Investigators have requested Jones appear for deposition on Jan. 10. A previously scheduled deposition last week was postponed.
Jones is one of over 100 people that the committee has sought phone records from, specifically. The committee sent a request to Verizon and AT&T in November for those call details but the request did not ask to unmask the content of any calls, rather, investigators sought just the time and length of call records.
In his lawsuit, the shock jock says he previously communicated with the panel and offered to submit documents and provide written answers to the committee’s inquiries but the committee “refused to accept that offer” and insisted on an in-person deposition.
Jones’ lawsuit is littered with allegations about the committee’s validity including claims that it is a “witch hunt” and a mere continuation of the “political prosecutions” foisted by Democrats in Congress against Trump and his supporters.
Jones now joins the legal fray with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Stop the Steal founder and conspiracy theorist Ali Alexander. Meadows sued the committee and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Dec. 8, asking a federal court to issue an injunction effectively stopping Verizon from turning his phone records over to the probe. Alexander requested the same in his 25-page lawsuit on Dec. 17.
According to CNN, Jones may already be out of luck: AT&T reportedly already informed Jones it would turn over the records on Dec. 16.
AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Cotton imports to Bangladesh may drop in the current marketing year (MY22) of June 2021 to May 2022 despite a rise in its consumption by the garment industry, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which said in a recent report that spinners may be inclined to use more cotton from their stock instead of import as cotton price is shooting up.
USDA said cotton imports in the country may fall to 8.2 million bales in the MY22 from 8.75 million in the MY21.
“Due to the high international price of cotton, local spinning mills will consume more out of stocks,” said the report.
Cotton imports to Bangladesh may drop in the current marketing year (MY22) of June 2021 to May 2022 despite a rise in its consumption by the garment industry, according to the US Department of Agriculture, which said in a recent report that spinners may be inclined to use more cotton from their stock instead of import as cotton price is shooting up.
Referring to the rise in domestic cotton consumption, which rose by 23 per cent in MY21, the USDA report also projected that in MY22, cotton consumption may increase to 8.81 million bales.
But Bangladeshi media reports say local cotton importers disagree with the prediction though they agree with the estimated rise in cotton consumption. Spinning mills have to keep a security stock of cotton to avert any future uncertainty, they say.
Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) chief executive officer Monsoor Ahmed told a newspaper that as a number of spinning mills are expanding operations, that will drive more import. He, however, questioned how the USDA was sure of the actual stock of cotton with the factories.
DuPont de Nemours (DD) closed at $76.49 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.7% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500’s daily gain of 1.78%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.61%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.95%.
– Zacks
Heading into today, shares of the specialty chemicals maker had lost 5.06% over the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector’s loss of 2.07% and the S&P 500’s loss of 2.63% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from DuPont de Nemours as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, DuPont de Nemours is projected to report earnings of $1.01 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 6.32%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4 billion, down 23.89% from the year-ago period.
DD’s full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.22 per share and revenue of $16.37 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +25.6% and -19.75%, respectively.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for DuPont de Nemours should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. DuPont de Nemours is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note DuPont de Nemours’s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 17.84. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.91, which means DuPont de Nemours is trading at a premium to the group.
Meanwhile, DD’s PEG ratio is currently 1.51. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. Chemical – Diversified stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.11 based on yesterday’s closing prices.
The Chemical – Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 93, which puts it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow DD in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
It’s no secret that US healthcare is flawed, but our ability to propose and implement solutions is flawed too. Innovators are required to meet many legal and regulatory requirements to get a seat at the table. As a result, healthcare is still very inaccessible to those that need it most — especially with things like information and transparent reviews to the care itself.
The problem
Healthcare innovation as a concept will often make people think about healthcare solutions through vaccines, breakthrough treatments and artificial intelligence. But the consumer-facing side of healthcare is something that needs more attention, too. This refers to the aspects of healthcare that impact the patient experience, whether it be accessing information, video calling with a physician or using a patient portal. What’s interesting, however, is how few of these solutions exist to connect patients with one another. The problem this creates is that patients make very big decisions with very little information.
McKinsey & Company found in their 2019 Consumer Health Insights Survey that only a fraction of people had been able to find the information they sought when making healthcare decisions. Therefore, people are less likely to explore their options — they are essentially relying on the advice of a salesperson.
