Thursday, September 30, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Congress Set To Avoid Government Shutdown

With Senate Democrats still struggling to reach agreement on President Biden's $3.5 trillion Build Back Better legislation, Congress is set to move to push off another crisis by avoiding a government shutdown. The Senate is expected to approve legislation today that would fund the federal government into early December, and the House is expected to pass it after the Senate. Without the funding, a partial government shutdown would begin Friday. In order to get the Republican votes needed to do so, Democrats had to separate out the suspension of the government's borrowing limit. But that sets up another crisis for next month, because if the debt limit isn't raised by October 18th, the country would default, causing a financial crisis, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warning of an economic recession.
 

➤NORTH KOREA WANTS STEPS TO IMPROVED TIES WITH SOUTH KOREA, BUT CRITICAL OF U.S.: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants to take steps to improve ties with South Korea, but was critical of the U.S., the country's state media reported Thursday. During a speech at the North's parliament, Kim expressed his willingness to restore stalled cross-border hotlines with South Korea in the coming days. But he called U.S. offers to restart nuclear talks as, quote, "cunning ways" to try to hide its hostility against the North. Kim's remarks come as North Korea has carried out three missile tests this month, including a new hypersonic missile this week that it implied was being developed as nuclear capable. The U.N. Security Council will have an emergency meeting today at the request of the U.S., U.K. and France on the North's tests.


➤TOP PENTAGON OFFICIALS SAY AFGHAN COLLAPSE ROOTED IN 2020 AGREEMENT WITH TALIBAN: In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee yesterday, senior Pentagon officials said the collapse of the Afghan government and its security forces was rooted in the February 2020 agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban that said the U.S. would withdraw all its troops. One day after testimony on Afghanistan in the Senate by the officials, General Frank McKenzie, head of Central Command, said, the deal signed by the Trump administration with the Taliban, quote, "had a really pernicious effect on the government of Afghanistan and on its military -- psychological more than anything else, but we set a date-certain for when we were going to leave and when they could expect all assistance to end." McKenzie further said that once the U.S. troop presence fell below 2,500 under President Biden, the collapse of the government accelerated.
 

➤NEO-NAZI LEADER CONVICTED IN PLOT TO THREATEN JOURNALISTS, ACTIVISTS: Kaleb Cole, the leader of a Washington state neo-Nazi group called "Atomwaffen," was convicted yesterday of five federal charges in a plot to threaten and intimidate journalists and activists. The threats targeted associates of the Anti-Defamation League and journalists, in particular those who were Jewish or people of color. Among the threats, Cole sent posters in the mail or glued them to targets' homes that said, "You have been visited by your local Nazis" and "Death to Pigs," with threatening images. Cole will be sentenced in January. Three co-conspirators have already pled guilty and were sentenced, one of them to three years in prison.

➤SURVEY..AMERICANS CHECKS THEIR PHONE 96-TIMES A DAY:  We all know how hard it can be to put down our phones sometimes, but just how attached to them are we? A new survey found that it's a lot, showing that Americans check their phone some 96 times a day, or once every 10 minutes, according to global tech care company Asurion. That a 20 percent jump from a similar survey just two years ago. Additionally, 18- to 24-year-olds check their phones twice as much as the national average. At the same time, Asurion said some 50 percent of Americans are trying to use their phones less. But is all this phone use really a problem? Not necessarily. John Grohol, founder of online mental health resource Psych Central, told FoxNews.com, "What we look for is that it’s having a significant negative impact on their ability to do things they do normally every day, like going to work and school, and being able to have a positive relationship in their life . . . The disorder really happens when the person feels like it’s interfering with their everyday life.

➤LEWANDOWSKI REMOVED FROM PRO-TRUMP SUPER PAC AFTER SEXUAL ADVANCES ACCUSATION: Longtime Donald Trump loyalist Corey Lewandowski was removed from his job leading the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Action yesterday after a Republican donor accused him of having made aggressive, unwanted sexual advances on her at a Sunday night event in Las Vegas. Trashelle Odom said the 48-year-old, married Lewandowski had grabbed her leg and rear end "repeatedly" and "inappropriately," and also, quote, "said vile and disgusting things to me, stalked me, and made me feel violated and fearful." Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said, "Corey Lewandowski will be going on to other endeavors and we very much want to thank him for his service. He will no longer be associated with Trump World."

➤SOME DOLLAR TREE ITEMS TO COST MORE THAN ONE DOLLAR: Not all products at Dollar Tree aren't going to cost one dollar anymore, with the company planning to raise the prices of some items slightly higher, the Wall Street Journal reported. Dollar Tree says it will experiment with having items priced slightly over one dollar -- think $1.25 or $1.50. The company has been hit by rising freight and supply chain costs, according to the Journal, as is also dealing with labor shortages. In a few hundred of its 7,900 stores, there has been a Dollar Tree Plus section since 2019 where items sell for three dollars and five dollars.

