Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Wake-Up Call: Motive Elusive In Latest Campus Shooting

The Victims
The 43-year-old gunman who killed three students and wounded five others at Michigan State University had no apparent connection to the campus, police said Tuesday as they searched for a motive for shootings that terrified the community for hours. Investigators were sorting out why Anthony McRae fired inside an academic building and the student union just before 8:30 p.m. Monday. An hours long lockdown at the campus in East Lansing ended when he killed himself miles away while being confronted by police.

The shooting happened the day before the fifth anniversary of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting that killed 17 and is the latest in what has become a deadly new year in the U.S.

NY Post 2/15/23
➤MASSIVE CASUALTIES REPORTED ON BOTH SIDES: While Ukraine has been boasting about taking out massive numbers of Russian soldiers — including a record day for casualties last week — Kyiv has also been losing a staggering number of its own troops. Western intelligence sources estimate that each side has suffered approximately 150,000 casualties since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, Agence France-Presse reported. Norway’s defense chief Gen. Eirik Kristoffersen said last month on Norwegian TV that the most recent intelligence suggests that Ukraine has lost 100,000 troops and 30,000 civilians in the course of the war. Meanwhile, Kristoffersen said Russia had 180,000 soldiers who were either wounded, killed or missing. More recently, US officials said Russian casualties are fast approaching 200,000, according to reporting from the New York Times, citing American and other Western officials.

➤SUPPORT WAVERS: Support among the American public for providing Ukraine weaponry and direct economic assistance has softened as the Russian invasion nears a grim one-year milestone, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Forty-eight percent say they favor the U.S. providing weapons to Ukraine, with 29% opposed and 22% saying they’re neither in favor nor opposed. In May 2022, less than three months into the war, 60% of U.S. adults said they were in favor of sending Ukraine weapons.  Americans are about evenly divided on sending government funds directly to Ukraine, with 37% in favor and 38% opposed, with 23% saying neither. The signs of diminished support for Ukraine come as President Joe Biden is set to travel to Poland next week to mark the first anniversary of the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II.

➤RUSSIA READYING A NEW PUSH: Western analysts have said a build-up of aircraft on the Ukrainian border could see Putin's forces attempt to push the offensive in the Donbas region. It comes as NATO defense ministers meet for a two-day summit in Brussels to discuss plans for military support for the war-torn country. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg  told the military alliance's members countries they must step up deliveries to ensure Ukraine can fight back against Russian aggression.

Daily Mail Composite 2/15/23
➤RESCUES CONTINUE: Nine survivors were rescued from the rubble in Turkey on Tuesday, more than a week after a massive earthquake struck, as the focus of the aid effort shifted to helping people now struggling without shelter or enough food in the bitter cold. The disaster, with a combined death toll in Turkey and neighboring Syria exceeding 41,000, has ravaged cities in both countries, leaving many survivors homeless in near-freezing winter temperatures.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has acknowledged problems in the initial response to the 7.8 magnitude quake that struck early on Feb. 6 but has said the situation is now under control. "We are facing one of the greatest natural disasters not only in our country but also in the history of humanity," Erdogan said in a televised speech in Ankara.bThose rescued on Tuesday included two brothers, aged 17 and 21, pulled from an apartment block in Kahramanmaras province, and a Syrian man and young woman in a leopard-print headscarf in Antakya rescued after over 200 hours in the rubble. There could be further people alive still to find, said one rescuer.

➤HALEY IS RUNNING: With Nikki Haley's entry Tuesday into the 2024 race, she now faces an uphill battle in casting herself as the younger voice the party needs to retake the White House.  Current polls show the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador under Trump barely registering in a potentially crowded field dominated by the former president and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has already carved out a lane as a younger alternative to the quarrelsome Trump, who could woo disaffected suburban voters. Haley had earlier said that she wouldn’t challenge Trump, 76, for the nomination if he were to announce. Two weeks ago, as the news of her impending announcement leaked, the ex-president said that Haley, 51, had first called to let him know that she was weighing a bid and that he advised her to follow her heart. 

➤FEINSTEIN ISN'T: Dianne Feinstein of California, the US Senate’s longest-serving Democrat and its oldest member, said she won’t run for a seventh term in 2024. “I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,” she said in a statement. Her decision comes after several years of speculation about whether she would continue in office, and as other California lawmakers showed interest in running for her seat. Feinstein, 89, has yielded some key roles in the last few years. Shortly after her announcement, she told reporters that she would make a decision on who to endorse “in a couple of months.”

➤SILENCE FROM TWH: President Biden went yet another day Tuesday without addressing his unprecedented orders to shoot down three unidentified flying objects on consecutive days after officials determined they likely were “benign” — flouting bipartisan demands for transparency and forcing press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to deny he was “embarrassed.”  The three craft were blasted out of the sky by US fighter jets on Friday, Saturday and Sunday — but senators poured out of a Tuesday morning classified briefing demanding that Biden address the nation amid searches for debris in Canada’s wilderness and off Alaska’s coast. Biden ordered the strikes with missiles that reportedly cost over $450,000 apiece after he faced withering criticism for allowing a Chinese spy balloon to hover over sensitive US facilities from Alaska to South Carolina before ordering its downing off the Atlantic coast on Feb. 4.

