USA ESTA Travel Pass News

White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) Chairman Jared Bernstein said on the 23rd regarding the US economy, “There is a lot of reason to believe that the current positive trend will continue.”

Chairman Bernstein appeared on Fox News that day and said, “Bidenomics (the Biden government’s economic policy) will continue this trend in the right direction.”

As for economic performance, he said that “wage growth is outpacing inflation,” and after mentioning real wage growth over the past year, he emphasized that consumers’ expectations for the US economy will rise over time.

“We’ve seen these investments grow across the country,” he said, referring to the expansion of electric vehicle investments under the Inflation Reduction Act. “I like the momentum we have now.”

Regarding the relatively low approval rating for the Biden government’s economic policies, he also said, “It takes time for people’s sentiments about the economy as a whole to catch up with new economic trends.” He emphasized, “President Biden has been working with a low attitude to help households and businesses escape the crisis and return to a sound and sound economy.”

In various opinion polls, President Biden’s approval rating for state affairs is around 40%, and positive evaluations of economic policies, such as countering inflation, remain at a similar level. For example, in a recent Monmouth University poll, 47% rated the Biden government’s job policy positively and 48% negatively, and only 34% supported the inflation policy, reported The Hill, a media outlet specializing in Congress.

Recently, a video of a significant amount of milk being dumped at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Plant was posted on social media, causing shock.

A spokesperson for the sewage treatment plant acknowledged the waste of milk but declined to comment on the amount of milk discarded. Not only here. According to Milkweed, a dairy media outlet in Wisconsin, overproduction of milk in the state is 50 trailers a day, and the amount of milk that can be transported in one trailer reaches 6,000 to 7,000 gallons.

The dairy industry, which supplies fresh milk to Americans, is facing the limit of discarding milk. Due to the high production supply compared to the demand for milk consumption and delays in milk processing at dairy processing companies, there is not enough space to store milk, leading to a situation where milk is dumped down the drain.

Recently, Bloomberg News reported that the dairy industry, especially in the Midwest, was in a situation where they were dumping unconsumed milk from milk supply production. The large-scale disposal of milk by dairy farmers was a special case that occurred when the balance between supply and demand collapsed due to the closure of large consumers such as schools and restaurants as the economic shutdown was implemented in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The waste of raw milk in the Midwest milk regions is due to oversupply. According to the USDA, milk production reached an all-time high in May. In Texas, the fourth-largest milk producer in the United States, 28,000 cows were added last year, resulting in a significant increase in milk production, up 15% from 2021. Consumption decreased compared to milk production.

Private milk consumption is down, and the production scale of the processors that process milk is also at a standstill. 90% of Wisconsin’s milk is processed into cheese, but processors are saturated and can no longer afford to process milk. Added to this is the shortage of manpower, further exacerbating the situation of oversupply of milk.

Milk prices are also falling. The futures price of benchmark Class III milk used to make cheese is at its lowest level since 2020.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 10th that the popularity of Disney World, the representative amusement park in the United States, has recently faded.

According to Touring Plans, a company that tracks waiting times at major amusement parks, the average wait time at Magic Kingdom Park in Orlando, Florida on the 4^th of July was 27 minutes. Compared to 2019 with a 47-minute wait time, it has almost halved.

Disney World annual visitor Jamie Brown has visited the resort three times in the past week and has used all four parks. Popular rides have hardly had a long wait time, and restaurant reservations have been much easier. Brown said, “There weren’t too many people to believe,” and said it seemed to be much less crowded than in 2021, which was during Corona 19.

The WSJ pointed out that Disney’s policy of raising admission fees and eliminating free amenities in recent years may have been a factor in turning visitors away. In October of last year, Disney raised the price of a two-day pass from $255 to $285 for adults, a 9% increase.

Stephanie Oprea, head of marketing for Fixit Travel, a travel agency specializing in Disney resort travel products, said, “People can get a little tired of price hikes in the current economy,” and consider a cruise or beach trip instead of Disney World.

The heat wave that hit Florida this summer is also considered one of the factors that reduced Disney World visitors. Last week, the highest daytime temperature around Disney World approached 38 degrees Celsius. In addition, the fact that Disney World has no new rides or attractions other than the reconstruction of Splash Mountain was pointed out as a factor that lowered its competitiveness compared to other amusement parks.

