Trump May Be Gone, But Trumpism Isn’t - Even to the disgraceful end of his Presidency, Trump managed to persuade other conservative opportunists that his brand of right-wing populism represents the future of the G.O.P. - link
Can the COVID-19 Vaccine Beat the Proliferation of New Virus Mutations? - Stopping transmission blocks the opportunity for viral mutation. Vaccination is the only means we have of standing in the virus’s way. - link
The Awe and Anguish of Being an American Today - For all the rousing joy of the political transition, our democracy remains deeply imperilled. - link
The Takedown of a Dark-Web Marketplace - One of the world’s largest illicit bazaars was shuttered using data seized from a fortified bunker in Germany. - link
Andrew Yang’s Ideas on Universal Basic Income Earned Him Fans. But Can He Win Votes? - His pitch in the mayoral race is for New York to become the “anti-poverty” city. - link
Navalny was recently arrested upon his arrival in Russia from Germany.
Massive protests took place across Russia on Saturday in support of Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin. Navalny was arrested last Sunday after returning to Moscow from Germany, where he was treated for a poisoning allegedly linked to the Kremlin five months earlier.
According to Reuters, about 40,000 people took part in the Moscow demonstrations, although police called that number incorrect, estimating the crowd at 4,000. Several thousands more participated in cities across the country, from Yakutsk in the northeast to St. Petersburg in the west, and about 3,000 demonstrators have been arrested in all.
People are now spreading around the city center, being pushed off Pushkinskaya, the main site of the rally. pic.twitter.com/I3dgZ4f4wV
— Ivan Nechepurenko (@INechepurenko) January 23, 2021
Protesters were met by a strong police presence — and government officials had urged citizens to stay home, arguing that the rallies did not have proper authorization.
“Respected citizens, the current event is illegal,” police reportedly announced during the demonstration in Moscow. “We are doing everything to ensure your safety.”
Few protesters heeded these warnings, and the number of those arrested in protests in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and about 70 other towns and cities swelled to at least 3,000, according to reports from the human rights monitoring group OVD-Info. That includes about 1,100 people in Moscow alone, as of 11:30 pm Moscow time on Saturday.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, was among those arrested at this weekend’s protests. Heads of his party’s regional offices have also been detained in advance of the protests, as well as members of Navalny’s team, including his press secretary, Kira Yarmysh.
Navalny’s arrest — and the detentions of his team — have galvanized a tremendous mass movement. The size of the Moscow protests is reminiscent of the summer of 2019, when at least 60,000 people demonstrated in that city to demand fair elections. (Navalny was arrested in advance of that movement, too.)
While many of the protesters were Navalny’s supporters, others said they came out more because they want to see a sweeping end to Putin’s authoritarian rule.
“I was never a big supporter of Navalny, and yet I understand perfectly well that this is a very serious situation,” Vitaliy Blazhevich — who, at 57, was one of the demonstration’s more senior participants — told the New York Times.
“Unless we keep coming out [to protest], the problem in this country will never go away,” Natalya Krainova, a former teacher, told the Guardian. “And that problem is Putin.”
Regardless of their motivation, in many places, protesters were met with swift and aggressive police force.
Video out of Moscow, for example, shows police dressed in riot gear beating protesters with batons. Dozens of protesters in that city were arrested outside of the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center, where Navalny is being held.
At least 1,090 have been arrested at protests around Russia against @navalny's jailing pic.twitter.com/sRp2BtOl3v
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) January 23, 2021
As night fell, police unleashed smoke grenades on downtown Moscow, and protesters responded with snowballs, according to reporter Alec Luhn.
"Fascists!" Snowballs vs batons in Moscow pic.twitter.com/RNp4AOg3eM
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) January 23, 2021
The demonstrations were also striking for their enormous geographic diversity. On Twitter, the Atlantic reporter Anne Applebaum collected scenes of large protests — composed largely of young people, many waving Russian flags — in the cities of Irkutsk, Novosirbirsk, Vladivostok, Tomsk, and Yakutsk.
