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He sued, citing the contract as a reason he didn’t run against her in the 2020 primary. And the two reached a settlement last summer.
Former Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) was fined nearly half a million dollars last year for a plot to illegally funnel money to a primary challenger for his likely Democratic opponent in 2012. The candidate and a GOP consultant involved (Rivera’s ex-girlfriend) were convicted of crimes; Rivera hasn’t been charged. | null | null | null | null | null |
“To those who say that America is too divided, that our political system is too broken and can’t be fixed, I would argue that we have already shown a better path forward,” he said, while accusing state lawmakers of both gerrymandering a “cancer on our democracy” and rejecting his violent crime and tax proposals merely out of partisanship, not a policy disagreement.
“My message to you tonight is that we must all learn to live with this virus, not to live in fear of it,” he said, saying children must be learning in-person and businesses must stay open, while acknowledging the 13,000 residents that have died of virus so far.
Hogan pitched his signature, $4.6 billion proposal to eliminate income taxes for retirees, give corporations a tax break and extend the nation’s most generous cash payments to the working poor. He called on the legislature to pass his plan, the costs of which would crest at the same time a the state needs money to pay for sweeping education restructuring is supposed to take effect, according to legislative analysts. | null | null | null | null | null |
NASA now says the rocket will be rolled to the pad for tests in March, with a first launch sometime this spring
The Space Launch System (SLS) core stage is seen at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in June 2021. (Kim Shiflett/NASA)
NASA is looking forward to showcasing the system it says is the backbone of its return-to-the moon program, known as Artemis.
The latest delay was caused by several small issues related to preparing the rocket for its first-ever launch, NASA said. Because it is a completely new system, the SLS and Orion are loaded with all sorts of instrumentation to monitor the systems that may not be needed on future flights. And the engineers are working to install a flight-termination system that would destroy the rocket in case it veered off course.
“There’s no one specific thing” causing the delay to March, Tom Whitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, said during a news briefing Wednesday. “We just have a lot of things that we need to close out. It’s a big vehicle and a lot of instrumentation that needs to be finished in preparing for final closeout.”
He compared the progress to being in the final stages of a kitchen renovation, where workers are ticking off the last items on their list. “We’re basically down to a punch list of things that we need to complete,” he said. “It can be something as simple as a scratch that needs to be polished out or some paint that needs to be fixed.”
The SLS rocket has been going through tests to identify and then ameliorate any problems before NASA gives the green light for a launch. Once the fueling test, known as a “wet dress rehearsal,” is complete, the rocket will be rolled back into the assembly building for final tests. And then NASA will set a launch date.
NASA is now looking to launch the SLS in April or May, as part of its Artemis campaign to return astronauts to the surface of the moon for the first time since the last Apollo mission in 1972. The first test flight, known as Artemis I, would fling the autonomous Orion capsule into orbit around the moon before coming home. That mission would not have any astronauts on board. But the next flight, currently scheduled for May 2024, would carry a crew of four in orbit around the moon. By the end of 2025, NASA hopes to land astronauts on the lunar surface, and the crew would include the first woman to walk on the moon as well as a person of color.
But more recently, NASA has been making significant progress with the rocket. Last year it conducted a successful “hot fire” test, running all four RS-25 engines on the core stage of the rocket for over eight minutes, the same amount of time they would fire during flight. (A first attempt a couple months earlier was cut short after just about one minute.) After the successful test at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, which burned 733,000 gallons of propellant, the stage was shipped to the Kennedy Space Center, where the solid rocket motor side boosters were mounted, and then the Orion crew capsule was placed on top of the fully assembled system.
Inside the giant Vehicle Assembly Building, which once housed the Saturn V rocket used in the Apollo missions as well as the space shuttle, NASA has been running tests to ensure that all the components were working properly and could communicate with ground control systems.
In December the space agency said that during one of the tests, “engineers identified an issue with one of the RS-25 engine flight controllers,” which serve as the “brain” for the engine that help control the engines and monitor their health. Each controller has a backup, and NASA found that one of the controller’s channels was not powering up consistently. NASA has years of experience working with the engines, which were also used on the space shuttle, which was retired in 2011.
Last month, NASA said that the engines performed well during additional tests and that “all four engine controllers were powered up and performed as expected.” | null | null | null | null | null |
Last week, as a public firestorm grew over Joe Rogan and his promotion of medical misinformation about the coronavirus, some employees at Spotify made a desperate bid to draw attention to their concerns about their company’s relationship with the blockbuster podcaster — who gets millions of dollars to broadcast exclusively on their platform.
In recent months, Rogan has made scientifically inaccurate comments about coronavirus vaccines and hosted a prominent anti-vaccine advocate who argued that Americans had been “hypnotized” into wearing masks.
Since then, Rogan’s podcast has ballooned into a full-blown public relations crisis for the audio giant, driving away a handful of high-profile artists, spawning a #DeleteSpotify hashtag, and prompting deep soul-searching and internal debates, according to current and former employees, as well as people familiar with the debates, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive matters.
Three years ago, Spotify began to stake its future on bringing in more listeners and advertising dollars with exclusive licensing deals for podcasts with prominent figures, including Rogan, Michelle Obama, and Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. But as the company has transitioned from a music streaming service with a hands-off approach to policing content, company leaders have failed to embrace the responsibilities that come with being a producer of controversial content, the people said.
“I know some of you feel disappointed or angry or even hurt by some of this content and the fact that it remains on our platform,” Ek said. “There will be a lot to learn from this moment for our company and for me. And it’s really important to me that you understand why we did this deal and the impact it’s had on our growth strategy and the way we think about our role as a platform.”
On Wednesday, the company said its user base would grow more slowly in the beginning of 2022 than financial analysts had expected, resulting in shares dropping as much as 20 percent. The sell-off underscores how important gaining new subscribers is to the company and its investors. Ek didn’t link the slower forecast to the Rogan crisis, and it’s unclear how many subscriptions the company has lost amid the controversy.
Some employees have become disillusioned that their protests about Rogan and other controversial podcasters were falling on deaf ears, said two of the people.
In 2020, when Rogan came on board with a reportedly $100 million deal, workers spoke out because he had hosted white nationalists and an author who said that young people’s coming out as transgender was “contagion” that could infect their peers with the same ideas. Some employees argued that it was time for their employer to exercise editorial oversight.
Though some previous Rogan shows were pulled at the time — including an episode featuring Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of violence — Rogan went on to have largely free creative license, the people said. In 2021, Rogan repeatedly promoted the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as an effective treatment for the coronavirus, according to the liberal media-monitoring organization Media Matters. There is only contested and no widespread scientific evidence that ivermectin is an effective treatment. He has also repeatedly called mRNA vaccines against the coronavirus “gene therapy,” though scientists say the vaccines do not alter people’s genes. He hosted a guest who described being transgender as a “mental illness” and who had been banned from Twitter.
Spotify declined to comment for this article. The company released a statement on Sunday saying it would add more advisories to podcast episodes that dealt with the coronavirus, similar to what Facebook and YouTube have done on their platforms after facing criticism for allowing false information about vaccines to spread.
The core of the problem, according to the people who spoke to The Post, was Spotify’s failure to resolve a tension between the business model it has staked its future on as a media company and the responsibilities that come with that model.
Social media companies are considered exempt from most liability related to harmful material posted on their platforms. The exemption is the result of a decades-old law that was intended to protect what was then an emerging Internet industry. The same rules don’t apply to other publishers.
Since going public in 2018, Spotify has embraced a new and potentially more profitable direction as a publisher and producer of podcasts. It bought the podcasting companies Gimlet and Anchor for $340 million and signed exclusive deals. Having its own exclusive content helps differentiate Spotify from the handful of other major music streaming services offered by Apple, Google and Amazon, all competitors that have more money and deeper layers of tech talent than Spotify does.
Yotam Ophir, a University at Buffalo researcher who focuses on health misinformation, said Spotify stands apart from social media companies that rely on user-generated content. Even before it made the exclusive deal with Rogan, Spotify was not neutral because it curated podcasts, Ophir argues.
But the Rogan deal makes it even more clear. “I think they are completely in the zone of being a media company, and we should treat them as such,” Ophir said.
Prices for Spotify ads are generally high compared with run-of-the-mill ads on other social media platforms, according to a former employees who has knowledge of the pricing. Less popular shows sell in the $20-per-1,000-listeners range, but more popular shows can go into the $75 territory. Rogan and other exclusive podcasters command higher rates.
By comparison, the average cost per 1,000 views on Facebook is $8.67 on mobile and $3.87 on desktop, according to Wpromote, a California-based digital marketing agency.
That’s in part because advertisers on Spotify podcasts have two options. They can choose an old-fashioned form of advertising, where companies pick specific shows to sponsor. Or, they can target specific demographics, in which case their ads are spliced into a variety of podcasts and targeted to individuals based on personalized data. Because the second option offers little control over which shows they might end up sponsoring, companies with buttoned up reputations often declined to participate in that form of targeted advertising on Spotify, this person said. That reluctance came out of a fear that their ads would end up being played next to controversial content, they said.
Even before the shift to producing podcasts, the company faced firestorms over moderation decisions.
It removed R. Kelly’s music from its curated playlists and stopped algorithmically recommending the R&B singer’s music to listeners. R. Kelly had been accused but not convicted at the time of sexual assault and exploiting minors. Other musicians who also had been accused of crimes but not convicted, including rappers XXXTentacion and Tay-K, had their music removed from playlists, including Spotify’s highly influential RapCaviar playlist, which has millions of listeners and is seen as a key way for hip-hop artists to reach a broader audience.
But the new policy prompted a major backlash because it appeared to initially target only Black men who hadn’t been convicted of the crimes of which they were accused. Prominent artists including rapper Kendrick Lamar threatened to pull music over the policy and its enforcement. Fans and artists alike pointed out that many other artists and producers who had been accused and in some cases convicted of violent crimes, such as Phil Spector and James Brown, were still being included in Spotify’s playlists.
Less than a month later, the company walked back the policy. “The language was too vague, we created confusion and concern, and didn’t spend enough time getting input from our own team and key partners before sharing new guidelines,” Spotify wrote in a memo posted to its website.
Ophir argues that the Rogan show on Spotify shows that government intervention is needed to keep new media companies such as Spotify from creating dangers to public health and safety. “Their goal is to make profit, and that’s fine,” Ophir said. “But if their goal is to make profit, we can’t trust them with safeguarding [against] misinformation.” | null | null | null | null | null |
Although Gazzale promises that AFI Docs has not gone away forever, apprehension has already rippled through the Washington film community that this might be the beginning of the end. The festival’s longtime presenting sponsor, AT&T, pulled out last year, another example of covid-era constrictions, and Lumpkin’s position has yet to be filled (Gazzale is in the process of interviewing candidates).
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the festival’s longtime presenting sponsor, Audi, pulled out last year. The sponsor was AT&T. | null | null | null | null | null |
The Big Board, located in the Northeast Washington’s H Street corridor, publicly battled the District’s mandate requiring that bar patrons show proof they have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
A D.C. Health food establishment inspection report dated Jan. 19 showed the Big Board was out of compliance with rules regarding hand-washing sinks and “personal cleanliness,” among other violations.
Drane Flannery Restaurant LLC, the company that owns the Big Board, has received two draws from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, the initiative designed to help cover labor costs during the pandemic.
Skip, a website designed to provide the public easy access to government data, says the Big Board also received a $264,261 from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, an SBA program designed specifically to help small, independent restaurants. Unlike PPP loans, the RRF money could be used for more than labor costs. Operators could use it to cover rent, mortgage, supplies, utilities and other debts. | null | null | null | null | null |
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) is pushing legislation that would change how D.C. judicial appointments are confirmed to avoid delays in seating nominees. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
“This is a tremendous jumping-off point and puts us in a place where we haven’t been in several years,” said Douglas Buchanan, spokesman for the courts.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) applauded the Senate action on Wednesday, but said it is time to change how D.C. judicial nominees are confirmed to avoid such long delays. Norton has put forth legislation that would allow D.C. judicial nominees to be automatically confirmed after a 30-day congressional review period if lawmakers don’t object during that time-frame, which is similar to how D.C. legislation is reviewed in Congress.
Nominees for the D.C. courts go through a more complicated nomination process than federal judges. They are first selected by the Judicial Nomination Commission, whose members are appointed by local and federal appointed officials. The commission sends its selections to the president, who nominates one of them and sends the nominee to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for consideration.
But once nominees advance from the committee, they can languish for months or years.
Buchanan warned in December that the courts had “reached a critical state" and pleaded with the Senate to act to confirm the judicial nominees as quickly as possible. “We have now reached a point in which we find it necessary to sound the alarm,” he said at the time.
One of the Court of Appeals nominees that the Senate took up on Wednesday, D.C. Solicitor General Loren L. AliKhan, had said in her nomination hearing that the court’s backlog is the most pressing problem confronting the court, sometimes causing years-long delays in cases.
D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who chairs the council’s judiciary committee, said he is grateful that the Senate made progress Wednesday, but the dozen vacancies still present problems. | null | null | null | null | null |
“To those who say that America is too divided, that our political system is too broken and can’t be fixed, I would argue that we have already shown a better path forward,” he said, while accusing state lawmakers of both gerrymandering a “cancer on our democracy” and rejecting his proposals dealing with taxes and violent crime merely out of partisanship, not a policy disagreement.
“My message to you tonight is that we must all learn to live with this virus, not to live in fear of it,” he said, saying children must be learning in-person and businesses must stay open, while acknowledging the 13,000 residents that have died of covid so far.
Hogan pitched his signature $4.6 billion proposal to eliminate income taxes for retirees, give corporations a tax break and extend the nation’s most generous cash payments to the working poor. He called on the legislature to pass his plan, the costs of which would crest at the same time the state needs money to pay for sweeping education restructuring that is supposed to take effect, according to legislative analysts. | null | null | null | null | null |
Democrats finally managed to escape the “soft on crime” label in the 1990s in part because crime rates began to fall, but also because they took action to show that they could be tough, too. The centerpiece of their efforts was the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, written by then-Sen. Joe Biden and signed by President Bill Clinton. This complex legislation had a bit of everything: the Violence Against Women Act to crack down on domestic abuse, treatment programs for drug addicts, federal funds to build prisons and hire cops, and tough gun controls including a ban on assault rifles. But progressives blamed the law — perhaps unfairly — for the mass incarceration of African American men, and in 2020 Biden was forced to renounce the legislation he had written. | null | null | null | null | null |
It is the elephant in the room in sports and in our society. Dungy made that comment to me during my research for “Raise a Fist, Take a Knee,” the book I wrote about race in sports that was published in November. Dungy is hardly a jump-on-the-table-and-shout sort of guy, but he’s seen enough racism in his life to know it when he sees it. | null | null | null | null | null |
Knight recounts that memory often, because those early days in Boston gave rise to perhaps her most important work. Last year, the 32-year-old became the career leading scorer at the world championships, and this week in Beijing she will be the oldest U.S. women’s hockey Olympian in history when she appears in her fourth Games. But nothing she has done in the past 10 years carries the resonance of her work as an advocate for equity in a sport that has never fairly compensated her.
At the University of Wisconsin, Knight helped the Badgers win two national championships and enjoyed a lifestyle bolstered by the program’s resources — from chartered travel to meals to “Grey’s Anatomy” viewing sessions with teammates.
By 2017, Knight had found her voice against inequities. She was one of the leaders of a strike against USA Hockey, boycotting the world championships after negotiations over better wages and equitable support came to a standstill. The sides came to an agreement just days before the tournament.
“The 2017 fight has helped in this pro hockey fight significantly,” Coyne Schofield said. “We were successful in that boycott because we were able to come together; we were able to have one voice.”
She found plenty of allies and legal assistance from Philadelphia law firm Ballard Spahr. Even as the organization landed major sponsors and managed to host games at places such as Madison Square Garden and Chicago’s United Center in its first two years, Knight continues to push for more and to face new questions. How will the PHF’s new investment affect the PWHPA? And would the NHL become more involved in the future? | null | null | null | null | null |
Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, rejected criticism of Childs’ record, saying in a statement that Childs’ tenure at the South Carolina Workers Compensation Commission “was defined by fighting for injured workers” and emphasizing that she was one of the first Black women to serve as a partner at a major South Carolina law firm.
In an interview, Clyburn dismissed criticism of Childs’ record on labor, also pointing to her work for the Workers’ Compensation Commission. “Look at her record as a workers’ comp judge, and tell me she’s not pro-worker,” Clyburn told The Washington Post.
She said she could not speak to Childs’ work in private practice, but added that South Carolina union leaders would have likely raised concerns had her record been hurtful to workers. “Michelle is a fair person, always has been,” Cobb-Hunter said. “There’s a reason she is so well-liked by members of both parties.”
At issue is Childs’ work at the law firm Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard in Columbia, S.C., where she worked between 1992 and 2000. The American Prospect, a left-leaning publication, highlighted Childs’ work defending beachwear retailer L & L Wings in a sexual harassment suit, among other cases. The publication also pointed to Nexsen Pruet’s criticism of the Pro Act, a unionization bill backed by the White House.
Defenders of Childs have hit back. Victoria L. Eslinger, senior counsel at Nexsen Pruet, said in an interview that criticism of Childs’ record misses the fact that while at the firm, she also worked on behalf of workers in cases related to race discrimination, sex discrimination, disability-related discrimination and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Some labor groups and liberal lawmakers are, for now, speaking in general terms about their desire for Biden to select a Supreme Court pick supportive of unions, without singling out Childs. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in an interview that Biden should pick a justice “who understands the plight of workers,” but said he had not yet reviewed Childs’ record. | null | null | null | null | null |
Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, rejected criticism of Childs’s record, saying in a statement that Childs’s tenure at the South Carolina Workers Compensation Commission “was defined by fighting for injured workers” and emphasizing that she was one of the first Black women to serve as a partner at a major South Carolina law firm.
In an interview, Clyburn dismissed criticism of Childs’s record on labor, also pointing to her work for the Workers’ Compensation Commission. “Look at her record as a workers’ comp judge, and tell me she’s not pro-worker,” Clyburn told The Washington Post.
She said she could not speak to Childs’s work in private practice, but added that South Carolina union leaders would have likely raised concerns had her record been hurtful to workers. “Michelle is a fair person, always has been,” Cobb-Hunter said. “There’s a reason she is so well-liked by members of both parties.”
At issue is Childs’s work at the law firm Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard in Columbia, S.C., where she worked between 1992 and 2000. The American Prospect, a left-leaning publication, highlighted Childs’s work defending beachwear retailer L & L Wings in a sexual harassment suit, among other cases. The publication also pointed to Nexsen Pruet’s criticism of the Pro Act, a unionization bill backed by the White House.
Defenders of Childs have hit back. Victoria L. Eslinger, senior counsel at Nexsen Pruet, said in an interview that criticism of Childs’s record misses the fact that while at the firm, she also worked on behalf of workers in cases related to race discrimination, sex discrimination, disability-related discrimination and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Some labor groups and liberal lawmakers are, for now, speaking in general terms about their desire for Biden to select a Supreme Court pick supportive of unions, without singling out Childs. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in an interview that Biden should pick a justice “who understands the plight of workers,” but said he had not yet reviewed Childs’s record. | null | null | null | null | null |
Cameron Edge spent two years at DeMatha High before transferring to Smyrna High in Delaware last year. (Doug Kapustin/for The Washington Post)
Maryland bolstered its 2022 recruiting class Wednesday with Cameron Edge, a quarterback out of Smyrna (Del.) High School. Touted as a four-star prospect per the recruiting rankings at ESPN and 247Sports, Edge reclassified from the 2023 class.
Edge joins Jayden Sauray, listed as a four-star prospect by ESPN and given three stars by 247Sports, as quarterbacks in Coach Michael Locksley’s newest class. Sauray, from Wise High School in Upper Marlboro, Md., joined the program during the early signing period in December, when Locksley landed a promising batch of young talent.
Edge and Sauray will have a chance to develop this season behind Taulia Tagovailoa, who broke Maryland’s single-season record for passing yards (3,860) as a redshirt sophomore. Tagovailoa also set program marks in completions (328), completion percentage (69.2) and passing touchdowns (26).
While leading Smyrna to a 10-3 record last season, Edge completed 67 percent of his passes for 2,990 yards, 27 touchdowns and 2 interceptions (per MaxPreps). A prospect profile at Rivals.com describes the 6-1, 190-pound quarterback as having a strong arm and good mobility but with some questions in terms of his decision-making under pressure. Edge also played at DeMatha in Hyattsville, Md., earlier in his high school career.
In addition, Maryland announced Wednesday the signing of Liridon Mujezinovic, a 6-8, 282-pound offensive lineman from the Netherlands. Mujezinovic is coming over from Garden City Community College in Kansas after starting to play football in 2019, according to Maryland.
Locksley’s coaching staff is being augmented with wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator Gunter Brewer, who had been coaching at Louisville in a similar role since 2019. Brewer coached the Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receivers in 2018, after six years as North Carolina’s co-offensive coordinator. Maryland also announced Wednesday that tight ends coach Mike Miller was promoted to co-offensive coordinator. The program’s defensive coordinator position is temporarily in a state of uncertainty after Kevin Steele departed for Miami this week.
