“Winter weather is continuing to wreak havoc across the US, with forecasts predicting more ice and low temperatures ahead in the most-affected states. Texas, which rarely gets this chilly, has been hit especially hard. Frigid temperatures have both heightened power demand and frozen or overworked energy sources, leaving millions of people in the dark and struggling to keep warm. The situation could have wide-reaching implications as the US power industry attempts to slash carbon emissions in response to the climate crisis. Another consequence of the bad weather: Many cities and states have hit pause on vaccine efforts. The winter storm has led to at least 26 deaths.” Read more at CNN
“Power Failure Misinformation:Conservative commentators shared a false narrative that wind turbines and solar energy were primarily to blame for power outages across Texas as the power grid buckled. A variety of misleading claims spread on social media, with the Green New Deal and wind turbines getting much of the attention. But the Texas state power agency said gas, coal and nuclear plants actually caused nearly twice as many outages as wind and solar power, Ali Swenson and Arijeta Lajka report.” Read more at AP
“EXPLAINER: Topsy-turvy weather comes from polar vortex. It seems like the world's weather has turned upside-down. There have been record subzero temperatures in Texas and Oklahoma, and Greenland is warmer than normal. Snow fell in Greece and Turkey. Meteorologists blame the all-too-familiar polar vortex. The cold air that's normally penned up in the high Arctic got slammed by an atmospheric wave in late December. It broke apart in early January and moved out of its normal area. The result has been crazy winter weather, Seth Borenstein reports.” Read more at AP
“President Joe Biden set a new deadline at a CNN town hall last night: By the end of July, the US will have enough Covid-19 vaccine doses to vaccinate every single American. He also said the nation could hope to return to normal by next Christmas, adding that he didn't want to over-promise. Those questions were among several that Biden addressed in his first town hall as President. He also clarified confusion on schools reopening, defended a call for a minimum wage hike and insisted that the country was not divided. If you missed it, CNN's Chris Cillizza has some takeaways on what mattered most. Overall, Biden showed that ‘the days of presidential pandemic denial and indifference to America's suffering are over,’ CNN's Stephen Collinson writes.”
“The NAACP filed a lawsuit Tuesday against former President Trump and far-right extremist groups in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots that killed five people and injured dozens of officers.
Why it matters: The federal lawsuit filed on behalf of House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) shows that Trump continues to face legal problems stemming from the riot, even after he was acquitted in his Senate impeachment trial Saturday.
Details: The lawsuit — filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by the NAACP and civil rights law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll — accuses Trump, his attorney Rudy Giuliani, the Proud Boys, and the Oath Keepers of conspiring to incite a riot at the Capitol with the goal of preventing Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election.
The lawsuit alleges that Trump, Giuliani and the far-right groups directly violated the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act by trying to prevent Congress from carrying out its official duties.
The insurrection forced members of Congress to hide under desks and in secure rooms as rioters damaged the building and shouted violent threats.
The NAACP said U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) intend to join the lawsuit as plaintiffs in the coming weeks.
The 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act allowed President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations, and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan after the Civil War.
Former Confederate soldiers had organized under the Ku Klux Klan to terrorize newly emancipated enslaved African Americans and stop them from gaining political power.
The law was aimed at protecting against conspiracies.
What they're saying: ‘The insurrection and coup attempt was really motivated by white supremacist behavior and domestic terrorists. The NAACP thinks it's important for us to pursue a course of action on behalf of members of Congress,’ NAACP president Derrick Johnson told Axios.
‘The attempt was to prevent the certification of the election and invalidate African American votes.’
‘We must hold (Trump) accountable for the insurrection that he so blatantly planned. Failure to do so will only invite this type of authoritarianism for the anti-democratic forces on the far right that are so intent on destroying our country,’ Thompson said in a statement.
Don't forget: Some of the insurrection participants waved Confederate flags, wore racist and anti-Semitic clothing, and called for then-Vice President Mike Pence to be lynched.
The other side: ‘President Trump has been acquitted in the Democrats' latest impeachment witch hunt, and the facts are irrefutable. President Trump did not plan, produce or organize the Jan. 6th rally on the Ellipse. President Trump did not incite or conspire to incite any violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6th,’ Trump adviser Jason Miller said in a statement. Read more at Axios
“Seeking to keep control of a divided Republican Party, Donald Trump on Tuesday attacked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – the GOP's highest-ranking elected official – after comments he made about Trump's culpability for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
‘The Republican Party can never again be respected or strong with political 'leaders' like Sen. Mitch McConnell at its helm,’ Trump said in a written statement put out by a political action committee called the ‘Save America PAC.’
