The Full Belmonte, 9/15/2023
Hunter Biden is accused of lying on a federal form when he bought a gun several years ago.
PHOTO: ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hunter Biden was indicted on gun charges related to his firearm purchase in 2018.
“Republicans will likely use the case to attack President Biden, who is running for reelection, though their presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump, is facing two federal criminal cases and local ones in Georgia and New York. Federal prosecutors accused the junior Biden ( read for free) of knowingly lying about his drug addiction when he purchased a pistol and possessing it illegally. The White House has denied involvement. Hunter Biden’s legal team didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, and the Justice Department declined to comment. A plea deal that also covered federal tax charges against him fell apart this summer.” [Wall Street Journal]
Auto workers hit picket lines in three states
Limited walkout at three plants will up pressure on President Joe Biden to work with both sides to avert a full-blown strike.
Members of the United Auto Workers' union picket outside of the UAW Local 900 headquarters across the street from the Ford Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich. on Sept. 15, 2023. | Matthew Hatcher/AFP via Getty Images
By NICK NIEDZWIADEK and JAMES BIKALES
“The United Auto Workers went on strike at three plants across the Big Three car manufacturers on Friday, the union’s first offensive after its existing contracts expired without a new deal.
While the limited nature of the walkout will spare the economy a potentially heavy hit for the time being, it will put more pressure on President Joe Biden to work with both sides to avert a full-blown walkout by nearly 150,000 union members across several other states.
The move follows through on UAW President Shawn Fain’s threats to stop work at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis upon the expiration of the UAW’s contracts with the automakers at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, as the union rebuffed the latest offers from the three companies.
The strike will initially target GM’s Wentzville Assembly plant in Missouri, Stellantis’ Toledo Assembly in Ohio and Ford’s Michigan Assembly in Wayne, Mich., Fain announced on a live stream a little after 10 p.m.
Fain directed union members at other facilities to continue working without a contract for the time being.
The work stoppage is just a fraction of the size of a full-scale strike by workers covered under the expiring contracts. As such it won’t have the same immediate economic hit to auto-producing regions, or the overall economy, while giving the union the ability to raise the temperature on the car companies.
The Biden administration has been working to avoid a strike, which could roil the economy just as Biden’s reelection effort heats up.
The strike marked the first against all three major Detroit automakers simultaneously, Fain said, paving a new front in the union’s battles with the car companies.
Fain teased the plan, a novel tactic the union is dubbing a ‘stand up strike,’ Wednesday evening without revealing how many sites or which locations would be involved in the initial wave. During Thursday’s announcement Fain gave no hint about when other sites might join the strike or how they’d be determined, other than urging members to be ready ‘at a moment’s notice.’
‘This strategy will keep the companies guessing. It will give our national negotiators maximum leverage and flexibility in bargaining,’ Fain said. ‘If we need to go all out, we will.’…” Read more at POLITICO
Striking United Auto Workers picket at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., Sept. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
About 13,000 workers go on strike seeking better wages and benefits from Detroit’s 3 automakers
“Thousands of U.S. auto workers stopped making vehicles and went on strike Friday after their leaders failed to bridge a gap between union demands and what Detroit’s three automakers are willing to pay. Read more.
Why this matters:
Members of the United Auto Workers union picketed at a General Motors plant in Missouri, a Ford factory near Detroit, and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Ohio. It was the first time in the union’s 88-year history that its members walked out on all three companies simultaneously.
The strikes are poised to chart the union’s future and that of America’s homegrown auto industry at a time when U.S. labor is flexing its might and the companies confront the rise of electric vehicles. If the strikes last, dealers could run short of vehicles and prices could rise.
Many say it’s time to get the concessions back because the companies are making huge profits and CEOs are raking in millions.” [AP News]
GOP-led Wisconsin Senate votes to fire nonpartisan official targeted by 2020 election skeptics
“The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate voted Thursday to fire the battleground state’s nonpartisan top elections official ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The issue is expected to end in a legal battle.” Read More at AP News
Angry and frustrated, McCarthy finds that even a Biden impeachment inquiry isn’t enough for GOP
“Angry, frustrated and unable to lead a fractured and unruly Republican majority, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday told the colleagues threatening to oust him: Do it. The embattled leader essentially dared his hard-right flank to quit threatening him with a vote to remove him from the job.” Read More at AP News
Donald Trump's Georgia trial won't start in October
“The Georgia racketeering trials for Donald Trump and 16 co-defendants won't begin in October, a judge ruled Thursday. Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee separated the cases from two co-defendants whose trial will start mid-October. He didn't set a trial date for Trump, but set deadlines early next month for prosecutors to share evidence with Trump's defense lawyers. Four of the defendants who are trying to move their cases to federal court − Mark Meadows, Jeffrey Clark, David Shafer and Shawn Still − asked McAfee to suspend their trials while waiting for a federal appeals decision on their requests. But McAfee denied the request.” Read more at USA Today
Zelenskyy is expected to visit Washington as Congress debates $24 billion in aid for Ukraine
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected at the White House and on Capitol Hill next week as he visits the U.S. during the United Nations General Assembly. Read more.
