February 28, 2022

U.N. climate change panel releases report. “[The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report] says the world faces unavoidable climate hazards in the next two decades with global heating of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — the warming level ascribed as the aspirational target in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement…. It finds the increased prevalence of heatwaves, droughts and floods are already exceeding plants’ and animals’ tolerance, and therefore driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals…. Extreme weather events are occurring simultaneously and causing cascading impacts that are increasingly difficult to manage, the report says. This has seen millions of people exposed to acute food and water insecurity, particularly in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, small island states and the Arctic.”   https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/28/climate-un-report-on-adaptation-warns-of-grave-and-mounting-threat.html

Belarus may host Russian nuclear weapons. “… Ukraine’s neighbour Belarus had passed a constitutional referendum revoking its non-nuclear status and paving the way for Russian nuclear weapons to be placed in the country.”   https://www.indiatoday.in/world/russia-ukraine-war/story/belarus-russia-ukraine-talks-moscow-nuclear-weapons-1918787-2022-02-28   Hundreds of protesters opposed to nuclear weapons arrested. “About 800 people were arrested as Belarus voted to ditch its non-nuclear status. The vote sparked the biggest protests in months as thousands took to the streets…. The vote to change the constitution, passed by 65%, according to official data…”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/28/belarus-troops-ukraine-russia-invasion

EU bans Russian news media channels. “European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Twitter that the European Union will ban Russian state-run media outlets from airing in the EU, as well as bar Russian aircraft from flying in EU airspace…. ‘The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war. We are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.”   https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/27/22953563/eu-ban-russia-aircraft-state-backed-media-ukraine-sanctions   You’re going to fight Putin with… censorship?

Ukraine and Russia to hold peace talks. “President Vladimir Putin, who launched the assault on Thursday with the object of dismantling Ukraine’s military, has said he’s prepared to authorize talks about Ukraine adopting a ‘neutral’ status, a premise Kyiv has rejected. The premise of talks and how either side would define neutrality is open.”   https://time.com/6151920/ukraine-russia-belarus-border/   “Earlier the Ukrainian president’s office said Ukraine’s goal for the talks was an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.”   https://www.reuters.com/world/talks-between-ukraine-russia-have-started-says-ukraine-presidential-advisor-2022-02-28/

February 27, 2022

Number of anti-war protesters arrested in Russia hits 3,093. “’The law provides for severe punishment for organizing mass riots, as well as for resisting law enforcement officers. According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, people who committed such illegal acts may face imprisonment,’ the Investigative Committee of Russia  wrote.”   https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/596007-over-3000-russians-arrested-for-protesting-attack-against-ukraine

Bomb technician reportedly warned fellow LAPD officers they were overloading bomb disposal container. “A senior Los Angeles bomb technician raised serious concerns about overloading a containment chamber with homemade fireworks last year before the detonation caused a catastrophic explosion, injuring 27 people and rocking a neighborhood, according to an inspector general’s report released Friday…. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates that the catastrophic blast caused more than $1 million in damage to the area.”   https://abc7.com/fireworks-explosion-south-los-angeles-lapd-report/11603116/

Reporter who covered break up of the Soviet Union: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was no surprise. “The consequences of pushing NATO up to the borders with Russia — there is now a NATO missile base in Poland 100 miles from the Russian border — were well known to policy makers. Yet they did it anyway. It made no geopolitical sense. But it made commercial sense. War, after all, is a business, a very lucrative one…. In a classified diplomatic cable obtained and released by WikiLeaks dated Feb. 1, 2008… addressed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, NATO-European Union Cooperative, National Security Council, Russia Moscow Political Collective, secretary of defense and secretary of state, there was an unequivocal understanding that expanding NATO risked an eventual conflict with Russia, especially over Ukraine…. All of us who reported from Eastern Europe in 1989 knew the consequences of provoking Russia, and yet few have raised their voices to halt the madness.  The methodical steps towards war took on a life of their own, moving us like sleepwalkers towards disaster.”   https://consortiumnews.com/2022/02/25/chris-hedges-chronicle-of-a-war-foretold/   Either U.S. policymakers have no idea what they are doing, or else they deliberately provoked Russia in an attempt to bog it down fighting an insurgency in Ukraine, hoping to bleed and weaken their geopolitical rival. A further incentive was the release of another flood of the public’s money to the military-industrial complex. It’s hard to believe the Ukrainian people would be used so cynically to achieve these objectives though. I guess we should throw hubris in there too, which would be assuming that Putin wouldn’t dare to provoke the U.S. and Europe, and would be intimidated into accepting NATO on Russia’s border. So what is it, stupidity, evil or overconfidence?

February 26, 2022

Jackson, Mississippi police reportedly using ‘anti-crime checkpoints’ to catch residents with outstanding warrants. “According to Jackson Police Chief James Davis, his department’s Ticket, Arrest, Tow (TAT) program has precisely the aim that the Supreme Court said was constitutionally unacceptable [which is to uncover evidence of ordinary criminal wrongdoing]. Davis, who says the program involves ‘administrative checkpoint[s] where we are looking for wanted individuals’, bragged last week that ‘we done made over 100 felony arrests since we started in January.'”   https://reason.com/2022/02/23/anti-crime-checkpoints-in-jackson-mississippi-blatantly-violate-the-fourth-amendment/

Several Ukrainian cities under attack by Russian forces. “Heavy, frequent artillery fire and intense gunfire, apparently some distance from the city centre, could be heard in Kyiv in the early hours, a Reuters witness said…. Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter that there had been heavy fighting with deaths at the entrance to the eastern cities of Chernihiv and Melitopol, as well as at Hostomel. Witnesses said they had heard explosions and gunfire near the airport in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, close to Russia’s border. Ukraine’s military said Russian troops had been stopped with heavy losses near the northeastern city of Konotop.”   https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/heavy-fighting-kyiv-outskirts-russia-ukraine-signal-possibility-talks-2022-02-26/

Retired police officer found not guilty in fatal shooting of unarmed man inside Tampa area movie theater. “For the jury to have found [Curtis] Reeves guilty of second-degree murder, they would have had to find he acted with hatred, spite, ill will or evil intent when he shot [Chad] Oulson. The state pointed to something three witnesses told the court they heard Reeves say after the shooting that they say shows he did just that. ‘All across the theater, they heard the defendant say, ‘Throw popcorn in my face,’’ said assistant state attorney Scott Rosenwasser. ‘That’s why we know this case truly is about a man killing another man over a popcorn toss.'”   https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2022/02/25/closing-arguments-to-begin-friday-in-movie-theater-shooting-trial

