;)
March 1, 2022
Afternoon Update:
From the New York Times' live updates of Russia's war on Ukraine, also linked earlier today: "Africans who had been living in Ukraine say they were stuck for days at crossings into neighboring European Union countries, huddling in the cold without food or shelter, held up by Ukrainian authorities who pushed them to the ends of long lines and even beat them, while letting Ukrainians through.... Plagued by poor morale as well as fuel and food shortages, some Russian troops in Ukraine have surrendered en masse or sabotaged their own vehicles to avoid fighting, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday. Some entire Russian units have laid down their arms without a fight after confronting surprisingly stiff Ukrainian defense, the official said.*... The United Nations appealed on Tuesday for some $1.7 billion to aid millions of victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and address the escalating destruction of critical infrastructure.... About 100 diplomats, many from Western countries, walked out of a speech by Russia's foreign minister[Sergey Lavrov] at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday in protest over his country's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva led the walkout, which left a largely empty conference hall...."
* Marie: I heard on the teevee that a number of Russian soldiers thought they were going to Belarus for military exercises & had no idea they would be attacking Ukraine in a live war.
Yuras Karmanau, et al., of the AP: "Russian forces stepped up their attacks on crowded urban areas Tuesday, bombarding the central square in Ukraine's second-biggest city and Kyiv's main TV tower in what the country's president called a blatant campaign of terror. 'Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,' President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed after the bloodshed on the square in Kharkiv."
Maureen Breslin of the Hill: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday received a lengthy standing ovation after delivering an emotional speech via video to the European Parliament calling for Ukraine to be granted membership to the European Union. 'I don't read from paper, the paper phase is over, we're dealing with lives. Without you, Ukraine will be alone. We've proven our strength; we're the same as you. Prove that you'll not let us go. Then life will win over death, Zelensky said to representatives of the 27 EU member states."
David McHugh of the AP: "The International Energy Agency's 31 member countries agreed Tuesday to release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves -- half of that from the United States -- 'to send a strong message to oil markets' that supplies won't fall short after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The board of the Paris-based IEA made the decision at an extraordinary meeting of energy ministers chaired by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. She said in a statement that U.S. President Joe Biden approved a commitment of 30 million barrels and that the U.S. is ready to 'take additional measures' if needed."
Sarah Fischer of Axios: "DirecTV plans to drop RT America from its lineup in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a spokesperson said.... DirecTV rival Dish said in a statement earlier this week it's 'closely monitoring the situation.'" MB: Whatever that means.
Samuel Stolton of Politico: "U.S streaming giant Netflix has responded to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine by saying that it will not comply with new Russian rules to carry 20 [of Russia's] state-backed channels."
Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: While Donald Trump is now absurdly claiming that he stood strongly behind NATO & Ukraine, he did much more than just try to extort Volodymyr Zelensky by withholding military aid till Zelensky made up a story that would hurt Joe Biden. "In episode after episode, Trump aligned our interests with those of Russian President Vladimir Putin and against those of Ukraine, NATO and the West.... As early as 2017, Trump began voicing the conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.... Trump pushed out Marie Yovanovitch in 2019, after his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani mounted a smear campaign against her.... Well before extorting Zelensky, Trump alarmed officials by freezing military aid to Ukraine that Congress had appropriated, but without meaningful policy justification.... [Trump] withheld a White House meeting from Zelensky.... [Trump] turned Ukraine policy over to Giuliani."
Montana. A-Hunting He Will Go. Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post: "On public land north of Yellowstone National Park late last year, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) shot and killed a mountain lion that was being monitored by National Park Service staff, after hunting dogs had chased it up a tree. The mountain lion hunt, which has not been previously reported, occurred on Dec. 28.... Less than a year earlier, Gianforte killed a Yellowstone wolf in a similar area that was wearing a tracking collar, prompting an outcry among environmentalists.... One person familiar with the incident told The Post that the mountain lion was kept in the tree by the hunting dogs for a couple of hours while Gianforte traveled to the site...."
