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Bad news, Amazon Prime addicts: the company is no longer selling its Dash buttons.
As of today, the company will no longer sell the magical plastic buttons that let you summon refills of laundry detergent, paper towels, and Trojan condoms at will. The company will, however, continue to support existing buttons.
If you’re bummed about that, it appears that Alexa may be largely to blame for Amazon’s decision. In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said “we’ve seen customers increasingly using programs like Alexa Shopping, which provides a hands free shopping experience, and Subscribe & Save, which lets customers automatically receive their favorite items every month.
“With this in mind, we’ve decided to shift the Dash program focus—as of February 28, Dash Button devices are no longer available for purchase on Amazon globally. Existing Dash Button customers can continue to use their Dash Button devices.”
Amazon will also continue to offer its virtual Dash buttons, digital versions of Dash buttons available on devices with displays, like the Echo Show, as well Amazon’s app and website.
Though shopping with Alexa may be more popular now, the reality is Amazon’s Dash buttons always seemed like more of a gimmick than something that was actually useful. When the company first introduced the product, it seemed so bizarre the company actually had to clarify that the whole thing was not, in fact, in April Fools’ day joke.
Still, the gadget was successful enough the company eventually expanded Dash buttons to dozens of different products.
But, in a major blow to the product, Dash buttons were ruled illegal in Germany, the company’s second-largest market after the United States. German courts said last month that the buttons ran afoul of the country’s consumer protections laws because they don’t provide enough information about the products people were purchasing.
Current Dashers can still use their buttons, but it looks like the rest of the world is now out of luck.
While Doug Williams considers the quarterback position one of the Washington Redskins‘ options with the 15th overall pick in the 2019 draft, the team won’t move heaven and earth in order to trade up and select its preferred passer.
“I think where we are at this point, and like I said earlier, if there’s a quarterback there that we like at 15, 9 out of 10 we’ll go that route,” Williams, Washington’s senior vice president of player personnel, said Thursday, per NBC Sports Washington’s Peter Hailey. “If it’s not somebody we like, we’ll go with Colt [McCoy] and if we got to go out and get a veteran to work with him until that time comes, that’s probably what we’ll do. It all boils down to who’s there when it’s time for us to be.”
Alex Smithsuffereda broken tibia and fibula in Washington’s Week 11 defeat to the Houston Texans last November. NFL Network’sIan Rapoportreported in January the team is planning as if Smith will miss the entire 2019 season and be “pleasantly surprised” if he gets back on the field next year.
Whether through the draft or free agency, Washington seemingly has to add another quarterback this offseason otherwise it will open 2019 with McCoy, Mark Sanchez and Josh Johnson as its only three starting options.
Trading up for quarterback in the draft isn’t always a bad move.
Washington might still have nightmares from the ill-fated Robert Griffin III trade. The Redskins gave up three first-round picks and a second-rounder in order to move up to No. 2 overall and select Griffin. Injuries derailed Griffin’s career, and he was out of the nation’s capital after three years.
However, the Kansas City Chiefs walked away with a steal in 2017 when they traded the No. 27 overall pick, a third-round selection and their 2018 first-rounder in order to take Patrick Mahomes with the 10th pick.
For Williams, the problem might be the gulf that separates Dwayne Haskins and Kyler Murray—the two best quarterbacks in the 2019 draft class—from the rest of the group.
Bleacher Report’sMatt Millerranked Haskins and Murray 13th and 14th, respectively, in his most recent big board. Drew Lock (No. 29) is next on the list followed shortly thereafter by Daniel Jones (No. 34). Those four are the only ones who cracked the top 50.
As much as Washington needs a quarterback, Williams is smart to avoid overpaying for one in the draft.
Rep. Anna Eshoo, an ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, brushed off the Medicare for All fanfare as simply evidence that the House “is a very big place — you’ve got 435 people and we all have ideas.” | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo
But progressives are amping up the pressure for hearings as they push to enshrine single-payer health care in the 2020 agenda.
