The Commentariat -- September 19, 2021
Late Morning Update:
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here.
South Carolina. Marie: There was yet another killing I missed in the Carolina gothic saga, which may or may not be related the Murdaugh family: ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "In June, a few weeks after the death of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announced that it was opening a new inquiry into the death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old man who was found on a road about 10 miles from the Murdaugh home [in 2015]. His death has never been fully explained, and no arrests were made.... The police have not accused the Murdaugh family of wrongdoing in the case, and they have not said what -- during their Murdaugh investigation -- led them to open an investigation into Mr. Smith's death."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Kathy Gannon of the AP: "A Qatar Airways flight on Friday took more Americans out of Afghanistan, according to Washington's peace envoy, the third such airlift by the Mideast carrier since the Taliban takeover and the frantic U.S. troop pullout from the country. The development came amid rising concerns over the future of Afghanistan under the Taliban. The country's new Islamic rulers on Friday ordered that boys but not girls from grades six to 12, and male teachers but no women teachers return to school and resume classes, starting Saturday." According to an Axios report, the Friday flight carried "28 U.S. citizens and seven lawful permanent residents".
Rick Noack & Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: "... as the French faced one of their biggest fights among allies in years -- which was prompted at least in part by Britain -- French ire at their neighbors to the north was curiously limited. Paris on Friday recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia for consultations as part of its outrage over a quietly negotiated deal involving the United States and Britain to share technology on nuclear-powered subs with Australia. The pact effectively canceled an earlier agreement by Australia to buy French diesel-powered submarines. But France didn't recall its ambassador to Britain, and officials appeared relatively tight-lipped about London's role even as they lashed out at Australia's 'treason' and compared the U.S. decision to a Trump-era move against an ally.... French diplomats [seem to be] suggesting that Britain is not worth bothering with].]..." ~~~
~~~ We Thinks They Doth Protests Too Much. Rod McGuirk of the AP: "France would have known Australia had 'deep and grave concerns' that a submarine fleet the French were building would not meet Australian needs, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Sunday after the contract's cancellation set off a diplomatic crisis."
Katie Lillis, et al., of CNN: "Just after the US military launched a Hellfire missile to stop a white Toyota Corolla it believed to be an imminent threat to US troops leading the evacuation at the Kabul airport, the CIA issued an urgent warning: Civilians were likely in the area, including possibly children inside the vehicle, according to three sources familiar with the situation. It was too late. The warning on August 29 came seconds before the missile hit the car, killing 10 civilians, including seven children. In the weeks following, the military insisted that it had been a justified strike on a confirmed terrorist target, acknowledging that some civilians might have been killed. But on Friday, after weeks of media coverage casting doubt on the legitimacy of the strike, the military acknowledged no one in the car was affiliated with ISIS-K as originally believed."
Emily Davies, et al., of the Washington Post: "The most anticipated visit by right-wing activists to the nation's capital since a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 ended with a whimper Saturday, as demonstrators supporting the rioters found themselves far outnumbered by police, journalists and counterprotesters. Although the protesters returned to the scene of a historically grievous attack on American democracy, it was immediately obvious that much had changed. The Capitol grounds -- where poorly prepared police fought a losing, hand-to-hand battle against ... Donald Trump's supporters just over eight months ago -- were secured Saturday with metal fences and hundreds of officers. The halls of Congress were all but deserted. No president, or former president, delivered a bellicose speech urging that his election loss be overturned. Police made just four arrests throughout the day, seizing two weapons." An NBC News report is here.
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Jesse Drucker & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "The largest U.S. accounting firms have perfected a remarkably effective behind-the-scenes system to promote their interests in Washington. Their tax lawyers take senior jobs at the Treasury Department, where they write policies that are frequently favorable to their former corporate clients, often with the expectation that they will soon return to their old employers. The firms welcome them back with loftier titles and higher pay, according to public records reviewed by The New York Times and interviews with current and former government and industry officials. From their government posts, many of the industry veterans approved loopholes long exploited by their former firms, gave tax breaks to former clients and rolled back efforts to rein in tax shelters -- with enormous impact." ~~~
~~~ Marie: These of course are not benign tax tricks for rich corporations & a few bean counters. What is happening and has happened here means you and I pay higher taxes to make up for what corporations avoided.
Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "The four-person crew of SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean Saturday evening, successfully completing the first-ever trip of an all-civilian orbit team into space. Video of the moment showed the SpaceX Dragon capsule parachuting back onto Earth, with people cheering as it officially splashed into the Atlantic off the Florida coast shortly after 7 p.m." The New York Times story is here.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here: "The extremely transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus, which overtook all other variants in the United States just a few months ago, now represents more than 99 percent of cases tracked in the country, according to the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Beyond the Beltway
Pennsylvania Senate Race. Scott Bland of Politico: "A super PAC backing a rival Republican candidate is hitting the airwaves with an ad highlighting two instances when Pennsylvania Senate candidate Sean Parnell's wife sought protective orders against him. The ad, from the pro-Jeff Bartos 'Jobs for Our Future' super PAC, is slated to run on TV on Saturday night during the Penn State University football game against Auburn University.... The 60-second ad opens with a montage of Fox Nation clips featuring Parnell making comments about women, including saying, 'The idea that a woman can live a happy and fulfilling life without a man -- I think it's all nonsense.' (Parnell has previously dismissed the clip as a 'comedy appearance.')... Bartos and Parnell are two of the best-known Republican candidates in the 2022 race...."
Texas. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "A Texas doctor disclosed on Saturday that he had performed an abortion in defiance of a new state law that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, setting up a potential test case of one of the most restrictive abortion measures in the nation. In an opinion essay published in The Washington Post under the headline 'Why I violated Texas's extreme abortion ban,' the doctor, Alan Braid, who has been performing abortions for more than 40 years, said that he performed one on Sept. 6 for a woman who, although still in her first trimester, was beyond the state's new limit. 'I acted because I had a duty of care to this patient, as I do for all patients, and because she has a fundamental right to receive this care,' Dr. Braid wrote."
Way Beyond
Iran/Israel. Ronen Bergman & Farnaz Fassihi of the New York Times on how Israel used a killer robot, hidden in a pickup truck left by the side of a rural Iranian road, to murder Iran's top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020: "... unlike a drone, the robotic machine gun draws no attention in the sky, where a drone could be shot down, and can be situated anywhere, qualities likely to reshape the worlds of security and espionage.... Iranian investigators noted that not one of [the bullets] hit Mr. Fakhrizadeh's wife,] seated inches away, accuracy that they attributed to the use of facial recognition software."
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Reader Comments (10)
Here in Skagit County WA (about fifty miles north of Seattle) two items of interest in this morning's paper.
We grow eight percent of the world's spinach seed. That's spinach, not turnip, though in the town where I grew up, one river valley south, there was a family with the Turnipseed name....
In our fertile county, we have also produced a crop of Republican hayseeds who in the name of the Voter Integrity Project are going door to door, asking for personal information in an attempt to ferret out the fraud that wasn't.
The County Auditor just issued a warning.
Of course, the local Republican Party has claimed on its website that it has found hundreds of instances of voter fraud, but (also of course) has not provided any proof of such to the auditor...
Don't recall seeing this on realitychex, but 2 days ago the delusional
former president* wrote a letter to Georgia secretary of state
claiming widespread voter fraud in Georgia, so Biden should be
decertified and his opponent should be declared the winner in Ga.
Will this BS go on for four years? Time will tell.
https://news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-wrote-georgia-secretary-
091241802.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma
About the unattended rally(s) to support the fraud of Donny: I am reminded of cockroaches running away at the approach of light - keep shining the light and let them whimper.
Ken: the weird hayseed R's who trustingly give personal info, yet won't vax, and who can't play nice on the playground are being noticed by the quiet ones in the majority as ones who shit in their own nest. Hope springs eternal for us all!
