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brooklynite
brooklynite's Journal
brooklynite's Journal
December 9, 2021
Villager from Michigan charged with casting more than one ballot in election
Villages NewsA Villager from Michigan has been charged with casting more than one ballot in an election.
Jay Richard Ketcik, 63, who lives at 5564 Henry Loop in the Village of Monarch Grove, turned himself in Wednesday afternoon at the Sumter County Detention Center in Bushnell on a Sumter County warrant charging him with the felony offense. The Manistique, Mich. native was booked at the jail and released after posting $2,000 bond.
He purchased his home in The Villages in July 2019. He registered to vote in Sumter County on July 29, 2020. He is registered as a Republican.
This is the second Republican in The Villages arrested on a voting fraud charge.
Jay Richard Ketcik, 63, who lives at 5564 Henry Loop in the Village of Monarch Grove, turned himself in Wednesday afternoon at the Sumter County Detention Center in Bushnell on a Sumter County warrant charging him with the felony offense. The Manistique, Mich. native was booked at the jail and released after posting $2,000 bond.
He purchased his home in The Villages in July 2019. He registered to vote in Sumter County on July 29, 2020. He is registered as a Republican.
This is the second Republican in The Villages arrested on a voting fraud charge.
December 9, 2021
National Archives: Meadows may not have stored all Trump-era records 'properly'
Source: Politico
Mark Meadows and the National Archives are in talks over potential records he did “not properly” turn over from his personal phone and email account, the presidential record-keeping agency confirmed Thursday.
“NARA is working with counsel to Mark Meadows to obtain any Presidential records that were not properly copied or forwarded into his official account,” a NARA spokesperson said in a statement to POLITICO.
A source close to former President Donald Trump’s ex-chief of staff confirmed that Meadows is working with the National Archives to turn over any documents that he was supposed to provide upon the end of Trump's term.
“Not worried about it at all,” the source said, speaking candidly on condition of anonymity. “All necessary and appropriate steps either were or are being taken.”
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/09/national-archives-meadows-trump-524043
“NARA is working with counsel to Mark Meadows to obtain any Presidential records that were not properly copied or forwarded into his official account,” a NARA spokesperson said in a statement to POLITICO.
A source close to former President Donald Trump’s ex-chief of staff confirmed that Meadows is working with the National Archives to turn over any documents that he was supposed to provide upon the end of Trump's term.
“Not worried about it at all,” the source said, speaking candidly on condition of anonymity. “All necessary and appropriate steps either were or are being taken.”
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/09/national-archives-meadows-trump-524043
December 9, 2021
Table 2 shows the U.S. unemployment rate by race, gender, and age from November 2020 to November 2021. Even in the face of an overall positive trend in the employment situation, November saw an increase in the unemployment rate for Black teens (ages 16 to 19): from 16.1% in October 2021 to 21.9% in November 2021, a rate that is 12.6 percentage points higher than the current rate for white teens. Black teens have the highest 13-month average unemployment rate, at 17.15%. Jobs in retail and hospitality—the primary employers of teens—have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Restaurants and retail outlets have reopened but are struggling to hire and retain adult workers; this provides employment opportunities for teens, yet these opportunities do not appear to be benefiting Black teens.
Meanwhile, the return to in-person school instruction has coincided with an alarming increase in Black women exiting the labor force. Between October and November, the labor force participation rate for Black women dropped to 60.3%, effectively erasing the impressive gains reported in August. This 1.5 percentage point dip represents a weakening attachment to the workforce for Black women in recent months: 181,000 of them have exited the workforce since September, with more than half (91,000) exiting in November alone. This reversal in labor force reentry is unique to Black women, as women in other racial-ethnic groups continued to regain their footing in the workforce.
Increasing vaccination rates among children will be instrumental in supporting the economic recovery for Black women. However, vaccines need to work in tandem with targeted economic policies that create on-ramps to the job market for women—particularly, Black women with child care needs.
