The Ledes

Friday, October 4, 2024

CNBC: “The U.S. economy added far more jobs than expected in September, pointing to a vital employment picture as the unemployment rate edged lower, the Labor Department reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls surged by 254,000 for the month, up from a revised 159,000 in August and better than the 150,000 Dow Jones consensus forecast. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, down 0.1 percentage point.”

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Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

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Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Monday
Dec062021

December 6, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Matthew Goldstein & David Enrich of the New York Times: "Securities regulators have opened investigations into the planned merger of a nascent social media company backed by ... Donald J. Trump with a so-called blank-check company that raised nearly $300 million in an initial public offering in September. The investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority were disclosed Monday in a regulatory filing by Digital World Acquisition Corporation, the special purpose acquisition company that intends to merge with Trump Media Technology Group. Both regulators are looking for information regarding the trading in shares of Digital World. The S.E.C. is also looking into 'documents and communications' between Digital World and Trump Media.... The investigation ... comes after The New York Times reported that the chief executive of Digital World, Patrick Orlando, had talks with representatives of Trump Media as far back as March about doing a deal." The report is part of the Times' business updates for Monday. The Washington Post story is here. MB: I'll bet you're way surprised that a business deal involving Donald Trump could be suspect.

Emma Brown, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the months after ... Donald Trump lost the November election, lawyer Sidney Powell raised large sums from donors inspired by her fight to reverse the outcome of the vote. But by April, questions about where the money was going -- and how much there was -- were helping to sow division between Powell and other leaders of her new nonprofit, Defending the Republic.... Records reviewed by The Washington Post show that Defending the Republic raised more than $14 million, a sum that reveals the reach and resonance of one of the most visible efforts to fundraise using baseless claims about the 2020 election. Previously unreported records also detail acrimony between Powell and her top lieutenants over how the money -- now a focus of inquiries by federal prosecutors and Congress -- was being handled." MB: I'll bet you're way surprised that a fundraising scheme cooked up by Donald Trump's lawyer could be suspect.

Matt Schudel of the Washington Post: "Fred Hiatt, a onetime foreign correspondent who in 2000 became The Washington Post's editorial page editor and greatly expanded the global reach of the newspaper's opinion writers in the era of 9/11, the election of Barack Obama and the destabilizing presidency of Donald Trump, died Dec. 6 at a hospital in New York City. He was 66. He had sudden cardiac arrest on Nov. 24 while visiting his daughter in Brooklyn, said his wife, Margaret 'Pooh' Shapiro, and did not regain consciousness. He had been treated for heart ailments in the past."

~~~~~~~~~~

Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that no US government officials will attend the 2022 Beijing Olympics, implementing a diplomatic boycott of the games, according to several sources. The move would allow the US to send a message on the world stage to China without preventing US athletes from competing."

Paulina Villegas of the Washington Post: "[A family] photo was posted on Twitter by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Saturday, along with the caption: 'Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo.... Everyone in the image is holding a long gun.... Both Democratic and Republican elected officials, Michigan residents still reeling from the school shooting last week that left four dead, and parents of gun violence victims all took to Twitter to criticize Massie's Christmas photo. Meanwhile, some conservative politicians, pundits and media personalities jumped to his defense.... 'I'm pro second amendment, but this isn't supporting right to keep and bear arms, this is a gun fetish,' Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.)...." ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "In describing the photo, [conservative commentator Charles] Sykes, [speaking on MSNBC,] called it nothing more than a 'd*ck pic,' photos that men send unsolicited to women of their penis to show off their masculinity. Sykes explained that Massie's need to show off how big his gun is.... [Host Lindsey] Reiser came back after the panel discussion and apologized to 'families' who may have been watching and heard Sykes refer to Massie's guns the way he did." MB: Yeah, "What's a dick pic, Mommy?"

Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: "Bob Dole, the plain-spoken son of the prairie who overcame Dust Bowl deprivation in Kansas and grievous battle wounds in Italy to become the Senate majority leader and the last of the World War II generation to win his party's nomination for president, died on Sunday. He was 98." (Also linked yesterday.) Dole's Washington Post obituary is here. An AP report is here. ~~~

