The Ledes

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Washington Post: “Rescue teams raced to submerged homes, scoured collapsed buildings and steered thousands from overflowing dams as Helene carved a destructive path Friday, knocking out power and flooding a vast arc of communities across the southeastern United States. At least 40 people were confirmed killed in five states since the storm made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 behemoth, unleashing record-breaking storm surge and tree-snapping gusts. 4 million homes and businesses have lost electricity across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, prompting concerns that outages could drag on for weeks. Mudslides closed highways. Water swept over roofs and snapped phone lines. Houses vanished from their foundations. Tornadoes added to the chaos. The mayor of hard-hit Canton, N.C., called the scene 'apocalyptic.'” An AP report is here.

The Wires
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The Ledes

Friday, September 27, 2024

New York Times: “Maggie Smith, one of the finest British stage and screen actors of her generation, whose award-winning roles ranged from a freethinking Scottish schoolteacher in 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' to the acid-tongued dowager countess on 'Downton Abbey,' died on Friday in London. She was 89.”

The Washington Post's live updates of developments related to Hurricane Helene are here: “Hurricane Helene left one person dead in Florida and two in Georgia as it sped north. One of the biggest storms on record to hit the Gulf Coast, Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend area on Thursday night as a Category 4 colossus with winds of up to 140 mph before weakening to Category 1. Catastrophic winds and torrential rain from the storm — which the National Hurricane Center forecast would eventually slow over the Tennessee Valley — were expected to continue Friday across the Southeast and southern Appalachians.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here.

Mediaite: “Fox Weather’s Bob Van Dillen was reporting live on Fox & Friends about flooding in Atlanta from Hurricane Helene when he was interrupted by the screams of a woman trapped in her car. During the 7 a.m. hour, Van Dillen was filing a live report on the massive flooding in the area. Fox News viewers could clearly hear the urgent screams for help emerging from a car stuck on a flooded road in the background of the live shot. Van Dillen ... told Fox & Friends that 911 had been called and that the local Fire Department was on its way. But as he continued to file the report, the screams did not stop, so Van Dillen cut the live shot short.... Some 10 minutes later, Fox & Friends aired live footage of Van Dillen carrying the woman to safety, waking through chest-deep water while the flooding engulfed her car in the background[.]”

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

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

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

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

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

Click on photo to enlarge.

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

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

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

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Thursday
Feb232023

February 23, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Mark Walker & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The crew of a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying toxic chemicals tried to slow the train moments before it derailed in the outskirts of East Palestine this month as an overheating wheel bearing set off an audible alarm on the train, an initial report from federal investigators found.... The crew then saw fire and smoke and reported a possible derailment to the dispatcher. Five of the derailed cars were carrying 115,580 gallons of vinyl chloride, a colorless hazardous gas. The report was released on Thursday as Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, visited East Palestine." ~~~

~~~ Sam Sweeney & Amanda Maile of ABC News: "Federal investigators on Thursday released a preliminary report into the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month. Detailing the report at a Washington, D.C., news conference, chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said 'we know what derailed the train' and addressed the town's worried residents. 'I can tell you this much. This was 100% preventable. We call things accidents. There is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable. So, our hearts are with you know that the NTSB has one goal and that is safety. And ensuring that this never happens again,' she said." ~~~

     ~~~ The NTSB's preliminary report is here.

Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to force former Vice President Mike Pence to testify fully in front of a grand jury investigating ... Donald J. Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, seeking to cut short any attempt by Mr. Trump to use executive privilege to shield Mr. Pence from answering questions, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The request -- amounting to a pre-emptive motion to compel Mr. Pence's testimony -- came before the former vice president had even appeared in front of the grand jury, and before any privilege claims had actually been raised in court.... Last week, people close to Mr. Pence previewed his attempt to fight the grand jury subpoena by saying that the former vice president planned to argue that his role as the president of the Senate meant he was protected from legal scrutiny by the executive branch -- including the Justice Department -- under the Constitution's 'speech or debate' clause. That provision is intended to protect the separation of powers. But the special counsel's motion to compel Mr. Pence's testimony ... did not address ... [those arguments]. Rather, it focused on the issue of executive privilege and advanced the proactive argument that Mr. Pence should not be permitted to avoid answering questions by invoking it on Mr. Trump's behalf...." The CBS News story is here.

Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A three-judge federal appeals court panel wrestled Thursday with tangled questions about Congress' immunity from criminal inquiries -- and whether it might apply to efforts by Rep. Scott Perry to aid Donald Trump's bid to subvert the 2020 election. Two of the three D.C. Circuit judges hearing the case appeared highly skeptical of the Justice Department's narrow view of the Constitution's 'speech or debate' protection for lawmakers, but it was unclear whether that disagreement would translate into a ruling that denies investigators access to the contents of a cell phone they seized from the Republican congressman in August. The complex dispute has enormous implications for Congress itself and the scope of protection that lawmakers enjoy from the speech or debate clause, which the framers intended to protect members of the House and Senate from coercion or intimidation by the executive branch."

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump said late Wednesday that details divulged this week by the forewoman of a special grand jury investigating election interference by Mr. Trump and his allies had 'poisoned' the Georgia inquiry. As of Thursday afternoon, however, the two lawyers had not filed any motions in court challenging the inquiry. Nor would they discuss what form such a challenge might take, saying only that they were weighing their options." ~~~

