Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Wake-Up Call: NATO Leaders Focus On China, Russia

President Biden and other NATO leaders met at a summit in Brussels yesterday and addressed the issue of provocative actions by both Russia and China. Biden said that the other leaders supported his plans to press Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting Wednesday to stop cyberattacks on the West that originate in Russia, stop interfering in other countries' elections, and end the violent crackdown on political dissidents in Russia.

He told reporters, "I’m going to make clear to President Putin that there are areas where we can cooperate, if he chooses. And if he chooses not to cooperate and acts in a way that he has in the past relative to cybersecurity and other activities, then we will respond, we will respond in kind." The NATO leaders in a summit statement also addressed actions by China, saying the country is a constant security challenge and is working to undermine global order. They also expressed concern about what the statement called China's "coercive policies," its use of disinformation, and the non-transparent ways it's modernizing its armed forces.

➤GEORGIA SUPERMARKET CASHIER KILLED AFTER FACE MASK ARGUMENT: A supermarket cashier was shot and killed in Decatur, Georgia, yesterday after an argument over wearing face masks in the store. DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox said, "There was some confrontation, argument -- I’m not sure exactly what -- in reference to the wearing of masks, at which time the subject pulled out a weapon and shot the cashier." 


The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said preliminary information indicates that the customer, identified as 30-year-old Victor Lee Tucker Jr., got into an argument with the cashier and left the store without making his purchase. But he then immediately went back inside and fatally shot the female cashier. A reserve deputy who worked security for the store exchanged fire with Tucker and both were wounded, and a second cashier was grazed by a bullet. Tucker was arrested as he tried to crawl out of the supermarket.

➤EX-NSA CONTRACTOR REALITY WINNER RELEASED FROM PRISON EARLY FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR: Former National Security Agency contractor Reality Winner, who was jailed in 2018 on a single count of leaking national security information to the news media, was freed early from prison yesterday for good behavior. The 29-year-old was moved to home confinement. Winner had been sentenced to five years and three months in prison, the longest federal sentence ever imposed for leaks to the news media. Although authorities never identified who received Winner's leak of a classified report, her 2017 arrest was announced the same day that The Intercept reported on a secret NSA document that detailed efforts by the Russian government to get into a Florida-based supplier of voting software as well as the accounts of election officials ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

➤JUSTICE DEPT. TO TIGHTEN RULES ON GETTING DATA OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: Attorney General Merrick Garland said yesterday that the Justice Department will tighten its rules about getting the data of members of Congress, saying, "[W]e must ensure that full weight is accorded to separation-of-powers concerns moving forward." That announcement comes after recent revelations about the Justice Department under former President Donald Trump secretly getting phone data of congressional Democrats and members of the media as part of a leak investigation.

➤DeSANTIS SIGNS LEGISLATION REQUIRING MOMENT OF SILENCE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS:  Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation Monday that will require public schools in the state to have a moment of silence each day, making it the 15th state to do so. First-period teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade will have to allow between one and two minutes for a moment of silence at the beginning of the school day. Teachers can't recommend what students do with that time, but should encourage parents to talk to their children about it. Still, opponents say the measure promotes prayer in school, and in signing the legislation, DeSantis said, "The idea you can just push God out of every institution and you can be successful, I am sorry our founding fathers did not believe that." One opponent, Rep. Lori Berman, gave examples of what she thinks could potentially happen, saying students might take out a rosary, make the sign of the cross or use a prayer rug, and wondered if that would make some other students uncomfortable.


➤CICADAS INTERFERE WITH CARS, PLANES, WEATHER RADAR: Brood X Cicadas have taken over large areas of the U.S. Trillions of the insects have emerged after spending 17 years underground in approximately 15 states. The red-eyed bugs are not dangerous to humans, but reportedly have been the cause of a few disturbances. A county in Georgia said that residents had been calling 9-1-1 over the 100-decibel sounds the bugs make, while in Ohio, the Cincinnati Police Department recently reported that a young man crashed his car after being hit in the face with a cicada that flew through an open window. In a Facebook post, Cincinnati Police note, “Remember to keep your windows rolled up until our little red eyed friends are gone.” Meanwhile in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, masses of cicadas may even be showing up on weather radar. Brood X has even impacted air travel—last week the White House press plane’s takeoff was delayed due to the bugs. But the good news is—none of this will last long. Adult cicadas will largely be gone by July 4th.