Wednesday also brought confirmation that five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis, who had been linked to Maryland, was heading instead to Central Florida. Transferring to Maryland is place-kicker Chad Ryland, who has a year of eligibility left after spending four seasons with Eastern Michigan, where he set program records for extra points and career points scored. | null | null | null | null | null |
How well do you know Biden’s environmental track record? Take our quiz.
From rejoining the Paris climate accord to restoring safeguards undone by Donald Trump, the new administration had a hectic first year
By John Muyskens
Juliet Eilperin
President Biden seized on climate change as a core priority when he took office, saying days after his inauguration, “We’ve already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis, and we can’t wait any longer.”
The new president spent his first year in the White House trying to match his policies to the urgency of his words. His administration has worked aggressively to make that ambitious agenda a reality — even as success has come in fits and starts.
Much of Biden’s work involved restoring dozens of environmental protections unraveled by Donald Trump’s deregulatory frenzy, but it also includes dozens of new climate policies.
The Washington Post has logged each policy shift of the Biden era, across agencies and industries. If you’ve been following our award-winning tracker over the past year, this quiz will be a piece of cake.
Question 1 of 10
Which of these Trump policies did Biden reverse on his first day in office?
Permit for Keystone XL pipeline
Shrinking of Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument
Paying the U.S. share of the Green Climate Fund to assist developing countries
Choose an answer to continue
Miles of unused pipe for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline sit outside Gascoyne, N.D. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
Shortly after his inauguration, Biden canceled the presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which aimed to ship tar sands, or heavy bitumen, from Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
Barack Obama blocked the cross-border permit during his second term on the grounds that transporting that much heavy crude oil would accelerate climate change. Trump revived the project once he took office by awarding TC Energy the permit, but Biden’s move amounted to the fatal blow. In June 2021, the pipeline’s developer announced it would no longer pursue it.
What share of Trump’s energy and environmental policies did Biden target in his first year?
Three-quarters
In its first year, the Biden administration targeted or overturned roughly three-quarters of the policies of the Trump White House — nearly 170 so far. Among them: Biden rejoined the Paris climate agreement, which the United States left under Trump, and he temporarily halted oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
True or False: Biden approved more new oil and gas drilling permits on public land than Trump did in his first year.
The Biden administration approved 3,557 permits for oil and gas drilling on public land in its first year, according to an analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity, compared with the Trump administration’s first-year total of 2,658. The majority of them, issued by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, were on federal land in New Mexico.
While Biden paused new federal oil and gas leasing a week after taking office, a federal judge blocked that policy in June 2021. Halting permits on existing leases is harder than temporarily stopping federal oil and gas auctions. A federal judge on Thursday invalidated a major offshore oil and gas lease sale the Biden administration held last fall in the Gulf of Mexico, ruling the government did a flawed analysis of the drilling’s climate change impact.
What is a Trump-era policy that the Biden administration has continued to support, including in court?
Denying critical habitat protections to the rusty patched bumblebee
Allowing oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Curtailing environmental reviews of transportation projects
Shrinking the northern spotted owl’s critical habitat
A rusty patched bumblebee photographed in 2018. (Kim Mitchell/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Biden officials have so far defended the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision in 2020 to deny designating critical habitat for the rusty patched bumblebee, which the Trump administration initially delayed listing under the Endangered Species Act. The Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups are challenging that decision in federal court, arguing in a recent brief, “Although the rusty patched bumble bee was once common and abundant throughout much of America, the survival of this native pollinator now hangs in the balance.”
The bee, which was once prevalent in the Midwest, has experienced an 88 percent population decline in the past two decades.
Which single rule enacted in Biden’s first year will cut the most greenhouse gas emissions?
Restoring energy-efficiency standards for washers and dryers
Phasing down production and import of hydrofluorocarbons
Mandating more efficient lightbulbs
Tighter fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles
Window air conditioners in New York. The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to phase down production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners. (Jenny Kane/AP)
Unlike several of Biden’s more controversial climate policies, the single biggest step he has taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions enjoys bipartisan support: a program to cut the production and use of chemicals known as hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, by 85 percent over the next 15 years. The rule, which the Environmental Protection Agency finalized in September, implements a law enacted a year before he took office.
These chemical compounds, widely used in refrigeration and air conditioning, are short-lived in the atmosphere but hundreds to thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide. By 2050, federal officials project, the program will cut 4.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent — nearly the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as three years’ worth of pollution from the U.S. power sector.
If you totaled the acreage of all the public lands protections that Biden enacted during his first year in office, which state would it be equivalent to, in terms of size?
Since his inauguration, Biden has protected 5,827,854 acres, or 9,106 square miles, of public lands and waters — an area nearly the size of New Hampshire. This record — which means Biden has protected more land and water in his first term than his three immediate predecessors — rests largely on the president’s move to reverse Trump’s decision to scale back safeguards for three large national monuments established by Democrats: Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in the Atlantic Ocean.
Biden also established two new marine protected areas: the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, which spans 615,680 acres, and the roughly 52,000-acre National Estuarine Research Reserve in Connecticut, while adding acreage to more than a dozen national wildlife refuges.
Which Trump-era policy has a federal court blocked or overturned since Biden took office?
A rule limiting what scientific studies can be considered for public health rules
A decision to grant drilling permits to the Willow project in Alaska
The denial of Endangered Species Act protections to the Pacific walrus
A female Pacific walrus resting in Point Lay, Alaska. (U.S. Geological Survey/AP)
Federal courts have ruled more than half a dozen times since Biden took office that the Trump administration violated the law. This list includes EPA policies limiting what sort of objections tribes and states could make to projects affecting their water quality and one that kept chlorpyrifos, a pesticide linked to neurological damage in fetuses and infants, on the market.
A day before Biden took office the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit tossed out Trump’s Affordable Clean Energy rule, which was aimed at easing greenhouse gas limits on power plants.
Carrie Jenks, executive director for the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program, said in an email that these rulings have made it easier to scrap some Trump-era rollbacks. “Courts’ decisions over the past year rejecting many of the Trump administration’s rules enabled the Biden administration to focus on replacing policies to be consistent with the administration’s priorities.”
What one Trump regulation did Congress step in to erase?
The U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement
Weakening of showerhead efficiency requirements
Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Easing limits on leaks of methane from oil and gas operations
Not long before he left office, Trump finished dismantling a 2016 EPA rule that required oil and gas companies to detect methane leaks from certain equipment and quickly repair them.
In a bipartisan vote last year, Congress voted to restore the Obama-era rule. Biden signed the Congressional Review Act resolution, wiping Trump’s rollback off the books.
Which of the following is a policy Biden can undertake on his own to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint?
Imposing a tax on carbon dioxide emissions
Mandating that the federal government transition to clean and zero-emissions vehicles
Offering tax rebates on electric vehicle purchases
Expanding the scope of the Clean Air Act
Biden would like to enshrine all of the policies above. But in 2021, he used his executive authority to mandate that the U.S. government devise a plan to turn its sprawling fleet of nearly 650,000 vehicles green over time. Congress holds the power to tax and spend, and it sets the boundaries of what agencies can regulate, and so the other items on this list would require a blessing from Capitol Hill.
Question 10 of 10
Which Trump-era policy has Biden yet to target?
Allowing the import of elephant trophies
Changing how agencies consult on how new pesticide approvals affect endangered species
Scaling back protections for federal waterways
Cutting funding to combat cookstove pollution overseas
Trump flip-flopped multiple times on the question of importing elephant trophies from overseas, first lifting an Obama ban before suggesting he might block them because he considered hunting elephants a “horror show.” But his administration made these imports legal, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service settled a lawsuit with hunting groups last year to begin processing import permits again.
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John MuyskensFollowTwitter
John Muyskens is a graphics editor at the Washington Post specializing in data reporting.
Brady DennisFollowTwitter
Brady Dennis is a Pulitzer Prize-winning national reporter for The Washington Post, focusing on the environment and public health. He previously spent years covering the nation’s economy.
Juliet EilperinFollowTwitter
Juliet Eilperin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at The Washington Post, editing stories on climate and the environment. She has written two books, "Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks" and "Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives." | null | null | null | null | null |
State legislators, aides and members of the public walk through the halls of the Missouri Capitol Building in Jefferson City on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2021, on the first day of the 101st Missouri General Assembly. A new bill under consideration would alter existing self-defense laws in the state. (Ethan Weston/The Jefferson City News-Tribune via AP/file)
A new Missouri bill that would alter existing self-defense laws and establish that any use of “physical or deadly force” would be presumed to be self-defense has prompted controversy and a sharp criticism from opponents.
The proponents of the bill argue it shields citizens who exercise their Second Amendment rights, and are protected by existing self-defense state laws, from unfair prosecution, while opponents warn it could bring dangerous, unintended consequences on public safety and hinder law enforcement’s ability to prosecute violent criminals.
Under current state law, citizens have the right to use physical force upon another person to protect themselves, including, but not limited to, instances when someone unlawfully enters private property or someone’s home. Yet the person bears the legal burden to prove he or she “reasonably believed physical or deadly force was necessary to protect him or herself or a third person.”
The proposed Senate bill 666 would shift that burden of proof onto the prosecutors who would now need to present “clear and convincing evidence,” that the defendant was acting on motives other than self-defense, during a a pre-trial hearing before they can be charged.
Dozens of states have some version of self-defense laws, with different requirements to allow a person to use deadly force for self-defense.
Critics of the Missouri bill say it takes the determination on whether an act was committed on self-defense away from the jury and, instead, relies upon a pre-trial court to make that decision before the jury hears all the evidence or analyzes circumstances of the case.
“It turns everything that we know about the rule of law as related to murder on its head,” he said in an interview Wednesday, adding that the presumption that anyone who shoots a person did it on self-defense would create a “culture of death.”
Chapel argued that the existing “self-defense doctrine” is being applied “inequitably” to justify and prevent fair prosecution of crimes against people of color in rural Missouri, and warned that the new initiative could further hinder access to criminal justice and affect "all Missourians.”
The bill, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Eric Burlison, also states that a person who uses, or threatens to use, force in self-defense "is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force” unless that force was directed against a law-enforcement officer on duty.
While the police may investigate the use of force, they may not arrest the person unless the agency determines there is “probable cause that the force that was used or threatened was unlawful,” according to the bill.
Burlison did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the senator defended his proposal during a Senate hearing Tuesday saying that it protects "law-abiding Missourians whose only quote-unquote crime is that they were trying to defend themselves and/or their family members.”
If voted by a majority of a members of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee, the bill would then move to the Senate’s floor for further debate.
St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Timothy Lohmar said the initiative “changes the nature of self-defense claims" and establishes that "anybody who committed assault or murder and claims they were acting in self-defense is presumably correct and their actions were legal.“
“It would mean that practically in every murder case where you don’t have a witness, all the defendant has to say is that he or she was acting in self-defense to get away with it” he said. “It also means you are going to have a lot of murderers walking free if this becomes law.”
Lohmar joined dozens of other prosecutors, law enforcement officers and agencies in condemning the initiative they have called the "Make Murder Legal Act.”
If passed, Lohmar said it would have particularly devastating consequences in Missouri where violent crime has has risen in recent years, and even more so in cities like St. Louis, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the country, and could result in “single digit” murder convictions. “This severely undermines law enforcement’s ability" to deal with crimes, he added.
On the other side of the aisle, proponents such as Mark McCloskey, an attorney who gained national attention after he and his wife pointed firearms at Black Lives Matter protesters marching past their home in St. Louis last year, praised the bill, arguing it shields people from overzealous prosecution and protects their Second Amendment rights.
McCloskey, who is running for U.S. Senate and has been a staunch supporter of former president Donald Trump, said on his campaign website that the incident for which he and his wife ended up pleading guilty for misdemeanors has “empowered thousands of new gun owners across the country to purchase a firearm and learn how to defend themselves."
He argued that the current laws have it “backwards” where a jury decides “whether or not you committed a crime and then whether or not the Castle Doctrine provides you with a defense.”
Last year, state legislature passed a law, Second Amendment Preservation Act, that forbids local law enforcement agencies from helping the federal government enforce any law or regulation which Missouri considers an “infringement to the right to bear arms.” Each violation can carry a $50,000 penalty. | null | null | null | null | null |
The Minnesota Vikings are expected to hire Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell as their next head coach after Jim Harbaugh interviewed with the team Wednesday, but opted to remain at the University of Michigan, a person familiar with the situation said.
O’Connell, 36, is a former NFL quarterback who spent time with the New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and the then-San Diego Chargers. He began his coaching career as a quarterbacks coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2015. After a stint with the 49ers, he was Washington’s quarterbacks coach and then its offensive coordinator for three seasons between 2017 and 2019.
He replaces the fired Mike Zimmer in Minnesota. The Vikings become the fifth of the nine NFL teams with head coaching vacancies to make a choice, following the hirings of Nathaniel Hackett by the Denver Broncos, Matt Eberflus by the Chicago Bears, Brian Daboll by the New York Giants and Josh McDaniels by the Las Vegas Raiders. The Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and New Orleans Saints continue to search for new head coaches. | null | null | null | null | null |
FILE - Late NFL star Junior Seau attends his induction into the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame in San Diego on Nov. 27, 2011. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Seau’s brother, Savaii Seau was killed in a collision with a dump truck in the the San Diego suburb of Lakeside, on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. Junior Seau was found dead in 2012 from a gunshot wound to his chest. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, file) | null | null | null | null | null |
Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel shouts to players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Wake Forest on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (Allison Lee Isley (Allison Lee Isley/The Winston-Salem Journal)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Jake LaRavia scored nine of his 18 points in a little more than the first five minutes and Wake Forest went largely unchallenged in its 91-75 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. | null | null | null | null | null |
CHICAGO — Speaking Wednesday night at a town hall organized by the team, Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz angrily rejected any conversation connected to the franchise’s response when a player said he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach.
When Danny Wirtz tried to answer the question, Rocky Wirtz cut off his son and said it was none of the reporter’s business. Asked how it wasn’t the reporter’s business, Rocky Wirtz responded: “You don’t work for the company.” | null | null | null | null | null |
PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Kuzma has a tendency to let his right hand hang for an extra split second after releasing a shot he likes. It creates what appears to be a moment of admiration as he watches the ball arc through the air.
“Obviously I didn’t have this type of role at the beginning of the year and it has picked up over the last two months,” Kuzma said. “I’m ready for this moment. I’ve been ready for this moment. Been asking for this moment for years. … I love the game. I study the game. I care about the game and it’s just coming easy to me right now. So just reaping the fruits of my labor and all the hard work that I put in.”
With Bradley Beal out, Kuzma did the heavy offensive lifting again with 24 points, seven rebounds and three assists as he found the range for his jumper from all over the court. Spencer Dinwiddie got going down the stretch and finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double. Dinwiddie and Montrezl Harrell (14 points) found a good groove in a two-man game down the stretch to hold off an Embiid-led rally.
Kuzma was at the forefront of the defensive effort to halt Embiid, but it took a village, and just about every Wizard who stepped on the court played a role. Ten players scored, and eight had at least eight points for the Wizards.
Things to know from Wednesday’s game:
Dinwiddie had been in a bit of a slump, scoring in double figures just once in the previous four games. The fact that he was on the floor Wednesday was already a step forward as he hadn’t been playing the second game of back-to-backs, but his triple-double — fueled by his two-man play with Harrell — had to be encouraging for Unseld. | null | null | null | null | null |
The Minnesota Vikings are expected to hire Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell as their next coach after Jim Harbaugh interviewed with the team Wednesday but opted to remain at the University of Michigan, a person familiar with the situation said.
O’Connell, 36, is a former NFL quarterback who spent time with the New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers. He began his coaching career as a quarterbacks coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2015. After a stint with the 49ers, he was Washington’s quarterbacks coach and then its offensive coordinator for three seasons between 2017 and 2019.
He replaces the fired Mike Zimmer in Minnesota. The Vikings become the fifth of the nine teams with head coaching vacancies to make a choice, following the hirings of Nathaniel Hackett by the Denver Broncos, Matt Eberflus by the Chicago Bears, Brian Daboll by the New York Giants and Josh McDaniels by the Las Vegas Raiders. The Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and New Orleans Saints continue to search for a new coach. | null | null | null | null | null |
PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Kuzma has a tendency to let his right hand hang for an extra split second after he releases a shot he likes. It creates what appears to be a moment of admiration as he watches the ball arc through the air.
“Obviously I didn’t have this type of role at the beginning of the year, and it has picked up over the last two months,” Kuzma said. “I’m ready for this moment. I’ve been ready for this moment. Been asking for this moment for years. … I love the game. I study the game. I care about the game, and it’s just coming easy to me right now. So just reaping the fruits of my labor and all the hard work that I put in.”
With Bradley Beal out, Kuzma did the heavy lifting on offense again with 24 points, seven rebounds and three assists as he found the range on his jumper from all over the court. Spencer Dinwiddie got going down the stretch and finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double. Dinwiddie and Montrezl Harrell (14 points) found a good groove in a two-man game down the stretch to hold off an Embiid-led rally.
Kuzma was at the forefront of the defensive effort to halt Embiid, but just about every Wizard who stepped on the court played a role. Ten players scored, and eight had at least eight points for the Wizards.
Here’s what to know from Wednesday’s victory:
Dinwiddie steps up
Dinwiddie had been in a bit of a slump, scoring in double figures just once in the previous four games. The fact that he was on the floor Wednesday was already a step forward because he hadn’t been playing the second game of back-to-backs, but his triple-double — fueled by his two-man play with Harrell — had to be encouraging for Unseld. | null | null | null | null | null |
The number of goals equaled the temperature at kickoff, and by the end of the 3-0 victory over frost-stricken Honduras, the absurdity of the U.S. Soccer Federation choosing to play in a frigid location was eclipsed by the gravity of securing three points.
With three matches left, the second-place Americans (6-2-3) probably are one triumph from clinching one of Concacaf’s three automatic passes to the World Cup in Qatar late this year.
The last block of matches is in late March: at third-place Mexico, vs. contender Panama in Orlando and at Costa Rica.
“Now we’re in position,” Berhalter said, “and it’s about closing out the next window.”
Three days after stumbling to a 2-0 defeat in Canada, the United States ended two troubling trends: few goals before halftime and none off set pieces. Weston McKennie and Walker Zimmerman scored in the first half against Honduras (0-8-3), and all three goals came off dead-ball situations set up by Kellyn Acosta (two on free kicks, one on a corner kick).
U.S. star Christian Pulisic also broke out of a funk, scoring moments after he entered as a sub midway through the second half.
They did it in extreme conditions that the Honduran soccer federation said forced two players to leave at halftime and receive medical treatment.
Berhalter compared the decision to play in Minnesota to Concacaf opponents staging qualifiers in intense heat or thin air.
“When we go down to those countries and it’s 90 degrees and 90 percent dew point and it’s unbearable humidity and guys are getting dehydrated and cramping up and getting heat exhaustion,” he said, “that’s the nature of our competition.”
Goalkeeper Matt Turner used a quarterback’s hand pouch, also provided by the NFL team, but two minutes into the match, he was told by referee Oshane Nation to remove it.
Both benches were heated from above and below. The USSF offered head coverings to the Honduran delegation, but the visitors were on their own for other gear.
It was a lot of effort for a game that could’ve been staged in a more appropriate location. Allianz Field is a gem but probably best saved for suitable weather.
The USSF also wanted to avoid playing in a metro area with a large Honduran fan base, such as Southern California, Texas and D.C. Over decades, it wasn’t unusual for U.S. fans to be outnumbered at U.S. venues when the opponent was from Central America.
The cold hit Honduras harder than the United States.
“Especially in the second half,” American midfielder Luca de la Torre said, “I didn’t notice it very much.”
De la Torre, a 23-year-old midfielder based in the Netherlands, made his first U.S. appearance since October and first start of his international career. Berhalter praised his performance.
The Americans had been notoriously slow starters in the qualifiers, but that changed in the eighth minute.
Acosta, starting for injured Tyler Adams, launched a long free kick into the box. From 12 yards, McKennie directed a header into the near side for his second goal of the qualifiers.
The cold impacted the issuing of yellow cards. The gloved referee struggled to pull the card out of a front pants pocket.
The United States dominated the second half but needed 21 minutes to score again. Ricardo Pepi flicked Acosta’s corner kick to Zimmerman, who deflected the ball to Pulisic for a 12-yard one-timer into the low left corner.
“The hope is it gives us a lot of momentum, not because we got three points but the way we got three points,” Zimmerman said. “It was a statement in the way we competed, the way we went about our business and definitely looked like the most dynamic performance we’ve had, especially this window.” | null | null | null | null | null |
Virginia Tech’s Sean Pedulla (3) attempts to block a shot by Georgia Tech’s Deivon Smith (5) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in Blacksburg, Va. (Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times via AP)
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Keve Aluma scored 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting and 8 for 9 from the foul line and Virginia Tech led most of the way in an 81-66 win over Georgia Tech on Wednesday night. | null | null | null | null | null |
What to watch on Thursday: ‘Murderville’ premieres on Netflix
Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer (Fox at 8) Only a handful of ladies are offered the chance to spend time with the Joes at a vineyard, but one of the uninvited contestants crashes the festivities.
Call Me Kat (Fox at 9) Max is egged on by Kat to submit to a jingle competition.
Pivoting (Fox at 9:31) The trio’s made-up holiday, inspired by “Beverly Hills, 90210,” approaches, and they weigh their willingness to continue the tradition.