Irkutsk has come out for Navalny. One of many such scenes across Russia today https://t.co/3OHzHJnDqf
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) January 23, 2021
Yakutsk is in the east of Siberia, while Vladivostok abuts the Sea of Japan. In a Siberian winter, these protesters were also braving brutally cold temperatures, with temperatures approaching -60°F in some places.
As clashes continues in Moscow, more ludicrous footage of the small pro-Navalny protest in Yakutsk earlier, where it was -48 pic.twitter.com/Ne4TvYl51g
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) January 23, 2021
That the protests were so widespread, and that they involved Russians of all ages, is indicative of Navalny’s appeal and ability to mobilize supporters — especially young people — according to the Washington Post.
In recent years, Putin has moved to crack down more aggressively on dissent, with new laws making it more difficult to organize protests. Russians who demonstrated Saturday face jail as well as other consequences.
Artyom, a college student who protested, told the Guardian he and his classmates had been threatened with serious academic consequences, which he said many believed meant expulsion, if they participated.
Putin seems likely to remain in power, despite the public opposition seen Saturday. A recent change to the Russian constitution would allow Putin to hold power for an additional 15 years.
In August, Navalny fell ill at a Siberian airport before boarding a flight to Moscow. His team, concerned he wasn’t receiving proper care in Russia, partnered with a humanitarian group that transported him to Germany for treatment. There, doctors traced the cause of his illness, which was found to be novichok, a deadly nerve agent that the Russian government has been known to use.
As Vox’s Alex Ward has written, Navalny always pledged he would return to Russia, even as he continued his criticism of Putin from Germany — including directly accusing the Kremlin of trying to kill him in YouTube videos viewed over 40 million times.
When Navalny arrived at the Berlin airport on January 17 for his return trip home, he said that he was not afraid, even though Russian officials had threatened to arrest him upon his return. Hundreds of supporters violated anti-protest laws to greet his plane at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport. Instead, the plane was diverted to the Sheremetyevo airport, whereupon Navalny was arrested at passport control.
The official charge he faces is failure to appear at a parole hearing, tied to a 2014 embezzlement case. Navalny has claimed those charges are politically motivated. Nevertheless, if the charges stick, he could face years in prison.
His newest arrest follows years of attempts by the Kremlin to stifle his opposition, and to dissuade Navalny from coming home, including by placing him on its federal wanted list, and claiming he avoided inspectors while abroad, as Ward has written:
This kind of thing isn’t new for Navalny. As mentioned, he’s been arrested before — and even poisoned before — so it’s possible he’ll eventually be released and go back to leading Russia’s anti-Putin movement. Sometimes the Kremlin just wants to remind Navalny who’s in charge, and slow down his work, in a manner that attempts to maintain the illusion of Russian democracy.
But it’s also possible Putin has had it, especially as he seeks to stay in power for life. Removing his top political nemesis would surely make such a ploy easier, though it may invite condemnation from other nations, including the United States newly led by President-elect Joe Biden.
Navalny has received support from US officials. Hours after Navalny’s detainment, incoming National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted a statement condemning the Putin critic’s detainment. “Mr. Navalny should be immediately released, and the perpetrators of the outrageous attack on his life must be held accountable,” he wrote.
And Rebecca Ross, a spokesperson for the US Embassy in Moscow, tweeted on Saturday that “The U.S. supports the right of all people to peaceful protest, freedom of expression. Steps being taken by Russian authorities are suppressing those rights.”
We're watching reports of protests in 38 Russian cities, arrests of 350+ peaceful protesters and journalists. The U.S. supports the right of all people to peaceful protest, freedom of expression. Steps being taken by Russian authorities are suppressing those rights.
— Rebecca Ross (@USEmbRuPress) January 23, 2021
It is unclear how effective a US response will be, however. Relations between Washington and Moscow — already cool — have deteriorated further since a hack of American federal agencies was linked to Russia in late 2020. Moreover, operations have shuttered at the last two remaining US consulates — one in Vladivostok and one in Yekaterinburg — leaving the US embassy in Moscow as the only US outpost in the entire country.