House Democratic leaders gave their liberal lawmakers what they wanted on health care. Now they’re fighting to keep “Medicare for All“ from devouring the party.
Progressives emboldened by this week’s bill rollout are vowing to turn up the pressure on fellow Democrats to back the single-payer blueprint and build momentum ahead of the 2020 election. That’s already creating headaches for top Democrats who fear the political blowback of the plan’s most liberal elements, including abortion funding and the elimination of most private health insurance.
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The leaders are trying instead to keep the chamber united behind popular but narrower proposals aimed at strengthening Obamacare and lowering drug prices. But Medicare for All has grabbed most of this week’s health care headlines and energized the party’s progressive base — leaving top Democrats to look for ways to avoid criticizing the bill publicly even as they express little enthusiasm.
“Everybody has the right to introduce a bill on any given issue,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic caucus chair. “Our strategic focus remains on articulating our for-the-people agenda, centered on the concept of lowering health care costs.”
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, brushed off the Medicare for All fanfare as simply evidence that the House “is a very big place — you’ve got 435 people and we all have ideas.”
“But there’s got to be a sense of order and priorities that have been out there in the campaign: Reducing drug prices, strengthen the ACA, all of that,” Eshoo added. “Those are consensus items because we not only campaigned on them, it was the No. 1 issue in every single congressional district.”
The leaders have long sought to avoid an intraparty clash on Medicare for All, first by committing in January to hold a pair of first-ever hearings on the proposal in an olive-branch offering to its rowdy left wing. But those hearings will be in two committees — Rules and Budget — that don’t have the power to send the bill to the floor.
Leadership will probably allow a third hearing in front of the more powerful Energy and Commerce Committee’s health subpanel, said Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), the fourth-ranking House Democrat.
But that appeasement strategy appears to have only further invigorated single-payer advocates inside and outside ofCongress, who now want more concessions.
Liberal lawmakers are pressing for Medicare for All hearings in front of the full Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees — the chamber’s two main health care panels, both of which are helmed by lawmakers skeptical of the single-payer push.
Outside groups, meanwhile, are vowing to turn their fire on a range of Democrats whose support they view as essential to speeding the Medicare for All bill to a House vote over the next year.
“There will be growing pressure on Democratic leadership to urge their fairly out-of-touch Democrats, who did not really have to feel the dynamics of the 2018 election, to get with it and at least schedule hearings,” said Adam Green, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which maintains close ties to House progressives. “That is like, literally the least House Democrats can do … to keep peace in the land.”
Rank-and-file Democrats will have few places to hide, as supporters try to add enough co-sponsors to the legislation’s original 107 supporters to justify a floor vote. Reps. Colin Allred of Texas and Haley Stevens of Michigan — Democrats’ freshman class co-presidents — are among the early targets.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, a lead author of the bill, downplayed the prospect of a vote in the weeks leading up to the legislation’s release. But she told supporters Wednesday night she’s aiming for as many as 160 co-sponsors, and expressed greater confidence earlier this week about the odds of getting legislation to the floor this year.
“If I had to guess, I would say yes,” Jayapal said.
That’s touched off fresh anxieties among moderate Democrats fearful that the party’s leftward turn could cost them their swing-district seats — and the House majority.
“That’s one-fifth of our economy, so I don’t think we move there on a dime,” said Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a New Jersey freshman whose district went for Trump in 2016. “I want to know, any move we make, how it’s going to be paid for and how it’s going to be fair.”
One centrist Democrat prior to the bill’s introduction likened the prospect of voting on Medicare for All to the politically painful 2009 vote on cap-and-trade legislation that factored in Democrats losing the House the following year. Pelosi, the centrist member said, wouldn’t make vulnerable lawmakers walk the plank again.
Top Democrats feel the same way, with some dismissing the bill as a meaningless gesture that would divide the caucus and expose vulnerable swing-district members to a fresh wave of GOP attacks.
“I think there’s an electoral risk in trying to throw out bills that are $50 trillion,” said Budget Chair John Yarmuth of Kentucky. “I know that a lot of people want to move faster than we’re going to be moving, but they can get over it.”
