Month: February 2021

‘US leadership has been sorely missed.’ Trudeau, Biden seek to repair alliance in first meeting

President Joe Biden held a virtual tête-à-tête with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday – his first bilateral meeting – focused on the response to COVID-19, economic cooperation and other shared interests among the two close allies.   

In a brief statement afterwards, Biden called the meeting “very productive,” and said he and Trudeau agreed to work closely together on a wide range of issues, including the pandemic, the economic recovery and climate change.

He said the U.S. and Canada would launch a joint initiative to meet a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050, agreeing to “double down” on climate change commitments “to spur other countries to raise their own ambitions.” 

Biden also promised to take up an urgent Canadian priority: seeking the release of two Canadian men held in China, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Chinese officials detained the two men last year in an apparent effort to pressure Canada to release a top executive of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou.

“The United States has no closer friend than Canada,” Biden said. “That’s why you were my first call as president, my first bilateral meeting.”

Trudeau thanked Biden for “stepping up in such a big way on tackling climate change.”

“U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years,” he said.” via USA Today

Angry’s Thoughts: I don’t think it can be summed up any better than Trudeau’s closing statement. We haven’t been the “shining city on a hill” in quite some time, but maybe – just maybe – we can get back there.

FBI alert about possible ‘war’ against Congress reached D.C. and Capitol Police on eve of attack, deepening security questions

“Around 7 p.m. on Jan. 5, less than 24 hours before an angry mob overran the U.S. Capitol, an FBI bulletin warning that extremists were calling for violent attacks on Congress landed in an email inbox used by the D.C. police Department. That same evening, a member of the Capitol Police received the same memo.

But the alert was not flagged for top officials at either agency, according to congressional testimony Tuesday — deepening questions about the breakdowns that contributed to massive security failures on Jan. 6.

Both acting D.C. police chief Robert J. Contee III and former Capitol Police chief Steven Sund said the intelligence community at large failed to detect key information about the intentions of the attackers and adequately communicate what was known in the run-up to the Capitol riot.

“I would certainly think that something as violent as an insurrection at the Capitol would warrant a phone call or something,” Contee told lawmakers.

Sund cast the Capitol Police as a “consumer” of intelligence from 18 federal agencies.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: I agree with Sund here. If it’s true that they only received an email, that’s asinine.

“I hope this finds you well. We should do drinks soon! Oh! Almost forgot, a large, angry mob incited by the President’s irresponsible rhetoric might be planning to declare war on Congress tomorrow. Cheers!”

I mean, honestly, the entire premise that information that important was only sent via email and not immediately followed up on is borderline criminal.

On the other hand, the Capitol Police blaming this entirely on the IC is also asinine – there was plenty of open-source information that told us all exactly what this mob had planned. This was a multi-faceted failure and needs to be treated as such.

Johnson & Johnson to fall short of promised vaccine doses

“Johnson & Johnson expects to fall far short of its commitment to deliver 10 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by the end of February, with under 4 million to be ready to ship after a hoped-for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.

The disclosure of the shortfall by Johnson & Johnson is the first public measure of exactly how far the drug company has fallen behind its production goals. Johnson & Johnson promised to deliver another 25 million by the end of March.

“We will have 20 million doses of the vaccine to be made available by the end of March and we’re prepared to ship, immediately upon emergency use authorization, nearly 4 million doses of our vaccine,” Dr. Richard Nettles, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen’s vice president of medical affairs, told a House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday.”

Angry’s Thoughts: What ever happened to under-promising and overdelivering? Everyone seems to have it backwards lately.

To be clear, this is still a mammoth amount of vaccine that will be available by the end of March. It would just be better to have accurate information from the beginning.

QAnon Shaman Wants Out of Jail; Says the Government Lied About His Flagpole and Finial

“Jacob Chansley, the pro-Trump Jan. 6 rioter dubbed the “QAnon Shaman,” wants out of jail. In service of that effort, defense attorney Albert Watkins enlisted the words of American master Mark Twain.  Or, at least, a phrase commonly attributed to née Samuel Clemens.

A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is putting on its shoes,” the first line of Chansley’s 27-page (74 pages inclusive of exhibits) pretrial release motion philosophizes.