The nation’s child care infrastructure is in a fragile state, after recovering 90% of its workforce relative to February 2020. Roughly 108,000 workers are still missing from this sector, where women dominate the workforce and wages skew toward the lower end of the distribution. Furthermore, child care center failures add to the recovery’s unevenness; this is particularly true for local communities grappling with the loss of child care centers. A Columbia University study tracking child care center closures estimated that Black, Latino or Hispanic, and Asian American families were disproportionately exposed to child care facility closures, and that a considerable number of these closures may be permanent.
The November jobs report shows Black women are leaving the labor force
Brookings InstituteTable 2 shows the U.S. unemployment rate by race, gender, and age from November 2020 to November 2021. Even in the face of an overall positive trend in the employment situation, November saw an increase in the unemployment rate for Black teens (ages 16 to 19): from 16.1% in October 2021 to 21.9% in November 2021, a rate that is 12.6 percentage points higher than the current rate for white teens. Black teens have the highest 13-month average unemployment rate, at 17.15%. Jobs in retail and hospitality—the primary employers of teens—have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Restaurants and retail outlets have reopened but are struggling to hire and retain adult workers; this provides employment opportunities for teens, yet these opportunities do not appear to be benefiting Black teens.
Meanwhile, the return to in-person school instruction has coincided with an alarming increase in Black women exiting the labor force. Between October and November, the labor force participation rate for Black women dropped to 60.3%, effectively erasing the impressive gains reported in August. This 1.5 percentage point dip represents a weakening attachment to the workforce for Black women in recent months: 181,000 of them have exited the workforce since September, with more than half (91,000) exiting in November alone. This reversal in labor force reentry is unique to Black women, as women in other racial-ethnic groups continued to regain their footing in the workforce.
Increasing vaccination rates among children will be instrumental in supporting the economic recovery for Black women. However, vaccines need to work in tandem with targeted economic policies that create on-ramps to the job market for women—particularly, Black women with child care needs.
The nation’s child care infrastructure is in a fragile state, after recovering 90% of its workforce relative to February 2020. Roughly 108,000 workers are still missing from this sector, where women dominate the workforce and wages skew toward the lower end of the distribution. Furthermore, child care center failures add to the recovery’s unevenness; this is particularly true for local communities grappling with the loss of child care centers. A Columbia University study tracking child care center closures estimated that Black, Latino or Hispanic, and Asian American families were disproportionately exposed to child care facility closures, and that a considerable number of these closures may be permanent.
December 9, 2021
Today it hit $176.
AAPL Shares Hit Another All-Time High as Morgan Stanley Raises Apple Price Target to $200
Mac RumorsApple's stock is up over 32% this year and almost 14% in just the past month, with the company reaching a market capitalization of $2.8 trillion.
It's mostly been a fairly steady march upward for Apple shares over the past several months, with only a couple of significant dips including one last week following word that Apple has warned suppliers of weakening iPhone demand.
Apple's stock quickly rebounded from that dip, and today's high comes as prominent Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty raised her price target for Apple's shares from $164 to $200, citing the potential of augmented reality and autonomous vehicles for Apple.
It's mostly been a fairly steady march upward for Apple shares over the past several months, with only a couple of significant dips including one last week following word that Apple has warned suppliers of weakening iPhone demand.
Apple's stock quickly rebounded from that dip, and today's high comes as prominent Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty raised her price target for Apple's shares from $164 to $200, citing the potential of augmented reality and autonomous vehicles for Apple.
Today it hit $176.
December 9, 2021
Mike Lindell Supports Fans' Push to 'Bombard' Supreme Court
Daily BeastIncreasingly restless supporters of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell have a new plan of action: Send the Supreme Court physical copies of the pillow maven’s dubious and unsigned 80-plus page court filing that seeks to overturn the 2020 election. Late last week and again on Wednesday night, supporters called into Lindell’s evening live steaming program to share that they had “mailed” the pillow executive’s drafted case to the high court. “I mailed it to the Supreme Court,” a Wednesday evening caller said, to the joy of Lindell, who laughed and appeared overcome with excitement.
