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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The Commentariat -- March 27, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Richard Paddock of the New York Times: "At a military parade on Saturday, the general who led the overthrow of Myanmar's civilian government last month said the army was determined 'to protect people from all danger.' Before the day was over, the security forces under his command had shot and killed a 5-year-old boy, two 13-year-old boys and a 14-year-old girl. A baby girl in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, was struck in the eye with a rubber bullet, although her parents said she was expected to live. The slain children were among dozens of people killed on Saturday as the security forces cracked down on protests across Myanmar, in what appeared to be one of the deadliest days since the Feb. 1 coup led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, commander of the Tatmadaw, as the military is known. One news outlet, Myanmar Now, put Saturday's death toll as high as 100." The AP's story is here.

James Walker of Newsweek: "Republican Senator Ted Cruz posted a video from the Rio Grande river [link fixed] that runs along the U.S.-Mexico border on social media Thursday night as President Joe Biden spoke about the border crisis at his first press briefing. The Texas Republican said he and other senators had seen 'overrun' detention facilities on their trip to the border, and witnessed migrant mothers and infants sleeping on the floor. He also claimed that traffickers on the Mexican side of the border could be seen taunting U.S. border officials with flashlights." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link. See also her commentary in today's thread.

     ~~~ Marie: Newsweek's "Ted Talks" video wouldn't load for me, so I had to go to the YouTubes to find a comparable video. The one I found cuts off the part where Ted, speaking in hushed tones amid the rushes on the U.S. banks of the Rio Grande, finds the baby Moses among the reeds. Cliffhanger: does Ted (a) rescue the infant and raise him as his own so Pharaoh Joe can't deport him, or (b) turn little Moses over to a gruff, gun-toting Border Patrolman?

~~~~~~~~~~

AFP: "Joe Biden has invited 40 world leaders to a virtual summit on the climate crisis, the White House said in a statement on Friday. Heads of state, including Xi Jinping of China and Russia's Vladimir Putin, have been asked to attend the two-day meeting meant to mark Washington's return to the front lines of the fight against human-caused climate change, after Donald Trump disengaged from the process. 'They know they're invited,' Biden said of Xi and Putin. 'But I haven't spoken to either one of them yet.' The start of the summit on 22 April coincides with Earth Day, and it will come ahead of a major UN meeting on the crisis, scheduled for November in Glasgow, Scotland."

Guardian: "Joe Biden has said the US is looking at what it can do to help free the 400-metre container ship Ever Given from its position blocking the Suez canal as the trade route crisis stretched into a fifth day. We have equipment and capacity that most countries don't have. And we are seeing what help we can be,' the US president said on Friday in Delaware. His comments came after a US official said the navy was prepared to send a team of dredging experts to the canal, but was awaiting approval from local authorities. Meanwhile, as the latest effort to dislodge the ship with tug boats was suspended late on Friday, shipping companies began to reroute cargoes elsewhere to avoid worsening the huge logjam that has built up at either end of the crucial trade artery." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Pardon my simple-mindedness, but reports make it seem the super-barge is stuck in the sand (i.e., essentially run aground) because it is so heavy, what with its being loaded with cargo. So, um, maybe offload the cargo? The equipment needed may be a few of those big ole cranes that move shipping containers.

"Scandal! Horror!" Poppy Noor of the Guardian: "Joe Biden's first press conference has caused some strong reactions [link fixed] from the conservative side of the aisle after he was caught ... reading notes.... 'New photos show cheat sheets used by Biden during his first press conference,' a New York Post headline read last night.... It is customary for politicians to speak using notes.... [For instance,] there was the time [Donald Trump] used cue cards to remind him to listen to shooting survivors."

Ben Leonard of Politico: "President Joe Biden slammed Georgia's new voting restrictions, calling them 21st-century 'Jim Crow' and urging Congress to pass election reform bills. 'This law, like so many others being pursued by Republicans in statehouses across the country is a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience,' Biden said in a statement Friday afternoon. 'This is Jim Crow in the 21st Century. It must end. We have a moral and Constitutional obligation to act.'" The President's full statement is here.

