Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Massive Russian convoy heads toward Kyiv as first round of peace talks ends
Axios | Zachary Basu, Dave Lawler | 02/28/22

As a first round of peace talks concluded at the Ukraine-Belarus border on Monday, Ukrainian cities including Kharkiv in the east were continuing to face some of the heaviest shelling of the war thus far, with reports of significant civilian casualties.

The latest: A Russian convoy stretching over 17 miles — comprised of hundreds of armored vehicles, tanks, towed artillery and logistics support vehicles — continues to move toward Kyiv from the north, according to satellite imagery from Maxar.

1. A senior U.S. defense official said the Russia's goal continues to be to "encircle Kyiv from multiple locations," and to capture the cities of Kharkiv and Mariupol to isolate eastern Ukraine.
2. As peace talks were just beginning, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said dozens of civilians had been killed and hundreds wounded by indiscriminate shelling in Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million on the border with Russia.
3. Journalists in the Ukrainian capital are reporting missile fire and loud explosions, with repeated air raid sirens urging civilians to shelter over the past several hours.

Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court
Axios | Hans Nichols, Sam Baker | 02/25/22

Why it matters: Jackson would be the first Black female justice in the court's history, and the first justice in decades with any significant experience representing criminal defendants.

Catch up quick: In many ways, Jackson has the resume we've come to expect from Supreme Court justices: Harvard Law, a Supreme Court clerkship, some time at prestigious corporate law firms, and a seat on the federal judiciary — specifically, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

She also served for two years as a federal public defender, and she was a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission at a time when that panel significantly rolled back federal sentencing guidelines for many drug offenses. ... Read more

Russia's invasion of Ukraine: War has returned to Europe | DW News | 02/24/22 | 25:20

War in Europe - Drama in Ukraine (1/2) | DW Documentary | 02/24/22 | 53:25

Chernobyl’s Blown Up Reactor 4 Just Woke Up
HistoryofYesterday.com/ | Andrei Tapalaga | 09/17/21

The nuclear disaster that occurred in 1986 will forever be remembered, but the world will soon have a reminder of the event as the zone for some reason (yet unexplained by scientists)is becoming more radioactive. For those who may not be aware of the incident here is an article to get you up to speed.

Underneath reactor 4 there is still nuclear fuel that is active and which will take around 20,000 years for it to deplete. The uranium is too radioactive for anyone to live in the city and since the incident, the European Union had created a shield around the reactor which should not allow for the radioactive particles to come out.

"Chernobyl officials presumed any criticality risk would fade when the massive New Safe Confinement (NSC) was slid over the Shelter in November 2016."

"The €1.5 billion structure was meant to seal off the Shelter so it could be stabilized and eventually dismantled."

However, many other parts around Chernobyl have also been affected due to prolonged exposure, some more than others, and many of them have not been contained as they were not presenting any major radioactive activity until now. Neil Hyatt, a nuclear chemist from the University of Sheffield had mentioned that there is a possibility for the uranium fuel to reignite on its own. ... Read more

PUTIN SHAKES WORLD
Axios | Zachary Basu, Mike Allen | 02/24/22

Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine -- including attacking the capital, Kyiv -- in an overnight barrage that was swift, broad and ruthless. The attack was exactly in line with President Biden's dire forecasts.

Why it matters: The world is waking up to a new era of global upheaval. Two sovereign nations are in a conventional war in Europe for the first time since World War II, with huge ramifications for the power dynamics of Russia and the superpowers, the U.S. and China.

What's happening: Russian forces were confirmed on Thursday to have crossed the Ukrainian border by land, air and sea from Russia, Belarus and Crimea.

Russia attacks Ukraine
Politico | Alexander Ward | 02/24/22

Russian missiles struck airports, military positions and cities across Ukraine, including the capital of Kyiv, early Thursday as Vladimir Putin launched the most dangerous phase of his eight-year war.

Witnesses and reporters heard blasts from Kharkiv in the east to Kyiv in the north to Odessa in the south, signaling Russian's sights are set far beyond the Donbas region.

In a statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his nation suffered "strikes on military and other important defense facilities," adding that "border units are under attack, the situation in the Donbas has degraded."

