REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments

Wednesday

Oct272021

October 27, 2021

David Smith of the Guardian: "Joe Biden has framed a nail-bitingly close race for governor of Virginia as a referendum on his young presidency and an opportunity to rebuke his predecessor, Donald Trump. Seemingly liberated from the formal trappings of office by a return to the campaign trail, Biden used a rally in Arlington, Virginia, to launch an unusually scathing and sustained attack on the former president. 'Just remember this: I ran against Donald Trump,' he told an estimated 2,500 people gathered in a park on a chilly Tuesday night. 'And Terry [McAuliffe] is running against an acolyte of Donald Trump.' The election in Virginia is seen as the most important of the year, offering a window on to public sentiment about Biden's first nine months in office and a preview of what to expect in next year's midterm elections for Congress.... But Biden's sinking approval rating in recent weeks makes it unclear how much of a boost he can offer McAuliffe, who also enlisted Barack Obama last weekend to help him fight apathy and election weariness among Democratic voters."

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Senate Democrats rushed on Tuesday to nail down the details of a groundbreaking tax on billionaires' wealth, part of an elaborate menu of tax increases to finance a significantly scaled-back bill that would strengthen the social safety net and address climate change. Democrats' plans to pay for about $1.5 trillion in social policy and climate spending could prove to be the most innovative components of the party's domestic legislation, a top priority, which was once envisioned as a transformative cradle-to-grave initiative to vault a stagnant working class into prosperity. Now, even as President Biden and his allies cut down the plan to ensure it can pass even with Democrats' razor-thin edge in Congress, they are toiling to agree on new tax policies that could have far-reaching consequences. Among them is a measure Senate Democrats presented on Tuesday that would impose a 15 percent minimum tax rate on corporations based on the profits they report to their shareholders, not what they show to the Internal Revenue Service.... With Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, a crucial holdout on Mr. Biden's plan, serving as a one-woman blockade against more conventional tax rate increases, Democrats appeared to have no choice but to turn to creative revenue measures." A CBS News story is here. The AP's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Marie: It's not necessary a bad thing that Sinema's irrational stonewalling led to some creative thinking on how to extract more revenues from the ultra-rich & corporations, but it is unconscionable that Sinema has does nothing but stomp her shiny red heels when -- if she's so smart -- she should have been digging in & thinking up these new ways instead of forcing other senators & their staffs to do the work that may or may not placate Her Dizziness. I'll bet next session her only committee assignment is junior member of the Housekeeping Committee. Which seems appropriate inasmuch as she seems to have ridden in to the Senate on a broomstick. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The billionaires tax would almost certainly face court challenges.... It would for the first time tax billionaires on the unrealized gains in the value of their liquid assets, such as stocks, bonds and cash, which can grow for years as vast capital stores that can be borrowed off to live virtually income tax free. The tax would be levied on anyone with more than $1 billion in assets or more than $100 million in income for three consecutive years -- about 700 people in the United States. Initially, the legislation would impose the capital gains tax -- 23.8 percent -- on the gain in value of billionaires' tradable assets, such as stocks, bonds and cash, based on the original price of those assets.... After that, those billionaires would face an annual capital gains tax on the increase in value of their tradable assets over the course of the year.... For men like the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the Tesla founder Elon Musk, that hit would be enormous, since the initial value of their horde of stocks was zero. They would have five years to pay that sum." ~~~

~~~ Aris Folley of the Hill: "Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) voiced support for a proposal for a minimum tax on corporate profits as her party weighs the measure as a potential revenue raiser for its sweeping social spending plan." ~~~

~~~ Hank Stephenson in Politico Magazine: "... for those still perplexed about [Kyrsten] Sinema, her rise offers an object lesson in how to get ahead by flagrantly eschewing loyalty to one's own party.... The details of Sinema's transformation [from Green Party activist] lay in her time in the state legislature, where she learned to distance herself from progressives and made alliances with Republicans that she still leans on today.... She ... stood out immediately for her ability to make friends with the most conservative Republicans, including now-Rep. Andy Biggs, leader of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, and Russell Pearce, [an anti-immigrant hardliner].... Her detractors say ... she's abandoned all principles she once held dear in exchange for power.... [A] former colleague says her decisions are based on cold hard political calculations — and a need to feed her hunger for attention, more than power even." MB: You know, I think we figured that out here without knowing all that much about her. ~~~

~~~ BUT THEN. Hans Nichols of Axios: "Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is telling colleagues he has deep concerns about a proposed 'billionaire tax' but is waiting for more details before making a final decision, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.... The senator's doubts reveal an uncomfortable truth for the White House and congressional leaders as they race to finish -- and pay for -- their nearly $2 trillion social spending and climate package: A tax solution designed to satisfy Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) isn't necessarily acceptable to Manchin."

~~~ Ariel Zilber & Adam Manno of the Daily Mail & AP: " Elon Musk has slammed President Joe Biden's plan to tax billionaires' income to pay for his proposed spending bill as the Tesla CEO saw his company's value top $1trillion and his personal wealth increase by a single-day record of $36billion.... Earlier this year, it was revealed that Musk and his rival, Jeff Bezos, have in recent years paid nothing in federal income tax." MB: Elon should read Krugman, linked below. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: "Democrats are scrambling to address centrist Sen. Joe Manchin III's (D-W.Va.) objections to a methane fee in budget negotiations..., even as they expressed confidence they've assembled a broad climate package in the bill. Senate Democrats met Monday afternoon after Manchin pushed to drop or modify the methane fee in their social spending bill, which would impose a fee on emissions of the potent planet-warming gas that can leak from oil and gas wells, according to two people familiar with the matter. White House officials convened a separate meeting Monday with leading environmental groups, where they projected optimism about brokering a deal on climate...."

Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is expected to subpoena John Eastman, the pro-Trump legal scholar who outlined scenarios for denying Joe Biden the presidency, according to the panel's chairman.... In recent months, Eastman has distanced himself from the memos, telling the National Review last week that the options he outlined did not represent his advice.... But in an Oct. 7 op-ed in the Sacramento Bee, Eastman wrote that he advised [Mike] Pence to delay counting the electoral votes to give states time to resolve concerns about voting irregularities. Asked about the work of the select committee last month, Eastman defended Trump in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody, saying 'there's evidence out there' to support the former president's baseless claims of election fraud." CNN's story is here. ~~~

~~~ AND Tuesday night Rachel Maddow played a portion of a video interview, taped just this past Saturday, in which Eastman boasted that his memo posed a "solid" legal strategy that would have worked if only mike pence were not such an "establishment" guy & had had the balls to carry out his advice.

Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "At least five former Trump administration staffers have voluntarily spoken with the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Isaac Dovere & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Officials and aides in secretary of state offices in Arizona and other states targeted by ... Donald Trump in his attack on last year's election results told CNN about living in constant terror.... Staff members in the offices say they're dealing with long-term emotional and psychological trauma after a year of constant threats -- in person and virtually -- to the secretaries and to themselves.... Some [threats] get very specific, citing details and specifics that leave the secretaries and their staff rushing to report them to authorities.... No systems were in place on the state or federal level to [protect them].... The Justice Department launched a new task force this summer to address the rise in threats to election officials. But there are concerns that it's not prepared to do enough.... Several state and local election officials who testified at a Senate hearing Tuesday about threats to elections and election workers, warning about the consequences of them. 'We're already seeing high turnover among elections staff, and I fear that many more will reach a breaking point and decide that this line of public service is no longer worth it,' [Arizona Secretary of State Katie] Hobbs told the Senate Rules and Administration Committee." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Gee, do you suppose it would help if Donald Trump gave a heart-felt admonition to his supporters to lay off their threats to officials? I'm so surprised he hasn't done that. His silence suggests he just might be a vicious monster.

Amanda Seitz of the AP: "It had been three days since Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin [killed ... George Floyd.... A video taken by a bystander had been viewed millions of times online. Protests had taken over Minnesota's largest city and would soon spread throughout cities across America. But it wasn't until after [Donald] Trump posted about Floyd's death that the reports of violence and hate speech increased 'rapidly' on Facebook across the country, an internal company analysis of the ex-president's social media post reveals.... Trump wrote at 9:53 a.m. on May 28 from his Twitter and Facebook accounts[,] 'Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts the shooting starts!'... Facebook's own internal, automated controls, meant to catch posts that violate rules, predicted with almost 90% certainty that Trump's message broke the tech company's rules against inciting violence. Yet, the tech giant didn't take any action on Trump's message.... Twitter, meanwhile, responded quickly at the time by covering Trump's tweet with a warning and prohibiting users from sharing it any further."

Ellie Hall of BuzzFeed News: "Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have long cited social media toxicity as a factor in their decision to step back from royal life. And now, an analysis of more than 114,000 tweets about the couple has revealed a coordinated campaign of targeted harassment of Meghan on Twitter -- and the 83 accounts responsible for approximately 70% of the negative and often hateful content. On Tuesday, Twitter analytics service Bot Sentinel released a report examining Twitter activity related to the Sussexes and found that the majority of the hate and misinformation about the couple originated from a small group of accounts whose primary, if not sole, purpose appears to be to tweet negatively about them. Bot Sentinel's analysis also revealed a level of sophistication and coordination between the accounts, who use their combined 187,631 followers to fuel a campaign of negativity against Harry and Meghan. A Twitter spokesperson told BuzzFeed News on Tuesday that they are 'actively investigating the information and accounts referenced in this report -- we will take action on accounts that violate the Twitter Rules.'"

Annabelle Timsit of the Washington Post: A woman is suing Kellogg for $5 million because there aren't enough strawberries in her so-called strawberry Pop-Tart. Marie: While this sounds like a frivolous, childish suit, she has a point. Her lawyer, BTW, is one of the suing-est lawyers around; he files two or three fraud suits a week. In the meantime, I'd suggest the lady look in the produce section for strawberries. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here: "New coronavirus infections in the United States have dropped nearly 60 percent since a September spike brought on by the more contagious delta variant, according to data compiled by The Washington Post. The seven-day average of infections stood at about 69,000 this week, figures show, reflecting a 58 percent drop from the latest surge's peak around Sept. 13, when the average for that week was 164,475. The impact of vaccinations is clear in regions with the highest uptake.... But a handful of states are still struggling to turn the tide, especially as colder weather brings more people indoors again. Those states include Montana, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Utah, and Vermont.

Lauran Neergaard & Matthew Perrone of the AP: "The U.S. moved a step closer to expanding COVID-19 vaccinations for millions more children as a panel of government advisers on Tuesday endorsed kid-size doses of Pfizer's shots for 5- to 11-year-olds. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted unanimously, with one abstention, that the vaccine's benefits in preventing COVID-19 in that age group outweigh any potential risks -- including a heart-related side effect that's been very rare in teens and young adults despite their use of a much higher shot dose.... The FDA isn't bound by the panel's recommendation and is expected to make its own decision within days. If the FDA authorizes the kid-size doses, there's still another step: Next week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have to decide whether to recommend the shots and which youngsters should get them." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Oriana Pawlyk of Politico: "A Texas judge on Tuesday dismissed a request for an injunction against an impending vaccine mandate brought by a union that represents pilots at Southwest Airlines, a significant blow against their attempt to sidestep President Joe Biden's mandate for government contractors. Federal workers and government contractors, which includes major U.S. commercial airlines, must be vaccinated by Dec. 8."

The Trump White House's prioritization of election year politics over the pandemic response -- even as cases surged last fall -- is among the worst failures of leadership in American history. -- Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) ~~~

~~~ Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration was 'distracted' by last year's election and ignored recommendations to curb the pandemic, the White House's former coronavirus response coordinator told congressional investigators this month. 'I felt like the White House had gotten somewhat complacent through the campaign season,' said Deborah Birx, who ... Donald Trump chose in March 2020 to steer his government's virus response.... Birx, who sat for interviews with the subcommittee on Oct. 12 and 13, also detailed advice that she said the White House ignored late last year, including more aggressively testing younger Americans, expanding access to virus treatments and better distributing vaccines in long-term care facilities. More than 130,000 American lives could have been saved with swifter action and better coordinated public health messages after the virus' first wave, Birx told lawmakers.... Asked directly if Trump 'did everything he could to try to mitigate the spread of the virus and save lives during the pandemic,' Birx responded 'no.'" Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: You have two choices: (a) you fulfill the minimal requirements of your job, which may compel you to bark orders at a few more people, something you enjoy doing anyway; OR (b) you let 130,000 people die. Which do you choose? Why, (b), if you're Donald Trump. ~~~

~~~ Adam Cancryn of Politico: "As Covid-19 surged last winter, the Trump White House was torn between competing factions on how to manage the pandemic, including whether to let the virus spread unchecked to reach herd immunity, former coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx told congressional investigators. Birx and other doctors pressed the Trump administration to intensify efforts to control disease spread, according to portions of testimony released Tuesday by the Coronavirus Crisis Select Subcommittee. But ... Donald Trump's hand-picked coronavirus adviser, Scott Atlas, had rapidly consolidated power on a platform that downplayed the seriousness of Covid to most Americans, squeezing out Birx and other top government health officials."

Beyond the Beltway

Adam Gabbatt of the Guardian: "Of the thousands of diehard Trump supporters who gathered in Washington on 6 January, some are now beginning to emerge as Republican candidates for national and local office. The electoral chances of each person vary, but they add to the extremist political landscape, ahead of midterm elections in 2022 that could potentially see Democrats lose the House of Representatives." Read on. And if a picture is worth 1,000 words, then the photo of Pennsylvania Congressional candidate Teddy Daniels, which accompanies the article, speaks volumes.

California. Scott Wilson of the Washington Post: "The torrential rain that fell on much of California in recent days recharged rivers, filled storage tanks and prepared the ground for the next storm, providing what many climate experts say is an auspicious start to the winter. But the rainfall, which set records in some northern cities, was not nearly enough to end the state's deep drought, now affecting 37 million of California's 40 million residents.... The deficit of water from a drought now entering its third year is too great to be made up with just one storm, no matter how powerful it may have been. Compounding the problem, California's warming climate is undermining its ability to dent its droughts in the long term, even when the rains do come."

Idaho. Jesus Jiménez of the New York Times: "The lone suspect in a shooting at a mall in Boise, Idaho, on Monday that killed two people died on Tuesday of injuries he received in an exchange of gunfire with the police, according to the police. The authorities were still investigating the motive for the shooting, in which they say the suspect, Jacob Bergquist, 27, of Boise, fatally shot a mall security guard, Jo Acker, 26, of Caldwell, and Roberto Padilla Arguelles, 49, of Rupert, at Boise Towne Square. At a news conference on Tuesday, Chief Ryan Lee of the Boise Police Department said that Mr. Bergquist had frequented the mall and was known to mall security for calls categorized as disorderly conduct, trespassing and disruptive behavior."

New Mexico. Morgan Lee, et al., of the AP: "Investigators plan to discuss their initial findings Wednesday in the fatal movie-set shooting in which Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun, killing a cinematographer and wounding the director. The news conference by Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies promises the first detailed public comments by investigators about the killing of 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal at a New Mexico ranch." ~~~