Why this matters:
Congress is increasingly divided over sending more cash to Ukraine as the war churns through its second year.
Biden has sought $13.1 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine and $8.5 billion for humanitarian support, but conservative Republican lawmakers have been pushing for broad federal spending cuts and some of those allied with Donald Trump want to stop the flow of US money to Ukraine.
The debate comes as Congress struggles to pass its annual appropriations bills before a Sept. 30 deadline to keep the U.S. government running. To ease passage, Congress would likely try to attach the package to a must-pass funding measure required to prevent a federal shutdown.” [AP News]
GOP's impeachment exaggerations
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) in the Capitol basement yesterday. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
“Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the leader of House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into President Biden, has repeatedly exaggerated and distorted the findings of his investigation into the Biden family this year.
Now, with the spotlight getting brighter, even some of Comer's Republican colleagues and their aides are worried about him being the public face of the inquiry, and hope he'll take a more measured approach, Axios' Alex Thompson reports.
Why it matters: How Comer handles the inquiry as chair of the House Oversight Committee could be critical to whether Americans see the impeachment probe as credible or partisan.
What's happening: GOP members and aides praise Comer for uncovering fresh information about the president and his son Hunter's business interests that has contradicted Joe Biden's public statements.
That includes sworn testimony from Hunter, who was indicted yesterday on three gun charges, and a business associate that Joe Biden attended a dinner with one of Hunter's Ukrainian business associates in 2015 — something the elder Biden had denied.
President Biden and Hunter Biden at Fort McNair in D.C. in June. Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP
Reality check: Some House GOP officials say Comer has at times undermined his credibility by being a sloppy communicator — especially in TV interviews in which he has overstated his committee's findings.
Comer told Newsmax last month that the ‘Biden family received over $20 million from our enemies around the world.’
But two-thirds of that money actually went to Hunter Biden's business associates, not Hunter or other Biden family members, according to documents collected by Comer's committee.
Some House Republicans aren't as convinced as Comer that the president did anything corrupt, even if they believe his son may have.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a former House Oversight chair, told CNN that ‘actual participation by the vice president and now president — that still has to be discovered and/or nailed down.’” [Axios]
Hottest August in 174 years
Data: NOAA. Map: Axios Visuals
“A month of sweltering conditions drove ocean and air temperatures to their hottest August in at least 174 years of record-keeping, Axios' Andrew Freedman reports.
Why it matters: ‘I'm rarely stunned by our findings,’ Deke Arndt, who directs NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information and has worked on monthly global reports for more than a decade, wrote. ‘[W]hen the climate monitoring team briefed this, it took me five minutes just to process the magnitude.’
‘It's common to dismiss 174-yr record as blip in geological time,’ he added. ‘Fact is, they are the most important, vital 174 yrs in the history of humanity's relationship with the Earth system, when almost everything we know about agriculture and infrastructure was found or refined.’
What's happening: The planet endured an onslaught of extreme weather and climate disasters this summer — from deadly flooding in Greece and Libya, to deadly heat waves in the U.S. and Europe.
Four continents were hottest on record in August: Asia, Africa, North America and South America, NOAA says.
By the numbers: August data is replete with superlatives.
Not only were the planet's oceans the hottest on record, but the margin of the record set a record for largest monthly sea surface temperature anomaly (1.85°F above average).” [Axios]
UN says most Libya flood deaths could have been avoided
“The majority of the thousands of deaths in catastrophic floods in Libya could have been avoided, the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization said Thursday. The statement came came as Libyan health officials say the death toll from floods in the eastern Libyan city of Derna has soared to 11,300. The Secretary General of the aid group the Libyan Red Crescent says a further 10,100 people are reported missing in the coastal city after an unusually strong Mediterranean storm named "Daniel" on Sunday caused deadly flooding in towns across eastern Libya, causing two dams to burst.” Read more at USA Today
Damage from massive flooding is seen in Derna, Libya, Wednesday, Sept.13, 2023.