** Still Longing for the Old Plantation. Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Sometimes America’s legacy of white supremacy is hiding in plain sight, literally. When Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a hastily passed voter suppression law that many are calling the new, new Jim Crow on Thursday night, surrounded by a half-dozen white men, he did so in front of a painting of a plantation where more than 100 Black people had been enslaved. The fitting symbolism is somehow both shocking and unsurprising. In using the antebellum image of the notorious Callaway Plantation -- in a region where enslaved Black people seeking freedom were hunted with hounds -- in Wilkes County, Ga., as the backdrop for signing a bill that would make it a crime to hand water to a thirsty voter waiting on Georgia's sometimes hours-long voter lines, the GOP governor was sending a clear message about race and human rights in the American South.... At the very moment that Kemp was signing the law with his all-white posse, a Black female Georgia lawmaker -- Rep. Park Cannon -- who'd knocked on the governor's door in the hopes of watching the bill signing was instead dragged away and arrested by state troopers, in a scene that probably had the Deep South's racist sheriffs of yesteryear like Bull Connor or Jim Clark smiling in whatever fiery hellhole they now inhabit." Subscriber-firewalled. MB: I happily spent one of my few Inquirer freebies on this classic. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Bunch suggests Kemp knew what he was doing. But I doubt it. People like Kemp are such knee-jerk racists that screaming symbols of racism don't even register with them. That Callaway Plantation picture just seems right. In fact, Bunch lets us know that Brian & his lovely wife Marty especially picked it out for a place of prominence in Brian's office. I'll bet "Gone with the Wind" is Brian Kemp's favorite movie.

Maria Sacchetti & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas fired most members of the department's independent advisory council on Friday, a purge that included several allies of ... Donald Trump and veteran officials who served under both parties. Former Department of Homeland Security officials and advisory board members who worked under Democratic and Republican administrations said they could not remember so many members being dismissed at once.... The council is unpaid and includes leaders from state and local government, law enforcement, the private sector and academia who advise the agency on issues such as immigration, terrorism, crime and national disasters. Members serve one- to three-year terms and meet about four times a year.... DHS officials said Mayorkas would conduct an assessment of the council and reconstitute it with bipartisan members who better reflect the diversity of the United States and the people DHS serves."

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "A fatal cocktail of factors resulted in the deaths of eight Marines and a Navy sailor last summer after their 35-year-old armored vehicle sank off the coast of California, according to the results of a Marine Corps investigation. Insufficient training and maintenance, complacency by Marine officers, and a delayed, chaotic rescue effort contributed to the crisis after the 26-ton amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) sprung numerous leaks. Pumps on the vehicle did not work quickly enough, some Marines aboard did not know how to respond, and there were no safety boats, the investigation said. In the absence of required precautions, a second AAV crew attempted to rescue the first group of Marines. But in heavy surf, their vehicle collided with the first, turning it on its side with an open hatch. A wave swept over the first vehicle, water rushed inside, and it quickly sank.... The disaster, one of several during training in recent years, has prompted hard questions about whether the U.S. military has done enough to prioritize the welfare of its people over training requirements."

Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "A group of House Democrats on Friday introduced legislation to prohibit the Postal Service from lengthening mail-delivery windows and require it to adhere to present service expectations. They named the bill the Delivering Envelopes Judiciously On-time Year-round Act, or DEJOY Act."

Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has tapped the commander of the D.C. National Guard to become the next House sergeant-at-arms, selecting the first African American for the post that is responsible for the chamber's safety, as Congress overhauls its security arrangements in the wake of the Capitol riot. Pelosi asked Maj. Gen. William J. Walker to take the job in recent days, according to people familiar with the discussions. The previous holder resigned in the wake of the insurrection on Jan. 6.... If confirmed by a majority of the House, Walker will be tasked with all security and logistical planning of the House chamber, its wing of the Capitol and all associated office buildings." Walker is a registered Republican; Donald Trump appointed him to his current job.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The familiarity of [Donald Trump's claim that the Capitol insurrection was really a harmless love-in with nice visitors hugging & kissing police] ... can blur how dangerous it is. When coupled with other developments on Thursday, it becomes much more difficult to ignore the risk posed by a president rationalizing a violent attack on his political opponents." In Missouri, Republican legislators have blocked a voter-approved referendum because a majority of Republican/rural voters voted against it, thus rendering the total favorable vote not really "the will of the people." Meanwhile, in Georgia, legislators are doing their best to make sure the will of the people is never revealed. Oh, and Tucker Carlson says Hunter Biden causes fascism -- we won't even try to unpack that "logic." ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: "Fox News host Laura Ingraham had to awkwardly interrupt ... Donald Trump during an interview on The Ingraham Angle, as he launched into a rant about the 2020 election being stolen -- some of the same rhetoric that got Fox News and several of their on-air personalities sued for defamation earlier this year. The $2.7 billion lawsuit by Smartmatic Voting Systems accused Fox News, Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, as well as pro-Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, of engaging in a 'disinformation campaign' that defamed their company." Part-way into his rant, Trump began hammering the Supreme Court: "'... the numbers were vastly in favor of us in the presidential election. It was disgraceful that they were able to get away -- the Supreme Court did not have the courage to do what they had to do.' 'Mr. ...yeah, well...' Ingraham began broke in, as Trump began to re-up his election fraud claims and hammer the Court. 'Speaking as a lawyer, we are not going to relitigate the past tonight,' the Fox host ... added."

