The Full Belmonte, 12/10/21
“President Biden warned world leaders Thursday of a ‘backward slide’ in democracy around the globe and urged them to champion a form of a government that he said needs concerted work to be sustained through an ‘inflection point in history.’
‘In my view, the choices we make … in this moment are going to fundamentally determine the direction our world is going to take in the coming decades,’ Biden said. ‘Will we allow the backward slide of … democracy to continue unchecked, or will we together have a vision … and courage to once more lead the march of human progress and human freedom forward?’
Biden’s remarks came at the outset of a two-day, virtual ‘Summit for Democracy’ that he convened with the goal of rallying 110 invited nations against the forces of authoritarianism.
His rallying cry came 11 months after a deadly attack on a democratic institution at home: the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that interrupted Congress’s count of electoral votes from the November 2020 presidential election.
In his remarks, Biden acknowledged that the United States is among the nations that needs to work to nourish its democracy, and he pledged to lead by example.” Read more at Washington Post
“A federal appeals court panel has rejected former President Donald Trump’s effort to stop Jan. 6 investigators from obtaining his White House records.
‘On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override President Biden’s judgment and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the Political Branches over these documents,’ the three-judge panel determined in a 68-page opinion authored by Judge Patricia Millett. ‘Both Branches agree that there is a unique legislative need for these documents and that they are directly relevant to the Committee’s inquiry into an attack on the Legislative Branch and its constitutional role in the peaceful transfer of power.’ The court gave Trump two weeks to seek an appeal before the order takes effect.” Read more at POLITICO
“Doctors, nurses and health care workers are once again reaching the point of exhaustion as Covid-19 infection rates climb back up. Nationwide, Covid-19 hospitalizations have increased 40% compared to a month ago. In some places it’s even worse, like Michigan, where hospitalizations jumped 88% in the past month. Health care workers there are noticing a disturbing trend: younger and younger people are dying. This is the first winter in the US with the deadly Delta variant, so experts are concerned about what’s to come. Meanwhile, the FDA has authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use as a booster in people ages 16 and 17, and the CDC has also given its recommendation. So far, about 50 million people -- 26.9% of fully vaccinated adults -- have received an additional vaccine dose.” Read more at CNN
“The Senate on Thursday adopted a bipartisan deal that paves the way for lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling, a move that positions Congress to stave off a catastrophic default ahead of a fast-approaching fiscal deadline.
The compromise, which now heads to President Biden’s desk, essentially puts to rest a fierce, months-long battle between Democrats and Republicans and appears to postpone the next round of wrangling over the country’s financial health until after the 2022 midterm elections.
The bill that lawmakers finalized Thursday does not actually raise the debt limit. Instead, it makes a one-time tweak to the Senate’s rules, allowing Democrats in the narrowly divided chamber to lift the borrowing cap without the risk of a Republican filibuster. Absent the unusual arrangement, GOP lawmakers would have blocked any increase as part of their broader protest of Biden’s economic agenda.
In working out the deal, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) ended a period of intense partisan sniping, as Democrats had faulted their GOP foes for putting the country at risk of recession as part of a political dispute. House and Senate lawmakers are set to complete the intricate process next week, raising the debt ceiling by trillions of dollars, in a move that could defuse the conflict into late next year.
‘The nation’s debt has been incurred on a bipartisan basis, so I’m pleased that this responsible action will be taken today to facilitate a process that avoids a default,’ Schumer said in a speech that praised McConnell before the vote. ‘This is the responsible path forward: no brinkmanship, no default on the debt, no risk of another recession.’
Fourteen Republicans including Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) joined Democrats in advancing the compromise, offering their votes earlier in the day to clear a key Senate procedural hurdle. A number of GOP lawmakers again aided Democrats in securing its final approval Thursday evening.
The arrangement left some Republicans uneasy, arguing they should not have provided any help to Democrats on the matter. ‘They have been spending money on a partisan basis without input from Republicans,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told reporters before opposing the bill.
The sharpest criticism came from former president Donald Trump, who attacked McConnell earlier this week for negotiating with his political foes — even though Trump himself had to rely on Democratic votes to raise the debt ceiling during his administration….
The bitterly divided Senate reached the compromise on Tuesday, resolving a protracted between Democrats and Republicans that carried immense financial stakes — threatening, in the case of inaction, to plunge the economy into a recession.
