;)
October 13, 2022
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Lisa Mascaro, et al., of the AP: "The House Jan. 6 committee voted unanimously Thursday to subpoena Donald Trump, demanding the former president's personal testimony as it unveiled startling new video from his closest aides describing his multi-part plan to overturn his 2020 election loss that resulted in the assault on the U.S. Capitol.... In the committee's 10th public session, just weeks before the congressional midterm elections, the panel summed up Trump's 'staggering betrayal' of his oath of office.... To illustrate what it said were 'purposeful lies,' the committee juxtaposed repeated instances in which top administration officials recounted telling Trump the actual facts with clips of him repeating the exact opposite at his pre-riot rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6.... In never-before-seen Secret Service messages, the panel produced evidence that extremist groups provided the muscle in the fight for Trump's presidency, planning weeks before the attack to send a violent force to Washington. The Secret Service warned in a Dec. 26, 2020, email of a tip that members of the right-wing Proud Boys planned to outnumber the police in a march in Washington on Jan. 6."
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post pulls out five takeaways from the Jan. 6 committee hearing that seem spot on.
The New York Times' live updates of the January 6 committee hearing are useful. ~~~
~~~ Catie Edmondson & Aishvarya Kavi: "Chilling new footage shared by the select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol showed for the first time how Congress's top leaders scrambled on Jan. 6 to try to secure the building as it came under attack. The tense video underscored how deeply they feared for the safety of their colleagues and staff members. As they watched the rioters' assault on television, [Nancy] Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer ... implored governors of nearby states to dispatch their national guards to protect lawmakers still in the building.... The footage, shot by Ms. Pelosi's daughter, Alexandra, also showed top Democratic and Republican officials — including Senator Mitch McConnell ... -- huddling on the phone with Pentagon officials, mapping out how they could quickly certify President Biden's electoral victory....
Maggie Haberman: "This behind-the-scenes footage of the congressional leaders desperately trying to get help from the Trump administration is stunning....
Charlie Savage: Adam "Schiff seems to be accusing witnesses of perjury: 'The Secret Service and other agencies knew of the prospect of violence well in advance of the president's speech at the Ellipse. Despite this, certain White House and Secret Service witnesses previously testified that they had received no intelligence about violence that could potentially threaten any of the protectees on Jan. 6, including the vice president. Evidence strongly suggests that this testimony is not credible.'"
Supremes Brush Off Trump. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a request from ... Donald J. Trump to intervene in the litigation over documents seized from his Florida estate. The court's order, which was a sentence long, was a stinging rebuke to Mr. Trump. There were no noted dissents, and the court gave no reasons, saying only: 'The application to vacate the stay entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Sept. 21, 2022, presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the court is denied.'" Politico's report is here.
Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "Days before the New York attorney general filed a lawsuit accusing Donald J. Trump and his company of fraud and seeking to shut down some of their business in the state, Mr. Trump's lawyers created a new company in Delaware.... On Sept. 21, the day the suit was filed, the new Delaware company filed paperwork in New York, seeking to be recognized there as the Trump Organization II. Those maneuvers were detailed for the first time in a court filing on Thursday from the attorney general, Letitia James, who raised the prospect that Mr. Trump was seeking an end run around some of her lawsuit's harshest potential punishments."
Ryan Reilly & Ken Delanian of NBC News: "A week after the Jan. 6 attack, a person familiar with FBI operations informed a top bureau manager that 'there is, at best, a sizeable percentage of the employee population that felt sympathetic to the group that stormed the Capitol,' according to an email just released under the Freedom of Information Act.... The unnamed emailer said many FBI agents believed Jan. 6 'was no different than (Black Lives Matter) protests of last summer. Several also lamented that the only reason this violent activity is getting more attention is because of "political correctness."'"
