Saturday, December 31, 2022
Biden pardons 6 convicted of murder, drug, alcohol crimes
Story by By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press • Yesterday 12:50 PM
The Associated Press
Biden pardons 6 convicted of murder, drug, alcohol crimes
KINGSHILL, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — President Joe Biden has pardoned six people who have served out sentences after convictions on a murder charge and drug- and alcohol-related crimes, including an 80-year-old woman convicted of killing her abusive husband about a half-century ago and a man who pleaded guilty to using a telephone for a cocaine transaction in the 1970s.
President Joe Biden salutes as he boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Biden and his family are traveling to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, to celebrate New Year. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)© Provided by The Associated Press
The pardons, announced Friday, mean the criminal record of the crimes is now purged. They come a few months after the Democratic president pardoned thousands of people convicted of “simple possession" of marijuana under federal law. He also pardoned three people earlier this year and has commuted the sentences of 75 others.
Biden's stance on low-level crimes, particularly low-level drug possession, and how those crimes can impact families and communities for decades to come has evolved over his 50 years in public service. In the 1990s, he supported crime legislation that increased arrest and incarceration rates for drug crimes, particularly for Black and Latino people. Biden has said people are right to question his stance on the bill, but he also has encouraged them to look at what he's doing now on crime.
The pardons were announced while the president was spending time with his family on St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The White House said those pardoned are people who went on to serve their communities. It said the pardons reflect Biden’s view people deserve a second chance.
Those granted pardons are:
— Beverly Ann Ibn-Tamas, 80, of Columbus, Ohio. At age 33, Ibn-Tamas was convicted of killing her husband. She testified that her husband beat her, verbally abused her and threatened her. She told jurors that she shot him moments after he had assaulted her, while she was pregnant. The judge refused to allow expert testimony on battered woman syndrome, a psychological condition that can develop among victims of domestic violence. Ibn-Tamas got one to five years of incarceration with credit for time served. Her appeal was among the first by someone with battered woman syndrome, and her case has been studied by academics.
— Charles Byrnes-Jackson, 77, of Swansea, South Carolina. Byrnes-Jackson pleaded guilty to possession and sale of spirits without tax stamps when he was 18, and it involved a single illegal whiskey transaction. He tried to enlist in the Marines but was rejected because of the conviction.
— John Dix Nock III, 72, of St. Augustine, Florida. Nock pleaded guilty to using his property as a grow-house for marijuana 27 years ago. He didn't cultivate the plants, but he got six months of community confinement. He now operates a general contracting business.
— Gary Parks Davis, 66, of Yuma, Arizona. When Davis was 22, he admitted using a telephone for a cocaine transaction. He served a six-month sentence on nights and weekends in a county jail and completed probation in 1981. After the offense, the White House says, Davis earned a college degree and worked steadily, including owning a landscaping business and managing construction projects. He has volunteered at his children’s high school and in his community.
— Edward Lincoln De Coito III, 50, of Dublin, California. De Coito pleaded guilty at age 23 to being involved in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy. He was released from prison in December 2000 after serving nearly two years. Before the offense, De Coito had served honorably in the U.S. Army and the Army Reserves and had received numerous awards.
— Vincente Ray Flores, 37, of Winters, California. As a 19-year-old, Flores consumed ecstasy and alcohol while serving in the Air Force, later pleading guilty at a special court-martial. He was sentenced to four months of confinement, loss of $2,800 in pay and a reduction in rank. Flores participated in a six-month rehab program that gives select enlisted offenders a chance to return to duty after therapy and education. His reduction in rank was amended, and he remains on active duty, earning medals and other awards for his service.
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Long reported from Washington.
Friday, December 30, 2022
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Zelensky, BlackRock CEO agree to coordinate efforts to rebuild Ukraine
28.12.2022 12:00
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Larry Fink, CEO of the world's largest investment company BlackRock, discussed the coordination of efforts of potential investors and participants in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The meeting was held in a video conference format, Ukrinform reports, referring to the president’s press service.
According to the preliminary agreements between Volodymyr Zelensky and Larry Fink, the BlackRock team has been working for several months on a project to advise the Ukrainian government on how to structure the country’s reconstruction funds.
The President and BlackRock CEO agreed to focus in the near term on coordinating the efforts of all potential investors and participants in the reconstruction of Ukraine, channelling investment into the most relevant and impactful sectors of the Ukrainian economy.
During the conversation, it was emphasized that certain BlackRock leaders plan to visit Ukraine next year.
The President thanked Larry Fink for the work of the professional team that BlackRock formed to structure the reconstruction projects.
As reported, the Ministry of Economy signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the investment company BlackRock to agree a framework for consultative assistance regarding the development of a special platform for attracting private capital to restore Ukraine and support the economy.
Photo: President’s Office
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Larry Fink, CEO of the world's largest investment company BlackRock, discussed the coordination of efforts of potential investors and participants in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The meeting was held in a video conference format, Ukrinform reports, referring to the president’s press service.
According to the preliminary agreements between Volodymyr Zelensky and Larry Fink, the BlackRock team has been working for several months on a project to advise the Ukrainian government on how to structure the country’s reconstruction funds.
The President and BlackRock CEO agreed to focus in the near term on coordinating the efforts of all potential investors and participants in the reconstruction of Ukraine, channelling investment into the most relevant and impactful sectors of the Ukrainian economy.
During the conversation, it was emphasized that certain BlackRock leaders plan to visit Ukraine next year.
The President thanked Larry Fink for the work of the professional team that BlackRock formed to structure the reconstruction projects.
