year 6 – Page 6 – National News Roundup

Year 6, Week 6 (February 20-26)

March 1, 2022 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

The news is, quite understandably, very focused on the situation in Ukraine for another cycle, and that’s some grade-A nightmare fuel right there. Sadly, drinking the nightmare fuel is still important for many reasons, even though it’s awful. I’m going to do my best to help break it down, and if all else fails, remember that small sips help.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a panel!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

There was a whole flood of Election Rejection stories this week, and we saw some related bits and bobs that might as well go in this section as well. Here’s what I have for you:

Insurrection Updates. After the invasion of Ukraine last week, Trump was in the limelight an awful lot–emphasis on “awful.” First he went on the radio to call Putin a “genius” who was “pretty savvy,” though his spokesperson’s feed opted not to include those quotes for some mysterious reason. While I generally try to ignore the inane grindings of the orange noise machine, these soundbites proved the building blocks for his campaigning for 2024 at CPAC on Saturday night, and I think we have to take that seriously. The signals about 2024 feel particularly noteworthy when stories are also hitting about the new Manhattan DA abandoning the Trump indictment groundwork laid by his successor. There were some positive scraps of news this week too, though; apparently Ivanka Trump is in talks with the House January 6 panel, and so is Rudy Giuliani.

As I mentioned above, the big news on the Biden Rebuilding front is aggression with Russia. Here’s what has happened:

Land War Landmine.* A lot has happened since Putin “recognized Donetsk and Luhansk’s independence” and began ordering Russian troops into both regions on Monday. Very early on Thursday morning, Putin declared a “special military operation” was occurring, and Russia launched a multi-front invasion of Ukraine. By Friday, Russia had reached the capital city of Kyiv and captured the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. In response, President Biden and several other countries ordered prompt and escalating retaliatory sanctions. Then on Sunday, Putin put nuclear forces on high alert. The invasion has created over half a million refugees, though many Ukranians are also choosing to stay behind to fight. Incredibly, there have been massive anti-invasion protests in Russia, where protest is currently a very dangerous thing to do. Needless to say, this is a volatile situation with a lot of implications, and it’s a very dangerous and stressful time for a lot of people.

Your New Normal:

LGBTQ+ Kids’ Concerns. A number of hateful pieces of legislation have moved forward this week against queer kids. In Florida, a bill known as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill”, which prohibits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, has now passed in the House and moves to the Senate. In Texas, the governor has ordered mandated reporters such as teachers, doctors, and school officials to report gender-affirming care for transgender kids as “child abuse.”This apparently was done in response to an opinion from the state Attorney General, which some Texas district attorneys are already refusing to follow. I would be remiss if I did not stress that there is absolutely no scientific evidence to suggest that gender-affirming care is a form of abuse, though many credible medical organizations have put out statements indicating that withholding gender-affirming care can hurt transgender children.

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19. The biggest COVID news this week is new CDC guidance that relaxes mask requirements, which according to the current CDC director was done “to give people a break from things like masking” for a while until there’s another surge. (If you find yourself wishing I made that quote up, I assure you, I wish that too.) That same CDC apparently also thinks people should wait longer before getting a second COVID shot if they haven’t already, because spacing them out can reduce risk of heart inflammation. In more amusing news, an attempt to organize an American version of Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” fell very flat when only five rigs showed up.

The Good:

Biden’s SCOTUS Pick. Biden announced his selection for Supreme Court nomination this week, which turned out to be current appellate judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. This would be at least moderately exciting no matter what was going on, because it means he fulfilled one of his campaign promises, but Judge Jackson is an incredibly solid pick for many reasons. First of all, she was approved by the sitting Senate within the past year for her current seat on the D.C. Circuit, which creates less political cover for GOP obstruction in general. Second, her actual credentials are impeccable: She’s been a sitting judge for nearly a decade; she clerked for Justice Breyer at the beginning of her career; and she was an editor on the law review at Harvard Law School during her educational years. But I am particularly excited about Judge Jackson as a nomination because she also served as a public defender for two years, and if appointed she would be the first SCOTUS judge with public defense experience in modern history.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve these booped danger kittens as well as a more consistently improved government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 6, Week 5 (February 13-19)

February 22, 2022 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

For most of the week, the news felt like it was holding its breath, which is never a comfortable feeling. Then this evening, one of the things we were waiting for happened when Putin invaded Ukraine via Donetsk and Luhansk. I can’t really say it’s better to have the shoe drop, but I’ll definitely keep everybody updated from here.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a text message!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

There was a whole flood of Election Rejection stories this week, and we saw some related bits and bobs that might as well go in this section as well. Here’s what I have for you:

Insurrection Updates. On the January 6 front, the head of the Oathkeepers was denied bail by a second judge this week, meaning he’ll continue to be held in jail pending his July trial. Additionally, the Washington Post published a cache of text messages to then Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that were subpoenaed by the panel, and though they’re hardly a smoking gun, they’re definitely worth reading. An attempt by Trump to claim immunity against civil lawsuits regarding January 6 was rejected by a district court judge on Friday. Meanwhile, a Trump appointee district court judge issued an absolutely bananas opinion holding that only the Department of Justice can sue under the Voting Rights Act–which will probably get overturned on appeal, but good gravy. And speaking of Trump news, a judge in New York also ordered Trump and his children to testify in the NY AG’s civil suit–which technically is about his business practices, not election fraud, but you know what, same difference at this point.

