Scott

The US has warned its citizens to leave Russia immediately or risk wrongful detention or conscription to fight in Ukraine. In a new travel warning, the State Department said Russia may refuse to acknowledge US-Russian dual citizenship. The warning added that US citizens had already "been interrogated without cause and threatened". https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64629156

The scenes are chaotic: Russian tanks veering wildly before exploding or driving straight into minefields, men running in every direction, some on fire, the bodies of soldiers caught in tank tracks. Russian military bloggers are calling it a fiasco, and worse. These scenes have been recorded by Ukrainian military drones over the past two weeks around the town of Vuhledar in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, where successive Russian assaults have failed. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/13/europe/russia-ukraine-vuhledar-donetsk-fiasco-intl/index.html

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The Wyoming Republican Party criticized a bill on Thursday that seeks to implement a minimum age requirement for marriage as the new law makes its way through the state legislature. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, a Republican, and would raise the state's legal marriage age to 18 years old. There is an exception carved for 16 and 17-year-olds provided they receive consent from a parent or guardian. https://news.yahoo.com/wyoming-republicans-criticizing-child-marriage-070751920.html

The New Mexico State University men's basketball program has been suspended for the rest of the season amid an investigation into alleged hazing incidents the school's chancellor said left him "heartbroken and sickened." Dan E. Arvizu, chancellor of New Mexico State University, announced the decision Sunday, saying in a statement: "This action is clearly needed, especially after receiving additional facts and reviewing investigation reports related to the hazing allegations involving student-athletes on the team." "Hazing has no place on our campus, and those found responsible will be held accountable for their actions," he continued. https://abcnews.go.com/US/new-mexico-state-university-mens-basketball-program-suspended/story?id=97056526

The Pentagon confirmed Sunday that an F-16 fighter jet shot down an airborne object over Lake Huron earlier in the day. The Pentagon said the object was not assessed to be a military threat, but it was a flight hazard.

Schools across Auckland, New Zealand, will close Monday as the island nation’s largest city braces for the arrival of Cyclone Gabrielle, CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand reported Sunday. More than 36 schools and universities will shut their doors despite no formal order from the Ministry of Education, RNZ said, while the InterCity bus network will also reduce its services. According to the New Zealand MetService, gale force winds have already been recorded over the North Island on Sunday, with some reaching as high as 140 kph (87 mph). https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/11/asia/new-zealand-cyclone-auckland-gabrielle-intl-hnk

Russian soldiers are dying in greater numbers in Ukraine this month than at any time since the first week of the invasion, according to Ukrainian data. The Ukrainian data shows 824 Russian soldiers dying per day in February. The figures were highlighted by the UK's Ministry of Defence. The figures cannot be verified - but the UK says the trends are "likely accurate". https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64616099

Two former fighters of the Russian private military company Wagner have told CNN of their horrific experiences on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, and how anyone who faltered was immediately shot by their own commanders. The two fighters were captured by Ukrainian forces late last year. CNN is not disclosing their identities for their own safety. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/12/europe/wagner-convicts-eastern-ukraine-pleitgen-intl/index.html

I'd have to agree. It's pretty clear that the Executive Branch has been playing loose with classified documents. It appears this has been going on for a while.

A research firm investigated Donald Trump’s assertion that the presidential election was fraudulent, but its findings were suppressed because they found nothing to support his claims, The Washington Post reported citing four sources familiar with the matter. The Berkeley Research Group, hired by the former president’s 2020 campaign, gathered a team of around a dozen people to look into alleged voter fraud and irregularities in six states, according to the Post. The team reportedly briefed Trump, his former chief of staff Mark Meadows and others on a conference call held in the last days of 2020 — before Trump held a rally urging his supporters to march on the Capitol preceding the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. The call reportedly became contentious. https://news.yahoo.com/research-firm-hired-trump-prove-233154305.html

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered the downing of a high altitude object over Canadian airspace on Saturday, he said in a tweet. “I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon. Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object,” Trudeau said. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/11/politics/norad-additional-object-northern-canada/index.html

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A worsening security situation in southern Turkey has disrupted rescue efforts following Monday's deadly earthquake, international groups have said. The combined death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria has surpassed 25,000 and hope is fading of finding many more survivors, despite cases of miraculous rescues. German rescue workers and the Austrian army paused their search operations on Saturday, citing clashes between unnamed groups. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64608535

CNN) Former President Donald Trump's legal team turned over more materials with classified markings and a laptop belonging to an aide to federal prosecutors in recent months, multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CNN. The Trump attorneys also handed over an empty folder marked "Classified Evening Briefing," sources said. The previously undisclosed handovers -- from December and January -- suggest the protracted effort by the Justice Department to repossess records from Trump's presidency may not be done. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/02/10/politics/trump-classified-records-laptop/index.html

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I suspect that it's a little hard to tell the President or VP how to handle classified documents. In theory, they may need to use them as an actual working document. I also suspect this has led to the Executive Branch playing fast and loose with documents.

At first glance, July 24, 2015, seems to have been a brutal trading day for Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO. He dumped hundreds of stocks, losing at least $28 million. But this was no panicked sell-off. Among the stocks Ballmer sold were those of the Australian mining company BHP and the global oil giant Shell. Had Ballmer lost confidence in BHP’s management? https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-files-taxes-wash-sales-goldman-sachs

Former President Trump touted former Vice President Mike Pence as an “honorable man” on Friday, following reports that Pence had received a subpoena from the Department of Justice’s special counsel investigating Trump on multiple fronts. “Mike Pence is an honorable man,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Digital on Friday. Trump’s remarks come one day after reports emerged that Special Counsel Jack Smith had subpoenaed his former vice president. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3853420-trump-touts-pence-as-honorable-man-in-light-of-special-counsel-subpoena/

On Thursday, Former President Donald Trump picked a fight with fashion icon and pop star Rihanna. "Without her 'Stylist' she'd be NOTHING. Bad everything, and NO TALENT!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump was responding to a post from his former White House physician, Ronny Jackson, who accused Rihanna of "spewing degenerate filth." https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rihanna-fight-super-bowl-insult-nothing-without-stylist-2023-2

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I'll check it out when time permits. I'd say it was not so much getting around ineptitude, but a matter of trying to figure out how to fit people into the boxes they don't always fit into. But just plain ineptitude was a problem.

It was shot down, in part, because it was traveling at the same altitude as civilian aircraft and therefore, presented a possible threat to aviation.

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The White House announced Friday that President Joe Biden ordered the military to down what it described as a “high-altitude object” hovering over Alaska earlier in the day. “The Department of Defense was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaska airspace in the last 24 hours,” National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told reporters when asked about rumors of another suspected Chinese surveillance balloon. The high-altitude object, Kirby said, was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and “posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.” https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/10/politics/biden-alaska-military-down/index.html