And there’s little enthusiasm within the establishment for giving the bill more attention than necessary and risking raising thorny questions about legislation that would wipe out out employer-based health coverage amid a broader economic restructuring. That’s especially after Democrats retook the House on more modest promises to lower drug prices and strengthen the Affordable Care Act.
Meanwhile, House Republicans trying to recover from deep voter mistrust over their failed Obamacare repeal efforts are already trying to brand Medicare for All as the Democratic Party’s main health care vision.
“Now we know what’s available in the bill, and unfortunately it is perhaps even worse than we anticipated,” Energy and Commerce ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.) told reporters, pointing to the proposed elimination of private health insurance and the tax increases probably required to pay for the plan. “This is obviously a huge priority for them to have a full federal takeover of the system.”
Yet Democratic leaders remain wary of stifling a progressive wing that’s fueling voter enthusiasm and ismade up of members with no qualms about speaking their minds.
“The worst thing that anyone could do — an outside group or leadership on the Hill — is to shut the conversation down entirely,” said Brad Woodhouse of Protect Our Care, the pro-Obamacare group that works closely with leadership on health care messaging. “The American people in the end, in elections, will make a judgment not about the differences within each party, but about the differences between each party.”
Top progressive leaders sought as well to prevent any rifts from bubbling up by showering praise on Democratic leadership following the bill’s introduction.
“She seems very happy with what we’re doing,” Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said of Pelosi. “And we know maybe not everyone in the caucus is there yet, but the good news is it’s our job to show everyone that this is what people across the country want.”
Still, Democratic leaders took pains this week to downplay the bill’s significance, characterizing it as just another idea to add to the growing pile of ambitious Democratic health care proposals.
They’ve consciously tried to redirect the hype over single payer toward more the inclusive calls for “universal health care” that the party believes will play better in key districts.
“It’s a conversation about ideas, of what we can get done,” Lujan said. “Our larger goals, which are universal coverage, greater access to affordable quality care — that’s what we should be talking about.”
Moderate Democrats are mounting their own health care push too. Two hours after progressives introduced the Medicare for All bill, the centrist New Democrat Coalition rolled out a set of priorities backed by the group’s 101 House members. The aims are more modest, they allowed, but also more practical.
“There’s a lot of reality to come in terms of where the rubber hits the road — the practical, pragmatic approach to how we get from here to universal coverage,” said Rep. Ann Kuster (D-N.H.), a co-chair of the New Democrats’ health care task force. “There’s not a switch in Washington, D.C., where we go from here to there.”
Still, the leaders have yet to roll out major legislative packages either expanding Obamacare or slashing drug prices — delayed by internal policy debates and a resolve to methodically move bills through the House committees.
That’s frustrated some who hoped to make quicker progress on signature issues for Democrats this Congress, two individuals familiar with the discussions said, especially after a government shutdown consumed the opening weeks of the session. Others have countered that it’s imperative to get the policy right first if it’s going to have maximum political impact.
“We’re going to give our members the opportunity to say that they’re voting for strong legislation that would lower health costs, protect pre-existing conditions,” a senior Democratic aide said. “To have our own conversation about the things House Democrats are doing and the things Senate Republicans are standing in the way of.”
Medicare for All advocates are stepping into that vacuum in the meantime to build the case for their bill. Democratic leadership has given progressives plenty of leash to push single-payer health care into the mainstream, liberal lawmakers said, praising Pelosi in particular as a key ally. But the high-volume Medicare for All push in Congress is much closer now to the beginning than to the end.
“Some people are inherently afraid of everything,” Pocan said. “But the fact that every presidential candidate who’s running across the country — and has to run in red states and blue states — is talking about Medicare for All tells them that they can probably return the box of Depends they bought and be comfortable that this is an issue the public supports.”
Whether it’s Lil Debbie shilling out relationship advice or Sunny D igniting a conversation about depression, contemporary brand Twitter can be a depressing and dark place.