According to the filing, which was submitted with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday afternoon, the “lie” in question is a “miccharacterization” of a “flagpole” that was in Chansley’s possession during the attack on the U.S. Capitol Complex.

When originally subjected to a detention hearing by a magistrate judge in Arizona on Jan. 15, the government argued that Chansley used a “dangerous weapon.” According to the defense, the government’s argument “required characterization of the flagpole held by [Chansley]” on Jan. 6 as a “spear.”

The defense insists the government got that assessment all wrong.

“Since the original detention hearing, interaction by the defendant’s counsel with the Department of Justice, by and through its Assistant U.S. attorney, has made clear that the flag carried by the defendant on January 6, 2021, was adorned with a finial,” the motion argues.

A finial is an ornament that’s typically at the top, bottom or corner of another object. In other words: the defense claims that Chansley did not have a weapon, he just had a flagpole with a bauble.” via Law and Crime

Angry’s Thoughts: He also asked to get out because the organic food he’s being given caused “digestive issues.” Seriously.

With all due respect to his defense, I don’t really give a damn if prison food made his tummy hurt, and he can say whatever he wants about the “flagpole” but that was a damn spear.

Maybe consider your special dietary requirements before you storm the Capitol next time.

Ron Johnson just dropped a ridiculous conspiracy theory at the Senate Capitol attack hearing

“Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson has carved out quite a niche for himself in recent weeks: He’s the guy willing to push wild conspiracy theories about what happened before, during and after the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.

Johnson has previously suggested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (California) impeached former President Donald Trump over his role in the riot as a way to cover up her own malfeasance on that day — although he’s never actually explained what Pelosi did wrong. And Johnson said last week that he didn’t believe that what happened at the Capitol was an “armed insurrection,” despite ample evidence that it was.

It shouldn’t surprise you one bit, then, that Johnson used his time in the first public Senate hearing on the Capitol attack to spread a single eyewitness account suggesting that there were professional provocateurs seeded in the crowd on January 6 that led the largely peaceful gathering to turn violent.

Johnson read excerpts from a piece by J. Michael Waller, which ran in The Federalist on January 14. (Waller works at the Center for Security Policy, a controversial think tank that has been accused of Islamophobia.)

In it, Waller claimed that “a small number of cadre appeared to use the cover of a huge rally to stage its attack,” suggesting that these “agents-provocateurs” were a) not Trump supporters and b) were primarily responsible for the violent storming of the Capitol.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: Ron Johnson (Q-Moscow) is really getting on my nerves lately. He knows he’s lying – he’s personally seen the insurrectionists saying under oath that they were at the Capitol at Trump’s urging and that they believed the election was stolen.

It’s really incredible to me how many people are willing to utterly debase themselves for a twice-impeached, disgraced former President.

‘Bad politics for them’: GOP sneers at Dem Covid bill

“Republicans are making a risky but calculated bet: that voters won’t punish them for opposing a popular $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill.

With President Joe Biden and Democrats barely even seeking their input, Republicans are now gambling that there will be more backlash over schools staying closed, the Covid bill’s massive price tag and a partisan process. And with the GOP closing ranks to oppose the aid package, it could become the first pandemic relief plan that garners zero support from Republicans — following a year with five bipartisan bills and more than$3 trillion spent on fighting the virus.

“If it’s in its current contours, it’s hard to see many, if any, Republicans being for it,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.).

Instead, Republicans are comfortable foisting blame on Biden for shutting them out of the legislative process and hammering Democrats over the slow pace of school reopenings across the country — an issue they think will become a potent political weapon, particularly in key suburban battlegrounds.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: This bill has more bipartisan support than literally any Republican who is going to vote against it. That’s some pretty risky political calculus on their part.

U.S. Vaccine Production and Supply Increase After Snowstorms Caused Delays

“The White House said on Tuesday that weekly shipments of coronavirus vaccines to the states would rise by one million doses to 14.5 million, as vaccine manufacturers continue to ramp up production.