Feeling a sense of crisis, Disney decided to give annual pass holders discounts on revisits and up to 40% discounts on hotel rooms during the peak season this winter. In addition, the once-popular meal prepayment program, which was abolished, plans to revive next year.

In the downtown area of Chicago, where Lake Michigan and the Chicago River meet, 16 people have been found drowned after disappearing over the past year, raising concerns about the possibility of a ‘serial murder’.

According to Chicago NBC Broadcasting, New York Post and Daily Mail on the 29th, the bodies of 10 men and 6 women who were reported missing in the Chicago River and Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago from March last year until recently were found drowned.

Tracy Walder, who served as an intelligence agent for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), raised the possibility of a serial killer, saying, “Similar incidents are frequent and there is a certain pattern to the incidents.”

He said that many of the causes of death were judged to be ‘accidental drowning’ and many remain ‘indeterminate’, that the bodies were found at a distance from the place where the victims were last seen, and that a large number of victims occurred in a short period of time. As a basis, he said, “If there are so many similar patterns overall, it can no longer be seen as a ‘coincidence’. He added, “Serial killers tend to follow a certain pattern. In addition, if the victim is thrown into the water after the murder, much of the forensic evidence will disappear, so you can aim for the perfect crime.”

In this regard, John Jay College Criminal Justice Professor Joseph Giakalon, who was a former New York Police Department (NYDP), said, “I was taught that all deaths should be regarded as murder and investigated until a clear cause of death is confirmed.

Noah Innos (26), a victim of a recent incident, went missing on the 12th after watching a rock concert at a concert hall along the Chicago River with his co-workers. On the 17th, five days later, he was found drowned in the Chicago River, one block away from the concert hall. The judicial authorities have yet to determine the direct cause of Enos’ death, and his family claims ‘murder’.

In December of last year, Kristof Schubert (21), who came to Chicago for work training in Poland, stopped by a bar with his colleagues and disappeared on the way home. A few days later, Peter Salvino (25), a doctoral student at Northwestern University, went missing while returning home after attending a party held in Lincoln Park, north of the city.

Alcohol may be a factor in both cases according to police. Chicago police have not commented on the possibility of a serial killer.

New laws approved by the Maryland Legislature will take effect in Maryland on Saturday, July 1.

The new legislation will include legalization of possession of recreational marijuana (marijuana), search and seizure laws, Title IX to combat sexism and sexual assault, reimbursement for military medical expenses, and tax refunds for veterans.

The following are the new laws that will take effect from Saturday, July 1st.

On July 1, Maryland will allow adults 21 and older to possess less than 1.5 ounces of marijuana and grow no more than two trees.

Law enforcement officials, including police, are prohibited from stopping people or vehicles to search for and confiscate marijuana, even if it smells like marijuana. Evidence found during a police search cannot be used in court.

In addition, fines for smoking marijuana in public places will be reduced from $250 to $50 for the first offense, and from $500 to $50 for the second offense.

Public schools must provide students, parents, staff, and teachers with all information on Title IX to combat sexism and sexual violence.

As a result, you can report sexual discrimination or sexual assault damages or complaints to the Title IX coordinator.

Title IX is a bill aimed at prohibiting gender discrimination in each school activity and is also a measure to solve the problem of sexual violence.

The “Keep Our Heroes Home” bill increases the amount of state tax-free retirement income for veterans aged 55 and older from $15,000 to $20,000, and for young veterans from $5,000 to $12,500.

A landmark package of police reform legislation has been enacted that would require all law enforcement agencies in Maryland to require officers to wear body cameras by July 1, 2025. State governments provide necessary equipment for small institutions.

Each county school board must provide educational programs or services to students with disabilities that meet their individual needs.

If nearby schools cannot provide the necessary education for students with disabilities, they must create and provide individual programs. The teacher’s salary for this must also be supported by the state and county.

While the Republican Party aimed at President Joe Biden’s family in the House of Representatives and pressed the FBI to submit data, President Biden responded to the media’s related questions as “stupid questions.”

On the 15th, President Biden was asked by a reporter at an event related to a “small and certain happiness policy” on the 15th, “Why did you call you ‘Big guy’ in the FBI’s informant file related to Ukraine?” received.