➤OREGON SCOHOL BOARD BANS DISPLAYING POLITICAL, CONTROVERSIAL SYMBOLS IN THE CLASSROOM:  The Newberg, Oregon, school board voted this week to ban teachers from displaying, quote, "political, quasi-political or controversial" symbols or emblems in the classroom, the conservative majority on the board prevailing in the 4-3 vote. The policy initially banned Black Lives Matter and LBGT+ Pride symbols, but the language was broadened after public pushback and concerns about potential litigation. Newberg School Board vice chairman Brian Shannon, who introduced the measure, said it "shouldn't be controversial," stating, "We don’t pay our teachers to push their political views on our students. That’s not their place. Their place is to teach the approved curriculum[.]" The Oregon State Board of Education and the Newberg City Council are both opposed to the measure, as is the Newberg Education Association, a union that represents educators and staff in the district. The union said, "We cannot let this group of 4 impose their own political agenda, erode our rights, and strip our support of our students. Our educators are united in their goal to create classrooms where students can walk in and feel like they belong."


➤AMERICAN BUMBLEBEE MAY BE CLASSIFIED AS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES SOON:  The bumblebee may soon be considered endangered in the US. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) says the bumble population has diminished nearly 90 percent in the past two decades due to habitat destruction, pesticides, competition with honeybees, and climate change. The bumblebee has also completely vanished from eight states since 2002: Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming. As a result, the FWS say that adding the insect to the “threatened” or “endangered” species list under the 1973 act “may be warranted.” The FWS also notes, "Its loss will have considerable consequences to whole ecosystems and to crop production.”

➤GOOGLE’S NEW SEARCH RESULTS PAGE WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS WITH MORE (USEFUL) QUESTIONS:  Google is redesigning its search results page. The goal is to make the page more useful for users, and they’ll do this by showing you more questions, and the answers to those questions that you didn’t even realize you were looking for. The first way they’ll do this is with a “Things to know” module that will populate below the first Google information box. The module will contain aspects of the search that Google thinks you’ll find helpful. Google will also give you the option to “Refine this search,” or “Broaden this search,” and these sections contain related topics that fit either bill. Also, some search results are getting makeovers. For example, if you search for something Google thinks is about looking for inspiration, it will display visual and other dynamic results first. Visual search is already live, but the other chances will come in the next few months.

⚾CARDINALS' 17-GAME WINNING STREAK ENDS WITH LOSS TO BREWERS: The St. Louis Cardinals' 17-game winning streak came to an end last night with a 4-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. The hometown fans gave St. Louis a standing ovation after the defeat, which ended the longest MLB winning streak since the Cleveland Indians won 22 in a row in 2017.

 
⚾BREWERS RELIEVER WILLIAMS FRACTURES HAND BY PUNCHING WALL: Milwaukee Brewers reliever Devin Williams has a fractured right hand, his throwing hand, which he hurt when he drunkenly punched a wall after his team celebrated its NL Central title. The Brewers' president of baseball operations said before last night's game that Williams will likely need surgery, but there's what he called an "outside chance" of him being available for the World Series if Milwaukee gets that far in the postseason. Williams, the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year who is the team's main setup man for closer Josh Hader, said yesterday, "After our celebration, I went out to have a few drinks. On my way home, I was a little frustrated and upset, and I punched a wall." He apologized to the Brewers and their fans.

🏈VETERAN SHERMAN SIGNS WITH BUCCANEERS: Veteran cornerback Richard Sherman has signed on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with the team announcing the news yesterday and Sherman himself also revealing it on his new podcast. He reportedly signed a one-year, $2.25 million deal. The 33-year-old said he got his first call suggesting he join the Bucs from quarterback Tom Brady himself. Sherman said via PFF, "[Brady] reached out initially and just checked to see if I was in shape. . . . he reached out and said they may express interest. And obviously, he wanted to play with me."

➤CHIEFS COACH REID WITH TEAM FOR PRACTICE AFTER BRIEF HOSPITALIZATION SUNDAY: Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was with the team for a full-squad practice Wednesday, three days after he was briefly hospitalized. The 63-year-old Reid had begun feeling ill after the Chiefs' loss to the L.A. Chargers Sunday in unusually warm weather, and he was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for dehydration. He was released the next day and was back at the team facility on Tuesday, clearing the way for him to be there for yesterday's practice. Both Reid and the team declined to give information about his health, but Reid said, "I'm feeling great[.]"


➤OLYMPIC MEDAL-WINNING U.S. SWIMMER PLEADS GUILTY TO FELONY IN JANUARY 6TH CAPITOL ATTACK: Klete Keller, who won five swimming Olympic medals for the U.S., pled guilty to a felony charge yesterday for being among those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. He faces 21 to 27 months in prison. The 39-year-old pled guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding -- Congress' certification of President Biden's victory -- and agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of his plea deal. Keller competed in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, winning two golds and a silver as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay team, and two individual bronze medal in the 400-meter freestyle.
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