The Ledes

Thursday, July 3, 2025

CNBC: “Job growth proved better than expected in June, as the labor market showed surprising resilience and likely taking a July interest rate cut off the table. Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 147,000 for the month, higher than the estimate for 110,000 and just above the upwardly revised 144,000 in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. April’s tally also saw a small upward revision, now at 158,000 following an 11,000 increase.... Though the jobless rates fell [to 4.1%], it was due largely to a decrease in those working or looking for jobs.”

Washington Post: “A warehouse storing fireworks in Northern California exploded on Tuesday, leaving seven people missing and two injured as explosions continued into Wednesday evening, officials said. Dramatic video footage captured by KCRA 3 News, a Sacramento broadcaster, showed smoke pouring from the building’s roof before a massive explosion created a fireball that seemed to engulf much of the warehouse, accompanied by an echoing boom. Hundreds of fireworks appeared to be going off and were sparkling within the smoke. Photos of the aftermath showed multiple destroyed buildings and a large area covered in gray ash.” ~~~

The Wires
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The Ledes

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

New York Times: “The Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, who emerged from the backwoods of Louisiana to become a television evangelist with global reach, preaching about an eternal struggle between good and evil and warning of the temptations of the flesh, a theme that played out in his own life in a sex scandal, died on July 1. He was 90.” ~~~

     ~~~ For another sort of obituary, see Akhilleus' commentary near the end of yesterday's thread.

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 here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

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.

INAUGURATION 2029

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.

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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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 is https://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.

Tuesday
Aug012023

The Conversation -- August 2, 2023

At long last, it dawns on Mike that Donald is not qualified to be president*: ~~~

Marie: Last night all the serious teevee pundits were saying what a sad day it was for America. Me? I'm with Hillary (thanks to Patrick for the link): ~~~

