With only 7 days to go before the current U.S. president, Donald Trump, finishes his administration, he could become the first president to be removed from office and be denied the right to run again for a second term.
This Wednesday, House Democrats and some Republicans will vote to remove Donald Trump from office, just one week after a mob riot on Capitol Hill killed four people and is believed to have been encouraged by the president's own hateful and polarizing speech.
The speed with which the vote was called, as well as the fact that a group of Republicans joined the cause, makes clear the anger and disappointment felt by legislators after considering that Trump was inciting the troublemakers.
Thus, the House impeachment resolution accuses Trump of only one article, "incitement to insurrection".
So far, five Republicans have said they will vote to impeach the president, but House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise oppose the impeachment process.
While impeachment is unlikely, Democrats have quickly rallied around the use of impeachment in the final days of Trump's presidency, which will serve as a response to misconduct.
Various media have pointed out that there are fears of possible riots next Wednesday, January 20, when finally, the president elect of the United States, Joe Biden, will be sworn in as the new president of the American union.
Nancy Pelosi has set aside Republican efforts to take different action, such as censorship, in response to Trump's role in the riots.
The House speaker appointed the impeachment managers Tuesday night, a team of nine Democrats that will be led by Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday issued its first ruling on the issue of abortion, restoring a federal requirement for women seeking to terminate their pregnancies with medication to pick up the pill in person from their medical provider.
The ruling comes in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic, which limits many women's access to medication.
According to The New York Times, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the ruling was limited and subject to expert opinion.
"Here, as in contexts related to government responses to the pandemic ... my view is that courts owe significant deference to politically responsible entities with the background, competence and experience to assess public health," he said.
For her part, Judge Sonia Sotomayor said that "the laws of this country have long pointed to abortions for more expensive treatment than other medical procedures that carry similar or greater risks.
In this regard, he said that maintaining the requirements for obtaining the drug in person during the pandemic "not only treats abortion exceptionally, but also imposes an undue, irrational and unjustifiable burden on women seeking to exercise their right to choose," and suggested that the next administration should review the issue.
"One can only hope that the government will reconsider and show greater care and empathy for women who are seeking some degree of control over their health and reproductive lives in these troubling times," Sotomayor said.
Drug abortions are allowed in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, where about 60 percent of such terminations in those weeks use two drugs instead of surgery.
Mifepristone is the first drug to be used; it blocks the effects of progesterone, a hormone without which the lining of the uterine walls begins to break down. The second drug is misoprostol, a tablet that induces contractions in the uterus to expel its contents.
Thus, women seeking to stop their pregnancy during the first 10 weeks must go in person to pick up the mifepristone and sign a form, even if they have already consulted their doctor remotely, while in the case of misoprostol it is not necessary to go in person, as it can even be requested at home.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents abortion clinics that defy Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules, said no evidence has emerged during the pandemic that it is riskier for patients to receive the pills at home than in a clinic.
In December 2020, the same group argued before the Supreme Court that with the increase of the virus throughout the country, the reinstatement of the rules would "subject patients to serious and unnecessary health risks.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists joined the request for a waiver of the requirement, as they felt there was no good reason to require an office visit when the medication could be mailed.
On Monday night, January 11, citizens and small business owners asked the Redwood City Council to adopt a resolution allowing for the extension of the Outdoor Food and Commercial Activities Program, once San Mateo County moves out of the purple level by COVID-19, bringing it under the regional home-stay order.
The program, which could be concluded this month, seeks to ensure that economic activity in the area does not come to a standstill, and with it thousands of people are affected in their economy, because when businesses close, jobs are lost.
"Many businesses have requested that the city's outdoor business program be extended through 2021 or until the pandemic is over so they can evaluate whether investing in additional outdoor eating equipment makes financial sense," city staff said.
They added that, in general, the "parklet" program and the closing of streets has worked well and with a minimum of complaints from users and diners.
Thus, almost 40 restaurants and bars in the city centre have obtained licences to offer food outdoors, an activity that is normally carried out until 10 p.m., despite the fact that most businesses close before that time.
Redwood City has blocked some of the busiest roads in the downtown district from traffic for the "Eat, Sip and Be in RWC" program.
Among the blocked streets are a portion of Broadway, Theatre Way and Main Street. The Outdoor Meal Program was launched on June 26, 2020.
On Monday night, the social network Twitter announced the suspension of more than 70,000 accounts related to the conspiracy theory of the extreme right-wing group QAnon.
