Opinions to go Online

* President Biden has announced that the government will be releasing 1 million barrels of oil a day from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help offset the loss of Russian crude oil from world markets, cut the costs for American consumers and starve Russia of revenue. The release, the biggest in the SPR’s 46-year history, would continue for six months. “This is a wartime bridge to increase oil supply into production,” noted President Biden.

* The Biden Administration plans to fully lift the pandemic border controls by May—as it expands border facilities and migrant-processing capacity.

* Lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol siege can issue subpoenas, but they can’t bring criminal charges. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice are being, in effect, lobbied by non-GOPster legislators to pick it up from here.

* More than 980,000 people have died of COVID in the U.S.

* Covid.gov: That’s the new “one-stop-shop” website for Americans seeking vaccines, tests, treatments and masks.

* The FDA has lowered the eligibility threshold for a second booster to 50. A key rationale: one in three Americans ages 50 to 65 have significant underlying medical conditions.

* Last month Georgia applied to the EU. It’s a sobering reminder that Putin’s Soviet nostalgia and land-grab agenda isn’t just about intimidating and devastating Ukraine.

* “We can tell which pathways would cause (a nuclear) risk to go up further. And certainly direct conflict with Russia from forces based in NATO countries is one pathway to nuclear war.”–Jeffrey Lewis, arms control expert and professor at the Middleburg Institute.

* The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged Russian war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

* Evil update: Ukrainian troops have used cables to pull the bodies of civilians off the streets in at least one town out of fear that Russian forces might have booby-trapped them before leaving.

* Pope Francis is reportedly weighing a Kyiv visit. You go, Pontiff; the world will watch.

* OPEC Plus, a group of oil producers, said it would stay with its plan for modest monthly increases. One of the members of OPEC Plus: Russia.

* No surprise that Florida joined 20 states in a suit over travel mask mandates (requirements that people wear masks in airports, and on planes, trains and buses.) Attorney General Ashley Moody, the Ron DeSantis legal toady, filed the suit in federal court in Tampa. It’s beyond disconcerting to be reminded that there are 19 other states that conflate public health mask-wearing with big government-driven freedom suppression.

* According to the Computing technology Industry Association (CompTia), Florida added 10,500 new tech jobs in 2021. Only Texas, which added 10,800, had more.

* According to CompTia, the total economic impact of the tech industry in Florida for 2021 was $70 billion.

* Under state law a university president can be paid a maximum of $200,000 from public funds. The rest comes through private sources. In Rhea Law’s case, the majority of her $1.1 million (3-year) package will come from the USF Foundation.

* As an alumna, USF President Rhea Law has palpable passion for the university, and that is extremely important. She has more than career skin in this game. She is also determined to realize her goal of USF being among the top 25 public universities in the U.S. and gaining membership in the Association of American Universities, a group of 66 leading research universities.

Her top-25 presidential goal, however, has an ironic twist.

When one of her predecessors, Dr. Frank Borkowski, took over in 1988, he made it a public goal—at his inauguration—to get USF into the, yes, top 25 public universities. Inaugurations, as we know, are hardly the forum for modest goals. But not everyone cheered on such academic ambition. Charlie Reed, the chancellor of the Florida University System—and former chief of staff of Gov. Bob Graham—soon got in touch with Dr. Borkowski to—reprimand him. In short, such an ambitious goal should not be part of USF’s, uh, regional purview. But it definitely was a fitting goal for the state’s flagship university in Gainesville.

That was then. This is now. Go, Law-abiding Bulls.

* One quick takeaway from Orlando Gudes stepping down as city council chair—but staying on as a board member. Imagine the, uh, awkward relationship with the city council member referred to as a “p—-motherf—er” by Gudes.

* E-scooters, as we’ve seen, are now part of the urban landscape and have grown in popularity—as well as disfavor. It happens when it can be a fun scoot or a quick hop to the office. And it happens when the business model too often results in scooters blocking sidewalks and littering parks when they’re not dumped on roadsides or tossed into the Hillsborough River along the Riverwalk. And then there’s the safety issue in one of America’s most notoriously fraught traffic-pedestrian cities.

You know they’re gaining in popularity when you start to see “Injured in an e-scooter accident?” legal ads. Watch for them on buses and trolleys.

