;)
Friday
Jun302023
June 30, 2023
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Alexandra Hutzler of ABC News: "President Joe Biden said Friday his administration is moving forward with a new student loan relief plan after the Supreme Court struck down his original program to wipe out $430 billion in debt. Biden detailed the next steps in remarks delivered at the White House, where he was joined by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.... Under the alternative strategy, Biden said the administration will invoke the 1965 Higher Education Act to allow Secretary Cardona to 'compromise, waive or release loans under certain circumstances.' In the meantime, Biden said they also have a plan to help alleviate the financial stress as loan payments restart in October after a three-year pause. The administration will create a temporary, 12-month "on-ramp repayment program" that will remove the threat of default for borrowers who are unable to pay their bills. The Department of Education will not refer borrowers who miss payments to credit agencies for a year as they readjust to making payments again.... Biden on Friday hit Republicans for opposing his plan, painting them as hypocritical for opposing relief for borrowers while some had their own business-related loans provided by the government during the pandemic forgiven."
Robert Barnes & Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Friday said President Biden does not have authority for his roughly $400 billion program to forgive student loan debt, the latest blow from a Supreme Court that has been dismissive of this administration's bold claims of power. The vote was 6 to 3 along ideological lines, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing for the court's dominant conservatives.... 'The Secretary [of Education] asserts that the HEROES Act grants him the authority to cancel $430 billion of student loan principal. It does not,' Roberts wrote. 'We hold today that the Act allows the Secretary to "waive or modify" existing statutory or regulatory provisions applicable to financial assistance programs under the Education Act, not to rewrite that statute from the ground up.'" NPR's report, by Nina Totenberg & Meghanlata Gupta, is here. The New York Times has a liveblog on the decision & reactions here.
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled in favor of an evangelical Christian graphic artist from Colorado who does not want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples, despite the state's protective anti-discrimination law. The vote split along ideological lines 6 to 3, with the liberals in dissent. It was the court’s latest examination of the clash between laws requiring equal treatment for the LGBTQ community and those who say their religious beliefs lead them to regard same-sex marriages as 'false.'... Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, writing for the majority, said the First Amendment protects designer Lorie Smith from creating speech she does not believe." At 10:20 am ET, this is a developing story. NPR's report, by Nina Totenberg, is here.
~~~ The decision & dissent, via the Court, are here. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times has a liveblog on the decision & reactions here: "In a statement on the court's ruling, President Biden said he is 'deeply concerned that the decision could invite more discrimination against LGBTQI+ Americans.' He added, 'More broadly, today's decision weakens long-standing laws that protect all Americans against discrimination in public accommodations -- including people of color, people with disabilities, people of faith and women.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: It seems to me that under the majority's theory of the First Amendment, Whole Foods, for instance, would not have to serve LGBTQ+ people or even say, disabled people, because the grocery chain "artistically" arranges its tomato displays.
Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Fox News has agreed to pay $12 million to Abby Grossberg, a former Fox News producer who had accused the network of operating a hostile and discriminatory workplace and of coercing her into providing false testimony in a deposition. Parisis G. Filippatos, a lawyer for Ms. Grossberg, said the settlement concluded all of Ms. Grossberg's claims against Fox and the people she had named in her complaints, which included the former host Tucker Carlson and some of his producers.... Ms. Grossberg said in a statement on Friday that she stood by her allegations, but she was 'heartened that Fox News has taken me and my legal claims seriously.'... Fox News had previously disputed Ms. Grossberg's claims. A spokeswoman for the network said in a statement on Friday: 'We are pleased that we have been able to resolve this matter without further litigation.'"
Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "The State Department should plan better for worst-case scenarios, strengthen its crisis-management capabilities and ensure that top officials hear 'the broadest possible range of views,' including ones that challenge their assumptions and decisions. Those were some of the key findings of a State Department review of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in summer 2021, which contributed to the sudden collapse of the Afghan government and required a massive airlift to rescue roughly 1250,000 U.S. citizens and Afghans who had assisted the United States. The report does not pin blame on specific individuals, and mentions Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken only in passing.... It does say that the department's participation in executive branch planning for an evacuation 'was hindered by the fact that it was unclear who in the department had the lead.'" Less than half of the 87-page report has been released to the public because much of it is classified.
