Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., conducts a news conference to call for the extension of the federal unemployment insurance in the Capitol Visitor Center to on Friday, July 24, 2020.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday criticized House Republicans who joined a legal effort by Texas to overturn the election results in four key states that President-elect Joe Biden won in November.
"The 126 Republican Members that signed onto this lawsuit brought dishonor to the House," Pelosi said. "Instead of upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, they chose to subvert the Constitution and undermine public trust in our sacred democratic institutions."
In an unsigned order issued on Friday, the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton due to lack of standing.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday ripped into House Republicans who backed an effort by Texas to overturn the election results in four key states that President-elect Joe Biden won in November, accusing the members of "subverting the Constitution."
The California Democrat lauded the Supreme Court's decision to toss the Texas case, which sought to invalidate the electoral results from Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, states where President Donald Trump and his campaign have long alleged voter fraud without providing any evidence to back up their claims.
"The Court has rightly dismissed out of hand the extreme, unlawful and undemocratic GOP lawsuit to overturn the will of millions of American voters," she said in a statement. "The 126 Republican Members that signed onto this lawsuit brought dishonor to the House. Instead of upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, they chose to subvert the Constitution and undermine public trust in our sacred democratic institutions.
In a brief unsigned order issued on Friday, the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Trump ally, due to lack of standing. In addition to Paxton, 17 state attorneys general had signed an amicus brief backing the lawsuit.
"Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections," the Supreme Court's order said. "All other pending motions are dismissed as moot."
While the GOP signees represented a broad swath of conservative districts, much of the party's House leadership was also on board, with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana taking part in the lawsuit. But House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a member of the party's leadership, did not join the lawsuit.
In her statement, Pelosi highlighted COVID-19, criticizing the GOP for not focusing their legislative efforts on tackling the public policy issues caused by the highly-contagious virus.
"The pandemic is raging, with nearly 300,000 having died and tens of millions having lost jobs," she added. "Strong, unified action is needed to crush the virus, and Republicans must once and for all end their election subversion - immediately."
Biden cruised to a 306-232 Electoral College victory in the 2020 presidential election. To win the presidency, a candidate must receive at least 270 electoral votes.
The continued Republican resistance to Biden's victory comes as the Electoral College will meet on December 14, with electors set to formally cast their votes for the winners of each state.
John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images
GOP Representative-elect Bob Good of Virginia on Saturday labeled the coronavirus pandemic as "phony" at a rally in support of President Donald Trump in Washington, DC.
"This looks like a group of people that get that this is a phony pandemic," he said. "It's a serious virus, but it's a virus. It's not a pandemic ... You get it. You stand up against tyranny.
Just a day earlier, the US had roughly 231,000 new coronavirus infections and over 3,300 COVID-19 deaths, both record numbers for the country, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
GOP Congressman-elect Bob Good on Saturday labeled the coronavirus pandemic as "phony" during an appearance in Washington, DC, at the second "Million MAGA March" in support of President Donald Trump.
Good, a conservative who will represent Virginia's 5th Congressional district beginning in January 2021, made the statement in front of a throng of supporters who were in town to protest election irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, despite no evidence showing widespread voter fraud.
"I can't tell you how great it is to look out there and see your faces," he said. "This looks like a group of people that get that this is a phony pandemic. It's a serious virus, but it's a virus. It's not a pandemic ... You get it. You stand up against tyranny. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for saying no to the insanity."
On December 11, there were roughly 231,000 confirmed new coronavirus infections and over 3,300 COVID-19 deaths, both single-day records in the US, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Since the pandemic began in the country, 16 million people have been infected and over 297,000 people have died.
Outgoing GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman, who lost to Good in an outdoor drive-through party convention this past summer, lit into his successor's comments on Twitter.
"My grandmother is in the Hospital with COVID," he wrote. "My brother is a critical care nurse taking care of those with COVID. Saying COVID is fake is irresponsible, embarrassing and everything that is wrong with politics. Virginia deserves better."
