News N Things
The Rittenhouse case is set to end today; President Biden will speak with Chinese President Xi tonight; the complicated relationship between Kamala and Joe.
Top 3 Stories:
1) The Rittenhouse Verdict:
“Lawyers in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged in the killing of two people during unrest in Kenosha, Wis., last year, are set to make closing arguments Monday, with the high-profile case expected to head to the jury later in the day. Mr. Rittenhouse, now 18 years old, faces charges of intentional, reckless and attempted homicide, and reckless endangerment and possession of a firearm as a minor. The case concerns his actions the night of Aug. 25, 2020, as he patrolled the city with a small medical kit and an AR-15-style rifle amid unrest after the police shooting of Jacob Blake. He has pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys have argued he acted in self-defense. Mr. Rittenhouse, who lived in Antioch, Ill., at the time, has been free on $2 million in bail, mostly raised by supporters online. During the trial, Mr. Rittenhouse testified in his own defense, at one point breaking down on the stand. He later stated that he feared for his life as Joseph Rosenbaum, the first person he shot and killed, ran toward him and had his hand on the barrel of his rifle as Mr. Rittenhouse began firing.” (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
2) President Xi and President Biden Hold a Meeting:
“Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping have slurped noodles together in Beijing. They’ve shared deep thoughts about the meaning of America during an exchange on the Tibetan plateau. They’ve gushed to U.S. business leaders about developing a sincere respect for each other. The American president has held up his relationship with Xi as evidence of his heartfelt belief that good foreign policy starts with building strong personal relationships. But as the two leaders prepare to hold their first presidential meeting on Monday, the troubled U.S.-China relationship is demonstrating that the power of one of Biden’s greatest professed strengths as a politician — the ability to connect — has its limits. “When it comes to U.S.-China relations, the gaps are so big and the trend lines are so problematic that the personal touch can only go so far,” said Matthew Goodman, who served as an Asia adviser on the National Security Council in the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations. White House officials have set low expectations for Monday’s virtual meeting: No major announcements are expected and there’s no plan for the customary joint statement by the two countries at the end, according to administration officials.” (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
3) Tensions Between Kamala and Joe:
“Worn out by what they see as entrenched dysfunction and lack of focus, key West Wing aides have largely thrown up their hands at Vice President Kamala Harris and her staff -- deciding there simply isn't time to deal with them right now, especially at a moment when President Joe Biden faces quickly multiplying legislative and political concerns. The exasperation runs both ways. Interviews with nearly three dozen former and current Harris aides, administration officials, Democratic operatives, donors and outside advisers -- who spoke extensively to CNN -- reveal a complex reality inside the White House. Many in the vice president's circle fume that she's not being adequately prepared or positioned, and instead is being sidelined. The vice president herself has told several confidants she feels constrained in what she's able to do politically. And those around her remain wary of even hinting at future political ambitions, with Biden's team highly attuned to signs of disloyalty, particularly from the vice president. She's a heartbeat away from the presidency now. She could be just a year away from launching a presidential campaign of her own, given doubts throughout the political world that Biden will actually go through with a reelection bid in 2024, something he's pledged to do publicly and privately. Or she'll be a critical validator in three years for a President trying to get the country to reelect him to serve until he's 86.” (CNN)
Daily Verse:
Proverbs 19:1 NIV Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse.
The President’s Schedule:
3:00 p.m. E.T. - The President signs into law his Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, H.R. 3684, the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act”,
7:45 p.m. E.T. - The President meets virtually with His Excellency Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China.
This Day in History
“On November 15, 1867, the first stock ticker is unveiled in New York City. The advent of the ticker ultimately revolutionized the stock market by making up-to-the-minute prices available to investors around the country. Prior to this development, information from the New York Stock Exchange, which has been around since 1792, traveled by mail or messenger.” (HISTORY)
Daily Quote:
“It's kind of fun to do the impossible." - Walt Disney
Daily Joke:
Dad, can you tell me what a solar eclipse is? No sun.
