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Commencement ceremonies are joyous occasions, and Steve Carell made sure that was true this past weekend (mid-June) at Northwestern's commencement:
~~~ Carell's entire commencement speech was hilarious. The audio and video here isn't great, but I laughed till I cried.
CNN did a live telecast Saturday night (June 7) of the Broadway play "Good Night, and Good Luck," written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, about legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's effort to hold to account Sen. Joe McCarthy, "the junior senator from Wisconsin." Clooney plays Murrow. Here's Murrow himself with his famous take on McCarthy & McCarthyism, brief remarks that especially resonate today: ~~~
~~~ This article lists ways you still can watch the play.
New York Times: “The New York Times Company has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms, the company said on Thursday. The multiyear agreement 'will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,' the news organization said in a statement. Besides news articles, the agreement encompasses material from NYT Cooking, The Times’s food and recipe site, and The Athletic, which focuses on sports. This is The Times’s first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative A.I. technology. In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles published by The Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I have no idea what this means for "the Amazon customer experience." Does it mean that if I don't have a NYT subscription but do have Amazon Prime I can read NYT content? And where, exactly, would I find that content? I don't know. I don't know.
Washington Post reporters asked three AI image generators what a beautiful woman looks like. "The Post found that they steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness. Prompted to show a 'beautiful woman,' all three tools generated thin women, without exception.... Her body looks like Barbie — slim hips, impossible waist, round breasts.... Just 2 percent of the images showed visible signs of aging. More than a third of the images had medium skin tones. But only nine percent had dark skin tones. Asked to show 'normal women,' the tools produced images that remained overwhelmingly thin.... However bias originates, The Post’s analysis found that popular image tools struggle to render realistic images of women outside the Western ideal." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The reporters seem to think they are calling out the AI programs for being unrealistic. But there's a lot about the "beautiful women" images they miss. I find these omissions remarkably sexist. For one thing, the reporters seem to think AI is a magical "thing" that self-generates. It isn't. It's programmed. It's programmed by boys, many of them incels who have little or no experience or insights beyond comic books and Internet porn of how to gauge female "beauty." As a result, the AI-generated women look like cartoons; that is, a lot like an air-brushed photo of Kristi Noem: globs of every kind of dark eye makeup, Scandinavian nose, Botox lips, slathered-on skin concealer/toner/etc. makeup, long dark hair and the aforementioned impossible Barbie body shape, including huge, round plastic breasts.
New York Times: “George Clooney’s Broadway debut, 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' has been one of the sensations of the 2024-25 theater season, breaking box office records and drawing packed houses of audiences eager to see the popular movie star in a timely drama about the importance of an independent press. Now the play will become much more widely available: CNN is planning a live broadcast of the penultimate performance, on June 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The performance will be preceded and followed by coverage of, and discussion about, the show and the state of journalism.”
No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. -- Magna Carta ~~~
~~~ New York Times: “Bought for $27.50 after World War II, the faint, water stained manuscript in the library of Harvard Law School had attracted relatively little attention since it arrived there in 1946. That is about to change. Two British academics, one of whom happened on the manuscript by chance, have discovered that it is an original 1300 version — not a copy, as long thought — of Magna Carta, the medieval document that helped establish some of the world’s most cherished liberties. It is one of just seven such documents from that date still in existence.... A 710-year-old version of Magna Carta was sold in 2007 for $21.3 million.... First issued in 1215, it put into writing a set of concessions won by rebellious barons from a recalcitrant King John of England — or Bad King John, as he became known in folklore. He later revoked the charter, but his son, Henry III, issued amended versions, the last one in 1225, and Henry’s son, Edward I, in turn confirmed the 1225 version in 1297 and again in 1300.”
NPR lists all of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners. Poynter lists the prizes awarded in journalism as well as the finalists in these categories.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow
Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns
I have a Bluesky account now. The URL ishttps://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.
Aaron Pellish & Marshall Cohen of CNN: "Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas presented an honorary American flag recently flown above the US Capitol to a convicted January 6 rioter after she was released from prison Friday. Gohmert, a Trump ally who has previously promoted debunked conspiracies about the January 6, 2021, insurrection, met Dr. Simone Gold upon her release from federal prison in Miami on Friday and gifted her a flag flown over the Capitol along with an official certificate. In a statement released Friday, Gohmert falsely claimed that Gold was 'a political prisoner,' a term many supporters of ... Donald Trump have used to inaccurately describe the prosecution and incarceration of January 6 defendants." MB: Whaddaya bet there was a "Second Amendment remedy" tucked into the folds of the flag. (As I type this, there's a discussion going on on CNN about how Republicans are criticizing President Biden for remarking on GOP radicalism.)
It's not enough to stand up for democracy once a year or every now and then. It's something we have to do every single day. So this is a day not only to remember, but a day of renewal and resolve for each and every American. -- President Biden, at the Pentagon's September 11 commemoration ~~~
~~~ Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Jeffery Mays of the New York Times: “Twenty-one years after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Biden promised to never forget 'the precious lives stolen from us' as he honored victims of the worst terrorist strike in American history with a somber wreath-laying ceremony under the pouring rain at the Pentagon.... Members of the Biden administration fanned out across memorials at the sites of the three attacks -- Shanksville, Pa., the Pentagon and Lower Manhattan -- to pay tribute to emergency workers and families of the nearly 3,000 victims, who continue to grieve over lost memories, experiences and bonds. Mr. Biden also marked the anniversary by encouraging Americans to defend the nation's democratic system, turning again to a message that the country's institutions are under threat by forces of domestic extremism."