~~~ Simon Romero, et al., of the New York Times: "The Santa Fe County district attorney said on Tuesday that she was not ruling out criminal charges in last week's fatal shooting on a film set.... The district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies ... said that the investigation was focusing on ballistics in an effort to determine what kind of round was in the gun that killed Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer -- and who had placed the ammunition in the gun. 'There were an enormous amount of bullets on this set, and we need to find out what kinds they were,' Ms. Carmack-Altwies said. Detectives said that they recovered three revolvers, spent casings and ammunition -- in boxes, loose and in a fanny pack -- while executing a search warrant on the set, according to an inventory of the items released on Monday."

Pennsylvania. Jessica Lipscomb of the Washington Post: "Ellen Greenberg died in the kitchen of her Philadelphia apartment on the afternoon of a snowstorm in January 2011.... A knife had been plunged into her chest, one of 20 stab wounds discovered on her head, neck and torso.... The death was initially worked as a suicide, then -- after an examination by the medical examiner's office -- as a homicide. But after further investigation, the final determination in March 2011 was that Greenberg had taken her own life." Greensberg's parents are suing to have the autopsy ruling overturned. MB: The article does not address the severity of the 19 stab wounds that the medical examiner apparently found not to be fatal. But unless those were shallow "practice" stabs, I don't see how Greenberg could have stabbed herself 19 times before finally killing herself.

Wisconsin. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "A Wisconsin judge ruled Monday that attorneys in the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial could refer to the men the teen shot in Kenosha, Wis., last year as 'rioters,' 'looters' and 'arsonists.' They could not, however, describe Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, who were killed, and Gaige Grosskreutz, who was wounded, as 'victims' because the term was 'loaded,' the judge said.... [Judge Bruce] Schroeder said that while he advised Rittenhouse's team against using pejorative terms to describe the three men shot, such language could be used in their closing arguments if evidence shows the men participated in criminal acts.... Although such rulings are not uncommon in trials in which there is a dispute over self-defense, prosecutors suggested the judge was employing a double standard...." MB: No kidding.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Hurricane-force winds from an early-season nor'easter swept through coastal New England on Wednesday, a day after battering the New York City area, sending trees crashing onto power lines and cutting electricity to hundreds of thousands of households. The winds, which gusted to 94 miles per hour on Martha's Vineyard in the pre-dawn hours, picked up a small aircraft at the New Bedford Regional Airport, lifting it over a fence and onto a roadway, and peeled the roof off an apartment building in Quincy, Mass., snapping the eight-inch bolts that held it down."

New York Times: "Mort Sahl, who confronted Eisenhower-era cultural complacency with acid stage monologues, delivering biting social commentary in the guise of a stand-up comedian and thus changing the nature of both stand-up comedy and social commentary, died on Tuesday at his home in Mill Valley, Calif., near San Francisco. He was 94."Politico's obituary is here.

Comments Off

Permalink

Email Article

Monday

Oct252021

October 26, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Ariel Zilber & Adam Manno of the Daily Mail & AP: " Elon Musk has slammed President Joe Biden's plan to tax billionaires' income to pay for his proposed spending bill as the Tesla CEO saw his company's value top $1trillion and his personal wealth increase by a single-day record of $36billion.... Earlier this year, it was revealed that Musk and his rival, Jeff Bezos, have in recent years paid nothing in federal income tax." MB: Elon should read Krugman, linked below.

Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "At least five former Trump administration staffers have voluntarily spoken with the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol...."

The Trump White House's prioritization of election year politics over the pandemic response -- even as cases surged last fall -- is among the worst failures of leadership in American history. -- Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "President Joe Biden went to New Jersey to promote his economic agenda on Monday, amid a major week of negotiations with Democrats to pass portions of his sweeping, multi-trillion dollar agenda. The visit offered Biden a chance to pitch both his plans -- a bipartisan infrastructure package and a social safety net package -- ahead of his travel to Europe for the Group of 20 conference and the United Nations Climate Conference.... The President also visited an elementary school in Plainfield to highlight universal pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds offered there, much like the provision laid out in his agenda." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Gosh, it's always a sweet moment when a president visits little kids (well, okay, that My Pet Goat episode was a bit fraught). Let's see how the New York Post reported the Plainfield pre-K visit: ~~~

~~~ Steven Nelson of the Rupert Murdoch Post: "President Biden watched a child's infrastructure project crumble before his eyes Monday as he visited a New Jersey school to promote his beleaguered public works plans. 'I'm sorry, my fault. That was my fault. I made you look up,' Biden said, bending over to pick up the pieces of what had been a preschooler's building block tower." MB: Why can't all news outlets report scandals like this instead of covering them up the way CNN did? ~~~

~~~ ** Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "... the Biden administration could have done a better job of summarizing its plans in pithy slogans. So let me propose a one-liner: Tax the rich, help America's children. This gets at much of what the legislation is likely to do.... There are three things you should know about both taxing the rich and helping children: They're very good ideas from an economic point of view. They're extremely popular. And they're very much in the American tradition.... There is overwhelming evidence that helping children, in addition to being the right thing to do, has big economic payoffs."

~~~ Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Monday that he believed Democrats 'should' be able to get a deal on a framework agreement for President Biden's social spending bill this week. 'Having it finished with all the t's and the i's and everything you know crossed and dotted that will be difficult from the Senate side because we have an awful lot of text to go through, but as far as conceptually we should, I really believe,' Manchin told reporters on Monday." ~~~

~~~ Sean Sullivan & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "Democrats are scrambling intensely behind-the-scenes to address immigration in the framework they are crafting to expand the nation's social safety net, according to people with knowledge of the situation, even as President Biden and other party leaders have said little publicly about their strategy in recent weeks. The most pressing question confronting Democrats is what to do about millions of undocumented immigrants seeking a path to legalization."