~~~ Barbara McQuade in an MSNBC opinion piece: "A blabbing grand jury threatens to upend the whole enterprise. At some point, impropriety by a grand jury could be grounds for a claim of violation of the due process rights of the accused. And a successful claim could taint anything that occurred afterward, requiring dismissal of any indictments and a complete do-over, so long as the statute of limitations has not yet run.... The rule in Georgia appears to be somewhat more lax [than federal rules of criminal procedure]. It requires only that grand jurors protect the secrecy of 'deliberations.' What's more, the judge overseeing the investigation did not prohibit members of the special grand jury from talking to the media so long as they did not reveal their deliberations.... But acknowledging that the grand jury had recommended indictments against more than a dozen people sounds awfully close to revealing deliberations."

Paul Farhi, et al., of the Washington Post: "The disclosure of emails and texts in which Fox News executives and personalities disparaged the same election conspiracies being floated on their shows has greatly increased the chances that a defamation case against the network will succeed, legal experts say. Dominion Voting Systems included dozens of messages sent internally by Fox co-founder Rupert Murdoch and on-air stars such as Tucker Carlson in a brief made public last week in support of the voting technology company's $1.6 billion lawsuit against the network.... Some employees privately described [the false claims] as 'ludicrous' and 'mind blowingly nuts' -- but Fox kept airing them to keep its audience from changing channels.... Under New York Times v. Sullivan, a 1964 Supreme Court ruling that has guided libel and defamation claims for nearly 60 years, a plaintiff like Dominion must show that a defendant like Fox published false statements with 'actual malice' -- meaning that it was done 'with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.' Based on the messages revealed last week, 'I think that Dominion both will and should prevail,' said Laurence Tribe, a former Harvard law professor."

Lauren Herstik of the New York Times: "Harvey Weinstein, the movie producer whose treatment of women propelled the #MeToo movement in 2017, was sentenced on Thursday to 16 years in prison for committing sex crimes in Los Angeles County. The sentence in Los Angeles adds to the 23 years Mr. Weinstein is serving in New York after his conviction there in 2020. In December, jurors in Los Angeles Superior Court found Mr. Weinstein guilty on three counts: forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object. All three counts were related to one woman, referred to as Jane Doe 1 in court...."

Robert Chiarito & Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Thursday sentenced R. Kelly to 20 years in prison for child sex crimes, after a jury found that he had produced three videos of himself sexually abusing his 14-year-old goddaughter. In a victory for the defense, the judge ruled that all but one year of the prison sentence would be served at the same time as a previous 30-year sentence that Mr. Kelly received after a jury in Brooklyn convicted him of racketeering and sex trafficking charges."

South Carolina. Ben Brasch & Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Alex Murdaugh delivered emotional testimony in a South Carolina court on Thursday, with the disbarred lawyer saying he did not kill two family members as financial pressures mounted and his life unraveled... Murdaugh said in court that he suffered from 'paranoid thinking' when he admittedly lied to authorities ... about his whereabouts the night of the killings. When asked by his defense attorney why he continued to lie to authorities, Murdaugh claimed he had no other choice. 'Oh, what a tangled web we weave,' Murdaugh testified. 'Once I told a lie [that] I told my family, I had to keep lying.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

Luis Martinez of ABC News: "A close-up photo of the Chinese spy balloon, taken mid-air from a U-2 spy plane, has been released by the U.S. military. The photo was taken on Friday, Feb. 3 as the balloon flew over the American Midwest at an altitude of 60,000 feet -- as the U-2 spy plane trailed it flew across the continental United States.... Visible in [the photo is] the balloon's white fabric ... and below it is the payload that carried reconnaissance sensors, antennae, and solar power panels." Includes photo.

