Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Biden Calls It 'Genocide'


President Biden said yesterday that Russia's war in Ukraine amounts to "genocide," charging that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to, quote, "wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian." Biden first made the genocide accusation during an event in Iowa, and later confirmed what he'd said, telling reporters before boarding Air Force One, "Yes, I called it genocide. It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian." He stated that it would be up to lawyers to determine if Russia's actions meet the international standard for genocide, but stated, "it sure seems that way to me." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Biden's comments, tweeting, "True words of a true leader. Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil." He added, "We are grateful for US assistance provided so far and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities."

Viktor Medvedchuk
Meanwhile, Putin vowed Tuesday to continue the war, quote, "until its full completion and the fulfillment of the tasks that have been set." He declared that the invasion was launched to protect people in parts of eastern Ukraine and ensure Russia's security, saying Moscow, quote, "had no other choice." His remarks came as Russian forces continue to ready for a major offensive in the eastern Donbas region, where pro-Russian separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014. A day after a claim was made of possible chemical weapons use by Russia in Mariupol, with the far-right Azov Regiment claiming that, quote, "a poisonous substance of unknown origin" was dropped by a drone, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said they are investigating, but it's possible phosphorus munitions were used. These munitions cause severe burns, but aren't classified as a chemical weapon. The original claim said there were no serious injuries.

Ukraine Detains Oligarch Close to Putin: Ukrainian officials said yesterday that fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close associate of Putin, who is godfather to his youngest daughter, had been detained in a special operation. Medvedchuk was being held in house arrest before the war began, but disappeared soon after its start. Zelenskyy posted a photo (above-left) on social media of Medvedchuk in handcuffs and wearing a camouflage uniform with a Ukrainian flag patch. Zelenskyy proposed in his nightly video address that Medvedchuk could be freed in exchange for Ukrainians held by Russia.

Daily Mail composite 4/13/22


➤MANHUNT ON FOR SHOOTER IN BROOKLYN SUBWAY ATTACK: Police continue to search for a man who opened fire on a subway train in Brooklyn on Tuesday, wounding 10 people before escaping after the train pulled into a station. 

All the victims are expected to survive. Police identified the man they are looking for as 62-year-olf Frank R. James, while stressing that they weren't sure that he was the man who carried out the attack. However, James, who is Black, has posted angry social media videos in which he blasted racism in the U.S. while also sometimes lashing out at other Black people, including Mayor Eric Adams. He also calls himself a, quote, "victim" of the city's mental health programs, and refers to the subways in several of the videos. The attack began with the culprit setting off smoke grenades in a crowded subway car and then firing at least 33 shots from a 9-milimeter handgun. The shooter fled after the train reached the station, but left behind the gun, magazines, a hatchet, more smoke grenades, gasoline, and a key to a U-Haul van. The key led police to James, who had addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin. 

The van was later found near a subway station where investigators determined he'd entered the system.

 
➤TWO-WEEK COVID LOCKDOWN EASED IN SHANGHAI: Shanghai's two-week lockdown to try to arrest the spread of Covid-19 was eased Tuesday, with some residents of the city of 25 million allowed out of their homes. The online news outlet 'The Paper' said about 6.6 million people can go outside, but some must stay in their own neighborhoods, and the government said some markets and pharmacies would reopen. There had been increasing anger among residents, who were running out of food, medicine and other necessities. The U.S. on Monday had ordered non-emergency consular staff to leave Shanghai amid the tight lockdown.

➤GILBERT GOTTFRIED DIES AT 67:  Iconic comedian Gilbert Gottfried has passed away at the age of 67. His family released a statement to Twitter on Tuesday that read, “We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Gilbert Gottfried after a long illness.”

Gilbert Gotfried
The statement continued, “In addition to being the most iconic voice in comedy, Gilbert was a wonderful husband, brother, friend and father to his two young children. Although today is a sad day for all of us, please keep laughing as loud as possible in Gilbert’s honor.”

Gottfried is known for voicing Iago the parrot in Disney’s Aladdin and the Aflac duck in the insurance commercials. Along with several other voice-over roles, he had a short, 12-episode run on Saturday Night Live in 1980, and he appeared in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop II, Problem Child, Highway to Hell, and Look Who’s Talking Too.

Many celebrities took to social media on Tuesday to honor the late comedian. Good Luck Chuck’s Dane Cook wrote on Twitter, “Gilbert Gottfried was never not funny. He was a lovely guy, always friendly & made many people happy.”

Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander wrote, “Gilbert Gottfried made me laugh at times when laughter did not come easily. What a gift. I did not know him well but I loved what he shared with me. My best wishes and sympathy to his family.”

➤N.Y. LIEUTENANT GOV. RESIGNS AFTER ARRESTED IN CORRUPTION PROBE: New York Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin resigned on Tuesday, after being arrested in a federal corruption investigation. Benjamin was accused of a scheme to get campaign contributions from a real estate developer in exchange for using his influence as a then-state senator to get a $50,000 grant of state money for a nonprofit organzation the developer controlled. Benjamin, who's a Democrat, pled not guilty yesterday and resigned hours later. Governor Kathy Hochul had chosen Benjamin, who was then a state lawamaker, as her lieutenant governor seven months ago, after she became governor, elevated herself from lieutenant governor when Andrew Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment by 11 women. Hochul is now running for reelection, and Benjamin had been her running mate.

