Beltway Insider: Biden/Thanksgiving, VP, Russia/Ukraine, Italy, China, COVID/Vaccine Totals, Idaho Murders

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President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, spent the week visiting local first responders, serving traditional thanksgiving meals to active-duty troops, and participating in the annual White House turkey pardon before joining his family in Nantucket.

 

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, for the period ending November 26, 2022 decreased by 0.2% to 41.8% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness decreased by .04% at 52.9% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.


Beltway Insider: Biden/G20, GOP/House, Russia/Ukraine, COVID/Vaccine Totals, Musk/Trump, Elizabeth Holmes


Biden Spends Thanksgiving with Troops

President Biden, who has yet to make a formal announcement of his intention to seek a second term, has continued to use every opportunity to present the accomplishments his administration has made over the last two years.

Americans who tuned to the annual Macy's Thanksgiving parade also received a message from the President and First Lady, received a surprise phone call during the MACY's Thanksgiving Day parade and he along with Frist Lady Dr. Jill Biden wished all Americans a Happy Thanksgiving, before visiting local first responders and serving active-duty troops and spent the Thanksgiving Holiday serving.

The president, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, has been a strong supporter of the military and first responder "who never take a day off."

VP in Philippines

Vice-president Kamala Harris, who has been in the Philippines, demonstrating the United States commitment to the nation especially as tensions rise in the South China seas.

Asked by reporters traveling with her on the upcoming election and if President Biden intends to run for a second term.

"Well, as the President said, he intends to run.  And if he does, I will be running with him.  And I have no doubt about the strength of the work that we have done over these past two years. We have delivered unprecedented relief for the American people through the height of the pandemic," she said in a White House Press statement.

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Back in Full Regale

The 96th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, made its way down Central Park West this week welcoming Americans coast to coast and drawing its largest televised audience in over five years. More than 27.4 million viewers tuned in to see fan favorite balloons SpongeBob Square Pants, Astronaut Snoopy, the Pillsbury Dough Boy and newcomer Smokey the Bear, who delighted parade goers who braved the chilly, but crystal clear, weather to cheer the return of the traditional start to the Holiday season.

Ukraine-Russian War

As the Ukraine-Russian war enters in ninth month, and winter bears down on the region, the possibility of a deeper chill settling in over the region as the newly elected House majority has sent a letter to President Biden explaining he should expect more scrutiny on the aid packages to the Ukraine.

The Washington Post reported, "House Republicans, who will hold a slim majority in the next Congress, have warned the Biden administration to expect far tougher oversight of the extensive military assistance provided to Ukraine in the war with Russia."

Gathering the necessary munitions to maintain an active and ongoing battle, against a nation once considered a superpower and with the ability to gather national industrialization to continue the production of critical elements needed to continue its attack, the Ukrainians have received a $20billion dollar aid package from the United States to further its fight against Russian and the annexation of its sovereignty.

For the newly elected republican house to warn the administration of its intention to scrutinize further aid packages is typical of GOP saber-rattling as they attempt to muscle the president as he recently requested an additional $37billion dollars.

"To date, the megaphone for demanding change has been controlled primarily by the GOP. Congress "will hold our government accountable for all of the funding for Ukraine," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)," reported The Washington Post.


World News: We All Need Politics...


Court Finds Russians Guilty in Downing MH17

A Dutch court announced this week a guilty verdict in the intentional downing in Malaysian Flight 17 as it passed through eastern Ukraine airspace in 2014 killing all 298 aboard.

"A panel of Dutch judges found three men guilty of murder over the shooting down of a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014 in a trial that sets a possible precedent for the pursuit of justice against Russia and the leaders of its war against Ukraine," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Aboard the flight as many as 100 scientists who were traveling to the 2014 AIDS conference in Melbourne Australia, including Dutch Professor Joep Lange, a prominent and popular researcher, and a former president of the International Aids Society (IAS).

The three men found guilty used a Russian made land to air missile, launched from an open field to bring down the jet.

Italian Landslide: Five known Dead; Countless Missing

The Italian Island of Ischia, a popular holiday tourist destination, has become a mass grave as mountains of earth broke away creating a massive mudslide that devoured and destroyed everything it its path.

"Nello Musumeci, the minister for civil protection, told Il Messaggero newspaper that Italy needed a "national plan of adaptation to climate change" to ensure buildings and infrastructure could withstand increasingly frequent phenomena such as heavy rainfall. "Securing our territory is the biggest public work we have to complete in the next few years. If we don't, we'll mourn yet more people," he said," BBC reported.

More than 6.1inches of rain fell over a six-hour period causing the unprecedented destruction. As the rains have abated the catastrophic loss is shocking as debris traveled down the hillside burying homes, people, automobiles and obliterating anything in its wake.

Five bodies have been recovered, and countless more are missing, including children.

Covid Surges Again, China Imposes Strict Lockdowns

Widespread protests across China over President Xi-Jinping's zero covid policy erupted over the weekend after an apartment fire killed ten and injured nine as the current strict covid protocols are being blamed for firefighters failing to reach victims in time.

This coupled with a recent crackdown as covid cases begin to serge again, has ignited nationwide protests over Xi-Jinping's handling of the covid crisis, demanding the president step down and the system of government be replaced with democracy.

