RadioRob

Published by Reuters By Andrea Shalal and Katanga Johnson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday requiring the government to assess the risks and benefits of creating a central bank digital dollar, as well as other cryptocurrency issues, the White House said. Biden’s order will require the Treasury Department, the Commerce Department and other key agencies to prepare reports on “the future of money” and the role cryptocurrencies will play. Wide-ranging oversight of the cryptocurrency market, which surged past $3 trillion in November, is essential to ensure U.S. national security, financial stability and U.S. competitiveness, and stave off the growing threat of cyber crime, administration officials said. Analysts view the long-awaited executive order as a stark acknowledgement of the growing importance of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoins and their potential consequences for the U.S. and global financial systems. “The growth in crypto currencies has been explosive,” Daleep Singh, deputy national security adviser for economics, said in an interview with CNN. Cryptocurrencies and digital assets can affect how people access banking, whether consumers are safe and protected from volatility, and the primacy of the U.S. dollar in the global economy, he said. The executive order is part of an effort to promote responsible innovation but mitigates the risk to consumers, investors and businesses, Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, and Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, said in a statement. “We are clear-eyed that ‘financial innovation’ of the past has too often not benefited working families, while exacerbating inequality and increasing systemic financial risk,” they said. One of the order’s key measures directs the government to assess the technological infrastructure needed for a potential U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) — an electronic version of dollar bills in your pocket. In January, the Federal Reserve kicked the question of whether the United States should pursue a digital dollar to Congress, leading analysts to predict such a project would take years. But one administration official said the United States would move forward with developing a digital dollar, albeit with care given the dollar’s role as the world’s primary reserve currency. “We’ve got to be very, very deliberate about that analysis because the implications of our moving in this direction are profound for the country that issues the world’s primary reserve currency,” the official said. The order also encourages the Federal Reserve to continue research and development efforts. Nine countries have launched central bank digital currencies, and 16 others – including China – have begun development of such digital assets, according to the Atlantic Council https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker, leading some in Washington to worry that the dollar could lose some of its dominance to China. The U.S. dollar remains underpinned by key fundamentals, including a commitment to transparency, the rule of law and the full independence of the Federal Reserve, the official said. “The dollar’s role has been and will continue to be crucial to the stability of the international monetary system as a whole. Foreign central bank digital currencies and their introduction by themselves do not threaten this dominance,” the official said. The United States will monitor developments with an eye to maintaining the centrality of the dollar in the global economy, the White House said. In addition, the order asks agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to review other issues raised by cryptocurrencies, including systemic risk and consumer protection. One key objective is to redress inefficiencies in the current U.S. payments system and boost financial inclusion, especially of poor Americans, about 5% of whom do not currently have bank accounts due to high fees, one official said. “Before today, there hadn’t previously been an organized effort to bring together the expertise and authorities of the entire U.S. government to inform a holistic approach to digital assets,” another official added. Bitcoin surged on Wednesday and remained on track for its biggest gain since Feb. 28. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Katanga Johnson; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Michelle Price, Simon Cameron-Moore and Mark Porter) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States has seen indications that Russia’s military in its assault on Ukraine is using so-called dumb bombs that are unguided and greatly increase the risk of missing targets, a senior U.S. defense official said on Wednesday. “We do have indications that the Russians are in fact dropping some dumb munitions,” the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that the United States was observing “increasing damage to civilian infrastructure and civilian casualties.” The comments came shortly after Ukraine accused Russia on Wednesday of bombing a children’s hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol. At least 1,170 civilians have been killed in Mariupol since the start of the Russian invasion, according to Ukrainian authorities. Reuters was unable to independently confirm those figures. Russia denies targeting civilians and says it is using precision munitions in its “special military operation” in Ukraine, and