The Full Belmonte, 12/17/2022
US court rejects maintaining COVID-19 asylum restrictions
By GIOVANNA DELL'ORTO and REBECCA SANTANA
“REYNOSA, Mexico (AP) — Restrictions that have prevented hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. in recent years remained on track to expire in a matter of days after an appeals court ruling Friday, as thousands more migrants packed shelters on Mexico’s border with the U.S.
The ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals means the restrictions known as Title 42 are still set to be lifted Wednesday, unless further appeals are filed.
A coalition of 19 Republican-leaning states were pushing to keep the asylum restrictions put in place by former President Donald Trump at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Migrants have been denied rights to seek asylum under U.S. and international law 2.5 million times since March 2020 on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The public-health has left some migrants biding time in Mexico.
Advocates for immigrants had argued that the U.S. was abandoning its longstanding history and commitments to offer refuge to people around the world fleeing persecution, and sued to end the use of Title 42. They’ve also argued the restrictions were a pretext by Trump for restricting migration, and in any case, vaccines and other treatments make that argument outdated.
A judge last month sided with them and set Dec. 21 as the deadline for the federal government to end the practice. Conservative states trying to keep Title 42 in place had pushed to intervene in the case. But a three-judge panel on Friday night rejected their efforts, saying the states had waited too long. Louisiana’s Attorney General expressed disappointment with the decision and said they would appeal to the Supreme Court….” Read more at AP News
U.S. attorney general moves to end sentencing disparities on crack, powder cocaine
Justice Dept. aims to reverse decades of policy that critics say disproportionately targeted Black and Brown communities by treating crack users more punitively
“Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday instructed federal prosecutors to end charging and sentencing disparities in cases involving the distribution of crack and powder cocaine, after decades of law enforcement policy disproportionately treating crack offenders more punitively.
Garland’s move effectively seeks to eliminate the significant difference in the amount of powder cocaine relative to crack cocaine that is required to be in a suspect’s possession to trigger mandatory minimum federal sentences upon conviction.
Critics of the longtime policy have said it is a relic of Washington’s misguided War on Drugs era that targeted Black and Brown communities, resulted in overpopulated prisons and strained federal and local resources at the expense of more-effective strategies.
Garland had said during his confirmation hearing last year that he opposes the sentencing disparities, and legal experts said his memo to U.S. attorneys is an effort to formally align Justice Department policy….” Read more at Washington Post
University of California Reaches Tentative Contract Deal with Striking Academic Workers
DECEMBER 16, 2022
Striking UC graduate workers and supporters rally in Sacramento earlier this month.
“The University of California system reached a tentative agreement with striking graduate students late Friday that, if ratified, could bring an end to a monthlong strike that has paralyzed the 10-campus system.
One of the two bargaining units representing the striking workers, UAW 2865, wrote on Twitter that the tentative agreement includes raises of up to 80 percent for the lowest-paid workers. The strike will continue, it said, until the union’s members ratify the deal.
The university’s statement said it would provide minimum salary scales for academic student workers, including TAs and graduate-student researchers, as well as multiyear pay raises, paid dependent access to university health care, and enhanced paid family leave. If approved, the contracts would be in effect through May 31, 2025.” Read more at Chronicle of Higher Education
Journalist suspensions widen rift between Twitter and media
By MAE ANDERSON and MATT O'BRIEN
“Elon Musk’s abrupt suspension of several journalists who cover Twitter widens a growing rift between the social media site and media organizations that have used the platform to build their audiences.
Individual reporters with The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America and other news agencies saw their accounts go dark Thursday.
Musk tweeted late Friday that the company would lift the suspensions following the results of a public poll on the site. The poll showed 58.7% of respondents favored a move to immediately unsuspend accounts over 41.3% who said the suspensions should be lifted in seven days.
The company has not explained why the accounts were taken down. But Musk took to Twitter on Thursday night to accuse journalists of sharing private information about his whereabouts, which he described as ‘basically assassination coordinates.’ He provided no evidence for that claim.
Many advertisers abandoned Twitter over content moderation questions after Musk acquired it in October, and he now risks a rupture with media organizations, which are among the most active on the platform….” Read more at AP News
House Committee Takes Step Toward Potential Release of Trump’s Tax Data
The Ways and Means Committee announced a closed-door meeting next week at which it may vote to disclose the information.
