Thursday, February 2, 2023

Wake-Up Call: Russia Strikes Civilian Apartments


Russia, determined to make progress before Ukraine gets newly pledged Western battle tanks and armoured vehicles, has picked up momentum on the battlefield and announced advances north and south of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in Donetsk. Bakhmut and 10 towns and villages around it came under Russian fire, the Ukrainian military said late on Wednesday. Bakhmut has suffered persistent Russian bombardment for months. Avdiivka, another major Russian target, the nearby town of Maryinka and some neighbouring settlements were also hit, the military added. In Kramatorsk, about 34 miles northwest of Bakhmut, a Russian missile destroyed one apartment building and damaged seven on Wednesday, killing at least three people and injuring 20, police said.

➤HALEY RUN STARTS FEB 15: Nikki Haley is betting with her presidential bid that she’s uniquely suited to solve Republicans’ Donald Trump dilemma, as GOP leaders seek a new standard bearer for the 2024 election. The former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador under Trump is expected to announce her candidacy on Feb. 15, directly challenging the former president’s comeback bid as he continues to draw blame for disappointing GOP midterm results. Haley’s intention to seek the White House marks a reversal from previous declarations that she wouldn’t run if her former boss were to enter the race. She’s banking on increasing disdain for Trump, 76, within the party and offering her relative youth, at 51, and Indian American heritage as a modern alternative.

➤DeSANTIS PUSHES TAX CUTS: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is pushing for permanent tax cuts and pay increases for state employees in the coming year’s budget as revenue surpasses forecasts. DeSantis, a Republican who’s widely considered a potential contender for the 2024 presidential nomination, unveiled his $114.8 billion spending proposal dubbed “Framework for Freedom” for the fiscal year that starts July 1.  “Florida is stronger than ever,” he said, pointing to the state’s 2.5% unemployment rate, high levels of in-migration, low taxes and rapid clip of new business creation. The governor proposed $15.7 billion of total reserves. “That shows you that the state is going in the right direction.”

➤ONE MORE TIME: The Federal Reserve enacted its smallest interest rate hike in nearly a year on Wednesday — but signaled it expects “ongoing increases” in a blow to investors calling for a pause in the bank’s inflation-fighting campaign. The rate-making Federal Open Market Committee hiked its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point — to a range of 4.5% to 4.75% — at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting. “The Committee anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2 percent over time,” the FOMC said in a statement. The increase marked the eighth consecutive hike dating to March of last year. However, the quarter-point hike was the smallest since the Fed began its current policy-tightening effort and followed a series of supercharged hikes — including one in December.

➤SPEAKER 'HOPEFUL' ON DEBT CEILING: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he’s hopeful he can strike a deal on raising the debt limit with President Joe Biden well before the deadline when the nation would no longer be able to pay its bills.The California Republican emerged from a private meeting with Biden on Wednesday and sought to tamp down concerns that a stalemate could push the government to the edge of a default. He said the the discussion went better than he expected.  “I think, at the end of the day, we can find common ground,” McCarthy said as he left the White House. But he also reiterated GOP demands for spending cuts and said he was aiming for a two-year agreement.


✞FUNERAL SERVICE HELD FOR TYRE NICHOLS: Hundreds attended a funeral service in Memphis yesterday for Tyre Nichols, the young man whose death at the hands of five police officers has caused grief and outrage. Vice President Kamala Harris was among the speakers. Five police officers have been charged with second-degree murder in Nichols’ death. The vice president noted that the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which she co-authored as a senator, has still not been passed by Congress. She demanded its passage and said President Joe Biden would sign it into law.

➤REPUBLICAN STATES THREATEN PROVIDERS OF ABORTION PILLS: The attorneys general of 20 states that have strict laws limiting abortion services have sent a warning letter to CVS and Walgreens threatening unspecified legal consequences if they deliver the pills by mail to residents of their states. The Federal Drug Administration has eased a rule that formerly required users of the abortion pill to pick it up in person. That made it more difficult to obtain for residents of states that outlaw its use. CVS and Walgreens are among the pharmacies that have requested permission to ship the drug. The Republican attorneys general argue that the FDA rule change violates federal as well as state laws.

➤FBI CLAIMS NO SECRET DOCS FOUND AT BIDEN VACATION HOUSE: The FBI searched President Joe Biden’s vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Wednesday without turning up any classified documents, the latest turn in an extraordinary series of searches of his and his predecessor’s properties. Agents did take some handwritten notes and other materials relating to Biden’s time as vice president for review, just as they had when they searched his Wilmington home last month where they also found classified items. Investigators searched his former office at a Washington think tank that bears his name in November, but it isn’t clear whether they took anything. The Biden searches, conducted with his blessing, have come as investigators work to determine how classified information from his time as a senator and vice president came to wind up in his home and former office — and whether any mishandling involved criminal intent or was merely a mistake in a city where unauthorized treatment of classified documents is not unheard-of.


➤HUNTER ADMITS LAPTOP IS HIS: Hunter Biden has finally admitted the infamous 'laptop from hell' is his after his lawyers asked the Justice Department to investigate former President Donald Trump's allies, who peddled the hard drive to media outlets in the run-up to the 2020 election. The first son's lawyer Abbe Lowell asked the DOJ to probe former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, campaign lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani's lawyer and the owner of the Wilmington computer repair shop, John Paul Mac Isaac, who obtained the laptop in April 2019. The letter to the DOG is the first time Hunter has acknowledged it was his data that was found and distributed to members of the news media. Contents of the laptop include business and personal emails, as well as a number of images of Hunter Biden in compromising positions. 

