Beltway Insider: Biden/European Allies, Early Voting Begins, Israel, Italy, Hurricane Helene/Milton

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Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Sunday, 20 October 2024 10:12

Written by Janet Walker

President Biden met this week with European allied leaders to secure the future of their solidarity with Ukraine and Israel, producing sobering discussions in the uncertainty of the U.S. election, which is less than three weeks away.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com for the period ending October 20, 2024, decreased by 0.5% to 39.5% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness increased by 0.3% at 55.3% of those polled. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

Averaging the National Polls, with the Tuesday, November 5, 2024 election in 17 days, Vice-President Kamala Harris's popularity with prospective voters has decreased by 0.1% to 48.1% over the former president and convicted felon Donald Trump, whose popularity with prospective voters has increased by 0.4% to 46.4%. The political countdown site 270towin.com averages 15 national polls and places Vice-President Kamala Harris ahead with 49.2% an decrease of 0.1% and the former president Trump with 47.5%, an increase of 0.8%, with 3.3% of the population polled undecided.

Beltway Insider: Biden/Hurricane Helene, Milton Devastation, Election Issues, Israel, Ethel Kennedy

Election 2024

The recent court decision in Georgia, which struck down many new rules proposed by a pro-Trump Board of Elections, are a glimpse of post-election lawsuits and challenges expected to inundate states if the results do not favor the former president. His game plan, obviously, is to cast as much doubt into the mind of the American citizen to incite riot.

"Democrats and voting rights groups had sued to block the board's decisions, arguing that they were being imposed too close to the election and would be impossible to implement without causing disruptions in the election process," reported The Washington Post.

The proverb, "The best defense is an offense," meaning it is better to be proactive than sit and wait could be applied to members of the former president, and convicted felon, Donald J. Trump's inner circle and his approach to battleground lawsuits.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Fox., Jr effectively ruled the imposed laws were "Illegal, unconstitutional and void."

Although some of the proposed laws seemed reasonable such as additional identity for individuals dropping ballots for loved ones, in this day of identity theft, a single additional identity is reasonable, or as the system is one person one vote, a single person limited to one person, one drop-off vote. Other accommodations could be a mail drop off outside the polling station, which allows an individual to drop off ballots for loved ones without questions or additional identification.

But the crux of the new proposed laws centered on hand counting ballots meant to cause intentional human error, as not every poll worker is honest, and delay certification of the vote.

North Carolina, Georgia Early Voting Surpasses Records

"In total, 353,166 people voted on the first day of early voting across the state, eclipsing the 348,559 people who voted on the first day of early voting in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic made early voting more popular than in previous years, the board of elections announced on Friday," Newsweek Reported.

The magnitude of the voter turnout and the dedicated effort of state officials to ensure that voters, from every area of the state, including the hard-hit areas of western North Carolina, revealed a whole of government approach to addressing the needs of each individual to ensure this privilege remained guaranteed.

Across the nation, 47 states offer early voting options resulting in an astonishing 13,251,928 citizens who have opted to vote early. Pennsylvania, another battle ground state, had recorded more than 787,900 voters opted to vote early. Michigan also has seen an increase in early voting with more than 942,235 already casting their ballot. Florida, who has been hammered by double Hurricanes reported more than 1,109,973 Floridians have cast their early ballots.

Georgia, also a battle ground state, reported that in the first days of early voting more than 1 million Georgians have cast their vote, and by October 20, 2024, more than 1,377,896 Georgians have cast their vote.

"The first day of early voting received a record-breaking turnout in Georgia, with over 310,000 votes cast in person on Tuesday. That number significantly surpasses the 136,000 voters that showed up on the first day of early voting in 2020, when President Joe Biden beat former President Donald Trump by just over 11,000 votes," Newsweek reported.

Be a part of this record-breaking historical election, there is still time to register to vote. Check local election rules here: Voter Registration

Former President Donald J. Trump Found Guilty on All Counts

Architect of Israeli October 7 Attack Dead

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the architect of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, has been killed. His identity was confirmed through DNA and dental records.

As the war in the Middle East continues to escalate, pulling in regional partners loyal to Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, including the southern Houthis, and Lebanon, Israel has found itself determined to neutralize all threats and annihilate all enemies, attempting to ensure a future free from terror organizations determined to eradicate the State of Israel.

Netanyahu's effort will eventually backfire. The continued killings of innocent civilians will cause a deeper commitment to those opposed to the Jewish state. And while it will take time, maybe decades, this generational hatred will rise again, and this current determined effort will be the fuel for the next wave of terror.

U.S. Troops, Weapons Deployed to Israel

President Biden announced the deployment of a limited number of U.S. military to aid the use of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to assist Israel as the middle East conflict has expanded.  

"The escalation of conflict in the Middle East will now apparently involve U.S. troops. President Biden has directed the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to Israel, along with around 100 American soldiers needed to operate it. This is the first time that U.S. troops will have been sent to Israel since Hamas' Oct. 7 assault," reported ResponsibleStatecraft.org.

