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Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Putin Blames The U-S


PUTIN WILLING TO TALK MORE TO EASE UKRAINE TENSIONS:
Russian President Vladimir Putin charged at a Moscow news conference yesterday that the U.S. and its allies have ignored Russia's security demands that NATO not expand to Ukraine and other former Soviet nations, not deploy offensive weapons near Russia, and roll back its deployments to Eastern Europe. However, he said Russia is willing to talk more to ease tensions over Ukraine, on whose border Moscow has massed over 100,000 troops, raising invasion fears. Putin said, "I hope that we will eventually find a solution, although we realize that it’s not going to be easy." Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke yesterday. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken emphasized the, quote, "U.S. willingness . . . to continue a substantive exchange with Russia on mutual security concerns," but was firm on the U.S., quote, "commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the right of all countries to determine their own foreign policy and alliances."



➤PFIZER ASKS FDA TO APPROVE COVID VACCINE FOR CHILDREN UNDER AGE FIVE: Pfizer yesterday asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve use of its vaccine for children under age five. That came after the FDA, in a unusual move, had urged Pfizer to apply for the approval earlier than it had intended, as it's yet to be determined whether children in that age group will need two shots or three. The FDA may consider whether to authorize two shots for now, with a third approved later if ongoing testing supports it. Pfizer is aiming to give children under five who are as young as six months old Covid shots with one-tenth of the dose given to adults. Children under five are the only age group in the U.S. not yet eligible for a Covid vaccine, and if the approval is given, they could start receiving vaccinations as early as next month.

Daily Mail 2/2/22

➤TWO CAMPUS OFFICERS KILLED BY GUNMAN AT VIRGINIA COLLEGE:
Two campus officers were fatally shot by a gunman at Bridgewater College in Virginia early yesterday afternoon, leading to a campus lockdown and search before the 27-year-old suspect was caught. A Virginia State Police spokesperson said the two officers had responded to reports of a suspicious man on campus at the small, private school, and after a brief interaction with the suspect, Alexander Wyatt Campbell, he opened fire on them and ran off. The school said the two officers who were killed were campus police officer John Painter and campus safety officer J.J. Jefferson. President David W. Bushman said the two were known as the "dynamic duo," and that Painter was the best man at Jefferson's recent wedding.


➤FORMER UCLA LECTURER ARRESTED AFTER EMAILING MANIFESTO, POSTING VIDEO THREATS: A 31-year-old former lecturer in the University of California, Los Angeles' (UCLA) philosophy department was arrested Tuesday after he emailed an 800-page manifesto filled with references to violence to some of his former students, and posted videos threatening violence against the school, according to police. The email and videos also contained racist slurs against Jewish and East Asian people. Matthew Harris was arrested in Boulder, Colorado, after a standoff at his apartment complex. LAPD Chief Michael Moore said Harris was, quote, "potentially planning for a mass violence or shooting event at UCLA." Harris was put on leave from UCLA and a female professor at the University of California, Irvine was granted a restraining order against him after he sent emails to his mother threatening to, quote, "hunt" the professor and "put bullets in her skull," and the mother alerted the woman. Court documents show the mother hadn't seen her son in five years and believed he needed psychiatric help.

🏫POLL: MORE THAN HALF OF TEACHERS WANT TO LEAVE EARLIER THAN PLANNED DUE TO COVID: The stress of dealing with the pandemic is weighing on burned-out teachers, with more than half of public school teachers, 55 percent, saying in a new poll out yesterday that they are looking to leave the profession earlier than they'd planned, either by earlier retirement or leaving the field. The survey by GBAO Strategies for the National Education Association found a big increase from the 37 percent of teachers who said the same last August. The respondents largely cited the pandemic, and insufficient actions by their schools in response to it, for wanting to leave. There were already teacher shortages in many states before the pandemic, particularly in areas like science, math and special education, but they've gotten worse during the pandemic, as teachers leave due to the increased stress and potential safety threats from the pandemic.

➤POLL..70 PERCENT SAY TIME TO ACCEPT COVID IS HERE TO STAY: As we've just passed the second anniversary of the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the U.S. and have been dealing with yet another surge, this time from the omicron variant, a new survey finds that 70 percent of Americans agree that, quote, "it’s time we accept that Covid is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives." There was a partisan divide, however, in the Monmouth University poll out Monday, with 89 percent of Republicans agreeing with the statements compared to 47 percent of Democrats. Independents were at 71 percent. There were 28 percent who thought a return to normalcy will never happen. Asked if they were concerned about getting sick from a new variant, 23 percent said they were very concerned and 27 percent said they were somewhat concerned. The director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, Patrick Murray, said, "Americans’ worries about Covid haven’t gone away. It seems more to be a realization that we are not going to get this virus under control in a way that we thought was possible just last year."



