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Remarks by President Biden on the School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas
May 24, 2022 • Speeches and Remarks
Roosevelt Room
8:41 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, fellow Americans.
I had hoped, when I became President, I would not have to do this again.
Another massacre. Uvalde, Texas. An elementary school. Beautiful, innocent second, third, fourth graders. And how many scores of little children who witnessed what happened see their friends die as if they’re on a battlefield, for God’s sake. They’ll live with it the rest of their lives.
There’s a lot we don’t know yet, but there’s a lot we do know.
There are parents who will never see their child again, never have them jump in bed and cuddle with them. Parents who will never be the same.
To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away. There’s a hollowness in your chest, and you feel like you’re being sucked into it and never going to be able to get out. It’s suffocating. And it’s never quite the same.
And it’s a feeling shared by the siblings, and the grandparents, and their family members, and the community that’s left behind.
Scripture says — Jill and I have talked about this in different contexts, in other contexts: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” So many crushed spirits.
So, tonight, I ask the nation to pray for them, to give the parents and siblings the strength in the darkness they feel right now.
As a nation, we have to ask: When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?
It’s been 340- — 3,448 days — 10 years since I stood up at a high school in Connecticut — a grade school in Connecticut, where another gunman massacred 26 people, including 20 first graders, at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Since then, there have been over 900 incidents of gunfires reported on school grounds.
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Santa Fe High School in Texas. Oxford High School in Michigan. The list goes on and on.
And the list grows when it includes mass shootings at places like movie theaters, houses of worship, and, as we saw just 10 days ago, at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And don’t tell me we can’t have an impact on this carnage.
I spent my career as a senator and as Vice President working to pass commonsense gun laws. We can’t and won’t prevent every tragedy. But we know they work and have a positive impact. When we passed the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down. When the law expired, mass shootings tripled.
The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong.
What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone?
Deer aren’t running through the forest with Kevlar vests on, for God’s sake. It’s just sick.
And the gun manufacturers have spent two decades aggressively marketing assault weapons which make them the most and largest profit.
For God’s sake, we have to have the courage to stand up to the industry.
Here’s what else I know: Most Americans support commonsense laws — commonsense gun laws.
I just got off my trip from Asia, meeting with Asian leaders, and I learned of this while I was on the aircraft. And what struck me on that 17-hour flight — what struck me was these kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world.
Why? They have mental health problems. They have domestic disputes in other countries. They have people who are lost. But these kinds of mass shootings never happen with the kind of frequency that they happen in America. Why?
Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with it and stand up to the lobbies?
It’s time to turn this pain into action.
For every parent, for every citizen in this country, we have to make it clear to every elected official in this country: It’s time to act.
It’s time — for those who obstruct or delay or block the commonsense gun laws, we need to let you know that we will not forget.
We can do so much more. We have to do more.
Our prayer tonight is for those parents, lying in bed and trying to figure out, “Will I be able to sleep again? What do I say to my other children? What happens tomorrow?”
May God bless the loss of innocent life on this sad day. And may the Lord be near the brokenhearted and save those crushed in spirit, because they’re going to need a lot of help and a lot of our prayers.
God love you.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/05/24/a-proclamation-honoring-the-victims-of-the-tragedy-in-uvalde-texas/
A Proclamation Honoring The Victims Of The Tragedy In Uvalde, Texas
May 24, 2022
• Presidential Actions
As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on May 24, 2022, by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, May 28, 2022. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-sixth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/05/24/a-proclamation-honoring-the-victims-of-the-tragedy-in-uvalde-texas/
Remarks by President Biden on the School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas
May 24, 2022 • Speeches and Remarks
Roosevelt Room
8:41 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, fellow Americans.
I had hoped, when I became President, I would not have to do this again.
Another massacre. Uvalde, Texas. An elementary school. Beautiful, innocent second, third, fourth graders. And how many scores of little children who witnessed what happened see their friends die as if they’re on a battlefield, for God’s sake. They’ll live with it the rest of their lives.
There’s a lot we don’t know yet, but there’s a lot we do know.
There are parents who will never see their child again, never have them jump in bed and cuddle with them. Parents who will never be the same.
To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away. There’s a hollowness in your chest, and you feel like you’re being sucked into it and never going to be able to get out. It’s suffocating. And it’s never quite the same.
And it’s a feeling shared by the siblings, and the grandparents, and their family members, and the community that’s left behind.
Scripture says — Jill and I have talked about this in different contexts, in other contexts: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” So many crushed spirits.
So, tonight, I ask the nation to pray for them, to give the parents and siblings the strength in the darkness they feel right now.
As a nation, we have to ask: When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?
It’s been 340- — 3,448 days — 10 years since I stood up at a high school in Connecticut — a grade school in Connecticut, where another gunman massacred 26 people, including 20 first graders, at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Since then, there have been over 900 incidents of gunfires reported on school grounds.
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Santa Fe High School in Texas. Oxford High School in Michigan. The list goes on and on.
And the list grows when it includes mass shootings at places like movie theaters, houses of worship, and, as we saw just 10 days ago, at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And don’t tell me we can’t have an impact on this carnage.
I spent my career as a senator and as Vice President working to pass commonsense gun laws. We can’t and won’t prevent every tragedy. But we know they work and have a positive impact. When we passed the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down. When the law expired, mass shootings tripled.
The idea that an 18-year-old kid can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong.
What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone?
Deer aren’t running through the forest with Kevlar vests on, for God’s sake. It’s just sick.
And the gun manufacturers have spent two decades aggressively marketing assault weapons which make them the most and largest profit.
For God’s sake, we have to have the courage to stand up to the industry.
Here’s what else I know: Most Americans support commonsense laws — commonsense gun laws.
I just got off my trip from Asia, meeting with Asian leaders, and I learned of this while I was on the aircraft. And what struck me on that 17-hour flight — what struck me was these kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world.
Why? They have mental health problems. They have domestic disputes in other countries. They have people who are lost. But these kinds of mass shootings never happen with the kind of frequency that they happen in America. Why?
Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with it and stand up to the lobbies?
It’s time to turn this pain into action.
For every parent, for every citizen in this country, we have to make it clear to every elected official in this country: It’s time to act.
It’s time — for those who obstruct or delay or block the commonsense gun laws, we need to let you know that we will not forget.
We can do so much more. We have to do more.
Our prayer tonight is for those parents, lying in bed and trying to figure out, “Will I be able to sleep again? What do I say to my other children? What happens tomorrow?”
May God bless the loss of innocent life on this sad day. And may the Lord be near the brokenhearted and save those crushed in spirit, because they’re going to need a lot of help and a lot of our prayers.
God love you.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/05/24/a-proclamation-honoring-the-victims-of-the-tragedy-in-uvalde-texas/
She lost her daughter in a mass shooting. Here's what she will tell parents in Uvalde
By Rachel Treisman
Posted 2 hours ago
Steve Jennings Getty Images
Lonny Phillips and Sandy Phillips attend a showing of the film "Under The Gun" at Victoria Theatre on April 27, 2016 in San Francisco, California.
