March 7, 2022

Leader of South Korea's ruling party attacked ahead of presidential election

Source: Reuters

SEOUL, March 7 (Reuters) - The leader of South Korea's ruling party was hospitalised on Monday after being attacked while campaigning for this week's presidential election, a race already overshadowed by controversy and in which early voting has been marred by irregularities.

Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil was attacked in Seoul by a man wearing a traditional robe who approached him from behind and struck him on the head with a smaller hammer, a video uploaded to YouTube by a Democrat campaigner showed.

Reuters could not independently verify the images, but party officials said Song was in a stable condition and a suspect was in police custody.

In a contest characterised by scandals, smear tactics and gaffes, the Democrats' Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative main opposition People Power Party are running neck-and-neck.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-scrambles-rework-covid-19-poll-plans-after-early-voting-lapses-2022-03-07/

March 7, 2022

'People's Convoy' begins circling Beltway for second day of pandemic-related demonstrations

Source: Washington Post

Organizer acknowledges there’s a passionate faction of the convoy that wants to head into the nation’s capital

After a brief delay, hundreds of trucks, cars and SUVs protesting the government’s response to the pandemic arrived at the Capital Beltway during the noon hour Monday after leaving the Hagerstown Speedway Monday for a second day of protests.

Organizer Brian Brase said the group, which circled the Beltway twice on Sunday, has no plans to take their protest beyond the Beltway, but acknowledged there’s a passionate faction of the convoy that wants to head into the nation’s capital.

“A lot of people want me to say certain things and put this convoy into a certain direction,” he said. “I’m not going to listen to all of them. I’m going to listen to the people.”

Brase, a 37-year-old truck driver from northwest Ohio, said Monday’s delay was the result of security concerns.

“There were concerns about people trying to come in here who didn’t belong," he said, warning those who intend to “cause harm, violence and disruption” were not welcome.

Read more: https://wapo.st/3pKuetB

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Just in case you wanted to know what these dipshits were up to today...

March 7, 2022

Florida says healthy kids shouldn't get COVID vaccine, contradicting CDC

Source: Tampa Bay Times

State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced the recommendation Monday during a panel convened by the governor.

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Department of Health is poised to officially recommend against giving coronavirus vaccines to healthy children.

Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo made the pronouncement at a Monday roundtable discussion on coronavirus mitigations policies convened by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Ladapo, who leads Florida’s Department of Health, said his department’s recommendation would be the first of its kind in the country.

It came after a 90-minute discussion from medical experts skeptical of the benefits of various coronavirus mitigation measures such as vaccine mandates, mask requirements and business closures.

Read more: https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/03/07/healthy-children-shouldnt-get-coronavirus-vaccine-florida-health-department-says/

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Florida is being ruined by quacks, fools, and charlatans. And the voters keep electing them.

March 7, 2022

Trump trashes Barr in rant to Lester Holt

Former President Trump rants against Bill Barr, his former attorney general, in a three-page letter to "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt, who interviewed Barr about his new book, "One Damn Thing After Another," out tomorrow.

Why it matters: You have to read this letter, obtained exclusively by Axios, to fully appreciate Trump’s mindset heading into 2024.

Driving the news: Trump said he was attaching a report about supposed election corruption, as if Lester Holt would be super-interested in it. He said Barr is now “groveling to the media, hoping to gain acceptance that he doesn’t deserve.”

Context: Barr told Holt in an interview that Trump became "very angry" when the attorney general told him that there was no evidence the 2020 election was rigged

https://www.axios.com/trump-bill-barr-book-e017627f-a26d-4c16-8a72-fcdf66bf019d.html

You can read the letter at the link.

March 6, 2022

'People's Convoy' congested D.C. Beltway to protest pandemic restrictions, plans to return Monday

Source: Washington Post

An armada of drivers calling themselves the “People’s Convoy” circled the Beltway for more than four hours Sunday as an act of protest against pandemic restrictions, and plan to do so again on Monday.

