Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR you can try this Link Generator, which a contributor recommends: "All you do is paste in the URL and supply the text to highlight. Then hit 'Get Code.'... Return to RealityChex and paste it in."

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

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

The Ledes

Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Washington Post's liveblog of developments in the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse is here: “Divers recovered the bodies of two construction workers who died when a massive cargo ship struck and collapsed a Baltimore bridge, as investigators revealed Wednesday that hazardous material was leaking from breached containers on the stranded vessel and state and federal lawmakers rushed to begin the recovery from the disaster that crippled the Port of Baltimore. Rescue crews found the victims shortly before 10 a.m. trapped in a red pickup truck in about 25 feet of water in the Patapsco River near the mid-span of the hulking wreck of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Maryland State Police Secretary Roland L. Butler Jr. said at a news conference. The conditions were treacherous for the divers, so Butler said they were suspending the search for the bodies of four other construction workers who plunged to their deaths when the container ship in distress struck the bridge shortly before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, causing it to fall.

“The workers are believed to be the only victims in the disaster.... The victims recovered were identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Md. Other victims identified Wednesday were Maynor Suazo Sandoval, 38, from Honduras, and Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, who was the father of three. The names of the remaining two victims have not been released.” ~~~

~~~ CNN's live updates are here.

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves
The Ledes

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Washington Post: “As a cargo ship the size of a skyscraper drifted dangerously close to a major Baltimore bridge that carried more than 30,000 cars a day, the crew of the Dali issued an urgent 'mayday,' hoping to avert disaster Tuesday. First responders sprang into action, shutting down most traffic on the four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge just before the 95,000 gross-ton vessel plowed into a bridge piling at about 1:30 a.m., causing multiple sections of the span to bow and snap in a harrowing scene captured on video.... Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) hailed those who carried out the quick work as 'heroes' and said they saved lives, but the scale of the destruction was catastrophic and will probably have far-reaching impacts for the economy and travel on the East Coast for months to come.” ~~~

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

     ~~~ A Washington Post liveblog of developments is here: “Six people [-- bridge construction workers --] were presumed dead Tuesday evening, authorities announced as they shifted from a search and rescue operation to a recovery effort.... The governor declared a state of emergency, and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) announced that the city has deployed its emergency operations plan. Vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore was 'suspended until further notice.'”

Public Service Announcement

The Washington Post offers tips on how to keep your EV battery running in frigid temperatures. The link at the end of this graf is supposed to be a "gift link" (from me, Marie Burns, the giftor!), meaning that non-subscribers can read the article. Hope it works: https://wapo.st/3u8Z705

The Hollywood Reporter has the full list of 2024 Oscar winners here.

Ryan Gosling performs "I'm Just Ken" at the Academy Awards: ~~~

Marie: If you don't like birthing stories, don't watch this video. But I thought it was pretty sweet -- and funny:

If you like Larry David, you may find this interview enjoyable:


Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Allison Hope comments in a CNN opinion piece:

~~~ Here's Chapman singing "Fast Car" at the Oakland Coliseum in December 1988. ~~~

~~~ Here's the full 2024 Grammy winner's list, via CBS.

He Shot the Messenger. Washington Post: “The Messenger is shutting down immediately, the news site’s founder told employees in an email Wednesday, marking the abrupt demise of one of the stranger and more expensive recent experiments in digital media. In his email, Jimmy Finkelstein said he was 'personally devastated' to announce that he had failed in a last-ditch effort to raise more money for the site, saying that he had been fundraising as recently as the night before. Finkelstein said the site, which launched last year with outsize ambitions and a mammoth $50 million budget, would close 'effective immediately.' The New York Times first reported the site’s closure late Wednesday afternoon, appearing to catch many staffers off-guard, including editor in chief Dan Wakeford. As employees read the news story, the internal work chat service Slack erupted in what one employee called 'pandemonium.'... Minutes later, as staffers read Finkelstein’s email, its message was underscored as they were forcibly logged out of their Slack accounts. Former Messenger reporter Jim LaPorta posted on social media that employees would not receive health care or severance.”

Washington Post: “The last known location of 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by world-renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was in Vienna in the mid-1920s. The vivid painting featuring a young woman was listed as property of a 'Mrs Lieser' — believed to be Henriette Lieser, who was deported and killed by the Nazis. The only remaining record of the work was a black and white photograph from 1925, around the time it was last exhibited, which was kept in the archives of the Austrian National Library. Now, almost 100 years later, this painting by one of the world’s most famous modernist artists is on display and up for sale — having been rediscovered in what the auction house has hailed as a sensational find.... It is unclear which member of the Lieser family is depicted in the piece[.]”

CNN: “Jon Stewart is heading back to 'The Daily Show.' The comedian, who during his 16-year run as host of the Comedy Central program established it as an entertainment and cultural force, will return to host the show each week on Mondays starting February 12, Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios announced Wednesday. Stewart, who returns as the 2024 presidential election season heats up, will also executive produce the show and work with a rotating line-up of comedians who will helm the program the rest of the week, Tuesdays through Thursdays.”

~~~ Marie: I don't know if this podcast will update automatically, or if I have to do it manually. In any event, both you and I can find the latest update of the published episodes here. The episodes begin with ads, but you can fast-forward through them.

Contact Marie

Click on this link to e-mail Marie.