Blake Ellis, et al., of CNN: &"A secret investigation into alleged sexual abuse at the US Coast Guard Academy, the training ground for the Coast Guard's top officers, uncovered a dark history of rapes, assaults and other serious misconduct being ignored and, at times, covered up by high-ranking officials. The findings of the probe, dubbed 'Operation Fouled Anchor,' were kept confidential by the agency's top leadership for several years. Coast Guard officials briefed members of Congress this month after inquiries from CNN, which had reviewed internal documents from the probe. Despite credible evidence of assaults dating back to the late 1980s, investigators found that most of the alleged perpetrators were not criminally investigated at the time. Instead, the incidents were handled as administrative violations, and punishments, if they happened at all, were as minor as extra homework or lowered class standings. Sometimes, even those pushed out of the academy were still able to serve in the US military. As a result, some of the accused ascended to top roles at the Coast Guard and other military agencies. In contrast, many alleged victims left the academy after reporting their assaults, ending their hopes of a career in the service." ~~~
~~~ Marie: It appears the investigation and report were completed in 2019. I guess we shouldn't be surprised the Trump administration covered it up.
Marie: At about 9:45 am ET, I linked a post by Tommy Christopher. If you missed it, scroll down & read it.
~~~~~~~~~~
Making America White Again
Supremes Unaware 14th Amendment Was about Protecting Minorities
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "As [President Biden] departed for a daylong trip to New York City, a reporter asked whether the [Supreme Court's] decision [to strike down affirmative action considerations for college admissions] should make people question the court's legitimacy and then asked, 'Is this a rogue court?' Mr. Biden stopped midstride and appeared to think for a moment before saying, 'This is not a normal court.'... A few hours after Mr. Biden's comment..., he was asked to explain by Nicolle Wallace during an interview on MSNBC's 'Deadline White House' program. The president said he had been referring to the fact that the justices on the current court have been more willing than usual to overturn the precedents set by previous justices.... 'It's done more to unravel basic rights and basic decisions than any court in recent history,' Mr. Biden said.... He declined to say that the court is 'anti-democratic,' but he said 'its value system is different and its respect for institutions is different.'" ~~~
~~~ President Biden speaks against the Supreme Court's decision to effectively end affirmative action in college admissions: ~~~
~~~ Robert Barnes of the Washington Post:"The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina that relied in part on racial considerations, saying they violate the Constitution. The vote split along ideological grounds, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts writing for the conservative members in the majority, and the liberals dissenting.... As recently as 2016, the court upheld an affirmative action program at the University of Texas, concluding for the third time that educational diversity justifies the consideration of race as one factor in admission decisions." This is a developing story. The New York Times story, which currently appears in a liveblog, is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ You have to scroll all the way down to Page 140 of the opinions to get to Justice Sotomayor's dissent, and on to Page 209 to get to Justice Jackson's dissent, which even more than Sotomayor's, calls the majority dimwitted ignoramuses:
"With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces 'colorblindness for all' by legal fiat. But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life. And having so detached itself from this country's actual past and present experiences, the Court has now been lured into interfering with the crucial work that UNC and other institutions of higher learning are doing to solve America's real-world problems. No one benefits from ignorance.... The best that can be said of the majority's perspective is that it proceeds (ostrich-like) from the hope that preventing consideration of race will end racism.... Ultimately, ignoring race just makes it matter more.... The Court's meddling not only arrests the noble generational project that America's universities are attempting, it also launches, in effect, a dismally misinformed sociological experiment."
Charlie Savage of the New York Times highlights key sections of the five opinions issued Thursday. For instance: "In his [majority] opinion, Chief Justice Roberts said giving Black and Latino applicants an edge over white and Asian applicants in the name of diversity violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution's 14th Amendment.... In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas reiterated his longstanding view that affirmative action hurts some of the people it is intended to help, including by stigmatizing students who would have been admitted regardless of race. He also argued that the Constitution requires 'colorblind' government policies[.]... Justices Sotomayor and Jackson also criticized the majority for making an exception for military academies.... [Jackson:] 'The Court has come to rest on the bottom-line conclusion that racial diversity in higher education is only worth potentially preserving insofar as it might be needed to prepare Black Americans and other underrepresented minorities for success in the bunker, not the boardroom...'"