United States of America v. Donald J. Trump

The attack on our nation's Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. It was fueled by lies, lies by the defendant. -- Jack Smith, August 1 ~~~

~~~ Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "A grand jury indicted ... Donald Trump on Tuesday for a raft of alleged crimes in his brazen efforts to overturn Joe Biden's election victory -- the latest legal and political aftershock stemming from the riot at the U.S. Capitol two and a half years ago. The four-count, 45-page indictment accuses Trump ... of conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, attempting to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiring against people's civil right to have their vote counted.... 'Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power,' the indictment charges, accusing Trump of unleashing a blizzard of false claims about purported mass voter fraud and then trying to get state, local and federal officials to act to change the vote results. 'These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false,' the indictment states. 'In fact, the Defendant was notified repeatedly that his claims were untrue -- often by the people on whom he relied for candid advice on important matters, and who were best positioned to know the facts -- and he deliberately disregarded the truth.'" The AP's story is here. The New York Times story is here.

According to MSNBC, Trump has been summoned to appear in court Thursday. Update: at 4:00 pm ET.

@6:30 pm ET, MSNBC reports that AG Merrick Garland will speak within the hour. Update: Here's what Garland said, which was not much. ~~~

     ~~~ Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "In brief remarks outside an event in Philadelphia [Tuesday night], Attorney General Merrick Garland said that career employees of the Justice Department 'engaged in what has become the largest investigation in our history. In order to underline the department's commitment to accountability and independence, Mr. Smith and his team of experienced principled career agents and prosecutors have followed the facts and the law wherever they lead,' Garland ... told reporters. 'Any questions about this matter will have to be answered by the filings made.'" From the NBC News liveblog.

Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump was indicted on Tuesday in connection with his widespread efforts to overturn the 2020 election following a sprawling federal investigation into his attempts to cling to power after losing the presidency to Joseph R. Biden Jr. The indictment was filed by the special counsel Jack Smith in Federal District Court in Washington. It accuses Mr. Trump of three conspiracies: one to defraud the United States, a second to obstruct an official government proceeding and a third to deprive people of civil rights provided by federal law or the Constitution.... The indictment said Mr. Trump had six co-conspirators, but it did not name them." This is a liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Goldman: "Prosecutors said that Trump and his co-conspirators devised fraudulent slates of electors in seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Some of the fake electors, the indictment said, were 'tricked' into participating in the scheme." ~~~

     ~~~ Ben Protess: "It's hard to imagine a more consequential case against a former president." MB: What makes it especially consequential is that for the first time in U.S. history (as far as I know) the indictment charges a president* for criminal acts committed while in office, answering the question, "Can a president* be held responsible for abuse of power?" Apparently so. ~~~

     ~~~ Charlie Savage: From the indictment: "... on the pretext of baseless fraud claims, the defendant pushed officials in certain states to ignore the popular vote; disenfranchise millions of voters; dismiss legitimate electors; and ultimately, cause the ascertainment of and voting by illegitimate electors in favor of the defendant." Savage: The indictment alleges Trump is guilty of "recruiting fake electors in swing states won by Biden, trying to use the power of the Justice Department to fuel election conspiracy lies, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to delay the certification of the election or reject legitimate electors, and then exploiting the disruption caused by the Jan. 6 riot to redouble 'efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince members of Congress to further delay the certification based on those claims.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Luke Broadwater: "... the Justice Department charged Mr. Trump with four federal crimes, including deprivation of rights under the color of law. The 45-page indictment read like a summarized version of the select committee's sprawling 845-page tome detailing Mr. Trump's myriad attempts to stay in office."

     ~~~ Maggie Astor: "Trump likened the indictment to the actions of 'Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes,' in a statement on Truth Social. [MB: Projection!] He again accused the Justice Department of corruption and said, 'These un-American witch hunts will fail and President Trump will be re-elected to the White House so he can save our Country from the abuse, incompetence, and corruption that is running through the veins of our Country at levels never seen before.'" ~~~

     ~~~ William Rashbaum: "The prosecutors charged that Trump and his co-conspirators told copious lies about election fraud. These 'prolific lies' included 'dozens of specific claims that there had been substantial fraud in certain states,' they said, and 'that large numbers of dead, non-resident, non-citizen, or otherwise ineligible voters had cast ballots or that voting machines had changed votes for the defendant to votes for Biden.'"

** Here's the indictment against Trump, via CNN. The New York Times has an annotated indictment here. ~~~

     ~~~ Indictment Code: Andrew Weissmann guesses Conspirator 1 = Rudy Giuliani; Conspirator 2 = John Eastman; Conspirator 3 = Sidney Powell; Conspirator 4 = Jeff Clark; & Conspirator 5 = Kenneth Chesebro; not sure about Conspirator 6. MB: On the other hand, Weissmann mixed up COS Mark Meadows & pence's COS Marc Short & made some false assumptions based on that misreading. ~~~

     ~~~ Mystery Man. In a New York Times article identifying five of the conspirators, Alan Feuer writes, "... co-conspirator 6 is described as a 'political consultant' who helped to devise and implement the fake elector scheme. It could apply to several people who worked closely with Mr. Trump after the election." The Washington Post also cannot identify this person. CNN can't decide, either. MB: There are so many possibilities.

NBC News live updates are here.

~~~ ** CNN is reporting on-air that Trump has been indicted in four counts in the election interference case. The key charge is "conspiracy to defraud the United States." Jack Smith is expected to make a public statement within the hour. (It's now 5:40 pm ET). The other charges include "corruptly obstruct an official proceeding," and "conspiracy against the right to vote." This is a 45-page speaking indictment with new info. Six co-conspirators are designated by not named; they are not (yet) indicted.~~~

     ~~~ The judge assigned to the case is U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. She is an Obama appointee with a background as a public defender.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "At the core of the United States of America v. Donald J. Trump is no less than the viability of the system constructed during [the] summer [of 1787] in Philadelphia. Can a sitting president spread lies about an election and try to employ the authority of the government to overturn the will of the voters without consequence? The question would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, but the Trump case raises the kind of specter more familiar in countries with histories of coups and juntas and dictators. In effect, Jack Smith ... charged Mr. Trump with one of the most sensational frauds in the history of the United States, one 'fueled by lies' and animated by the basest of motives, the thirst for power.... The indictment wove together all the intrigue between the Nov. 3, 2020, election and the Jan. 20, 2021, inauguration into a damning tale of a president who pushed in seemingly every possible way stop the handover of the White House to the challenger who beat him.... Now the justice system and the electoral system will engage in a 15-month race to see which will decide his fate first -- and the country's. The real verdict on the Trump presidency is still to come."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Marie: As I was clicking through the "dial" Tuesday evening, I noticed that PBS News Hour was on. "Hey, let's see how the 'independent journalists' at PBS are covering the Trump indictment story. They weren't. Instead, there appeared on my teevee an extended story about how Ohio is handling the expenditure of funds allocated for anti-smoking programs. Not that this long-running tale isn't important, but I would not call it the news of the day. Rather, it reminded me of the much-ridiculed 1950s BBC stories about various rodents and rare animals that were the stock subjects of early British taxpayer-supported broadcast teevee. (In fairness to PBS, I believe they did open with a report on the indictment.)