Sean Lyngaas of CNN: "The Biden administration is expected to name Kim Wyman, a Republican secretary of state who challenged ... Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud, to lead the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to protect future elections from foreign and domestic interference, multiple people familiar with the matter tell CNN. The move would put Wyman in a prominent role working with election officials across the country at a time when many members of her party have baselessly cast doubt on the integrity of elections. Federal officials have for weeks been in talks with Wyman, who is Washington state's secretary of state, to serve as the election security lead for DHS' Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said the people...."

Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: "President Biden is expected to nominate Jessica Rosenworcel, the acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, to the permanent job this week, putting her on track to become the first woman to lead the agency, a person familiar with the process said.... The president has come under growing pressure in recent weeks to fill two open spots at the F.C.C.: the permanent leader of the agency and the seat on the five-member commission that Ms. Rosenworcel vacated when she became the acting chairwoman. Both positions must be confirmed by the Senate, a process plagued by delays and political gamesmanship. If Ms. Rosenworcel and the next member of the commission are not confirmed before the end of the year, Republicans could gain a de facto majority. The commission is currently deadlocked, with two Democratic and two Republican members."

Maria Sacchetti & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "A U.S. Customs and Border Protection discipline board found that 60 agents 'committed misconduct' by sharing violent and obscene posts in secret Facebook groups but fired only two -- far fewer than an internal discipline board had recommended, according to a House Oversight and Reform Committee report released Monday. The report found 'significant shortcomings' in the agency's handling of the incidents and said most agents who engaged in misconduct are back on the job working with migrant adults and children. They include a Border Patrol agent who posted a 'sexually explicit doctored image' about a member of Congress, and a supervisor who 'improperly' shared an internal video of a migrant falling off a cliff to their death, according to the report. 'These outcomes were the result of a number of failings at CBP, including an inconsistent disciplinary process, a failure to train on and enforce social media policies, and senior leadership's failure to take appropriate actions despite knowledge of these Facebook groups,' said the report, which was prepared by staff from the committee's Democratic majority.... Committee investigators said they had tried for more than a year to obtain access to witnesses and unredacted disciplinary records, but said the Trump administration refused to hand them over, even when the chair issued a subpoena." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. WashPo Columnist Alleges Fauci Paid for Murder of Bernie Sanders. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "My family recently got a new puppy, a strong-willed and mouthy but ultimately lovable little nipper. We named him Bernie Sanders. Unfortunately, though, I can't take Bernie out on walks. Here in the capital, we have a puppy killer on the loose, a murderous psychopath known as Anthony S. Fauci. 'Dr. Anthony Fauci is facing calls from a bipartisan group of legislators to respond to allegations that his National Institutes of Health division provided a grant to a lab in Tunisia to torture and kill dozens of beagle puppies for twisted scientific experiments,' Rupert Murdoch's New York Post reported Sunday afternoon.... [And so on.] As it turns out, the only thing being tortured here is the truth.... This Tunisian study was erroneously attributed to [Fauci's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases]. NIAID did, however, fund different research in Tunisia -- and the beagles weren't puppies, they weren't euthanized, they weren't 'de-barked,' and they weren't 'trapped' so 'flies could eat them alive.' The dogs were given an experimental vaccine and allowed to roam. There was a very good reason for this: Dogs are the main reservoir host (and flies the main vector) of the disease that was being studied.... But right-wing news outlets, through stupidity or malice, conflated separate studies funded by NIAID...." MB P.S. Don't believe every headline you read.

William Booth & Amanda Coletta of the Washington Post: "Global greenhouse gas emissions are on a catastrophic trajectory and developed nations will fall short of a pledge made more than a decade ago to mobilize $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing nations transition to greener economies and adapt to climate change, two reports concluded Monday. The findings raise the stakes for -- and threaten to undermine -- the success of a United Nations climate summit, known as COP26, that is set to begin in Glasgow, Scotland, next week and could determine whether the world can effectively reset its climate trajectory." ~~~

~~~ Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "In the lead-up to COP26, a crucial U.N. climate summit next month in Glasgow, Scotland, [United Nations Secretary General António] Guterres is working feverishly to write [a happy] ending. With the world on a path that scientists have said will lead to catastrophic warming, the 72-year-old diplomat has assumed the role of the globe's exhorter-in-chief for bolder climate action. He has chided leaders of rich nations for not doing more to cut greenhouse gas emissions and for not living up to their promises to help poorer, vulnerable countries deal with the mounting disasters of a warming world. He has served as a megaphone for scientists, warning in blunt terms that failure to slow global warming will lead to more costly disasters and more human suffering in the years ahead. He has amplified the grievances of young activists, who have marched in the streets by the millions demanding more urgency from those in power.... What Guterres has failed to do, at least yet, is persuade presidents and prime ministers to lock in the sweeping commitments necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial levels -- the most ambitious goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement."

Douglas MacMillan & Will Englund of the Washington Post (Oct. 24): "Across the nation, severe weather fueled by climate change is pushing aging electrical systems past their limits, often with deadly results. Last year, the average American home endured more than eight hours without power, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration -- more than double the outage time five years ago.... As storms grow fiercer and more frequent, environmental groups are pushing states to completely reimagine the electrical grid, incorporating more batteries, renewable energy sources and localized systems known as 'microgrids,' which they say could reduce the incidence of wide-scale outages. Utility companies have proposed their own storm-proofing measures, including burying power lines underground. But state regulators largely have rejected these ideas, citing pressure to keep energy rates affordable.... A Berkeley Lab study last year of outages caused by major weather events in six states found that neither state officials nor utility executives attempted to calculate the social and economic costs of longer and more frequent outages, such as food spoilage, business closures, supply chain disruptions and medical problems."

Margaret Renkl of the New York Times: "Gasoline-powered leaf blowers are invaders, the most maddening of all the maddening, environment-destroying tools of the American lawn-care industry. Nearly everything about how Americans 'care' for their lawns is deadly. Pesticides prevent wildflower seeds from germinating and poison the insects that feed songbirds and other wildlife. Lawn mower blades, set too low, chop into bits the snakes and turtles and baby rabbits that can't get away in time. Mulch, piled too deep, smothers ground-nesting bees, and often the very plants that mulch is supposed to protect, as well. But the gasoline-powered leaf blower exists in a category of environmental hell all its own, spewing pollutants -- carbon monoxide, smog-forming nitrous oxides, carcinogenic hydrocarbons -- into the atmosphere at a literally breathtaking rate. This particular environmental catastrophe is not news. A 2011 study by Edmunds found that a two-stroke gasoline-powered leaf blower spewed out more pollution than a 6,200-pound Ford F-150 SVT Raptor pickup truck." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: This turns out to be news I can use. I have always mulched leaves into the grass, but this year I have a lawn-care guy, and he came around with his leaf-blower last week. I asked him to mulch the leaves instead of blowing them and he gave me a long explanation of why he couldn't. There are more leaves on the ground now, so the leaf-blower will be back. This time, I'll tell him not to blow the leaves.

"The Party of Thugs." Paul Waldman of the Washington Post: "In 2020, Joe Biden repeatedly insisted that once Donald Trump departed office the Republican Party would become more reasonable. Instead, it has become even more of a party of thugs, where basic norms of polite behavior are held in contempt.... If Republicans across the country are reacting to the simple fact of having a president from the other party by scrawling their simian grunts of rage on cardboard and placing them in their front yards, can you imagine what they'd be doing if the president was Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris? Biden hasn't been easy to hate.... Trump told Republicans that being polite was for suckers and losers, liberating them to let their worst selves come out loud and proud. Every bigot, bully, sexual harasser and lunkheaded goon seemed to gravitate to his cause, recognizing a kindred spirit." Column includes an explanation of the new GOP meme "Let's go Brandon."~~~

