CURRENT EVENTS - DECEMBER

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Originally mentioned in November current events thread.

Indicted Democrat edits $109,000 ring allegedly bought with stolen FEMA funds from photo

Federally indicted Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), who is accused of spending stolen disaster relief funds on a $109,000 diamond ring, has edited out what appears to be the jewelry in question from her congressional headshot.

Cherfilus-McCormick posted a photoshopped picture of herself on Christmas Day. Noticeably missing from the photo, an un-doctored version of which serves as Cherfilus-McCormick’s House portrait, is a yellow diamond ring with an accompanying band previously seen on her left hand.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

Democrat edits ring allegedly bought with FEMA funds out of photo

Last month, a grand jury indicted Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother on a slew of federal charges, including money laundering.
www.washingtonexaminer.com www.washingtonexaminer.com
 
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nycfan said:


🎁 —> https://wapo.st/44Lu9KM
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“… More than 800 storm victims around Helene-battered western North Carolina have applied under FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. State officials vetted applications and began sending them up the chain to FEMA as far back as February. As of Dec. 15, they had sent nearly 600 buyout requests to Washington, with more likely to follow.

So far, they say, not a single approval has come through.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has called the paralysis “absolutely unacceptable,” and has pushed for answers. Earlier this month, he wrote to FEMA’s acting administrator, detailing the startling number of applications that “remain without a final decision.”

… The situation is just one element of the sprawling and ongoing recovery, and of the palpable frustration in western North Carolina — especially given promises by President Donald Trump during a visit early this year, where he vowed to “slash through every bureaucratic barrier” and insisted that “every single inch of every property will be fully rebuilt, greater and more beautiful than it was before.”…”
 
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nycfan said:
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“… More than 800 storm victims around Helene-battered western North Carolina have applied under FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. State officials vetted applications and began sending them up the chain to FEMA as far back as February. As of Dec. 15, they had sent nearly 600 buyout requests to Washington, with more likely to follow.

So far, they say, not a single approval has come through.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has called the paralysis “absolutely unacceptable,” and has pushed for answers. Earlier this month, he wrote to FEMA’s acting administrator, detailing the startling number of applications that “remain without a final decision.”

… The situation is just one element of the sprawling and ongoing recovery, and of the palpable frustration in western North Carolina — especially given promises by President Donald Trump during a visit early this year, where he vowed to “slash through every bureaucratic barrier” and insisted that “every single inch of every property will be fully rebuilt, greater and more beautiful than it was before.”…”
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“… But one issue has been a constant: Buyouts are complex, and almost never happen quickly.

“Under the best of circumstances, these things take more time than they should. But these are clearly not the best of circumstances,” said Moore, referring to deep staffing cuts at FEMA this year and the uncertainty about the agency’s future and its mission.

The 2019 study found that it takes a median of about five years between a flooding disaster and the completion of a FEMA-funded buyout project. FEMA has said almost 80 percent of acquisitions are approved in less than two years, and 93 percent are approved in under three years.

“While every buyout project is different, one thing is clear: long wait times make buyouts less accessible, less equitable, and less effective for disaster mitigation and climate adaptation,” the researchers wrote.

… Moore thinks something deeper than the normal lag times could be at play in North Carolina, where many county and state officials moved quickly to open up applications for homeowners interested in potential buyouts.

[A part of the delay is that typically it is over a year before these sorts of claims begin to be processed — after more urgent responses]

… But in North Carolina after Helene, many localities moved much quicker.

Leaders in Buncombe County, home to Asheville and other municipalities, were among the local officials who tried to speed up the process in hopes of getting help to qualified residents sooner. The county began taking applications for buyouts in January, barely three months after the storm.

… Pinder said local FEMA representatives have worked tirelessly since the storm hit, and that the region would be in much worse shape without their help over the past year. Indeed, hundreds of millions of dollars have poured in from the agency for a range of recovery programs, with much more expected.

