The Ledes

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

The Washington Post's live updates of Hurricane Milton developments are here: “Hurricane Milton, which has strengthened to a 'catastrophic' Category 5 storm, is closing in on Florida’s west coast and is expected to make landfall Wednesday night or early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. The hurricane, which could bring maximum sustained winds of nearly 160 mph with bigger gusts, poses a dire threat to the densely populated zone that includes Tampa, Sarasota and Fort Myers. As well as 'damaging hurricane-force winds,' coastal communities face a “life-threatening” storm surge, the center said.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here.

Washington Post: “The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to David Baker at the University of Washington and Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper of Google DeepMind.... The prize was awarded to scientists who cracked the code of proteins. Hassabis and Jumper used artificial intelligence to predict the structure of proteins, one of the toughest problems in biology. Baker created computational tools to design novel proteins with shapes and functions that can be used in drugs, vaccines and sensors.”

Sorry, forgot this yesterday: ~~~

Reuters: “U.S. scientist John Hopfield and British-Canadian Geoffrey Hinton won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for discoveries and inventions in machine learning that paved the way for the artificial intelligence boom. Heralded for its revolutionary potential in areas ranging from cutting-edge scientific discovery to more efficient admin, the emerging technology on which the duo worked has also raised fears humankind may soon be outsmarted and outcompeted by its own creation.”

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The Ledes

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

The New York Times is live-updating developments Tuesday as powerful Hurricane Milton moves through the Gulf of Mexico toward Central Florida.

New York Times: “Cissy Houston, a Grammy Award-winning soul and gospel star who helped shepherd her daughter Whitney Houston to superstardom, died on Monday at her home in Newark. She was 91.”

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Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

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Wednesday
Feb242021

The Commentariat -- February 25, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.

Millions and millions of Republicans, who don't think Joe Biden won the election, support his Covid relief package. -- David Plouffe, on MSNBC Thursday afternoon

Alejandro N. Mayorkas, DHS Secretary, in a Washington Post op-ed: "For several years, the United States has been suffering an upsurge in domestic violent extremism. The horror of seeing the U.S. Capitol, one of the pillars of our democracy, attacked on Jan. 6 was a brutal example of our suffering, and it compels us all to action.... I have designated domestic violent extremism as a National Priority Area for the first time, and will require state and local governments to spend 7.5 percent of their DHS grant awards combating this threat.... Americans have witnessed the costs of allowing politics to pervade intelligence. Since Inauguration Day, DHS has increased the development, production, and sharing of intelligence and other information central to countering domestic violent extremism."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Capitol Police is keeping its security posture high in response to intelligence that indicates some extremists who joined the Jan. 6 insurrection have discussed plans to attack the building during the State of the Union, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman revealed Thursday. The chatter among extremists about trying to blow up the Capitol during the still-unscheduled presidential address, Pittman said, has prompted the Capitol Police to maintain the elevated presence it has kept since last month's riot.... 'We know that members of the militia groups that were present on Jan. 6 have stated their desire that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible, with a direct nexus to the State of the Union,' Pittman said during testimony to a House Appropriations subcommittee.... Pittman said existing intelligence has underscored that insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol 'weren't only interested in attacking members and officers. They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation as to who was in charge of that legislative process.'... ~~~

"Pittman said she pulled former chief Steven Sund's phone records and confirmed he reached out to the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms at 12:58 p.m. and 1:05 p.m., respectively. Sund has told lawmakers that he first reached out at 1:09 p.m. -- a timeline that one former sergeant-at-arms disputed in Senate testimony this week.... Former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving told senators he did not hear from Sund until 1:28 p.m. and that no formal request for National Guard assistance was lodged until after 2 p.m. Pittman's testimony appears to back up the narrative shared by Sund, who resigned shortly after violent insurrectionists threatened the presidential transfer of power."

Axios: "The Senate voted 64-35 on Thursday to confirm former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as secretary of the Department of Energy.... Granholm, only the second woman to head the department, will play a key role in President Biden's efforts to accelerate the U.S. shift to clean energy and help other countries do the same. Granholm said she hopes to strengthen solar and wind power usage, and to boost the development of clean-energy technologies, like electric vehicles." MB: Tolja senators prefer blondes.

Burgess Everett of Politico: "Sen. John Kennedy apologized on Thursday for calling President Joe Biden's Interior Department nominee, Deb Haaland, a 'whack job.' The Louisiana Republican said he regretted the remark about Haaland, explaining that he was searching for another word [-- 'extremist' --] before calling her 'a neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin whack job.'... His apology comes after women's rights activists and progressive Democrats spoke out to defend Biden's nominees of color, in the face of what they saw as a double standard applied to the aspiring budget chief's teetering nomination." MB: IOW, Kennedy considers falsely calling a member of Congress a "neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin extremist." to be A-OK.