Separately, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov added that the "enemy began intense shelling of our units in the east, as well as military control centers and airfields in other regions." ... Read more

Wildfire risk will jump 30% by 2050, UN says
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 02/23/22

Destructive wildfires like the ones that have ravaged the U.S. West Coast in the past couple years are set to become 50% more common by the end of this century, the UN warns in a new report.

Driving the news: Global warming and land-use change would make wildfires more frequent and intense, with a 14% increase by 2030 and a 30% rise by 2050 projected, according to the study published Wednesday by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the environmental nonprofit GRID-Arendal.

1. "From Australia to Canada, the United States to China, across Europe and the Amazon, wildfires are wreaking havoc on the environment, wildlife, human health and infrastructure," notes the report, which involved more than 50 international researchers.
2. '"The 2020 Siberian heatwave that was associated with extensive burning in the Arctic Circle was the first event shown to be almost impossible without climate change, with the likelihood of this happening being only once in 80,000 years without anthropogenic emissions, and climate change increasing the chances of prolonged heat by a factor of at least 600." ... Read more

How Putin’s Designs on Ukraine Reflect the “Dangerous Nostalgia” of a Lost Empire
TheIntercept | Murtaza Hussain | 02/22/22

AS EUROPE FACES the grim prospect of a land war on a scale it has not seen since World War II, it was Kenya’s ambassador to the United Nations, Martin Kimani, who delivered a message that struck at the heart of the crisis: a lingering nostalgia for empire.

At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, called to discuss the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Kimani did not just condemn the threat to Ukrainian sovereignty by President Vladimir Putin’s government. He went further, highlighting how an unceasing obsession over territory and borders is continuing to drive violence around the world, long after the European empires that drew those demarcations have vanished from the map. He offered an alternate vision of peace through acceptance of the borders created by the collapse of empires and nations in the 20th century, calling for economic and cultural integration instead.

“Kenya, and almost every African country, was birthed by the ending of empire,” Kimani said. “Our borders were not of our own drawing. They were drawn in the distant colonial metropoles of London, Paris, and Lisbon with no regard for the ancient nations that they cleaved apart. Today, across the border of every single African country live our countrymen with whom we share deep historical, cultural, and linguistic bonds. At independence, had we chosen to pursue states on the basis of ethnic, racial, or religious homogeneity, we would still be waging bloody wars these many decades later. Instead, we agreed that we would settle for the borders we inherited.” ... Read more

How Swiss banking secrecy enabled an unequal global financial system
TheGuardian | Kalyeena Makortoff | 02/22/22

Centuries-old code of silence helped Switzerland become a magnet for tax-dodging wealthy clients

Credit Suisse leak unmasks criminals, fraudsters and corrupt politicians

French kings found the ideal refuge for their wealth: a city-state nestled between the snow-capped Alps and the pristine waters of Lake Geneva. Catholic royalty flocked to Geneva in the 18th century in an effort to conceal their dealings with Protestant bankers.

By 1713, the authorities in Geneva, who would gain a reputation for discretion, introduced rules banning bankers from revealing details about their clients.

That centuries-old code of silence, which was later enshrined in law in Switzerland, came under renewed focus this week after a leak of Credit Suisse data revealed its clients were involved in torture, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other serious crimes, suggesting widespread failures of due diligence by the bank.

The disclosures prompted a national debate in Switzerland, even though the much-heralded “end of banking secrecy as we know it” was supposed to have occurred in 2014, when ministers from 50 countries and territories agreed to a global ... Read more

James Webb Telescope Terrifying Discovery At The Edge Of The Universe! | 02/18/22 | 11:11

Documentaries (small | pop-up)

Southwest megadrought: Last 2 decades were driest in 1,200 years
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 02/21/22

A "megadrought" that grips the Southwest has broken another record, according to a new study. The last 22 years now rank as the driest such period since at least 800 AD, with human emissions of greenhouse gases accounting for about 42% of the drought's severity.