The New York Times' live updates for developments Sunday in the ceremonies following Queen Elizabeth's death are here: "The coffin carrying Queen Elizabeth II on her final journey on Sunday arrived in the Scottish capital Edinburgh -- now the focus of national mourning -- after a six-hour procession from Balmoral Castle, the country estate where she died. A huge crowd lined central Edinburgh's Royal Mile to catch a glimpse of the hearse as it made its way slowly to its first destination, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the royal residence in the Scottish capital, where the queen's coffin will remain overnight.... At the palace, the procession was greeted by a guard of honor and military bearers carried the coffin to the palace's throne room.... Members of the royal family are expected to accompany the coffin on Monday morning, when it is to be moved along the Royal Mile to nearby St. Giles' Cathedral." ~~~
~~~ Last year on September 11, Queen Elizabeth ordered the American national anthem to be played during the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle:
~~~ She did the same on September 13, 2001, during the changing of guard at Buckingham Palace.
~~~~~~~~~~
So far, it's a no-news day.
ABC News 7 New York has the schedule for the 9/11 commemorative event at Ground Zero. WTOP Washington lists events in the District & Virginia.
Kevin Johnson of USA Today, republished by Yahoo! News, interviews Leon Panetta, Andy Card & others on how real presidents treated classified documents. "'I regard this is as failure by the individuals who should have taken steps to secure that material' before it left Washington, Panetta said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I blame mostly Trump. He scared his staff into letting him run away with classified documents. Without a doubt, there should have been some whistleblowers, but I'm not sure whom to turn to -- a Democratic senator on the Intel Committee, maybe?? ~~~
~~~ Lisa Mascaro of the AP describes the elaborate way in which Congress handles classified documents, "that stands in stark contrast to the storage room stash of secrets at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida."
Defending the Indefensible. Robert Barnes & Michael Karlik of the Washington Post: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. defended the integrity of the Supreme Court on Friday in his first public remarks following a tumultuous term, saying that disagreement with its decisions should not lead to questions about its legitimacy.... Without speaking directly about the court's decision to overturn nearly 50 years of precedent in striking down Roe, Roberts acknowledged the difficulty of the past year." Robert said Court hearings will be open to the public this term. CNN's report is here.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Sunday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.
Karl Ritter of the AP: "Ukraine's atomic power operator said Sunday that the last reactor at Europe's largest nuclear power plant has been shut down after the plant was reconnected to the electricity grid. The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant was disconnected from the grid last week after all its power lines were disconnected as a result of fighting in the area, and was operating in 'island mode' for several days, generating electricity for crucial cooling systems from its only remaining reactor in operation. Nuclear operator Energoatom said that one of the power lines was restored late Saturday, allowing plant operators to shut down the last reactor. The company said the risk remains high that outside power is cut again, in which case the plant would have to fire up emergency diesel generators to keep the reactors cool and prevent a nuclear meltdown. The company's chief told The Associated Press on Thursday that the plant only has diesel fuel for 10 days."
Steve Hendrix, et al., of the Washington Post: "... a fast-moving Ukrainian counteroffensive pushed Russian forces into a stunning retreat from key strategic areas in the northeast Kharkiv region. As the advancing Ukrainian troops regained lost territory with shocking speed, liberating the town of Balakliya and raising their blue-and-yellow flag over the city of Izyum, jubilant Ukrainians and officials in Kyiv and Western capitals indulged in a daring hope: maybe the grinding, stalemated war was swinging their way.... The Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday confirmed that it had pulled forces out of Balakliya and Izyum, after a decision to 'regroup' and transfer them toward the regional capital of Donetsk in the south 'in order to achieve the goals of the special military operation.'"; An AP report is here. ~~~
~~~ How the U.S. Helped the Ukrainian Offensive. Julian Barnes & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "... as Ukraine laid its plans to strike back against the Russians, senior leaders in Kyiv decided that sharing more information with the United States would help secure more assistance, American officials said.... One official said Americans had 'constantly' discussed with Kyiv ways that Ukraine could blunt the Russian advance in the country's east. The gains in the northeast, including the recapture of Izium, a key railway hub, were the most important advances Ukraine has made so far, senior American officials said.... Experts agreed that the tide might be turning for Ukraine.... Current and former U.S. officials praised the sophistication of the Ukrainian preparations for the counteroffensive. The decision by Ukraine to tout its counteroffensive in the south before striking in the northeast is a standard technique for misdirection used by the American Special Operations troops, who have been training the Ukrainians since the annexation of Crimea in 2014."
United Kingdom
The Guardian's calendar of events following the death of Queen Elizabeth is here. The Guardian's live updates are here.
Amy Walker of the Guardian: "Harry and Meghan have appeared at Windsor Castle to greet well-wishers during the second day of national mourning. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived with the Prince and Princess of Wales at Cambridge Gate earlier this evening. It is thought to be the first time the couples have been seen in public together since March 2020.... [The couples] spent 40 minutes speaking to members of the public."
Sophie Zeldin-O'Neill & Steven Morris of the Guardian: "Prince William and his wife, Catherine, have been named the new Prince and Princess of Wales by King Charles III. King Charles announced their new titles during his first speech as monarch on Friday night, a day after his mother's death. 'Today, I am proud to create him Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru,' said Charles, who previously held the title."
American Innocents Abroad. If you've vowed to watch only one YouTube video in your lifetime, this one might be a good choice. Queen Elizabeth's bodyguard Richard Griffin, during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, June 2022:
Steve Hendrix, et al., of the Washington Post: "... a fast-moving Ukrainian counteroffensive pushed Russian forces into a stunning retreat from key strategic areas in the northeast Kharkiv region. As the advancing Ukrainian troops regained lost territory with shocking speed, liberating the town of Balakliya and raising their blue-and-yellow flag over the city of Izyum, jubilant Ukrainians and officials in Kyiv and Western capitals indulged in a daring hope: maybe the grinding, stalemated war was swinging their way.... The Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday confirmed that it had pulled forces out of Balakliya and Izyum, after a decision to 'regroup' and transfer them toward the regional capital of Donetsk in the south 'in order to achieve the goals of the special military operation.'"