The figure was provided to governors in a call with Jeffrey Zeints, the president’s coronavirus response coordinator, said Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, on Tuesday. With tens of millions of eligible Americans waiting to get shots, state officials have been clamoring for more vaccine, saying health practitioners could easily double or triple the number of shots they are administering.

Ms. Psaki said the increase was the fifth boost in distribution in five weeks, and said it came just short of doubling the vaccine shipments underway at the time Mr. Biden took office on Jan. 20.” via The New York Times

Angry’s Thoughts: The snowstorm understandably caused delays with inoculations last week, but as of today, the United States has administered over 65 million doses. With the expected ramp-up next week–and Johnson and Johnson’s emergency use authorization looking likely–this is great news all around. The more vaccines we can get in arms now — while cases are declining across the board — the better the next wave will be.

Trump attacks McConnell as ‘political hack,’ says he will back pro-Trump candidates

“Former president Donald Trump lashed out at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday for a “lack of political insight, wisdom, skill, and personality,” just days after the Senate — with McConnell’s help — acquitted Trump on the impeachment charge that he incited the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The lengthy and personal diatribe, issued through an affiliated super PAC, confirmed that Trump plans to be an active combatant in the battle for the direction of the Republican Party that threatens to play out in the months and years to come.

It escalated that growing rift in the party about whether it will be controlled by pro-Trump forces unwilling to question the actions and record of the former president or those viewed as more traditional Republicans focused on building the party around a political philosophy that will resonate with more voters.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: I’ve read the book, and I’m pretty sure the turtle *always* beats the hare (or the hair, in this case).

Rate of new coronavirus cases declining around the world, WHO says

“The number of new coronavirus cases has declined by 16 percent worldwide over the past week, the World Health Organization said, even as more virulent strains of the virus spurred outbreaks in multiple regions. There has been a 10 percent reduction in the number of global deaths over the past week, as well, the agency added.

Europe and the Americas, including the United States, in particular, have seen the greatest drops in new infections. The number of new U.S. cases has fallen by 23.7 percent in the past week; nearly 28 million cases and 486,000 deaths have been reported in the past year.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: This is great news, but it’s important that we don’t spike the football too early. Vaccine rollout is increasing in most places, and that is obviously playing a part – in addition to the apparent seasonality of covid-19 – but we have to keep our foot on the gas if we actually want to get past this thing.

Democrats demand answers about USPS delays and question postmaster general’s leadership

“Congressional Democrats are calling on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to protect the country’s mail from future delivery delays and raising questions about his leadership, urging President Joe Biden to fill vacancies on the US Postal Service’s Board of Governors so that the board can “seriously consider” whether the Trump administration appointee “is suitable to continue in his role.”

In two separate letters sent to DeJoy and Biden this week, scores of Democratic lawmakers raised a number of complaints about the postmaster general, who has told those close to him he wants to stay in his role under the new President, two sources told CNN earlier this month, despite his troubled tenure at the helm of the USPS and his background as a supporter and donor to former President Donald Trump.

Together, the two letters underscore the party’s deep frustration with DeJoy, whose decisions in the run-up to the 2020 election were criticized by Democrats for hamstringing USPS at a time when many Americans were relying on it to cast mail-in ballots. Federal judges across the country issued unprecedented decisions to temporarily block DeJoy’s changes from being implemented ahead of the election.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: There should be no “seriously considering.” DeJoy should be replaced as soon as possible. If that means completely revamping the Board of Governors in order to make it happen, so be it.

At this point, I’m disgusted that DeJoy hasn’t be criminally charged. He tried to steal an election, and he came entirely too close to actually doing it.

More than 11 million counterfeit N95 masks seized in recent weeks, DHS says

“The Department of Homeland Security has seized more than 11 million counterfeit N95 masks meant for front-line workers in recent weeks, officials said Wednesday. It was the latest reported victory in a long-running battle against fraudulent attempts to profit from the coronavirus pandemic.

The seizures stem from operations in five states, “with more enforcement actions expected in the coming weeks,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a news briefing. Officials say they expect criminal charges and underscored the danger of fraudulent protective gear that gives first responders a false sense of security.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: Disgusting.. PPE is quite literally the only thing keeping healthcare workers alive right now. It’s gross – but ultimately unsurprising – that we’re seeing attempts to profit off of this.

