The Full Belmonte, 4/11/2023
Drug Company Leaders Condemn Ruling Invalidating F.D.A.’s Approval of Abortion Pill
More than 400 executives said that the decision ignored both scientific and legal precedent and that, if the ruling stood, it would create uncertainty for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
By Pam Belluck and Christina Jewett
“The pharmaceutical industry plunged into a legal showdown over the abortion pill mifepristone on Monday, issuing a scorching condemnation of a ruling by a federal judge that invalidated the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug and calling for the decision to be reversed.
The statement was signed by more than 400 leaders of some of the drug and biotech industry’s most prominent investment firms and companies, none of which make mifepristone, the first pill in the two-drug medication abortion regimen. It shows that the reach of this case stretches far beyond abortion. Unlike Roe v. Wade and other past landmark abortion lawsuits, this one could challenge the foundation of the regulatory system for all medicines in the United States.
‘If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as mifepristone,’ said the statement.
Also on Monday, the Justice Department filed a motion asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to stay the ruling by Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas until the department’s appeal of the case could be heard. Judge Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee who has written critically of Roe v. Wade, had issued only a seven-day stay of his ruling to allow the government a chance to appeal….” Read more at New York Times
Community mourns Louisville bank shooting victims
“Five people were killed after a gunman opened fire at an Old National Bank branch in downtown Louisville on Monday. At least eight other people were injured, officials said.
"This was an evil act of targeted violence," Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said.
•Officers arrived within three minutes of receiving reports of shots fired, promptly engaged the assailant and killed him, police said.
•The gunman who opened fire was an employee who livestreamed the attack on Instagram, officials said.
•Nickolas Wilt, an officer who graduated from the police academy 10 days before, was shot in the head and remained in critical condition following brain surgery Monday.
•The attack marks the nation's 146th mass shooting and 15th mass killing in 2023.
Keep reading: "Very high quality" person. An "incredible friend": These are the Louisville shooting victims.” [USA Today]
Andy Beshear, Governor of Kentucky, speaks during a news conference after a gunman opened fire at the Old National Bank building on April 10, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky. Luke Sharrett, Getty Images
Expelled Tennessee lawmaker Justin Jones reappointed to state legislature
“Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones will reclaim his seat in the state House of Representatives with the backing of Nashville's Council, which voted to reappoint him four days after he was expelled for leading chants for gun reform with a bullhorn on the chamber floor. Shortly after the council vote, Jones led a crowd of hundreds in a march to the Capitol, where he was sworn in.” Read more at USA Today
State Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, center, with his fist in the air, marches with supporters to the state Capitol, Monday, April 10, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. George Walker IV, AP
How the Latest Leaked Documents Are Different From Past Breaches
The freshness of the documents — some appear to be barely 40 days old — and the hints they hold for operations to come make them particularly damaging, officials say.
“When WikiLeaks spilled a huge trove of State Department cables 13 years ago, it gave the world a sense of what American diplomats do each day — the sharp elbows, the doubts about wavering allies and the glimpses at how Washington was preparing for North Korea’s eventual collapse and Iran’s nuclear breakout.
When Edward Snowden swept up the National Security Agency’s secrets three years later, Americans suddenly discovered the scope of how the digital age had ushered in a remarkable new era of surveillance by the agency — enabling it to pierce China’s telecommunications industry and to drill into Google’s servers overseas to pick up foreign communications.
The cache of 100 or so newly leaked briefing slides of operational data on the war in Ukraine is distinctly different. The data revealed so far is less comprehensive than those vast secret archives, but far more timely. And it is the immediate salience of the intelligence that most worries White House and Pentagon officials.
Some of the most sensitive material — maps of Ukrainian air defenses and a deep dive into South Korea’s secret plans to deliver 330,000 rounds of much-needed ammunition in time for Ukraine’s spring counteroffensive — is revealed in documents that appear to be barely 40 days old.
It is the freshness of the ‘secret’ and ‘top secret’ documents, and the hints they hold for operations to come, that make these disclosures particularly damaging, administration officials say. On Sunday, Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said U.S. officials had notified congressional committees of the leak and referred the matter to the Justice Department, which had opened an investigation.
The 100-plus pages of slides and briefing documents leave no doubt about how deeply enmeshed the United States is in the day-to-day conduct of the war, providing the precise intelligence and logistics that help explain Ukraine’s success thus far. While President Biden has barred American troops from firing directly on Russian targets, and blocked sending weapons that could reach deep into Russian territory, the documents make clear that a year into the invasion, the United States is heavily entangled in almost everything else.
