PoliticsThe WeekThe Trump administration reportedly quietly funded Operation Warp Speed with money set aside for hospitals
Congress granted the HHS permission to move pandemic-related money between accounts, though the agreement stipulated the agency had to give lawmakers a heads up. Former Office of Management and Director Russ Vought defended the decision and said "we would do it again," telling Stat that not only did the administration have the authority, it was also "the right thing to do in order to move as quickly as possible because lives were on the line." Other Trump officials seemed to agree, per Stat, arguing that successful vaccines would reduce hospitalizations, making Warp Speed the more consequential outlet.
U.S.National ReviewGOP Senators Grill FBI Director over Use of Geolocation Data to Track Capitol Rioters
Senators Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah) on Tuesday pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray on the procedures federal law enforcement officials have used to track down those who participated in the January 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. “I'm anxious to see those who committed unlawful, violent acts on January 6 brought to justice,” Lee said during a Senate Judiciary Hearing on Tuesday. The Utah Republican explained that he had “heard a number of accounts” of people who were in Washington, D.C. on January 6 who never went near the Capitol but were “inexplicably” contacted by FBI agents who knew of their presence in the district that day “with no other explanation, perhaps, other than the use of geolocation data.”
PoliticsThe IndependentQAnon believers apparently think Joe Biden is a robot with a malfunctioning mouth
QAnon adherents apparently believe that Joe Biden is actually a malfunctioning robot wearing human-like skin. One former QAnon adherent, Ashley Vanderbilt, said when she left the movement she knew of several members who believed that Mr Biden is actually a robot. "The person that I started talking to ... that had initially got me into QAnon, he was like, 'You know, Joe Biden's not even real'," she said.
PoliticsArchitectural DigestHouse Call: Cue the Waterworks and Welcome to March
Zoë's newsletter comes to a web page near you, and the theme of the day is damp Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.The WeekTexas has one of the worst vaccination rates in the U.S. It's reopening 'all businesses' anyway.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced Tuesday that effective next Wednesday, "all businesses of any type" in the Lone Star state will be allowed to fully reopen. On a related note, Houston, Texas' largest city, is the one city in the United States to have reported finding at least one case of every known variant of the coronavirus, which are believed to be more transmissible and have experts on the alert for another uptick in cases as they become the dominant sources of infection. Texas is also lagging behind in vaccinating its population, which is the second largest in the nation.
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CDC's Walensky concerned about decline in COVID-19 cases and deaths stalling
At the White House COVID-19 response team briefing on Monday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky expressed concern about a leveling off of the decline in weekly coronavirus cases.
WorldBBCHong Kong charges 47 activists in largest use yet of new security law
Police in Hong Kong have charged 47 activists with "subversion", in the largest use yet of the territory's controversial security law. The 47, among a group of 55 arrested in dawn raids last month, were told to report to police stations for detention ahead of court appearances on Monday. Beijing enforced the law criminalising "subversive" acts last year, saying it was needed to bring stability.
PoliticsThe IndependentMyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has mic muted at CPAC for spouting vaccine and election conspiracies
MyPillow's outspoken Trump-supporting chief executive was censored during an interview at CPAC – an event branded “America Uncanceled” – after he launched into conspiracy theories linking the coronavirus vaccine with the devil. Mike Lindell was speaking on Sunday to Liz Willis, the host of conservative YouTube channel Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN), when he delivered a somewhat meandering set of conspiracy theories relating to the pandemic, the presidential election and Israel. “In Israel right now, from the prime minister on down, we don't know what happened, but obviously, he congratulated Biden, but after that, we got a little suspect,” Mr Lindell said during the segment that was edited out by RSBN on their YouTube channel.
PoliticsLA TimesSupreme Court leans toward approving Arizona GOP voting rules challenged by Democrats
The Supreme Court confronted the growing partisan divide over voting rights Tuesday in an Arizona case in which Democrats are challenging two Republican-sponsored rules that appeared likely to win approval from the justices. One rule calls for throwing out ballots cast by voters who arrive at the wrong precinct on election day but want to vote there anyway. Both of Arizona's rules were in effect during last year's election, when Joe Biden narrowly defeated then-President Trump in the previously Republican-leaning state, which also elected another Democrat to the Senate.