McConnell initially had refused to supply GOP votes for a direct increase in the debt ceiling, which allows the United Statesto borrow money to pay its bills, as part of the party’s opposition to Biden’s broader spending agenda. Instead, he called on Democrats to address the measure on their own using the same legislative maneuver they intend to invoke to pass a $2 trillion initiative that aims to overhaul federal health care, education, climate and tax laws.” Read more at Washington Post
“At least 650 people died attempting to cross the US-Mexico border this year, according to data from the International Organization for Migration. That’s the highest number since the agency began recording such data in 2014. Though the agency didn’t specify causes of death, border crossings are notoriously difficult, and there can be countless complications. US Customs and Border Protection has previously said a majority of migrant border deaths are related to heat exposure. As the Biden administration continues to try to reunite hundreds of families separated at the border under the Trump-era ‘zero tolerance’ policy, the Department of Homeland Security has issued an open request to the public for recommendations to ensure the federal government never uses family separation as a tactic against undocumented migrants again.” Read more at CNN
“A group of 20 retail leaders -- including the CEOs of Target, Best Buy, Nordstrom, Home Depot and CVS -- have sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to take action in response to a recent wave of brazen store robberies in major US cities. The group said criminals can easily resell the stolen items online, and recommended Congress pass a bill to make it easier for consumers to identify exactly who they are buying from and where the merchandise originated -- and harder for criminals to hide behind fake identities. There have been several incidents in the past few weeks of swarms of people overwhelming stores and stealing merchandise, and a few stores were looted during Black Friday. Some retailers, like Best Buy, say they’re also increasing security to deal with the problem.” Read more at CNN
“New York City became the largest city in the country to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections after the City Council on Thursday overwhelmingly approved legislation granting the right to more than 800,000 legal residents.
The move places New York City at the forefront of the debate over voting rights, serving as a stark contrast to some states that have moved to add voting restrictions, including explicitly barring noncitizens from voting.
The legislation was approved over the objections of Mayor Bill de Blasio, who questioned whether the City Council has the power to grant voting rights to noncitizens. Legal experts expect that the bill could face a legal challenge.
Noncitizens would be able to begin to register to vote a year from now. They could begin voting in local elections as of Jan. 9, 2023, according to the City Council.” Read more at New York Times
“Pfizer’s Covid-19 booster was authorized for 16- and 17-year-olds. The Food and Drug Administration’s decision permits the teenagers to receive a third shot at least six months after their second dose, a timeline many have already passed. Health authorities are pushing to make sure vaccinated people maintain immune protection this winter.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“MINNEAPOLIS — The woman who was riding in Daunte Wright’s car when he was pulled over by police testified Thursday about the chaos after he was shot by a suburban Minneapolis officer, telling the jury that she tried to stop his bleeding, but he was just ‘gasping.’
‘I grabbed whatever was in the car. I don’t remember if it was a sweater or a towel or something … and put it on his chest like I had seen in movies and TV shows,’ Alayna Albrecht-Payton told the jury, her testimony interrupted by sobs. ‘I didn’t know what to do.’
Albrecht-Payton, who said she had recently started dating Wright, testified that she heard a bang and then noticed the car began moving. Wright’s hands weren’t on the steering wheel and she was ‘confused,’ but his foot was on the gas as their vehicle collided head-on with another car.
Albrecht-Payton, 20, recalled screaming Wright’s name repeatedly after the crash, trying to get him to respond but ‘he wasn’t answering me.’
Albrecht-Payton’s emotional testimony came during the second day of the trial of Kimberly Potter, a former Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer, who is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Wright, an unarmed 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop.
Wright had been pulled over in the Minneapolis suburb for expired tags and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. Potter has asserted that she mistakenly pulled her handgun instead of her Taser and fired it, fatally striking Wright.” Read more at Washington Post
“American Airlines said it would trim international flights next summer. The world’s largest carrier by passenger traffic made its decision because Boeing hasn’t delivered new 787 Dreamliners—the latest sign of broader fallout for the plane maker, which has struggled with production problems.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Baristas in Buffalo, N.Y., voted to form the first labor union at a Starbucks-owned cafe. The result is a victory for workers who had petitioned in August to vote on forming a union to negotiate directly with the coffee giant, which had spent months campaigning against the push to organize.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
The casket of former Sen. Bob Dole in the Capitol today. Photo: Jabin Botsford/Pool/Getty Images
“President Biden, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other lawmakers honored Sen. Bob Dole, who laid in state at the U.S. Capitol after passing away Sunday at the age of 98. ‘He, too, was a giant of our history. That's not hyperbole,’ said Biden of his longtime Senate colleague.”