Sandy Phillips has spent the past 10 years advocating for gun control, after her daughter Jessi was killed in the 2012 mass shooting in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater.
Phillips and her husband filed a lawsuit against the gun dealer, but it was dismissed because a federal law (the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act) shields gun manufacturers and dealers from liabilty.
They were ordered to pay the dealer's legal costs, too. So they sold their house and moved into an RV, which they use to travel between mass shootings. Phillips has kept in touch with Morning Edition through the years, and co-host Steve Inskeep spoke with her on Wednesday as she prepares to travel from Buffalo, N.Y., to Uvalde, Texas.
What does she plan to tell grieving family members there? Phillips says her message is blunt, but delivered with love.
"They want to die right now. They don't want to take another breath. And when we go in and we actually meet with these people, we let them know that we felt the same way," she says. "I tell them that if I'd had a gun in the house, I probably would not be here today.
"But ... we did survive, and we did find joy again. And we still miss our daughter and always will. And our lives will never be the same, and neither will theirs."
Phillips notes there's been little progress in gun control reform in the decade since she lost her daughter — despite data indicating there have been 400,000 gun deaths in the United States in that time.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 | A Public Health Crisis Decades in the making
https://efsgv.org/wp-content/uploads/2019CDCdata.pdf
Considering the family members of those victims, she estimates thats more than 1.6 million Americans have been directly affected by gun violence since 2012.
"I want to say it's unbelievable, but it's not," she says of the Uvalde tragedy. "It's predictable. And it's preventable."
Victory, to Phillips, would mean a repeal of PLCAA, a ban on military-style semi-automatic rifles, strong national gun laws and a Cabinet-level office for gun violence prevention.
So what keeps her fighting? It's simple, she says: her daughter.
"Jessi was a kindhearted person and always the one to comfort someone when they were in any kind of trouble, so we've just continued that on to honor her, and to give us a sense of purpose in this world," she says. "And I have to believe we're going to be victorious, that this cannot be the way and the road that our country takes."
Listen to the full interview here. 07:27
https://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=1101141290:1101141291
This article is one of several posted on the link below
Texas shooting live updates: All of the Uvalde victims were in one 4th grade classroom
https://www.npr.org/live-updates/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-05-25-2022#how-world-leaders-are-reacting-to-the-uvalde-shooting
She lost her daughter in a mass shooting. Here's what she will tell parents in Uvalde
By Rachel Treisman
Posted 2 hours ago
Steve Jennings Getty Images
Lonny Phillips and Sandy Phillips attend a showing of the film "Under The Gun" at Victoria Theatre on April 27, 2016 in San Francisco, California.
Sandy Phillips has spent the past 10 years advocating for gun control, after her daughter Jessi was killed in the 2012 mass shooting in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater.
Phillips and her husband filed a lawsuit against the gun dealer, but it was dismissed because a federal law (the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act) shields gun manufacturers and dealers from liabilty.
They were ordered to pay the dealer's legal costs, too. So they sold their house and moved into an RV, which they use to travel between mass shootings. Phillips has kept in touch with Morning Edition through the years, and co-host Steve Inskeep spoke with her on Wednesday as she prepares to travel from Buffalo, N.Y., to Uvalde, Texas.
What does she plan to tell grieving family members there? Phillips says her message is blunt, but delivered with love.
"They want to die right now. They don't want to take another breath. And when we go in and we actually meet with these people, we let them know that we felt the same way," she says. "I tell them that if I'd had a gun in the house, I probably would not be here today.
"But ... we did survive, and we did find joy again. And we still miss our daughter and always will. And our lives will never be the same, and neither will theirs."
Phillips notes there's been little progress in gun control reform in the decade since she lost her daughter — despite data indicating there have been 400,000 gun deaths in the United States in that time.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 | A Public Health Crisis Decades in the making
https://efsgv.org/wp-content/uploads/2019CDCdata.pdf
Considering the family members of those victims, she estimates thats more than 1.6 million Americans have been directly affected by gun violence since 2012.
"I want to say it's unbelievable, but it's not," she says of the Uvalde tragedy. "It's predictable. And it's preventable."
Victory, to Phillips, would mean a repeal of PLCAA, a ban on military-style semi-automatic rifles, strong national gun laws and a Cabinet-level office for gun violence prevention.
So what keeps her fighting? It's simple, she says: her daughter.
"Jessi was a kindhearted person and always the one to comfort someone when they were in any kind of trouble, so we've just continued that on to honor her, and to give us a sense of purpose in this world," she says. "And I have to believe we're going to be victorious, that this cannot be the way and the road that our country takes."
Listen to the full interview here. 07:27
https://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=1101141290:1101141291
This article is one of several posted on the link below
Texas shooting live updates: All of the Uvalde victims were in one 4th grade classroom
https://www.npr.org/live-updates/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-05-25-2022#how-world-leaders-are-reacting-to-the-uvalde-shooting
The Atlantic -- "The narrative is familiar: Gun-control measures can never pass, because the NRA forbids it.
The group buys off all the politicians with its incredible campaign spending. Then it owns their votes, and gets everything it wants. But the reality is starkly different."
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/nra-broken-so-why-cant-democrats-pass-gun-control/620190/
your post: nothing will be done to curb the influence of the NRA. Nothing.
B U T . . . IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER.
The West's megadrought will persist and may get worse in coming months.
Water availability is a high concern
By Rachel Ramirez, CNN
Updated 2:22 PM ET, Thu March 17, 2022
Lake Powell's Wahweap Bay and Marina on February 1 when the reservoir was at 26% of capacity.
(CNN) -- The West's intense multi-year drought is expected to at least continue — if not worsen — in the coming months, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday in its spring outlook.
For the second year in a row, NOAA forecasters are predicting "prolonged, persistent drought in the West where below-average precipitation is most likely," the agency wrote.
Nearly 60% of the Lower 48 was experiencing moderate to exceptional dry conditions this week, the largest area in a decade. In California, which did not get enough much-needed precipitation this winter, extreme drought expanded from 12% of the state to 35% in the past week, according to Thursday's Drought Monitor report.
And there's little to no relief in sight.
Given the combined forecast of low precipitation and high temperatures, "it's very likely, or makes sense, that areas will certainly some of the drought areas will become worse," Jon Gottschalck, a chief at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, said at a news conference.
"[The forecasts] are not favorable" for the drought, Justin Mankin, assistant professor of geography at Dartmouth College and co-lead of NOAA's Drought Task Force, told CNN. "I think you're going to see a rapid re-establishment of conditions analogous to last fall quite quickly across a number of states."
A recent study found the period from 2000 to 2021 was the driest in 1,200 years for the West. Last year's drought severity was "exceptional," those researchers said.
Water availability is a high concern in the West, where the need for precipitation is dire.
"The Southwest’s most important river is drying up"
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/08/us/colorado-river-water-shortage/
Years of low rainfall and more intense heat waves have fed directly to multi-year, unrelenting drought conditions and water shortages. These water concerns are likely to persist this year given NOAA's spring outlook, which calls for below-average precipitation in the West and Southern Plains.
The intense drought has pushed reservoirs in the West to alarmingly low water depths.
