Friday, November 11, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Who's In Charge?

The question of which political parties control one or both chambers of Congress for the next two years could take until early December to sort out. But whether Republicans have managed in the midterm elections to narrowly wrest majority control away from Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives could be resolved within the coming days as ballots are processed in 11 states. Republicans are projected to win 221 seats in the House, three more than the 218 needed to take the majority, while Democrats look like they will take 214 seats, according to NBC News. That estimate has a margin of error of seven seats. And election officials are still counting ballots in at least 31 races.

🏫ANOTHER JUDGE REULES BIDEN STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT IS NOT LEGAL: Hours after a federal court in Texas ruled against President Biden's student loan handout, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement on the administration's opinion toward the ruling. Jean-Pierre stated the administration "strongly disagrees" with the District Court's decision and an appeal has been filed by the Department of Justice. "The President and this Administration are determined to help working and middle-class Americans get back on their feet, while our opponents – backed by extreme Republican special interests – sued to block millions of Americans from getting much-needed relief," Jean-Pierre added. She said the Department of Education will hold onto the information of all 26 million borrowers who have applied for the handout, so their relief can be "quickly" processed once they "prevail in court."

➤AMAZON BEGINS COST-CUTTING EFFORT: Amazon.com Inc. AMZN 12.18%increase; green up pointing triangle Chief Executive Andy Jassy is leading a cost-cutting review of the tech giant and paring back on businesses at the company that haven’t been profitable.   As part of the monthslong cost-cutting review, Amazon’s leadership is closely evaluating its Alexa business, according to some of the people. The business has more than 10,000 employees and is a major recipient of investment capital, some of the people said. Internal documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal show that in some recent years Amazon’s devices unit, which includes Alexa, had an operating loss of more than $5 billion a year.  Amazon is currently considering whether it should focus on trying to add new capabilities to Alexa, a voice assistant available on a variety of Amazon devices. Adding capabilities would require greater investment, and many customers use Alexa for only a few functions, some of the people said.

➤INFLATION EASED A BIT IN OCTOBER: The Labor Department said that its consumer-price index increased 7.7% in October from the same month a year ago, the smallest 12-month increase since January. That’s down from 8.2% in September. Meanwhile, jobless claims ticked up last week but remained near historical lows, and home-price growth slowed sharply in the third quarter amid rising mortgage rates, the National Association of Realtors said. The inflation report likely leaves the Fed on track for a 0.5-percentage-point interest-rate rise in December, rather than the 0.75-point rise that some feared. U.S. stocks staged their biggest rally in more than two years. U.S. government bond yields marked their steepest one-day declines since 2009.

➤TROPICAL STORM CHURNS THROUGH SOUTH: Tropical depression Nicole is expected to make its way north through central Georgia and the Carolinas today and tomorrow. Nicole was downgraded from hurricane status shortly after making landfall on Florida’s eastern shore yesterday, but it still packed a punch. The storm brought powerful winds, heavy rains, and coastal flooding before crossing the state and heading north. Heavy damage was recorded along the Daytona Beach shoreline, and the historic downtown of St. Augustine was flooded. 



➤TRUMP LAWYERS SANCTIONED FOR ‘FRIVOLOUS’ CLINTON CONSPIRACY LAWSUIT: A federal judge has ordered four lawyers for Donald Trump to pay fines for filing a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and two dozen others that the former president claims conspired to undermine the 2016 presidential election. Judge Donald Middlebrook called the lawsuit a “200-page political manifesto” and said it contained “allegations that were either knowingly false or made in reckless disregard for the truth.” He previously dismissed the case, terming it frivolous. Trump’s lawyers said they would appeal.

Alex Jones
➤ANOTHER BIG BILL FOR ALEX JONES: Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was ordered to pay $473 million more to the families of victims of the Sandy Hook school massacre. Those are punitive damages on top of the nearly $1 billion he has already been ordered to pay for falsely claiming that the grieving parents were actors and that the massacre of 26 people at an elementary school in 2012 was a hoax perpetrated by the government to justify seizing guns from citizens.

