The Full Belmonte, 5/12/2022
Finnish soldiers participating in military training exercises in Niinisalo, Finland, on May 4.
“Finland's president and prime minister have announced their support for joining NATO, moving the Nordic nation -- which shares an 800-mile border with Russia -- one step closer to membership of the US-led military alliance. Since the end of World War II, Finland has been militarily non-aligned and neutral to avoid provoking Russia. The war in Ukraine, however, has sufficiently changed the calculation, so that joining NATO now seems the best way forward, regardless of what Russia's reaction might be. It is also expected that Sweden, Finland's neighbor to the west, will soon announce its intention to join the alliance. Russia has warned both countries against joining NATO, saying there would be consequences. Separately, prosecutors in Ukraine have launched a war crimes investigation after Russian soldiers were caught on surveillance video shooting unarmed civilians.” Read more at CNN
“A key vote on a Democrat-led bill aimed at preserving access to abortion nationwide failed in the Senate yesterday. The bill’s failure to advance comes as the Democratic Party faces enormous pressure to take action on abortion rights amid fears that the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling will soon be struck down. The final tally was 49 to 51, with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia joining with Republicans to vote against the measure and stop it from advancing. President Joe Biden lashed out at Senate Republicans yesterday for blocking the passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act. ‘This failure to act comes at a time when women's constitutional rights are under unprecedented attack -- and it runs counter to the will of the majority of American people,’ Biden said.” Read more at CNN
“Court security | The US Justice Department will provide security to the Supreme Court and its judges as tensions rise over an expected decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Protesters have already marched to the homes of three justices, and the Senate unanimously passed legislation on Monday to protect those who work at the court and their families.” Read more at Bloomberg
“A New York State judge released Donald Trump from a contempt order, but threatened to reinstate it if Trump did not pay a $110,000 fine.” Read more at New York Times
“A Trump-allied lawyer urged a Pennsylvania lawmaker to throw out votes for Joe Biden shortly after the 2020 election.” Read more at New York Times
“More than 500 Native American children died at mandatory government-run schools from 1819 to 1969, an inquiry found.” Read more at New York Times
“Families of victims from last year’s condominium collapse in Surfside, Fla., reached a nearly $1 billion settlement.” Read more at New York Times
“US inflation took a breather last month for the first time since August. Prices still increased, but at a slower pace than in previous months. The Consumer Price Index was up 8.3% in the 12 months ended in April, slightly higher than economists had predicted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said yesterday. It was a decrease from the 8.5% recorded in March, which had been the highest level in more than 40 years. Yesterday’s data suggests that the inflation peak is behind us, just as economists, the Federal Reserve, the White House and the American people hoped. But some economists say the war in Ukraine, bad weather, and renewed Covid-related lockdowns in China will likely keep prices elevated over the summer. The cost of food also continued to rise in the last 12 months, and the highest increases were seen among some grocery staples such as eggs, milk, citrus fruits and margarine.” Read more at CNN
“Drug overdoses in the US were deadlier than ever in 2021, according to provisional data from the CDC. Nearly 108,000 people died of drug overdoses last year, and about two-thirds of those deaths involved fentanyl or another synthetic opioid. ‘This is a devastating milestone in the history of the overdose epidemic in America,’ said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Overdose deaths have been on the rise for years in the US, but surged amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which accelerated trends that were already heading in the wrong direction. Experts say that reversing course will require concentrated efforts -- and it will take time, both strategically and ideologically.” Read more at CNN
“A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Texas for now can enforce a law that prohibits the internet’s biggest social-media platforms from suppressing users’ content based on the viewpoint of their speech.
Texas Republicans enacted the social-media law last year, saying they were striking back against what they view as Silicon Valley’s suppression of conservative political views on Facebook, Twitter and other major platforms.
Trade groups representing tech giants sued to challenge the law, arguing it was a brazen and unconstitutional attack on their own freedom of speech. The industry warned that the law would flood their platforms with hate speech, dangerous medical misinformation, terrorist propaganda and foreign-government disinformation.