In a stark statement that laid bare the party's fractiousness over Trump, the ex-president described McConnell as a ‘hack’ who will not be able to lead the Republican Party back to victory. Division within the party has been on full display since the Capitol riots, after which 10 House Republicans voted to impeach him and seven Senate Republicans voted to convict him at his impeachment trial Saturday, when he was acquitted.
The statement came three days after McConnell criticized Trump over the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, even as he voted to acquit the former president at the impeachment trial. McConnell said he did so because he did not think it was constitutional to hold an impeachment trial of a former president.
The Senate Republican leader did, however, hold Trump responsible for the attack, saying Trump's false claims of fraud in his election loss to Joe Biden inspired extremist followers to commit violence.
‘This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories, orchestrated by an outgoing president who seemed determined to either overturn the voters' decisions or else torch our institutions on the way out,’ McConnell said on Saturday.
Trump has not spoken on camera since leaving the White House. His office has put out written statements under his name, as it did after the Senate acquittal vote on Saturday.
Trump thanked Republicans who supported him and, suggesting a future run, said the political movement he began with his 2016 election has ‘only just begun.’
So far, at least, Trump is winning the internal battle with Republicans who want him to go away. A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Tuesday said that ‘a majority of Republican voters (54 percent) said they would support Trump in a hypothetical 2024 presidential primary election.’
Republicans who back McConnell said Trump is the one who caused the GOP to lose control of Congress and the White House during last year's elections.
‘I love Trump warning about the demise of a party that just lost the House, Senate, and White House under him,’ tweeted Brendan Buck, a former spokesman for GOP House speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.
Buck later added: ‘I am so here for this conflict and so Team Mitch.’
In his written statement on Tuesday, Trump did not mention McConnell's impeachment comments. He instead accused McConnell of practicing ‘business as usual’ politics, and failing to stand up to Chinese trade practices.
Trump also blamed McConnell for Republicans losing control of the Senate, something for which McConnell holds Trump responsible. The Senate Republican leader has suggested that the party needs to move past Trump as it tries to regain control of the House and Senate in the 2022 elections.
Trump has vowed to support primary challengers to Republican lawmakers who either supported impeachment or refused to help him overturn the election. The latter group includes state officials like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who Trump criticized as ‘inept’ in his statement.
Trump also plans to get involved in the congressional elections, and may seek to win the presidency again in 2024.
‘Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack,’ Trump said, ‘and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again.’
Seven Republicans were among the 57 senators who found Trump guilty of inciting the riot, but conviction required 67 votes, two-thirds of the Senate.
If the Senate had voted to convict, it could also have disqualified Trump from holding office in the future, nullifying a 2024 presidential run.
As the Democratic-led House moved to impeach Trump in mid-January, McConnell at one point said he had not decided on the president's guilt. After his acquittal vote, McConnell made clear he based his decision on the belief that the trial was unconstitutional, not Trump's guilt.
‘Former President Trump's actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty,’ McConnell said in his speech. Read more at USA Today
“Vaccine-maker insiders cash out. Executives and directors at Pfizer, Moderna and other companies developing Covid-19 vaccines sold approximately $496 million of stock last year—compared with about $132 million in 2019—reaping the rewards of positive vaccine developments that drove up the value of the drugmakers’ shares.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was heralded as the textbook example of crisis leadership last year, with his clear-eyed coronavirus briefings and passionate appeals to the federal government for more medical supplies. He even wrote a book offering lessons on leadership. Now, all of that is in question. Cuomo is at the center of a controversy over Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes, how they were counted and how his administration handled requests for that data. A top aide told state lawmakers earlier this month that his administration delayed releasing nursing home data over concerns about a potential federal investigation by the Trump administration. Cuomo admitted some fault this week, but ultimately defended the decision to delay releasing data on deaths. Lawmakers from both parties have called for an investigation and limitations on his executive powers.” Read more at CNN
“50,000 — The estimated minimum number of Covid-19 cases attributable to Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans last year, according to health officials who determined the holiday was a superspreader event. This time, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell halted any plans for organized Mardi Gras parades and instructed bars to remain closed through Feb. 17, though many revelers found other ways to celebrate.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The Department of Housing and Urban Development has for years neglected to enforce its own environmental regulations, resulting in lead poisoning of children in at least one public housing development and potentially jeopardizing residents’ health in thousands of other federally subsidized apartments near contaminated sites, according to an inspector general report obtained by The Washington Post.
