MORNING NEWS BRIEFING – FEBRUARY 8, 2022

Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Tuesday February 8, 2022

1.) THE DAILY SIGNAL

February 8 2022
Good morning from Washington, where it’s time for accountability for Big Tech, a new paper from The Heritage Foundation argues. Kara Frederick sums up her recommendations. What happened during the Capitol riot isn’t what Democrats claim, Rep. Jim Banks tells our Mary Margaret Olohan. On the podcast, former border chief Mark Morgan accuses the Biden administration of enabling an invasion of illegal immigrants. Plus: “Problematic Women” explores wisdom for 20-somethings; a Texas mom starts her own school; and your letters on Catholic schools and transgenderism. On this date in 1936, University of Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger, first winner of the  Heisman Trophy, is picked No. 1 overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first NFL draft.
NEWS
‘Breadcrumbs Lead to Speaker’s Office,’ Rep. Jim Banks Warns as GOP Slams Capitol Police Leadership Over Capitol Riot
By Mary Margaret Olohan
“We do believe strongly that there was negligence and a breakdown of leadership at the highest levels of the Capitol Police,” says Rep. Jim Banks.
COMMENTARY
Now Is the Time for Conservatives to Combat Big Tech’s Totalitarianism
By Kara Frederick
Every American should be concerned about Big Tech’s willingness to shut off direct access to digital information, its demonstrated pattern of information manipulation, and its impact on America’s culture…
ANALYSIS
Trump Border Chief Reveals 'Invasion' at Southern Border
By Douglas Blair
“President Biden inherited the most secure border in our lifetime, and with the stroke of a political pen from Day One, he started to systematically dismantle it,” says Mark Morgan.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Why This Texas Mom Started a Co-Op to Teach Her Kids
By Melanie Wilcox
In March 2020, when schools throughout Texas sent children home to do remote learning, Natalie Simmons says her attitude toward traditional education changed.
COMMENTARY
Being Young Is Hard. Here’s How She Learned to ‘ Make Your 20s Suck (a Little) Less’
By Virginia Allen
Amid rejection letters from employers and the challenge of finding her place in the post-college world, Rebecca Stow says, she learned how to keep hope alive and never play the victim.
COMMENTARY
Los Angeles Times Slams ‘Vitriol in Politics’—After Hiring Vitriolic Columnists
By Larry Elder
This is a newspaper that hired columnist Erika D. Smith, who wrote a column with the headline: “Larry Elder Is the Black Face of White Supremacy.You’ve Been Warned.”
COMMENTARY
We Hear You: Do Catholic Schools Really Embrace Gender Ideology?
By Ken McIntyre
“The teaching of the Catholic Church is that God created each one of us as the gender he intended us to be,” writes Michael LaMorte of Columbus, Ohio.
LOGO-CHARCOAL_75percent.jpg

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3.) DAYBREAK

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1.
As Olympics Ratings Crater, Some in Media Ignore Ugly Truth

From Ed Morrissey: Not once does The Spun mention the pushback on China’s genocide of the Uighurs or its demolition of freedom in Hong Kong, not to mention the whole COVID-19 pandemic that managed to kill millions of people around the world. “Why do you think the Olympic ratings are so much lower this time than last?” asks The Spun at the end. Come on, man. Actually, Axios manages to avoid those answers, too. Blindness appears to be contagious in this case (Hot Air). From columnist Dan Wetzel: NBC says it had total audience of 13.6 million (streaming included) for first Saturday of Winter Olympics. Same date for 2018 Games did 24.2 million, so down 43.8 percent (Twitter).  Meanwhile, Senator Ben Sasse is telling people to delete the app required for anyone going to the Olympics as it is spying on them (National Review). And it appears NBC booted a popular sports reporter from Beijing after he commented on the genocide (Daily Caller).

2.
Senator’s Stroke Leaves Democrats in Temporary Minority

New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Lujan (pictured) is expected to be out for four to six weeks – hoping to return to help Biden push through a liberal Supreme Court Justice.

CBS News

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3.
Charter School for BIPOC Students Only to Open in Portland

From the story: HOLLA Public Charter School is expected to open in the fall of 2022 in partnership with the Reynolds School District. “We’ll focus on what’s in your community. Like, it’s a very strong entrepreneurial focus […] There’ll be a very strong hip-hop focus around our kids’ learning style,” explained Knox (KGW). From Hugh Hewitt: This is unconstitutional (Twitter).

4.
Nancy Pelosi Spent Nearly $500,000 on Private Jets Since 2020

Among the many problems with that: She claims climate change is an “existential threat” we have “a moral obligation to protect.”

Daily Mail

5.
Democrats Begin to Pull Away from Biden on Mask Mandates

Those running for governor see it is a losing issue (RedState). From Erick Erickson: How bad must the internal polling from Democrats be to see them suddenly racing to end mask mandates and play up natural immunity after two years of dogmatic resistance? (Twitter). From Karol Markowicz: Super glad that the Dem governors all got the “oh crap, we’re about to get smoked in the midterms, change course!” memo today but as a country we need the admission masks don’t work and will never, ever, return. Ever (Twitter).

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6.
George Washington University President Changes Tune on Posters Critical of China

Mark Wrighton originally agreed they were racists and wrong but admits now he “responded hastily.” He wrote “I want to be very clear: I support freedom of speech—even when it offends people—and creative art is a valued way to communicate on important societal issues.”

GWU

7.
Rumble Offers Joe Rogan $100 Million to Switch Platforms

They’d even included the now-deleted episodes.

Hot Air

8.
Rent Hits All-Time High

As inflation crunches down hard on families.

Axios

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9.
Quarantined Athletes in China Complain of Squalor

Athletes claim they are fed tiny amounts of food. Some question the odd timing of covid positive test results. The athletes are discovering China really doesn’t care about human rights (USA Today).  More on the poor living conditions (NY Post).

10.
Canadian Police Seize Fuel from Ottawa Truckers

They also outlawed honking their horns at night as the police use emergency powers to crack down on protestors.

Daily Caller

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4.) THE SUNBURN

Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 2.8.22

Florida politics — and more — you can read in as much time as your first cuppa joe.

Good Tuesday morning.

It’s two Republicans in a row as guests for the State of the Emergency podcast as Jared Moskowitz, and I welcome the influential Rep. Tom Leek. The Ormand Beach lawmaker deep-dives on the redistricting process he’s overseeing in the House, while also explaining why he doesn’t mind staying out of the headlines. From there, Jared and Peter talk a lot about Democrats and Disney. Lots and lots of Disney.

Listen here.

___

This week, the Governors Club will play host to a “Winter Reception.”

The event kicks off at 6 p.m. and will raise funds to support the Florida Gubernatorial Fellows Program, a non-partisan program that provides college and university students of state government with on-the-job training in state government.

According to program organizers, students selected for the nine-month program receive “an invaluable front-line view of the inner workings of government.”

In addition to the time they spend at their respective state agencies, which are selected based on their college major, fellows meet weekly to discuss their experiences and get face time with high-level government leaders.

Florida Gubernatorial Fellows Program gives a select group of students a front-row seat to the inner workings of Tallahassee. Image via Facebook.

Each fellowship class includes about a dozen students selected via a competitive application process.

Donations to Florida Gubernatorial Fellows Program are tax-deductible. Checks should be made to the Volunteer Florida Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes volunteerism in the state, with “Florida Gubernatorial Fellows” written in the memo line.

More information on the Florida Gubernatorial Fellows Program is available on Volunteer Florida’s website.

Organizers recommend attendees chip in $25. Donors who cannot swing by the Governor’s Club Wednesday evening are encouraged to mail a check to the Volunteer Florida Foundation at 1545 Raymond Diehl Road, Suite 250, Tallahassee, FL 32308.

___

Florida’s Historic Capitol will be lit purple Tuesday night starting at 6 p.m.

Put on by the Alzheimer’s Association of Florida, the lighting is an annual event meant to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease, which affects more than 6.2 million Americans, including 580,000 Floridians. Alzheimer’s and other dementias were estimated to cost the nation $355 billion last year.

Alzheimer’s Association Regional Leader Angela McAuley and Florida Department of Elder Affairs Secretary Michelle Branham are scheduled to speak at the lighting ceremony. Additionally, according to a news release from the association, “several government officials” are expected to attend and speak during the ceremony.

The Capitol gets lit.

The Alzheimer’s Association of Florida will livestream the ceremony on FacebookTwitter and YouTube.

On Wednesday, the association and Alzheimer’s advocates will follow up with a day of action, urging lawmakers to prioritize legislation that would boost Alzheimer’s research and treatment in Florida.

In recent years, the state has taken several steps favored by Alzheimer’s advocates. In 2021, lawmakers provided an additional $12 million toward research and treatment, bringing the state’s overall commitment to $51 million in the 2021-22 fiscal year.

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

@MarcACaputo: When the Deep South folks come all the way south to Miami, they struggle with the seemingly exotic-sounding names. And so Rep @GKButterfield at a hearing today re Spanish-language disinformation trips over the name of the city of Hialeah It’s HIGH-ah-LEE-ah (not Ha-LEE-ah)

@AGAshleyMoody: Not only is there chaos at the southwest border, @JoeBiden is building new policies, right now, using your tax dollars to fund a travel agency to run a massive illegal immigration operation.

@Karol: I know I’m supposed to be thrilled that left politicians, hysterical doctors & their media friends are all stating the obvious re COVID now, but … I’m not. No apology, no deference to those who were right, and o plan for what to do for people caught in their insanity.

@JTTallman: It’s so amusing how when a Democrat politician like Stacey Abrams is rightfully criticized for something, the media goes on overdrive to make it about the “Republicans attack” over the actual action of the Democrat politician.

@RealJacobPerry: It’s stunning just how bad Democrats are at politics.

Tweettweet:

 

Tweettweet:

 

Tweet, tweet:

 

— DAYS UNTIL —

Super Bowl LVI — 5; Will Smith‘s ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ reboot premieres — 5; Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show begins — 8; season four of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ begins — 8; Spring Training report dates begin — 9; Synapse Florida tech summit begins — 9; ‘The Walking Dead’ final season part two begins — 12; Daytona 500 — 12; Special Election for Jacksonville City Council At-Large Group 3 — 15; Suits For Session — 15; CPAC begins — 16; St. Pete Grand Prix — 17; Biden to give the State of the Union address — 21; ‘The Batman’ premieres — 24; Miami Film Festival begins — 24; the 2022 Players begins — 28; Sarasota County votes to renew the special 1-mill property tax for the school district — 28; the third season of ‘Atlanta’ begins — 43; season two of ‘Bridgerton’ begins — 45; The Oscars — 47; Macbeth with Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga begin performances on Broadway — 49; Grammys rescheduled in Las Vegas — 54; Magic Johnson’s Apple TV+ docuseries ‘They Call Me Magic’ begins — 73; ‘The Godfather’ TV series ‘The Offer’ premieres — 79; federal student loan payments will resume — 82; ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ premieres — 87; ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ premieres — 108; ‘Platinum Jubilee’ for Queen Elizabeth II — 114; ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ premieres — 151; San Diego Comic-Con 2022 — 164; Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner novel ‘Heat 2’ publishes — 182; ‘The Lord of the Rings’ premieres on Amazon Prime — 206; ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ sequel premieres — 241; ‘Black Panther 2’ premieres — 276; ‘The Flash’ premieres — 279; ‘Avatar 2′ premieres — 311; ‘Captain Marvel 2′ premieres — 374; ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ premieres — 409; ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ premieres — 535; ‘Dune: Part Two’ premieres — 619; Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games — 899.

—TOP STORY —

Ron DeSantis refuses to take sides in Donald Trump — Mike Pence clash as 2024 speculation grows” via Marc Caputo of NBC News — DeSantis declined on Monday to weigh in on one of the most divisive issues in the GOP: Could then-Vice President Pence have “overturned” the 2020 Presidential Election? Trump has repeatedly insisted that Pence could have changed the election outcome by upending the congressional certification of the results, overturning Biden‘s win. On Friday, Pence rebutted his former boss, saying Trump was “wrong” to suggest he had the authority to change the outcome of the election. Pressed by a reporter, DeSantis then changed the subject to say that he had a “great working relationship” with the Trump administration during the two years his administration overlapped with it.

Ron DeSantis stays above the Donald Trump/Mike Pence fray. Image via @SNNTV/Twitter.

— DATELINE TALLY —

DeSantis takes immigration fight with Joe Biden to Miami during legislative crunchtime” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics — DeSantis took his criticisms of Biden‘s immigration policies to Miami Monday, highlighting another angle of the Governor’s stand against the federal government. During a roundtable discussion held at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami, DeSantis contrasted the Biden administration’s policies on illegal immigration against the immigration trends that have fueled South Florida’s mixed culture. DeSantis called the current situation “effectively the largest human smuggling operation in American history” that began with an immigration “explosion” after Biden took office. Drug cartels have also taken advantage, driving fentanyl overdoses and the use of methamphetamines, the Governor said.

On the road: Ron DeSantis takes the immigration battle with Joe Biden to Miami. Image via @GovRonDeSantis/Twitter.

In his fight against ‘woke’ schools, DeSantis tears at the seams of a diverse Florida” via Tim Craig and Lori Rozsa of The Washington Post — The school system in Florida’s most populous county includes students whose families moved here from 160 nations. Its broad cultural mix is represented in the district’s curriculum, which includes not only American history, but also the stories of violent government upheavals, such as the revolution of enslaved people who founded Haiti, and the more recent political trauma of protesters who fled or perished in Castro’s Cuba. But as Florida lawmakers consider legislation to police what students are taught, Miami Beach Senior High School teacher Russell Rywell wonders if he will still be able to discuss how some of his students’ ancestors arrived in the United States.

DeSantis doesn’t want schools to teach ‘choosing your gender’ without parental involvement” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics — A reporter asked DeSantis about HB 1557, the Parental Rights in Education bill that would more closely regulate discussions about gender and sexuality in K-12 classroom settings. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Harding, would require schools to notify parents of “critical decisions affecting a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being,” unless it is determined that notification would subject students to abuse at home. The bill also would allow parents to sue if they perceived a violation of their rights. Critics refer to it as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. But DeSantis defended the legislation as necessary to stop an apparent trend in schools of helping students figure out issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Big fan: Joe Harding’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill has at least one significant supporter.

Ashley Moody, Lenny Curry want court to settle CD 5 redistricting question” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — Moody says the Florida Supreme Court should weigh in on a redistricting concern raised by DeSantis. The Florida Legislature agrees. But groups who successfully challenged maps passed by the Legislature a decade ago say it’s improper for the courts to consider the constitutionality of new maps before they even pass. DeSantis last week asked the court to advise him on whether Florida’s 5th Congressional District must be preserved as a minority access district on a new congressional map. In a legal brief filed Monday, Moody doesn’t take a side on that argument. But she does say that since the Governor holds veto power over Florida’s congressional map, the high court has a responsibility to provide an opinion.

DEP Secretary responds to wetlands permitting criticism — After a Senate panel advanced his confirmation on Monday, Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Shawn Hamilton said that the agency’s dispute with the federal government over wetlands permitting is “not about being lax,” as some environmentalists have suggested. As reported by Bruce Ritchie of POLITICO Florida, the criticism stems from a recent letter sent by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that said the federal agency disagrees with how DEP has handled wetland’s permitting, which was transferred from the federal government to the state in the waning days of the Trump administration. Hamilton said EPA’s concerns were merely “about following process” and that DEP is continuing to work with EPA to resolve the disagreement.

—TALLY 2 —

Florida Republicans ditch Texas-style abortion law for what they call a ‘generous’ 15-week ban, drawing criticism from all sides” via Caroline Kitchener of The Washington Post — Florida Republicans have coalesced around a bill they have come to describe as “very reasonable” and “generous,” a 15-week ban modeled after the Mississippi law in the U.S. Supreme Court case that will determine the future of Roe v. Wade. It’s an approach, they say, that would prevent only a fraction of the more than 70,000 abortions performed in Florida each year, the vast majority of which take place in the first trimester. “We’re not banning anything. We’re not being mean,” said state Sen. Kelli Stargel, the bill’s sponsor. The state’s current law allowing abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy is among the most lenient in the Southeast.

Stuck in the middle: Kelli Stargel is getting grief from all sides over her ‘reasonable’ abortion bill.

Bill requiring transferable tickets passes first Senate committee” via Tristan Wood of Florida Politics — A bill requiring ticket sellers to offer transferable tickets to concerts, festivals and sports games passed its first committee Monday. SB 1316, which requires any person or entity who offers non-transferable tickets for sale also to offer the ticket in a transferrable format, passed the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee unanimously. The bill would require a way for transferable tickets to be given to other people or sold on any third-party platform. Multiday tickets or passes, like annual passes to Walt Disney World and season tickets to sports teams, would be exempt from the law to prevent days from being divided among many people.

House seeks ‘consultation’ with DMS on Capitol closing decisions” via Gray Rohrer of Florida Politics — When Florida partially shut down in April 2020 due to DeSantis’ executive order to protect against COVID-19, the state Capitol building also was shut down. The House wants the Legislature to have a greater say in decisions to close and reopen the Capitol, as well as decisions on construction projects, security concerns, monuments, and maintenance and upkeep of the Capitol complex. One of the measures released by the House Friday as part of its slate of budget conforming bills is HB 5301, which would require the Department of Management Services (DMS) to consult with the Senate President, House Speaker, Governor and Cabinet members on closing and reopening the Capitol and other buildings in the Capitol complex during a declared state of emergency.

Second House committee approves legislation allowing voters to recall more county officials” via Tristan Wood of Florida Politics — Two bills that would offer voters the power to recall County Commissioners and other county officers passed their second committee Monday. HB 663, a bill that would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot expanding Florida’s recall law to include county officers in all Florida counties, passed the House Public Integrity and Elections Committee with only two dissenting votes. HB 1399, which lays out the recall process for County Commissioners and would only come into effect if the ballot initiative is approved, also passed the committee. Under Florida law, “county officers” include each county’s Clerk of Courts, Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections and Tax Collector.

Online security officer training proposal clears House committee” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics — The certification of security officers in Florida could soon become an online process under a bill OK’d Thursday by a House committee. State law currently requires aspiring security officers, armed and unarmed, to undergo an in-person training course before certification. However, the proposal (HB 1233) would shift unarmed training online. Armed courses, meanwhile, may feature at most 21 hours of online instruction. The rest of the training, including the firearm portion, would remain in person. Rep. Randy Fine is the bill sponsor. The Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee advanced the bill unanimously.

Property tax cut for first responders, teachers clears second House hurdle” via Gray Rohrer of Florida Politics — A measure that would ask voters to approve a new $50,000 exemption to homestead property taxes for teachers, nurses, child welfare workers, police, firefighters and other first responders passed swiftly through its second hearing in the House Monday. The House Local Administration & Veteran Affairs Subcommittee voted unanimously in favor of HJR 1 that would put a measure on the 2022 ballot. If approved by 60% of voters, it would exempt the value of a homesteaded property between $100,000 and $150,000 on the tax rolls for first responders and teachers. Despite the unanimous vote, some Democrats quibbled about the need to do more to address housing affordability for other Floridians, including renters, being hit with stark rent hikes.

Beach smoking change heads to final Senate Committee after amendment” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics — A Senate bill that would allow cities and counties the right to regulate smoking at public beaches and parks cleared its second committee Monday with a handful of amendments. The Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources unanimously approved the legislation (SB 224), sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters. The bill amends the “Florida Clean Indoor Air Act,” which regulates vaping and tobacco smoking in Florida, to give local governments the power to restrict smoking on public beaches. The Sarasota Republican has pushed the legislation for years to give that right back to local governments, noting that many beach rankings give points for beaches remaining smoke-free.

Great outdoors: Florida’s Clean Indoor Air Act goes outside with Joe Gruters’ beach smoking bill.

Senate panel backs enhanced penalties for evidence tampering” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics — On Monday, a Senate committee approved enhanced penalties for tampering with evidence in certain felony cases. Sen. Jennifer Bradley’s bill (SB 796) cleared the Judiciary Committee, the second of three committees of reference for the legislation. Bradley’s bill would make tampering with or fabricating evidence a second-degree felony if done in a criminal trial, proceeding or investigation relating to felonies. Currently, it’s a third-degree felony to tamper with evidence in all cases, and the law does not distinguish between tampering with evidence in murder cases and lesser offenses, such as possession of marijuana.

Bill requiring a financial literacy class in high school aces first committee stop” via Tristan Wood of Florida Politics — HB 1115, which would require all students to take a half-credit financial literacy class before graduating, passed the House Secondary Education & Career Development Subcommittee unanimously. The class will teach students about banking practices, money management, credit scores, managing debt, loan applications, insurance policies, and local tax assessments. Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera, the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation aims to help all Florida students regardless of their career goals. Rep. Felicia Robinson, a career educator, said the bill would strengthen the curriculum across the state.

— MORE TALLY —

Democrats, activists decry ‘Individual Freedom’ bill at Capitol rally” via Jason Delgado of Florida Politics — Nikki Fried and Democratic lawmakers led activists Monday in a “rally” against a Republican proposal that would stomp the teachings of critical race theory in Florida. Outside of the Florida Historic Capitol, Reps. Angie Nixon and Kelly Skidmore urged colleagues to continue challenging the proposal as it motors through the Legislature. It is undoubtedly among the more controversial proposals of the 2022 Legislative Session. It seeks to quell classroom and corporate discussions that Republicans consider “woke” indoctrinations of cultural guilt. The bill, Fried asserted, flies in the face of Floridians suffering from real issues such as rent increases and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stomp: Nikki Fried joined other Democrats to call for pushback on the so-called ‘Individual Freedom’ bill.

John Snyder files companion measure to recognize Tardive Dyskinesia Awareness Week” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — Rep. Snyder is once again sponsoring a resolution to recognize individuals suffering from Tardive Dyskinesia (TD). Snyder filed a similar resolution last Session, which resulted in the state acknowledging TD Awareness Week in the first week of May 2021. This year’s measure (HR 8021) would also slot the awareness week for the first week of May. Snyder’s resolution this Session, which he filed Friday, tags onto a similar proposal from GOP Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, who also carried last year’s Senate version. TD is “characterized by random, involuntary, and uncontrolled movements of different muscles in the face, trunk, and extremities,” as explained by the resolutions. Some patients will develop TD as a side effect of medication. TD symptoms can surface even months or years after they’ve stopped taking those medications.

Putnam port study measure departs for final House committee berth” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics — Legislation asking the state to consider expanding the shipping facility in Putnam County was shipped to its final House panel. The proposal (HB 907) from Rep. Bobby Payne would allow Putnam County to request a grant to conduct a port feasibility study and add the county to the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council. Members of the House Infrastructure and Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee voted unanimously and without comment on Monday to advance the bill. With help from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Putnam County Commission has plans to dredge a 12-foot-deep, 5,000-foot-long channel at the Putnam County Barge Port. The channel would improve vessel navigation and safety and increase the number, size and capacity of vessels using the barge port.

