Well, one thing changed since 2008- a friend of mine joined Twitter. https://t.co/XowK9xXu4D

— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) January 28, 2021

Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson have requested that the US District Court sanction Sidney Powell for her frivolous lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s November election results, a new court filing shows.

Whitmer and Benson asked the Court to sanction Powell for pursuing litigation that “an attorney reasonably should know that a claim pursued is frivolous.”  They’re seeking a Court order to mandate Powell reimburse attorneys’ fees incurred by the state.

The lawsuit notes that the federal court has the power to order the remittance of attorneys’ fees for defendants when the plaintiffs “willfully abuse judicial processes or … otherwise act in bad faith.”

“The Republican National Committee is planning to invite former President Donald Trump to its upcoming spring donor meeting, according to a person familiar with preparations for the event. The RNC is also expected to invite other potential 2024 candidates and Republican leaders to the retreat, which is to be held in Palm Beach, Fla., April 9-11. Trump has yet to make a public appearance since leaving the White House earlier this month, and he has also been absent from Twitter, which banned him following the Jan. 6 insurrection” Politico reports.

“A Trump spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry about whether Trump would attend the RNC meeting. Trump has been staying at his Mar-a-Lago resort, which is also in Palm Beach. With Trump considering a 2024 comeback, the committee has been careful to demonstrate neutrality, since the former president is no longer an incumbent. It invited other would-be presidential candidates to its annual winter meeting earlier this month. Trump did not end up making an in-person appearance at the event, which occurred the same week as the Capitol riot.”

Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago today, apparently to plan GOP strategy for taking back the House in the 2022, through Trump lost both the House and the Senate during his administration.

Delusionally, Trump released a statement that read in part, “Trump’s popularity has never been stronger than it is today, and his endorsement means more than any endorsement at any time.”  Please remember that Trump wrote this himself, so he’s claiming that he’s still really, really relevant.

Perhaps the most unusual part of the statement, however, is the photo released with the statement that shows McCarthy and Trump standing next to each other.  Trump, who listed his height as 6’3″ during his term, appears to have lost a number of inches in height as he stands next to the 5’10” McCarthy. 

Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan on Thursday announced that he won’t run for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by Republican Rob Portman’s upcoming retirement, a decision that opens the field for many other Republicans who are eager for the chance to succeed Portman. A spokesman for Jordan’s campaign said he’s been “honored by the overwhelming encouragement he has received to run for the United States Senate. ‘However, he is solely focused on representing the great people of Ohio’s Fourth District, and will not be running to fill the seat of retiring Senator Rob Portman,’ the spokesman said. ‘Mr. Jordan believes at this time he is better suited to represent Ohioans in the House of Representatives, where as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, he can advance an America first agenda, promote conservative values, and hold big government accountable.'”

“Ukraine has launched a criminal investigation into attempts to interfere in the November 2020 U.S. presidential election. Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on January 28 that Ukraine would do everything in its power to bring to justice forces within the country and outside it who attempted to damage US-Ukraine relations. ‘The State Bureau of Investigation has opened a criminal case,’ Yermak was quoted as saying in an interview to the Ukrainian news outlet NV that was posted on the presidential website.”

“‘The investigation is under way, and we are waiting for its results. The investigation must answer a lot of questions,’ Yermak added. The U.S. Treasury Department on January 11 imposed sanctions on several Ukrainian individuals and entities, accusing them of U.S. election interference and associating with a pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmaker linked to efforts by then President Donald Trump’s allies to find compromising information on President Joe Biden and his son. Trump’s request to Zelenskiy during a July 2019 call led the House of Representatives to charge him with two crimes. Trump was eventually acquitted by the Senate in early 2020, but the case damaged his administration’s relationship with Kyiv” – Radio Free Europe.

Billionaire hedge fund investor Leon Cooperman took to CNBC to complain about stock manipulation being undertaken by some rogue independent investors, claiming that the activity is “a way of attacking wealthy people.”

https://youtu.be/0uWgf6KVys8

With a net worth of $3.2 billion who settled an insider trading charge in 2016 by paying more than $3 million in fines, Cooperman said, “The reason the market is doing what it’s doing is because people are sitting at home, getting checks from the government, and this fair share is a bullshit concept.”

“It’s just a way of attacking wealthy people,” Cooperman continued.  “And it’s inappropriate.  We all gotta work together and pull together.”  He did not address how he would work with others as he traded stocks and made money off other’s work.

