to know this tribe can move away from an unequal government to government for all. Hope the Creek Nation will follow."
Mark Walker is the FOIA coordinator in the Washington bureau of The New York Times. He was raised in Savannah and graduated from Fort Valley State University. Previously, he was an investigative reporter at the Argus Leader in South Dakota. @bymarkwalker
A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 25, 2021, Section A, Page 15 of the New York edition with the headline: Cherokee Address Bias Against Slave Descendants. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe
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If minimum wage had kept up with inflation, it would be over $20 an hour.
The problem with Republicans demands and comparisons to the 9/11 Commission is that the Democrats back then also agreed the 11th Sept 2001 attacks happened and were a bad thing, whereas Republicans either refuse to acknowledge the pro-Trump terrorist attack happened or agree that it did happen but fully defend it as necessary to steal back the country from Democrats who stole the election and want to kill babies and steal guns and empty prisons and open borders etc. Everybody knew the 2001 9/11 Commission would blame Saudi Arabia and Bin Laden and Islamist ideology whereas everybody knows the 2021 pro-Trump terrorist attack Commission would blame Republicans, including the very Republicans on the Commission.
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It was immensely frustrating to hear on @MorningEdition today the vaccine reported as 66% effective, which is misleadingly low. PLEASE, if you're going to report on this vaccine, make a point of including efficacy in preventing severe disease and death, not just total infections.
https://twitter.com/WFKARS/status/1364918673723564034
President Biden Revokes Trump's Controversial Classical Architecture Order
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/25/971312635/president-biden-revokes-trumps-controversial-classical-architecture-order
Annapolis sues 26 oil and gas firms for concealing knowledge of climate change
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/540170-annapolis-sues-26-oil-and-gas-firms-alleging-they-concealed
The U.S. Senate, 64-35, voted to confirm Jennifer Granholm to be Secretary of Energy
https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1364996500556681216
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Zlj6Jr23D4a-Ajzh1VtC_5HGB55DGO-leVWzQkTc1h8/edit#gid=1830138682
@RepWexton: "It's been almost two months. Will you commit to having public press briefings in the future?"
Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman: "No, ma'am. Not at this time."
https://c-span.org/video/?509246-1/acting-us-capitol-police-chief-house-sergeant-arms-testify-january-6-capitol-attack
False claims about family ties are rare — in May 2019, BuzzFeed found that fewer than 1 percent of the family units apprehended at the southern border in the prior year had lied about family membership or said that someone over the age of 18 was a child.
https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1364997650068611074
In May 2019, just a month after Nielsen resigned as secretary, DHS began a pilot program to conduct DNA testing at the border using that company's technology.
https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1364997647312908288
The program had the stated goal of determining the veracity of migrants' claimed family relationships, which Nielsen and other Trump administration officials had claimed were often fake.
https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1364997648906772485
Abbott admits failure from all power sources after initially blaming green energy
https://newsweek.com/greg-abbott-admits-failure-all-power-sources-after-initially-blaming-green-energy-1571931
Psaki tacitly acknowledges Biden's 3 nominees to @USPS board of governors is about removing PMG DeJoy: "The Postal Service needs leadership that can and will do a better job."
The hearing ends with a lot of frustration being expressed by panel chair Rep. Tim Ryan D-OH. He tells the Acting Police Chief that it's "mind boggling" that the FBI warning about possible January 6 violence was not seen by top officials at USCP. "I mean, what's going on?"
https://twitter.com/jamiedupree/status/1364995238071324673
More than 10,000 pro-Trump rioters entered the Capitol grounds and about 800 of them breached the building during the Jan. 6 attack, the acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police told lawmakers today, per @MarshallCohen.
https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1364994270541701120
Speaker Pelosi on the looming Senate parliamentarian ruling: "We are very, very pleased with the case that has been made. We will pass— we will pass a minimum wage bill. We must pass a minimum wage bill."
Militia groups tied to Capitol riot discussed planning attack during State of the Union | Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda D. Pittman said on Thursday that the militia groups tied to the January 6 Capitol riots discussed plans of a similar attack during the State of the Union. While testifying before the House Appropriations subcommittee, Pittman said: "We know that the insurrectionists that attacked the Capitol weren't only interested in attacking members of Congress and officers. They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation as who was in charge of that legislative process." "We know that members of the militia groups that were present on January 6 have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with the direct nexus to the State of the Union, which we know that date has not yet been identified," Pittman added.
https://www.newsweek.com/militia-groups-tied-capitol-riot-discussed-planning-attack-during-state-union-acting-chief-says-1572113
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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/25/joe-biden-student-debt-american-students
Biden is already backtracking on his promises to provide student debt relief
Let's be clear: whatever he may say, Biden absolutely has the power to unilaterally cancel all federal student debt
Astra Taylor
At his recent town hall, Joe Biden made a series of convoluted and condescending comments about American student debt. His remarks cast doubt on his ability, or willingness, to confront this country's ballooning student loan crisis. Within hours, #cancelstudentdebt was trending on Twitter.
Biden's rambling justification of the status quo was peppered with straw men, invocations of false scarcity and non-solutions. He pitted working-class Americans against each other, implying that people who attend private schools aren't worthy of relief, as though poor students don't also attend such schools. He said that money would be better spent on early childhood education instead of debt cancellation, as if educators aren't themselves drowning in student debt, and as if we can't address both concerns at once. He suggested relying on parents or selling a home at a profit to settle your debt, a luxury those without intergenerational wealth or property cannot afford. And he touted various programs, including Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), that have totally failed borrowers: over 95% of PSLF applicants have been denied.
In contrast to Biden's smug comments, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley recently revealed that she defaulted on her student loans. Similarly, at a recent Debt Collective event, congressional hopeful Nina Turner said that she and her son owe a combined $100,000. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has, of course, proudly confessed to being in debt, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said that becoming a congressperson was easier than paying off her debt. Philadelphia councilmember Kendra Brooks (who is planning to introduce a city resolution calling on the Biden administration to cancel all student debt) has also spoken out about her own struggles as a borrower. Their experience and candor – and commitment to real solutions including cancellation – demonstrate why we need debtors, not millionaires, in our public offices.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ayanna-pressley-student-loan-debt-default-experience-204802776.html
https://twitter.com/astradisastra/status/1363264134717014017
https://sports.yahoo.com/stacey-abrams-im-running-governor-200000-debt-191600455.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/25/aoc-it-was-easier-to-get-elected-than-to-pay-off-my-student-loans.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/will-president-biden-cancel-student-loan-debt-99821125638
Let's be clear about another thing. Biden absolutely has the legal authority to use executive power to cancel all federal student debt. Congress granted this authority decades ago as part of the Higher Education Act. It's even been put to the test: in response to the Covid pandemic, Donald Trump and his former education secretary, Betsy DeVos, used that authority three times to suspend payments and student loan interest.
As he rambled on, Biden gave the distinct impression that he preferred not to have the power to do so. That way he could blame Congress should his campaign promises go unkept. (The day after the town hall, Biden's press secretary, Jen Psaki, attempted to clarify her boss's remarks about whether he will use executive authority to cancel student debt. She stated that the administration was still considering the possibility.)
Adding to the confusion, Biden seemed unable to keep his own campaign pledges straight, muddling his student debt cancellation proposals. For the record, he campaigned on two distinct planks. One: "immediate" cancellation of $10,000 for every borrower as a form of Covid relief. Two: the cancellation of all undergraduate student loans for debt-holders who attended public universities and HBCUs and who earn up to $125,000 a year. Keeping these two promises is the absolute minimum the Biden administration needs to do to keep the public's trust.
https://joebiden.com/racial-economic-equity/
But the Biden administration should, and can, do much more. Biden should cancel all student debt using executive authority. It is the simplest way the new administration can help tens of millions of people who are being crushed by the double whammy of unpayable loans and an economy-destroying pandemic.
Yet, to date, all the Biden administration has done for this country's 45 million student debtors is extend Trump and DeVos's federal student loan payment suspension. Continuing a flawed Republican policy is hardly a progressive victory – especially not for the 8 million FFEL borrowers who are unconscionably left out of the moratorium.
Biden owes this country debt relief not only because he campaigned on it, but because he helped cause the problem. A former senator from Delaware, the credit card capital of the world, he spent decades carrying water for financial interests and expanding access to student loans while limiting borrower protections.
Biden's record shows that he won't address the problem without being pushed. Indeed, the fact that the president has embraced debt cancellation at all (however inadequate his proposals) is testament to ongoing grassroots efforts. The Debt Collective, a group I organize with, has been pushing for student debt abolition and free public college for nearly a decade. On 21 January, we launched the Biden Jubilee 100 – 100 borrowers on debt strike demanding full cancellation within the administration's first hundred days. A growing list of senators and congresspeople have signed on to resolutions calling on Biden to cancel $50,000 a borrower using executive authority. (It's worth noting that the $50,000 figure is based on outdated research. After three years of rapidly rising debt loads, the scholars behind it now recommend $75,000 of cancellation.) A growing chorus of voices from across the country and a range of backgrounds are shouting in unison: cancel student debt.
https://biden100.debtcollective.org/
https://twitter.com/StrikeDebt
Biden's brand is empath-in-chief, but on student debt he is alarmingly out of touch. The president has shared that his own children borrowed for college and noted that he was the "poorest man in Congress" – meaning the poorest man in a body of millionaires. He didn't question the ease with which his well-connected kids got well-compensated jobs enabling them to repay their loans, nor mention that people his age were able to go to college without being burdened by a mountain of debt. All people want today is the same opportunity that Biden and his peers had.
Instead of acknowledging this generational disparity, Biden reiterated a common criticism of more generous forms of student debt cancellation – that it would help the privileged, specifically the minuscule subset of debt-holders who attended the Ivy League. But as Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response: "Very wealthy people already have a student loan forgiveness program. It's called their parents." As things stand, poor and working people typically pay more for the same degrees than their affluent counterparts due to years or decades of monthly payments and accumulating interest. Our debt-financed higher education system is a tax on poor people who dare pursue a better life.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/19/very-small-share-of-student-loan-borrowers-attended-elite-colleges-.html
Imagine if, instead of defending the status quo, Biden used his platform to articulate the social benefits of cancelling student debt. He could have said that cancelling student debt will support 45 million Americans and provide an estimated trillion-dollar economic boost over the next decade and create millions of desperately needed jobs. He could have spoken about canceling student debt as a way to help close the racial wealth gap, acknowledging that Black borrowers are the most burdened, or talked about how education should be free and accessible to all if we want to expand opportunity and deepen democracy. He could have acknowledged that cancellation will help struggling seniors, especially those having their social security checks garnished because of student loan defaults. He could have mentioned that debt cancellation is popular, even among many Republicans, and that eliminating it will help his party stay in power.
He didn't say any of that, and so we have to say it. Debtors have to get organized, connecting online and protesting in the streets. We live in a period of intersecting crises. Some of them are very difficult to solve. But cancelling student debt is easy. By refusing to act, the president and his administration are choosing to perpetuate a system that causes profound, pointless, and preventable harm.