Three Minneapolis police officers found guilty of not intervening during George Floyd arrest. “J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao were found guilty on all civil rights charges in their federal trial. Following 13 hours of deliberations, a jury convicted them of depriving George Floyd of his constitutional rights by failing to stop a fellow officer from using excessive force.”   https://www.startribune.com/a-clear-duty-to-intervene/600150665/

2,257 anti-war protesters arrested on Thursday and Friday in 58 Russian cities. “The largest demonstration erupted in St. Petersburg, where several hundred people spontaneously gathered in the city center, chanting ‘No to war!’ as police in full riot gear detained one protester after another.”   https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-europe-moscow-873d65c0bc0b195a9e764d9ebf150822

White House requests $6.4 billion for Ukraine response. “The request includes $2.9 billion for State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development for humanitarian assistance as well as security assistance to Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic states and allies on NATO’s eastern flank, according to a Biden administration official. The Biden administration is also asking Congress for $3.5 billion in additional funding for the Pentagon, according to the official…. The administration has already committed $650 million in security assistance and $52 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine this year.”   https://thehill.com/policy/international/595928-white-house-seeks-64b-from-congress-in-ukraine-related-aid   A lot of this money will end up in the pockets of defense contractors.

Mesa, Arizona Starbucks employees vote in favor of union representation. “Employees at the cafe, which is located on Power Road and Baseline Road in Mesa, voted 25 to three in favor of unionizing under Workers United, a branch of the Service Employees International Union. It’s now the third company-owned Starbucks location to vote in support of unionizing and the first outside of the Buffalo, New York, area.”   https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/25/starbucks-restaurant-in-mesa-arizona-votes-to-unionize.html

Postal Service to replace most of its aging delivery trucks with conventional instead of electric vehicles. “Although the vast majority of USPS delivery routes are ideally suited for electric vehicles, the USPS decided that a mere 10 percent of the planned order would be battery electric…. That means that 90 percent of the 50,000-165,000 [New Generation Delivery Vehicles] that are being ordered will use gasoline and will only average 8.6 mpg (28.86 L/100 km) when used with air conditioning.”   https://arstechnica.com/cars/2022/02/usps-says-too-bad-its-still-not-buying-more-electric-mail-trucks/   Postal delivery workers will need that AC when summer temperatures start regularly climbing above 110 degrees due to global warming.

Jacksonville, Florida restaurant found to have not paid servers at all, making them survive on tip income alone. “The restaurant also denied overtime pay to ‘dishwashers, cooks and certain servers for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.’ …. Based on current Florida wage laws, a server should make $6.98 per hour before tips. Overtime wages should total at least $10.47 per hour.”   https://www.nbc4i.com/news/u-s-world/florida-restaurant-owes-workers-118k-after-denying-pay-making-them-work-for-just-tips/

Brentwood, California police sued by shoplifter who claims police dog tore off her scalp. “In the footage, [Talmika] Bates can be seen hiding in a field among some bushes before police respond to her screaming after they unleashed a K-9 to find her. After finding her and biting her head, Marco finally lets go and Bates was assisted by officers to get out of the bushes. Her skull was partially red as parts of it no longer had any scalp on it and her hair was also torn off…. After her arrest, Bates was taken to a local hospital, where surgeons stitched her scalp back [on].”    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10551717/California-woman-26-files-lawsuit-against-police-K-9-ripped-scalp-two-years-ago.html

A sixth Mexican journalist is gunned down since beginning of 2022. “Jorge Camero, 28, was in a gym in Empalme, Sonora, when he was attacked on Thursday, according to the Sonora state prosecutor, who said authorities found eight shell casings at the scene…. Like Camero, many of the journalists who were killed worked on their own or for small news outlets that relied almost entirely on Facebook to disseminate their stories.”   https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7dxzy/mexican-journalist-killed-jorge-camero

White privilege?: EU to accept 100% of Ukrainian refugees. “The European Union will accept all people fleeing the violence caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday…. ‘… we will take in all the people that are fleeing now’, Baerbock said, adding she had already started to coordinate the distribution of Ukrainian refugees with countries such as Poland and Canada.”   https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-02-25/eu-will-accept-all-people-fleeing-the-violence-in-ukraine-germany-says

Amid ‘labor shortage’ UPS ends $3/hr. wage hike for part timers. “Thousands of part-time workers at the United Parcel Service (UPS) around the US were recently informed that their hourly wages would be cut, eliminating raises implemented in 2021 at some hubs as a means to attract and retain workers in the tighter labor market. Alex Sanchez, a part-time UPS worker in Ontario, California, for one year, said part-time workers at his hub had their base rate increased in 2021 from $15.33 an hour to $18 an hour…. At the end of January, Sanchez said he was informed that his hourly wage and those of every other part-time employee at UPS would revert back to $15.33 an hour.”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/26/ups-part-time-workers-pay-cuts

Former president of El Salvador and military officers to be tried for 1989 murders of Jesuit priests. “Prosecutors in El Salvador have charged the former president Alfredo Cristiani over the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests that sparked international outrage…. On 16 November 1989 an elite commando unit killed the six priests – five Spaniards and one Salvadoran – along with their housekeeper and the housekeeper’s daughter in the priests’ residence.”    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/26/el-salvadors-former-president-charged-over-1989-massacre-of-six-jesuit-priests   The priests were involved in brokering peace negotiations with Marxists insurgents, efforts which the U.S.-backed military wanted to derail.

