Husband charged in Walshe murder; King's daughter calls for actions not words; China's population on decline; Missouri has a dress code for women in the legislator now 😀
Pompeo tells of Kim assassination joke; Tweets that changed politics; Graceland to be owned by Lisa Marie's daughters; romance author faked her suicide; kids do gross things but will it hurt them?
Good Wednesday morning! Happy hump day!
My take: I have been saying for some time that these have been quiet if not boring news days. Today may be the ultimate. Maybe that is a good thing. President Biden is hiding with his documents scandal in the news. Former President Trump has very little to say other than he will “deal” with Ron DeSantis as he deals with things. China is quiet about COVID. A few politicians have books releasing shortly and they are taking advance of the quiet to do some pre-pubication promotion. In Massachusetts, the “mom killer” was as usual her husband, so says law enforcement. But this murder does not see to have the sizzle of the who dun-it. In New York, the Mayor is excited about the immigration crisis but few are listening. The Ukraine War is ongoing but few are watching the day to day battles as they did throughout last year. Even Elon Musk’s headlines do not seem to be raising eyebrows or does the shouts from the financial world of a recession this year. So we have finally come to a point in the news cycle of a normal acceptance of quiet. That to me is good. My take is that we all could use the rest. That is until…
Now to your “1 to…”
Start with a smile: This woman is riding around the world with her German shepherd.
and again: A TikTok of husband calling at the Iowa State Fair is going viral. Yes, it's real.
What we care about: Gross stuff kids do: Will it hurt them?
Brian Walshe charged in Ana Walshe's murder in Massachusetts: Body of Massachusetts mom, real estate executive Ana Walshe has still not been recovered.
Three years on, the pandemic — and our response — have been jolting. Here’s what even the experts didn’t see coming: People who study infectious diseases and who work in public health have long known a bad pandemic would one day come. They knew such an event would overwhelm hospitals, strain supply chains, and place stresses on society that we would be ill-equipped to meet. Countries like the United States have for decades prepared to respond to such a crisis.
But despite all the planning, the Covid-19 pandemic has, in myriad ways, not played out as expected. Three years after the first reports of a novel virus emerged from China, these experts admit that the microbe and the world’s response to it have continuously deviated from their forecasts.
Missouri Democrats say House dress code debate a distraction: Women who serve in the Missouri House will face a tougher dress code when they return to the floor this week after a debate that Democrats panned as a pointless distraction from the issues facing the state. The new rules require female legislators and staff members to wear a jacket such as a cardigan or blazer. The Republican lawmaker who introduced the change said it was done to ensure decorum and mirror the men’s dress code. Democrats called it ridiculous, saying women shouldn’t be policed for their fashion choices.
Pompeo says North Korea’s Kim opened secret meeting with ‘joke about assassination’: memoir.
House GOP lays groundwork for Mayorkas impeachment as moderates balk: Senior House Republicans are moving swiftly to build a case against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as they strongly weigh launching rare impeachment proceedings against a Cabinet secretary, a plan that could generate sharp backlash from GOP moderates. Key committee chairmen are already preparing to hold hearings on the problems at the southern border, which Republicans say could serve as a prelude to an impeachment inquiry against Mayorkas. Three House committees – Oversight, Homeland Security and Judiciary – will soon hold hearings about the influx of migrants and security concerns at the border.
Rosen tells Israel she doesn't want to meet with members of 2 far-right parties: U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) told the Israeli government she doesn't want the bipartisan Senate delegation she is leading to Israel this week to meet with any members of two Israeli far-right parties that are in the government coalition, according to two Israeli officials and a source close to the senator. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading the most right-wing and religious government Israel has had since its establishment, with Itmar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich — two far-right politicians known for racist and Jewish supremacist rhetoric — serving as senior ministers. Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party and Smotrich's Religious Zionism party together hold 15 seats in the Knesset and are key members of Netanyahu's coalition. The delegation, which Rosen is leading with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), is made up of lawmakers who are part of the Abraham Accords Caucus — a group formed to support and expand the normalization agreements, brokered by the Trump administration, between Israel and several Arab countries. Israel is the last stop on the delegation's trip to the region, which also included visits to Morrocco, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Ted Budd (R-NC) are also part of the delegation.