Chandelis Duster of CNN: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is facing sharp criticism after she posted an anti-transgender sign outside of her office, directly across the hall from another lawmaker who has a transgender child. The antagonizing move by Greene comes as the House is expected to pass the Equality Act, a bill that would ban discrimination against LGTBQ Americans, later Thursday, after the Georgia Republican's attempt to block the act failed on Wednesday. It also follows a string of incendiary statements and actions by the freshman Georgia congresswoman.... Illinois Rep. Marie Newman, whose daughter is transgender, posted a video on Twitter of her hanging the pink and blue transgender pride flag outside her office Wednesday afternoon, captioning that Greene tried to block the act because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is "disgusting, immoral, and evil,'" adding, 'thought we'd put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door' with winking and transgender flag emojis. That evening, Greene retweeted Newman's post and added a video of her hanging a sign that reads 'There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE ...Trust The Science!'" ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the lead. RAS asks, "Can you guess which [post] Facebook removed?" CBS News Chicago/CNN: "... on Thursday, as Facebook temporarily removed a video Newman posted showing her displaying the transgender pride flag outside her office on Capitol Hill, labeling it as 'hate speech.' However, Facebook did not remove a video Greene posted showing her hanging an anti-transgender sign at the Capitol.... Facebook later restored the video, and the social media giant's policy communications director, Andy Stone, apologized for mistakenly flagging it as hate speech. 'Congresswoman, this plainly should not have happened. We've restored this content and you have our sincere apologies,' Stone wrote in a Twitter post." Thanks to RAS for the lead here, too.

