The Full Belmonte, 1/1/2024
Powerful Earthquake Hits Japan
“A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck an area along the west coast of Japan, causing a tsunami wave of at least 4 feet as well as home collapses and a large fire.”
In Wajima, Japan. Kyodo, via Reuters
READ MORE at Wall Street Journal
Last year, Earth’s hottest on record, marked a new climate era for humanity.
The Rio Negro, a major tributary of the Amazon in Brazil, reached historic lows in 2023. (EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
“The records: 2023 saw the hottest single day on record, as well as the hottest ever June, July, August, September, October, November and probably December, too.
What it means: Humanity has entered the age of ‘global boiling,’ as the U.N. Secretary General called it, marked by drought, fires, extreme weather and extended heat waves.”
Read this story at Washington Post
The U.S. Navy killed Houthi militants trying to board a shipping vessel in the Red Sea.
Houthi fighters breach a ship in the Red Sea, in a photo released Nov. 20. Photo: Houthi Military Media via Reuters
“What happened? U.S. helicopters exchanged fire with militants from Yemen yesterday, sinking three boats and killing their crews, the U.S. said.
Why? American vessels are in the region to protect one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, which Iran-backed Houthis have threatened since the Israel-Gaza war began.
In Israel: The Israeli military said it was preparing for ‘prolonged fighting’ in the Gaza Strip in 2024.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley pledged to pardon Donald Trump.
“What to know: Trump’s leading Republican primary challengers said in recent days that they would pardon him of any felony convictions if they were elected president.
Why it matters: The former president is facing 91 charges across four criminal cases. He has a wide lead in the polls ahead of the first primary contests this month.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Graham backtracks on earlier Jan. 6 criticism of Trump: ‘It depends on what the conduct is’
BY SARAH FORTINSKY
“Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday appeared to backtrack on earlier criticism of former President Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 and suggested instead that his presidential immunity defense was ‘a legitimate claim’ as he moves forward with various court battles.”
Read the full story here at The Hill
“A federal appeals court will allow California’s new ban on carrying firearms in most public places to take effect while it takes more time to consider the law.” [New York Times]
Israel's military failure
An Israeli military tactical drone operator launches a drone near the Gaza border yesterday. Photo: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
“The Hamas terrorist attack of Oct. 7, an epic failure by Israeli intelligence, also was a baffling failure of the nation's vaunted military, a New York Times investigation finds:
Troops were ‘out of position and so poorly organized that soldiers communicated in impromptu WhatsApp groups and relied on social media posts for targeting information.’
Unbelievably, the Israel Defense Forces didn't appear to have a battle plan to respond to a large-scale Hamas attack on Israeli soil. Yaakov Amidror, a retired Israeli general and a former national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the paper: ‘The army does not prepare itself for things it thinks are impossible.’
Key findings by The Times:
‘Israeli military reservists were not prepared to quickly mobilize and deploy. Some described heading south on their own initiative. ... Terrorists blocked key highway intersections, leaving soldiers bogged down in firefights as they tried to enter besieged towns.’
‘Records from early in the day show that, even during the attack, the military still assessed that Hamas, at best, would be able to breach Israel's border fence in just a few places. A separate intelligence document, prepared weeks later, shows that Hamas teams actually breached the fence in more than 30 locations.’
‘When the attacks began, many soldiers were fighting for their lives instead of protecting residents nearby. ... The division that was supposed to be directing the battle was trying not to get overrun.’
On the holiday weekend (Simchat Torah), as Israeli intelligence officials tried to make sense of unusual Hamas activity just over the border in Gaza, many soldiers ‘were allowed to keep sleeping.’
The bottom line: ‘The scope of the catastrophe, if not the attack itself, was preventable, according to records and interviews,’ The Times concludes.” [Axios]
Xi's military purge
Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrive in Hanoi on Dec. 12. Photo: Luong Thai Linh/Pool via Getty Images
“China expanded an anti-corruption campaign targeting power centers within the military, risking instability during a critical time in China's foreign relations, Axios' Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian writes.
Why it matters: Recent purges highlight obstacles facing Xi Jinping as he tries to complete his military modernization drive by 2050.
What's happening: Nine Chinese generals and three Chinese defense technology officials were removed from a top Chinese Communist Party advisory body, according to Chinese state media.
The generals largely came from the Rocket Force, which oversees China's missile program.
The defense industry officials all work at state-owned missile manufacturing companies.
Three members of the powerful Politburo once worked at the same three companies of the ousted officials. In China's opaque high-level politics, that kind of link between powerful officials and fallen officials could mean Xi is targeting patronage networks.
What to watch: China appointed a new defense minister on Friday, Admiral Dong Jun, who has a South China Sea background.
That fills ‘a monthslong vacancy created by the unexplained disappearance of the previous minister, who appeared to have fallen in an investigation into possible corruption,’ the N.Y. Times writes.” [Axios]
Denmark’s queen announced her abdication live on television.
“It was a surprise: Queen Margrethe II, 83, said yesterday that she would step down this month after more than half a century on the throne, citing her age and health concerns.
Who’s next in line? Her eldest son, 55-year-old Crown Prince Frederik. Margrethe, a popular and eloquent queen, is the longest-serving monarch in Europe.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Humanity's miracle year
Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photos: NASA, Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab
“A key ingredient for life spotted on one of Saturn's moons. An early chapter in human history revised. AI takes hold. It all happened this year.
Why it matters: The world urgently needs new ideas and inspiration to alleviate chronic and infectious diseases, climate change, energy demands and other complex problems, Axios managing editor Alison Snyder writes.