The Grifter Next Door. Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has charged 474 people over the past year with trying to swipe more than $569 million by using criminal fraud schemes connected to the covid-19 pandemic and seized at least $580 million in civil proceedings, officials announced Friday, demonstrating how taxpayer-funded programs meant to ease the economic burden of the crisis have become susceptible to scammers. The department said it has seen fraud attempts connected to several government aid programs. The Criminal Division's Fraud Section, for example, has charged at least 120 people in connection with fraud of the Paycheck Protection Program, a taxpayer-subsidized loan program regulated by the Small Business Administration which has long been of concern because of how funds were disbursed with relatively little oversight. The department said it had also seen immense fraud in connection with the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, and, along with the Secret Service and U.S. attorney's office in Colorado, had seized $580 million of possibly stolen money from that program through administrative procedures." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Looks like people who didn't have much to do because they were stuck at home decided to go into the federal fraud business. Idle hands are the devil's tools. As for me, I stuck to Netflix.

Spencer Hsu & Emily Davies of the Washington Post: "A Proud Boys member and his brother from Oregon have been ordered jailed pending trial on federal charges of conspiring to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, including by allegedly wrenching open a door and impeding police using a pole with a 'Don't Tread on Me' flag. The arrests Tuesday of Jonathanpeter Allen Klein, 21, of Heppner, Ore., and Matthew Leland Klein, 24, of Sherwood, Ore., bring to at least 25 the number of Proud Boys members and associates charged in the rioting that ... led to assaults on nearly 140 police officers. Prosecutors have alleged that four leaders communicated with as many 60 users of an encrypted 'Boots on the Ground' channel to coordinate actions in Washington that day by members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of violence. On Friday, a federal magistrate released one of the four, Zach Rehl, 35, of Philadelphia, to house arrest from jail pending trial, but stayed his order pending any appeal."

Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "If the so-called Stop the Steal movement appeared to be chasing a lost cause once President Biden was inaugurated, its supporters among extremist organizations are now adopting a new agenda from the anti-vaccination campaign to try to undermine the government.... Adherents of far-right groups who cluster online have turned repeatedly to one particular website in recent weeks -- the federal database showing deaths and adverse reactions nationwide among people who have received Covid-19 vaccinations. Although negative reactions have been relatively rare, the numbers are used by many extremist groups to try to bolster a rash of false and alarmist disinformation in articles and videos with titles like 'Covid-19 Vaccines Are Weapons of Mass Destruction -- and Could Wipe out the Human Race' or 'Doctors and Nurses Giving the Covid-19 Vaccine Will be Tried as War Criminals.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: We should get over the idea that these extremists are well-meaning but deluded nutjobs & dimwits who read too many Trump tweets & QAnon posts, and face the fact that they are malevolent perpetrators of anti-American hoaxes whose aim is to bring down the U.S. government. While a percentage of them are violent insurrectionists, most are probably armchair terrorists. And we should bear in mind that these traitors have supporters who hold high government posts, like Sens. Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley & Rand Paul.

Devin Nunes' Mom. Roger Sollenberger of the Daily Beast: "Two political committees belonging to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) have spent the past two days filing amended FEC reports to correct errors and omissions by their treasurer: his mom. The fundraising committees -- Nunes Victory Fund, and his leadership PAC, NEW PAC -- have also removed Nunes' mother's email address and replaced them with an unspecified 'Treasurer 1' and 'Treasurer 2.'... All but one of the campaign's 2020 FEC reports filed by Nunes' mom contain material errors, according to the [Requests for Additional Information]." MB: The report goes on to cite a lawsuit Nunes brought in which he complained that journalist Ryan Lizza falsely claimed that Mom there had tailed Lizza while Lizza was working on a story about the Nunes family. Don't sue me, Devin, but I'll bet your mom did tail Lizza, in the manner of your hiding in the White House bushes at midnight. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. You folks are about one episode away from Season 1 of a madcap NBC sitcom.

