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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."

Contact Marie

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Thursday
Jul212022

July 22, 2022

Marie: My computer is acting up. If I don't post anything, I'm fine. It's my computer that's sick.

Afternoon Update:

That Didn't Take Long. Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Stephen K. Bannon, the right-wing podcaster and longtime confidante of ... Donald Trump, was convicted Friday of contempt of Congress for his refusal to provide documents or testimony to a House committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021 attack. The trial, which lasted a week and only featured two witnesses, tested a rarely-used criminal statute meant to ensure that people comply with congressional subpoenas. Earlier this month as he prepared for trial, Bannon had vowed to go 'medieval' on his enemies. But most of his legal arguments were rejected by the trial judge, and Bannon ended up calling no witnesses.... The jury deliberated for just two and a half hours before announcing its verdict.... U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols scheduled sentencing for Oct. 21. Each of the two misdemeanor charges is punishable by at least 30 days and up to one year in jail."

I meant to post this earlier, for those of you who prefer to see the humor in the news:

If you missed the January 6 committee, you can see it here, on the committee's Website.

Annie Palmer of CNBC: "Amazon is acquiring One Medical for $18 a share, an all-cash deal that values the primary health-care provider at roughly $3.9 billion, the companies said Thursday.... One Medical, which went public in 2020, operates a network of boutique primary-care practices, and also offers a range of telemedicine services."

The New York Times' live updates for Covid-19 developments Friday are here. They include news about President Biden's progress.

Ayse Wieting & Suzan Fraser of the AP: "Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements Friday with Turkey and the United Nations clearing the way for exporting millions of tons of desperately needed Ukrainian grain -- as well as Russian grain and fertilizer -- ending a wartime standoff that had threatened food security around the globe. The deal will enable Ukraine -- one of the world's key breadbaskets -- to export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural products that have been stuck in Black Sea ports due to Russia's invasion. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called it 'a beacon of hope' for millions of hungry people who have faced huge increases in food costs."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Amy Gardner & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Eleven minutes after he returned to the White House from his speech on the Ellipse urging supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol..., Donald Trump learned that the Jan. 6, 2021, protest had turned violent, according to new details presented Thursday by the House committee investigating the attack that day. But instead of harnessing the power of the Oval Office by ordering military or police intervention or exhorting the rioters to go home, Trump continued to fan the flames of discord -- and remained focused on trying to overturn the 2020 election, even as his aides implored him to stop the violence. He demanded a list of senators' phone numbers to cajole them not to certify the forthcoming electoral college count. He resisted aides' entreaties that he make a public statement condemning the insurrection. And at 2:24 p.m., the same moment members of his national security staff were learning how close rioters had come to Vice President Mike Pence, Trump tweeted that his second-in-command was a 'coward.'"

Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "For 13 minutes on Jan. 6, 2021, as smoke clouded the air and Vice President Mike Pence hid from rioters in his office adjacent to the Senate chamber, his Secret Service detail scrambled -- in increasingly frantic radio messages -- to clear a path for Pence to flee the Capitol. On Thursday, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack revealed harrowing video and audio that showed just how perilously close Pence and his protective detail came to danger, detailing how the protesters whom ... Donald Trump had riled up turned their anger on the man he blamed for failing to overturn the results of the 2020 election.... A White House security official who was monitoring the [radio] traffic told the committee that agents were 'starting to fear for their own lives.... There were calls to say goodbye to family members, so on and so forth,' the security official said in audiotaped testimony. 'For whatever the reason was on the ground, the VP detail thought that this was about to get very ugly.'... The witness said he could tell the danger that Pence and Secret Service agents were in because some agents were yelling and screaming, and some sent 'very personal' messages to have colleagues tell their families goodbye for them."

