Birthdays for Dec. 4
ATLANTA — Already reeling from their November defeats, Democrats now are grappling with President Joe Biden’s pardoning of his son for federal crimes, with some calling the move misguided and unwise after the party spent years slamming Donald Trump as a threat to democracy who disregarded the law. The president pardoned Hunter Biden late Sunday evening, reversing his previous pledges with a grant of clemency that covers more than a decade of any federal crimes his son might have committed. The 82-year-old president said in a statement that his son’s prosecution on charges of tax evasion and falsifying a federal weapons purchase form were politically motivated. “He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who along with Biden and other White House officials insisted for months that Hunter Biden would not get a pardon. That explanation did not satisfy some Democrats, angry that Biden’s reversal could make it harder to take on Trump, who has argued that multiple indictments and one conviction against him were a matter of Biden and Democrats turning the justice system against him. “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wrote of Biden on the social media platform X. “When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation,” the governor continued, a reference to the president invoking fatherhood in explaining his decision. “Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.” Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., said on X: “This wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers.” Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said Biden “put personal interest ahead of duty” with a decision that “further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all.” Michigan Sen. Gary Peters said the pardon was “an improper use of power” that erodes faith in government and “emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., called the pardon “understandable” if viewed only as the “action of a loving father.” But Biden’s status as “our nation’s Chief Executive,” the senator said, rendered the move “unwise.” Certainly, the president has Democratic defenders who note Trump’s use of presidential power to pardon a slew of his convicted aides, associates and friends, several for activities tied to Trump’s campaign and first administration. “Trump pardoned Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort, as well as his son-in-law’s father, Charles Kushner — who he just appointed US ambassador to France,” wrote prominent Democratic fundraiser Jon Cooper on X. Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said there “is no standard for Donald Trump, and the highest standard for Democrats and Joe Biden.” Harrison pointed to Trump’s apparent plans to oust FBI Director Christopher Wray and replace him with loyalist Kash Patel and suggested the GOP’s pursuit of Hunter Biden would not have ended without clemency. “Most people will see that Joe Biden did what was right,” Harrison said. First lady Jill Biden said Monday from the White House, “Of course I support the pardon of my son.” Democrats already are facing the prospects of a Republican trifecta in Washington, with voters returning Trump to the White House and giving the GOP control of the House and Senate. Part of their argument against Trump and Republican leaders is expected to be that the president-elect is violating norms with his talk of taking retribution against his enemies. Before beating Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump faced his own legal troubles, including two cases that stemmed from his efforts to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Those cases, including Trump’s sentencing after being convicted on New York state business fraud charges, have either been dismissed or indefinitely delayed since Trump’s victory on Nov. 5, forcing Democrats to recalibrate their approach to the president-elect. In June, President Biden firmly ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case: “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.” As recently as Nov. 8, days after Trump’s victory, Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for the younger Biden, saying: “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.” The president’s about-face came weeks before Hunter Biden was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges. It capped a long-running legal saga for the younger Biden, who disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020 — a month after his father’s 2020 victory. The sweeping pardon covers not just the gun and tax offenses against the younger Biden, but also any other “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024.” Hunter Biden was convicted in June in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 when , prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. He had been set to stand trial in September in a California case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. But he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in a surprise move hours after jury selection was set to begin. In his statement Sunday, the president argued that such offenses typically are not prosecuted with the same vigor as was directed against Hunter Biden. “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said in his statement. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son. ... I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.” Associated Press journalists Will Weissert aboard Air Force One and Darlene Superville, Mary Claire Jalonick and Michael Tackett in Washington contributed to this report.Saints QB Derek Carr injures left hand on dive in 4th quarter of win over Giants
