Wicked Blue
Wicked Blue's JournalCongress strikes deal to avert a partial government shutdown -- for now
Source: NBC
WASHINGTON — Bipartisan negotiators announced Wednesday they have struck a deal to avert a partial government shutdown this week, securing agreement on half of the dozen must-pass spending bills and extending a pair of fast-approaching funding deadlines deeper into March to buy Congress more time.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement with appropriators, members charged with crafting spending bills, that they have a deal on six bills that fund several federal agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Interior, Justice, Transportation and Veterans Affairs. And they've agreed to vote on a short-term bill to avoid a partial government shutdown this weekend, buying more time to pass the funding deal.
“We are in agreement that Congress must work in a bipartisan manner to fund our government," the leaders said in the statement.
"After preparing final text, this package of six full year Appropriations bills will be voted on and enacted prior to March 8," Johnson, Schumer and the appropriators added. “The remaining six Appropriations bills — Defense, Financial Services and General Government, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS, Legislative Branch, and State and Foreign Operations — will be finalized, voted on, and enacted prior to March 22."
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/government-shutdown-house-returns-likely-short-term-bill-rcna140894
BREAKING: US tracks high-altitude balloon spotted over Colorado
BBC
US military aircraft have located a high-altitude balloon flying over the western part of the country, according to the BBC's media partner CBS News.
The object has been determined to be non-threatening, but its origin and purpose is unknown.
A US official told CBS the balloon was seen earlier over Colorado, drifting east.
A year ago, the US shot down a Chinese balloon after it crossed the US from Alaska to the east coast.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68388453
I wasn't sure if this belonged in LBN
Judgment in Trump civil fraud case officially entered at $464 million
Source: NBC
A clerk in New York has officially entered a more than $464 million fraud judgment against former President Donald Trump and top executives at his company — an amount that will grow by over $111,000 a day until it's paid.
The action starts the clock on the amount of time Trump has to file an appeal and to post a bond for the award. If he does not do so, the New York attorney general's office will be able to begin collection proceedings against Trump and his co-defendants in the civil fraud case.
The vast majority of the $464,576,230.62 judgment — $454,156,783.05 of it, to be exact — is against Trump and his companies. The rest of the judgment is against his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who've been running the Trump Organization since 2017, and former top executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney.
The amount includes the prejudgment interest that's accrued on the more than $350 million award Judge Arthur Engoron handed down last week.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judgment-trump-civil-fraud-case-officially-entered-464-million-rcna140256
A heart! a heart! a heart! a heart! a heart!
Thank you, sweetheart, for the heart!!!
FDA approves groundbreaking treatment for advanced melanoma
Source: NBC
Feb. 16, 2024, 3:27 PM EST / Updated Feb. 16, 2024, 4:22 PM EST
By Erika Edwards, Anne Thompson and Marina Kopf
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new cancer therapy that could one day transform the way a majority of aggressive and advanced tumors are treated.
The treatment, called Amtagvi, from Iovance Biotherapeutics, is for metastatic melanoma patients who have already tried and failed other drugs. It’s known as TIL therapy and involves boosting the number of immune cells inside tumors, harnessing their power to fight the cancer.
It’s the first time a cellular therapy has been approved to treat solid tumors. The drug was given a fast-track approval based on the results of a phase 2 clinical trial. The company is conducting a larger phase 3 trial to confirm the treatment’s benefits. The therapy’s list price — the price before insurance and other potential discounts — is $515,000 per patient.
“This is going to be huge,” said Dr. Elizabeth Buchbinder, a senior physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Melanoma is “not one of those cancers where there’s like 20 different” possible treatments, she said. “You start running out of options fast.”
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-approves-groundbreaking-treatment-advanced-melanoma-rcna138005
Four new hearts! I am thrilled and grateful
Sending love to all four of you lovely people!
The top doctor for CBP tried to order fentanyl lollipops for a helicopter mission in New York, whistleblowers say
Source: NBC
The chief medical officer for Customs and Border Protection pressured his staff to order fentanyl lollipops for him to take to the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York in September, according to a whistleblower report sent to Congress on Friday.
The whistleblowers said Dr. Alexander Eastman’s staff raised questions about why he would need to order fentanyl lollipops to take with him, and he answered that it was part of his duties to make sure that any injured CBP operators were cared for, making the argument that the lollipops would be necessary for pain management should an emergency occur.
“Eastman spent copious hours of his and Office of the Chief Medical Officer staff time directing the OCMO staff to urgently help him procure fentanyl lollipops, a Schedule II narcotic, so that he could bring them on the CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter on which he would be a passenger in New York City,” the whistleblowers said in the report. “Dr. Eastman claims that his possession of fentanyl lollipops was necessary in case a CBP operator might be injured, or in case the CBP Air and Marine Operations team encountered a patient in need.”
Customs and Border Protection is the chief agency responsible for detecting and stopping the illegal flow of fentanyl into the U.S. across international borders.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/cbp-doctor-tried-order-fentanyl-lollipops-helicopter-mission-new-york-rcna139116
Another heart! I'm overwhelmed
This means a lot to me.
Thank you, dear heart-giver!
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