The Full Belmonte, 1/11/2023
Flights Grounded Across U.S. After F.A.A. System Failure
Domestic departures were paused across the United States early Wednesday. There was no evidence of a cyberattack, the White House said.
Flights across the United States were grounded early Wednesday, as airlines coped with a Federal Aviation Administration system failure. The agency said early Wednesday it was ‘beginning to come back on line.’
Here’s what to know:
The F.A.A. ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures until 9 a.m. Eastern time ‘to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information,’ it said in a statement. More than 2,500 flights within, into and out of the United States had been delayed on Wednesday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service.
The delays were spread across the country and affected multiple carriers. United Airlines said in a statement that it had temporarily delayed all domestic flights and that it would issue an update when it learned more from the F.A.A. American Airlines said the situation ‘impacts all airlines’ and that it was ‘working with the F.A.A. to minimize disruption to our operation and customers.’
The F.A.A. is ‘still working’ to resolve the issue, it said Wednesday morning….” Read more at New York Times
Some parts of California have gotten more than 16 inches of rain so far.
“Yesterday: Flash flooding hit Beverly Hills and downtown L.A. The death toll continued to climb, and there were more landslides, collapsed roadways and power outages.
Is this helping California’s drought? Yes, at least temporarily. The rain, combined with snow in the mountains, has already made a difference.
Why is it happening? The storms are tied to rising temperatures, which make the area drier and hotter — and, at the same time, increase the likelihood of sudden, severe rainfall.” Read more at Washington Post
San Diego firefighter Brian Sanford rescues a dog from a flooded home in Merced, California, on Tuesday.
Classified documents in a 'locked closet'
Secret files found in a former office of President Joe Biden.
“The revelation Monday that classified documents were found in an office Joe Biden used before his presidential campaign echoed the discovery of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago after former President Donald Trump left the White House. The U.S. attorney in Chicago, John Lausch, a Trump appointee, will investigate the Biden records.
One thing to know: Biden said Tuesday he was surprised to learn classified documents were in the office and he doesn't know what they contain. He said the records were sent immediately to the National Archives and he is cooperating with a Justice Department review of the documents.
•House Republicans plan to investigate what they contend is different treatment between GOP and Democratic presidents. Trump sought to compare the two cases.
•What type of documents? The Biden documents, according to the White House, were found Nov. 2 in a ‘locked closet’ while the president’s personal attorneys were packing files at the office he used from 2017 to 2020. The administration hasn’t described the quantity or type of documents, but the White House said it was a ‘small number.’
•The Justice Department has declined to comment while Lausch's initial review is nearing completion, a person familiar with the matter said. The person, who is not authorized to speak publicly on the issue, described the review as moving toward an inflection point in which the attorney general would decide how to proceed.” [USA Today]
Biden's personal lawyers said they discovered classified documents Nov. 2 in a 'locked closet.' USA TODAY
House Republicans plan to investigate whether the Biden administration colluded with tech giants to censor legitimate viewpoints.
“They’re expected to launch the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government as soon as today to examine if the president’s camp tried to influence content—such as material on Covid-19 that ran counter to White House policy—on sites hosted by Meta, Alphabet and others. A Biden spokesman called the committee a partisan political stunt. Facebook parent Meta and Alphabet, the owner of YouTube and Google, declined to comment.” [Wall Street Journal]
The Biden administration released a detailed plan to help student-loan holders wipe out their debts using income-driven repayment plans.