This question was posed by a conservative New York Post reporter as the media exited as the event was held behind closed doors after President Biden spoke. Regarding this, President Biden confronted the reporter, saying, “Why are you asking such a stupid question?” President Biden was asked a similar question at a press conference held after the summit with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the 8th, and dismissed it as “nonsense” while asking, “Where is the money then?” The FBI informant file mentioned by the New York Post reporter is related to the suspicion of bribery by President Biden raised by the Republican Party.

Conservative Fox News reported that an FBI informant said in a 2000 interview that Biden had received $5 million from a Ukrainian energy company that his second son, Hunter, was an executive of when he was vice president.

This information is contained in an FBI document in the form of FD-1023, which is a form of recording unverified reports from secret sources, the media reported. In this document, a person from the energy company called President Biden the ‘Big Guy’.

The House Oversight Committee of the House of Representatives requested the FBI to submit these documents, and when the FBI refused to do so, it announced that it would go through the process of prosecuting FBI Director Christopher Wray for contempt of Congress.

The FBI later decided to allow access to the committee members. White House spokesman Ian Sams tweeted: “Every time a little scrutiny dispels this absurd claim, the right wing moves the goal post.”

Newspapers that have long supported him have turned their backs on ex-president Donald Trump after he was charged with secret theft.

The New York Post, a popular American conservative magazine, called former President Trump along with US President Joe Biden as ‘the two worst people in America’ through an editorial on the 9th.

The criticism came a day after former President Trump was accused of illegally leaking classified documents from the White House, storing them at his home in Mar-Lago, Florida, and obstructing the government’s attempt to retrieve them.

The New York Post opened the door to criticism, saying, “He, who is used to believing that the rules do not apply to him, ignored the law and mocked the authorities.”

The media pointed out that former President Trump was “shamefully irresponsible and petty” for leaking classified documents.

“I did it to fill his ego,” he said, “to show the guests who come to Mar-a-Lago how important he is.”

The New York Post concluded that former President Trump was unfit to be president again. The newspaper cited this incident and his attitude during the congressional riots as the grounds for his lack of presidential qualifications, saying, “Trump does not yield because he bets everything on ‘win or lose’, not on right or wrong.”

Former President Trump has been on the impeachment trial for allegedly causing protesters supporting him to break into a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election as fraudulent.

The New York Post lamented that “two unscrupulous men are the front runners challenging for the highest office in this country,” noting that US President Joe Biden is also not free from suspicions of corruption by his son Hunter Biden.

At the same time, he expressed his position that he hoped that Republican voters would not choose former President Trump, who had lost the election.

The New York Post, one of the media companies owned by conservative media conglomerate Rupert Murdoch, publicly supported Trump in the 2020 presidential election, and was once considered former President Trump’s favourite media outlet. It is noteworthy how the indictment will affect voters, especially among Republicans who have consistently supported former President Trump.

The Washington Post (WP) of the United States introduced the results of a poll that showed that Republicans consider the indictment of former President Trump more serious than the indictment in March.

Former President Trump was indicted by the New York State Prosecutor’s Office in March on charges of tampering with the books of the company by giving money to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her silence.

In a recent YouGov poll, 28 percent of Republicans said falsifying company records to pay for silence was a “serious crime,” but illegally taking classified documents and obstructing government investigations was a “serious crime.” 42% of respondents said it was a ‘serious crime’.

Among Republicans, 39% said that if former President Trump is convicted of “serious crimes,” he should not serve as president. However, former President Trump has assured that the indictment will further increase his approval rating.

Former President Trump said at a Republican event held in Columbus, Georgia on the 10th, “The only advantage of this indictment is that it raises my approval rating.”

One in seven New Jersey children live in extreme poverty below the federal poverty line.

According to a report recently released by the New Jersey children’s advocacy non-profit ‘ACNJ’, as of 2021, about 284,150 of New Jersey’s under-18s will live below the federal poverty line ($27,479 per year for a family of four). It was estimated that in the case of Bergen County, the area with the largest concentration of Koreans, 20,313 people, or 10% of those under the age of 18, were found to be living in poverty.

ACNJ pointed out that “the biggest problem facing New Jersey families with children is poverty.” This report contains various indicators that can measure the standard of living of New Jersey families. About half (49%) of New Jersey households spend more than 30% of their total income on housing rent, which is a significant burden on housing costs.

