memeorandum: Millions of Palm-Sized, Flying Spiders Could Invade the East Coast (Ben Turner/Scientific American)

12:55 AM ET, March 8, 2022

Top Items:

As Russia's Military Stumbles, Its Adversaries Take Note — President Vladimir Putin could still reduce cities in Ukraine to rubble, officials say. But European countries that once feared Russia say they are not so scared anymore. — CONSTANTA, Romania — When it comes to war, generals say that “mass matters.”

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story and Yasha Levine

Washington Post:

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Odessa braces for Russian assault as humanitarian conditions deteriorate — Talks between Russian and Ukrainian negiotiators, which began as the war entered its 12th day, yielded some progress on logistical arrangements for local cease-fires and evacuation corridors.

Discussion: The Hill, CBS News, Breitbart, UPI, IJR and Vanity Fair, more at Mediagazer »

Steven Lee Myers / New York Times:

With New Limits on Media, Putin Closes a Door on Russia's ‘Openness’ — One of the paradoxical things about Vladimir V. Putin's increasingly authoritarian rule of Russia was how relatively open society always remained. — For all the state's control of media, people could read or watch what they wanted …

Discussion: Fox News, Safety Propaganda, Althouse and Wall Street Journal

Maria Varenikova / New York Times:

Hate for Putin's Russia Consumes Ukraine — Much of the bitterness is directed at President Vladimir V. Putin, but Ukrainians also chastise ordinary Russians, calling them complicit. — LVIV, Ukraine — Trapped in his apartment on the outskirts of Kyiv during fierce battles over the weekend …

Discussion: Washington Post and Straight Into Africa

Eliot A. Cohen / The Atlantic:

The Strategy That Can Defeat Putin — First came the shock: the sight of missiles and artillery shells slamming into apartment buildings, helicopters pirouetting in flames, refugees streaming across the border, an embattled and unshaven president pleading with anguished political leaders abroad for help …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, New York Times, NeoReactor, RedState, Henya's Newsletter, Alexandra's Newsletter, Deseret, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Ari Melber and Los Angeles Times

New York Times: Russia, Blocked From the Global Internet, Plunges Into Digital Isolation

Washington Post: Businesses are fleeing Russia. McDonald's and Pizza Hut are sticking around.

Catherine Belton / Reuters:
Russia will stop ‘in a moment’ if Ukraine meets terms - Kremlin

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Wire, New York Post, Edward Slavsquat, The Baerlocher Bearing, The Western Journal, RedState, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, Common Dreams, TheBlaze and HotAir

Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:
The Power of False War Propaganda Divides Families

Discussion: Raw Story and Axios

James Kilner / Telegraph:
‘Our sons were sent to Ukraine as cannon fodder’: Furious Russian mothers face down Kremlin

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Amber Phillips / Washington Post:
Why Biden is getting some praise from Republicans on his handling of Ukraine

Discussion: The Texas Tribune, New York Times, Washington Free Beacon, Point of Order, Punchbowl News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Supercreator, CNN, Vanity Fair and Daily Kos

Ana Swanson / New York Times:
Congress moves to bar Russian energy imports and end favorable trade relations.

Discussion: Axios, New York Post, Washington Post, Politico, New Republic, The Daily Wire, Political Wire and The Guardian

Quinnipiac University Poll:

Vast Majority Of Americans Say Ban Russian Oil, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Nearly 8 In 10 Support U.S. Military Response If Putin Attacks A NATO Country — mail_outline — At nearly the end of week two of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as the U.S. and its allies consider ratcheting …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Fox News, TheBlaze, Newsweek, RedState, Political Wire, New York Post, HotAir, CBS News, The Daily Caller, Politico and Washington Post

Washington Post:

White House reaches out to Venezuela, a longtime foe, amid Russia crisis … The Biden White House inched closer Monday to a modest rapprochement with oil-rich Venezuela, a bitter foe due to the oppressive policies of President Nicolás Maduro, as it urgently sought ways to stave off the economic …

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Kos, RedState, Politico and Forbes

Politico:
Biden warms to a Russian oil ban. Congress may not give him a choice.

Discussion: Issues & Insights, Politico, NPR, Morning Consult, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Commentary Magazine, The Hill and Louder With Crowder

John Sexton / HotAir:
What are the dark, unsettling truths behind Biden's reluctance to ban Russian oil?

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post, UPI, Politico and Washington Examiner

Ben Turner / Scientific American:

Millions of Palm-Sized, Flying Spiders Could Invade the East Coast — A huge invasive spider that invaded Georgia from East Asia could soon take over most of the U.S. East Coast, a new study has revealed. — New research, published Feb. 17 in the journal Physiological Entomology …

Politico:

Judge tosses obstruction charge against Jan. 6 defendant — A federal judge has thrown out an obstruction charge against a defendant charged with breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a ruling that could reverberate across hundreds of cases stemming from the attack on Congress.

