Why aren’t we building new homes to be accessible?WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Christopher Wray told bureau workers Wednesday that he plans to resign at the end of President Joe Biden's term in January, an announcement that came a week and a half after President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate loyalist Kash Patel for the job. Wray said at a town hall meeting that he would be stepping down “after weeks of careful thought,” roughly three years short of the completion of a 10-year term during which he tried to keep the FBI out of politics even as the bureau found itself entangled in a string of explosive investigations, including two that led to separate indictments of Trump last year as well as inquiries into Biden and his son. “My goal is to keep the focus on our mission — the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day,” Wray told agency employees. “In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.” The intended resignation was not unexpected considering that Trump had settled on Patel to be director and had repeatedly aired his ire at Wray, whom he appointed during his first term. But his departure is nonetheless a reflection of how Trump's norm-breaking style has reshaped Washington, with the president-elect yet again flouting tradition by moving to replace an FBI director well before his term was up and Wray resigning to avert a collision with the incoming administration. “It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway — this is not easy for me," Wray said. “I love this place, I love our mission, and I love our people — but my focus is, and always has been, on us and doing what’s right for the FBI.” Wray received a standing ovation following his remarks before a standing-room-only crowd at FBI headquarters and some in the audience cried, according to an FBI official who was not authorized to discuss the private gathering by name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press. Trump applauded the news on social media, calling it “a great day for America as it will end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice" and saying that Patel's confirmation will begin “the process of Making the FBI Great Again.” If confirmed by the Senate, Patel would herald a radical leadership transformation at the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency. He has advocated shutting down the FBI's Washington headquarters and called for ridding the federal government of “conspirators," raising alarms that he might seek to wield the FBI's significant investigative powers as an instrument of retribution against Trump's perceived enemies. Patel said in a statement Wednesday that he was looking forward to "a smooth transition. I will be ready to serve the American people on day one.” It's extremely rare for FBI directors to be ousted from their jobs before the completion of their 10-year terms, a length meant to insulate the agency from the political influence of changing administrations. But Trump has done it twice, placing Wray in the job in 2017 after firing Director James Comey amid an investigation into ties between Russia and the Republican president’s campaign. Despite having appointed Wray, Trump had telegraphed his anger with the FBI director on multiple occasions throughout the years, including as recently as the past week. In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, Trump said, “I can’t say I’m thrilled with him. He invaded my home,” a reference to the FBI search of his Florida property , Mar-a-Lago, two years ago for classified documents from Trump’s first term as president. That search, and the recovery of boxes of sensitive government records, paved the way for one of two federal indictments against Trump. The case, and another one charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 election, have both been dismissed by the Justice Department special counsel that brought them in light of Trump's November victory. Attorney General Merrick Garland praised Wray for having “served our country honorably and with integrity for decades.” He said: “Under Director Wray’s principled leadership, the FBI has worked to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission to keep our country safe, protect civil rights, and uphold the rule of law.” Natalie Bara, the president of the FBI Agents Association, said in a statement that Wray had led the FBI “through challenging times with a steady focus on doing the work that keeps our country safe. ” Throughout his seven years on the job, the self-professed "low-key, understated" Wray brought a workmanlike approach to the job, repeatedly preaching a “keep calm and tackle hard” mantra to bureau personnel despite a steady drumbeat of attacks from Trump and his supporters. He also sought to avoid public conflict when possible with the Trump White House, distancing himself and his leadership team from the FBI's Russia investigation over errors that took place before he took office and announcing dozens of corrective actions meant to prevent the recurrence of the surveillance abuses that plagued the inquiry. But there were other instances when he memorably broke from Trump — he did not agree, for instance, with Trump’s characterization of the Russia investigation as a “witch hunt." He made known his displeasure when the White House blessed the declassification of materials related to the surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide and contradicted a Trump talking point by stating that Ukraine had not interfered in the 2016 election. He