Lawmakers to consider changes to nursing home staff requirements; AARP Florida says its recommendations have been ignored” via Christine Jordan Sexton of Florida Politics — Lawmakers this week will consider bills that reduce the number of nursing hours facilities are required to provide to patients and allow facilities that don’t meet the requirements to accept new residents. Supported by the state’s two nursing home associations, the House bill reduces the amount of nursing care residents must receive, paring back minimum certified nursing assistant requirements from 2.5 hours each day to 1.8. AARP’s Zayne Smith notes that the move to change staffing requirements comes on the heels of the Legislature’s decision last year to allow personal care attendants (PCAs) to be used in nursing homes, a move that AARP Florida opposed.

New and renewed lobbying registrations:

Jim Boxold, Capital City Consulting: Media Choice

Ron BriseKevin ClearyJulie FessLarry Williams, Gunster Yoakley & Stewart: Atlas Air

Sara ClementsRhett O’DoskiSean Stafford, McGuireWoods Consulting: Clean Energy Jobs

Courtney Coppola, Ballard Partners: The Florida Principle Action Fund

George Feijoo, Floridian Partners: Liberty Mutual Group

Gary Hunter, The Vogel Group: Neal Land & Neighborhoods, Northlake Stewardship District

Jeff JohnstonAmanda StewartAnita Berry, Johnston & Stewart Government Strategies: Empower the Trades

Joseph Juarez: Florida Healthy Kids Corporation

Rick Kendust, Long Run Strategies: Ball Janik, BRIDG

Michael McKinley, Shumaker Advisors Florida: School Board of Charlotte County

Soledad Roybal: Getaround


— SKED —

— The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Subcommittee meets to consider HB 1571, from Rep. Randy Maggard, to prevent picketing or protesting at residences “with the intent to harass or disturb a person,” 8 a.m., Room 404 of the House Office Building.

— The House State Administration and Technology Appropriations Subcommittee meets to consider HB 1197, from Reps. Scott Plakon and Cord Byrd, to make changes for public-employee unions, including preventing workers from having union dues deducted from their paychecks, 8 a.m., Room 212 of the Knott Building.

— The House Tourism, Infrastructure and Energy Subcommittee meets to consider HB 1303, from Rep. Wyman Duggan, to establish a Northeast Florida Spaceport Authority to boost the aerospace industry in Duval, Clay and Nassau counties, 8 a.m., Reed Hall of the House Office Building.

— The Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee meets to consider SB 1408, from Sen. Keith Perry, to expand the ability of grandparents in certain circumstances to petition for visitation rights to see their grandchildren, 9 a.m., Room 37 of the Senate Office Building.

— The Senate Criminal Justice Committee meets for a confirmation hearing for Department of Corrections Secretary Ricky Dixon, 9 a.m., Room 110 of the Senate Office Building.

— The Senate Education Committee meets to consider SPB 7044 to prevent state colleges and universities from being accredited by the same agencies in consecutive cycles, 9 a.m., Room 412 of the Knott Building.

— The House Environment, Agriculture and Flooding Subcommittee meets to consider HB 421, from Reps. Keith Truenow and David Smith, to require the Department of Environmental Protection to procure the “best available, innovative technology” to help address water-quality issues such as algae blooms, toxins and nutrients, 10:30 a.m., 212 Knott Building.

— The House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee meets to consider HB 461, from Rep. Lauren Melo, to change Bright Futures scholarship requirements to allow paid work instead of volunteer service, 10:30 a.m., Room 404 of the House Office Building.

— The House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee meets to consider HB 1453, from Rep. Harding, to bolster laws about sexually explicit material amid rapidly developing technology, 10:30 a.m., Morris Hall of the House Office Building.

— The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee meets for a confirmation hearing for state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, 12:30 p.m., Room 110 of the Senate Office Building.

— The Senate Military and Veteran Affairs, Space and Domestic Security Committee meets to consider SB 1670, from Sen. Travis Hutson, to revamp rules involving cybersecurity, 12:30 p.m., Room 37 of the Senate Office Building.

— The Senate Regulated Industries Committee meets to consider SB 1852, from Sen. Bradley, to ban hourly rates at hotels and other lodging establishments to reduce human trafficking, 12:30 p.m., Room 412 of the Knott Building.

— The House Finance and Facilities Subcommittee meets to consider HB 1239, from Rep. Lauren Melo, to update nursing home staffing requirements, 1 p.m., Morris Hall of the House Office Building.

— The House Government Operations Subcommittee meets to consider HB 1121, from Rep. Chuck Brannan, to expand the public-records exemption to include traffic crash reports, 1 p.m., Room 404 of the House Office Building.

— The House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee meets to consider HB 865, from Rep. Alex Rizo, to bolster charter schools, 1 p.m., Reed Hall of the House Office Building.

— The House Regulatory Reform Subcommittee meets to consider HB 721, from Rep. James Buchanan, to allow public housing authorities to impose restrictions on owners of dangerous dogs, 1 p.m., Room 212 of the Knott Building.

— The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee meets to consider SB 1258, from Sen. Shevrin Jones, to update performance measures that Medicaid managed-care plans report to the Agency for Health Care Administration, 3 p.m., Room 412 of the Knott Building.

— The Senate Community Affairs Committee meets to consider SB 1024, from Chair Bradley, to require the Public Service Commission to overhaul a 2008 rule about “net metering,” which governs charges and credits between electric utilities and customers who have rooftop solar systems, 3 p.m., Room 37 of the Senate Office Building.

— The Senate Transportation Committee meets to discuss the future of the state’s specialty license-plate program, 3 p.m., Room 110 of the Senate Office Building.

— The House Education and Employment Committee meets to consider HB 7, from Rep. Bryan Ávila, to address how race-related topics should be taught in public schools, 3:30 p.m., Morris Hall of the House Office Building.

— The House Judiciary Committee meets to consider HB 1395, from Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, to overhaul the state’s alimony laws, including the end of permanent alimony, 3:30 p.m., Room 404 of the House Office Building.

— The House State Affairs Committee meets to consider HB 717, from Rep. Josie Tomkow, to revamp the law for boosting encouraging agritourism, 3:30 p.m., Room 212 of the Knott Building.

Local officials urge lawmakers to shift priorities — State Rep. Anna Eskamani will hold a news conference on Tuesday alongside several local elected officials calling on lawmakers to focus on issues such as affordable housing, local democracy and First Amendment rights. Speakers at the event, which begins at 11:30 a.m. on the fourth floor of the Capitol, will also urge lawmakers to shelve proposals that would infringe on local government powers. Eskamani will be joined by Tallahassee Commissioner Jack Porter, Hallandale Beach Commissioner Sabrina Javellana, Broward County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Alissa Schafer, former Gainesville Commissioner Gail Johnson, advocate and Local Progress deputy organizing director Francesca Menes.

— GOV CLUB MENU —

Garden vegetable soup; mixed garden salad with dressings; sweet & sour coleslaw; Waldorf salad; turkey Boursin wraps; Ronnie’s fried chicken; manicotti; fried green tomatoes; green beans and assorted cookies for dessert.

— STATEWIDE —

DeSantis weighs in on seniors’ voter fraud complaints in Miami-Dade” via Lisa J. Huriash of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Florida won’t tolerate any “election shenanigans” and will look into recent complaints of voter fraud in Miami-Dade County, where elderly Democrats are complaining their party affiliations were changed to Republican without their knowledge, DeSantis said Monday. DeSantis said the latest election-fraud complaints exemplify how his proposed “election integrity unit” — made of investigators and law enforcement — could help crack down on such problems. The unit “will go after those types of election shenanigans,” he said, because some local jurisdictions will investigate and others “don’t really pay a lot of attention to any election infractions.” On Friday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava asked prosecutors to investigate the elderly residents’ claims.

MLB Commissioner drops a line to DeSantis as lockout continues — A schedule released by the Governor’s office shows DeSantis had a chat with Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on Monday afternoon. The phone call comes as the MLB lockout enters its third month. The lockout — the ninth in league history — stems from the expiration of the 2016 collective bargaining agreement between the MLB and the players union. The lockout is near certain to impact Spring Training, scheduled to begin on Feb. 16. Florida is the spring home for 15 MLB teams, or half the league, with Arizona playing host to the other half. In 2018, Spring Training added an estimated $687.1 million to the state economy.

Play ball: Rob Manfred drops by the Governor’s Office amid a union dispute. Can Spring Break be saved? Image via USA Today.

Transgender athlete ban challenge on hold pending appeals court ruling — U.S. District Judge Roy Altman has paused proceedings in a challenge of the ban on transgender athletes participating in sports until the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals rules in a case where a transgender male high school student in St. Johns County was prevented from using the men’s restroom and instead required to use a gender-neutral or women’s restroom. In his order, Altman wrote that the appeals court decision could “materially affect the result in our case.” The appeals court will hear arguments in the St. Johns case on Feb. 22. The sports case challenges a controversial law signed by the Governor last year that disallows athletes from competing on sports teams that do not match their biological sex, regardless of their gender.

Florida’s emergency rental assistance program gets $740M boost” via Daniel Figueroa of Florida Politics — The Department of Children and Families (DCF) has accepted the second round of funding through the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). Announced late last week, the $740.4 million will provide continued funding for OUR Florida, the DCF-led program that offers aid to renters facing financial hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic. DCF accepted $871.2 million in the first round of funding. Nearly all of the first-round funding, about $858 million, has been distributed. ERAP is a $25 billion federal program that began last January after passing the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

— CORONA FLORIDA —

Florida COVID-19 update: The latest on cases, deaths and hospitalizations” via Michelle Marchante of the Miami Herald — Florida on Monday reported 51,356 COVID-19 cases and 456 new deaths to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Miami Herald calculations of CDC data. The CDC backlogs cases and deaths for Florida on Mondays and Thursdays, when multiple days in the past have their totals changed. In August, Florida began reporting cases and deaths by the “case date” and “death date” rather than the date they were logged in to the system. Of the deaths added, about 81% occurred in the last two weeks. In the past seven days, the state has added 171 deaths and 20,736 cases per day, on average. Florida has recorded at least 5,680,958 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 66,463 deaths.

Report: COVID-19 brought flexibilities, but more needs to be done to guard against Medicaid fraud” via Christine Jordan Sexton of Florida Politics — As the Legislature grapples with a potential rewrite of the state’s mandatory Medicaid managed care program, a new report from legislative auditors suggests Florida’s top Medicaid officials may not be doing enough to ferret out fraud and abuse in the $35 billion safety net program. The program covers 5 million residents, providing health care to the poor, elderly and disabled. The report also contains recommendations for improving its efforts. Auditors note the federal government allowed a lot of flexibility to make accessing health care during the COVID-19 pandemic easier. But the federal government has issued reports that indicate greater flexibility has led to increased fraud. The report recommends the agency increase the use of data analytics to monitor temporary changes to Medicaid-funded services such as home- and community-based care and telemedicine.

You gotta give a little: COVID-19 allowed Medicaid some flexibility, but there’s no stopping fraud, waste, and abuse. Image via AP.

COVID-19 in Leon County: Cases plummet in schools, local jail; hospitalizations see slight decline” via Mike Stucka of the Tallahassee Democrat — COVID-19 cases in Leon County, and across the state, have continued their weekslong decline while hospitals are continuing to see a large number of patients. As of Monday, there were 153 COVID-19-positive patients in Tallahassee hospitals. At Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH), health care workers treated 98 COVID-19-positive patients, while 55 were at Capital Regional Medical Center (CRMC). Of TMH’s 98 patients, 31 are vaccinated, and 62% are considered “incidental,” meaning they were treated for other illnesses or injuries.

COVID-19 cases were down sharply in Tampa Bay schools this week” via Marlene Sokol of the Tampa Bay Times — After reaching alarming levels earlier this month, case numbers of COVID-19 in Tampa Bay area schools are falling sharply. The virus is still widespread, and educators are scrambling to get their students ready for the spring Florida Standards Assessment tests. But this past week saw a significant drop in case reports from schools, typically by 30 to 45% from the previous week. By the end of Friday, the four area districts had reported 3,039 cases. That’s also down dramatically from the nearly 7,100 cases reported during one week in mid-January, a pandemic record for the area.

Leon Co. parents order thousands of N95 masks for schools” via Savannah Kelley of WCTV — Every single Title I elementary school and preschool in Leon County will be getting the free masks. Parents said they wanted to target those schools specifically because KN95s and N95s are expensive, about $1.20 per mask, and they said safety should not come with a price tag. They ordered 24,610 high-filtration KN95 masks for the Leon County community. More than 11,000 are going to local schools. “People who don’t have access and want access deserve access,” said parent Patricia Liedy, the parent who spearheaded this project.

—2022 —

After decadelong lull, Florida Democrats unveil multiyear voter registration push” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics — Since 2012, Florida Democrats have been in a state of voter registration complacency, a decadelong lull that allowed Republicans last year to overtake them in the state’s active voter rolls for the first time in more than a century. That’s all about to end, Democratic Party leaders say. “Democrats have had their foot off the gas,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz said Monday. On Monday, Diaz joined Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, incoming House Democratic Leader Ramon Alexander and Miami-Dade County Mayor Levine Cava, among others. The group announced a new, long-term, multimillion-dollar voter registration initiative. The effort, Levine Cava said, involves “a historic partnership” between the state Democratic Party, Senate and House caucus leaders, their individual fundraising apparatuses, local elected officials, and a key donor organization.

GOTV: Lauren Book is spearheading a major voter registration initiative. Image via AP.

Al Lawson for Lt. Gov?” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics — As I write this, polling is starting to show that Charlie Crist, who has not made many mistakes in this campaign, is pulling away from his two primary Democratic opponents. An internal poll from the Crist campaign has the former Governor at 54%. Nikki Fried is at 28% and Annette Taddeo is at 7%. Crist is a St. Petersburg guy, and he’s polling well everywhere in the state but North Florida. I expect that Crist is nominated. And that if he’s smart, he will shore up his position with a running mate who knows North Florida. And who better than a man who has represented the region for decades? Should If Congress falls through, Lawson would be uniquely positioned to make the case against DeSantis.

Florida Supreme Court ponders DeSantis’ congressional redistricting questions” via Laura Cassels of Florida Phoenix — Florida’s newest member of Congress, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, added her voice Monday to debate over whether the Florida Supreme Court should opine on DeSantis’ proposed congressional redistricting plan. Cherfilus-McCormick’s lawyers wrote in a brief that DeSantis’ plan discriminates against Florida’s Black voters. She argues that his request for an advisory opinion from the court, which is a rare thing, is an attempt to thwart the legislative process and “serves only to legitimize the prevention of Black voters from having a fair opportunity to elect candidates of choice.”

A new map will drive decisions for Southwest Florida lawmakers” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — With House boundaries all but set, several lawmakers representing Southwest Florida now have to decide if and where to run under the new cartography. Rep. Spencer Roach hasn’t decided yet if he’s going to run but said it wouldn’t be maps that make his choice. Still, whatever triggers a final decision for Roach, it’s likely the map just passed by the Legislature (H 8013) will give him pause. Partisan performance analysis by MCI Maps shows HD 76 remains a Republican seat, where Trump won a whopping 64.96% of the vote in the 2020 Presidential election.

Brian Mast has nearly $2.4 million for his re-election bid” via Anne Geggis of Florida Politics — U.S. Rep. Mast’s bid for a fourth term representing Florida in Congress received more than half a million dollars in contributions during the final quarter of 2021, and he spent almost an equal amount. Those collections are a drop from the nearly $1 million he raised the previous quarter. But he’s got plenty of money to answer any of the challengers he’s drawn so far. Mast’s total cash on hand adds up to nearly $2.4 million. Republican Melissa Martz has filed to challenge Mast in the Primary, but her fundraising firepower does not come close to matching his. She reported raising $47,443 in the last quarter and having $9,525 cash on hand on Dec. 31.

Charlie Crist endorses Eunic Ortiz for SD 24” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics — U.S. Rep. Crist is endorsing Ortiz in her run for the Senate District 24 seat. Crist said Ortiz’s work in local government and advocacy drove him to support her. SD 24 represents a large portion of Pinellas County, including parts of Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Largo, Pinellas Park and Gulfport. Notably, Crist was first elected to office in a similar state Senate seat in 1992. Crist is the latest endorser of Ortiz, who has been backed by Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Michele Rayner, who is currently running a Congressional campaign, and Pinellas County Commissioners Rene Flowers and Pat Gerard.

John Rutherford endorses Dean Black for newly created HD 15 — U.S. Rep. Rutherford endorsed Black in the newly formed Northeast Florida House District 15, covering Nassau and parts of Duval counties. Rutherford, a former Jacksonville Sheriff, said in a statement: “Dean is a veteran, business owner, and patriot who has been on the front line for years fighting for our values. He has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to service Northeast Florida. Dean is also a strong supporter of law enforcement and our brave first responders — which we need now more than ever. I encourage all fellow conservatives to support Dean Black for Florida House District 15.” A staunch Trump supporter, Black was a campaign surrogate, official delegate to the 2020 Republican National Convention, and had a leading presence on the campaign trail.

First on #FlaPol — “Emily Slosberg-King to leave House after three terms” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics — Rep. Slosberg-King announced Monday she would not seek re-election to the House in 2022. Slosberg-King is currently serving her third term representing House District 91. She’s eligible to run once more in 2022 before facing term limits. But Slosberg-King said she’ll step aside in a written statement Monday. “My call to public service began after my twin sister, Dori, was tragically killed in a car accident. Since then, I’ve led the charge on laws that save lives and policies to better our state,” Slosberg-King said. Slosberg-King, like her father, Irv Slosberg, before her, has focused on driving safety issues during her legislative career.

A good run: Emily Slosberg-King decides against re-election.

Dan Horton-Diaz posts best-ever fundraising figures for renewed run at HD 120” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics — Horton-Diaz accumulated more than $31,000 in January, his best-ever 31-day round of fundraising, in his first month running for Florida’s southernmost House District. That’s especially noteworthy considering his January haul for this year’s House District 120 campaign totaled more than all the funds he amassed in his two previous runs at the Legislature. “This strong first month will help our campaign continue to fight for the people of the Keys and South Miami-Dade,” he said in a statement. Horton-Diaz’s filings with the Florida Division of Elections show that more than half the $31,400 he collected last month, $16,000, came through a self-loan. He reported no spending.

‘This is a scam.’ Miami voters come forward with voter registration complaints” via Bianca Padró Ocasio of the Miami Herald — Sometime in early December, Juan A. Salazar, a 77-year-old Dominican living in Little Havana, exited the elevator of his building tower. A group of three canvassers wearing red caps and T-shirts that said “Republican Party of Florida” approached him. Salazar has been registered to vote in Miami-Dade County since 1985. Salazar said he gave them his name without signing or filling out any form, and they pulled up his address. Several weeks later, he received a new voter ID card identifying him as a member of the Republican Party of Florida. He is one of several Miami residents who are now coming forward with their own claims about having their party affiliation changed from Democrat to Republican after interacting with canvassers.

— CORONA NATION —

U.S. death rate may finally begin falling” via John Bacon and Celina Tebor of USA Today — Daily U.S. deaths from the most recent coronavirus surge may finally be ready to decline. Most states are now reporting fewer deaths than they had been a week ago. Just 20 states reported increasing numbers of deaths compared to the previous week. That number was 34 states a week earlier. The United States continues to average about 2,400 to 2,500 deaths per day, a daily human cost about equal to the losses at Pearl Harbor. The U.S. reported its 900,000 death on Friday. If the pace of American deaths falls at the same rate it increased during the current omicron surge, the nation will reach 1 million fatalities in about 55 days, or the beginning of April.

Under pressure: Will America finally get a break from omicron?

A new attitude toward the pandemic seems to be taking shape. But we’ve been here before.” via Lenny Bernstein, Marisa Iati, Paulina Firozi and Brittany Shammas of The Washington Post — Fatigued, frustrated and frazzled by five surges over two years, some parts of the U.S. population have decided to simply live with the coronavirus and move on. And with a triple-shot of a vaccine on board or protection acquired from prior infection alongside case numbers falling precipitously, polls show their numbers are increasing. In a January poll, 28% of Americans said the country would “never” get the outbreak under control and return to normal, up from 9% in March 2021.

Republicans, wooing Trump voters, make Dr. Anthony Fauci their boogeyman” via Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times — Republican attacks on Fauci are not new; Trump, irked that the doctor publicly corrected his falsehoods about the virus, called him “a disaster” and repeatedly threatened to fire him. But as the 2022 midterm elections approach, the attacks have spread across the nation, intensifying as Fauci draws outsize attention in some of the most important state and local races on the ballot in November. Both his friends and detractors agree Fauci has also become a symbol of something deeper, the deep schism in the country, mistrust in government, and a brewing populist resentment of the elites, all made worse by the pandemic.

New Jersey Governor to end school mask mandate in move to ‘normalcy’” via The New York Times — Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey, a Democrat who has imposed some of the nation’s most stringent pandemic-related mandates, will no longer require students and school employees to wear masks, signaling a deliberate shift toward treating the coronavirus as a part of daily life. “This is not a declaration of victory as much as an acknowledgment that we can responsibly live with this thing,” Murphy, the vice-chair of the National Governors Association, said. The new policy will take effect the second week of March, two years after New York and New Jersey became early epicenters of a virus that has since mutated and resurged, killing more than 900,000 people nationwide.

— CORONA ECONOMICS —

States move to protect hospital patients from heavy medical debt” via Anna Wilde Mathews of The Wall Street Journal — At least 10 states enacted laws last year with a range of provisions affecting health care providers and collection agencies, including requirements for hospitals to provide financial assistance to people with low incomes or limit aggressive debt-collection practices. Other states are currently considering bills to add or bolster consumer medical-billing protections. The activity is a sign of the heightened scrutiny that hospitals face after reports about bare-knuckle tactics used to collect on medical debts and after some facilities’ own disclosures of high prices and limited financial assistance for certain patients. According to a Census Bureau analysis released last April, some 19% of U.S. households had medical debt, with the share higher among Black and Hispanic householders. The median amount owed was $2,000.

Debtor’s prison: Hospitals are starting to help patients avoid crippling medical bills. Image via Bloomberg.

‘We can’t do this on our own’: Small hospitals are left behind by COVID-19 staffing wars” via Bram Sable-Smith of Kaiser Health News — With no end to the crisis in sight, hospitals have taken to enticing workers from other facilities to fulfill needs. In South Dakota, Monument Health offered signing bonuses up to $40,000 for experienced nurses who would make a two-year commitment to the health system. Job listings for nurses in Maine and Virginia include $20,000 signing bonuses. Montana is offering health care workers up to $12,500 in moving expenses to relocate to the state. The labor market squeeze is affecting more than just health care. People are lured into teaching jobs and the military with $20,000 signing bonuses, while construction and trucking companies are looking everywhere for workers, even within their competitors’ ranks.