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Putin's War Crimes
The New York Times' live updates on Russia's war against Ukraine Tuesday are here: "A large explosion struck central Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, on Tuesday, directly in front of the city's administrative building, creating a huge fireball that appeared in a video to engulf several cars driving through an area called Freedom Square.... CCTV footage of the attack captured what appeared to be a rocket striking directly in front of the building. Video of the aftermath showed a large crater in the middle of the city's cobble-stoned central square."
The Washington Post's live updates on Russia's war on Ukraine Tuesday are here: "[In] Kharkiv..., thousands are without power and heat in subfreezing temperatures, local officials said, and residents were bracing for more shelling on Tuesday.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack on civilian areas in Kharkiv amounted to a 'war crime.'... The Russian military is continuing to advance on Kyiv in what a senior U.S. defense official has called an apparent attempt to encircle the Ukrainian capital, fueling concerns the Kremlin will adopt the same siege tactics there that have been seen in Kharkiv -- the country's second-largest city -- which was bombarded Monday with some of the heaviest shelling since the invasion began."
The AP's live updates are here: "More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.... The report could not immediately be confirmed."
Yuras Karmanau, et al., of the AP: "A 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles threatened Ukraine's capital Tuesday, the sixth day of the war.... After a first, five-hour session of talks between Ukraine and Russia..., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ... said Kyiv was not prepared to make concessions 'when one side is hitting another with rocket artillery.' Six days into the invasion, the Russian military's movements have been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to dominate the airspace. Many Ukrainian civilians, meanwhile, spent another night huddled in shelters, basements or corridors.... The Kremlin has twice in as many days raised the specter of nuclear war and put on high alert an arsenal that includes intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers.... Video from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, with a population of about 1.5 million, showed residential areas being shelled, with apartment buildings shaken by repeated, powerful blasts.... The Russian military has denied targeting residential areas despite abundant evidence of shelling of homes, schools and hospitals."
Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: "When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine with nearly 200,000 troops, many observers -- and seemingly President Vladimir V. Putin himself -- expected that the force would roll right in and the fighting would be over quickly. Instead, after five days of war, what appears to be unfolding is a Russian miscalculation about tactics and about how hard the Ukrainians would fight.... But the war was already changing quickly on Monday, and ultimately, it is likely to turn on just how far Russia is willing to go to subjugate Ukraine. The Russian track record in the Syrian civil war, and in its own ruthless efforts to crush separatism in the Russian region of Chechnya, suggest an increasingly brutal campaign ahead.... American officials say they fear that Russia may now escalate missile and aerial bombing of cities with major civilian casualties, [a senior Pentagon] official said." A related NBC News story is here.
Robert Burns of the AP: "In war, winning quick control of airspace is crucial. Russia's failure to do so in Ukraine, despite its vast military strength, has been a surprise and may help explain how Ukraine has so far prevented a rout. The standoff in the sky is among the Russian battle shortcomings, including logistical breakdowns, that have thrown Moscow off stride in its invasion.... A possible explanation for Russia's failure to do so is that President Vladimir Putin built his war strategy on an assumption that Ukrainian defenses would easily fold...."
Paul McCleary of Politico: "Ukrainian pilots have arrived in Poland to start the process of taking control of fighter planes they expect to be donated by European countries, a Ukrainian government official told Politico. The potential transfer of older Russian-made planes to be used in combat against Russian forces could be the most significant moment yet in a wave of promised arms transfers over the past 24 hours that includes thousands of anti-armor rockets machine guns, artillery and other equipment. It's not clear just yet what countries are donating the jets, but European Union security chief Josep Borrell pledged over the weekend that the EU would fund the transfer the fighter planes from multiple countries."
