The Ledes

Friday, October 11, 2024

Washington Post: “Floridians began returning to damaged and waterlogged homes on Thursday after Hurricane Milton carved a path of destruction and grief across the state, the second massive storm to strike Florida in as many weeks. At least 14 storm-related deaths were attributed to the hurricane, which made landfall south of Sarasota at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, officials said. Six of them were killed when two tornadoes touched down ahead of the storm in St. Lucie County on Florida’s central Atlantic coast. The deadly tornadoes, rising waters, torrential rain and punishing winds battered the state from coast to coast as Milton churned eastward before heading out to sea early Thursday.”

Washington Post: “Twelve people were rescued from an inactive Colorado gold mine after they were trapped 1,000 feet underground for about six hours following an elevator malfunction. One person was killed in the accident, which happened about 500 feet underground at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine near Cripple Creek, Colo., Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said at a Thursday news conference. The site is a tourist attraction. Eleven other people aboard the elevator at the time, including two children, were rescued shortly after the mechanical malfunction, which Mikesell said 'created a severe danger for the participants.' He said four suffered minor injuries.... Twelve others in a separate group remained trapped in a mine shaft 1,000 feet underground for several hours after the incident, before they were rescued Thursday evening, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said.”

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The Ledes

Thursday, October 10, 2024

CNBC: “The pace of price increases over the past year was higher than forecast in September while jobless claims posted an unexpected jump following Hurricane Helene and the Boeing strike, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The consumer price index, a broad gauge measuring the costs of goods and services across the U.S. economy, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.4%. Both readings were 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus. The annual inflation rate was 0.1 percentage point lower than August and is the lowest since February 2021.”

The New York Times' live updates of Hurrucane Milton consequences Thursday are here: “Milton was still producing damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to parts of East and Central Florida, forecasters said early Thursday, even as the powerful storm roared away from the Atlantic coast and left deaths and widespread damage across the state. Cities along Florida’s east coast are now facing flash flooding, damaging winds and storm surges. Some had already been battered by powerful tornadoes spun out by the storm before it made landfall on the Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane. In [St. Lucie] county [Fort Pierce], several people in a retirement community were killed by a tornado, the police said.... More than three million customers were without power in Florida as of early Thursday.” ~~~

     ~~~ Here are the Weater Channel's live updates.

CNN: “The 2024 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to Han Kang, a South Korean author, for her 'intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.' Han, 53, began her career with a group of poems in a South Korean magazine, before making her prose debut in 1995 with a short story collection. She later began writing longer prose works, most notably 'The Vegetarian,' one of her first books to be translated into English. The novel, which won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, charts a young woman’s attempt to live a more 'plant-like' existence after suffering macabre nightmares about human cruelty. Han is the first South Korean author to win the literature prize, and just the 18th woman out of the 117 prizes awarded since 1901.” The New York Times story is here.

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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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Jun262020

The Commentariat -- June 27, 2020

Afternoon Update:

** Joshua Partlow & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "In the hours before his rally in Tulsa, President Trump's campaign directed the removal of thousands of 'Do Not Sit Here, Please!' stickers from seats in the arena that were intended to establish social distance between rallygoers, according to video and photos obtained by The Washington Post and a person familiar with the event. The removal contradicted instructions from the management of the BOK Center, the 19,000-seat arena in downtown Tulsa where Trump held his rally on June 20. At the time, coronavirus cases were rising sharply in Tulsa County, and Trump faced intense criticism for convening a large crowd for an indoor political rally, his first such event since the start of the pandemic.... The actions by Trump's campaign were first reported Friday by Billboard Magazine." Includes short video of campaign workers removing stickers.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here. "As the United States reached its third consecutive day with a record number of new reported coronavirus infections, officials were urgently rethinking their strategies to head off new infections. The U.S., which leads the world in total confirmed cases and deaths, reported more than 45,000 new infections on Friday, according to a Times database. Before this week, the country's largest daily total had been 36,738 on April 24."

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Saturday are here. "Facing a surge of new coronavirus cases, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expressed regret for allowing bars to reopen so early, saying Friday that he did not realize how fast the virus would spread." Mrs.McC: That's what happens, Greg, when you align yourself with a stupid, narcissist POTUS*. People get sick and die.