Biden team struggles to specify when schools will open, normalcy will return

“Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s leading infectious-disease expert, has said Americans can expect a return to normalcy by this fall. President Biden suggested on Tuesday that a better estimate for a return to the pre-pandemic normal would be Christmas.

Both goals come long after the end of July, when Biden promises there will be enough vaccine doses for every American, which is the benchmark that many people had believed would allow life to resume its normal course.

As the country approaches the one-year mark of the pandemic’s isolation and restrictions, the Biden administration is struggling to give precise, consistent answers to two key questions: When will the pandemic truly be behind us? And, short of that, when can children safely return to school?

Biden himself has blamed miscommunication for some of the inconsistency, but his administration — which has promised to use science and data as the basis for pivotal decisions — is also grappling with the fact that science and data don’t produce answers as tidy or linear as campaign promises.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: Breaking News: Pandemic that was ignored for 12 months can’t be fixed overnight.

I understand and respect the role the media has to play in holding officials accountable, but headlines like these are absolutely asinine. They spent four years acting like Trump was a normal President, and now it’s like they’re almost desperate to make it look like Biden is blundering, even as we’re seeing positive, quantifiable results in the trajectory of the pandemic.

Judge orders 2 Capitol insurrection suspects to remain in jail

A federal judge has ruled that two of the most memorable participants in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol should remain in jail while their trial is pending.

Eric Munchel, who notoriously hopped a guardrail in the Senate chamber while armed with a taser and zip ties, along with his mother, Lisa Eisenhart, espouse ideas so dangerous and chilling that they couldn’t safely be released into the community, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled on Wednesday.

Though neither defendant has an extensive criminal history or posed a serious risk of flight, Lamberth leaned heavily on their statements to local media — embracing armed revolution, and expressing willingness to commit violence and even die to stop the election results — as proof they would be dangerous to others.

“The Court takes Eisenhart at her word,” Lamberth, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, wrote in a 17-page order he issued shortly after a hearing held via Zoom. “She, like her son, invoked the American Revolution, indicating support for violent revolt. In fact, she even indicated that she was willing to give her life in support of her cause. Thus, Eisenhart, too, has indicated that she is willing to repeat her behavior.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: I don’t know about you guys, but I’m thoroughly enjoying watching some of these people face the consequences of their actions for what seems to be the first time ever.

Munchel was the one I focused on helping identify from the beginning, because it was obvious that he wasn’t just there to look around. I’m glad he’s being denied release. Here’s to hoping they keep him for a a year or twenty.

North Korean hackers are ‘the world’s leading bank robbers,’ U.S. charges

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced charges against three North Korean government hackers accused of participating in a wide range of cyberattacks, including the destructive 2014 assault on Sony Pictures Entertainment hack, the global WannaCry ransomware attack in 2017 and a range of digital bank heists.

The three men — Jon Chang Hyok, Kim Il and Park Jin Hyok — worked for North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, whose aggressive cyber teams are known by security researchers as the Lazarus Group or APT 38, the Justice Department said.

The newly unsealed indictment, building on earlier charges against Park for his alleged role in Pyongyang’s cyberattacks, adds new information about multiple criminal schemes, including a series of breaches of banks targeting more than $1.2 billion; infections of ATMs with malware that allowed unlimited withdrawals; digital extortion schemes using ransomware; and the development and distribution of fake, malware-laden cryptocurrency apps that opened backdoors into victims’ computer networks.

It also incorporates earlier allegations about North Korea’s role in the massive Sony hack, which allegedly retaliated for the studio’s release of a satirical film about leader Kim Jong Un, and the WannaCry ransomware outbreak, which infected networks in 150 countries and may have caused as much as $4 billion in losses.

“North Korea’s operatives, using keyboards rather than guns, stealing digital wallets of cryptocurrency instead of sacks of cash, are the world’s leading 21st century nation-state bank robbers,” John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security, told reporters during a press call.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: If you haven’t read about the exploits of Lazarus Group/APT 38, you definitely should – they don’t get as much media coverage as the other major players in the cyber arena (CYBERCOM, PLA Unit 61398, GRU, etc.), but they’re easily one of the most prolific offensive cyber teams on the planet.