Supreme Majority Ignored Fact-Based Proofs. Edwin Rios of the Guardian: "... students in nine states already live in a post-affirmative action world. In 1996, Californians voted to ban race-conscious affirmative action policies in the state's public universities. Since then, eight other states -- Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington -- have also barred race-based considerations, often through ballot initiatives approved by the states' voters. Some universities in these states report that the bans have made it significantly harder to achieve racial diversity on their campuses. The University of California and the University of Michigan, whose representatives submitted arguments to the supreme court in support of race-conscious admissions, are two such schools. In the years since Michigan voters ended affirmative action in 2006, for instance, the number of Black and Indigenous American students at the University of Michigan has plummeted. The same happened at UC Berkeley and UCLA.... And despite developing numerous strategies to supplement the lack of affirmative action policies with other outreach tactics, the representatives wrote, their efforts have failed."
Marie: Several teevee commentators have noted the college admission affirmative action isn't over for some elites: legacy admissions continue as do admissions for those who excel in various sports. Oh, and those whose parents give colleges a lot of money: like Jared Kushner, whose disgraced father Charles pledged $2.5MM to Harvard just before the university granted admission to unremarkable student Jared.
Marie: I heard a clip of mike pence applauding the decision. Of course he had to quote the only sentence he knows among Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s many famous remarks: "... they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character," of course misappropriating Dr. King's intention. There is no occasion in which mike pence opens his mouth that I don't want to forcefully put my fist in it.
Aw, but this is sweet: ~~~
~~~ Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday strengthened protections for religious rights in the workplace, siding in part with a Sabbath-observant mail carrier who quit the U.S. Postal Service after he was forced to deliver packages on Sundays. Gerald Groff, the former postal worker, had asked the justices to overturn a decades-old Supreme Court decision, which his lawyers said undermines religious protections by allowing employers to deny accommodations that would cause them more than a minor inconvenience. In a unanimous decision, authored by Justice Samuel A. Alito, the justices declined to get rid of past precedent, and instead clarified that employers must meet a higher standard to reject a workers' request related to religious observance." See also Jeanne's comment below. (Also linked yesterday.)
** Supreme Court Expected to Make Major Decision Based on Fake Case. David Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement: "Attorneys for a Colorado web designer using her personal Christian beliefs to sue over the state's anti-discrimination law have reportedly included in their court filings a claim that a man, after their case was initially filed in 2016, asked her to create a website for his upcoming same-sex wedding. The case, 303 Creative vs. Elenis, went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in December and likely will hand down its decision Friday. The web designer, Lorie Smith, says she wants to expand her business to make wedding websites, but says she can't because rejecting a same-sex couple's request could violate Colorado law, and her religious beliefs do not support same-sex marriage.... After the case was filed, a same-sex couple named Stewart and Mike, according to court documents as The New Republic reports, [asked] Smith for a wedding website. Stewart's name, email address, phone number, and even his website URL were included in the filings, yet no reporter appears to have ever contacted him to verify his story. Until now. He says it's false.... [Melissa] reports Stewart says his contact information is accurate, but 'he never sent this form, he said, and at the time it was sent, he was married to a woman.'" Moreover, Stewart himself is a web designer living in California, so it doesn't make much sense for him to ask a Colorado web designer to design his wedding website. MB: This is really is extraordinary. (Also linked yesterday.)
Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Three weeks after ... Donald J. Trump was indicted on charges of illegally retaining national security records and obstructing the government's efforts to reclaim them, a federal grand jury in Miami is still investigating aspects of the case.... In recent days, the grand jury has issued subpoenas to a handful of people who are connected to the inquiry.... Post-indictment investigations can result in additional charges against people who have already been accused of crimes in the case. The investigations can also be used to bring charges against new defendants." (Also linked yesterday.)
Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "A senior campaign official for Donald Trump was allegedly shown a classified map by the former president during a meeting at his New Jersey golf club after Trump left office, according to a source familiar with the matter. The campaign adviser, Susie Wiles, has spoken to federal investigators numerous times as part of the special counsel's Mar-a-Lago documents probe, multiple sources told CNN.... ABC News previously identified Wiles as the individual to whom Trump allegedly showed a classified map. Wiles, one of Trump's closest advisers, is effectively running his third bid for the presidency and has taken an active role in Trump's legal strategy, including helping find lawyers and helping arrange payment to attorneys representing Trump associates.... Sources in Trump's inner circle tell CNN they were blindsided by the news."