Kara Scannell, et al., of CNN: "Tax records that ... Donald Trump tried to keep secret for years are now in the hands of the New York district attorney. Prosecutors obtained the records on Monday, according to a source, just hours after the US Supreme Court denied Trump's last-ditch effort to keep the records private. The millions of pages of documents, sources say, contain Trump's tax returns spanning from January 2011 to August 2019, as well as financial statements, engagement agreements, documents relating to the preparation and review of tax returns, and work papers and communications related to the tax returns." MB: Not sure if this is a forensic accountant's dream or nightmare.

~~~~~~~~~~

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden reopened the country on Wednesday to people seeking green cards, ending a ban on legal immigration that ... Donald J. Trump imposed last spring, citing what he said was the need to protect American jobs during the pandemic. In a proclamation, Mr. Biden said that the ban did 'not advance the interests of the United States,' challenging Mr. Trump's claims that the way to protect the American economy during the health crisis was to shut the country off from the rest of the world. 'To the contrary,' Mr. Biden said of his predecessor's immigration ban, 'it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here. It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world.' The president's action was the latest example of his efforts to roll back Mr. Trump's assault on the nation's immigration system."

David Lynch of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Wednesday formally ordered a 100-day government review of potential vulnerabilities in U.S. supply chains for critical items, including computer chips, medical gear, electric-vehicle batteries and specialized minerals. The directive comes as U.S. automakers are grappling with a severe shortage of semiconductors, essential ingredients in the high-tech entertainment and navigation systems that fill modern passenger vehicles. Biden’s executive order also is aimed at avoiding a repeat of the shortages of personal protective gear such as masks and gloves experienced last year during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic."

Ode DeJoy: Higher Prices, Slower Service. Jacob Bogage, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House moved toward reasserting control of the U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday even as its Republican postmaster general defiantly told Congress he would press forward with plans to raise prices and slow the mail, brushing off calls for him to resign. President Biden named two Democrats and a voting rights advocate to fill three of the four openings on the Postal Service's governing board, according to three people briefed on the discussions and later confirmed by the White House: Ron Stroman, the Postal Service's recently retired deputy postmaster general; Amber McReynolds, the chief executive of the National Vote at Home Institute; and Anton Hajjar, the former general counsel of the American Postal Workers Union. The new slate would create a Democratic advantage and potentially the votes to oust [Postmaster General Louis] DeJoy, whose summer overhaul led to precipitous service declines that snarled up untold numbers of Americans' bills, prescriptions and paychecks.... DeJoy spent most of the [House Oversight] hearing dodging questions about his forthcoming strategic plan for the Postal Service...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The Constitution gives Congress the power "To establish Post Offices and post Roads." That's it. There's nothing that says the USPS has to make money or break even, nor that it must operate like a successful business. Rather, the Constitution implies that the USPS is a government service, akin to, say, the military. ~~~

Senators Prefer Blond(e)s. Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: "Many of the president's Black, Latino, Asian and Native American nominees are encountering more political turbulence than their White counterparts, further drawing out the process of staffing the federal government.... Activists say the concerns raised over [Neera] Tanden are part of a broader pattern imperiling many of Biden's nominees of color, making their confirmation process rougher and meaner than in previous years and when compared with their White counterparts. Many of these nominees are still likely to go forward along mostly partisan lines, but with their qualifications scrutinized more closely and their reputations attacked more forcefully than their White counterparts, activists say.... A number of the nominees have been labeled with language that activist groups view as racially coded. For example, Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Biden's nominee to be the first Native American to lead the Department of the Interior, is being cast by Republicans as a 'radical.'... Vanita Gupta, Biden's pick to be associate attorney general at the Justice Department and an Indian American, is the target of a multimillion-dollar ad campaign from conservative groups labeling her 'dangerous.' Heritage Action for America has focused on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, questioning his qualifications to head the Health and Human Services Department because he's not a doctor, which has not always been a prerequisite for that position."

Marianne Levine of Politico: "Neera Tanden saw both of her Senate committee votes postponed Wednesday morning, the latest sign that her nomination to become director of the White House budget office is on the brink of collapse. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Budget committees sent out notices Wednesday saying that their slated votes on Tanden's nomination to become director of the Office of Management and Budget would be delayed." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Wednesday that she hasn't made a decision on Neera Tanden's nomination, leaving President Biden's pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stuck in limbo.... Murkowski's decision on Tanden is viewed as crucial in the White House's uphill bid to salvage her nomination. Because Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has said he will oppose her, the White House needs to hold together the rest of the Democratic caucus and pick up at least one GOP senator. Murkowski is viewed as the final up-for-grabs GOP vote, after Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Mitt Romney (Utah) and Rob Portman (Ohio) all came out in opposition to her nomination." ~~~

     ~~~ It's Personal. Jacob Jarvis of Newsweek: "... Neera Tanden previously sent a tweet taking issue with the salary of former CEO of pharmaceutical company Mylan, Heather Bresch, who is the daughter of Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV)." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. MB: Mylan became infamous when it acquired EpiPen, an emergency allergy device, and raised the price from $50 to $608 for a two-pack. Bresch was COO at the time of the purchase, and when she appeared before a House committee in 2016, she took responsibility for & defended the price hike.

One More Way Trump Cost Us. Bill Chappell of NPR: "The cost of repairing damages from the attack on the U.S. Capitol and related security expenses have already topped $30 million and will keep rising, Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton told lawmakers on Wednesday.... Blanton said that congressional appropriations committees have already approved a transfer request of $30 million to pay for expenses and extend a temporary perimeter fencing contract through March 31."

Awk-Ward! Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "When members of a party's congressional leadership hold news conferences, there is a premium on working from the same playbook. That is decidedly not what happened Wednesday with House Republicans.... House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was asked whether ... Donald Trump should speak this weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). McCarthy didn't miss a beat, responding, 'Yes, he should.' But then the question was posed to the No. 3-ranking Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).... 'That's up to CPAC,' Cheney said... But then she went on: 'I've been clear on my views about President Trump and the extent to which, following Jan. 6, I don't believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.'"

Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "A close ally of Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took part in the January 6 mob at the Capitol and said he was among those who eventually made their way into the building.... In tweets after the Capitol insurrection, Greene falsely suggested that those who had broken into the Capitol were not Republicans and instead falsely implied so-called 'Antifa' dressed as Trump supporters were to blame. In fact, Anthony Aguero, a conservative livestreamer, activist and associate of Greene, said on video following the January 6 assault on the Capitol that he had been among those who entered and attacked those who falsely claimed it was done by 'Antifa.' 'We were all there. It was not Antifa and it was not BLM. It was Trump supporters that did that yesterday. I'm the first to admit it, being one myself,' said Aguero in a video posted on January 7. 'I walked amongst all those people,' he added, later defending entering the Capitol. Greene and Aguero have worked closely together over the years on causes such as immigration and the border wall and have attended pro-Trump rallies together. In many since-deleted videos saved by CNN's KFile, Greene repeatedly calls Aguero 'amazing' and a 'friend.' On social media, Aguero has called Greene 'one of my closest friends.'"

You Might Be a Moron if ... (1) you call someone else a moron while you are in the act of committing several felonies; (2) you leave her an electronic trail documenting your crimes. ~~~

