March 12, 2022

Late Morning Update:

The New York Times' live updates of developments in Russia's war on Ukraine Saturday are here: "As Russian forces intensified their campaign of devastation aimed at cities and towns across Ukraine, including in the capital, Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow on Saturday of terrorizing the nation in an attempt to break the will of the people. 'A war of annihilation,' he called it. Russian forces have not achieved anything resembling a strategic military victory since the first days of the war more than two weeks ago, and have turned to attempts to flatten whole sections of cities. Ukraine's military said on Saturday that all attempts by Russian forces to advance on any front had been stopped and that the Ukrainian forces had inflicted 'heavy losses in manpower and equipment.'"

Marc Santora of the New York Times: The mayor of Melitopol, "Ivan Fyodorov, as his name suggests, is an ethnic Russian in a southern Ukrainian city where Russian is commonly spoken and where ties to Russia run deep. On Friday evening, Mr. Fyodorov had a bag thrown over his head and was dragged from a government office building by armed Russian soldiers, according to Ukrainian officials.... Since Russian forces captured his city in the first days of the war, he had encouraged resistance, earning him the support of the public and the ire of the occupying army. On Saturday, hundreds of his townspeople poured out into the streets in an expression of outrage and defiance, despite the presence of troops on their streets. 'Return the mayor!' they shouted.... 'Free the mayor!' But nearly as soon as people gathered, the Russians moved to shut them down, arresting a woman who they said had organized the demonstration, according to two witnesses and the woman's Facebook account. The episode is part of what Ukrainian officials say is a pattern of intimidation and repression that is growing more brutal."

Amanda Holpuch of the New York Times: "For decades, Isaiah Andrews has maintained his innocence in the 1974 murder of his wife, unaware that the key to his exoneration was buried in the archives of the Cleveland Division of Police. The Cleveland police's decision to withhold crucial information in the case resurfaced on Thursday, when an Ohio court determined that Mr. Andrews, now 84, had been wrongfully imprisoned for 45 years. Mr. Andrews, who is sick and uses a wheelchair, has been free since May 2020. He was later found not guilty at a second jury trial in October, but the court had to declare him wrongfully imprisoned so he could seek damages from the State of Ohio."

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Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments in Russia's war on Ukraine Saturday are here: "Ukrainians in cities across the country awoke Saturday to withering bombardment as Russian forces pummeled targets including Kyiv, the capital, and Mykolaiv, a port on Ukraine's strategically significant southern coast. A health official in Mykolaiv said a cancer hospital had been struck -- though no deaths were reported -- while residents in Kyiv reported loud explosions and air raid sirens piercing the night. Russian ground forces were around 15 miles from the center of Kyiv, while the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Mariupol and Sumy were encircled and suffering heavy shelling, according to an intelligence update from the British defense ministry Saturday." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates are here: "Sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station (ISS) to crash and lead to a 500-tonne structure to 'fall down into the sea or onto land', the head of Russian space agency, Roscosmos, said.... Publishing a map of the locations where the ISS could possibly come down, he said it was unlikely to be in Russia. But the populations of other countries, especially those led by the 'dogs of war', should think about the price of the sanctions against Roscosmos."

Yuras Karmanau of the AP: "Russian forces pounding the port city of Mariupol shelled a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said Saturday as fighting also raged on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv."

The New York Times' live updates of developments in Russia's war on Ukraine Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "President Biden and other Western leaders moved on Friday to further isolate Russia from the global trading system, saying they would strip the country of normal trade relations and take other steps to sever its links to the world economy in response to ... Vladimir V. Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The measures, which were announced jointly with the European Union and other Group of 7 countries, would allow countries to impose higher tariffs on Russian goods and would prevent Russia from borrowing funds from multilateral institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank." ~~~

     ~~~ Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Biden announced Friday that the United States and other allies would move to revoke the 'most favored nation' trade status for Russia in response to its military invasion of Ukraine. In remarks from the Roosevelt Room, Biden said the coordinated move would deal a 'another crushing blow to the Russian economy.' The move requires an act of Congress and Biden said Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had agreed to hold off on a bill ending normal trade relations with Russia until he could get U.S. allies behind a plan to do so together.&" (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here. ~~~

Birds, Bats & Bugs. Julian Borger, et al., of the Guardian: "Russia has accused Ukraine and the US at the UN security council of a plot to use migratory birds and bats to spread pathogens, raising alarm among other council members that the accusations could be intended to provide cover for future Russian use of biological weapons. The Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, delivered a lengthy account of the alleged biological weapons plot, and said the birds, bats and insects supposedly intended to spread disease would cross Ukraine's western border.... The United Nations high representative for disarmament, Izumi Nakamitsu, said the UN was 'not aware of any biological weapons programmes' in Ukraine...."

Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: "Russian demands that a revised nuclear agreement with Iran shield it from sanctions imposed because of its war in Ukraine halted efforts to revive the deal on Friday, just as negotiators said they had all but finalized the agreement. The breakdown in talks delays any prospect of a deal, and risks scuttling it entirely, allowing Iran to move closer to the ability to build a nuclear bomb. More immediately, the lack of a deal also delays the resumption of Iran's ability to sell oil on the world market, which Western countries hoped would ease soaring energy prices."

Never Mind. Hugh Son of CNBC: "Deutsche Bank said Friday that it was winding down its operations in Russia, one day after its chief financial officer said it wasn't 'practical' to shutter the unit.... The move by Deutsche Bank, the biggest German bank by assets, follows announcements Thursday that rival investment banks Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase were winding down operations in Russia."