Sunday
Jul082018

The Commentariat -- July 9, 2018

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump has decided on his nominee to the Supreme Court after spending Monday morning working the phones primarily seeking input about two judges who were said to be the finalists, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Thomas M. Hardiman, people familiar with the discussions said. Those who discussed the president's decision, and spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not disclose the name of the president's selection. Mr. Trump had been going back and forth between Judge Kavanaugh, the favorite of the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, and Judge Hardiman, whom the president's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, a former colleague of Judge Hardiman's, has pressed him to choose."

Stephanie Murray of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday attacked a New York Times story that reported how his administration attempted to weaken a World Health Assembly resolution to promote breastfeeding, saying women shouldn't be denied access to formula.... 'The failing NY Times Fake News story today about breast feeding must be called out. The U.S. strongly supports breast feeding but we don't believe women should be denied access to formula. Many women need this option because of malnutrition and poverty,' Trump said in a tweet.... 'Our report is accurate. You can read it here,' the Times tweeted, [linking to the story]."

Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "A federal judge has agreed to extend Tuesday's deadline for the government to reunite 102 migrant children under the age of 5 who were separated from their parents under President Donald Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy. Judge Dana Sabraw asked government attorneys to provide an update by Tuesday morning on which children will be reunited, who will require more time, and to deliver a proposed timeline for reuniting the remaining children with their parents."

Heather Stewart of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson has resigned as foreign secretary, becoming the third minister in 24 hours to walk out of the government rather than back Theresa May's plans for a soft Brexit. The prime minister hammered out a compromise with her deeply divided cabinet in an all-day meeting at Chequers on Friday.... After the Chequers summit, it emerged that Johnson had referred to attempts to sell the prime minister's Brexit plan as 'polishing a turd'.... Johnson's departure will deepen the sense of crisis around May, and increase the chances that she could face a vote of no confidence."

*****

** Words Fail. Andrew Jacobs of the New York Times: "A resolution to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly.... Then the United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations.... When [efforts to water down the resolution] failed, they turned to threats.... If Ecuador..., which had planned to introduce the measure..., refused to drop the resolution, Washington would unleash punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial military aid. The Ecuadorean government quickly acquiesced.... In the end, the Americans' efforts were mostly unsuccessful. It was the Russians who ultimately stepped in to introduce the measure -- and the Americans did not threaten them." Read the whole story. Mrs. McC: The irresponsibility, depravity & corruption of the Trump administration is so deep and broad, it boggles the mind. See Akhilleus's comment in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "If you said a few years ago that this would be a real news story in 2018, no one would believe you. But here we are." ...

... David Boddiger of Splinter: "It's bad enough that Trump and his enforcers are putting children into cages on our own soil. Now, they are showing that they care little about children's health in the rest of the world, either. This administration is -- make no mistake -- an enemy of children, particularly those from low-income families and nations." ...

... Kevin Drum explains the dynamics: "You have to give them credit: big business gets what they pay for when they buy a Republican administration. But even big business can't overcome Trump's love for Vladimir Putin." Mrs. McC: Pretty simple. ...

... Martin Longman of the Booman Tribune: "The Trump administration demonstrated almost every flaw they have here. They put the interests of corporate lobbyists ahead of the health of babies. They showed a complete contempt for science and the consensus of the international community. They abused their power and threatened well-meaning and innocent nations simply because they could. They negotiated in bad faith and behaved like extortionists. And then their bullying act immediately stopped when confronted by Russia because this administration always seeks to please Russia and only confronts them when all other alternatives have been exhausted. The message is clear. If you are a political leader of a small or medium sized country, America will strong-arm you and try to prevent you from doing things based on science if that will hurt some powerful corporations. The way to stand up to America is to go running into the arms of Vladimir Putin." ...

... Emily Stewart of Vox: "Trump in a 2011 deposition reportedly became upset when an attorney named Elizabeth Beck requested a break to pump breast milk for her three-month-old daughter.... Beck told CNN in 2015 that Trump called her 'disgusting.' Trump's lawyer, Allen Garten, didn't dispute the assertion, and Trump acknowledged to CNN he 'might have said that.'... He also called a 2012 TIME Magazine cover showing a mother breastfeeding her toddler 'disgusting.'"

Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "Federal agencies on Monday begin implementing executive orders from President Trump on how to confront employee unions, following strict guidelines likely to escalate tensions that have been building since the president took office.... Trump's executive orders represent a broadening of the get-tough initiatives that have played out in individual agencies since he took office, including recent efforts to force unions to move out of government-paid office space and to rein in the use of official work time by union representatives who deal with employee grievances and disciplinary matters."


** Jonathan Chait
makes the case that Trump is a Russian asset: "As Trump arranges to meet face-to-face and privately with Vladimir Putin later this month, the collusion between the two men metastasizing from a dark accusation into an open alliance, it would be dangerous not to consider the possibility that the summit is less a negotiation between two heads of state than a meeting between a Russian-intelligence asset and his handler." It all began in 1987, when Trump visited Moscow. "Trump returned from Moscow fired up with political ambition.... In July 2013, Trump visited Moscow again. If the Russians did not have a back-channel relationship or compromising file on Trump 30 years ago, they very likely obtained one then.... It would have been strange if Russia didn't help Trump. After all, Russians covertly support allied politicians abroad all the time.... Trump ... acts like a man with a great deal to hide...." This is a long piece, accumulating the "known-knowns" & hypothesizing about how they all fit together....