It is providing detailed targeting data. It is coordinating the long, complex logistical train that delivers weapons to the Ukrainians. And as a Feb. 22 document makes clear, American officials are planning ahead for a year in which the battle for the Donbas is ‘likely heading toward a stalemate’ that will frustrate Vladimir V. Putin’s goal of capturing the region — and Ukraine’s goal of expelling the invaders.
One senior Western intelligence official summed up the disclosures as ‘a nightmare.’ Dmitri Alperovitch, the Russia-born chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, who is best known for pioneering work in cybersecurity, said on Sunday that he feared there were ‘a number of ways this can be damaging.’ He said that included the possibility that Russian intelligence is able to use the pages, spread out over Twitter and Telegram, ‘to figure out how we are collecting’ the plans of the G.R.U., Russia’s military intelligence service, and the movement of military units.
In fact, the documents released so far are a brief snapshot of how the United States viewed the war in Ukraine. Many pages seem to come right out of the briefing books circulating among the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and in a few cases updates from the C.I.A.’s operations center. They are a combination of the current order of battle and — perhaps most valuable to Russian military planners — American projections of where the air defenses being rushed into Ukraine could be located next month.
Mixed in are a series of early warnings about how Russia might retaliate, beyond Ukraine, if the war drags on. One particularly ominous C.I.A. document refers to a pro-Russian hacking group that had successfully broken into Canada’s gas distribution network and was ‘receiving instructions from a presumed Federal Security Service (F.S.B.) officer to maintain network access to Canadian gas infrastructure and wait for further instruction.’ So far there is no evidence that Russian actors have begun a destructive attack, but that was the explicit fear expressed in the document.
Because such warnings are so sensitive, many of the ‘top secret’ documents are limited to American officials or to the ‘Five Eyes’ — the intelligence alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. That group has an informal agreement not to spy on the other members. But it clearly does not apply to other American allies and partners. There is evidence that the United States has plugged itself into President Volodymyr Zelensky’s internal conversations and those of even the closest U.S. allies, like South Korea.
In a dispatch that is very reminiscent of the 2010 WikiLeaks disclosures, one document based on what is delicately referred to as ‘signals intelligence’ describes the internal debate in Seoul over how to handle American pressure to send more lethal aid to Ukraine, which would violate the country’s practice of not directly sending weapons into a war zone. It reports that South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was concerned that Mr. Biden might call him to press for greater contributions to Ukraine’s military.
It is an enormously sensitive subject among South Korean officials. During a recent visit to Seoul, before the leaked documents appeared, government officials dodged a reporter’s questions about whether they were planning to send 155-millimeter artillery rounds, which they produce in large quantities, to aid in the war effort. One official said South Korea did not want to violate its own policies, or risk its delicate relationship with Moscow.
Now the world has seen the Pentagon’s ‘delivery timeline’ for sea shipments of those shells, along with estimates of the cost of the shipments, $26 million.
With every disclosure of secret documents, of course, there are fears of lasting damage, sometimes overblown. That happened in 2010, when The New York Times started publishing a series called ‘State’s Secrets,’ detailing and analyzing selected documents from the trove of cables taken by Chelsea Manning, then an Army private in Iraq, and published by Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder. Soon after the first articles were published, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed fear that no one would ever talk to American diplomats again.
‘In addition to endangering particular individuals, disclosures like these tear at the fabric of the proper function of responsible government,’ she told reporters in the Treaty Room of the State Department. Of course, they did keep talking — though many foreign officials say that when they speak today, they edit themselves with the knowledge that they may be quoted in department cables that leak in the future.
When Mr. Snowden released vast amounts of data from the National Security Agency, collected with a $100 piece of software that just gathered up archives he had access to at a facility in Hawaii, there was similar fear of setbacks in intelligence collection. The agency spent years altering programs, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, and officials say they are still monitoring the damage now, a decade later. In September, Mr. Putin granted Mr. Snowden, a low-level intelligence contractor, full Russian citizenship; the United States is still seeking to bring him back to face charges.
But both Ms. Manning and Mr. Snowden said they were motivated by a desire to reveal what they viewed as transgressions by the United States. ‘This time it doesn’t look ideological,’ Mr. Alperovitch said. The first appearance of some of the documents seems to have taken place on gaming platforms, perhaps to settle an online argument over the status of the fight in Ukraine.
‘Think about that,’ Mr. Alperovitch said. ‘An internet fight that ends up in a massive intelligence disaster.’” [New York Times]
DeSantis Pushes Toughest Immigration Crackdown in the Nation
The Florida governor is pushing an aggressive proposal to penalize those who aid undocumented immigrants and to track costs for providing them with health care.
“TALLAHASSEE — Led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican with presidential ambitions, the Florida Legislature is considering a sweeping package of immigration measures that would represent the toughest crackdown on undocumented immigration by any state in more than a decade.