Biden administration refuses to kill Trump program critics say will lead to stealth privatization of Medicare. “Instead of ending what’s known as the Direct Contracting model, which the Trump administration officially launched in 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) gave the program a new name: ACO REACH, which stands for Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health. In addition to the name change and fresh veneer—a step in line with the healthcare industry’s call for a ‘rebranding’—CMS said the program will now span four years instead of eight and will include requirements aimed at ensuring ‘transparency’ and ‘equity’.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/02/25/band-aid-tumor-critics-blast-biden-rebrand-trumps-medicare-privatization-scheme

Mexican company develops cost effective method of turning plastic waste into fuel. “Petgas uses the process known as pyrolysis to convert plastic waste that would most likely end up polluting the environment into six different kinds of fuel. In addition to gasoline, the compact plant just outside the city center turns plastic from soda bottles, PVC piping, face masks, supermarket bags, styrofoam and even old appliances like televisions and oscillating fans into high-octane gasoline, diesel, kerosene, butane, propane and paraffin…. Pyrolysis is not new, but the most common method is done via catalysis, a chemical reaction that makes the process too expensive to be cost-effective. Padilla’s patented distillation method has made pyrolysis economically viable, and Petgas is now looking to expand.”   https://www.courthousenews.com/cancun-company-turning-plastic-waste-into-fuel/

Biden nominee for vacant Supreme Court seat is a former public defender. “If confirmed, [Ketanji] Jackson would not only be the first Black woman on the high court’s bench, she would also be the first former federal public defender…. ‘For too long, the federal bench has lacked judges with experience as public defenders, civil rights attorneys, legal aid lawyers, and those who’ve advocated for working people,” [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren wrote on Twitter. ‘Justice requires judges who represent every corner of the legal profession and reflect all Americans.’”   https://www.courthousenews.com/ketanji-brown-jacksons-historic-nomination-puts-public-defender-experience-on-center-stage/

February 24, 2022

Disputes over Ukraine joining NATO and foot-dragging on Minsk agreement take a dark turn as Russia launches invasion. “Russia’s military breached the border in a number of places, in the north, south and east, including from Belarus, an long-time Russian ally…. Russian tanks were later seen on the outskirts of Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million people. Russian forces also reportedly landed by sea at Ukraine’s major port cities of Odesa on the Black Sea and Mariupol on the internal Sea of Azov.”   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60503037   Russia strikes airports and defense facilities across Urkaine. “President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told his nation that Ukraine had suffered “serious losses” in the initial stages of Russia’s long-feared attack early on February 24…. Zelenskiy spoke in a televised address on February 24 shortly after Russian missiles had targeted air bases and military infrastructure in at least 25 cities after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a ‘special’ operation to ‘demilitarize’ its neighbor and rival.”   https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-ukraine-military-operation/31719680.html   Didn’t I say this was going to end badly? And I’m not a genius or Russia expert.

Members of Congress remind President Biden that he needs congressional approval to deploy U.S. troops in Ukraine conflict. “A bipartisan group of lawmakers and a coalition of anti-war groups reminded President Joe Biden on Tuesday that he is legally required to seek authorization from Congress before involving U.S. troops in any military conflict with Russia…. ‘Were an attack by Russia to be imminent or underway, the War Powers Resolution would clearly require congressional authorization before the president may command U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities.'”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/02/23/lawmakers-biden-no-us-troops-fight-russia-without-approval-congress

Portland, Oregon police accused of releasing misleading information about mass shooting that targeted protest volunteers. “… the Portland Police Bureau outraged survivors of the attack and their allies in the racial justice community by issuing a press release that wrongly stated that the incident had ‘started with a confrontation between an armed homeowner and armed protesters’. The police also claimed that a lack of cooperation from protesters who witnessed or recorded the shootings meant that ‘investigators are trying to put this puzzle together without having all the pieces’…. The first victim to make her account public, Dajah Beck, insisted that Smith had indeed launched an unprovoked attack on four unarmed women…. ‘We were unarmed traffic safety volunteers,’ Beck wrote on Twitter on Monday…. Beck added that video evidence would substantiate her account, since she had recorded the whole encounter on a GoPro attached to her motorcycle helmet, and the footage had been taken by the police…. ‘The rally was over a block away from us. It wasn’t even visible from our location.'”   https://theintercept.com/2022/02/23/portland-protest-shooting/

Disabled woman hospitalized after being discovered inside towed car impounded 9 days earlier. “It could take a couple of weeks for Kent [Washington] police detectives to unravel how a 28-year-old woman with disabilities ended up spending nine days inside a vehicle impounded in Burien earlier this month in near-freezing weather…. police learned that gas-station employees had called Skyway Towing, and the vehicle, a 2004 Cadillac, was impounded in Burien.”   https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/ton-of-questions-over-how-woman-spent-9-days-trapped-in-impounded-car-kent-police-say/

Three men plead guilty to plotting to take down power grid, FBI says they are white supremacists. “‘These individuals wanted to carry out such a plot because of their adherence to racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist views,’ said Assistant Director Timothy Langan of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division…. Authorities said the group’s plan included attacking substations throughout the country with powerful rifles with the trio believing this action would cause unrest for Americans in different regions and even potentially cause a war or race war.”   https://fox59.com/indiana-news/west-lafayette-man-among-3-who-pled-guilty-to-terrorism-plot-on-power-grids/

Former power grid CEO claims Texas governor made him to keep electricity rates high during February 2021 blackouts. “The former head of the Texas power grid testified in court Wednesday that he was following the direction of Governor Greg Abbott when the grid manager ordered wholesale power prices to stay at the maximum price cap for days on end during last year’s winter storm and blackout, running up billions of dollars in bills for power companies…. former Public Utility Commission Chair DeAnn Walker told [Bill Magness] that Abbott wanted them to do whatever [was] necessary to prevent further rotating blackouts that left millions of Texans without power.”   https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/ercot-chief-abbott-direction-power-outage-storm-16941019.php

Nine of the nineteen Austin, Texas police officers indicted for using excessive force against protesters allegedly targeted the same woman with projectiles. “According to court documents, the officers are accused of firing at and injuring a woman named Christen Warkoczewski during the George Floyd protests on May 31…. Lawyers said the injuries required surgery to repair her broken jaw and correct serious damage to her face. According to the lawsuit, the bean-bag round remained lodged in her face until hours later when it had to be surgically removed at the hospital.”   https://www.kvue.com/article/news/investigations/defenders/indicted-austin-police-officers-shot-at-same-woman/269-83461cce-49e2-4693-8df0-fc498feb1118

Researcher claims aliens may consider humans to be a threat, so they are refusing to engage with us. “If [alien life] exists it may have found us by now and discovered that humans are dangerous, violent and ceaselessly engage in endless bloody conflicts and war, and continually develop even more powerful weapons of mass destruction,” Dr [Gordon] Gallup says. “It would also be obvious, that as a byproduct of increasing pollution, habitat destruction, coupled with endless wars, pillage, death, destruction and the desire for conquest, that humans pose an unparalleled and unprecedented risk not only to other life forms on Earth but to life on other planets.”   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10546695/Alien-life-scared-dangerous-humans-expert-claims.html

FBI raids Virginia couple’s home looking for brother who doesn’t live there. “[Dantonio] Mauney says he and his brother haven’t talked in about a month…. Mauney and [Brandy] Long woke up to about 15 law enforcement officers, including FBI agents, surrounding their home in the 2100 block of Orange Ave NW. They say they were especially shocked because they had no involvement with the case authorities were investigating…. ‘They weren’t letting up on us, it was more and more cops coming in the house, more and more police, more and more questions,’ said Long. ‘They were trying to get us to sign paperwork stating that they could come and search the premises whenever they want.’ …. According to Mauney and Long, authorities left a mess behind, including a broken screen door, damage to their security cameras…”   https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/local-news/roanoke-valley-news/roanoke-couple-comments-after-police-raid-home/   I wonder how they got a search warrant?