A lot of North Korea’s weapons programs are thought to be funded at least in part via these hacks.

CDC Gearing Up to Track Three Covid Variants in U.S., Chief Says

“Three worrisome Covid-19 variants are now circulating in the U.S. and the federal government needs significant resources to track their progress, according to the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The variants, which emerged initially in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil, have all now been seen in the U.S., said Rochelle Walensky, the CDC chief, in a question and answer session hosted by the Journal of the American Medical Association.” via Bloomberg

Angry’s Thoughts: These variants are obviously worrying, but the Biden administration announced today that they’re going to allocate $1.6 billion in order to expand testing and genomic sequencing to help understand exactly how and where these variants are spreading.

Hard to describe how refreshing it is to have an administration take the pandemic seriously.

Nearly 140,000 voters left GOP in 25 states in January

“Nearly 140,000 voters left the Republican Party in 25 states in January, according to an analysis of public voting records obtained by The Hill.

Some of the steepest drops in Republican Party affiliation were seen in California, where over 33,000 registered voters left the GOP; Pennsylvania, where over 12,000 voters defected; and Arizona, where more than 10,000 Republicans changed their voter registration.” via The Hill

Angry’s Thoughts: It’s almost like being sedition-curious isn’t a great plan for maintaining a political party. Almost.

On a serious note, losing voters in PA and AZ is huge – the GOP doesn’t have margin to play with in those states. If we do our jobs, the GOP will be relegated to the minority for several election cycles.

The party is fracturing, and they’re going to have to decide whether the Romney/Kinzinger/Cheney faction or the Greene/Boebert/Gaetz faction is going to win. It looks like they’re going to pick the clown show, but we’ll see.

McConnell Signals Trump Conviction Is a GOP Conscience Vote

“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling to fellow Republicans that the final vote on Donald Trump’s impeachment is matter of conscience and that senators who disputed the constitutionality of the trial could still vote to convict the former president, according to three people familiar with his thinking.

The Kentucky Republican has also suggested that he hasn’t made up his mind how he’ll vote, two of the people said, even though he voted Tuesday to declare it unconstitutional for the Senate to hear the case against a former president.” via Bloomberg

Angry’s Thoughts: I still find it highly unlikely that they’ll vote to convict, but this is an interesting move by McConnell. During the first impeachment, he was actively whipping votes and lobbying to keep his members in line. Without pressure from leadership, we may see a few more defectors in the overall vote.

Georgia Prosecutors Open Criminal Investigation of Trump Phone Call

“Prosecutors in Fulton County have initiated a criminal investigation into former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn Georgia’s election results, including a phone call he made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Mr. Trump pressured him to “find” enough votes to help him reverse his loss.

On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to “an investigation into attempts to influence the administration of the 2020 Georgia General Election.”

While the letter does not mention Mr. Trump by name, it is related to his intervention in Georgia’s election, according to a state official with knowledge of the matter. A copy of the letter was obtained by The New York Times.

“This investigation includes, but is not limited to, potential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election’s administration,” the letter states.” via The New York Times

Angry’s Thoughts: While Trump is the obvious target here, it looks like Lindsey Graham might be about to go through some things.

Trump hid his calls with Putin. Now, Biden has access to them.

“Few Trump-era mysteries are as intriguing as what the 45th president said to Vladimir Putin in at least a dozen rambling, off-the-cuff calls and meetings over four years. Understanding what was said between the two could help illuminate whether Trump ever revealed sensitive information or struck any deals with the Kremlin leader that could take the new administration by surprise.

Now that President Joe Biden is in the White House, he can see for himself.

“They don’t need our approval to see those [records],” a former Trump White House official said, referring to the new Biden national security team. “Biden owns all the call materials. There is only one president at a time.”

The Biden White House did not comment on whether it had seen the content of the calls. But so far, at least, the National Security Council has not registered any complaints with their ability to access relevant call records from the previous administration.