Maybe the learning curve will straighten out. Maybe it’s just a few blatant, non-compliant outliers. City of Tampa spokesman Adam Smith might have nailed it when he stated that “We believe it’s a combination of drunks, jerks and buffoons who are responsible.” He’s probably right, but there’s a helluva lot of them.

* St. Pete–2436 4^th Street–now has its own La Segunda Bakery and Cafe. The 106-year-old La Segunda is the world’s largest producer of Cuban bread.

*Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, will be leaving next month to accept an on-air offer from MSNBC. She’s good at her job and will be missed.

There’s certainly ample career precedent for those in an Administration-spokesperson spotlight. We often think of official spokespeople more as proponents of a cause than pursuers of a career. But knowledgeable insiders who are comfortable in front of a camera have never been more valued by the electronic media, which has never been more politically polarized, blindsided by technology and pressured by the Fox-era competition.

But Psaki, of course, is no Sean Spicer. So it’s unlikely that she will appearing on “Dancing With The Stars.”

* Also making politico-video news is Mick Mulvaney, a former chief of staff of President Donald Trump. He has been brought in by CBS News as a commentator. Oops. We get it that CBS is trying to assure itself of perspective that crosses ideological aisles to inform. That–and not luring viewers to cherry pick media outlets for validation–should be the aim. (So Chris Wallace, for example, leaving Fox–finally!–for CNN makes eminent sense for all parties.)

But not somebody like Mulvaney, who was a minion for the worst president in U.S. history. One who bashed the media his boss hated; who PROUDLY admitted Trump had engaged in a sleazy quid pro quo with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy over Biden family dirt; and who referred to COVID-19 as the media “hoax of the day.”

CBS is trying to be CYA realistic—in anticipation of what could be very successful mid-terms for Republicans. And there are those 74 million voters who chose Trump in 2020. But there’s pragmatic—and then there’s selling out. That’s why we’ve seen a backlash from a number of CBS personnel who found the move more sacrilegious than, well, pragmatic.

We’ll give Stephen Colbert, host of CBS’s “Late Show,” the last word(s). “Recently, my network has gotten a lot of criticism—much of it from itself,” said Colbert, “because CBS News has hired the ex-president’s former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. … WTF?!”

* “The restrained and good humor demonstrated by (Chris) Rock should be a role model for those who want to defend free expression from bullies on the right and the left—and from whichever side of the culture war ends up claiming (Will) Smith.”–Eric Boehm, Reason.

* You’re getting old when getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.

* Maternity room door: “Push, push, push.”

* Butcher’s window: “Let me meat your needs.”

* “It was the right time to pass the torch to Todd, said Bucs’ coach Bruce Arians, in announcing his retirement as well as his successor, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. “I wanted one of my guys to take over.”

In so doing, Arians did more than assure continuity. He further underscored his commitment to diversity by paving the way for the NFL’s fourth black head coach. No one is surprised. Arian’s team had the only NFL staff with three minority coordinators: Bowles, defense; Byron Leftwich, offense; and Keith Armstrong, special teams. And with Bowles’ promotion, the Bucs elevated two black assistants, Larry Foote and Kacy Rodgers, to coordinate the defense. Moreover, last season the Bucs were the only team in the league to have two women in assistant coaching roles.

The last two years have become memorable in Buccaneer lore as the Tom Brady-led Bucs won a lot of games, including a Super Bowl, and became a marquee franchise to networks. But they have also led the league in honoring a commitment to diversity.

For Arians, it’s also a reflection of the ultimate bottom line in a business predicated on winning. “To hear voices in a staff meeting that aren’t the same, that don’t look alike but they all have input, you get better input,” explained Arians. Call it the pragmatism of diversity.

* Forbes has estimated the Rays franchise value at $1.1 billion—or 29^th in MLB.

* “Putin’s response to failure in Ukraine has been extremely Trumpian: insisting that his invasion is all going ‘according to plan,’ refusing to admit having made any mistakes and whining about cancel culture. I’m half expecting him to release battle maps crudely modified with a Sharpie.”—Paul Krugman, NYT.

* “I don’t get invited to the same parties as Madison Cawthorn does.”–Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. Yeah, that’s how unconscionably embarrassing Cawthorn is.