U.K. Sophie Zeldin-O'Neill & Steven Morris of the Guardian: "Prince William and his wife, Catherine, have been named the new Prince and Princess of Wales by King Charles III. King Charles announced their new titles during his first speech as monarch on Friday night, a day after his mother's death. 'Today, I am proud to create him Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru,' said Charles, who previously held the title."
~~~~~~~~~~
The Slo-Mo Trump Disaster Series, Episode 1,197 or So
Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "The Justice Department and lawyers for ... Donald J. Trumpfailed to agree on Friday on who could serve as an independent arbiter to sift through documents the F.B.I. seized from Mr. Trump's Florida club.... In an eight-page joint filing that listed far more points of disagreement than of consensus, the two sides exhibited sharply divergent visions for what the arbiter, known as a special master, would do, and put forth different candidates. The Justice Department proposed two former Federal District Court judges for the position: Barbara S. Jones, a Clinton appointee to the Southern District of New York who performed a similar role in cases involving two personal lawyers of Mr. Trump, Michael S. Cohen in 2017 and Rudolph W. Giuliani in 2021; and Thomas B. Griffith, a George W. Bush appointee who retired from the bench in the District of Columbia in 2020. Mr. Trump's legal team countered with ... a retired Federal District Court judge, Raymond J. Dearie, a Reagan appointee...; and Paul Huck Jr., a former deputy attorney general in Florida who also served as general counsel to Charlie Crist, who was its Republican governor at the time. Mr. Huck is married to Judge Barbara Lagoa, whom Mr. Trump appointed to the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, which oversees federal courts in Florida. Such an appointment would appear to create a conflict of interest that could require Judge Lagoa to recuse herself from litigation involving the case.... The dispute over the special master's purview was reflected in an appeal the Justice Department filed on Thursday seeking to lift part of Judge Cannon's order temporarily barring it from using the documents in its investigation." Politico's report is here.
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "The Justice Department has subpoenaed two former top White House political advisers under ... Donald J. Trump as part of a widening investigation related to Mr. Trump's post-election fund-raising and plans for so-called fake electors, according to people briefed on the matter. Brian Jack, the final White House political director under Mr. Trump, and Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump's top speechwriter and a senior policy adviser, were among more than a dozen people connected to the former president to receive subpoenas from a federal grand jury this week. The subpoenas seek information in connection with the Save America political action committee and the plan to submit slates of electors pledged to Mr. Trump from swing states that were won by Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the 2020 election. Mr. Trump and his allies promoted the idea that competing slates of electors would justify blocking or delaying certification of Mr. Biden's Electoral College win during a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.... The subpoenas were issued to a wide range of people who either worked in the White House or on the Trump campaign, including senior officials like the campaign's chief financial officer; personal aides to Mr. Trump; and the former chief of staff to Ivanka Trump."
Judge to Trump & Lawyers: You Whining, Lying, Incompetent Nitwits Wasted My Time. Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Donald Trump's lawsuit against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, saying there was no basis for the former president to claim that Clinton and her allies harmed him with an orchestrated plan to spread false information that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential race. Trump 'is seeking to flaunt a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him, and this Court is not the appropriate forum,' Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks of the Southern District of Florida wrote in a scathing 65-page ruling dated Thursday. The judge also wrote about 'the audacity of Plaintiff's legal theories and the manner in which they clearly contravene binding case law.' Middlebrooks noted 'glaring structural deficiencies in the plaintiff's argument' and said that 'such pleadings waste judicial resources and are an unacceptable form of establishing a claim for relief.'
"Middlebrooks criticized the quality of the legal work presented by Trump's attorneys. 'Many of the Amended Complaint's characterizations of events are implausible because they lack any specific allegations which might provide factual support for the conclusions reached,' Middlebrooks wrote.... Trump's attorneys also presented citations ... that were simply not true, the judge wrote. The lawsuit claims Clinton and top campaign officials conceived of and carried out the plot against Trump and hid their involvement 'behind a wall of third parties,' and it cites a specific page of a report from the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General. 'I went to page 96 of the Inspector General's Report looking for support for Plaintiff's conclusory and argumentative statement but found none,' the judge wrote. Trump's lawyers can disagree with the report, Middlebrooks wrote, 'but they cannot misrepresent it in a pleading.'... Alina Habiba, an attorney for Trump..., said they will appeal the decision." Ha! Good luck with that! The Guardian's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "When Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton accusing her of spreading false information about his 2016 campaign and Russia, the former president tried to get the case heard by a judge that he himself had appointed to the bench. That news was first revealed in April and got renewed attention Thursday when a different judge dismissed Trump's lawsuit in a scathing decision, saying that his claims 'are not only unsupported by any legal authority but plainly foreclosed by binding precedent.' 'I note that Plaintiff filed this lawsuit in the Fort Pierce division of this District, where only one federal judge sits: Judge Aileen Cannon, who Plaintiff appointed in 2020,' Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks of the Southern District of Florida wrote in a footnote on a separate motion. 'Despite the odds, this case landed with me instead,' Middlebrooks wrote. Cannon is the Trump-nominated judge who this week intervened in the Justice Department investigation into Trump's possible mishandling of classified information, agreeing to grant his request for an independent review of the material thatFBI agents have seized." This is a point Patrick also made in yesterday's Comments. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Middlebrooks is taking a dig here, not just at Trump, but at Cannon. And just imagine what Cannon's decision would have looked like: maybe 65 pages of what a terrible person Hillary Clinton is. And if you think Cannon would have checked the inaccuracy of Trump's footnotes, as Middlebrooks did, may I remind you that it's apparent Cannon didn't even read (or else didn't understand) the briefs the government presented her in the special-master case. Of course she didn't need to read all that lawyerly gobbledygook; she indicated she had made her decision even before the government had presented its first brief.