Murderville (Netflix) A comedic murder-mystery procedural stars Will Arnett as a detective with a host of guest-star partners each episode including Conan O’Brien and Sharon Stone. But the twist is that the guests don’t have a script and must improvise their way to finding each killer.
Finding Ola (Netflix) An Egyptian drama about a woman who is still trying to self-actualize while raising two kids and keeping their lives together.
Project Runway (Bravo at 9) This season’s winner is crowned at New York Fashion Week.
And Just Like That … The Documentary (HBO Max) A behind-the-scenes look with cast and crew of the “Sex and the City” revival that dovetails with the series’ season 1 finale.
Looney Tunes Cartoons Valentine’s Extwavaganza! (HBO Max) Porky is crushing on Petunia, but Daffy gets in the way, and Bugs has an unlikely admirer on Valentine’s Day.
Puppy Bowl Presents: The Winter Games (Discovery Plus) A spinoff of the popular Puppy Bowl finds pups “competing” in Olympic-style winter events.
Soul of a Nation: Screen Queens Rising (ABC at 8) A look at how Black actresses, who have been marginalized in Hollywood, are slowly starting to get the roles and prestige they’ve earned.
Soul of a Nation: X/onerated — The Murder of Malcolm X and 55 Years to Justice (ABC at 9) Muhammad Abdul Aziz, who was exonerated for the assassination of Malcolm X in November 2021, gives his first televised interview.
Trapped by My Sugar Daddy (Lifetime Movie at 8) A mother objects to her 18-year-old daughter dating a charismatic, wealthy 50-year-old man who might not have the best intentions in mind.
Kid Cosmic (Netflix)
Daily Show/Noah (Comedy Central at 11) Johnny Knoxville.
Late Show/Colbert (CBS at 11:35) Dua Lipa, 2 Chainz.
Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC at 11:35) Josh Gad, Anna Chlumsky, the Weather Station.
Late Late Show/Corden (CBS at 12:37) Kenneth Branagh, Lily James, Nicki Minaj. | null | null | null | null | null |
HONJO, Japan — In a dimly lit corner next to the altar at the Daionji Temple are rows of wooden blocks that bear the names of Vietnamese migrants who have recently died, along with their dates of birth and death, their ages, and their holy names presented to Buddha.
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the isolation of these workers, and to meet the overwhelming need, Tri opened a second location in November. Since April 2020, she has delivered more than 60,000 food and aid packages to Vietnamese residents struggling in the pandemic.
Japan’s workforce is shrinking as the population ages, forcing the country to dramatically expand on what was once unthinkable in a largely homogenous society where foreigners make up about 2 percent of the population — migrant workers. Among the key programs is the Technical Intern Training Program, which funnels many workers to manufacturing, agricultural and fishery jobs in rural areas.
Yet for the past decade, there have been concerns about the program’s employment practices and about regulatory loopholes that haven’t been addressed. The program, originally designed to transfer technical skills to workers from developing countries, has been named repeatedly in the U.S. State Department’s annual human-trafficking report, which cited concerns about forced-labor practices and poor living and working conditions. | null | null | null | null | null |
BOTTOM LINE: Matthias Tass and the Saint Mary’s Gaels visit Chris Austin and the Portland Pilots in WCC play Thursday.
The Gaels are 5-1 against WCC opponents. Saint Mary’s (CA) scores 69.6 points while outscoring opponents by 11.1 points per game.
Tommy Kuhse is averaging 10.3 points and 3.3 assists for the Gaels. Tass is averaging 10.0 points over the last 10 games for Saint Mary’s (CA). | null | null | null | null | null |
Bannan leads Montana against Weber State after 21-point outing
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Weber State -7; over/under is 143.5
BOTTOM LINE: Montana takes on the Weber State Wildcats after Josh Bannan scored 21 points in Montana’s 61-59 victory over the Eastern Washington Eagles.
The Wildcats are 8-3 on their home court. Weber State ranks fourth in the Big Sky with 25.5 defensive rebounds per game led by Dillon Jones averaging 9.0.
The Grizzlies are 8-2 in Big Sky play. Montana averages 72.3 points and has outscored opponents by 10.1 points per game.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. The Grizzlies won the last meeting 74-72 on Jan. 2. Robby Beasley III scored 19 points to help lead the Grizzlies to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jones is averaging 12.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals for the Wildcats. Koby McEwen is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Weber State.
Bannan is averaging 13.8 points and 8.1 rebounds for the Grizzlies. Beasley is averaging 12.8 points over the last 10 games for Montana. | null | null | null | null | null |
Benning leads Fairfield against Monmouth after 24-point outing
BOTTOM LINE: Fairfield plays the Monmouth Hawks after Taj Benning scored 24 points in Fairfield’s 76-65 win over the Rider Broncs.
The Hawks are 5-3 in home games. Monmouth ranks third in the MAAC in rebounding with 34.1 rebounds. Nikkei Rutty leads the Hawks with 7.1 boards.
The Stags are 4-5 in MAAC play. Fairfield has a 1-1 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. The Hawks won 61-58 in the last matchup on Jan. 21. George Papas led the Hawks with 16 points, and Jake Wojcik led the Stags with 15 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Papas is shooting 36.9% from beyond the arc with 3.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Hawks, while averaging 16.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Walker Miller is shooting 49.6% and averaging 15.8 points over the past 10 games for Monmouth.
Supreme Cook is averaging 10.2 points and eight rebounds for the Stags. Wojcik is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Fairfield. | null | null | null | null | null |
Cal hosts Washington after Brown's 30-point game
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cal -2.5; over/under is 128.5
BOTTOM LINE: Washington visits the California Golden Bears after Terrell Brown Jr. scored 30 points in Washington’s 77-73 overtime victory over the Utah Utes.
The Golden Bears have gone 9-4 in home games. Cal is 0-2 in games decided by less than 4 points.
The Huskies are 6-3 in Pac-12 play. Washington gives up 68.1 points to opponents and has been outscored by 2.1 points per game.
The teams meet for the 10th time in conference play this season. The Huskies won 64-55 in the last matchup on Jan. 13. Brown led the Huskies with 21 points, and Jordan Shepherd led the Golden Bears with 12 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Joel Brown is averaging five points for the Golden Bears. Shepherd is averaging 9.3 points and 1.5 rebounds while shooting 38.7% over the past 10 games for Cal.
Emmitt Matthews Jr. averages 1.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Huskies, scoring 11.6 points while shooting 32.5% from beyond the arc. Terrell Brown Jr. is shooting 44.1% and averaging 13.8 points over the past 10 games for Washington. | null | null | null | null | null |
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Incarnate Word -10.5; over/under is 144.5
BOTTOM LINE: Nicholls State takes on the Incarnate Word Cardinals after Devante Carter scored 21 points in Nicholls State’s 73-61 win against the Houston Baptist Huskies.
The Cardinals have gone 3-7 in home games. Incarnate Word is second in the Southland shooting 34.5% from downtown, led by Charlie Yoder shooting 66.7% from 3-point range.
The Colonels are 3-2 in Southland play. Nicholls State scores 79.5 points and has outscored opponents by 8.3 points per game.
Carter is averaging 12.8 points, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals for the Colonels. Jitaurious Gordon is averaging 17.5 points and 2.7 rebounds while shooting 43.0% over the last 10 games for Nicholls State. | null | null | null | null | null |
Edler-Davis leads CSU Bakersfield against Long Beach State after 22-point game
The Beach are 5-3 in home games. Long Beach State is fourth in the Big West with 24.9 defensive rebounds per game led by Aboubacar Traore averaging 4.5.
The Roadrunners are 1-4 in conference play. CSU Bakersfield is 2-6 against opponents over .500.
TOP PERFORMERS: Joel Murray is averaging 15.9 points and 1.6 steals for the Beach. Colin Slater is averaging 10.5 points over the last 10 games for Long Beach State.
Edler-Davis is shooting 40.0% from beyond the arc with 1.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Roadrunners, while averaging 10 points and 6.4 rebounds. Justin McCall is shooting 51.0% and averaging 9.8 points over the last 10 games for CSU Bakersfield. | null | null | null | null | null |
Gaines leads Siena against Rider after 24-point performance
BOTTOM LINE: Siena takes on the Rider Broncs after Anthony Gaines scored 24 points in Siena’s 73-65 win over the Canisius Golden Griffins.
The Saints are 5-3 in home games. Siena has a 2-5 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
The Broncs are 3-7 in conference matchups. Rider has a 1-1 record in one-possession games.
The Saints and Broncs square off Friday for the first time in MAAC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Colby Rogers is scoring 14.4 points per game and averaging 1.8 rebounds for the Saints. Nick Hopkins is averaging 1.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Siena.
Dimencio Vaughn is scoring 12.6 points per game with 7.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists for the Broncs. Allen Powell is averaging 13.1 points and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 43.5% over the last 10 games for Rider. | null | null | null | null | null |
Kreuser leads North Dakota State against Omaha after 25-point outing
Omaha Mavericks (4-18, 3-8 Summit) at North Dakota State Bison (14-8, 6-4 Summit)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: North Dakota State -15.5; over/under is 148.5
BOTTOM LINE: North Dakota State plays the Omaha Mavericks after Rocky Kreuser scored 25 points in North Dakota State’s 80-76 loss to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
The Bison are 8-2 in home games. North Dakota State averages 11.9 turnovers per game and is 5-1 when it wins the turnover battle.
The Mavericks are 3-8 in conference games. Omaha is 2-12 in games decided by at least 10 points.
The teams play for the second time this season in Summit play. The Bison won the last meeting 71-67 on Jan. 8. Kreuser scored 25 points points to help lead the Bison to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tyree Eady is averaging 10.1 points and 5.1 rebounds for the Bison. Kreuser is averaging 16.2 points and eight rebounds over the past 10 games for North Dakota State.
Nick Ferrarini is scoring 10.8 points per game with 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists for the Mavericks. Frankie Fidler is averaging 12.6 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 50.0% over the past 10 games for Omaha. | null | null | null | null | null |
Miami (OH) takes on Akron on 3-game skid
BOTTOM LINE: Miami (OH) is looking to end its three-game skid with a victory over Akron.
The Zips are 9-1 on their home court. Akron is 3-1 in games decided by less than 4 points.
The RedHawks are 3-6 in MAC play. Miami (OH) ranks sixth in the MAC shooting 34.1% from 3-point range.
The Zips and RedHawks face off Friday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Enrique Freeman is averaging 12.5 points and 10.8 rebounds for the Zips. Xavier Castaneda is averaging 12.6 points over the last 10 games for Akron. | null | null | null | null | null |
Milwaukee visits Purdue Fort Wayne after Lathon's 20-point game
BOTTOM LINE: Milwaukee faces the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons after Jordan Lathon scored 20 points in Milwaukee’s 86-72 loss to the Youngstown State Penguins.
The Mastodons have gone 9-2 at home. Purdue Fort Wayne has a 1-0 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Panthers are 5-8 in conference matchups. Milwaukee is ninth in the Horizon scoring 26.8 points per game in the paint led by Patrick Baldwin Jr. averaging 1.3.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ra Kpedi is averaging 8.5 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Mastodons. Jarred Godfrey is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Purdue Fort Wayne.
DeAndre Gholston is shooting 34.2% from beyond the arc with 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, while averaging 15.1 points. Josh Thomas is shooting 57.7% and averaging 11.1 points over the last 10 games for Milwaukee. | null | null | null | null | null |
BOTTOM LINE: No. 19 USC takes on the Arizona State Sun Devils after Isaiah Mobley scored 24 points in USC’s 79-72 victory over the California Golden Bears.
The Sun Devils are 4-4 on their home court. Arizona State is 1-7 in games decided by 10 points or more.
The Trojans are 8-3 in conference play. USC ranks second in the Pac-12 shooting 35.6% from downtown. Amar Ross leads the Trojans shooting 100% from 3-point range.
The teams meet for the 10th time in conference play this season. The Trojans won 78-56 in the last matchup on Jan. 25. Drew Peterson led the Trojans with 16 points, and Marreon Jackson led the Sun Devils with 21 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: DJ Horne is shooting 40.0% from beyond the arc with 2.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Sun Devils, while averaging 13.7 points. Jay Heath is averaging 7.5 points over the past 10 games for Arizona State.
Mobley is scoring 14.9 points per game and averaging 8.5 rebounds for the Trojans. Peterson is averaging 1.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for USC. | null | null | null | null | null |
No. 16 Ohio State hosts Iowa after Murray's 21-point game
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Ohio State -5; over/under is 153
BOTTOM LINE: Iowa faces the No. 16 Ohio State Buckeyes after Keegan Murray scored 21 points in Iowa’s 90-86 overtime loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions.
The Buckeyes have gone 9-0 at home. Ohio State ranks eighth in the Big Ten with 25.2 defensive rebounds per game led by E.J. Liddell averaging 5.0.
Murray is scoring 22.3 points per game and averaging 8.3 rebounds for the Hawkeyes. Jordan Bohannon is averaging 1.2 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Iowa. | null | null | null | null | null |
Oregon State visits Utah on 7-game road skid
BOTTOM LINE: Oregon State will try to stop its seven-game road skid when the Beavers visit Utah.
The Utes have gone 6-5 at home. Utah is third in the Pac-12 with 13.7 assists per game led by Rollie Worster averaging 3.2.
The Beavers are 1-7 against Pac-12 opponents. Oregon State has a 2-9 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
The teams square off for the 10th time this season in Pac-12 play. The Beavers won the last matchup 88-76 on Dec. 31. Jarod Lucas scored 25 points to help lead the Beavers to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Marco Anthony is averaging 7.6 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Utes. Lazar Stefanovic is averaging 1.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Utah.
Lucas is shooting 38.9% from beyond the arc with 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Beavers, while averaging 13.8 points. Dashawn Davis is averaging 7.1 points and 4.3 assists over the past 10 games for Oregon State. | null | null | null | null | null |
Robinson leads Western Carolina against VMI after 37-point showing
BOTTOM LINE: Western Carolina plays the VMI Keydets after Nick Robinson scored 37 points in Western Carolina’s 87-84 victory against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers.
The Keydets have gone 7-2 at home. VMI is eighth in the SoCon with 27.3 points per game in the paint led by Trey Bonham averaging 1.4.
The Catamounts are 3-7 in SoCon play. Western Carolina is sixth in the SoCon with 13.7 assists per game led by Vonterius Woolbright averaging 4.0.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jake Stephens is averaging 18.6 points, nine rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.2 blocks for the Keydets. Kamdyn Curfman is averaging 12.9 points over the last 10 games for VMI. | null | null | null | null | null |
Sacramento State faces Northern Arizona after Fowler's 20-point outing
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Sacramento State -3; over/under is 133.5
BOTTOM LINE: Sacramento State takes on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks after Bryce Fowler scored 20 points in Sacramento State’s 79-59 loss to the Weber State Wildcats.
The Hornets have gone 3-5 at home. Sacramento State allows 69.9 points to opponents and has been outscored by 5.1 points per game.
The Lumberjacks have gone 3-6 against Big Sky opponents. Northern Arizona ranks third in the Big Sky with 8.4 offensive rebounds per game led by Carson Towt averaging 2.8.
The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. The Lumberjacks won 70-65 in the last matchup on Jan. 25. Jalen Cole led the Lumberjacks with 36 points, and Zach Chappell led the Hornets with 24 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Fowler is averaging 16.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals for the Hornets. Chappell is averaging 15.5 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 47.3% over the last 10 games for Sacramento State.
Cone averages 3.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Lumberjacks, scoring 19.8 points while shooting 42.0% from beyond the arc. Nik Mains is averaging 10.8 points over the last 10 games for Northern Arizona. | null | null | null | null | null |
Saint Bonaventure faces Richmond following Adaway's 21-point game
BOTTOM LINE: Saint Bonaventure visits the Richmond Spiders after Jalen Adaway scored 21 points in Saint Bonaventure’s 81-76 loss to the Davidson Wildcats.
The Spiders have gone 7-3 in home games. Richmond is 6-3 in games decided by 10 points or more.
The Spiders and Bonnies meet Friday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jacob Gilyard is averaging 12.7 points, six assists and 3.4 steals for the Spiders. Grant Golden is averaging 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 48.2% over the past 10 games for Richmond.
Jaren Holmes is scoring 15.1 points per game with 5.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists for the Bonnies. Adaway is averaging 10.8 points over the past 10 games for Saint Bonaventure. | null | null | null | null | null |
San Jose State faces Utah State on 8-game losing streak
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Utah State -20; over/under is 137.5
BOTTOM LINE: San Jose State is looking to break its eight-game losing streak with a win over Utah State.
The Aggies are 6-4 on their home court. Utah State is fourth in the MWC scoring 75.0 points while shooting 48.2% from the field.
The Spartans are 0-8 against MWC opponents. San Jose State ranks seventh in the MWC with 7.1 offensive rebounds per game led by Ibrahima Diallo averaging 1.7.
TOP PERFORMERS: Rylan Jones is averaging 7.1 points and 4.4 assists for the Aggies. Justin Bean is averaging 10.8 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 48.7% over the past 10 games for Utah State.
Omari Moore is shooting 49.3% and averaging 13.8 points for the Spartans. Trey Anderson is averaging 6.5 points over the last 10 games for San Jose State. | null | null | null | null | null |
Santa Clara hosts Loyola Marymount (CA) following Scott's 21-point outing
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Santa Clara -10; over/under is 146.5
BOTTOM LINE: Loyola Marymount (CA) visits the Santa Clara Broncos after Eli Scott scored 21 points in Loyola Marymount (CA)’s 69-65 loss to the San Diego Toreros.
The Broncos are 11-3 in home games. Santa Clara is seventh in the WCC in team defense, allowing 71.5 points while holding opponents to 42.7% shooting.
The Lions are 2-5 in WCC play. Loyola Marymount (CA) has a 5-10 record against opponents over .500.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jalen Williams is averaging 18.4 points and 3.6 assists for the Broncos. Josip Vrankic is averaging 9.6 points over the last 10 games for Santa Clara.
Scott is averaging 16.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Lions. Cameron Shelton is averaging 5.4 points over the last 10 games for Loyola Marymount (CA). | null | null | null | null | null |
St. Hilaire leads New Orleans against Texas A&M-CC after 23-point game
BOTTOM LINE: New Orleans visits the Texas A&M-CC Islanders after Derek St. Hilaire scored 23 points in New Orleans’ 84-78 win over the McNeese Cowboys.
The Islanders have gone 8-1 in home games. Texas A&M-CC ranks third in the Southland with 15.5 assists per game led by Terrion Murdix averaging 4.0.
The Privateers are 5-0 in Southland play. New Orleans has a 5-7 record against opponents over .500.
The Islanders and Privateers square off Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Trey Tennyson averages 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Islanders, scoring 12.5 points while shooting 38.1% from beyond the arc. Isaac Mushila is shooting 49.1% and averaging 14.3 points over the past 10 games for Texas A&M-CC.
St. Hilaire is shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Privateers, while averaging 20.7 points and 1.8 steals. Troy Green is shooting 42.7% and averaging 16.1 points over the last 10 games for New Orleans. | null | null | null | null | null |
St. Thomas visits UMKC after Gilyard's 33-point game
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: UMKC -5.5; over/under is 140.5
BOTTOM LINE: UMKC faces the Saint Thomas Tommies after Evan Gilyard scored 33 points in UMKC’s 83-75 win against the Western Illinois Leathernecks.
The Kangaroos are 8-3 on their home court. UMKC is third in the Summit with 12.9 assists per game led by Gilyard averaging 2.9.
The Tommies are 2-6 in conference games. St. Thomas scores 76.2 points while outscoring opponents by 3.0 points per game.
The Kangaroos and Tommies match up Thursday for the first time in Summit play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Marvin Nesbitt Jr. is averaging 10.5 points and 6.7 rebounds for the Kangaroos. Gilyard is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for UMKC.
Riley Miller is averaging 16.4 points for the Tommies. Anders Nelson is averaging 14.4 points over the past 10 games for St. Thomas. | null | null | null | null | null |
Stetson takes on Lipscomb after Jones' 25-point game
BOTTOM LINE: Stetson plays the Lipscomb Bisons after Christiaan Jones scored 25 points in Stetson’s 113-95 victory over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels.
The Bisons are 6-3 in home games. Lipscomb is fourth in the ASUN scoring 75.4 points while shooting 47.3% from the field.
The Hatters are 3-5 against ASUN opponents. Stetson has a 4-8 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: KJ Johnson is averaging 7.9 points and 3.7 assists for the Bisons. Ahsan Asadullah is averaging 15.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists over the past 10 games for Lipscomb.
Chase Johnston is scoring 13.0 points per game with 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists for the Hatters. Jones is averaging 13.9 points and 7.3 rebounds over the last 10 games for Stetson. | null | null | null | null | null |
Trice leads Old Dominion against Marshall after 22-point game
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Old Dominion -4.5; over/under is 144
BOTTOM LINE: Old Dominion hosts the Marshall Thundering Herd after Austin Trice scored 22 points in Old Dominion’s 68-52 win over the Charlotte 49ers.
The Monarchs have gone 5-3 in home games. Old Dominion ranks sixth in C-USA with 9.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Trice averaging 2.4.