In a post on the company's official blog, they noted that: "These accounts were dedicated. on a large scale, to sharing QAnon-related content and were mainly dedicated to spreading this conspiracy theory across the platform".
The suspensions take place after the social network announced the permanent closure of accounts sharing QAnon content. In addition, the accounts of Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell, supporters of President Donald Trump, were also closed.
QAnon is a conspiracy theory founded and spread by the extreme right, through social networks since 2017, whose leader "Q", to date, is unknown, but who spreads first-hand information from the government.
QAnon is part of the history of US politics mainly because of theories that point to a very privileged sector in the US that seeks to influence, in a very profound way, the politics of the country, to such an extent that it has tried to establish a "dark state", where racism is mainly sown, fascist and anti-Semitic factions are superimposed and from where xenophobia is promoted; from QAnon Satanic cults are also born, whose purpose is to sacrifice minors for sexual purposes.
QAnon is not limited to the political elite, but also to the financial and banking elite; the food consumption industry is said to be linked to pharmaceuticals, the entertainment industry and the media, the latter being the channel and the path for disinformation.
Another issue is the civil warThis includes messages from both the right and the left that the country must prepare for armed conflict and threatens with alleged consequences if the elections do not go well.
Ideological hyperboleThe message is that a candidate or political party will establish or perpetuate an extremist ideology such as Nazism or Communism.
San Mateo health care workers lined up Saturday morning at the county's Event Center to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, part of a vaccination program against the virus that has infected more than 27,700 people.
This was the first in a series of vaccinations for phase 1a health care providers, who registered in advance for the event, the San Mateo Health Department said.
It should be noted that the county is currently vaccinating according to the state's Phase 1 guidelines, with three categories of beneficiaries, which include health workers and residents of long-term care facilities.
The California Department of Public Health defines health care workers as "persons at risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 through their work in any capacity in direct or long-term care settings.
This population includes people at direct risk of exposure in their non-clinical functions, such as environmental services, patient transport or interpretation. It is estimated that there are about 38,000 health care workers in the county, while residents in long-term care facilities number 12,000.
The San Mateo Health Department states on its website that health care workers who are Kaiser Permanente covered plan members who fit into Stage 1, 2, or 3 of Phase 1 can obtain the vaccine by contacting their primary care provider at the health center.
In December 2020, hundreds of rescue workers, paramedics and firefighters received the first of the required doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, as they are among the first to support people who are carriers of the virus and may or may not have symptoms.
At the time, the county's Emergency Services manager, Linda Allintong, said that for 10 months, responders had faced an environment where they had to be exposed to the virus, but now they have a tangible weapon to help fight the pandemic.
While Event Center branch manager Matt Powers said that while health-care workers have the option not to receive the vaccine, "almost 88 percent have chosen to do so, suggesting that the benefits outweigh the risks.
"People who have received the first dose, whether it's Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna to boost immunity, prefer to deal with the side effects because the vaccine is proving to work and they will be able to get on with their lives," he said.
We all remember what made us turn to look at the sky and then at the horizon; a promise of infinite landscape and fantasies designed by an object that we saw moving away without us.
Turn to the sky, hold ten thousand meters of altitude between your fingers and play with what is not there. It's gone.
Imitating the flight of the animal with both hands, thinking about what we yearn for but do not know returns our feet to the ground and those hands to our pockets.
But the horizon, that infinite that promises, that paralyzes but insists, is placed at our feet every time we decide to tackle it.
The most powerful animal in the heavens, the one with the yellow beak and powerful claws, the Renaissance yearning to glide over landscapes and those desires that remain in you and me crystallize when we ride on it, on the horizon and in the animal.
The docile winged one on the ground wakes up like a giant when he comes into contact with the wind, shakes his gill folds and starts to bellow, stands up with tremendous difficulty and tells you in the form of a wave in the stomach that there is no return.
The shy animal that on land lets itself be guided by small lights and ridiculous flags challenges you with its three hundred thousand kilos on its back to trust and keep silent and pay attention because in a few seconds everything will disappear.
At what point does a clumsy, heavyweight become a guide to those longings that yesterday we stepped on between miles of concrete?
Crossing oceans, breaking through fierce boundaries makes us forget our smallness and trust the conjecture of metals and complicated alloys and share the dream of becoming metal eagles with all of us who go there.
The winged artifact that flew over our fingers and got lost in the horizon, marked for some the childhood dreams in afternoons that fell like a shooting star; a star that now at night we have boarded, a star that let us taste the sky.
