The Ledes

Thursday, September 26, 2024

The New York Times:' live updates of Hurricane Helene developments today are here. “Hurricane Helene was barreling through the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday en route to Florida, where residents were bracing for extreme rain, destructive winds and deadly storm surge ahead of the storm’s expected landfall. The storm could intensify to a Category 4, if not higher, before making landfall late Thursday, and forecasters warned Helene’s anticipated large size could make its impacts felt across an extensive area. Areas as distant as Atlanta and the Appalachians are at risk for heavy rains.... Many forecast models show the storm making landfall late Thursday near Florida’s Big Bend Coast, a sparsely populated stretch....” ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post has forecasts for some cites in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina & Tennessee that are in or near the probable path of Helene. ~~~

     ~~~ This morning, an MSNBC weatherperson said Tallahassee (which is inland) would experience wind gusts of up to 120 m.p.h. and that the National Weather Service said expected 20-foot storm surges near the coast would be “unsurvivable.”

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The Ledes

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

The New York Times is live-updating developments in the progress of Hurricane Helene. “Helene continued to power north in the Caribbean Sea, strengthening into a hurricane Wednesday morning, on a path that forecasters expect will bring heavy amounts of rain to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and western Cuba before it begins to move toward Florida’s Gulf Coast.” ~~~

~~~ CNN: “Helene rapidly intensified into a hurricane Wednesday as it plows toward a Florida landfall as the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in over a year. The storm will also grow into a massive, sprawling monster as it continues to intensify, one that won’t just slam Florida, but also much of the Southeast.... Thousands of Florida residents have already been forced to evacuate and nearly the entire state is under alerts as the storm threatens to unleash flooding rainfall, damaging winds and life-threatening storm surge.... The hurricane unleashed its fury on parts of Mexico’s Yucátan Peninsula and Cuba Wednesday.“

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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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Friday
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July 15, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Daily Check-up: Is RFK, Jr. Still Crazy? Yes, Yes, He Is. Lucy Hodgman of Politico: "Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denied allegations of racism and anti-Semitism Saturday after he reportedly suggested Covid-19 could have been genetically engineered to reduce risks to Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. Kennedy -- a longtime vaccine skeptic who is running a longshot primary campaign against President Joe Biden -- said during a Tuesday night press event that Covid-19 was 'targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people.' He went on to say that 'the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.' After a broad backlash to his comments, first reported by the New York Post, Kennedy took to Twitter to defend himself[:]... 'I have never, ever suggested that the Covid-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews.'..."

~~~~~~~~~~

Melissa Quinn of CBS News: "The Biden administration announced Friday that it will wipe out $39 billion in student debt for more than 800,000 borrowers, relief that comes weeks after the Supreme Court invalidated a separate, broader effort by President Biden to address student loan debt. Unlike the broad forgiveness Mr. Biden originally attempted to provide, the forthcoming debt discharges by the Department of Education are narrower, stemming from 'fixes' announced by the administration in April 2022 to ensure borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans have an accurate count of the number of monthly payments that go toward forgiveness. The new student debt plan also relies on a different law than the one that was struck down by the Supreme Court." A Washington Post story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Tara Bernard of the New York Times: "Here's what we know about who's eligible [for student loan debt relief]."

David McCabe & Steve Lohr of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court on Friday paused a judge's order that had blocked much of the Biden administration from talking to social media sites about content.... In its three-sentence order, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said the preliminary injunction issued this month by a federal judge in Louisiana would be put aside 'until further orders of the court.' The appeals court also called for expedited oral arguments in the case.... The Department of Justice appealed the [original] order the day after it was issued."

Conservative Max Boot of the Washington Post: "Five years ago, on July 16, 2018..., Donald Trump met in the capital of Finland with Russian President Vladimir Putin. There he delivered what Sen. John McCain called 'one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.' Standing next to Putin at a news conference, Trump refused to condemn Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election or even to admit that it had occurred. This came a little more than a year after Trump had attended a NATO summit in Brussels at which he refused to affirm the alliance's Article 5 collective security guarantee.... On Thursday, President Biden visited Helsinki ... not to kowtow before Putin but to stand up to him -- and not to undermine NATO but to strengthen it.... 'I've been doing this a long time. I don't think NATO's ever been stronger,' Biden said during a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. He's right, and he deserves a world of credit for that achievement. Biden has shown more skill at marshaling an international coalition than any U.S. president since George H.W. Bush during the 1991 Gulf War....

