The Full Belmonte, 3/2/2022
“KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s leader decried Russia’s escalation of attacks on crowded cities as a blatant terror campaign, while U.S. President Joe Biden warned that if the Russian leader didn’t ‘pay a price’ for the invasion, the aggression wouldn’t stop with one country.
‘Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,’ Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed after Tuesday’s bloodshed on the central square in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, and the deadly bombing of a TV tower in the capital. He called the attack on the square ‘frank, undisguised terror’ and a war crime.
The assault on Kharkiv continued Wednesday, even as Russia said it would be ready to resume talks with the Ukrainian side in the evening. A Russian strike on the regional police and intelligence headquarters, according to the Ukrainian state emergency service. It said three people were wounded.
The strike blew off the roof of the police building and set the top floor on fire, and pieces of the five-story building were strewn across adjacent streets, according to videos and photos released by the emergency service.” Read more at AP News
A projectile hit Kyiv’s main radio and TV tower on Tuesday, forcing stations off the air.Carlos Barria/Reuters
These maps show Russia’s shifting strategy.
Russian-occupied areas as of 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Feb. 28. Ground fighting and airstrikes as of 8:15 a.m. Eastern on Mar. 1. | Sources: New York Times reporting; Institute for the Study of War
Civilians cross a river on a blown-up bridge yesterday in Kyiv.
Photographer: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses European Parliament members by video link on Tuesday.PHOTO: STEPHANIE LECOCQ/SHUTTERSTOCK
“BRUSSELS—Amid intensifying Russian attacks on Ukraine, the country’s president delivered an emotional video address to the European Parliament, telling European Union leaders that his compatriots are dying to achieve freedom and equality.
‘We are giving our lives for the right to be equal,’ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the special session of the EU’s legislature. ‘Prove that you are with us and will not let us go.’
Unshaven and clad in a green army T-shirt, seated in front of a blank wall next to a Ukrainian flag, Mr. Zelensky spoke extemporaneously for more than seven minutes and made a point that he wasn’t delivering prepared remarks.
‘I don’t read off the sheet because the paper phase in the life of my country has ended,’ he said, waving a sheet of paper. ‘We’re dealing with killed people, with real life, you know?’
Mr. Zelensky reiterated a recent call for the EU to grant Ukraine membership. In comments following Mr. Zelensky’s address, European Council President Charles Michel —who represents the leaders of the 27 EU countries—said the Ukrainian request to be a candidate for EU membership should be given serious consideration. Officials from the bloc’s 27 member states, which would need to approve the candidacy, discussed Ukraine’s EU bid on Monday.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Moscow’s war on Ukraine and the ferocious financial backlash it’s unleashed are not only inflicting an economic catastrophe on President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
The repercussions are also menacing the global economy, shaking financial markets and making life more perilous for everyone from Uzbek migrant workers to European consumers to hungry Yemeni families.
Even before Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine, the global economy was straining under a range of burdens: Surging inflation. Tangled supply chains. Tumbling stock prices.” Read more at AP News
“A Russian missile hit the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial site in Kyiv today, killing at least five people, Ukrainian officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted: ‘[W]hat is the point of saying 'never again' for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar?’
‘Between 1941 and 1943, the Nazis shot between 70,000 and 100,000 people at Babyn Yar, including almost the entire Jewish population of Kyiv,’ according to the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center.” Read more at Axios
“Exiting Russia | From the iPhone to Air Jordans, highly prized U.S. brands are vanishing from Russia’s marketplace as companies cut ties over its war against Ukraine. Apple and Nike both announced plans yesterday to halt product sales in Russia. That followed Hollywood studios such as Walt Disney Co. and WarnerMedia pausing releases of new films there.
Russia’s invasion has been accompanied by a rash of cyberattacks from all sides as hackers with a wide range of allegiances take up digital arms.” Read more at Bloomberg
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Addressing a concerned nation and anxious world, President Joe Biden vowed in his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to check Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus.
Biden declared that he and all members of Congress, whatever their political differences, are joined ‘with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.’ He asked lawmakers crowding the House chamber to stand and salute the Ukrainians as he began his speech. They stood and cheered.
It was a notable show of unity after a long year of bitter acrimony between Biden’s Democratic coalition and the Republican opposition.