Dan Mangan of CNBC: "Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb called ... Donald Trumpa 'deeply wounded narcissist' who acted in a 'criminal' manner when he pushed then-Vice President Mike Pence to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 election win. In a new interview, Cobb also said Trump's conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, while a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, could -- at least theoretically -- lead to him being barred from seeking the presidency. 'There is a simple way to disqualify President Trump,' Cobb told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in an interview on 'The Takeout' podcast. 'He clearly violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution's Article III when he gave aid and comfort and three hours of inaction with regard to what was happening on the grounds of the Capitol,' he said." MB: Why, it's almost as if Trump's former lawyers -- and that would include Bill Barr, who was not supposed to be Trump's lawyer but who was -- hold the former president* in low esteem.
You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect and defend it.' -- Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address ~~~
~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "'Too much of what's happening in our country today is not normal,' as [President] Biden put it in Philadelphia last week. 'Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.' The proof is everywhere you look.... A large part of the Republican Party is, as Biden says, working to ensure that the next time Trump is on the ballot, he cannot lose." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Andrew Gawthorpe in the Guardian: Steve Bannon's "We Build the Wall" grift " in which two people have already pleaded guilty -- is a very direct example of a prominent figure in the Maga movement lining their pockets with the money of unsuspecting marks. But it also stands as a metaphor for the movement as a whole. Far from standing up for the interests of 'ordinary Americans', Maga exists to funnel money, power and prestige to a small elite while not lifting a finger to improve the lives of anyone else.... They have made a mythic folk hero out of the white male worker, promising to return the country to an era like the 1950s, in which such people reigned supreme. That they then have actually done little to help even white workers should not obscure the fact that they have also poured hatred and vitriol on the immigrants and people of color who do so much of America's actual work.... The border wall has endured as the ultimate symbol of Trumpism because the soul of his movement is racism and exclusion...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Tim Carpenter of the Kansas Reflector, republished by the Raw Story: "Kansas attorney general candidate Kris Kobachoffered a sweeping defense of ... Stephen Bannon amid allegations of money laundering, conspiracy and fraud related to operation of We Build the Wall Inc.... Kobach said alleged wrongdoing involving the organization that raised millions of dollars for construction of barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border took place before he was hired as general counsel at We Build the Wall. He has continued to perform legal work on behalf of the organization.... Kobach, who served two terms as Kansas secretary of state, said he was convinced that he wasn't in jeopardy of being indicted." ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Shorman of the Kansas City Star: "Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the Republican candidate for state attorney general, resigned Friday from the board of directors of We Build the Wall after the nonprofit organization was indicted on allegations of money laundering, conspiracy and fraud." MB: In case you've forgotten, Kobach is a first-class jerk.>
Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "The first rioter from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to be charged with attacking a member of the news media pleaded guilty Friday to felony counts of assault on law enforcement and assault on a news photographer.... Court records show [Shane Jason Woods] was captured on video and in photographs on multiple occasions, on both the west and east sides of the Capitol, over a period of several hours. He was arrested on a federal complaint in June 2021, and indicted on eight felony assault and disorderly conduct charges last March. Woods is one of about 11 rioters who have been charged with assaults on members of the news media or destroying their equipment." Woods attacked a female police officer, knocking her to the ground and causing injuries. Hours later, he attacked a news photographer, "with a blindside shoulder-tackle, knocking G.P. [the photographer] to the ground and causing him to drop his camera,” according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Dave Philipps of the New York Times: "The Navy has started an independent investigation of the brutal selection course for its elite SEALs after a sailor's death this year revealed a tangle of physical abuse, poor medical oversight and use of performance-enhancing drugs in the course. The order for the new investigation came from the highest levels of the Navy -- the outgoing vice chief of naval operations, Adm. William K. Lescher. It was given to a rear admiral from outside the SEALs, signaling that the Navy had given it high priority and wanted it to be independent. Admiral Lescher issued the order in a letter obtained by The New York Times. The letter is dated the day after The New York Times reported that the sailor's death had exposed a number of problems at the harrowing selection course, known as Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs, or BUD/S for short. Among the problems were a damaging ethos of forced suffering that often dismissed serious injuries and illnesses as weakness and a growing subculture of students who saw illicit performance-enhancing drugs as the only way to get through the course."
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "More than 1,000 households in Oklahoma used the identity of a single 4-year-old to obtain free or discounted internet service from the U.S. government, part of a broader wave of suspected fraud now raising new questions about Washington's attempts to close the digital divide. The apparent plot targeted the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides up to $30 each month toward millions of Americans' mobile phone or home internet bills. Similar suspicious activity also surfaced in Ohio and Texas, according to the inspector general for the Federal Communications Commission.... The government sent that money directly to telecom carriers, which under law accept federal benefits on their subscribers' behalf and apply the discounts to customers' bills. None of the companies that processed the suspect applications and received federal funds are named in the report.... David L. Hunt, the agency's inspector general, said in a statement that telecom providers seeking 'program support each month after failing to properly train and monitor their sales agents' enrollment activity will be held accountable.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Not enough "proper training"? Really? Was that the problem? I'd guess that those so-called "sales agents" were a bunch of tele-scammers who knew full-well what they were doing. It's not quite as clear that the lucky duckies who got the free internet services were in on the scam. But if the "sales agent" told you to fill in the "Applicant's Name" with the name "Tommy Toddler," I imagine you'd be a tad suspicious.