Twitter headquarters is preparing for a possible "Pro-Trump" demonstration on Monday, after the social network permanently blocked the account of the still president of the United States, Donald Trump, last week.
Twitter, which has more than 340 million active users worldwide, of which almost 60 million are in the U.S., decided last Friday to permanently suspend the U.S. president's account, as it determined that Trump's recent tweets violated the company's Glorification of Violence policies.
Several U.S. media outlets have reported that, although there is no official news about a mass demonstration, traffic has been detected on various social networks that is inciting supporters of Donald Trump to go on Twitter this Monday.
The account was suspended a few days after supporters of the US president in office stormed the Capitol as Joe Biden was being certified as victorious in the November 3, 2020 election, and five people were killed in the incident.
It should be noted that the thousands of employees of the social network located in San Francisco, who would normally be working in their offices, have not been there since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, causing them to work remotely.
For their part, the San Francisco police said they were prepared for the possible rally on Market Street.
"The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has contacted representatives from Twitter," said Officer Adam Lobsinger. "We will have sufficient resources available to respond to demonstrations as well as service calls throughout the city.
He further stressed that SFPD is committed to facilitating the public's right to First Amendment expressions of free speech, however, he specified that all those who seek to exercise their right must be considerate, respectful and mindful of the safety of others.
This Sunday afternoon, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that a Twitter spokesman said the company "respects people's right to express their opinions.
"While we respect people's right to express their opinions, we have been transparent about the factors that led to our decision last week - to permanently suspend Trump's account," the spokesman said in an e-mail.
Twitter was not the only network to take restrictive action against President Donald Trump because of his comments, as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube also joined the blockade, while Apple and Google have removed Parler, a social network that Trump's followers began using to demonstrate, from their application platforms.
Sunita Sohrabji. Ethnic Media Services. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
California Governor Gavin Newsom on January 8 presented the state budget for 2021-2022, a $227 billion proposal that prioritizes the vaccination campaign, reopening of schools safely, support for small businesses and direct cash payments for low-income people.
"Our budget reflects the realities of a pandemic-induced recession that has exacerbated inequalities for decades," Newsom said. "Income disparities have come to the fore, and our budget addresses those disparities. He noted that even in the midst of the pandemic, the state's highest income residents and essential businesses have thrived, contributing unexpected revenues to the state fund.
"People who are in that condition are doing pretty well. But I don't envy their success. Instead, I admire and respect it," he said, adding that the budget reflects the need to rethink additional revenues to support the state's residents most affected by the pandemic.
To address the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor has proposed $372 million for vaccine distribution. Newsom said California currently has 2.5 million doses of Pfizer and Modern vaccines, and more than 1 million doses are expected to be delivered by January 15. The state will launch public service announcements in different languages January 10 to inform various audiences about the benefits of the vaccine and how to access it.
Another $473 million has been set aside for testing and follow-up studies.
575 million has been proposed to help small businesses recover through grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. Small business owners who require more information about the program, as well as to apply, can do so online at covid19.ca.gov. Applications must be submitted by January 13.
Earlier in the week, the Governor introduced the "Golden State Stimulus" proposal, a $5 billion plan to distribute cash payments to 4 million low-income residents of the state of $600, in accordance with the procedures of the California Earned Income Credit program. State lawmakers have already called for this program to be expanded, saying that $600 is too small an amount to support those who have lost income due to the pandemic.
The state also plans to distribute $2.6 billion to delinquent tenants to help them with back rent, but Newsom said the state has not yet established a framework for distributing these funds.
Newsom said one of its top priorities was to open schools safely as soon as possible, and it has allocated $90 billion for the education of preschoolers through age 14, the highest amount in the state's history.
2 billion will go to immediate measures to get students back into face-to-face education. An additional $4.6 billion has been budgeted to expand summer schools and after-school programs; this reflects the reality of parents now working longer hours to maintain their homes in California. Newsom said additional funding has been set aside for low-income students, English language learners and refugee youth.
"We have our sights set on equality. The children are lagging behind," he said.
400 million has been allocated to children's education and 1.5 billion to adaptive education. Newsom said he had to go to an adaptive education school as a child.
Another $786 million has been budgeted for UC and CSU: the former will receive $425 million, while the latter will receive $361 million. Of that amount, $100 million has been budgeted to meet the basic needs of students, such as food and housing, and another $30 million will go to school-based mental health programs. 250 million will support the expansion of the state's college financial aid programs. The governor strongly opposed the increase in tuition fees.
