Friday, February 10, 2023

Wake-Up Call: Tent Cities Sprout To Shelter Quake Victims


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing mounting criticism from earthquake survivors and opposition parties over the country’s poor construction record and what they say has been an inadequate response to one of its worst natural disasters. A three-month state of emergency officially went into force in Turkey, enabling the government to take swift security and financial measures in areas stricken by a pair of earthquakes on Monday. The death toll in Turkey and Syria reached 21,447, with tens of thousands still missing. Key Developments:

  • Turkish Anger Turns to Erdogan Over Quake Delays, Weak Buildings
  • Azeri Oil Exports From Turkey May Not Resume Until Next Week
  • Turkish Donors Order Container Homes for Earthquake Survivors
  • Turkey Assets Stop Skid as Investors Weigh Post-Disaster Risks
  • Erdogan Vows Building Blitz to Renew Quake-Hit Areas Within Year
  • Turkey Risks Inflation Surge, Budget Breach as Quake Costs Mount

The rescue of several survivors from the rubble of buildings in Turkey lifted the spirits of weary search crews on Friday, four days after a major earthquake struck the country and neighboring Syria. Cold, hunger and despair gripped hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by the tremors, the deadliest in the region for decades. Several people were rescued from the rubble of buildings during the night, including a 10-year-old boy saved with his mother after 90 hours in the Samandag district of Hatay province. Also in Hatay, a seven-year-old girl named Asya Donmez was rescued after 95 hours and taken to hospital, the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.


But hopes were fading that many more would be found alive in the ruins of thousands of collapsed buildings in towns and cities across the region.

➤MIKE PENCE SUBPOENAED FOR TRUMP INVESTIGATION: Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the special counsel who is investigating former President Donald Trump’s involvement in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, ABC News reported. Special counsel Jack Smith was appointed in November to oversee the investigation into the effort by former president and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election. As of last night, there was no comment on the report from the vice president.

➤FILING INCREASE FOR BENEFITS: Worker filings for unemployment benefits rose last week but remained historically low. Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, increased by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 196,000 last week, the Labor Department said. That reflects a tight job market—in some sectors. Restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes and child-care centers are staffing up postpandemic, more than offsetting layoffs in the tech industry. Meanwhile, the steepest fourth-quarter home-price declines were in the West, according to the National Association of Realtors.

➤'ROLLING RECESSION FOR U-S: Experts believe that the US is going to enter a 'rolling recession' meaning individual sectors decline in turn rather than all at once. Despite US unemployment being at its lowest point since 1969, and GDP rising 2.1 percent in 2022, inflation remains relatively high at 6.5 percent, tech companies continue to layoff people by the thousands and manufacturing is in a downturn. On top of that, the housing market is experiencing its worst sales slump since the Great Recession while 69 percent of reporting companies missed analyst's expectations for the last quarter, reports CNN. At least one expert, Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, publicly stated that the 'economy will suffer from rolling recessions,' during an appearance at a National Retail Federation event in January. Despite clear signs of a weak handover to 2023, some economists are cautiously optimistic the economy will skirt an outright recession.

U-S GATHERING BALLOON EVIDENCE: The Chinese balloon that crossed the U.S. carried antennas and sensors for collecting intelligence and communications, Biden administration officials said, laying out the most detailed evidence to date about China’s surveillance program. The new information was described Thursday by a range of officials from the Pentagon, State Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation as the administration prepared to take unspecified action against companies and entities linked to the Chinese balloon program that the U.S. says has spied on more than 40 countries across five continents. Much of the information came from tracking the balloon over eight days as it traversed the U.S. last week before being shot down off the Atlantic coast Saturday.

➤MISSOURI HOUSE VOTES AGAINST BAN ON MINORS CARRYING GUNS: The Missouri House has voted against a proposed ban on minors openly carrying firearms in public without adult supervision. The measure failed by a vote of 104-39, with only one Republican supporting a ban. Donna Baringer, a Democratic representative, said police in her district asked for the change to stop “14-year-olds walking down the middle of the street in the city of St. Louis carrying AR-15s.”

➤SENATOR FETTERMAN HOSPITALIZED: Newly-elected Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was hospitalized last night for a second night after suffering a bout of lightheadedness. He did not suffer a second stroke, his office said. Fetterman was hospitalized for treatment of a stroke last May on the night he won his Democratic primary campaign.

➤COP RAMMED STOLEN MOTORCYCLE PRIOR TO SHOOTING: A shocking new video shows the moment a Colorado police officer rammed his SUV into a man who was riding on a stolen motorcycle. The officer then opened fire on the man, later named as 41-year-old Stephen Poolson, killing him. The incident occurred on February 2. Shortly after the shooting, a press release from the Littleton Police Department made no reference to the ramming. The statement said that Poolson, who was on probation, had crashed the motorcycle and 'produced a gun.' Police were called to the area after receiving a report about a suspicious vehicle in the area. Video shows that the shooting took place at 1:05 am. It was first reported on by 9 News in Denver. The clip shows Poolson being knocked from the motorcycle by a police cruiser and then running from the officer. The suspect runs out of frame and the fatal gunfire cannot be seen. Poolson died later at a local hospital.