Dec. 16, 2022
“WASHINGTON — A House committee is expected to vote on Tuesday on whether to make public six years of former President Donald J. Trump’s tax records, in what would be a significant act of transparency in the waning days of Democratic control of the House.
The Ways and Means Committee gave notice on Friday that it would meet behind closed doors at 3 p.m. on Tuesday for what is expected to be a vote on whether to release some data from Mr. Trump’s tax returns from 2015 to 2020, including the possibility of sharing the filings. The panel obtained the information from the Treasury Department last month.
Such a vote, which Republicans are likely to oppose, would be the culmination of a nearly four-year battle stemming from Mr. Trump’s decision to break with modern precedent and refuse to disclose his personal financial information as a presidential candidate and then as a sitting president….” Read more at New York Times
Trump omits dinner with white nationalist in speech to Jews
By STEVE PEOPLES
FILE - Former President Donald Trump announces a third run for president at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 15, 2022. Trump has told a conference of orthodox Jews that he is their "best ally" without addressing his widely criticized meal with a white nationalist and a rapper who has spewed antisemitic conspiracies. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
“NEW YORK (AP) — Speaking at a conference of Orthodox Jews on Friday, Donald Trump did not address a widely criticized private meal he shared last month with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and a rapper who has spewed antisemitic conspiracies.
The former president told the audience he was ‘the best ally you’ve ever had.’
Over and over, Trump heaped praise on the Jewish people and highlighted his support for Israel as he addressed the annual President’s Conference of Torah Umesorah at his National Doral club in Miami. He alleged Congress was ‘almost anti-Israel’ and said without evidence that some Democrats in Washington ‘hate Israel with a passion.’
Trump is struggling for political momentum a month after becoming the first official candidate to enter the 2024 presidential contest. He hoped the early announcement might scare off potential challengers, but a series of political setbacks have instead left him deeply vulnerable as he ramps up his third presidential campaign….” Read more at AP News
Trump’s NFT Digital Trading Cards Bring in Millions of Dollars—and GOP Ridicule
Money from the former president’s latest business venture will benefit him and his partners but not his 2024 campaign
Former President Donald Trump’s newly released NFT digital trading cards, displayed on computer screens in a photo illustration. PHOTO: STF/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
By Alex Leary
Dec. 16, 2022
“WASHINGTON—Donald Trump‘s digital trading cards quickly sold out, according to their promotional website, generating more than $4 million. But none of it will go toward his presidential campaign that had a rocky first month, and the idea drew continued ridicule from some fellow Republicans Friday.
The cards, unveiled by Mr. Trump on Thursday and featuring cartoon depictions of the former president including as a superhero, golfer, race car driver and Old West sheriff, have ‘nothing to do with any political campaign,’ the website states—meaning proceeds would go to Mr. Trump and his business partners.
Forty-five thousand cards were produced, all but 1,000 of which were offered for sale Thursday at $99 each on the website. That would mean at least $4.3 million was raised.
A day before the sale, Mr. Trump hyped a ‘major announcement,’ spurring rampant speculation that he might make real political news. But the revelation of the cards—which are nonfungible tokens, or NFTs—drew considerable mocking, including among some of Mr. Trump’s allies.
‘I can’t do this anymore,’ conservative activist and former Trump aide Steve Bannon said on his podcast Thursday, interrupting a video of Mr. Trump’s promotional announcement of the cards. He heralded Mr. Trump as one of the greatest presidents but said whoever was behind the idea should be fired.
‘I can’t believe i’m going to jail for an nft salesman,’ tweeted the account of Anthime Joseph Gionet, who pleaded guilty to one charge related to his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
‘It just seems humiliating and beneath him to be hustling action figure trading cards of himself,’ said GOP strategist Mike DuHaime. ‘He was president and a billionaire celebrity real-estate developer, and now he’s selling pictures of himself for 100 bucks.’
