The Ledes

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Washington Post: “Hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida, a spate of unusually strong and long-lived tornadoes touched down across the state, flipping tractor-trailers and ripping off roofs. The twisters surprised anxious residents, even as the storm’s eye still loomed. Authorities said there had been 'multiple' deaths after the intense and destructive tornadoes.” MB: I'm still on Florida's emergency-call list, and I received several calls from Lee County, urging me to shelter in place.

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: “Milton carved a path of destruction after crashing ashore Wednesday evening on Florida’s Gulf Coast, making landfall near Sarasota as the second powerful hurricane to pound the region in less than two weeks. The storm battered the state for much of the day, with heavy winds, pelting rain and a spate of tornadoes.... By around midnight, the storm had destroyed more than 100 homes, killed several people in a retirement community and ripped the roof off Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.”

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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The Commentariat -- February 4, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Invitation to a Perjury Rap. Jeremy Herb of CNN: "The House impeachment managers are requesting ... Donald Trump testify before or during his Senate impeachment trial, making the request in a letter Wednesday that raises the stakes of the trial scheduled to begin next week. This story is breaking and will be updated." Marie: My man Chuck Todd reported (at 1:16 pm ET) that Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the lead House impeachment manager, has written to Trump asking him to testify at his impeachment trial, giving Trump till 5 pm tomorrow to reply. No link.

Daniel Lippman & Gabby Orr of Politico: "Former Vice President Mike Pence is joining the Heritage Foundation as a distinguished visiting fellow, the conservative think tank announced on Thursday. He will advise the organization's experts on issues as well as give a number of policy addresses at Heritage, according to the announcement. He will also write a regular column for the think tank's news outlet, the Daily Signal." MB: I suppose those columns will be as valuable as the ones he used to write, like how "smoking doesn't kill" & how "only the theory of intelligent design provides even a remotely rationale explanation for the known universe."

Shia Kapos of Politico: "Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger got hit with his first formal rebuke late Wednesday from Republican officials in his district for voting to impeach ... Donald Trump. The LaSalle County Republican Central Committee overwhelmingly passed a resolution censuring the GOP congressman for taking actions 'contrary to the values' of the party...."