"We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the time. "We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear."
Ironically, Good defeated Democrat Cameron Webb, a doctor who treats COVID-19 patients, in the conservative-leaning district this past November.
Webb, who ran on expanding access to healthcare, among other issues, also responded to Good's comments on Twitter, calling his message "irresponsible."
"I've seen firsthand the devastation COVID-19 causes," Webb tweeted. "The fact is - even here in VA - the pandemic is surging right now. Anyone can be affected and it's our collective duty to respect this threat. It goes beyond partisanship or politics. This rhetoric is irresponsible and dangerous."
In November, Riggleman called the refusal of most Republicans to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden's election victory a "massive grift" and said the GOP posturing was "just money-making for the 2024 election" and "completely unethical."
A spokesman for Good recently told The Washington Post that the congressman-elect would have signed the amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court by 126 House Republicans backing the Texas lawsuit challenging the election results in key states that Trump lost.
Good "fully stands fully behind President Trump," according to the spokesman.
In a wild animal market in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province, bats are still on the menu.
Many of them are caught by hunters in forests using nets and hooks. Once at the market, their wings are removed, their fur scorched off using a blow torch, and they're then skewered ready for cooking.
In many places where bats are a delicacy, they've been off the menu in recent months.
The link between bushmeat and the potential for the transfer of viruses has turned up the heat on this rogue trade.
An animal market in Wuhan is where it's believed COVID-19 first made the leap from animal to human.
Indonesia's Langowan market is well known for its exotic meats like snake, lizard, rats, and wild boar.
"Buyers were afraid to eat bat meat. But gradually, because they think that we have a different way of cooking, they are not afraid of it anymore," manager Yani Tulangow told Business Insider Today. "Recently trade is back to normal."
Tulangow told us that there are no controls over the bat meat sold at the market. And he has no plans to shut down any of the wild animal trade.
But according to experts, a market where different species are brought together and butchered in unhygienic surroundings is the ideal environment for a spillover event to occur.
"It is likely what is going on in Wuhan will be occurring in Indonesia," Raden Wasito, professor of veterinary medicine at Gadjah Mada University said from his laboratory in Jakarta.
"The Wuhan situation where the coronavirus became pandemic, it's almost similar to what is going on in Indonesia where there are so many wild animal markets. All of those things can create a reservoir for many kinds of diseases."
Bats are a prime suspect for transfering coronaviruses to humans.
Bat meat is a popular delicacy at Indonesian wet markets.
BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images
Disease transfers from animals to people, known as zoonoses, are not confined to so-called "wet" markets. They can happen in any setting where humans mix with animals - be they pets or livestock.
"Spillovers are common, they are happening all the time," Dave Redding, a senior researcher at the the Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research at University College London, told Business Insider Today.
"People get illnesses from livestock all over the world. That's happening every single day, tens, if not hundreds of times."
"And I don't think these wet markets are going to have the same impact as all of the other contacts that are going on. And so it may be a really nice thing to say, we can just get rid of wet markets and it will solve the problem. It won't solve the problem."
Investigators from the World Health Organization are still working to determine the exact origins of COVID-19.
Bats are a prime suspect, perhaps transferring the virus to people by way of another animal host.
"There are multiple coronaviruses known, some of which are closely related to SARS, some of which are closely related to COVID," Kris Murray, senior lecturer in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London, said. "And it does look like this particular particular group of bats is a sort of reservoir, the animal reservoir, for these groups of coronaviruses."
There are over 1,000 species of bat. Living in tight colonies but able to travel large distances, they are effective at not only hosting, but transfering pathogens.
But even if bats are to blame this time, Murray is keen to point out the chances of a new infectious disease passing from a bat, or any animal, to a human - and then going on to become a lethal pandemic - is still tiny.
"We have had a very long history of exposure to wildlife and we've had every opportunity in the last 100 years of massive environmental destruction for so many of these things to have spilled out from wildlife into people," he said.