"Biden and Blinken Herded the Cats." Michael Birnbaum, et al., of the Washington Post: "... over just a handful of days, Europe has been shocked out of a post-Cold War era -- and state of mind -- in which it left many of the democratic world's most burning security problems to the United States.... The countries taking action against Russia stretch around the world.... But no region other than Europe has overturned its foreign policy orthodoxies in a heartbeat.... 'It's the end of an era,' said former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who was once dismissed by a Finnish leader as having 'post-Soviet stress' for his hawkish approach to Russia.... Policymakers and analysts described a months-long campaign by the Biden administration to share intelligence briefings, pressure powerful countries that they might need to make sacrifices, and coordinate among a disparate group of 27 E.U. member states." ~~~
~~~ Marie: No matter how this war turns out -- and it's likely to turn out badly -- I'd recommend Biden & Zelensky for a joint Nobel Peace Prize (even though, admittedly, Zelensky has plenty of time to screw up).
Bryan Pietsch of the Washington Post: "Just a few years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was playing Ukraine's president on television. Now, he's a real-life wartime leader directing his outgunned country in its fight against the Russian invasion. Though he says he has become the Kremlin's 'target No. 1,' he has earned the respect of much of the Ukrainian public by refusing to flee the capital. Instead he has walked the streets of Kyiv and urged Ukrainians to resist, while crafting a successful communications strategy that has won the hearts and minds of European leaders and voters. While acknowledging that Moscow has vastly superior forces it has not yet deployed, Western officials say Zelensky's leadership has firmed up Ukrainian resolve. Here's what you need to know about Zelensky." ~~~
~~~ A very brief look at Zelensky's career as an entertainer:
Maura Reynolds of Politico interviews Russia expert Fiona Hill, published in Politico Magazine. Hill looks at Putin's career & acknowledges that Putin will use all the weapons in his arsenal, including nuclear weapons & nerve agents.
Andrew Desiderio & Connor O'Brien of Politico: "Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. pleaded with senators Monday night for a surge in military assistance and an escalation of sanctions on Moscow as her country braces for the fall of its capital city to Russian forces. The envoy, Oksana Markarova, told a bipartisan group of senators that the Ukrainian military is in serious need of supplies and equipment, including lethal arms, according to lawmakers who attended the closed-door meeting. Markarova told senators that Ukraine was close to running out of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles in particular, both of which have proven to be pivotal as an overpowered Ukrainian military fends off Russian invaders."
Economic Times (India): "Hungary said on Monday it would not allow weapons to be transported through its territory after the European Union pledged military aid to Kyiv. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sough to foster close ties with Moscow but Hungary has closed ranks with the rest of the EU on tough sanctions against Russia."
Barbie Nadeau, et al., of the Daily Beast, republished in Yahoo! News: "The Putin-backed president of Belarus has warned that World War III could be about to begin as he reportedly prepares his troops to assist with Russia's mass-scale invasion of Ukraine. President Alexander Lukashenko warned that the crisis in Ukraine could spark a global conflict, writing in a statement: 'Russia is being pushed towards a third world war. We should be very reserved and steer clear of it. Because nuclear war is the end of everything.'"
The Maldives Are Lovely This Time of Year. Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "Superyachts owned by Russian billionaires who have ties to President Vladimir Putin are on the move as the United States and its allies prepare further sanctions on their property following the invasion of Ukraine. Data reviewed by CNBC from Marine Traffic shows that at least four massive yachts owned by Russian business leaders have been moving toward Montenegro and the Maldives since a wide array of sanctions were announced in recent days by leaders from around the world, including the U.S. Treasury targeting Russia's central bank. The Maldives doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S., according to Nomad Capitalist."
Arjun Kharpal of CNBC: "Payment and credit card giants Visa and Mastercard have blocked [Russian] financial institutions from their networks in response to sanctions targeting Russia after its invasion of Ukraine."