Organizers said their goal is to be a “huge pain.”

On Sunday, the disruption they caused was fairly minimal. Though the convoy of hundreds of trucks, cars and SUVs started out in a deliberately slow-moving formation that stretched roughly 30 miles, it became diluted after merging with normal Beltway traffic.

By the time the demonstrators completed their second loop around the District Sunday afternoon, their vehicles were far fewer in number and far more spread out. For most of their journey, traffic around them moved as usual.

But their presence could create far more chaos during a weekday, when Beltway traffic will already be thick with commuters.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/03/05/peoples-convoy-protest-beltway-dc-region/

March 6, 2022

Indicted. Under FBI Investigation. And Still Popular With Texas Republicans.

SAN ANTONIO — The race for Texas attorney general is asking Republicans to determine how many indictments and allegations of corruption are too many. The answer may be there is no limit — so long as the candidate has an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

Ken Paxton, the Trump-backed attorney general, was indicted and arrested on criminal securities-fraud charges that are still pending. He has faced calls for his resignation after several of his top aides claimed he abused his office by helping a wealthy donor. And he has been serving as the state’s top lawyer while under threat of a possible new indictment, as the FBI investigates the abuse-of-office and bribery accusations.

“The voters of Texas will tolerate a great deal,” said state Sen. Kel Seliger, a moderate Republican who is a former mayor of Amarillo. “They think if somebody is ideologically in sync with them, that’s what matters. I would have thought in Texas that moral example is more important, but apparently it’s not.”

In the pre-Trump era, indictments and investigations by federal law enforcement could have been fatal to a Republican campaign. But Trump has instilled a deep mistrust in government institutions like the FBI. Paxton took the unusual step of authorizing an investigation of an FBI investigation — he appointed a special prosecutor to look into the federal probe of the wealthy donor, an Austin real estate investor named Nate Paul whose home and offices were raided by federal agents.

https://news.yahoo.com/indicted-under-fbi-investigation-still-154523278.html

March 5, 2022

I've Dealt With Foreign Cyberattacks. America Isn't Ready for What's Coming.

As Russian missiles rain on Ukraine, there’s another battle brewing — in the cybersphere. Destructive malware has flooded hundreds of Ukrainian websites and computers since Vladimir Putin announced his invasion. It would be a mistake to assume such attacks will remain limited to Ukrainian targets.

Last week President Biden warned Mr. Putin against Russian cyberattacks on the United States’ critical infrastructure. But American businesses aren’t ready for a war in cyberspace. Although Mr. Biden designated the Department of Homeland Security to lead what he vowed would be a forceful response to any such aggression, this isn’t enough. The D.H.S. doesn’t have the legal authority to order the private sector to follow its lead. More broadly, the federal government, even if warned by companies like Microsoft of incoming cyberattacks, doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure in place to protect American businesses from many of these attacks.

That the United States has to resort to threats of retaliation is itself a problem. America should already be cyberattack-proof, but coordinating these efforts across the country has been an uphill battle.

As the former general counsel of the National Security Agency, I witnessed daily the scope and sophistication of such maliciousness from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. All of them leverage the various sectors of power at their disposal — including commercial and state-owned enterprises as well as spy agencies — to come out against U.S. businesses and citizens in full force.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/opinion/ive-dealt-with-foreign-cyberattacks-america-isnt-ready-for-whats-coming.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DODm4eiOMNAo6B_EGKZLRuItc-1jCHAcBALL9qSvtow-5QOQlmWgOluJKYhJ0OID5woIe-RGI91tfMRrYktCXnZ2Wobel43vigvxuaK327BviEjiM9fUs6_IB3CjHMtxBovqTVTa4z0c9jjbxnXsokESECbSXevvS4WwF7OYiCch3Z41QpU7sPXSXVyNeW7-5WcgQGXV_WXTgotzZHndBXO9sVPKz6LQdxO5atxOVMVRE7aduhFJYzRIPLlr91sLKrqhaEy8q-xf5eB7wD9fqf8T78bABzPevQaFbhXTUZtyxI_1devlOkXMI6iT4yREJ1_4ACY4B5Q7qhOsCuC1ElSGE&smid=url-share

March 5, 2022

As temporary cease-fires break down, Russia remains intent on encircling Kyiv, Ukraine says

Source: Washington Post

The main threat to the capital appears to be the massive Russian convoy, about 20 miles from the city.