About That Mystery Yacht. Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "American officials are examining the ownership of a $700 million superyacht currently in a dry dock at an Italian seacoast town, and believe it could be associated with ... Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, according to multiple people briefed on the information. United States intelligence agencies have made no final conclusions about the ownership of the superyacht — called the Scheherazade -- but American officials said they had found initial indications that it was linked to Mr. Putin. The information from the U.S. officials came after The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Italian authorities were looking into the 459-foot long vessel's ownership and that a former crew member said it was for the use of Mr. Putin."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post thinks everybody should know about Rick Scott's official Senate Republican plan for your future pocketbook: the one with "a 10-year tax increase of more than $1 trillion on, in his own words, 'more than half of Americans,' to make sure every household pays taxes.... The Republican plan would raise taxes by $100 billion a year.... Almost all of it would be shouldered by households with income of $100,000 or less. Scott's plan would also sunset -- eliminate -- all federal legislation over five years, under the (risky) assumption that worthy laws would be reenacted. That could mean an end to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid..., military retirement benefits, veterans programs, unemployment compensation, student loans, deposit insurance and more. Additionally, [it] would require U.S. businesses to shut down $600 billion a year in foreign trade and abandon countless billions in overseas investments....."

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A New York judge has rejected a bid by Donald Trump to sue author and columnist E. Jean Carroll on the grounds that her defamation case against him in 2019 was baseless -- a ruling that accused the former president of causing repeated delays to keep a sensitive matter from moving closer to trial. Carroll's lawsuit has also been held up by the Justice Department's bid to intervene as counsel on Trump's behalf, an effort based on the argument that he was acting in his official capacity as a federal employee when he made comments disparaging Carroll." An AP report is here. The Guardian's story is here. MB: So happy our tax dollars are going toward defending Trump against a woman who claims he raped her.

News from Trump Grift, LLC, New Orleans Edition. Igor Derysh of Salon: "Donald Trump's PAC sent a fundraising email touting the construction of a new private jet, dubbed 'Trump Force One,' hours after Trump's plane was forced to make an emergency landing over the weekend, according to Insider. A plane carrying Trump made an unscheduled landing last Saturday, while the former president was returning from a Republican National Committee donor event in New Orleans to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, according to Politico. The plane, which belongs to a donor who loaned it to Trump for the event, suffered engine failure 75 miles after taking off from New Orleans and had to turn back, according to the Washington Post. Trump ultimately returned home on the plane of another Republican donor.... Hours after the incident was reported, the Trump Save America PAC sent a fundraising email.... 'Do you want to see the new Trump Force One?' the email asked, with a link to a site that asks for monthly recurring donations of up to $2,500." Thanks to Patrick for the lead. ~~~

~~~ Josh Dawsey & Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's political group sent at least 15 emails in recent weeks offering small-dollar donors the chance to win a coveted prize if they gave money: dinner with Trump in New Orleans last Saturday.... [One] pitch promised a full suite of perks. 'We'll cover your flight. We'll cover your very nice hotel. We'll cover your dinner,' the email promised, along with a picture with Trump.... But no such winner was flown to New Orleans last weekend, according to four people familiar with the matter. No flight or 'very nice' hotel was booked. Trump had no individual meeting with a small-dollar donor...."

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal jury has acquitted two men of all charges in an alleged scheme to use straw donors to funnel nearly $2 million to various political causes including Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid and GOP House candidates in 2018." MB: Mind you, these were not Hillary devotees; "The men shifted their donations and their focus to Republican causes after Clinton's defeat in the 2016 election, exceeding donation limits and using go-betweens...."

All is Not Well in Zuckerberg. Mike Isaac, et al., of the New York Times: "Meta, the parent company of Facebook, told employees on Friday that it was cutting back or eliminating free services like laundry and dry cleaning and was pushing back the dinner bell for a free meal from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., according to seven company employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The new dinner time is an inconvenience because the last of the company's shuttles that take employees to and from their homes typically leaves the office at 6 p.m. It will also make it more difficult for workers to stock up on hefty to-go boxes of food and bring them to their refrigerators at home. The moves are a reflection of changing workplace culture in Silicon Valley. Tech companies, which often offer lifestyle perks in return for employees spending long hours in the office, are preparing to adjust to a new hybrid work model."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Sarah Whitten of CNBC: "Disney's CEO [Bob Chapek] said Friday the company is ceasing its political donations in Florida due to the state's so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill, and he apologized for the company's previous silence on the issue.... Disney, which operates four theme parks and dozens of hotels in Orlando, Florida, was targeted by activists after it was discovered that the company provided financial support for some of the bill's backers in the state legislature." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According to Whitten's report, Disney has donated about $300,000 over the past two years to backers of the bill. This, and the fact that Disney is pausing all political donations, suggests they routinely fund a bunch of dimwitted bigots, perhaps only dimwitted bigots.

Texas. Kate Zernicke & Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Texas Supreme Court on Friday effectively shut down a federal challenge to the state's novel and controversial ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, closing off what abortion rights advocates said was their last, narrow path to blocking the new law. The decision was the latest in a line of blows to the constitutional right to abortion that has prevailed for five decades.... It is the most restrictive abortion law in the nation, and flies in the face of the Supreme Court's landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade...." An AP story is here.

Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "Investigations of parents with transgender children for possible child abuse were temporarily halted across Texas on Friday after a state court ruled that the policy, ordered last month by Gov. Greg Abbott, had been improperly adopted and violated the State Constitution. The injunction, issued by Judge Amy Clark Meachum in Travis County, stemmed from a legal challenge by the parents of a 16-year-old transgender girl.... In issuing the ruling, which came after a day of testimony, Judge Meachum said the governor's actions, and those of the agency, 'violate separation of powers by impermissibly encroaching into the legislative domain.' She said there was a 'substantial likelihood' that plaintiffs would prevail after a trial on the merits.... The court said [Abbott's order] could no longer be enforced pending a trial on the issue, set for July." A Texas Tribune story is here.

News Lede

New York Times: "Dr. Donald Pinkel, a pediatrician who, starting in the early 1960s, developed an aggressive treatment for childhood leukemia that transformed the disease from a virtual death sentence to one that almost every patient survives, died on Wednesday at his home in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He was 95."

March 11, 2022

Late Morning Update:

The New York Times' live updates in developments in Russia's war on Ukraine Friday are here.

Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Biden announced Friday that the United States and other allies would move to revoke the 'most favored nation' trade status for Russia in response to its military invasion of Ukraine. In remarks from the Roosevelt Room, Biden said the coordinated move would deal a 'another crushing blow to the Russian economy.' The move requires an act of Congress and Biden said Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had agreed to hold off on a bill ending normal trade relations with Russia until he could get U.S. allies behind a plan to do so together." ~~~

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Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The Guardian's live updates of Friday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The UK government has urged British veterans not to travel to Ukraine to fight.... A total of 48 schools have been destroyed in Kharkiv, its mayor has said, as the city comes under relentless bombardment....The regional governor of Kharkiv has condemned today's attack on a psychiatric hospital, saying it was 'a war crime against civilians'.... Russian forces shelled residential areas of Kharkiv 89 times in one day, the local governor has said. Reuters reports that Oleh Synegubov also said there is no danger to civilians after an institute with a nuclear laboratory was hit. Vladimir Putin today approved bringing thousands of fighters from the Middle East to fight for Russia against Ukraine. At a meeting of Russia's Security Council, defence minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East who were ready to come to fight with Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine in the breakaway Donbass region.... Lithuania's president Gitanas Nausėda said there was a 'flavour of disappointment' to the decision by the EU leaders at a summit in Versailles not to offer Ukraine a fast track to EU candidate status in their response to Volodymyr Zelenskiy's request.... Russian forces have killed more Ukrainian civilians than soldiers, Ukraine's defence minister [Oleksii Reznikov] said today."

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of Friday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The northern Ukrainian city [of Chernihiv] has been under intense bombardment, and the Pentagon said Thursday that Chernihiv, like Mariupol, appears to have been isolated by Russian troops. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a defiant address early Friday morning that he would keep up efforts to fight for the city.... The European Union has held off on quickly granting Kyiv membership. European leaders said late Thursday that they had asked the E.U.'s executive arm to review Ukraine's application, but that the bloc would also immediately 'further strengthen our bonds and deepen our partnership to support Ukraine in pursuing its European path.'"

Martin Farrer & Luke Harding of the Guardian: "Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has accused Russia of being a 'terrorist state' after its tanks prevented a delivery of food, water and medicine to the besieged city of Mariupol, and said Moscow was capable of chemical weapon attacks. As Russian forces appeared to be regrouping in order to encircle Kyiv and the US planned to ratchet up the economic pressure on Vladimir Putin, Zelenskiy tried to rally Ukrainians with another video address late on Thursday condemning Moscow's relentless assault on cities.... More than 400,000 people remain trapped in Mariupol, which is surrounded by Russian forces, and basic supplies are running out.... Mariupol's mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said Russia was targeting residential areas 'every 30 minutes'.... Attacks appeared to be intensifying in western Ukraine with air-raid sirens heard in Lviv, explosions reported in Lutsk, and bombing in Ivano-Frankivsk. Dnipro, a major stronghold in central-eastern Ukraine, suffered air strikes on Friday morning...."

Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "More than 40 Republican U.S. senators on Thursday called for President Biden ' to Ukraine after officials quashed Poland's offer to send fighter jets with American help. The senators said in a letter that they 'strongly disagree' with the Biden administration's stance on Poland's proposal, and that the Ukrainian military is in 'dire need of more lethal aid' as it fights Russia's invasion. They urged the president to work with NATO allies on providing those resources -- uniting behind a step that U.S. officials worry could pull the Western alliance into war. American officials have criticized Poland's proposal to transfer MiG-29 jets through the United States as risking escalation without significantly changing the situation in Ukraine, given that Ukraine's air force is largely intact." ~~~