PoliticsNBC NewsThe nefarious issue that tanked Biden Cabinet nominee Neera Tanden
What happened to Neera Tanden is racist, and we can't ignore how that influenced the White House's decision Tuesday to pull her nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Tanden's confirmation failure makes her the first of President Joe Biden's picks to be disqualified. It's no coincidence that she also happens to be an Asian American woman.
PoliticsTheGrioMarcus Flowers to run for Congress against Marjorie Taylor Greene
The military veteran announced his campaign on social media as Georgia Democrats aim to oust the freshman representative. Sgt. Marcus Flowers has announced his official campaign against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for her seat in Georgia's 14th Congressional district. In his newly released campaign video shared on social media, the military veteran laid out his case as a Democratic candidate.
U.S.The Daily BeastFeds Arrest White Supremacist Livestreamer in Dawn Raid, Rattling Supporters
The FBI arrested a notorious white supremacist livestreamer in an early morning raid in Florida on Tuesday. FBI agents, working with Fort Lauderdale police and the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, arrested Paul N. Miller, 32, on one charge of being a “convicted felon in possession of a firearm.” The FBI said in a press release that Miller was arrested without incident.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden calls Mexican president an ‘equal’ partner amid surge in border crossings
And while Mr Biden has kept Mr Trump's policy in place to send new migrants back to Mexico due to concerns about Covid spread, the new president has already begun rolling back other Trump-era policies that hardened the border against refugees and other migrants seeking opportunities or safe haven in the US. The Biden administration has ended Mr Trump's so-called Remain in Mexico programme that forced more than 70,000 asylum-seekers to stay south of the border while their cases wound their way through immigration courts. Thousands of those enrollees have now crossed into the US under the Biden administration's supervision.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘Morally compromised.’ Why one archdiocese urges Catholics to avoid newest COVID vaccine
The Archdiocese of New Orleans has advised Catholics against receiving the new Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, calling the one-dose shot “morally compromised. In a statement Friday, the religious organization said the new vaccine should be avoided due to its link to an “abortion-derived cell line” used in the vaccine's development and production phases. But the available vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are “morally acceptable,” the archdiocese wrote, because only some lab testing utilized stem cells from aborted fetuses, making their connection to abortion “extremely remote.
PoliticsBusiness Insider10 hours in Cancún hurt Ted Cruz's job approval more than when he tried to flip the presidential election
GOP Sen. Ted Cruz drew national ire after he attempted to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, but according to a new poll from Morning Consult, his overall job approval from Texans was hurt far more when he vacationed in Cancún during a winter storm that left much of Texas without power or water for days. According to polling conducted between February 18-28, Cruz's net approval rating dropped from +6 to -5 in the weeks following his Cancún excursion. A net approval rating is calculated by subtracting the share of disapproving Texan voters from the share of voters that approve of Cruz.
- U.S.Tribune Publishing
Suit: Michigan transgender inmate placed in cell with convicted rapist, sexually assaulted
Mar. 3—A prisoner who is transgender is suing staff at the Michigan Department of Corrections after she alleges they forced her into a cell with a convicted rapist who sexually assaulted her less than a day later. According to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, the inmate had a "medical detail prohibiting her housing with a non-gender dysphoric cellmate" at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson, but staffers ignored it when assigning housing in January 2020 with "a known rapist and murderer imprisoned for life for killing a woman during sexual intercourse." The prisoner, who is identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, protested, but a corrections officer threatened to write a misconduct ticket and place her indisciplinary segregation even as the cellmate started "intimating that he was going to harm Plaintiff and warning ... that it would be better for her to go to the hole," the document stated.
