Elizabeth ii

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley was sworn in for a second term Thursday after her party appeared to have swept every legislative seat in the first elections the island nation held as a republic since casting off the British monarchy. Mottley’s Barbados Labor Party seemed to have secured all 30 seats in the House of Assembly, the lower house of the island’s Parliament, giving the island's first female leader a second term as prime minister. A majority of 16 seats was required for a win. Mottley achieved the same sweep when her party won elections in 2018. “The people of this nation have spoken with one voice, decisively, unanimously and clearly,” she said in her celebratory speech before dawn on Thursday to a large crowd clad in red shirts. Mottley, who pledged to focus on issues including financial security, nutrition, renewable energy projects and housing, said the island faces serious challenges in the next 10 to 15 years. She noted that … [Read more...] about Barbados PM sworn in after 2nd consecutive elections sweep

In late 2008, at a meeting with academics at the London School of Economics, Queen Elizabeth II famously asked why no one seemed to have anticipated the world’s worst economic and financial market crisis in the postwar period. She did so at the start of the 2008-2009 Great Recession that was triggered by the bursting of an unprecedented U.S. housing and credit market bubble. That bubble was in plain sight, yet no one seemed to anticipate its bursting. Many academic economists and economic policymakers are making the same mistake by being overly sanguine about the likely bursting of today’s global “everything” asset price and credit market bubble. This complacency is more difficult to understand considering how very much more pervasive today’s asset price and credit market bubbles are than they were in 2006. This complacency is also more difficult to understand considering the degree to which the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates this year to get the U.S. … [Read more...] about When the easy money music stops playing

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's health director on Thursday ordered nursing homes to offer on-site booster shots to residents who are not up to date on the COVID-19 vaccine in a state that lags others in vaccinating people in long-term care facilities. The facilities must comply within 30 days. Nearly 75% of eligible nursing home residents have received a booster dose. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in December set a goal of getting 95% of eligible nursing home residents a booster by the end of January. The average percentages of fully vaccinated residents and staff among reporting Michigan nursing homes are about 85% and 70%, the 13th- and fifth-lowest averages in the U.S., according to the federal government. The number of vaccinated health care employees in nursing homes could soon rise because of a federal mandate — upheld by the Supreme Court — requiring vaccinations for most U.S. health care workers. The deadlines for the first and second shots are Jan. 27 and Feb. 28. … [Read more...] about Michigan nursing homes ordered to offer on-site booster shot

5 LOS ANGELES - When Judy Baca and a team of 80 kids began painting "The History of California" in 1976, almost no one considered the 1,000-foot-long mural project a monument. Since then, the painting has grown to more than 2,750 feet, and is known as the Great Wall of Los Angeles. It is monumentally scaled, running about a half mile along the west face of a San Fernando Valley flood control channel, but it breaks almost all the old rules about how monuments are made and function in public space. It is not located in a civic center. It is not framed in an open plaza or surrounded by an expanse of manicured grass. It is not raised high on a plinth nor made of things like metal or stone that convey architectural permanence. It is not devoted to one person, event or idea, and it conveys no unalloyed message of either celebration or mourning. It is not dedicated to a man who enjoyed political or military power. But it is listed on the … [Read more...] about Judy Baca’s nearly 50-year-old Great Wall has never been more relevant to the monument wars

It’s usually the images of a violent mob attacking the U.S. Capitol that are associated with the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. But as more financial records become public, another image is emerging—of billionaires in MAGA gear writing large checks. And one billionaire in particular. Among the ranks of “dark money” groups and anonymous megadonors who bankrolled the effort is a familiar name in GOP fundraising circles: Dick Uihlein, founder of the multinational Uline shipping company. According to previously unreported tax disclosures , Uihlein’s nonprofit—the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation—poured millions of dollars in 2020 into a sprawling number of groups connected to efforts to challenge Joe Biden’s victory and reimagine election law, as well as other right-wing extremist organizations, including ones designated as hate groups. And the money is pure Uihlein—the foundation’s $16.8 million in 2020 donations came exclusively from Dick Uihlein … [Read more...] about New Filings Reveal Another Billionaire Behind the Big Lie

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are pressing the Biden administration to quickly send more military aid to Ukraine as the west raises new alarms over the looming threat of a Russian invasion. Following two Congressional delegations to Ukraine – including a bipartisan group of seven senators who traveled to Kyiv earlier this week – lawmakers have joined together to push the White House to do more to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Russia: Nothing less than NATO expansion ban is acceptable Biden huddles with group of senators on Ukraine-Russia tensions US providing Ukraine with additional 0M in military aid amid tensions with Russia MORE from launching an attack on the Kremlin’s former territory. The appeals have not fallen on deaf ears, with the administration on Wednesday announcing an additional $200 million in defensive security assistance to Ukraine , approved last month and given in the event of an … [Read more...] about Lawmakers press Biden admin to send more military aid to Ukraine