Protection for Trump But Not for You Chumps. Kevin Liptak & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "... the measures meant to protect [Donald Trump] from catching the [corona]virus have scaled up dramatically. As he seeks to insert rival Joe Biden's health into the presidential campaign, Trump has voiced escalating concern about how it would appear if he contracted coronavirus and has insisted on steps to protect himself, even as he refuses to wear a mask in public and agitates for large campaign rallies where the virus could spread. When he travels to locations where the virus is surging, every venue the President enters is inspected for potential areas of contagion by advance security and medical teams, according to people familiar with the arrangements. Bathrooms designated for the President's use are scrubbed and sanitized before he arrives. Staff maintain a close accounting of who will come into contact with the President to ensure they receive tests. While the White House phases out steps such as temperature checks and required mask-wearing in the West Wing -- changes meant to signal the country is moving on -- those around the President still undergo regular testing."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House tried and failed on Friday to invalidate stringent rules imposed by the Trump administration on student loan forgiveness, falling short of overriding a veto by President Trump. The override effort, which would have revived bipartisan legislation to overturn regulations put in place last year by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, failed by a vote of 238 to 173, lacking the two-thirds majority it would have needed to pass. Six Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to defy Mr. Trump's position."

Ed O'Loughlin of the New York Times: "Ireland's Parliament appointed Micheal Martin, a center-right politician, as prime minister on Saturday as the country deals with the coronavirus and fallout from a housing crisis. Mr. Martin replaces Leo Varadkar, a doctor who drew acclaim for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak but who had been a caretaker prime minister since a February general election delivered a loss of seats for his party but no clear winner. The new government, the result of more than four months of negotiations, will be the first to include the country's two rival center-right political movements -- Fianna Fail, led by Mr. Martin, and Fine Gael, led by Mr. Varadkar. The two parties have alternated in power since the foundation of the modern Irish state in 1922."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Gina Kolata of the New York Times: "At the beginning of the pandemic, the coronavirus looked to be another respiratory illness. But the virus has turned out to affect not just the lungs, but the kidneys, the heart and the circulatory system -- even, somehow, our senses of smell and taste. Now researchers have discovered yet another unpleasant surprise. In many patients hospitalized with the coronavirus, the immune system is threatened by a depletion of certain essential cells, suggesting eerie parallels with H.I.V.... In [one] study, the investigators identified three patterns of immune defects, and concluded that T cells and B cells, which help orchestrate the immune response, were inactive in roughly 30 percent of the 71 Covid-19 patients they examined. None of the papers have yet been published or peer reviewed."

Rwanda, Yes; U.S.A., No. Michael Birnbaum & Quentin Ariès of the Washington Post: "European diplomats are poised to approve an agreement on which foreign travelers they want to welcome starting on July 1, as the European Union reopens its external borders for the first time since March, but with the coronavirus still raging in the United States, the possibility of allowing American tourists hasn't even figured into the discussion, according to six diplomats familiar with the talks.... Expected to be approved: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.... Visitors from China would be allowed to enter Europe only if Beijing drops measures against E.U. travelers.... The list is subject to final approval on Saturday, but diplomats said it was unlikely to change." The New York Times story is here.