Yousef Murad, AP
The UFO report comes back empty, but give NASA a call if you see anything
“There’s no evidence that UAPs – unidentified anomalous phenomena, previously known as UFOs – are of extraterrestrial origin, a special investigative team said when it announced a 36-page report of NASA’s Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team, which was released Thursday morning. Some UAP can't yet be explained, the team says. In response, NASA is taking a greater role in scientific investigation of the sightings and has named a new director of UAP research. Though most sightings can be identified as planes, balloons, drones and weather events, the independent group says more sophisticated scientific research is needed, along with efforts to remove the stigma of reporting sightings.” Read more at USA Today
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson speaks during a press conference in August.
Craig Bailey / Florida Today / USA TODAY NETWORK
Eastern New England bracing for onslaught of rain
“Hurricane Lee is expected to bring a nasty mix of heavy rain, strong winds and high seas to the eastern New England region starting later Friday and lasting into Saturday, forecasters said. Even if Lee doesn't officially make landfall in New England, its impacts will still be felt across the region in part because of the increasing size of the storm, risking damaging winds, powerful surf and possible flooding to the area. In Maine, the state is under its first hurricane watch in 15 years.” Read more at USA Today
US says Marine’s adoption of Afghan orphan seen as abduction, must be undone
“The U.S. government has warned a Virginia judge that allowing an American Marine to keep an Afghan war orphan risks violating international law and could be viewed around the world as ‘endorsing an act of international child abduction,’ according to secret court records reviewed by The Associated Press. Read more.
Why this matters:
It is rare for the federal government to step into a local custody case, but concern about the child’s fate has stretched across the Trump and Biden administrations.
Failing to return the child, now 4, to Afghan relatives in the U.S. could jeopardize American efforts to resettle Afghan refugees, threaten international security pacts and might be used as propaganda by Islamic extremists, Justice Department attorneys warned in court filings.
Marine Joshua Mast’s attorneys have written that the Marine and his wife acted in good faith and worked at ‘great personal expense and sacrifice’ to protect the baby.” [AP News]
Alex Jones spent over $93,000 in July. Sandy Hook families who sued him have yet to see a dime
Alex Jones’ personal spending is frustrating families who are trying to collect on the $1.5 billion in judgments against him for calling the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting a hoax. His total personal expenses for July topped $93,000, up from nearly $75,000 in April. Read More at AP News
Pig kidney works a record 2 months in donated body, raising hope for animal-human transplants
“Dozens of doctors and nurses silently lined the hospital hallway in tribute: For a history-making two months, a pig’s kidney worked normally inside the brain-dead man on the gurney rolling past them. It marked the longest a genetically modified pig kidney has ever functioned inside a human, albeit a deceased one.” Read More at AP News
The CDC wants you to get the newest Covid shot
Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
“Tuesday, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) committee recommended everyone 6 months or older receive the newest Covid-19 shot. The subvariant EG.5 (part of the branch targeted by the new booster) causes an estimated 21.5 percent of current cases. Though new subvariants are circulating, the vaccine should protect against the most prevalent strains of the moment.
The lowdown: Originally, the CDC limited who it recommended receive multiple boosters. Now, with a new formulation of the shots available, the CDC says essentially everyone should get one.
The new recommendation comes as Covid-related hospitalization rates are on the rise. The latest data from the CDC shows an 8.7 percent spike in Covid hospitalizations.
Updated Covid-19 boosters are needed for two fundamental reasons: The virus is continually evolving and our immunity wanes over time. Since 2020, Covid-19 has evolved and mutated into over three dozen various strains and variants, some of which possess characteristics that help them evade our immune system. Vaccines, like natural infections, prompt the body to produce virus-fighting antibodies, but they don’t stay in our bodies forever (hence the need for revaccination).
Despite the CDC’s recent recommendations, not all experts believe a booster is necessary for everyone every year. A few months after vaccination, antibodies begin to wane, but T-cells and B-cells — other immune system cells — have long memories, and protect against severe disease. For low-risk people who’ve been vaccinated with any formulation of the vaccine, protection against severe disease provided by these T-cells doesn’t seem to wane over time or as the virus evolves into new variants.
The stakes: The CDC’s recommendation that everyone should get the Covid booster, regardless of their prior vaccination status, prompts a question: Should we start expecting yearly reformulations like we see with the flu shot?
Both Covid and the flu can now be called endemic diseases, which means new cases will always occur and the culture around the shots should become quite similar (meaning wherever you’re asked if you want a flu vaccine — at a pharmacy or a student health center, for example — you’ll also be asked if you want a Covid shot).