The Week the Music Died. Javier Hernández of the New York Times: "Valery Gergiev, the star Russian maestro and prominent supporter of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, was removed Tuesday from his post as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic after he refused to denounce Mr. Putin's invasion of Ukraine. And Anna Netrebko, the Russian diva who is one of opera's biggest international stars, saw her upcoming engagements with the Bavarian State Opera canceled, and the Zurich Opera House announced that she had withdrawn from her upcoming performances there. She too has ties to Mr. Putin, and was once pictured holding a flag used by some Russian-backed separatist groups in Ukraine.... [Mr. Gergiev's] international engagements began drying up last week, when Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic dropped him from a series of performances. On Sunday, Mr. Gergiev's manager announced he was ending his relationship with his client."
Mark Ogden of ESPN: "Russia have been kicked out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by FIFA after the world governing body and the European association, UEFA, issued a joint statement to confirm that all Russian national teams and clubs have been suspended until further notice following the invasion of Ukraine."
CNN's live updates on Russia's invasion of Ukraine Monday are here: "The United States has asked 12 Russian United Nations diplomats to leave the country due to their alleged engagement in '... espionage activites...,' ... the US Mission to the UN ... said in a statement... The UK's communication regulator is launching 15 investigations into Russia Today (RT), the Kremlin-backed news channel.... The International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, will open an investigation into Russia's invasion of Ukraine as 'rapidly as possible,' [for war crimes & crimes against humanity,] ICC Prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan said in a statement Monday.... Norway will provide $226 million'in humanitarian assistance and military equipment to Ukraine.... A Russian military convoy that was outside of Ivankiv, Ukraine, on Sunday has since made it to the outskirts of Kyiv, satellite images show." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The New York Times' live updates on Russia's invasion of Ukraine Monday are here: "As Ukraine's second-largest city reeled under a barrage of Russian rockets that officials said killed dozens of people, a Ukrainian delegation met counterparts from Russia for several hours of talks on Monday in Belarus. The bombardment of a residential area of Kharkiv five days after Russia's invasion began signaled a possible intensification of the conflict.... British intelligence officials said that most Russian ground forces in Ukraine were massed more than 18 miles north of Kyiv, the capital, but were being slowed by fierce resistance from Ukrainian soldiers and civilian volunteers.... President Emmanuel Macron of France reiterated calls on Monday for an immediate cease-fire in a phone conversation with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and urged an end to all attacks on civilians and essential infrastructure, according to the French presidency.... The European Union's representative to the United Nations, Olof Skoog, speaking at the General Assembly, condemned Russia for invading Ukraine and condemned Belarus for its involvement in Ukraine's war." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ From the Washington Post's live updates, also linked earlier: "The first talks between Russia and Ukraine over the invasion ended with agreement to continue talking in coming days. After almost five hours of talks in southern Belarus near the Ukraine border, the head of the Russian delegation, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, said further talks would be held in coming days after both sides consulted with their presidents.... Washington announced a further round of sanctions Monday, effectively prohibiting institutions in the United States from doing business with Russia's central bank.... Ukrainian officials say at least 11 people were killed and more were wounded in the eastern city of Kharkiv on Monday morning after Russia launched rocket strikes, targeting Ukraine's second-largest city with some of the heaviest shelling and street fighting since the invasion began Thursday. Suspected cluster munitions struck buildings in the city. Oleh Synehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, said Monday that 'dozens are dying' and that at least 11 people were confirmed dead." (Also linked yesterday.)
Even Switzerland Will Sanction Russia. Nick Cumming-Brice of the New York Times: "Switzerland, a favorite destination for Russian oligarchs and their money, announced on Monday that it would freeze Russian financial assets in the country, setting aside a deeply rooted tradition of neutrality to join the European Union and a growing number of nations seeking to penalize Russia for the invasion of Ukraine." (Also linked yesterday.)
Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "Before Putin invaded Ukraine, I might have described the Russian Federation as a medium-size power punching above its weight in part by exploiting Western divisions and corruption, in part by maintaining a powerful military. Since then, however, two things have become clear. First, Putin has delusions of grandeur. Second, Russia is even weaker than most people, myself included, seem to have realized.... [Putin] he apparently wants to recreate the czarist empire.... [Russia's] standard of living is sustained by large imports of manufactured goods, mostly paid for via exports of oil and natural gas.This leaves Russia's economy highly vulnerable to sanctions that might disrupt this trade.... Russia now stands revealed as a Potemkin superpower, with far less real strength than meets the eye." ~~~
~~~ Marie: AND I might have described Russia as a medium-sized authoritarian oligarchy with more nukes than any other country on Earth. Therein lies the rub.
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden will use his first State of the Union address on Tuesday to claim credit for a robust economy and a unified global response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, even as he acknowledges the pain of inflation and the struggle between 'democracy and autocracy' around the world, administration officials said on Monday." MB: The U.S. is a medium-sized power in which roughly half of the political power rests with a corrupt, backward party determined to destroy liberal democracy and the Earth. And at least half of the people are too damned dumb or jaded to care.
Farnoush Amiri & Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Monday denied executive privilege claims made by former Trump administration officials Peter Navarro and Michael Flynn in connection to the congressional probe into the attack on the U.S. Capitol. In letters penned by White House deputy counsel Jonathan Su, the Biden administration rejected the shield of executive privilege purported by Navarro and Flynn in response to recent subpoenas by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack."
Senate Anti-Woman Caucus Prevails. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Republicans on Monday blocked the Senate from taking up sweeping abortion rights legislation as Democrats sought to put lawmakers on the record on the issue in advance of the midterm elections and a coming Supreme Court ruling on access to abortion. Democrats fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to bring the Women's Health Protection Act to the floor for consideration after the House last September passed it on a narrow party-line vote. One Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, joined all Republicans in opposition to beginning debate on the measure."
Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House on Monday overwhelmingly approved legislation that would make lynching a federal hate crime, moving to formally outlaw a brutal act that has become a symbol of the failure by Congress and the country to reckon with the history of racial violence in America. Passage of the anti-lynching bill, named in honor of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black teenager brutally tortured and murdered in Mississippi in 1955, came after more than a century of failed attempts. Lawmakers estimated they had tried more than 200 times to pass a measure to explicitly criminalize a type of attack that has long terrorized Black Americans. This bill was approved 422 to 3, and was expected to pass the Senate, where it enjoys broad support.... Three Republicans -- Representatives Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Chip Roy of Texas -- opposed the anti-lynching bill."
Amazing. Scott Wong of NBC News: "GOP leaders in the House and the Senate on Monday denounced a pair of far-right Trump allies -- Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz. -- for speaking at a gathering of white nationalists in Florida over the weekend. 'There's no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism,' Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a terse statement. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters for CNN and Punchbowl News that it was 'appalling and wrong' for the two lawmakers to attend the meeting in Florida and that he plans to discuss the matter with them. 'There's no place in our party for any of this.... The party should not be associated any time, any place with somebody who is antisemitic,' said McCarthy, who recently returned from leading a delegation of House Republicans to Israel. 'This is unacceptable.' Greene pretended she knew nothing about the group's leader, Nick Fuentes, who in introducing her praised Vladimir Putin & appeared to approve of Adolf Hitler. MB: But hey, how's a girl from rural Georgia to know? Most amazing: Kevin has finally come upon a bridge too far.
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Members of the Supreme Court's conservative majority on Monday questioned the scope of the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, suggesting that the justices could deal a sharp blow to the Biden administration's efforts to address climate change. The questioning during the two-hour argument was mostly technical, and several conservative justices did not tip their hands. But those who did sounded skeptical that Congress had meant to give the agency what they said was vast power to set national economic policy. Climate change was mentioned only in passing and only to buttress the point that an executive agency should not be allowed to tackle so large an issue without express congressional authorization." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Yesterday I asked if anyone could stop the Supremes from destroying Earth. That was a rhetorical question, and the answer, as I suspected, appears to be "nope." Theoretically, the Congress could stop the destruction. But Republicans. And corruption. And filibuster.