~~~ Christopher Mele of the New York Times: "Leaders from across the political spectrum offered tributes to Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader and Republican presidential nominee who died on Sunday, hailing him as a war hero and statesman who dedicated his life to public service. 'Bob Dole was a man to be admired by Americans,; President Biden said on Twitter. 'He had an unerring sense of integrity and honor.'" Biden's full statement is here. ~~~

~~~ Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "President Biden has ordered U.S. flags at the White House, federal buildings and grounds, military posts, naval stations, embassies and consulates to be flown at half-staff until Dec. 9 to honor former senator Robert J. Dole...." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Astor of the New York Times repeats some of Bob Dole's acerbic jokes. Some are funny; some not so much.

Betsy Swan & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "A former D.C. National Guard official is accusing two senior Army leaders of lying to Congress and participating in a secret attempt to rewrite the history of the military's response to the Capitol riot. In a 36-page memo, Col. Earl Matthews, who held high-level National Security Council and Pentagon roles during the Trump administration, slams the Pentagon's inspector general for what he calls an error-riddled report that protects a top Army official who argued against sending the National Guard to the Capitol on Jan. 6, delaying the insurrection response for hours. Matthews' memo, sent to the Jan. 6 select committee this month and obtained by Politico, includes detailed recollections of the insurrection response as it calls two Army generals -- Gen. Charles Flynn, who served as deputy chief of staff for operations on Jan. 6, and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, the director of Army staff -- 'absolute and unmitigated liars' for their characterization of the events of that day.... Matthews' memo does not insinuate that Gen. Charles Flynn's actions on Jan. 6 were shaped by his brother [Michael], who has been subpoenaed by the select committee, and does not mention Michael Flynn."

News from the Funny Papers. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The double negative, a common grammatical elephant trap, claimed a high-profile victim on Saturday night. Donald Trump. In a statement, the former president said: 'Anybody that doesn't think there wasn't massive election fraud in the 2020 presidential election is either very stupid, or very corrupt!' There was no massive election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden by 306-232 in the electoral college and by more than 7m ballots in the popular vote. But Trump thinks, or at least says, that there was massive election fraud. Though his own formula would therefore make him 'very stupid, or very corrupt', his claims have had deadly effect, stoking the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January." When a person who claims to have "a very good brain" turns out to be "very stupid, or very corrupt," it's "Sad!" (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Monday are here.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Props to PD Pepe & Forrest M. for pointing out in yesterday's thread how very smart Dr. Margie Greene (or, as she's known in the home of the unwashed, Majorette Traitor Gangrene) is: ~~~

Every single year more than 600,000 people in the US die from cancer. The country has never once shut down. Not a single school has closed. And every year, over 600,000 people, of all ages and all races will continue to die from cancer. -- Majorie Taylor Greene, in a tweet

** Trump, One-man Super-spreader, Ctd. Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post follow Donald Trump's seven-day reckless coronavirus trail: "From the day he tested positive until his hospitalization [about a week later], Trump came in contact with more than 500 people, either those in proximity to him or at crowded events, not including rallygoers, according to a Washington Post analysis of the president's interactions during that period. That seven-day window reveals a president and chief of staff who took a reckless, and potentially dangerous, approach to handling the coronavirus, including Trump's own positive test. Trump and [Chief-of-Staff Mark] Meadows hid Trump's positive test not just from the public, but also from his inner circle and from his top public health officials. He took part in a debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden three days later, never revealing the test result to Biden or event organizers. And Trump took no extra precautions, such as mask-wearing or social distancing, to protect those he came in contact with in the days following the positive test. By the end of October, more than two dozen people in Trump's orbit would test positive for the coronavirus."

Louisiana. AP: "A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 10 passengers and crew members infected with COVID-19 docked Sunday in New Orleans, where health officials said they were trying to disembark people without worsening the spread of the coronavirus illness. Local news outlets in New Orleans confirmed the Norwegian Breakaway had arrived in the city. The ship departed New Orleans on Nov. 28. The Louisiana Department of Health said in a late Saturday news release that over the past week, the ship made stops in Belize, Honduras and Mexico." MB: "Breakaway" is an appropriate name for a ship carrying passengers with breakaway cases of the virus.

Beyond the Beltway

Colorado. Santa's Got a Gun. Jacklyn Peiser of the Washington Post: The Colorado Springs sheriff's department tweeted out a photo of a man dressed as Santa Claus who had stopped in the sheriff's office to get a concealed-carry permit. The tweet, according to the sheriff, "was meant to advertise concealed handgun permits, [but] was swiftly met with outrage and condemnation. Three hours later, the department in Colorado Springs apologized.... 'What is your message to children here?' [one person] tweeted. 'Santa has a legally concealed weapon? For protection against elves, reindeer, children who take a peek on Xmas eve? There is enough anxiety among children already.'" MB: I dunno. It's beginning to look a lot like an iconic American image of Christmas, isn't it? ~~~

Georgia Gubernatorial Race. Richard Fausset & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "David Perdue, the former U.S. senator from Georgia and ally of Donald Trump, plans to announce on Monday that he will run in a Republican primary against the state's incumbent governor, Brian Kemp, according to people familiar with Mr. Perdue's plan. Mr. Trump has vowed to orchestrate Mr. Kemp's defeat as payback for the governor's refusal to help overturn the former president's November election loss in the state. The news of Mr. Perdue's pending announcement, first reported on Sunday by Politico, illustrates both the grip the former president still wields over the G.O.P. and his willingness to upend state races entirely because of his personal pique toward Republicans he feels are insufficiently loyal to him.... The Republican nominee will likely face Stacey Abrams, the Democratic superstar whose national fame will allow her to amass a huge campaign war chest."

North Carolina Senate Race. Natalie Allison of Politico: "Donald Trump brokered a deal this weekend to clear the North Carolina GOP Senate field for Rep. Ted Budd, the candidate he endorsed in June but who has failed to emerge so far as the clear frontrunner. During a meeting at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, Trump pledged to endorse former GOP Rep. Mark Walker, who is currently in third place in the Senate primary, if Walker leaves the race and runs again for the House instead, according to multiple sources present at the gathering."

Tennessee. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Symbols of the Confederacy filled the room where an all-White Tennessee jury last year decided to convict Tim Gilbert, a Black man. Gold lettering on the door welcomed people to the 'U.D.C. Room' honoring the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Framed on the wall: the flag known as the 'Blood Stained Banner.' A portrait of Confederate leader Jefferson Davis watched over the deliberations. Three state appeals court judges agreed last week that Gilbert, 55, deserves a new trial on counts of aggravated assault and other charges. They said that some evidence in Gilbert's trial was improperly admitted and that officials failed to show that the Confederate memorabilia did not interfere with the verdict. The defendant had said the decorations 'embolden' juries to act with racial prejudice." MB: The only surprise to me is that there are three state judges in Tennessee who found the memorabilia racist. Good for them.

Way Beyond

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis returned Sunday to a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, the site of one of the definitive moments of his papacy, seeking to elevate the plight of migrants -- what he called a 'shipwreck of civilization' -- to the top level of global concerns, along with the pandemic and climate change.... Francis' remarks came at one of the concluding, and in many ways culminating, events of a five-day trip to Cyprus and Greece meant to renew focus on migration, an issue he has never wavered on, even as the world's attention has faltered. And when the world has paid attention, it has usually been in a way opposite from how he had hoped. Migrant flows have fueled nationalist and populist surges in majority-Catholic countries like Italy and Poland. Hungary has claimed that its antimigrant policies and border towers protect Christian culture. And while Europe's populist season has somewhat abated, a politically amenable hard line against asylum seekers has seeped into the status quo."

Myanmar. New York Times: "A court in Myanmar on Monday sentenced Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's ousted civilian leader, to four years on charges of inciting public unrest and breaching Covid-19 protocols. She is facing a series of rulings that could keep her locked up for the rest of her life. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained in a military coup in February, had been facing a maximum imprisonment of 102 years on a total of 11 charges." This is a live-updates page. An AP story is here.