"In general, these water shortages are stressing systems. They're stressing communities," Ed Clark, the director of NOAA's National Water Center, told reporters. "In particular, the Colorado River Basin, we are seeing the Bureau of Reclamation begin their calls for for additional actions that will provide or curtail some water allocations."
On the Colorado River, Lake Powell plunged below a critical threshold this week — 3,525 feet above sea level — sparking additional concerns about water supply and a critical source of hydropower generation that millions of people in the Western states rely on for electricity.
According to the US Bureau of Reclamation's drought contingency plans, the 3,525-foot mark is a significant "target elevation" for Lake Powell, under which the situation becomes dire. The 3,525-foot target is crucial because it allows a 35-foot buffer for emergency response to prevent Lake Powell from dropping below the minimum pool elevation of 3,490 feet above sea level, the lowest at which Glen Canyon Dam is able to generate hydropower for millions of people.
Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US, also dipped below a critical level last fall which triggered unprecedented water cuts for states in the Southwest.
"This year the Colorado River Basin has experienced extremely variable conditions with a record high snowpack one month, followed by weeks without snow," Reclamation Acting Commissioner David Palumbo said in a statement last week, in anticipation of the reservoir dropping. "This variable hydrology and a warmer, drier west have drastically impacted our operations and we are faced with the urgent need to manage in the moment."
Brad Pugh, the operational drought lead for NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, also said drought in the West will exacerbate wildfire risk.
"As we go into the summer months, [the drought] will set the stage for elevated risk of wildfire activity," Pugh told reporters. "So as far as preparations go, I just urge the public to stay abreast, stay aware of the public forecasts from the National Weather Service offices as we get closer to the summer wildfire season there in California."
Beyond the West, drought conditions in the South, particularly Texas, have worsened in recent months, with over 90% of the state now in drought, according to the latest US Drought Monitor.
NOAA's report suggests this trend will continue through the spring.
"So while the spring outlook for this year from NOAA look quite similar to last year, there is a key difference about this spring, which is that the drought has expanded eastward, pushing 70% of Texas -— which was less impacted over the last two years — into severe drought," Mankin said.
Texas's drought is in part fueling an extreme fire threat on Thursday, according to the Storm Prediction Center, creating what officials say is "a highly volatile fire environment."
Scientists say the recent drought is just a preview of what's to come, not just for the US but for the rest of the world.
Globally, UN scientists found droughts that may have occurred only once every 10 years or so now happen 70% more frequently due to climate change. Unless the world cuts its reliance on fossil fuels and stabilizes the planet's temperature rise, reservoirs will continue to drain and and wildfires will become more dangerous.
This story has been updated with additional information.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/17/us/noaa-drought-spring-outlook-climate/index.html
Biden says ‘we have to act’ after Texas school shooting
By ZEKE MILLER and CHRIS MEGERIAN an hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lamenting a uniquely American tragedy, an anguished and angry President Joe Biden delivered an urgent call for new restrictions on firearms after a gunman shot and killed at least 19 children at a Texas elementary school.
Biden spoke Tuesday night from the White House barely an hour after returning from a five-day trip to Asia that was bracketed by mass shootings in the U.S. He pleaded for action to address gun violence after years of failure — and bitterly blamed firearm manufacturers and their supporters for blocking legislation in Washington.
’“When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?”
Biden said with emotion. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage?
Why do we keep letting this happen?”
With first lady Jill Biden standing by his side in the Roosevelt Room, the president, who has suffered the loss of two of his own children — though not to gun violence — spoke in visceral terms about the grief of the loved ones of the victims and the pain that will endure for the students who survived.
“To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away,” Biden said. “There’s a hollowness in your chest. You feel like you’re being sucked into it and never going to be able to get out.”
He called on the nation to hold the victims and families in prayer — but also to work harder to prevent the next tragedy, “It’s time we turned this pain into action,” he said.
At least 19 students were killed at Robb Elementary School in the heavily Latino town of Uvalde, Texas, according to local officials. The death toll also included two adults. The gunman died after being shot by responding officers, local police said.
It was just a week earlier that Biden, on the eve of his overseas trip, traveled to Buffalo to meet with victims’ families after a racist, hate-filled shooter killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
The back-to-back tragedies served as sobering reminders of the frequency and brutality of an American epidemic of mass gun violence.
“These kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world,” Biden said, reflecting that other nations have people filled with hate or with mental health issues but no other industrialized nation experiences gun violence at the level of the U.S.
2:24
Biden says ‘we have to act’ after Texas school shooting
By ZEKE MILLER and CHRIS MEGERIAN an hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lamenting a uniquely American tragedy, an anguished and angry President Joe Biden delivered an urgent call for new restrictions on firearms after a gunman shot and killed at least 19 children at a Texas elementary school.
Biden spoke Tuesday night from the White House barely an hour after returning from a five-day trip to Asia that was bracketed by mass shootings in the U.S. He pleaded for action to address gun violence after years of failure — and bitterly blamed firearm manufacturers and their supporters for blocking legislation in Washington.
’“When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?”
Biden said with emotion. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage?
Why do we keep letting this happen?”
With first lady Jill Biden standing by his side in the Roosevelt Room, the president, who has suffered the loss of two of his own children — though not to gun violence — spoke in visceral terms about the grief of the loved ones of the victims and the pain that will endure for the students who survived.
“To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away,” Biden said. “There’s a hollowness in your chest. You feel like you’re being sucked into it and never going to be able to get out.”
He called on the nation to hold the victims and families in prayer — but also to work harder to prevent the next tragedy, “It’s time we turned this pain into action,” he said.
At least 19 students were killed at Robb Elementary School in the heavily Latino town of Uvalde, Texas, according to local officials. The death toll also included two adults. The gunman died after being shot by responding officers, local police said.
It was just a week earlier that Biden, on the eve of his overseas trip, traveled to Buffalo to meet with victims’ families after a racist, hate-filled shooter killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
The back-to-back tragedies served as sobering reminders of the frequency and brutality of an American epidemic of mass gun violence.
“These kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world,” Biden said, reflecting that other nations have people filled with hate or with mental health issues but no other industrialized nation experiences gun violence at the level of the U.S.
2:24
Takeaways: Trump’s big defeat; election denial backfiring
By NICHOLAS RICCARDI an hour ago
Former President Donald Trump’s crusade for vengeance .. https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterms-results-6abc8a67a708c9c90d32022eb08fe544 .. suffered two devastating blows after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger won their primaries Tuesday despite rejecting Trump’s entreaties to reverse his 2020 election loss.
It’s a huge warning sign for the way Republican voters view the former president’s crusade to punish those who were not willing to overturn the will of the voters in 2020.
Voters also demonstrated an openness to embracing scandal-plagued candidates — depending on the candidate, and the scandal.
Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s primary elections in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas and Minnesota:
TRUMP’S BIGGEST PRIMARY DEFEAT
Trump had hoped to turn Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp into an example of the danger in defying him. Instead, Kemp on Tuesday became an example of how Republican incumbents might not have as much to fear from Trump as the former president would like.