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar get committee assignments: Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona have been given committee assignments for the new Congress, after being booted from their committees by Democrats and some Republicans for their incendiary remarks, sources told CNN. The House GOP Steering Committee on Tuesday agreed to place Greene on the House Homeland Security Committee, which has jurisdiction over the border and will likely play a role in potentially impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. And Gosar got a seat on the House Committee on Natural Resources, where he previously served.
WaPo: New details link Santos to cousin of sanctioned Russian oligarch: George Santos has deeper ties than previously known to a businessman who cultivated close links with a onetime Trump confidant and who is the cousin of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, according to Washington Post reporting.
Failed GOP candidate visited homes of New Mexico Democratic politicians to dispute election prior to shootings, officials say: Solomon Peña is accused of paying four men to carry out shootings at Albuquerque-area homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators. No one was hurt.
Biden classified docs scandal: Watchdog files ethics complaint over White House Counsel's Office involvement.
TSA finds undeclared 84 mm caliber weapon in checked luggage at Texas airport: Owner advised the item is a de-militarized 84MM Carl-Gustaf M4 recoilless rifle.
On King's holiday, daughter calls for bold action over words.
Trump insists he will 'handle' DeSantis should the Florida governor challenge him for 2024 GOP nomination: Trump said he would handle DeSantis 'the way I handle things'.
Ron DeSantis takes on the likability issue (sort of): The GOP’s great hope to defeat Trump is hot on Fox but cold on the stump and in the VIP line. Will it matter?
The 63 tweets that changed politics — or at least made it funnier: A brief history of the most groundbreaking, news-making and just plain weirdest moments on political Twitter.
Notorious Russian Serial Killer pitches his services for war against Ukraine: A notorious Russian serial killer serving two life sentences for the murders of 80 people says he hopes to join Russia’s war against Ukraine. Mikhail Popkov, known as the Angarsk Maniac for a string of brutal murders of young women and girls from 1992 to 2010, featured in a bizarre interview with Russian state-media this week. “What is your dream?” Popkov was asked, to which he replied that he’d like to “be in the army.” “If you take my military specialty, I think it is quite in demand right now, although now, probably, everything is more contemporary: radio electronics and so forth. But I have been in prison for at least ten years, so I think that it will generally not be so difficult to study quickly.” He said if offered the chance to help the military, he would “agree, without hesitation.” It was not immediately clear if he was angling to get the attention of the Wagner Group, the private army founded by Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin that has been offering prison inmates freedom and amnesty in exchange for a turn on the battlefield.
China records first population decline in 60 years: China’s population shrank in 2022 for the first time in more than 60 years, a new milestone in the country’s deepening demographic crisis with significant implications for its slowing economy. The population fell in 2022 to 1.411 billion, down some 850,000 people from the previous year, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced during a Tuesday briefing on annual data. Analysts said the decline was the first since 1961 during the great famine triggered by former leader Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward.
US citizen detained in Iran begins seven-day hunger strike: Siamak Namazi has been unjustly imprisoned since 2015.
Elon Musk begins trial over Tesla tweet that cost him $20m: A trial into a tweet by Elon Musk alleging that he would take Tesla private in a $72bn (£58.7bn) buyout is set to begin on Tuesday. Mr Musk is being sued by Tesla shareholders, who say that he manipulated the share price of the company. In 2018, he tweeted that he had "funding secured" to take the carmaker private. However the funding was not secured - and Tesla was not taken private. Shareholders argued that they lost billions of dollars due to the tweet after the share price plummeted. The Tesla CEO, however, argued that he believed he had secured funding from Saudi Arabia's Investment Fund, and did not commit securities fraud. If a San Francisco jury rules in the shareholder's favour, Mr Musk may be ordered to pay billions of dollars in damages. He has already paid $20m to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) for the 7 August 2018 tweet, while Tesla had to pay another $20m. The SEC also removed Mr Musk as chairman of Tesla as a result of the tweet.
Ousted Disney CEO Bob Chapek will get $20 million exit pay: Ousted Disney chief executive Bob Chapek is set to receive a hefty paycheck following his exit.
The Walt Disney Company said the former CEO, who took over in February 2020 after longtime CEO Bob Iger retired, is eligible to take home a severance pay package worth roughly $20 million, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. That’s in addition to the $24 million he made last year — his $2.5 million base salary plus millions in stock options and awards. That’s down from the $32.5 million he made in 2021. Chapek abruptly exited the company in November after a hectic two-year stint marked by Covid-19 shutdowns, a PR debacle related to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and a significant slowdown in demand for streaming services. He was replaced by his predecessor, Iger.
