"Country music legend Dolly Parton announced Monday she is bowing out of this year's nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame… In a statement posted to her social media accounts, the award-winning singer said that while she was grateful to be nominated for this year's class, she didn't think she'd 'earned that right.'" The HoF isn't just about music, but about the industry around the music and promotion of Rock and Roll and the attitude of Rock. Ms. Parton definitely qualifies on those last two counts. And she definitely wouldn't be the first artist considered Country to be inducted.
"The Ingenuity helicopter, initially designed for five flights, is about to begin its second year of flying on Mars… The little chopper's mission has been extended through September by NASA, the agency announced Monday. Ingenuity just completed its 21st successful flight."
"The James Webb Space Telescope has taken one giant step closer in its mission to unlock the mysteries of the universe… The world's premier space observatory has successfully completed a number of steps crucial for aligning its 18 gold mirror segments. Having checked this milestone off of Webb's list, the telescope team expects that the observatory may even exceed the goals it was meant to achieve." Ready to go.
"A 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Japan on Wednesday, cutting power to millions of homes and leading to a tsunami advisory being issued around the Fukushima prefecture, where a 2011 quake caused a disaster at a nuclear power plant."
"Essentially, the bill said the state of Texas cannot do business with financial groups that divest from fossil fuels. Issac says the goal is to get these banks and investment firms to change their policies. He calls it 'a responsible way to push back that says, "Look, if you're going to be anti-Texas, then you're not going to get to do business with Texas."'… The bill was signed into law last year. Now the Texas comptroller's office is creating a list of companies that could face a state boycott." Conservatives are all for Free Markets, until they're at a disadvantage in the free marketplace.
"Late last year, Laura Wing-Kamoosi visited her 79-year-old father at the hospital in northern Michigan. To her surprise, a worker asked her to remove her N95 and replace it with a surgical mask. She declined, layering the surgical mask atop her N95 instead."
"Some parents express worry that masks might interfere with children's ability to learn or to socialize. Other parents fear that unmasking will lead to more COVID-19 cases… Amid the debate, a small but growing body of research is offering hints that masks do not have a significant impact on speech or social skills… Some of that research involves people like Yazzolino, who are blind. Their ability to master language and social skills shows that the human brain is really good at finding a way to communicate."
"The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point and laid out plans for a more aggressive strategy of “ongoing increases” in the months ahead to combat high inflation… With inflation running at a 40-year peak, the Fed is shifting aggressively away from its two-year old stimulative stance that cushioned the economy during the pandemic."
"Get those to-go mugs ready, again, because your next Starbucks coffee could come with a side of sustainability… By the end of next year, Starbucks customers in the U.S. and Canada will be able to use a personal, reusable cup for their drinks, the company announced Tuesday. The change will apply to drinks ordered in the café, at the drive-thru and mobile orders." Now it remains to be seen if that's actually a process that will be embraced by the customers.
"Investors are preparing for the very real possibility that Russia will default on its debt, an event that threatens to further isolate the country from the global financial system, perhaps for years to come… On Wednesday, Russia needs to pay a total of $117 million in interest payments on two bonds that are denominated in dollars. Right now, it is unclear how or if the country will pay them… Failure to pay the interest would start a 30-day grace period for Russia to make good on the amount due."
"The conflict (in Ukraine) has caused logistical and supply chain problems as well as parts shortages of critical vehicle components. Most notably, many automakers source wire harnesses, which are used in vehicles for electrical power and communication between parts, from Ukraine. The problems add to an already strained supply chain due to the coronavirus pandemic and an ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips."
"Van Baarle is far from alone in her experience. Several Patreon creators have received the same message from Vimeo in recent months, causing a tailspin of confusion and panic over potentially losing their video work. The ultimatums to indie video creators come as Vimeo is shifting focus toward large corporate clients — leaving longtime Vimeo users to scramble for an alternative." Just a reminder that if you don't own your platform, you're at the mercy of corporate interests (yes, I've heavily debated moving this blog many times).
"Children might start going to school in darkness next year in exchange for more sun later in the day, while their parents commute home from work with the benefit of light… Those would be among the impacts of ditching standard time and adopting year-round daylight saving time, a change in legislation the Senate passed this week with virtually no opposition." If we would end the time change, and I'm not saying we shouldn't we should go to Standard Time instead.
"State officials ask residents of a small, predominantly Black town near the site of new Ford investment to forfeit their city charter or face takeover." Yeah, I'd tell the state to go stick it. (Grokked from Chang)
"D.C. police say they have taken a person into custody who they say may be linked to five attacks on people experiencing homelessness in D.C. and New York City over the last two weeks. Two of those attacks were fatal."