“It is a national security priority to find out what Trump said to Putin” over his four years in office, said one former national security official who is close to the new president. “Some things, like what happened in some face-to-face meetings where no American translator or note-taker was present, may never be fully known. But I would be very surprised if the new national security team were not trying to access” the call records.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: The server that became famous during Trump’s era is a highly-classified server that is designed to handle code word level intelligence. In the Obama White House, it was fondly referred to by those who were read in as the “Bin Laden Server.”

I was never too concerned about Trump’s team removing anything they shouldn’t, or otherwise altering any of the intelligence on that server because it’s protected by a suite of sophisticated logging software; it’s only accessible to a small number of people, and everything done on it is electronically recorded. If anything was improperly removed and/or altered, we would know exactly who did it, and they would be in jail.

Ukrainian PM: Russia using COVID vaccine for influence

Russia is trying to use its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to gain political influence in the embattled territories of eastern Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

Shmyhal, who arrived in Brussels on Tuesday for three days of meetings with senior EU officials, told POLITICO in an interview that the EU’s credibility hinged on being able to help partner countries like Ukraine that are struggling to obtain vaccines on their own.

“It is important to admit here that the Russian Federation is trying actually to impose its own domestically produced vaccine especially as a tool for influencing some of those regions, specifically those that are not currently controlled by the Ukrainian government,” Shmyhal said. “And that is the case not only here but also in many Eastern European countries.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: Nobody thought Putin would do anything but use the vaccine as leverage, right? This story is absolutely disgusting, but it really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

Florida water treatment facility hack used a dormant remote access software, sheriff says

“A hacker who last week tried to poison a Florida city’s water supply used a remote access software platform that had been dormant for months, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told CNN on Tuesday.

The cyber-intruder got into Oldsmar’s water treatment system twice on Friday — at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. — through a dormant software called TeamViewer. The software hadn’t been used in about six months but was still on the system.

“How they got in, whether it was through a password or through something else, I can’t tell you that,” said Gualtieri.

However, Oldsmar’s assistant city manager, Felicia Donnelly, told CNN that a password was required for the system to be controlled remotely.

Once inside, the hacker adjusted the level of sodium hydroxide, or lye, to more than 100 times its normal levels, Gualtieri said. The system’s operator noticed the intrusion and immediately reduced the level back. At no time was there a significant adverse effect to the city’s water supply, and the public was never in danger, he said.

The identity of the hacker, or hackers, isn’t yet known.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: Thankfully, this hacker wasn’t a professional. The hack itself has been described as ham-handed and unsophisticated, but it also begs the obvious question: if a ham-handed and unsophisticated attack can get this close to causing serious injury or loss of life, what could a near-peer accomplish?

Biden announces sanctions on Myanmar after coup

President Joe Biden announced sanctions on Myanmar Wednesday, urging that nation’s military to release elected leaders who were detained in a coup earlier this month.

The new sanctions on Myanmar, which is also commonly referred to as Burma, will target military leaders, their business interests and close family members.

“We will identify a first round of targets this week,” Biden said.

The new executive order also will limit the Burmese military’s access to $1 billion of Myanmar government funds held in the United States.

In addition to those measures, the U.S. will add “strong export controls,” Biden said, noting that the sanctions would be careful to not hinder support of “health care, civil society groups, and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: It’s refreshing having a Commander in Chief who immediately responds to bad actors. It’s going to take a little bit before our allies allow themselves to believe that Trump was simply an aberration, but as long as Biden keeps a strong, ally-centric message in his foreign policy, we’ll get there.

Judge orders Proud Boy charged in Capitol riot held without bond

One of the Proud Boys arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol told a court on Wednesday that he was duped by President Donald Trump’s “deception” and “acted out of the delusional belief” that he was responding patriotically to the commander in chief.

However, those arguments were not enough to convince a federal magistrate to release Dominic Pezzola, 43, a native of Rochester, N.Y., who was arrested about a week after last month’s riot.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather called her decision to detain Pezzola “a close call,” given his lack of a criminal record before joining in the takeover of the Capitol.

Her announcement followed a half-hour-long hearing on Wednesday afternoon in which a prosecutor and Pezzola’s defense attorney squared off about whether the Proud Boys member is so dangerous that he should remain behind bars.