~~~ Sexual Abusers ᴙ Us. Sara Murray of CNN: "Donald Trump is throwing his support behind a trio of candidates whose troubled pasts have come under scrutiny, as he continues to influence the standards of the GOP from his post-presidency perch. In Georgia, Trump has wholeheartedly endorsed former football star Herschel Walker for Senate, even though he's faced allegations of threatening multiple women over the span of a decade. In Ohio, Trump is backing former senior White House adviser Max Miller for Congress -- even as he faces allegations of abuse from his ex-girlfriend, former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham. And in Pennsylvania, Trump threw his support behind retired Army captain Sean Parnell, who is embroiled in a custody battle with an estranged wife who previously obtained two temporary protection from abuse orders against him. None of these issues, which have been documented in interviews, court filings and police records, have dissuaded Trump."

Most Dead Voters Are Republicans. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump and those around him threw a multitude of voter-fraud conspiracy theories at the wall after the 2020 election. And few were as pervasive as the idea that people rose from the dead to help defeat Trump's reelection bid. The Trump team and its allies cited supposedly thousands of dead voters in multiple states.... Nearly a year later, those ... claims have provided a case study in -- and a microcosm of -- just how ridiculous this whole exercise was. The [few] specific dead people cited by Trump and his allies have, in most cases, proved to not actually have been cases of dead people's identities used fraudulently to vote. And in several other cases, in which a dead person was actually recorded as voting, the culprit has been identified: not a systemic effort to inflate vote totals for President Biden, but rather a Republican."

Kaitlan Collins & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "President Joe Biden has once again refused to assert executive privilege over more documents that ... Donald Trump has sought to keep out of the hands of the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. According to a letter obtained by CNN, White House counsel Dana Remus informed National Archivist David Ferriero on Monday that Biden would not assert privilege over additional materials that Trump requested remain secret as a matter of executive privilege."

Betsy Swan, et al., of Politico: "Dustin Stockton, a conservative activist linked to Steve Bannon, is fielding questions Monday from congressional investigators scrutinizing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to two sources familiar with the interview.... Stockton previously drew national media attention for his connection to We Build The Wall, a crowdfunding effort that purported to raise money to construct a wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Prosecutors in New York charged Steve Bannon and three others with defrauding donors in relation to the fund.... Trump pardoned Bannon for his involvement. Stockton has not been charged with any wrongdoing but has reportedly been linked to the investigation. He's spoken to multiple media outlets about the events leading up to the Capitol attack. In the days and weeks leading up to the pro-Trump Jan. 6 rallies, Stockton heavily promoted the event. And in the aftermath, he has defended some of the militia groups who had significant contingents charged with participating in the attack on the Capitol."

Cristina Cabrera of TPM: "Several Democratic House members have seized on the new Rolling Stone magazine article on the Capitol insurrection to call for the expulsion of the pro-Trump hardliners in Congress who were allegedly involved in planning the rallies on Jan. 6 that preceded the deadly attack. 'Any member of Congress who helped plot a terrorist attack on our nation's Capitol must be expelled,' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) declared via Twitter on Sunday night.... The calls came after two unnamed organizers of the pro-Trump rallies on Jan. 6 told the Rolling Stone that they had had 'dozens' of meetings with multiple members of Congress or their staffers to plan the events. Those lawmakers were Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Louie Gohmert (R-TX), the organizers said." A Raw Story summary story of the Rolling Stone report, also linked yesterday, is here. ~~~

~~~ Mo Claims Ignorance, Proclaims Innocence. Bryan Lyman of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser: "U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks said Monday he did not help plan a Jan. 6 rally that preceded an attack on the U.S. Capitol that involved the deaths of at least five people and injuries to hundreds more. Responding to a report in Rolling Stone that named Brooks or his top staffers as having a role in organizing the rally, the Huntsville Republican said he did not know that his staffers had been involved.... The congressman pushed false charges of voter fraud after President Joe Biden's win in November. He has continued to do so, despite no evidence for his claims. Brooks said he only spoke at the Jan. 6 rally because the White House asked him to do so...."

All in the Family (of Sociopaths)

Katherine Huggins of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump blasted Fox News on Sunday, claiming the network 'continually allow[s] horrible and untruthful anti-Trump commercials to be run.'... The PAC MeidasTouch claimed responsibility for the ad that got under Trump's skin...." (Also linked yesterday.) Here's the ad: ~~~

Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Monday, The Daily Beast reported that Donald Trump Jr. is now hawking shirts from his website making fun of the fatal movie set accident that killed Alec Baldwin's cinematographer Halnya Hutchins. '... Donald Jr., is hawking $27.99 T-shirts on his official site with the mocking slogan: "Guns don't kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people." On his Instagram stories, the Trump son also posted a photoshopped pic of the actor wearing one of the Ts,' reported Jamie Ross. 'It's the latest and possibly most egregious example of Trumpworld's celebration of Thursday's fatal accident on the set of Rust. The alt-right has reveled in the shooting due to Baldwin's previous mockery of ... Donald Trump and his advocacy for tighter controls on firearms.'" The Daily Beast story, where is here, is firewalled. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: This really is a family of sociopaths. They take great umbrage when someone makes fun of their own failings, but they think the misfortunes of others -- even if death is the result -- are hilarious ... AND present opportunities for them to profit financially. Thus, they have no affective understanding of the difference between laughing at the abstract humor of "I fell in a vat of chocolate" and a case where a real person might die or be injured by actually falling into a vat of chocolate. ~~~

(~~~ Here's one for the kids: ~~~)

Jim Waterson & Dan Milmo of the Guardian: "Mark Zuckerberg 'has unilateral control over 3 billion people' due to his unassailable position at the top of Facebook, the whistleblower Frances Haugen told [Members of the British Parliament] as she called for urgent external regulation to rein in the tech company's management and reduce the harm being done to society. Haugen, a former Facebook employee who released tens of thousands of damaging documents about its inner workings, travelled to London from the US for a parliamentary hearing and gave qualified backing to UK government proposals to regulate social media platforms and make them take some responsibility for content on their sites." ~~~