A federal district judge in Austin last December held that social-media platforms have a First Amendment right to moderate content disseminated on their platforms and issued a preliminary injunction that blocked the state from enforcing the law, known as HB 20.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay order that allowed Texas to begin enforcing the law while the state’s appeal continues.
The panel, in a 2-1 vote, sided with the state in a one page-order that didn’t explain the reasons for the ruling. The court is expected to issue a full ruling at a later date.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
A firefighter in Laguna Niguel, Calif., yesterday. Photo: Marcio J. Sanchez/AP
“At least 20 homes were set ablaze yesterday in an affluent area of Orange County, California, as a brush fire rapidly grew and spread to residences that were either destroyed or damaged, officials said. Photos show the fire ripping through mansions and burning through to their interiors in one neighborhood. The fire, which grew to about 200 acres yesterday evening, was fueled by gusty winds that reached up to 30 mph in the area, according to nearby observations from the National Weather Service. That is in addition to dry conditions from an ongoing severe drought in the entire region, according to the latest US Drought Monitor report.” Read more at CNN
“In vitro fertilization treatment is facing a ‘clear and present danger’ and could be a ‘casualty’ of some of the proposed anti-abortion laws that are emerging across the US, according to a key advocate of reproductive medicine.
The warning comes as US states, including Louisiana, have passed or are debating new proposed legislation that would give full rights to embryos, which in some cases means fertilized eggs, created in the process of IVF and not implanted in a woman, would have the same legal rights as children.
‘What we’re seeing is that in their fervor to curry the most favor with the forced birth movement, politicians are crafting some really sloppily worded legislation,’ said Sean Tipton, the chief advocacy and policy officer of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. ‘There is a fever to be as restrictive as you can.’” Read more at The Guardian
“Also on Wednesday, a Florida judge blocked Gov. Ron DeSantis’s map of congressional districts because it diminishes Black voting power.” [Vox] Read more at Guardian / Sam Levine
Toby Price, a former assistant principal at Gary Road elementary school in Byram, Mississippi, testifies during an appeal hearing at the Hinds county schools administration building in Raymond, Mississippi, on 28 March. Photograph: Barbara Gauntt/AP
“The firing of a Mississippi assistant principal for reading pupils a humorous children’s book, I Need A New Butt!, has been upheld by his school district.
The book describes a boy who tries to find a new bottom after he sees a ‘crack’ in his current bottom which makes him afraid it is broken.
In March, Toby Price, an assistant principal at Gary Road elementary school in Hinds county, Mississippi, was fired after reading the book to 240 children in a Zoom session.
Price was called to the district superintendent’s office and told that he was being placed on leave.
In a letter, the superintendent called the book ‘inappropriate’ as it ‘described butts in various colors, shapes and sizes (example: fireproof, bullet proof, bomb proof)’.
‘The book contains statements and cartoon pictures regarding bodily anatomy, bodily functions and removing clothing to expose private areas of the body in various positions,’ the district said.
Price was fired two days later, after being accused of violating the Mississippi Educator Code of Ethics. He appealed. But on Monday his lawyers informed him the firing was upheld.
In a report reviewed by the Washington Post, the district said: ‘Mr Price’s contract should be terminated due to his incompetence, neglect of duty, and for good cause.’
According to the report, two board members voted yes, one voted no and two abstained.
An educator for 20 years, Price plans to pursue an appeal with the chancery courts of Mississippi. If that does not work, he plans to take his case to the state supreme court.
‘If that’s where it ends up, that’s where it ends up,’ he told the Post.
‘We expected this part to happen but at the same time it doesn’t make it any easier,’ he said, adding: ‘It still stings.’
A GoFundMe campaign launched to support Price and his family has raised more than $125,000. Price said he had turned down out-of-state job offers.
