TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalBiden talks sanctions, Putin warns of rupture over Ukraine
Source: AP
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden has warned Russia's Vladimir Putiin that the U.S. could impose new sanctions against Russia if it takes further military action against Ukraine, while Putin responded that such a U.S. move could lead to a complete rupture of ties between the nations.
The two leaders spoke frankly for nearly an hour Thursday amid growing alarm over Russia's troop buildup near Ukraine, a crisis that has deepened as the Kremlin has stiffened its insistence on border security guarantees and test-fired hypersonic missiles to underscore its demands.
Further U.S. sanctions "would be a colossal mistake that would entail grave consequences,” said Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, who briefed reporters in Moscow after the Biden-Putin phone conversation. He added that Putin told Biden that Russia would act as the U.S. would if offensive weapons were deployed near American borders.
White House officials offered a far more muted post-call readout, suggesting the leaders agreed there are areas where the two sides can make meaningful progress but also differences that might be impossible to resolve.
Read more: https://thesouthern.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/biden-talks-sanctions-putin-warns-of-rupture-over-ukraine/article_57a7bb35-55c0-5a00-81b4-1d00a4290b85.html
Link is to the Carbondale Southern Illinoisan.
Illinois lieutenant governor has breakthrough COVID-19 case
CHICAGO — Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said Thursday she has tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19.
Stratton, the state's second-in-command, said on Twitter that she had mild symptoms and "will isolate as I recover." She was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and had also received a booster shot.
"I'm so relieved to be fully vaccinated and boosted," Stratton tweeted. "If you have yet to do so, please get vaccinated, your booster and wear a mask. I appreciate your prayers and good vibes!"
Stratton, who previously served as a state representative from Chicago's South Side, is among nearly 117,000 Illinoisans who have tested positive for the coronavirus over the past week. That's by far the state's largest spike in infections since the pandemic began, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Read more: https://thesouthern.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois-lieutenant-governor-has-breakthrough-covid-19-case/article_8ffe7b0d-caf4-5fef-aef4-85f2b56db375.html
(Carbondale Southern Illinoisan)
Florida Democrats blast 'MIA' Gov. Ron DeSantis as Covid cases surge
Gov. Ron DeSantis has been missing in action as Covid cases in the state have spiked to new heights, Florida Democratic officials charge.
"Counties are overwhelmed w/ lines that stretch for miles," state Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Democrat, tweeted Thursday. "It's every man/woman for themselves, because leadership is MIA," he added.
DeSantis, a Republican and outspoken opponent of vaccine and mask mandates, last held a Covid press briefing on Dec. 17. Covid cases have reached new highs in Florida since then, including a record level of more than 58,000 new cases on Wednesday.
DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. His press secretary, Christina Pushaw, tweeted Thursday that the governor has "a wife and 3 kids ages 1-5, and it’s not surprising if he wants to take a few days off at Christmas to spend time with his family, especially as his wife is battling cancer. I don’t criticize (President Joe) Biden for going to Rehoboth Beach all week, right?”
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/florida-democrats-blast-mia-gov-ron-desantis-covid-cases-surge-n1286785
Pritzker urges hospitals to halt nonemergency surgeries amid COVID spike
CHICAGO - The effects of Illinois’ most recent COVID-19 wave were varied and widespread Thursday, with new daily cases breaking another record, the lieutenant governor announcing she has tested positive, the state shutting down in-person services at driver’s license facilities for more than two weeks and the governor urging hospitals to halt nonemergency surgeries.
Chicago Public Schools’ leader, though, said post-break in-person classes will resume Monday as planned, and an arbitrator has sided with the state of Illinois in its vaccine mandate for public employees.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office issued a release late Thursday asking hospitals to postpone nonemergency procedures and take any other measures possible to free up beds in anticipation of a post-holiday, omicron-driven surge and potential shortage of staffed intensive-care beds.
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton announced on Twitter Thursday that she has contracted COVID-19, while health officials revealed the state has reached more than 30,000 new daily cases of the coronavirus for the first time.
Read more: https://thesouthern.com/news/state-and-regional/pritzker-urges-hospitals-to-halt-nonemergency-surgeries-amid-covid-spike/article_8a504995-9ac3-5b48-8197-b6d6e51bfdfc.html
(Carbondale Southern Illinoisan)
Parents say police stifled investigation--claim daughter's alleged abuser received preferential
Parents say police stifled investigationClaim daughter's alleged abuser received preferential treatment
Weeks after a detective's son was arrested on charges of sexually abusing their 14-year-old daughter, her parents say the Springfield Police Department made it difficult to learn details of what happened or to file complaints against officers perceived to have acted wrongly.
On Oct. 26, Illinois State Police arrested Zane Merreighn, the 22-year-old son of Detective Jennifer Oglesby Mack, on three counts of aggravated sexual abuse. He remains in custody at the Sangamon County Jail with his bond set at $250,000. Oglesby Mack is a sex crimes investigator for the Springfield Police Department.
The parents of the girl contend Merreighn has received preferential treatment from law enforcement because he is related to a police officer.
