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Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner Reaped Stunning Amount Of Outside Income At White House

Huffington Post
By Lee Moran

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner tried to portray themselves as selfless public servants making financial sacrifices when they declined to take public paychecks while serving as White House advisers to former President Donald Trump.

But the couple ― who last year reportedly spent $30 million on undeveloped property on a Florida island ― nevertheless raked in between $172 million and $640 million in outside income from their myriad business interests during their four years in the Trump administration, according to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s analysis of financial disclosures released on Monday.

The exact earnings of the ex-president’s daughter and son-in-law are difficult to determine because “the income is sometimes in reported in broad ranges” and covered several months before they joined the White House, according to the group.

But even at the lower end of the estimated scale, the couple’s income works out to around $43 million per year ― or $21.5 million each.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-income-during-white-house_n_6022620ec5b6c56a89a42bf0

Maryland Bill Would Give Students Mental Health Days Off, No Need for Doctor's Note

NBC4Washington
By Tom Hindle of Capital News Service

A bill in the Maryland state legislature would grant school students excused absences for mental health reasons.

Under the proposed law, students would be allowed to skip school once every quarter — without needing a doctor’s note.

Sponsored by Del. Alonzo Washington, D-Prince George’s, the legislation aims to alleviate mental health problems exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Right now, we know mental health and mental illness is running rampant, especially among students,” Washington told Capital News Service.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/maryland-bill-would-give-students-mental-health-days-off-no-need-for-doctors-note/2567316/

Amazon workers begin voting in landmark US union push

Agence France-Presse
February 09, 2021

Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama have begun voting on whether to form the first American union at the e-commerce giant, an effort that could pave the way for further unionization in the United States at one of the world's most powerful companies.

Amazon is the second-largest employer in the US with an 800,000-strong workforce, most of whom are "essential workers" who cannot do their jobs from home during the coronavirus pandemic.

'There have been a series of protests around the United States on safety and working conditions at Amazon, with the pandemic increasing pressure on its distribution network even as profits soar.

Employees at its BHM1 facility in Bessemer, Alabama, notified authorities of their plan to unionize in November.

https://www.rawstory.com/amazon-workers-begin-voting-in-landmark-us-union-push/

Navy Ship Didn't Enforce Social Distancing, Letting COVID Spread: Pentagon Watchdog

NBC News
Feb. 8, 2021, 2:04 PM EST
By Dan De Luce

Commanders of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier failed to enforce social distancing and withdrew sailors too early from quarantine last year, aggravating an outbreak of COVID-19 among the ship's crew, according to a report from a Pentagon watchdog, NBC News reports.

The Roosevelt leadership also "allowed social gathering areas to remain open" and continued to conduct urine tests for illegal drugs despite the threat posed by the novel coronavirus and procedures outlined by the Navy, the Defense Department's inspector general said in a report released Monday.

The inspector general found that the Navy had appropriate plans in place to counter a potential outbreak of an infectious disease, but the leadership of the Roosevelt did not fully implement the required measures.

The Roosevelt had just completed a port call in Da Nang, Vietnam, when it reported the ship's first Covid case on March 24 last year. Over the course of the outbreak, 1,271 sailors, or about 27 percent of the 4,800-member crew, tested positive for Covid, according to previous statements by the Defense Department. One crew member died.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/aircraft-carrier-failed-enforce-social-distancing-allowing-covid-spread-pentagon-n1257023

Women's Labor Force Participation Rate Hit a 33-Year Low in January, According to New Analysis

NBCWashington
By Courtney Connley, CNBC

In January, another 275,000 women dropped out of the labor force, accounting for nearly 80% of all workers over the age 20 who left the workforce last month, according to a National Women's Law Center analysis of the latest jobs report.

This brings the total number of women who have left the labor force since February 2020 to more than 2.3 million, and it puts women's labor force participate rate at 57%, the lowest it's been since 1988, according to NWLC. By comparison, nearly 1.8 million men have left the labor force during this same time period.

Many of these women, says Emily Martin, VP for education and workplace justice at NWLC, have been forced to leave the workplace due to ongoing closures of schools and day care centers. These women, she explains, are not included in the calculated unemployment rate, which is already disproportionately high for women of color.

"To be counted as unemployed, you have to be looking for work," she tells CNBC Make It. "Those who have left the labor force are no longer working or looking for work so in some ways the unemployment rate is artificially lowered by the fact that it doesn't capture these millions of women."

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/business/money-report/womens-labor-force-participation-rate-hit-a-33-year-low-in-january-according-to-new-analysis/2566818/

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A Third Of U.S. Families Struggle To Afford Diapers. This Bill Aims To Change That.

Huffington Post
By Alanna Vagianos

In the United States, 1 in 3 families struggle to provide enough diapers for their children ― often forcing them to choose between food and the vital child care item. Sometimes, it even keeps families from sending their kids to day care. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) introduced a new bipartisan bill on Monday that aims to ensure every family can afford diapers.

The End Diaper Need Act of 2021, shared first with HuffPost, will assist low-income families that aren’t able to afford diapers for their babies or toddlers. For these families, the inability to access diapers can be a significant burden on their physical, mental and economic well-being. Infants use up to 12 diapers a day and toddlers use around eight diapers a day, averaging a cost of around $80 a month, according to the National Diaper Network.

“In the middle of a global public health crisis ― with so many families struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads ― the last thing parents should have to worry about is being able to buy diapers that are essential to the health and well-being of their children,” Duckworth told HuffPost. Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) are co-leads on the bill alongside Duckworth.

The bill will use three approaches to address the diaper need in minority and low-income communities around the country. First, the End Diaper Need Act will give $200 million to social services every year between 2022 and 2025, which will go toward diapers and other diaper supplies. The bill will also fund 200 medically necessary diapers per month for “medically complex children” through Medicaid. Lastly, the act will define diapers and diaper supplies as qualified medical expenses so that families can purchase them through their health savings accounts or health reimbursement accounts.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/families-struggle-afford-diapers-bill_n_602164f2c5b6173dd2f83db5

Germany, Sweden and Poland toss out Russian diplomats over Moscow expulsions

Source: France24

Germany, Sweden and Poland on Monday each threw out a Russian diplomat in retaliation for Moscow's expulsion last week of their diplomats for allegedly taking part in protests in support of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
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The three EU countries announced the tit-for-tat moves in coordinated statements, drawing an angry response from Russia which accused them of meddling in its internal affairs.

The diplomatic spat comes at a time of heightened tensions between the European Union and Russia, exacerbated by the arrest and jailing of leading opposition figure Navalny.

Russia humiliated the European Union on Friday by announcing the expulsions during a rare meeting in Moscow between EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210208-germany-sweden-and-poland-toss-out-russian-diplomats-over-moscow-expulsions

Police: Partially Clothed Woman Breaks in to Virginia Home, Attacks Man With Pitchfork

NBCWashington/Associated Press

Authorities in Virginia say that a partially clothed woman broke into a Stafford County home and attacked a man with a pitchfork.

The Free Lance-Star reports that the woman was arrested Sunday after a scuffle with deputies.

Stafforf Sheriff’s Maj. Shawn Kimmitz said deputies went to a home in Stafford in response to a report of breaking and entering. He said that a half-naked, muddy woman had knocked down a door and attacked the resident.

Kimmitz said the man suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries after being jabbed in the arm with the pitchfork. He said she fled to a nearby home and attacked deputies after they arrived.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/police-partially-clothed-woman-breaks-in-to-virginia-home-attacks-man-with-pitchfork/2566298/