Friday Updates.

 

Some breaking news is that SAG-AFTRA (which is powerful union in Hollywood) that represents 160,000 actors have decided to strike by midnight PT. They have negotiated for many solutions, but so far, the negotiations with the large corporations have failed. Actors and other workers want increased pay, residuals, more regulations of A.I. entities, and other benefits. They will join the 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike for two months. The major studio is opposed to the strike as they believe it will cause financial hardship. This is the first major actors strike against television shows and movie productions since 1980. Hollywood actors and writers haven't been on strike at the same time since 1960. The strike can bring many productions to a halt. Sheryl Lee Ralph, Margot Robbie and Matt Damon support the SAG-AFTRA strike. Fran Drescher (yes, the famous actress) is the SAG-AFTRA union President.  Fran Drescher said that the large corporations receive massive profits at the expense of the actors and actress who sacrifice so much for the industry. At the end of the day, the strikers have the right to possess just compensation and real economic rights, so the strike is an opportunity for a resolution to come about that is fair to actors and writers alike.

Right now, the Special Counsel has interviewed top officials on election interference in Michigan, Arizona, and in Georgia. It is obvious that Donald Trump wanted a do over of the election after he lost the 2020 election. Trump's lawless attempt to steal the election in 2020 is unprecedented, and his actions to me represent criminal misconduct. Jack Smith is finding out what Trump wanting to do, what was he told about his plans, and other information on the attempt to ruin democracy as we know it in the United States of America. Special Counsel Jack Smith is serious about his work, because if he was to bring about more charges against Trump (relating to election interference), he wants to make sure that the evidence has been analyzed and is completed thorough in its composition.

President Biden gave a speech at the NATO summit at Vilnius, Lithuania to promote a total commitment to the survival of the Ukrainian nation. He said that he wants to promote democratic rights in the world, handle climate change, and strengthen NATO. Now, Finland is a new member of NATO and Sweden is about to have a new NATO membership too. Biden and NATO said that Ukraine ultimately will have NATO membership, but it will take some time as the war exists. Russia is angry at these developments, but Putin has nothing to blame but himself. Putin's forces attacked civilian targets in Ukraine, created an illegal invasion of Ukraine, and even harmed the free speech rights of Russian citizens in Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talked with President Biden and both leaders agreed with a long-term plan to ultimate have Ukraine to win membership in NATO. G7 nations want to negotiate long term bilateral security commitment for Ukraine to build up its land, sea, and air defenses to deter future Russian attacks.

Recently, FBI Director Christopher Wray was sent a barrage of questions and criticisms from House Republicans. Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee. The hearing was heated as the GOP members accused the FBI of going a politically motivated witch hunt against Donald Trump. Obviously, this isn't true. We know that the federal government executed a legal search warrant against Donald Trump to retrieve classified documents that Trump desired to stay in his home. Chairman Jim Jordan accused the FBI of trying to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story of 2020 and suppressing reports about certain issues. FBI Director Wray said that he is not protecting Biden as that isn't the job of the FBI. The irony is that Wray was a Trump appointed leader, and the GOP extremists just want Trump to escape justice for his corruption and crimes against America.

One California Hosptial faces a federal investigation over accused mistreatment of black women. A recent United Nations report document the maternal health disparities among black women and found that racism and sexism are driving factors in higher maternal death rates for black women in America. This should change. Certainly, the federal government has every right to be involved as we want any black woman who made a choice to carry a pregnancy to birth to have total adequate medical care and human dignity (without systematic racism against black mothers). One California black father who lost his wife (who was a mother) supports the federal investigation. We live in unique times in America. The racism found in many in the GOP is overt in 2023. One Arizona Republican used the derogatory phrase of "colored people" to refer to black people on the House floor debate over a proposed amendment to a military bill. Rep. Joyce Beatty (a Democrat from Ohio) asked that the derogatory phrased that he used be stricken from the record, because it's offensive and racist. The phrased were removed by unanimous consent. We also have Tuberville from Alabama confused about the reality that white nationalism is about racism, and one person in Oklahoma denying the racist nature of the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. Crane's amendment is an attack on diversity. Many conservatives are wrong to hate diversity and inclusion, because no human is created monolithic. We are from different backgrounds, sexes, colors, and cultures. There is nothing wrong with that as diversity is part of human strength fully. 

By Timothy