NY Post Composite (2/10/23)
➤BULLIED SUICIDE VICTIM: The father of Adriana Kuch, left, has hit out at people claiming the attack on his daughter was racially-motivated after she was filmed being brutally beaten inside a New Jersey high school. The 14-year-old took her own life just two days after the video was published online, prompting many community members to call for a change in the administration, which failed to call police following the brutal beating. They say her death is just the latest in a string of bullying incidents over the years at Central Regional High School in which administrators refused to act.

➤TRANSGENDER KIDS' HOSPITAL FACING ALLEGATIONS: Jamie Reed, a former employee at the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital, alleged the hospital administered a litany of irreparable treatments to minors, often times without parental consent. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey confirmed his office was launching an investigation into the hospital following Reed's claims, which he characterized as 'disturbing.' Dr. Allison Snyder-Warwick was named as one of the physicians who performed a gender transition surgery. Reed worked at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital and was responsible for patient intake between 2018 and November 2022

➤KILLER MOM TO BE SENTENCED: Julissa Thaler, 28, will be sentenced on February 16 for the May 2022 murder of her six year old son: she faces an automatic life sentence, without parole, for the premeditated killing. Jurors took only two hours to reach their verdict, agreeing with prosecutors that she shot her child nine times with a shotgun, then drove around for several hours throwing his belongings in dumpsters and putting his body in the trunk. Thaler lost custody of Eli in January 2021 after the Dakota County Social Services Department learned that she was 'presenting with psychosis and hearing voices telling her to kill herself.' Mary Moriarty, Hennepin County attorney, described it as 'one of the most horrific cases I have encountered in 30 years working in the criminal legal system.'

➤ROSEANNE BARR RETURNS WITH 'CANCEL THIS' COMEDY SPECIAL: Roseanne Barr released clips from her upcoming comedy special Roseanne Barr: Cancel This!, showing her at her best, taking no prisoners and taking jabs at woke culture. The show, her first in nearly two years, comes nearly five years after she found herself cancelled over a tweet. In a clip from her new comedy special, Barr could be heard poking fun at preoccupations with pronouns, gender identity, and generational divides. The new special comes after she spoke out against the culture of show business, arguing she got cancelled and was pushed from the business while others were welcomed back into the fold. 'These people, they have no concept of reality. They've been living in a bubble forever. Asking questions have nothing to do with the real world,' she said.

➤BRITNEY SPEARS LASHED OUT ABOUT 'INTERVENTION': Britney Spears lashed out over claims her loved ones tried to stage an intervention amid fears she 'might die,' while her husband Sam Asghari insisted the singer 'will make all decisions involving her care regardless of circumstance' Thursday. The Grammy-winning singer, 41, denied reports her family and friends reportedly planned an intervention this week due to concerns 'she would die' over escalating substance abuse and mental health issues. 'It makes me sick to my stomach that it's even legal for people to make up stories that I almost died … I mean at some point enough is enough!!!' she said in an Instagram post Thursday. 'I'm probably going to have to stop posting on Instagram because even though I enjoy doing it, there's obviously a lot of people who don't wish me well!!!'

➤DISNEY TO LOSE SPECIAL STATUS: Disney will have a “new sheriff in town” once Florida formally takes control of the company’s special tax district, Gov. Ron DeSantis boasted. DeSantis lobbed his latest volley at the Mouse House as Florida state lawmakers hold a special session to consider a bill that will strip Disney of its self-governing status within the Reedy Creek Improvement District – where the company has had near-autonomy for decades.

➤EMERGENCY FOOD BENEFITS ENDING FOR MILLIONS: A temporary boost in federal food benefits related to the coronavirus pandemic will stop at the end of this month. Millions of Americans will no longer receive the so-called “emergency allotment” in addition to the benefits they usually get through the SNAP program. An announcement from the Department of Agriculture notes that a number of states had already stopped the additional benefits to their residents. About 41 million Americans get assistance in buying food through the SNAP program.

🐔CHICK-FIL-A WITHOUT THE CHICK: The Chick-Fil-A restaurant chain is putting a chicken-free sandwich on its menu for the first time. A beaded cauliflower sandwich is being tested in its restaurants in Denver, Charleston, South Carolina, and Greensboro, North Carolina. The companies spent four years developing new sandwich and its culinary chief says the cauliflower sandwich “puts a delicious spin on what we’re known for.”

➤STUDY: LOW-CALORIE DIETS SLOW DOWN AGING PROCESS:  Low-calorie diets slow down the pace of aging as much as quitting smoking, a Columbia University study suggests. A trial involving 220 healthy men and women put some participants on a restricted diet for two years. The results? Those consuming fewer calories saw a 10 to 15-percent drop in premature death risk. "Our study found evidence that calorie restriction slowed the pace of aging in humans," scientist Calen Ryan said. "Our findings are important because they provide evidence from a randomized trial that slowing human aging may be possible."

🏈MAHOMES NAMED NFL MVP: Patrick Mahomes dominated the voting for the AP NFL Most Valuable Player award. Now, he’ll try to break the MVP curse. Mahomes, who also won in 2018, easily outdistanced Jalen Hurts, receiving 48 of 50 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of media members who regularly cover the league. He earned 490 points to 193 for Hurts, who got one first-place vote, 26 seconds, 11 thirds and 10 fourths. Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (16-3) face Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles (16-3) in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Mahomes thanked the Chiefs organization and his teammates in a video at NFL Honors on Thursday night.





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