Private company reportedly helping law enforcement agencies with their wiretapping and web surveillance needs. “If an investigator doesn’t log in every hour during [a Facebook] intercept, they get locked out…. PenLink automates the process, however, so if law enforcement officers have to take a break or their working day ends, they’ll still have the intercept response when they return.” …. [PenLink employee Scott] Tuma also described having a lot of success in asking Google for search histories…. ‘They cleared their browser and their cookies and things, they think it’s gone. Google’s the best.’ …. ‘The fact that [messaging app] backups and other data are not encrypted creates a treasure trove for police,’ [ACLU lawyer Jennifer] Granick said.”   https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2022/02/23/meet-the-secretive-surveillance-wizards-helping-the-fbi-and-ice-wiretap-facebook-and-google-users/

Environmental group renews call for President Biden to declare a ‘climate emergency’. “‘In the face of delayed climate legislation,’ [the Center for Biological Diversity’s Jean] Su said, ‘President Biden should use his tremendous executive powers to turn this emergency into an opportunity for profound economic and social transformation.’ The report highlights that under the Defense Production Act, National Emergencies Act, and Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Biden could:

• Halt crude oil exports;
• Stop oil and gas drilling in the outer continental shelf;
• Restrict international trade and private investment in fossil fuels;
• Grow domestic manufacturing for clean energy and transportation to speed the nationwide transition off fossil fuels; and
• Build resilient and distributed renewable energy systems in climate-vulnerable communities.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/02/23/new-report-details-exactly-what-biden-could-do-after-declaring-climate-emergency

February 23, 2022

Donald Trump calls Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine moves ‘genius’. “This is genius,” he said of Putin’s decision on Monday to officially recognize the breakaway [Ukrainian] provinces and authorize the use of Russian military personnel to assist them. “So Putin is now saying it’s independent — a large section of Ukraine. I said, how smart is that? And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace, all right.”   https://news.yahoo.com/trump-praises-putins-genius-incursion-into-ukraine-234001858.html

National Guard troops to be deployed around Washington, D.C. to thwart trucker protest. “According to the [Dept. of Defense], the approval will allow about 400 D.C. National Guard members to ‘provide support at designated traffic posts, provide command and control, and cover sustainment requirements.’ Beginning at 1 p.m. on Feb. 26, ’50 large tactical vehicles’ will be placed at these traffic posts on a 24-hour basis. The deployment has been approved to last through March 7.”   https://thehill.com/policy/defense/595431-pentagon-approves-request-for-national-guard-deployment-ahead-of-dc-trucker   Sounds like the plan is to set up road blocks.

Portland protest shooter charged with murder, attempted murder and assault with a firearm. “Court records filed Tuesday also state that one victim was ‘paralyzed from the neck down’ and is hospitalized in critical condition. Three other victims were also shot in multiple places, and one of them remains hospitalized. The two others have been treated and released…. Prosecutors say video of the incident shows Smith approaching a group of demonstrators who had gathered that night near Normandale Park to protest police violence…. ‘[Benjamin] (Smith) draws a handgun and fires at multiple people, striking five,’ the prosecutors stated. The shooting ended when a person with the group of demonstrators shot Smith in the ‘hip area’, critically wounding him.”   https://www.opb.org/article/2022/02/22/suspected-portland-normandale-park-shooter-charged-with-murder/   “In the aftermath of the Normandale Park shooting, some on the left suggested [Portland’s Mayor Ted] Wheeler carried partial blame for the political violence. Wheeler had previously asked Portlanders to take action against the small portion of protesters who have, as part of larger demonstrations for racial justice, clad themselves in black and vandalized businesses. Wheeler said last April he… believed it was time to ‘hurt them a little bit’.”   https://www.opb.org/article/2022/02/22/portland-oregon-gun-violence-ted-wheeler/   “[Dajah] Beck said that [Brandy] Knightly approached [Benjamin Smith] and said: ‘You’re not going to scare us. You’re not going to intimidate us.’ The gunman then shot Ms. Knightly in the face, Ms. Beck said.”   https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/us/benjamin-smith-portland-shooting.html

Woman sues after being mistaken for a someone with the same name, then jailed for almost two weeks. “Bethany Farber said she was at LAX last April, getting ready to travel to Mexico to see her brother and goddaughter, when she was detained, ‘aggressively interrogated about her identity’ and taken into custody by the TSA due to an arrest warrant for a Bethany Farber in Texas. Despite repeatedly telling authorities that there had been a mistake and that she had never even been to Texas, Farber was accused of lying and was taken to Lynwood Women’s Jail, where she was held without bail for 13 days, her lawsuit alleges…. not only does Farber look nothing like the wanted woman, but she doesn’t have a criminal history, unlike the other Bethany Farber.”   https://ktla.com/news/local-news/woman-who-spent-2-nearly-weeks-in-jail-sues-lapd-others-over-mistaken-identity-arrest/   “Authorities never asked Farber for her driver’s license, date of birth, Social Security number or other identifying information, according to the suit, and ‘failed to do the bare minimum’ to confirm her identity. Farber ‘and this other woman had nothing in common besides their name,’ the lawsuit states.”   https://www.yahoo.com/news/lax-passenger-jailed-13-days-050914660.html   I’m assuming their middle names were also exactly the same, but the news stories don’t specifically say that.