Harvard Medical School withdraws from U.S. News ranking: Dean says he was compelled to act after top schools pulled out of the law school ranking
Climate activist Greta Thunberg detained by police in Germany at coal mine protest: Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been detained by German police at a protest over the expansion of a coal mine in the west German village of Lützerath, CNN affiliate N-TV reports. Thunberg joined thousands of other activists and protesters taking part in weekend demonstrations against the razing of the German village that would make way for an expansion of the Garzweiler lignite coal mine, which is owned by European energy giant RWE. Once the eviction is complete, RWE plans to build a 1.5-kilometer perimeter fence around the village, sealing off the village’s buildings, streets and sewers before they are demolished.
TSA finds record number of firearms at security checkpoints in 2022: Transportation Security Administration officers intercepted a record number of firearms brought by passengers to airport security checkpoints in 2022, the agency said Tuesday. TSA stopped 6,542 firearms last year — more than 88% of which were loaded. That's more than the previous record of 5,972 firearms detected in 2021, marking a nearly 10% increase. The record comes as airplane travel is climbing toward pre-pandemic levels. More people went through TSA security checkpoints this year than in the last two years, per TSA data.
A fake death in Romancelandia: A Tennessee homemaker entered the online world of romance writers and it became, in her words, “an addiction.” Things went downhill from there.
Author who faked her suicide for two years left tell-tale signs she was still ALIVE before making a shocking return to social media - and she'd been publishing under a nom-de-plume the whole time: Author Susan Meachen's former book editor said she saw many red flags. 'We spoke the day before her death she told me she was self-committing to [to a mental health institution] the next day,' Kasey told DailyMail.com. When she went online to find information on her death nothing appeared.
14-year-old girl charged with murder in the shooting of 11-year-old boy in Dallas: A 14-year-old girl was charged with murder Monday following the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy who was hit by a stray bullet, according to Dallas police.
Police were called to a report of a shooting at an apartment complex in south Dallas on Sunday afternoon at about 2 p.m. As part of the investigation, police determined a fight was going on between two girls in the parking lot of the complex. “One juvenile suspect retrieved a handgun and shot in the direction of the female she was fighting; however, the shot struck a male juvenile bystander,” police said in a statement.
Study suggests US freshwater fish highly contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’.
Kerry Sanders, 'Today' and NBC News Correspondent, retires after 32 years: 'It's been a dream come true': Kerry Sanders shared gratitude for his time at NBC — and the importance of his television "family" throughout his career.
Elvis Presley's Graceland will go to Lisa Marie Presley's daughters: The King of Rock and Roll's iconic estate will benefit Lisa Marie Presley's three daughters, Riley, Harper and Finley, following her death.
Jeremy Renner shares he's home from hospital as he recovers from horrific snowplow accident: 'Avengers' star Jeremy Renner has shared an update with fans after being injured in a snowplow accident on Jan. 1.
Gisele Bündchen seen out again with Jiu-Jitsu Pro Joaquim Valente as ex Tom Brady ousted from playoffs: The supermodel is spending more time exercising in Costa Rica with jiu-jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente as ex husband Tom Brady's NFL season comes to an end.
A University of Alabama basketball player has been charged with murder: Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and another man have been charged with capital murder after a fatal shooting near campus. Tuscaloosa Police Capt. Jack Kennedy said that the shooting occurred early Sunday morning in the Strip off University Blvd. near campus. He said Jamea Harris, 23, of the Birmingham area was shot and killed. Miles, 21, a junior reserve forward from Washington, D.C., and Michael Lynn Davis, 20, of Charles County, Maryland, were both charged with capital murder. The capital murder charge arose because the death involved shots fired into a vehicle, Kennedy said.
Tracking hundreds of pizza slices: For eight years, Liam Quigley tracked every slice of pizza he ate in New York City, which added up to 454 slices. Quigley did not rate the slices to “avoid controversy and bribes”, but I kind of wish he rated all those slices. Instead he logged the location, the price, and the type of pizza.
The best place to hide during a nuclear blast.
Have a great Wednesday!