The Full Belmonte, 6/16/2023
Buildings and vehicles show damage after a tornado struck Perryton, Texas, on Thursday.
Tornadoes
“At least three people were killed and dozens were hospitalized Thursday after a tornado ripped through a town in the Texas Panhandle. The massive tornado rolled through Perryton, Texas, with over 100 mph winds, officials said. At least 200 homes were destroyed, with the area impacted stretching up to a mile and a half in length. Perryton, a town of just over 8,000 people in the northern part of the state, remains completely without power this morning. Resources from surrounding areas have poured into the town to provide assistance. On Thursday, there were a total of two tornado reports in Texas, four in Oklahoma and one in Michigan, according to the National Weather Service, with the tornado in Perryton being the most significant.” [CNN]
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland holds a press conference in Minneapolis today. Photo: Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images
“The Minneapolis Police Department engaged in a pattern of unlawful racial discrimination and excessive force, according to the results of a two-year Justice Department investigation launched after George Floyd's murder.
The findings will likely lead to a court-enforced agreement to bring sweeping changes to the embattled department, Axios Twin Cities' Torey Van Oot reports.” [Axios]
Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers leaker and anti-war activist, dies at 92
By Kaanita Iyer, CNN
“Daniel Ellsberg, a former military analyst and anti-war activist whose disclosure of the so-called Pentagon Papers revealed systemic US government deception about the Vietnam War, has died, his family announced in a statement. He was 92.
The cause was pancreatic cancer, his family said. Ellsberg announced his diagnosis in March, saying at the time that doctors had given him three to six months to live and that he had decided not to undergo chemotherapy.
He died on Friday at his home in Kensington, California, according to his family.
‘Daniel was a seeker of truth and a patriotic truth-teller, an antiwar activist, a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, a dear friend to many, and an inspiration to countless more,’ his family said. ‘He will be dearly missed by all of us.’
In the late 1960s, Ellsberg was working as a defense analyst for the RAND Corporation when he became disillusioned with US involvement in Vietnam. As part of his work with RAND, Ellsberg had access to classified documents that demonstrated how the US government had systemically lied to the public about the war, and Ellsberg felt compelled to reveal the information.
He first approached several US senators in hopes that they could enter the papers into public record, but when that wasn’t successful, he leaked all 7,000 pages to The New York Times, which published them in 1971.
The documents revealed damning information against the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations. While officials spoke optimistically about the war to the public and continued to send troops to Vietnam, they privately knew that the US was losing, with then-Defense Secretary Robert McNamara advising President Lyndon B. Johnson as early as 1967 that American escalation would not win the war and, by some accounts, advocating for withdrawal.
Among other revelations, the report showed that President John F. Kennedy had approved the overthrowing of Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem – whom he and other administrations had previously supported – in 1963, according to The New York Times.
In an unprecedented move, the Nixon administration barred the Times from continuing to publish pages of the report after the first few stories. Ellsberg then leaked the document to The Washington Post, which was also sued by the government. The Supreme Court eventually ruled in favor of the two publications, concluding that the government had not made the case for censorship, and full publication of the Pentagon Papers resumed.
Ellsberg admitted to being the whistleblower and faced 115 years in prison after being charged as a spy under the Espionage Act. He was eventually freed after it was revealed that the Nixon administration wiretapped his conversations, resulting in a mistrial.
In a letter to his friends that he shared on social media in March 2023, Ellsberg reflected on his decision to leak the Pentagon Papers.
‘When I copied the Pentagon Papers in 1969, I had every reason to think I would be spending the rest of my life behind bars,’ he wrote. ‘It was a fate I would gladly have accepted if it meant hastening the end of the Vietnam War, unlikely as that seemed (and was). Yet in the end, that action—in ways I could not have foreseen, due to Nixon’s illegal responses—did have an impact on shortening the war.’