Intelligent birds help each other to remove tracking harnesses. “A small group of Australian magpies… helped each other remove the devices, in what they say is a potential sign of altruism and strong evidence of problem solving among these highly social and intelligent creatures. Scientists refer to this as ‘rescue behavior’, and it happens when a helper tries to free another individual in distress and ‘with no obvious direct benefit to the rescuing individual’, as the authors write in their paper.”   https://gizmodo.com/the-birds-outsmarted-us-magpies-help-each-other-remov-1848575846

Union accuses Bessemer, Alabama Amazon distribution center of interfering in do-over vote. “The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) claiming Amazon removed union literature from employee break rooms, limited workers’ access to the warehouse before and after shifts and forced workers to attend anti-union meetings.”   https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/union-says-amazon-continues-interfere-with-election-alabama-warehouse-2022-02-22/

Massachusetts Supreme Court sides with Springfield city council, okays restoration of civilian police oversight board. “In 2020 the U.S. Department of Justice released a scathing report suggesting that police brutality there was disturbingly common: Police were not required to report that they punched or kicked someone, officers routinely covered up unnecessary violence, and higher-ups in the department simply ignored it…. Springfield had a five-member civilian board starting in 1902 and switched to a professional police commissioner only in 2005 at the insistence of a board that took over running the city during a financial crisis.”   https://www.courthousenews.com/massachusetts-top-court-oks-putting-police-discipline-in-hands-of-citizens/

Three Georgia men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery also found guilty of federal hate crimes. “A unanimous jury has convicted three white men of violating Ahmaud Arbery’s civil rights, finding that the 25-year-old Black man’s race was a factor in their decision to chase and murder him as he jogged through their South Georgia neighborhood.”   https://www.courthousenews.com/arbery-killers-found-guilty-of-hate-crimes/

Use of plastic has almost double since 2000, but only 9% is being recycled. “After taking into account losses during recycling, only nine percent of plastic waste was ultimately recycled, while 19 percent was incinerated and almost 50 percent went to sanitary landfills,” [the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] said in its Global Plastics Outlook. “The remaining 22 percent was disposed of in uncontrolled dumpsites, burned in open pits or leaked into the environment.”   https://www.courthousenews.com/only-9-percent-of-plastic-recycled-worldwide-oecd/

February 22, 2022

More details emerge about Portland, Oregon mass shooting targeting civil rights protesters, but not from the police. “The man suspected of shooting and killing a racial justice demonstrator Saturday night has been identified as Benjamin Jeffrey Smith, 43, of Northeast Portland…. Witnesses to the Saturday shooting said people attempted to deescalate the situation when Smith pulled out a handgun and fired into the crowd, killing June Knightly, 60, and injuring four others. Witnesses said a protester returned fire, hitting Smith, who is in critical condition according to the Oregonian/OregonLive…. [Smith] owned everything from shotguns to rifles and handguns, and… sometimes repaired weapons for other people. ‘He talked about wanting to go shoot commies and antifa all the friggin’ time,” [roommate Kristine] Christenson said. ‘He was just a sad, angry dude…he talked about wanting to do this for a while.'”   https://www.opb.org/article/2022/02/21/alleged-killer-in-normandale-park-protest-shooting-identified-as-benjamin-smith/   The shooting victims claim they were all unarmed, but Smith was reportedly seriously wounded by gunfire from one of the other protesters, apparently from a rifle.

Russia recognizes break-away regions of Ukraine as independent republics. “‘I deem it necessary to make a decision that should have been made a long time ago — to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic,’ Putin said in his televised address…. Putin slammed the popular [Ukrainian] uprising of the Maidan revolution of 2014 as a coup, then proceeded to portray Kyiv’s leaders as extremists who were out to threaten Russia’s security, foment unrest in Crimea and persecute Russian-speakers.”   https://www.politico.eu/article/putin-to-recognize-independence-of-breakaway-territories-in-ukraine/   “Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees ordering [the country’s] military forces into two separatist regions of Ukraine for ‘peacekeeping’ purposes as Moscow recognized the breakaway regions’ independence Monday…. The Kremlin’s move was widely condemned at a late-night emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.”   https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/21/russia-ukraine-updates/

Donald Trump launches disinformation-friendly social networking site called ‘Truth Social’. “… former Congressman Devin Nunes… said he hopes Truth Social will be embraced by those who have been ‘booted from social media’ [for spreading disinformation or inciting violence] over the last few years. ‘It’s just it’s actually very moving for me to see people that are on the platform that have had their voice canceled—And that’s our main goal here is to give people their voice back,’ Nunes told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures.”   https://www.newsweek.com/trump-truth-social-app-apple-store-launch-1681030   “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Lies are Truth”   https://twitter.com/bbc/status/1139216141166022656?lang=en

Arrests during Ottawa, Canada pandemic protest hit 191. “Chris Harkins, deputy commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police reported at the news conference 76 vehicles had been seized and towed…. Canada’s House of Commons passed a motion to approve the Emergencies Act and the sweeping powers it enables Monday evening, with Canada’s New Democratic Party voting with the Liberal government to ensure the law could remain in place until mid-March…. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is mounting a legal challenge to the government’s extraordinary, but temporary measures in the Emergencies Act, saying they ‘seriously infringe’ on the rights of Canadians.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/21/americas/canada-trucker-protest-monday/index.html   They got the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ treatment.

Neo-Nazi group distributes anti-semitic flyers in cities around the country. “… the city of Colleyville in Texas was one of several locations around the US to be hit over the weekend with antisemitic flyers blaming Jews for the COVID-19 pandemic. Police in Colleyville are investigating the leafleting blitz as a hate crime and have contacted the FBI, local news channel Fox 4 reported on Monday. Residents of the city were targeted with propaganda apparently produced and distributed by the so-called ‘Goyim Defense League (GDL)’, a neo-Nazi group that has carried out several similar stunts over the last year in several cities…. Flyers distributed in Colleyville and neighboring Garland claimed that ‘every single aspect of the COVID agenda is Jewish’ along with another one claiming ‘Black lives murder white children’.”   https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/21/i-was-touching-something-gross-disgust-and-anger-greet-latest-antisemitic-propaganda-blitz-by-us-neo-nazi-group/

Washington, D.C. reportedly targeted with trucker protest. “A trucker convoy heading to Washington, D.C. plans to shut down the Capital Beltway  later this week in protest of wide-ranging issues such as fuel prices, vaccine requirements and immigration, the organizer said…. ‘I’ll give you an analogy of that of a giant boa constrictor,’ [Bob] Bolus said. ‘That basically squeezes you, chokes you and it swallows you, and that’s what we’re going to do the D.C.'”   https://www.foxnews.com/us/dc-trucker-convoy-capital-beltway-protest