Virginia. Reid Wilson of the Hill: "Virginia legislators appear poised to abolish the death penalty in the coming days, a step that would make it the first Southern state to end the practice of capital punishment. A bill to end capital punishment passed the state Senate on Wednesday by a 21-17 margin. The state House of Delegates is set to take up companion legislation as early as Friday. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) supports an end to the death penalty."

~~~~~~~~~~

Paul Sonne of the Washington Post: "The United States formally extended a critical nuclear accord with Russia on Wednesday for five years, opting to prolong limits on the arsenals of both nations two days before the treaty's expiration date and bringing a measure of stability to U.S.-Russia relations on nuclear matters. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the extension of the New START accord ensures verifiable limits will remain on Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine launch ballistic missiles and heavy bombers until 2026, and keeps in place a mutual verification regime that gives the United States greater insight into Russia's nuclear posture." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jessica Corbett of Common Dreams: "In another early win for organized labor, President Joe Biden on Tuesday requested that all 10 members of a key federal panel -- who were appointed by his predecessor-- immediately resign, and then fired the two appointees who refused to do so. As Government Executive noted..., Donald Trump had stacked the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP), which handles disputes between agencies and unions during collective bargaining negotiations, 'with anti-labor partisans, most of whom lacked experience in labor-management relations or conflict resolution.'"

Judge-a-palooza. Ann Marimow & Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "President Biden's top advisers have spent months building an extensive pipeline of judicial nominees to fill court vacancies throughout the country, attempting to swiftly remake portions of the judiciary and undo one of his predecessor's most significant achievements.... Donald Trump dramatically reshaped the courts over his four-year term with a record pace of nominations, and now Biden -- who took part in hundreds of confirmations as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee -- is eager to leave his mark with nominees of his own. More than a third of judges nationwide serving on federal appeals courts one level below the Supreme Court are eligible to step back from active service. With Democrats narrowly controlling the Senate -- and with the prospect that they could lose control during the 2022 midterms -- Biden intends to move quickly to fill openings that arise on courts affecting significant policies, including environmental regulations, gun laws and immigration." (Also linked yesterday.)

Brian Faler of Politico: "A federal judge on Wednesday granted the Biden administration's request for another month to decide how to proceed in a long-running court fight over ... Donald Trump's tax returns. In a court filing, the administration asked Judge Trevor McFadden to give it until March 3 to consider the case, pointing to the 'still-ongoing transition to new leadership at the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice.'... The new administration could simply hand over the documents to its allies in Congress, possibly without Trump even knowing."

Lauren Lumpkin of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has dropped a lawsuit that accused Yale University of discriminating against Asian and White applicants, according to a federal court filing. The decision, announced Wednesday, is a reversal from the stance the Justice Department took under the Trump administration, which repeatedly challenged the issue of race in admissions. The lawsuit filed against Yale in October accused the Ivy League university of favoring certain applicants based on race, rather than using other means to achieve diversity in its student population." (Also linked yesterday.) An NBC News story is here.

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have reached a deal on the organizing resolution for running a 50-50 Senate.... 'We will pass the resolution through the Senate today, which means that committees can promptly set up and get to work with Democrats holding the gavels,' Schumer [said.]... The new agreement comes after the Senate has been stuck in limbo since Jan. 20, the day Democrats took over the chamber's majority. Though Democrats have controlled the floor, Republicans still wielded power in Senate committees because the chamber hadn't passed a new organizing resolution for the 117th Congress." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ "The Senate Has Become a Dadaist Nightmare." Ezra Klein of the New York Times: "Budget reconciliation reveals the truth of how the Senate legislates now. To counter the minority's abuse of the filibuster rule, the majority abuses another rule, ending in a process that makes legislation systematically and undeniably worse. The world's greatest deliberative body has become one of its most absurd.... Suffice to say, in a closely divided Senate, with highly polarized parties, it's almost impossible to get 60 votes on major legislation. But there's a workaround, and that workaround is getting both wider and dumber.... [Because of limits imposed on reconciliation in 1974 -- when it was created -- & in 1990,] when Congress writes laws through budget reconciliation, it writes them with one arm tied behind its back.... Even worse is the way budget reconciliation quietly decides which kinds of problems the Senate addresses, and which it ignores, years after year.... You can also only do a limited number of budget reconciliation packages each fiscal year. That forces legislators to craft giant bills that jam every legislative priority into one rushed package.... No one would ever design a legislative body that worked this way...."

A New York Times story, covering the closed-door GOP House meeting yesterday afternoon & evening is here. ~~~

~~~ Juliegrace Brufke, et al., of the Hill: "The establishment wing of the GOP won a rare and dramatic victory Wednesday night, when Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) beat back an attempt by Donald Trump's staunchest allies to knock her from power as retribution for voting to impeach the former president just three weeks earlier. The 145-61 vote, conducted by secret ballot, followed a marathon, closed-door 'family discussion' in the basement of the Capitol Visitors Center, where dozens of House Republicans lined up to voice their frustrations with the Wyoming Republican, the most powerful GOP woman in Congress, and called for her removal as conference chair, a role that entails leading the party's messaging efforts. The critics' resolution -- led by House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) -- maintained that Cheney, by attacking the Republicans standard-bearer, had forfeited her right to represent the party at the leadership table.... House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who had previously voiced 'concerns' over Cheney's impeachment vote..., rose to defend her in an impassioned speech during Wednesday's meeting. McCarthy said he wanted to end the internal feud and that his leadership team should remain intact."

~~~ Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, defended her support for impeachment vote as a vote of her conscience during a contentious closed-door GOP conference meeting Wednesday, a person in the room told CNN. 'I won't apologize for the vote,' Cheney told the House Republican conference.... Cheney delivered an eight-minute speech near the beginning of the Wednesday meeting, two people in the room said, offering what was described as a calm yet firm defense of the Constitution." No standing O.

