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A sign reads "HELP" in a cell window, as seen during a tour by state officials at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., in 2019. (Kim Chandler/AP)
Imagine spending most of the day locked in a small, windowless room. There is little to no natural light, no meaningful human interaction and nothing to break the monotony of being alone. No wonder Nelson Mandela described solitary confinement as “the most forbidding aspect of prison life.” This grotesque practice is a form of torture — one that is too common in the United States.
Thankfully, that might be changing. A new survey from the Correctional Leaders Association and Yale Law School’s Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law found that solitary confinement — which it defined as holding a person in isolation for at least 22 hours per day for 15 days or longer — is being used far less in U.S. prisons. Extrapolating from data from 34 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the report estimates that between 41,000 and 48,000 people in prisons were subject to this treatment in the summer of 2021. In 2014, when organizations first conducted the survey, that estimate was 80,000 to 100,000.
That thousands fewer people have to endure these conditions each year is something to be celebrated. Solitary confinement causes unimaginable psychological trauma and leads to increased risk of depression, anxiety and psychosis. Thanks to persistent work from advocates and survivors, more Americans are aware of its harms: A 2021 poll by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation found that 5 in 6 voters believe solitary confinement should be greatly restricted. This sentiment no doubt played a role in curtailing use of this cruel and unusual punishment.
Yet too many Americans are still held in “restricted” or “segregated” housing. According to the report, nearly a quarter of those in solitary confinement had been kept in isolation for more than a year. Black women are disproportionately placed in these settings. And while conditions vary by prison and system, many intolerable practices continue; for example, 10 jurisdictions reported that lights remained on in these cells overnight. Such rules further dehumanize people.
Since 2018, more than 25 states have introduced legislation to restrict the use of solitary confinement. New York’s Halt Act, which came into effect in April, prohibits “segregated confinement” (for more than 17 hours a day) for people with disabilities and those younger than 21 or older than 55. It also limits the duration people can be held in isolation. Connecticut and Colorado have enacted recent measures, and a bill in California passed the state legislature last week.
This progress is encouraging but piecemeal — and would benefit from federal leadership. As a candidate, President Biden promised to end “the practice of solitary confinement, with very limited exceptions.” That is the right goal; there are cases in which physical separation is necessary to protect a prisoner’s safety, for example. But this should be a rare last resort, and in conditions that limit, rather than enhance, the toll of isolation.
In May, Mr. Biden directed Attorney General Merrick Garland to produce a report on the Justice Department’s policies to ensure “restrictive housing in Federal detention facilities is used rarely, applied fairly, and subject to reasonable constraints.” That should only be the first step in a broader push to drastically scale back this inhumane practice. | 2022-09-06T18:53:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Solitary confinement is torture. U.S. prisons should stop using it. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/solitary-confinement-torture-prison/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/solitary-confinement-torture-prison/ |
A Trump judge’s appalling Mar-a-Lago order signals a grim future
Government documents, including classified material, discovered on Aug. 8 during a search by FBI agents at former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. (Department of Justice/AFP)
“Nutty. Crazy.” “Twisting the law into a pretzel.” “A poorly sewn-together fabric of factual misstatements and legal BS.” “Laughably bad.” “So bad it’s hard to know where to begin. … Frankly, any of my first-year law students would have written a better opinion.”
Those were some of the reactions from legal experts to U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s decision to grant Donald Trump’s request for a special master to review documents seized from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in an August search that turned up boxes full of classified, secret and top-secret information. The request could push resolution of the case past the 2024 election.
That this judge would give Trump whatever he wanted was, sadly, not a surprise. She was appointed by Trump and confirmed after his defeat but before Democrats took control of the Senate in 2021. We’ve come to expect that if that’s how someone got on the bench, they’ll likely show themselves to be a Trumpist political operative in a robe, rather than an objective jurist.
This is our new reality. Nearly every political controversy will include a vital legal component, in which Republicans find a friendly Trump judge to grant whatever preposterous request they make, injecting the courts in place after place they have little or no business meddling.
In some cases (including this one) it might merely slow things down, giving the GOP time to press its advantage or avoid disaster. In other cases it will give Republicans an outright victory, on their policy goals or the procedures that help them win more elections. But we’re now in an era in which the courts are more political than ever.
This is not an accident, and while it suits Trump perfectly, it was not his design. He was the vehicle of a transformation planned and executed by the Federalist Society, the wider conservative legal movement, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). The plan was not just to install as many conservative judges as possible, but to politicize the courts in an unprecedented way.
That’s why Trump’s appointees were qualitatively different from those of previous Republican presidents. The Bushes and Ronald Reagan appointed lots of conservative judges, but they also tended to have substantial legal credentials. Even as they leaned toward conservative outcomes, they also maintained a foundation of respect for the system and the law — and they usually (though not always) had some shame, a desire to maintain a reputation as fair and objective jurists.
That is most assuredly not how the average judge appointed by Trump sees their role. Cannon’s ruling is the latest example, but we’ve seen others before. Back in April, District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Florida issued a nationwide injunction ending the mask mandate on interstate travel, on the ludicrous grounds that stopping the spread of an airborne virus by requiring masks on planes and trains was outside the purview of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Everyone knew what was really going on. Mizelle’s legal analysis was inane, but it didn’t have to be grounded in any reasonable reading of the law. All that mattered was that she delivered the outcome Republicans wanted.
Like Cannon, Mizelle was confirmed after Trump lost the election. Like a number of Trump’s other nominees, Mizelle was rated “Not Qualified” by the American Bar Association, but every Republican present in the Senate voted to confirm her, conservatives and alleged “moderates” alike. They knew exactly what they were getting, and it was just what they wanted.
The shift in GOP thinking on the judiciary from “We want conservative judges” to “We want partisan hacks” didn’t start with Trump. You may recall that Republicans decided the extremely conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was a traitor because he didn’t want to strike down the Affordable Care Act on the dubious grounds Republicans had offered in their many lawsuits against it.
That’s because they now have a basic expectation that, if you’re a Republican-appointed judge, it’s your job to nullify laws passed by Democratic Congresses and to keep Democratic presidents from carrying out their agendas. And if a former Republican president is under investigation for crimes, GOP-appointed judges must make sure the law treats him with a deference afforded no other suspect.
This is our future as long as Trump judges remain on the bench. In every election, every issue debate, and every controversy, the first thing Republicans will do is prepare their lawsuits and start shopping for Trump judges who will be guaranteed to rule in their favor.
They won’t win every case; they did fail to get the courts to overturn the 2020 election, and even the right-wing supermajority on the Supreme Court will rule against them from time to time. But they got the judiciary they wanted, one dominated by hacks whose respect for the law will almost always yield to the GOP’s partisan interests. And they’re going to use it. | 2022-09-06T18:53:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Trump judge's appalling order in Mar-a-Lago case signals a grim future - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/trump-judge-mar-a-lago-documents-grim-future/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/trump-judge-mar-a-lago-documents-grim-future/ |
Grant, a high-ranking officer in his local Freemasonry chapter, is one of 20 individuals — most of whom are Black — charged by an elections police force created by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to pursue allegations of election fraud and improper voting. Those arrested are all accused of voting in violation of a state law that forbids those convicted of murder or felony sexual offenses from casting ballots.
“If the state is unable to determine that these people were not eligible to vote, how on earth are these individuals themselves supposed to know?” asked Daniel A. Smith, a University of Florida political science professor and expert on state and national election laws. “It’s really unconscionable. … They’re punching down and targeting the low-hanging fruit.”
— Alice Crites in Washington contributed to this report | 2022-09-06T19:18:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Florida let them vote. Then DeSantis’s election police arrested them. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/04/desantis-election-police-voter-arrests/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjM1MTIwNzEiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjYyNDY4ODc4LCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjYzNjc4NDc4LCJpYXQiOjE2NjI0Njg4NzgsImp0aSI6IjQ1NmZlNzBlLTFiNDgtNDAwNS05ODk2LTM5YWFhYzg3MGVhMCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9uYXRpb24vMjAyMi8wOS8wNC9kZXNhbnRpcy1lbGVjdGlvbi1wb2xpY2Utdm90ZXItYXJyZXN0cy8ifQ.UEPZwddUtH7TXqLVAxQMy0AZbeCu8kDo2bmQ5jXNmz0&itid=gfta | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/04/desantis-election-police-voter-arrests/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjM1MTIwNzEiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjYyNDY4ODc4LCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjYzNjc4NDc4LCJpYXQiOjE2NjI0Njg4NzgsImp0aSI6IjQ1NmZlNzBlLTFiNDgtNDAwNS05ODk2LTM5YWFhYzg3MGVhMCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9uYXRpb24vMjAyMi8wOS8wNC9kZXNhbnRpcy1lbGVjdGlvbi1wb2xpY2Utdm90ZXItYXJyZXN0cy8ifQ.UEPZwddUtH7TXqLVAxQMy0AZbeCu8kDo2bmQ5jXNmz0&itid=gfta |
But executive privilege is different from attorney-client privilege. Broadly, executive privilege is a president’s interest in maintaining the confidentiality of communications with the most senior presidential advisors.
At best, that’s a biased reading of the Supreme Court’s precedent on executive privilege. At worst, it flouts that precedent. Cannon’s ruminations don’t make new law; as a district court judge, she doesn’t have that power. But they do send a signal to the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (a court with a majority of Trump appointees) and to the Supreme Court a direction they could take if they want to block the Department of Justice from using materials seized in the search.
In practical terms, Cannon’s order extends the timeline of the current investigation. A special master review could take weeks or even months. If the Justice Department appeals, the process could extend substantially further — the Court of Appeals would have to rule and ultimately the issue would be brought to the Supreme Court. That leaves the Department of Justice with a tricky choice: Save time by letting the district judge’s ruling stand or try to thwart the judge’s proposed game plan by appealing. If it were me, I might let this ruling remain in place, since it does not actually make any new law — that’s beyond Cannon’s powers — but rather hints that new law might be made by other, more-senior courts.
• On Climate Change, Republicans Need a Crash Course in Capitalism: Michael R. Bloomberg
• US Political Dynasties Are in Decline. That’s Something to Celebrate: Jonathan Bernstein | 2022-09-06T19:27:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Do ‘Trump Judges’ Exist? We’re About to Find Out - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/do-trump-judges-exist-were-about-to-find-out/2022/09/06/3435d1c0-2e14-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/do-trump-judges-exist-were-about-to-find-out/2022/09/06/3435d1c0-2e14-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
West Baltimore must boil water after E.coli finding
Workers with the Baltimore City Department of Public Works distribute jugs of water to city residents at the Landsdowne Branch of the Baltimore County Library on Sept. 6 in Baltimore. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Parts of Baltimore City and Baltimore and Howard counties were under a boil water advisory Tuesday after officials found E. coli bacteria in the West Baltimore water supply.
During routine testing Friday, the Baltimore Department of Public Works found the bacteria in samples taken from the Sandtown-Winchester and Harlem Park communities, the department tweeted Sunday.
“We are confident that the positive results were not a result of the performance of the water treatment plants, which are operating up to code,” DPW tweeted, adding that the problem is not related to wastewater treatment.
DPW is trying to find the source of the contamination and is flushing the system continuously to replenish water supplies, as well as increasing chlorination in the affected area, according to a statement.
The boil water advisory comes as 150,000 residents of Jackson, Miss., are indefinitely without safe drinking water due in part to severe flooding that caused a water treatment plant to fail amid inadequate infrastructure.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said in a tweet late Monday that he received a briefing on the contamination from the state Department of the Environment, which is assisting Baltimore City officials.
Although E. coli was detected only in samples taken from West Baltimore locations, the city expanded the boil water advisory to parts of Baltimore and Howard counties as a precaution. The affected Southwestern Baltimore County neighborhoods include Arbutus, Halethorpe and Lansdowne.
The city issued a map of the impacted area.
In West Baltimore alone, about 1,500 homes and businesses — from Riggs Avenue to the north, Casey Street to the east, West Franklin Street to the south and Pulaski Street to the west — are affected.
Residents under a boil water advisory must use bottled or boiled water for drinking, preparing and cooking food and brushing teeth. This includes washing fruits and vegetables, making ice, preparing baby formula and washing dishes. Small children should be given sponge baths to help them avoid swallowing water.
Presence of E.coli bacteria indicate the water may have been contaminated by human or animal feces and can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea and headaches, and may pose greater health risks for infants, young children, the elderly and people with severely compromised immune systems, according to DPW.
The Baltimore Department of Public Works on Tuesday began distributing water in three locations — 1401 W. Lafayette Ave., Harlem Park Elementary/Middle School; 3301 Waterview Ave., Middle Branch Park; and 500 Third Ave., Landsdowne Library — with a limit of three gallons per household, DPW tweeted.
Baltimore County officials are working on a plan to purchase and distribute water in addition to the locations set up by the city. Baltimore County Public Schools provides bottled water to students and staff, and meals will be prepared in facilities outside the affected area. | 2022-09-06T19:27:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | West Baltimore must boil water after E.coli finding - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/06/baltimore-water-ecoli-sandtown-harlem/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/06/baltimore-water-ecoli-sandtown-harlem/ |
A legal battle over sensitive documents the FBI found at Mar-a-Lago has put a spotlight on a curious term
By Paul Schwartzman
Pages from an August court filing from the Department of Justice in response to a request the legal team of former president Donald Trump for a special master to review the documents seized during an Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago. (Jon Elswick/AP)
As a federal judge in Florida granted former president Donald Trump’s request for a special master on Monday, Americans could be forgiven for asking a simple question:
A special what?
The judicial system is famous for its thicket of impenetrable legalese, with terms like “nolo contendere” and “writ of certiorari” befuddling laypeople trying to keep up with courtroom drama. Now we have “special master,” an obscure honorific that has become the focus of unusual attention with U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s decision to appoint one to review sensitive documents the FBI seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August.
What, exactly, is so special about these special masters? Is that term even appropriate? And what are they masters of, anyway?
“It’s a fancy term for judge’s helper,” said David R. Cohen, a Cleveland-based lawyer who, at the request of various federal judges, has earned a comfortable living over the past two decades as a special master.
As dockets have grown over the years, Cohen said, judges have more frequently turned to these independent arbiters for help overseeing complex civil cases. The duties of a special master include helping to mediate disputes over document requests, drafting court orders and ensuring that those orders are followed.
“Special master work is the epitome of digging into the minutia,” said David Tenner, who is president of an association of special masters. “It’s the kind of minutia that judges typically don’t have time to do.”
Tenner says the work of a special master, much of which he can do at his Denver office, is less taxing than what he did as a trial attorney. Rather than interviewing witnesses and poring over documents as part of the process of building a case, “you’re just listening to what’s being told to you and making the call,” he says. “While other people might find it boring, I think it’s great.”
In one case, he got to dig into the minutiae of ballot machines. In another, he learned a ton about concrete. In another, it was cannabis. “It’s fun, it’s cool,” Tenner says of the work.
The special master in the Trump case faces an imposing task. Whomever the judge appoints for the role “should be someone with security clearance,” says Cohen, the Cleveland-based lawyer. "You want someone with a lot of gravitas. A retired judge, someone who used to be a federal judge.” In her ruling Monday, Cannon, who was nominated by Trump in 2020, ordered the former president’s lawyers and the Justice Department to submit names of possible appointees this week.
Trump’s legal team had contended that a special master is necessary to assess whether certain documents seized by the FBI should be returned to Trump because of attorney-client privilege and executive privilege. Justice Department attorneys argued that a special master would delay the department’s investigation and is unnecessary because its own “filter team” was assessing the documents.
In the end, Cannon ruled that a special master is needed “to ensure at least the appearance of fairness and integrity under the extraordinary circumstances.”
Whoever takes on the role is sure to face a level of notoriety that special masters are not accustomed to.
“I’d be afraid of what the consequences of ruling against the president would be,” says Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law School professor, referring to Trump. “I’d be wondering what the consequences of my decision would be — not just for the case — but also the people watching the case. The MAGA people.”
Lessig knows from experience that taking on the role of special master can be sticky business. He served as a special master in the Microsoft antitrust case during the late 1990s at the invitation of U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. “It was wonderful because it was an incredibly complicated case,” Lessig, a technology expert, says. But he also says he received “hateful” phone messages and “threatening” letters from the company’s supporters. A federal appeals court eventually removed him from the case after Microsoft opposed his appointment, arguing that he was biased against the company.
As a gesture of goodwill, Lessig said, Microsoft executives eventually invited him to a dinner at its Redmond, Wash., headquarters. “They were trying to be apologetic and say it was all business,” he says, adding that there were no hard feelings. “I took the money I earned and liquidated it into a new Audi.”
So where did all this special master business begin?
In England hundreds of years ago, says Amalia Kessler, a Stanford University Law School professor. By the 15th century, she says, British judges were assigning fact-finding work to clerks who were called masters. In the United States, “We called them ‘special’ because they’re not a group of masters associated with a particular court but appointed on a special basis, case by case,” says Kessler.
The role of special master is known mainly to judges and attorneys who deal in civil litigation. In one particularly well-known case, Congress appointed a special master, Kenneth R. Feinberg, to oversee the claims process for the Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund, a role that involved deciding the amount of money each victim’s family would receive. Courts also have assigned special masters to oversee troubled prisons and school districts, and to redraw congressional lines.
Kessler is concerned about the latitude judges are allowed in choosing special masters in their cases. “This is the Wild West of the law. There are no constraints,” she said. “It’s nuts. Why wouldn’t you have some requirements for making sure they’re competent? It seems like a recipe for a huge amount of variability.”
Merril Hirsh, the executive director of an association of special masters, says there have been discussions within the profession about establishing ways to review qualifications and establish rosters within states of special masters who are qualified for the role.
There have also been discussions about whether the title “master” is appropriate, says Hirsh, given its association with slavery. Similar discussions have occurred in the real estate industry, where some brokers now refer to “master” bedrooms as “primary” bedrooms. In June, Hirsh’s group decided to change its name from the Academy of Court-Appointed Masters to the Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals.
“No one really likes to have a master except a Saint Bernard,” Hirsh says. “It’s just bad branding. We want to promote this profession and we don’t want to defend a name that’s a poor description of what we do and some people find inappropriate or insensitive.”
Cohen, a former president of the academy, said he voted against changing the name. The title of special master, he said, “is a nice honorific, it carries just enough prestige. You need to be in a position of authority. It does what it’s supposed to do.”
“Now what am I?” he said of being referred to as a “neutral.” “Sounds like I’ve been neutered.” | 2022-09-06T19:27:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What is a special master? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/09/06/special-master-trump-documents/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/09/06/special-master-trump-documents/ |
A Juul vaping system with accessory pods. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D), who led the plaintiff effort, said in a statement that the settlement will send millions of dollars to programs aimed at reducing tobacco use.
FDA orders Juul e-cigarettes off the market over safety concerns
The settlement requires Juul to refrain from marketing to youths in a number of ways, including advertising in public transit or on billboards, paying influencers, or depicting anyone under 35 in advertisements.
Juul said in a statement that the settlement is part of its commitment to resolve its past issues.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said in a statement that when he launched that state’s investigation into Juul two years ago, he wanted the company to be held liable for past wrongdoing and for it to change its practices so they would comply with the law.
“This settlement helps accomplish both of those priorities,” Paxton said. “My commitment to protecting consumers from deceptive business practices is unwavering, and any company that misleads Texans, especially our youth, will be held accountable for their actions.” | 2022-09-06T19:28:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Juul to pay $439 million in settlement over marketing to teens - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/06/juul-settlement-vaping-advertising-teens/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/06/juul-settlement-vaping-advertising-teens/ |
With many pandemic-era travel restrictions in the rearview mirror, we are out in the world again. The winning entries in our 23rd annual photo contest were captured all over the globe, but they are connected by a common thread — gratitude. They share an appreciation for life’s everyday wonders, be they small (the tidiness of a shoeshine station or the shimmer of a fish’s scales) or large (the thrill of a lightning strike or the vast expanse of a night sky). Travel hones our awareness of wonder at any scale. Here are the three top winners and 10 honorable mentions in this year’s competition.
Judy Guenther/Judy Guenther
Judy Guenther, 73, Springfield, Va.
Guenther shot the winning image during a month-long trip to England and Northern Ireland in May. She and her husband, both amateur photographers who specialize in architecture, had visited London before, but never Leadenhall Market, a covered market that dates to the 14th century. She took this photo of a young woman shining a man’s shoes just before noon and was struck by the intimacy and order of the scene. “I’m a very neat and orderly person, and she’s obviously taking pride in what she’s doing,” she recalls. Guenther, who is a retired senior executive at the Pentagon, made the image black and white to emphasize the details, such as the neat rows of polish containers and brushes. She used an Olympus OM-1 film camera with a 40-150mm F2.8 lens, and shot at 52mm, a fast setting, to catch the motion without blurring.
Wes Tomer, 50, Arlington, Va.
Tomer photographed this scene on a trip to Geographic Harbor in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. He found himself on a beach with the grizzly bear cubs during a four-day Natural Habitat Adventures trip last September. The group visited several harbors to spot bears and had just disembarked from a tender. “We basically walked the bears’ path,” said Tomer, who is chief executive of a consulting firm. He shot the photo about 90 feet away from thee bears, using a Sony a7 III camera with Sony FE 100-400mm lens to capture the cubs’ expressive faces. The trip was one in a series Tomer has taken to photograph wild animals; he’s seen polar bears in Manitoba, Canada, mountain gorillas in Uganda and various animals on safaris. “It was amazing watching them and the guides did a great job explaining how to interact with them so they didn’t get spooked,” he said.
Stan Maupin, 73, Midlothian, Va.
Maupin took this photo during a June trip to Boneyard Beach in Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina. The beach is famous for its driftwood forest, a collection of bare trees that the waves swallow in high tide. Maupin mounted a Nikon Z6 II on a tripod and used a 20mm lens to capture this scene. Before that happened, he worked hard to get the shot: After seeing pictures of the beach at sunrise at an art gallery in Richmond, he made the nearly seven-hour drive and spent three hours on the beach waiting for optimum conditions; he took this photograph around midnight. It was a sticky, windy night and he frequently wiped sand from his camera lens, but he’s pleased with the final image. “I went for the trees,” he said. “The Milky Way is just a sky and if you didn’t have something in the foreground [the photos] would all look alike, and I thought the trees would be interesting and stark.”
Dennis DuBois, 74, Manassas, Va.
DuBois took this detail shot of a building in the Alfama neighborhood in Lisbon. A retired Navy captain who worked in the defense industry, DuBois happened upon the scene while wandering the narrow, winding cobblestone streets beneath St. George’s Castle on a June trip with his wife and another couple. He snapped the photo with a Canon Coolpix camera. “The contrast of textures from the coarse old stones to the crumbling plaster walls create an interesting visual, and the quaint blue window draws the viewer into the scene,” he said. He speculates that the fish on the door could be a Christian symbol or denote that a fisherman once lived there. For DuBois, the joy of travel photography doesn’t stop once a photo is taken — he often turns his pictures into oil paintings, and is excited about beginning this rendering.
Richard C. Brundage, 42, Washington, D.C.
The purple hues and orange horizon make it easy to mistake this scene for a Martian landscape, but it was captured at dawn along Skyline Rim in Factory Butte, Utah. Brundage, who works for the National Endowment for the Humanities, took the photo on a solo backcountry camping trip that had been rescheduled from 2020. He was drawn in by the remote area’s otherworldly vistas and majestic rock formations. Getting this shot took some planning: Brundage slept near the site and awoke about a half-hour before sunrise to mount a Canon EOS R5, fitted with a Canon 16-35mm wide-angle lens, on a tripod. Then he set the timer to two minutes and walked — very carefully — onto the outcropping. “My hands were shaking as I walked out there,” he recalled. He wore a red jacket to make the image pop and to combat the chilly morning air.
Suzanne Lugerner, 73, Potomac, Md.
Lugerner, a retired nurse, snapped this photo of a road runner in a hurry on a June trip to Rio Grande City, Tex. She was in South Texas on a photography trip with friends and hoped to capture mammals and birds she couldn’t see at home in Maryland. It was a hot morning, and Lugerner’s group had settled near a watering hole when she spotted this bird running toward her from across the water. She used a Sony a1 Mirrorless camera with a 200-600mm lens to take the photo and paid particular attention to keeping the bird’s eyes in focus. She took dozens of images, but “this was the one shot where he was coming straight at me, and I was quite thrilled with it.” Although she doesn’t consider herself a birder, Lugerner is a passionate bird photographer; she took up the hobby after retiring in 2014 and found wildlife her favorite subject to photograph.
Gabriel Lee, 66, Takoma, Wash.
Lee, a retired cardiologist, took this photo on the Grand Canyon’s South Rim during a lightning and monsoon photography workshop last August. The group checked the forecast, saw a thunder cell forming and drove to the location hoping to capture it. Lee set up quickly and snapped this image around 6:40 p.m. after about 15 minutes of waiting. He used a Nikon Z7 II camera with a Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-24mm lens; he also used a lightning trigger, a gadget that activates the shutter when lightning strikes. He was taken with the cloud’s mushroom shape and the contrast of the storm’s microclimate and the blue sky. “There’s something about capturing beautiful landscapes that’s hard to describe and you want to preserve that memory,” he said. “This lightning is probably 30 or 40 miles away, but even at that distance you can appreciate its tremendous force.”
Bill Engelhardt, 54, Highland, Md.
Engelhardt, a graphic designer, created this image during a June trip with his family to Bailey Island on Casco Bay in Harpswell, Maine. The state’s dark skies and lack of light pollution make it an ideal place to see and photograph the night sky. He hadn’t planned to take nighttime images but decided to after visiting this beach during the day. He went on two consecutive nights: the first with his two sons, when “the sky was crystal clear and you could see the Milky Way clear as day,” and the second alone, when he got this shot. Engelhardt stood on the beach “for a good hour” waiting for the clouds to part and snapped multiple photos with his Nikon D7500, which was mounted on a tripod and fitted with a Tamron 18-400mm lens; he took panoramic photos with a 20-second exposure over the course of about two hours. This image is a composite, as is typical with Milky Way photography.
Mike Warren, 64, Leavenworth, Wash.
Warren, a retired attorney, took this photo on the beach in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, after finishing a month-long language school session. When he turned 50, Warren decided he wanted to learn Spanish; he achieved an intermediate level during the pandemic, and this language school trip was the first trip he took after being vaccinated. As a student at the Instituto Estelar Bilingüe in Liberia, Costa Rica, Warren lived with a local host and spoke almost exclusively in Spanish. He explored Central America for about three weeks after school let out. While waiting for dinner at a beachside restaurant, Warren photographed a group of children playing soccer against the setting sun. “I knelt down in the sand and put my camera really low because I wanted the figures silhouetted against the spectacular sunset,” he said. He took multiple shots on his Sony a6300, which was fitted with an 18-105mm midrange telephoto lens. He is still out exploring — he took a call from The Post from Tromsø, Norway.
Steven Fishner, 68, New York
Fishner and his wife embarked on their first major post-pandemic trip, a three-week journey through Spain and France that had been postponed twice, in June. This photo was taken in Arcachon, a popular seaside resort town in southwest France, on a “magnificent, cool summer day.” The rest was serendipity: “We had a wonderful day walking along the beach and hiking, and we happened upon this house when we were walking back to our car,” Fishner remembered. The recently retired attorney and consultant snapped the photo with his iPhone 12 from across the street; he was struck by the bright yellow Citroen Deux Chevaux, an iconic French car, and how the colors popped in the natural light.
Mark Gadomski, 67, Hollywood, S.C.
Gadomski, a retired defense contractor, snapped this photo in the kitchen of Sobrino de Botín on a March trip to Madrid. The restaurant, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest in the world, is famous for its roasted suckling pigs, visible on the shelves to the left of the massive open hearth. In for lunch during a quiet afternoon, Gadomski was exploring the restaurant and happened upon the kitchen. He captured this scene with a Canon EOS M6 and a wide-angle 9-22mm lens; the petite camera is his go-to choice when traveling in big cities because it’s discreet and easy to pack. He came upon the scene unexpectedly and was impressed by the chef’s concentration. “It was hot in that oven area, and he was so intent on his work that I don’t think he noticed me.”
Paul Laurenza, 74, Fairfax, Va.