"On dozens of university campuses, students held gatherings or put up posters to grieve the dead from the Xinjiang fire and speak out against zero-Covid. In several cities, residents in locked-down neighborhoods tore down barriers and took to the streets, following mass anti-lockdown protests that swept Urumqi on Friday night," CNN reported.

Not since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests has the Chinese youth become so galvanized and prepared to challenge the communist leadership. Covid anger, and China's strict policy on testing every 72 hours and quarantine, followed by lockdowns have pushed citizens to the brink of mental exhaustion.

As some lockdown within the nation have lasted more than 100 days residents would prefer to face the contagion as opposed to the martial law and lockdowns imposed by the government. Shanghai, the nations financial center and home to 25million residents, faced a lockdown in the spring, and joined the national protests over the weekend.

Xi-Jinping has yet to send in federal troops to squash protestors, leaving enforcement to local police who have been determined to squash the protests.


Bob Iger Returns to an Eager Hollywood


Vaccine Totals

As of November 26, 2022, in the United States, 918,653,695 vaccines have been distributed, with a 7-day increase of 7,437,600 and 653,502,647 have been administered with a 7-day increase weekly increase of 2,692,357 doses. More than 90% of the population have received the two-dose vaccine. (Date from the CDC).

Coronavirus Totals

Mandates have been altered or lifted in most urban areas with limited exceptions, and the population is encouraged to maintain personal protective practices. Masks are optional and tolerated. Vaccines and boosters are still considered the most effective agents against contracting the Coronavirus.

For the two-week period ending November 26, 2022, the total of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide reached 636,440,663 people, with a 7-day increase of 2,839,615 with a total worldwide death toll of 6,606,624 deaths, and a 7-day death rate increase of 10,082. (Data from The World Health Organization).

COVID U.S. Totals

Infections rates in the United States are also on the rise. For the 7-day period ending November 26, 2022, the total confirmed cases rose to 98,481,551 people with new confirmed cases increasing by 307,187 with a 7-day average of 43,883 cases per day. The coronavirus has claimed 1,075,779 total deaths, adding 2,664 more deaths over the 7-day period. (Data from the CDC).

Pentagon's Diary Gets Personal

Protecting for gain of function knowledge only aides those who initiated the constitutional violations. It does nothing to combat the homegrown terrorism or the narcissistic above the law belief. The best obtainable version of the truth.

Judge Recommends Minimum Security for Theranos Founder

Northern California District Judge Edward Davila recommended Elizabeth Holmes, 38, convicted of defrauding investors in her failed blood testing startup will serve her 132-month sentence at Federal Prison Camp Bryan, a minimum-security prison, 100 miles outside of Houston, Texas.

"Described on its website as a "minimum security federal prison camp," FPC Bryan is located about 100 miles northwest of Houston. The 37-acre campus houses 540 female inmates in "dormitory housing" with a low staff-to-inmate ratio. There is also reportedly very little perimeter fencing," reported The New York Post.

Ordered to begin her sentence in April 2023, one wonders if Holmes will choose to flee and live abroad.


Idaho College Murders: No Suspects, No Weapon, No Motive


Idaho Murders Stump Detectives

Two weeks have passed since Moscow police discovered the grisly murder of four University of Idaho students, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, poised on the beginning of their futures.

The murders have drawn national attention with well-known criminal profilers weighing in with expert suggestions on possible suspects, and an overview of the meaning behind particular efforts of the local law enforcement. Moscow police chief name has indicated the two surviving roommates both sleeping on level one of the three story home have been cleared as suspects.

"On the evening of Nov. 12, the two surviving roommates were out of the house, and they returned at approximately 1 a.m. on Nov. 13. They did not wake up until later that day," CBS affiliate KREM 2 reported.

The exclusion of the two surviving roommates have been met with concern as the early dismissal of a pool of suspects, as it has been reported, during the initial 911 call the dispatcher spoke with up to ten additional people who had been invited into the home.

This gruesome quadruple murder will likely remain unsolved for some time. Failing to question in depth the two surviving roommates, allows for small details which they may even believe have no bearing, such as casual yet out of place events leading up to the murders, nuisance crimes, unlocked doors, missing items, to fade into the subconscious.

There are cold cases around the country that have never been solved for many reasons, lack of manpower, lack of interest, refusal by the prosecutor.

A suspect in the 2017 Valentine's Day murder of Abigail Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14 in Indiana, was recently arrested October 21, 2022.

A 2002 brutal rape in Hudson County, NJ, in a home where two other female roommates lived in a two-story loft, remains unsolved, even as the suspect is allegedly known to many. The female homeowner, who resided in the condominium and the third roommate she had recently moved in, were not questioned. Obvious questions of how the rapist gained entry into the condominium with three secured doors, plus an interior door leading to a subterranean garage, have yet to be answered.

The possibility of a long wait to see an arrest, prosecution and possibly know the motive behind the vicious killings for the families of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20,is very real.

Anyone with information that could help investigators is asked to contact the tip line at 208-883-7180 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Digital media can be submitted to the FBI at https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/nuDfC730yXhQD7NZFWCjLT?domain=tips.fbi.gov. Click or tap if you trust this link.">fbi.gov/moscowidaho.

 

For more information on President Joe Biden www.whitehouse.gov.

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