Friday News Roundup
Shutdown Watch
The U.S. government faces the possibility of a shutdown effective tomorrow December 21. In addition to federal workers being furloughed, members of the military would not be paid until a shutdown is concluded.
A leading cause of the failure to avert a shutdown is the billionaire spawn of apartheid, Elon Musk, who wrote over 150 posts on Xitter urging Republicans to tank Speaker Mike Johnson’s spending bill. The posts included large amounts of disinformation and falsehoods, including anti-vaxxer claims that infectious disease labs used to prevent pandemics are secretly creating bioweapons. Elon Musk favored a “streamlined” spending bill, which Elon in his infinite wisdom appears to be measuring by its page count not its budgetary impact, but the bill went down to defeat after 38 Republicans defected. Meanwhile, at 1 A.M. last night, Elon Musk posted "Only the AfD can save Germany," indicating his support for a far-right European party with several neo-Nazi members in its leadership.
Pandemic Watch
An NPR investigation has revealed that public health officials in Louisiana have been barred from promoting COVID, flu, and monkeypox (or mpox) vaccines. Meanwhile, the Biden White House issued a fact sheet warning that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is currently experiencing its largest ever outbreak of mpox, with more than 50,000 suspect cases. In addition, Governor Gavin Newsom of California has issued a state of emergency proclamation, due to elevated risk of H5N1 bird flu.
Other Highlights
Russian missiles targeted civilians in rush hour traffic in Ukraine, but despite the destruction of several major buildings, only one person died in the attack.
Israel troops are now engaged in a military occupation of Daraa province in Syria, including banning farmers from getting access to their fields.
South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol faces an investigation for his self-coup against South Korean democracy. Yoon says he will represent himself in legal proceedings related to his impeachment.
The Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate by 25 basis points (from 4.5% to 4.25%), a move which makes interest rate hikes look unlikely for the near future.