The report of more interference efforts comes as the Senate makes plans for its impeachment trial.
In the final weeks of his presidency, former President Donald Trump attempted to overturn state election results in Georgia by pressuring officials to “find” votes for him. And according to a new report from the New York Times, Trump’s efforts extended beyond that: He also contemplated replacing the acting US attorney general with one more sympathetic to his efforts to force a change in the Georgia results.
The Times’s Katie Benner reports that Trump and Jeffrey Clark, a Department of Justice lawyer in charge of the civil division, devised a plan that would have seen the Department of Justice working to improperly keep Trump in office by replacing acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen — who had refused to go along with Trump’s attempts to undermine election results — with Clark.
A rash of DOJ officials, briefed on the plan via conference call on January 3, threatened to resign if that occurred, according to the Times report. That threat, along with a contentious meeting with Rosen, Clark, and Trump in which each DOJ official made their case to the president, reportedly dissuaded Trump from replacing Rosen in the end.
But had Trump gone ahead, the Justice Department would have likely become embroiled in his effort to overturn the election, giving such attempts a legitimacy and legal backing they lacked after the failure of dozens of lawsuits that falsely alleged election irregularities.
One former Justice Department official called the effort to replace Rosen “an attempted coup at the Justice Dept. — fomented by the President of the United States” on Twitter Friday.
For his part, Clark has denied that any plan to fire Rosen existed, and told the Times that he had merely provided counsel to the president.
“My practice is to rely on sworn testimony to assess disputed factual claims,” he said. “There was a candid discussion of options and pros and cons with the president. It is unfortunate that those who were part of a privileged legal conversation would comment in public about such internal deliberations, while also distorting any discussions.”
Changing the leadership of the DOJ would have been among the last attempts by Trump to overturn the election. Beyond his unsuccessful court challenges in battleground states, Trump had also previously tried to harness the power of the DOJ by asking Rosen to investigate Dominion Voting Systems, a company that makes voting equipment and software, and that has been the subject of false claims of vote tampering. The former president also requested the Justice Department to support his campaign’s state-level lawsuits, and was denied.
Trump further asked Rosen to appoint special counsels to carry out investigations into disproved claims of voter fraud, which Rosen declined to do. Rosen affirmed his predecessor former Attorney General William Barr’s findings that claims of widespread voter fraud were not supported by evidence.
And in one of the most shocking and brazen efforts, Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ask him to “find” enough votes to overturn President Joe Biden’s narrow margin of victory in the state, even after it was affirmed through two recounts. That call reportedly took place on the same day that Trump had the newly-uncovered conversations with DOJ officials.
These efforts ultimately culminated in a rally in Washington, DC, on January 6, during which Trump repeated his false claims about irregularities with the election — and during which he whipped up a crowd that later stormed the US Capitol, leading to his second impeachment.
Trump was impeached on January 13 in the House for alleged “incitement of insurrection.” The article of impeachment also argues that Trump “betrayed his trust as President” in attempting to coerce officials to back his efforts to overturn the election, as he reportedly did with Rosen. If he is found guilty of these crimes in the Senate, Trump could be barred from holding public office again.
On Friday, Senate leaders finally hammered out a deal to begin that trial on February 9. This came after debate over the start time — with Democrats worried that beginning the trial immediately would delay the confirmations of many of Biden’s administration and Cabinet appointees, and Republicans wanting Trump to have an extended period of time to ready his defense.
The House will deliver the article to the Senate on Monday, and senators will be sworn in as jurors Tuesday, but oral arguments won’t begin on February 9, and leaders have signaled that they hope to reach a verdict by the end of that week.
By delaying the start for two weeks, Biden’s administration will be able to prioritize Covid-19 relief and confirming Cabinet posts, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday. And a spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the delay gave Trump adequate due process.