New York. Graham Kates of CBS News: "New York Attorney General Letitia James' office says it is ready to proceed with a trial stemming from its $250 million lawsuit claiming ... Donald Trump, two of his children and his company engaged in widespread fraud.... The lawsuit is seeking $250 million and sanctions that would effectively cease the company's operations in New York.... Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump have all sat for depositions in the case. During Trump's first deposition, in August 2022, before the lawsuit was filed, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination more than 400 times.... The case is scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 2, a date the the judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, previously described as 'set in stone.' Engoron has rejected repeated attempts by Trump attorneys to push that date back."

Michigan. Neil Vigdor, et al., of the New York Times: "Matthew DePerno, a key orchestrator of efforts to help ... Donald J. Trump try to overturn the 2020 election in Michigan and an unsuccessful candidate for state attorney general last year, was arraigned on four felony charges on Tuesday, according to documents released by D.J. Hilson, the special prosecutor handling the investigation. The charges against Mr. DePerno, which include undue possession of a voting machine and a conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to a computer or computer system, come after a nearly yearlong investigation in one of the battleground states that cemented the election of Joseph R. Biden Jr. as president. Former State Representative Daire Rendon was also charged with two crimes, including a conspiracy to illegally obtain a voting machine and false pretenses." The AP's story is here.

How to Respond to Trump's Defenders. Marie: (1) If someone tells you that Trump didn't commit any crimes (for whatever reason), ask him if he's read the indictment. If the answer is "no," politely tell him he can't possibly know what he's talking about. Tell him the indictment is available online.

     (2) If someone says Trump was just exercising his First Amendment right to free speech -- as apparently Fox "News" stars & guests are currently arguing -- explain that (a) the indictment states outright that Trump has a right to lie to the public, but when he (b) switches from false statements to criminal conduct -- which the indictment spells out -- he's a criminal. That is, you can tell a lie, but you can't act on it; e.g., "I think the Vice President has the power to reject slates of electors" is protected speech. Conspiring to manufacture and submit fake slates of electors is not. You can say you would like to rob the bank; you can't rob the bank.

     (3) If someone says the whole case is a hoax devised by Joe Biden to defeat Trump in 2024, (a) tell him Joe Biden didn't pick Jack Smith, that Smith was chosen for his independence. When that fails to convince your acquaintance, (b) tell him all of the witnesses cited in the indictment are Republicans, many of them appointed to their jobs by Donald Trump. They all voted for Donald Trump, they wanted him to win, many worked to re-elect him.


New Jersey. Tracy Tulley of the New York Times reports on the sudden death of the state's Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver.

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Monday
Jul312023

The Conversation -- August 1, 2023

United States v. Donald J. Trump ~~~

~~~ ** CNN is reporting on-air that Trump has been indicted in four counts in the election interference case. The key charge is "conspiracy to defraud the United States." Jack Smith is expected to make a public statement within the hour. (It's now 5:40 pm ET). The other charges include "corruptly obstruct an official proceeding," and "conspiracy against the right to vote." This is a 45-page speaking indictment with new info. Six co-conspirators are designated by not named; they are not (yet) indicted.~~~

     ~~~ The judge assigned to the case is U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. She is an Obama appointee with a background as a public defender.

     ~~~ MB: I'm moving this to the August 2 Conversation page.