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "The New York attorney general's office has partnered with Manhattan's district attorney to investigate Stephen K. Bannon for the alleged fundraising scam that prompted his federal pardon in the waning hours of Donald Trump's presidency, according to people familiar with the matter. The move adds prosecutorial firepower to a criminal case widely seen as an attempted end-run around the former president's bid to protect a political ally. Investigators employed by the state attorney general were deputized to work as prosecutors with the team led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. (D), whose investigation of Bannon began shortly after his pardon was announced in January, these people said." (Also linked yesterday.)

A Florida Man Analyzes Capitol Insurrection. Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump falsely claimed Thursday that his supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 posed 'zero threat' -- despite the fact that five people died as a result of the violent insurrection, including a Capitol Police officer. 'It was zero threat. Right from the start, it was zero threat,' Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. 'Look, they went in -- they shouldn't have done it -- some of them went in, and they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know? They had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in, and they walked out.' The former president's remarks represent perhaps his most serious distortion yet of the events of Jan. 6.... Prosecutors have arrested more than 300 participants in the Capitol attack, and ... the head of the Capitol Police officers' union has indicated that roughly 140 officers were injured in the insurrection." Thanks to Forrest M. for the lead. MB: Yeah, it was like a kindergarten field trip, wasn't it? (Also linked yesterday.)

Colleen Long of the AP: "Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort to boost faltering ratings that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election. The lawsuit is part of a growing body of legal action filed by the voting company and other targets of misleading, false and bizarre claims spread by ... Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of Trump's election loss to Joe Biden." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Axios: "The U.S. broke its previous record for most COVID-19 vaccines administered in a single day, with 3.4 million doses reported on Friday, according to the White House.... States have reported a total of 133.3 million vaccine doses, with about 117 million administered since [President] Biden was inaugurated, according to Bloomberg's vaccine tracker."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "States are racing to vaccinate as many people as possible as the United States' coronavirus infection curve continues its plateau for a third week at more than 55,000 new cases per day, a level that health experts warn could rapidly escalate into a new wave.... At least 31 states have pledged to make vaccines universally available to their adult populations by mid-April, and many more have announced plans to expand eligibility on or before May 1, a goal set by President Biden." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Arkansas. Another Southern State Proudly Leans toward the Dark Ages. Andrew DeMillo of the AP: "Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday signed into law legislation allowing doctors to refuse to treat someone because of religious or moral objections, a move opponents have said will give providers broad powers to turn away LGBTQ patients and others. The measure says health care workers and institutions have the right to not participate in non-emergency treatments that violate their conscience. The new law won't take effect until late this summer. Opponents of the law, including the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union, have said it will allow doctors to refuse to offer a host of services for LGBTQ patients. The state Chamber of Commerce also opposed the measure, saying it sends the wrong message about the state."

News Lede

CNN: "Two people are dead and at least eight injured after shootings near the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, Virginia, police said Saturday. Police found at least eight victims at 'the original crime scene' when they arrived shortly after 11 p.m. Friday, Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate said at a press briefing. While police were investigating, shots were fired about a block away, resulting in 'an individual being confronted by a uniform Virginia Beach police officer,' Neudigate said. The officer shot and killed the person in what the chief described as a 'police intervention shooting.' A second person was killed in a separate nearby shooting, Neudigate said. He said police do not believe it was related to the first two shootings."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (16)

Redfield must have read the Reuters report linked here yesterday:

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/26/trump-cdc-coronavirus-chinese-lab-478155

CMA, I'd say.

March 26, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Note to Arkansas governor Hutchinson:
Here's an excerpt from an oath those MDs signed.
"I will remember that I remain a member of society, with
special obligations to ALL my fellow human beings.
May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions
of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing
those who seek my health."
It may not be legally binding, but to my way of thinking
it would be morally binding.

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterForrest Morris

Thanks Ken. As a reminder about Turd's appointee Redfield, https://www.cspinet.org/news/beyond-the-curve/cdc-director-robert-redfield: "his erstwhile opposition to needle exchange programs for injection drug users, his support for mandatory testing and quarantining of HIV-positive individuals in the military, his questioning of the efficacy of condoms".

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered Commentercitizen625

\While Redfield's opinion isn't necessarily wrong, there's no scientific basis for it -- as yet anyway. He is an evangelical Christian. I think it's difficult for someone of his religious persuasion to get his head around the idea that nature -- that is, god -- caused coronavirus, whereas it's easier to believe that some malevolent -- or at least incompetent -- human factor caused something really, really bad for humanity. The devil did it.