"It's safe to say that none of that would have happened if Trump had still been in the White House.... So, if you believe in making America, rather than Russia, 'great again,' it's imperative for Biden to win in 2024 and maintain the policies that have so greatly strengthened NATO and Ukraine. As long as the MAGA wing remains as strong as it is, Republicans cannot be trusted on national security policy." See also NYT story on Putin puppet TuKKKer Carlson's performance in Iowa, linked below.

Haley Talbot & Clare Foran of CNN: "The House voted Friday to pass a sweeping defense policy bill following a contentious debate and the adoption of controversial amendments that touched on hot-button social issues. The addition of amendments pushed by conservative hardliners related to abortion policy and transgender health care access as well as targeting diversity and inclusion programs infuriated Democrats and led to push back from some moderate Republicans -- and will now set up a clash with the Senate." (Also linked yesterday.)

Flippity-Flip-Flip? Alexander Mallin, et al., of ABC News: "The special counsel investigating ... Donald Trump's handling of classified documents has taken new steps to examine possible efforts to obstruct the probe, threatening potential charges against a Trump Organization employee who is suspected of lying to investigators.... Special counsel Jack Smith in recent weeks transmitted a target letter to the staffer indicating that he might have perjured himself during a May appearance before the federal grand jury hearing evidence in the classified documents probe.... The target letter to the employee ... signals Smith's growing interest in the Trump Organization's handling of the surveillance footage and potential efforts to avoid sharing it with investigators.... Stanley Woodward, a lawyer who has represented the employee and who represents several other Trump advisers, declined to comment to ABC News." The New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Kristy Greenberg, a legal analyst for MSNBC, noted Friday that attorney Woodward represents both the targeted employee and Trump's body man Walt Nauta. Since these two individuals communicated and have conflicting interests, Greenberg said Woodward will have to end his representation of one or the other.

Zachary Cohen of CNN: "Federal prosecutors have interviewed the secretaries of state for both Pennsylvania and New Mexico in recent months as part of the ongoing investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to two sources familiar with the probe.The interviews, which have not been previously reported, indicate that special counsel Jack Smith is focused on actions taken by ... Donald Trump and his allies in seven key battleground states as they sought to upend Joe Biden's electoral victory.... Smith's team has sent subpoenas to local and state officials in all seven of the key states -- Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- that were targeted by Trump and his allies and where Trump's campaign convened the false electors as part of the effort to subvert the Electoral College."

Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "In his latest legal maneuver, Donald J. Trump sought a court order on Friday that would throw out the work of an Atlanta special grand jury and disqualify Fani T. Willis, the prosecutor leading an investigation into election interference in Georgia. A decision on indictments looms in the investigation, which has been in progress for more than two years." CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