His firing ignited a firestorm of criticism from free speech advocates who argue it could have a devastating effect on students and educators, especially as conservative-fueled gag orders make their way across schools in the US.
In Hinds county, 21% of residents live below the poverty line.
‘We have a lot of reluctant readers,’ Price told the New York Times, adding: ‘I am a firm believer that reluctant readers need the silly, funny books to hook them in.’” Read more at The Guardian
“WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A passenger with no flying experience radioed an urgent plea for help when the pilot of a small plane suddenly fell ill off Florida’s Atlantic coast, and was able to land the plane safely with the help of air traffic controllers.” Read more at AP News
FILE - Capt. Corey Wheeler, front, commander of B Company, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, walks away from a Chinook helicopter that landed on the glacier near Denali, April 24, 2016, on the Kahiltna Glacier in Alaska. The U.S. Army helped set up base camp on North America's tallest mountain. The U.S. Army is poised to revamp its forces in Alaska to better prepare for future cold-weather conflicts, and it is expected to replace the larger, heavily equipped Stryker Brigade there with a more mobile, infantry unit better suited for the frigid fight, according to Army leaders. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
“JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Army is poised to revamp its forces in Alaska to better prepare for future cold-weather conflicts, and it is expected to replace the larger, heavily equipped Stryker Brigade in the state with a more mobile infantry unit better suited for the frigid fight, Army leaders say.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said she expects to make a final decision soon about the Alaska troop change, saying she will likely convert the Stryker unit, which uses heavy, eight-wheeled vehicles, to an infantry brigade.” Read more at AP News
“Surging international food prices will hit African economies the hardest and may trigger social unrest if governments fail to cushion the blow, Oxford Economics Africa says in a report. As Monique Vanek explains, the war in Ukraine, bans on food exports such as palm oil, supply chain glitches and a drought curbing the US wheat crop have sent prices skyrocketing.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Uneasy ally | Russian setbacks in Ukraine have begun to prompt rare criticism in China about Moscow’s value as a diplomatic partner, a sign of growing unease over President Xi Jinping’s strategic embrace of Putin. A former Chinese envoy to Moscow and Ukraine warned at a recent seminar that Russia was headed for defeat and being ‘significantly weakened’ by the war.
“The Hong Kong police arrested three prominent activists, including a former bishop, for their work with a legal aid organization that helped protesters.” Read more at New York Times
“Countries are working to compel social-media platforms to shield users from material they deem harmful. Those standards could affect Twitter as Elon Musk prepares to buy the company for $44 billion. Regulators from Australia, the EU, India, Canada and the U.K. have recently introduced or are considering new rules for policing online content. How content-moderation rules would work at Twitter under the Tesla chief executive isn’t known; Musk has indicated he feels the platform sometimes has overreached, such as when it banned Donald Trump.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Graves for people killed during the war in the town of Bucha near Kyiv. Ukrainian authorities are investigating possible war crimes in the town.
PHOTO: CAROL GUZY/ZUMA PRESS
“A Russian soldier being held in Ukraine will be the first to stand trial for alleged war crimes. The country’s prosecutor-general said an investigation found the 21-year-old had fired several shots Feb. 28 at an unarmed man in the northeastern village of Chupakhivka. The 62-year-old died on the spot just steps from his home. The tank-division commander faces 10 to 15 years in prison or life imprisonment if convicted. The prosecutor-general’s office also identified about 40 members of the Russian military it suspects of war crimes, a few of whom were in custody. The Kremlin and the Russian Ministry of Defense didn’t respond to requests for comment.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Outrage grows over journalist killing. The United Nations has called for an independent investigation into the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh after she was shot dead by Israeli soldiers, who fired on her and other journalists, while she was reporting in the West Bank.
Al Jazeera, Abu Akleh’s employer at the time of her death, has led international condemnation of the killing, calling it a “blatant murder, violating international laws and norms.”