Michele Norris of the Washington Post: Don't take to heart the low expectations of your high school guidance counselor, kids, especially if you're Black AND female.
Jesus Jiménez of the New York Times: "Viatris, the drugmaker previously known as Mylan, announced on Monday that it had agreed to pay $264 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the company was involved in an illegal scheme to monopolize the market for epinephrine auto-injector devices known as EpiPens, which are used to treat severe allergic reactions. The proposed settlement, which needs to be approved by a judge, would resolve a legal battle that began after Mylan, in 2016, raised the price for a pack of two EpiPens to $608 from $100, the price since 2007, according to court documents."
Our Moms' Doctor Is Our Father. Jacqueline Mroz of the New York Times: "Over the past several years, more than 50 fertility doctors in the United States have been accused of fraud in connection with donating sperm, according to legal experts and observers.... Nearly all of the physicians who have been accused were discovered as a result of DNA tests taken by their offspring." For instance, David Berry, formerly of Rochester, New York, discovered through an Ancestry.com test & further research that his biological father was Morris Wortman, a fertility doctor who still practices in Rochester. "Mr. Berry learned that he had at least 10 half brothers and sisters through [Dr. Wortman].... Dr. Wortman was one of three physicians in Rochester -- all friends and colleagues -- who, starting in the 1960s, had secretly used their own sperm to impregnate women." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here.
Wow! Dan Keating of the Washington Post: "More than 140 million Americans have had the coronavirus, according to estimates from blood tests that reveal antibodies from infection -- about double the rate regularly cited by national case counts. The estimates, compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show that about 43 percent of the country has been infected by the virus. The study shows that the majority of children have also been infected."
Mariam Kahn of ABC News: "Masks will no longer be required in the House chamber when President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday night, a major reversal in the politically controversial policy that reinforces his message that the pandemic is receding and America is getting back to something closer to normal. On Sunday, the U.S. Capitol's attending physician lifted a mask mandate for lawmakers inside the House chamber just two days before Biden's nationally televised prime-time speech."
Beyond the Beltway
Texas. Shane Goldmacher & David Goodman of the New York Times: "The Texas primaries on Tuesday will provide the first pieces of the 2022 midterm puzzle. The strength of the two parties' ideological factions. The intensity of Donald J. Trump's continued hold on the Republican electorate. And, for bullish Republicans, the earliest signs of how advantageous the political climate has become."
News Lede
New York Times: "A man believed to be meeting his three children for a supervised visit at a church just outside Sacramento on Monday afternoon fatally shot the children and an adult accompanying them before killing himself, police officials said. Sheriff Scott Jones of Sacramento County told reporters at the scene that the gunman had a restraining order against him, and that he had to have supervised visits with his children, who were younger than 15."
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Reader Comments (13)
Though I am neither Black nor female and my guidance counselor story had a happy ending for me, I suspect that over the years their encounter with that counselor's limited vision did not turn out so well for dozens of talented young women.
This was a long time ago, one could say in a different world, and since the counselor was probably in his fifties at the time, his world was formed even earlier than mine, which could be a partial explanation for what I heard about his advice to one very smart female classmate.
Hearsay told me at the time that the counselor had advised the young lady not to take the SAT since only a few schools required it for entry and that she need not apply to any of them.
Not really so odd in the context of the time. I don't believe more than three of us, all male, in our class of 123 took the SAT, but I still remember having at the time a niggling sense that something was awry, that maybe there was such a thing as a gender gap before society had served up the words to explain what I felt. There were stirrings but the times had not yet changed.
That was not funny.
My story is.
Imagine my surprise when I received a formal letter of admittance from a college to which I had not applied, wondering only why I had not paid the application fee...
My counselor had sent my application to one eastern Washington college to another with the same four initial letters in its name.
The doofus didn't know the difference.
Turned out, I attended neither. Went to a school that was much farther away from home and that gave me more money...