...** David Edwards of RawStory (July 5): "Seth Abramson, a professor and legal analyst, on Thursday provided what he said was 'evidence of criminal collusion' between President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and the Russian government. In a massive Twitter thread, Abramson said that there was a 'clear pattern' of actions taken by the Trump campaign before and after the election which points to a conspiracy to undermine U.S. sanctions against Russia. Abramson came to the conclusion that there was 'likely' collusion with Russia after examining the Trump campaign's activities in four European countries -- Italy, Greece, Hungary and Austria -- which wanted sanctions to be lifted.... The legal analyst went on to break down the Trump campaign's actions in each country." --safari

Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "Rudolph W. Giuliani ... said Sunday that he has counseled the president against granting a pardon to his longtime fixer Michael Cohen, at least for now. 'I have advised the president, which he understands: no discussion of pardons,' Giuliani said in an appearance on ABC News's 'This Week.' But he seemed not to rule out that the president might change his mind. 'You can't abridge your power to do it. That's something you can decide down the road, one way or the other,' Giuliani said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "... Rudy Giuliani has warned Robert Mueller ... that the White House is close to refusing to grant an interview with the president. Giuliani took the increasingly belligerent tone of the White House up a notch on Sunday.... Speaking on This Week on ABC News, he accused the special counsel of assembling a team of investigators around him that included 'very, very severe partisans working on an investigation that should have been done by people who are politically neutral'. Asked whether they had made a decision on whether or not Trump should participate in an interview with the inquiry, he replied: 'We have not determined he will not sit down with Mueller, but we are close to that.'" ...

... Louis Nelson of Politico: "The Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller is 'the most corrupt investigation I have ever seen,'... Rudy Giuliani told ABC News on Sunday morning." Mrs. McC: Apparently Rudy is unaware of House Republicans' "investigations," most of which are corrupt. ...

.. To wit: Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post on Marcy Wheeler's decision to inform on a source, then write about it: "In addition to the knowledge of her source's inside information, Wheeler said, she had reason to believe that the source was involved with efforts to compromise her website and other communications. And perhaps most important, that he was involved in cyberattacks -- past and future -- that had done and could do real harm to innocent people.... But what motivated her recent revelation that she went to the FBI has plenty to do with politics: She is disgusted by the way House Republicans are, in her view, weaponizing their oversight responsibilities and making it all too likely that FBI informants will have their names revealed.... Without knowing all the details, it's hard to judge whether she was right. But it's not hard to see that her decision was a careful and principled one."...

...Sarah Burris of RawStory: "Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) is demanding that special counselor Robert Mueller release all of his information to the House Intelligence Committee, but according to one colleague he's not working with his fellow members on it, much less keeping them abreast. In an interview with MSNBC's Kassie Hunt, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) was asked about the Nunes request and revealed he's not much for government transparency.... 'We haven't had notification from Mr. Nunes about anything he's going to do for months now,' Quigley said.... Quigley said that Nunes also put a halt to anyone being able to issue 'subpoenas on documents and people of critical interest.'" --safari

America's Addictions. Tom Engelhardt of Tom Dispatch: "When you think of addiction in America today, one thing comes to mind: the opioid epidemic.... According to the National Center for Health Statistics, almost 64,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses in 2016 (more than died in the Vietnam War), an average of 175 people a day.... The United States, however, has two other crises that, in the long run, will cost Americans far more.... This country (and above all its media) is addicted to Donald J. Trump.... [T]he unprecedented way he continues to draw attention ... represents a victory of the first order for him of a unique, almost incomprehensible sort.... And then there's that other twenty-first-century all-American addiction, in some ways far stranger than the Trumpian one and likely to be no less costly in the long run: addiction to war.... [As much as they don't want a bright, shiny new war the Generals] can't imagine leaving the old ones behind either. And that's America's war addiction in a nutshell." --safari


John Hudson & Adam Taylor
of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shot back against North Korea on Sunday, saying the regime's criticism that U.S. negotiators acted in a 'gangster-like' way during his two-day visit to Pyongyang was unfounded. 'If those requests were gangster-like, the world is a gangster,' said Pompeo, noting that U.S. demands for North Korea to denuclearize were supported by a consensus among U.N. Security Council members. The secretary of state also said that despite a critical statement released by North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Saturday night, he thought the two sides had made progress during the meeting and that his North Korean counterpart, Kim Yong Chol, negotiated in 'good faith.'... Pompeo added that the United States and world powers would maintain economic sanctions against North Korea until full denuclearization was achieved." ...

... Nick Wadhams of Bloomberg: Mike Pompeo's "trip [to North Korea] reflects the difficulty for Pompeo in dealing with one of the world's most reclusive and unpredictable regimes, which can shift from threats to warm words and back again at speed. It comes as pressure mounts on him to show progress on the delicate task of getting North Korea to move forward on nuclear disarmament, including the issue of verification, and make good on ... Donald Trump's claimed accomplishments from the Singapore summit.... The specifics of what happened behind closed doors remain unclear. Whether Pompeo somehow annoyed his counterpart, or pressed too hard, or whether the North Koreans are simply reverting to their hot-and-cold tactics, is hard to say. But the regime made sure to have the final word, and it was not pleasant."...