Astra Taylor is the author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone, and an organizer with the Debt Collective
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On his first day on the job, @SecVilsack outlined @USDA efforts to fight Covid. He said about 350 USDA employees are "engaged in a variety of activities to promote the vaccinations," including veterinarians to administer shots and Forest Service personnel to help with logistics.
https://twitter.com/stark_talk/status/1365000578401673217
.@SecVilsack also announced @USDA will be investing $42 million in grants to assist rural communities, $24 million of which was provided through the CARES Act. He said these investments in health care and educational opportunities would benefit 5 million rural residents.
https://twitter.com/stark_talk/status/1365002152914034692
Tanden did what a lot of us on twitter do: She went for the dopamine hit, again and again. Over the past few years, she tweeted that "a vampire has more heart than Ted Cruz," compared McConnell to Voldemort, and called Collins "criminally ignorant." It wasn't just Republicans she angered; she was also known for tweaking left-wing rivals like Senator Bernie Sanders, suggesting in one tweet that Russia had helped Sanders in the 2016 election. Some have detected sexism in the sudden rush to scold her, but Tanden stands out among Biden's Cabinet nominees for the edginess of her social media posts. To some extent, this was part of Tanden's job: as a president of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress and a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, she was frequently deployed as an attack dog, especially during campaigns and news crises. And Twitter was a natural ally in that work; like Washington, it was also a place where making all the right people mad could be an asset.
Georgia Senate Republicans will likely walk back many of the strictest changes in their omnibus voting bill after voting rights groups, Democrats and even some Republicans said eliminating no-excuse absentee voting isn't necessary.
https://gpb.org/news/2021/02/25/georgia-senate-committee-considers-walking-back-proposal-limit-absentee-voting
Sen. John Thune, opposing $15 min wage, says he earned $6 as a kid a hundred years ago. That $6 an hour from a hundred years ago is $24 today.
https://www.newsweek.com/sen-john-thune-opposing-15-min-wage-says-he-earned-6-kidthats-24-inflation-1571915
The NBA announces that NBA Rising Stars "will not be played this year due to the limitation of having All-Star events all on one night" ... but the league says it "will still recognize deserving players" by releasing its Rising Stars rosters on March 3.News
https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/1364995389955264512
The Kings announce the signing of Norvel Pelle to a 10-day deal
https://twitter.com/thesteinline/status/1365002793485021192
White House leaves door open to boycotting 2022 Beijing Olympics as pressure grows
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/25/white-house-leaves-door-open-to-boycotting-2022-beijing-olympics-as-pressure-grows.html
Rep. Tim Ryan says the issue of "reconnaissance tours" given by members of Congress to alleged rioters before the attack was now "in the hands of the U.S. attorney here in D.C." He said they were "reviewing the footage."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/25/police-chief-militias-want-blow-up-capitol-target-biden-speech/6817819002/
Russell Wilson "stormed out" after his ideas for fixing Seattle's offense were dismissed
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/02/25/report-russell-wilson-stormed-out-after-his-ideas-for-fixing-seattles-offense-were-dismissed/
Russell Wilson has told the Seahawks he wants to play in Seattle but, if a trade were considered, the only teams he would go to are the Cowboys, Saints, Raiders and Bears, his agent Mark Rodgers said to ESPN.
https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/1365020918767112197
Sean Payton Said Jameis Winston Will Replace Drew Brees
https://lastwordonsports.com/nfl/2021/02/24/cameron-jordan-sean-payton-jameis-winston-replace-drew-brees/
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Inside A Battle Over Race, Class And Power At Smith College
A student said she was racially profiled while eating in a college dorm. An investigation found no evidence of bias. But the incident will not fade away.
By Michael Powell
Feb. 24, 2021
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — In midsummer of 2018, Oumou Kanoute, a Black student at Smith College, recounted a distressing American tale: She was eating lunch in a dorm lounge when a janitor and a campus police officer walked over and asked her what she was doing there.
The officer, who could have been carrying a "lethal weapon," left her near "meltdown," Ms. Kanoute wrote on Facebook, saying that this encounter continued a yearlong pattern of harassment at Smith.
"All I did was be Black," Ms. Kanoute wrote. "It's outrageous that some people question my being at Smith College, and my existence overall as a woman of color."
The college's president, Kathleen McCartney, offered profuse apologies and put the janitor on paid leave. "This painful incident reminds us of the ongoing legacy of racism and bias," the president wrote, "in which people of color are targeted while simply going about the business of their ordinary lives."
The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN picked up the story of a young female student harassed by white workers. The American Civil Liberties Union, which took the student's case, said she was profiled for "eating while Black."
Less attention was paid three months later when a law firm hired by Smith College to investigate the episode found no persuasive evidence of bias. Ms. Kanoute was determined to have eaten in a deserted dorm that had been closed for the summer; the janitor had been encouraged to notify security if he saw unauthorized people there. The officer, like all campus police, was unarmed.
Smith College officials emphasized "reconciliation and healing" after the incident. In the months to come they announced a raft of anti-bias training for all staff, a revamped and more sensitive campus police force and the creation of dormitories — as demanded by Ms. Kanoute and her A.C.L.U. lawyer — set aside for Black students and other students of color.
But they did not offer any public apology or amends to the workers whose lives were gravely disrupted by the student's accusation.
This is a tale of how race, class and power collided at the elite 145-year-old liberal arts college, where tuition, room and board top $78,000 a year and where the employees who keep the school running often come from working-class enclaves beyond the school's elegant wrought iron gates. The story highlights the tensions between a student's deeply felt sense of personal truth and facts that are at odds with it.
Those tensions come at a time when few in the Smith community feel comfortable publicly questioning liberal orthodoxy on race and identity, and some professors worry the administration is too deferential to its increasingly emboldened students.
"My perception is that if you're on the wrong side of issues of identity politics, you're not just mistaken, you're evil," said James Miller, an economics professor at Smith College and a conservative.
In an interview, Ms. McCartney said that Ms. Kanoute's encounter with the campus staff was part of a spate of cases of "living while Black" harassment across the nation. There was, she noted, great pressure to act. "We always try to show compassion for everyone involved," she said.
President McCartney, like all the workers Ms. Kanoute interacted with on that day, is white.
Faculty members, however, pointed to a pattern that they say reflects the college's growing timidity in the face of allegations from students, especially around the issue of race and ethnicity. In 2016, students denounced faculty at Smith's social work program as racist after some professors questioned whether admissions standards for the program had been lowered and this was affecting the quality of the field work. Dennis Miehls, one of the professors they decried, left the school not long after.
Then in the autumn of 2019, the religious studies department proposed a class on Native American religion and spirituality. A full complement of students registered but well before classes began, a small contingent of Native American students and allies pasted bright red posters on buildings on campus reviling the course as harmful, intrusive and disrespectful and attacking the instructor, who was young, white and not on a tenure track. He had an academic background in this field and had modeled his course on that of his mentor, who was a well-known professor and a member of the Choctaw Nation.
The administration declined to challenge the student protesters and had the instructor submit to sessions of "radical listening" with the protesters. In the end, the religious studies department dropped the class.
The atmosphere at Smith is gaining attention nationally, in part because a recently resigned employee of the school, Jodi Shaw, has attracted a fervent YouTube following by decrying what she sees as the college's insistence that its white employees, through anti-bias training, accept the theory of structural racism.
"Stop demanding that I admit to white privilege, and work on my so-called implicit bias as a condition of my continued employment," Ms. Shaw, who is also a 1993 graduate of Smith and who worked in the residential life department, said in one of her videos. After months of clashing with the administration, Ms. Shaw resigned last week and appears likely to sue the school, calling it a "racially hostile workplace."
Her claims drew headlines from Fox News to Rolling Stone this week. Alumni, faculty and students continue to debate the issue. All of this arose from the events of July 31, 2018.
A Summer Day
Ms. Kanoute, New York-raised, a 5-foot-2 runner and science student, was the first in her family, which had emigrated from Mali, to attend college. She worked that summer as a teaching assistant and on July 31 awoke late and stopped at the Tyler House dormitory cafeteria for lunch on her way to the gym. This account of what unfolded next is drawn from the investigative report and dozens of interviews, including with a lawyer for Ms. Kanoute, who declined several interview requests.
Student workers were not supposed to use the Tyler cafeteria, which was reserved for a summer camp program for young children. Jackie Blair, a veteran cafeteria employee, mentioned that to Ms. Kanoute when she saw her getting lunch there and then decided to drop it. Staff members dance carefully around rule enforcement for fear students will lodge complaints.
"We used to joke, don't let a rich student report you, because if you do, you're gone," said Mark Patenaude, a janitor.
Ms. Kanoute took her food and then walked through a set of French doors, crossed a foyer and reclined in the shadowed lounge of a dormitory closed for the summer, where she scrolled the web as she ate. A large stuffed bear obscured the view of her from the cafeteria.
A janitor, who was in his 60s and poor of sight, was emptying garbage cans when he noticed someone in that closed lounge. All involved with the summer camp were required to have state background checks and campus police had advised staff it was wisest to call security rather than confront strangers on their own.
The janitor, who had worked at Smith for 35 years, dialed security.
"We have a person sitting there laying down in the living room," the janitor told a dispatcher according to a transcript. "I didn't approach her or anything but he seems out of place."
The janitor had noticed Ms. Kanoute's Black skin but made no mention of that to the dispatcher. Ms. Kanoute was in the shadows; he was not sure if he was looking at a man or woman. She would later accuse the janitor of "misgendering" her.
A well-known older campus security officer drove over to the dorm. He recognized Ms. Kanoute as a student and they had a brief and polite conversation, which she recorded. He apologized for bothering her and she spoke to him of her discomfort: "Stuff like this happens way too often, where people just feel, like, threatened."
That night Ms. Kanoute wrote a Facebook post: "It's outrageous that some people question my being at Smith, and my existence overall as a woman of color."
Her two-paragraph post hit Smith College like an electric charge. President McCartney weighed in a day later. "I begin by offering the student involved my deepest apology that this incident occurred," she wrote. "And to assure her that she belongs in all Smith places."
Ms. McCartney did not speak to the accused employees and put the janitor on paid leave that day.
Stumbles Over Race
Ms. McCartney and her staff talk often of their social justice mission, and faculty say this has seeped into near every aspect of the college. Students can now obtain a minor in social justice studies. That said, the president had stumbled in ways that left her bruised by the time of the 2018 incident.
In 2014, she moderated an alumnae discussion in New York on free speech. A white female panelist argued it was a mistake to ban Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" because he used the N-word; that panelist then uttered the word in hopes, she said, of draining the word of its ugly power. Students denounced Ms. McCartney for failing to denounce that panelist. The president requested forgiveness.
Later in 2014 she wrote to the college community, lamenting that grand juries had not indicted police officers in the deaths of Black men. "All lives matter," Ms. McCartney concluded in an inadvertent echo of a conservative rallying cry. Again, Smith students denounced her and again she apologized.