Laurenza took this photo during a photography group trip to Yellowstone National Park in February. The retired attorney got the shot at Midway Geyser Basin, on the final stop of a 10-hour day spent photographing wildlife and landscapes. Laurenza used a Sony a7 R II fitted with an 18-135mm telephoto lens. He shot at ISO 50 with an f20 setting. “Even though it was a fairly cloudy day, the light reflecting off the steam was so bright and I had to control for that exposure,” he said. Laurenza converted the nearly monochromatic image to black and white. “I used a light blocking filter and experimented with different settings to get the best exposure, which ended up being a slightly long exposure, so that’s why you see the soft look of water and steam.”
Gary Ziesés, 72, San Francisco
This photo of a group of grunt sculpin, or grunt-fish, was taken by Ziesés on a trip to Cozumel, Mexico, in January. A retired tech executive and certified scuba diver who has logged 1,000 dives, he used an Olympus TG-5 waterproof camera with a built-in lens to photograph the school of fish in a protected underwater marine park in the Mesoamerican Reef. He slowly swam toward the fish and used his flash to highlight their shimmer and coloring — the flash is instantaneous, so the fish weren’t startled and were on their way shortly after, he said. Underwater photography isn’t easy, but this shot presented an added challenge: The area is known for its “drift diving,” and the constant current makes it tough to stay in one place. “It made that image that much more special because it is more challenging here to get a good image because you’re getting pulled along by the current,” Ziesés said.
Ferry tales in the Pacific Northwest
What I’ve learned about Bavaria in beer gardens
Interviews and captions by Helen Carefoot. Photo editing by Mark Gail. | 2022-09-06T19:28:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 13 winning images from the Washington Post's 2022 Travel photo contest - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/interactive/2022/2022-photo-contest-winners/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/interactive/2022/2022-photo-contest-winners/ |
“Minor league Players have made it unmistakably clear they want the MLBPA to represent them and are ready to begin collective bargaining in order to positively affect the upcoming season,” Tony Clark, executive director of the players union, said in a statement Tuesday. (Richard Drew/AP Photo)
The announcement came just one week after the union made the surprising move to send out the cards to gauge interest, a move made to seize the momentum created by two-plus years of advocacy that pushed the low pay and challenging working conditions of the minors into a brighter spotlight than ever before. That minor leaguers would unionize never seemed imminent. That the MLBPA would serve as the organizing force behind their unionization was never obvious.
From July: Rob Manfred disputes premise that minor leaguers aren’t paid a living wage
Exactly what Manfred and MLB will do now remains to be seen. The league doesn’t exactly have a history of acquiescing to MLBPA requests, so voluntary recognizing the union right away would qualify as a surprise. If MLB does not recognize the union voluntarily, minor leaguers will hold an official election. If they vote to unionize with the MLBPA as their bargaining representative, the National Labor Relations Board will force the league and its owners to recognize the union, though how long that could take remains unclear, too.
But at this point, whenever it comes, a minor league players union would be arriving sooner than expected. Not a half decade ago, the whole thing would have been unthinkable, so entrenched were the ways of player development and the mind-set that speaking out would mark the end of a player’s career.
Yet thanks in large part to groups like Advocates for Minor Leaguers — a organization subsumed by the MLBPA as part of a consolidation of power ahead of unionization — the definition of “acceptable” for minor league players changed as quickly and smoothly as a Trea Turner slide.
Advocacy led to increased media attention on the unique circumstances under which minor league players operate. Lawsuits against MLB owners alleging wage violations and other antitrust missteps have pushed the league’s long-standing exemption into sudden scrutiny. The result will likely be a swift and sudden shift in the way MLB approaches its player development system, though unionization remains a complicated proposition.
Among the questions the MLBPA will face if the union becomes official is whether that bargaining entity can represent two groups (major and minor leaguers) whose interests may occasionally be in opposition. Put in more familiar terms, if one agent has multiple players on one team and negotiates with an owner for as much as that owner can possibly pay one player, that deal could change the equation for another player on the same team. If the same agent represents another player, he may not be able to get as much for that player as he would have if he hadn’t milked the owners for all they were worth for the first player.
The analogy isn’t perfect, of course, but people familiar with MLB’s bargaining process have expressed skepticism that the MLBPA will be able to represent both groups successfully. Owners have a set amount of money they are willing to spend. Will bargaining for the best deal for major league players come at the expense of the best possible deal for minor leaguers, or vice versa? The question, which may be premature, will be difficult to answer. But from the perspective of a group of players who have never had bargaining rights of any kind, that question will likely be a welcome one. | 2022-09-06T19:29:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Minor leaguers back MLBPA with union authorization cards - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/06/minor-league-unionization-mlbpa-authorization-cards/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/06/minor-league-unionization-mlbpa-authorization-cards/ |
Eric H. Holder Jr., former U.S. attorney general and now chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, seen in February. (Kristoffer Tripplaar for The Washington Post)
A 2022 report by the Democracy Initiative Education Fund ranked Maryland second, behind Colorado, in election integrity, voter confidence and voter rights. D.C. ranked 10th and Virginia, 11th.
Not bad for the DMV.
“The good news is,” writes Holder, “it remains to be seen whether these laws will achieve their desired ends — because studies have found that Republican attempts to strip people of the franchise can sometimes inspire Democrats to turn out in greater numbers. This isn’t to say the bills won’t flip some elections in favor of Republicans. … Nonetheless, this isn’t a reason to despair. It’s a reason to organize.”
Holder acknowledges the enormous efforts and great sacrifices that went into gaining the voting rights that we have. The killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson in Marion, Ala., the assassination of Medgar Evers in Jackson, Miss., the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in Philadelphia, Miss. The list of martyrs, going back to the founding of the country, is virtually endless.
When it comes to voting in the DMV, we’ve got it relatively easy. The least we can do is exercise that hard-earned right.
There’s a prowler on my home security camera. Do I get a dog or a gun? | 2022-09-06T19:40:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Eric Holder explains how to the save our democracy before its too late - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/06/eric-holder-got-close-up-view-backlash-obama-presidency/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/06/eric-holder-got-close-up-view-backlash-obama-presidency/ |
10.5 million children lost a parent or caregiver due to covid-19
‘Little is being done to care for children left behind,' warn authors of global study.
By Ariana Eunjung Cha
A pedestrian in a face mask walks by a mural of a child in Athens last November, as covid cases soared in Greece and elsewhere. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
More than 10.5 million children have lost one or both parents during the coronavirus pandemic — nearly double the previous estimates — according to new data out on Tuesday.
Southeast Asia and Africa suffered the greatest rate of losses, with one out of every 50 children impacted as compared to one out of 150 children in the Americas, according to the research letter published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Among the countries with the highest rates of parent and caregiver deaths are Bolivia, Peru, Namibia, Egypt, Bulgaria, South Africa, Ecuador, Eswatini, Botswana, and Guyana, the analysis found. Prior to the pandemic, there were an estimated 140 million orphaned children worldwide.
Children in countries with lower vaccination rates and higher fertility rates were more likely to be affected, according to the modeling analysis, which is based on deaths that exceeded what would normally be expected in a year. The numbers take account of deaths that occurred from January 2020 through May 2022 and were produced through a collaboration between modelers at the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Imperial College London, among others.
Susan Hillis, lead author and a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist now at the University of Oxford, called the findings “sobering” and urged world leaders to prioritize orphaned children by providing economic, educational and mental health support.
Tens of thousands of children affected by pandemic-related deaths of parents
In their letter, she and her co-authors wrote that “while billions of dollars are invested in preventing COVID-19 — associated deaths, little is being done to care for children left behind.”
The 10.5 million children who experienced the loss of one or both parents include 4.2 million in Southeast Asia, 2.5 million in Africa, 1.5 million in the Americas, 1.5 million in the Eastern Mediterranean and 500,000 in Europe. In the United States, which is grouped with other nations in the Americas, about 250,000 children lost one or both parents.
Child and family advocates said the humanitarian crisis has parallels to the situation created by the AIDS epidemic. A USAID report in 2020 estimated that as many as 17 million children had lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.
John Hecklinger, president and CEO of Global Fund for Children, which partners with 250 organizations in 46 countries, called the number of caregivers who have died “mind-blowing.” Aid workers on the ground in developing regions, he said, have been reporting that issues such as child trafficking, early marriage and children involved in exploitative labor practices are increasing as the pandemic continues.
Carolyn Taverner, co-founder of Emma’s Place, which provides grief counseling in Staten Island, New York, has been working the entire pandemic with children and families who have experienced the loss of a parent due to covid-19. She said public health policymakers should think about providing support not just for a short time but for the long-term.
In the immediate aftermath of tragedy, she said, there are many resources available but those tend to wane over time. Meanwhile, it can take years for children to come to terms with death and adults around them may not recognize that that academic, cognitive or behavioral issues are related to losing a parent.
Only a small number of countries, including the United States, have made national commitments to addressing the impact of covid-19-associated orphanhood. The White House under President Biden has released a memorandum promising that affected families would be able to access support programs and “connect to resources they may need to help with their healing, health, and well-being.” | 2022-09-06T20:11:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 10.5 million children lost a parent or caregiver due to covid-19 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/09/06/covid-deaths-orphans-worldwide/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/09/06/covid-deaths-orphans-worldwide/ |
IAEA warns of ‘constant threat’ from shelling in Ukraine nuclear report
Ukraine live briefing: U.N. inspectors warn of ‘constant threat’ from shell...
A photo taken Sept. 1 during a visit organized by the Russian military shows Russian personnel guarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, on the same day International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors arrived at the facility. (Yuri Kochetkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday that it is “gravely concerned” about the situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, warning in a report that frequent shelling near the facility represents a “constant threat” to nuclear safety.
The report was the U.N. agency’s first since a team of IAEA experts visited Zaporizhzhia last week, amid growing concerns that an accident could cause a nuclear disaster. The IAEA called on Russia and Ukraine to immediately halt fighting in the area and to urgently establish a “security protection zone” around the plant.
During its mission, the IAEA team “closely witnessed shelling” near the Zaporizhzhia site and observed damage to several buildings, including one that houses the solid radioactive waste storage facility. The building containing the plant’s central alarm station was also damaged, the report said.
In one incident in late August, experts learned, shelling caused the radiation monitoring system to go down for about 24 hours. The agency did not ascribe blame for the rocket and mortar fire or damage to the complex, but urged Russia and Ukraine to “immediately” halt the fighting to avoid any further damages to the plant.
The report “pretty much validates the picture that this plant under a dire threat from the ongoing, increasing military activity around it and occasionally on it,” said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety with the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Inspectors documented the presence of Russian troops and military equipment at the site, including vehicles positioned around reactor units. And representatives from Russia’s state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, were also present at the facility — something the report said could interfere with typical decision-making hierarchies.
More than 1,000 Ukrainian workers are keeping the plant running — about 10 percent of its typical workforce. Staffers have said they suffer intimidation and abuse from Russian authorities overseeing the site.
Ukrainian workers “are under constant high stress and pressure,” the report said. “This is not sustainable and could lead to increased human error with implications for nuclear safety.”
The IAEA also said communication with Ukraine’s atomic energy regulator, Energoatom, has been spotty. On Monday, the plant was again disconnected from Ukraine’s electricity grid to allow workers to extinguish a fire caused by shelling. According to the IAEA, the facility was using just one operational reactor to power safety operations.
Repairs to some of the damaged electrical equipment will “require a long time as the spare parts were tailor-made,” the report said, and the war has interrupted supply chains.
Under normal circumstances, comprehensive nuclear safety missions typically take the IAEA several weeks to complete, Lyman said.
“I’m skeptical that they were able to do anything approaching a real safety inspection,” he said.
Still, he said, “it’s better than nothing.”
John Hudson contributed to this report. | 2022-09-06T20:28:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | IAEA warns of threat from shelling in Zaporizhzhia nuclear report - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/06/iaea-zaporizhzhia-ukraine-nuclear-plant/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/06/iaea-zaporizhzhia-ukraine-nuclear-plant/ |
The U.S. Open crowd has been behind Frances Tiafoe as he's made his run to the quarterfinals. (Justin Lane/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
NEW YORK — As is the case with most young athletes, one of the first things Frances Tiafoe did upon returning to the locker room after his blockbuster upset over Rafael Nadal on Monday was check his phone. What he saw sent his already swirling emotions into a tailspin.
LeBron James had tweeted about him.
“Bro I was going craaaazy,” Tiafoe said, a grin engulfing his face. “I mean, that’s my guy! To see him post that, I was like, ‘Do I retweet it as soon as he sent it?!’ I was like, you know what? I’m going to be cool and then act like I didn’t see it and then retweet it three hours later.”
Tiafoe did exactly that, playing it cool before thanking James and promising he has more work left to do. But the NBA megastar was hardly the only athlete to shout out Tiafoe on Monday — the four-set victory that sent him into the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time in his career drew frenzied reaction from the greater sports world Monday.
None were more pleased than the 24-year-old’s fellow American tennis players, past and present.
Tiafoe is the youngest American man to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick did so in 2006, also at 24. Beyond Tiafoe’s allure as a next great American player, his story makes him easy to root for to many.
The son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, Tiafoe’s father, Frances Sr., worked as a maintenance man at College Park’s Junior Tennis Champions Center, where Tiafoe and his twin brother learned to play. His mother, Alphina, worked night shifts as a licensed practical nurse. Tennis was meant to be a pathway to college, which Tiafoe’s parents otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford without a scholarship.
His parents watched in person Monday.
“To see them experience me beat Rafa Nadal, they’ve seen me have big wins, but to beat those Mount Rushmore guys, for them, I can’t imagine what was going through their heads,” Tiafoe said. “Yeah. I mean, they’re going to remember today for the rest of their lives.”
Tiafoe has a fighting chance at moving into the first major semifinal of his career, and perhaps beyond. He’ll face world No. 11 Andrey Rublev of Russia, against whom he holds a 1-1 record, on Wednesday.
The tournament will crown a first-time major champion on the men’s side for the third year in a row.
The draw is more open than it has been since the era of tennis’s Big Three began, with 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer skipping his fifth consecutive major — and third straight U.S. Open — as he recovers from knee surgery. Novak Djokovic, who has 21 Grand Slam trophies, announced his withdrawal before the tournament started.
Djokovic said after winning Wimbledon that he would not be getting a coronavirus vaccine and the United States requires proof of vaccination for nonimmigrant noncitizens to enter the country.
Beyond the absence of tennis’s titans, this U.S. Open is the first since 2000 in which neither of the top two seeded men reached the quarterfinals. Tiafoe’s buddy Nick Kyrgios knocked out No. 1 seed and reigning champion Daniil Medvedev on Sunday and Nadal was seeded second.
That means a lot of eyes will be on Tiafoe as he takes on Rublev. Including some of Tiafoe’s heroes.
NBA super agent Rich Paul, who represents James, sent Tiafoe a text Monday after the win. Wizards guard Bradley Beal experienced his first tennis match sitting in Tiafoe’s player box alongside his wife.
Tiafoe has been a longtime Wizards supporter. He’s been wearing Beal’s No. 3 jersey around the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center throughout the tournament.
“That’s super cool. The fact they’re watching right now, it’s a perfect time,” Tiafoe said. “U.S. Open is always a perfect time because there’s no real sports really going on. People can focus on tennis, which is great.”
Tiafoe is taking the attention in stride. Rublev, 24, is a stern customer. He’s won three titles, including two on hard court, this year, and outplayed Tiafoe when they last met in March as Tiafoe was coming off an injury. Tiafoe needed five sets to defeat him in the third round of the U.S. Open last year.
But the American will surely have the crowd behind him, cheering loudly — especially if Wednesday’s forecast for rain holds and the tournament closes the roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium, turning the 24,000-seat stadium into an echo chamber.
With the audience on his side and a grand opportunity in front of him, Tiafoe likes his chances.
“Everyone is looking at it, I’m sure, everyone looks at it, like, ‘Here we go,’ right? So am I,” he said. “I’m just taking it day by day. Yeah, slams — crazy things can happen. Especially here in New York. It’s going to be a fun ride come Wednesday.” | 2022-09-06T20:45:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Frances Tiafoe has U.S. Open crowd, LeBron James on his side - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/06/frances-tiafoe-lebron-james/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/06/frances-tiafoe-lebron-james/ |
Can two small steps make air travel better?
By Bill Saporito
Airport workers arrange rows of suitcases at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on July 22. (Ted Shaffrey/AP Photo)
Bill Saporito is editor at large at Inc. magazine.
In the glamour days of airline travel — that is, before we all became cargo — carriers had to abide by the little-known Rule 240. That regulation dictated that if, say, your Trans World Airlines flight from New York to Los Angeles was delayed by four hours, and Pan Am had space on an earlier departure, TWA had to revalidate your ticket on Pan Am. Only catch was: you had to know the rule.
The carriers didn’t exactly broadcast the existence of Rule 240 and hardcore fliers kept it to themselves, along with their pocket Official Airline Guides — the monthly paperback of scheduled flights that we depended on before the internet.
Rule 240 withered with airline deregulation and in 2020, the Transportation Department allowed each carrier to write its own individual contract of carriage regarding cancellations, rebookings and refunds. This was a little like granting electric utilities the right to establish their own emission standards.
Today, of course, Pan Am, TWA and the bulky OAGs are all gone. We can use our smartphones to know everything about current and future flights instantly. But it’s pretty much useless information. There are limited alternatives when flights are canceled or delayed because of weather, labor shortages or air traffic control. That’s because airlines, in the name of maximizing capacity, have few spare jets on hand for backups.
The result is, well, what happened this summer, which according to the Transportation Department has featured “an unacceptable level of flight delays and cancellations.” Passengers have been stranded for days at airports, or spent hours waiting in long lines, or found themselves stuck on hold with customer service, after flights have been delayed, canceled or rescheduled.
After months of jawboning the carriers, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is finally laying down the law. Or, at least, laying down a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that aims to speed refunds to passengers when carriers cancel or delay flights, in part by defining what, exactly, constitutes a cancellation or unacceptable delay.
It’s a good move, so far as it goes. The NPRM will define a “canceled flight” as one that is “published in the carrier’s Computer Reservation System at the time of the ticket sale but not operated by the carrier.” Which could mean almost anything, but in practice should mean that if a flight is canceled or departs three or more hours late, passengers are then entitled to refunds within seven business days. The carriers can offer travel vouchers, but they must first inform passengers that they can get a refund. The proposed rule states that the reason for the cancellation — weather, air traffic hold, mechanical, pandemic — doesn’t matter.
Before the proposed rule was issued, the industry’s trade association argued that passengers who buy nonrefundable tickets should bear all the risks of cancellation. If passengers want to be entitled to refunds, the airlines said, they should buy higher-priced, fully refundable tickets. The Transportation Department commendably declined to accept that logic, saying: “A reasonable consumer would not expect that he or she must pay more to purchase a refundable ticket in order to be able to recoup the ticket price when the airline fails to provide the service paid for through no action or fault of the consumer.”
Another useful change came just ahead of Labor Day weekend, when the Transportation Department introduced what it calls the Airline Customer Service Dashboard, which allows passengers to see what the carriers are committed to doing for them in cases of “controllable” (meaning, their fault) cancellations or significant delays. This is known as “reaccom” in the trade — reaccommodation — and could take the form of rebooking you on the same airline for no added cost, or even on a competitor’s. Just like the days of Rule 240.
As the dashboard shows, though, some carriers aren’t going to be all that reaccommodating. Ultralow cost carriers such as Allegiant and Frontier, for instance, will rebook you on their own flights but not another carrier’s. Nor is Frontier going to provide a hotel in the case of an overnight cancellation or delay. The majors, having been tipped off by the Transportation Department about the dashboard some weeks ago, now seem more amenable to things such as handing out food vouchers in case of long delays or providing hotel rooms when they scratch evening flights. Although the carriers already do some of this, now passengers can use a simple dashboard rather than trying to read through the contract of carriage on a carrier’s website to know what they’re entitled to — or not.
That could help airline employees who now have to face confused, angry passengers, too.
When the travel network seizes up, as it often did this summer, the airlines employ software, along with some experienced humans, to decide which flights to cancel. The idea is to minimize both economic and passenger dislocation. For instance, flights with a lot of “terminators”— that is, passengers who are ending their journeys where the plane lands — are more prone to get the ax than those loaded with passengers connecting to another flight, especially an international one.
The airlines have got the cancellations down to a science. What the Transportation Department is saying now is that more rigor in dealing with the consequences of delays and cancellations is as overdue as some of the flights. | 2022-09-06T20:46:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Feds make two changes to airline travel rules - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/new-airline-rules-delays-cancellations/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/new-airline-rules-delays-cancellations/ |
After the torment of indebted souls in “Squid Game,” South Korea has fallen for a feel-good courtroom drama with an unusual protagonist — a young lawyer with autism. “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” has been the most popular non-English series on Netflix for weeks this summer, and the season finale, which aired last month, smashed viewing records for broadcaster ENA.
What a pity that this runaway success misses a chance to educate as well as entertain.
A main character with a disability is a welcome change of pace for South Korea’s entertainment industry, a behemoth better known for clean-cut actors and manicured pop bands. Here, as in much of the world, there is stigma, and autism is often misunderstood. The problem is that while representation is important, cliched portrayals like this one do not seek to show people with disabilities as they are. Rather, they are shown as audiences want them to be. In this case, awkward but pretty, academically high-achieving, notching up one professional triumph after another.
In fact, savant syndrome — responsible for the legal brilliance with which lead character Woo Young-woo constantly awes her colleagues — is rare. Statistics vary, but perhaps 1 in 10 people with autism show some savant skills, and not many of those with anything like the degree of virtuosity on display here. Reality for the vast majority of people with autism could not be more distant from Woo. It’s more mundane, more complicated and far more challenging. Not least because, for too many, the workplace remains out of reach entirely. Perhaps those struggles would not have made for comfort television.
The representation of people with autism as odd geniuses dates back to 1988 film “Rain Man” and Dustin Hoffman’s character Raymond Babbitt, a savant who can memorize the phone book but is overwhelmed by the world. The portrayal earned Hoffman an Oscar and brought autism to prominence. Unfortunately, it also created lasted stereotypes that impact the way society sees people with autism, their capacities and limitations. More modern versions of the same idea, like the series “The Good Doctor,” about a medical prodigy with autism (which exists in US and Korean versions), continue to feed misconceptions around a condition that is now estimated to affect about 1 in 44 US 8-year-olds.
There have been more successful efforts to tackle fictional characters with autism who are not just plot devices, and perhaps detective Saga Noren in the Nordic noir series “The Bridge” (even if she is never identified as having autism) comes close to something credible. Documentaries, like “The Reason I Jump” or “Billy the Kid,” anchored in real lives, do predictably better when it comes to giving audiences an accurate snapshot.
But tropes are hard to shake, and as the parent of a child with autism, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked what his “special talent” is. He doesn’t have one, and nor do the overwhelming majority of other children with autism I know. He’s not particularly brilliant at math and finds computers a challenge because of the fine motor skills required. He probably won’t work at NASA. But neither is he unable to negotiate a revolving door, as attorney Woo incongruously appears to be, and he has a wicked sense of humor. Unlike the one-dimensional TV protagonist, his autism does not define him.
Granted, it’s a challenge to represent a neurodevelopmental disorder that is not simply one condition with a single set of characteristics. What’s so often described as a spectrum is in fact a matrix of possibilities, ranging from relatively mild impairments to debilitating intellectual disabilities. Many of those affected will have difficulty communicating, tics, intense interests, but the particular symptoms vary dramatically. A significant proportion — between a quarter and a third, though again statistics diverge — are minimally verbal.
That’s why it’s a problem when the only representation on screen is of someone who doesn’t talk until 5 but then recites the Korean criminal code. That’s a caricature, not a character. No doubt one of the problems is that the neurotypical actress playing the main character chose not to use real people as references and studied the diagnostic description instead — somehow a step worse than the simple failure to cast an actor with autism. It might suffice for entertainment, but it lets down an entire community.
There are some redeeming features. It’s good to see a female autistic character, and indeed a non-White one. Her obsession with facts about whales, her favorite topic, is exaggerated, but recognizable.
But it’s hard to get around just how completely the program fails to capture the ordeals that every day life brings, even to people with autism who are labeled as “high functioning,” as Woo would be. They are pressured to mask physical tics and stimming — rocking, hand-flapping — movements that act as a pressure valve and help manage emotions. They report extremely high levels of stress. Unintentionally saying or doing something awkward out of context isn’t a funny joke, as in the program; it’s a cause of crippling anxiety.
More than that, in choosing a successful lawyer, the program ignores that some of the most challenging battles for people with autism are financial and professional. Employers might accommodate a genius, but statistics suggest they are less willing to give those requiring other kinds of adjustments a chance. While more neurodivergent adults are getting jobs, still far too few do. UK statistics, for example, suggest that only a fifth of adults with autism are in paid work — the lowest employment rate when compared to other disabilities. Why not tell the story of the majority next time?
• After Covid, Close the Autism Jobs Gap: Clara Ferreira Marques
• Young People Won’t Find Life’s Meaning at Work: Allison Schrager
• People With Disabilities Need Community Services: Ari Ne’eman | 2022-09-06T20:59:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A Netflix Hit Is a Missed Autism Opportunity - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/anetflixhit-is-amissed-autism-opportunity/2022/09/06/4c3b4c0e-2e1f-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/anetflixhit-is-amissed-autism-opportunity/2022/09/06/4c3b4c0e-2e1f-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
DALLAS — The summer vacation season is winding down, and for airlines that means the return of business travelers is very important. Leisure travel in the United States is roughly back to pre-pandemic levels, but airlines say business is still about 25% below 2019 levels. Business travelers generally pay higher fares, so the absence of so many of them has an outsized impact on airline revenue and profit. The Global Business Travel Association predicts that corporate travel won’t fully return until mid-2026. Experts say business travel is lagging behind because many white-collar workers still have not returned to their offices, and some trips are being replaced by video meetings.
NEW YORK — Bed Bath & Beyond has named its Chief Accounting Officer, Laura Crossen, as interim chief financial officer following the death of Gustavo Arnal. The home goods retailer said in a regulatory filing that Crossen will continue as its principal accounting officer while serving in the interim role. Arnal died on Friday, just days after Bed Bath & Beyond said that it would close stores and lay off workers in a bid to turn around its beleaguered business. Arnal was facing a lawsuit accusing him of taking part in a scheme to inflate the company’s stock price to sell shares for a huge profit.
BERLIN — A new report says Russia sent significantly more oil and coal to India and China over the summer compared with the start of the year, while European countries that long relied on Russian energy have cut back sharply in response to the war in Ukraine. The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said Tuesday that Russia received about 158 billion euros in revenue for the sale of oil, natural gas and coal from February to August. More than half of those exports — some 85 billion euros worth — went to the European Union. The report found that the single biggest importer worldwide was China, which bought 35 billion euros worth of Russian energy.
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s central bank has boosted its benchmark interest rate for a fifth consecutive month to a seven-year high of 2.35%.The Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision on Tuesday was the cash rate’s fourth consecutive hike of half a percentage point. When the bank lifted the rate by a quarter percentage point at its monthly board meeting in May, it was the first rate hike in more than 11 years. It’s now at its highest point since Feb. 2015. Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe says there are more rate hikes ahead a monthly board meetings as directors attempt to reduce inflation to a target band of 2% to 3%. Australian inflation is running at 6.1%. | 2022-09-06T20:59:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Business Highlights: Business travelers, drifting stocks - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/business-highlights-business-travelers-drifting-stocks/2022/09/06/15f15444-2e25-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/business-highlights-business-travelers-drifting-stocks/2022/09/06/15f15444-2e25-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Ice usually stops melting in Greenland by September. Not this year.
Greenland just experienced its largest September melt event on record, the kind typically seen in the middle of summer
Southern Greenland on Friday as a late-season heat wave began building. (Maurice van Tiggelen)
Between Friday and Monday, several weather stations recorded their maximum air temperature for the entire year. Parts of western Greenland rose as high as 36 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) above normal for this time of the year. The summit, traditionally the coldest part of the ice sheet, even rose above the melting point Saturday according to NOAA observations at the National Science Foundation’s Summit Station.
“If such events will occur in the next summers (which is very likely), the sea-level contribution will [grow] larger,” Fettweis wrote in an email.
The highest melt event of this 2021-2022 melt season over the Greenland ice sheet occurred 2 days ago while we are the beginning of the fall. This resulted from advection of a very warm and wet air mass with liquid water clouds boosting the melt thanks to infrared radiation pic.twitter.com/nfu6eUXvvC
— Xavier Fettweis (@xavierfettweis) September 5, 2022
In total, Greenland is estimated to have lost about 20 billion tons of ice during the weekend event, according to Scambos. That’s about 7 percent of total ice that is shed in a typical year. For every 360 billion tons of ice lost, the sea level rises by one millimeter.