"U.S. prosecutors have accused China of trying to harass and undermine an American critic of China who is running for U.S. Congress, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday in federal court in New York."
"'States are free to have their own rules, and those rules differ from state to state. But the notion that a state can tell its citizens what they could do, not just within but without their borders, really is anathema to how we think of our constitutional system,' Stephen Vladeck, a constitutional scholar and law professor at the University of Texas School of Law, tells NPR."
"Slovakia has preliminarily agreed to provide Ukraine with a key Soviet-era air defense system to help defend against Russian airstrikes, according to three sources familiar with the matter, but the US and NATO are still grappling with how to backfill that country's own defensive capabilities, and the transfer is not yet assured… According to two of the sources, Slovakia, one of three NATO allies that have the S-300 missile defense system, wants assurances that the systems will be replaced immediately."
"President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that an additional $800 million in military aid will be sent to Ukraine, just hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address to the U.S. Congress, a speech Biden called 'convincing.'… Biden said the U.S. is adding to its assistance, which now totals $1 billion just this week, to help 'fend off Russia's assault.'"
"No decisions have been made, but the officials said the White House is mulling whether to equip Ukraine with explosives-laden 'loitering missiles,' called Switchblades, as part of a new package of military aid President Joe Biden is expected to discuss Wednesday."
"American intelligence officials have discovered that the barrage of ballistic missiles Russia has fired into Ukraine contain a surprise: decoys that trick air-defense radars and fool heat-seeking missiles… The devices are each about 1 foot long, shaped like a dart and white with an orange tail, according to an American intelligence official. They are released by the Iskander-M short-range ballistic missiles that Russia is firing from mobile launchers across the border, the official said, when the missile senses that it has been targeted by air defense systems." Clever girl.
"A Russian woman who burst onto the set of a live TV news broadcast to protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine is under arrest and is the subject of "a pre-investigation check," according to state-run Tass media… The woman, Marina Ovsyannikova, is an editor at Channel One; she protested the war by walking behind a news anchor while holding a sign reading 'No War' and telling viewers they were being lied to. It also said, 'Russians for peace.'" While I don't know much insider information on the state of Russia as it is now, but I want to add two thoughts here. First is if a sign is written in English you need to consider the audience for the message (more than likely done for Western eyes). Some people who do have more up to date knowledge say that there is no "live" news in Russia, and there hasn't been for years (note recent debunking of Putin's "live" meetings as people could read the wristwatches of the participants).
"Hours after Marina Ovsyannikova's on-screen protest, three resignations came to light… Channel One colleague Zhanna Agalakova quit her job as Europe correspondent while two journalists have left rival NTV. Lilia Gildeyeva had worked for the channel as a presenter since 2006 and Vadim Glusker had been at NTV for almost 30 years."
"A Russian-owned superyacht can't leave a dock in Norway — not because of sanctions, but because no one in the port will sell it fuel. The Ragnar is owned by Russian oligarch Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, a former KGB agent who has long been linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin."
"Earlier this year, about 30 Texas National Guard members were ordered to stand watch outside some of the wealthiest private ranches in South Texas, more than an hour’s drive away from the Mexico border, as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s highly touted mission to curb illegal immigration… But service members with firsthand knowledge of the mission told The Texas Tribune that troops rarely saw migrants from their posts nearly 80 miles away from the border and were unable to give chase because they were not authorized to enter the private ranches if they saw migrants cutting through." (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"Local election officials say the new identification requirements as a result of the Republican-backed law tripped up many eligible voters in the March 1 primary… An Associated Press analysis released Wednesday afternoon found that a total of nearly 23,000 mail ballots were rejected across the majority of Texas' counties."
"Prosecutors have discovered a written plan to "infiltrate" and "occupy" six congressional office buildings and the Supreme Court on January 6, 2021, as part of the federal investigation into Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, according to his indictment and a source familiar with the case… The nine-page planning document, titled '1776 Returns,' is mentioned briefly in the federal indictment filed last week against Tarrio, who is accused of orchestrating key participants in the US Capitol attack that day. A source revealed more details than were previously known about the plan."
"'At one time, science said man came from apes, did it not?' (Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker ) said on Sunday at Sugar Hill Church in Sugar Hill, Ga., during an on-stage interview. Lead Pastor Chuck Allen responded, 'Every time I read or hear that, I think to myself, "You just didn't read the same Bible I did."' …'That's what's interesting, though. If that is true, why are there still apes? Think about it,' Walker continued." Not that I expect a science lecture from Herschel Walker, but the celebration of ignorance is astounding.
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