;)
April 25, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Lorenzo Tondo & Pjotr Sauer of the Guardian & Agencies: "Five railway stations in central and western Ukraine were hit by Russian airstrikes in the space of one hour on Monday, as the war grinds on relentlessly in the south and east of the country. Oleksander Kamyshin, the head of Ukrainian Railways, said five train stations came under fire causing an unspecified number of casualties, as most of Ukraine was placed under an unusually long air raid warning for two hours on Monday morning." ~~~
~~~ Marie: If you were trying to take over somebody else's country, it would make sense to blow up railway tracks that would be used to carry the country's defensive tools. It would make sense to strike a train that was carrying munitions. But it's just mass murder to strike train stations where civilians are waiting for trains. It's another war crime.
Margie Can't Recall Much about Martial Law, Including How to Spell It. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in January 2021 that some members of Congress were calling for Donald Trump to impose martial law to remain president, according to text messages Meadows recently provided to the select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.... According to CNN, Greene raised the topic in a text to Meadows on Jan. 17, 2021.... 'In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law,' Greene texted Meadows, misspelling the word 'martial.' 'I don't know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him. They stole this election. We all know. They will destroy our country next. Please tell him to declassify as much as possible so we can go after Biden and anyone else!'... Greene testified in a separate case that she could not recall whether she had advocated for martial law at the time." ~~~
~~~ ** Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "CNN has obtained 2,319 text messages that ... Donald Trump's White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent and received between Election Day 2020 and President Joe Biden's January 20, 2021 inauguration. The vast trove of texts offers the most revealing picture to date of how Trump's inner circle, supporters and Republican lawmakers worked behind the scenes to try to overturn the election results and then reacted to the violence that effort unleashed at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The logs, which Meadows selectively provided to the House committee investigating the January 6 attack, show how the former chief of staff was at the nexus of sprawling conspiracy theories baselessly claiming the election had been stolen. They also demonstrate how he played a key role in the attempts to stop Biden's certification on January 6." ~~~
Mark I was just told there is an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol Please tell the President to calm people This isn't the way to solve anything. -- Marjorie Taylor Greene (GQP-Ga.), in a text sent January 6, 2021. @2:28 pm ET, begging Trump & Meadows to save her life
No reply from Trump or Meadows. -- Marie
~~~ If you have a lot of free time, you can read all 2,300 text messages here, via CNN. They're arranged in chronological order.
So Unfaaaair! Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "A New York judge on Monday held Donald J. Trump in contempt of court for failing to turn over documents to the state's attorney general, an extraordinary rebuke of the former president. The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, ordered Mr. Trump to comply with a subpoena seeking records and assessed a fine of $10,000 per day until he satisfied the court's requirements. In essence, the judge concluded that Mr. Trump had failed to cooperate with the attorney general, Letitia James, and follow the court's orders.... One of Mr. Trump's lawyers ... said she intended to appeal the ruling." The AP's report is here. See also Bobby Lee's comment in today's thread.
Bianca Quintanlan & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Supreme Court appears poised to rule in favor of a high school football coach fired for his on-field prayers following games. But the justices left doubt Monday about whether they will issue a sweeping ruling backing the religious-freedom rights of school employees or a more narrow decision confined to the unusual facts of the case from Washington state. The religious liberty case argued at the high court Monday stems from a suit filed by Joseph Kennedy, a high school assistant football coach who was fired by Bremerton [Washington State] School District in 2015 after refusing to stop kneeling to pray audibly at the 50-yard after his team's games. While Kennedy and religious freedom advocates contend he was simply exercising his right to express his devotion to God, the school district maintains that his actions were coercive and that players' parents complained that their children on the team felt compelled to participate."
Joe Hernandez of NPR: "The National Labor Relations Board has sued the coffee shop chain Starbucks for allegedly retaliating against three employees who were involved in organizing a union. One worker was disciplined, suspended and discharged; another was 'constructively discharged' and a third was put on unpaid leave after the company revoked 'recently granted accommodations,' the NLRB said in a press release. Cornele Overstreet, director of the NLRB region based in Phoenix, asked the U.S. District Court in a filing on Friday to immediately reinstate the employees with their usual schedules and accommodations, among other requests."