Food companies rely more on temp workers as labor shortages persist” via Jaewon Kang and Jesse Newman of The Wall Street Journal — Supermarkets and food processors are hiring short-term staff to unload trucks, move goods and assist in-store cooks, filling holes created by employees who have left the workforce during the pandemic or are out sick temporarily from COVID-19. Executives said hiring temp workers can be expensive because they typically cost more per hour than permanent staff and require additional training. In Kansas, Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. has retained hundreds of temp workers for its 11 distribution centers in recent weeks, as employees call in sick at record-high levels after contracting COVID-19 or being exposed to it. The food industry has boosted hourly pay and offered bonuses and other perks, but companies say they continue to struggle to recruit and retain workers.

Giving workers more time to grieve in an era of loss” via Rachel Feintzeig of The Wall Street Journal — Millions around the world have gotten a crash course in grief during the past two years. Nearly 1 million more Americans have died since the start of the pandemic than would have otherwise been expected, mostly from COVID-19. Other tragedies have marched on, too, with lives lost to illnesses and accidents. Increasingly, we’re talking about it. About half 4,327 people surveyed last fall by the New York Life Foundation, the charitable arm of the insurance company, said the pandemic had prompted them to have conversations with family or friends about death.

— MORE CORONA —

New study finds school COVID-19 transmission is rare” via The 74 Million — With masks, the transmission of COVID-19 in K-12 schools is low, according to a new study published in Pediatrics. It concluded this “with universal masking, in-person education was associated with low rates of secondary transmission, even with less stringent distancing and bus practices. Given the rates of sports-associated secondary transmission, additional mitigation may be warranted.” For every 20 community-acquired infections, there was one within-school transmission event. Relaxed distancing practices (less than 3 feet, 3 feet) and increased children per bus seat were not associated with an increased relative risk of secondary transmission.

COVID-19 transmission is rare in schools. Cooties are another thing. Image via AP.

How Denmark decided COVID-19 isn’t a critical threat to society” via Derek Thompson of The Atlantic — On Feb. 1, Denmark became the first country in the European Union to lift all pandemic restrictions. Indoor mask mandates? Gone. Vaccine passports at bars, restaurants, and stadiums? See ya. Mandatory isolation for infected individuals? Farvel. Reading this news, you might assume that Denmark succeeded in eliminating COVID-19. But its infection rate is the second-highest in the world. “If you are following Denmark’s infection numbers, this seems like a very, very strange thing to do,” Michael Bang Petersen, a Danish researcher who led a global survey of COVID-19 attitudes and advises the Danish government, told me. But Petersen defends the decision. Because of falling ICU admissions and shorter hospital stays, he said, COVID-19 is no longer a socially critical sickness in Denmark.

— PRESIDENTIAL —

‘Remain in Mexico’ is back under Biden, with little resemblance to the Trump version” via Nick Miroff and Arelis R. Hernández of The Washington Post — The immigration courts on the seventh floor of a downtown federal building here were jampacked in the summer of 2019 when the Trump administration ramped up its “Remain in Mexico” program. On an average day, more than 100 asylum-seekers were being sent back across the border to Ciudad Juárez, including families with children. Biden halted the returns when he took office, but in September, a U.S. District Court ordered his administration to reinstate the program, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols. After months of negotiations with Mexico, the Biden administration relaunched MPP in early December, starting in El Paso.

Resurgence: This is not your father’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ plan.

Biden-aligned group readies defense of Supreme Court nominee, whoever she may be” via Alex Roarty of the Miami Herald — Building Back Together, a nonprofit organization that has spent tens of millions of dollars since last year promoting Biden’s agenda, is preparing to launch an effort defending the President’s forthcoming pick to serve on the Supreme Court, a spokesperson for the group says. The spokesperson said the group will work alongside judicial and civil-rights organizations and run paid ads. A BBT spokesperson added that the effort will focus on responding to attacks against the yet-unannounced nominee, whom Biden is expected to name in the coming weeks after current Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement.

— D.C. MATTERS —

Lawmakers signal stopgap spending bill needed as talks continue” via Siobhan Hughes of The Wall Street Journal — Negotiators remained locked in talks about overall spending levels for the current fiscal year and special items such as COVID-19 funding, with lawmakers set to turn this week to a short-term bill to keep the government running if no deal is reached. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy, Sen. Richard Shelby and their House counterparts have intensified their conversations in recent weeks for an omnibus spending bill, and Republicans presented a formal offer to Democrats on Wednesday for fiscal 2022 spending. No breakthrough emerged, and lawmakers anticipate that Congress will need to pass another interim spending measure to keep the government operating beyond Feb. 18, when a current measure expires.

Sen. Rick Scott urges Senate to condemn IOC, saying it helped China cover up abuse of Peng Shuai” via Andrew Krietz of WTSP — Sen. Scott urged his Senate colleagues to pass a resolution condemning the Chinese Communist Party and the International Olympic Committee following a new interview with Shuai, a Chinese tennis player. While speaking with French sports newspaper L’Equipe, 36-year-old Peng walked back a post she wrote about Zhang Gaoli, a former vice-premier and member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, in which she accused him of sexual assault. Peng, a former No. 1-ranked player in women’s doubles who won titles at Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014, wrote on the Chinese social media platform Weibo in November that she was forced to have sex despite repeated refusals.

Peng Shuai’s accusations of sexual abuse give Rick Scott one more reason to blast China.

“‘Genocide games’: NBC refuses to run ad critical of China by NBA’s Enes Kanter Freedom, Florida Congressman” via Jon Levine of the New York Post — NBC is refusing to broadcast an ad critical of China during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. The 30-second spot, purchased by Florida GOP Rep. Mike Waltz, blasted the event as the “Genocide Games,” referenced China’s long history of human rights abuses, and called out major U.S. companies for participating. The first Green Beret to serve in Congress, Waltz has long been a tough China critic. He billed the $40,000 ad to his campaign. The spot also featured Boston Celtics center Kanter Freedom, a Swiss-born Turk who became a U.S. citizen in November.

U.S. House committee hosts Miami hearing about political propaganda” via Alex Finnie and Andrea Torres of Local 10 News — The U.S. House Committee on House Administration held a roundtable discussion on Monday morning at the Miami-Dade College Wolfson Campus about the impact of misinformation and disinformation on elections. U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield Jr., the chair of the elections subcommittee, chaired the meeting. Democratic Representatives Pete AguilarNanette BarraganTeresa Leger Fernandez, and Darren Soto questioned the panel. “Florida is becoming the incubator for misinformation in Spanish that then is exported,” Leger Fernandez said. Raúl L. Martínez, a former Mayor of Hialeah and a Democrat, said there was a paid radio program spreading disinformation that was offensive to members of the Jewish and Black Santeria communities.

— CRISIS —

The GOP’s Jan. 6 committee dilemma: Disband it, or turn it on Dems?” via Olivia Beavers and Kyle Cheney of POLITICO — A faction of pro-Trump House Republicans is escalating calls to preserve Democrats’ Jan. 6 select panel, but use it to serve their own purposes. Not all of the conference is convinced. The idea of keeping the Capitol riot committee alive if the GOP retakes the majority this fall, with a wildly different focus, has high-profile fans on the right. Rep. Madison Cawthorn said it would be “asinine” for a GOP majority to disband the panel, and Rep. Matt Gaetz has called for using it to pursue unfounded theories about the Justice Department’s involvement in the Jan. 6 attack.

— EPILOGUE TRUMP —

Trump, DeSantis tensions shadow this year’s CPAC” via Max Greenwood of The Hill — The simmering tensions between Trump and DeSantis are looming over the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where both men are set to give highly anticipated speeches later this month. With Trump eyeing a political comeback and DeSantis seen as a potential contender for the 2024 GOP presidential bid, the high-profile gathering in Orlando, offers a prime opportunity to take the temperature of the Republican base and pitch their political brands to the conservative activists and leaders who will play a major role in boosting the party’s next presidential nominee. But the conference also has the potential to highlight, and possibly even deepen, the emerging divide between Trump and DeSantis, stirring both worry and intrigue within the GOP.

Fireworks: Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump will be the main attractions at CPAC.

Heritage Foundation, former powerhouse of GOP policy, adjusts in face of new competition from Trump allies” via Jeff Stein and Yeganeh Torbati of The Washington Post — The Heritage Foundation has long shaped mainstream Republican policy in Washington. It drafted much of Ronald Reagan’s agenda to slash federal spending and launched a ferocious campaign to repeal Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. But in recent months, the venerable think tank in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol has revamped its leadership after its former president, Kay Coles James, was subject to a torrent of criticism from a prominent conservative cable host. Heritage replaced James with a Texas firebrand more determined to fight pandemic restrictions, “critical race theory” in schools, and “teaching transgenderism to kindergartners,” bending the institution toward issues that have resonated with Trump and his allies.

St. Pete Trump supporter sued for reneging on election night bet sees victory after court reversal” via Daniel Figueroa IV of Florida Politics — A St. Petersburg man who bet a former friend $100 that Trump would defeat Biden might’ve lost the bet, but he won in court. Pinellas County Court records show Sean Hynes narrowly avoided jail time after missing a payment deadline. Hynes had agreed to pay on the bet, plus interest, during court-ordered mediation in March. When he didn’t pay by November, a judge warned he could face jail time. Then Hynes filed a motion to dismiss the whole case on the grounds that the bet was illegal. “The Court agrees,” Judge Edwin Jagger wrote in his ruling. “Since the basis of the parties’ agreement was expressly ‘void’ and of no effect under Florida law, and generally contrary to the public policy of the state, so too is the judgment.” Hynes bet Costa $100. The court previously ordered Hynes to pay Costa $207.50 by Oct. 9.

—LOCAL NOTES —

Many Florida counties, towns had fewer murders in 2021, going against the national trend” via Chris Perkins of WUSF — Some of Florida’s biggest municipalities went against the national trend in 2021 by reducing their murder numbers, or keeping them practically the same, from 2020. COVID-19 caused major changes in routine activities such as going to work, going to the movies, going out to eat, or attending late-night parties, which may have reduced opportunities for homicides and violent crime. “This could explain, in part, a decrease in crime in some South Florida regions,” Dr. Vaughn Crichlow, associate dean in the College of Social Work and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University, said in an email.

Whodunnit? Florida towns are bucking the rising U.S. trend in murders. Why?

North Miami campaigns take voters into the booth. Are they helping voters or themselves?” via Aaron Liebowitz and Ana Claudia Chacin of the Miami Herald — During last year’s local election in North Miami, first-time candidate Laura Hill noticed something she found strange: an “abnormal” number of voters being accompanied into the early voting site at North Miami Public Library by city employees and campaign workers. More than one in 10 voters received assistance at the polls from non-poll workers in the city’s May 2021 election under a Florida provision designed to help people with disabilities or those who can’t read or write. But experts say the situation in North Miami is unique due to its scale and who is doing the helping. Records show that more than two-thirds of the assisted voters were helped either by city employees, some of whom were taking time off from work, or by campaign workers.

Hollywood resident running car rental business out of home, outraging neighbors” via Jeff Weinsier of Local 10 — Residents of one South Florida street are fuming after a neighbor opened a car rental business at his house. They say constant car washing, customers coming and going, and parking a fleet of vehicles has changed a quiet section of Lincoln Street in Hollywood to the point where some are ready to move. New state law actually protects these home-based businesses, and cities have little say. Neighbors say on any given day, they’ve seen up to eight cars parked in front of the small house, most of them taking up space on the roadway.

Brevard County clerk of courts gets another chance to challenge charter cap interpretation” via Dave Berman of Florida Today — Brevard County Clerk of Courts Rachel Sadoff will get a second bite at the apple regarding the interpretation of a county charter rule that limits property tax increases. On Friday, the Florida 5th District Court of Appeal reversed a ruling of Circuit Judge Robert Segal when he dismissed “with prejudice” Sadoff’s lawsuit against the County Commissioners and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office; that meant the matter could not be appealed. The ruling by a three-judge Court of Appeal panel allows Sadoff to amend the complaint for another hearing. The case stems from a lawsuit filed in 2019 by Scott Ellis, who was clerk of courts at the time. Ellis contested the Brevard County Commission’s interpretation of the Brevard County Charter provision that caps the increase in revenue the county can collect in property taxes from one year to the next.

Pump station leak near Lake Jackson spills 190,000 gallons of wastewater” via Karl Etters of the Tallahassee Democrat — A sewage leak in a North Tallahassee pump station was discovered on Saturday, spilling about 190,000 gallons of untreated wastewater near Lake Jackson. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection received a report of the spill on Meginnis Arm Road. The source was a break in the mainline in a City of Tallahassee pump station. The spill overflowed into a stormwater facility that eventually flows into Meginnis Arm Run, a small feeder creek that goes into Lake Jackson. And water from Lake Jackson eventually flows south to Wakulla Springs. City crews recovered 325,000 gallons using vacuum and pump trucks, applied lime, and disposed of “debris.” They are also monitoring water samples in the area.

Head of security at FSU’s Strozier Library charged with theft of thousands of rare comics” via Karl Etters of the Tallahassee Democrat — There are only four keys to the lock protecting a half-million dollars’ worth of comic books housed in Florida State University’s Strozier Library. Todd Peak, the library’s head of security, had access to one of them. Peak, 38, was arrested by FSU Police on Friday on charges that, in 2020, he stole nearly 5,000 comics from the Robert M. Ervin Jr. Collection. Throughout the next two years, police said, he sold them to private buyers and comic book stores throughout the area. Peak, who lives in Crawfordville, is charged with grand theft of more than $100,000, fraud, dealing in stolen property, and sale of stolen property using the internet. He was released on bail Saturday afternoon.

Collier County deputy manager resigns  Sean Callahan resigned his post as Collier County Deputy Manager after it was discovered he had a second job working as a lobbyist at the Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck law firm. County Manager Mark Isackson sent Callahan a letter informing him that he would be fired. “Your failure to share this vital information with me at the time you were considered for appointment to the Deputy Manager position, or at any time after that, is a serious breach of practices that cannot be tolerated,” the letter reads. Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck later issued a statement saying they were unaware that Callahan worked for Collier County, which first hired him in 2017.

Two masters: Sean Callahan was fired from Collier County for having an undisclosed side gig.

Why Polk County schools are handling these 16 books differently than a normal ‘complaint’” via Kimberly C. Moore of The Lakeland Ledger — According to Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Frederick Heid, during his first conversation on Dec. 10 with County Citizens Defending Freedom Education Division Leader and Executive Assistant Kayla Church, she shared “concerns” about 16 book titles her group felt were inappropriate for children. But when those concerns were elevated on Jan. 25 to possible violations of two Florida statutes, with the potential for arresting librarians or district officials, Heid invoked a long-standing process to review books.

Spirit, Frontier merger could have big impact in Orlando” via Kevin Spear of the Orlando Sentinel — The unveiling of merger plans by Spirit and Frontier Airlines Monday might also have included a heads-up to Southwest at Orlando International Airport: ease aside big guy, a new No. 1 is coming. The proposed combining of two of the most budget of budget airlines in a $2.9 billion deal would create a “disruptive” carrier ranking as the nation’s fifth-busiest and able to compete better in routes and fares against the big four, American, Delta, Southwest and United, representatives of Spirit and Frontier said. At Orlando International Airport, the yet-to-be-branded combination of Spirit and Frontier likely would knock Southwest Airlines off its long-standing post as the busiest carrier. The consequences of that remain to be seen.

— TOP OPINION —

Biden’s ‘friend’ is the enemy” via Charles M. Blow of The New York Times — In a two-party system in which one party has gone completely off the rails, Biden and the Democrats are the only option, the only chance for normalcy, sanity and truth. They are the only hope democracy has in this country. And yet Biden keeps saying and doing things that are absolutely infuriating, not to mention alienating. Mitch McConnell has led his party to block voting rights legislation as racialized voter suppression bills sweep the country. So, how can Biden maintain that McConnell is an honest, honorable friend? It seems that Biden suffers from the same blind spot as other white liberal leaders throughout history: looking past the oppressive impulses of other white men to see kinship and commonality.

— OPINIONS —

Predatory tactics against tenants disguised as ‘renter’s choice’” via the South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial board — Out-of-state companies are lobbying legislators for a new state law that would replace high, refundable security deposits with lower, non-refundable monthly fees that could be charged to tenants indefinitely. It’s true that a lump-sum security deposit, usually equal to one month’s rent, is a major financial burden for many renters, and a fee of, say, $25 a month sounds like an appealing alternative. But this idea should set off alarms and not only because it’s driven by the for-profit “insurtech” industry. It’s unconscionable that the answer legislators are offering is another way to entrap unsuspecting tenants into an endless cycle of monthly fees they will never get back.

Miami party-switch case sounds like a job for Election Police” via Joe Henderson of Florida Politics — December about an 84-year-old woman living in a housing project in Little Havana. A guy knocked on her door, saying he was renewing voter registrations. Later, the shocked woman found her lifelong identification as a Democrat had switched to the party united against election fraud. Follow-up stories showed it was not an isolated incident or clerical error, and that’s where it hit the fan. As more people came forward with similar stories, the calls for investigations increased. Fried, who is running for Governor, asked for U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s involvement. The Miami incident, I believe, won’t be a high priority item for the Governor. It certainly would improve his image if he took it seriously, but he won’t.

Legislation would eliminate barriers to dental care, increase Florida’s dental workforce” via Frank Catalanotto for The Gainesville Sun — When it comes to oral health, Florida is one of the worst states in the nation. That’s because Florida families have limited access to quality dental care, and many cannot afford it. HB 997, filed by Rep. Melony Bell, and SB 1444, filed by Sen. Jason Brodeur, will eliminate unnecessary barriers to oral care, especially for those who can least afford it. The bills also increase the dental workforce in Florida. While Floridians of all ages suffer from poor oral health, kids suffer disproportionately. Twenty percent of children in Florida suffer from treatable dental problems. One in four third-grade children in Florida have untreated tooth decay, making Florida sixth in the nation for the highest percent of third-grade children with unfilled cavities.

William Gildersleeve: My life-altering decision is possible for others with SB 1284, HB 823” via Florida Politics — I was working odd jobs at the time the pandemic hit. I had seen an ad for Western Governors University (WGU), a unique online school that was offering programs that could be completed on my time and at my own pace for a fraction of the cost. I decided, why not? My life’s course and career trajectory completely changed from there. There is a bill before the Legislature that will provide more access to those looking to change their future. SB 1284, by Sen. Gruters, and HB 823, by Rep. Kaylee Tuck — would expand access to grant funds so that Floridians who need the means to pursue their educational aspirations can, and with a university that fits their life. I hope that Florida realizes the immense and positive impact this legislation will have for Floridians.

— TODAY’S SUNRISE —

Gov. DeSantis says schools should not be telling kids when to make up their minds about sexual orientation. A gay Democratic Representative says bills to restrict talk about sexual orientation could eliminate school discussion about the Pulse nightclub tragedy.

Also on today’s Sunrise:

— DeSantis says the Biden administration’s immigration policies are historically bad.

— Florida Democrats say they dropped the ball on voter registration.

— The AARP says proposed changes in nursing home rules are unnecessary and dangerous.

— And, finally settling a bet over the last presidential election – sort of.

To listen, click on the image below:

— OLYMPICS —

Jason Brown may not land a quad jump in Beijing. His fans don’t need him to.” via Dvora Meyers of FiveThirtyEight — “The quad will come.” That’s what choreographer and then-NBC figure skating analyst Sandra Bezic said as Brown stepped off the ice at the 2014 U.S. national championships in Boston. A lot has happened in the nearly eight years since Brown’s breakout performance at Boston’s TD Garden. To be sure, Brown has landed quads in practice. Brown has what most of the other skaters don’t seem to possess — or don’t possess to the same degree: exquisite musicality, deep engagement with the audience, and a mastery over his blade. That Brown continues to rank in the Top 10 internationally also serves as a reminder of all the ways most of his competitors are lacking in some regard.

Showtime: Jason Brown has an engagement with the audience that many competitors lack. Image via AP.

The jumps that gave Zoi Sadowski-Synnott gold in slopestyle” via John Branch et al. of The New York Times — Sadowski-Synnott, a 20-year-old from New Zealand, landed “the best run of my life” to win the gold medal in women’s snowboard slopestyle at Genting Snow Park. Her victory can be attributed to a three-jump sequence that no other women’s competitor can match. “I knew before I dropped in that if I landed the run that I set out to do,” she said, “I would win gold.” Her winning performance came on her third and final run, the last of the competition. She navigated the course cleanly and put herself in a position to win as she approached the last of her three major jumps. If she could land the backside double cork 1080, she knew, the Olympic title would be hers.

Everyone knows Mikaela Shiffrin. Her lack of company is U.S. skiing’s concern.” via Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post — Entering these Games, the evaluation is clear: There is Shiffrin, and there is everyone else. The 26-year-old from Colorado is a pre-Olympics darling because of her record to this point. Also, in a sport in which Team USA traditionally has mined medals, she is the only athlete considered a true contender for one here. There’s a strong possibility that the U.S. Alpine team will be decorated. It just won’t be diverse, and that’s a departure from the recent past.

Vincent Zhou out of men’s figure skating event after positive test clouds U.S. team’s silver” via Les Carpenter of The Washington Post — Zhou’s coronavirus test from Sunday had come back positive. So, while Karen Chen and the other skaters who had been part of the team event climbed the platform beside the Russian team, Zhou was elsewhere, awaiting the result of a confirmation test. At the medal ceremony, the Russians held hands and jumped as one on the ice. The Japanese skaters clapped. And the Americans had someone bring over a phone, so they could stand in front of their flag and record a video for Zhou. It was a weird moment in a weird Olympics for an American team that had a weird path to the silver.

— ALOE —

The last oyster tongers of Apalachicola” via David Hanson and Michael Hanson of The Better Southerner — Decades of accumulated oyster shells made up the beds (or reefs) sitting a few feet below the water’s surface. The oyster tongers would anchor over their favorite beds and literally rake up the oysters growing on top of the reef — with some rake loads yielding a dozen perfect oysters. In open-air backyard shops, a few local boat makers were building two to three skiffs per month. Oyster shucking houses dotted the shore and the docks in downtown Apalachicola, neighboring Eastpoint, and down the bay to Tommy Ward’s 13 Mile Oyster House. This year, though, no one is taking oysters. In 2020, Florida, responding to a historic collapse in oyster populations, closed Apalachicola Bay to all wild oyster harvesting for up to five years.

A rare breed: Oyster harvesters are slowly disappearing from Apalachicola Bay. Image via Florida Memory.

— HAPPY BIRTHDAY —

Best wishes to U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, Michelle McGovern, and Rachel Witbracht.

___

Sunburn is authored and assembled by Peter SchorschPhil Ammann, Daniel Dean, Renzo Downey, Jacob Ogles, and Drew Wilson.


5.) MORNING BREW

February 08, 2022
Morning Brew
Fundrise

Good morning. While the athletes are undoubtedly impressive, the real star of the Olympics thus far is the remarkable setting of the freestyle skiing Big Air event. The structure was constructed on the site of the now-closed Shougang Group steel mill, China’s first state-owned plant that propelled it to world dominance in steel production, per the AP.