The caller continued by encouraging others to “bombard them [the Supreme Court]” with the filing so that the Supreme Court justices know “that the complaint is out there.” “Downloaded it, printed it off. It cost me $32 to mail it overnight, but, you know, I am a man of action,” the caller added. “Right, right,” the pillow tycoon replied in agreement with the tactic before telling the supporter, “God bless you.”
Reached for comment late Wednesday night by The Daily Beast about his supporters utilizing the postal system to “bombard” the Supreme Court with copious numbers of legal filings, Lindell said he “support[s] all people.” “I want the AGs called and emailed,” Lindell further told The Daily Beast, suggesting that his so far unsuccessful legal filing needs to be signed by attorneys general before it’s mailed.
The caller continued by encouraging others to “bombard them [the Supreme Court]” with the filing so that the Supreme Court justices know “that the complaint is out there.” “Downloaded it, printed it off. It cost me $32 to mail it overnight, but, you know, I am a man of action,” the caller added. “Right, right,” the pillow tycoon replied in agreement with the tactic before telling the supporter, “God bless you.”
Reached for comment late Wednesday night by The Daily Beast about his supporters utilizing the postal system to “bombard” the Supreme Court with copious numbers of legal filings, Lindell said he “support[s] all people.” “I want the AGs called and emailed,” Lindell further told The Daily Beast, suggesting that his so far unsuccessful legal filing needs to be signed by attorneys general before it’s mailed.
December 9, 2021
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/nyregion/bill-de-blasio-donors-nyc.html
I’m honestly worried tha same behavior is going to play out with Adams.
De Blasio Fought for 2 Years to Keep Ethics Warning Secret. Here's Why.
Source: New York Times
When Bill de Blasio first took office as mayor of New York in 2014, he called two powerful real estate developers who had active projects in the city, and asked them to donate money to a nonprofit organization that he had created to advance his political agenda.
The request to help his nonprofit, the Campaign for One New York, seemed to violate the city’s ethics law, and a ban against asking for contributions from people who had business pending with the city. Within months of his solicitations, Mr. de Blasio was formally warned by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board — in a previously undisclosed letter — not to repeat the behavior.
But even after that warning, the mayor continued to hit up well-connected donors for money, according to documents that the city has now released after years of an extraordinary legal campaign by the de Blasio administration to keep the documents secret.
In February 2015, the mayor made a call to Jeffrey Levine, chairman of Douglaston Development, which had just won city approval for $12 million in financing for an affordable housing complex, and had taken ownership of a parcel of city-owned land in the Bronx.
The request to help his nonprofit, the Campaign for One New York, seemed to violate the city’s ethics law, and a ban against asking for contributions from people who had business pending with the city. Within months of his solicitations, Mr. de Blasio was formally warned by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board — in a previously undisclosed letter — not to repeat the behavior.
But even after that warning, the mayor continued to hit up well-connected donors for money, according to documents that the city has now released after years of an extraordinary legal campaign by the de Blasio administration to keep the documents secret.
In February 2015, the mayor made a call to Jeffrey Levine, chairman of Douglaston Development, which had just won city approval for $12 million in financing for an affordable housing complex, and had taken ownership of a parcel of city-owned land in the Bronx.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/nyregion/bill-de-blasio-donors-nyc.html
I’m honestly worried tha same behavior is going to play out with Adams.
December 9, 2021
Sanna Marin: Finland's PM sorry for clubbing after Covid contact
BBCFinland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin has apologised for going clubbing after coming into close contact with a Covid-19 case.
Sanna Marin went on a night out in Helsinki on Saturday, hours after her foreign minister had tested positive.
She was initially told she did not need to isolate because she had been fully vaccinated, but later missed a text that advised her to do so.
Critics questioned her judgement for not isolating until testing negative.
The Social Democratic prime minister, 36, said the text message that advised her to avoid social contact was sent to her work phone, which she had left at home.
Sanna Marin went on a night out in Helsinki on Saturday, hours after her foreign minister had tested positive.
She was initially told she did not need to isolate because she had been fully vaccinated, but later missed a text that advised her to do so.
Critics questioned her judgement for not isolating until testing negative.