The big picture: The new study updates findings from research published in 2020 that found evidence for the first partially human-caused megadrought in the Southwest, but noted that a drought in the 1500s rivaled its intensity and duration. That is no longer the case, the new research shows. ... Read more

NOAA-Drought-Task-Force-IV-Southwest-Drought-Report-9-23-21

HOW BAD IS IT?
The 2020–21 drought plaguing the U.S. Southwest (see Box 1), which emerged first in the Four Corners region in winter 2020, is exceptional in the instrumental and paleoclimate records, imposing massive water shortages and socioeconomic costs, triggering emergency declarations, and has even led to the first ever water delivery shortfall among the states sharing the Colorado River1, the most important river basin in the region

The Battle for Ukraine (on Youtube) | FRONTLINE | 02/02/22 | 33:20

Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom | Netflix | 2015 | 1:38:00

Discussing "Winter On Fire" - Inside The Documentary | 03/07/16 | 1:13:00

Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine order evacuation of civilians to Russia
Axios | Zachary Basu | 02/18/22

Pro-Russian separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine ordered the mass evacuation of women, children and elderly civilians to Russia on Friday, alleging that Ukraine was preparing a military offensive. Ukraine immediately denied the accusations.

Why it matters: U.S. officials have warned that Russia is preparing to manufacture a pretext to invade Ukraine in the coming days, and that it could take the form of a fabricated escalation in territory controlled by separatists.

1. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that the pretext could involve a "violent event" precipitated by Russia, or "an outrageous accusation" against Ukraine."
2. He cited the possibility of a "fabricated so-called terrorist bombing inside Russia, the invented discovery of a mass grave, a staged drone strike against civilians, or even a real attack using chemical weapons."
3. Ukraine has since 2014 been fighting a low-grade war against the pro-Russian separatists who declared independent "republics" in Donetsk and Luhansk (see map). ... Read more
Watch Rachel Maddow Highlights: Feb. 17 | MSNBC | 02/18/22 | 19:52

US coronavirus data
Read more

Biden expects Russia to invade Ukraine in "next several days"
Axios | Zachary Basu | 02/17/22

President Biden told reporters Thursday that his "sense" is that Russia will invade Ukraine "within the next several days," as troops and supplies continue to arrive at the border and international monitors report shelling across the line of contact in eastern Ukraine.

The latest: "Every indication that we have is that they are prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine," Biden said, warning that the risk is "very high." He added that there is still a "path to diplomacy," but that he has no plans to reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

1. Russia expelled U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Bart Gorman from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, the State Department confirmed Thursday morning, and warned that it would take unspecified "military-technical" in response to the U.S. failure to address its security demands on issues like NATO expansion.
2. News of the expulsion came around the same time that Russia provided its written responses to the latest security proposals by the U.S., in which Moscow insisted "there is no 'Russian invasion of Ukraine'" and that its proposals for a freeze on NATO expansion were "ignored." ... Read more

Flourishing plants show warming Antarctica undergoing ‘major change’
TheGuardian | Phoebe Weston | 02/14/22

Dramatic spread of native plants over past decade is evidence of accelerating shifts in fragile polar ecosystem, study finds

The increase in plants since 2009 has been greater than the previous 50 years combined, coinciding with rapidly rising air temperatures and a reduction in the number of fur seals, according to researchers working on Signy Island in the South Orkney Islands.

Populations of Antarctic hairgrass (Deschampsia antarctica) and Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis) have been studied by scientists on the island since 1960. Research found hairgrass spread five times faster between 2009 and 2018 than between 1960 and 2009. For pearlwort, the increase was almost ten times more, according to the paper.

In the past decade, summer warming has increased from +0.02C to +0.27C each year, despite strong cooling recorded in 2012. ... Read more

NATO sees no signs of Russia's troop withdrawal near Ukraine
Axios | Jacob Knutson | 02/16/22

NATO has not seen signs of Russian troops pulling back near Ukraine, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday, after Moscow had announced it was returning some troops and weapons to their permanent bases.

Why it matters: Stoltenberg said that Russia is instead continuing its military buildup near Ukraine's border, echoing similar skepticism conveyed by President Biden on Tuesday.