Terry Spencer of the AP: "Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 murder of 17 people at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after the jury said Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that he should be executed -- a decision that left some parents in tears as they exited the courtroom. The jury's recommendation came after seven hours of deliberations over two days, ending a three-month trial that included graphic videos, photos and testimony from the massacre and its aftermath, heart-wrenching testimony from victims' family members and a tour of the still blood-spattered building. Under Florida law, a death sentence requires a unanimous vote on at least one count. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will formally issue the life sentences Nov. 1. Relatives, along with the students and teachers Cruz wounded, will be given the opportunity to speak at the sentencing hearing."
Lori Konish of CNBC: "Amid record high inflation, Social Security beneficiaries will get an 8.7% increase to their benefits in 2023, the highest increase in 40 years. The Social Security Administration announced the change on Thursday. It will result in a benefit increase of more than $140 more per month on average starting in January. The average Social Security retiree benefit will increase $146 per month, to $1,827 in 2023, from $1,681 in 2022." Related WashPo story linked below.
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** David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Biden declared on Wednesday that the overwhelming challenge for the United States in the coming years would be 'outcompeting China and restraining Russia' while focusing on restoring a damaged democracy at home. In his 48-page national security strategy, which every new administration is required to issue, Mr. Biden made clear that over the long term he was more worried about China's moves to 'layer authoritarian governance with a revisionist foreign policy' than he was about a declining, battered Russia." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
"These Treasured Lands." Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden on Wednesday announced the creation of the country's newest national monument, protecting tens of thousands of acres in the mountains of Colorado from mining and development and delivering an election-year gift to Michael Bennet, one of the state's two Democratic senators. Standing on the grounds of Camp Hale, a World War II military installation that was used to train the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division, Mr. Biden said he was designating 53,804 acres of rugged landscape as the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument. 'When you think about the national beauty of Colorado and the history of our nation, you find it here,' the president said moments before signing the proclamation. He pointed to the area's highlights: 'the Tenmile Range, soaring peaks and steep canyons, black bears, bald eagles, moose, mountain lions, wonderful pristine rivers, alpine lakes.'"
Eileen Sullivan & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "The Biden administration will expand its use of a public health rule to start expelling to Mexico thousands of Venezuelans who illegally cross the U.S. border and announced a new humanitarian parole program to provide a narrow legal pathway to the United States for up to 24,000 Venezuelans. The administration hopes that Venezuelans will apply for the parole plan remotely and fly to the United States rather than making the dangerous trek to the southwest border. But the reliance on a Trump-era pandemic rule to deny entry to many others crystallized the Biden administration's balancing act in both helping refugees and tightening border restrictions in the face of Republican attacks on President Biden's immigration policy and record numbers of illegal border crossings."
It's Going to be a Trump Day Today
What is likely the final January 6 House Committee public hearing will begin at 1:00 pm ET today. It is scheduled to last two-and-a-half hours.
Annie Grayer, et al., of CNN: "The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol will treat its Thursday hearing as a closing argument ahead of the November midterms, which will seek to hammer home that ... Donald Trump remains a clear and present danger to democracy, particularly in the context of the upcoming 2024 presidential election, multiple sources tell CNN. Although there will not be witnesses appearing in-person on Thursday, sources say, the hearing will feature new testimony and evidence that the committee has uncovered." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Armed with new witness interviews and unreleased footage of the violence of Jan. 6, 2021, the panel is planning to argue that Mr. Trump's lies about widespread voter fraud inspired far-right extremists and election deniers who present a continuing threat to American democracy. Unlike previous hearings, which focused on specific aspects of Mr. Trump's attempts to overturn the election, members will attempt to portray the entire arc of the plan, demonstrating Mr. Trump's involvement in every step.... To bolster its case, the committee has obtained more than 1.5 million pages of documents and communications from the Secret Service that include details of how agents blocked Mr. Trump's attempts to join his supporters at the Capitol even after they had begun the assault.... Secret Service staff initially attempted to accommodate Mr. Trump's wishes [to drive to the Capitol], but supervisors at the agency expressed alarm, and District of Columbia police declined to block off intersections for his motorcade as a mob of his supporters began attacking and injuring dozens of police officers, according to the communications...." ~~~