Biden’s 62-minute speech, which was split between attention to war abroad and worries at home— reflected the same balancing act he now faces in his presidency. He must marshal allied resolve against Russia’s aggression while tending to inflation, COVID-19 fatigue and sagging approval ratings heading into the midterm elections.” Read more at AP News
“President Biden delivered his first State of the Union address Tuesday night, after a year marked by continued struggles with the coronavirus pandemic, declining electoral fortunes for him and his fellow Democrats and, now, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Some takeaways:
1. Seizing on the bipartisanship of Ukraine
One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s greatest tricks has been uniting Republicans and Democrats behind one broadly shared goal: opposing him. And at the start of Tuesday’s speech, Biden grabbed that opportunity to rally the parties behind their common cause.
Biden earned particularly widespread and sustained applause for a couple of related lines.
‘Members of the European Union, including France, Germany, Italy, as well as countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and many others — even Switzerland — are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine,’ Biden said, adding: ‘Putin is now isolated from the world more than he has ever been.’
Shortly thereafter, Biden pointed to the Justice Department’s move to go after Russian oligarchs, as well as joint efforts with European allies to seize their assets, including yachts.
‘Tonight, I say to the Russian oligarchs and the corrupt leaders who bilk billions of dollars off this violent regime: No more,’ Biden said. He added: ‘I mean it,’ and, ‘We’re coming for you.’
While Russia’s invasion has fueled some bipartisanship, there remain some divides on precisely what to do or what should have been done — particularly about our energy supply and related sanctions on things like the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. But Biden opted not to dwell on the specifics and instead focused on our sudden and rare unity of cause.
It was in line with much of the speech.
2. Speaking Republicans’ language
Indeed, Biden’s speech was relatively light on truly divisive issues, save for a brief list of items near the end that included abortion, immigration reform and transgender rights, and another section on climate change. And at plenty of points in his speech, he seemed to be trying to speak to issues that are dear to Republicans — and perhaps even disaffected Democrats.
He hailed the decline in school and business closures amid the pandemic, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent decision to ease guidance on mask-wearing. He noted ‘most Americans and most of the country can now go mask-free’ — as he sat in front of two Democrats, Vice President Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) who, notably, were without masks.
‘Let’s use this moment to reset. So stop looking at covid as a partisan dividing line,’ Biden said. He added: ‘Fellow Americans: Look, we can’t change how divided we’ve been … but we can change how to move forward on covid-19 and other issues that we must face together.’
As in his speech to Congress last year, he made a point to say he wasn’t taking his eye off the threat that China poses — particularly as the world’s attention focuses on Russia.
He served notice to the relatively small portion of his party that has pushed the ‘defund the police’ effort, saying, ‘We should all agree: ‘The answer is not to defund the police; it’s to fund the police,’ he said, before ad-libbing: ‘Fund them. Fund them.’ GOP leaders stood and applauded.
Biden also directly tackled an issue that is perhaps his most troubling on the economic front: inflation. He said: ‘Inflation is robbing [people] of the gains they might otherwise feel,’ and he went so far as to call it his ‘top priority.’
All of these point to fears about how Democrats have allowed themselves to be defined ahead of what looks to be an arduous midterm election cycle. And as with other elements of the speech, it seemed aimed precisely at voters who have soured on his party.
3. Whither ‘Build Back Better’
There were a few words notably missing from Biden’s speech: Build Back Better.
It has been pretty clear for a while now that the signature package is going nowhere in Congress — particularly as we turn to an election year in which passing legislation is much more difficult. But the White House and Democrats have been slow to concede that. Tuesday marked a significant shift away from it.
Biden cited others bills he wanted passed, including the Bipartisan Innovation Act, the Freedom to Vote Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Disclose Act, along with some more technical changes, but not Build Back Better, a multitrillion-dollar proposal to revamp or bolster child care, education, health care and climate change programs. When it came to large-scale legislation, he focused much more on the benefits of what has already passed, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the American Rescue Plan.
Biden still spoke to the priorities contained in Build Back Better, including energy, housing, child care and cutting prescription drug costs. But it seemed this was now more of a messaging exercise than a true legislative effort. We’ll see how hard he truly pushes it — and how the shift in emphasis is greeted by liberals who have been wanting to double down on Build Back Better.