➤SIMON COWELL IS HOSPITALIZED FOLLOWING ELECTRIC BIKE ACCIDENT:  America’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell was hospitalized in London recently after falling off his electric bike.

A source told People, “He fell off his bike and broke his arm. He's absolutely fine.” The source added that Cowell is already at home recuperating.

A photo of Cowell in a bright yellow cast was published in The Sun on Tuesday (February 1st).

Turns out, this isn’t the first time Cowell was in an accident involving an electric bike. The American Idol judge fell while trying out an electric bike in the courtyard of his Malibu, California, home in August 2020 as well.

He was hospitalized for a back injury, and a rep told People at the time, “He's doing fine, he's under observation and is in the best possible hands."

➤DWAYNE ‘THE ROCK’ JOHNSON BACKS JOE ROGAN: After Joe Rogan posted a video to Instagram Monday regarding the Spotify controversy, stating that he would work on balancing perspectives on his podcast, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson offered him support.

"Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you," the Fast and Furious actor commented.

Other stars joined Johnson in propping up Rogan, including Jewel and Kelly Slater. Former Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson said, "I'm triple vaxxed, but (unless they're standing for hate or calling for violence) banning someone's podcast is too much like burning a book to me. Joe Rogan should talk on his podcast about whatever he damn well pleases."

Others didn’t feel as moved. India Arie posted to Instagram Monday (January 31st) that she was removing her music from Spotify alongside Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and others. She wrote that her criticism of Rogan wasn’t just about COVID-19 misinformation, but also “his language around race.”

And while Spotify created a disclaimer policy in response to the controversy, Sharon Stone told TMZ the only “disclaimer” she wants from Rogan is that he’s an “a**hole.”


➤STUDY: YOUR BRAIN SHOWS YOU IMAGES OF THE WORLD 15 SECONDS OUT OF DATE: Our brains work in funny ways. University of California researchers found that the human brain shows us images that are 15 seconds old instead of trying to update our vision in real-time. This is known as the “continuity field,” and the researchers say it gives us more stability. Senior study author Professor David Whitney explains, “If our brains were always updating in real time, the world would be a jittery place with constant fluctuations in shadow, light and movement, and we’d feel like we were hallucinating all the time.” Lead study author Dr. Mauro Manassi adds, “Our brain is like a time machine. It keeps sending us back in time. It’s like we have an app that consolidates our visual input every 15 seconds into one impression so we can handle everyday life.”


🏈BRADY ANNOUNCES HE'S RETIRING:
Tom Brady ended the suspense on Tuesday morning, announcing that he was retiring after a 22-year career as the most successful quarterback in NFL history, with seven Super Bowl championships. The 44-year-old wrote in a lengthy Instagram post, "[I] am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore. I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention." Brady has spoken about wanting to spend more time with his wife and three children. Brady spent 20 of seasons with the New England Patriots, winning six Super Bowls with them, and two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning his seventh championship in his first year with them, but falling short in the playoffs this year. Brady won three NFL MVP awards, had a 243-73 regular-season record and was 35-12 in the playoffs, and is the career leader in yards passing (84,520) and touchdowns (624).

Reactions to announcement: https://es.pn/3gdM82R

⚾POSSIBILITY OF SPRING TRAINING STARTING ON TIME FADES AFTER CONTENTIOUS MEETING: The possibility of spring training starting on time faded yesterday after a contentious negotiating session between MLB and the locked-out players, the first in a week. AP reports there's no date for the resumption of talks on the core issues, and said "both sides are behaving as if it is a foregone conclusion that spring training workouts will not start as scheduled on February 16." The owners locked players out in MLB's first work stoppage since 1995 when the five-year collective bargaining agreement expired on December 1st.

🏈WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM TO REVEAL NEW NAME TODAY: The Washington Football Team will reveal the franchise's new name and logo today, a year-and-a-half after dropping the "Redskins" name after decades of criticism by Native Americans groups. They will continue to use their burgundy and gold colors. There was social media chatter that franchise great Joe Theismann may have revealed the name during an interview Monday with CBS Sport Radio. Theisman said, "I think the Commanders is a name that is gonna be hopefully one people talk about moving forward." But after the social media speculation, Theismann told the Washington Times he didn't know what the name is, writing, "Like you I’ll find out on Wednesday."

🏈NFL'S BRONCOS UP FOR SALE: The NFL's Denver Broncos are officially up for sale, with the news announced yesterday by the Pat Bowlen Trust, which has operated the team since Bowlen stepped away from day-to-day operations in 2014 due to the early onset of Alzheimer's disease. The team is valued at just under $4 billion, and the sale price will likely be the highest in North American sports history. The last NFL franchise sold was the Carolina Panthers, bought in 2018 by David Tepper for $2.275 billion.



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