Healthcare is a deeply emotional industry. The decisions made by top-level management right down to the providers have a direct impact on people’s lives, and patients experience every step of it on a visceral level. It’s a journey that patients should not have to go through alone. In fact, people seek out human connection when they do have to go through a healthcare episode — it’s only normal for us to bring family or close friends to important healthcare meetings.
Additionally, many of us have experienced that immediate spark with someone when we find out we share a mutual experience. Maybe you meet a colleague who also had a hip replacement or a friend of a friend who is thinking about laser eye surgery too. Whatever it might be, the connection at that moment always makes us feel less alone and offers a new component to our healthcare journey that we might not have even previously considered.
How can healthcare be more accessible?
When we talk about accessible healthcare, a large element to this means accessing reliable, unbiased information. Inevitably physicians and healthcare institutions are influenced by various biases, but often this is the only source of information available for patients. We can’t check out a surgeon or medical practice’s review the way we would a restaurant or new product. But sometimes the best solution is the simplest one. And a very simple solution to making healthcare more accessible would be making it easier for patients to connect. Healthcare resources don’t necessarily have to be complex technological solutions — it can be as simple as establishing the infrastructure to allow patients to find one another. The connection between two patients is far more powerful than the text on a forum board.
Often bad healthcare experiences come from patients feeling unsupported. We have witnessed unlikely communities form around products like Tesla and Peloton, so there’s no reason community can’t become more commonplace in healthcare. People who go through healthcare experiences will connect on social media and in online forums because we crave that mutual connection from people who understand what we are going through. Healthcare innovation covers a broad spectrum of things, but facilitating infrastructure for community could go a long way in targeting many of the accessibility shortcomings in healthcare, which directly correlates to the emotional and interpersonal.
Most of us have gone our whole lives believing that healthcare is something that simply must remain elusive. We have come to accept that not having all the information is just part of the healthcare experience. But the future of healthcare innovation is not just in medicine and device technology, but in the social experiences too. Community has the potential to rewrite the healthcare experience and have a profound impact on the way people seek out and receive treatment.
According to the gossip outlet, Oz reportedly described the “transgender issue” as “diluted a little bit,” noting that it’s “critical” to understand the suicide rate among transgender adults. He stressed the importance of having “compassion” about this “problem.”
“Transgender folks who are adults, when they are processing this, have to figure out if they wanna keep living the lie,” Oz reportedly continued. “They don’t think they’re who they are—or be who they truly are and are [inaudible] because of it. So, that’s like the baseline.”
There’s obviously plenty to correct here: No one is living a lie if they’re not open about their gender identity, especially not in a society that systemically oppresses trans folks. People do not have to out themselves to anyone. But this does seem to be a position with more empathy and compassion than many other Republicans, which I can’t praise, but will recognize.
But Oz didn’t stop there.
“Feminists have very eloquently fought for the ability to have women’s sports be on equal [inaudible] as men’s sports,” Oz reportedly said, adding that this “takes away that ability.” He went on to say, “I would argue that what I just said can’t be said—I definitely couldn’t have said it on [The Dr. Oz Show]—and you need to be able to say those things.”
Oz allegedly described Rowling as “not some icon of the conservative party,” but as a “lifelong feminist” who said something “very brave” and was “canceled” over it. “And I’ve talked to people who are canceling her,” he reportedly continued, “who would’ve been making a lot of money off her, and they can’t defend what they’re doing, or they don’t wanna be in trouble.” Oz reportedly went on to say that brave Americans have to be “willing to get into trouble.”
If you’re curious about where Oz stands politically in general, well. It’s a doozy. He’s running as a Republican in Pennsylvania, though his campaign announcement materials stress his interest in a border wall and stopping “illegal” immigration (no one is illegal, ever, mind you). His website also stresses he wants to make sure “people know the truth about COVID.” Though Oz is technically a physician—he’s a heart surgeon—he’s become infamous for his stances on the COVID-19 pandemic, which he’s repeatedly shared on Fox News as a guest.
For example, back in April 2020, Oz suggested that reopening schools during the pandemic would perhaps “cost us” only 2%-3% in terms of “total mortality” of the population, which of course caused serious outcry—he later apologized and said he misspoke. In his campaign materials, though, Oz suggested Americans have been “patronized and misled” during the pandemic. He also described the “arrogant, closed-minded people in charge closed our schools, shut down our businesses and took away our freedom.”