Big Air ski runNBCNeal Freyman, Max Knoblauch, Matty Merritt

MARKETS

Nasdaq

14,015.67

S&P

4,483.87

Dow

35,091.13

10-Year

1.921%

Bitcoin

$44,104.27

Nvidia

$247.28

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here’s what these numbers mean.
  • Markets: Stocks were a mixed bag in the absence of much market-moving news, but bitcoin rallied for the fifth-straight day in a sign that investors may be warming up to riskier assets again. In a changing of the guard, tech giant Nvidia overtook Meta to become the seventh-largest US company by market cap.
  • Covid: Hope your maskne is under control, because New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, California, and Oregon all announced plans to lift various mask mandates. And Australia is opening its borders to international (fully vaccinated) travelers for the first time in almost two years. Bondi Beach, here we come.

REAL ESTATE

Young Americans shun the housing market

Bart Simpson writing, The Simpsons/20th TV Animation via Ranzey.com

More than 80% of Americans ages 18–34 said now was a bad time to buy a house, according to a Fannie Mae survey released yesterday. Their gloomy outlook is shared by the broader population: A record-low proportion of Americans—just 25%—said it was a good time to buy a house right now.

It’s not a good time if you can’t afford it

The median home-sale price reached a record high of $365,000 in January, according to Redfin. That’s a 16% jump from the previous January and a 28% increase from January 2019.

Skyrocketing home prices highlight the severe demand–supply imbalance that emerged in the housing market over the pandemic.

  • Interest in buying homes soared thanks to historically low interest rates and the desire to avoid your trumpet-playing neighbor at all costs.
  • But the supply of available houses has not kept up—not even close. In fact, the 910,000 homes for sale at the end of December was the lowest since the National Association of Realtors began keeping track in 1999.

It all amounted to January being the most competitive month in US housing market history, Redfin said.

But young people are getting squeezed harder than most

Among the reasons why…

  1. The disappearing starter home: The US’ supply of properties 1,400 square feet or smaller (the ones ideal for your first home) has fallen to its lowest level in 50 years. Starter homes accounted for just 7% of construction in 2019, compared to 40% in 1980.
  2. Battle for the suburbs: Home prices are rising the fastest in suburbs with a higher share of children—neighborhoods where millennials are most interested in buying homes.

Big picture: Millennials like to think they’re the main character in every story, but in this case…they actually are. Many of them are about to hit 32, which is the median age of first-time home buyers in the US. Therefore, “As millennials go, so goes the housing market,” said Zillow economist Nicole Bachaud.—NF

            

TRAVEL

New airline with zero legroom just dropped

A photo illustration combing Spirit and Frontier Airlines jets.Photo Illustration: Dianna “Mick” McDougall; Sources: Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines announced plans on Monday to merge in a $6.6 billion dollar deal that, if approved, would create the fifth-largest US airline.

Spirit and Frontier say the deal would create a discount Megazord able to compete with the top four US airlines (American, Delta, United, and Southwest), which combined control about 80% of the domestic market. According to Spirit and Frontier, the deal would provide $1 billion in annual savings for consumers and create 10,000 new jobs by 2026. Also, imagine all the new ways they could tweet, “We’re sorry. DM us and we’ll try to get this settled.”

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022, but before that can happen, it needs to get past regulators—and they’ve already signaled a distaste for airline alliances.

  • In September, the Justice Department sued to unwind a “de facto merger” between American Airlines and JetBlue.
  • In 2016, a more merger-friendly Justice Department allowed Alaska Air to buy Virgin for $2.6 billion, but required the company to scale back a partnership with American to do so.

Fun fact: A combined Frontier and Spirit Airlines would hold more than a quarter of the market at Orlando’s airport—more than any other airline.—MK

            

ENTERTAINMENT

‘The Matrix’ gets even more complicated

Matrix Resurrections movie posterThe Matrix Resurrections/Warner Bros.

Village Roadshow Entertainment, co-producers of The Matrix Resurrectionssued Warner Bros. yesterday for allegedly hatching a plan to pad HBO Max’s numbers by releasing the film simultaneously in theaters and on the streaming service.

This story begins in the early days of the pandemic, when Warner Bros. announced it would release its entire 2021 slate of theatrical films in cinemas and on its HBO Max streaming service on the same day. The strategy: meet customers where they were (on the couch).

This was effectively an admission that streaming subscribers are the real money-makers for movies, which peeved talent and producers whose deals are structured on box office revenue. And when it came to box office revenue, Neo didn’t bring the goods.

  • The Matrix Resurrections has grossed a measly $37 million in US theaters since its December 22 release date, flopping harder than the two previous Matrix entries.

In the lawsuit, Village Roadshow claims that Warner Bros. pushed up the release date (originally slated for 2022) to juice 2021 year-end HBO Max subscribers, knowingly self-sabotaging its box office performance. It also accused Warner Bros. of ignoring the wave of piracy that’s hit streaming releases, further denting the flick’s earnings potential.

Big picture: This isn’t the first time a movie’s dual release has sparked legal drama. Last year, Scarlett Johansson sued Disney for $80 million after its simultaneous release of Black Widow on Disney+ and in theaters cost her a chunk of a box office-based bonus (the two sides later settled out of court).—MM

            

TOGETHER WITH FUNDRISE

An easy way to invest in real estate

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Are you thinking, “Does that mean I’ll now own stake in actual buildings and properties across the country?” Heck yeah, that’s what it means.

Opportunities like this have (obviously) been open primarily to institutional investors who had the resources to deal with these aforementioned hurdles—but thanks to Fundrise’s tech, now you can get in on this investment. Plus, it’s a way to help achieve the double whammy potential of investing: portfolio growth and stability.

So if you want to join the largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform—along with 210,000 other people building a powerful and resilient portfolio—check out Fundrise today.

PRIVACY

The IRS backs off of facial recognition tech

A facial recognition demonstration at CES.DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images

The IRS doesn’t want to see your face anymore. After receiving backlash from privacy advocates and bipartisan lawmakers, the IRS is abandoning its use of third-party facial recognition software ID.me.

What happened? In November, the IRS announced that by summer 2022 all taxpayers would need to provide documents and a video selfie to the third-party company ID.me in order to use the agency’s website.

ID.me was previously used in a limited capacity by the IRS, and it’s also utilized by 30 states for unemployment services. But as this year’s tax season kicked off on January 24, the agency’s use of facial recognition came under more scrutiny.

Critics pointed out a slew of issues with ID.me:

  • The process is challenging for taxpayers without a smartphone or web camera.
  • Facial recognition tech has been criticized for misidentifying people of color, gender-nonconforming people, and women.
  • ID.me uses “one-to-many” matching—meaning it keeps a database of user images.
  • ID.me’s terms of service grant the company the right to share data it collects with the police, government, and “select partners.”

Zoom out: The IRS says that its transition away from ID.me will take place in the coming weeks and won’t cause any problems for tax filers.—MK

For more updates on facial recognition and other futuristic technologies, subscribe to Emerging Tech Brew.

            

GRAB BAG

Key performance indicators

WSJ: Peter Thiel Wants to Get Into Late-Stage CompaniesNeilson Barnard/Getty Images for New York Times

Stat: Tech investor Peter Thiel wrote a $500,000 check to thefacebook.com in 2004; when Facebook IPO’d in 2012, he cashed out a chunk of his holdings for $638 million. Yesterday, Thiel cut even more ties with the company now known as Meta, announcing he will step down from his position on the board in order to spend more time helping elect Trump-aligned Republican candidates in the 2022 midterms, per the WSJ.

Quote: “Age is just a number.”

Dutch speedskater Ireen Wüst became the first athlete in history to win an individual gold medal at five different Olympics after her win in the 1,500 meters Monday. Now 35, she won her first gold at the Turin Olympics in 2006, when she was 19.

Read: Matt Saincome is going to get rich or lose it all. (Morning Brew)

            

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

  • Amazon is more than doubling its maximum base pay for corporate and tech employees from $160,000 to $350,000.
  • Free community college won’t be a part of the Build Back Better plan the White House is hoping to revive, First Lady Jill Biden said yesterday.
  • Tesla was again subpoenaed by the SEC over Elon Musk’s tweets.
  • Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai told a French sports outlet that the uproar over her disappearance was a “huge misunderstanding” and also announced her retirement.
  • Fight Club’s original ending has been restored in China after an edited version (in which the authorities saved the day) drew outcry last month.

TOGETHER WITH RAMP

Ramp

“Running a company is easy!” – Nobody ever. That’s why Ramp designed its all-in-one spend management platform to save you time and money—up to 3.3% each month. Issue corporate cards, track expenses, and close your books 5 days faster. You’ll even earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase. Get a $250 bonus when you sign up for Ramp today.

BREW’S BETS

Revisit a classic: Liar’s Poker, the iconic Michael Lewis book that defined an era of Wall Street gluttony, is now available as an unabridged audiobook. Get it today and you’ll receive access to exclusive photos, notes from Michael’s personal archives, alternative titles, and commentary.

The Wikipedia game: If you love going down Wikipedia rabbit holes, this game is for you.

For your second monitor: mysterious laboratory in a calm forest.

GAMES

The puzzle section

Brew Mini: This week’s Minis are both themed around that big football matchup on Sunday. Get ready for the big game here.

Oscar trivia

This year’s Academy Award nominees will be released today. To mark the occasion, we’ll give you a famous quote from a Best Picture-winning movie and the year it was released. You have to name the movie.

  1. “There has to be a mathematical explanation for how bad that tie is.” (2001)
  2. “I’ll wait for you at the train station every day at five.” (2008)
  3. “I do wish we could chat longer, but I’m having an old friend for dinner. Bye.” (1991)
  4. “This trial…the whole world…it’s all…show business.” (2002)
  5. “I am 42 years old; in less than a year I will be dead. Of course I don’t know that yet, and in a way, I am dead already.” (1999)

ANSWER

  1. A Beautiful Mind
  2. Slumdog Millionaire
  3. The Silence of the Lambs
  4. Chicago
  5. American Beauty
✢ A Note From Fundrise

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6.) THE FACTUAL

8 FEB 2022

The Factual

Facts, not fear.

TRENDING TOPICS
Redistricting racial makeup • Encouraging union growth • Israel spies on citizens • Budget airlines merger • Walking after paralysis
FEATURED UNDER-REPORTED STORIES
Synthetic nicotine’s popularity • Superficial immigration changes • Figure skating quads
TRENDING TOPICS, MOST CREDIBLE STORIES
#1 in U.S. News • 34 articles

Why did the Supreme Court overrule a reworking of Alabama’s Congressional map?

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  1. Highly-rated – last 48 hrs
    Supreme Court halts redraw of Alabama’s Congressional map.
    CBS News (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 77% • 3 min read

    The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 Monday to halt the ordered redraw, a blow for anti-gerrymandering advocates and Democrats who were hoping to add a second Black-majority congressional district in the state. The court will decide in its next term, after the 2022 elections, whether [it] violates federal voting rights law.

    In January, a panel of three federal judges found that Alabama’s newly-enacted congressional map violated the Voting Rights Act by only having just one seat where Black voters make up a majority or plurality of the district. This decision was upheld by a federal appeals court. Five conservative judges overturned their decision, citing the proximity of Alabama’s primary elections and early voting period.

    Chief Justice John Roberts joined liberals in his dissent. Democratic Justice Elena Kagan wrote that halting the redraw “would rewrite decades of this Court’s precedent about Section 2 of the [Voting Rights Act.]
  1. Selected local viewpoint
    U.S. Supreme Court grants Alabama’s request to block order for new congressional districts.
    Alabama News (Moderate Right) • Factual Grade 76% • 6 min read
  1. Selected long-read
    How a court ruling in Alabama could have wider implications for racial gerrymandering.
    FiveThirtyEight (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 77% • 6 min read
  1. Recent poll
    Should redistricting be done by independent commissions?
    591 votes • 65 comments

View all articles

#2 in U.S. News • 14 articles

How is the Biden administration encouraging union growth?

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  1. Highly-rated – last 48 hrs
    White House offers blueprint for union growth as labor movement struggles to gain ground. [Free read link]
    Washington Post (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 87% • 4 min read

    The 43-page report, produced by the White House’s Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, is a strikingly pro-union document, seeking to connect the history of union organizing in the United States to its importance for the country’s economic well-being.

    The report comes at a time when union organizing in the United States is near a historic low, with just 10.3 percent of wage and salary workers belonging to a union in 2021, down threefold from a high in the 1950s. But the public favorability of labor unions is its highest in more than 50 years, and at least 48 percent of nonunion workers have said on surveys that they would join a union if given the option.

    The White House report lays out dozens of recommendations for the federal government to undertake to encourage worker organizing, rights protected by 1935′s National Labor Relations Act, without going through Congress. The report also says the federal government should try to encourage unions among about 300,000 federal workers.
  1. Different political viewpoint
    White House proposes ways to bolster unions in the federal workforce, private sector.
    Washington Times (Moderate Right) • Factual Grade 66% • 3 min read
  1. Selected long-read
    Labor’s love lost: Membership in government unions falls to a 20-year low. (2020)
    City Journal (Right) • Factual Grade 78% • 5 min read

View all articles

TODAY’S POLL

Would you join a union if given the option?

All votes are anonymous. This poll closes at: 9:00 PDT

YESTERDAY’S POLL

Should there be a federal no-fly list of passengers convicted of unruly behavior?

818 votes, 112 comments

Context: Delta CEO requests federal support for a no-fly list of unruly passengers.

HIGHLIGHTED COMMENTS

 Yes – The airline I work for has stages of unruliness, and you are warned (more than once) if your behavior is unacceptable. However, people seem to revel in pushing the limits of airline rules and it’s getting out of hand. Passengers should not knowingly be able to break the rules and then change airlines, just to break the rules again. These disruptions cause diversions, gate returns, and even arguments on board between compliant passengers.

 No – There was a massive spike in 2021, but looking at the graph in the context it looks like levels are back to normal now so what is the purpose served by adding this? [Also] what is the rate of recidivism on things like this? I can’t imagine during normal times it is very high, on average I bet most unruly passenger events are one offs. If people only ever tend to have trouble like this once in their life the no fly list is totally pointless.

 Unsure – Since in the articles I’m reading the rate of “unruly behavior” increased significantly as a result of the mask mandate then I suspect here it means people who don’t wear their mask for the whole flight, are challenged by the staff and become upset. This to me is not something significant enough to disallow someone to be able to fly on a plane unless someone becomes violent.

#1 in World News • 8 articles

Did the Israeli government spy on its own citizens?

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  1. Highly-rated – last 48 hrs
    Israel to investigate domestic use of Pegasus spyware as scandal hits home. [Free read link]
    New York Times (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 78% • 5 min read

    On Monday, the [NSO Pegasus spyware] controversy came home as the Israeli government said it would investigate reports that the Israeli police had illegally used spyware against its citizens without a court order, including a key state witness in the corruption trial of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    The allegations caused a brief delay in Mr. Netanyahu’s trial, after judges postponed hearings on Monday to allow prosecutors time to address the claims. The moves reflected rising concerns within Israel about the use of spyware made by NSO and other companies, which had been spared significant domestic scrutiny because it was not widely seen as a threat to Israeli citizens.

    Created to help governments track criminal and terrorist activity, Pegasus allows its users to monitor every aspect of a target’s phone — including their calls, messages, photos and video. The Israeli police have used a version of Pegasus domestically since 2015, and in the last two years have hacked the phones of more than 100 targets a year.
  1. Selected local viewpoint
    Israel Police used Pegasus spyware against top gov’t officials, journalists.
    Haaretz (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 65% • 2 min read
  1. Selected long-read
    Israeli citizens targeted by police using Pegasus spyware, report claims.
    The Guardian (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 79% • 5 min read

View all articles

#1 in Business News • 19 articles

What is the expected impact of a proposed merger of Frontier and Spirit Airlines?

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  1. Highly-rated – last 48 hrs
    Frontier to buy Spirit Airlines in $2.9 bln budget carrier deal.
    Reuters (Center) • Factual Grade 86% • 3 min read

    The proposal to form a new no-frills carrier controlled by Frontier Airlines pushed up shares of Spirit as much as 18.7%, though several analysts pressed the airlines over possible difficulties in obtaining regulatory approval. The move comes at a time when the U.S. airline industry is grappling with volatility in travel demand due to new Covid-19 variants.

    The merger, which is expected to close in the second half of 2022, is projected to result in synergies of $500 million a year, mainly through operational savings. The companies pledged to avoid any job losses and add 10,000 direct jobs by 2026. They also promised the merger would deliver $1 billion in annual consumer savings and offer more than 1,000 daily flights to over 145 destinations.

    But some analysts warned the deal could face opposition from the White House as U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration takes a tough stance on big corporate mergers. Data from Cirium, an aviation data company, shows the two carriers overlap in only 18% of their routes.
  1. Different political viewpoint
    Budget airlines Frontier and Spirit to merge in $6.6 billion deal that could create the US’ 5th largest airline.
    Business Insider (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 77% • 2 min read
  1. Selected long-read
    The North American airline industry: Is it an oligopoly?
    Investopedia (Center) • Factual Grade 75% • 5 min read

View all articles

#1 in Health News • 15 articles

How does a new treatment enable paralyzed people to walk again?

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  1. Highly-rated – last 48 hrs
    Walking again after paralysis: Early study suggests stimulation could jolt spinal cord back to life.
    STAT News (Center) • Factual Grade 86% • 6 min read

    The first-in-man study [of electrical stimulation of key spinal cord nerves that control lower-body movements] included three participants [with] traumatic thoracic spinal cord injury due to motorcycle collisions. All of them were several years out from their injuries and had stabilized to a point of no movement or sensation in their legs.

    The findings [of a recent paper published in Nature] suggest people with complete paralysis could regain a broader range of motion within days if dormant spinal nerves that mediate leg and upper-body movement are reengaged with a personalized [epidural electrical stimulation (EES)] device. All three study participants could take as many as 300 steps (independently, with body support) within days of starting stimulation.

    While participants could stand and step within a day of receiving stimulation, their gait was still clumsy and nonfluid. The next step will be validating the results in a large-scale trial in the United States and Europe in hopes of making this form of spinal stimulation an accessible treatment.
  1. Selected long-read
    How a revolutionary technique got people with spinal-cord injuries back on their feet. (2019)
    Scientific American (Center) • Factual Grade 79% • 16 min read

View all articles

UPDATES & BREAKING NEWS

View more credible stories

HIGHLY CREDIBLE, UNDER-REPORTED STORIES

Please click Display images in your email app to view this email properly Synthetic nicotine: Unregulated and increasingly popular.

Politico (Moderate Left) • Grade 71% • 6 min read

Please click Display images in your email app to view this email properly Why Biden’s immigration policy looks a lot like Trump’s.

Christian Science Monitor (Center) • Grade 88% • 9 min read

Please click Display images in your email app to view this email properly The quad jump revolution has transformed women’s figure skating. How far will it go?

FiveThirtyEight (Moderate Left) • Grade 87% • 24 min read

EDITOR’S PICKS

Highly-rated article from left-leaning source

Daily Beast • Grade 73%

Black workers say racism is rampant inside Tesla. Now California could sue.

Highly-rated article from right-leaning source

Wall Street Journal • Grade 74%

FLOTUS Jill Biden says free community college off table for Build Back Better bill. [Free read link]

9,566 Articles Analyzed Visit The Factual

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8.) FOX NEWS

 


9.) UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

 


10.) THE FEDERALIST PAPERS

 


11.) AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

AEI’s daily publication of independent research, insightful analysis, and scholarly debate.
Will new macro-medical regulation be prudential?
Thomas P. Miller | Ohio State Law Journal
The COVID-19 pandemic potentially offers many important lessons for health policymakers. However, some are likely to be neglected or downplayed.
Full Story
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Is the US military ready to defend Taiwan?
Elaine McCusker and Emily Coletta | The National Interest
As the debate intensifies on US policy related to the defense of Taiwan, it is useful to examine when and why the United States would carry out such a mission and the potential obstacles to a successful outcome.
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The destruction of Detroit’s Black Bottom
Howard Husock | Reason
Black Bottom shows how the zeal for government project housing killed a prosperous Black community in Detroit.
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McDaniel and Republican National Committee harm Republican chances
Chris Stirewalt | The Dispatch

The Republican National Committee is supposed to get more Republicans elected. Censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger does nothing to advance that goal.