~~~ Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Standing on the Capitol steps on Jan. 6, Richard Michetti allegedly took a break from the rioting to argue with his ex-girlfriend over text message. After sending photos and videos of the mob and boasting how he had avoided tear gas, Michetti parroted ... Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud. 'If you can't see the election was stolen you're a moron,' Michetti wrote in a text to the woman, according to court documents. The next day, the woman he had insulted promptly told the FBI that her ex was at the Capitol, handing over to law enforcement the string of incriminating texts, photos and videos he sent to her. Michetti, who lives in Ridley Park, Pa., has now been charged with knowingly entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and obstruction of Congress. If convicted, Michetti, who was arraigned on Tuesday in federal court in Philadelphia, faces up to 20 years in prison, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.&"

Kara Scannell of CNN: "The Manhattan district attorney's office has subpoenaed financial records related to Steve Bannon's crowd-funding border-wall effort, signaling that its criminal investigation into ... Donald Trump's chief strategist is advancing, according to people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors sent the subpoenas after Trump pardoned Bannon in late January for federal conspiracy crimes tied to the southern border-wall project, making Bannon among the Trump world figures -- including the former president -- subjects of criminal investigations by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance.... The state grand jury investigation revives the possibility that Bannon, the conservative and outspoken political strategist, could face state criminal charges after shedding the federal case last month."

Scott Wong of the Hill: "Two key House Democrats will roll out legislation Thursday that would revoke a lifetime pension and other taxpayer-funded perks from former presidents who are convicted of felonies during or after office. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who leads the Democrats' campaign arm, and Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) have authored the Restoring and Enforcing Accountability of Presidents (REAP) Act. It would reform the Former Presidents Act of 1958 by stripping past presidents convicted of a felony of their $219,200 annual pension, office space and a budget to pay for staff. The legislation does not impact lifetime Secret Service protection for convicted presidents. It will formally be introduced on Thursday, when Maloney and Jayapal will begin gathering co-sponsors."

Jeff Pegues & Melissa Quinn of CBS News: "Donald Trump Jr. ... was deposed by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine this month as part of the district's lawsuit over the misuse of funds by the former president's inaugural committee. A court filing from Racine with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia indicates Trump Jr. answered questions at a deposition on February 11, during which he was asked about a contract signed by the Trump Organization for a block of hotel rooms at the Loews Madison Hotel in Washington during the week of the 2017 inauguration."

The Spoils of "Public Service." Jeff Stein & Yeganeh Torbati of the Washington Post (Feb. 23): "Steven Mnuchin, who was treasury secretary in the Trump administration, is planning to start an investment fund that is expected to raise money from sovereign [i.e., state-owned] wealth funds in the Persian Gulf region and other investors, two people familiar with the project said.... The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia control some of the region's largest investment funds, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.... Mnuchin frequently traveled to the Middle East throughout the Trump administration.... 'The fact that there were policies that were favorable to countries that now might benefit him in a business matter is troubling, and does raise questions about whether even the prospect of future business interests might have impacted decision-making, even if there were no specific plans in place,' said Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington...."

Florida Senate Race 2022. Marc Caputo of Politico: "Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy is seriously considering a bid to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio's 2022 reelection, announcing Wednesday that she's launching a statewide listening tour and has hired a top Democratic operative to manage the effort. Murphy, 42, has been elected three times to one of Florida's most competitive congressional districts in Orlando, and first won the seat by knocking out 12-term incumbent GOP Rep. John Mica when few thought she could. It was a giant-killer act that Democrats hope she can repeat if she takes on Rubio, widely seen as a hard-to-beat incumbent."

Georgia Senate Race 2022. Reis Thebault & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Former Georgia senator David Perdue will not run for Senate in 2022, he said Tuesday, backing out of the race a week after he filed the paperwork to explore a bid. Perdue made his decision days after he traveled to Florida to meet with ... Donald Trump and grew concerned [Trump] was not focused on helping Republicans win in 2022.... The two men get along well, but Perdue was reportedly disturbed by Trump's lack of focus on helping Republicans in 2022 and by his desire to exact revenge on party members he deemed insufficiently loyal, a person ... said. Perdue feared Trump would create a difficult climate, the person said." A CNN report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

"Alien Reptiles." Steve Cavendish, et al., of the New York Times lay out what is known about the Nashville Christmas bomber's motivations. "The F.B.I. and other federal and local law enforcement agencies investigating the bombing have not made any findings public, although officials said they expect a report by early March. Whatever else might have been on [Anthony] Warner's mind in the period leading up to his death, he had been fixated for years on the notion that alien reptiles who inhabited underground tunnels controlled the earth, a fantasy spread by a notorious British serial conspiracy theorist." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.