1. Over the last several months, Moscow has positioned more than 150,000 troops and military vehicles and equipment near Ukraine's borders.
2. "We have not seen any de-escalation on the ground. On the contrary, it appears that Russia continues their military buildup," he added.
3. "We are ready to sit down and discuss with them, but at the same time, we are prepared for the worst." ... Read more

Russia says it's pulling back some troops from Ukraine border
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 02/15/22

Some Russian troops near Ukraine's border are returning to their bases after completing missions, but other large-scale drills remain ongoing, Russia's defense ministry said on Tuesday.

Why it matters: It's a sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be willing to de-escalate the crisis, but the threat of war isn't over yet, per the New York Times.

1. The U.S. and other Western nations have evacuated most embassy staff from Kyiv due to concerns of an imminent Russian invasion.
2. Tuesday's announcement comes a day after state television showed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov telling Putin that he believed diplomatic "possibilities are far from exhausted," to which the president replied "good." ... Read more

Accounting firm: Trump financial statements aren't reliable
Politico | ASSOCIATED PRESS | 02/15/22

NEW YORK -- The accounting firm that prepared former President Donald Trump's annual financial statements says the documents, used to secure lucrative loans and burnish Trump's image as a wealthy businessman, "should no longer be relied upon" after New York's attorney general said they regularly misstated the value of assets.

In a letter to the Trump Organization's lawyer Feb. 9, Mazars USA LLP advised the company to inform anyone who had gotten the documents not to use them when assessing the financial health of the company and the former president. The firm also said it was cutting ties with Trump. ... Read more

US west 'megadrought' is worst in at least 1,200 years, new study says
TheGuardian | Gabrielle Canon in Los Angeles | 02/15/22

The American west has spent the last two decades in what scientists are now saying is the most extreme megadrought in at least 1,200 years. In a new study, published on Monday, researchers also noted that human-caused climate change is a significant driver of the destructive conditions and offered a grim prognosis: even drier decades lie ahead.

"Anyone who has been paying attention knows that the west has been dry for most of the last couple decades," says Park Williams, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles and the study's lead author. "We now know from these studies that is dry not only from the context of recent memory but in the context of the last millennium." ... Read more

Hong Kong "overwhelmed" by COVID surge
Axios | Jacob Knutson | 02/14/22

Daily coronavirus cases in Hong Kong have increased by about 20 times over the past two weeks, overwhelming the city's hospitals and forcing its government to change its response strategy, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: Hong Kong's government said Sunday that it would roll back its policy of hospitalizing all people who test positive for the virus and would instead prioritize hospital beds for children, older people and other individuals with serious infections, according to the New York Times. ... Read more

JEROME POWELL CALLS FED'S ROLE IN ADDRESSING CLIMATE "LIMITED"
TheIntercept | Brad Johnson | January 15 2022

THE FEDERAL RESERVE'S role in the climate emergency is "limited," Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday, to what is effectively an educational role in helping financial institutions understand their long-term risk.

Powell's narrow approach was offered in response to questioning from Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who have pushed for the Fed to take a more aggressive posture.

"Our role on climate change is a limited one, but it's an important one," Powell said during Tuesday's confirmation hearing in the Senate Banking Committee to reappoint him as chair of the Federal Reserve. "It is to ensure that banking institutions we regulate understand their risks and can manage them, and it's also to look after financial stability."

"Well, the world is running out of time to deal with the climate crisis," replied Warren, "and the Fed has an important role to play here, and I hope the Fed will step up." ... Read more

The good news about deficits
Politico | Kate Davidson and Aubree Weaver | 02/14/22

While all eyes were on the latest inflation data, some remarkable news from the Treasury Department passed under the radar last week: The U.S. took in more money in January than it spent.

That's right -- the federal government ran a budget surplus last month for the first time since before the pandemic. It's just another reflection of an economy that is firing on all cylinders, and improving the fiscal picture at the same time.

It may also signal a turning point that White House officials have flagged since last summer, as fiscal policy shifts from bolstering economic growth to holding it back, White House economist Jared Bernstein said Friday.

Month-to-month federal revenue and spending can be volatile -- tax receipts always go up in the spring when people file their taxes, for example -- so it helps to look at the trend over a 12-month period.

Federal revenue for the 12 months that ended in January was up 27.6 percent from the year before, as rising wages, low unemployment and robust economic activity push up individual and business tax receipts.