The documents also had an impact in other ways. Along with further stoking the anti-war movement, the disclosures also contributed to a growing distrust of the federal government, a sentiment that would be further encouraged in the 1970s with the Watergate scandal and revelations of abuse by the national security state, such as those captured in the Church Committee report….” Read more at CNN
Classified documents
“The 21-year-old Air National Guardsman accused of posting a trove of classified documents on social media has been formally indicted on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to national defense, the Justice Department announced on Thursday. The Massachusetts native has not yet entered a formal plea and remains in federal custody after being arrested in April and charged under the Espionage Act. He allegedly took classified information from Otis Air National Guard Base and is accused of posting the information on Discord, a popular social media platform among gamers. The revelation left former and current defense personnel baffled at how he retained his security clearance and was able to continue sharing classified information for months.” [CNN]
Covid-19 boosters
“A panel of 21 advisers to the FDA unanimously voted Thursday that Covid-19 vaccines should be updated for the fall. As the coronavirus shows no signs of slowing its evolution, the advisers agreed that a new vaccine should protect against just one strain of the coronavirus — a departure from the currently available bivalent vaccines, which are designed to target both the original strain and the BA.4 and BA.5 versions of Omicron. The FDA appears set to follow that advice, which would also keep it in step with international guidance. The World Health Organization said in May that its advisory group recommended that updated vaccines target an XBB strain of the virus and leave out the original version.” [CNN]
Pope Francis
“Pope Francis was discharged from Rome's Gemelli hospital today where the 86-year-old was recovering from abdominal surgery last week that renewed health fears. The pontiff left the hospital smiling and waving in a wheelchair, images showed. Well-wishers and medical staff had lined the walkway outside of the hospital in a bid to see the pope, who joked about his recovery as he left for the Vatican: ‘Thank you, thank you journalists. I'm still alive.’ He is set to deliver his weekly Angelus prayer this Sunday and is well enough to keep nearly all of his appointments, the Vatican added.” [CNN]
Jurors deliberate charges against gunman in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
“Jurors are set to resume deliberations Friday in the federal trial of a truck driver who slaughtered worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in the nation’s deadliest attack on Jews. Robert Bowers is charged with 63 criminal counts after he entered Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in October 2018 and opened fire, ultimately killing 11 people and injuring several others. He was motivated by his hatred of Jewish people when he turned a sacred house of worship into a “hunting ground,” a federal prosecutor told the jury before the start of deliberations. The government is seeking the death sentence.” Read more at USA Today
In this courtroom sketch, Pittsburgh SWAT Officer Timothy Matson, who was critically wounded while responding to the rampage, testifies, Wednesday, June 14, 2023, in Pittsburgh, in the federal trial of Robert Bowers.
David Klug, AP
Republicans end longest walkout in Oregon legislature’s history
Lawmakers showed up for work Thursday after compromising with Democrats on abortion and gun safety measures
Associated Press
“Ending a walkout that held up key bills for six weeks, Republicans showed up for work in the Oregon senate on Thursday after wresting concessions from Democrats on measures covering abortion, transgender healthcare and gun rights.
The lawmakers’ walkout – the longest in state history and the second-longest in the United States – came as several statehouses around the nation have been ideological battlegrounds, including in Montana and Tennessee.
The Republican boycott, which prevented the state senate from reaching a two-thirds quorum needed to pass bills, was prompted by a sweeping measure on abortion and gender-affirming care that Republicans called too extreme. The measure would allow doctors to provide abortions regardless of a patient’s age, with medical providers not required to notify the parents of a minor in certain cases.
As part of the deal to end the walkout, Democrats agreed to change language concerning parental notifications for abortion.
Under the compromise, if an abortion provider believes notifying the parents of a patient under 15 years old would not be in that patient’s best interest, the physician would not have to notify the parents – but would need another provider to concur. However, no second opinion would be needed if involving a parent or guardian would lead to the abuse or neglect of the patient.
Democrats said the measure will still ensure abortion access and protect caregivers from anti-abortion or gender-affirming care measures passed by other states. It will also require that health insurance covers medically necessary gender-affirming care.
Democrats also agreed to drop several amendments on a bill that would punish the manufacturing or transferring of undetectable firearms. The now-removed clauses would have increased the purchasing age from 18 to 21 for semiautomatic rifles and placed more limits on concealed carry.