PoliticsThe IndependentMerrick Garland could be confirmed as Biden’s attorney general this week
Merrick Garland could be confirmed as the next US attorney general as early as this week, after the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced his nomination for consideration before the full chamber by a bipartisan 15-7 vote. Mr Garland has breezed through his nomination process with the Senate Democratic majority controlling committee gavels. The longtime DC Circuit Court judge's ascent to the top spot in Justice Department leadership has been welcomed by Democrats and even some Republicans as a welcome change from the tumult of the Donald Trump years.
PoliticsINSIDERCrossFit condemns Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for 'loathsome and dangerous lies'
Fitness brand CrossFit, a staple of Marjorie Taylor Greene's political brand, is distancing from the Republican. A spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that the company is against Greene's conspiracy theories. CrossFit's statement comes after the House voted to strip Greene of her committee assignments.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRepublicans and majority of Democrats vote to keep incarcerated people from participating in elections
Progressive Democrats introduced a measure Tuesday to give incarcerated people the right to vote. The amendment, to major voting rights legislation, failed by a 93-278 vote. A majority of Democrats also voted against it.
U.S.Associated Press6 Dr. Seuss books won't be published for racist images
Six Dr. Seuss books — including “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” — will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author's legacy said Tuesday. “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the late author and illustrator's birthday. “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises' catalog represents and supports all communities and families," it said.
U.S.The Daily Beast‘Murdering’ Mom: Boyfriend Wanted Me to Ditch the Kids
In a press conference on Monday, Middletown Police Chief David Birk said Brittany Gosney, 29, confessed to killing young James, but he said the motive was still unclear. According to the report, which was provided to The Daily Beast by the Preble County Sheriff's Office, Gosney told cops she drove Hamilton's 2005 Dodge Caravan to a local park on Feb. 27, where she tried to ditch James and her other kids, ages 7 and 9. “Brittany stated she had planned to get the kids out of the vehicle and to leave them behind as Hamilton had been pressuring her to get rid of the kids,” it says.
WorldBusiness InsiderBiden refused to sanction MBS over Khashoggi's murder because he doesn't want his relationship with Saudi Arabia to get worse, officials say
A newly declassified US intel report said the Saudi crown prince approved Jamal Khashoggi's killing. Joe Biden announced new sanctions over the murder but has declined to punish the crown prince. A US official told The Washington Post it's because Biden wanted to heal the US-Saudi relationship.
WorldBusiness InsiderTop US general in the Middle East says troops were evacuated at just the right moment before a ballistic missile attack so Iran wouldn't know they left
A top US general says that the evacuation of US troops at a military base in Iraq before an Iranian ballistic missile attack last year was carefully planned so that Iran would not know that roughly half the troops on base had moved out, but at least one expert says the story is a bit questionable. On Jan. 8, 2020, just days after then-President Donald Trump ordered the airstrike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian military fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at bases in Iraq hosting US and coalition troops, specifically Al Asad and Irbil.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Protesters, police at Hong Kong subversion hearing
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a Hong Kong court on Monday (March 1) for the hearing of 47 democracy activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion. Security was tight, with more than 100 police officers deployed. Protesters chanted slogans.
CelebrityAssociated PressBunny Wailer, reggae luminary, dies in Jamaica at age 73
Wailer, a baritone singer whose birth name is Neville Livingston, formed The Wailers in 1963 with late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh when they lived in a slum in the capital of Kingston. They catapulted to international fame with the album, “Catch a Fire and also helped popularize Rastafarian culture among better-off Jamaicans starting in the 1970s. Jah-B was a vanguard, always pushing the boundaries of expression, whether in song, in style or in spoken word,” said Brian Paul Welsh, a local reggae musician known as Blvk H3ro.
“How about we skip ‘he won’t win’ cycle and not do 2016 all over again. Trump can absolutely win another presidential election.”
“With independents deserting him, there is simply no path for Trump to get back into the White House — except as a tourist.”
“They might as well cancel the 2024 primaries...because there is no way he can lose.”
“The next Republican presidential primary will be heavily shaped by Trump — whether or not he decides to run again.”
“Donald Trump will not be running for president again. He will, however, continue to tease the possibility of a 2024 run.”