~~~ The Party of Q. Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "In a statement released as he addressed his members behind closed doors [Wednesday], House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) condemned [Marjorie] Greene's comments questioning the veracity of school shootings, encouraging political violence and promulgating anti-Semitic falsehoods. But he said he would not bow to demands that she be removed from her committee assignments and accused Democrats of pursuing a 'partisan power grab' by seeking to control the minority party's internal decision-making and following a double standard on member conduct.... As Republicans met..., the Democratic-run House Rules Committee voted to advance a measure stripping Greene of her committees, setting up a floor vote Thursday." MB: QAnon is not the sideshow any more. The Hill's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Hours before the meeting, McCarthy was on the teevee pretending to honor the memory of Brian Sicknick, the Capitol policeman killed by Trump's Raiders, who arrived with the support of McCarthy, Greene & more than half of the House GOP caucus. ~~~

     ~~~ Standing O for Q. Juliegrace Brufke of the Hill: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) apologized for her past controversial remarks and embrace of the QAnon conspiracy theory during a heated closed-door House GOP conference meeting -- and received a standing ovation at one point from a number of her colleagues." ~~~

~~~ Mike Lillis of the Hill: "House Democratic leaders are gearing up to vote Thursday on legislation stripping Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) of her committee spots -- unless Republican leaders do it first. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) spoke with his counterpart, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), about Greene's fate Wednesday morning, with Hoyer suggesting afterwards that the GOP leader is not ready to remove the controversial conservative firebrand from a pair of top committees." ~~~

     ~~~ MTG Headed Hate Group. David Corn of Mother Jones: "Before she was elected to the House of Representatives as a member from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Trumpy, QAnon-friendly, conspiracy-toting, gun-lovin', mass-shooting-denying, assassination-promoting lightning-rod Republican, was a top official of the Family America Project, a right-wing outfit. In that capacity, she served as one of a handful of moderators of the group's Facebook page, which has provided a forum for death threats against Democrats, bigoted attacks on the Obamas and others, and assorted conspiracy theories.... Greene's official congressional biography proudly identifies her as the onetime national director of the Family America Project, which describes itself as a 'national umbrella organization connecting, uniting, and informing statewide grassroots groups and activists; working together and mobilizing to support President Trump [and] American roots and culture.'" MB: Yeah, that "American roots and culture" is the tell. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's my prediction (and I'm as often wrong as I am right): MTG is a flash-in-the-pan who will soon fall out of favor, not because her colleagues will see the error of their ways (they won't) but because Donald Trump probably already is irritated by all the attention she is receiving. Deprived of his job & his various megaphones, the Man of Mar-a-Lardo is getting second billing to MTG even as his impeachment trial looms. I hope Time puts Mizz Marjorie on its cover, to goose the moment Trump dumps Marge. ~~~

~~~ In Case You Think the "Party of Q" Is an Exaggeration. Margaret Talev of Axios: "Conspiracist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is far more popular than Rep. Liz Cheney among Americans who align with the Republican Party, according to a new Axios-SurveyMonkey poll." Greene got a net favorability rating of 10; Cheney's was -28 (that's "minus 28"). MB: The last time Republicans held primaries, their voters strongly preferred Trump & Cruz over less insane candidates like Kasich, Jeb! & Christie, none of whom registered more than blips in the early primaries & dropped out fast. That wasn't a fluke. And it's clear from the Axios survey that those voters didn't get over it. There is only one major political party that makes sense, and millions of voters who prefer the one that doesn't.

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "More than 370 Democratic congressional aides issued an unusual public appeal on Wednesday, imploring senators -- in some cases their own bosses -- to convict ... Donald J. Trump for inciting a violent 'attack on our workplace' that threatened the peaceful transition of power. In a starkly personal letter, the staff members describe ducking under office desks, barricading themselves in offices or watching as they witnessed marauding bands of rioters who 'smashed' their way through the Capitol on Jan. 6. Responsibility, they argue, lies squarely with Mr. Trump and his 'baseless, monthslong effort to reject votes lawfully cast by the American people.'... Despite tentative interest from some, people familiar with the effort said, no Republican aides ultimately signed on."

Shut Down This Guy. Eric Geller of Politico: "CISA may have made a mistake by aggressively combating disinformation that was popular with conservatives during the 2020 election, the agency's acting director suggested on Wednesday. 'This agency has long benefited from broad bipartisan support in this country and with our colleagues on the Hill, and I think that future political leadership will not want to jeopardize that,' Brandon Wales said during the National Association of Secretaries of State's winter conference. 'And so I think we need to look at the appropriate role that CISA plays when it comes to countering disinformation.'" Wales is a career employee who took over after Trump fired the agency's Trump appointee Christopher Krebs. "Asked to clarify Wales' remarks, a[n anonymous] CISA spokesperson said the agency remained proud of its work on its Rumor Control fact-checking page and described it as 'an example of where CISA was able to add value during the 2020 election by successfully debunking disinformation.'" MB: An "anonymous" spokesman? What the hell does that mean?