As I mentioned above, the big news on the Biden Rebuilding front is aggression with Russia. Here’s what has happened:

Land War Landmine.* As we entered the week, despite the stalemate over the weekend, the Biden administration cautioned that threat of Russia invading Ukraine remained very high. Media began running more stories on Donetsk and Luhansk, regions of Ukraine where Russian-backed separatists had strongholds. Then yesterday, the U.S. told the U.N. that Russia had a list of Ukranians to put in camps, and continued urging diplomats and affiliates to move to safer locations. Just this evening, Russia “recognized Donetsk and Luhansk’s independence” and began ordering Russian troops into both regions. Needless to say, this is a volatile situation with a lot of implications, and it looks seriously likely that we’re seeing the beginning of a land war in Ukraine.

Your New Normal:

The Great Avocado Embargo. It feels kind of fitting that I honestly don’t have any normal news for you this week, but I do have one throwback to the Weird section. After a U.S. inspector who oversees the import of Mexican avocados received a death threat, we canceled avocado imports last Saturday, and the ban lasted for the whole week. But avocados are back on by the time I’m typing this, because the ban was lifted on Friday. So uh, welcome back to your new normal I guess?

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19. State of the COVID-19. For another week, COVID news is startling in its disconnect. We’re still learning about the BA.2 subvariant, and we’ve reached a million excess deaths total during the pandemic (though not all are directly from COVID). Experts are concerned that people are losing the thread about practices. And with California officially transitioning to “endemic” status and most states removing mask mandates, while high-risk people are… well, still high-risk, it’s easy to see why experts are saying that. Meanwhile, the “Freedom Convoy” in Canada is also ending, mostly with arrests and towed vehicles, and as Canadian truckers try to distance themselves, U.S. Congress reps are looking into who started it.

The Good:

Recent Medical Resilience. Recent Medical Resilience. This week, a third person was cured of HIV using a novel medical procedure called a haplo-cord transplant. Notably, this patient was the first woman cured using this method, and she’s also the first mixed-race patient. It’s an awesome advancement during a very strange time.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve stories about Hank the Tank as well as a more consistently improved government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 6, Week 4 (February 6-12)

February 15, 2022 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

It’s Valentine’s Day as I type this, but I’m not really loving the news this week. We’re more on the “Bees!” side of St. Valentine’s legacy, all things considered, but that’s 2022 for you. Maybe next week we’ll get honey.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a convoy!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

As a follow-up, this week we learned from Maggie Haberman’s new book that he also liked flushing document shreds down the toilet and/or eating them after he ripped them up (hopefully not at the same time).

Insurrection Updates. You may recall that last week, Trump was in the news regarding his habit of ripping up official documents that he was legally required to preserve in office and hoarding classified information documents at Mar-A-Lago. As a follow-up, this week we learned from Maggie Haberman’s new book that he also liked flushing document shreds down the toilet and/or eating them after he ripped them up (hopefully not at the same time). We also learned that some White House call logs from January 6 are missing. The National Archives have asked the Justice Department to investigate all of this mishandling of records, because said behaviors are in fact flagrantly illegal. Meanwhile, all of this is a very disturbing backdrop to the Supreme Court’s decision this week to restore gerrymandered districting maps in Alabama.

There were also some not-awesome developments on the Biden Rebuilding front. Here’s what has happened:

Blinking Biden. Biden announced a decision this week to award $3.5 billion in frozen Afghan funds to people suing the Taliban about 9/11, leaving only half of all available funds to actual Afghan people who are fleeing said Taliban. This came on the heels of his top science advisor, Eric Lander, stepping down due to systemic mistreatment of subordinates. Between that and the continued increase of inflation, it hasn’t been a particularly great week for the Biden administration. But on the plus side, a talk with Putin on Saturday left both countries in a stalemate; though the U.S. is still evacuating diplomats, Russia has signaled that it might be open to more negotiation.

