The 2024 Election, South Carolina’s Victory, & Eclipse Excitement
April 8, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Monday! Today, we’ll be talking about the 2024 presidential election, Ecuador and Mexico’s stand-off, Russia’s flood, Japan’s weapons, Republicans using Russian talking points, South Carolina’s victory, and the eclipse.
Here’s some good news: a bus driver and a University of South Carolina student are being hailed for saving the lives of the passengers on a charter bus. A tire blew out, and the bus driver Tina Wilson and student Paul Clune worked together to hold onto the wheel and keep the bus from flipping. Also, in the wake of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced that, as of right now, the plan is to reopen the channel leading to the Port of Baltimore by the end of May.
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Time For Your Election Check-In
While national polls show Biden and Trump locked into a close 50-50 contest heading into spring, the Electoral College might throw a wrench into those prediction powers. You may remember that, despite the fact that Democrats won the popular vote in 2016, Donald Trump was able to snag the presidency with 306 Electoral College votes. Currently, Trump has gained ground with Black and Hispanic voters compared to his performance in the 2020 election, while the incumbent has strengthened his performance in swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. This means that we, unfortunately, are still unable to make any real predictions for November’s electoral counts.
What’s one important factor that we can count on, though? That’s right — money. It looks like the Trump machine is kicking into fundraising gear (but with hundreds of millions of dollars in court payments looming). According to The Don’s campaign, one of its fundraisers in Florida over the weekend saw the former president raise over $50.5 million, a stunning amount of money for a single closed-door event.
According to one source at the event, Trump complained about a lack of immigrants from “nice” countries “like Denmark” to his wealthy audience, adding of less-desirable immigrants, “They’ll be here. Eventually, they’ll be here.” Apparently, that scared his donors into coughing up $50 million — we wouldn’t recommend trying that at home to make some cash, though.
Ecuador’s Diplomatic Error
Late Friday night, Ecuadorian police stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas. The ordeal has garnered international condemnation as the grounds of embassies belong to the countries they represent – this means that Ecuador technically invaded Mexico to arrest Glas.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ordered the immediate suspension of diplomatic ties with Ecuador in response to the operation, calling it a “flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico” on Twitter. A spokesperson for U.N. secretary-general António Guterres said yesterday that Guterres was “alarmed,” adding that Ecuador’s actions “jeopardize the pursuit of normal international relations.”
Glas acted as vice president of Ecuador from 2013 until 2018 and had been hiding at the Mexican embassy since last December, seeking asylum due to political persecution in his home country. The politician was convicted of corruption on two separate occasions and faced jail time for the charges. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa viewed the decision to shield Glas as an affront, which was made worse when AMLO said that something “very strange” had taken place during Ecuador’s latest presidential election – Noboa, the 36-year-old son of one of the country’s richest men, took power after a rival was mysteriously assassinated on the campaign trail.
A Russian River Runneth Over
- On Sunday, the third-longest river in Europe burst one of its dams, causing a massive flood in Russia. The Ural River burst a dam near the eastern Russian city of Orsk, forcing 4,000 people to flee in its path. 6,000 homes have been flooded so far, and Moscow has declared a federal emergency in the region where the flooding has taken place.
- According to local officials, the dam that broke was constructed to hold water levels of 5.5 meters (18 feet), but the Ural River reached a height of 9.6 meters (31.5 feet) on Friday. “The water is coming, and in the coming days its level will only rise,” said the mayor of a local city. “The flood situation remains critical.” Officials say the flood damage will cost about 21 billion rubles ($227 million), and the waters aren’t expected to dissipate until after April 20.
The Sun Rises On A Re-Armed Japan
- As U.S. President Joe Biden is preparing to travel to Japan for a highly important summit, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says that global political tensions have pushed the world to a turning point that has forced his country to re-evaluate its defense policy. Kishida told the media in an interview over the weekend that “Japan has made a decision to fundamentally reinforce its defense capabilities and we have greatly changed Japan’s security policy on these fronts.”
- “In our neighborhood, there are countries that are developing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, and others that are building up their defense capabilities in an opaque way. Also, there is a unilateral attempt to change the status quo, by force, in both the East China Sea and South China Sea,” he said, referring to Chinese expansion attempts in the Pacific. In response, Tokyo has allocated up to 2% of its national budget to defense spending and seeks to develop counter-strike capabilities. This marks a major shift – Japan has been a pacifist nation under its U.S.-imposed constitution since World War II.