...This seems a good time to remember Mike Pompeo's boisterous July 12th tweet 'State Dept team at #singaporesummit delivers for America #swagger' --safari

Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani of ThinkProgress: "A Mexican couple from Brooklyn was detained on July 4 outside the Army base at Fort Drum, near the border with Canada, where they had traveled to celebrate the holiday with their son-in-law before his deployment to Afghanistan.... The couple was born in Mexico, but has lived in New York for two decades, according to their son Eduardo.... In 2007, they received an official Department of Labor work permit. Eduardo said they had valid New York City IDs, which they had used to access military bases before. But this time, military police questioned the ID and asked for a second form of identification. After the couple showed their passports, military called Border Protection agents, who took them to a detention center in Buffalo." --safari

... Natasha Korecki of Politico: "Gov. Bruce Rauner this year reported turning a profit from a health care group that services U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, including facilities that hold immigrant families with children. In his most recent statement of economic interests, the multi-millionaire Republican governor disclosed earnings from a private equity fund that owns Correct Care Solutions, a for-profit health care provider that has millions of dollars in government contracts with jails and prisons across the country, including immigrant detention centers. The governor says he relinquished investment decisions to a third party and has no direct ties to Correct Care Solutions." --safari...

Our War in Yemen. Sudarsan Raghavan of the Washington Post: "For nearly a decade, U.S. intelligence officials have considered al-Qaeda's Yemen branch, known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP, as the most dangerous of all its affiliates.... Over the past year, the shadow war between al-Qaeda and local Yemeni fighters has intensified, largely out of sight and out of the headlines.... The battle being waged by U.S.-backed Yemeni forces against al-Qaeda militants has escalated. In the first year of President Trump's term, the United States conducted far more airstrikes against al-Qaeda militants in Yemen than it had in previous years.... When asked about the U.S. role on the ground, Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Central Command, said he could not provide specifics due to 'operational security and the safety of our forces.'..."

Senate Race. "Beto-Mania." Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "Fueled by millions in small-dollar donations, [Rep. Beto] O'Rourke[, Texas Democrats' U.S. Senate nominee] is outraising [Sen. Ted] Cruz [ARRRR]. In recent weeks..., Donald Trump's policy of separating migrant families detained at the border has given his campaign a jolt of moral clarity. And voters are responding in a way that Texas Democrats say they have not seen before in modern times.... With his youth and magnetism, O'Rourke, 45, draws comparisons to Barack Obama, but he projects a gawkier sort of charisma.... His delivery is faster and jerkier.... A fluent Spanish speaker, O'Rourke is especially emphatic when he talks about immigration." O'Rourke is far behind Cruz in recent polls.

David McCumber & Thomas Plank of the Montana Standard: "The attendance of four Roman Catholic priests from Montana at ... Donald Trump's political rally in Great Falls Thursday has created a social media firestorm and apparently incurred the displeasure of the priests' superiors in the church. The four, who were seated near the front of the rally, wore their clerical garb, carried 'Make America Great Again' signs, and wore VIP badges. They clapped for Trump as he doubled down on his oft-repeated slur of Sen. Elizabeth Warren as 'Pocahontas,' mocked the #MeToo movement, and questioned the meaning of former Republican President George H.W. Bush's 'Thousand Points of Light' slogan." Mrs McC: I guess these priests also think it's great to tear babies away from their parents & deny them mothers' milk.

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: In Austin, Texas, a 41-year-old white man murdered a young black man in cold blood in the early morning hours of the 4th of July because the young man, Devonte Ortiz, was setting off fireworks. The white guy "was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree murder, police said. He is being held at the Travis County Jail on a $250,000 bond...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond the Beltway

Heather Stewart of the Guardian: "David Davis has resigned as Brexit secretary, shattering the hard-won consensus around Theresa May's Chequers deal and plunging her government into crisis. His resignation was swiftly followed by that of fellow Department for Exiting the EU ministers Steve Baker and Suella Braverman. It force May to reshuffle her government, at the same time as trying to convince backbenchers to support her plan. Davis has told friends he cannot live with the soft Brexit stance agreed between ministers on Friday, which proposes a 'UK-EU free trade area', governed by a 'common rule book'.... The prime minister is facing a growing backlash from the pro-Brexit wing of her party, with MPs warning they are prepared to trigger a leadership contest." Mrs. McC: Apparently these MPs don't care that they're right playing into Russia's hand, even as this is happening. ...

     ... Update. Dan Sabbagh & Jessica Elgot of the Guardian: "Dominic Raab, a Brexit-supporting minister, has been promoted to replace David Davis as Brexit secretary, No 10 has announced."

