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Man is exposing himself, trying to grab women and girls on W&OD trail
Police said they believe at least six incidents are linked to the same person
People travel along the Washington and Old Dominion Trail in March 2020. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
Fairfax County and Herndon police said Wednesday that they believe at least six recent cases of a man exposing himself or trying to grab women and girls on or near the Washington and Old Dominion Trail are linked to the same perpetrator.
At a news conference, Fairfax County Police Department Sgt. Tara Gerhard appealed for the public’s help in finding the man responsible and held up a photo of the person that she said had come from a Herndon resident’s surveillance footage system.
Gerhard said Fairfax police have deployed additional officers to work in the area, including neighborhood patrol units on foot and on bicycles, as well as K-9 units. She advised joggers to take precautions.
“These women did nothing wrong. They are victims of a crime,” Gerhard said.
She offered this advice: “We’re asking you to make sure you tell somebody where you’re going if you’re going out for exercise or for a walk. Make sure that you take your phone with you. … If you’re wearing headphones, keep the music at a reasonable level and pay attention to your surroundings.”
Gerhard said the man in the photo from Herndon matches the description of the person believed to be behind each of the attacks, and investigators are combing through previous cases to determine whether he might be linked to others.
The most recent incident occurred Tuesday evening in the 1800 block of Old Reston Avenue, Fairfax County police said. In what they described as an “attempted abduction,” police said a man tried to grab a teenager walking on the sidewalk, and the teen broke free and ran.
On Friday, Fairfax County police said a man similarly grabbed a woman who was walking east on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, between Town Center Parkway and the Fairfax County Parkway, a little after 8 a.m. The woman, they said, broke free and saw the man running toward the 12100 block of Sunset Hills Road “with no pants on.” Later that day, Herndon police responded to a call for of an “assault and indecent exposure” on the trail near Ferndale Avenue.
A Herndon police spokesperson said Wednesday that the incident is believed to be connected to the other Fairfax County cases. County police said the man also may have exposed himself on the trail near the Fairfax County Parkway between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Aug. 3, Aug. 15 and Aug. 18.
“We’re continuing to talk to witnesses and victims in these cases to see if there’s any new information that we can relay to our communities,” Gerhard said.
Gerhard said that, if the person is apprehended, charges could range from assault to indecent exposure, depending on the case and what the investigation reveals. Gerhard also said that all of the victims are female, both juveniles and adults.
Police do not know whether the man has a vehicle to get to the W&OD trail or if he lives in the Fairfax area, Gerhard said. | 2022-08-31T23:03:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Police: Man exposing himself, trying to grab females on the W&OD trail - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/31/wod-trail-exposure-attempted-abductions/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/31/wod-trail-exposure-attempted-abductions/ |
Unions are growing more popular. Democrats should talk about that.
Demonstrators protesting outside a closed Starbucks in Seattle on July 16. (David Ryder/Bloomberg)
Labor unions are one of those issues in which there is an unambiguous distinction between the two parties: Democrats like unions, Republicans hate them. In places where Democrats run the government, conditions are reasonably favorable for labor organizing. Republican states make it as hard as possible for unions to form and grow.
But the public is not evenly divided on labor unions. In fact, unions seem to be getting more and more popular.
Which suggests that Democrats could be arguing more often, and more forcefully, for the virtues of collective bargaining. And the Omidyar Network, alongside a coalition of advocacy organizations, has commissioned a poll from the progressive firm Data for Progress that illustrates the point.
The survey found broad public support for the recent spate of labor organizing. It found that 63 percent of likely voters favor “recent efforts to establish unions at Amazon warehouses, Apple retail stores, Starbucks coffee shops and other establishments.”
What’s more, by 56 percent to 37 percent, respondents said they sympathized more with workers trying to organize than with companies trying to maintain their business in a tough environment. Asked whether they’d support a Democratic candidate who supports unionization efforts or a Republican candidate who opposes them, they chose the Democrat by a 12-point margin.
This is borne out by public polling. A new Gallup survey shows that a striking 71 percent of Americans say they have a favorable view of unions, the highest number Gallup has recorded since 1965.
Back then, around one-third of U.S. workers were members of a union. Today, union membership is at just 10 percent of workers, with local government employees accounting for most of those.
Yet, even with that decline, Americans’ esteem for unions seems to have grown. In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 58 percent of Americans said the decline in union membership has been bad for the country, and 61 percent said it has been bad for workers.
The recent rise in union favorability might have something to do with the unionization stories we’ve seen recently — which are, as ever, underdog tales. Low-wage workers from Starbucks or Trader Joe’s face off against gigantic corporations with limitless resources being devoted to quashing their employees’ desire to band together.
When the workers win, it makes for an unlikely and dramatic story, as employees in New York recently did against Amazon (whose founder, Jeff Bezos, owns The Post). And on another front, the hot labor market has made for more favorable conditions for labor organizing.
Thus, the time seems ripe for Democrats to amplify the case for unions. In addition to the shift in public sentiment, we’re also seeing the party embrace industrial policy to rebuild the U.S. manufacturing base — including investments in the computer chip industry and in green manufacturing jobs.
So the party is redirecting from its more neoliberal orientation in the 1990s (and even to some extent in the 2000s). And talking about organized labor more could help signal that party shift to voters.
Veteran labor organizer Michael Podhorzer points out that the news of various union drives unexpectedly succeeding creates a clear opening for Democrats.
“In this moment, when working-class people are again on the move and trying to organize against the biggest companies in the economy,” Podhorzer told us, “Democrats can fill in the blank and show whose side they’re on, by supporting them.”
What’s more, because of post-pandemic conditions and other economic factors, this moment is also illustrating how workers benefit from increased bargaining power. Democrats have an opportunity to explain to the public that this increased power is good for workers, and that unions are a crucial vehicle for fighting to maximize it.
“Workers have built bargaining power, benefit from it, like it, and are going to keep organizing for more,” Nafisah Ula, organizing director at Jobs with Justice, told us in a statement, adding that politicians should signal clearly to workers that they “are going to support them and deliver results.”
Richard Yeselson, who writes about the labor movement and its history and was a longtime union campaign strategist, added: “When Democrats passionately support unions, they are promoting a large social good that also organizes workers around shared interests.” He noted that this helps frustrate right-wing efforts to divide the working class “into the cannon fodder of the culture wars.”
As we all know, those right-wing efforts to divide are getting only more intense. Democrats should show there’s another way. | 2022-08-31T23:07:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Democrats should be talking about unions loudly and often - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/31/democrats-unions-labor-organizing/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/31/democrats-unions-labor-organizing/ |
Ukraine’s counteroffensive is more than just bravado
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to hoist a flag during a Day of the National Flag ceremony in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Aug. 23. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post). (Heidi levine/FTWP)
“We will oust them to our border,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proclaimed about Russian troops in a speech Monday, marking Ukraine’s Independence Day. “It is time for the Russian military to flee.”
As Ukraine mounts a new counteroffensive in the southern part of the country, Zelensky’s bravado risks setting expectations too high. In truth, Ukraine probably won’t liberate its territory this year, or even next. Still, as Ukrainian forces push toward the Black Sea coast, Zelensky is delivering a defiant response to President Vladimir Putin’s claim that Ukraine is not a real country. Not only can Ukraine survive, it also can regain some of its occupied land.
The best defense is a good offense, as military strategists have argued for centuries. And if Ukraine’s drive toward the coast succeeds, it will restore the country’s economic viability by relieving pressure on its port city of Odessa. Moreover, it could threaten Russia’s occupation of Crimea by cutting into the land bridge that connects to the Russian-controlled Donbas region in the east.
Ukrainian and U.S. officials won’t talk about details of the assault plan. As Zelensky said in his speech, “You won’t hear specifics from any truly responsible person.” But it’s clear from public sources that the Ukrainians are trying to push Russian forces back from the Dnieper River, toward Kherson, and pressing toward Zaporizhzhia, east of Crimea, toward the Sea of Azov. Other thrusts in different parts of the country are likely, too.
Ukraine’s opportunity now is that U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and other precision weapons have allowed the Ukrainian military to target Russian rear headquarters, ammunitions dumps, bridges and other transport nodes. The days when the Russians could sit back near the border and lob missiles at Ukrainian cities are over. “The target set is command and control nodes,” explains one U.S. official. “The Russians are struggling in a big way.”
The Russian military is disoriented because of the pounding they’ve received, U.S. officials believe. Analysts estimate that Russia has lost thousands of officers, including hundreds of colonels and dozens of generals. The relentless attacks have forced Russian commanders to keep moving headquarters posts, adding to their command and logistical problems.
Ukraine’s other big advantage in this new phase of the war is the “partisan” campaign behind the lines against the Russian occupiers. U.S. military commanders warned their Russian counterparts to expect this brutal irregular warfare, based on the U.S. experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. Russian officials didn’t listen, and now they’re facing attacks they don’t see coming and can’t root out, despite all their firepower. Every Ukrainian with a cellphone is an artillery spotter or intelligence collector.
This partisan campaign, like the HIMARS precision fire, is a product of U.S. planning and training of Ukrainian forces. Since 2014, U.S. Special Operations forces have been teaching the Ukrainians how to fight an occupying army — using special units like the ones that were so effective against al-Qaeda and Islamic State fighters.
Gen. Richard Clarke, who is retiring this week as head of U.S. Special Operations Command, explained in an interview how the United States built up its Ukrainian special operations forces (SOF) counterparts in anticipation of a coming campaign against Russian invaders.
“What we did, starting in 2014, was set the conditions,” Clarke recalled. “When the Russians invaded in February, we’d been working with Ukrainian SOF for seven years. With our assistance, they built the capacity, so they grew and they grew in numbers, but more importantly, they built capability,” in both combat assaults and information operations.
To prepare to repel the Russian invasion, each Ukrainian SOF brigade last year created and trained a “resistance company” recruited from the local population in areas such as Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and the Donbas that were likely to be Russian targets. As a result, Clarke said, “If you’re a Russian soldier today, your head must be on a swivel because you don’t know where the threat is. They can’t look at any Ukrainian and know if that person is an enemy.”
This guerrilla war has produced a grim body count among pro-Russian officials in the occupied areas. In the past few weeks, pro-Russian officials have been killed or injured by car bombs, roadside bombs, poison and shotguns.
As Russia has struggled with Ukraine’s fierce resistance, it has increasingly turned to mercenaries from a private army known as the Wagner Group. Their corpses are easy to recognize on the battlefield because they wear distinctive “Grim Reaper” badges with the slogan “Death is our business — and business is good,” and “I don’t believe in anything. I’m here for the violence.”
That grotesque, cynical brutality captured the spirit of Putin’s war. But after six months, the assault has stalled, and for Russia the business of death doesn’t look so good. | 2022-08-31T23:07:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Ukraine’s counteroffensive is more than just bravado - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/31/zelensky-ukraine-southern-counter-offensive/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/31/zelensky-ukraine-southern-counter-offensive/ |
How can a chief executive officer who’s attracted as much ire from passengers as Qantas Airways Ltd.’s Alan Joyce still be impervious to criticism? It helps to remember who executives answer to. Here’s a clue: It’s not the people buying tickets.
Joyce has experienced calls for his resignation from unions and Australia’s parliament and had his home in Sydney defaced with eggs and toilet paper in July following chaotic scenes at airports with long lines, lost luggage and delayed departures. And yet shareholders are in a forgiving mood.
Since reporting annual results last Thursday, the stock has gained nearly 16%. With an enterprise value set at 4.1 times its forecast earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization over the coming 12 months, Qantas is now sitting on a higher multiple than the average 3.6 times in the 10 years before Covid-19 struck.
That’s not surprising when you consider what a good pandemic Qantas had. While the shutdown of air travel caused the carrier to rack up an aggregate A$4.6 billion ($3.2 billion) of losses over the past three years, the effect on its competitors was far worse.
Its main domestic rival, Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd., went into administration and was bought by Bain Capital. With an initial public offering on the cards over the next 12 months, the new owners aren’t looking to jeopardize their exit price with a fare war. Outback carrier Regional Express Holdings Ltd. has been moving in on the lucrative Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane triangle, but remains too small to be a real threat. A new low-cost airline trading under the name Bonza is hoping to start flights shortly, but with the demise of Virgin’s TigerAir brand in 2020 the discount flight market is already monopolized by Qantas’s own Jetstar.
The result has been an entrenchment of the flying kangaroo’s already dominant domestic position. Its market share, trending down in the latter half of the last decade, is now back at levels well above 60%, making it almost impossible for rivals to offer a competitive service in terms of connections and schedules.
That sort of position is rare in the global aviation industry. Domestic airline markets are often a precious asset, providing a haven from the fierce competition that characterizes international routes — but even there, the likes of China, the US, and Brazil see ongoing warfare between three or more major carriers, while Japan is a duopolistic stalemate whose incumbents struggle to return their costs of capital. Among the largest domestic markets, only India and, at a pinch, Russia can boast a player with as commanding a position as Qantas enjoys in Australia — and those developing markets are far less lucrative.
Such dominance has allowed Qantas to take risks that peers in other countries wouldn’t dare. Many airlines shied away from drastic cost-cutting, fearing the backlash from unions and politicians whose support they were counting on through the pandemic, not to mention the impact on customer service from skeleton-crew workforces.
The big three US full-service carriers have 5.2% fewer employees now than they did pre-pandemic. China’s top three have cut staffing by just 2.7%. Qantas reduced its workforce by 14%, more in line with the drastic surgery carried out by European airlines. More than 40% of domestic traffic is now on Jetstar, which lacks the legacy costs of a full-service airline — up from around 25% when Joyce took over in 2008.
Joyce founded the discount carrier after joining Qantas from defunct Ansett Australia Pty. Born to a working-class family in Ireland and one of the country’s first openly gay chief executives, he’s clashed with unions as he’s reduced the workforce by about a quarter, and faced homophobic attacks during his support for Australia’s 2017 marriage equality law. During his 14 years as CEO, he’s cemented Qantas’s position in Australia despite falling short in efforts to break into Asia’s discount carrier market.
As a result of the savings he’s made, free cash flows last year hit a record A$1.7 billion, allowing Qantas to cut its net debt by A$2.1 billion. At a time when much of the industry is struggling under the weight of borrowings, analysts expect Qantas’s net debts to be just 1.1 times its Ebitda next year, falling to less than one in the two subsequent years.
It’s hard to cut costs to the bone without having a similar effect on service, and there’s no doubt that Qantas’s reputation has been deeply tarnished. From levels of around 90% of flights arriving and departing on time, its performance has slipped to around 50%, and travelers have reported luggage going missing for days or weeks. At the rural airport of Geraldton in July, more than 150 passengers were forced to sleep on the terminal floor after fog and staffing issues delayed a connection to Perth. Frequent fliers have been offered lounge passes, a video message from Joyce, and A$50 vouchers to apologize for the standard of service.
Shareholders have done better. Those who bought close to the bottom at the end of March 2020 have enjoyed a 65% capital gain, and last week were given a A$400 million share buyback, too. If the uptake of apology vouchers is much below 60%, Qantas will end up giving a bigger thank you to equity investors than passengers.
This is only to be expected. Customers hate businesses with excessive market share, knowing how little choice they have to seek alternatives. For the same reasons, shareholders love them. So long as that situation prevails, Joyce’s job will be safe.
• Beleaguered US Airline Passengers Deserve a Bill of Rights: Brooke Sutherland | 2022-08-31T23:16:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Passengers Hate Qantas. Shareholders Aren’t Bothered - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/passengers-hate-qantas-shareholders-arent-bothered/2022/08/31/1d11f8a6-2979-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/passengers-hate-qantas-shareholders-arent-bothered/2022/08/31/1d11f8a6-2979-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
D.C. auditor involved in romance scheme, prosecutors say
Michael Brice-Saddler
“justice concept, selective focus on nearest part, lens blur f/x” (iStock)
Charles Egunjobi worked as an auditor with the D.C. government ensuring people complied with financial laws, but federal prosecutors say he had a side gig breaking them — operating a money-laundering scheme for a romance scam that netted $1.9 million from mostly elderly victims.
The man who allegedly ran the scheme, a government contractor and a special deputy U.S. marshal, struck up relationships with women online, often posing as a U.S. Armed Forces member serving overseas before bilking them, according to criminal complaints filed in federal court in Greenbelt, Md., last week.
There were 21 alleged victims.
“If you find yourself in an online relationship and you’re asked for a bunch of money, it’s probably fraud not love,” Erek L. Barron, U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, said in a statement.
Egunjobi, 48, of Waldorf, has been charged with money laundering, while his accused co-conspirator Isidore Iwuagwu, 35, of Upper Marlboro, is facing a count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to charging documents. If convicted, Egunjobi faces a maximum of five years in prison, while Iwaugwu could get a sentence of up to 20 years.
Egunjobi’s attorney declined to comment, and Iwuagwu’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Federal prosecutors say Iwuagwu began the romance scam in October 2015 and it continued through July 2021. In one scam, an older woman living in Mesa, Ariz., received a Facebook friend request from a man named “Gerrald Burns,” according to a criminal complaint.
Burns told the woman he was a lieutenant commander in the Army stationed at a U.S. base, and he had photos of himself dressed in a military uniform, charging documents showed. Burns professed his love for the woman, and she reciprocated.
He told the victim in July 2021 he was being transferred to Djibouti, according to a criminal complaint. Burns eventually messaged the woman that his unit executed a raid against a terrorist organization, recovering millions in cash and gold.
Burns told the woman he wanted to share the wealth with her, but he said she needed to pay $67,000 to a logistics company to help get the cash and gold shipped back to the United States, according to the criminal complaint.
The woman tried to send the money to an account that was opened by Iwuagwu, but the banks involved in the transfer concluded it was a scam and canceled the transfer, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators also determined there was no Gerrald Burns in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Other victims sent tens of thousands of dollars, and one victim lost $300,000, according to court records.
‘Casanova Scammer’ admits to stealing $1 million from women on dating apps
Iwuagwu worked as a contractor for the Justice Department, where he provided security at facilities. He also carried a firearm and had the power to arrest people in D.C. because he had been deputized as a special deputy U.S. marshal.
Egunjobi told investigators that he received U.S. currency from Iwuagwu and gave the man Nigerian money in return, according to criminal complaints. Egunjobi is also accused of receiving thousands of dollars directly from one of the victims.
The D.C. Office of the Chief Financial Officer, where Egunjobi worked, initially declined to comment, citing the pending criminal case against him. The office later confirmed that Egunjobi has worked as a tax auditor within its agency since 2009 and is on administrative leave amid an ongoing investigation.
Egunjobi has worked for the D.C. government for nearly 14 years, according to an online résumé. It said he performs audits, examines payrolls and makes recommendations about tax liability among other duties. | 2022-08-31T23:16:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | D.C. auditor, contractor involved in romance scam, prosecutors say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/31/dc-auditor-scam-romance-charges/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/31/dc-auditor-scam-romance-charges/ |
A year after Afghanistan evacuation, Biden backs new military awards
U.S. Marines at an evacuation control checkpoint at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Aug. 21, 2021. (Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/U.S. Marine Corps/AP)
President Biden has approved a commendation for U.S. troops involved in the withdrawal and evacuation from Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Wednesday, one year after the conclusion of a military airlift that removed 124,000 people fleeing the Taliban, but was marred by its chaotic nature and violence.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that Biden had approved a meritorious unit commendation, a mid-level award that recognizes laudable service. Austin also has directed Pentagon officials to perform an expedited review of all units that were present at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during the evacuation to see if other unit or individual awards are appropriate, the defense secretary said.
“No words can properly honor the deeds we recognize with these awards,” Austin’s statement said. “What these awards reflect — and what I hope the units who receive them will feel — is the gratitude and love our nation.”
Austin raised the possibility of a Presidential Unit Citation — a more prestigious group award that recognizes units demonstrating extraordinary heroism — as one option that could be approved.
The announcement comes after U.S. troops involved in the evacuation have detailed in interviews published over the past week how heavily the operation weighs on them, and the life-or-death choices they were forced to make. U.S. troops also have voiced frustration that commanders have approved awards for some individuals, while other nominations languish.
For U.S. troops who survived evacuation from Afghanistan, guilt and grief endure
Thirteen U.S. troops were killed and dozens more were injured in a suicide bombing on Aug. 26, 2021, at the airport’s Abbey Gate near the end of the evacuation effort. The United States had received warnings that the Islamic State’s component in Afghanistan wanted to attack, but troops continued to look for potential evacuees in the crowd outside the airport until the explosion.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said that Austin, a retired Army general who served in Afghanistan, visited Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday morning to pay his respects to the fallen, including those who served in Afghanistan.
When asked what prompted the expedited review now, Ryder declined to answer directly.
“Obviously, this is a significant recognition for those who served in Afghanistan and participated in this very significant event,” Ryder said of the meritorious unit commendation. “From the secretary’s standpoint, really the key message here is that it’s meant to express the gratitude of the Department of Defense and our nation for what it is our men and women serving in Afghanistan during this very challenging time … accomplished.”
Nearly 6,000 U.S. troops were involved in the evacuation, most deployed with little notice to the airport after it was overwhelmed by desperate civilians on Aug. 15, 2021, after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and the Taliban swept into power in Kabul.
For the following two weeks, U.S. troops searched tens of thousands of Afghans by hand for explosives and other weapons, manned external security at the perimeter of the airport as others without permission sought to break in, and reviewed documents to determine who had U.S. approval to board flights.
Podcast: What really happened as the U.S. left Afghanistan
Thirty-seven Marines were awarded Purple Hearts for injuries sustained in the bombing, said Maj. Jordan Cochran, a Marine Corps spokesman. More than 300 Marines and sailors received ribbons stipulating that they engaged in direct combat during the operation.
In the Army, at least four soldiers have received Purple Hearts for injuries suffered in the evacuation, said Maj. Jackie Wren, a service spokeswoman. Nearly 330 soldiers were recognized for experiencing combat during the evacuation.
The most significant individual awards approved so far are Bronze Star medals with V device, military officials said.
Sgt. Wyatt Wilson received the award for dragging a fellow Marine who was critically wounded following the suicide bombing despite being grievously wounded himself, according to an award citation. The service credited him with saving the life of the other Marine. Wilson later underwent lifesaving surgery.
Maj. Benjamin Sutphen also received the Bronze Star with V after coordinating the evacuation of wounded service members and civilians from the bombing site despite his own debilitating injuries, according to an award citation. | 2022-08-31T23:16:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A year after Afghanistan evacuation, Biden backs new military awards - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/kabul-evacuation-troops-military-awards/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/kabul-evacuation-troops-military-awards/ |
Justice filing points to new legal trouble for Trump and lawyers, experts say
Prosecutors allege that Trump’s team misled them about whether FBI agents were given all classified documents from Mar-a-Lago
Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (Steve Helber/AP)
Newly public details from the Justice Department’s extraordinary criminal probe of documents taken to Mar-a-Lago suggest enormous legal peril for two of Donald Trump’s attorneys — and considerable uncertainty for Trump himself, intelligence and legal experts said.
There’s no way to predict whether the Justice Department will ultimately pursue charges against the former president or his associates. But in a lengthy court filing Tuesday night, government lawyers recounted numerous instances in which Trump’s lawyers allegedly misled government officials during the investigation and Trump or his team appear to have haphazardly handled materials that contained national security secrets.
The evidence laid out in the filing, experts said, could build a legal case that Trump attorneys Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb obstructed the government’s investigation, allegedly telling FBI agents and prosecutors that they had handed over all classified documents when in fact many remained in Trump’s possession.
Left unanswered were key questions that could determine Trump’s legal fate: Did he direct Corcoran and Bobb to mislead the government, either before or after the FBI raid of his Florida home and club? And, if so, why did he want to keep reams of top-secret classified documents there?
“It’s bad,” said Peter Lapp, a former FBI agent who worked on espionage cases and is now a private consultant. “It’s all pretty damning.”
The filing landed shortly after Trump hired a new lawyer, after struggling for weeks to find experienced attorneys willing to represent him. Chris Kise, a former solicitor general in Florida who served as an adviser on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s transition team, signed a multimillion-dollar deal to represent the former president, according to people familiar with the hire. They said he was given assurances that he would be taking a “lead” role in the case.
Trump team may have hidden, moved classified papers, Justice Dept. says
“Evan is in a jam, but the question is what Evan actually believed,” one person involved in Trump’s orbit said of Corcoran. “The president needs another lawyer than Evan right now.”
Kise was highly recommended by multiple Trump allies in Florida, people with knowledge of the situation said. Like several others interviewed for this story, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive aspects of Trump’s legal case.
The new lawyer’s role could be on display as soon as Thursday, when U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon will hold a hearing in Florida on Trump’s request that a special master review files seized during the FBI’s search.
The Justice Department filing argued against the request, and laid out its justification for the search and for the government’s right to both classified and unclassified White House documents.
The filing states that when officials visited Mar-a-Lago in June, Trump’s lawyers did not let them search boxes in a storage room where the documents had been kept. Trump’s custodian of records, who was not identified by name in the filing but previous reporting has shown is Bobb, signed a sworn statement in June pledging to officials that a “diligent search” for classified materials had been conducted at Mar-a-Lago. Another Trump lawyer, Evan Corcoran, allegedly told investigators at that time that all classified documents had been returned.
Two months after the sworn statement by the custodian of records, FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago and recovered more than 100 additional classified papers, some with labels that suggest they involve highly sensitive intelligence information. At a minimum, experts said, the seizure could lay the groundwork to charge Bobb and Corcoran with obstruction-related crimes.
“They swore they had provided a diligent search and had provided all the classified documents in their possession, which they had weeks to provide,” Elizabeth Goitein, a national security lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice, said Wednesday. “These kinds of details provide significant support for the obstruction charges.”
Three people close to Trump acknowledged that Bobb and Corcoran could be in trouble and said Bobb is no longer expected to play a role in Trump’s legal defense. “Christina is not going to be on the motions going forward,” one of the people said.
Bobb and Corcoran did not respond to requests for comment. One top Trump adviser said the former president’s legal team planned to argue that there was “wiggle room” in the sworn attestation.
When agents searched Mar-a-Lago, they sought documents that were “illegally possessed” in violation of three federal laws, according to the warrant, including a part of the Espionage Act that prohibits gathering, transmitting or losing national defense information.
The warrant, unsealed in August, also said agents were seeking evidence of potential destruction of records and concealment or mutilation of government material, two criminal statutes designed to prevent the obstruction of investigations.
The photo of classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago, annotated
Trump and his team have claimed that the former president was allowed to have the documents that were found in his possession and had declassified them before leaving office. But experts said that is probably not a strong defense, particularly if the information in those materials could pose a serious threat to national security if released.
Among the most explosive details in the Justice Department response on Tuesday was a photograph showing files labeled “Top Secret” with bright red or yellow cover sheets, spread out over a carpet. Those files were found inside a container in Trump’s office, according to the court filing. A close examination of one of the cover sheets in the photo shows a marking for “HCS,” a government abbreviation for systems used to protect intelligence gathered from secret human sources.
Lapp, the former FBI agent, called the photo “striking” and said the cover sheets on those documents suggest that they were probably still considered classified.
And while Trump’s team could claim that it did not know it was still in possession of those documents, Goitein said the fact that the filing said that agents found so many documents at Mar-a-Lago so quickly during the search could complicate that argument.
“Trump and his lawyers had months to find these documents,” she said. “The FBI was able to find them easily. It was in a desk, for goodness sake.”
Still, despite the mounting evidence found at Mar-a-Lago, there is no precedent for prosecuting a former president. That’s one of the questions investigators are probably grappling with as they proceed with their probe: What does it take to charge someone who once served as the commander in chief?
The evidence would need to meet a higher threshold than is necessary in a typical case, according to Chuck Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney and senior FBI official.
Sen. Lindsey Graham warns of 'riots in the streets' if Trump is prosecuted
Rosenberg said there would need to be compelling evidence that a crime had been committed and that the alleged crime would have to be serious — far more serious than what is needed to compel prosecutors to pursue charges against an ordinary citizen. “One or the other is not sufficient,” he added.
“I don’t imagine you would charge any former president with a relatively minor crime,” Rosenberg said, referencing one of the statutes cited in the search warrant, 18 USC 2071, which criminalizes the mutilation of documents.
Rosenberg said that while that statute is a “perfectly lawful and valid basis” to get into someone’s home on a warrant, it’s probably not a serious enough stand-alone charge to bring against a former president.
“On the other hand, there are some statues — like the espionage statute — that are extraordinarily serious,” he continued. “For instance, and hypothetically, if you find that [a former president] is passing information to a foreign government, or trying to monetize that information, that absolutely succeeds on the magnitude of the crime axis. But you still need the other axis — sufficiently compelling evidence to prove that very serious crime.”
Mary McCord, who served as acting assistant attorney general for national security during the Obama administration, warned that if the documents in Trump’s possession pose a serious risk to national security, prosecutors would have to weigh whether it makes sense to use those materials as evidence in a trial, potentially posing a further national security risk.
“There is an inverse relationship whereby the more highly sensitive the information is, the less likely there will be a case,” McCord said. “There can be a situation in which — separate and apart from the merits of the case — the case is not prosecuted because the national defense information is too sensitive to be brought to a jury.” | 2022-08-31T23:16:40Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bobb, Corcoran could face obstruction, experts say, showing Trump's legal risk - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-lawyers-legal-jeopardy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-lawyers-legal-jeopardy/ |
D.C. sees a boost in visitors, but full recovery remains elusive
The number of travelers who came to D.C. increased in 2021, but the total still remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels
Visitors at the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool on Aug. 31. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)
D.C. welcomed nearly 6 million more visitors last year than in 2020, a sign that people are on the move and eager to travel. It’s also a stark reminder of the challenges the nation’s capital faces as it seeks to rebuild a tourism economy reeling from the global pandemic.
Destination DC, the city’s marketing arm, announced Wednesday that 19.1 million people visited the District in 2021, up from 13.3 million in 2020, when pandemic-related closures and travel restrictions largely grounded domestic and international travel. About 18.8 million of those who came to the nation’s capital last year were domestic travelers, while about 270,000 were international visitors.
Travelers spent $5.4 billion in the city, according to estimates from Destination DC, which supported nearly 58,000 local jobs. As cities across the country compete for the same tourism dollars, local officials said D.C. must be aggressive about marketing the city while incorporating changing travel habits amid the pandemic.
“It’s clear that we are focused on getting back to normal,” said Elliott L. Ferguson II, Destination DC’s executive director. “There are a lot of indicators that give you a sense that things are coming back online.”
Destination DC is projecting that tourism will continue to increase this year. It credits a rise in conventions, widespread vaccinations and more interest in travel.
While an improvement, the 2021 numbers illustrate how far D.C. still has to go. In 2019, before the pandemic, 24.6 million people visited the city, which generated $8.2 billion and supported 79,675 jobs. The number of visitors last year is just more than three-quarters of 2019 levels.
Ferguson made the announcement Wednesday during an annual Destination DC meeting at the newly re-christened Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, one of several hotels that have opened or been renovated during the pandemic. It was previously the Trump International Hotel; former president Donald Trump earlier this year sold his government lease for the property to CGI Merchant Group for $375 million.
Trump sells D.C. hotel lease to Miami investment group
Travel industry officials said local tourism growth plans involve targeting international visitors, who tend to spend more. Before the pandemic, international visitors made up about 7 percent of travelers to the nation’s capital but spent 27 percent of all tourism dollars in the city.
The end of a 33-nation ban in November that barred most non-U.S. citizens from visiting the country has proved to be a boon for the travel industry, as was the Biden administration’s decision to end a requirement that international travelers show proof of a negative coronavirus test before flying. At the same time, staffing shortages this year have prompted flight delays and cancellations in the United States and Europe, forcing airlines to trim their schedules. Other segments of the travel industry, including hotels and restaurants, are similarly struggling with finding enough workers.
Geoff Freeman, the incoming president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, said that throughout the pandemic, the industry has done “a good job with a bad hand.” He estimated that $1 trillion in travel spending has been lost nationwide as a result of dampened enthusiasm since the start of the pandemic.
Tourists are beginning to return to D.C. But the industry’s employees are still struggling.
“With a concerted effort to address today’s head winds — including slow-to-return business travel and government-induced obstacles for international visitors — we’re confident that Washington, D.C., and the nation can achieve a full recovery,” he said.
Despite the travel slowdown, local tourism officials say the region has laid the groundwork for a recovery.
Ferguson said the second phase of the Wharf development is set to open this fall. Across the city, at least 26 new hotels or renovations are in the pipeline, which will add about 5,900 new or improved rooms. The recent Something in the Water festival in downtown Washington over the Juneteenth weekend is another example of the city’s efforts to expand event offerings, Ferguson said.
Across the Potomac River, officials at Reagan National Airport last year opened a new 14-gate concourse, replacing Gate 35X, an infamous bottleneck that required passengers to ride shuttle buses to board their flights. The new concourse allows airlines to operate larger aircraft, potentially increasing the number of visitors. The project also includes new Transportation Security Administration checkpoints aimed at reducing wait times.
So long Gate 35X, long the bane of Reagan National travelers
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said the city hopes to create more destinations for visitors to Washington. She outlined investments the city has made in recent months, including $2.5 million for the D.C. Family Fun program and $2 million to a program focused on reimagining tourism in the city.
“I’m happy to have the opportunity to ensure we are using our resources to make the investments you need to attract people to Washington, those people who live around here, those people who are having staycations, international travelers,” Bowser said. “They’re coming back, and we’re going to be ready for them. D.C. is open.” | 2022-09-01T00:34:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | D.C. tourism: City sees boost in visitors, but full recovery elusive - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/08/31/dc-tourism-visitors-washington/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/08/31/dc-tourism-visitors-washington/ |
Fetterman campaign says stroke recovery factors into fall debate plans
Advisers say Fetterman can engage in one-on-one conversations but struggles with more chaotic auditory environments
Lenny Bernstein
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for the state's U.S. Senate seat, speaks after being introduced by his wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman, right, during a rally in Erie, Pa., on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. (Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)
Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman’s Senate campaign said Wednesday that his stroke recovery, which has complicated his ability to engage in verbal conversations, could influence his plans for debates with Republican nominee Mehmet Oz in one of this fall’s highest-stakes races.
“We are working to figure out what a fair debate would look like with the lingering impacts of the auditory processing in mind,” Fetterman campaign strategist Rebecca Katz said. “To be absolutely clear, the occasional issues he is having with auditory processing have no bearing on his ability to do the job as senator. John is healthy and fully capable of showing up and doing the work."
Advisers say Fetterman can engage in one-on-one conversations but struggles with more chaotic auditory environments, a condition that is common for stroke survivors and which doctors say can improve over time.
Fetterman, who returned to the campaign trail on Aug. 12, has yet to agree to any debates despite assurances from his advisers that he does plan to meet Oz, a celebrity cardiologist, onstage. He announced Tuesday that he would not attend a proposed debate Sept. 6, after the Oz campaign released a statement that, Fetterman said, showed “they think it is funny to mock a stroke survivor.”
The Oz campaign, which is pushing for five debates, including two next week, promised in a sarcastic statement on Tuesday to “pay for any additional medical personnel” Fetterman might need at debates, permit Fetterman to use notes or an earpiece and allow Fetterman to take bathroom breaks as needed. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which supports Oz, doubled down on the line of attack Wednesday, calling Fetterman “a whiny coward” who is “too weak and feeble” to debate.
“If you’re too unhealthy to debate, you are too unhealthy to serve in the U.S. Senate where it can be 10X more intense,” the unsigned NRSC statement said.
The growing tensions highlight an extraordinary dynamic unfolding in a race seen as central to deciding which party controls the Senate next year. Republicans are trying to make Fetterman’s health and his campaign’s explanation of it a liability this fall after Fetterman suffered a mid-May stroke and only later revealed a more complete picture of his medical history.
Fetterman and his allies, seeking to show he can serve in a demanding job despite facing a challenging recovery, have engaged in the fight just as aggressively, labeling the broadsides as shameful attacks from a struggling rival.
Since returning to in-person events, Fetterman’s speeches have been limited to about 10 minutes and are sometimes halting. He has mostly avoided public interactions with reporters and voters, beyond working the rope line. He has done two one-on-one interviews over Zoom with local news outlets that were conducted with real-time closed captioning to avoid gaps in the conversation. In both interviews, he disclosed his continued struggles in both hearing and speaking.
“I’ll miss a word, or I might push two words together sometime in a conversation. But that’s really the only issue and it’s getting better and better,” Fetterman told KDKA in Pittsburgh.
Fetterman’s campaign announced he would have his first national television interview since his stroke on MSNBC on Wednesday night. Oz and Republicans have accused Fetterman of being unable to handle reporter questions.
Democrats and the Fetterman campaign said they see attacks on him from Republicans as a sign of desperation that could backfire on Oz, who has been trailing Fetterman in early polling. A series of Democratic focus groups in August found little concern among swing voters about Fetterman’s health, with substantial sympathy for his continued recovery, according to a Democratic pollster who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private research.
In the sessions, Democrats showed swing voters videos of Fetterman speaking before and after the stroke to test for concerns. Voters responded by saying they knew people who had a stroke and “it takes time” and expressed confidence that he would continue to improve, the pollster said.
Fetterman’s campaign responded to Oz on Wednesday with a video clip from a weekend campaign appearance, where he marveled at the approach of the Oz campaign.
“Can you even imagine that if you had a doctor that was mocking your illness or ridiculing that?” Fetterman said in Mercer County, a rural part of the state. “Here we are right now. I would like to think that Dr. Oz may have really lost his way if you were going to make fun of somebody that had a stroke.”
Oz has avoided engaging in the attacks himself, and on Tuesday he distanced himself from his own campaign for mocking Fetterman for not eating enough vegetables before his stroke.
“I can only speak to what I’m saying,” Oz said in a radio interview.
The new attacks come as Fetterman continues to recover from a life-threatening clot that temporarily restricted blood flow to his brain. His campaign waited nearly two days after the stroke before telling the public that he was in the hospital, and then disclosed weeks later that Fetterman had been diagnosed in 2017 with cardiomyopathy, a separate condition that decreases the amount of blood his heart could pump.
After the stroke, he had a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted to treat the cardiomyopathy, and Fetterman released a public statement promising to take the medication that he had stopped taking after his 2017 diagnosis.
Fetterman’s aides say he has been fully engaged in his campaign and regularly walks multiple miles a day. After Oz distanced himself from his own campaign’s statements, Fetterman personally drafted a meme he circulated on Twitter that used images of the musician Drake to mock those who disapprove of “making fun of strokes” but approve of “others making fun of strokes,” according to a person familiar with the events.
Dr. Joseph Schindler, clinical director of the Yale New Haven Comprehensive Stroke Center, said that without a good clinical exam and an MRI of the brain, it is difficult to know what kind of impairment any individual stroke survivor is having. But he said the inability to filter out external stimuli, including background noise, is a common complaint of people who have suffered strokes. It can improve over time, but does not always do so, he said.
Schindler offered by way of example a person who sits down on a bench. Upon first sitting down, the person feels the bench, but over time the brain filters out that stimulus as it focuses on other things. But after a stroke, a person may not be able to do that, or ignore a conversation nearby or background music, Schindler said.
“My experience is it’s highly variable and recovery is often dependent upon the injury in the brain and the localization of where that injury is,” Schindler said.
The tenor of the campaign between Fetterman and Oz has been deteriorating all summer, with Fetterman mocking Oz as an out-of-touch celebrity “in Gucci loafers” who has long lived in New Jersey and owns multiple properties around the world. Oz has responded by calling Fetterman a soft-on-crime liberal hiding in his basement.
“The Fetterman campaign is completely insulting the intelligence of Pennsylvania voters,” Oz adviser Barney Keller said Wednesday. “It can only be one of two reasons: He is lying about his ability to debate or he is lying about his willingness to debate. He can’t have both at the same time.”
Despite Oz’s own hesitations about the attacks on Fetterman, the Republican’s campaign has not shown any regret about its aggressive attacks on Fetterman’s health.
“Our staff told him to eat his vegetables and his staff employs two convicted murderers,” said one Oz adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to more openly describe the approach. “We will leave it to Pennsylvania to decide.”
Fetterman, who had embraced criminal justice reforms including the legalization of recreational marijuana, employs Dennis and Lee Horton, brothers who spent 30 years in prison for a robbery and murder they say they did not commit. They were recommended for clemency by the state Board of Pardons in 2020, and later released from life sentences, with the support of both Fetterman and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is running as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate this year.
Fetterman has called their release “the pinnacle of my career.”
“These brothers will not die in prison for a crime they didn’t commit,” he said on Twitter in October.
Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) spent several hours Saturday with Fetterman at Demstock, an annual festival gathering for rural Democrats. Casey said there had been no issues with Fetterman’s ability to hear and respond during their interactions in a cavernous room, though his recovery was still evident.
“He sounded really good and really strong,” Casey said. “He’s not there yet, it takes time. I think most people understand that.”
Democrats in the state aren’t “concerned at all,” Casey said. “Obviously he’s had a long road between the stroke right before the primary and where he is today, and he has made remarkable progress in a relatively short amount on time.”
T.J. Rooney, former chairman of the state Democratic Party, hosted a virtual fundraiser for Fetterman a few weeks ago, where the candidate spoke and then there was a Q&A with questions people submitted in advance and were all read by the same donor on the call.
“His speech was definitely off, but he absolutely heard and understood the questions,” Rooney said. “His responses were jumbled, some words mushed together, but he clearly knew what was being asked.” | 2022-09-01T00:47:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Fetterman campaign says stroke recovery factors into fall debate plans - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/31/fetterman-oz-debates-pennsylvania/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/31/fetterman-oz-debates-pennsylvania/ |
The Democrat is the first Alaska Native the state has sent to Congress as well as the rare Democrat to hail from Alaska
Mary Peltola reacts at her campaign party at 49th State Brewing in Anchorage on Aug. 16. (Kerry Tasker/Reuters)
Mary Peltola is a Democrat who, as a child, campaigned with her father and his friend, the state’s longtime Republican congressman. Later, she helped reelect a Republican senator. And she’s friendly with Sarah Palin, the state’s former governor who popularized the kind of combative, anti-establishment politics that propelled Donald Trump to the White House.
“She is progressive, especially socially,” Lindsay Kavanaugh, executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party, said of Peltola. “She is an Alaska Democrat” and “she’s probably, compared to a Lower 48 Democrat, she is a little more moderate.”
Peltola defeats Palin in Alaska House special election
Peltola scored a stunning upset Wednesday, winning a special election for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, defeating Palin and Nick Begich III (R), a business executive and familiar name in state politics. When she is sworn in, Peltola will make history as the state’s first woman in the House, the first Native Alaskan — she is Yup’ik — and the first Democrat to hold the seat in a half-century.
The win came on her 49th birthday, which she called a “GOOD DAY” in a tweet right after the state elections division released preliminary results from its new ranked-choice voting system.
It is a GOOD DAY. pic.twitter.com/7IW4hsWZ2P
— Mary Peltola (@MaryPeltola) September 1, 2022
Peltola will serve the remaining four months of the term of Rep. Don Young (R), the longest-serving Republican in Congress, who died in March at age 88. She is also a candidate in the November election for the full two-year term to replace Young.
Peltola was born in 1973 — the year Young was first elected to the House — and raised in rural parts of the state. Her father and Young were close and, the New York Times reported, she would tag along when her father would campaign for Young.
She studied early education at the University of Northern Colorado, and in the summers worked as a herring and salmon technician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
In 1996, Peltola interned at the state legislature, and later that year ran for a seat to represent the Bethel region, a major hub in the western part of the state. “I felt like I failed forward, just losing by 56 votes,” she later said during an appearance on a local podcast, “Coffee and Quaq.” “It’s really a good thing I didn’t win that time around.”
After losing, Peltola then worked as a reporter, sharpening her sense that parts of Alaska were underrepresented. “As rural people, we oftentimes have to interpret our news through an urban lens, through urban journalists,” she said on the podcast.
In 1998, Peltola ran again for the state legislature and won. She spent 10 years in the legislature, the last few of those years overlapping the period when Palin was in the governor’s mansion.
In the legislature, Peltola helped build the Bush Caucus, a bipartisan group of lawmakers representing rural parts of the state. She developed a reputation for working across the aisle, focusing intently on issues related to natural resources, and winning over opponents with persistence and unrelenting kindness.
Peltola had four children while in office and left the legislature in 2009, citing the toll her travel was taking on her growing family.
In 2010. Peltola helped run the successful write-in campaign for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), who had lost a Republican primary to a tea party challenger, Joe Miller. Later, Peltola told the Christian Science Monitor that Murkowski is “really following her own moral compass. That appeals to Alaskans. We like people who are independent thinkers.”
After the legislature, Peltola also worked as “a manager of community Development and Sustainability” at the Donlin Gold project, in Southwest Alaska, according to her campaign website. She also served one term in the Bethel City Council, and was a state lobbyist. Since 2017, she worked as executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter Tribal Fish Commission.
Over the years, Peltola would maintain contact with Alaska’s political leaders, including Young. She told a local radio station that the last time she saw him was in his Washington office last November. She went “to give him dry fish and visit with him and talk about the legislation, I told him I have often thought about running for his seat.” They both laughed, she recalled.
In her campaign, Peltola has said she wants a national law protecting abortion rights, and favors some gun control measures, such as universal background checks. When asked whether Trump bore responsibility for the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Peltola recently told the Anchorage Daily News: “I believe in our courts and judicial system. I have no doubt that once due process has been completed, justice will be served.”
On whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in the sport according to the gender they identify with, Peltola gave the paper a nuanced answer: “My starting point is that sports should be fair for all students, and we must protect the rights of all students — especially those that are already subject to significant discrimination.”
She also said the recent Russian aggression proves the need to rebuild the U.S. military presence in Alaska. When it comes to natural resources, Peltola also appears to try to balance the need for preservation with the need to ensure access to those resources for Native Alaskans and all residents in rural, underserved areas.
She opposes development at Pebble Mine and supports building the proposed 200-plus mile Ambler Road, telling the Anchorage Daily News that her support is contingent on “local support, usage restrictions, and environmental standards” being met.
In May, she wrote on Twitter that voting in 2005 to cut retirement benefits for teachers, based in part on “unreliable information from the state actuaries,” was “the biggest regret of my legislative career.”
Throughout her career, and on the campaign trail, Peltola has built a reputation for being unusually nice. In June, Alaska Public Radio described it as her “superpower” and noted, among many examples, a brief exchange that month at a debate where Peltola was seated next to Palin.
Though their careers have diverged since their days as young mothers working in state politics, Peltola and Palin maintained a friendliness that was evident on the campaign trail.
At the debate, Peltola was just about to explain how, if elected, she would help fund the state’s most important infrastructure projects, when Palin, mistakenly believing it was her turn to speak, began answering.
When Palin began, Peltola smiled, lowered the microphone she was holding and quietly signaled to the moderator that all was okay. She even tapped Palin on the shoulder, urging her to continue.
“See how polite she is?” Palin gushed. “This is the way it should be in politics.”
While one race ends with a Peltola win, another is underway. Peltola, Palin and Begich all advanced to the November ballot in their bid for the full, two-year term in Congress. | 2022-09-01T00:47:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Who is Mary Peltola? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/31/mary-peltola-alaska-special-election-palin/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/31/mary-peltola-alaska-special-election-palin/ |
Two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday that CFP’s Board of Managers, led by Mississippi State President Mark Keenum, is set to convene by video conference.
All the people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the board’s plans were not being made public.
The CFP management committee, comprised of 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, is scheduled to meet next week in Dallas.
Keenum also said then that the presidents planned to take a more active role in expansion talks and that he wanted them to meet again before the end of the summer to “continue the dialogue.” | 2022-09-01T00:48:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | AP sources: Presidents meeting to discuss CFP expansion, - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/ap-sources-presidents-meeting-to-discuss-cfp-expansion/2022/08/31/15f35a3c-298e-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/ap-sources-presidents-meeting-to-discuss-cfp-expansion/2022/08/31/15f35a3c-298e-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears star linebacker Roquan Smith insisted Wednesday his focus is on the upcoming season and not his long-term future after a contract standoff with the team ended with no new deal.
Smith said there won’t be any more negotiations with general manager Ryan Poles on an extension between now and the start of the season.
“No. I’m not focused on that right now,” he said.
“My focus is on making this year the best year I can and then go from there,” he said. “I don’t want to look forward too much to the future or anything like that.”
But instead of an extension, things took a heated turn. Smith staged a “hold in” at the start of training camp, then went public with a trade request. He returned to practice about 1 1/2 weeks ago.
“It feels amazing being out there with my guys,” Smith said. “That’s who you do it for, the love of the game, the guys in this locker room and everybody that supports me. It feels good to just be out there playing the game that you love, done so much for me.”
At 25 and a second-team All-Pro in 2020 and 2021, Smith is perhaps the Bears’ best player. He’s one of the leaders on defense, particularly after Khalil Mack got traded to the Los Angeles Chargers.
He’s looking forward to playing in a new scheme with Chicago switching to a 4-3 front from a 3-4 under new coach Matt Eberflus. He’s looking forward to being on the field when the Bears open against San Francisco at Soldier Field after missing the preseason.
But he’s not looking too far into the future. Nor is he looking back at the drama that played out during training camp.
Smith, who does not have an agent, opted to “hold in.” That allowed him to attend meetings and watch practices without participating in drills.
Smith ended the “hold in” and practiced for the first time on Aug. 20. He said then that the team did not fine him. And on Wednesday, he insisted he has no trouble putting the drama behind him.
“His run-blocking is really good,” Eberflus said. “He’s got good balance when it comes to that. He stays on guys. That’s what we like about him the most right now.” | 2022-09-01T00:48:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bears' Smith says he's focused on season, not contract talks - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nfl/bears-smith-says-hes-focused-on-season-not-contract-talks/2022/08/31/0c7b6f3a-298e-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nfl/bears-smith-says-hes-focused-on-season-not-contract-talks/2022/08/31/0c7b6f3a-298e-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
Updated August 31, 2022 at 10:37 p.m. EDT|Published August 31, 2022 at 10:25 p.m. EDT
Christian Benteke made his D.C. United debut in the second half Wednesday night. (Vincent Carchietta/USA Today Sports)
HARRISON, N.J. — Christian Benteke is no savior. There is, after all, nothing to save of this D.C. United season, which will end in 5½ weeks without an MLS playoff berth for the third consecutive fall.
But the Belgian striker, fresh off 10 years in the Premier League, has joined D.C. United’s renovation project, which will carry into a busy winter of roster changes.
After waiting weeks for a work visa — then flying directly to New York from London on Tuesday to join his new club — Benteke made his United debut Wednesday by entering in the 73rd minute of a surprise 2-1 victory over reigning champion New York City FC at Red Bull Arena.
United’s prized summer signing will, in a full season, become the highest-paid player in club history, a yet-to-be-disclosed figure that will surpass Wayne Rooney’s contract when the D.C. coach was a D.C. player in 2018 and 2019.
Benteke replaced Ola Kamara, who had given United the lead in the first half. After NYC quickly tied it, United went back ahead early in the second half on Steven Birnbaum’s header.
In his brief appearance, Benteke had minor influence as NYC pressed for a late equalizer and enjoyed much of possession. United (7-17-4) ended a four-game losing streak and a six-match winless rut with its second victory in 12 matches.
Rooney had hoped to pair Benteke with all-star Taxi Fountas, but the Greek forward suffered a concussion Sunday in Atlanta. If Fountas clears protocols, the duo might start together — or at least play at the same time — Sunday night against the Colorado Rapids at Audi Field.
Barcelona striker and his wife assaulted in armed robbery in their home
For the second consecutive match, United scored first. For the second consecutive match, United conceded the equalizer almost right away.
Kamara provided the lead in the 24th minute. Chris Durkin did well to break free on the left side before crossing into the six-yard box, where Kamara didn’t have a defender within yards of him. He tapped it in for his ninth goal of the year and 28th over two seasons.
On Sunday, Atlanta needed two minutes to respond. On Wednesday, NYC (13-9-6) took three. Malte Amundsen crossed to Brazilian forward Héber for a 13-yard one-timer that took a deflection en route to the target and zipped past goalkeeper David Ochoa.
United regained the lead in the 57th minute. In front of United’s bench, Martín Rodríguez launched a long free kick to the back side of the box. Birnbaum’s eight-yard header came off goalkeeper Sean Johnson’s hand and settled into the far corner for his second goal of the year.
With a small crowd giving off a preseason vibe, United carried itself like a home team hungry for another goal rather than an away side content with a lead. NYC turned to its bench, inserting playmaker Maxi Moralez, who usually starts.
United’s defense held firm, and in stoppage time, Ochoa made a spectacular soaring save on Gedion Zelalem’s bid from distance.
Here’s what else to know about United’s victory:
Last time out: D.C. United snaps scoreless streak but can’t keep Atlanta under wraps
Following his pledge to integrate young players, Rooney included new homegrown signings Kristian Fletcher, 17, and Matai Akinmboni, 15, on the game-day roster. Fletcher, The Washington Post’s All-Met Player of the Year last fall from Landon School, entered in the 88th minute. Both will continue playing for second-division Loudoun United.
Akinmboni, who will turn 16 in October, is a 6-foot-3 center back from the club’s youth academy. Fletcher, an attacker, played youth soccer at Bethesda Soccer Club and won’t officially join the first team until January. On Wednesday, he was on loan from Loudoun.
Nyeman departs
Midfielder Moses Nyeman, 18, became the third homegrown to transfer overseas this year when United struck a deal with Beveren in Belgium’s second division. Terms weren’t disclosed, but two people familiar with the deal said United received $350,000 and 25 percent of any future transfer.
Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg in Germany) and Griffin Yow (Westerlo in Belgium) also have gone abroad.
United is in preliminary talks with Ochoa’s agent about a long-term contract, three people close to the situation said. Ochoa, who has received interest from European clubs, is in the last year of his MLS deal. If he were to go abroad, United would retain his MLS rights.
Wednesday’s match was originally scheduled for April 9 at Citi Field but moved because of NYC’s Concacaf Champions League schedule. The club, which for years has been seeking to build a stadium of its own, is based at Yankee Stadium but also uses the New York Mets’ ballpark and Red Bull Arena, home to its archrival. | 2022-09-01T02:58:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Christian Benteke debuts and D.C. United defeats New York City FC - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/31/dc-united-nycfc-christian-benteke/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/31/dc-united-nycfc-christian-benteke/ |
By Adrian Blanco
Kevin Uhrmacher
before final
Second-
Second-choice
Eliminated before final round
Democrat Mary Peltola was declared the winner of a special election to fill Alaska’s at-large U.S. House seat. She flipped the seat, formerly held by Rep. Don Young (R), who died earlier this year. She will now serve as Alaska’s congresswoman for the remainder of the term, until January, when the winner of the November general election takes office.
Former governor and Donald Trump endorsee Sarah Palin fell about 5,000 votes short after Republican Nick Begich III was eliminated and his supporters’ second-choice votes were redistributed. The election is the first test of the state’s new voting system — an all-party primary in which the top four advance to a ranked-choice general election.
Peltola advanced from the June special primary with just 10 percent of the vote, the last of the top four vote getters among nearly 50 candidates on the ballot. The third-place finisher, left-leaning independent Al Gross, dropped out shortly after the primary.
How ranked-choice voting could change the way democracy works
The results make Peltola the state’s first Alaska Native member of Congress. She also will be a rare Democrat to represent the state after Republican Young represented the state for 49 years.
Peltola, Palin and Begich all qualified for a November rematch. | 2022-09-01T03:32:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How second-choice votes gave Mary Peltola the win in Alaska - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2022/08/31/ranked-choice-totals-alaska-peltola/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2022/08/31/ranked-choice-totals-alaska-peltola/ |
The vocalist also toured with Ray Charles as lead Raelett and ministered to the homeless in Los Angeles
Mable John in 1966. (GAB Archive/Redferns/Getty Images)
Many rock historians say Ms. John, with a sultry and intense delivery, was unjustly overshadowed by her younger brother Little Willie John, whose recording career in the mid-1950s predated hers by a few years. Both siblings, raised in Detroit, began singing in a family gospel group led by their mother, Lillie, who played guitar.
She told the Guardian that she was booted from her role as the statewide choir coach for her Pentecostal church when she began traveling with her brother, who had early successes with songs such as as “Fever” and “Talk To Me, Talk To Me.” “They disapproved of the music,” she said. “I had gone over to the Devil. They told me that by going out into the world I was going back on everything I’d been taught. … So I just found another church."
She gave varying accounts of how she came to know Berry Gordy Jr., the Ford assembly-line worker and fledgling songwriter who would start the Tamla label in in 1959 and Motown in 1960. But as her interest in secular music deepened, the future record-company mogul apparently saw possibilities in her talent. Gordy helped shape her sound and stage presence by taking her to see jazz singers he admired, including Dakota Staton and Dinah Washington.
At her gigs, Gordy often accompanied her on piano, and he secured her a slot opening for Billie Holiday at Detroit’s Flame Show Bar not long before the celebrated but troubled jazz singer’s death in 1959.
“I was convinced that if Berry Gordy didn’t play piano for me, I could not sing,” she told the Detroit News in 2007. Gordy was absent the night she was to appear onstage before Holiday. "He did that on purpose. That was my beginning and my foundation, because he taught me to do whatever it is you do, and not depend upon anyone else.”
“Motown was just turning so pop, and I knew I wasn’t pop, but the writers were writing for success,” she told the Detroit News. “Berry was so busy with the business, and I found myself without a writer to concentrate on me as Berry had concentrated on me."
By the mid-1960s, Ms. John signed with Memphis’s Stax records and established an artistic relationship with songwriters Isaac Hayes and David Porter. The three would chat about her life and her troubled marriage — conversations, often accompanied by Hayes noodling at the piano, that gave them ideas for songs.
After relating how she caught one of her husbands in bed with another woman, the two tunesmiths wrote a song that became her signature, “Your Good Thing (Is About to End).” The composition, a bluesy ode in which she dramatically tells her lover off with bitterness but no remorse, reached No. 6 of Billboard’s rhythm-and-blues charts.
Ms. John’s stint at Stax was brief but memorable. She often opened her shows with the sassy “Able Mable” — “My name is Mable/ And don’t you think I ain’t able/ I can take a complication/ Make it a simple situation.” Then, in 1969, she abandoned her solo career to go on the road with Charles, as the lead singer of his back-up trio, the Raelettes (sometimes spelled as Raeletts).
Ray Charles, a performer with a singular blend of styles, dies at 73
“Remember now, at the beginning I thought I could only sing gospel,” Ms. John told NPR. “With Berry Gordy, I found out I could sing the blues. I went to Stax and I find out I could sing love songs. I got with Ray Charles and we sang country — everything. And we could play to any audience. I wanted to sing what was in my heart to everybody that loves music, and Ray Charles was the place for me to be, to do that.”
Ms. John portrayed a blues singer in director John Sayles’s 2007 movie, “Honeydripper,” and she appeared in “20 Feet From Stardom” (2013), a documentary about back-up singers. She also collaborated with author David Ritz on several novels about a fictional gospel singer, Albertina Merci, beginning with their 2006 book, “Sanctified Blues.” She produced and published her own gospel records and, on occasion, revisited her older material at blues festivals and Stax and Motown reunion shows.
“I just get up every morning and I thank God for the activity of that day,” Ms. John said in 2007 to NPR. “And I have to thank a woman that’s no longer with us, Ms. Billie Holiday, because that’s the voice that I hear in my ear still to this day. I worked with her two weeks before she passed. And she said to me, honey — because I was frightened out of my wits — you can make it if you remember, always know when you have done or given enough. Not to be afraid and have guts enough to say, ‘I quit.’” | 2022-09-01T03:50:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Mable John, pioneering Motown female singer, dies at 91 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/08/31/mable-john-pioneering-motown-female-singer-dies-91/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/08/31/mable-john-pioneering-motown-female-singer-dies-91/ |
Dear Amy: I wish to go no-contact with my mother.
The only reason I haven’t gone no-contact yet is because the rest of my family (my dad, sister and nephew) are wonderful people.
I have tried speaking with them to help set boundaries in the hopes that she may one day learn that her behavior is unacceptable, but they all would rather keep the peace.
Outs: It seems possible that you might be able to have some contact with your father, sister and nephew without your mother being present, but if that is not possible, then you will have to continue to focus on ways to protect yourself and work toward your own emancipation.
Your mother might have trained you not to trust yourself. (Keeping someone off-kilter is very much in the narcissist’s playbook.) You will need to claim, then reclaim, your autonomy and give yourself permission to do what you need to do.
Despite your clarity regarding your mother and your understanding attitude toward your family members, reading into your statements, I wonder whether you are actually still trying mightily to force your mother toward change to try to control the outcome.
A sample scenario of you not caring would be for you to anticipate the slings and arrows your mother flings in your path, then exercise your ability to resist being emotionally triggered or goaded into a specific reaction.
Experiment with contact of very short durations, and always know where your coat and keys are, in case you need to exit.
I highly recommend you read “Adult Survivors of Toxic Family Members: Tools to Maintain Boundaries, Deal with Criticism, and Heal from Shame After Ties Have Been Cut,” by Sherrie Campbell (2022, New Harbinger).
I realize that most people are striving to learn English here in the United States, and others feel as if their English is so good that their accent is undetectable.
Others may feel as if I’m pointing out that they are from another country because I have some bias against immigrants. (I don’t!)
Can you suggest a polite way of inquiring about this, or should I let it possibly come out naturally?
Language Lover: Asking a stranger you’re encountering in North America, “What country are you from?” really does a great job of highlighting how you perceive their “otherness.”
For many people who might not look like you, the answer would truthfully be: “What country am I from? I’m from this country.”
However, asking anyone at all, “Where did you grow up?” or, “Where did you spend your childhood?” is a conversation starter.
(That way, when they say, “I grew up in Cleveland,” you can ask them all about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.)
Dear Amy: I was extremely dissatisfied with your answer to “Worried Mom,” who was having trouble managing her adult children, including a child with “significant mental health issues.”
Concerned: The writer specifically asked how to develop “compassionate detachment.” That’s what I offered. | 2022-09-01T04:42:38Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ask Amy: I want to go no-contact with my mom - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/09/01/ask-amy-mom-narcissist-no-contact/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/09/01/ask-amy-mom-narcissist-no-contact/ |
That these days, owners of expensive desks, even when they are right, would do well to keep a supply of paper towels handy. But Miss Manners would allow you to say in a hospitable tone, “Why don’t you sit down and finish that and then we’ll talk,” which they might do hastily, knowing that your time is billable.
I told her that because I was tight on money at the time, throwing these parties and paying for the supplies would have to be my wedding gift, which she seemed absolutely fine with. Her 200-plus guests all got her lovely gifts.
Now I am engaged, and because I am currently expecting, I am not working very much. My fiance isn’t, either, as he is in the middle of a career change. We are having a small, intimate wedding, and are not expecting to receive many gifts, except from the few friends attending, of whom she is one.
When you say you are “not expecting to receive many gifts, except from the few friends attending,” Miss Manners infers that you have misplaced your grammar and not your priorities.
Your desire is to de-emphasize gift-giving, which, in company with good manners, limits how you can respond to your friend’s question. | 2022-09-01T04:42:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Miss Manners: People keep trying to eat and drink in my office - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/09/01/miss-manners-drinking-eating-office/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/09/01/miss-manners-drinking-eating-office/ |
Is Kwasi Kwarteng Up for Saving Britain’s Economy?
Kwasi Kwarteng, U.K. business secretary, departs following a weekly meeting of cabinet ministers at number 10 Downing Street in London, U.K., on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to apologize to Parliament after receiving a fine for breaking pandemic lockdown rules, as he tries to draw a line under partygate even as he faces the risk of further penalties. (Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg)
With just a few days to go until the results of the Conservative leadership election are revealed on Sept. 5, two things seem overwhelmingly likely: First, that Liz Truss will be the next prime minister and, second, that Kwasi Kwarteng, the current secretary of state for business, will play a leading role in her Cabinet, probably as chancellor of the exchequer, as Britain’s leading finance minister is called.
What do we know about the “Black Boris,” as he was enthusiastically dubbed by his own campaign team in his Spelthorne constituency? And is he up to the job of tackling the worst economic crisis since the late 1970s?
Kwarteng is as close to Truss as you can get in the competitive game of politics. They were born in the same year, 1975, belong to the same parliamentary intake, 2010, and live a few streets away from each other in southeast London. They are so ideologically aligned that they co-wrote a pamphlet, “Britannia Unchained,” together with two other members of their 2010 cohort, Dominic Raab and Chris Skidmore.
Their partnership would be a stark contrast to the poor relations between Number 10 (the prime minister’s office) and Number 11 (the chancellor’s) of the past few years. Rishi Sunak balked at Boris Johnson’s indifference to balancing the books, Sajid Javid resigned when Johnson claimed the right to nominate his advisors, and Theresa May and Philip Hammond were barely on speaking terms. If Kwarteng becomes chancellor, we will see a return to the more amicable days of David Cameron and George Osborne.
Kwarteng is a strange mixture of the conventional and the unconventional in Tory politics. He is the product of two of the great factories of Tory operatives — Eton and Cambridge — but is also the son of Ghanaian immigrants who called him by a traditional Ashanti first name (though, oddly, “Kwasi” means “born on Sunday” when Kwarteng was in fact born on a Monday).
Temperamentally, Kwarteng is a social creature who, before the demands of high office and parenthood took their toll, could often be found dining in the familiar watering holes of the Tory world such as the Beefsteak Club or the Carlton Club. His clever conversation and booming belly laugh made him a popular companion. But he’s also a natural scholar who loves burrowing away in libraries. In her “Diary of an MP’s Wife,” Sasha Swire described him as “essentially an academic; he is enthusiastic and bombastic, and barely draws breath,” which is unkind about his conversational style but right about his scholarly side.
Affability aside, Kwarteng is defined by two things. The first is his high intelligence. Kwarteng belongs to the “big brain” rather than the “broad acres” side of the Etonian equation: He was a King’s Scholar (which means that he lived with other King’s Scholars in College and was charged reduced fees) but, unlike that other well-known King’s Scholar, Boris Johnson, he took academic life seriously, winning the school’s top prize, the Newcastle, followed by a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, a double first (the top honors) in history and classics, a scholarship to Harvard, and then a return to Cambridge to take a PhD in financial history.
He’s also published two heavyweight books, “Ghosts of Empire,” on the legacy of empire in today’s world, and “War and Gold,” which, in his own words, “aspires to be a history of money in the modern age,” as well as shorter volumes.
The second notable feature is his right-wing politics. In the perpetual Tory war between the “wets” and the “dries,” over how much to compromise with the liberal agenda on public spending and crime, Kwarteng has never been mistaken for a “wet.” His worldview was shaped by Margaret Thatcher who was prime minister from the time when he turned four to when he took his GCSEs.
On arriving in parliament in 2010, he made clear that he had no sympathy for David Cameron’s airy-fairy brand of compassionate conservatism, and instead threw in his lot with a group of other young MPs, including Truss, who believed that the party needed to return to the true faith. Unlike Truss, however, he never equivocated over Brexit, voting to leave the European Union in 2016, criticizing Theresa May’s pragmatism, and voting for Johnson and his promise to “get Brexit done.”
Apart from his faith in markets, Kwarteng’s views are shaped by his admiration for fast-growing Southeast Asian states and his anxieties about the West’s addiction to debt. “Britannia Unchained” is replete with references to the work ethic and educational achievements of the Singaporeans and Chinese. “War and Gold” worries that debt-financing has gone from its original Keynesian function, as an emergency measure during recessions, to a condition of life.
I suspect all this is driven by a pessimistic belief that the West is in secular decline, addicted to spending money that it doesn’t have, while Asia is on the rise, thanks to a fierce commitment to work and education, and that it is the job of responsible Western politicians to shake their countries awake.
Is Kwarteng up to the job of top finance minister, should he become Britain’s first Black chancellor of the exchequer? The role could hardly be more demanding, given the fact that the current cost-of-living crisis is nothing compared with what is likely to come this winter, and that the war in Ukraine is settling into a prolonged stalemate.
British journalist Nick Robinson raised one possible criticism — that he’s too clever by half, in that telling British phrase. Kenneth Clarke, a former chancellor, once argued that politics is the ideal profession for people with second-rate minds, and that those with first-rate minds, such as Enoch Powell and Sir Keith Joseph, usually end up making a hash of things. This is nonsense: There have been plenty of clever politicians such as Harold Wilson or Roy Jenkins who have been good at their jobs. The problem with Powell and Joseph had more to do with temperament than intellect.
A more reasonable criticism is that Kwarteng is too ideological. He’s certainly allowed ideology to get the better of his judgement. Before the 2017 election, for example, he predicted a stonking Conservative victory, blind to the surge in support for Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn that almost brought him into Downing Street. More recently, he was an outspoken supporter of Owen Paterson, the rule-breaking MP for North Shropshire, whose downfall arguably precipitated Johnson’s own departure. But, unlike other members of his clique, he can draw on a wider variety of resources than ideology alone.
In his recent book on leadership, Henry Kissinger recommends that politicians should read more history because it provides them with a sense of perspective and nuance. Kwarteng’s history of money sets our current problems in the context of the past 500 years, while his history of the British Empire shows that it was different things in different times and places. As business secretary, Kwarteng has matured and adopted more pragmatic views. Although he’s hardly a born-again supporter of industrial policy, he recognizes that governments can play a positive role in laying the groundwork for economic activities and in coping with externalities such as setting targets for net zero emissions.
Placed in the right context, Kwarteng’s obvious qualities — his powerful intellect and his big personality — could become a valuable asset. Set in the wrong one — blinkered leadership and dim-witted colleagues — the very same traits could drive the country over the edge with remarkable speed. | 2022-09-01T05:21:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Is Kwasi Kwarteng Up for Saving Britain’s Economy? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/is-kwasi-kwarteng-up-for-savingbritains-economy/2022/09/01/c0e1acee-29b3-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/is-kwasi-kwarteng-up-for-savingbritains-economy/2022/09/01/c0e1acee-29b3-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
The story of fake villages erected by Count Grigory Potemkin to impress his lover, Empress Catherine II, was first published by Georg von Helbig, a Saxon diplomat whose biography of Potemkin came out in the final years of the 18th century. Helbig didn’t accompany Catherine on her journey south, through territory that Potemkin claimed for the Russian empire — in a part of today’s Ukraine near Kherson that has seen some of the heaviest fighting of the war launched by Vladimir Putin. But the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II and a number of other European dignitaries did travel with Catherine, and they noted no such fake Potemkin villages, so there’s no credible evidence to support the story. On the other hand, nor is there any decisive proof that it was untrue.
Be that as it may, the powerful image created by von Helbig, likely from St. Petersburg rumors of the time, has provided one of the more popular explanations of why Putin’s war in Ukraine has taken its current plodding course — and why Russia’s economy appears to be weathering unprecedented Western sanctions so cheerfully. In the contemporary rendition of the myth, Putin is both Catherine, on the receiving end of the illusion, and Potemkin, its creator-in-chief. Yet, six months into the snail-paced invasion, it’s no longer possible for him to play both roles.
Last week, the Russian investigative outfit Istories reported, citing unnamed sources close to the Russian General Staff, that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has fallen out of favor with Putin because he had lulled the dictator into believing the invasion would be a blitzkrieg. Assured by Shoigu that Russia’s core professional military would quickly crush Ukrainian resistance, and that Russia possessed enough ultramodern weaponry to create a shock-and-awe effect, Putin allegedly ordered the Russian generals early in the war not to harm Ukraine’s infrastructure, such as bridges: It would soon be Russian, after all. Now that the rose-colored glasses have fallen off, Istories reported, Putin no longer relies on Shoigu for frontline information, preferring to deal directly with the military commanders on the ground.
Russian nationalist commentators such as Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Viktor Alksnis and Andrey Morozov, who have been calling for a general mobilization to win the war, appear to share the liberal Istories reporters’ view that Putin has been duped by Shoigu and other top brass, if not the insight that Shoigu has lost Putin’s trust.
Shoigu, Strelkov recently wrote on his Telegram channel, would be “the first and most important head to roll” for all the overoptimistic stories he has told Putin about the wonder weapons and the Russian military’s supply levels. He went on:
But does our wonderful minister want such an ending? I doubt it. So I’m practically certain that he’ll drag this out until the end, reporting to the president that, with a tiny bit more effort, the enemy would break down and beg for peace.
Out of favor or not, the defense minister has continued to pump up the image of Russia as a mighty military power, using the same methods as before the Ukraine invasion. This month, he ran a major expo called Army 2022 to push Russian weapons to buyers from the developing world. It included an international “tank biathlon” event, won by a Russian crew — a boastful display that contrasted sharply with multiple images of turrets blown off Russian tanks in Ukraine.
And what of Putin? He played along with Shoigu and welcomed the expo participants with one of the blandest speeches he has made all year.
In a similar vein, Putin presents a consistently optimistic front on the economy. He declared at a government meeting in July that the West’s “economic blitzkrieg” against Russia had “fallen through.”
This appears to dovetail, more or less, with international financial institutions’ forecasts: The IMF predicts a 6% contraction in the country’s real gross domestic product this year, while the World Bank sees a nominal output drop of 8.9% — gloomy numbers but far from an economic implosion. Yet, to create and sustain this impression, the Russian government has had to stop the publication of previously regular economic releases, especially those dealing with foreign trade and the performance of import-dependent industries. At the same time, a government-permitted pause in financial reporting by banks and companies makes it difficult to use anything other than official data to estimate domestic consumption. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian of the Yale School of Management argue that the Russian economy is actually collapsing in slow motion, and the cherry-picked government-released data are nothing but a Potemkin village.Their arguments, spelled out in a July working paper, are convincing enough if one is willing to draw far-reaching conclusions from the scraps of non-government data available — like the oft-cited collapse of car sales or the sharp drop in consumer online sales, both cross-border and purely domestic. But the absence of open, reliable official data is perhaps the best argument in Sonnenfeld’s favor: If the economic picture were anything short of awful, there’d be no reason to withhold truthful information.
It should be accepted as fact that the invasion is going badly and Russia’s economic woes are more serious than official data show. Yet Putin is actively cooperating with the construction of Russia’s military and economic Potemkin villages. That can mean one of two things: Either he is still misinformed and unaware that the Ukraine invasion was a terrible decision in every respect, or, knowing full well that things aren’t going to plan, he just clenches his teeth and pretends that they are.
Back in April, the Biden White House embraced the first option.
“We believe he’s being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions,” White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said in April. “Senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth.”
Now, at the end of August, with the Russian military stuck both in the east and in the south of Ukraine and no end to the economic pain in sight, it would take an effort at the level of “Good Bye Lenin!”, the 2003 German movie in which a son maintains an increasingly elaborate illusion for the sake of his sick mother that the Berlin Wall has not fallen and communism is still alive. To suggest that a deception on this scale is going on would be to speculate that Putin is no longer in control and that some kind of self-defeating junta is in charge, trying to lose the war for Russia and holding up the aging dictator as an eternally optimistic puppet.
University of California political scientist Daniel Treisman has argued that dictators often make mistakes because they often “isolate themselves in echo chambers, excluding discordant views.” But he also pointed to hubris as a major source of autocrats’ mistakes. Facts by themselves rarely determine decisions, especially in matters as emotional as the subjugation of Ukraine is for Putin. Even if he possesses all the relevant information — which he should by now — he may still be refusing to admit that he’s underestimated the challenges of attacking the neighboring country. It’s also possible that he doesn’t see how he could retreat and hold on to more than just power — indeed, to his entire worldview, in which the Western-dictated world order must tumble. It’s inconceivable to the former athlete and one of the most successful autocrats of his generation that he could just give up trying.
Whatever his reasons, if he ever was Catherine II of the Potemkin village story — a monarch happy to receive nothing but good news and never to glance behind the fake facades — now he is Potemkin, consciously working to create a mirage for Russians and Russia’s enemies alike. With an important difference: The people staring at his cardboard castle, be it ordinary Russians, outsiders or future historians, are hardly likely to be as forgiving of him as Catherine always was of Potemkin.
• Can Switzerland Stay Neutral Toward Putin’s Fascism?: Andreas Kluth
• Biden, Putin, Xi? A Good G-20 Turnout, But Not Enough: Clara Ferreira Marques
• Sharper Israeli-Palestinian Strife Is Sign of Worse to Come: Hussein Ibish | 2022-09-01T05:22:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Putin Is Now Russia’s Deluder-in-Chief - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/putin-is-now-russias-deluder-in-chief/2022/09/01/c08bf2fe-29b3-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/putin-is-now-russias-deluder-in-chief/2022/09/01/c08bf2fe-29b3-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
Sadr Couldn’t Master Iraq’s Democracy So Now He May Crush It
Analysis by Hussein Ibish | Bloomberg
After two nights of violence that left more than 20 dead in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, which houses most of Iraq’s government apparatus, the political system that emerged after the 2003 US invasion is on the edge of collapse.
It’s hardly the first crisis of this sort, but it is the most dangerous in many years: Iraq’s most potent political figure, the mercurial Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, finally appears willing to bring down a system he has failed to master.
Sadr’s career has been built on the legacy of his father and uncle, two of the most revered Shiite religious authorities of their generation. While he lacks their erudition and religious credentials, and had no governmental experience, Sadr succeeded in building religious and political authority in tandem, each complementing the other. And that has made him a remarkably toxic figure in contemporary Iraq.
After parliamentary elections in October 2021 left his supporters — the primary Shiite anti-Iran faction in Iraqi politics — with 73 seats, twice as many as the nearest rival, Sadr spent months trying and failing to form a government. His frustration led to a series of astonishing miscalculations culminating this summer.
On June 15, he ordered his members of parliament to resign en masse, hoping either to gain leverage for a final effort to form a government or to force new elections. Rival political factions called his bluff, and his seats at the Council of Representatives were quickly filled by runners-up from Shiite pro-Iranian parties. To stop them from forming a government, Sadr ordered his followers to begin a sit-in at the Green Zone to block parliamentary functions.
On Monday, his father’s clerical successor, Grand Ayatollah Kadhem al-Haeri, who is based in Iran, dealt Sadr’s ambitions a major blow. He announced his retirement and instructed his followers to transfer their loyalty to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while lambasting Sadr for ripping apart Shiite communities and being unworthy of his family name.
That prompted Sadr to suddenly announce he was quitting politics. His enraged supporters attacked the main government palace, setting off the clashes.
To salvage his reputation, Sadr cannily apologized to the Iraqi people for the bloodshed — a remarkable gesture in a country with a strong tradition of authoritarian-minded leaders — and ordered his followers to leave the Green Zone. They did so on Tuesday, ending the clashes and underscoring his unique ability to command not merely armed militias but vast and devoted crowds.
Still, since prevailing in last October’s elections, Sadr has been flailing wildly to convert his competitive advantages into practical political power. He’s not entirely at fault. His pro-Iranian Shiite rivals are more reckless, dangerous and violent. Kurdish groups are hopelessly divided, while Sunni factions are split largely between groups aligned with different Gulf Arab patrons.
The post-2003 Iraqi political system was always wretched, but why is Sadr only now ready, willing and able to bring it crashing down?
His political potency can’t gain him much more by way of clerical authority, particularly given the brutal denunciations such as Haeri’s. And his clerical and rabble-rousing qualities didn’t help him master the financial and patronage gamesmanship involved in forging a government in a parliamentary system.
Sadr’s efforts to combine religious authority based mainly on his ancestry and political power based on operating behind the scenes, in a system in which administrative authority rests with ministries and government offices, simply failed — just as he reached the peak of his ambitions. It’s unlikely that he, or another Iraqi political figure, will any time soon garner direct control of as many as 73 seats in the 329-member parliament.
Impatience is Sadr’s worst enemy. He lacks the discipline to earn the academic-based Shiite clerical authority to which he aspires. And he failed to endure the lengthy, frustrating negotiations to form a government that should’ve been his for the asking.
Now Sadr claims to be leaving politics, but no one believes him. He’s said it several times before, and he is still the most significant political figure in Iraq. But now he also insists that the post-2003 system has to go, presumably because it manifestly failed to serve his interests.
Yet he seems to have no plan, let alone a viable one, for an alternative national political structure. Any effort to formally combine religious and political authority in Iraq, along Iranian lines, is doomed since the nation does not have a large enough Shiite majority (Sunni Muslims compose at least 35% of the population), and there is strong opposition to such an agenda within the Shiite community itself.
Also, both Iran and the US have a vested interest in saving the political system; both would be deeply concerned by greater instability in Iraq. Iran, however, has given the green light to its proxies to confront Sadr politically, while the US is wisely keeping a low profile (while undoubtedly working behind the scenes to strengthen the caretaker prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi).
But the Iraqis are going to have to restore their own equilibrium. No one else can do it for them. Sadr’s effort to combine his religious and political ambitions, always somewhat contradictory, now appears to have reached an impasse. Iraq is paying the price.
Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. | 2022-09-01T05:22:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Sadr Couldn’t Master Iraq’s Democracy So Now He May Crush It - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/sadr-couldnt-master-iraqs-democracyso-now-he-may-crush-it/2022/09/01/c138d46a-29b3-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/sadr-couldnt-master-iraqs-democracyso-now-he-may-crush-it/2022/09/01/c138d46a-29b3-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
A demonstrator wearing a mask painted with the colors of the flag of East Turkestan takes part in a protest against China's actions by supporters of the Uyghur minority in Istanbul on April 1, 2021. (Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images)
China on Thursday lashed out at the U.N. human rights office over its release of a damning report which concluded that Beijing’s crackdown on ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region involved “serious human rights violations,” including possible crimes against humanity.
Hours after the release of the long-awaited report, Liu Yuyin, spokesperson for the Chinese mission to Geneva, called the “so-called ‘assessment’ on Xinjiang” a “farce” and a politically motivated attempt to smear China.
“It is completely a politicized document that disregards facts, and reveals explicitly the attempt of some Western countries and anti-China forces to use human rights as a political tool,” Liu said in a statement released by the mission.
The report was published just minutes before the end of U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s four-year term and after months of unexplained delays. Its findings support years of advocacy and research by rights groups, diplomats, Uyghur exiles and media who have documented state-sponsored abuses against Uyghurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang, including mass detentions, forced labor, repressed birthrates and controls on their expressions of culture and religion.
China’s ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, reiterated his government’s opposition to the report, according to a video released by the mission on Thursday.
“We all know so well that the so-called Xinjiang issue is completely a fabricated lie out of political motivations. Its purpose definitely is to undermine China’s stability and obstruct China’s development,” he said, telling Bachelet to “avoid interfering” in China’s internal affairs.
In a joint statement signed by 63 Uyghur advocacy groups, activists praised the report as the “most definitive assessment of the issues faced by Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples” in China.
“This is a game changer for the international response to the Uyghur crisis,” said Uyghur Human Rights Project Executive Director Omer Kanat. “Despite the Chinese government’s strenuous denials, the U.N. has now officially recognized that horrific crimes are occurring.”
Based on those interviews, the U.N. rights office said that it was “reasonable to conclude that a pattern of large-scale arbitrary detention" occurred in facilities that Chinese officials describe as free vocational training centers. These detentions occurred at least between the years of 2017 and 2019, “affecting a significant portion” of the Uyghur and other Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, the report concluded.
The report also pointed out that descriptions by interviewees of these centers provided evidence of “patterns of torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Allegations of sexual and gender-based violence, including of rape, “also appear credible,” the report added.
U.N. human rights chief disappoints Uyghur advocates on visit to China
Some researchers and activists who argue that Beijing’s actions in Xinjiang amount to genocide were disappointed the U.N. report did not mention the issue. The joint letter by Uyghur organizations called on U.N. Office on Genocide Prevention to conduct an assessment, and for the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish a commission of inquiry to independently examine the issue.
“The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has waited far too long to deliver its report," said Rushan Abbas, executive director of the Campaign for Uyghurs. "Stopping genocide was a foundational purpose of the U.N., and it must be upheld now.”
The U.N. rights office called on Beijing to release all those arbitrarily detained and provide explanations to family members who have for years called for information on their relatives who disappeared in the Chinese region. The report also called on governments to “refrain from returning" Uyghurs and other Turkic groups to China and to provide humanitarian assistance to them.
Emily Rauhala in Brussels and Pei-Lin Wu in Taipei contributed to this report. | 2022-09-01T05:23:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | China slams U.N. rights report on Xinjiang abuses against Uyghurs - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/china-united-nations-xinjiang-uyghur-human-rights/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/china-united-nations-xinjiang-uyghur-human-rights/ |
Ukraine live briefing: Power restored to Zaporizhzhia plant; authorities di...
The decimated Azovstal steel plant is seen Aug. 5 in Mariupol, Ukraine. In May, hundreds of Ukrainian fighters defending the plant were evacuated to Russian-held territory after Kyiv struck a cease-fire agreement with Moscow. (AFP/Getty Images)
Moscow and its separatist allies in Ukraine have forcibly transferred hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to Russia since the start of the war, according to U.S. officials and human rights investigators, sending many through a vast and punitive “filtration” system that includes detentions, interrogations and mass data collection.
The system operates in Russian-occupied areas and is overseen by the Kremlin, which is using “advanced technology” to gather data on Ukrainian citizens, a State Department official said in a briefing with reporters on Wednesday.
In recent days, two reports — from the New York-based Human Rights Watch and Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab — have shed new light on the scale of the filtration network and its impact on civilians. Both reports say there is evidence the system violates the laws of war.
Ukraine says Russia forcibly relocated thousands from Mariupol. Here’s one dramatic account.
“We do have information that officials from Russia’s presidential administration are overseeing and coordinating these filtration operations,” Emma Gilligan, a senior expert with the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice, told reporters Wednesday.
“We also know that Russia is using advanced technology to facilitate filtration processes, including for the purposes of collecting data on Ukrainian citizens,” she said.
In its report released Thursday, Human Rights Watch described the filtration system in Ukraine as a “mass illegal data collection exercise” with “no legal underpinnings.”
Residents are funneled to registration sites, where they are screened and released or detained. Some Ukrainians have disappeared, according to Human Rights Watch, or were deported to Russia without identification documents.
Video shows Russian ‘filtration camp,’ Mariupol mayor’s office says
Ukrainians who go through the system have had their phone contacts downloaded, fingerprints and photographs taken and passport numbers collected, according to the Yale report, which was published last week.
The researchers said they found “with high confidence” that Russian and allied forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine have used 21 sites for “filtration operations.”
The sites include registration points, temporary holding facilities, interrogation centers and prisons for long-term detention.
The scale of the filtration system is “significant,” Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab, said at the same briefing with reporters on Wednesday. The lab’s report is part of the Conflict Observatory, a State Department-supported initiative to document Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
One of the locations identified by the report includes a school in Bezimenne, a village east of Mariupol. In May, The Washington Post geolocated video clips showing the school, where men forcibly taken from Mariupol were detained, made to sleep on the floor and threatened with torture and execution, according to a Telegram post accompanying the footage.
Satellite images and videos also verified by The Post in March showed Russian-backed forces building a tent city in the area. Russian authorities described it at the time as a “life-supporting” center for refugees from Mariupol, while Ukrainian leaders accused Russia of taking residents to “filtration camps” against their will.
New #ConflictObservatory report by @HRL_YaleSPH maps a system of filtration facilities to screen Ukrainian civilians, combatants (including potential prisoners of war), and others in Donetsk oblast beginning in March 2022. https://t.co/PkugnPZd8h pic.twitter.com/IhxdwmxUsP
— ObserveConflict (@ObserveConflict) August 25, 2022
According to Human Rights Watch, some Ukrainians traveled to Russia voluntarily, including men who wanted to avoid martial law in Ukraine, which bars most military-age men from leaving the country.
It remains unclear exactly how many Ukrainians have been deported to Russia, or even subjected to the “filtration” screening process. In July, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Russia had deported 900,000 to 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens — and that many of those “forcibly deported,” including 260,000 children, have ended up in Russia’s Far East.
In late June, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk put the number of Ukrainians forcibly moved to Russia at 1.2 million, while Russia has said nearly 2.5 million Ukrainian “refugees” had moved to the country.
Still, much remains unknown about the filtration system, including how Russian authorities are using the data they collect and where many who were detained or transferred to Russia have ended up.
“This report is really to serve as a foundation for further investigation, advocacy and hopefully access by the international community to these sites that constitute, to be clear, a human rights emergency,” Raymond said. | 2022-09-01T06:27:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Russia’s ‘filtration’ system in Ukraine detailed in new reports - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/russia-ukraine-filtration-forced-transfer/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/russia-ukraine-filtration-forced-transfer/ |
NEW YORK — Serena Williams eliminated No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 in the U.S. Open’s second round Wednesday night to ensure that the 23-time Grand Slam champion will play at least one more singles match.
NEW YORK — The last two women’s champions were already out of the U.S. Open and now the 2021 runner-up and another semifinalist is gone.
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Denny Hamlin is still sore from last week’s late wreck at Daytona and won’t race, as planned, in the Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway on Saturday.
ROME — The New York Yankees have purchased a minority stake in Italian soccer champion AC Milan, which announced the closing of its latest ownership change Wednesday. | 2022-09-01T06:54:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Wednesday Sports in Brief - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wednesday-sports-in-brief/2022/09/01/2f3de4ee-29c0-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wednesday-sports-in-brief/2022/09/01/2f3de4ee-29c0-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
A reveler lies on a street flooded with crushed tomatoes during the annual Tomatina festival on Aug. 31. (AFP/Getty Images)
Thousands of revelers splattered each other with tomatoes on Wednesday, celebrating the return of Spain’s iconic La Tomatina food fight festival after a two-year lapse due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trucks laden with overripe tomatoes crawled through the narrow streets of Buñol, an eastern Spanish town about 25 miles from Valencia, as local residents on board hurled them at the crowd in an hour-long frenzy, leaving the area drenched in red pulp.
Some participants donned goggles to protect their eyes, while their clothes were soaked with juice and red goo. Others simply bathed themselves in the pulp.
The festival — traditionally held on the last Wednesday of August — was inspired by a food fight instigated by local children in 1945, according to organizers. It has inspired similar celebrations worldwide, including in cities in Colorado and Nevada.
Such is the lure of La Tomatina that the town now limits access to 22,000 people. It charges an entry fee that starts at about $12.
“We were really eager to resume our beloved party, to once again be able to throw tomatoes at each other and release all the adrenaline we built up these last two years,” local tourism official Maria Valles told AFP.
A Japanese student in Spain, who identified herself on Twitter as Ami Moto, celebrated what she called a “once in a lifetime” experience. “I’m glad that I got to experience it while I am young,” she wrote, alongside a photo of a street covered in crushed tomatoes.
