brooklynite
brooklynite's JournalSimone Biles makes history on opening day of qualifying at World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
Source: CNN
CNN
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Simone Biles announced her return to the world stage in some style on Sunday as she sits in first place in the women’s all-around qualification at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and became the first woman to land the Yurchenko double pike vault at an international competition.
Biles stepped up to the vault, launched high into the air, twisting in angular blue blur, and landed with just a single backwards step to make history.
That feat ensured the skill will now be named the Biles II in honor of the 19-time world champion, making it her fifth named element.
A high-difficulty skill historically only done by men, the element is a roundoff onto the springboard, followed by a back handspring onto the vaulting table, ending with a piked double backflip into the air to landing.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/01/sport/simone-biles-world-gymnastics-championships-qualifying-spt-intl/index.html
McCarthy's office won't say if it gave assurances to White House on Ukraine aid
Source: CNN
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office would not say whether the Republican leader gave any assurances to the White House and Democrats on Ukraine aid, which was not included in the funding stopgap bill passed last night.
McCarthy believes any Ukraine funding would need to be paired with border security provisions, his office said in a statement. The speaker has been saying something to that effect for weeks.
“Speaker McCarthy has been clear and consistent: we have an obligation to fix the crisis at the border and to ensure any request for further aid to Ukraine is matched with a sound strategy and accountability,” a McCarthy spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. “The House will continue to discuss these challenges in the weeks to come.”
President Joe Biden suggested today there was a “deal” with McCarthy on Ukraine aid; House Democratic leaders put out a statement yesterday saying they “expect” McCarthy to put a bill on the floor when the House returns
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/government-shutdown-news-10-01-23/index.html
Air quality alert in NYC
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We are monitoring wildfire smoke from Canada that may pass through the Tri-state area tomorrow. Daily air quality is currently predicted to be in the moderate category.
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Student loan payments restart in October. Here's what borrowers should know
Source: CNN
The pandemic-related pause, which went into effect in March 2020, provided relief to nearly 44 million borrowers by freezing their accounts.
After several extensions by both the Trump and Biden administrations, the pause has finally expired after Congress prohibited the president from extending it another time.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/31/politics/student-loan-payments-resume/index.html
Trump Campaign Leaves Actual Birdcage at Nikki Haley's Hotel Door as Part of 'Birdbrain' Attack
The MessengerThe Trump campaign shared the photo early Sunday with The Messenger and later posted the picture on Twitter.
Trump debuted the moniker prior to Wednesday’s debate on his social media platform Truth Social. It's unclear why he came up with that nickname in particular.
"MAGA, or I, will never go for Birdbrain Nikki Haley," Trump wrote in the post. "Birdbrain doesn’t have the TALENT or TEMPERAMENT to do the job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
What does Matt Gaetz really want?
PoliticoIt’s the question reverberating on Capitol Hill after the simmering feud between the Florida conservative and Speaker Kevin McCarthy flared up again Thursday morning in a closed-door meeting, with one lawmaker telling Gaetz to “fuck off” for leveling unproven accusations against the speaker. Gaetz has threatened to force a vote on booting McCarthy for weeks, publicly called him “pathetic” and accused him of lying multiple times.
Hill Republicans, when granted anonymity to speak candidly, say they don’t believe Gaetz when he insists it “isn’t personal” (though rank-and-file GOP lawmakers are quick to add they don’t know what has set off the Florida Republican).
Some in the GOP chalk it up to Gaetz seeking a future foothold as a conservative TV pundit, others to a desire for name recognition ahead of his widely expected gubernatorial bid in 2026. Still others say he’s sincere in his demands for more spending cuts before voting to fund the government.
The speaker hasn’t publicly weighed in. But in private, McCarthy has questioned what he could have done to trigger this level of hostility from Gaetz, according to a longtime ally of the speaker. Other McCarthy allies have theorized that Gaetz’s fury dates back to a now-closed Justice Department inquiry into sex trafficking allegations, when some in the House GOP came just short of openly celebrating his potential political demise.
My expectation is that Dem's will vote "Present" on the Vacate the Chair motion.....
They don't want to take sides and can point out that this is Republican internecine warfare.
The race to replace Dianne Feinstein is about to get even more expensive
PoliticoDemocratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death this week means the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, will name a replacement who will serve until a special election can be scheduled. That means there will be four Senate elections next year: a pair of primary and general special elections to complete the remainder of Feinstein’s term, and the regularly scheduled 2024 primary and general elections for the new term beginning in 2025.
But it could also have big consequences for the campaign. Thanks to an arcane provision of federal law, doubling the number of elections means doubling the amount of money a candidate can raise from individual donors — from $6,600 to $13,200 — for the very same seat in the very same year.
Newsom has promised to appoint a caretaker who won’t be a candidate in the election, and two candidates already have eight-figure bank accounts: Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, who will now be able to return to their biggest donors for more money.
Andy Kim Closing In On Humongous $1 Million Raised In First Seven Days Of U.S. Senate
Kim announced last Saturday that he would challenge incumbent Bob Menendez in the Democratic Senate primary next year. His entrance into the race came one day after federal prosecutors unsealed a staggering indictment against Menendez.
“With the campaign only one week old, we’ve already surpassed $1M this quarter and close to $1M in just the last seven days,” Kim told the New Jersey Globe. “People here in New Jersey and all over the country are joining our effort to restore integrity in our politics.”
The three-term congressman and former Obama White House staffer still has more than six hours to raise money for the third quarter and expects more money to continue to come in. Detailed reports must be filed with the Federal Election Commission by October 15.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/andy-kim-closing-in-on-humngous-1-million-raised-in-first-seven-days-of-u-s-senate-bid/
Rep. Gaetz says he'll seek to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post this week
Source: CNN
His comments come after McCarthy relied on Democratic votes to pass a stopgap funding measure to avert a federal government shutdown Saturday night — a move that hardline conservatives had threatened could cost him his job.
“I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week. I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy,” Gaetz said on CNN’s "State of the Union."
“Look, the one thing everybody has in common is that nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy," the Florida lawmaker continued. "He lied to Biden, he lied to House conservatives. He had appropriators marking to a different number altogether. And the reason we were backed up against the shutdown politics is not a bug of the system. It’s a feature."
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/government-shutdown-news-10-01-23/h_6ffcb0f10129835e8c647ed5aa77e1de