Kemp cruised past former U.S. Sen. David Perdue in the Republican primary. The victory came a year and a half after Kemp rejected Trump’s demands to help overturn the presidential election by declaring Trump the winner in Georgia instead of Joe Biden, who actually won.
Perdue’s campaign fixated on Trump’s lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, but Kemp won by flexing the power of his office. To rally the base, he signed laws allowing most Georgians to carry guns without a permit and banning most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. He also announced an investment by Hyundai in a new plant in the state to make batteries for electric vehicles.
Now Kemp will face Democrat Stacey Abrams in a rematch of their 2018 gubernatorial clash. Unlike Trump in 2020, Perdue accepted his defeat Tuesday night, even seeming to brush aside some supporters who took up a chant suggesting there was fraud.
“I’m sorry, but what we’re going to do right now is make sure Stacey Abrams is not governor of this state,” Perdue said.
DANGER OF ELECTION DENIAL
The Georgia governor’s race wasn’t the only Trump grudge match that backfired on the former president. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who personally rejected Trump’s call to “find” enough votes to declare him the winner in Georgia, defeated his Trump-backed primary challenger as well.
[...]
https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-georgia-takeaways-f2226127c5f6223501b77edf277bfd73
Kemp Defeats Trump Pick Perdue in Georgia GOP Governor Race
Governor will face Stacey Abrams in November’s elections
Win bolsters his position that 2020 election results were fair
By Brett Pulley
May 24, 2022, 7:44 PM CDT | Updated on May 24, 2022, 9:12 PM CDT
Governor Brian Kemp won Georgia’s Republican primary, dealing a blow to former President Donald Trump, who incessantly criticized the incumbent for refusing to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.
Trump’s hand-picked choice, former US Senator David Perdue, was defeated by Kemp in Tuesday’s election, according to the Associated Press. With about a third of the votes counted, Kemp had 73% of the votes while Perdue had 22.4%, according to the AP.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-25/kemp-defeats-trump-s-pick-perdue-in-georgia-gop-governor-race
Primary election updates: Kemp projected winner over Trump-pick Perdue in Georgia primary for governor
Gov. Brian Kemp refused to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia.
ByAlexandra Hutzler, Oren Oppenheim, Isabella Murray, andHannah Demissie
Last Updated: May 24, 2022, 9:04 PM ET
. . .
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/?id=84917025
And other areas/countries are coping with MEGADROUGHT issues...
The West's megadrought will persist and may get worse in coming months.
Water availability is a high concern
By Rachel Ramirez, CNN
Updated 2:22 PM ET, Thu March 17, 2022
Lake Powell's Wahweap Bay and Marina on February 1 when the reservoir was at 26% of capacity.
(CNN) -- The West's intense multi-year drought is expected to at least continue — if not worsen — in the coming months, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday in its spring outlook.
For the second year in a row, NOAA forecasters are predicting "prolonged, persistent drought in the West where below-average precipitation is most likely," the agency wrote.
Nearly 60% of the Lower 48 was experiencing moderate to exceptional dry conditions this week, the largest area in a decade. In California, which did not get enough much-needed precipitation this winter, extreme drought expanded from 12% of the state to 35% in the past week, according to Thursday's Drought Monitor report.
And there's little to no relief in sight.
Given the combined forecast of low precipitation and high temperatures, "it's very likely, or makes sense, that areas will certainly some of the drought areas will become worse," Jon Gottschalck, a chief at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, said at a news conference.
"[The forecasts] are not favorable" for the drought, Justin Mankin, assistant professor of geography at Dartmouth College and co-lead of NOAA's Drought Task Force, told CNN. "I think you're going to see a rapid re-establishment of conditions analogous to last fall quite quickly across a number of states."
A recent study found the period from 2000 to 2021 was the driest in 1,200 years for the West. Last year's drought severity was "exceptional," those researchers said.
Water availability is a high concern in the West, where the need for precipitation is dire.
"The Southwest’s most important river is drying up"
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/08/us/colorado-river-water-shortage/
Years of low rainfall and more intense heat waves have fed directly to multi-year, unrelenting drought conditions and water shortages. These water concerns are likely to persist this year given NOAA's spring outlook, which calls for below-average precipitation in the West and Southern Plains.
The intense drought has pushed reservoirs in the West to alarmingly low water depths.
"In general, these water shortages are stressing systems. They're stressing communities," Ed Clark, the director of NOAA's National Water Center, told reporters. "In particular, the Colorado River Basin, we are seeing the Bureau of Reclamation begin their calls for for additional actions that will provide or curtail some water allocations."
On the Colorado River, Lake Powell plunged below a critical threshold this week — 3,525 feet above sea level — sparking additional concerns about water supply and a critical source of hydropower generation that millions of people in the Western states rely on for electricity.
According to the US Bureau of Reclamation's drought contingency plans, the 3,525-foot mark is a significant "target elevation" for Lake Powell, under which the situation becomes dire. The 3,525-foot target is crucial because it allows a 35-foot buffer for emergency response to prevent Lake Powell from dropping below the minimum pool elevation of 3,490 feet above sea level, the lowest at which Glen Canyon Dam is able to generate hydropower for millions of people.
Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US, also dipped below a critical level last fall which triggered unprecedented water cuts for states in the Southwest.
"This year the Colorado River Basin has experienced extremely variable conditions with a record high snowpack one month, followed by weeks without snow," Reclamation Acting Commissioner David Palumbo said in a statement last week, in anticipation of the reservoir dropping. "This variable hydrology and a warmer, drier west have drastically impacted our operations and we are faced with the urgent need to manage in the moment."
Brad Pugh, the operational drought lead for NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, also said drought in the West will exacerbate wildfire risk.
"As we go into the summer months, [the drought] will set the stage for elevated risk of wildfire activity," Pugh told reporters. "So as far as preparations go, I just urge the public to stay abreast, stay aware of the public forecasts from the National Weather Service offices as we get closer to the summer wildfire season there in California."
Beyond the West, drought conditions in the South, particularly Texas, have worsened in recent months, with over 90% of the state now in drought, according to the latest US Drought Monitor.
NOAA's report suggests this trend will continue through the spring.
"So while the spring outlook for this year from NOAA look quite similar to last year, there is a key difference about this spring, which is that the drought has expanded eastward, pushing 70% of Texas -— which was less impacted over the last two years — into severe drought," Mankin said.
Texas's drought is in part fueling an extreme fire threat on Thursday, according to the Storm Prediction Center, creating what officials say is "a highly volatile fire environment."
Scientists say the recent drought is just a preview of what's to come, not just for the US but for the rest of the world.
Globally, UN scientists found droughts that may have occurred only once every 10 years or so now happen 70% more frequently due to climate change. Unless the world cuts its reliance on fossil fuels and stabilizes the planet's temperature rise, reservoirs will continue to drain and and wildfires will become more dangerous.
This story has been updated with additional information.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/17/us/noaa-drought-spring-outlook-climate/index.html
‘Ashamed’ Russian diplomat resigns over Putin’s ‘aggressive war’
By Emily Rauhala
Updated May 23, 2022 at 11:53 a.m. EDT | Published May 23, 2022 at 10:12 a.m. EDT
A diplomat at Russia’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva has resigned over the war in Ukraine, writing that he has never been “so ashamed” of his country, in a rare public rebuke of the war from within the Russian government.
