* The Biden administration has expressed skepticism about these claims: “Russia said it was pulling back more forces from around Ukraine on Wednesday, the latest move in an apparent effort to ease tensions that has done little to assuage Western fears the Kremlin might be planning an imminent invasion of its neighbor.”
* Incidents like these have been far too common for far too long: “As U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine simmer, three U.S. Navy surveillance planes had close encounters with multiple Russian jets above the Mediterranean this past weekend, according to the Pentagon.”
* Inflation doesn’t appear to be discouraging consumers: “Consumer spending bounced back sharply in January as rising inflation and a post-holiday surge kept cash registers ringing, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Retail sales for the month rose 3.8%, much better than the 2.1% Dow Jones estimate.”
* The latest threats targeting HBCUs: “The FBI on Wednesday was investigating a bomb threat at Fayetteville State University and another one against Clafin University in South Carolina. It is the latest in a string of threats against historically Black colleges and universities. Through Feb. 7, the FBI had recorded threats against 17 institutions across the country.”
* The shutdown deadline is a couple of days away: “Sen. Marsha Blackburn lifted a hold on a stopgap bill needed to avoid a partial government shutdown this weekend after she won a commitment from the Biden administration that it wouldn’t fund pipes for smoking illicit substances through a substance-abuse program.”
* Sadly predictable: “In a remarkable diplomatic display Wednesday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who resisted both domestic and international appeals by U.S. officials to cancel his visit to Moscow, sat knee-to-knee with Putin and declared that Brazil was in ‘solidarity’ with Russia. Putin then named Brazil to be Russia’s most important partner in Latin America.”
* Pentagon news: “The Defense Department on Tuesday released a report that says mergers and consolidation among its contractors pose risks to the U.S. economy and national security…. The report lays out steps to block mergers that run contrary to Defense Department interests and reduce barriers to entry for new contractors. It also seeks to ensure that a company’s intellectual property protections are not anti-competitive.” * This study seems likely to get some attention: “Corn-based ethanol, which for years has been mixed in huge quantities into gasoline sold at U.S. pumps, is likely a much bigger contributor to global warming than straight gasoline, according to a study published Monday.” * And speaking of the climate crisis, 2050 really isn’t that far away: “Sea levels along U.S. coasts will rise by as much as a foot in the next 30 years as climate change accelerates, leading to a “dramatic increase” in millions of Americans’ exposure to flooding, scientists warned in a federal report published Tuesday.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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