The agency’s watchdog reviewed HUD’s efforts to identify and mitigate health risks to residents of public housing near toxic waste dumps after the East Chicago, Ind., apartment complex, where tenants had been living with lead contamination for more than four decades, was deemed uninhabitable in 2016.
The West Calumet Housing Complex was declared a Superfund site in 2009 and demolished in 2019, its 1,100 mostly Black and Hispanic residents relocated.” Read more in Washington Post
“Amazon is sued over Covid-19 safety. New York’s attorney general filed a lawsuit accusing the online retailer of failing to comply with state cleaning and disinfection requirements at its facilities and not adequately notifying employees of infected co-workers. Amazon said it doesn't believe the filing is an accurate picture of its pandemic response.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The Biden administration is urging officials to use more inclusive terms for immigrants, including replacing the word ‘alien’ with ‘noncitizen,’ according to an internal email scooped by Axios' Stef Kight.
Why it matters: This is a more welcoming immigration stance than the Trump administration, which referred to unauthorized immigrants as ‘illegal aliens’ and described border crossings as an ‘invasion.’ Other changes include using ‘undocumented noncitizen’ or ‘undocumented individual’ rather than ‘illegal alien’ and ‘integration or civic integration’ instead of ‘assimilation.’
Between the lines: An agency can issue a memo directing officials to use certain words over others in official communications, but they have less leeway on the words they use in legal settings.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services email specifies that "noncitizen" is to be used rather than ‘alien,’ except when citing a statute or regulation or certain immigration forms. Then, the legal term for someone not born in the U.S. or born in certain U.S. territories — ‘alien’ — needs to be used.
The bottom line: Immigration advocates will likely applaud the changes, and hardliners will not. Read more at Axios
“As Beijing curbs opposition in Hong Kong to the erosion of political freedoms, it is also eager to prevent the discontent spreading offshore.
The last thing China wants is a load of dissidents setting up shop in the U.K., Canada and Australia and continuing their efforts from afar. It is starting to warn people who use their dual nationality to relocate out of Hong Kong they risk becoming stateless.
As this story explains, the disinformation is kicking into high gear over the U.K. government’s offer of long-term visas — a potential pathway to citizenship — to holders of British National (Overseas) passports. From online chat rooms to newspaper editorials to Chinese government officials, the messaging is that moving to the U.K. with its high taxes and pandemic-hit economy would be a bad decision.More ominously, there are now official threats that BN(O) holders could be made to choose between British or Chinese citizenship, making it hard for them to return to Hong Kong in the future.
Some potential visa applicants worry about losing access to Hong Kong, or their pensions.
Still, they are also watching Hong Kong’s autonomy fade. There are reports the government may introduce legislation prohibiting insulting public officials. Already authorities are bringing in a more ‘patriotic’ school curriculum.
China clearly wants to contain pro-democracy agitation in Hong Kong rather than deal with a global movement. The pressure tactics may deter some from leaving.But the people Bloomberg spoke to say they are likely to eventually go anyway, rather than live in a Hong Kong they no longer recognize.” — Rosalind Mathieson Read more at Bloomberg
Alexandra Wong, a protester known as Grandma Wong who attended rallies during Hong Kong's most recent unrest, outside a court holding a bail hearing for media tycoon and democracy activist Jimmy Lai on Feb. 9.
Photographer: Chan Long Hei/Bloomberg
“War footing | Mario Draghi urged Italians to pull together to rebuild the country after the pandemic in an effort he compared to reconstruction after World War II. Speaking in his maiden address to the Senate as prime minister before his first confidence vote tonight, he said the EU needs a common budget to battle recessions and warned member states will need to cede some sovereignty.” Read more at Bloomberg
“She’s back | The wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made her first public appearance in more than a year, ending an absence that raised questions about a woman who’d been at her husband’s side for trips overseas and to Mount Paektu, the symbolic seat of the Kim family’s rule. Ri Sol Ju may have been taking care of the couple’s children and avoiding public exposure during the pandemic, South Korea’s spy agency said.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Myanmar’s detained leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, appeared in court yesterday on two separate charges a day earlier than scheduled and without her party-appointed lawyer.”Read more at Bloomberg
“Canada is moving to adopt a law that would allow cities to ban handguns.” Read more at New York Times
“Peruvian prosecutors began investigating former President Martin Vizcarra and about 500 others over allegations they abused their authority to receive secret coronavirus vaccinations before the shots became available to the public.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Finland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, is expected to survive a no-confidence vote in parliament today over her government's handling of the EU recovery fund.” Read more at Bloomberg
“And finally ... Belarus’s government-backed industry park was one of President Alexander Lukashenko’s flagship policies. But after he quashed protests against his 26-year rule, pioneers who turned the former Soviet republic into an unlikely tech hub are headed for the exit. As Milda Seputyte and Aliaksandr Kudrytski report, companies including the chat app Viber are shifting employees abroad or relocating altogether in a boon for the country’s neighbors.” Read more at Bloomberg
Amy Cooper. Photo: Christian Cooper
“Upon completing therapeutic and educational programs on racial prejudice, Amy Cooper, the white woman who falsely accused a Black birder of ‘threatening my life’ in Central Park over Memorial Day weekend last year, is no longer facing charges.