In a letter circulated to colleagues in Geneva and posted on a LinkedIn account in his name as well as on Facebook, Boris Bondarev, counselor at the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, said he had left the civil service Monday.
“For twenty years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on February 24 of this year,” he wrote, referring to the date the invasion was launched.]
“The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, and in fact against the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the people of Russia, with a bold letter Z crossing out all hopes and prospects for a prosperous free society in our country.”
The scathing letter is one of the most high-profile critiques of the war — and its architects — to come from within the Russian government.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that dissent won’t be tolerated, saying in March that the Russian people can distinguish “true patriots from scum and traitors.
Anatoly Chubais, Putin’s special representative on sustainable development, resigned and left Russia in March, but did not publicly comment on his reasons for departing.
Russian officials have yet to comment on the case. But critics of the war can face punishment under laws that make it a crime to spread “false information” about the Russian military, including by calling the war a war, rather than a “special operation” — Putin’s preferred term.
Reached by phone by the Associated Press on Monday, Bondarev confirmed that he had handed in his resignation in a letter addressed to Ambassador Gennady Gatilov. He told the AP he had no plans to leave Geneva.
Bondarev took direct aim at Russia’s ruling class. “Those who conceived this war want only one thing — to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity,” he wrote.
“To achieve that they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes,” the letter continued. “Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have already died just for this.”
An online directory .. https://www.ungeneva.org/en/blue-book/missions/member-states/russian-federation .. for the United Nations in Geneva lists Bondarev as counselor at the Russian Federation’s mission. The LinkedIn profile says he is a specialist in arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation and suggests he has been in his current role since 2019.
The final section of his letter calls out the ministry where he worked, singling out Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whom he cites as an example of the degradation of Russian diplomacy.
Lavrov, he wrote, “went from a professional and educated intellectual, whom many my colleagues held in such high esteem, to a person who constantly broadcasts conflicting statements and threatens the world (that is, Russia too) with nuclear weapons!”
The ministry of today “is not about diplomacy,” but “warmongering, lies and hatred.”
Bondarev’s very public resignation led to calls for other Russian officials to follow suit.
“Boris Bondarev is a hero,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch, a Geneva-based nongovernmental organization, who circulated a copy of the Russian diplomat’s letter on Twitter. “We are now calling on all other Russian diplomats at the United Nations—and worldwide—to follow his moral example and resign.”
BREAKING: ???? Russia’s Counsellor to the United Nations in Geneva has resigned.
Boris Bondarev: “Never have I been so ashamed of my country.”
UN Watch is now calling on all other Russian diplomats at the United Nations—and worldwide—to follow his moral example and resign.
??: pic.twitter.com/ZuKqq0gJO8
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 23, 2022
“This is an unbelievable letter below from a top Russian diplomat denouncing Putin in no uncertain terms,” tweeted Bill Browder, the founder of Hermitage Capital and a prominent critic of Putin.
“This is the language that all Russian officials and oligarchs should use if they have any chance of being treated gently by the West.”
Bondarev’s letter closed with a farewell to the ministry — and a nod to his rather precarious state.
“The Ministry has become my home and family. But I simply cannot any longer share in this bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy,” he wrote, adding, “Job offers are welcome …”
Annabelle Timsit in London and Robyn Dixon in Riga, Latvia, contributed to this report.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/23/russia-diplomat-resigns-united-nations-ukraine-war/
UPDATE on Clinton and Russian contact...
your link: Clinton OK'd leak to reporter about alleged Trump-Russia tie, her campaign manager says
https://news.yahoo.com/clinton-okd-leak-to-reporter-about-alleged-trump-russian-tie-her-campaign-manager-says-200540563.html
FLASHBACK - Decade in the Red: Trump Tax Figures Show Over $1 Billion in Business Losses
"Trump Tax Records Reveal New Inconsistencies — This Time for Trump Tower
Documents show the president’s company reported different numbers — higher ones to lenders, lower ones to tax officials — for Trump’s signature building. Last month, ProPublica revealed a similar pattern in two other Trump buildings."
[...]
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=157986751
It wasn't ... until you showed up.
"Why is this website filled with idiots?"
I doubt it. Any major change in the military is usually a slow process.
But hopefully the Navy is seriously addressing the issue(s).
A surge in Navy deserters could be a sign of a bigger problem for the military
NPR
May 21, 20222, 2: 26 PM ET
Dustin Jones
In 2021, 157 sailors illegally fled the U.S. Navy, more than double the number who deserted in 2019. Although all but eight of them eventually returned to their units, a military legal expert says the dramatic increase in desertions may be a sign of a bigger issue.
The Navy has seen an increase in desertions over the previous three years. In 2019, 63 sailors fled from their duty stations, and another 98 did so in 2020, a Navy spokesperson, Lt. Cmdr. Devin Arneson, told NPR. The number of deserters still at large had been on the decline between 2017 and 2019.
But other branches of the military didn't see a similar increase in the past three years. Desertions in the Army dropped by 47%, from 328 in 2019 to 174 in 2021, and the Marine Corps reported 59 in 2019 and 31 in 2021. The Coast Guard said it didn't record a single deserter between 2019 and 2021.
The increase in Navy desertions was first reported by NBC News.
"Navy desertions have more than doubled amid suicide concerns, as sailors feel trapped by contracts"
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/navy-desertions-doubled-suicide-concerns-sailors-feel-trapped-contract-rcna28516
Arneson said she cannot speculate about the increase in Navy desertions or why a sailor would choose desertion — an unauthorized absence in which a military member has no intention of returning. It's a grave offense that can result in a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay, a loss of benefits and jail time.
Leaving the military early is almost impossible, a legal expert says
But one former JAG officer — with over 11 years of military justice experience — said the issue underscores a harsh reality for some service members who find themselves seemingly stuck in a line of work they dislike that's tied to a multiyear contract.
Stephanie Kral spent over seven years in the Air Force serving as a legal officer. She served as a senior trial council litigator and defense attorney before leaving the service to work as a civilian military defense lawyer. She said many of the service members who resort to desertion are junior enlisted members with limited options should their military experience unfold differently from what they had hoped.
"[For] somebody who just doesn't like the environment, it's almost impossible to leave," Kral told NPR.
And though there are ways out — such as a medical discharge for individuals with health conditions preventing them from fulfilling their duties — the waters surrounding mental health are a bit murkier.
"Somebody who's suffering with an acute mental health crisis ... should not ordinarily result in a mental health discharge," Kral said. "What should happen is that they receive the care and treatment that they need to be ready to rehab their mental health and then go back to being a member of the fleet. Unfortunately, that's not always what we see."
Arneson said in statement provided to NPR that the Navy recognizes that sailors are subjected to an array of stressful situations over the course of their service and that the mental health of every member is an important part to mission success.
But Kral said that sailors, Marines, soldiers and other members of the armed forces often don't have access to the help they need.
