 NATO allies are considering sending Soviet-designed antiaircraft equipment to help Ukraine's military fend off the Russian assault, officials said Thursday. The discussion comes after the Pentagon this week rejected an offer from Poland to turn over Russian-made MiG fighter jets to Ukraine, provided they went through the U.S. and NATO as intermediaries. The MiG plan was taken off the table after U.S. officials were concerned that it could be seen by Russian President Vladimir Putin as an "escalatory step" in U.S. military involvement in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. More: - Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, have asked NATO and the U.S. to provide as much military assistance as they can. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said this would most likely come in the form of antiarmor and air defense equipment.
- Despite the disagreement between Poland and the U.S., Vice President Kamala Harris at a Thursday press conference from Poland said the two nations "are united in what we have done and are prepared to help Ukraine and the people of Ukraine, full stop."
- Harris confirmed that the U.S. is making new daily deliveries of equipment to Ukraine, though she did not directly address the MiG fighter jet issue.
- Harris said she supports an international war crimes investigation into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is now in its third week.
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 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis The Republican-led Florida Senate has passed the "Stop WOKE Act," a legislative priority for Gov. Ron DeSantis, which will outlaw school lessons or workplace trainings that cause someone to feel guilt or shame about the ancestral actions of their race or gender. The bill passed on a party-line vote, 24-15, with Democrats arguing that the bill will prevent an accurate presentation of U.S. history in schools. Republicans argue that some history and social science courses teach U.S. history in a way that presents the nation as fundamentally racist. More: - The new bill was amended in January to clarify that workplace trainings that cause "discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any form of psychological distress" would only be illegal if the lessons imply that a person is responsible for the actions of their ancestors.
- Democrats and Black members of the Florida legislature argued the language in the bill is vague, and that it is impossible to control the feelings people might have after a diversity lesson.
- Florida last year outlawed the teaching of critical race theory in public schools, though the theory is typically a collegiate-level academic discipline, and there's no evidence it was being taught in Florida public schools, though some of its principles may have inspired some instruction.
Zoom out: - Earlier this week, the Florida Senate passed the "Parental Rights in Education" bill, which opponents call the "Don't Say Gay" act, which outlaws "inappropriate" discussions in the classroom about sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Opponents of that law also say it is vague and would prevent teachers from discussing their personal experiences, and adequately teaching literature and LGBTQ history.
- After days of pressure from Disney employees and fans, the company – which employs 80,000 people in Florida – said on Wednesday it was opposed to the bill.
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 The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is extending the federal transportation mask mandate for an additional month; it is now set to expire on April 18. Following guidance from the CDC, masks will continue to be required for the time being on all flights, trains, buses, and within airports. Over the next 30+ days, the CDC, TSA, and other agencies are set to "inform a revised policy framework" for when and how the mandate will be dropped, officials said. More: - The mandate may still be dropped before April 18 if transmission rates in the U.S. continue to decline.
- The requirement was first put into place by President Biden in January 2021. The Trump administration established no such mandate, but airlines began requiring masks in mid-2020.
- Masks have been a source of contention on flights since the start of the pandemic. The FAA tallied nearly 6,000 incidents of unruly passengers on flights in 2021, with more than 70% of those concerning masks.
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GOOD NEWS: Russian citizens are reportedly finding ways to access foreign websites despite a government crackdown, with usage of virtual private networks (VPNs) surging across the country. ExpressVPN says traffic to its website from Russia increased 330% week-over-week, and Top10VPN says Russians' usage of VPNs has jumped eight-fold from their pre-invasion levels. VPNs generate private connections between a user's computer and a server away from their location, making it difficult for authorities to track the user's internet activity. More: - VPN usage hit a peak on March 5, the day after Russia blocked Facebook and Twitter.
- VPNs are legal in Russia, but a July 2017 law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin banned personal VPNs from allowing access to Russia's list of banned websites.
- Toronto-based VPN Tunnel Bear is offering anyone connecting from Russia 10 gigabytes of browsing data.
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 A message from STRV Creating your own digital product is exhilarating, terrifying, and a million other things. But whatever you'll experience — we've been there. We can help. We are STRV, a design and engineering team that's partnered with Barry’s, ClassDojo, Microsoft, Autodesk and hundreds of others. Since 2004, we’re proud to have earned the reputation of a global leader in the world of mobile apps, software products and data science solutions. You’ll find a more elegant (and fun) intro to us in our 2022 showreel and on our new web. The reason we bring up our 18-year history is to highlight not just who we are, but how we got here. That crazy founder journey? We've been through it, and we respect the hell out of it. As far as we're concerned, helping others with their own new beginnings is the most meaningful way to do our experience and craft justice. A bit about STRV: See what we can do
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Americans are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress amid the pandemic, inflation, and international crises, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). The group's annual "Stress in America" survey found that 87% of Americans cite inflation as a significant source of stress, and the same percentage agreed that "it feels like there has been a constant stream of crises without a break over the last two years." About 73% of those surveyed say they are "overwhelmed" by the number of concurrent world crises. An APA clinical psychologist said the results were "startling" as it's rare to see strong majorities of Americans citing the same stressors. More: - The initial survey was conducted in mid-February, but the APA conducted a second round of polling after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
- 65% of respondents said they were stressed about money, the highest level since 2015.
- Younger Americans were much more likely than older adults to cite money as a significant source of stress. 82% of 18-to-25-year-olds and 81% of 26-to-43-year-olds said money was a major stressor, compared to 68% in the 44-57 age group, and 43% in the 58-76 age group.
- About 7 in 10 parents said they had anxiety about the pandemic's social and emotional impact on their children.
- The APA advocated for "clearer access to mental health services," as only 20% of survey respondents reported receiving care from a mental health professional since the start of the pandemic.
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 The 2020 U.S. census overcounted white people and undercounted Black, Latino, and Indigenous Americans, according to a new Census Bureau report. The over- and undercounts were even greater than in 2010; the Census Bureau said that American Latinos were undercounted at three times the rate as a decade earlier. White people were overcounted at double their 2010 rate. Asian Americans were also overcounted, though not as significantly. More: - Census overcounts and undercounts are determined by subtracting a dual-system estimate (data from a representative sample) from the census number. A positive number means the population was likely overcounted, and a negative number means they were undercounted.
- The report also found that renters and people under 50 were undercounted, while homeowners and people over 50 were overcounted.
- However, the Census Bureau said in 2021 that the agency's results were suitable to use for Congressional redistricting and establishing Electoral College votes.
- The Census Bureau will release an analysis of state-level metrics this summer.
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- The Republican National Committee is suing the Jan. 6 House committee over its subpoena of information from Salesforce. The committee is seeking information about the RNC's fundraising efforts and any potential connection with the Jan. 6 attack.
- Goldman Sachs says it is suspending all operations in Russia, becoming the first major U.S. bank to do so.
- Grimes and Elon Musk had a second child via a surrogate in December 2021, according to a new profile in Vanity Fair. The baby girl's name is Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, but they call her Y.
- A construction worker discovered a mummified body while performing renovations on Oakland's convention center. Authorities said the body had been there for at least several years, and that its age and gender were impossible to immediately identify.
- Author George R. R. Martin gave an update on his blog on the status of several "Game of Thrones" prequel series for HBO and HBO Max, and said he is still working on "The Winds of Winter," the long-awaited sixth book in his "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel series, on which HBO's "Game of Thrones" was based.
- Are you leaving revenue from payments processing on the table? Find out in our guide to payments for software companies.*
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 |  | Jonathan Harris is a writer and editor who lives in Los Angeles. |  | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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