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, called the killing, “horrifying” and joined calls for an investigation.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“The Thai government will distribute 1 million cannabis plants to homes across the country, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced on Sunday—a decision that follows moves to remove the drug from a list of controlled substances earlier this year.
The government is hoping spreading the plant to more homes will spur entrepreneurship in the legal cannabis market, now valued at $13.2 billion globally, while also attracting tourists.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea imposed a nationwide lockdown Thursday to control its first acknowledged COVID-19 outbreak after holding for more than two years to a widely doubted claim of a perfect record keeping out the virus that has spread to nearly every place in the world.
The outbreak forced leader Kim Jong Un to wear a mask in public, likely for the first time since the start of the pandemic, but the scale of transmissions inside North Korea wasn’t immediately known. A failure to slow infections could have serious consequences because the country has a poor health care system and its 26 million people are believed to be mostly unvaccinated. Some experts say North Korea, by its rare admission of an outbreak, may be seeking outside aid.
However, hours after North Korea confirmed the outbreak, South Korea’s military said it detected the North had fired three suspected ballistic missiles toward the sea. It was its 16th round of missile launches this year, in brinkmanship aimed at forcing the United States to accept North Korea as a nuclear power and negotiate sanctions relief and other concessions from a position of strength.” Read more at AP News
The Australian golf champion Greg Norman said the Saudi government wanted ‘to move forward’. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters
“The golf champion Greg Norman has attempted to dismiss questions over the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate as a ‘mistake,’ adding the Saudi government ‘wants to move forward’.
Norman was speaking at a promotional event in the UK for a Saudi-backed golf tournament, the LIV Golf Invitational Series. The 67-year-old is chief executive of LIV Golf Investments, funded primarily by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
The $225m (£184m) competition, designed to rival other big golf series, has attracted controversy over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, including the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.” Read more at The Guardian
“Lives Lived: As a columnist for Time and U.S. News & World Report, John Leo was often labeled a libertarian and a conservative. He saw himself as a social skeptic, in the mode of Mark Twain and H.L. Mencken. Leo died at 86.” Read more at New York Times
The ‘da Vinci’ Stradivarius, from 1714.Andrew White for The New York Times
“For the first time in decades, a Stradivarius from the early 1700s — considered the ‘golden period’ of violin making — will be up for auction.
The Stradivarius, known as the da Vinci, was the instrument of choice for Toscha Seidel, who bought it for $25,000 in 1924. (The sale made the front page of The Times.) Seidel was quite famous: He had a weekly broadcast on CBS in the 1930s, and he gave lessons to Albert Einstein. He played the da Vinci on some celebrated film scores, including ‘The Wizard of Oz.’
Seidel, who died in 1962, treasured the violin and said he wouldn’t trade it ‘for a million dollars.’ When the auction ends next month, it could fetch as much as $20 million.” Read more at New York Times
Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters
“A drone's-eye view of a sand sculpture on a beach in Gaza City reading Shireen Abu Akleh — for the Al Jazeera correspondent who was killed yesterday in an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.
Her unflinching coverage from the Palestinian territories was known to millions of viewers.” Read more at Axios
What the new paper ketchup bottle might look like. Image: Kraft Heinz
Heinz says it's developing a paper-based version of its iconic ketchup bottle, Jennifer A. Kingson writes in Axios What's Next.
“Why it matters: Consumer product companies are busy trying to reduce packaging-related waste and pollution — because so much of it winds up in the earth's oceans and landfills, and consumers are very concerned about the problem.
Kraft Heinz is working with Pulpex, a sustainable packaging technology company, to craft a recyclable bottle made from ‘100% sustainably sourced wood pulp.’
Heinz aims to be ‘the first sauce brand to provide consumers this choice in their purchasing decisions,’ said Rashida La Lande, Kraft Heinz's chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer.
Current Heinz bottles are made from glass and plastic.
The company wants ‘to make all packaging globally recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.’” Read more at Axios