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Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Russia's Top Commander Pessimistic


Russia’s top military commander in Ukraine signaled Moscow’s hold on the southern city of Kherson was weakening, and Ukraine said Russian strikes since last week had knocked out some 30% of its power-plant infrastructure, raising concerns of countrywide blackouts. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the recently appointed commander of Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine, gave a rare pessimistic take of his invading forces’ position, telling state television Tuesday that the situation in Kherson “is not at all easy right now” and that the priority in the south was preserving civilians and military personnel.

“Difficult decisions cannot be ruled out,” he said, without elaborating, in his first significant public comments since taking over the role.

Gen. Surovikin’s comments came as Russia launched a fresh volley of missiles at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, the latest in a number of attacks that Kyiv said has damaged nearly a third of the country’s power plants.  “Ukraine is under fire by the occupiers. They continue to do what they do best—terrorize and kill civilians,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

➤BIDEN KEEPS ABORTION AS HIS TOP PRIORITY: President Joe Biden promised Tuesday that the first bill he sends to Capitol Hill next year will be one that writes abortion protections into law — if Democrats control enough seats in Congress to pass it — as he sought to energize his party’s voters just three weeks ahead of the November midterms.  Twice over, Biden urged people to remember how they felt in late June when the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion, fresh evidence of White House efforts to ensure the issue stays front of mind for Democratic voters this year.

Rubio and Demings
➤DEMINGS GOES ON DEBATE ATTACK: Democratic U.S. Rep. Del Demings of Florida went on the attack Tuesday in her first debate against Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, accusing him of being a serial liar, while Rubio criticized her for supporting President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. Rubio, a two-term senator, and Demings, a three-term congresswoman and former Orlando police chief, faced questions at the West Palm Beach debate on topics including inflation, abortion, voting rights, gun violence, immigration and foreign policy. Florida has increasingly shifted rightward in recent election cycles, giving Rubio the advantage as Republicans now lead Democrats with voter registration in the state. But Demings clearly saw the debate as an opportunity to take Rubio on forcefully as she tries to become the state’s first Black senator.


➤FLESH-EATING BACTERIA PLAGUES FLORIDA: Florida communities devastated by Hurricane Ian are facing a new threat of flesh-eating bacteria — weeks after the massive storm swept across the state. As of last Friday, the Sunshine State reported 65 infections of Vibrio vulnificus this year, while there were only 37 cases reported prior to the storm that made landfall on Sept. 28, according to Florida Department of Health data. Lee County, home to the Ian-ravaged communities of Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, accounts for most new cases of Vibrio vulnificus, which eats away at the flesh in open wounds.

🛢JOE 'THE OIL MAN': President Joe Biden will announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve Wednesday as part of a response to recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations, and he will say more oil sales are possible this winter, as his administration rushes to be seen as pulling out all the stops ahead of next month’s midterm elections. Biden will deliver remarks Wednesday to announce the drawdown from the strategic reserve, senior administration officials said Tuesday on the condition of anonymity to outline Biden’s plans. It completes the release of 180 million barrels authorized by Biden in March that was initially supposed to occur over six months. That has sent the strategic reserve to its lowest level since 1984 in what the administration called a “bridge” until domestic production could be increased. The reserve now contains roughly 400 million barrels of oil.


🦃TURKEY PRICES ARE 73% HIGHER THAN LAST YEAR: The spread of the bird flu will likely affect the price and availability of turkeys this Thanksgiving. Prices right now, per pound, for an 8 to 16 pound turkey is $1.99 which is up from $1.15 last year. That is a 73% increase. The bird flu usually spreads during colder months, but this year commercial turkey farms were reporting cases of avian flu in July. This year, 47.6 million birds have been affected while the flu has been detected in 42 states. To control the spread, growers must kill entire flocks, which usually contain about 15,000 birds.

⏰STUDY: ALMOST 60% OF PEOPLE HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON:  Do you find yourself hitting the snooze button in the morning? You're not alone: A new study from the University of Notre Dame found almost 60% of people sleep in. About 33% of Americans don't get enough sleep, so chronic sleepiness could be a factor. It's the tiredness, and not the use of the snooze button, that seems to be the problem. "Waking to one alarm or hitting the snooze button and waking to two or three alarms doesn’t make much of a difference. If you need an alarm because you’re sleep-deprived — that’s the issue," Aaron Striegel said. Waking up naturally, without an alarm, tended to show the best results. This is because the body has a natural physiological response that helps us feel alert once we have had enough rest.