A Trump campaign spokesman referred questions to the Trump Organization, Mr. Trump’s family business, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some candidates in this year’s midterm elections experimented with NFTs to help raise money and spark interest in their campaigns, following the lead of artists and big consumer brands.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Beijing’s rapidly spreading Covid outbreak has turned the Chinese capital of 22 million people into a virtual ghost town as stores close and restaurants empty, underscoring the cost of Xi Jinping’s sudden pivot from his restrictive ‘Covid zero’ policy. Bucking expectations for a managed and gradual transition, Xi is now allowing the virus to run rampant. A million people could die as a result.” Read more at Bloomberg
Pedestrians with protective gear in Beijing on Dec. 15 Source: Bloomberg
“Peru imposed curfew orders in parts of the country to try to contain demonstrations as clashes between protesters and police left seven people dead and more than 50 injured. The latest fatalities mean the overall death toll from a week of protests over Pedro Castillo’s sudden removal from power doubled overnight to at least 14. Dina Boluarte, who was Castillo’s running mate and was sworn-in as president on Dec. 7, has failed to quell the anger despite a proposal to hold early elections.” Read more at Bloomberg
Riot police and protestors in Trujillo, Peru, on Dec. 15. Peru has declared a nationwide state of emergency, suspending basic rights for 30 days, after the government removed Pedro Castillo from power. Photographer: Arturo Gutarra Chavez/Bloomberg
“Elon Musk’s behavior at Twitter is getting him in trouble with European officials. Backlash against the mercurial billionaire’s decision to suspend the Twitter accounts of journalists (as well as upstart Twitter rival Mastodon), who have been covering his antics has spread among senior European politicians, with threats of future sanctions. ‘News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying,’ said Commission Vice President Vera Jourova in a tweet. ‘There are red lines. And sanctions, soon.’” Read more at Bloomberg
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen chairs the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which called for more oversight in the crypto space.
PHOTO: LM OTERO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The Biden administration wants Congress to cover gaps in cryptocurrency regulation.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council, chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, recommended orderly and transparent trading, investor protections and other risk-mitigating rules currently imposed on traditional financial firms. The White House had pushed for oversight in October before crypto exchange FTX’s multibillion-dollar collapse last month.The administration hasn’t weighed in on which regulators’ jurisdiction the industry falls under; the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Reserve claim or envision authority over some segments of the crypto market.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Goldman Sachs may fire 8% of its employees—some 4,000 people—joining other Wall Street firms in terminating workers en masse in contemplation of a downturn some economists (and the Fed) say may not happen. Top Goldman managers are said to have been asked to identify potential targets for dismissal. The number of employees surged in recent years as CEO David Solomon completed acquisitions. Then there’s the firm’s star-crossed attempt at consumer banking, which left the unit with deep losses. But elsewhere on Wall Street, everything is coming up roses. Big name quant firms like AQR Capital, Man Group and Aspect Capital are riding high as inflation-fueled turmoil trashes their counterparts in the stock and bond world. Macro-driven volatility is fueling powerful one-way price trends.” Read more at Bloomberg
“The Federal Reserve’s updated economic projections appeared to incorporate an assumption that raised eyebrows: inflation would prove resurgent this month. The quarterly projections showed Fed officials now expect so-called core inflation—which excludes food and energy—to end this year around 4.8%, up from the 4.5% figure they forecast in September. Yet that number looks too high to Wall Street economists.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Mazars Group is backing away from crypto. The accounting firm used by crypto giant Binance Holdings and others to vouch for assets held in reserve has halted all such work for crypto clients. It’s yet another blow to an industry seeking to shore up confidence in the wake of FTX’s collapse.” Read more at Bloomberg
Judge warned in 2021 of gay bar attacker’s shootout plans
By JESSE BEDAYN and MATTHEW BROWN
“COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A judge dismissed the 2021 kidnapping case against the Colorado gay nightclub shooter even though she had previously raised concerns about the defendant stockpiling weapons and explosives and planning a shootout, court transcripts obtained Friday by The Associated Press reveal.
Relatives, including the grandparents who claimed to have been kidnapped, had also told Judge Robin Chittum in August last year about Anderson Aldrich’s struggles with mental illness during a hearing at which the judge said Aldrich needed treatment or ‘it’s going to be so bad,’ according to the documents.
Yet no mention was made during a hearing this July of the suspect’s violent behavior or the status of any mental health treatment.
And Chittum, who had received a letter late last year from relatives of Aldrich’s grandparents warning the suspect was certain to commit murder if freed, granted a defense attorney’s motion to dismiss the case as a trial deadline loomed and the grandparents had stopped cooperating….” Read more at AP News
Protesters gather during a Portland Public Schools board meeting. | Nathan Howard/Getty Images
“THE DIVIDED CLASSROOM — In case you missed it amid the advertising noise and campaign spending avalanche of November’s midterms, 2022 proved to be an incredibly busy — and contentious — year for education elections.