Anne Gearan & Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration on Friday claimed 'remarkable progress' in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, despite a surge of cases in the South and West.... Vice President Pence held the first public briefing of the coronavirus task force in nearly two months and sought to deliver an upbeat message that is at odds with warnings from public health experts. The vice president also dodged the question of whether people should wear masks in public, as his own administration recommends, and said campaign rallies that pack people together in violation of public health guidance will continue.... 'Well, the freedom of speech, the right to peaceably assemble, is enshrined in the Constitution of the United States and we have an election coming up this fall,' Pence said.... Pence offered no new strategies to combat the rapidly spreading virus and minimized record daily case counts in several states as 'outbreaks in specific counties.'... Anthony S. Fauci ... pleaded with Americans to take the virus seriously and continue taking precautions some four months into a national state of partial paralysis. 'We are all in it together and the only way we're going to end it, is by ending it together,' Fauci said." ~~~

~~~ Alana Wise of NPR: "The White House Coronavirus Task Force renewed calls for vigilance on Friday, acknowledging rising cases across Southern states in parts of California.... Vice President Pence insisted 'this moment is different' than what the United States was grappling with two months ago, noting that the percentage of people requiring hospitalization from the virus was considerably lower than it was early on during the pandemic and the number of fatalities are declining. 'We're in a much better place,' Pence said. But he urged young people to take precautions to avoid spreading the disease to more vulnerable people. The group's first briefing in weeks [was] held at the Department of Health and Human Services rather than at the White House...." (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Deny and Dismiss. Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The return of the televised task force news conference -- at which reporters were limited to only a handful of questions -- revived the deep disconnect between Washington and the states where local officials spent Friday sounding the alarm and, in some cases, halting the reopening that Mr. Trump has so often encouraged.... An hour after [the task force session] was over, the president addressed a panel of industry officials, political allies and White House economic advisers for a self-congratulatory session about how successful the economic recovery has been.... [Trump] showed some concern when his personal valet, who serves his food, was diagnosed with the coronavirus and Mr. Pence's press secretary tested positive. But since then, Mr. Trump has maintained a posture of denial and dismissiveness."

Pelosi Calls Out the Cowardly Liar. Alana Wise of NPR: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday told NPR she agreed with ... Joe Biden's assessment that mask usage should be mandated on the federal level amid a surge of coronavirus cases across the United States. She blamed the Trump administration for failing to accept the seriousness of the pandemic.... 'In fact, the reason the CDC hasn't made it mandatory is because they don't want to embarrass the president, or insult the president, whatever it is,' Pelosi said, calling Trump 'cowardly' for not wearing a face mask."

Caitlin Oprysko & Quint Forgey of Politico: "A pair of GOP governors on Friday moved to impose new mitigation measures in their states amid record numbers of new coronavirus infections, with both Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordering bars closed and Texas placing new restrictions on other businesses the governor said were linked to the virus's resurgence. Texas and Florida are among around a dozen other states that have hit the brakes on reopening their economies amid a resurgence of the virus across the South and West affecting more than half of the states in the country. That both governors -- who are close allies of ... Donald Trump and were criticized for resisting calls to lock down their states in the pandemic's early days -- have not only pressed pause on reopening but reimposed some restrictions, speaks to the severity of the outbreaks in two of the most populous states in the country." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ David Lim of Politico: "The Trump administration is reversing its decision to cut federal support for five drive-thru coronavirus testing sites in Texas this month after a formal request from Gov. Greg Abbott and criticism from Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.... But there's a catch: Federal coronavirus testing czar Brett Giroir said HHS will continue funding the Texas sites for two weeks past the previously announced June 30 cutoff. What happens after that point isn't clear.... The federal government is still set to end funding in late June for six sites spread across four other states: Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania."

Jake Johnson of Common Dreams: "The Trump administration in April quietly issued a sweeping waiver exempting members of Congress and other federal officials from ethics rules in order to allow them and their families to apply for small business coronavirus relief loans without facing conflict of interest reviews. The existence of the ethics waiver was reported Friday by the Washington Post and met with alarm by good government advocates who warned the 'blanket approval' from the Small Business Administration (SBA) opens the door to abuse of Paycheck Protection Program funds designed to help struggling small businesses stay afloat." --safari: Seen in the aggregate, there are no "ethics" to this administration. At all. ~~~

     ~~~ ** Jonathan O'Connell & Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "Because the administration has not yet released any information about the individual borrowers, it is unknown how many members of Congress or SBA officials have benefited from the nearly $700 billion program, but several representatives did, according to media reports and financial records." Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) was among Nevada legislators who lobbied the Trump administration not to exclude casinos from the SBA loans, "as the SBA had long done'" She never did mention that her husband Daniel Lee owned a casino company, a company that then applied for & received $5.6 million in loans. However, that $5.6 million was not exactly a "loan": "As long as the loans are used appropriately, they are turned into grants and forgiven.... One of the wealthiest, Rep. Roger Williams (R-Tex.), said in a May 5 blog post that his auto dealerships had received loans. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) said that businesses owned by her family had received PPP loans, after they were disclosed in the Columbia Tribune."

Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "Citing the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, a federal judge in Los Angeles on Friday ordered the release of migrant children held in the country's three family detention centers. The order to release the children by July 17 came after plaintiffs in a long-running case reported that some of them have tested positive for the virus. It applies to children who have been held for more than 20 days in the detention centers run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, two in Texas and one in Pennsylvania. There were 124 children living in those facilities on June 8, according to the ruling." A CNN story is here.

Maryland. Ovetta Wiggins of the Washington Post: "A Maryland man who organized rallies to pressure Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to lift the state's stay-home order says he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and does not plan to provide names of people with whom he had contact to public health officials for contact tracing. Tim Walters, a co-founder of ReOpen Maryland, said on social media this week that he has had a dry cough for months but it recently worsened. He then began to experience an excruciating headache, a fever and the inability to focus with one of his eyes, which led to vertigo.... Walters said he had long suspected he might have the virus but was surprised by the toll it was taking on him this week." Mrs. McC: Yeah, the side effects of stupid are often surprising.

Oklahoma. AP: "A journalist who attended ... Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa last week said Friday he has tested positive for COVID-19. Oklahoma Watch reporter Paul Monies said he was notified Friday of his positive diagnosis. 'I'm pretty surprised,' Monies wrote on Twitter. 'I have zero symptoms (so far) and I feel fine....' Monies said he was inside the rally for about 6 hours on Saturday at the BOK Center and that he wore a mask and mostly practiced social distancing, except for when he went to the concourse to get a snack.... An epidemiologist at the Oklahoma City-County Health Department who notified Monies of his positive result said it's difficult to determine if he contracted the coronavirus at the rally."

Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "With coronavirus infections rapidly spreading across the American South and West and more states making masks a requirement, dozens of sheriffs ... are staging a rebellion against state governments. An adherence to their interpretation of Constitution, they say, comes before any kind of public health advice." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Mrs. McC: I have a comment on the sheriffs in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ha Ha Ha. Max Cohen of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday morning canceled his scheduled weekend trip to his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J. The trip had drawn criticism as Trump said he would not follow New Jersey guidelines and would ignore a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers coming from states with coronavirus spikes. Trump visited Arizona on Tuesday amid a rapid rise in cases there. White House spokesman Judd Deere had justified the decision by claiming 'the president of the United States is not a civilian.' New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy [D] told CNN that Trump did not have to follow the quarantine guidelines because he is considered an essential worker." Mrs. McC: Trump is neither "essential" nor a "worker." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Edward Moreno of the Hill: "President Trump said in a Twitter post Friday that he's staying in Washington, D.C., instead of going to his golf club in New Jersey over the weekend 'to make sure LAW & ORDER is enforced' in the nation's capital.... 'I was going to go to Bedminster, New Jersey, this weekend, but wanted to stay in Washington, D.C. to make sure LAW & ORDER is enforced,' he said in a tweet. 'The arsonists, anarchists, looters, and agitators have been largely stopped. I am doing what is necessary to keep our communities safe -- and these people will be brought to Justice!'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Right. We did not see Donald Trump Friday (as far as I know*). He did not show up for the coronavirus task force meeting. He did not star in a melodramatic public display of scrawling his name on an executive order "protecting monuments," (story linked below) the purpose of which was to energize his base. And he's not going to New Jersey because he has to stay in Washington, D.C., to protect the District from looters and anarchists. Translation: "I have Covid-19, and I'm not going to admit it." *As Shear & Haberman of the NYT report (linked above), Trump did meet with "industry leaders" & others Friday afternoon.


Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump said Friday [afternoon in a tweet] that he has signed a 'very strong' executive order aimed at protecting federal monuments and statues from vandalism amid the ongoing protests against racial inequality and police brutality.... The White House has not released details on the executive order."

Family Matters. Lachlan Cartwright & William Bredderman of the Daily Beast: "Lawyers acting on behalf of ... Donald Trump's brother, Robert -- who was in an intensive-care unit just days ago -- refiled for a temporary restraining order against ... [publication of a tell-all book by Mary Trump] in Dutchess County, New York. The new legal maneuver comes a day after a judge in Queens Surrogate Court tossed an attempt by Robert Trump's celebrity attorney, Charles Harder, to stop explosive family secrets being printed, citing 'several improprieties' in the filing that rendered it 'fatally defective.'"

** Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan -- including targeting American troops -- amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there, according to officials briefed on the matter. The United States concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and other covert operations in Europe intended to destabilize the West or take revenge on turncoats, had covertly offered rewards for successful attacks last year. Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money, the officials said.... The intelligence finding was briefed to President Trump, and the White House's National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March, the officials said.... The White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As the NYT reporters remind us, Trump has already taken Putin's side against U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusions. In addition, Trump has invited Putin back into the G-7(8) & has removed troops from Germany as a favor to Russia. And just this week, Trump said Congressional Democrats were "far more unreasonable and actually they're a little crazy," when compared to Putin & other dictators like Kim Jun-un. He said this, of course, knowing that Russia had put bounties on U.S. soldiers in acts of war. There's a reason that Trump accused Barack Obama of treason this week: it's called "projection." Trump is notorious for accusing his rivals of crimes & misdemeanors of which he knows he himself is guilty. ~~~

     ~~~ Bob Brigham of Raw Story has a brief summary of the NYT report & tweeted commentary. Dan Nexon of LG&$ has more of the text of the NYT report here. Mrs. McC: Nexon calls the Russia-financed attacks "one-sided Cold War." Sounds like a hot war to me.

     ~~~ Adam Silverman of Balloon Juice: Russia has "been waging a form of low intensity, irregular, and unconventional war against the US and our partners and allies in Afghanistan.... Until Putin faces some real consequences for his actions and those of his subordinates who are successfully freelancing, he will continue to wage his 21st century form of war against the US, our allies, and our partners. The longer we wait to provide him with real consequences, the more likely it becomes that when we do, we will have limited ourselves to options that are very, very costly."

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "The Trump administration does not have the authority to use military funding to pay for construction of a border wall, a federal appeals court panel ruled on Friday. In a 2-1 ruling, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel found that diverting $2.5 billion Congress had appropriated for the military violated the Constitution and is unlawful. The executive branch 'lacked independent constitutional authority to authorize the transfer of funds,' the ruling said. 'These funds were appropriated for other purposes, and the transfer amounted to "drawing funds from the Treasury without authorization by statute and thus violating the Appropriations Clause." Therefore, the transfer of funds here was unlawful."' The decision upheld a ruling by a federal judge in California who last year found that the Trump administration's funding scheme was against the law. A coalition of states led by California had filed suit to block the move." The dissenting judge was a Trump nominee. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's what I don't get. Trump went to Arizona this week to stand in front of his wall & boast about how much of it he's built. If the money for the build is coming from funds unlawfully diverted from other sources, how is Trump to pay it back? From his office supply fund? Or what? BTW, as Trump refuses to wear masks because they're so cumbersome & unnecessary, he was happy to go stand out in 109-degree heat wearing a conventional suit & tie. What's the greater burden? A mask or a suit in temps hot enough to fry the fat off his ample bacon?

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has ordered Roger Stone to report to prison July 14, granting him a two-week delay because of the coronavirus pandemic, but not the two months that President Trump's confidant had requested with prosecutors' assent.... 'This affords the defendant seventy-five days beyond his original report date,' [Judge Amy Berman] Jackson said in the notice, pointing out that she had originally ordered Stone to surrender to prison within two weeks after she denied his motion for a new trial in mid-April. Jackson also allowed Stone to remain under home confinement until July 14, in accordance with Justice Department policy and 'the strong medical recommendation submitted' by Stone's defense. Jackson's notice indicated that the delay would allow Stone time to quarantine himself so as not to take the novel coronavirus from his home in South Florida to the prison." A Politico story is here.

Brandi Buchman of Courthouse News Service: "Once an informal adviser to President Donald Trump and later a witness for the Mueller probe, George Nader was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday for possession of child pornography and transporting a minor into the United States for sex.... Nader pleaded guilty in March,less than a year after federal prosecutors charged him over graphic images found on multiple devices belonging to Nader, including videos of toddler-age boys engaging in sex acts with young goats and other farm animals.... Nader awaits sentencing for separate federal charges in Washington related to his coordination of illegal foreign contributions to President Trump's inaugural fund as well as Hil[l]ary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign." --s A Washington Post story is here.

Theodoric Meyer of Politico: "The Justice Department is prosecuting the legendary lobbyist Jack Abramoff on felony conspiracy charges. Again. More than 14 years after he pleaded guilty in the biggest Washington lobbying scandal in a generation, Abramoff has agreed to enter guilty pleas on charges of conspiracy and failing to register as a lobbyist for his role in two separate schemes, according to the Justice Department.... An undercover FBI agent separately later hired Abramoff to lobby ... a member of Congress but [he] didn't register to do so.... [Abramoff] served three and a half years after pleading guilty in 2006 to felony counts of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion as part of a wide-ranging lobbying scandal.... Abramoff's prosecution is a watershed moment in the enforcement of federal lobbying law: It appears to be the first time the Justice Department has filed criminal charges under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which requires lobbyists representing domestic clients to register with Congress but is thought to be widely flouted." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ As Rachel Maddow pointed out Friday night, Congress passed the Lobbying Disclosure Act specifically in response to the original Abramoff scandal. Jack has been hoist on his own petard.

Haley Byrd of CNN: "House Democrats approved a bill to admit Washington, DC, as a state on Friday, marking the first time either chamber of Congress has advanced a DC statehood measure. The bill, introduced by DC's nonvoting House member, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, would shrink the federal capital to a small area encompassing the White House, Capitol building, Supreme Court, and other federal buildings along the National Mall. The rest of the city would become the 51st state, named the Washington, Douglass Commonwealth after abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The bill passed with a vote of 232-180. Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota was the only Democrat to join Republicans in voting against it. Independent Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan also voted no.... Democrats in recent weeks have argued the necessity for statehood has never been clearer, after the Trump administration mobilized federal law enforcement to respond to protests about systemic racism in policing.... Proponents of making DC a state also point to the area's large population, which surpasses the populations of Wyoming and Vermont." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Some Democrats also have noted that D.C. residents, in the aggregate, pay more in federal taxes than do residents of many other states. And of course, as the District's license plates declare, residents are subject to "Taxation without Representation." The bill will never even come up for a vote in Mitch McConnell's Senate, and Trump has promised to veto it, if it did. ~~~

~~~ Oh, Them Darkies. Tim Murphy of Mother Jones: "Opponents of DC statehood have, quite often over the years, rolled out a set of by-the-book arguments to make the case for why the federal district ought to remain as it is. They suggest a constitutional amendment is needed to change its status, for instance, or that the Founders wanted the city to be its own thing. But on Thursday, Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton cut through the euphemism and simply laid out the nature of his opposition directly. Cotton hit some of the familiar notes.... The core of Cotton's argument, though, was about the people who live there.... He argued that its economy and political leanings disqualified it from full representation. Its citizens, he suggested, were incapable of governing themselves responsibly and, in any case, did not deserve a voice in Congress because they hold jobs he considered illegitimate.... It was a startlingly blunt assertion -- that Washingtonians should be entitled to fewer rights because they are simply the wrong kind of people." Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is to say that Cotton-Pickin' Tom used the Senate floor (where, BTW, he is protected by the Constitution's Speech or Debate clause) to announce that he is a white supremacist. At least he did so without wearing his hood.

Elections 2020

"TikTok Grandma" Mary Jo Laupp Joins Biden Coalition. Kellen Browning of the New York Times: Mary Jo Laupp, who made "a TikTok video she had made urging people to reserve tickets to President Trump's June 20 rally in Tulsa, Okla. — and then not show up -- ... has been recruited by the Biden Digital Coalition, a grass-roots organization, to put her TikTok skills to work supporting the presidential campaign of Joseph R. Biden Jr. The coalition, made up of about 100 people -- many of whom are alumni of other Democratic presidential campaigns -- works to amplify pro-Biden messages and build engagement on social media. While it is not part of Mr. Biden's campaign, it is in contact with Biden staff members."

Aamer Madhani & Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "... Donald Trump is sharpening his focus on his most ardent base of supporters as concern grows inside his campaign that his standing in the battleground states that will decide the 2020 election is slipping. Trump turned his attention this week to 'left wing mobs' toppling Confederate monuments and visited the nation's southern border to spotlight progress on his 2016 campaign promise to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall. He ignored public health experts warning Americans to avoid large gatherings by holding two large campaign events in Oklahoma and Arizona, parts of the country where coronavirus infections are surging. With his rhetorical turn, Trump is feeding red meat issues to a base that helped spur his upset victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. But he risks appearing to ignore larger issues that are jolting the country, like the pandemic and racial injustice, while underplaying economic issues, even though polling shows that to be an area where Trump performs relatively well." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court said on Friday that it would not require Texas to let all eligible voters vote by mail. The Texas Democratic Party and several voters had urged the court to reinstate a federal trial judge's injunction requiring state officials to allow all voters, and not just those who are 65 or older, to submit their ballots by mail. They relied on the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18 and said the right to vote 'shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age.' The court's brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices rule on emergency applications, and there were no noted dissents. Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a statement saying that the question in the case raised 'weighty but seemingly novel questions regarding the 26th Amendment.' But she said the court was right not to address those questions in the context of an emergency application. 'I hope,' she wrote, 'that the court of appeals will consider the merits of the legal issues in this case well in advance of the November election.'" A Law & Crime story is here.

Common Dreams via RawStory: "After 10 months, the Federal Elections Commission in May regained a quorum with the confirmation of Republican appointee Trey Trainor -- and promptly lost it just over five weeks later on Friday when commissioner Caroline Hunter resigned to join the Koch-funded group Stand Together, leaving the regulatory body again essentially powerless as the November general election draws closer.... The White House announced in response to Hunter's departure that President Donald Trump will appoint Allen Dickerson, legal director at the Institute for Free Speech, a right-wing think tank devoted to removing barriers to unlimited campaign spending by outside groups and dark money organizations." --s

Lorenzo Franceschi-Biccierai of Vice News: "A data broker that tracked Black Lives Matter protesters also tracked the locations of Evangelical Christians on election day 2016 using their cell phones and used that data to help push get-out-the-vote messaging, according to the company's own CEO. Mobilewalla, a data broker headquartered in New York City, purchases and collects location and other personal data about cellphone users, and then sells it to companies for marketing purposes. On Thursday, BuzzFeed News reported that Mobilewalla had tracked the almost 17,000 protesters who went to the streets to join Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the last month. In 2017, the company's CEO Anindya Datta revealed another controversial project. During an overlooked podcast interview, Datta said Mobilewalla 'played a key role in the U.S. presidential election' in 2016. 'We were a very key data arm for one of the major parties,' Datta said, refusing to specify which one of the two parties." --s


Marie Fazio of the New York Times: "A Mississippi man was charged in connection with a phone call threatening to kill a United States representative and his staffers, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. The man, Newton Wade Townsend, 52, of Brandon, Miss., was charged on Tuesday with threatening a public official. Court records, which only identify the congressman by the initials B.T., said that the threat was made on June 1. Congressman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, said that he received a threat from Mr. Townsend on his office phone, and that the Capitol Police investigated the matter.... Mr. Thompson is the only black legislator, and the only Democrat, representing Mississippi in Congress." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Barbara Ortutay of the AP: "Facebook said Friday that it will flag all 'newsworthy' posts from politicians that break its rules, including those from ... Donald Trump. Separately, Facebook's stock dropped more than 8%, erasing roughly $50 billion from its market valuation, after the European company behind brands such as Ben & Jerry's and Dove announced it would boycott Facebook ads through the end of the year over the amount of hate speech and divisive rhetoric on its platform. Later in the day, Coca-Cola also announced it joined the boycott for at least 30 days. CEO Mark Zuckerberg had previously refused to take action against Trump posts suggesting that mail-in ballots will lead to voter fraud, saying that people deserved to hear unfiltered statements from political leaders. Twitter, by contrast, slapped a 'get the facts' label on them.... Zuckerberg said the social network is taking additional steps to counter election-related misinformation. In particular, the social network will begin adding new labels to all posts about voting that will direct users to authoritative information from state and local election officials." ~~~

~~~ But Not Climate Change! Judd Legum of Popular Information: "Last year, Facebook partnered with an organization, Science Feedback, that would bring in teams of Ph.D. climate scientists to evaluate the accuracy of viral content.... But now Facebook has reportedly decided to allow its staffers to overrule the climate scientists and make any climate disinformation ineligible for fact-checking by deeming it 'opinion.' The organization that requested the change, the CO2 Coalition..., has close ties to the fossil fuel industry, says its views on climate change are increasingly ignored by the mainstream media. Now it plans to use Facebook to aggressively push climate misinformation on the public -- without having to worry about fact checks from climate scientists." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Facebook's position is nonsensical. If climate science is opinion, then so is everything, including my opinion that it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summertime.

Beyond the Beltway

Alabama. Carol Robinson of al.com: "The last surviving Ku Klux Klan member convicted in the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four little girls has died. Thomas E. Blanton, 82, died of natural causes Friday morning at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Jefferson County. He was found at 5 a.m. having cardiac issues and taken to the infirmary at Donaldson. He went into full arrest and was pronounced dead at 6:10 a.m., according to Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates. An autopsy performed found no evidence of trauma or foul play...."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (11)

I applaud Mother Jones' piece on Tom Cotton whose last name begs for some "cotton pic-kin" slamming just for fun. What isn't fun is that this creep–-this smarmy Bate's motel manager look alike can stand on the senate floor and spout racist rhetoric undisguised. How I hope he gets mucho backlash from those D.C. residents whose statue rises far above this small-minded senator from the south.

Listening to Pence try to weasel out on a reporter's question yesterday at the great over-due Health summit was hilarious as well as infuriating. He resorted to constitutional rights when having to defend Trump's continuing rallies that put thousands in harm's way.

A Dream Response:

"How do you explain the President's refusal to wear a mask?"

"I can't except to say that you have to keep in mind that the president is a total narcissist who doesn't give a fuck about anything or anyone except himself and his agenda, whatever that may be at any given time."

With that, Pence, always exerting that foam of friendliness in a sea of rancor, took a bow and left the stage knowing his Jesus would be pleased that he finally told the truth.

amen....

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Elevating the nation's standing here and abroad.

https://www.salon.com/2020/06/26/ivanka-trump-mocked-after-white-house-makes-her-the-face-of-its-skills-based-hiring-initiative_partner/