Zachary Cohen & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Former Donald Trump campaign official Mike Roman is cooperating with prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith's team in the ongoing criminal probe related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. One of the sources said that the agreement, known as a proffer agreement, means that Roman may not have to appear before the grand jury but could instead speak to prosecutors in a more informal setting. Under such an agreement, prosecutors generally agree not to use those statements against them in future criminal proceedings. Roman, who received a grand jury subpoena months ago and had his phone seized, was involved in efforts to put forward slates of fake Trump electors following the 2020 election.... The timing of [the proffer] discussions coincides with last week's grand jury appearance by Roman's former deputy, Gary Michael Brown."
Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "One of ... Donald Trump's claims about having classified documents at his country club in Florida and New Jersey was that he had a 'standing order' to declassify whatever he wanted.... On Thursday..., the Justice Department and the Director of National Intelligence [told Bloomberg News, in response to an FOIA request & subsequent lawsuit, that] they haven't been able to find the 'standing order.'..." Marie: Under his Article II privileges, Trump had the right to make a standing order in his mind.
Trump's Investors Are Crooks, Feds Allege. Matt Egan & Kara Scannell of CNN: "Federal prosecutors arrested three investors on Thursday on insider trading charges related to a deal to take ... Donald Trump's media business public. According to the indictment, the three individuals together made more than $22 million in October 2021 by illegally trading on nonpublic knowledge of Digital World Acquisition Corporation's secret plan to buy Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group. The defendants allegedly tipped off friends and colleagues, who also purchased securities in Digital World before the blank-check firm's Trump Media deal became public. Once the deal was announced, the value of those securities spiked. The defendants and individuals they tipped off then sold their securities for a significant profit, according to prosecutors. The three men charged in the indictment are Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman and Bruce Garelick, who served as a director on Digital World's board of directors.... There is no allegation that Donald Trump had any involvement at all in the alleged insider trading." (Also linked yesterday.)
No, President Biden Did Not Take a Bribe from Burisma. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) ... and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) sent a letter to the FBI demanding that [a document detailing a June 2020 FBI interview of a longtime informant ... [who] spoke to a Ukrainian business executive [claiming] to have paid bribes of millions of dollars to Joe Biden and his son Hunter.... be released to the public.... But since that initial letter from Comer and Grassley about two months ago, no other evidence of this alleged 'bribe' has emerged. And, in fact, on Thursday, the central allegation only got weaker.... If the person who spoke to the informant was, in fact, [Mykola Zlochevsky, founder of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, as far-right Republicans claim], Oversight ranking minority-party member Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) produced a new transcript that effectively (though not entirely) undercuts the claims...": an associate of Zlochevsky's answered a questionnaire Rudy Giuliani sent him, and declared their neither Joe Biden nor anyone working for him ever had any contact with anyone working for Burisma.
Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "The State Department placed President Biden's envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, on unpaid leave on Thursday amid a review of his security clearance.... The State Department confirmed that Mr. Malley was on leave, but did not provide additional details. Axios and CNN had earlier reported that Mr. Malley's security clearance was being evaluated.... Mr. Malley, a longtime Middle East diplomat and analyst, is well known as an advocate of dialogue between the United States and Iran. As a senior official in the Obama White House, he was instrumental in the negotiation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal...." ...
~~~ Kylie Atwood, et al., of CNN: "A US official said that [Robert] Malley's clearance was suspended amid a State Department diplomatic security investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information. Another source familiar with the matter said he was placed on unpaid leave on Thursday afternoon.... For a period of time following the State Department investigation, Malley remained on the job but was not allowed to access classified information, said the US official...."