~~~ Why, That's Odd, Because.... Felicia Sonmez & Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) recently called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a 'thug' and said the Ukrainian government is 'incredibly evil,' in remarks that are at odds with the broad bipartisan support for Ukraine among American lawmakers and the public amid Russia's invasion. 'Remember that Zelensky is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt, and it is incredibly evil, and it has been pushing woke ideologies,' Cawthorn told supporters at a recent event in North Carolina, according to video published Thursday by Raleigh-based TV station WRAL." The Hill's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Steve M. points out that Cawthorn gets some of his information about "evil" Ukrainians from an American white nationalist who has repeatedly warred of "white genocide."

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "For the most part..., America's [right-wing] Putin lovers are having a moment of truth.... The problem is that the strongman they admired ... is turning out to be remarkably weak. And that's not an accident. Russia is facing disaster precisely because it is ruled by a man who accepts no criticism and brooks no dissent.... Some of this dictator-love reflected the belief that Putin was a champion of antiwokeness.... Some of it reflected a creepy fascination with Putin's alleged masculinity.... Finally, many on the right simply like the idea of authoritarian rule.... While you might imagine that there are big advantages to rule by a strongman..., these advantages are more than offset by the absence of free discussion and independent thought. Nobody can tell the strongman that he's wrong or urge him to think twice before making a disastrous decision."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Donald Trump Junior says Donald Trump Senior was only praising Putin to "play" Putin." As Blake points out, Senior has been "playing" strongman-style leaders for a really long time.

Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "Besieged by an onslaught of sanctions that have largely undone 30 years of economic integration with the West in the space of two weeks..., Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday opened the door to nationalizing the assets of Western companies pulling out of Russia.... With the ruble having lost nearly half its value in the last month, prices of basic goods have risen sharply, causing panic buying at supermarkets. The central bank, which has kept the Moscow stock exchange closed since the war began, has introduced new capital controls, preventing companies from withdrawing more than $5,000 in cash for the next six months.... Of particular concern are Western companies that once symbolized post-Soviet Russia's integration into the world economy, like McDonald's and Ikea, that have now shuttered hundreds of stores and factories. Mr. Putin told officials in the televised meeting that the assets of such companies should be put under 'external management' and then transferred 'to those who want to work.'" ~~~\

     ~~~ Marie: This sounds a lot like "communism," doesn't it? Turning Big Mak patties into beet burgers should come as no surprise to Russian consumers.

Edward Wong of the New York Times: "One of Russia's most incendiary disinformation campaigns ramped up days ago, when its defense and foreign ministries issued statements falsely claiming that the Pentagon was financing biological weapons labs in Ukraine. Then Chinese diplomats and state media organizations repeated the conspiracy theory at news conferences in Beijing, in articles and on official social media accounts. Now, the Biden White House has taken the extraordinary step of calling out both countries on their coordinated propaganda campaign and saying they might be providing cover for a potential biological or chemical weapons attack on Ukrainians by the Russian military."

