There's battle lines being drawn.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Young people speaking their minds
getting so much resistance from behind

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Linkee-poo Tuesday Jan 26

"A tragic Monday night in Fultondale after one person was killed in a tornado, dozens of other people were injured." Oh look, it's tornado season once again.

"For the past five years, scientists with the Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission have been studying these marine-terminating glaciers from the air and by ship. They found that of the 226 glaciers surveyed, 74 in deep fjords accounted for nearly half of the total ice loss (as previously monitored by satellites) from Greenland between 1992 and 2017. These glaciers exhibited the most undercutting, which is when a layer of warm, salty water at the bottom of a fjord melts the base of a glacier, causing the ice above to break apart. In contrast, the 51 glaciers that extend into shallow fjords or onto shallow ridges experienced the least undercutting and contributed only 15% of the total ice loss." We're learning more on how precisely we're boned.

"California lifted regional stay-at-home orders across the state Monday in response to improving coronavirus conditions, returning the state to a system of county-by-county restrictions, state health officials announced. CBS San Francisco reports the move opens the way for a return to limited restaurant dining, religious services and other activities." I'm sure the recall petition had nothing to do with it.

"Nearly three years after the Weinstein Co. declared bankruptcy, a judge on Monday confirmed a liquidation plan that provides a $17.1 million fund for Harvey Weinstein's sexual misconduct accusers… The plan also provides $9.7 million to the former officers and directors of the Weinstein Co., allowing them to pay a portion of their legal bills over the last several years." I believe the sum can be described as "a pittance." But unfortunately, it's probably the best they'll get.

"Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will resign on Tuesday morning, his office said in a statement on Monday, heightening political turmoil in the country as it battles Covid-19."

"Allies of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who faces years in prison, called for new protests next weekend to demand his release, following a wave of demonstrations that turned out tens of thousands across the country in a defiant challenge to President Vladimir Putin… Mass rallies took place Saturday in more than 100 cities in what observers said was the largest outpouring of anger in years, and Navalny’s supporters urged protesters to keep up the pressure."

"Tens of thousands of protesting farmers drove long lines of tractors into India’s capital on Tuesday, breaking through police barricades, defying tear gas and storming the historic Red Fort as the nation celebrated Republic Day."

"A third night of rioting has shaken the Netherlands as protesters rampaged through towns and cities around the country after government introduced a night-time curfew… More than 180 people were arrested on Monday in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, where shops were vandalised and looted and the mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, issued an emergency decree giving police broader powers of arrest."

"Trump's useful thugs: how the Republican party offered a home to the Proud Boys." I often wonder how they would react if they encountered the far-left they like to imagine they're fighting.

"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dropped his demand that Democrats maintain the Senate filibuster — ending an early stalemate in the Senate that prevented party leaders from negotiating a power-sharing agreement… Late Monday, McConnell said he was ready to move forward after two Democrats signaled they would not vote to end the legislative filibuster, assuring him that it would stay in place. The position of the two moderate Democrats — Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema — also ensured that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer lacked the votes to end the filibuster, a key demand from his party's left." Hey NPR, that first sentence there, those words don't mean what you think they mean. He didn't drop his demand, he got his way. Those are different.

"Trump showered his allies in the conservative media with VIP treatment, rewarding them with interviews and access, plugging their books and programs, and in some cases seeking their counsel on everything from immigration policy to military airstrikes. But they’re on the outside now — and looking to draw blood from the new administration."

"The new President and first lady settled in at the White House this weekend, and did so with extended Biden family members… 'The residence has life in it again,' a White House source told CNN of the energy inside. 'It's the honeymoon period where everything feels new.'"

"With the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump set to begin in February, nine prominent Republican lawyers, including two former officials in the Trump administration, have signed a letter urging GOP senators to "consider the evidence" before deciding how to vote on conviction."

"Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., will preside over former President Donald Trump's trial in the Senate, a Senate source tells NPR. Leahy, 80, is the president pro tempore of the Senate, a constitutional role given to the longest-serving lawmaker in the majority party. The president pro tempore is third in the line of presidential succession, after the vice president and House speaker."

"Perry was outed by The New York Times in reports over the weekend as working with a senior U.S. Department of Justice attorney on a plan to write a letter to Georgia state legislators advising them that there was an ongoing investigation into vote fraud in the Georgia presidential election, in hopes that it would spur them to invalidate the state’s results, which showed a narrow win for now-President Joseph R. Biden Jr."

"The court instructed the lower courts to wipe away previous lower court opinions that went against Trump because he is no longer in office. It leaves unresolved a novel question raised in the case because Trump, unlike other presidents, did not use a blind trust when he assumed the presidency, but instead continued to retain an interest in his businesses and let those businesses take money from foreign and domestic governments." Apparently you can run out the clock and escape justice, according to SCOTUS.

"Brandon Straka, 44, was arrested on a felony charge of interfering with police during civil disorder. The self-described founder of a movement to 'walk away' from liberalism was also charged with unlawful entry into a restricted building and disorderly conduct."

"Twitter has permanently suspended the account of MyPillow chief Mike Lindell for repeated violations of the company's policy on election misinformation, the social media firm said late on Monday." Another gobber gone.

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