;)
March 10, 2022
Afternoon Update:
The New York Times' live updates of Thursday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russian forces were making slow, bitterly-fought advances in Ukraine on Thursday as high-level talks failed to yield progress on ending the war or even a temporary cease-fire. Russian troops were laying siege to Chernihiv, near the Belarus border, where the mayor reported that the city was running out of burial space as the death toll rises. Although Russia has failed to capture major cities in the past week, its forces have gradually pushed forward into smaller population centers. Outside of Kyiv, Russian forces gained control of the town of Bucha and moved southwest in an attempt to encircle the capital. They were also approaching Kyiv from the east, with heavy fighting involving a line of Russian tanks reported in the suburb of Brovary, according to videos posted on Thursday."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "The Transportation Security Administration will extend its mask mandate for airplanes and other public transportation..., as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works with federal agencies to revise mask policies, the two agencies announced on Thursday. The requirement will extend at least through April 18 at C.D.C.'s recommendations, and will apply to public transportation and transportation hubs. Under the T.S.A.'s rule, passengers on airplanes buses and trains and people in airports, stations and transit hubs must wear masks."
A Very Trumpy Census. Maria Cramer of the New York Times: "The 2020 census undercounted the country's population by 18.8 million people, the Census Bureau said on Thursday, acknowledging that the count had underrepresented Black, Latino and Indigenous residents. At the same time, the census overcounted the number of white and Asian residents, the bureau said.... The 2020 census faced a series of challenges. The coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the count just as it was beginning in April 2020, forcing the bureau to extend its work by nearly two months. Later in the year, wildfires in the West and coastal hurricanes upended the bureau's work just as door-knockers were fanning out to survey millions of households that had not filled out their forms.
Neil Vigdor & Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "... the Interior Department, led by Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, is taking steps to strip the word ['squaw,' which is derogatory,] from mountains, rivers, lakes and other geographic sites and has solicited input from tribes on new names for the landmarks. A task force created by the department will submit the new names for final approval from the Board on Geographic Names, the federal body that standardizes American place names. The National Park Service was ordered to take similar steps.... Several states have passed laws mandating the erasure of the slur from nonfederal sites." MB: By contrast, Donald Trump turned the given name "Pocahontas" into a slur, too.
~~~~~~~~~~
Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.
The Guardian's live updates of Thursday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The British home secretary has pledged to streamline the online visa application system for Ukrainians following heavy criticism of her response to the crisis. Priti Patel said that from Tuesday, Ukrainian refugees will no longer have to go to a visa application centre to provide their biometrics before coming to the UK. A humanitarian convoy trying to reach Mariupol today has been forced to turn around due to fighting, Reuters reports the Ukrainian deputy prime minister has said.... A meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba, in Turkey ended with little progress appearing to have been made. In a news conference afterwards, Reuters reports that Kuleba said that no progress was made on a ceasefire and that Lavrov did not commit to a humanitarian corridor in Mariupol, where he said the situation was most difficult. The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, says she will discuss issues with Poland that will force Russia to pay a price for its invasion on Ukraine, reports Reuters. Speaking today during a visit to Warsaw, she also said that Poland was doing 'extraordinary work. to help Ukrainian refugees.... The UK has frozen the assets of seven Russian businessmen including Roman Abramovich, Igor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska and Dmitri Lebedev after they were added to the country's sanctions list, reports Reuters. Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea Football Club, Deripaska has stakes in En+ Group, Sechin is the chief executive of Rosneft and Lebedev is chairman of the board of directors of Bank Rossiya." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of Thursday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "At least three people, including a child, were killed and 17 more were injured in a Russian airstrike on a maternity hospital in Ukraine's southeastern port of Mariupol, city officials said Thursday, as foreign ministers from the two countries arrived in Turkey for their first high-level talks since the invasion.... The strike ripped through the hospital and buried patients under the rubble despite a cease-fire deal for people to flee Mariupol, the latest attack underscoring the conflict's civilian toll. The World Health Organization verified 18 attacks on health facilities, health workers and ambulances, resulting in at least 10 deaths.... As the White House warned that Russia may be considering using chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, Vice President Harris landed in Eastern Europe late Wednesday to reassure U.S. allies of protection and promise aid for Ukrainians who fled their country in a historic exodus. Her trip started in Poland...." ~~~
Vadim Ghirda & Yuras Karmanau of the AP: "A Russian attack severely damaged a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukraine said Wednesday, and citizens trying to escape shelling on the outskirts of Kyiv streamed toward the capital amid warnings from the West that Moscow's invasion is about to take a more brutal and indiscriminate turn. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter that there were 'people, children under the wreckage' of the hospital and called the strike an 'atrocity.' Authorities said they were trying to establish how many people had been killed or wounded. Video shared by Zelenskyy showed cheerfully painted hallways strewn with twisted metal and room after room with blown-out windows. Floors were covered in wreckage. Outside, a small fire burned, and debris covered the ground." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Do Putin & his military strategists think that slaughtering Ukrainian newborns, women in labor and healthcare workers is a good way to win the hearts and minds of Ukrainians?