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Economics, Housing, and Poverty
Why the strong jobs report might be Joe Biden’s worst nightmare
Desmond Lachman | 19fortyfive.com
Happy 111th birthday, Ronald Reagan. He trusted the people and believed in the ‘magic of the marketplace.’
Mark J. Perry | Carpe Diem
Foreign Policy and Defense
The Cold War provides history lessons for dealing with the Russia-Ukraine crisis
Robert Doar | Straight Arrow News
How Irish fishermen took on the Russian fleet and won
Elisabeth Braw | Defense One
Politics, Society, and Culture
Trump v. Thompson and the meaning of executive privilege today
Gary J. Schmitt and Jeffrey K. Tulis | The Constitutionalist
‘Free’ review: A childhood in Communist Albania
Tunku Varadarajan | The Wall Street Journal
Was Nixon ‘the one’ in 1960?
Michael Barone | The Washington Free Beacon
At this point, I’ll bet on Susan Collins over the resistance
Ross Douthat | The New York Times
Teaching children to chart their own path feels more urgent than ever
Naomi Schaefer Riley | Deseret News
Comics to the rescue
Samuel J. Abrams | AEIdeas
Does getting married really make you happier?
Lyman Stone | Institute for Family Studies
Too risky to wed in your 20s? Not if you avoid cohabiting first
W. Bradford Wilcox and Lyman Stone | The Wall Street Journal
Whoopi Goldberg just spouted the Anti-Defamation League’s disinformation about racism
Marc A. Thiessen | The Washington Post
Health Care and Technology
How a war on ‘misinformation’ led to a coronavirus tragedy
Bret Swanson | RealClearMarkets
Education
It’s time to end race-based college preferences — and rich-kid preferences, too
Frederick M. Hess | FoxNews.com
Georgetown Law self-cancels its elite status
Max Eden | Newsweek
Podcasts
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Kevin R. Kosar and Dan Lipinski | “Understanding Congress”
Brent Orrell on lessons from his vocational journey
Brent Orrell | “Hardly Working”

12.) THE FLIP SIDE

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Tuesday, February 8, 2022

NFL Lawsuit

“Fired Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores sued the NFL and three teams [last] Tuesday over alleged racist hiring practices for coaches and general managers… The lawsuit sought class-action status and unspecified damages from the league, the Dolphins, the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants, along with unidentified individuals.” AP News

“On Saturday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to all 32 teams acknowledging the hiring results for minorities seeking head coach positions have been ‘unacceptable.’ He also said the league would retain outside experts, as well as ‘solicit input from current and former players and coaches,’ to assist in reviewing the league’s diversity policies and initiatives.” NFL

“The Houston Texans have hired Lovie Smith as their next head coach, the team announced Monday… Smith, who is Black, joins the Miami Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel, New York Jets’ Robert Saleh, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin and Washington Commanders’ Ron Rivera as the league’s only minority head coaches.” ESPN

From the Left

The left criticizes the NFL’s lack of Black coaches.
“[The 2002 report] Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities, found that year after year qualified Blacks were overlooked for coaching opportunities and that the handful who were hired were more likely to inherit underachieving teams. Black coaches were also more likely to be fired than white coaches with inferior records. The numbers revealed that Black coaches, on average, won more games per season and led their teams to the playoffs 67% of the time, compared with 39% for white coaches…

“In December 2002, the league’s 32 teams, led by the Pittsburgh Steelers president, Dan Rooney, unanimously adopted a rule requiring the consideration of minorities for leadership roles. The so-called Rooney Rule initially held promise and was credited with moving the needle in a league long resistant to change. But nearly two decades later hope for many has faded to disillusionment…

“History shows that the effectiveness of any measure aimed at racial progress is commensurate with demonstrated commitment to the cause. And without leadership, oversight, and enforcement any hard-won gains can be swiftly erased.”
Pamela Newkirk, The Guardian

“In 2003, the first year of the Rooney Rule, the Detroit Lions hired a White coach after inviting Black coaches to ‘see the facilities.’ Not one Black coach accepted the clearly empty offer. As advocates of the Rooney Rule, we told the NFL that if they didn’t act, they were torpedoing equal opportunity efforts. The league eventually fined Lions President Matt Millen $200,000. It sent a loud message that the rule would be enforced…

“But in 2017, the Oakland Raiders selected a White head coach, Jon Gruden, before holding sham interviews with Black candidates. The Fritz Pollard Alliance urged the league to fine the Raiders owner just as they had fined the Lions president 14 years earlier. But the NFL refused, suggesting that it was no longer taking equal opportunity efforts seriously. The number of Black head coaches has since plummeted, while frustration among Black coaches is sky high.”
Cyrus Mehri, Washington Post

“I’m from Detroit. Our last winning seasons were with Jim Caldwell, who was a Black head coach. He had secured back-to-back winning seasons and was fired, and they haven’t had a winning season since. Brian Flores had back-to-back winning seasons, including finishing eight and one down the stretch, which has never happened before in NFL history. And he led the Miami Dolphins to its first back-to-back winning seasons in more than 20 years. And he was fired…

“In L.A., coach Anthony Lynn, who didn’t do a terrible job by any stretch, was let go after the starting quarterback was injured before the season even began. It’s not only that a Black coach can be fired with a winning season, but a Black coach can be fired for some of the most ridiculous reasons that are completely out of their control and not get another opportunity to come back as a head coach.”
LZ Granderson, Slate

From the Right

The right is skeptical of Flores’s claims of discrimination.
“It strikes me that the ex-coach’s own statements establish that he was not fired because of his race. Appearing on CBS after filing his suit, Flores reportedly said the Dolphins’ owner offered him money to lose games so as to improve the team’s draft position. According to Flores, he refused and this ‘hurt my standing within the organization and ultimately was the reason I was let go.’ (Emphasis added)…

“It would be deplorable to fire a coach for not losing intentionally. But doing so would not be race discrimination. If Flores is right that non-tanking was ‘the reason I was let go,’ then race was not the reason — not unless he can show that the Dolphins have retained white head coaches who also refused to tank…

“Flores also alleges that the owner pressured him to recruit a ‘prominent quarterback’ for the franchise, in violation of rules against tampering. Flores says he did not participate in that recruiting effort (of Tom Brady, probably) and thereafter, ‘was treated with disdain and held out as someone who was noncompliant and difficult to work with.’ This, then, is another reason for Flores’ serious problems with the Dolphins that has nothing to do with his race. Given Flores’ concessions plus the fact that the Dolphins have a black GM, his race discrimination claim against the team seems quite weak.”
Paul Mirengoff, Power Line Blog

“A mere 32 head coaching positions comprise too small a sample size to make any grand assumptions about race or anything else. NFL coaching staffs are incredibly diverse, and the people in those 32 head coach positions each face unique challenges and circumstances. When looking at what happened to Flores, the cries of racism once again fall apart…

“Flores was fired because of a power struggle with general manager Chris Grier — and also because his relationship with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had deteriorated. The Dolphins, in essence, chose Grier and Tagovailoa over Flores. Whether that proves to be the right decision or not, pointing to racism as the cause is sophomoric — Grier is also black, and Tagovailoa is Samoan.”
Zachary Faria, Washington Examiner

“Texts Flores included in the lawsuit between him and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick show that Belichick knew who the New York Giants were going to hire as the head coach before Flores was even interviewed for the position. That’s fine if the Giants knew who they wanted as the head coach and hired who they thought was the best person available for the job. However, it’s unfortunate that the team had to waste Flores’s time just to check a diversity box…

“Flores shouldn’t get special treatment because of his skin color, and teams also shouldn’t use him as a prop because of his skin color, either. The easy solution for the NFL: Stop the nonsense and let teams hire the best available coaches. Having a better head coach helps a team win games and make money. Therefore, being racist is an illogical position for an NFL team to take. If a team wants to discriminate, it will suffer the consequences on the field.”
Tom Joyce, Washington Examiner

On the bright side…

Silly rabbit, salad eating contests are for humans.
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13.) AXIOS

Axios AM

Good Tuesday morning. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,191 words … 4½ minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu.

⚡ Biden science adviser Eric Lander resigned after Politico revealed he bullied colleagues. Lander apologized for speaking to Office of Science and Technology Policy staff in “a disrespectful or demeaning way.”

  • Why it matters: He’s the first Cabinet-level official to resign or be let go from the Biden administration.

📱 At 12:30 p.m. today, please join Axios’ Ina Fried and Sara Fischer for a virtual event on internet safety, including what TikTok is up to. Register here.

1 big thing: Jaw-dropping gender gap for jobs

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chart: Baidi Wang/Axios

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chart: Baidi Wang/Axios

Stunning stat: Over 1 million men surged into the labor force last month (taking a job or looking for one) — compared to just 39,000 women.

  • Why it matters: This appears to be about child care. Issues with schools and daycare centers kept women, who are typically primary caregivers to children, out of the workforce throughout the pandemic — and it’s still happening, Axios Markets co-author Emily Peck writes.

That reality holds back the economic recovery, keeping women on the sidelines at a time when companies are desperate to hire.

  • Women with young children at home, who might have considered going back to work, likely couldn’t because of unstable school and child-care schedules.
  • “We don’t have the data that says, ‘it was because of child care,’ but we can hear their voices screaming out behind the numbers,” said Emily Martin, vice president for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center, which published a report on this data.

What’s next: Women are in a tough spot, as there’s still a shortage of child-care workers — and the possibility of school scheduling snafus with future variants.

  • Child-care providers operate on tight margins and don’t pay well, and in a tight labor market they’re having a hard time finding workers — fueling the crisis.

Share this story.

2. Press bullied at Olympics
Featured image

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

A Chinese security official yanked a Dutch reporter out of his live shot during the Olympics opening ceremony.

  • Why it matters: The press environment in China has deteriorated dramatically in the past two years. Foreign journalists have been kicked out. Intimidation and physical violence have become more common, Axios’ Sara Fischer and Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian report.

The reporter — Sjoerd den Daas, a correspondent for Dutch broadcaster NOS — tweeted that just after going live, he was “forcefully pulled out of the picture without any warning by a plainclothes man wearing a red badge that read, ‘Public Safety Volunteer.'”

  • “He did not identify himself,” he wrote, “When asked, they couldn’t say what we had done wrong.”

Flashback: The atmosphere of intimidation is dramatically different from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Chinese authorities made it easier for journalists all around the world to enter China for months leading up to the Olympics and allowed them to travel freely, in what was seen as a sign of greater opening up to the world.

  • In 2022, leaders in Beijing seem less interested in garnering approbation from Western democracies and their reporters — and more interested in demonstrating that their rules matter most.

Share this story.

3. Exclusive poll: COVID forever
Data: Axios/Ipsos poll. Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

Only one in 10 Americans thinks COVID will be eradicated by this time next year, Axios managing editor Margaret Talev writes from the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

  • Why it matters: The new poll shows Americans are coming to terms with living with COVID. But it reveals zero consensus on how.

🗳️ Look at these party splits (1,049 polled; margin of error: ±3.3 points):

  • 21% of overall respondents (43% of Republicans but just 3% of Democrats) said “open up and get back to life as usual with no coronavirus mandates or requirements.”
  • 23% overall (14% of Republicans and 34% of Democrats) said “mostly keep coronavirus precautions and requirements.”
  • 51% of respondents support businesses requiring proof of vaccination to enter — 25% of Republicans, but 72% of Democrats.

Share this story.

4. 📷 Pic du jour
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Speaker Pelosi joined a bicameral, bipartisan group of lawmakers last night for a moment of silence on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol for the 900,000+ Americans who have died from COVID.

🔔 The Washington National Cathedral tolled its funeral bell, the bourdon, 900 times. The ritual lasted 1 hour, 25 minutes. (YouTube)

5. First look: Biden to sell BBB in swing district
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) greets supporters in Orange, Va., in 2020. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

President Biden will take his Build Back Better roadshow to the swing district of Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) on Thursday, Axios’ Hans Nichols has learned.

  • Biden will highlight his proposal to reduce prescription-drug prices.

Why it matters: Spanberger was one of the most pointed critics of Biden’s sweeping social agenda after Democrats were thumped in statewide elections in November.

Democrats in swing states and vulnerable districts have been distancing themselves from Biden on social media as his poll numbers have hit their lowest point, Axios has reported.

  • The president’s trip to Virginia will be his second jaunt out of Washington to tout his nearly $2 trillion plan since he said during a news conference last month he had to go out and sell his proposals more aggressively.

👀 What we’re watching: On Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the Consumer Price Index for January. It’s expected to come in at 7.3% — the highest reading since 1982.

  • Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has cited surging inflation as one of the main reasons he declared the negotiations over Biden’s spending bill dead back in December.

Share this story.

⚖️ Go deeper: How the White House is framing the Supreme Court selection.

6. Spanish-language misinformation mess

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

Spanish-language misinformation on social media platforms is flourishing, even as tech companies add more moderators, adopt stricter content rules, add context labels and block offending accounts, Axios’ Ashley Gold and Russell Contreras write.

  • Why it matters: Latinos are increasingly turning to social media for news during the pandemic — including important elections where Spanish-language misinformation sometimes sits unchallenged, posing threats to health and democracies.

What’s happening: Where platforms are quick to remove misinformation posts in English, some identical posts in Spanish remain online.

Get more stories like this from our twice-weekly Axios Latino, a collaboration with Noticias Telemundo.

7. Coach fliers get new love
Plane with lei around it

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

The coach passenger is king — perhaps for the first time ever — as airlines scramble for a larger share of the booming leisure travel market, Joann Muller writes in Axios What’s Next.

  • What’s happening: As the pandemic wanes, major carriers that traditionally make most of their money off premium business travel have shifted their attention to wooing vacationers.

Driving the news: Spirit Airlines and Frontier Group are merging in a $2.9 billion deal that will create the fifth-largest U.S. airline.

  • The airlines said the deal would save $1 billion a year for consumers through lower prices and create “America’s most competitive ultra-low fare airline.”
  • The combination of the country’s two largest budget carriers will help them compete against American, Delta, United and Southwest, which together control 80% of the U.S. air travel market.

Keep reading.

8. 📺 Charted: Tuning out Olympics

Data: Nielsen. Chart: Will Chase/Axios

Data: Nielsen. Chart: Will Chase/Axios

U.S. viewership of the Winter Olympics, like last year’s Summer Games in Tokyo, is being hurt by the ban on fans, who add to the excitement of watching live, Axios Media Trends expert Sara Fischer writes.

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16.) THE WASHINGTON TIMES

House Republicans are making climate change part of their agenda in 2022 after years of …
America’s Newspaper
February 8, 2022

   

The Washington Times
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Stacey Abrams speaks during a church service in Norfolk, Va., Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. A political organization led by the Democratic titan is branching out into paying off medical debts. Fair Fight Action on Wednesday, Oct. 27 told The Associated Press that it is donating $1.34 million from its political action committee to wipe out debt owed by 108,000 people in Georgia, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.   (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Caught with their masks down: Democrats’ mandate hypocrisy angers voters, signals end of COVID rules

Democratic politicians from California to Georgia and New York are getting caught with their masks down, an embarrassing faux pas … Read More

By Susan Ferrechio

Top Headlines

 

Biden vows to spike German pipeline if Russia strikes Ukraine

By Jeff Mordock and Dave Boyer – Read More

IRS abandons plans to subject website users to facial recognition

By Stephen Dinan – Read More

Arizona AG rules border surge is an ‘invasion,’ state can defend itself

By Stephen Dinan – Read More

Republicans warm to climate change, offer alternative solutions from nuclear power to carbon capture

By Mica Soellner – Read More

Bakers, therapists to lose conscience protections under proposed Arizona ‘Equality’ bill

By Mark A. Kellner – Read More

Prime minister grooms West Point-educated son to take over in Cambodia

By Richard S. Ehrlich – Special to The Washington Times – Read More

Opinion

 

Mrs. Greene goes to Washington

By Charles Hurt – Read More

The perils of Team Biden playing ‘make-believe’

By Richard W. Rahn – Read More

End the lockdowns, end the mandates, end the madness

By Jenny Beth Martin – Read More

Politics

 

Supreme Court allows Alabama’s redistricting map despite racial gerrymandering claim

By Alex Swoyer – Read More

House passes #MeToo bill to limit arbitration, let sexual misconduct victims take cases to court

By Mica Soellner – Read More

White House science adviser resigns after internal probe finds demeaning behavior

By Dave Boyer – Read More

Security

 

White House national security adviser warns: Russian war looms with ‘enormous human cost’

By Seth McLaughlin and Guy Taylor – Read More

Iraqi man’s guilty plea reveals massive scope of refugee fraud ring

By Stephen Dinan – Read More

Federal grand jury indicts Chinese telecom firm in theft of Motorola radio secrets

By Bill Gertz – Read More

Sports

 

Commanders used foreign country to help keep trademarks secret

By Matthew Paras – Read More

Adebayo, Butler lead Heat to 121-100 win over Wizards

By Rich Dubroff – Read More

Shiffrin ‘won’t ever get over fall’ in Olympic giant slalom

By Andrew Dampf – Read More

 

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22.) THE HILL MORNING REPORT

The Hill's Morning Report
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Students line up to enter Christa McAuliffe School in Jersey City,

© Associated Press/Seth Wenig

 

 

Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. It is Tuesday! We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the co-creators. Readers can find us on Twitter @asimendinger and @alweaver22. Please recommend the Morning Report to friends and let us know what you think. CLICK HERE to subscribe!

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported each morning this week: Monday 902,624; Tuesday, 905,544.
Four blue-state governors said Monday they plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions within weeks, most prominently by removing mask mandates in classrooms, a sign of a new pandemic phase tied to plummeting infection rates in the United States.

 

New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut and Oregon on Monday announced that mask directives affecting schools and students — among the most contentious virus-related requirements — will be phased out. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) (pictured below) said the mask rollback in his state will go into effect on March 7. Murphy, who narrowly won reelection in November, said declining numbers of confirmed infections and hospitalizations are behind the decision.

 

“This is a huge step back to normalcy for our kids,” Murphy said, adding that school districts can choose to keep mask mandates in place. “We are not going to manage COVID to zero. We have to learn how to live with COVID as we move from a pandemic to an endemic phase of this virus” (NJ.com).

 

On Monday, New Jersey recorded its lowest single-day case total since Thanksgiving.

 

In Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said the mask directive for students in his state will be rescinded on Feb. 28. Oregon and Delaware both will keep the classroom mandate in place through the end of March. Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) announced that his state’s indoor mask mandate will expire on Friday.

 

NJ.com: New Jersey plans to end its school mask mandate and parents have “very mixed feelings.”

 

Not all states are ready to follow suit. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is ending the indoor mask requirement for vaccinated individuals on Feb. 15 but will keep the mask directive in effect for schools (The Associated Press). New York Gov. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said during an appearance in Kingston, N.Y., that she was still monitoring the situation, pointing out that the mandate in neighboring New Jersey would not be lifted for another month.

 

“I’m gathering data,” she said. “We are trending in a very, very good direction.”

 

Last week, Hochul said officials were “striving” to remove mask mandates in schools but that vaccination rates for younger children needed to rise before that happened (The New York Times).

 

“The more children we have vaccinated, the safer they’ll be when they go to school,” she said. “We’re just not there yet.”

 

Axios: Poll: America learns to live with COVID-19.

 

Kaiser Health News: Animal study offers mixed results for omicron-specific booster.

 

The New York Times: An omicron subvariant, BA.2, is spreading in Asia and Europe, but is unlikely to do more damage than omicron, experts say.

 

Changes announced by New Jersey, in particular, secured the support of the Biden administration, which supports Murphy’s plan because it does not bar school districts from implementing their own mask directives, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still backs universal masking in schools.

 

“What happened here in New Jersey and a couple of other states … is that they pulled back the requirement,” Psaki said, contrasting the decision with that of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). “They didn’t make it more difficult for schools, school administrators, local officials to keep requirements that they made a determination would keep their school safe” (The Wall Street Journal).

 

The Associated Press: Virginia Supreme Court dismisses mask mandate petition.

 

The Washington PostHong Kong’s “zero-covid” policy buckles under the onslaught of omicron — but authorities just won’t let it go.

 

The HillAustralia says it will reopen its borders to vaccinated visitors in two weeks.

 

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy speaks to reporters

© Associated Press/Seth Wenig

 

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Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations, including Section 230

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LEADING THE DAY
ADMINISTRATION: Western world leaders on Monday worked in concert to try once again to defuse a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the White House has said is possible “any day” despite Kremlin denials.

 

President Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin could and should de-escalate Russia’s massive military presence along Ukraine’s border, adding that the U.S. and NATO allies are unified and ready to respond to any Russian aggression. He vowed that the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline proposed between Germany and Russia would not happen if Russia attacks its neighbor (The Associated Press).

 

The Hill: Biden says U.S. and Germany are in “lockstep” to counter Russian aggression.

 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who met with Biden at the White House and has been wary of issuing public threats against Russia, said during an East Room appearance that it is “necessary for Russia to understand that a lot more could happen than they’ve perhaps calculated with themselves.”

 

President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz listen to a question from a reporter

© Associated Press/Alex Brandon

 

 

French President Emmanuel Macron, who met for hours with Putin in the Kremlin on Monday (pictured below) and shared dinner of sturgeon and reindeer, said the discussion had been “substantial, deep.” Macron, who has seized a European leadership role to try to avert war, will be in Ukraine today to confer with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

 

“The upcoming days will be crucial,” Macron said (The New York Times). He told the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche“The security and sovereignty of Ukraine or any other European state cannot be a subject for compromise, while it is also legitimate for Russia to pose the question of its own security.”

 

The New York Times: Putin said on Monday that Macron’s ideas are worth pursuing but the Russian president clarified nothing about his next steps or timetable. Asked by a reporter whether his country would invade Ukraine, Putin did not rule out the possibility. He said Zelensky needs to implement a peace plan negotiated in Minsk, Belarus, in 2015 — one that could give the Kremlin a way to influence Ukraine’s foreign-policy decisions.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to French President Emmanuel Macron during their meeting

© Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via Associated Press

 

 

On Sunday, Biden told reporters he believes Putin wants from the West “things he cannot get.”

 

Reuters: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that sanctions and other measures will be ready if Russia decides to attack Ukraine.

 

CNN: Russian government officials and military officers have expressed doubts about whether Putin recognizes the high costs and challenges of a possible full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to U.S. intelligence intercepts.

 

Politico: Poland braces for “up to a million people” who might decide to flee or be displaced amid a potential Russian attack against Ukraine.

 

More in the administration: First lady Jill Biden, who teaches English and writing to community college students, on Monday said, to her disappointment, the administration will not deliver free community college to Americans, acknowledging that a major provision of Biden’s economic agenda is officially off the table (The Hill and NBC News). … Geneticist, molecular biologist and mathematician Eric Lander, who directed the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, resigned on Monday after the White House disclosed finding credible evidence he mistreated his staff (The Associated Press). … Jessica Lewis, a former congressional staff member, spoke to The Hill about her role leading the State Department team responsible for speeding U.S. security assistance to Ukraine.

 

*****

 

CONGRESS: Ongoing congressional deliberations about how to fund the government beyond Feb. 18 veered Monday between short-term can-kicking and pressure on House and Senate leaders to perhaps assemble in the same room to hammer out a specific, one-year funding accord.

 

The House has three more days this week to act before a potential shutdown because lawmakers are out of Washington next week for the President’s Day recess. For that reason, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) on Monday introduced a short-term bill that would buy more time and keep the government operating through March 11 (The Hill).

 

At the moment, Appropriations Committee members in both chambers are not close to a spending deal for any year-long measure. Lawmakers in both parties tell The Hill’s Alexander Bolton that it may be time for the top four leaders — Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — to meet face-to-face to speed things up. Yet, there’s a hitch: Relations among Congress’s leaders are about as bad as they’ve ever been, making in-person collaborations less likely.

 

If Congress fails to move beyond a rolling series of temporary funding Band-Aids, billions of dollars for bipartisan infrastructure and transportation investments enacted months ago remain in limbo ahead of the November elections (The Washington Post).

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
POLITICS: Democrats are by no means in the driver’s seat in their quest to maintain control of the House of Representatives in November. However, things are looking up for the party’s battle for the House in future cycles thanks to some recent redistricting victories.

 

As The Hill’s Reid Wilson details, a number of court victories at the state level have given the majority party a major boost, handing them a better chance at controlling the chamber during the 2020s. Courts in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio have made a series of rulings that will roll back the number of seats Republicans are favored to hold in the coming years.

 

“It’s certainly been a good break for Democrats,” said Michael Li, a redistricting expert and senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. “The war against gerrymandering has always been a multifront war, and state Supreme Courts have been a part of that.”

 

The Associated Press: The Supreme Court sided with the GOP in an Alabama election map case on Monday.

 

The Hill: Former President Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence avoid going scorched-earth.

 

Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker: Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s long game.

 

The Hill: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) says he texted GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, his niece, after the Republican National Committee’s decision last week to censure two House Republican members of the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol.

 

Politico: Senate GOP backlash follows RNC censure vote.

 

Demonstrators rally for a fair election outside the U.S. Supreme Court

© Associated Press/Manuel Balce Ceneta

 

 

> Mask-free Dems: Stacey Abrams followed in a long line of COVID-induced political faux pas by Democrats last week as she posed maskless in a classroom full of masked schoolchildren, rekindling a favorite GOP attack line: For me but not for thee.

 

As The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes in his latest Memo, the photo is primed and ready to appear in GOP political attacks in the coming months after a year of Democrats instituting mask mandates, only to be seen flouting those rules behind closed doors. Most recently, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D), whose city has an indoor mask mandate in effect this month, was pictured maskless alongside Magic Johnson at a Los Angeles Rams. Incredibly, he defended himself by saying that he held his breath for the photo.