~~~ Elizabeth Dwoskin, et al., of the Washington Post: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has demonstrated a "relentless determination to ensure Facebook's dominance, sometimes at the expense of his stated values, according to interviews with more than a dozen former employees. That ethos has come under fire in a series of whistleblower complaints filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen.... Experts said the SEC -- which has the power to seek depositions, fine him and even remove him as chairman -- is likely to dig more deeply into what he knew and when. Though his direct perspective is rarely reflected in the documents, the people who worked with him say his fingerprints are everywhere in them.... Haugen references Zuckerberg's public statements at least 20 times in her SEC complaints, asserting that the CEO's singular power and unique level of control over Facebook mean he bears ultimate responsibility for a litany of societal harms." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Cristiano Lima of the Washington Post: "A trove of internal Facebook documents reveals that the social media giant has privately and meticulously tracked real-world harms exacerbated by its platforms, ignored warnings from its employees about the risks of their design decisions and exposed vulnerable communities around the world to a cocktail of dangerous content.... A mix of presentations, research studies, discussion threads and strategy memos, the Facebook Papers provide an unprecedented view into how executives at the social media giant weigh trade-offs between public safety and their own bottom line. Some of the documents were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Here are key takeaways from The Post's investigation[.]" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ New York Times: "For weeks, Facebook has been shaken by revelations that have ignited a firestorm of criticism from lawmakers, regulators and the public.... The latest revelations, published on Monday morning, show internal research that undercuts the heart of social networking -- 'likes' and sharing -- that Facebook revolutionized. According to the documents, researchers determined over and over that people misused key features or that those features amplified toxic content, among other effects."(Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ How Whistleblower Frances Haugen Managed the Facebook Files. Ben Smith of the New York Times: "Frances Haugen first met Jeff Horwitz, a tech-industry reporter for The Wall Street Journal, early last December on a hiking trail near the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, Calif.... She became one of the greatest sources of the century, turning over the tens of thousands of pages of internal documents she had collected. Starting Sept. 13, The Journal justified her confidence [in Mr. Horwitz] with a meticulous rollout that included 11 major articles by Mr. Horwitz and other reporters cleverly packaged ... [as] The Facebook Files.... So there was an uncomfortable moment on Oct. 7, when a communications firm working with Ms. Haugen invited Mr. Horwitz and two of his editors to a Zoom call with a group that would grow to include journalists from 17 other U.S. media outlets. On the call, Ms. Haugen offered to share redacted versions of the trove of Facebook documents under an embargo to be set by the group..., which was founded by the former Barack Obama aide Bill Burton.... First she handed her documents to The Journal for a boutique rollout. Then she opened the journalistic equivalent of an outlet store, allowing reporters on two continents to root through everything The Journal had left behind in search of overlooked informational gems. Her intention was to broaden the circle, she said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: And then there are people like me. I have never looked to Facebook for news. Or for anything. I just found my Facebook page for the first time in years, and it's full of crap. There are a number of pictures of people Facebook thinks I might know. I don't. There's a notice that a comment I apparently wrote maybe 10 years ago "did not meet Facebook standards." Oh, dear. There's another notice about God being helpful to me or something. There are a few entries by people I do know. There is an icon to click on to access "News." I'll skip that. Maybe if Facebook had "skipped that" too, the company wouldn't be in so much trouble. Facebook is supposed to be a "social" media site. But the majority of its problems stem from it's pretending to be a "news" media site. What happened to boasting about the kids and posting vacation snapshots?

Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times: "Hertz, the car rental agency, said on Monday that it had placed an order for 100,000 Teslas, a sign of growing momentum in the shift to electric vehicles. By the end of next year, when the Tesla order is completed, electric vehicles will make up more than 20 percent of Hertz's global vehicle fleet, the company said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ New Lede: "Hertz said on Monday that it would convert more than 20 percent of its rental fleet to Tesla's electric cars by the end of next year, an announcement that helped propel Tesla's stock value beyond $1 trillion for the first time."

A Texas man has a question -- and an opinion! -- about our God-given rights. Elie Mystal of the Nation has an answer. Many thanks to unwashed for finding the clip ... and for sending it to us in embeddable format: ~~~

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here.: "The Chinese government ordered the northwestern city of Lanzhou locked down on Tuesday as officials carried out widespread testing to quash a small Covid-19 outbreak. Lanzhou, a city of about four million people, reported six new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, and a total of 39 over the past week." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here.

