The Full Belmonte, 2/22/2023
“The US Supreme Court heard arguments over a landmark law that’s protected internet giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter from being held liable for the content their users post. The case stems from a lawsuit brought against Google by the family of a man killed by members of the Islamic State in 2015. The plaintiffs contend Google should be held liable for software algorithms that recommended terrorist videos to YouTube users. The law at issue, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, has long been defended by Big Tech as a guarantor of free speech, and its demise could remake the internet. There was perhaps good news for Google during oral arguments, though, given that the justices expressed confusion with the case.” [Bloomberg]
Biden Administration Announces New Border Crackdown
A tough new immigration measure could disqualify the vast majority of migrants from being able to seek asylum at the southern border.
“In a bid to prevent a surge of migrants at the southern border when a pandemic measure is lifted in May, the Biden administration on Tuesday announced its toughest policy yet to crack down on unlawful entries.
The proposed rule, which has been opened for 30 days of public comment before taking effect, would presume that migrants are ineligible for asylum if they entered the country unlawfully, a significant rollback in the country’s traditional policy toward those fleeing persecution in other countries.
It would allow rapid deportation of anyone who had failed to request protection from another country while en route to the United States or who did not notify border authorities through a mobile app of their plans to seek asylum.
Administration officials said the policy would take effect on May 11 with the expected termination that day of Title 42, a Trump-era health emergency rule that has allowed border authorities to swiftly expel migrants back to Mexico. The new rule would then remain in place for two years….” Read more at New York Times
E.P.A. Orders Operator of Derailed Train to Pay All Cleanup Costs
The agency also said that if the company failed in its cleanup efforts, it would do the work itself and charge the company triple the cost.
“The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday ordered the operator of a train carrying hazardous chemicals that derailed in eastern Ohio to clean up any resulting contamination and pay all the costs.
The operator, Norfolk Southern, will not only be compelled to identify and clean contaminated soil and water, but also must reimburse the E.P.A. for the costs of cleaning private homes and businesses, according to the agency. If the E.P.A. deems that Norfolk Southern has failed to complete any of the tasks it has been ordered to do, the agency will conduct the cleanup itself and charge the company triple the cost, it said.
The announcement was made by the E.P.A. administrator, Michael S. Regan, at a news conference in East Palestine, the site of the derailment. He was accompanied by Mike DeWine, the Republican governor of Ohio, and Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania.
‘This order represents one of E.P.A.’s strongest authorities to hold a company accountable for jeopardizing a community’s health and safety,’ Mr. Regan said. ‘I know this order cannot undo the nightmare that families in this town have been living with. But it will begin to deliver a much needed justice for the pain that Norfolk Southern has caused.’….” Read more at New York Times
About 50 Norfolk Southern freight train cars derailed on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, a town of 4,800 residents near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Photographer: Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images
Putin’s Move on Nuclear Treaty May Signal End to Formal Arms Control
Mutual inspections were interrupted by the pandemic, then by the war in Ukraine. But now New START, the last nuclear agreement between Russia and the United States, is dying, and arms control may be, too.
“WARSAW — When President Vladimir V. Putin announced at the end of a 100-minute speech on Tuesday that he would suspend Russia’s participation in the New START treaty — the last surviving arms control agreement between the two largest nuclear-armed powers — it was the latest sign that the decades-long era of formal arms control may be dying.
Mr. Putin made clear that he was not pulling out of the treaty, which expires in February 2026. And hours after the speech, Russia’s Foreign Ministry declared the country had no intention to deploy more strategic nuclear arms — the kind that can soar across continents — beyond the limits of the treaty, which keeps both sides to 1,550 nuclear weapons. That set aside, at least for the next few years, the prospect of a resumed arms race between the two largest nuclear powers.
But the chances are rapidly diminishing that Russia and the United States, in the midst of the bitter war in Ukraine and mutual recriminations on a scale not seen in decades, can find their way to sit down to negotiate a replacement treaty, much less agree to one. And Mr. Putin’s declaration that he will block American inspectors from verifying treaty compliance made clear, once again, that he views his nuclear arsenal as a key element of power as he tries to revive his stumbling effort to take over a nation whose right to exist as an independent state he refuses to acknowledge.