Russia. Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "When cybersleuths traced the millions of dollars American companies, hospitals and city governments have paid to online extortionists in ransom money, they made a telling discovery: At least some of it passed through one of the most prestigious business addresses in Moscow. The Biden administration has also zeroed in on the building, Federation Tower East, the tallest skyscraper in the Russian capital. The United States has targeted several companies in the tower as it seeks to penalize Russian ransomware gangs, which encrypt their victims' digital data and then demand payments to unscramble it.... That this high-rise in Moscow's financial district has emerged as an apparent hub of such money laundering has convinced many security experts that the Russian authorities tolerate ransomware operators. The targets are almost exclusively outside Russia, they point out, and in at least one case documented in a U.S. sanctions announcement, the suspect was assisting a Russian espionage agency."

Comments Off
Sunday
Dec052021

December 5, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: "Bob Dole, the plain-spoken son of the prairie who overcame Dust Bowl deprivation in Kansas and grievous battle wounds in Italy to become the Senate majority leader and the last of the World War II generation to win his party's nomination for president, died on Sunday. He was 98."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here.

Props to PD Pepe & Forrest M. for pointing out in today's thread how very smart Dr. Margie Greene (or, as she's known in the home of the unwashed, Majorette Traitor Gangrene) is:

Every single year more than 600,000 people in the US die from cancer. The country has never once shut down. Not a single school has closed. And every year, over 600,000 people, of all ages and all races will continue to die from cancer. -- Majorie Taylor Greene, in a tweet

News from the Funny Papers. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The double negative, a common grammatical elephant trap, claimed a high-profile victim on Saturday night. Donald Trump. In a statement, the former president said: 'Anybody that doesn't think there wasn't massive election fraud in the 2020 presidential election is either very stupid, or very corrupt!' There was no massive election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden by 306-232 in the electoral college and by more than 7m ballots in the popular vote. But Trump thinks, or at least says, that there was massive election fraud. Though his own formula would therefore make him 'very stupid, or very corrupt', his claims have had deadly effect, stoking the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January." When a person who claims to have "a very good brain" turns out to be "very stupid, or very corrupt," it's "Sad!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: Donald "Trump appears to have exposed dozens, if not hundreds, of people, including his 77-year-old opponent, to a potentially deadly illness. It was a remarkable demonstration of his selfish indifference to the health and welfare of everyone around him.... When asked about this news, on Wednesday, President Biden said, simply, that he did not 'think about the former president.' I think this dismissal is a mistake.... The news of Trump's decision to endanger everyone around him was an opportunity to ... emphasize the many and overlapping disasters he inherited from the former president and how both Trump and his party were poor stewards of the United States and the American people. A sharp remark would have put Trump's failure back in the news and forced other Republicans to respond to it -- on Biden's terms."

Luke Broadwater & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Members of the select congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol are pressing to overhaul the complex and little-known law that ... Donald J. Trump and his allies tried to use to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that the ambiguity of the statute puts democracy itself at risk. The push to rewrite the Electoral Count Act of 1887 -- enacted more than a century ago in the wake of another bitterly disputed presidential election -- has taken on new urgency in recent weeks as more details have emerged about the extent of Mr. Trump's plot to exploit its provisions to cling to power. Mr. Trump and his allies, using a warped interpretation of the law, sought to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to throw out legitimate results when Congress met in a joint session on Jan. 6 to conduct its official count of electoral votes. It was Mr. Pence's refusal to do so that led a mob of Mr. Trump's supporters to chant 'Hang Mike Pence,' as they stormed the Capitol, delaying the proceedings as lawmakers fled for their lives." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Lisa Kim of Forbes: "Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) tweeted a Christmas photo of his family Saturday in which they're all holding guns and smiling in front of a Christmas tree, with the caption: 'Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo,' days after a mass shooting at a Michigan high school sparked renewed calls for gun control measures. In the photo, Massie appears to be holding an M60 machine gun while seated next to his youngest daughter, who sports an Uzi -- his wife, three other children and another man hold assault-style rifles." Joe.My.God. has the Massies' mow-'em-down "Christmas" photo.

Brian Stelter of CNN: "CNN said Saturday that anchor Chris Cuomo has been 'terminated' by the network, 'effective immediately.' The announcement came after an outside law firm was retained to review information about exactly how Cuomo aided his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, when the then-governor was accused of sexual harassment.... 'While in the process of [a] review, additional information has come to light,' CNN's statement [said]. 'Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.' While the contours of Chris Cuomo's involvement with the governor's office were reported several months ago, the specifics were detailed in a massive document dump on Monday. The documents -- released by New York Attorney General Letitia James after an investigation into the governor -- showed that Chris Cuomo, while working as one of CNN's top anchors, was also effectively working as an unpaid aide to the governor." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Michael Grynbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "On Wednesday, Debra S. Katz, a prominent employment lawyer, informed CNN of a client with an allegation of sexual misconduct against Chris Cuomo. Ms. Katz said in a statement on Saturday that the allegation against the anchor, which was made by a former junior colleague at another network, was 'unrelated to the Gov. Andrew Cuomo matter.' It was not fully clear what role the allegation played in CNN's decision to dismiss Mr. Cuomo. Ms. Katz is also the lawyer for Charlotte Bennett, a onetime aide to Andrew Cuomo who accused the former governor in February of sexual harassment."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ellen Francis & Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Most vaccines are safe to use as boosters and give people more immunity against the coronavirus, according to a new study of seven of them. The mRNA vaccines by pharmaceutical giants Pfizer, with partner BioNTech, and Moderna appeared to give the highest boost of antibodies 28 days after the extra dose, although other vaccines in the study may take more time to build up better immunity."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Generalissimo DeSantis. Steve Cortono of CNN: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to reestablish a World War II-era civilian military force that he, not the Pentagon, would control. DeSantis pitched the idea Thursday as a way to further support the Florida National Guard during emergencies, like hurricanes. The Florida National Guard has also played a vital role during the pandemic in administering Covid-19 tests and distributing vaccines. But in a nod to the growing tension between Republican states and the Biden administration over the National Guard, DeSantis also said this unit, called the Florida State Guard, would be 'not encumbered by the federal government.' He said this force would give him "the flexibility and the ability needed to respond to events in our state in the most effective way possible." DeSantis is proposing bringing it back with a volunteer force of 200 civilians, and he is seeking $3.5 million from the state legislature in startup costs to train and equip them." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Paul Blest of Vice: "Nearly two dozen states have active state guards, including California, New York, and Texas. But some state guards have previously been a hotbed of far-right extremism. In 1987, Utah Gov. Norman Bangerter 'dismantled and reorganized' the Utah State Guard from more than 400 people to fewer than three dozen, after a review found the force included 'convicted felons, mental cases, and neo-Nazis.' One member was found to have traveled to Idaho to train members of the Aryan Nation in combat." Ken W. provides a link to a Daily Beast story on Ron's little project. (Firewalled.) And Akhilleus (and others) commented on the little general's plans in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday.)

Michigan. Bryan Pietsch of the Washington Post: "The Michigan high school student accused of fatally shooting four classmates had numerous conversations with school counselors in the day and hours before the shooting, before staff sent him back to class despite finding images of bullets on his phone and disturbing drawings at his desk, the superintendent told parents in a detailed letter. Those conversations will be part of an independent investigation into the school's actions, the superintendent of Oxford Community Schools, Tim Throne, said. In a lengthy note to families on Saturday, Throne ...detailed the school's account of the events preceding the shooting...." CNN's report is here. MB: The most shocking aspect of the counselors' inaction, IMO, was that they knew there were firearms in the Crumbley home, yet they sent Ethan back to the classroom without checking his person, his backpack or his locker. Read the story & decide for yourselves. ~~~