The New York Times, believe it or not, is live-updating developments in the negotiations between Twitter & Elon Musk. ~~~
~~~ NYT Update: A Done Deal: "Elon Musk struck a deal on Monday to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion, in a victory by the worlds richest man to take over the influential social network frequented by world leaders, celebrities and cultural trendsetters. The AP's report is here.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.
We want to see Ukraine remain a sovereign country, a democratic country able to protect its sovereign territory. We want to see Russia weakened to the point where it can't do things like invade Ukraine. -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, at a press briefing on the Ukraine-Poland border Sunday
The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "In a risky and secret visit to Ukraine, the United States' top diplomat and defense officials arrived in Kyiv on Sunday, with announcements of sweeping diplomatic changes and new military aid for the embattled country. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.... In a move of symbolic and practical significance, the delegation told the Ukrainian president that the United States would move to reopen its embassy in Kyiv, and for the first time since 2019, nominate an American official to lead it. President Biden is set to announce the nomination of Bridget Brink, the current U.S. ambassador to Slovakia, as ambassador to Ukraine in Washington on Monday morning, according to a senior State Department official.... In the latest of a series of increasing military aid announcements, Mr. Biden is expected to commit $713 million in new military financing for Ukraine and 15 other nations in Eastern Europe, the State Department official said, raising the United States' total military aid to Kyiv to $3.7 billion since Feb. 24." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here. ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's "full report" is here.
Matthew Lee of the AP: U.S. Secretary of State Antony “Blinken said their meeting with the Ukrainians lasted for three hours for wide ranging talks, including what help the country needs in the weeks ahead. 'The strategy that we put in place, massive support for Ukraine, massive pressure against Russia, solidarity with more than 30 countries engaged in these efforts is having real results,' Blinken said. 'When it comes to Russia's war aims, Russia is failing. Ukraine is succeeding. Russia has sought as its principal aim to totally subjugate Ukraine, to take away its sovereignty, to take away its independence. That has failed.'"
Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on the heels of a trip to Kyiv, pledged ongoing American support to Ukraine as it faces the prospect of a protracted war against Russia.... The U.S. officials, in talks during a stay of several hours, said they had informed Zelensky of new military aid and the administration's intent to resume diplomatic operations in Ukraine this week, marking the return of U.S. diplomats for the first time since Russia's invasion began in February. Diplomats will return to the western city of Lviv, where Ukrainians and foreigners have sought shelter from the violence raging elsewhere in the country, a first step to reopening the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine's capital.... 'This will underscore our commitment, and it will make clear that we'll seek to have our diplomats return to our embassy in Kyiv as soon as possible,' a senior State Department official.... While other nations, including Britain, have announced a resumption of embassy operations in Kyiv, the United States has not yet taken that step."
Anushka Patil & Edward Wong of the New York Times: "President Biden nominated Bridget Brink as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine on Monday.... The Ukraine ambassadorship has lacked a full-time occupant since 2019, when ... Donald J. Trump unceremoniously removed Marie L. Yovanovitch. Shortly after, William B. Taylor Jr., a retired veteran diplomat, stepped in on a temporary basis until early 2020. The post has remained empty during the Biden administration even as dire warnings were issued last year that Russia was planning to invade Ukraine.... The U.S. mission in Ukraine has been managed by the chargé d'affaires, Kristina A. Kvien, a respected diplomat."
Theodoric Meyer & Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "Lawmakers return to Washington this week after a two-week recess, with Democrats preparing for a major push in the coming months to move legislation before the midterms consume Congress' attention starting in August. With Democrats' control of both chambers at risk, lawmakers are rushing to pass bills that they can run on in November, and Democratic senators working to confirm President Biden's nominees while their fragile majority holds."
James Downie of the Washington Post: Kevin McCarthy plans to do a political stunt today: a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. "It's a transparent attempt to distract from newly released tapes recorded just after the Jan. 6 insurrection.... [AND] Because ... it fires up the GOP base.... McCarthy..., whether [he admits] it or not, recognize that the easiest way to protect their standing in the Republican Party is to embrace the hate and stoke the same bigoted fury that led a man to open fire in [an El Paso] store," killing 23 people. MB: In fairness to McCarthy, he's quite an experienced stuntman. Just watch him jump through hoops for Donald Trump.