Government spending for the 12 months that ended in January was still about 45 percent higher than it was in the year before the pandemic. But compared with the same period a year earlier, spending fell 3.4 percent -- the first time 12-month outlays have declined since May 2014 -- as the government spent less on pandemic aid and safety net programs, such as jobless benefits. ... Read more

Biden urges Americans in Ukraine: "Leave now"
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 02/11/22

President Biden said during an NBC interview broadcast Thursday that American citizens in Ukraine "should leave now" due to increasing concerns that Russian troops may soon invade the country.

Why it matters: Biden's comments came as the State Department warned in an advisory that American officials "will not be able to evacuate U.S. citizens in the event of Russian military action anywhere in Ukraine" and that this would "severely impact" regular consular services.

What they're saying: "It's not like we're dealing with a terrorist organization," Biden said during his interview with "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt.

1. "We're dealing with one of the largest armies in the world," he added. "It's a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly."
2. Biden said when Holt asked him if there's a situation that could lead him to send troops to rescue Americans fleeing Ukraine, "There's not."
3. "That's a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another," he added. ... Read more
Glenn Kirschner: Between Navarro And Draft Executive Order This Is Like 'Sedition For Dummies' | MSNBC | 02/10/22 | 10:33

Flush Away The Evidence?: The Trump Toilet Obsession Takes A Crooked Turn | MSNBC | 02/10/22 | 9:09
Billionaire Row
Why New York's Billionaires' Row Is Half Empty | B1M | current | 28:37

The inflation dilemma: Patience vs. recession
Axios | Neil Irwin | 02/09/22

Want to bring down inflation? The great dilemma is this: The only real options are to be patient, or cause a recession.

Why it matters: It is a pick-your-poison environment for the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve, who face public discontent over economic conditions -- and the risk that discontent would only get worse if the alternative was a new recession.

1. The inflationary pressures from strained supply chains and labor shortages look likely to persist through 2022 and maybe beyond.
2. But the measures that would be needed to bring inflation down more rapidly would risk sending the economy into a tailspin.



The big picture: In the decades after World War II, episodes of inflation have ended when the Fed took steps to tighten the money supply, causing recessions. ... Read more

"A PURE SIDESHOW": NOW MORE THAN EVER, THE STOCK MARKET DOESN'T MATTER
TheIntercept | Jon Schwarz | 02/09/22

THE STOCK PRICE of Meta (i.e., Facebook) plunged 27 percent in one day last week! The S&P 500 is veering into correction territory! The ballyhooed ARK Innovation ETF, made up of dozens of tech stocks, has plummeted 50 percent in the last year!

You're supposed to feel anxious about this, even if you don't know what those words mean. The U.S. media constantly screeches at us about the stock market: It's up, it's down, it's sideways, it's sprouted bright rainbow-colored plumage. Whatever happened in the stock market on any given day often leads the evening news. There's a stock ticker running constantly at the bottom of the screen on many cable news shows. Times Square has a ticker that movies use for New York City establishing shots almost as often as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. And obviously the stock market going up is portrayed as an unmitigated good, while declines are disastrous. ... Read more

How Hard Would It Be to Hit Jeff Bezos's Superyacht With a Rotten Egg?
New York Curbed | Clio Chang | 02/09/22

The biggest athletic event of the year is not, in fact, the Beijing Olympics (too international; dystopian COVID-19 vibes too heavy), but rather a mass stinky egging planned for this summer in the Netherlands. A group of residents in Rotterdam has put out a call to throw rotten eggs at Jeff Bezos's superyacht when it passes through the city's river in June. The event, succinctly titled "Throwing eggs at superyacht Jeff Bezos," is a response to reports that the city is considering a plan to dismantle the historic Koningshaven Bridge (known as "De Hef," which means "the lever") to allow Bezos's $500 million, and apparently very tall, new superyacht to take to the sea. ... Read more

Cut meat and dairy output by a third to save climate, British farmers told
TheGuardian | Fiona Harvey | 02/08/22

British farmers must reduce their production of meat and dairy by a third in the next 10 years if scientific advice on limiting greenhouse gas emissions is to be met, the conservation charity WWF has said.