➤LAWSUIT ACCUSES MUSK OF WRONGDOING WHILE BUYING TWITTER STOCK: A lawsuit was filed against Elon Musk yesterday that accuses him of illegally delaying disclosing his stake in Twitter after he began buying shares so that he could buy even more shares at lower prices. The suit says Musk violated a regulatory deadline deadline to reveal he'd bought a stake of at least five percent in Twitter, reaching that threshold by March 14th, but not disclosing it until April 4th, after he'd almost doubled his stake to more than nine percent. The suit says that hurt other investors who sold Twitter shares in the nearly two weeks before Musk acknowledged holding a major stake. Twitter's stock soared after the April 4th disclosure, and the suit, filed on behalf of an investor named Marc Bain Rasella, says the delayed disclosure deprived investors who sold shares during that time period from realizing significant gains. The lawsuit is seeking to be certified as a class action representing Twitter shareholders who sold shares between March 24th and April 4th.

➤STUDY SUGGESTS THAT THE ‘BIGGEST A*******’ IN MANY PEOPLE’S LIVES ARE MIDDLE-AGED MEN: Everyone knows at least one big jerk. University of Georgia researchers found that the “biggest a*******” in many people’s lives are middle-aged men. The data shows among a group of 400 people, most assigned the label to people in their lives they viewed as manipulative, aggressive, entitled and irresponsible. Many of these same traits are seen in expert profiles of psychopathic, antisocial, and narcissistic personality disorders—though researchers point out this doesn’t mean everyone who’s an a****** has a personality disorder. For one out of three respondents, the biggest a******s they knew were currently in their lives, including co-workers, friends, and even current romantic partners. Most participants also said they think the jerks in their lives were aware that their behavior bothered people but just didn’t care enough to change, and often described this individual as being disagreeable, angry, and holding bigoted views-- and were also often middle-aged men. Lead study author Brinkley Sharpe adds, “There’s clearly a lot of variation in how people use this word. I think the implication of the study is that insults matter. We do mean certain things by using them or we associate them with certain characteristics.”

➤WOMEN MORE LIKELY THAN MEN TO SUFFER HEADACHES:  Women are more likely to get headaches than men are. Norwegian University of Science and Technology researchers found that six percent of women, or just over one in 20, have a headache for at least half of every month compared to just 2.9 percent of men. The review of the global rate of headaches also concluded that women are twice as likely as men to suffer migraines (17 percent of women versus 8.6 percent of men). Changes in hormones could be one of the reasons women are more affected, as fluctuations in estrogen can trigger them. Researchers also found that people in high-income countries report an increased rate of headaches, though that could be because more studies have been done in rich countries. Study leader Professor Lars Stovner adds, “Women suffer much more than men from the most disabling headaches—migraines and headaches which last for 15 or more days a month. This matters because severe headaches, which are unpredictable and happen often, make it very hard to deal with life’s responsibilities like staying in a job or caring for a family.”

🏀NBA'S PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT GETS UNDERWAY, NETS AND TIMBERWOLVES WIN: The NBA's play-in tournament began last night, with teams seeded seventh through 10th playing in a two-round tournament to decide which teams will be the Number 7 and 8 seeds in the playoffs. The Number 7 seed plays the Number 8 seed in each conference, and the Number 9 seed plays the Number 10 seed. The winner of the 7/8 games get the Number 7 playoff spots and the losers face the winners of the 9/10 games. The losers of the 9/10 games are out of the playoffs. The winners of the second game get the Number 8 spots, with those losers also eliminated.

The Brooklyn Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves won the first two games of the Play-In Tournament last night. The Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-108, earning the seventh seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs, and the Timberwolves defeated the L.A. Clippers 109-104 for the seventh seed in the Western Conference.
 

⚾NAKKEN BECOMES FIRST FEMALE COACH ON FIELD IN MLB GAME: Alyssa Nakken came in as first base coach for the San Francisco Giants in the third inning last night after Antoan Richardon was ejected, making MLB history as the first female coach on the field in a regular-season game. The Giants went on to win 13-2 over the San Diego Padres. Nakken got a warm ovation from the crowd at San Francisco's Oracle Park when she was announced, and she got a congratulatory handshake from Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer. Nakken, a former Sacramento State softball star, is an assistant coach who works heavily with baserunning and outfield defense. She became the first female coach in the big leagues when she was hired in January 2020.

🏈HOUSE COMMITTEE TELLS FTC COMMANDERS MAY HAVE BROKEN FINANCE LAWS: The House Committee on Oversight and Reform told the Federal Trade Commission Tuesday that the NFL's Washington Commanders engaged in potentially unlawful financial conduct. The committee found evidence of deceptive business practices over more than a decade, including withholding ticket revenue from visiting teams and refundable deposits from fans. The NFL said it has retained former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White to investigate the most serious allegations. A Commanders spokesman referred to a March 31st statement that said, "The team categorically denies any suggestion of financial impropriety of any kind at any time."


⚾PUJOLS HITS FIRST HOME RUN AS A CARDINAL AGAIN: St. Louis' Albert Pujols hit a home run in the bottom of the first inning of the Cardinals' 6-5 home win over the Kansas City Royals yesterday, Pujols' first homer in his return to St. Louis after more than 10 years. It was the 680th career home run for the future Hall of Famer, who spent the first 11 years of his MLB career with the Cardinals. He returned to St. Louis in a one-year deal for what he said will be his final season. Pujols is fifth on the career home runs list, just 16 behind Alex Rodriguez.

Daily Mail 4/13/22

Major storms pummeled parts of the West and Central U.S. with tornadoes, record-breaking sized hail and historic blizzard conditions, causing widespread damage, thousands of power outages, and leaving dozens of people injured. Tornado watches and warning remained in effect for northern Iowa, a section of central Texas and parts of Louisiana Tuesday night as the dangerous storm system is expected to continue through Thursday. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has issued level 4 out of 5 'moderate risk' of severe weather and for a large part of the Mississippi Valley on Wednesday, citing 'the potential for strong tornadoes and very large hail,' the Washington Post reported. Several tornadoes touched down in Central Texas and Iowa Tuesday, causing widespread damage, the National Weather Service reported.


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