January 26, 2021

CNN's Tracker of Biden's confirmations thus far:

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/politics/biden-cabinet-confirmations-tracker/

January 26, 2021

Detroit dismisses dozens of tickets from police brutality protests during summer

(Detroit Free Press) The City of Detroit announced Tuesday it dismissed dozens of its misdemeanor citations from the police brutality protests this summer.

In Shelby Township, five people face felony charges in connection with police brutality protest in October, while Macomb County official are under pressure to drop the charges from residents and groups aimed at fighting unfair treatment from police.

Cities nationwide are deciding how to handle arrests form the summer protests sparked by the death of George Floyd — a Black man who died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground under the knee of a white police officer — as federal authorities pursue charges against the more recent riot at the U.S. Capitol and the Senate prepares to put former President Donald Trump on trial for inciting an insurrection. ................(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2021/01/26/detroit-protest-citations-dropped/4259919001/

January 26, 2021

Three charged in Otsego County elk poaching case

(Detroit News) Three people in northern Michigan were charged Monday after state conservation officers spent more than a year investigating what a case supervisor called "one of the worst elk poaching incidents."

All three are related and were arraigned in the Otsego County 87A District Court, the department said in a statement.

Christian White, 29, of Gaylord, and Harry White, 70, and Ronald White, 56, both of West Branch, pleaded not guilty to eight wildlife crimes after admitting to poaching three cow elk in Pigeon River Country in December 2019, according to the release. ..............(more)

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/01/25/3-charged-otsego-county-elk-poaching-case/4255283001/

January 26, 2021

Tom Cotton's "Army Ranger" dissembling goes back at least eight years

(Salon) Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has over the years routinely puffed up his political bona fides by embellishing his military service record, claiming in multiple interviews and campaign ads not only to have been a U.S. Army Ranger, but to have served in action as a Ranger — and, at one point, to have earned the Bronze Star "as a Ranger."

Salon reported on Friday that during Cotton's first congressional campaign, the Harvard Law grad claimed to have served as a Ranger and acquired "experience" as a Ranger in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. A number of people came to the senator's defense, observing that as a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School, Cotton — who once said that "bombing makes us safer" — is within his rights to lay colloquial claim to the title. Salon's original article has been upheld as correct by the fact-check site Snopes, but even those who believe it's acceptable for Cotton to call himself a Ranger, as opposed to the more accurate "Ranger-qualified," would likely agree that he can't claim battlefield experience as a Ranger, nor that he served as one. Yet the Arkansas senator appears to have done both, on more than one occasion.

Cotton still has not provided comment to Salon, but he addressed the issue directly in an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier on Monday.

"Were you straightforward with voters about your military service?" Baier asked.

....(snip)....

But with Cotton, a war hawk who has been deemed a "maniac" even by the conservative Washington Examiner, the issue goes deeper: Cotton hasn't simply said that he was a Ranger, but has strongly suggested or implied that he had deployed, even fought, as a Ranger. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/01/26/tom-cottons-army-ranger-dissembling-goes-back-at-least-eight-years/

January 26, 2021

America's national healing depends on Donald Trump facing real punishment

America's national healing depends on Donald Trump facing real punishment
Trump is out of power, but his shadow lingers and his enablers are everywhere. To heal, we must have justice

By ALAN D. BLOTCKY - SETH D. NORRHOLM
JANUARY 26, 2021 12:00PM


(Salon) Donald Trump is gone. Jan. 20 has come and gone. Joe Biden is our 46th president and Kamala Harris is our vice president. Celebration has been on display and our democracy is breathing easier.

But our glow of hopefulness will inevitably be dampened by the penetrating darkness of the past four years. The aftermath of Donald Trump is before us. And it cannot be avoided. For example, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and several other members of the "sedition caucus" are still in Congress and stand as a constant reminder of how much accountability and healing must still occur.

Many of us are at high risk for the development of trauma, stress-related and anxiety-related symptoms (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD). We have been subjected to physical and psychological abuse by the now-departed president. The sickness and death associated with the coronavirus pandemic has been catastrophic. Our crippled economy has created widespread depression and anxiety. Trump's racism, xenophobia, misogyny, nativism, white supremacy, violence and incitement of insurrection have all been traumatic forces as well.

Post-traumatic stress symptoms are increasingly evident among us: distressing and intrusive thoughts, anxiety, worry, fear, flashbacks, nightmares, hyper-vigilance, disturbed sleep and more. These symptoms occur most notably in those with close proximity to the horrific nature of the deadly disease, such as first responders, medical providers and friends and families of victims. All are due to the impact of a cruel and corrupt leader who harmed us after swearing to be our protector. Much like a domestic abuser, Trump deceived, betrayed and mistreated us. ..........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/01/26/americas-national-healing-depends-on-donald-trump-facing-the-consequences/

January 26, 2021

'My sister is pathetic': Laura Ingraham's brother slams her criticism of Dr Fauci on Twitter

(Independent UK) The brother of Fox News host Laura Ingraham has called his sister “pathetic” for criticising Dr Anthony Fauci on Twitter.