The U.S. military operations are expected to be centered on the Houthi insurgents, a terror group supported by Iran and housed in Yemen, which borders the Red Sea. The Houthi rebels, since the beginning of October 7, 2023, attack, have used their position to attack U.S and allied warships station in the Gulf.

As Israel has increased its effort, the Houthi rebels have matched the effort and intensified attacks in the Gulf. On October 12, 2000, 24 years ago, suicide bombers steered a boat laden with explosives beside the U.S.S. Cole and blew a 40-foot hole in the ship and killed 17 soldiers. Although Yemen authorities were quick to arrest the responsible parties, the generational hatred that has deep roots in the region have created another round of potential suicide attacks and martyrs prepared to die for distorted doctrine, generational mind control, and a philosophy centered on the opposition of Israel.

Italy Bans Surrogacy

Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, this week, amended an Italian law than banned surrogacy, implementing more restrictive measures that target same sex couples, particularly gay men, from using international surrogates to birth their children.

"Pope Francis, who has decried surrogacy as "womb renting," this year called for a global ban. Last year in Morocco, an international convention of experts from 70 countries issued a joint decree calling for a universal surrogacy ban. In April, the European Parliament voted to include "the exploitation of surrogate motherhood" under acts of "human trafficking,"' reported The Washington Post.

As Meloni continues to execute a conservative agenda, that includes laws already in effect barring same-sex couples from domestic or international adoptions, the new laws go even further and criminalize any professional, including doctors, that assist or provide services to any child accompanied by a gay couple.

Coronavirus Total

The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually.  The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from the newer variants.

For the seven days ending October 20, 2024, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by The World Health Organization increased by 74,632 confirmed cases totaling 776,546,006. The total worldwide death toll increased by 1,451 to 7,070,128 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated October 6, 2024, from The World Health Organization).

Beltway Insider: Biden/Jobs Report, Election/VP Debate, Israel, Hurricane Helene Devastation

2024 Hurricane Season Spawns Apocalyptic Devastation, Total Death toll Surpasses 250

Hurricane Helene, which pummeled Florida as a Category 4 storm with wind speeds reaching 140 miles per hour, inundating the Big Bend or panhandle region with a record 15-foot storm surge, maintain its strength, drenching five additional states, including Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee, leaving a wake of destruction in its path and killing more then 230.

As the debate continues to rage on Climate Change and its effects on weather phenomena, what remains is the fact of hurricane formation. Hurricanes are fueled by warm water; it is not a stretch of the imagination to understand warmer water increases the strength and formation of hurricanes. This isn't climate change fearmongering to persuade the unconvinced to believe in the devastating effects of climate change, it is fact, proven scientific fact.

As water temperatures in the hurricane highway, the stretch of sea between western coast of Africa where tropical storms forms and the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, these storms will become more frequent and intensify.

The 2024 Hurricane season has produced 15 named storms, which is a record, and the double hit from Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, have only strengthened the climate change argument, and the understanding that no two hurricanes are alike in the level of devastation they leave in their wake.

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"Helene buckled and washed away many roads in Asheville and the surrounding rural mountain communities, initially isolating storm victims and slowing assistance. Milton, which made landfall late Wednesday, downed trees and power lines and scattered debris, but left most roads intact," The New York Times reported.

Both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton will reach the top ten costliest hurricane in history, with a combined total of nearly $100billion in damages. The degree of Helene's inland devastation was unexpected, especially in the western North Carolina region as soaking rains days before Helene saturated the grounds and created rising rivers. The rain from Hurricane Helene, that lost little strength and brought Category 3 winds and limited tornado outbreaks to western Carolina effectively collapsed, the already saturated ground and created raging torrents of debris, mud, water with no where to go but down.

Two weeks later, the hardest hit regions, mountains and rural, have yet to come to grips with the reeling devastation, washing away homes, infrastructure, roads, and communities. Many of the 95 individuals who lost their lives have been identified, but some citizens have yet to be found.

Hurricane Milton, a rare, Gulf formed Hurricane drawing only from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, exhibited rapid intensification and sounded alarm bells on Florida's western coast. What was not expected was the shocking number of tornados spawned, which accounted for many of the deaths in the region.

Meteorologists have confirmed that Hurricane Milton spawned a record 41 tornados, which traveled in front of the Milton's landfall, across the state to the eastern seaboard, a record 500 miles, killing 17. "Milton pummeled coastal and island communities, but it spared the state's most densely populated regions. It also spawned a tornado outbreak, including one that tore through a retirement community north of Fort Pierce, killing six people," reported The New York Times.

While Floridians are accustomed to Hurricanes, it is a precondition to living in what many call paradise, the double hit of 2024 have left residents wondering if the price is worth the penalty.

World News: Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu is Locked into War

For more information on President Joe Biden: Whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and the International Federation of Journalists.