Tucker Reals of CBS News: "The power supply was cut to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said, blaming Russia's invading forces for the blackout and warning that it could lead to 'nuclear discharge.' The U.N.-backed global nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, downplayed concerns of an imminent radioactive release, but a Ukrainian national emergency services agency said if power to the plant's cooling systems -- which keep spent nuclear fuel safely surrounded by water -- is not ensured, it could create a 'radioactive cloud' to blow over 'other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe.'" ~~~
~~~ Henry Fountain of the New York Times outlines what could happen as a result of the power cut-off at the Chernobyl plant.
Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "The House passed legislation Wednesday night banning U.S. imports of Russian oil and other energy sources, as lawmakers look to escalate U.S.-led sanctions on Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine. House Democratic leaders decided to move forward with the vote even though President Joe Biden announced a Russian oil embargo on Tuesday. The Senate is not expected to consider the House-passed bill, with upper-chamber Democrats wary of tying Biden's hands."
Fiona Harvey of the Guardian: "Oil and gas companies are facing a potential bonanza from the Ukraine war, though few in the industry want to admit it, and many are using soaring prices and the fear of fuel shortages to cement their position with governments in ways that could have disastrous impacts on the climate crisis.... The crisis gives western oil and gas companies such as BP, Shell, Exxon and Total leverage among governments. In the UK, prime minister Boris Johnson defended oil companies against calls for a windfall tax on Wednesday from Labour.... Green campaigners warned that oil and gas companies were using the Ukraine emergency to further their own interests, by encouraging governments to prioritise oil and gas production and make decisions now on investments that would have little impact on the current crisis but would vastly increase fossil fuel use for years to come."
Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "In the final years of Donald J. Trump's presidency, Republicans portrayed Ukraine as an Eastern European Wild West run by nefarious oligarchs and unlawful politicians, a bad actor that sought to tamper in American elections and channel millions of dollars to Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s son. 'We're talking Ukraine,' thundered Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, in 2019, describing the country as 'one of the three most corrupt countries on the planet.'... Now such voices are fading, as the bulk of the Republican Party tries to get on the right side of history amid a brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. Republicans are among the most vociferous champions for the United States to amp up its military response, and are competing to issue the strongest expressions of solidarity with Ukraine's leaders." Read on. ~~~
~~~ Marie: To the extent that Ukraine was a "Wild West run by nefarious oligarchs," the country was aided & abetted in those illicit endeavors by Americans like Republican operative & short-time Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was collecting bags full of cash from crooked, pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians. Then Vice President Joe Biden, on the other hand, was pressuring Ukraine's corrupt leaders to straighten up & fly right. Funny how that worked, innit? ~~~
~~~ To Wit. Aw, Shucks, a Dilemma for Shady Lobbyists, Lawyers & Super-Wealth Managers. Matthew Goldstein, et al., of the New York Times: "... a constellation of American and European advisers -- including some of the world's largest law firms -- ... have long helped Russian oligarchs navigate the Western financial, legal, political and media landscapes. Now..., lawyers and investment advisers are coming under intense scrutiny for work that weeks earlier was occurring almost entirely below the public radar.... Some firms parted ways with Russian clients whose praises they had been singing in the days leading up to the invasion."
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "A cynic is rarely disappointed by this Republican Party. Yet even by that standard, the current attempt to blame President Biden -- and absolve Vladimir Putin -- for the spike in gas prices is a special case. For days, Republicans called for a ban on imports of Russian oil, a move that, while the right thing to do to counter Putin's attack against Ukraine, would cause already high gas prices to rise even further. Biden did as Republicans wanted -- and they responded by blaming his energy policies for spiking gas prices. It's not only that the charge is bogus -- the current price of gas has virtually nothing to do with Biden's energy policies -- but that the Republican officials leveling it are sowing division at home and giving a rhetorical boost to the enemy at a perilous moment when national unity and sacrifice will be needed to prevail against Russia."
