EARLYBIRD BARGAINS - FEBURARY 15

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  • Biden news: White House defends ‘Neanderthal’ slur of GOP states, as Trump shifts blame for Senate loss

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  • Nearly 40 people killed in Myanmar's protests

    "Today was the bloodiest day since the coup happened on the 1st of February."Christine Schraner Burgener, The United Nation's special envoy for Myanmar, confirmed 38 people were killed in protests on Wednesday.It was the country's most violent day since demonstrations broke out against last month's military coup.Police and soldiers opened fire with live rounds in several towns and cities, witnesses said.Four children were among those killed, according to aid agency Save the Children and local media reported hundreds have been arrested.A 19-year-old woman, Kyal Sin, also known as 'Angel' was one of two shot in the second largest city Mandalay.Images showed her in the protests wearing a T-shirt that read 'Everything will be Ok.'One youth activist described in a message to Reuters that it was " horrific, it's a massacre."Wednesday's bloodletting more than doubled the death toll since protests began.A spokesman for the ruling military council did not respond to requests for comment.In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was "appalled" by the increase in violence."We call on all countries to speak with one voice to condemn brutal violence by the Burmese military against its own people and to promote accountability for the military's actions that have led to the life loss of life of so many people in Burma."Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council is due on Friday to hold a closed session on Myanmar.

  • QAnon predicted Trump’s re-inauguration on 4 March. Congress braced for an assault. Neither happened

    Two months after Capitol attack, embittered conspiracy cult holds out for last-ditch effort to revive former president – but law enforcement warns that the insurrection was not an isolated event

  • Boris Johnson fails to replace adviser on ministerial standards amid growing cronyism allegations

    Boris Johnson has yet to appoint a successor to his adviser on ministerial standards, more than three months after the resignation of Sir Alex Allan.

  • Biden secretly limits drone strikes, amid congressional scrutiny over war powers

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  • Myanmar coup: 'Everything will be OK' teenage protester mourned

    Kyal Sin, known as Angel, was one of 38 people killed in anti-coup protests on Wednesday.

  • Fauci says he’s baffled at Texas, Mississippi lifting mask mandates. ‘Inexplicable’

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  • 16 Best Poufs, Ottomans, and Footstools for Your Every Need

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  • Trump’s Muslim Ban Left Thousands in Limbo—Biden Must Decide Their Fates