Speaker Pelosi — who kissed the hand of Dole's wife, former Sen. Elizabeth Dole — said, ‘[A]s we honor his life this morning, let us resolve to meet his challenge ... 'to act worthy of our ideals' — and carry on his mission. May Sen. Dole rest in the peace that he deserves.’” Read more at Axios
“A British court ruled that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to the U.S. to face espionage charges.” Read more at NPR
“The parents of two students who survived the Oxford High School shooting are suing the district. The plaintiffs are the parents of a 17-year-old and a 14-year-old at the Michigan school, the elder of whom was shot in the neck during the attack while next to her sister, who ‘narrowly escaped’ bullets when a gunman opened fire last week, killing four people. The pair of lawsuits are seeking $100 million, a lawyer for the family said.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Apple has risen in value by an astonishing $1.85 trillion in just 433 trading sessions since the lows of March 2020, notes Axios Capital author Felix Salmon.
Before 2018, no company had ever even been worth $1 trillion.” Read more at Axios
“Letitia James dropped out of the New York governor’s race. The Democratic attorney general says she will seek a second term as state’s top prosecutor. She declared her candidacy several months after her office released a report that concluded former Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“A jury found ex-"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett guilty Thursday of five of six counts of felony disorderly conduct in Chicago after a one-week trial.
In the courtroom as the verdict was read, Smollett stood and faced the jury, showing no visible reaction.
The 39-year-old was found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct — one count for each separate time he was charged with lying to police in the days immediately after the alleged attack.
He was acquitted on a sixth count, of lying to a detective in mid-February, weeks after Smollett said he was attacked.
Smollett was released Thursday and Judge James Linn set a post-trial hearing for Jan. 27. He said he would schedule Smollett's sentencing at a later date.Disorderly conduct is a class 4 felony that carries a sentence of up to three years in prison, but experts say he likely will be placed on probation and perhaps ordered to perform community service.” Read more at New York Times
Federal prosecutors presented pictures of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell as evidence at her sex-trafficking trial, giving a window into their lives together.
“Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial has surfaced photos of her with Jeffrey Epstein.
A trove of photographs of the British socialite spending time with the late disgraced financier give a glimpse of their jet-setting lives together. Federal prosecutors have presented the images as evidence during Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial in New York seeking to show how close the two were. Some photos, which authorities say they obtained during searches of Epstein’s homes, show the pair kissing and hugging; in one Maxwell is shown giving Epstein a foot rub on a private jet. Prosecutors have accused Maxwell, 59 years old, of recruiting and grooming underage teens who were sexually abused by Epstein between 1994 and 2004. She faces six criminal counts at trial, including enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty and has said she hasn’t committed a crime.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“MEXICO CITY — At least 49 people were killed and dozens injured in a horrific truck accident in southern Mexico on Thursday, the authorities said, with most of the victims believed to be migrants coming from Central America.
The accident, which took place in southern Chiapas state, occurred when a truck carrying more than 100 people overturned on Thursday afternoon near Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital, the head of the state Civil Protection Service, Luis Manuel García, told Milenio TV.
The death toll could rise, with at least three people gravely injured. The accident is one of the deadliest involving migrants in decades, and follows the death of 13 migrants in a car accident on the U.S. border in March.” Read more at New York Times
An illustration of the Sarco. (Exit International)
“People wishing to end their lives in Switzerland — one of a handful of countries that give the option — could soon have access to a new method: a 3-D-printed pod that its creator says can painlessly end someone’s life in a matter of minutes.
Real-life participants will start trying the coffinlike ‘Sarco’ during trials set to begin in early 2022, the capsule’s creator, Philip Nitschke, told The Washington Post this week. A legal analysis commissioned by his nonprofit, Exit International, recently concluded that use of the pod will not violate Switzerland’s assisted suicide laws, he said.
At the push of a button, the pod becomes filled with nitrogen gas, which rapidly lowers oxygen levels, causing its user to fall unconscious within a minute, Nitschke said. A person does not suffocate or experience distress, he said, but rather dies of oxygen deprivation after they’ve fallen asleep. In theory, the capsule can be towed to a place of someone’s choosing, said Nitschke, who described the machine as a ‘stylish and elegant’ way to die.” Read more at Washington Post
“Former reality TV star Josh Duggar was found guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography, an Arkansas jury decided on Thursday. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.