Transgendered black woman awarded $1.5 million after spending six months in Atlanta jail on false drug charges. “The officers accused [Ju’Zema] Goldring of jaywalking, a crime she said she did not commit, and arrested her. During the arrest, an officer searched Goldring’s purse and found a stress ball. He cut it open and tested it for cocaine. Defense attorneys said that despite the fact that the test was negative, the officer charged Goldring with trafficking cocaine…. After subsequent tests by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation also came back negative, Goldring was released from jail six months later and the charges against her were dismissed.”   https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/black-trans-woman-who-spent-6-months-atlanta-jail-false-charges-awarded-15-million/PD3BDEJZWFB6JEKMDI2SHXRMFU/

Life in a developed market economy: Orange county, California beaches closed after yet another leak of raw sewage. “A stretch of Southern California beach was closed Monday to swimmers and surfers after up to 50,000 gallons (189,270 liters) of raw sewage spilled into nearby waters, authorities said…. This spill comes less than two months after a sewage main in Carson failed, spewing millions of gallons of waste into the Los Angeles Harbor and fouling beaches in Long Beach and elsewhere in LA and Orange counties.”   https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sewage-spill-shuts-beaches-southern-california-83033252

Colombia’s Constitutional Court decriminalizes abortions performed before 25th week of pregnancy. “The order followed years of political organizing by women across the country. Prior to the ruling, Colombia, a widely Roman Catholic country, allowed abortion only when the pregnancy resulted from rape, the woman’s life was at risk or the fetus had malformations.”   https://thehill.com/policy/international/americas/595236-colombias-highest-court-decriminalizes-abortion

3/4 of those polled world-wide support a ban on ‘single use’ plastic. “The percentage of people calling for bans is up from 71% [in] 2019, while those who said they favoured products with less plastic packaging rose to 82% from 75%, according to the IPSOS poll of more than 20,000 people across 28 countries…. big oil and chemical industry groups were devising strategies to persuade [U.N.] conference participants to reject any deal that would limit production of plastic, which is made from oil and gas and [is] a key source of their revenues.”   https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/75-people-want-single-use-plastics-banned-global-survey-finds-2022-02-22/

Secret CIA mass surveillance program may have involved purchasing records from telecommunications and internet companies. “Surveillance experts who spoke with The Hill speculated that the program could involve the purchasing of international phone records, given that reporting in 2013 found the CIA doing exactly that with AT&T, or data from third-party brokers. ‘Based on the legal arguments the government has made elsewhere it is possible that this is another telephone metadata dragnet… or web browsing information or even location information,’ Sean Vitka, policy counsel at Demand Progress, told The Hill.”   https://thehill.com/policy/technology/593948-late-night-reports-suggest-cia-collecting-more-data-on-americans

February 21, 2022

Leaked Credit Suisse banking info reveals accounts that likely contained dirty money. “A massive leak from one of the world’s biggest private banks… has exposed the hidden wealth of clients involved in torture, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other serious crimes. Details of accounts linked to 30,000 Credit Suisse clients all over the world are contained in the leak, which unmasks the beneficiaries of more than 100bn Swiss francs… held in one of Switzerland’s best-known financial institutions.”   https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/feb/20/credit-suisse-secrets-leak-unmasks-criminals-fraudsters-corrupt-politicians

Eyewitness/shooting victim says agitated man confronted organizers of Portland, Oregon protest against police violence, then opened fire. “As [Dajah] Beck and the group were working [to route traffic around the protest]… a man approached a small group of women, screaming that they were ‘violent terrorists’ and repeatedly calling them a misogynist vulgarity. The man said they were the people responsible for violence in the city, Beck recounted, adding that he said: ‘If I see you come past my house, I’ll shoot you.’ People in the group tried to calm him down. But as Ms. Beck looked away from him toward one of her friends, ‘that’s when he started shooting,’ she said.”   https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/20/us/portland-shooting-protest.html   The man was reportedly tackled by protesters, but it’s unclear if he was arrested by the police.

Native American ceremony broken up by Detroit police. “For three years, participants have learned from the Anishinaanabe and Potawatomi people from the Midwest about sugerbush ceremonies, tapped maple trees in River Rouge Park and boiled sap over a fire. The city of Detroit issued the project a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to do as much, according to the project website and ceremony organizers. Antonio Cosme, Detroit Sugarbush Project organizer, said he also received a burn permit for Friday’s bonfire from the fire department…. As Cosme and the officer in charge spoke at the edge of the woods, six officers in tactical gear appeared in the clearing and informed attendees they had two minutes to put out the fire and leave.”   https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/02/19/detroit-police-break-up-native-ceremony/6861547001/

February 20, 2022

Some ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters reportedly trampled by mounted Canadian police, “Police officers on horseback allegedly plowed through a crowd of Canadian protesters… as they continued to protest the government’s COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates in Ottawa. A video posted to Twitter appeared to show Ottawa Police officers making their way through a crowd and trampling over two people with their horses.”   https://www.newsweek.com/video-appears-show-police-horses-trampling-canadian-trucker-protesters-1680847   Number of protesters arrested rises to 170. “As protesters’ numbers dwindled, law enforcement officers armed with batons and guns, some on horseback, appeared to advance at a faster and more forceful pace than the day before as a drone hovered above…. Alongside arrests, police said they used a ‘chemical irritant’ (pepper spray) against some demonstrators [who] they described as ‘assaultive’.”   https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/19/canada-freedom-convoy-protest/

French modeling agent who allegedly supplied girls to Jeffery Epstein found hung in Paris prison cell. “Jean-Luc Brunel, 74, was found hanged by his bedsheets in his cell around 1:30 a.m. local time at La Sante prison, the Paris prosecutor’s office told CNN. Brunel, who ran Karin Models in Paris, and later formed MC2 Model Management with Epstein, was awaiting trial on charges of sexual assault and rape. He was also being investigated for trafficking minors, including girls as young as 12 years old, according to French news reports.”   https://nypost.com/2022/02/19/french-model-agent-pal-of-jeffrey-epstein-found-hanged-in-prison-cell/

One dead, at least five injured after gunfire at civil rights protest in Oregon. “Portland police responded about 8 p.m. to a reported shooting at 55th Avenue and Hassalo Street, which is roughly the southwest corner of Normandale Park. One person was killed. Multiple others were shot, according to media reports. The shooting came as demonstrators gathered at the park for a march seeking justice for Amir Locke, Patrick Kimmons ‘and all others’.”   https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2022/02/shooting-at-ne-portland-park-leaves-1-dead.html   “Officers found one woman dead and two men and three other women were taken to hospital, police said. Their conditions were not immediately known. Police did not immediately name anyone involved in the shooting.”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/20/portland-shooting-protest