repeatedly sought to keep the focus on the FBI's day-to-day work, using the bulk of his resignation announcement to praise the bureau's efforts in countering everything from violent crime and cyberattacks to Chinese espionage and terrorism. Yet as he leaves office at a time of heightened threats , much of the public focus has been on the politically sensitive investigations of his tenure. Besides the inquiries into Trump, the FBI in recent years also investigated Biden's handling of classified information as well as Biden's son Hunter for tax and gun violations. Hunter Biden was pardoned by his father last week. A particular flashpoint came in August 2022, when FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago — an action officials defended as necessary given the boxes of documents that were being concealed at the Palm Beach property and the evidence of obstruction that the Justice Department said had been gathered. Trump railed against the FBI over that search and has kept up his criticism ever since. Trump was angered by Wray's comment at a congressional hearing that there was “some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel” that struck Trump's ear during an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July. The FBI later stated unequivocally that it was indeed a bullet. Before being named FBI director, Wray worked at a prestigious law firm, King & Spalding, where he represented former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during the “Bridgegate” scandal. He also led the Justice Department’s criminal division for a period during President George W. Bush’s administration. Eric Tucker, The Associated Press
The North Carolina Tar Heels are expected to hire former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl winner, as their head coach, according to multiple reports. ESPN and NFL Network were first to report the news. Belichick, 72, coached the Patriots from 2000 to 2023. He won Super Bowls after the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons before he and New England mutually parted ways in January. Belichick is second on the NFL’s all-time coaching wins list, with 333. He also won two Super Bowls as the New York Giants' defensive coordinator after the 1987 and 1990 seasons. The Tar Heels fired head coach Mack Brown on Nov. 26. Brown, who previously coached at North Carolina from 1988 to 1997, led the team for the last six seasons. He had a 43-33 record during his second stint, winning one bowl game. The Tar Heels have not won a conference championship since 1980. They last appeared in the ACC championship game in 2022. Belichick has never coached in college. He began his coaching career as an assistant with the Baltimore Colts in 1975, then spent two years with the Detroit Lions and one with the Denver Broncos. The Giants hired Belichick as a special teams assistant in 1979 and promoted him to defensive coordinator in 1985. He won two championships under head coach Bill Parcells before he accepted the head coaching position with the Cleveland Browns in 1991. In four seasons with the Browns, Belichick was 36-44, making the playoffs only once. After he was fired in 1996, he reunited with Parcells, first as a defensive assistant with the Patriots in 1996, then as the New York Jets’ defensive coordinator from 1997 to 1999. Belichick originally agreed to become the Jets’ head coach in 2000 but surprised the team by resigning before what was supposed to be his introductory news conference. He instead left for New England, where he was given final say over player personnel in addition to his coaching duties. Though he oversaw six Super Bowl wins, Belichick’s relationship with Patriots owner Robert Kraft reportedly grew strained in 2020. That year, Belichick decided the Patriots would part ways with quarterback Tom Brady, who started in all of New England’s Super Bowl wins and is headed to the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest signal callers of all time. In his last four years as the Patriots’ head coach, all without Brady, Belichick posted a 29-38 record, making the playoffs only once. In January, Belichick interviewed for the head coaching position with the Atlanta Falcons, who hired Raheem Morris.A vegetarian diet seems unusual at best and anti-patriotic at worst to many folks. But I haven’t eaten red meat since 1980, and I’ve been able to accrue a whole lotta benefits from my decision to focus on eating plants — and so has the planet. Here’s the story of my journey to being a vegetarian, told at a time of year when we give thanks for the gifts bestowed on us. “We are the earth, made of the same stuff; there is no other, no division between us and ‘lower’ or ‘higher’ forms of being.” — Estella Lauder I am a Vietnam War child. I was part of the first youth group to view war through a television screen. I saw young people drafted and shipped to a faraway land that had no personal or political meaning for them. Protests connected the essential precious life we are given to the natural world around us, and texts like Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and The Sea around Us spoke to me as an integral part of my identity formation. I came to understand that humans are one with the Earth — that we share ecosystems and life forces. I became a tree hugger, an eco-warrior, eco-nut, eagle freak — these derogatory terms for living in ways connected to the planet didn’t faze me. They empowered me. “What we most need to do is to hear within us the sound of the Earth crying.” — Thich Nhat Hanh When I was twelve years old, I