Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Biden To Announce Student Loan Foregiveness


President Biden will today announce forgiveness of up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for many borrowers, and extend the moratorium on loan payments that began in March 2020 due to the pandemic and has been extended six times already to January, according to media reports yesterday. The loan forgiveness will be limited to those earning less than $125,000 a year. Some progressives and activists had wanted student loan debt cancellation of up to $50,000, but Biden opposed that much and proposed cancellation of up to $10,000 during his presidential campaign. Almost one-third of the more than 43 million Americans who have federal student debt owe less than $10,000 and more than half owe less than $20,000. The Republican National Committee blasted Biden's expected announcement yesterday, charging it would would unfairly burden lower-income taxpayers and those who have already paid off their student loans with paying college costs for the wealthy.


➤U.S. TO REPORTEDLY SEND ANOTHER $3 BILLION IN AID TO UKRAINE: The U.S. is expected to today announce another approximately $3 billion in aid to train and equip Ukrainian forces to fight for years to come, the Associated Press reported yesterday, citing U.S. officials. Unlike most of the previous assistance, the new funding is mostly intended to help Ukraine's defense in the medium to long term, according to the sources, who say the money will pay for contracts for drones, weapons and other equipment that may not be used in the fighting for a year or two. The package is also intended to reassure Ukrainian officials that the U.S. intends to continue its support. The announcement will come as the war marks six months today since Russia's invasion, and as Ukraine celebrates its independence day.
 

➤MORE THAN 100 CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS RECOVERED FROM MAR-A-LAGO IN JANUARY: More than 100 classified documents totaling more than 700 pages were recovered by the National Archives and Records Administration from an initial 15 boxes retrieved from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in January, according to a May letter made public on the National Archives' website yesterday. They included "special access program materials," some of the government's most highly classified secrets. The letter was from acting archivist Debra Steidel to a lawyer for Trump, saying the Biden administration wouldn't be honoring the former president's claims of executive privilege over the documents. It says the Justice Department had found, quote, "no precedent for an assertion of executive privilege by a former President against an incumbent President to prevent the latter" from getting presidential records from the National Archives that belong to the federal government. This took place months before the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month and retrieved more documents, including 11 sets of classified records.

➤TWO CONVICTED OF CONSPIRING TO KIDNAP MICHIGAN GOVERNOR WHITMER: Two men were convicted yesterday of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, four months after another jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision for Adam Fox or Barry Croft Jr., but acquitted two other men, leading to this second trial. Fox and Croft were convicted of two counts of conspiracy and attempts to use a weapon of mass destruction, with prosecutors saying they wanted to blow up a bridge to disrupt police if the abduction were carried out at Whitmer’s vacation home. The FBI broke up the plot, which came amid armed protests in Michigan over Covid-19 restrictions. Fox and Croft could be sentenced to up to life in prison. Whitmer said in a statement, "Today’s verdicts prove that violence and threats have no place in our politics and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable."


➤EX-POLICE DETECTIVE PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL CHARGE IN BREONNA TAYLOR CASE: A former Louisville, Kentucky, police detective who helped falsify the search warrant that led to the March 2020 police raid at Breonna Taylor’s apartment that left the 26-year-old Black woman dead pled guilty to a federal conspiracy charge yesterday, with Kelly Goddlett admitting to conspiring with another Louisville police officer to falsify the warrant. Officers knocked down Taylor's door while executing the warrant, and when her boyfriend fired a shot that hit one of the officers as they came through the door, they returned fire, hitting Taylor multiple times. Federal prosecutors said Goodlett added a paragraph to the warrant saying a suspected drug dealer was using Taylor's apartment as his current address, even though she knew it was false that a postal inspector had verified that the suspected dealer was receiving packages at her apartment. Three former Louisville officers were also indicted on federal criminal civil rights charges earlier this month in the case.
 
➤MODERNA SEEKS FDA APPROVAL FOR UPDATED COVID BOOSTER: Moderna asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday for approval of its updated Covid-19 booster, a bivalent vaccine that combines the original vaccine with one that targets omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. They're seeking approval to give the vaccine to those age 18 and older. Their application comes a day after Pfizer submitted its request for approval for its own bivalent Covid vaccine booster for those age 12 and older. White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said recently that the bivalent boosters should be available to the public in early- to mid-September if the FDA swiftly gives its approval.

➤WHISTLEBLOWER TRASHES TWITTER’S SECURITY MEASURES: A whistleblower has accused Twitter of lying to the public about the security measures it has in place to fight spam and hackers who target its users. He also says the social media company lied to erstwhile buyer Elon Musk about the number of fake accounts that are allowed to post on Twitter. Peter Zatco, Twitter’s head of security until he was fired in January, filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with copies to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.