James B. Comey / Washington Post:
Every Jan. 6 case matters

Discussion: Raw Story

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:

Congress Gives Final Approval to Make Lynching a Hate Crime — The bill's unanimous passage in the Senate ended more than a century of failed attempts to explicitly criminalize lynching. — WASHINGTON — The Senate unanimously approved a bill that would make lynching a federal hate crime …

Discussion: Associated Press, Axios, Washington Post, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Sun-Times and The Hill

Bryan Anderson / WRAL-TV:

Former NC congressman registered to vote in home where he purportedly never stayed — RALEIGH, N.C. — Former U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, one of North Carolina's most prominent political figures, is registered to vote using the address of a mobile home in which the former property owner says the Republican never lived.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Daily Kos, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo and Insider

Shawn McCreesh / New York Magazine:

Taylor Lorenz Introduces Her Brand to the Washington Post — Today is Taylor Lorenz's first day at the Washington Post, and she's already doing, arguably, exactly what she was hired to do: She's stirring up trouble on social media. “Oh my God, can you stand all the drama?” she says, giggling on a phone call with me last night.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Paoletta / The Federalist:

The New York Times Knowingly Published A False Smear Against Clarence Thomas' Wife — New information reveals the Times knowingly printed a false allegation in a hit piece on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's wife, Ginni. — The New York Times has smeared again …

Pete Williams / NBC News:
Supreme Court's Thomas calls for new look at giving Facebook broad immunity

Discussion: The Root, more at Techmeme »

Maria Elena Vizcaino / Bloomberg:

Morgan Stanley Says Russia's Set for Venezuela-Style Default — The odds of Russia making its foreign debt payments are diminishing as bond prices fall, recession in the nation looms and various payment restrictions pile up after the invasion of Ukraine, according to Morgan Stanley & Co.

Discussion: The Kyiv Independent

Amy B Wang / Washington Post:

Sen. Ron Johnson says Obamacare should be repealed if GOP wins power back — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said he wants to see the GOP repeal the Affordable Care Act if his party wins the White House and the House and Senate majorities again in 2024, a move that would resurrect a fight …

Discussion: Axios, Breitbart and Daily Kos

John Stoehr / The Editorial Board:

Connect the antisemitic dots — “Putin could have written the Protocols.” — Not enough has been said about Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy being Jewish. Not enough, anyway, by the mainstream press in the west. In Russia, though, it has been the subject of intense focus. Why?

Gabriel Noronha / Tablet Magazine:

This Isn't Obama's Iran Deal. It's Much, Much Worse. — The last thing the world needs is another nuclear-armed dictatorship flush with cash and attacking its neighbors. But that's what President Biden and his Iran envoy Robert Malley are creating in the deal they are about to close in Vienna …

Discussion: RedState, TheBlaze, HotAir and Power Line

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Attorney John Eastman says ‘conflicting’ advice to Trump negates Jan. 6 committee's claims of criminal intent — Attorney John Eastman, a key adviser to then-President Donald Trump as he tried to overturn the 2020 election, on Monday rejected the Jan. 6 select committee's claim that his work …

Discussion: Raw Story

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Allows Court-Imposed Voting Maps in North Carolina and Pennsylvania — State courts had ruled that earlier maps for congressional elections had been warped by partisan gerrymandering. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday allowed maps that had been approved by state courts …

ABC News:

Texas county finds 10K uncounted ballots from primary day — Officials say about 10,000 mail ballots were tabulated but not counted in Texas' most populous county on the day of last week's election, adding to the delay in determining some winners in the nation's first primary of the 2022 midterms

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, New York Post and CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

Emma Camp / New York Times:

I Came to College Eager to Debate. I Found Self-Censorship Instead. — Ms. Camp is a senior at the University of Virginia. — Each week, I seek out the office hours of a philosophy department professor willing to discuss with me complex ethical questions raised by her course on gender and sexuality.

Discussion: PLURIBUS, Contrarian Boston, HotAir, Kevin Drum, National Review, All in Her Head, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Free Beacon

Tampa Bay Times:

Florida says healthy kids shouldn't get COVID vaccine, contradicting CDC — State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced the recommendation Monday during a panel convened by the governor. — TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Department of Health is poised to officially recommend against giving coronavirus vaccines to healthy children.

Daniel McGraw / The Bulwark:

The Politics of Ukraine in an Ohio Town — Ohio sits in the middle of what food marketers refer to as the “Pierogi Pocket of America.” And smack dab in the middle of this pocket is the town of Parma. — Parma—population 80,000—is a suburb of Cleveland and has suddenly gotten a lot …

Discussion: Overtime

GasBuddy:

U.S. National Average Price of Gasoline Hits New All-Time Record High — Previous record of $4.10 per gallon set in 2008 has fallen as gas prices continue to rise — The national average price of gasoline in the U.S. today broke the existing record, rewriting the all-time high …

Discussion: CNBC, Breitbart, DCist, The Western Journal, ABC News, RedState, GasBuddy, Forbes, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Wire, Washington Free Beacon, Ground News, Conservative Daily News, BBC, IJR, WKRN-TV, ABC7 and Bloomberg

Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:

How a Former Fox News Director Landed in Jail for Pushing Putin Propaganda — But a disregard for sanctions and lying to the FBI could land him in prison for years — On election night 2016, former Fox News director Jack Hanick was in Moscow — attending a pro-GOP party …

Discussion: Raw Story

Bill Lohmann / Richmond Times-Dispatch:

After more than a half-century, photographer Bob Brown puts finishing touches on a stellar career — 1 of 15 — On the front page of the Richmond Times-Dispatch this past Feb. 19, the lead photograph featured a smiling Gov. Glenn Youngkin meeting with members of the Senate Republican Caucus at the Capitol.