A billionaire using donor money to pay personal legal fees, and now paying his wife more than 2x what the average American makes just to pick some tableware. There's grifting and then there's Trump grifting. Undisputed champs. -- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ~~~

~~~ Trump Pays Melanie Three Figures for Setting the Table at Home. Shane Goldmacher & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times:"A super PAC aligned with ... Donald J. Trump paid Melania Trump $155,000 in late 2021, an unusual payment that was not visible in the group's initial federal reports and came to light only in a filing by Mr. Trump on Thursday.... It is rare for the spouse of a potential presidential candidate to be paid directly by a campaign or an outside group affiliated with the candidate.... [A] representative for the super PAC ... said that Ms. Trump had been hired through her agency for 'design consulting' for the old super PAC's dinner and that her responsibilities included choosing tableware, arranging settings and picking floral arrangements. The fee was $125,000, and the second $30,000 payment was for additional servics rendered out of the scope of the first contract, the representative said.... The December 2021 payment to Ms. Trump coincided with a private fund-raising dinner that the super PAC held at Mar-a-Lago and that Mr. Trump attended." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)


Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "Representative George Santos, the New York Republican facing federal criminal charges, reported raising about $150,000 for his re-election campaign from April through June -- a modest sum that he mostly used to pay back money he had lent to his past congressional bids. The contributions came from roughly 50 donors, only four of whom reported living inside Mr. Santos's Queens and Long Island district, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission on Friday. A plurality of the donors said they lived in California, and, when reached for comment, some said they had given money to the congressman as a gag." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "... watching Republicans vomit conspiracy theories at [FBI Director Christopher] Wray, the name that came to my mind was ... Timothy McVeigh, the right-wing terrorist who blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people. McVeigh and his co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, were motivated by anti-government conspiracy theories that sounded very much like the garbage being peddled by Republican congressmen during Wednesday's hearing.... McVeigh's views would have been right at home with what House Republicans were spouting Wednesday: That the U.S. government is being secretly run by a decadent 'elite' that wants to brainwash right wing Americans.... It's the same conspiracy theory [that] .. dates back to the overtly anti-semitic conspiracy theories that motivated the Nazis.... The anger was over federal authorities prosecuting white men who thought themselves above law." Marcotte links the conspiracy theory to Ron DeSantis' flying "the others" out of his domain of Florida & Tommy Tuberville's effort to "debate" white nationalism. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A Politico story is here.

Presidential Race 2024. Russia, Russia, Russia. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: Tucker Carlson, appearing as a sort of emcee at a Family Leadership conference in Des Moines, Iowa, turned the forum into a platform for Vladimir Putin. "Mr. Carlson was given the task of interviewing six Republican presidential hopefuls.... In the hands of Mr. Carlson..., Ukraine became the bad actor in the conflict, not Russia.... [When interviewing Mike Pence,] Mr. Carlson called Ukraine an American 'client state,' accused Ukraine's Jewish leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, of persecuting Christians and strongly indicated Mr. Pence had been conned, despite evidence to the contrary.... The Family Leadership Summit was supposed to be a showcase of Christian values, where social issues like abortion and transgender rights were expected to be center stage."


Senior Federal Judge Michael Ponsor, in a New York Times op-ed: "... if there will not be formal ethical constraints on our Supreme Court -- or even if there will be -- its justices must have functioning noses. They must keep themselves far from any conduct with a dubious aroma, even if it may not breach a formal rule..... You don't just stay inside the lines; you stay well inside the lines. This is not a matter of politics or judicial philosophy. It is ethics in the trenches." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: Brett Kavanaugh says everything is going very well at the Supreme Court: "It's really I think government at its finest in the sense that everyone there is so well prepared. And we are a hard-working bunch and very well prepared and very on top of the issues and very respectful." Nevermind that, "Two weeks ago, Justices Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson sniped at each other in dueling opinions over ending the consideration of race in college admissions. Justice Elena Kagan accused the court of overstepping its authority..., and Kagan and Justice Sonia Sotomayor read lengthy dissents from the bench in the court's closing days to demonstrate how profoundly they disagreed with the majority's rulings. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. took issue with some of the critiques in his loan-debt ruling. 'It has become a disturbing feature of some recent opinions to criticize the decisions with which they disagree as going beyond the proper role of the judiciary,' Roberts wrote."

Shia Kapos of Politico: The "Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., the Civil Rights icon and former presidential candidate, is stepping down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, according to his son, Rep. Jonathan Jackson. The senior Jackson will announce his retirement at the annual Rainbow PUSH convention in Chicago on Sunday. Vice President Kamala Harris will the keynote for the event. And a successor to Jackson is also expected to be announced."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Kari Lake's legal team, including lawyer Alan Dershowitz, must pay $122,200 in sanctions after a federal court in Arizona found that the former Republican gubernatorial candidate's lawsuit contesting voting methods was 'frivolous.'... In May, Lake's legal team was levied a $2,000 sanction judgment for their role in spreading misinformation about election integrity."

Florida Sucks. Adam Nichols of the Raw Story: "A Florida columnist savaged his state's Republican politicians Friday for sticking their heads in the sand and ignoring reality.... Fred Grimm for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel ... rattled off a long list of issues that were affecting his state, and bashed its [MAGA] leaders for ignoring them.... Top of his gripes was the inactivity on global warming, even as Florida burns under some of the highest temperatures it has ever experienced. 'Climate denial just doesn't resonate after the hottest day in the hottest week in the hottest June in recorded history. Along with floods, wildfires, superstorms, droughts, mudslides, melting glaciers, dying coral reefs and other disasters ignited by global warming.' Other things the MAGA politicians were in denial of included the fleeing of immigrant workers, the cancellation of conventions and the reasons why insurance companies were abandoning the state, he said.... 'Imagine acting as if the spate of racist, homophobic, sexist laws spat out by the Florida Legislature embodies sound policy rather than the cynical contrivances of the governor's presidential campaign.'" ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "This week, I examine the potential price Floridians might pay for MAGA culture wars, pick the people of the week and share some lesser-known D.C. sites.... Florida has become not where 'woke' died but rather where empathy, decency and kindness go to die.... [Ron] DeSantis likes to brag that more people are moving to Florida than ever. Not so fast. 'An estimated 674,740 people reported that their permanent address changed from Florida to another state in 2021.['] That's more than any other state.... Moreover, Florida already is one of the states with the oldest average populations, and the MAGA culture wars risk alienating young people and the diverse workforce the state needs.... In addition, evidence points to a brain drain from Florida universities and colleges...." ~~~