➤GAS PRICES DROPPED FOR 70 DAYS STRAIGHT: Gasoline prices at the pump have fallen for 70 straight days, reaching an average $3.89 nationwide for a gallon of regular yesterday. That’s down from $5.02 in mid-June but still 73 cents higher than the price a year ago.

💲LABOR DAY SALES HAVE ALREADY STARTED: Good news for bargain-hunters. Retailers eager to get rid of surplus merchandise are starting their Labor Day sales early. Prices are already getting cut, especially on summer clothing, appliances and outdoor furniture, according to CNBC. Labor Day this year falls on September 5th.

➤STUDY...LIFE EXPECTANCY DEPENDS ON THE STATE YOU LIVE IN:  Want to live longer? Move to Hawaii! A recent report from the CDC shows life expectancy fluctuates from state to state, and that Hawaiians have the highest life expectancy. Hawaii, Washington, and Minnesota top the list, and Mississippi, West Virginia, and Louisiana came last. In fact, a Hawaiian will live, on average, nine years longer than a Mississippian.  Differences in lifestyle could be a contributing factor, and women tend to outlive men by an average of five years.

➤SOME RICH GUY’S SUPERYACHT SANK LIKE A STONE: Italian Coast Guard personnel caught dramatic video of a 130-foot superyacht sinking like a stone off the coast of Italy last weekend. All five crew members and four passengers were rescued before it went down. The owner of the yacht, which was called My Saga, was not identified.



🏀DURANT STAYING WITH NETS AFTER HAVING DEMANDED TRADE: Kevin Durant is staying with the Brooklyn Nets, according to a statement from general manager Sean Marks yesterday that said, "We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn." Durant had asked for a trade on June 30th, and repeated that request to Nets governor Joe Tsai earlier this month, according to ESPN. Durant reportedly wanted Tsai to choose between him and the duo of Marks and head coach Steve Nash. But all three will be staying.

⚾PADRES' TATIS JR. APOLOGIZES TO TEAMMATES, FANS FOR 80-GAME SUSPENSION: San Diego Padres star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. apologized privately to his teammates and publicly to fans yesterday for his 80-game suspension after he tested positive for an anabolic steroid. The 23-year-old said during a news conference, "I'm really sorry for my mistakes. . . . There's no other one to blame than myself. . . . I made a mistake and I regret every single step I have taken." Tatis said after his August 12th suspension that he accidentally took a medication to treat ringworm that contained the banned substance. He clarified yesterday that he'd been dealing with a skin infection for some time, took some medication and tested positive soon after, but stated, "There’s no excuses. I need to do a way better job knowing what is going inside my body."

⚾ANGELS' OWNER MORENO EXPLORING SELLING MLB TEAM: Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno is exploring selling the MLB team, with it announced yesterday that he'd, quote, "initiated a formal process to evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the team." The 76-year-old Moreno said in the statement, "Although this difficult decision was entirely our choice and deserved a great deal of thoughtful consideration, my family and I have ultimately come to the conclusion that now is the time." Moreno, the first Mexican-American to become majority owner of a major league team, bought the franchise in 2003 from The Walt Disney Co. for $180 million. Forbes estimated in March that the Angels were worth $2.2 billion.

🏈ALABAMA GIVES SABAN NEW EIGHT-YEAR, $93.6 MILLION CONTRACT: Alabama head coach Nick Saban is getting a new eight-year contract worth at least $93.6 million, again making him the highest-paid coach in college football. The University of Alabama trustees compensation committee approved a one-year extension through February 2030 yesterday for Saban, who has led the Crimson Tide to six national titles.

⚾DODGERS PITCHER BUEHLER HAS SECOND TOMMY JOHN SURGERY: L.A. Dodgers star pitcher Walker Buehler underwent Tommy John surgery on his elbow and flexor tendon repair, the team said yesterday, ending his season and likely meaning he'll miss the 2023 season too as he recovers. It was the second Tommy John surgery for the 28-year-old, who first had it in 2015 after being drafted by the Dodgers. Buehler last pitched on June 10th, when he left a game with elbow discomfort. Since his first Tommy John surgery, Buehler has been one of the best pitchers in baseball, and was a key part of the Dodgers' 2020 World Series championship team.

➤EUROPE SUFFERING WORST DROUGHT IN 500 YEARS: Europe is facing its worst drought in at least 500 years, according to a report from the European Union. The people who live in two-thirds of the continent are living under an alert about its consequences. The mighty Rhine River is so low that oil and coal shipping along the waterway has been reduced. The Danube River has dropped in depth enough to reveal the rotting hulks of dozens of World War II warships, still loaded with ammunition and explosives. The ships were sunk off a Serbian port on the river by the Nazis as they retreated from Soviet forces in 1944.

Extreme drought and heat have also struck China as well. A heat wave has been broiling a wide swath of southern China for 70 straight days, breaking modern records. Drought conditions have forced power cuts to some of the nation’s industrial hubs.



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