The Thundering Herd are 1-7 against C-USA opponents. Marshall is third in C-USA with 34.4 rebounds per game led by Obinna Anochili-Killen averaging 6.7.
The Monarchs and Thundering Herd face off Thursday for the first time in C-USA play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: C.J. Keyser is scoring 14.6 points per game and averaging 2.9 rebounds for the Monarchs. Jaylin Hunter is averaging 1.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Old Dominion.
Taevion Kinsey is scoring 20.7 points per game with 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the Thundering Herd. Andrew Taylor is averaging 9.9 points over the past 10 games for Marshall. | null | null | null | null | null |
UIC hosts Robert Morris following Franklin's 25-point outing
Robert Morris Colonials (5-16, 3-9 Horizon) at UIC Flames (7-12, 3-7 Horizon)
BOTTOM LINE: UIC faces the Robert Morris Colonials after Damaria Franklin scored 25 points in UIC’s 81-74 loss to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
The Flames are 2-5 in home games. UIC gives up 73.0 points and has been outscored by 2.6 points per game.
The Colonials have gone 3-9 against Horizon opponents. Robert Morris ranks ninth in the Horizon with 21.6 defensive rebounds per game led by Kahliel Spear averaging 5.3.
The Flames and Colonials meet Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kevin Johnson is shooting 35.7% from beyond the arc with 1.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Flames, while averaging 13.6 points and 5.2 assists. Franklin is averaging 18.6 points and 6.3 rebounds over the last 10 games for UIC.
Spear is averaging 13.2 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Colonials. Michael Green III is averaging 12.5 points over the last 10 games for Robert Morris. | null | null | null | null | null |
Washington State faces Stanford on 3-game win streak
BOTTOM LINE: Washington State will look to keep its three-game win streak alive when the Cougars take on Stanford.
The Cardinal are 9-1 in home games. Stanford is fourth in the Pac-12 shooting 34.0% from downtown, led by Isa Silver shooting 54.5% from 3-point range.
The Cougars are 5-3 in Pac-12 play. Washington State is ninth in the Pac-12 scoring 28.1 points per game in the paint led by Mouhamed Gueye averaging 5.1.
The teams play for the 10th time this season in Pac-12 play. The Cardinal won the last meeting 62-57 on Jan. 13. Spencer Jones scored 16 points points to help lead the Cardinal to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jones averages 1.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Cardinal, scoring 9.0 points while shooting 32.9% from beyond the arc. Brandon Angel is shooting 43.2% and averaging 6.6 points over the last 10 games for Stanford.
Michael Flowers is averaging 12.9 points and 3.1 assists for the Cougars. Tyrell Roberts is averaging 7.3 points over the past 10 games for Washington State. | null | null | null | null | null |
Western Kentucky faces Charlotte following McKnight's 24-point outing
BOTTOM LINE: Western Kentucky takes on the Charlotte 49ers after Dayvion McKnight scored 24 points in Western Kentucky’s 93-85 loss to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.
The 49ers have gone 8-1 in home games. Charlotte gives up 71.2 points and has been outscored by 2.1 points per game.
The Hilltoppers are 2-6 in conference games. Western Kentucky averages 76.3 points and has outscored opponents by 5.6 points per game.
The 49ers and Hilltoppers face off Thursday for the first time in C-USA play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jahmir Young is shooting 37.1% from beyond the arc with 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the 49ers, while averaging 18.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Austin Butler is shooting 53.8% and averaging 9.5 points over the past 10 games for Charlotte.
McKnight is averaging 14.8 points, six rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.8 steals for the Hilltoppers. Camron Justice is averaging 11.2 points over the last 10 games for Western Kentucky. | null | null | null | null | null |
Yale hosts Dartmouth following Rai's 20-point outing
The Bulldogs are 6-2 on their home court. Yale is fourth in the Ivy League scoring 73.7 points while shooting 43.3% from the field.
The Big Green are 2-4 in conference play. Dartmouth has a 3-5 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Azar Swain is scoring 19.4 points per game and averaging 4.5 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Jalen Gabbidon is averaging 9.4 points and 1.7 rebounds over the last 10 games for Yale.
Brendan Barry is scoring 14.8 points per game with 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Big Green. Rai is averaging 8.9 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 40.0% over the past 10 games for Dartmouth. | null | null | null | null | null |
At least a dozen killed, including children, after U.S. raid in northern Syria, first responders say
BEIRUT — U.S. Special Operations forces conducted a counterterrorism mission overnight in northwestern Syria, the Pentagon said early Thursday in a statement that did not specify the target but called the mission “successful.” Residents in the area described a thunderous, early morning assault involving multiple helicopters and heavy machine gun fire that first responders say left at least 13 people dead.
Specifics on the raid, including the number of casualties, could not immediately be confirmed. But the White Helmets, a civil defense group that works in non-government controlled areas of Syria, said that they have retrieved 13 bodies so far, including those of six children and four women, from a house that appeared to be the target of the operation. They also said they treated a nearby resident and a young girl who lived in the house, whose entire family was killed.
Ahmed, who said he lives less than two miles from the scene of the fighting, said in a telephone interview that he heard helicopters as he was preparing to go to sleep at around 1 a.m. He spoke on the condition that he only be identified by his first name due to safety concerns.
The sound was not unfamiliar in the area — helicopters often arrived to switch out Turkish troops stationed nearby, he said. But this was different.
“The sound was horrible," he said. He went to his roof, he said, and saw machine gun fire emanating from one of the helicopters. The clashes and the sounds from the helicopters subsided around 4 a.m., he said.
Residents said the raid had targeted a two-story house about a mile from the Turkish border. The White Helmets said its first responders initially could not access the area because of the heavy clashes and bombardment that preceded the U.S. operation. Helicopters left, and the clashes ended shortly after 3 a.m. local time, they said in a statement.
Videos circulating on social media, which The Washington Post was not able to immediately verify, captured what appeared to be the raid and its aftermath. In one widely circulated video, the sound of heavy gunfire can be heard, as what appear to be muzzle flashes, possibly from a helicopter, are seen above the skyline. Other videos captured the sound of someone speaking in Arabic over a loudspeaker, telling children in the house to come out.
“The area is surrounded by land and air," the person can be heard saying. “The children are without blame. If there are children, they should come to me."
Photographs purportedly showing the house, taken by a local journalist early Thursday, showed a section of the top floor partially collapsed, and damage to walls that had left rebar exposed. Pictures of the interior showed a sitting room in disarray, and other areas where blood and scattered debris were visible.
A spokesman for the White Helmets said the group “cannot determine whether there were bodies that were retrieved by U.S. forces because there is blood everywhere.” | null | null | null | null | null |
Lawmakers, aides and members of the public walk the halls of the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City in January 2021. (Ethan Weston/Jefferson City News-Tribune/AP)
If voted by a majority of a members of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee, the bill would move to the Senate’s floor for further debate.
McCloskey, who is running for U.S. Senate and has been a staunch supporter of former president Donald Trump, said on his campaign website that the incident for which he and his wife ended up pleading guilty to misdemeanors has “empowered thousands of new gun owners across the country to purchase a firearm and learn how to defend themselves.” | null | null | null | null | null |
Analysis: Americans have lost 13.5 million years of life during the pandemic
New research from Hanke Heun-Johnson and Bryan Tysinger conducted for the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics looks at that same equation for all of the unexpected deaths that have occurred since the pandemic began. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculates a metric called “excess deaths,” a comparison between the number of deaths recorded in the United States and the number of deaths that would be expected based on prior years’ trends. It allows them to spot things like exceptionally bad flu seasons, for example. Those data are also how we know that the number of deaths from covid-19 is not exaggerated: Hundreds of thousands more people have died over the past two years than we otherwise would have expected. | null | null | null | null | null |
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, Jan. 19, 2022. (AP)
The narrator described a meeting where Kim expressed his concern that “what is urgently needed in stabilizing the people’s livelihood is to relieve the tension created by the food supply,” and called on emergency measures for the country’s “food crisis,” noting the country had dipped into its emergency grain supply. In June, Kim explicitly called the country’s food situation “tense.”
Kim’s recent weight loss was visible throughout the film, which oscillated between footage from his plumper days and more recent images that showed a dramatically thinner Kim, who stunned observers this summer when he appeared in state media looking noticeably slimmer. The cause of Kim’s weight loss has not been revealed.
North Korea has had a self-imposed border lockdown in the pandemic, severely restricting trade with its biggest economic partner of China, which has exacerbated a shortage of food, supplies and cash, hurting the country’s most vulnerable, experts say. North Korea appears to have taken steps to resume some level of ground-based trade with China, but the extent to which remains unclear. | null | null | null | null | null |
By Kathleen Foody and Jill Bleed | AP
The storm’s path extended as far south as Texas, nearly a year after a catastrophic freeze buckled the state's power grid in one of the worst blackouts in U.S. history. The forecast did not call for the same prolonged and frigid temperatures as the February 2021 storm, and the National Weather Service said the system would, generally, not be as bad this time for Texas. | null | null | null | null | null |
The United States' Jessie Diggins, the 2021 overall World Cup champion, is third in the world rankings. (Peter Schneider/Keystone/AP)
Cross-country skiing is woven into the origin story of the Winter Olympics. The sport was one of the founding events at the first Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924, although women’s events were not held until the 1952 Games in Oslo. The sport has expanded to 12 events, all of which will be on display during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Those events will run nearly the duration of the Games — from Feb. 5 to Feb. 20 — and will be held at the National Cross-Country Skiing Center in Zhangjiakou, which is in the northern province of Hebei.
Here’s what to know about cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics in Beijing:
How do you qualify for cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics?
Cross-country skiing will feature 296 athletes across 12 events. The International Ski Federation (FIS) designates spots based on point totals that athletes accumulate in FIS competition during the Olympic qualification period, which ran from July 2019 to January 2022. Each country can send up to 16 athletes, with a maximum of eight men and eight women on each team. No more than four athletes per country may compete in one event.
What are the cross-country skiing events?
The 12 events are broken into six competitions for men and women: individual, sprint, team sprint, skiathlon, relay and mass start The FIS determines which technique will be used for each event — classical or skate (also known as freestyle). Those styles alternate at the major events of the world championships and Olympics.
Individual: These races will be held using the classical technique. The men will compete for 15 kilometers, while the women will race for 10. Skiers will start in 30-second intervals, with the fastest time — not necessarily who crosses the finish line first — claiming victory.
Sprint: Using a freestyle technique, athletes will compete in a time trial format on a 1.5-kilometer course, with the top 30 from qualifying heats advancing to the quarterfinals. Ten skiers will advance to the semifinals, while the top four in those two heats — as well as the skiers with the fifth- and sixth-fastest times — will move on to the final with a chance to medal.
Team sprint: This race features the classical technique and a mass start, with two skiers on each team completing six laps on the sprint course — two laps at a time. The event will begin with semifinal heats.
Skiathlon: The skiathlon combines the classical and freestyle technique in two stages. After a mass start, skiers will compete in the first half of the racing using the classical technique, then switch skis to race using the freestyle technique to the finish line. The men will race consecutive 15-kilometer stretches, while the women will race back-to-back 7.5-kilometer legs.
Relay: Teams of four skiers will complete four laps — the first two in classical technique, the last two in freestyle — with athletes tagging their teammates after skiing each leg. The men will compete at 4x10 kilometers, while the women will race at 4x5 kilometers.
Mass start: The longest cross-country skiing event at the Games, the mass start is considered one of the marquee events of the Olympics. All skiers start at the same time, and the first to cross the finish line in the freestyle race claims the gold medal. The men race for 50 kilometers, while the women ski for 30.
What country has won the most gold medals in cross-country skiing?
Norway has won 47 gold medals and has claimed 121 of the 508 medals that have been awarded since 1924. That is 41 more total medals than second-place Sweden, which has won 31 gold medals. Just two other countries have won at least 15 gold medals: the Soviet Union (25) and Finland (21).
What are the rules of cross-country skiing?
Officials are stationed across the course to judge potential technique violations, which often occur on the corners and when athletes attempt to switch tracks. If tracks exist on a corner, athletes must stay within those tracks using classical technique.
While changing tracks during the race is legal — skiers often do this to efficiently improve position and to pass competitors — skiers who repeatedly change tracks, especially on hills to leverage more speed, will be flagged for a violation. If a skier is assessed two violations during a race, they are disqualified.
The United States claimed its first gold medal in cross-country skiing in 2018, when Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall won the team sprint in PyeongChang. Randall has retired, but Diggins has continued to be a force in the sport. The overall World Cup champion in 2021, she sits third in the world rankings. She is expected to headline the group of Americans competing in Beijing, along with Rosie Brennan, who finished fourth in the 2021 World Cup standings and is 15th in the world rankings, but they will have to contend with the usual powerhouses.
While Norway star Marit Bjorgen retired after winning five medals (including two gold) in PyeongChang, pushing her career total to 15, her teammate Heidi Weng has climbed to fourth in the world rankings and is looking to return to the podium after winning a bronze in 2014. Currently sitting atop the World Cup standings are Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva and Sweden’s Ebba Andersson. Nepryaeva debuted at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, finishing fourth in the sprint and helping Russia win a bronze in the relay. Also expected to be in the mix is Norway’s Therese Johaug, who has won three medals in her Olympic career but was forced to sit out in 2018 because of a doping suspension.
On the men’s side, Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo established himself as a star at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, winning gold medals in the individual sprint, the team sprint and the 4x10 kilometer relay — and he is a gold medal favorite in multiple events in Beijing. Klaebo sits atop the World Cup standings, ahead of Russian rival Alexander Bolshunov, who won three silver medals and a bronze in 2018 and will be a medal contender. Norway and Russia own six of the top seven places atop the World Cup standings, which also include Finland’s Iivo Niskanen, who won the gold medal in the 50-kilometer freestyle in 2018.
What is the schedule for cross-country skiing?
Feb. 5, 2:45 a.m.: Women’s skiathlon
Feb. 6, 2 a.m.: Men’s skiathlon
Feb. 8, 4 a.m.: Women’s individual sprint freestyle
Feb. 8, 4 a.m.: Men’s individual sprint freestyle
Feb. 10, 2 a.m.: Women’s 10km classical
Feb. 11, 2 a.m.: Men’s 15km classical
Feb. 12, 2:30 a.m.: Women’s 4x5km relay
Feb. 13, 2 a.m.: Men’s 4x10km relay
Feb. 16, 4 a.m.: Women’s team sprint classical
Feb. 16, 4:40 a.m.: Men’s team sprint classical
Feb. 19, 1 a.m.: Men’s 50km freestyle
Feb. 20, 1:30 a.m.: Women’s 30km freestyle | null | null | null | null | null |
Another attendee of the Jan. 4 meeting, Del Rosso, sent to Cramer the memo calling for Trump to use the NSA and DOD. Del Ross, a former technology executive whose role in efforts to overturn the election has not been previously reported, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House in 2016 from Virginia and has had ties to the right-wing Claremont Institute. He was also a Trump campaign surrogate, according to his resume obtained by The Post. | null | null | null | null | null |
A single serving of chocolate milk on the production floor of Houlton Farms Dairy in Houlton, Maine, on Feb. 1. With high prices due to supply chain issues, the small, family-run dairy has been been rationing their supply of chocolate powder for chocolate milk production in order to ensure continued delivery to area school children. (Tristan Spinski for The Washington Post) | null | null | null | null | null |
The Post’s Barry Svrluga and Adam Kilgore will answer questions on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The sports, though, should be compelling — because they always are. The American team’s stars include Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, figure skater Nathan Chen, snowboarder Chloe Kim, cross-country skier Jessie Diggins, hockey player Hilary Knight and her gold-medal-winning teammates, on and on. Throw in the best from the rest of the world, and over two-and-a-half weeks, something will grab us and take hold. | null | null | null | null | null |
The 2008 Summer Olympics were billed as China’s coming-out party. Beijing sought to appear cosmopolitan and welcoming, with blockbuster artists recruited for the Opening Ceremonies and the surrounding events. Both Chinese and foreign stars, like Sarah Brightman and Plácido Domingo were involved, and martial arts movie star Jackie Chan (and his son) sang “Beijing welcomes you.”
Fast-forward 14 years to a new Olympics, and there has been a dramatic shift in China’s cultural climate. As conflict with the West intensifies, China has seen a rise of fervent nationalism, and the governing Communist Party is now more selective of whom it welcomes. Some of the talent behind 2008′s display of cultural soft power have since ran afoul of Beijing thanks to stricter political censorship and a celebrity morality campaign.
In 2009, Ai was beaten by police in an incident related to the earthquake investigation, and in 2011, he was arrested for “economic crimes” and held without charges for 81 days. He was allowed to leave China in 2015, and has lived in exile since.
In 2019, after holding a concert in sympathy with Hong Kong protesters, thousands of his songs were taken down from Chinese online music stores. As Hong Kong’s space for free speech narrowed, Leung moved to Taiwan, where he remains politically active.
The “King of Chinese Pop” featured prominently in the 2008 Olympics, serving as a torchbearer and singing “Beijing Beijing, I Love Beijing” at the Closing Ceremonies. The Taiwanese-American crooner held the first solo pop concert at the Bird’s Nest Olympic venue in 2012.
Then in December 2021, his wife Lee Jinglei wrote a lengthy public note accusing him of serial infidelity, soliciting prostitutes and bullying. Authorities came down hard against Wang as part of a broader celebrity-morality campaign that was quite selective in places: for example, allegations against former vice premier Zhang Gaoli by Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai that surfaced at the same time were quashed.
A nationwide drug sweep took place that year after President Xi Jinping said he would “harshly” crack down on drugs and other immoral activities. His father continues to be well-received in China, where he is steadfastly patriotic in his comments, including remarking last year that he wanted to join the Chinese Communist Party.
Amy Cheng contributed to this article. | null | null | null | null | null |
Organized by curator Kelly Baum, the Met show, “Charles Ray: Figure Ground,” is a thoughtful, pared-back, poetically arranged overview featuring work from every decade of the artist’s career. Solo shows often start with a self-portrait, which serves to introduce the artist and affirm the authenticity of what follows. This show is no exception. But Ray’s is a dissenting self-portrait called, curiously, “No.”
Well, okay. But Ray’s elaborate meditations on Huck Finn and Jim, the main characters in Mark Twain’s classic novel, provoke the same nonplussed embarrassment. These two sculptures, one in each room, anchor the Met show. One, “Huck and Jim,” was commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art and planned as a fountain outside the museum’s entrance. That idea was eventually nixed. I can think of a dozen reasons. But the thought of unpacking them is exhausting. In the end, the sculpture is just kitsch. It doesn’t even offer a Jeff Koons-style kick-in-the-teeth-of-good-taste. Its Twain-inspired companion piece, “Sarah Williams,” is no different. | null | null | null | null | null |
China welcomed the world the last time it hosted the Olympics. Not now.
Michael Lejsek of the Czech Republic speeds past the Olympic rings during a men's luge training run in Beijing on Feb. 2. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
China’s attitude toward the world has undergone a transformation since Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008. In the run-up to those games, Chinese leaders embraced the theme of “one world, one dream,” and the title of the Olympic song, “Beijing welcomes you” captured the prevailing mood. A mass program was launched to teach Beijingers basic English so they could help foreign tourists in need. China even bent to the reality that human-rights groups opposed its hosting the games, designating three locations as protest zones during the Olympics (although they were never used). The Opening Ceremonies ended up attracting more than 80 state and government leaders, including those from the United States, Australia, Germany and Japan.
The scene is dramatically different 14 years later, as the city hosts the Winter Olympics. Forget about learning English: As part of the movement to reject Western influence, not only is teaching English increasingly discouraged, but a few weeks ago, the Beijing municipal government replaced English words on subway signs with Pinyin that few foreigners understand (“station” is now “zhan”). Beijing has rejected health protocols recommended by the International Olympic Committee — such as not requiring unvaccinated athletes to serve a three-week quarantine upon arrival — and is pursuing its own outbreak-control philosophy that seeks mostly to minimize Chinese people’s exposure to foreigners arriving for the Games. Unlike in 2008, Beijing has not made any high-profile promises of human rights improvements. Disregarding international pressures for a diplomatic boycott, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said, “No one would care whether they come or not.” These developments signal a sea change in China’s attitudes toward the outside world: Rather than integrating into the global community, it wants the world to “adapt to a more confident China.”
Through a network of closely guarded “bubbles” designed to keep the participants from the rest of the country, China has built a wall between itself and the Olympics so that thousands of athletes and other participants do not upend its zero-covid strategy. Fourteen years after the last Olympics in Beijing, China’s leaders simply see less reason to welcome foreigners, or foreign ideas, into the country.
It is not surprising that as China’s economic and military power has grown, so too has its ambition and capability to display on a stage like the Olympics its priorities and values. But the pandemic has bestowed on China unprecedented self-confidence. The United States and many other Western democracies, which have long presented themselves as standard-bearers for public health and good governance, floundered in the face of the coronavirus. By contrast, China’s success in quickly containing the virus, even before vaccines arrived, using lockdowns and rigorous quarantines drew the notice of the world. Although not all public health experts believe China can keep the virus at bay forever, the perceived performance gap (as I noted in a new Council on Foreign Relations report) only bolstered the notion among Chinese authorities that China is rising and the West is descending, and there is not much China can learn from outsiders, including those from the West.