After each tomato fight, streets are hosed down and the revelers shower off. Related festivities, including concerts and contests, last into the night.
This year’s crowd, at about 15,000, fell short of the roughly 20,000 that the local government had hoped for, according to AFP. It is also the first time in many years that the number of Spanish participants surpassed that of foreigners, El País reported. The newspaper said that some 80 percent of the festival’s visitors before the pandemic came from abroad, many from Japan, China and Australia.
The town’s order of tomatoes this year was 15 tons below what it placed in 2019, citing rising food prices and labor costs, according to the newspaper.
Some Twitter users expressed concern about the food waste caused by La Tomatina, though organizers noted that the tomatoes were overripe and unfit for consumption.
Spain expects its tourism sector to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, though the number of foreign visitors from the important Asia-Pacific market is still relatively low given covid-related travel restrictions in China. | 2022-09-01T08:02:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Spain's La Tomatina food fight festival returns after covid pandemic - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/spain-la-tomatina-tomato-fight-festival/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/spain-la-tomatina-tomato-fight-festival/ |
N.M. plans $10M abortion clinic near Tex. border, expecting post-Roe demand
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), center, signed an executive order that pledges $10 million to build a clinic that would provide abortions and other pregnancy care. (Morgan Lee/AP)
New Mexico will earmark $10 million to set up a reproductive health clinic in a county that borders Texas, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said Wednesday, to prepare for a possible increase of abortion seekers from nearby states that have restricted access in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The new clinic, to be set up in Doña Ana County under an executive order, will provide “the full spectrum of reproductive health care,” including preventive services and postpartum support, Grisham’s office said. Doña Ana is just north of El Paso and about 100 miles east of the Arizona border. Texas law heavily restricts abortions, while Arizona has a pre-Roe abortion ban that may be enforced, prompting many clinics there to halt procedures on June 24.
“As more states move to restrict and prohibit access to reproductive care, New Mexico will continue to not only protect access to abortion, but to expand and strengthen reproductive health care throughout the state,” Grisham said.
Grisham’s directive reflects a political divide that has been widening since June, when the Supreme Court overturned its 1973 decision that established a right to abortion across the United States. Since the ruling, conservative states have pushed for stricter rules against abortion, while liberal states have sought more explicit protections for abortion rights.
In New Mexico, Elisa Martinez, a former Republican primary candidate for the U.S. Senate, said Grisham’s order will force taxpayers to fund “a new abortion business.” Kayla Herring, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said the move will expand access to reproductive health care in a part of the state where such services had been lacking.
New Mexico has attracted interest from out-of-state abortion clinics since the overturning of Roe. In Texas, Alan Braid, a provider who has resisted his state’s antiabortion restrictions, has said he’d open a clinic in New Mexico. In Mississippi, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the clinic at the heart of the Supreme Court decision in June, has announced similar plans.
In June, Grisham signed an executive order that barred New Mexico state agencies from cooperating with extradition attempts and investigations in other states that criminalize abortion service providers.
That order, which came after Massachusetts and Minnesota took similar actions, also aimed to protect New Mexico abortion providers from discipline for providing an out-of-state resident abortion services, according to her office.
But a string of other states, including New Mexico neighbors Arizona, Oklahoma and Texas, have sought to impose legislation that would almost totally ban abortions. Providing abortions in Texas is punishable with a life sentence. Oklahoma bars abortion from the point of conception. In Arizona, the state’s GOP attorney general is trying to revive a strict 1901 antiabortion law.
“The goal here is, build it, and they will come,” Grisham said after signing the executive order. | 2022-09-01T08:37:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | New Mexico pledges new abortion clinic near Texas border post-Roe - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/01/new-mexico-abortion-clinic-texas-border/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/01/new-mexico-abortion-clinic-texas-border/ |
Cade Cavalli went on the injured list after a single start with Washington. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Cade Cavalli was supposed to start Thursday afternoon for the Washington Nationals, and the fact that he won’t dampened what’s left of excitement as the final month of the season begins. The Nationals have the worst record in baseball. They traded the best hitter in the game. They are in full-on rebuild mode, and a potential centerpiece of that rebuild is on the injured list after one career start. It’s bummer after bummer after bummer.
But Cavalli’s absence — he was diagnosed with shoulder inflammation over the weekend and shut down for at least two weeks — is a reminder of all this overhaul will require. The Nats’ rise to contention a decade ago wasn’t just about Stephen Strasburg. It was about Jordan Zimmermann and Gio Gonzalez and the players behind them. By the time they won a World Series, it was about Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin, too.
And so this “reboot,” as General Manager Mike Rizzo keeps calling it, won’t be solely about Cavalli. As long as Rizzo’s in charge — and with a new owner likely to take over after the season, who knows how long his reign will last — the Nationals will be built around starting pitching. That means Cavalli and Josiah Gray. It means MacKenzie Gore and Cole Henry. It means Jarlin Susana and some unidentified pitcher we don’t yet know — maybe a high first-round pick in next summer’s draft. And it means more than that.
Because shoulder inflammation, Tommy John surgery and thoracic outlet syndrome all seem to be a part of pitching, it means there must be a group that’s not just talented but deep. Who knows when the next starter will wake up the day after firing 99 pitches and think, “I don’t feel right”?
That’s what Cavalli did after his Friday night debut against Cincinnati, when he was charged with seven runs in 4⅓ innings — a statistical line that looks lousy but that came with enough flashes to justify the buzz. That start fits right in with where the Nationals’ rotation has been all summer, which is essentially the worst in the game — last in ERA (5.96), last in walks and hits per inning pitched (1.56), second-to-last in batting average against (.282).
Bleakest season in Nationals history could end with some unwanted records
Think about that for a second: The average major leaguer this year is hitting .243. Put him up against the Nats’ rotation, and he hits nearly 40 points higher! That’s remarkable, and it’s representative of the fall from what the Nats were less than three calendar years ago.
That October of 2019 ended with a parade because Anthony Rendon and Howie Kendrick went deep against the Houston Astros. But it was built on Strasburg coming out of the bullpen in the wild-card game and Corbin coming out of the bullpen in Game 7 and all those heroic performances from all those starting pitchers in between. The Nats won 12 games that October. I’m not much for pitching wins as a meaningful statistic, but the credit for the win in 10 of those games went to Scherzer, Strasburg or Corbin. That’s not a coincidence. That was by design in organizational philosophy overall and organizational strategy that month.
It only reinforces how those Nats were built — and, if Rizzo’s still in charge, how they will be built again. From 2012 to 2019, the Nats’ rotation was second in baseball in ERA, WHIP and opponents’ batting average. But you could argue Washington’s starting pitchers had a greater impact than any group on any other team because they were used so much. No rotation won more games or pitched more innings — and that has a trickle-down effect on the whole team.
Over that eight-season span, Nats starters averaged 5.93 innings per outing — somewhere between 17 and 18 outs a night. And therefore, over eight seasons, the team with the fewest innings out of its bullpen? You guessed it: Washington.
Over the past three seasons — beginning with the covid-shortened 2020 campaign — not only have Nats starters posted the worst ERA (5.24) and second-worst WHIP (1.44) in the sport, but they’re down to 4.98 innings an outing. That’s almost a full inning less than they pitched in their competitive stretch. Extend that over a season, and it’s 462 more outs a bullpen — actually, an exhausted bullpen — has to get. Put aside the fluky 43-game streak in which a Nats’ starter didn’t record a win. This isn’t the kind of workload Rizzo envisions from a rotation.
Now, the sport is undergoing a change, too, because starting pitchers have never been asked to do less than they are right now. Excluding that shortened 2020 season, the innings for starting pitchers have declined every season since 2014. Yet Rizzo’s mantra is unchanged: “With starting pitching, anything is possible. Without it, nothing is.”
Cavalli is one character who is supposed to open those possibilities.
“He’s really developed into the guy that we’re hoping can lead our staff moving forward in the future,” Rizzo said Wednesday during his weekly appearance on “The Sports Junkies” on 106.7 the Fan.
But it says here that when and if the Nationals contend again, the rotation won’t be Cavalli, the first-round pick in the 2021 draft; Gore, acquired in the trade with San Diego for Juan Soto; Henry, a second-round pick in 2020; Gray, who came back in the 2021 trade that sent Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers; and Susana, the 18-year-old flamethrower who tops out at 103 mph and was the final piece of the Soto deal. That’s too simple and too smooth, and it doesn’t account for the bumps that are certain to come along the way.
Cavalli’s shutdown, though not believed to be serious, is one of those bumps. So is the fact that Gore hasn’t thrown in a game in the Nationals’ system because he’s working his way back from injury. So is the fact that Henry hasn’t pitched in a game since June and will undergo surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome — the condition that has essentially broken Strasburg. So is the fact that Gray is missing turns in the rotation to monitor his workload.
Cavalli’s starts were supposed to be what amounted to events for the Nats over the season’s final month. His absence just emphasizes the difficulty of what’s ahead because becoming contenders again means not just identifying, collecting and developing starting pitching talent. It means keeping that talent healthy enough to take the ball every fifth day and perform, like Strasburg and Scherzer and Corbin did for the entirety of 2019, including that final, magical month. | 2022-09-01T09:21:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Cade Cavalli’s injury shows Washington’s difficult road ahead - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/cade-cavalli-injury-nationals-rotation/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/cade-cavalli-injury-nationals-rotation/ |
Lincoln Riley and Southern California are playing their final season in the Pac-12 before heading to the Big Ten. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)
Another year, another existential crisis for a league that remains a power conference (at least for now).
This is the chore facing the Pac-12 in the wake of June’s announcement that Los Angeles-area anchors Southern California and UCLA would bolt for the Big Ten in August 2024. What has ensued is two months of chatter of what is next and who is next to leave.
Which, come to think about it, is probably the most the Pac-12 has been discussed since the advent of college football’s playoff era.
There are opportunities on the first full weekend of the 2022 season for the West Coast to make a splash. Utah visits Florida. Oregon heads to Atlanta to face defending national champion Georgia. There’s even a de facto Pac-12/Mountain West Challenge, with Oregon State welcoming Boise State to Corvallis and Arizona visiting San Diego State.
Regardless, there’s a lot of work in front of the Pac-12 if it is to stabilize its football reputation — or avoid getting dismembered altogether by the avarice of conference realignment.
It’s not as if the league has helped itself much of late.
Oregon (2014) and Washington (2016) did make semifinal appearances in the first three playoff seasons, but no Pac-12 team has made it through a full, non-pandemic season with only one loss since then. Nearly as rare as a Pac-12 playoff team is one with some plausible hope of earning a semifinal nod heading into November.
In fairness to the league itself, USC and UCLA have been part of the problem. Since its string of seven consecutive top-five finishes in the Associated Press rankings ended in 2008, USC has wound up in the top 25 seven times and the top 10 twice (2011 and 2016). Not bad but not at the level expected of the Trojans.
It’s still much better than the Bruins, who have three top-25 finishes since 2000 and none since their lone top-10 in that span in 2014.
Nonetheless, USC’s history suggests it can be a potent part of the league’s engine, and even its recent performance is better than most of the schools it is on the cusp of leaving behind.
Oregon is a credible power. Utah has more than done its share, with five top-25 finishes and last year’s Pac-12 title in 11 seasons in the league. Stanford squeezed nearly all of its 21st-century production to date into a window from 2010 to 2017 that has been hard to recapture. Washington largely took a decade off from the national scene, enjoyed some success under Chris Petersen and is still finding its way with him in retirement.
And the less said about the national relevance of the rest of the Pac-12, the better (besides Washington State’s unusual all-or-nothing habit, which at least keeps everyone guessing).
So what to do about it? There’s always the Big 12 blueprint.
At this time last summer, the announced move of Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12 to the SEC was still fresh in mind, and its reverberations were only starting to become clear.
The Big 12, at that point down to eight schools, went out and added BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston. Three of them have at least one top-10 finish since 2015, and the Cougars (No. 11 in 2020) nearly do as well.
For the purposes of salvaging value for its football brand, it was about as good as the Big 12 could have hoped for under the circumstances.
The numbers don’t provide a perfect comparison for the league’s pending newcomers, and even the last round of Big 12 expansion is evidence of how unpredictable things can be. TCU has three top-10 finishes since it joined the Big 12, while West Virginia has a pair of top-20 finishes in a decade to show for its time in the conference.
The Big 12 had the “benefit” of being raided first, so it could respond earlier than the Pac-12. It also was centered in the middle of the continent, though distance between league rivals doesn’t seem to carry much value in decision-making in college sports these days.
With only so many options on the Left Coast that have sustained football success in recent years (Boise State and San Diego State are two possibilities), the Pac-12’s expansion avenues are limited.
That means it will need the likes of Oregon, Stanford and Washington to carry the league banner even more in the years to come. That’s assuming they bother to stick around for the long haul — no sure thing in an era when instability feels like the lone college sports constant.
Deion Sanders: Jackson State in ‘crisis mode’ amid city’s water emergency | 2022-09-01T09:21:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Which Pac-12 teams can fill the void left by USC and UCLA? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/pac-12-football-replacing-usc-ucla/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/pac-12-football-replacing-usc-ucla/ |
Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion, summoned her champion's resolve to beat No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit in the second round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday night in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Who else but Williams could turn the entire current of a tournament as she does with pure resolve? A few weeks ago, she was done, played out, scrabbling for confidence and just hoping for a decent ceremonial farewell at the U.S. Open. Now, with just a few practice sessions, she’s a factor for her 24th Grand Slam singles title after knocking off the second-ranked player in the world, 26-year-old Anett Kontaveit, with a performance so mighty and moving that you thought the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium was going to start a rockslide with its clamor.
Whatever happens after this, not even the wonkiest numerical tennis historian can possibly still cite Margaret Court, with her dusty-paper 24 Grand Slam titles — more than half of them won before the Open era of professional tennis — in the same sentence with Williams. No champion past or present — not Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert or Steffi Graf — has lasted longer at the top or won more. And nobody, absolutely nobody, in any sport, has ever fought from a place deeper in their gut. “You know, this is what I do best,” she said to the crowd after knocking off Kontaveit, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-2, on Wednesday night.
Among the many things that separates Williams is that she’s doing this as a tired working mother with a lot of things on that magnificent mind of hers. Don’t for a second underestimate that achievement, the difficulty of finding her strokes again with so many different claims on her. Coming into the tournament, she had played just four matches in 14 months and lost three of them. When she announced in a first-person piece in Vogue that she would be moving away from the sport and toward growing her family and her venture capital company, you couldn’t help but notice the resigned tone of it.
Williams refused to use of the word “retirement.” She favored “evolving.” Despite the verbal evasion, there was no question that she came to New York viewing it as the definitive end of her singles career. Anyone who followed her remarks closely knew that. After suffering a first-round loss at Wimbledon to Harmony Tan, she said: “Today was what I could do. At some point, you have to be okay with that.”
Her style of play, all thrust and pummeling attack, has taken an enormous toll on her body over the years — and she has been playing in the wake of a Caesarean section and two pulmonary embolisms. Name any athlete, in any endeavor, in any era, please, who could have remained such a factor while dealing with postpartum issues, breastfeeding and raising a toddler — and who could return after taking months at a time away from the game, only to be viably great again, with a fidgeting 4-year-old in the eaves of the stadium, who she reclaimed on her hip as soon as she walked back to the locker room after beating Kontaveit.
Three weeks ago at a tournament in Toronto, she had struggled to finally win something, anything, even if it was two brief sets over a player outside of the top 50, Nuria Parrizas Diaz. “Listen, I was happy to win a match. It’s been so long,” she said, “I forgot what it felt like.”
Williams acknowledged, “I’m not where I normally am, and I’m not where I want to be.”
“I guess there’s just a light at the end of the tunnel,” she added. “I don’t know, I’m guess closer to the light, so . . . lately that’s been it for me. I can’t wait to get to that light.”
Asked what the light represents, she answered, “Freedom.”
But she also clung to the possibility that something might turn over inside her when she got to New York, that she could ignite some last fumes and feel a little greatness again on the big stage.
Well, she has started to feel it — and now everyone can feel it building. In her first two matches, she has played with a kind of poised, open curiosity, as if she’s wondering as much as we are just how much she might be able to summon. Each stroke Wednesday night seemed a little harder until, by the end of the match, she was delivering hammers and anvils. All told, Williams hit 38 winners to Kontaveit’s 32. The Estonian had 15 winners in the second set alone, which might have demoralized Williams, along with the fact that a slugfest of a match was passing the two-hour mark. But instead of fading, Williams somehow surged.
“I was just like: ‘Serena, you’ve already won. Just play. Be Serena,” she said after the win. “ ‘You’re better than this.’ That’s what I was able to do.”
Kontaveit was deceptively slight and pale in yellow, but she had huge strokes that might have driven Williams off the court. Instead, by the final game, Williams was charging so hard that she took huge swinging volleys out of the air — shots that seemed to dynamite the crowd and all of the assumptions about what she has left.
“You know, I can’t do this forever,” she said just three weeks ago.
Maybe not. But she can do it for another night. | 2022-09-01T09:21:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Serena Williams summons a champion's resolve at the U.S. Open - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/serena-williams-us-open-anett-kontaveit/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/serena-williams-us-open-anett-kontaveit/ |
Carson Wentz is taking snaps for the Commanders this season. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Washington’s NFL team has a new name, but the old tradition of offering five preposterously positive predictions about its season continues.
As a reminder, these are a degree more ridiculous than your typical bold predictions, and though rooted in facts and analysis, they’re supposed to be more fun than serious. I’m a perfect 0 for 30 over the past six seasons (see: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021) with this exercise.
Why it’s preposterous: In the four seasons since Kirk Cousins signed with the Minnesota Vikings after he started all 16 games for Washington in 2017, 10 quarterbacks have started for the burgundy and gold. Only two of them — Alex Smith and Taylor Heinicke — started as many as 10 games in a season. (Last year, offseason acquisition Ryan Fitzpatrick suffered a season-ending hip injury in the second quarter of the opener, ruining his hopes of eclipsing the preposterous 35 touchdown passes predicted in this space.) Wentz starting every game would require him to stay healthy and be effective. Heinicke knows Washington’s offense well after starting 15 games last year, and rookie Sam Howell flashed his potential in the preseason.
Jahan Dotson has lit up Commanders camp. What could the season hold?
Why it could happen: Third-year coach Ron Rivera experienced a breakthrough in his third season with Carolina, guiding the Panthers to 12 wins in 2013 after back-to-back losing years. At the outset of training camp this summer, Rivera rejected the notion that the coming season should be considered playoffs or bust. “It’s fair to say we expect to win,” he said, “and we’ll leave it at that. … I think the biggest thing, more so than anything else, is why put pressure on us? Why don’t we just leave it at winning?” Washington has a chance to get off to a fast start with games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions in the first two weeks, so there’s a path to 10 wins. | 2022-09-01T09:21:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Five preposterously positive Washington Commanders predictions for 2022 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/washington-commanders-positive-predictions/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/washington-commanders-positive-predictions/ |
Sri Lanka reaches tentative deal with IMF for $2.9 billion bailout
Niha Masih
Hafeel Farisz
World Bank senior mission chief Peter Breuer, right, speaks with Masahiro Nozaki, mission chief for Sri Lanka, by his side during a media conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Sept. 1. (Eranga Jayawardena/AP)
NEW DELHI — The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it has reached a preliminary agreement with the Sri Lankan government that would give the cash-strapped country access to $2.9 billion in funds needed for crucial imports and financial stability.
The funds will not be available for several more months, however, until the bailout is approved by the IMF’s senior management. Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe also needs to win support from domestic constituents and Sri Lanka’s debtholders.
But the agreement is viewed as a significant step forward for a South Asian nation that has hit rock bottom after experiencing a foreign currency crisis, food inflation nearing 100 percent, a near-total lack of fuel, and political turmoil that saw President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ousted by furious mobs in July.
Chaos in Sri Lanka after protesters seize prime minister’s office
“For Sri Lanka, the IMF was the only game left in town,” said Murtaza Jafferjee, chairman of the Sri Lankan economic think tank Advocata. “The fact that the government finally got into an agreement is the start of the country’s economic recovery process.”
In a statement, the IMF said the Sri Lankan government agreed to raise taxes on higher-income individuals and corporations and lift fuel prices but also increase social spending on the poor who have suffered in the current crisis.
Fund officials also said the bailout is contingent on Sri Lanka receiving debt relief concessions from lenders, which include private sector bondholders but also the likes of Japan, China, and India — rivals that have been jostling for influence over the island nation.
Peter Breuer and Masahiro Nozaki, two IMF officials who visited Sri Lanka this week, said the country is facing inflation rates of nearly 60 percent and the economy is expected to contract 8.7 percent this year. “Sri Lanka has been facing an acute crisis,” the officials said. “The impact has been disproportionately borne by the poor and vulnerable.”
The case of Sri Lanka has been seen as an ominous warning for other developing countries around the world. The war in Ukraine sent fuel and food prices soaring, exacerbating a crisis that had already been brewing for years due to profligate government borrowing and tax cuts.
The U.S. dollar has also surged in recent months, making it even harder for countries like Sri Lanka to repay their international debts. In April, it stopped making payments on debt that amounted to about $30 billion.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former president, began seeking an IMF bailout in early 2022, when Sri Lanka’s dollar reserves began falling precipitously and the cost of fuel and food spiraled. But the lack of a cohesive government hindered securing a deal.
In May, Wickremesinghe, a veteran statesman, was named prime minister after the resignation of the president’s brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, amid mob violence on Colombo’s streets. Wickremesinghe then assumed the presidency in July after another spasm of chaos that forced Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country.
This week, before the IMF deal was announced, Wickremesinghe presented an interim budget to the Parliament that hiked taxes on goods and services to 15 percent and reduced the retirement age of public sector employees. He slashed expenditure on defense and infrastructure to pay for welfare subsidies and to repay interest on loans.
Wickreminsghe also announced an expansion of measures targeting the poorest, such as giving cash subsidies for food to impoverished families and more allowances for the elderly, in a bid to stave off a growing hunger crisis in the country. Farmers, who had faced ruin from the ill-conceived fertilizer ban by the previous government, would also get loan waivers, Wickremesinghe said.
The IMF said Thursday under the proposed changes to taxation and government spending, Sri Lanka could run a budget surplus by 2024.
The talks in Colombo this week were just “the first step in an arduous journey,” said Manjuka Fernandopulle, a debt restructuring expert in Colombo who has advised private holders of Sri Lankan government debt. “In fact, this is the beginning of the pain of the structural adjustments.”
Farisz reported from Colombo, Sri Lanka. | 2022-09-01T10:22:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Sri Lanka and IMF reach agreement on bailout - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/sri-lanka-imf-bailout/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/sri-lanka-imf-bailout/ |
Lawsuit takes on pit bull ban in Prince George’s County
Filed in July, the suit claims that the decades-old county ordinance is discriminatory, unconstitutional and not based in science
A dog named Gotti relaxes in the shade in Washington, D.C., as several dozen people rally for pit bull terriers in 2019. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
A decades-old ban on pit bulls in Prince George’s County is being challenged in federal court through a class-action lawsuit calling the ordinance vague and discriminatory.
The county’s policy, which has been on the books since 1997, applies to dogs that are at least 50 percent pit bull — which is not a breed but a category of dog that includes American pit bull terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers.
The lawsuit, filed in July, claims that the county’s pit bull ordinance is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, not based in science, and encourages “seriously discriminatory enforcement.” The suit also alleges that the ban violates the Fair Housing Act by forcing residents to either give up their dogs or move outside Prince George’s County.
Advocates say pit-bull bans are racist and ineffective. This Md. suburb supports them.
The original lawsuit plaintiffs included a Prince George’s family whose dogs, Bella and Mimi, were taken away by animal control officers over the summer after they escaped from their yard and got into a fight with a neighbor’s dog. Bella and Mimi, both emotional support dogs, are registered with the county as mixed breed and mastiff, respectively.
But the county claimed, per their analysis, that the dogs are pit bulls — and therefore illegal under local law, according to court filings.
Last week, Richard Rosenthal, a New York-based attorney representing the family, filed a motion to intervene on behalf of other potential plaintiffs in the lawsuit who say they have had similar disputes with the county over their dogs.
The litigation has now been put on hold while the county and Rosenthal’s clients attempt to reach an agreement over the enforcement of the Prince George’s pit bull ordinance, the court docket shows. The parties are scheduled to meet again in early October for a settlement conference, according to an order Tuesday from a federal judge overseeing the case.
A spokesperson for the county declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation. Court filings from the county asking the case be dismissed assert that a dog owner’s property is subject to police power and can be regulated for public safety and welfare reasons. The county also says in court filings that the “regulation does not offend equal protection.”
Rosenthal, known nationwide as “The Dog Lawyer,” was first contacted by Denise, Sophia and Stephany Venero in July, after the county seized their dogs and refused to return them, according to the court filing.
He said he decided to take the case once he realized “just how egregious what the county was doing here was.”
About 400 pit bulls euthanized last year in Prince George’s, officials say
For years, animal advocates in Prince George’s County and across the country have been pushing for local and state governments to rescind their bans on pit bulls — ordinances that they argue are linked to racism and classism and not based in science.
But supporters of these bans have balked at the argument, saying the rules are rooted in concerns for public safety.
In the federal lawsuit recently filed against the Prince George’s County bans, Rosenthal argues that the problems are legally layered — basing much of his argument on what he claims is a violation of due process. The county’s policies lack specific guidance for how animal control officials determine whether a dog is indeed a pit bull, he said.
County employees are not relying on a DNA test, Rosenthal said, but rather a visual analysis by officers who may or may not have training on the subject.
“If you can’t tell what is a pit bull with some degree of exactitude, then your enforcement violates due process,” Rosenthal said. “And because there are no printed written standards, how does one defend it?”
The county has also denied in court that the regulation is vague, overly broad or a violation of due process.
The lawsuit also addresses some specific problems that Rosenthal says directly violate the county’s own policy as it is written.
Under county code, the owners of animals taken into official custody under the dangerous dog ordinance are supposed to be notified within 48 hours of their right to a preliminary hearing. At the hearing, county code says, officials can determine whether the owners are capable of safely keeping their animal restrained pending the Animal Control Commission decision on the animal’s dangerousness.
But in this case, the Veneros were given no such notification, the lawsuit claims. When they proactively requested a preliminary hearing, the county denied it — informing the owners that officials had determined their dogs were illegal pit bulls and therefore exempt from a preliminary hearing.
The owners denied that their dogs were pit bulls and provided documentation of what they said were their true breeds. They also expressed concern about their medical care in the animal shelter. But according to the lawsuit, the county was nonresponsive.
An author says she hoped to advance the debate about pit bulls. Instead, she became a target.
Eleven days after the dogs fought, the owners finally received the “notice of violation” from the county. The notice said the county had decided not to return the dogs after “thoroughly reviewing” the case. The dog owners were told they could pay a nonrefundable cost of $150 per animal to appeal the decision.
The owners were eventually able to arrange a deal with county officials to house the dogs outside Prince George’s. But when they picked the dogs up, the lawsuit claims, both were sick and had lost weight.
Once the Veneros were able to have their hearing before the Animal Control Commission, Rosenthal said, commission officials ruled that the county had not sufficiently proved that Bella and Mimi were pit bulls.
The dogs have since been released back to their owners. | 2022-09-01T10:30:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Lawsuit challenges Prince George's ban on pit bulls - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/pitbull-ban-lawsuit-prince-georges/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/pitbull-ban-lawsuit-prince-georges/ |
Date Lab: They had plenty to talk about
Chris is 60 and a lawyer. He is seeking someone who is “athletic, cute, wicked smart, a little sassy but very sweet.” Piper is 56 and a professor of international relations. She is looking for someone who is “tall, takes care of himself but isn’t full of himself, genuinely kind … and socially conscious.” (Daniele Seiss) (Daniele Seiss)
Every week, Piper reads the Date Lab column with her 12-year-old daughter. “We would dissect the dates, and then she said, ‘Mom, why don’t you do it?’ ” explained Piper, 56. “The first time she said it, I went, ‘No way,’ and then I said, ‘Why not?’ ”
Piper, who has never been married, hasn’t dated recently — she was traveling and being a mom — and avoids dating apps and websites. For her, Date Lab was jumping into the deep end. She and her daughter sat down together and filled out the application, with Piper using it as a teachable moment.
“I thought it was a fun activity as to what do you look for in someone you might want to date and how do you describe yourself,” said Piper, who hails from Buffalo, but moved in and out of D.C. often for her former career as a diplomat. “I would like to meet somebody who adds to my already full and enjoyable life. For me, I think it’s kind of a high bar, but not impossible.”
Her date, Chris, spent his 60th birthday this year at a Paul McCartney concert with his two adult children. Though he grew up in Lancaster, Pa., and lived in D.C. and New York for a little bit during the early days of his law career, the bulk of Chris’s life has been spent in the Midwest. The divorcée moved back to the area in late 2019.
“I was divorced in 2016, and I’ve had a couple of sort-of semi-longer-term relationships since then,” he told me. Chris also shared that he’d been on and off online dating sites with mixed results. He’s a regular reader of The Washington Post, but only stumbled onto Date Lab in January.
On a whim he decided to apply, but when we initially reached out to match him, Chris had just started dating someone so declined. “Then my circumstances changed, and I reached back out,” he said. His ideal partner is someone who is intelligent, attractive, empathetic, physically fit, has a sense of humor and can laugh at themselves.
On the day of the date, Piper put on a dress she had recently bought (not specifically for this date) and hammed it up for her daughter, who took pre-date photos. Piper took an Uber, but traffic made her realize she would be late so she hopped out and walked the last bit to Ala restaurant near Dupont Circle.
This left her flustered, she said, but not so much that she didn’t notice Chris’s smile when she first saw him. “He had a nice smile. … He had a really nice smile,” she said. While they took photos for the column, Piper broke the ice by mentioning her daughter had taken some pictures of her before she left. “I showed him some of the silly photos and when we sat down at the table he said, ‘So, you have a daughter?’ and that was the start of the conversation.”
Before the evening started, Chris put on a button-down shirt and set out open to all possibilities. “If you meet someone [online] and you correspond with them and you meet them in person, I always try to make sure I remember some of the things they told me,” he said. “There really wasn’t any way to prepare for this. You are meeting someone you literally know nothing about.”
His first impression of Piper? “I thought she was lovely, but we were sort of taking pictures very quickly,” he explained. “I think for me the first impression was more when we sat down and got to know each other. We covered a lot of ground, and it was very easy.”
Their conversation spanned from their dogs — Piper has three, Chris has two — to their families of origin to their careers to expanding NATO into Eastern Europe. “We talked for a really long time before even looking at the menus, so the waitress very kindly suggested an appetizer, then we probably talked for another 20 to 30 minutes before looking at the menu,” Piper said.
They continued talking while sharing spicy eggplant with flatbread, red snapper, roasted cauliflower and wine. Nearly four hours after meeting, the date came to a natural end because they both needed to get home to care for their dogs. Chris gave Piper a hug and they exchanged numbers.
“He was very approachable,” said Piper. “I think what stood out to me was that after the awkwardness of the photographs I felt very comfortable with him.” Chris said we did “a remarkable job” matching him: “It was just a lovely dinner. I just thought we connected really well.”
Piper: 5 [out of 5].
Chris: 5.
They have been on two more dates and continue getting to know each other. | 2022-09-01T10:48:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Date Lab: They had plenty to talk about - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/09/01/date-lab-they-had-plenty-talk-about/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/09/01/date-lab-they-had-plenty-talk-about/ |
Aida Osma, left, as Shawna, and KaMillion as Mia in “Rap Sh!t.” (Alicia Vera/HBO Max)
Aida: I’m sure the HBO Max promo team would be like “post more.” But for me, the amount that I’ve changed as somebody who tries to control my own narrative and be like, I’m only posting once every six months, with the show you get to promote this amazing, beautiful thing that you worked on for months and you have to learn to be okay with being seen. That’s in tandem with Shawna’s journey of her having to take the mask off and be okay with being seen. I think I’m having the same journey with my social media presence.
KaMillion: Even though I’m pretty savvy because I use it, technology is constantly changing so now I got to learn another way. … I used to feel like I couldn’t live without it because I look at it like it’s my storefront. If I post a picture, for me that’s 20 bands [$20,000] for a booking or show. For me, it’s not just vanity, it’s my store, it’s how I make my money. But me and Aida are a lot alike, so I understand. Sometimes I want to be home and just chilling, too — but I got to go to work.
Aida: I was so scared of her. She was just so cool. At the chemistry read, she was just tucked away in the corner in this dope-a-- red outfit, legs crossed, on her phone just deep breathing and fine and chilling. I’m sure there were a lot of emotions happening inside of her in that moment, but she maintained this really cool, powerful face. And I was really drawn to that. To me, the best friendships, the best love you can have for people, is when you’re like “I want to be like that person.”
KaMillion: I love you, too. Even though we’re a lot alike, we tap into a whole different vibe. … We just complement each other and we switch roles, too. I like seeing her in her element. The other day she took me to this place where they make facial products. Just some whole other s---. That’s what I love about her. She dope. She dope. | 2022-09-01T10:52:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The stars of 'Rap Sh!t' talk making Issa Rae laugh, chemistry and rap - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/01/rap-sht-kamillion-aida-osman/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/01/rap-sht-kamillion-aida-osman/ |
By Marina Lopes
“At this time it is critical that the video of last night’s shooting and all available facts are shared for the sake of complete transparency,” Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said in a tweet that included the video and linked to a local news article about the incident. The state Bureau of Criminal Investigation is conducting an independent probe, he said, and could refer evidence to a grand jury.
The Columbus police, mayor’s office and state attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Police chief in Miss. bragged about shooting Black man 119 times, according to recording
“Donovan Lewis lost his life. As a parent, you know, I sympathize, and I grieve with his mother,” Police Chief Elaine Bryant said at the news conference. “I grieve with our community, but we’re going to allow this investigation to take place.”
“Columbus police. If you are inside, make yourself known,” one officer says. Off camera, a man can be heard saying “they are sleeping.” The officer repeats, “Come on out. Come out now.”
One officer then follows a police dog to Lewis’s room and opens the door. Immediately after a light illuminates Lewis propping himself on his mattress, the officer shoots. As Lewis writhes and moans in the bed, he is told to “crawl” out of the room and to stop resisting arrest. He was handcuffed on the bed and died in a hospital shortly after.
Akron police release video of officers shooting Black man dozens of times
“Police shot and killed Donovan Lewis while he was in one of the most vulnerable places a person can be — bed. As the investigation unfolds, some may point to the fact that the police were attempting to execute a warrant when they shot Mr. Lewis, as if to suggest that an alleged offense warrants immediate execution” Kelly Sampson, director of racial justice at the anti-gun-violence organization Brady, said in a statement.
In December 2020, Andre Hill, a 47-year-old, unarmed Black man was shot four times by a Columbus police officer while leaving a friend’s house. His family received a $10 million settlement from the city. Last year, an officer fatally shot Ma’Khia Bryant, a Black 16-year-0ld, outside her home. The officer was cleared of criminal wrongdoing after an investigation.
Lewis’s killing was the third police shooting in the city in the past week, according to the Columbus Urban League. The organization called for a community forum on Saturday to discuss the incident.
“Yesterday’s shooting evokes painful, conflicting responses. We understand that serving a felony warrant creates a highly volatile and dangerous situation. And yet, the body camera video is as gut-wrenching as is the fact that another Black man lost his life,” Stephanie Hightower, the group’s president, said in a statement. “No matter the ultimate conclusion, our community deserves an independent, thorough and transparent investigation by all appropriate entities.” | 2022-09-01T10:57:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Columbus, Ohio, police shoot Black man in bed, release body-cam video - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/01/columbus-police-shooting-black-man/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/01/columbus-police-shooting-black-man/ |
Executive producer Lindsey Weber talks about where ‘Rings of Power’ fits into J.R.R. Tolkien’s vast mythology and how it can appeal to newbies as well as die-hard fans
Morfydd Clark stars as Galadriel in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” (Amazon)
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” a prequel series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels that premieres Thursday on Amazon Prime, begins a new era for both the LOTR franchise and Amazon, which is looking to become a heavyweight streamer in the world of fantasy. Disney Plus has Marvel Studios and Star Wars. HBO Max has dragons. Amazon has R-rated superheroes and now the rings.
Executive producer Lindsey Weber spoke with The Washington Post about the new series — what it hopes to accomplish, its narrative scope, and how it attempts to welcome those who are new to the Lord of the Rings while satisfying die-hard fans.
Q: What is “The Rings of Power” based on? If someone wanted to read this story before they watched it, where would they go?
A: Anyone who has the Lord of the Rings books in their home already has it. It’s based on the appendices, which tell the story of the Second Age. They come at the back of “Return of the King.” For most people, they may be sitting on their living-room shelves already.
Q: “The Rings of Power” reportedly had an enormous budget. Do you feel like you had what was necessary financially to tell the story you wanted to tell?
A: Amazon was very supportive, not just financially but as creative partners. We all really wanted to make the same show, and that is the best environment you can ask for. We did have a healthy budget. It is significantly smaller than has been written about by any outlet I’ve ever seen. No one has written the correct story yet, but we feel the money is on the screen. And as a producer, that’s really your job. I come from the feature film world. This is the first television show I’ve worked on. That’s also true of the showrunners, J.D. [Payne] and Patrick [McKay], and I think of it this way. [“The Rings of Power”] is really the length of three feature tent-pole films shot on the schedule of two for the price of one.
Review: 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' is beautiful, banal boredom
Q: When does “The Rings of Power” take place within the timeline of the original Lord of the Rings stories?
A: The rings of power takes place in the Second Age, which is thousands of years before the events of the Third Age, which most people know — Frodo and Bilbo and all of that. Tolkien wrote over 9,000 years of history. This is long before. So if you think about — just to contextualize what 3,000 years means, it’s like comparing the present day to ancient Rome. It’s a very different time for the people of Middle-earth in the Second Age.
Q: Who are the key characters in “The Rings of Power?”
A: There’s a good mix of old and new. The elves in Tolkien’s world are immortals. So there are some characters that if you’ve seen the films of the Third Age, you will know and remember — Galadriel, Elrond. These are characters that perhaps are a bit more well-known. There are also some characters that we’re bringing to screen for the first time, like Gil-galad, who’s a big player in the books but hasn’t been seen on screen, and of course Isildur. We get to meet him as a young man who’s wide-eyed and looking to the future. And then we also have some newer characters who are from corners of the map that Tolkien wrote about but didn’t necessarily name people. We have our Harfoot community — the Harfoots are ancestors of the Hobbits, and Tolkien wrote about their wandering days, when they’re more of a migratory people.
Q: What is at stake in “The Rings of Power”? Is this the secret origin of the rings?
A: The big stories of the Second Age are the forging of the rings. Yes, that’s part of it. And, you know, people know about the one ring, but there are many others [rings] that have a story to tell, as well. It is the rise and fall of Tolkien’s Atlantis, the story of Númenor. It is the rise of the dark lord Sauron. He was not just an eye in the sky, as he is in Third Age. In the Second Age, he is a being walking around Middle-earth. And eventually there will be the last alliance of elves and men. This season is about the reemergence of evil in Middle-earth and watching what the various cultures of Middle-earth will do as the dark forces rise again.
Q: Can someone who has never read a Lord of the Rings book or seen one of the movies watch this show and follow along? Were viewers like that considered when creating “The Rings of Power?”
A: Yes, very much so. We worked really hard to make something that was accessible to people who have never read the books, who have never seen the movies. We want there to be an on-ramp for those people. And I think they will find there are relatable stories in our characters that hopefully give them an access point to Middle-earth. Similarly, for the die-hard fans, the scholars of the legendarium, we’ve baked a lot of extra stuff in there. They will see things in every frame, every costume, every set. And it all has a story to tell. And they will certainly find a lot of extra things, but it’s not at all necessary that you know those things going in.
Q: How many seasons will be needed to tell the entirety of “The Rings of Power?”
A: Amazon agreed with the Tolkien estate to make 50 hours of television. That is something the showrunners, J.D. and Patrick, had in their minds from the get-go. They’ve envisioned a 50-hour mega-epic, that’s their phrase. They have written a series bible that we’ve all discussed with the Tolkien estate. We know what the last shot of the series will be. The seasons are mapped out. The showrunners love to say it’s like a road trip from L.A. to New York: We know we’re going to end up in New York, but somewhere along the way, we may take a detour to Graceland if we get inspired. But we know where we’re going to end up and how it’s all going to go.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (eight episodes) available for streaming on Amazon Prime, debuting with two episodes, followed by new episodes released on Fridays. (Disclosure: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) | 2022-09-01T11:14:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ series, explained - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/01/lord-rings-amazon/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/01/lord-rings-amazon/ |
Some employers avoid providing all but the bare legal minimum to their workers in the hope they will take the hint and quit
'Quiet quitting' isn't really about quitting. Here are the signs.
But if we’re going to accuse workers of quiet quitting, we should also acknowledge the phenomenon of “quiet firing,” in which employers avoid providing all but the bare legal minimum, possibly with the aim of getting unwanted employees to quit.
They may deny raises for years, fail to supply resources while piling on demands, give feedback designed to frustrate and confuse, or grant privileges to select workers based on vague, inconsistent performance standards. Those who don’t like it are welcome to leave.
The ”work from anywhere” business model offers opportunities for both quiet quitting and quiet firing. Some remote workers, as I discussed recently, are moving out of commuting distance for personal reasons. And some employers are reducing and relocating their office spaces for business reasons. When employers or employees make these changes without due regard for the disruption it causes the other party, it starts to look like they’re daring one another to end the work relationship.
Questions from a couple of readers lead me to ask: What, if anything, do relocating companies owe their workers? Is the attrition of workers who can’t adapt just another form of quiet firing?
Reader 1: My employer is requiring us to return to the office at least three days a week, but during the pandemic they moved the office to a new location that isn’t on any public transit routes, which means I’ll have to drive in. It’s a nasty commute across the bay (I used to take a ferry, but now I’d have to walk several miles from there to get to the new office). The response has essentially been “tough luck, kiddo,” but those who left the area are allowed to continue to work fully remotely.
I wonder if I have any recourse, short of quitting. I’m nearing retirement, so I also wonder if they’re hoping I’ll take the hint.
Karla: If your employer managed with you working remotely for the better part of the past two years, and others are still working remotely full-time, it’s unclear why they suddenly need you in the new space for three-fifths of the week, or at all. If you’ve brought up this issue with management, and they’re making no effort to offset the hardship or adjust the demands, that certainly suggests they’re not concerned about losing you.
You could call their bluff and continue working exclusively from home — but that might give them an excuse to fire you.
If they’re refusing any concessions with the goal of nudging you into early retirement, that could well be illegal but hard to prove. If you can somehow show that employees of a particular age, race or nationality are disproportionately being denied flexibility or suffering hardships because of this move, you might have leverage in requesting some leeway on the return-to-office requirement. An employment lawyer could help write a letter to persuade your HR team that flexibility is the best policy.
Reader 2: I was hired last year by a firm that had one office 20 minutes from my home and another in a city over an hour away. I worked remotely during the pandemic and was told that upon reopening I could decide which office I would work from. Naturally I had in mind the local office.
The firm recently sold the local office building, leaving only the city location. I have the option to continue working from home most of the time, but it’s been rough on my mental health — I really need to get out of the house. Would I be eligible for unemployment if I quit to start looking for other local jobs?
Karla: Depending on your state, you might qualify for unemployment benefits if you’re fleeing work conditions so hostile or unsafe that they essentially forced you out (also known as “constructive discharge”). But I wouldn’t quit until you have a more solid source of income — i.e., another job — in hand.
However, assuming your employer isn’t trying to quiet-fire you, a third option may be available. Flexible workspaces ranging from dedicated desks to entire office floors are increasingly available for rent and not necessarily cost-prohibitive, especially when compared with the tolls of an hour-plus commute. And they offer more privacy and reliable WiFi than your local coffee shop.
Navigating the return to the office
With all the possibilities remote work has opened up, employers and employees can be creative in finding solutions that don’t involve silently sabotaging each other. | 2022-09-01T11:27:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | After quiet quitting, here comes quiet firing - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/01/quiet-quitting-and-firing/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/01/quiet-quitting-and-firing/ |
(RUDE/Illustration for The Washington Post)
After two years of streaming author conversations, podcasts and virtual Q&A sessions with readers, the National Book Festival is back in person at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Sept. 3. More than 200,000 visitors passed through the doors in 2019, with some even lining up at 3 a.m. to make sure they’d secure seats for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s main stage appearance.
But with more than 120 authors and poets in attendance, and events happening on up to 10 stages at the same time, the schedule throws up some tough choices: Do you try to grab a seat for Nick Offerman and a National Park Service ranger discussing “Where the Deer and the Antelope Play,” hear Kirstin Chen, Katie Gutierrez and Amanda Eyre Ward dissecting our national obsession with true crime, or listen to Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss talk about “Path Lit By Lightning,” his new biography of Jim Thorpe?
So we turned to experts for advice: We asked the owners and booksellers at the area’s independent bookstores which authors were on their must-see lists. We also received recommendations from some of the young, opinionated members of the Youth Advisory Councils at Alexandria’s Hooray for Books, who help the beloved Old Town shop decide which new titles to stock.