Still, flu vaccines, which are recommended for pretty much everyone, every year, regardless of their prior vaccination history, have a much higher acceptance rate than Covid shots. In the 2022 flu season over half of American children received a flu shot and nearly half of US adults received one. While 69.5 percent of the US population completed their initial series of Covid-19 shots, only 17 percent received the bivalent booster released last year.
‘We should start viewing this as just this annual booster that we’re going to need, very much like the flu vaccine itself,’ Thomas Duszynski, an epidemiologist with Indiana University’s Fairbanks School of Public Health, told me of Covid shots. ‘We need those vaccines to protect us.’” [Vox]
The IRS won’t process new refund requests for a pandemic-era tax break until at least 2024.
“Aiming to stop fraudulent and overstated claims, the agency also plans to better scrutinize an existing queue of more than 600,000 employee retention credit requests. The agency will allow employers with pending ERC claims to withdraw them and will let many repay their refunds if they no longer think they qualify. The IRS is trying to disrupt a cottage industry that encourages small businesses and nonprofits to claim the once-obscure credit and receive up to $26,000 per employee.” [Wall Street Journal]
Even Allies Aren’t Immune
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi, Russia, on Sept. 4.Sergei Guneyev/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
“In a surprise announcement, the U.S. Treasury and State departments imposed sanctions on five Turkish corporations as well as one Turkish national on Thursday for allegedly helping Russia to evade sanctions over its war against Ukraine. The Biden administration accused these shipping companies of repairing vessels connected to Russia’s defense ministry and transporting Russian goods that have military applications, such as drones and sensors.
The sanctions are part of a larger campaign announced on Thursday intended to debilitate Moscow’s economy, energy, and military sectors. More than 150 targets—including Russia’s largest carmaker as well as companies in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Georgia—are among the sanctioned entities. The sanctions package is one of the largest ever imposed by the U.S. State and Treasury departments in history.
‘Russia is trying to run a full production wartime economy, and it is extremely difficult to do that with secretive episodic purchases of small batches of equipment from different places around the world,’ said James O’Brien, the head of the State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination. ‘The purpose of the action is to restrict Russia’s defense production capacity and to reduce the liquidity it has to pay for its war.’
But by sanctioning top Turkish companies for allegedly allying with Russia, Washington puts additional strain on its already fraught relationship with Ankara. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long played a delicate balancing act between the United States (and its other Western NATO allies) and Russia, and this has only become more complicated since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While Turkey has provided Ukraine with weapons and military equipment, Ankara has also maintained ties, including on trade, with Moscow.
Yet those ties are also strained now. Ankara led negotiations in 2022 to establish the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed vital food shipments to pass through the Black Sea without fear of attack. The Kremlin’s decision, however, to leave the deal in July sullied its relations with Turkey.” [Foreign Policy]
“Where is China’s defense minister? Li Shangfu hasn’t been seen in public for more than two weeks, with some reports suggesting that Beijing’s fourth-most senior military figure is the latest top Communist Party official to be abruptly ousted from the upper echelons of President Xi Jinping’s ranks.” [Bloomberg]
Click to Watch: Li Shangfu. Rebecca Choong Wilkins reports on Bloomberg Television. Photographer: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images
“Interest rate hikes. The European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates for the 10th consecutive time on Thursday, marking record-high levels as the continent battles surging inflation. At 4 percent, this is the bank’s highest rate since the euro was established in 1999. Economists predict Thursday’s decision will be the last rate hike in the foreseeable future; prior to the announcement, inflation levels were expected to average at 5.6 percent this year.
Still, there are concerns about the potential downsides of such a strategy, with some analysts fearing that raising interest rates too high could kick-start a recession. ECB President Christine Lagarde was quick to refute these worries. ‘We are doing that not because we want to force a recession but because we want price stability to be there for people who are taking the brunt of inflation,’ she said.” [Foreign Policy]
“Lights out. Widespread blackouts rolled across Nigeria on Thursday in a ‘total system collapse.’ According to Nigerian Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu, a fire destroyed a transmission line connecting two power plants, causing the grid to fail. Connection was slowly restored throughout the day. Despite outages being somewhat common in Africa’s wealthiest nation—four major grid failures occurred in 2022—this was the country’s worst blackout this year.