    c/o ACLUThe Biden administration this week will determine the fate of people who were impacted by the Muslim ban, which ultimately targeted a large number of African countries. Rescinding the ban was a critical step toward restarting our immigration system and providing equitable access to Black and brown immigrants. But what about the people who would have received visas during the past four years—some of whom spent their life savings on the process but were nevertheless denied simply because of a discriminatory ban? Trump created this catastrophe, but it’s now Biden’s responsibility to remedy it.In President Biden’s proclamation rescinding the ban, he directed the State Department to send him a report in 45 days. That deadline is Saturday. This report will advise on many things, including how to address Trump’s rampant denials of immigrant visas—that is, visas intended for people to come to the United States, become permanent residents, set down roots, and eventually become citizens.The Biden administration must do everything possible to undo the Trump administration’s harms, including reopening previously denied cases to fairly reassess their claims, waiving fees (especially for those who would have to pay a second time), expediting their cases, and ensuring people are not penalized for the previous administration’s visa denials. There are glimmers of this hope in Biden’s order, as these issues are explicitly outlined for consideration.Trump’s Muslim Ban Is Destroying These Americans’ Lives, Two Years OnThe critically unknown question is how the Biden administration will help people and their families who were denied opportunities through our diversity visa program. This program was codified in the Immigration Act of 1990 in an effort to ensure that people with fewer opportunities to come to the United States through other parts of our immigration system—like family relationships or employment—would have a chance to “win” the lottery, affording them a shot to become American. It helps to ensure that the U.S. continues to reflect the diversity of our world, and winning the “lottery” to become eligible often represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.In recent years, the program has predominantly benefited people from Africa and Asia due to the dearth of other immigration opportunities for people in those regions. That’s why, following Trump’s slander of people from African countries in reference to our immigration system, members of Congress and other leaders have prioritized this program in proposed immigration reforms, and Biden’s immigration bill would in fact raise the number of available diversity visas. These proposals, in part, acknowledge the racism in our systems, and the need to ensure opportunities for Africans, Muslims, African Muslims, and others who lack opportunities through our immigration system.From beginning to end, the countries listed under the Muslim ban completely overlapped with countries eligible for America’s diversity visa program. As a result, people who spent their life savings traveling with their partners and children—often through war zones—to embassies for interviews and processing found themselves ultimately denied because of Trump’s ban. Yemenis have been particularly impacted by Trump’s ban. Yemen is in the midst of war, which makes the physical process to get one’s visa approved arduous. It also makes leaving the country even more critical when such an opportunity is received.For example, Anwar “won” the diversity visa lottery. He then traveled through militant-controlled regions and checkpoints to get the documentation he needed. He had to travel to Djibouti with his family because there is no embassy in Yemen, borrow money from family and friends, and wait an extended period of time there, only to be informed that his visa was denied because of the Muslim ban. Anwar, his wife, and two children had an opportunity to come to the United States, leave the dangers of Yemen, and build a future as a family—until Trump ripped it away. Their fate hangs in the balance, along with many others in Yemen, other countries in the region, and African countries as well.It is now Biden’s decision as to whether Anwar, his family, and others like them will get back the opportunity they lost, this once-in-a lifetime chance that was destroyed by a president intent on discriminating against Black and brown immigrants. Biden must honor the invitation people were given by permitting them to come to the United States now. And that is just the start. People also deserve the opportunity and citizenship that the diversity visa would have given them.Biden made the end of the Muslim ban a Day One priority. Now, he must ensure that people like Anwar and his family get the golden tickets they were promised.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Adopted woman in NC learns biological dad is ‘Family Annihilator’ wanted by FBI

    William Bradford Bishop Jr. is wanted for the brutal murders of his family in Maryland. He hasn’t been seen since allegedly burying their bodies in North Carolina in 1976.

  • Woman Has a Meltdown After Argument Over Boxes With Korean Man in Brooklyn

    A woman was caught on film shouting insults at an Asian American man due to an argument over carton boxes at a grocery parking lot in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Asked why she was being racist at the man, she just taunted him to “call the cops.”

  • All 18 'American Idol' winners, ranked from least to most successful

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  • Live stimulus updates: Senate Democrats reach deal to keep weekly unemployment benefit at $300 per week

    Biden and Democratic leaders are pushing for passage before March 14 when unemployment benefits approved under an earlier relief bill expire.

  • The US military is still working on how to keep the president's new helicopter from burning the White House lawn

    A test aircraft left scorch marks on the White House lawn a few years ago, and the military is still trying to figure out how to fix that.

  • TikTokers are pouring baking soda and vinegar down their drains to unclog them, and the hack has a professional cleaner's seal of approval

    A TikTok user shared a video that showed her pouring baking soda and vinegar down the sink drain to unclog it, and others are sharing the hack, too.

  • Adopted woman in NC learns biological dad is ‘Family Annihilator’ wanted by FBI

    William Bradford Bishop Jr. is wanted for the brutal murders of his family in Maryland. He hasn’t been seen since allegedly burying their bodies in North Carolina in 1976.

  • Ex-chief: Dallas cop kept on job to not tip him off to probe

    The Dallas Police Department allowed an officer to continue patrolling for more than a year while investigating whether he ordered two people to be killed because it didn't want to tip him off, the city's former police chief said. U. Renee Hall, who left the department at the end of 2020, said in a statement posted on Twitter late Thursday that police investigators, in collaboration with the FBI, recommended not placing Officer Bryan Riser on administrative leave after he was identified as a person of interest in 2019. Hall's explanation came hours after Riser, 36, was arrested on two counts of capital murder.