Hope Yen of the AP: "Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren is slamming Rep. Kevin McCarthy as a 'liar and a traitor' over recordings that show the House Republican leader -- despite his denials -- placing responsibility on ... Donald Trump for the Capitol riot and suggesting Trump should resign. It's unusually strong language to use against the House Republican leader, who is in line to become speaker -- second in presidential succession -- if Republicans win control of the House in the November elections. But Warren's statement reflects a swell of Democratic criticism against McCarthy." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Charles Homans of the New York Times: "Evangelical churches have long been powerful vehicles for grass-roots activism and influence on the American right, mobilized around issues like abortion and gay marriage. Now, some of those churches have embraced a new cause: promoting Donald J. Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.... Trump's narrative of the 2020 election has become a prominent strain in an apocalyptic vision of the left running amok.... [Some evangelical figures] embraced Mr. Trump's claims or argued for the preservation of his rule in spite of his loss. Shortly after the election was called for Mr. Biden, Paula White, a Florida televangelist who served as the White House faith adviser during Mr. Trump's presidency, led a prayer service in which she and others called upon God to overturn the election.... Michael Flynn...."
Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "A two-star general in the U.S. Air Force was found guilty Saturday of sexual assault, marking the first court-martial and conviction of a general officer in the military branch's 74-year history. Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley faces up to seven years in prison and dismissal from the Air Force for forcibly kissing a woman after a barbecue in Albuquerque in 2018. Cooley will be sentenced in proceedings that begin Monday by Col. Christina M. Jimenez, the senior military judge who presided over the case at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.... Cooley's conviction comes months after President Biden signed the latest defense spending bill, which included changes to the military's handling of sexual-assault-related prosecutions after years of mounting pressure from Congress."
When You Lose, Oil & Gas Execs Win. Iffah Kitchlew of the Guardian: "CEOs from the largest oil and gas companies received nearly $45m more in combined total compensation in 2021 as compared to 2020 amid the steep rise in gasoline prices across the US over the last year, a new report states. Twenty-eight major oil and gas companies, such as Shell, Exxon, BP and Marathon Petroleum, gave out $394m in total to their CEOs in 2021, according to an exclusive analysis provided to The Guardian.... These figures reflect the companies' massive earnings, brought about largely by the boost in gas prices in the last year. Gas prices experienced a 50% rise in 2021, reaching the highest they have been since 2014."
Lauren Hirsch & Mike Isaac of the New York Times: "Twitter is nearing a deal to sell itself to Elon Musk, two people with knowledge of the situation said.... Twitter's board was negotiating with Mr. Musk into the early hours of Monday over his unsolicited bid to buy the company, after he began lining up $46.5 billion in financing for the offer last week, said the people.... Obtaining commitments for the financing was a turning point for how the board viewed Mr. Musk's bid of $54.20 a share, enabling the company's 11 board members to seriously consider his offer, the people said."
Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: When Merriam-Webster's "online dictionary added a new meaning: 'a person whose gender identity is female,' [Jeremy David Hanson wrote in the word's comments,] 'The moron who created this fake definition should be hunted down and shot.... I am sick and tired of these cultural Marxists denying science and destroying the English Language. Merriam-Webster headquarters should be shot up and bombed. Boys aren't girls.' The Massachusetts-based publisher closed its offices for a week as a result. Hanson, 34, was arrested last week and charged with threatening to injure someone using interstate communication. Authorities have accused him of sending 'despicable' anti-LGBTQ threats for years to organizations across the country, including Disney, Land O'Lakes, Hasbro and DC Comics, all to 'evoke fear and division,' according to a news release from the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts."
Beyond the Beltway
California. The Misadventures of the "People's Convoy." Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: "A 'People's Convoy' of truckers eventually took the speedy way out of town after Oakland residents pelted the trucks with eggs in a scrambled [MB: ha ha] confrontation captured on video.... According to the California Highway Patrol, the convoy -- which involved about 20 semis, pickup trucks and vans -- initially rolled into the Bay Area last week to plant American flags on the lawn of the San Francisco residence of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). But they couldn't decide which house was hers, according to Daily Beast journalist Zachary Petrizzo. Then the convoy took off Friday for Oakland to protest outside the home of California Assembly member Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) over an abortion-protection bill and a second bill that would have mandated COVID vaccines for private business employees (which she had already put on hold last month), The San Francisco Chronicle reported. As the convoy jammed the streets outside a Safeway grocery store on the way to Wicks' place, residents and stuck drivers reportedly took the opportunity to buy lots of eggs."