March 27, 2021 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Marie,

Yup.

We've all heard of confirmatory bias, and as Redfield says, it's just his opinion that Covid-19 originated in a Chinese lab and somehow escaped.

But his opinion, while as you say is not provably false, does fall neatly in line with so much of passes for thinking on the Right.

The majority of what they believe to be or advance as true, whether just plain nuts like the Q-Anon oeuvre, the picking and choosing of the SCOTUS originalists, the statistical outliers they consistently cite as solid counter evidence to anything they don't like, or the just hoping that Redfield's opinion is based on all suggest the confirmatory bias gene is rife on the Right.

Whether it's the absence of the antidote of skepticism or the deep and uncontrollable urge to believe anything at all, no matter how ridiculous, that makes one feel better about him- or herself, I don't know, but it seems an indiscrminate desire to adhere to the comfortable at any intellectual or moral cost may be contemporary conservatism's defining feature.

Conservatism defined as self-inflicted gullibility?

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

TUGBOAT TED'S GREAT ADVENTURE:

It's after midnight on the banks of the Rio Grande river and suddenly, from out of the tall grasses, appears a bearded human who tells us he is scouring for evidence––no, not for an unusual breed of marmosets, but a lookee-see at all those other creatures of foreign intrigue who are invading our shores. He is not alone: there are many other congress critters who came along for the ride; Graham, Cotton, Kennedy, Johnston –-even Grassely managed to fit into their boat that carried them forth on that grand river. The whole kit and caboodle winers who never once made a stink about the immigration situation when their King was in power, now are deeply concerned, by jove, and are ready to shout it out. See for yourself:
https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-video-border-biden-addresses-crisis-1579015

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

They Got Nothin’ Pt. 121

“Cheat sheets”? Really? That’s all you got? Members and supporters of the Party of Traitors have nothing of substance to add or to complain about regarding Biden’s exemplary initial press conference as the first real president we’ve had in four long years, so they whine that the president was using...holy hell!...note cards!!

Stop the presses! Wire Congress! Oh, the humanity!

What in the everlasting fuck is their continued problem with cards and teleprompters? You may recall the universal bunching of soiled panties on the right because that horrible nee-groe, Hussein Obama, had the uppity temerity to use a prompter.

Rick Santorum, who derided the use of promoters, believed it should be illegal to use one, as in against the law. I guess it should be double illegal for the speaker using a prompter to be handed a glass of water! (Which, truth be told, can be problematic, right, Marco Rubio?)

Santorum and his ilk whined that the use of a teleprompter (and now, Biden’s use of note cards) is somehow un-American, inauthentic, and worthy of all out assault. The idea was/is that the speaker is just parroting “someone else’s words”. I will bet everything I have ever owned (admittedly not all that much) that Obama and Biden either wrote much of their own material and/or edited whatever their speech writers crafted for them based on their own messages. Not using prepared remarks is an invitation to canned boilerplate bullshit or meandering off onto some strange desert island of desiccated wingnut wet dreams, one reason Santorum never got to be president (thank god!).

Speechwriters don’t put words in the speaker’s mouth, they’re not robot controllers. The best writers work off material given by the speaker and try to capture that person’s tone and help craft the most effective way to communicate important ideas.

Teleprompters (and notes) are just a tool. They might as well complain that microphones should be illegal. “Well, Lincoln never used a microphone!” Yeah, and only seventeen people in the front row actually got hear what he said.

Presidents need to be (or should be) as exact as they can be with their messaging. Otherwise they could be up there wondering is our children bring edumacated, and asking why they’re being misunderestimated.

But wingers want “authenticity”, like, I guess, the Fat Fascist. Fatty hated prompters because he just couldn’t handle them. Every time he HAD to use one (so he didn’t go off script and start ranting about stoopid shit or insulting half a billion people) he sounded like a second grader trying to read the ingredients of his Cap’n Crunch cereal.

Biden covered a wide swath of material and did it with aplomb and ease. He was well prepared because A. He’s smart, B. He’s an adult, and C. He’s a real president.

Of course these idiots never whined when Reagan used notes (copiously) and when the Decider used prompters.

Nah...that’s because it’s nothing but hyper partisan political bullshit.

They STILL got nothin’. Now THAT should be illegal. If you’re not gonna add to the national conversation you should sit down and shut the fuck up.

Oh, and I didn’t use a cheat sheet or teleprompter for that last remark. Let Rick Santorum know I’m being completely authentic about this idiocy.