He also recently jabbed at Dr. Anthony Fauci, suggesting that Fauci has “lost the faith and confidence” of the American public during an interview with the New York Post. Oz reportedly said Fauci should be “held accountable” for “misleading” the public and Congress, whether “willfully or unintentionally.”
In a campaign video shared to Twitter in November, he described “Washington” as being to blame for the loss of lives, jobs, and opportunities. Oz asserted that “they took away our freedom without making us safer” and “tried to kill our spirit and our dignity.” Big yikes.
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I’m running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania because America needs a Conservative Republican to cure what’s wrong with Washington. I’m a world-class surgeon, fighter, and health care advocate stepping forward to cure our country’s ills. Watch my announcement video now! pic.twitter.com/yLhKsZm9sl
Attack On Titan needs no special introduction because this web series has already a separate and huge fan base. Finally, season 4, part 2 release date is out and fans are eagerly waiting for Sunday, January 9, 2022. The recently released trailer and launch date have also stirred the expectations of viewers. Huge titan is among the highlights of upcoming part 2 despite it is not being the largest character of the AOT series. Let’s have a look at its basic characteristics, abilities, history, story and a lot more.
Who is Huge Titan Actually
When we talk about huge titan, it means Colossal Titan. It is a member of the Nine Titans and the main antagonist of the Attack on Titan series’ first three seasons. This Titan is famous for its immense size and extensive control over emitting the steam issued by its Titan body, as well as the user’s ability to manage the power of the blast discharged by its metamorphosis. Armin Arlelt is the current possessor of this character. The Colossal Titan originally appeared in 845 during the Wall Maria fall.
Size Comparison
Colossal Titan is huge but not the largest one. Since the release of the first season, interesting characters of different sizes are appearing and impressed with their abilities. Here is a list of the top 10 biggest titans. Check out where Colossal Titan grabbed its position:-
Among this list of top 10 tallest titans, Rod Reiss is the largest character appeared in the released episodes so far. Let’s have a brief look at its features.
Knowing Rod Reiss and its comparison with Huge Titan
The Reiss Titan was one of the series’ most monstrously intimidating enemies, standing at a terrifying 120 meters tall and trudging through Paradis’ landscape. It was now twice the size of the Colossal Titan and eight times the height of the Attack Titan.
Rod’s spine was injured at the time of his change, thus he couldn’t just step around Paradis’ walls before obliterating the entire city, which was fortunate for the heroes. In addition, his entire front was defaced, making him vulnerable to explosives. Long limbs and dark-colored skin are the two characteristics that we can find similar between Rod Reiss and Huge Titan.
Everything about Huge Titan You Need to Know
Energy Emitting Ability
When transforming, all Titans generate massive heat and energy amounts, but the Colossal Titan takes it to the next level. Its owner can use the energy released during the change to achieve a variety of outcomes. When Bertholdt Hoover invaded Trost, for example, his transformation resulted in a wind blast that knocked a few cadets over the Wall. Bertholdt, on the other hand, released an amount of energy equivalent to a small nuclear explosive during the Battle of Shiganshina District, which devastated the district’s area and set the nearby areas on fire, killing a large number of soldiers from Scout Regiment. Furthermore, the transformation’s tremendous force caused a gigantic mushroom cloud of rubble and dust.
Physical Features
The Huge Titan is known for its enormous size, reaching a height of 60 meters, adequate to gaze over the tops of the Walls. Its massive body mass provides it with tremendous physical strength, yet its enormous bulk causes it to move slowly. With a single kick, it can smash Wall Maria’s outer gate, rocket entire houses into the air, and launch Eren’s Attack Titan from the ground to the top of Wall Maria. It’s worth noting that the arms are extremely disproportionately large in comparison to the rest of the body, implying that they’re weaker than the legs. Armin also exploits the Colossal Titan’s immense size and strength to assure naval port Marleyan ship’s destruction after his transformation by walking on them.
Unique Steam Emission Ability
The Colossal Titan’s particular power appears to be substantial control over the amount of steam released by the Titan form. Titans exude steam from their wounds in normal circumstances, and their corpses totally evaporate into steam after sustaining a fatal blow. The Colossal Titan has the ability to eject massive amounts of steam in order to keep people away from its nape. This ability can be put to a multitude of uses. By ejecting massive amounts of steam all at once, the force and pressure of the steam will repel and burn anyone who is not set in place in close proximity to the Huge Titan. In case of getting threatened, the offenders will be burnt by the Titan’s enormous heat all the time.