"I Promised." Appeasing the Traitors. Luke Broadwater & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "Speaker Kevin McCarthy's decision to grant the Fox News host Tucker Carlson exclusive access to thousands of hours of security footage from inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack was his latest move to appease the right wing of his party, this time by effectively outsourcing a bid to reinvestigate the riot to its favorite cable news commentator, who has circulated conspiracy theories about the assault.... 'I promised,' Mr. McCarthy said on Wednesday in a brief phone interview in which he defended his decision to grant Mr. Carlson exclusive access to the more than 40,000 hours of security footage.... After Mr. Carlson has had his way with the video, Mr. McCarthy said he planned to make the footage more widely available. His team has had internal conversations about providing the footage to other media outlets after Mr. Carlson has had his 'exclusive' first airing, according to a source familiar with the deliberations who insisted on anonymity to speak about them.... In a letter to fellow Democrats on Wednesday, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said the speaker was 'needlessly exposing the Capitol complex to one of the worst security risks since 9/11.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: McCarthy is no Neville Chamberlain. McCarthy is worse. By appeasing Hitler, Chamberlain was trying to keep his country out of a European war. By appeasing American traitors, McCarthy has to know he is doing nothing but aiding an abetting another American civil war. There is no upside.

Maggie Haberman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have been subpoenaed by the special counsel to testify before a federal grand jury about Mr. Trump's efforts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election and his role in a pro-Trump mob's attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to two people briefed on the matter. The decision by the special counsel, Jack Smith, to subpoena Ms. Trump and Mr. Kushner underscores how deeply into Mr. Trump's inner circle Mr. Smith is reaching, and is the latest sign that no potential high-level witness is off limits." CNBC's report, which cites the New York Times, is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Amy Gardner & Matthew Brown of the Washington Post: "The forewoman of a special grand jury in Georgia may have complicated an investigation into efforts by ... Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election by speaking bluntly about its findings in interviews this week, several legal experts said.... Several legal experts said they were surprised and concerned by [Emily] Kohrs's unusually candid commentary, which included evaluation of witnesses, tidbits about jurors socializing with prosecutors and a stated hope that the investigation yields charges because of how much time she and others invested in the case.... If Willis does indict Trump -- becoming the first prosecutor to bring charges against a former president -- Trump could use Kohrs's remarks to advance the argument he's made all along: that [Fulton County D.A. Fani] Willis's probe has amounted to a political prosecution and not a serious investigative inquiry." An ABC News story is here.

"An All-out Revolution." Zach Montague & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Appearing for a second day of testimony at the seditious conspiracy trial of five members of the Proud Boys in Federal District Court in Washington, [a former Proud Boys leader Jeremy] Bertino gave the proceeding a sudden burst of drama by taking the stand against his former associates.... As anxiety spread throughout the group after the Supreme Court declined to overturn Mr. Biden's victory in Pennsylvania in December 2020, Mr. Bertino said that he and the group's top leaders came to believe that 'time was running out to save the country.' The Proud Boys, he went on, would have to take the lead in galvanizing other Trump supporters who came to Washington into realizing an 'all-out revolution.'... In text messages during the riot, Mr. Bertino and other members appeared eager to whip other demonstrators in Washington into a frenzy, expressing hope that they would 'burn that city to ash.'" Bertino was not in Washington, D.C., on January 6 because he was "recovering from stab wounds he sustained during an earlier pro-Trump rally...." Politico's story is here.

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "A Jan. 6 rioter who threatened Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on social media after participating in the attack on the Capitol was sentenced Wednesday to 38 months in prison. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 48 months in prison for Garret Miller, an unemployed Texan who, they noted, was wearing a T-shirt bearing ... Donald Trump's picture and the words 'I was there, Washington, D.C., January 6, 2021' when he was arrested weeks after the attack.... [Ocasio-Cortez] had tweeted the word 'impeach' after the Capitol riot, to which Miller responded, 'assassinate AOC.' In addition to the prison time, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols ordered 36 months of supervised release...." Includes of photo of Miller in his fashionable incriminating T-shirt. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Washington Post's story is here.

Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "A law firm that represented former Donald Trump strategist Steve Bannon ... is suing Bannon for nearly $500,000 in unpaid legal bills. The lawsuit states that Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP worked for Bannon from November 2020 through November 2022 and represented him on several high-profile cases, including investigations into Bannon's crowdfunding border-wall effort and the subpoena from the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021.... While Trump pardoned Bannon in the federal border wall case, the Manhattan DA's office announced an indictment last year charging Bannon with state charges of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering related to the effort. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The lawyers representing him in that case -- from a different firm -- have sought to withdraw from representing him and said there were 'irreconcilable differences.' Bannon is due in court next week to update the judge on his efforts to find new lawyers."

Annals of “Journalsim,” Ctd. Past His Prime. Monica Hesse of the Washington Post: "If you turned on CNN on Wednesday morning curious to see how Don Lemon would address his mini sexism scandal after his mini sabbatical and his 'formal training,' the answer is that he wouldn't address it, at least not on air. A few moments before his show began, the news anchor tweeted that he appreciated 'the opportunity to be back' and, to his colleagues and viewers, wrote, 'I've heard you, I'm learning from you, and I'm committed to doing better.'... 'Nikki Haley isn't in her prime,' he announced unbidden to CNN's viewers [last Thursday]. 'Sorry, when a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s....' While his horrified co-host [Poppy] Harlow repeatedly tried to reel Lemon back in ('Prime for what?'), Lemon defiantly blundered forth, insisting that wasn't according to him, that he was just the 'messenger,' that this was according to common knowledge and 'Google.'... His error was unforced and repeated.... Lemon, by the way, is 56.... I don't know what 'formal training' could provide Lemon that living through the #MeToo era apparently did not."

Naomi Nix of the Washington Post: "Facebook parent company Meta is preparing for a fresh round of job cuts, deputizing human resources, lawyers, financial experts and top executives to draw up plans to deflate the company's hierarchy, in a reorganization and downsizing effort that could affect thousands of workers. Meta plans to push some leaders into lower-level roles.... The job eliminations arrive after [CEO Mark] Zuckerberg sought to reassure workers that he didn't 'anticipate more layoffs' after the company slashed 11,000 jobs -- roughly 13 percent of its workforce -- in November." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Folkenflik of NPR: "NPR's chief executive announced the network would lay off roughly 10% of its current workforce -- at least 100 people -- and eliminate most vacant positions. CEO John Lansing cited the erosion of advertising dollars, particularly for NPR podcasts, and the tough financial outlook for the media industry more generally.... On an annual budget of roughly $300 million, Lansing says, revenues are likely to fall short by close to $30 million, although that gap could reach $32 million." MB: How about getting rid of your GOP-friendly, both-sides reporters, "analysts" & producers first. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Washington Post's story is here.

Presidential Race 2024. Meryl Kornfield, et al., of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump visited ... [East Palestine, Ohio] on Wednesday, escalating a political showdown in the wake of a fiery train derailment that left some residents fearful of contaminated air and water.... He was joined by East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway, who earlier called President Biden's recent trip to Ukraine a 'slap in the face,' as well as Sen. J.D. Vance (Ohio) and other Republicans. Yet Trump has also faced criticism for his administration's rollback of rail safety rules and moves to downsize the Environmental Protection Agency, which Democrats have cited as they seek to direct some of the heat toward the 45th president in the aftermath of the derailment. And some residents of East Palestine -- including Trump supporters -- said they saw little value in his visit.... GOP leaders seized on Biden's surprise trip to Kyiv to suggest he was prioritizing a foreign conflict over the situation in Ohio.... EPA officials arrived at the site the morning after the crash, and administration officials have argued that an earlier appearance by senior officials could have interfered with emergency efforts." CNN's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, no paper towels this trip. WashPo: "Instead, Trump said Wednesday he brought thousands of water bottles for residents -- 'Trump water, actually,' along with some other water of 'much lesser quality,' he added." ~~~