~~~ Kathleen Foody & Corey Williams of the AP: "A judge imposed a combined $1 million bond Saturday for the parents of the Michigan teen charged with killing four students at Oxford High School, hours after police said they were caught hiding in a Detroit commercial building. James and Jennifer Crumbley entered not guilty pleas to each of the four involuntary manslaughter counts against them during a hearing held on Zoom. Jennifer Crumbley sobbed and struggled to respond to the judge's questions at times and James Crumbley shook his head when a prosecutor said their son had full access to the gun used in the killings. Judge Julie Nicholson assigned bond of $500,000 apiece to each of the parents and required GPS monitoring if they pay to be released, agreeing with prosecutors that they posed a flight risk." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Wisconsin. Laura Thornton, in a Washington Post op-ed: "On Nov. 10, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Republican state lawmakers proposed a hostile takeover of election management in their state. As Johnson told the New York Times, 'Unfortunately, I probably don't expect [Democrats] to follow the rules. And other people don't either, and that's the problem.' Johnson's conclusion: The current system of bipartisan oversight by both parties should be abolished, and Republican legislators must be in control of the elections in which they are competing.... The proposed Wisconsin power grab is shocking in its brazenness. If this occurred in any of the countries where the United States provides aid, it would immediately be called out as a threat to democracy.... Yet we are conspicuously failing to hold ourselves to the same standard.... Wisconsin's shenanigans are just the latest in a series of actions to undermine the most basic democratic principles we demand of others: One person, one vote. Neutral election management. Majority rule. Acceptance of election results. Peaceful transition of power. Don't storm your legislature and attack people and then pretend it didn't happen."