He is also retreating from New START at a critical moment. China has made clear it is determined to build an arsenal the size of Washington and Moscow’s. International inspectors have now discovered new evidence that Iran is making rapid progress in making near-bomb-grade nuclear fuel. North Korea spent the weekend testing its own intercontinental ballistic missiles. Every sign indicates the world may be on the verge of a new era of nuclear breakout….” Read more at New York Times
McCarthy gives Carlson access to 1/6 footage, raising alarms
By LISA MASCARO, FARNOUSH AMIRI and MARY CLARE JALONICK
FILE - Former President Donald Trump, right, talks with Donald Trump Jr., center, and Tucker Carlson at the 16th tee during the final round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, N.J., July 31, 2022. Thousands of hours surveillance footage from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack are being made available to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. It's a stunning level of access granted by Speaker Kevin McCarthy that is raising new questions about the House Republican leader’s commitment to transparency, oversight and safety at the Capitol. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of hours of surveillance footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol are being made available to Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a stunning level of access granted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that Democrats swiftly condemned as a ‘grave’ breach of security with potentially far-reaching consequences.
The hard-right political commentator said his team is spending the week at the Capitol pouring through the video and preparing to reveal their findings to his viewers. But granting exclusive access to sensitive Jan. 6 security footage to such a deeply partisan figure is a highly unusual move, seen by some critics as essentially outsourcing House oversight to a TV personality who has promoted conspiracy theories about the attack.
‘It’s a shocking development that brings in both political concerns but even more importantly, security concerns,’ said Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., who was a chief counsel during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial….” Read more at AP News
Winter storm
“More than 65 million people in the US are under winter weather alerts today as a massive coast-to-coast storm hits the country with heavy snow and high winds. The alerts extend from as far west as California to Minnesota through Maine, but the Upper Midwest is expected to bear the brunt of the storm in terms of snowfall totals. Minnesota's Minneapolis area is at the highest risk to pick up at least 15 inches of snow, according to the latest forecasts. The expected conditions today have spurred states to take safety measures as travel conditions continue to deteriorate. More than 500 flights scheduled for today have also been canceled, with Minneapolis and Denver each accounting for more than 100 cancellations, according to FlightAware.” [CNN]
Rush hour traffic travels southbound on Interstate 35W in Minneapolis as a winter storm hit the Twin Cities Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. A monster winter storm took aim at the Upper Midwest on Tuesday, threatening to bring blizzard conditions, bitterly cold temperatures and 2 feet of snow in a three-day onslaught that could affect more than 40 million Americans.
Jury in Georgia Trump Inquiry Recommended Multiple Indictments, Forewoman Says
She would not discuss specific indictments in the special grand jury’s report but noted that its recommendations were ‘not going to be some giant plot twist.’
By Danny Hakim
“A special grand jury that investigated election interference by former President Donald J. Trump and his allies in Georgia recommended indictments for multiple people on a range of charges in its final report, most of which remains sealed, the forewoman of the jury said on Tuesday.
‘It is not a short list,’ the forewoman, Emily Kohrs, said in an interview.
Ms. Kohrs, 30, declined to name the people recommended for indictment, since the judge handling the case decided to keep those details secret when he made public a few sections of the report last week. But seven sections that are still under wraps deal with indictment recommendations, Ms. Kohrs said.
Special grand juries in Georgia do not have indictment powers. Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., has led the investigation and will decide what charges to bring before a regular grand jury.
Asked whether the jurors had recommended indicting Mr. Trump, Ms. Kohrs would not answer directly but said: ‘You’re not going to be shocked. It’s not rocket science.’ In the slim portions of the report that were released last week, the jurors said they saw possible evidence of perjury by ‘one or more’ witnesses who testified before them.
‘It is not going to be some giant plot twist,’ she added. ‘You probably have a fair idea of what may be in there. I’m trying very hard to say that delicately.’
The investigation in Atlanta has been seen as one of the most significant legal threats to Mr. Trump as he begins another run for the presidency. In November, the Justice Department named a special counsel, Jack Smith, to oversee two Trump-related criminal investigations. And last month, the Manhattan district attorney’s office began presenting evidence to a grand jury on whether Mr. Trump paid hush money to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign, laying the groundwork for potential criminal charges against the former president in the coming months.
A focal point of the Atlanta inquiry is a call that Mr. Trump made on Jan. 2, 2021, to Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, in which he pressed Mr. Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, to recalculate the results and “find” 11,780 votes, or enough to overturn his loss in the state….” Read more at New York Times
“Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) is stepping down from Congress in June to run a foundation. A special election for his replacement will be held after his official resignation.” [Vox] Read more at The Hill / Julia Shapero
Democrats won a special election for a vacant House seat yesterday.