U.A.E. Is Still a Refuge for Russian Oligarchs. David Kirkpatrick, et al., of the New York Times: "... even notoriously secretive banking centers like Switzerland, Monaco and the Cayman Islands have begun to cooperate with the freezing of accounts, seizing of mansions and impounding of yachts [owned by Putin's super-wealthy friends].... But not Dubai, the cosmopolitan resort and financial center in the United Arab Emirates. Although a close partner to Washington in Middle Eastern security matters, the oil-rich monarchy has in recent years also become a popular playground for the Russian rich, in part because of its reputation for asking few questions about the sources of foreign money. Now the Emirates may undercut some of the penalties on Russia by continuing to welcome targeted oligarchs.
Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House on Wednesday passed a sprawling $1.5 trillion federal spending bill that includes a huge infusion of aid for war-torn Ukraine and money to keep the government funded throug September, after jettisoning a package to fund President Biden's new Covid-19 response effort. Bipartisan approval of the first major government spending legislation of Mr. Biden's presidency marked the first time since he took office that Democrats were able to use their congressional majorities and control of the White House to set funding levels for their priorities, including climate resilience, public education and child care. But the exclusion of the $15.6 billion pandemic aid package, amid disputes about its cost that threatened to derail the broader legislation, infuriated the White House and frustrated Democratic leaders, leaving the fate of the Biden administration's coronavirus strategy uncertain." An ABC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Earlier. Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Congressional Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday finalized a roughly $1.5 trillion measure that would provision massive funding increases for key federal health, science, education and defense programs, setting in motion a bipartisan push to stave off a looming government shutdown set to occur at the end of the week. The release of the sweeping spending package, known in congressional parlance as an omnibus, put to end a tumultuous few months of bipartisan negotiations on Capitol Hill. It opened the door for the House to vote as soon as Wednesday on the measure, which lawmakers have used as the vehicle to advance roughly $14 billion in new humanitarian, military and economic assistance for Ukraine. But the chamber's attempts to take swift action ran into an unexpected snag, after a group of Democrats objected to the way that the bill sought to source roughly $15 billion in new coronavirus aid from an existing stimulus fund set aside for state governments." Related story linked below under "The Pandemic, Ctd."
Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: Right-wing lawyer & Trump collaborator John Eastman knew that "interrupting the certification of Joe Biden's election win on 6 January last year as part of the scheme to return Donald Trump to office was ... unlawful..., according to an email exchange about the potential conspiracy.... [Eastman] conceded in an email to counsel for the vice-president Mike Pence, Greg Jacob, that the plan was a violation of the Electoral Count Act. But Eastman then urged Pence to move ahead with the scheme anyway ... [because] it was only a 'minor violation' of the statute.... The admission ... undercuts arguments by Eastman and the Willard war room team that they believed there was no wrongdoing in seeking to have Pence delay the certification past 6 January.... It additionally raises the prospect that the other members of the Willard war room -- including Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani and Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon -- were also aware that the scheme to delay or stop the certification was unlawful from the start." ~~~
~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "A federal judge said on Wednesday that he would review 111 emails that the lawyer John Eastman, an ally of ... Donald J. Trump, is attempting to keep from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, as the panel works to force the release of documents from lawyers involved in plans to overturn the 2020 election. Judge David O. Carter, of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, said in an order that he would review emails Mr. Eastman had sent and received between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7 of last year as he decides whether to release them to the committee. Judge Carter made no mention of the committee’s most explosive argument in the case: that Mr. Eastman's emails are not protected by attorney-client privilege because they were part of a criminal conspiracy."
Myah Ward & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Republican National Committee is suing the Jan. 6 select committee after investigators sought fundraising information from Salesforce, a major RNC vendor. The select committee subpoenaed Salesforce on Feb. 23, according to the RNC's court filing, for information about the party's fundraising, including 'non-public information on Republican donors, volunteers, and supporters and the internal deliberative processes of the RNC.' The company was due to provide the documents to the committee by Wednesday, and it's unclear whether it complied.... 'Between Election Day 2020 and January 6th, the RNC and the Trump campaign solicited donations by pushing false claims that the election was tainted by widespread fraud,' select committee spokesperson Tim Mulvey said in a statement. 'These emails encouraged supporters to put pressure on Congress to keep President Trump in power.'"