The Chicago City Council has designated as a landmark the home of Emmett Till, a Black 14-year-old boy who was disfigured and lynched by racists in Mississippi in a 1955 lynching, the Associated Press reports.

Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi when a group of white men burst into his uncle’s house and accused the boy of whistling at a white woman at a grocery store.  They kidnapped the boy; his disfigured body was found three days later with rope marks around his neck.  His face was mutilated due to the beaten he had received.

Till’s body was returned to his mother in Chicago, who insisted that there be an open casket for his funeral.  She invited press photographers to take pictures of his disfigured face, and those photographs appeared in newspapers around the country, galvanizing the nation against slavery.

“The Camp Fire was a horrific California wildfire that started on November 8, 2018, and burned a total of 153,336 acres, destroying 18,804 structures and resulting in 85 civilian fatalities and several firefighter injuries. The Camp Fire is the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history. Conspiracy theorists have pushed other explanations for the Camp Fire, especially on social media. One theory, which has been promoted by QAnon followers, falsely posits that a nefarious entity used laser beams or a similar instrument to start the fire for financial profit or to clear space for California’s high-speed rail system” Media Matters reports.

“Rep. Greene is a proponent of the Camp Fire laser beam conspiracy theory. She wrote a November 17, 2018, Facebook post – which is no longer available online – in which she said that she was speculating ‘because there are too many coincidences to ignore’ regarding the fire, including that then-California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) wanted to build the high-speed rail project and ‘oddly there are all these people who have said they saw what looked like lasers or blue beams of light causing the fires.’ She also speculated that a vice chairman at ‘Rothschild Inc, international investment banking firm’ was somehow involved, and suggested the fire was caused by a beam from ‘space solar generators’. ‘If they are beaming the suns energy back to Earth, I’m sure they wouldn’t ever miss a transmitter receiving station right??!! I mean mistakes are never made when anything new is invented. What would that look like anyway? A laser beam or light beam coming down to Earth I guess. Could that cause a fire? Hmmm, I don’t know. I hope not! That wouldn’t look so good for PG&E, Rothschild Inc, Solaren or Jerry Brown who sure does seem fond of PG&E.'”

AP: “A liquid nitrogen leak at a northeast Georgia poultry plant killed six people Thursday, with multiple others taken to the hospital. Beth Downs, a spokesperson for Northeast Georgia Health System, said five people died at the Gainesville plant before they could be taken to the hospital, while one person died in the emergency room. The leak happened after 10 a.m. Thursday at Prime Pak Foods, Hall County Fire Department Division Chief Zach Brackett said.”

“At least four firefighters were injured and take to the Gainesville hospital with what Brackett described as respiratory complaints. Brackett said about 130 workers were taken by bus to a nearby church where they were examined for injuries; some were then taken to the hospital. Hall County school officials said students were being kept safe inside a nearby elementary school and said the leak was contained and not airborne. About 1.5 miles of a road that runs in front of the plant was closed. The company’s CEO did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.”

The Biden Administration will reopen the marketplace for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans to allow consumers to sign up for plans from February 15th through May 15th in an effort to provide those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic to get health insurance, the Washington Post reports.

Healthcare.gov will allow people who lost their health insurance because they’ve been laid off or those who can no longer afford their employer-offered plans due to reduced hours to get an affordable option for insurance.

The Biden Administration will restore funding, slashed by the previous administration, for the marketing of the ACA and Healthcare.gov.  The program expands the typical six-week period sign-ups are permitted at the end of each year.  People who have gone through substantial life changes can enter the program throughout the year.

During her weekly press conference, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said members of Congress are at risk from some of their colleagues who support and misprision violence against people in the opposition, according to the Washington Post.

“I do believe, and I have said this all along, that we will probably need a supplemental for more security for members, when the enemy is within the House of Representatives, a threat that members are concerned about, in addition to what is happening outside,” Pelosi said.

The statement is an obvious reference to the members of Congress who encouraged, stoked and even possibly abetted the efforts of domestic terrorists to attack the Capitol on January 6th.  Actions and rhetoric from Republican House members Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Madison Cawthorn are being investigated for possibly aiding the insurrectionists.  Those members have been cited by organizers of the coup attempt as assisting them in planning the attack, while others may have given tours of the Capitol to insurrections prior to the attack.

“More than six in ten Americans (62%) say white supremacist groups shoulder a lot of responsibility for the violent actions of the rioters who took over the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Another 22% assign a little blame to white supremacist groups, and only 14% say such groups are not at all responsible. Republicans are least likely to hold white supremacist groups responsible. Just over one-third of Republicans (35%) say these groups hold a lot of responsibility, compared to 63% of independents and 85% of Democrats.”

“A majority of Americans (57%) believe that former President Donald Trump holds a lot of responsibility for the violent actions of the mob that took over the U.S. Capitol on January 6. An additional 16% say Trump bears a little responsibility, and one in four (25%) say he is not at all responsible. Republicans are least likely to blame Trump, with only 18% saying he holds a lot of responsibility and 25% saying he bears a little responsibility for the violent actions. Independents (58%) and Democrats (88%) are much more likely to say Trump shoulders a lot of the blame. A similar majority of Americans (57%) assign a lot of responsibility for the violent actions of January 6 to conservative media platforms that spread conspiracy theories and misinformation. Almost one in four (23%) say these platforms shoulder a little of the responsibility, and 18% do not assign any responsibility to these platforms. Only three in ten Republicans (31%) say these types of platforms hold a lot of the responsibility for the violent riot, compared to 54% of independents and 80% of Democrats” – Public Religion Research Institute.

2015: “Well I guess Obama’s an okay president. I don’t pay much attention to politics anyway. That shit is boring. Plus there’s a trailer for the new Transformers movie I want to watch… But why are these Jewish city people who write for fancy magazines so uppity? Why do they hate this Trump guy so much? He’s just running for president. Jeez relax.”

2016: “My cousin Kyle seems really upset on Facebook. What did Hillary ever do for him? Trump’s a businessman, he’ll be a really good president for the economy. Plus Kyle’s kind of a douche. He makes all that money working for that digital marketeering whatever-the-fuck-it-is thing in Brooklyn. Plus his boyfriend barely even talked that one time Kyle brought him back here to Pennsylvania. And who cares if I didn’t vote? It’s not like it matters.”

2017: “Trump’s actually pretty cool. Plus all of these liberals are just whiny pussies about everything. I’m going to join that MAGA subreddit. Those guys are hilarious. And what’s with all of this shit about hating Russia? Liberals are getting racist. They claim they hate racism but I see right there that they’re blaming Russians for everything that goes wrong. Hillary is a corrupt bitch. I’m posting that on this TheHill.com site I found.”

State health officials in South Carolina announced that they’ve identified two cases of the highly-contagious South African strain of coronavirus, marking the first cases in the United States, the Associated Press reports.

The people have had no known contact with one another, nor have they traveled out of the country recently, worrying public health officials about the unknown identity of Patient Zero in the United States.

“That’s frightening,” because it means there could be more undetected cases within the state, Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious diseases physician at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston told the Associated Press. “It’s probably more widespread.”

General Motors will transition its worldwide production of vehicles away from gas and diesel powered engines to entirely clean energy vehicles by 2035, the Wall Street Journal reports.

GM President and CEO Mary Barra made the announcement today via social media, committing the world’s fourth largest automaker to an environmentally friendly path for their products.

“General Motors is joining governments and companies around the globe working to establish a safer, greener and better world,” said Barra. “We encourage others to follow suit and make a significant impact on our industry and on the economy as a whole.”

Thirty-five years ago today, January 28, 1986 at 11:39.13 a.m. ET, the world watched in horror as the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch in the deadliest NASA mission accident to date.  Seven astronauts died.

As then-President Ronald Reagan said, “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.'”

Gab user @Elucidate2020 responded to a story about Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio’s history as an informant for federal law enforcement prior to his time leading the nationalist gang.
Read more here

According to the Department of Labor, 847,000 Americans filed for first time unemployment claims last week, a 7.5% decrease from the previous week but still an elevated level from the pre-coronavirus era.

Florida, Maryland, Kansas and Ohio saw the highest increases in unemployment claims, while California, New York, Texas and Pennsylvania saw the largest decreases.  Nineteen states began offering extended unemployment benefits starting January 9th, which may account for some first-time claims applications in those states.

Unemployment claims were about 750% higher than the same period last year, prior to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States economy shrank in the last year of the Trump Administration by 3.5%, its worst performance since 1946, as the nation struggled with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic with the federal government providing no leadership, the Washington Post reports.

While the fourth quarter saw an annualized increase of 4% in the fourth quarter, it could not impact the annual loss.  The 3.5% loss surpassed the 2.9% loss experienced during the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

Personal income fell, as did spending on services, a cornerstone of the US economy.  While spending on leisure and hospitality dropped dramatically, spending on home improvements and products like computers and electronics increased as people prepared for extended stay-at-home conditions.