🚘MORE CRASH DEATHS ARE ASSOCIATED TO AUTOMATED TECH VEHICLES: According to newly released government data, eleven people were killed in U.S. crashes involving vehicles that were using automated driving systems during a four-month period earlier this year. 10 of 11 cars involved in the crashes were Tesla vehicles, the 11th was a Ford pickup. The number of deaths involving automated vehicles is still small compared with the overall number of traffic deaths in the U.S. Nearly 43,000 people were killed on U.S. roads last year, the highest number in 16 years.




⚾PHILLIES KYLE SCHWARBER SLAMS TITANIC HOME: Yu Darvish didn’t look. Juan Soto never moved. Bryce Harper’s jaw dropped so far that his chin nearly scraped the floor of the dugout. The Phillies eked out a 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series after reliever José Alvarado kept his cool while all hell broke loose around him in a tense ninth inning before 44,826 towel-waving fans at Petco Park.

Schwarber's home run (119.7 MPH) is the hardest-hit home run in the postseason in the Statcast era. Previous: Giancarlo Stanton, 118.3 MPH in the 2020 ALDS. At 488 feet, it was the 2nd-farthest in the Statcast era, behind only Wilson Contreras (491 feet) in the 2017 NLCS.

⚾MLB:
  • New York Yankees 5 Cleveland Guardians 1
  • Philadelphia Phillies 2 San Diego Padres 0
🏀NBA:
  • Boston Celtic 126 Philadelphia 76ers 117
  • Golden State  123 Los Angeles Lakers 109

⚾GUARDIANS FORCED TO SWITCH HOTELS BEFORE BIG GAME: The Cleveland Guardians were forced to switch hotels Monday night, just hours ahead of the deciding game against the New York Yankees in the ALDS. The issue started when the game was rained out and the players tried to go back to their rooms, but they were told the rooms were already booked so the Guardians were not able to extend their stay. The New York Yankees might have benefited from this situation as they came out on top, winning the series on Tuesday with a final score of 5-1.

⚽COLOMBIAN PRO SOCCER DEFENDER ATTEMPTS WILD DISTRACTION: A Colombian professional football player flashed his male member in the middle of a match to distract the opposition from kicking a goal. Santa Fe defender Geisson Perera went viral for his wild attempt to defend a free kick from a Jaguares de Córdoba player during the Colombian first-division match on Monday.

🏈TOM BRADY BREAKS SILENCE ON PERSONAL LIFE: COMPARES NFL SEASON TO WAR: Tom Brady is comparing the work he does while wearing an NFL uniform to another career in a military uniform. The future Hall of Famer said that starting every new football season is like being deployed as a military service member. On the podcast he co-hosts called "Let's Go!" he said, “I almost look at like a football season like you’re going away on deployment in the military, and it’s like, man, here I go again.” Tampa Bay fly to North Carolina to take on the Panthers this Sunday.

🏈FORMER CORNERBACK, ANTONIO DENNARD DEAD AFTER BAR SHOOTING: Former NFL cornerback Antonio Dennard, who last played with the Green Bay Packers, died early Sunday morning after being involved in a shooting outside a restaurant in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Dennard was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as a free agent out of Langston University in 2012 but was waived later that year, he died at the age of 32.

🏀APPLE STOLE TAKENOTE FROM THE NBA TEAM, THE UTAH JAZZ: NBA fans took note when Apple used #TakeNote on Twitter to promote its new iPad lineup... afterall, it is the official hashtag of the Utah Jazz. While hashtags aren't exactly the property of a company, they can be used for advertising campaigns. However, Twitter has what's called Hash flags, which are little animated icons that appear after a sponsored hashtag. Every NBA team uses sponsored hashtags to promote social media content. The Utah Jazz promote #TakeNote.

When Apple took to Twitter to promote their upcoming iPad announcements using #TakeNote, the hashtag started to trend under sports and basketball on social media platform for a few hours. An original tweet by Utah Jazz saying, "Well, this is awkward." has since been deleted.











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