Man who was apparently a bystander found fatally shot after gun battle between Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies and homeowner. “The gunman, who was not identified, was hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds, the [Sheriff’s Department] statement said. Deputies also found a 67-year-old man lying in the yard of the house with trauma wounds to his upper torso, sheriff’s officials said. He died at the scene and was later identified as Pedro Lopez. Authorities did not say whether the gunman was suspected in Lopez’s death.”   https://abc7.com/norwalk-shootout-innocent-man-killed/11581000/

World Health Organization to establish vaccine production hubs in six African countries. “Primarily set up to address the Covid-19 pandemic, the global mRNA hub has the potential to expand manufacturing capacity for other vaccines and products, such as insulin to treat diabetes, cancer medicines and, potentially, vaccines for diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV. The WHO established its global mRNA technology transfer hub after vaccine hoarding by wealthy countries – and problems with supply from India, as companies prioritised sales to governments that could pay the highest price – meant low- and middle-income countries were pushed to the back of the queue for Covid-19 vaccines.”   https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/18/six-african-countries-to-begin-making-mrna-vaccines-as-part-of-who-scheme

Israeli police break up anti-eviction protest in East Jerusalem. “Israeli police on horseback scattered protesters in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah where demonstrators poured in to support Palestinians facing eviction by Jewish settlers. The scuffles on Friday came alongside protests elsewhere in the occupied West Bank…. activists who ended up numbering in the hundreds joined them to protest the looming evictions…. Reporters for the AFP news agency observed Israeli border police charging the protesters on horseback after the activists refused to clear a road.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/18/israeli-police-scatter-palestinian-protesters-in-sheikh-jarrah

February 19, 2022

Citizens’ tribunal to examine War on Terror. “The Belmarsh Tribunal coincides with the 20th anniversary of the opening of the concentration camp at occupied Guantánamo Bay on Cuba’s southeastern shore…. On 25 February 2022, at the People’s Forum in New York City, we will convene legal experts, UN representatives, whistleblowers, journalists, and many others to investigate and expose the crimes of the so-called War on Terror, to seek justice for its victims, and to demand the closure of the concentration camp at Guantánamo Bay.”   https://diem25.org/the-belmarsh-tribunal-nyc-shut-down-guantanamo-free-assange-february-25/

Woman requests jury trial, and is sentenced to six years in prison as a result. “A Tennessee woman was sentenced last month to six years and one day in prison for illegally registering to vote while on probation…. while Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich agrees that prison term isn’t proportional to the offense, she says it is justified for a different reason: the defendant, Pamela Moses, insisted on going to trial. ‘I gave her a chance to plead to a misdemeanor with no prison time,’ Weirich said in a statement. ‘She requested a jury trial instead.'”   https://reason.com/2022/02/17/pamela-moses-voter-fraud-requested-jury-trial-6-years-in-prison/

Canada’s prime minister uses ’emergency powers’ to break up trucker demonstration in the country’s capital. “Police, some on horseback, pushed into crowds of demonstrators to clear them from the streets of downtown Ottawa on Friday, arresting more than 100 and hauling away vehicles that had been blocking the capital’s core for more than three weeks in a protest against pandemic restrictions…. Authorities said it may take days to fully remove the protesters and tractor-trailer trucks that have occupied Ottawa streets since January 28th.”   https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/canada-protests-100-arrested-as-police-move-in-on-truck-blockade-1.4807242

Storm breaks wind speed records in England. “The UK [Metropolitan Police] Office expanded its rare ‘danger-to-life’ weather alert on Friday morning to include most of the south of England and some of Wales, before Eunice picked up speed, killing three people in England, with winds as high as 122 miles per hours (mph) — the fastest on record in the country…. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that if global temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius, compared with levels before industrialization, then northern Europe would start to see an increase in the frequency of severe windstorms.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/18/world/storm-eunice-landfall-weather-climate-intl-gbr/index.html

Glowing orb spotted over Hawaii captured on cell phone video. “Can anyone explain what this unidentified flying object is in the sky? It’s been stationary for at least 30 minutes and nobody in Hawaii can figure out what it is.”   https://www.ibtimes.co.in/ufo-news-foo-fighters-appeared-hawaii-alien-debate-watch-845869   Direct link to Twitter video:   https://twitter.com/kjslaughter/status/1493441246752247814

Minneapolis police officer testifies that he failed to intervene to save George Floyd because he feared being fired. “… [officer J. Alexander Kueng] spoke about the department’s culture of rooting out those who didn’t follow orders unconditionally. ‘Was there concern about being fired?’ Kueng’s attorney asked Wednesday. ‘Every day, sir,’ Kueng said. ‘It was clear the chain of command was not to be breached, or else.'”   https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3vq4b/alexander-kueng-feared-being-fired-for-intervening

Large, masked group destroys ‘millions of dollars worth’ of pipeline company equipment in British Columbia. “RCMP officers encountered downed trees, wires, boards with spikes, tar-covered stumps, and fires scattered along 60 kilometres of the roadway leading up to the site.… When officers finally arrived at the worksite, they found significant damage: heavy machinery, fencing, and portable buildings were destroyed. Images show massive construction machinery toppled on its side and other construction vehicles with their windows smashed.… The incident took place at a CGL pipeline site near Houston, B.C.—the same spot where Wet’suwet’en land defenders set up a blockade and opposition camp late last year.”   https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgd5pz/coastal-gaslink-attack-axe-mob

Women’s groups in U.S. and Russia call for de-escalation in Ukraine stand-off. “At a time when poverty is increasing in the US, Ukraine and Russia, when the world collectively faces the existential threat of climate change, a pandemic that has taken 5.8 million lives and caused rising ‘deaths of despair,’ declining life expectancy and extreme inequality, isn’t it time to think anew?” …. Nadezhda Azhgikhina, we thank you so much for being with us, Russian journalist, director of PEN Moscow, authored an open letter titled Independent American and Russian Women Call for Peace, published earlier this week in Russia and the United States in The Nation magazine.”   https://www.democracynow.org/2022/2/18/ukraine_russia_us_women_open_letter