“The proposal would allow low earners to pay less and pay off their college loans faster. It now must go through a 30-day public-comment period. In August, the administration first unveiled plans to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for qualifying borrowers in an effort to fix the $1.6 trillion federal loan program that has left millions with ballooning debts. Next month, the Supreme Court plans to take up a challenge to that broader debt forgiveness, which was frozen after lower courts blocked it.” [Wall Street Journal]
SCOTUS is coming for your right to strike
Alex Wong/Getty Images
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday suggested during oral arguments it may side with a concrete manufacturer in a case that could restrict workers’ ability to strike.” [Vox] [NBC News / Lawrence Hurley]
“In 2017, workers from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union walked off the job over contract demands, leaving wet cement to dry in mixing trucks.”[Vox / Ian Millhiser]
“The company that owned the cement and trucks sued the union for compensation, alleging that the strike destroyed its property. A Washington state court dismissed the lawsuit.” [Vox] [Politico / Nick Niedzwiadek]
“Now the Supreme Court must determine if property damaged during strikes is protected under federal law. If it is, that could place greater restrictions on walkouts.” [Vox] [Reuters / Jon Kruzel]
“The majority of Americans now support unions, but recent Supreme Court decisions have made it more difficult for workers to strike.” [Vox] [New Republic / Matt Ford]
Ukraine
“Ukrainian troops are set to begin training on the Patriot missile system in the US as soon as next week, according to the Pentagon. The training program will take place at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where the US conducts its own training on operating and maintaining the advanced air defense system. The US has already trained Ukrainian troops in Europe, but analysts say the decision to conduct Patriot training on American soil could increase tensions with Moscow further as Russia's President Vladimir Putin has constantly warned Western nations against further involvement in the war. About 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers are expected to arrive in Oklahoma for the training, the Pentagon said.” [CNN]
US military
“The US military's Covid-19 vaccine mandate for troops has been officially rescinded, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a memo Tuesday night. The requirement to remove the mandate was viewed as a win for conservative lawmakers who had argued that it was hindering the military's recruitment efforts, although Pentagon officials maintained there was no evidence to support the claim. This comes after President Joe Biden recently signed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, requiring its dismissal. Separately, the US military announced Tuesday that it intercepted a shipment of more than 2,000 Iranian assault rifles destined for Yemen. The move will likely add to the existing tensions between the US and Iran, which have increased in recent months due to the crackdowns on civil unrest throughout the country.” [CNN]
Rep. Katie Porter is running for Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat in California
“Democratic Rep. Katie Porter kicked off the 2024 campaign season early on Tuesday when she declared herself a candidate for the Senate in California.
The announcement comes despite no statement from longtime Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose up for reelection in 2024, that she is retiring.
Porter, first elected in 2018, released a video across her social media accounts stressing the need for ‘new leadership’ as she showcased her progressive credentials as a lawmaker who ‘doesn't do Congress’ like others.
‘I use whatever power I have to speak hard truths to the powers that be – to not just challenge the status quo but call it out,’ she said.
Politics: What we know about President Joe Biden's classified documents
In the video, the congresswoman pledges to fight against Wall Street, the ‘big banks’ and pharmaceutical companies. She added how she won't accept lobbyist or corporate PAC money, and favors prohibiting lawmakers in Congress from stock trading.
‘Especially in times like these, California needs a warrior in Washington,’ Porter said….” Read more at USA Today
Cardinal George Pell, whose child sex abuse convictions were overturned in 2020, dies at 81
ANBERRA, Australia — Cardinal George Pell, who was the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of child sex abuse before his convictions were later overturned, has died in Rome at age 81.
Vatican news agency EWTN reported that his death Tuesday was due to complications from hip replacement surgery.
Pell, an Australian, was once the third-highest-ranked Catholic in the Vatican after earlier serving as the Archbishop of Melbourne and Archbishop of Sydney. Pope Francis brought Pell to the Vatican in February 2014 to reform its finances as the first prefect of the newly created Secretariat for the Economy.
But Pell returned to his native Australia in 2017 in an attempt to clear his name of child sex charges.
A Victoria state County Court jury convicted him of molesting two 13-year-old choirboys at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the latest 1990s shortly after he had become Archbishop of Melbourne.
Pell served more than a year in solitary confinement before the full bench of the High Court unanimously overturned his convictions in 2020.
But his career in the Vatican was effectively over. Pell’s reputation remained tarnished by the church’s child sex abuse scandal.
Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that he knew of clergy molesting children in the 1970s and did not take adequate action to address it.” [USA Today]
“Peru protests. Anti-government protests in Peru escalated on Tuesday and at least 17 people died in the southern city of Juliaca near the Bolivian border. Authorities claimed thousands of people attempted to overrun an airport; human rights groups called it a ‘massacre.’ Supporters of the former president, Pedro Castillo, have staged protests for the past month calling for new elections and the resignation of his successor, Dina Boluarte. At least 40 people have been killed and hundreds injured since early December.
