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☆ U.S. Push to Restock Howitzer Shells, Rockets Sent to Ukraine Bogs Down
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Doug Cameron | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. defense contractors’ inability to quickly replenish weaponry such as missiles and munitions for Ukraine has led Pentagon officials to argue that industry consolidation has gone too far and raised questions about how prepared America is for conflict. Illustration: Adele MorganMore than a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. plans to increase production of key munitions have fallen short due to shortages of chips, machinery and skilled workers. Arms makers have added factory shifts, ordered new equipment and streamlined supply chains to boost output of Javelin antitank missiles, artillery shells, guided rockets and much more, which Ukrainian forces are firing by the thousands at the Russian invaders.

☆ Airstrikes, artillery fire heard in Khartoum as Sudan fighting enters third week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KHARTOUM, April 29 (Reuters) - The sounds of air strikes, anti-aircraft weaponry and artillery could be heard in Khartoum early on Saturday and dark smoke rose over parts of the city, as fighting in Sudan entered a third week. Fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary force continued despite the announcement of a 72-hour ceasefire extension on Friday, when strikes by air, tanks and artillery rocked Khartoum and the adjacent cities of Bahri and Ombdurman. The fighting has also reawakened a two-decade-old conflict in the western Darfur region where scores have died this week. More than 75,000 people were internally displaced within Sudan just in the first week of the fighting, according to the United Nations. The U.S. said several hundred Americans had departed Sudan by land, sea or air.

☆ How Strong Is the Economy?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Conservatives sometimes respond to this data by trying to separate the economy from the rest of society. But I think it’s a mistake to imagine that the economy is somehow distinct from living standards. To over-generalize only somewhat, blue America believes in NIMBYism (“not in my backyard”), while red America is more comfortable with YIMBYism. That combination helps explain why our economy looks so good by some measures and so bad by others. Liberals have been hobbling government and the economy, Nicholas Bagley of the University of Michigan explained on Ezra Klein’s podcast.

☆ Special forces swiftly evacuate US embassy staff from Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Smoke rises during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, Sudan on April 19, 2023. U.S. special operations forces carried out a precarious evacuation of the American embassy in warring Sudan on Sunday, sweeping in and out of the capital, Khartoum, with helicopters on the ground for less than an hour. However, John Bass, a U.S. undersecretary of state, denied claims by one faction, Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, that it assisted in the U.S. evacuation. Biden had ordered American troops to evacuate embassy personnel after receiving a recommendation from his national security team, with no end in sight to the fighting. The U.S. evacuation planning for American employees of the embassy got underway in earnest on Monday after the embassy convoy was attacked in Khartoum.

☆ Why a European stock index is crushing its US peers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the United States has climbed 2%. Those “growth” stocks gave investors a stake in firms that were on track to expand their businesses quickly and generate hefty returns. Now, investors are more drawn to “value” stocks: companies thought to be trading at a discount based on their financial performance. That’s been a “near-perfect combination” for European stocks to beat their US peers, he added. Economists at the Fed predict the United States will fall into a “mild” recession as a result of the recent banking crisis.

☆ Bank-rule pendulum swings back to 'safety first'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The crisis that struck the U.S. banking system over the weekend had many causes. After the 2008 crisis, Congress bound up the financial system with rules to prevent bank death spirals. The major financial authorities – the Fed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – applied the lighter touch. The Fed was permitted to retain tough rules for banks with assets over $100 billion, but decided not to. There are, after all, only 17 banks with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion – two fewer than last week.

☆ How the U.S. Spent $1.4 Trillion in Debt Last Year, Explained With Pennies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Weapons Pledge to Ukraine Exposes Cracks in Defense Supply Chain U.S. defense contractors’ inability to quickly replenish weaponry such as missiles and munitions for Ukraine has led Pentagon officials to argue that industry consolidation has gone too far and raised questions about how prepared America is for conflict. Illustration: Adele Morgan

☆ Fact Check-Fabricated Marjorie Taylor Greene tweet about submarines and China created by satirical account
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A fabricated screenshot that appears to show Republican U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene accusing President Joe Biden of allowing China to develop submarines is circulating on social media. The purported tweet is dated Feb. 5, 2023 and reads: “Under Joe Biden, China has developed under-water-machines (sic.) Joe Biden has surrendered America.” It shows a picture of Greene in the top left corner and her real Twitter handle, @RepMTG. One person said: “MTG discovers submarines about 150 years late.”No such tweet was found on Greene’s Twitter account (bit.ly/3x412Bb). Marjorie Taylor Greene did not post a tweet accusing Joe Biden of allowing China to develop submarines.