Ms. McCartney appeared intent on making no such missteps in 2018. In an interview, she said that Ms. Kanoute deserved an apology and swift action, even before the investigation was undertaken. "It was appropriate to apologize," Ms. McCartney said. "She is living in a context of 'living while Black' incidents."
The school's workers felt scapegoated.
"It is safe to say race is discussed far more often than class at Smith," said Prof. Marc Lendler, who teaches American government at the college. "It's a feature of elite academic institutions that faculty and students don't recognize what it means to be elite."
The repercussions spread. Three weeks after the incident at Tyler House, Ms. Blair, the cafeteria worker, received an email from a reporter at The Boston Globe asking her to comment on why she called security on Ms. Kanoute for "eating while Black." That puzzled her; what did she have to do with this?
The food services director called the next morning. "Jackie," he said, "you're on Facebook." She found that Ms. Kanoute had posted her photograph, name and email, along with that of Mr. Patenaude, a 21-year Smith employee and janitor.
"This is the racist person," Ms. Kanoute wrote of Ms. Blair, adding that Mr. Patenaude too was guilty. (He in fact worked an early shift that day and had already gone home at the time of the incident.) Ms. Kanoute also lashed the Smith administration. "They're essentially enabling racist, cowardly acts."
Ms. Blair has lupus, a disease of the immune system, and stress triggers episodes. She felt faint. "Oh my G-d, I didn't do this," she told a friend. "I exchanged a hello with that student and now I'm a racist."
Ms. Blair was born and raised and lives in Northampton with her husband, a mechanic, and makes about $40,000 a year. Within days of being accused by Ms. Kanoute, she said, she found notes in her mailbox and taped to her car window. "RACIST" read one. People called her at home. "You should be ashamed of yourself," a caller said. "You don't deserve to live," said another.
Smith College put out a short statement noting that Ms. Blair had not placed the phone call to security but did not absolve her of broader responsibility. Ms. McCartney called her and briefly apologized. That apology was not made public.
By September, a chill had settled on the campus. Students walked out of autumn convocation in solidarity with Ms. Kanoute. The Black Student Association wrote to the president saying they "do not feel heard or understood. We feel betrayed and tokenized."
Smith officials pressured Ms. Blair to go into mediation with Ms. Kanoute. "A core tenet of restorative justice," Ms. McCartney wrote, "is to provide people with the opportunity for willing apology, forgiveness and reconciliation."
Ms. Blair declined. "Why would I do this? This student called me a racist and I did nothing," she said.
The Investigative Report and the Aftermath
On Oct. 28, 2018, Ms. McCartney released a 35-page report from a law firm with a specialty in discrimination investigations. The report cleared Ms. Blair altogether and found no sufficient evidence of discrimination by anyone else involved, including the janitor who called campus police.
https://www.smith.edu/sites/default/files/media/Documents/President/investigative-report.pdf
Still, Ms. McCartney said the report validated Ms. Kanoute's lived experience, notably the fear she felt at the sight of the police officer. "I suspect many of you will conclude, as did I," she wrote, "it is impossible to rule out the potential role of implicit racial bias."
The report said Ms. Kanoute could not point to anything that supported the claim she made on Facebook of a yearlong "pattern of discrimination."
Ms. McCartney offered no public apology to the employees after the report was released. "We were gobsmacked — four people's lives wrecked, two were employees of more than 35 years and no apology," said Tracey Putnam Culver, a Smith graduate who recently retired from the college's facilities management department. "How do you rationalize that?"
Rahsaan Hall, racial justice director for the A.C.L.U. of Massachusetts and Ms. Kanoute's lawyer, cautioned against drawing too much from the investigative report, as subconscious bias is difficult to prove. Nor was he particularly sympathetic to the accused workers.
"It's troubling that people are more offended by being called racist than by the actual racism in our society," he said. "Allegations of being racist, even getting direct mailers in their mailbox, is not on par with the consequences of actual racism."
Ms. Blair was reassigned to a different dormitory, as Ms. Kanoute lived in the one where she had labored for many years. Her first week in her new job, she said, a female student whispered to another: There goes the racist.
Anti-bias training began in earnest in the fall. Ms. Blair and other cafeteria and grounds workers found themselves being asked by consultants hired by Smith about their childhood and family assumptions about race, which many viewed as psychologically intrusive. Ms. Blair recalled growing silent and wanting to crawl inside herself.
The faculty are not required to undergo such training. Professor Lendler said in an interview that such training for working-class employees risks becoming a kind of psychological bullying. "My response would be, 'Unless it relates to conditions of employment, it's none of your business what I was like growing up or what I should be thinking of,'" he said.
A few professors have advised Ms. McCartney to stand up more forcefully for line workers lest she lose their loyalty.
Asked in the interview about employees who found the training intrusive, the president responded: "Good training is never about making people too uncomfortable or to feel ashamed or anything. I think our staff is content and are embracing it."
Coda
In addition to the training sessions, the college has set up "White Accountability" groups where faculty and staff are encouraged to meet on Zoom and explore their biases, although faculty attendance has fallen off considerably.
The janitor who called campus security quietly returned to work after three months of paid leave and declined to be interviewed. The other janitor, Mr. Patenaude, who was not working at the time of the incident, left his job at Smith not long after Ms. Kanoute posted his photograph on social media, accusing him of "racist cowardly acts."
"I was accused of being the racist," Mr. Patenaude said. "To be honest, that just knocked me out. I'm a 58-year-old male, we're supposed to be tough. But I suffered anxiety because of things in my past and this brought it to a whole 'nother level."
He recalled going through one training session after another in race and intersectionality at Smith. He said it left workers cynical. "I don't know if I believe in white privilege," he said. "I believe in money privilege."
As for Ms. Blair, the cafeteria worker, stress exacerbated her lupus and she checked into the hospital last year. Then George Floyd, a Black man, died at the hands of the Minneapolis police last spring, and protests fired up across the nation and in Northampton, and angry notes and accusations of racism were again left in her mailbox and by visitors on Smith College's official Facebook page.
This past autumn the university furloughed her and other workers, citing the coronavirus and the empty dorms. Ms. Blair applied for an hourly job with a local restaurant. The manager set up a Zoom interview, she said, and asked her: "'Aren't you the one involved in that incident?'"
"I was pissed," she said. "I told her I didn't do anything wrong, nothing. And she said, 'Well, we're all set.'"
She talked to a reporter recently from a neighbor's backyard, as a couple of hens wandered the patio.
"What do I do?" she asked, shaking her head. "When does this racist label go away?"
Michael Powell is a national reporter covering issues around free speech and expression, and stories capturing intellectual and campus debate. @powellnyt
A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 25, 2021, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Tensions Simmer Over Race and Class at Smith. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe
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Ex-USA Gymnastics Coach John Geddert Faces 24 Charges, from Human Trafficking to Sexual Assault, in Case Linked to Larry Nassar
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/usa-gymnastics-coach-john-geddert-faces-24-charges-from-human-trafficking-to-sexual-assault-in-case-linked-to-larry-nassar/
Klain has done an admirable job holding the party together on the stimulus bill. The fact that so many leftist and progressive voices are defending Neera Tanden - including leftists she shredded for years - speaks to the underlying support for the WH decision to stand firm for $1.9 trillion budget for checks, vaccines, unemployment, school reopening, aid to states/localities, etc.
Biden says the U.S. will distribute Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine as fast as the company can make them. (The company's latest estimate is 20 million doses by the end of next month.)
Big news for unemployed: Today the Biden Admin announced that workers WILL still be eligible for unemployment (PUA) if they turn down unsafe jobs.
https://washingtonpost.com/business/2021/02/25/biden-unemployment-unsafe-pandemic/
Really weak: Readout of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Call with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia
February 25, 2021 • Statements and Releases
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia to address the longstanding partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Together they discussed regional security, including the renewed diplomatic efforts led by the United Nations and the United States to end the war in Yemen, and the U.S. commitment to help Saudi Arabia defend its territory as it faces attacks from Iranian-aligned groups. The President noted positively the recent release of several Saudi-American activists and Ms. Loujain al-Hathloul from custody, and affirmed the importance the United States places on universal human rights and the rule of law. The President told King Salman he would work to make the bilateral relationship as strong and transparent as possible. The two leaders affirmed the historic nature of the relationship and agreed to work together on mutual issues of concern and interest.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/25/readout-of-president-joseph-r-biden-jr-call-with-king-salman-bin-abdulaziz-al-saud-of-saudi-arabia/
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/25/remarks-by-president-biden-at-an-event-commemorating-the-50-millionth-covid-19-vaccine-shot/
Remarks by President Biden at an Event Commemorating the 50 Millionth COVID-19 Vaccine Shot
February 25, 2021 • Speeches and Remarks
South Court Auditorium
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
3:19 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you all. Dr. Fauci, thanks for your leadership, thanks for being here.
Two weeks ago, I spent some time with you and Dr. Francis Collins — excuse me — the Director of the National Institute of Health, at NIH, and gave me a tour of the Vaccine Research Center in Bethesda, Maryland. And it's the place where our top scientists spend years researching and developing vaccines and treatments of all kinds of — for all kinds of viruses.
The brilliant team there made possible the rapid deployment and development of COVID-19 vaccines, and they're truly remarkable. And this administration will follow the science to deliver more breakthroughs.
You now, we are doing that to beat COV- — COVID-19 and other diseases, like cancer — which is something that's so personal to so many families, including me and Kamala's and many of yours. We've asked Dr. Eric Lander, a renowned Harvard-MIT scientist, to serve as my science advisor and head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and co-lead the President's Cou- — the Presidential Council on Advisory Science and Technology.
These are the White House offices that bring together the country's top scientists to address our most pressing needs, and they'll be part of the work to develop a DARPA-like advanced research effort on cancer and other diseases, just like we do DARPA in the Defense Department, which develops breakthrough projects to secure our national security.
And relatedly, I'm delighted to see five of the nation's leading cancer centers are joining forces today to build on the work of the Cancer Moonshot I was able to do during the Obama-Biden administration to help break through silos and barriers in cancer research. We're making progress.
There is so much we can do, so much progress within our reach. And that's why I'm thankful to the folks here today for getting their vaccine shots: Gerald Bunn, who — and Corey Hamilton, both D.C. firefighters. I said to Corey, you know, that old expression, "G-d made man, and then he made a few firefighters." Thank G-d we have them. And Linda — Linda Bussey is a manager at a Safeway grocery store in Bethesda. Victoria Legerwood Rivera, who is a local school counselor. And Elizabeth Galloway, who is a registered nurse who administered these shots.
And the more people get vaccinated, the faster we're going to beat this pandemic. That's why one of my first goals in office when I — just before I was sworn in, I indicated that my goal was to get 100 million COVID-19 vaccine shots in people's arms in my first 100 days as President.