Here are some of 2023's biggest discoveries and advances:
AI-assisted discovery: The growing use of AI for science transformed coding, revealed a new class of antibiotics, and predicted the structure of 400,000 possible new materials needed for next-gen batteries, solar cells and computing.
Gene-editing cure: The FDA approved the first therapy that uses CRISPR gene editing, a treatment for sickle cell disease. The approach could be used for other diseases but is right now expensive, raising concerns about access to therapies.
Human history revised: A genetic analysis provided more evidence that modern humans emerged from at least two populations that migrated across Africa and mixed with one another. The finding put "a nail in the coffin" of the idea that modern humans had a single birthplace, a researcher told the N.Y. Times.
Brain maps drawn: A census of the cell types in the human brain, a map of the maggot brain and a complete atlas of the cells in the mouse brain — multi-year efforts involving hundreds of researchers at dozens of institutions — were released this year. They could help provide much-needed insights into learning, behavior, and brain diseases and disorders.
Astronomy challenged: The James Webb Space Telescope spotted unusual possible early galaxies and pairs of worlds — perhaps planets or maybe stars — orbiting each other. If confirmed, they could require a reexamination of the formation of stars and the evolution of the universe.
New species spotted: Spiders, sea slugs, octopi, plants, insects, microbes and hundreds of other species discovered this year are a reminder of Earth's vast biodiversity.” [Axios]
The College Football Playoff starts tonight.
“The semifinals: No. 1 Michigan faces Alabama — led by Jalen Milroe — at 5 p.m. in the Rose Bowl. No. 2 Washington takes on Texas at 8:45 p.m. in the Sugar Bowl. (Watch on ESPN.)
Then what? The winners of those two games advance to play in the national championship game on Jan. 8 in Houston.
But that’s not all: Three other bowl games — all part of a messy postseason — kick off the day, starting with No. 13 LSU and Wisconsin at noon.”
Read this story at Washington Post
SPORTS
“Sunday Night Football: The Green Bay Packers rolled over the Minnesota Vikings, 33-10, and kept their playoff hopes alive.
Around the N.F.L.: The Baltimore Ravens clinched the A.F.C.’s top playoff seed with a 56-19 rout of the Miami Dolphins. And the Philadelphia Eagles, once the league’s top team, continued their late-season struggles, falling 35-31 to the Arizona Cardinals. Here are more results and takeaways.
Russell Wilson: The N.F.L. Players Association told the Broncos that their ‘threat’ to bench Wilson over a contract clause was illegal.
College football: Some of this year’s bowl games have been a bummer, with lopsided results and many players skipping games. Nicole Auerbach offers five ideas to fix the postseason.
Golf: The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund extended a deadline on merger negotiations, leaving the sport in limbo again as 2024 begins.” [New York Times]
Mickey Mouse is finally in the public domain.
“Which Mickey? The earliest version of Disney’s iconic rodent, from the 1928 film ‘Steamboat Willie.’ Its copyright protection expired today after decades of legal battles.
What that means: Anyone can now adapt this version of Mickey — but can’t include still-copyrighted elements from later versions of the character, like his high, squeaky voice.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Cale Yarborough, Hall of Fame NASCAR Driver, Dies at 84
He won the Daytona 500 four times, but his fistfight with Bobby Allison at a televised race ‘put NASCAR on the nationwide map.’
Dec. 31, 2023
“Cale Yarborough, who won three consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup Series championships and whose 83 victories tied him for sixth place on the winners’ list, died on Sunday. He was 84.
He had been battling a rare genetic disorder, his family told The Associated Press.
At the peak of his success, Yarborough won nine races in 1976, nine in 1977 and 10 in 1978, capturing the points championship each time. His feat wasn’t equaled until 2008, when Jimmie Johnson matched it. Yarborough was also the series championship runner-up in 1973 and 1974, and again in 1980.
He won the Daytona 500 four times (1968, 1977, 1983 and 1984), second only to Richard Petty’s seven victories.
But for all his achievements, Yarborough was remembered especially for a race he didn’t win, the Daytona 500 in February 1979, the first NASCAR event to be televised in its entirety to a national audience.
Yarborough and Donnie Allison, the brother of Bobby Allison, another of NASCAR’s greatest names, thumped each other several times on the backstretch while vying for the lead. Both Yarborough and Donnie Allison lost control of their cars near the finish, went spinning off the track and wound up unhurt in a grassy area while Richard Petty zoomed to victory.
Moments later, Yarborough and Bobby Allison, who had been out of contention, engaged in a fistfight. The eastern United States had been hit by a Sunday snowstorm, leaving thousands without much to do but watch TV. Most of these viewers had presumably never seen a major stock-car race and tuned in to the CBS network out of curiosity.
The fight between two good old boys from down South — Yarborough, a native of South Carolina, and Bobby Allison, from Alabama — provided an entertaining few minutes for viewers who had only modest interest in the race itself.
That fight transformed NASCAR from a niche sport in the South to a national attraction.
‘It put NASCAR on the nationwide map,’ Petty told The Tampa Bay Times in 2019. ‘People thought racing was a Southern sport deal, and they saw the rednecks come out there at the end. It was the perfect storm, the snowstorm, everybody watching, how the race ended.’….” Read more at New York Times
“Lives Lived: The comedian Shecky Greene was a frequent guest on Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson, and his high-energy act made him one of the biggest stars in Las Vegas. He died at 97.” [New York Times]