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

Beyond the Beltway

New Mexico. Sonia Rao of the Washington Post: "... assistant director [Dave Halls] who handed actor Alec Baldwin a prop firearm that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on the set of 'Rust' last week had been fired from a previous film in 2019 after an unexpected discharge on that set, according to a producer from that film.... Halls ... was fired from 'Freedom's Path' in 2019 after a crew member was injured following the unexpected discharge of a firearm, said a producer from 'Freedom's Path....'" ~~~

~~~ Simon Romero & Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene that involved pointing a revolver 'towards the camera lens' when the gun -- which the crew had been told did not contain live rounds -- suddenly went off and killed the cinematographer, according to the film's director, who was quoted in an affidavit released Sunday night." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Simon Romero, et al., of the New York Times: "After the 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died following the shooting on Thursday, detectives from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office began examining the role that the assistant director, Dave Halls, among others on the set, had in the incident. They learned that Mr. Baldwin was told by Mr. Halls, who handed him the firearm, that it was a 'cold gun,' according to court documents. A cold gun on a film set typically refers to a gun that's unloaded. Investigators have not charged anyone or placed blame on any individual in the incident. They also have not indicated what kind of projectile killed Ms. Hutchins.... Mr. Halls, an industry veteran who worked on movies like 'Fargo' and 'The Matrix Reloaded,' has been the subject of complaints from various film professionals for years. The complaints, which largely revolve around his regard for safety protocols and on-set behavior, are fueling questions about the New Mexico production...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Virginia. Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "More than four years after hundreds of white nationalists and far-right extremists descended on the city of Charlottesville, Va., in a rally that turned deadly, a civil case that takes aim at the organizers is set to begin in federal court on Monday. In simple legal terms, the nine plaintiffs -- including an ordained minister, a landscape gardener and a lawyer who was a student at the time -- are suing 14 men and 10 groups considered the main organizers of the rally, accusing them of violating their civil rights and seeking damages for the injuries they sustained.... Delayed repeatedly by the coronavirus pandemic, the trial will revisit one of the most searing manifestations of how hatred and intolerance that festers online can spread onto the streets." (Also linked yesterday.)

Virginia. Hannah Dreyfus of ProPubica: "Interviews with more than 50 former Liberty ['University'] students and staffers, as well as records from more than a dozen cases, show how an ethos of sexual purity, as embodied by the Liberty Way, has led to school officials discouraging, dismissing and even blaming female students who have tried to come forward with claims of sexual assault. Three students ... recalled being made to sign forms acknowledging possible violations of the Liberty Way after they sought to file complaints about sexual assaults. Others say they were also warned against reporting what had happened to them. Students say that even Liberty University police officers discouraged victims from pursuing charges after reporting assaults." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Afghanistan/Pakistan. Susannah George, et al., of the Washington Post: "As the Islamic State-Khorasan is ramping up attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan is using a network of informal channels to feed intelligence and technical support to the Taliban to combat the threat, according to two Taliban leaders. Pakistan is passing the group raw information as well as helping it monitor phone and Internet communication to identify Islamic State members and operational hubs, according to a senior Taliban leader.... A Pakistani official described the communication between the two sides as informal discussions, rather than an established intelligence-sharing partnership. Pakistan appears to be one of the few foreign governments directly aiding the Taliban in the Islamic State fight, despite concerns from the United States and other countries that Afghanistan could once again become a haven for militants to carry out attacks on international targets...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Japan. Motoko Rich & Makiko Inoue of the New York Times: Princess Mako married her college sweetheart Kei Komuro Tuesday at a registry office. "The path to that tender moment had been torturous.... Rumors have metastasized and now impugn Mr. Komuro's character. Critics on social media have branded him a gold digger or a grifter.... Under the Imperial Household Law, which governs the succession of Japan's emperors, women are not allowed to reign on the throne. The law also stipulates that Princess Mako must relinquish her royal title because she is marrying a commoner, and she will become a commoner herself. Any children she has will not be in line to the throne.... But the family is running out of male heirs...."

Sudan. The New York Times is live-updating developments in Sudan following a military coup early Monday. (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

AP: “A powerful storm that swept through California set rainfall records and helped douse wildfires. But it remained to be seen how much of a dent it made in the state’s drought. The system weakened as it moved south but still dropped enough rain Monday evening to cause mudslides that closed roads in the San Bernardino Mountains northeast of Los Angeles. In the northern part of the state, drenching rains caused widespread flooding and rock slides over the weekend. Strong winds knocked down trees and even toppled two big rigs on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge near San Francisco. Pacific Gas & Electric reported that 380,000 homes and businesses lost power, though most had it back Monday.”

Comments Off

Permalink

Email Article

Sunday

Oct242021

October 25, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Elizabeth Dwoskin, et al., of the Washington Post: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has demonstrated a "relentless determination to ensure Facebook's dominance, sometimes at the expense of his stated values, according to interviews with more than a dozen former employees. That ethos has come under fire in a series of whistleblower complaints filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen.... Experts said the SEC -- which has the power to seek depositions, fine him and even remove him as chairman -- is likely to dig more deeply into what he knew and when. Though his direct perspective is rarely reflected in the documents, the people who worked with him say his fingerprints are everywhere in them.... Haugen references Zuckerberg's public statements at least 20 times in her SEC complaints, asserting that the CEO's singular power and unique level of control over Facebook mean he bears ultimate responsibility for a litany of societal harms." ~~~

Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times: "Hertz, the car rental agency, said on Monday that it had placed an order for 100,000 Teslas, a sign of growing momentum in the shift to electric vehicles. By the end of next year, when the Tesla order is completed, electric vehicles will make up more than 20 percent of Hertz's global vehicle fleet, the company said."

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

The New York Times is live-updating developments in Sudan following a military coup Monday.

New Mexico. Simon Romero & Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene that involved pointing a revolver 'towards the camera lens' when the gun -- which the crew had been told did not contain live rounds -- suddenly went off and killed the cinematographer, according to the film's director, who was quoted in an affidavit released Sunday night." ~~~