At first, critics said that goal was too ambitious; no one could do that. And then they said it was too small. But the bottom line, though, is that America will be the first country — perhaps the only one — to get that done.
And today, I'm here to report we're halfway there: 50 million shots in just 37 days since I've become President. That's weeks ahead of schedule, even with the setbacks we faced during the recent winter storms, which devastated millions of Midwestern — Midwestern cities, towns, and also the same in the South.
We're moving in the right direction, though, despite the mess we inherited from the previous administration, which left us with no real plan to vaccinate all Americans. And every time we administer another 50 million shots, I'm going to use that milestone to report to the American people on our vaccination program and on our overall fight against this pandemic. The good and the bad, I'll tell you; the success and the failures.
And here's the deal — here's the deal: The story of this vaccination campaign is like the story of everything hard and new America does: some confusion and setbacks at the start, and then if we do the right things, we have the right plan to get things moving. That's what we're seeing right now.
Weeks before I became President, the previous administration saw 6 million shots administered in the last week. This coming week, we will administer over 12 million shots, double the pace, in just six weeks that we've been in office.
Other milestones: We've increased vaccination distribution to states by 70 percent. Nearly 60 percent of people over the age of 75 have now received at least one shot. It was 14 percent six weeks ago. And close to 50 percent of people over the age of 65 have at least one shot now. It was 8 percent six weeks ago. It's important because people over 65 account for 80 percent of all the COVID deaths.
Additionally, about 75 percent of the people who live in long-term facilities have gotten their first shot. And those cases are at the lowest level since reporting began in May.
Here's how we've been doing it: It starts with increasing the supply. My team has worked very hard with vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer and Moderna, to ensure we have enough supply for all adult Americans by the end of July. When we discovered the vaccine manufacturers weren't being prioritized when it came to securing supplies they needed to make the vaccine, we fixed the problem. I used the Defense Production Act to speed up the supply chain for key equipment, which has already helped increase vaccine production.
Last week, I toured the Pfizer facility — manufacturing facility in a plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It's an incredible — it's incredible the precision, the safety, the pride, and the sense of purpose everyone involved in that process and project has.
We've all seen the news about Johnson & Johnson's vaccine. The idea of a third safe and effective vaccine is very promising. The Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, is viewing the data and review recommendations from an outside committee of experts that will be meeting tomorrow.
Now, let me be clear: We are going to do this the right way. The FDA will decide on an emergency use authorization of a vaccine based on science, not due to any political pressure from me or anyone else. No outside factors.
What I will say to the American people is this: If — if the FDA approves the use of this new vaccine, we have a plan to roll it out as quickly as Johnson & Johnson can make it. We'll use every conceivable way to expand manufacturing of the vaccine, and we'll make even more rapid progress on overall vaccines in March.
I'll have more to say about this in the days after the FDA review.
Look, we've been laser-focused on the greatest operational challenge this country has ever undertaken: administering shots in the arms of hundreds of millions of Americans. We're increasing the number of vaccinators. What we found was, you may have the vaccine but not enough people put the vaccinate — vaccine in someone's arm, like you just saw.
We brought back retired doctors and nurses. We've already deployed more than 1,500 medical personnel you see during national disasters, from the Federal Emergency — the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA; and we commissioned — our Commissioned Corps from the Department of Health and Human Services; and the Defense Department, including the National Guard — supplying vaccinators. We're lining up thousands more to do the vaccinations.
We're also setting up more places for people to get vaccinated. As of today, we provided $3.8 billion to states, territories, and tribes to create hundreds of new vaccination centers and ramp up the existing ones that are there already; working with governors across the country, in red and blue states, to bolster their efforts to stand up hundreds of vaccination centers — from stadiums, to community centers, houses of worship, large parking lots.
We're providing personnel and equipment, and covering the costs for the states, including for the use of their National Guard, which have been — they're incredible.
Today, Jill and I — or I should say, tomorrow, Jill and I will travel to Houston, Texas, to tour one of the first federal mass vaccination centers and to thank everyone involved.
This is an example of the kind of partnership between federal, state, and local governments, and public and private partners, that's going to get this job done.
We also sent millions of vaccines to thousands of local pharmacies all across America to make it easier for folks to get the vaccine shot like they would their flu shot — going to a familiar place, familiar folks that they can trust and know to get the shot.
And for folks who didn't live near — don't live near a vaccination center or a pharmacy, we're deploying mobile units. These are special vehicles and pop-up clinics that meet folks where they live and where they don't have transportation to get the shots — to get to the places to get the shots.
We've also started to send vaccines directly to community health centers to help the hard — the hard-to-reach folks in cities and small towns, in rural communities; in black, Latino, Native American communities that have higher rates of COVID infections and deaths than any other groups.
As a result of these round-the-clock efforts, in five weeks, America has administered the most shots of any country in the world — any country in the world — with among the highest percentage of population fully vaccinated. That's progress we promised.
And it's also true that while COVID-19 vaccinations are up, COVID cases and hospitalizations are coming down. But I need to be honest with you: Cases and hospitalizations could go back up with new variants as they emerge.
So I want to make something really very clear: This is not a time to relax. We must keep washing our hands, stay socially distanced, and for G-d's sake — for G-d's sake, wear a mask.
Some of our progress in this fight is because so many Americans are stepping up and doing those things. And the worst thing we could do now is let our guard down.
Of course, it's my hope to come back in the next — next report that we've — after we've done another 50 million — another 50 million shots before the end of my first 100 days.
But here's the critical point. As hard as it is now to believe, we're going to hit a phase in this effort, maybe as late as April or May, where many predict that instead of long lines of people waiting to get a shot, we'll face a very different scenario: We'll have the vaccine waiting. We'll have ramped up vaccine supplies. We'll have administrative — folks to administer the shots to the most of the people who aren't eager to get the shots. At least that's been the prediction.
I don't think — I think — I don't think it's going happen; I think the more people see other people getting the shots, it's going to build confidence.
But, you know, at the same time, there are people who live in hard-to-reach areas who can't get them. And there are folks who are hesitant to take the shot in the first place. And we all know there's a history in this country of subjecting certain communities to terrible medical and scientific abuse.
But if there is one message that needs to cut through, it's this: The vaccines are safe and effective. And I believe as you see your neighbor, your husband, your wife, your son, your daughter getting it, that you will be much more inclined to get it.
Listen to Dr. Fauci. Listen to the scientists who developed these vaccines, and the extensive and rigorous review that it went through. I did. I took my shots publicly to demonstrate to the American people that it's safe and effective.
But the time is coming, maybe 60 to 90 days, when the supply is adequate but not enough people can access the shots or don't want them. To address that challenge, we're going to launch a massive campaign to educate people about vaccines: that they are safe and effective, and where to go to get those shots in the first place. And we're going to bring together leaders of all segments of our society to educate and encourage all Americans to get vaccinated.
So I hope the Senate will soon confirm a key leader of that effort, my nominee for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, who did so well in his hearing this week.
And I hope Congress passes the American Rescue Plan, which I've been pushing, which provides funds for everything we need to do to beat this pandemic and to get the economy going again.
Now, critics say the plan is too big, that it costs too much. But let me ask a rhetorical question: What would you have me cut? What would you have me cut out? On vaccines alone, if we don't invest 20 million — billion dollars to vaccinate the nation — doesn't that make sense? Or $160 billion in total towards the pandemic for testing, to protective gear, to vaccine production and distribution?
I'm ready to hear any ideas on what will make the American Rescue Plan better, stronger, and effective. But we'll have to answer who will get helped and who will get hurt.
I want to close with this: The question I ask — I'm asked most often is, "When will things get back to normal?" My answer is always honest and straightforward. I can't give you a date. I can only promise that we'll work as hard as we can to make that day come as soon as possible.
While things are improving, and we're going from a mess we inherited to moving in the right direction, at significant speed, this is not a victory lap. This — everything is not fixed. We have a long way to go. And that day, when everything gets back to normal, depends on all of us. It depends on Congress passing the American Recovery Act — research plan — recovery plan. And also for us to remain vigilant, to look out for one another.
I've said it before: Wash your hands. Stay socially distanced. Wear a mask. Get the vaccine when it's your turn. When your friend or neighbor or loved one is eligible, encourage them to get vaccinated.
And when all — above all, remember: We can do this. This is the United States of America. There is nothing we can't do when we do it together. So it's not over yet, but we're getting close. And G-d willing, if we do all we know we have to do, we're going to beat this; beat it sooner than later.
And may G-d bless you all, and may G-d protect our troops. Thank you for your time.
3:36 P.M. EST
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Good: Minnesota Timberwolves guard Malik Beasley -- a Most Improved Player candidate -- is being suspended 12 games by the NBA for conduct stemming from charges in offseason
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1365067200923652099
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has apologized to Masai Ujiri for comments he made in the wake of the Raptors president's disturbing confrontation with a sheriff's deputy minutes after Toronto's first championship.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/article/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-offers-apology-raptors-masai-ujiri/
Biden bombs Syria
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/25/us-airstrike-syria-rocket-attacks-471680
Mitch McConnell says he would vote for Trump again days after saying he was 'practically and morally responsible' for the deadly insurrection
https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-mcconnell-says-he-would-support-trump-despite-capitol-siege-2021-2
Derrick Rose is making his first start since being traded to the Knicks, replacing the injured Elfrid Payton. He joins RJ Barrett, Reggie Bullock, Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel in the starting 5 for the Knicks against Sacramento
The Texas freeze's silent victims: wildebeest, gemsbok antelope and other 'exotic' animals
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-texas-freezes-silent-victims-wildebeest-gemsbok-antelope-and-other-exotic-animals/2021/02/24/643921c4-76eb-11eb-9537-496158cc5fd9_story.html
Trump judge illegally and unconstitutionally orders people who cannot pay rent because of covid19 financial losses to be evicted
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/540617-judge-rules-cdc-eviction-moratorium-unconstitutional
House Democrats to keep minimum wage hike in Covid19 relief bill for Friday vote
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/540639-house-dems-to-keep-minimum-wage-hike-in-covid-relief-bill-for-friday-vote
Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny has been moved from prison in Moscow to an unknown destination, aides say. He was taken from the remand prison without any notification being given to his supporters and may have been sent to a prison camp, they added.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56204719
U.S. military helicopters have been spotted repeatedly flying at low altitudes of 300 meters or less between Tokyo skyscrapers, contravening aviation regulations for Japanese aircraft
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210224/p2a/00m/0na/006000c
Nuggets blow a 4 one 1 in the final possession
https://streamable.com/7dtyka
Luke Walton takes out his frustration with the Kings loss on a clipboard
https://streamable.com/jwberf
Immanuel Quickley in Knicks win tonight: 25 pts, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound on 5/10 FG, 3/6 from three, and 12/12 from FT
Dwight Howard backing up Joel Embiid tonight: 16 minutes, 14 points (6-7 FG; 2-2 FT), 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 1 steal.