~~~~~~~~~~

Here's where you are supposed to carry the load. If you've been checking in for a decade and seldom contributing, get to work. You can use any handle you please -- real, imaginary or deceptive; nobody who has put up with my typos cares about spelling, and colloquial language -- including obscenities -- is fine with me. Two rules: (1) Thou shall not speak ill of other contributors; confront their ideas and assertions, but not them; (2) if you make an assertion of fact that might be questioned, Google around for at least a quasi-reputable source and slap in (i.e., cut and paste) the URL to your source.

~~~~~~~~~~

Afternoon Update:

Joe Brandt of CBS News Philadelphia: "New Jersey's Lieutenant Governor, Sheila Oliver, died at age 71, her family and Gov. Phil Murphy announced Tuesday. Oliver had been filling in as acting governor while Murphy was out of the state on a family vacation in Italy. Then on Monday, she was taken to a hospital for an undisclosed medical issue. Oliver made history in New Jersey. She was the first Black woman to be Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly and only the second Black woman to lead any state legislature. Under the state constitution, Democratic Senate President Nicholas Scutari was set to serve as acting governor when Oliver became indisposed."

In the Red. Jessica Piper & Zach Montellaro of Politico: "Donald Trump's joint fundraising committee reported raising $53.8 million in the first half of the year, a long-teased figure that blows all of his Republican opponents out of the water. But the committee and its two affiliates -- the former president's official campaign and his leadership Save America PAC -- have collectively spent $57 million over the same period, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance filings. The spending rate threatens to put a significant strain on Trump's finances as the election gears up."

For former 20-percent-off shoppers, see Patrick's comments -- and links -- in today's Bed, Bath & Beyond/Overstock news.

Florida. As criticism erupted against Florida's public school curriculum mandates, Ron DeSantis distanced himself from the program he had championed and signed into law. All of a sudden, DeSantis blamed the new school teaching standards on "scholars." Judd Legum & others at Popular Information invite you to meet the "scholars," whom DeSantis chose to develop the black history curriculum. Not surprisingly, the "scholars" are right-wing crackpots.

~~~~~~~~~~

Lolita Baldor & Tara Copp of the AP: "President Joe Biden has decided to keep U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado, overturning a last-ditch decision by the Trump administration to move it to Alabama. The choice ended months of thorny deliberations, but an Alabama lawmaker vowed to fight on. U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Monday that Biden was convinced by the head of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, who argued that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. Dickinson's view, however, was in contrast to Air Force leadership, who studied the issue at length and determined that relocating to Huntsville, Alabama, was the right move."

Yes, Trump Owns "My Kevin." Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is under intense pressure from the right to do all he can to protect Donald Trump from justice and accountability. The former president's backers want McCarthy (R-Calif.) to direct the House to defund Justice Department prosecutions of Trump and to impeach President Biden, apparently to muddy the waters around Trump's culpability. A new poll from the New York Times and Siena College helps explain why McCarthy might struggle to resist this pressure. Large percentages of likely GOP primary voters appear convinced of Trump's innocence -- and a big reason for this appears to be Fox News and right-wing media." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The most corrupt aspect of this massive House effort to excuse & obscure the crimes of Donald the Dumbest Mob Boss: your tax dollars are paying for his defense.

Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's political action committee, which began last year with $105 million, now has less than $4 million left in its account after paying tens of millions of dollars in legal fees for Mr. Trump and his associates. The dwindling cash reserves in Mr. Trump's PAC, called Save America, have fallen to such levels that the group has made the highly unusual request of a $60 million refund of a donation it had previously sent to a pro-Trump super PAC. This money had been intended for television commercials to help Mr. Trump's candidacy, but as he is the dominant front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024, his most immediate problems appear to be legal, not political." ~~~

~~~ In fairness to Trump's PAC, it was not just wasting Trumpbots' hard-earned money on legal fees for Trump & Associates Criminal Conspiracy, LLC, it also paid $108,000 to one Hervé Pierre Braillard for "strategy consulting." That might sound reasonable until you find out that Braillard is a fashion designer who has designed gowns for Donald's wife Melanie. MB: The fee looks even less reasonable when you consider that Melanie has been mostly MIA this campaign season; I've seen a couple of "Where's Melania?" stories in the recent press.

Marie: In case you're thinking, "Yeah but, maybe Trump at least kept those classified documents safe from, like, foreign spies: ~~~

Marie: I'm thinking cute cat videos may be the way to go. How about this one? ~~~

In Case You Missed It Yesterday Afternoon:

Another "Star" GOP Witness Reveals ... an "Illusion." Zachary Cohen & Kara Scannell of CNN: "Devon Archer told the House Oversight Committee on Monday that his former business partner, Hunter Biden, was selling the 'illusion' of access to his father, according to a source familiar with the closed-door interview, the latest development in the Republican-led congressional investigations into the president's son. The source also reiterated that Archer provided no evidence connecting President Joe Biden to any of his son's foreign business dealings. Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat on the panel who sat through the portion of Archer's interview where he was questioned by Republicans, also said there was a lack of evidence connecting the president to his son's foreign dealings. Goldman said Archer told the panel that Hunter Biden did put his father on speaker phone in the presence of business partners, but that business was never discussed.... Goldman told reporters during a break in the hearing that Archer later said that Hunter Biden putting his father on speaker phone with business associates was 'part of the daily conversations' between father and son, adding, 'The witness was very consistent that none of those conversations ever had to do with any business dealings or transactions." Goldman said that it is 'kind of a preposterous premise to think that a father should not say hello to the people that a son is at dinner with and that is literally all the evidence is.'" Archer is awaiting incarceration on an unrelated fraud case. The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden's White House roasted Republicans over a 'much-hyped witness' they say ended up 'debunking' claims against Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer testified for Congress behind closed doors Monday, and while Republicans have not had much to say, Democratic New York Congressman and House Oversight Committee member Rep. Dan Goldman has been outspoken in making the case that the testimony backs up the president." ~~~

     ~~~ Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "Fox News host Sean Hannity got a less-than-emphatic answer when he flat-out asked House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer if he will be able to prove allegations that President Joe Biden is guilty of participating in a bribery scheme. ~~~

Hannity: '... Do you believe that this is now officially the Joe Biden bribery allegation? And do you believe that you will be able to prove that?...'

Comer: 'I sure hope so.... And I do believe that there's a lot of smoke.'

Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "... the installation of orange security barriers near the main entrance of the Fulton County Courthouse in downtown Atlanta ... was the most visible sign yet of the looming charging decision in a case that has ensnared not only [Donald] Trump but several high-profile Republicans who could either face charges or stand witness in a potential trial unlike anything seen before in this Southern metropolis.... Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis took the unusual step of publicly telegraphing that she plans to announce a charging decision in the Georgia case during the first three weeks of August, a period that opens Monday. 'The work is accomplished,' Willis (D) told Atlanta's WXIA-TV Saturday. 'We've been working for two-and-a-half years. We're ready to go.'... The county courthouse has already been subject to enhanced security because of ongoing threats to Willis and her staff -- including racist, threatening phone calls related to the election investigation....” ~~~

~~~ Sara Murray & Jason Morris of CNN: "A judge in Fulton County, Georgia, on Monday rejected efforts by Donald Trump's legal team to toss evidence in the criminal investigation into the former president's efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia and to disqualify the district attorney investigating him. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney also rejected efforts by Cathy Latham, who served as one of the GOP fake electors in Georgia, to join Trump's push." The New York Times story is here.

Second Trump Co-conspirator Just Can't Find a Florida Lawyer. Shayna Jacobs & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "Carlos De Oliveira -- the second person charged alongside Donald Trump in a case involving the alleged hoarding of sensitive government materials at Mar-a-Lago -- made his first court appearance here on Monday morning and was released on a personal surety bond, with an arraignment scheduled for Aug. 10. Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres read De Oliveira the charges against him and informed him of his legal rights. De Oliveira did not have an attorney who is accredited to practice in Florida, so he was unable to enter a plea before the judge. His Washington, D.C.-based attorney, John Irving, was in court with him." CNN's report is here.

So Unfa-a-a-air! David Klepper of the AP: "X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has threatened to sue a group of independent researchers whose research documented an increase in hate speech on the site since it was purchased last year by Elon Musk. An attorney representing the social media site wrote to the Center for Countering Digital Hate on July 20 threatening legal action over the nonprofit's research into hate speech and content moderation. The letter alleged that CCDH's research publications seem intended 'to harm Twitter's business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims.' Musk is a self-professed free speech absolutist who has welcomed back white supremacists and election deniers to the platform, which he renamed X earlier this month. But the billionaire has at times proven sensitive about critical speech directed at him or his companies." MB: So free speech for racists & liars but not for anyone who writes about racists & liars. That seems reasonable.

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Monday
Jul312023

July 31, 2023 -- The Last Gasp

Marie: So here's the "plan." I've paid for this site for the next month or so. I'm not going to do any more on it, except that I will set up a page each day, and anyone who wants to can comment. I won't timely monitor the comments, as I've tried to do, so there might be some "inappropriate" comments that sit untended for hours. Occasionally, I'll likely post a link to some news item or opinion piece that I happen to read, but I'm not sitting around waiting for Jack Smith's last shoe to drop, or whatever, as I sometimes do. We'll see how things are going at the end of the month. If the site kind of "works" until this so-called plan, I might continue in that vein.