Environment:
TUVALU CALLS FOR AID: “A South Pacific island nation at risk of from rising sea levels has expressed disappointment with the international climate pact struck last week after it was watered down at the last minute. Tuvalu’s Foreign Minister Simon Kofe on Monday said the deal signed over the weekend should have pledged to the “phasing out” instead of the “phasing down” of carbon emissions. The agreement’s wording was changed just before the conclusion of the United Nations’ COP26 climate summit after interventions by India and China, two of the world’s largest producers of greenhouse gases. “We were disappointed with the last minute change to the language around coal from ‘phasing out’ to ‘phasing down.’ I think we were quite disappointed, as well as other Pacific island countries, with that last minute change,” Kofe told Reuters on Monday following the pact sealed on Saturday. Tuvalu, a nation of 12,000 people and nine small low-lying islands, may soon become uninhabitable as sea levels rise 0.2 inches a year, a rate higher than the global average. Its highest point stands at 15 feet, meaning any rise in sea levels will wash away parts of the islands and make surrounding areas unfit for living. Other island nations in the Pacific face the same existential threat.” (NBC NEWS)
Culture:
“A 9-year-old who was injured at the Astroworld Festival has died, attorneys representing the boy's family confirmed to CBS News. Ezra Blount was trampled during the deadly crowd surge, according to a lawsuit filed by his family. "The Blount family tonight is grieving the ultimate, incomprehensible loss of their precious young son," the attorneys said in a statement. "This should not have been the outcome of taking their son to a concert, a joyful celebration. Ezra's death is absolutely heartbreaking. We are committed to seeking answers and justice for the Blount family. But tonight we stand in solidarity with the family, in grief, and in prayer." Attorneys for the family said last week that Blount had been placed in a medically induced coma to combat severe brain, liver and kidney trauma … The boy's family, who are suing Travis Scott and other concert organizers for negligence, said in the lawsuit that the boy was "kicked, stepped on, and trampled, and nearly crushed to death" during the surge. Blount is the 10th person to die after attending the festival last weekend.” (CBS NEWS)
Sports:
DEAF HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM IS UNDEFEATED: “The athletic program at the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, has suffered its share of humiliations and harassment over the years. There was the time that a visiting team’s volleyball coach mocked the deaf players. And another time a hearing coach for the girls basketball team listened as opponents discussed how embarrassing it would be to lose to a deaf team. It did not help morale that the varsity football team, the Cubs, recently suffered seven straight losing seasons, leaving the school with the sinking feeling that opposing football teams came to the Riverside campus expecting an easy win. No one is disparaging the Cubs anymore. This season, they are undefeated — the highest ranked team in their Southern California division. Through 11 games, they have not so much beaten their opponents as flattened them. On Friday night, the second round of the playoffs, the Cubs trounced the Desert Christian Knights, 84-12, a score that would have been even more lopsided had the Cubs not shown mercy by putting their second-string players in for the entire second half. Led by the school’s physical education teacher, Keith Adivers fly past defenses, averaging 17 yards per catch. The quarterback doubles as the team’s leading rusher, with 22 touchdowns on the season. A system of coded hand signals among tight-knit teammates and coaches confounds opponents with its speed and efficiency.” (NEW YORK TIMES)
Health:
THE FIRST ANTI-VACCINE MOVEMENT: “In the early 19th century, British people finally had access to the first vaccine in history, one that promised to protect them from smallpox, among the deadliest diseases of the era. Many Britons were skeptical of the vaccine, however, with fears extending well beyond the fatigue and sore arm that go along with many modern shots. The side effects they dreaded were far more terrifying: blindness, deafness, ulcers, a gruesome skin condition called “cowpox mange” — even sprouting hoofs and horns. With that, the world’s first anti-vaccination movement was born. Just as quickly as doctors heralded Edward Jenner’s revolutionary 1796 discovery that the deadly smallpox virus could be prevented with a cowpox vaccine, some Brits met the news with a superstitious distrust that bordered on hysteria. Opposition to vaccination would grow and evolve over the next 100 years to become one of the largest mass movements of 19th-century Britain. People refused the vaccine for medical, religious and even political reasons — plunging the nation into a debate that would rage for generations and foreshadow current coronavirus vaccine conspiracy theories.” (WASHINGTON POST)