Fifteen states and the District of Columbia held state school board or education superintendent races this year. Roughly 1,800 local board seats across some 560 districts in 26 states were also up for grabs on Nov. 8, according to the nonpartisan nonprofit Ballotpedia.
Who came out on top? Nobody. Neither Democrats nor Republicans managed a clean sweep.
This means the state of education in the United States remains divided sharply along partisan lines — and the education wars are likely to continue unabated in 2023 and beyond.
The bitter differences between the two sides and lack of consensus between the poles of both parties — over everything from teaching about slavery and gender identity to childhood vaccinations – offer little incentive for either side to back down.
‘We are stopping Critical Race Theory from being taught, stopping access to obscene pornography in our schools, and ending the tenure of radicalism and indoctrination of our kids because the left is waging a civil war in our classrooms,’ newly-elected Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters recently wrote in the Daily Caller.
Candidates who supported having race and sex-related curricula or Covid-19 safety requirements in schools won about 40 percent of the roughly 1,800 local board elections tallied by Ballotpedia this year, and tended to win in counties President Joe Biden carried in the 2020 election. Candidates with opposing views won about 30 percent of their elections, often doing so in counties held by former President Donald Trump.
Nearly one-third of incumbent school board members also lost to their challengers on Nov. 8.
‘People didn’t feel listened to. Parents felt they lost agency and power over their kids’ education,’ Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers labor union, recently told Nightly. ‘My concern is that we can’t have two countries. This is one United States of America, and we have an obligation to help kids — regardless of whether they’re in South Carolina, Tennessee, New York or California — to learn how to critically think.’
As they turn toward 2023, Democrats take solace in battleground state victories for governor, successful education-related ballot measures and local school board races where moderate incumbents defeated far-right challengers in Louisville, Ky., the suburbs of Austin, Texas, and other places.
Sure, conservatives lost plenty of races. But they won more than enough to show their brand of culture-based education politics thrives in areas controlled by the party faithful. Trump seems to have this on his mind, too. The former president promised schools would lose their federal funding if they don’t get rid of critical race theory, and what he described as ‘radical civics and gender insanity,’ when he announced his reelection bid.
No state school boards with elections this year flipped partisan control, according to the National Association of State Boards of Education. But majority parties did expand their influence on boards in Colorado, Kansas and Utah while conservative incumbents often lost primary challenges.
Candidates endorsed by two upstart GOP-aligned political committees also won roughly half of their midterm elections.
Candidates backed by Moms for Liberty, a group formed by a former Florida school board member to fight school Covid-19 mask requirements and controversial library books, won about half of their 2022 elections, according to the organization. The 1776 Project PAC, a group opposed to the critical race theory academic framework that examines how race and racism have become ingrained in American institutions, saw a similar win-loss ratio.
Now 1776 Project PAC founder Ryan Girdusky is eyeing expansion ahead of next year’s school board elections, when 29 states will have education posts on the ballot, and he’s looking to recruit more support from elected leaders and conservative parents.
‘We’ve done enough to prove that we are a worthwhile organization who can win,’ he said.” Read more at POLITICO Nightly
Democrats will seek to return more than $2 million from Bankman-Fried
Millions in political contributions are under scrutiny following the FTX founder’s arrest this week
“The three major Democratic campaign groups said Friday they would set aside more than $2 million they received from Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and eventually seek to return the money to the exchange’s customers.
The announcements — from the Democratic National Committee and two groups that help elect House and Senate Democrats — came days after Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas and charged with violating securities and campaign finance laws. A federal prosecutor described the matter as “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”
The Democrats’ decision adds to the pressure on a wide variety of other political organizations, many of which have not yet said how they will proceed after accepting the FTX founder’s generous contributions during the 2022 election cycle.” Read more at Washington Post
Pentagon has received ‘several hundreds’ of new UFO reports
By TARA COPP
FILE - The Pentagon is seen from Air Force One as it flies over Washington, March 2, 2022. A new Pentagon office set up to track reports of unidentified flying objects has received “several hundreds” of new reports, but no evidence so far of alien life. That's according to the leadership of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
“WASHINGTON (AP) — A new Pentagon office set up to track reports of unidentified flying objects has received ‘several hundreds’ of new reports, but no evidence so far of alien life, the agency’s leadership told reporters Friday.