On Tuesday, Boluarte’s government survived a vote of no confidence but Peru’s top prosecutors also announced an investigation into potential human rights violations by government forces, including shooting demonstrators and dropping smoke bombs from helicopters. According to the Guardian, the attorney general’s office said it was investigating Boluarte, Prime Minister Alberto Otárola, the defense minister and interior minister on charges of ‘genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries.’” [Foreign Policy]
“Bolsonaro’s visa status. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is currently in the state of Florida, to which he flew shortly before his successor’s inauguration, but that could change. If Bolsonaro, when he entered the country on Dec. 30 of last year, used an A-1 visa (the kind used by foreign leaders), he may have to leave. The State Department said it does not comment on specific cases, but that if a leader comes to the country on an A-1 visa that then is no longer on official business, the official would have to leave within 30 days or would be removed.
Current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has blamed Bolsonaro for the fact that rioters stormed government buildings on Sunday; Bolsonaro denies responsibility. Some elected U.S. politicians, notably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic congresswoman from New York, said the United States should stop ‘granting refuge’ to Bolsonaro after the events on Jan. 8.” [Foreign Policy]
“Rescuers who saved migrants are on trial in Greece. Twenty-four Greek and foreign aid workers and volunteers are now on trial after participating in migrant rescue operations. They are being tried in connection to smuggling, which all 24 deny. The case was initially set for 2021 but was postponed for procedural reasons. One of the volunteers, Sean Binder, said, ‘What is on trial today is human rights.’ Amnesty International has described the case against the volunteers and aid workers as ‘farcical.’ Binder also said that they were ‘desperate to go to trial’ because they know ‘what we did was legal.’” [Foreign Policy]
“Ukrainian forces facing pressure in Soledar. According to the United Kingdom’s defense ministry, Russian forces are now ‘likely’ to control most of Soledar, a salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine—just outside Bakhmut, where the fight is also intensifying, and which is on the strategic supply line between the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Soledar may be mostly a way to help Russian forces capture Bakhmut, although last month a U.S. official said that Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Wagner Group, wants control of the area’s salt mines; the mines are known for an extensive complex of underground tunnels and rooms that could house troops and weapons. Russia is pushing for its first breakthrough in eastern Ukraine in months.” [Foreign Policy]
“Five million children died before turning 5. The United Nations Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation published figures that showed that, in 2021, five million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday. Almost half of them died before they turned one month old. The United Nations said that, for those children who make it past the first 28 days of life, the biggest threats are diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria. Children born in sub-Saharan Africa are 15 times more likely to die in childhood than those born in Europe or North America, and campaigners believe that most of the five million deaths could have been prevented with improved healthcare.” [Foreign Policy]
Former top Trump financial lieutenant Allen Weisselberg sentenced to 5 months in jail
“NEW YORK – The former top Trump family financial lieutenant whose testimony helped prosecutors win criminal tax fraud convictions of two Trump companies was sentenced to five months in jail Tuesday in a New York courtroom under a plea agreement with prosecutors that the sentencing judge called too lenient.
Minutes after the sentence was announced, Allen Weisselberg was handcuffed and taken into custody. The deal spared Weisselberg from the maximum 15-year prison term he would have faced absent his plea deal – and if he had joined the Trump firms in pursuing a defense at trial that a Manhattan jury rejected in December.
Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said that after listening to Weisselberg's trial testimony, he regretted agreeing to a five-month jail term, and if not for that agreement, he ‘would be imposing a sentence much greater than that.’ Merchan said he was especially appalled by Weisselberg's testimony that he gave his wife a $6,000 check for a no-show job so that she could qualify for Social Security benefits.
‘I’m not going to deviate from the promise, though I believe a stiffer sentence is warranted, having heard the evidence,’ Merchan said.
The Trump Corp. and the Trump Payroll Corp. collectively were found guilty of 17 criminal charges and face as much as $1.6 million in criminal penalties during a sentencing hearing scheduled for Friday. The firms are divisions that operate under the corporate umbrella of the Trump Organization.