Expected to pass within weeks because Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers, the bills are part of what Mr. DeSantis describes as a response to President Biden’s ‘open borders agenda,’ which he said has allowed an uncontrolled flow of immigrants to cross into the United States from Mexico.
The bills would expose people to felony charges for sheltering, hiring and transporting undocumented immigrants; require hospitals to ask patients their immigration status and report to the state; invalidate out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to undocumented immigrants; prevent undocumented immigrants from being admitted to the bar in Florida; and direct the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to provide assistance to federal authorities in enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.
Mr. DeSantis has separately proposed eliminating in-state college tuition for undocumented students and beneficiaries of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, who were brought to the United States as young children. The tuition law was enacted by his predecessor Rick Scott, now a Republican U.S. senator, in 2014.
The new measures represent the most far-reaching state immigration legislation since 2010, when Arizona, a border state that was the nation’s busiest corridor for human smuggling at the time, passed a law that required the police to ask people they stopped for proof of immigration status if they had a reason to suspect they might be in the country illegally….” Read more at New York Times
Charges Filed Against Mother of 6-Year-Old Who Shot a Teacher
Prosecutors had previously decided not to charge the boy, a first grader who took the gun to his Newport News, Va., elementary school in January.
By Jacey Fortin
“The mother of a 6-year-old who shot his first-grade teacher in a Virginia classroom faces criminal charges of neglect and endangerment, the authorities said on Monday, the latest development in a case that stunned the community and brought a new level of concern to the charged debate over guns and school safety.
A grand jury in Newport News indicted the mother, Deja Taylor, 26, on one felony charge of child neglect and a misdemeanor charge of child endangerment involving a loaded weapon, the city’s prosecutor said in a statement. Her son shot his teacher once with a handgun at Richneck Elementary School on Jan. 6, seriously injuring her.
The indictments followed an investigation by the Newport News Police Department and the office of the commonwealth’s attorney. James Ellenson, a lawyer representing the child’s family, said Ms. Taylor would turn herself in to the authorities this week, but he would not comment further on the charges.
The child has not been charged, and the prosecutor, Howard E. Gwynn, said last month that the ‘prospect that a 6-year-old can stand trial is problematic.’ But in a statement on Monday, Mr. Gwynn said that he was asking a judge to create a special grand jury to investigate possible security issues at the school, which could lead to more charges.
The shooting in Newport News, a city of more than 180,000 people about 70 miles southeast of Richmond, Va., drew significant attention because of the child’s age and questions about the school’s response and the boy’s access to the weapon. The teacher, Abigail Zwerner, 25, had been in the middle of a routine lesson when, the police said, the boy pulled out the gun, aimed it at her and fired.
The Aftermath of the Virginia Teacher Shooting
What Happened: On Jan. 6, a first-grader at a school in Newport News, Va., shot a teacher with a handgun that he had brought from home.
Ignored Warnings: School leaders were warned three times that the boy might have a gun, a lawyer for the teacher said. In the fallout of the revelations, the school board voted to end the superintendent’s contract.
The Teacher Speaks: In an interview with NBC’s “Today” show in March, Abigail Zwerner recounted the shooting, saying she would “never forget” the look on the boy’s face.
The Charges: While the boy will not be charged, a grand jury indicted his mother, who faces one felony charge of child neglect and a misdemeanor charge for child endangerment that involves a loaded weapon.
A single bullet passed through her hand and struck her chest.
Days after the shooting, a spokeswoman for the Newport News public school district, Michelle Price, confirmed that a staff member had searched the child’s backpack before the shooting took place ‘after it was reported that the student may have a weapon.’ No weapon was found.
Later that month, the school board voted to terminate the contract of the district’s superintendent, George Parker III.
The gun had been legally purchased by the boy’s mother, the police said. The lawyer for the family, Mr. Ellenson, has said that the gun was stored on a top shelf of the mother’s bedroom closet and had a trigger lock.