Rebecca Robbins & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hoping to make it easier for Americans to find Covid-19 vaccines, is backing the test of a centralized online portal where the public can search for nearby vaccination locations with doses on hand. The website, called VaccineFinder, is run by Boston Children's Hospital with the help of several collaborators.... It expanded on Wednesday to include the availability of coronavirus vaccines at more than 20,000 locations, concentrated in several states.If the program goes well, the website's developers plan to expand it nationwide.... The project is not a panacea. It will not enable people to book appointments...."

Matthew Conlen, et al., of the New York Times: "Throughout the pandemic, there has been perhaps nowhere more dangerous than a nursing home.... But for the first time since the American outbreak began roughly a year ago -- at a nursing care center in Kirkland, Wash. -- the threat inside nursing homes may have finally reached a turning point. Since the arrival of vaccines, which were prioritized to long-term care facilities starting in late December, new cases and deaths in nursing homes, a large subset of long-term care facilities, have fallen steeply, outpacing national declines, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data. The turnaround is an encouraging sign for vaccine effectiveness...."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Sarah Owermohle of Politico: "Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine appears safe and effective, particularly against severe disease, though questions remain about how well it works in older people, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The vaccine is 66 percent effective against overall Covid-19 illness but less effective against B.1.351, the strain first found in South Africa. The agency laid out data in briefing documents posted ahead of a Feb. 25 meeting of an independent advisory panel of vaccine experts that will discuss whether the vaccine should be authorized for people 18 and older." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Hannah Knowles & Reis Thebault of the Washington Post: "A former aide to New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo [D] made detailed allegations Wednesday that the politician sexually harassed her, describing an unwanted kiss in Cuomo's office and a pattern of behavior that she says left her 'nauseous' going to work. Lindsey Boylan, who eventually resigned from the Democratic governor's team, described deep discomfort with Cuomo starting in 2016, when she says her boss told her the governor had a 'crush' on her. Boylan said in an online post that Cuomo 'would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs,' and she shared images of text messages and emails that she said supported her story, an expansion on public allegations that Cuomo denied last year.... Boylan, in her post Wednesday, said Cuomo's treatment of her was part of a deep-rooted, workplace-wide problem, leading some New York lawmakers to call for an investigation. The Democratic leader of the state Senate said the ex-aide's claims were 'deeply disturbing.'... A spokeswoman for the governor, Caitlin Girouard, reiterated Wednesday that Boylan's 'claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false.'" The New York Times' story is here. A Daily Beast story is here.

South Dakota. Rachel Treisman of NPR: "South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg [R] is facing calls to leave office after newly released video evidence has raised questions about his conduct in the car crash that killed a pedestrian last year. It's the latest fallout from the Sept. 12 incident in which Ravnsborg, while driving home from an evening Republican fundraiser, fatally struck 55-year-old Joe Boever along the side of U.S. Highway 14.... In his initial 911 call, as well as in a subsequent two-page public statement, Ravnsborg said he believed his car had hit a deer or some other large animal and did not know he had killed a man until he returned to the accident scene the following day and discovered Boever's body. Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday called for Ravnsborg -- who faces three misdemeanor charges -- to resign. Later that day, a bipartisan group of South Dakota House lawmakers filed a resolution to impeach him.... At one point, investigators said that a pair of broken glasses was found inside the attorney general's car and that the glasses could have gotten there only by Boever's face entering through the windshield." Ravnsborg also denied seeing the bright flashlight Boever was carrying. Includes video of a portion of interrogation. The Washington Post's story is here.