From KidsPost: National Book Festival hosts authors with tough but vulnerable characters
I have fond memories of shelving Erin Entrada Kelly’s “Hello Universe” at my children’s elementary school library, as it had just been awarded the Newbery Medal and was a favorite with the students. Entrada Kelly’s books reliably present readers with beautifully told stories with themes of friendship and courage. In her Marisol Rainey series, we meet a shy heroine, quiet and imaginative, who nonetheless shows courage when it’s needed most. She reminds us that not everyone is an adventure seeker. Some of us just might be simply afraid of the unknown, but the emotional journey is the same. Young readers will embrace her characters and learn the importance of finding your own path. — Jen Morrow, owner, Bards Alley Bookshop, Vienna, Va. (Entrada Kelly: 10:50-11:15 a.m. KidLit stage; 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. book signing)
Like the best fiction, Ed Yong’s “An Immense World” helps us understand and appreciate the “other.” Here, those others are the many creatures who inhabit our planet but live in entirely different sensory worlds. Mixing science and anecdote, the book explores how animals see, hear, smell and otherwise move through the world in ways that are so different from the way we experience it, they are hard to grasp. But in the end this nonfiction book rooted in our limitations becomes a wonderful story about empathizing with those whose lives we cannot fully understand, and a rousing case for protecting their world(s). — Scott Morrow, owner, Bards Alley Bookshop, Vienna. (Yong: 5:05-5:50 p.m. Society & Culture stage; 6:30-7:30 p.m. book signing.)
Lidia Yuknavitch’s writing is wild, like really. Always edgy and imaginative, her presentation will be one to see. Ed Yong will surprise you and challenge your perception. His books are creative nonfiction in the best sense. Whether writing sports or political history, David Maraniss is a portraitist par excellence. His books inevitably become the go-to source for his chosen subject. — Rod Smith, Bridge Street Books, Georgetown. (Yuknavitch: 1:15-2:15 p.m. Writers Studio stage; 2:30-3:30 p.m. book signing. Yong: 5:05-5:50 p.m. Society & Culture stage; 6:30-7:30 p.m. book signing. Maraniss: 10-10:45 a.m. History & Biography stage; 11 a.m.-noon book signing.)
Our Busboys and Poets store supervisor is “very excited to see Darcie Little Badger featured and getting more attention, especially as her books feature perspectives (including Indigenous and asexual) that too frequently go unseen.” We recommend Little Badger’s most recent book, “A Snake Falls to Earth,” if you’re in the mood to devour some Indigenous futurism mixed with fantasy for a story that stays with you long after you finish it.
Busboys and Poets favorite Jason Reynolds was definitely our top pick when I surveyed our supervisors, and for good reason: With a pen as astute as his understanding of kids and teens, Reynolds captures what it can mean to be a kid while using poetry and more graphic and image-driven books to draw in kids and teens from a variety of reading levels. He tackles difficult subject matter including race, police brutality and trauma in fictional titles like “All American Boys” and “Long Way Down,” and his nonfiction adaptations of “Stamped From the Beginning.” He’s been a part of the Miles Morales story with Marvel, and explores what it means to be a kid in a big city with books like “Look Both Ways” and “Stuntboy, In the Meantime.” We’ve been lucky to host Reynolds several times over the years and are excited to see him twice at this year’s National Book Festival. — Lori Barrientos Sanchez, director of operations, Busboys and Poets Books. (Little Badger: noon-1 p.m. Young Adult stage; 1:30-2:30 p.m. book signing. Reynolds: 1-2 p.m. Main stage; 2:30-3:30 p.m. book signing; 6-6:45 p.m. Young Adult stage.)
I was thrilled to see D.C. writers and friends-of-East City Bookshop Lou Bayard, Jennifer Close and Jason Reynolds participating, along with certified MacArthur genius Jesmyn Ward (every Ward book is a masterpiece!). This year, though, I want to alert attendees to a writer they might not know yet: debut author Morgan Talty. Morgan’s book, “Night of the Living Rez,” is a stunning, searing collection of linked short stories about the residents of Maine’s Penobscot reservation. This collection reads like a novel, and I haven’t stopped thinking about its indelible characters since I finished it two months ago. — Emilie Sommer, book buyer, East City Bookshop, Capitol Hill. (Talty: 10:50-11:50 a.m. Writers Studio stage; 12:30-1:30 book signing.)
Malinda Lo is a Chinese American lesbian immigrant who primarily writes Sapphic YA fantasy and historical fiction. “Last Night at the Telegraph Club,” a Little District Books favorite, is an example of #OwnVoices that introduces readers to the Asian and Sapphic experience, two intersecting identities vastly underrepresented in literature. Nyle DiMarco is a part of our D.C. queer community as a Gallaudet alum. Outspoken about progressing LGBTQ+ rights and having dedicated his life’s work to improving the lives of deaf and hard-of-hearing youth, he wrote a memoir in which he talks about growing up deaf in a world for hearing people. — Patrick Kern, owner, Little District Books, Barracks Row. (Lo: noon-1 p.m. Young Adult stage; 1:30-2:30 p.m. book signing. DiMarco: 2:30-3:30 p.m. Main stage; 4-5 p.m. book signing.)
When you listen to Janelle Monáe’s albums, you can tell you are getting a peek into a different world. “The Memory Librarian” brings us into Monáe’s imagination of a not-so-far-fetched dystopia. These stories ask new questions we may not normally ask ourselves: Who are we, as a people, without our memories? How essential is remembering our past to our freedom in the present? Filled with new, fresh ideas, this book is a fantastical allusion to our own country’s erasure of the past. Hearing Monáe discuss how she envisions the world is the highlight of the weekend. — Amani Jackson, inventory supervisor, Loyalty Bookstores, Petworth and Silver Spring. (Monae: 11:30-12:30 p.m. Main stage; 1-1:30 book signing.)
I’m extremely excited about Derrick Barnes, author of “The King of Kindergarten” and “The Queen of Kindergarten.” One of my most favorite books by Derrick is “Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut.” As a little kid, I never saw my journey represented between the pages of a book — normal experiences like going to kindergarten or getting my hair styled (which made me feel so proud). To know audiences and young people will have the opportunity to read these books and relate, and feel seen is immeasurable to me. I’m also beyond excited to see Jason Reynolds, Kwame Alexander, Candice Iloh and, of course, Ruby Bridges. Each of them offers a very tangible, candid perspective of life through the lens of Black people and yet, written for all people to connect with — if they are open to seeing that others are just as normal with goals and ideas, fears, hurts and love as they themselves are. — Ramunda Young, co-founder, MahoganyBooks, Anacostia and National Harbor. (Barnes: 12:10-12:35 p.m. Please Read Me a Story stage; 1-2 p.m. book signing. Alexander: 2:20-2:45 p.m. KidLit stage; 3-4 p.m. book signing. Iloh: 1-2 p.m. Main stage; 2:30-3:30 p.m. book signing. Bridges: 11:30-11:55 a.m. Please Read Me a Story stage.)
Clint Smith has long been a favorite poet of mine, but the unexpected joy of reading his writing heartfully and fearlessly about American history hit me hard. I have returned to “How the Word is Passed” time and time again in the past year, as the question of how we reconcile our history, ideals and the effect of both on our daily lives becomes ever more pressing. Smith’s research, first-account narratives and compelling storytelling make this book unputdownable (or even when listening on audio, which I recommend for his excellent narration). Cannot wait to listen to him further discuss this project and his continued work this weekend in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson. — Hannah Oliver Depp, owner, Loyalty Bookstores, Petworth and Silver Spring. (Smith: 1:15-2 p.m. History & Biography stage; 2:30-3:30 p.m. book signing.)
I cannot wait to hear Kim Fu discuss her “Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century.” This beautiful book is a delightfully weird and wonderful short-story collection. With elements of sci-fi, horror and magical realism, these stories exist in that state of lucid dreaming, where the distinction between fantasy and reality doesn’t quite make sense. Or, as the narrator in “Liddy, First to Fly” says, “The realm of pretend had only just closed its doors to us, and light still leaked through around the edges.” Unsettling, haunting and strangely seductive, you will not be able to look away from Fu’s precise-yet-lyrical writing. Fans of “Black Mirror,” Aimee Bender’s “The Girl in the Flammable Skirt” or Samantha Schweblin’s “Fever Dream” will love this memorable and utterly unique collection and will not want to miss Fu’s panel. — Christine Bollow, programs and marketing manager, Loyalty Bookstores, Petworth and Silver Spring. (Fu: 1:15-2:15 p.m. Writers Studio stage; 2:30-3:30 p.m. book signing.)
If you have never seen Jason Reynolds speak, you absolutely must. I don’t care how old you are (though his books are targeted to young readers) — listening to Reynolds is a life-altering experience. It’s rare to find someone who has the talent to capture an audience as thoroughly in-person as they engage readers with their writing, but Reynolds is that person. Every opportunity to hear him speak is a gift. — Lelia Nebeker, book buyer, One More Page Books, Arlington. (Reynolds: 1-2 p.m. Main stage; 2:30-3:30 p.m. book signing; 6-6:45 p.m. Young Adult stage.)
You don’t need me to tell you that Jason Reynolds and Kwame Alexander (a friend of the store!) are as magical in person as they are on the page, so instead I’ll tell you that Tiffany D. Jackson and Ryan La Sala are unhinged in the best possible ways — and much funnier in person than their harrowing novels would lead you to believe! — Leah Grover, events manager, Scrawl Books, Reston. (Jackson and La Sala: 1:15-2:15 p.m. Young Adult stage. Jackson: 4-5 p.m. Main stage; 5:30-6:30 p.m. book signing. La Sala: 5:30-6:30 p.m. book signing.)
Nuar Alsadir is a psychoanalyst and poet, who has just released a fascinating book called “Animal Joy.” It’s all about how the spontaneity of laughter can reacquaint us with our truest, most present selves. Her book, full of delightful asides about attending clown school and raising her daughters, also considers the various types of laughter, including the unplanned and almost mysterious outbursts that can send us into tears. After the years we’ve all been through, who couldn’t use more of that? To tap into it, you might also consider attending an author talk with Susan Coll (“Bookish People”), Grant Ginder (“Let’s Not Do That Again”) and Xochitl Gonzalez (“Olga Dies Dreaming”), who write the kinds of scenes that make readers erupt into giggles, prompting stares on the Metro. Their talk is called “Is Anything Funnier Than Politics?” In their hands, maybe not. — Stephanie Merry, editor, Book World. (Alsadir: 2:35-3:20 p.m. Writers Studio stage; 4-5 p.m. book signing.)
With Samira Ahmed’s knack for writing fierce, young female characters, I know her conversation with Sabaa Tahir will bring the fire. In general, I think this year’s lineup is an extension of the inclusion I’ve seen since Carla Hayden took over as Librarian of Congress. Love that it’s back in person, and can’t wait to hit the floor. — Kromeklia Bryant, general manager, Solid State Books, H Street NE. (Ahmed and Tahir: 2:30-3:30 p.m. Young Adult stage; 4-5 p.m. book signing.)
From the Hooray for Books Youth Advisory Councils, we recommend that visitors see the following authors and illustrators:
Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris, “The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza”: Dahlia B., age 8, says, “This graphic novel is hilarious and action-packed.” (9:30-9:55 a.m. KidLit stage; 10:30-11:30 a.m. book signing.)
R.M. Romero, “The Ghosts of Rose Hill”: Rena C., age 14, says, “This book, in superior prose, really hits home.” (11-11:45 a.m. Young Adult stage; noon-1 p.m. book signing.)
Ruby Bridges, “I Am Ruby Bridges”: Lyle V., age 7, says, “I recommend this book because it’s about an important part of history!” (11:30-11:55 a.m. Please Read Me a Story stage. Bridges’s interview is prerecorded, but moderator Andrea Davis Pinkney will answer questions.)
Johnnie Christmas, “Swim Team”: Clair C., age 8, says, “Anyone who likes swimming will like this book.” (12:10-12:45 p.m. KidLit stage; 1-2 p.m. book signing.)
Gordon Korman, “The Fort”: Allison H., age 11, says, “I rate this book 10 out of 10 — I LOVED this book.” (1:40-2:05 p.m. KidLit stage; 2:30-3:30 p.m. book signing.)
Sabaa Tahir, “All My Rage”: — Callie C., age 15, says, “This book was captivating to read — I couldn’t bring myself to put it down.” (2:30-3:30 p.m. Young Adult stage; 4-5 p.m. book signing.)
The National Book Festival is Saturday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place NW. Festival events run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and doors open at 8:30 a.m. Admission is free. Some events will be live-streamed on loc.gov/bookfest; the library says videos of all programs will be available after the festival is over. A full interactive schedule is available on loc.gov/bookfest. | 2022-09-01T11:28:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The authors to hear from at the 2022 National Book Festival - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/national-book-festival-authors/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/national-book-festival-authors/ |
Abortion bans are terrible. The debates over them are actually worse.
I watched Republican men spitball their way to a post-Roe vision in South Carolina’s House. Here’s what I saw.
Protesters react as they gather inside the South Carolina House as members debate a new abortion ban at the state legislature this week. (Sam Wolfe/Reuters)
South Carolina’s House of Representatives is the latest legislative body to pass a near-total ban on abortion, following nauseating and weird floor debates that occurred on the House floor Tuesday and Wednesday. I wanted to see the sausage get made, and the process, it turns out, is even worse than you thought. Here is what I saw.
I watched members of the House meander to the dais to propose two dozen amendments to the original bill, all of which were designed to make the bill a little more or a little less draconian, but often more.
I watched one member suggest that social media could be used to spy on women suspected of seeking abortions. I watched one member propose prison time for women caught with abortion-causing drugs. I watched one claim that women lie “about getting raped or knocked up.” I watched many of these same members congratulate themselves for their humanity.
I watched a representative propose rape and incest exceptions specifically for underage girls. He gave, as a hypothetical example, a 12-year-old raped by her father. I watched as other representatives, who insisted they understood that rape was awful, declare that even a case like this would not be worth an exception.
“She had a choice,” an old man declared of this hypothetical pregnant 12-year-old girl, suggesting that she should have gone to a pharmacy and gotten Plan B after her father raped her, rather than need an abortion.
When asked how she would get to the pharmacy — would she ask her rapist father to drive her? — the representative replied that she could get there by ambulance. Did he think one would magically be waiting outside of her house after the rape?
You know what? I don’t think he really understands anything about rape at all.
I watched liberal Democrats vote with the most conservative Republicans in an unsuccessful attempt to make the bill too unpalatable for moderate Republicans to pass, hoping this strategy could tank the bill entirely.
“We got chess right now,” a Republican representative said, finally getting wise to what was happening. “And some people are playing checkers. And some of us don’t even know what game is going on.”
I watched a representative in a maroon blazer and plaid tie, a man who looked like a chorus member from a Christmas play about real estate agents, try to pass an amendment saying women who had abortions should be punished fully as murderers.
I watched as this particular amendment was voted down, and I felt immense relief.
Watching these bills being debated was like watching a conclave of grocers discuss whether customers, who used to be able to shop freely, should now be allowed to purchase a maximum of one raisin and half a macaroni noodle per week, or whether that would be too indulgent. How debasing it feels to beg for that macaroni noodle. How debasing, and how necessary. When the concept of a meal is off the table, when you know your choices are to accept scraps or starve, you fight for the scraps and try to forget what it once felt like to be full.
Watching these bills get made is useful to understanding exactly what world is being built in the absence of Roe v. Wade, and how. By looking at what ends up on the cutting room floor, we can see the deepest beliefs and desires and assumptions of state lawmakers to whom the Supreme Court has punted the ball. Not what laws they think they can pass with the right coalition of votes, but what laws some of them think would actually be just and moral. Sometimes you have to see it to believe it.
I watched a Republican propose an amendment that would allow for abortions in cases of “extreme fetal anomalies.” Not in cases of chromosomal aberrations like Down syndrome, he clarified, but in cases where the anomalies were incompatible with life. Cases where a fetus is developing without a brain, he specified. Cases where a woman is forced to carry a child she knows will die within hours if it draws a breath at all.
I watched as a fellow party member informed him that, no, such an exception should not be made because such fetal anomalies are often “misdiagnosed.”
(“That is preposterous and absurd,” said Cara Heuser, a spokesperson for the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and an expert in high-risk pregnancies, when I asked her later about whether the absence of a fetus’s brain might be misdiagnosed.)
I watched as a Republican begged for clarifying exceptions to embryos created via IVF. It was an issue, he said, that was “very, very” personal to him. He didn’t give more details. His request for exceptions were denied.
I watched as a Democrat proposed that the bill be given to the people of South Carolina to vote on, the way that the people of Kansas were allowed to vote on their own abortion bill. Her proposal was tabled.
I watched as Democrats sought procedural loopholes to stall the bill; I watched as a female representative told her colleagues, from the podium, that her own two pregnancies had been life-threatening.
I watched as multiple Republicans lectured the Democrats for not getting in line and trying to make the bill “better.” And by “better,” they meant, something that would pass.
“This is not our bill,” a Democrat responded in a raised voice from the podium. “We’re not the ones trying to strip the rights and freedoms and equality and health-care choices away from the women of South Carolina.” If Republicans wanted the votes so badly, the Democrat said, “Get your own house in order.”
I watched, as the hours progressed, how the opponents of the bill accepted the defeat they always knew was an eventuality, using their time from the podium as a lamentation rather than as a pleading.
Just before the final vote, when the bill passed, 67-35, I watched Democrats lament what would happen to the women of South Carolina. What would happen to the families of South Carolina.
They lamented what would happen to the babies who would now be born to parents who hadn’t wanted them, in a state unprepared to support them, at the behest of politicians whose interest in them seemed to wane as soon as they exited the womb. | 2022-09-01T11:28:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Making an abortion ban bill: South Carolina edition - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/09/01/abortion-ban-bill-south-carolina-house/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/09/01/abortion-ban-bill-south-carolina-house/ |
A scholar of fascism weighs in.
Perspective by Federico Finchelstein
Federico Finchelstein is professor of history at the New School and author of the new book, "A Brief History of Fascist Lies."
President Biden speaks during a rally hosted by the Democratic National Committee on Aug. 25 in Rockville, Md. (Drew Angerer/Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty) | 2022-09-01T11:28:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Biden called Trumpism ‘semi-fascism.’ The term makes sense, historically. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/09/01/biden-called-trumpism-semi-fascism-term-makes-sense-historically/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/09/01/biden-called-trumpism-semi-fascism-term-makes-sense-historically/ |
The danger of pitting Americans against each other
Throughout history, encouraging people to inform against one another has been a tool of tyrants
Perspective by Christine Adams
Christine Adams is professor of history at St. Mary's College of Maryland and author of book on "The Creation of the Official French Royal Mistress," with Tracy Adams.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) at a rally in Annandale, Va., on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. Youngkin has announced a tip line for parents to complain about their children's schoolteachers. (Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
While urging Virginians to “love your neighbor,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) also established a phone line where parents could leave “tips and observations” if teachers bring up offensive material in the classroom — specifically, teaching about race in ways that might make students uncomfortable.
But this effort to enlist parents in an anonymous campaign against teachers is fraught with peril. For centuries secret denunciations by neighbors, friends and even family have been the tools of dictatorships, used to sow fear and enforce conformity.
The European witchcraft trials of the 16th and 17th centuries exposed the power and peril of such secret accusations. Trials for witchcraft peaked as early modern states, in collaboration with church authorities, extended and increased their power over their subjects. While difficult to estimate, most scholars agree that somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 individuals (the majority of them women) were tried for witchcraft during those years. Of those, between 40,000 and 60,000 were executed.
A number of factors fueled the effort to ferret out witches during these years. The political and psychological tensions that resulted from the Protestant Reformation and subsequent wars of religion certainly played a role. So too did demographic changes that led to increasing numbers of unmarried women, the most common victim of witchcraft accusations. Witches were a convenient scapegoat for any number of social ills.
However, legal changes connected to the spread of Roman law throughout Europe also played a role. These shifts had begun centuries earlier, when the growth of higher education in the 11th and 12th centuries led to a revival in the formal study of Roman law in newly created universities, where scholars appreciated the law’s logic and rigor. For rulers looking to grow their power, implementing this legal code provided more authority since a maxim of Roman law was that “the king’s will has the force of law.”
The adoption of Roman law also involved a shift from an accusatorial legal procedure to an inquisitorial procedure, pioneered by the Catholic Church but eventually adopted by secular authorities as well. Under the former, suspects knew what the accusations were and who was making them, and they could sue the accuser if the charges were not proved. Under an inquisitorial procedure, legal authorities brought the case and the accusers remained hidden. Secrecy was an essential element of these newly “officialized” and “rationalized” inquisitorial procedures, as was torture to obtain the confessions that would corroborate the secret accusations.
The European witchcraft cases showed the power of anonymity. Complainants did not have to take personal responsibility for their accusations of witchcraft, nor did they have to face any accused woman or her relatives. Placed in the hands of secular and Church authorities, the secret accusations provided an important tool for rulers to consolidate their power over subject populations by exploiting public fears of the deviant “other” and promising to eliminate the problem. The regions of Europe that did not adopt Roman legal practices saw fewer trials for witchcraft and no mass panics.
A similar dynamic played out during the French Revolution of 1789. Revolutionaries who sought to remake the government called for liberty, equality and fraternity, but resistance, war and counterrevolution pushed the new government to take increasingly harsh measures, eventually resulting in what is often called the Reign of Terror. As the Revolutionary government sought to contain internal dissent and to ensure the loyalty of the population, it relied increasingly on furtive denunciations to “purify” the nation and to rid it of internal enemies.
Beginning in 1793 until the executions of Maximilien Robespierre and his allies on July 28, 1794, hundreds of thousands of suspected “enemies of the nation” were arrested and about 17,000 executed by official order of the state. Indeed, the French government was grappling with the problem of civil war and local rebellions from 1793 onward at the same time that it was fighting much of Europe.
In the absence of modern police and intelligence forces, the two committees in charge of war and surveillance — the Committee of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security — relied on a network of local revolutionary committees to identify suspects. This had the effect of both mobilizing the country to support the war effort and inhibiting public opposition to government policies.
Not surprisingly, unidentified accusations of “incivisme” — insufficient patriotism — flooded the local committees, often in an effort to settle old scores among enemies. Glazier Jacques-Louis Ménétra, who lived through the Revolution, wrote movingly of the suspicion and fear that dominated in the spring of 1794: “Neighbor coldbloodedly denounced neighbor […] Blood ties were forgotten.” When the regime encouraged citizens to step up with denunciations, people happily obliged — even though denunciation could lead to death.
Such trends continued in the 20th century in the modern totalitarian states that emerged between World War I and World War II. Nazi Germany’s infamous secret police, the Gestapo, relied on the anonymous denunciations of German citizens to cultivate its reputation as an omniscient, efficient and terrifying force. Later, the Soviet KGB and East Germany’s Stasi similarly relied upon secret informers.
Time and time again, authoritarian regimes exploited the tensions among their citizens to foster the public fear and mistrust of the “other,” which allowed them to maintain their power.
However, sowing social divisions by cultivating fear also posed big risks for those in power unless they adjusted. For example, the massive witch panic that could lead to charges against scores of individuals often ended as accusations spiraled out of control, sometimes targeting the wives and daughters of the elite, or even powerful men, rather than the usual poor and friendless suspects.
Eventually, the educated and increasingly skeptical ruling class shut down witch trials in most states by the early 18th century — they had become dangerous rather than useful. And yet, the damage had been done. Communities continued to blame undesirable “others” for economic and social problems.
During the French Revolution, the terror government fostered among citizens who lived in fear of denunciation and arrest eventually led to its collapse in 1794 with the execution of Robespierre and his colleagues in July. And yet, social and political divisions persisted here as well. French citizens remained deeply distrustful of each other. In the short term, democratic republicanism proved impossible to maintain, and Napoleon Bonaparte came to power 1799 promising to unify the French nation.
In the United States today, fearmongering is doing little to ease divisions in this deeply fractured nation: instead, many seem to be deliberately pitting neighbor against neighbor. The Texas abortion ban that permits citizens to sue anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion after the six-week mark, passed before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, incentivizes citizens to spy on their neighbors. Other states have rushed to pass copycat vigilante laws.
Teacher shortages are a problem across the country, especially in states threatening to penalize classroom instructors for what they teach; the teachers who remain are constantly looking over their shoulders. Is this what we really want? It may not be but too many politicians see benefit in cultivating distrust, and even hatred to turn out voters. Rather than turning American citizens against each other, true leadership requires efforts to foster respect and tolerance. Surely, that is preferable to turning them into a creeping army of informers. | 2022-09-01T11:28:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The danger of pitting Americans against each other - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/09/01/danger-pitting-americans-against-each-other/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/09/01/danger-pitting-americans-against-each-other/ |
Biden is disgracing the institution of the prime-time presidential address
President Biden speaks in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., about his crime-prevention initiative, the Safer America Plan, Aug. 30. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg)
President Biden will deliver a nationally televised prime-time address Thursday on “the continued battle for the soul of the nation” and arguing that the country’s democratic values will be at stake during the midterm elections.
If Biden wanted to give a prime-time address to explain his up to $1 trillion student debt forgiveness plan, that would be one thing. But just nine weeks before midterm elections, Biden wants to use a prime-time presidential address to deliver a blatantly political campaign speech attacking the Republican Party — and television networks are going to give him with free airtime to deliver it?
As a speechwriter for President George W. Bush, I helped write numerous presidential prime-time addresses to the nation. Every single one of them was to discuss either military action, a national tragedy or a major policy initiative. Bush delivered prime-time addresses on the 9/11 attacks; the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the broader war on terrorism; the capture of Saddam Hussein; the loss of the space shuttle Columbia; Hurricane Katrina; immigration reform; the appointment Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.; and the 2008 financial crisis.
Bush’s successor, Barack Obama, delivered prime-time addresses on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; his plans to end combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif.,; the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt; government shutdowns; the death of Osama bin Laden; the Boston Marathon bombing; and military strikes in Syria and Iraq.
Bush’s predecessor, Bill Clinton, delivered prime-time addresses to discuss his economic programs; military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan, Serbia, and Somalia; the refugee crisis in Haiti; his middle-class bill of rights; his plan to balance the federal budget; peace agreements in Bosnia and Kosovo; and his grand jury testimony in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Clinton’s predecessor, George H.W. Bush, delivered prime-time addresses on his national drug control strategy; his invasion of Panama; the deployment of U.S. military forces to Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf War; the federal budget; a nuclear arms-control agreement with the Soviet Union; and a balanced-budget amendment.
His predecessor, Ronald Reagan, delivered prime-time addresses on the economy; his 1981 tax cut plan; the air traffic controllers strike; the martial law crackdown in Poland; Middle East peace; deployment of a multinational force to Beirut; his plans to address unemployment and inflation; nuclear deterrence with the Soviet Union; the Strategic Defense Initiative; the Soviet attack on a Korean airliner; the invasion of Grenada; his summits with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva, Iceland and Washington; the space shuttle Challenger explosion; airstrikes against Libya; aid to the Nicaraguan contras; and the Iran-contra scandal. Reagan did announce his plans to seek reelection in a prime-time address from the Oval Office, but that was 10 months before the election — and he spent the entire speech discussing his first-term accomplishments and did not even mention the opposition party once.
Most recently, Donald Trump delivered addresses during his presidency on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan; border security; and the coronavirus pandemic. (He did deliver his Republican National Convention acceptance speech from the Truman balcony — which was controversial — but his convention address, like those of all presidential candidates, would have been given prime-time coverage no matter where it was delivered.)
What this means is that Biden is the only president in more than four decades to ask the major news networks to preempt their prime-time programming just weeks before an election and broadcast a campaign speech whose stated purpose is to attack the opposition party.
For the sitting president to commandeer the institution of a prime-time presidential address — one that has been employed by his predecessors to comfort us in tragedy, announce military action and make the case for policy initiatives of great consequence — and use it to for partisan attacks is not a legitimate use of such a forum.
There’s simply no excuse for networks to give Biden free airtime for this speech — much less to do so without giving Republicans equal time to respond. If Biden wants to deliver a prime-time campaign ad attacking Republicans, he should have to pay for it. | 2022-09-01T11:28:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Biden is disgracing the institution of the prime-time presidential address - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/biden-is-disgracing-institution-prime-time-presidential-address/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/biden-is-disgracing-institution-prime-time-presidential-address/ |
New Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman is going into his first game as a significant underdog at Ohio State. (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP)
All spreads were taken Wednesday from the consensus odds at VegasInsider.com unless noted. All times Eastern.
No. 5 Notre Dame (+17) at No. 2 Ohio State, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., ABC
The Fighting Irish have been dismal in road games against elite competition, going 0-10 in their last 10 games away from home against top-10 teams and losing those games by an average of 16.4 points. But this is a lot of points to lay against a Notre Dame team that brings back a whole lot of talent, particularly on the offensive line and nearly all of the defense (nine of the 12 players who had 400-plus snaps are back for a defense that ranked 15th nationally in the SP+ efficiency metric last season).
The Buckeyes’ offense again should be otherworldly with Heisman hopeful C.J. Stroud at quarterback, TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams at running back (1,755 combined rushing yards in 2021), and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (1,606 receiving yards). But Ohio State’s defense got pushed around a lot last season and now must replace much of its line. Ohio State also has a new defensive coordinator in Jim Knowles (who did pretty good things at Oklahoma State).
Notre Dame has been battling injuries throughout camp but is mainly healthy now, and I think Notre Dame’s defense will do just enough to give its offense a chance against a team that struggled to get its opponents off the field last year (the Buckeyes’ defense ranked 100th nationally in stopping third and fourth downs, while Notre Dame’s offense ranked 27th). The Irish cover.
No. 15 Michigan State (-23) vs. Western Michigan, Friday, 7 p.m., ESPN
Yes, the Broncos upset future ACC champion Pittsburgh on the road, went 8-5 and won their bowl game last season, but Coach Tim Lester is otherwise 0-8 against Power Five teams during his Western Michigan tenure, losing those games by an average of 25.6 points. Four of those losses came to either Michigan or Michigan State, and the Broncos’ in-state big brothers showed no mercy, winning by an average score of 44-13.
But the main reason I’m backing the Spartans is this: Per ESPN Bill Connelly’s numbers, Michigan State ranks 27th nationally in returning production from a team that went 11-2 last season (the Spartans also beat Pittsburgh, in the Peach Bowl). Quarterback Payton Thorne, who threw 27 touchdown passes and rushed for four more, and leading receiver Jayden Reed are among those who are back, along with nine of Michigan State’s 12 defenders who played at least 400 snaps last season.
Western Michigan returns just 45 percent of its production, which ranks 126th out of 131 FBS teams. Quarterback Kaleb Eleby (23 passing touchdowns, six rushing scores) is gone, as is wide receiver Skyy Moore, who caught 10 of those Eleby touchdown passes before the Kansas City Chiefs took him in the second round of the NFL draft.
A rebuilding MAC team playing a stocked power-conference opponent — particularly an in-state power-conference opponent who would rather not let things get close — don’t sound all that appetizing, so I’ll take the big favorite here.
Boise State (+3) at Oregon State, Saturday, 10:30 p.m., ESPN
The Broncos and Beavers have almost identical returning production: 73 percent to 72 percent, respectively. But in this instance, I’m looking at who is returning instead of how much is returning, and I think Boise State has the edge here, enough to perhaps even make a moneyline bet on the road underdog.
For starters, Broncos quarterback Hank Bachmeier is back for his fourth season as a starter. Injuries interrupted two of those seasons, but 2021 saw him start all 12 games for the first time and complete 62.8 percent of his passes, with 20 touchdowns. He also is playing under the same offensive coordinator in consecutive seasons for the first time in his college career. An experience- and talent-laden offensive line should give Bachmeier time, and Boise State’s defense — which returns just about everyone from a unit that ranked 23rd nationally in the SP+ efficiency metric last season — should be able to slow the Beavers, who must replace running back B.J. Baylor (1,337 rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns) and two-time first-team all-conference center Nathan Eldridge.
And it’s not like Boise State is awed by Pac-12 foes: The Broncos are 10-4 outright against teams from that conference over their last 14 matchups, winning three of those games as underdogs. They’re the side here.
TCU team total over 34.5 points (DraftKings Sportsbook) at Colorado, Friday, 10 p.m., ESPN
Of the four offensive and defensive units involved in this game, only one — TCU’s offense — is at all trustable at this point in the season. New Horned Frogs coach Sonny Dykes still hasn’t decided on a starting quarterback and might play three of them, but they all have their merits: Max Duggan has started 29 games for the Horned Frogs and has 60 combined touchdowns in his career; Chandler Morris had 531 yards of total offense in his one full game last season; and Sam Jackson’s lone pass in 2021 went for 62 yards. Whoever’s throwing the passes will have an abundance of riches to target, as returning wide receivers Quentin Johnston (an NFL prospect), Derius Davis and Taye Barber all had at least 30 catches and 500 receiving yards last season. Running back Kendre Miller averaged 7.5 yards per carry and had eight total touchdowns, and transfer Emani Bailey averaged 6.3 yards per carry and scored eight touchdowns for Louisiana-Lafayette last season.
TCU ranked fifth nationally in expected points added (EPA) per rush and 30th in EPA per pass in 2021, and now gets all those offensive weapons back. Colorado’s defense ranked 68th and 80th in those categories, respectively, while also ranking 103rd in success on third and fourth downs (the Horned Frogs’ offense ranked 11th). The Buffaloes’ defense also was dented by the transfer portal, with safety Mark Perry (the team leader in interceptions in 2021) projected to start for the very team Colorado will face Friday.
With TCU’s defense trying to rebound after a rare bad season and Colorado’s offense perennially stuck in the mud, I’ll take the known quantity to put up some points against a known deficiency. | 2022-09-01T11:29:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | College football picks: Take Notre Dame at Ohio State - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/best-bets-college-football-this-week/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/best-bets-college-football-this-week/ |
Taiwan shoots down civilian drone as China tensions simmer
Kinmen, a group of islands controlled by Taiwan located a few miles from China’s east coast. (SAM YEH/Getty Images)
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan shot down a civilian drone that entered its airspace off an island just miles from China’s coast Thursday, raising fears of a military conflict as Taipei pushes back against increased Chinese intimidation.
According to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, soldiers stationed in Kinmen, a group of islands controlled by Taiwan that sit a few miles opposite China’s east coast, shot down the unidentified drone when it entered restricted airspace over Lion Islet shortly after midday local time. The drone fell into the sea and no wreckage of it was salvaged, the ministry said.
The incident comes after weeks of heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August, which enraged Beijing. Beijing claims the self-governed democracy of 24 million people is part of China despite the fact that the ruling Chinese Communist Party has never controlled Taiwan.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched military exercises simulating a blockade of Taiwan after Pelosi left and fired missiles over its main island. Taiwan’s military has reported an uptick in PLA military aircraft crossing the midpoint of the Taiwan Strait, an informal barrier between Taiwan and China that had been respected for years.
China also appears to be ramping up what are known as gray zone tactics — coercive actions that stop short of outright conflict — aimed at testing the Taiwanese military as well as intimidating citizens. Taiwanese officials reported at least 25 drone incursions during the month of August. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Taiwan’s military reported firing warning shots at drones that approached offshore Taiwanese islands.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has said that he was “not surprised” to see Chinese drones flying over “Chinese territory.” On Wednesday, Zhao added, “the act of the Taiwan authorities to heighten tensions does not mean anything.”
Su Tzu-yun, a military analyst at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taiwan, said the increased number of drones entering Kinmen is part of China’s psychological warfare.
“On the one hand it is propaganda aimed at the Chinese audience and on the other it is a way to defeat the morale of the people in Taiwan,” he said.
In a speech Tuesday, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called on the military to respond to China’s intimidation tactics without risking further escalation. Taiwan’s military stresses it follows a principle of “preparing for war but not seeking war,” but some fear escalation may be inevitable.
“I’m worried about what would the Chinese Communist Party do next. They might send more drones or order civilian vessels to encircle our offshore islands and force us to use heavier weapons to react,” said Chieh Chung, an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.
“That could raise the risks of involving other Chinese ships in the vicinity, which could become an excuse for the Chinese to launch larger military operations against Taiwan,” he said. | 2022-09-01T11:30:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Taiwan shoots down civilian drone as China tensions simmer - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/taiwan-drone-china-tensions/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/taiwan-drone-china-tensions/ |
‘We are the invaders of the viral world, not vice versa,’ a virologist says
(María Alconada Brooks/The Washington Post/iStock)
Closer contact with animals puts us in range of the pathogens they carry, which cause 60 percent of all human diseases.
Climate change is also driving the risk of infectious diseases. Writing last month in the journal Nature, researchers reported that 58 percent of the 375 infectious diseases they examined “have been at some point aggravated by climatic hazards.” Only 16 percent of the diseases had at times diminished because of climate change.
The Asian tiger mosquito’s “steady march northward,” carrying diseases such as chikungunya, Zika and dengue to new continents, is the classic example, Whitworth said. The mosquito, known formally as Aedes albopictus, was once found mostly in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. But over the past 50 years, it has spread to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and North and South America. The mosquito first appeared in the United States in the mid-1980s in tire dumps in Harris County, Tex.; it has since advanced across most of this country.
Although Uruguay’s 83 percent vaccination rate against covid-19 surpasses those of the United States (68 percent) and the United Kingdom (75 percent), there remains vocal and even violent opposition to the shots. Moratorio said his house has been painted with anti-vaccine graffiti, and a year ago, he was attacked in the street by a stick-wielding vaccine opponent.
Researchers said battling infectious diseases must become a global priority — one in which nations treat an outbreak in another country as their problem, too. They stress that wealthy nations must share vaccine doses with poorer countries to curb the spread of viruses before they travel halfway around the globe.
Experience has taught him to expect surprises. A few years back, he and his colleagues dealt with a measles outbreak that sickened 312 people in Rockland County, most of them unvaccinated children — long after the World Health Organization had declared endemic transmission of the virus eliminated from the United States. | 2022-09-01T12:11:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Covid, monkeypox, polio: Summer of viruses reflects travel, warming trends - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/09/01/summer-viruses-covid-19-monkeypox-polio/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/09/01/summer-viruses-covid-19-monkeypox-polio/ |
Man who was shot last month in Maryland has died
A man who was shot Aug. 14 in the Temple Hills area has died, police said. (Prince George's County Police)
A man who was shot last month in the Hillcrest Heights area of Prince George’s County, Md., has died, police said.
Detectives with the Prince George’s County Police Department said Anton Meachum, 29, of Temple Hills, died of injuries he sustained in a shooting about 3 a.m. on Aug. 14 in the 2600 block of Colebrook Drive near Iverson Street. He was taken to a hospital, where he died on Monday.
Police said a reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case. | 2022-09-01T12:45:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Man shot earlier this month in Temple Hills has died - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/man-fatally-shot-in-hillcrest-heights/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/man-fatally-shot-in-hillcrest-heights/ |
A peek at the landmark exhibition ‘In the Black Fantastic’
Review by Stephanie Merry
David Uzochukwu's “Uprising,” 2019. (Courtesy Galerie Number 8, Brussels and MIT Press)
In June, London’s Hayward Gallery opened “In the Black Fantastic” to immediate acclaim. Vogue hailed it the “must-see exhibition of the summer,” and the Guardian raved “spectacular from first to last.” If you can’t make it to the show, which features 11 artists of the African diaspora, before it closes Sept. 18, you might consider picking up curator Ekow Eshun’s companion book. The book includes images of art in the exhibition, by the likes of Kara Walker and Nick Cave, as well as other works that explore similar worldviews. Eshun also offers a primer on what the “Black fantastic” encompasses: works of art that incorporate myth, fantasy and science fiction to reimagine Black culture and identity.
“The Black fantastic begins from an understanding of race as a socially constructed fiction rather than a scientific truth, albeit one that maintains a determining sway over popular perceptions of the world,” Eshun writes in his introduction. “It also operates with a skepticism about Western narratives of progress and modernity, predicated as they are on the historical subjugation of people of color.”
While the Black fantastic has attributes in common with Afrofuturism, Eshun writes, the ideas expressed in the exhibition are farther-reaching, because it’s “less a genre or a movement,” he writes, “than a way of seeing.”
Following are works of art from the book.
Stephanie Merry is editor of Book World. | 2022-09-01T12:55:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | "In the Black Fantastic" exhibition book by Ekow Eshun - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/01/black-fantastic-art-show/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/01/black-fantastic-art-show/ |
Lorna Gross redesigned an historic 1870 row house in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. to resemble a bespoke train car on the Orient Express. (William Waldron)
Georgetown homeowner’s redesign reflects a love of the Orient Express
Two-year renovation of historic property balances its 19th-century history with modern flourishes
By Troy McMullen
Col. John Cox was a wealthy merchant in the 19th century who went on to serve as the first elected mayor of Georgetown from 1823 to 1845 — nearly three decades before the District of Columbia got its name.
Years before he embarked on a political career, Cox, who earned the rank of colonel in the War of 1812, was a prolific real estate developer, eventually building five homes in Georgetown in 1817, one for himself and the others for his sons, all next door to each other.
The five dwellings on N Street Northwest between 33rd and 34th streets exemplified the distinctive architecture of Georgetown during the Federal period in their solid brick construction.
Set back from the street, creating what are known as “door yards,” the residences all had flat fronts, large black shuttered windows, dormers and decorative swags tucked neatly into recessed panels. Their austere uniformity helped the street to become known as “Cox’s Row,” a stretch of houses collectively listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites and part of the Georgetown Historic District.
One of the city’s few remaining rows of Federal houses, it’s where the Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette stayed on a visit to Washington in 1824. And where Sen. John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, lived during his 1960 campaign for president — eventually moving from their brick townhouse on Cox’s Row into the White House after winning the presidency.
How to investigate the history of your home
The 1870 Federalist row house that writer and historian Greg Jackson purchased five years ago sits on Cox’s Row, directly across from the stately homes that Cox built on N Street. And that’s no coincidence.
“It’s arguably one of the most historic streets in a city filled with historic streets,” says Jackson, a religious scholar with a specialty in American culture. “To me, as someone who loves and understands the history of the city, it was an easy decision to be in this area.”
Far from easy, however, was the two-year renovation that took a four-bedroom row house in dire need of updating and repair to what it is today: a fully reimagined townhouse that deftly balances its 19th-century history with contemporary flourishes. (Cox, by contrast, built each of his homes in about a year.)
While Jackson’s row house is historic in its own right — it was built for Col. Charles Beatty, owner of the ferry between the Virginia shore and the foot of Frederick Street at Water Street in Georgetown — it had fallen into disrepair over the years and required extensive work.
Before he could even consider interior renovations, Jackson says the home was beset with structural issues. Years of flooding severely damaged its foundation, requiring months of extensive repairs.
“When the crew pulled up the floors, we saw quickly that the joists were rotted out,” he says. Contractors eventually had to excavate beneath the kitchen and dining rooms to a depth of about three feet in order to raise the back side of the home and repair the foundation.
“Only after pulling up the floors could we see that the foundation walls were so badly eroded that they were only an inch of brick in places.”
Repairing the home’s elaborate plaster crown moldings in the living room and hallway also presented challenges. Rather than simply replacing them with wood moldings — which would have been the easiest route — he sought to restore them.
“The surviving plaster was pretty stunning,” Jackson says. Craftsmen spent weeks slowly filling in and rebuilding the ridges and textures of the molding, he says.
“In some places, chunks were missing; in other places, several feet of molding was missing entirely,” he says. “The process of building up the plaster and shaping it by hand was extraordinary and the beauty of the detailing and the curved lines could not have been duplicated using either wood or foam moldings.”
Jackson enlisted North Bethesda, Md., interior designer Lorna Gross to help overhaul the property’s interiors.
A New York native who was raised in Louisiana, Gross eventually opened her practice in the D.C. area where she quickly acquired a reputation for designing homes that comfortably marry history with modernity.
More cities seek to redress widespread 20th-century destruction of Black neighborhoods
Gross says when the collaboration with Jackson began — mapping out how each floor of the five-story building would be revamped — she quickly realized his depth of knowledge of architecture and home design went well beyond her usual clients.
“He came to the process with a full understanding of what it would take to realize his ideas for the project,” says Gross. “He had some pretty unique ideas from the outset, but he wasn’t afraid or intimidated to work together in making that happen.”
Those unique ideas included an unconventional interior scheme for the home’s first level: Jackson wanted the entire floor to resemble a bespoke train car on the Orient Express.
He says the idea was inspired by his days living and studying in Europe in the 1980s and the trips he took on the long-distance passenger train service before it ended operation in 2009.
During its 19th-century heyday, the Orient Express traveled the length of continental Europe and into western Asia, with terminal stations in Paris, London and Istanbul. Nicknamed “the king of trains, the train of kings,” the international rail service embodied the golden age of travel and inspired authors from Graham Greene to Agatha Christie to spin tales of its celebrated passengers — both real and fictional.
“As a college kid traveling around Europe it was as legendary as it was luxurious,” Jackson says. “It just radiated this kind of bygone era of luxury.”
For Gross, it presented a welcome challenge. “I love projects that go beyond the cookie-cutter ideas of what an interior should be,” she says. “Greg offered us a real chance at creating a bit of a story with the interiors and I embraced that from the start.”
Inside the new Waldorf Astoria condos
Gross went to great lengths to achieve the look and feel of a train car from a bygone era. She had antique furnishings and lighting installed from the 1930s on the home’s first level which is a long, narrow space with two fireplaces that harkens back to the Art Deco period.