~~~ Carol Leonnig & Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "The probably final public hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol is expected to highlight newly obtained Secret Service records showing how ... Donald Trump was repeatedly alerted to brewing violence that day, and he still sought to stoke the conflict, according to three people briefed on the records. The committee plans to share in Thursday's hearing new video footage and internal Secret Service emails that appear to corroborate parts of the most startling inside accounts of that day.... After being alerted to violence erupting at the Capitol when he returned to the White House, Trump tweeted criticism of Vice President Mike Pence for not blocking the certification of the election, whipping up supporters who had already trampled over security barricades and were battling police to break into the halls of Congress." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Which gives me another reason to wonder why Kevin McCarthy had the audacity to try to get away with this line of B.S. ~~~
~~~ Zachary Cohen of CNN (Oct. 10): "During a private meeting last summer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told two police officers who defended the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and the mother of a third who died after the riot, that ... Donald Trump had no idea his supporters were carrying out the attack, according to newly obtained audio of the conversation. Testimony to the House Select Committee on January 6 revealed that Trump watched television for hours as the rioters engaged in a brutal fight with law enforcement.... 'I'm just telling you from my phone call, I don't know that he did know that,' McCarthy said during the June 2021 meeting about Trump's knowledge of the fighting, according to audio secretly recorded by [former D.C. police officer Michael] Fanone...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Devlin Barrett & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "A Trump employee has told federal agents about moving boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago at the specific direction of the former president, according to people familiar with the investigation, who say the witness account -- combined with security-camera footage -- offers key evidence of Donald Trump's behavior as investigators sought the return of classified material. The witness description and footage described to The Washington Post offer the most direct account to date of Trump's actions and instructions leading up to the FBI's Aug. 8 search of the Florida residence and private club, in which agents were looking for evidence of potential crimes including obstruction, destruction of government records or mishandling classified information.... After Trump advisers received a subpoena in May for any classified documents that remained at Mar-a-Lago, Trump told people to move boxes to his residence at the property. That description of events was corroborated by the security-camera footage...." ~~~
~~~ Maggie Haberman & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: Walt Nauta, "a long-serving aide to ... Donald J. Trump, was captured on security camera footage moving boxes out of a storage room at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump's residence in Florida, both before and after the Justice Department issued a subpoena in May demanding the return of all classified documents, according to three people familiar with the matter.... The Justice Department has interviewed Mr. Nauta on several occasions.... Those interviews started before the F.B.I. executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8 and carted off more than 11,000 documents, including about 100 that bore classification markings. Mr. Nauta has answered questions but is not formally cooperating with the investigation.... It is not clear whether that employee [described in the WashPo story linked above] was Mr. Nauta, and a person familiar with the matter and with Mr. Trump's orbit said it could be a different staff member." ~~~
~~~ An NBC News story is here. CNN's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, Donnie Boy, are ya gonna try to plead out?
Trump, a Clear & Present Danger. Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump considered exposing the identities of confidential government sources from his first impeachment, according to a bombshell new report. Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley reported for Rolling Stone, [in] "the final days of his presidency[, Trump] repeatedly threatened to out government sources involved in the Trump-Russia investigation, an anti-Deep State revenge fantasy he still obsesses over to this day.... One ... source tells Rolling Stone that in the days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the then-president, sometimes while brandishing pieces of paper, would loudly complain that none of the identifying facts in the highly sensitive Russia documents should be blacked-out. Trump would insist, the source says, that it should 'all be out there' so that the American people could see the truth of who 'did it' to the president. Intelligence officials were ultimately able to talk Trump out of revealing the sources' identities.... 'The former president, the source says, still sporadically talks about the need to get "the names" out into the public record,' the magazine reported."