Nothing feels more cynical than when a brand appropriates the standardized millennial voice — ironic, detached, dejected — and uses it to hock their emulsified meat products and drinkable corn syrups. There’s no commitment to justice here, there’s just marketing. So I’d love to call for a mass ban of corporations from Twitter, with one exception: Dr. Bronner’s, one of the country’s most popular organic, fair trade soap producers.
I don’t trust any multimillion dollar corporation on Twitter. I do, however, place a reasonable amount of faith in this social justice soap.
Dr. Bronner’s is best known for their all-purpose soaps (used for anything from washing your face to killing your dog’s fleas, and cleaning your bong) and long-winded labels, which feature references to world religion and calls to end the war on drugs. The main ingredients in the brand’s products are both organic and fair trade. Dr. Bronner’s commitment to social justice has been present since the brand’s inception, and the company now dedicates approximately one-third of its profits to various social causes.
“Earth’s soils contain more than 3x more carbon than is stored in the atmosphere, and 4x more than the amount in all living plants & animals.”https://t.co/kxGgbEWlsI
All of this is reflected in the brand’s social voice on Twitter. Unlike brands like Sunny D which capitalize on the millennial mental health crisis without doing anything to abate it, Dr. Bronner’s shares stories written by real journalists of real value to millennials.
They’re loud advocates for a fair living wage, having donated over $500,000 to minimum wage campaigns in 2016 and paying above the living wage in their own company. There isn’t much to be cynical about here — the brand tweets what they practice, and what they practice is good.
Constructive Capitalism at Dr. Bronners:
• 5-to-1 cap on executive salaries
• $18.71 minimum wage for full-time permanent employees • Free health care for staff & their families • Free daily organic vegan lunches • Up to 25% of salary as annual bonushttps://t.co/HduUkftsEF
Even though soap has no direct connection to cannabis, Dr. Bronner’s frequently shares stories and posts tweets in support of legalization.
It’s time to end the outdated, racist policy of #cannabis prohibition that shreds productive citizens’ lives and families for no good reason, and disproportionately affects people of color, while resources are diverted away from real crimes.
And while caps lock should be banned from Twitter, I’ll make an exception for the random tweets Dr. Bronner’s routinely posts about ending the war on drugs.
Outside of social causes, I particularly love the brand’s tweets that are just basic tenets of human morality. The tweets don’t have any cunning wordplay or cynical references to pop culture. Dr. Bronner’s sometimes shares moral principles that, simply stated, likely drive down their Twitter engagement.
There’s absolutely nothing viral about tweets like these ones — hence, I love ’em.
We can only truly prosper if we contribute to the prosperity of all!
There’s nothing shareable about death, and yet somehow this tweet exists:
To reach that unreachable star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far! To fight for the Right without question or pause, to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause. For I know if I follow this glorious quest, my heart will lay peaceful & calm when I’m laid to rest!
And who else would fill out this Twitter poll besides your radical aunt and your high school creative writing teacher a *little too obsessed* with recycling? Nothing about this tweet would make it viral. That’s exactly what makes it good.
Have you ever spent your free time picking up litter?
I don’t want to get y’all too high on soap: At the end of the day, Dr. Bronner’s is still a brand. They’re on Twitter to advocate for causes and to sell their social justice soap. They have a hand sanitizer coming out that will soon be sold at Urban Outfitters. They talk about constructive capitalism.
The brand posts plenty of tweets marketing their products, but there’s nothing particularly malicious about them. Dr. Bronner’s doesn’t play on the 2020 election as Pop-Tarts recently did when they announced they were considering a presidential run. Their marketing-based tweets are plain and simple and limited to soap.
Besides diluting, how do you make a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s last longer?
The battery-powered vehicles used by most scooter-sharing companies weren’t intended for such heavy use. The first generation of shared scooters were mainly from Xioami, and not made with the type of usage scooter rental companies like Bird put the vehicle through.
Alison Griswold in her Overshare newsletter about the sharing economy crunched the numbers this week from Louisville, Kentucky’s scooter-share program. It’s based mostly on Bird rides and found between August and December the average lifespan of a scooter there was 28 days.
