Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Sanctions Placed On Russia


The U.S. and other Western nations imposed sanctions on Russia Tuesday, one day after President Vladimir Putin declared two separatist regions of Ukraine to be independent and ordered troops to be sent in to them. Saying that Putin had begun a, quote, "invasion of Ukraine," President Biden announced sanctions on banks and Russian officials close to Putin and their sons, saying the U.S. would impose "full blocking" of two large Russian financial institutions and comprehensive sanctions on Russian debt, stating, "That means we've cut of Russia's government from Western finance." He said even tougher sanctions would be imposed if Putin goes further with the invasion into Ukraine.

In a major action, Germany moved to stop certification of their new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia. The European Union announced sanctions targeting the legislators of Russia's Duma who voted in favor of recognizing the two separatist regions, and 27 other Russian officials and institutions in the worlds of defense and banking, and sought to limit Russia's access to E.U. capital and financial markets. The U.K. sanctioned five Russian banks and three wealthy Russian businessmen, and Australia and Japan also announced sanctions. As did Biden, the Western leaders said this is a first group of sanctions, and more would be coming if Russia continued with further aggression.

 
During his remarks from the White House, Biden also said he was moving additional U.S. troops to the Baltic nations in the eastern part of NATO, but emphasized that they were purely defensive, stating, "We have no intention of fighting Russia." Biden additionally warned Americans that gas prices could rise due the crisis, saying, "Defending freedom will have cost for us as well, and here at home. We need to be honest about that." But he said the administration was using every, quote, "tool at our disposal" to protect U.S. businesses and consumers from rising gas prices.


➤THREE DEFENDANTS CONVICTED IN FEDERAL HATE CRIMES TRIAL FOR ARBERY'S KILLING: The three men who were convicted in state court in Georgia of killing Ahmad Arbery in February 2020 as the Black 25-year-old jogged through their neighborhood were found guilty in their federal hate crimes trial yesterday, with jurors accepting the prosecution's charge that the white defendants were driven by racism. Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, were also found guilty of attempted kidnapping, and the McMichaels were convicted of the use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime. 


The defense had argued the men chased Arbery in their pickup trucks because they were suspicious of him after he'd gone into an house being built in the neighborhood several times on earlier runs through the neighborhood, and that Travis McMichael, who fired the shots that killed Arbery, acted in self-defense. In arguing the case for the hate crime charges, prosecutors showed text messages and social media posts in which the defendants used racist slurs and made derogatory comments about Black people.

➤JURORS SET TO BEGIN DELIBERATING IN GEORGE FLOYD CASE FEDERAL TRIAL: Jurors are set to begin deliberations today in the federal trial of the three former Minneapolis police officers who were with former Officer Derek Chauvin when he kneeled on George Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, leading to his death, in May 2020, after closing arguments were delivered yesterday. Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao are charged with "willfully" violating Floyd's civil rights by depriving him of his right to medical care as Chauvin kneeled on his neck, and Kueng and Thao are also charged with failing to intervene to stop Chauvin. The defense has said the Minneapolis police department's training was inadequate and there was a culture that emphasized deference to senior officers like Chauvin.

⛟NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS APPROVED FOR D.C. TRAFFIC CONTROL AHEAD OF TRUCKER PROTESTS: The Pentagon yesterday approved the deployment of 700 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to help with traffic control during expected trucker convoy protests over pandemic restrictions that are expected in and around the nation's capital in the coming days. The deployment of the Guard troops, who will be unarmed and won't take part in law enforcement activities, was made by the D.C. government and the U.S. Capitol Police. Separate convoys are planned modeled on the recent ones in Canada that lasted for weeks, snarling traffic and disrupting downtown Ottawa and blocking several bridge crossings to the U.S.

 
➤MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SHOOTING ATTACK ON PROTESTERS THAT LEFT ONE DEAD: A 43-year-old Oregon man was charged with murder, attempted murder and assault Tuesday after allegedly opening fire on protesters in Portland Saturday, killing a 60-year-old woman, Brandy Knightly, and injuring five others, one of whom was left paralyzed. Authorities said Benjamin Smith allegedly confronted people in a park protesting the police shooting of a Black man named Amir Locke in Minneapolis last month and told them to leave. After several of them asked Smith to leave them alone, he allegedly began firing at the crowd. An armed protester returned fire, hitting Smith, who is hospitalized in critical condition. A roommate of Smith, Kristine Christenson, told Oregon Public Broadcasting, "He talked about wanting to go shoot commies and antifa."

🏠HOME PRICES UP EVERYWHERE LAST YEAR, BUT PARTICULARLY IN SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST: Home prices were up by a lot last year, with the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, a leading measure of home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas, up 18.8 percent for the year, the biggest increase since the index began in 1987, the Wall Street Journal reported. By comparison, it rose 10.1 percent in 2020. The biggest price increases were seen in the South and Southeast, which were both up by more than 25 percent. By city, Phoenix had the biggest increase, with prices up 32.5 percent, followed by Tampa and Miami. The smallest increases were in Chicago, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., although they were still up around 11 percent. Driving the record increases have been low interest rates and a severe shortage of new homes, according to the National Association of Realtors.