Caroline Kitchener, et al., of the Washington Post: "An aggressive push by Republicans to pass hard-line antiabortion measures is faltering in some state legislatures and on Capitol Hill, the latest indication that many Americans are balking at extreme restrictions being imposed since the fall of Roe v. Wade. In South Carolina, Republicans failed to pass a near-total abortion ban during an extended legislative session Thursday night, unable to agree on whether to include exceptions for rape and incest. In West Virginia, a recent special session over similar legislation ended in gridlock. At the same time, efforts to advance a strict nationwide ban in Congress have quietly fizzled. After pushing for a national 'heartbeat ban' on abortion in the spring -- which would have outlawed the procedure as soon as cardiac activity is detected, around six weeks of pregnancy -- Republican lawmakers and some antiabortion advocates have retreated from the idea. Some legislators are now pushing for a 15-week ban; others have abandoned any kind of national abortion legislation." MB: But, but, they have let on they were such principled absolutists!
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday put on hold a lower court's order requiring Yeshiva University in New York to recognize an LGBTQ student club while legal fights continue about the group's efforts at the religious school. A New York state trial court ruled that as a public accommodation, Yeshiva was covered under the New York City Human Rights Law and required to provide the Pride Alliance the same access to facilities as dozens of other student groups. The group said that means access to a classroom, bulletin boards and a club fair booth. Sotomayor's short order stayed that ruling 'pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court.' That indicated that there might be more to come and that the court was acting now because of a deadline. Sotomayor is the justice who reviews emergency applications from the New York region...." The NBC News report is here.
Beyond the Beltway
Mississsippi. Laura Strickler, et al., of NBC News: "A team from the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General arrived in Jackson last week to begin a 'multidisciplinary' top-to-bottom review of the current drinking water crisis, an agency spokesperson told NBC News.... Residents recently experienced a dayslong outage of running water, and even now more than 150,000 residents in Mississippi's capital still lack clean drinking water. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Friday that a citywide boil-water notice in effect since July 29 was unlikely to be lifted over the weekend."
Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Race. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Right-wing gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano can be heard on a recorded Zoom call with Christian Nationalists praying for the Jan. 6 insurrection to succeed.... [Independent researcher Bruce Wilson, who gave the tape to Rolling Stone,] noted that Mastriano was seated in front of the pine-tree flag that has been adopted by Christian Nationalists, and he said the candidate clearly understood and articulated their views." Includes video. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Texas. María Paúl of the Washington Post: "On the morning of Aug. 30, a 13-year-old transgender boy was pulled out of class by his school's administrators, his mother says. While his classmates continued their studies, he sat in a conference room at a Texas middle school where a Department of Family and Protective Services investigator began asking personal questions, court records state....The state agency was probing his family following a February directive from Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to investigate the use of gender-affirming care in minors as child abuse, according to court documents. The nearly hour-long interview touched on a range of personal topics -- from the teen's medical history to his gender dysphoria diagnosis to his suicide attempt years back, court records state." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: If this story is found to be true or mostly true, the boy should not only get a whopping settlement from the state of Texas, Greg Abbott & everyone involved in the youngster's interrogation -- including the school administrators -- should do hard time for child abuse. This is preposterous.
Way Beyond
United Kingdom
The New York Times' live briefings of developments in King Charles III's accession to the British throne, etc., are here: "For more than 300 years, Britain's kings and queens have been proclaimed sovereign in a ceremony laced with history. But on Saturday morning, for the first time, the public was able to see the process in action as the proclamation of King Charles III was broadcast live, weaving just a bit of modernity into a centuries-old tradition.While Charles became the new monarch automatically upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday, his new role was officially proclaimed on Saturday morning in a ceremony filled with pomp and procedure, which was held at St. James's Palace, a Tudor royal residence near Buckingham Palace." ~~~
~~~ This part was fun: the Garter King of Arms reads the Privy Council's proclamation from a balcony at St. James' Palace to a few hundred members of the public:
~~~ This whole proclamation reading recurred at the City of London. And apparently it goes on in other places throughout the U.K. The whole idea was to inform a non-literate public in pre-teevee days. Now, we all get to see the pageantry & great outfits in real time. (Those buglers reportedly were wearing coats of cfloth woven from gen-u-ine gold thread.
This New York Times page has links to all of its current stories about Queen Elizabeth II's death & related topics. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Caroline Davies of the Guardian: "King Charles IIIhas pledged to serve the country 'with loyalty, respect and love' in an emotional address in which he paid tribute to his mother, the Queen, saying: 'May "flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."' Speaking with 'feelings of profound sorrow', he said: 'Queen Elizabeth's was a life well-lived, a promise with destiny kept, and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today.' In a speech that reflected his transition from heir to the throne to king, he also acknowledged his role must change. He spoke of the 'roles and duties of monarchy' and the sovereign's relationship with the Church of England, in which, he said, his own faith was rooted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ William Booth & Karla Adam of the Washington Post: Charles IIIwill be a different sort of monarch from Elizabeth II. "The thing is: Charles has opinions.... He says that as king he will have to express his views less openly and often -- political neutrality is often understood to be essential for the monarchy and its survival in modern times.... But he is a crusader at heart.... He was a rock star at last year's COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.... The new king was gracious on Friday in his first meeting with his new prime minister, Liz Truss -- who seemed nervous on what was only her fourth day in her job. Charles greeted her warmly at Buckingham Palace, accepted her condolences, and said straight up, on camera, 'It's the moment I've been dreading, as I know a lot of people have, but you try and keep everything going.'" ~~~
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.