~~~ Khristopher Brooks of CBS News: "AAA will not renew the auto and home insurance policies for some customers in Florida, joining a growing list of insurers dialing back their presence in the Sunshine State amid a growing risk of natural disasters.... The company is the fourth insurer over the last year say it is backing away from insuring Floridians, a sign extreme weather linked to climate change is destabilizing the insurance market. On Tuesday, Farmers Insurance said it will no longer offer coverage in the state, affecting roughly 100,000 customers."

Iowa. Colbi Edmonds of the New York Times: "Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa, a Republican, signed a strict abortion ban into law on Friday, even as a judge heard arguments to suspend it. Ms. Reynolds had vowed to sign the measure that was passed this week by the Legislature. It was immediately challenged in Polk County court by the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood, and on Friday those groups were in court seeking to temporarily block the law while their legal case moved forward. The new law bans most abortions after cardiac activity is detected, which anti-abortion groups say is around six weeks of pregnancy, before most women know they are pregnant. It takes effect immediately, and dramatically changes abortion access in the state.... The ban also shuts off another area of access for women in the region, as nearby states including Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota also have abortion bans."

New York. Michael Balsamo, et al., of the AP: "A Long Island architect was charged Friday with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders after detectives pursuing a new lead say they matched DNA from a pizza he ate to genetic material found on the women's remains. Rex Heuermann, who has lived for decades across a bay from where the remains were found, is charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. He is also considered the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman whose body was bound and hidden in thick underbrush along a remote beach highway, authorities said.... Heuermann, 59, was arrested late Thursday amid a renewed investigation that first identified him as a suspect in March 2022, when detectives linked him to a pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared in 2010." The New York Times' main story is here.

Oregon. Steff Thomas of the Hill: "A federal judge on Friday found Oregon's new gun law -- which bans large capacity magazines and requires residents to obtain a permit to purchase firearms -- does not violate the Second Amendment. After a week-long trial, U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut in a 122-page order found that the law keeps up with 'the nation's history and tradition of regulating uniquely dangerous features of weapons and firearms to protect public safety.'"

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is credited with easing the global food crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine, is set to expire Monday amid rising concerns that Moscow will not renew the deal.... South Korea's president Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in Kyiv on Saturday, making him one of a handful of Asian leaders to visit the war-torn nation. He visited Bucha, the site of mass killings, and will lay a wreath of remembrance in the capital before meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the country's Yonhap news agency. Seoul has so far sent humanitarian and financial aid to Ukraine but is under pressure to send weapons.... The Wagner Group is now training troops in Belarus, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Friday....

"South Africa is trying to convince Putin not to attend an economic summit in the country in August, local media reported. As a signatory to the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court, which issued a warrant for Putin's arrest in March, South Africa would be obliged to arrest the Russian leader. 'It's a big dilemma for us. Of course, we cannot arrest him,' Deputy South African President Paul Mashatile said in an interview."

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: "The police were searching for a gunman who they say killed four people in a Georgia suburb on Saturday morning in a shooting with no known motive. The shooting was reported at 10:45 a.m. in a residential neighborhood of Hampton, Ga., a city roughly 35 miles south of Atlanta, James Turner, the Hampton police chief, said at a news conference." ~~~

     ~~~ The AP story, where is here, identifies a suspect.

CNN: “Michael Burham, the inmate with survivalist skills who escaped a prison in Pennsylvania, has been captured in a wooded area near Warren after more than a week on the run, authorities announced Saturday."

