Midweek Malaise

Dying Earth:

• Volcanic Eruption Likely Starting in Iceland, close to Captial

• Powerful earthquake shakes central Greece

• Exxon Mobil ordered to pay $14.25M penalty in pollution case (0.007% of 2020 profits)

Dying Americans:

• U.S. gets 'C-,' faces $2.59 trillion in infrastructure needs over 10 years

• Attleboro Man Raises Over $3,500 For Friend’s Funeral, Refuses To Give Money To Grieving Family, Says He Wants To Use It To Get Budweiser Tattoo

• Texas governor lifts mask mandate and allows businesses to open at 100% capacity, despite health officials' warnings

• South Carolina adds firing squad to execution methods to address lethal injection shortage

"South Carolina is the fourth state to bring in a firing squad as part of its executions, behind Utah, Oklahoma and Mississippi."

1/6 Capital Riot:

• Capitol riot was act of terrorism says FBI director Chris Wray

• Capitol riot 'inspiration for extremism', Wray warns

• Feds charge man who claimed he dressed up like Antifa and beat, stole gear from police during Capitol riot

• Police preparing for possible militia ‘plot to breach the Capitol’ in Washington on Thursday

• Police say live pipe bomb found at polling place in Iowa

• Parler drops case against Amazon for pushing it offline over Capitol violence

• US militia group draws members from military and police, website leak shows

Killer Cops & Courts:

• Hanging KKK flag next to Black family’s home ‘unfortunately’ not a crime, prosecutor says

• After Spending 20 Years In Jail, UP Man Found 'Wrongly Convicted' In Rape Case

COVID-19:

• White House moves up vaccine supply timeline, says U.S. will have enough for every adult by end of May

• Blast strikes Dutch COVID-19 test centre; police call it an attack

• 'Tip Of the Iceberg': Interpol Says Fake COVID-19 Vaccines Were Smuggled Across Continents

International Affairs:

• Pope says he must go to Iraq because people cannot be let down

• Pentagon: US contractor dies in rocket attack at Iraq base

• U.S. imposes sanctions on Russia over poisoning of Navalny

• Reporters Without Borders files criminal complaint against Saudi crown prince (for assassinating a NYT journalist and imprisoning 34 other journalists)

Market:

• SPY up. BTC up. GME sideways.

• Alamo Drafthouse files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, will sell assets to Altamont Capital and Fortress Investment

• Google won't use other web tracking tools after phasing out cookies

• Amazon worker died by suicide at Las Vegas facility

  The coroner later determined the man died by suicide...Shortly afterward, Amazon staff members began installing barricades adjacent to where the worker was found, the employee said..."Employees were sent home with pay shortly after the incident," an Amazon spokesperson said.

Art

• Boy Scouts Will Sell Nearly 60 Norman Rockwell Works to Pay Sex-Abuse Claims

• Bunny Wailer, last surviving founder member of the Wailers, dies aged 73

Space:

• NASA's Perseverance rover deploys wind sensor on Mars

Image from NASA's Mars Perseverance rover, 3/2/21, NASA