Drawbacks
Prolonged use of powers takes its toll on the Titan, gradually reducing muscle mass until only the skeletal framework remains. When necessary, the Colossal Titan has the ability to evaporate its entire body to disappear quickly. This places the user in a vulnerable position, with no way of stopping a fall from a height beyond the capacity of the titan form. However, if the user is using ODM gear, this disadvantage can be mitigated. It happened after the Huge Titan made its appearance in Trost and a massive amount of steam was unleashed to prevent its neck from the reach of Eren Jaeger, allowing Bertholdt using 3d maneuvering gear to climb down the wall.
How Did They Come Into Existence
When Bertholdt titan went through transformation outside the southern gate, terrifying the Shiganshina populace and making a massive hole in the southern gate, the Colossal Titan made its first appearance (outside Wall Maria). Consequently, the Pure Titans have wandered outside to invade Shiganshina and begin feasting on the city’s many residents, including Carla Jaeger. During the turmoil, Bertholdt joined his fellow last surviving soldiers in infiltrating the fortified region. After the first appearance, it took 5 years for Colossal Titan to reappear.
All Categories of Titans
Including the huge titan, a total number of 12 titans exist in the Attack On Titan web series. We are classifying them on the basis of their characteristics:-
Pure Titans
Abnormal Titans
The Nine Titans
Founding Titan aka Progenitor Titan
Armored Titan
Attack Titan
Beast Titan
Cart Titan
Colossal Titan
Female Titan
Jaw Titan
War Hammer Titan
What’s so unique about Colossal Titan?
When Bertolt attacks Trost District metamorphosis, created a powerful wind blast. Users of the Colossal Titan can control the energy generated during their transformation to create numerous effects. During the Battle of Shiganshina District, the Colossal Titan was also capable of creating a mushroom cloud of dust and rubble, which killed several Survey Corps troops. The Colossal Titan is also recognized for its massive size and physical capabilities, as it can topple Wall Maria’s outer gate with a single kick, as its name suggests.
The Colossal Titan also has the unique ability to regulate the steam emitted from its body, which it uses to burn and deflect strikes in close quarters. Eren engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle with Armin in his Colossal Titan form during his closing minutes in a fight against Armin and Mikasa. Armin manages to immobilize Eren long enough for Mikasa to enter his Titan’s mouth and kill him before kissing him farewell, despite Eren’s superior physical and strategic prowess.
Who defeated Colossal Titan?
Despite the enormous size and strong offensive abilities of a huge titan, it was defeated by Eren. Basically, Eren is complicated, highly powerful, and possess multiple appearances including:-
Eren evolved from human to Titan form after inheriting Attack and Founding Titans form from his father. Later, after eating the younger sister of Willy Tybur, he also possessed War Hammer Titan form. Eren’s Attack Titan on the ground below is nothing more than its tough shell, and in his human form, Eren swings at the Colossus Titan, yanking Bertolt from the nape that caused the defeat of Colossus Titan. If you compare the offensive and defensive abilities, Founding Titan is the strongest one. Eren possess Founding Titan powers, so he managed to defeat Huge Titan.
Spoiler Alerts!
Are you too curious to know what could be possible surprising twists in the upcoming part 2 of season 4? It is already considered as the last season of AOT so all the fans are expecting jaw-dropping twist story plots. After doing some research, we have concluded some interesting and possible spoilers. Have a look and give your views on them:-
Eren must have a big plan that he isn’t informing his friends about. After all, a flashback episode in Season 4, Part 1 saw Eren rejecting Jean, Connie, Mikasa, and Sasha’s offer to inherit his Titan after he died. Why did he feel compelled to be so cruel with Armin and Mikasa later on in the timeline? Something’s wrong with Eren, but it’s exceedingly odd that he’s lost interest in his pals.
Reiner isn’t shown as a bad guy in the show (even Eren acknowledged that they were two sides of the same coin). After his time in Paradis, Reiner is clearly tired of war, and his conscience is bothering him. Reiner, on the other hand, appears to have a renewed sense of purpose in the mid-season finale, ready to put an end to his feud with Eren once and for all. Is Reiner capable of killing Eren? After all, this isn’t a program that plays it safe. And it’s possible that’s exactly what Eren desires.