According to the New York Times, after the Manhattan district attorney’s office charged Cooper with one count of filing a false report, she was offered a ‘restorative justice resolution,’ in part because of her lack of a criminal record. During a virtual hearing in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday morning, Assistant District Amy Cooper. Photo: Christian Cooper
Upon completing therapeutic and educational programs on racial prejudice, Amy Cooper, the white woman who falsely accused a Black birder of “threatening my life” in Central Park over Memorial Day weekend last year, is no longer facing charges.
According to the New York Times, after the Manhattan district attorney’s office charged Cooper with one count of filing a false report, she was offered a ‘restorative justice resolution,’ in part because of her lack of a criminal record. During a virtual hearing in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday morning, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said the solution was ‘designed not just to punish but to educate and promote community healing,’ and Cooper’s therapist reported that she ‘learned a lot’ throughout their five sessions. Illuzzi-Orbon then moved to dismiss the charges against Cooper, and the judge complied.
The ruling appears to mark the conclusion of the saga of Amy Cooper, whose racist confrontation with Christian Cooper (no relation) sparked a nationwide conversation about the ways women weaponize their whiteness to endanger Black men. The incident occurred on May 25, 2020, after Christian Cooper politely asked Amy Cooper to leash her dog in the Ramble section of Central Park, where she was violating the park’s off-leash policy. Rather than recognize that she was in the wrong, she placed a histrionic call to 911 — which was captured in a video that went viral — informing Christian, ‘I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life.’ The day the video spread, Cooper publicly apologized for her actions, saying, ‘I am well aware of the pain that misassumptions and insensitive statements about race cause.’ In early July, the Manhattan DA’s office brought charges against her. Then, in October, it emerged that Amy Cooper had leveled another false accusation against Christian Cooper in a second call to the cops, in which she claimed that he ‘tried to assault her.’
The dismissal of the charges has been met with some outrage from those who wished to see Amy Cooper convicted, and who see the dismissal as yet further proof that the criminal-justice system does nothing to hold the privileged accountable. However, throughout the case, proponents of restorative justice have pointed out the limits of seeking resolution through the criminal-justice system. Among those latter voices has been Christian Cooper himself.
While Christian has not hesitated to call Amy’s actions ‘racist’ throughout the case, he has expressed compassion for her; after the charges were announced last year, he said he would not be cooperating in the prosecution’s investigation. In an op-ed for the the Washington Post, he explained his decision, writing, ‘I believe in punishments that are commensurate with the wrongdoing,’ later clarifying that he would be satisfied if Cooper were to undergo anti-bias training or some form of community service. Upon the DA’s decision to dismiss the charges, Cooper told the New York Times, ‘I am far more outraged by the U.S. Congress, which continues to deny the mostly Black and brown people of the District of Columbia statehood, and the representation every American deserves, than by anything Amy Cooper did.’
Amy Cooper has not responded publicly to the conclusion of her case. However, in a statement posted to Twitter, her lawyer, Robert Barnes, thanked the district attorney’s office for its ‘thorough and honest inquiry’ and for dismissing the charges. ‘Others rushed to the wrong conclusion based on inadequate investigation & they may yet face legal consequences,’ Barnes wrote.” Read more at The Cut
“When Minor League Baseball begins its 2021 season, there'll be 25% fewer teams than at this time last year, Axios' Andrew Witherspoon and Kendall Baker report.
The realignment removes a net of 40 teams from 2020, for a total of 120 teams across 39 states.
Why it matters: The reshaping of the minors is a push to modernize MLB's development pipeline. But the changes leave pockets of the country without access to high-level baseball.” Read more at Axios
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