Good Day, Gnusies! Happy Wednesday!
I love this final week of the year. After all the holidays one after the other since Hallowe’en, it is a little lull before the first holiday of the new year (New Year’s Day, of course) and a fresh new start. It also tends to be a slow news week, thankfully, so now is the time to rest and recharge our mental batteries. It's a great time to restore the emotional reserves by doing something that relaxes and soothes in whatever spare time you may have.
Today's GNR is a little shorter than usual, but the stories are quite consequential. Also, apologies for the dearth of music. I was just drawing a blank today (where normally, the music is just popping into my head all day long). Not to worry, though, there's some nice mellow stuff at the end and next GNR I will have lots more music for you!
But, you DO get a nice big picture of the Curlygirly!
Now. On with the news!
January 6 Committee
The whole story will come out
Jan. 6 Committee To Hold Public Hearings, Release Findings In 2022: Report, Sebastian Murdock, HuffPost, December 28, 2021.
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack that left five dead and hundreds of police officers injured will heat up in 2022, according to a new report.
The committee plans to hold public hearings next year before it releases a report detailing all the events of the riot from start to finish, The Washington Post first reported Monday.
A committee aide also confirmed to CNN that the House plans to release its initial findings by summer, and a final report by fall 2022, just in time for midterm elections. The committee hopes to get the information out before November’s election, which could see the probe shut down if Republicans win back the House.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told CNN earlier this month that public hearings will “tell the whole story” about the Capitol attack.
“I think we will want [public hearings] to tell the whole story,” Schiff said. “Security at the Capitol, the intelligence leading up to the attacks, lack of intelligence, the role of social media, the former President’s role, the role of those around him, and tell it in an era fashion so the public knows exactly what’s going on.”
There are encouraging signs Trump may finally be headed for his day of legal reckoning, Bill Blum, Independent Media Institute (via Raw Story+), December 28, 2021.
The House January 6 Select Committee is diligently investigating the origins of the insurrection, including Trump’s part in inciting the riot at the Capitol that delayed the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. Both Bennie Thompson (D-SC), the committee’s chairperson, and Liz Cheney (R-WY), the ranking Republican, have disclosed that Trump is under consideration for a criminal referral to the Justice Department.
At the same time, state-level investigations against Trump appear to be heating up in New York and Georgia.
While we endure the agonizing wait, investigators have a truly staggering array of potential charges to shift through and analyze. They include: ✂️ ← fair use precludes me copying this LONG list with supporting links, so please go read the article! -nifty.
While in office, Trump was shielded with temporary immunity from federal prosecution as a result of the Justice Department’s longstanding policy against indicting a sitting president. Although that immunity is gone, Trump would nonetheless be protected by the presumption of innocence, just like any other private citizen, were he to be prosecuted now. And it would represent a historic first for a former U.S. president to be charged with a crime. No prosecutor, state or federal, is going to roll the dice unless they are confident that they could prove Trump’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
TFG (and not just tfg) getting nervous — for good reason
‘Trump is in a bit of a meltdown down in Mar-A-Lago’ as Jan. 6 committee weighs criminal referrals: reporter, Travis Gettys, Raw Story, December 28, 2021.
The House select committee will open an investigation of a call Trump made to the Willard hotel, where his allies Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani and others were huddled in a "war room" as part of an effort to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's election win, and Guardianreporter Hugo Lowell -- who first revealed that call -- told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" what that means for the probe.
"It's a pivotal moment the night of Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 when Trump picked up the phone call from the White House," Lowell said. "According to sources, he instructed his operatives the find ways to stop the certification from taking place at all at the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6. If you speak to Trump's allies, this is not a big deal -- he was just trying to find ways to delay certification and find another day, but I always thought this was a really disingenuous characterization because, either way, through action or inaction, he managed to get the certification stopped, and the Capitol was attacked and now it's going to loom large in the committee's investigation."
The twice-impeached one-term president has claimed executive privilege over hundreds of documents, and Lowell predicted the U.S. Supreme Court would decide in the spring whether Congress may see that evidence, and he agreed the committee would eventually take some action against Trump personally.
Biden WH taking measured approach to document release
We’ve got a congress that is half composed of radical extremist Republicans — so it behooves the Biden administration to be careful about how and with whom sensitive executive branch documents are shared:
White House, Jan. 6 committee agree to shield some documents, Zeke Miller, AP, December 28, 2021.
The agreement to keep some Trump-era records away from the committee is memorialized in a Dec. 16 letter from the White House counsel’s office. It mostly shields records that do not involve the events of Jan. 6 but were covered by the committee’s sweeping request for documents from the Trump White House about the events of that day.✂️
Still other documents are highly classified and the White House asked Congress to work with the federal agencies that created them to discuss their release.