4. A shouted GOP attack, as Biden broaches his dead son
It was 13 years ago that partisanship boiled over at a presidential speech — what’s generally a pretty staid occasion — with a Republican congressman yelling ‘You lie!’ at President Barack Obama.
On Tuesday night, one of the most extreme House Republicans tried to rip a page out of that congressman’s playbook. She just chose a pretty unfortunate and puzzling time.
Biden launched into talking about looking into the impact of ‘burn pits’ on American soldiers. It was clear where this was headed: Biden was going to talk about the possibility that this played a role in the death of his son, Beau Biden.
As he was getting to that point, he mentioned how ‘many of the world’s finest and best-trained warriors in the world [were] never the same — headaches, numbness, dizziness, a cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin.’
It was this moment that Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado chose to register her own attempted ‘You lie!’ moment. She attacked Biden for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan — ‘You put them in, 13 of them,’ she said, in response to his ‘flag-draped coffin’ remark — even though Biden wasn’t talking about combat deaths. The ‘cancer’ he had just mentioned was an obvious reference to what killed his son, as the prepared remarks sent out by the White House made clear.
Boebert drew a smattering of boos, and Biden continued speaking, staring in one direction as he mentioned Beau Biden in the very next sentence.” Read more at Washington Post
“WASHINGTON — Against the backdrop of a national crisis of soaring opioid overdoses and deaths, the Supreme Court on Tuesday considered the cases of two doctors accused of operating pill mills, with the justices struggling to articulate a legal standard that would separate unconventional medical practices from drug dealing.
They parsed the language of the Controlled Substances Act, recalling lessons learned from childhood grammar teachers. They tried out analogies, including whether there is ever a good-faith exception to exceeding the speed limit. And they worried about sending doctors to prison for decades over disputes about whether they had violated ill-defined medical norms.
The doctors in the two cases were convicted of unlawful drug distribution. One, Dr. Xiulu Ruan, was accused of running a clinic in Alabama with a business partner that issued nearly 300,000 prescriptions for controlled substances in a little more than four years, making it one of the nation’s leading sources of prescriptions for some kinds of fentanyl drugs.
The other, Dr. Shakeel Kahn, was accused of writing prescriptions in Arizona and Wyoming in exchange for payments that roughly tracked the street prices of the drugs. Prosecutors said he had accepted payment in cash and personal property, including firearms.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott, center, speaking to the media during a Senate Republican Leadership press conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.PHOTO: GRAEME SLOAN/SHUTTERSTOCK
“WASHINGTON—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rebuked a policy agenda crafted by fellow Republican Sen. Rick Scott, saying it would raise taxes on lower-income Americans, as Democrats seized on the proposal for their midterm elections message against the GOP.
Mr. Scott’s 11-point ‘Rescue America’ plan was released last week and he has paid for television and online advertising. It covers a range of topics, and includes proposals to name the border wall after former Republican President Donald Trump, balance the federal budget, prohibit the government from asking people to disclose their race on any federal form and sunset all federal legislation after five years. But a line about taxes gained the most attention. ‘All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax,’ it reads.
‘We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years,’ Mr. McConnell told reporters Tuesday. ‘That will not be part of the Republican Senate majority agenda.’
With the Senate split 50-50, control of the chamber is at stake in the November elections. Mr. McConnell, who could regain the majority post, and other Republicans fear that Mr. Scott’s idea could blunt momentum in what looks to be a favorable climate for the party.
Mr. Scott, a wealthy former Florida governor and businessman, was elected in 2018 and quickly sought to grow a national profile. He is seen as a possible 2024 presidential candidate, should Mr. Trump decide against running again. Mr. Scott has stayed close to Mr. Trump while Mr. McConnell has urged the GOP to move on from the former president. Mr. Trump has encouraged Mr. Scott to challenge Mr. McConnell for the position of party leader, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday, ‘We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people.’PHOTO: JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS Some senators raised concerns about Mr. Scott’s proposal during a private GOP leadership meeting Monday, according to a person familiar with the discussion, and warned that Republican candidates are being asked whether they support the plan. Mr. Scott is the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee but said he released the agenda on his own.