"Regardless of what upper-level leadership says about trying to erase the stigma of mental health in our services, that does not play out when you get to the boots on the ground or the deck-plate level of actual experiences of junior service members," Kral said.
Military members who feel trapped by their contracts find themselves in a precarious position. They can stay in a job they hate and wait for their contract to end; they can become a deserter — a fugitive on the run; or, in the most extreme circumstances, they can choose to take their own life, Kral said.
Kral said if desertion is becoming an issue, then perhaps the military should explore other options regarding how to handle individuals who want to leave the service.
"Right now, the ability to discharge or to end the contract early is essentially entirely in the hands of big Navy, big Air Force, big Army. They are the ones that get to decide," Kral said. "So it puts the military in a position of power to, frankly, just abuse their people [and] not provide them resources [and] put them in situations like on the [USS] George Washington."
Kral was referring to a string of suicides aboard the aircraft carrier that is undergoing extensive repairs in Virginia. Three sailors aboard USS George Washington died by suicide in one week in April, which has prompted an investigation set to be released next year, the U.S. Naval Institute News reported.
Leaders should consider moving away from insisting junior servicemembers pursue a long-term military career, Kral said, and instead provide a way out for those who no longer want to serve. She also acknowledges that the Defense Department has a job to do, and allowing service members leave when times get hard doesn't coincide with an effective military.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (en español: 1-888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. Members of the military community can contact the Military Crisis Line.
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/21/1100512920/navy-deserters-more-than-doubled-indicator-of-bigger-problem
US State Department announces new program to provide "evidence of Russia-perpetrated war crimes"
7 hr 13 min ago
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
The US State Department on Tuesday announced the launch of a new program “to capture, analyze, and make widely available evidence of Russia-perpetrated war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine.”
The program, called the Conflict Observatory, “encompasses the documentation, verification, and dissemination of open-source evidence regarding the actions of Russia’s forces during President Putin’s brutal war of choice,” according to a media note from the State Department.
“The Conflict Observatory will analyze and preserve publicly and commercially available information, including satellite imagery and information shared via social media, consistent with international legal standards, for use in ongoing and future accountability mechanisms,” the note said. “This includes maintaining rigorous chain-of-custody procedures for future civil and criminal legal processes under appropriate jurisdictions.”
The information will be shared publicly via an online platform, the statement added.
The State Department said the program is a collaboration with “Esri, a leading geographic information systems company, Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, and PlanetScape Ai,” and the “the U.S. government has also contributed commercial satellite imagery to these efforts.”
The State Department said it expects international partner organizations to join the program. Reports will be available at https://conflictobservatory.org/ website.
https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-05-17-22/index.html
Profile: Who are Ukraine’s far-right Azov regiment?
" These are the Nazi azov military but won’t say it "
The far-right neo-Nazi group has expanded to become part of Ukraine’s armed forces, a street militia and a political party.
A veteran of the Ukrainian national guard's Azov Battalion conducts military exercises for civilians in Kyiv, Ukraine on January 30, 2022 [File: Gleb Garanich/Reuters]
1 Mar 2022
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its sixth day, a Ukrainian far-right military regiment is back in the headlines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin referenced the presence of such units within the Ukrainian military as one of the reasons for launching his so-called “special military operation … to de-militarise and de-Nazify Ukraine”.
[...]
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/1/who-are-the-azov-regiment
There are always new developments in Russia's war with Ukraine ...
U.S. launches program to capture, analyze evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine
May 17, 20223:24 PM CDT Last Updated 5 hours ago
By Daphne Psaledakis
War crime prosecutor's team member speaks on the phone next to buildings that were destroyed by Russian shelling,
amid Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, Ukraine April 7, 2022. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Tuesday announced the launch of a new program to capture and analyze evidence of war crimes and other atrocities allegedly perpetrated by Russia in Ukraine, as Washington seeks to ensure Moscow is held accountable for its actions.
The State Department in a statement said the so-called Conflict Observatory will encompass documentation, verification and dissemination of open-source evidence of Russia's actions in Ukraine. Reports and analyses will be made available through the Conflict Observatory's website.
U.S. President Joe Biden has hammered Russia over what he calls "major war crimes" committed in Ukraine, and has underscored his resolve to hold Moscow accountable for launching the largest land war in Europe since World War Two.
The Kyiv government has accused Russia of atrocities and brutality against civilians during the invasion and said it has identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes.
Russia denies targeting civilians and says, without evidence, that signs of atrocities were staged.
The U.S. State Department said the new program, which is being established with an initial $6 million investment, will analyze and preserve information, including satellite imagery and information shared on social media, so it can be used in ongoing and future accountability mechanisms.
"This new Conflict Observatory program is part of a range of U.S. government efforts at both national and international levels designed to ensure future accountability for Russia’s horrific actions," the statement said.
The program is a collaboration with geographic information systems company Esri, Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative and PlanetScape Ai, the State Department said, adding that future funding will come from the European Democratic Resilience Initiative.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the United States has been engaged through a variety of mechanisms to collect and document evidence of potential war crimes and atrocities with relevant prosecutors, state entities and organizations.
But the new program, he told reporters, will share those findings for the public and authorities in areas of appropriate jurisdiction, including within Ukraine and possibly the United States, "so that prosecutors can potentially even build criminal cases based on the material that is published."
A Ukrainian court held a preliminary hearing on Friday in the first war crimes trial arising from Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, after charging a captured Russian soldier with the murder of a 62-year-old civilian. read more
Russia has bombed cities to rubble and hundreds of civilian bodies have been found in towns where its forces withdrew since starting what it calls a special operation to demilitarize Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies say it is a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on April 25 it would take part in a joint team with Ukrainian, Polish and Lithuanian prosecutors investigating war crimes allegations against Russian forces.
Ukraine has little experience in prosecuting such cases. Its parliament last year adopted legislation to provide a legal framework for war crimes prosecutions in line with international practice, Zera Kozlyieva, deputy head of the war crimes unit in the prosecutor general’s office, said last month.
She said the country had only convicted three individuals previously for crimes between 2014 and the February invasion this year. Those were related to the conflict in the disputed Donbas region and Crimea, which was annexed by Russia.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-launches-new-program-collect-evidence-russian-war-crimes-ukraine-2022-05-17/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=afternoon-docket
Former Russian colonel criticizes the country's invasion of Ukraine on state television
From Tim Lister, Anastasia Graham Yooll and Taras
Zadorozhnyy
6 hr 12 min ago
In rare public criticism of the conduct of Russia's military operations in Ukraine, a former senior Russian officer has warned on state television that the situation will get worse.
Let's not drink 'information tranquilizers,' because sometimes information is spread about some moral or psychological breakdown of Ukraine's armed forces, as if they are nearing a crisis of morale or a fracture," retired Col. Mikhail Khodarenok said on Monday’s edition of Rossiya
One’s 60 Minutes show. "None of this is close to reality."
Despite pushback from the show’s presenter, Khodarenok said that Ukraine could arm one million people.