“The documents for which the Select Committee has agreed to withdraw or defer its request do not appear to bear on the White House’s preparations for or response to the events of January 6, or on efforts to overturn the election or otherwise obstruct the peaceful transfer of power,” White House deputy counsel Jonathan Su wrote in one of two letters to the committee obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.
Su wrote that for the committee, withholding the documents “should not compromise its ability to complete its critical investigation expeditiously.”
⚖️ Justice ⚖️
Judges not letting these “boys” off with their violence
Earlier this month, we had a story about two others who also failed to get their cases dismissed. Yesterday, Judge Kelly said ‘not bloody likely’ (I’m paraphrasing 😁) to another four:
Judge refuses to dismiss alleged Proud Boys leaders’ charges, Michael Kunzelman, AP, December 28, 2021.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly rejected defense attorneys’ arguments that the four men — Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Charles Donohoe — are charged with conduct that is protected by the First Amendment right to free speech.
Kelly said the defendants had many nonviolent ways to express their opinions about the 2020 presidential election.
“Defendants are not, as they argue, charged with anything like burning flags, wearing black armbands, or participating in mere sit-ins or protests,” Kelly wrote in his 43-page ruling. “Moreover, even if the charged conduct had some expressive aspect, it lost whatever First Amendment protection it may have had.” ✂️
Earlier this month, another judge in the District of Columbia’s federal court upheld prosecutors’ use of the same obstruction charge in a separate case against two riot defendants.
Worth reading this recap of the trial the nazis lost
When Whiny, Incompetent Nazis Lost Big, Joan Walsh, the Nation, December 23, 2021.
The civil trial of 14 men and 10 groups accused of conspiring to ignite racist violence at the two-day Charlottesville riots, which killed 32-year-old counterprotester Heather Heyer and injured at least 35 others, doesn’t offer an exact legal template for holding the 650-plus individuals (of an estimated 2,500 believed liable) charged in what was essentially an attempted coup accountable. But we can learn a lot from that recent four-week legal cavalcade of white supremacist preening, complaining, and, ultimately, defeat. ✂️
It took four years, partly because of Covid, to bring the Charlottesville conspirators to trial. But ultimately a jury found them liable for injuries to counterprotesters and awarded the nine plaintiffs in the case $26 million from this group of white supremacists. I hope it doesn’t take that long to bring the January 6 ringleaders, from Trump through Mark Meadows, Roger Stone, and Steve Bannon to the most minor MAGA insurrectionists, to justice. But whatever the time line, to have any chance of preventing the next spasm of white supremacist violence, it’s critical to identify the threads that connect these apparently separate events. They are many, and they’ll make your skin crawl.
Hopefully, a more just resolution to a horrific tragedy
A judge will reconsider a trucker's 110-year sentence following a public outcry, AP via NPR, December 27, 2021.
GOLDEN, Colo. — A truck driver sentenced to 110 years for an explosive crash that killed four people in suburban Denver moved a step closer Monday to potentially having his prison term reduced.
Judge Bruce Jones scheduled a hearing for Jan. 13 to reconsider Rogel Aguilera-Mederos' sentence following widespread outrage over the severity of his punishmentand an unusual request by prosecutors to revisit the matter.✂️
Jones said he wanted to learn more about whether the law that allowed him to reconsider the sentence gave him discretion to set whatever sentence he wanted.✂️
Around 5 million people have signed an online petition seeking clemency for Aguilera-Mederos. In addition to the prosecution's request to lower the sentence, Aguilera-Mederos has requested clemency from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
💉 Health News 💉
Good news about the current wave and vaccination
Healthy, boosted people unlikely to develop severe omicron infections, but jury’s out on older, at-risk populations, Yasmeen Abutaleb, Washington Post, December 28, 2021
While omicron has sent U.S. infections soaring to levels not seen since last winter’s wave, it appears to have less severe effects than the delta variant, according to a handful of international studies and early data from several U.S. hospitals.
Those infected by the omicron variant are 15 to 20 percent less likely to go to an emergency room, and 40 percent less likely to be hospitalized overnight, compared with those infected with delta, according to English data analyzed by scientists from Imperial College London. That aligns with early U.S. data from some hospitals. ✂️
“What is absolutely clear is there is lower rate of hospitalization with our omicron patients in our hospital system,” Musser said. “That does not necessarily mean that this variant is quote-unquote ‘less virulent.’ The jury’s still out on that. What we know now is that … if you are immunized and, more importantly, if you are boosted, you’re going to stay out of substantial trouble.”
CDC changes quarantine recommendations in light of new data
These changes — based on the science and with a few caveats — may ease the burden on a lot of people by shortening quarantine times and clarifying what appear to be reasonable precautions given what we now know:
CDC cuts the recommended isolation and quarantine periods for coronavirus infections, Matthew S Schwartz and Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, December 29, 2021.