Democrats immediately filed new versions of both measures reflecting the agreements, and the senate then passed them. Although the bills were approved earlier by the House, they now will go back to that chamber for a concurrence vote before going to Democratic Governor Tina Kotek for her signature….” Read more at The Guardian
Final day of search for missing migrants in Greece
Greece’s coast guard launched its third and final day of a search in the area where a large fishing boat crammed with migrants sank. Hundreds of passengers are missing and feared dead as Greek authorities have been met with protest for their handling of the wreck. The round-the-clock effort continues Friday off the coast of southern Greece despite little hope of finding survivors or bodies. None have been found since Wednesday, when 78 bodies were recovered and 104 people were rescued. Greek authorities and European Union border protection agents were first alerted about the boat Tuesday, which was heading for Italy from eastern Libya.” Read more at USA Today
People participate in a demonstration in central Athens on June 15, 2023 following a deadly shipwreck which costed lives of at least 78 migrants off Greek Peloponeese peninsula.
LOUISA GOULIAMAKI, AFP via Getty Images
Japan Passes Watered-Down LGBTQ Bill Opposed by Rights Groups and Conservatives
A participate raises a rainbow flag during the pride parade in Tokyo, April 23, 2023.
Yusuke Harada—NurPhoto/Getty Images
BY ISABEL REYNOLDS / BLOOMBERG
“Japan’s upper house of parliament passed a bill to promote understanding of LGBTQ issues but stops short of protecting any specific rights or providing a blanket barring of discrimination.
With the vote Friday, the bill made its way through both houses of parliament and will become law. It was approved after conservative lawmakers watered down some of its terms regarding minimal considerations for sexual and gender minorities and removed others….” Read more at Time
Anheuser-Busch CEO Plans Cross-Country Listening Tour
“Anheuser-Busch’s U.S. CEO is planning to travel around the country this summer on a listening tour in the wake of the furious conservative backlash against Bud Light, according to a report. Right-wing customers began boycotting the beer after it partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a short-lived promotion for March Madness. According to Axios, boss Brendan Whitworth ‘plans to go on the road around the U.S. this summer to listen to consumers, in connection with Budweiser's MLB sponsorship.’ ‘We recognize that over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer,’ Whitworth said in a statement Thursday. ‘We are a beer company, and beer is for everyone.’ The boycott reportedly caused sales to drop to the point where Mexican lager Modelo replaced Bud Light as America’s best-selling beer in May.”
Read it at Axios
Your next concert ticket might not have hidden fees.
“Why? The White House and ticketing companies, including Live Nation and SeatGeek, announced a plan yesterday to include fees upfront in the total price.
But be careful: The plan may not cover every sale on Ticketmaster, which is run by the same company as Live Nation. So always check for surprise extra costs.”
Read this story at Washington Post
WNBA Alters Charter Flight Policy After Far-Right Harassment
“The WNBA will allow teams to charter their own flights, the league announced Thursday—a move that comes just days after a far-right provocateur harassed Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Starting this season, WNBA teams will be allowed to use a service called JSX to book private flights. Previously, rules stipulated they were only able to book such trips for postseason games and back-to-back games on consecutive days. The league was under increasing pressure to alter its charter flight policy following the incident with Griner, who was recently released in a prisoner swap after spending much of 2022 in Russian jails.”
Read it at ESPN
Play underway at the 123rd U.S. Open
It's also the first major tournament since the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf announced a partnership, and it is sure to be a topic of conversation throughout the weekend. One of the more intriguing storylines is the groupings, one of which features PGA Championship winner and LIV golfer Brooks Koepka with Rory McIlroy, who has been one of the most vocal critics of LIV. Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele sit atop the leaderboard after day one Thursday at 8-under after each matched a major record by shooting 62. Read more at USA Today
Rickie Fowler and his caddie survey the green on the 15th hole during the first round.
Michael Madrid, USA TODAY Sports
Ja Morant Suspended for 25 Games After Second Gun Video
Morant, the Memphis Grizzlies star, was shown wielding firearms in social media videos in March and May.
By Sopan Deb
“The N.B.A. suspended Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant for 25 games without pay to start the 2023-24 season after a league investigation found that he had posed with a gun in a video streamed on social media for the second time in just over two months.
Morant was suspended for eight games after the first video in March. On Friday, N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver said it was ‘alarming and disconcerting’ that Morant had repeated his behavior after telling the league and the public that he wouldn’t….” Read more at New York Times