 
➤STUDY..OUR EARLIEST CHILDHOOD MEMORIES BEGIN FROM THE AGE TWO-AND-A-HALF:  What’s your earliest memory? Memorial University researchers have reviewed decades of data to determine that most people have their earliest memory from age two-and-a-half, when previous findings suggested it was actually age three-and-a-half. The researchers say this is because people often think they were older than they actually were in early memories due to something called “telescoping,” or the tendency to “look through a lens” when thinking back to an event that happened a long time ago. A researcher says, “The more remote a memory is, the telescoping effect makes you see it as closer.”


🍪GIRL SCOUTS HAVE 15 MILLION TASTY PROBLEMS THIS YEAR:  The Girl Scouts have an issue this year: 15 million boxes of cookies haven’t sold. The organization says the coronavirus, not decreased demand, is the main culprit. The Girl Scouts of the USA tell the AP that as the pandemic wore into the spring selling season, many troops did away with their traditional cookie booths due to safety reasons. The impact will be felt by local councils and troops, who depend on the cookie sales to fund programming, travel, camps, and more. Kelly Parisi, a spokeswoman for Girl Scouts of the USA, says most of the unsold boxes remain with the two bakers that make them, and about three million are in the hands of Girl Scout councils, which are scrambling to sell or donate them. The cookies have a shelf-life of one year.  

➤STUDY FINDS NOVAVAX COVID VACCINE 90 PERCENT EFFECTIVE: There may soon be another approved vaccine against Covid-19, with Novavax saying Monday that its two-shot vaccine was found to be about 90 percent effective in a large study in the U.S. and Mexico. The vaccine was also found to be safe and to protect against variants. The U.S. company's vaccine is easy to store and transport, and could play an important role in helping get the global population vaccinated, particularly poorer countries. The company said it plans to seek approval for its vaccine in the U.S., Europe and other countries by the end of September.
 
➤REP. GREENE APOLOGIZES FOR COMPARING FACE MASK REQUIREMENTS TO HOLOCAUST: Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia apologized yesterday for her recent comparison of members of Congress being required to wear face masks in the House to the Holocaust. The congresswomen told reporters she'd gone to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum earlier in the day, and stated, "I’m truly sorry for offending people with remarks about the Holocaust. There’s no comparison and there never ever will be." In her comments on a podcast more than three weeks ago, Greene compared Covid restrictions in the Democratic-controlled House to, quote, "a time and history where people were told to wear a gold star." She further said they were, quote, "put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany. This is exactly the type of abuse that [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi is talking about." It was a rare apology for the controversial Greene, who has several times made headlines with her comments that support conspiracy theories and her confrontations with House progressives. Her committee assignments were stripped in February after social media posts surfaced in which Greene suggested support for executing some Democratic leaders."

➤DISNEY WORLD, DISNEYLAND NO LONGER REQUIRES FACE MASKS IN MOST AREA FOR VACCINATED GUESTS: As of today, Disney World and Disneyland will no longer require guests who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to wear face masks in most areas. Disney won't be asking for proof of immunization, but said it expects people who aren't fully vaccinated to continue to wear masks at indoor locations in the theme parks, except when dining. All guests, vaccinated or not, will still be required to wear face masks on transportation, including buses, monorails and the Skyliner gondolas.

➤MONICA LEWINSKY GETS PRODUCTION DEAL: Monica Lewinsky has gotten a first-look production deal with TV production company 20th Television. Lewinsky, a Vanity Fair contributing editor who has her own production company, Alt Ending Productions, is working on the latest installment of the American Crime Story anthology series, Impeachment: American Crime Story, for which she is a producer. Impeachment is about the events that led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton over his affair with Lewinsky. 20th TV president Karey Burke said in a statement Monday, "As our team has gotten to know Monica through her involvement with our upcoming edition of American Crime Story, we’ve been very impressed with her instincts as a producer, and her desire to bring provocative, untold stories to the screen. She is formidable and passionate about the work, and we’re hopeful this first look deal leads to many successful projects together.