During the trial, which started Nov. 30, prosecutors presented evidence of a computer at Duggar’s used-car dealership in Springdale, Ark., that they said Duggar used to access explicit photos and videos of young children being sexually abused. Experts testified that the computer was split into two operating systems, one for business and a “hidden” one for the illegal material, the Associated Press reported. A senior crime forensic analyst said the password for the secret side was similar to passwords Duggar had used in the past.
The defense team argued that another person downloaded the material to the computer, such as a hacker who remotely accessed his Internet. They said Duggar wasn’t technologically savvy enough to split his computer in two, and reportedly emphasized that no child pornography was found on Duggar’s phone or home laptop. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, his defense attorney told the jury, ‘If you like a mystery, then this is the case for you. This is a classic, old-fashioned whodunit.’” Read more at Washington Post
“Reopened schools say student misbehavior is a big problem.
School districts across the U.S. say they are seeing a surge of behavioral problems as in-person learning has returned, after months of closures and disruptions due to the pandemic. Educators say they have seen an increase in both minor incidents, like students talking in class, and more serious issues, such as fights and gun possession. In Dallas, disruptive classroom incidents have tripled this year compared with pre-pandemic levels, school officials said. The Albuquerque, N.M., superintendent sent a letter to parents warning of a ‘rise in violence and unacceptable behaviors posted to social media’ that have disrupted classes. Some districts have enacted what they call mental-health days, closing schools around holidays to give students and administrators a break.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The National Park Service has begun a coast-to-coast makeover of ‘once in a generation’ ambition, including fixes to power lines laid in the 1930s and picnic shelters built in the 1940s.
The big picture: America's national parks suffered decades of neglected maintenance requests and deteriorating conditions, all while national park tourism surged, notes Axios' Erin Doherty.
The Great American Outdoors Act, passed in 2020, provides more than $1 billion annually over the next five years for repairs at national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and tribal schools, AP reports.
Driving the news: Some small-scale improvement projects have already concluded, while larger projects are in the works.
D.C.: Crews completed a $3.8 million project to clean the white marble of the Jefferson Memorial of grime and fixed cracked stone.
New River Gorge in West Virginia: Workers restored masonry grills from the 1930s.
The Grand Canyon: New water line to serve more than 6 million visitors and full-time residents, per AP.
Puerto Rico: A project would secure a cliffside that has been worn down by the elements at San Juan National Historic Site.
The bottom line: ‘The [act] ... offers us really a once in a generation opportunity," NPS official Mike Caldwell told AP.’ Read more at Axios
“More than 40 camels have been disqualified from Saudi Arabia's beauty pageant for receiving Botox injections and other cosmetic enhancements.
The contest is a highlight of the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, where $66m (£45m) in prize money is at stake.
Key attributes include long, droopy lips, a big nose and a shapely hump.
Judges used ‘advanced’ technology to uncover tampering with camels on a scale not seen before, the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
All contestants were first led into a hall where their external appearance and movements were examined by specialists, it said.
Their heads, necks and torsos were then scanned with X-ray and 3D ultrasound machines, and samples were taken for genetic analysis and other tests.
Twenty-seven contestants in the cup for Majaheim camels alone were disqualified for having stretched body parts and 16 were ejected for having received injections, according to SPA.
The organisers of the pageant, the Camel Club, were cited as saying that they were ‘keen to halt all acts of tampering and deception in the beautification of camels’ and promising to ‘impose strict penalties on manipulators’.
They described how Botox was injected into camels' lips, noses, jaws and other parts of their heads to relax muscles; collagen fillers were used to make their lips and noses bigger; and hormones were given to boost muscle growth.
Rubber bands were also used on animals to make body parts bigger than normal by restricting the flow of blood, they said.
Jason Baker, senior vice-president of animal rights group Peta Asia, described the beauty contest as a ‘cruel farce.’
‘Subjecting any animal to a cosmetic procedure, from ear cropping to declawing, dehorning, and filler injections, is hideously cruel and shows the humans who use such tactics to be extremely ugly,’ he said.
Mr Baker said animal welfare issues needed to be addressed throughout the Middle East and Asia, and called on Saudi authorities to crack down on any event that exploits or abuses animals.
Some 33,000 camel owners from as far away as the US, Russia and France are participating in the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, which is the largest in the world and lasts 40 days.
As many as 100,000 tourists are also expected daily at the 32 sq km (12 sq mile) festival site, 100km (62 miles) north-east of the Saudi capital Riyadh.” [BBC]