Your New Normal:

Congressional Updates. This was a weirdly functional week for Congress, all things considered. A bill to ban stock trading in Congress has been gaining traction in both the House and the Senate. Meanwhile, both houses also passed a workplace sexual misconduct bill that banned a corporate practice of forcing arbitration for workplace harassment claims. Both of these bills are particularly unique for their bipartisan support, although in fairness, it did take four years for a #MeToo bill to actually pass.

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19. Over the last week, there were more and more stories about states removing their mask mandates as the omicron surge starts to subside. In the case of school mask mandates, there is some science to support the call, particularly for very young children who need to see faces in order to develop communication skills. However, in the wake of Pfizer stepping back its timeline for vaccination of young children, this is a tough pill for some parents to swallow, and the CDC isn’t supporting it either. And certainly for more general indoor mask mandates, which are also expiring or being removed in most states, there’s no real science to support the plan–particularly when we’re still coming back from the highest COVID death rates in a year. But speaking of mandates and poor decisions, the “Freedom Convoy” in Ottawa has continued on for another full week, blocking off more and more border crossing routes as the week went on. Earlier today, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time ever, which means he’s essentially calling in the military to deal with it.

The Good:

Recent Constitutional Resilience. In anticipation of the upcoming Supreme Court decisions on reproductive rights, Vermont is preparing to guarantee reproductive rights in their state constitution. They’re the first state to consider this kind of protection, but I’m hoping they won’t be the last.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this otter snoot as well as a more consistently improved government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me goofy memes for Palentine’s Day!

Year 6, Week 3 (January 30–February 5)

February 8, 2022 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Well, another week has gone by, and the news really isn’t any better. I’m sorry to be the bearer of 2022, y’all. Hopefully we’ll get better luck next week.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a pardon!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

As seems to be true every week, there are a lot of Election Rejection updates to report, and they’re full-blown bananas again. Here’s what I have for you:

Insurrection Updates. Most of this week’s news is about the GOP being a) completely behind Trump and b) completely off the rails–and yes, I’m aware I basically just typed the same thing twice. First there was the part where the GOP censured two prominent Republicans who are participating in the House panel because, apparently, the January 6 insurrection–an event that, I remind you, killed ten people–was mere “legitimate political discourse.” Unsurprisingly, Trump immediately congratulated the RNC for their decision. Of course, he was already engaging in witness tampering by dangling pardons for January 6 participants and publicly threatening Pence because Pence defended his decision to refuse to overturn the 2020 elections. Trump was also in the news this week regarding his multiple attempts to seize voting machines during his last days in power. We also got to read more about his charming habits of ripping up official documents that he was legally required to preserve in office and hoarding documents at Mar-A-Lago.

This was a weirdly quiet week on the Biden Rebuilding front. Here’s what has happened:

Blinking Biden. Other than news about Russia, which I’ll cover below, Biden stories were kind of an afterthought this week. There were, however, a couple of threads about how Biden is mad at his chief health officer, and about a COVID surge in ICE detention facilities. There were also a couple of stories about how Joe Manchin says that Build Back Better is dead, which I frankly feel is almost as much a statement about Biden as it is a statement about Manchin.

Your New Normal:

Land War Landmine.* Okay, this is super not my lane, but it’s important so I want to attempt to touch upon it. The short version is that this is a tense time regarding Russia, as there are a lot of signals to suggest that Russia may invade Ukraine in the near future. Unsurprisingly, Russia is saying otherwise, and argues that the U.S. stationing troops in Eastern Europe is unnecessary. But the U.S. troops are actually there reinforcing NATO troops that were already deployed to respond to Russia’s military buildup, so obviously that’s an oversimplification. Needless to say, this is a tense time and we’ll want to keep an eye on this.
Black Lives Still Matter. I am extremely disheartened to be writing about not one, but two police shootings in the last week. The lion’s share of media coverage is going to Minneapolis, where police fatally shot 22-year-old Amir Locke in his own home while serving a no-knock warrant for a completely different person. His parents are justifiably calling the act an ‘execution,’ and though no-knock warrants have been paused in the city, there are still no charges pending at the time that I write this. As the Washington Post notes, there was also a fatal police shooting in Tennessee, where nine police officers surrounded and shot a man holding a box cutter named Landon Eastep on I-65. And both of these stories are on top of the bomb threats being called into historically Black colleges and universities, which have been their own source of terror for Black communities over the last month.

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19. COVID news this week is… a lot, y’all. The U.S. has now officially lost 900,000 lives to COVID, which, in case you were wondering, is way more than any other country with reliable access to vaccines. It’s an incredible indictment of our handling of the virus, especially because nearly half of those deaths occurred after vaccines became available. Meanwhile, our brand of ignorant nonsense is now also infecting Canada, where a week-long vaccine protest with bonus white supremacy flavoring has caused a state of emergency in its capital city of Ottawa. But in more positive news, Moderna was fully approved this week by the FDA, and Pfizer thinks it is nearing completion of a vaccine for children under 5.