“The race: In Virginia’s 4th District, Jennifer McClellan, a state senator, was projected to win by a wide margin. She’ll step in for Donald McEachin (D), who died in November.
What it means: McClellan, 50, will be the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress, where Republicans now hold a 222-213 edge in the House.” [Washington Post]
State Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, celebrates at her election party after winning the seat for Virginia's 4th Congressional District on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Richmond, Va.
Trump Spent $10 Million From His PAC on His Legal Bills Last Year
Now that the former president is a declared candidate again, there are questions about whether he can continue using donor funds to pay his lawyers.
“Former President Donald J. Trump, who throughout his business career had a reputation for not paying lawyers, spent roughly $10 million from his political action committee on his own legal fees last year, federal election filings show.
The money that went to Mr. Trump’s legal bills was part of more than $16 million that Mr. Trump’s PAC, Save America, spent for legal-related payments in 2021 and 2022, the filings show.
Some of the $16 million appears to have been for lawyers representing witnesses in investigations related to Mr. Trump’s efforts to cling to power. But the majority of it — about $10 million — went to firms directly representing Mr. Trump in a string of investigations and lawsuits, including some related to his company, the filings showed.
Mr. Trump was well-known in New York City before winning the presidency in 2016 for refusing to pay his bills to a wide range of service providers and contractors. Lawyers were no exception, with Mr. Trump often saying people got free advertising by being involved with him.
The recent spending related to Mr. Trump is notable not just for the sheer volume — it represented about 19 percent of the PAC’s total expenditures outside of transfers to one of his other political committees and those backing other candidates — but also because Mr. Trump is now a declared candidate for president again.
Some campaign finance experts are raising questions about whether, as a candidate, Mr. Trump can continue to use the PAC to pay for his personal legal bills. Those questions are arising as he faces legal challenges on various fronts as well as intense scrutiny by the Justice Department and prosecutors in Georgia and New York.
According to some campaign finance experts, having the PAC continue to pay his legal bills now that he is a candidate would be seen as a contribution to him, and therefore be subject to legal limits….” Read more at New York Times
Seattle becomes first U.S. city to ban caste discrimination
By DEEPA BHARATH
Thenmozhi Soundararajan, founder and executive director of Equality Labs, speaks to supporters and opponents a of a proposed ordinance to add caste to Seattle’s anti-discrimination laws rally at Seattle City Hall, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Seattle. Council Member Kshama Sawant proposed the ordinance. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
"SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle City Council on Tuesday added caste to the city’s anti-discrimination laws, becoming the first U.S. city to ban caste discrimination and the first in the world to pass such a law outside South Asia.
Calls to outlaw discrimination based on caste, a division of people based on birth or descent, have grown louder among South Asian diaspora communities in the United States. But the movement has been getting pushback from some Hindu Americans who argue that such legislation maligns a specific community.
Tensions within the community were visible at Seattle City Hall on Tuesday as a noisy hearing culminated with a 6-1 vote with a majority of the council agreeing that caste discrimination crosses national and religious boundaries and that without such laws, those facing caste discrimination in the U.S. will have no protections.
The packed room, which overflowed with activists from both sides bearing banners, chanting slogans, challenging speakers and city officials as they made their comments, laid bare stark divisions over this issue within the South Asian diaspora. A majority of those present in council chambers were supporters of the ordinance and those opposed were a vocal minority….” Read more at AP News
“The stark divide between the world views of US President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin was on spilt-screen display Tuesday. Almost a year after launching his war on Ukraine, Putin pledged to continue the bloodshed while again pulling out the nuclear card, this time casting aside one of the last remnants of arms control. Biden, speaking later from Warsaw, proclaimed the Kremlin would never win its war against Ukraine. This after the 80-year-old Democrat made a daring weekend visit into a war zone where US forces don’t hold sway—unprecedented for a US president in modern times. ‘I’ve just come from a visit to Kyiv,’ Biden said. ‘And I can report: Kyiv stands strong, Kyiv stands proud, it stands tall, and most important, it stands free.’