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times has five takeaways from the hearing. "The committee documented how, over 187 minutes, Mr. Trump remained in a small dining room off the Oval Office, watching the violence on television and rebuffing pleas by aides, congressional Republicans and family members to call off the mob even as he continued to call senators in the hopes of convincing them to stop the certification of his Electoral College defeat.... The president, after learning of the Capitol breach, resisted putting out a tweet saying 'Stay peaceful.' 'He told Mark Meadows that the rioters were doing what they should be doing and the rioters understood they were doing what President Trump wanted them to do," [Rep. Adam] Kinzinger said.... Mr. Trump never reached out to the heads of any law enforcement or national security department or agency in the government to seek help in responding to quell the violence.... A day after the assault, Mr. Trump taped an address, but he still could not bring himself to say that the election was over." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Over the past several days listening to the teevee, I have heard more than one legal expert explain that while most Americans do not have a legal duty to try to stop a crime in progress we may witness, the POTUS does. The presidential oath of office, which is prescribed in the Constitution, includes the clause, "... and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." The presidential (and vice-presidential) oath is unique in that regard.

As bone-chilling as synched video & audio of the efforts to save Mike Pence & his party was, there was one moment during the hearing that raised a laugh: ~~~

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The House January 6 committee on Thursday played Capitol security footage which showed the Missouri Republican senator Josh Hawley, who famously raised a fist to protesters outside, running for his safety once those protesters breached the building.... [During the hearing, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) flashed a photo of Hawley raising his fist in support of the soon-to-be-rioters and said,] 'As you can see in this photo, he raised his fist in solidarity with protesters already amassing at the security gates.'... 'Later that day, Senator Hawley fled after those protesters he helped to rile up stormed the Capitol. See for yourself.' The committee then played video of Hawley trotting across a corridor and hurrying down a staircase next to an escalator.... In the room, the clips were greeted with laughter.... Luria said: ''We spoke with a Capitol police officer who was out there at the time. She told us that Senator Josh Hawley's gesture riled up the crowd and it bothered her greatly because he was doing it in a safe space, protected by the officers and the barriers.' The senator has also used the [raised-fist] image for fundraising purposes.... Online...., one user scored the footage of Hawley running to a soundtracks including Stayin' Alive by the BeeGees, Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen and the Benny Hill theme.... The Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump conservatives, said: 'Hawley's legacy will forever be fleeing from the same mob he helped incite.'" Includes Twitter clips.

Yahoo! News: During the hearing Thursday, two witnesses corroborated Cassidy Hutchinson's earlier testimony regarding a heated exchange in an SUV between Donald Trump & Secret Service personnel on January 6 after the Secret Service people told Trump they would not take him to the Capitol.

New York Times reporters liveblogged news about/from the House January 6 select committee hearing Thursday night.

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post: "What was the most shocking and disgraceful moment in the White House that day? The committee highlighted the tweet Trump posted at 2:24 p.m., when he knew the mob had already breached the Capitol's defenses. Instead of trying to calm his followers, he incited them -- and put a target on his own vice president's back. 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,' Trump tweeted."

Mark Mazzetti & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "As the House committee investigating Jan. 6 uses its prime-time hearing on Thursday to document ... Donald J. Trump's lack of forceful response to the attack on the Capitol by his supporters, it will again raise one of the enduring mysteries of that day: Why did it take so long to deploy the National Guard? The hearing is unlikely to answer that question, but it could shed light on what Mr. Trump and his top aides did or did not do to send troops to assist police officers who were overrun by an angry mob determined to halt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. The mobilization and deployment of National Guard troops from an armory just two miles away from the Capitol was hung up by confusion, communications breakdowns and concern over the wisdom of dispatching armed soldiers to quell the riot. It took more than four hours from the time the Capitol Police chief made the call for backup to when the D.C. National Guard troops arrived, a gap that remains the subject of dueling narratives and finger-pointing." (Also linked yesterday.)