Don't underestimate your enemy: "The standoff in the sky is among the Russian battle shortcomings,". Followed by, "Ukrainian pilots have arrived in Poland to start the process of taking control of fighter planes". If I was Russia, I'd wait until all planes and pilots were repatriated to Ukraine before bombing them and controlling the skies. One thing should be clear to all, Putin has survived since Yeltsin for real and tangible reasons. Don't underestimate him.
@Ken Winkes: I am of the impression that many high schools give the job of guidance counselor to teachers who aren't too bright, so it's a good idea to keep them out of the classroom. I can't recall that I ever went to our guidance counselor, tho I went to a big school, so I assume we had at least one to steer us in the wrong direction.
My favorite "Candid Camera" show ever (in fact, the only one I can remember) was a stunt where "guidance counselors" gave Brooklyn (so urban) high school students career advice. They told one kid they had looked over his record and determined that he should become a shepherd. It's been at least 60 years since I saw that show, and I can still remember the kid's expression of sheer bewilderment when he heard that. And it still makes me laugh.
And Nobel Peace Prize 2022: https://www.reuters.com/world/attenborough-who-tsikhanouskaya-among-nominees-nobel-peace-prize-2022-02-01/.
David Remnick talks with Dimitry Muratov, the editor of an independent Nobel prize newspaper in Russia:
"The pressure on Novaya Gazeta and other media began immediately. It's got to the point of absurdity. We received an order to ban the use of the words––war, occupation, and invasion. However, we continue to call war, war. We are waiting for the consequences."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/03/07/putins-bloody-folly-in-ukraine?utm_source=onsite-share&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=the-new-yorker
Trump’s guidance counselor told him to become a greedy lying pig who’d be ready to sell out his country to a foreign dictator for a win at CPAC. Success!
@Marie
Think you assessment of guidance counselors accurate--back in the (our) day. Kinda like the route from football coach to high school principal that was so common two generations ago.
For most of us, our culture is a given and it's hard for most to see beyond its confines.
The WAPO piece you linked sparked two reactions. One, the memories I shared. The other, the many ways in which times have changed.
Today's guidance counselors are not the counselors of yore. They are better trained, and because they live in a different world with different cultural filters, they behave differently.
Generally, many of the barriers they once erected to young women have been lowered or eliminated.
I don't doubt, however, that race and skin color still affect their behavior, tho' that too has changed and is changing--if only as fast as MAGA culture and the retrograde Supremes allow.
And your shepherd story made me smile.
I gave the wrong link to Remnick's interview although that piece is also interesting.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-russias-nobel-winning-newspaper-is-covering-ukraine
HERE it is:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-russias-nobel-winning-newspaper-is-covering-ukraine
Maybe a majority in the other two branches of government should be able to over rule a Supreme Court's decision. All the members of Congress get a vote and the majority rules just like on the court. And the President gets a vote. They made the laws and implement the laws so they should be able to know what they had in mind when they made them. In fact the Democrats in Congress should all sign an open letter now for the Court stating that they intended the EPA to have the power to regulate pollution. It's a power that Congress has never challenged so that should be an implicit acknowledgment that they have approved of the use of those powers. But logic and the far reaching consequences have no place on the current Supreme Court.
Ken wrote: “… Kinda like the route from football coach to high school principal that was so common two generations ago.”
As proof of serious regression, especially in red states, the route is now football coach to senator.
My wife has a doctorate in molecular biology and a handsome publication record. In advance of her attending the University of Wisconsin her high school chemistry teacher cautioned her and her parents that chemistry is an inappropriate major for a girl. They listened and just let her major in medical technology. Years later her parents were proud at her graduation with a Ph.D. Rather than a PHT. Our two daughters of two academic scientists were advised in their high school and by their parents to pursue whatever floated their boats, which they did. History + anthropology, journalism + Spanish.
For all the noise about McConnell om MTG and Gosar I suspect there's more than a little of the old Monty Python "Wink, wink, nudge, nudge" in there.