This marks the second year in a row that an unusually late heat wave swept over the ice sheet. On Aug. 14, 2021, temperatures rose 18 degrees Celsius above average and caused it to rain at the summit of the ice sheet, some two miles above sea level, for the first time on record. At the time, researchers said it was the largest melt event to occur so late in the year.
How humid air, intensified by climate change, is melting Greenland ice
Meanwhile, abnormally warm temperatures and cloudy conditions continued over Greenland on Tuesday. Temperatures have recently been slightly warmer than 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-2 degrees Celsius) at the summit, while average temperatures elsewhere in the high Arctic are rapidly falling below freezing. | 2022-09-06T20:59:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Greenland ice sheet just experienced record melting for this late in the year - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/06/greenland-ice-melt-heat-wave-summer/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/06/greenland-ice-melt-heat-wave-summer/ |
Effort to bar Jan. 6 figures from office notches historic win. What now?
Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin speaks during a presentation led by David and Erin Clements on election vulnerabilities during a special meeting of the Otero County Board of Commissioners at the Flickinger Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. Paul Ratje/The Washington Post (Paul Ratje/for The Washington Post)
Plenty of history — very bad history — was made on Jan. 6, 2021. For the first time since the War of 1812, the U.S. Capitol was breached. It’s the first time a U.S. president has sought to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power. The sheer number of members of Congress who voted both against certifying the election and, later, to convict Donald Trump at his impeachment trial had few if any historical parallels.
Now it’s made even more history: Someone found to have engaged in insurrection that day has been disqualified from office, for what appears to be the first time in 150 years.
A New Mexico judge on Tuesday removed Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin by invoking the 14th Amendment’s prohibition on those who engaged in insurrection from serving in office. Some have sought to wield that seldom-invoked provision against members of Congress, without success, and even floated using it against Trump.
Success in the latter scenario remains unlikely, especially in the absence of a criminal conviction. But legal experts say the ruling in New Mexico is significant nonetheless — especially if it holds up.
“If this ruling stands up on appeal, it sets a significant precedent for the next election cycle,” said Gerard Magliocca, a constitutional scholar at Indiana University who has studied Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. “After all, if Couy Griffin is disqualified from holding office for his role in Jan. 6, then shouldn’t Donald Trump be disqualified for his even greater role in Jan. 6th?”
Magliocca said the issue could arise in a number of ways moving forward and is ripe for the Supreme Court to litigate before Trump might run for and potentially win the presidency in 2024.
The text of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states (key parts bolded):
The last time elected officials were disqualified from office using the 14th Amendment appears to be 1869, shortly after the Civil War and the ratification of the 14th Amendment. Congress used the 14th Amendment to disqualify Socialist Rep. Victor Berger in 1919, but not the insurrection provision specifically, and this was not a court decision. (Berger was later seated after his espionage conviction was overturned.)
Since Jan. 6, activists have sought to disqualify several members of Congress who supported questioning or overturning the 2020 election results, including Reps. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Most of these cases fizzled quickly, and none have succeeded. In Greene’s case, she was forced to testify, but ultimately was not disqualified.
Griffin’s case differs from the others’ in one crucial way: He was actually part of the crowd that stormed the Capitol and was later convicted of his role. Indeed, in allowing Greene to remain in office, a judge had emphasized there was “no evidence to show that Rep. Greene participated in the Invasion itself” or “communicated with or issued directives to persons who engaged in the Invasion.” Griffin was much easier to tie directly to the insurrection, and he has now been found to have directly engaged in it.
At the same time, Griffin’s conviction was for misdemeanor trespassing, for which he was sentenced to 14 days and a $3,000 fine. And a judge acquitted him of disorderly conduct.
(Griffin is the founder of a group called Cowboys for Trump, which has been promoted by the former president. He has occasionally surfaced in national news for his violent rhetoric and his efforts to impugn the election results in his home state as recently as this summer.)
The judge in the case, District Judge Francis J. Mathew, was unsparing in ruling that Griffin is disqualified from office. He acknowledged that Griffin was not criminally convicted of insurrection and there is no evidence that Griffin engaged in violence himself. But he found that Griffin’s actions met the standard set forth by the 14th Amendment, citing Griffin’s violent rhetoric and evidence of his actions at the Capitol.
“The Court concludes that Mr. Griffin’s crossing of barricades to approach the Capitol were overt acts in support of the insurrection, as Griffin’s presence closer to the Capitol building increased the insurrectionists’ intimidation by numbers,” wrote Mathew, who was appointed to the bench by former Republican Gov. Susana Martinez. “Mr. Griffin’s marching with the mob all the way to the inaugural stage, knowing the mob’s insurrectionary purpose, likewise constitutes an overt act.”
Griffin’s disqualification from office is not only retroactive to Jan. 6, 2021; he is also “barred for life” from holding any civil or military office in the future.
(Griffin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a written closing statement in court, he had argued that he had been at the Capitol to lobby vice president Mike Pence to not certify the election results, and that, “In no way does that pertain to nor support insurrection/rebellion,” reported the Albuquerque Journal. The judge said Griffin’s many defenses were not credible, and nor was his summary of his role on Jan. 6.)
Whether this will ultimately stand up if appealed remains a major question — and one that could have far-ranging implications. While the decision of a state court isn’t binding elsewhere, New York University’s Daniel Hemel noted, it could embolden similar efforts to disqualify people from office with more direct ties to the insurrection — up to and including Trump.
Another state lawmaker, then-West Virginia state Del. Derrick Evans, was sentenced to three months in jail this summer for committing civil disorder on Jan. 6. Evans resigned shortly after the insurrection and before he was charged, but he has flirted with an attempted political comeback.
In several high-profile races, those who didn’t storm the Capitol but were otherwise involved in the Jan. 6 proceedings have won their party’s nomination. They include GOP gubernatorial nominees Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania and Dan Cox in Maryland, who both organized buses for the “Stop the Steal” rally. A Senate Judiciary Committee report stated that Mastriano and his wife “took part in the January 6 insurrection, with video footage confirming that they passed through breached barricades and police lines at the U.S. Capitol.” (Mastriano has said he never entered the Capitol itself, and he has been charged with no crimes.)
Magliocca said the New Mexico decision could reverberate, not just for people like Mastriano, but if Democrats retain control of Congress and want to challenge the seating of certain Republicans tied to Jan. 6. He also said that, if appealed, it could give the Supreme Court an opportunity to weigh in on this question without directly deciding on a case involving Trump.
“They’ve got to resolve the question of Trump’s eligibility as soon as possible. He’s going to run, and we’ve got to know whether he’s allowed to run or not,” Magliocca said. “It would be helpful if they would take this opportunity to rule really for the first time what Section 3 means.”
Also worth weighing here, Hemel noted, is whether disqualification is an appropriate remedy. The disqualification of Berger, for instance, was later widely regarded as overreach.
“As a strategic matter, I’m skeptical that disqualification under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is the best way — or even a productive way — to fight back against anti-democratic forces across the country,” Hemel said. “Trump’s attack on democracy after the November 2020 election started out as an attempt to use the judicial process to deprive voters of their choice of leader. There is an uncomfortable irony when, in the aftermath of that attack, we purport to defend democracy by using the judicial process to deprive voters of their choice of leader.
Hemel added: “I wouldn’t want Couy Griffin to be my county commissioner, or anyone’s county commissioner, but I think defenders of democracy need to think long and hard about whether judicial disqualification is the wisest approach.”
Advocates for that approach now have a victory under their belts, though. And while circumstances might make that difficult to replicate, it’s nonetheless a historic marker of what transpired 20 months ago. | 2022-09-06T21:00:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What the disqualification of Trump ally Couy Griffin means - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/06/couy-griffin-fourteenth-amendment-insurrection/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/06/couy-griffin-fourteenth-amendment-insurrection/ |
Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, seen in Santa Fe on Aug. 15, represents himself in a lawsuit to have him removed from office because of his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Leslie Lakind, center, in green, is one of the plaintiffs in the suit. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal/AP)
Plaintiffs in the case argued that Griffin’s presence among the rioters that day disqualified him from serving under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone from holding federal or state office who took an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or gave “aid or comfort” to insurrectionists.
The decision marks the first time since 1869 that a court has disqualified a public official under the provision and the first time that any court has ruled that the events of Jan. 6 were an insurrection, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which represented New Mexico residents in the case.
District Court Judge Francis Mathew agreed that Griffin’s actions, though nonviolent, met the definition of disqualifying behavior.
In March, Griffin, an Otero County commissioner, was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of illegally entering or remaining on restricted grounds by a federal judge. Griffin is one of the founders of the group Cowboys for Trump and a fervent supporter of the former president.
Mathew held a two-day bench trial on the case last month and gave both sides additional time to submit written closing arguments.
“Nonviolent members of the mob, including Griffin, camouflaged violent members of the mob, contributed to law enforcement being overwhelmed by a ‘sea of potential threats,’ ” attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in the closing statement. “Griffin did more than just join the mob: he incited, encouraged, and helped normalize the mob’s violence on January 6.”
Griffin argued in a written closing statement that those seeking to remove him from public office “missed their mark” and failed to prove that the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an insurrection, according to the Albuquerque Journal. | 2022-09-06T21:00:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | New Mexico official who participated in Jan. 6 riot removed from office - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/06/new-mexico-trump-jan-6-riot/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/06/new-mexico-trump-jan-6-riot/ |
President Biden and former president Barack Obama shake hands and stand together onstage during an event on April 5 in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Barack and Michelle Obama will return to the White House on Wednesday for the unveiling of their official White House portraits, in an East Room ceremony hosted by President Biden and first lady Jill Biden.
Joe Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president for two terms in office, and the two men formed a close partnership “through the highs and lows of the job and of life,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
“President Biden and Dr. Biden are honored to have former president Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama back to the White House for the unveiling of their portraits, which will hang on the walls of the White House forever as reminders of the power of hope and change,” she said.
The event will also mark the return of the long-standing tradition of sitting presidents welcoming their predecessors — regardless of party — to the White House to unveil their official portraits. In his time in office, Donald Trump hosted no events at the White House for Obama, whom he accused — without evidence — of spying on him during the 2016 campaign.
Here’s what to know about this White House tradition, and what to expect at the ceremony Wednesday.
The White House presidential portraits are separate from the ones in the “America’s Presidents” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. The Obamas’ Smithsonian portraits, painted by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, were unveiled at the museum in 2018 — about 13 months after Obama left office — and made a splash for their distinctive styles and bold colors. Those paintings are currently on national tour and scheduled to return to Washington in November.
In the past, portrait unveilings have been an opportunity for former presidents and their spouses to gather with members of their administration and White House staff, some of whom they may not have seen in years.
Barack Obama has visited the White House only once — in April for an event about the Affordable Care Act — since he left office in January 2017. It will be Michelle Obama’s first time back at the White House since their family moved out.
Some former Obama administration officials who will be in attendance are former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, now the U.S. ambassador to Japan; former senior adviser David Axelrod; former Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius; and former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder.
Past unveilings: Who was there, what transpired?
The White House began to its policy of trying to get life portraits of the presidents and first ladies starting in the 1960s, under then-first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, according to Betty Monkman, who began working at the White House in the curator’s office in 1967 and served as chief curator from 1997 to 2002.
The Kennedy’s own portraits were unveiled in 1971. The portraits of former president Richard M. Nixon, and his wife, Pat, were unveiled in 1981 “without fanfare.”
The unveiling ceremonies have usually been warm, bipartisan affairs, sprinkled with good-natured jokes. When former president Lyndon B. Johnson’s portrait was unveiled at a 1978 ceremony at the White House, he joked: “considering what [artist] Ray Kinstler had to work with, he did very well.”
In 1989, President George H.W. Bush hosted Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, for their official White House portrait unveiling. Bush, who served as Reagan’s vice president for eight years, joked, “for years our opponents were hoping to see President Reagan’s back against the wall here in the White House. I don’t think this is exactly what they had in mind when they talked about it.”
In 1995, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, glanced at the portrait of Bush, who he defeated three years earlier, and before unveiling it said, “If I look half as good as you do when I leave office, I’ll be a happy man.”
In 2004, President George W. Bush, a Republican, hosted Clinton and his wife, Hillary, at the White House for the unveiling of their portraits.
“As you might know, my father and I have decided to call each other by numbers,” Bush told Clinton in his remarks then. “He’s 41, I’m 43. It’s a great honor — it’s a great pleasure to honor number 42. We’re glad you’re here, 42.”
In 2012, the Obamas hosted George W. Bush and Laura Bush to unveil their official portraits, and thanked the Bushes for their guidance during the transition.
“George, I will always remember the gathering you hosted for all the living former presidents before I took office, your kind words of encouragement. Plus, you also left me a really good TV sports package. I use it,” Obama said then to laughter. “Laura, you reminded us that the most rewarding thing about living in this house isn’t the title or the power, but the chance to shine a spotlight on the issues that matter most.”
It is unclear why the Obama portrait unveiling at the White House is taking place now, more than five years after the end of his second term. In his time in office, Trump hosted no White House events for Obama, whom he had bitterly attacked for years, including leading the “birther” movement that had baselessly accused Obama of not being born in the United States. It was perhaps an unsurprising break from tradition for a president who broke dozens of other long-standing norms. Trump, who has long spread baseless claims of widespread election fraud, also did not attend Biden’s inauguration last January.
A representative for Trump did not respond to questions sent by email Tuesday.
When will the Trumps’ White House portraits be unveiled?
It is unclear when Donald and Melania’s White House portraits will be completed and unveiled, though NBC News reported last year that Donald Trump had “begun participating in the customary process” of having a portrait done.
Jean-Pierre on Tuesday deferred questions about whether the Bidens would host the Trumps at the White House if their official portraits were completed while Biden is still in office.
“We defer those questions to the White House Historical Association, who actually … lead the process on official portraits for both presidents and their spouses,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.
The Smithsonian Institution confirmed last month that a $650,000 donation from a political action committee controlled by Trump will almost entirely fund portraits of the former president and former first lady Melania Trump for the National Portrait Gallery — the first time in recent memory that a political organization has financed a former president’s portrait for the museum.
Two artists have been commissioned for the Smithsonian Institution’s paintings of Donald and Melania Trump, but the artists’ names have not been released.
The latest: Barr says decision to appoint special master in Mar-a-Lago case is ‘deeply flawed’ | 2022-09-06T21:00:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Q&A: What to know about the White House unveiling of Barack and Michelle Obama portraits - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/06/obama-portraits-unveiling-white-house/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/06/obama-portraits-unveiling-white-house/ |
Its biggest investment ally is days away from a deadline that could lead to the company’s liquidation. Trump says everything’s going according to plan.
Former president Donald Trump arrives onstage at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Saturday. (Mary Altaffer/AP)
Former president Donald Trump’s website Truth Social is barreling toward a financial cliff that could see its main lifeline disappear.
A Trump-allied investment company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., asked shareholders this week to approve a one-year extension for its merger with Trump’s company while it fends off multiple federal investigations.
But at a special meeting Tuesday, the company’s leader, Patrick Orlando, abruptly postponed the announcement of the vote until Thursday, saying he wanted to give shareholders more time to respond. Reuters first reported Tuesday that the company didn’t have the votes.
Digital World, a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, debuted to massive attention last year. But federal scrutiny, the Trump site’s lackluster launch and other issues have sapped much of the market’s excitement.
Digital World’s share price plunged more than 15 percent Tuesday, to under $21 — nearly 90 percent lower than its $175 peak last October. If the company liquidates, all shareholders — including those who bought in at very high prices — would be paid about $10 a share.
In that case, Trump’s start-up, Trump Media & Technology Group, of which Truth Social is the primary product, will not be able to tap a roughly $1.3 billion investment that it has been counting on since Digital World’s initial offering last September.
The Trump start-up has in the meantime subsisted off tens of millions of dollars in short-term loans. The company is also facing a dispute with a conservative web-hosting service over allegations of unpaid bills.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are investigating Digital World, including over questions of whether the company had negotiated its deal with Trump before its public offering, which could violate securities law. A federal grand jury has also requested information from Trump’s company.
Without SEC approval, any deal is indefinitely halted.
Digital World has long celebrated that many of its shareholders are small-time investors, known as retail investors, who bought the shares for financial or personal reasons and are not part of a larger investment.
But the vote’s possible failure highlights the risks of such financing, given that everyday shareholders may not be following the financial pronouncements closely and need to be persuaded to vote en masse.
FBI attacker was prolific contributor to Trump’s Truth Social website
“There’s a lot of retail investors not paying a lot of attention, or they don’t know what they need to do,” said Michael Ohlrogge, an associate law professor at New York University. “Or they may think, ‘Hey, I’d rather have this merger happen sooner rather than later,’ without realizing that the only reason they’re asking for this is there’s a big chance they can’t complete the merger at all.”
That investor apathy would not necessarily be a death blow, Ohlrogge said, because the company could pay to extend the merger deadline and in six months try again. But it could also point to deeper questions about the company’s ability to survive.
“The big question becomes: Why is it taking them this long to close the deal?” he said. “It’s a little surprising to me that it would be this hard for them” to fulfill the SEC’s requirements, he added, “unless they’re pursuing one of these Trump-type legal strategies of fighting tooth and nail against any kind of legal authority.”
Orlando has scrambled to alert shareholders to the company’s need for their vote. On his Truth Social account, he has posted or reposted — or “truthed” and “re-truthed,” in the site’s lingo — nearly 30 messages over the past week calling on people to vote.
The company last week pushed shareholders to open their email inboxes for voting details: “PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER,” said one announcement filed with the SEC. Orlando also recorded an interview, posted to Rumble, a conservative video site that has been providing support services to Truth Social, in which he outlined in detail how investors should vote.
The call’s host, a Christian worship leader named Chad Nedohin, urged his fellow investors in the “DWAC fam” to “get those votes in,” saying, “We consider ourselves the diamond hands of all diamond hands.” The video has been viewed roughly 500 times.
The company’s leaders own about 18 percent of the stock and will vote for approval, they said in an SEC filing, but they will need many more votes than that to reach the 65 percent threshold. Orlando said on the Rumble call that the participation rate among retail investors in votes like this one is closer to about 25 percent.
Trump’s newest business partner: A Chinese firm with a history of SEC investigations
Truth Social is the centerpiece offering of Trump Media & Technology Group, the start-up Trump debuted after losing the White House that he boasted could become one of the biggest players in media, rivaling giants like Disney and Facebook.
Trump has sought to portray everything as going according to plan. On Saturday, he posted to Truth Social that the site is “doing really well,” despite the federal investigations, and said, “In any event, I don’t need financing, ‘I’m really rich!’ Private company anyone???” (The actual size of Trump’s wealth is in dispute; the self-described “king of debt” has been linked to six corporate bankruptcies.)
In a statement last week to the pro-Trump blog Just the News, Trump’s start-up said Truth Social is “on strong financial footing” and that “any assertion to the contrary is knowingly false bar talk.” | 2022-09-06T21:01:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Trump's Truth Social SPAC facing key shareholder vote - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/06/truth-social-trump-finances-spac/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/06/truth-social-trump-finances-spac/ |
Tencent invests $297 million into Ubisoft
(Ubisoft/Washington Post illustration)
Tencent has made a $297 million investment into Assassin’s Creed maker Ubisoft. Ubisoft announced Tuesday that Tencent acquired a minority stake in Guillemot Brothers Limited, the company through which Ubisoft’s founders have managed the greater Ubisoft corporation. Ubisoft CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot said Tencent’s increased stake was done to secure Ubisoft’s value for the future. Martin Lau, president of Tencent, said this strengthened partnership will also bolster both companies’ footprint in the mobile gaming market.
“We are excited to expand our engagement with the founders, the Guillemot family, as Ubisoft continues to develop immersive game experiences, and to bring some of Ubisoft’s most well-known AAA franchises to mobile,” Lau said in a news release. “This agreement also aligns with our philosophy to invest alongside creative founders with full confidence that they will lead their companies to new heights.”
The Chinese conglomerate’s investment into Ubisoft included 200 million euros in shares and 100 million euros in capital. For a total of nearly $300 million, Tencent has also secured a 49.9 percent economic stake and 5 percent voting rights in Guillemot Brothers Limited.
If you loved 'The Last of Us' the remake is worth the cover charge
This deal will not result in a change in leadership: The Guillemot family continues to have exclusive control over Guillemot Brothers Limited and Tencent will not gain a seat on the company’s board of directors. At the same time, Ubisoft’s board of directors has approved Tencent to increase its direct stake in Ubisoft from 4.5 percent to 9.99 percent of capital and voting rights, with the condition that Tencent cannot share its sales for five years and cannot increase its stake beyond 9.99 percent for eight years.
Shenzhen-based Tencent is one of the largest and most powerful video game company in the world via its ownership of “League of Legends” creator Riot Games, 40-percent ownership of “Fortnite” creator Epic Games and investments in dozens of other studios. A week before the Ubisoft announcement, Tencent acquired a 16.25 percent stake in FromSoftware, the award-winning Japanese developer of “Elden Ring” and the Dark Souls series.
Guillemot assured his employees Tuesday that Tencent’s increased stake in Ubisoft would not influence how the company is run, according to an internal memo to Ubisoft workers shared with The Post.
“Furthermore, it’s important to note that this agreement will not impact our governance,” Guillemot wrote in the memo. “Tencent is not taking a seat on the board of directors of Ubisoft nor Guillemot Brothers, nor becoming involved in our decisions or day to day operations. Tencent has a reputation as a constructive shareholder that already supports many other leading video game creators in the same way. Our strategy and creative choices remain our own, and Ubisoft’s success continues to depend on all of us joining together to focus on our objectives and the many opportunities in front of us.”
Guillemot went on to say that Tencent’s increased stake into Ubisoft would bolster the company’s efforts to grow abroad “while preserving our identity and values.”
The past few years have been tumultuous for Ubisoft. In 2020, Ubisoft was embroiled in the gaming industry’s #MeToo movement as workers within the company shared stories of sexual harassment and misconduct. Guillemot vowed to implement safeguards to protect employees moving forward in an internal memo for employees sent in July 2020, but months later, Ubisoft workers reportedly saw few changes.
In August, the Tencent reported its first dip in revenue in its 23-year history — a 3 percent drop overall and 1 percent drop in gaming revenue, to a total of $19.78 billion. The Chinese tech giant has also been facing harsher restrictions in its home market, prompting it to seek out more opportunities abroad. | 2022-09-06T21:01:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Tencent invests $297 million in Assassin’s Creed creator Ubisoft - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/09/06/tencent-ubisoft/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/09/06/tencent-ubisoft/ |
Supporters of Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party attend a rally, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. Since he was toppled by parliament five months ago, former Prime Minister Imran Khan has demonstrated his popularity with rallies that have drawn huge crowds and signaled to his rivals that he remains a considerable political force. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) (Muhammad Sajjad/AP) | 2022-09-06T21:01:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Rallies show Pakistan's ex-PM Khan remains political force - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/rallies-show-pakistans-ex-pm-khan-remains-political-force/2022/09/06/0be57f94-2e1a-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/rallies-show-pakistans-ex-pm-khan-remains-political-force/2022/09/06/0be57f94-2e1a-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
A long line of voters wraps around the Sedgwick County Historic Courthouse in Wichita on the last day of early voting Aug. 1. (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle/AP)
Before Kansas voters weighed in last month, there had been only one poll evaluating support for the state’s proposed constitutional amendment allowing new restrictions on abortion. That poll showed a close result, maybe a handful of points. And then Kansas voters rejected it by nearly 20.
The vote occurred just about two months after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the decision that eliminated the protections for abortion established under Roe v. Wade. It wasn’t hard to draw a line: Voters angry about Dobbs helped bury the constitutional amendment in Kansas. There was even a bit of data to bolster the idea that women in particular led to the amendment’s trouncing: New voter registrations among women surged in the wake of the decision. Data provided to The Washington Post shows similar increases in at least two other states.
The storyline here makes sense. The pieces click. But a new question immediately emerges: Is this story about energized women voting Kansas-specific, or is it a story about the midterm elections more broadly?
Let’s start with a relatively cautious assessment.
Tom Bonier, CEO of the Democratic data firm TargetSmart, began pointing to increases in the density of women registering to vote after Dobbs a few weeks after the decision was announced. It’s worth noting that The Washington Post has tried to match his results without being able to do so universally (which may be a function of incomplete data on The Post’s side).
Bonier’s assessment, offered in a New York Times essay over the weekend, is that there’s a “clear pattern” showing increases in the percentage of women among new registrations in a number of states, though none matching Kansas. That Kansas had a special election focused specifically on abortion is, of course, an important consideration for this entire discussion: The state was voting explicitly on what Dobbs addressed.
Our data shows a blurry picture: increases in states such as Pennsylvania, but not in places like New Mexico. The increase in Pennsylvania, meanwhile, didn’t solely occur post-Dobbs. There was a period in February, for example, when women made up a similarly disproportionate percentage of new registrants. Maine is another state that many point to where women have seen a surge among new registrants recently. The Post can confirm this post-Dobbs increase, but the state has also seen similar surges of women making up to 65 percent of new registrants in the past two years, well before the decision.
There’s also no question that Democrats have seen improved polling since Dobbs. The firm YouGov tracks responses on a generic ballot question — asking people whether they plan to vote for the Democrat or Republican on their House ballot — and has seen support for Democrats climb by several points since the beginning of July. (Due to a methodology issue, YouGov doesn’t have generic-ballot polling for the duration of the period between the leak of a draft opinion in Dobbs and the final decision.) That’s thanks to increases in support from both women and men in recent weeks.
(The lines on the above graph show the average of the three most recent polls.)
Notice, though, that Democrats had about the same level of support from women earlier this year as they do now. If we pick out three months — January, April and July — we can see that average support among women dropped in April before rebounding.
Does this mean that Dobbs (and/or the leaked opinion) reversed a slide? That the spring was an aberration? That the polling is still missing something?
If we look at the generic ballot margin — that is, the gap between Democrats and Republicans — the advantage among Democrats among women in the immediate aftermath of Dobbs was actually lower than at the beginning of the year. (The most recent YouGov survey shows a wide gap, but that’s one poll.)
Interestingly, while the number of people who express uncertainty about their votes has declined (which tends to happen as elections near), the decline has been much sharper among men. In other words, men are more likely to newly report more certainty about their vote.
One could read this as Dobbs not having a robust effect among women. Or we could read it another way: that polls aren’t capturing enthusiasm, just as that poll in Kansas was off the mark.
After all, consider that the imbalance in voter registration among women in Kansas shifted the electorate from being 52.2 percent female to being 52.4 percent by mid-July — a change of 0.2 percent. That isn’t enough to lead to an 18-point loss for the constitutional amendment. But even if it’s not causal, it might be an indicator of enthusiasm, which can be harder to measure.
In YouGov’s polling, enthusiasm for voting among men and women was about the same immediately before Dobbs as it is now, with men expressing more interest in casting a ballot. But perhaps polling simply isn’t capturing the views of women newly motivated to cast a ballot, just as polls repeatedly underestimated heavily Republican voters in 2016 and 2020 in particular. Those polling shortfalls have been subject to an enormous amount of analysis (almost all somewhat inconclusive), but it’s not entirely implausible that women newly engaged in politics post-Dobbs might slip past the attention of pollsters.
There are other assumptions that we might question, of course. The gap between men and women on the legality of abortion has long been far narrower than that between Democrats and Republicans, for example, meaning that there may be some new energy among liberal men as well.
So much of this is frustratingly gauzy. Particularly for fervent defenders of access to abortions, it seems obvious that American women would be outraged and flood the polls in November. They may. In which case, as the hoary old warnings go, the most useful evaluation of the effect of Dobbs may come down to turnout.
Noted: U.S. plans to shift to annual coronavirus shots, similar to flu vaccine | 2022-09-06T21:16:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What we don’t know about the effect of abortion on the midterm elections - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/06/abortion-midterm-elections-supreme-court/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/06/abortion-midterm-elections-supreme-court/ |
Presidential portraits celebrate the office; they don’t interrogate it
Former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will see their official White House portraits unveiled — a tradition that has been both reassuring and numbing. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama will have their official portraits unveiled at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, a small but meaningful gesture of civility and continuity during these shaky times, but also a profound reminder that our reliance on decorum turns out to be a poor defense of democracy.
When President Biden hosts the Obamas at the White House, we will see an afternoon of high regard between two men whose enduring relationship is both personal and professional. But the event will offer an opportunity to take stock of the very idea of presidential portraits — these artful renderings that are as much a reflection of us as they are, so far, any one man.