Not only have we learned more about what Trump was doing during the insurrection -- trying to get the insurrectionists to kill the Vice President and chatting with Rudy & members of Congress -- but now we also know what Mrs. Trump was doing! ~~~

~~~ Melanie: I Was Taking Pictures of a Rug! Kate Bennett of CNN: "Former first lady Melania Trump said in a new interview with Fox that she was 'unaware' of the ongoing riot on January 6, 2021, because she was too busy photographing a rug in the White House. 'On January 6, 2021, I was fulfilling one of my duties as First Lady of the United States of America, and accordingly, I was unaware of what was simultaneously transpiring at the US Capitol Building,' she said.... Trump's response comes several weeks after Stephanie Grisham, her former chief of staff, revealed a text message exchange in which the former first lady responded to a tweet Grisham had drafted calling for the violence on Capitol Hill to stop as it was happening. The then-first lady responded with the word, 'no,' declining to send a statement condemning the insurrection.... [As for her 'duty'] to archive the contents of the White House..., the White House curator and the White House Historical Association are predominantly responsible for keeping a record of the contents of the official White House collection.... Trump waited until five days after the riot to tweet a condemnation of the violence." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Griffith called Melanie's excuse "bullshit." Melanie claimed during the Fox interview that, had she known about the violence, she would have condemned it. Griffith could be more charitable & acknowledge that the White House a lot of rugs, and it could take days to rearrange the furniture & such to take all those pictures.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. During Hearing, Fox "News" Outraged by President Trump Biden. Andrew Lawrence of the Guardian: "On Thursday night as the Congressional hearings into the January 6 Capitol riot drew to a close, Tucker Carlson directed his outrage at a president he felt had lied and was not being held accountable for falsehoods that shook popular faith in the American democratic system. But he wasn't talking about Donald Trump inciting rioters to storm the Capitol. He was talking about Joe Biden getting Covid. Whilemillions of people last night tuned into America's other TV news channels and heard testimony about what Trump did, or rather did not do, during the hours when the rioters stormed the Capitol, Fox News viewers saw the network's primetime stars Carlson and Sean Hannity chide the 'twice jabbed, double-boosted' president for contracting the virus they say he alleged couldn't be caught with a vaccine."

Missing Texts Likely to Be Subject of Criminal Investigation. Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security directed the Secret Service to halt its internal search for purged texts sent by agents around the time of Jan. 6 so that it does not 'interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation,' according to a letter reviewed by The New York Times.... The mention of a potential criminal investigation into the deleted texts of Secret Service personnel sought by Congress and the inspector general suggested the growing seriousness of the scrutiny into the agency's handling of records from around the time of the attack on the Capitol. The inspector general's office cannot alone bring criminal charges but is required to refer the case to the Justice Department if it discovers criminality through an investigation.... The officials [whose text messages are missing] identified by the inspector general included 'mostly people operationally involved with Jan. 6,' including [James] Murray, the agency's director, and members of ... Donald J. Trump's protection detail, such as Robert Engel, Mr. Trump's lead agent, according to an administration official familiar with the investigation. Anthony M. Ornato, a deputy White House chief of staff under Mr. Trump who had previously been in charge of Mr. Trump's protective detail, was not one of the 24 officials.... House committee officials said that some members of the Secret Service have hired private lawyers. A person familiar with the statement said that Mr. Ornato was one of those who did." CNN's report which broke the news of the potential criminal inquiry, is here.

Ryan Reilly & Daniel Barnes of NBC News: "Closing arguments in Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress trial are set for Friday after the former Donald Trump adviser declined to put up a defense argument or present evidence to the jury. Federal prosecutors rested their case against Bannon on Wednesday, and Bannon's team indicated Thursday that they would not call any witnesses or present a defense case. Much of the day Wednesday was spent on discussions away from the jury, including talk about a defense motion for acquittal and discussion of the final instructions that will be delivered to the jury before they begin deliberations." MB: What Bannon had warned would be "the misdemeanor from hell" in which he would use the trial to pulverize his perceived enemies turned out to be a big nothing. Nothing at all.