The reality is that local governments continue to wait for large sums in federal reimbursements for debris cleanup and other projects. Roads still need repair. Renters and homeowners remain displaced. Certainly for those storm victims still awaiting a buyout, it has been a season of silence and stress….”
 
“… Don Campbell, chief of staff to North Carolina’s emergency manager, recently told members of a state task force on Helene recovery that overall, officials had been given little guidance from FEMA on why no buyouts had been approved since Helene.

“We understand that many of those applications are sitting on the desk of the secretary of homeland security,” Campbell said, adding that state and local officials are acutely aware of the real-world implications for homeowners struggling to hang on in the meantime.

Matt Calabria, the head of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, said there is reason for cautious optimism. The state received notice shortly after the first anniversary of Helene that it will be eligible for up to about $1.5 billion in hazard mitigation funding, depending on the size and number of qualified projects.

… Unlike some other FEMA programs that are reimbursement-based, buyouts require an up-front approval from the agency, Calabria said.

“That’s why we are seeking word from FEMA, so that we can begin proceeding with these projects,” he said. “These delays have been outsized, and we know that for hundreds of families, this is going to make a tremendous difference. So, we continue to push every day.”

… “It’s unfinished business,” Carey Hayo said.

“It’s like if your mother died and you couldn’t bury her. You can’t complete the mourning.
“That’s what this is: mourning.””
 
nycfan said:


🎁 —> https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy...8?st=GhUUJe&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Concerted lobbying push by a cannabis CEO, a Florida sheriff and a Mar-a-Lago member helped persuade the president​

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“… House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) on speakerphone urged the president against the decision and senior aides warned the move could be dangerous to some Americans.

After listening, Trump, a teetotaler who eschews alcohol and drugs, sided with the pro-marijuana camp and delivered the biggest softening of federal cannabis policy since U.S. states began legalizing recreational marijuana in 2012….”
 
”…The president said Democrats should have rescheduled the drug “because it was really a Democratic issue.” The Biden administration started the process of reclassifying pot last year, but didn’t finish.

After about two hours, Trump said he was going to reschedule the drug and said he wanted to post on Truth Social, the sheriff recalled. Trump said he wanted everyone on board.

“The lawyers and his staff, they started yelling, ‘No sir, you can’t yet; there’s a 30-day period, it’s gotta go through this and that,’ ” Smith said. “They had to stop him from posting.”

Trump then instructed the sheriff and staffers to go into another room and put together an executive order. Trump wanted to put the “real story of why we are doing this in the order,” Smith said….”
 
tarheelbillie said:
An audacious statement. Particularly at this time when Crazy Don is anxious for a major distraction. Not smart IMHO.
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Is it really war when your country can't do anything to fight? I mean, IDF setup camp inside Iran, right under their noses. Wasn't Iran part of the exploding pagers?
 
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www.nytimes.com

How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device?

A plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of the world’s highest mountains in a covert mission that the U.S. will not talk about.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

“… the C.I.A. dispatched the climbers to set up all this gear — including the 50-pound, beach-ball-size nuclear device — on the roof of the world to eavesdrop on Chinese mission control.

But right as the climbers were about to push for the summit, the weather went haywire. The wind howled, the clouds descended, a blizzard swept in and the top of the forbidding mountain, called Nanda Devi, suddenly disappeared in a whiteout.

From his perch at advance base camp, Capt. M.S. Kohli, the highest-ranking Indian on the mission, watched in panic.

…“Come back quickly,” Captain Kohli remembered ordering them. “Don’t waste a single minute.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

Then Captain Kohli made a fateful decision. He needed to, he said — to save the climbers’ lives.

“Secure the equipment. Don’t bring it down.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

The climbers scampered down the mountain after stashing the C.I.A. gear on a ledge of ice, abandoning a nuclear device that contained nearly a third of the total amount of plutonium used in the Nagasaki bomb.

It hasn’t been seen since.

And that was 1965.…”
 
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