The only way Mikasa may die is if she tries to save Eren or prevent him from carrying out his true plan. Despite Eren’s assertions that she is only loyal to him because of her Ackerman blood, she clearly loves him. She wasn’t scared to confront him about his role in the Liberian civil war, which resulted in the deaths of people and children. Armin wasn’t afraid to hit Eren after Eren stated that he, too, had always despised Mikasa.
Possible Role of Huge Titan in Part 2 of 4th Season
Right now, Armin is controlling Huge Titan who is not a violent character by nature. Even with his innate abilities, the Colossal Titan is still a force to be reckoned with. It stands over even the highest of the other Shifter Titans, and its blazing steam makes it dangerous to approach. In Season 4, we only witness the Colossal Titan in action against humans, not against other Shifter Titans. Perhaps it’s also because of the new wielder.
During the Liberio Raid, Armin transforms in the middle of the docks, demolishing them as well as the surrounding homes and murdering countless innocent people. The only other time we see the Colossal Titan is in a flashback to when the residents of Paradis cooperated with the volunteers from Marley when the Titan is shown beaching their ships. Armin attempted not to employ the Titan’s full strength even when he was utilizing it, knowing how terrible it can be.
Conclusive Words
The upcoming part 2 of season 4 is the most awaited release for Anime lovers worldwide. Just like the previous seasons AOT, it is probably going to be released on Funimation, Netflix, Crunchyroll, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Huge Titan with its 60 meters size, steam emission and excellent controls on actions is surely going to surprise audiences. Colossal Titan was considered as one of the biggest threats at the beginning of this series but various other Titans overtook the legacy. However, Reiner is still a strong contender and battles in the second part of season 4 are surely going to be fierce. Thus, the possibilities of unexpected twists are highly expected.
Rod Reiss seems to be the game-changer character because of its humongous size approximately double as compared to Huge Titan. Whether you hate or love Eren, his aggressive plans are going to be the biggest entertainment factor. Just wait for the official release!
Traveling to some countries in Europe will soon require yet another piece of paperwork — and yet another fee. For Americans, that fee is just under $8 (7 euros) per person.
NerdWallet – NerdWallet
Sometime in 2022, the European Commission is set to launch what’s called the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, or ETIAS.
What is ETIAS?
The new ETIAS program is expected to be a largely automated process for identifying security, irregular migration or high epidemic risks. The program is designed for certain travelers heading to the Schengen Area, which consists of 26 European countries without border controls between them.
Austria. Belgium. The Czech Republic. Denmark. Estonia. Finland. France. Germany. Greece. Hungary. Iceland. Italy. Latvia. Liechtenstein. Lithuania. Luxembourg. Malta. The Netherlands. Norway. Poland. Portugal. Slovakia. Slovenia. Spain. Sweden. Switzerland.
The European Commission says the program is designed to “facilitate border checks; avoid bureaucracy and delays for travellers when presenting themselves at the borders; ensure a coordinated and harmonised risk assessment of third-country nationals; and substantially reduce the number of refusals of entry at border crossing points.”
The new ETIAS program applies to citizens of countries who don’t need visas to enter the European Union, including the U.S.
That means Americans have one more task on their to-do list (and one more fee to pay) before entering Europe’s Schengen Area.
How ETIAS will work
First, you’ll have to fill out an online application form, which the EU uses to conduct various security checks. Submitting that form also entails a fee of around $8.
In most cases, visitors will receive travel authorization within minutes. But in some cases, it could take travelers up to 30 days to receive authorization.
Once you have your authorization documents, they’ll be checked along with other travel documents such as your passport by the border guards when crossing the EU border.
What ETIAS means for travelers
An extra cost
The extra fee could be a headache for travelers. Sure, about $8 is small potatoes in the grand scheme of a European trip. But it comes in an era where new fees are appearing everywhere, whether it’s hotel resort and amenity fees, or airline fees for things such as checked bags and seat selection.
That’s on top of pandemic-era expenses like mandatory COVID-19 tests, as well as potential quarantine costs should you test positive abroad, or Cancel For Any Reason travel insurance, which has become increasingly popular given the uncertainty of travel these days.