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Social media posts by a Washington state member of the Proud Boys arrested Wednesday indicate that he and others were planning in advance to organize a group that would attempt to overwhelm police barricades and breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, U.S. prosecutors alleged. Ethan Nordean, 30, and others appeared motivated in part by what they perceived to be an insufficient police response to the stabbing of one of their members who attended a December pro-Trump demonstration in Washington, D.C., the FBI said in charging papers. Nordean, also known as Rufio Panman, was charged with attempting to obstruct Congress's certification of President-elect Joe Biden's electoral college victory, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, as well as additional counts, the Justice Department said.... ~~~

~~~ "Separately on Wednesday, U.S. authorities announced an indictment with new accusations against two previously charged men, self-described Hawaii Proud Boys founder Nicholas R. Ochs, 34, and Nicholas DeCarlo, 30, of Burleson, Tex. A seven-count indictment accuses the men of conspiring to plan, raise money and travel to Washington to disrupt Congress, posting images and video of the incursion in real-time, and defacing the U.S. Capitol's Memorial Door with the words 'MURDER THE MEDIA,' the name of their social media video collective." The New York Times story is here.

Mark Hosenball & Sarah Lynch of Reuters: “The U.S. Justice Department is considering whether to charge members of far-right groups involved in the deadly Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol under a federal law usually used against organized crime, according to two law enforcement sources. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, enables prosecutors to combat certain ongoing racketeering crimes such as murder, kidnapping, bribery and money laundering. The 1970 statute provides for hefty criminal penalties including up to 20 years in prison and seizure of assets obtained illegally through a criminal enterprise." MB: Rudy Giuliani helped make the RICO act famous when he was a federal prosecutor. Maybe now he'll be charged under it.

Canada. Andy Blatchford of Politico: "Canada has branded the Proud Boys a terrorist entity, saying its members 'played a pivotal role' in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead. The announcement Wednesday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government puts the far-right group in the same category as the Islamic State, al Qaeda, al Shabaab, Boko Haram and the Taliban."

Nick Miroff & Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post: "The Mexican government has stopped taking back Central American families 'expelled; at the U.S. border under a Trump-era emergency health order related to the coronavirus, a shift that has prompted U.S. Customs and Border Protection to release more parents and children into the U.S. interior, according to five U.S. officials. The change, which has not been publicly disclosed, raises concerns in U.S. border communities and at the Department of Homeland Security because the large-scale release of parents and children into the United States has triggered previous waves of unauthorized migration. In a statement, CBP spokesperson Stephanie Malin acknowledged an increase in the number of families released after crossing the border.... 'Mexico is only accepting single adults now, not families or children,' said one U.S. official who, like others, was not authorized to speak publicly about the change."

Scottish Parliament Votes Against Imposing Trump "McMafia" Order. William Booth & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Scotland's Parliament on Wednesday voted against a proposal to urge an investigation into the finances of ... Donald Trump's Scottish golf courses -- saying such questions should be left to police, without political pressure. Trump owns two golf courses in Scotland, and he has invested more than $289 million into them without ever turning a profit. Some Scottish lawmakers want their government to seek an 'unexplained wealth order' -- a tool used to fight money laundering -- to investigate where Trump got the money. But First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's leader, has said those decisions should be made by law enforcement officials. On Wednesday, as expected, Scotland's Parliament agreed with Sturgeon."

Michael Forsythe & Walt Bogdanich of the New York Times: "McKinsey & Company, the consultant to blue-chip corporations and governments around the world, has agreed to pay $573 million to settle investigations into its role in helping 'turbocharge' opioid sales, a rare instance of it being held publicly accountable for its work with clients. The firm has reached the agreement with attorneys general in 47 states, the District of Columbia and five territories, according to five people familiar with the negotiations. The settlement comes after lawsuits unearthed a trove of documents showing how McKinsey worked to drive sales of Purdue Pharma's OxyContin painkiller amid an opioid epidemic in the United States that has contributed to the deaths of more than 450,000 people over the past two decades."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. The New York Times' live updates for Friday are here.