"He bragged that he could get away with things because his mom was a detective," the 14-year-old girl told Illinois Times in October. Oglesby Mack did not respond to emails from Illinois Times. The newspaper is not identifying the family in order to protect the privacy of the underage female.
Read more: https://www.illinoistimes.com/springfield/parents-say-police-stifled-investigation/Content?oid=14508306
Second Springfield man charged in Jan. 6 attack on US Capitol
Another Springfield man faces charges for storming the floor of the U.S. Senate during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that interrupted the Electoral College vote.
Roy Nelson Franklin, 66, who was arrested in Springfield in early December, had been checked out by Federal Bureau of Investigations officers in Springfield just two days after the protest in Washington, D.C.
According to an 11-page complaint filed in federal court in Springfield, Franklin traveled to Washington with Thomas B. Adams Jr., 40, also of Springfield, and two were together "most, if not all, of the time and engaged in similar conduct" at or near the Capitol.
Adams was arrested in April and pleaded not guilty to entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and obstructing an official proceeding.
Franklin faces similar charges.
Read more: https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/crime/2021/12/30/second-springfield-man-arrested-december-washington-dc-attack/9049475002/
(Springfield State Journal Register)
Federal authorities allege this image depicts Roy Nelson Franklin of Springfield on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Jan. 6. U.S. District Court records
State lawmakers slash January legislative session due to COVID-19 surge
An explosion in COVID-19 cases has prompted state lawmakers to cut short their first legislative sessions of 2022, leaders announced Thursday.
The Illinois General Assembly will meet on Jan. 5, but two other session days scheduled that week have been canceled and three days scheduled for the following week are also “likely to be canceled amid the ongoing global pandemic,” legislative leaders said in a statement.
More Illinoisans are contracting the coronavirus every day than ever before, with an average of almost 17,000 residents testing positive each day over the past week. And hospitals are treating the most COVID-19 patients they’ve seen since November 2020 when legislators also canceled their fall veto session.
“This pandemic is not over,” House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said in the statement. “We must take necessary precautions to mitigate the spread of the virus, reduce the burden on our health care systems and keep each other as safe as possible. We know how important the people’s work is and we are committed to getting that work done in a safe way.”
Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/12/30/22859948/illinois-capitol-springfield-legislative-session-canceled-covid-january
A parable worth remembering
The donkey told the tiger, "The grass is blue."
The tiger replied, "No, the grass is green."
The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, so they approached the lion.
As they approached the lion on his throne, the donkey started screaming: ??Your Highness, isn't it true that the grass is blue?"
The lion replied: "If you believe it is true, the grass is blue."
The donkey rushed forward and continued: ??The tiger disagrees with me, contradicts me and annoys me. Please punish him."
The king then declared: ??The tiger will be punished with 3 days of silence."
The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way, content and repeating ??The grass is blue, the grass is blue..."
The tiger asked the lion, "Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?"
The lion replied, ??You've known and seen the grass is green."
The tiger asked, ??So why do you punish me?"
The lion replied, "That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is degrading for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with an ass, and on top of that, you came and bothered me with that question just to validate something you already knew was true!"
The biggest waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn't care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions. Never waste time on discussions that make no sense. There are people who, for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand. Others who are blinded by ego, hatred and resentment, and the only thing that they want is to be right even if they aren’t.
When IGNORANCE SCREAMS, intelligence moves on.
Credit to: Deena Walker, Texas Democrats
Here's what Texas universities are planning for the spring semester as new COVID variant spreads
As the omicron variant rips through Texas, some universities reworked their plans for the spring semester. But most have yet to announce any changes.
Two colleges have announced delayed semester starts and one has called for weeks of online learning.
The number of cases at local campuses was relatively low through the fall — keeping in-person learning on track — but some universities showed spikes in positive test results toward the end of the semester as the omicron variant began to spread.
The University of Texas at Austin’s percentage of positive COVID tests for students soared last week to 8.1%, increasing significantly over the pre-omicron semester high of 0.8%.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2021/12/30/heres-what-texas-universities-are-planning-for-the-spring-semester-as-new-covid-variant-spreads/
'A vertical climb': COVID-19 positivity rate among children quadruples at Cook Children's
The positivity rate for COVID-19 across the Cook Children’s Health Care System quadrupled in just one week, the system reported Thursday, with one-quarter of tests coming back positive for the coronavirus.
The trend at Cook Children’s mirrors increases across North Texas and nationally as more children have been infected during a surge fueled by the dominant, highly-contagious omicron variant.
Testing positivity has increased from 5.7% to 25.4% across the Fort Worth-based health care system — which operates a number of clinics and urgent care centers in the region, in addition to Cook Children’s Medical Center. That translates to roughly 400 positive cases among children per day.
The positivity rate more than doubled in just 48 hours: Tuesday afternoon, it was 11.3%.
“It is a surge with a vertical slope,” said Dr. Mary Suzanne Whitworth, medical director of infectious diseases at Cook Children’s Medical Center. “This is not a hill; it is a vertical climb in the number of cases and percent positivity for us.”
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2021/12/30/a-vertical-climb-covid-19-positivity-rate-among-children-quadruples-at-cook-childrens/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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