Way Beyond

Christina Goldbaum of the New York Times: "Nearly four months since the Taliban seized power, Afghanistan is on the brink of a mass starvation that aid groups say threatens to kill a million children this winter -- a toll that would dwarf the total number of Afghan civilians estimated to have been killed as a direct result of the war over the past 20 years. While Afghanistan has suffered from malnutrition for decades, the country's hunger crisis has drastically worsened in recent months. This winter, an estimated 22.8 million people -- more than half the population -- are expected to face potentially life-threatening levels of food insecurity, according to an analysis by the United Nations World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization.... Such widespread hunger is the most devastating sign of the economic crash that has crippled Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power. Practically overnight, billions of dollars in foreign aid that propped up the previous Western-backed government vanished and U.S. sanctions on the Taliban isolated the country from the global financial system, paralyzing Afghan banks and impeding relief work by humanitarian organizations."

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Saturday
Dec042021

December 4, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Brian Stelter of CNN: "CNN said Saturday that anchor Chris Cuomo has been 'terminated' by the network, 'effective immediately.' The announcement came after an outside law firm was retained to review information about exactly how Cuomo aided his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, when the then-governor was accused of sexual harassment.... 'While in the process of [a] review, additional information has come to light,' CNN's statement [said]. 'Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.' While the contours of Chris Cuomo's involvement with the governor's office were reported several months ago, the specifics were detailed in a massive document dump on Monday. The documents -- released by New York Attorney General Letitia James after an investigation into the governor -- showed that Chris Cuomo, while working as one of CNN's top anchors, was also effectively working as an unpaid aide to the governor."

Luke Broadwater & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Members of the select congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol are pressing to overhaul the complex and little-known law that ... Donald J. Trump and his allies tried to use to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that the ambiguity of the statute puts democracy itself at risk. The push to rewrite the Electoral Count Act of 1887 -- enacted more than a century ago in the wake of another bitterly disputed presidential election -- has taken on new urgency in recent weeks as more details have emerged about the extent of Mr. Trump's plot to exploit its provisions to cling to power. Mr. Trump and his allies, using a warped interpretation of the law, sought to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to throw out legitimate results when Congress met in a joint session on Jan. 6 to conduct its official count of electoral votes. It was Mr. Pence's refusal to do so that led a mob of Mr. Trump's supporters to chant 'Hang Mike Pence,' as they stormed the Capitol, delaying the proceedings as lawmakers fled for their lives.”

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here.

Florida. Generalissimo DeSantis. Steve Cortono of CNN: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to reestablish a World War II-era civilian military force that he, not the Pentagon, would control. DeSantis pitched the idea Thursday as a way to further support the Florida National Guard during emergencies, like hurricanes. The Florida National Guard has also played a vital role during the pandemic in administering Covid-19 tests and distributing vaccines. But in a nod to the growing tension between Republican states and the Biden administration over the National Guard, DeSantis also said this unit, called the Florida State Guard, would be 'not encumbered by the federal government.' He said this force would give him "the flexibility and the ability needed to respond to events in our state in the most effective way possible." DeSantis is proposing bringing it back with a volunteer force of 200 civilians, and he is seeking $3.5 million from the state legislature in startup costs to train and equip them." ~~~

~~~ Paul Blest of Vice: "Nearly two dozen states have active state guards, including California, New York, and Texas. But some state guards have previously been a hotbed of far-right extremism. In 1987, Utah Gov. Norman Bangerter 'dismantled and reorganized' the Utah State Guard from more than 400 people to fewer than three dozen, after a review found the force included 'convicted felons, mental cases, and neo-Nazis.' One member was found to have traveled to Idaho to train members of the Aryan Nation in combat." Ken W. provides a link to a Daily Beast story on Ron's little project. (Firewalled.) And Akhilleus (and others) commented on the little general's plans in yesterday's thread.

Michigan. Kathleen Foody & Corey Williams of the AP: "A judge imposed a combined $1 million bond Saturday for the parents of the Michigan teen charged with killing four students at Oxford High School, hours after police said they were caught hiding in a Detroit commercial building. James and Jennifer Crumbley entered not guilty pleas to each of the four involuntary manslaughter counts against them during a hearing held on Zoom. Jennifer Crumbley sobbed and struggled to respond to the judge's questions at times and James Crumbley shook his head when a prosecutor said their son had full access to the gun used in the killings. Judge Julie Nicholson assigned bond of $500,000 apiece to each of the parents and required GPS monitoring if they pay to be released, agreeing with prosecutors that they posed a flight risk."