Marc Santora, et al., of the New York Times: "Ukrainian forces have scored the most significant battlefield gains [link fixed] since they routed Russia from the area around Kyiv in April by reclaiming territory in the northeast, according to Ukrainian officials, Western analysts and battlefield imagery. In his overnight address to the nation Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian military had captured scores of villages and large chunks of Russian-occupied territory across Ukraine since the offensive began. 'In total, more than a thousand square kilometers of the territory of Ukraine have been liberated since the beginning of September,' he said. On Friday the Ukrainian military appeared to be moving rapidly to cut off the city of Izium, a critical logistical hub for Russian military operations.... The new offensive in the north appears to have caught the Russian forces off guard."
This New York Times page has links to all of its current stories about Queen Elizabeth II's death & related topics.
Caroline Davies of the Guardian: "King Charles IIIhas pledged to serve the country 'with loyalty, respect and love' in an emotional address in which he paid tribute to his mother, the Queen, saying: 'May "flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."' Speaking with 'feelings of profound sorrow', he said: 'Queen Elizabeth's was a life well-lived, a promise with destiny kept, and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today.' In a speech that reflected his transition from heir to the throne to king, he also acknowledged his role must change. He spoke of the 'roles and duties of monarchy' and the sovereign's relationship with the Church of England, in which, he said, his own faith was rooted." ~~~
Judge to Trump & Lawyers: You Whining, Lying Nitwits Wasted My Time. Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Donald Trump's lawsuit against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, saying there was no basis for the former president to claim that Clinton and her allies harmed him with an orchestrated plan to spread false information that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential race. Trump 'is seeking to flaunt a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him, and this Court is not the appropriate forum,' Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks of the Southern District of Florida wrote in a scathing 65-page ruling dated Thursday. The judge also wrote about 'the audacity of Plaintiff's legal theories and the manner in which they clearly contravene binding case law.' Middlebrooks noted 'glaring structural deficiencies in the plaintiff's argument' and said that 'such pleadings waste judicial resources and are an unacceptable form of establishing a claim for relief.'
"Middlebrooks criticized the quality of the legal work presented by Trump's attorneys. 'Many of the Amended Complaint's characterizations of events are implausible because they lack any specific allegations which might provide factual support for the conclusions reached,' Middlebrooks wrote.... Trump's attorneys also presented citations ... that were simply not true, the judge wrote. The lawsuit claims Clinton and top campaign officials conceived of and carried out the plot against Trump and hid their involvement 'behind a wall of third parties,' and it cites a specific page of a report from the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General. 'I went to page 96 of the Inspector General's Report looking for support for Plaintiff's conclusory and argumentative statement but found none,' the judge wrote. Trump's lawyers can disagree with the report, Middlebrooks wrote, 'but they cannot misrepresent it in a pleading.'... Alina Habiba, an attorney for Trump..., said they will appeal the decision." Ha! Good luck with that! The Guardian's report is here. ~~~
~~~ See also Patrick's comment near the bottom of Friday's thread.
You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect and defend it.' -- Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address ~~~
~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "'Too much of what's happening in our country today is not normal,' as [President] Biden put it in Philadelphia last week. 'Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.' The proof is everywhere you look.... A large part of the Republican Party is, as Biden says, working to ensure that the next time Trump is on the ballot, he cannot lose." ~~~
~~~ Andrew Gawthorpe in the Guardian: Steve Bannon's "We Build the Wall" grift "-- in which two people have already pleaded guilty -- is a very direct example of a prominent figure in the Maga movement lining their pockets with the money of unsuspecting marks. But it also stands as a metaphor for the movement as a whole. Far from standing up for the interests of 'ordinary Americans', Maga exists to funnel money, power and prestige to a small elite while not lifting a finger to improve the lives of anyone else.... They have made a mythic folk hero out of the white male worker, promising to return the country to an era like the 1950s, in which such people reigned supreme. That they then have actually done little to help even white workers should not obscure the fact that they have also poured hatred and vitriol on the immigrants and people of color who do so much of America's actual work.... The border wall has endured as the ultimate symbol of Trumpism because the soul of his movement is racism and exclusion...."
Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Race. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Right-wing gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano can be heard on a recorded Zoom call with Christian Nationalists praying for the Jan. 6 insurrection to succeed.... [Independent researcher Bruce Wilson, who gave the tape to Rolling Stone,] noted that Mastriano was seated in front of the pine-tree flag that has been adopted by Christian Nationalists, and he said the candidate clearly understood and articulated their views." Includes video.
Texas. María Paúl of the Washington Post: "On the morning of Aug. 30, a 13-year-old transgender boy was pulled out of class by his school's administrators, his mother says. While his classmates continued their studies, he sat in a conference room at a Texas middle school where a Department of Family and Protective Services investigator began asking personal questions, court records state....The state agency was probing his family following a February directive from Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to investigate the use of gender-affirming care in minors as child abuse, according to court documents. The nearly hour-long interview touched on a range of personal topics -- from the teen's medical history to his gender dysphoria diagnosis to his suicide attempt years back, court records state." ~~~
~~~ Marie: If this story is found to be true or mostly true, the boy should not only get a whopping settlement from the state of Texas, Greg Abbott & everyone involved in the youngster's interrogation -- including the school administrators -- should do hard time for child abuse. This is preposterous.
~~~~~~~~~~
U.K. Queen Elizabeth II has died. The New York Timesis liveblogging developments. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Times has a new liveblog for today, which seems to be running parallel to the liveblog started yesterday, and not necessarily with the same copy. The Guardian's most recent live updates are here. ~~~
~~~ Elizabeth's New York Times obituary is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.
