Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Biden, Putin Talk During Video Call


NO BREAKTHROUGH REACHED: President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a two-hour video call Tuesday focused on the escalating crisis driven by Russia massing tens of thousands of troops along the border with Ukraine in a potential prelude to an invasion. No breakthroughs were reached, but Biden made clear that Russia will face painful sanctions that will do real harm to its economy if it invades. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden also told Putin the U.S. would, quote, "provide additional defensive material to the Ukrainians" in response to an escalation. At the same time, the U.S. emphasized the need for diplomacy and de-escalation of the crisis. For their part, Russian foreign adviser Yuri Ushakov said the Russian troops, quote, "are on their own territory, and they don’t threaten anyone." He also dismissed possible sanctions, telling reporters, "Sanctions aren’t something new, they have been in place for a long time and will not have any effect." Putin wanted guarantees from Biden that an expansion of NATO would never include Ukraine, which is not something the U.S. or NATO would agree to pledge.


➤COVID VACCINE MANDATE FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTORS BLOCKED BY JUDGE: In the latest legal action stopping a Biden administration Covid-19 vaccine mandate, a federal judge yesterday blocked the enforcement nationwide of a mandate for employees of federal contractors. The order came in response to a lawsuit from several contractors and seven states, with U.S. District Judge R. Stan Baker finding the states are likely to succeed in their claim that President Biden exceeded authorization from Congress when he issued the requirement in September. A White House spokeswoman said the Justice Department would continue to legally defend the mandate. All three of the administration's mandates affecting the private sector have now been put on hold by the courts, the other two applying to businesses with 100 or more employees and health care workers.

💸CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS REACH DEAL TO RAISE DEBT CEILING WITHOUT GOP VOTES: Congressional leaders, including Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, reached what AP described as an "elaborate" deal yesterday that allows Democrats to raise the debt ceiling, avoiding worries about another potential federal default, without any votes from Republicans. The House passed legislation almost entirely along party lines hours later to begin the days-long process. It basically includes a provision to fast-track the debt limit process into an unrelated Medicare bill that will prevent payment cuts to doctors and other health care providers. Now passed by the House, it will go to the Senate, and if the Medicare bill becomes law, it will open the process for the Senate to raise the debt ceiling through following legislation with only a majority vote.

➤JAN. 6 COMMITTEE THREATENS TO HOLD MEADOWS IN CONTEMPT AFTER ENDS COOPERATION: The leaders of the House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol threatened yesterday to hold former President Donald Trump's last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in contempt after his attorney said Meadows would stop cooperating with the panel. The attorney said the about-face was because the committee, quote, "has no intention of respecting boundaries" about questions Trump claims are subject to executive privilege, and because he'd learned the panel had subpoenaed a third-party communications provider that he said would include "intensely personal" information.
  • Meanwhile, an attorney for longtime Trump friend and confidante Roger Stone said Stone won't cooperate with the committee and will claim his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.


➤JUSSIE SMOLLETT WAS IN CONTACT WITH OSUNDAIRO BROTHER LEADING UP TO ATTACK:  It was revealed yesterday  that Jussie Smollett kept in contact with Abimbola Osundairo -- one of the brothers who allegedly helped him stage a fake assault, in the hours leading up to the attack.

Prosecutors have suggested that the actor sent Osundairo text messages to coordinate the upcoming fake attack. Smollett testified that he was only keeping Osundairo up to date on his flight because they planned to work out together that night.

Smollett testified that he also shared information about his flight with public Instagram stories to all of his followers. He said,“There was no fake attack. … There was an update to my over 5 million followers."

When Smollett was asked about a phone call between him and Osundairo at 12:49 a.m. on January 29th, he said said they discussed rescheduling their workout session for the next morning and that Osundairo directed him to “eat four eggs” as part of his nutrition and fitness plan.

Meanwhile, a court reporter alleged that a special prosecutor by the name of Dan Webb would say the “N-word” as he read Jussie’s text messages aloud. Jussie told Webb, “can you spell or say the N word out of respect for every African American in this room? you’ve been saying that word a lot.”