Virginia law prohibits leaving a loaded gun where it is accessible to children under 14, but in contrast to some other states, such as Oregon and Massachusetts, there is not a broad law that requires that all guns be safely stored in homes….” Read more at New York Times
President Biden visits Northern Ireland
“Twenty-five years after the U.S. helped broker peace in Northern Ireland, President Joe Biden heads to Belfast on Tuesday to celebrate an accord that ended three decades of bloodshed and is widely considered a major diplomatic success. Yet Biden's visit comes as the Good Friday Agreement, which the Bill Clinton administration helped orchestrate, is being tested by political turmoil. Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, has been without a government – as spelled out in the agreement – for more than a year amid a trade dispute following Brexit: the U.K.'s departure from the European Union.” Read more at USA Today
Masked Republican protesters opposed to the Good Friday Agreement hold Irish flags as they take part in a parade in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Monday, April 10, 2023. Peter Morrison, AP
“The town of Iten in western Kenya is a renowned training ground for elite long-distance runners. It was there in October 2021 that 26-year-old Agnes Tirop, who had recently set a world record in the women’s 10-kilometer road race, was found dead in a pool of blood. The crime was not an isolated incident. As Simon Marks reports, prize money and endorsement contracts from global sporting brands have flooded into Iten, fueling dozens of cases of alleged domestic abuse, violence and property theft involving female athletes.” [USA Today]
Tirop’s parents Vincent and Dinah at their home near Eldoret, Kenya. Photographer: Nichole Sobecki/Bloomberg
Aliyah Boston selected No. 1 overall in 2023 WNBA draft by Indiana Fever
“South Carolina All-American forward Aliyah Boston, one of the most dominant defensive forces in women's college basketball, was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever on Monday night. During her four seasons with the Gamecocks, Boston, who is the second South Carolina player to go No. 1 overall following A'ja Wilson, led the Gamecocks to a national championship in 2022, when she racked up every major women's college basketball award.” Read more at USA Today
2023: Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever (South Carolina)
Vincent Carchietta, USA TODAY Sports
Hilary Swank gives birth to twins, shares 1st photo
By NARDOS HAILE
FILE - Hilary Swank attends the Disney 2022 Upfront presentation at Basketball City Pier 36 on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in New York. Swank has given birth to twins — a boy and a girl. The 48-year-old “Million Dollar Baby” actor posted a photo of her and her twins looking at the sunset on Instagram Sunday. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
“NEW YORK (AP) — Hilary Swank has given birth to twins — a boy and a girl.
The 48-year-old “Million Dollar Baby” actor posted a photo of her and her twins looking at the sunset on Instagram Sunday evening with the caption: ‘It wasn’t easy. But boy (and girl!) was it worth it.’
She added on Instagram that she’s ‘posting from pure heaven.’ She and entrepreneur Philip Schneider have been married since 2018.
Over the course of her pregnancy, Swank had been filming her new ABC show “Alaska Daily.” She shared in an interview in October that when her pants didn’t fit during filming, she cut them open and put a jacket on to hide her bump….” Read more at AP News
Al Jaffee, longtime Mad magazine cartoonist, dead at 102
By HILLEL ITALIE
FILE - Mad Magazine cartoonist Al Jaffee attends an event to honor veteran contributors of MAD Magazine at the Savannah College of Art and Design and the National Cartoonists Society on Oct. 11, 2011 in Savannah, Ga. Jaffee died Monday at the age of 102. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton, File)
“NEW YORK (AP) — Al Jaffee, Mad magazine’s award-winning cartoonist and ageless wise guy who delighted millions of kids with the sneaky fun of the Fold-In and the snark of ‘Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions,’ has died. He was 102.
Jaffee died Monday in Manhattan from multiple organ failure, according to his granddaughter, Fani Thomson. He had retired at the age of 99.
Mad magazine, with its wry, sometimes pointed send-ups of politics and culture, was essential reading for teens and preteens during the baby-boom era and inspiration for countless future comedians. Few of the magazine’s self-billed ‘Usual Gang of Idiots’ contributed as much — and as dependably — as the impish, bearded cartoonist. For decades, virtually every issue featured new material by Jaffee. His collected ‘Fold-Ins,’ taking on everyone in his unmistakably broad visual style from the Beatles to TMZ, was enough for a four-volume box set published in 2011.
Readers savored his Fold-Ins like dessert, turning to them on the inside back cover after looking through such other favorites as Antonio Prohías’ “Spy vs. Spy” and Dave Berg’s “The Lighter Side.” The premise, originally a spoof of the old Sports Illustrated and Playboy magazine foldouts, was that you started with a full-page drawing and question on top, folded two designated points toward the middle and produced a new and surprising image, along with the answer.
The Fold-In was supposed to be a onetime gag, tried out in 1964 when Jaffee satirized the biggest celebrity news of the time: Elizabeth Taylor dumping her husband, Eddie Fisher, in favor of “Cleopatra” co-star Richard Burton. Jaffee first showed Taylor and Burton arm in arm on one side of the picture, and on the opposite side a young, handsome man being held back by a policeman.
Fold the picture in and Taylor and the young man are kissing.
The idea was so popular that Mad editor Al Feldstein wanted a follow-up. Jaffee devised a picture of 1964 GOP presidential contenders Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater that, when collapsed, became an image of Richard Nixon.
‘That one really set the tone for what the cleverness of the Fold-Ins has to be,’ Jaffee told the Boston Phoenix in 2010. ‘It couldn’t just be bringing someone from the left to kiss someone on the right.’….” Read more at AP News