Ken Bensinger of BuzzFeed News: "As the government's prosecutions of members of the Oath Keepers -- by most measures, the most significant of any to come out of the Jan. 6 insurrection -- move toward trial, defense lawyers..., it appears, are getting outside help. A nonprofit founded by Sidney Powell -- the former attorney for ... Donald Trump who has repeatedly attempted to reverse the results of the 2020 election -- has been covering the full legal expenses of at least one and potentially multiple defendants in the high-profile case, BuzzFeed News has learned. Since October, the organization, Defending the Republic, has been making monthly payments to the defense attorney for Kelly Meggs, a member of ... the Oath Keepers.... In an interview, the attorney, Jonathon Moseley, said he was aware of 'at least three or four other defendants who have that arrangement' as well."
John Wagner & Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "A bipartisan group of House Judiciary Committee members has alerted the Justice Department to 'potentially criminal conduct' by Amazon and senior executives in relation to a committee investigation into competition in digital markets. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the lawmakers, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), accused Amazon of engaging in a 'pattern and practice' of misleading conduct that appeared designed to 'influence, obstruct, or impede' the committee. The referral is a significant escalation of lawmakers' years-long questioning of statements Amazon executives made during lawmakers' 16-month investigation into competition in digital markets that concluded in 2020."
Gaby Goldstein & David Dailey, in Salon, argue that at least four Supremes, and maybe five, have written or joined opinions that appear to support an interpretation of the radical "independent state legislatures doctrine," which "threatens the very nature of our elections and makes it easier for gerrymanders, voter suppression and electoral subversion to succeed."
You're Paying for Police Misconduct, Especially for Repeat Offenders. Keith Alexander ,et al., of the Washington Post: "The Post collected data on nearly 40,000 payments at 25 of the nation's largest police and sheriff's departments within the past decade, documenting more than $3.2 billion spent to settle claims.... The Post found that more than 1,200 officers in the departments surveyed had been the subject of at least five payments. More than 200 had 10 or more. The repetition is the hidden cost of alleged misconduct: Officers whose conduct was at issue in more than one payment accounted for more than $1.5 billion, or nearly half of the money spent by the departments to resolve allegations, The Post found."
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post on how Tucker Carlson's faint foray into "journalism" proved that Fox "News" acted with "actual malice" against Smartmatic, a voting machine company that even more reckless Fox hosts Maria Bartiromo & Lou Dobbs could not meet because their on-air false claims about Smartmatic were "so inherently improbable that only a reckless person would have put [them] in circulation." ~~~
~~~ BTW, Blake points out here that TuKKKer is still on his Putin appeasement push, blaming the West for provoking Putin into attacking Ukraine.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Sheryl Stolberg & Madeleine Ngo of the New York Times: "... on Wednesday, Democrats in Congress stripped a $15.6 billion emergency aid package from a broader spending bill amid disputes over how to cover the cost. The move injects uncertainty into President Biden's plan, announced last week, to address 'urgent needs' in his pandemic response and to prepare for future variants. With Republicans blocking new spending on the pandemic, Democrats had agreed to take the emergency aid from existing programs -- including $7 billion that states had been counting on for their own pandemic responses. That led governors to protest, rank-and-file lawmakers to balk and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to plan on passing the coronavirus funding package separately, a risky move given Republican opposition to new federal spending in the evenly divided Senate."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.
Beyond the Beltway
Colorado. Trumpy Nitwit Indicted. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Tina Peters, a county clerk running as a Republican for secretary of state of Colorado, was indicted Tuesday evening on 10 criminal counts related to allegations that she tampered with election equipment after the 2020 election. The indictment, which the district attorney of Mesa County, Colo., announced on Wednesday, is connected to Ms. Peters's work as the top county election administrator, a role in which she promoted ... Donald J. Trump's false claims that the election had been stolen.... Ms. Peters's case is a prominent example of how false theories about election fraud and Republican-led calls for 'audits' of the 2020 vote count have created election-security threats involving the integrity of voting machines, software and other election equipment. And in running for secretary of state, Ms. Peters is among a group of brazenly partisan candidates who claim that Mr. Trump may have won the election and who are transforming races around the country for such once little-known offices." CNN's report is here.