** Joe Davidson of the Washington Post: "A government watchdog study ... amounts to a wide-reaching condemnation of ... Donald Trump's botched response to the covid-19 pandemic. The 346-page Government Accountability Office document, much longer than most, outlines broad Trump administration failures so alarming that the normally circumspect auditors pronounced themselves 'deeply troubled.' That constitutes an anguished cry from an office that prides itself on just-the-facts, albeit dull, reports. Almost 90 percent -- 27 of 31 -- of the GAO's recommendations from June, September and November 'remained unimplemented' as of Jan. 15, less than a week before Trump left office. The document was released last week.... The report details a bungled Trump administration response to a virus that has killed over 445,000 Americans, far more than in any other nation." MB: I don't see why this report didn't make the front page of the papers.

David McSwane of ProPublica: "An amateur mask broker who was awarded more than $38 million in federal contracts to provide N95 masks has pleaded guilty to defrauding three different federal agencies as part of a scheme to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic. Robert Stewart Jr., 35, pleaded guilty to three counts of making false statements, wire fraud and theft of government funds Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia, including charges that he lied to the Department of Veterans Affairs in April in order to win a $34.5 million no-bid deal to supply personal protective equipment to nurses and doctors in a sprawling health system serving 9 million veterans. He similarly acknowledged lying to the Federal Emergency Management Agency when he stated he had masks 'stored securely in our climate control warehouse located in VA and PA,' according to his plea agreement."

Beyond the Beltway

Ohio. Will Wright of the New York Times: "A Columbus police officer who was fired after fatally shooting a Black man in December was arrested and charged with murder on Wednesday, Attorney General Dave Yost of Ohio announced. The officer, Adam Coy, a 19-year veteran who is white, was also charged with felonious assault and two counts of dereliction of duty. Mr. Coy shot Andre Hill four times after responding to a call about a suspicious vehicle. When he and another officer arrived at the scene, Mr. Coy found Mr. Hill in a garage and opened fire within seconds.... Mayor Andrew Ginther of Columbus, who demoted the city's police chief last week, thanked the grand jury for its service. 'The indictment does not lessen the pain of his tragic death for Mr. Hill's loved ones, but it is a step towards justice,' he wrote on Twitter."

Wisconsin. Hannah Knowles & Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "Kenosha County, Wis., prosecutors on Wednesday sought a new arrest warrant and higher bond for Kyle Rittenhouse, who is charged with fatally shooting two people amid protests in Kenosha last summer, alleging that the 18-year old from Illinois failed to notify authorities of a change in address. In the three-page motion filed late Wednesday afternoon, prosecutors alleged Rittenhouse had 'minimal incentive to comply with his bond conditions' because his $2 million bond had been paid by a 'dubious Internet fundraising campaign.' Rittenhouse is accused of killing two men and injuring a third during unrest in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. Championed by some gun rights groups and conservatives as a hero who shot in self-defense and wanted to protect the community from rioting, Rittenhouse left custody last fall with bail raised by a right-wing nonprofit." ~~~

     ~~~ Brad Evans of WISN News Milwaukee: "Prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday saying the court was unable to deliver a hearing notice for Rittenhouse at the address he listed as his home on his release paperwork. The notice was returned to the court because a forwarding address was not known. Prosecutors wrote in their filing Rittenhouse failed to notify the court of a change of address or telephone number within 48 hours."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (8)

The CISA acting director had it right about how they might have gotten it wrong.

If you want Republicans' support, you have to lie--at least by omission-- about their constant lying.

Kinda puts an information agency dedicated to ferreting out truth, an agency that might be thought of as being in the business of constructing and conducting a never-ending series of true and false tests, in a very tough spot.

Guess Mr. Wales thought the agency would have been better off if it had kept secret the answers to those tests about the election.

Mr. Krebs, anyway, would have been.

But how about the nation CISA is supposed to serve?

Proposition: CISA is supposed to serve the nation's interests, not its own.

T or F?

February 4, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Remember Orly Taitz? She of the "Obama is a secret Muslim and will destroy this country that he was NOT born in." Even after Obama proved otherwise, Taitz touted it was a fake document. But Lawrence O'Donnell brought her on his program to apologize. Surely, he thought, she had seen the light; she hadn't. After much wrangling, he shouted, "Get her off–-get her off!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB3W5NTAAAo