"What's surprising to me is that not more of this stuff is happening. It can happen, but the fact that we only have 200 or 250 viruses from all species that have made their way into the human population that we know about given all of the technology that we have to detect these viruses, to me says that this process is so rare."
Rare, yet in the case of COVID-19, a reality.
Many experts fear for the future of bats and other wild animals hunted for their meat.
A group of giant fruit bats that are hung on trees during the day in Aceh Utara, Indonesia.
Fachrul Reza/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
In North Sulawesi, black and yellow flying foxes, some with a wingspan of more than a meter, gorge themselves on fruit, pollen, and nectar.
Here they are hunted as pests, but also for their meat.
Herman Buhel of the Gorontalo region, 350 kilometers west of Langowan, hunts bats among the mangrove forests of Ponelo island.
"I use nylon, rope, and wood. I wait for the bat to pass and get caught in the hook. The hook is attached to the nylon," he told us.
And with human populations swelling and habitats under threat from urbanization and palm plantations, many fear for the future of not just bats, but all wild animals hunted for their meat or sold to smugglers of exotic species.
"There are several places selling animals that I never imagined could be sold," said Annisa Devi Rachmawati, a vet working at the Tasikoki Animal Rescue Center in North Sulawesi.
"There must be attention from the government and from institutions to monitor how to reduce this pattern like the animal trade, and the consumption of animal meat and other kinds."
Breaking the habit of eating bat meat will be difficult.
Bat meat is a prized delicacy in this part of Indonesia, saved for special occasions and public holidays.
At Langowan market, a kilogram sells for the equivalent of around $3.
"We have always eaten this, and no one has been infected with the corona," resident Kiki Rondonuwu said as he bought several bats in the market.
"It's so delicious," says local butcher Jane Wungkara. "We have eaten it since we were children."
Breaking habits of a lifetime will be hard. And it's feared that banning the sale of bat meat in markets would only drive the trade underground.
Cooking a traditional bat meat curry involves boiling the meat before mixing in coconut milk and plenty of spices.
While the bat remains the villain in a still-unfolding global drama, here at least, it is a dish to be savored.
President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani speaks during an appearance before the Michigan House Oversight Committee on December 2, 2020 in Lansing, Michigan.
Rey Del Rio/Getty Images
Rudy Giuliani has vowed the president's legal team will keep filing lawsuits even after the Supreme Court dismissed a Texas-led effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
"The case wasn't rejected on the merits, the case was rejected on standing," Giuliani told Newsmax in an interview on Friday, adding that the Trump team could still bring the case back to lower courts.
However, any legal challenge in the lower courts is unlikely to succeed as rulings have already been handed down and the Electoral College is already meeting on Monday to certify the election results.
The lawsuit, which was filed this week by Texas and supported by other Republican-led states, sought to invalidate results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin - four swing states won by President-elect Joe Biden in November. The action was supported by 18 state attorneys general and 106 Republican members of Congress.
On Friday, however, the court ruled that Texas lacked the standing to bring the case.
Texas' case was the most brazen attempt yet by the GOP to throw the election to Trump, despite the fact that Biden defeated him in both the popular vote and in the Electoral College.
Speaking to Newsmax on Friday, Giuliani, who recently tested positive for the coronavirus, said that despite the Supreme Court's dismissal, the Trump team could still bring the case back to lower courts.
"The case wasn't rejected on the merits. The case was rejected on standing," Giuliani told Newsmax in an interview on Friday, according to The Hill. "So the answer to that is to bring the case now to the district court by the president, by some of the electors, alleging some of the same facts where there would be standing."
"There's nothing that prevents us from filing these cases immediately in the district court in which the president, of course, would have standing. Some of the electors would have standing in that their constitutional rights have been violated," he added.
"We're not finished," Giuliani concluded. "Believe me."
