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Friday, November 5, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Vote Expected Today on Build Back Better Plan

The House is expected to vote today on President Biden's Build Back Better social and climate legislation and the bipartisan infrastructure bill, CNN reported late last night. However, House Democratic leaders had been hoping to vote on the economic package last night, and earlier hoped-for votes have also been delayed, so it remains to be seen if the votes will happen. Whether they do will depend on if the Democrats have the votes to pass the bills.


➤FED. GOV'T. MANDATES COVID VACCINATION OR WEEKLY TESTING FOR LARGE COMPANIES: The administration issued new requirements yesterday that Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to either be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by January 4th or be tested weekly for the virus and wear a mask in the workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations will affect some 84 million workers at medium and large businesses. OSHA left open the possibility of expanding the requirement to smaller businesses.

➤JUSTICE DEPT. SUES TEXAS OVER NEW ELECTION LAWS: The Justice Department sued Texas yesterday over parts of its new election laws that were in sweeping legislation signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott. The Justice Department is challenging the provisions regarding mail-in voting requirements and voter assistance, which it says violate federal civil rights protections. Texas is among at least 18 states that have enacted new voting restrictions since the 2020 election, part of a national Republican campaign to tighten voting laws.

➤JUROR DISMISSED FROM RITTENHOUSE MURDER TRIAL OVER JOKE ABOUT POLICE SHOOTING: A juror was dismissed from Kyle Rittenhouse's Wisconsin murder trial yesterday after making a joke to a court security officer about the police shooting of Jacob Blake, the August 2020 incident that set off the at-times violent protests in Kenosha during which the then 17-year-old Rittenhouse shot three people, two of them fatally. Judge Bruce Schroeder said Thursday that the joke showed bias that, quote, "would seriously undermine the outcome" of the trial. The juror, who didn't want to repeat the joke in court, objected, saying, "It wasn’t anything to do with the case. It wasn’t anything to do with Kyle." The trial began this week.

ANALYST WHO WORKED ON STEELE DOSSIER ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF LYING TO FBI: An analyst who worked on the Steele dossier, the largely unverified claims of former President Donald Trump's links to Russia from the 2016 election, was arrested Thursday on charges that he lied to the FBI. The arrest of Igor Danchenko came as part of the investigation by John Durham, the special counsel appointed by Trump’s Justice Department. The indictment charges Danchenko lied to FBI agents in 2017 about some of the sources of information he gave to former British spy Christopher Steele. It claims Danchenko told agents he hadn't used any information from a PR executive who was a longtime Hillary Clinton supporter when he had, and that Danchenko made comments about getting an anonymous phone call that he believed was from a prominent Russian-American businessman that he didn't get. The FBI used information from the Steele dossier as part of its legal argument for secret government surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, during the 2016 election.

➤JURY SELECTION BEGINS IN TRIAL OF GHISLAINE MAXWELL, JEFFREY EPSTEIN'S EX-GIRLFRIEND: Jury selection began yesterday in the federal sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the ex-girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, a process that is expected to take weeks. The 59-year-old Maxwell is accused of recruiting underage teenagers for Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to 2004. She's been held in federal jail in Brooklyn since being arrested in July 2020, with bail requests rejected several times. Epstein was found dead in his federal jail cell in August 2019, his death ruled a suicide, as he awaited his own trial on charges of sex trafficking of minors.

➤FUNERAL AT WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL TODAY FOR COLIN POWELL: A funeral is being held at Washington National Cathedral today for retired General, former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who died on October 18th at age 84 of complications of Covid-19. President Biden is expected to attend, but won't be speaking at the service. Eulogies will be delivered by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Richard Armitage, who was deputy secretary under Powell, and Powell’s son Michael Powell.

➤DWAYNE JOHNSON VOWS TO STOP USING REAL FIREARMS IN HIS FILMS: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has vowed to stop using firearms on movie sets in the wake of the shooting death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The action star and Seven Bucks Productions co-founder told Variety Wednesday (Nov. 3rd), “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you, without an absence of clarity here, that any movie that we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions — any movie, any television show, or anything we do or produce — we won’t use real guns at all.”

He continued, “We’re going to switch over to rubber guns, and we’re going to take care of it in post[-production]. We’re not going to worry about the dollars. We won’t worry about what it costs.”

Johnson added that in the wake of a tragedy, “the most prudent thing and the smartest thing to do is just pause for a second and really re-examine how you’re going to move forward.”