Obama’s rose-colored return
A review of presidential portraits reveals a gallery of gray-haired White men sitting or standing in a reserved manner, in the pose of folks who are at ease with greatness. Aside from their attire, they aren’t depicted in ways that offer much context for the times during which they governed. Even though many of the portraitists had the benefit of the passage of time during which they could consider their subjects and their actions in office, these men aren’t viewed through the discerning eye of unemotional history but rather the admiring eye of hagiography. In these renderings of the commanders in chief, they all get to be great. Or at least dignified, even if they kept other humans enslaved or aimed to re-segregate a country that was just starting to tilt toward justice or helped embed the ill-considered term “welfare queen” on the nation’s psyche.
The Obamas’ portraits are not what you’d expect, and that’s why they’re great
In the unveiling of Obama’s portrait, we long for continuity. And surely, we want to celebrate the man and his administration. But to insure that the democracy goes on, we also need a rendering of the American presidency that is more of a reckoning, that doesn’t merely show its greatness but also its vicissitudes and follies. And that its relationship to democracy is a matter of faith as much as law. | 2022-09-06T21:46:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Presidential portraits celebrate the office; they don’t interrogate it - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/06/presidential-portraits-celebrate-office-they-dont-interrogate-it/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/06/presidential-portraits-celebrate-office-they-dont-interrogate-it/ |
D.C. police investigate flare-up of Labor Day weekend violence
Two people were killed, a body was found in a burned vehicle, and a 14-year-old boy was shot and wounded, police said
Police are investigating a flare-up of violence in the nation’s capital (Peter Hermann/The Washington Post)
Two men were killed in Northeast D.C. over the Labor Day weekend, and police said they are investigating the death of another person whose body was found in a burned vehicle in Northwest — incidents which came amid a flare-up of violence in the nation’s capital.
Police said a 14-year-old boy also was shot in the head and critically injured Monday night in the Shaw neighborhood; he remained at a hospital a day later.
No arrests have been made in any of the cases from over the three-day holiday, police said.
The first killing came about 3:40 p.m. on Sunday in the 1800 block of East Capitol Street NE, on the border of Kingman Park and Hill East, near RFK Stadium.
Police said David Louis Baker Jr., 31, of Northeast Washington, suffered trauma to his head during an assault and was unconscious when paramedics took him to a hospital, where he died. The medical examiner found Baker died from “sharp force injuries” and ruled the death a homicide, according to police. His relatives could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
On Monday afternoon, police said they responded to a fire station on Minnesota Avenue in Deanwood in Northeast Washington for a report of a man who had shown up there with a gunshot wound. Police said they determined the man had been shot about one mile away, in the 1000 block of 51st Street NE. Police did say how the man got to the fire station.
Police said the man was taken to a hospital, where he died. He was identified as Terrell Felder, 31, from Suitland, Md. Efforts to reach relatives were not successful Tuesday.
Shortly after 10 p.m. Monday, police said, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the 1700 block of 7th Street NW. A woman was grazed by a bullet in the same incident, according to police. Authorities provided no other details of the shooting.
Several other people were shot and wounded across the District over the weekend, according to police, including three people shot and wounded Sunday night at 5th and Kennedy streets NW in the Brightwood Park area. One of the victims was a man, and the other was a 17-year-old female, according to police.
And Monday afternoon, police said firefighters who responded to a burned vehicle found the body of a person inside a black Chevrolet Suburban. The vehicle was in an alley the 5700 block of Sixth Street NW, in the Park View neighborhood.
A police report says the fire also damaged a garage door, shingles and the siding to a private residence. No other details, including the identity of the person who died, were immediately available.
D.C. police statistics show that 145 people have been killed in the city this year, compared to 144 at this time in 2021.
Martin Weil contributed to this report | 2022-09-06T22:13:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | D.C. police investigate flare-up of Labor Day weekend violence - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/06/dc-weekend-violence-shaw-shooting/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/06/dc-weekend-violence-shaw-shooting/ |
Md. school apologizes after video shows White students singing n-word
Landon School in Bethesda. (Tracy A Woodward/The Washington Post)
A group of mostly White teenagers from an all-boys private school just outside the District was recently recorded in a viral video singing the n-word while riding on a D.C. Metro train. Administrators at the Landon School where the boys are enrolled said in a statement Tuesday they were “deeply concerned” by the video and were looking into the matter
Jose Romero recorded the video while on a Red Line train toward Glenmont on Thursday. When he boarded the car at the Metro Center station, it was packed with dozens of students, some wearing shirts and backpacks from Landon — a college preparatory school in Bethesda. All the teenagers seemed to be facing toward a speaker in the center of the car, and they were chanting when Romero stepped in.
Romero, who is Latino, couldn’t make out what the students were saying until a song came on that he recognized, “Freestyle” by the rapper Lil Baby. Romero began recording a video, with his camera angled toward the back of the students’ heads as they sang three verses that contained the n-word. Someone in the video seems to call attention to the students saying the racial slur by saying, “Yo, yo,” before the song stops and the group of students laugh.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the school said the students’ “conduct and offensive words are unacceptable and antithetical to our school’s values and our Civility Code.” When asked about any punishment the students would face, the spokeswoman said any disciplinary measures taken would be confidential, given the students’ ages.
Three Maryland students charged with a hate crime for online threats targeting Black students
A young Black woman near the center of the car dropped her jaw in shock and made eye contact with Romero because “we couldn’t believe what we were seeing or hearing,” Romero said.
Another video shows the group of teenagers hitting the windows and top of the Metro car as they yell a profanity about Gonzaga high school. Gonzaga College High School is a private Catholic college preparatory high school in the District. The Landon soccer team was playing against Gonzaga that night.
Romero posted both videos online and tagged Landon’s social media accounts. His post gained attention from other influencers around the D.C. area, including Claudia Conway — the daughter of Kellyanne Conway, adviser to former president Donald Trump — who called the behavior “so disgusting” in a comment.
A dean from Landon contacted him the next morning with further questions about what happened in the Metro car, Romero said, including whether he heard any student nicknames that could help identify who was involved. The school’s administrators had already identified two students in the video and planned to talk to them, the dean told Romero.
KKK images briefly posted to Montgomery school’s online review page
Since posting the video, Romero has gotten some comments from what appeared to be students from the school. He said he has since restricted those comments so they don’t appear publicly to protect the students from being targeted by other users online.
Landon School teaches nearly 700 students between third and 12th grade. The school’s alumni network includes Nicholas Hammond, an actor best known for his roles as Friedrich von Trapp in “The Sound of Music”; Maury Povich, the former host of the reality show “Maury”; and Rufus King, a former chief justice of the District of Columbia Superior Court. The student body is made up of about 41 percent students of color, according to its website. | 2022-09-06T22:13:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Landon School students recorded singing racial slur on D.C. metro train - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/09/06/landon-school-students-n-word-dc-metro/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/09/06/landon-school-students-n-word-dc-metro/ |
Aaron Judge has Roger Maris’s record in his sights — a beautiful thing
New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge on Monday. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
Aaron Judge is a baseball player as Michelangelo might have conceived of one. He looms over 6½ feet tall and packs his New York Yankees pinstripes with 282 pounds of lean muscle. He could be a Roman monument but for the cobra quickness with which he whips his bat through the strike zone. When Judge hits the ball squarely, as he is doing frequently this season, a home run seems the mildest of possibilities. Orbit does not feel out of the question.
Similar things were said in a long-ago summer of a taciturn ballplayer from Fargo, N.D., named Roger Maris. Though he was built on a less titanic scale, at 6 feet tall and nearly 200 athletic pounds, Maris was a fearsome figure in the Age of Eisenhower, and he shared with Judge the sort of eyes that can read the caliber on a passing bullet.
In the 1960 season, his first with the Yankees, Maris delivered a magnificent all-around performance, winning a Gold Glove for his defense in right field while leading his league in slugging percentage. He was named the American League’s most valuable player. But only dedicated fans remember that. Because the following season was an epic that overshadowed everything.
More than 60 years later, Judge is launching home runs with the power of a howitzer and closing in on a record that defined Maris in ways both good and ill. With 54 homers and 27 regular-season games left to play, Judge is a good bet to hit more than 61 — the number Maris hit in the year he broke the favorite mark of baseball’s most celebrated hero.
Maris started the 1961 season epitomizing the idea that baseball was a matter of running down flyballs, stretching singles into doubles, bunting cleanly and knocking the occasional home run. But there were so many of those occasions as 1961 unfolded that Maris discovered a less appealing aspect of his beloved sport. Especially in those days, when baseball was truly the national pastime, the sport was also infected by myth, hype and convenient fictions.
No one was more mythologized than George Herman Ruth Jr., Zeus of the baseball pantheon, the Babe, the Bambino, the Sultan of Swat. Among the White men who were allowed to compete in Major League Baseball between the world wars, Babe Ruth was unquestionably the greatest player and the greatest celebrity, star of the greatest team in the greatest city of the greatest nation on Earth.
When the mythmakers summed that greatness into a single number, it was 60, the tally of home runs Ruth hit for the storybook Yankees of 1927. And here was this kid from nowhere, this upstart, this nobody who “couldn’t carry Ruth’s jock” — in the scornful words of Rogers Hornsby, a brilliant hitter turned mean old cuss — daring to challenge the myth by erasing that record.
In 1973 and 1974, Henry “Hank” Aaron of the Atlanta Braves received death threats as he chased down Ruth’s career record of 714 home runs. The scorn and animosity Maris experienced was less violent — but Maris was less resilient than the mighty Aaron. When, at 2:42 p.m. on Oct. 1, 1961, Maris turned on an outside fastball from Boston’s Tracy Stallard and drove it into the short right field porch of Yankee Stadium, he felt little joy at his 61st home run of the season — only relief that his ordeal was over.
Or so he hoped. The rest of his fine career failed to measure up to this season of audacity, and Maris never really put 1961 behind him. He finished his days back in North Dakota, endlessly watching old films of himself, wondering where the power came from and where it went.
No one is angry at Aaron Judge, thank goodness. His home runs don’t dismay — they delight. If, as seems likely, he blows past 61, he will have the Yankees club record for homers in a season and the highest total outside the steroid era. As I write this, Judge has lately been hitting a dinger per game.
My father, who believed in the baseball of hard running and clean bunts, raised me to appreciate Roger Maris. He spent his last seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals — Dad’s favorite team — and collected his third World Series ring. To be a Maris fan, one must find joy in the breaking of records, and I do. We can never have too much magnificence, too much aspiration, too much achievement.
In Aaron Judge, we see the human embodiment not of perfection (which is unattainable) but of improvement. If he can do better, perhaps I can, too. And that is cause for happiness because it is cause for hope. | 2022-09-06T22:30:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Aaron Judge’s pursuit of Roger Maris’s record is a beautiful thing - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/aaron-judge-roger-maris-home-run-record-pursuit/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/aaron-judge-roger-maris-home-run-record-pursuit/ |
FILE - Del. Mark Keam, D-Fairfax, center, talks with Del. Matthew James, D-Portsmouth, right, and Del. Luke Torian, D-Prince William, left, during the House session at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Feb. 17, 2016. Keam, the long-serving Democratic member of the House of Delegates from northern Virginia, has resigned his seat, a move that will set up a special election to fill the vacancy in the blue-leaning district. According to a spokesman for GOP House Speaker Todd Gilbert, Keam’s resignation is effective midnight, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) | 2022-09-06T22:31:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Longtime Democratic northern Virginia delegate Keam resigns - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/longtime-democratic-northern-virginia-delegate-keam-resigns/2022/09/06/05d30d4c-2e29-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/longtime-democratic-northern-virginia-delegate-keam-resigns/2022/09/06/05d30d4c-2e29-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
A page from the order granting a request by former president Donald Trump's legal team to appoint a special master to review documents seized by the FBI during a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate on Aug. 8. (Jon Elswick/AP)
The Justice Department should ask Cannon, a federal district court judge in Florida, to clarify her order issued Monday in the Mar-a-Lago search case — and pronto. Because, as written, it is pulling in two directions at once, on a matter of potentially grave danger to national security.
The contradictions are screamingly obvious in the final pages of her order: “The Government is TEMPORARILY ENJOINED from further review and use of any of the materials seized from [former president Donald Trump’s] residence … pending resolution of the special master’s review process determined by this Court.” However, the judge added, “The Government may continue to review and use the materials seized for purposes of intelligence classification and national-security assessments.”
Huh? That sounds like saying you can pound a nail, but you can’t use a hammer. Yet Cannon, a Trump appointee, insists that “a temporary injunction on the Government’s use of the seized materials for investigative purposes — but not [the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s] national security assessment — is appropriate and equitable to uphold the value of the special master review.”
That supposed division of labor — drawing a neat distinction between “investigative” purposes and a “national security” assessment — might make sense to Cannon. But some experienced national security lawyers are puzzled, to put it mildly.
“It is impossible to square these two rulings,” says Jamie Gorelick, a former deputy attorney general under President Bill Clinton. Jeff Smith, a former CIA general counsel, explains: “It’s not clear from Cannon’s opinion that she understands what’s entailed in a damage assessment. I think she must believe that all they have to do is look at the documents and decide what harm would result if they were leaked or given to someone without authority.”
Robert Litt, a former ODNI general counsel, observes: “Typically, when you do a damage assessment … you know who has access to the information: Edward Snowden released information to the world; Aldrich Ames to the Russians. I don’t remember ever seeing one during my time where we knew that information had been mishandled but we don’t have any idea whether anyone had access or who.”
Paul Waldman: A Trump judge's appalling Mar-a-Lago order signals a grim future
This isn’t as bad as it could have been. Fortunately, Cannon’s order only covers the documents that were seized by the FBI on Aug. 8, which included 15 sets of classified documents. It doesn’t involve the 15 boxes of records that Trump delivered in January, which included 184 classified documents, 25 marked top secret. And it doesn’t reach the documents turned over to the FBI on June 3 in response to a subpoena, which included 38 classified documents, 17 marked top secret.
So the criminal counterintelligence investigation into how and why Trump retained those documents — and whether they might have been obtained by a third party — can continue, as I read the order. The stop-work order applies only to the more than 100 additional classified documents that Trump retained even after his representatives said they had delivered everything.
I agree with Cannon that there is some benefit in appointing a special master to double-check the Justice Department’s assessment of whether some Trump documents are privileged. But she is wrong in arguing for this review because, as she put it, the stigma of document seizure for a former president is “in a league of its own.” Nonsense. All reputations are created equal. The benefit of a special master is for the rule of law, assuring a divided nation that the process is fair.
Cannon doesn’t seem to fully recognize the national security stakes here. We’ve all seen the cryptic notations on these documents about special compartments and codeword protections for human and signals intelligence. These very high classifications are imposed when the lives of CIA agents are potentially at risk; or the NSA’s most sensitive techniques of intercepting and decrypting foreign communications might be compromised. These are the kinds of secrets for which spies risk their lives, and for which traitors are executed.
If Cannon wants to review the Justice Department’s judgments about what’s personal and privileged in Trump’s mess of presidential materials, okay. But, in the name of George Smiley and all the lamplighters, headhunters and pavement artists of the spy world, don’t suspend the FBI counterintelligence investigation of the documents recovered on Aug. 8 while the lawyers continue their paper blizzard of motions and briefs.
As former CIA director Richard Helms liked to say: “Let’s get on with it.” | 2022-09-06T22:31:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Judge who ordered Trump special master misunderstands how damage assessments work - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/judge-cannon-mar-a-lago-trump-search-damage-assessment/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/judge-cannon-mar-a-lago-trump-search-damage-assessment/ |
Liz Truss gets queen’s nod, becomes U.K. prime minister, in day of pageantry
Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers her first speech outside 10 Downing Street on Tuesday. (Neil Hall/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
LONDON — With all the customary pageantry, Britain on Tuesday traded a prime minister known for colorful metaphors and a loose relationship with the truth for one who offered unadorned bullet points for dealing with the country’s looming economic crisis.
The outgoing Boris Johnson compared himself to rocket booster that has “fulfilled its function” and to ancient Roman statesman/dictator Cincinnatus, who returned to his farm after saving the republic from invasion.
New leader Liz Truss promised to help Britain “ride the storm” of inflation, recession and soaring energy prices. She vowed to get the country working and growing again with tax cuts and deregulation. She used the word “we” a lot.
But neither Truss nor Johnson mentioned that their Conservative Party has been in power for 12 years and so has contributed to the country’s scary economic forecast. Johnson didn’t note that it was his party’s lawmakers who drove him from office after a string of scandals and lies. And Truss didn’t acknowledge that she has been installed by the lawmakers and members of their party, rather than securing a mandate from broader Britain. She was selected by 0.3 percent of the population.
The day was a pas de deux — by tradition.
Usually outgoing and incoming prime ministers nearly pass each other on the five-minute drive from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace, both in London. But because Queen Elizabeth II is 96 years old and has limited mobility, she asked the pair to travel to her, at her Balmoral royal estate and summer holiday home in Scotland.
Johnson and Truss flew in separate Royal Air Force passenger jets to arrive for their separate audiences with the monarch. Cutting carbon emissions, it appeared, was not the top concern of the day. Officials asserted that dual flights were necessary for security.
Johnson had been serving as a caretaker prime minister since July, when an avalanche of resignations from his government forced him to announce he would step down. But his meeting with the queen made it official. He bowed and tendered his resignation.
Then it was Truss’s turn to meet the monarch and ask for permission to form a new government. In photos allowed by the palace, she appeared to perform a shallow curtsy.
The transition offered a glimpse of the queen, which has become something of a rarity since health issues forced her to scale back her workload. Wearing a gray cardigan, a Scotland-appropriate plaid skirt and her signature pearls, she smiled at Truss and extended her hand toward the incoming prime minister.
In her other hand, the queen held a cane, an aid she has been photographed using regularly in recent months.
She looked tiny — and a little frail — but chipper.
Truss is the queen’s 15th prime minister. The first was Winston Churchill, born in 1874. Truss was born more than 100 years later — in 1975.
She becomes the third female British prime minister, after Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher — all Conservatives, by the way. And Britain can now claim membership in the small club of countries that have elected or appointed at least three female heads of state or government.
Truss also made history on Tuesday by appointing three people of color to what are called the “great offices” of state: James Cleverly as foreign secretary, Suella Braverman as home secretary and Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer or finance chief. For the first time, there won’t be a White man holding one of Britain’s four top seats of political power.
Truss herself has held senior posts under three prime ministers, including her most recent stint as foreign secretary. Yet many Britons confess they don’t really know Truss, not the way they knew Johnson — former London mayor, newspaper columnist, Brexit cheerleader, serial prevaricator.
It’s fair to say Truss is a shapeshifter.
She is a self-described “plain-speaking Yorkshire woman” (who went to Oxford, like many British leaders).
Her political journey began on the left, as a Liberal Democrat. Down with the monarchy! she cried in her college days. But today she is solidly Conservative and asserts that the royal family is “essential” to Britain’s success.
Truss also voted for Britain to remain in the European Union before becoming a hardcore Brexiteer.
She has made E.U. officials nervous with threats to override the provision of the Brexit deal that deals with Northern Ireland. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered Truss a pointed congratulations this week: “I look forward to a constructive relationship, in full respect of our agreements.”
The United States — a key backer of the Good Friday Peace Agreement — is also wary about Truss’s moves in Northern Ireland.
In his congratulations message, President Biden instead emphasized the cooperation between the United States and Britain in providing “continued support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression.”
Profile: What to know about Liz Truss
Johnson listed Britain’s early support of Ukraine as one his proudest achievements. Truss, who has already helped impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs, has promised to be forceful in her dealings with Moscow. Her first conversation as prime minister with a foreign leader was with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday was withering in his criticism of the new British leader, decrying her “knowingly negative position on Russia.”
Lavrov said, “She defends Britain’s interests without any desire to compromise, which is unlikely to strengthen London’s position on the international stage.”
Although Truss has inherited a huge range of challenges, Brits have a very clear idea about what they think should rise to the top of her inbox: the cost-of-living crisis.
People are alarmed by rising energy bills. The average annual household fuel bill is set to increase from about $2,300 to $4,100 next month — a jump of nearly 80 percent. And analysts say the average could top $6,900 next year. That’s if the government doesn’t intervene.
At the same time, inflation is at 10 percent, a 40-year high, and the Bank of England is forecasting a protracted recession.
In her first speech as prime minister Tuesday afternoon, Truss promised “bold” action. “I will deal hands-on with the energy crisis caused by Putin’s war,” she said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and laying blame squarely on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
She was unclear on the specifics of how the state will help, or how the government will fund any interventions. The Financial Times reported that Truss’s team is finalizing a package that could cost more than $115 billion to address the crisis.
Truss vowed to help “transform Britain into an aspiration nation with high paying jobs, safe streets and where everyone everywhere has the opportunities they deserve.”
The new leader said she wanted to focus on “getting Britain working again,” though unemployment is near historic lows, at 3.8 percent, and businesses are struggling to find workers after Brexit.
Johnson’s Downing Street remarks earlier in the day underscored the stylistic differences between the two leaders.
His evocation of Cincinnatus, especially, got people talking.
Clearly, Johnson, an amateur classicist, was virtue-signaling — big time.
But was the primary message about political restraint? Or the duty to serve when called upon?
The 5th-century B.C. Roman statesman is said to have been pressed into service to defend Rome from invasion, accepting extraordinary powers, but then giving it all up after the battle was over. According to some accounts, he later agreed to return to Rome and serve as dictator for a second time.
An analyst for the BBC said the subtext of Johnson’s speech was “Why on Earth did you get rid of me?” Many believe Johnson will attempt a comeback.
Mary Beard, the Oxford classicist, tweeted: “If you are curious about Boris Johnson's reference to Cincinnatus in his goodbye speech — he was a 5th century BC Roman politician who saved the state from an invasion, then — job done — returned to his farm ('to his plough’).”
She added, “He was also an enemy of the people.”
Annabelle Timsit in London and Rachel Pannett in Sydney contributed to this report. | 2022-09-06T22:33:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Liz Truss becomes new U.K. prime minister in day of pageantry - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/06/liz-truss-boris-johnson-queen/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/06/liz-truss-boris-johnson-queen/ |
We’re not as divided as we think
Police keep a watch on demonstrators who tried to break through a police barrier at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Julio Cortez/AP)
In short, just how crazy are we? Not that crazy, it turns out. Sure, we’re polarized, but only 29 percent and 28 percent of Americans identify as Democrat or Republican, respectively, according to Gallup. Most of the rest, 41 percent, identify as independent. Yes, 67 percent of Americans think democracy is on the verge of collapse, according to a recent Quinnipiac poll. But 66 percent of Americans also say that Biden is the legitimate president.
Avlon, who has dedicated most of his career to advancing centrism and fighting extremism, heaps credit on The Post’s Philip Bump, who did most of the number-crunching that Avlon used in his own analysis. Both journalists focused, logically, on trying to understand the depth of support on the far right for undermining democracy.
Surely, there can’t be many of those folks, I hear you thinking. And you’re right. There aren’t. Here’s where actual numbers come in handy: Remember, only 28 percent of Americans identify as Republican. Even if 66 percent of Republicans believe that Biden is illegitimate (as a July CNN poll found), that’s just a little over 18 percent of American adults. As Avlon pointed out, even if you add in the one-third of independents who lean Republican, you’re still talking about a minority.
Wait, wait, what about all those Democratic socialists on the other side? Aren’t they extremists, too? They may be, but they’re also a tiny sliver of the population. If you count the Democratic Socialists of America, that’s probably fewer than 100,000 people, or about .03 percent of the U.S. population, says Avlon. That’s not scary at all.
Here is the larger point: We should be spending much less time talking about the extremists on the right or left. We’ve always had them and survived. We may be at a turning point in TV viewing — there is evidence people are turning away from both broadcast and cable. The ugly cultural issues that politicians and activists have long used to divide us obscure the fact that Americans tend to agree on many things: About 70 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage and cannabis legalization, according to Gallup, and about two-thirds of Americans are pro-choice. | 2022-09-06T23:00:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | America’s political divide isn’t as bad as you think - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/america-political-divide-overstated-media/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/06/america-political-divide-overstated-media/ |
Prince George’s council ousts county representative to WSSC Water board
The removal of Commissioner Keith E. Bell came after Bell led the board’s questioning about a billing system that has soared in cost
Prince George's County has removed one of its commissioners from WSSC Water, whose headquarters are in Laurel. (Katherine Shaver/The Washington Post)
The Prince George’s County Council removed a county representative to the board of Maryland’s largest water utility Tuesday after county leaders said they had lost confidence in his ability to lead and communicate.
The unusual decision came as WSSC Water’s board has scrutinized the utility’s billing system, which has tripled in cost, from $40 million to $120 million. The ousted commissioner, Keith E. Bell, had led the board’s recent questioning of why utility leaders had procured the system without seeking competitive bids and how they have managed its soaring costs since.
In a 9-1 vote, council members supported County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks’s (D) call to remove Bell after county officials said Bell improperly meddled in personnel matters and the utility’s daily operations. Bell told the council that he had tried to protect rate payers, saying, “When I see waste and impropriety, or what appears to be impropriety, I have to say something.”
Outgoing WSSC Water leader calls utility 'organization in crisis'
Several council members said they didn’t fully understand the billing system’s cost increases or the source of tensions between Bell and the utility’s outgoing general manager, Carla A. Reid. However, they said they agreed with Alsobrooks that WSSC Water needed a “clean slate,” especially as the utility is seeking a new general manager and bond-rating agencies eye its financial stability.
“We don’t have the ability to sift through all of the details and make a definitive determination as to who’s wrong and who’s right,” council member Mel Franklin (D-At Large) said. “What is clear is that the relationship between the county executive and one of her appointees has broken down. What’s also clear is that there is, regardless of who’s at fault, a crisis in leadership over at WSSC.”
Reid’s contract is set to expire at the end of the year after the six-member WSSC Water board decided in June to not renew it. The board, at Bell’s suggestion, also recently limited Reid’s authority to make high-level personnel decisions, leading Reid to publicly accuse him and another commissioner of “abhorrent conduct” and “misuse of power.”
WSSC Water terminates IT employee critical of billing system
Reid serves at the pleasure of the board, which is composed of three commissioners representing Prince George’s and three representing Montgomery County. Commissioners, who earn $13,000 annually, are appointed by county executives. Alsobrooks (D) appointed Bell in late 2019. His term was set to expire in May.
It’s highly unusual for executives to remove commissioners midterm, as well as for a county council to weigh in on that decision. Commissioners may seek a council hearing to object to their removal, but none have done so in at least 20 years, several local officials said.
Jared McCarthy, the county’s deputy chief administrative officer, said Bell and Reid’s relationship had deteriorated over the past six months. He said county leaders questioned the “manner” of Bell’s inquiries of WSSC Water staff during a February public meeting.
Bell also told county officials he was “too busy” to meet with Reid or county officials other than virtually, McCarthy said. The “breakdown” in communication, he said, led to Alsobrooks’s “lack of confidence” in Bell, as well as concerns that bond-rating agencies considering the utility’s AAA bond rating were watching the “loggerheads” between him and Reid.
“It is time for the parties to move on,” McCarthy told the council during the 90-minute hearing. “This is like a relationship that’s gone south. You know when communication is bad. You know when you’re being ghosted.”
Meet the Maryland man who took on his water utility -- and won
Reid also called for Bell’s removal, telling the council that he had violated “all norms of professional conduct and governance standards” and had disrespected staff with “demeaning language” during public meetings.
Bell, a federal administrative law judge, said he grew concerned last fall, when he learned nearly 20,000 calls to the utility’s customer service center had gone unanswered in October. That was after WSSC Water had urged customers who had fallen behind on bills during the pandemic to contact the utility to set up a payment plan or risk losing service.
The overwhelming call volume, Bell said, also stemmed from the costly billing system’s inability to let customers establish payment plans online, more than two years after it launched in mid-2019.
“Based on my experiences, the issues that plague WSSC are more about a lack of transparency, accountability and overspending,” Bell told the council. “All of my efforts were to protect the interest of rate payers.”
He said he’s also concerned that two employees who spoke up about the billing system’s problems have been terminated.
“It is time for a clean slate,” Bell said. “They should clean up the act at WSSC.”
Why WSSC Water spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on its 'rebranding'
Allegations that he was “ghosting” county officials are “fabricated,” he said, adding that he had declined to attend in-person meetings twice in three years because of his busy work schedule. After his removal, he said that he was “relieved” to be free of the stress that Reid’s criticisms had caused and that he sought the public hearing because “I thought it was important that rate payers understand there are still some problems at WSSC.”