The Supreme Court's decision is the latest in a long string of defeats for the Trump campaign, who have filed nearly 40 lawsuits since the November election. It has just one win in a minor case concerning a small number of ballots.
President Trump, who has yet to concede formally, also criticized the Supreme Court's rejection, tweeting on Friday: "The Supreme Court really let us down. No Wisdom, No Courage!"
Trump added that many "wonderful" states and Republican officials had backed the legal challenge but that everything was now "thrown out and gone."
"A Rigged Election, fight on!" he concluded.
The court includes three judges appointed by Trump himself: Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Trump's team is unlikely to succeed in further legal challenges, even in lower courts, because the rulings have already been handed down. They are also under increasing pressure time-wise, as members of the Electoral College are already meeting Monday to certify the election results.
Meanwhile, Biden welcomed the recent decision, saying in a statement the court "decisively and speedily rejected the latest of Donald Trump and his allies' attacks on the democratic process," according to CNN.
French trawler Le Dolmen in the North Sea, off the coast of Britain in December.
Pascal Rossignol/Reuters
Four armed ships from the UK Royal Navy are on standby to protect British fisheries from French fishermen, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to multiple reports.
The four ships would be authorized to board and impound any French or European fishing vessel within 200 miles of the British shore, according to Reuters.
"The MOD has conducted extensive planning and preparation to ensure that Defence is ready for a range of scenarios at the end of the transition period," a UK government rep said Saturday, according to reports from Reuters and CNN.
The British Royal Navy reportedly has put four of its armed ships on standby to protect its coastal waters from French fishermen, as Brexit talks between the UK and EU continue to focus on territorial rights to the sea between the two countries.
"The MOD has conducted extensive planning and preparation to ensure that Defence is ready for a range of scenarios at the end of the transition period," a representative said Saturday, according to reports from Reuters and CNN.
The rep added: "This preparation includes a standby package of 14,000 personnel to ensure that we are ready to support other government departments and authorities over the winter period, including with the EU transition, Covid-19 and potential severe weather events."
The UK is due to finish its transition out of the EU at the end of the year, with or without a new trade deal. The dispute over fishing areas has been one of three "critical" issues on which EU and UK Brexit negotiators haven't been able to agree, according to a joint statement last weekend from the prime minister, Boris Johnson, and Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president.
Under current EU regulations, the waters between the UK and France have been mostly open to fishing vessels from both countries, and any other EU fishermen. But a no-deal Brexit would likely mean the UK asserting sole control over more of the fishery.
The four ships the Royal Navy would be authorized to board and impound any ship within 200 miles of the British shore, Reuters reported. UK ministers were reportedly preparing legislation to give the navy the authority to arrest foreign fishermen, according to The Sunday Times.
It's highly unlikely that a Royal Navy ship would fire on a French fishing ship, a navy source told The Guardian.
"Nobody is going to be firing warning shots against French fishermen; firearms are only used when there is danger to life," the source reportedly said.
Tiny homes have become popular during the coronavirus pandemic, and with this sudden surge comes new tiny home trends.
IPX1031, a Fidelity National Financial subsidiary, surveyed 2,006 Americans to measure the public interest in tiny housing.
Over half of the respondents reported that they would consider living in a tiny home, and of those who are not yet homeowners, 86% said they would consider purchasing a tiny home as their first home.
Of those surveyed, 72% said they would consider using a tiny home as an investment property.
Tiny homes have become undeniably popular during the coronavirus pandemic, and with this sudden surge comes new tiny home trends.
According to a survey by Fidelity National Financial subsidiary IPX1031, 56% of the 2,006 American respondents reported they would consider living in a tiny home.
Of those surveyed who are not yet homeowners, 86% said they would contemplate purchasing a tiny home as their first home and 84% of those surveyed said they would consider a tiny home as a retirement living option.
Affordability, efficiency, eco-friendliness, and minimalism were cited, in that order, as the four most attractive factors that the tiny home lifestyle has to offer.