As the scooter companies grow and stick around, they’ve learned quickly that the vehicles need to be more durable. A month turnover does not make for a lasting business model as Griswold goes into. Nor does it sound very green, especially for companies like Bird that tout the millions of pounds of carbon emissions its scooters eliminate.
Most of the e-scooter companies I reached out to didn’t want to release specific numbers about scooter lifespans or cycles. Bird wouldn’t comment directly on the 28-days finding. But the companies did emphasize their new models are designed with heavy usage in mind.
Lime last year introduced its Gen. 3 scooter with a wider base and wheels and the company expects it to last longer than previous scooter models as it comes into more markets this year. At the end of last year Lime was struggling with combusting scooters, and more recently a braking bug.
Segway-Ninebot’s Model Max was introduced at CES in January as the new fleet scooter for companies like Bird and Lyft. A fact sheet about the new model plainly states, “From their learnings being at the center of the growing scooter-sharing market, Segway-Ninebot found that there tends to be a lot of wear and tear on shared scooters, which results in costly product maintenance, as well as short product life span.” Without any specific numbers, the newer product claims to “last longer” with a more robust design.
Goat, the Austin-based scooter company that lets you operate your own scooter business, put out this week that it would be offering the new Segway scooters. It has a current offer for would-be scooter empires to buy the scooters for $599.
Meanwhile, electric bicycles part of a shared fleet like Uber-owned Jump are “designed to last years,” a company spokesperson said in an email. Yes, parts will need to be replaced like tires, but the bike itself can roll on much longer. Same with the Lyft-owned Motivate bike-sharing company that runs Ford GoBike in the Bay Area or Citi Bike in New York City. A spokesperson also said the e-bikes are designed to last for years.
These e-scooters are supposed to last longer.
Image: superpedestrian
Superpedestrian released what it calls a “smart” scooter last year, built for the hard-riding street life of a rental scooter. It’s supposed to last in a shared fleet for nine to 18 months. CEO Assaf Biderman said in an email standard fleet technology used by other operators to monitor, track, and repair scooters means “much shorter vehicle lifespan” compared to the more involved system used for his scooters. He cited industry reports with as quick as 11 days of use in Austin, Texas, before a new vehicle is brought in.
Another built-to-last scooter for fleets comes from Acton (its fleet vehicle is billed as a an “urban warrior“). Company co-founder Peter Treadway said in a Mashable interview last year, “It’s built like a vehicle, not a toy, to withstand the everyday wear and tear of commercial use.”
Per USA Today‘s Kevin Allen and Tom Schad, AAF chairman Tom Dundon said the league has been in contact with Manziel’s camp about potentially working out for teams.
“Right now, it’s a decision of the GMs, and they can decide what they want to do,” Dundon said. “If talent-wise this is close, the negative of him is that there is drama with him and you are trying to win games and build a team. The positive is that he brings in fans and attention.”
The AlouettesannouncedWednesday Manziel was being released after “it was found he had contravened the agreement” with the CFL that made him eligible to play.
After news of Manziel’s release broke, the former Heisman Trophy winnertweetedhis thanks to the Montreal organization and said he was looking “forward to exploring new options within the United States.”
Dundon noted Manziel hasn’t indicated he will take a workout with the league, but in the event he is offered a contract from the AAF, it would be the same three-year, $250,000 deal every player in the league receives.
Three weeks into its inaugural season, the AAF has already experienced financial difficulties. The Athletic’sDavid Glennreported Dundon, who also owns the Carolina Hurricanes, made a $250 million investment in the league to take over as chairman and help make payroll.
Manziel appeared in eight games for Montreal during the 2018 season. He had five touchdowns, seven interceptions and 1,290 passing yards.
It was Manziel’s first game action since he was released by the Cleveland Browns in March 2016. The 26-year-old was charged with assault against his ex-girlfriend but it was later dismissedin November 2017.