I thought of Orly yesterday and thought how the similarity with Greene looms large here. It's not that males like Hawley and Cruz weren't yapping crazily, it's that their messages weren't bizarre––dangerous, yes, but not bonkers which is not to say they shouldn't be held responsible. What Orly and Margie have in common is the QAnon manifesto that, in a word, is SICK–-demented, whacko–-pedestrian words to describe a serious psychological problem. Some say the Republican Party is dying––Mitch's "cancer" metaphor ( and coming from him is a hoot) is probably correct but then how DO you "cut" it out because if you don't, it will spread and settle in the bones of the party and destroy it. It may have already done that.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."
Voltaire

February 4, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

I'd missed this when it first came out. (Jan. 6).

I'm sure the impeachment managers know what they're doing and don't need my advice, but I hope the nation will be able to catch a replay of this chilling video at next week's Senate trial.

https://www.justsecurity.org/74504/movie-at-the-ellipse-a-study-in-fascist-propaganda/

February 4, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

The retrumplican party will never suffer, even if the barely 10% (or whatever-- I made up the statistic--)assert themselves to speak up against the others. They never have consequences, so why should they? Media have supported their craziness and feloniousness for many years, treating idiocy and criminality as a viable alternative to truth/honesty. I will always believe that the very worst people in their slipshod, criminal party have known everything going on with their totally mad wing, and they don't care. They get to prance around in suits and look sensible, and express "concerns" and mild horror at what happens, and go on doing their dead level best to kill off democracy. I wish someone would give McCarthy a gentle push on the marble stairs, leaving him in the same condition as many of the Cap police.

Just being the incompetents they are should get them fired, but that won't happen either. Their voting public doesn't care either. They should all be wearing Melanoma's green jacket.

Great Kenosha court that decided Rittenhouse was a minor or whatever and released him. They are stupid too; he was mature enough to get hold of a big rifle, drive to Kenosha and shoot people he decided needed to be shot. Now they have "somehow" lost him, and they did not actually get money for his bail, apparently, so he can disappear quite handily. There is no shortage of idiots in this country.

February 4, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

One good thing about the half-Pence ending up at the Heritage Foundation.

The personal relief I feel that he will not end up housed at the Hoover Institution, which has long provided a soft landing spot for previous Republican administration criminals.

Wonder who'll write his columns for him.

Mother?

February 4, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Chris Hayes - "Maybe Biden needs bring back torture and officially-sanctioned war-crimes as a bi-partisan olive branch?"

February 4, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

@ PD
That Orly Taitz rewind was painful to watch, not so much that she was (is?) a deluded person clinging to some misplaced shred of rationality to make her point, but that Lawrence was relentless in shutting her down. Not a good look for the MSM IMO. How much better would it have been if she were allowed to present her "evidence" and then get demolished by Lawrence. Surely he should have known that no recant was a possibility.

Regarding the MTG "cancer" of the republican party - I say let it flourish and blossom in all of its ugliness. I believe there are enough rational republicans out there who vote that way because of tradition but are repulsed by this unthinkable defense of sedition and violent insurrection. If 12 to 15% of them change party affiliation then the cancer will weaken and possibly kill the party. The democrats need to keep to truth and vision, and steer away from partisan hatred. You can't cut out the cancer with a 50-50 congress, but the electorate can if they see the absurdity of the MTG wing of the republican party in contrast with a party that gets stuff done for them (pandemic vanquished). What won't work is to pull a Lawrence O'Donnell and try to shut down every word that comes out of the crazies mouths. We have to challenge every falsehood with verifiable facts in a way that is respectful. All humans make mistakes and fall to delusion.

Maybe the prospect of flipping 12 to 15% R to D is a delusion.

February 4, 2021 | Unregistered Commenterperiscope

RAS,

And don't forget rendition. Gotta placate the namby-pamby libruls who get all squeamish about electrodes attached to genitals and fingernails being pulled out in order to get information from, say, the voting rights crowd. Need to send those people to countries properly aligned with Republican love of extreme torture for those they hate.

February 4, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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