Interior remodeling included having walls removed just beyond the first level’s entryway, allowing visitors to see directly down a long corridor into the exterior courtyard through new steel windows and doors.
Gross chose a pair of antique chandeliers to replicate Deco equivalents of the era as well as wall coverings that were used to create a warm backdrop for the blend of antique and contemporary furnishings.
The kitchen was also completely renovated and is now enveloped in Art Deco-inspired black to add a bit of drama, Gross says.
“The goal was to create something unique without it coming off as kitsch,” says Gross. “It needs to feel authentic but not immediately obvious.”
Jackson says he didn’t want the Orient Express motif to dominate the entire home.
He and Gross collaborated to have areas of the 2,382-square-foot residence reminiscent of a swank lounge, what Gross describes as “a Hollywood gentlemen’s lounge that Cary Grant might have frequented.”
The guest room also serves as a home office and media lounge and includes a blonde-wood Phillip Jeffries wall covering and a 1930s walnut cocktail table.
A powder room offers a pocket of modernity among the home’s largely antique furnishings. Like almost every room of the house, it includes luxurious wall treatments which add a decorative flourish that creates a warm atmosphere.
“I think the most important thing Lorna brought to this was a strong eye for historical detail,” says Jackson. “She really understood how to make the design a unique expression of my taste without losing any of the most important parts of the home’s history.” | 2022-09-01T12:55:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Georgetown homeowner’s redesign reflects a love of the Orient Express - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/01/georgetown-home-redesign-orient-express/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/01/georgetown-home-redesign-orient-express/ |
Defense Stocks Are More Than a Recession Haven
Manufacturers of fighter jets, battleships and missiles are usually one of investors’ best defensive havens when economies get shaky. This time around, geopolitical conflict and tension are making them key components in the offensive arsenal as well.
Normally, when a downturn erodes demand or some exogenous shock rocks the market, the US government budget, and particularly spending on the military, tends to remain stable. This makes stocks of companies such as Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and others attractive when fears of recession increase.
There are some risks, including a president who emphasizes social programs over defense. That’s usually balanced over time by an administration that seeks to build up the military. The pendulum never strays too far from the average defense spending, which has been 3.8% of gross domestic product over the past three decades. This gives defense companies steady, but usually not stellar, sales growth.
That’s changing at a magnitude that likely matches the sudden increase this year in the geopolitical risk profile. The arms orders are pouring in. General Dynamics Corp. announced on Aug. 25 that it would supply 250 Abrams tanks to Poland with a total price tag of about $1.1 billion. Northrop Grumman was contracted in August to bolster US missile defense systems, which could generate $3.3 billion in revenue. Lockheed Martin scooped up a $4.4 billion order in June to supply as many as 255 Black Hawk helicopters, including options, to the US and foreign militaries.
Nations are ramping up military spending as they watch Russia’s war against Ukraine. Even more unsettling is China President Xi Jinping’s increasingly close relationship with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, including the participation of Chinese troops in joint exercises being hosted by Russia. This only heightens concern over China’s recent display of military might around and over Taiwan when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island in August.
The investor rush to defense stocks was an obvious move after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The stocks have all gained this year, although a bit unevenly. Pure-play companies like Northrop, Lockheed and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., which makes naval vessels, have all risen more than 18% this year. General Dynamics, which makes private jets in addition to tanks and nuclear submarines, has risen 11% and Raytheon Technologies Corp., which sells jet engines to Boeing Co. and Airbus SE as well as for miliary aircraft, has posted just a 5% gain.
These are stellar results compared with the 16% drop in the S&P 500 Index this year. So the stocks are no longer cheap, but the momentum on orders for military hardware is just getting cranked up.
“You can clearly make the case that you’ve got a possible upside surprise with spending on defense,” said Bill Stone, who as chief investment officer helps manage $18 billion at Glenview Trust Co. Stone bought Lockheed, Raytheon and General Dynamics in 2021 as a defensive play and is hanging on to them as revenue is poised to swell. “They’re not screaming buys anymore, but there’s definitely upside.”
Investing in defense stocks can be controversial. After all, these companies make products that are designed to kill people or take out buildings and bridges. If this were a peaceful world, the money and work it takes to build weapons would have to rank as the worst allocation of capital. These investments don’t increase productivity or meet a need that improves consumers’ lives. To the contrary, the purpose of the weapons on which governments around the world spent $2 trillion in 2020 is precisely to destroy productivity, assets and people’s lives.
Of course, the planet isn’t peaceful. The so-called peace dividend after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and Soviet Union is fading into history. Nations and their citizens might feel vulnerable if they fall behind while other countries — some with hostile pasts — are arming up. It’s easy to understand why Poland would want to buy 250 Abrams tanks.
Still, defense companies have recently been lumped in with energy companies on the losing side of the environmental, social and governance investment trend. The money managers who were skeptical about defense companies perhaps weren’t thinking things through. Phebe Novakovic, the chief executive officer of General Dynamics, and Honeywell International Inc. CEO Darius Adamczyk pushed back against the negative scores on ESG ratings for defense companies as a danger to national security in 2021, well before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine made apparent this realpolitik reality. Adamczyk said the ESG movement’s logical conclusion would force governments to take over publicly traded arms makers to ensure they didn’t go out of business. “Are we on a path to nationalize all defense companies? Because if they become uninvestable, then you have to nationalize them. That’s the only path there is,” Adamczyk said during an August 2021 interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York.
It’s doubtful investors now would want to deprive Ukraine of long-range High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, made by Lockheed, or Javelins, the shoulder-fired rockets that can bring down a tank and that are manufactured by a joint venture between Raytheon and Lockheed.
The reality is that global defense spending for the two decades through 2020 (the latest year for which numbers are available) has grown at a 5% clip. Over that period, China’s defense spending has expanded at an average of 13% a year and Russia’s at an average of 11%, although Putin hit his pinnacle on military spending in 2013 right before the oil market crashed in 2014.
The US still spends three times as much as China on the military, according to 2020 budgets. Both have been ramping up spending over the last two years, and now the rest of the world also is arming up. And the US may have a way to go because spending dropped to 3.3% of 2021 GDP, below the average over three decades.
In a report titled “Into the new Cold War,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Ken Herbert this week initiated coverage of defense companies, saying “the elevated defense spending (with less volatility) will justify a positive re-rating on the sector.” While Russia’s war on Ukraine is bolstering demand, “the persistent China risk will support long-term sentiment and funding upside.”
The upshot is that even though defense companies have outperformed the S&P 500 quite handily this year, they’re not near full valuation as backlogs to build weapons swell. Investors won’t have to focus on demand but on each company’s ability to operate efficiently. Until there’s peace, there will be a need for the instruments of war.
• Defense Stocks Search for Their Place in ESG: Brooke Sutherland
• Abandoning Value Now Takes Some Dubious Assumptions: Aaron Brown
• Think Risk Factors Instead of Asset Classes: Mohamed El-Erian | 2022-09-01T12:55:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Defense Stocks Are More Than a Recession Haven - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/defense-stocks-are-more-than-a-recession-haven/2022/09/01/414ecbba-29ea-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/defense-stocks-are-more-than-a-recession-haven/2022/09/01/414ecbba-29ea-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
To Defend Democracy, Don’t Call Trump a Semi-Fascist
Language matters. (Photographer: Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America)
President Joe Biden plans to give a prime-time speech Thursday about democracy. It’s a good idea. Democracy is under threat in the US from those who reject the results of the 2020 election, some of whom might consider resorting to violence to have the results overturned. It’s appropriate that the president describe the threat, part of his obligation to defend the Constitution.
But what most people are probably wondering is whether Biden will use the term “fascism” or, actually, “semi-fascism,” to describe former President Donald Trump and his allies, as Biden did last week. I hope he doesn’t, although the question is far from an easy one.
There is one argument in favor of invoking fascism: It has shock value. Trump-style authoritarianism deserves front-page coverage, and using explosive language is one way to get the media, and voters, to notice.
Beyond that, I don’t see a good reason for Biden to label anyone “semi-fascist.” But there are several compelling reasons not to.
For one, very liberal Democrats and some other critics of former presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush habitually called each of them fascists. Some people hearing the term might perceive it as a relatively content-free political insult. That Biden is in fact invoking the original meaning of fascism — an ultranationalist and authoritarian ideology — doesn’t really matter; what matters is how key audiences hear it.(1)
Speaking of audiences, I suspect that when most people hear the term “fascism,” they think “Hitler.” And that’s the wrong image for Biden to evoke. Sure, people well-versed in 20th century history might know about Italy’s Mussolini, Spain’s Franco and others who combined strong-state authoritarianism with ethnic bigotry without Hitler’s mass murder and attempt at world conquest. But others might hear it and think “Nazi.” That will make it harder for Biden to get his message across.
What’s more, as far as I know none of the contemporary authoritarian leaders Trump is properly compared with such as Russian President Vladimir Putin or Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán call themselves fascist. If they did, as Mussolini did, using the word would be instructive, offering those who follow the news a reference point. Since that isn’t the case, “fascism” isn’t an effective communication shortcut.
Which really gets to the best reason to avoid using “fascism”: It leads to the wrong arguments. What Biden and other opponents of authoritarianism should want is a clear line separating those who support democracy from those who oppose it. There is plenty of evidence that Trump has nothing but scorn for democracy, the rule of law and the US Constitution. Just this week he has demanded to be reinstated to the presidency immediately, something that isn’t provided for in the Constitution even if his wild and false conspiracy theories were true.
Asserting that Trump rejects democracy is an argument that’s easy to make; it isn’t hard, for example, to demonstrate that he undermined the peaceful transfer of power in all kinds of ways. So any argument about fascism is at best a distraction. It takes the focus away from threats to democracy.
Whether Trump is in fact a fascist depends on what you mean by fascism, and scholars tend to emphasize different aspects of the ideology. I’ve seen solid arguments that he is, at the very least, what Biden referred to as a semi-fascist; I think there are equally strong arguments that fascism is really a mid-20th century European phenomenon and that we need language that’s more American, and more contemporary, to describe Trump.
For analysts, this may turn out to be a useful discussion, because fully understanding Trumpism might be helpful in figuring out how to fight it. But a president isn’t well-positioned to develop subtle, complex arguments. The bully pulpit is useful, however, in setting the agenda for the nation. And Biden should place protecting democracy high on that agenda.
It isn’t necessarily the president’s responsibility to tell blunt truths to the nation. It is the president’s job to defend the Constitution. That certainly suggests that when presidents talk, they need to weigh how they are heard at least as strongly as whether they are saying everything they know.
I hope we hear a strong positive defense of democracy from Biden, and an argument for why Trump and his allies are a threat to the republic that is designed for the people who are open to being persuaded.
Biden Is Unpopular, But Democrats Aren’t: Julianna Goldman
Putin Will Turn Gorbachev’s Death to His Advantage: Clara Ferreira Marques
Can Liz Truss Exceed Low Expectations? Thatcher Did: Therese Raphael
(1) This is not to say that Biden should automatically avoid anything that would anger Trump’s supporters. Not only is that futile since they’re apt to take umbrage at anything he says, it also would allow them too much influence. But the history of the word’s usage might mean that some who are open to arguments against Trump would - correctly or not - be less likely to take them seriously if built around “fascism.” | 2022-09-01T12:55:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | To Defend Democracy, Don’t Call Trump a Semi-Fascist - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/to-defenddemocracy-dont-call-trump-a-semi-fascist/2022/09/01/9d835d80-29f2-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/to-defenddemocracy-dont-call-trump-a-semi-fascist/2022/09/01/9d835d80-29f2-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
Academy officials say the art, which says ‘Ku Klux Klan’ below the hooded figure, depicts ‘how our nation has flourished despite its tragedies’
One of the figures depicted in these bronze panels at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., is a hooded Klansman. (Elizabeth V. Woodruff/U.S. Army)
Generations of future Army leaders at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., have whisked by three towering bronze panels outside of a science building that tell the country’s history. Tableaus in the statue depict the Santa Maria sailing for the New World in 1492, revolutionary colonists declaring their independence from England in 1776 and soldiers fighting in World War II during the 1940s.
The bronze Klansman did not escape the notice of the commission charged with identifying “Confederacy-affiliated assets” at U.S. military facilities. Created by Congress last year, the Naming Commission is tasked with recommending whether such assets — ships, bases, statues, streets — be renamed or removed.
This week, the commission released a 15-page report about what it found at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., the second of three it plans to send to Congress. Early last month, the commission submitted a 103-page report in which it recommended renaming nine Army installations honoring Confederate military officers; it plans to submit a third and final one covering the remaining military “assets.”
In its new report, the panel said it didn’t have the authority to recommend that the Klansman be scrubbed from the larger statute at West Point, because it’s not a Confederate monument per se, although it noted that “there are clearly ties in the KKK to the Confederacy.” Commission members urged the defense secretary to deal with military “assets that highlight the KKK.”
According to its report, the commission found 11 Confederate commemorations at West Point, including four secessionists featured in the same bronze panels as the KKK member — Gen. Robert E. Lee, Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson and naval Cmdr. John Brooke. It recommended renaming or removing all 11, which the Army estimated will cost $422,000.
The journey of the bronze sculpture to West Point started in 1951 when Brig. Gen. L.E. Schick, a former science professor at the academy, visited Fraser’s studio. There, he noticed one of her unfinished works depicting several watershed moments in American history through a bronze sculpture in bas-relief. Sculptors use the technique — evident on U.S. coins — to make their subjects appear raised from a carved background.
Later, when the Military Academy was designing what was to be its new library, Schick remembered Fraser’s sculpture. He convinced West Point’s superintendent to approve commissioning Fraser to create three panels roughly 11 feet tall and 4½ feet wide. | 2022-09-01T12:56:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | West Point KKK plaque called out in congressional commission's report - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/01/west-point-kkk-sculpture/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/01/west-point-kkk-sculpture/ |
The Senate candidate who could turn back the MAGA crowd in North Carolina
Cheri Beasley, the Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina, at a campaign event in Raleigh on May 17. (Eamon Queeney for The Washington Post)
Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball both rank the race for the open Senate seat in North Carolina as “Leans Republican.” But it by no means tells the full story of the current campaign.
The Republican candidate, Rep. Ted Budd — a staunch right-winger boosted by former president Donald Trump’s endorsement — has voted against everything from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill to access to contraception to the CHIPS Act. As Axios reports, Budd has also “left the door open to banning abortion in cases where a mother’s life could be at risk as well as in cases of rape and incest.” He is ahead of his Democratic opponent by less than three points according to FiveThirtyEight. Yet the race has been only lightly covered in the national media.
It might behoove political watchers to start paying attention. Democrats have nominated Cheri Beasley, a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court. She would be the first Black senator from North Carolina (and only the third Black woman senator in U.S. history).
During a telephone interview, Beasley stressed: “North Carolina has 100 counties. I’ve visited them all. I’ve spent a lot of time in rural communities.” Her message is that she will represent the entire state and deliver benefits for North Carolinians, while Budd, she says, has “stood for corporate and special interests.” She argues that issues such as the CHIPS bill and reducing prescription drug costs are not “partisan.” “Republican farmers are feeling the impact of climate change on their income,” she notes. “If you cannot afford prescription drugs, these are not partisan issues.”
When George Floyd was murdered, Beasley spoke out to recognize “a resounding, national chorus of voices whose lived experiences reinforce the notion that Black people are ostracized, cast out, and dehumanized.” Her position on crime and criminal justice is measured, however. She favors more funding for law enforcement for recruitment, training and violence prevention. “We can support law enforcement,” she says, “and also expect transparency and accountability.” She supported the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act because it would have “protected law enforcement and communities.”
When it comes to abortion, Beasley says Budd and state Republican lawmakers are “completely out of step” with North Carolina voters, a majority of whom favored upholding Roe v. Wade. According to a public-opinion poll of North Carolina voters conducted in April by Meredith College, 52.6 percent of those surveyed wanted the state to “pass a law keeping the current provisions of Roe or expanding abortion access further.”
We also discussed student loan debt. Republicans have condemned President Biden’s decision to forgive some student debt as a giveaway to undeserving slackers. But that argument might not play well in North Carolina, a state where debt is a major concern. More than 1 million North Carolinians carry student debt, amounting to 55 percent of college graduates — with an average debt of nearly $30,000.
Beasley argues that the Biden debt relief program “will really make a huge difference,” especially for those whose debt has prevented them from qualifying for a mortgage or limited their career options. But she also favors reforms such as greater transparency in lending and affording students the ability to refinance with a lower interest rate.
Certainly, Beasley would break a glass ceiling if elected. Although she argues that we are “better served” with diversity in the courts and in the Senate, she puts the emphasis on who will best deliver for her state, arguing that it “matters a whole lot” who “really works for North Carolina.”
Reeling off the list of popular legislation Budd opposed — including the PACT Act, about which Beasley said, “He turned his back on veterans” — she asserted that people want their representatives to show “respect for the Constitution, respect for the rule of law” and to seriously address issues that matter to them.
Democrats for several cycles have held out North Carolina as a swing state, although since LBJ, only two Democratic presidents (Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter) have won the state. And since the 1970s, North Carolina voters have elected only four Democrats to the Senate.
Nevertheless, with a slew of popular Democratic accomplishments, a Dobbs backlash and a radical MAGA opponent, Beasley’s chances should not be underestimated. | 2022-09-01T12:56:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Cheri Beasley’s North Carolina Senate run might be catching fire - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/cheri-beasley-north-carolina-senate/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/cheri-beasley-north-carolina-senate/ |
FILE - In this image from video, Zumret Dawut, a Uighur from China’s western Xinjiang region who forcibly sterilized for having a third child after being released from a Xinjiang detention camp, looks at documents at her home in Woodbridge, Va., on Monday, June 15, 2020. For Dawut and other camp survivors who spoke out, the U.N.’s report on the mass detentions and other rights abuses against Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang was the culmination of years of advocacy, and a much-welcome acknowledgement of the abuses they say they faced at the hands of the Chinese state. (AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren, File)
On our radar: Biden to speak on the ‘continued battle for the soul of the nation’ | 2022-09-01T12:56:55Z | www.washingtonpost.com | For exiled Uyghurs, UN report is long-awaited vindication - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-exiled-uyghurs-un-report-is-long-awaited-vindication/2022/09/01/ff57d382-29f3-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-exiled-uyghurs-un-report-is-long-awaited-vindication/2022/09/01/ff57d382-29f3-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
Tiger Woods tips his cap during Serena Williams’s second-round win at the U.S. Open on Wednesday night. (John Minchillo/AP)
Between them, they have won 38 major championships in their respective sports, and as Serena Williams took the court to face the No. 2 player in the world in the U.S. Open on Wednesday, Tiger Woods took a seat, joining her family in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Jenkins: Master of her mind and body, Serena Williams summons a champion's resolve
Woods was an enthusiastic supporter, too, delivering a vintage Tiger fist pump when Williams’s victory was complete and later tweeting, “It was a privilege to watch greatness.” But he was no ordinary fan.
Williams had played just four matches in the past 14 months, winning only once. Her last match before the U.S. Open was a lopsided, error-strewn loss to 19-year-old Emma Raducanu on Aug. 16 that lasted just 65 minutes. Her trip to Wimbledon this summer ended with a first-round loss and an injury when she slipped on wet grass.
She was beginning to mentally prepare for what she calls her evolution to what’s next — business ventures and perhaps adding to a family that includes 5-year-old daughter Olympia — but wasn’t quite ready to leave the sport in which she turned pro as a 14-year-old. Enter Woods.
“He said, ‘Serena, what if you just gave it two weeks? You don’t have to commit to anything. You just go out on the court every day for two weeks and give it your all and see what happens.’ I said, ‘All right, I think I can do that.’ ”
The question now for Serena Williams is how far can she go in the U.S. Open?
Williams said she waited a month and then returned to the court, where it “felt magical to pick up a racket again.”
At that point, she said she “was good. I was really good. I went back and forth about whether to play Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open after that. As I’ve said, this whole evolution thing has not been easy for me.”
For now, her evolution is on hold. Next up at the U.S. Open is doubles Thursday night with her sister Venus. On Friday, she’ll play unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic and knows that, with the No. 2 player out of the way, the draw favors her for a while as she attempts to tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
“I know there’s a fan fantasy that I might have tied Margaret that day in London [at Wimbledon], then maybe beat her record in New York, and then at the trophy ceremony say, ‘See ya!’” Williams told Vogue. “ … But I’m not looking for some ceremonial, final on-court moment. I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst. But please know that I am more grateful for you than I can ever express in words. You have carried me to so many wins and so many trophies. I’m going to miss that version of me, that girl who played tennis. And I’m going to miss you.” | 2022-09-01T12:57:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Tiger Woods supports Serena Williams at U.S. Open - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/serena-williams-tiger-woods/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/serena-williams-tiger-woods/ |
Ask Sahaj: I don’t know what to do with my career or the rest of my life
Hi Sahaj: I am 25, and I feel like I am behind on everything. I am halfway through a master’s program that I enjoy and yet when people ask me what I am going to do with it, I don’t know. I feel like I don’t have a career set or even started. It gives me anxiety just thinking about how lost I feel and the pressure to have my life figured out. After I see someone my age share milestones or news (moving away, buying a house, getting engaged/married/pregnant, a promotion), I feel like there isn’t anything exciting happening to me in comparison. I know comparison is the thief of happiness, but I am 25 and feeling like I’m 20, still trying to figure things out.
I just want to do what I enjoy and be happy with the path that I am on, see what happens as time goes on, and let life do its thing. But, I am an anxious planner and overthinker.
Do I follow a passion or hobby? Do I jump from job to job to see what I like? Do I go with the easiest career I can think of but won’t excite me? How can I put the pressure aside so I can enjoy my life and be okay with where I am at and what I am doing?
— Feeling Behind
Feeling Behind: You are stuck in a cycle where you are not sure what your next step is so you are anxious, and you feel anxious so you stress over what your next step is. This is normal.
Our mid-20s can be hard! I didn’t really figure out my career path until I was 30. And at that point, I had already spent about seven years in one career only to leave it to pursue a different one that required going back to school.
From my personal and professional experience, I can tell you that life does not progress in a linear fashion. Instead of imagining life as being put on a train that makes all these preapproved stops, consider that you voluntarily are getting on a train, and making pit stops along the way. You may stay at certain stops longer than others, but each previous stop will always inform the next one.
I encourage you to reflect on where the narrative of “being behind” comes from. It’s important to consider cultural factors, social media, family expectations, and gender as contributors to this internalized narrative.
In my work, I see a pattern of people chasing the next thing, which can only emphasize the feeling that what we are doing now is not enough. You speak of peers moving out, getting promoted, getting married, or having babies. Do you even want these things? Do you think getting your master’s degree is not celebratory?
When everyone constantly shares good things online these days, it’s easy to be convinced that everyone else has it better or more figured out than you. But we don’t know the entire picture of other people’s lives; we only know what they share with us. We know everything about our own lives, including the messy bits, which is why the playing field is uneven. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean others aren’t also grappling with the same questions as you.
The directionlessness and paralysis in decision-making you are describing sound like your own version of the quarter-life crisis. You’ve spent the majority of your life pursuing education, and have been held accountable by external expectations and schedules. Now, you are about to close this door, only to have to decide which next door to open. It makes sense that you feel anxious. But here’s the thing, the door you walk through next doesn’t need to be permanent. You can change your mind.
There are many versions of our lives that can exist, and this existential realization can be paralyzing. But it’s also exciting because with uncertainty comes opportunity.
As a student, you have access to the counseling center, and to career services — like career coaching and workshops. You also have access to an alumni database that may be useful in conducting informational interviews with people who have graduated with your exact degree to learn more on how they utilize it. Right now you are feeling lost, but there are others who have been where you are. Reach out to them.
There’s no shortcut to figuring things out in life. While you may want to have more understanding on what you want and how you’ll get there, remember that it is just as important to know what you don’t want, too, and a lot of that comes from trying, doing and experiencing. | 2022-09-01T13:20:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ask Sahaj: I don’t know what to do with my career or my life - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/09/01/ask-sahaj-grad-school-behind-life-plan/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/09/01/ask-sahaj-grad-school-behind-life-plan/ |
A Crypto.com advertisement during the NFT L.A. conference in Los Angeles on March 29, 2022. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg)
For a woman in Australia — who faced that scenario last year after the cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com mistakenly transferred 10.5 million Australian dollars ($7.2 million) to her bank account — the answer was: Buy a mansion.
Now, a judge in southeastern Australia has ordered the sale of the property — which the woman apparently bought as a gift for her sister who lives overseas — and awarded all proceeds from the sale to the crypto company.
The cautionary tale has attracted international attention, particularly since it emerged that it took seven months for Crypto.com to notice the error.
Katie Gregory, a spokeswoman for Crypto.com, wrote in response to a request for comment from The Post, “As the matter is before the courts, we are unable to comment.”
A woman checked her spam and found she won $3 million in the lottery — but you should still be wary of scams
Crypto.com is best known outside the cryptocurrency world as the company whose name now adorns the former Staples Center in Los Angeles — and for Super Bowl commercials featuring actor Matt Damon and basketball star LeBron James that frame cryptocurrency investors as pioneers, under the tagline “Fortune favors the brave.”
It laid off 5 percent of its corporate workforce in June amid a widespread downturn in the cryptocurrency market.
Analysis: The celebs have gone crypto
The Supreme Court of Victoria heard that in May 2021, Crypto.com, which operates under a different company name in Australia, mistakenly transferred some $7.2 million to Thevamanogari Manivel instead of the roughly $68 refund she was due. The error occurred when an employee accidentally filled out the payment amount field with an account number, the court said.
“Extraordinarily, the Plaintiffs allegedly did not realise this significant error until some 7 months later, in late December 2021,” during an audit, the court said in its judgment. In February, after looking into what happened, the company sought to place a freeze order on Manivel’s accounts to recoup the full amount, according to background on the case released by the court.
However, Crypto.com submitted evidence showing that Manivel had already transferred most of the money to an account held jointly with another defendant, who may have been in a “romantic relationship” with Manivel, according to evidence heard by the court. Manivel also sent nearly $300,000 to her daughter, and, in February, she purchased a property in Craigieburn worth 1.35 million Australian dollars ($925,000) for her sister, Thilagavathy Gangadory, who lives in Malaysia.
The four-bedroom, four-bath mansion about 20 miles north of Melbourne sits on more than 5,800 square feet of land and features a private cinema, a gym and two-car parking, according to the Australian website realestate.com.au.
Lawyers for Manivel and Gangadory were not listed on the judgment document.
A Mega Millions host mangled the winning number. Some still got paid.
Crypto.com’s Australian companies have been engaged in litigation against Manivel, Gangadory and six other defendants ever since. In May, Judge James Dudley Elliott issued a default judgment in the case against Gangadory — meaning she did not file a notice of appearance by the deadline set by the court. Elliott thus ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Foris GFS Australia Pty Ltd., which helps operate Crypto.com’s trading platform in Australia.
The company’s lawyers were apparently unable to reach Gangadory, the court said, although she appeared aware that the case was ongoing, because her sister’s lawyers said in March that Gangadory was seeking legal advice.
Under the judge’s ruling, published last week, Foris GFS was awarded all proceeds and interest from the sale of the property in Craigieburn. Gangadory was ordered to pay the company’s legal costs related to the case, as well as 10 percent interest, which amounts to nearly $19,000, the court said.
Gangadory can appeal, but she must provide “a good reason for not filing documents, a valid defence to the case, and give reasons why the court should not have made the order” against her, according to the Victoria County court. The next court date is set for Oct. 7, when the judge will set out the next steps of the case in what is known as a “directions hearing.” | 2022-09-01T13:42:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Crypto.com mistakenly sends woman $7.2 million instead of $68 refund - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/01/crypto-mistake-australia-mansion-millions/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/01/crypto-mistake-australia-mansion-millions/ |
The National Symphony Orchestra's traditional Labor Day concert returns to the U.S. Capitol's West Lawn on Sunday evening for the first time since 2019. (Tracey Salazar Photgraphy)
D.C. Jazz Festival: The second day of the festival brings in-person shows including guitarist Paul Bollenback, once a familiar face in D.C., who returns from New York for a gig at Takoma Station (6:30 p.m., $20), and at Arena Stage, the great Regina Carter performs songs from her new project “Gone in a Phrase of Air,” which explores the displacement and community trauma of urban renewal. The evening includes spoken word and visual art as well as music, and is followed by a post-concert discussion. General admission tickets are sold out, but VIP tickets remain (7 p.m., $79).
202 Kickoff Celebration at the Wharf: September has been dubbed “202Creates Month,” since it contains so many events highlighting D.C.’s creative class — including the D.C. Shorts film festival, the D.C. Walls mural festival, Art All Night and the jazz and go-go-driven NextFest. The official kickoff takes place at the Wharf, with musical performances including DJs Little Bacon Bear and Tezrah, Latin rhythms from the Joe Falero Band, hip-hop and R&B by Dorothy Milone, and one-woman band Margot McDonald. A concert on the District Pier is followed by a “pop-up lounge” on the roof of La Vie. 6 to 10 p.m. Free with RSVP.
10 Years of Echostage: September of 2012 feels like a different world at this point, but it was 10 years ago that Panorama Productions — the team responsible for D.C.’s trailblazing Club Glow dance parties — opened the doors to Echostage, a massive nightclub that could welcome the burgeoning EDM scene. In 2021, Echostage was voted the top club in the world in DJ Mag’s annual poll. In 2022, it’s time to celebrate. The 10 Years of Echostage series continues with two big events over Labor Day weekend. Legendary Dutch trance DJ Armin Van Buuren, who appeared at Glow as far back as 2003 — who remembers Club Insomnia? — headlines Thursday with support from Ruben de Ronde and Adam Scott, while Saturday is given over to French DJ and producer Madeon. Thursday and Saturday at 9 p.m. $45-$50. 18 and over.
Culture Caucus Summer Festival at the Kennedy Center: The Kennedy Center wraps up its free summer Culture Caucus offerings with a two-day festival curated by arts educator Rose Powhatan, a descendant of Virginia’s Pamunkey Tribe. Friday includes an Afro-Caribbean dance class from Soka Tribe and American-Caribbean fusion music by Brett Walking Eagle. Saturday brings a “Carnival on the Lawn” movement class; cabaret performances, including Native American flute and Scotch-Irish music; and a headlining performance by the Red Crook-ed Sky American Indian Dance Troupe and the Stoney Creek Singers. An arts market is held both days. Friday from 5 to 8:30 p.m.; Saturday from 2 to 8:30 p.m. Free.
‘Spaceballs’ at Congressional Cemetery: D.C.’s coolest cemetery wraps up its space-themed summer movie series with a screening of “Spaceballs,” Mel Brooks’s 1987 sendup of “Star Wars.” Bring a blanket and BYOB, and spread out among the tombstones for an atmosphere that’s unlike any other. Ticket prices are recommendations; all proceeds go toward preservation of the historic graves and grounds. 6:30 p.m. $10 adults, $5 children.
D.C. Jazz Festival: Friday’s headlining events — Dianne Reeves at Arena Stage and Matthew Shipp at the Eaton’s Wild Days — are sold out, but don’t overlook the Anacostia Jazz Hop, which brings free shows at multiple locations throughout the neighborhood, including the Big Chair and Sandlot Anacostia; and Music and Murals, a walking tour of historical sites and modern murals along U Street, once the epicenter of D.C.’s jazz scene (10 a.m. and 2 p.m., $40).
Traditional Teaware Class at Valley Brook Tea: For the past 4,000 years, the craft of tea making has retained its cultural relevance in China, and the practice is not without its rules. Yunhan Zhang, owner of Dupont Circle’s Valley Brook Tea, has made it his mission to educate the DMV about tea culture. The one-hour class will teach guests how to properly handle instruments like the Gaiwan, a traditional Chinese tea brewer, and feature a range of teas for testing, in the shop that handles growing the plants abroad and processing the tea in-house. 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. $45.
D.C. Festival of Magic at the Capital Hilton: For its second year, the D.C. Festival of Magic is bringing its tricks to the Capital Hilton for three nights of shows. Don’t fret if you miss one of the seven shows lined up this year — roaming bar-side magicians will roam the halls to enchant you up close. The festival is geared toward adults, so leave kids at home for all events except for Sunday’s family show. The hotel’s famed tiki bar, Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Pop-Up Lounge, returned to the lobby earlier this year, and drinks will be available before the shows. Shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Free to $100.
D.C. Jazz Festival at the Wharf: The D.C. Jazz Festival’s main event is two days of concerts at the Wharf, with performances and discussions across five stages on Saturday and four on Sunday. The format can get a little confusing: The outdoor performances on the District or Transit piers are free with RSVP, though premier tickets, which allow seats in front of the stages, and VIP tickets, which add access to a lounge, are available for purchase ($89-$199; premier tickets sold out for Saturday). Meanwhile, seeing the artists at Union Stage, including the international JazzPrix battle of the bands final on Saturday, requires separate tickets, as does “Hargrove,” the documentary about the final year of the great trumpet player Roy Hargrove’s life, which screens up Water Street at Arena Stage on Saturday morning. Various times and locations. See dcjazzfest.org for a complete schedule.
National Book Festival at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center: After an all-virtual program in 2020 and a multiday mix of virtual and inperson events in 2021, the National Book Festival is back to its regularly scheduled programming at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on the first Saturday in September. The free festival’s main stage draws celebs turned authors like singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe, “Parks and Recreation” actor Nick Offerman and deaf activist Nyle DiMarco. More than 120 poets, writers, and authors of children’s and young adult books will be in the building for talks and book signings, including the likes of David Maraniss, Clint Smith, Jason Reynolds, Donna Barba Higuera and Jesmyn Ward. With so many choices, it’s worth spending some time reading through the full schedule of events. If you can’t make it in person, several of the stages will be live-streamed, and the Library of Congress plans to post videos of all talks after the festival. 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Free.
Craftivism Circle at the Anacostia Community Museum: Pick up a ball of yarn and head to the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum for a “Craftivism Circle” that combines discussion about social justice issues in D.C. with craft time dedicated to the likes of knitting, crocheting and needlepoint. The free workshop is led by “Crochet Kingpin” Dwayne Lawson-Brown. Experienced crafters can bring along their current projects, while beginners pick up supplies and a few tips. Sessions are limited to 50 participants, and if slots this weekend fill up, the event will be held in October and November, too. 2 to 4 p.m. Free; registration required.
Black Food and Wine Festival at Sandlot Anacostia: Last week, Soul Mega brewing hosted a festival featuring local Black-owned breweries. But if beer’s not your thing, it’s not too late to celebrate other Black-owned businesses in the food and drink industry. The D.C. Black Food and Wine Festival spotlights companies including Michael Lavelle Wines, founded by Howard University alumni, and Union Market’s soul-food favorite, Puddin’. DJs and live bands are prepped with ’90s and ’00s throwbacks for the Sandlot Anacostia event, and guests are invited to participate in wine tastings. 3 to 8:30 p.m. $45.
Virginia Highland Scottish Games at Great Meadow: Among the competitions at the 48th annual Virginia Scottish Games: Throwing a stone that weighs 22 to 28 pounds from a standing position; tossing 20-foot tree trunks end-over-end; and lifting a 56-pound weight over a bar with one hand. Not into feats of strength? There are contests for highland dancers, fiddlers, and pipe and drum bands, too. The festival celebrates all things Scottish, in honor of the families that settled in Appalachia. Explore tents full of music, a dance stage, Gaelic poetry readings, parades of Scottish dogs, whisky tastings, living history demonstrations, a British car show and much more. Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. $20 per day or $30 for the weekend for adults; Children ages 5 to 12 $5 on Saturday, free admission on Sunday. Children younger than 5 admitted free both days.
Harbor Music, Wine and Arts Festival Weekend at Gaylord National Resort: This two-day blowout at National Harbor starts with a bottomless Saturday brunch hosted by actor Larenz Tate and featuring a performance by local jazz musician Marcus Johnson. Saturday evening brings “The Art of Luxury All White Event” hosted by Tate and actor Morris Chestnut, featuring a performance by Doug E. Fresh, fireworks, live artists, and indoor and outdoor bars. On Sunday, there’s an afternoon wine tasting with art and live music, followed by a rooftop party at Pose Lounge. Times and admission prices vary; Pass for all four events $200.
Residents Nights at Flash: If you’re a regular at Flash’s dance parties, you may recognize names like Meegs and KayLaSoul — the DJs dropping deep house or funky beats to warm up the crowd before the headliners take to the booth. Flash’s Residents Nights turn the openers into the main attractions, giving them a chance to shine even more brightly. 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. $10-$20.
National Symphony Orchestra Labor Day Concert: For the first time since 2019, the National Symphony Orchestra marks the unofficial end of summer with a free concert on the U.S. Capitol’s West Lawn. The program, conducted by Steven Reineke, includes a mix of patriotic tunes (John Philip Sousa’s “Liberty Bell March,” an Armed Forces Medley) and standards (Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”). Singer Jimmie Herrod of the orchestral pop band Pink Martini joins the NSO for two mini-sets featuring vintage pop and musical songs, including “Tomorrow.” Gates open at 3 p.m., with a dress rehearsal at 3:30 p.m. Picnics and low camp chairs are welcome. Seating is first-come, first-served, and no tickets are required. See the U.S. Capitol Police website for details about entrances, street closures and prohibited items. 8 p.m. Free.
Glen Echo Labor Day Art Show and Social Dance Showcase: More than 200 artists from across the Mid-Atlantic region show and sell sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, paintings and photographs at this 51-year-old showcase, held in the park’s landmark Spanish Ballroom. On Sunday and Monday, the Bumper Car Pavillion hosts a Social Dance Showcase. Try waltzing, Lindy Hopping or tango, among other styles, to the sounds of live bands, with free beginner lessons. Art Show: Saturday through Monday, noon to 6 p.m. Dancing: Sunday from 2 to 10 p.m., Monday from 1 to 8 p.m. All events free.
Adams Morgan Pedestrian Zone: Rain partially washed out the August debut of Adams Morgan’s new Pedestrian Zone, which shuts the 18th Street strip to vehicular traffic one Sunday per month. Cross your fingers for nicer weather for the second edition, and look for pop-up yoga classes, roving entertainers and family activities in the middle of the pavement, while surrounding businesses draw visitors in with special events, such as a day party with DJs at Tiki on 18th. Noon to 10 p.m. 18th Street NW between Columbia and Kalorama roads. Free.
JAB/TALsounds/Lieven Martens/Alma Laprida at Rhizome: Looking for a chilled-out cooldown after a hot and hectic Labor Day weekend? Head to Rhizome for an evening of ambient music from around the world. Headliner JAB, a.k.a. John Also Bennett, adds flute improvisations to drone tones; liner notes say he tries to “create nice, strange, and thoughtful music that reflects a genuine inner vision of self.” As TALsounds, Natalie Chami explores synth and voice, while Belgium’s Lieven Martens mixes field recordings with electronic instrumentation. Alma Laprida, an Argentine musician based in Maryland, improvises on the marine trumpet, a medieval string instrument that sounds like a horn — a unique sight and sound, even at a beloved Takoma venue that favors the experimental. 7 p.m. $10-$25 sliding scale.
Angela Davis at Busboys and Poets: Andy Shallal’s progressive bookstore chain marks its 17th anniversary over two nights of discussion with political activist and author Angela Davis, whose seminal 1974 “An Autobiography” was rereleased earlier this year. On Tuesday, Davis visits the Busboys and Poets in Anacostia for a conversation with Alicia Garza, one of the founders of Black Lives Matter. Reserved seats are sold out; remaining seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, including seats on the patio, where the conversation will be played through speakers. A live stream will be available on the Busboys YouTube and Facebook pages. On Wednesday night, Davis is the guest of honor at the Columbia branch of Busboys, where she’ll be in discussion with fellow University of California at Santa Cruz scholar and author Gina Dent. CNN White House correspondent April Ryan is the moderator. Again, all reserved seats are sold out, but all others are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Tuesday and Wednesday at 6 p.m.; Organizers suggest arriving before 5:30 for admission. Free.
Lobby Boy at DC9: Richmond-based six piece Lobby Boy began life as bandleader Chez Goodspeed’s GarageBand demos, before guitarist Alberto Sifuentes Jr. and drummer Eva Wilson signed on to bring the songs to life at a show at Crayola House, a long-running house venue in Harrisonburg, Va., where some band members were living. The band credits Harrisonburg’s vibrant DIY scene (the city also hosts the annual indie music festival Macrock) and reputation as “the Friendly City” as keys to their personal and musical development. Almost four years after its first show, the band has released its debut record “Pretty Songs / Pursuits of Personhood.” The eight-track effort is full of synth-kissed songs brimming with sweet, Auto-Tuned melodies and heart-on-sleeve earnestness. Along with serving as a lyric and as part of the title, the phrase “pursuits of personhood” captures the band’s modus operandi, as people and artists. Tuesday at 8 p.m. at DC9. $13-$15.
Interview: Lobby Boy and ‘the pursuits of personhood’
Perfect Liars Club at D.C. Comedy Loft: After a pandemic hiatus, storytelling show Perfect Liars Club returns to the D.C. Comedy Loft for monthly shows beginning in September. The premise is simple: Listen to four outrageous anecdotes from local comedians and storytellers, then interrogate the quartet in an attempt to figure out which tale is a total lie. Turns out Washingtonians are not very good at this; according to Perfect Liars Club’s hosts, crowds have had roughly an 18 percent success rate in sussing out the liar during the show’s nine-year run. 7 p.m. $15-$20, with a two-item minimum of food or beverage purchases per person.
Daddy Yankee at Capital One Arena: Puerto Rican star Daddy Yankee shocked the music world when he announced his retirement from music earlier this year, but after a 32-year career, no one can blame the King of Reggaeton for hanging up his microphone. After all, he coined the genre name a decade before its first global explosion, which he helped kick off with smashes like “Gasolina” and “Oye Mi Canto” (his crossover hit with Queens rapper N.O.R.E.), and then helped make the sound even more expansive, paving the way for another generation of superstars with collaborators J Balvin and Bad Bunny and breaking records with the inescapable “Despacito.” 8 p.m. $225-$995. | 2022-09-01T13:55:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Labor Day festivals, concerts and other things to do in the D.C. area - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/best-things-do-dc-area-week-sept-1-7/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/best-things-do-dc-area-week-sept-1-7/ |
Virginia Tech’s depth remains ‘work in progress’ ahead of opener
Virginia Tech added Grant Wells (6) and Jason Brown (1) to the quarterback room along with Ben Locklear (19) and Tahj Bullock (15). (Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times/AP)
Brent Pry was in the nascent stages of his football coaching career some 30 years ago when he received an offer to join Frank Beamer’s staff at Virginia Tech. Beamer then had been less than a decade into the job, and Pry got a firsthand glimpse into how the legendary coach was transforming a program from afterthought to national power.
So upon accepting the position as Hokies head coach in November with a mandate to rebuild, Pry reflected on the years he spent under Beamer and began applying some of the lessons he learned as a graduate assistant from 1995 through 1997.
Among the most important components was expanding quality depth at virtually every position following a roster overhaul that left Virginia Tech with two quarterbacks who combined for 35 pass attempts last season and an overall dearth of contributors elsewhere.
“We’re still a work in progress,” Pry said last week during his final news conference of preseason camp. “I think our depth in most areas on our team has got to continue to develop every week. It doesn’t stop because the season starts. We’ve got to continue to develop depth all year long.”
Beamerball is gone. Brent Pry is Va. Tech’s second chance at redemption.
As the Hokies shift into game week mode ahead of their opener Friday against Old Dominion in Norfolk, Pry at least has settled on a starting quarterback, announcing recently that transfer Grant Wells won the job on the heels of a competition with Jason Brown, also a transfer.
Wells is a redshirt junior who played his first two seasons at Marshall, where he was selected Conference USA freshman of the year in 2020 after leading the league with 2,091 passing yards and 18 touchdown passes. He also was the first freshman quarterback to be voted first-team all-conference.
Wells, whose father graduated from Virginia Tech, became an immediate target for Pry and his staff when he announced he was entering the transfer portal. He also has ties to the previous administration in Blacksburg, having drawn recruiting interest in high school from ousted former coach Justin Fuente.
The transfer portal was a quick fix at quarterback for depleted Virginia Tech, with last year’s top backup Connor Blumrick moving to tight end this season and Tahj Bullock, another reserve, appearing in just one game. Bullock is set to be the third-string quarterback this season.
“This whole camp I’ve really taken the mind-set that I’m the guy, whether that was before I got the official nod or whatever,” said Wells, who was voted one of the Hokies’ seven captains. “Now I’ve changed that mentality to knowing I’m the guy and really taken that leadership role.”
In addition to helping Wells, first-year offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen has been tinkering with the running back rotation because of undisclosed ailments during camp to Malachi Thomas and Jalen Holston.
Thomas, who started three games last season and amassed 440 yards on 93 carries, is “week to week,” according to Pry, while Holston was held out for precautionary reasons with a “minor injury.”
It’s unclear if either will be available for the opener, and backups such as Keshawn King, Chance Black, Kenji Christian and Bryce Duke have been receiving additional carries in practice.
“We’re right in the thick of this thing, and there’s a lot of adversity going on,” Pry said. “There’s pushing through things. There’s depth chart battles, injuries to overcome. There’s a lot happening, so it’s what it needs to be. Camp is supposed to be hard, and we’re having a trying camp, which is necessary for where we want to go.”