     ~~~ Guardian & Agencies: "Donald Trump's record of rolling back environmental protections was highlighted by critics on Wednesday as the ex-president visited the town of East Palestine, Ohio, and called the federal response to the toxic train derailment there earlier this month a 'betrayal'. Trump's administration, which rolled back more than 100 environmental rules in total, watered down several regulations at the behest of the rail industry. He withdrew an Obama-era plan to require faster brakes on trains carrying highly flammable materials, shelved a rule that demanded at least two crew members on freight trains and dropped a ban on transporting liquified natural gas by rail, despite fears this could cause explosions." ~~~

~~~ Put a Wick in It. Topher Sanders & Dan Schwartz of ProPublica: "Norfolk Southern allows a monitoring team to instruct crews to ignore alerts from train track sensors designed to flag potential mechanical problems.... The National Transportation Safety Board will be looking into the company's rules, including whether that specific policy played a role in the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine.... Norfolk Southern disregarded a similar mechanical problem on another train that months earlier jumped the tracks in Ohio.... Four miles [after the monitoring team gave the train a go-ahead to continue despite an overheated engine wheel], the train derailed ... and dumped thousands of gallons of molten paraffin wax in the city of Sandusky." ~~~

Corporations do stock buybacks, they do big dividend checks, they lay off workers. They don't invest in safety rules and safety regulations, and this kind of thing happens. -- Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) ~~~

~~~ Chris Isidore of CNN: "Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw pledged Tuesday the freight railroad will spend $6.5 million to help those affected by the release of toxic chemicals from its derailment nearly three weeks ago in East Palestine, Ohio. But in a plan released earlier this year, the company said it's planning to spend more than a thousand times that amount -- $7.5 billion -- to repurchase its own shares in order to benefit its shareholders.... It's not clear how much of the accident's cost will fall on Norfolk Southern. The company revealed Wednesday during a conference call with investors that it has as much as $1.1 billion worth of liability insurance coverage that it can draw upon to compensate third parties for losses caused by the accident. It also has about $200 million worth of insurance coverage to cover damage to its own property, such as tracks or equipment."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. GOP State AG Falsely Promoted the Big Lie. Yvonne Sanchez & Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "Nearly a year after the 2020 election, Arizona's then-attorney general, Mark Brnovich, launched an investigation into voting in the state's largest county that quickly consumed more than 10,000 hours of his staff's time. Investigators prepared a report in March 2022 stating that virtually all claims of error and malfeasance were unfounded.... Brnovich, a Republican, kept it private. In April, the attorney general — who was running in the GOP primary for a U.S. Senate seat -- released an 'Interim Report' claiming that his office had discovered 'serious vulnerabilities.' He left out edits from his own investigators refuting his assertions. His office then compiled an 'Election Review Summary' in September that systematically refuted accusations of widespread fraud and made clear that none of the complaining parties ... had presented any evidence to support their claims. Brnovich left office last month without releasing the summary....

"The records show how Brnovich used his office to further claims about voting in Maricopa County that his own staff considered inaccurate. They suggest that his administration privately disregarded fact checks provided by state investigators while publicly promoting incomplete accounts of the office's work. The innuendo and inaccuracies, circulated not just in the far reaches of the internet but with the imprimatur of the state's attorney general, helped make Arizona an epicenter of distrust in the democratic process, eroding confidence in the 2020 vote as well as in subsequent elections." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Congress shall make no law ... prohibiting ... the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances, except in Florida. -- First Amendment, U.S. Constitution, revised ~~~

~~~ Florida, the Sunshine Fascist State. Matt Dixon of Politico: "The DeSantis administration now requires events held at the Florida state Capitol to 'align' with its mission, a recent change that is sparking concerns that the governor's office is trying to censor events it doesn’t like. The Department of Management Services, the administration department that oversees state facilities, over the past few months has changed rules for groups or individuals who want to reserve space inside the Capitol.... The new rules specify that organizations must make their requests through DeSantis administration agency heads, the House speaker or any member of the Senate. The chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court can also ask on their behalf.... The new rules include language that allows DMS to request organizers 'reduce in size and scope' their event."

Marie: Many years ago, I had a job assessing essays that were part of state-run school tests. One year, Maryland required the students to write about the major problem in their towns. The kids who lived on the Eastern Shore wrote about the way some people docked their boats. The kids who lived in Baltimore wrote about street gangs killing their friends. What follows below is much more in line with Eastern Shore municipal "problems." The young people of Balto should be so lucky: ~~~

~~~ New Hampshire. Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "In a small New Hampshire tourist town, the front of a roadside bakery is adorned with an image of the sun rising over a row of doughnuts, muffins and other pastries. Whether that painting is a mural or a sign will determine whether the high school students who created it will see it taken down. The Conway, N.H., community has been captivated for months by a dispute, previously reported by the Conway Daily News, over whether the art project is considered a sign under the municipal code. The town says yes, because the painting shows baked goods -- and that the image exceeds the legal size limit for signs. The owner of Leavitt-s Country Bakery says no -- and, in a federal lawsuit, contends the town ordinance violates the First Amendment." MB: BTW, to my mind, the story includes one student's opinion that suggests defeatism is a formative principle of conservatism."