“I conclude the government has demonstrated that Mr. Pezzola should be held without bond,” the judge said.

Angry’s Thoughts: The judge said she was worried that Pezzola might try something similar in the future, because he *still* believes that the current government is illegitimate. This is one of the many dangers of radicalization -it’s extremely difficult to deradicalize them.

This is also why so many of us spoke out against Trump from the beginning. It was clear from as early as the Bannon days in the White House that his “break glass in case of emergency” plan was violence, and he spent his entire four years in office convincing his cult that everything was rigged against them. He made them angry. He isolated them. He purposely blurred the lines between fact and fiction. He made it “us” vs “them.” It was textbook radicalization on a scale that I don’t think we’ve ever seen before.

DOJ to ask Trump-appointed US attorneys to resign

“The Justice Department, as soon as Tuesday, is expected to ask US attorneys appointed by former President Donald Trump to submit their resignations, a turnover expected to spare two top prosecutors in Delaware and Connecticut overseeing two sensitive Trump-era investigations, a senior Justice Department official said.

In a call Monday night, acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson asked Delaware US Attorney David Weiss to remain in office, where he is overseeing the tax probe of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son. John Durham, appointed as special counsel by former Attorney General William Barr to reinvestigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, will also continue his work, but he is expected to resign as US attorney in Connecticut, the Justice official said.

The resignation request is expected to apply to 56 Senate-confirmed US attorneys appointed by Trump.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: Significant change from the previous administration – Biden *isn’t* firing the people investigating his family. Weird, huh?

Alleged Oath Keeper charged in Capitol riot says he once worked for FBI and holds security clearance

“Thomas Caldwell, a Virginia man whom prosecutors have charged as part of an extremist group’s alleged conspiracy to prepare and attack the Capitol on January 6, said in a court filing Monday night he worked for the FBI from 2009 until 2010 and asserts he has held a “Top Secret” level security clearance for decades.

Caldwell, 65, raised the resume points in a new filing arguing for his release from jail after the Justice Department convinced a judge he should be held pending his trial.

Caldwell’s defense attorney wrote in Monday’s filing that Caldwell “has held a Top Secret Security Clearance since 1979 and has undergone multiple Special Background Investigations in support of his clearance.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: Periodic reminder that having a top secret clearance doesn’t always mean that you’re not a moron.

Pentagon seeks to combat extremism in ranks

“Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin faces an early test as he races to advance a major initiative targeting far-right extremism in the ranks, a challenge that officials acknowledge is complicated by the Pentagon’s lack of clarity on the extent of the threat following the U.S. Capitol riot.

Austin’s highly unusual order for a military-wide “stand-down,” slated to pause normal operations in coming weeks so troops can discuss internal support for extremist movements, underscores the urgency of the task ahead for the retired four-star general, who last month became the nation’s first African American Pentagon chief.

The Jan. 6 events at the Capitol, in which Trump supporters stormed Congress in an attempt to prevent President Biden from taking office, laid bare the appeal of white supremacist and anti-government groups among some veterans and, in smaller numbers, currently serving troops. Among the 190 people charged in the siege, at least 30 are veterans. Three are reservists or National Guard members.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: It makes me happy to see someone finally decide to tackle this issue. Pockets of extremism in the rank-and-file military has been a problem for quite some time. This shouldn’t be a surprise; trauma and PTSD can certainly help play a part in radicalization.

Any serious effort to combat radicalization and extremism is going to have to include emotional support. While we’ve gotten better at dealing with the stigma of PTSD in the last decade or so, we are still woefully underserving the men and women of our armed forces.

Lou Dobbs is lashing out at Fox on Twitter for dropping his show

“Lou Dobbs is not taking his cancellation by Fox lying down.

On Friday night, Fox News Media management canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” the most-watched show on Fox Business Network. No reason was given, though the network repeated a statement from October that it “regularly considers programming changes” and had been planning to “launch new formats as appropriate post-election.”