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Afternoon Update:

Another "Star" GOP Witness Reveals ... an "Illusion." Zachary Cohen & Kara Scannell of CNN: "Devon Archer told the House Oversight Committee on Monday that his former business partner, Hunter Biden, was selling the 'illusion' of access to his father, according to a source familiar with the closed-door interview, the latest development in the Republican-led congressional investigations into the president's son. The source also reiterated that Archer provided no evidence connecting President Joe Biden to any of his son's foreign business dealings. Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat on the panel who sat through the portion of Archer's interview where he was questioned by Republicans, also said there was a lack of evidence connecting the president to his son's foreign dealings. Goldman said Archer told the panel that Hunter Biden did put his father on speaker phone in the presence of business partners, but that business was never discussed.... Goldman told reporters during a break in the hearing that Archer later said that Hunter Biden putting his father on speaker phone with business associates was 'part of the daily conversations' between father and son, adding, 'The witness was very consistent that none of those conversations ever had to do with any business dealings or transactions." Goldman said that it is 'kind of a preposterous premise to think that a father should not say hello to the people that a son is at dinner with and that is literally all the evidence is.'" Archer is awaiting incarceration on an unrelated fraud case. The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden's White House roasted Republicans over a 'much-hyped witness' they say ended up 'debunking' claims against Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer testified for Congress behind closed doors Monday, and while Republicans have not had much to say, Democratic New York Congressman and House Oversight Committee member Rep. Dan Goldman has been outspoken in making the case that the testimony backs up the president." ~~~

     ~~~ Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "Fox News host Sean Hannity got a less-than-emphatic answer when he flat-out asked House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer if he will be able to prove allegations that President Joe Biden is guilty of participating in a bribery scheme. ~~~

Hannity: '... Do you believe that this is now officially the Joe Biden bribery allegation? And do you believe that you will be able to prove that?...'

Comer: 'I sure hope so.... And I do believe that there's a lot of smoke.'

Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "... the installation of orange security barriers near the main entrance of the Fulton County Courthouse in downtown Atlanta ... was the most visible sign yet of the looming charging decision in a case that has ensnared not only [Donald] Trump but several high-profile Republicans who could either face charges or stand witness in a potential trial unlike anything seen before in this Southern metropolis.... Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis took the unusual step of publicly telegraphing that she plans to announce a charging decision in the Georgia case during the first three weeks of August, a period that opens Monday. 'The work is accomplished,' Willis (D) told Atlanta's WXIA-TV Saturday. 'We've been working for two-and-a-half years. We're ready to go.'... The county courthouse has already been subject to enhanced security because of ongoing threats to Willis and her staff -- including racist, threatening phone calls related to the election investigation...."

Sara Murray & Jason Morris of CNN: "A judge in Fulton County, Georgia, on Monday rejected efforts by Donald Trump's legal team to toss evidence in the criminal investigation into the former president's efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia and to disqualify the district attorney investigating him. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney also rejected efforts by Cathy Latham, who served as one of the GOP fake electors in Georgia, to join Trump's push." The New York Times story is here.

Second Trump Co-conspirator Just Can't Find a Florida Lawyer. Shayna Jacobs & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "Carlos De Oliveira -- the second person charged alongside Donald Trump in a case involving the alleged hoarding of sensitive government materials at Mar-a-Lago -- made his first court appearance here on Monday morning and was released on a personal surety bond, with an arraignment scheduled for Aug. 10. Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres read De Oliveira the charges against him and informed him of his legal rights. De Oliveira did not have an attorney who is accredited to practice in Florida, so he was unable to enter a plea before the judge. His Washington, D.C.-based attorney, John Irving, was in court with him." CNN's report is here.

So Unfa-a-a-air! David Klepper of the AP: "X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has threatened to sue a group of independent researchers whose research documented an increase in hate speech on the site since it was purchased last year by Elon Musk. An attorney representing the social media site wrote to the Center for Countering Digital Hate on July 20 threatening legal action over the nonprofit's research into hate speech and content moderation. The letter alleged that CCDH's research publications seem intended 'to harm Twitter's business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims.' Musk is a self-professed free speech absolutist who has welcomed back white supremacists and election deniers to the platform, which he renamed X earlier this month. But the billionaire has at times proven sensitive about critical speech directed at him or his companies." MB: So free speech for racists & liars but not for anyone who writes about racists & liars. That seems reasonable.