More Mixed Nuts
- ‘Significant consequences’ if Chinese firms help Russia’s war in Ukraine, US’s Yellen warns (Politico)
- China says it patrolled the South China Sea in an apparent response to U.S. naval drills with allies (NBC)
- Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian city of Kharkiv leaves at least 6 dead (CBS)
- Ukraine running low on defensive missiles, Zelenskyy warns (Politico)
- How immigrants are helping boost the U.S. job market without affecting inflation (NBC)
Middle East Mixed Nuts
- Gaza War Turns Spotlight on Long Pipeline of U.S. Weapons to Israel (NYT, $)
- Democrats fear Netanyahu may have undermined Biden’s image among voters (Politico)
- A ‘war against humanity itself’: José Andrés still reeling from Israeli attack that killed his workers (Politico)
- UK support to Israel ‘not unconditional,’ Cameron warns (Politico)
- McDonald’s will buy all 225 restaurants from Israel franchise following pro-Palestinian boycott fallout (CNBC)
Is The Kremlin Corrupting Conservatives?
- CNN’s “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper asked Rep. Mike Turner about his colleague Rep. Mike McCaul’s statement that Russian propaganda had “infected” the Republican Party’s base. Turner said that he agrees that some of his colleagues have started sounding more like Russian propagandists.
- “There are members of Congress today who still incorrectly say that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is over NATO, which of course it is not,” Turner said. “To the extent that this propaganda takes hold, it makes it more difficult for us to really see this as an authoritarian versus democracy battle, which is what it is.”
A Second Swing At Perfection
- Last year, South Carolina’s Gamecocks fell to the LSU Tigers in the NCAA semifinal, ending an otherwise perfect season. This year, they got a second chance at perfection, and they nailed it. South Carolina defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 87-75 in the women’s NCAA tournament title game yesterday, making them just the 10th team in Division I history to complete an undefeated season.
- South Carolina now ties with Baylor and Stanford for the third-most championships of all time, and Coach Dawn Staley became the fifth head coach to win at least three national titles. If you’re worried about how Caitlin Clark is taking the loss, don’t – she’s still expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft next week, and she ends her collegiate career with the most points in Division I men’s or women’s history with 3,951.
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More Nuts In America
- Authorities investigate suspected arson at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Vermont office (NPR)
- Hurricane-force winds and dry conditions combine to fuel critical fire threat in Central US (CNN)
- Miami-area shootout leaves security guard and suspect dead, police officer and 6 others injured (ABC)
- Biden could be left off general election ballot in Ohio, Republican official warns (Guardian)
- How a network of abortion pill providers works together in the wake of new threats (NBC)
- NYC will pay $17.5M to settle lawsuit alleging women were forced to remove hijabs in mugshots (USA Today)
The Sun’ll Go Out Today
- The Sun is going to disappear on Monday – at least for people in certain parts of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Today marks the first total solar eclipse visible over America since 2017, and the next time an eclipse will be visible over the lower 48 states won’t be until 2044.
- According to one research scientist, about 154 million people watched the last solar eclipse in 2017 in person, meaning the event tallied up more views than the most-watched Super Bowl ever. Today’s eclipse will be viewable by even more people as its course covers some highly-populated areas in the Northeast.
- The 115-mile wide “path of totality,” where the moon will fully block out the sun, will cover the city of Mazatlán in Mexico, Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Niagara Falls in the U.S., and Sherbrooke, Canada. Outside of that band, viewers can still expect to see a chunk of the sun eaten by the moon, but they’ll miss a total blockage. Millions of people are expected to flock to the path of totality to see the event, and eclipse glasses are selling like hotcakes nationwide. Just remember to not look at the sun directly, please.
More Loose Nuts
- House Democrats pitch renaming federal prison after Trump in response to GOP airport proposal (CBS)
- Russian Soyuz spacecraft brings crew of 3, including NASA astronaut, back to Earth (CBS)
- Romeo & Juliet theatre star suffers ‘barrage’ of online racial abuse (Guardian)
- One man’s artistic wonderland, created secretly in rented apartment, given protected status (CNN)
- Snapchat turns off controversial ‘Solar System’ feature by default after bad press (TechCrunch)