It's no surprise the economical aspects of tiny living was listed by 65% of those surveyed as the most enticing factor of tiny living. The median price of a tiny home falls within the $30,000 to $60,000 range, while the median price of a traditional home sits at $233,400, according to IPX1031. As a result, 79% of survey respondents reported being able to afford the median price of a tiny home, while only 53% said the same for a traditional home.
Aspects like mobility and privacy fell lower on the list of attractive factors, although 54% of survey respondents said they would want a mobile home, and a home under 400 square feet.
This uptick in tiny home popularity can be attributed to more than just those looking for a permanent downsize. Tiny homes have also become a popular target for tourists looking for an escape during COVID-19, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, and tiny homemakers have now started targeting customers who want tiny units to rent out or to list on Airbnb.
As a result, 72% of respondents said they would consider using a tiny home as an investment property, with 63% of those people reporting they would use it as a long term rental unit at an average monthly rent of $900. In contrast, 37% said they would rather rent their tiny home for short term stays on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo with an average nightly rate of $145.
According to the report's analysis of 1,300 tiny home-related Google search keywords, tiny homes are currently the most popular in the northwest and northeast of the US.
IPX1031 conducted the survey, which was made up of 55% female and 45% male, between November 1 and 5. The median age of those surveyed was 38, and the majority of people surveyed had an income under $80,000, with 37% of respondents making under $40,000, and 46% making between $40,000 to 80,000.
Vaccine distribution and healthy economic growth might not yield the market returns investors are clamoring for next year, Bank of America said in a note.
The bank's Research Investment Committee expects the US to lag the global economy in 2021 growth and for markets to post "modest" gains amid the weak recovery.
The disappointing forecast has strategists "suspicious of an increasingly exuberant market," the bank said.
Vaccination, stimulus rollout, and market rallies will lead Congress to tighten fiscal conditions and hamper a prolonged rally for risky assets and broad indexes, the firm added.
Widespread vaccination against COVID-19, an economic recovery, and rebounding corporate profits might not be enough to appease investors, Bank of America said.
The bank's Research Investment Committee expects economic growth to bounce back in 2021 as vaccinations allow for more thorough and faster reopenings. Yet the team is less bullish toward market returns, forecasting "modest" gains through the new year from risky assets and broad indexes.
The US could lag the rest of the world and only fully return to long-term growth in 2022, the bank said, adding that such a disappointing forecast has the team "suspicious of an increasingly exuberant market."
For one, vaccine hopes recently pushed the bank's gauge of Wall Street optimism to its highest point since the financial crisis. The indicator now sits at 57.8%, just 2.7 points away from sending a signal for investors to sell. A record-high $14 billion flow into value ETFs from growth funds in recent weeks further reveals the overwhelming bullishness among investors.
Bank of America expects global GDP to grow 5.4% in the next year, while the US economy grows 4.5%. The S&P 500 will rise roughly 5% to 3,800, and the 10-year Treasury yield will climb to 1.5%, according to the firm's outlook note.
For now, bad news is good news, the bank's strategists said. Soaring COVID-19 case counts and weakening economic data places greater pressure on Congress to pass a large stimulus package. That narrative changes next year, when vaccine distribution, stimulus rollout, and market rallies can lead lawmakers to tighten fiscal conditions and focus on repaying government debt.
History offers little precedent for such a rapid economic recovery, but trends seen in 2011 could bring some insight as to how markets will trend in 2021. Coming out of the financial crisis, stocks rallied 8% in the first half of 2011 before the reality of slowed secular trends and government austerity cut into optimism.
"That 'dashed hopes' dynamic could play out again next year," the bank said.
A handful of potentialities could further drive market volatility, according to the team. Rising defaults in China could reverse the country's swift recovery and plunge its economy into another recession. Bailouts of highly indebted US firms could curb productivity, and lasting work-from-home orders could cap inflation.
Acceptance of nuclear energy solutions and a policy-fueled boon for industrial growth could also shift the bank's outlook.
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