"Considering that European aid will come into full effect and one million armed Ukrainian soldiers can join the fight, we need to see this reality of the near future, and we need to consider that in our operational and strategic calculations. The situation for us will frankly get worse," he said.
Khodarenok, a regular commentator in Russian media, also commented on Russia's broader isolation.
"Let's look at this situation as a whole from our overall strategic position," he said. "Let’s not swing missiles in Finland's direction – this just looks ridiculous. The biggest problem with our military and political situation is that we are in total geopolitical isolation. And the whole world is against us — even if we don’t want to admit it."
Khodarenok warned before the invasion started that it would be more difficult than many anticipated to wage war in Ukraine.
In an article in February, he said, "the degree of hatred (which, as you know, is the most effective fuel for armed struggle) in the neighboring republic towards Moscow is frankly underestimated. No one will meet the Russian army with bread, salt and flowers in Ukraine."
Expert claims that Russian forces will defeat Ukraine in a short period of time "have no serious grounds," he had said.
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-05-17-22/h_03b8b926d3f8aa69994c715250c7dd00
Scheffler Spieth Lowry Thomas McIlroy 270
Biden orders federal flags be flown at half-staff to mark 1 million COVID deaths
Brigid Kennedy May 12, 2022
In anticipation of the U.S. reaching 1 million COVID-19 deaths, President Biden on Thursday ordered flags at all federal buildings to be flown at half-staff until next Monday, The New York Times reports.
Additionally, Biden released a formal statement .. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/05/12/statement-from-president-joe-biden-marking-one-million-american-lives-lost-to-covid-19/ .. urging Americans to "remain vigilant against this pandemic and do everything we can to save as many lives as possible," before calling on Congress to "sustain these resources in the coming months."
Billions in COVID aid is locked in a Senate GOP-led blockade .. https://theweek.com/covid-19/1013470/10-billion-covid-aid-package-remains-stalled-in-senate-as-new-wave-looms .. despite the administration's warnings of dwindling resources and an impending wave of infections.
Also: "A Proclamation on Remembering the 1,000,000 Americans Lost to COVID-?19"
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/05/12/a-proclamation-on-remembering-the-1000000-americans-lost-to-covid-19/
Biden's statement arrived before the start of his second COVID-19 summit, .. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/12/us/politics/biden-covid-summit.html .. which is "aimed at injecting new urgency into the global coronavirus response," the Times writes.
As of mid-day Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had reported over 995,000 COVID deaths nationwide; a Times tracker put the number closer to 997,500. NBC News, meanwhile, estimated the U.S. to have crossed the 1 million mark last week.
https://theweek.com/briefing/1013522/how-to-think-about-1-million-covid-19-deaths
Biden orders federal flags be flown at half-staff to mark 1 million COVID deaths
Brigid Kennedy May 12, 2022
In anticipation of the U.S. reaching 1 million COVID-19 deaths, President Biden on Thursday ordered flags at all federal buildings to be flown at half-staff until next Monday, The New York Times reports.
Additionally, Biden released a formal statement .. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/05/12/statement-from-president-joe-biden-marking-one-million-american-lives-lost-to-covid-19/ .. urging Americans to "remain vigilant against this pandemic and do everything we can to save as many lives as possible," before calling on Congress to "sustain these resources in the coming months."
Billions in COVID aid is locked in a Senate GOP-led blockade .. https://theweek.com/covid-19/1013470/10-billion-covid-aid-package-remains-stalled-in-senate-as-new-wave-looms .. despite the administration's warnings of dwindling resources and an impending wave of infections.
Also: "A Proclamation on Remembering the 1,000,000 Americans Lost to COVID-?19"
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/05/12/a-proclamation-on-remembering-the-1000000-americans-lost-to-covid-19/
Biden's statement arrived before the start of his second COVID-19 summit, .. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/12/us/politics/biden-covid-summit.html .. which is "aimed at injecting new urgency into the global coronavirus response," the Times writes.
As of mid-day Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had reported over 995,000 COVID deaths nationwide; a Times tracker put the number closer to 997,500. NBC News, meanwhile, estimated the U.S. to have crossed the 1 million mark last week.
https://theweek.com/briefing/1013522/how-to-think-about-1-million-covid-19-deaths
All of Lyin' President Trump's Lies About the Coronavirus
An unfinished compendium of Trump’s overwhelming dishonesty during a national emergency
Christian Paz
August 31, 2020
Editor’s Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers.
Find the collection here. https://www.theatlantic.com/category/what-you-need-know-coronavirus/
Updated at 11:25 a.m. ET on August 31, 2020.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly lied about the coronavirus pandemic and the country’s preparation for this once-in-a-generation crisis.
Here, a collection of the biggest lies he’s told as the nation endures a public-health and economic calamity. This post will be updated as needed.
[ ... ]
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=158020433
The Clearest Account Yet of How Trump’s Team Botched the Pandemic
Deborah Birx’s Silent Invasion offers more detail and nuance than any other pandemic book.
By Richard J. Tofel
May 13, 2022, 9:48 AM ET
The U.S. response to the pandemic has already spawned a range of speedily published books.
A few notable examples have come from masters of journalistic narrative, including Michael Lewis and Lawrence Wright; former officials, such as Scott Gottlieb and Andy Slavitt; and newspaper reporters, especially Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta.
But the most significant entry so far, the book that should be an indispensable resource for future historians, is Silent Invasion by Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force under President Donald Trump.
Birx’s book has received relatively little attention in the two weeks since it was published—it still has not been reviewed by The Washington Post or the Los Angeles Times, for instance, or sparked nearly as much chatter as Mark Esper’s less consequential memoir that was also just released. Much of the attention that has been paid to Birx has focused not on the contents of the book, but on Birx herself, who witnessed and failed to stem fatal mistakes and poor decision making (with the notable exception of vaccine development) during her almost-one-year tenure on the task force. That’s a shame, because the book is the best account we have so far of how Trump’s team botched the pandemic response so badly.
Birx does a very good job of distilling what went wrong. She repeatedly emphasizes what she identifies as the principal fault in the Trump administration’s pandemic response: a failure to recognize the importance of asymptomatic transmission (thus the book’s title). She laments testing problems, including initial refusals to enlist the private sector, mistakes at the CDC, and later failures to ramp up diagnostics. Birx also cites the CDC’s consistent failure to develop good data about the pandemic, and places this at the center of reforms she proposes toward the book’s end.
But what sets Silent Invasion apart is how Birx, with the writing assistance of Gary Brozek, unhesitatingly names names (and dates and places). She does so with much more detail and nuance than we’ve had from anyone else. Birx paints a portrait of an administration in full, made up of people with a mix of talents and motivations. Where other chroniclers describe the White House as if it had just one occupant, Birx gives us the full cast. The book’s first 150 pages, on the period from January through March 2020, are especially riveting. In the early crucial weeks of the crisis, she writes, “some roaming the halls of the West Wing believed that the less we did, the less we would be held accountable for whatever was about to happen.”