Texas. Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "Texas's deregulated electricity market has raised costs to consumers by $28 billion since 2004, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis published Wednesday. The analysis found that consumers purchasing power from the deregulated electricity market have paid significantly more than state residents whose sources were traditional electric utilities. The report comes after widespread power outages in Texas that left millions of residents without power for days amid freezing temperatures. That was followed by many households receiving sky-high electricity bills, with warnings from experts that consumers are likely to be hit with covering the costs for grid upgrades." ~~~

~~~ Abbott: Those People I Appointed Really Suck. But Thanks for the Cash. Dillon Collier of KSAT San Antonio: "Since a deadly winter storm hit Texas earlier this month Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly heaped criticism on ERCOT, the operator of the state's electric grid, claiming the entity was woefully unprepared for the dangerous weather that has killed a still-untold number of people. But an analysis of state campaign finance records by the KSAT 12 Defenders shows three current members of ERCOT's board have contributed thousands to Abbott's campaigns, with some of the funds dating back to his days as Texas Attorney General. Lori Cobos and DeAnn Walker, two Abbott appointees who sit on ERCOT's board..., are listed among the governor's lengthy list of political donors.... Walker, the chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas and a former senior policy advisor to Abbott.... Board member Mark Carpenter ... has contributed $10,000 to Texans for Greg Abbott ... since October 2018. He was not appointed by Abbott...."

News Ledes

AP: "The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week but remained high by historical standards. Applications for benefits declined 111,000 from the previous week to a seasonally adjusted 730,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It is the lowest figure since late November. Still, before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for unemployment benefits had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession of 2008-2009."

New York Times: "Fanne Foxe, the stripper known as 'the Argentine Firecracker,' who leapt from the limousine of Representative Wilbur D. Mills and plunged into Washington's Tidal Basin after a night of drinking exposing one of the biggest political sex scandals of the 1970s, died on Feb. 10. She was 84."

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Reader Comments (26)

As a followup to Marie's Israel comment from yesterday:

https://www.axios.com/netanyahu-international-criminal-court-sanctions-0ef3363b-2bec-4236-b7ea-d5517117b2d1.html

Wouldn't want that nasty old international law to apply to us'ns or US'ns, would we?

February 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Regarding: Biden's assessment of "...potential vulnerabilities in U.S. supply chains for critical items, including computer chips, medical gear, electric-vehicle batteries and specialized minerals"; this review by Raúl Ilargi Meijer, editor of Automatic Earth might be sobering. For example this factoid: 20 million Tesla vehicles would require 165% of the 2019 GLOBAL lithium supply. Granted, it would take a few years to for all of the major automakers to produce 20 million lithium battery powered vehicles, and I don't know how the yearly lithium production pans out against known reserves, but Meijer suggests that we could be rapidly approaching the limits, and the environmental cost to "innovate" out way out of our CO2 problem might make the problem worse.

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2021/02/ilargi-but-then-theres-the-lithium-math.html.

Other critical reserves would include rare earth elements needed for our "sustainable future" and the electrification of everything. Currently, China produces more than 70% of REE. Even though the deposits are widely distributed around the world, they are not yet economic to extract. Quite a leveraged position for our "main competitor".

Bill Gates has written a book and is making the rounds on all of the main stream media outlets (haven't read it). He does put a lot of his optimism in American innovation, and has suggested in interviews that the decarbonization of passenger vehicle fuel is sort of 'worked out' with the advent of battery power - like it is inevitable. Surely he has done the global lithium math. No? There is a saying...'the ocean floor is littered with the boats of optimists'. As someone who worked a few years on the advanced cellulosic biofuel initiative, I can attest to the insidious intoxicating flavor of 'kool-aid' promoted by government leaders and academics drunk on the promise of innovation. That boat now rests serenely on the bottom.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered Commenterperiscope

@periscope: I don't know anything about the sciency stuff, but I do know that Raúl Ilargi Meijer defended Trump against the Mueller probe & that naked capitalism runs very right-wing, if often weirdly so. Ergo, I would be skeptical of an assertion by Meijer published in naked capitalism.

I will give you props for trolling this site on a topic about which I know zip, so cannot counter with any sort of informed retort. So kudos there.

February 25, 2021 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

@P and @Jeanne:

As usual, I'm a day late, but...in re J. Weaver:

Jeff Weaver was Bernie's 2016 campaign manager and an advisor for his 2020 campaign.

The co-founder of the Lincoln Project, who is now being accused of sexual predation, is John Weaver. In 2016, he was chief strategist for John Kasich's presedential campaign.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRose in MI

@Rose: Thanks very much for the correction. Obviously, I wasn't paying attention. I guess neither John nor Jeff is one of these folks.

P.S. If you're going to accuse someone (Jeff) of sex crimes, it's a really good idea to know whom you're accusing. Clearly, I don't catch every factual mistake commentators make, but it does trouble me that I didn't do the check Rose did, as a false accusation against Jeff could have opened me up to having to defend a lawsuit.