Cuctua, Colombia – Ricardo* sat on the stairs inside a Colombian migration office, dressed in his green Venezuelan military fatigues. He recalled his childhood, watching the late Venezuela leader Hugo Chavez deliver charismatic speeches on television.
Ricardo said Chavez inspired him to join the armed forces.
A member of the Venezuelan National Guard, Ricardo defected on Saturday, in an escape he had planned for days with a colleague, leaving the military and their homeland behind them.
“I was filled with adrenaline, nerves and fear, but I was greeted with open arms by Colombia and now I will continue fighting for Venezuela’s freedom,” said Ricardo, 23, who, after four years training, served for just six months.
Saturday’s attempts to deliver US humanitarian aid to Venezuela by US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido turned violent in the Colombian border town of Cucuta as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro sent flocks of military to block the borders. Security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas, leaving more than 300 injured.
“They’d threaten us. If we weren’t part of their political party, they’d lock us up,” Ricardo said about the Venezuelan government.
After months of feeling trapped and frustrated in the military, the young soldier saw the border operation as his chance to escape, even if it meant leaving his young fiancee and four-month-old child behind.
“I didn’t have the chance to make this decision before. Another colleague and I followed through on what we had been planning for several days. We took the risk of crossing the border and recognised Guaido as our rightful leader,” he said at a migration centre in Cucuta, where dozens of defectors dressed in their uniforms were being officially registered by authorities.
Cause for concern for Maduro?
According to Colombian migration authorities more than 560 members of Venezuela’s armed forces have defected to Colombia, but analysts say until there are breaks among the higher ranks, such defections are likely to have little effect on Maduro.
Venezuela’s military leaders have repeatedly affirmed their support for Maduro. Last weekend, as the US-backed opposition planned their efforts to bring aid across the border, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrinos said opposition leaders would have to pass over “our dead bodies” to install a new government.
“The fracture of the military unit is an important element in the transition that is coming in Venezuela. The dissidents will help consolidate the hierarchy of the new government and reflect how cracked the regime is,” said Sergio Guarin, director of the post-conflict programme in Fundacion Ideas para la Paz, a Colombian peace and conflict think-tank.
“However, until there is a dissidence within the power ring close to Venezuela’s Minister of Defence, Vladimir Padrinos, the dissidence will not be the breaking point for the Maduro’s Government,” he told Al Jazeera.
A Venezuelan National Guard sets on fire a copy of a document, regarding a proposed amnesty law for members of the military, police and civilians [Ronald Pena/El Pitazo/Reuters]
Sergio Guzman, director of Colombia Risk Analysis, a political risk consultancy firm, added that what has happened is significant from the point of view of morale, but it is insignificant from the point of view of Maduro losing his grip on power.
“Four hundred from an army of 200,000 is virtually nothing,” Guzman told Al Jazeera.
“It’s something that affects morale because no military wants to have defectors, but it’s not significant in terms of turning the tide,” he added.
“Many people expected a domino effect of sorts, and I think this is not a domino of 400 pieces, it is a domino of 200,000 pieces, and to see 400 men and women at arms change sides to a really unexpected future gives hope that there may be many more, but that hasn’t manifested.”
‘I was a Chavista’
Daniel*, another defector, said he was the first to cross into Colombia last weekend.
He entered through an illegal ditch passageway near the Simon Bolivar bridge, where the main part of the violence unfolded on Saturday.
“I was operating a military vehicle and I abandoned it and went off with my colleague when the confrontation began on the bridge,” the 31-year-old National Guard said. “I didn’t go across the bridge because I thought the pro-government armed groups might have lynched me – the ones that were throwing petrol bombs and shooting at people – so that’s why I crossed through the ditch,” he said.
Like Ricardo, he also used to support the socialist government under Chavez.
“Truthfully, I was a Chavista. I voted for Hugo Chavez and believed in his government project,” said Daniel, who served in the military for 12 years, following in his father’s footsteps.
“But since his death, the country’s situation changed a lot and it quickly became clear that the project wasn’t going anywhere,” he added. “I’ve never believed in Maduro, even his way of speaking, he says such stupid things and he wasn’t the one to take control of the country.”