... Patrick Greenfield of the Guardian: "A woman who was exposed to the nerve agent novichok in Amesbury, Wiltshire, has died in hospital. The Metropolitan police have launched a murder investigation after Dawn Sturgess, 44, from Durrington, died after handling an item contaminated with the nerve agent on 30 June. Her partner Charlie Rowley, 45, who was also taken ill after being exposed to the nerve agent, remains in a critical condition in hospital." Mrs. McC: And Donald Trump is having a friendly tête-à-tête with Vladimir Putin this week. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sam Mednick of the Guardian: "Over the past three years, there have been a growing number of kidnaps in Congo's conflict-ridden Kivu provinces.... More than 730 people in North and South Kivu have been abducted or kidnapped for ransom since the beginning of the year, according to the Kivu Security Tracker, a joint project between Human Rights Watch and the Congo Research Group.... But the kidnapping of children for ransom is a relatively new phenomenon, particularly in Goma, the capital of North Kivu. Exact figures are hard to come by, but one child protection group in North Kivu says that, in 2017, 215 children were abducted in the province and 34 killed." --safari

Damian Carrington of the Guardian: "A mysterious surge in emissions of an illegal ozone-destroying chemical has been tracked down to plastic foam manufacturers in China, according to an on-the-ground investigation published on Monday. The chemical, trichlorofluoromethane or CFC-11, has been banned around the world since 2010 and is a potent destroyer of ozone.... A shock rise in the gas in recent years was revealed by atmospheric scientists in May.... The Environmental Investigation Agency, a non-governmental organisation, has now identified widespread use of CFC-11 factories in China that make insulating foams.... [T]he companies said the use of CFC-11 was rife in the sector.... Without action, the CFC-11 emissions would delay the recovery of the planet's ozone hole by a decade, scientists estimate." --safari...

... Damian Carrington: "One in three fish caught around the world never makes it to the plate, either being thrown back overboard or rotting before it can be eaten, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization." --safari...

... David Roberts of Vox: "A coalition of seven Dutch political parties recently unveiled a climate policy proposal that is breathtaking in its ambition. If it becomes law, it will codify the most stringent targets for greenhouse gas reductions of any country in the world. There are still several steps between the proposal and passage.... It is widely expected to pass in something like its current form by late next summer. It would be the world's eighth national climate law (after the UK, Mexico, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, and Sweden), but it boasts a few features that make it particularly notable." --safari...

... Juan Cole makes a bold prediction: "[W]e now have a pretty solid estimate for the beginning of the end of oil: 2030 at the latest. After that, it is a long or short spiral down to a cost set by the world need for hydrocarbon-based fertilizer and other lesser uses of oil (none of which come near to generating volume and prices similar to gasoline for automobiles). The end of oil will be huge for US politics, economy and foreign policy. Stay tuned. And if your retirement fund has a significant position in Big Oil, get out of it." --safari

News Ledes

The Guardian's liveblog of developments in the Thai cave rescue operation is here. @7:43 am ET: " Six boys have been rescued and six more and their coach remain in the cave."

     Update @9:39 am ET: "The Thai navy Seals have confirmed that eight boys have been rescued from the Tham Luang cave complex in Northern Thailand, after two separate rescue operations. A further four boys were rescued on Monday after four were rescued on Sunday. A further four boys and their coach Ekapol Chantawong remain in the cave. The identities of the rescued boys have not been confirmed."

Reader Comments (23)

Bea,

Many remember way back when (just returned from our older son's 50th birthday family get-together) the British fellow travelers were leftists?

Oh, those were the days....

.....before the rabid anti-communists dropped their masks and revealed their oligarch envy writ large.

July 8, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Breast-feeding is the Devil's Work because:

(1) Nipples are scary, except when worn by men.

(2) The milk is produced naturally, flowing from the mysterious organism that is the female body, incomprehensible to suspicious males worldwide, capable of going directly from production to consumption without the necessities of additives, chemicals, or processing.

Which leads us to the most important point...

(3) You can't monetize it, ergo, communism (or something). Although surely some white, balding, limp dick CEOs have dreamed up some scale production models, probably inspired by A Brave New World and The Handmaid's Tale.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered Commentersafari

Brett Kavanaugh, possible pick for S.C. justice, is a practicing Catholic and has been criticized by some social conservatives for not being sufficiently far to the right. But he wrote a strong dissent in 2015 when his fellow District Circuit judges chose not to take a case involving a group of priests who objected to the Obama administration's rules on contraception coverage. Five years earlier, he wrote a concurring opinion in a case in which the D.C. ruled against a group of atheists who challenged the prayers and words. "So help me God," at presidential inaugurations. Kavanaugh, however, went beyond the court's majority who held that the atheists did not have standing to sue. He argued that "those long -standing practices" do not violate the Constitution's First Amendment. So there, all you heathens! Take your godless acrimony and stuff it!

And speaking of god-like creatures in robes–-those priests that sat in the front row at the latest Trump rally really need to immerse themselves in a whole big bucket of holy water –-cleanse themselves of their nasty habits. What on earth were they thinking? Maybe–-just maybe they harbor as much venom in their bosoms as the buffoon on the stage.

and speaking of bosoms! Looks like our viper in chief only views female breasts as sexual objects, their actual purpose not only completely ignored but that purpose vilified and made to appear disgusting. The news today in Geneva at the World Health Assembly re: breast feeding is beyond the pale or as Marie has said, "The irresponsibility, depravity & corruption of the Trump administration is so deep and broad, it boggles the mind" and I would continue to say, no longer just worrisome, as some have said, but bloody terrifying!

@Whyte Owen: Thanks much for the article––I had read it back then but I shall dip in again–-much more relevant now, I would think.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Much of the comfort attached to age is finding out that some of the disturbing things I learned as a child were flat wrong.

Had my suspicions then about some of them; then I later confirmed both by experience and my developing sense of fairness that that one of the questionable pearls I heard as a child, that sins of the fathers thing, was as I suspected (and wished) pure malarkey.