The New York Times' live updates of Thursday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russian forces were making slow, bitterly-fought advances in Ukraine on Thursday as high-level talks failed to yield progress on ending the war or even a temporary cease-fire. Russian troops were laying siege to Chernihiv, near the Belarus border, where the mayor reported that the city was running out of burial space as the death toll rises. Although Russia has failed to capture major cities in the past week, its forces have gradually pushed forward into smaller population centers. Outside of Kyiv, Russian forces gained control of the town of Bucha and moved southwest in an attempt to encircle the capital. They were also approaching Kyiv from the east, with heavy fighting involving a line of Russian tanks reported in the suburb of Brovary, according to videos posted on Thursday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "President Biden issued a warning to his party about the possibility of Republicans taking control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections during remarks to Democratic National Committee members on Thursday evening.... 'I believe we have a record to be incredibly proud of ... a message that resonates: Build a better America. Now we have to do the work,' Biden said."

A Very Trumpy Census. Maria Cramer of the New York Times: "The 2020 census undercounted the country's population by 18.8 million people, the Census Bureau said on Thursday, acknowledging that the count had underrepresented Black, Latino and Indigenous residents. At the same time, the census overcounted the number of white and Asian residents, the bureau said.... The 2020 census faced a series of challenges. The coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the count just as it was beginning in April 2020, forcing the bureau to extend its work by nearly two months. Later in the year, wildfires in the West and coastal hurricanes upended the bureau's work just as door-knockers were fanning out to survey millions of households that had not filled out their forms." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) An NPR story is here.

Neil Vigdor & Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "... the Interior Department, led by Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, is taking steps to strip the word ['squaw,' which is derogatory,] from mountains, rivers, lakes and other geographic sites and has solicited input from tribes on new names for the landmarks. A task force created by the department will submit the new names for final approval from the Board on Geographic Names, the federal body that standardizes American place names. The National Park Service was ordered to take similar steps.... Several states have passed laws mandating the erasure of the slur from nonfederal sites." MB: By contrast, Donald Trump turned the given name "Pocahontas" into a slur, too. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Congress cleared the first major federal spending legislation of President Biden's administration on Thursday, approving a $1.5 trillion measure with substantial increases for domestic and national security programs, along with $13.6 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine as it battles Russia's invasion. The Senate approved the more than 2,700-page measure by a vote of 68 to 31 less than two days after it was finalized and pushed through the House, a rapid timetable that reflected strong bipartisan support for assisting Ukraine and a sense of urgency to avert a government shutdown within days. The bill, which funds the government through September, includes generous spending on domestic programs long prioritized by Democrats and military investments championed by Republicans. Mr. Biden was expected to quickly sign the measure, which marked the first time since he took office and Democrats won unified control of Congress that they have been able to enact a spending bill that reflects their priorities, including investing in climate resilience, public assistance programs and unlocking aid for projects contained in the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Michael T. Flynn, a former national security adviser who was one of the most extreme voices in ... Donald J. Trump's push to overturn the election, repeatedly cited the Fifth Amendment before the [January 6] committee because, his lawyer said, he believes the panel is exploring criminal referrals against Mr. Trump and his allies."

But He Loves Turtles! Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "A New York man was arrested on Wednesday and charged with shoving a Capitol Police officer over a ledge on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters disrupted Congress as it was certifying the 2020 election results, prosecutors said. The F.B.I. said that it had identified the man, Ralph Joseph Celentano III of Broad Channel, Queens, from a photo on Facebook and Instagram that showed him attending a fund-raiser for a sea turtle foundation in March 2018. Body-camera videos from the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington showed Mr. Celentano engaging in several other 'physical altercations' with officers on the grounds of the Capitol, court papers said." MB: Actually, I'm not sure about the guy's concern for turtles; he went to the fundraiser with a sometimes-girlfriend.

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge delivered a warning to special counsel John Durham on Thursday after recent court filings became fodder for pro-Trump media and prompted incendiary allegations from the former president himself. 'Keep in mind that the pleadings in this case are under a microscope and may be employed for one reason or another by folks for reasons that have nothing to do with the ultimate issues in this case,' U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper said after offering the attorneys working for Durham a chance to correct any 'misinterpretation' of their earlier filings. They declined. Cooper's admonishment came in the case of Michael Sussmann, a cybersecurity lawyer with Democratic Party ties whom Durham has charged with making false statements to the FBI."

James Wagner of the New York Times: "An agreement reached Thursday by Major League Baseball's club owners and its players' union after months of heated negotiations will allow for a full season, with opening day scheduled for April 7. The five-year collective bargaining agreement will increase pay for young players and better incentivize teams to compete, among other provisions."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "The World Health Organization, often criticized for being too slow to declare in 2020 that a pandemic was underway, now says -- two years to the day after making that declaration -- that many countries are being too quick to declare it over and let down their guard."

Meep, Meep! Ellie Silverman, et al., of the Washington Post: "A group of truckers and others opposed to pandemic-related mandates looped the Capital Beltway for a fourth day Thursday, this time with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who rode shotgun in the lead truck. Cruz visited the 'People's Convoy' at the Hagerstown Speedway, telling crowds their voice was being heard. He then boarded a truck and detoured just pass noon to head into Washington, where he and convoy organizers called for an end to such mandates."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "The Transportation Security Administration will extend its mask mandate for airplanes and other public transportation..., as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works with federal agencies to revise mask policies, the two agencies announced on Thursday. The requirement will extend at least through April 18 at C.D.C.'s recommendations, and will apply to public transportation and transportation hubs. Under the T.S.A.'s rule, passengers on airplanes buses and trains and people in airports, stations and transit hubs must wear masks." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday brushed off criticism from Disney CEO Bob Chapek over state legislation that would restrict discussions on LGBTQ topics in schools, calling the company 'woke.'... The Florida Republican signaled again he is likely to support the legislation, telling people 'the chance that I am going to back down from my commitment to students and back down from my commitment to parents rights simply because of fraudulent media narratives or pressure from woke corporations, the chances of that are zero.'"; MB: Oooh, Ron, you're so tough.