~~~~~~~~~~

Victor Reklaitis of Market Watch: "President Joe Biden on Friday played up the drop in the country's unemployment rate but didn't mention a disappointing headline number, as he gave a brief speech on a monthly jobs report. Biden said it was 'incredible news' that the U.S. unemployment rate had fallen to 4.2% in November. 'At this point in the year, we;re looking at the sharpest one-year decline in unemployment ever,' he said, adding that the jobless rate 'has now fallen by more than two percentage points since I took office.' The president's speech at the White House came after the November release for nonfarm payrolls showed the country gained 210,000 new jobs last month, well below forecasts for 573,000. But on the plus side, the unemployment rate fell to a new COVID-19 pandemic low of 4.2% and the labor force grew substantially." ~~~

~~~ Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden said Friday that his hoarse voice and cough were the result of germy kisses from his toddler grandson, not the coronavirus, a development that pushed administration officials to release a doctor's note certifying that Mr. Biden had a cold." ~~~

~~~ Josh Israel of the American Independent: "The economy added 210,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate dropped significantly, according to the federal jobs report released on Friday. But House Republicans who cheered comparable numbers as a 'booming economy' under the last administration claim these were a 'disaster' for President Joe Biden.... Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called it 'another massive miss,' tweeting that 'Joe Biden's economic policies can be described the same as his presidency -- a total disappointment.' 'Joe Biden's economy is a DISASTER. And Democrats are doubling down on their failed tax and spend policies,' House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik wrote."

Katie Benner, et al., of the New York Times: "The iPhones of 11 U.S. Embassy employees working in Uganda were hacked using spyware developed by Israel's NSO Group, the surveillance firm that the United States blacklisted a month ago because it said the technology had been used by foreign governments to repress dissent, several people familiar with the breach said on Friday. The hack is the first known case of the spyware, known as Pegasus, being used against American officials. Pegasus is a sophisticated surveillance system that can be remotely implanted in smartphones to extract sound and video recordings, encrypted communications, photos, contacts, location data and text messages. There is no suggestion that NSO itself hacked into the phones, but rather that one of its clients, mostly foreign governments, had directed it against embassy employees." A CNN story is here.

** Kyle Cheney of Politico: "John Eastman, the attorney who helped ... Donald Trump pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election, has asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to a letter he delivered to the Jan. 6 committee explaining his decision not to testify.... Eastman's decision is an extraordinary assertion by someone who worked closely with Trump to attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. He met with Trump and pushed state legislative leaders to reject Biden's victory in a handful of swing states and appoint alternate electors to the Electoral College, effectively denying [Joe] Biden's victory. The former Chapman University law professor also pressured Pence, who is constitutionally required to preside over the Electoral College certification on Jan. 6, to unilaterally refuse to count some of Biden's electors and send the election to the full House for a vote -- or delay long enough to give states a chance to submit new electors." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jacqueline Alemany & Mariana Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "House Republicans have decried the public feuding this week among a small group of GOP lawmakers as detrimental to the party's ability to win back the House in the 2022 midterm elections because it distracts from their attacks on Democrats' agenda. But little has been said publicly by party leaders or rank-and-file members about whether they find the source of this feuding problematic: Islamophobic attacks by some Republicans against a Democratic congresswoman who is Muslim. The party's focus on the political ramifications of the infighting rather than the substance of the disagreement has led civil rights groups and Democrats to charge that Republicans are embracing, or at least enabling, bigotry." MB: Kind of, "Now, now, kids, let's all get together and remember we're a white Christian nation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** In Plain Sight. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times on "the plot to restore Donald Trump to power over and against the will of the voters. The first attempt, prefigured in Trump's refusal in 2016 to say whether he would accept the results of the presidential election, culminated in an attack on the Capitol this year, broadcast on camera to the entire world. Since then, the former president and his allies have made no secret of their intent to run the same play a second time. Steve Bannon ... has urged his [podcast] listeners to seize control of local election administration.... 'Suddenly,' according to a recent ProPublica investigation, 'people who had never before showed interest in party politics started calling the local G.O.P. headquarters or crowding into county conventions, eager to enlist as precinct officers....'... In tandem with [this] is an effort to gerrymander battleground states into nearly permanent Republican legislative majorities.... And in the swing states that Trump lost, his strongest allies have pushed the radical idea that state legislatures have plenary authority over presidential elections even after voters have cast their ballots.... Every incentive driving the Republican Party, from Fox News to the former president, points away from sober engagement with the realities of American politics and toward the outrageous, the antisocial and the authoritarian."