➤THE SEARCH FOR DEBRIS: Weather and remote locations hampered the search for the debris of the three unidentified objects the U.S. shot down. The takedowns happened over Alaska on Friday, Canada’s Yukon territory on Saturday and Lake Huron on Sunday. Officials still don’t know how the objects were propelled, who sent them or what their purpose was. They still won’t call most of the downed crafts balloons. Those three aircraft along with the suspected Chinese spy balloon that crossed the U.S. at altitudes as high as 65,000 feet before the Air Force downed it raise the question of who controls what’s called near space. Nations govern airspace up to 60,000 feet; no international agreement exists beyond that.

➤HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SPILL FROM COMMERCIAL TRUCK CRASH HAS PARTIALLY CLOSED INTERSTATE 10 IN TUCSON, ARIZONA: A crash involving a commercial tractor truck hauling liquid nitric acid has led to evacuation orders as a hazardous spill prompted officials to close a portion of Interstate 10 in Tucson, Arizona. According to CNN, the interstate was shut down in both directions between Rita and Kolb roads Tuesday, and the “extensive closure” is expected to continue impacting the Wednesday morning commute, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said on its website. The driver of the truck died in the crash, the department said. Authorities didn’t identify the driver publicly. A shelter-in-place order that was in effect earlier was lifted Tuesday night, officials said. Meanwhile, the one-half-mile perimeter around the incident remains under an evacuation order.

➤LAWMAKERS TARGETING DRAG SHOWS WITH 14 BILLS ACROSS U.S., ANALYSIS FINDS: Lawmakers in eight states have introduced a total of 14 bills targeting drag shows. Drag shows that allow children in the audience have come under fire from far-right extremists across the country over the last year, sometimes with resulting violence. An adult drag show in Colorado Springs became the scene of a mass shooting, in which the shooter now faces hate-crime charges.

➤DEFLATION PACE SLOWS: Inflation declined a bit in January, but remained high. The consumer-price index, a closely watched measure of inflation, climbed 6.4% last month from a year earlier, edging down from 6.5% in December, the Labor Department said. It was the seventh straight month of easing inflation since peaking at 9.1% in June, the highest reading since 1981. That cooling trend is moderating. The strong inflation report will likely keep the Fed on track to raise interest rates at the central bank’s March meeting and to signal that further increases are probably coming. U.S. stocks were mixed.

➤AIRPORT BECOMING 'HOME SWEET HOME': Homeless encampments have overrun crime riddled Chicago's O'Hare International Airport terminal with some concerned for their safety as images of people sleeping in exits and filthy makeshift shelters continue to emerge. Thousands of people sleeping rough have sought refuge at the popular thoroughfare with many making makeshift shelters within the terminal where commuters frequent. Passengers travelling through the terminal were quick to snap the deteriorating situation with one Twitter user posting a photo of several people sleeping among a throng of belongings near Terminal 1 of the airport.

🏈RAIDERS RELEASE QB DEREK CARR BEFORE CONTRACT DEADLINE: The Las Vegas Raiders released Derek Carr on Tuesday after the veteran quarterback declined to waive his no-trade clause and just before more than $40 million of his contract would have become guaranteed. Carr hits the open market a month before the start of the NFL's new league year, on March 15. The Raiders, who have only one quarterback under contract, Chase Garbers, are searching for a full-time starter at QB for the first time since Carr won the job as a rookie in 2014.

🏈CARDINALS HIRE EAGLES' JONATHAN GANNON AS NEW HEAD COACH: The Arizona Cardinals hired Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon as their new head coach on Tuesday, the team announced. Gannon received a five-year contract. Other finalists for the job were Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.

⚾MLB PLANS TO EMPHASIZE ENFORCEMENT OF BALKS AS CHANGES KICK IN: Major League Baseball plans to emphasize enforcement of the balk rule in 2023 as it implements sweeping rules changes, including a pitch clock that will place more focus on the arcane rule. "We have slipped a little bit centrally with calling the rulebook illegal pitches and balks," said Morgan Sword, MLB's executive vice president of operations, at a media briefing to explain the rules in greater depth.

➤FAKE SPORTS MEMORABILIA WORTH MILLIONS SEIZED: Law enforcement agents confiscated over 600 fake championship rings across four major U.S. professional sports leagues and the NCAA from a South Carolina memorabilia store as part of a seizure of counterfeit merchandise, the South Carolina Secretary of State announced. The counterfeit goods could have fetched as much as $15 million at retail. The hefty price tag, the highest-value seizure in the office's history, was driven by fake NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and NCAA championship rings, according to spokesperson Shannon Wiley. The hoard includes 157 Super Bowl rings, 83 NBA Finals rings, 99 World Series rings, 29 Stanley Cup rings and 251 NCAA championship rings for unnamed sports, Wiley said.

🏀BRONNY JAMES NAMED TO TEAM USA ROSTER FOR NIKE HOOP SUMMIT: Bronny James, the son of NBA career scoring leader LeBron James, was one of 26 players announced Tuesday as members of the USA Basketball rosters for this year's Nike Hoop Summit. The U.S. teams will play April 8 against international players at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. The international teams will be selected in the coming weeks, from pools of players representing FIBA Africa, FIBA Americas, FIBA Asia, FIBA Europe and FIBA Oceania.

🏀NBA SCORES:
  • Phoenix Suns 120 Sacramento Kings 109
  • Milwaukee Bucks 131 Boston Celtics 125
  • Toronto Raptors 123 Orlando Magic 113
  • Washington Wizards 126 Portland Trail Blazers 101
  • Golden State Warriors 134 Los Angeles Clippers 124


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