 

“What opponents are trying to say is that there is a tremendous amount of hypocrisy from lawmakers who say, ‘Masks for thee but not for me.’ In this case, it is a very stark image that crystallizes all of her opponents’ criticisms of her,” said Kevin Madden, a GOP strategist. “It is one image that tells a thousand stories. … That photo will show up in other campaigns all across the country. It is not going to just define one Georgia race.”

 

As Niall explains, the image is especially potent because it hits upon three of the most emotive topics within the broader discussion of COVID-19 restrictions: masking, education and whether excessive restrictions are being placed upon very young children, for whom the statistical probability of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 is very small.

 

The Hill: Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) reportedly feels “vindicated” and will not rule out another run for office.

 

The HillMorgan Ortagus, a Trump-backed former State Department spokeswoman, announced a bid for Congress in Tennessee.

 

The Detroit News: A defendant in the kidnapping plot aimed at Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) pleaded guilty, according to a court document Monday.

OPINION
There’s a name for someone who calls violence “legitimate.” It isn’t “Republican,” by Dana Milbank, columnist, The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/3J8Gj31

 

U.S. alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin moves on to the next, by Jason Gay, columnist, The Wall Street Journal. https://on.wsj.com/3gwJMvT

A MESSAGE FROM FACEBOOK
Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations, including Section 230

Aaron is one of 40,000 people working on safety and security issues at Facebook.

 

Hear more from Aaron on why Facebook supports updating regulations on the internet’s most pressing challenges, including reforming Section 230 to set clear guidelines for all large tech companies.

WHERE AND WHEN
The House meets at 10 a.m.

 

The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. and will resume consideration of the nomination of John Howard to be a judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

 

The president and Vice President Harris will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10:15 a.m. Biden and Harris will have lunch at noon. Biden will speak at 1:45 p.m. about bolstering U.S. manufacturing, accompanied by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. He will announce a new private-sector manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Tenn., that will create 500 local jobs making fast chargers for use with electric vehicles. The president and Harris will receive a weekly economic briefing at 2:45 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room.

 

The vice president will lead a “Day of Action” event to increase public participation in the federal child tax credit and a $1,500 earned income tax credit enacted last year in the American Rescue Plan law.

 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling today to Melbourne, Australia, where he will meet with officials as part of a foreign ministers’ Quad gathering (representing the United States, Australia, Japan and India), then hold meetings on Saturday in Fiji, followed by the U.S. hosting of foreign ministers from Japan and South Korea in Hawaii for a trilateral conference later this week before returning to Washington on Sunday.

 

The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 2 p.m.

 

📺 Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features news and interviews at http://thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10:30 a.m. ET at Rising on YouTube.

ELSEWHERE
 🏅OLYMPICS: America’s Nathan Chen posted a world-record-setting figure skating performance during the men’s short program on Tuesday. Chen recorded a score of 113.97 — the top score of the day and the highest in the history of the short program (ESPN). … Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, 36, emerged in Beijing to give an interview to a French sports publication focused on her career and not her allegations of sexual assault by a former Chinese Communist Party official (The Associated Press).

 

 TECH: Peter Thiel, one of Facebook’s first board members, is stepping down from his board position at the platform’s parent company Meta. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called Thiel a “valuable member” of the board, adding that he is “deeply grateful for everything he has done for our company.” Thiel, one of the most prolific GOP donors, is reportedly making the move as he shifts his focus to the midterm elections. He is supporting Senate GOP candidates J.D. Vance in Ohio and Blake Masters in Arizona. Vance and Masters co-bylined an opinion piece in October calling on Facebook to stop “meddling” in elections. The venture capitalist and PayPal founder has a net worth estimated at $2.6 billion (The New York Times).

 

 ABOUT FACE: The Treasury Department is moving away from the controversial verification software ID.me amid concern over the company’s use of facial recognition technology. The IRS had announced last year that it would start requiring people who file taxes online to register with ID.me, which would verify the identity of filers with a video selfie. The program had been expected to be rolled out this summer for all IRS services (The Hill).

THE CLOSER
And finally … RBG is going to the Smithsonian.

 

The National Museum of American History will begin to feature “a significant selection of artifacts” connected to late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s career starting next month as the museum prepares to honor her lengthy tenure on the Supreme Court.

 

According to the Smithsonian, Ginsburg’s items (some of which are pictured below in 2010) will be given to the museum in a March 15 ceremony by the late justice’s children, Jane and James. They will also accept the Great Americans Medal on her behalf (The Hill).

 

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is photographed in her chambers

© Associated Press/Alex Brandon

 

The Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@thehill.com and aweaver@thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE! 
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23.) THE HILL 12:30 REPORT

 


24.) ROLL CALL

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25.) POLITICO PLAYBOOK

POLITICO Playbook: Censures inflame GOP tensions

Presented by

DRIVING THE DAY

HOT JOB: STACEY ABRAMS is advertising for a social media platforms director.

CENSUREY OVERLOAD — The fallout from the RNC’s weekend censure of Reps. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) and ADAM KINZINGER (R-Ill.) spread to Capitol Hill on Monday: Hill Republicans returned to town and lit into Chair RONNA MCDANIEL. Senate Republicans went on the record to say that looking back to 2020 is a losing strategy that won’t help the party flip both chambers of Congress.

And they’re furious that the RNC would dub the activities of Jan. 6 “legitimate political discourse.”

We’re not just talking here about an expected MITT ROMNEY rebuke — though the Utah Republican certainly called his niece’s decision “very unfortunate,” even “stupid.” The pushback extended from rank-and-file lawmakers all the way up to GOP leadership, as our Burgess Everett, Marianne LeVine and Olivia Beavers write:

— Senate Minority Whip JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican who might replace MITCH MCCONNELL as GOP leader some day: “The focus right now needs to be forward, not backward. If we want to get our majorities in the fall, it’s better to turn our fire on Democrats, not each other.”

— Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas), another potential McConnell successor: “They did say in their resolution that the job was to win elections. I agree with that, but then they go on to engage in actions that make that more challenging.”

Even Trump ally Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) was mad enough to call McDaniel and personally express his disappointment that the RNC was moving “in the wrong direction” as the chamber’s fate hangs in the balance. “All of us up here want to talk about forward not backward,” he said.

And NRSC Chair RICK SCOTT (R-Fla.), who has aligned himself closely with DONALD TRUMP, distanced himself from the “legitimate political discourse” language. “That’s a decision that members of the RNC get to make,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju. “I think what happened on Jan. 6 was wrong.” (Late Monday night, Scott defended McDaniel more generally on Twitter.)

SO WHAT NOW? Privately, many Hill Republicans hope the RNC will learn a lesson from the episode. The controversy is why House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY didn’t want to kick Cheney and Kinzinger out of the House GOP Conference: He worried it would become a major distraction from issues Republicans want to focus on, such as inflation and the border. Indeed, the RNC’s discussions about midterm strategy last weekend were drowned out by the censure drama.

Defenders of the RNC say the Senate GOP should stop clutching their pearls. Obviously this is Trump’s party, they argue. And if the RNC members want to go this way, McDaniel had no choice but to do what her members wanted.

McConnell plans to publicly address the censure today. The GOP leader has been something of a broken record in trying to tell his party to focus on the future, not the past — so you can imagine what he’ll say.

Don’t expect similar public rebukes from House GOP members. McCarthy has long instructed his caucus to deflect or not answer reporters’ questions about the latest Trump outrage and internal party divisions — and keep the blunt words for private discussions.

Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael BadeEugene DanielsRyan Lizza.

LANDER RESIGNS — Well, that was fast. Less than 24 hours after our colleague Alex Thompson reported that an internal White House investigation found that top White House science adviser ERIC LANDER bullied and mistreated his subordinates, Lander resigned.

“I am devastated that I caused hurt to past and present colleagues by the way in which I have spoken to them,” he wrote in his resignation letter.

Lander, whose position is Cabinet-level, is the highest-level official to resign from the Biden administration. The White House investigation of his conduct ended in December. Yet despite President JOE BIDEN’s own stated zero-tolerance policy for workplace bullying, the White House initially signaled Lander was going to stick around after the story was published.

But the situation was quickly becoming untenable. The American Association for the Advancement of Science disinvited Lander from its annual meeting. He canceled a previously scheduled appearance to testify before a congressional committee today.

And press secretary JEN PSAKI was grilled at her briefing about why Lander was allowed to keep his job.

Behind the scenes, senior staff at OSTP were struggling with how to move forward after the news of the internal White House investigation and litany of complaints from fellow staffers became public.

Alex got his hands on a recording of a Monday morning meeting with senior OSTP officials and the office’s chief of staff, MARC AIDINOFF, who kicked off the meeting by addressing the POLITICO article. “I really struggle with what to say here. … There were some things in the article that were surprises to me, and some that, you know, weren’t.”

“I think one of the many, many troubling pieces is, is the way in which … the current work culture at OSTP prevents the work from happening,” he added. “I don’t want there to be any sense that that the behavior of the staff talking to reporters when things [come] to a boiling point is the problem or that, you know, there’s anger from me in any way towards those who sort of felt this got to the point that talking to the press was the appropriate next step.”

Said another official on the call: “I think it’s also going to be an issue … with regard to how does this reconcile with President Biden’s commitment to like, not tolerate bad behavior or demeaning behavior?”

BIDEN’S TUESDAY:

— 10:15 a.m.: The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President’s Daily Brief.

— Noon: Biden and Harris will have lunch together.

— 1:45 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks on manufacturing, union jobs and energy costs with Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG and Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM.

— 2:45 p.m.: Biden and Harris will receive the weekly economic briefing.

Psaki will brief at 2 p.m.

THE SENATE will meet at 10 a.m. to take up DOUGLAS BUSH’s nomination to be an assistant Army secretary. At 11:45 a.m., the Senate will vote on JOHN HOWARD’s and LOREN ALIKHAN’s judicial nominations. The chamber will recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., and at 2:30 p.m. vote on the nominations of AMY GUTMANN to be U.S. ambassador to Germany and LISA CARTY to be U.S. representative on the U.N. Economic and Social Council. Surgeon General VIVEK MURTHY will testify before the Finance Committee on youth mental health at 10 a.m. The Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on several nominations, including DEBORAH LIPSTADT as special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, at 10 a.m.

THE HOUSE will meet at 10 a.m.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PLAYBOOK READS

CONGRESS

WHAT SUNRISE IS READING — E&E News’ Scott Waldman has a thorough look at how Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) has used his political power for decades to protect the interests of his family’s waste coal company — from killing Build Back Better on back. “There is no indication that Manchin has broken any laws,” Scott writes, and Manchin has indicated support for the $500 billion the administration wants to spend on climate. But “he has pushed measures to promote the coal that Enersystems removes from abandoned mines, nominated officials who helped ensure that the power plant that buys most of that company’s coal did not close, and waged political battles against environmental regulations that threatened the same plant.”

THE THREAT WITHIN — The House inspector general in a December draft report recommended that the chamber roll out a “program aimed at identifying and deterring internal threats, including through ‘behavioral monitoring,’” Betsy Woodruff Swan reports. Such an “insider threat” program could prove controversial: “Everything you told me about that report, I will stand at the top of my lungs and fight against,” Rep. KELLY ARMSTRONG (R-N.D.) said. But the House sergeant-at-arms said he doesn’t plan to start any new surveillance and monitoring.

KICKING DOWN THE ROAD … AGAIN — House Appropriations Chair ROSA DELAURO (D-Conn.) “unveiled compromise legislation Monday that would keep the government functioning through March 11 and give lawmakers more time to finish overdue spending bills for this year,” AP’s Alan Fram reports. “Congressional approval in the coming days, which was expected, would avert a federal shutdown when temporary funding expires the night of Feb. 18. A House vote was planned for Tuesday, while the Senate’s schedule was unclear.”

JUDICIARY SQUARE

REDISTRICTING LATEST — The Supreme Court on Monday voted 5-4 to keep the “congressional map drawn by Alabama Republicans in place, freezing a lower court ruling that said the map likely violates the Voting Rights Act,” CNN’s Ariane de Vogue reports. “The lower court had ordered a new map to be drawn, which could have led to Democrats gaining another seat in the House in the fall. Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS joined the three liberal justices in dissent. … The court’s order, the first dealing with the 2022 elections, means that the map will be used for the state’s upcoming primary, and likely be in place for the entire election cycle, while the legal challenge plays out.”

ALL POLITICS

VANCE IN TROUBLE — A super PAC supporting Ohio GOP Senate candidate J.D. VANCE said his campaign “needs a course correction ASAP,” our Alex Isenstadt reports. “A 98-page PowerPoint presentation produced by TONY FABRIZIO, who has been polling for the pro-Vance Protect Ohio Values super PAC since last year, paints a dire picture of the candidate’s prospects. According to the slide deck, Vance has seen a ‘precipitous decline’ in Ohio’s GOP Senate primary since last fall, when a pair of outside groups backing a rival began a multimillion-dollar TV advertising blitz using five-year-old footage of Vance attacking former President Donald Trump.”

PULLING BACK THE CURTAIN — ERIK PRINCE helped raise money in 2018 for RICHARD SEDDON’s effort to place undercover spies among progressives and anti-Trump Republicans, NYT’s Mark Mazzetti and Adam Goldman reveal this morning. The involvement of the military contractor (and BETSY DEVOS’ brother) is among their new details about Seddon’s operation, including its focus on Wyoming Gov. MARK GORDON and the prospect that it broke federal campaign finance laws by making “straw man donations” to Democrats.

THE PANDEMIC

A COVID CHANGE-UP — Sources tell our Erin Banco that the Biden administration is looking at changing the country’s hospitalization figures so it can get a better sense of the actual impact of the virus. “A task force comprised of scientists and data specialists at HHS and CDC are working with hospitals nationwide to improve Covid-19 reporting. The group is asking hospitals to report numbers of patients who go to the facility because they have Covid-19 and separate those from individuals who go in for other reasons and test positive after being admitted.”

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

RUSSIA LATEST — Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN said “he was prepared to keep negotiating over Russia’s security demands in Eastern Europe but offered a stark warning over the possibility of a full-scale war between Russia and the West — using a five-hour meeting with French President EMMANUEL MACRON to keep the world guessing about his intentions,” NYT’s Anton Troianovski, Roger Cohen and Katie Rogers write. “Mr. Putin said that proposals made by Macron of France in their one-on-one meeting at the Kremlin were ‘too early to speak about’ but could create ‘a foundation for our further steps.’

“Mr. Macron, in a joint news conference with Mr. Putin after their hastily scheduled meeting, described the coming days as potentially decisive in heading off what the West fears could be a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

PIPELINE POLITICS — Following talks with German Chancellor OLAF SCHOLZ on Monday, Biden said the U.S. would “‘bring an end’ to the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine,” NBC’s Lauren Egan writes. “When pressed for details on how he would keep that promise given that the pipeline is not under U.S. control, Biden did not elaborate. Scholz, meanwhile, declined to take a firm stance on the fate of Nord Stream 2, telling reporters that Germany was ‘acting together’ with its allies and promising ‘very, very harsh’ steps against Russia if it invades Ukraine.”

PULLOUT FALLOUT — WaPo’s Dan Lamothe and Alex Horton obtained a 2,000-page Army investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the most thorough accounting yet of the evacuation effort. The top takeaways: “Senior White House and State Department officials failed to grasp the Taliban’s steady advance on Afghanistan’s capital and resisted efforts by U.S. military leaders to prepare the evacuation of embassy personnel and Afghan allies weeks before Kabul’s fall, placing American troops ordered to carry out the withdrawal in greater danger.”

PLAYBOOKERS

Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin met Monday at … a humongous white table.

Eric Adams called those who question why he eats fish, after saying he eats a plant-based diet, “the food police.” Perhaps one police force the mayor might be willing to defund.

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade knocked Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, asking the former president to “stop wasting our time with that.”

Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire, is stepping down from the board of Facebook parent company Meta in order to focus on electing Trump-supporting candidates in the midterms.

Andrew Yang apologized after getting blowback for “wrong-headed” tweets saying Joe Rogan isn’t racist because he “works with Black people literally all of the time.”

Rumble, the Canadian-based video platform, has offered Rogan a four-year, $100 million contract to leave Spotify.

Donald Trump is making tens of millions of dollars from his coffee table book, according to CNN.

SPOTTED: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao celebrating their anniversary on Sunday night at Capital Grille.

MEDIA MOVE — Alex Wagner is returning to MSNBC as a senior political analyst and guest anchor.

STAFFING UP — William Pratt is now a policy adviser for the Treasury Department. He previously was a legislative aide for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

TRANSITIONS — Suzi Emmerling has joined Boundary Stone as an SVP, where she will lead a team focused on climate, clean energy, commercial space and transportation sectors. She previously was COO for Eli Broad, and is a CAP, DOT and Eric Garcetti alum. … Michael Mosier is now a senior adviser to Oliver Wyman’s anti-financial crime and digital assets practices. He most recently was acting director and permanent deputy director/digital innovation officer) of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. …

… Darci Vetter is joining the Nature Conservancy as global lead for policy and government relations. She previously was a diplomat in residence at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, and is a USTR and USDA alum. … Jess Meeth is now candidate outreach director for Democrats for Life of America. She previously worked for Let Them Live. … Yie-Hsin Hung will be chair of the Investment Company Institute’s board. She currently is CEO of New York Life Investment Management.

WEEKEND WEDDING — Caroline Kitchens, government affairs director for the R Street Institute, and Dion Mitchell, national sales manager at Upper Quadrant, got married Saturday at Raspberry Plain Manor in Leesburg, Va. The couple met on a dating app in 2017 and had their first date at Meridian Pint in Columbia Heights. Pic … Another pic

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Julie Devine, legislative director for Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), and Jack Devine, owner of Tally Ho Productions, welcomed Nancy Violet Devine on Friday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and John Joyce (R-Pa.) … Amos Snead … Vox’s Zack Beauchamp … Will Levi … Caitlin Webber … Hudson Institute’s John Walters, Michael Pillsbury and Sarah May Stern … Mark Corallo … Heather Zichal … Scott Bennett … Amazon Web Services’ Matthew Haskins … Brian Katulis … Stephanie Cherry … Elliott Schwartz … Sarah Anne Voyles … USAID’s Adam Kaplan (4-0) … John Kartch … Tony Baker … Hilary Badger … Nicole Dicocco … Marlene Cooper Vasilic … Billy Flanagan … Joe Briggs … Ben Stevens of Summit Strategies … Dy Brown … Julie Gunlock … Mansie Hough … Jenny Thalheimer Rosenberg … Denise Diminuco … Bill Ruch … former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson (6-0) … Ted Koppel … POLITICO Europe’s Arnau Busquets Guàrdia

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26.) AMERICAN MINUTE

 


27.) CAFFEINATED THOUGHTS

 


28.) CONSERVATIVE DAILY NEWS

 


29.) PJ MEDIA

 


30.) WHITE HOUSE DOSSIER

 


31.) THE DISPATCH

The Dispatch


32.) LEGAL INSURRECTION

 


33.) THE DAILY WIRE

 


34.) DESERET NEWS

 


35.) BRIGHT

 


36.) AMERICAN THINKER

 


37.) LARRY J. SABATO’S CRYSTAL BALL

 


38.) THE BLAZE

 


39.) THE FEDERALIST

 


40.) REUTERS

 


41.) NOQ REPORT

 


42.) ARRA NEWS SERVICE

 


43.) REDSTATE

 


44.) WORLD NET DAILY

Revealed: The No. 1 killer of Americans ages 18-48
Posted by Bob Unruh
A lawmaker calls it a ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction.’ Here’s the lethal cause that’s killing Americans. Read more…
Related
You won’t believe Stacey Abrams’ excuse for making everyone but herself mask up
Posted by Art Moore
While charges of hypocrisy run wild, the Democratic candidate for governor has come up with this gem of an excuse. Read more…
Related
You won’t believe Stacey Abrams’ excuse for making everyone but herself mask up
Posted by Art Moore
While charges of hypocrisy run wild, the Democratic candidate for governor has come up with this gem of an excuse. Read more…
Related
U.S. military sees massive jump in injuries possibly tied to vaccines, and Pentagon comes up with pathetic excuse
Posted by Art Moore
Members of the U.S. Armed Forces are experiencing a dangerous rise in injuries possibly related to COVID vaccines. And you won’t believe the lunacy the Pentagon is claiming. Read more…
Related
Truckers’ anti-vaccine-mandate convoy hits high gear, now being replicated
Posted by Bob Unruh
The Freedom Convoy continues to gain momentum despite the government’s efforts to slam on the brakes: ‘The people have spoken.’ Read more…
Related
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45.) MSNBC

 


46.) BIZPAC REVIEW

 


47.) ABC

February 8, 2022 – Having trouble viewing this email? Open it in your browser.
Morning Rundown
No-knock warrants in Minnesota under scrutiny after fatal police shooting: A Minneapolis city council committee held a hearing on no-knock warrants Monday afternoon following the death of 22-year-old Amir Locke, an aspiring hip-hop artist who was fatally shot in an apartment by Minneapolis police officer Mark Hanneman on Wednesday during the execution of a no-knock warrant. Hanneman has since been placed on administrative leave. In response to Locke’s death, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey issued a moratorium late Friday on no-knock warrants. During Monday’s hearing, law enforcement and criminal justice experts as well as activists and attorneys for the Locke family offered research and perspective on the impact and harm of no-knock warrants to the city council. A no-knock warrant allows the police to enter someone’s home without knocking, sometimes without announcing their presence. If authorized by a judge, officers are also allowed to enter during a time period beyond when search warrants typically allow. While Frey said he will talk with experts who helped shape Breonna’s Law to review and suggest revisions to the department’s policy, civil rights attorney Ben Crump called Locke’s death an “epic failure of policy.” Locke’s killing prompted protests with hundreds of demonstrators marching to the police precinct on Saturday.
School mask mandates to end in New Jersey, Connecticut as debate over kids and masks heightens: As new cases of COVID-19 decline across the country for the first time in weeks, state leaders in New Jersey and Connecticut announced Monday that requirements for masks in schools will end as soon as this month. In a tweet, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who has imposed some of the strictest pandemic-related mandates in the U.S., said that the mask requirement will end March 7 because of “declining COVID numbers and growth in vaccinations.” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont also announced Monday he is dropping the statewide mandate of masks in schools beginning on Feb. 28. The announcements follow a decision last month by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to rescind his state’s mask mandate for schools. But in an attempt to return to some semblance of normalcy, experts say it is too soon to end mask mandates because vaccination rates are not high enough yet among the school-age population and new cases are still being reported.
Vincent Zhou out of Olympic men’s figure skating event after 2nd positive COVID-19 test: Team USA figure skater Vincent Zhou has withdrawn from Tuesday’s individual competition after testing positive for COVID-19 for a second time. The 21-year-old shared the news about the second positive result on Instagram Monday morning. “This absolutely does not define me as an athlete, as a person,” Zhou said. “I am more than just another positive COVID test.” On Sunday night, U.S. Figure Skating announced that Zhou had tested positive for the virus amid a regular screening. Had he tested negative Monday, he would have been allowed to compete in the men’s short program, which begins Tuesday. Zhou said he’s done everything in his power to stay free of the virus since the start of the pandemic and has isolated himself so much in recent months that the loneliness has been crushing at times. Despite withdrawing from the competition, Zhou said he was proud of his achievements.
Parents name baby boy after doctor who treated mom for COVID-19: A couple in Texas paid the ultimate tribute to a doctor who went above and beyond to help their family last year. Diana Crouch, 28, and Chris Crouch, 37, welcomed a baby boy last November and named him Cameron after one of Diana’s doctors, Dr. Cameron Dezfulian, the medical director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease, ICU unit at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, who helped save both Diana and Cameron’s lives. Diana was admitted to Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women in August, after contracting COVID-19. She was placed on a ventilator, and when that didn’t improve her condition, doctors placed her on ECMO for eight weeks. During that time, she experienced multiple complications, including blood clotting. When Diana’s condition “plateaued,” Dezfulian decided a C-section would help her and her baby. Diana’s son was born nearly a month before his due date, but despite the circumstances, Dezfulian called the baby’s birth “miraculous,” saying he “felt like God was helping [them].” Diana, who was discharged on Dec. 23, said she doesn’t remember much of what happened in the hospital but is grateful to be back home. “I just cherish every moment,” she said.
GMA Must-Watch
This morning on “GMA,” the nominees of the 94th Academy Awards will be revealed! Don’t miss these Oscar moments, with commentary from our own Chris Connelly and Variety’s Elizabeth Wagmeister, only on “GMA.”
I survived a heart attack at age 30: Here’s what women should know
Megan Corbin said she did not know the symptoms she experienced were signs of a heart attack.
Put some good in your morning
PHOTO: CozyEarth This Week from 40 Boxes: Deals on self-care
PHOTO: Jade Carey performs in Corvallis, Ore. Feb. 5, 2022; Sunisa Lee salutes during a gymnastics event in Baton Rouge, La.|Grace McCallum performs in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, July 27, 2021; Jordan Chiles is pictured in Los Angeles, Jan. 30, 2022. 4 Olympic gymnasts score perfect 10s in weekend of college competitions
VIDEO: Dad shares heartfelt dance with daughter while watching 'Beauty and the Beast' Dad shares heartfelt dance with daughter while watching ‘Beauty and the Beast’
PHOTO: Homemade pizza toast with ricotta and mozzarella on sliced focaccia. How to make Hailey Bieber’s TikTok pizza toast
Read more →
How restaurants, delivery apps continue support of Black-owned businesses
Yelp and Postmates are among the brands helping highlight Black businesses.