WSSC Water commissioners voted unanimously in February to freeze most spending on the billing system, known as Project Cornerstone, and to hire an independent firm to investigate its procurement and cost increases. That investigation remains underway.
The other commissioner whom Reid had criticized as overstepping her authority, T. Eloise Foster of Montgomery, remains on the board. Richard Madaleno, Montgomery’s chief administrative officer, said Tuesday that Montgomery Executive Marc Elrich (D) has no plans to remove Foster.
WSSC Water provides water and sewer services to nearly 2 million people in the Washington suburbs. | 2022-09-06T23:48:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Prince George's ousts WSSC Water commissioner amid billing system questions - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/09/06/prince-georges-wssc-water/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/09/06/prince-georges-wssc-water/ |
FILE - This photo provided by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows the state’s death chamber in Columbia, S.C., including the electric chair, right, and a firing squad chair, left. A South Carolina judge ruled Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, that the state’s newly created execution firing squad, as well as its use of the electric chair, are unconstitutional, siding with four death row inmates in a decision surely to be swiftly appealed as the state struggles to implement its new execution protocols. (South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP, File) (Uncredited/South Carolina Department of Corrections) | 2022-09-07T00:02:28Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Judge says SC electric chair, firing squad unconstitutional - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/judge-says-sc-electric-chair-firing-squad-unconstitutional/2022/09/06/8dd63ff4-2e36-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/judge-says-sc-electric-chair-firing-squad-unconstitutional/2022/09/06/8dd63ff4-2e36-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
FILE - Danny DeVito, right, and his daughter, Lucy, attend the premiere of “The Comedian” during the 2016 AFI Fest at the Egyptian Theatre on Nov. 11, 2016, in Los Angeles. Louisiana congressman Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Johnsons said an animated horror comedy featuring Danny DeVito as the voice of Satan is “clearly evil,” adding that his Facebook post denouncing “Little Demon” had reached millions of people by Tuesday morning, Sept. 6, 2022. On the show, DeVito voices the role of Satan and Lucy DeVito plays Satan’s daughter, Chrissy the Antichrist. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File) | 2022-09-07T00:02:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | US Rep: Sitcom with Danny DeVito as voice of Satan is 'evil' - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/us-rep-sitcom-with-danny-devito-as-voice-of-satan-is-evil/2022/09/06/75f3d82c-2e33-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/us-rep-sitcom-with-danny-devito-as-voice-of-satan-is-evil/2022/09/06/75f3d82c-2e33-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Prince George's County Police Chief Malik Aziz and Prince George's County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks has had enough.
After two years of rising violence and an August that became the county’s deadliest month in four decades, the county executive called a news conference on Labor Day to announce a curfew for children 16 and younger.
The curfew — which has existed in Prince George’s since 1995 but has not been enforced in decades — is scheduled to begin Friday at 11:59 p.m. and last for at least 30 days. Children are not to be in the street or in public areas from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and from midnight to 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
“I cannot stand by and continue to watch children who are shot and killed, who are not only committing crimes but harming others, and do nothing about it,” said Alsobrooks (D).
But reception of the curfew enforcement has been mixed from those most directly affected by the violence, including parents, youth advocates and the police officers now tasked with carrying out the county executive’s order. Those in favor of the curfew see it as a bold act of leadership at a critical time. Those who are skeptical say the curfew is not the right answer to address systemic issues driving violence.
“I appreciate that government is acknowledging that there’s a problem, but it goes far beyond a curfew, and far beyond a parent,” said Tameiko Prentice, whose 19-year-old son, Myles “Buddy” Prentice, was fatally shot Aug. 19.
She took issue with Alsobrooks asking “Where are their parents?” during the Monday news conference, saying she is worried the new curfew policy places blame on those like her who are doing their best to keep their children safe.
Her son was a Bowie High School graduate who was diagnosed with ADHD and struggled with depression, she said. He used marijuana and other drugs in high school, she said, and had run-ins with law enforcement. She and her husband tried “everything under the sun” to help get him on track, she said — including therapy, military school and residential treatment in Utah. Before he was killed, his parents were hopeful about their son’s future. He was entering his second year at Shaw University in North Carolina, where he was studying business.
“I’ve been a parent of three children. Trying to tell a 16-, 17-year-old to stay in the house, that’s not going to always work. What do you do?” Tameiko Prentice said. “You lock the doors; they can unlock the doors. They have cars; they have friends who have cars. They can just leave the house if they want to.”
Jeanette Brandon, founder of Together We Can, an organization “created to bring people together” in Prince George’s County, said the curfew was a needed act of leadership from Alsobrooks after many community members felt as though their concerns about growing gun violence were going unheard.
“If we don’t start from somewhere, we’re going to lose altogether,” Brandon said. “You’re allowing the people to see that you’re at least doing something.”
Critics cited studies that show curfews are ineffective and said they fear the county’s policy unfairly targets children without adequate data showing that juveniles are the main drivers of the recent uptick in violent crime.
The county has recorded 80 homicides so far this year as of Monday, including 24 in August alone, compared with 84 killings through the same period a year earlier.
Alsobrooks and the county’s police chief, Malik Aziz, cited a number of crime statistics in their news conference Monday, including that 438 juveniles have been arrested in Prince George’s so far this year — a significant jump from the 207 juvenile arrests through the same period last year. Many of those statistics, however, did not draw clear connections among the time of day crimes are being committed, who is committing them at those times and how the enforcement of a curfew might prevent the crimes from happening.
In August, for example, 52 of the 117 carjackings in Prince George’s occurred between midnight and 8 a.m. — a rough parallel to the curfew time window. But that data, released by the department, does not account for who committed the carjackings, because arrests have not been made in all the cases.
It remains unclear how the police department plans to enforce the curfew, including whether night patrols will increase and how officers will be instructed to interact with those whom they believe, based on their appearance, are too young to be out. Alsobrooks and Aziz did not have answers to questions about enforcement at the news conference Monday. When asked again Tuesday, the department did not provide a response.
Officials on Monday pointed to the enforcement language in the county’s code on juvenile curfews, which was written in 1995 and enforced for a number of years after a period of high homicide rates in the county. But even decades ago, the curfew law was criticized for disproportionately targeting Black children in the county and harming community relations with the police.
After a drive-by shooting, one city wants more than just police to stay safe
An Urban Institute study found the policy had little effect on protecting children from violent crime. The county police chief at the time said it did, however, help reduce the number of juveniles arrested in connection with violent crimes.
After the curfew announcement, the Prince George’s police union president, Angelo Consoli, said he was frustrated the organization hadn’t been consulted on the curfew their officers will now be tasked with enforcing. The union, Consoli said, is concerned that officers are being forced to carry out a civil policy that could easily lead to accusations of racial profiling or over-policing because of the inherent challenges that come with enforcing a curfew.
“No one has told us anything about how they are going to get this done or what they are going to expect from us,” Consoli said.
Jawanna Hardy, director of Alsobrooks’s Hope in Action program and founder of Guns Down Friday, a youth anti-violence organization, said she remembers growing up under the curfew installed by then-D.C. Mayor Marion Barry in the District when she was 15. It helped children understand that they needed to be home at a certain time, Hardy said, for their own good.
“We have to do something. Doing nothing, we see, isn’t working,” said Hardy, a violence interrupter. “I love this 30-day initiative, just to try to figure out what we can do to stop people like me from going to funerals every week.”
Prince Hamn, founder of the organization Making a Difference, is also a part of the Hope in Action initiative. His organization has recently tried to address students bringing guns to school through a “safe passage” program, talking with high-schoolers “just to show them that the community still cares and has love for them.”
While the curfew represents an effort from the county to create a systemic response, Hamn said he is concerned it could lead to more interactions with police and racial profiling. The consequences of violating the county curfew, which can include the government taking a child away from their family and releasing them to the social services department, could cause other harmful effects on the children and families, he said.
When it comes to enforcing the curfew and ensuring its effectiveness, it is going to take balance and collaboration among community organizations, police and county leaders, he said.
“At the end goal, we’re trying to get them to safety,” Hamn said of the county’s children, “so they can be here tomorrow.” | 2022-09-07T00:54:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Prince George's curfew to address violence receives mixed reviews - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/06/prince-georges-curfew-violence/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/06/prince-georges-curfew-violence/ |
Former president Donald Trump acknowledges applause from the crowd at a speaking event last year in Greenville, N.C. (Jonathan Drake/Reuters)
As they scrutinize Trump and his advisers, Justice Department lawyers are weighing whether to challenge a federal judge’s uncommon order to appoint an independent reviewer, called a special master, to assess more than 11,000 documents seized by the FBI from Trump’s Florida residence last month.
At issue are untested legal questions about the extent to which assertions of executive privilege, typically invoked by sitting presidents to protect high-level deliberations and communications, can be applied to a former president at odds with a successor’s administration.
If the Justice Department does appeal, the ensuing legal fight could take longer than any document review by the special master — and there is no guarantee that the government would prevail, particularly if the case were to reach the Supreme Court, to which Trump appointed three justices during his presidency and solidified a 6 to 3 conservative majority.
“The Supreme Court has said it’s an open question the extent to which a former president can assert claims of executive privilege against a sitting president,” said former federal judge Paul G. Cassell, who teaches at the University of Utah law school. “Maybe this will be the case that determines and helps settle that open question.”
The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon — a Trump nominee confirmed days after President Biden won the 2020 election — says the Justice Department cannot continue reviewing the materials taken from Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, or use them in its investigation, until the special master concludes his or her examination. Trump’s legal team has said a special master is needed to ensure a fair process.
Some legal experts who have followed the matter said the government may forgo an appeal if the investigation is on hold only a short time while the special master sorts through the material.
Mary McCord, who served as acting assistant attorney general for national security during the Obama administration, said there are legitimate legal reasons to appeal, but also potential upsides to accepting the judge’s plan for an independent review. Involving a third party could “inoculate the department from criticism down the line about having been the ‘fox in the hen house,’” she said, suggesting it would nullify complaints about the government’s use of an in-house team to separate out the sensitive documents that were seized.
McCord characterized the judge’s legal analysis as “flawed,” but said the ruling does not completely halt the investigation. Prosecutors can still interview witnesses and obtain additional search warrants and subpoenas, particularly for events that occurred before the search at Mar-a-Lago. A previous Justice Department filing in the case described the actions in May and June of two of Trump’s representatives, Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb, in a way that suggested they may have obstructed the investigation.
Trump’s lawyers had told the government in response to a May subpoena that they conducted a diligent search for all classified material, and handed government agents 38 more classified documents, according to a Justice Department filing. But the August searched turned up more than 100 additional classified documents scattered among more than two dozen boxes that agents seized.
In her ruling Monday, Cannon said a special master would review the seized documents to identify any records protected by attorney-client or executive privilege. Cannon sided with Trump’s lawyers in finding that Trump should be able to test whether the former president retains some protections. She also raised concerns that some of Trump’s personal materials, including medical documents and tax-related correspondence, were intermingled with government records that agents removed.
Legal experts called Cannon’s decision problematic because it upends the usual course of a criminal investigation and suggests there are different rules for a former president. In a typical investigation, the target of a search would be entitled to a hearing after an indictment to challenge the validity of an underlying search warrant. In Trump’s case, the former president has not been charged and the investigation is ongoing.
“It’s stunning insertion of the courts into what has historically been exclusively executive process,” said Steve Vladeck, a constitutional law professor at the University of Texas law school. “This is just not the way our legal system is set up.”
If Cannon’s decision stands, legal experts said, it would allow the targets of investigations to disrupt law enforcement operations before a case is charged or goes to trial. Orin Kerr, a criminal law expert at the University of California at Berkeley law school, predicted that the government would appeal based on concerns about the separation of powers.
“If a suspect can go into court and get an order to stop the criminal investigation, it’s hard for the executive branch to function,” Kerr wrote in a tweet.
It is not exceptional for judges to appoint special masters to review documents from searches of law firms, for instance, because of concerns about attorney-client privilege. It happened in recent years after FBI searches of the homes and offices of Trump’s personal attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen.
But unlike those cases, the Justice Department told Cannon that it has already sorted through the documents from Mar-a-Lago using a “filter team” to separate potentially privileged records. The government emphasized in court filings that a former president cannot invoke executive privilege to keep the Justice Department from accessing material because the department is part of the executive branch.
Cannon disagreed, saying the department “arguably overstates the law.”
Two Supreme Court decisions in the 1970s involving former president Richard M. Nixon suggested that a former president could in some circumstances assert executive privilege. The justices in 1974 ruled against Nixon and ordered him to turn over Oval Office recordings. But the parameters of those claims are not resolved and Congress subsequently passed the Presidential Records Act, establishing that a president’s official records belong to the public, not the occupant of the office.
In a separate dispute between Trump and Congress in January, the Supreme Court rejected the former president’s request to stop the release of some of his White House records to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The high court’s order did not provide its reasons for turning away Trump’s application.
Cannon said in her ruling Monday that the justices have not ruled out the possibility of the interests of a former president prevailing over a sitting president when it comes to executive privilege. She quoted Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, one of Trump’s nominees to the Supreme Court, who wrote separately in the Jan. 6 case.
“A former President must be able to successfully invoke the Presidential communications privilege for communications that occurred during his Presidency, even if the current President does not support the privilege claim,” Kavanaugh wrote. “Concluding otherwise would eviscerate the executive privilege for Presidential communications.”
Cannon, a member of the conservative Federalist Society, was confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 56-21 in November 2020 with the support of a dozen Democrats. She worked as an assistant federal prosecutor in Florida and as a law clerk to an appeals court judge. She is a graduate of Duke University and University of Michigan law school.
Cannon now sits on the bench in Fort Pierce but was assigned to Trump’s case through the court’s random lottery system in the Southern District of Florida, whose five divisions include courthouses in both Fort Pierce and West Palm Beach. Judges from all five divisions can be assigned to cases in any of the courthouses. In this case, court documents show Trump’s lawsuit was filed in West Palm Beach, the same courthouse where a magistrate judge approved the Mar-a-Lago search warrant. But it was then assigned to Cannon, who traveled to the West Palm Beach courthouse last week to hear arguments in the case.
Ryan Goodman, a New York University law professor and former Defense Department special counsel, said Cannon’s opinion goes out of its way to explain that the court’s intervention is necessary because of Trump’s status as a former president.
“The opinion makes explicit what many of us have understood: There are special rules for former president Trump,” Goodman said. “But the justice system is supposed to be based upon the proposition that nobody is above the law and that we’re all treated equally by the criminal justice system.”
Perry Stein and Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report | 2022-09-07T00:58:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Special master order a test of Trump’s post-White House powers - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/06/trump-judge-cannon-special-master-order/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/06/trump-judge-cannon-special-master-order/ |
Fast facts: Smith joined playoff round one winner Grant Enfinger as drivers guaranteed a spot in the second round of the playoffs. ... Three-time series champion Matt Crafton leads Carson Hocevar by three points in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot moving forward. ... The other driver behind the cut line is Christian Eckes, and he’s six points behind Crafton.
Fast facts: Verstappen has won four straight races for the first time in his career. He leads Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles LeClerc by 109 points in the standings. ... Verstapen overtook seven-time series champ Lewis Hamilton on a restart with 12 laps to go to move in front.
Fast facts: Power leads two-time champion Josef Newgarden and six-time champion Scott Dixon by 20 points heading into the final race of the season. ,,, McLaughin led 104 of the 110 laps in Portland. ... McLaughlin, with three victories, is second only to Newgarden’s five. | 2022-09-07T01:33:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | AUTO RACING: Auto Racing Glance - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/auto-racing/auto-racing-auto-racing-glance/2022/09/06/15847504-2e43-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/auto-racing/auto-racing-auto-racing-glance/2022/09/06/15847504-2e43-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Author Peter Straub in 1983. (Reg Innell/Toronto Star/Getty Images)
The result was “Julia” (1975), about a woman haunted by a malevolent supernatural presence that could be her dead daughter. The book was a hit, inspired a movie starring Mia Farrow and redirected Mr. Straub’s career to become one of the most celebrated writers of tales of horror, psychological thrillers and stories that made pulses race and night lights stay on.
Mr. Straub, who died Sept. 4 in New York at 79, became part of a literary era in the late 1960s and 1970s that led readers into dark corners of all kinds: Ira Levin’s “Rosemary’s Baby” (1967), William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist” (1971), Stephen King’s first novel, “Carrie,” in 1974 and Anne Rice’s “Interview With the Vampire” (1976).
Anne Rice, who helped launched revival of vampire stories, dies at 80
Mr. Straub, a published poet, retained his love of literary precision in his stories, turning his tales into taut explorations of the “inner geography of horror, dark fantasy and psychological suspense,” wrote The Washington Post’s Michael Dirda in 2012.
Mr. Straub followed up with “If You Could See Me Now” (1977) and the best-selling “Ghost Story” (1979), which became a 1981 film and cemented his reputation as a master of horror. He was the winner of numerous prizes, including the Bram Stoker Award for lifetime achievement in 2006, and was named an International Horror Guild “living legend” in 2008.
“Ghost Story” tells the story of four men who share ghost stories and find themselves threatened by a vengeful spirit.
Mr. Straub — who collaborated with King on “The Talisman” (1984) and a sequel “Black House” 2001 — said he long resisted being categorized as a horror novelist. But made peace with it after deciding it gave him ample room to dig into timeless emotions and fears — including even his whodunit Blue Rose trilogy published between 1998 and 1983.
Injured as boy
At the age of 7, Mr. Straub was seriously injured when he was struck by a car. He temporarily used a wheelchair and had to relearn how to walk. Mr. Straub has said the injury and long recovery gave him a boyhood awareness of his own mortality.
Mr. Straub died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital of complications after a fall, his family said. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Susan Bitker Straub; son Benjamin Straub; a daughter, novelist Emma Straub; and three grandchildren.
Review: 'Interior darkness' for those who love horror
Mr. Straub kept up a steady stream of novels and short fiction for decades, including supernatural thrillers such as “Shadowland” (1980) about magician apprentices; fantasy worlds such as “Floating Dragon” (1983); and a tale of evil and obsession in “A Dark Matter” (2010) and novellas including “The Ghost Village” (1992).
“I’ve always liked hearing and telling stories,” Mr. Straub was quoted as saying in a story for the Wisconsin Alumni Association. “Also, telling stories and writing fiction is a way of managing and exploring my own impulses and emotions. I’m not at the mercy of my terrors, my shame. I push the dredged-up emotions into shapes that are enjoyable in the end, even if their content seems violent or disturbing.”
Yet he also enjoyed the outlandish twists and turns of daytime soap operas. For his 60th birthday, his wife surprised Mr. Straub with a behind-the-scenes tour of the “One Life to Live” set, which opened the door for the author to take on a cameo role as blind detective Peter Braust.
Despite the success of Mr. Straub’s collaborations with King, he noted the challenges of a creative partnership that, at times, left them “pretty fed up with each other.”
In a 2001 interview with USA Today, Mr. Straub described writing as a “deeply private, intimate activity.”
Mr. Straub also said that any worthwhile horror tales must stay connected to the awe and imagination of childhood. | 2022-09-07T03:04:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Peter Straub, horror novelist and Stephen King collaborator, dies at 79 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/09/06/peter-straub-horror-novelist-dies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/09/06/peter-straub-horror-novelist-dies/ |
Caroline Garcia beat Coco Gauff, 6-3, 6-4, in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
NEW YORK — There was nothing the teenager could do to knock Caroline Garcia a toe off-kilter, no decibel the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium could reach that would crack her focus. Coco Gauff had the speed, the swagger and even, after an educational run to the French Open final in May, some experience enduring the pressure of a Grand Slam quarterfinal. But Garcia was a brick wall, and Gauff couldn’t topple her.
Garcia, an ultra-aggressive Frenchwoman ranked No. 17 in the world, extended a staggering, summer-long run to beat Gauff, 6-3, 6-4, in the first appearance in a U.S. Open quarterfinal for both players Tuesday night.
Gauff, 18, had electrified crowds here in Serena Williams’s absence, showing off a newly refined mental game and a sense of maturity despite being the youngest American quarterfinalist since 17-year-old Melanie Oudin in 2009.
She never was able to find her footing Tuesday.
Garcia has blazed through 2022 to log one of the best seasons on the WTA tour. She arrived at Arthur Ashe Stadium having won 17 of her past 18 matches and 29 in all since Wimbledon, the most in women’s tennis in that span.
Last month she was the first champion in the history of the Western & Southern Open, a significant hard court tournament outside Cincinnati ahead of the U.S. Open, to win after coming through qualifying, knocking off three top-10 players along the way.
She also picked up the French Open doubles title in addition to three WTA singles crowns this year.
Yet Tuesday was just the 28-year-old’s second time playing in the quarterfinals in 42 Grand Slam singles appearances in her career.
In her first career major semifinal, she will face Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, who defeated Ajla Tomljanovic in straight sets Tuesday. It’ll give her the chance to show Flushing Meadows more of her spirited play — big, pinpoint hitting and lightning-quick reflexes.
“I’m just trying to focus on my game, what I like to do, how is the best way for me to play tennis,” Garcia said. “The path is very clear right now.”
Gauff has no reason to hang her head at the close of a solid year in the majors; she lost the French Open final to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek and reached the third round at Wimbledon. She will make her top-10 debut when new rankings come out following the U.S. Open and last month became the second-youngest doubles No. 1 after Martina Hingis.
At 18, this marked the first year in which Gauff was not limited in how many WTA tournaments she could play because of the organization’s age rule. She’s still figuring out things like time management at Grand Slams and getting back to her hotel quickly without dawdling on-site or agreeing to too many off-court obligations.
“For me it’s hard to balance being proud and being disappointed. So I think I’m learning more to not be so much disappointed in myself. Really, I’m just proud of how I was able to come through this week. … I didn’t tell anyone, but I didn’t think it was going to be that good of a tournament for me,” Gauff said, referencing the fact that she retired from an opening-round match in the prior tournament with a minor lower-leg injury.
Gauff said she gained a sharper sense of identity on court this year and a stronger mental game after reaching her first major final. She surprised herself with how nervous she became before playing Swiatek and vowed to approach big matches differently — by embracing nervousness so she can tackle it head on.
After every U.S. Open match, she went straight back out to the practice court.
“It’s really to re-create the feeling,” Gauff said earlier this week. “It’s been helping. You can practice for hours on the court, but probably the closest you can get to the feeling of the match is right after. I think in the long run it’s going to help me.”
Gauff barely had a chance to feel nerves or any other emotion. Garcia pounced from the start.
Garcia’s opponents face a blitz on every point. She stands right inside the baseline to rip returns before her opponents are ready and pulled Gauff from side to side to get her running on the first points of the match. She had her on her heels, often literally, from then on — no easy task against an athlete as fast and as deft as Gauff.
Multiple times, Garcia’s groundstrokes came so fast and low at Gauff’s toes that Gauff, just to have a chance to get her racket on the ball, had to crouch so low that her knees nearly touched the court. She brushed grit from the concrete off her legs at one point near the end of the first set.
“It was all her,” Gauff said. “I mean, today, the warmup, I had probably one of the best warmups I had this tournament. I was striking the ball really clean.”
When Gauff did have the chance to set up points, her serve was too inconsistent to establish any offensive positions. She served four double faults in the first set as Garcia was totally at ease, winning 78 percent of her first-serve points and losing just one of 10 service games.
Gauff made it to 4-5, 30-30 in the second set but slung a forehand into the net to give Garcia match point. Another backhand into the net from Gauff tied things off after 97 minutes — which, to Gauff’s credit, was the longest match Garcia has played all tournament. | 2022-09-07T03:22:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Coco Gauff can’t break Caroline Garcia’s streak in U.S. Open quarterfinals - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/06/coco-gauff-caroline-garcia-us-open/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/06/coco-gauff-caroline-garcia-us-open/ |
Hundreds flee gas main break in Hagerstown, Md.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, officials said.
STOCK IMAGE: Metal pipes and fittings of domestic water supply system seen through a hole in a white wall. (iStock)
About 1,000 people were evacuated in the western Maryland city of Hagerstown on Tuesday after workers struck a six-inch gas main, officials said.
Columbia Gas was trying to control the leak, the city said, but it was not clear how long the displacements would last.
Natural gas accumulations are particularly hazardous in confined spaces. The exact location of the leak was not immediately clear Tuesday evening.
Hagerstown is a city of about 40,000 people in Washington County. It is near the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania, and about 90 miles northwest of the District of Columbia. | 2022-09-07T03:35:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Broken gas main prompts evacuations in Hagerstown, Md. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/06/gas-main-break-evacuate-maryland/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/06/gas-main-break-evacuate-maryland/ |
Carolyn Hax: When the recent divorcée openly flirts with your spouse
Dear Carolyn: What do I do if the recently divorced female rector of my church is openly flirting with my husband at a church retreat? I have described to several close friends her comments to my husband, and they agree that the comments appear to be flirtatious and are inappropriate.
My husband is a handsome, kind man who really likes to be liked, but he’s also incredibly loyal and loving and is a wonderful husband. He doesn’t “see” anything inappropriate, as a general matter, when I’ve lightly brought it up. I’m thinking I need to get confirmation from a third party who attended the retreat and approach them lightly to see whether they noticed anything.
Another church is always an option, but he is a member of the vestry, so it’s a little complicated. Or I could ignore it and continue to be happily married, but it is annoying. Any advice would be much appreciated.
— Annoyed
Annoyed: This is me lightly suggesting you worry less about lightness and more about saying what you mean, and less to friends and more to your husband:
“I think it’s fair to say I am not one to get jealous or accuse people of flirting with you.” This is true, right? (Because if it isn’t, then I need to build a different flow chart.)
Then: “Would you agree with that?” He would say yes, right?
If so: “Thank you, I appreciate that. Now please show me the courtesy of taking me at my word when I say the rector was crossing a line with you. If nothing else, recognize that I felt uncomfortable — and I hope that is reason enough on its own to be mindful of boundaries with her.”
It is okay to play the trust-me-on-this card where it’s warranted — and, in fact, that is why you want to keep this card playable in the first place. That means choosing a trustworthy partner, being a trustworthy partner and letting those two realities handle the vast majority of your concerns without reacting or saying a word.
It’s also okay not to play the trust-me-on-this card here — not yet. This seems to have happened only once, so maybe a lonely person let her guard down and a kind but oblivious person failed to pick up on that? So you can choose not to speak up, or even give it another thought, unless it happens again.
Hi Carolyn: I know you always say it’s a good idea to wait two years before fully committing to a person. I’m 37 and have been with my boyfriend for a little less than a year. Five years ago, I would have waited longer to move in together or get married, but we both really want kids (biological, if possible), and the clock is ticking. I have dated a lot, including serious relationships, and I can’t imagine finding someone more well-suited, but I realize you can’t possibly know someone fully after such a short period of time. Do you think it’s always a bad idea to move in together, get married or get pregnant earlier than two years in?
Anonymous: It’s a reality check, not a rule. It says, “These feelings are influenced in some part by novelty, which will go away.” That information can be used responsibly in many ways.
As can the knowledge that you’ll still have the husband even if the kids don’t happen.
So if you trust your judgment, then trust your judgment. (Congrats!) | 2022-09-07T04:36:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Carolyn Hax: When the recent divorcée openly flirts with your spouse - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/09/07/carolyn-hax-divorcee-flirt-spouse-church/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/09/07/carolyn-hax-divorcee-flirt-spouse-church/ |
Famine will hit parts of Somalia between October and December. That was the verdict of Martin Griffiths, the U.N. humanitarian chief, who spoke to reporters from Mogadishu, the war-torn, drought-ravaged Horn of Africa nation’s capital. “I have been shocked to my core these past few days by the level of pain and suffering we see so many Somalis enduring,” Griffiths said Monday. “Famine is at the door, and today we are receiving a final warning.”
More than 7.1 million people — roughly half of Somalia’s population — are in need of food assistance. One out of every five children in the country will face deadly forms of malnutrition by October should current conditions remain. Four failed rainy seasons have plunged the region into its worst drought in more than four decades, prompting roughly a million people in Somalia to leave their homes and trudge through the arid countryside in search for food and aid. Their woes were compounded by events far from their reach, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine causing a surge in global grain, fuel and fertilizer prices that have impacted some of the world’s poorest countries.
