Out d’Coup | Ukraine; Freedom Convoy; COVID; Koalas; PA Voting Regs; PA District Maps; PA Extremists; Central Bucks Cancels Field Trip to DC; SpaceX Starlink Probs; Streaming Shows

Russia takes a few more steps closer to provoking war in Ukraine. 

The Canadian “Freedom Convoy” protests intensify. Three international bridges have been blocked and supply lines are further jammed up. The Biden administration is urging Canadadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to use federal powers to end the bridge blockade. Copycat protests are creeping up in other parts of the country and across the world. New reporting from the New York Times suggest that weekend protests in the U.S. may disrupt the Super Bowl, according to the Department of Homeland Security. 

As the number of COVID cases start to slowly decrease, even Democratic governors are racing ahead of scientists to rollback pandemic safety protocols. So much for “listening to the scientists.” Meanwhile, the new Omicron “subvariant” is now dominant in South Africa and is expected to spread. Scientists are still finding the variant to spread even more easily than Omicron, but it does not appear to be more deadly. 

It looks like sticking our heads in the sand during a pandemic isn’t an entirely American practice. Writing in the Washington Post, Jess McHugh takes a look at what happened ahead of a 4th wave of the Spanish Flu…it’s remarkably familiar. 

Australia just designated koalas as an endangered species. Environment Minister Sussan Ley said in a statement, “The impact of prolonged drought, followed by the black summer bushfires, and the cumulative impacts of disease, urbanization and habitat loss over the past twenty years have led to the advice.” 

PA’s Supreme Court put on hold the period for candidates to gather signature petitions to qualify for the May 17 primary. 

Victor Martinez, a Lehigh Valley Latino radio station owner says he may join with Republicans to contest newly drawn congressional maps.  According to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, “Martinez has argued that the maps as currently drawn will dilute the voting power of Pennsylvania’s Latino residents, even though they were the fastest growing demographic group in Pennsylvania.”

Central Bucks school district field trip to the Holocaust Museam in Washington, DC was cancelled this week because some school board members were upset with DC’s strict vaccination requirements. Diana Leygerman - who we’ve had on the show - tweeted out her outrage at the cancellations and it went viral with more than 90,000 people viewing her tweet. 

Bethlehem-based Alt-right podcaster, Joseph Paul Berger, is facing federal charges for allegedly stockpiling a cache of more than a dozen unregistered machine guns. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Lehigh County prosecutors say Berger once encouraged his listeners to “assassinate lawmakers, lobbyists, and ‘left-wing’ billionaires’ with explosives. Berger was also found to be 3-D printing a collection of untraceable “ghost guns” in his parents' basement. His father was also arrested. 

NASA says SpaceX’s Starlink - including plans to launch 30,000 more small satellites as part of its orbital internet plans - may interfe with the Hubble telescope and the agency’s ability to detect incoming asteroids. Don’t look up. 

Foundation, Ozark, and Legends of Vox Machina