DL Open Thread: Saturday, March 23, 2024
Terrorist Attack In Russia Kills At Least 115. Russia claims to have the perpetrators in custody. Whether they’re the real perpetrators or scapegoat perpetrators is an open question:
At least 115 people were killed after gunmen armed with automatic weapons opened fire at a popular concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow and set the concert hall alight, Russia’s Investigative Committee reported Saturday, following U.S. government warnings this month about a “planned terrorist attack” in the Russian capital.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported to President Vladimir Putin that all four of the gunmen who attacked the Crocus City Hall concert venue had been arrested early on Saturday, and another seven arrests had been made, according to the Kremlin press service.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Friday night attack, which was the deadliest in Russia in years, that left about 140,000 square feet of the venue in Krasnogorsk in flames, according to Russia’s emergency services. A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, told The Washington Post that the United States had “no reason to doubt” the claim from the Islamic State.
The U.S. government issued a public advisory to Americans in Russia on March 7 that described the risk of a “planned terrorist attack in Moscow — potentially targeting large gatherings, to include concerts,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement on Friday.
“The U.S. Government also shared this information with Russian authorities in accordance with its long-standing ‘duty to warn’ policy,” Watson said.
It remains to be seen how much legit information is shared with the Russian public. I’m thinking not much.
‘And Then There Was One’: Rethug House Majority Shrinks Again:
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who announced last month he would not run for re-election, will resign from Congress early, he confirmed in a statement Friday.
Two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News of Gallagher’s plan to resign early Friday. The Wisconsin Republican then released a statement announcing that he will depart April 19.
Gallagher’s decision to leave April 19 also means that there will not be a special election to fill his seat. Under Wisconsin state law, vacancies after the second Tuesday in April are filled in the general election, so Gallagher’s replacement will be decided in November and his seat will remain empty until January.
Wonder whether any endangered Rethugs might look to head for the other side of the aisle…
A Drop (Of Oil) In A Bucket. Chevron Fined For Cali Oil Spills. But not much:
Oil giant Chevron has agreed to pay a record-setting $13 million to two California agencies for past oil spills, but some of the company’s spills are ongoing.
The fines, announced Wednesday, come more than three years after an investigation by The Desert Sun and ProPublica found that oil companies are profiting from illegal spills and that oversight of the industry by California’s oil and gas division was lax.
At least one of Chevron’s spills is still running 21 years after it began in a Kern County oilfield, although a state spokesperson said it has been reduced by 98% “from its peak.” The amount spilled from the site, dubbed GS-5, is larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster.
The new fines, which will be paid to the Department of Conservation and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, are unprecedented for the agencies but are minuscule for Chevron, a multinational that reported $2.3 billion in earnings in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Serious Package Of Housing Bills Announced. We’ll talk more about this on Tuesday. But this is why you want an affordable housing expert like Sen. Russ Huxtable in the General Assembly. I’ll also point out that, while the reporter describes the package as bipartisan, Republicans are sponsors on only two of the seven bills. Let’s see how much R support the bills garner when they’re being worked.
What do you want to talk about?