US President Joe Biden, right, walks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Feb. 20. Biden traveled almost 10 hours by train from the Polish border in a surprise trip ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion. Photographer: Dimitar Dillkoff/AFP
Biden’s trip sought to underscore Putin’s botched invasion as well as his disastrous miscalculation when it came to NATO’s response. After a year of war, however, the US has discovered that not only are its supplies of munitions finite, but that its bloated military industrial complex isn’t up to the task of replacing them. Moreover, Putin may soon reap the benefit of his closer alignment with China, given the fresh, balloon-induced frost between Beijing and Washington. NATO leaders are worried that China may now provide Moscow with weapons that could, along with the waves of soldiers Russia has been funneling to the front, turn the war decisively in Putin’s favor. —Margaret Sutherlin and David E. Rovella [Bloomberg]
Global impact: 5 ways war in Ukraine has changed the world
By JILL LAWLESS
FILE - A Ukrainian volunteer Oleksandr Osetynskyi, 44 holds a Ukrainian flag and directs hundreds of refugees after fleeing from the Ukraine and arriving at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, Monday, March 7, 2022. War has been a catastrophe for Ukraine and a crisis for the globe. One year on, thousands of civilians are dead, and countless buildings have been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of troops have been killed or wounded on each side. Beyond Ukraine’s borders, the invasion shattered European security, redrew nations’ relations with one another and frayed a tightly woven global economy. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu, File)
“LONDON (AP) — War has been a catastrophe for Ukraine and a crisis for the globe. The world is a more unstable and fearful place since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.
One year on, thousands of Ukrainian civilians are dead, and countless buildings have been destroyed. Tens of thousands of troops have been killed or seriously wounded on each side. Beyond Ukraine’s borders, the invasion shattered European security, redrew nations’ relations with one another and frayed a tightly woven global economy.
Here are five ways the war has changed the world:
THE RETURN OF EUROPEAN WAR
Three months before the invasion, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scoffed at suggestions that the British army needed more heavy weapons. ‘The old concepts of fighting big tank battles on European landmass,’ he said, ‘are over.’
Johnson is now urging the U.K. to send more battle tanks to help Ukraine repel Russian forces.
Despite the role played by new technology such as satellites and drones, this 21st-century conflict in many ways resembles one from the 20th. Fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region is a brutal slog, with mud, trenches and bloody infantry assaults reminiscent of World War I.
The conflict has sparked a new arms race that reminds some analysts of the 1930s buildup to World War II. Russia has mobilized hundreds of thousands of conscripts and aims to expand its military from 1 million to 1.5 million troops. The U.S. has ramped up weapons production to replace the stockpiles shipped to Ukraine. France plans to boost military spending by a third by 2030, while Germany has abandoned its longstanding ban on sending weapons to conflict zones and shipped missiles and tanks to Ukraine.
Before the war, many observers assumed that military forces would move toward more advanced technology and cyber warfare and become less reliant on tanks or artillery, said Patrick Bury, senior lecturer in security at the University of Bath.
But in Ukraine, guns and ammunition are the most important weapons.
‘It is, for the moment at least, being shown that in Ukraine, conventional warfare — state-on-state — is back,’ Bury said.
ALLIANCES TESTED AND TOUGHENED
Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped the invasion would split the West and weaken NATO. Instead, the military alliance has been reinvigorated. A group set up to counter the Soviet Union has a renewed sense of purpose and two new aspiring members in Finland and Sweden, which ditched decades of nonalignment and asked to join NATO as protection against Russia.
The 27-nation European Union has hit Russia with tough sanctions and sent Ukraine billions in support. The war put Brexit squabbles into perspective, thawing diplomatic relations between the bloc and awkward former member Britain.
‘The EU is taking sanctions, quite serious sanctions, in the way that it should. The U.S. is back in Europe with a vengeance in a way we never thought it would be again,’ said defense analyst Michael Clarke, former head of the Royal United Services Institute think tank.
NATO member states have poured weapons and equipment worth billions of dollars into Ukraine. The alliance has buttressed its eastern flank, and the countries nearest to Ukraine and Russia, including Poland and the Baltic states, have persuaded more hesitant NATO and European Union allies, potentially shifting Europe’s center of power eastwards.
There are some cracks in the unity. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin’s closest ally in the EU, has lobbied against sanctions on Moscow, refused to send weapons to Ukraine and held up an aid package from the bloc for Kyiv.
Western unity will come under more and more pressure the longer the conflict grinds on.