hitting military targets. But use of unguided munitions in urban settings, if confirmed, would bolster accusations about Russia’s disregard for civilian casualties. Ukrainian officials are increasingly accusing Russia of intentionally targeting civilians in the two-week-old invasion of the country, the largest conflict in Europe since World War Two. The U.S. official declined to quantify Russia’s use of unguided munitions and could not say whether Wednesday’s hospital strike was a result of their use. “We don’t have visibility into their targeting process,” the official said. Leaders of U.S. spy agencies said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin may intensify the assault on Ukraine despite military setbacks and economic hardships resulting from international sanctions, setting up “an ugly next few weeks.” They estimated that 2,000 to 4,000 Russian troops had died. After two weeks, Russians forces have lost use of several hundred vehicles, many of them destroyed. The Kremlin maintains use of more than 90% of the pre-staged combat power that it had assembled outside of Ukraine before the invasion began, the official said. Russia had amassed more than 150,000 forces outside Ukraine, but much of its campaign in the north stalled in the early days and it failed to carry out plans to quickly capture Kyiv, the capital, U.S. officials say. Separately, the official said Russian forces had advanced toward the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. That appeared to confirm remarks by the city’s mayor, who earlier on Wednesday said Russian troops were regrouping and described the situation as very tense. (Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Tyler Clifford and Brendan O’Brien (Reuters) – Lawyers for four men standing trial on charges they planned to break into Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s vacation home and kidnap her at gunpoint said their clients only engaged in idle talk and never conspired to abduct the governor over her COVID-19 mandates. “There was no agreement. There was no conspiracy to kidnap the governor of Michigan or any other governor,” attorney Christopher Gibbons, representing Adam Fox, said in his opening statement. Fox is standing trial in a Grand Rapids, Michigan, federal court along with Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft Jr. and Daniel Harris on charges of conspiring to kidnap the Democratic governor in 2020. All the defendants except Caserta are also charged with knowingly conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property. If convicted by a 12-person jury, the men face the possibility of life in prison. In their opening statement, prosecutors told the jury they would offer evidence that would prove the men planned to break into Whitmer’s vacation home, hog-tie her and take her away at gunpoint to stand trial on treason charges over her COVID-19 mandates. “To accomplish that, they would shoot, blow up and kill anybody who got in their way, in their own words, creating a war zone here in Michigan,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Roth said. Prosecutors are expected to rely on the testimony of two witnesses, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks. Indicted along with the four defendants by a grand jury in December 2020, both struck plea deals with prosecutors and agreed to testify against the defendants. Garbin is currently serving a six-year sentence, while Franks is awaiting sentencing. A total of 13 men, some of whom prosecutors said were associated with an anti-government militia group known as Wolverine Watchmen, were arrested in October 2020 and charged with state or federal crimes in the alleged kidnapping conspiracy. Seven of them are facing charges in state court. Julia Anne Kelly, an attorney for Harris, said the evidence would show her client was unaware of any plans to kidnap the governor. “He liked to talk about drinking and girls and guns,” Kelly said. “He was not perfect in the summer of 2020. But he’s not done what the government has accused him of.” The FBI said it began tracking the group’s movements after seeing online discussions that included posts about the violent overthrow of some state governments to end curbs on social and business activities imposed to control the coronavirus. The indictment accuses one or more of the defendants of discussing Whitmer’s kidnapping and planning to meet in Wisconsin to train with assault rifles. The posts also discussed buying supplies to be used in the kidnapping and putting Whitmer’s vacation home under surveillance. Fox ordered $4,000 worth of explosives from an undercover FBI agent posing as a co-conspirator, the indictment said. It also said Fox and Harris made payments for the explosives in the following weeks. (Reporting by Tyler Clifford and Brendan O’Brien; Editing by Karishma Singh and Howard Goller) View the full article