Illinois. Julia Jacobs & Robert Chiarito of the New York Times: "A judge in Chicago sentenced Jussie Smollett to five months in jail on Thursday, ordering that the actor be incarcerated for falsely reporting to the police that he had been the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in 2019.... Judge James B. Linn excoriated Mr. Smollett from the bench.... His lawyers immediately said they planned to appeal." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Judge Linn said Smollett had faked a hate crime "... for one reason: You wanted to make yourself more famous." It worked. I never heard of Smollett until the initial report of the false claim arose; now I know his name. ~~~

     ~~~ CBS News Chicago: "Judge James Linn sentenced [Jussie] Smollett to 30 months' probation, and said he will be required to spend the first 150 days in jail, beginning immediately. He also ordered Smollett to pay $120,106 in restitution to the city and fined him $25,000."

South Dakota. Stephen Groves of the AP: "South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's cabinet secretary who oversaw an investigation into the state's attorney general for a 2020 fatal car crash on Wednesday urged House lawmakers to bring impeachment charges against him, alleging in a letter that the attorney general was distracted, was untruthful during the investigation and previously traded 'disparaging and offensive' text messages with his staff about other state officials. Secretary of Public Safety Craig Price released the letter sent to House lawmakers Wednesday, stating that the investigation led him to conclude Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is 'unfit to hold the position as the chief law enforcement officer' of the state.... Price's letter did not divulge details about the messages besides one -- sent to Ravnsborg from a political consultant -- that stated, 'Well, at least the guy was a Democrat' two days after the crash."

News Lede

New York Times: "Sally Schmitt, who with her husband, Don, opened the French Laundry, the now famous restaurant in the Napa Valley of California, in 1978, and in doing so helped solidify the valley as a food-and-wine destination and start a culinary movement built on seasonal local ingredients, died on Saturday at her home in Philo, Calif. She was 90."

March 10, 2022

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of Thursday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russian forces were making slow, bitterly-fought advances in Ukraine on Thursday as high-level talks failed to yield progress on ending the war or even a temporary cease-fire. Russian troops were laying siege to Chernihiv, near the Belarus border, where the mayor reported that the city was running out of burial space as the death toll rises. Although Russia has failed to capture major cities in the past week, its forces have gradually pushed forward into smaller population centers. Outside of Kyiv, Russian forces gained control of the town of Bucha and moved southwest in an attempt to encircle the capital. They were also approaching Kyiv from the east, with heavy fighting involving a line of Russian tanks reported in the suburb of Brovary, according to videos posted on Thursday."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "The Transportation Security Administration will extend its mask mandate for airplanes and other public transportation..., as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works with federal agencies to revise mask policies, the two agencies announced on Thursday. The requirement will extend at least through April 18 at C.D.C.'s recommendations, and will apply to public transportation and transportation hubs. Under the T.S.A.'s rule, passengers on airplanes buses and trains and people in airports, stations and transit hubs must wear masks."

A Very Trumpy Census. Maria Cramer of the New York Times: "The 2020 census undercounted the country's population by 18.8 million people, the Census Bureau said on Thursday, acknowledging that the count had underrepresented Black, Latino and Indigenous residents. At the same time, the census overcounted the number of white and Asian residents, the bureau said.... The 2020 census faced a series of challenges. The coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the count just as it was beginning in April 2020, forcing the bureau to extend its work by nearly two months. Later in the year, wildfires in the West and coastal hurricanes upended the bureau's work just as door-knockers were fanning out to survey millions of households that had not filled out their forms.