Pry also revealed a season-ending injury to tight end Benji Gosnell, the first player to commit verbally to Virginia Tech after the school parted ways with Fuente. Pry declined to specify the exact nature of the injury but did confirm it was unrelated to the torn ACL and MCL the promising freshman and four-star recruit suffered in high school.
The Gosnell update came not long after Pry disclosed wide receiver Dallan Wright would be lost for the season with an injury, further reducing depth at a position where three of the top four players in receptions and yards from last season are gone.
Brent Pry working to bring winning tradition back to Virginia Tech football
“If you’re talking about depth, we need improvement in all areas right now,” Pry said. “But more specifically we need a couple more receivers to step up to the plate that we feel like we can win with. We need to continue to establish depth on the offensive line. We need to establish depth, and to be honest, nail down a starter at the linebacker position. We need to establish depth in the secondary.”
The competition to start at weakside linebacker is down to the wire between Jaden Keller, a redshirt freshman, and Alan Tisdale, a redshirt senior. Tisdale, along with fifth-year senior Dax Hollifield, provides valuable experience, but Keller has drawn frequent high praise from the coaching staff for his instincts and athleticism.
As far as the back end of the defense, the starters are established with Chamarri Conner and Nasir Peoples at safety and Armani Chatman and Dorian Strong at cornerback. The rest of the group, outside of redshirt senior Brion Murray, has played limited snaps.
“Chamarri and Nasir have played so many valuable reps for this team over the years,” said safeties coach Pierson Prioleau, a standout at the position for the Hokies from 1995 through 1998. “Their experience on the field is very relatable to telling the younger guys different intricacies of the game, as well as things that they need to look forward to.” | 2022-09-01T14:03:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Virginia Tech football's depth remains ‘work in progress’ - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/virginia-tech-football-preview/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/virginia-tech-football-preview/ |
Ukraine live briefing: IAEA mission arrives at nuclear plant amid delays an...
New findings expose machinery of Russia's 'filtration' of Ukrainians
The destruction of Ukrainian farm land, machinery and infrastructure is not collateral damage. It is a core part of Russia’s military strategy.
Perspective by Susanne A. Wengle
Vitalii Dankevych
An employee unloads wheat grains inside a storage in the village of Tomylivka in the Kyiv region of Ukraine on Aug. 1. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters) (Stringer/Reuters)
Destroy a seed, erase a future.
On May 16, 2022, tens of thousands of rare seed samples were destroyed in the Russian shelling of Kharkiv’s Yuriev Institute, which houses Ukraine’s National Gene Bank.
The Yuriev Institute has a storied past — its predecessor was founded in 1908, a time when Eurasian grain was feeding the rapidly growing industrial workforce in Western Europe. Located in the university town of Kharkiv, the gene bank had been the home of over 160,000 varieties of plant and crop seeds.
Read the latest updates on the war in Ukraine
The target was not a coincidence.
The damage inflicted on Ukraine’s National Gene Bank and the loss of valuable seeds were part of a deliberate Russian campaign to harm Ukrainian agriculture, this year and potentially for decades to come.
Eurasian grain has been the focus of global attention in large part because war-related shortages cause hunger abroad.
What has been less well understood is that the targeted destruction of Ukrainian farm land, farm machinery and infrastructure are not collateral damage in a war about territory and geopolitics.
They are a core part of Russia’s military strategy.
Ukraine’s farmers become the latest target of Russian missiles
Eurasia’s fertile black earth belt, known as chernomzen, runs through much of Ukraine. Long growing seasons and ample rainfall provide ideal conditions for growing food commodities such as wheat, corn, oilseeds and sugar beets.
Destroying Ukraine’s farms grievously damages the country’s economy while giving Russia more leverage over its own grain trade partners in Africa and Asia.
We have identified four types of damage that merit the attention of the world’s policymakers.
The first is theft. Russian troops are reported to have stolen various types of agricultural machinery — combines, tractors, etc., moving them to Russia or Russian-controlled areas.
In addition, millions of tons of grains and oilseeds worth hundreds of millions of dollars were seized from grain elevators in Eastern Ukraine over the summer.
The second type of damage was brought about by the disruption of this year’s crop cycle. Spring wheat, corn and many industrial crops are typically planted in late March after the last spring frosts, but planting coincided this year with the early weeks of the war.
What do Ukraine’s new wheat exports mean for prices and global hunger?
Disruptions caused by the war have put seeds, fertilizer, fuel and other key inputs in short supply — and a large share of the agricultural labor force is fighting in the territorial defense forces or has fled. This delayed and disrupted planting, growing and harvest of much of the country’s crop.
As grain reached maturity, the Russian military set fire to fields, especially in the Donetsk, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. Across Ukraine, an estimated 70,000 hectares, and hundreds of thousand tons of grain, were burned in July alone.
War with Russia has also wrought havoc on agricultural infrastructure, a third type of harm. This includes damage to farm land from bombing and land mines, as well as the destruction of machinery, irrigation systems, and storage and transport infrastructure. About a third of all irrigated agricultural land in Ukraine is located in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, both partially occupied by Russian troops.
Russian forces have bombed grain elevators and port terminals. A missile strike on the sea grain port “Nika-Tera” in Nikolaev, Ukraine’s third largest in terms of shipping volumes, destroyed the port’s grain terminal.
Why Russia's war in Ukraine means a hungrier world
A fourth type of damage is related to Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the main export routes for Ukrainian food commodity crops. In 2021, Ukraine exported nearly 45 million tons of cereals and legumes, the vast majority of it by sea. China is the single largest importer of Ukrainian agrifood products; the E.U. is the second largest market.
At the outset of the war, millions of tons of grain were still in storage and count not be shipped, threatening global food security.
Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement brokered by Turkey on July 22 to open “grain corridors” and resume shipments of grain, oilseed and other crops from three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea: Odessa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi.
But as the harvest season gets underway, Ukraine capacity to maintain grain exports still faces challenges. Several other ports are still unable to accept and send cargo due to the Russian sea blockade
The three ports that are in operation will have to export millions of tons of grain each month just to keep up with this year’s harvest.
Yet, as the bombing of the Yuriev Institute demonstrates, Russia’s war on Ukrainian agriculture is operating on a longer time horizon.
Attacks on the Yuriev seedbank and vital storage, transport and export infrastructure threatens the prospects of Ukrainian agriculture long after the war ends.
The destruction of agricultural assets is part of a calculated effort to inflict harm on a sector that historically has held enormous economic significance for Ukraine.
Russia is well aware of the significance of Ukrainian agriculture and the fecundity of its soil.
Nearly a century ago, the Soviet Union waged a brutal war on Ukrainian peasants during the collectivization of agriculture, a top-down drive to modernize rural production that resulted in famine, death and destruction of agriculture.
Compared to the 1930s, Ukrainian farmers and fields may stand a better chance today. Even as the valuable and rare seeds of the National Gene Bank have been destroyed, Ukrainian farmers have managed to sow, harvest and resume exports.
As a Ukrainian proverb says: “They wanted to bury us, but they did not know we were seeds.”
Susanne Wengle is the N.R. Dreux Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, and author of “Black Earth, White Bread: A P History of Russian Agriculture and Food.”
Vitalii Dankevych is dean of the Faculty of Law, Public Administration, and National Security at Polissia National University, Zhytomyr, Ukraine. He also owns and runs his family’s farm. | 2022-09-01T14:17:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Russia is waging war on Ukraine’s farm economy, from seed lab to ports - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/01/russia-attacks-ukraine-farm-economy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/01/russia-attacks-ukraine-farm-economy/ |
The cause of death is not yet known for musician Luke Bell, shown here at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in 2016. (Frazer Harrison)
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Luke Bell released only one album. He released three.
Police in Tucson said Wednesday that Bell’s body was found Aug. 26, in the 5500 block of E. Grant Road, near the Tucson Medical Center. The cause of his death was not yet known, and police said an investigation was underway.
The Kentucky-born Bell was raised in Wyoming and was last known to live in Tennessee. He had a short but celebrated music career, and is best known for the hit song “Where Ya Been?”. He released a single, “Jealous Guy,” in 2021.
According to CNN, Bell was reported missing over a week ago. Tucson Police Sgt. Richard Gradillas told The Washington Post that Bell was found alone, and that “detectives are still looking to verify if a missing report was completed.”
“A bunch of us met in Nashville when we were so young and obsessed with country music — those years were so formative. He was extremely gifted & special,” wrote Kelsey Waldon, a fellow Kentuckian and singer-songwriter.
“I can vividly remember the first time I met Luke at Hole in the Wall over a decade ago, down to the clothes on his back. The man (and his music) left an impression,” members of the Texas-based Americana band Mike and the Moonpies wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
So sad to hear the news tonight our buddy, Luke Bell. I don’t really know what to say. Thank you for the friendship and great music. I hope you are at peace now and enjoying the greenest pastures. So long, amigo. #rip #lukebell pic.twitter.com/LQatP1jq0x
— 𝕮𝖆𝖙𝖑𝖎𝖓 𝕽𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖉 🥩 (@TeleCat_MMP) August 30, 2022
The Academy of Country Music tweeted Wednesday that it was “a sad day for our Country Music community.”
Bell was often described as a “troubadour,” moving from place to place, including Austin, New Orleans, Louisiana and Nashville. In a 2016 interview with the Boot, a website that covers the country music industry, Bell suggested that the lifestyle had its ups and downs.
“The downside, in some ways, is I don’t have a wife and kids, but at the same time, it’s pretty ideal right now. I just travel around to other cities and hang out with other people,” he said.
“To be honest, I live in the day, and I count smiles.” | 2022-09-01T14:30:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Luke Bell, country singer and songwriter, is dead at 32 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/01/luke-bell-dead-tucson/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/01/luke-bell-dead-tucson/ |
In this photo provided by the Gibraltar government and taken on Thursday Sept. 1, 2022, a leak of heavy fuel oil, a small amount of which has escaped the perimeter of the boom sits on the surface of the sea by the Tuvalu-registered OS 35 cargo ship that collided with a liquid natural gas carrier in the bay of Gibraltar on Tuesday. Gibraltar authorities say they have beached a cargo ship to prevent it from sinking after it collided with a liquefied natural gas carrier in the Bay of Gibraltar. A government spokesman said that the situation was under control and the cargo ship was not in danger. He said there has been no environmental impact so far. (HM Government of Gibraltar via AP) (Uncredited/HM Government of Gibraltar)
MADRID — A small amount of heavy fuel oil has leaked from a bulk carrier ship stranded since colliding Monday with another ship near the Bay of Gibraltar, authorities said Thursday. The Captain of the Gibraltar Port said the leak is “fully under control.” | 2022-09-01T14:30:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Gibraltar confirms leakage of fuel from stranded cargo ship - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/gibraltar-confirms-leakage-of-fuel-from-stranded-cargo-ship/2022/09/01/eb181e16-29ff-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/gibraltar-confirms-leakage-of-fuel-from-stranded-cargo-ship/2022/09/01/eb181e16-29ff-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
By Kay Dervishi of The Chronicle of Philanthropy | AP
In this photo provided by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, a person receives the Monkeypox vaccine at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation Monkeypox vaccine clinic in San Francisco. Two biopharmaceutical companies will give $5 million and $500,000, respectively, to nonprofit organizations in the United States and abroad that are responding to the growing monkeypox outbreak. (San Francisco AIDS Foundation via AP) (Uncredited/San Francisco AIDS Foundation) | 2022-09-01T14:30:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Limited funding hampers charities’ early monkeypox response - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/limited-funding-hampers-charities-early-monkeypox-response/2022/09/01/d044eed6-29f8-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/limited-funding-hampers-charities-early-monkeypox-response/2022/09/01/d044eed6-29f8-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
New movies to stream this week: ‘McEnroe’ and more
John McEnroe in the documentary "McEnroe." (Showtime)
“McEnroe” looks at the life and career of John McEnroe, the 63-year-old tennis great as famous for his athletic achievements as for the bursts of temper and bad behavior that led to him being dubbed “superbrat” by the British press at the age of 20. Structured around interviews with the film’s now-gray-haired subject — seemingly mellowed by age, self-described therapy and introspection — the film by Barney Douglas (known for the cricket documentaries “Warriors” and “The Edge”) is supplemented by plenty of archival match footage, including from the famous 1980 showdown between McEnroe and Björn Borg at that year’s Wimbledon final (entertainingly dramatized in the film “Borg vs. McEnroe”). And of course there are talking heads: Borg himself appears, along with tennis player Billie Jean King, two of McEnroe’s children and his father, John McEnroe Sr. (Rocker Chrissie Hynde appears only by voice, reminiscing about her friendship with McEnroe, based, as she recalls it, on her ready supply of marijuana). The film fails to directly — or at least succinctly — answer the question it proposes: What is greatness? Nevertheless, it’s a lively, informative and thought-provoking film, intercut with such artsy touches as shots of McEnroe walking along dark city streets, presumably meant to convey his troubled psyche, and scenes in which he stops to pick up the receiver of a pay phone, only to hear the sound of his own voice. TV-MA. Available on Showtime. Contains coarse language and drug references. 104 minutes.
The documentary “Blind Ambition” follows four Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa who discovered, after landing jobs in restaurants, that they each had a gift for wine tasting and, in 2017, entered the World Blind Wine Tasting Championships in France as Team Zimbabwe in exile. According to the Guardian, it is “impossible not to smile along with this feelgood documentary.” Unrated. Available on demand. 96 minutes.
In the World War II thriller “Burial,” Charlotte Vega (“The Bookshop”) and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films) play Russian soldiers: an intelligence officer and a member of her fictional squad, who, as the war winds down, have been tasked with delivering the remains of Adolf Hitler to Stalin in a crate. Along the way, they are beset by German “werewolf” partisans. Unrated. Available on demand. 95 minutes.
Noted English explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes — also known as the cousin of actors Ralph Fiennes and Joseph Fiennes — is the subject of “Explorer,” a documentary that celebrates, among Fiennes’s achievements, the circumnavigation of the world, from pole to pole, from 1979 to 1982. Unrated. Available on demand. 140 minutes.
The documentary “Kaepernick & America” looks at former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the legacy of his decision, in 2016, to make a statement about racism in America by remaining seated on the bench during the national anthem and, later, by kneeling alongside his teammates. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the “earnest” efforts of directors Ross Hockrow and Tommy Walker “might turn off viewers already attuned to the cycles of America’s racial amnesia, but the doc works as a primer for the uninitiated.” Unrated. Available on Amazon, iTunes and other on demand platforms. 82 minutes.
After her fiance breaks up with her during what was meant to be a romantic European vacation together, an American woman (Kat Graham) checks into an Italian villa by herself, only to discover that it has accidentally been double-booked, in the rom-com “Love in the Villa.” Sparks fly between her and the snooty Englishman (Tom Hopper) she reluctantly agrees to share lodging with, and then — could it be? — love blossoms. TV-14. Available on Netflix. 115 minutes.
In the crime thriller “One Way,” Colson Baker (a.k.a. musician Machine Gun Kelly) plays Freddy, a petty thief who has robbed a Mexican drug lord (Drea de Matteo). On the lam with a one-way bus ticket, and in need of a blood transfusion from a serious gunshot wound, Freddy arranges by phone for the assistance of his father (Kevin Bacon) in getting the money to his family. Storm Reid also stars as a fellow bus passenger. R. Available on demand. Contains pervasive crude language, violence and drug use. 96 minutes.
The thriller “Wire Room” stars Bruce Willis as Shane Mueller, a Homeland Security agent in charge of a high-tech surveillance center, and Kevin Dillon as Justin Rosa, his recruit. When an operation monitoring an arms smuggler goes awry, Mueller and Rosa must make a stand against corrupt agents and officials who want to destroy evidence and kill them both. R. Contains strong violence and pervasive language. 97 minutes. | 2022-09-01T14:30:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | New movies to stream from home this week - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/09/01/september-2-new-streaming-movie-roundup/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/09/01/september-2-new-streaming-movie-roundup/ |
An aerial view of former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club on Thursday. (Steve Helber/AP)
A group of former GOP officials and former federal prosecutors who served in Republican administrations has filed an amicus brief in support of the Justice Department’s position that former president Donald Trump has no right to a special master to review documents found in the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search. The group includes former high-ranking Justice Department attorneys Donald B. Ayer, Gregory A. Brower, John J. Farmer Jr., Stuart M. Gerson and Peter D. Keisler.
In a nutshell, they argue, “Even if there was a legal basis for appointing a special master in this case, which there is not, that appointment would be unnecessary because executive privilege will not apply to any of the seized records as against the Executive Branch.”
Trump, as we learned, never actually asserted a formal claim of executive privilege over the records, which in any case he cannot shield from part of the executive branch, the Biden Justice Department.
The former officials concluded, “To indulge former President Trump’s assertions of executive privilege through the appointment of a special master would simply put off the inevitable, and harm significant national interests in the process by delaying a criminal investigation and intelligence community assessment of damage.”
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon will hold a hearing Thursday afternoon regarding the special-master request, but the outcome should not be in doubt.
Aside from the special master issue, two questions are now front and center: Whether Trump is being singled out unfairly, as his supporters insist, and whether there are facts in this case that point to “aggravating” factors that normally would be required to bring an Espionage Act case.
“As someone who worked on the restructuring of our classification system while in the White House and who held [top secret/sensitive compartmented information] clearance myself, I can tell you that if I or anyone else had done a fraction of what Trump did here, we would have been prosecuted long ago. DOJ has shown extraordinary patience, but I think that patience is about to run out,” Norman Eisen, co-counsel on the amicus brief with Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21 and the Paul Weiss firm, tells me.
Facts tying Trump to direct knowledge of the nature of the documents (e.g., allegations he personally went through boxes, and the location of documents in his desks at Mar-a-Lago) will be critical to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s assessment.
This matches Ayer’s experience. “If I had somehow managed, when I left the DOJ as Deputy AG, to take with me a like number of highly classified documents, and had similarly resisted efforts of the government to get them back, I would certainly have been prosecuted and likely ended up in prison," he says.
Keisler doesn’t see any evidence the department is treating Trump less favorably than other defendants. “I think it’s clear the department was exceptionally deliberate and careful in the way it proceeded here, and that it took into account the special sensitivity of dealing with a former president,” he tells me. “It sought a search warrant only as a last resort — more than a year and a half after the documents were improperly taken to Mar-a-Lago — when all other, less intrusive efforts to obtain the government’s documents had been tried and were unsuccessful, and when it became clear that the department could not rely on the truthfulness of the president’s representatives’ statements.”
To seek an indictment, Garland will need to be confident he can prove every element of each of the charges under consideration. He will likely want to make certain he is within the standards previously applied in these kinds of cases.
Traditionally, however, mishandling of sensitive defense and national security materials do not result in prosecution unless there is evidence of some other complicating factor, such as obstruction of an investigation. In a sense, Trump’s claim to have declassified documents (thereby allowing him to share materials with others) suggests reckless disregard for national security.
“If the department concludes that the former president or others in his circle intentionally sought to deceive the government in order to obstruct its investigation, that would significantly elevate the seriousness of this already very serious matter,” Keisler tells me. "The department rightly regards deliberate acts of obstruction as a grave criminal offense.”
It bears repeating that many of the facts are publicly unknown at this stage. The Justice Department’s affidavit was heavily redacted, and while shedding additional light on potential obstruction charges, the brief does not disclose, for example, the number and identity of various witnesses who helped Justice put together its warrant.
That said, “To the extent this and other evidence supports an inference of purposeful conduct to avoid returning the classified documents and is admissible in court, it will weigh very heavily with DOJ in determining whether to file criminal charges against whoever it is that can be shown to have acted with that purpose and intent,” Ayer observes.
In some sense, Garland might have no choice but to indict if the evidence is there both of an Espionage Act violation and obstruction. Eisen explains that if the Justice Department’s filing is accurate, we may have “the combination of the unprecedented alleged willful mishandling of national security information and the allegations of obstruction.”
Refusing to prosecute a glaring, deliberate effort to make off with national security secrets, accompanied by misleading the government and moving around documents, as the Justice Department’s brief contends, is the sort of conduct that cannot go unpunished if we want a functional justice system and protection for our most sensitive national security secrets — whether the defendant is a retired CIA director, a former national security adviser or a former president. | 2022-09-01T14:30:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Former GOP Justice lawyers: Trump’s in a heap of trouble - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/republican-lawyers-trump-documents/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/republican-lawyers-trump-documents/ |
Experts say drug use is rarely the cause of miscarriage or still birth, but prosecution of women who test positive for drugs still happens — and could get more common in the wake of the Dobbs decision
By Cary Aspinwall
Amy Yurkanin
Ashley Traister watches her niece Rois Bradshawm, center, and her daughter Lily Rogers play in Port Ludlow, Wash., on June 28. (Meron Menghistab for The Washington Post)
The medical community calls this legal approach harmful and counterproductive. But it’s a strategy many legal experts say is likely to become more common now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, making it easier for states to pass laws that give fetuses and embryos the same rights as children or mothers.
An analysis of court records and medical-examiner data over the past 23 years found at least 20 felony cases in Alabama, 13 in South Carolina and 10 in Oklahoma, as well as nine in other states, where lawmakers or prosecutors have embraced some form of “fetal personhood” in bringing criminal charges after miscarriage or stillbirth. Many of the prosecutions resulted in lengthy prison sentences and life-altering consequences for mostly poor women who were struggling with addiction.
Meth overdoses almost tripled in the U.S. from 2015 to 2019
Seven of Oklahoma’s 10 stillbirth and miscarriage cases were filed in the last two years. In many instances, the fetuses were not developed enough to be viable outside the womb. Sentences have ranged from probation to 20 years in prison. They are among the few Americans serving time for drug consumption; most laws criminalize drug possession and sales, not use.
Even in states with the strictest abortion bans, mainstream antiabortion activists have largely discouraged criminal punishment for women, instead going after the medical providers through criminal or civil court penalties. The National Right to Life Committee says “any measure seeking to criminalize or punish women is not pro-life.”
Women prosecuted after pregnancy loss are often those least able to defend themselves, the investigation found. They are typically working low-paying jobs, are often victims of domestic abuse, have little access to health care or drug treatment, and rely on court-appointed lawyers who advise them that pleading guilty is their best option. Often, the convictions strip them of voting rights, future housing and job prospects, and remove them from the lives of their other children.
These women include Ashley Traister, sentenced to probation for child neglect after a stillbirth in Oklahoma but still facing potential prosecution on a more serious charge. And Brooke Shoemaker, an Alabama mother convicted by a jury and sentenced to 18 years in prison after she delivered a stillborn fetus at home. And Regina McKnight, who served eight years behind bars in South Carolina before the state’s Supreme Court reversed her conviction.
Legal experts say the trickle of cases could turn into a torrent because of the Supreme Court’s June ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which is expected to encourage broader efforts in some states to establish and protect legal rights for the unborn. The decision upended a key point of Roe, which treated fetuses as legally part of their mothers until they could live outside the womb.
The cases in Alabama, South Carolina and Oklahoma also foreshadow how prosecutions could play out if states move to punish women who seek an abortion, rather than going after abortion providers, experts said.
Meet 8 moms prosecuted after pregnancy loss
Brooke Shoemaker, 42, Auburn, Ala.
Jury conviction, 18 years for chemical endangerment of a child resulting in a death. Shoemaker started using meth in college and had a stillborn baby at home in 2017. A pathologist ruled cause of death “undetermined”; the elected county coroner cited chemical endangerment and methamphetamine toxicity.
Elizabeth Thompson, 42, Chapin, S.C.
Sentenced to 8 years for unlawful neglect of a child; paroled after 17 months. When Thompson gave birth to a stillborn baby in 2016, her blood tested positive for meth. In prison after pleading guilty, she got training and now works as a professional peer support worker: “I’m using that experience as best I can to put good out into this world and help other people.”
Kathryn Green, 31, Enid, Okla.
Awaiting sentencing on five charges including child neglect and unlawful removal of a dead body. Green was arrested in 2017 after police found a stillborn fetus, which tested positive for meth, in a dumpster. After waiting more than five years for her case to go to trial, Green entered a plea in which she didn’t admit guilt but acknowledged prosecutors had enough evidence for a conviction.
Adora Perez, 34, Hanford, Calif.
Released after four years in prison for manslaughter. Perez pleaded no contest in 2018 and was sentenced to 11 years. After national headlines about a similar case, a judge vacated her plea and dismissed a murder charge. The state attorney general said such charges aren’t permissible under California’s fetal homicide law.
Emily Akers, 25, Lawton, Okla.
Pleaded guilty on Aug. 31 to felony child neglect, sentenced to 10 years but will get probation if she completes drug treatment. An off-duty detective working as a hospital security guard reported Akers to police after hearing that a woman high on meth delivered a stillborn baby.
Cherie Mason, 44, Sulphur, Okla.
Serving 12 years for manslaughter. Mason delivered a 36-week stillborn fetus and tested positive for meth. When she posted a photo of her daughter’s grave on Facebook, strangers wrote hate-filled comments, a reaction that influenced her to plead guilty rather than risk a trial on a murder charge.
Brittney Poolaw, 22, Lawton, Okla.
Serving four years for first-degree manslaughter. Poolaw was 19 when she had a miscarriage in 2020. A medical examiner testified that he couldn’t be sure drugs had caused the miscarriage, but a jury found her guilty. Lawyers said she declined to appeal for fear of getting a longer sentence.
Ashley Traister, 34, Lawton, Okla.
On probation for felony child neglect. Traister still faces a potential manslaughter charge in the death of her stillborn son. His remains are buried in Oklahoma, but there’s no marker on his grave. “I didn’t have the money,” said Traister, who was once homeless but now lives with relatives and works at a hotel laundry.
“When the state and the courts begin to determine what you can and cannot do and you have state-control of the prenatal conduct of pregnant persons, you are opening the door for all kinds of potential criminal charges,” said Civia Tamarkin, president of the National Council of Jewish Women Arizona, which joined other groups to block a state law giving full rights to fetuses too young to survive outside the womb.
Traister met her husband when he managed the apartment complex in Colorado Springs where she lived right after high school. He was 24 years her senior; she says she didn’t know he had an extensive record of arrests that included domestic violence. After they moved with their toddler daughter to Lawton, Okla., he began gambling away their rent money and getting arrested for small crimes, court records show.
A false positive on a drug test upended these mother's lives
About halfway into the pregnancy, the bleeding started — and wouldn’t stop. Traister’s tiny stillborn son was delivered at the local medical center.
A state autopsy determined the cause of the stillbirth was accidental, saying meth was not the cause but “likely contributed to the death.” Citing the autopsy, police arrested Traister on charges of manslaughter and child neglect six months after she lost her son.
Each year in the United States there are nearly 5 million pregnancies. About 1 million end in miscarriage and 24,000 in stillbirth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Harvey Kliman, a doctor and research scientist at the Yale School of Medicine, studies the placentas from both live births and stillbirths to understand why. In 90 percent of cases, he said, the cause of pregnancy loss is “intrinsic genetic abnormalities.”
Methamphetamine primarily affects the user’s brain and not the placenta, Kliman said, adding that there is “no biological reason that methamphetamine should cause a pregnancy loss.”
Doctors strongly discourage illicit drug use by pregnant people. But there are other risk factors, including smoking, diabetes or poor prenatal care.
For the babies of the opioid crisis, the best care may be mom's recovery
“We know that actually, these types of punitive measures don’t improve outcomes,” she said in an interview. “So they don’t make people less likely to use substances.”
South Carolina was the first state to prosecute drug use by a woman who had a stillbirth, said Michele Goodwin, a law professor at the University of California at Irvine and author of “Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood.”
Mapping abortion-law changes state-by-state
Goodwin said she sees racial disparities in prosecutions of women like McKnight, who is Black. “If you were wealthy and White and educated and you were abusing cocktails of prescriptions, you were not being punished,” she said. “But if you had a low birth weight baby or a pregnancy loss and were a person of color, they would try to put you in prison.”
But that changed in the last decade. Prosecutors in Alabama started to use a statute designed to protect children from exposure to chemicals in home meth labs to prosecute women whose drug use exposed their fetuses in the womb. While lawmakers carved out an exemption for exposure to prescription drugs in 2016, Alabama continues to file charges in cases involving illegal drugs.
Some prosecutors bringing these cases say they’re doing it to force women into drug treatment, or to deter pregnant women from using drugs.
In 2015, Oklahoma lawmakers passed a bill called “Ashlen’s law” to ensure grieving parents of a stillborn baby could get a death certificate if the fetus was 12 weeks or older. (Federal policy and many states don’t consider a fetus stillborn unless it is at least 20 weeks along). The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Sean Roberts (R), said he didn’t intend the law to aid criminal prosecutions or to establish fetal personhood. But that is what happened.
With Roe overturned, legal fights loom over abortion pills, out-of-state travel
The Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner’s Office began autopsying cases of fetal death that it had rarely looked at before, including fetuses that weighed less than 2 ounces. About 30 percent of the 300 stillborn autopsies involved meth, data shows, which led to the state’s 10 prosecutions.
In an emailed statement, Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner Eric Pfeifer said his office makes decisions about cause of death “independent of influence from law enforcement.” He said his office in most cases does not conduct genetic testing, which is expensive but could reveal other causes for pregnancy loss.
She had flown there from Washington state, where she moved after her arrest to get clean and be closer to her family. She lives in a house next door to her sister’s, caring for their elderly grandfather, and works in the laundry room of a picturesque inn facing the Puget Sound. She is filing for divorce from the man who abused her and trying to regain custody of her daughter, who lives with Traister’s sister.
At the courthouse, she had her duffle bag packed, in case the judge shipped her off to prison.
Court filings show District Attorney Kyle Cabelka is seeking to prove that he has probable cause to reinstate the manslaughter charge against Traister.
The Washington Post is publishing this article in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system, AL.com and The Frontier. Sign up for The Marshall Project’s newsletters, and follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Aspinwall reported for the Marshall Project, Bailey for the Frontier, Yurkinan for AL.com. Data analysis by Andrew Rodriguez Calderón of the Marshall Project. | 2022-09-01T15:00:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | These women were prosecuted for drugs after miscarriages, still births - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/prosecutions-drugs-miscarriages-meth-stillbirths/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/prosecutions-drugs-miscarriages-meth-stillbirths/ |
Playing competitive sports doesn’t have to mean travel
A Massachusetts dad transformed an in-town youth soccer league over the past 10 years.
Fifth- and sixth-grade girls compete in City League soccer in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cambridge Youth Soccer requires travel players also to play on an in-town team. (Jason Targoff)
That’s what Jason Targoff, an engineer in Cambridge, Massachusetts, thought 10 years ago when his son, Lou, was 8 years old. “My wife and I definitely didn’t want to do travel.”
Targoff stepped in and ran Lou’s in-town third- and fourth-grade soccer league instead. Not sure exactly what to do, Targoff started the season with a round-robin tournament in which the teams were named after soccer countries such as Italy and Cameroon.
“The kids loved it. So we kept the same teams for the whole year.”
Targoff and the folks at Cambridge Youth Soccer (CYS) made some improvements for the next season. They bought better shirts for the in-town teams and changed the language on the league website so that it didn’t seem that all the good players played for the town’s travel teams.
After Targoff became president of CYS eight years ago, “the growth in excitement about in-town play” started to build. The number of in-town players has almost tripled to more than 1,500 kids.
In addition, more and different types of kids are able to play because it is easier for them to get to the practices and games. Because the practices and games are all on Cambridge fields, Targoff said, “some kids [can] walk or take their bike.” And the in-town league is much less expensive than travel and club teams.
The in-town teams play seven-on-seven games on smaller fields. It allows all the players to get more “touches” of the ball. That’s because Targoff thinks kids “learn to play by playing.”
Targoff says there’s nothing wrong with travel teams, but they “just don’t have to start at such early ages.”
Still, the CYS is a wonderful example of the benefits of in-town play. More kids having more fun playing with and against kids in their own community. It is, as Targoff says, “what youth sports should be.”
Bowen will be appearing at the National Book Festival at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. with illustrator James Ransome. | 2022-09-01T15:44:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Playing competitive sports doesn’t have to mean travel - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/09/01/competitive-sports-need-not-be-travel/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/09/01/competitive-sports-need-not-be-travel/ |
Stewart Rhodes, founder of the self-described citizen militia group Oath Keepers, center, speaks during a rally in 2017. (Susan Walsh/AP)
An attorney for the Oath Keepers who was with the group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was arrested Thursday in Texas on charges related to the attack on Congress, federal prosecutors announced.
Kellye SoRelle, 43, was arrested in Junction, Tex., and is scheduled to make an initial appearance Thursday afternoon before a federal judge in Austin, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for Washington. SoRelle was charged in an indictment returned Wednesday on four counts — conspiracy, obstruction of a federal proceeding, tampering with documents and misdemeanor trespassing in a restricted building or grounds — prosecutors said.
A bare-bones, three-page indictment alleges SoRelle in December 2020 and January 2021 “did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with other persons known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to corruptly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding, that is, Congress’s certification of the Electoral College vote.” | 2022-09-01T15:52:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Kellye SoRelle, Oath Keepers attorney, arrested in Jan. 6 Capitol breach - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/oathkeepers-attorney-sorelle-arrested-jan6/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/oathkeepers-attorney-sorelle-arrested-jan6/ |
Justice Dept., Trump lawyers to face off in court over special master appointment
The judge, who said she was inclined to appoint the special master, will hear arguments Sept. 1 in West Palm Beach
The Paul S. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach. (Jim Rassol/AP)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Lawyers for the Justice Department and former President Donald Trump are slated to appear in federal court here Thursday afternoon, arguing over whether a judge should appoint a special master to review materials the FBI seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and club last month.
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon signaled over the weekend that she was inclined to appoint the special master, but instructed the government to present its case against naming one in a filing ahead of the hearing.
In a blistering response to the Trump request late Tuesday, the Justice Department said a special master is unnecessary, and the unprecedented FBI search of a former president’s home was justified. The filing alleged that Trump and his advisers repeatedly failed to turn over highly classified government documents even after receiving a subpoena and pledging that a “diligent search” had been conducted, leading to the Aug. 8 raid that found more than 100 additional classified items.
Trump’s team has accused the Justice Department of acting politically in its investigation into the former president’s possible mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House. Their legal filings argue that the government seized documents it has no right to and that a neutral outside expert could sift through the material and set aside any that should be shielded from government review because of privilege.
“Three weeks after an unprecedented, unnecessary, and legally unsupported raid on the home of a President — and possibly a candidate against the current chief executive in 2024,” Trump’s legal team wrote in a filing Wednesday night, “the Government ... has filed an extraordinary document with this Court, suggesting that the DOJ, and the DOJ alone, should be entrusted with the responsibility of evaluating its unjustified pursuit of criminalizing a former President’s possession of personal and Presidential records in a secure setting.”
After hearing arguments on Thursday afternoon, Cannon could issue a ruling from the bench. She also could rule later, in writing.
The Justice Department has told Cannon its “filter team” review of potentially privileged documents is already complete.
Justice Dept. filing points to legal peril for Trump, Bobb and Corcoran, experts say
Chris Kise, the newest addition to Trump’s legal team and a former Florida solicitor general, could join other attorneys in the courtroom on behalf of the former president, though his name was not on their filing from late Wednesday.
Kise signed a multimillion-dollar contract to join Trump’s team, according to people familiar with the hire, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive aspects of Trump’s legal case.
The people said Kise, who left the law firm Foley and Lardner to take the job with Trump, was given assurances that he would be taking a “lead” role in the case.
Josh Dawsey contributed to this report. | 2022-09-01T15:52:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Trump request for Mar-a-Lago special master to be heard by Cannon at 1 p.m. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/trump-documents-special-master-hearing/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/trump-documents-special-master-hearing/ |
Why Trump and allies dismissing the Mar-a-Lago documents photo as ‘staged’ falls flat
Pages from a Department of Justice court filing in response to a request from the legal team of former president Donald Trump for a special master to review the documents seized during the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago. (Jon Elswick/AP)
Watching supporters of former president Donald Trump respond to new revelations is like watching a newborn giraffe. You can see the slow effort to get on its feet, the awkward, difficult task of figuring out where to place the feet for stability. Finally, they’re up, knock-kneed and unsteady. More often than not, there’s a stumble. But eventually, in relatively little time, there are tentative steps forward and then bolder ones. A counternarrative has been reached, and the little guy is off and running.
The long-necked critter that went galumphing past your window on Wednesday was the latest iteration of this process, as the former president’s allies settled onto a response to the release of a photograph showing classified documents recovered in the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. That response? The photo was “staged.”
On the off chance that you have not yet seen the photo, it’s this one.
That photo was not something obtained by news outlets or leaked to a reporter. It was included as an attachment in a court filing submitted by the Justice Department on Tuesday night. Labeled “Attachment F,” it was cited in the filing as government lawyers explained how the FBI had recovered material (including from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago office) that should have been turned over in response to a subpoena in May.
The filing reads:
"Certain of the documents had colored cover sheets indicating their classification status. See, e.g., Attachment F (redacted FBI photograph of certain documents and classified cover sheets recovered from a container in the ’45 office')."
In other words, the photo demonstrated the point that the Justice Department attorneys hoped to make. It is heavily redacted, with white boxes obscuring the contents of many of the displayed pages. What’s still visible are mostly classification codes, both the colored cover sheets and, in text at the top of several pages, codes specific to individual documents.
Trump himself took some of the first awkward steps in response to the photo’s release.
“Terrible the way the FBI, during the Raid of Mar-a-Lago, threw documents haphazardly all over the floor (perhaps pretending it was me that did it!),” he wrote in a post on his social media site, “and then started taking pictures of them for the public to see.”
He later added to this idea.
The FBI “took them out of cartons and spread them around on the carpet, making it look like a big ‘find’ for them,” he asserted. “They dropped them, not me - Very deceiving.”
In a characteristically sympathetic appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, Trump’s attorney Alina Habba argued the same case.
“They give you this appearance that you walk in and there are these top-secret documents just strewn about,” she claimed. Habba later added that the FBI “literally must have gone in and taken out documents they wanted or cover letters as it is, and put it about so that the public believes that these are top-secret documents that the were on his floor. It’s ridiculous.”
The giraffe was up and moving. The narrative: The photo was staged to make Trump look bad.
It is certainly the case that the Justice Department included the photograph to influence opinion: the judge evaluating whether a third party should be appointed to review the seized material. It is not a stretch to think that the department also understood that producing the photo would influence the public’s understanding of what it had found during the search. And it is also true that some observers seemed to think that the photograph showed the scene FBI investigators had encountered.
There were clues in the photo that this wasn’t the case. While the documents might have appeared to be haphazardly scattered at first glance, even a slightly more intentional look reveals that they were instead aligned in order to be photographed. The FBI included a photo scale — the object at lower center that looks like a white bracket — to provide evidentiary context for what was shown. The material was identified with a folding placard (the card that reads “2A”), corresponding to the list of seized property it provided to Trump’s attorneys on the day of the search.
In other words, the photo was pretty obviously “staged” — and pretty obviously set up to document the evidence that had been recovered. A person familiar with the investigation confirmed to The Washington Post that arranging seized evidence for a photo is standard FBI practice in searches and investigations. FBI officials offered the New York Times a similar confirmation. The bureau is used to having its evidence challenged in court and therefore understandably goes to great lengths to document what it finds. In this case, that meant removing the material from the container in which it was found.
What’s remarkable about Trump’s response here is that it sacrifices his legal case for his political one.
Accusing the FBI of taking the classified material it found and arranging it to make Trump look bad is an accusation aimed at reinforcing the idea that federal investigators are out to get the former president. It’s an effort to bolster the sense among Trump supporters that the whole thing is a setup. But in apparently confirming that there was material marked as classified present at Mar-a-Lago, Trump is making the government’s legal case easier.
After all, the Justice Department appears to be considering an obstruction case related to the seizure, one that derives in part from the Trump team’s sworn assertion that it turned over all material with classification markings in June. The photo — and Trump’s tweet — make pretty obvious that it hadn’t.
This is a frustration that has obviously haunted Trump’s attorneys for years. Donald Trump is very good at prosecuting a political case, at reinforcing a view of events that casts him in a favorable light for his supporters. But he’s far less adept at protecting himself legally.
To extend our initial analogy, imagine zookeepers — the attorneys — sitting just outside the giraffe enclosure, frantically waving the galloping calf away from a precipitous drop-off. But the giraffe, suddenly finding its feet, is having too much fun to watch where it’s going. | 2022-09-01T15:53:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why Trump and allies dismissing the Mar-a-Lago documents photo as ‘staged’ falls flat - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/01/trump-classified-documents-fbi-search/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/01/trump-classified-documents-fbi-search/ |
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 14: A couple exchanges rings as they participate in a group Valentine’s day wedding ceremony at the National Croquet Center on February 14, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Approximately 40 couples were married in a ceremony put on by the Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller’s office. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America)
The federal government’s decision to forgive $10,000 of student loan debt is good news not only for millions of borrowers, but also for their partners. While student loans taken out before marriage are generally considered separate debt (as long as no one co-signed), couples often deal with each other’s financial baggage in some way or another.
Still, today’s typical undergraduates with loans have close to $25,000 in debt upon graduation, according to a Department of Education analysis. That means there will be plenty of student borrowers whose debt remains.
A month after I got married in 2018 a personal finance article sparked widespread debate. The gist was a man had helped his new wife pay off an undisclosed amount of “large debts” – including student loans – within two years of saying “I do.” With the debt resolved, the wife sought a divorce. Hot takes flooded social media and I lobbed my opinion: Don’t pay off any debts for your partner until you’re married, and be sure to get a prenup.
It’s a belief I still hold today.
In 2019, 12% of millennials were unmarried and cohabiting, while 44% were married, according to the Pew Research Center. No matter the depth of commitment, unmarried couples – even those cohabitating – should not directly pay off a partner’s debts, unless they are the cause of the debt.
This by no means implies that an unmarried couple is in a less committed relationship, since there are ample financial reasons why people would want to avoid a marriage license, including the impact on student loan payments. Getting married and filing a joint tax return can significantly affect borrowers on income-driven repayment plans because their spouse’s income will be included in the calculation for how much they owe.
The reason for not paying off a partner’s debt is purely practical. It’s harder to recoup losses in a breakup compared with how assets and debts are split in a divorce. The money you gave your partner to pay off debts will usually be considered a gift. Outside of taking them to small claims court, where you might lose, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be paid back. There are other ways for those with more means to be supportive, though, like covering more household expenses so partners with debt can actually increase the amount they put toward repaying loans.
Paying off debt in a marriage, however, should be a joint venture. You’re a team now and your partner’s financial situation does directly affect you. This doesn’t mean that married couples become an amorphous financial blob. In fact, I advocate for the “yours, mine, and ours” style of banking in which each person has an individual checking account and a monthly stipend to spend however they see fit. But, if you’re looking down the barrel of forever together, well, it makes sense to tag-team your debts. This is especially true if one partner makes significantly more or is entirely debt-free.
Of course, there is nuance here depending on the type of debt. Student loans that are eligible to be discharged through a forgiveness program like Public Service Loan Forgiveness needn’t be aggressively paid off. A low-interest-rate mortgage is usually a debt not worth attacking ferociously when you could be investing the difference.
Back in 2018, the viral article hit a nerve because I, too, had married someone with student loan debt, and I was the breadwinner in the relationship. We were on course to pay off more than $50,000 before our two-year anniversary. We made aggressive repayment a priority and funneled most extra money earned from side hustles toward getting free of debt. If my husband had come to me with divorce papers right afterward, well, I would have been just like the jilted husband in the article. The difference: We had a prenup.
Prenups still contend with a frustratingly negative reputation when in fact they’re simply marriage insurance. An insurance policy for something you hope doesn’t happen and for which you pay the premium upfront instead of in monthly installments. Then, if divorce does happen, you have already drastically reduced the financial fallout. A prenup doesn’t mean you assume you’ll get divorced, just like auto insurance doesn’t mean you assume you’ll get into a wreck. It’s a practical step to take, especially when, as my attorney said to me, “Everyone has a prenup. It’s just the default laws of your state.”
In the US, each state has its own laws about how to handle assets and debts during the dissolution of a marriage. Without a prenup, you’re simply agreeing to abide by your state’s laws, or ultimately by a judge’s ruling.
A prenup agreement shouldn’t heavily favor one party either. Instead, it should create a fair and balanced distribution of your assets and debts based on what makes sense in the ecosystem of your relationship. Prenups can also account for what ultimately is a vesting schedule on debt repayments. The jilted husband could have paid off his wife’s debts and then prorated how much she would have owed him back each year if the marriage ended quickly.
