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A Third Of U.S. Families Struggle To Afford Diapers. This Bill Aims To Change That.

Huffington Post
By Alanna Vagianos

In the United States, 1 in 3 families struggle to provide enough diapers for their children ― often forcing them to choose between food and the vital child care item. Sometimes, it even keeps families from sending their kids to day care. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) introduced a new bipartisan bill on Monday that aims to ensure every family can afford diapers.

The End Diaper Need Act of 2021, shared first with HuffPost, will assist low-income families that aren’t able to afford diapers for their babies or toddlers. For these families, the inability to access diapers can be a significant burden on their physical, mental and economic well-being. Infants use up to 12 diapers a day and toddlers use around eight diapers a day, averaging a cost of around $80 a month, according to the National Diaper Network.

“In the middle of a global public health crisis ― with so many families struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads ― the last thing parents should have to worry about is being able to buy diapers that are essential to the health and well-being of their children,” Duckworth told HuffPost. Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) are co-leads on the bill alongside Duckworth.

The bill will use three approaches to address the diaper need in minority and low-income communities around the country. First, the End Diaper Need Act will give $200 million to social services every year between 2022 and 2025, which will go toward diapers and other diaper supplies. The bill will also fund 200 medically necessary diapers per month for “medically complex children” through Medicaid. Lastly, the act will define diapers and diaper supplies as qualified medical expenses so that families can purchase them through their health savings accounts or health reimbursement accounts.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/families-struggle-afford-diapers-bill_n_602164f2c5b6173dd2f83db5

Germany, Sweden and Poland toss out Russian diplomats over Moscow expulsions

Source: France24

Germany, Sweden and Poland on Monday each threw out a Russian diplomat in retaliation for Moscow's expulsion last week of their diplomats for allegedly taking part in protests in support of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
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The three EU countries announced the tit-for-tat moves in coordinated statements, drawing an angry response from Russia which accused them of meddling in its internal affairs.

The diplomatic spat comes at a time of heightened tensions between the European Union and Russia, exacerbated by the arrest and jailing of leading opposition figure Navalny.

Russia humiliated the European Union on Friday by announcing the expulsions during a rare meeting in Moscow between EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210208-germany-sweden-and-poland-toss-out-russian-diplomats-over-moscow-expulsions

Police: Partially Clothed Woman Breaks in to Virginia Home, Attacks Man With Pitchfork

NBCWashington/Associated Press

Authorities in Virginia say that a partially clothed woman broke into a Stafford County home and attacked a man with a pitchfork.

The Free Lance-Star reports that the woman was arrested Sunday after a scuffle with deputies.

Stafforf Sheriff’s Maj. Shawn Kimmitz said deputies went to a home in Stafford in response to a report of breaking and entering. He said that a half-naked, muddy woman had knocked down a door and attacked the resident.

Kimmitz said the man suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries after being jabbed in the arm with the pitchfork. He said she fled to a nearby home and attacked deputies after they arrived.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/police-partially-clothed-woman-breaks-in-to-virginia-home-attacks-man-with-pitchfork/2566298/

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Thank you so much for the hearts!

Less than 10% of Americans like QAnon

CNN
Analysis by Harry Enten, CNN
Updated 2:39 PM ET, Sun February 7, 2021

QAnon has been in the news a lot in recent weeks. Polling shows that many people at least partially blame it for the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, and it's a scary and dangerous conspiracy theory.

But we should be clear that it truly is a fringe movement. True QAnon believers are a very small percentage of the population. Republicans should have little electoral fear of speaking out against QAnon in particular, even if certain conspiracy theories (such as falsely believing Donald Trump lost reelection only because of fraud) have been prevalent in some circles.

Last month, the NBC News poll asked voters whether they had positive, negative, neutral or no views of QAnon. A mere 2% held positive views. The rest were either negative (42%), neutral (11%), or weren't sure or didn't know (45%).