California. Even Kevin Wouldn't Pull a Stunt This Stupid. Julian Mark of the Washington Post: "Trevor Jacob's small airplane soared over California's Los Padres National Forest in November when, all of a sudden, the propeller stopped.... Jacob, who was filming himself in the cockpit, cursed repeatedly.... Seconds later, he jumped out of the plane, using a selfie stick to film his descent before deploying a parachute and landing in the wilderness. The episode was captured in a video Jacob later posted to YouTube titled 'I Crashed My Plane,' which also shows the aircraft barreling into the mountainous landscape via cameras affixed to its body. The rest of the video, which has received more than 2.2 million views since being posted in December, features Jacob narrating his trek out of the forest and his eventual rescue.... Now, following a Federal Aviation Administration probe, the agency has revoked his pilot's license, concluding that Jacob crashed the plane as a stunt."
Marie: I don't watch many TV ads, but whenever I happen to see one that features minorities, mixed-race families or gay couples, I'm pleased. At the same time, I sometimes wonder if these ads don't aggravate the bigots. Turns out they do! ~~~
~~~ Michigan. Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "According to a report from the Detroit News, a far-right conservative radio host who is running for a seat in the state Senate as a Democrat, recently told listeners that he thinks families should be all white. Last week 'Trucker Randy' Bishop, who previously chaired the Antrim County Republican Party filed to run for a seat representing the 37th state Senate District as a Democrat.... According to the report, Bishop told his followers, 'Can't even watch a college basketball tournament without commercials telling me I have to feel guilty because I think a family should be a White mom, a White dad and White kids. They want us to die and go away....'... You can read more here -- subscription is required."
Way Beyond
** France. Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "Emmanuel Macron won a second term as president of France, triumphing on Sunday over Marine Le Pen, his far-right challenger, after a campaign where his promise of stability prevailed over the temptation of an extremist lurch. Projections at the close of voting, which are generally reliable, showed Mr. Macron, a centrist, gaining 58.5 percent of the vote to Ms. Le Pen's 41.5 percent.... Speaking to a crowd massed on the Champ de Mars in front of a twinkling Eiffel Tower, a solemn Mr. Macron said his was a victory for 'a more independent France and a stronger Europe.'... Ms. Le Pen conceded defeat in her third attempt to become president, but bitterly criticized the 'brutal and violent methods' of Mr. Macron, without explaining what she meant. She vowed to fight on to secure a large number of representatives in legislative elections in June...."
Slovenia. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Europe's once surging movement of nationalist populists suffered a significant setback in Slovenia on Sunday, in the formerly communist east.... In parliamentary elections in Slovenia, a noteworthy test for the appeal of right-wing populism, preliminary results indicated that the prime minister, Janez Jansa, an ardent admirer of ... Donald J. Trump, lost to centrist rivals.... With 95 percent of the vote counted in an election that the opposition called a 'referendum on democracy,' results indicated that Mr. Jansa's Slovenian Democratic Party, competing against 19 rival parties, had won around 24 percent of the vote. That is far behind the 34 percent of its main rival, the centrist Freedom Movement, meaning that Mr. Jansa is highly unlikely to keep his post as prime minister. The results, showing that no single party won a clear majority, presage a period of political haggling as rival groups try to stitch together a stable coalition in parliament."
News Ledes
New York Times': "Ursula Bellugi, a pioneer in the study of the biological foundations of language who was among the first to demonstrate that sign language was just as complex, abstract and systematic as spoken language, died on Sunday in San Diego. She was 91."
New York Times': "... wildfires this past week that have collectively scorched more than 150,000 acres [in Arizona, Nebraska and New Mexico] and forced the evacuations of at least 4,000 homes, officials said. The fires, which have been blamed for at least one death, are part of an early and active season across the country, as wildfires have also plagued California, Colorado and Texas."
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Reader Comments (9)
There are some segments of French culture that have worked hard to stifle unwanted foreign influences (especially of the American variety). There’s even an official group whose actual job it is (the Académie Française) to keep the French language pure by rejecting Anglicizations and annoyingly intrusive American words (don’t say “computer”, say “ordinateur”).