was seated at the periphery of a group of older female relatives who were bemoaning the discovery of breast cancer in our aunt. It was a time before pre-screenings; my aunt was diagnosed with stage four, terminal. I swore I would never be someone who was susceptible to cancer and began to look into its causes. There I was in the 1970s, and the meat-processing industry was denying how chemicals like nitrates and nitrites react with meat and form cancer-causing compounds. The health risks weren’t important to these meat producers, as using these additives made curing cheaper and quicker, extended shelf life, and gave meat a pleasing pink color. I announced that I wanted to be a vegetarian; my mother said that, as long as I ate in her house, I would eat what she cooked. Meat, canned vegetables, and a potato it was. Since this time I learned that vegetarians have 14% lower cancer risk than meat-eaters. “What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?” – E.M. Forster In a few years I became a first-generation college student. On my own financially, I found a sporadic income source working in bars and restaurants as I figured out college. Soon I was lining up bar pour glasses, churning blenders with exotic frozen drinks, and rolling kegs. At one point I worked for a very kind family who happened to be vegetarians. Yes! I announced that I was going to join them in renouncing meat. Feeling responsible for my decision, they asked me to read a book titled Protein for Vegetarians . (I see now that the author is questioned for “pseudo-scientific” methodology.) Ah, I soon learned it was going to take a lot more than saying No to Meat in order to eat healthy. I continue to seek out protein every day of my life and take vitamin B12, too. “Realize that everything connects to everything else.” ― Leonardo Da Vinci In my 20s I came to understand the appalling treatment that animals receive in the industrial agriculture system. Cattle, pigs, and poultry are managed in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). Many of these animals remain their entire lives in cages with little to no room to move. The Union of Concerned Scientists has criticized such practices. As a vegetarian, I have made a conscious and ethical choice to live in a way that reflects values of compassion, respect for animals, sustainability, and social justice. It makes me a more critical thinker, as I examine my consumer choices and the impact they have on the lives of animals, the environment, and other humans. “Our relationship with nature is more one of being than having. We are nature: we do not have nature.” — Steven Harper Yes, I stuck to a vegetarian diet across the decades. Sometimes I did eat seafood or chicken, trying to adapt to a partner’s diet. Pressure to eat meat was profound — countries like the US, UAE, and Brazil make up the top 20 meat-consuming countries in the world , consuming more than 160 kg of meat per person per year. According to Our World in Data , half of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture, with most of this used to raise livestock for dairy and meat. Livestock are fed from two sources – lands on which the animals graze and land on which feeding crops, such as soy and cereals, are grown. If everyone shifted to a plant-based diet, we would reduce global land use for agriculture by 75% due to a reduction in land used for grazing and a smaller need for land to grow crops. For the last decade I’ve been a lacto-ovo vegetarian — a bit of dairy and eggs, the rest plants. “Nature is the source of all true knowledge.” – Leonardo da Vinci The 21st century was a time that raised our consciousness about the need to reduce burning fossil fuels and power our world with renewables. Additionally, we became aware that reducing emissions takes place along various parts of the supply chain . Compared to plant-based proteins including beans and legumes, beef is responsible for some 20 times more emissions per edible gram of protein . Switching to a plant-based diet can reduce an individual’s annual carbon footprint by up to 2.1 tons with a vegan diet or up to 1.5 tons for vegetarians. I learned that my vegetarian diet dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions. “In a real sense all life is inter-related. All are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be... This is the inter-related structure of reality.” ― Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” I began to model what plant-based eating looks like for family and friends — olive oil butter, vegan bacon, soy milk, dark green vegetables. I held dinner parties and served intricate vegetable main dishes like vegan jambalaya, vegetarian mushroom Wellington, vegan sausage and rice casserole, vegan cream of carrot soup, and so many more. I am now a climate activist, drawing upon my experiences of being a vegetarian to guide my path toward sustainability. As I write, I hope that you, too, will consider choosing plant-based meals whenever possible. “Wonderful how completely everything in wild nature fits into us, as if truly part and parent of us. The sun shines not on us, but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing.” — John Muir CleanTechnica's Comment Policy LinkedIn WhatsApp Facebook X Email Mastodon Reddit
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Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is eager to play again after spending the team's bye week thinking about a recent loss to the Eagles.California vs. Trump: State prepares for battle to protect taxpayers, progressive policies