Florida. Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "Two months after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a plan for a powerful elections police force that would answer to him, state lawmakers on Wednesday passed a watered-down version that barely resembles what the governor asked for but still worries voting rights advocates. DeSantis (R) had asked for nearly $6 million to hire 52 people, including sworn officers, to investigate alleged violations of elections laws. The GOP-led House and Senate instead gave him about $2.5 million for the new Office of Election Crimes and Security. The agency will be the first of its kind in the nation. Its staff of 25 will be part of the Department of State, which answers to DeSantis. Both chambers approved its creation by wide margins...." ~~~
~~~ Sarah Whitten of CNBC: "The Walt Disney Company is now publicly opposing Florida's controversial 'Don't Say Gay' bill. On Wednesday, CEO Bob Chapek ... told shareholders that he will meet with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney will donate $5 million to organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, that work to protect LGTBQ+ rights. DeSantis' office confirmed that Chapek had called but said no meeting had been scheduled yet...."
Louisiana. Was It a Bird? Was It a Plane? It Sure Wasn't Superman. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: New Orleans' "power company said it believed that a bird of an unknown type had damaged an electrical substation serving parts of downtown and the Uptown neighborhood, affecting nearly 10,000 utility customers, according to Entergy New Orleans.... It was not clear what happened to the bird."~~~
~~~ Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's plane made an emergency landing on Saturday evening following his speech at a Republican National Committee-hosted donor retreat in New Orleans, according to two people familiar with the matter. The plane was in the air for between 20 and 30 minutes before one of the engines failed and the pilot of the private plane decided to turn around and return to the New Orleans airport, one of the sources said."
Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "Nearly two years after the police killing of George Floyd ignited fiery unrest in Minneapolis, a long-awaited report offered a scathing indictment of the city's response, suggesting the chaotic situation was made worse by a mayor who disregarded emergency protocols and a police department whose officers failed to follow 'consistent rules of engagement.' The 86-page report conducted for the city of Minneapolis by the Chicago-based security risk firm Hillard Heintze listed a litany of communications and leadership failures by Mayor Jacob Frey (D) and other city officials that left residents feeling 'abandoned' and fueled chaos on the ground amid days of escalating violence and destruction. The report's authors, including several former law enforcement officials, said police on the front lines operated without clear guidance or supervision as they fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds, including peaceful protesters...."
New York. Jesse McKinley & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "New York State will soon announce plans to usher in its first outlets for retail sales of marijuana by the end of the year, giving applicants access to stockpiles of the drug grown by local farmers and offering sweeteners like new storefronts leased by the state.... To be one of the state's first licensed retailers, you or a member of your family must have been convicted of a marijuana-related offense.... In favoring those with marijuana convictions and prepping their businesses for turnkey sales, New York appears to be trying to avoid pitfalls encountered in some other states, which have seen designated 'social equity' applicants and other mom-and-pop marijuana businesses struggle with issues like lack of capital or competition from deep-pocketed corporate operations."
North Carolina. Sad News (and I Missed It). Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times (March 4): "A judge on Friday blocked a novel electoral challenge that sought to disqualify Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina from running for re-election by labeling him an insurrectionist, issuing an equally novel order that invoked a post-Civil War law that forgave confederate soldiers and sympathizers. U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II, an appointee of ... Donald J. Trump, stepped in to squelch an effort by lawyers and voters in North Carolina who had filed a motion before the state's Board of Elections declaring Mr. Cawthorn, 26, ineligible for re-election under the Constitution. They had contended that the first-term Republican's support for rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, made him an 'insurrectionist,' and therefore barred him from office under the little-known third section of the 14th Amendment, adopted during Reconstruction to punish members of the Confederacy." Under North Carolina law, the challengers cannot appeal the ruling, though the state's AG or its board of elections could. CNN's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Dianne Gallagher of CNN: "North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn is facing a charge of driving with a revoked license for the second time since 2017. The Class 3 misdemeanor charge, which could carry a maximum penalty of up to 20 days in jail, is one of three pending traffic citations against the Republican congressman in his home state."