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Ken,

Unfortunately, the consequences of that gullibility is inflicted much more broadly than within their own tiny brain pans.

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@Akhilleus: To the best of my faulty recollection, in my entire life, I have given speeches without notes on four occasions, all when I was a child:

When I was just shy of three years old, my father taught me the "tomorrow & tomorrow & tomorrow" soliloquy from "MacBeth." (You can imagine what a toddler sounds like giving a "dramatic reading" of a speech she doesn't understand at all; reportedly I gave a charming, happy -- and sing-songy -- rendition. Shakespeare would have been amused.)

When I was in the second grade, I had to memorize a passel of verses from the nativity portion of Luke, then say them in front of a roomful of parents. This was back when religious observations were perfectly fine in America's schoolhouses. I got it down pat.

When I was in the 5th grade, I had to give a 5-minute report on Peru. I forgot the part about the country's principal exports. All I could remember was "potatoes." So, by the age of 10, my memorization skills seemed to be failing.

When I was in high school, everyone in the class had to stand up and say the Gettysburg address from memory. Some failed, but I got thru it. Lincoln, however, may have given a just slightly better delivery.

That's it. Every other time I've had to give a speech or make remarks of longer than a minute, I used notes, even when the subject was something I knew very well. The notes either reminded me of the topics I wanted to cover, or they included statistics I saw no need to memorize & wanted to be sure to get right. The idea that it's wrong -- or shows some mental deficiency -- to use notes when making extended remarks is just plain stupid.

March 27, 2021 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

The Right Wingers don't care about truth or accuracy. Note cards are meant to help someone get their facts right or remind them to mention certain areas of the topic. They are happy to just make shit up so note cards are probably a foreign concept to them. Biden literally asked one of the reporters if he was giving him too much information, not something a winger has been accused of doing.

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Is it any wonder Amazon workers are looking for unions to protect their rights
"Amazon Drivers Placed Under Robot Surveillance Microscope"
"Last month we learned that Amazon is planning to deploy AI cameras that will constantly scrutinize drivers inside the cabins of its delivery vehicles, and inform their bosses when the camera thinks they’ve done something questionable.
Sometimes the robot camera will shout commands at you, such as “maintain safe distance!” or “please slow down!” One driver told CNBC that if the camera catches you yawning, it will tell you to pull over for at least 15 minutes — and if you don’t comply, you may get a call from your boss.
The company that makes Driveri, Netradyne, also advertises that its product keeps scores on drivers that are updated — and provided to management — in real time."

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Mexico is taking jobs from hard working Amerians in Montana!

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

One thing I was wondering about today - Am I the only person in the world that has zero social media presence (other than RC) and who has never bought anything via Amazon? My mantra is "Fuck Zuck and 'zos." I don't want of give them any of my money. I'd rather spend it locally, even if it costs a little bit more.

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed

@unwashed: No, you are not the only person in the world who doesn't use social media or buy products on Amazon, but you are the only person in North America, save a few militiamen in Montana & Inuits in the frozen North who live outside Internet reach by any means. Congratulations! I admire you.

Although I buy via Amazon only as a last resort, I could not have survived the pandemic without the ability to shop online. (On the other hand, I do admit to subscribing to Amazon Prime TV.) I also pay as many bills as possible on line & do as much banking online as possible. I have purchased three houses online, two of them sight-unseen. I bought a new car online, too, also sight-unseen. I do have Facebook & Twitter accounts as they have been necessary for some of the things I do related to Reality Chex. I've been a regular Internet user since 1998.

March 27, 2021 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Neck-beard Ted is all in a tizzy about “inhumane” conditions at the border? How come he said nothing about that when conditions were far worse than people sleeping on the floor? When babies were left to suffer and die by his party? Huh? “Biden cages”? Really? What a fucking asshole. Those are the cages Trump installed. Trump’s racists were kicking the shit out of immigrants for four years and he didn’t make a peep. Biden’s been on the job for a few weeks but all of a sudden it’s all on him? These people are beyond insufferable. They are scum of the earth, lying, scheming jackals.

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I'm going to brag a little.....almost 81 years old, NO TV FOR THE PAST 40 YEARS in my house, haven't gone to see a movie for the past 20 years, and NEVER bought anything from Amazon.....also boycott Walmart, and any other corporation that I've learned treats their employees badly. But I do use the internet (very old version), and read RealityChex every day, so that has to count for something, LOL....

March 27, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterBonnie
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