Linda Greenhouse Is Not Amused. New York Times: "There are many reasons for dismay over the Supreme Court argument in the Mississippi abortion case, but it was the nonstop gaslighting that really got to me. First there was Justice Clarence Thomas, pretending by his questions actually to be interested in how the Constitution might be interpreted to provide for the right to abortion, a right he has denounced and schemed to overturn since professing to the Senate Judiciary Committee 30 years ago that he never even thought about the matter. Then there was Chief Justice John Roberts, mischaracterizing an internal memo that Justice Harry Blackmun wrote.... And then there was Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who rattled off a list of 'the most consequential cases in this court's history' that resulted from overruling prior decisions.... [His] ... goal was ... to normalize the deeply abnormal scene playing out in the courtroom.... I will give the gaslighting prize to Justice Kavanaugh [for pretending that the Court's decision in favor of Mississippi would be an expression of 'neutrality.']... Justice [Amy] Barrett's performance during Wednesday's argument was beyond head-spinning." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Paul Waldman of the Washington Post: "... the conservative justices on the Supreme Court [lied], and the abortion rights those justices have now made clear they will eviscerate.... They lied. They lied to Congress and to the country, claiming they either had no opinions at all about abortion, or that their beliefs were simply irrelevant to how they would rule. They would be wise and pure, unsullied by crass policy preferences, offering impeccably objective readings of the Constitution. It. Was. A. Lie. We went through the same routine in the confirmation hearings of every one of those justices.... Unfortunately, that lie was and is still enabled by the news media.... There was never any mystery about who these justices are and what they would do. There were only liars saying otherwise, and fools who chose to believe them."

News from the Funny Papers. David Gilbert of Vice: "A leaked copy of an email exchange between Hunter Biden and Tucker Carlson suggests that the Fox News host once asked the now-president's son to write a college recommendation letter for his son. Yes, the same Carlson who spent weeks attacking and obsessing over every detail of the Hunter Biden laptop story, asked for a recommendation letter for his son Buckley, who was trying to get into Georgetown University, Biden's alma mater.... [The correspondence indicates] Biden wrote the recommendation letter.... VICE News could not verify the authenticity of the email exchange, and Carlson and Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment.... The previously unreported relationship between Carlson and Biden was revealed by pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood on his Telegram account.... [The exchange between TuKKKer & Hunter] was previously posted on Telegram by David Clements, an election truther who is close to Wood.... Wood's scorched-earth campaign, which has led to a civil war within QAnon, was initially triggered by Carlson's interview with Kyle Rittenhouse, in which the teenager criticized the lawyer, who briefly represented him last year."

Will Oremus & Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "Twitter's new chief executive, Parag Agrawal, announced a major reorganization of the company Friday, putting his stamp on the organization following the sudden departure of co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey earlier this week. The shake-up, meant to streamline the company's operations and accelerate its growth, will bring together employees previously divided by job function -- such as engineering, design and product development -- on teams organized by what they're working on, such as consumer product, revenue and core tech. Two executives, head of engineering Michael Montano and chief design officer Dantley Davis, will step down as part of the reshuffling and leave the company by year's end."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "Underscoring increasing concerns about Omicron, scientists in South Africa said on Friday that the newest coronavirus variant appeared to spread more than twice as quickly as Delta, which had been considered the most contagious version of the virus. Omicron's rapid spread results from a combination of contagiousness and an ability to dodge the body's immune defenses, the researchers said. But the contribution of each factor is not yet certain." ~~~

~~~ Amy Cheng of the Washington Post: "Scientists in South Africa say omicron is at least three times more likely to cause reinfection than previous coronavirus variants such as beta and delta, according to a preliminary study published Thursday. Statistical analysis of some 2.8 million positive coronavirus samples in South Africa, 35,670 of which were suspected to be reinfections, led researchers to conclude that the omicron mutation has a 'substantial ability to evade immunity from prior infection.'" The article is free to nonsubscribers.

Amy Cheng of the Washington Post: "The omicron variant is likely to have picked up genetic material from another virus that causes the common cold in humans, according to a new preliminary study, prompting one of its authors to suggest omicron could have greater transmissibility but lower virulence than other variants of the novel coronavirus.... As a virus evolves to become more transmissible, it generally 'loses' traits that are likely to cause severe symptoms, [Venky] Soundararajan[, who co-wrote the study,] said. But he noted that much more data and analysis of omicron was needed before a definitive determination could be made.... The study is in preprint and has not been peer-reviewed." The article goes into some detail about the findings.

Beyond the Beltway

Michigan. Paulina Firoza, et al., of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors said Friday they would file charges against the parents of the student accused of fatally shooting classmates at a Michigan high school. James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of 15-year-old Ethan, will be charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said. Authorities say the teenager killed four students and wounded seven people at his high school Tuesday, using a semi-automatic handgun purchased by his father in the deadliest school shooting in more than three years." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Corey Williams & Ed White of the AP: "A prosecutor says the parents of a teen accused of killing four students at a Michigan high school were summoned a few hours earlier after a teacher found a drawing of a gun, a person bleeding and the words 'help me.' Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald made the disclosure Friday as she filed involuntary manslaughter charges against Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley. McDonald says the gun used in the shootings at Oxford High School was purchased by James Crumbley a week ago and given to the boy." The story has been updated. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Sarakshi Rai of the Hill: "The mother of the Michigan school shooting suspect, Ethan Crumbley, texted her son 'don't do it' when news of the active shooter situation went public, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said at a press conference on Friday. Jennifer Crumbley, who met with school officials after teachers reported concerns regarding her 15-year-old son's behavior just hours earlier, texted her son immediately on hearing the news, McDonald said. The prosecutor said Jennifer Crumbley texted her son at 1:22 p.m. and at 1:37 p.m his father, James Crumbley, called 911 to report that his gun was missing. He told the operator that his son may have been the active shooter.... McDonald provided further details about the incident, saying that Ethan Crumbley was found searching for ammunition on his cellphone during class by a teacher. The teacher then reported him to the school for the first time. Referencing that incident, the prosecutor said that after school officials contacted Jennifer Crumbley, she exchanged text messages with her son on that day saying, 'lol, I'm not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught.' McDonald said that in a second reported incident a teacher found a drawing on the morning of the shooting, showing a gun pointing at words that read 'the thoughts won't stop, help me' and someone being shot twice." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Uh-oh. CNN reports that a manhunt, involving the FBI & U.S. Marshals, is underway in a search for James & Jennifer Crumley, who apparently are fugitives on the run to avoid arraignment on involuntary manslauter charges. There's a BOLA for a black 2021 Kia SUV, Michigan plate DQG-5203. (I think I got that right, but maybe not.) And there goes your typical Trump-supporting Mom. ~~~

