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Good morning,
Biden’s Spending Talks
What’s a trillion dollars between friends?
Actually 1.5 trillion is being trimmed by President Biden to bring about a budget agreement with the Republicans. The President has told his party a spending spree about 1.9 trillion is the new target, a significant reduction from the $3.5 trillion that some Democrats initially pursued under a budget and closer to the what Sen. Joe Manchin had outlined in recent months as they sought steep cuts to Democrats’ spending plans.
Bannon Prosecution
The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack voted on Tuesday to recommend the criminal prosecution of Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, after he ignored a subpoena to appear and testify.
The select committee approved the contempt of Congress citation unanimously, sending the report to the Democratic controlled House, which on Thursday will then authorize the panel to go to court to seek a warrant against Bannon for ignoring the subpoena and presumably his arrest after a grand jury.
He also appeared to have advance knowledge of the Capitol attack, predicting on his podcast, the day before the insurrection “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.”
Covid Masks Returning?
I was at the gym yesterday, and was the only person wearing a mask. I understand it’s uncomfortable, but there is a certain disconnect among the gym’s younger attendees who believe Covid can’t touch them, and the pandemic is over.
And it’s not the only place you see people in London generally forgetting masks and pretending the pandemic is done. It’s not.
And now, there are medical experts calling for a return to mask mandates, as the numbers are rising at concerning levels. Numbers of infections in younger people rapidly rising and leaking into the general population. Daily Covid cases are about 50,000 for seven days in a row. 223 deaths were recorded on Tuesday.
Super variants are a concern as the virus now has plenty of room to circulate and booster shots won’t curb any of that. Masks, are a simply way to cut transmission.
Lockdowns? Mask mandates? Vaccine passports? All of those are being discussed along with a new variant called AY.4.2 which is currently under close watch by UK experts as it might be more contagious than its parent Delta.
Russia Covid
By all accounts Covid in Russia which developed its own vaccine, it spinning out of control. The Moscow Mayor is now introducing new rules to restrict the spread of Covid after more than a thousand Covid deaths were recorded in one day.
That includes working from home, masks and mandatory vaccines.
OTHER NEWS…
The kidnappers who abducted 17 missionaries in Haiti are demanding a million dollars each for each of the people they are holding.
Jair Bolsonaro the Brazilian president, should face charges of “crimes against humanity” over his mishandling of the pandemic, according to a forthcoming report from a panel of 11 Brazilian senators.
Warsaw has deployed double the amount of troops at its border with Belarus in response to a surge in migration. Germany has also offered to assist Poland with guarding operations. Belarus Dictator Lukashenko is using refugees as a weapons against Europe.
Have a good day everyone! Please share this letter.
Dana
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democratic-divide-over-spending-priorities-tests-bidens-deal-making-skills-2021-10-19/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58976577
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/19/capitol-attack-committee-prosecution-steve-bannon-trump
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1508597/covid-19-new-delta-plus-variant-growing-infections-uk-ont
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/10/19/moscow-returns-remote-work-other-measures-amid-resurgent-pandemic-wave-a75340