Finally, the French sure seem pissed that their almost successful attempt to sell antiquated technology submarines to one of the most potentially dangerous hotspots in the world was upended. Their response reminds me of a guy who tried to sell me a timeshare in Hawaii: best friend quickly morphing into bad guy when no check was forthcoming.
Forrest,
I'll take a stab.
The answer to your question is "yes."
As long anyway as the Pretender continues to make money from this, his latest, and one of his most successful and prolonged scams.
Even if it doesn't rival the four years he blackened our White House...
Oh, Ken–-be nice. Invite them there Hayseeds in for tea and give them succor and sympathy for their arduous task. Listen politely, ask "more tea?" and at the last minute as they depart tell them exactly what you think –-use harsh words like "Bullshit" and "slanderous" and throw in "Shlemihl's"for good measure. The family dog–-if you got one---should also be in play trained to bar its teeth and growl at command.
Of course it appears nothing deters these nitwits–– nothing! EXCept–-if they were made to pay for all the recounts instead of taxpayers.
Some of you may remember my fury at the drug Prevagen's ads. If you watch Television with ads you know how ubiquitous drug ads are. The contra-indications for many of these drugs are so frightening one would think you would rather live with your problem than take a bloody pill. There is an ad for a anti-depressant that floors me! A woman is on this kind of medication but she's still depressed so doctor gives her ANOTHER anti-depressant to counter the first one. The side effects? suicidal thoughts and depression!
Well, today in the NYT's Farah Stockman takes on Generics–-well researched and eye opening info.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/18/opinion/drug-market-prescription-generic.html
PD,
I’m always impressed with how quickly the voiceovers are done on those pharmaceutical spots, seemingly attempting to elide (if not hide) the really alarming stuff.
So, a spot for liver something or other features all these bucolic images of people having fun, eating with the grandkids, doing aerobics, swimming at the beach, accompanied by appropriately soporific music, and five seconds before the end, you get…
“Those taking benzenioprene may experience headaches, nausea, loss of feeling in extremities, tooth decay, back spasms, unaccountable hair loss, bone deformities, athlete’s foot, spinal meningitis, brain malfunctions, toe fungus, vertigo while walking down the front steps, and death. Call your doctor…”, all done by someone channeling motormouth John Moschitta who did those rocket powered FedEx commercials years ago.
Yeah, sure. I’ll take some-a that. At least one of the side effects wasn’t “Trump re-elected”.
https://youtu.be/NeK5ZjtpO-M
You need to take all the fun out of lying if you want to save democracy
"We can't stop them from telling themselves wild, howling lies about being "real Americans" chosen by God to rule America in His name. But we can treat them like moral agents. We can say, look. You know the truth. You know you are choosing to believe a lie. The question now is whether you are prepared to face the consequences. That would take the fun out of lying and perhaps save democracy in the process."
I don't think media personalities know what "confusing" means. They constantly say on the teevee that the feds are putting out "confusing" information about the pandemic & its remedies. No, actually, they're putting out "conflicting" information. That is, you should get a booster/you shouldn't get a booster. There's nothing confusing about that. Almost everyone can understand both sentences: get a booster/don't get a booster. The advice is conflicting, so people don't know what to do. But they aren't "confused." They know they've received conflicting advice.
AND, as protocols evolve with this and other new illnesses, advice WILL evolve. That's neither surprising nor confusing.
Confusing would be advice from the same source that is muddled or seemingly self-contradictory (when it isn't meant to be). If you can't figure out what a set of instructions means, it has confused you. I'm often confused, for instance, when I have to follow the instructions of putting together some device (and this may not be entirely the fault of the instruction-writers).
@PD, re: your post yesterday. I, too, was surprised reading the McWhorton piece about the controversy surrounding the de-naming of the theater in Memorial Union after Fredric March. It struck closer to home because I attended the dedication ceremony to took place in 1978.
(I have to ask you as a fellow alum - Did you also go across the street to Science Hall to take rides down the spiral fire escape after a few beers in Der Rathskeller?)