What We Know About Russia's Anti-Satellite Space-Based Nuclear Weapons
DeSantis joins lawmakers nationwide in bumping retail theft penalties; Collapse of face-to-face socializing
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Good morning,
Do you think Taylor Swift was happy after the Kansas City Chiefs’ win on Sunday because of her boyfriend’s performance or because it’s a step closer to President Biden getting reelected? Well, a new poll finds almost 20% of Americans think the latter.
The theory goes something like this: Swift and Kansas City Chiefs' star Travis Kelce are an orchestrated couple, organized by the Pentagon to bolster her fan base. The Super Bowl was rigged for the Chiefs to win. And all of this is designed to maximize the impact on voters when Swift endorses Biden, as she did in 2020.
The people who believe the theory overwhelmingly support Trump — about 83%; and 73% also believe the 2020 election was stolen.
After the win, Biden jumped into the conversation posting, “Just like we drew it up.”
Mwaa ha ha ha…
Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren
📌 REP. CALLS ON BIDEN TO DECLASSIFY INFO ON RUSSIAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS
In a rare move, House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-OH) is urging the White House to declassify information about a "serious national security threat" — without providing details. Numerous media outlets are now reporting the threat is about Russia wanting to put a nuclear weapon in space.
The Biden administration already informed Congress and European allies of the threat.
SOUNDS LIKE A SCI-FI HORROR FILM
The intel is reportedly about Russia’s development of a space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon. That means, if Russia puts nuclear warheads in space, they would allegedly use them against satellites, not Earth. Here’s what we know:
Timeline: The House Intelligence Committee voted on Tuesday to let members of Congress view classified documents about a "destabilizing foreign military capability that should be known by all Congressional Policy Makers" over the course of this week.
Yesterday, Turner released the above statement asking President Biden to declassify the intel. Throughout the day lawmakers were seen coming in and out of the highly secure room in the basement of the Capitol where classified intelligence is shared.
Today, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is scheduled to brief congressional leadership about the threat.
Why not declassify it? Officials said that declassifying the intel would cut off its sources on Russia, the NY Times reports. Something the White House isn’t eager to do.
NOT AN IMMEDIATE THREAT
The top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), said “people should not panic” and that the threat is something that needs to be addressed “in the medium to long run.” House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed Himes's sentiments, saying there is "no need for public alarm."
BIGGER PICTURE
Aid for Ukraine has been held up in Congress for months. Democrats and some Republicans (including Turner) are pushing an $60.1 billion aid package, saying the cheapest way to fight Russia is by arming Ukraine. But so far, Speaker Johnson has rejected the bill.
🛍 DESANTIS PROPOSES TOUGHER LAW ON RETAIL THEFT
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed new penalties aimed at curbing retail theft and porch piracy. It comes as other states have zeroed in on the issue, and stores across the US are closing, blaming organized crime.
SEE YA IN… 30 YEARS
DeSantis's proposed law would make committing retail theft a first-degree felony if a person has a gun or commits it again after two or more prior theft convictions. That could mean a maximum of 30 years in prison and/or up to $10,000 in fines if found guilty.
Current Florida law makes retail theft a felony after a person is found to have stolen items five different times within 45 days.
Lesser felony changes would apply to people that use social media to solicit help in a retail theft scheme, commit theft with five+ people, or steal packages from someone’s home.
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY
Retail theft led to more than $112 billion in store losses in 2022. That’s up from 2021 when $94.5 billion was lost to shoplifting, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported.
Stores across the US, from Target to Macy's, are blaming losses from organized theft as the reason behind closing some stores, particularly in cities.
“Far beyond the financial impact of these crimes, the violence and concerns over safety continue to be the priority for all retailers, regardless of size or category,” a NRF spokesperson said.
Porch pirates, or stealing packages from someone’s house, accounted for about $19.5 billion in losses in 2022.
Forbes reports 67% of Americans had packages stolen that same year.
WHO’S TAKING ACTION?
Last year, six states (both red and blue) passed laws to impose harsher penalties for organized retail theft.
New York and California governors have promised to combat it, states that DeSantis pointed at for not doing enough.
California’s governor said the state would put $1.1 billion toward addressing “safety and security” over the next four years, while New York’s allocated $45 million for FY25 to fight retail theft and property crimes.
In New York City, where there’s been a 77% jump in reported retail theft from 2017 to 2022, officials have been working with retailers to combat the problem.