Some of that sounds more than a tad prissy and overly parochial, but French voters today can be thrilled that la belle France has never adopted one particularly vile and dangerous Americanism: the electoral college.
This hoary anachronism has gifted us the two worst president*s in American history, and the French can congratulate themselves on having a system in which the loser doesn’t win. Putain!
Marine LePen worked hard to rebrand herself as a normal person, not a far right, authoritarian whack job, had the vote been a little closer and had the French been burdened with their own le collège électoral, that country might have gotten a real taste of America: right wing fascism, a la Donald Trump. Merde!
AK: Enjoyed reading your take on la belle France. Our electoral college system stinks and needs to be changed but it will take forever if ever.
Marie: Your mention of ads featuring people other than white and straight. One of the first––-and it might HAVE been the first was an ad for Cheerios. A young girl with lots of black curls, asks her Mom (white) if Cheerio's really helps the heart and the answer is yes. The girl then takes the box of cereal and dumps it on the chest of her Dad (black)who is sleeping on the couch.
After the ad ran a great hue and cry spilled out from those who found it "Unacceptable" for an ad to feature a mixed race couple. Ha! said some General at General Mills and released another ad with a mixed race couple loving it up over a bowl of their cereal.
I have kept a close eye on how ads are featured people wise. Every year we get more people of color ––it's almost shocking to recall that not too many years ago only white faces faced the camera that shot the ads urging us to buy or invest or take in order to be better. richer and healthier.
And as I was about to "jump" into the shower the memory of the jump rope ditty we used to sing popped up:
"I see London, I see France, I see (name of some girl's) underpants."
Maybe Macron is singing that same tune today.
P.D.
Your delicate rendition of that jump rope ditty from long ago brought to mind other playground memories I'm too delicate to repeat. Loaded as they were with racial epithets, they are embarrassing, really, in today's context. And that's all to the good....and not unrelated to those multi-racial ads that Marie mentions that are unsurprisingly sticking in Rightist craws.
Have noticed and commented here in our humble home on one other change.
The faces and names of TV anchors, journalists and authors have also changed mightily since our purer Anglo-Saxon, Northern European youths. So much of what we're treated to by the various media originates with "foreigners."
Suspect that would be equally disturbing to the knuckle draggers were they to venture beyond the confines of Faux News, which maintains the myth of white (and blonde?) majority.
Or were they to actually read something, other than the sports page, where I guess "foreigners" are OK.
In other War News?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/25/large-fires-break-out-russian-oil-depots-bryansk-near-ukraine-border
I reckon the volume of fund raising will go up to cover the 10K$ per day the NY judge assessed for failure to comply.
Musk ox* grabs social media platform! Goring ahead!
It’s not like I’m a huge fan of Twitter, but hey, they did give the boot to a lying traitor, so there’s that.
Now we’re on the verge of a Muskified Twitter. Spaceman Elon sez he will make Twitter “maximally trusted”, whatever the Christ that really means. I’m guessing it means “Maximize my every whim and make sure everyone knows who is running things now because even my underarm hair is platinum”.
But his inchoate yelps about “free speech” seem to indicate that he will be inviting his pal Donald the Treasonous Liar back to the Twitter fold and handing him what he couldn’t get on his own with his laughable Devin’s Cow Media Flatform: a huge audience of traitors, crooks, gangsters, fascists, thugs, mass murder supporters, liars, and white supremacists. In other words, Republicans.
I guess letting Fatty back to hawk his lies is what Musky means by “maximally trusted”.
And won’t that be special?
Another filthy rich asshole ready to tell all the rest of us how it’s gonna be.
Swell.
*Musk ox stink when they’re rutting, so I’ve read. Wouldn’t want to be in that board room, cuz he’s ready to fuck Twitter.
@Ak, perhaps when Musk refers to Twitter and freedom of expression he was thinking of his own anal glands.
I do not have an electric car. My brother has a Tesla. I'm not sure what his reasoning is. He lives in darkest Ohio. He is a liberal. I really wonder what is going on his head today... 1. What is in Poobah Musk's head? Who knows? Who cares? 2. The guy is just looking to buy something, anything, and when you are the richest guy in the world, what do you buy? Airports? Twitter? Cities? Hungry people in the world? Poverty? He doesn't look as if he cares about shoes...