Trump has begun assembling his defense team. His longtime attorney Rudy Giuliani, who led Trump’s failed attempts to overturn election results in the courts, will not be on it; last week, he said he could not act as attorney because he was a witness to the January 6 rally.
Instead, South Carolina attorney Karl “Butch” Bowers Jr., will head up Trump’s legal team. Bowers works for a small firm in Columbia, South Carolina, and has been described as a more measured figure than the bombastic Giuliani. Bowers previously successfully defended former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford in his own 2009 impeachment hearing, after Sanford’s extramarital affair came to light.
The veteran interviewer had been hospitalized with Covid-19 in late 2020.
The broadcast journalist Larry King, known for his in-depth interviews and signature style, has died at age 87. His production company, Ora Media, announced King’s death in a statement posted to Twitter Saturday morning.
King died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to the Twitter statement. A cause of death was not given. King had been admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 symptoms in December 2020.
— Larry King (@kingsthings) January 23, 2021
King hosted Larry King Live on CNN for 25 years. More recently, he hosted Larry King Now and Politicking with Larry King on Hulu and RT America. These were produced by Ora TV, which he co-founded with the Mexican billionaire investor Carlos Slim.
“For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry’s many thousands of interviews, awards, and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster,” reads the statement. “Larry always viewed his interview subjects as the true stars of his programs, and himself as merely an unbiased conduit between the guest and audience.”
King became iconic for his preferred interview style: long exchanges in which he asked straightforward questions in a raspy, Brooklyn accent. According to a CNN remembrance broadcast Saturday morning, King interviewed more than 50,000 people across 60 years, including US presidents, world leaders, celebrities, athletes, and more esoteric people like psychics, conspiracy theorists, and those convicted of crimes.
And he was perhaps equally known for his bold sartorial choices — he was rarely seen without his signature suspenders, often paired with a bright shirt and colorful necktie.
King was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger to Jewish immigrant parents in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York; he began his career in radio. After changing his name, King worked first in local markets in the Miami area, before joining a national radio broadcast with the now-defunct Mutual Broadcasting System in 1978. The Larry King Show aired there until 1994.
In 1985, he joined CNN and launched Larry King Live, a show that made him a household name and regularly had a viewership of over a million people per night.
Guests on that show frequently made news. Oprah Winfrey called on then-Sen. Barack Obama to run for president on King’s program in 2006. And in 1992, the billionaire Ross Perot said in an interview with King that he would run for president if his supporters could land him on the ballot in all 50 states. Perot went on to run upstart populist campaigns in both 1992 and 1996.
The final broadcast of Larry King Live took place on December 10, 2010. King launched Ora TV in 2012.
Over the years, he was married eight times to seven women, and had five children. Two of his children died in August of 2020. King was unmarried at the time of his death.
He also had health issues, including quintuple heart bypass surgery following a heart attack in 1987. More recently, he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous lung tumor in 2017, and had a stroke in 2019 that left him occasionally using a wheelchair.
Nevertheless, he pledged never to retire.
On Twitter, fellow broadcasters and other supporters paid tribute to King as news of his death spread.
Just heard the awful news about Larry King. He taught me so much. He was a true mensch. He probably even taught me that word.
— Craig Ferguson (@CraigyFerg) January 23, 2021
So long pal, thanks for all the laughs. Say hi to Rickles. #RIPLarryKing
Such a great headline about #LarryKing in NYT - it shows he had so much breadth..unlike some who can only interview one type of guest (eg politicians), Larry could interview ANYONE and he did and he interviewed EVERYBODY pic.twitter.com/bCCQO5fP6w
— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) January 23, 2021
Larry King was a Brooklyn boy who become a newsman who interviewed the newsmakers. He conducted over 50,000 interviews that informed Americans in a clear and plain way.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 23, 2021
New York sends condolences to his family and many friends.
Root the rock as England frustrate Sri Lanka in second Test - England still trail by 42 runs and will seek to wipe out the deficit with Jack Leach and Stuart Broad at the crease on the fourth morning, although Sri Lanka spinner Lasith Embuldeniya has been excellent with career best figures of 7-132.