In the past, the West could encourage China to cooperate in public health projects because of the promise of funding and technical know-how. That worked on past crises, like HIV and AIDS prevention and control. But today, China no longer thinks it needs that sort of help. As President Xi Jinping proclaimed in July: “By no means we will accept someone bossing us around like a teacher. The CCP will stride proudly ahead on the path we have chosen and grasp the destiny of China’s development and progress in our own hands.”
What people in the United States may view as an illiberal and excessive approach toward fighting covid — shutting down regional economies to prevent any cases at all — is cherished in China for protecting lives and putting people first. “I’m not interested in being lectured by the so-called expert from a country where 620,000 people have died from covid,” a Chinese intellectual commented in August on an article I wrote calling for China to coexist with covid-19.
This new attitude, coupled with the national narrative of China’s “century of humiliation” period between 1839 and 1949, when China was a pushover for Western powers, encourages growing hostility toward the West. As Yan Xuetong, a leading international relations scholar in China, observed at a conference in Beijing last month, China’s Gen Z students think “humankind’s universal values such as peace, morality, fairness and justice are China’s inherent traditions” and that “only China is just, while other countries, especially Western countries, are evil.” Such a dichotomous view of the world not only does not tolerate criticism of China, it also attributes China’s problems to external, especially Western, forces or factors. While the evidence seems clear that the coronavirus first emerged near Wuhan, for instance, Chinese diplomats have suggested that a bioweapons project at Fort Detrick, Md., spawned it. Just last month, Beijing health authorities blamed international mail or imported frozen food for causing the covid flare-ups in the country. No serious health official unaffiliated with China takes that view seriously.
This antagonistic approach, though, reinforces negative views of China in the West and the perception of China as a threat to a rules-based international order. And in turn, Western nations’ move to counter China, such as not sending official government delegations to Beijing to attend the Olympics over claims of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, only confirms the perception of malicious intentions harbored by the West. According to a think tank scholar in China, “Chinese government has never extended invitation to those anti-China politicians, who hurriedly turn the ‘diplomatic boycott’ into a farce but are just foolishly sentimental and acting ostentatiously to impress others.” Recent reports that some U.S. Embassy staffers sought approval to leave China briefly because of the prospect of snap lockdowns helped illustrate this dynamic: Commenting on the idea, some Chinese experts contended that it exposed only “the true intention of Washington in sabotaging the Winter Olympic Games.” Around the same time, the official China Daily reported that “anti-China forces in the US” had tried to buy off athletes to “politicize the sports and maliciously disrupt and spoil the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.”
Starting this week, the rest of the world may learn that our biggest challenge is not to coexist with the virus — but to coexist with a reinvented China that increasingly plays by its own rules. | null | null | null | null | null |
History offers a cautionary tale for biometric covid tracking systems
Biometrics have great appeal to those concerned with public health — but they can also be used for far darker purposes
A worker scans a woman's eyes for biometric data for a passport in Kabul on June 30, 2021. (Rahmat Gul/AP)
By Michelle Spektor
Michelle Spektor is a PhD candidate in history, anthropology and science, technology and society at MIT, and a 2020-2021 pre-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Human-Centered AI and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.
Places around the world are using biometric technologies for coronavirus contact tracing and surveillance. For example, a municipality in South Korea is expected to roll out a program that uses facial recognition to track infected people. Other countries plan to implement, or have already implemented, similar systems, and some U.S. states are moving in that direction. Companies are developing facial recognition systems equipped with body temperature sensing capabilities, and Seychelles International Airport just implemented such a system for traveler health screening.
Legal experts and advocacy groups have said these systems raise concerns about privacy, data collection without consent, expanding government surveillance and discrimination against marginalized groups. Studies show that facial recognition technologies are more likely to misidentify women, the elderly and Black, Asian and Indigenous people. Biometric systems used for contact tracing could also expand beyond their original purposes. After all, biometric coronavirus tracking systems often rely on preexisting infrastructures, like closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems, originally created for other reasons.
And history indicates that these fears are well-founded. While the technology may be new, using biometrics to respond to a public health crisis is not unique to our moment. Biometrics have been part of social policies for the last 150 years, including public health research and intervention. But this history shows how the same biometric data collected for public health purposes could be used for other, less benevolent aims, and offers a cautionary tale that should inform debates about deploying biometric systems to manage the coronavirus pandemic.
Biometrics, techniques of measuring parts of the body like fingerprints and faces, emerged as a quantitative method for eugenics research in anthropology and statistics during the second half of the 19th century. Coined by the anthropologist Francis Galton in 1883, eugenics was the “‘science’ of improving human stock by giving ‘the more suitable races or strains of blood a better chance of prevailing speedily over the less suitable.’” Galton and other British anthropologists and statisticians, as well as their European and North American counterparts, used anthropometrics, a biometric research field aimed at measuring human mental and physical characteristics, to develop empirical evidence for their eugenic projects and policies. This research also informed justifications for colonial and empire-building projects.
The assumptions being promulgated by biometric research projects intersected with the emerging field of criminology. Late 19th century police departments in France, Argentina and other countries developed anthropometric and fingerprint systems to verify the identities of criminals, building on the assumption that no two people shared the exact same body measurements. Similarly, British colonial governments used fingerprinting to identify colonial subjects, notably in India. Police departments in the United Kingdom and in British colonies also adopted fingerprint identification in the early 20th century.
Meanwhile, British anthropologists used biometrics to study heredity and racially classify populations in the U.K. and its colonies. The Anthropology Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science undertook significant work in this area and its members formed an Anthropometric Committee in 1902. These anthropologists planned to standardize anthropometric techniques and hoped to chart a survey of the physical characteristics of all U.K. inhabitants.
When a 1903 U.K. War Office memorandum estimated that the military rejected up to 60 percent of potential recruits because of unsatisfactory physical fitness, policymakers feared that the population’s health might indeed be declining, a phenomenon they called “physical deterioration.” This came amid a period of industrialization, urbanization and increasing Eastern European Jewish immigration to the U.K., as well as widespread anxieties about national decline. The War Office memorandum also coincided with increasing concerns about the future of the British Empire, as the Second Boer War (1899-1902) called its military strength into question.
The government formed an Inter-departmental Committee to determine whether deterioration was occurring and how it could be mitigated. The committee comprised eight men primarily from the education sector, though it also included a marine recruitment inspector and a General Register Office physician. One priority was to collect empirical data on the health of the people. They invited two anthropologists from the British Association, Daniel Cunningham, a professor of anatomy at the University of Edinburgh, and John Gray, a government clerk and amateur anthropologist from Scotland, to explain how anthropometry could provide the government with such data.
Gray and Cunningham proposed a “National Anthropometric Survey” largely based on British Association anthropologists’ interests in measuring the population. The committee adopted the proposal into its final report in 1904, but it was never implemented.
The committee believed that the impoverished living and working conditions of the urban working class were probably causing physical deterioration in this sector of society. They thought the survey could identify these conditions and provide a basis for social reforms to remedy them.
Gray and Cunningham, and their anthropologist colleagues, however, had different interests than the government committee. They did not believe that physical deterioration was caused by social factors, or that it could be reversed by changes in the environment, with only a few exceptions.
Like other eugenicists, they primarily understood deterioration as “degeneration,” a eugenic term that referred to the physical and mental — as well as irreversible and heritable — decline of particular social classes and races. They believed degeneration was occurring in the U.K., and blamed it on the growing Jewish immigrant community. They also claimed that the emigration of “young,” “strong” and “enterprising” people from Ireland caused degeneracy among those who remained there. They hoped to use the survey to collect scientific evidence of allegedly “degenerate” populations and form a basis for anti-immigration policies.
Gray and Cunningham also saw it as an opportunity to accomplish their own research goals for racial classification. Their proposal included body measurements like height, weight, pelvic, shoulder and rib cage measurements; these seemed to align with the government’s interest in measuring the population’s physical health.
But they also included hair and eye color, which they planned to use to classify race in conjunction with the other physical measurements. The anthropologists also argued with the Inter-departmental Committee about the scope of the survey; they wanted the whole population measured so that they could conduct their research at a national scale, whereas the committee thought surveying youths alone would best help them understand how to improve the population’s overall health.
The government was ultimately skeptical about undertaking such an expensive program. They worried the survey would disproportionately target the working class, while collecting body measurements ran counter to values of privacy and personal sovereignty at that time. Critical lawmakers thought the undertaking seemed unfeasible and argued that the state could take other actions to address overcrowding, food insecurity and other conditions of urban poverty. Lawmakers and medical experts were aware of the survey’s eugenic applications, and some worried that its intended focus on the social causes of “deterioration” blurred into preoccupations with studying “degeneration.”
Much like biometric systems today, the survey generated concerns about discrimination, state collection of citizens’ data and the possibility that it could be used for purposes other than advancing public health. While the cutting-edge science of biometrics in 1904 appealed to certain lawmakers and experts as a public health policy solution, these concerns ultimately prevented the survey from gaining widespread support.
The proposed 1904 survey is not directly related to any systems that exist today, and its aims certainly differ from current biometric coronavirus infection tracking systems. But all biometric infrastructures rely on similar methods of measuring the body to make inferences about identity, and this example from history reminds us that the same biometric data used for public health could also be used for other purposes now or in the future.
Today, legal experts and civil liberties advocates have already identified other possible uses, such as mass surveillance beyond public health aims and discriminatory surveillance targeted at marginalized groups. The entwined histories of biometrics and eugenics should also give us pause. | null | null | null | null | null |
Politicians dictating what teachers can say about racism can be dangerous
College student essays from 1961 underscore why our current trajectory could be devastating
University of Georgia students, waving a Confederate flag, protest integration on campus on Jan. 10, 1961. (Charles R. Pugh Jr./Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP)
By Robert Cohen
The reactionary nostalgia evoked by Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan has taken on a new dimension: a push to censor what gets taught in America’s history classrooms. New laws in red states — and even some purple states — aim to ban the teaching of critical race theory, and one district in Tennessee has even banned a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust.
These moves are a throwback to the right wing’s idea of an educational golden age — the period before the civil rights movement transformed American education. That period reminds us that such political actions can have a chilling effect on teachers’ willingness to teach about race and racism. And a lack of education on these topics can have devastating consequences, something that was on display at the University of Georgia in 1961.
As one student wrote 30 years after finishing his segregated education in Georgia, from elementary school through high school, “there was not a single instance — not one — in which any of the teachers initiated, even allowed a discussion about racism.” Instead, teachers and textbooks presented U.S. history as the triumph of democracy. Any serious engagement with slavery, Jim Crow or even the Black experience got excluded from what historian Nathan Huggins has termed America’s “master narrative.”
But without these discussions, White students never bothered to ask themselves why their towns had separate Black and White water fountains, waiting rooms, bus stations and more. Instead, they saw bigotry, in the words of one of those students decades later, as “just the way things were, and would always be.”
This lack of knowledge about Jim Crow policies, racism and the South’s past left children and young adults with skewed perceptions. Nowhere was this clearer than in 35 essays written by White undergraduates at UGA less than a week after a segregationist riot erupted Jan. 11, 1961, outside the dormitory of Charlayne Hunter, one of two Black students to desegregate the university and the first to live on campus. These essays came from a surprising place: A calculus professor, who was one of the faculty members who belatedly stood up to the campus’s belligerent segregationists after witnessing their racist violence, asked his students to reflect on the riot and UGA’s desegregation crisis.
The substance of the essays also made clear that most White UGA students had learned nothing in school to challenge white-supremacist assumptions based in myths and falsehoods. Crude stereotypes of Black inferiority pervaded the most strongly segregationist essays: “The Negro has a lack of ambition. He does not have the desire to work and better himself,” read one essay. It also claimed that African Americans did not have “the morals we have,” nor were they “as physically clean as whites.”
Another student noted, “I personally do not desire to associate” with Blacks because they “have a low moral standard.” The student’s “evidence” to support this claim? Stereotypes about how Black Americans had “their brand new Cadillac standing in the yard of their one room tennant [sic] home (neither paid for yet).” The student also cited purported criminality among African Americans to justify their view.
Students also invoked pseudoscience — picked up from racist family members, friends and the rhetoric of white-supremacist organizations and politicians — to support segregation. One student did not want integration because, they claimed, “the Negroid race” was “inferior to the Caucasian race … The Negro has an average one eighth more bone thickness on his skull. This leads one to believe that the Negro has not come as far through evolution as the White Man.”
Finally, the students trafficked in sexual stereotypes that had long been a staple of white-supremacist propaganda. As one student put it: “In college I feel that women will be protected better if they don’t have to dodge colored boys.” Such racist fears of Black men as sexual predators had deep roots in the South, and white supremacists had used them to justify horrific vigilantism, lynchings and the enactment of anti-miscegenation laws.
Even the students who mentioned the NAACP fretted that the organization was “communist infiltrated” and part of a communist plot to “break up the United States.” These fears had no basis in fact. The NAACP was a legalistic organization that was far more moderate tactically than the direct action-oriented wings of the civil rights movement that were growing in prominence in 1961. Instead, these claims parroted the propaganda of segregationist politicians trying to discredit the civil rights movement. The students proved historically illiterate about the movement’s leadership as well: Not one of the essays mentioned a single civil rights movement leader or named any African American.
All 35 essays displayed a racially bound parochialism. Even students who were not overtly racist displayed a total inability to understand, even to care, about how those on the Black side of the color line experienced life. The essays displayed an unmistakable lack of empathy when the students wrote about UGA’s desegregation crisis.
White student mobs had hung effigies of Black students, marched behind a banner deploying a racial slur to tell Hunter and Hamilton Holmes — the university’s other pioneering Black student — to “go home” and rioted. Yet the student essay writers depicted themselves as the victims of the situation. As one essayist explained, “Many students, parents, and Georgians feel hurt because our federal government has shown that it … can force people to do things which we dislike.” The student thought that UGA students “as citizens should have a right to go to segregated schools.”
“I am mad,” another student wrote, that an integrationist “federal government took away state’s rights.” The student thought the decision “does not make up a democracy [sic].”
Such rhetoric echoed that of segregationist politicians, whose pious phrases about federalism and states’ rights (for White people) obfuscated state wrongs, namely the reality that the Jim Crow system of legally ordained racial discrimination reduced Blacks to second-class citizens. Media interviews with White UGA students about the crisis led Bruce Galphin of the Atlanta Constitution to complain that UGA’s faculty had not challenged the white-supremacist misconceptions that their students had brought with them to college: He wondered what the students “have been studying at the university” because their “only tutors in political science” appeared to have been “extremist politicians.” The students kept “spewing up” cliches and buzzwords like “judicial tyranny” and “socialism.”
Even Galphin, however, did not mention, the reason even liberal professors and teachers avoided challenging such segregationist assumptions in their Georgia classrooms. They lacked the academic freedom to teach about racial integration. It was, as one UGA professor put it, “dangerous” to discuss the issue because doing so put their jobs at risk. That was clear after Georgia’s governor attacked and fired UGA’s education school dean “for just hinting that one day integration would come to the South.”
These efforts parallel some of the most extreme situations in 2022. In some states, teachers have lost their jobs for even dabbling in anti-racist education, and Virginia’s new Republican governor recently established a hotline for turning in teachers who promote “divisive practices.” | null | null | null | null | null |
What happens to childhood vaccine rates in conflict zones? This analysis found some surprises.
We examined more than 200,000 records in 15 African countries.
A health official administers a polio vaccine in 2016 to children at a camp for people displaced by Islamist extremists in Maiduguri, Nigeria. (Sunday Alamba/AP)
By Gudrun Østby
Olga Shemyakina
Andreas Forø Tollefsen
Henrik Urdal
Marijke Verpoorten
As more coronavirus vaccines begin reach the developing world, global health authorities point out the need for other vaccines as well. UNICEF recently launched a record $9.4 billion emergency appeal to help more than 327 million people — including 177 million children — affected by humanitarian crises and covid-19
This funding appeal — and UNICEF’s goal of vaccinating 62.1 million children against measles this year — comes at a time when escalating conflicts affect millions of children and their communities. In December, for example, Pakistani Taliban gunmen killed a police officer guarding a polio vaccination team in northwest Pakistan.
How does conflict affect vaccination rates? Our recent research on African countries south of the Sahara suggests that conflict can have both positive and negative effects on vaccination.
Vaccines are critical in the world’s poorest countries, and negative health impacts in conflict-affected areas further reinforce what scholars call the “conflict-poverty trap.” In Africa, in particular, armed conflicts contribute to “development in reverse” by intensifying poverty and hindering economic development. In 2020, almost one-third of African children were living within 30 miles of violent conflict. This scenario typically leaves many children with poor access to health care, and is likely to boost malnourishment and mortality rates.
African citizens support their governments’ pandemic responses — mostly.
Our study looks at the effect of armed conflict on immunization rates for children between one and five years old in 15 African countries south of the Sahara.
We examined a sample of 213,341 children for whom the Demographic and Health Surveys recorded information on immunization, and linked this with information on the time and location of conflict events using the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP).
We utilized the fact that age-appropriate childhood vaccinations, according to WHO recommendations, should take place in a child’s first year of life. We compared children aged one to five with varying degrees of (local) conflict exposure in their first year of life within the same countries and communities.
Our approach compares siblings born before and after conflict in the same area, avoiding the biases associated with other methods, such as simply comparing children in conflict-affected areas with children in non-affected areas. That particular methodology may lead to biased results because conflict zones aren’t necessarily comparable — they are fundamentally different across many characteristics like poverty, remoteness, health care availability, demographics and conflict history, all of which may affect immunization rates irrespective of conflict.
Conflict complicates vaccination logistics
Our research identified at least four ways that armed conflict negatively affects vaccine supply. First, conflicts often divert government resources toward the war effort, rather than health care. Here’s an example: in conflict-affected South Sudan, allocations to the security and public administration sectors amounted to nearly two-thirds of the 2017—2018 national budget. Only 5 percent of the budget went to social sectors (including health, education and humanitarian affairs).
Second, conflict typically adds huge logistical challenges for the delivery and storage of vaccines, some of which require storage at specific temperatures. Uncertain transportation times and electrical supply disruptions reduce the ability of frozen ice packs and cold boxes to ensure safe vaccine delivery. Researchers found that Nigeria’s war-related infrastructure damage reduced access to vaccines in areas of severe conflict, for instance.
Is Africa losing ground in the battle for water and sanitation?
Third, armed conflict can drive away medical personnel. Armed groups regularly target vaccination staff and other health personnel strategically — often through abduction, imprisonment, forced displacement or killings — prompting medical personnel to evacuate the most unsafe areas.
And fourth, war-affected populations often flee to seek safety elsewhere. Displacement can, however, have an ambiguous effect. While displaced populations often have severely limited access to basic medical services, some people find shelter in refugee or internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, which may make it more feasible for health personnel to reach large numbers of eligible children for vaccination.
Under some conditions, armed conflict might even lead to higher vaccination rates. Areas that have seen conflict and humanitarian deterioration might attract health aid and health interventions — including immunization campaigns that can help boost vaccine uptake.
How does conflict affect demand for vaccines?
Exposure to armed conflict may also affect local demand for immunization. To the extent that conflict reduces household income or expectations about future income, demand for health services overall may decline.
Second, armed conflict may exacerbate mistrust in government or international institutions, and — by association — the public health system and mass immunization campaigns. During the 2018—2019 Ebola outbreak in Eastern Congo, locals attacked vaccination centers and health workers because of frustrations about the failure of domestic and international leaders to protect them against armed groups. And armed groups themselves may perceive the vaccination campaign as a political trick to trap them.
Intergroup fighting often raises the salience of religious and cultural identities, and associated resistance against “Western” medicine. In Pakistan, the CIA set up a fake hepatitis vaccination campaign in 2011 to gather intelligence in the search for Osama bin Laden. This strategy generated widespread suspicion toward vaccination programs.
Conflict has a complicated effect on immunization
In short, we found no simple relationship between armed conflict and vaccinations. Minor conflicts (those with fewer than 1,000 battle-deaths in a year) are associated with higher rates of children completing the recommended immunizations. In these conflict scenarios, emergency responses by government or nongovernmental health providers may improve vaccine rates, especially when targeted toward concentrated, displaced populations.
Our findings on major conflicts (more than 1,000 battle-deaths in a year) suggest that both national and local factors are important. Higher-intensity conflicts tend to depress full immunization rates, as reduced national-level public health expenditures, local logistical challenges and risks associated with reaching areas of more high-intensity conflict factor into vaccine rates.
Are there ways to vaccinate during conflict?
The more intense the conflict, the more complicated vaccination programs become. Our research suggests that vaccination efforts may be more successful when donors focus on budget support for struggling governments, to keep vital health services up and running. This type of support can also provide safe corridors and safe zones for health personnel to reach unvaccinated children.
Gudrun Østby (@GudrunOstby) is research director and a research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Olga Shemyakina is an associate professor at the School of Economics at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Andreas Forø Tollefsen (@andriiish) is a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Henrik Urdal (@h_urdal) is director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Marijke Verpoorten is a professor at the Institute for Development Policy, University of Antwerp. | null | null | null | null | null |
Thursday briefing: More winter storm chaos; bomb threats at HBCUs; Canada’s ‘Freedom Convoy’; Facebook users; and more
More snow and ice will hit the Midwest and parts of the South today.