But Dobbs, 75, who is one of the network’s most outspoken allies of former president Donald Trump, has been on something of a tear ever since, retweeting dozens of tweets supporting him, including many that criticize Fox. He even boosted a tweet from a supporter suggesting that Fox News viewers “ditch Fox for @OANN,” the far-right network and would-be competitor to Fox News.

“FOX in a tailspin,” radio host Mark Simone said in one of the tweets that was reposted by Dobbs. In another tweet that was shared by Dobbs, conservative Carmine Sabia wrote: “Fox News is desperate to be accepted by people who will not accept them. Cancelling @LouDobbs is not going to satisfy the blood lust of the rage mob.” via The Washington Post

Angry’s Thoughts: Womp womp.

Fox allies are desperately trying to spin this as evidence that Fox News does, in fact, have a conscience and is collectively doing their part to combat disinformation.

…nobody is buying that, right? Fox News is protecting their pocketbooks – and only their pocketbooks – in response to multiple lawsuits targeting their network for spreading dangerous disinformation.

Biden administration to begin shipping vaccines to health centers

“The Biden administration will begin shipping coronavirus shots to community health centers next weekin an effort to reach some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations.

The program’s launch comes as White House officials are trying to address inequities in the nation’s vaccination push. Initial data shows Black and Hispanic people are getting vaccinated at much lower rates than are white people.

The background: The administration will allocate 1 million doses to community health centers. Roughly 250 sites will receive the vaccine in the initial phase of the program, which will eventually include any of the nation’s 1,400 centers that want to participate.

The White House will first choose community health centers that serve large populations — such as those that serve more than 2,000 patients who are 65 or older — and facilities with a significant number of patients who are agricultural migrant workers, residents of public housing or are experiencing homelessness.” via Politico

Angry’s Thoughts: I’m really, really pleased with the progress Biden’s team is making with vaccines. Last week, our weekly average of shots administered was 1.53 million per day. Their “rolling stock” strategy has really helped keep vaccine supply moving to states, and this is yet another example of them planning ahead.

Now is the perfect time to be getting as many shots in arms as possible; we’re in the middle of a significant down-turn in cases and Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine appears to be poised to receive it’s emergency use authorization by the end of the month.

The more people we get vaccinated now, the less we have to worry about potentially dangerous mutations and another crippling wave of hospitalizations and deaths.

Trump unhappy with his attorney’s performance

“Former President Trump was unhappy with Bruce Castor’s opening argument on the Senate floor this afternoon, according to two people familiar with his reaction.

Trump was almost screaming as Castor made meandering arguments that struggled to get at the heart of his defense team’s argument, which is supposed to be over the constitutionality of holding a trial for a president no longer in office.” via CNN

Angry’s Thoughts: It’s admittedly a bold strategy, but he could always try 1. actually paying them 2. not resorting to rambling, incoherent, completely insane defenses with no basis in reality.

Could a Single Vaccine Work Against All Coronaviruses?

“The invention of Covid-19 vaccines will be remembered as a milestone in the history of medicine, creating in a matter of months what had before taken up to a decade. But Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, the director of Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Springs, Md., isn’t satisfied.

“That’s not fast enough,” he said. More than 2.3 million people around the world have died, and many countries will not have full access to the vaccines for another year or two: “Fast — truly fast — is having it there on day one.”

There will be more coronavirus outbreaks in the future. Bats and other mammals are rife with strains and species of this abundant family of viruses. Some of these pathogens will inevitably spill over the species barrier and cause new pandemics. It’s only a matter of time.

Dr. Modjarrad is one of many scientists who for years have been calling for a different kind of vaccine: one that could work against all coronaviruses. Those calls went largely ignored until Covid-19 demonstrated just how disastrous coronaviruses can be.

Now researchers are starting to develop prototypes of a so-called pancoronavirus vaccine, with some promising, if early,results from experiments on animals. Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, thinks scientists should join together in another large-scale vaccine-creation project immediately.” via The New York Times

Angry’s Thoughts: Understatement of the week: this would be a total game-changer.

Admittedly, before COVID-19, I hadn’t really thought about coronaviruses at all since MERS. Now, I spend a disproportionate amount of my time both thinking about, and researching coronaviruses and their spread. mRNA vaccines have the potential to change literally the entire planet for the better.