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "In the emerging history of how a small group of lawyers aided ... Donald J. Trump's attempt to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election, Kenneth Chesebro has received far less attention than others like Rudolph W. Giuliani and John Eastman. But documents show that Mr. Chesebro played a central part in developing the idea of having Trump supporters pretend to be electors from states won by Joseph R. Biden Jr., then claiming that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to cite the purported existence of rival slates to delay counting or to discard real Electoral College votes for Mr. Biden on Jan. 6, 2021. On Wednesday, several dozen prominent legal figures submitted an ethics complaint to the Supreme Court of New York's attorney grievance committee, calling Mr. Chesebro 'the apparent mastermind behind key aspects of the fake elector ploy' and accusing him of conspiring 'with Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Eastman and others to subvert our democracy.'... The complaint against Mr. Chesebro did not explicitly call for him to lose his license but asked for an investigation and 'appropriate sanctions.'"
Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has denied a request by ... Donald Trump to pause proceedings in a defamation case brought against him in 2019 by an author who said he raped her in a department store dressing room decades ago. The decision clears the way for Trump, who denies the claim, to be deposed as scheduled next week. In the lawsuit brought against Trump by former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, Trump recently won a temporary reprieve from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which sent the case to the appeals court in D.C. to resolve whether Trump was a federal employee as defined by the law when he publicly rebutted Carroll's story.... In [his] decision Wednesday, [U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan] said depositions of Trump and Carroll are essentially all that remains for the parties to complete the pretrial discovery process." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Holmes Lybrand & Hannah Rabinowitz of CNN: "A veteran and member of the Oath Keepers testified Wednesday that the far-right group amassed more weapons outside Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021, than he had seen since his days in the military. Terry Cummings told the jury during the second week of the historic seditious conspiracy trial that he traveled to Washington with several members of a group from Florida, bringing his own AR-15 rifle and ammunition box to contribute to the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) allegedly established by the group in a hotel outside the city.... Cummings has not been charged in connection with January 6.... Throughout his entire trip to Washington, DC, [from Florida,] Cummings testified on cross-examination, he 'did not hear of any plans' to storm the [Capitol] building."
Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Social Security Administration is expected to announce on Thursday a roughly 9 percent increase in benefit checks for seniors starting next year, a response to the fastest inflation America has seen in roughly four decades.The change will affect about 70.3 million Social Security beneficiaries, including roughly 8 million Supplemental Security Income recipients. The adjustment is expected to increase monthly Social Security checks by roughly $150 per month on average.... Alex Lawson ... of Social Security Works ... also pointed to lower Medicare premiums resulting from a Biden administration decision to narrow coverage of a controversial drug that had driven premium increases in 2022. That change, which takes effect next year, will help seniors keep more of the additional Social Security benefits than they otherwise would have been able to do." ~~~
~~~ The story has been updated. New Lede: "The Social Security Administration on Thursday announced an 8.7 percent increase in benefit checks for seniors starting next year, a response to the fastest U.S. inflation in four decades." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Assuming the Medicare payments, which come directly out of the Social Security payments, really don't rise substantially, a
The F.B.I. Gave Her No R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: An FBI "file, as previously reported by Rolling Stone, reveals that the Federal Bureau of Investigation monitored ... [Aretha Franklin] for years, collecting intelligence from sources on her involvement in the civil rights movement and what it suspected were her links to Black Panthers, Communists and those it deemed 'Black extremists.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Dave Collins of the AP: "The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay $965 million to people who suffered from his false claim that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, a jury in Connecticut decided Wednesday. The verdict is the second big judgment against the Infowars host over his relentless promotion of the lie that the 2012 massacre never happened, and that the grieving families seen in news coverage were actors hired as part of a plot to take away people's guns. It came in a lawsuit filed by the relatives of five children and three educators killed in the mass shooting, plus an FBI agent who was among the first responders to the scene. A Texas jury in August awarded nearly $50 million to the parents of another slain child.... Jones wasn't there, but live video from the court played on a split screen on his Infowars show." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here.
Scott Dance of the Washington Post: "The Mississippi River is flowing at its lowest level in at least a decade, and until rain relieves a worsening drought in the region, it's becoming increasingly difficult to maintain water levels high enough to carry critical exports from the nation's bread basket. Areas of persistent and developing drought stretch across much of the Mississippi basin, which itself covers 41 percent of the contiguous United States. Though record-setting storms caused catastrophic flooding in parts of the watershed this summer, the past few months have been among the driest on record in parts of the Heartland, at a time of year when river levels are normally hitting their low points. And long-term forecasts suggest that unusually dry weather is likely to continue."