Even greater cuts may be needed to the UK's pig herds and poultry flocks, because of the imported feed they eat, and people will need to eat much less meat than they do today, the charity warned. But the result would be lower greenhouse gas emissions, a countryside with more wildlife and flourishing nature, and better health, according to the report.

Tanya Steele, chief executive of WWF, said: "If we are serious about tackling the twin threats of climate change and nature loss, farming and land use can't be an afterthought. ... Read more

U.S. trade deficit hit record in 2021
Axion | Erin Doherty | 02/08/22

The U.S. trade deficit reached record levels in 2021, rising 27% to a total of $859.1 billion, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau out Tuesday.

Driving the news: The trade deficit rose 1.8% to $80.7 billion in December as imports surged, according to the data.

1. The deficit for goods alone topped $1 trillion for the first time as spending on computers, toys, bicycles, clothing, pharmaceuticals and other goods made in foreign factories rose during the pandemic.
2. The deficit was driven by a $576.5 billion increase in imports last year, as Americans purchased more foreign products, according to the New York Times.
3. Exports also rose $394.1 billion, or 18.5%, as demand for foreign goods surged.

The big picture: The pandemic has caused people to shift their spending away from domestically produced services and toward imported durable goods, Axios' Neil Irwin reports. ... Read more

How Manchin used politics to protect his family coal company
Politico | Scott Waldman | 02/08/22

Selling scrap coal has earned Sen. Joe Manchin millions of dollars over three decades, and he has used his political positions to protect the fuel from laws and regulations that threaten his family's business.

As governor, Joe Manchin supported an unusual detail in a clean energy bill that was moving through the West Virginia Legislature in 2009... The provision classified waste coal as an alternative energy. ... Read more

Emmanuel Macron’s remarks on Russia set alarm bells ringing
TheGuardian | Patrick Wintour | 02/08/22

Domestic critics of Emmanuel Macron, Nato hardliners and the leadership in Ukraine will be suspiciously examining the French president’s late-night remarks at his Moscow press conference on Monday for signs of freelancing.

At one level, Macron, three months from a re-election campaign, stuck pretty faithfully to the script he had exhaustively agreed with his Nato partners before his meeting with Vladimir Putin, but at another level his particular view of Russia as a European nation, and lofty talk of a new security guarantees, will have set alarm bells ringing. ... Read more

Chris Christie: Trump incited Jan. 6 riot to "intimidate Mike Pence"
Axios | staff | 02/07/22

Former President Trump incited the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 "to intimidate" former Vice President Mike Pence into overturning the 2020 election, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday.

What he's saying: "January 6 was a riot that was incited by Donald Trump in an effort to intimidate Mike Pence and the Congress into doing exactly what he said in his own words last week — overturn the election," he told Hewitt. ... Read more

Jan. 6 Committee Receives Documents Ripped By Trump | MSNBC | 02/07/22 | 6:19

Trump papers including Kim ‘love letters’ retrieved from Mar-a-Lago
TheGuardian | Martin Pengelly | 02/07/22

Trump advisers said boxes of documents reclaimed by National Archives included mementos, gifts and letters from leaders.

According to the Post, advisers to the former president “denied any nefarious intent and said the boxes contained mementos, gifts, letters from world leaders and other correspondence.

“The items included correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which Trump once described as ‘love letters’, as well as a letter left for his successor by Barack Obama.” ... Read more

Hundreds of thousands without power as "treacherous" winter storm hits U.S.
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 02/04/22

A sprawling winter storm that has forced schools to close, knocked out power and massively disrupted road and air travel is expected to slam the Northeast U.S. with heavy snowfall and "treacherous" ice accumulations on Friday before exiting over the Atlantic Ocean this weekend, the National Weather Service said.

Driving the news: Multiple governors declared states of emergency as heavy snow, freezing rain and ice pummeled much of the Central, Eastern and Southern U.S. On the warm side of the storm, thunderstorms spawned tornadoes in Alabama that killed one person Thursday. ... Read more

'Cutting Very Close To Trump': Bombshell MAGA Memos Have 45 Scrambling | MSNBC | 02/04/22 | 10:06

Trump's Coronavirus Calendar | TheRecount | current | 1:22