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Arlette Saenz of CNN: "The Biden administration is launching a beta website for its new income-driven student loan repayment plan today, officials told CNN, allowing borrowers to begin submitting applications for the program as federal student loan payments are set to resume in October. The SAVE, or Saving on a Valuable Education, plan was finalized after the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden's student debt forgiveness initiative in June. It marks a significant change to the federal student loan system that could lower monthly loan payments for some borrowers and reduce the amount they pay back over the lifetime of their loans." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Aliens Among Us. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: Last week, the "House Oversight Committee [held a] hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena, the curiosity formerly known as UFOs. The panel's national security subcommittee brought in, as its star witness, one David Grusch, a former Defense Department intelligence official.... [Grusch made numerous claims, including the assertion that the U.S. government (and the Vatican!) had conspired in a massive, decades-long cover-up.] Alas, Grusch has no documents, photos or other evidence to corroborate any of his fantastic claims. It's classified, you see.... Republicans on the panel ... greeted his out-of-this-world claims with total credulity, using them as just more evidence that the deep-state U.S. government is lying to the American people.... Just over a year ago, a House Intelligence subcommittee held a similar hearing.... The panel's bipartisan leadership ... assured the public there was no evidence of 'anything nonterrestrial in origin,' and they cautioned against conspiracy theories.... The truth is out there. Just don't expect to learn it from the alien life forms currently running the People's House."

Still Crazy After All These Years. Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump made the odd claim on Friday that Special Counsel Jack Smith can't charge him for crimes related to his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. 'How can Deranged Jack Smith bring a case on January 6th., as ridiculous as it is anyway, when I have already won such a case, and been fully acquitted, in the U.S. Senate? In other words, I was Impeached on this, and WON!!! ELECTION INTERFERENCE & PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT, all rolled up as one. We are truly a Nation In Decline!' Trump raged on his Truth Social platform." ~~~

     ~~~ And throughout the land, Trumpbots arose and screamed "DOUBLE JEOPARDY!!"

Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "Yuscil Taveras, a Mar-a-Lago employee who oversees the property's surveillance cameras, received a target letter from federal prosecutors after ... Donald Trump was first indicted in June on charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office, sources told CNN. Taveras also met with investigators following the initial indictment in the classified documents case overseen by special counsel Jack Smith, sources said. While it is unclear whether Taveras is cooperating with prosecutors, some of the new allegations against Trump that were included in a superseding indictment filed last week were based, at least in part, on information he provided during that interview, CNN has learned.... The updated indictment, which adds major accusations against Trump and a new co-defendant to the case, refers to Taveras as 'Trump Employee 4.'... After receiving the target letter, Taveras changed lawyers because his attorney, Stan Woodward, also represented [Walt] Nauta, which presented a conflict, sources said." ~~~

     ~~~ MB: I've read elsewhere that Trump is paying the fees of Taveras' current lawyer John Irving; it's not 100% definite that's true, as Irving has declined to comment on whether or not he represents Taveras.

It is most likely that, by the time we get on the debate stage on August 23, the [Republican presidential] front-runner will be out on bail in four different jurisdictions. -- Chris Christie, Sunday

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Yellow, the beleaguered trucking company that received a $700 million pandemic loan from the federal government, notified staff on Friday that it is shutting down and laying off employees at all of its locations. The move comes ahead of an expected bankruptcy filing by Yellow in the coming days. The closure of the company would mean the loss of approximately 30,000 jobs and mark the end of a business that just three years ago was deemed so critical to the nation's supply chains that it warranted a federal bailout.... Yellow is one of the largest freight trucking companies in the United States, and its downfall could have a ripple effect across the nation's supply chain.... In 2020, the Trump administration, which had ties to the company and its executives, agreed to give the firm a pandemic relief loan in exchange for the federal government assuming a 30 percent equity stake in the company."

Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "Now that climate change has raised the Earth's temperatures to the highest levels in recorded history, with projections showing that they will only climb further, new research shows the impact of heat on workers is spreading across the economy and lowering productivity. Extreme heat is regularly affecting workers beyond expected industries like agriculture and construction. Sizzling temperatures are causing problems for those who work in factories, warehouses and restaurants and also for employees of airlines and telecommunications firms, delivery services and energy companies. Even home health aides are running into trouble.... The cost is high. In 2021, more than 2.5 billion hours of labor in the U.S. agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and service sectors were lost to heat exposure, according to data compiled by The Lancet."