Plus, the fee is per person, so if you’re bringing the family, you’ll need to pay and register everyone in your travel party.
More paperwork
ETIAS joins the list of ever-growing paperwork you need before boarding a flight. Your trip might already require proof of a COVID-19 test. You’ll likely also need to pack proof of vaccination. Additionally, you’ll need to ensure your passport is up to date. If it’s not, that may pose its own challenges because it sometimes takes the State Department over two months to process passports.
A challenge for procrastinators (or last-minute travelers)
Given that ETIAS authorization could take up to 30 days, people booking last-minute travel may have to account for this change, as well as people who procrastinate on this particular paperwork.
Of course, the ETIAS program hasn’t started, and there’s no clear initiation date beyond a statement from the European Commission that ETIAS is expected to be operational by the end of 2022. From there, expect a six-month transition period for the system to be implemented, meaning you likely won’t actually need to register with the ETIAS program until sometime in 2023.
But when it does become mandatory, add it to your growing pre-travel to-do list — and bake those $8 per person fees into your travel budget.
The article U.S. Travelers to EU to Face New Fee, Paperwork in 2022 originally appeared on NerdWallet.
Key portions of those findings are cited in the Just Security analysis, including an excerpt from former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller. Miller testified to the House Oversight Committee in May that if he ordered the U.S. military to be on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, he could have “created the greatest Constitutional crisis probably since the Civil War.”
Miller stopped short of naming specific officials who shared that view, but when testifying to House Oversight, he did not shy away from admitting that he thought Trump would use the Insurrection Act in an “anti-democratic manner.”
But as Goodman and Hendrix pointed out Tuesday, it has become clear in more recent months thanks to public reporting that Miller’s concerns were shared by officials like the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff General Mark Milley, former CIA director John Brennan and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In I Alone Can Fix It, Milley was quoted as telling Pompeo that the U.S. military was “not going to be used” as Trump’s plaything. And as pointed out by Goodman and Hendrix, though many have theorized that the slow response by Defense on Jan. 6 was a display of the military’s willingness to abet Trump’s power grab,growing evidence suggests otherwise.
“Senior military officials constrained the mobilization and deployment of the National Guard to avoid injecting federal troops that could have been re-missioned by the President to advance his attempt to hold onto power,” Goodman and Hendrix wrote Tuesday.
That would explain not only the delay of the first wave of Guardsmen deployed to the Capitol but it could also explain why the Defense Department only sent help until after Trump stated publicly “You have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order.”
That statement, it should be noted, was not made until after 4 p.m. on Jan. 6. Earlier that afternoon, and long after rioters had breached the complex, Trump was on Twitter ratcheting up tensions and pushing his agenda.
At 2:24 p.m. on Jan. 6, Trump wrote: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”
Fourteen minutes later at 2:38 p.m.—and, again, this was still hours before Trump finally called for peace more plainly—the former president addressed his supporters on Twitter: “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!”
U.S. Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt was shot within the next 45 minutes.
Babbitt was forcing her way into chambers and ignored repeated verbal orders to stand down from U.S. Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd. An investigation into Babbitt’s death by the Department of Justice concluded this April. Officials said they would not pursue criminal charges against Byrd since his actions were “lawful and within Department policy.”
Further, Milley, in response to Trump’s late afternoon request for rioters to disperse on Jan. 6, reportedly told staff at the Pentagon he felt Trump was “stoking unrest, possibly in hopes of an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act and call out the military.”
In light of the mounting evidence suggesting assistance to the Capitol was delayed for strategic purposes aimed at preserving democracy as a whole, Goodman and Hendrix noted new questions, naturally, arise:
Under what conditions might the U.S. military try to subvert the will of the President (even if one ethically agrees with the difficult choices the Pentagon made before and on Jan. 6)?
What information did senior officials have concerning President Trump’s potential use of the military to hold onto power and who else did they believe was participating in such a scheme?
“There’s a need for public information about what actually happened at the Pentagon on January 6, because Trump and others are exploiting the current mystery to spread disinformation and to avoid accountability,” Goodman and Hendrix said in a statement to Daily Kos on Tuesday.