The Memphis Grizzlies (14-14) defeat the Los Angeles Clippers (23-11), 122 - 94
Phone Records Prove House Sergeant-at-Arms Did Ignore Pleas for Backup. He was part of the pro-Trump terrorist attack.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/capitol-police-chief-yogananda-pittman-proves-pleas-to-house-sergeant-at-arms-paul-irving-were-ignored
A 2017 Jen Psaki tweet questioning the legality of bombing Syria is reemerging after Biden launched an air strike
https://www.businessinsider.com/psaki-questioned-legal-basis-bomb-syria-years-before-biden-strike-2021-2
Tom Brady expected to be sidelined for several months after undergoing surgery on his left knee
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/tom-brady-expected-to-be-sidelined-for-several-months-after-undergoing-surgery-on-his-left-knee/
White House insists there will be a $15 minimum wage despite stimulus block: 'Biden is committed'
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/25/statement-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki/
The Atlanta Dream, co-owned by former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler, have been sold to a three-member investor group that includes former Dream star Renee Montgomery
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1365346944974020609
Putin critic Alexey Navalny has been transferred to a penal colony
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/26/europe/navalny-penal-colony-russia-intl/index.html
Islamic terrorists abduct 317 schoolgirls in northwest Nigeria because the Democratically-elected Nigerian government is itself an Islamic terrorist regime
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-security-kidnapping/gunmen-take-317-schoolgirls-in-nigerias-latest-mass-abduction-idUSKBN2AQ0RL
Fracking permanently banned in Delaware River Basin
https://www.nj.com/news/2021/02/fracking-permanently-banned-in-delaware-river-basin.html
HOW ABOUT YOU STOP DETAINING THEM AND LET THEM LIVE THEIR FUCKING LIVES? THEY ALREADY HAVE FAMILY IN THE US WHO ARE READY TO TAKE THEM IN. THEY. ALREADY. HAVE. FAMILY. HERE. WAITING. FOR. THEM. STOP ARRESTING THEM ALREADY. LEAVE THEM LIVE THEIR FUCKING LIVES: Biden admin is preparing to open another tent facility in Del Rio, Texas, for minors and families crossing border
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/immigration-facility-del-rio-texas/2021/02/26/a317bed4-7847-11eb-ae66-8b9e3c6918a1_story.html
The Raptors announce that 6 members of the coaching staff, including Nick Nurse, will not be on the bench beginning with tonight's game vs Houston due to the health and safety protocols.
https://twitter.com/JLew1050/status/1365375902956347396
Biden Won't Penalize Saudi Crown Prince Over Khashoggi's Sadistic Murder
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/politics/biden-mbs-khashoggi.html
The killing of Jamal Khashoggi was an unjust and gruesome crime and should pause the U.S.-Saudi relationship, not happily continue it. The United States must ensure everyone involved in this appalling crime is held accountable, including Mass Murdering Genocider Terrorist Mohammed bin Salman, whose role in this murder has now been publicly affirmed. Democrats as always are COWARDS.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/blog/2021/02/26/a-return-to-science-evidence-based-estimates-of-the-benefits-of-reducing-climate-pollution/
A Return to Science: Evidence-Based Estimates of the Benefits of Reducing Climate Pollution
February 26, 2021 • Blog
On January 27, 2021, President Biden issued a Memorandum directing Federal agencies to make decisions guided by the best available science and data. Today, we are taking an important early step in bringing evidence-based principles back into the process of estimating the benefits of reducing climate pollution.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/memorandum-on-restoring-trust-in-government-through-scientific-integrity-and-evidence-based-policymaking/
The evidence is clear that climate change is real and is already having economic consequences. The 2018 National Climate Assessment underscored the fact that climate change presents growing challenges to human health, safety, quality of life, and economic growth. We can see economic costs associated with climate change in more frequent and/or intense extreme weather events like wildfires, severe storms, and flooding, as well as the ways climate change disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable in society, particularly lower-income communities, communities of color, and Tribal communities. As decision-makers develop policies, they must incorporate the very real costs of climate change to current and future generations into their decisions.
https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/
One specific tool — called the "social cost of greenhouse gases" — combines climate science and economics to help Federal agencies and the public understand the benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The metric is a range of estimates, in dollars, of the long-term damage done by one ton of greenhouse gas emissions.
The use of this metric by the U.S. Government began in the Bush Administration and was later standardized across agencies in the Obama Administration. The Obama Administration created an Interagency Working Group of technical experts across the Federal Government to develop uniform estimates, subject to extensive public comment, in order to ensure that agencies utilized the best available science and economics. However, the previous Administration disbanded the Interagency Working Group that had developed and refined these estimates and issued revised estimates based on assumptions that did not rely on the best available science or have the benefit of dedicated public comment. It also failed to implement 2017 recommendations from the experts at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that the Interagency Working Group had requested to ensure that these estimates continued to be in line with the latest science and economics.
https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/707776.pdf
https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/assessing-approaches-to-updating-the-social-cost-of-carbon
This Administration will follow the science and listen to the experts. In a first-day executive order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis, President Biden reconvened the working group of technical experts from across the Federal Government and instructed them to restore the science- and economics-based approach to estimating climate damages.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01765/protecting-public-health-and-the-environment-and-restoring-science-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis
The Interagency Working Group — co-chaired by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Office of Management and Budget, and Council of Economic Advisers — today announced it is replacing the previous Administration's estimates with the estimates developed prior to 2017, adjusted for inflation. This interim step will enable Federal agencies to immediately and more appropriately account for climate impacts in their decision-making while we continue the process of bringing the best, most up-to-date science and economics to the estimation of the social costs of greenhouse gases.
Today's step restores three critical aspects of these estimates. First, the estimates put in effect today were subject to an extensive and robust process, including public notice and comment. A 2014 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report also concluded that the Interagency Working Group followed a "consensus-based" approach, relied on peer-reviewed academic literature, and disclosed relevant limitations when finalizing the estimates we are restoring today.
https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-663
Second, these estimates take global damages into account. COVID-19 has re-emphasized the ways in which events on the other side of the globe can harm us here. Climate impacts abroad can affect the United States in many ways, including through supply chain disruptions, market volatility, and effects on our national security. In addition, climate actions taken by the United States and other countries under the Paris Agreement will benefit all countries, including the United States. Just as we expect and encourage other countries to consider the climate impact of their actions on us, we should take the global benefits of our actions into account.
Third, these estimates use the discount rates (the approach to calculating the present-day value of future climate damages) previously established by the Interagency Working Group. Restoring these rates puts these interim values in better alignment with the intergenerational nature of the climate challenge and the approaches taken in the peer-reviewed literature than the estimates used while the Interagency Working Group was disbanded.
A more complete update that follows the best science takes time. This is why we are quickly restoring the prior estimates as an interim step. With these estimates temporarily in place, the Interagency Working Group will continue its critical work to evaluate and incorporate the latest climate science and economic research and respond to the National Academies' recommendations as we develop a more complete revision of the estimates for release within a year. Research, such as our understanding of the appropriate approach to discounting, has advanced rapidly over the past few years and we are collecting dedicated public comment through an upcoming Federal Register notice on how to improve our approach.
As this process proceeds, we are committed to engaging with the public and diverse stakeholders, seeking the advice of ethics experts, and working to ensure that the social cost of greenhouse gases consider climate risk, environmental justice, and intergenerational equity. The result will be even stronger science-based estimates developed through a transparent and robust process.
Heather Boushey is a Member of the Council of Economic Advisers.
(On behalf of the Interagency Working Group Co-chairs)
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The NBA has promoted Jayson Tatum to All-Star starter in place of Kevin Durant, with Domas Sabonis joining the roster, the league announced.
https://twitter.com/JaredWeissNBA/status/1365412033949298692
Durham was appointed by President Trump to investigate the investigators at DOJ, on the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, and had been elevated to a Special Counsel by ex-AG Barr. Durham leaves without busting anyone.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/us-attorney-durham-announces-departure-office
If you want to watch dramatic moment at the @UN when Myanmar's Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun denounces the "illegal & unconstitutional military coup" and says the people of #Myanmar are united in fighting to restore democracy, streaming here (starts @ 32:30): https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1950
https://twitter.com/SamanthaJPower/status/1365393309699510273
When you cross a phrase popularized by Nazi-sympathizing American isolationists with the syntax of a famous segregationist declaration you get: Josh Hawley closes out with "America now, America first, America forever." I immediately thought of George Wallace's 1963 inaugural, then figured: It would be smart to troll the media into thinking he interpolated the Wallace quote so he could say the media is smearing him.
https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1365402943747485697
The House vote on a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package is TBD. The Rules Committee is still meeting on amendments to the bill. It means floor debate / votes might not happen until very late, leading to the "THEY VOTED IN THE MIDDLE OF NIGHT" kind of attacks.
Officials said a consensus developed inside the White House that the price of that breach, in Saudi cooperation on counterterrorism and in confronting Iran, was simply too high. For Biden, the decision was a telling indication of how his more cautious instincts kicked in, and it will deeply disappoint the human rights community and members of his own party who complained during the Trump administration that the United States was failing to hold the crown prince, known by his initials M.B.S., accountable for his role.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/politics/biden-mbs-khashoggi.html
_________________________
https://www.state.gov/accountability-for-the-murder-of-jamal-khashoggi/
Accountability for the Murder of Jamal Khashoggi
Press Statement
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
February 26, 2021
In October 2018, the world was horrified by the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, in the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Individuals should be able to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms without fear of government retribution, retaliation, punishment, or harm. Jamal Khashoggi paid with his life to express his beliefs. President Biden said in a statement released last October on the second anniversary of the murder that Mr. Khashoggi's death would not be in vain, and that we owe it to his memory to fight for a more just and free world.
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration submitted an unclassified report to Congress, providing transparency on this horrific killing. Alongside the transmission of that report, and as part of the President's pledge, the United States Government is announcing additional measures to reinforce the world's condemnation of that crime, and to push back against governments that reach beyond their borders to threaten and attack journalists and perceived dissidents for exercising their fundamental freedoms.
To that end, today I am announcing the "Khashoggi Ban," a new visa restriction policy pursuant to section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Khashoggi Ban allows the State Department to impose visa restrictions on individuals who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, are believed to have been directly engaged in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, including those that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other persons perceived to be dissidents for their work, or who engage in such activities with respect to the families or other close associates of such persons. Family members of such individuals also may be subject to visa restrictions under this policy, where appropriate.
To start, the U.S. Department of State has taken action pursuant to the Khashoggi Ban to impose visa restrictions on 76 Saudi individuals believed to have been engaged in threatening dissidents overseas, including but not limited to the Khashoggi killing. When identifying individuals for purposes of the Khashoggi Ban, we will also review them for designation under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2020, as carried forward by the CA Act of 2021, which authorizes the denial of visas to them and their immediate family members as well as their public identification.
As a matter of safety for all within our borders, perpetrators targeting perceived dissidents on behalf of any foreign government should not be permitted to reach American soil.