Washington Post: "Evelyn Boyd Granville, one of the first Black women to receive a doctorate in mathematics from an American university and whose groundbreaking work in computers included helping calculate orbit trajectories and lunar-landing scenarios for the space program, died June 27 at her home in Silver Spring, Md. She was 99."

Guardian: "After days of unrelenting temperatures across much of the region, the American west is bracing for even more intense heat this weekend with more than a third of Americans under extreme heat alerts. California is facing a powerful heatdome, bringing sweltering conditions expected to build Friday and through the weekend, in central and southern parts of the state. The National Weather Service warned many residents they should prepare for the hottest weather of the year as desert area highs could exceed 120F (48.8C)."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (7)

Many more states vying with Rubin's Florida for the best place to live and work. Looks like DeSantis has a long way to go, but you gotta hand it to the guy for trying.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/14/these-are-americas-10-worst-states-to-live-and-work-in.html

July 15, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

@Ken Winkes: Funny, but I think every one of the states rated worst has a legislature controlled by Republicans. Definitely not a coincidence.

July 15, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

The top 10 is not at all surprising. Friends from here moved to
Houston last year for work. The jobs are great but they really hate
living there.
Already they have to order ice to cool the swimming pool to be able
to stand the hot water. It's a hundred degrees there most days already
and it isn't even August yet.
They live just outside the city limits but it takes over an hour to get to
a doctor or dentist appointment even though some of the highways
are 12 lanes.
To me the job wouldn't be worth it. I'll stay here and work for less.
But then I could select place settings and arrange flowers for my
dining room and get filthy rich if I had Melanie's connections. Wonder
what the $30,000.00 for 'extra services' was for. Don't answer that.

July 15, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

Don't know if this link will work, but the editor's note that opens this edition of "Hakai" is worth a read for its frightening implications.

info@hakaimagazine.com

If it doesn't work, I will explain at greater length. I'm just trying to avoid work.

In short, it's what happens when capitalism controls the information we receive...

July 15, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

The link doesn't go to the Haiki editorial comment, so I'll excerpt it here.

"On June 22, the Canadian government passed Bill C-18, the Online News Act, with the intention of boosting journalism in the country. The act would require big tech companies that generate ad revenue while sharing links to stories from Canadian news outlets, including Hakai Magazine, to compensate those publications. Rather than pay, Google and Meta—the parent company behind Facebook, Instagram, and Threads—have pledged to block all Canadian news content. Essentially, the government’s effort has backfired.

How so? If Meta follows through on it’s threat, Hakai Magazine’s Facebook, Instagram, and Threads profiles will all be blank—and you won’t be able to share links to our stories on those platforms. Even more shocking to us, though, are the implications of a Google ban. If that transpires, you won’t be able to reach Hakai Magazine’s homepage through a Google search, see links to our articles in the news tab, or find our stories in the Google Discover app.

These changes would affect your ability to find our work and that of other Canadian news outlets, possibly even if you’re not based in Canada. Other countries, including the United States, are working on similar legislation, which could generate similar backlash.

Meta has already begun to block links to Canadian publishers for certain users, though the act won’t go into effect for another six months....."

July 15, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

@Ken Winkes; That old expression is coming to pass. "No news is
good news."
I'll make up a new one: "There's no greed like corporate greed."

July 15, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

@Ken Winkes: Your synopsis of the Haiki comment gave me an idea:

The Congress should pass a law that -- instead of requiring social media to ban posts replete with disinformation/lies on topics of public interest -- would require social media to link at the same time to a news article from a "neutral" news organization that gave a more truthful account of the matter.

Of course this would never happen. Almost every Republican in Congress considers lying to be a valid political tool. (And the framers must have intuited this; otherwise, why would there be that provision in the Constitution -- the Speech & Debate Clause -- that disallows prosecuting members for lies they tell in Congress?)

Imagine trying to keep up with the lies on Donald Trump's outlet, for instance. But a law like this likely would cut down the disinformation. For one thing, the social media companies would just voluntarily delete the bull and/or ban the biggest promulgators of lies so they wouldn't have to spend money looking for truthful rebuttals. Trump's site would likely to be relegated to posts about the weather -- in fact, that already happened, not forecasts because they'd lie about the forecasts: "Urban voters: don't try to vote tomorrow; tornadoes expected in every large city."

July 15, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns
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