The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/VfxpXro22W
~~~ The Guardian's main story, is here. Currently, the front page of both the U.K. & U.S. edition have numerous related stories. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ A statement by President Biden & First Lady Jill Biden is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Emily Dugan & Caroline Davies of the Guardian: "The first full day of the reign of King Charles III has begun, with the new monarch travelling to London to meet the prime minister and prepare for a national address on Friday evening. After staying at Balmoral overnight, the King will travel with Camilla, now Queen Consort, to the capital.... Once in London he is expected to meet the Earl Marshal, currently Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, to approve the carefully choreographed plans for the coming days and weeks. The King, 73, was expected on Friday to pre-record a televised address to the nation, which will be broadcast early the same evening."
** Perry Stein & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department said it would appeal a federal judge's decision to appoint a special master to sift through thousands of documents the FBI seized from Donald Trump's Florida residence on Aug. 8, according to a Thursday court filing.... The Justice Department wrote in a brief filing that it would be appealing the decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a separate, simultaneous court filing, prosecutors asked Cannon to stay her Sept. 5 decision on two key points: her order to temporarily halt a significant portion of the FBI investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, and to allow a special master to review the classified material that is among the documents seized as part of a court-authorized search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club on Aug. 8.... Barring the FBI from using the classified material in the investigation 'could impede efforts to identify the existence of any additional classified records that are not being properly stored -- which itself presents the potential for ongoing risk to national security,' prosecutors wrote -- the first time they have suggested in court filings that there could be more unsecured classified material they have yet to find." Emphasis added. This story has been updated at least twice. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times report is here. A Guardian report is here. ~~~
~~~ According to Andrew Weissmann, in an MSNBC appearance, DOJ lawyers explained very, very nicely to the judge why she didn't understand WTF she was doing. They not only explained in exquisite detail how she was endangering national security with her little concerns about Trump's "reputation," but also why you don't give a thief the opportunity to pick through the stolen goods to see what-all he might really, really want to keep. Marie: As for me, I still would have taken more of an Aileen-you-ignorant-slut approach.
Grifters Gotta Grift. DOJ Is Investigating Another Trump Scheme. Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: "A federal grand jury in Washington is examining the formation of -- and spending by -- a super PAC created by Donald J. Trump after his loss in the 2020 election as he was raising millions of dollars by baselessly asserting that the results had been marred by widespread voting fraud. According to subpoenas issued by the grand jury, the contents of which were described to The New York Times, the Justice Department is interested in the inner workings of Save America PAC, Mr. Trump's main fund-raising vehicle after the election. Several similar subpoenas were sent on Wednesday to junior and midlevel aides who worked in the White House and for Mr. Trump's presidential campaign.... The new subpoenas appeared to have been issued by a different grand jury in Washington than the one that has been gathering evidence about the so-called fake electors plan...." The ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE, Another Trumpy Grifter Is Charged. Chelsia Marcius, et al., of the New York Times: "Stephen K. Bannon, who once served as top adviser to ... Donald J. Trump, surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney's office on Thursday and was expected to face charges later in the day. The indictment, unsealed Thursday morning, charges Mr. Bannon with two felony counts of money laundering, two counts of conspiracy and a felony count of scheming to defraud in connection with his work with We Build the Wall Inc." The story has been updated. CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Bannon does the perp walk. Marie: The cuffs are fine, but a muzzle would be an appropriate accessory:
More Ways Trump & Barr Politicized the DOJ. Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "A book by a former top federal prosecutor offers new details about how the Justice Department under ... Donald J. Trumpsought to use the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan to support Mr. Trump politically and pursue his critics -- even pushing the office to open a criminal investigation of former secretary of state John Kerry. The prosecutor, Geoffrey S. Berman, was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York for two and a half years until June 2020, when Mr. Trump fired him.... The book paints a picture of Justice Department officials motivated by partisan concerns in pursuing investigations or blocking them; in weighing how forthright to be in court filings; and in shopping investigations to other prosecutors' offices when the Southern District declined to act." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's second attorney general, William Barr, is stupid, a liar, a bully and a thug, according to a hard-hitting new book by Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney for the southern district of New York whose firing Barr engineered in hugely controversial fashion in summer 2020. 'Several hours after Barr and I met,' Berman writes, 'on a Friday night, [Barr] issued a press release saying that I was stepping down. That was a lie. A lie told by the nation's top law enforcement officer.'... Berman describes clashes on issues including the prosecution of Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer, and the Halkbank investigation, concerning Turkish bankers and government officials helping Tehran circumvent the Iran nuclear deal." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) MB: This is right out of the Banana Republic Handbook. (And, no, I don't mean the Banana Republic catalog.)
Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "Ginni Thomas ... has links to more than half of the anti-abortion groups and individuals who lobbied her husband Clarence Thomas and his fellow US supreme court justices ahead of their historic decision to eradicate a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy. A new analysis of the written legal arguments, or 'amicus briefs', used to lobby the justices as they deliberated over abortion underlines the extent to which Clarence Thomas's wife was intertwined with this vast pressure campaign. The survey found that 51% of the parties who filed amicus briefs calling for an end to a federal abortion right have political connections to Ginni Thomas, raising concerns about a possible conflict of interest at the highest levels of the US judiciary." MB: And questions about who the real Justice Thomas is: Clarence or Ginni?
Rowaida Abdelaziz of the Huffington Post: "CNN has hired John Miller, a former New York City Police Department official who lied about the department's history of surveilling Muslims, to be its chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst -- a move that has alarmed civil rights leaders and activists.... Critics ... have called attention to other aspects of Miller's record. While testifying before the New York City Council in March, Miller denied that the NYPD ever inappropriately spied on Muslims, even though the department has acknowledged that it ran a Muslim surveillance program after the Sept. 11 attacks." MB: As for me, I'm just waiting for CNN to hire Sean Hannity for the 9 pm slot Chris Cuomo vacated at the former management's urgent request.