Keep in mind here that this poll was taken after the US Capitol insurrection, when many blamed QAnon for spreading misinformation that in part led to the event.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/07/politics/qanon-americans-analysis/index.html

Liz Cheney promises 'many, many criminal investigations' into Trump's 'assault' on the US Capitol

Raw Story
David Edwards
February 07, 2021

During an interview on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump, if she would also vote to convict the former president of insurrection if she were a U.S. senator.

"I would listen to the evidence," Cheney said. "The Senate trial is snapshot. There's a massive criminal investigation underway. There will be a massive criminal investigation of everything that happened on Jan. 6 and in the days before."

"People will want to know exactly what the president was doing," she continued. "They will want to know, for example, if the tweet he sent out calling Vice President Pence a coward while the attack was underway, whether that tweet, for example, was a premeditated effort to provoke violence. There are a lot of questions that have to be answered and there will be many, many criminal investigations looking at every aspect of this and everyone who was involved."

She added: "We've never seen that kind of assault by a president of the United States on another branch of government and that can never happen again."

https://www.rawstory.com/liz-cheney-trump/

A Man Who Allegedly Maced Police Officers During The Capitol Coup Attempt Has Been Arrested

Buzzfeed News
Julia Reinstein BuzzFeed News Reporter

A man who was filmed macing police officers during the attempted coup at the US Capitol last month was arrested by the FBI on Thursday, authorities said.

Peter Schwartz, a 47-year-old from Owensboro, Kentucky, faces numerous charges, including one for forcibly assaulting an officer.

According to an affidavit, Schwartz was part of a mob that swarmed officers outside the entrance to the Capitol, yelling at the authorities while striking and spraying them with harmful substances.

Video of the incident, which was posted on YouTube and reviewed by federal agents, apparently shows Schwartz being handed a canister of Mace and spraying the officers with it. One officer appears to get hit, take a step back, and turn away to avoid inhaling the spray.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/capitol-arrest-mace-cops

Democratic group American Bridge plans $100 million midterm campaign to back President Biden

Washington Post
By Michael Scherer
Feb. 5, 2021

The Democratic group American Bridge, which spent about $62 million on ads in 2020 to defeat President Donald Trump, plans to relaunch next month with a new effort aimed at defending the record of President Biden and a nine-figure ad budget to maintain Democratic congressional majorities through the midterm elections.

Former Montana governor Steve Bullock, former Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez and former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards will join as co-chairs, according to a statement from the group. They will join former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, who began advising the group last year.

The announcement marks the first major reorganization of the external Democratic infrastructure that helped elect Biden, with more moves expected in the coming weeks as the Biden White House prepares to roll out additional details on its own political program.

“In 2022, Democratic fortunes are going to sink or swim on Biden’s success, so we want to engage on that front from the outset,” said Bradley Beychok, the group’s president, who will step down to become a senior adviser next month. “Biden’s policies are going to impact American families. Our job is to make sure that those impacts are seen and heard by voters starting now.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-democrat-fundraising/2021/02/05/019d0092-6752-11eb-8c64-9595888caa15_story.html

States redistribute hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses unused by nursing homes

Washington Post
By Lena H. Sun and Lenny Bernstein
Feb. 5, 2021 at 6:57 p.m. EST

The federal government allocated too much vaccine to elder-care facilities, and many states are now redistributing hundreds of thousands of the unused doses to others — a move expected to expand vaccinations to more people, more quickly, according to officials involved in the effort.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Thursday that he is redirecting 170,000 doses of unused vaccine intended for long-term-care facilities. In Texas, health officials said they would redistribute 126,750 doses. In Illinois, the state is redirecting about 97,000 doses. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) announced on Twitter last week that the state was reallocating 37,800 doses to vaccine providers. “These surplus vaccines should be made available to members of the general public right away rather than at the completion of the [long-term-care] program,” McMaster wrote.

In Maine, the state is initially taking about 4,000 doses from nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and other locations. “We’re not letting those doses go to waste,” said Nirav Shah, director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in a briefing for reporters.

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The CDC is working with 32 jurisdictions on a case-by-case basis to “transfer doses back from pharmacy partners when there is an excess,” said spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund. She declined to say how many total doses are being redirected.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/02/05/unused-vaccines-nursing-homes-reallocated/