February 25, 2021 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Jeff, John, potaYto, potaHto, it's close enough to smear Bernie associates. I mean, how much proof do you NEED?

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

@Rose: I feel awful for weaving a tale re: the wrong Weaver! Thank you so much for the correction although luckily neither of these gentleman will ever know my mistake.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

@PD Pepe: It is not true that "neither of these gentleman will ever know my mistake." I am aware that some well-known, high-level political operatives do check (or have someone check) this site; whether they read the comments or not I don't know.

Please don't assume you can just write whatever and there will be no consequences for either of us. Again, you made a serious & false accusation, and I fault myself for not at least checking what you wrote. I am grateful to Rose for catching me up so that I could go back & make a correction, albeit a day late. I hope my oversight doesn't leave me quite a few dollars short.

February 25, 2021 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

I certainly do not assume I can write "whatever" and there will be no consequences. I said I feel awful about the mistake but you have made me feel even worse.

Here is a story I heard last night on Brian Williams: It's about the failed F-35 program which is costing us $1.7 Trillion. That's enough, says Robert Reich, to house all homeless people in the US 28 times over.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uis2SlKTKCM

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Yikes-- sorry when I questioned it last week and also communicated that I wondered if it was the same person. Yesterday I was too lazy to google him, so I add my mea culpa to the tangle. Thank you, Rose, and Marie and PD-- The Weaver last name could also have been jangling around in my little brain because it is a common name around here, Amish country. At any rate, now we know. I am sorry that I might have added to the confusion! It is unfortunate that the Lincoln folks are part of a terrible story, as I thought their ads were great, and it is always nice to hear a convert like Steve Schmidt talk about past deeds with the dreadful GQP, and to compare the behavior of most Democrats. Yes, a bias confirmed...

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

I am reaching back to yesterday's article on Calvin E. Tyler Jr., who left college due to lack of funds, started as a driver at UPS, worked his way up to management, and made a very generous donation to the college he left. It is a wonderful story and one that everyone can admire but, in today's business climate, it is very difficult to reproduce.

With the outsourcing of many lower level jobs, the path from entry-level to management has a fixed barrier of the subcontractor administration. The subcontractor boss has given a low bid to get the driver/food worker/train conductor work, and that contract gets rebid every N years, so the boss has to keep the worker wages low to have a chance at winning the contract again the next time, and the people that do the actual work get no raises and have no possible path to rising in the larger company. A subcontractor boss who gives raises will get under-bid by a low-budget competitor the next time the contract comes up.

An associate at a large corporation was trying to tell me that this is good for the food service workers at his site. The subcontractor companies may change through the years, but many of the workers remain there and seem happy. But I'll bet the workers keep getting rehired at the bottom of the wage spectrum for each new contractor, meaning after 20 years on site they only have, say, third-year status with the newest administrator, who is probably enjoying Wednesday afternoons on his boat.

All of those "bootstrap" stories told by confederates, whether it's the "I worked for [much more generous] minimum wage and look where I am now" to "I started at the bottom and worked my way up, so you should too," they're all based on a reality that doesn't exist any more.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

@Jeanne: thanks for weighing in but you certainly did not add to my mistake. The weird thing is I checked google to make sure I was correct and when I saw the name John Weaver I somehow read it as the same as Jeff. Blame it on my eyesight or the beginning of whoppsi-ness. If the latter, I might just call it a day and play mumbly-peg on a card table. Oh, woe begone!

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Louis Dejoy:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_DeJoy & http://louisdejoyandaldonawosfamilyfoundation.com/about-us-louis-dejoy-aldona-wos-family-foundation/. This guy is like a sculpin version of a Trump fish: creating his own history and always one good forensic audit away from the slammer. I bet he can be leveraged out by threat of financial investigation. Play his game against him and see how he likes it.

As regards supply chain review: Start with all of Reagan's policies and hit the "dismantle" button. First: resume preferential policies for define benefit retirement programs. Out-sourcing and screwing your neighbor and community by hiring the cheapest person offshore incentivized MBAs to disregard any conscience that they may have been born with. (The fact that these people hired as contractors offshore are NOT of European decent adds a whole other dimension to MBAs, Goldman Sachs, and McKinsey's conduct.) Short term supply chain profit maximizing levels don't lead to long term stability. See Enron. See GE. Though I am somewhat gratified to see Elon Musk and Tesla, in his self-asserted brilliance, are totally dependent on short term supply chain thinking for batteries and motors.
Nisky: Those people "rehired at the bottom" point to two things from my point of view. One: money changers invented religion to keep these folks from becoming restive. Two: 85% of people are decent folks.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered Commentercitizen625

Citizen,

I’m guessing that your comparison of DeJoy to a sculpin refers to his status as a bottom feeder who sucks up whatever he can off the floor. This puts him in (not so) good company with most other confederate bottom feeders, benthic bastards permanently wedded to the lowest rungs of existence, hoovering up detritus from the mud and the muck.