Why was I responsible for dumb things my father said or did? Just didn't make sense and it surely didn't seem right...

But now we have this epigenetics thing, discussed here a week or so ago, which has knocked some cracks in my certainty. Trauma experienced in childhood can lead to adult depression, we learn...
and now...

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/trauma-suffered-childhood-echoes-generations-study-finds/story?id=56426090

.....it doesn't stop there. The damage we do to our children is multi-generational. No wonder I was so eager to reject the sins of the fathers (and mothers) proposition out of hand. It's more frightening and far more unfair than I thought.

Turns out, it's not a mere moral judgment or a punishment levied unfairly on children.

It's worse. It's black magic branding, a curse that never goes away.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

They got it all wrong. When I first learned biology, the basic concept is that all living things have only one purpose. Each of the about 8 million species is designed to make more of your kind. It turns out that one species has a new rule. Homo sapiens seem to be designed to make money. So making more children only counts if that makes money.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterMarvin Schwalb

@Ken: Coincidently, this very topic was discussed yesterday with friends. We were discussing the "The Florida Project", a film about children being brought up in motels and the ramifications thereof. We talked about firm foundations (strong bonding, being deeply loved, etc.) set early on and whether that weathers the storms that might enter into one's life making it easier to cope. One of our friends is an artist (painter) and a professor who talked about his difficult childhood and how he conveys that past pain into his paintings (he's his own therapist, as it were).

A couple of years ago Akhilleus and I were having a back and forth about this and I recall mentioning an experiment social scientists had done with rats: they found that those that were licked a lot by their mothers faired extremely well as adults; those that were liked sparingly had navigation problems; those that were not licked at all displayed neurotic symptoms such as gnawing on themselves, biting others, etc. The study found a gene they called the nurturing gene-(the name escapes me).

I have worked with children whose early beginnings were horrific and have seen the damage this does to the psyche. It breaks my heart to know we, as a country, are deliberately contributing this kind damage to millions of children.

As Rats, go, so goes....I have believed, for a long time, that childhood is destiny.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Vlad and the Fat Man
(Apologies to Edward Lear)

I
Vlad and the Fat Man went to Helsinki
In a leaky old orange boat.
They took some honeys and plenty of monies
Wrapped up in Mike Cohen's coat.
The Vlad looked in the Fat Man's eyes,
And sang on an old balalaika,
"Oh Fat Man, know I am so very wise
And you owe me a lot, you do,
You do,
You do!
You owe me a lot, you do!"

II
Fattie said to the Vlad, "You for sure are the lad
You ratfuck elections so well.
Oh let us be married, too long we have tarried,
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They connived and they jived with no one in sight
No recorded collusion for them.
Fattie gave in on this and he gave in on that
And Vlad put a ring on the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
Put a ring on the end of his nose.

III
Vlad said "Is it doable to sell for one ruble
Your soul?", said the Fat Man, "I will."
So Vlad took his black soul, all covered with coal
And back to the Kremlin he went.
Fattie dined on a burger and super sized Coke
Which he slurped and seemed so content
"I'll be prez'dint agin!", he said with a grin
Then he danced with Fox and his friends,
His friends,
His friends,
He danced with Fox and his friends.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

The last few years have been a banner season for Vladimir Putin. He has the West running in circles, or should that be tracing pentagrams?

He bought himself a Brexit which has torn the UK asunder. The split with the EU would have been a huge success but now he also has the government ready to implode. No wonder he feels empowered to murder people he considers enemies on British soil then lie with impunity about it and throw false accusations back at them (a lying trait he shares with his poodle Trump).

He ratfucked the American election and got himself a Russian asset in the White House. All for less than it would cost for a single T-14 Armata battle tank. His poodle Trump has confounded western allies and thrown NATO into disarray. And now--even better--a trade war with China, Canada, and the EU!

Within a year or two another huge recession will once more bring the West to its knees. There's no way Putin could have done this with his aging and decrepit military infrastructure, but he found a better way to do it, cheaper and far more effectively. And Trump is being such a good boy, helping Daddy Vlad screw the West. Good boy, Trumpy, good boy. Here's a treat.

His three biggest historical enemies, the US, Britain, and China, all distracted from concentrating on Russian aggression and international meddling. Perfect.

And the poodle is coming to get a pat on the head and learn a few new stupid dog tricks in Helsinki.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

AK: I love it! So clever and it's rhythm makes one want to do a jig to it. In 09 I wrote a little poem about poor Lear–-I had just read a piece on him in the NYBR.

THERE ONCE WAS AN ARTIST CALLED LEAR…

Good old Edward Lear
Who a ton of us hold dear
Was the twentieth of children twenty-one ––––
Imagine the crowded bed sets, imagine the family fun.
Epilepsy since age five, a demon he tried to hide
And add to this “The Morbids,” depressions he could barely abide.

Happiness made him sad.

But good old Edward Lear’s
Goodly resources helped him persevere:
Landscape artist and English ornithology
Were gifts he bestowed to various and sundry.
But his limericks are what made him famous
Chronicles of things going awry:


Lady Jingly answered sadly,
And her tears began to flow–––
“Your proposal comes too
late,
Mr. Yonghy-Bonghy-Bó!
I would be your wife most
gladly!”
(Here she twirled her fingers
madly)
“But in England I’ve a mate!”