The Social Democratic prime minister, 36, said the text message that advised her to avoid social contact was sent to her work phone, which she had left at home.
December 9, 2021
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/12/08/republicans-vaccine-congress-coronavirus/
Senate votes to repeal key Biden administration vaccine and testing policy
Source: Washington Post
Congressional Republicans on Wednesday ratcheted up their attempts to repeal President Biden’s vaccine and testing mandates, adopting a measure in the Senate to unwind policies that the White House and top public health officials see as critical to combating the coronavirus.
The intensifying campaign mirrored in spirit the political and legal battles that GOP officials waged earlier in the pandemic, as they attacked business closures, mask mandates and other government-led measures to slow the contagion. With vaccines, Republicans on Capitol Hill argued that the requirements are unwarranted and unconstitutional, putting Americans’ jobs at risk.
In their most public, forceful protest to date, Republicans led by Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) muscled to passage a proposal that specifically aims to repeal the Biden administration’s rules ordering large private businesses to require vaccination or implement comprehensive coronavirus testing for their workers.
Braun’s legislative push specifically hinged on a congressional process that allows lawmakers to review, and potentially revoke, federal agency regulations. The tactic allowed the GOP to take their bill to the Senate floor, even though Democrats control the chamber, where it later passed on an 52-48 vote. Some Democrats including Sen. Joe Manchin III (W-Va.) even joined the GOP in trying to scrap the mandates.
The intensifying campaign mirrored in spirit the political and legal battles that GOP officials waged earlier in the pandemic, as they attacked business closures, mask mandates and other government-led measures to slow the contagion. With vaccines, Republicans on Capitol Hill argued that the requirements are unwarranted and unconstitutional, putting Americans’ jobs at risk.
In their most public, forceful protest to date, Republicans led by Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) muscled to passage a proposal that specifically aims to repeal the Biden administration’s rules ordering large private businesses to require vaccination or implement comprehensive coronavirus testing for their workers.
Braun’s legislative push specifically hinged on a congressional process that allows lawmakers to review, and potentially revoke, federal agency regulations. The tactic allowed the GOP to take their bill to the Senate floor, even though Democrats control the chamber, where it later passed on an 52-48 vote. Some Democrats including Sen. Joe Manchin III (W-Va.) even joined the GOP in trying to scrap the mandates.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/12/08/republicans-vaccine-congress-coronavirus/
December 9, 2021
Someone new to complain about...
https://twitter.com/jacobfhsmith/status/1468748957253836805
December 8, 2021
4.2 million Americans quit their jobs in October
Washington PostSome 4.2 million Americans quit their jobs in October as churn in the labor market continued to mark the economic recovery nearly two years into the pandemic, according to a report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The number of people who left jobs for other opportunities in October made up 2.8 percent of the workforce, the BLS said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. In contrast, the survey found 11 million job openings, only slightly less than the record from July.
A record 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September. Workers took advantage of the surge in job openings across the country. August’s numbers, at 4.3 million, were also a record at the time. In contrast, in February 2020, before the big wave of pandemic-related layoffs began, 2.3 percent of workers quit their jobs — underscoring that the October data remains extremely elevated.
“This report once again shows strong demand from employers leading to a hot labor market,” Nick Bunker, an economist at Indeed, wrote Wednesday. “The bargaining table is tilted more toward workers than it has been in the past. … The question now is whether the omicron variant cools down in the labor market.”
The number of people who left jobs for other opportunities in October made up 2.8 percent of the workforce, the BLS said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. In contrast, the survey found 11 million job openings, only slightly less than the record from July.
A record 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September. Workers took advantage of the surge in job openings across the country. August’s numbers, at 4.3 million, were also a record at the time. In contrast, in February 2020, before the big wave of pandemic-related layoffs began, 2.3 percent of workers quit their jobs — underscoring that the October data remains extremely elevated.
“This report once again shows strong demand from employers leading to a hot labor market,” Nick Bunker, an economist at Indeed, wrote Wednesday. “The bargaining table is tilted more toward workers than it has been in the past. … The question now is whether the omicron variant cools down in the labor market.”
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