Eyewitness accounts detail scenes of unending misery, as countless hungry children succumb to otherwise preventable diseases. “We are burying babies and watching with heartbreak as mothers cry because they don’t know what to feed their children, now dying of hunger and thirst, and drought robs families of crops and livestock, their only source of income,” Daud Jiran, Somalia country director for humanitarian organization Mercy Corps, said in an email.
For months, U.N. officials and international organizations have warned about mounting hunger in Somalia and other parts of Africa. But the declaration of famine itself is a specific and rare event usually invoked by the United Nations and national governments. A declared famine implies that the data shows more than 20 percent of households in the country have extreme food gaps, about a third of children experience acute malnutrition, and two people out of every 10,000 is dying every day from starvation, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
I covered Somalia’s last famine a decade ago. It’s about to happen again.
Famine was last declared in Somalia in 2011 when more than a quarter million people died, half of them under the age of 5. Much has changed in the intervening years, but certain fundamental challenges remain, including the persistence of a violent Islamist insurgency by al-Shabab militants. They control a swath of the country and have made access to some areas hit by drought difficult for relief workers. Close to a million Somalis live in parts of the country dominated by al-Shabab. Experts believe the true extent of suffering in Somalia is far worse than the publicized data, with countless deaths going uncounted in rural areas.
A decade ago, critics warned that the famine declaration in Somalia came far too late, and that an earlier designation would have spurred the international community faster into action. The same may be true now.
“People are already dying,” International Rescue Committee head David Miliband said in a statement. “During the last famine in Somalia in 2011, half of all deaths occurred before famine was declared. … The international community pledged to ‘never again’ allow famine in Somalia or wait so long to act, but it is repeating the same mistake this year.”
The warning signs have been there for all to see. In April, the U.N.’s children agency said that 1.4 million kids under the age of 5 faced acute malnutrition and had already documented hundreds of deaths of children in malnutrition treatment centers. In May, at least 213,000 people in the central Bay region were deemed to be in “catastrophe,” a term for starvation. Through the rest of the summer, U.N. agencies and aid organizations raised the alarm, cataloguing widespread hunger and decrying a lack of international support.
“The crisis is worse now than any time in my lifetime working in Somalia for the last 20 years, and it is because of the compounded effect of the war in Ukraine,” said Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, Somalia country director for the charity Save the Children, to my colleague Sudarsan Raghavan in June. “Communities are at a breaking point.”
Africa’s desperate hunger: Ukraine war pushes Somalia toward famine
Of the 250,000 people who died during the 2011 #Somalia famine, nearly half lost their lives before a famine was officially declared.
History tells us that time is not on our side. Inaction is fatal.https://t.co/gwdeg03mvW
Foreign aid has been slow to come. A $1.5 billion response plan for Somalia proposed by the United Nations was only 17 percent funded in April, and just two-thirds funded by August. Compare that to the tens of billions of dollars mustered by Western powers with minimal political discussion or fuss to support Ukraine’s war effort against the Russian invasion.
Samantha Power, USAID administrator, said Tuesday that a famine can still be averted. “Today, a significant increase in humanitarian assistance can still help prevent mass starvation and deaths,” she said in a statement. “But the window to prevent this famine projection from becoming a reality is closing quickly and the next several weeks are critical.” Her agency has put into a motion a plan to feed at least 3.5 million people a month and committed at least $668 million in funding in this fiscal year alone.
Somalia sourced 90 percent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine before the war. The first major shipment of Ukrainian grain since negotiations eased a Russian blockade reached East Africa last week. But the damage done to a region so dependent on these imports has been deep and lasting.
So, too, the toll of climate change. Ordinary Somalis — like ordinary Pakistanis who saw a third of their nation get flooded over the past week — have contributed little to the emissions that are warming the planet. But they are on the front lines of the catastrophic climatic events scientists believe will only grow more common in the years to come. In Somalia’s case, experts predict more dry spells in the near future.
“The world is witnessing how climate change, conflict, rising food costs, and the knock-on impacts of COVID-19 are collapsing food systems and leading to preventable deaths,” Jiran said in an email. “Continuing drought and starvation are the future if we do not protect the planet from a changing climate and help the communities hit first and hardest, like those in Somalia, mitigate and adapt.” | 2022-09-07T04:37:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Somalia is on the verge of famine while the world looks away - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/somalia-famine-drought-global-hunger/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/somalia-famine-drought-global-hunger/ |
A Ukrainian soldier wounded during early fighting in the new offensive in the Kherson region is cared for at a medical facility in southern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces are pushing to retake territory occupied by Russia. (For The Washington Post/FTWP)
The Ukrainian soldiers said they had to carefully ration their use of munitions but even when they did fire, they had trouble hitting targets. “When you give the coordinates, it’s supposed to be accurate but it’s not,” he said, noting that his equipment dated back to 1989.
The region, which was captured by Russia earlier in the war forms a crucial part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s coveted “land bridge” to Crimea, the peninsula that Russia invaded and annexed in violation of international law in 2014.
Pinochet said his knee was shattered by shrapnel from a mortar that was fired after a drone spotted him in last week’s counteroffensive. He said that while Ukrainian casualties are significant, the side that wages an offensive always loses more soldiers.
“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Pinochet said. “And we can still win.”
Russian electronic warfare also posed a constant threat. Soldiers described ending their shifts and turning on their phones to call or text family members — a decision that immediately drew Russian artillery fire.
“When we turn on mobile phones or radio, they can recognize our presence immediately,” said Denys. “And then the shooting starts.”
Despite the ban on media visits to the front line, there were signs that Russia’s grip on Kherson might be loosening.
In a statement on Monday, a Kremlin-backed occupation authority said that plans for a staged referendum in the Kherson region, a precursor to Russian annexation, were put on hold due to security issues. The Russian statement was later walked back, but it gave the Ukrainians optimism and suggested that, at the least, the counteroffensive was causing some disarray for the Russians.
Kyiv is hoping that the Kherson counteroffensive will boost national morale and demonstrate to Western governments that their billions of dollars in economic and military assistance is paying off, even as sanctions against Russia have raised energy prices and inflation and raised fears of an even more expensive winter.
The Ukrainian claims of retaking villages such as Vysokopillya could not be confirmed, though soldiers interviewed said they were able to advance into some previously Russian-controlled villages. Those soldiers declined to name the villages, citing instructions from their superiors.
A group of Washington Post journalists who traveled within three miles of Vysokopillya, in northern Kherson, on Monday were prevented from entering the village by Ukrainian troops and could not ascertain its status. A local official said Ukrainian and Russian forces were still battling for control.
Denys, sitting upright on his hospital bed, said almost every member of his 120-person unit was injured, though only two were killed.
A 25-year-old soldier being treated for shrapnel wounds said that, within his unit of 100 soldiers, seven were killed and 20 injured. Ihor, the platoon commander, said 16 of the 32 men under his command were injured and one was killed.
Ukraine’s injured soldiers have been spread out to different hospitals across southern Ukraine to free up the main medical facilities near the Kherson region for incoming patients.
The Post is withholding the names of hospitals treating soldiers because such medical facilities have been targeted by Russian forces through the course of the war.
On Sunday, a hospital in Mykolaiv, a city near Kherson, came under Russian shelling. The facility’s pediatric clinic was so badly damaged it was no longer functional.
When it comes to casualties, Rob Lee, a military analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said Ukraine must make sure it retains a fighting force large enough to fend off Russian advances in the east, given Moscow’s far larger armed forces.
“If they’re taking heavy casualties and it continues for a long period of time, it can be a problem,” Lee said.
Ukraine’s reliance on inexperienced soldiers is also a vulnerability but not one that is exclusive to its forces.
At the start of the conflict, Russia and Ukraine fought with professional military units. After suffering heavy losses in the eastern Donbas region, each side began deploying volunteer or reservist units with less experience.
The Kherson counteroffensive is now testing Ukraine’s forces in new ways, Lee said.
Ukrainian soldiers who faced off with Russians over the last few months gained new battlefield acumen “but much of that experience likely involved holding defensive positions,” he said. “Conducting offensive operations is far more difficult, and it takes time and training.”
The flurry of action at the hospitals made clear the soldiers weren’t in the fight alone. Doctors, nurses and hospital staff worked around-the-clock to provide care for the large influx of wounded troops. One nurse snuck a kitten into the trauma unit for a soldier named Oleh, who rescued the feline from the front lines after its mother was killed by shrapnel.
Volunteers brought toiletries, including toothbrushes and deodorant, and bags of new clothes for the soldiers to wear after physicians used scissors to cut through their shirts and pants to expose their wounds.
Each soldier said it was impossible to predict when Kherson might be liberated, and many said it would depend on when the Ukrainians receive enough artillery from allies.
When one soldier appeared uncertain if the counteroffensive would be worth the toll it has taken, Oleksandr, who has cultivated a reputation as the “hospital comedian,” said it was important to maintain a positive attitude.
“You have to make jokes to keep your spirits up. We can have this outlook because we’re Ukrainians,” he said. “We’re kind if you don’t touch us.”
Steve Hendrix, in Ukraine’s Kherson region, and Isabelle Khurshudyan in Tbilisi, Georgia, contributed to this report. | 2022-09-07T06:07:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Wounded Ukrainian soldiers tell of heavy losses in push to retake Kherson - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/ukraine-kherson-offensive-casualties-ammunition/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/ukraine-kherson-offensive-casualties-ammunition/ |
A sign in the window of a Credit Suisse Group AG bank branch in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. Credit Suisse is weighing cutting 4,000 jobs, a significant part of them in Zurich, as the lender overhauls its business after a series of financial and reputational hits, according to Handelsblatt. (Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg)
The latest to confront the question is Credit Suisse Group AG. Last week, the troubled institution held a board meeting in Singapore to discuss strategic options for the business under new Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Koerner. It has promised “a new model for Credit Suisse” in which its investment bank will probably take a backseat role.
Thus would close a chapter of Wall Street history. Twenty years ago, Credit Suisse fancied itself in a league with the biggest firms in the industry. It had just acquired junk-bond powerhouse Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette for $11.5 billion and boasted top three or four rankings across global league tables. Market-share growth was an explicit target of the business. The acquisition was the culmination of groundwork laid by Rainer Gut, now the group’s honorary chairman, whose ambition was to be “a major player in every area of financing activity around the globe.”
It was the first of many attempts to bolster returns. In spite of – or perhaps because of – the continual tinkering, profitability never reached its promised heights, with return on equity averaging around 3% a year. Good assets got thrown out with the bad – an outcome that became apparent last year when Credit Suisse lost around $5.5 billion from its involvement with Archegos Capital Management. An independent inquiry commissioned by the board concluded that the loss partly stemmed from “injudicious cost-cutting”: headcount reductions led to a less experienced workforce, notably in risk management.
First, it’s expensive. About 18,000 people are currently employed in the investment-banking division, and letting them go entails heavy redundancy charges. It cost Credit Suisse 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.3 billion) upfront to execute its 2015 restructuring plus up to another 1.2 billion Swiss francs over the duration of the three-year program.
Charges today could be even higher, largely due to deferred compensation. In order to stem the talent drain over the years, the firm handed out retention awards, including a 289 million Swiss franc slug in July. As of June 30, the group had 2.3 billion Swiss francs of unrecognized deferred compensation on its books — a lot of which it would have to pay out immediately in the event of a shutdown of the division.
Finally, while hardly profitable, it’s possible that the benefits of maintaining an investment-banking franchise show up elsewhere. Back in 2015, Dougan quantified “cross-bank collaboration revenues” at 4 billion Swiss francs. Thiam highlighted segments within the investment bank that had “wealth-management connectivity.” There’s a risk that pulling out of investment banking may lead to erosion in the businesses that remain. | 2022-09-07T06:07:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Credit Suisse and the Hotel California Effect - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/credit-suisse-and-the-hotel-california-effect/2022/09/07/179de222-2e6a-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/credit-suisse-and-the-hotel-california-effect/2022/09/07/179de222-2e6a-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Profit From ESG? A Turkish Company Shows How It’s Done
During the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow last November, Prince Charles announced the creation of a new green award — the Terra Carta Seal — and handed it out to 45 companies that had demonstrated their commitment to creating sustainable markets. Many of the companies honored were already familiar: HSBC Holdings Plc, Banco Santander SA, Amazon.com Inc., Unilever Plc, International Business Machines Corp., Ericsson, Bank of America Corp., Inditex SA and Salesforce Inc.
But one stood out not just because of the distinctiveness of its name but also because of its double provenance. Arcelik was the only company from the household appliances sector and one of the very few from the emerging world.
This double provenance matters enormously because both emerging markets and home appliances need to be at the heart of the green agenda if it is ever to succeed. Thanks to a combination of rapid economic growth (particularly in Asia) and rapid population growth (particularly in sub-Saharan Africa), the emerging world is set to be both the prime generator and leading victim of global warming. The problem is already severe. The air in cities such as Beijing and New Delhi is frequently dangerous. Half of Pakistan is currently underwater. Several Arab countries such as Qatar are intolerably hot for much of the year. All this will get worse as economic growth pours pollution into the atmosphere and turns millions of people into refugees.
The household appliance industry doesn’t attract anything like the attention that the automobile industry does. But it is one of the leading causes of pollution. Some 40% of global electricity consumption can be put down to appliances, lighting and industrial motor systems in homes and businesses: Every time you turn on your dishwasher or set your washing machine spinning, you are creating demand for electricity, which, in the emerging world, will often by fed by coal-fired power stations. Air conditioners will play a particularly important role in driving demand for electricity thanks to a combination of rising wealth and rising temperatures: The industry predicts that today’s 3.6 billion air conditioners are likely to increase to 14 billion by 2050.
Arcelik is Turkey’s leading household appliance company with a workforce of 45,000 and 12 household brands, including Grundig and Beko, under its umbrella. It is also a proud green champion which has been the top-placed home appliances company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for three years running (2019-2021). The company is re-engineering its factories to be carbon neutral. It has built two giant recycling plants in Turkey for electrical equipment that have so far processed more than 1.6 million appliances and is making all its packaging recyclable too, replacing styrofoam with recycled paper.
Now it’s focusing on something more difficult — making its products environment-neutral over their life cycles (90% of emissions come from the products after they have left the factory). The company recently invented a filter to capture microfibers that are shed during the washing process. At this year’s giant white goods exhibition in Berlin this month, Arcelik had several innovative new products on display: a washing machine-drier combination that stores water from the drier and uses it for the next washing cycle; a dishwasher that uses the left-over clean water from one washing cycle for the next; and a biodegradable fridge designed to disappear when you bury it in the garden. Arcelik’s aim is to reduce its total carbon footprint by 50% by the end of the decade.
Why is Arcelik putting such an emphasis on the environment? It’s widely assumed that the environment is a rich-world luxury and that emerging-world companies can best thrive by focusing on price and ignoring the environment, just as rich-world companies did in the 19th century when they filled the skies above Manchester and Pittsburgh with smoke. And yet here we have a Turkish company in a highly price-competitive business choosing a different path. Arcelik’s green turn has done nothing to damage either its investor returns or its growth prospects. The company’s share price has more than doubled over the past year, despite an inflation rate in Turkey that recently hit 80%. It continues to add new companies to its portfolio: Having purchased South Africa’s Defy in 2011 and Pakistan’s Dawlance in 2019, it has more recently bought Bangladesh’s Singer and 60% of Hitachi’s home appliance business outside Japan.
The first reason for Arcelik’s green pivot is industrial evolution. Even if emerging-market companies start by competing on price, they soon learn that they have to offer more to retain their customers. There is always somebody somewhere who will pay lower wages and cut more corners. And they start to think of ways of cementing customer loyalty by producing more attractive or innovative products. Arcelik employs 2,200 researchers in 28 R&D centers, for example. And they begin to question the idea that there is a simple trade-off between price and the environment: Making things more energy efficient can often make them cheaper and more robust, particularly in countries such as South Africa and Pakistan that have very unstable supplies of electricity.
The second reason is that emerging-market consumers have become increasingly sensitive to environmental degradation, not only because emerging markets are producing a large middle-class whose members can afford the luxury, but also because that degradation is becoming more costly for everyone. Turkey, like Greece and Italy, has seen a succession of forest fires in recent years that have forced tourist resorts to close. The population of Istanbul has grown from 3 million 40 years ago to 15.5 million today, with the influx of refugees from war-torn Syria prefiguring a tidal wave of refugees from climate change in the future. A 2017 scientific paper claims that Istanbul’s average annual temperature increased by 0.94 degrees Celsius (1.7 degrees Fahrenheit) between 1912 and 2016.
The third reason for the change is the company’s forceful CEO, Hakan Bulgurlu. Bulgurlu is much more cosmopolitan than most of the previous generation of Turkish CEOs: He spent the first five years of his life in Norway, where his parents were getting their PhDs, obtained his BA and MBA in the United States and lived in Hong Kong for 13 years. But he’s more than just a Western CEO with a Turkish passport. Arcelik has globalized with an eye to the emerging world: The company sells its products in 150 countries and has sales and marketing offices in 40, but all its production, with 30 factories in nine countries, takes place in the emerging world, particularly in the old Silk Road countries.
Bulgurlu says that the most interesting thing that’s happened in emerging markets in recent years is that CEOs have lost their automatic deference for Western models. They no longer believe that Westerners are the only people who can solve global problems, largely because they’ve made such a hash of solving their own problems. He is dismissive about Europe’s economy and America’s political system, though he acknowledges America’s genius for innovation. He is unapologetic about the factories that his company has in both Russia and China.
Bulgurlu is voluble about his commitment to the environment. He talks about his conversion moment six years ago when he visited the beach in Thailand where Leonardo DiCaprio’s film “The Beach” was set and found himself standing in a pile of plastics and other detritus, swarming with insects and maggots. He congratulates himself for making his company’s filter technology “open sourced” and available to competitors. In 2019 he climbed Mount Everest to draw attention to the melting of the Himalayan ice pack.
It’s easy to sniff at the vanity in all this. Bulgurlu seems to delight in blowing his own trumpet. He’s written a book about his Everest experience, “A Mountain to Climb,” and gave a keynote speech on climate change at the Berlin exhibition complete with a photo of him hobnobbing with Prince Charles, and many more on his Everest trip. He seems determined to become an emerging-market equivalent of a new Western phenomenon exemplified by Paul Polman, the former CEO of Unilever, or Marc Benioff, the founder and CEO of salesforce.com: a celebrity activist CEO as famous for the good causes that he champions as he is for the products he produces.
But self-publicity can be a good thing if it is tied to real results for a good cause. Far from joining every woke crusade, Bulgurlu is focused laser-like on the very real problem of global warming. And far from engaging in empty virtue-signaling, he is investing heavily in innovation of the sort that cuts costs while improving outputs. The conqueror of Everest says that the most important thing that he can do in his career is to change public perceptions about what is possible in the emerging world: to demonstrate that companies like his can thrive on the global stage while also adopting the highest environmental standards. Perhaps the greatest environmental revolution in recent years was to demonstrate that companies in general could be the source of solutions to the climate problem rather than just a source of emissions. By mastering the art of green innovation while also delivering decent results for its shareholders, Turkey’s washing machine and dishwasher giant is extending this revolution to the emerging world.
• DeSantis Attack on ESG Repudiates Its Superior Returns: Matthew Winkler
• On Climate Change, Republicans Need a Crash Course in Capitalism: Michael Bloomberg | 2022-09-07T06:08:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Profit From ESG? A Turkish Company Shows How It’s Done - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/profit-from-esg-a-turkish-company-shows-how-its-done/2022/09/07/17f4ce16-2e6a-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/profit-from-esg-a-turkish-company-shows-how-its-done/2022/09/07/17f4ce16-2e6a-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss kept the economic policy pronouncements vague during her leadership campaign and first speech as Prime Minsiter, but she did set out some principles that will dictate her approach economic policy making: She plans to cut taxes, dislikes “handouts,” and will unleash supply-side reforms to drive growth. Oh, and she’ll also support the ailing National Health Service and increase defense spending.
So far, so Thatcherite — or rather Reaganite. But in the current economic climate, her thinking has been characterized as “fantasy economics.” I spoke with Bloomberg Economics Senior UK Economist Dan Hanson about what’s real and what’s fantasy in the options available to Truss.
Therese Raphael: Bloomberg Economics has forecast that the UK economy will slip into recession as winter approaches, with gross domestic product falling 1% in the fourth quarter. We have a new prime minister promising that relief is on the way — at least some £130 billion ($150 billion) of support for households over the next 18 months and £40 billion for businesses. So much for no handouts. How would that kind of package impact inflation and growth?
Dan Hanson: The numbers being spoken about are enormous — something in the region of 7% of GDP. If these policies see the light of day, they will have a massive impact on growth and inflation. A recession next year would no longer be the base case, while headline inflation would be materially lower with the price cap. Instead of peaking near 15% in January, I wouldn’t expect it to rise much further from its current rate of 10.1%. It could even put the BOE’s 2% target in sight by the end of next year.
TR: Given Truss’s tax-cutting pledges, all of this will require a great deal more borrowing in the short term. The Trussies (as we’ll call them) argue that markets will be relaxed about that. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak warned that markets could lose confidence in the British economy. What’s your view?
DH: As an ex-Treasury official, it probably won’t surprise you to hear that I agree with Sunak on the tax cuts. They will provide support to the economy in the near term, but I think they will fall a long way short of “paying for themselves.”
Ultimately, if you are going to blow a hole in the public finances with tax cuts, you need a plan for how you will get borrowing back onto a sustainable trajectory. What compounds the issue for markets is that the UK also runs a large current account deficit, which means it borrows from the rest of the world, relying on “the kindness of strangers” as the ex-Bank of England Governor Mark Carney once put it. If a plan to rein in the fiscal deficit remains absent the recent trend of rising gilt yields and a falling currency could persist for some time yet.
TR: One problem for Truss’s plan to boost growth is that business investment in the UK is below levels seen at the end of 2019. Do you think that scrapping the planned increase in the corporate tax to 25% from 19% will significantly improve that picture?
DH: There is definitely room for some catch-up and by canceling the rise, Truss has removed one of the big headwinds to capital spending next year. But there will be significant other noise that could drown out the boost: higher interest rates, potential uncertainty about Brexit and a weak economic backdrop — there’s plenty of gloom out there right now. In our own forecasts, business investment fails to grow until the second half of 2023 when the economy starts to recover.
There’s room to try something new, though. Sunak’s super deduction — generous tax allowances for investments in plant and machinery — hasn’t been as effective as expected, but I still think there is something to be said for beefing up capital allowances to lower the overall tax burden on business investment.
TR: We can’t talk about economic growth without talking about the UK’s woeful pace of labor productivity growth — which you’ve noted averaged only 1.8% between 2000 and 2007 and rose only 0.7% since 2010. What could Prime Minister Truss announce that would convince you future productivity growth will be stronger?
DH: Forecasters have spent the past decade or so waiting for some revival in productivity growth and it just hasn’t happened. It’s also true that these policies take a significant amount of time to have an effect. So it’s going to be very challenging to hit her target of 2.5% growth overnight.
That’s not to say she can’t focus her efforts on policies that will help the economy in the longer term. One of the really interesting things about the UK, which has been highlighted by ex-BOE chief economist Andy Haldane, is that there is a larger dispersion of productivity performance across firms. There are some extremely productive firms which in some cases are global innovators, but you also have a long tail of very low-productivity firms.
TR: The new chancellor of the exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, has tried to reassure markets that the government isn’t looking to roll back Bank of England independence. But it is assumed Truss will carry through with her pledge to revisit the BOE’s remit. Are there any changes you think would be an improvement? Is now the time to tinker?
DH: Reasonable people can disagree on whether the Bank made a policy mistake last year by not ending QE and starting the process of raising rates sooner. For some, double-digit inflation is all the evidence needed to blame Andrew Bailey and co. For others, the uncertainty created by the end of the pandemic furlough scheme was enough to justify a slower response last year. The truth is that offsetting the energy-driven rise in inflation we’ve seen would have required the Bank to engineer an enormous recession.
But whichever side of the argument you come down on, I don’t think it warrants a change of the remit. Being tougher on inflation would require the government to accept higher unemployment when supply shocks hit — something that it would find unpalatable. Meanwhile, something more radical like nominal GDP targeting would usher in enormous uncertainty about the future path of inflation, destabilizing expectations at the worst possible time.
TR: So far, the focus has been on getting through this winter, almost as if things will be back to normal after that. But once these prices go up 10% or even double that, they don’t just come back down. Should we be thinking further ahead?
DH: In short, yes. Based on current wholesale prices for gas and electricity, inflation is unlikely to drop below 10% until the fourth quarter of next year, with a return to 2% in the second quarter of 2024. Realistically, that means any support needs to run until 2024. | 2022-09-07T06:08:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Liz Truss’s High-Wire Plan Could Actually Avert a UK Recession - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/liz-trusss-high-wire-plan-could-actually-avert-a-uk-recession/2022/09/07/16de3d00-2e6a-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/liz-trusss-high-wire-plan-could-actually-avert-a-uk-recession/2022/09/07/16de3d00-2e6a-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
NEW YORK — Caroline Garcia never really let Coco Gauff — or the crowd — get fully involved in their U.S. Open quarterfinal Tuesday night.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Guy Morriss, a 15-year NFL offensive lineman who played in Super Bowls with Philadelphia and New England before coaching at Baylor and Kentucky, has died. He was 71.
SAN DIEGO — Suspended San Diego shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. had surgery to repair the torn labrum in his left shoulder.
NEW YORK — The Major League Baseball Players Association asked management to voluntarily accept the union as the bargaining agent for minor leaguers.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kiké Hernández and the Boston Red Sox agreed to a $10 million contract for 2023, preventing the infielder/outfielder from becoming a free agent.
MILAN — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 41 points in 27 minutes for Greece in a 99-79 victory over Ukraine in the European championships.
RECIFE, Brazil — Craig Sword scored 19 points and the U.S. rolled into the AmeriCup quarterfinals by topping Venezuela 101-49 in a game that started Sunday, was interrupted because of leaks caused by rain, then resumed 48 hours later.
WASHINGTON — Rose Lavelle scored the go-ahead goal and the U.S. women’s team beat Nigeria 2-1 for its 13th straight victory.
LONDON — World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has moved away from a potential unification fight with Oleksandr Usyk toward fellow British heavyweight Anthony Joshua. | 2022-09-07T06:09:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Tuesday's Sports In Brief - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/tuesdays-sports-in-brief/2022/09/07/a52cc684-2e70-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/tuesdays-sports-in-brief/2022/09/07/a52cc684-2e70-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
As hotter, more-crowded cities become a warming world’s future, Basra shows the perils of a lack of preparedness
Two women study by the Tigris River in Basra on Aug. 18. (Younes Mohammad for The Washington Post)
BASRA, Iraq — What happens when the land dries up?
The world is facing this question; Iraq is already learning the answers.
First the farmers and the fishermen try to stay. Then, one by one, they reach their breaking point. Migration starts slowly, but the exodus to towns and cities soon swells, and as temperatures rise, so do tensions.
The United Nations describes Iraq as the fifth-most-vulnerable country to climate change. Temperatures have increased by 1.8 degrees Celsius (3.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in three decades, according to Berkeley Earth, well above the global average, and in the summers, the mercury now regularly hits 50 Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). The heat is burning crops and desiccating marshes. As upstream dams in Turkey and Iran weaken the flows of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a salty tide is creeping north from the Persian Gulf, poisoning the land — and the jobs it once created.
In Iraq, especially the south, the changing climate is forcing families to sell off their livestock and pack up for urban centers such as the region’s largest city, Basra, in search of jobs and better services.
But they find little welcome here.
When asked recently about the new arrivals, one Basra shopkeeper frowned in disapproval. “We don’t get involved with those people,” he said.
Embedded in Basra’s troubles is a warning: As hotter, more-crowded cities become the future of a warming world, a lack of preparedness will only exacerbate the discontent already fraying the social fabric.
Climate change in Iraq poisons fertile crescent farmlands
Basra was once one of Iraq’s jewels, a thriving trade hub where the 14th-century traveler Ibn Battuta observed: “No place on earth excels it in quantity of palm groves.” More recently, its freshwater canals and elegant walkways drew comparisons to Venice.
But decades of U.S.-backed sanctions and war, combined with the weight of corruption and neglect, have left Basra’s infrastructure unable to adequately support the 2 million people the city already houses — let alone the rising tide of newcomers.
Oil powers Iraq’s economy, and Basra is at the heart of where most of it is produced, but little of that money seems to trickle down to its inhabitants. Swaths of the city lack streetlights or paved roads. In 2018, the water supply was so polluted that it became toxic.