In Pennsylvania, lawmakers zeroed in on porch theft — making it a felony offense with up to seven years behind bars if convicted. The law just went into effect Monday.
The NRF wants Congress to pass federal legislation to make it easier to prosecute organized retail theft as a federal felony while also creating a multi-agency group under the Department of Homeland Security to share resources and data on theft across states.
👥 WHAT HAPPENED TO HANGING OUT?
Americans are spending less time with friends. It's a trend that's been developing for the last several decades, but the newest analysis sheds light on who's most impacted and what people are doing to fill their time instead. Hint: that phone or computer in front of you.
THE NUMBERS
The data from 2003 to 2022 shows American men spent 30% less time face-to-face socializing, while unmarried Americans saw a 35% decrease. Teenagers experienced the most significant decline, with over 45% less time spent on “IRL hangs.”
Most troubling, less in-person time with friends was accompanied by rising levels of hopelessness, depression, and suicidal thinking.
Doing the best: Women and 20-somethings spend the most time socializing in an average week.
Doing the worst: low-income, middle-aged, unmarried men socialize the least.
What else is dropping? Similarly, about 30% fewer Americans volunteer and go to church compared to two decades ago.
HOW WE SPEND OUR ⏱
Correlative evidence points to TVs and phones taking up the time we once spent with friends. Plus we’re busy & tired: a couple decades ago, people in their 30s and 40s had more leisure time than they do today.
Animals: In the past two decades, Americans have nearly doubled the time spent with their pets, plus more people own them. In 2022, on average, American women spent more time actively playing with their pets than socializing with friends, a shift from 2003.
Friends: Back in the ‘70s, over 50% of seniors in US high schools hung out with friends every day. In 2017 that number dropped to 28%.
A CALL TO ACTION
Derek Thompson, who wrote the piece, suggests that if people "spent a little more time with others and a little less time gazing into digital content designed to make us anxious and despondent about the world," the American “social crisis” might just improve.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 ICE draft plan would release thousands of immigrants in order to cover budget shortfall (CBS NEWS)
📌 Prosecutors released a "trove of new details" in Sen. Bob Menendez case, including allegations that his wife's engagement ring was part of a bribery scheme (CNN)
📌 California lawmakers try to address homelessness with new proposed encampment ban (ABC NEWS)
📌 Graffiti towers are stretching resources, LAPD says after BASE jumping stunt (NBC NEWS)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Israel launches 'extensive' strikes in Lebanon after rockets hit army base. (BBC)
📌 Appeals court upholds prison sentence for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (POLITICO)
📌 Israel pulls out of truce talks in Cairo, cites Hamas' 'delusional demands' (USA TODAY)
📌 Greece's parliament is poised to vote today on a controversial bill to legalize same-sex marriage (NPR)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Amazon rainforest could reach ‘tipping point’ by 2050, scientists warn (GUARDIAN)
📌 Jeff Bezos sells $2 billion worth of Amazon stock (FOX BUSINESS)
📌 AI is shaking up online dating with chatbots that are ‘flirty but not too flirty’ (CNBC)
📌 COVID patients are 4.3 times more likely to develop chronic fatigue, CDC report finds (ABC NEWS)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 For the first time, a woman will be the voice of an MLB team as Oakland A's hire Jenny Cavnar for the play-by-play call (NBC NEWS)
📌 Jon Stewart’s ‘Daily Show’ return hits multiyear high (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)
📌 Kanye West new album ‘Uncancellable’ reaches number one on steaming despite his previous antisemitic statements (UNHERD)
📌 Beyonce and family support nephew during New York Fashion Week runway debut (PEOPLE)
📌 Public's first glimpse of Shohei Ohtani in a Dodgers uniform since record-breaking 10-year, $700 million contract (SI)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: FEBRUARY 15
1903: Teddy bears were first introduced to the public by toy store owner Morris Michtom, who dedicated them to President Theodore Roosevelt after he refused to shoot a bear in Mississippi.
1933: At the height of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt, less than three weeks from being inaugurated as the 32nd president of the US, was shot at by an unemployed bricklayer named Giuseppe Zangara who shouted, "Too many people are starving!" Five people were hit, but FDR was not injured.
1950: “Cinderella,” an animated movie by Walt Disney, opened in theaters.
1969: Rolling Stone magazine's cover article featured the new term "groupies," aka people who follow music groups.