Marie: In February, a man attacked Rep. Angie Craig, a Democratic member of Congress, in her Washington, D.C.,, apartment building. Craig fought off the attacker and suffered minor injuries. The Washington Post covered -- hyped! -- the story on its online front page, and many other outlets carried news of the attack as well as of the capture of the attacker of the Minnesota Democrat some while later. But the WashPo and other liberal elite media don't care about Republicans. So that's my excuse for missing this important story: ~~~
~~~ Martin Pengelly of the Guardian (June 26): "The far-right US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to say she thinks she is being spied on through her television, possibly by the US government, and that someone may soon try to kill her. In a tweet on Sunday, the Republican from Georgia said: 'Last night in my DC residence, the television turned on by itself and the screen showed someone's laptop trying to connect to the TV.'... Greene followed her tweet about her television with an altered image, Barack Obama's portrait changed to show the 44th president looking through binoculars from behind lush green foliage.... In her Sunday tweet, Greene also seemed to suggest someone might try to harm her, writing: 'Just for the record: I'm very happy. I'm also very healthy and eat well and exercise a lot. I don't smoke and never have. I don't take any medications. I am not vaccinated. So I'm not concerned about blood clots, heart conditions, strokes, or anything else....' Matt Binder, a reporter for Mashable, offered a less sinister explanation for what happened to Greene's TV. A neighbour, he suggested, 'accidentally tried to screen cast to the wrong TV'. But, Binder added, Greene's 'first thought is that this means someone is trying to assassinate her'." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Got that? Barack Obama is stalking her in the bushes and trying to assassinate a MAGA Republican, and it's merely a blip on the media's radar. Outrageous! Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. See also his comment at the end of yesterday's thread.
~~~ Dear Margie: Here's what a real assassination threat looks like. There's a real person lurking in the bushes. He has a real livestream not attached to the potential victim's TV, and he has real lethal weapons. Marie ~~~
~~~ Luke Broadwater & Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times: "A man accused of involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol was arrested Thursday afternoon near the Washington home of former President Barack Obama, as police found weapons, ammunition and materials that could make explosives inside the suspect's van, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the case. Taylor Taranto, 37, of no fixed address, livestreamed his activities before his arrest, including as he drove into the neighborhood and talked briefly with a member of the Secret Service stationed there. On the livestream, he talked about seeking an interview with John Podesta, a Democratic official who has been the focus of far-right conspiracy theories, and also spoke of the neighborhood as containing underground tunnels. He entered a wooded area attempting to take photos of a house. 'I'm outside Barack Obama's house,' he said at one point on the livestream." A CBS News story is here. ~~~
~~~ ** Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "Several details of the arrest are stunning and disturbing, including the fact that Taranto posted the message 'Got them surrounded!' above a Trump Truth Social post that included a news article revealing the address of the Obama home, as well as several other prominent Democratic figures.... The article Trump posted was a 2017 opinion piece by Phyllis Schlafly that included the details of a home near the White House that the Obamas had recently moved into." MB: First, Trump tried to have his own vice president assassinated by others; now he's attempting an assassination-by-proxy of the Obamas and other Democrats by posting their home addresses online. What an evil old man. ~~~
~~~ Ryan Reilly of NBC News tweeted yesterday, "Donald Trump recently posted a screenshot featuring Barack Obama's DC address."
Presidential Race 2024. Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "The political network established by the conservative industrialists Charles and David Koch has raised more than $70 million for political races as it looks to help Republicans move past Donald J. Trump, according to an official with the group. With some of this large sum to start, the network, Americans for Prosperity Action, plans to throw its weight into the G.O.P. presidential nominating contest for the first time in its nearly 20-year history.... In February, a top political official in the [Koch] network, Emily Seidel, wrote a memo to donors and activists saying it was time to 'have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter.'"
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Oliver Darcy of CNN: In April, Fox "News" host Jesse Watters sat for an interview during a conference of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. "Watters -- who Fox News this week promoted to the all-important 8pm hour -- ... made a crude comment questioning the gender of Vice President Kamala Harris..., [sources said].... What followed] 'was an epic meltdown...,' one of the people familiar with the matter told me. 'The organization went into damage control.'... When asked for comment on Wednesday, a Fox News spokesperson told me that Watters had 'no recollection' of the events. 'In fact, the unscripted Q&A he participated in was well received with executives thanking him profusely afterward, enthusiastically taking photos, and presenting him with an award,' the network spokesperson said. 'He was told it was one of the best talks they've ever held and never received feedback from the organization or his speaking agent after the event.'"