Neil Vigdor & Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "... the Interior Department, led by Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, is taking steps to strip the word ['squaw,' which is derogatory,] from mountains, rivers, lakes and other geographic sites and has solicited input from tribes on new names for the landmarks. A task force created by the department will submit the new names for final approval from the Board on Geographic Names, the federal body that standardizes American place names. The National Park Service was ordered to take similar steps.... Several states have passed laws mandating the erasure of the slur from nonfederal sites." MB: By contrast, Donald Trump turned the given name "Pocahontas" into a slur, too.

~~~~~~~~~~

Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.

The Guardian's live updates of Thursday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The British home secretary has pledged to streamline the online visa application system for Ukrainians following heavy criticism of her response to the crisis. Priti Patel said that from Tuesday, Ukrainian refugees will no longer have to go to a visa application centre to provide their biometrics before coming to the UK. A humanitarian convoy trying to reach Mariupol today has been forced to turn around due to fighting, Reuters reports the Ukrainian deputy prime minister has said.... A meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba, in Turkey ended with little progress appearing to have been made. In a news conference afterwards, Reuters reports that Kuleba said that no progress was made on a ceasefire and that Lavrov did not commit to a humanitarian corridor in Mariupol, where he said the situation was most difficult. The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, says she will discuss issues with Poland that will force Russia to pay a price for its invasion on Ukraine, reports Reuters. Speaking today during a visit to Warsaw, she also said that Poland was doing 'extraordinary work. to help Ukrainian refugees.... The UK has frozen the assets of seven Russian businessmen including Roman Abramovich, Igor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska and Dmitri Lebedev after they were added to the country's sanctions list, reports Reuters. Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea Football Club, Deripaska has stakes in En+ Group, Sechin is the chief executive of Rosneft and Lebedev is chairman of the board of directors of Bank Rossiya." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of Thursday's developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "At least three people, including a child, were killed and 17 more were injured in a Russian airstrike on a maternity hospital in Ukraine's southeastern port of Mariupol, city officials said Thursday, as foreign ministers from the two countries arrived in Turkey for their first high-level talks since the invasion.... The strike ripped through the hospital and buried patients under the rubble despite a cease-fire deal for people to flee Mariupol, the latest attack underscoring the conflict's civilian toll. The World Health Organization verified 18 attacks on health facilities, health workers and ambulances, resulting in at least 10 deaths.... As the White House warned that Russia may be considering using chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, Vice President Harris landed in Eastern Europe late Wednesday to reassure U.S. allies of protection and promise aid for Ukrainians who fled their country in a historic exodus. Her trip started in Poland...." ~~~

Vadim Ghirda & Yuras Karmanau of the AP: "A Russian attack severely damaged a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukraine said Wednesday, and citizens trying to escape shelling on the outskirts of Kyiv streamed toward the capital amid warnings from the West that Moscow's invasion is about to take a more brutal and indiscriminate turn. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter that there were 'people, children under the wreckage' of the hospital and called the strike an 'atrocity.' Authorities said they were trying to establish how many people had been killed or wounded. Video shared by Zelenskyy showed cheerfully painted hallways strewn with twisted metal and room after room with blown-out windows. Floors were covered in wreckage. Outside, a small fire burned, and debris covered the ground." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Do Putin & his military strategists think that slaughtering Ukrainian newborns, women in labor and healthcare workers is a good way to win the hearts and minds of Ukrainians?

Tucker Reals of CBS News: "The power supply was cut to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said, blaming Russia's invading forces for the blackout and warning that it could lead to 'nuclear discharge.' The U.N.-backed global nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, downplayed concerns of an imminent radioactive release, but a Ukrainian national emergency services agency said if power to the plant's cooling systems -- which keep spent nuclear fuel safely surrounded by water -- is not ensured, it could create a 'radioactive cloud' to blow over 'other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Henry Fountain of the New York Times outlines what could happen as a result of the power cut-off at the Chernobyl plant.

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "The House passed legislation Wednesday night banning U.S. imports of Russian oil and other energy sources, as lawmakers look to escalate U.S.-led sanctions on Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine. House Democratic leaders decided to move forward with the vote even though President Joe Biden announced a Russian oil embargo on Tuesday. The Senate is not expected to consider the House-passed bill, with upper-chamber Democrats wary of tying Biden's hands."

Fiona Harvey of the Guardian: "Oil and gas companies are facing a potential bonanza from the Ukraine war, though few in the industry want to admit it, and many are using soaring prices and the fear of fuel shortages to cement their position with governments in ways that could have disastrous impacts on the climate crisis.... The crisis gives western oil and gas companies such as BP, Shell, Exxon and Total leverage among governments. In the UK, prime minister Boris Johnson defended oil companies against calls for a windfall tax on Wednesday from Labour.... Green campaigners warned that oil and gas companies were using the Ukraine emergency to further their own interests, by encouraging governments to prioritise oil and gas production and make decisions now on investments that would have little impact on the current crisis but would vastly increase fossil fuel use for years to come."

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "In the final years of Donald J. Trump's presidency, Republicans portrayed Ukraine as an Eastern European Wild West run by nefarious oligarchs and unlawful politicians, a bad actor that sought to tamper in American elections and channel millions of dollars to Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s son. 'We're talking Ukraine,' thundered Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, in 2019, describing the country as 'one of the three most corrupt countries on the planet.'... Now such voices are fading, as the bulk of the Republican Party tries to get on the right side of history amid a brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. Republicans are among the most vociferous champions for the United States to amp up its military response, and are competing to issue the strongest expressions of solidarity with Ukraine's leaders." Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: To the extent that Ukraine was a "Wild West run by nefarious oligarchs," the country was aided & abetted in those illicit endeavors by Americans like Republican operative & short-time Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was collecting bags full of cash from crooked, pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians. Then Vice President Joe Biden, on the other hand, was pressuring Ukraine's corrupt leaders to straighten up & fly right. Funny how that worked, innit? ~~~

~~~ To Wit. Aw, Shucks, a Dilemma for Shady Lobbyists, Lawyers & Super-Wealth Managers. Matthew Goldstein, et al., of the New York Times: "... a constellation of American and European advisers -- including some of the world's largest law firms -- ... have long helped Russian oligarchs navigate the Western financial, legal, political and media landscapes. Now..., lawyers and investment advisers are coming under intense scrutiny for work that weeks earlier was occurring almost entirely below the public radar.... Some firms parted ways with Russian clients whose praises they had been singing in the days leading up to the invasion."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "A cynic is rarely disappointed by this Republican Party. Yet even by that standard, the current attempt to blame President Biden -- and absolve Vladimir Putin -- for the spike in gas prices is a special case. For days, Republicans called for a ban on imports of Russian oil, a move that, while the right thing to do to counter Putin's attack against Ukraine, would cause already high gas prices to rise even further. Biden did as Republicans wanted -- and they responded by blaming his energy policies for spiking gas prices. It's not only that the charge is bogus -- the current price of gas has virtually nothing to do with Biden's energy policies -- but that the Republican officials leveling it are sowing division at home and giving a rhetorical boost to the enemy at a perilous moment when national unity and sacrifice will be needed to prevail against Russia."

U.A.E. Is Still a Refuge for Russian Oligarchs. David Kirkpatrick, et al., of the New York Times: "... even notoriously secretive banking centers like Switzerland, Monaco and the Cayman Islands have begun to cooperate with the freezing of accounts, seizing of mansions and impounding of yachts [owned by Putin's super-wealthy friends].... But not Dubai, the cosmopolitan resort and financial center in the United Arab Emirates. Although a close partner to Washington in Middle Eastern security matters, the oil-rich monarchy has in recent years also become a popular playground for the Russian rich, in part because of its reputation for asking few questions about the sources of foreign money. Now the Emirates may undercut some of the penalties on Russia by continuing to welcome targeted oligarchs.

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House on Wednesday passed a sprawling $1.5 trillion federal spending bill that includes a huge infusion of aid for war-torn Ukraine and money to keep the government funded throug September, after jettisoning a package to fund President Biden's new Covid-19 response effort. Bipartisan approval of the first major government spending legislation of Mr. Biden's presidency marked the first time since he took office that Democrats were able to use their congressional majorities and control of the White House to set funding levels for their priorities, including climate resilience, public education and child care. But the exclusion of the $15.6 billion pandemic aid package, amid disputes about its cost that threatened to derail the broader legislation, infuriated the White House and frustrated Democratic leaders, leaving the fate of the Biden administration's coronavirus strategy uncertain." An ABC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Earlier. Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Congressional Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday finalized a roughly $1.5 trillion measure that would provision massive funding increases for key federal health, science, education and defense programs, setting in motion a bipartisan push to stave off a looming government shutdown set to occur at the end of the week. The release of the sweeping spending package, known in congressional parlance as an omnibus, put to end a tumultuous few months of bipartisan negotiations on Capitol Hill. It opened the door for the House to vote as soon as Wednesday on the measure, which lawmakers have used as the vehicle to advance roughly $14 billion in new humanitarian, military and economic assistance for Ukraine. But the chamber's attempts to take swift action ran into an unexpected snag, after a group of Democrats objected to the way that the bill sought to source roughly $15 billion in new coronavirus aid from an existing stimulus fund set aside for state governments." Related story linked below under "The Pandemic, Ctd."

