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NATO Boss: Act Like It's The '80s Again

NATO Boss: Act Like It's The '80s Again

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
December 13, 2024

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Good Friday morning. The Geminids meteor shower will peak tonight. Have a great weekend!

In Today’s Brief

FBI: Jan. 6 findings
Israel: Syria plan
Meta: Trump donation
Toyota: New facility
Morgan Wallen: Guilty plea

... and more

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1) Spending spree

NATO's new boss wants the bloc to start writing bigger checks.

The news: Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the alliance must "shift to a wartime mindset." The former Dutch Prime Minister said member nations must spend more on defense and return to Cold War-era vigilance, warning that Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation with NATO and Ukraine.
The timing: Rutte's comments come weeks before President-elect Donald Trump -- a longtime critic of NATO's defense spending scofflaws -- returns to office. He has threatened to pull the U.S. out of NATO in the past (which would be extremely difficult to achieve) and suggested the Pentagon would not rally collective defense for countries that do not spend enough on defense.
Big picture: A record-high 23 of 32 members hit the alliance's 2% of GDP defense spending goal this year (recent Trump troll target Canada is not one of them). But Rutte is now saying the target must increase -- some reports suggest it could land at 3% or 4%.

2) Pardon-palooza

President Joe Biden made history yesterday.

The news: Biden commuted sentences for almost 1.5K people currently serving home confinement. He also pardoned 39 people convicted of non-violent crimes. The White House said it was the "largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."
More to come: Biden indicated he would sign off on other commutations and pardons before leaving office "to provide meaningful second chances."
Big picture: Biden's clemency moves come following his controversial decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, and renege on a pledge not to. He is also reportedly considering pre-emptive pardons for people who could be targeted by President-elect Trump's administration, regardless of whether they committed an actual crime.

3) Booze brouhaha

The Federal Trade Commission has a bone to pick with the nation's largest liquor distributor.

The news: A lawsuit alleges Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits engaged in illegal pricing discrimination, favoring large national chains over independent liquor stores and other smaller local and regional businesses. The distributor is the country's 10th-largest privately-held company and generated $26B in revenue last year; it has said it will fight the litigation.
The details: SGWS distributes around 5.6K wine and spirit brands. The FTC alleges it gave chains like Costco better prices and deprived smaller businesses of access to discounts and rebates. The suit was filed in the Central District of California.
Big picture: The Biden Administration has been active in pursuing antitrust cases. It appears it will continue to do so down to the last minute. It alleges SGWS has been violating laws since at least 2018.

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Quick Tips

U.S. News

There is no evidence the FBI had undercover agents at or around the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, refuting popular conspiracy theories. A Department of Justice watchdog report found some confidential informants were present, but none attended at the bureau's direction (More)
Stanley has recalled 2.6M mugs after dozens of customer complaints. Some users have reported suffering burns after the popular products malfunctioned while carrying hot liquids (More)
A man wanted by police in Massachusetts got stuck in a chimney after fleeing. Fall River cops said they arrested the Santa Claus impersonator and took him to a local hospital to be examined; the incident happened after they tried to execute a search warrant (More)

World News

Israel will maintain a military presence inside Syria indefinitely. Israeli troops moved slightly beyond the Golan Heights buffer zone after dictator Bashar al-Assad's overthrow; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged withdrawal if the new government meets security guarantees (More)
Bulgaria and Romania will become full members of the European Union's passport-free Schengen Area on New Year's Day. There will still be checks at the Bulgaria-Romania and Hungary-Romania land borders for at least six months; the concession was made to lift a veto by Austria (More)
Belarusian authorities reportedly arrested seven independent journalists, the latest in a wave of crackdowns on dissent. President Alexander Lukashenko will seek a seventh term in January's elections after international allegations he stole the 2020 vote (More)

Political News

Meta donated $1M to President-elect Trump's inaugural fund. The Facebook parent company has signaled it seeks closer ties to the president-elect in recent weeks; CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently visited Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump (More)
Trump pledged to protect access to abortion bills and conceded driving the cost of groceries lower will be "very hard" during an interview with Time Magazine. He rang the New York Stock Exchange's opening bell after being named the outlet's Person of the Year (More | More)
Federal Aviation Administration head Mike Whitaker will resign before Inauguration Day. Trump said he wants controversial former Arizona gubernatorial and Senate candidate Kari Lake to lead Voice of America, a federally-funded broadcaster; she is a former television news reporter (More | More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed lower yesterday. The Nasdaq slid after cracking the 20K point plateau (Dow -0.53%, Nasdaq-0.66%, S&P 500 -0.54%).
Toyota will invest $922M into a new paint facility in Kentucky. The automaker has pledged over $2B in improvements to its factory complex in Georgetown this year; it also plans to build a three-row electric SUV there (More)
Warner Bros. Discovery is moving toward spinning off its television assets. The parent company owns TBS, TNT and other brands; Comcast already spun off most of its cable networks earlier this year (More)

Entertainment & Sports

Morgan Wallen was sentenced to a week in a DUI education center after pleading guilty to reckless endangerment. The country music star threw a chair from a six-story rooftop bar in Nashville earlier this year; he also received two years of probation (More)
A Swedish prosecutor ended a rape probe into Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, finding there was "insufficient evidence" to proceed. The star professional soccer player has been under investigation since October after an alleged incident in Stockholm (More)
The Skins Game is making a comeback. Pro Shop, a golf media company, plans to revive the made-for-television competition featuring top PGA Tour players in 2025 after a 17-year hiatus; it will be held on Black Friday (More)

Quick Hitters

Feel Good: A Texas couple's dazzling Christmas light display draws visitors from all over. Their motivations are more than being festive.
Incredible Find: People used to insulate their homes with newspapers. A contractor in Minnesota found the original Superman comic book while working on a wall and sold it for $175K.
Go Deep: The Army-Navy Game is tomorrow. It's been 61 years since instant replay debuted during the 1963 game, changing broadcasting forever.
Be Safe: Package thieves have already stolen $12B of goods this year alone. Here is what you can do to prevent porch pirates from upending your shopping.
Life Hack: We will close out the week with not one but 10 tips to make things easier. The advice about cutting onions stood out to us.

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