MUKACHEVO, Ukraine — Cease-fire deals intended to let civilians leave besieged Ukrainian cities broke down early Saturday within hours of being reached, while in Kyiv, mass evacuations continued and air raid sirens sounded repeatedly as Ukraine’s defense minister warned of a gathering threat to the capital city from approaching columns of Russian troops.

Ukrainian officials accused Russia of violating temporary truce agreements in the southern cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha. In Mariupol, where the mayor yesterday warned that the port city was facing a “humanitarian catastrophe,” the city council on Saturday advised citizens to evacuate, before reversing course and urging people to hunker down because, they said, Russian forces continued to shell the city.

Volnovakha, a city of roughly 21,000, also endured “heavy artillery” assaults during the cease-fire, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said. Russia denied breaking the truce, accusing Ukraine of using civilians as “human shields.”

Also Saturday, a powerful explosion struck a residential area in Bila Tserkva, 50 miles south of Kyiv. Local officials said they suspected a Russian rocket attack. Several people were injured, but there were no immediate reports of fatalities.

Read more: https://wapo.st/3tEsIum

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I'm worried that the siege of Kiev may end up like that of the siege of Leningrad. Encirclement and mass starvation may be Putin's plan; reportedly his family had to endure that during WWII. That may be the way to force a surrender.

March 5, 2022

Vladimir Putin Says Russia Has 'No Ill Intentions,' Pleads for No More Sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia has no "ill intentions" towards Ukraine, hours after Russian forces had seized Europe's biggest nuclear power plant.

Putin made the comment on the state-controlled Rossiya 24 news channel on Friday in which he called on neighboring countries "to think about how to normalize relations" more than a week after he ordered an invasion that has caused thousands of casualties and sparked a growing refugee crisis.

"I want to emphasize once again. We have no ill intentions towards our neighbors, and I would advise them not to escalate the situation, nor to introduce any restrictions," he said, according to news agencies.

"All our actions, if they arise, always arise exclusively in response to unfriendly actions against Russia," he added.

Putin also said: "We do not see any need here to escalate the situation or worsen our relations."

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-putin-intentions-war-zelensky-1684887

Wonder if this is a head fake of if he's feeling the heat from the sanctions. In either case, fuck him.

March 5, 2022

Bill Barr wants to be remembered as a truth teller? That's a clown show.

Have you heard about how Bill Barr saved democracy? It’s all there — in this new book by, er, Bill Barr.

In excerpts published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal, President Donald Trump’s former attorney general recounts how he bravely stood up to Trump about his bogus claims of election fraud, telling him: “The fact is, we have looked at the major claims your people are making, and they are bulls---.”

The courageous Barr hit Trump with another expletive: “I’ve told you that the fraud claims are not supported. … But your legal team continues to shovel this s--- out to the American people. And it is wrong.”

And another! “’Mr. President,’ I said, ‘the reason you are in this position is that, instead of having a crackerjack legal team that had its s--- together from day one, you wheeled out a clown show.’ ”

Our protagonist was relentless in his pursuit of truth. “’Look, Mr. President, they wasted a whole month with this idiotic claim about Dominion machines,’ I continued. ‘First, there is no evidence they were compromised.’ ”

https://wapo.st/3MrIz7O

IMO this asshole is now hoping to whitewash his criminality to avoid prosecution. He did enormous damage to the impartiality of the DoJ during his tenure.