Romantic? No, it’s not. Practical? Yup. Because much of Western culture is now based on marrying for love, no one really likes to discuss the fact that it’s still a contract and likely the largest financial decision most people will make. You shouldn’t sign any business contract without feeling the terms are fair and equitable, and the same goes for your marriage. And if you’re already married and didn’t do it, don’t despair. There’s always a postnup. | 2022-09-01T16:01:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Don’t Pay Your Spouse’s Student Loan Without a Prenup - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/dont-pay-your-spouses-student-loan-without-a-prenup/2022/09/01/61e696f0-2a03-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/dont-pay-your-spouses-student-loan-without-a-prenup/2022/09/01/61e696f0-2a03-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
Abiy set about consolidating power under his newly formed Prosperity Party after taking office. This meant confronting the TPLF, which had dominated the country’s ruling coalition since a Marxist regime was overthrown in 1991 and continued to govern Tigray. The TPLF refused to fall into line. Its leaders ignored a government directive to postpone legislative elections in Tigray because of the pandemic, and the federal parliament retaliated by halting direct budget support to the region. Abiy ordered a military incursion into Tigray in November 2020. After several setbacks, the government eventually gained the upper hand in the war and the rebels withdrew to within Tigray’s borders in December 2021. The government continued to stage air strikes on Tigray and fighting continued in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions before the truce was declared. In September, the TPLF accused federal forces and allied troops from neighboring Eritrea of starting a new offensive in four areas in northern Tigray, raising fears of a resumption of all-out war. | 2022-09-01T16:01:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why the Truce in Ethiopia’s Civil War is at Risk of Unraveling - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/why-the-truce-in-ethiopias-civil-war-is-at-risk-of-unraveling/2022/09/01/5951b93e-2a03-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/why-the-truce-in-ethiopias-civil-war-is-at-risk-of-unraveling/2022/09/01/5951b93e-2a03-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
The season has been near record-slow thus far, and some forecasters are dialing back their predictions.
Sea surface temperature anomalies in the Atlantic. (Tropical Tidbits) (Tropical Tidbits)
In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an outlook calling for the seventh above-average Atlantic hurricane season in a row. Like many experts, NOAA argued that an “ongoing La Niña,” combined with “above-average Atlantic temperatures [would] set the stage for busy season ahead.”
The predictions called for up to 20 named storms, including seven hurricanes — forecasts they, and many large forecasting groups, doubled down on in an updated outlook released in August.
Since then, a total of zero hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic.
For the first time since 1997, August has passed without a single named Atlantic storm. In fact, through Wednesday, the basin was silent since the demise of short-lived Colin on July 3. It’s the first time since 1941 there were no named storms between July 3 and Aug. 3.
NOAA wasn’t alone in its predictions. Far and wide, experts agreed. At Colorado State University, hurricane researchers called for a nearly 50 percent chance that a major hurricane would strike the U.S. coastline (which could still happen). As recently as Aug. 21, AccuWeather published an article reading “the forecast for the number of hurricanes remains unchanged,” still calling for six to eight hurricanes and up to five major hurricanes.
While it’s unclear what the rest of the season will hold, it’s obvious that initial predictions aren’t exactly panning out. Some forecasters are defiantly remaining onboard what some consider a sinking ship; others are shifting their forecasts, or admitting defeat. And experts underline that even one significant storm could have devastating consequences.
“It is fairly apparent that the Atlantic Tropical activity will clock in below average … the question now is by how much,” tweeted Mike Chesterfield, director of weather presentation at The Weather Channel. “What a bust of a forecast.....”
“We’re really facing a 2013-level seasonal hurricane forecast bust for the 2022 Atlantic,” echoed Sam Lillo, an atmospheric scientist at DTN Weather.
And while there are three systems to watch in the Atlantic, including newly-named Tropical Storm Danielle, many are still wondering what’s behind the dearth of activity.
Fortunately, experts have some insight.
Why is the Atlantic so quiet?
Heading into the summer, many meteorologists pointed to an ongoing La Niña — a chain-reaction atmospheric process that begins with cooler waters in the eastern tropical Pacific — as an expected driver of above-average Atlantic activity. The cooler Pacific fosters subsidence, or sinking air, there, which makes it easier for air over the Atlantic to rise and form storms. La Niña also weakens disruptive high-altitude winds over the Atlantic, creating a friendlier environment for tropical development.
But something was missing: moisture at the mid-levels. Dry air 10,000 to 20,000 feet above the ground shredded any thunderstorm clusters that did crop up.
What has been keeping August so quiet in the tropical Atlantic? hmmm... pic.twitter.com/6dqKLO3BVa
“The missing ingredient that kept tropical waves from developing as they normally do in August was unusually dry air in the mid-levels of the atmosphere … just north of the central and eastern sections of the Atlantic’s Main Development Region,” wrote Ryan Truchelut, an atmospheric scientist and creator of consulting firm WeatherTiger, in an email. “Mid-latitude and subtropical air masses with very low moisture content aloft repeatedly dove south and were entrained into [tropical] waves, choking off the [thunderstorm] building blocks of tropical cyclone development, despite generally favorable shear and ocean temperatures.”
Philip Klotzbach, lead hurricane researcher at Colorado State University, explained that “frequent incursions” of dry air have been resulting from a feature known as a TUTT, or a tropical upper-tropospheric trough. That’s a broad regime of lower air pressure, cooler/drier air and spin in the upper troposphere.
“The TUTT is typically associated with increased westerly shear as well as dry air being brought southward from the mid-latitudes,” he explained.
He ascribed the doldrums of July and early August to something else though — wind shear, or a change of wind speed and/or direction with height. A surplus of shear is usually detrimental for tropical systems, since it knocks them off-kilter before they can vertically develop.
What was missed?
The atmosphere is like a symphony orchestra, with overtones, undertones, harmony and dissonance — all of which combine into a final product that we experience as the weather. But much like that symphony, individual instruments play a role. Even if 95 percent of the instruments are playing at the correct pitch and volume, an aggressive and imaginative tuba player can ruin the performance. This season has had its fair share of tubas.
Klotzback cited the TUTT as one of the main wild cards in a less-than-perfect forecast. He explained in his email to The Post that the signal preceding the formation of a TUTT is usually found at the mid-latitudes, “and there’s just not that much predictability there.”
“We’ll have to do more research into potential predictability of the TUTT,” he wrote.
It’s also possible that the “triple dip La Niña” ongoing currently threw off weather models. That means we’re on the third consecutive year with a pulse of La Niña; that’s only happened in two other stretches since 1950. Since there’s not much precedent, it’s possible there’s something forecasters may be missing. We just don’t know what.
What’s in store for the rest of the season?
While it’s certainly looking like early-season predictions won’t pan out entirely, some are reluctant to put the nail in the coffin yet — and for good reason.
“I hesitate at this point to say that the seasonal forecast is going to be a complete bust,” wrote Klotzbach. “Now if we’re sitting at 6 named storms, 2 hurricanes and 0 major hurricanes at the end of September, we’d be talking massive bust potential. But it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility to get 6-8 hurricanes from this point onward in the season.”
He pointed to the “oddball” season of 2001, during which no hurricanes formed until Sept. 9, followed by a flurry of 9 of them — two more than average.
There are three systems to watch in the Atlantic. One near the Lesser Antilles has been on the verge of development for days, though dry air feeding into it has been holding it back. That said, models are split on just how intense it will get. Odds are it will become a named tropical storm or even hurricane north of the Leeward Islands in the coming days before recurving out to sea this weekend.
“Odds of a near-normal season (75-125 ACE) have nearly tripled to 55% as the chances of a hyperactive year have shrunk from 45% to less than 5% over that time,” wrote Truchelet in an email. “It is fairly safe to say at this point that deterministic calls for hyperactivity (165+ ACE) are likely to bust.”
Systems to watch now
At present, there are three systems to watch in the Atlantic. One near the Lesser Antilles has been on the verge of development for days, though dry air feeding into it has been holding it back. That said, models are split on just how intense it will get. Odds are it will become a named tropical storm or even hurricane north of the Leeward Islands in the coming days before recurving out to sea this weekend.
There’s also a system with moderate odds of development in the vicinity of Cabo Verde in the far eastern Atlantic, but that too should remain over the open ocean.
Perhaps the most interesting disturbance at this point is a swirl of thunderstorms wrapped up within a broader low pressure system over the north central Atlantic. It was named Tropical Storm Danielle on Thursday morning, ending the drought in named storms, and is forecast to become a hurricane in the days ahead over the open Atlantic. It is not a threat to land.
#Danielle has formed west of the Azores - the 4th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic #hurricane season. The most recent Atlantic season with <=4 named storms by September 1st was 2014. 2014 had 3 named storms by this date. pic.twitter.com/XfReWNpdli
For now it’s important to remember that, regardless of how a season stacks up as a whole, it only takes one storm to turn a quiet season into a devastating one. In 1992, the first storm didn’t form until late August, and the overall season only featured seven storms. But the first of them was Andrew, the Category 5 that ravaged South Florida.
It’s too early to let one’s guard down. | 2022-09-01T16:01:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Did forecasts of an extra-busy hurricane season turned out dead wrong? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/01/atlantic-hurricane-season-forecasts-danielle/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/01/atlantic-hurricane-season-forecasts-danielle/ |
The new comprehensive analysis pegs the social cost of carbon at $185 a ton — more than triple the current federal standard
The economic toll of deadly heat waves, crop-killing droughts and rising seas that each additional ton of carbon dioxide levies on society is much higher than the U.S. government tallies when considering new regulations, according to a new analysis published Thursday.
A sobering paper in the journal Nature on the damage caused by climate change brings into relief the threat that higher temperatures pose on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people at home and overseas.
The research team’s key finding: Each additional ton of carbon dioxide that cars, power plants and other sources add to the atmosphere costs society $185 — more than triple the federal government’s current figure.
The new study calculating climate change’s economic toll — known as the “social cost of carbon” — could renew pressure on President Biden to hike the federal government’s own estimate, a crucial number used by officials when assessing the potential costs and benefits of government regulations.
“The bottom line is that our results show that when you fully update the social cost of carbon methodology to the state of the science, it suggests that the existing estimates that are in use by the federal government are vastly underestimating the harm,” said Kevin Rennert, a research fellow at the think tank Resources for the Future and a co-author of the paper.
Here’s more about what it all means:
The social what of what?
With wildfires burning more ferociously, droughts lasting longer and hurricanes becoming more intense, scientists agree the monetary toll of climate change will be enormous. The social cost of carbon is an attempt to put a dollar figure on that destruction.
The idea for the metric came to fruition during President Barack Obama’s administration, which at one point settled on a cost of roughly $51 a ton when adjusted for inflation. With nations releasing billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air every year, the toll adds up pretty quickly.
But many experts thought the Obama-era figure may be lowballing the actual costs. In early 2017, the National Academy of Sciences recommended a major update to the metric to make the calculation more transparent and scientifically sound.
Donald Trump became president a week after the release of the NAS report, and his administration wasted little time in disbanding the interagency working group on the carbon price. By excluding damages of climate change abroad, the Trump team slashed the estimated cost of each ton of carbon pollution to between $1 and $7 per ton.
After Joe Biden took office, the White House reestablished the working group and told federal agencies to return to using the Obama-era price of $51 per ton — at least temporarily, promising to update the cost. In May, the Supreme Court allowed Biden’s deputies to continue using that higher interim estimate.
What are some of the big costs of climate change?
Temperature-related mortality extracts a particularly high cost, according to the research group led by experts at the Resources for the Future and the University of California at Berkeley.
In the United States, extreme heat is the most fatal form of weather disaster, with hundreds of Americans losing their lives last summer. Any additional hospitalization or death as temperatures rise is, of course, a tragedy — but it’s also one to which economists are able to assign a dollar value.
Another major concern is crop failure. Altered yields of rice, soy, maize and wheat as weather patterns shift could upend global trade and have a far worse economic impact than previously thought, according to the team.
In Thursday’s analysis, researchers also lowered the “discount rate” — a method of measuring future costs and benefits — on the dangers of sea-level rise and other effects of climate change. A lower discount rate implies a higher cost to inaction.
Whatever number policymakers use, the idea is to provide them a metric by which to tally the ongoing costs and benefits of a regulation or infrastructure project years or decades into the future. Ideally, the calculations offer a worthwhile road map of whether implementing certain policies will pay off down the road.
To make the dizzying set of calculations behind Thursday’s paper, the researchers gathered specialists — including climate scientists, economists and statisticians — from a dozen institutions to assess the latest science.
“When we started this project, we knew that we would only succeed by assembling a team of leading researchers in each discipline to contribute their expertise,” said David Anthoff, an environmental economist at UC-Berkeley and another study co-author.
The team emphasized there is still a wide range of uncertainty in their estimate. And there are plenty of negative impacts they did not assess, including the potential decline of ecosystems, loss of labor productivity and outbreak of war.
Is the social cost of carbon controversial?
For well over a decade, many elected officials and academics have debated how to properly quantify the economic costs of greenhouse gas emissions — and how much the government should rely on such estimates.
On one end of the spectrum are folks who reject the utility of such an approach altogether. When President Biden boosted the figure to $51, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) called the move “a backdoor carbon tax.”
“Since the president can’t rationalize the crippling costs of his climate policies,” Barrasso said in a statement, “he needs to exaggerate the benefits.”
This summer, a group of conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill introduced a bill that would prohibit the federal government from using the social cost of carbon in the rulemaking process.
Nick Loris, vice president of public policy at the Conservative Coalition for Climate Solutions, or C3 Solutions, has raised a more nuanced set of concerns.
“I do believe there’s a social cost of carbon and that increased carbon in the atmosphere increases costs to the economy and our ecology and the planet, and those damages will likely get worse in the future if we don’t mitigate emissions,” Loris said. He also said the team behind Thursday’s paper is rigorous and credible.
But the problem, he said, is that even peer-reviewed academic literature contains a range of different estimates for the true costs, depending on assumptions and methodologies and the possibilities of wild swings in policy between administration risks creating uncertainty among regulated industries.
It’s important to analyze the potential future economic damages posed by a warming planet and a worthwhile data point for policymakers and regulators, Loris said. But, he added, “it can’t be relied on as the singular number to justify a regulation or policy action.”
Why is the social cost of carbon important?
The value is an essential input in a lot of federal policymaking — whether to drill for oil, to boost the energy efficiency of appliances, to allow a power plant to continue burning coal. Setting the cost of carbon high would encourage clean energy projects, deter new coal leasing on federal acreage and influence the type of steel used in taxpayer-funded infrastructure.
“Getting the number right is critical,” Tamma Carleton said in an email. Carleton is an assistant professor of economics at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“A value that is too low means that we face excessive climate change risks, but a value that is too high imposes unwarranted emissions mitigation costs on the economy.”
She said Thursday’s paper includes the most up-to-date science and “marks a substantial improvement” upon estimates previously developed by the U.S. government.
The Biden administration “remains committed to accounting for the costs of greenhouse gas emissions as accurately as possible,” said a spokeswoman for the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. But the office did not say when it would make an update to the figure.
Even as the Trump administration was drastically reducing the social cost of carbon, Democratic-leaning states have pressed ahead with their own policies.
In late 2020, for instance, New York adopted a “value of carbon guidance” ranging between $79 and $125 that it will apply to policies and programs going forward. And other states such as Illinois, Colorado, Washington and Minnesota use the metric for various types of policy analysis or implementation, including in the electricity sector.
The city of Minneapolis also voted to impose a $42 per ton estimate for the costs of climate change several years back, though as Mayor Jacob Frey told The Washington Post in an interview last year, “Carbon does not respect borders.”
The emissions that come from Phoenix or Baltimore or Texas, he said, impact life in Minneapolis and other places. That is why a federal standard that factors in the true costs of climate change is essential, he said.
“It really should be baked into every decision.” | 2022-09-01T16:01:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Costs of climate change far surpass government estimates, study says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/01/costs-climate-change-far-surpass-government-estimates-study-says/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/01/costs-climate-change-far-surpass-government-estimates-study-says/ |
Cate Blanchett and director Todd Field pose for photographers at the photo call for the film ‘Tar’ during the 79th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. (Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
VENICE, Italy — Todd Field didn’t write “TÁR” with Cate Blanchett in mind. He wrote it for Cate Blanchett only. If she didn’t want to do it, it wouldn’t exist. | 2022-09-01T16:02:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | For Cate Blanchett, Todd Field's ‘TÁR’ was 'undeniable' - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/for-cate-blanchett-todd-fields-tar-was-undeniable/2022/09/01/274c8ee4-2a0a-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/for-cate-blanchett-todd-fields-tar-was-undeniable/2022/09/01/274c8ee4-2a0a-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu poses for photographers at the photo call of the film ‘Bardo’ during the 79th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. (Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
VENICE, Italy — Alejandro G. Iñárritu left Mexico with his family on Sept. 1, 2001. They’d decided to move to Los Angeles for one year. But one turned into 21. In Los Angeles, Iñárritu’s filmmaking career flourished: He won five Oscars, two for directing and one for best picture, and worked with many of the top movie stars. But he longed for Mexico. | 2022-09-01T16:02:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | With ‘Bardo,’ Alejandro G. Iñárritu returns to Mexico - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/with-bardo-alejandro-g-inarritu-returns-to-mexico/2022/09/01/0032e606-2a0e-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/with-bardo-alejandro-g-inarritu-returns-to-mexico/2022/09/01/0032e606-2a0e-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
On Labor Day, Democrats and unions should recall their shared history
Michelle Eisen, a barista at a Starbucks location in Buffalo, helps out the local Starbucks Workers United as they gather at a local union hall to cast votes to unionize or not, on Feb. 16 in Mesa, Ariz. (Ross D. Franklin/AP)
Michael Kazin is a professor of history at Georgetown University and the author of “What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party.”
In the summer of 1894, a Democratic Congress easily passed and a Democratic president promptly signed a bill making Labor Day a holiday for federal workers. Samuel Gompers, the era’s most prominent union leader, welcomed the move, though he also called it merely a “slight concession” to workers at a time of rising unemployment and hunger.
Then, just a week after inking the measure, President Grover Cleveland took a step that had a far greater impact on him and his party. He dispatched 2,000 federal troops to Chicago to break a strike by railroad workers that was crippling the economy.
The unprecedented act antagonized many of the wage earners who had helped elect Cleveland two years earlier. In midterm elections that fall, Democrats lost more than 100 seats in the House and two in the Senate. A day after the debacle, Gompers wrote to Cleveland: “Without much concert of effort by organized labor the people have answered at the polls your assumption of an unconstitutional and unwarrantable use of the military power to crush labor.”
As a fledgling union revival spreads across the country, Democrats would do well to recall the lesson of those events: They need unions to win. But unions also need Democrats, and now is the time for the party to step up to promote the kind of organizing that will benefit both sides in the future.
Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent: Unions are growing more popular. Democrats should talk about that.
Democrats today are voicing rhetorical support for organized labor as strongly as they have at any time in the party’s history. “We should encourage unions,” President Biden remarked in June. “I’m not just saying that to be pro-union. I’m saying it because I’m pro-American.” Biden also met with Christian Smalls, the young Black leader of a drive to sign up workers at Amazon. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Post.)
But sympathetic rhetoric is not enough. The labor revival that Smalls and his fellow activists are stoking remains modest. It has found success mainly among wage earners at firms such as Starbucks and REI, who tend to be young college graduates. The labor upsurge has yet to reach those Whites and Hispanics who have spent little or no time in college — sizable groups that have been shifting toward the GOP. Where large numbers of less educated Hispanics do belong to unions, in cities such as Los Angeles and New York, most still vote solidly Democratic.
The now bright-red state of West Virginia offers an object lesson in union power. From the 1930s through the 1990s, White workers there faithfully elected Democrats. Driving the party’s long sway in the state was its bond with the United Mine Workers, which taught its members that Democrats stood for higher wages and protection of the right to organize, and that Democrats were helping fund the free union-run health-care system. Then mechanization and decline of the coal market sliced the UMW down to half its former size. West Virginia became one of the poorest states in the country. Without the union, working-class residents had nowhere they could complain about their lack of economic and medical security — at least in a way that benefited Democrats.
What can Biden’s party do to help make unions into a force that can boost its electoral fortunes while providing workers a degree of democracy as well as higher pay and better conditions? Buoyed by polls showing that more than two-thirds of Americans have a positive opinion of unions, Democrats should strongly promote the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which would decisively weaken employers’ current advantage in the battle to unionize. The Pro Act would be a long-overdue revision of federal labor law, which has not been seriously amended in more than 70 years. And more Democrats should talk up organizing drives and walk on picket lines, as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and other progressives have done. The Labor Department, to its credit, has a new website filled with advice for workers who want to form unions.
But Democrats’ ability to rebuild labor into a social juggernaut will be limited unless millions of workers make the effort to organize themselves. Franklin D. Roosevelt didn’t seriously back unions until the massive strike wave of 1934 made it imperative for him to do so. The nascent alliance helped Democrats dominate the midterms that fall. But not until the movement, in political scientist Daniel Schlozman’s term, “anchored” itself in the party did the heyday of modern liberalism really begin.
The early history of Labor Day shows how unions can sway public officials even during a time of widespread inequality. By the time Congress voted in 1894, workers in many cities were celebrating the day with marches and picnics, and organizers had convinced 24 state legislatures to give their residents the day off. Unions have always been most effective when their concerted power has compelled politicians to respond.
And Democrats have been most successful when they have helped labor to organize — and win.
One potential side effect of AI? Human extinction. | 2022-09-01T16:03:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Labor Day is a reminder of the Democrat-union bond - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/labor-day-democrats-unions-shared-history/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/labor-day-democrats-unions-shared-history/ |
FILE - This exhibit from video released by the House Select Committee, shows a deposition with Kellye SoRelle, Oath Keepers general counsel, displayed at a hearing by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, July 12, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. SoRelle has been charged with conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol. The Department of Justice said Thursday, Sept. 1, that SoRelle, general counsel for the antigovernment group, was arrested in Texas on charges including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.(House Select Committee via AP, File) (Uncredited/House Select Committee) | 2022-09-01T16:03:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Oath Keepers' lawyer arrested in connection with Jan. 6 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/oath-keepers-lawyer-arrested-in-connection-with-jan-6/2022/09/01/70160366-2a0b-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/oath-keepers-lawyer-arrested-in-connection-with-jan-6/2022/09/01/70160366-2a0b-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
Russell Wilson is now under contract to the Broncos for the next seven seasons after agreeing to a five-year extension. (Jack Dempsey/AP)
Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos doubled down on their newly formed partnership Thursday and added to the series of megadeals for NFL quarterbacks negotiated this year.
Wilson, whom the Seattle Seahawks traded to the Broncos in March, agreed to a five-year contract extension with his new team. The deal is worth $245 million, including $165 million in guaranteed money, according to a person familiar with the contract. Wilson had two years and $51 million remaining on his previous deal and now is under contract with the Broncos for the next seven seasons, for $296 million. Wilson will turn 34 in November.
The Broncos’ new ownership group, led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, purchased the franchise from the Pat Bowlen Trust for $4.65 billion, the record sale price for an NFL team. The league’s team owners formally ratified the sale last month.
Wilson’s extension with the Broncos runs through the 2028 season, during which he will turn 40. He was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection in 10 seasons with the Seahawks, helping them to a Super Bowl title in the 2013 season. The Broncos hope that his arrival will reverse the fortunes of a team that has missed the playoffs in six straight seasons.
The Broncos traded quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and a package of draft picks, including a pair of first-round choices and a pair of second-rounders, to the Seahawks for Wilson and a fourth-round selection.
There had been speculation, before the trade, that the Broncos would pursue a deal for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Instead, Rodgers stayed in Green Bay, agreeing in March to a three-year contract extension worth just more than $150 million.
That was the first in a series of new deals for prominent quarterbacks leaguewide. Deshaun Watson signed a five-year contract with the Cleveland Browns, who traded for him in March, worth a guaranteed $230 million. In July, Kyler Murray agreed to a five-year, $230.5 million extension with the Arizona Cardinals that included $160 million in guaranteed money.
The Cardinals don’t trust Kyler Murray, so how can Murray trust the Cardinals?
Up next could be Lamar Jackson, the former league MVP who is negotiating an extension with the Baltimore Ravens. The Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert, who were chosen in the 2020 NFL draft, become eligible for contract extensions following the 2022 season, under NFL rules.
Watson signed his contract while facing allegations of sexual misconduct made by women in more than two dozen civil lawsuits. Watson has denied the allegations and has not been charged with a crime. But he is serving an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, under a settlement reached between the league and the NFL Players Association. Some owners of NFL teams were upset that the Browns gave Watson a fully guaranteed contract, particularly under such circumstances, several people with knowledge of the league’s inner workings have said in recent months.
I think the fully guaranteed contract ship has sailed (at least for now). If Russell Wilson didn't get one after the Broncos gave up multiple players & multiple 1st round picks for him with a new owner that's easily the richest in NFL history, good luck to everyone else.
But if Jackson, who does not have an agent and is representing himself in negotiations with the Ravens, wants a fully guaranteed contract like Watson’s, he now faces the precedent of the two huge quarterback deals done since then — Murray’s and Wilson’s — not being fully guaranteed.
Jackson is entering the final season of his contract after the Ravens exercised their fifth-year option in his original rookie deal. He is eligible for unrestricted free agency in the spring, although Baltimore could use its franchise player tag on him. He has implied that he will cut off negotiations on an extension when the regular season begins Sept. 11.
“I think the fully guaranteed contract ship has sailed (at least for now),” salary cap expert Joel Corry, a former agent, wrote Thursday on Twitter. “If Russell Wilson didn’t get one after the Broncos gave up multiple players [and] multiple 1st round picks for him with a new owner that’s easily the richest in NFL history, good luck to everyone else.” | 2022-09-01T16:03:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Russell Wilson agrees to $245 million contract extension with Broncos - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/russell-wilson-denver-broncos-extension/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/russell-wilson-denver-broncos-extension/ |
Displaced families who fled their flood-hit homes receive relief aid distributed by Save the Children organization in the Shikarpur district of Sindh province, of Pakistan. Officials in Pakistan raised concerns over the spread of waterborne diseases among thousands of flood victims as flood waters from powerful monsoon rains began to recede in many parts of the country. (Fareed Khan/AP)
Extreme flooding has decimated communities in Pakistan and killed more than 1,000 people, many of them children. Millions more have been displaced, their homes destroyed. Crops have been ravaged, heightening concerns of malnutrition.
As the crisis continues to unfold, officials have called on the international community for aid, estimating it may cost billions of dollars to recover from the damage.
Here are some organizations you can donate to:
Islamic Relief has been operating in Pakistan since 1992. The organization is focused on providing food aid, access to clean water and other humanitarian supplies. Donate here.
The United Nations Children’s Fund is working to provide health services, water and hygiene kits to families affected by the floods. The U.N. agency is also setting up temporary education centers. Donate here.
The International Medical Corps has been operating in the country since 1985. The organization is focused on providing medical care and supplies, mental health support, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene services. Donate here.
This nonprofit launched an Emergency Flood Appeal calling for donations. The organization has been providing food and shelter to those affected since July. Donate here.
The IRC has operated in Pakistan since 1980. The organization has “reached almost 20,000 people with critical food, supplies and medical support,” said Shabnam Baloch, the Pakistan country director in a statement. “We are urgently requesting donors to step up their support and help us save lives.” Donate here. | 2022-09-01T17:19:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How to help Pakistan - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/pakistan-help-donate-flooding/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/pakistan-help-donate-flooding/ |
Super Typhoon Hinnamnor creeps closer to Korea and Japan
Although the storm is slowly weakening, it is still expected to have significant impacts early next week
Super Typhoon Hinnamnor as seen from the Japanese satellite Himawari-8 in water vapor imagery.
After developing this week into the year’s strongest tropical system, Super Typhoon Hinnamnor could wreak havoc in parts of South Korea and Japan and may make direct landfall in populated areas in the coming days.
As of Thursday morning, Hinnamnor is still a very strong storm with winds of up to 155 mph, equivalent to a high-end Category 4 hurricane, after reaching the equivalent of a rare Category 5 on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the western Pacific, a storm is classified as a “super typhoon” when it has sustained winds of at least 150 mph.
While having weakened slightly, Hinnamnor is still a very strong typhoon. And the latest track from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, puts the storm on a dangerous path, with a direct landfall possible on Japan’s Yaeyama Islands, the country’s most southern and western populated territories.
The storm has become lopsided, though, losing the symmetry it presented days earlier, and JTWC wrote in its forecast discussion that the eye appears to have become cloud-filled, suggesting additional weakening.
Before it reaches any land areas, the storm may weaken further. The storm is forecast to continue to slow down if not stall, causing upwelling, which is when deeper and colder water rises to the surface. Hurricanes and typhoons thrive on warmer waters, so when the water becomes cooler, the tropical system is deprived of the fuel to maintain its strength.
As Hinnamnor nears the isolated chain of Japanese islands over the next day or two, it is expected to have winds of around 115 mph, the equivalent of a low-end Category 3 hurricane — which is still a very strong storm. Severe effects are expected, with heavy rain, massive waves, a powerful ocean surge, and damaging winds affecting the region Friday into Saturday.
Next, the system is expected to pass northward, potentially restrengthening somewhat as it moves into open waters off the coast of China, potentially skirting the coast. Light impacts from the storm appear possible as far inland as Shanghai, but the storm appears unlikely to bring major rainfall to China, which has been facing a persistent heat wave and brutal drought.
Monday into Tuesday, the storm is forecast to pass straight through the Korea Strait, which separates the Japanese main islands from South Korea, with winds of up to 90 mph, a high-end Category 1 storm, although the storm could be even stronger, according to some forecast models.
The storm’s location by Tuesday is hardly certain, though, with a landfall in mainland South Korea or Japan a possibility. As of Thursday morning, the American and European models are suggesting that the storm will make a beeline for South Korea, making landfall in the country’s southwestern tip and delivering perhaps 6 to 12 inches of rain.
The American Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting model generally agrees with this forecast — including on the extraordinarily high rainfall totals — but has a markedly stronger Hinnamnor making landfall farther east, passing over South Korea’s highly populated Jeju Island, which lies within the Korea Strait, before striking the mainland near Yeosu, South Korea.
Any potential outcome that brings heavy rainfall to South Korea could be devastating, as the region experienced major flooding just three weeks ago that killed at least 11 and left the ground saturated and vulnerable to further flooding if additional intense rainfall occurs.
How Seoul failed its most vulnerable, flooded in their basement homes | 2022-09-01T17:33:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Super Typhoon Hinnamnor creeps closer to Japan and Korea - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/01/super-typhoon-hinnamnor-japan-korea/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/01/super-typhoon-hinnamnor-japan-korea/ |
COLUMBUS, Ohio — There was no justification for a Columbus police officer to fatally shoot a man lying on his bed while officers tried to serve warrants, a lawyer representing the slain man’s family said Thursday as he demanded immediate changes to policing in the city and promised a lawsuit.
The U.S. Justice Department agreed in 2021 to review Columbus police department practices after a series of fatal police shootings of Black people — including the April 2021 killing of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant — and the city’s response to 2020 racial injustice protests. | 2022-09-01T17:33:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Lawyer: Ohio man's police shooting death reckless, senseless - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/lawyer-ohio-mans-police-shooting-death-reckless-senseless/2022/09/01/b6b17d96-2a15-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/lawyer-ohio-mans-police-shooting-death-reckless-senseless/2022/09/01/b6b17d96-2a15-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html |
Navy Coach Ken Niumatalolo is coming off back-to-back losing seasons. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
The last two years have been unlike any other for Ken Niumatalolo. For the only time during his 14 years as Navy head coach, the program had consecutive losing seasons and didn’t play in a bowl game. The last 24 months accounted for two of the four times the Midshipmen haven’t gone bowling at the end of a season with Niumatalolo at the helm.
Navy was affected by the coronavirus pandemic as much as any program in the country. The team didn’t practice tackling or blocking before the 2020 season and was at a physical disadvantage most weeks, leading to a 3-7 record and matching the fewest wins in a season under Niumatalolo. The 2021 season seemed to have a hangover from the long, late night that was 2020 and the Mids finished 4-8 with one of the worst offenses in college football.
The offseason leading up to Saturday’s noon opener against Delaware has been a relief for everyone — even as it has been physically punishing.
“I feel like you throw out the last two years for us,” Niumatalolo said. “Because nothing we did was similar to what we [traditionally do]. I feel like with this team, we've done everything. After the Army game … everything we did was stuff that I do with [the first] 12 other teams.
“This year has been awesome because we’re back. I really feel like we’re back. Just our team, everything that we do to develop our team.”
Niumatalolo described Navy as a “developmental” program, and that part of the operation was severely hindered the last two years. The offensive system is unique with the triple option and takes time for players to master. Recruiting to Navy is different and recruiting site 247Sports hasn’t had a class of Mids ranked in the top 100 since 2017 (87). These are classes that need to grow inside the program once they arrive in Annapolis.
“At the United States Naval Academy, young men that we get, we need to do everything,” Niumatalolo said. “Everything we do and build into character, the toughness, the resolve of a Navy football player, you have to go through steps A through Z.
“You can't skip anything and they've got to go through the fire, so to speak. And we put them through the fire this offseason. So I feel good.”
Junior quarterback Tai Lavatai is a prime example of a player the team hopes has developed into a difference-maker. The production from the position has been subpar since Malcolm Perry led the team to an 11-2 record in 2019 behind 2,017 rushing yards and 1,084 passing yards. Navy has thrown for 1,655 total yards in the two years since and the quarterbacks have rushed for less than 1,000 yards combined.
Lavatai didn’t play a snap as a freshman in 2020 before unexpectedly winning the starting job before the 2021 season. He started all 10 games that he played, but averaged just 2.2 yards per carry and threw for 44.9 yards per game. Navy needs more from the quarterback position to break out of its two-year offensive slump and all eyes are on Lavatai. The 6-foot-2, 221-pounder said he’s more confident than ever with a better knowledge of the playbook and reading defenses. He’s in better shape and is trying to be more vocal as the starter at the most important position on the field.
“Night and day,” Lavatai said when comparing the feeling going into 2021. “Last year, I never saw a college snap, so it was very, very intimidating, I would say. Just the unknown of what could happen or how the speed of the game was.
“In the last year, now that I got to see how the speed of it, how the tempo is. … I'm a lot more confident just feeling like I understand and know what to expect rather than last year where it felt like it was very unknown what could happen.”
Lavatai wants to make more of an impact and Navy needs him to considering he’s one of just four full-time starters returning on offense. Niumatalolo raved about the athleticism and speed of the roster.
The defense brings back six starters, highlighted by seniors John Marshall (striker) and Nicholas Straw (raider). The Mids ranked 34th in total defense last season.
“We’re probably farther along with our scheme and comfort within that scheme with our players than we ever have been since I’ve been here at this point going into a season,” defensive coordinator Brian Newberry said. “Across the board, we’ve improved everywhere.”
Niumatalolo has referred to this roster as an “anonymous” group that doesn’t bring a lot of star power to field — and they’re good with that. They want to be elite on defense and take care of the ball on offense. The longest tenured coach in school history believes this is the fastest team he’s ever fielded and is looking to erase the memories of the last two seasons.
“We've been pushing these guys hard and they've responded,” Niumatalolo said. “They haven't wilted under the pressure of our preparation, but we have to do things that way. It's our only way for us to be a tough team.
“We’re a proud program. We’ve won a lot of games prior to the last two years and we want to get back to that.” | 2022-09-01T17:34:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ken Niumatalolo says Navy is back after two rough years - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/navy-football-season-preview/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/navy-football-season-preview/ |
Analysis by Steven Goff
U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter has to settle on a World Cup roster in a matter of weeks. (Bebeto Matthews/AP)
NEW YORK — Gregg Berhalter’s internal clock counting down the weeks until he must name his World Cup squad ticks louder with each passing day. Soon, chimes that began sweetly with his appointment as head coach of a downtrodden U.S. men’s national soccer team almost four years ago will sound like jackhammers.
Time is almost up.
This weekend, he will monitor players in person in Scotland, Spain and Portugal.
In less than two weeks, he’ll set a roster for the last two pre-tournament tests.
In 10 weeks, he’ll submit his 26-man list to FIFA.
Never before has a U.S. coach been blessed with such a rich cast of candidates performing on Europe’s grand stages. He’s also got a seasoned MLS troupe.
Berhalter said he has narrowed the pool to 38-40 players. What goes unsaid is, barring injury (and it is almost certain there will be injuries), most of the World Cup slots have been filled.
Final auditions will continue to play out every weekend across 10 time zones, completing an exercise that has featured 88 players in Berhalter’s 54 matches, including 56 national team debuts.
Berhalter’s work goes beyond monitoring performances. He’s got core players, such as Christian Pulisic, who aren’t playing regularly with their respective clubs. He’s got the most unsettled goalkeeping situation of any modern-day U.S. World Cup squad.
There are pleasant problems as well. His strikers, the program’s weak link as recently as early summer, are in top form at the same time.
“We’re not going to take five strikers, so there are going to be a couple disappointed guys,” Berhalter said. “And that’s a shame because all you want the players to do is everything they possibly can. And when they are doing everything they possibly can and they still don’t make the team, that’s not nice. It’s just not a nice thing, and I’m going to have to tell them that, and I feel bad.”
The strikers are a good place to start in analyzing Berhalter’s options because, without goals — or at least a strong presence at center forward — the Americans will struggle to advance to the knockout stage.
Less than a month into European campaigns, Jordan Pefok (Union Berlin) and Haji Wright (Antalyaspor, Turkey) are hot. Josh Sargent (Norwich City, England) has revitalized his career after a lost year with both club and country.
FC Dallas’s Jesús Ferreira, the front-runner to start the World Cup opener against Wales, is the second-highest-scoring American in MLS with 15 goals.
First is FC Cincinnati’s Brandon Vazquez, 23, who has 16 goals but no senior-level experience beyond MLS. Until this season, he was probably not worthy of a call-up. Now, he’s surging.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” Berhalter said. The lack of an international past “does make it more difficult. It doesn’t make it impossible, though. That’s the important thing.”
Qatar deports migrant workers protesting alleged abuse before World Cup
Berhalter said he has not decided whether to include Vazquez on the roster for friendlies against Japan on Sept. 23 in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Sept. 27 vs. Saudi Arabia in Murcia, Spain.
The other wild card is Ricardo Pepi, 19, whose blazing start with the national team last fall cratered during a miserable season with German club Augsburg. Needing a fresh start, Pepi this week went on loan to Groningen in the Netherlands.
Pepi was among several U.S. players seeking a new home before the transfer window closes this week.
Right back Sergiño Dest made the biggest move, going on loan from FC Barcelona, where he wasn’t going to play much under Manager Xavi Hernandez, to AC Milan. Without regular playing time leading to a World Cup, even the most prized players are in danger of falling on the depth chart.
Well, maybe not Pulisic, an exceptional talent and vital piece to the U.S. puzzle. By sitting on the bench at Chelsea under Manager Thomas Tuchel, though, Pulisic’s national team form is bound to suffer. Speculation that he would leave for Manchester United or Newcastle fizzled.
Even with Pulisic staying at Chelsea, Berhalter’s belief in him has not wavered, and he is convinced the attacker will earn his way back into Tuchel’s good graces.
“I’m a guy that bets on Christian just because I’ve seen it before,” he said. “He is not counted on [at Chelsea] in a way that he’d like to, and [yet] he gets on the field and he proves everyone wrong and he ends up playing. I tend to believe that’s going to happen, and I think his mind is in a good spot and he’s going to fight for it because that’s the type of guy he is.”
Berhalter has no such concerns about his duo at Leeds United, winger Brenden Aaronson and midfielder Tyler Adams. Or with Fulham left back Antonee Robinson and Valencia attacker Yunus Musah.
On Sunday he’ll see Musah play in person after witnessing defender-midfielder James Sands and attacker Malik Tillman compete for Rangers in the Glasgow derby against Celtic, which employs U.S. center back Cameron Carter-Vickers. Berhalter’s last stop is in Portugal on Monday for Reggie Cannon, a U.S. roster contender at right back.
From afar, he will continue to monitor the four goalkeepers vying for three World Cup slots: Zack Steffen, who’s been sidelined with England’s Middlesbrough; Matt Turner, an Arsenal backup; Ethan Horvath, the starter at England’s Luton Town; and New York City FC starter Sean Johnson.
The case to start in the World Cup remains wide open.
“We have time to evaluate it,” Berhalter said. “If you asked me today, is it a concern? It’s something we think about, but there’s still time and we’ll have to see.”
About the difficult personnel decisions ahead of him, Berhalter brings up France winning the 2018 World Cup without forward Karim Benzema — who last week was voted the best player in Europe in 2021-22 — and Brazil, which leaves world-class players behind.
“Not to say we’re at that level,” Berhalter said, “but it’s to say that sometimes quality players will be left off the roster. … That we’re at that point right now is pretty crazy.” | 2022-09-01T17:34:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | USMNT roster remains unsettled for Gregg Berhalter - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/usmnt-world-cup-roster/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/usmnt-world-cup-roster/ |
President Ronald Reagan, left, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow's Red Square, with St. Basil's Cathedral in the background in May of 1988. (Ira Schwartz/AP)
Gorbachev understood the power of talk. Will today’s leaders listen?
By Bret Baier
Bret Baier is the chief political anchor of Fox News Channel and the author of “Three Days in Moscow: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Empire.”
When a figure like Mikhail Gorbachev dies, the temptation is to focus on the man himself — his singular strengths and flaws, failures and achievements. But in our current geopolitical climate, perhaps the most valuable lesson we can draw from Gorbachev’s life is that even the strongest and most influential leaders never change history alone.
In Gorbachev’s case, none of the retrospectives being written about him today would have been possible without his American counterpart — President Ronald Reagan. It was the unique partnership between the two men, and their willingness to engage with even the bitterest enemy, that enabled them to redirect the fate of the world.
Reagan came into office in 1980 an avowed enemy of the Soviet Union. He called it “the evil empire” and predicted it would end up in “the ash heap of history.” His rhetoric was so incendiary that it made people nervous, including his wife, Nancy. In 1985, that rhetoric changed — with the arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev.
Before Gorbachev there was no indication that the Soviet Union would ever be anything but the ungodly menace of Reagan’s speeches. When Gorbachev became the Soviets’ leader, there was no pretending that the U.S.S.R.— with its failed expansionism, shabby facades and drained coffers — was the marvel of governance Russia’s original revolutionaries had envisioned. Gorbachev had the courage to change, and he came to leadership at a moment when his counterpart in the United States was willing to talk. And talk they did.
George F. Will: Gorbachev’s reputation rests on the world’s amnesia
Gorbachev and Reagan began their collaboration with a shared sense of urgency over the threat of a nuclear war. And they enjoyed a rare chemistry. The first time they met at a conference near Geneva, Reagan told Gorbachev a joke: “An American and a Russian meet. ‘My country is the best,’ says the American, ‘because I can walk into the White House and tell the president he’s doing a lousy job.’ ‘Big deal,’ says the Russian. ‘I can go to the Kremlin and tell Gorbachev the same thing — Reagan is doing a lousy job.’” Gorbachev smiled slightly, not knowing how to respond. But he soon got used to Reagan, who was determined to meet Gorbachev on a human level, man to man.
Reagan could be tough too, and through years of conferences the two men sparred over their nations’ different visions of the world. Gorbachev stubbornly took the party line on major issues, and at times the negotiations stalled. At a 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, Reagan became so frustrated with Gorbachev’s intransigence that he walked away.
But that wasn’t the end. The two sides regrouped and kept the summits going. Slowly, they moved toward agreements to reduce the nuclear threat.
In December 1987, Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, came to Washington, where he and Reagan signed a treaty to reduce intermediate-range nuclear weapons. To Americans, Gorbachev was a rock star, a westernized Soviet leader with charisma to spare. But as popular as Gorbachev was in the United States, he didn’t garner the same accolades back home. (He and Reagan used to joke that each was more popular in the other’s country.) By May 1988, Gorbachev was on the ropes, his domestic reforms meeting stiff resistance. Into that maelstrom came Ronald and Nancy Reagan for an unprecedented visit to Moscow.
Henry Olsen: Gorbachev’s lasting legacy was nationalism
The enduring image of the visit was Ronald Reagan walking with Gorbachev in Red Square — unthinkable only a few years earlier. Behind the scenes, Reagan was pushing Gorbachev hard on human rights and other unmentionables. Gorbachev bristled; there were limits to both his acceptance of western principles and his authority. Yet he allowed Reagan to give a public speech to a packed hall at Moscow State University, where the president tantalized students with images of the freedom that could be theirs.
Led by Gorbachev, the people were slowly beginning to find their way out of what he later admitted was “a dead-end political situation.” But Gorbachev ran out of time. Reagan had always known that half-measures would not save the Soviet Union from the corruption at its core. When he left the White House and George H.W. Bush took office, the Soviet empire was already coming apart.
Russian President Vladimir Putin never accepted the end of the Soviet Union. As a young KGB officer during Gorbachev’s time, he made it his mission to restore the empire to its glory. Putin’s current aggression has all the hallmarks of the old Soviet Union — the way it would roll over weaker nations, and risk its economy and future stability, to extend its tentacles and control.
When Reagan died in 2004, Gorbachev was emotional about the loss of his old partner. He wrote, “I think that the main lesson of those years is the need for dialogue, which must not be broken off whatever the challenges and complications we have to face.”
In times like today’s — when dialogue seems impossible, when conditions appear to have deteriorated too far for discussion — the best tribute to Gorbachev might be for leaders to take that lesson to heart.
Gorbachev lost his country but changed the world | 2022-09-01T18:16:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Bret Baier: What Gorbachev might teach leaders like Putin - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/bret-baier-gorbachev-leadership-lessons/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/bret-baier-gorbachev-leadership-lessons/ |
Texas wages a new war over ‘In God We Trust’ posters
Sravan Krishna, photographed at the Carroll Independent School District building in Southlake, Tex., on Aug. 29. (Karen Attiah/The Washington Post)
SOUTHLAKE, Tex. — Under a new state law, public schools here now “must display in a conspicuous place in each building … a durable poster or framed copy of the United States national motto, ‘In God We Trust.’ ” The main requirements are that the signs must have been donated to the school, and they have to display both the U.S. and the Texas flags.