Way Beyond
South Korea. Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "A graft prosecutor turned opposition leader has won an extremely close presidential election in South Korea, reinstating conservatives to power with calls for a more confrontational stance against North Korea and a stronger alliance with the United States. With 98 percent of the votes counted, the opposition leader, Yoon Suk-yeol, was leading by a margin of 263,000 votes, or 0.8 percentage points, when his opponent conceded early Thursday. It was South Korea's tightest race since it began holding free presidential elections in 1987. Mr. Yoon will replace President Moon Jae-in, a progressive leader whose single five-year term ends in May."
News Ledes
New York Times: "The first person to have his failing heart replaced with that of a genetically altered pig in a groundbreaking operation died Tuesday afternoon at the University of Maryland Medical Center, two months after the transplant surgery. David Bennett Sr., who lived in Maryland, was 57. He had severe heart disease, and had agreed to receive the experimental pig's heart after he was rejected from several waiting lists to receive a human heart. It was unclear whether his body had rejected the foreign organ. 'There was no obvious cause identified at the time of his death,' a hospital spokeswoman said."
No Joy in Mudville, Ctd. New York Times: "Despite a marathon negotiating session that dragged from Tuesday morning until Wednesday night ... Major League Baseball and the players' union could not resolve a roadblock and reach a new labor deal ahead of a 6 p.m. deadline set by the league. As a result, M.L.B. Commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Wednesday night that another week of regular season games has been canceled. And the second-longest work stoppage in the sport's history continued."
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Reader Comments (11)
One would think that news anchors & other professional interviewers would have learned how to speak with people who are only marginally familiar with English. But they don't. When you speak to someone in English, and that person doesn't know much English, you speak slowly and clearly, you use common words & simple sentence construction. You don't use contractions and idioms. But the on-air personalities who interview Ukrainians, many of whom have a limited knowledge of English, break all these common-sense rules. They speak quickly, they use uncommon words and terms even most native English-speakers don't know, they employ complex conditional clauses in long, rambling, confusing "questions." The interviewers are beyond rude; they hover on cruel to people who have seen quite enough cruelty already.
Marie,
Excellent point. Unfortunately, TV journalism has for far too long been affected by this need to spit things out quickly and move on to the next shots of blood, carnage, and (these days) Biden perfidy. And far too often, the phrasing of questions is designed to elicit responses that support a predetermined point of view. This is a staple of Fox. “How have Biden’s policies that are destroying the wonderful economy created out of thin air by President Trump affected your ability to live a good life of full of freeeedom?”
And what happens when rattling on to non-English speakers is that their halting attempts to parse complex sentences full of often poorly phrased clauses makes them look stupid. The fact is, that these interviewees speak at least two languages, often more, while the interviewers can barely manage one, proof of which is their inability to construct simple, straightforward, easily understandable questions.
It’s all about entertainment. Sticking a microphone in the face of someone who has just suffered a terrible tragedy and asking them how they feel “right now” is all about melodrama, not news. Doing that to someone who is struggling with English while their home has just been bombed, with family members in the rubble? Well, I don’t even know what the fuck that is.
Straw men on fire
The other day I heard Gov. DeVermin down in Florida whining that liberals believe that parents have no right to say anything about their kids’ education. Harrumph, harrumph!
First, moron, no one says that. This is like turning the request for gun laws into “They’re stealing all our guns! Aieeee!” No. They’re not. And saying so is just a lie, another of the many straw men set up by the right to attack any point of view they don’t agree with. Rather than having a reasonable conversation about the merits of a position, they resort to the old Bill O’Reilly standby: “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
They are unable and unwilling to make a good case for their position, so they pass laws making it illegal for anyone to talk about it.
DeVermin’s lie about parents being denied input into their children’s education is just another straw man argument. In fact, if they were so inclined, they already have that access. It’s called parenting. But parents have plenty of say in what kids are taught. In fact, in many cases, too much. All around the country now, confederates are passing laws restricting not only what can be taught, but what words teachers can use in the classroom, in some cases, with severe legal and financial penalties if they don’t obey.
On the other hand, confederates have no problem telling parents (and everyone else) that they have no right to say anything about loaded weapons in schools, libraries, the Stop&Shop, the airport, or the local pizza place. No rights at all. The difference there is that no kid will die learning about the real story of Columbus.
Traitors like DeVermin aren’t worried about parents. They’re worried that kids might learn some actual facts now and then, might learn critical thinking, and then, when they’re old enough to vote, send them packing.