According to official figures, Basra province has a population of over 3 million — an increase of at least 20 percent in 10 years. And most of that growth has been in its urban areas.
Iraqi authorities have neither tried to connect a growing constellation of informal settlements in the cities to any service grid, nor taken meaningful steps to address the water mismanagement and scarcity that are causing the migration.
For longtime residents of the swelling cities, new arrivals often represent an extra strain on the already faltering infrastructure. Politicians have seized on blaming “infiltrators” — rather than their own failures — for the mess.
Crumbling crops, drying marshlands
Across rural sweeps of the south, families say their migration is existential: Any chance of survival here is evaporating with the water. In a survey by the Norwegian Refugee Council last year, nearly 40 percent of farmers across the country reported an almost total loss of their wheat crop.
With each passing summer, families try new things to buy a few more years on their land. Abandoning one crop to focus on the survival of another, or last-ditch attempts to grow new ones altogether. In the town of Abu al-Khaseeb on a recent day, Malik Ali Abdulkareem crumbled a husk from his beloved okra plants between his fingers as he nodded toward a pile of metal carcasses on the river shore.
“These boats are how we’re making money now,” he said. “We cut these up and we sell them as scrap, but the money …” he trailed off. “Really, it’s nothing. I have 16 people to feed.”
Baghdad's heat is the world's climate change future
His sunburned arms had been further scorched by the cutting torch and one friend had lost a finger. The men also knew that their supply of broken ships wasn’t endless.
Social media has been awash with photos showing water buffaloes lying dead on the cracked mudflats of southern Iraq’s dried-out marshlands, and Abu al-Khaseeb’s farm has been no exception. Many here have lost animals.
“There’s no future here,” farmer Ammar Jassim Mohammed said in a tone more exasperated than his friend’s. “Everyone is leaving.”
Life on the edges
Accurate migration figures for the city of Basra are hard to come by, because in many ways, the newcomers live in the shadows: Their makeshift housing is built on parched land cut off from any water or electricity services, and aid groups say they are less likely to have access to the city’s schools or health infrastructure.
In one recent survey, researchers from the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration found that 12 percent of residents were newcomers who had settled in Basra over the past decade, mostly because of water scarcity and a lack of economic opportunities. The number is even higher in other southern Iraqi cities, such as Shatrah and Amarah.
Although measures such as better irrigation management, a hydraulic dam and a water treatment plant have been proposed to alleviate the region’s water crisis, officials say there aren’t enough funds.
“The ministries are neither serious nor fast. We’ve been discussing that dam since 2009,” said Dergham al-Ajwadi, deputy governor of Basra province.
Figures compiled by the South Basra Environmental Directorate suggest that water degradation in the province cost Iraq $400 million in lost animals, palm trees and crops in 2018 alone.
And as temperatures keep climbing, the flight from the countryside is only accelerating.
“The families bring blocks and plastic ceilings and then they build,” said Kadhim Atshan, who oversees Dour al-Qiyada, a sprawling shantytown in Basra city built by waves of migration. “But then they find there aren’t jobs, there’s no services. They have to rely on themselves.”
On a baking hot night in the city’s densely packed Hayyaniyah district, 45-year-old Raed Awdeh was at a loss as to how. He said he had moved to Basra the week before, but although his family had a roof over their heads, they had no idea what came next. “We don’t know how to settle,” he said, picking nervously at his thumbnail. The family of six would depend on his ability to find construction work, but he’d already suffered heatstroke on the job.
“We’re suffocating,” he said. “I’m finding work maybe one day out of seven. How are we going to manage here?”
But all across town, longtime residents had the same worries.
Qusay Ali, 40, said he had worked for the state oil company for three months before his job, along with hundreds of others, was terminated.
Now bills were mounting and he could barely afford to feed his family, even after pulling two daughters out of school. Hoping to get his job back, the father of five had joined protests outside Basra’s state-run oil company at 5 a.m. each day — a last resort.
“What do you expect from a man who has told his girls they can’t go to school anymore, a man who can’t even pay for an operation that his father really needs,” Ali said, in the sweltering old yellow-brick house his family shares with four others.
As he saw it, migration was only making the situation worse, and he felt that the slow tide of arrivals was changing his city. “Their mind-set is different; we don’t know how to deal with them,” he said. “They don’t respect the laws here.”
Decades of government neglect in rural areas, particularly in the education sector, have left many of the migrants illiterate. Farmers who grew up working the land often struggle to access the city’s formal labor market and instead rely on temporary employment as construction workers or truck drivers, or hawking goods from carts in the street. And their habits and attitudes clash with those of their urban cousins.
The informal areas where they live also experience higher rates of crime, according to security officials. The head of Basra’s investigative court, Ammar Shaker Fajr, estimated that about 60 percent of the drug cases it received involved arrests in the city’s new shantytowns.
Political scapegoats
As the issue of newcomers grows more contentious, political leaders in southern Iraq have started blaming the city’s crime rate — as well as other problems — on its migrants.
In 2018, the governor of Basra province, Asaad Abdulameer al-Eidani, gained popularity by barring legal residency in the city without proof of homeownership. In the years since, his pronouncements have sounded a steady drumbeat of hostility toward the newcomers.
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That rhetoric has provided an escape valve of sorts for the city’s politicians, who are increasingly unpopular. A few years ago, huge demonstrations decrying corruption and unemployment were crushed with deadly force. Since then, every summer has brought scattered daily protests over authorities’ failure to provide basic services.
“Local politicians use the flow of immigrants to justify their poor governance,” said Maha Yassin, a climate researcher at the Netherlands-based Clingendael Institute, who is from Basra.
When a raid against an alleged drug dealer turned deadly in the summer of 2019, Eidani vowed that the city would demolish “every home that harbors a criminal from outside the province,” and said the action was for “the people of Basra.”
“All the crimes in the city are being done by people who immigrated,” he said in televised comments. “We need to stand against it.”
But Yassin echoed what other officials in the province have long argued: that the marginalization of the people in the city’s informal areas is pushing up the crime rate.
“This is how you drive these people into criminality, by discriminating,” she said. “They move to irregular neighborhoods where there’s no proper public services and no employment. And then social issues will emerge.”
In Dour al-Qiyada, Atshan, the community leader, worried that the authorities’ stance was making things worse.
“When they call them ‘infiltrators,’ the impact feels as bad as racial discrimination,” he said. “No one provides us with anything. Trust me, everyone here is just trying to make a living.”
When a heat wave forced the shutdown of Basra’s power grid in August, the homes of newcomers and longtime residents alike were plunged into darkness as millions spent sleepless nights drenched in sweat. At midnight, it was still 100 degrees. The children were crying in Ali’s cramped house, he said, and relations among the adults felt tense. In Awdeh’s shantytown, the heat seemed to smother every breath he took.
Authorities blamed extreme heat and surging demand for the outages. But even when the grid was working again, residents of the home of Iraq’s lucrative energy industry were still relying mostly on private generators that belched fumes as they powered the bare minimum: weak fans and white lights that flickered on the unsteady current.
Asked about plans to upgrade the grid, officials did not respond to requests for comment. But residents said that without improvements, they fear what future summers will bring.
Recently, as heat shimmered on the city’s asphalt, a motorized rickshaw edged slowly out of a makeshift neighborhood and onto gridlocked roads. On the canvas of the rickshaw’s cabin, the owner had summed up his situation.
“My dreams in this country are being lived by a dog in Europe,” the neat white lettering read.
Chris Mooney and Kasha Patel in Washington contributed to this report. | 2022-09-07T06:10:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Climate migration in Iraq's south brings cities to crisis - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/06/iraq-climate-crisis-drought-basra/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/06/iraq-climate-crisis-drought-basra/ |
ADDS CONTEXT ABOUT THE UNHCR FACILITY - Migrants line up outside a facility operated by the United Nation’s refugee agency, UNHCR, in Tripoli, Libya on Sept. 6, 2022. It’s one of the few safe places for migrants in the war-torn country. For years, powerful militias and traffickers have taken advantage of the desperation of migrants fleeing war and poverty and trying to reach Europe from Libya’s shores. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP) | 2022-09-07T06:10:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Video of child refugee in Libya sheds light on rampant abuse - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/video-of-child-refugee-in-libya-sheds-light-on-rampant-abuse/2022/09/07/142e240a-2e72-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/video-of-child-refugee-in-libya-sheds-light-on-rampant-abuse/2022/09/07/142e240a-2e72-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Truss, But Verify
As a sign that things still haven’t changed all that much, however, the changeover in power could only happen after first Boris Johnson and then Ms. Truss had emitted any amount of carbon to fly to the Queen’s estate in the Highlands of Scotland and back.
The market reaction said everything we need to know about the task facing her or the odds that many put on success. Ten-year gilt yields have touched their highest in nine years, while sterling is back to its Covid-shutdown lows against the dollar. Before the spring of 2020, you have to go back to 1985 to find a time when the pound was so weak:
Why the concern? The past inconsistency of Truss’s political stances means that her election does nothing to relieve uncertainty. As has now been widely recapped, she started life as an enthusiastic left-winger and peace campaigner, then switched to the centrist Liberal Democrats as a student (and gave a speech calling for the abolition of the monarchy), then became a Conservative. On the crucial issue of Brexit, she campaigned in 2016 for the UK to remain in the European Union, and then became one of her party’s most aggressive advocates of leaving. Her current libertarian economic rhetoric might be a good idea for the future, but it’s not going to deliver results swiftly and is out of touch with a country where the Labour opposition looks its most convincing since losing power in 2010.
Some of Truss’s arguments during the leadership campaign were downright scary. Her suggestion that the Bank of England’s mandate should be re-examined, with a look to the positive example of the Bank of Japan and its fight against inflation, was frighteningly misguided. Having lambasted “handouts” as a response to the energy price crunch in midsummer, she now appears ready to hand out many billions of pounds to deal with a crisis that has deepened since then. So what confidence can anyone have in what she’s going to do next?
Then there is the weakness of her mandate. Only about a sixth of Conservative MPs voted for her as their first-choice candidate. After scraping into the final two names (against former chancellor Rishi Sunak) that were put before the Conservative membership, her thin majority of 57% of those who voted was unimpressive. Less than half of the Conservatives’ members actively voted for her. Despite the difficult times and the need for unity, she has made what seems to me the mistake of sheltering behind a narrow faction of her own party.
And the position on entering could scarcely be tougher. Britain is resigned to enduring a recession over the next year; the surge in natural gas prices has created a crisis in the cost of living to match the 1970s; the issue of Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit status remains unresolved; and the war in Ukraine drags on in a way that will test the UK’s resolve to continue as one of Kyiv’s most enthusiastic allies.
For a blisteringly negative take, try reading a former colleague, Andrew Adonis in Prospect. A former history professor who went on to be chief of Tony Blair’s policy unit, it’s not surprising that he is negative about her, but the first historical parallel he offers is alarming:
I can’t think of a weaker prime minister facing problems of such magnitude since Lord North was charged by King George III with saving the American colonies and pleaded — rightly — that he was simply not up to the task.
But is it possible some of this could rebound to her advantage? Truss’s well-established ability to U-turn at speed could stand her in good stead during a complicated time when the government will have to be nimble and prepared to improvise — a point made by Adonis, and by Simon Jenkins, a former editor of The Times, in this piece for the Guardian.
There are also some fascinating parallels with Britain’s first female prime minister. As Therese Raphael writes in Bloomberg Opinion, Thatcher was unimpressive and nearly fired as a minister but ultimately asserted herself over her party. It’s notable that Thatcher also presided over the only previous crisis for the pound that was even worse than the current one. Yet it didn’t doom her. She had some massive strokes of political luck during her contentious first term — Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands united the country behind her, while the split of the Labour Party made it far easier for her to prevail. It’s unlikely that Truss will be so blessed.
Sebastian Mallaby in the Washington Post draws a parallel with Europe’s other great female politician, Angela Merkel:
Truss has one important strength. She is driven rather than lazy, a fighter rather than a narcissistic prince. And this is where the Merkel model may be relevant. The former German chancellor was neither charismatic nor particularly principled. Yet she dominated German politics for 15 years. Her achievement shows how hard work and pragmatism can generate enduring political success.
It’s important to note that Truss is not a fool. My former colleague Tim Harford revealed in a tweet that he shared tutorials in mathematical logic with her at Oxford in 1994-95. One of the most fiendishly difficult courses the university offers, this required them to master such terrifyingly abstract notions such as Cantor’s diagonalization proof and Turing machines. So she’s easily underestimated, and that could be an advantage.
From an investment point of view, this might imply that there’s a UK buying opportunity. The country has been underperforming horribly for years, and its stock market is loaded down with global resources companies. But short of a sudden and complete resolution of the Ukraine conflict that in turn ends the energy crisis, it’s hard to see a catalyst for a rebound. The pound is about to drop into territory where there is no obvious technical support until it hits parity with the dollar. With the Fed in the US seemingly set on hiking rates more aggressively than the Bank of England, it’s hard to see a point where the line can be drawn. It looks like there’s little to dissuade speculators from shorting the pound or — as Chris Watling of Longview Economics rather subversively suggests in the Financial Times — betting against the UK’s credit in the credit default swap market. The point is not to bet on a default, but rather to bet that the combination of a prime minister wedded to tax cuts and a pressing need to spend huge amounts of state money on the energy crisis will cause the perceived odds of a default to rise quite a lot before the Truss premiership is over. Sadly, this does look like a decent bet.
Now to see if Truss, who amazed many by attaining this job in the first place, can make the shorts look silly. It’s a long shot, but it could happen.
After spending two weeks trying my hardest not to take notice of the markets, what’s changed? The rally in stocks that lightened spirits in July and August has ended. The S&P 500 is still a way from setting a new low for this cycle, but it looks much more as though that rally was indeed a bear market rally. Meanwhile, the economic data in the US continue to be tantalizingly consistent with a “soft landing” for the economy, or even a Goldilocks (not too hot, not too cold) scenario that is so beloved by markets. The latest employment numbers, showing non-farm payrolls increasing but also seeing a slightly rising unemployment rate, were almost perfect for the Federal Reserve.
But the two most important events are away from the standard economic data. Possibly the single most important chart at present, which recurs seemingly everywhere in some format or another, is this measure of the benchmark natural gas contract for Europe:
At this point, nothing matters more than the price of wholesale natural gas in Europe. This is less because it contributes to inflation (although it does), but more because energy prices at these levels are a lead weight on the economy, the equivalent of a massive tax hike. The bills consumers face are already intolerable. Governments will have no choice but to do something to alleviate the suffering. That will inevitably mean diverting taxpayers’ money from something else, or taking on more debt at a time when the cost of borrowing is rising. The latest news that Russia has found a reason to shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline until further notice has prompted yet another escalation.
Gauging future gas prices grows all the harder because it ultimately depends on imponderable questions of geopolitics. Vladimir Putin stands to lose a lot of cash by cutting off gas exports; how long can either side endure this dose of economic warfare?
The continuing crisis over gas does, however, increase the reasons to predict a recession for the eurozone. As the following charts, from the Institute of International Finance, demonstrate clearly, Europe’s economic growth has already been painfully weak compared to that of the US since the Global Financial Crisis. ISM manufacturing surveys suggest that the region is heading for recession again:
This is very much a specific issue for the EU. In the US, not dependent on Russian gas but still very dependent on gasoline for driving cars, falling oil prices have eased economic conditions somewhat and also raised the political spirits of the Democrats. The likely consequences include an ever weaker euro, and the kind of hit to global demand that will hurt everyone, including the US.
The other critical development was Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole on Aug. 26, when he conspicuously declined to signal that a Fed pivot toward easier monetary policy would soon be under way. Instead, we witnessed a pivot by markets. The following chart shows how the implicit projections for the fed funds rate from now until January 2024, as calculated by the Bloomberg World Interest Rate Probabilities, have changed over the last month. Rosy expectations for a swift move to cut rates that would bring fed funds back to 3% by the end of next year have been replaced by a newfound belief of a rate of almost 3.5% by then:
The outbreak of decent economic data is counterproductive for those who want rates to stay low. The stronger the economy, the greater the inflationary pressure, and the less need for the Fed to reverse course. That means more problems for equity valuations, as higher rates will mean lower price/earnings multiples, all else equal. It also likely means continuing strength for the dollar, which could lead to problems down the road.
And that all creates a monumental dilemma for the governors of the European Central Bank ahead of their Thursday meeting. There’s hushed speculation that a 75-basis-points rate hike is in the offing — even though the European economy is slowing down sharply. Would they really do it? And would such an increase even help the euro that much? With so much bearishness around Europe at present, it might be perceived as a final nail in the continent’s economic coffin.
I think that’s covered it. Now, as more or less everyone is back from vacation, even if they’re not back in the office, brace for a few volatile and uncertain months.
OK, Arcade Fire. As regular readers might remember, I announced before going on vacation that I would be seeing the mighty Canadian rock group at the start of their global tour while I was in the UK. That was before Pitchfork reported that lead singer Win Butler, who has now turned 40 and is married to one of his colleagues in the band and has a son with her, is in the habit of texting photos of his genitals to 18-year-old female fans he finds on social media. (His response to this and other allegations are included in the article.)
The news broke five days before their show in Birmingham, for which I had tickets. Somehow, the tour continues despite the decision of the support act, Leslie Feist, to go home, and demands for its cancellation by many aggrieved fans. Refunds were not on offer for those who decided they no longer wanted to go. What to do? The bottom line is that with much money already spent, and little sense that not going would achieve anything, I did go to the concert. It was a difficult call. The whole sordid issue has provoked intense moral debate among the coterie of those of us who find the band irresistible, particularly in Montreal, their hometown.
So, how was the concert, Mrs. Lincoln? They were brilliant, as they always are in my opinion, and they played several of my favorite songs that they don’t usually perform live. But the mood in the hall was subdued. Butler himself played with an often desperate intensity, as did the rest of the band, but he was also subdued and repeatedly thanked the audience for showing up. At the end, he said, “Thanks guys that was a lot of fun!” “No it wasn’t, Win,” intoned my 12-year-old son. He had it right; this was not a man who had appeared to enjoy himself performing to thousands.
In all, I liked it far less than previous outings to see them. I found it impossible to let go and enjoy the music. The mood of rapturous positivity that the band normally engenders just wasn’t present. (That’s my opinion: I’ve had social media responses from others who were there, some of whom thought it was as great as ever, and some of whom were considerably more negative than I was.) So I suppose one good tip is that if you’re not sure whether you even respect the performer you’re going to see, the chances are you won’t have a good time at the concert.
Listening to their records, however, that’s different. The music is unchanged by the revelations. The connection between the artist and the art grows far more important at a live concert when there is a sense of personal interaction with the performer. For comparison, I went 30 years ago to see Michael Jackson at Wembley Stadium, in what turned out to be his last concert before the first allegations of child abuse were revealed. My main sense at the time was that we were watching a deeply sick man. He had already mutilated his face, and his every utterance seemed forced and unnatural. I didn’t enjoy the concert, despite his brilliant performance. None of this stops me and many others from listening to “Billie Jean” or “Beat It.”
Or for another example, I also on this holiday dragged my kids to see a performance of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony. Anton Bruckner was a sadly repressed man, who spent his life — until his 70th birthday — proposing marriage to teenage girls, always to be rejected, and reputedly died a virgin. One probably wouldn’t want to have a drink with him. But despite or perhaps because of his shyness and sexual hangups, his music is glorious — as rich, powerful and potent a brew as any Romantic composer ever created. Sadly for him, it was only through music that he appeared able to communicate. Bruckner was also unlucky to have Adolf Hitler as a fan. Does all of this add up to a reason not to listen to his music now? Of course it doesn’t. By the same token, I’d still recommend listening to Win Butler’s songs — but if you don’t already have tickets for this tour, it’s probably best to keep it that way.
• Noah Feldman: Do “Trump Judges” Exist? We’re About to Find Out
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• Jonathan Levin: A Raise for Seniors Won’t Do Inflation Fight Any Favors | 2022-09-07T07:39:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Can Truss Make the Shorts Look Silly? Just Maybe - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/can-truss-make-the-shorts-look-silly-just-maybe/2022/09/07/3ac55234-2e75-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/can-truss-make-the-shorts-look-silly-just-maybe/2022/09/07/3ac55234-2e75-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Understanding Monkeypox and How Outbreaks Spread
Analysis by Jason Gale | Bloomberg
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 23: A general view of a vial containing the monkeypox vaccine on July 23, 2022 in London, England. The NHS is expanding its monkeypox vaccine rollout in London as monkeypox cases continue to increase in the capital. Monkeypox, a rare disease, is part of the same family of viruses as smallpox. (Photo by Hollie Adams/Getty Images) Photographer: Hollie Adams/Getty Images Europe (Photographer: Hollie Adams/Getty Images Europe)
The global eradication of smallpox more than 40 years ago was one of the greatest achievements in public-health history, vanquishing a cause of death, blindness and disfigurement that had plagued humanity for at least 3,000 years. On the downside, it also led to the end of a global vaccination program that provided protection against other pox viruses. That includes monkeypox, which has been spilling over from its animal hosts to infect humans in West and Central Africa with increasing frequency since the 1970s. Now monkeypox has sparked unprecedented outbreaks worldwide, demonstrating again how readily an infectious agent in one region can mushroom into a global emergency.
1. What’s monkeypox?
Monkeypox is a misnomer that results from the fact that it was discovered at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen in 1958, when outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in monkeys kept for research. While monkeys are susceptible to it, just like humans are, they aren’t the source. The virus belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus, which includes the variola virus, the cause of smallpox; and cowpox virus, also called vaccinia, which is used in the smallpox vaccine. Monkeypox is less contagious than smallpox and the symptoms are generally milder. About 30% of smallpox patients died, while the fatality rate for monkeypox in recent years has been about 3% to 6%, according to the World Health Organization. Death in outbreaks this year has been rare.
2. What does monkeypox do?
The disease pattern observed currently differs from that which occurred in prior outbreaks. Historically, after an incubation period of usually one to two weeks, the disease followed a more consistent trajectory that started with fever, muscle aches, fatigue, headache and other flu-like symptoms. Unlike smallpox, monkeypox also causes swelling of the lymph nodes. Within a few days of fever onset, patients develop a rash, often beginning on the face then spreading to other parts of the body. The lesions grow into fluid-containing pustules that form a scab. Sores in the oral cavity can cause difficulties in drinking and eating, and if a lesion forms on the eye, it can cause blindness. The illness typically lasts two to four weeks, according to the WHO. The patient is infectious from the time symptoms start until the scabs fall off and the sores heal. Mortality is higher among children and young adults, while people whose immune systems are compromised are especially at risk of severe disease. Pregnancy also carries a high risk of severe congenital infection, pregnancy loss, and maternal morbidity and mortality. Inflammation of the heart muscle and brain, and seizures are rare complications.
3. What’s different now?
Some 42% of cases don’t report fever, chills and other typical flu-like “prodromal” symptoms before their rash appears, according to a report on the characteristics of cases in the US. The Aug. 5 study, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also found patients experienced rashes on the genitals more frequently than other areas of the body, supporting earlier reports that some patients first seek medical care for abnormalities in the genital and perianal region. Lesions mostly located at these sites make monkeypox hard to distinguish from syphilis, herpes simplex virus, shingles and other more common infections, according to the CDC.
4. How is it transmitted?
Monkeypox doesn’t usually spread easily between people. Close contact with the virus from an infected person or animal -- such as touching a lesion or contaminated object -- is the main pathway. The pathogen enters the body through broken skin, the respiratory tract or the mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, mouth, rectum and anus. Tests on various patient specimens, including saliva, rectal swabs and semen, have found traces of the virus.
• Detailed analysis of semen from a 39-year-old man in Italy found infectious virus in a specimen collected six days after symptoms began. The findings, published Aug. 2 in Lancet Infectious Diseases, suggest genital fluids might be a source of infection.
• Infectious virus also was found in air samples collected during a bed linen change in rooms used to isolate patients, UK researchers reported in a study released in July, ahead of peer-review. That suggests monkeypox may be present in aerosols -- suspended skin particles or dust -- and not only in larger respiratory droplets, such as from a cough, which fall to the ground close to an infected individual. Still, there are no confirmed instances of airborne transmission, according to the UK Health Security Agency.
• High concentrations of virus particles were also detected on toilets, sinks and other objects used by hospitalized patients, though it’s not yet known whether they could be a source of infection, a study from Germany found.
• Transmission from mother-to-unborn baby has also been documented. It can also happen indirectly through contact with contaminated clothing or linens.
• Common household disinfectants can kill it.
5. What else is unusual this time?
There have been multiple chains of human-to-human transmission occurring.
• This is the first time that cases and sustained chains of transmission have been reported in countries where infections aren’t linked to recent travel to places in West or Central Africa, where the disease is endemic.
• Outside those areas, the outbreaks have primarily affected men who have sex with men. Among cases with data on sexual orientation, 97.5% identified as gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, according to an Aug. 3 WHO report.
• Some patients experience complications, including bacterial “super infections,” painful ulcerations, and inflammation of the rectum and throat.
6. Is monkeypox a sexually transmitted disease?
No. Although it’s one of many pathogens capable of being transmitted during sex, it’s not considered an STD because it also uses other transmission pathways. Sexual behaviors are important risk factors, however. A sexual encounter was the likely source of spread in 91.5% of reported transmission events, according to the WHO report, with the most common setting being a “large event with sexual contacts.” Clubs, raves, saunas and other venues where there is close contact with many people may increase the risk of exposure, especially if people are wearing less clothing. Data from outbreaks in Canada, Spain, Portugal, and the UK suggest venues where men have sex with multiple partners are helping to drive spread.
7. How fast is it spreading?
From just a handful of cases in Europe in early May, more than 55,000 cases, mostly in men, were reported from 102 countries by early September, including 18 deaths, according to WHO and data collated by global.health. The virus has probably been circulating undetected in Europe since at least April. In the US, caseloads tripled in July, with the virus reported in more than 40 states. Preliminary research estimates that among patients who identify as men who have sex with men, the virus has a reproduction number greater than 1. That means more than one new infection is estimated to stem from each case. A UK study found anonymous sex has proved to be a barrier to effective contact tracing.
8. How is it treated?
The illness is usually mild and most people recover within a few weeks; treatment is mainly aimed at relieving symptoms. About 10% to 15% of patients have been hospitalized, mostly for pain and bacterial infections that can occur as a result of monkeypox lesions. The CDC says smallpox vaccine, antivirals, and vaccinia immune globulin can be used to treat monkeypox as well as control it. Tecovirimat, also known as Tpoxx, was approved by the European Medical Association for monkeypox in 2022, but isn’t yet widely available. In the US, its safety and efficacy are being studied by the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, the research network established in the late 1980s to rapidly assess the safety and efficacy of antiretroviral drugs for HIV infection. In the meantime, it’s available through an expanded-access process from the Strategic National Stockpile, though some physicians have said lengthy delays for test results and the “very daunting task” of completing the necessary paperwork have frustrated efforts to prescribe it. The UK Health Security Agency (HSA) also lists cidofovir as an antiviral that can be used, though it may cause kidney damage.
9. What about prevention?
Public health experts say limiting spread will require a comprehensive, international vaccination strategy targeting high-risk groups -- and adequate vaccine supplies. Vaccination against smallpox can be used for both pre- and post-exposure and is as much as 85% effective in preventing monkeypox, according to the UK health agency, which is offering shots of Imvanex from Bavarian Nordic A/S to close contacts of infected people. It’s a newer smallpox vaccine, based on non-replicating versions of the vaccinia virus, and is the only one also approved for monkeypox in the US, where its sold as Jynneos. (It’s called Imvamune in Canada). Immunization typically entails two injections administered four weeks apart. But supply has been limited, leading to shortages and trials testing a dose-sparing intradermal shot. Administering the shot intramuscularly in healthy people yielded relatively low levels of monkeypox antibodies with poor capacity to neutralize the virus, researchers at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, found in a study released ahead of peer-review and publication in early September. Their data raise questions about how well vaccinated individuals are protected. In the absence of vaccines, the main way to prevent transmission is by isolating the infected, monitoring their contacts, and ensuring health staff wear appropriate personal protective equipment.