I also have directed that the State Department fully report on any such extraterritorial activities by any government in our annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The United States will continue to shine a light on any government that targets individuals, either domestically or extraterritorially, merely for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
While the United States remains invested in its relationship with Saudi Arabia, President Biden has made clear that partnership must reflect U.S. values. To that end, we have made absolutely clear that extraterritorial threats and assaults by Saudi Arabia against activists, dissidents, and journalists must end. They will not be tolerated by the United States.
_________________________
Died by suicide in 2021 shortly after being charged with 24 criminal charges, including 20 counts of human trafficking of a minor, one count each of first-degree criminal sexual assault, second-degree criminal sexual assault involving a minor, and lying to a police officer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Geddert
In September, we sued for the records. The next month, USPS agreed to release DeJoy's calendars. Then, in December, USPS finally sent us calendars but almost every meaningful bit of information in the over 1,000 entries was redacted.
https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1365413148770066440
These calendars cover a contentious period of DeJoy's tenure, marked by controversial decisions that reduced capacity and increased delays during the run-up to the election. The changes raised serious questions about political interference at USPS during these months.
https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1365413150229733378
USPS does have a specific FOIA exemption addressing commercial concerns because it competes with private-sector carriers. But applying that narrow exemption in the very broad way USPS has attempted here threatens to vastly expand what the agency could hold back.
https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1365413152393990152
"USPS's radical arguments, if accepted by this Court, would convert specific, narrow FOIA exemptions into a blanket exemption for virtually any USPS record," explains American Oversight's brief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1365413153673216007
James O'Keefe brings former postal worker Richard Hopkins onstage, insisting that he only recanted his election fraud story because he was coerced. Here's the backstory, and I noticed Hopkins, who took the stage today, didn't repeat his allegations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/postal-worker-hopkins-ballot-pennsylvania/2020/11/11/c9b70eda-2470-11eb-8599-406466ad1b8e_story.html
As a member of the Gang of Eight, Adam Schiff was notified before the US strike on Syria. But he told me the "means of notification, I think, was inadequate."
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1365411453008814081
Asked if he thinks Hill authorization was needed first: "I'm looking at the legal justification, the attribution, the urgency, the need to protect. So I'm not ready to reach a definitive conclusion on it, but we have requested more information from the administration," he said
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1365411734593413122
The actions announced today are not enough, but since international relations is a game of chess. Just the fact of world leaders refusing to meet with him might be enough for the Saudis to get rid of him themselves. They've done it before with another King. The senior leadership might not be able to tolerate a young King with a tarnished image especially at a time where reforming their image is basically their main focus.
Iceberg size of Greater London breaks off Antarctica
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/26/iceberg-size-of-greater-london-breaks-off-antarctica
New United Nations Climate Change Report 'Red Alert' for Planet, Secretary-General Says, Warning Current Emission Plans Not Enough to Adequately Curb Global Temperature Rise | Today's interim report from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is a red alert for our planet. It shows Governments are nowhere close to the level of ambition needed to limit climate change to 1.5°C and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The major emitters must step up with much more ambitious emissions reductions targets for 2030 in their nationally determined contributions well before the November United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow. Now is the time. The global coalition committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 is growing, across Governments, businesses, investors, cities, regions and civil society. COVID-19 recovery plans offer the opportunity to build back greener and cleaner. Decision‑makers must walk the talk. Long-term commitments must be matched by immediate actions to launch the decade of transformation that people and planet so desperately need.
https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sgsm20604.doc.htm
Seahawks receivers coach Nate Carroll, Pete's son, briefly stepped away from the job in frustration over his role, sources tell The Athletic. He made his unhappiness known to players. Russell Wilson and those around him believe Carroll, and his sons, answer to no one.
https://twitter.com/TheAthletic/status/1364984546039627778
Kimberly Guilfoyle and Gavin Newsom were once married
The number of Latin American minors crossing the border is projected to be up more than 50% in February over January, and could reach about 9,000 for the month. THEY HAVE FAMILY IN THE US. THEY ARE TRYING TO GET TO FAMILY IN THE US. STOP ARRESTING THEM. STOP IMPRISONING THEM. LEAVE THEM ALONE. THEY ARE NOT CHILDREN. THEY ARE NOT UNACCOMPANIED. THEY. HAVE. FAMILY. LIVING. IN. THE. US. LEAVE. THEM. ALONE. ALREADY.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/arrests-of-unaccompanied-immigrant-children-at-southern-border-surge-11614375884
13 House Republicans are voting by proxy on COVID relief bill, citing pandemic, but they're speaking at CPAC
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-republicans-covid-relief-bill-cpac-proxy-vote/
Experts who study the far-right warn as members disaffiliate from the group, the Proud Boys could metastasize into an increasingly violent org led by those who have long jockeyed for control.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/proud-boys/2021/02/25/fabdea30-73ad-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html
Reminder: the budget reconciliation process, with all of its foibles, is a work-around to avoid eliminating the legislative filibuster. If Democrats had the votes to eliminate the filibuster (they do and two Democrats refused to vote to eliminate the filibuster), they could pass the bill with the $15 min wage increase with no qualms.
When asked why the Biden administration didn't sanction MBS for Khashoggi's murder, Blinken says what we've done "is not to rupture the [Saudi] relationship but to recalibrate it."
Wealth or geography should not impact one's access to life-saving vaccines. AL's wealthiest, town Mountain Brook, received its first doses of the COVID vaccine in December. Just 8 miles away a poor, majority Black neighborhood hasn't received a single dose. That's unacceptable.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-02-25/a-black-neighborhood-in-alabama-has-yet-to-get-a-single-vaccine
NO, REALLY? YOU JUST MURDERED 22 SYRIAN CIVILIANS AND BOMBED THEIR BUILDINGS TO RUBBLE: Threat level raised for US troops in Iraq; American contractors put on high alert
https://www.foxnews.com/world/threat-level-raised-us-troops-contractors-iraq
Wonder how many of the lawmakers who put up these signs voted against holding Trump accountable for inciting his supporters to brutally attack these officers: In the building today. I saw several offices (all Republicans) with this sign on their door. Worth noting that in addition to USCP, @DCPoliceDept sent 850+ officers as backup, many of whom were injured, some seriously, and without whom the insurrection likely would have been much worse.
https://twitter.com/DanRiffle/status/1365308639125331972
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Condemns NYPD Test Deployment of K-9 Robot in Bronx Home | "Please ask yourself: when was the last time you saw next-generation, world class technology for education, healthcare, housing, etc. consistently prioritized for underserved communities like this?"
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/26/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-condemns-nypd-test-deployment-k-9-robot-bronx-home
Shout out to everyone who fought against community advocates who demanded these resources go to investments like school counseling instead. Now robotic surveillance ground drones are being deployed for testing on low-income communities of color with under-resourced schools
https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1364277710554615811
https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1365021717144420354
Please ask yourself: when was the last time you saw next-generation, world class technology for education, healthcare, housing, etc consistently prioritized for underserved communities like this?
https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1365023067769098245
What a pathetic disaster. This isn't rocket science. Find the right vendor, demand the right capacity, and get it done. People are dying. D.C. vaccine registration website once again beleaguered with technical errors.
https://dcist.com/story/21/02/26/dc-vaccine-site-technical-problems-residents-frustrated
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, an artist and MacArthur Genius grant recipient, worked tirelessly to tell Black people's stories in her art. She even created her own vocabulary for it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/obituaries/aminah-brenda-lynn-robinson-overlooked.html
In an AP interview, Gina McCarthy said the Texas storm is not 'as unusual as people had hoped. It is going to happen, and we need to be as resilient & working together as much as possible. We need systems of energy that are reliable & resilient as well.'
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-climate-climate-change-storms-a95db513d00f6ba0e56dcb2cc17facb8
Justice Demands more. Those responsible for Khashoggi's death need to be held responsible. Over the past year, Joe Biden had often condemned the killing of Khashoggi and criticized the Trump administration for hiding the intelligence report, sending Jared to molly-coddle MBS, and avoiding taking any action to hold the kingdom accountable. As president, Trump had said there'd be no sanctions because he valued the monetary relationship the United States had with Saudi Arabia. But from inauguration until this Thursday, there had been barely a mention of Khashoggi from the Biden administration. There was not even confirmation of when there would be a conversation between the new president and the king of Saudi Arabia. Less than four hours later the White House released a readout of a phone call from President Biden to King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, which evidently did occur Thursday, despite Psaki's demurral. The five sentence readout made no mention of Khashoggi, but noted that Biden and the king talked about the American commitment to help Saudi Arabia defend its territory "as it faces attacks from Iranian-aligned groups." It also noted that Biden had affirmed the importance of respecting "universal human rights" and the rule of law. On Friday Psaki gaggled with reporters on Air Force One as President Biden headed to Houston. Again she refused to speak directly about Khashoggi. She did say the president and officials "at every level" have publicly "raised concerns about human rights abuses" in Saudi Arabia. Which is vague enough to mean everything or nothing. Biden's phone call with the king this week could have been a way of giving the Kingdom an advanced warning that sanctions were in the works. It could've been a way for the president to solidify that America still has an economic relationship with the Kingdom. It could have been a conversation related to the American air strikes against Iranian forces in Syria. It could have been a lot of things. But the one thing it wasn't was an outright condemnation of an extra-legal assassination. In America, reporters know that while it's unlikely that they will die in the course of their work, it does happen. And they are painfully aware that outside of America, reporters operate under threats so constant and terrible that many people can't even really conceive of them. What many people also fail to understand is that repressive actions against reporters are a tip-of-the iceberg indicator of what the regime is willing to do to the rest of its subjects. Strategic alliances are bigger than any one man, or one incident, even. But even strategic allies have to be kept honest. Because a hyperpower such as America has many such relationships to manage. And if we signal that there is no price to be paid for these sorts of crimes, then there will be more of them. And the strains on our strategic network will increase. The Biden administration should officially condemn the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and impose some consequence on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its crown prince. Precedents matter. And geostrategic stability rests on establishing a firm understanding of what America will, and will not, tolerate. What happened to Khashoggi could happen to us all—if we do not stand up and make those responsible for the crime accountable for it.
https://thebulwark.com/biden-and-khashoggi/?1
F.B.I. Said to Have Singled Out Potential Assailant in Capitol Officer's Death
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/politics/brian-sicnick-capitol-riot-investigation.html
South Dakota's Republican attorney was been reading right-wing Biden conspiracies while killing a man with his car
https://www.thedailybeast.com/south-dakota-ag-jason-ravnsborg-may-have-been-reading-john-solomons-biden-conspiracies-during-fatal-crash
Republican legislators around the U.S. are moving aggressively to strip governors and other officials of their power to change election rules after states made it easier to vote during the pandemic.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/25/politics/republican-legislation-elections-powers/index.html
Greg Steube, Ted Budd, Paul Gosar, Devin Nunes, Jim Banks, Ralph Norman and Mike Kelly all were plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging that proxy voting was unconstitutional. They're currently voting by proxy
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17193884/7/mccarthy-v-pelosi/
https://cbsnews.com/news/house-republicans-covid-relief-bill-cpac-proxy-vote/
It wasn't just Khashoggi. The declassified report released today details activities by the "Rapid Intervention Force". The group carried out a campaign of torture, kidnapping and detention.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/17/world/middleeast/khashoggi-crown-prince-saudi.html
A Trump-appointed State Dept official has for years been publicly calling for Christian nation-states, warning that white people face "elimination." The official is assigned to a unit that handles special immigrant visas for Afghans. https://politico.com/news/2021/02/26/diplomat-online-activity-blood-and-faith-471755
Biden to Univision on Khashoggi report: "I spoke yesterday with the king, not the prince. Made it clear to him that the rules are changing and we're going to be announcing significant changes today and on Monday" to hold the Saudis accountable. "It is outrageous what happened."