The forecast: Expect ice storm conditions, which could make travel impossible, in cities including Dallas, Memphis and Little Rock, as well as power outages. Cities across the Midwest could get 6 or more inches of snow.
Tomorrow: The storm will move on to the Northeast, where a flash freeze could turn roads into dangerous skating rinks.
U.S. forces conducted a counterterrorism mission in northwestern Syria.
Who was the target? The Pentagon hasn’t said, but it called the overnight raid “successful.”
What we know: Residents reported multiple helicopters and heavy machine gun fire. Local first responders said they have found 13 bodies, including those of women and children.
The FBI is investigating bomb threats at historically Black colleges.
The situation: At least 16 HBCUs were targeted Tuesday. Six received threats Monday and eight in early January.
What we know: As many as six people, all of them young, may be involved, according to officials. They’re investigating it as a hate crime.
Truckers are blocking streets in Canada’s capital.
What’s happening: The “Freedom Convoy” has been protesting coronavirus restrictions, vaccine rules and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa since the weekend.
At the border: More trucks are blockading a busy U.S.-Canada crossing into Montana, though they agreed yesterday to let some traffic through.
Who’s behind this? There’s a “significant element” from the U.S., according to police. Some protesters carried Confederate flags.
Spotify is growing more slowly than it thought it would this year.
Why this matters: The company is in a crisis over podcaster Joe Rogan airing coronavirus misinformation on his show, and some artists like Neil Young have left the platform.
What kind of misinformation? A recent Rogan guest argued that Americans have been “hypnotized” into wearing masks, among other claims.
Why musicians are leaving: They’re angry about Rogan, who reportedly got $100 million from Spotify, but also at how little the platform pays them. They’re hoping this sparks bigger change.
The president of CNN resigned unexpectedly yesterday.
Why? Jeff Zucker said he started a romantic relationship with another CNN executive, and he hadn’t told the company about it.
How that came out: He was asked about the relationship during an investigation into former host Chris Cuomo’s time at the network.
What Zucker is known for: Re-energizing CNN and relentless coverage of Donald Trump.
Facebook lost users for the first time in its history.
The numbers: About half a million left in the last three months of 2021, with the greatest losses in Africa and Latin America, the company said yesterday.
What this means: The social media site may finally have peaked after growing for nearly two decades by spreading around the world.
And now … the Winter Olympics kick off with the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow. Here’s what to know about the seven new events this year. | null | null | null | null | null |
L.A.’s mayor took a maskless photo with Magic Johnson, defying covid rules. His defense: ‘I’m holding my breath’
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks after a tour of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach during a news conference at the Port of Long Beach on January 11, 2022. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
Over the weekend, Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson took to Twitter to share several photos he’d taken as the L.A. Rams faced off against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game.
None were wearing masks, which are required in Los Angeles County for all indoor public settings and outdoor “mega events.” Stadium policy also requires anyone not “actively eating or drinking” to wear face coverings.
On Tuesday, Garcetti addressed the controversy, taking some responsibility for the photo. Garcetti, who has been nominated to be the United States’ ambassador to India, claimed he wore his mask “the entire game” and did not inhale or exhale when he posed for a picture.
Spokespeople for Garcetti and Breed did not immediately respond to messages from The Washington Post late Wednesday.
The incident is the latest string of California officials defying public health orders during the pandemic. In November 2020, Newsom and Breed took a trip to Napa Valley for a birthday celebration at the French Laundry, a posh restaurant where reservations are typically hard to get, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“I was very judicious,” Newsom said at a Monday news conference. “You’ll see in the photo that I did take — in my left hand’s the mask — and I took the photo. The rest of the time I wore it, as we all should.”
Newsom said that he continues to encourage the use of masks, adding that California is seeing a significant decline in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. | null | null | null | null | null |
The 2008 Summer Olympics were billed as China’s coming-out party. Beijing sought to appear cosmopolitan and welcoming, with blockbuster artists recruited for the Opening Ceremonies and the surrounding events. Both Chinese and foreign stars, like Sarah Brightman and Plácido Domingo, were involved, and martial arts movie star Jackie Chan (and his son) sang “Beijing welcomes you.”
Fast-forward 14 years to a new Olympics, and there has been a dramatic shift in China’s cultural climate. As conflict with the West intensifies, China has seen a rise of fervent nationalism, and the governing Communist Party is now more selective of whom it welcomes. Some of the talent behind 2008′s display of cultural soft power have since run afoul of Beijing thanks to stricter political censorship and a celebrity morality campaign.
In 2019, after holding a concert in sympathy with Hong Kong protesters, thousands of his songs were removed from Chinese online music stores. As Hong Kong’s space for free speech narrowed, Leung moved to Taiwan, where he remains politically active.
Then in December 2021, his wife, Lee Jinglei, wrote a lengthy public note accusing him of serial infidelity, soliciting prostitutes and bullying. Authorities came down hard against Wang as part of a broader celebrity-morality campaign that was quite selective: For example, allegations against former vice premier Zhang Gaoli by Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai that surfaced at the same time were quashed.
A nationwide drug sweep took place that year after President Xi Jinping said he would “harshly” crack down on drugs and other activities deemed immoral. His father continues to be well-received in China, where he is steadfastly patriotic in his comments, including remarking last year that he wanted to join the Chinese Communist Party. | null | null | null | null | null |
The European region has recorded 12 million new cases in the past week, he added — the highest weekly case incidence since the start of the pandemic — largely driven by the omicron variant. Hospitalizations are also increasing, but overall, admissions to intensive care units have not increased significantly, he said, and the number of deaths across the region were also starting to plateau. | null | null | null | null | null |
There are two obvious rejoinders to this recommendation, both of which can be best expressed as questions. First: Isn’t it more fiscally responsible to use the money for long-term needs and short-term tax relief? And second: You mean it’s not raining now?
Both questions have the same answer: These are not normal times. That means the fiscally prudent course — Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s plans for the state’s historic windfall, for example, include a mix of long-term spending on infrastructure and short-term tax relief — is not necessarily the wisest course. And what feels like rain to many consumers — inflation at its highest in almost four decades, and a stubbornly persistent pandemic — looks a lot different from a budgetary perspective.
It’s highly unlikely that this shift will be permanent. A simple rebalancing of consumption spending will produce major losses in state revenue. There is a chance, however, of overshooting. For example, spending on dental services was down more than 20% in 2020, the last year for which there is data. When the pandemic lifts completely, there will be a backlog of teeth waiting to be pulled.
If nothing else, continued inflation will lead the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Some analysts are expecting as many as seven rate hikes this year. In that case, consumer spending could be cut sharply as the economy experiences a mini-recession similar to the one it went through in 2015-2016 — and states could see a precipitous drop in revenue.
• Using Stimulus Funds for Tax Cuts? It’s Fine: Jonathan Bernstein
• Biden’s Economy Gives GOP Governors Money to Burn: Conor Sen
• How U.S. States Should Spend Their $350 Billion Windfall: Brian Chappatta | null | null | null | null | null |
Will the Conservatives Pull the Trigger On Boris Johnson?
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers Questions on February 02, 2022 in London, England. Boris Johnson holds his first Prime Minister’s Questions since the Sue Gray Report into “Partygate” has been made public. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) (Photographer: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Europe)
In the aftermath of Sue Gray’s brief report, Boris Johnson continues to fight on. But the scandal is far from behind him. So far this week alone, three Conservative MPs submitted letters of no confidence in the prime minister to the 1922 Committee. A Metropolitan Police investigation will no doubt keep Partygate at the forefront of voters’ minds for a while yet. Bloomberg Opinion columnists Therese Raphael and Adrian Wooldridge got together with Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London, to discuss where things stand.
Therese Raphael: It’s only Tuesday, and yet it’s already possible to say what a week it’s been in British politics. On Monday, after weeks of waiting, the Sue Gray report was released. Only as reports go, there really wasn’t much to it: It was a meager 12 pages and only six of them were really anything of substance.
There were two things that stuck out for me. The first was that the Metropolitan Police have decided to investigate 12 of the 16 gatherings that Sue Gray looked into. The second thing that stuck out for me were two words she used in her brief general summary, and that was “serious failure.”
She didn’t name names, she didn’t have details, but she effectively said, in the sort of language we are used to hearing from Whitehall that government officials broke the rules. There was, she said, a “serious failure” to observe not just the high standards expected of those at the highest level of government, but the standards followed by the British people at the time.
What followed was a pretty dramatic few hours in parliament. At the end of the day though, Boris Johnson fights on and perhaps even looks a bit safer for now. I’ve written that with him, the situation often looks desperate, but not serious. Tim, how do you see it?
Tim Bale: I think it is pretty serious for him. If you look at the opinion polling and particularly at his personal ratings, things are looking pretty bad for him. Keir Starmer appears to be gaining a little as well, which wasn’t the case before when Boris Johnson ran into trouble. This is having an effect, I think, on people’s judgment of Johnson’s ability to deliver any kind of program, including even Brexit. That, in conjunction with the Conservative Party’s ratings dropping pretty severely and Labour assuming a reasonably solid lead, means that his MPs will be thinking very seriously about whether he is the right person to lead them into the the next election.
Having said that, of course, the Labour lead has only been going on for a short while. So it’s perfectly possible that Conservative MPs will still see this, rightly or wrongly, as a temporary blip.
Therese: Adrian, what’s your view on that?
Adrian Wooldridge: I think it’s pretty serious. He is beginning to be a drag on his party in the sense that the party doesn’t believe he’s the right person to implement an agenda. It’s worried that he alienates more people than he attracts and it’s worried that he’s a distraction to the overall message. Remember, this is a very ruthless party — it’s very good at getting rid of people who it doesn’t think will be useful to it.
In some ways, the Tory party is in the worst of all possible worlds, because it’s not absolutely certain that it wants to get rid of him. It’s not absolutely certain that he is a liability or that the next part of the report will be a disaster for him. So it can’t bring itself to put the bullet in the chamber and pull the trigger.
Therese: Yes, it’s in that halfway house where one foot already is on the side of moving past Boris Johnson, the other is still hoping that maybe the old magic will return one more time. Time has seemed to play to his advantage up to now. How does the sequencing now play out for Johnson? The Met says the investigation will proceed at pace, but that could be weeks, it could be months. Is this just buying Boris Johnson more time? Or will a constant drip, drip of allegation revelation make it worse?
Adrian: Everything depends on the context in which the final police verdict comes. The police say they will do things as quickly as they possibly can, but the Metropolitan Police Force is a very odd beast. It has behaved very oddly over this report. First it took no interest and suddenly it decided that it was very interested and that Sue Gray had to almost stand aside to let it do its work. If the final police verdict comes out in the middle of a very bad set of circumstances with the cost of living crisis, taxes going up, and people feeling off, then that’s a problem. If it comes at a time, let’s say when Russia has invaded Ukraine and Britain has taken a powerful stand on the world stage, that’s a different thing.
There was one paragraph in the report which stuck me as being very interesting in which she said that these people all work together, the Downing Street garden was an extension of a workplace where people went because there wasn’t so much of a danger of getting Covid and that people were working under an enormous amount of pressure. It struck me that you can construct a case that this was a reasonable extension of working. Alcohol has always been part of working for politicians and it’s slightly rich for the House of Commons to be disapproving of all this drinking going on in Downing Street and then leaving the chamber to go to one of the very many subsidized bars in the House of Commons.
Therese: That’s certainly true; I don’t think we can avoid the phrase “grey areas” here. One of the things that stuck out for me though is that the police are investigating three events that Boris Johnson supposedly attended, one of which was not in the Downing Street offices or the garden, but in the Downing Street flat. Downing Street has repeatedly said that there was no party there and Johnson has never admitted that he was there. Presumably the police will interview Boris Johnson himself on this. I wonder if that’s the most serious of the allegations.
Tim, where do you think the “gotcha” moment in this is? Is it one of those 300 photographs that Sue Gray has turned over to the police?
Tim: We can’t guarantee that those photographs won’t come out anyway. There are enough people wanting to get rid of Boris Johnson who may have submitted those photographs and there’s no guarantee that they’ll stay with the police or Sue Gray, particularly if those people get rather impatient with the situation. You’re right to point to the party in the flat as being one allegation that I think most people weren’t aware of and would be regarded as pretty serious. If you look at the polling, funnily enough it’s the gathering that Boris Johnson wasn’t at that seems to have really infuriated people, partly because of the conjunction with the photograph of the Queen sitting on her own at her husband’s funeral. That testifies to the power of the image.
It’s a conglomeration of parties, if that’s the right collective noun, that bothers people, but those particular individual incidents do resonate with people. What worries some people is that the police officer in charge of the investigation has said that the process will take no longer than a year now. I’m not sure whether people’s patience will hold, particularly those wanting to get rid of Boris Johnson, if it does take that long. That returns us to the possibility that more will come out and not out of the official process, but out of people leaking information as a result of their frustration.
Sue Gray chose the most wounding option in some ways, because the other option would have been to produce a fairly detailed version of her report with obvious redactions. But instead she’s made very clear that she doesn’t want to do that. She’s simply given us some conclusions and said that she can’t really produce anything meaningful until she’s allowed to. That’s perhaps more problematic for Boris Johnson because it leaves a vacuum which others will fill.
Therese: “Febrile” is a word is that’s used a lot when we talk about British politics, but that was a really heated debate in the Commons on Monday. Boris Johnson came out and made an apology, then right after his apology, went back to being defensive and boosterish. He then met with a group of Tory MPs and did that charm thing that he does so well. Presumably, he said to them: “I’m here because of you and you know what you’ve done for me,” but the subtext would be: “Look what I’ve done for you. The 2019 election wasn’t really down to the Tory party, it was all me.” Is that true?
Tim: Well, my book on the 2019 election makes it pretty clear that Boris Johnson did play a part, but he is nowhere near as popular as some people think he is. Even in the Red Wall, he wasn’t a particularly popular candidate for prime minister. He was less popular more generally than Theresa May was back in 2017 and actually even less popular than Jeremy Corbyn was back in 2017. What helped him of course, was that he was far more popular than Corbyn in 2019, because by that time all the things that people had said about Corbyn were beginning to resonate big time with the electorate.
It’s also very difficult to separate Boris Johnson from Brexit. The Brexit effect was enormously important in that particular election. It’s probably wrong to say that Brexit is disappearing in the rear view mirror, but as that begins to wane slightly in people’s electoral calculus, then Boris Johnson himself begins to be less important to the Conservative Party.
Adrian: One thing that happened in 2017 was that people thought: “Please make it stop!” They were so sick of hearing about Brexit that they thought, who’s the person who’s going to make this stop? That’s Boris. I think now voters can’t stand hearing about Partygate any longer and at some point they’re going to want to get rid of the man who’s keeping this right at the front of the news.
Tim: We could well see that in the local elections in May, although a caveat to that is in the equivalent elections, four years ago, the Conservative Party didn’t do very well. Even if they get hammered, it might not be so easy to tell. But obviously MPs will be looking at those and they’ll also be getting feedback from their local councilors who lose seats. We have to remember that, although the party boasts a membership of around 190,000, the activist core is pretty small and most of them are councilors’ friends and relations of councilors. We could find that the party on the ground begins to turn against Boris Johnson, if they suffer.
Adrian: Are you seeing that yet? The party on the ground turning against him?
Tim: Not yet, in as much as we can tell. For example, the website Conservative Home, which surveys readers who are members of the Conservative Party, suggests many of them are still very much inclined to go with Boris Johnson and believe his version of events or at least, even if they don’t believe his version of events, they think that he’s an election winner and therefore worth carrying on supporting.
It’s very interesting as well to hear the justifications of conservative MPs on the media. They will say that “if he comes to my constituency, he’s box office.” But that seems to me to be mistaking someone’s ability to draw a crowd with someone’s ability to actually win over people at an election. Conservative party members on the ground and MPs do have to think more seriously about his role in winning their seats in 2019 and in his continued ability to do that in future.
Therese: Some of that ambiguity and concern was really reflected in the body language of what we saw in the house yesterday. You would normally expect the back benches to be nodding vigorously and cheering. But there were so many signs that indicated this party is uncomfortable with what they were hearing. There were a number of MPs who stood up to challenge the prime minister; not least the former Prime Minister Theresa May, who I thought asked a very biting question, but there was also Andrew Mitchell, a former chief whip, and a prominent, Conservative Party voice. He said he was withdrawing his support. You have to think that a former whip has a pretty keen sense of when a certain threshold has been met.
Adrian: Every day seems to bring some new voice against Johnson and the number of letters is accumulating. The Tory Party is going to go through some very difficult times this summer with taxes going up and incomes effectively going down.
Therese: What do we think of how Keir Starmer emerges from all of this? He couldn’t do anything right six months ago. But what a powerful speech he gave in the House of Commons — it was a a lawyer summing things up for the jury. One of the most powerful lines was: “I cannot tell you how many times people have said to me, this prime minister’s lack of integrity is somehow priced in and that his behavior and character don’t matter. I have never accepted that…whatever your politics, whichever party you vote for, honesty and decency matters, our great democracy depends on it.” He has equated the decision that Tory MPs face with the future of Britain’s democracy. Is that an overstatement, or is that really what’s at stake here?
Adrian: Keir Starmer has been preparing for this moment exceptionally well. His strategy to be a normal, decent person and go after the Red Wall voters are paying off extremely well at the moment. He calculated that the Tories wouldn’t be able to hold onto the Red Wall, because things were going to be economically tough and that leveling up is very difficult to deliver. It was interesting that Boris Johnson’s response to was to throw the dead cat on the table by accusing Starmer of not going after Jimmy Savile.
Therese : I’m not sure that went down that well with his party.
Tim: On what it says about British democracy, there is a serious point here because accountability ultimately is exercised at general elections. But you have to presume that there is some accountability between general elections and I’m afraid that if Boris Johnson gets away with it, then you do wonder really where accountability is anymore. If you have someone who is responsible for making the laws, breaking the laws, in most democracies, I don’t think that would be tolerated. If in the U.K., somehow, that is tolerated, then there is rather a slippery slope.
There are also other concerns apart from Partygate about what the Conservative government is doing, in terms of the electoral bill, for example, the elections bill which is making people produce voter ID, which some people think has to do with voter suppression. There is still talk about maybe restricting the rights of the judiciary, there are restrictions on the right to protest — all of which make some people and particularly liberal commentators worry about the direction this so-called liberal democracy is heading.
Therese: Would you say that there are any sort of historical comparisons that give us an indication of how this would go?
Tim: Adrian’s quite right to say that the Conservative Party can be quite brutal when it comes to ditching its leaders. But on the other hand, it’s not as easy to ditch a prime minister, partly because they’ve got this patronage, partly because people are worried about who might take over, which is less of a concern if you are in opposition. If you think back to Ted Heath, they did manage to get rid of him fairly quickly, but it’d been four years of pretty chaotic government. John Major survived quite a long time and called a leadership contest in 1995, won it and therefore took the party into a disastrous election in 1997. Even Theresa May survived a confidence vote.
Therese: If I were going to bet on one thing it’s that, if he were pushed out, Boris Johnson won’t spend 18 years on the backbenches as Health, referred to as the “Incredible Sulk,” did.
• Boris Johnson Is Spared But Hardly Off the Hook Yet: Therese Raphael
• Why the U.K.’s Ruling Party Can’t Rule Itself: Adrian Wooldridge
• Has Boris Johnson Just Given Labour Its Big Chance?: Therese Raphael | null | null | null | null | null |
MacKenzie Scott donates $133 million for in-school support services
The donation to Communities in Schools will help train and provide staff members who work out of about 2,900 high-poverty schools in 517 districts across the country. (iStock)
Another money bomb has fallen from the bank account of MacKenzie Scott, this time a large donation to support a group that provides services inside schools for at-risk students, aimed at helping them thrive and graduate.
Communities In Schools, a network of nonprofit groups that work in K-12 schools across the country, said Thursday that the national office and its affiliates had been given $133.5 million from Scott, the billionaire philanthropist who has been doling out her fortune at an astounding rate. Since divorcing from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Scott has made donations of more than $8 billion. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Scott has also given significant gifts to colleges, including more than $800 million to historically Black colleges and universities. She no longer discloses grant recipients, leaving it to the organizations to make information about the gifts public if they so choose. As with other Scott donations, Communities In Schools got a call out of the blue from her staff with the news that she wanted to make the contribution, according to its president and CEO, Rey Saldaña.
Communities in Schools trains and provides staff members who work out of about 2,900 high-poverty schools in 517 districts across the country. These staff provide a range of academic and other support services meant to help students succeed and graduate.
It’s a version of the community school model, which considers academic success linked to many other factors that affect children’s lives and works to offer wraparound services. Counselors might help a family submit an application for public housing, access a food bank, provide emergency financial assistance to a family or arrange health care — in addition to providing tutoring or other academic supports.
“We think in order for students to be turned on to learning, they have to be turned onto living. The living is sometimes the most important,” Saldaña said.
Absent a program like his, he said, teachers often fill the gaps — helping a student figure out where to get affordable eyeglasses or locate college scholarships. But overloaded teachers are burned out, and he said having someone dedicated to this task makes the services more consistent. He said even school counselors, who do some of the same work, are sometimes pulled into other tasks needed to keep the school running.