Ryan Reilly of NBC: News: "A Tennessee man and self-described 'loudmouth,' who filmed himself screaming 'WE IN THIS B----' as he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, had a difficult time explaining his actions this week to a jury. Matthew Bledsoe, of Memphis, was convicted Thursday on a felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding as well as four misdemeanors, including entering or remaining in a restricted building and disorderly and disruptive conduct. Bledsoe, the seventh Jan. 6 defendant to face a jury trial, took the stand as a witness on Wednesday.... [Despite a good deal of evidence to the contrary, Bledsoe claimed on the stand] that he was unaware that Congress was certifying Joe Biden's 2020 election win when he stormed the Capitol."

Sean Keenan & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "A Georgia judge on Thursday criticized the Atlanta prosecutor leading an investigation into election interference by Donald J. Trump and his allies, calling her decision to host a fund-raiser for a political rival of one of the targets of her inquiry a 'what-are-you-thinking moment.' But the judge, Robert C. I. McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court, did not rule on a motion to disqualify the prosecutor, Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, and he also denied a motion to quash subpoenas sent to 11 bogus electors who filed paperwork falsely claiming that Mr. Trump won the 2020 election.... 'The optics are horrific,' [the judge] said, adding that it created at least an appearance problem."


Annie Karni
of the New York Times: "The House on Thursday passed legislation to codify access to contraception nationwide, moving over almost unanimous Republican opposition to protect a right that is regarded as newly under threat after the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. The measure is almost certain to fail in the evenly divided Senate, where most Republicans are also likely to be opposed.... The measure passed 228 to 195, with eight Republicans joining Democrats in support. It would protect the right to purchase and use contraception without government restriction. The legislation drew only slightly more Republican support than two bills that the House passed last week, which aimed to ensure access to abortion in the post-Roe era; almost all Republicans were united in opposition." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Are Republicans now asserting that life begins with a twinkle of a man's eye? Why the hell would they be opposed to contraception? (Yeah, I scanned the whole article, and the excuses Republicans gave were ridiculous.)

Confederate Justices Do Whatever They Want. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court handed Texas and Louisiana a temporary victory on Thursday, allowing a federal judge to block immigration enforcement guidelines issued by the Biden administration that he said allowed the release of undocumented immigrants with criminal records. In a brief order, the court gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications, but it said it would take up an appeal of the case and hear arguments this year. Four justices dissented: Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the three liberal members. That included Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who recorded her first vote since she was sworn in last month." A Texas Tribune report is here. MB: The courts are supposed to show deference to the other branches except when it appears the executive or Congress is violating the Constitution or the law. (In fairness, the district judge did rule that the Biden plan violates federal law.) That concept is so over.

Nick Ehli & Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Liberal Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said Thursday that it would be a 'dangerous thing' for the court and for democracy if the justices stray too far from public sentiment and lose the confidence of Americans. Kagan, who dissented when the court last month overturned Roe v. Wade's guarantee of a constitutional right to abortion, said the court's legitimacy is threatened when long-standing precedent is discarded and the court's actions are seen as motivated by personnel changes among the justices."


Morgan Chalfant
of the Hill: "President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday and is experiencing mild symptoms, the White House announced in a statement.... 'This morning, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is fully vaccinated and twice boosted and experiencing very mild symptoms. He has begun taking Paxlovid. Consistent with CDC guidelines, he will isolate at the White House and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement." A Washington Post story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ President Biden reassures Americans that he is doing all right despite having Covid:

     ~~~ Dr. Jill Biden told the press Thursday morning that she had tested negative for the virus. ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. Included are updates on the President's health. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "A former Minneapolis police officer who held George Floyd';s legs as he begged for breath beneath Derek Chauvin's knee was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Thursday for violating the Black man's federal civil rights. Thomas K. Lane was the first of three former officers at the scene with Chauvin to be sentenced for his role in Floyd's fatal May 2020 arrest."

Mississippi. Ashton Pittman of the Mississippi Free Press: "The Mississippi Board of Education voted [Thursday] to remove a policy that barred individuals with enhanced concealed carry permits from carrying guns in the state's elementary and secondary public schools, revising a 1990 policy that previously prohibited anyone other than 'duly authorized law enforcement officials' from doing so. The board made the change as part of an ongoing review of its policies to bring them into compliance with state law.... Though the prohibitions are gone, a temporary policy still requires 'each local school district (to) have a policy concerning weapons on school premises.' Districts will be able to make policies allowing teachers and administrators with permits to carry guns on campus."

Mississippi. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "A police chief in Mississippi was fired Wednesday after a leaked recording showed that the official had bragged about killing 13 people in the line of duty and used the n-word repeatedly, including to describe one Black person the White man says he shot at least 119 times. The racist, homophobic and expletive-laden remarks that Sam Dobbins, the chief in the small town of Lexington, made during an April conversation with an officer caused an uproar this week in the Mississippi Delta community. The roughly 16-minute conversation, which was first reported by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, was recorded by Robert Lee Hooker, a Black man who resigned as an officer from the Lexington Police Department last week due to what he described as a toxic work environment."

New York. Nicholas Fandos & Ed Shanahan of the New York Times: "Representative Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for governor of New York, was attacked on Thursday at a campaign event outside Rochester by a man with a pointed weapon who dragged him to the ground before being subdued by several other men, according to officials and videos of the attack. Mr. Zeldin was not injured, a campaign representative said. The videos show Mr. Zeldin, standing on the bed of a truck, addressing supporters gathered outside a V.F.W. hall in Fairport, N.Y., when a man approaches him slowly from the right, grabs him by the arm and brandishes a weapon. Mr. Zeldin responds by grabbing the man's wrist and is then joined by several men in containing the attacker.... Mr. Zeldin said the man had been taken into custody, but local law enforcement agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Information about the man's identity and potential motivation was not immediately forthcoming Thursday night." A CNBC report is here.

Texas. Amanda Holpuch of the New York Times: "A federal grand jury indicted two men on Wednesday in connection with a human smuggling operation that left 50 adults and three children dead in and around an abandoned tractor-trailer on the outskirts of San Antonio last month, officials said.... Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, of Pasadena, Texas, and Christian Martinez, 28, of Palestine, Texas, were indicted on counts of conspiracy to transport and transportation of migrants illegally resulting in death, and o conspiracy to transport and transportation of migrants illegally resulting in serious injury, said the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, in San Antonio.... Attorney General Merrick Garland will decide whether to pursue the death penalty before the trial."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Friday are here: "Turkey announced that a deal involving Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations will be signed Friday to resume Ukraine's stalled grain exports. An estimated 22 million tons of grain are waiting to be shipped, unable to be moved since Russia's invasion in February. However, neither Ukraine nor Russia has confirmed that a deal is ready to be signed.... Russia's military campaign in Ukraine is likely to 'run out of steam' in the coming weeks, amid materiel and personnel shortages, the chief of Britain's intelligence service said Thursday."

Reader Comments (5)

Sorry Donald, I can't join you in your insurrection., I have 3 rugs
to photograph. Now where did I leave that camera. Signed, Melania.

And I have a bridge in Manhattan for sale.

July 22, 2022 | Unregistered CommenterForrest Morris

Brave, brave Sir Josh!

After giving thugs and traitors his manly-man “Attaboy!” salute, brave Sir Josh did his impression of OJ running through an airport in those old TV spots. You can practically hear him mumbling “Feets! Don’t fail me now!” as his fellow traitors break down the doors and start smashing through the windows. Most politicians run for office. Hawley runs FROM office. The image of this little shit running as fast as he can from deadly chaos he helped incite is a perfect synecdoche for the entire Party of Traitors: violence loving cowards, running like the wind from what they started and from their own sworn duty.