‘Russia is planning for a long war,’ NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at the end of 2022, but the alliance was also ready for the ‘long haul.’
A NEW IRON CURTAIN
The war has made Russia a pariah in the West. Its oligarchs have been sanctioned and its businesses blacklisted, and international brands including McDonald’s and Ikea have disappeared from the country’s streets.
Yet Moscow is not entirely friendless. Russia has strengthened economic ties with China, though Beijing is keeping its distance from the fighting and so far has not sent weapons. The U.S. has recently expressed concern that may change.
China is closely watching a conflict that may serve as either encouragement or warning to Beijing about any attempt to reclaim self-governing Taiwan by force.
Putin has reinforced military links with international outcasts North Korea and Iran, which supplies armed drones that Russia unleashes on Ukrainian infrastructure. Moscow continues to build influence in Africa and the Middle East with its economic and military clout. Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has grown more powerful in conflicts from the Donbas to the Sahel.
In an echo of the Cold War, the world is divided into two camps, with many countries, including densely populated India, hedging their bets to see who emerges on top.
Tracey German, professor of conflict and security at King’s College London, said the conflict has widened a rift between the “U.S.-led liberal international order” on one side, and angry Russia and emboldened rising superpower China on the other.
A BATTERED AND RESHAPED ECONOMY
The war’s economic impact has been felt from chilly homes in Europe to food markets in Africa.
Before the war, European Union nations imported almost half their natural gas and third of their oil from Russia. The invasion, and sanctions slapped on Russia in response, delivered an energy price shock on a scale not seen since the 1970s.
The war disrupted global trade that was still recovering from the pandemic. Food prices have soared, since Russia and Ukraine are major suppliers of wheat and sunflower oil, and Russia is the world’s top fertilizer producer.
Grain-carrying ships have continued to sail from Ukraine under a fragile U.N.-brokered deal, and prices have come down from record levels. But food remains a geopolitical football. Russia has sought to blame the West for high prices, while Ukraine and its allies accuse Russia of cynically using hunger as a weapon.
The war ‘has really highlighted the fragility’ of an interconnected world, just as the pandemic did, German said, and the full economic impact has yet to be felt.
The war also roiled attempts to fight climate change, driving an upsurge in Europe’s use of heavily polluting coal. Yet Europe’s rush away from Russian oil and gas may speed the transition to renewable energy sources faster than countless warnings about the dangers of global warming. The International Energy Agency says the world will add as much renewable power in the next five years as it did in the last 20.
A NEW AGE OF UNCERTAINTY
The conflict is a stark reminder that individuals have little control over the course of history. No one knows that better than the 8 million Ukrainians who have been forced to flee homes and country for new lives in communities across Europe and beyond.
For millions of people less directly affected, the sudden shattering of Europe’s peace has brought uncertainty and anxiety.
Putin’s veiled threats to use atomic weapons if the conflict escalates revived fears of nuclear war that had lain dormant since the Cold War. Fighting has raged around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, raising the specter of a new Chernobyl.
But the conflict has also brought reminders that, sometimes, individual human actions make all the difference. Defense analyst Clarke said one such moment occurred a day after the invasion, when Zelenskyy filmed himself outside in Kyiv and vowed not to leave the city.
‘That was critical in showing that Kyiv would fight,’ Clarke said. ‘And with that, of course, the United States, Joe Biden fell in behind it. If those two things hadn’t happened — Zelenskyy and then Biden’s decision — the Russians would have won.’
‘That Zelenskyy moment will go down in history as very, very important.’” [AP News]
Drug cartels
“Genaro García Luna, Mexico's former security minister, was found guilty in federal court Tuesday of taking bribes from the drug cartels he had sworn to combat, the US Attorney's Office said. The former Secretary of Public Security in Mexico served as his country's equivalent of the FBI director from 2006 to 2012. García Luna, who is the highest-ranking current or former Mexican official ever tried in the US, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life behind bars. He will be sentenced in June. Jesus Ramirez Cuevas, a spokesperson for Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, praised the verdict on Twitter: ‘The crimes against our people will never be forgotten.’” [CNN]
“Same sex couple wins landmark case in South Korea. A South Korean appeals court has ruled that spousal coverage should be offered to same sex couples via government health insurance. The country has not yet recognized civil unions or same-sex marriage, making this the first legal recognition of same-sex couples’ social benefits. The court ruled that not to recognize same sex unions, when they are ‘the same in essence’ as heterosexual unions, ‘constitutes a discriminatory treatment.’” [Bloomberg]
“On the surface, Nigeria bears many of the elements of a broken state.