~~~ Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Monday, The Daily Beast reported that Donald Trump Jr. is now hawking shirts from his website making fun of the fatal movie set accident that killed Alec Baldwin's cinematographer Halnya Hutchins. '... Donald Jr., is hawking $27.99 T-shirts on his official site with the mocking slogan: "Guns don't kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people." On his Instagram stories, the Trump son also posted a photoshopped pic of the actor wearing one of the Ts,' reported Jamie Ross. 'It's the latest and possibly most egregious example of Trumpworld's celebration of Thursday's fatal accident on the set of Rust. The alt-right has reveled in the shooting due to Baldwin's previous mockery of ... Donald Trump and his advocacy for tighter controls on firearms..'" The Daily Beast story, where is here, is firewalled.

~~~~~~~~~~

Catie Edmondson & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "President Biden huddled with key Democrats on Sunday to iron out crucial spending and tax provisions as they raced to wrap up their expansive social safety net legislation before his appearance at a U.N. climate summit next week. Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said Democrats were close to completing the bill, displaying confidence that the negotiations over issues like paid leave, tax increases and Medicare benefits that have bedeviled the party for months would soon end. 'We have 90 percent of the bill agreed to and written. We just have some of the last decisions to be made,' Ms. Pelosi said on CNN's 'State of the Union,' adding that she hoped to pass an infrastructure bill that had already cleared the Senate and have a deal in hand on the social policy bill by the end of the week. 'We're pretty much there now.' Her comments came as Mr. Biden met with Senators Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia.... The White House called the breakfast at Mr. Biden's Wilmington home a 'productive discussion.'" Politico's story is here.

"Things Fall Apart." Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "Resistance to taxation is the rotten core of the modern Republican Party. Republicans in recent decades have sharply reduced the federal income tax rates imposed on wealthy people and big companies, but their opposition to taxation goes beyond that. They are aiding and abetting tax evasion. Republicans have hacked away at funding for the Internal Revenue Service over the past decade, enfeebling the agency. When the rich and powerful open loopholes in the tax code, Republicans reliably fight to keep the loopholes open. Indeed, they valorize Americans who find ways to pay less, a normalization of antisocial behavior that may be even more damaging than the efforts at bureaucratic sabotage.... Donald Trump's loud and proud declaration that paying very little in taxes 'makes me smart' was just a more brazen articulation of what has become party orthodoxy.... We create and maintain our society through our contributions. Or we don't. And things fall apart."

Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Rolling Stone is reporting that a pair of witnesses have spoken to the House Jan. 6 Select Committee revealing that Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) told them ... Donald Trump would issue a blanket pardon for some who attacked the U.S. Capitol that day.... 'Two of these people have spoken to Rolling Stone extensively in recent weeks and detailed explosive allegations that multiple members of Congress were intimately involved in planning both Trump's efforts to overturn his election loss and the Jan. 6 events that turned violent,' said the report, saying that it confirmed the account from a third person. It's the first time that Americans have heard about a member of Congress being officially tied to the events that unfolded that day.... The report said that it has 'documentary evidence' to prove what the three sources claimed. Trump campaign aide Katrina Pierson has also been called a 'liaison' between the insurrectionists and the White House and Mark Meadows was also named as a key part of the organizing. Read the full report from Rolling Stone." It is firewalled. MB: Gee, looks as if Donnie let down his insurrectionist buddies.

Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "In a biting piece for the LA Times, longtime columnist Doyle McManus pointed out that Donald Trump has only one overriding reason to become president again.... Re-election for Trump may be the only way he avoids jail time and forestalls a panoply of lawsuits he is currently facing.... "He's notching up another presidential first: He's running for reelection to stay out of jail," he concluded. You can read the whole piece here -- subscription required."

Ivana Saric of Axios: "Twitter suspended the account of Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) Saturday after he intentionally misgendered Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender Senate-confirmed federal official, a spokesperson for the platform told Axios.... 'The account referenced has been temporarily locked for violating our Hateful Conduct Policy,' the spokesperson wrote. 'The account owner is required to delete the violative Tweet before regaining access to their account.' Twitter updated its policy in 2018 to prohibit the 'targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.'"

Sheikh Saaliq & Krutika Pathi of the AP: "Facebook in India has been selective in curbing hate speech, misinformation and inflammatory posts, particularly anti-Muslim content, according to leaked documents obtained by The Associated Press, even as its own employees cast doubt over the company's motivations and interests. From research as recent as March of this year to company memos that date back to 2019, the internal company documents on India highlight Facebook's constant struggles in quashing abusive content on its platforms in the world's biggest democracy and the company's largest growth market.... The files show that Facebook has been aware of the problems for years.... Many critics and digital experts say it has failed to do so, especially in cases where members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP, are involved." The photo accompanying the story is of Modi giving Mark Zuckerberg a bearhug. A related Washington Post story is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

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

Florida. Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Sunday that he is looking to enact legislation that will provide a $5,000 bonus to police officers to relocate to Florida, where they can avoid vaccine mandates. DeSantis told host Maria Bartitomo on Fox News's 'Sunday Morning Futures' that Florida is 'actively working' to recruit law enforcement officers from other states who are being fired for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine.... 'So, NYPD, Minneapolis, Seattle, if you're not being treated well, we will treat you better here. You can fill important needs for us, and we will compensate you as a result,' he added."

Beyond the Beltway

New Mexico. Simon Romero & Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "There were at least two accidental gun discharges on the set of an Alec Baldwin movie being filmed in New Mexico days before he fatally shot the cinematographer, according to three former members of the film's crew. The discharges occurred on Oct. 16, the former crew members said, prompting a complaint to a supervisor about the safety practices on the set, which was outside Santa Fe. The crew members, who asked not to be named out of fear that their future employment in the industry could be affected, were among several workers who quit, just hours before the fatal shooting, over complaints about unpaid work and working conditions on the production. The disclosures, which were first reported by The Los Angeles Times, are focusing attention on concerns over loosely followed protocols and labor strife between producers and crew members during the production of the movie, 'Rust,' a low-budget film about a 19th-century accidental killing and its aftermath."

Tennessee. Jamie McGee of the New York Times: "As Confederate monuments across the South began to come down after a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., [some residents of Franklin, Tennessee,] wanted [a] 37-foot local statue [of a Confederate soldier], known as 'Chip,' gone, too.... [They] did not get the statue removed, but they have come up with a provocative response to it: a new bronze statue in Franklin's public square depicting a life-size soldier from the U.S. Colored Troops, largely Black regiments that were recruited for the U.S. Army during the Civil War. The new monument, which was unveiled Saturday before a crowd of hundreds, and five recently added markers tell the story of the market house where enslaved people were auctioned and the role that local Black men played in fighting for their freedom. Dubbed the Fuller Story, the four-year project led by [four] local residents expanded the narrative of why and how the war was fought." MB: Oh, my stars & stripes! Critical race theory being taught in broad daylight right out there in the public square. Another bright spot: if you look at the photo of the people applauding the unveiling, the majority are white.

Way Beyond

Afghanistan. Reuters, republished by CNN: "Afghanistan will shortly collapse into chaos unless the international community acts rapidly, Swedish and Pakistani ministers warned on Saturday.... Many countries and multilateral institutions have halted development assistance but increased humanitarian aid since August, reluctant to legitimize the new Taliban rulers.

Colombia. Rachel Pannett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Colombia's most-wanted drug lord, Dairo Antonio Úsuga, widely known by his alias, Otoniel, has been captured by armed forces in his jungle hideout and faces extradition to the United States. Úsuga, 50, a former left-wing guerrilla and later a paramilitary fighter, is the alleged leader of the notorious drug-trafficking group Clan del Golfo, or Gulf Clan, which dominates major cocaine-smuggling routes through thick jungles in the country's restive north. Colombian President Iván Duque likened Úsuga's arrest Saturday to the capture of [internationally notorious drug lord] Pablo Escobar three decades ago."

Mexico. Paulina Villegas of the Washington Post: "... several thousand migrants who, desperate for work and fleeing poverty and violence, decided to march out of the border city of Tapachula [where they were waiting for Mexico to process their asylum applications --] on Saturday. Mexico's National Guard forces tried to stop them, but the contingent pushed through. They continued their trek Sunday, hoping to eventually reach Mexico City.... The massive number of applications has overwhelmed an already flawed and underfunded immigration system, especially the agency responsible for processing asylum claims, human rights groups and advocacy groups say." MB: The article is vague, but these migrants appear to be hoping to settle in Mexico.

Sudan. Max Bearak of the Washington Post: "The detention by Sudan's military of the country's prime minister and a large number of his cabinet and party members early Monday morning plunged the country's fragile democratic transition into disarray. Just days earlier, the capital of Khartoum was swept by the biggest pro-democracy street protests since 2019, when longtime dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir was toppled by a wave of popular discontent. Crowds swelled in Khartoum's streets again Monday in response to the detentions.... Since Bashir's ousting, the country has been governed by a hybrid civilian-military transitional council, and tensions over power-sharing have repeatedly threatened to boil over into outright confrontation.... Last month, pro-Bashir elements within the military attempted a coup but were quickly thwarted." Read on. ~~~

~~~ Samy Magdy of the AP: "Military forces arrested Sudan's acting prime minister and other senior official Monday, disrupted internet access and blocked bridges in the capital, the country's information ministry said, describing the actions as a coup. In response, thousands flooded the streets of Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman to protest the apparent military takeover. Footage shared online appeared to show protesters blocking streets and setting fire to tires as security forces used tear gas to disperse them.... A takeover by the military would be a major setback for Sudan, which has grappled with a stop-and-go transition to democracy since long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir was toppled by mass protests two years ago."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Two people were killed and four others were injured, including a police officer, during a shooting at a mall in Boise, Idaho, on Monday.... When the police arrived, Chief Lee said at a news conference on Monday, officers found an individual matching a suspect's description and exchanged gunfire just afterward, which resulted in a police officer's injury. Chief Lee said the suspect was taken into custody."

AP: "A powerful storm barreled toward Southern California after flooding highways, toppling trees and causing mud flows in areas burned bare by recent fires across the northern part of the state. Drenching showers and strong winds accompanied the weekend's arrival of an atmospheric river -- a long and wide plume of moisture pulled in from the Pacific Ocean. The National Weather Service's Sacramento office warned of 'potentially historic rain.'" The Washington Post's story is here.

Comments Off

Permalink

Email Article