Pakistan name 6 uncapped players in squad for first Test against South Africa - The uncapped players include off-spinner Sajid Khan and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali, opener Imran Butt, and pacers Haris Rauf and Tabish Khan
Did not expect to debut for India in Australia; was under pressure in first match: Natarajan - The 29-year-old left-arm pacer became the only India player to make a debut in all the three formats in the same tour
Rajasthan Royals appoint Kumar Sangakkara as director of cricket - Sangakkara will be responsible for overseeing the entire cricketing ecosystem of the franchise including coaching structure, auction plans and team strategy, talent discovery and development, as well as the development of the Royals Academy in Nagpur
It would be a blessing if I ever open batting in Tests, says Washington Sundar - One of the heroes of India’s epic triumph in Brisbane, Washington Sundar spoke about the head coach’s influence on him.
Actor rape case: court seeks six more months to complete trial - Only 82 of 300 witnesses examined so far
Farmers’ protest | Proposed Republic Day tractor rally will begin amid tight security after celebrations conclude: Delhi Police - Farmers will not be allowed to enter central Delhi and their presence will be restricted to areas near the city border.
Tharoor to woo young, on-the-fence voters - The MP will also play a role in finalising party’s election manifesto
JNUSU president calls for united struggle till farm laws are repealed - ‘The legislations are intended to benefit corporate groups’
PM Modi exhorts youths to defeat ‘network of lies and rumours’ on COVID-19 vaccination with right information - Narendra Modi again stressed on ‘Vocal for Local’, saying it will gain more strength from the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ sentiment.
Alexei Navalny: 'More than 3,000 detained' in protests across Russia - Tens of thousands of people join some of the largest rallies against President Vladimir Putin in years.
In pictures: Tens of thousands gather for pro-Navalny protests - Tens of thousands braved a police crackdown to show support for jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Covid: Italian PM brands vaccine delay 'unacceptable' - Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has warned he will take legal action against Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
Tse Chi Lop: Alleged Asian drug lord arrested in Amsterdam - Australia believes Tse Chi Lop's syndicate controls up to 70% of narcotics entering the country.
Vissarion: Is this Russian cult leader a fraud? - A mysterious Russian cult leader is accused of embezzling followers' funds and abusing them.
Review: Lupin updates classic French gentleman thief for the 21st century - Omar Sy heads stellar cast in clever series inspired by the works of Maurice Leblanc - link
Is this a fossilized lair of the dreaded bobbit worm? - The giant worms hunted in pretty much the most nightmarish way possible. - link
DDoSers are abusing Microsoft RDP to make attacks more powerful - DDoS amplification attacks have abused all kinds of legit services. Now, it's Windows. - link
What’s the technology behind a five-minute charge battery? - The company behind a new battery isn't saying much, but we figured a few things out. - link
The art and science of boarding an airplane in a pandemic - Researchers and airlines obsessed over efficiency now worry about safety, too. - link
You get a LGBTQ.
submitted by /u/party_in_my_head
[link] [comments]
Nothing, they fast
submitted by /u/TheAverageSJW
[link] [comments]
At first he’s in shock, he wasn’t supposed to end up here! But then he starts to look around & notice things. Everyone is always so grouchy because of the heat, so he fixes the AC. And they’re always bored because there’s nothing to do, so he fixes the cable box. Slowly but surely he starts to make improvements, until God finally realizes what’s going on. So God goes to Satan and says, Hey I think you have our guy. We gotta fix this mistake. Satan says, I don’t think so, we like him here. He’s fixing things & making them better. God starts to get frustrated and says, Hey, if you don’t give us our guy back, I’m gonna have to sue you. Satan laughs and says, Where do you think you’re gonna find a lawyer?
submitted by /u/siren_of_amphitrite
[link] [comments]
Hindus, on the other hand, never had any beef.
submitted by /u/porichoygupto
[link] [comments]
"Well it was about the same size as the box the dvd came in."
submitted by /u/dazsmith88
[link] [comments]