The Good:

Recent Inmate Win. California was in the news this week because the state is closing down its death row, signaling that the state’s moratorium on executions is likely to be permanent. It’s a small step in the grand scheme of things, but honestly this week has been so awful that I’m glad I have anything good to report at all.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this snow-loving mop as well as a more consistently improved government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me your hope for a functional water heater!

Year 6, Week 2 (January 23-29)

February 1, 2022February 1, 2022 Kara Hurvitz1 Comment

If I had to catalog my own reaction to the news this week, I think it would be ‘pronounced disgust’–it’s hard to read about so many system dysfunctions coming home to roost at once. If you’re feeling that way as you read this week, know that it’s not just you! At minimum, it’s you and me, and we can be disgruntled weirdos together.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a COVID test!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

As seems to be true every week, there are a lot of Election Rejection updates to report, and they’re back to being concerning again. Here’s what I have for you:

Insurrection Updates. This week’s rain of subpoenas from the House Panel includes, among others, fourteen people who apparently tried to file fake electoral college certificates during the 2020 election. Meanwhile, a baseless challenge to last week’s subpoena of Trump’s attorneys has already been tossed out by a judge. And the Oathkeeper charges continue forward, with ten members pleading not guilty, but Trump’s publicly assuring them that he’ll pardon them once he’s President again.

This wasn’t exactly a stellar week on the Biden Rebuilding front. Here’s what has happened:

Biden Missteps. There were a lot of stories this week about Biden dropping balls. The big and overblown story was Biden getting picked up on a hot mic again, though in his defense I think he said what a lot of us were thinking when he called Fox correspondent Peter Doocy a ‘stupid sonofabitch.‘ (He apparently later phoned Doocy and apologized, in case that’s relevant to life.) Personally, I’m a lot more concerned that he misused a COVID hospital fund to pay pharma companies for vaccine doses just like Trump did with Operation Warp Speed–which, given the strain hospitals face during the pandemic, is a really big deal even though we did also need the vaccine doses. Also, the Washington Post pointed out that Biden promised to halt fossil fuel leasing when he took office but a year later had issued more drilling permits than Trump did. Finally, the vaccine mandate for businesses issued by OSHA last year is being officially withdrawn, though that last one is probably more the fault of the Supreme Court that shot it down.

Your New Normal:

Spotlight on Spotify. There was a whole Spotify saga this week that is a bigger deal than it appears. The whole story actually started in mid-January, when over 270 professionals penned an open letter to Spotify protesting extreme COVID misinformation on its biggest podcasting platform, the Joe Rogan Experience, and asking them to moderate the information it disseminates. Neil Young then picked up the thread and published a letter on his own website saying that he wanted his music removed from the platform in protest. Young followed through immediately, removing his tracks and causing significant market capitalization disruption for the company. This promptly snowballed, with Joni Mitchell and a few other prominent musicians following suit; Mitchell also issued a statement about the life-threatening consequences of vaccine misinformation. (She is not wrong, incidentally; experts estimate about 200,000 COVID deaths occurred last year after widespread vaccine availability due to vaccine refusal.) Eventually, Spotify issued a statement indicating that they would put a general content warning on any podcasts that touched on COVID-19, but notably this did not constitute any actual warnings about misinformation. Vaccine misinformation dissemination is an important contemporary issue that we can expect to continue as the pandemic does.

Scope of SCOTUS. The Supreme Court was in the news a lot this week, between Justice Breyer announcing that he’s stepping down this term, Biden then recommitting to nominating a Black woman as the next Justice, and the court itself agreeing to hear a case that is challenging affirmative action. (Of course, Republicans lost no time in claiming those last two things were related, though both women considered to be the main frontrunners for the next SCOTUS pick are extremely qualified appellate justices.)

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19. We’ve touched on some of the biggest stories already, but there were a number of research publications in the past week, particularly regarding the efficacy of boosters and Omicron hospitalization rates, and legislators are beginning to seek data on long COVID as well. Additionally, Pfizer and BioNTech are beginning testing on Omicron-specific vaccines, which may be related to the fact that we’ve identified a new Omicron variant called BA.2 (though at present, it appears pretty similar to Original Flavor Omicron).

The Good:

Recent Health Field Resilience. We’ve apparently had a record enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act, which is perfectly logical given the circumstances but still honestly quite good to see. And a recent study that highlights the positive health impact that financial support has on infants has been getting a surprising amount of outlet attention–the study isn’t truly news for most people in field, but the fact that it’s being taken so seriously is nonetheless very promising.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this happy goose reunion as well as a more consistently improved government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me news of less snowfall!