48.) NBC MORNING RUNDOWN

 


49.) NBC FIRST READ

 


50.) CBS

 


51.) REASON

 


52.) MANHATTAN INSTITUTE

 


53.) LOUDER WITH CROWDER

 


54.) TOWNHALL

 


55.) REALCLEARPOLITICS MORNING NOTE

 


56.) REALCLEARPOLITICS TODAY

 


57.) CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY

 


58.) BERNARD GOLDBERG

 


59.) SARA A. CARTER

 


60.) TWITCHY

 


61.) HOT AIR

 


62.) 1440 DAILY DIGEST

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Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Feb. 8, and we’re covering an appearance by Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, a breakthrough spinal surgery, and much more. Have feedback? Let us know at hello@join1440.com.
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NEED TO KNOW

Warner Bros. Lawsuit

Warner Bros. has been sued for releasing “The Matrix Resurrections” simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters. The suit filed in a Los Angeles court yesterday by the movie’s coproducer, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, alleges the same-day release breached the contract and cut into box office ticket sales.
“The Matrix Resurrections” grossed about $37M domestically and $153M worldwide—a fraction of the revenues the original trilogy garnered. Because the ticket sales were lower than expected, Village Roadshow argued it could lose the rights to the film as it can’t fulfill contractual payments to Warner Bros.
This isn’t the first time a movie studio has been sued over simultaneous releases. Last year, actress Scarlett Johansson settled a lawsuit with Disney, after alleging her contract for “Black Widow” was breached when the film was released on Disney+ and in theaters at the same time, costing her millions of dollars in performance bonuses.

Peng Shuai Speaks

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai announced her retirement and called her former allegations of sexual assault a misunderstanding during an interview with French newspaper L’Équipe. The interview marked the second time she has retracted her earlier comments, and the first time with Western media. It was delivered in front of a Chinese Olympic official, who acted as a translator. The questions were received in advance, and her answers were printed verbatim.

 

Peng disappeared from public view in November after accusing former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault in a now-deleted social media post. Her disappearance raised international concern about her well-being and Chinese censorship. The 36-year-old Peng reemerged weeks later, claiming she was safe and denying having made the allegations.

 

Separately, the tennis star will attend several events at the ongoing Olympics after meeting with IOC president Thomas Bach. See updated medal count from the Games here.

Spinal Implant Breakthrough

A British man who had his spinal cord severed following a vehicle accident five years ago has regained the ability to walk due to a groundbreaking new implant, researchers reported yesterday. It marks the first time a patient with such an injury—which involves loss of motor and sensory function—has recuperated to the point where they may walk. Two other patients saw similar results.

 

In addition to vertebrae, the spinal column includes a large number of nerve fibers that communicate signals between the brain and the rest of the body (see more). A complete break in the spine effectively cuts communication across large parts of the central nervous system. The prototype device connects to patients’ severed nerve endings, transmitting and amplifying the signal from the brain.

 

Scientists said the next step toward widespread adoption is longer-term trials that monitor the device’s effect on wider body function, including blood pressure.

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

In partnership with The Ascent
> Spotify CEO Daniel Ek apologizes to staff in wake of Joe Rogan controversy; Spotify has removed over 100 episodes of Rogan’s podcast (More)

 

> The Netherlands’ Ireen Wüst wins women’s 1500 meters speedskating event, becomes first person to win individual gold medals at five straight Olympics (More)

 

> The 2022 Academy Award nominations to be revealed this morning (8:30 am ET, ABC); see predictions for each category (More) | Lionsgate to distribute upcoming Michael Jackson biopic (More)

From our partners: A reward-seeker’s dream card has hit the market. This cash back card offers 2% cash rewards on purchases and a generous sign-up bonus. The Ascent’s independent team of experts is calling it one of the best all-around cards. Learn more today.

Science & Technology

> Eric Lander, the former founding director of the MIT-Harvard Broad Institute, resigns as head of Biden administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy over allegations of workplace abuse (More)

 

> Scientists show first use of gelatin and sugar to 3D print biodegradable materials for use in soft robots (More)

 

> Engineers demonstrate a traditional silicon-based computer chip capable of integrating with a quantum-based chip (More) | What are qubits? (More)

Business & Markets

> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.4%, Dow 0.0%, Nasdaq -0.6%) in another choppy trading session (More) | Shares of Tyson Foods up over 10% to all-time high as company nearly doubles quarterly profits as meat prices soar (More)

 

> Discount airline Frontier to acquire Spirit Airlines in $2.9B cash and stock deal, which will create fifth-largest US carrier (More)

 

> Investor Peter Thiel to step down from Meta (Facebook) board to spend more time on politics (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> New Jersey, three other states to end mask mandates in schools by March 7 as omicron-fueled COVID-19 surge subsides (More) | See current US COVID-19 stats here (More)

 

> President Joe Biden threatens Germany’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which import gas from Russia, if Russia were to invade Ukraine (More) | Background on the project (More)

 

> US officials identify Navy SEAL candidate who died during training as 24-year-old seaman Kyle Mullen; a second sailor is reportedly hospitalized in stable condition (More)

IN-DEPTH

The Search for Shackleton

NYT | Henry Fountain. A 64-person expedition team departed Saturday from Cape Town, South Africa, headed to Antarctica to search for the remains of the Endurance, a vessel locked in an ice pack more than a century ago. (Read, paywall)

The Book Thief 

New Republic | Alex Shepard. Arrested by the FBI earlier this year, Filippo Bernardini carried out one of the most brazen cases of intellectual property theft in the history of publishing. (Read)

SHOES FOR ALL WINTERS

In partnership with CARIUMA

This winter, the 1440 team is learning something important: February in the Midwest and New England looks a little different from February in Florida.

But CARIUMA has shoes for our whole team to sport this winter. Find yourself in Chicago-like climates where every day is a frostbite risk? Check out the OCA Therma or CATURI shoes: They’re winterproofed, 100% vegan, and crafted for total warmth (so cozy, even the insoles are lined). Enjoying your winter with shorts and a tank top in Fort Lauderdale? The OCA shoes have a massive 34,000+ waitlist, and you’ll see why: classic, good-looking and ultra-comfy, right out of the box. Regardless of where you are, today you can enjoy a 1440 exclusive discount: 15% off your pair, for a limited time!

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ETCETERA

The best photos from the Winter Olympics (so far).

 

Scottish mansion receives rain-protecting chainmail armor.

 

Ben Affleck lands a Razzie nomination (and see everyone else).

 

How to act like Christopher Walken. (paywall, NYT)

 

A visual breakdown of bubble tea.

 

Researchers unveil insect-sized flying microrobots.

 

Build-a-Bear introduces an “after dark” collection.

 

A Hogwarts clone is for sale.

 

Clickbait: When your slot machine malfunctions.

 

Historybook: Author Jules Verne born (1828); Boy Scouts of America is founded (1910); Hollywood legend Lana Turner born (1921); Actor James Dean born (1931); Nasdaq stock market index opens (1971).

“Gratification comes in the doing, not in the results.”

– James Dean
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63.) AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

 


64.) NATIONAL REVIEW

 


65.) POLITICAL WIRE

 


66.) RASMUSSEN REPORTS

 


67.) ZEROHEDGE

 


68.) GATEWAY PUNDIT

 


69.) FRONTPAGE MAG

 


70.) HOOVER INSTITUTE

 


71.) DAILY INTELLIGENCE BRIEF

 


72.) FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION

 


73.) POPULIST PRESS

Cancel culture LOST again with an epic backfire

IN DEPTH… 

  1. The Need for Efficient Defense Spending  2 hours ago
  2. Air Force Vax Religious Exemption Shock  2 hours ago
  3. Delaware to Lift School Mask Mandates  4 hours ago
  4. Facebook & Instagram pull out of Europe?  4 hours ago
  5. Olympians Blast Beijing’s Quarantine Hotels  4 hours ago
  6. Trump Reveals Plan if President Again  4 hours ago
  7. NJ to End School Mask Mandates  New
  8. Brian Stelter: CNN’s critics are fake news  New
  9. Banned RI Doctor Sues State over non-vax  1 hour ago
  10. Car ramming suspect ID’d as Antifa member  2 hours ago
  11. Biden to host GE Chancellor to WH re Ukraine  2 hours ago
  12. Biden Admin Crack Pipe Funding  2 hours ago
  13. Rubio: J6 Comm Total ‘Scam’  3 hours ago
  14. Pentagon Previews New Tech Strategy  3 hours ago
  15. Biden’s Russia policy is crap  3 hours ago
  16. Abrams Campaign on Maskless Photo  3 hours ago
  17. Coast Guard & Cyber-Attack Prevention  3 hours ago
  18. Navy 3D printing for submarine parts  3 hours ago
  19. Air Force backs Valkyrie’s eVTOL  3 hours ago
  20. NJ to drop school mask mandate  3 hours ago
  21. WH: Russian attack imminent  3 hours ago
  22. Maher Lights up Biden, Dems on COVID  3 hours ago
  23. Troop Deployment to Belarus Revealed  3 hours ago
  24. Manchin endorses Murkowski  3 hours ago
  25. Macron Unveils ‘Forum of Islam’  3 hours ago
  26. U.N. Warns NK Still Driving Nukes  3 hours ago
  27. Frontier is buying Spirit  3 hours ago
  28. It IS Russia and it IS NOT a Hoax!  3 hours ago
  29. 3x Threat to Freedom of Speech  3 hours ago
  30. Agencies Funding EcoHealth Animal Viruses?  3 hours ago
  31. America Needs Course Correction  3 hours ago
  32. Trump: ‘Phony Redistricting’ Creams GOP  3 hours ago
  33. Spotify CEO CAVES to the Woke  3 hours ago
  34. OR gov candidate supported rioters  3 hours ago
  35. US figure skater representing China Slammed  3 hours ago
  36. Olympic Athletes ‘Self-Censoring’ for China Endorsements  3 hours ago
  37. Coach: China of Violating Human Rights with Isolation  3 hours ago
  38. IL court nixes school mask mandate  3 hours ago
  39. TX power grid holds up in first freeze  3 hours ago
  40. Ex-NBA Attacks Airport Emps over Mask  4 hours ago
  41. WSJ: JetBlue Worst Airline of 2021  4 hours ago
  42. WH: No quick fix for chip shortage  4 hours ago
  43. Green Pelosi spent $500K on private jets  4 hours ago
  44. GOP stirs to impeach Biden over border  4 hours ago
  45. Biden’s Plan to Regulate Bitcoin is a TERRIBLE Idea  4 hours ago
  46. Memphis BLM founder convicted of voting illegally  4 hours ago
  47. Big cities debt up despite COVID-relief  4 hours ago
  48. China Olympics ratings DISASTER  4 hours ago
  49. Blinken’s Stain on Albania for Soros  4 hours ago
  50. Abrams roasted for posing maskless w kids  4 hours ago
  51. NYT praises China’s handling of COVID  4 hours ago
  52. Andrew Cuomo Plans Comeback…  4 hours ago
  53. Canada protests gain steam  4 hours ago
  54. Rogan addresses use of N‑word  4 hours ago
  55. Video…  4 hours ago
  56. ‘Planet of the Apes’…  4 hours ago
  57. Video…  4 hours ago
  58. The Rock Backtracks Support…  4 hours ago
  59. SPOTIFY CEO: HE STAYS…  4 hours ago
  60. Singer India Arie: Take me off!  4 hours ago
  61. Millennials choose friends as sperm donors  4 hours ago
  62. Chinese Dr who warned of virus remembered  4 hours ago
  63. Scientists admit mistakes…  4 hours ago
  64. WORLD SICK MAP…  4 hours ago
  65. Stelter: CNN “Not Going Anywhere’  4 hours ago
  66. Auletta: I Would Be Nervous…  4 hours ago

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74.) THE POST MILLENNIAL

 


75.) BLACKLISTED NEWS

 


76.) THE DAILY DOT

 


77.) HEADLINE USA

 


78.) NATURAL NEWS

NaturalNews.com
Biden regime to fabricate war with Russia in order to terrorize the American people
Mike Adams In acts of absurd desperation, we now see the White House and deep state propaganda rag mouthpiece publishers (WashPost, NYT, CNN, etc.) pushing aggressively to start a war with Russia.

Creating a “greater emergency” (i.e. international war) will allow the Biden regime to further terrorize the America people in all sorts malicious ways. In also creates a cover story for Biden’s disastrous economic failures that are already plunging millions of Americans into food scarcity, joblessness and homelessness.

With an outbreak of (engineered) war with Russia, Biden’s handlers could probably manage to declare a domestic state of emergency and roll out martial law across the USA as a “wartime” police state action.

From there, they plan to attempt nationwide gun confiscation, economic collapse and the total destruction of US military readiness in anticipation of enabling a communist China invasion of the USA.

Get full details in today’s feature story and podcast here.

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Situation Update, Feb 7th, 2022 – Biden regime to fabricate war with Russia in order to terrorize the American peopleWatch this video
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12 European countries roll back covid restrictions, Israel scraps “green pass”By Ethan Huff | Read the full story
FDA used “critically flawed” risk-benefit analysis to approve covid “vaccines” for childrenBy Ethan Huff | Read the full story
Sponsor: Red miso powder is packed with highly bioavailable nutrients that support healthy digestive and immune functions.
The 5 most toxic vaccines ever invented and how they maim and kill humansBy S.D. Wells | Read the full story
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Maintain optimal oral health with colloidal silver, iodine, zinc, essential oils and moreHealth Ranger Select Colloidal Silver Mouthwash and Gargle (with Iodine and Zinc) harnesses the potent cleansing properties of colloidal silver, iodine, zinc and a host of other oral health-supporting ingredients to help you maintain great dental health and hygiene. Available in a refreshing peppermint flavor, our one-of-a-kind mouthwash formula is lab-verified to have a minimum of 20 ppm nanoscale silver particles and is lab tested for glyphosate, heavy metals and microbiology. It also contains no fluoride, aspartame or alcohol.

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More of Today’s ArticlesGlobal food prices climb to record highs thanks to “fallout from energy prices” amid skyrocketing oil
While the overwhelming majority of Americans favor clean air and water, they also want affordable food and energy prices, but thanks to a series of bad policy decisions on the part of U.S. and …Loudon County elementary school principal threatens to arrest children who don’t wear masks, subject them to prosecution with up to one year in jail
Assistant Principal Janet Davidson of Creighton’s Corner Elementary School in Ashburn, Va., is threatening to imprison any student who dares to show up at school without a face mask. A …Chinese authorities physically drag away Dutch reporter doing live broadcast in viral video
Why any democracy would participate in any event hosted by China, especially the Olympic Games, is beyond comprehension, given the country’s abysmal human rights history and Communist …

Fully vaccinated individuals make up majority of covid cases and hospitalizations in NSW
Vaccinated individuals now make up the majority of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and deaths in New South Wales. The Australian state’s latest COVID surveillance report showed record …

Marine life is thriving on the Antarctic seafloor, even after being trapped under the ice for 50 years
Researchers have discovered that the Antarctic seabed is teeming an abudnant  community of sea creatures. The marine organisms – trapped under the ice for five decades – came to light after an iceberg …

Russia plans to install nuclear-powered observatory on its future moon base
Russian space agency Roscosmos is planning to set up an observatory on its future moon base to help spot Earth-threatening asteroids. The agency’s Executive Director for Science and …

Compound in magic mushrooms found to work magic on depression symptoms
The compound psilocybin found in so-called “magic mushrooms” is well known for its hallucinogenic properties. However, a new study has suggested its efficacy in addressing symptoms of …

Autonomous vehicles to stop, roll down windows and unlock doors for law enforcement
Autonomous vehicles are slowly becoming a reality with new developments being announced in the sector. However, these driverless vehicles pose a new set of problems for law enforcement. To …

Ice cores from top-secret Army base reveal Greenland was largely ice-free millions of years ago
A new study published in the journal PNAS suggests that Greenland might have been largely…

Dept of Defense buries data on vaccine injuries to keep murdering soldiers
Mike Adams Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wisc.) recent hearing exposing Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) “vaccines” resulted in so much truth coming out that both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DoD) are now scrambling to cover up as much incriminating data as they can.

Dr. Robert Malone continues to blow the whistle about the DoD’s coverup actions, which aim to protect corrupt government officials who are complicit in the scam. Malone has also spoken out about how the United States military’s jab mandate is illegal (as are all other mandates).

We’ve got the full story here.

New Videos from Brighteon.com
Reiner Füllmich: Grand Jury Case Overview and List of Expert Witnesses – (Feb 5, 2022)Watch this video
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Pfizer admits in confidential document that covid-19 vaccine causes Vaccine-Associated Enhanced Disease (same thing as Antibody Dependent Enhancement)By Arsenio Toledo | Read the full story
49-year-old U.S. senator who suffered tragic stroke was fully vaccinated and boostedBy Ethan Huff | Read the full story
Sponsor: Here’s why Organic Cashews and Almonds are the perfect healthy snack.
History is made: Top 6 Covid Corruption Whistleblowers of 2021 and 2022By S.D. Wells | Read the full story
Not just humans: Scientists say 5G radiation is killing animals and wildlifeBy Ethan Huff | Read the full story
Sponsor: Red miso powder is packed with highly bioavailable nutrients that support healthy digestive and immune functions.
Biden’s at-home covid test kits funded by blacklisted Chinese company that was praised for “obeying” communist officialsBy Ethan Huff | Read the full story
Sponsor: Discover the incredible health-supporting properties of ultra-clean Organic Goji Berries.
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More of Today’s ArticlesGreek soccer player dies of cardiac arrest while on the pitch… Is this another vaccine-related death?
A 21-year-old Greek soccer player died in the early stage of a match due to cardiac arrest. Alexandro Lampis’ death followed recent instances of soccer players worldwide, all believed to be …15 Addictive foods to avoid and how to deal with “addiction-like behavior”
Substances like alcohol and drugs are often associated with addiction, but certain foods can also cause addictive behavior. According to a study published in the journal PLOS One, foods full of …Israeli research: Vaccines don’t prevent serious covid-19, but Vitamin D does
Many people choose to get vaccinated against COVID-19 because health authorities insist they reduce a person’s risk of experiencing a more severe case of the virus. However, data from Israel …

Exposed: For decades, the CIA funded evil experiments on Danish orphans
Danish Radio recently aired a report about how scores of children in Denmark, many of them children, were subjected to CIA-funded experiments during the 1960s and 1970s. While the purpose of …

Home gardening tips: 17 Veggies you can grow in buckets
If you live in a small home or a cramped apartment, you don’t need to give up your dreams of having your own garden. You can start your journey to self-sufficiency by growing nutritious …

15 Ways to use spent coffee grounds on your homestead
Most people discard the grounds left after brewing coffee. But spent coffee grounds still have plenty of practical uses in your home and in the garden. They can even help spruce up your daily …

Pittsburgh bridge collapsed because leftist leaders diverted money for support beams to “woke” causes instead
Despite receiving hundreds of millions in stimulus funding from the federal government, the city of Pittsburgh is seeing bridges collapse because Democrat leadership spent the…

Biden and his war hawks clamor for war with Russia; Ukraine tells him to stop warmongering and calm down
The war hawks in the administration of President Joe Biden are trying to stoke tensions between Russia and Ukraine by claiming that a Russian invasion is imminent. Relations between Russia and …

American, European, Australian truckers gear up to follow anti-vaccine mandate strategy pursued by Canadian truckers
The Canadian truckers got the wheels rolling and their counterparts in the U.S., Europe, South Africa and Australia are gearing up for similar long protest drives against the Wuhan coronavirus …

Soaring fertilizer prices to spark global famines unseen in modern history
A modern-era crisis is looming with global prices for fertilizer tripling and food production dwindling. Articles about the twin issues have come out, but the corporate media in the United States …

Dr. Judy Mikovits tells Dr. Steve Hotze: Fauci is chief perpetrator of plagues of corruption – Brighteon.TV
Leading American scientist and author Dr. Judy Mikovits said that National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci is the chief perpetrator of “plagues of corruption.” …

Over 34,000 people trapped at Shanghai Disneyland after one person tested positive for covid-19
Thousands of visitors at Shanghai Disneyland got the shock of their lives Sunday night, Oct. 31, when they were locked inside the park to be tested for Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). The theme …

Astronomers find 1,000 mysterious filaments of radio energy blasting from center of Milky Way
Researchers using one of the world’s largest arrays of radio telescope have found thousands of mysterious strand-like structures while looking into the center of the Milky Way. These …

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and more: the health benefits of cinnamon
Other than being a popular cooking and baking ingredient, cinnamon has been known for its medicinal properties for thousands of years. The distinct smell and flavor of cinnamon are from its oils, …

“Pedo professor” from SUNY has lectured at U.S. Air Force, Army military academies
A State University of New York (SUNY) professor who has made disturbing remarks appearing to excuse and justify pedophilia has also taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy and at West Point, …

Lockdowns, school closures reduced covid mortality by just 0.2 percent at best, study finds
A meta-analysis put together by economists has revealed that all of the draconian Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions put into place in spring 2020 – including stay-at-home orders, …

House Republicans calling for ban on using taxpayer funds for implementing military vaccine mandate
A group of Republican House leaders is calling for a ban on the use of taxpayer funds to implement President Biden’s vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military. On Tuesday, …

NBC acting as shill and chief propagandist for Chinese Communist regime during Olympics broadcasts
It did not take long for the ‘American’ network broadcasting the Winter Olympics in Beijing to become little more than the latest propaganda outlet for the brutal, Chinese Communist …

Cyberattacks hit German oil companies and European oil port terminals
Less than a year after America’s biggest refined petroleum pipeline was the subject of one of the most harmful hacks ever seen in the oil market, Germany’s domestic fuel distribution system …

It turns out, having a healthy gut can make you “fear less”
A study led by Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City has shown that a healthy gut can make you “fear less” by extinguishing your fear memories. In an article published in the …

Hospitals intentionally inflating covid cases to collect financial incentives, whistleblower says
A whistleblower who works for the United Healthcare of Louisiana’s Inpatient Utilization Management Department revealed that Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) cases were being inflated for …

US factory orders plummeted in December due to inflation, shortages
The latest report from the Department of Commerce revealed that factory orders in American factories dropped by 0.4 percent in December. This is the largest month-to-month drop since April 2020. …

Paris likely to scrap vaccine passports before July, says French health minister
The health minister of France claimed that the government will likely scrap Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine passports before July. During a Feb. 2 interview with BFMTV, Health and Solidarity …

      
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79.) POLITICHICKS

 


80.) BLACKPRESSUSA

 


81.) FIRST RIGHT

Restoration PAC

February 8th, 2022

 


02/08/2022 05:04 CDT


GOP PLOTS TO IMPEACH BIDEN AFTER MID-TERMS; MORE PROBLEMS FOUND IN 2020 PENNSYLVANIA ELECTION


TODAY’S TOP TEN

GROWING SENTIMENT TO IMPEACH BIDEN IN 2023 OVER BORDER

GROWING NUMBER INSIDE GOP STIR to impeach Biden in 2023 over border crisis. Just the News.