🎧STUDY..HEADPHONES INCREASE FEELINGS OF CONNECTIVITY, EMPATHY, ENGAGEMENT:  Listening to something on headphones is a different experience than listening to audio on speakers. University of California researchers found headphones have a much more powerful impact on listeners’ perceptions, judgments and behaviors. Study co-author On Amir explains, “We find that headphones produce a phenomenon called in-head localization, which makes the speaker sound as if they’re inside your head. Consequently, listeners perceive the communicator as closer—both physically and socially. As a result, listeners perceive the communicator as warmer, they feel they behave [with more empathy] toward them and they are more easily persuaded by them.” The scientists say this finding has major implications for audio advertisements, remote work, as well as education and industry training.

➤STUDY..MORE THAN HALF OF PEOPLE WOULD NOT SPEAK UP IF THEIR RESTAURANT BILL WAS WRONG:  If you’ve ever had an item left off your restaurant bill before, do you speak up? Researchers from Tel-Hai College had 278 participants order two items while eating alone at a restaurant. When they were given their bill, one item was left off it, and the majority of participants (169) failed to alert the restaurant to the error. Women were 16 percent more likely to report the missing item than men were, and customers whose more expensive item had been left off reported the error twice as often. Also, customers who paid for their meal with a credit card were 20 percent more likely to flag the error than those paying in cash. The researchers say this data shows people can tolerate a low level of dishonesty and cheating when making moral decisions, and that it’s likely people paying with a credit card are more honest because doing so requires an additional encounter with the server who could possibly notice the error in the bill.


⚾BASEBALL TALKS CONTINUE, BUT LITTLE PROGRESS: Little progress was made toward reaching a new collective bargaining agreement after another day of talks Tuesday between MLB and the players' union, with ESPN reporting the league actually saw it as a step back. The league again brought up the idea of bringing in a federal mediator, but the locked-out players again rejected it. They will meet again today, even as time continues to run short for reaching an agreement in time to allow the regular season to begin as scheduled.

⚽U.S. WOMEN'S SOCCER EQUAL PAY LAWSUIT SETTLED FOR $24 MILLION: Players from the U.S. women's soccer national team settled their class-action equal pay lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) for $24 million, the two sides revealed in a court filing yesterday. The players will get a lump sum of $22 million to be distributed, and another $ 2 million will go into an account for the players in their post-career goals and charitable efforts related to women's and girls' soccer. The USSF has also committed to giving an equal rate of pay going forward for the women's and men's national teams in all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup.

🏈RODGERS STILL UNDECIDED ABOUT RETURNING TO PACKERS: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers said yesterday (February 22nd) that he's still undecided about whether he'll return to the Green Bay Packers next season, saying on The Pat McAfee Show on YouTube and SiriusXM, "There will be no news today. No decision on my future." The 38-year-old, who just won his fourth MVP, which was his second straight, talked after the season about making a decision by the time the free agency period begins next month. Rodgers has spent all 17 of his NFL seasons with Green Bay.

🏈FLORES SAYS DIDN'T SIGN DOLPHINS SEPARATION AGREEMENT SO COULD SPEAK PUBLICLY: Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said on HBO's Real Sports last night that he declined to sign a separation agreement presented by owner Steve Ross when he was fired by the Dolphins last month so that he could speak publicly about his experience in Miami. One of his attorneys, Doug Wigdor, said it was a two-year non-disparagement agreement, and that Flores cost himself millions of dollars by not signing it. The Dolphins called Flores' statement "categorically false." Flores, who was recently hired as a defensive assistant by the Pittsburgh Steelers, filed a lawsuit earlier this month against the NFL, the Dolphins, the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos alleging racial discrimination in hiring practices. He also claimed in the suit that Ross offered him $100,000 per game to lose in 2019 because he wanted the top draft pick. The allegations have all been denied.


🏌MICKELSON APOLOGIZES FOR COMMENTS ABOUT PGA TOUR AND SAUDI-FINANCED LEAGUE: Phil Mickelson apologized yesterday (February 22nd) via tweet for comments he made last week about the PGA Tour and organizers of a Saudi-financed league. He said, "Although it doesn't look this way now given my recent comments, my actions throughout this process have always been with the best interests of golf, my peers, sponsors and fans." He also stated, "It was reckless, I offended people, and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words." Author Alan Shipnuck released an excerpt from his upcoming unauthorized biography of Mickelson in which the 51-year-old pro golfer described the Saudis as "scary," but said he was looking past their history of human rights violations in advocating for their proposed breakaway league in order to gain leverage with the PGA Tour. The Super Golf League being financed by Saudi Arabia is fronted by Greg Norman, and is trying to poach many of the PGA Tour's best players. It intended to start play this summer.



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