Sounds pretty Trumpian to me. Apt observation.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

PD: I don't think you are ready for scrabble in the day room of the Bide-A-Wee... or mah-jong at the card table. Your answers are always well thought-out, and you are so much more well-read than I. I always look forward to your observations and comments. You have been here longer than I, which makes you a classic. I guess we of a certain age (I am approaching 76--) are all terrified of being put out to pasture-- it's like this year has been a training session for that. Hang in there, refold the legs of the damn card table and put it in the closet. Not your fate yet.

Back to yet another CYA session of police. Everyone testifying is scared of being fired, and in the process, the main Offender is eventually going to escape even a modicum of blame, and that makes me feel I had better get out my own card table. Ugh.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

@ Marie. So I'm a "troll"?. Sorry. I read this (your) site because it is one-stop shopping for news summaries, and I agree with and enjoy the (your) comments - as well as the comments of PD, Ken, Akillheus, and all the others. I'll take your sentiment to heart.

In my opinion the Naked Capitalism website features articles and commentary that are far more progressive and left wing than "very right wing" as you say. It's administrators are very pro-Sanders, medicare for all, modern monetary theory, and highly critical of the neoliberal agenda. Occasionally a few libertarian articles and comments are made, but generally they are very tolerant of different ways of processing information and vigilant against manufactured consent. Articles by Noam Chomsky and Michael Hudson are often featured. So, I disagree with your assessment. Does that make me a troll? No need to respond. Have a great Thursday.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered Commenterperiscope

MB: The tax papers collection is both a major dream and nightmare for those who will be working to decipher them. They will also be the subject of many a dissertation and thesis in the years to come.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

Am I getting this wrong? Confederates (and Joe Manchin, because of course...) hate Neera Tanden because she sent out a few “mean tweets*”, and no one with that tendency should be allowed to run a government agency, right? Oh, but a president who lives to insult others in the most degrading, disgusting manner, and who encourages violence, hatred, and viciousness on a galactic scale (all of which these umbrage takers heartily second) is perfectly fine.

Again, hypocrisy is dead.

(Oh, wait. She’s also not white. Forget it. She’s dead.)

*Referring to Treason-Boy, the Muscovite Turtle as Voldemort is priceless, by the way.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

If I were Cyrus Vance and Co., I’d call up the Times reporters who did that earlier dumpster dive into the Fetid Fatty Faux Financials. Them guys done been there and done that. At the very least they could provide a general roadmap to the body burial sites. I’m sure they’ll have some crack finance people looking at this mountain of Trumpy number juggling, but the quicker they get into the weeds, the sooner the DOC tailors can get cracking on that XXXL orange jumpsuit. They’ll need to put one of those longjohn flaps in the back for EZ diaper changing.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I saw someone who used to work for the NYC DA talking the other day about the new computer programs they have now that can help narrow down areas of greatest interest for the prosecutors. He said it might not take as long as we think for them to find the smoking guns in Trump's taxes. Hopefully he was right and the only problems are when to decide enough is enough on all the evidence to send Don to his cell at Rikers.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Joe Manchin, must love being chased by reporters breathlessly asking whether he will give his blessing to every Biden nominee. He must have been jealous watching all the attention Susan Collins used to get by having so many “concerns”. The difference is that Collins, despite her many “concerns”, typically would vote with her party. Oh, wait. I guess Manchin (R-WV) is voting with his party too. Look for this to be a regular thing for the next four years.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

"Wealth is like manure: spread it, and it makes everything grow; pile it up, and it stinks." -Djaffar Shalchi
That explains Trump.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

And they sink further,
"Rep. Marie Newman says Majorie Taylor Greene has a 'loose touch with reality' after the Georgia congresswoman mocked her transgender daughter
Democratic Rep. Marie Newman responded to her office neighbor mocking transgender rights.
Newman, whose daughter is transgender, hung a trans pride flag in support of the Equality Act.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene put up a "There are TWO genders: Male & Female" poster in response."

Both women put up videos of themselves putting up their flags and signs. Can you guess which one Facebook removed?

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

On a lighter note, No, no mixup

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Time capsule: "The Myth of the Racist Republicans" https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/the-myth-of-the-racist-republicans/. Apparently the author's current CV has neglected to include the above cited article. Facts and one's history can be pesky things.

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered Commentercitizen625

Cyrus Vance and co. have fewer years of T****'s tax records than the NYT crew had, but they are getting the supporting documents and communications that will give a tremendous amount of context that the Times folks didn't get.

I don't think forensic accounting software will be able to correlate the misdeeds as fast as, say, a plagiarism detecting program, but yes, it should be fun to see how fast they will find stuff. Maybe they just have to search on the word "favor".

February 25, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy
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