~~~ The Fugitives. Jack Healy of the New York Times: "Law enforcement officials said that the parents had gone missing on Friday afternoon and that the county's fugitive-apprehension team, F.B.I. agents and United States Marshals were looking for the couple.... Lawyers for the parents said the Crumbleys had not fled, but had left town for their own safety and were returning to be arraigned.... The gun was an early Christmas gift from his parents: a semiautomatic 9-millimeter Sig Sauer handgun. 'My new beauty,' Ethan Crumbley, 15, called it. The day after Thanksgiving, he and his father had gone together to a Michigan gun shop to buy it. He and his mother spent a day testing out the gun, which was stored unlocked in the parents' bedroom. On Monday, when a teacher reported seeing their son searching online for ammunition, his mother did not seem alarmed. 'LOL I'm not mad at you,' Jennifer Crumbley texted her son. 'You have to learn not to get caught.' A day later, the authorities say the teenager fatally shot four classmates in the halls of Oxford High School in suburban Detroit, using the handgun his parents had bought for him."

     ~~~ Marie: However, the arraignment was scheduled for 4 pm CT Friday, and according to on-air reports on CNN & MSNBC, the parents did not appear. Here's my question: when the school employee interviewed the parents, didn't s/he think to ask, "Does Ethan have access to a gun?" In view of the fact, the school knew he was hunting for ammo, you might think there was a suspicion the answer was "yes." ~~~

~~~ Steve Almasy, et al., of CNN (1:09 am ET): "Hours after a prosecutor announced involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the 15-year-old accused of killing four fellow students at a Michigan high school, authorities said Friday that the parents are missing. A vehicle matching the description of the black Kia Seltos connected to James and Jennifer Crumbley was found late Friday in Detroit, which is about 40 miles from Oxford, the scene of the deadly shooting on Tuesday, officials said. A police perimeter was set up but law enforcement have not yet located the Crumbleys, who are considered fugitives, Detroit police spokesperson Rudy Harper told CNN. The US Marshals Service is helping local authorities search for the couple and has offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information that could lead to their arrest." ~~~

~~~ Dennis Romero & Phil Helsel of NBC News (2:17 am ET): "The parents of the teenager suspected in Tuesday's school shooting in Michigan were taken into custody after a manhunt, Detroit police said early Saturday morning.... The Crumbleys walked into a bank Friday and withdrew $4,000 for reasons that weren't immediately known, a source with direct knowledge told NBC News." A Washington Post story, updated at 2:32 am ET, is here: "Jennifer and James Crumbley were arrested after their car was spotted in a residential neighborhood in Detroit, Detroit Police Department spokesperson Rudy Harper told The Washington Post." ~~~

~~~ Marie: At a little after 3 am ET, James White, Detroit's police chief, held a press conference & told reporters that the couple appeared to be hiding in a room of the commercial building where they were apprehended. Police learned about the couple's location from a citizen's tip. White said police received video of Jennifer Crumbley walking into the building. Detroit police have turned the couple over to the Oakland sheriff's office. Chief White said someone assisted the couple in entering the building and the person (or persons) who helped them may be charged with a crime. The couple was not armed & surrendered without incident. I'll post a report of the presser when one becomes available. Update: An AP story, posted just before 4 am ET, is here. A New York Times story, posted at 4:12 am ET, is here. ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: Here's a question: if you were on the lam, would you park your vehicle out in front of your hideout? These people are going to be found not guilty of the charges against them by reason of stupidity.

Texas. So this story is very popular with Washington Post readers. And why wouldn't it be? It's a whodunnit involving a big heist, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash & checks hidden in a wall, an honest plumber and smarmy televangelist Joel Osteen. The only bad news: the culprits haven't been caught. Yet. The New York Times' version is here.

Way Beyond

** Ukraine/Russia. Shane Harris & Paul Sonne of the Washington Post: "As tensions mount between Washington and Moscow over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, U.S. intelligence has found the Kremlin is planning a multi-front offensive as soon as early next year involving up to 175,000 troops, according to U.S. officials and an intelligence document obtained by The Washington Post. The Kremlin has been moving troops toward the border with Ukraine while demanding Washington guarantee that Ukraine will not join NATO and that the alliance will refrain from certain military activities in and around Ukrainian territory. The crisis has provoked fears of a renewed war on European soil and comes ahead of a planned virtual meeting next week between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin." The AP's report is here.

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