Beyond the Beltway

Arkansas. Annabelle Timsit of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Arkansas temporarily blocked a state law that would have made it a crime for librarians and booksellers to give minors materials deemed 'harmful' to them -- a move celebrated by free-speech advocates, who had decried the law as a violation of individual liberties. Act 372 would have taken effect Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction Saturday, siding with bookstores, libraries and patrons in the state that argued in a lawsuit filed last month that parts of the law were unconstitutional."

Colorado. Amanda Holpuch of the New York Times: "A Colorado police officer was found guilty of two misdemeanors on Friday after facing charges for putting a handcuffed woman in a patrol car that was parked on active railroad tracks and then struck by a freight train. The Fort Lupton police officer, Jordan Steinke, is one of two officers facing criminal charges after Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 21, was pulled over on the night of Sept. 16, 2022, and then struck by the train while trapped in the police car.... Ms. Rios-Gonzalez ... suffered 'severe head trauma' and 'serious bodily injury,' according to court records."

North Carolina. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "A man driving an S.U.V. plowed into a group of six migrant workers outside a Walmart in Lincolnton, N.C., on Sunday in an 'intentional assault,' the police said. The attack took place just after 1:15 p.m., when the man, who was behind the wheel of a midsize black S.U.V. with a luggage rack, steered toward the group, according to a statement released on Sunday evening by the Lincolnton Police Department. The episode was caught on video, and the department was asking the public for help in identifying the vehicle or the driver. All six of the workers were transported to Atrium Health Lincoln with 'various injuries' that were not life-threatening, the police said."

Way Beyond

A Climate Warning from the Fertile Crescent. Alissa Rubin, et al., of the New York Times: "The word itself, Mesopotamia, means the land between rivers.... The rivers here, some scholars say, fed the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon and converged at the place described in the Bible as the Garden of Eden. Now, so little water remains in some villages near the Euphrates River that families are dismantling their homes, brick by brick, piling them into pickup trucks -- window frames, doors and all -- and driving away.... Nearly 40 percent of Iraq, an area roughly the size of Florida, has been overtaken by blowing desert sands that claim tens of thousands of acres of arable land every year. Climate change and desertification are to blame, scientists say. So are weak governance and the continued reliance on wasteful irrigation techniques that date back millenniums to Sumerian times."

Pakistan. Sophia Saifi & Allegra Goodwin of CNN: "At least 44 people died after a suicide bomber attacked a political convention organized by an Islamist party in northwestern Pakistan, police said. More than 100 were injured, 17 critically, in the attack targeting members of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party, who had gathered in the town of Khar, close to the border with Afghanistan. Local police said the attacker detonated explosives near the convention's stage. There has been no initial claim of responsibility for the attack. But the local branch of ISIS has previously targeted JUI-F party leaders as they consider them apostates." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Monday is here: "At least four people died, and 43 were injured after Russian missiles struck the southern city of Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's Internal Affairs Ministry said Monday. Kryvyi Rih is President Zelensky's home town.]... On Sunday, Zelensky did not directly address Russia's accusation that Ukraine was behind weekend drone attacks in Moscow and Crimea, all of which Kremlin officials said were thwarted.... The Russian Defense Ministry said it thwarted a drone attack Sunday on Moscow and blamed Ukraine for the strike...."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Paul Reubens, the comic actor whose childlike alter-ego Pee-wee Herman became a movie and television sensation in the 1980s, and whose career was briefly derailed by a sex scandal in the early 1990s, died on Sunday. He was 70."

AP: "At about summer's halfway point, the record-breaking heat and weather extremes are both unprecedented and unsurprising.... Globally, June this year was the hottest June on record -- and scientists say July has been so hot that even before the month was over they could say it was the hottest month on record. But it's individual places where people live that the heat has stuck around and killed.Phoenix, where the last day of June and each day of July has been at least 110 degrees (43 degrees Celsius), set records for the longest mega-heat streak and longest stretch when the temperatures didn't go below 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius) at night.... 'We are favoring above normal temperatures for the next three months,' said NOAA Climate Prediction Center meteorologist Matt Rosencrans." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, July 31 is forecast to be the coolest July 31 on record. Really.

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