Special prosecutor Dan Webb reportedly replied, “I don’t intend to do that [sir].. you can read your messages aloud.”    Jussie then proceeded to read his own message.


➤INSTAGRAM DEBUTS FEATURES THAT ENCOURAGES TEENS TO TAKE A BREAK: Instagram debuted a new feature yesterday that encourages teenagers to take breaks from using the social media platform. The "Take a Break" feature does so if teens have been on Instagram for a while, and also urges setting reminders to take more breaks going forward. "Take a Break" is one of the new efforts by Instagram owner Facebook -- now Meta Platforms -- as it deals with backlash over revelations about research suggesting Instagram use can lead to mental health and body-image problems in tweens and teens, particularly girls, and even eating disorders and suicidal thoughts. Instagram also said Tuesday that it will have a tool for parents early next year that lets them see how much time their teens spend on Instagram and set time limits. Additionally, it's developing features that will block people from tagging or mentioning teens that don’t follow them, prompt young users to other things if they've been focused on one topic for a while, and be stricter about what posts, hashtags and accounts it recommends.

📚PUBLISHER CANCELS CHRIS CUOMO'S BOOK: The bad news keeps coming for Chris Cuomo, with his publisher canceling his planned book. Custom House, an imprint of HarperCollins, told the Associated Press yesterday that it would not be publishing the book, called, Deep Denial, which was planned for next fall. It was supposed to be, quote, "a provocative analysis of the harsh truths that the pandemic and Trump years have exposed about America -- about our strength and our character -- and a roadmap of the work needed to make our ideals match reality." This comes after Cuomo was fired Saturday by CNN, where he was a primetime host, after he'd been suspended days earlier when new records showed he'd been more involved in his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's defense efforts against sexual harassment claims than he'd disclosed. Additionally, between his suspension and firing, a woman claimed that Cuomo had sexually harassed her, a charge that's believed to date from before his time at CNN, where he arrived in 2013. Cuomo has denied that charge.

🙏NAVY SEAL REPORTEDLY DIES AFTER TRAINING ACCIDENT: A U.S. Navy SEAL died yesterday after being injured during a training operation Saturday in Virginia, Fox News reported, citing the military news website, Task & Purpose. The member of SEAL Team 8 wasn't immediately identified because his family hadn't yet been contacted. The report said nine Navy SEALs died as the result of training accidents between 2013 and 2016, higher than the four killed in combat or in service-related incidents over the same time.

➤POLL SHOWS PERIL FOR DEMOCRATS:


😈NEW STUDY SHOWS WHY YOU SHOULD BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT USING EMOJIS AT WORK:  You might want to think twice before using emojis in a work setting. Wayne State University researchers found men and women often interpret common emojis quite differently, leading to misunderstandings. They also found women tend to interpret neutral or ambiguous facial emojis much more negatively than men. Other examples of emojis the genders interpret differently include the smiling face with horns and eyebrows raised face. The data also showed that men were slightly more likely to use emojis at work than women. Researcher Lara Jones says given the differences in communication preferences between groups, you should probably tune your emojis to the gender of your recipient (assuming it’s not someone you know super well) and avoid using emojis at all when there is a big power of culture gap between sender and recipient, at least until you get a better sense of the other person’s preferences and communication style.
 

🎉HOW TO NICELY SIGNAL TO PEOPLE THAT THE PARTY’S OVER:  Getting people to leave your house after a gathering can be tricky. Thomas P. Farley writes the nationally syndicated etiquette column Mister Manners, and he says, “Hosts never want to appear as though they are pulling the plug on an event that everyone is thoroughly enjoying. Nor does a host want to make guests feel that they have overstayed their welcome; one of the prime directives for any host is seeing to the comfort and enjoyment of all guests.” Diane Gottsman, an etiquette expert, says ideally guests should check the time and sense that the party's over without you having to imply it is in any way. She says if you are a guest, the rule of thumb is that you don’t want to be the first to leave and you certainly don’t want to be the last. Gottsman adds if you’re hosting, you can be politely transparent with your guests and say something like, “It’s been really nice to have all of you here together tonight. I am getting a bit sleepy from the exciting evening and I am going to have to call it a night very soon. I hope you have enjoyed yourself and I look forward to seeing you again soon.” Another thing you could do: send out an invitation of some kind that includes the start and end time of the party.