Boots belonging to defected members of Venezuela’s National Guard sit out to dry where several dozen Venezuelan military defectors are sleeping at a shelter run by a priest in Cucuta, Colombia [Christine Armario/AP Photo]
Since defecting, Daniel, who grew up and lived close to the Colombian border, made sure his wife and child were moved to another city for their safety.
Maduro has denied there is a humanitarian crisis in the country despite hyperinflation and food and medicine shortages. More than three million people have fled since 2014.
“The situation in Venezuela affected me a lot, or more importantly, my two year old son. We weren’t able to get milk or diapers, all of that we had to get on the Colombian side,” Daniel said. “It was hard to find in Venezuela, and if you could get it, it was overly expensive.”
Guaido, who declared himself interim president last month, has repeatedly called for the military’s support and promised some level of amnesty. On Saturday, he praised those who have switched their allegiance.
“The guards and members of the Armed Forces who decided to join our struggle are not defectors. They have decided to side with the people and the Constitution! Welcome! The arrival of freedom and democracy in Venezuela is now unstoppable,” Guaido tweeted.
However, some critics have called the actions of these men and women cowardly.
“I don’t see myself as a coward or as a defector, I see myself as someone fighting for the benefits of all Venezuelan people, for what they all deserve,” Daniel said.
Daniel knows that Venezuela isn’t going to get better overnight, but hopes that Maduro will make “the right decision soon” and let Guaido take the reigns of his country
“Leave government. Make the right decision and hand the power over to Guaido,” Daniel said in a message to Maduro. “Let the country be free, hand it over, before there’s a bloodbath.”
*Name has been changed to protect the individual’s identity.
Until recently, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s reelection appeared to be nearly a lock. The latest polls now show him slipping into a tight race — and those surveys don’t even capture the latest influx of damaging detail. | Lars hagberg/AFP/Getty Images
The Canadian leader faces unprecedented political peril as a fast-escalating scandal implicates him specifically.
All bets are now off about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political survival.
An ethics scandal has plunged Canada’s government into disarray, with the prime minister himself facing unprecedented political peril.
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A flood of new details allege Trudeau and several senior government officials repeatedly pressured his former attorney general to drop corruption charges against a large construction company and reach a settlement agreement. Trudeau’s political opponents sent police a letter Thursday requesting an investigation and called for Trudeau’s resignation.
“He can no longer, and in good standing with a clear conscience, lead this nation,” said Conservative Andrew Scheer, who hopes to replace Trudeau.
The prime minister brushed off that request and said Canadians will have a chance to judge him for themselves in an election this fall.
Until recently, his reelection appeared to be nearly a lock. The latest polls now show him slipping into a tight race — and those surveys don’t even capture the latest influx of damaging detail.
“It’s like someone threw the chessboard into the air,” said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs. “The pieces haven’t landed yet. … This was already a close race. [Trudeau’s Liberals] couldn’t afford to stumble. And, yesterday was much more than a stumble.”
The turning point was testimony Wednesday at a spectacular Justice Committee hearing in the Canadian House of Commons: On the same day Michael Cohen torched President Donald Trump at a committee hearing, a spurned ally of Trudeau’s was scorching himtoo.
Former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was dropped by Trudeau but continues to sit in his party’s caucus, broke her silence after weeks of speculation about what she might say.
In painstaking detail she demolished the talking point from the government that Trudeau played no role in pressuring her to cut a plea deal with a Montreal-based company. Wilson-Raybould described and shared notes from about 10 meetings and 10 phone calls with 11 senior members of the government, including Trudeau. She said after she repeatedly fought pressure last fall from officials in Trudeau’s office and other departments to deliver a non-prosecution agreement, the prime minister brought it up with her.
She said Trudeau noted in a meeting last September that the company, SNC-Lavalin, is a major, longstanding employer in his home town.