‘ Published by Miami Herald Just listen to the rhetorical gymnastics Republicans in the Florida Legislature have employed to defend what opponents call the“Don’t say gay” bill. We have nothing against LGBTQ kids, they argued. We’re just protecting parental rights, they said, trying — and failing — to defend themselves against charges that they are homophobic. But it took a debate on the Florida Senate floor on Monday for the true views of at least one of the politicians behind House Bill 1557 to emerge: There are just too many gay kids nowadays. That, apparently, is why bill sponsor Sen. Dennis Baxley, a Republican from … Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jan Wolfe WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Texas legal regulators have asked a judge to discipline attorney Sidney Powell for filing lawsuits they say were frivolous in support of former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud. The disciplinary action is a major development in what has become a nationwide effort to punish pro-Trump lawyers who tried to overturn the November 2020 presidential election result, but is not a final finding of wrongdoing. A Texas state court judge will hear the complaint and decide whether to impose a sanction and what that might be. In the complaint made public on Tuesday, the State Bar of Texas Commission for Lawyer Discipline said Powell “had no reasonable basis” for filing lawsuits challenging President Joe Biden’s victories in key battleground states. “Respondent (Powell) had no reasonable basis to believe the lawsuits she filed were not frivolous,” the complaint stated and called the suits a violation of a federal ethics rule requiring an attorney’s due diligence before asserting claims in court. Powell said in a statement that she looked forward to presenting evidence to clear her name. “The Texas bar decision was totally expected, but it is an unfortunate and poor decision by the Bar,” Powell said. “No lawyer could practice law under the rule they would set for me.” Powell represented Trump’s campaign when he sought to overturn the election result. His campaign distanced itself from Powell after she claimed without evidence at a Nov. 19 news conference that electronic voting systems had switched millions of ballots to Biden. In August, a federal judge in Michigan said an election lawsuit Powell filed in that state was frivolous. “This lawsuit represents a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process,” U.S. District Judge Linda Parker said in her decision, adding that the case “was never about fraud – it was about undermining the people’s faith in our democracy and debasing the judicial process to do so.” Powell and lawyers with whom she worked have appealed that ruling, saying her conduct was ethical. (Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Reelz Three’s Company is the beloved 70’s American sitcom that aired for eight seasons on the ABC network from 1977 to 1984. The show is known not only for starring classic actors and actresses like John Ritter, Susanne Sommers, and Joyce Dewitt, but also for pulling back the curtain on what was then thought of as taboo by placing a gay man living with two sexy single women roommates front and center on television screens all across the country. But despite the arguably controversial and taboo material, the show practically became an instant hit. Just like that, the name Three’s Company became a household name in homes across the nation, and the sitcom’s three main characters basically became the poster children of “Jiggle TV” and escapist television that wasn’t afraid of exploring and deconstructing gender and sexual taboos that no network or television show dared try before. Now, the entire behind the scenes story of Three’s Company is being brought to televisions everywhere once again in REELZ’s upcoming special documentary Three’s Company: The Unknown Story, and Radar is here with your very own extensive and exclusive very first look at the cant miss special. “You didn’t really talk about gay or gay issues so it was one area where Three’s Company was a little bit edgy,” says TV Historian Jim Colucci, who is one of the many people featured in the documentary. “The landlord didn’t actually care that Jack was gay, he just didn’t want a gentleman in the house having pre-marital sex,” adds Rob Shuter, the host of the Naughty But Nice Podcast and who is also featured throughout the special. But despite having modest acting careers of their own before landing the three lead roles of the hit sitcom, Three’s Company: The Unknown Story argues – rather correctly – that it was the on-screen comedy between the trio that made superstars out of Ritter, Sommers and Dewitt. “People forget what a talented physical actor John Ritter was,” says Tom Kelly, a well-known comedian in his own right who was interviewed for the documentary. “Susan Sommers became the breakout star of the show,” Shuter adds later in the special. “Joyce Dewitt as ‘Janet’ is a comedic genius,” adds Danko Jones of The Regal Beagle Podcast. Reelz But although the main trio were truly beloved by audiences everywhere, it wasn’t long before things took a dramatic turn for the worse. The documentary does a great job exploring why Suzanne Somers – who was as famous as Ritter – felt obligated to make a sudden and controversial exit from the prime time hit show. “She went in and she asked for a huge increase in salary, she wanted to be earning exactly the same as her male co-star,” Shuter recalls. “ABC told her to go take a hike,” historian Colucci, says. If you think all of this is interesting, just wait until you find out how much more there is to learn in Three’s Company: The Unknown Story which is scheduled to premiere on Saturday, March 5th at 8ET/PT on REELZ. Watch REELZ on DIRECTV 238, Dish Network 299, Verizon FiOS 692, AT&T U-verse 1799 and in HD on cable systems and streaming services nationwide. Find REELZ on your local cable or satellite provider at reelz.com/get-reelz/ View the full article