➤DEMOCRAT KOTEK DECLARED VICTOR IN OREGON: Democratic nominee Tina Kotek will be the next governor of Oregon after being declared the winner of a three-way race. It’s the latest result to trickle in from the midterm elections. U.S. Senate races in Arizona and Nevada are among the results still being counted.



➤DIVERS DISCOVER A PIECE OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER: A team of divers working on a TV documentary found a sizeable chunk of the doomed space shuttle Challenger off the coast of Florida. NASA confirmed the discovery yesterday and said it was considering what actions would be appropriate. The Challenger exploded shortly after launch on January 28th, 1986, killing all seven crew members aboard. The divers were actually working on a documentary about the Bermuda Triangle for the History Channel.

➤SMARTPHONES ARE RESERVOIRS OF ALLERGENS ACCORDING TO NEW RESEARCH: Could your smartphone be exposing you to allergens? A new study presented at this year’s American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting showed elevated levels of cat and dog allergens and a few others on stimulated smartphone models. All allergens identified on the phone are known to “cause chronic airway and irritant symptoms.” The researchers say it is possible to clean them off of your device—the best way they found was to use a “combination [of] chlorhexidine/cetylpyridinium.” Researchers say their findings reveal one can be exposed to allergens from a source they likely haven’t considered—their phone—and say “if you have allergies or asthma, you may want to think about cleaning your smartphone more often to minimize exposure to these allergens and asthma triggers.”

🎄COVID AND THE HOLIDAYS: DO WE STILL NEED TO WORRY ABOUT GATHERING WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS?:  Since the beginning of the pandemic the holidays have been different. Last year, families were advised to get together only if everyone present was fully vaccinated and to consider masking up when indoors, and, whenever possible, eating outside. But things have largely changed this year—so what should we do? Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist, says COVID-19 cases are expected to surge again this winter, and there’s always a risk of getting infected (even if you’re fully vaccinated) when people gather. Dr. Thomas Russo, professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo says people should take some “precautions” before they get together for the holidays. He adds, “It starts with getting vaccinated and being up to date with all your boosters.” He also says you shouldn’t gather with anyone who has signs of being sick, and that it’s a good idea to mask up on public forms of transit.

⚾ASTROS’ VERLANDER DECLINES $25 MILLION: Justin Verlander has turned down a $25 million option with the Houston Astros to become a free agent after helping the team win this year’s World Series title.

🏈COMMANDERS OWNER SUED OVER ALLEGED COVERUP: The attorney general for the District of Columbia has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against the Washington Commanders team owner and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for allegedly covering up at least 40 sexual misconduct complaints by employees. Team owner Daniel Snyder not only lied about the team’s hostile workplace issues, he contributed to them, Attorney General Karl Racine alleges in the suit. According to the attorney general, the NFL “turned a blind eye to Snyder’s extensive efforts to silence or intimidate witnesses” during its own investigation. The D.C. lawsuit does not address the alleged incidents of misconduct, as they occurred outside D.C. Rather, it charges the team and the NFL with lying about them.

🏀LEBRON JAMES ON ‘DOUBTFUL’ LIST: LeBron James got relatively good health news yesterday. The leg pain that caused him to limp off the court early on Wednesday is due to a strained but not torn muscle. The L.A. Lakers officially list him as “doubtful” for Friday’s game against the Sacramento Kings.


🏀NIKE MAY BE DONE WITH KYRIE IRVING: Looks like there will be no more signature Kyrie Irving shoes from Nike. The brand “suspended” its relationship with the Brooklyn Nets star, who is also suspended from his day job after tweeting a link to an antisemitic hate film. Nike co-founder Phil Knight told CNBC that he doubts the deal will be revived.

🏈BAD DAY FOR THE LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: Yesterday was not a good day for the Las Vegas Raiders. Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow and tight end Darren Waller both were put on injured reserve due to lingering injuries. Then, linebacker Blake Martinez abruptly announced his retirement from football at the age of 28. He did not explain the reasons for his decision. Meanwhile, strong safety Johnathan Abram, who was released by the Raiders on Tuesday, has landed with the Green Bay Packers.


🏈NFL TNF:  Carolina Panthers 25, Atlanta Falcons 15





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