News N Things
GOP leader Kevin McCarthy spoke for 8 hours to delay the vote on Build Back Better; the Rittenhouse case is never-ending; Americans are reeling from inflation.
Top 3 Stories:
1) GOP Leader McCarthy Speaks for 8 Hours:
“Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, has commandeered the House floor for more than eight hours—well into Friday morning—prompting Democrats to postpone the vote on President Biden’s spending bill until at least later Friday morning. As of 5 a.m., McCarthy seemed no worse for the wear, and continued to rattle off stories about the time he won $5,000 in lotto as a younger man and the problems that the country faces, including inflation, migration and the lack of bipartisanship at the Capitol. At one point the minority leader asked how President Biden can be trusted with $5 trillion after the debacle in Afghanistan. The speech was not without some levity. McCarthy said Congress should hold "block parties" to close the divide between Democrats and Republicans. He even mentioned a potluck but said that could be hard to pull off due to inflation. The line drew a laugh from tired members who were still there at about 4:30 a.m. His speech was official longer than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 2018 marathon in defense of DREAMers, which was eight hours and seven minutes long. The speech ended at about 5:10 a.m.” (FOX NEWS)
2) Jury in Rittenhouse Trial Continue Deliberating:
“The jurors in the Derek Chauvin murder trial in Minneapolis deliberated in April for 10 hours. In 1995, a jury in the O.J. Simpson trial delivered a verdict in less than four hours. The jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse case has been talking for 23 hours — and counting. After three days, the seven women and five men who are deciding Mr. Rittenhouse’s fate in a Kenosha courtroom have yet to reach a consensus, a strikingly long deliberation that suggests the jurors may have clashed on the weighty decisions before them. Mr. Rittenhouse, 18, is on trial for first-degree intentional homicide and other charges after fatally shooting two men and maiming another during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wis., in August 2020. He faces the possibility of life in prison. Mark Richards, a lawyer for Mr. Rittenhouse, seemed confounded by the length of the deliberations after court broke for the day on Thursday. “They’re either working to get a consensus — maybe they’re dead-even split,” Mr. Richards said of the jury as he left the courthouse. Throughout the building, there were few certainties, but much speculation.” (NEW YORK TIMES)
3) How Americans are Reacting to Inflation:
“Many Americans are suffering from sticker shock after seeing prices rise in recent months. A new survey from Country Financial finds that 88% of Americans are highly concerned about inflation. That’s as consumer prices soared to a more than 30-year record high in October, as measured by a 6.2% year-over-year change to the Consumer Price Index, a government measurement of how prices change over time. However, retail spending also rose faster than expected in October. The poll by Country Financial, conducted between Oct. 22 and 25, found that many Americans do plan to cut back their spending. Of the 1,031 adults ages 18 and up surveyed, 48% said they plan to reduce their spending on restaurant meals and takeout. Moreover, 30% said they plan to skip upgrading their personal technology devices, 29% said they will purchase less clothing, 20% are delaying or canceling travel plans and 13% plan to drive less.” (CNBC)
Daily Verse:
1 John 4:13-15 NIV We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
The President’s Schedule:
3:15 p.m. E.T. - The President pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey.
This Day in History
“On November 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln delivers one of the most memorable speeches in American history. In fewer than 275 words, Lincoln brilliantly and movingly reminded a war-weary public why the Union had to fight, and win, the Civil War.” (HISTORY)
Daily Quote:
“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”– Babe Ruth
Daily Joke:
Teslas do not have “New Car” smell… They have an Elon Musk.
Environment:
BRASIL IS RAMPING UP DEFORESTATION: “The area deforested in Brazil’s Amazon reached a 15-year high after a 22% jump from the prior year, according to official data published Thursday. The National Institute for Space Research’s Prodes monitoring system showed the Brazilian Amazon lost 13,235 square kilometers of rainforest in the 12-month reference period from Aug. 2020 to July 2021. That’s the most since 2006. The 15-year high flies in the face of Bolsonaro government’s recent attempts to shore up its environmental credibility, having made overtures to the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden and moved forward its commitment to end illegal deforestation at the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow this month. The space agency’s report, released Thursday, is dated Oct. 27 — before talks in Glasgow began. The Brazilian Amazon hadn’t recorded a single year with more than 10,000 square kilometers of deforestation in over a decade before Jair Bolsonaro’s term started. in Jan. 2019. Between 2009 and 2018, the average was 6,500 square kilometers. Since then, the annual average leapt to 11,405 square kilometers, and the three-year total is an area bigger than the state of Maryland.” (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Culture:
SETTLEMENT REACHED WITH FAMILY OF ELIJAH MCCLAIN: “Attorneys representing Elijah McClain's family and the City of Aurora have reached an agreement that the city will pay out $15 million in the civil rights lawsuit filed over McClain's violent arrest and subsequent death, an official briefed on the matter told ABC News. This will be the highest police settlement in the history of Colorado, the official said. The agreement comes over a year after the family filed a 106-page federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Colorado that accused several first responders involved in the incident of violating Elijah McClain's civil rights and causing his death. The money will be divided between Elijah McClain's mother and father. ABC News has reached out to their attorneys for comment. McClain, 23, was confronted by police on Aug. 24, 2019, while walking home from a convenience store after a 911 caller told authorities they had seen someone "sketchy" in the area. McClain was unarmed and wearing a ski mask at the time. His family says he had anemia, a blood condition that can make people feel cold more easily.” (ABC NEWS)
Sports:
WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION THREATENS CHINA: “The Women's Tennis Association is prepared to pull its tournaments out of China if they are not satisfied with the response to the sexual assault allegation made by former doubles world number one Peng Shuai, chief executive Steve Simon has told U.S. media. Peng has not been seen in public since she accused a former vice-premier of China, Zhang Gaoli, of sexual assault in a social media post that was deleted half an hour later. Neither Zhang or the Chinese government have commented on Peng's allegation and discussion of the topic has been blocked on China's heavily censored internet. Concern among the global tennis community and beyond has grown over Peng's safety and whereabouts since her allegation, with the WTA calling for an investigation and the world's top players tweeting #WhereIsPengShuai. Simon upped the ante considerably on Thursday when he told various U.S. media outlets that the tour would consider pulling tournaments worth tens of millions of dollars out of China. "We're definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it," Simon told CNN in an interview.” (REUTERS)
Health:
BIDEN MISSES OPPORTUNITY FOR COVID ORIGIN CLARITY: “White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday claimed President Biden didn’t ask Chinese President Xi Jinping about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic that’s killed 766,000 Americans because Xi already knows he wants transparency on that topic. “The president’s push for the Chinese to be — participate more, provide more transparent data and information, we’ve never held back on that front. We’ve argued for it publicly. We’ve argued for it at every level,” Psaki said at a press briefing. “The president did talk in his meeting about the importance of transparency, which is — this is exactly an example of.” Still, Biden on Monday raised with Xi more than a dozen more specific topics in a 3 1/2-hour virtual summit, despite his stance on most of them already being known. Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy pressed Psaki, “did he ask President Xi to cooperate specifically with this US intel agency-led investigation into the origins of COVID?” Psaki deflected, “It’s clear that that’s what we want. That’s what we’ve been pressing on. I don’t have any more to read out for you from the meeting.”’ (NEW YORK POST)