Data shows that the majority of coronavirus transmission "occurs early in the course of illness," the CDC explained — generally in the one or two days before symptoms begin and two or three days after.
"Therefore, people who test positive should isolate for 5 days and, if asymptomatic at that time, they may leave isolation if they can continue to mask for 5 days to minimize the risk of infecting others," the CDC said in a statement.
The CDC has also updated its recommended quarantine period for people exposed to the virus. It says unvaccinated people should quarantine for five days, followed by five days of "strict mask use." Exposed people who are more than six months past their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or two months out from a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, should also quarantine for five days.
People who have gotten their booster shot don't need to quarantine after exposure but should wear a mask for the next 10 days.
Opinion: Biden is learning not to fret over vaccine deniers, Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, December 28, 2021.
Almost two years after the country first shut down to protect itself against the coronavirus pandemic, President Biden is grasping a changing environment, both medical and political. The result could well encourage responsible Americans to get on with their lives while allowing recalcitrant vaccine refusers to face the consequences of their reckless conduct. ✂️
The cumulative effect is to de-escalate the response to omicron for vaccinated and boosted Americans, for whom the risk is minimal. The changes will reduce workplace interruptions and aid in our economic recovery. As we recognize that covid-19 is not a deadly or even severe disease for the vast majority of responsible Americans, we can stop agonizing over “cases” and focus on those who are hospitalized or at risk of dying. ✂️
The federal government has done its job, vaccinating more than 200 million Americans, developing and delivering booster shots, and conducting a massive public-health education effort. We have already seen the contrast between blue states with competent, responsible governors and red states with MAGA pot-stirrers in charge. The top five states for vaccinations — Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut and Massachusetts (under the leadership of non-MAGA Republican Gov. Charlie Baker) — voted overwhelmingly for Biden. The five worst —Idaho, Wyoming, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana (despite a Democratic governor) — all voted for former president Donald Trump by double digits in 2020.
A different perspective on Autism Spectrum Disorder:
🐩💙 CG’s Picks 💙🐩
Hello Everybody! It’s me, Curlygirl! Today I have three videos for you and they are ALL about dogs! Well, mostly — the middle one is about a wild relative of dogs and probably Mama’s favorite animal besides me.
First, my favorite two Labradors: Olive and Mabel.
Second, the video with my wild relative, a red fox!
And third, a video of a poodle athlete! Mama says I looked like that when I was running and jumping over fences! I’m not allowed to do that anymore because of stupid ‘thritis, but I would love to run and jump right now just like this white poodle!
Anyway, those are my picks for this Wednesday. I hope you are having a nice week! Bye for now! Luv, CG 🐾
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ Nice obituary for Sen. Harry Reid: Harry M. Reid, Senate Majority Leader Behind Landmark Democratic Victories, Dies at 82, Jonathan Martin, New York Times, December 28, 2021.
⚡️ A really good read (restore your faith in humanity): These Progressives Fought the Good Fight in 2021—and Gave Us Hope for 2022, John Nichols, the Nation, December 28, 2021.
⚡️ TAP founder’s favorite stories of 2021: Best of 2021: Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect, December 28, 2021.
⚡️ It’s the 50 Rs, people: It’s Not Manchin, Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect, December 24, 2021.
⚡️ How to raise kind kids, a booze ban, BTS at U.N.: Our top non-pandemic global stories, Malaka Gharib, NPR, December 25, 2021.
⚡️ All Hail Dead Week, the Best Week of the Year, Helena Fitzgerald, the Atlantic, December 27, 2021.
⚡️ It’s good to see the south embracing the future (EVs), although the downside is these plants are attracted because of low union strength in the south. Hopefully, the newly energized labor movement will soon correct that: The Sun Belt is making a big play for the hot electric vehicle market, Sam Gringlas, NPR, December 28, 2021.
⚡️There are actually some great photos (think inauguration!): A Look Back at 2021 in Photos, If You Can Bear It, Mark Murrmann, Mother Jones, December 28, 2021.
⚡️ 12 Movies We’re Excited To Watch In 2022, Taryn Finley and Candice Frederick, HuffPost, December 28, 2021.
⚡️ THE 50 BEST PODCASTS OF 2021, Laura Jane Standley and Eric McQuade, the Atlantic, December 27, 2021.
⚡️ Get Ready for the Most Pivotal Year in the History of the Supreme Court—Again, Matt Ford, The New Republic, December 28, 2021.
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it for the last Wednesday in 2021 from me and CG. I hope everyone is having a good week and that you are gathering your strength for what promises to be an eventful first few months of 2022!
Be sure to eat nutritious food, get some rest and spend a little time outdoors every day if you’re able.
I’m going to leave you with some nice mellow jazzy music.
Happy Wednesday
and
Happy New Year!