More than 50% of the households in Bergen County spend over 30% of their income on rent. By county, Morris County has the highest at $165,509, and Cumberland County has the lowest at $59,325.

Bergen County, which has a large Korean population, is the 5th highest among New Jersey counties with $144,655.

The Attorney General of Texas, who has been criticized for various unsavoury allegations such as bribery and abuse of power, is in danger of being impeached for spending huge amounts of taxpayer money while agreeing to a lawsuit with employees who accused him of corruption.

The Republican-majority House of Representatives of Texas passed the impeachment bill of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on the 27th, the Associated Press and Reuters reported. Attorney General Paxton also belongs to the Republican Party, but as several lawmakers from the same party turned their backs, the House vote passed with an overwhelming majority of 121 votes to 23 votes against.

Accordingly, Attorney General Paxton is suspended from his duties pending a decision by the State Senate. Previously, the House committee launched an investigation into him on the 23rd and announced 20 articles of impeachment on the 25th, speeding up the impeachment process. Attorney General Paxton has been plagued by various scandals for a long time, such as being indicted for violating the Securities Act in 2014 and for securities fraud in 2015, respectively.

It has to do with exposing allegations of abuse. At the time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was investigating Paxton’s alleged collusion with Nate Paul, a Texas real estate developer who provided political funds to Paxton. accused of doing They later retaliated, including being fired, and suing Paxton under the Texas Whistle-blower Protection Act. Faced with a disadvantage, Paxton agreed to pay 3.3 million dollars (approximately 4.38 billion won) in compensation instead of finalizing the lawsuit in February this year.

He then asked the legislature for approval to use state funds to pay the compensation. “If Paxton hadn’t asked for taxpayer funds as a settlement for his misconduct, he would not have faced impeachment,” said a member of the House committee that pushed for the impeachment. “Attorney General Paxton has consistently and blatantly violated laws, rules, policies and procedures,” said Congressman David Spiller before the vote.

In the meantime, Attorney General Paxton, along with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, has been at the forefront of attacking President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party government, and has been supported by Republican hardliners. Former President Donald Trump expressed his support for him by posting a post on social media that day, “Free Ken Paxton.”

According to statistics from the Honolulu Police Department, seven of eight crimes on Oahu in 2022 showed a year-over-year decrease.

rape 293 to 261, robbery 795 to 782, aggravated assault 1,407 to 1,266, property crime 28,349 to 24,117, theft 20,79 to 17,596, robbery 3,454 2,470 cases and car theft decreased from 4,816 to 4,051 cases, respectively.

Director Arthur Logan of the Police Department cited the low unemployment rate and the easing of COVID-19 quarantine rules as factors for the decrease in crime, adding that it was the result of all departments of the Police Department working together to maintain public order.

Next, Director Logan explained that so-called hot spots patrols in connection with residents had a great effect.

According to Director Logan, the police department has designated eight districts within its jurisdiction as hotspots, conducted crime prevention education for residents, and worked with residents to form a security surveillance system, making efforts to maintain public order.

Honolulu District Attorney’s Office Prosecutor Steve Armam said that reducing crime was the right thing to do, and highly praised the efforts of the Police Department and residents, as well as the efforts of the With and Seed operation, the Safe and Sound Waikiki Movement, and the city, state, and federal law enforcement agencies of Honolulu. did.

According to Prosecutor Arm, under the influence of the Safe and Sound Waikiki Movement, which started in September last year, the crime rate in the first quarter of this year showed a decrease of 64%, 25%, and 15% in robbery, theft, and assault, respectively.

Meanwhile, the increased item was murder, which increased from 21 in 2021 to 25 in 2022.

The number of gun-related murders/robbery/assaults fell from 388 in 2021 to 345 in 2022, but sharp weapon-related incidents increased from 470 in 2021 to 514 in 2022.

Hawaii State Police Officers Association (SHOHO) Vice President Stephen Keogg advised that reducing crime would require addressing the police shortage.

According to a Star Advertiser report, the department is currently short of about 370 people.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiad pointed out that a decrease in crime is good news in difficult times due to Corona 19, and said he hoped to create a better society with the efforts of the police department.