Markey called for Congress to pass his proposal of $2,000 monthly stimulus checks in a statement on Friday. “The $1,400 in direct cash assistance is a down payment that will help families make rent, put food on the table, and pay the utility bills after Senate Republicans blocked that additional funding back in December,” the Democrat said. “But we must still pass my legislation with Senator Bernie Sanders [of Vermont] to provide $2,000 monthly payments to working people through the duration of the pandemic....

“The Squad” of six progressive representatives and others on the party’s left wing called on the Democrats to improve the “material conditions” of Americans struggling in the pandemic—and to push for “real substantial change” while the party held control of Congress and the executive branch. Several of the progressive lawmakers backed Sen. Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primaries, but rallied behind Biden after he secured the party nomination. Now they have signaled that they will pressure the administration and congressional leadership to deliver on policy....

From the strong smell of cigars to religious scents, the €2.8 million ($3.3 million) project called Odeuropa, will seek to recreate old aromas from between the 16th and 20th centuries in order to gain a better understanding of how the meanings and uses of different smells have changed over time. The ambitious project, which is expected to last for three years, will begin in January. Artificial intelligence will be used to screen historical texts in seven languages in order to pick up smells in books and on images....

The threats, which came in the lead-up to Halloween during the great clown panic of 2016, from accounts billing themselves as “killer clowns” led to intensive surveillance, according to records from Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Clown sightings were recorded all over the U.S. in 2016, with the craze eventually coming to the attention of the police. An October 3, 2016, document, entitled Social Media Clown Threats, obtained by The Guardian, reportedly laid out measures taken by authorities over the prior four days in relation to “threats coming from accounts created by unknown persons with profile pictures of clowns” on “the popular Social Media sites today like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc....

Biden was in Pittsburgh to tout the nation’s economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic as well as investments in infrastructure, and other administration priorities moving forward. However, two leading Pennsylvania Democrats—Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and Attorney General Josh Shapiro—initially chose not to appear alongside the president. Spokespeople for Fetterman and Shapiro cited “scheduling conflicts” despite the two politicians being invited by the president for a photo-op, the Associated Press reported....

He reiterated that the job doesn’t present a conflict of interest because he’s not going to be “involved in Flyers stuff.” It’s not quite that simple, but again, here we are — and the league and NHLPA agree that it’s cool, so … whatever. The appearance was more proof that beyond the Flyers stuff, he’s a good choice for the job On what he brings to the role as one of the most physical-and-or-dirty players of his generation: “I’m able to look at a play and say, ‘OK, if I was playing, what would I have done?...

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger poked holes in Rittenhouse’s claims that the defendant traveled from Antioch, Illinois on August 25, 2020, to aid those in the Wisconsin city amid public unrest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Binger questioned why despite carrying a medic bag, Rittenhouse’s first instinct was to run away from the scene after he shot Kenosha resident Joseph Rosenbaum. “One of the things that you will see in here, in this case, is that the defendant, throughout this entire evening, held himself out as an EMT, as a medic carrying a medical bag with him strapped to his body,” Binger told the jury....

In the early hours of Wednesday, journalist Wyatt Reed posted a video showing police officers apparently retreating and leaving the area to the protesters. “DC Police just retreated after holding Black Lives Matter Plaza all day–crowd just seized back the Black House Autonomous Zone and people are going NUTS,” Reed tweeted alongside the clip. Police spent much of Tuesday facing off against protesters, removing tents and barricades they had set up in a bid to create an autonomous zone, The Washington Post reported....

Foreign-policy issues are not usually on the local agenda–not since apartheid in South Africa have so many local governments addressed an international issue. But “we’re a working-class, small city with a large number of active and retired military personnel,” says Tacoma, Wash., City Councilor Bill Evans, who drafted a resolution with several neighboring military bases. “Anything that impacts local people is our business.” The reasons for protesting action in Iraq are all over the map–literally....

California, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Washington, Tennessee, and Illinois all saw protesters gather in large numbers—many not practicing social distancing or following government guidelines intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus—demanding that their governors reopen their states. Despite contradicting government guidelines, President Donald Trump has called the protesters “very responsible” and has said that some governors have “gone too far” with their stay-at-home orders. Trump also tweeted on Friday: “Liberate Michigan,” “Liberate Minnesota,” and “Liberate Virginia, and save your great 2nd Amendment....

The extremist sticker, which called for the murder of Afghan refugees and featured the words “no bag limit—Tagging Taliban not required. May hunt day or night with or without dogs,” were found by UoM student Alex Williams on September 12. The mock-hunting permit, which used Proud Boys’ name, logo and color scheme, also featured a permit number of 09/11/01, an apparent reference to the September 11 terror attacks. The fake permit was among around a dozen far-right stickers posted across the campus, which were eventually removed by Williams....

However, last week Tarrio announced on the right-wing social network Parler that he and other Proud Boys planned to attend a January 6 protest in Washington D.C. incognito to support the election overturn efforts of President Donald Trump. On December 12, Tarrio tore down a BLM banner from Asbury United Methodist Church, a historic church with a predominantly Black congregation, during a pro-Trump rally. The banner was later burned in the streets....

If you use a sticky bandage, make sure the sticky part isn’t touching the blister. This will be painful to pull off. Unless the blister ruptured or started draining, you don’t have to use any antibacterial cream on it. If you got the blister while climbing, take a break for at least a few days and let it heal. If you can’t avoid grabbing or holding things while you have a blister on your hand, then you can use some moleskin to pad the area and reduce pressure on the blister....

Newegg released several bundles twice this week, while Best Buy, Walmart and Antonline all released more units on Thursday. The restocks, however, were quickly snapped up and Sony’s next-gen console is once again hard to get. Antonline PS5 Restock Antonline is out of PS5s after a limited restocked of the Digital Version flew off the shelves on Thursday. The Disc Version of the console, meanwhile, hasn’t been in stock since a small restock on April 24....

This seems very strange to me. Skills and diligence should be more important than age for those climbing the corporate ladder. There is another problem. In Japan job responsibilities typically are sliced very thin. Scores of people–bankers, for example –do essentially the same thing, with perhaps slight variations in their jobs. This niche system confines the most talented people. To make things worse, Japanese companies rarely fire people. This old model, once seemingly efficient, now only hinders production....

The Why Behind Failing Confidence There are plenty of reasons why people’s trust in digital systems is rapidly degrading. We’re bombarded with information 24 hours a day. Every time we want to look at a website, we’re asked to hand over personal information. Technology like biometrics and location tracking seems to be getting more invasive. There are, however, three main reasons why trust is failing. 1. If the Big Guys Can’t Do It, What Hope Is There?...

On Sunday, actress Wendi McLendon-Covey tweeted an announcement for a new episode of ABC’s series The Goldbergs, which will return from its winter hiatus on January 15. McLendon-Covey, who plays Beverly Goldberg on the show, wrote, “See you this Wednesday for an all new episode of @thegoldbergsabc.” She accompanied the tweet with a gif of her character. One Twitter user replied to the actress that she might have accidentally revealed that tournament player Ken Jennings won the primetime competition....

“Perennial” comes from the Latin word “perennis” which means “lasting the year through. ” “Annual” is based on the Latin word “annus” meaning “year. ” Some plants that are considered perennials may actually behave as annuals depending on your climate. For instance, tulips need a dormant period (a cold winter) and a hot, dry growing season to come back each year, and they might not rebloom if the weather isn’t just right....

On a level that has so much less to do with baseball, the reason to remember Sunday night is the death of Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras in a car accident in the Dominican Republic, and the humanity of Giants backup outfielder Juan Perez. The news of Taveras’ death broke during the first inning, and even for those who had never met him, it was nearly impossible to remain focused on the fact that there was a baseball game happening....