Senators to Deliver Trump Verdict | Children of QAnon

1. Story of the Week: Donald Trump’s Verdict

It was “standard political rhetoric.” Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys yesterday argued that their client didn’t incite insurrection, as his impeachment claims. He simply told supporters who went on to storm the Capitol to “fight like hell” figuratively, similarly to others’ political exhortations. The Senate trial may end today with a vote that’s likely to fall short of the supermajority needed for conviction. But it’s not certain: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hasn’t revealed how he’ll vote. And Trump’s support is thinning, with former United Nations ambassador and GOP star Nikki Haley rebuking his postelection behavior, predicting he won’t run for office again.

Sources: WSJ (sub), AP, USA Today

2. Coming Up: America’s Back — Zoom Edition

The annual Munich Security Conference should have been President Joe Biden’s “America’s back” dance after four years of his predecessor upending alliances. Instead, he’ll meet digitally Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders anxious to welcome the prodigal superpower. While Biden is not going to treat European allies like a bill collector, he may want to ping Merkel on collaborating with Russia to build a pipeline, and EU leaders for making a trade pact with China. And act on an opportunity: Some of the attending nations are eyeing a peace initiative between Palestine and Israel, whose embattled prime minister hasn’t heard a peep from Biden.

Sources: DW, NBC, Axios, The Guardian

3. Ukraine’s President Is Baiting the Bear

Remember impeachment? The first one, with the infamous call to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who danced around then-President Trump’s entreaties for dirt on his political rival. Now Kyiv’s leader is doing battle with some of Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly media outlets, writes journalist Dan Peleschuk in Foreign Policy. Zelensky blocked three such television stations from operating, declaring that “information today is as powerful … as tanks or missiles.” This comes as his government’s war against Russia-backed separatists has ground to a weary stalemate, and Zelensky no doubt desires a rapport with a new U.S. leader who isn’t an admirer of Russia’s president.

Source: Foreign Policy

4. Tech Titans Are Their Own Worst Enemies

There’s enough money for everyone, no? But when it comes to the behemoths that control much of the world’s communications, there are more philosophical issues to fight over. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg argues that Apple’s unfairly restricting the platform on its devices with an upcoming privacy tool, while CEO Tim Cook is blasting Facebook’s data collection and algorithms. The social network says pitting privacy against service personalization is a “false trade-off,” but the titans’ dispute is reportedly headed to court, and probably congressional committees and regulatory proceedings that may ultimately decide who wins.

Sources: WSJ (sub), Medium

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5. Also Important …

Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler says that during the Capitol attack, then-President Donald Trump refused House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s plea to call off the assault, saying his followers were “more upset about the election than you are.” A series of nighttime arrests of opponents of Myanmar’s military regime have inflamed protests there. And U.S. health authorities have issued guidance saying schools can be opened safely amid the pandemic.

In the Week Ahead: Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi will be sworn in today as Italy’s new prime minister after organizing a government dominated by technocrats. On Sunday, New York’s Fashion Week begins, but virtually. And on Thursday, NASA’s Perseverance rover is scheduled to attempt a Mars landing.

You know her name but how well do you know her story? Carlos gets real with actress, filmmaker and model extraordinaire, Priyanka Chopra. Hear about the surprising push that kick-started her career and how she breaks barriers for representation in media. What musician does she reveal she has a crush on? Hint: it's not Nick Jonas.

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“It’s killing me to see this. I miss my mom.” Thus texted Kara, an orphan of QAnon, to her mother. She and other children of parents obsessed with the bizarre politically charged theories, like Hillary Clinton making energy drinks from the blood of children, are desperately watching their loved ones become lost down rabbit holes of disturbing fantasies, HuffPost reports. Watching them become more and more paranoid, one thing that’s clear is arguing with them just affirms their beliefs. When she saw a meme with “1-800-QUIT-Q-CULT,” Kara lamented that it wasn’t real. Until it is, they may not allow their kids to hang with grandpa.

Source: HuffPost

2. Yes, There Are Real Pet Detectives

There’s a mystery to be solved in the suburbs of Dallas-Fort Worth. And who should take the case but Bonnie Hale, pet detective. All it takes are some keen-nosed sniffer dogs, some motion-triggered cams and voilà! The guilty party is uncovered. Or parties, as the population of bobcats in and around such cites has proliferated. With development leading to their normal habitats being bulldozed, these critters, which aren’t much bigger than the house cats they hunt, have learned to live in an urban ecosystem. While there are plenty of squirrels and rabbits to dine on, some bobcats prefer tender house pets, and when they disappear, Hale is ready to find what remains.

Source: Terrain

3. Risking Your Life for Perfect Curves

It’s called the Brazilian butt-lift. To create a derriere that might break the internet — à la Kim Kardashian — plastic surgeons extract fat from tummies and other regions and use it to build out backsides. The procedure has grown 77.6 percent since 2015, the Guardian reports, with patients opting for it in part “so you don’t have to edit your pictures, ” as one explained. But there’s a downside, so to speak: According to a 2017 study, one in 3,000 BBLs have fatal complications. Yet, women are still getting them, some more than once, and are likely to continue to until another extreme feature goes viral.

Source: The Guardian

4. He’s Turning Skunked Beer Into Gold

The spirits move him. Sporting a maniacal-looking beard, Thomas Bilgram has found a way to spin garbage into gin, OZY reports. The garbage is expired beer that would otherwise be polluting local waterways where he lives in Vietnam. The Danish expat puts it through a clever distillation process, which skips fermentation, and adds juniper berries and local kumquats for a slightly sweet spirit with a tinge of citrus. Charging $35 a recycled glass bottle, Bilgram hopes that the end of the pandemic will help his venture grow and give even gin skeptics a reason to check out his “brewstillery.”

Source: OZY

5. Mark Cuban Started Something

Not everybody’s saluting. The Dallas Mavericks owner reportedly decided to stop playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before home games. Conservatives suggested he play China’s national anthem instead, and worse. The NBA mandated the tune, and Cuban acquiesced, while saying he hoped people would “listen to those who feel differently from them.” But he still advanced a conversation started by civil rights protesters like shunned NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Americans are taking a new look at the tradition and finding out that it wasn’t until the late 1940s that the national anthem became a regular fixture at sporting events, wondering whether it might be time to retire it.

Sources: SB Nation, Twitter, NBC

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