Goodman added: “I hope congressional investigators and reporters will follow up on the profound questions our analysis raises. For example, what exactly gave Chairman Milley such concerns about the prospect that Trump would try to use the military to hold onto power, and who did Milley think was involved in such a plot? The evidence led us to this chilling account of what likely happened. It’s important for our country to understand how close we came to going off the cliff.”
The Defense Department has been restrained in its public response, saying only that the agency has been transparent with the timeline and telling Just Security that given the ongoing probe by the Jan. 6th Committee, it would be inappropriate to comment further for now.
The Insurrection Act was first established in 1807 and has seen a large number of amendments and revisions in the 214 years since it was first put on the books. In short, the legislation allows a president to first issue a proclamation ordering insurgents to disperse within a limited time. Then, if things are not sorted out in that time, the President of the United States is authorized to issue an executive order deploying troops to quell insurgents.
According to the U.S. code, a president is permitted to use armed forces in the event of a domestic terrorist attack or a natural disaster. It also allows for the use of military forces to “suppress” significant civil unrest.
What is less clear, however, is whether the act implies that the act is only properly invoked when a state also requests troops in its borders. Experts debated this last July during a Congressional Study Group on Foreign Relations and National Security.
Trump had several “near misses” with invoking the act, Goodman and Hendrix noted.
He reportedly told Milley and then-Attorney General William Barr to “beat the fuck out of” or “just shoot” Black Lives Matter demonstrators last June, even going so far as to draft up a proclamation invoking the Insurrection Act. It was widely reported that Trump also considered sending 10,000 active-duty troops into the streets of several U.S. cities, including the Nation’s Capitol.
He was reportedly only held back when then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and General Milley objected.
The examples from Hendrix and Goodman continued:
Other Trump cronies like Roger Stone, Alex Jones, and Michael Flynn also publicly called for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act to further his bunk election fraud propaganda.
As a part of the Jan. 6 Committee probe, Stone and Jones have both said they will invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. A deposition with Flynn is currently delayed for a short time, according to the committee.
The full Just Security analysis is available here.
Trevor Bidelman, a local union leader, told HuffPost’s Dave Jamieson that he thought the threat of being permanently replaced had shifted votes. That makes sense, given how central elimination of the two-tier system had been to workers’ demands. But without a strike, they wouldn’t have chipped away at the two-tier system at all, and rejecting the previous offer did expand cost-of-living adjustments to all workers.
“Our striking members at Kellogg’s ready-to-eat cereal production facilities courageously stood their ground and sacrificed so much in order to achieve a fair contract. This agreement makes gains and does not include any concessions,” Anthony Shelton, the president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union said in a statement.
The workers had drawn significant support from President Joe Biden and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, with Biden making a statement decrying the company’s threat to permanently replace the workers, and Walsh visiting them on a picket line. The support from politicians was bipartisan: Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts wrote to the CEO of Kellogg, hailing the workers’ contributions to the company’s strength during the pandemic.
This was one of several major strikes by BCTGM workers in 2021, including workers at Frito-Lay and Nabisco. And the contract at issue in the Topeka, Kansas, Frito-Lay strike will be up in Sept. 2022. That’s just one of many union contracts that will be up in 2022, including those covering 195,000 food and beverage workers (including the Stop & Shop workers who went on strike in 2019); Longshore workers in Washington, Oregon, and California; 30,000 oil refinery and petrochemical plant workers; 118,000 hospital workers; and 268,000 education workers.
It’s not often I’ve had the opportunity to sit down and relish a marathon 15-course dinner.
In fact, I can’t think of any occasion except over the recent festive season when international restaurateurs Michael and Annette Dearth invited my companion and I to ‘The Grove’ in Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island.
Born in Connecticut, Michael, of Italian-Irish background and father of two teenage children with his Michigan-born wife, earned his experience in the hospitality sector in many places, but particularly San Francisco where he was also a sommelier before emigrating more than 20 years ago to the land known in te reo Maori (the Maori language) as Aotearoa.
Michael Dearth, owner of The Grove. Photo by Columbia Hillen
A gregarious personality who makes it a point of speaking to all his guests table-by-table, Michael has managed not only to create a most enjoyable menu but also a young friendly, multi-national team who make guests feel relaxed and comfortable. All the servers were smartly dressed in sandy-colored checked waistcoats and black pants and shirts and included Kei from Japan and Andrea from Italy but also a mini-United Nations staff from Colombia, India, China, France, England, the US, and of course, New Zealand.