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: Right-wing lawyer & Trump collaborator John Eastman knew that "interrupting the certification of Joe Biden's election win on 6 January last year as part of the scheme to return Donald Trump to office was ... unlawful..., according to an email exchange about the potential conspiracy.... [Eastman] conceded in an email to counsel for the vice-president Mike Pence, Greg Jacob, that the plan was a violation of the Electoral Count Act. But Eastman then urged Pence to move ahead with the scheme anyway ... [because] it was only a 'minor violation' of the statute.... The admission ... undercuts arguments by Eastman and the Willard war room team that they believed there was no wrongdoing in seeking to have Pence delay the certification past 6 January.... It additionally raises the prospect that the other members of the Willard war room -- including Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani and Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon -- were also aware that the scheme to delay or stop the certification was unlawful from the start." ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "A federal judge said on Wednesday that he would review 111 emails that the lawyer John Eastman, an ally of ... Donald J. Trump, is attempting to keep from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, as the panel works to force the release of documents from lawyers involved in plans to overturn the 2020 election. Judge David O. Carter, of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, said in an order that he would review emails Mr. Eastman had sent and received between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7 of last year as he decides whether to release them to the committee. Judge Carter made no mention of the committee’s most explosive argument in the case: that Mr. Eastman's emails are not protected by attorney-client privilege because they were part of a criminal conspiracy."

Myah Ward & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Republican National Committee is suing the Jan. 6 select committee after investigators sought fundraising information from Salesforce, a major RNC vendor. The select committee subpoenaed Salesforce on Feb. 23, according to the RNC's court filing, for information about the party's fundraising, including 'non-public information on Republican donors, volunteers, and supporters and the internal deliberative processes of the RNC.' The company was due to provide the documents to the committee by Wednesday, and it's unclear whether it complied.... 'Between Election Day 2020 and January 6th, the RNC and the Trump campaign solicited donations by pushing false claims that the election was tainted by widespread fraud,' select committee spokesperson Tim Mulvey said in a statement. 'These emails encouraged supporters to put pressure on Congress to keep President Trump in power.'"

Ken Bensinger of BuzzFeed News: "As the government's prosecutions of members of the Oath Keepers -- by most measures, the most significant of any to come out of the Jan. 6 insurrection -- move toward trial, defense lawyers..., it appears, are getting outside help. A nonprofit founded by Sidney Powell -- the former attorney for ... Donald Trump who has repeatedly attempted to reverse the results of the 2020 election -- has been covering the full legal expenses of at least one and potentially multiple defendants in the high-profile case, BuzzFeed News has learned. Since October, the organization, Defending the Republic, has been making monthly payments to the defense attorney for Kelly Meggs, a member of ... the Oath Keepers.... In an interview, the attorney, Jonathon Moseley, said he was aware of 'at least three or four other defendants who have that arrangement' as well."

John Wagner & Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "A bipartisan group of House Judiciary Committee members has alerted the Justice Department to 'potentially criminal conduct' by Amazon and senior executives in relation to a committee investigation into competition in digital markets. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the lawmakers, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), accused Amazon of engaging in a 'pattern and practice' of misleading conduct that appeared designed to 'influence, obstruct, or impede' the committee. The referral is a significant escalation of lawmakers' years-long questioning of statements Amazon executives made during lawmakers' 16-month investigation into competition in digital markets that concluded in 2020."

Gaby Goldstein & David Dailey, in Salon, argue that at least four Supremes, and maybe five, have written or joined opinions that appear to support an interpretation of the radical "independent state legislatures doctrine," which "threatens the very nature of our elections and makes it easier for gerrymanders, voter suppression and electoral subversion to succeed."

You're Paying for Police Misconduct, Especially for Repeat Offenders. Keith Alexander ,et al., of the Washington Post: "The Post collected data on nearly 40,000 payments at 25 of the nation's largest police and sheriff's departments within the past decade, documenting more than $3.2 billion spent to settle claims.... The Post found that more than 1,200 officers in the departments surveyed had been the subject of at least five payments. More than 200 had 10 or more. The repetition is the hidden cost of alleged misconduct: Officers whose conduct was at issue in more than one payment accounted for more than $1.5 billion, or nearly half of the money spent by the departments to resolve allegations, The Post found."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post on how Tucker Carlson's faint foray into "journalism" proved that Fox "News" acted with "actual malice" against Smartmatic, a voting machine company that even more reckless Fox hosts Maria Bartiromo & Lou Dobbs could not meet because their on-air false claims about Smartmatic were "so inherently improbable that only a reckless person would have put [them] in circulation." ~~~

     ~~~ BTW, Blake points out here that TuKKKer is still on his Putin appeasement push, blaming the West for provoking Putin into attacking Ukraine.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Sheryl Stolberg & Madeleine Ngo of the New York Times: "... on Wednesday, Democrats in Congress stripped a $15.6 billion emergency aid package from a broader spending bill amid disputes over how to cover the cost. The move injects uncertainty into President Biden's plan, announced last week, to address 'urgent needs' in his pandemic response and to prepare for future variants. With Republicans blocking new spending on the pandemic, Democrats had agreed to take the emergency aid from existing programs -- including $7 billion that states had been counting on for their own pandemic responses. That led governors to protest, rank-and-file lawmakers to balk and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to plan on passing the coronavirus funding package separately, a risky move given Republican opposition to new federal spending in the evenly divided Senate."