Uh, Maybe Kale Isn't So Healthy. Tom Perkins of the Guardian: "Seven out of eight US kale samples recently tested for toxic PFAS 'forever chemicals' contained high levels of the compounds. The testing looked at conventional and organic kale bought at grocery stores across the country, and comes after Food and Drug Administration analyses conducted between 2019 and 2021 found no PFAS contamination. The findings 'stunned' researchers who expected to find low levels of the chemicals, said Robert Verkerk, founder of the Alliance for Natural Health non-profit, which produced the paper."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Mirna Alsharif & Minyvonne Burke of NBC News: "A former school security officer was found not guilty Thursday over a failure to confront the gunman who massacred 17 people at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. Scot Peterson, who was a Broward County sheriff's deputy and worked as a resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, was charged in 2019 with seven counts of neglect of a child and three counts of culpable negligence and one count of perjury." (Also linked yesterday.)
Florida. Unsafe on Any Road. Li Cohen of CBS News: "Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday that would allow for roads across Florida to be made with 'radioactive' mining waste that has been linked to cancer. The measure, brought forward by the state House, adds phosphogypsum to a list of 'recyclable materials' that state officials say can be used in road construction. The list already included ground rubber from car tires, ash residue from coal combustion byproducts, recycled mixed-plastic, glass and construction steel, which officials had previously determined are 'part of the solid waste stream and that contribute to problems of declining space in landfills.' But unlike most of those products, phosphogypsum is not a material that is aggregated in landfills. It's the remains left behind from mining phosphate, which is described by the EPA as being a 'radioactive material' because it contains 'small amounts' of uranium and radium."
Ohio. of CNN: "A former Republican speaker of Ohio's House of Representatives was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for his role in a $60 million bribery scheme. Larry Householder was convicted by a federal grand jury in March on racketeering conspiracy charges in connection with a scheme to accept bribes in exchange for ensuring the passage of a billion-dollar bailout for a nuclear energy company.... Former Ohio Republican Party Chair Matthew Borges was also convicted in the scheme. Borges is set to be sentenced in a Cincinnati federal court on Friday.... The scheme centered on House Bill 6, a $1 billion dollar bailout that saved two nuclear plants operated by FirstEnergy Corp."
Way Beyond
France. Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: "More than 600 people were arrested in France during a third night of unrest that has rocked cities around the country since a police officer fatally shot a 17-year-old driver this week, the authorities said on Friday. President Emmanuel Macron convened a crisis meeting for a second successive day on Friday as the government struggled to contain the anger unleashed by the killing, which took place during a traffic stop in Nanterre, west of Paris, on Tuesday. The officer who fired the shot has been placed under formal investigation and detained on charges of voluntary homicide -- a rare step in criminal cases involving police officers. But that appeared to have done little to calm tensions, which have been stoked by decades-long feelings of neglect and racial discrimination among people living in France's poorer urban suburbs, many of whom identified with the teenager, who has been publicly named only as Nahel M." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian is live-updating developments.
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Early intelligence reports suggest a top general ... -- Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the country's former top commander in Ukraine -- ... has been detained in Russia in the aftermath of a short-lived rebellion last weekend that challenged President Vladimir V. Putin's grip on power, U.S. officials said. Many experts on Russia have predicted that Mr. Putin would carry out a purge.... On a surprise visit to Ukraine on Thursday, former Vice President Mike Pence met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and toured a mass burial site in Kyiv, placing flowers at a memorial." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Friday is here: Mike "Pence during his Kyiv visit endorsed sending aid to Ukraine, separating himself from Republican critics of U.S. support, including former president Donald Trump. By supporting Ukraine, 'We'll make it clear to Russia, to China and any other nations in the world that would seek to redraw international lines by force that the free world will not stand for it,' he said.... The European Council released its recommendations for Ukraine, which include a commitment to 'long-term' support. Following a meeting in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, European leaders pledged 'future security commitments to Ukraine, which will help Ukraine defend itself in the long term, deter acts of aggression and resist destabilization efforts,' said the document, which was released Thursday. A delegation from the Vatican traveled to Moscow to meet with Russian officials as part of Pope Francis's efforts to reach 'a much-wished-for peace,' the Vatican's envoy to Moscow, Giovanni D'Aniello, said Thursday." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.
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Reader Comments (12)
Might have missed it, but hadn't seen this aspect of the Russian revolt reported elsewhere:
https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-aircrews-who-disobeyed-orders-to-attack-wagner-face-scrutiny-2023-6
Now there's a surprise:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/30/303-creative-elenis-supreme-court-decision-lgbtq-rights/?