Texas. Oops, I Left My Gun in the Boys' Bathroom. Christine Chung of the New York Times: "The superintendent of a Texas school district has resigned a month after a child found his gun in an elementary school bathroom, a school district official said. Robby Stuteville had worked for the Rising Star Independent School District for more than three decades, serving as its superintendent for about the last two years, said Monty Jones, the district's high school principal. On Jan. 20, Mr. Stuteville accidentally left his gun in a bathroom at Rising Star Elementary School, where it was found by a third-grade student, Mr. Jones said.... Mr. Jones said that both he and Mr. Stuteville had the district board's approval to carry guns and that all students had been informed about this practice.... 'If we are going to take care of our kids and make them feel safe, we have to do it in house,' Mr. Jones said." MB: Yes, because nothing makes little children "feel safe" like leaving a (presumably loaded) gun for them to play with. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Thursday is here: "The U.N. General Assembly is set to vote this week on a resolution calling on Russia to leave Ukraine, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calling on members during a special session to vote and preserve his country's sovereignty, ahead of the Russian invasion's first anniversary Friday.... Wagner Group head Yevgeniy Prigozhin said an ammunition shipment is on its way to his mercenaries, in a Telegram post on Thursday. It comes days after he launched a bitter tirade against the Russian military, claiming it was depriving his fighters of ammunition.... Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived in Kyiv on Thursday, saying in a tweet that Spain will stand with Ukraine 'until peace returns to Europe.' There 'will certainly be consequences for China' if it sends lethal military aid to Russia for its war in Ukraine, the Pentagon said Wednesday, after China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, visited Moscow."

A New World Order: The West v. Everybody Else? Liz Sly of the Washington Post: "In the year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a reinvigorated Western alliance has rallied against Russia, forging what President Biden has trumpeted as a 'global coalition.' Yet a closer look beyond the West suggests the world is far from united on the issues raised by the Ukraine war. The conflict has exposed a deep global divide, and the limits of U.S. influence over a rapidly shifting world order. Evidence abounds that the effort to isolate Putin has failed, and not just among Russian allies that could be expected to back Moscow, such as China and Iran. India announced last week that its trade with Russia has grown by 400 percent since the invasion. In just the past six weeks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been welcomed in nine countries in Africa and the Middle East.... U.S. officials point out that 141 of 193 countries at the United Nations voted to condemn Russia after the invasion and that 143 voted in October to censure the Kremlin's announced annexation of parts of Ukraine. But only 33 countries have imposed sanctions on Russia, and a similar number are sending lethal aid to Ukraine. An Economist Intelligence Unit survey last year estimated that two-thirds of the world's population lives in countries that have refrained from condemning Russia."

Christian Shepherd & Vic Chiang of the Washington Post: China "considers the United States -- not Russia -- the progenitor of global insecurity, including in Ukraine.... From the beginning of the war, China has tried to protect its rapidly deepening economic and political ties with Russia at the same time it tried to assure Western audiences that it wants peace and should not be a target for sanctions.... At the core of Xi [Jinping]'s priorities for promoting China's security is an effort to counteract the United States' influence in the international order, often by enlisting countries that share similar grievances. Chinese complaints about American 'abuse of hegemony' in global military, political and economic affairs were listed in a five-page document issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday, which called the Ukraine conflict a case of the United States 'repeating its old tactics of waging proxy ... wars.'"


Israel/Palestine. Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "At least 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 others wounded on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said, in an hourslong gun battle between Israeli security forces and armed Palestinian groups in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said the firefight occurred during an operation to arrest Palestinian gunmen. Three armed Palestinian groups said that six of the casualties were fighters in their movements. Others appeared to be noncombatants: Time-stamped CCTV footage from late Wednesday morning that circulated on social media seemed to show the shooting of at least two unarmed Palestinians as they ran away from gunfire.... The raid on Wednesday was the second in less than a month to end in the deaths of at least 10 Palestinians -- two of the most lethal such incidents in years. A raid in Jenin late last month killed 10 Palestinians." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