About 133 million people — around two-thirds of its population — live in poverty, without access to adequate food, shelter, health care and sanitation.
A potpourri of armed gangs kidnap and kill at will across much of the country, while criminal syndicates last year stole roughly a fifth of the West African nation’s daily oil production. Debt service payments will soon cost more than the government generates in revenue.
And yet, Africa’s most populous nation is also its largest democracy.
When the 93.5 million registered voters go to the polls on Saturday, it will mark the seventh election since the end of military rule in 1999 in what is likely to be the biggest democratic exercise in African history.
The vote comes at a perilous time: After eight years under Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerians are by nearly every metric poorer and less safe.
The past few weeks have highlighted the dysfunction of the Buhari era, as acute shortages of both cash and gasoline have spread across the country. All of it is the result of what critics argue are grossly misguided government policies.
Pledges to turn Nigeria’s fortunes around have come dutifully from all three of the main candidates: ruling party stalwart Bola Tinubu; former vice president Atiku Abubakar, who’s making his sixth bid for the highest office; and Peter Obi, whose third-party candidacy has been powered by a record number of young voters fed up with the status quo.
Those young people will decide the future of what by 2050 is set to be the world’s third most-populous country, with some 400 million people.
The danger for Nigerians is that after the votes are cast, little will change. — Neil Munshi [Bloomberg]
Obi supporters at a campaign rally on Feb. 11. Photographer: Benson Ibeaubuchi/Bloomberg
Unionized HarperCollins Employees Are Back to Work After a 3-Month Strike
The return, after an agreement that brought a raise in pay for the lowest earners at the publisher, represented a victory to many of the more than 250 workers involved.
By Kate Dwyer and Elizabeth A. Harris
“Unionized HarperCollins workers returned to work on Tuesday, in many cases opening their inboxes and corresponding with their supervisors for the first time since walking out three months ago.
For many of the more than 250 unionized employees, the agreement ratified on Feb. 16 between their union, Local 2110 of the U.A.W., and the publisher was a victory: It included a raise and some guaranteed overtime for the employees at the lower end of the wage scale.
‘We are very proud of the settlement,’ said Olga Brudastova, the president of Local 2110 of the U.A.W., whose members include HarperCollins employees in editorial, publicity, sales, legal, design and marketing. HarperCollins has been part of the union for 80 years. ‘We covered a lot of ground.’
The base salary rose to $47,500 upon the contract’s ratification and will reach $48,500 in 2024 and $50,000 in 2025, from $45,000. The company will also make a lump-sum payment of $1,500 to its full-time union members. The new contract allows HarperCollins employees who make less than $60,000 to file for two hours per week in overtime pay without needing management approval….” Read more at New York Times
“Nearly all of the 61 companies in the U.K. that participated in a four-day workweek pilot program have decided to continue with the reduced schedule. Employees reported less work-related stress, lower rates of burnout and higher job satisfaction, while companies reported increased revenue and lower absenteeism.” [NPR]
White House Mess returns
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
“The White House Mess will open for in-person dining on March 6 for the first time in President Biden's White House, according to an internal email viewed by Axios' Hans Nichols.
Why it matters: The wood-paneled room with a nautical theme has been closed for COVID since winter 2020. The reopening is a new sign of the White House embracing a post-pandemic world.
Officials with the rank of assistant to the president and deputy assistant to the president will once again be able to invite guests for breakfast and lunch — right outside the Situation Room. Cabinet officials also are welcome.
The dining room has been closed for three years, with only the takeout window open — depriving top officials of the simple pleasure of cutting through crispy chicken tenders on White House china.
Casually called the "Navy Mess" by those with access, it's run by Navy personnel.
Yesterday, in a nod to Mardi Gras, creole corn chowder and "ragin' cajun gumbo" were offered.
By D.C. standards, prices are low: A BLT costs $6. The burger is $7. Fries are $2.50.
The service is excellent: Navy personnel are known to remember customers' favorite orders.
Between the lines: Like parking on West Executive Avenue, Mess dining-room privileges are a coveted perk in the West Wing.
In April, special assistants to the president will be able to make reservations.