Meanwhile, as Brave Sir Josh was setting a new record for the 100 yard dash, the guy who started it all sat his fat ass glued to the TV, relishing every moment of his beautiful wickedness. Upstairs, Melanie was taking pictures of a rug. The country’s on fire but she couldn’t be bothered. Jesus Christ, what a fucking shithouse family. Disgraceful, malicious monsters, the lot of them.

July 22, 2022 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

AK: Your "The image of this little shit running as fast as he can from deadly chaos he helped incite is a perfect synecdoche for the entire Party of Traitors: violence loving cowards, running like the wind from what they started and from their own sworn duty."

I think you got it–--by George, I think you nailed it. And Liz, who will probably lose her seat (Adam has already bid farewell) is the heroine here and her warning that history will look upon her fellow followers of descent who cling onto their warped ideology, with distain, calling them out as cowards and traitors to democracy.

And in the middle of the muddle sits the one who only cares for himself––-he uses the word "love" to express his feelings toward the insurrectionists but it's a feeling he has only for himself and even that is warped. A forever image of this man sitting in a dining-room watching the unraveling of our country's election certification without moving a muscle to stop it will be his legacy–––along with being the most dangerous president in our history–––so far.

July 22, 2022 | Unregistered CommenterP.D. Pepe

What they said, including the image of ridiculous Ichabod Hawley beating feet to safety, having approved of the mob...Unbelievable, all of it. I am, however, not going to waste anyone's time feeling badly that they were gunning for Pence. Or that they didn't get him. He is a piece of crap like all the rest of them, and has not spoken out against his colleague the orange monster since. He spews about Democrats every chance he gets, while giving expensively funded speeches in Trumpworld. I don't like him any better than I did ever. As for the Secret Service, throw the book at 'em, regardless of whether they were afraid they would die on J6. These people are reprehensible every day, every minute, every second.

July 22, 2022 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

So, this guy in CO was accused of killing his wife in spring 2020, she's missing and no body has been found. A judge dismissed the charges because investigators violated some evidence process rules.

When an absentee ballot was mailed to her months after she was reported missing, the husband voted that ballot, as well as his own. Now he's been convicted of ballot fraud and is remanded to probation. Here's a pertinent quote from the story (NYT):

-------------------------------------------------
"... When F.B.I. agents asked Mr. Morphew why he had returned his missing wife’s ballot, he told them, as detailed in the warrant, “Just because I wanted Trump to win.”

Mr. Morphew told investigators that he didn’t know he was not authorized to cast a ballot for his wife.

“I just thought, give him another vote,” he said, referring to Mr. Trump. “I figured all these other guys are cheating. I know she was going to vote for Trump anyway.”

Iris Eytan, a lawyer for Mr. Morphew, said in an interview on Friday that her client had mistakenly assumed that when he became the legal guardian for his wife after her disappearance, it extended to voting."
-----------------------------------------------------------

I hate to admit that my initial thought was "typical DiJiT voter" -- sociopathic lawbreaker who does things because he feels that if he wants to it must be OK, and everybody else does it, so why not? That goes for (probably) killing his wife as well as voting her ballot.

But then I though for a bit, and realized it's not typical. Only about 50% of DiJiT supporters are probably psychopathic wife-killers -- make that 25% since many can't persuade anyone to marry them. As for voter fraud, if everyone else does it you'd be a fool not to, right? Leastwise you'd be a felon if you do, right?

It was very generous of the local judge to let him do time outside of jail. Probably saves the taxpayer the cost of room, board and supervision, too.

One story, but probably synechdochal as Akh would say.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/22/us/politics/suzanne-morphew-ballot-trump.html?action=click&algo=bandit-all-surfaces-variants-shadow-als-time-cutoff-30&alpha=0.05&block=trending_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=487627283&impression_id=300cfa9b-0a03-11ed-b559-edc9dd45d4ff&index=5&pgtype=Article&pool=pool%2F91fcf81c-4fb0-49ff-bd57-a24647c85ea1&region=footer&req_id=764175575&shadow_implicit=-0.0019425660477551125&surface=eos-most-popular-story&variant=2_bandit-eng30s-shadow-als

July 22, 2022 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick
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