Despite increased investment in the education sector, there was no mention of improved education infrastructure for low-income and rural children who cannot immediately return to the classroom and who lack basic tools such as laptops and high-speed Internet to be part of online learning.
The budget also addressed the housing and homelessness crisis in the state, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Currently, more than 151,000 people are living on the streets or in temporary shelters. Newsom noted the success of the $846 million Project Homekey program, which purchased 94 motels and hotels and turned them into permanent housing for 6,000 homeless people. The new budget adds an additional $1.75 billion for the purchase of more motels and hotels and to add on-site mental health and substance abuse support services.
The governor also budgeted $1.1 billion to expand the state's health care infrastructure, including the MediCal program. Most importantly, however, the 24,000 undocumented seniors in California will still not be able to enroll in any program. Newsom said during a briefing that it was hesitant to budget $3 billion a year to expand health care for undocumented seniors, despite this year's $34 billion budget surplus.
The governor's press conference can be found at the following link: https://bit.ly/3ovvo9R.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, announced that the Payment Check Protection Program (PPP) will reopen starting this Monday, January 11, for new borrowers and certain existing PPP borrowers.
To promote access to capital, initially only community financial institutions will be able to provide first-draft PPP loans on Monday, January 11 and second-draft PPP loans on Wednesday, January 13, while the PPP will be open to all participating lenders shortly thereafter.
It is worth mentioning that on January 6 an updated PPP guide was published describing the changes to the Program to improve its effectiveness and accessibility, in accordance with the Financial Assistance Act for Small Businesses, Non-Profit Organizations and Headquarters.
This round of PPPs gives priority to millions of Americans employed by small businesses by authorizing up to $284 billion for job retention and other expenses through March 31, 2021, by allowing PPP borrowers to apply for a second round PPP loan.
The Paycheck Protection Program served "as an economic lifeline for millions of small businesses and their employees when they needed it most," said Administrator Jovita Carranza, who added that the program adapts to the changing needs of small business owners.
Administrator Jovita Carranza
For his part, the Secretary of the Treasury, Steven T. Mnuchin, said that
"The Paycheck Protection Program has successfully provided 5.2 million loans worth $525 billion to small businesses in the United States, supporting more than 51 million jobs.
Steven T. Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury
"This updated guide improves the specific PPP relief for the small businesses most affected by COVID-19. We are committed to implementing this round of PPPs quickly in order to continue to support U.S. small businesses and their workers," he added.
Some of the key updates to PPPs include that PPP borrowers can set their loan coverage period to 8-24 weeks to better meet their business needs.
Also, that PPP loans can cover additional expenses, including operating expenses, property damage costs, supplier costs and worker protection expenses, as well as greater flexibility for seasonal employees.
For more information on SBA's assistance to small businesses, those interested can visit sba.gov/ppp or treasury.gov/cares.
Local fishermen will be in the water next Monday, January 11, to bring a delicious, sweet Dungeness crab to the tables over the weekend, after San Francisco fishing boat owners and the Seafood Marketing Association reached an agreement to start this activity safely.
According to the Half Moon Bay Seafood Marketing Association (HMBSMA), it took an extraordinary level of communication and unity among a diverse fleet to wait so long to fish, self-regulate a start date and pre-soak under a "gentlemen's agreement", to resume activities.
Agreement for a safe start process was reached among fishermen in Bodega Bay, San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, Vallejo, Santa Cruz, Moss Landing and Monterey in late December to mitigate uncertainty and provide a safer start for the entire fleet.
When a price was agreed upon last Friday, January 8, the process was also enacted in the agreement and this resulted in the established time, which was scheduled for 8:00 a.m. this Monday and a carry time of 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 13.
The need for this agreement was to reduce the damage and dangers that can follow what fishermen call "shotgun starts", a scenario in which a price agreement and a start of fishing in another region is the equivalent of a gunshot in a race.
The result is that local boats loaded with gear are forced to scatter and rush to sea just an hour ahead, in sometimes dangerous conditions, but by 2021 this scenario has been avoided and is expected to be a new precedent for the future.
So this weekend fishermen are making last-minute preparations with soul before Monday's schedule, while companies, markets and coastal communities supporting the fleet are preparing to be ready when they begin transporting equipment on Wednesday and bringing crabs to market.
"We appreciate the support and love of the public for Dungeness crab and are happy to get down to work bringing in delicious, high quality local crabs to enjoy next week.
