The Ledes

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

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

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

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

Sorry, forgot this yesterday: ~~~

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

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The Ledes

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

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

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

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Public Service Announcement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click on photo to enlarge.

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

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

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

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Mar172021

The Commentariat -- March 18, 2021

The IRS Is Severely Messed Up. Tony Romm & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Internal Revenue Service is expected to push the country's tax-filing deadline to mid-May, according to two people familiar with the decision, as the agency grapples with a backlog of 24 million returns awaiting processing since the 2019 tax year. The workload has put the agency underwater in recent months, and under political siege, as lawmakers fear that long-unresolved troubles at the IRS could undercut the Biden administration's economic recovery efforts. Millions of Americans still have not received stimulus checks under prior coronavirus aid packages, even as the tax agency began distributing payments Wednesday under the $1.9 trillion stimulus signed into law this month. The IRS shared the full scope of its backlog in recent days with the House Ways and Means Committee and the agency's internal watchdogs." (Also linked yesterday.) The story has been updated to reflect the IRS's decision to push back the filing deadline. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The Internal Revenue Service will again give Americans extra time to file their taxes as a result of the pandemic. Instead of the usual April 15 deadline, filers will instead have until May 17, the agency said Wednesday, an extension that will ease the burden on filers dealing with the economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus, which has put millions out of work or caused their hours to be cut.... The [American Rescue Plan] made the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits received in 2020 tax-free for people with incomes of less than $150,000.... The I.R.S. emphasized that the extra time is only for federal returns, not state returns.... It also does not apply to estimated tax payments that are due on April 15, which are still due on that day." An AP story is here.

Lauren Egan of NBC News: "President Joe Biden spoke virtually with the Irish prime minister Wednesday, moving the traditional White House meeting marking St. Patrick's Day online because of the coronavirus pandemic. 'Everything between Ireland and the Untied States runs deep,' Biden, told Micheál Martin, Ireland's prime minister, or taoiseach, at the beginning of their meeting.... Biden also attended the annual 'Friends of Ireland' lunch traditionally held at the U.S. Capitol, but was held virtually this year.... The Irish government sent a bowl of shamrocks to the White House in an effort to uphold that tradition, the official said. Vice President Kamala Harris also met virtually with Martin in place of the breakfast that the vice president typically hosts."

Reuters: "Russia on Wednesday called its ambassador to the United States back to Moscow for consultations on the future of U.S.-Russia ties after U.S. President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin would 'pay a price' for alleged election meddling. Biden made his comments after a U.S. intelligence report supported longstanding allegations that Putin was behind Moscow's election interference in the United States, an accusation Russia called baseless."

Lara Jakes & Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "As it ends its first high-level diplomatic tour of Asia on Thursday, the Biden administration is banking on international alliances in the region to help stem the growing threat posed by North Korea's ballistic missiles and nuclear capabilities. But the country that is perhaps in the best position to influence Pyongyang is one that President Biden has increasingly viewed as an adversary: China. Following meetings this week in South Korea and Japan, the administration finds itself facing a diplomatic stalemate of the kind that irritated former President Barack Obama and drove ... Donald J. Trump to declare his love for Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, in a manic but ultimately thwarted drive for a breakthrough." ~~~

~~~ David Sanger & Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President Biden is engineering a sharp shift in policy toward China, focused on gathering allies to counter Beijing's coercive diplomacy around the world and ensuring that China does not gain a permanent advantage in critical technologies.... The emerging strategy ... repudiates the prevailing view of the last quarter century that deep economic interdependence could be counted on to temper fundamental conflicts on issues like China's military buildup, its territorial ambitions and human rights. It focuses anew on competing more aggressively with Beijing on technologies vital to long-term economic and military power, after concluding that ... Donald J. Trump's approach -- a mix of expensive tariffs, efforts to ban Huawei and TikTok, and accusations about sending the 'China virus' to American shores -- had failed to change President Xi Jinping's course." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's fair to say we can't predict what effect a particular strategy will have on relations with other great powers, but I cannot tell you how relieved I feel that we have a real President & a real State Department able to devise policies more nuanced than tariffs & ethnic slurs. ~~~

~~~ Steven Myers, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States punished 24 Chinese officials on Wednesday for undermining Hong Kong's democratic freedoms, acting days before the first scheduled meeting of senior Chinese and American diplomats since President Biden took office. In diplomatic terms, the timing of the action was pointed and clearly intentional, continuing a testy start to relations between the Biden administration and China after a tumultuous four years under ... Donald J. Trump.... The State Department announced that it would impose financial sanctions on a raft of officials...." (Also linked yesterday.) A CNN story is here.

Fox 5 DC: "D.C. police say a man they arrested outside of the Vice President's residence on Wednesday afternoon had a rifle and a large capacity clip.... Police charged Paul Murray, 31, of San Antonio, [Texas,] with carrying a dangerous weapon, carrying a rifle or shotgun outside of a business, possession of unregistered ammunition and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. A rifle and ammunition were recovered from his vehicle.... A D.C. police source tells FOX 5 the man told uniformed Secret Service members that he wanted to talk to the president. According to internal police bulletins..., Murray was said to be experiencing paranoid delusions and thought the government was after him. He purchased an AR-15 and told his mother he was in D.C. to 'take care of his problem.' Authorities say Murray was an Army drone operator who started service in 2010 and was medically discharged in 2014. Documents say he recently complained to police that he wasn't getting support from Veteran's Affairs and was not taking prescribed medication."

David Lynch of the Washington Post: "Katherine Tai, a longtime congressional staff lawyer, won Senate confirmation on Wednesday as the first woman of color to serve as the top U.S. trade negotiator. The Senate approved her nomination 98-0, marking a rare bipartisan agreement in a deeply-divided Washington. Among her first tasks will be advising the president on what to do about existing tariffs on most imported Chinese products, presiding over enforcement of a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada, and seeking a negotiated end to a long-running commercial dispute with the European Union." A Reuters story is here.

Colby Itkowitz & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "The House voted on Wednesday to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, legislation originally authored by then-Sen. Joe Biden in 1994 that aims to strengthen protections for women from domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. The landmark law was reauthorized several times since, but lapsed in 2019 after the Democratic-controlled House voted to renew it, but it stalled in the Republican-led Senate. Democrats are hopeful it will find the support this time although the latest version still faces potential obstacles in the evenly-divided Senate. The vote was 244-to-172, with 29 Republicans breaking ranks and joining Democrats in backing the reauthorization.... Republican opposition to the bill revolves in part around closing the so-called 'boyfriend loophole,' which adds dating partners and stalkers to the provision banning spouses of convicted domestic violence or abuse from owning firearms.... Some Republicans voiced opposition to adding transgender women to the law.... [The bill] still faces potential obstacles in the evenly-divided Senate." NPR's story is here.

Ingrates Extraordinaires. Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "A dozen House Republicans voted against a resolution to award three Congressional Gold Medals, one of the nation's highest civilian honors, to the Capitol Police, the D.C. police and the Smithsonian Institution in recognition of those who protected the U.S. Capitol when it was attacked Jan. 6. The GOP lawmakers, who said they objected to the use of the term 'nsurrectionists' in the resolution, are: Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Andy Harris (Md.), Lance Gooden (Tex.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Louie Gohmert (Tex.), Michael Cloud (Tex.), Andrew S. Clyde (Ga.), Greg Steube (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.) and John Rose (Tenn.)." Politico's story is here.

Bill Barrow of the AP: "Sen. Raphael Warnock, whose election as Georgia's first Black senator gave control of the chamber to Democrats, used his first floor speech on Capitol Hill to blast a wave of Republican-backed measures that would make it harder to cast ballots in states around the country.... The first-term senator's speech followed Senate Democrats' introduction of a sweeping election law overhaul, called the 'For the People Act,' that could override many of the restrictive measures that Republicans are pushing at the state level." ~~~

Annabelle Williams of Business Insider, republished in Yahoo! News: "At a hearing on Wednesday morning, Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke critically about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who declined Sanders' invitation to testify, and Elon Musk, the two wealthiest men. 'Bezos and Musk now own more wealth than the bottom 40%. Meanwhile, we're looking at more hunger in America than at any time in decades, Sanders said in his opening remarks at the Senate Budget Committee hearing.... 'If he was with us this morning, I would ask him the following question ... Mr. Bezos, you are worth $182 billion - that's a B,' Sanders said. 'One hundred eighty-two billion dollars, you're the wealthiest person in the world. Why are you doing everything in your power to stop your workers in Bessemer, Alabama, from joining a union?'"

Adam Goldman & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "F.B.I. agents have arrested two organizers for the Proud Boys in Philadelphia and North Carolina, and prosecutors filed new charges against two other prominent members of the far-right group in Florida and Washington State as federal authorities continued their crackdown on its leadership ranks, three law enforcement officials said on Wednesday. With the new conspiracy indictment, prosecutors have now brought charges against a total of 13 people identified in court papers as members of the Proud Boys. Federal investigators have described the group, which appeared in force in Washington on Jan. 6, as one of the chief instigators of the riot at the Capitol that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. In the indictment, prosecutors accused Charles Donohoe, a Proud Boys leader from North Carolina, and Zach Rehl, the president of the group's chapter in Philadelphia, of conspiring to interfere with law enforcement officers at the Capitol and obstruct the certification of President Biden's electoral victory. Two other high-ranking Proud Boys who were already facing similar charges -- Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Wash., and Joseph Biggs of Ormond Beach, Fla. -- were also implicated as part of the conspiracy.... During a presidential debate in September, Mr. Trump refused to disavow the Proud Boys, telling them instead ... to 'stand back and stand by.'"

Jacob Bogage & Shawn Boburg of the Washington Post: "U.S. Postal Service investigators found no evidence to support a Pennsylvania postal worker's claims that his supervisors had tampered with mail-in ballots, according to an inspector general report -- allegations cited by top Republicans to press baseless claims of election fraud.... Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) cited [a Pennsylvania mail carrier's] claims in a letter to the U.S. Justice Department in November calling for a federal investigation into election results in Pennsylvania, where President Biden beat ... Donald Trump by more than 81,000 votes, and Democratic candidates outperformed GOP challengers in votes submitted by mail.... Then-Attorney General William P. Barr subsequently authorized federal prosecutors to open investigations into credible allegations of voting irregularities and fraud before results were certified, a reversal of long-standing Justice Department policy." The mail carrier -- who first made his claims to lying liars at Project Veritas -- quickly recanted his false claim as soon as investigators questioned him. Axios has an item here.

GOP Insists on Whatabout? Commission. Jordan Williams of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in an interview early Wednesday criticized the GOP for its response to the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. During an appearance on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe,' Pelosi& pointed to outstanding disagreements with Republicans regarding the scope of a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate the insurrection. 'They want to treat something like Black Lives Matter or peaceful demonstrations in a similar manner as they would do Jan. 6,' Pelosi said. 'So the main problem is the scope of the investigation.'" MB: IOW, Republicans know that any report on the insurrection will leave them smelling like a fresh cowpie, so they want to to have a Jan. 6 commission talk about not-Jan. 6. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "What seemed like a no-brainer [on January 6] — a 9/11-Commission-style review of the origins of the mob, the white nationalists who joined it and the security failures that allowed it to briefly occupy the Capitol -- has instead become the latest theater for dysfunction on Capitol Hill as the two parties squabble over the panel's scope and partisan balance.... [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi has not abandoned the effort for an outside commission yet.... But the speaker has made clear that her patience is not unlimited. And an aide indicated that the California Democrat is prepared to task the House Administration, Homeland Security and Appropriations committees with taking on the Jan. 6 inquiry if there are no bipartisan breakthroughs soon."

Being a Lying, Cruel, Careless, Corrupt Traitor Has Its Downsides. David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump is ... facing criminal investigations in [New York,] Georgia and the District of Columbia related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. And Trump must defend himself against a growing raft of lawsuits: 29 are pending at last count, including some seeking damages from Trump's actions on Jan. 6, when he encouraged a march to the Capitol that ended in a mob storming the building. No charges have been filed against Trump in any of these investigations. The outcome of these lawsuits is uncertain. Trump has raised more than $31 million for his post-presidential political action committee, which he could tap to pay legal fees. But the sheer volume of these legal problems indicates that -- after a moment of maximum invincibility in the White House -- Trump has fallen to a point of historic vulnerability before the law."

Sad News! But Inevitable. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Speaking to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday night, Trump for the second time directly advocated for people to get the [coronavirus] shot -- but only after Bartiromo prompted him to do so.... It is good news that Trump encouraged his supporters to get the vaccine, no matter his rationale or caveats. One such rationale, clearly, is that he wants to be seen as the world's savior from the pandemic, as he made clear later in the interview with Bartiromo. 'I was the one and this administration was the one that came up with a vaccine, which is going to save the world, okay?' Trump said.... The problem is that there is a Trump-like figure out there causing friction.... [Tucker Carlson has] been one of the less Trump-obsequious hosts on the network, sufficiently confident in his own bomb-throwing that he has at times deviated from Trump orthodoxy.... He has ... stepped out to specifically encourage the sort of vaccine skepticism that's now embraced by about half of the Republican men...."

Marie: There must be GOP tiny brain trusts sitting around in tiny think tanks spitballing ideas on how to show their base that they're racists -- while pretending they're not racists -- AND making money off their duplicitous schemes. Following speculation in the ever-reliable British tabloids that Meghan Markle was considering running for president in 2024 if Joe Biden doesn't stand for re-election, Donald Trump told Maria Bartiromo "that he is hopeful that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, runs for the White House in 2024, saying her candidacy might compel him to jump into the race as well." Trump said he was "not a fan" of Markle. This, of course, comes just after Markle made a splash by claiming that members of the British royal family were concerned about how dark her then-unborn child's skin might be. That was enough for the National Republican Congressional Committee: they put out a fundraising letter touting the fictional match-up between Markle & Trump. "We think President Trump would win in a LANDSLIDE' What do you think?"

Taj MaDoral. Jonathan O'Connell & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's son Eric, who runs the family;s private company, touted the potential of transforming their Doral golf resort into a gambling destination amid a quiet push among Florida Republicans to legalize casinos in areas of the state that have long opposed them. Although Republican legislative leaders have not yet submitted a bill, word of a proposal has spread widely enough that both supporters and opponents already are gearing up for a fight that they say could be more intense than in previous years due to Trump's potential interest and his close relationship with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)." (Also linked yesterday.) The Hill has a summary story here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: "Most people who have contracted the coronavirus are protected against reinfection for at least six months -- but that immunity diminishes significantly with age, according to a new study published in the Lancet medical journal. The study by Danish researchers has highlighted the importance of vaccinating elderly populations, as well as previously infected individuals, as the pandemic wears on, according to the authors. Researchers found that natural infection reduced the chances of getting the virus again by about 80 percent, but offered just 47 percent protection against repeat infection among those over 65."

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

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The Biden administration, moving to address a lag in coronavirus testing that is hindering the reopening of schools and the economy, said Wednesday that it would invest $10 billion to ramp up screening of students and educators with the goal of returning to in-person learning by the end of the school year. Congress approved the $10 billion expenditure when it passed President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which he signed into law last week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will distribute the money to states in early April and will spend an additional $2.25 billion to expand testing in underserved communities beyond the schools, officials said." Politico's story is here.

Adam Sexton of WMUR Manchester, N.H.: "First Lady Jill Biden made a quick trip to New Hampshire on Wednesday as part of a big administration push to highlight the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan. A big chunk of the funding is targeted to help with school re-openings.... Biden visited the Christa McAuliffe School to tout the impact of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on schools and working families, including direct stimulus payments already arriving in bank accounts."

Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "State backlash against a restriction in the $1.9 trillion economic relief legislation that prohibits local governments from using aid money to cut taxes emerged as the Biden administration's first major legal battle on Wednesday, as Ohio sued to block the provision and other states considered similar action. The litigation came amid growing pushback from Republican lawmakers and state officials, who say that the strings attached to the Covid relief money are a violation of state sovereignty and that imposing tax cut restrictions is an infringement on a state's right to set its own fiscal policies." Cleveland.com's story is here.

Georgia. Stephanie Baer of BuzzFeed News: "At their press conference about the [Atlanta-area] shootings on Wednesday, police said it was too early to determine if the suspect was motivated by race, but added that the suspect told officials he had sex addiction issues and targeted the businesses because he wanted to 'take out that temptation.' As director of communications and community relations at the sheriff's office, [Cherokee County Sheriff's Capt. Jay] Baker was among the law enforcement speakers who gave an update on the investigation. Speaking to reporters about the suspect's explanation for the shootings, which he allegedly admitted to, Baker said it was 'a really bad day' for the shooter. His comments and officials' decision to focus on the suspect's narrative amid a spate of increased hate incidents against Asian Americans have been widely criticized.... In a Facebook post from April 2020..., Baker shared an image of T-shirts based off the Corona beer label that said 'Covid 19 IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA.'" ~~~

~~~ Harmeet Kaur of CNN: "Of the eight people who were killed when a White man attacked three metro Atlanta spas, six were Asian women.... The suspect's remarks, [experts] say, are rooted in a history of misogyny and stereotypes that are all too familiar for Asian and Asian American women. They're fetishized and hypersexualized. They're seen as docile and submissive. On top of that, they're often working in the service sector and are subject to the same racism that affects Asian Americans more broadly. The way their race intersects with their gender makes Asian and Asian American women uniquely vulnerable to violence, said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the non-profit advocacy group National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum." ~~~

~~~ Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "As Asian Americans reacted with horror and outrage to mass shootings in Atlanta that left eight dead, including six Asian women, police said on Wednesday that the 21-year-old, White suspect said racism wasn't a factor in the killings. That claim left Trevor Noah, like many observers, aghast. 'You killed six Asian people. Specifically, you went there,' the late-night host said. 'Your murders speak louder than your words.' In fact, Noah argued in an impassioned monologue on 'The Daily Show' on Wednesday night, the mass killing felt like the infuriatingly obvious outcome of months of unchecked hate crimes against Asian Americans."

Oklahoma! Where the Wind Goes Sweepin' through their Brains. Richard Reed of Mediaite: "CNN;s Gary Tuchman traveled to the far western end of [Oklahoma]'s panhandle to talk with overwhelmingly pro-Trump citizens of Boise City, 92% of whom voted for the former president in the 2020 election. And he discovered widespread skepticism about the virus -- even if Trump himself urged them to take the vaccine.... Tuchman's report began in a local diner, where he asked for a show of hands in the restaurant of those who thought getting one of the three FDA-approved vaccines was a good idea. Not a single arm among the 17 customers was raised.... [One] man at the table delivered a stunning rationalization for their collective reluctance: 'Trump's a liberal New Yorker. Why would we listen to him either?'" MB: The various theories these diner regulars express seem to be what passes for "common sense" these days. It's a testament to education, to mind over head. Or the Brainland over the Heartland.

Way Beyond

Ireland. Kimberly Cowell-Meyers & Carolyn Gallaher of the Washington Post: "Last Wednesday, an American group that supports Sinn Fein, the Northern Ireland political party associated with the Irish Republican Army, placed half-page ads in The Washington Post, the New York Times, and other newspapers, calling for a referendum on Irish unification. Such a referendum is not likely very soon. Since the 1920s, the island of Ireland has been divided between what is now the independent Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom or should unify with the Republic was the principal source of violent conflict from the 1960s to the 1990s, generally known as 'The Troubles.' Still, the possibility of Irish reunification will hang over many of the political discussions this St. Patrick's Day. Brexit has reignited tensions and fueled interest in a referendum. In the 2016 Brexit referendum, most of Northern Ireland voted to remain in the European Union. Unification would accomplish that." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tanzania. Bethlehem Feleke, et al., of CNN: "Tanzania's President John Magufuli has died at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, the country's vice president announced in a televised address on Wednesday. He was 61. 'President John Magufuli died of a heart ailment that he has battled for over 10 years,' Samia Suluhu Hassan said.... Magufuli was one of Africa's most prominent Covid skeptics. Early on in the pandemic, Magufuli dismissed the seriousness of coronavirus in Tanzania, urging his citizens to 'pray coronavirus away,' believing the 'satanic virus can't live in the body of Jesus Christ,' and blaming the growing number of positive cases on faulty test kits. In June, he claimed his country had eradicated coronavirus 'by the grace of God,' questioned the safety of foreign Covid-19 vaccines and made no plan to procure any shots for his country, instead pushing for the use of herbal medicine and steam treatments."

News Lede

CNBC: "First-time claims for jobless benefits showed an unexpected jump to 770,000 as the labor market tries to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.... Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a total of 700,000 for the week ended March 13. The total represented an increase from the previous week's upwardly revised 725,000."

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Reader Comments (16)

So, let’s see. Some of the usual suspects (R’s all, natch), aka traitors, are having a big sad over language that accompanies the award of congressional medals to those who stood between democracy and its sworn enemies (again, R’s all). They take issue with the entirely accurate description of what was happening on January 6, insurrection.

So, we can’t call Trump’s treason troops insurrectionists? What should they be called? Picnickers? Frolickers in the park? Flaneurs? Members of the crepuscular chordata?

The rewriting of history, the recasting of facts, the intellectually dishonest flim-flam that these people practice set new lows when a clear attempt to overturn a democratic election is sand blasted into irrelevance by these treasonous turds.

So what else is new?

But even better is the idea they promote to present these medals but to decline any real reason for the award. “Here ya go pal. Here’s your medal. Nice shoes.”

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Cmon seven! Baby needs a new pair of shoes!

What do you do when your piggy schnoz has been yanked out of the public tax money trough? Do you quietly go away and make do with the millions you’ve already stolen? Or do you find a way to make an honest living? Answer, neither! You come up with a new grift! Fuck that working for a living crap, that’s for commoners. And honest people. Not for the slime covered, gritting Trump Crime Family.

Soooo...a new casino? At the failing Trump Doral? But what if locals don’t want a slimy casino? Why, get your simpering, sycophantic R acolytes to pass a law saying you can do whatever you want (maybe they can call it Donnie’s Article II law). To hell with what residents and local governments want. You’re royalty!

Putting the vice back in Miami one slot machine at a time.

And remember, gambling is just another way to pick the pockets of sad, troubled people. The ones who really get hurt are those gambling addicts who can’t help themselves. So what if some pensioners drop their retirement savings in your lap in an afternoon? And who cares if some guy loses his kid’s college fund at one of your sleazy gaming tables? Little Donald has to eat, right? He’s not gonna get an honest job, right?

But what am I saying? A Trump scheme? It’s a certain failure. Because only Donald Trump loses money on casinos. In a few years we’ll be treated to another video of a former Trump property being dynamited after this latest scam goes belly up.

But before then, sleaze and vice are injected into the locale. Courtesy of Donald J. Trump. It’s what he does best.

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Let’s talk taxes, or more specifically the poor IRS, another government agency where the Republicans have gotten their wish.

Yes, the IRS is currently a mess but it’s not just the year of Covid that has messed it up. It’s the result of the deliberate desire and policy of the party that doesn’t want government to work.

Since 2010 the IRS budget has been cut by at least twenty percent.

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2020/01/ahead-of-filing-season-decade-of-irs-budget-cuts-taking-a-toll-on-workforce-morale/

During that same period, the number of tax returns the IRS has had to handle has increased from about 140 to 165 million, or more than 17 percent. (I found a range of 9 to 17 percent here but took the higher number from the government’s own website. https://www.efile.com/efile-tax-return-direct-deposit-statistics/)

Additionally, in the last year the IRS has been charged with distributing hundreds of millions of Covid stimulus checks in their spare time.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-operations-during-covid-19-mission-critical-functions-continue

I’d not say the IRS owns their “mess.”

Like so many others, this mess belongs to the party woefully deficient in the will to govern.

Color that party red.

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Another, perhaps more important reason the Party of Traitors has been hamstringing the IRS for years is that a reduced staff and dramatically diminished budget means less chance their rich pals and wealthy donors will ever be audited.

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@Ken Winkes & @Akhilleus" Yes to both of you on the IRS mess. Republicans want you to have to sit on hold for seven hours & want your refunds to come in months late (through the mail that costs more but doesn't show up on time). Then they can point to how horrible the federal government is.

Since obviously funding the IRS is an appropriations matter, seems to me Democrats can go a long way in fixing that through reconciliation.

March 18, 2021 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Shooting 7 defenseless Asian women all in one night isn't racist? And the poor shooter was just having a "bad day?" Get rid of that sheriff too. I wondered how he did it-- The first "spa" shooting was around 5, and in rush hour traffic in Atlanta, he managed to get to the second in about half an hour, though they were nowhere near each other. Makes you wonder about the logistics. Did the sheriff feed him some dinner once he was caught, like the Charleston killer got? How about some water like the Kenosha killer got? And the idiots in congress won't give the cops in DC their medals? The wingers are all over the place about law inforcement. Universal brain fog in the GQP. Oh, and they are still mad at the IRS from the IRS's investigations of their phony organizations years and years ago. These are the mudpeople...

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

I have spent most of the morning researching that FISHY Jellyfish memory supplement Prevagen. The ads for this hoax have been beefed up lately and it's driving me batty. The makers of this stuff are a company from Wisconsin and I imagine our favorite Johnson would have a hand in protecting that operation. There are countless law suits against this company but the product is still being advertised and touted as a memory booster. When Marvin was still with us we had a rousing discussion on supplements of suspect. Anyway–-here's a link to one of the shorter pieces of info I found if you are interested:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/jellyfish-memory-supplement-prevagen-hoax-ftc-says-n704886

Warnock's speech hit the high notes ––one of the best. Will it resonate with those on the "other side" who remain firmly planted on the side of asininity. Just a widdle bit?

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

PD: many thanks. That one couple has been taking the stuff for years! I would think if there was one tiny bit of truth to the ad, they are walking and eating well, so they are already taking care of themselves. I also hate the lady who claims to be an artist, and on a stationary bike is riding so slowly her feet hardly move. What a crock... Thank you-- I did not know this was proven phony and now I do...

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

The European Medicines Agency ruled that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is safe. Being rather suspicious, I wonder how much of the uproar could be traced to Russian disinformation.

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

Poor dear...that nice white boy in Atlanta who went out THAT DAY and bought the gun he used to murder those poor women (thanks GOP, NRA, Gun Knobbers R Us, etc...), had, according to that nice white policeman, a “bad day”. By implication, did those women he killed, their friends and family members have a GOOD DAY? How come no one says “Oh, you had a bad day? How about those people you shot, you think maybe they had a BAD DAY too, motherfucker?”

But, oops, they’re women, mostly Asian, and had something to do with icky spas. Three strikes, they’re out. And dead. But that poor white boy. Those nasty bitches tempted him with their satanic sexy time wiles. Otherwise he’s just a nice boy who loves Jesus.

Can’t wait to see how the wingers spin this.

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

One way for the Dems to boost employment is to begin reconstituting all of the Federal agencies that have been hollowed out during the T**** years (and before). The IRS would be a great place to start, but we also need to rebuild the EPA, Education, Interior, State, etc etc etc. These Federal jobs have traditionally been a route to the middle class for thousands, especially in the Black and brown (Brown?) communities.

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRockygirl

David Cross: Why America Sucks at Everything

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

"Donald Trump told Maria Bartiromo "that he is hopeful that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, runs for the White House in 2024, saying her candidacy might compel him to jump into the race as well."
Donald probably sees the attack on the Royal family as an attack on himself, a notorious racist. Don, probably with the encouragement of his off(putting)spring, considers himself an American royal now. And as we know, where you attack us (as racists) one, you attack us all.

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Well, if you can't have faith in an off-the-shelf, advertised-during network-news, jellyfish based, discredited years-ago brain booster, in what CAN you have faith, eh? How would you ever remember where to put your Oxford commas, or whether "commas" is also a proper noun and therefore capitalized because it is half of a compound plural proper noun? There's just too much to remember.

Just last NIGHT I told my wife that I wanted the life that Prevagen-taking artist lady has, with an art studio in her house and a waterfall next to her deck.

But then I forgot to do anything about it. Damn jellyfish.

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

Thought this a good analysis of the filibuster situation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/18/why-republicans-want-to-keep-filibuster/

Hope the Dem pols read it.

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

More bleating from Florida's mini-pretender.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/543742-desantis-says-florida-school-curriculum-will-expressly-exclude-critical

We'll see how it plays...

March 18, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes
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