God and country, in other words. But even if you think that message is appropriate for public education (and I don’t), some follow-up questions still come up in our multicultural, faith-diverse country: In whose God do we trust?
And who’s “we,” anyway?
Sravan Krishna, a Carroll Independent School District parent in this largely White Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, decided to put the law, known as S.B. 797, to the test.
So per district rules, Krishna, who is part of a group called Dignity for All Texas Students, formally asked to be put on Monday’s school board meeting agenda. His request was denied, he told me, so he decided to show up to the meeting anyway.
After middle school students read the Pledge of Allegiance, the floor was open for public comment. Krishna was up first. He picked up a white box and brought it to the lectern for his allotted three minutes.
First, Krishna held up a framed poster that had the word “God” in rainbow LGBT colors. He had another with “In God We Trust” written in Arabic. “I’m here today to present ... the ‘In God We Trust’ posters to the schools,” he said. “I’d like to request you to come and accept it.”
The room was silent — and the school board appeared ready for Krishna’s challenge.
Board president Cameron Bryan read from a prepared statement, thanking Krishna but noting that “In God We Trust” signs had already been donated to the district — by the avowedly Christian conservative wireless provider Patriot Mobile.
“As you may be aware,” Bryan told Krishna, “CISD accepted, as required by law, the S.B. 797 donation at the August 15 board meeting. Therefore, all 11 campuses plus the admin building now have the poster pursuant to S.B. 797.” Bryan said that the statute does “not contemplate requiring the district to display more than one copy at a time.”
Apparently, the board interpreted “a” poster to mean just “one” poster, but Krishna still had time left, and he had his answer ready. “I’m not leaving,” he said. “It doesn’t say you have to stop at one, so that is your decision to stop at one. Why is more God not good?”
“This is also our national motto,” he said, “so I think it’s kind of un-American to reject posters of our national motto.”
The room was silent and filled with tension as Krishna displayed the rest of the posters to the board. Finally, a beep sounded signaling the end of his time. “That’s my time,” he said defiantly. “I can do whatever I want with it. Deal with it.” Then he went back to his seat.
I went to the Carroll ISD meeting because the standoff there gets at the heart of the larger battle being waged in this country. As I’ve written, Texas is on the front lines of that. The people who wrote S.B. 797 know exactly what god they mean, and who “we” is intended to indicate — and who it is not. The new law is part of the reactionary, right-wing, white supremacist rot that is spreading at such an alarming pace not only here in Texas, but also around the country.
But whose vision of America is more accurate? Krishna’s posters represent God and America in the form of voices under threat — LGBTQ people and Arabic speakers — and they were not produced by wealthy businesspeople but by the Southlake Anti-Racism Coalition, a group of current and former students in the Carroll school district.
“We and the kids just want to feel included,” Krishna told me after the meeting. “We are taxpayers and voters, too.” Other meeting attendees I talked to wanted to do “In God We Trust” in Spanish and Braille, saying that it would be a true representation of the growing diversity of the Southlake community.
Why is Southlake so afraid of diversity — of more variations of God and Americanness? What is so threatening about an array of posters representing America in all its faces and forms? Carroll ISD could have set an example for inclusion and progress. Instead, its leaders are participating in a symbolic attack on democratic participation.
A storm over the posters might yet be brewing. Krishna said his organization would regroup and explore further possible remedies. Other community members wondered aloud about whether they could challenge Carroll ISD’s decision legally. Their determination is as noble as Carroll ISD’s hypocrisy is shameless and sad.
It’s the year of our Lord 2022, for goodness’ sake. We shouldn’t have to be trying to slay the old dragons of discrimination and white supremacy. | 2022-09-01T18:16:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Texas wages war over ‘In God We Trust’ posters in public schools - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/texas-schools-in-god-we-trust-fight/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/texas-schools-in-god-we-trust-fight/ |
By Lizette Alvarez
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) speaks to supporters in Kissimmee before signing a 15-week abortion ban into law on April 14. (John Raoux/AP Photo)
Abortion is not a dirty word in Florida. Most voters in the state support abortion rights. Florida has one of the highest abortion rates in the country. And clinics here serve as a haven for out-of-state women now barred from getting an abortion by their own state governments. Florida even boasts something unique — a constitutional right to privacy that protects abortion under a state Supreme Court ruling.
And yet, sometime soon, abortion rights in Florida may face an existential threat. The first battle arrives Nov. 8 when voters will decide whether to reelect Gov. Ron DeSantis. Following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in June overturning Roe v. Wade, our Republican governor vowed to “expand pro-life protections.”
The Republican-dominated state legislature had already moved to limit abortion access even before the ruling, passing a bill banning the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The law took effect July 1, but a challenge to it for violating the state constitution has been appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.
What’s unclear is how far DeSantis and Florida’s GOP lawmakers would go to “expand pro-life protections” and force women to carry their pregnancies if the governor is rewarded with another term. Would they push for a near-ban? Cap it at six weeks? Bar the use of medication to end pregnancies? Arrest women or doctors who defy the law?
“Who knows?” Stephanie Fraim, the chief executive and president of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, told me. “I’m so far beyond predicting what Gov. DeSantis will do to curb our freedoms.”
Many pro-choice women in Florida are prepping for battle and setting out to prove that the Sunshine State is not Texas or Oklahoma or Alabama, where abortion is now virtually illegal. Aided by a surge in donations, the pro-choice coalition here is pushing back on a variety of fronts, from social media blitzes to voter registration.
At the same time, reproductive health organizations and Democratic lawmakers are busy strategizing how to best protect women’s rights. Their multi-pronged approach includes the possibility of a citizen-led ballot proposal to amend the state’s constitution to explicitly protect abortion rights, similar to one in Michigan that on Wednesday was blocked, at least temporarily, by a state board from appearing on the November ballot.
“Everything needs to be on the table to protect abortion access in Florida and in the country,” state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, a rising Democratic star, told me. “We cannot leave any stone unturned.”
Primary day on Aug. 23 in Florida offered promising evidence that abortion rights are motivating Florida voters. Tampa voters ousted an evangelical, DeSantis-appointed circuit court judge who had ruled against a 17-year-old seeking an abortion without parental consent.
The judge, Jared Smith, had based his decision in part on the fact that the young woman, who under Florida law was forced to tell him why she wanted an abortion, claimed to have a B average but did not. (Smith’s decision was overturned on appeal.) His opponent, Nancy Jacobs, a lawyer who had run twice for judgeships and lost, won the seat, despite the difficulty of defeating sitting judges.
Hillsborough County Democratic Party chair Ione Townsend told the Tampa Bay Times that the race was the county’s most significant election outcome. “I think it means that abortion is on the ballot,” she said.
Booting DeSantis from the governor’s mansion is the top priority among pro-choice advocates — not an easy feat, considering his $130 million campaign war chest and strong appeal to Republican voters.
His Democratic opponent, Rep. Charlie Crist, has made abortion rights a cornerstone of his campaign. The same goes for Rep. Val Demings, in a tight race to unseat Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who advocates severe abortion restrictions.
With DeSantis, at this point, appearing likely to be reelected and the conservative-dominated state Supreme Court unlikely to reject the 15-week abortion ban if it decides to hear the case, the idea of the citizen-led ballot proposal to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution looks increasingly appealing.
Florida voters have taken the ballot route before to sidestep recalcitrant Republican lawmakers, raising the minimum wage and reclaiming voter rights for felons.
But the ballot amendment process has become excruciatingly difficult. Recent laws make it extremely expensive and complex to collect the necessary signatures on petitions (nearly 900,000 signatures are needed). To gain passage, the ballot proposals must reach at least 60 percent approval. Even if amendments pass, the legislature still tries to dismantle them.
The stakes on abortion are so high that the effort would be worth it. Outlawing abortion in Florida would essentially turn it into a forced-pregnancy state for millions of women. The closest state with reasonable access to the medical procedure is North Carolina — an 11-hour drive from Miami.
Seven personal stories about abortion
Pro-life Republicans can win by contrasting their views with opponents’
Tennessee abortion ban wreaks havoc with women’s medical care | 2022-09-01T18:25:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Abortion isn’t a dirty word in Florida, but DeSantis and the GOP act like it is - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/desantis-gop-target-florida-abortion/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/desantis-gop-target-florida-abortion/ |
One of Pacific Gas & Electric's Diablo Canyon Power Plant nuclear reactors in Avila Beach, Calif., in 2008. (Michael Mariant/AP)
I read with interest the two Aug. 27 articles about nuclear energy, “Nuclear power critics shift stance amid energy shortages” [news] and “Nuclear fusion power inches closer” [Economy & Business]. Taken together, the articles leave the impression that we are stuck with our current nuclear technology, nursing along aging facilities and perhaps building a few new ones while we wait for nuclear fusion to arrive. I was surprised that neither article mentioned the ongoing work in developing and deploying advanced small modular reactors (SMRs). The Energy Department has identified SMRs as “a key part of the Department’s goal to develop safe, clean and affordable nuclear power options.” Globally, work on SMRs has been underway for several years, supported by both governmental and private funding. Some of these projects are reaching the advanced development stage.
These reactors embrace a range of new technologies (alternative fuels, advanced safety systems, modular designs) and will be built mostly in factories and shipped for quick setup wherever they are needed. These next-generation nuclear power generators, which we can expect to see deployed in just a few years, are the missing link that will provide carbon-free electrical power while fusion power is under development. The analogy is that just as CFLs were the bridge taking us from incandescent lightbulbs to LED lightbulbs, so, too, SMRs will be the bridge from today’s nuclear reactors to fusion.
Marsha Hopp, Gaithersburg | 2022-09-01T18:25:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The future of energy - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/future-energy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/future-energy/ |
The important work of diplomacy
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in April. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
The Aug. 28 Washington Post Magazine article on the evolution of President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s conduct of foreign affairs, “The Biden-Blinken Doctrine,” provided a nuanced look at how the conduct of foreign affairs has to take effective account of changing times and circumstances — not just the aberrations of particular administrations but also the course of events around the world and the changes in conduct and emphasis with which we must approach them.
The article cited interviews with former public servants, professors and advocates, along with analysis. It presented the thrust that the administration believes is necessary: combining regular attention to the interests and concerns of people in other nations with careful pursuit of the purposes, in keeping with constitutional values, of the United States.
Mr. Blinken might not have achieved the historic importance of secretaries of state George C. Marshall in the 1940s or George P. Shultz in the 1980s, but he and Mr. Biden offer a courageous and vigorous approach to the pursuit of peace and the common efforts the world must make regarding global warming and human rights. The jury is out on the world’s common efforts. The important diplomatic work described in the article warrants faith and encouragement from all of us.
Charles H. Ellis III, Washington | 2022-09-01T18:25:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The important work of diplomacy - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/important-work-diplomacy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/important-work-diplomacy/ |
Dontavious Spann, center, helps hand out bottled water at a Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition distribution site on Aug. 31 in Jackson, Miss. (Brad Vest/Getty Images)
This week, the mayor of Jackson, Miss., told residents to leave the city amid near-record levels of flooding. Now they are facing a different water crisis: After flooding disrupted operations at the O.B. Curtis water treatment plant, more than 150,000 people are without clean running water.
It is tempting to write off this tragedy as a local event, reflecting Jackson’s specific circumstances. In fact, cities and towns facing ever-greater natural risks must think, now, about how to avoid repeating Jackson’s experience.
“The city cannot produce enough water to reliably flush toilets, fight fire and meet other critical needs,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) declared Tuesday, as authorities scrambled to distribute bottled water. Officials cannot say when the city, which is more than 80 percent Black, can expect potable running water again. Public schools have paused in-person learning, businesses are struggling to operate and one hospital saw its air conditioning shut down in the stultifying Southern heat.
This is not the first time Jackson’s water system has come under scrutiny. In 2020, an Environmental Protection Agency inspection found potential for the city’s drinking water to contain harmful bacteria, including E. coli. In February 2021, a winter storm burst pipes and left tens of thousands without water for nearly a month. Ahead of the most recent emergency, residents were already living under a weeks-long boil water notice because of cloudy water.
The roots of the crisis go back decades. Jackson’s population has steadily shrunk since the 1980s, largely driven by an exodus of wealthier, White households after public schools integrated. Its tax base is 20 percent smaller than in 1980, and more than a quarter of its residents live below the poverty line. This has left the city struggling to fund repairs for aging infrastructure; for example, more than 100 miles of pipes are believed to be over a century old.
Operational failures exacerbated the funding gap. The city lost out on more than $80 million in billing revenue between 2014 and 2021. It reached a $90 million settlement with the multinational corporation Siemens over its metering system, but not all of those funds went into water system improvements. Tensions between the Democratic city government and Republican state leadership also stalled reforms. The state legislature killed efforts to enact a special sales tax to fund the city’s water infrastructure and authorize a bond issuance to help with water and sewage improvements. Meanwhile, federal funding for water utilities dropped significantly, accounting for just 4 percent of such spending nationally.
On Tuesday, President Biden declared a state of emergency in Mississippi, which would allow for greater federal assistance. Mississippi also received $75 million from the bipartisan infrastructure law for water and sewage, but that is a drop in the bucket compared with what is needed in Jackson alone. Short-term fixes must be paired with strategic reforms to make the system more efficient. This could involve new revenue models, reducing leakages and embracing water recycling.
Jackson’s crisis offers a warning for other cities. It is hardly the only place in the United States suffering from disinvestment in essential services, even as climate-related disasters become more frequent and intense. Local, state and national leaders must bolster utilities and other critical infrastructure, particularly in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods that have long been neglected. Far better to invest proactively than wait for an emergency to strike — and then have to pay for rebuilding and recovery, too.
Congress tries to protect the planet from an overreaching court | 2022-09-01T18:25:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Jackson's water crisis could happen elsewhere as the climate changes - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/jackson-mississippi-water-climate-infrastructure/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/jackson-mississippi-water-climate-infrastructure/ |
A return to our country’s foundation
Supporters of President Donald Trump outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
In his Aug. 28 Outlook essay, “Fighting words: Are we headed for civil war?,” Marc Fisher quoted Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich describing the United States heading toward a “mutual decision to go separate ways on most things” while retaining the union for things such as national defense, monetary policy and basic civil rights.
Mr. Reich’s thoughts are framed as a less violent civil war that will destroy the fabric of our nation. Indeed, more autonomy for the states is a departure from the way the United States has been run in modern history, but it’s more of a return to our foundation than the ruin of it.
The original 13 Colonies differed widely in their governments, social customs and religious beliefs. The chosen system of federalism — in which the national government is limited to the duties that required a unified front while the states are otherwise free to govern themselves as they see fit — gave states the confidence to join the union while retaining their sovereignty.
The Constitution designed our government to unite regional cultures with wildly differing views. Many of today’s problems can be traced to an abandonment of this system. A return to it can help repel any real threat of civil war.
Erin Norman, Oakton
The writer is the Lee Family Fellow and senior messaging strategist at State Policy Network. | 2022-09-01T18:25:40Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | A return to our country’s foundation - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/return-our-countrys-foundation/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/return-our-countrys-foundation/ |
American University staffers’ dedicated fight should encourage others
Protesters gather Aug. 26 outside the president's office near the entrance to the American University campus on Massachusetts Avenue NW in D.C. (Susan Svrluga/The Washington Post)
The Aug. 27 Metro article about the dedicated fight for fair wages by more than 500 American University employees, “AU reaches tentative deal with staff union,” should encourage employees to unionize at colleges and universities across the nation. AU leaders opposed an equitable contract for more than a year and disingenuously claimed that fair treatment of employees could increase tuition costs or undermine research.
The article failed to mention that American University President Sylvia Mathews Burwell earns more than $1 million per year. She received a 9 percent raise in 2019, but university management fought a 5 percent raise for underpaid employees. Union members also wanted a commitment that no full-time staffers would earn less than $40,000 per year, while Ms. Burwell earns more than 25 times that amount. How’s that for misplaced priorities?
The article also didn’t mention the name of Service Employees International Union Local 500 and just described it as “the union.” That oversight perpetuates the stereotype that “labor union” is some amorphous force instead of millions of ordinary working people in numerous industries fighting for fair pay and benefits across the United States and the world. That fight isn’t over. It’s just beginning.
Brendan Smith, Takoma Park
The writer is a labor activist. | 2022-09-01T18:25:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | American University staffers’ dedicated fight should encourage others - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/what-american-university-staffers-wanted/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/what-american-university-staffers-wanted/ |
A federal judge rejected a request from Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) to invalidate a subpoena for his appearance before a Georgia grand jury investigating 2020 election interference. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) must appear before a Georgia grand jury investigating possible attempts by Donald Trump and his allies to disrupt the state’s 2020 presidential election, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
But the judge limited the range of questions that prosecutors can ask, partially acknowledging Graham’s claim that his status as a sitting senator provides protection against such inquiries.
Graham’s lawyers had sought to throw out the subpoena from the Georgia grand jury, arguing that his calls to Georgia officials after the 2020 election were part of his official Senate duties and thus immune from the probe.
“The Court is unpersuaded by the breadth of Senator Graham’s argument and does not find that the Speech or Debate Clause completely prevents all questioning related to the calls,” wrote U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May in a decision released Thursday.
The ruling is unlikely to be the final word on the matter and will be reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Graham, a close Trump ally, has resisted the subpoena from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) who wants to question the South Carolina senator about calls he made to Georgia election officials soon after Trump lost the state’s election to Joe Biden. Prosecutors say Graham has “unique knowledge” about the Trump campaign and the “multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results” of the 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.
Graham says his actions are constitutionally protected by the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which prohibits the questioning of lawmakers about their legislative acts. The senator’s lawyers have said in court filings that his calls were legitimate legislative activity and that they have been informed that Graham is a witness — not a target of the investigation.
In August, May rejected Graham’s request to delay his testimony and invalidate the subpoena, saying she did not accept his characterization of the phone calls “as only containing legitimate legislative factfinding.” The Supreme Court has made clear, she wrote, that political activity is not protected by the Constitution and that Graham could be questioned about certain aspects of the discussions.
To rule otherwise, she wrote, “would allow any sitting senator to shield all manner of potential criminal conduct occurring during a phone call merely by asserting the purpose of the call was legislative fact-finding — no matter whether the call subsequently took a different turn.”
The appeals court granted Graham a temporary reprieve last week when it ordered the District Court judge to take another look at the senator’s claim that he should be shielded from having to answer some questions and that the subpoena should be narrowed. The 11th Circuit said it would take up Graham’s appeal after the District Court’s review.
In her latest opinion, May acknowledged that portions of Graham’s calls to Georgia officials “may constitute legitimate legislative activity that falls within the protections of the Speech or Debate Clause.”
To the extent Graham’s questions related to his coming vote on whether to certify election results, “such questions are shielded from inquiry under the Speech or Debate Clause,” May wrote. “In other words, Senator Graham cannot be asked about the portions of the calls that were legislative fact-finding.”
But the judge wrote “Senator Graham may be questioned about any alleged efforts to “cajole” or encourage Secretary Raffensperger or other Georgia election officials to throw out ballots or otherwise alter Georgia’s election practices and procedures. Likewise, the grand jury may inquire into Senator Graham’s alleged communications and coordination with the Trump Campaign and its post-election efforts in Georgia, as well as into Senator Graham’s public statements related to Georgia’s 2020 elections.”
Willis’s team has interviewed more than half of its planned witnesses, including Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Willis is seeking testimony from Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows and another former legal adviser, Sidney Powell, and has not ruled out calling Trump as a witness. A state court judge this week ordered Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to comply with a subpoena but delayed his testimony until after the November election.
Trump allies resist testifying as Georgia election probe expands
Once the special grand jury finishes its work, it will issue recommendations to Willis on whether to bring criminal charges. Willis has said she expects that to happen before the end of the year.
At issue in Graham’s subpoena dispute are calls the senator made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) and his staff in which prosecutors said in court filings the senator asked about “reexamining certain absentee ballots” in the state to “explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.” Graham’s lawyers have rejected that characterization and said he was gathering information in advance of a vote to certify the election for Biden and to co-sponsor election-related legislation.
Graham was critical of the investigation this week, telling Fox News in an interview that prosecutors should not be allowed to call members of Congress as witnesses “when they are doing their job.” He warned that such questioning upsets the constitutional separation of powers and vowed to continue to fight the subpoena in court. | 2022-09-01T18:26:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Georgia judge says Sen. Lindsey Graham must testify in 2020 election probe - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/lindsey-graham-georgia-testify/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/lindsey-graham-georgia-testify/ |
At least in acreage
Candidate Mary Peltola (D) celebrates after results are announced for the special election in which she won the race for Alaska's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Aug. 31 in Anchorage. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News/AP)
One of the long-standing truisms in American politics is that dirt doesn’t vote. Ours is a big country in both land area and population, making it tricky at times to accurately represent election results. We’re all familiar with those maps of presidential election results, which in recent years have been seas of red even as the votes themselves leaned distinctly blue. (One former U.S. president is particularly fond of this discrepancy.)
Recognizing all of that, something interesting happened this week that’s related to this phenomenon. The victory of Mary Peltola in Alaska’s special election for its sole House seat meant that her Democratic Party suddenly doubled the amount of U.S. dirt it represents — even as it added only one-fifth of 1 percent of the population to its total.
The special election was unusual in a number of ways. The death of Rep. Don Young (R) in March meant that a seat he had held for nearly 50 years was suddenly vacant. The election was the first federal contest since Alaska implemented a ranked-choice voting system, meaning that a race that in previous years would have been between one Democrat and one Republican (and perhaps an independent or third-party candidate) was suddenly more open.
Peltola won not because she was the first choice for a majority of voters but because she was the preferred candidate for more than half as the race narrowed. And her win reshaped the national map quite dramatically, if only literally.
At the start of the 117th Congress in January 2021, the Democratic Party held 222 seats. Thanks to the party’s overperformance in heavily urban areas — geographically small places where a lot of people live — that majority made up a bit less than one-sixth of the country’s area.
With Peltola’s win (and factoring in other changes since January 2021, such as the addition of two other new members later this month), the amount of dirt represented by the Democrats surges to almost a third of U.S. land area. (For the purposes of this exercise, I am including in the land-area calculations only places with voting members of the House, meaning no D.C., Puerto Rico or other territories.) Win one seat, double geographic representation.
This is mostly an interesting trivia question answer, to be fair. But tracking this statistic over time is interesting. I went back and pulled the same numbers for each new Congress at the start of the past four decades. Here’s the evolution.
Notice that the percentage of area represented by Democrats has fallen even as the percentage of seats held has stayed flat or increased. That’s a function in part of how compact many urban districts have gotten.
If we look at area represented relative to seats held, you can see that while the average density for Democrats has fallen, the average for Republicans hasn’t changed much. (I’ll point out that these charts use different vertical scales; the value for Democrats has always been substantially lower.)
And then on the right in each graph, the big shift represented by Peltola’s victory.
Again, this doesn’t really mean much politically, if it means anything at all. But part of the reason that the average for Republicans hasn’t fallen much is that the party has consistently held Alaska. Take Alaska out of the mix, and the GOP graph looks like this.
In other words, the previous chart looked the way it did primarily because of Alaska. Or, more precisely, primarily because of Don Young. | 2022-09-01T18:26:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Flipping one House seat, Democrats now represent twice as much of the U.S. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/01/alaska-peltola-democrats-land/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/01/alaska-peltola-democrats-land/ |
First-grade students in Nove Zalissya, Ukraine, get ready for a class photo on the first day of school. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/For The Washington Post)
The seven-year-old, who was entering the first grade in the western city of Lviv, wore a traditional embroidered Ukrainian shirt, a vyshyvanka, with blue and yellow ribbons, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, tied around his neck.
Nikita is starting his final year of high school as one of the few young people living in the front-line city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region. Russian forces have been shelling the city, driving out 80 percent of its population of 80,000. One strike hit School No. 11, where Nikita was enrolled.
“All right, if that’s what’s needed, then — okay,” Bohdan answered, according to his dad. | 2022-09-01T18:47:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | In Ukraine, war overshadows the first day of school - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/ukraine-war-school-children/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/ukraine-war-school-children/ |
Trump vows pardons, government apology to Capitol rioters if he’s elected
Violent insurrectionists loyal to then-President Donald Trump storm the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (John Minchillo/AP)
Supporters of the former president attacked the Capitol as Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s electoral college win in the 2020 election, the worst attack on the seat of democracy in more than two centuries. The insurrection left four people dead and an officer who had been sprayed with a powerful chemical irritant, Brian D. Sicknick, suffered a stroke and died the next day. Some 140 members of law enforcement were injured as rioters attacked them with flagpoles, baseball bats, stun guns, bear spray and pepper spray.
Trump’s comments to Bell came on the same day President Biden is scheduled to deliver a prime-time address in Philadelphia warning of extremist threats to American democracy and efforts to rescue “the soul of our nation.”
Trump, during his conversation with Bell on Thursday morning, also said he met with some Jan. 6 defendants in his office this week and that he is helping some financially.
The former president, who has not officially announced a 2024 presidential bid but is highly expected to do so, said that, if “I decide to run, and if I win, I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons, full pardons.”
“That is probably going to be best, because even if they go for two months or six months [to jail], they have sentences that could go a lot longer than that,” the president said.
“We’re working on it very hard, we’re working with legal,” Trump said, though he also did not offer further details about how he’s “financially supporting” rioters.
And while Trump appears to be touting his generosity toward his supporters who participated in the deadly riot, as the Daily Beast reported in May and August last year, the former president has notably refused to pay the legal fees of his attorney and close ally Rudy Giuliani, who faces multiple investigations in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The president then launched into a plea that “contributions should be made” to defendants’ legal funds, though he did not promote any specific giving channel.
“I’m looking at it very carefully … I’ve studied cases,” Trump said. “We have to do it, because they have some good lawyers but even [with] the good lawyers … you get some of these judges that are so, so nasty and so angry and mean.”
Trump said he and his team will be “looking very, very seriously at full pardons because we can’t let that happen.”
It’s been nearly 20 months since the deadly riot, and to date, more than 370 rioters have pleaded guilty to federal charges or been convicted at trial, and more than 220 have been sentenced. More than 800 defendants have been arrested and federally charged from nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The longest punishment handed down so far in the attack was given a month ago to Guy Reffitt, a recruiter for the right-wing Three Percenters movement in Texas, who was convicted this year of five felony offenses, including obstruction of Congress as it met to certify the 2020 election result, interfering with police and carrying a firearm to a riot, and threatening his teenage son, who turned him in to the FBI.
Last week, Joshua Pruitt, a member of the far-right group the Proud Boys who instigated the Capitol mob and who menaced Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) during the attack, was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Investigators found that Pruitt was planning for full battle at the Capitol.
Pruitt pleaded guilty in June to obstructing an official proceeding, and federal sentencing guidelines suggested 51 to 63 months in prison, in part because he has a lengthy criminal history. While Pruitt, a D.C. bartender, acknowledged that he broke laws, during his sentencing he said he “did believe the election was stolen. I still do.”
On Thursday, a Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to a chemical-spray assault on three police officers in the Jan. 6 attack, including Sicknick. | 2022-09-01T18:51:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Trump says he would issue full pardons and government apology to rioters who stormed the Capitol Jan. 6 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/trump-jan-6-rioters-pardon/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/trump-jan-6-rioters-pardon/ |
There’s little stopping summer in D.C. area this September
We project a somewhat hotter- and drier-than-normal month ahead
August's final sunset in Washington on Wednesday. (Jim Havard/Flickr)
While it’s now meteorological fall (defined as September through November), September can be a summer sibling in many ways. Washington can experience strong heat and humidity at times during the ninth month.
In the coming weeks we expect it will generally feel more like summer than fall. For September overall, we project temperatures will average 1 to 2 degrees warmer than the monthly norm (which is 72.4 degrees — averaging daytime and nighttime temperatures).
Meanwhile, the dry conditions that commenced in August will probably continue. We’re predicting about one inch less rainfall than normal during the upcoming month (the 30-year average is 3.93 inches).
Parts of the Washington region are parched, and it might get even drier
Explaining our outlook
Computer model simulations generally favor near normal to above-normal temperatures and normal to below-normal rainfall for the first half of the month:
The projected above-normal temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic are modest, which means highs mainly in the mid- to upper 80s with moderately humid conditions.
Precipitation simulations are more mixed, but the models mostly lean toward drier-than-normal conditions in the Mid-Atlantic but above-normal amounts in the Southeast.
September is the peak of hurricane season, and it takes just the remnants from one storm to give rainfall totals a big boost. But so far this year, the Atlantic hurricane season has been remarkably quiet.
The National Weather Service updated its September outlook Wednesday and projects warmer-than-normal conditions over much of the United States, including the D.C. area. Its outlook calls for equal chances of above-normal, normal or below-normal rainfall.
The presence of La Niña tends to favor warm and dry weather in our region during the fall, but past events have resulted in variable outcomes, particularly for precipitation.
Recapping August and meteorological summer
We’re predicting September to be similar to August in a lot of ways. August finished 1 degree hotter than normal, and it was on the dry side.
The average temperature of 80.4 degrees ranked as the 12th-hottest August on record. The monthly rainfall of 2.42 inches was 0.83 inches drier than normal, and the 49th driest on record (since 1871).
Our August outlook called for an average temperature between 79 and 80 degrees, and so was just slightly off. Our rainfall projection of 3.25 to 6.25 inches was too aggressive.
Extreme weather took a pause during the month with no records set. Our hottest temperature was 97 degrees Aug. 9. Our rainiest day was Aug. 4, when 0.93 inches fell — the same day as the deadly lightning strike near the White House.
Washington’s summer, by the meteorological definition of June through August, averaged 79.2 degrees, which is 0.3 degrees above the recent 30-year normal. It marked the 15th-hottest summer on record, even though it was the coolest since 2017. Rainfall managed to record 1.21 inches more than normal, despite the dry August.
So far, 2022 is tracking slightly drier and cooler than last year, but slightly warmer and wetter than the recent 30-year average. For now, 2012 continues to be the hottest year ever recorded in Washington.
To this point, Washington has seen 36 days at or above 90 degrees, which is exactly normal. In a typical September, we would see four more, though we have a decent chance to exceed that this year. | 2022-09-01T18:51:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | September D.C. weather outlook: Warmer and drier than normal - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/09/01/theres-little-stopping-summer-dc-area-this-september/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/09/01/theres-little-stopping-summer-dc-area-this-september/ |
Why California wants to give residents $1,000 not to have a car
Amid a climate-policy bonanza, California passed a bill to give an incentive for living car-free
A cyclist maneuvers his way through downtown Los Angeles traffic on in 2014. (Richard Vogel/AP)
Amid a bonanza of measures passed to cut the state’s carbon emissions as fast as possible, the California legislature approved a $1,000 refundable tax credit to poorer Californians who don’t own vehicles. It will head to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who is expected to sign it.
The bill offers the tax credit to single-filers earning up to $40,000 and joint-filers making up to $60,000 who live without personal cars. And, because the tax credit is refundable, Golden State residents can claim the full amount even if they don’t have $1,000 in tax liability.
The move, which comes a little more than a week after California decided to ban the sales of new gas-only powered vehicles, represents the state’s latest attempt to lead the United States in ambitious climate policy. In a marathon legislative session, the state also passed a law requiring 3,200-foot “buffer zones” between oil wells and buildings such as schools or day-care centers, approved a plan to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open, and finally, set goals to generate 90 percent of electricity from clean sources by 2035 and cut greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2045.
“There has never been a year like this on climate,” David Weiskopf, a senior policy adviser at NextGen Policy, said in a statement. “I could not be more proud of what our state has accomplished.”
The new tax credit aims to make a small dent in California’s famous road congestion and to provide low-income households with extra funding to make use of public transportation.
“SB 457 will be a dramatic attempt to remedy the challenges of not owning a car in California,” Marc Vukcevich, a state policy advocate at the nonprofit Streets For All, said in a statement. “SB 457 incentives folks to not own a car, rewards them for that good behavior, and provides them money for alternative forms of transportation.”
The United States is unlikely to hit its climate goals without a significant decrease in personal car ownership and driving. Thanks to a combination of car-centric urban planning and suburban sprawl, Americans annually drive a total of 3 trillion miles. According to the energy think-tank RMI, the United States must cut vehicle miles traveled 20 percent by 2030 to keep warming below 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) — and that is true even in scenarios of aggressive EV adoption.
“As the impacts of climate change are felt across our state, it’s time we more aggressively commit to implementing modes of sustainable transportation,” state Sen. Anthony J. Portantino (D), the author of the bill, said in a statement. “SB 457 is an important step towards that goal.” | 2022-09-01T19:04:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why California wants to give residents $1,000 not to have a car - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/01/why-california-wants-give-residents-1000-not-have-car/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/01/why-california-wants-give-residents-1000-not-have-car/ |
Members of the Board of State Canvassers listen to attorneys during a Wednesday hearing in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
But like children crying “No fair!” every time they lose at a game, the Republican Party has decided that any outcome democracy produces that it does not like — an election won by a Democrat, a policy decision made by a Democratic administration — is illegitimate by definition. And with each passing week, it’s coming up with new, and sometimes shocking, ways to reject this foundational bargain.
Meanwhile, in Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola just won a special election for the state’s only U.S. House seat. The election was run under a new ranked-choice voting system approved by Alaskans in a 2020 ballot measure; voters list their choices in order, and if no candidate gets 50 percent or more in the first round, candidates at the bottom are eliminated and peoples’ second-choice votes are allocated to the remaining candidates.
The reason is obvious: A significant number of Alaskans — perhaps the kind who keep reelecting moderate Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski — don’t like Palin. But as far as many Republicans are concerned, if a system chosen by Alaskans doesn’t produce a Republican victory, that means it’s a scam.
As Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) tweeted after the results were announced, “Ranked-choice voting is a scam to rig elections.” This is now the standard GOP response: If we lost, it was “rigged.” Just wait until someone tells Cotton about the electoral college, a scheme that allows a candidate who won fewer votes than their opponent to become president of the United States!
It doesn’t stop with elections; the default Republican response to legislation passed by a Democratic Congress or a policy decision made by a Democratic president is now to file lawsuits seeking to have the courts — which have been stacked with partisan Republican hacks — strike them down. Republicans are already preparing lawsuits against President Biden’s decision to forgive some student loans, in the hope that the right judges, and ultimately the Supreme Court, will find some ridiculous excuse to quash it. | 2022-09-01T19:05:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | In Michigan, one of the most brazen GOP attacks on democracy yet - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/michigan-abortion-initiative-republican-attack-on-democracy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/michigan-abortion-initiative-republican-attack-on-democracy/ |
A car leaves the Russian-occupied Kherson region of Ukraine by way of a makeshift bridge. (Heidi Levine/FTWP)
KHERSON OBLAST, Ukraine — Ukraine’s military has kept Ukrainians and the world guessing about the counteroffensive it claims to have launched in this Russian-occupied territory, but Oleksander Skovorodka already feels a shift.
The 32-year-old resident of Kamyane, a village surrounded by Russian forces, said the pitch of artillery volleys from both directions has ramped up. He and his neighbors have watched Ukrainian attack helicopters buzz the treetops on their way south. On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian military vehicles plied the dirt lane in the oblast’s northwest corner where he and his wife, Taisia, were driving on their way to buy food.
“We can hear more fighting, more shelling,” he said. “The Russians are just over there.”
The lane is one of the routes that lets them avoid areas controlled by the Russian invaders, who now occupy nearly all of this 11,000-square-mile strategically vital region, including its capital, the Black Sea port city of Kherson.
The lane skirts forests and pastures and leads to a makeshift bridge of gravel and pipes across the Inhulets River, which divides Kherson from Ukrainian-controlled regions to the north and west. In recent days, Kherson residents have used the crossing to flee the fighting, most of them heading to the nearby city of Kryvyi Rih.
“They cross every day,” said Oleksander Pokusayev, who lives in the adjacent village of Shestirnya, just inside free Ukraine. He had ridden his Soviet-era Voskhod motorcycle to the Kherson side of the bridge, where he frequently fishes. “I saw two minibuses full of people earlier today,” he said.
With the only official crossing more than 100 miles to the north in Zaporizhzhia — an abandoned village where access is controlled by opposing armies at either end of a tense no man’s land — evacuees increasingly must find other options. Some are swimming the Inhulets, which is what Pokusayev’s sister-in-law did when she fled Russian occupiers in the village of Borozenske.
“She had to walk through forests for two days. She swam across and Ukrainian soldiers helped her to safety,” he said. “Her husband is still in the occupied side.”
As he was talking, a Ukrainian patrol came along, stopping to check on the safety of four Washington Post journalists. Because of the offensive, and increasing maneuvers by both sides, the Ukrainian soldiers said the Kherson side of the river was increasingly unsafe.
“It’s very risky here now,” said one soldier, who asked not to be identified by name or unit. “The Russians are very close and their weapons are not very precise. Their rockets can go anywhere.”
Kherson was the first strategically important city captured by Russia at the start of the invasion in late February, and the broader Kherson region helps form Russian President Vladimir Putin’s coveted “land bridge” to Crimea, which Russian invaded and annexed in 2014.
Residents of the area have seen control of villages in Kherson swing back and forth. After Russians seized many of the communities in the early weeks of the invasion, Ukrainian forces pushed across the Inhulets in May, liberating several of them. Ukrainian troops used Pokusayev’s village as a base for more than a month of shelling in advance of that push.
Now, residents hope the new offensive will push the Russians out of artillery range. So far, however, the shelling has only worsened.
“They still hit a lot of houses; they try to hit the church,” he said, pointing at the gold dome visible across the river. “My house has been shot twice.”
For months, Western intelligence and military analysts have said Ukraine was preparing a major campaign to retake Kherson and the surrounding territory. The regional capital, a gateway between the Dnieper River and the Black Sea, is a major economic hub.
Ukraine hopes that retaking the region from the Russians — who were reportedly planning to stage a referendum in advance of annexing it as part of Russia — will swing momentum its way in what has become a stalemated war.
It is unclear whether the operation launched Monday is the predicted large-scale campaign.
Information from inside Kherson has been scarce. Military officials have barred reporters from accessing front-line areas across the country through at least Monday, a level of restrictions unprecedented in the six months since the start of the Russian onslaught. They have asked Ukrainians to be patient and warned that operational security means information about the campaign will be slow to emerge.
“It’s going to take as long as needed and nobody is going to rush it because people expect something dramatic and exciting,” said Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Ukrainian defense minister who now runs the Center for Defense Strategies, a military think tank in Kyiv. “They’re going to be doing it safely, whatever time it takes,” Zagorodnyuk said.
Ukrainian officials said “tough battles” were raging within the oblast and that their forces had destroyed numerous weapons depots and command posts. At the beginning of the campaign, Ukraine said it demolished major bridges across the Dnieper, cutting Russian supply routes.
Russia has acknowledged that a major campaign is underway but said that it has already had a heavy toll in Ukrainian lives, tanks and equipment. Wounded soldiers have reportedly begun to arrive in Mykolaiv, a coastal city just outside the oblast’s western border.
A Pentagon official on Monday verified an “uptick” in fighting inside Kherson, including artillery and rocket attacks, but could not confirm that a major counteroffensive was underway.
The information vacuum has left Kherson residents in and out of the territory scrambling to find out more. In Kryvyi Rih, where the city government has set up 89 shelters to house more than 35,000 evacuees from Kherson, people who fled the fighting scroll through Telegram channels and chat groups to find out what is happening at home.
Svetlana Kulybanych, 60, and her family are living in a Kryvyi Rih orphanage that has been converted into a shelter. She regularly phones one of the few friends who has remained in their home city of Nova Kakhovka, 25 miles from the city of Kherson.
Something big is definitely happening, the friend reported Wednesday.
“She said the Ukrainians are shelling in the city and they have destroyed a lot of depots and places where the Russians stored their equipment,” Kulybanych said. “Now the Russians are hiding between the buildings.”
If this is Ukraine’s big push to expel the Russians, Kulybanych prays that the troops prevail soon. She and her husband, who is recovering from a heart attack he suffered on the day of the invasion, want to go home.
“We want to start rebuilding while are still young and strong enough to do it,” she said. | 2022-09-01T19:21:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | In Kherson, Ukrainian military offensive aims to retake occupied lands - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/ukraine-russia-kherson-military-offensive/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/01/ukraine-russia-kherson-military-offensive/ |
Man who fled to Ethiopia after Va. couple’s killing is convicted of murder
Yohannes Nessibu remained free for almost two years after he was indicted. He was convicted of killing one person and is awaiting trial in the other slaying.
Kedest Simeneh (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)
A 28-year-old who police accused of fleeing to his native Ethiopia after killing a young couple in Virginia was convicted of first-degree murder, authorities announced Wednesday.
Yohannes Nessibu was convicted by a jury in the slaying of 22-year-old Kedest Simeneh, who was found fatally shot in the backyard of a Burke residence in December 2016. He is charged — but has yet to face trial — in the shooting of 22-year-old Henok Yohannes.
Relatives of the victims had said previously that detectives told them Nessibu had gone with a group to Yohannes’s home to purchase drugs, but the deal went awry, and Nessibu shot him. Nessibu then forced the people to drive to the Burke neighborhood where Simeneh was found shot, family members have said.
After the killings, Nessibu fled to Ethiopia, and the families of those slain grew anguished as he remained a free man — even though he had been indicted in Fairfax County in March 2017.
The United States wanted him returned to stand trial, but Ethiopia refused because it bars the extradition of its own citizens. He was ultimately arrested and brought back to the U.S. in 2019, which a spokeswoman for the embassy of Ethiopia in Washington said was possible because he was an American citizen.
After a young couple was killed, the alleged gunman fled to Ethiopia.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano (D) said at a news conference Thursday that the guilty verdict had been a long time coming.
“I want the community to know that no matter how long it takes, this office will do whatever it takes to bring accountability to somebody that would hurt a member of our Fairfax County community,” Descano said.
Descano said trials for the two killings had been separated from each other, and he hoped the other would be scheduled before Nessibu’s sentencing in February 2023.
“With the guilty verdict that we got, Mr. Nessibu is already facing life in prison,” Descano said.
Descano said he hopes the verdict puts the victim’s family on the path to closure.
“After the verdict was read yesterday, there were a number of the victim’s family in the courtroom and there was just a palpable sense of relief,” Descano said. “This happened six years ago, so to be living with that pain for six years and to finally see the person who did this to your family be held accountable? Joy is too strong of a word because it’s not a joyous occasion, but the sense of relief was palpable.” | 2022-09-01T19:43:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Murder conviction for man who fled to Ethiopia after couple’s killing - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/yohannes-nessibu-ethiopia-flee-conviction/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/01/yohannes-nessibu-ethiopia-flee-conviction/ |
(AlphaFold)
Proteins are the doers of biology. In the human body, they perform most of the work in cells and are required for the structure, function and regulation of the body’s tissues and organs. Each protein is made of a precise sequence of amino acids that allows it to fold up into a three-dimensional shape determining its function. In the past, the all-important structure of a protein could only be captured by difficult and time-consuming laboratory analysis. Now comes a dramatic new turn — a window on life’s basic building blocks.
DeepMind, a U.K.-based firm that is part of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has developed an artificial intelligence and machine learning system that can predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins, decoding the amino acids that make up each protein. Last year, the system had 350,000 entries. Then on July 28, DeepMind co-founder and chief executive Demis Hassabis announced the expansion of the company’s database of folded proteins to more than 200 million — nearly all catalogued proteins known to science, including those in humans, plants, bacteria, animals and other organisms — and making them publicly available and free, accessible with no more effort than a Google search. The database is called AlphaFold, and it is the equivalent of a James Webb Space Telescope for biology, providing astounding new visuals of a world beyond.
Proteins don’t fold neatly like dishtowels. Many look like a skein of yarn after a cat has played with it. They often have precisely engineered moving parts that are linked to chemical events and, most importantly, bind to other molecules. For example, antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system that bind to foreign molecules, such as those on the surface of an invading virus, such as the spikes on the coronavirus. Thus, scientists have sought for decades to learn the exact folding of proteins and their functions. Researchers have long used a technique known as X-ray crystallography to better grasp proteins’ structure, and the field’s central repository contains some 185,000 experimentally-solved structures.
Émile P. Torres: How AI could accidentally extinguish humankind
Then came artificial intelligence. AlphaFold algorithms learned how to predict the protein folding based on the underlying amino acid sequence, leading to an explosion of new information. Another project called RoseTTAFold at the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design is on a similar quest. The protein folding predictions will need verification in some cases by real-world experiments. But for drug and vaccine developers wanting to know how a protein looks or behaves, the prediction itself — a visual representation — can provide a remarkable leg up. Both the journals Science and Nature Methods cited the breakthrough as the most important of 2021.
Using these new methods, researchers have been able to explore the nuclear pore complex, which acts as a kind of gatekeeper for everything that goes in and out of the cell nucleus. It contains more than 1,000 protein subunits, woven together, so it is a difficult jigsaw puzzle for scientists. Using AlphaFold, researchers were able to create a model nearly twice as complete as the old one, covering two-thirds of the complex.
AlphaFold does not reveal all of biology’s mysteries, nor is it the only advance needed for drug development or disease fighting. But the views are truly astonishing. | 2022-09-01T20:01:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | New research on proteins promises drug breakthroughs, and much else - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/proteins-research-drugs-ai/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/proteins-research-drugs-ai/ |
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