WHISTLEBLOWER VIDEOS SHOW SYSTEMIC ISSUES with Pennsylvania elections. The Federalist.

ARIZONA STATE REPRESENTATIVE INTRODUCES resolution to decertify 2020 election in three counties: Maricopa, Pima, and Yuma. National File.

TRUCKERS ARE STARTING A WORKING CLASS revolution and the Left hates it. New York Post.

LEFTISTS OBAMA AND STACEY ABRAMS post maskless in front of masked workers, students. The Western Journal.

HOUSE MEMBER AND MARINE VETERAN Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin blasts military’s woke “diversity” agenda. Breitbart.

RUMBLE VIDEO PLATFORM OFFERS Joe Rogan $100 million to ditch Spotify. PJ Media.

ANDREW YANG DELETES TWEETS DEFENDING Joe Rogan after left-wing backlash, apologizes. Daily Wire.

“CLIMATE WARRIOR” NANCY PELOSI SPENT half a million dollars on private jets during 10-month period. Daily Caller.

ILLINOIS SCHOOL DISTRICT TEACHES GENDER and race propaganda to all lower grades. The Post Millennial.


The liberal media is dead to us. We need to circulate the real news among conservatives. Share First Right with a friend or sign them up!


COMMENTARY WORTH READING

  • More conservative politicians need to call out the liberal media and stop treating them as credible. Jordan Boyd.
  • The toxic absurdity of “diversity statements.” Rob Jenkins.
  • How “green energy” fantasies can amplify civil unrest. Chuck Devore.

VIDEO WORTH WATCHING


LATEST FIRST RIGHT PODCAST

  • An interview with conservative commentator Rachel Bovard. Rumble.

OFFBEAT BEAT

  • Iowa family receives postcard from great grandmother decades later. CBS 2 Chicago.

TWEETS OF NOTE

  • (@mtracey) Biden has repeatedly — as recently as December — falsely claimed that vaccinated people “do not spread” COVID. This is rejected even by the CDC. And yet Biden is not accused of “misinformation,” even though his falsehoods are vastly more severe than anything Joe Rogan has said Tweet.
  • (@RichardGrenell) Imagine being the Supreme Court nominee for Biden where your qualification is your skin color and gender. Black women should be furious that Biden doesn’t see them as actually qualified. Tweet.

MOST CLICKED ITEM YESTERDAY


BONGINO REPORT TOP HEADLINE AT TIME OF EMAIL

  • “An Appalling Capitulation to the Far-Left” – Biden Administration to Free Would-Be 9/11 Hijacker From Gitmo

BONGINO REPORT.


82.) CNN


83.) THE DAILY CALLER

 


84.) POWERLINE

 


85.) THE POLITICAL INSIDER – WAKE UP EDITION

 


86.) THE PATRIOT POST

 


87.) DECISION DESK HQ

 


88.) DIGG

 


89.) THE POLITICAL INSIDER – LUNCH BREAK

 


90.) CONSERVATIVE TRIBUNE

 


91.) USA TODAY

usatoday.com
Daily Briefing
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8
Workers wearing protective gear walk through the airport ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 1, 2022, in Beijing.
‘I cry every day’: Olympians slam Beijing quarantine hotels
European leaders continue Ukraine talks, Chloe Kim and Shaun White make their Olympic debuts and more to start your Tuesday.
Good morning, Daily Briefing readers! Olympic athletes who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 are speaking out about the conditions in quarantine hotels in China. The leaders of Germany, France and Poland will continue their efforts to resolve the crisis between Russia and Ukraine. And the Oscar nominations are nearly here! Who are you rooting for to get an all-important nod?
It’s Steve and Jane, with Tuesday’s news.
🏨 “I cry every day”: Olympic athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 described “inedible meals” and little or no access to training equipment in quarantine hotels in China.
🚨 Police in Richland, southeast Washington, are searching for a man they say opened fire inside a grocery store, killing one person and injuring another.
🧪 Dr. Eric Lander, a top White House scientist, announced he was resigning, hours after the administration faced repeated questions about why he hadn’t been fired over his treatment of coworkers.
⛸ Nathan Chen turned in a dazzling short program that put him ahead of the field heading into Thursday’s free skate. Tap here for live Olympics updates.
Nathan Chen set a world record with his stellar short program.
Nathan Chen set a world record with his stellar short program.
Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports
🔵 For years, researchers have been helping paralyzed people walk by stimulating their spinal cords. Now, a team of Swiss scientists has enabled three patients to turn on a device and take their first steps.
⚖️ Thirty potential jurors were selected for further questioning in the federal hate crimes trial against the three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery.
🌏 Federal health officials are warning Americans to avoid Japan, Israel and more than 130 other countries because of high counts of COVID-19 cases.
📺 What is the legacy of Hugh Hefner? The most appalling allegations (so far) in A&E’s docuseries “Secrets of Playboy.”
🎧 On today’s 5 Things podcast, race and diversity reporter N’dea Yancey-Bragg talks about the trial of officers who did not intervene in George Floyd’s death. You can listen to the podcast every day on  Apple PodcastsSpotify, or on your smart speaker.
Here’s what’s happening today:

German, French leaders continue Ukraine talks after trips to US, Russia

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet French President Emmanuel Macron and their Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda to discuss the Ukraine crisis on Tuesday. The meeting will come a day after Scholz and Macron traveled abroad to walk a diplomatic tightrope . In Washington, President Joe Biden met with Scholz at the White House to shore up Western resolve against what they see as Russian aggression by assembling troops along the border with its neighbor. Biden and Scholz pledged a unified response to any Russian attack against Ukraine and Biden also vowed to block a controversial gas pipeline between Russia and Germany if Moscow invades. In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his own marquee meeting with Macron, who traveled to Russia on a mission to de-escalate tensions. Western estimates that some 100,000 Russian troops have massed near Ukraine are increasing worries that an offensive could be days away.

Chloe Kim, Shaun White to make debuts at Beijing Games

Olympic action continues Tuesday night , highlighted by snowboarders Chloe Kim and Shaun White, who are both competing for the first time in Beijing. Kim will look to replicate her success at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, where she won a gold medal in the women’s snowboarding halfpipe event. On the men’s side, White is hoping to win his fourth Olympic gold medal in the men’s snowboarding halfpipe. He previously won gold in 2006, 2010 and 2018. Earlier Tuesday, figure skater Nathan Chen turned in a dazzling short program  that put him ahead of the field heading into Thursday’s long program. On the slopes, American Ryan Cochran-Siegle claimed another silver for the United States in the men’s super-G and Chinese-American Eileen Gu thrilled the crowd in her adopted home country with a stellar final run to win the gold medal in the women’s Big Air freestyle skiing competition.
📱 Get exclusive Winter Olympics access: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Olympics texts to get the latest updates and behind-the-scenes coverage from Beijing.
📧  Sign up to the Chasing Gold newsletter for everything you need to follow Team USA’s quest at the Olympics.
🏅 Who are you rooting for? Meet the American athletes competing at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in our searchable database.

Just for subscribers:

🚨 Housing fires in NYC and Philly killed more than two dozen people. Black, poor Americans are often the ones in harm’s way.
🗳 Election workers faced new threats after the 2020 election. Experts fear it will drive them away.
🏥 Black America’s health is in crisis. In every area of health, Black communities are worse off than their white counterparts in the United States.
🔵 ISIS is regrouping and expanding despite the death of its leader in a U.S. raid, experts say.
🏈 Opinion: Sean McVay vs. Zac Taylor puts the NFL’s coaching revolution in the Super Bowl spotlight.
These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. Here is all of our subscriber content.

Oscar nominations will be announced. Who do we expect to make the cut?

This year’s nominations for the Oscars, Hollywood’s biggest awards show, will be handed out Tuesday morning . There will be a 10-film best picture contingent, after several years where the field typically hovered between eight and nine titles. You can also expect lots of big names in leading roles: Denzel Washington vs. Will Smith vs. Benedict Cumberbatch for best actor, for example, or Lady Gaga crashing the best actress category again. Netflix is in prime position to get its first-ever best picture win with Jane Campion’s erotic Western “The Power of the Dog,” which has led critics’ prizes all season long and won best drama at the Golden Globes. But the film has a rival in Kenneth Branagh’s crowd-pleasing “Belfast,” which like “Power of the Dog” has been recognized by nearly every industry awards group where it’s eligible.
🎭 Attention, Oscars! We hope these 10 knockout performances rock the race.
Actor: Will Smith, “King Richard”
Will Smith stars in “King Richard.”
Warner Bros. Pictures via AP

Parents charged in Michigan school shooting face key hearing

The parents of the teenager who is accused of killing four students at Oxford High School in Michigan in November face a key hearing to determine if they will face trial. Attorneys for James and Jennifer Crumbley argued that they need more time to prepare for the preliminary exam, set for Tuesday, and are asking a judge to either order the prosecutors to turn over a narrow list of who will testify on the first day of the preliminary exam or adjourn the prelim to a later date. The Oakland County Prosecutor’s office pushed back, arguing the defense agreed to the Feb. 8 date “knowing there was a huge amount of evidence.” According to a court filing, the prosecution has provided the defense with a list of 30 witnesses. The Crumbleys are charged with involuntary manslaughter. They’re accused of making a gun accessible to to their son Ethan Crumbley, 15, and failing to intervene when he showed signs of mental distress.

Newsmakers in their own words: Tom Brady doesn’t rule out NFL return

Quarterback Tom Brady, then playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, waves toward the fans as he leaves the field after an NFL preseason football game against the Houston Texans on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021.
Quarterback Tom Brady, then playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, waves toward the fans as he leaves the field after an NFL preseason football game against the Houston Texans on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021.
Associated Press photo; USA TODAY Sports graphic
Not even a week after he formally announced his retirement from the NFL, Tom Brady already is dropping hints of a possible comeback.
On Monday during the “Let’s Go!” SiriusXM podcast, sportscaster Jim Gray asked Brady if there was a possibility of coming out of retirement.
Brady left the door open for a possible NFL return, saying, in part, “you never say never.”
Brady, 44, led the NFL in passing yards (5,316) and passing touchdowns (43) during the 2021 season, with his final game being an NFC divisional playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday

⛷ Nina O’Brien, the top U.S. woman in the giant slalom, crashed just ahead of the finish line and appeared to seriously injure her left leg.
😷 An unvaccinated father in Canada lost custody of his three children, one of which is a 10-year-old immunocompromised child, according to reports.
✈️ A match made in airline (fee) heaven: Budget airlines Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines announced plans to merge to create the country’s “most competitive ultra low-fare airline.” 
🏈 New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara was arrested and charged with battery Sunday in Las Vegas soon after he finished playing in the NFL’s annual Pro Bowl.

Probe continues into death of woman who fell from rising Florida drawbridge

An investigation continues Tuesday after a woman fell to her death Sunday afternoon from a rising drawbridge that began opening before she could move off it, police said. West Palm Beach police said the woman was walking off the bridge with a bicycle and was within 10 feet of the barrier arms that halt traffic when the drawbridge started to rise, sending her careening into an open chasm. A man standing on the other side of the barrier arms grabbed her as she fell but could not hold on, police said. She plummeted more than 50 feet. Detectives are investigating the bridge tender’s actions before the incident and why the drawbridge rose before all pedestrians had a chance to clear it, according to a police spokesman.

📸 Photo of the day: Surprise silver medalist for Team USA 📸

Feb 8, 2022; Yanqing, China; Silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA) reacts after the Alpine Skiing-Mens Super G during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Yanqing Alpine Skiing Centre.
Silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle of Team USA reacts after the Alpine Skiing-Mens Super G during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Yanqing Alpine Skiing Centre.
Harrison Hill, USA TODAY Sports
Fifty years after his mother, Barbara Cochran, won gold in the slalom at the Sapporo Games, Ryan Cochran-Siegle won the silver medal in the super-G on Tuesday. It is the first Alpine medal for the United States in Beijing and assures that the American men will not leave the Olympics empty-handed, as they did four years ago.
Cochran-Siegle finished just .04 seconds behind Austria’s Matthias Mayer, who won gold for a second consecutive Games. Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who had won three of his four super-G starts on the World Cup circuit this season, won the bronze medal.
Head here to see photos of the Team USA medal winners at the 2022 Winter Olympics and click here to see the top images from the Beijing Games.
🏅 From Nancy Armour: Ryan Cochran-Siegle continues his family’s winning ways at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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95.) RIGHTWING.ORG

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96.) NOT THE BEE

 


97.) US NEWS & WORLD REPORT

 


98.) NEWSMAX

 


99.) MARK LEVIN

February 7, 2022

February 7, 2022

On Monday’s Mark Levin Show, if America isn’t careful, we will lose the country to the self-aggrandizing elites that use democracy to destroy democracy and use the law to destroy the law. Our ally Israel is a democracy yet their law enforcement and judicial systems have been politicized to go after political rivals. Israeli police used spyware called Pegasus to spy on Benjamin Netanyahu’s family, government colleagues, and journalists covering him before any investigations were even launched. This threat to the civil society is the greatest threat facing us today. Then, the left within the media has embraced Mike Pence for saying that he disagreed with President Trump that he could send the electoral ballots back to the states. The media has inaccurately portrayed this as Pence picking the next president – it’s not. It was simply Pence’s interpretation of his authority under the Constitution over whether he even had such authority. Later, Convention of States CEO Mark Meckler calls in to discuss a big upcoming vote in South Dakota that needs our support but could be blocked by Republicans that don’t want to lose power. Meckler underscored the need for strong leadership to secure the 18 votes needed for a convention of states. Afterward, former Ambassador David Freidman joins the show to discuss his new book, “Sledgehammer: How Breaking with the Past Brought Peace to the Middle East”. Friedman recalled the antisemitism he faced during his tenure and the uphill battle to bring peace to the middle east region.

THIS IS FROM:

Wall St Journal
Israel Launches Investigation Into Ballooning Spyware Scandal

Times Of Israel
Netanyahu rails against cops over spyware claims: Like IDF bombing Israeli civilians

NY Times
Where Fox News and Donald Trump Took Us

Daily Mail
Biden REMOVES some Iran sanctions imposed by Trump – including unfreezing $29B in bank accounts overseas – in bid to return to Obama-era deal that three negotiators have resigned over

Inference
Thunder Out of China

Washington Examiner
Loudoun official coached principals on getting warrants for unmasked students

Breitbart
Senior State Department Staffer Told Ambassador David Friedman: ‘Don’t Be So Jewish’

The podcast for this show can be streamed or downloaded from the Audio Rewind page.

Image used with permission of Getty Images / Ahmad Gharabli


100.) WOLF DAILY

 


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Beijing Winter Olympics Open to Abysmal Ratings

The 16 million viewers is a record-low for an Opening Ceremony, with the previous low being 20.1 million viewers for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. According to polls, one of the main components to the lack of interest is the Olympic Games’ …


‘Air Pelosi’ Spent More Than $500K On Private Jets After Declaring ‘We Have Moral Obligation’ To Reduce Emissions

How much longer will American people tolerate this hypocrisy from the Leftist elites? The American people must come out in droves in 2022 and 2024, and vote the Democrat Party out of office.Pelosi Spent More Than $500K On Private Jets, Has …


Iran Says US Removing Sanctions Move ‘Good but Not Enough’

Naturally. Iran’s negotiators know that the Biden Administration is desperate to re-enter the JCPOA at all costs. So Iran is now engaging in nuclear black mail against the incompetent Biden team of Robert Malley, Jake Sullivan, and Antony Blinken. …


Biden Effect: Oil Tops $90, 7-Year high

We were energy independent under Trump until the Democrat party of treason stole the election.Gas was $1.89 a gallon under Trump.

The national average for gas prices is $3.41: AAA

Gas prices in spring and summer will be ‘painful’: …


‘No Censorship’: Rumble CEO Offers Joe Rogan $100M Contract

How fabulous is this?‘No Censorship’: Rumble CEO Offers Joe Rogan $100M Contract

Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski is offering podcaster Joe Rogan a $100 million contract over four years on his uncensored platform.

By Todd Starnes, …


CDC Signals Changes to COVID-19 Vaccine Schedule, in Part to Address Heart Inflammation

Democrat vaccine mandates are killing kids.CDC Signals Changes to COVID-19 Vaccine Schedule, in Part to Address Heart Inflammation

By Zachary Stieber, Epcch Times, February 6, 2022:2

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) …


Victor Davis Hanson: Biden is the most dangerously radical President in US history

Not one for hyperbole, America’s great American historian and political philosopher is long known for his sober, clear eyed analysis so this declaration should chill you to the bone.<Whether it’s Biden’s push for vaccine mandates or his …


EPIC FAIL: Facebook Stock Tumbles Again, Crumbles After Facing Decline For The First Time

Biggest Wipeout in History. They screwed their customer, they deserve to go bankrupt.Facebook begins to crumble after facing decline for the first time

By: Jigyasa Prashar, Techstroy, February 7, 2022

Last week, Facebook was all over …


NEW Whistleblower Videos Show Systemic Issues, Widespread Violations With Pennsylvania Elections

The election was stolen.Exclusive: Whistleblower Videos Show Systemic Issues With Pennsylvania Elections By: Margot Cleveland, The Federalist, February 07, 2022 According to a new whistleblower video obtained by The Federalist, 80 percent of …


BAM! Democrat Radical Stacey Abrams Photographed Maskless In the Middle of Masked School Children

The picture perfectly captures the soul of Democrats (Washington Times). Meanwhile, a new poll has her down 7 to Kemp in the race for Governor of Georgia (Fox News). Instead of dealing with the issue honestly, Abrams went with the race card …


Zuckerbucks targeted in proposed constitutional amendment

Never in the history of man, has so immense power been in the hands of so few.Arizona governor signs bill forbidding private donations for election operations after Zuckerberg donated millions for 2020 election

FACEBOOK MARK ZUCKERBERG’S …


Chicago: Muslim Arrested in Rampage of Antisemitic Attacks Targeting Jewish Institutions

Islamic Jew hatred is a central tenet of Islam. This horror is sanctioned, even embraced on the left. But point it out and you will be destroyed as a racist-sialmophpobicanti-muslim-racist.Chicago Synagogues, Jewish School, Kosher Shops …


TRUMP: GOP ‘Getting Absolutely Creamed’ With ‘Phony Redistricting’

The Republicans are being routed on redistricting. In fact, several Republican-held seats in Congress could be wiped out because of redistricting. Not surprisingly, the Republican Party leadership is sitting back and letting this happen. Thankfully …


France’s Macron Tries to Reclassify Muslim Terrorism as ‘Mental Illness’

Denying reality. That sounds more like the mental illnes here.France’s Macron Tries to Reclassify Muslim Terrorism as Mental Illness Denying Islamic terrorism is the real delusion.

By:  Daniel Greenfield, Jan 31, 2022 There’s hardly a …


Professor arrested after UCLA mass shooting threat: ‘Whites and Jews shall die’

Jerusalem Post World News’Whites and Jews shall die’- Man arrested after UCLA mass shooting threat

A former philosophy lecturer made mass shooting threats against the University of California Los Angeles and released an 803-page manifesto …

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102.) CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

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BREAKING! GOP Just Seized Majority Control in Senate!
BREAKING! GOP Just Seized Majority Control in Senate!
Believe it or not, the Republicans currently have majority control…
BREAKING NEWS! Wisconsin Assembly Advances Resolution to Reclaim Wisconsin’s Electors For President Trump and VP Pence
Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell Not Backing Down - Dominion Voting System in PANIC MODE
Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell Not Backing Down – Dominion Voting System in PANIC MODE
The whirlwind of evidence, combined with growing accusations concerning the…
Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell Not Backing Down - Dominion Voting System in PANIC MODE
Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell Not Backing Down – Dominion Voting System in PANIC MODE
The whirlwind of evidence, combined with growing accusations concerning the fraudulent 2020 Presidential Election, is…
Wife of NFL Quarterback Goes Viral in EPIC Takedown of School Board (VIDEO)
Wife of NFL Quarterback Goes Viral in EPIC Takedown of School Board (VIDEO)
It took all of two minutes for Carrie Prejean Boller, wife of NFL quarterback Kyle…
Judge Makes One Last Ruling in the Kyle Rittenhouse Trial
Judge Makes One Last Ruling in the Kyle Rittenhouse Trial
There is actually another in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial believe it or not. You thought…
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