Catrin Einhorn of the New York Times: "The [biennial Living Plant Index] assessment's latest number, issued Wednesday by 89 authors from around the world, is its most alarming yet: From 1970 to 2018, monitored populations of vertebrates declined an average of 69 percent. That's more than two-thirds in only 48 years. It's a staggering figure with serious implications, especially as nations prepare to meet in Montreal this December in an effort to agree on a new global plan to protect biodiversity.... The study tracks selected populations of 5,320 species.... There's a temptation to think that an average 69 percent decline in these populations means that's the share of monitored wildlife that was wiped out. But that's not true.... [Also,] there is quite likely bias in which species are tracked."
Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "Federal regulators on Wednesday broadened access to updated coronavirus booster shots to include children as young as 5, hoping to bolster protection against the now-dominant version of the virus. The revised shot developed by Pfizer-BioNTech previously had been cleared for those 12 and older, while Moderna's updated booster was available only to those 18 and older. The action by the Food and Drug Administration will expand access to Pfizer's shot to children as young as 5, and to Moderna's shot to children 6 and older." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "A new long-covid study based on the experiences of nearly 100,000 participants provides powerful evidence that many people do not fully recover months after being infected with the coronavirus. The Scottish study found that between six and 18 months after infection, 1 in 20 people had not recovered and 42 percent reported partial recovery. There were some reassuring aspects to the results: People with asymptomatic infections are unlikely to suffer long-term effects, and vaccination appears to offer some protection from long covid." Access to this story is free to nonsubscribers.
November Elections
David Moye of the Huffington Post: "Herschel Walker apparently has decided the best way to counter the reports that he paid for at least one former partner's abortion is to tell bizarre anecdotes about bulls who get multiple cows pregnant. During a rally on Tuesday with Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton (R) and Florida Senator Rick Scott (R), the Georgia Senate candidate wrapped up his speech with ... [a story] about a bull who got three different cows pregnant. Although the story's point was apparently about how the United States is the best country in the world, audience members are forgiven if they related it to recent reports that he fathered numerous kids out of wedlock while publicly criticizing 'absent fathers.' Here's the anecdote in all its glory[.]" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I urge you to read the text of Hershel's little parable. Article includes video. What Walker was trying to convey was the adage, "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." But what's on his mind is pregnant cows & how they can mess up a fellow, even to the point of emasculating him. So that's how it came out. I suppose someone once may have told him a story of this nature to discourage him from getting any more women pregnant, but Hershel didn't quite grasp the storyteller's meaning.
Nevada Senate. Gabe Stern of the AP: Fourteen "members of Nevada Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt's family sent a letter endorsing his opponent, Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. 'We staunchly believe that Catherine is well equipped with her own "Nevada grit" -- a quality that she will take forward in representation of our home state for six more years across the halls of Congress,' the letter states. The letter, first obtained by The Nevada Independent, does not mention Laxalt by name. Instead, it talks of Cortez Masto's ... experience in public education as well as her commitment to law enforcement.... During his unsuccessful gubernatorial run in 2018, a dozen family members endorsed Democrat Steve Sisolak in an op-ed to the Reno Gazette-Journal. That letter more explicitly criticized Laxalt, saying he 'leveraged and exploited' the family name throughout his campaign.... [Adam Laxalt is the] grandson of former U.S. Sen. and Nevada Gov. Paul Laxalt and the son of former Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico...."
Wisconsin Senate. Jack Schonfeld of the Hill: "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's editorial board on Wednesday published a scathing reproach of Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), outlining to readers eight reasons why the group believes they should oppose Johnson's reelection. 'In fact, Ron Johnson is the worst Wisconsin political representative since the infamous Sen. Joseph McCarthy,' the editorial board concluded.... Three of the board's reasons related to unfounded objections to the results of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.... 'We cannot elect people to office who do not honor the results of elections and still expect to hold onto our democratic republic...,' the board wrote." MB: The JS editorial is firewalled, but I was able to pick it up here.