Federal agencies allegedly using cell phone location data harvested from dating apps. “Federal contracting records show that both the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security are among the federal agencies that have recently contracted with X-Mode’s parent company, Digital Envoy. Previous reporting showed X-Mode, which recently rebranded as Outlogic, has also been used by various branches of the military…. The IRS lawyers claimed that ‘data obtained from marketers of information like Venntel is not subject to a warrant because the data is collected by apps loaded on cellphones to which the phone users voluntarily granted access.’ This claim has not been tested in court.”   https://theintercept.com/2022/02/18/location-data-tracking-irs-dhs-digital-envoy/

$500 million in U.S. arms aid for Ukraine doesn’t seem to contain provisions to block access by far right groups. “Last month, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., introduced legislation to give Ukraine $500 million for arms purchases…. The bill mandates a number of reports on U.S. defense equipment transfers and Russian intelligence threats as well as the expansion of American news propaganda. But it makes no mention of reports to oversee whether U.S weapons go to white supremacists like the Azov Battalion…”   https://theintercept.com/2022/02/18/ukraine-weapons-neo-nazis-bob-menendez/

NYPD tweets about crackdown on shoplifters, posts photo of recovered merchandise. “In a Wednesday tweet that has since been deleted, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) wrote: ‘After receiving numerous larceny complaints in the Bronx, officers from the NYPD 44th Precinct recently arrested 12 individuals following an enforcement initiative targeting shoplifters. The arrests made led to the closure of 23 warrants and the recovery of $1,800 worth of merchandise.’ The message was accompanied by an image of confiscated products, including baby formula, diapers, wipes, lotion, shampoo, soap, detergent, and over-the-counter medications…. [Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] connected the dots between the expiration of key pandemic relief programs and surging poverty…”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/02/18/aoc-denounces-nypd-bragging-about-arrests-over-stolen-diapers

February 18, 2022

Americans losing trust in their government and the military. “In 1958, when Americans were first asked by the National Election Study about their trust in the government, 73 percent of respondents said they could trust the government to do the right thing always or most of the time. In 2021, that number dwindled to 24 percent…. The Ronald Reagan Institute found, for the very first time since it began its national defense survey in 2018, that ‘a minority of Americans—only 45%—report having a great deal of trust and confidence in the military.'”   https://reason.com/2022/02/17/public-confidence-in-the-military-is-slipping/

Canadian police have allegedly arrested ‘Freedom Convoy’ protest organizers. “Police began arresting organizers of the self-styled ‘Freedom Convoy’ demonstrations Thursday night, according to a spokesperson for one group involved in arranging the protests, hours after law enforcement pledged to bring an ‘imminent’ end to the demonstrations that have have paralyzed Canada’s capital for weeks…. The arrests of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber were confirmed by Dagny Pawlak, a spokeswoman for Freedom Convoy 2022, one of the main groups organizing the demonstrations.”   https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/17/canada-freedom-convoy-ottawa-protest/

Nineteen Austin, Texas police officers indicted by grand jury in connection with excessive force used against civil rights protesters in 2020. “‘I am not aware of any conduct, that given the circumstances that the officers were working under, would rise to the level of a criminal violation by these officers,’ [Austin Chief of Police Joseph] Chacon said. But beanbag rounds fired by officers did not always perform ‘in the manner anticipated,’ Chacon said, and his agency now prohibits the use of ‘less lethal munitions in crowd-control situations.’…. [Justin] Howell suffered a cracked skull and brain damage, leaving him in critical condition for multiple days…. Anthony Evans… was 26 when an Austin police officer shot him with a beanbag round in a separate incident, which resulted in extensive medical treatment [to] his jaw…. At least 19 people were hospitalized in Austin following the protests.”   https://apnews.com/article/business-shootings-austin-texas-884a81a9663391e79b0ac45c7ae463cd

Dozens of current and former California Highway Patrol officers accused of overtime fraud. “Between 2016 and mid-2018, 54 officers recorded hours of phony overtime while patrolling high-occupancy traffic lanes or providing protection to state transportation workers in construction zones, prosecutors said. ‘The alleged offenses were not discovered earlier because the supervisors who would have been the ones to report these activities were also committing the fraud,’ according to a felony complaint against two of the officers. ‘Moreover, the fraud typically took place during graveyard hours, which was outside of the normal working hours of office managers.’ Of the 54 officers charged, 11 are still employed by the agency, the highway patrol said.”   https://abc7.com/chp-officers-charged-overtime-fraud-scheme-east-los-angeles-la/11575368/

Former leader of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, accused of moving billions abroad. “‘While the elite with ties to Nazarbayev grew richer, poverty grew as well,’ [political scientist Dosym] Satpayev told DW. The energy sector, which boasts considerable oil reserves, has produced great wealth for the ruling elites, while workers have regularly gone on strike over low pay, he explained…. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project recently revealed that charitable foundations controlled by Nursultan Nazarbayev controlled global assets worth some $8 billion (€7 billion). Radio Liberty found that the Nazarbayev family owns luxury properties across Europe (excluding Germany) and the US worth some $800 million (€705 million).”   https://www.dw.com/en/dw-exclusive-nazarbayev-family-owns-german-luxury-real-estate/a-60752454

Gerrymandered election districts will sabotage democracy, say critics. “Several months into the decennial redistricting process, 335 congressional districts have been redrawn as of Thursday. Just 27 of them are considered competitive—meaning neither Democrats nor Republicans have an advantage of more than five points—according to FiveThirtyEight. Dave Wasserman, an elections expert for the non-partisan Cook Political Report, told The Guardian on Thursday that by the time the remaining 100 boundaries are mapped, he expects just 30 to 35 seats—out of 435—to be competitive. If as many as 94% of representatives are running in relatively safe districts, ‘that means that when voters show up at the polls in November to vote for their candidates, the contests will already be decided,’ The Guardian reported. ‘Their votes won’t matter.'”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/02/17/just-6-us-house-seats-expected-be-competitive-thanks-rigged-maps

World’s governments accused of funding environmental destruction instead of transformation to sustainability. “‘At least $1.8 trillion is funding the destruction of nature and changing our climate, while creating huge risks for the very businesses who are receiving the subsidies… Harmful subsidies must be redirected towards protecting the climate and nature, rather than financing our own extinction.’ The report [entitled Financing Our Survival: Building a Nature-Positive Economy Through Subsidy Reform] identifies at least $640 billion in annual fossil fuel subsidies, $520 billion used by the agricultural sector, $350 billion in water management and wastewater infrastructure, and $155 billion subsidizing logging and unsustainable forest management, all of which account for the majority of annual subsidies.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/02/17/humanity-subsidizing-our-own-extinction-warns-study