Birx has her own list of bad guys. The worst is Scott Atlas, the radiologist whose epidemiology advice Trump came to take. Atlas, she writes, repeatedly responded to group emails from her by hitting “Reply All” and then removing her from the list before sending. Other lead villains include presidential Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (who seems to care only about politics) and vice-presidential Chief of Staff Marc Short (who seems to care only about protecting his boss from his boss). Also: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the entrenched and inflexible staff of the CDC, the out-of-its-depth staff of the Council of Economic Advisers, the politically wobbly World Health Organization, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who, Birx indicates, knew better but caved to political pressure. Birx is forthright in calling out numerous examples of her sexist treatment by other White House staffers, especially Meadows and Short.
The forces for good, in her view, include some surprises. She portrays Vice President Mike Pence and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner as often aiding work that Trump loudly derided. Pence never seemed publicly at variance with Trump, and Kushner has been widely criticized for inept logistical efforts, but Birx offers a few convincing examples of moments when they worked to quietly facilitate some positive actions. Birx also praises her friend Matt Pottinger, who served as a deputy national security adviser, along with governors including Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Doug Ducey of Arizona. In between, alternately bolstering and disappointing her, are her longtime colleagues Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Robert Redfield.
Other pandemic-book writers have been forced to speculate about what happened outside of Trump’s immediate environment. More than a year has passed since the former administration left office, but the inner workings of its response to the pandemic have still remained out of view. Perhaps that’s why so much coverage focused single-mindedly on Trump, the loudest and most shocking voice, while largely neglecting the rest of the team. But Birx was in the building, watching everything unfold, and she can and does shine light on details that others can’t. She later drove around the country and talked with governors and other local leaders, and has a real basis for comparing their performance.
She does not, however, neglect the central character in Washington. A career public-health worker and career Army officer (on active duty from 1980 until 2008), Birx refuses to sum up her views of Trump personally, but she offers more than enough detail for readers, including historians, to reach their own conclusions. She describes her first meeting with Trump, on March 2, 2020, when she tried to explain to him that the virus “is not the flu.” Trump listened for a minute, briefly challenged her, then literally changed the channel on one of the TV screens he had simultaneously been watching.
Birx didn’t stand up to Trump in public while she worked for him. In the book, she laments her most public lapse: When Trump seemed to advocate consuming disinfectant in a live televised briefing, and she feebly and quietly uttered, “Not as a treatment.”
She should have been more forceful, she writes, “should have ignored my deeply ingrained, military-honed instinct not to publicly correct a superior.”
Birx’s refusal to publicly oppose Trump during her time in the White House continues to haunt her reputation. Her subsequent interviews—like her book—have been revealing, but they’ve also often been criticized as too little, too late. This criticism has some merit. Some cynics may believe that she has written her book to obscure the record. I’m more inclined to believe that she continues to be motivated by her own sense of duty, and wants the rest of us to see what she saw.
The book makes a compelling case that much of the blame laid at Birx’s door for Trump-era pandemic shortcomings is an oversimplification, or worse. Birx details how, in private, she and other officials sought to counter Trump’s resistance to fighting the pandemic. In August 2020, Birx writes, Trump hung up on her when she refused to back down after he insisted that “the virus is under control.
” She is remarkably candid about how she and her colleagues manipulated Trump into the initial 15-day shutdown in March, and then its 30-day extension, which he almost immediately regretted. (Neither Trump nor anyone in his camp seems to have responded to Birx’s book publicly.)
Birx portrays herself as an experienced bureaucratic infighter. For example, when Pence’s chief of staff told her that the stark language in bullet points at the top of a daily report was too politically explosive, she simply inserted almost identical language farther down in the document, where the busy politicos trying to stifle her would fail to see it. She’s the sort of person who still counts it as a win when her initiatives are refuted publicly but actually remain unchanged.
But Birx seems to have been in over her head in the toxic office politics of the Trump White House. For instance, she speculates at length in the book about which of her rivals was trying to undermine her by releasing a memo she wrote warning of the late-2020 surge on the eve of the presidential election. In this instance, it seems likely that Mark Meadows was right: As Birx writes in the book, he told her that the leak was intended to affect the election, not her career.
Birx had been much more comfortable working for President George W. Bush, who, she writes, “created a space where people could succeed, supported us to make the impossible possible. Trump’s White House was the opposite in many ways.” When Birx was feeling particularly exasperated by Trump, Bush convinced her not to resign.
Deborah Birx could not bring order to the chaos of the Trump White House, or reason or compassion to its management of the pandemic. The resulting losses were huge.
But none of that takes away from what Silent Invasion has to offer. Birx has given us an important record of how and why all those losses were suffered. With COVID cases once again on the rise, her reflections can be put to important use, both as yesterday’s history is written and as today’s unfolds.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/05/trump-covid-pandemic-response-silent-invasion/629847/
Spain finds yacht and other assets of 15 sanctioned Russian oligarchs
May 12, 2022 12:13 PM CDT Last Updated 7 hours ago
By Corina Pons
1/2 The yacht called "Lady Anastasia" owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Mikheyev
is seen at Port Adriano in the Spanish island of Mallorca, Spain March 15, 2022. REUTERS/Juan Medina
2/2 Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's super yacht Solaris is seen at Barcelona Port
in Barcelona, Spain, March 3, 2022. REUTERS/ Albert Gea
MADRID, May 12 (Reuters) - The Spanish authorities have identified assets, including houses, companies and at least one luxury yacht, belonging to 15 Russian oligarchs on the EU sanctions list, an official overseeing property registries told Reuters on Thursday.
Mariano García Fresno, the head of the General Council of Notaries' money laundering prevention unit, said the unit had detected activity after the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine as the oligarchs sought to transfer their stakes in some companies to relatives or associates to avoid detection.
"They were already starting to move these holdings, especially in Spanish companies, or holdings or shares in foreign companies," García Fresno said.
"We have located some 15 people from that (EU sanctions) list and another 105 people linked to them or family members (...) There are people who are less well known on the list, but some of them were among the best known."
Every week since Russia invaded Ukraine, the European Union has introduced new sanctions on Moscow, adding hundreds of top politicians, businessmen and military staff to its blacklist.
Implementation, however, faces legal constraints and difficulties in identifying the real owners of assets, such as real estate, yachts or bank accounts.
This week, the European Commission, the EU executive, said it would introduce a legislative proposal to prosecute those who attempted to evade sanctions, for instance by transferring their assets to family members.
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After reviewing more than 1,000 names among millions of transactions registered with Spain's public notaries since 2004, García Fresno's unit established that sanctioned oligarchs had stakes in at least 10 Spanish companies and 13 foreign ones.
The information was handed over to the country's financial intelligence unit and the Treasury and, in late April, the government confirmed it had frozen 12 funds and bank accounts linked to five people on the sanctions list, along with three luxury yachts and 23 properties.
Companies linked to Russian oligarchs own some 35 real estate properties in Spain, including several luxury homes, García Fresno said, as well as bank accounts and stakes in companies operating in Spain and elsewhere in Europe.
His unit found that in Spain foreign companies owned the companies that owned assets linked to the oligarchs, but even though there were two or three intermediaries, the prevention unit was able to track their ownership through databases.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spain-finds-yacht-other-assets-15-sanctioned-russian-oligarchs-2022-05-12/