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) was set up in July and is responsible for not only tracking unidentified objects in the sky, but also underwater or in space — or potentially an object that has the ability to move from one domain to the next.
The office was established following more than a year of attention on unidentified flying objects that military pilots have observed but have sometimes been reluctant to report due to fear of stigma.
In June 2021 the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported that between 2004 and 2021, there were 144 such encounters, 80 of which were captured on multiple sensors.
Since then, ‘we’ve had lots more reporting,’ said anomaly office director Sean Kirkpatrick. When asked to quantify the amount, Kirkpatrick said ‘several hundreds.’” Read more at AP News
“Russia launched over 60 missiles at Ukraine in its first large-scale attack since Dec. 5, causing cuts to power and water supplies in several areas. A strike on a residential building killed two people in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s home town. The attacks come a day after a top Ukrainian army commander warned there’s ‘no doubt’ Russia will again attempt to seize Kyiv, perhaps from Belarus, having failed in a botched attempt early in the war. As Russia has been driven back in recent months, Vladimir Putin has drafted hundreds of thousands of raw recruits to face experienced and battle-hardened Ukrainian forces. Putin will visit Minsk on Monday for talks with his Belarusian ally.
Friday’s missile barrage was the ninth by Russia since early October, all focused primarily on Ukraine’s infrastructure in a bid to force civilians to endure winter without heat, power or water. Russia has killed potentially tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers over the past 10 months. But any attempt by Russia to move on Kyiv would likely occur amid a storm of increasingly sophisticated munitions. US President Joe Biden says he will keep supplying Ukraine the weapons it needs to fight Russia for ‘as long as it takes.’ This appears to include Patriot missiles, America’s most advanced defensive system, a prospect that caused Russia to threaten unspecified retaliation. —David E. Rovella Read more at Bloomberg
A partially destroyed church in Kupiansk, Ukraine. PHOTO: CHRIS MCGRATH/GETTY IMAGES
Giant Aquarium in Berlin Holding 1,500 Fish Bursts, Injuring Two
Cylindrical tank inside a hotel lobby opposite the city’s newly rebuilt castle had become a landmark of the German capital
“BERLIN—A giant cylindrical aquarium that had become a landmark in the years since the fall of the Berlin Wall burst on Friday, sending one million liters of water and 1,500 exotic fish onto a busy crossing opposite the city’s recently rebuilt royal palace.
Witnesses described hearing what sounded like a loud explosion around 5:45 a.m. local time, when police said the glass tank burst. The wave wreaked havoc as it crashed through doors and windows and flooded the street outside.
Two people were injured by flying glass shards, police said, and first responders said they examined 35 people. Rescue dogs searched through the rubble looking for more victims.
Officers armed with automatic weapons and around 100 rescue workers descended on the scene in the early morning.
Debris was strewn across the road after the aquarium burst.PHOTO: CHRISTOPH SOEDER/ZUMA PRESS
Police said they were confident that the incident wasn’t the result of an intentional act and weren’t investigating it. However, they said it was too early to tell why and how the transparent casing of the 16-meter-tall cylindrical tank ruptured.
The tank stood inside the glass-roofed atrium of the Radisson hotel, overlooking its cafe and reception counters and bathing the lobby in pale blue light.
Visitors to the adjacent AquaDom & Sea Life Center could visit the aquarium by taking an elevator rising through its center. The AquaDom’s website says the tank was the largest of its kind in the world.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
TikTok’s efforts to distance itself from its Chinese parent are stumbling.
“A big issue? Staff. The short-video app and ByteDance have moved key executives to Singapore and the U.S., hired more staff and engineers outside China and separated teams internally, as Washington worries about national security risks. Still, some engineers working on TikTok’s algorithms remain in China, people familiar with the matter said, and ByteDance continues to recruit there. Most hiring is in the U.S., the U.K. and Southeast Asia, a TikTok spokesperson said.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Griner's next steps
Brittney Griner arrives in the U.S. on Dec. 9 after she was freed from Russian detention. Photo: U.S. Army South/Miguel Negron
“Brittney Griner intends ‘to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season,’ she said in her first official statement since coming home from Russia.
‘I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going,’ Griner said.
‘From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.’” Read more at Axios