➤CNN'S CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR DISCLOSED CANCER DIAGNOSIS:  CNN's chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour told viewers Monday that she has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. "I've had successful major surgery to remove it, and I'm now undergoing several months of chemotherapy for the very best possible long-term prognosis, and I'm confident," Amanpour said at the beginning of her daily television program.

Amanpour, 63, is one of the best-known journalists in the world, in part due to her fearless coverage of international conflicts. She has been off the air for the past four weeks due to the diagnosis.  In her on-air announcement, Amanpour pointed out that ovarian cancer is all too common, affecting "millions of women around the world."
 
🏀NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from second-round games yesterday:
  • Atlanta Hawks 103, Philadelphia 76ers 100 - Series tied at 2-2
  • L.A. Clippers 118, Utah Jazz 104 - Series tied at 2-2
🏒NHL PLAYOFFS: Results from Conference Finals yesterday:
  • Vegas Golden Knights 4, Montreal Canadiens 1 - Vegas leads series 1 game to 0

🏀NETS' IRVING TO MISS TONIGHT'S GAME, HARDEN STILL OUT: Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash said Monday that Kyrie Irving won't play in Game 5 of the Nets' second-round playoff matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks tonight due to the sprained ankle he suffered in Game 4. James Harden, who's been out since playing in Game 1, still isn't ready to come back after having hamstring tenderness. That leaves Kevin Durant as the only of the Nets' three stars who'll be in the game tonight. The series is tied at 2-2.

🏒GALLANT TO REPORTEDLY BE RANGERS' NEW HEAD COACH: Gerard Gallent will be the New York Rangers' new head coach, according to media reports yesterday, which said he agreed to a four-year contract. Gallant was the first coach of the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural 2017-18 season, when they made it to the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Washington Capitals. Gallent was fired in January 2020, and hasn't coached in the NHL since then. He's coached a total of nine NHL seasons, also with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers. The Rangers fired head coach David Quinn in May.

⚾INDIANS' REIGNING AL CY YOUNG WINNER BIEBER OUT AT LEAST TWO WEEKS: Reigning American League Cy Young winner Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Indians will be out for at least two weeks with a right shoulder strain, manager Terry Francona said Monday. The Indians' ace had an MRI after Sunday's game, in which he gave up a season-high number of hits and threw 107 pitches over five innings, and it showed the muscle strain.
 

🏃CHAMPION DISTANCE RUNNER HOULIHAN BANNED FOR FOUR YEARS OVER POSITIVE STEROID TEST, BLAMES BURRITO: U.S. distance runner Shelby Houlihan, the current national champion and record holder in the 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter distances, has been banned for four years after testing positive for an anabolic steroid. The 28-year-old, who was considered a favorite to contend for a medal at the Tokyo Olympics next month, wrote in an Instagram post Monday that she thinks pork she ate in a burrito is to blame for the positive test result. She wrote that the most likely explanation was a, quote, "burrito purchased and consumed approximately 10 hours before that drug test from an authentic Mexican food truck." Houlihan wrote that she feels "completely devastated, lost, broken, angry, confused and betrayed by the very sport that I’ve loved and poured myself into."

🏇RACEHORSE TRAINER BAFFERT SUES TO GET NEW YORK SUSPENSION LIFTED: Hall of Fame racehorse trainer Bob Baffert filed suit in federal court today to try to get his suspension by the New York Racing Association lifted. The organization suspended Baffert in May after one of his horses, Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, failed a second post-race urine test that found a banned steroid in its system. Baffert said he was suspended without any prior notice, that the length of the suspension wasn't specified, and that it didn't accuse him of violating any New York state law or regulation. The NYRA said it took into account that other horses trained by Baffert have recently failed drug tests, and that they suspended him, quote, "to protect the integrity of the sport." 
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