Well, my friends, the time has come to raise the roof and have some fun. After a week of tumultuous volatility in the market, you deserve the weekend and as much time for contemplation rolling into the new year. As we all know, the golden method for furthering yourself and the future is reminding yourself of previous mishaps and occurrences in the headlines during the past week. Where we’re going, we don’t need roads, so let’s enjoy another “Weekly Recap.”
One Last Move Before You Go
With US Secretary of Defense James Mattis all packed up and ready to leave his position, following a formal resignation submitted late last week, it would seem that all he has left to do is turn in his gun and badge, and ride off into the sunset. However, that’s not how business works in the Trump administration. President Trump insisted that Mattis take charge of signing the orders to pull all American troops stationed in Syria over the course of the next few weeks. One last hurrah before he leaves. According to media reports over the weekend, Secretary Mattis and President Trump intend to conduct a “slow and highly coordinated” military withdrawal right after the new year.
Salmonella Fitzgerald
Aside from the incredibly punny title for this section, the news is actually quite serious. Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales Inc., the company responsible for a majority of the US, and Canada’s, meat supply, announced that they are recalling 164,210 pounds of raw ground turkey products because of a potential salmonella contamination, according to the US Department oil Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Per the official statement from FSIS:
“This investigation is part of a larger effort involving FSIS, the CDC, and state public health and agriculture partners, who have been working together on an illness cluster involving 216 case-patients in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Patients have reported eating different types and brands of turkey products purchased from many different stores, handling raw turkey pet food and/or raw turkey, or working with live turkeys or living with someone who handled live turkeys. FSIS continues to work with the CDC and state health and agriculture departments on this larger investigation and will provide updated information as it becomes available. Based on the continuing investigation, additional product from other companies may also be recalled.”
–USDA FSIS statement regarding Jennie-O salmonella outbreak
Next Time, Think Before You Speak
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has gotten himself into quite a bit of trouble over the course of the last few days, specifically in terms of his reputation with President Donald Trump. Following a statement issued by Mnuchin, meant to calm the nerves of investors panicking from poor performance in the stock market recently, several major US indexes plunged, resulting in the biggest Christmas Eve decline, to date.
According to reports, the S&P 500 fell 2.7%, the Nasdaq dropped 2.2%, and the Dow, having fallen more than 650 points, fell 3% in shortened trading on Monday. In an attempt to ease the tensions of Mnuchin’s “bone-headed” statement, Trump took to Twitter to share his feelings:
“The only problem our economy has is the Fed. They don’t have a feel for the market, they don’t understand necessary trade wars or strong dollars or even democrat shutdowns over borders. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch – he can’t even putt.”
–President Donald Trump
This Has To Stop!
Say what you want about immigration politics, but I’m afraid there is no good reason that any child should die because of inept legislators who can’t seem to find common ground. According to CNN, an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy died on Christmas morning while in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection. This is the second child to die in CBP custody this month, alone. The Trump administration was clear from the very beginning that it would be harsh on immigration reform and do everything in their power to keep illegal immigrants from entering the US without proper documentation.
“While the CBP noticed Congress within 24 Horus as mandated by law, we must ensure that we treat migrants and asylum-seekers with human dignity and provide the necessary medical care to anyone in the custody of the United States government.”
–Rep. Joaquin Castro, Chairman-elect, Congressional Hispanic Caucus
The Trumps Head To Iraq
President Donald Trump, accompanied by his wife, Melania, decided to plan a surprise vacation to Iraq, leaving the US behind, still very much paralyzed by a partial government shutdown. The Trumps elected to visit troops stationed in the one location in the world where the president would never decide, on a whim, to withdraw US soldiers; the Iraqi city of Mosul. For those unfamiliar with President Trump’s affinity with Mosul, the city is the location where US forces defeated ISIS in its base of operations. Mosul is President Trump’s Sistine Chapel, his “Good Will Hunting,” the crown military victory of his presidency. Naturally, this would make a great winter vacation spot for him and his wife.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders shared details of the President’s journey to Iraq in a tweet late on Christmas night:
“President Trump and the First Lady traveled to Iraq late on Christmas night to visit with our troops and Senior Military leadership to thank them for their service, their success, and their sacrifice, and to wish them a Merry Christmas.”
–Sarah Huckabee Sanders
No, No, Notorious
She goes by many names, Notorious RBG, the silent hero, a watchful protector, the dark knight, but you may know her as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Well, RBG hasn’t been feeling too well recently and reports say that she was recently discharged from the hospital following receiving treatment for early-stage lung cancer, according to a Supreme Court spokesperson.
In the official press release regarding the matter, the Supreme Court explained RBG’s current health state:
“According to the thoracic surgeon Valerie Rusch, both nodules removed during surgery were found to be malignant on initial pathology evaluation. Post-surgery, there was no evidence of any remaining disease. Scans performed before surgery indicated no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body. Currently, no further treatment is planned. Justice Ginsburg is resting comfortably and is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days.”
–press release regarding Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg
Be Back in 5 Minutes
As it currently stands, no one has even the foggiest clue as to when the partial shutdown of the federal government will end. Though talks to reopen the government took place on Wednesday night, it seems like nothing will remarkable will occur until President Donald Trump gets his funding request approved to build a border wall along the US-Mexico border. According to CNN, government funding negotiations have largely taken place at the staff level over the course of this week, but no common ground has been found.
“I can tell you, if (Democrats) believe this President is going to yield on this particular issue, they’re misreading him, misreading the American people. I see no evidence that would suggest he would even come close to $1.3 billion. I don’t see that as a reasonable counteroffer.”
–Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC)
Justice Is Served
Remember when an individual who decided that his message was more important to carry out than preserving the lives of hundreds of participants at the Boston Marathon. Well, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the man responsible for the Boston Bombing had his day in court on Thursday, during at which time he asked an appellate court to overturn his conviction and death penalty sentence for a terrorist attack that killed three people and wounded over 26, according to Reuters.
“The pre-trial publicity was damning: the more a prospective juror had seen, the more likely she was to believe that Tsarnaev was guilty and deserved the death penalty.”
–Statement from Tsarnaev’s lawyers
I think its interesting that someone who committed a massive terrorist attack feels entitled to appeal his case. What if he was turned loose by the courts? Would he suddenly turn the other cheek and make up for the lives he took and the people he injured?
Looking Forward
With the new year but a few short days away, the general populous, at least domestically, is concerned with the fact that the US government is still very much shut down. Given that Congress is on break for the holidays, experts believe the shutdown will carry into the new year. For those unfamiliar with the current scenario, President Donald Trump has been fighting Democratic representatives in Congress to grant him his $5 billion funding request to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, and shut down the government to show the world how serious he is about getting his money.