Junior aides in the West Wing can still order takeout. The frozen yogurt is a hit.” [Axios]
Mormon church fined $5M
Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its investment arm are paying $5 million in fines for creating shell companies to hide their holdings from the public, writes Erin Alberty of Axios Salt Lake City.
Why it matters: The church has long been scrutinized by members and nonmembers for secrecy about its vast wealth, estimated to exceed $100 billion.
The SEC wrote in an order yesterday: ‘The Church was concerned that disclosure of its portfolio, which by 2018 grew to approximately $32 billion, would lead to negative consequences.’
Ensign Peak Advisors — which the church created to manage its investments — filed its legally required public disclosures via 13 shell companies it set up to avoid filing itself, according to the SEC.
The shell companies were created ‘with the Church's knowledge and approval,’ the SEC wrote.
Ensign Peak failed to file its own disclosures for more than 20 years, from 1997 to 2019, the SEC said.
The angel Moroni statue atop the Salt Lake Temple is silhouetted against a cloud-covered sky at Temple Square in Salt Lake City in 2013. Photo: Rick Bowmer/AP
Church officials said that Ensign Peak acted on ‘legal counsel regarding how to comply with its reporting obligations while attempting to maintain the privacy of the portfolio.’
The church said it stopped filing its disclosures through shell companies after the SEC ‘first expressed concern’ in June 2019.
‘We affirm our commitment to comply with the law, regret mistakes made, and now consider this matter closed,’ the statement said.” [Axios]
Venture capitalist launches '24 run
Screenshot: "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Fox News
“Venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy, author of the book ‘Woke Inc.,’ announced on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show that he's running for president.
Why it matters: Ramaswamy's long-shot candidacy tries to fill the role that idea-driven outsiders have played in presidential politics — from Steve Forbes' 1996 GOP flat-tax campaign, to Andrew Yang's 2020 Democratic universal basic income push, Axios' Josh Kraushaar reports.
In an interview with Axios, Ramaswamy said a national identity crisis has left America adrift.
‘America today is so hungry for meaning and identity, at a moment in our history when the things that used to fill that void of purpose — be it faith, patriotism, hard work, family, you name it — those things have disappeared,’ he said.
‘What the conservative movement needs to do is more than just criticize the poison that fills the void.’” [Axios]
New ballpark fixture: Pitch clock
The new pitch clock, at Salt River Field in Scottsdale, Ariz., last week. Photo: Morry Gash/AP
“During the coming Major League Baseball season, pitch clocks will be positioned behind the plate and beyond the outfield, where pitchers and hitters can easily see them, AP's Noah Trister writes.
Why it matters: The goal is to speed up play, by limiting the parts of the game fans find tedious.
How it works: The clock will count down from 30 seconds between batters. (Between pitches, it'll be 15 seconds with nobody on — 20 if there's a baserunner.)
The pitcher must start delivery before the clock expires.
After a pitch, the clock starts again when the pitcher has the ball back, the catcher and batter are in the circle around home plate, and play is ready to resume.
By the numbers: MLB says the pitch timer reduced nine-inning games by 25 minutes in the minors last year — from 3 hours, 3 minutes in 2021 to 2:38.
Other stats — runs per game, batting average and the rate of hit batters — were essentially unchanged.
Between the lines: Efficient communication between the pitcher and catcher is vital — the clock is ticking.
The batter has a responsibility, too. He needs to be in the box and alert to the pitcher with at least eight seconds on the clock.
Batters can call time once per plate appearance, stopping the countdown.
‘You kind of have to shorten your routine up to the plate ... cleaning out the box or talking to the umpire or the catcher,’ said Atlanta outfielder Michael Harris II, last year's National League Rookie of the Year.” [Axios]
“WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was released late last year in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia, signed a new contract with the Phoenix Mercury. Go deeper.” [Axios]
SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC
“Trouble in Alabama: The basketball star Brandon Miller brought his ex-teammate Darius Miles the gun used in a fatal shooting in January, an investigator testified.
Hawks fire coach: Nate McMillan is out in Atlanta, the basketball team said. The Hawks started the season a disappointing 29-30.
Solidarity: Teammates expressed support for Anderson Comás, a Chicago White Sox player who recently came out as gay.” [New York Times]
“Lives Lived: Paul Berg’s 1971 breakthrough in genetics led to vaccines and disease treatments, ushering in the era of genetic engineering. It also won him the Nobel Prize. Berg died at 96.” Read more at New York Times