Where I live if you own a business, such as a wedding planning
business, you need to apply for a business license and pay for it, etc.
Your license lets you serve the public, not just parts of the public
that you choose.
A walk in business can make little rules like 'no shirts, no shoes, no
service'. That applies to everyone, not just certain sections of the
public.
I don't get the connection to 'free speech'. Maybe I'm a little dense
today after breathing smoke again.
Fake cases, but real consequences. It is scary how much real world harm this Supreme Court is doing to the people of this country. They sure are thorough in attacking people in every way it will hurt. Whether it is health, finances, or just interactions with other people they work incredibly hard to make life worse for the majority of us.
A couple of things…
There’s been a lot of talk about the Republican Supremes ignoring years of precedence with their decision to eviscerate affirmative action.
Not true. Animosity toward helping minorities and the racism underpinning so many of their policies and public positions have been Republican precedents for decades. They’re just doing what they’ve always wanted to do. Make sure black and brown skin Americans know their place and reaffirm their long held belief that whites, especially right-wing Christian whites, are superior in every way.
@Forrest Morris: Maybe laws should require businesses to post their licenses prominently. And maybe those licenses should include a list of all the things that offend their owners' religious/artistic sensibilities. That's just a truth-in-advertising thing: if you have a sign or other indication that you're "open for business," then potential patrons have a right to know from the get-go if that business is open to them, and everyone could decide if they wanted to shop there before they walked in the door.
I haven't shopped at Hobby Lobby, even though they sell stuff I would like to buy, since I found out what bigots the company's owners are. I'd like to know what prejudices every company's owners have so I can decide whether or not to do business with them.
Mike Pence: the latest winger pig that gets muted the minute I see him appear...
Yes'm, I have never walked into a Hobby Lobby (don't forget they stole artifacts from the Middle East for their God project--) and the chicken place has to do without my car in its looooooong lines of people waiting for sandwiches.
So disgusted by the six monsters on the court. I guess the one case the other day was meant to appease us for what was coming down the pike. Case after bigoted and hurtful case. So glad Marsha Blackburn's aids are tweeting like mad. We know she did not tweet, as she is a moron. A truly trashy godwallop.
I am going to the pool, breath the tasteable air, and read novels to get away from the hateful news. I too am so happy so many Dems stayed home in 2016 because they just didn't "like" Hillary Clinton. We have been truly blessed with the Dump Judges.
@Jeanne: I'm with you on Chik-fil-a, too. However, I've only been into a Chik-fil-a once and I think that was more than a decade ago. I found the sandwich I bought too expensive and the chicken too rubbery. So not going to Chik-fil-a is a choice I have made anyway, while I would shop at Hobby Lobby if not for the owners' anti-LGBTQ stance. If they get religion -- oh, wait, they already have it -- and say Jesus told them to embrace LGBTQ people, I could change my shopping habit.
When Chick-fil-a let people open carry assault and long guns in a threatening manner while Moms Against Gun Violence were having a meeting I crossed them off my list. Hobby Lobby went a long time ago. Now I Use Michaels for framing and Dick Blick and Jerry's for art supplies especially water color paints, brushes, and paper. The second amendment people and the "Christian Right" are making my life choices a lot simpler.
Usually, SCOTUS majority writers can produce a piece that would get at least a B-minus in logic and presentation, even if the opinion is clearly dodgy in precedent or legislation. But the two recent excresences, student loans and gay websites, would garner failing marks on all aspects -- logic, law, presentation, precedent, utility. In fact, the cases should not have been taken up. The loan waiver law is clear, and needed none of the Ptolemaic epicycles Roberts twisted it with. The webdesigner had no standing and so the Majority addressed an injury that does not exist, and assumed it might exist in the future.
These folks are lost. This is getting VERY scary.
Patrick,
Merriam-Webster explains current SCOTUS logic this way:
"According to Greek mythology, Procrustes was a robber who killed his victims in a most cruel and unusual way. He made them lie on an iron bed and would force them to fit the bed by cutting off the parts that hung off the ends or by stretching those people who were too short."
In addition to their other obvious talents, our Court savants are apparently classical scholars. No Ivy League education is ever wasted.
Ken:
"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas logique."