Narrator: he did: From the Editorial Board: Mohammed bin Salman is guilty of murder. Biden should not give him a pass
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/26/mohammed-bin-salman-is-guilty-murder-biden-should-not-give-him-pass/
Fuentes just announced that Rep. Paul Gosar is AFPAC's "secret" speaker. Meaning: a current congressman is addressing a group of white nationalists tonight.
https://twitter.com/hannahgais/status/1365477576601460736
https://splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/01/19/meet-white-nationalist-organizer-who-spewed-hate-against-lawmakers
YEP: Yes, hi, I see all you folks willing to look away from the brutal slaughter of a US resident and Washington Post columnist because you like this president and thus it doesn't bother you that Biden isn't punishing the Saudi Royal Prince responsible. You're wrong.
https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1365466605430464513
Cruz was once Boehner's lawyer...."Who Is John Boehner?": Ted Cruz Fires Back After Reports Former Speaker Told Him To "Go F**k Yourself"
https://dailycaller.com/2021/02/26/cpac-ted-cruz-anatomically-impossible-john-boehner-go-fck-yourself-reports-audiobook/
Curry puts the moves on Jalen McDaniels
https://streamable.com/gy5k7p
Lu Dort held Trae Young to 17 points on 7 of 21 shooting tonight and ZERO free throws. The last time Trae had zero free throws in a game was October 29, 2019.
Dennis Smith Jr puts multiple Kings on a poster
https://streamable.com/8u3elp
Draymond Green Tonight: 11/12/19 on 5/8 shooting and 1/3 from three
Kelly Oubre Jr blows a kiss after LaMelo airBalls the three
https://streamable.com/w05n61
Jimmy Butler Tonight: 33/10/8 on 12/22 shooting, 0/3 from three and 9/11 from the line
Kelly Oubre Jr with the two handed tomahawk
https://streamable.com/ytlduu
Goran Dragic tonight off the bench: 25/2/2 on 9/15 shooting, 3/4 from 3
Kemba Walker Tonight: 32/3/6 on 10/19 shooting, 4/10 from three and 8/8 from the line
Chris Paul tonight: 14/6/15 assists and 3 steals with a team high +28 +/-
Dame switches hands midair to finish the and-1 layup
https://streamable.com/k4f217
Kelly Oubre Jr had 6 dunks in the first quarter, all of them assisted by Draymond
Sabonis gets the lucky bounce on the triple to cut the lead to three
https://streamable.com/b77xtg
Nine minutes of DeMar DeRozan just setting dudes on fire with footwork, post moves, and finishing skills; highly recommend for anyone who enjoys a skill showcase
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekfV3MlBRv0
The Sacramento Kings (13-20) snap their 9 game losing streak with a 110-107 victory against the Detroit Pistons (9-24)
________________________________
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/opinion/sunday/saudi-arabia-biden-khashoggi.html
President Biden Lets a Saudi Murderer Walk
The crown prince killed my friend Jamal Khashoggi, and we do next to nothing.
By Nicholas Kristof
Feb. 26, 2021
The United States government publicly identified Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia as the murderer of an American resident, and then President Biden choked.
Instead of imposing sanctions on M.B.S., Biden appears ready to let the murderer walk. The weak message to other thuggish dictators considering such a murder is: Please don't do it, but we'll still work with you if we have to. The message to Saudi Arabia is: Go ahead and elevate M.B.S. to be the country's next king if you must.
All this is a betrayal of my friend Jamal Khashoggi and of his values and ours. But even through the lens of realpolitik it's a missed opportunity to help Saudi Arabia understand that its own interest lies in finding a new crown prince who isn't reckless and doesn't kill and dismember journalists.
What should Biden have done?
As a matter of consistency he should have imposed the same sanctions on M.B.S., including asset freezes and travel bans, that the United States imposed in 2018 on lower-level figures who carried out the murder of Khashoggi. These sanctions should also apply to the stooges and front companies that M.B.S. has used to accumulate assets around the world.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/world/middleeast/saudis-sanctions-khashoggi.html
"The key message that should be sent not only to M.B.S., and others in the Saudi Court and government, but also to other would-be killers of journalists around the world, is that there is a heavy price to pay for such crimes and nowhere to hide," Agnes Callamard, who as a United Nations official investigated Jamal's killing, told me.
The United States should also have suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia. United States law bars military assistance to security units involved in gross human rights abuses, and that is true of security forces under M.B.S., who also serves as defense minister.
Biden reportedly feared that sanctions on M.B.S. would poison relations with Saudi Arabia. Yes, that's a legitimate concern, and I agree that it's often necessary to engage even rulers with blood on their hands. But in this great balancing of values and interests, the towering risk is that M.B.S., who is just 35, will become king upon the death of his aging father and rule recklessly for many years, creating chaos in the Gulf and a rupture in Saudi-American relations that would last decades.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/politics/biden-mbs-khashoggi.html
In other words, it's precisely because Saudi Arabia is so important that Biden should stand strong and send signals — now, while there is a window for change — that the kingdom is better off with a new crown prince who doesn't dismember journalists.
M.B.S. is the sixth crown prince Saudi Arabia has had over the last decade, and only one of them (King Salman) rose to become king. Two died, and two were deposed. If it becomes clear that Saudi Arabia will not have a workable relationship with the West if M.B.S. becomes king, perhaps we'll see a seventh crown prince. That's not the U.S. dictating to Saudi Arabia, but pointing out reality.
"King Salman and any independent advisers he may still have would be well-advised to consider how unsustainable it will be for the kingdom to retain M.B.S. as crown prince," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now. "M.B.S. has proven time and again to be a liability and a danger for the kingdom, reviled and avoided by the international community."
American officials sometimes say that if we don't sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, then France or Russia will. But what Saudi Arabia gets from America is not only high-tech weaponry but, far more important, an implicit promise of defense from Iran or other countries. France and Russia can't provide that.
Some Saudis tell me that it's a foregone conclusion that M.B.S. will become king. Maybe. But the fact that M.B.S. has detained rivals, like Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz (who is broadly admired in Saudi society) and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, suggests that he doesn't think it's a done deal.
"It's not a given that if you're crown prince, you're going to become king," noted Dr. Khalid Aljabri, who is currently in the United States but has close ties to senior Saudi royals, and whose father was allegedly targeted for murder by M.B.S. "Just apply the law. Sanction MBS! If they sanction MBS, the whole country would come to a standstill, and King Salman would have no choice but to remove his son, even if he doesn't want to."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/world/middleeast/saudi-prince-mohammed-lawsuit-aljabri.html
Perhaps I'm biased because I knew Jamal. Some may think: It's too bad about the murder, but other leaders have killed people, too. True, but M.B.S. poisons everything he touches. He kidnapped Lebanon's prime minister. He oversaw a feud with Qatar. He caused the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen. He imprisoned women's rights activists. He has tarnished his country's reputation far more effectively than Iran ever could.
So, Mr. Biden, it's not a human rights "gesture" to sanction M.B.S. Jamal was a practical man who didn't believe in mushy gestures — but he did dream of a more democratic Arab world that would benefit Arabs and Americans alike. And by letting a murderer walk, you betray that vision.
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Nicholas Kristof has been a columnist for The Times since 2001. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes, for his coverage of China and of the genocide in Darfur. You can sign up for his free, twice-weekly email newsletter and follow him on Instagram. His latest book is "Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope." @NickKristof • Facebook
A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 28, 2021, Section SR, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: President Biden Lets a Saudi Murderer Walk. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe
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Rep. Al Green on the House floor, responding to a Republican who cited God in opposing transgender rights: "You used God to enslave my foreparents. You used God to segregate me in schools. You used God to put me in the back of he bus. Have you no shame?"
https://www.chron.com/politics/article/equality-act-lgbtq-al-green-15980447.php
Meteorologists and scientists at several federal agencies are investigating the possibility of altering the official beginning of the Atlantic basin hurricane season, a change that would officially start the season about two weeks earlier than it historically has begun and potentially extend the total length of the season. The National Hurricane Center (NHC), along with several branches of the National Weather Service, are set to begin assessing the idea of moving the start of the Atlantic hurricane season to May 15, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is also poised to discuss the issue at its annual meeting next month, Dennis Feltgen, public affairs officer for NOAA confirmed to AccuWeather on Friday. The news was first reported by The Washington Post earlier in the day.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/nhc-may-change-start-date-of-atlantic-hurricane-season/907466
https://community.wmo.int/meetings/hurricane-committee-43nd-session-hc-43
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/02/26/hurricane-season-lengthening-start-date/
Memo to social Justice warriors: when what you're doing sounds like an Onion headline, stop. #CancelCultureIsOverParty
https://twitter.com/i/status/1365537755237818368
https://twitter.com/billmaher/status/1365537755237818368
Good: Indian man killed by his own rooster during cockfight
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56224144
Airstrikes in Syria kill 22 in Joe Biden's first military act as president • The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights
https://www.syriahr.com/en/206874/
Myanmar coup: UN ambassador fired after anti-army speech
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56222987
House passes Biden's relief package with $15 minimum wage | February 27, 2021| Shortly after 2 a.m. on Feb. 27, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that President Biden's stimulus package had passed without a single Republican vote. The legislation included a $15 minimum wage measure, despite the Senate parliamentarian ruling that it would not be permitted under the other chamber's rules.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/house-passes-bidens-relief-package-with-15-minimum-wage/2021/02/27/eb227abf-b51e-4998-ba9c-62f40d8b8ed7_video.html
U.S. Supreme Court illegally and unconstitutionally allows religionists to murder people in the name of religion and personal profit
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/26/u-s-supreme-court-lifts-santa-clara-countys-ban-on-indoor-religious-services-once-and-for-all/
The Democrats Are Blocking a $15 Minimum Wage: Not Republicans. Not the Senate parliamentarian. Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, and even Joe Biden are to blame for squandering their party's majority power.
https://newrepublic.com/article/161504/democrats-blocking-15-minimum-wage
Joseph Duffey, educator and antiwar activist behind influential Senate campaign, dies at 88 | Joseph Duffey, educator and antiwar activist behind influential Senate campaign, dies at 88 | He ran for the Senate in 1970 as a Connecticut Democrat and later led the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Information Agency. | Joseph D. Duffey, a coal miner's son who led two large universities and two federal agencies and whose enduring luster in the Democratic Party stemmed from his unsuccessful but high-profile Senate bid in 1970, an antiwar campaign that drew support from Hollywood star Paul Newman and was staffed by a young Bill Clinton, died Feb. 25 in Washington. He was 88. His death, at a retirement community, was confirmed by his son Michael Duffey, who did not provide a specific cause. A former United Church of Christ minister with a PhD in the history of theology, Dr. Duffey chaired the National Endowment for the Humanities under President Jimmy Carter and led the University of Massachusetts at Amherst from 1982 to 1991. After a brief stint as president of American University, he served six years as the last director of the U.S. Information Agency. | But he was perhaps best known for his political activism in the 1960s and early '70s, when he helped organize Freedom Rides to the South and immersed himself in liberal politics, distressed by what he called the "carnage in Vietnam." He was a leader of Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy's (D-Minn.) antiwar presidential campaign in Connecticut, where he was teaching at the Hartford Seminary Foundation, and succeeded economist John Kenneth Galbraith as head of Americans for Democratic Action.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/joseph-duffey-dead/2021/02/27/957b659a-784d-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html
Fighting for a $15 minimum wage is clearly good politics for Democrats. It just passed in Florida with 61% of the vote in 2020, when Biden was losing. National polls indicate ~60% support. It does well with the Republican base of whites without a college degree.