That is, if voting rights even exist at all by then.
The good thing about straw men is that they are easily set aflame. The bad thing is that too many will hurry up to replace them with new straw men.
But we gotta start somewhere. Someone hand me a match.
@Akhilleus: Agree with all that re: the teevee interviewers. My favorite question long has been "how do you feel?" asked of a person who is one of the few survivors of a tornado that killed nine of her neighbors. Favorite answer: "I thank God for saving me. I know he has a plan for me." (Never mind the rescue workers who endangered their own lives while tearing through rubble to save the woman. And what did god have against those neighbors? Or did god just not have a plan?)
Unfortunately, the personalities I hear interviewing Ukrainians ask that sort of question more like this: "What would be your reaction, if you could converse with the Russian leader, to what appears to be an unconscionable bombardment by thermobaric weaponry of medical facilities including many casualties that, er, eliminated an indeterminate number of Ukrainian nationals?"
Whom to serve?
God, the Nation, its people--or Mammon?
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/10/why-big-oil-and-biden-cant-agree-on-oil-prices-amid-russia-crisis.html
Sure ain't the first three.
Dividends to stockholders and stock buybacks call the shots...
But oil execs are willing to bleat a little about Ukraine and say the President should have begged them to behave a little better so they'd have some excuse to be human...
Bah!
Mikhail Zygar, a Russian journalist and author of "All the Kremlin's Men" takes us inside the Court of Putin. Our notion that Putin has completely isolated himself and is determined to "Make Russia Great Again" is right as rain. But reading Zygar, the threat is even worse than we imagine.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/opinion/putin-russia-ukraine.html
As far the discussion above re: journalists not heeding the rules of translation––-were they trained in this?–––I'm impressed by how many Ukrainians speak English––but that's true throughout the world, except in America where most only know their native language. Lucky English is the fancy, fluid lingua franca.
Wonder how grateful Mr. Cawthorn is for that Trump judge's decision.
Seems that by accepting "amnesty" for his conduct, he is admitting the insurrectionary conduct took place.
Sound like material for a campaign ad.
The Republican get out of jail free card knows no bounds.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/03/10/florida-legislature-passes-anti-woke-bill/?
From "I felt threatened" so I killed him to he made me "feel guilty" and that's against the law, so I'm suing.
What if my feelings of guilt made me feel threatened? Guess I wouldn't have to bother with the courts...
The Republican Party is now officially the haven for subjectivity. All belly no head.
Makes sense. The opposite of "woke" is asleep.
Absolute Freedom
I heard an interview with one of these truck convoy snowflakes (“Vaccines steal my freedom! Waaaahhh”). He said he was fighting tyrants like Biden for his freedom. He said he and his trucker pals want complete freedom to live their lives and do whatever they want.
At that point I thought of Lenny Bruce who once said “If there was absolute freedom, people would run over babies, and charge admission”.
Or maybe just shoot someone in Times Sq.
Or…blow up hospitals and get a big attaboy from the usual suspects. One of the reasons Trump is so in love with Putin—and he’s said as much—is that he does whatever he wants. Absolute freedom. And now Putin’s running over babies, just like Lenny predicted.
So…from a piece liked above…
“ A [Trump] judge on Friday blocked a novel [but entirely legal] electoral challenge that sought to disqualify Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina from running for re-election by labeling him an insurrectionist, [because of course he did, he was empowered by a traitor so he’s partial to other traitors] issuing an equally novel order that invoked a post-Civil War law that forgave confederate soldiers and sympathizers. [So this Trump judge] squelched a motion before the state’s Board of Elections declaring Mr. Cawthorn, 26, ineligible for re-election under the Constitution.”
This is how it’s going to be from now on. Never fear, had this motion been brought against a Democrat, this judge would have sentenced that person to 20 years hard labor in a Syrian salt mine, and ineligible to run for public toilet inspector, for life. But a Trump traitor? No worries, we let those other traitors go free, he’s good to go. Send him back to Congress!
Maybe we can get him for driving without a license. For the third time,
No wonder these pigs believe they’re above the law.
They are.
But one more thing…
By invoking a ruling from over 150 years ago, related to letting traitors escape punishment, this Trump judge is saying “Yeah, okay. Cawthorn is a traitor who advocated insurrection. What of it?”
And they’re all okay with this.