Glenn Rifkin of the Washington Post: "Bernard Shaw, a journalist who left network TV in 1980 for the uncertainty of anchoring at the first 24-hour cable news network -- CNN -- and whose steady-under-missile-fire coverage from Baghdad during the Persian Gulf War helped elevate the outlet to global prominence, died Sept. 7 at a Washington-area hospital. He was 82." CNN's obituary is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Kate Conger of the New York Times: "Twitter reached a $7 million settlement with its former top security executive, Peiter Zatko, in June, after he was fired from the company and had raised concerns about its security practices. Lawyers for Elon Musk, who is trying to back out of a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, disclosed the settlement during a court hearing on Tuesday. During the hearing, Mr. Musk's lawyers successfully argued that Mr. Zatko's accusations that Twitter had misrepresented its security practices be included in the case over the deal. 'They're paying the guy $7 million and making sure he's quiet,' Alex Spiro, an attorney for Mr. Musk, said during the hearing. On Wednesday, a judge ruled that Mr. Musk could discuss the security problems raised by Mr. Zatko during an October trial over the deal in Delaware Chancery Court. The trial will determine whether Mr. Musk must proceed with his bid to buy the social media company."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Tim Craig of the Washington Post: "The leaders of Florida's largest school system rejected a resolution to declare October as LGBTQ History Month, another sign that the state continues to lurch to the right as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis pushes to remove discussions about sexual orientation from the classroom. After a rowdy six-hour meeting Wednesday, the Miami-Dade School Board voted 8-1 to block a measure that affirmed the county's commitment to ensuring the safety of all students -- including those who identify as gay, lesbian, transgender or nonbinary -- and recognized LGBTQ History Month as 'an effective means of educating and calling to action our community to work together by fighting prejudice and discrimination.'"
Michigan. Rick Pluta of Michigan Public Radio: "Thursday, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that a proposed state constitutional amendment that would protect abortion rights should be placed on November's ballot. It's up to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers Friday to decide in a final vote whether the measure should go before voters. Last week, the question was sent to the state Supreme Court after Republican canvassers argued the amendment's spacing and formatting would be confusing to voters. They deadlocked on the decision and the group behind the amendment, Reproductive Freedom for All, appealed the decision to the state's highest court. Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack called the effort by board members to keep the abortion rights question off the ballot 'a game of gotcha gone very bad.'" According to an AP story, the Court voted 5-2 to put the measure on the ballot; the dissenters were Republicans. Update: The New York Times story is here.
South Carolina. Ava Sasani of the New York Times: "The South Carolina Senate voted Thursday night to tighten abortion restrictions but failed to pass a total ban after a heated debate revealed the ongoing struggle among Republicans to define a cohesive post-Roe strategy. The chamber voted to gut a bill that would have prohibited abortion without exception for rape or incest, instead choosing to add more limits to the state's existing law that bans abortion after six weeks. That law is temporarily blocked by the state Supreme Court because of ongoing litigation. The vote came after two days of debate in the chamber, during which Republicans haggled over whether there ought to be exceptions for victims of rape and incest."
South Carolina Senate Race. Meg Kinnard of the AP: "The South Carolina Democrat vying to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scottis facing calls from within her own party to fold her campaign, following the publication of additional leaked audio in which she appears to make disparaging remarks about her constituents. The calls for state Rep. Krystle Matthews to withdraw just two months ahead of the general election came Thursday in reaction to leaked audio published by conservative activist group Project Veritas of Matthews speaking to one of its members, without her knowledge. Sitting in a restaurant, Matthews, who is Black, is heard saying that she represents a 'mostly white' district, adding, of white voters: 'I keep them right here -- like under my thumbs. ... Otherwise, they get out of control -- like kids.... You ought to know who you're dealing with,' Matthews goes on to say. 'You've got to treat them like s---. That's the only way they'll respect you.'"
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Washington Post's live briefings for Friday are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.
Michael Crowley of the New York Times: U.S. "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinkenpaid a surprise visit to Kyiv on Thursday, pledging $2.8 billion in military aid for Ukraine and other countries at risk of Russian invasion as the United States backs a Ukrainian effort to gain fresh military momentum. With Ukraine waging a counteroffensive to reclaim territory lost to invading Russian forces, America will send an additional $675 million in military support for the country, Mr. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in separate announcements. Mr. Blinken also said he was asking Congress to approve just over $2 billion more for longer-term investments in Ukraine's military and that of 18 other mostly small and vulnerable European countries. The combined aid makes for a total of $14.7 billion in security assistance from the Biden administration since Russia's invasion in February, Mr. Blinken said."
Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "Six months into 'a very tough slog of a war,' Ukraine has begun to mount a counteroffensive and Russia's invasion can only be seen as a failure, the director of the C.I.A., William J. Burns, said Thursday. Citing the counterattacks in the south and around Kharkiv in the northeast, Mr. Burns said that Russia's president, Vladimir V. Putin, had badly underestimated Ukraine's courage and capacity for combat. While the final chapter of the war is yet to be written, Mr. Burns said it was 'hard to see Putin's record in the war as anything but a failure.'"
And You Thought North Korea Was Lawless. Min Joo Kim of the Washington Post: "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared his country would never relinquish its nuclear weapons, as the regime's leadership codified in law its right to launch preemptive nuclear strikes, state media said Friday. The North's rubber-stamp parliament passed the law authorizing the military to use nuclear weapons 'automatically and immediately' in case of an imminent attack against its leadership or 'important strategic objects' in the country, the Korean Central News Agency said."
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