➤COLLEGE BOARD REVISES AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM: The College Board has revised its curriculum for a new Advanced Placement high school course on African American studies, removing material that was criticized by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other conservatives. According to The New York Times, the board removed some politically sensitive topics such as critical race theory, Black feminism, and the Black Lives Matter movement from the formal curriculum and added Black conservatism as an idea for a research project.

➤LYING CONGRESSMAN DECLINES COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS: U.S. Representative George Santos, newly elected to Congress based on a resume that was mostly fabricated, has stepped down from Congressional committee assignments he was given only days ago. His legal troubles are piling up. According to Politico, the FBI is investigating an allegation dating from 2016 that Santos ran a GoFundMe campaign to pay for surgery for a Navy veteran’s beloved dog only to disappear with the proceeds.

➤LAST BOEING 747 AIRCRAFT DELIVERED: Boeing has delivered the very last 747 aircraft. The iconic passenger plane was introduced in 1969 and is credited with ushering in international air travel for the masses. The airlines are now opting for smaller, more fuel-efficient models. The last 747 was delivered to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport for Atlas Air, a cargo carrier.

➤STUDY..SCIENTISTS FIND 7 PERSISTENT LONG COVID SYMPTOMS:  The University of Missouri at Columbia has identified seven health symptoms of Covid-19 lasting up to a year post-infection: Rapid heartbeat; hair loss; chest pain; fatigue; joint pain; shortness of breath; and obesity. The research team used data from 52,461 patients from 122 healthcare facilities. "Before we examined the data, I thought we would find an ample amount of the symptoms to be specifically associated with long COVID, but that wasn’t the case," author Chi-Ren Shyu said. These findings could help separate post-Covid syndrome from other post-viral syndromes.

➤STUDY...ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS RAISE CANCER RISK:   A decade-long study examining 200,000 participants has found a link between cancer and ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods include packaged snacks, breakfast cereals, ready-made meals, and reconstituted meat products. Researchers concluded that middle-aged adults who consumed such foods were at greater risk of getting cancer in general, and saw a higher risk of getting brain and ovarian cancer. A 10% increase of ultra-processed foods in one's diet was linked to a 2% higher risk of cancer and 19% higher risk of ovarian cancer. "Ultra-processed foods are everywhere and highly marketed with cheap price and attractive packaging to promote consumption," Dr. Kiara Chang said. "This shows our food environment needs urgent reform to protect the population from ultra-processed foods."

➤4 STATES GAINING MOST NEW RESIDENTS: The U.S. Census Bureau recently released the net domestic migration - the number of people moving in and out of an area – for each state in 2022. Twenty-six states experienced an influx of people, with more people moving in than out, while twenty-five states lost movers. Florida (318,855), Texas (230,961), and the Carolinas – North Carolina (99,796) and South Carolina (84,030) – were the states with the most net domestic migration gains in 2022. Positive net domestic migration and positive net international migration significantly boosted population growth in these areas. Florida was the fastest-growing state in 2022, with an annual population increase of 1.9% within a year. In fact, that was the first time since 1957 that Florida’s population grew faster than anywhere else across the United States. 

🏈TOM BRADY MEANS IT THIS TIME: Tom Brady is retiring for the second time, and this time he says he really means it. The quarterback leaves football after 23 seasons with an astonishing record. He appeared in 10 Super Bowls and won seven of them. Six were with the New England Patriots and the last, in February 2021, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns and quarterback wins in both the regular season and postseason. Now 45, Brady’s second retirement announcement came exactly one year after his first.Brady’s next move is expected to be to the broadcast booth at Fox News, where he already has a lucrative job as an analyst lined up. However, he will not begin his career as an analyst at this year’s Super Bowl on Feb. 12, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.


🏈EAGLES OFFENSIVE LINEMAN SIDELINED: Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Josh Sills has been placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List and will not be allowed to participate in team activities until after a personal conduct review. Sills has been indicted by the Ohio attorney general and a county sheriff on charges of rape and kidnapping. The charges are related to an incident that occurred in December 2019, according to an indictment filed Tuesday. Sills played high school football in Ohio.

🏈TUA TAGOVAILOA IS DOING FINE: Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has finally cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol, more than a month after a Christmas Day game injury. The NFL Network said he had met with several medical professionals who are confident he’ll be ready “when the time comes for football.” For the Dolphins, that means April 17, when the team is scheduled to start its offseason workout program.

🏈SUPER BOWL TICKETS MAY BREAK RECORDS: Tickets to this year’s Super Bowl have reached an average price of $10,959, and it might turn out to be the most expensive ever to attend, according to Sports Illustrated. The cheapest price is $6,051 for a seat in Section 436. The most expensive seat, right at midfield in Section 108, will cost you $40,723. The Philadelphia Eagles meet the Kansas City Chiefs on February 12th in Glendale, Arizona.

➤BRRR..ITS GONNA BE COLD: A “dangerously cold air mass” will move into Southern New England over the weekend, bringing frigid temperatures and brutal windchill that could dip as low as 40 degrees below zero in some parts of Massachusetts in what forecasters say could be the coldest air in Boston in at least seven years. The core of the arctic air arrives late Friday night and early Saturday morning, and temperatures could drop as low as 5 to 15 degrees below zero, said Hayden Frank, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Forecasters anticipate it will be minus 5 degrees in Boston, a record for that date and the coldest air in the city since Valentine’s Day weekend in 2016, when temperatures plummeted to minus 9.

➤TEXANS STRUGGLE THROUGH RELENTLESS STORMS: More than 340,000 homes and businesses in Texas endured near-freezing temperatures without power yesterday, the third day of a brutal ice storm. Schools across Arkansas and parts of Tennessee as well as Texas are canceled for today. The storm is expected to subside today.



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