Former President Donald Trump was not charged in the case and did not appear in the lower Manhattan state court during the trial. However, his third White House campaign has been shadowed by Weisselberg's guilty plea and testimony and by the convictions….” Read more at USA Today
Airline complaints
“After Southwest Airlines experienced a meltdown that scuttled holiday travel plans for hundreds of thousands of passengers, federal officials now say they're acting on ‘thousands’ of complaints from Southwest customers -- including complaints that the airline is not making good on its pledge to issue refunds. The Department of Transportation ‘has sent every complaint directly to Southwest’ and is now demanding the airline ‘provide substantive responses’ to each within 60 days. Southwest Airlines told CNN it is processing ‘tens of thousands’ of requests each day and is complying with the department's regulations. According to a financial filing from Southwest, the meltdown cost the airline between $725 million and $825 million in lost revenue, additional crew costs, and passenger refunds.” [CNN]
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Photo: Will Newton/AP
“Sarah Huckabee Sanders was sworn in as Arkansas governor — becoming one of the highest profile Trump alumni in elected office, Axios Northwest Arkansas' Worth Sparkman writes.
At age 40, she's the youngest governor in the country.
Within hours, she signed seven executive orders that hit a range of frequent conservative targets — including bans on ‘Latinx’ in official documents and teaching critical race theory in schools.” [Axios]
At rehabbed Globes, ‘The Fabelmans,’ ‘Banshees’ triumph
By JAKE COYLE
“The Golden Globes returned to the air Tuesday with a red carpet flush with celebrities, comedian Jerrod Carmichael as a hesitant emcee and top awards for Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” and Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” as the beleaguered award show sought to rekindle its pre-pandemic and pre-scandal glamour.
Spielberg’s autobiographical coming-of-age film “The Fabelmans” won best drama film and the dark friendship tale “The Banshees of Inisherin,” captured best film, comedy or musical. “Abbott Elementary,” “White Lotus” and “House of the Dragon” led the TV awards….” Read more at AP News
New Mega Millions jackpot of $1.35B is game’s 2nd highest
“DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Mega Millions prize has grown again to an estimated $1.35 billion after there was no winner of the lottery’s latest giant jackpot.
The numbers drawn late Tuesday night were: 7, 13, 14, 15, 18 and gold Mega Ball 9.
The new jackpot drawing on Friday night will be another milestone in the game, Mega Millions said in a statement early Wednesday.
‘Now at $1.35 billion, the Mega Millions jackpot is moving up and making history as the second highest Mega Millions jackpot ever,’ Pat McDonald, Ohio lottery director and lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said in the statement.
The only Mega Millions jackpot larger than Friday’s prize is the $1.53 billion won in South Carolina in 2018, Mega Millions said.
The largest jackpot in the U.S. to date was a $2.04 billion Powerball won by a single ticket in California in November.
The estimated $1.35 billion jackpot in the next drawing would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Friday night’s drawing is an estimated $707.9 million….” Read more at AP News
Lynette Hardaway, of Pro-Trump Duo Diamond and Silk, Dies at 51
Ms. Hardaway rose to fame with one of her sisters as a conservative media celebrity
Jan. 10, 2023
“Lynette Hardaway, who was better known as Diamond from Diamond and Silk, the outspoken sisters who became prominent conservative media personalities with their unwavering support of former President Donald J. Trump, has died. She was 51.
Her death was announced on Monday on the Diamond and Silk Facebook page and by Mr. Trump on his social media platform, Truth Social. No cause was given. Mr. Trump wrote that Ms. Hardaway had died in North Carolina and that it was ‘really bad news for Republicans and frankly, ALL Americans.’
Ms. Hardaway and her older sister, Rochelle Richardson, known as Silk, rose to fame during the 2016 presidential campaign by embracing their role as prominent Black supporters of Mr. Trump, who was deeply unpopular with Black voters. (94 percent of Black women who voted in 2016 chose Hillary Clinton, according to exit poll data collected by The New York Times.)
The sisters appeared at Trump rallies and on conservative news networks and recorded online videos of themselves sitting side-by-side at home, sometimes sipping from wine glasses as they delivered rapid-fire pro-Trump commentary….” Read more at New York Times
The dogs on the bus
Photo used with permission from Mo Mountain Mutts' Instagram
“The pups of Mo Mountain Mutts — a dog walking and training business in Skagway, Alaska — have gone viral for their adorable commute.
A recent TikTok of the dogs boarding the bus as if they were humans on the way to work has been viewed more than 50 million times, WashPost reports.
Owners Mo and Lee Thompson assign the seats based on the dog's personality.
The couple bought the ‘puppy bus’ after business took off during the pandemic.” [Axios]