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DETROIT — Patrick Kane reached the 1,300-point mark and Todd McLellan won for the first time as Detroit’s coach in the Red Wings’ 4-2 victory over Washington on Sunday. Kane, who needed two points to reach that mark, had a power-play goal and assist during Detroit’s four-goal first period. Alex DeBrincat scored two goals and Lucas Raymond added another as the Red Wings snapped a four-game losing streak. Alex Lyon made 26 saves. Alex Ovechkin scored for the second consecutive game after missing the previous 16 due to a fractured fibula. The Capitals star forward is 25 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894. The Wings contained an offensively dangerous team. The penalty kill blanked Washington’s potent power play twice. CANADIENS 5, LIGHTNING 2: Jake Evans scored for his career-high fifth consecutive game, and surging Montreal won at Tampa Bay. Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Newhook also scored to help the Canadiens win for the fifth time in six games. PENGUINS 3, ISLANDERS 2: Sidney Crosby broke Mario Lemieux’s Pittsburgh franchise career record for assists on Michael Bunting’s power-play goal, and the host Penguins beat New York. Crosby has 1,034 assists, good for 12th in NHL history. Only three players — Ray Bourque, Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman — have more assists with a single team. The 37-year-old Crosby has played 1,310-regular-season games. Lemieux played 915. DUCKS 5, OILERS 3: Ryan Strome scored with 2:36 remaining as Anaheim rallied from a two-goal deficit in the second period to defeat visiting Edmonton. Leon Draisaitl had two goals and Connor McDavid two assists for the Oilers, who were 3-0-1 in their past four. SABRES 4, BLUES 2: Jason Zucker scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 9:30 remaining, and Buffalo won at St. Louis for its third straight victory after an 0-10-3 skid. Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist. GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, FLAMES 0: Ilya Samsonov made 31 saves for his first shutout of the season as Vegas beat visiting Calgary to extend its winning streak to six. Left wing Brett Howden broke the scoreless tie with his 15th goal in the second period. SENATORS 3, WILD 1: Josh Norris scored the game-winner for Ottawa on a third-period power play in a road victory over Minnesota that snapped a two-game losing streak. Freddie Gaudreau scored for the Wild. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Solid Power director Erik Anderson sells $644,093 in stock
It's awesome that Kiwi midwives now learn about indigenous practices but we need more Māori and Pacific trainees to meet the rising demand for culturally specific birthcare, says Janet Taiatini, one of Aotearoa's longest-serving registered Māori midwives. "Our children coming through kura kaupapa Māori, obviously their lens is going to be different and they have different needs ... A lot of us, as we identify as being Māori, we're wanting to be more indigenised," she tells RNZ's Afternoons. Taiatini, who first discovered her passion for assisting childbirth as a nurse in the Middlemore Hospital maternity ward, became a registered midwife in 1988. In the early days, she thought of herself as "just a midwife who happened to be Māori". But after 1990, when changes to the Nurses Amendment Act enabled midwives to be autonomous practitioners, other Māori midwives started popping up around Auckland. To provide in-home care for pregnant Māori women and their whānau who weren't engaging with regular hospital services, the group banded together as a south Auckland midwives collective. Many Māori mothers-to-be prefer receiving care at home and having whānau involved in their birthing experience, Taiatini says. A colleague's recent experience supporting an expectant māmā in hospital is, to her, a positive sign that these needs are increasingly on offer in the mainstream system. "She was able to karanga [ceremonially welcome] that baby and karakia [sing] up in the theatre when their baby was being born. That was really nice for the whānau but also for the staff." Over the decades, Taiatini has lost count of how many babies she's delivered but reckons it's somewhere in the thousands. Now based in Hamilton, she currently supports Māori and Pacific midwifery students at Wintec (Waikato Institute of Technology) via a government-funded pastoral programme. When that soon comes to an end due to lack of funding, Taiatini plans to continue practising as a midwife and keep sharing with trainees her knowledge of indigenous birthing practices - with a side of good vibes. "I am optimistic, that's my nature. I always look for the good." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he was caught off guard by reports early Tuesday that linebacker Shaq Barrett wants to unretire. The two-time Super Bowl winner signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins in March, then abruptly announced his retirement on social media in July, just days before the start of Miami's training camp. “Just to be candid, obviously there's a reason why you target and sign somebody," McDaniel said Tuesday afternoon. “I was fully caught off guard, or caught by surprise this morning as I found out.” McDaniel indicated the Dolphins have not had any conversations with Barrett recently. Miami holds the 32-year-old’s contractual rights. ESPN first reported the news. “It was kind of news as you guys got it,” McDaniel said. He also said he hasn't had a chance to think about Barrett potentially rejoining the team, and that his immediate focus is on Miami's Thursday night game at Green Bay. “The team is counting on me to think about the Packers,” he said. "I'll get with (GM) Chris (Grier), and we'll work through that. There's a ton of implications that go along with it in terms of team and roster stuff, so we'll work through that as we just got the news today.” Barrett has 400 tackles, 59 sacks, 22 forced fumbles and three interceptions in nine seasons — four with Denver and five with Tampa Bay. He was a second-team All-Pro with the Buccaneers in 2019, with a league-high 19 1/2 sacks. The Dolphins waived veteran safety Marcus Maye on Tuesday and activated rookie safety Patrick McMorris from injured reserve. Maye, who signed with the Dolphins in June, played in 11 games with three starts for Miami this season. He had 30 tackles and a tackle for loss. He could re-sign to the team's practice squad if he clears waivers. Maye previously played for New Orleans, but was cut in a money-saving move in March after two seasons with the Saints. Maye's release made room on the roster for McMorris, who was drafted in the sixth round by Miami in April. He began the season on injured reserve because of a calf injury. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflSmokers who quit for a week could save a day of their life, experts say