Beyond the Beltway
California. Jill Cowan & Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: "The former president of the Los Angeles City Council resigned from elective office on Wednesday amid national outrage over racist remarks in a leaked recording, hours after the state attorney general announced an investigation into the redistricting process during which the comments were made. The decision by the former Council leader, Nury Martinez, who had risen to one of the most powerful posts in the nation's second-largest city, came three days after a year-old audio recording surfaced of her disparaging colleagues, constituencies and even the child of a fellow council member while discussing ways to change political boundaries to benefit Latino representatives. Caught on tape with her were two other council members, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, as well as Ron Herrera, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. The men, all well-known members of the Latino political establishment in California, did not confront Ms. Martinez and at times kept the conversation going with derogatory comments of their own, according to the recording obtained by The New York Times." Politico's story is here.
Florida. Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "A federal watchdog is investigating whether Florida improperly tapped coronavirus aid to fly migrants to Martha's Vineyard, part of a widening government inquiry into states that put their pandemic dollars toward controversial immigration crackdowns. The inspector general for the Treasury Department confirmed its new interest in a letter sent last week to Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and other members of Congress who had expressed concern that the spending approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) 'violates federal law.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Politico's report is here.
Michigan. Ed White of the AP: "Prosecutors raised concerns Wednesday about a female juror who apparently has been smiling at one of three men on trial in connection with a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. Judge Thomas Wilson said he, too, noticed it and pledged to pay 'close attention' to the juror. He said the expressions didn't appear to be a reaction to testimony. 'She is in my direct view,' Wilson said. 'So I am often looking right at her while I'm listening to the witness testify. ... I've seen smiles come out of her face. Not great big smiles but more of a small smirk.' The juror has been looking at Paul Bellar, 24, who was a member of a paramilitary group, the Wolverine Watchmen." MB: Ripped from Fiction? This sounds like the premise of a "Law & Order" episode I saw years ago.
Ohio. A Fish Story Becomes a Criminal Case. Christine Chung of the New York Times: "A month after a two-person fishing team at an Ohio contest scandalized the competitive fishing world when organizers said they engorged walleyes with lead balls to increase their weight, a grand jury indicted both men on Wednesday on felony charges of cheating and attempted grand theft.... Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O'Malley said in a statement that the men's actions were 'not only dishonorable but also criminal.'"
Texas. McKenna Oxenden of the New York Times: "A former rookie San Antonio police officer was arrested and charged Tuesday night in the shooting of a teenager who had been eating in a McDonald's parking lot and is now on life support. The former officer, James Brennand, who was fired from the San Antonio Police Department on Oct. 2 because of the shooting, was charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Utah. Zoom Conquers All: Same-sex Marriage -- Anywhere in the World. Cathy Free of the Washington Post: "Since the spring of 2020, the Utah County [clerk's] office has performed virtual weddings for thousands of international couples, including 585 Chinese couples, said Russ Rampton, deputy clerk of digital marriage-license services for the county. About 150 of those Chinese marriages involved same-gender couples.... Anyone is eligible for the nuptials as long as they provide proof they are of legal age, fill out all of the required forms online and pay a $35 fee, he said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Most of the stories I link are about bad news: war, natural & man-made calamities & other hardship; corruption, bigotry; murderers, thieves, liars & other bad actors, etc. So it's wonderfully refreshing to link a story like this, which centers on a same-sex Chinese couple who were able to marry thanks to a Utah County clerk's office.
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Thursday are here: "Strikes continued to rain down on Kyiv region early Thursday, according to regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba. A presidential adviser said 'kamikaze' drone attacks hit 'critical infrastructure.' Rescue operations are ongoing, and residents have been told to shelter.... The U.N. General Assembly voted to condemn Russia's illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory, adopting a U.S.-sponsored resolution. The text, which is not legally binding, demands that Moscow give up claims to the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.... Vladimir Putin is expected to meet with Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Kazakhstan later Thursday. Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he would return to Kyiv after his meetings in Russia to work on creating a 'protection zone' around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant." ~~~
~~~ A Guardian story on the U.N. vote is here.