🎄CLAIMS OF CHRISTMAS TREE SHORTAGE ARE FALSE, EXPERTS SAY: You may have heard there’s going to be a Christmas tree shortage this year, but experts say that’s simply not true. Doug Hundley is a spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) and says, “The shortage talk has been going on for the fifth year now. And those of us at the NCTA have tried to put water on that fire, but it just doesn’t work.” Hundley adds that people keep the story up because between 1995 and 2015 there was an oversupply of trees, adding, “People were very accustomed to seeing hundreds of trees on tree lots all the way through Christmas Eve and even the week of Christmas. That’s not a good sign for us of course. It wasn’t that demand was down, we had just planted a lot of trees.” At the time, it meant the farmers couldn’t raise prices, and it made profit margins slim, so by the time the Great Recession hit, many cash-strapped farmers decided to plant fewer seedlings. The take home message: there is no Christmas tree shortage—there is just enough supply to match demand, whereas up until 2015, there were far more Christmas trees available then supply demanded.


➤CHINA SAYS U.S. DIPLOMATIC BOYCOTT VIOLATES OLYMPIC SPIRIT, PROMISES RESPONSE: China again criticized the U.S. yesterday for its planned diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over accused human rights violations, charging the U.S. is violating the Olympic spirit. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters the boycott is based on, quote, "lies and rumors," and "runs counter to the Olympic motto 'more united.'" China had also criticized the boycott after the White House announced it a day earlier, and Zhao repeated a promise to respond , saying, "The U.S. will pay a price for its practices. You may stay tuned for follow-ups."
 

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday that his country would join in the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games.

🏒BLACKHAWKS' KHAIRA RESPONSIVE AFTER SCARY HIT BY RANGERS' TROUBA: Chicago Blackhawks interim coach Derek King said after the team's 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers last night that forward Jujhar Khaira was "very responsive" and up and talking after a scary hit by the Rangers' Jacob Trouba that sent him to the hospital. The Blackhawks said Khaira, who was taken off the ice in a stretcher, suffered an "upper-body blow." In the second-period hit, Trouba appeared to drive his shoulder into Khaira's chin and he went down with his head bouncing hard on the ice and no sign of movement before medical personnel rushed in an he was stretchered off.
 

🏀BLAZERS MCCOLLUM HAS COLLAPSED LUNG, OUT INDEFINITELY: The Portland Trail Blazers' said yesterday that guard CJ McCollum had a collapsed right lung and would be out indefinitely. McCollum was hurt in the Blazers' game against the Boston Celtics Saturday. He'd been listed as having a rib contusion, but the team said a CT scan revealed the collapsed lung.

🏀UCONN'S BUECKERS, LAST SEASON'S WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR, OUT UP TO TWO MONTHS WITH FRACTURE: UConn star Paige Bueckers, who was last season's women's college basketball player of the year, suffered a tibial fracture just below her knee and will be out an estimated six to eight weeks, the school said yesterday. Bueckers was injured in the final minute of Sunday's win over Notre Dame when she stumbled and came down awkwardly and had to be carried off the court.

🏈TOM BRADY NAMED 'SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S 2021 SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR: Sports Illustrated named Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady its 2021 "Sportsperson of the Year" on Tuesday. It's the second time Brady has won the award, after previously doing so in 2005 after winning his first three Super Bowls in four years. This time it comes after a 2021 in which he won his seventh Super Bowl in February, this time with Tampa Bay in his first season with them after two decades with the New England Patriots. Continuing in 2021, Brady is leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns this season, and is among the favorites to be named the MVP.




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