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Here are the top stories of the week and an outlook.
1. House progressives have bowed. President Biden threw himself in to them. Now his agenda is in question.
Progressive lawmakers feared the moderates are currently voting in the House of Representatives for a $ 1 trillion infrastructure bill and break away from larger sociopolitical laws, so they blocked the bill. The nine centrist lawmakers who tried to force an infrastructure vote by the end of September were furious.
When Biden ventured into the Capitol on Friday to help the House Democrats, he had to choose one side. He effectively opted for the left, which vociferously opposed him in the primaries, and an agenda that is widespread among the public and many Democrats in Congress.
But he also acknowledged that both laws will not pass until the progressives’ priorities are scaled back to win the approval of centrist Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. He also admitted that an agreement could take weeks.
2. Back on the bench, The Supreme Court is facing a blockbuster appointment.
During the new session, which begins on Monday, the court will consider abolishing the constitutional right to abortion, massively expanding gun rights and further demolishing the wall between church and state.
The uploaded file will test Chief Justice John Roberts’ leadership. At a time when judges have become uncharacteristically defensive in public, a survey found that only 40 percent of Americans approved of the court’s work.
In other legal news, experts have been attesting for years that the fragile reluctance of the police is safe. Research is now being put to the test.
3. In Alaska’s Covid Crisis, Doctors have to decide who lives and who dies.
Overload facilities in the lower 48 states can move patients to neighboring cities and states. In Anchorage, most aid is in Seattle, 2,500 miles away. As Alaska grapples with the country’s worst Covid outbreak, doctors are rationing oxygen, treating patients in hallways, and sometimes refusing to perform emergency surgery.
The Nobel Prizes will be announced from Monday. Speculation about this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine has turned to Covid vaccine pioneers after two vaccine researchers won the Lasker Prize on Friday.
Two new studies suggest that newer variants of the coronavirus like Alpha and Delta are sometimes more contagious because they can travel through the air better.
4. While Afghan refugees await a home in the US, Military bases are becoming small towns.
Around 53,000 Afghans have been living in eight military facilities since the summer. Afghan evacuees said they were grateful for the warm welcome, but for many the long wait was exhausting.
One reason for the delay is housing – many want to settle where they have friends or relatives, but officials have said a lack of affordable housing could postpone their relocation. Among the refugees are a group of 148 young women who want to complete their studies in the United States, the principal of an international school and an Afghan Air Force pilot who learned to fly Black Hawk helicopters in Alabama and Texas.
5. Migrants crowd at the Mexican border. Tens of thousands traverse a deadly South American jungle to get there.
The Darién Gap, a road-free and lawless land bridge between Colombia and Panama, was considered so dangerous that only a few thousand people tried to cross it each year. But the economic devastation the pandemic wreaked in South America was so great that 95,000 migrants, most of them Haitians, attempted the crossing in the first nine months of the year.
“We could very well be on the brink of a historic displacement of people in America towards the United States,” said a former national security advisor. “When one of the most impenetrable jungles in the world no longer holds people back, it underscores that political boundaries, however they are enforced, don’t either.”
On other international news, Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine president whose term ends next year, said he would retire instead of seeking the vice presidency.
6. Trams, cable cars, ferries: Cities are rethinking transit to slow climate change.
Berlin revives electric tram lines that were torn down when the Wall was built. Bogotá, Colombia, builds cable cars for the working class. Bergen, Norway operates battery-powered ferries and buses. If cities succeed in these and similar endeavors, they will also benefit from cleaner air and greater fairness in traffic.
7. How Much Care Do You Need When You Are Older? Researchers find out.
A recent study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that 38 percent of 65-year-olds develop moderate needs, nearly a quarter have severe needs, 22 percent have minimal needs, and 17 percent have no care needs.
Many older adults have not saved enough money. But others skimp too much, which reduces their quality of life.
“I think that’s actually a bigger risk than the more conventional idea of cruising around the world and then ending up with nothing,” said the center’s director Alicia Munnell.
8. Rookie quarterbacks are rarely good. This year’s batch was uniquely bad.
Zach Wilson of the Jets, Mac Jones of the Patriots and Trevor Lawrence of the Jaguars have been pushed to lead the NFL teams in rebuilding and have teamed up with 17 interceptions and nine touchdowns this season to win 1- 8 to achieve. But there’s nothing to worry about just yet – some great quarterbacks have got off to a really bad start, and a lack of early success could actually help these newbies by darkening the national spotlight.
Kickers, on the other hand, are booming. Justin Tucker of the Ravens scored a 66-yard field goal last weekend, a record. Longer periods are possible, but square kickers rarely get the chance to exceed the limit.
9. It’s cider season, so enjoy it.
Whether English (traditionally dry and tannic), French (sweeter and lighter) or Spanish (funky and tangy), cider is served pure as an aperitif or with a meal. It’s also great in a cocktail paired with vermouth or something more spirited.
Actor Stanley Tucci has some insights into the subject of enjoyment. About three years ago radiation therapy for tongue cancer made everything he ate taste like wet cardboard, “smeared with someone’s excrement.” He wasn’t afraid of death – he just lost his sense of taste. He tells the story in his new memoir “Taste”.
To welcome the autumn season, our columnist David Tanis has put together an October menu with romaine lettuce and butternut pumpkin cake with poached pears in red wine.
Have a nice week.
David Poller has put together photos for this briefing.
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