As reported, the Ministry of Economy signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the investment company BlackRock to agree a framework for consultative assistance regarding the development of a special platform for attracting private capital to restore Ukraine and support the economy.
Photo: President’s Office
The Great Carbon Con Is Coming to an End
MICHELLE YOU
Dec 20, 2022 7:00 AM
No more fluffy climate goals and emissions offsets. Businesses will soon be expected to show real progress.
ILLUSTRATION: YO HOSOYAMADA
A year after COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference which took place in November 2021, the number of FTSE 100 companies vowing to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 grew by 37 percent to 82 percent. Among the pledgers were some of the world’s biggest companies: Amazon, Apple, Ford, IBM, JP Morgan, Mars, and many others. But climate action is not just on the minds of industry giants: it’s a growing concern for every business as scrutiny grows.
Making a pledge is the easy part. In 2023, we will see businesses held to account for what they actually deliver. Organizations will be forced to show that the commitments they’ve made are meaningful, providing transparent and ongoing proof that they are taking necessary actions to reduce their carbon emissions.
Growing skepticism of over-ambitious, opaque, and even fraudulent climate pledges is turning up the heat on businesses. Already, we’re seeing customers voting with their wallets, employees choosing employers based primarily on net zero credentials, and investors making choices about what to fund based on tangible climate action. To put that in numbers, as many as 60 percent of millennials are willing to pay more for truly sustainable products; two-thirds of people are more likely to work for a company with strong and meaningful environmental policies; and research by Amazon has found that as many as 83 percent of investors want to invest in more sustainable startups.
For too long, businesses have been pouring investment into traditional emissions-avoidance offsets—paying someone else to reduce future emissions to compensate for their own. Emissions-avoidance offsets include clean cookstove projects, investment in renewable energy, and forestry protection.
As attention turns to delivery in 2023, awareness will grow that these traditional offsets are at best a distraction that doesn’t count towards net zero, and at worst are downright fraudulent. Until now, carbon avoidance offsets have been an easy, cheap way for businesses to tick the box of sustainability, letting them spin a story about commitment and willingness to tackle the climate crisis. In 2021, more than $1 billion of offsets were sold.
In 2023, businesses feeling pressure from all sides will need to look to other solutions if they want to demonstrate delivery. For instance, awareness of carbon-removal technologies has grown. There is now a broader understanding and acceptance that these technologies, which actively suck carbon out of the atmosphere through direct air capture, enhanced weathering, and other methods, are critical to reaching our global climate goals. And progress has been made—in 2022, a host of major players in Silicon Valley, including Google, Meta and Shopify, formed an alliance to commit $925 million in carbon removal by 2030. While this is a promising step, access to and investment in carbon-removal technologies must become mainstream if they are to go from being in their infancy to scaling at the pace the planet needs them to.
In 2023, a climate pledge will only be a baseline, the bare minimum. People across the board will demand more from the business they work for, spend money with, and invest in. Those that can’t demonstrate tangible progress towards their net zero goals will be left behind.
A year after COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference which took place in November 2021, the number of FTSE 100 companies vowing to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 grew by 37 percent to 82 percent. Among the pledgers were some of the world’s biggest companies: Amazon, Apple, Ford, IBM, JP Morgan, Mars, and many others. But climate action is not just on the minds of industry giants: it’s a growing concern for every business as scrutiny grows.
Making a pledge is the easy part. In 2023, we will see businesses held to account for what they actually deliver. Organizations will be forced to show that the commitments they’ve made are meaningful, providing transparent and ongoing proof that they are taking necessary actions to reduce their carbon emissions.
Growing skepticism of over-ambitious, opaque, and even fraudulent climate pledges is turning up the heat on businesses. Already, we’re seeing customers voting with their wallets, employees choosing employers based primarily on net zero credentials, and investors making choices about what to fund based on tangible climate action. To put that in numbers, as many as 60 percent of millennials are willing to pay more for truly sustainable products; two-thirds of people are more likely to work for a company with strong and meaningful environmental policies; and research by Amazon has found that as many as 83 percent of investors want to invest in more sustainable startups.
For too long, businesses have been pouring investment into traditional emissions-avoidance offsets—paying someone else to reduce future emissions to compensate for their own. Emissions-avoidance offsets include clean cookstove projects, investment in renewable energy, and forestry protection.
As attention turns to delivery in 2023, awareness will grow that these traditional offsets are at best a distraction that doesn’t count towards net zero, and at worst are downright fraudulent. Until now, carbon avoidance offsets have been an easy, cheap way for businesses to tick the box of sustainability, letting them spin a story about commitment and willingness to tackle the climate crisis. In 2021, more than $1 billion of offsets were sold.
In 2023, businesses feeling pressure from all sides will need to look to other solutions if they want to demonstrate delivery. For instance, awareness of carbon-removal technologies has grown. There is now a broader understanding and acceptance that these technologies, which actively suck carbon out of the atmosphere through direct air capture, enhanced weathering, and other methods, are critical to reaching our global climate goals. And progress has been made—in 2022, a host of major players in Silicon Valley, including Google, Meta and Shopify, formed an alliance to commit $925 million in carbon removal by 2030. While this is a promising step, access to and investment in carbon-removal technologies must become mainstream if they are to go from being in their infancy to scaling at the pace the planet needs them to.
In 2023, a climate pledge will only be a baseline, the bare minimum. People across the board will demand more from the business they work for, spend money with, and invest in. Those that can’t demonstrate tangible progress towards their net zero goals will be left behind.
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
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