Adam Rich, the youngest member of the "Eight Is Enough" television ensemble, died at age 54 at his Los Angeles home Saturday. An official cause of death is pending a scheduled autopsy, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office said. "Eight Is Enough" actors Jimmy Van Patten, Connie Needham, Dianne Kay, Laurie Walters and Adam Rich at the Los Angeles premiere of the musical "Hello Dolly" on Jan. 30, 2019. The youngest member of the Bradford family, Rich endeared himself to viewers as a mop-topped child star. Rich's last credits are from 2003, when he played himself in "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star," along with a guest spot portraying Crocodile Dundee in "Reel Comedy."

☆ Democrats break with tradition by passing over 89-year-old Dianne Feinstein to elect Patty Murray 3rd in line to the presidency
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Democrats elected Patty Murray as Senate president pro tempore, making her 3rd in line to the presidency. "Majority Leader Schumer nominated Sen. Patty Murray and the Democratic caucus unanimously selected her to become the President Pro-Tem in the 118th Congress," a source in the caucus room told Insider. The position puts her third in line to the presidency, behind the vice president and the speaker of the House. Come January, that would have been 89-year-old Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who took office just a couple of months before Murray in 1992. "You were asked about it over the break, and you put out a statement saying that you had no intention of running for it," an aide walking with the senator told Feinstein when approached by Insider.

☆ Rare American lion fossils discovered in Mississippi
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The Oxford, Mississippi, resident would soon learn it was a fossilized jawbone from a giant American lion, a species that has been extinct for roughly 11,000 years. ”A rare American lion fossil has been discovered near the Mississippi River. Three days after Prewitt’s find, the Mississippi Fossil and Artifact Symposium & Exhibition hosted an event featuring previously discovered American lion fossils. The American lion stood 4 feet tall at the shoulders and measured 5 to 8 feet in length. Two American lion bone discoveries within a week or so is unbelievable, he said, calling it “just an incredibly rare fossil.”A growing American lion collectionPrewitt plans to donate the fossil he found to the museum in Jackson, which would make it the fourth addition to the institution’s collection of American lion bones, counting the addition of the newly found femur.

☆ Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich warns Republicans to stop 'underestimating' Biden
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Newt Gingrich recently warned Republicans to stop "underestimating" President Joe Biden. The ex-GOP House speaker blasted Biden's policies but said Democrats had been able to pass "radical" bills. Gingrich said conservative "hostility" to Biden has prevented Republicans from fully judging his record. Gingrich said on Wednesday that GOP opposition to Biden has caused the party to minimize the success of the president and his party. Gingrich represented a slice of suburban Atlanta in the US House of Representatives from 1979 to 1999 and was its speaker from 1995 to 1999.

☆ Kamala Harris says U.S. will defend Philippines in South China Sea
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines — Vice President Kamala Harris called on countries Tuesday to stand up for territorial integrity and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, which has been challenged by China, and said Washington would press an international campaign against “irresponsible behavior” in the disputed waters. Haiyun Jiang / APCiting the profound stakes for America and the international community in the region, particularly in the busy South China Sea, Harris called for a broad effort to fight for unimpeded commerce and freedom of navigation and overflight in the disputed waters. Haiyun Jiang / AFP - Getty ImagesIn Palawan’s main city of Puerto Princesa, Harris visited a small fishing community and discussed with impoverished villagers the impact of illegal fishing on their livelihood. China has warned Washington not to meddle in what it calls an Asian dispute and has said that U.S. Navy and Air Force patrols and combat exercises in the disputed waters are militarizing the South China Sea. In July, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China to comply with a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing’s vast territorial claims on historical grounds in the South China Sea.

As Republicans across the country saw their predictions of commanding victories up and down the ballot fall short on election night, Democrats in Pennsylvania were celebrating signs of a blue wave. Spencer Platt / Getty Images fileMany state Republicans said it’s no surprise that the strategy worked. “I think Republicans are going to be very demoralized here,” one Republican who worked on a Pennsylvania campaign, said in an interview. But while Oz struggled to overcome questions about his residency, Democrats and Republicans both said the election was driven by the Shapiro-Mastriano dynamic. “To have a wave, you not only have to have the initial motion, but you have to have the driver.

☆ U.S. House Speaker Pelosi wraps up long and historic leadership career
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Patricia Zengerle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

For our daughters and our granddaughters, now the sky is the limit," Pelosi said after first becoming speaker in 2007. As speaker, Pelosi helped pass the 2010 Affordable Care Act, a law dubbed Obamacare that enabled millions of previously uninsured Americans to obtain medical coverage. The visit capped decades of Pelosi's high-profile opposition to China's authoritarian rulers including President Xi Jinping. During her first stint as speaker, Pelosi called Bush "a total failure." Though branded a West Coast liberal by Republicans, Pelosi first learned politics 60 years ago on the East Coast as the daughter of a big-city mayor and congressman, Baltimore's Thomas "Big Tommy" D'Alesandro.