Mr. McConnell said Tuesday that a GOP agenda would focus ‘on what the American people are concerned about: inflation, energy, defense, the border and crime.’
Mr. Scott’s proposal was reminiscent of comments by 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who said that 47% of Americans would vote to re-elect President Barack Obama because they are dependent on the government and pay no income tax. Mr. Scott has denied he would raise taxes and his plan doesn’t provide details, but Mr. McConnell and outside analysts say it could raise taxes.
Mr. Scott reiterated in a statement Tuesday that he didn’t want to raise taxes. ‘I do, however, want to have a conversation about able-bodied Americans who are living off of government programs instead of working, a reality caused by Democrat policies,’ he said.
Roughly half of U.S. households that pay no federal income tax are exempted because of basic provisions such as limitations on tax for low-income earners. Both parties have also supported breaks for older Americans.
Democrats and the Biden administration blasted the proposal and have sought to pressure Republican candidates to take a position. ‘This is the Republican Party’s official platform, and the DNC will use every resource at our disposal to make sure voters know exactly what Republicans stand for,’ the Democratic National Committee said in launching digital ads.
Mr. McConnell’s statement Tuesday was an attempt to stop that message from taking hold.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Fallout from federal judges violating financial-conflict laws is spreading to appeals courts across the nation.
In San Diego, StarKist Tuna is seeking to derail a lawsuit alleging a price-fixing conspiracy costing buyers more than $1 billion. In New York, consumer lawyers want to revive a dismissed case alleging America’s largest banks defrauded investors out of more than $7 billion in bond deals. In Virginia, Cisco Systems Inc. is challenging a $1.9 billion patent-infringement judgment.
In each case, federal judges had failed to properly recuse themselves after having financial ties to litigants in violation of a 48-year-old law. These violations are having real-world implications for people and companies who resolve disputes in court. The appeals courts now have to decide whether the conflicts were enough to warrant wiping out the rulings by the conflicted judges.
Overall, at least 55 cases overseen by judges with recusal violations have been appealed, reconsidered or reassigned to new judges. How newly assigned judges or appellate courts resolve the conflicts could affect public perception of the judicial system, legal experts said. A Wall Street Journal investigation last year revealed that more than 130 judges violated the financial-conflict law.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“California’s snowpack has shrunk to about two-thirds of normal, as the state’s relentless drought produced the driest January and February on record and raised the likelihood of more wildfires and deeper water cuts to cities and farms.
A manual survey conducted Tuesday by the state Department of Water Resources showed a snowfield near Lake Tahoe was at 68% of normal. Electronic readings of snow across the Sierra Nevada range, which supplies much of California’s water when it melts, stood at 63% of normal for March 1. With forecasts showing no major storms on the horizon, state officials expressed little hope that March would make up for the deficit by the time the California wet season ends in April.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott will face Democrat Beto O’Rourke after voters in Texas opened what could be a lengthy, bruising primary season poised to reshape political power from state capitals to Washington.
Both easily won their party’s nomination for governor on Tuesday. Abbott is now in a commanding position as he seeks a third term, beginning his run with more than $50 million and campaigning on a strongly conservative agenda in America’s largest Republican state. That leaves O’Rourke facing an uphill effort to recapture the magic of his 2018 Senate campaign, when he nearly ousted Ted Cruz.” Read more at AP News
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, with wife Cecilia and daughter Audrey, attends a primary election night event on March 1, 2022, in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Eric Gay/AP)
“A Texas family and a psychologist filed a legal challenge Tuesday, asking a district court to block an order that directed state officials to investigate families for child abuse if they allow their children to medically transition genders.
In a letter sent last week to state health agencies, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) noted that the Office of the Attorney General had determined that providing medical treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy cou’ld ‘legally constitute child abuse’ under Texas law.
