'Summer Bookings'

What You Need To Know

Today’s posts that caught my eye:

1. What an extraordinary story: “A woman of mixed race appears to be the third person ever to be cured of H.I.V., using a new transplant method involving umbilical cord blood that opens up the possibility of curing more people of diverse racial backgrounds than was previously possible. “

2. The GOP’s culture war attacks are 'alarmingly potent,' the DCCC warns. The Democrats’ own research shows that some battleground voters think the party is “preachy,” “judgmental” and “focused on culture wars,” according to documents obtained by Politico. Dems needed polling to realize this?

3. Mark Zuckerberg wants his employees to be known as ‘Metamates’. That’s it. That’s what caught my eye.

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The World

Russia offers mixed signals on Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had withdrawn some troops from the Ukrainian border and was open to renewed talks to end a standoff with the West, but President Biden said an invasion remained “distinctly possible.” Putin’s comments were part of a recent string of mixed messages from the Kremlin and capped a day of diplomacy and military maneuvering that left Western leaders unsure of his intentions. Roughly 130,000 heavily armed Russian soldiers remained positioned around Ukraine, and U.S. and European officials said they had seen no evidence of a significant drawdown of forces. (Wall Street Journal)

• Ukrainian defense ministry websites went down due to what the government claimed was a massive cyberattack, as Russian troops mass on the Ukrainian border. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said the websites were down, and that it was likely being targeted by a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack. A separate Ukrainian agency, the Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security, said the website of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had also been attacked. (Politico)

Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Bahrain wants to upgrade its relationship with the Jewish state, as he wrapped up the first official visit by an Israeli premier to the Gulf kingdom. Bennett touted increased cooperation on bilateral trade and tourism, but behind the scenes, his talks with the kingdom’s leadership focused on countering Iran. (Times of Israel)

Ottawa's police chief resigned after criticism that he did not do enough to stop COVID-19 protests that have paralyzed Canada's capital city and forced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke emergency powers. (Reuters)

Éric Zemmour, the far-right pundit standing in the French presidential election, claims to have won the backing of Donald Trump after the two men spoke on the phone on Tuesday. Zemmour’s campaign said that the pair had a “long and friendly” conversation on migration, law and order and the economy. The announcement came as two polls showed Zemmour edging into third place in the election race ahead of Valérie Pécresse, 54, the mainstream centre-right Republicans candidate. (The Times)

L.A. County will lift its outdoor mask mandate today, as Coachella and Stagecoach festivals drop all vaccination and masking requirements for entry. Disneyland will lift its indoor mask mandate for vaccinated visitors starting tomorrow. (Los Angeles Times)

• Coronavirus Hong Kong: Xi Jinping urged local government to take ‘main responsibility’ in containing fifth wave and placing top priority on stability and people’s lives. ‘Authorities must mobilize all forces and resources that can be mobilized, take all necessary measures and protect Hong Kong people’s lives and health,’ Xi was quoted as saying in pro-Beijing media. (South China Morning Post)

Less than five months after Californians overwhelmingly rejected a recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom, voters are growing more dissatisfied with the governor, and a solid majority believe the state is headed in the wrong direction, according to a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll. (Los Angeles Times)

GOP culture war attacks are 'alarmingly potent,' the DCCC warns. The Democrats’ own research shows that some battleground voters think the party is “preachy,” “judgmental” and “focused on culture wars,” according to documents obtained by Politico. The campaign committee has been showing House Democrats polling about how to counter GOP attacks on various issues. (Politico)

• Republicans are targeting LGBTQ rights through a wave of “educational gag orders”, a free speech group has warned, as conservatives battle to censor discussion of race and sexual identities in schools. More than 100 bills censoring teachers have been introduced in state legislatures this year. In the last year, PEN America counted 155 bills introduced in 38 states that would censor what teachers can say or teach in classrooms. In 2022 there has been a “steep rise” in the introduction of what PEN America calls “gag orders.” (The Guardian)

To build Gov. Abbott’s border barrier, Texas will use surplus wall panels from the federal government. The 1,700 unused wall panels are being stored in Eagle Pass. Texas didn’t have to explain its plans for the panels when it secured the federal donation. (Texas Tribune)

A woman of mixed race appears to be the third person ever to be cured of H.I.V., using a new transplant method involving umbilical cord blood that opens up the possibility of curing more people of diverse racial backgrounds than was previously possible. Cord blood is more widely available than the adult stem cells used in the bone marrow transplants that cured the previous two patients, and it does not need to be matched as closely to the recipient. Most donors in registries are of Caucasian origin, so allowing for only a partial match has the potential to cure dozens of Americans who have both H.I.V. and cancer each year. The woman, who also had leukemia, received cord blood to treat her cancer. It came from a partially matched donor, instead of the typical practice of finding a bone marrow donor of similar race and ethnicity to the patient’s. She also received blood from a close relative to give her body temporary immune defenses while the transplant took. (New York Times)

The U.S. shorelines are projected to face an additional foot of rising seas over the next three decades, intensifying the threat of flooding and erosion to coastal communities across the country, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report. Human-caused climate change, driven mostly by the burning of fossil fuels, has accelerated global sea level rise to the fastest rate in more than 3,000 years. The report by NOAA and other federal agencies — updating a study from 2017 — predicts that ocean levels along U.S. coasts will increase as much by 2050 as they did over the past century. (Washington Post)

• Hailstorm creates winter wonderland in Pasadena as cold front brings dramatic weather shift to SoCal. (KABC)

emily cline @emilyclineart

Right now at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena!

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Economy

Inflation watch: