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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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

Public Service Announcement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click on photo to enlarge.

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

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

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

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The Commentariat -- March 24, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The Biden administration is taking the unusual step of making a public accounting of the Trump administration's political interference in science, drawing up a list of dozens of regulatory decisions that may have been warped by political interference in objective research. The effort could buttress efforts to unwind pro-business regulations of the past four years, while uplifting science staff battered by four years of disregard. It is particularly explicit at the Environmental Protection Agency, where President Biden's political appointees said they felt that an honest accounting of past problems was necessary to assure career scientists that their findings would no longer be buried or manipulated. In a blunt memo this month, one senior Biden appointee said political tampering under the Trump administration had 'compromised the integrity' of some agency science."

Martin Farrer & Michael Safi of the Guardian: "One of the largest container ships in the world has been partially refloated after it ran aground in the Suez canal, causing a huge jam of vessels at either end of the vital international trade artery. The 220,000-ton, 400-metre-long Ever Given -- a so-called megaship operated by the Taiwan-based firm Evergreen -- became stuck near the southern end of the canal on Tuesday. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said it had lost the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm. Eight tugboats were working to free the vessel, blocking a lane key to Asia-Europe trade through which about 50 ships a day passed in 2019, according to Egyptian government statistics."

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

Christopher Rowland & Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "Moncef Slaoui, the pharmaceutical industry veteran and vaccine specialist who led ... Donald Trump's Operation Warp Speed, was fired from the board of a medical company Wednesday over allegations of sexual misconduct. GlaxoSmithKline, the majority shareholder of Galvani Bioelectronics and Slaoui's former longtime employer where he led vaccine development, announced it terminated Slaoui as Galvani chairman following an investigation triggered by a letter sent last month detailing alleged `sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct.' The alleged misconduct occurred `several years ago' and was aimed at another employee of GlaxoSmithKline while Slaoui also worked for the pharmaceutical giant, the company said in a statement." A USA Today story is here.

Israel. Laurie Kellman of the AP: "Uncertainty hovered over the outcome of Israel's parliamentary election Wednesday, with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sworn political rivals determined to depose him apparently lacking a clear path to a governing coalition. Deadlock in the 120-seat parliament was a real possibility a day after the election, which had been dominated by Netanyahu's polarizing leadership. With about 90% of the vote counted by Wednesday morning, Netanyahu's Likud party and its ultra-Orthodox and far-right allies fell short of a 61-seat majority -- even if the Yamina party of Netanyahu ally-turned-critic Naftali Bennett were to join a Netanyahu-led government. Bennett has refused to endorse either side." A Washington Post story is here.

Myanmar. AP: "Hundreds of people imprisoned for demonstrating against last month's coup in Myanmar were released Wednesday, a rare conciliatory gesture by the military that appeared aimed at placating the protest movement. Witnesses outside Insein Prison in Yangon saw busloads of mostly young people, looking happy with some flashing the three-finger gesture of defiance adopted by protesters. State-run TV said a total of 628 were freed. Also Wednesday, Thein Zaw, a journalist for The Associated Press who was arrested last month while covering an anti-coup protest, was released."

~~~~~~~~~~

Article Two: Armed vigilantes being necessary to the security of slaveholders, the right of white people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. -- P.D. Pepe reads the Second Amendment

     ~~~ Thanks to RockyGirl for the link.

After January 6, nothing seems impossible. -- Jeanne, in today's Comments

Annie Karni & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Faced with the second mass shooting in a week, President Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill called on Tuesday for fast action to enact stricter gun laws, a plea that was immediately met with a blockade of opposition by Republicans. In brief, somber remarks from the White House, Mr. Biden called on the Senate to pass a ban on assault weapons and to close background check loopholes, saying that doing so would be 'common sense steps that will save lives in the future.'... Mr. Biden noted that he had to draft a proclamation to keep the White House flags at half-staff because they had already been lowered to honor eight people killed by a gunman in the Atlanta area less than a week earlier...." ~~~

"But while polling regularly shows broad support for tighter gun laws and specific policies like a ban on assault weapons, Republicans in Congress remained all but immovable on the issue, repeating longstanding arguments on Tuesday that gun violence should be addressed through steps like more policing rather than limiting gun rights."

     ~~~ Marie: Isn't it time to quit focusing on deranged men who commit mass murders and start blaming Republican legislators who enable them? ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... on Tuesday Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) angrily hit back at those pushing new restrictions and those who criticized the restrictions' opponents, accusing them of 'ridiculous theater.' Democrats have increasingly criticized the 'thoughts and prayers' response to such tragedies, arguing that's insufficient and a cop-out, but Cruz took exception when Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) made that point.... Sen. Cynthia M. Lummis (R-Wyo.) echoed that point, saying: 'Every time that there's an incident like this, the people who don't want to protect the Second Amendment use it as an excuse to further erode Second Amendment rights.' And Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) set the line at any increased background checks, saying, 'I think we've got enough background checks.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sen. Potato Head doesn't know what's in the Constitution; I doubt if he has the slightest idea of the scope of federal background-check laws and proposed bills. (To be fair, Potato Head probably believes the Second Amendment reads exactly as P.D. Pepe suggested.) Cruz, BTW, took great umbrage at Democrats' "odd" failure to appreciate the power of prayer. ~~~

~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Senators quickly splintered along partisan lines over gun control measures on Tuesday as Democrats demanded action in the wake of two mass shootings in the past week and Republicans denounced their calls, highlighting the political divide that has fueled a decades-long cycle of inaction on gun violence. At a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee that was scheduled before shootings in Atlanta and Boulder that left at least 18 people dead, Democrats argued that the latest carnage left Congress no choice but to enact stricter policies. They lamented the grim pattern of anguish and outrage followed by partisanship and paralysis had become the norm following mass shootings.... Even before the recent shootings, Democrats had already begun advancing stricter gun control measures that face long odds in the 50-50 Senate." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "The city of Boulder, Colo., barred assault weapons in 2018, as a way to prevent mass shootings like the one that killed 17 at a high school in Parkland., Fla., earlier that year. But 10 days after that ban was blocked in court, the city was rocked by its own tragedy: Ten people, including a Boulder police officer, were killed at a supermarket in the city's south end on Monday after a gunman opened fire, law enforcement officials said.... With unanimous support from the council, the law banned the possession, transfer and sale of most shotguns and certain pistols and semiautomatic rifles with pistol grips, a thumbhole stock, or any protruding grip that allows a weapon to be stabilized with the non-trigger hand.... On March 12, Boulder County District Judge Andrew Hartman ... [ruled] that, according to a 2003 Colorado state law, cities and counties cannot restrict guns that are otherwise legal under federal and state law.... The National Rifle Association cheered the ruling on Twitter last week, noting that its lobbying arm had supported the lawsuit against the ban." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yeah, the "thoughts and prayers" cliche makes me sick, too. Here's another one that's even more insidious, because its purpose is to shut up gun-control advocates masked behind the calculated pretext of expressing respect for the victims of gun violence. We hear this after every mass shooting:

There will be a time for the debate on gun laws. There will be a time for the discussion on motives. There will be a time for a conversation on how this could have been prevented. But today is not the time. -- Colorado State Shooting Association, a plaintiff in the Boulder assault weapons ban, in a statement

Max Fisher & Josh Keller of the New York Times: "The only variable that can explain the high rate of mass shootings in America is its astronomical number of guns.... Americans make up about 4.4 percent of the global population but own 42 percent of the world's guns.... And gun control legislation tends to reduce gun murders.... This suggests that the guns themselves cause the violence."

Amy Wang, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House agreed late Tuesday to add a senior-level Asian American Pacific Islander liaison after two Democratic senators threatened to vote no on nominees because of what they said was a lack of sufficient AAPI representation in President Biden's Cabinet.... The decision came after Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) vowed Tuesday afternoon to vote no on Biden's 'non-diversity' Cabinet nominees until the White House addressed the issue. Lawmakers have been pushing Biden for months for greater AAPI representation in the most senior levels of his administration." MB: While there are a number of other factors that determine suitability for a presidential appointment, when you consider the fact that Asian-Americans are better-educated than any other ethnic group, you do have to wonder why they aren't better-represented in the top government jobs.

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: Shalanda Young "was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday, 63 to 37, to serve as President Biden's deputy budget director. As the first Black woman to serve as staff director for the House Appropriations Committee, Ms. Young played critical roles on Capitol Hill in negotiating not only the dozen annual spending bills, but also a series of five pandemic relief packages that together totaled $3 trillion and represented the leading edge of a sweeping federal response to the crisis.... After Mr. Biden's pick to lead the agency, Neera Tanden, withdrew amid bipartisan opposition, Ms. Young will have a leading role steering the office in the coming weeks as the administration begins to prepare its first budget proposal and pursue an ambitious infrastructure plan."

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge lambasted the Justice Department on Tuesday, warning that top officials' comments in recent media interviews threatened to taint the prosecution of some of the most notorious participants in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. In a hastily assembled video conference, District Court Judge Amit Mehta declared he was 'surprised, to say the least' by a CBS '60 Minutes' interview with Michael Sherwin, who recently stepped aside as the lead prosecutor in the Capitol attack and as the acting U.S. attorney in Washington. In the interview aired Sunday, Sherwin said he believed the facts gathered by investigators would support a charge of 'seditious conspiracy' against some of the Capitol rioters.... Mehta also referenced a Monday evening article in The New York Times that described internal Justice Department deliberations about seditious conspiracy charges.... 'These defendants are entitled to a fair trial, not one that is conducted in the media,' Mehta said as he opened the conference, which included senior supervisors in the U.S. Attorney's office. 'I will not tolerate continued publicity in the media.'" ~~~

~~~ Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News: "The Justice Department has launched internal probes into a recent spate of apparently unauthorized comments to the media about the status of the Capitol insurrection investigation, a supervisor in the US attorney's office in Washington told a judge on Tuesday.... John Crabb, the head of the Criminal Division in the DC US attorney's office, told [Judge Amit] Mehta it appeared that [Michael] Sherwin had failed to comply with the department's rules and policies that govern contacts with the press. Crabb said Sherwin had been referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates misconduct allegations against DOJ lawyers and officials.... Sherwin returned to his former position as a federal prosecutor in Miami earlier this month...; he had served as the acting US attorney in DC since May 2020 and was appointed by ... Donald Trump's attorney general, Bill Barr."

Rachel Weiner, et al., of the Washington Post: "A U.S. Army Reserve sergeant and a former Army Special Forces soldier were ordered jailed pending trial Tuesday on charges stemming from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, while a veteran New York Police Department officer turned herself in to face trespassing charges.... [Timothy] Hale-Cusanelli ran an antisemitic podcast, wore a Hitler mustache to work and shared violent, racist fantasies with colleagues, prosecutors said.... Separately, a federal magistrate denied bond for Jeffrey McKellop, 55, of Augusta County, Va., who served two enlistments totaling 22 years in the Army, including as a Special Forces communications sergeant.... Also Tuesday, retired veteran New York Police Department officer Sara Carpenter surrendered to authorities and was released on personal recognizance to face trespassing and disorderly conduct charges after she was allegedly seen in the U.S. Capitol carrying a tambourine."

Evan Hill, et al., of the New York Times: "New videos obtained by The New York Times show publicly for the first time how the U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after facing off with rioters on Jan. 6 was attacked with chemical spray. The officer, Brian D. Sicknick, who had been guarding the west side of the Capitol, collapsed later that day and died the next night. Little had been known about what happened to Officer Sicknick during the assault, and the previously unpublished videos provide new details about when, where and how he was attacked, as well as about the events leading up to the encounter." Includes videos & descriptions of what the videos portray or suggest.

The "Big Lie Was Just a Joke!" Defense. Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Right-wing lawyer Sidney Powell is claiming in a new court filing that reasonable people wouldn't have believed as fact her assertions of fraud after the 2020 presidential election. The election infrastructure company Dominion Voting Systems sued Powell for defamation after she pushed lawsuits and made appearances in conservative media on behalf of ... Donald Trump to sow doubt about the 2020 election results. Dominion claims that Powell knew her election fraud accusations were false and hurtful to the company. In a new court filing, Powell's attorneys write that she was sharing her 'opinion' and that the public could reach 'their own conclusions' about whether votes were changed by election machines.... '... Plaintiffs themselves characterize the statements at issue as "wild accusations" and "outlandish claims." They are repeatedly labelled "inherently improbable" and even "impossible." Such characterizations of the allegedly defamatory statements further support Defendants' position that reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact but view them only as claims that await testing by the courts through the adversary process.', [Powell's lawyers argued]."

Luxury Hotel Agency Dumps Trump. Hannah Sampson & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Virtuoso, a global network of luxury travel agencies, no longer considers Trump Hotels a preferred partner. The Texas-based company, which includes 20,000 luxury travel advisers, said the change was effective March 8; it applies to the six Trump hotels that were considered partners." ~~~

~~~ Michael D'Antonio in a CNN opinion piece: "While Federal Election Commission filings show Trump directed millions to pay Trump organizations for campaign-related expenses during both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, his net worth is now down $700 million since he became president, according to a Bloomberg News report. And much of what ails Trump's bottom line is his own fault. According to Bloomberg, revenues are down in every corner of the Trump empire and most of his assets have lost value.... According to Bloomberg, the Trump fortune has been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic, [which he purposely downplayed]. The deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol, which he fomented, has also sullied the Trump brand and cost him business.... If the Trump name ever was his business organization's biggest asset, it may now be its worst liability."

Beyond the Beltway

Massachusetts. Ellen Barry of the New York Times: "On a September morning in 1976, an 11-year-old Black girl climbed onto a yellow school bus, one of tens of thousands of children sent crisscrossing [Boston] by court order and deposited in the insular neighborhoods of Boston in an effort to force them to integrate. As her bus swung uphill into the heart of the Irish-American enclave of Charlestown, she could see police officers taking protective positions around the bus. After that, the mob: white teenagers and adults, shouting and throwing rocks, telling them to go back to Africa. That girl, Kim Janey, became acting mayor of Boston on Monday, making her the first Black person to occupy the position, at a moment of uncommon opportunity for people of color in this city. With the confirmation of her predecessor, Martin J<. Walsh, as U.S. labor secretary, the 91-year succession of Irish-American and Italian-American mayors appears to be ending, creating an opening for communities long shut out of the city's power politics.

Montana. Azi Paybarah of the New York Times: "Gov. Greg Gianforte [R-Bully] of Montana violated a state hunting requirement last month when he trapped and killed a wolf near Yellowstone National Park without first taking a mandated trapper education course, state officials said on Tuesday. Mr. Gianforte, who has a license to hunt wolves, received a written warning for the violation, according to Greg Lemon, a spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. 'We've treated this as we would anybody' in a similar situation, he said." MB: Greg, I know you're going to be a terrible governor, but you'll always be an out-of-control body-slamming bully to me.

Texas. Elisha Fieldstadt of NBC News: "National Guardsmen transporting Covid-19 vaccines through Texas on Monday were held at gunpoint, police said. Larry Harris is accused of following a convoy of National Guard soldiers before attempting to run them off the highway with his truck several times in Lubbock County, according to Idalou police Chief Eric C. Williams. Harris, 66, of Willcox, Arizona, eventually turned his truck into oncoming traffic, stopping three National Guard vans near Idalou, Williams said. He then pointed a gun at a soldier, identified himself as a detective, ordered the guardsmen out of their vehicles and demanded to search their vans, according to police. Idalou police responded and were able to arrest Harris without incident, Williams said. He had a loaded .45-caliber Colt 1911 pistol, an additional loaded magazine on his person and another loaded magazine in his truck. None of the guardsmen were [was!] injured, and the vaccines eventually made it to Matador. [Harris] He told police that he thought people in the vans had kidnapped a woman and child...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Chief Williams described Harris as appearing to be "mentally disturbed." He sounds like a QAnon adherent to me.

Way Beyond

Saudi Arabia. Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "A senior Saudi official issued what was perceived to be a death threat against the independent United Nations investigator, Agnès Callamard, after her investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In an interview with the Guardian, the outgoing special rapporteur for extrajudicial killings said that a UN colleague alerted her in January 2020 that a senior Saudi official had twice threatened in a meeting with other senior UN officials in Geneva that month to have Callamard 'taken care of' if she was not reined in by the UN.... Callamard's 100-page report, published in June 2019, concluded that there was 'credible evidence' that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and other senior Saudi officials were liable for the killing, and called the murder an 'international crime'.... The Guardian independently corroborated Callamard's account...."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (17)

I have been reading many commentators - including our own most esteemed AK and PD - note that the Dems are finally getting out there and telling the American people about the good they are doing for them.

While it is high time that the Dems started tooting their own horn, there’s at least some evidence that it won’t move the needle all that much.


https://www.vox.com/2021/3/22/22337988/poll-republicans-american-rescue-plan-roger-wicker

We can never underestimate how shameless the GQP is and how gullible their voters are.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRockyGirl

Senator kennedy yesterday compared gun violence to drunk driving. Okay, I'll take him up on that. I will happily sign on to legislation that requires gun owners to treat their guns like their cars, by taking training courses before purchasing, insuring the guns, and registering the guns with the state. Every gun needs to have a license plate readable from 20 feet away.

If I see a non-uniformed person carrying a semiautomatic rifle, I feel threatened knowing I am one hiccup away from being gunned down. According to Stand Your Ground laws, does this mean I can shoot the rifle carrier to defend myself?

After years of "thoughts and prayers," I wonder what "thoughts" they have come up with. It doesn't appear to be anything better than the failed candidate in The West Wing, "Crime. Boy, I don't know."

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

Mass murder supporters in the Party of Traitors sniff that “Nowww is NOT the time to be discussing gun control. Nowww is the time for thoughts and prayers. Hmmph!”

Okay. Why don’t we ask those friends and family members left behind by the actions of the latest NRA hall of famer whether or not now is a good time to talk about gun control. Theirs is the only opinion that matters right now. Not Ted Cruz’s or Tom Cotton’s or some anal cyst talking heads, or any of the rest of the mealy mouthed cowards on the right.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Yesterday I heard some Trump wanker whining that Biden had dismantled all the wonderfully wicked plans for border chaos that Fatty had rammed through, plans that were working beautifully until that awful Joe Biden stole the election.

Yes, this is Benedict Arnold complaining that his plans for winning the Revolution for the Americans were going swimmingly until that annoying George Washington stepped in.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Am with you, Marie. Until lately, I had no inkling that Montana had picked Nasty Greg for governor. I don't know how I missed it, because of course there was no news since the elections in November (ha) and I hate and detest the illegal wolf killer man. He's a beast and a bully and now there is another good reason to ignore the western states. Real, educated, civilized people would not have voted for this vile piece of s*** for anything. But maybe it is good to have him NOT be in the halls of congress? That is the only upside to this mess of a human being.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

A quote in an article linked above about a DOJ twit yapping about government investigations into the Trump-led insurrection says that Sherwin—the twit—fucked it up.

Who’d’a thunk that a Trump appointee would refuse to abide by department rules and policies? Unpossible!

And there are plenty more like this jerk embedded into the fabric of the federal government, like oily stains, almost impossible to get out. This guy and others like him are bad, but the worst have “judge” in front of their names.

Trump evil will haunt us for years to come.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@NiskyGuy: Good points, all. Not only do you have to take a training course to get a driver's license, you have to pass it. To get your first license, you have to pass both a written test & a road test. You have to pass a sort of physical, too, at least periodically, in that your vision has to be good enough to drive.

Also, there are annual costs to insuring and registering your vehicles. My annual fee on my two low-end vehicles, one of which is seven years old, came to more than $400. I have to pay for inspections of the vehicles, too, & of course pay for any repairs the inspectors deem necessary.

If it cost gun owners a few hundred dollars a year to keep each of their guns licensed & in good repair, I expect gun ownership in the U.S. would go way down.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterMarie Burns

Jeanne,

Far too many people confuse bullying, braggadocio, and aggressive bluster with toughness and smarts. Smart men and women don’t have to brag, and truly tough men and women don’t have to bully or knock people down who simply ask a question. People who do that should be on a chain gang not jerking off in the governor’s mansion. Another example of how terrible the Party of Traitors is for this country.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

And to add to NiskyGuy’s analogy, remember, in order to put your car on the road, you need insurance, which can be denied in certain cases. No inshy, no drivey. What if gun owner insurance required liability coverage? Even an accidental shooting and your premium goes up. You kill someone, the insurance company has to pay out. Pretty soon, no insurance company would offer coverage for weapons that didn’t cost tens of thousands.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

A BAGEL DEBACKLE:

Last Sunday morning a white woman, let's call her Karen, with a few children in tow, went into the Black New York City bakery to buy some bagels. Because she was mask-less the man behind the counter said she must exit the place and he would not take her order. She refused. When a security guard intervened she again refused to move and asked:

"Why? because he's a bitch-ass nigger?" She also added a few minutes later:
I don't believe in Covid 19–-it's a hoax to convince people to use absentee ballots to steal the election from Donald Trump."

This incident only proves once again that ordinary people are just as "off their chump" as those right-wing Congress critters and Fatty followers ( follow the fella who will fuck you over and over and you say–-'man–-that feels sooo good–-give me more') Some would say, "who can blame them?" when they hear from those like Sidney Powell, who I might add should be hog tied and spit on in the village square.

And now we have the usual suspects who will never budge on gun control. Just another shot away on any day in May.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bakery-karen-davidovich-new-york_n_605afed0c5b67593e053ff19

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

@PD Pepe: You write that "ordinary people" have picked up the habits of Trumpies. I suppose it depends upon your meaning of "ordinary people," but you seemed to have framed them as "not-Trumpies," I don't think you're right that "not-Trumpies" are borrowing odious language & conspiracy theories from Trumpies.

While the HuffPost story doesn't say so explicitly, it would be a good bet, based on the woman's language -- AND the fact that she lives in Queens -- that she is a "Fatty follower."

March 24, 2021 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

This could be a quote from almost any R. Congressional
psycophant: "Now is not the time to discuss gun reform,
because I still need all that money and more from my
gun lobby friends."

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterForrest Morris

Ak, how much do you think my insurance premium going to cost for my 200 gun arsenal?

I saw this bible verse brought up elsewhere in response to all the "thoughts and prayers" Ted's sending out to the universe.
"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

For those still waiting for their vaccine, Redder is better?
"McGrew’s story highlights a peculiar trend playing out nationwide: one in which urban city-dwellers, struggling to find vaccines in their home cities, have found success getting vaccinated in neighboring counties that are more conservative and, in some cases, more rural.
Since vaccines are distributed to counties based on population, that suggests that more right-leaning regions should have more of a surplus of vaccines than more liberal regions. And indeed, that seems to be borne out by which states are opening up vaccinations to all adult residents."

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/24/founders-constitution-dc-statehood-car-dealership/

In this one Alexandra Petri hits about 75% on the funny meter, and in that 75 she scored 100 for me.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

@Marie: By "ordinary" I meant people who are not "known"––like celebrities, political figures et al. The woman in question in the bakery story surely is a Trumpie as her language illustrated. The question for me has always been did Trump change minds or were those minds always ripe for what he had to offer. My guess is the latter.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/patriots-offensive-lineman-justin-herron-prevents-sexual-assault-in-public-park-221836783.html. Something positive about a young man helping an older woman.

March 24, 2021 | Unregistered Commentercitizen625
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