Michael Schwirtz, et al., of the New York Times: "In just two days this week, Russian forces fired more than 100 cruise missiles and dozens of exploding drones at cities across Ukraine, far more than the nation's aging air defenses were ever expected to encounter. And yet fewer than half made it to their targets, Ukrainian officials say. Ukraine's success in knocking down those projectiles ... has reinvigorated calls by officials in Kyiv for Western countries to provide more sophisticated defensive weapons systems. At a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, the United States and other allies readily agreed, pledging to rapidly provide the weaponry. Germany began delivery of four units of a missile defense system so advanced even its own forces have yet to use it. The Netherlands promised millions of dollars in air-defense missiles, and President Emmanuel Macron of France said his country would send 'radars, systems and anti-air missiles.' And a day after the Biden administration said it was working to speed up delivery of two advanced missile systems, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said, 'The systems will be provided as fast as we can physically get them there.'" ~~~
BUT. Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: "Israel's Iron Dome air defense, which boasts a 90 percent success rate against rockets fired against it, will stay out of Ukraine's reach, experts said, as Jerusalem seeks to maintain strategic relations with Russia in Syria and other hot spots. Israel's Defense and Foreign ministries and the prime minister's office uniformly declined to comment Wednesday on long-standing requests from Ukraine and its supporters for it to give, sell or loan Ukraine the system, including calls made since Monday's barrage.... 'I don't know what happened to Israel,' [Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky] said in an interview with French TV5 channel on Sept. 23. 'I am in shock, because I don't understand why they couldn't give us air defenses.'... The system was developed with funding help from Washington, and both governments have veto power over proposals to share it." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Maybe the Biden administration is too afraid to do anything before the November elections, but I suggest they pull a Trump (as in the aid Trump refused to send to Ukraine in order to extort Zelensky into coming up with anti-Biden fibs) & "accidentally" forget to send Israel a chunk of the massive aid we give the country.
Izzatso? Saudi Arabia. Kareem Faheem of the Washington Post: "Saudi Arabia responded Thursday to a barrage of criticism from the United States over a decision by the Saudi-led oil-producing cartel and its allies to cut production, saying the decision was based solely on 'economic considerations' while denying it was 'politically motivated' against the United States. The unusually detailed and often caustic statement, attributed to a Saudi Foreign Ministry official, came after the White House and members of Congress condemned the kingdom for a decision by OPEC Plus last week to cut its oil output by 2 million barrels a day, a move that could boost oil prices in the United States and worldwide."
News Ledes
New York Times: "A gunman killed at least five people, including an off-duty police officer, in a shooting that turned a normally quiet residential area of Raleigh, N.C., into a sprawling crime scene on Thursday evening. At least two others were wounded,including a police officer, whose injuries were described as 'non-life threatening,' according to Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin.... The authorities said late Thursday that a suspect was in custody."
New York Times: Two "police officers [were] killed in Connecticut after a suspicious 911 call. A third officer was seriously wounded in the violence in Bristol, officials said, and a suspect also died.... In a statement, the State Police said that the initial 911 report might have been a ruse, saying its investigation suggested the call had been placed in a 'deliberate act to lure' officers to the home on Redstone Hill Road in Bristol."
CNBC: "Prices consumers pay for a wide variety of goods and services rose more than expected in September as inflation pressures continued to weigh on the U.S. economy. The consumer price index increased 0.4% for the month, more than the 0.3% Dow Jones estimate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a 12-month basis, so-called headline inflation was up 8.2%, off its peak around 9% in June but still hovering near the highest levels since the early 1980s. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, core CPI accelerated 0.6% against the Dow Jones estimate for a 0.4% increase. Core inflation was up 6.6% from a year ago, the biggest 12-month gain since August 1982."
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