Wilson-Raybould also said the prime minister and others raised the suggestion that cutting a deal could help the provincial wing of their Liberal party in an election last October, which it ultimately lost.
“At that point the prime minister jumped in, stressing that there is an election in Quebec and that ‘I am [a member of Parliament] in Quebec.’ … I was quite taken aback,” Wilson-Raybould said. “My response — and I vividly remember this as well — was to ask the prime minister a direct question while looking him in the eye. I asked, ‘Are you politically interfering with my role?’”
She said Trudeau said he wasn’t interfering.
But she was soon demoted to a lesser role in the cabinet, replaced with a new attorney general from Trudeau’s home town, and she recently quit her cabinet post.
Wilson-Raybould, who remains a member of Parliament, told the committee hearing that she was, “having thoughts of the Saturday Night Massacre,” the Watergate purging of the Justice Department.
The sole bright spot on the darkest day of Trudeau’s term came when the former minister was asked whether Trudeau or others had committed a crime.
“I don’t believe that,” she replied.
The opposition seized the moment anyway: The Conservative leader hoping to replace Trudeau in an election later this year sent police a letter requesting an investigation.
Scheer asked the Mounties to investigatewhether the acts described violated two criminal code items: one on obstruction of justice, the other against pressuring the attorney general.The RCMP has not commented.
He also called on Trudeau to resign.
“I was sickened and appalled by [the] story of inappropriate, and frankly bordering on illegal, pressure,” Scheer said. “Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet must now find a way forward, without him. … They have a duty to govern this nation, not help a disgraced prime minister hang onto power.”
Trudeau disputed the characterization of events,but did not deny asking her to spare the company. He insisted he never directed the minister to drop charges.
“There are disagreements in perspective on this,” Trudeau said Thursday. “But I can reassure Canadians that we were doing our job and we were doing it in a way that respects and defends our institutions.”
He also sidestepped questions about calling a broader public inquiry, beyond ongoing parliamentary and ethics investigations.
One option available in theory is an early election.
If the opposition wants Trudeau gone, and if Trudeau said his fate is ultimately up to voters, they could call for an early election. The current election is officially set for Oct. 23, but the Canadian constitution allows a vote at any time.
Several members of the Trudeau government dismissed the idea. A spokesperson for the prime minister, Eleanore Catenaro, said Trudeau squashed the idea of an early election call in a December interview.
“His comments still stand,” Catenaro said.
And asked about early election talk, Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr said Thursday: “[There’s been] none that I’ve heard.”
Minister of Innovation Navdeep Bains was with Trudeau at a press conference announcing a 24-year Canadian commitment to NASA’s deep-space exploration project.
He sounded a similar note.
“We’re just focused on our mandate,” Bains said in an interview. “We’re focused on executing our work for Canadians.”
One of the activities that makes living in cold environments actually worth it is ice skating.
In Prince George, Canada the weather conditions just the right weather conditions turned the into a perfect skating rink after the plow cleared off the snow. So that can only mean one thing: street skating.
These skaters took no time at all strapping on their skates and making the most of an otherwise slippery situation.
Fortnite players have discovered a new addition to the game with the launch of Season 8 Thursday: Weezer World.
If you’re a big Weezer fan and are excited to hear their upcoming self-titled album, known as TheBlack Album, you may want to check out this island because it’s playing songs that aren’t available publicly yet.
Weezer World, which is an island you can check out in creative mode, is basically a giant Weezer-themed amusement park with a handful of different activities to check out either by yourself or with others. While you’re on the island, you can listen to four different Weezer songs from TheBlack Album.
Weezer tweeted out a little joke about the release of the new season of Fortnite and the band’s involvement in it.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Fortnite developer Epic Games team up with real-world musicians. Earlier in February, Fortnite hosted an in-game concert featuring the artist Marshmello. It’s not a bad way to do a little advertising considering Fortnite continues to be one of the most-played games of the past year.
While the Marshmello concert was a one-off event, it’s currently unclear how long Weezer World will exist. It might only be around until the new album drops on March 1.
By Karissa Bell
Daily Trends Hunter 