☆ Dianne Feinstein could be third in line to the presidency as Senate president pro tempore. She appears unaware that she's already declined the job.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Dianne Feinstein's office has said the 89-year-old doesn't want to be president pro tempore of the Senate. That would put her third in line to the presidency, behind the vice president and House Speaker. Feinstein — who will also be the chamber's oldest currently-serving member come January — issued a statement to the Washington Post last month saying that she's not interested in running for and serving as president pro tempore of the Senate. "This is about the Senate pro tem position," he said. With Feinstein no longer in contention for the president pro tempore post, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington would be next in line in terms of seniority, having taken office just two months after Feinstein in January 1993.

☆ America's longest-serving congresswoman argues her district needs to 'hold on to the seniority we have' amid broader calls for generational change in politics
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, 76, is the longest-serving woman in the history of the House of Representatives. She faces a tough re-election against a controversial GOP opponent amid broader calls for new leaders. In an interview with Insider in Toledo, Kaptur touted the benefits that her seniority brings to her district. the 76-year-old lawmaker told Insider during an interview in a staffer's black Jeep following a press conference. Bryan Metzger/InsiderOwing to her seniority, Kaptur sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, where she chairs the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

On Wednesday night, NBC News counted at least nine people watching the ballot drop box in Mesa, a small part of what has become a growing effort by some conservatives to monitor ballot drop boxes in hope of catching election fraud. Some people have stood watch at the drop box while wearing military-style fatigues and masks over their faces, prompting complaints to the Arizona secretary of state. No such drop box fraud has ever been found in significant numbers. On that platform, the former president’s account has shared posts by users advocating for drop box surveillance, including the Mesa drop box. “As for tailgate parties in every drop box: why not?” Keshel said, reiterating that drop box watchers should not participate in any illegal behavior.

☆ Election Day is Nov. 8, but the legal challenges have already begun
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The suits, largely by Republicans, target rules over mail-in voting, early voting, voter access, voting machines, voting registration, the counting of mismarked absentee ballots and access for partisan poll watchers. But their legal effort ahead of the election focuses on making voting easier and helping those denied a chance to vote, through legal hotlines and volunteers. But the bulk of this litigation generally occurs after the votes have been cast, not before Election Day. Trump’s own leadership found the election was fair, and state election officials nationwide saw no widespread evidence of fraud. There’s growing concern among election officials and law enforcement about overly aggressive poll watchers or people pretending to be poll watchers intimidating voters.

☆ Students demand Penn State cancel on-campus comedy show featuring Proud Boys founder: 'They're on the wrong side'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Isabella Zavarise | Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Students at Penn State want the administration to cancel an event with the founder of the Proud Boys. The Proud Boys have been labeled a terrorist organization by the Canadian government. He told Insider he's grateful Penn State is following through with upholding the First Amendment and said he wants the protestors there. When asked by Insider whether Penn State would provide comment on students' demands the event be canceled, the university reiterated the First Amendment. "Penn State is really fighting a losing battle on this one.

☆ How the warehouse boom devoured America's workforce
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

It all happened so fast, we never got a chance to ask the most fundamental question: Is the sudden and dramatic shift to warehouse work a good thing? Has the explosion in warehouse jobs, taken as a whole, left us better off than before? As my colleague Katherine Long outlines in her story about musculoskeletal disorders, warehouse work is dangerous. "Warehouse workers," he says, "are the assembly-line workers of contemporary capitalism." That experience has given him hope that warehouse jobs, like their assembly-line predecessors, could wind up being a source of both personal pride and economic advancement.

☆ These maps show which parts of the US are already having a green energy jobs boom
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

With the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law, there could be more postings for green energy jobs. Curtis pointed out that many of the green job postings fall in "red" areas of the US, such as in parts of Texas. "Future environmental legislation is more likely to pass if the green energy transition is perceived as helping these regions." Curtis told Insider one takeaway of his and his co-author's research is just how large growth in these green energy jobs has been since 2007. And more clean or green energy jobs could be made as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act.

☆ It’s not just you. Tommy Bahama beach chairs are everywhere
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-03 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“You see them all over most major coastal beaches during the summertime.”A Tommy Bahama beach chair in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Tommy Bahama doesn’t make its chairs and beach goods. Instead, Tommy Bahama licenses its name and design for the beach goods and receives royalties from sales at retailers. So they came up with “‘Tommy Bahama’ because I liked the resonation of the two words together.”The founders had recently left the company, and the country was suffering through the Great Recession, which dragged down Tommy Bahama sales. Correction: Tommy Bahama CEO Doug Wood said the company sells up to two million of its beach chairs a year and 700,000 umbrellas annually.

Automakers are now shifting to electric vehicles, which could make up one-quarter of new sales by 2035 , analysts project. Around the world, governments and automakers are focused on selling newer, cleaner electric vehicles as a key solution to climate change. Some Democrats have proposed reviving that program to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles. In that scenario, the researchers found, the United States could cut emissions just as deeply with around 205 million electric vehicles. “Right now it can be inconvenient to own an electric vehicle if there are no charging stations around.

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