  • Detroit's mayor rejected a shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Experts say that's nuts.

    Experts feared the Johnson & Johnson vaccine's slightly lower efficacy rate would lead to an impression of a two-tiered system. That has been exactly the case in Detroit, where the mayor just rejected a shipment of the company's vaccine. CNN reports that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (D) declined an allocation of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this week, saying the other available vaccines are better. "Johnson & Johnson is a very good vaccine. Moderna and Pfizer are the best," he said. "And I am going to do everything I can to make sure the residents of the City of Detroit get the best." Stat News' Matthew Herper called this a "bad plan." It's true that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine trials showed a 72 percent efficacy rate, while Moderna and Pfizer, the two other approved coronavirus vaccines, have a rate of about 95 percent. But health experts say it's still an excellent option, and has other perks like only requiring a single shot and frequently leading to fewer side effects, reports The New York Times. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said people shouldn't overthink which one to get, and explained the vaccines can't really be compared head-to-head because of different trial circumstances. Besides, experts note, the raw numbers don't show the full picture. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevented all hospitalizations and deaths in its large clinical trial, meaning the slightly lower efficacy rate really only points to mild to moderate disease. Detroit's mayor, however, said the city has been able to meet demand with just its supply of Pfizer and Moderna doses, but CNN notes Duggan's administration only expanded vaccine eligibility to residents ages 50 and older with chronic medical conditions on Thursday. Duggan said he would accept Johnson & Johnson doses later on if all other doses are distributed and there are remaining residents who want a vaccine. More stories from theweek.comWhy the Dr. Seuss 'cancellation' is chillingWhat Republicans talk about when they talk about the 'working class'7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's CPAC appearance

  • Biden signals support to replace war power authority

    President Joe Biden on Friday signaled support to replace decades-old authorizations for the use of military force in the Middle East, a little more than a week after he relied on the authorizations to carry out a retaliatory airstrike against Iranian-backed militia in eastern Syria. The Biden administration announced its position after a bipartisan bill was introduced earlier this week that would repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for the wars in Iraq that presidents from both parties have relied on for legal justification to carry out strikes in the region. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was committed to working with Congress to “ensure that the authorizations for the use of military force currently on the books are replaced with a narrow and specific framework that will ensure we can protect Americans from terrorist threats while ending the forever wars.”

  • Fox News Turns to Tyrus, Currently Embroiled in Sexual-Harassment Lawsuit, for Thoughts on Cuomo

    Fox NewsFor thoughts on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s harassment scandal, Fox News daytime show Outnumbered on Friday turned to Tyrus, who is currently embroiled in a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit from his former Fox Nation co-host Britt McHenry.“As far as, all women should be heard and respected, and then you need to have the investigation and then results of the investigation. Uhh, we need to respect those,” the Fox contributor said, when asked for his thoughts on the accusations against Cuomo, before quickly pivoting to the controversy over the governor’s alleged cover-up of coronavirus-related nursing home deaths.Later in the broadcast, Tyrus was asked to comment on why many prominent Democrats have not commented on the three women accusing Cuomo of sexual harassment. “It’s so important that we respect the process of the investigations and not be quick to pass judgments but at the same time, that's kind of across the board for everything,” he declared, adding: “This is not a fortunate situation but the investigation will be compelling and will give us the answer that we need.”Britt McHenry: Fox News Is Promoting My Harasser Tyrus While It Buries MeMcHenry, who recently made her first on-air Fox appearance in more than a year, alleged that the network has sidelined her while promoting and protecting Tyrus, whom she accused of sending lewd and inappropriate texts. Late last year, a judge denied Tyrus’ motion to dismiss McHenry’s lawsuit and said the case would move forward. Tyrus has continually denied the allegations and Fox has maintained that McHenry’s claims are “without merit.”Fox News turns to Tyrus, who is currently being sued by a Fox colleague for sexual harassment and retaliation, to weigh in on the Andrew Cuomo sexual misconduct scandal. pic.twitter.com/GzZSYOpYOp— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 5, 2021 Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.