MISSOURI. Longtime progressive activist Zack Exley - a veteran of MoveOn, Justice Dems, and the Howard Dean and Bernie Sanders campaigns - files FEC papers to run as an Independent vs US Sen Josh Hawley (R) in 2024. https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/487/202102269429062487/202102269429062487.pdf
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/27/politics/minimum-wage-democrats-analysis/index.html
Pamela Smith has been named chief of U.S. Park Police. She will be the first African American woman to lead the agency in its 230-year history. Smith says she will immediately implement body cameras, which the Park Police currently don't use.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2021/02/25/pamela-smith-new-park-police-chief/
Lawrence Otis Graham, 59, Dies; Explored Race and Class in Black America. An Ivy League-trained lawyer, he rose to prominence in the 1990s by examining the tensions that surround Black achievement and wealth.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/us/lawrence-otis-graham-dead.html
Today, on the sixth anniversary of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov's murder, we reaffirm our unwavering support for human rights. Boris dedicated his life to building a free and democratic Russia. His memory lives on.
https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1365650417770758147
GOOD: Biden says the reopened Texas facility for migrant children 'won't stay open very long'
https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-texas-facility-migrant-children-border-immigration-2021-2
This account, in addition to incredible reporting, shows just how under-scrutinized many House members are from deep red and blue districts. "The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/27/making-madison-cawthorn-how-falsehoods-helped-propel-career-new-pro-trump-star-far-right/
Rep. Paul Gosar, after speaking at AFPAC on Friday night, and then saying he denounces "white racism" at CPAC on Saturday morning, is now meeting with white nationalist and Unite the Right attendee Nick Fuentes with a CPAC lanyard around his neck.
https://twitter.com/ZTPetrizzo/status/1365763249573101569
Nearly a dozen Trump supporters charged in connection with the US Capitol insurrection have said Antifa and other left-wing groups weren't involved in the attack, debunking a false-flag conspiracy theory that is gaining popularity in the pro-Trump orbit
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/27/politics/capitol-attack-trump-supporters-not-antifa/index.html
The NBA doesn't need a new logo and it doesn't need Kobe Rapist Bryant as its representative. I
GOOD: Asked about punishing Saudi Crown Prince MBS, U.S. President Joe Biden says there will be an announcement on Monday as to Saudi Arabia in wake of intel report on the crown prince.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/27/khashoggi-report-biden-to-make-announcement-about-saudi-arabia-monday.html
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/27/a-letter-to-the-speaker-of-the-house-and-president-pro-tempore-of-the-senate-consistent-with-the-war-powers-resolution/
A Letter to the Speaker of the House and President pro tempore of the Senate Consistent with the War Powers Resolution
February 27, 2021 • Statements and Releases
Dear Madam Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
At my direction, on February 25, 2021, United States forces conducted a targeted military strike against infrastructure in eastern Syria used by Iran-supported non-state militia groups.
Those non-state militia groups were involved in recent attacks against United States and Coalition personnel in Iraq, including the February 15, 2021, attack in Erbil, Iraq, which wounded one United States service member, wounded four United States contractors, including one critically, and killed one Filipino contractor. These groups are also engaged in ongoing planning for future such attacks.
In response, I directed this military action to protect and defend our personnel and our partners against these attacks and future such attacks. The United States always stands ready to take necessary and proportionate action in self-defense, including when, as is the case here, the government of the state where the threat is located is unwilling or unable to prevent the use of its territory by non-state militia groups responsible for such attacks.
I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive. The United States took this action pursuant to the United States' inherent right of self-defense as reflected in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
I am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148). I appreciate the support of the Congress in this action.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/obituaries/antoine-hodge-dead-coronavirus.html
Antoine Hodge, Opera Singer With a Powerful Work Ethic, Dies at 38
Mr. Hodge, a bass-baritone, was recently a chorus member in "Porgy and Bess" at the Metropolitan Opera. He died of Covid-19.
By Julia Jacobs
Feb. 27, 2021, 12:21 p.m. ET
This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/obituaries/people-died-coronavirus-obituaries.html
When it came time for chorus members to audition for solos in the Metropolitan Opera's 2019 production of "Porgy and Bess," the bass-baritone Antoine Hodge tried out for nearly every role available to him — not one was too obscure.
He saw the production as a milestone in his career, and he was gunning for a part and the exposure it would bring, said Rocky Sellers, a friend and fellow chorus member. Mr. Hodge ultimately won a sought-after solo in the prayerful scene referred to as "Oh, Doctor Jesus," which Mr. Sellers said he sang with a tone that was commanding, yet sweet and buttery.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/arts/music/porgy-bess-gershwin-metropolitan-opera.html
Mr. Hodge, a hard-working singer who performed with opera companies across the country, died on Monday at AdventHealth Orlando hospital in Orlando, Fla., where he had been flown to receive specialized treatment. He was 38.
The cause was Covid-19, his sister Angela Jones said. "My brother had opera singers' lungs," she wrote in a Facebook post, "and Covid destroyed them."
Over the past two decades, Mr. Hodge appeared with more than 15 professional companies, singing mostly small or featured roles with troupes like Charlottesville Opera in Virginia and Opéra Louisiane in Baton Rouge and performing in the chorus at the Met, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Atlanta Opera and Opera Colorado.
He sang at every opportunity, including Sundays in the professional choir at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.
"It never mattered to me whether I was a principal artist or an ensemble member," Mr. Hodge wrote in a Facebook post on the opening night of "Porgy," "as long as I got to do it."
https://www.facebook.com/OperaLover1/posts/10105353412001457
One of Mr. Hodge's favorite roles was King Balthazar in Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors." After he performed the role in a production at Opéra Louisiane in 2017, he was invited back the next two years.
"In the world of opera you come across plenty of people who are out for themselves, but that was not Antoine," said Leanne Clement, Opéra Louisiane's general director. "He was a passionate performer who loved music and worked hard for everything that he had."
In 2015, at Utah Festival Opera, Mr. Hodge made an impression in Puccini's "La Bohème" as Colline, the philosopher who sings a farewell to the beloved coat he must sell to help a sick friend. Opera News called his performance "sonorous and touching." The conductor, Barbara Day Turner, said she was struck by his ability to act and communicate with his voice. "He was the character," she said.
https://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2015/10/Reviews/SALT_LAKE_CITY__La_Boh%C3%A8me.html
Mr. Hodge was born on Aug. 5, 1982, in Albany, Ga. His mother, Mildred Wingfield, is a medical laboratory technician. His father, Larry Hodge, worked in management and is now retired. Along with his parents and Ms. Jones, he is survived by another sister, Amber Wingfield.
Mr. Hodge studied voice at Georgia State University and received a bachelor's degree in music in 2006.
Between opera engagements, he often held side jobs on the New York theater scene, like working the door at Broadway shows, his roommate, Joshua Ster, said. He was a front-of-house staff member at the Hudson Theater, where he also provided security for stars including Adam Driver and Glenn Close.
His professional dream was to sing Verdi on the Met stage, Mr. Sellers said. But in the short term, Mr. Hodge looked forward to returning to the Met for the run of "Porgy" scheduled for the fall.
The Met plans to dedicate opening night to him.
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The Cavaliers are 4-0 against the Nets and Sixers this season.
DeMar DeRozan Tonight: 32/1/11 on 11/18 shooting, 0/1 from three and 10/12 from the line
The New York Knicks (17-17) defeat the Indiana Pacers (15-17), 110 - 107
The Cleveland Cavaliers (13-21) defeat the Philadelphia 76ers (22-12) in OT, 112 - 109
Julius Randle Tonight: 28/10/6 on 12/22 shooting, 2/5 from three and 2/2 from the line
Nikola Jokic vs the Thunder: 19 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals on 8/10 shooting, 0 turnovers, and a game high +34
Joel Embiid Tonight: 42/13/5 on 13/22 shooting, 2/3 from three and 14/16 from the line
Ted Cruz attacked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at CPAC after the congresswoman raised millions for his Texan constituents
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/ted-cruz-mocked-aoc-cpac-after-she-raised-millions-texans-2021-2
Reminder: Republican Representative Congressman Paul Gosar Refused To Vote For Covid19 Rescue Bill, Opting Instead To Speak At White Aryan Nationalist Rally Calling For The Extermination Of Non-White And Non-Christian People. Claims Helping America Is "White Racism". Claims America Should Only Help White "Christian" People.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gop-congressman-skips-covid-relief-vote-to-speak-at-white-nationalist-rally_n_603aa71ec5b6d7794adf63d0
Nazi Waffen SS Symbols On Stage At CPAC
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cpac-waffen-ss-twitter-stage-matt-schlapp_n_603aee30c5b601179ebdf902
Tommy Pham estimated he is 80 percent physically. When he was being rushed to the hospital after his November stabbing incident, he initially thought he wouldn't be able to play again. More than four months later, he said his recovery is ahead of schedule.
https://twitter.com/dennistlin/status/1366052656314163204
Last Minute of the Kings collapse and the Hornets miracle after midnight
https://streamable.com/0mrp3u
PJ Washington tonight: 42 points (career high), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals, on 15/23 shooting (5/8 from three, 7/7 on FTs).
The Phoenix Suns (22-11) blow out the Minnesota Timberwolves (7-28), 118-99, behind 43 points from Devin Booker and 15 assists from Chris Paul
Celtics double Beal who can't get a clean look and the Wizards fall to the Celtics
https://streamable.com/k95gy8
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