🕔19 STATES WANT YEAR-ROUND DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME: This is the weekend when Daylight Saving Time ends and we "fall back," setting our clocks back one hour early Sunday to return to regular time. But there are a significant number of states that would like for us to never have to do that again by making Daylight Saving Time permanent year-round. Jim Reed of the National Conference of State Legislatures told USA Today, "In the last four years, 19 states have enacted legislation or passed resolutions to provide for year-round Daylight Saving Time, if Congress were to allow such a change, and in some cases, if surrounding states enact the same legislation." Because of the 1966 Uniform Time Act, unless Congress acts, states can only opt out of Daylight Saving Time, putting them on standard time permanently, which is what Arizona and Hawaii have done, but not put themselves on Daylight Saving Time permanently. Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has been a longtime advocate of permanent Dalight Saving Time, with a press release from his office contending the advantages would include a reduction in car crashes, fewer cardiac problems and stroke, improved mental health, less crime, increased economic growth and increases in physical fitness.

💻MEMES REPORTEDLY LOWER YOUR STRESS LEVELS: Good news – your chronic social media scrolling habits may actually be doing your health some good! A new study reports that memes have helped Americans deal with stress related to the pandemic, noting that those who viewed memes felt “calmer and more content” afterwards. The study even said that those who viewed memes that were directly about the COVID epidemic felt more confident in their ability to deal with the crisis. The positive responses are attributed to the feeling of connection and understanding that memes provide.

🐶DOGS EXPERIENCE WORSE SEPARATION ANXIETY WHEN WITH ANOTHER ANIMAL: Thinking about getting your dog a companion pet for when you are away? Maybe it's time to reconsider – a new Swiss study recorded canine’s behavior while their owners were away, and the results show that animal companionship may do more harm than good. Academics filmed dogs left at home alone, both with and without another dog, and reported that barking and physical activity were more common in a multi-dog house than a single-dog house. Signs of separation anxiety included baring, howling, digging, and destructive chewing—all of which were reported in even well-trained dogs.

🎄ROCKEFELLER CENTER CHRISTMAS TREE COMING FROM MARYLAND FOR FIRST TIME: For the first time ever, the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in NYC will come from Maryland. The Norway spruce is being delivered by truck from outside the tri-state area, scheduled to arrive in NYC on Saturday, November 13th. Once it is wrapped in more than 50,000 multi-colored lights and topped off with a Swarovski crystal star, it will be lit up for all to enjoy on December 1st.


🏈COLTS DEFEAT JETS 45-30, JETS QB WHITE LEAVES WITH INJURED ARM: The Indianapolis Colts defeated the New York Jets 45-30 at home last night, with Colts quarterback Carson Wentz throwing for 272 yards and three touchdowns and running back Jonathan Taylor rushing for 172 yards and two scores, including a 78-yard touchdown run. The Jets lost quarterback Mike White, who left in the first quarter after two fingers on his right hand went numb and he couldn't grip the ball. That happened four days after White threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns in his first NFL start as he stepped in for Zach Wilson, who has an injured knee. Josh Johnson came in at quarterback after White left the game.

🏈BROWNS' BECKHAM JR. KEPT AWAY FROM PRACTICE FOR SECOND DAY: The Cleveland Browns' Odell Beckham Jr. was kept away from practice for a second straight day Thursday  as the organization tries to decide what they will do with him. Beckham was told by the team not to go to practice Wednesday after his father shared an 11-minute video on social media highlighting plays in which his son was open and quarterback Baker Mayfield didn't throw to him or missed him. Media reports say it's likely Beckham's time with the Browns is done.

🏒ISLANDERS' NELSON, BRUINS' BERGERON BOTH SCORE FOUR GOALS: The New York Islanders' Brock Nelson and the Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron both scored four goals in their teams' wins last night (November 4th). Nelson scored a career-high four goals in the Islanders' 6-2 defeat of the Montreal Canadiens, and Bergeron scored four goals in Boston's 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

⚾GIANTS CATCHER POSEY RETIRES: San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey made it official yesterday (November 4th), announcing that he was retiring after 12 years, all of them with the Giants. The 34-year-old said he was leaving the game because he wanted to spend more time with his family and because of the toll on his body of playing catcher. Posey, a seven-time All-Star, helped the Giants win three World Series, in 2010, 2012 and 2014, was the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year, and won the 2012 NL MVP.


🏀NBA ASKS FOR PROBE OF SUNS AFTER RACIST, MISOGYNIST ALLEGATIONS AGAINST OWNER SARVER: The NBA has asked a law firm to investigate the Phoenix Suns after an ESPN report detailed allegations of racist, misogynistic and hostile incidents by Robert Sarver over the 17 years he's owned the team. The Suns denied the report in a statement yesterday (November 4th) and Sarver denied the allegations via his attorneys in the ESPN report. Among the allegations are that Sarver repeated the the n-word several times when he was upset that the Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green used the n-word during a 2016 game, that he passed around a photo of his wife in a Suns bikini to employees, and that he has a history of, quote, "making lewd comments in all-staff meetings."





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