(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Overnight News Digest: February 21, 2023 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-21 Chicago Sun-Times: Protesters greet Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on visit to Chicago area: ‘Illinois is a place where we say gay. We’re proud of it.’ By David Struett Protesters rallied in Elmhurst on Monday to decry the visit of Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, who gave a speech to law enforcement. DeSantis spoke at an invitation-only gathering at a Knights of Columbus hall, the last of three stops in a series of Presidents Day “Back the Blue” events that also included visits to New York and Philadelphia. Some of the protesters said DeSantis, who is considering a run for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, represents the worst parts of the GOP. “He is a symptom of a whole lot of what’s wrong”, said Sue Sporte, 75, from Oak Park. “We should be a country that accepts everyone. And that includes transgender people. It includes gay people,” Sporte said. New York Times: Jury in Georgia Trump Inquiry Recommended Multiple Indictments, Forewoman Says by Danny Hakim A special grand jury that investigated election interference by former President Donald J. Trump and his allies in Georgia recommended indictments for multiple people on a range of charges in its final report, most of which remains sealed, the forewoman of the jury said on Tuesday. “It is not a short list,” the forewoman, Emily Kohrs, said in an interview. Ms. Kohrs, 30, declined to name the people recommended for indictment, since the judge handling the case decided to keep those details secret when he made public a few sections of the report last week. But seven sections that are still under wraps deal with indictment recommendations, Ms. Kohrs said. Special grand juries in Georgia do not have indictment powers. Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., has led the investigation and will decide what charges to bring before a regular grand jury. Washington Post: Jimmy Carter’s tiny hometown braces to say goodbye by Danielle Paquette and Mary Jordan PLAINS, Ga. — Michael Dominick had put off touching up the 13-foot peanut. Every three years for the last 20, Jimmy Carter’s hometown hired the handyman-slash-mail carrier to repaint the roadside statue, a relic from the former president’s 1976 campaign. Now the peanut’s toothy grin, a nod to Carter’s famously wide smile, needed a polish. But it had been raining lately in Plains, a patch of farmland home to roughly 700 people, so Dominick, 54, hadn’t been in a hurry. Then word broke Saturday that Carter, the oldest ex-president at 98, had opted to spend his final days in hospice care at home. “I could barely sit through church the next day,” said Dominick, who’d rushed out to find a bucket of automotive paint in a shade called “peanut.” Restoring the monument near the Baptist church where Carter taught religious classes took him five hours Sunday instead of the usual seven. Mourners and news crews from around the globe, he knew, would soon be descending on their humble slice of southwest Georgia, and Carter’s example had taught him to represent it with pride. NBC News: EPA orders Norfolk Southern to clean up Ohio train derailment site and pay all costs by Sarah Fitzpatrick The Environmental Protection Agency announced a sweeping enforcement action against Norfolk Southern on Tuesday, compelling the rail company to conduct and pay for cleanup actions associated with the Feb. 3 derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio. “The Norfolk Southern train derailment has upended the lives of East Palestine families, and EPA’s order will ensure the company is held accountable for jeopardizing the health and safety of this community,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan in remarks prepared for a news conference in East Palestine. “Let me be clear: Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess they created and for the trauma they’ve inflicted on this community.” If the company fails to complete any of the actions ordered by the EPA, the agency will “immediately” conduct the necessary work and then seek to compel Norfolk Southern to pay triple the cost. The order will require the company to identify and clean contaminated soil and water; pay any EPA costs, including reimbursing the agency for cleaning services that it will offer to residents and businesses; and participate in public meetings at EPA’s request and post information on-line. AlJazeera: Shifting the blame: Ukraine responds to Vladimir Putin address by Mansur Mirovalev Kyiv, Ukraine – To many in the West, the most frightening part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s national address on Tuesday was the suspension of Moscow’s participation in a key nuclear arms treaty. The only pact that regulates the world’s largest nuclear arsenals in the United States and Russia, the New START Treaty limited the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles Moscow and Washington can have. But for Ukrainian observers, the threat of a new Cold War was nothing but a bluff aimed at disguising Putin’s desperation following Russia’s military failures, international ostracism, and economic sanctions imposed by the West. And it was easier for him to blame what he calls “the collective West” for these failures, because admitting Ukraine withstood the aggression, fought back, and regained lost areas is too painful and humiliating, Ukrainian pundits say. Der Spiegel: How a Covert Firm Spreads Lies and Chaos Around the World by 13 reporter-team After months of false leads, traps and hide-and-seek games, a promising clue finally surfaces. It leads into the barren Israeli hill country, to an ugly planned community halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A faceless office center is located there squeezed between two highways, its entrance hidden. We make our way through the underground parking lot and up to the third floor. There's no sign on the security door or notice of any kind. Inside are three men, all over 50, all with long careers as agents or military servicemen, shadowy figures who use cover names and don't officially exist. "We are nothing," says one of them. He calls himself Jorge, a man as cautious as he is dangerous. He doesn't know that he's speaking to journalists or that hidden cameras are running. "We run a different kind of intelligence service," Jorge says. And they have a specialty, he says: Elections. Going by his own statements, his covert unit has manipulated 33 national votes: with faked scandals, campaigns of lies, influenced votes and other dirty tactics. Once you start looking, indications of such manipulation can be found in many spots around the world - in countries like Indonesia, Nigeria and Bosnia. "We have a team in Greece and a team in the Emirates," Jorge says. In the conference room, documents flicker across a large screen on the wall, full of information about people, campaigns and the places where the men either were or still are active. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/21/2154293/-Overnight-News-Digest-February-21-2023 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/