Florida. New York Times: "A man who fatally shot a 20-year-old woman on Wednesday morning in Orange County, Fla., returned to the scene later in the day and went on a shooting spree, the authorities said, killing a TV news reporter who had been covering the original homicide and a 9-year-old at a nearby home. The gunman, Keith Melvin Moses, 19, also shot two other people in Pine Hills, Fla., the Orange County Sheriff's Office said in a news conference on Wednesday: the mother of the 9-year-old and a photographer who worked with the TV news reporter at Spectrum News 13 in Orlando. They were both in critical condition on Wednesday night. Mr. Moses was in custody by Wednesday evening and charged with one count of murder in connection with the killing of the 20-year-old; additional charges are expected for the other shootings in Pine Hills, about five miles east of Orlando, said the Orange County sheriff, John Mina." The story has been updated. The Spectrum News story is here.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (9)

I’ve never worked on criminal investigations (unless you count my brother and I trying to uncover the mystery of our disappearing books: our younger brother was swiping them and hiding them under his mattress! Argh!) but I’ve seen plenty on TV and read a fair amount of crime fiction over the years. The typical trajectory involves working from the outside in. Roust the low level types, the street thugs, see what they know, then work your way up the chain of command, through the sleazy capos, until you reach the inner circle before finally slapping the cuffs on the Big Cheese or knocking him off in some noisy shootout. The End, roll credits.

If the big hunk of stinky cheese in the middle is fatso Trump, the crackers surrounding that lump include Princess Ivanka and 666 Jared, which means Jack Smith is getting close. He’s already subpoenaed little mikey, who is hiding behind Mother’s skirts. Mark Meadows should soon be hauled in, which means there ain’t many more crooks to be grilled.

Great. So he finishes up, collects his evidence, grand jury stuff, write the report, send it to the AG, and…

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

But it was fun, wasn’t it?

And listen, Jack, me boy, while you have that sniveling little creep Jared under the hot lights, ask him about that $2 billion he got from the Saudis. I tells ya, the amount of corruption, fourberie, sneakiness, malevolence, criminality, and downright evil on display by the Trump Crime Family would have made Al Capone whither with envy.

Love to see those two cheese crackers go stale in a cell somewhere.

February 23, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Some perspective:

That anyone would watch Tucker Carlson for any reason other than to practice spitting at a TV screen is depressing, but his viewership is in fact around only one percent of the U. S. population, three quarters of which are the adults who might tune in.

Do we--and the media-- make too much of the nation's outliers?

Or am I just consoling myself this morning after reading too much grim news?

February 23, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

If you have the time listen to Jon Stewart's Pod cast with a Law Professor re: the Fox defamation case. Yowza!
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jon-stewart-fox-news-alex-jones_n_63f724a1e4b0a1ee1498293d

February 23, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterP.D.Pepe

MTG now says that the red states will only seek divorce if the
blue state pay alimony.
The red states be poor. Wonder why that is cause they be gettin'
money from blue state forever.

February 23, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrest Morris

Here's some info about the balance of payments by state - the difference in what they contribute to the federal budget vs. what they receive.

February 23, 2023 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed

Just a little reminder that a judge couldn't find enough evidence that Margie is a traitor to the country and shouldn't be allowed in Congress.
"Administrative Judge Charles Beaudrot said Greene, a Republican, may remain on the ballot because there was not enough evidence to show she had violated a Civil War-era rule that prevents insurrectionists from running for office.
"The Court concludes that the evidence in this matter is insufficient to establish that Rep. Greene, having 'previously taken an oath as a member of Congress . . . to support the Constitution of the United States, . . engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or [gave] aid or comfort to the enemies thereof' under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution," Beaudrot wrote"
Now she's calling for the red states to rebell and start their own shithole country.

February 23, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

@Forest Morris: Is this what you're talking about?

https://www.gocomics.com/drewsheneman/2023/02/22

February 23, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

I read elsewhere that five Rs went to Ukraine. They tweeted about it. Somehow, I “got to” read some responses. What a cesspool Twitter is. The majority of answers were toxic. Poison: all about Democrat Nazis and corruption in Ukraine and money laundering. I do not know where anyone gets this stuff but it shows how mean and nasty the Reds are, root and branch. I do not want to hear about bipartisan anything. But There is no danger of that anyhow, I guess.

February 23, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

@Bobby Lee: That's it in a nut(MTG)shell.

February 23, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrest Morris
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