On Sunday, Ms Ingraham shared an article on Twitter about Dr Fauci discussing the deadliness of the new strain of Covid-19 found in the UK, commenting: “Dr Doom is back.”

Curtis Ingraham retweeted his sister, commenting: “My sister is pathetic! Criticizing Dr. Fauci?! What is your expertise exactly Laura beyond spinning lies and conspiracies? Apologies Dr Fauci and huge thanks!!!”

It is not the first time that Mr Ingraham has gone after his sister online and in his bio on Twitter he describes himself as a “seeker of justice, accountability and honesty”, a “sibling fact checker” and that he has “hypocrisy in my sights”. ..............(more)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/laura-ingraham-fox-news-brother-twitter-b1792426.html

January 26, 2021

The Grifting Kraken

(Salon) A Friday filing with the Federal Election Commission shows that Sidney Powell, the Texas lawyer and conspiracy theorist so extreme that Donald Trump's campaign fired her, has launched a new super PAC which will allow her to raise an unlimited amount of money and put it towards virtually any political cause — including paying herself. The PAC, called "Restore the Republic," lists its physical address as a UPS dropbox about half an hour from the former president's residence Mar-a-Lago.

Powell rode her ludicrous allegations about election fraud to international notoriety in November, joining the Trump campaign's "elite strike force" alongside former LifeLock spokesperson Rudy Giuliani and legal adviser Jenna Ellis. Her off-the-wall performance at a now-infamous Nov. 19 press conference, where she declared, among other things, that voting machines across the country had been rigged on behalf of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez (who died in 2013), drew so much backlash that the Trump campaign cut her loose. Powell was back in the White House weeks later, however, with Trump floating her as a possible special counsel tasked with investigating his election defeat. ..........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/01/25/sidney-powell-releases-kraken--on-herself-with-new-super-pac-not-far-from-mar-a-lago/

January 25, 2021

Florida: Here's when Brightline trains are expected to restart service

After a hiatus that started nine months ago, Brightline’s high-speed rail service is likely to come to life again in South Florida toward the end of this year, the company now says.

The rail line, which halted service among the downtowns of Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami last March due to COVID-19, has used the down time to firm up new plans for local stations and build out its 170-mile expansion to Orlando, said spokesman Ben Porritt.

In the meantime, the company has commenced a plan to gradually restore nearly 250 jobs that were cut when the line shut down.

“There is a rolling plan to bring back positions,” Porritt said. “Some of this has started and will continue throughout the year. As it relates to station and operations staff, we expect them to be brought on board between 30 to 60 days prior to resuming service.” ...........(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/21206885/fl-heres-when-brightline-trains-are-expected-to-restart-service

January 25, 2021

What's loud, has bulging red eyes and is planning to spend summer in Michigan?

(Detroit Free Press) It’s an underground movement now, but it will be all the buzz this spring and summer.

This year will mark the re-emergence after 17 years of Brood X, or the Great Eastern Brood, of periodical cicadas — those large, winged, kind of scary-looking but mostly harmless flying insects known for their almost deafening buzz.

“The end of May through June, it can get pretty loud — if you are in an area where they are numerous, there can be hundreds of thousands, or millions, of them,” said Howard Russell, an entomologist (insect scientist) at Michigan State University.

Unlike greenish, annual cicadas, periodical cicadas are known for their black bodies and bold, red eyes. Their mass, in-unison emergence every 17 years is one of nature’s great mysteries. ...............(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2021/01/25/17-year-cicadas-coming-to-michigan/6657857002/

January 25, 2021

Illustrating Trump's Toxic Legacy -- And Biden's Daunting Task Ahead

(Grist) JOE BIDEN HAS A MESS ON HIS HANDS. He inherits a White House plagued by the specters of violence, distrust, racial animus, and an actual plague. Donald Trump was loud in many ways, from the tweets and the reality show-inspired unveilings of Supreme Court nominees to the audible whistles to white nationalists and the tantrum over last year’s election results. But amid his chaos and contradiction, his administration was dedicated to a quieter art: the regulatory rollback. If America was to be made great again, remnants of President Barack Obama’s era needed to be dismantled.

Obama had left behind an environmental legacy, however rushed and incomplete. The country had entered a historic climate agreement with 195 other countries. It had committed to curbing carbon emissions from coal plants and improving the fuel efficiency of new cars and trucks. The administration had conserved more than 550 million acres of land and had given the clean energy sector a $90-billion jumpstart via the 2009 Recovery Act.

So by the time Trump was sworn into office on January 20, 2017, there was much to undo. Trump’s Cabinet secretaries would direct particular ire toward Obama’s environmental and climate accomplishments.

In the four years that followed, the new administration made hundreds of attempts to dampen the U.S. government’s response to climate change and limit the scope and efficacy of federal oversight. Executive actions, judicial challenges, and new, industry-friendly rules streamed prolifically from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Interior, Department of Energy, and other agencies. ...........(more)

https://grist.org/donald-trump-environmental-and-climate-rollbacks/