“It’s relationships,” he said. “Is there someone in a school building who is going beyond the point of, ‘Are you doing okay?’ And the answer is ‘fine,’ ” to understand that a student may not being doing fine. Addressing family and other issues “helps turn a student back onto learning.”
Communities In Schools offers different levels of support, from programming offered to the entire school to more targeted, intensive supports for small groups or individual students. The programming is funded through a combination of payments from the schools and private fundraising by the Communities In Schools affiliates.
Saldaña said the Scott donation would allow affiliates to expand their services into more schools, knowing that they have money in the bank to support it. “Our ability to grow really depends on our ability to fundraise,” he said. He said the program typically costs $80,000 to $100,000 per staffer.
The national office received $20 million of Scott’s gift, Saldaña said. He said 40 individual sites, each of which serve multiple schools, got grants of about $2.5 million to $3 million. That compares to annual budgets that range from as little as $1 million for a small rural group to as much as $12 million for a large urban program. Local branches receiving direct donations include those in Washington state, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Atlanta. | null | null | null | null | null |
In January 2031, the station — which launched in the year 2000 and is 356 feet (109 meters) from end to end — will plunge into the waters of Point Nemo, an uninhabited part of the southern Pacific Ocean, where spacecraft and satellites go to die. Or, as it’s put in NASA’s newly published transition report, to “de-orbit.”?
Some analysts call the remote location the “spacecraft cemetery,” and others refer to it as the “loneliest place on Earth” because the nearest mainland is 1,670 miles away. As the National Ocean Service puts it: “You can’t get farther away from land than ‘Point Nemo.’ ” | null | null | null | null | null |
Election precinct suitcases with ballots and keys to voting machines in Allegheny County, Pa., in November 2020. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)
The Dec. 18 memo was just one in a swirl of last-ditch efforts to prevent Biden’s legitimate victory from being recognized as Trump and his backers grew more desperate after the courts rejected their claims of fraud. Some of his allies mounted a series of efforts to get the memo into Trump’s hands in his final days in office, according to people familiar with the attempts, although no evidence has emerged to suggest they succeeded.
They conducted phone calls and meetings to coordinate their efforts, many of which were focused on the House, where Trump had numerous close allies. But the Electoral Count Act required that at least one senator join a member of the House in formally contesting the electoral votes of a state to prompt further debate.
“Honestly, I was not impressed by these people,” said Cramer, who said that he attended as a favor to his friend Lindell and that he brought along his wife.
Cramer and Johnson both ultimately voted to certify Biden’s victory Jan. 6, when Congress formally counted the electoral college votes.
An aide to Lummis confirmed her attendance at the Trump hotel meeting and said she was unconvinced that there was widespread voter fraud or that the election was stolen. She voted to object to the certification of Biden’s win in Pennsylvania because of unrelated concerns about that state’s vote-by-mail law, the aide said.
Attendees of the Trump hotel meeting included figures who have been known to be central to the effort to overturn Biden’s win, such as Lindell, lawyer Sidney Powell and former Overstock chief executive Patrick Byrne, who confirmed his attendance. Powell did not respond to requests for comment.
At the time, Colon was serving as a senior legal counsel to the Army, according to the copy of his résumé attached to the election memo, which said he specialized in cyber operations and intelligence. Colon described himself as a “legal adviser to the nation’s top military leaders” on a LinkedIn page that has since been removed.
In a brief telephone interview with The Post, Colon denied having any involvement in the election memo or having attended the meeting. He claimed he did not know Del Rosso, Berlin or Higgins, never communicated with them about the election and did not know how his name and résumé — which included his home address, personal email address and cellphone number — came to be included in the plan.
“I have no idea what you’re referring to,” Colon said.
At the time, Colon disavowed any knowledge of Lindell’s proposal, and White House aides said Lindell met only briefly with Trump, who declined to act on Lindell’s proposals as he prepared to decamp from the White House. | null | null | null | null | null |
India joins diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics after Chinese soldier from deadly Himalayan skirmish made part of torch relay
The Indian Foreign Ministry said its senior envoy to Beijing will not be attending the Games’ opening or closing events. Leaders who are expected to attend the Friday kickoff at the Chinese National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, include Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since recovering from a coma, Qi has been widely featured by the state broadcaster. He was photographed in his fatigues in December and gave interviews declaring he was “ready to return to the battlefield.”
After state outlets publicized Qi’s leg of the torch relay on Wednesday, it drew a torrent of criticism from within India and from ranking member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee James E. Risch (R-Idaho). | null | null | null | null | null |
People without face masks visit the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Copenhagen on Feb. 1, following the removal of coronavirus restrictions in Denmark. (Carsten Snejbjerg/Bloomberg)
It’s becoming the mantra of 2022, the most optimistic formulation of the end of the pandemic, less ambitious than “stop covid” but more than “flatten the curve.” The world, we are told, must learn to “live with the virus.”
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is encouraging people to start thinking about “the evolution of covid from pandemic to an endemic illness … It’s not going to be from one day to the next. And it won’t be immediately. But it will come.”
Health experts have warned against declaring that moment too soon. But many countries in Europe, where vaccination rates are high and hospitalizations through the omicron wave have been manageable, think they will get there before the United States does. Already this week, Denmark became the first European Union country to lift almost all its remaining restrictions, concluding that covid-19 no longer poses a “critical threat” to society. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she looked forward to “an open Denmark with hugs, parties and festivals.”
Yet while people the world over are eager for a return to normal, there’s intense debate about what that should look like. Should people have to stay home if they’re infected? How should we track cases? How long do mass public health campaigns make sense?
In England, the law pertaining to isolation — with associated fines of up to 10,000 pounds, or about $13,500 — is set to expire on March 24. Johnson said he doesn’t expect to renew it, and may ask Parliament to move the date forward.
Antonio Zapatero, the deputy health secretary of the Madrid region, told The Washington Post he anticipated the rise of a “culture of self-care.”
Hunter said his position has evolved over the past year and he now assesses the “costs and benefits of isolation have tipped away from being beneficial overall, probably to being harmful” in Britain, even if not everyone with symptoms would follow common sense and public health guidance going forward. He cited the negative impact of isolation on labor shortages and mental health, and the growing number of infections that already go undetected despite current isolation rules.
Troels Lillebaek, chairman of Denmark’s national coronavirus variant assessment committee, cautioned that exposing a large share of the population to the virus within a short time span could still overwhelm emergency rooms. Lillebaek suggested that restrictions may need to be re-envisioned in a seasonal context — with tighter rules in colder months that are most conducive to viral spread. “You could have a situation during spring and summer where there are other restrictions than during the winter,” he said.
Since the earliest weeks of the pandemic, the world has been tracking the spread of the virus case by case by case. Those case counts have helped governments make decisions about when to impose restrictions and when to lift them, and because hospitalizations lag behind infections, case numbers have provided a critical early warning system for health systems.
But by definition, if and when it becomes endemic, the virus would persist in a more predictable way, at low or moderate levels in societies. Counting individual cases would lose some of its significance. And so some governments and epidemiologists have begun to explore new ways to track the virus.
Spain is working on a “sentinel surveillance system” that would estimate cases based on a statistically significant sample rather than counting each infection. That sort of system is regularly used for the flu. And several Spanish regions have been experimenting with it for the coronavirus.
Scientists in Madrid, for instance, selected eight community health centers and three hospitals where anyone who gets treated and has symptoms of a respiratory infection will get tested for the flu and the coronavirus.
“It is a very significant and representative sample of the Madrid region,” Zapatero said. Going forward, he said, “I don’t think we’ll count each case.”
At a national level, the plan could still face hurdles, including whether other countries would accept estimated cases as a legitimate way to assess risk levels in Spain. Spanish health officials say their model may in fact boost their understanding of the virus’s spread, as self-tests and strained official testing capacity currently skew the official figures.
In a report last fall, the European CDC cautioned that “a sentinel approach would need a higher coverage of the population under surveillance compared with influenza surveillance, and both higher testing and sequencing intensity.”
Hunter agreed that sequencing will remain crucial. Similar to how the influenza shots’ composition is decided based on large-scale sequencing efforts, monitoring could be key to developing future vaccine generations against the coronavirus, he said.
“I could well imagine that we would be still sequencing many of the strains from the most severely ill people, and looking for the appearance of variants that are potentially threatening,” Hunter said.
Responding to the pandemic has involved the largest-scale public health campaign the world has ever seen, with nationwide lockdowns, more than 4 billion people vaccinated and billions upon billions of tests. To be sure, the rollout of protection has reflected and reinforced global inequalities. Vaccination is still just getting underway in some countries, leaving populations vulnerable to infection and the world vulnerable to new variants. But as the global omicron wave begins to subside, some countries are beginning to talk about moving away from mass public health efforts. Instead, they want to focus on protecting the most vulnerable and on intercepting disease progression in those most susceptible to severe illness.
“As we evolve to move to living with COVID,” the U.K. Health Security Agency wrote in a draft policy paper viewed by Reuters, “response will move from a whole nation approach to a targeted response, focused on protecting the vulnerable.”
In Britain, that may mean the end of free antigen tests offered to all by the National Health Service. There was an uproar last month after a report in the Times that free tests would be limited to symptomatic people and people in high-risk communal settings. Johnson tried to calm fears — but would only commit to free tests being available “for as long as they’re very important.”
While Denmark dropped most coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday, including health passports and general mask mandates, it will maintain certain measures to protect vulnerable groups. Face masks will remain recommended in nursing homes, for example, and a new round of booster shots for vulnerable people could be rolled out later in the year.
Danish authorities have considered their massive testing and sequencing capacity a major advantage through the pandemic. But going forward, Lillebaek said he anticipates “more guidance for specific situations, rather than the general society.” Instead of mass testing, for example, authorities may advise people to get tested before meeting an immunocompromised or elderly person.
Yves Hansmann, the head of an infectious diseases hospital unit in the French city of Strasbourg, said there may also need to be frequent testing of vulnerable individuals, to be able to provide care at early stages of illness. European countries have ordered millions of doses of anti-viral pills that the most vulnerable could take soon after the first sign of symptoms.
The focus of future booster campaigns may similarly lie on vulnerable groups, as is already the case with the fourth vaccine shot that’s become available in Denmark and Israel.
“We can’t vaccinate the planet every four to six months. It’s not sustainable or affordable,” Andrew Pollard, chair of the U.K.’s Committee on Vaccination and Immunization and chief investigator for the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, said in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper.
“Neither the health system nor society as a whole can afford to continue testing asymptomatic people or people with mild symptoms and isolating all the positive ones, with the consequences that this entails at a social and economic level due to the massive sick leave of healthy people,” writers linked to one of the biggest medical associations in Spain opined in a recent oped. “We must put an end to the exceptionality: COVID-19 must be treated like other diseases.” | null | null | null | null | null |
A single serving of chocolate milk on the production floor of Houlton Farms Dairy in Houlton, Maine, on Feb. 1. Due to supply chain issues, the small, family-run dairy has been been rationing their supply of chocolate powder for chocolate milk production in order to ensure continued delivery to area school children. (Tristan Spinski/For The Washington Post) | null | null | null | null | null |
He claims that board members told him that he was initially paid less because he is Black. He says he was encouraged by a board member to stop mentioning his race in public comments. He also recounts being told by a senior HRC executive that his public support for racial justice risked alienating White donors and specifically “White gay men.”
David was fired from the HRC in September, weeks after New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) revealed that he had helped seek signatories for a letter that sought to undermine the accusations of Cuomo’s first sexual harassment accuser, Lindsey Boylan. That letter was part of an effort that amounted to “unlawful retaliation,” according to a report on Cuomo’s behavior by James’s office.
David was hired as the first Black head of the HRC at a time when the organization was dealing with multiple controversies about its handling of racial issues. A senior staff member at the organization resigned in 2018, a year before David joined, after an investigation found she had used “the n-word” to recount a personal story and to describe a situation she found upsetting, according to an email at the time from the group’s previous president, Chad Griffin.
Griffin and HRC leadership made public commitments after the controversies to address the concerns. But David now argues that the fact that Griffin, who is White, was not disciplined for the reputational damage to the organization under his tenure is evidence of a double standard.
Racial tensions remained inside the organization after David was hired. J. Maurice McCants-Pearsall, a Black activist who worked as the HRC’s director of HIV and health equity when David was fired, posted a public letter in September denouncing David’s dismissal. | null | null | null | null | null |
In January 2031, the station — which launched in 2000 and is 356 feet (109 meters) from end to end — will plunge into the waters of Point Nemo, an uninhabited part of the southern Pacific Ocean, where spacecraft and satellites go to die. Or, as it’s put in NASA’s newly published transition report, to “de-orbit.”?
NASA also recently awarded contracts, worth a combined $415.6 million, to teams led by Blue Origin and Nanoracks, as well as Northrop Grumman, to develop their own private space stations. While NASA would not own or operate them, it would use them as a customer, and continue to have a place to send its astronauts well after the ISS is decommissioned.
The NASA report was welcomed by some sectors of the space industry. “This announcement is a gigantic punctuation mark that the era of the ISS is coming to an end,” said Jeffrey Manber, the CEO of Nanoracks, which helps companies fly science experiments and other payloads to the ISS. He added that it is a signal to investors and potential customers that they can now work with the commercial space sector “knowing that the government is committed to a new era of smaller, more efficient commercial space stations.” | null | null | null | null | null |
“Their stories deserve to be heard,” Maloney said in a telephone interview this week. “This investigation is about holding employers accountable — not just the NFL but all employers — and ensuring that employees have a safe place to work that is free from harassment and discrimination.”
“The NFL is in a particularly prominent position,” Maloney said. “Its decisions, its treatment of employees and its leadership can have national implications. I believe it would be irresponsible for the committee to allow the NFL to set a precedent for workplaces across the country that they can sweep issues of sexism [or] racism, homophobia and bigotry under the rug without any accountability.”
“I think this situation is a perfect example of why we need to pass legislation in order to protect not only employees of the Washington Football Team but, I would say, all over the country.”
The NFL replied to some questions raised in the letter. It also produced voluminous documents in response, although not key documents related to Wilkinson’s findings. Goodell reiterated that Wilkinson was not asked to provide a written report and that the NFL would not share her findings publicly. | null | null | null | null | null |
It will all eventually be revealed — teams of reporters are racing to dig into one of the biggest media stories in recent memory. But we already know one thing for certain: When the dust settles, it will be Zucker’s relationship with Donald Trump that defines his legacy.
The same motivation cropped up in 2020, early in the pandemic, when CNN’s prime-time star Chris Cuomo was driving audience numbers via his cozy chats with his older brother, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D). That was an unwise break with the policy that had been in place ever since the younger Cuomo arrived from ABC News: He would not be allowed to cover his politician brother. | null | null | null | null | null |
As a result, people with the traditional form of Medicare have been able to get free tests only with a prescription from a doctor or other health-care practitioner or from one of 20,000 testing sites nationwide — options that critics have decried as inadequate. For about 4 in 10 Medicare beneficiaries in a newer version of the program that relies on managed care plans, some insurance companies cover the tests while others do not. | null | null | null | null | null |
This image released by Amazon shows Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher in a scene from the Amazon series “Reacher.” (Amazon Studios via AP) (Uncredited/Amazon Studios)
NEW YORK — Adaptations of books to film and television often take liberties or stray from the original text. Tom Cruise played Jack Reacher twice on film but didn’t match the physical description of the character described by author Lee Child. | null | null | null | null | null |
The new Kobe Bryant All-Star Game MVP award stands 31 inches tall, weighs approximately 15 pounds and features countless dual tributes to Bryant and the All-Star Game’s history. The trophy’s black base is composed of eight sides to represent Bryant’s early-career jersey number and the event’s eight decades of history. There are 18 stars along the base, one for each of Bryant’s all-star selections, and a “Cleveland 2022” logo is etched into the base’s underside. | null | null | null | null | null |
Patriot boys' basketball coach Sherman Rivers, pictured in the 2020-21 season, has the Pioneers two wins from a perfect regular season. (Will Newton/The Washington Post)
The Patriot Pioneers refused to slip into a sleepwalk.
They had taken control of Monday night’s game against Gainesville early, going into the halftime break up 44-22. At that margin, a high school basketball game can transition into a sloppy state of acceptance. The losing team takes more pleading looks at the clock, waiting for it to drain faster; the winning team plays loose, setting for jumpers and hoping for breakaway dunks.
But No. 13 Patriot was not interested in that halfhearted haze. The Pioneers kept scrapping for loose balls, calling out picks and generally harassing the Cardinals. Seemingly unsatisfied by doubling Gainesville’s scoring total by halftime, they gave up zero points in the third quarter.
“That doesn’t happen,” Pioneers Coach Sherman Rivers told his team after the game, a good measure of pride in his voice.
That kind of consistent effort might be rare in high school hoops, but this is a team that is undaunted by convention. Before the first practice of every season, Rivers asks his players to make a list of goals. These Pioneers wanted him to put “go undefeated” on the list.
“I told them: ‘Being undefeated is very hard. I don’t remember the last undefeated team in this area,’ ” Rivers said. “But they said they wanted it up there, so I said, ‘Okay then.’ ”
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Pioneers are 18-0. It is the best start in school history, one that has put them in rare company in the D.C. area and has sent their local ranking and reputation climbing.
“It’s pretty special,” senior guard Mike Ackerman said of the perfect record. “No one’s done it, so to be the first — everyone knows who we are now. Our name is out there now.”
Ackerman is one of just three players on the roster who played notable minutes on last year’s team. That group earned the school’s fourth straight Cedar Run District title, but it was quickly broken up by graduation and a private school transfer.
“We knew we were losing a lot, but every year everyone says we lose a lot and then we go out there and do our thing,” said senior Nick Marrero, another returning player. “This team just works so hard in the offseason to make that happen.”
The third rotational player who returned is junior point guard Nasir Coleman. A shifty ballhandler with the speed and aggression to be a pest on defense, Coleman has been at the center of the Pioneers’ success. His endless motor sets the tone.
“There are no brakes with this team,” Coleman said. “It’s about playing to the buzzer.”
Against Gainesville, Coleman focused on his role as distributor and accumulated 10 assists to go with nine points. After helping the Pioneers establish dominance early, he looked just as eager to play the second half. He was the first player to emerge from the locker room, coming back onto the court with a smile and a bag of Skittles — his halftime and postgame snack of choice.
He showed no signs of fatigue as he continued to motor around the floor. At one point late in the third quarter, he passed the ball to a teammate and kept running to the corner as the teammate nailed a three-pointer. He ran up the sideline and flashed 10 fingers to Rivers, who laughed and clapped at his point guard’s excitement about sharing the ball.
“When this team is sharing the basketball like that and running the floor and playing defense, we’re pretty hard to deal with,” Rivers said.
The Pioneers ended up beating Gainesville by 34 to push their winning streak to 16. They made it 17 on Tuesday with a victory over Osbourn and then 18 on Wednesday with a win over Freedom (South Riding). That victory was Rivers’s 100th as coach.
A perfect regular season is two games away, but it will be a challenging finish for the Pioneers. They travel to Battlefield, their biggest rival, on Friday night before hosting Champe, another Prince William County contender, on Wednesday.
“We’re staying focused on one task at a time,” Coleman said. “But we want it all: We want to go to states, win it all, stay undefeated.”
Rivers likes that approach, taking the season one step at a time. But he also knows there must be a balance between the day-to-day and the big picture. A start like this is rare, and sometimes there has to be a conscious effort to step back and enjoy it. That doesn’t seem to be a problem for this team.
“I don’t have to tell these guys to enjoy anything, I’ll tell you that much,” Rivers said with a laugh. “They definitely have a lot of fun — trying to get them to focus is sometimes my biggest obstacle. … And I want that from them. This journey is over before you know it.”
Notebook: Potomac School starts 11-0; Westlake has look of a contender | null | null | null | null | null |
In this image supplied by EUMETSAT from satellite Meteosat 8 taken at 09.15 UTC on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, Cyclone Batsirai is seen to the east of Madagascar. Forecasts say Tropical Cyclone Batsirai is increasing in intensity and is expected to pass north of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius on Wednesday evening and make landfall in central Madagascar on Saturday afternoon. (EUMETSAT via AP) (Uncredited/EUMETSAT) | null | null | null | null | null |
Designers and artists dissect new Commanders logo and look
A detailed view of the Washington Commanders logo and uniforms during Wednesday's announcement at FedEx Field. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Some sports logos are synonymous with the franchises that they represent.
The New York Yankees have their classic design with the overlapping “N” and “Y.” The Dallas Cowboys have the famous the blue star. And the cartoon bull for the Chicago Bulls became iconic during the team’s dynasty run in the 1990s.
Sports logos are about nostalgia, according to designer Michael Irwin, who has been a part of three rebranding efforts in the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers, the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions.
“A logo is tying someone to a certain place in time,” Irwin said. “It’s not necessarily if the logo is good or bad subjectively based on other opinions, but what is tying [fans] to remembering something, a good memory or bad memory, with that logo from the franchise.”
As Washington’s NFL franchise enters a new era as the Commanders, the new logo marks a potential fresh start for a team looking to create new memories. Artists and design experts who reviewed the logo following its unveiling Wednesday largely gave it positive reviews, but they all said any new logo needs some time to settle in with fans and the general public before any final verdicts are rendered.