‘I hereby direct your agency to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures in the State of Texas,’ Abbott wrote to the commissioner of Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
According to the suit filed Tuesday, the department has begun investigating families — including one mother who works for the department responsible for the investigations. According to documents filed in Travis County district court, Jane Doe is an employee of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Her 16-year-old daughter, Mary Doe, is transgender and has been receiving medical care from the same pediatrician for most of her life. After her pediatrician diagnosed her with gender dysphoria, she has received treatments that include puberty blockers and hormone therapy to initiate a female puberty.” Read more at Washington Post
“Americans can order another round of free at-home Covid-19 tests next week, Biden announced during his State of the Union address. In January, the government launched its effort to provide free rapid antigen tests to any household that requested them through the website COVIDtests.gov. Initially, there was a limit of four tests per residential address, but the website now says every home in the US can order an additional set of four tests. The Biden administration initially made 500 million free tests available, but fewer than 300 million have been ordered, according to the White House. Covid-19 has killed more than 952,000 people and infected about 79.1 million in the US since January 2020, according to data by Johns Hopkins University.” Read more at CNN
“In a nearly unanimous vote, the US House of Representatives passed an anti-lynching bill on Monday. Just three Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Chip Roy of Texas, and Andrew Clyde of Georgia voted against the legislation.” [Vox] Read more at Business Insider / Bryan Metzger
“Restaurants and bars across Russia are getting flooded with five-star ‘reviews’ on Google and other websites harboring messages about Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine, as part of an effort to cut through the Kremlin’s stream of propaganda and relay uncensored information about the neighboring war to the people of Russia.
‘5,800 Russian Soldiers died today, 4,500 yesterday. Stop your aggression, don’t let your kids suffer, if you go to war you will not come back,’ read one review left on the Google page of a downtown Moscow eatery called Romantic.
‘Please listen, your government is lying to you,’ read another review, one of dozens of anti-war messages posted to the page of White Rabbit, an upscale restaurant near Moscow’s Smolenskaya Square. ‘Russia has declared war on Ukraine and your young soldiers are confused and dying. The entire world is watching. Please stop the war.’” Read more at Daily Beast
“WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Thick black smoke billowed across the grounds of New Zealand’s Parliament and sirens blared on Wednesday as retreating protesters against coronavirus vaccine mandates set fire to tents, mattresses and chairs.
It appeared to be a final act of defiance as police broke up the camp that protesters first set up more than three weeks ago. Police retook control of the Parliament grounds although dozens of protesters remained in nearby streets, some hurling objects at officers. Parliament’s once carefully manicured grounds were left scarred, a children’s slide in ruins.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that in planning the operation, police had expected hostility, resistance and violence — but it was another thing entirely to witness it.” Read more at AP News
“Major meeting | China’s Communist Party will commence its annual parliamentary pageant Saturday in Beijing, bringing President Xi Jinping one step closer to an unprecedented third term in power. Amid the pomp and propaganda, the party leadership will outline policies to tackle challenges such as rebuilding pandemic-hit growth, a property slump, the war in Europe and a Covid surge in Hong Kong.
Chinese officials have issued orders for state-owned buyers to scour markets for oil and gas, iron ore, barley, corn and other materials to fill any potential gaps brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
China is ‘extremely concerned’ about the harm to civilians in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Ukrainian counterpart yesterday in the first call between the countries’ senior officials and an apparent shift away from ally Russia.” Read more at Bloomberg
“An enormous cargo ship that caught fire last month while carrying 4,000 luxury cars — including Porsches and Bentleys — sank off the Portuguese Azores archipelago on Tuesday.” [Vox] Read more at NYT /Azi Paybarah and Maria Cramer
“Oil talks. Oil ministers from OPEC+ oil producing countries, a group that includes Russia, meet today amid soaring prices spurred by the war in Ukraine. The meeting comes as major oil companies distance themselves from Russian production, with BP, Exxon, and Shell all making the decision to halt operations in the country in recent days.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“U.S.-Taiwan ties. A high-level delegation of former U.S. officials dispatched by the White House on a reassurance mission to Taiwan will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei today. The group is led by Mike Mullen, a retired admiral and former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. It is the second such trip in the last 12 months, following a similar mission led by former Senator Chris Dodd in April 2021. In a trip not sanctioned by the White House, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Taiwan today on a four-day tour and is also scheduled to meet with Tsai.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Food impacts. The Middle East is facing a food crisis due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; both countries are major wheat exporters and supply chains are expected to be disrupted by both sanctions and the war itself. Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer and which sources roughly 80 percent of the grain from Russia and Ukraine, has pledged to increase domestic production by 36 percent in preparation for a shortfall.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Burkina Faso’s coup. Burkina Faso’s junta chief Paul-Henri Damiba signed a plan to hold elections in three years, six months longer than was proposed in a draft charter presented to civil society groups earlier this week. The transition plan bars Damiba as well as the 25 members of the transitional government from running in the future elections.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Ukraine’s national anti-corruption watchdog has advised taxpayers that Russian tanks and other equipment captured over the course of the war need not be declared on tax forms.