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

Beyond the Beltway

Colorado. Trumpy Nitwit Indicted. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Tina Peters, a county clerk running as a Republican for secretary of state of Colorado, was indicted Tuesday evening on 10 criminal counts related to allegations that she tampered with election equipment after the 2020 election. The indictment, which the district attorney of Mesa County, Colo., announced on Wednesday, is connected to Ms. Peters's work as the top county election administrator, a role in which she promoted ... Donald J. Trump's false claims that the election had been stolen.... Ms. Peters's case is a prominent example of how false theories about election fraud and Republican-led calls for 'audits' of the 2020 vote count have created election-security threats involving the integrity of voting machines, software and other election equipment. And in running for secretary of state, Ms. Peters is among a group of brazenly partisan candidates who claim that Mr. Trump may have won the election and who are transforming races around the country for such once little-known offices." CNN's report is here.

Florida. Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "Two months after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a plan for a powerful elections police force that would answer to him, state lawmakers on Wednesday passed a watered-down version that barely resembles what the governor asked for but still worries voting rights advocates. DeSantis (R) had asked for nearly $6 million to hire 52 people, including sworn officers, to investigate alleged violations of elections laws. The GOP-led House and Senate instead gave him about $2.5 million for the new Office of Election Crimes and Security. The agency will be the first of its kind in the nation. Its staff of 25 will be part of the Department of State, which answers to DeSantis. Both chambers approved its creation by wide margins...." ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Whitten of CNBC: "The Walt Disney Company is now publicly opposing Florida's controversial 'Don't Say Gay' bill. On Wednesday, CEO Bob Chapek ... told shareholders that he will meet with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney will donate $5 million to organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, that work to protect LGTBQ+ rights. DeSantis' office confirmed that Chapek had called but said no meeting had been scheduled yet...."

Louisiana. Was It a Bird? Was It a Plane? It Sure Wasn't Superman. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: New Orleans' "power company said it believed that a bird of an unknown type had damaged an electrical substation serving parts of downtown and the Uptown neighborhood, affecting nearly 10,000 utility customers, according to Entergy New Orleans.... It was not clear what happened to the bird."~~~

     ~~~ Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's plane made an emergency landing on Saturday evening following his speech at a Republican National Committee-hosted donor retreat in New Orleans, according to two people familiar with the matter. The plane was in the air for between 20 and 30 minutes before one of the engines failed and the pilot of the private plane decided to turn around and return to the New Orleans airport, one of the sources said."

Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "Nearly two years after the police killing of George Floyd ignited fiery unrest in Minneapolis, a long-awaited report offered a scathing indictment of the city's response, suggesting the chaotic situation was made worse by a mayor who disregarded emergency protocols and a police department whose officers failed to follow 'consistent rules of engagement.' The 86-page report conducted for the city of Minneapolis by the Chicago-based security risk firm Hillard Heintze listed a litany of communications and leadership failures by Mayor Jacob Frey (D) and other city officials that left residents feeling 'abandoned' and fueled chaos on the ground amid days of escalating violence and destruction. The report's authors, including several former law enforcement officials, said police on the front lines operated without clear guidance or supervision as they fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds, including peaceful protesters...."

New York. Jesse McKinley & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "New York State will soon announce plans to usher in its first outlets for retail sales of marijuana by the end of the year, giving applicants access to stockpiles of the drug grown by local farmers and offering sweeteners like new storefronts leased by the state.... To be one of the state's first licensed retailers, you or a member of your family must have been convicted of a marijuana-related offense.... In favoring those with marijuana convictions and prepping their businesses for turnkey sales, New York appears to be trying to avoid pitfalls encountered in some other states, which have seen designated 'social equity' applicants and other mom-and-pop marijuana businesses struggle with issues like lack of capital or competition from deep-pocketed corporate operations."

North Carolina. Sad News (and I Missed It). Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times (March 4): "A judge on Friday blocked a novel electoral challenge that sought to disqualify Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina from running for re-election by labeling him an insurrectionist, issuing an equally novel order that invoked a post-Civil War law that forgave confederate soldiers and sympathizers. U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II, an appointee of ... Donald J. Trump, stepped in to squelch an effort by lawyers and voters in North Carolina who had filed a motion before the state's Board of Elections declaring Mr. Cawthorn, 26, ineligible for re-election under the Constitution. They had contended that the first-term Republican's support for rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, made him an 'insurrectionist,' and therefore barred him from office under the little-known third section of the 14th Amendment, adopted during Reconstruction to punish members of the Confederacy." Under North Carolina law, the challengers cannot appeal the ruling, though the state's AG or its board of elections could. CNN's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Dianne Gallagher of CNN: "North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn is facing a charge of driving with a revoked license for the second time since 2017. The Class 3 misdemeanor charge, which could carry a maximum penalty of up to 20 days in jail, is one of three pending traffic citations against the Republican congressman in his home state."

Way Beyond

South Korea. Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "A graft prosecutor turned opposition leader has won an extremely close presidential election in South Korea, reinstating conservatives to power with calls for a more confrontational stance against North Korea and a stronger alliance with the United States. With 98 percent of the votes counted, the opposition leader, Yoon Suk-yeol, was leading by a margin of 263,000 votes, or 0.8 percentage points, when his opponent conceded early Thursday. It was South Korea's tightest race since it began holding free presidential elections in 1987. Mr. Yoon will replace President Moon Jae-in, a progressive leader whose single five-year term ends in May."

News Ledes

New York Times: "The first person to have his failing heart replaced with that of a genetically altered pig in a groundbreaking operation died Tuesday afternoon at the University of Maryland Medical Center, two months after the transplant surgery. David Bennett Sr., who lived in Maryland, was 57. He had severe heart disease, and had agreed to receive the experimental pig's heart after he was rejected from several waiting lists to receive a human heart. It was unclear whether his body had rejected the foreign organ. 'There was no obvious cause identified at the time of his death,' a hospital spokeswoman said."

No Joy in Mudville, Ctd. New York Times: "Despite a marathon negotiating session that dragged from Tuesday morning until Wednesday night ... Major League Baseball and the players' union could not resolve a roadblock and reach a new labor deal ahead of a 6 p.m. deadline set by the league. As a result, M.L.B. Commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Wednesday night that another week of regular season games has been canceled. And the second-longest work stoppage in the sport's history continued."