“The funny thing is, with sports teams especially, is if this team starts winning, you know, suddenly the logo is cool,” Irwin said. “Suddenly the logo’s tied to a winning team and a great franchise and new players and young talent.”
The new look was largely a product of Code & Theory designers. The New York-based digital company created the Commanders logo, while Nike handled the uniform and helmet designs. The team’s primary logo is a burgundy “W” with a gold border, celebrating the team’s roots in Washington even though the franchise is headquartered in Virginia and plays its home games in Maryland. The angled cuts at the top of the “W” are intended to signify progress and forward movement.
The team also unveiled a team crest with elements connecting the franchise’s past to the team’s future, as well as a word mark with the team’s full name. But the primary logo specifically received praise from a few sports designers who spoke with the Post on Wednesday. Irwin said he appreciated the team sticking with common branding themes with the stencil numbers and letters on the team’s jerseys to match the logo. So did fellow designer Britt Davis.
“I like that it’s got that like military vibe,” Britt Davis, a digital media manager for the Home Depot Backyard, said. “So it’s got the kind of stenciled lettering with the uniform, but because it’s like still so new and so fresh, I want to kind of give it a chance to marinate and really kind of see how they’re going to apply it across different campaigns — from their social to their billboards and print.”
Jeff Eagles, who has helped with the rebrands of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers, said at first, it might be harder for fans to have an immediate affinity for the logos because it’s not something as visually striking as an animal mascot. But still, he said the organization’s intent with the logo, crest and word mark were “spot on.”
“I do think that the name is more of a concept than it is your typical mascot,” Eagles said. “I think that’s a tough thing to translate into a logo... ([The Commanders logos are] a very conceptual set of marks. The 'W' is very literal, and honestly I think that’s a great way to sort of tie back to the geographic area and that’s very strong.”
But not everyone was a huge fan of the logo. Todd Radom has been a designer for nearly 30 years and created the original Washington Nationals logo when the Expos relocated to the District.
Radom liked the team retaining its signature burgundy and gold colors but felt like the logo left him wanting more. He said the designs could still grow on him depending on how the logo is ultimately used, how it works on uniforms and on the athletes in action.
“I don’t know if there’s a lot of meat on the bones,” Radom said of the new logo. “Brands for sports need to be robust... It looks like it is of its time to some degree, and I think it might look dated pretty soon.”
The new uniforms that were unveiled were unique compared to past iterations of Washington jerseys. There were three jerseys: a burgundy jersey with gold lettering, an all-white jersey with red lettering and then an alternate black jersey with gold lettering as well. The all-white jerseys don’t have a lot of gold in them, something that surprised Paul Lukas, who runs Uni Watch, a website devoted to sports uniforms.
Lukas said the existing color scheme worked well and will continue to stand out because so few sports teams rely on burgundy and gold. So the choice to use the black on the white jerseys was jarring for Lukas.
Regardless of how they parse the details, the designers said fans should be patient and give the logo and new look some time to settle. Eagles said a fan base’s immediate reaction following a major brand overhaul is negative. Fans tend to be more vocal — especially on social media — when they don’t like something. And Irwin said the sense of nostalgia surrounding a previous logo or look is hard for many fans to look past.
Davis pointed to two examples of revamped logos and designs that fans instantly jeered: the Brooklyn Nets logo in 2012 and the Los Angeles Rams updated logo last year. But slowly, the criticism waned and both logos have come to be accepted. It helps, of course, that the Nets are now one of the best teams in the NBA and the Rams are playing for a Super Bowl in less than two weeks.
For the Commanders and their new logo to gain wide acceptance from a fan base that’s suffered from waning enthusiasm in recent years, stringing together some winning seasons could go a long way to defining how people feel about the franchise’s new look.
“People want to hold on to what they know,” Davis said. “And when things are kind of introduced, it’s a challenge. But I think over time, once it sits with us, we start to respect it.” | null | null | null | null | null |
As a result, people with the traditional form of Medicare have been able to get free tests only with a prescription from a doctor or other health-care practitioner or from one of 20,000 testing sites nationwide — options that critics have decried as inadequate. About 4 in 10 Medicare beneficiaries have chosen a newer version of the program, known as Medicare Advantage, that relies on managed care plans. In that version, some insurance companies cover the tests while others do not.
“This is a step forward, but it’s too soon to say how easy it will be for people with Medicare to get free tests,” said Tricia Neuman, who directs the program on Medicare at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-policy organization. “That will depend on how many pharmacies become eligible to participate, whether these pharmacies and providers serve all communities, and how quickly this all happens.” | null | null | null | null | null |
U.S. Special Operations forces conducted a counterterrorism mission overnight in northwestern Syria that resulted in the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the leader of Islamic State, President Biden announced Thursday.
Residents described an early-morning assault with helicopters and machine gun fire in the Idlib region, where first responders working in a part of Syria outside government control said they retrieved 13 dead bodies, including those of six children and four women. Biden said Qurayshi detonated a large explosion that killed members of his family and himself as the raid was underway.
The more than a decade-long conflict in Syria, which erupted after a crackdown on protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has drawn in world powers, divided the country into a patchwork of territories, caused the deaths of thousands of people and created a refugee crisis of historic scope. Here’s what to know about Qurayshi, the U.S. military’s role in the country, and the region where he was killed.
Who is Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the Islamic State leader who was killed?
Who was former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? | null | null | null | null | null |
Organized by curators Kelly Baum and Brinda Kumar, the Met show, “Charles Ray: Figure Ground,” is a thoughtful, pared-back, poetically arranged overview featuring work from every decade of the artist’s career. Solo shows often start with a self-portrait, which serves to introduce the artist and affirm the authenticity of what follows. This show is no exception. But Ray’s is a dissenting self-portrait called, curiously, “No.”
Well, okay. But Ray’s elaborate meditations on Huck Finn and Jim, the main characters in Mark Twain’s classic novel, provoke the same nonplussed embarrassment. These two sculptures, one in each room, anchor the Met show. One, “Huck and Jim,” was commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art and planned as a fountain outside the museum’s entrance. That idea was eventually nixed. I can think of a dozen reasons why. But the thought of unpacking them is exhausting. In the end, the sculpture is just kitsch. It doesn’t even offer a Jeff Koons-style kick-in-the-teeth-of-good-taste. Its Twain-inspired companion piece, “Sarah Williams,” is no different. | null | null | null | null | null |
Then-President Donald Trump watches Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) speak in 2019. (David Butow for The Washington Post)
When it comes to the many Republican officeholders who have bent over backward for Donald Trump, few compare with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Graham was a huge Trump critic when the two ran for president in 2016, but he rather quickly morphed himself into one of Trump’s fiercest backers. Graham repeatedly made it pretty clear that this was more about political expediency than true conviction, but the result was the same. And that posture reinforced just how much dignity some were forfeiting in the service of Trumpism.
Perhaps the most pronounced example of this also saw a new development this week. In a statement walking back his suggestion that then-Vice President Mike Pence should have tried to unilaterally overturn the 2020 election, Trump called for investigating his former vice president over the matter (for what, it’s not entirely clear). | null | null | null | null | null |
In this photo taken from video and released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Feb. 2, 2022, Russian and Belarusian tanks drive during a joint military drill. a (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) (AP)
The details of the plan have been declassified by U.S. intelligence and are expected to be revealed Thursday by the Biden administration, said four people familiar with the matter. The administration last month warned the Russian government had sent operatives into eastern Ukraine possibly in preparation for sabotage operations.
The people familiar with the plan said it was formulated by Russian security services and is the advanced stages of preparation.
The plan is related to but separate from other plots that have been disclosed by Western intelligence, including Russia’s placement of saboteurs in eastern Ukraine and another alleged scheme, revealed last month by the British government, to destabilize the Ukrainian government and install a pro-Russia sympathizer at its head, officials said.
“They’re all related of course, but this is a specific operation designed to create a potential pretext,” said one U.S. official, who like others, did not provide the underlying evidence for the alleged plot but had been briefed on the matter. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.
The allegation of the advanced plotting by Russia comes as Washington and its allies try to expose Moscow’s planning for a potential invasion in real time, in the hope of complicating the Kremlin’s designs on its neighbor.
In recent weeks, Russian troops and materiel have been flowing into neighboring Belarus, which shares a 674-mile border with Ukraine, in preparation for the second stage of joint Russian-Belarusian exercises slated to begin Feb. 10. Military analysts worry the exercises could be a ruse to position Russian forces all along Ukraine’s northern border in advance of a new invasion. | null | null | null | null | null |
World Stage: Crisis in Ukraine with Philippe Étienne
The French Ambassador to the United States, Philippe Étienne, most recently served as President Emmanuel Macron’s chief diplomatic adviser. Étienne, a former ambassador to the European Union, Germany and Romania, joins Washington Post columnist David Ignatius to discuss the latest on Russia and Ukraine and how NATO and European allies approach the potential conflict. Join Washington Post Live on Monday, Feb. 7 at 9:00 a.m. ET.
Provided by the Embassy of France.
Philippe Etienne is the Ambassador of France to the United States.
He previously held numerous posts within the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, notably including Ambassador of France to Romania (2002-2005), Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs (2007-2009), Permanent Representative of France to the European Union (2009-2014), Ambassador of France to Germany (2014-2017) and most recently, Diplomatic Adviser to the President (2017-2019).
Philippe Etienne is an expert on the European Union and continental Europe. He has held posts in Moscow, Belgrade, Bucharest, Bonn, Berlin and Brussels. He has also served as an adviser in the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on several occasions.
A graduate of the École Normale Supérieure and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (“Voltaire” Class, 1980), Philippe Etienne also holds the Agrégation (teaching diploma) in Mathematics, has a degree in Economics and is a graduate of the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Serbo-Croatian).
He speaks English, German, Spanish, Russian and Romanian.
He is an Officer of the Legion of Honor and a Commander of the National Order of Merit. | null | null | null | null | null |
It took too long — far too long — for the National Football League franchise to recognize how deeply offensive, inappropriate and ultimately divisive its former name was. “We’ll never change the name. ... NEVER — you can use caps,” team owner Daniel Snyder once said about the demands for a name change that predated his purchase of the team in 1999. Only after investors and sponsors, reacting to calls for racial justice in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in 2020, threatened to pull financial support did Mr. Snyder reluctantly acknowledge the need to retire the name that had been used for 87 years. For two full seasons, the Washington Football Team served as a generic placeholder while an extensive effort was undertaken to find a new name.
“Today’s a big day for our team, our fans, a day in which we embark on a new chapter,” Mr. Snyder said Wednesday at a media event unveiling the new name, logo and uniforms. “It’s been a long journey to get to this point.” Indeed. And for that, Mr. Snyder should apologize, rather than congratulate himself. He also should recognize that a simple name change won’t resolve the problems, both on and off the field, for a team that won its last Super Bowl in 1992 (a record that is noted, without apparent embarrassment, in its busy new team crest). Give it a few seasons and fans will get used to it, and might even grow to love it, if the team itself starts winning more games than it loses.
Nonetheless, Washington’s too-long-delayed name change — along with the renaming of the Cleveland Indians to the Guardians — hopefully will serve as a lesson to sports organizations and schools that still cling to the misguided notion that the appropriation of Native American-themed nicknames and mascots somehow honors the people it stereotypes. Academic studies have documented the negative impacts of Native American mascots — the psychosocial damage to Native American youths and the reinforcement of stereotyping and prejudice. The issue is not, as critics of name changes would have one believe, a matter of political correctness run amok but of real harm being done. | null | null | null | null | null |
Jimmy Johnson, Chicago blues master, dies at 93
Jimmy Johnson performs at the 2010 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
Jimmy Johnson, who grew up picking cotton and listening to the acoustic guitar blues of his native Mississippi before moving north to become one of the great Chicago electric blues guitarists and singers of the late 20th century, died Jan. 31 at his home in Harvey, Ill. He was 93.
His family announced the death on his website without giving a cause, but he had previously had a stroke.
Mr. Johnson was no musical prodigy. He bought his first guitar when he was 28, was just shy of 30 when he played his first gig, and 50 when he recorded his first album. But he went on to develop a vocal and jazz-blues guitar style that set him apart from his own blues heroes of the time, including B.B. King, Magic Sam, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Albert King.
Like many other American bluesmen, Mr. Johnson first experienced widespread acclaim playing in Western European capitals in the 1960s and 1970s, where he packed clubs and theaters. That was thanks, in part, to bands and musicians such as the Rolling Stones, Peter Green (co-founder of Fleetwood Mac) and Eric Clapton, who helped spur commercial interest in the American blues music that had inspired them.
Mr. Johnson pointed out that he and his peers became better known on the other side of the pond before gaining wider recognition in their own home country. The blues revival was further accelerated by the success of “The Blues Brothers” (1980), the Hollywood comedy starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. But he said he never felt as fully appreciated by American audiences and promoters as those overseas.
“I’m bigger in Europe than I am in the United States,” Mr. Johnson told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2020. "[In America] they’ll play Caucasian blues before mine. … Why would you play Eric Clapton’s record and not mine?” In a 2013 interview with the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, he stated: “When Mick Jagger comes to town, they advertise him three or four months in advance. [The Chicago) Blues Festival, they say something a few days before. They don’t publicize it. The biggest festival in Chicago … they don’t publicize.”
Although best-known for the traditional 12-bar, three-chord blues format, Mr. Johnson increasingly delved into wistful minor chords, like his friend Rush, also a farmer’s son from Mississippi. He began writing his own highly personal material, influenced by soul-blues singers like the Texan Z.Z. Hill and the Tennessean Bobby “Blue” Bland.
Mr. Johnson’s repertoire included country music and R&B, and he became an accomplished jazz guitarist. Onstage, he often performed the jazz standard “Take Five,” which had been popularized in the 1950s by the Dave Brubeck quartet.
After Mr. Johnson’s death, Bruce Iglauer, the founder of the Alligator Records label, which put out the musician’s early work, told the Sun-Times: “Jimmy Johnson was one of those great musicians whom you could identify by hearing just one note of his voice or one note of his guitar. His passionate, high-tenor voice and elegant, minor-key guitar string bending were instantly recognizable. He was not only a searing guitar player and intense, distinctive singer, but his music had the deep emotional impact of the best blues.”
He was born James Thompson (he later took Johnson as a performance name) in Holly Spring, Miss., on Nov. 25, 1928. He was the second of 10 children of cotton-farming parents. “I loved school, but didn’t get to go much; too much work to be done at home,” he wrote on his website. “Most days we worked from sunup until sundown. Already at 8 years old, I worked the fields picking, chopping and plowing cotton while also helping to tend to the farm animals.”
He was 16 when he went to Memphis for work opportunities and wound up as a construction laborer. He found his prospects discouraging until his uncle in Chicago invited him north. “I hated to leave my mama behind,” he wrote, “but I wanted a better life and knew this was an opportunity not to be missed.”
He was around 20 when he arrived in the Windy City and got a job as a welder for the Harrison Sheet Steel company, earning enough money to bring his mother and siblings up north to be near him. His salary enabled him to buy a car, nice clothes and his first guitar, which he practiced religiously after work.
“On July 4th 1958, I played my first gig,” he wrote. “I was quickly fired and back home, practicing once more.”
In 1963, he married Sherry Ewing. In addition to his wife, survivors include five children; two sisters; and his younger brother Sylvester, a leading blues musician better known as Syl Johnson; and many grandchildren. (Another of his brothers, Mack Thompson, also a leading blues guitarist on the Chicago scene, died in 1991.)
In 1988, Mr. Johnson fell asleep at the wheel, having driven his band home for 18 hours after a series of shows. Their van left the road and somersaulted. He was badly burned and broke his collarbone. His keyboard player and bassist were killed despite his efforts to pull them from the wreckage. He gave up playing for six years, until 1994.
He was still performing until shortly before he died. When covid-19 shut down Chicago venues in recent years, he took to Facebook to perform live and gave all the donations to the Greater Chicago Food Depository to help the city’s homeless. After the success of those Facebook performances, the Chicago blues record label Delmark asked him to record a new album.
At first he was reluctant, but, as he told the Wall Street Journal in 2020, “I really appreciated being asked by people who wanted to make music and help musicians. I figured that I might as well, because that’s what I do all day anyhow: play piano, play guitar and get on my computer.”
The album, “Every Day of Your Life,” was released in 2020, its title track encouraging his listeners to “live every day like it’s your last, one day it’s going to come to pass.” | null | null | null | null | null |
Russian and Belarusian tanks take part in a joint military drill, in an image released Feb. 2, 2022. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP)
Soldiers are on high alert at Ukraine’s northeastern border, near Kharkiv, amid a build-up of Russian troops on the other side. (Whitney Shefte, Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post)
The plan is related to but separate from other plots that have been disclosed by Western intelligence, including Russia’s placement of saboteurs in eastern Ukraine and another alleged scheme, revealed last month by the British government, to destabilize the Ukrainian government and install a pro-Russian figure at its head, officials said.
“They’re all related, of course, but this is a specific operation designed to create a potential pretext,” said one U.S. official, who, like others, did not provide the underlying evidence for the alleged plot but had been briefed on the matter. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.
The allegation of advanced plotting by Russia comes as Washington and its allies try to expose Moscow’s planning for a potential invasion in real time, in the hope of complicating the Kremlin’s designs on its neighbor.
Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops around the borders of Ukraine, prompting the Biden administration to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin could send his forces into Ukrainian territory at any moment. The White House has said the United States does not have an indication that Putin has made a decision to invade but says it has evidence of advanced planning by the Russian government.
In recent weeks, Russian troops and materiel have been flowing into neighboring Belarus, which shares a 674-mile border with Ukraine, in preparation for the second stage of joint Russian-Belarusian exercises slated to begin Feb. 10. Military analysts worry that the exercises could be a ruse to position Russian forces along Ukraine’s northern border in advance of a new invasion. | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: Canada must do more to back Ukraine. Hashtags are not enough.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Jan. 26 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)
The long-standing Russia-Ukraine conflict is teetering on the brink of a full-scale war. While most nations hope a diplomatic resolution is forthcoming, leaders are also planning strategies to combat Russian President Vladimir Putin’s potential militaristic overreach.
President Biden, for instance, recently described this tense situation as “the most consequential thing that’s happened in the world in terms of war and peace since World War II.” He put 8,500 soldiers on alert last week. The United States also formally rejected Russia’s demand to keep Ukraine from ever opting to join NATO.
What about Canada? My country’s response has been little more than the soft, fluffy rhetoric that’s often defined Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s weak, ineffective leadership.
First, Canada offered a $120 million loan to Ukraine on Jan. 21. According to two CBC News sources, the Liberal government is “considering sending … small arms, protective vests and goggles,” which would be “part of a package of both ‘lethal and non-lethal equipment.’ ” The date is still to be determined, and it remains to be seen whether a more significant number of Canadian troops would be deployed.
Second, a social media campaign has started in (mostly) Canadian progressive circles. There are various photos of Liberal politicians such as International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan holding flimsy placards with the hashtag #StandWithUkraine. There are also Liberal MPs such as Adam van Koeverden making meaningless gestures and taking selfies.
Other than this, Trudeau’s political cupboard has been pretty bare. He recently extended Canada’s 200-troop training operation in Ukraine (Operation Unifier) for three years, and agreed to immediately deploy 60 additional troops “in the coming days.” The entire mission could grow to 400 troops.
I’m obviously not criticizing the sentiments behind these decisions. Most right-thinking (and left-thinking) Canadians support Ukraine in this conflict. They’re fed up with Putin’s dream of attempting to rebuild the Iron Curtain that once encompassed the old Soviet Union. They don’t want to see anything that could potentially ignite World War III.
At the same time, the Liberal government’s strategic position is ridiculous. What the Ukrainians need is weapons and military aid, not impending loans and flimsy paper signs. That’s the best course of action to help defeat Putin’s growling Russian bear.
Don’t expect Canada’s Liberals to shift gears, however.
Trudeau isn’t a strong or confident leader. He accepts Canada’s status as a middle power and prefers to follow larger countries rather than take a leadership role. With a few exceptions, including the Syrian civil war and recognizing the opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela, Trudeau seems perfectly content to be a small participant on the big world stage.
He’s also consistently refused to punch above his weight with respect to foreign relations and international conflicts, as his predecessor (and also my former boss), Stephen Harper, did. He certainly doesn’t have Harper’s confidence or courage to tell Putin to “get out of Ukraine,” as he did in a tete-a-tete at the Group of 20 Summit in 2014.
This also helps explain why Biden has seemingly lost some faith in Trudeau’s leadership. While the two are like-minded on quite a few political issues, the former takes a much tougher stance when it comes to foreign policy, safety and security. It’s one of the few areas where U.S. conservatives (and others) regularly find common ground with Biden. Canada’s notable exclusion from the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact last fall may have caught some political observers off-guard, but it’s not that shocking when you consider how different these two leaders look, act and react with respect to international relations.
Here’s the reality of the situation. Trudeau is only going to take baby steps when it comes to Russia and Ukraine. That’s always been his leadership style, and it won’t change. While the Ukrainian government was appreciative of Canada’s gestures and the “special partnership” between the two countries, because you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, it won’t help them fend off the powerful Russian armed forces for even a nanosecond.
If Canada really stands with Ukraine, waving flimsy paper signs isn’t enough. In this important moment in history, Trudeau needs to find something he’s always lacked as a world leader: a backbone. | null | null | null | null | null |
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