Not a loyalty test exactly, but that passion thing as a substitute for education mentioned in some of the articles about this dumb move sure comes close.

Echoes of Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" and C. M. Kornbluth's "March of the Morons," and Yeat's "passionate intensity?"

Decades ago, they saw it coming.

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

The Best

Outrage follows hard on each outrage, to the bleak ending of this atrocious administration*. So now, not happy with his promotion of a deadly virus which has infected millions of Americans, creating the world’s black hole of Covid, the epicenter of death, ignorance, and vicious incompetence, a situation that has caused millions to lose their jobs, the Orange Monster now has decided that the crème de la crème of Trumpian cruelty would be to then deprive those people of health care at the very moment it is most urgently needed.

This is the mayor of Hell Town, whose hobby is arson, dismantling the fire department just as his urge for chaos and ruination through conflagration peaks.

Besides corpulence of both body and self-regard, Trump and his lackey, the Little Corporal of Casuistry, Bill Barr, share a lust for cruelty and malice, a particularly nasty species of cruelty that cloaks its true goal (the needless and malign infliction of pain and suffering on other creatures for their own amusement and vengefulness) in a noxious moralism.

Such a game requires that the cruelty be inflicted under the umbrous cloud of moralizing claptrap. In the case of Trump demanding that the ACA be repealed, his rationale is that rights are somehow under attack. This is akin to passing a law against treating cancer patients because cancer cells have rights too.

The philosopher Judith Shklar suggests, in her book on “Ordinary Vices” that cruelty be considered the supreme form of evil.

It must be a comfort to Trump to finally have an acknowledgement that he the absolute best at something after all.

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Per the above:
"When he travels to locations where the virus is surging, every venue the President enters is inspected for potential areas of contagion by advance security and medical teams, according to people familiar with the arrangements. Bathrooms designated for the President's use are scrubbed and sanitized before he arrives."

I certainly hope they do the same after he leaves, maybe with extra fumigation.

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed

Another glimmer of hope?

I have long maintained faith in humanity's ability to learn.

My bouts of pessimism strike in the periods when it takes too long for it to do so, as it did during the first three and a half years of the Pretender administration and during the Brexit fiasco, both promulgated and supported by the stupidity that inevitably follow in greed and racism's wake.

Now this:

https://www.businessinsider.com/brexit-poll-most-british-people-want-to-rejoin-eu-2020-6

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Life With Fatty

How the Orange Monster deals with the problem of systemic racism:

Those who exercise their First Amendment right to protest the kind of systemic racism that results in unarmed blacks being killed by agents of the state at an alarming rate and that subjects black communities to increased levels of exposure to infection and death from the coronavirus (among many other problems that come along with being black in Donald Trump’s Amerika), are called thugs and gangsters and are assaulted with gas, truncheons, and rubber bullets.

But the icons of a treasonous state that attacked and killed US military personnel in defense of slavery, the worst example of systemic racism, must be respected and protected at all costs, down to threatening those who refuse to bow to the effigies of a slave state with arrest and jail time.

John Roberts is right! Racism is easy-peasy to deal with.

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@AK While the thought of a likely 7-2 SCOTUS after a Trump victory in November is chilling, and will make decisions to make Dred Scott and Citizens United seem to be shining examples of justice, there's still going to be the 200+ young, activist, radical republican judges that will be rendering "justice" even after Trump is gone.

In four years justice has suffered a generational setback.

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

“Yes, all lives do matter. But they only matter when Black lives matter too.”
Stevie Wonder

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5ef7248bc5b6acab28422908

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterHattie

“Reckless Endangerment Tour” / Painted by Jim Carrey

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5ef5bd47c5b612083c4bdb1d

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterHattie

“Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Back Facebook Boycott”

https://www.axios.com/prince-harry-meghan-markle-facebook-boycott-5aba3d7f-6af7-454e-9a0c-7e161720f5d7.html

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterHattie

Bobby Lee,

Quite. But it’s more than a generational setback, although it certainly is that. The horde of unqualified, far right Judges for Treason represents an epistemological and ontological shift of tectonic proportions. The concept of justice itself has been severely crippled and warped by Trumpian calls for a judiciary that rules in favor of traitors, racists, misogynists, Christianist theocrats, the wealthy, the connected, and the haters. The bloody blot of confederate corruption will stain and adulterate American justice for decades to come.

There really is no way to free ourselves from the shackles of right wing judicial malignancy for the next generation or longer. Even when this fat traitor is dead and buried, his legacy of malice and injustice will live on as a cancer in the American body politic.

June 27, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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