So he sailed away for years and days
His love going, always, hopelessly astray.

Poor old Edward Lear
Remembered for bringing us such cheer
Who knew his heart was breaking
Within that nonsense of his making.

12/09

So Lear will never know that today, in 2018, we mention him in passing and someone named Akhilleus writes a Lear-like limerick and P.D. posted her poem about him. Talk about a lasting influence–-and given that wouldn't that be enough to cheer him up a bit?

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Awesome, Ak!! I once had a thick book of Edward Lear, and I read it to death-- loved it. I forget who illustrated it, but it was wonderful. I don't know what happened to it...:(

The Owl and the Pussycat and I salute you...

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

One more thing: Here's a video of our British treaure John Cleese talkinbg with Seth Myers about his films and how he deals with those in the audience who walk out after he starts going on Trump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1RSIwexj9g&frags=pl%2Cwn

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

The baby milk scandal is worse than just Trump choosing profits over kids. He's choosing money over life. The breast milk substitutes aggressively marketed by companies like Nestlé (yup, they're still at it!) don't just provide less nutrition, although there is that, they are responsible for a host of health issues and, in far too many cases, severe malnutrition and death of infants and small children.

This morning on NPR, Patti Rundall of the British group Baby Milk Action, commented that prior to the World Health Assembly's adoption of guidelines for healthy babies and the use of breast milk over heavily marketed corporate substitutes back in the early 80's, over a million and a half babies died every year from malnutrition connected to those inferior products.

She also pointed out that (hold on to your hats, kids, this is a shocker) when the first resolution was presented to the organization in 1981, the Reagan administration voted against it. Gadzooks! Corporations over Kids has been in effect like, well, since forever for some people.

But the Trump jump, as with all things Trumpish, is a new and different kind of malevolence. It's one thing to abstain or vote against a resolution, but to threaten other countries because some CEO you play golf with might not get his yearly 200% bonus because his company's inferior product didn't kill enough babies in third world markets is a special kind of evil.

But the subplot here is the most delicious. Here we have the godless commies coming to the rescue of babies in a pro-life story line, defeating the corporate baby killers chosen by the religious right approved Trumpies.

What, exactly, will it take for the Holy Rollers to denounce Trump's evil? Taking babies from their mommas and putting them in cages, almost guaranteeing that they'll never see them again isn't enough? Okay, how about letting babies die? For money. Oh, what's that? They're not white Christian babies? So that's okay, is it? Um....wow.

Okay, never mind. I thought we were talking about God and faith, hope, charity, and love thy neighbor and all that happy stuff. Guess it really doesn't mean jack, does it. Not if your hee-roe can stick it to blacks and browns and women and immigrants and liberals and Democrats.

To hell with those babies, I guess.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

PD and Jeanne,

So nice to have someone like Lear to fall back on when even the word absurd's for the birds.

Speaking of NYRB, my Lear knock-off was prompted by a glance through a recent issue in which a Lear bio was reviewed. An anecdote from Lear's "Journals of a Landscape Painter in Albania" was recounted. I thought "Journals of Landscape Painter in Albania"? It sounds like a Monty Python bit. I'm familiar, of course, with Lear's humorous sketches, many of which are reminiscent of Jules Feiffer after a few tokes on the old weed, but I never realized that he was such a serious and accomplished landscape painter.

Also, PD, your very lovely poem makes me want to investigate the Lear life in more depth (maybe I'll get that bio). Sadly, my acquaintance has been through a book similar (perhaps the same) to Jeanne's of his nonsense verse.

I wonder what he would do with Twitter as a platform for commenting on the ongoing nonsense from the White House.

There was an old man with orangey hair.
Demons took permanent residence there.
They twisted and turned
His brain cells they burned
"Oh woe" he cried, "It's all so unfair?"

I dunno. Can't blame Trump on the devil making him do it. He IS the devil.

Anyway, long live Lear!

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@Akhilleus: If you look at the original Lear poem, "The Owl & the Pussycat," & make Putin the Owl & Trump the Pussycat, it barely needs new lyrics, save the the apparent happy ending.

July 9, 2018 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

OMG! Breaking News! Clutch 'em if you got 'em.

So yesterday morning was one of those good breaking news stories. We watched with great relief the story of the successful rescue of the first of those kids, a soccer team and their coach, trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand. A great story. Lots to cover and plenty to talk about. Every major TV news outlet was on the job.

Guess who wasn't?

Give you one guess. Okay, okay, you got it.

FOX! Well, they started out, apparently, covering the rescue, but suddenly they cut away from that breaking new story for earth shattering news--way bigger than the rescue from potential death of a group of trapped kids.

Hillary.Clinton.

Yup. Some jamoke in the NY Post (aka New York Winger Alert) writes a speculative piece in which he claims that he has uncovered a dastardly secret by divining unwritten something, something between the lines, in recent emails sent by Clinton (fucking emails again!): She's going to challenge the Glorious Leader in 2020! Maybe. Break out the pearls. Clutch 'em if you got 'em. Clean the guns! Get those "Lock Her Up" t-shirts out of the drawer where you keep the shotgun shells and the spare Bibles.

Seriously. Fox broke away from one of the most positive breaking news stories in--shit, I dunno, years maybe--to go to breathless coverage prompted by some batshit speculation by a winger writer who wants everyone to man the battle stations.