‘Have you captured a Russian tank or armored personnel carrier and are worried about how to declare it? Keep calm and continue to defend the Motherland!’ a press release from the National Agency for the Protection against Corruption (NAPC) reads.
Beyond the propaganda value, the NAPC provided some legal basis for the claim, citing the fact that any equipment would not be acquired as a result of a normal transaction, and that the equipment would likely be damaged, making a proper appraisal unfeasible.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“India plans to avoid condemning Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as it needs Russian weapons in its standoff with China, and officials in New Delhi are confident the U.S. won’t apply much pressure.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Competing local media reports about a proposed Covid lockdown in Hong Kong is sowing chaos as record numbers of residents flee while those remaining strip shelves of food and medicine.” Read more at Bloomberg
“China’s top crime watchdog launched a nationwide crackdown on the trafficking of women and children, as another video of a caged woman caused an outcry on social media.” Read more at Bloomberg
“A Hong Kong radio host has been found guilty of sedition, local media reported, the Beijing-backed government’s first conviction in a wave of prosecutions under a long-dormant colonial-era law.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Major League Baseball is postponing its March 31 Opening Day and canceling the first two series of regular season games, after team representatives and the MLB Players Association could not reach a deal on a collective bargaining agreement. That agreement determines players' terms and conditions of employment. ‘I want to assure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort by either party,’ Commissioner Rob Manfred said yesterday. The work stoppage stems from declining salaries among some MLB athletes and disagreements over how to divide up an estimated $11 billion in annual revenue. On the other side, owners say they have been battered by the decline of in-person attendance due to Covid-19, and are pushing to sign a new agreement to reflect those changes.” Read more at CNN
“Russia's figure skaters were banned from the upcoming world championships, not because of state-sponsored doping, but for President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.” Read more at USA Today
“NEW YORK (AP) — Until a year ago, Stephana Ferrell’s political activism was limited to the occasional letter to elected officials.
Then came her local school board meeting in Orange County, Florida and an objection raised to Maia Kobabe’s graphic novel ‘Gender Queer: A Memoir.’ And the county’s decision last fall to remove it from high school shelves.
‘By winter break, we realized this was happening all over the state and needed to start a project to rally parents to protect access to information and ideas in school,’ says Ferrell, a mother of two. Along with fellow Orange County parent Jen Cousins, she founded the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which works with existing parent groups statewide on a range of educational issues, including efforts to ‘keep or get back books that have gone under challenge or have been banned.’
Over the past year, book challenges and bans have reached levels not seen in decades, according to officials at the American Library Association, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and other advocates for free expression. Censorship efforts have ranged from local communities such as Orange County and a Tennessee school board’s pulling Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel ‘Maus,’ to statewide initiatives.” Read more at AP News
“The average hourly rate for a babysitter leapt 11% in 2021 to $20.57 — far outpacing the 7% rate of inflation, Axios' Jennifer A. Kingson writes.
Why it matters: The increase, driven by the national labor shortage, is a hardship for working parents. But it's great for babysitters, who have traditionally been underpaid.
UrbanSitter, which connects families with child care and other household help, looked at booking data from more than 10,000 families to calculate babysitting rates across the country.
The survey — the company's 11th annual — found an 11% rate hike in 2021. By contrast, babysitting rates only rose 4% from 2019 to 2020.
By the numbers: The national average rate for child care is $20.57 an hour for one child, $23.25 an hour for two and $24.35 an hour for three.
The New York area had the highest rates ($23.45 an hour for one child), followed by the Bay Area ($23.32) and Seattle ($21.23).
The lowest rates were in San Antonio, at $14 an hour for one child.
Vaccinated sitters get higher wages.” Read more at Axios