President Bola Tinubu has pledged to improve energy infrastructure by allowing state governments to build their own power plants. However, regular power supply is available to less than 50 percent of Nigeria’s population. ‘Indeed, 63 percent of Nigerians already live in multidimensional poverty, and experts say more people may slide down the economic ladder if the government does not reverse course [on its tax and currency reforms],’ Nigerian journalist Pelumi Salako wrote in Foreign Policy.” [Foreign Policy]
“Virus strikes South Asia. Indian authorities declared containment zones in more than seven villages in the southern state of Kerala on Wednesday to prevent the spread of the deadly Nipah virus. The rare, brain-damaging disease has a high mortality rate, with no known cure or treatment. At least two people have died so far, and 706 others are awaiting test results.
This is not India’s first rodeo with the Nipah virus. Since 2018, there have been three other outbreaks across Kerala. Scientists believe the zoonotic virus is passed through contaminated food or contact with an infected person. Apart from closing schools, Indian officials have warned locals to avoid public areas for the next 10 days.” [Foreign Policy]
“Arachnologists in Brazil are going where no man has gone before. Scientists named three new species of spiders after Star Trek royalty: Kirk, McCoy, and Spock. The trio’s wide, fused heads and long abdomens made them ‘ideal candidates for names inspired by the Star Trek universe,’ scientist Alexandre Bragio Bonaldo said. ‘They somewhat resemble Star Trek spaceships.’ Live long and prosper, I guess.” [Foreign Policy]
“Populist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to open a Hindu temple in January where a centuries-old mosque once stood, achieving a pledge made by his Hindu nationalist party just in time for elections next year. Modi, 72, is expected to preside over the installation of the god Ram’s idol in the northern riverside town of Ayodhya, which is widely believed by devotees to be the Hindu deity’s birthplace. It’s a full political circle for Modi, who in 1990 was one of the main organizers of a nationwide push to build a Hindu temple to replace a mosque on the site. The mosque’s destruction by a Hindu mob two years later sparked riots that killed 2,000 people—mostly Muslims.” [Bloomberg]
Construction at the Hindu temple in Ayodhya, India, on July 9. Photographer: Deepak Gupta/Hindustan Times/Getty Images
Gas prices
“Oil prices climbed above $90 a barrel on Thursday for the first time in 10 months, threatening to push gas prices higher. High oil prices have already created an unusual situation where gas is getting more expensive even after the summer driving season has ended. Despite demand easing, gas prices are just pennies away from their highest level of the year. The national average for regular gasoline is currently $3.86 a gallon, according to AAA. That's 16 cents higher than the same day last year. Plus, a dozen US states are already averaging $4 a gallon or higher for regular gasoline, including Colorado, North Dakota and California.” [CNN]
Vegas cyberattacks
“MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment are recovering from cyberattacks this week that tested the computer defenses of multibillion-dollar hotels in Las Vegas. Hackers stole Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers from a "significant number" of loyalty program customers of Caesars Entertainment, the hospitality giant said Thursday. At MGM Resorts, guests reported being unable to make room charges and access their rooms with their digital keys. The issues were a result of a ‘cybersecurity issue’ and systems are operational again, MGM said. It currently remains unclear who was responsible for the pair of attacks.” [CNN]
Rockefeller Foundation's $1B for climate
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
“The Rockefeller Foundation today will announce a $1 billion, five-year commitment to climate-change programs, Axios' Andrew Freedman reports.
Why it matters: The organization, founded with a fortune built by fossil fuel, is one of the biggest players in behind-the-scenes work to prevent climate change from worsening.
Raj Shah — the foundation's president, and former head of USAID during the Obama administration — told Axios in an interview that climate-related giving will go from about 25% of its portfolio during the past five years, to more than 75% of giving during the next five years.” [Axios]
Classic logo disappears
Old/new. Logos: Johnson & Johnson
“Johnson & Johnson's signature logo — script letters familiar on products like Band-Aid and Tylenol — is being replaced with a more modern block look.
The company said it was ‘one of the longest-used’ emblems in the world, AP notes.
Between the lines: Laura Ries, a marketing consultant, speculated that block letters might be easier to process now that many children aren't taught cursive in school.” [Axios]
EVEN easier grilled cheese
Photo: Jennifer A. Kingson/Axios
“Kraft Heinz announced a Lunchables grilled cheese that you just have to take out of the freezer and nuke for 60 seconds, Jennifer A. Kingson writes for Axios What's Next.
Why it matters: The product is the first from Kraft Heinz's new ‘360 Crisp’ technology platform, meant to produce microwavable foods that taste like they came from the stove.
Lunchables Grilled Cheesies come two to a box, in plain and pepperoni, in a proprietary microwave pouch that's meant to keep the bread crispy and the cheese gooey.
They're aimed at kids, as well as college dorms and convenience stores.” [Axios]