Clinton hatred is so powerful it overwhelms everything in its path. Coming up on two years since the election and they still can't let it go. And why would they? What the fuck do Foxbots care about kids in Thailand? Where the fuck is Thailand, even? I bet Trump doesn't know. Isn't it over in Asia somewhere? They don't even speak-a-the-English there. And besides, they ain't Christian! They worship some fat guy, Bud somebody. (Well, so don't Trumpbots, but it's a different fat guy.)

But HILLARY! That's red meat to the knuckleheads.

Fuck the kids. HERE COMES HILLARY! AIIIEEEEeeeeee!

Jesus, these fucking people.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Marie,

Yeah, I know. But I couldn't help messing with it.

Besides, if you leave it the way it is, it makes Putin the "pussy" grabber, not Trump, which, although probably not wrong, isn't as much fun, or accurate. We can only guess with Putin. We KNOW with Trump.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I guess the only breast feeding trump will be into is when he
goes to visit putin. I don't want to see any pictures of that. at. all.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered Commenterforrest morris

By the way, PD mentioned the film "The Florida Project". It's a great film. The filmmakers and actors create sketches of what it's like for the vast underclass of people living on the fringes of society and trying to make do. It's a hard and largely unsentimental look at a particular group living out of a motel in Florida on the edge of DisneyWorld. They're not heroes, they're just trying to survive. Willem Dafoe gives a beautiful performance, and his character shows what a difference can be made, to marginalized human beings, by one person who cares.

Just imagine if we had someone in the White House who cared about something other than himself.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Forrest,

Thank you very much for that image!

OH GOD! MY EYES!

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Well, you know why they don't care about nursing babies--cuz they are anti-women and anti-babies. They only like fetuses. Once they emerge, throw 'em on the dung heap. That's why they have shipped babies all over the US like UPS packages. They aren't fetuses. They don't matter, especially if brown, black or plaid.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

So "zero tolerance" is granted a bit of tolerance. An administration fully invested in "For thee but not for me."

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

Come one, come all!

The Great Donaldo's Big Reveal will be tonight on his Tee-Vee reality show, The President*ial Apprentice. He hasn't been president* for very long, but tune in tonite and see what a great apprentice he is! He will be picking a Soo-Preem Court Justice, damn it. One who will carry out the Trumpy agenda for decades to come.

Come one, come all. Get yer popcorn ready cuz the Glorious Leader will be namin' the name, TONIGHT.

Great.

I've been reading and listening to endless discussions about who the Great Trumpy might pick and why. It's just what he wants. Every eye trained on him, all ears bent to his every wheeze. It's narcissism raised to the level of exultant masturbation, something this wanker knows a lot about.

So here's the thing. I'm reading the skinny on his choices (hint: not his; they're Federalist choices...he's an imbecile who had nothing to do with it--I mean, just look at his choices for cabinet positions). And okay, they have different names and slightly different backgrounds, but the most important thing to know is this: Not a one of them will go against hardcore, far-right Federalist requirements for a judgeship of any kind.

If anyone is thinking that there might be a Hugo Black in the bunch, fuggedaboutit. Black, a one-time KKK supporter and hater of Catholics, became one of the stauncher liberal justices on the court, voting against rampant racism in Brown v Board of Education.

Not a one of these choices have that in them, at least I don't believe so. Otherwise, the Federalist Nazis would not have sent their names to Der Fuhrer.

But tonight is one of those nights that the little dictator dreams about, a national audience, everyone on tenterhooks, waiting with bated breath for his decision, the Word of the Glorious Leader, to whom all owe their lives.

"The losers, they're all--even the Failing New York Times and the Amazon Washington Post--waiting like dung slaves, hanging on my every syllable."

And I am SOOOOOOOOooooo tired of hearing about Murkowski and Collins. Earth to morons: neither of these fakes will vote against a choice of the Trump Monster unless they're already sure they won't be confirmed by a safe majority. They love the PR and the speculation, but they will NOT vote against his pick if it looks like they're the only ones out on the line. They voted against him once before, but they had John McCain on their side, a nice bulwark to withering winger hatred. Neither will the Joe Manchins if they think standing up to Donald Hitler will hurt their re-election chances.

Do I sound overly pessimistic?

Pessimistic, maybe. Overly, no.

The end of the American Experiment starts tonight at 9:00 edt.

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

The New York Times, my long ago employer, has long been irking (understatement) me for its tepid, cowardly and perilously "normalizing" reporting. And not exclusively with regard to LGBTQ issues, central to this HuffPost offering.

"During the campaign there were efforts to normalize Mr. Trump. There was wildly imbalanced coverage between emails on the one hand and a history of corrupt behavior on the other... And more recently the civility debate — the “both sides”... Looking at the chants of “Lock her up!” and equating them to “Please leave my restaurant” are actually damaging our civil discourse. " Gary Segura, UCLA

Readers' Comments to Maggie Haberman's advert for tonight's "Lil Fingers Donnie Show" reminded me of Gary Segura's (needed, IMO)
forthrightness:

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5b3d7324e4b09e4a8b29cb40

Peace / Protest -
Ophelia

July 9, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterOphelia
Comments for this entry have been disabled. Additional comments may not be added to this entry at this time.