Columbia Hillen
Located opposite St. Patrick’s Church (coincidentally Michael’s second name is Patrick), The Grove occupies a central position in downtown Auckland and is one of two restaurants the Dearths own, the other, not so far away, being Baduzzi serving Italian food.
Michael chose the word ‘grove’ for his fine-dining restaurant to indicate tranquility and a strong sense of Nature, with a huge magnolia tree once growing just outside the rear window. That The Grove is a popular venue was evident insofar as either side of us during the evening sat a varied clientele – one being a group of Kiwis and Asian people and the other a couple from Washington state in the US.
Columbia Hillen
The Grove comprises an elongated room, lit by hanging ceiling lights resembling, as my companion described it so poetically, ‘melting bubbles.’ Crisp white tablecloths, a polished broad-beam wood floor, soft brown cushions that absorb sound and whitewashed brick enhance the overall ambience. Nature is everywhere, in the wooden slats hinting at a grove of trees and slender saplings of ficus in giant pots that resemble amphora, as well as bamboo plants. There are also nautical boards in the main dining room. Nature is even present in the bathrooms with a decorative butterfly theme adorning the wall.
Columbia Hillen
Our evening commenced with a couple of exotic cocktails. My companion chose Cherry Pop featuring cherry-flavored gin by the Waiheke Distilling Company, maraschino cherries and sparkling wine. Not only was my vodka martini chilled to perfection but was served with a choice of three (3) types of olives on a skewer and lemon peel plus two different concentrations of olive brine in mini Aladdin-like vessels on a small wooden tray. Another intriguing cocktail was the peanut butter cup comprising peanut butter, bourbon and Bailey’s and Boysenberry Tang consisting of Lyre’s Rosso, boysenberries and verjus, the pressed juice of unripened grapes. Non-alcoholic cocktails included ‘Like a Margarita’ comprising Seedlip Grove 42, Blue Agave nectar and lime. There was also a selection of beers including a tasty hoppy ale on tap called Baduzzi, a collaboration with a local brewery. And reflecting Michael’s vast experience in the wine sector, there was a very extensive collection, including organic and biodynamic, from countries as diverse as Argentina, France, Hungary, Spain, Australia, Italy, Germany, South Africa and New Zealand.
Columbia Hillen
Sadly, we could not try all the wines but did imbibe on a Portuguese 2022 Morgado do Perdigao featuring albariño and loureiro grape varieties from Quinta de Pacos and a New Zealand 2018 Estate Puriri Hills from Clevedon, south of Auckland, featuring merlot, carmenere, malbec and cabernet franc grapes. Indicating the sheer breadth of spirits on offer, I counted 12 different gins and 15 whiskies and bourbons on the menu.
Columbia Hillen
One thought that occurred to us during our feast was that the food was designed in such a way that using our fingers rather than cutlery would not have been out of place, a feeling that enhanced for us the restaurant’s connection to Nature. Presentation on diverse crockery was impressive, including slate, polished wood, salt block, hot stone, even colorful Paua shell and a box filled with corn kernels, allowing the produce to shine in all its glory. Much attention in presentation focuses on form and structure in a minimalist manner with flavors being delicately subtle rather than overpowering to one’s taste buds.
Columbia Hillen
We were served five different amuse bouche surprises before we’d even begun dinner – salt and vinegar crisps with a sweetbread mousse; smoked eel enveloped in a slim layer of white chocolate with caviar sweetly trapped within; thin carpaccio of venison with a dill emulsion stripped table-side from a large salt block where it had been cured; sweet shrimp wrapped in a nasturtium leaf; and kingfish with celeriac.
Columbia Hillen
Our starters and mains were a balanced blend of vegetables, meat, fish and seafood dishes including white asparagus; crayfish; trevally, or striped jack, a tropical fish; duck; lamb; and aged beef, all interspersed with a palette cleanser of fresh flowers and chamomile, mint and lemon sorbet flash-frozen table-side with a spray of mist.
Columbia Hillen
Kudos to the executive chef for combining exotic herbs with local dishes trevally, eel and lamb, as well as fresh wasabi leaf with crayfish and kawakawa leaf with 55-day aged beef from Churchtown.
As for desserts, suffice it to say, you will not be short of choice, and may indeed be tempted to indulge in several.
– Zacks
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