10. Is monkeypox a pandemic threat?
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on July 23 declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” -- its highest level of alarm short of a pandemic. The so-called PHEIC (pronounced “fake”) empowers the agency to invoke additional measures to curb the virus’s spread. Tedros last declared a PHEIC in January 2020 during the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak. The WHO assesses the risk across its regions as:
• High in Europe
• Moderate in Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean and the South-East Asia regions
• Low-moderate in the Western Pacific region
11. Can it be stopped?
The White House appointed Robert Fenton in August to coordinate the US government’s response and increase equitable access to tests, vaccines and treatments. Days later a public health emergency was declared in the US, freeing up more resources. But former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in mid-July that the window for controlling the US outbreak had “probably closed,” with only a small fraction of the cases in the country reported. A case in a pregnant woman was reported in the US, where pediatric infections have also occurred. In the Netherlands, doctors reported a case in a boy under 10 with an immune impairment. Unable to identify how he was infected, they speculate that the virus may be present in the general population and that respiratory transmission may have played a role. In the UK, one of the first countries in Europe to report a surge in cases, transmission has slowed progressively since mid-July. Although a small number of women have been infected, there’s no sign of sustained spread outside of interconnected sexual networks, the UK Health Security Agency said. Worldwide, the number of reported cases decreased by more than 25% in the week ending Sept. 4 from the previous week, buoying optimism that the epidemic has peaked. The WHO’s Tedros warned that in some countries, the communities affected face life-threatening discrimination and so may not seek help, “making the outbreak much harder to track, and to stop.”
12. Do all infections cause disease?
Possibly not. Retrospective testing of 224 clinical samples collected in May for sexually transmitted infection screening found evidence of asymptomatic monkeypox infection in three men. The finding, by researchers at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, was reported in a study released July 5 before it was peer-reviewed. Asymptomatic carriership was previously thought to play a negligible role in spreading orthopoxviruses, the authors said. The wide spectrum of monkeypox manifestations in the current outbreak could mean asymptomatic patients didn’t notice or recall subtle symptoms before the disease was on their radar. If these silent infections are occurring and leading to transmission, then isolating only symptomatic patients won’t be enough to contain the outbreak. Vaccinating high-risk individuals will be needed. Interestingly, one of the asymptomatic men in the study predated the first detected case in Belgium by several days, wasn’t linked to other known infections and hadn’t traveled abroad or attended any mass gatherings. The authors said that might suggest the virus circulated in Belgium before the outbreak was detected.
13. Where does monkeypox come from?
The reservoir host or main carrier of monkeypox disease hasn’t yet been identified, although rodents are suspected of playing a part in transmission. It was first diagnosed in humans in 1970 in Congo in a 9-year-old boy. Since then, most cases in humans have occurred in rainforest areas of West and Central Africa. In 2003, the first outbreak outside of Africa occurred in the US and was linked to animals exported from Ghana to Texas, which then infected pet prairie dogs. Dozens of cases were recorded in that outbreak. Scientists have warned that widespread transmission of monkeypox increases the risk of the virus crossing the species barrier again and becoming established in additional animal hosts.
14. Has the monkeypox virus mutated?
The monkeypox virus might be undergoing adaptive changes to make it better suited to the human host. Analysis of the genetic sequence of the virus collected from patients in Europe indicates that the current outbreak in non-endemic countries is caused by a strain that likely diverged from the monkeypox virus that sparked a 2018-19 Nigerian outbreak, according to a June 24 study in Nature Medicine. The authors, from Portugal’s National Institute of Health in Lisbon, identified some 50 genetic changes or differences compared with the original strain, including several mutations the authors associate with increased transmissibility. The changes are roughly 6-to-12 times more than scientists would expect based on the observed evolution of orthopoxviruses, they said. The strain belongs to the West African clade, or branch on the evolutionary tree, that usually has a case-fatality rate of less than 1%. (That compares with 10% for a second clade called Congo Basin, which appears on the US government’s bioterrorism agent list as having the potential to pose a severe threat.)
(Updates cases and fatalities in section 7, antibody study in section 9.) | 2022-09-07T07:39:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Understanding Monkeypox and How Outbreaks Spread - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/understanding-monkeypox-and-how-outbreaks-spread/2022/09/07/1583d362-2e73-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/understanding-monkeypox-and-how-outbreaks-spread/2022/09/07/1583d362-2e73-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Anti-abortion demonstrators and abortion rights activists argue near the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on June 24, 2022. (Eric Lee for The Washington Post)
When the Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 established a nationwide right to an abortion, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion for Dobbs v. Jackson that the legality of abortion would now be up to individual states. “The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion,” Alito said. “Roe and Casey [in 1992] arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.”
Many Republican foes of abortion celebrated the ruling as a victory for states’ rights. Yet since Alito’s draft opinion was leaked on May 2, 28 lawmakers have also signed onto a proposed nationwide ban — one that would impose abortion restrictions even in Democrat-led, pro-abortion rights states.
This would seem to be a direct contradiction to the idea that states could chart their own course. Blue states that have less restrictive laws in place suddenly would find those laws overridden by a federal law.
The Heartbeat Protection Act was introduced in Congress in February of 2021. The text of the law would require an ultrasound technician to check for cardiac activity before an abortion — and then prohibit the procedure if any activity can be detected. This would effectively ban most abortions, as many women would not realize they are pregnant until after this point. Some other laws proposed by Republicans would be even more restrictive.
As a reader service, here’s a full list of these lawmakers, along with their comments on Dobbs and the date they co-sponsored the Heartbeat Protection Act.
We repeatedly sought an explanation for the apparent contradiction, but only six lawmakers responded. Some said that their comments on Dobbs did not rule out a federal response such as the heartbeat law — while one said that Democrats’ efforts to push for abortion rights at a national level meant the issue will continue to be fought at the federal level. In some cases, the remarks are open to interpretation, so we have noted those. The names are presented in alphabetical order in each category.
Lawmakers with remarks that appear contradictory
Rep. Jack Bergman (Michigan) — co-sponsored June 16, 2022
Dobbs comment, in a Facebook post: “The ruling today on Roe v. Wade properly returns power to the states and ends decades of bad precedent.”
Explanation: No response.
Rep. Mike Bost (Illinois) — co-sponsored May 28
Dobbs comment, in a tweet: “I agree wholeheartedly with the Supreme Court’s decision to restore power to the American people to determine for themselves how abortion services are regulated in their state.”
Rep. Ken Buck (Colorado) — co-sponsored May 27
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “The power to decide this profound moral question has officially returned to the states, where it will be debated and settled in the way it should be in our democratic society — by the people.”
Rep. Tom Emmer (Minnesota) — co-sponsored July 11
Dobbs comment, in a statement: “Every life is precious, and the decision to defend it should remain with the states.”
Rep. Russ Fulcher (Idaho) — co-sponsored June 16
Dobbs comment, in a tweet: The ruling “is a momentous victory for life and an affirmation of our federalist system. States, as the Constitutionally prescribed authority on this matter, will now have the opportunity to enact policies that promote a culture of life.”
Rep. Paul A. Gosar (Arizona) — co-sponsored July 11
Dobbs comment, during a discussion at a church: “This is not a federal issue, this is a state issue. We the people. The states gave the federal government limited powers and we have to take them back.”
Rep. Kevin Hern (Oklahoma) — co-sponsored July 12
Dobbs comment, in a statement: “The Supreme Court correctly reversed this unconstitutional decision and returned the question to the states.”
Rep. Yvette Herrell (New Mexico) — co-sponsored June 16
Dobbs comment, in a statement: “Today, the Supreme Court has finally returned the question of abortion to the 50 states and restored the democratic right of Americans to defend the unborn.”
Rep. Clay Higgins (Louisiana) — co-sponsored May 27
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “Today’s ruling is a major victory for life. The sovereign states will now have greater authority to implement strong pro-life protections.”
Rep. Doug Lamborn (Colorado) — co-sponsored July 11
Dobbs comment, in a statement: “While today we are rejoicing, the fight now turns to the states where the American people must go on the offense for life.”
Rep. Jake LaTurner (Kansas) — co-sponsored May 11
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “Overturning Roe ensures state and local officials closest to the people they represent, not unelected judges in Washington, construct our nation’s abortion laws.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (Kentucky) — co-sponsored May 10
Dobbs comment, in a tweet: “The Supreme Court has taken two great steps to save lives in the past 48 hours: it reaffirmed Heller’s decision regarding self-defense rights and repealed Roe v. Wade to allow state legislatures to defend the unborn.”
Rep. David B. McKinley (West Virginia) — co-sponsored May 10
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “This decision returns the power to the states to protect the unborn.”
Rep. Barry Moore (Alabama) — co-sponsored May 10
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “The Dobbs decision affirming no constitutional right to abortion and leaving the matter to each state is the single greatest step to protecting life in generations and will save countless lives of unborn children.”
Rep. Blake D. Moore (Utah)— co-sponsored May 10
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “The ruling gives back to states like Utah their constitutional authority to protect the lives of millions of children and support expecting mothers.”
Rep. Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma) — co-sponsored June 13
Dobbs comment, in a statement: “I am grateful for the system of checks and balances that allows for judicial review of prior decisions. And I am grateful as well for the affirmation of States’ rights, allowing states like Oklahoma to elevate life.”
Explanation: No response
Rep. Jason T. Smith (Missouri) — co-sponsored June 13
Dobbs comment, in a statement: “The Court’s decision makes clear that the Constitution gives state legislatures — not unelected judges — the freedom to answer the question of when life begins.”
Rep. Bryan Steil (Wisconsin) — co-sponsored June 13
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “Today’s decision will bring this important issue back to the states. This is a great victory for life.”
Lawmakers with comments open to interpretation
Rep. Jodey Arrington (Texas) — co-sponsored May 27
Dobbs comment, in a tweet: “By creating a national abortion policy in 1973, the Supreme Court acted as a legislative body, which severed the constitutional separation of powers and undermined the sovereignty of states and our citizens.”
Explanation: No response. Arrington’s reference to the Supreme Court acting as a “legislative body” could be interpreted as suggesting legislation at the federal level was acceptable.
Rep. Jim Baird (Indiana) — co-sponsored May 27
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “Today’s decision represents not only a great victory in the fight to preserve life at every stage and for states’ rights, but the opportunity to right a wrong. The right to life is the cornerstone of American principles and now states will have the ability to protect life at every stage, restoring some balance to our federalist system.”
Explanation: No response. Baird refers to a “federalist system” which does not rule out a role for Congress.
Rep. Tracey Mann (Kansas) — co-sponsored July 13
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “The U.S. Supreme Court does not have constitutional grounds to legalize abortion services nationwide, and the ruling in 1973 stripped away the states’ rights to decide …. Today’s decision gives the power back to the American people as designed in our Constitution.”
Explanation: No response. The reference to the “American people” could be code for federal action.
Rep. Greg Murphy (North Carolina) — co-sponsored May 27
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “Roe v. Wade was errantly constructed, both as an assault on the unalienable right to life, as well as a gross violation of the 14th Amendment — overriding states’ rights in the name of federal overreach. The Supreme Court’s ruling is constitutionally valid, as the decision on abortion will now rightfully be returned to the American people and their elected representatives.”
Explanation: No response. The reference to “the American people and their elected representatives” could suggest federal action is permissible.
Lawmakers with explanations
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (Texas) — co-sponsored May 11
Dobbs comment, in a tweet: “Roe v Wade was overturned. Historic. The issue goes back to the states, back to the people.”
Explanation: Justin Discigil, Crenshaw’s chief of staff, said the reference to “the people” also referred to possible federal action. “The point of the 17-word tweet you’re trying to parse here is that following the overturning of Roe this issue is returned to the people and their elected representatives, whether that be at the state or federal level,” he said in an email.
Rep. H. Morgan Griffith (Virginia) — co-sponsored June 13
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “The Court has returned to the individual states the ability to make their own decisions on this issue.”
Explanation: “It would have been my preference for abortion to be a state issue as indicated in the leaked Supreme Court opinion,” Griffith told the Fact Checker. “However, it is clear that Congress will take a role, as there have been numerous bills introduced. Since the Supreme Court Dobbs opinion, several bills have already come to the floor for a vote.”
Rep. Ronny Jackson (Texas) — co-sponsored May 10
Dobbs comment in a news release: “Today, we celebrate the sanctity of life and the return of a court that concerns itself with the Constitutionality of law, rather than writing it. Each state must now stand up for life and protect the most vulnerable among us.”
Explanation: A spokesman said his comments envisioned a federal role. “Congressman Jackson did not say that protecting innocent life was narrowly a state issue, he called on the states to enact pro-life legislation now that the heinous Roe v. Wade decision is no longer a roadblock. Congressman Jackson has and will continue to advocate for policies that protect the unborn at every level of government.”
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Georgia) — co-sponsored May 27
Dobbs comment, in a Twitter thread: “This decision effectively returns the power to decide abortion policy back to where it was intended to reside, with the American people and their state governments.”
Explanation: “I signed onto the Heartbeat Protection Act in May, which was before the Supreme Court issued the Dobbs decision in June,” Loudermilk told the Fact Checker. “The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion, and returned the issue of abortion back to the state legislatures. I will continue to work on and support legislation that protects life, within the constitutional authority of Congress.”
Rep. Nancy Mace (South Carolina) — co-sponsored May 10
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “Today’s ruling returns power back to the states and power back to Congress on policies pertaining to life, where it rightfully belongs. This ruling protects federalism inherent in our Constitution and also returns this power back to the people and those they elected to represent them.”
Explanation: John Seibels, a spokesman for Mace, noted that her statement referenced “power back to Congress” and so there was no contradiction in supporting a federal law. He forwarded a recent opinion article by Mace, who has spoken publicly about being raped at 16, that decried efforts in her state to remove a rape exception from the state’s heartbeat law. “The first fact we need to get right is that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe did not outlaw abortion across the country, or in any part of it,” Mace wrote. “The Dobbs decision simply took the issue out of the federal courts and put it in the hands of state and federal legislators.”
Rep. Daniel Webster (Florida) — co-sponsored May 10
Dobbs comment, in a news release: “This ruling rightfully recognizes states’ rights and returns power to the American people and their state representatives.”
Explanation: He said he was noting the practical result of the Supreme Court on state policy, but not ruling out federal action. “I am pro-life and believe the right to life is the first God-given right and one of three unalienable rights promised to all individuals in the Declaration of Independence,” Webster told the Fact Checker. “For decades, I have fought to defend the rights of the unborn, to stand for life and to oppose attempts to remove pro-life protections for the unborn at both the state and federal levels.”
Crenshaw, Jackson, Mace and Webster say that their comments on Dobbs did not rule out federal action, though it appears only Mace was clear about that at the time. Griffith says that Democrats pressing the issue have unfortunately required a conservative response — though some might argue there is a difference between voting on legislation and co-sponsoring legislation. Loudermilk made the case he signed onto the bill before the Dobbs ruling was officially released.
To varying degree, these are valid explanations. We also noted that the comments from Arrington, Baird, Mann, and Murphy included phrases that might suggest they were not necessarily ruling out a federal role.
That still leaves 18 representatives who hailed the return of abortion policy to the states — while co-sponsoring a bill that would amount to a nationwide federal ban on abortion that would override state laws. | 2022-09-07T07:39:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | These Republicans supporting states' rights on abortion back a federal ban - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/07/these-republicans-cheered-abortion-policy-going-states-they-are-also-sponsoring-federal-ban/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/07/these-republicans-cheered-abortion-policy-going-states-they-are-also-sponsoring-federal-ban/ |
As FBI probes Trump, Clinton says GOP ‘trying to make this about me again’
Hillary Clinton celebrates the conclusion of the last day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
The string of tweets from the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee was a rare public response against Republican talking points. “I’m more tired of talking about this than anyone,” she wrote, “but here we are.” Clinton has in recent days been on a publicity tour to promote “Gutsy,” a new Apple TV Plus show that she is making with her daughter, Chelsea.
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said on Fox News last month that “if there’s a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information after the Clinton debacle … there’ll be riots in the streets.”
One hundred and 13 of the tens of thousands of emails that the FBI reviewed from her private server contained classified information, but many were not marked as such, and the ones that were marked were not marked clearly, Comey said in the summer of 2016. He also said in 2018 that while Clinton’s management of the emails was “more than just the ordinary mistake … it’s not criminal behavior.” (A subsequent State Department probe found that its employees did not deliberately mishandle classified emails found on Clinton’s server.)
The Washington Post on Tuesday reported that a document describing a foreign government’s military defenses — including its nuclear capabilities — was found during the FBI search last month. | 2022-09-07T08:26:55Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Clinton criticizes comparison of emails to Trump’s classified docs - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/07/hillary-clinton-classified-emails-donald-trump/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/07/hillary-clinton-classified-emails-donald-trump/ |
Why Northern Ireland Keeps U.K. and Europe at Odds
Analysis by Joe Mayes and Ellen Milligan | Bloomberg
The UK and the European Union are wrangling over Brexit arrangements covering trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland that are designed to avoid the return of a hard border with the Republic of Ireland. Britain’s government says the current regime, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, is stifling the flow of goods and it wants to rewrite the arrangements painstakingly agreed to in years of negotiations. The tensions are a reminder that, even though the UK officially parted ways with the EU at the start of 2020, fundamental aspects of the relationship remain problematic.
1. What is the protocol?
It’s an arrangement to keep goods moving between Northern Ireland, a region of the UK, and EU-member Ireland to the south, while making sure the border doesn’t turn into a soft target for smuggling goods into the EU. It does that by imposing physical checks on products arriving in Northern Ireland from mainland Britain. The UK government says the burden of new paperwork and customs procedures have disrupted trade and effectively created an internal border within a sovereign country. It’s also unhappy that the European Court of Justice oversees large parts of the protocol.
2. What could the UK do?
New Prime Minister Liz Truss is backing legislation that would allow ministers to unilaterally rewrite the bulk of the protocol. The new rules would separate goods just flowing between Britain and Northern Ireland from those intended for the EU, and allow businesses in Northern Ireland to choose whether they follow UK or EU standards, or both, for goods. They would extend UK subsidy controls and tax breaks to Northern Ireland and strip the ECJ of its role in settling disputes over the Brexit deal in the region, instead allowing an independent arbitration panel to oversee legal issues. Alternatively, the UK could suspend part of the protocol by triggering an emergency clause known as Article 16, which either the UK or the EU can do if they believe the protocol has caused “serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties” or a “diversion of trade.” Article 16 doesn’t allow one side to scrap the protocol entirely. The UK insists it would prefer a negotiated solution, while not ruling out either option.
3. What does the EU say?
The European Commission said the UK bill “is extremely damaging to mutual trust and respect between the EU and the UK” and would be a breach of international law. EU officials say the UK already accepted that the protocol was the best solution to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and protect the integrity of the EU’s “single market” for goods, which ensures the same standards and rules governing areas such as food safety. They say the current arrangement grants Northern Ireland unique access to both the EU common market and the UK. The bloc has proposed concessions to reduce the customs burden on traders, but refused to scrap the role of the ECJ.
4. How do people in Northern Ireland feel?
Support has been growing for parties that want to keep the protocol, weakening Britain’s argument that the arrangement doesn’t have the backing of the region’s population. In elections to Northern Ireland’s assembly in May, Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein took seats from the Democratic Unionist Party, which favors close ties with Britain and has campaigned for the protocol to be scrapped as it treats Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the UK. The DUP is refusing to take its place in the region’s power-sharing government unless the protocol is removed.
The UK’s Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is likely to face opposition in Parliament but Truss is determined to push it through. The EU has likened the legislation to a “gun on the table” in the talks. If Britain goes the other route and triggers Article 16, the protocol requires each side to give the other a month’s notice before activating its provisions, and they must then hold talks before any action can be taken. The other side would have the right to take immediate and proportionate retaliatory measures. If the UK were to suspend customs checks on goods entering Northern Ireland, it would create a dilemma for the EU: would the bloc be prepared to construct a border of its own between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to protect its single market? That prospect has been downplayed by EU officials.
6. So what options does the EU have?
The EU has restarted a case it initiated against the UK in March 2021 over the implementation of the protocol. In June, it decided to launch two new infringement cases over the UK’s failure to meet its obligations under the EU’s sanitary and phytosanitary rules and provide the EU with required trade statistics data on Northern Ireland. Infringement proceedings could ultimately lead to financial penalties being imposed on the UK, but the cases will play out over many months. If the EU really wants to play hardball, it could impose tariffs on targeted goods in Britain. The most radical, and ultimately most risky, option would be an EU decision to end the entire trade and cooperation agreement with the UK, which would further hamper UK access to the EU single market. The EU is the UK’s largest trading partner, and businesses from both sides would lose out. If the dispute were to spiral out of control, the hard-fought peace and stability of Northern Ireland could, ultimately, be in jeopardy. | 2022-09-07T09:10:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why Northern Ireland Keeps U.K. and Europe at Odds - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/why-northern-ireland-keeps-uk-and-europe-at-odds/2022/09/07/8a5be6dc-2e84-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/why-northern-ireland-keeps-uk-and-europe-at-odds/2022/09/07/8a5be6dc-2e84-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
By Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung | AP
FILE - This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea’s KRT on April 26, 2017, shows what was said to be a “Combined Fire Demonstration” held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo. North Korea is apparently moving to sell millions of rockets and artillery shells _ many of them likely from old stock _ to its Cold War ally Russia. U.S. officials say it shows Russia’s desperation with the war in Ukraine and that Moscow could buy additional military hardware from North Korea. Russia has called a U.S. intelligence report on the purchasing plan “fake.” (KRT via AP Video, File) (Uncredited/KRT) | 2022-09-07T09:11:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | EXPLAINER: What help are North Korean weapons to Russia? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/explainer-what-help-are-north-korean-weapons-to-russia/2022/09/07/97055a64-2e82-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/explainer-what-help-are-north-korean-weapons-to-russia/2022/09/07/97055a64-2e82-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
The Ravens are hopeful that a healthy, productive season from quarterback Lamar Jackson gets them back into the playoffs. (Rick Scuteri/AP)
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — As the Baltimore Ravens’ disappointing 2021 season drew to a close, Calais Campbell wondered whether his NFL playing days might be ending, too. The defensive end had endured the rigors of playing 14 seasons for three teams in a distinguished career that has included six Pro Bowl selections and a Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award. His 36th birthday was looming.
“When [the season] was over, I met for the exit meetings and stuff,” Campbell said recently. “At that point in time, I thought that might have been it. I don’t know if I’ve got anything left in me.”
But Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta and Coach John Harbaugh urged Campbell not to make a hasty decision. They told him to take his time and let them know whether he wanted to keep playing — because, if so, they would love to have him back. And as Campbell settled into his offseason routine and found his body was feeling fine, he watched other teams participating in the playoffs and began to feel the urge to help the Ravens return to their customary place among the NFL’s contenders.
“My desire to play football was high, and my body felt good,” said Campbell, who ended up re-signing in April on a two-year deal. “Just knowing that the Ravens would be a team that could compete — we still went through the free agency process and considered everything, all the possibilities, but I always knew I felt like the Ravens were going to be the place I ended up at. The team had the pieces in place, and I like what we did in the offseason. I just knew that it was going to be a good opportunity. So here we are.”
And here the Ravens are, attempting to rebound from a season in which they finished 8-9, lost their final six games and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years.
“Anybody that gets sent home, no matter what sport it is, you’re like, ‘All right, I can’t wait to get back and get my turn,’ ” safety Chuck Clark said in the preseason. “You strike out in baseball — you want to get back and get your turn again. … We had a down year. But when … it comes back around for our turn, we’ll be ready.”
The Ravens have been among the league’s most consistent winners of the 2000s. They have had 15 winning seasons this century and rank fifth among NFL teams in total victories and second, behind only the New England Patriots, in playoff wins in that span. They also have two Super Bowl triumphs. But this is not the first time they have needed a reset: Coming off their Super Bowl win after the 2012 season, they missed the playoffs in four of five years.
“I think it starts with leadership up top, the continuity of having the same people in the building for a long time,” Campbell said. “You establish a culture that can last. … You’re not always going to win. You’re going to have some down years. That’s just football — circumstances that you can’t control. But we’re going to prepare at a championship level. Everybody comes to work — people outside the football offices, everybody else in the building — with a championship mentality.”
A season with quarterback Lamar Jackson healthy and in the lineup consistently would go a long way toward fixing the Ravens’ problems. The 2019 MVP was limited to 12 games in an injury-plagued 2021. He missed the final four games with a bone bruise in his ankle.
But injuries to Jackson and others do not excuse last season’s shortcomings, Campbell said.
“I think this team had a hard lesson on how to win tough ballgames, how to close out ballgames,” Campbell said. “Definitely, injuries played a role. But you can go down the line for a lot of different things. I think at the end of the day, with the team we had, we put ourselves in position, but we didn’t execute well enough to win. But I do think that kind of pain from last year, having to watch other teams go to the playoffs that you feel like you were better than, teams that you had on the ropes … it just gives you a little more motivation to train a little harder and to come back this year and just lock in and be more focused.”
DeCosta had a terrific draft: The Ravens emerged with a promising group of rookies that includes safety Kyle Hamilton, center Tyler Linderbaum, defensive tackle Travis Jones and tight end Isaiah Likely.
Baltimore traded wide receiver Marquise Brown to the Arizona Cardinals on the opening night of the draft and must replace him. But the formula is clear: The Ravens must run the ball well, rely on Jackson to make something out of nothing at times and play their traditionally rugged defense. That means improving the pass rush and playing better in the secondary after they ranked first in rush defense but 32nd in pass defense last season.
“I think we can be the best defensive line in the league,” defensive tackle Broderick Washington said. “Last year we were number one stopping the run. I think pass rushing as a whole group, everybody has gotten way better from last year.”
In the AFC North, the Ravens will compete with the defending conference champion Cincinnati Bengals, the Pittsburgh Steelers as they begin the post-Ben Roethlisberger era and the Cleveland Browns, who have a talented roster but will be without suspended quarterback Deshaun Watson for the first 11 games. As Campbell sat in a chair not far from the team’s practice fields, he said he was pleased to be around for the Ravens’ bid to return to prominence.
“I’m really glad with my choice,” he said. “Today, I feel really good about it. I feel like we’re exactly where I thought we would be. Now we’ve got to just get to work.” | 2022-09-07T10:11:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ravens will try to keep Lamar Jackson on the field, return to prominence - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/07/baltimore-ravens-lamar-jackson/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/07/baltimore-ravens-lamar-jackson/ |
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is entering the last year of his contract and seeking an extension with his team. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Now that the NFL has adopted a 17-game regular season and shortened the preseason to three games per team, there is a longer break between teams’ preseason finales and regular season openers. But asked whether there are any thoughts of returning to scheduling even a game or two on Labor Day weekend, one person familiar with the NFL’s planning said, “None.”
The middle class
23. Ravens
Covid issues
Coronavirus concerns are far from prominent for the NFL as the season arrives. The protocols that the league and union implemented over the previous two seasons have been suspended since March. But it’s worth keeping in mind that symptomatic players, coaches and team staffers remain subject to testing and five-day isolation periods for positive results. Murray, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll missed time during training camp and the preseason following positive tests.
Garoppolo’s deal
Yes, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s reworked contract cleared the way for the San Francisco 49ers to keep him as the backup to new starter Trey Lance. Garoppolo agreed to a revised deal that guarantees him $6.5 million this season, with bonuses and incentives that could push its value close to $16 million.
The bottom 6
Steelers QBs | 2022-09-07T10:11:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Lamar Jackson's contract, Steelers quarterbacks, NFL team rankings and more - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/07/lamar-jackson-nfl-week-1/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/07/lamar-jackson-nfl-week-1/ |
There was a celebration during the ceremony for the historic collective bargaining agreements signed Tuesday night at Audi Field. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
The soccer was over by the time Alex Morgan was reunited with her 2-year-old daughter, Charlie, and the veteran of the U.S. women’s national soccer team transitioned seamlessly from star forward to mom. But as she bounced Charlie in her arms on the pitch at Audi Field, the meaning of the night was right there: The back of Charlie’s women’s national team jersey didn’t read “Morgan,” a tribute to her mom. It read “Equal Pay,” a tribute to a cause and a fight that lasted generations.
There was some light work for the women’s national team, a tighter-than-anticipated 2-1 victory over Nigeria in an international friendly. But the serious business came after the game and had far broader implications, not just for the players who pulled on the jersey in the District but for the generations who laid the groundwork to get to this point — and for generations to come.
As Morgan held her daughter, officials from U.S. Soccer and the men’s and women’s national team unions signed a pair of collective bargaining agreements that — after so much time and so much sweat — established equal pay for both teams. It sounds boring. It was historic. The ceremony was staged. The hugs were real. There’s a reason Kristine Lilly and Julie Foudy and captains from eras gone by were here. It wasn’t for Nigeria. It was for that simple concept: equal pay for equal work.
“Every time people told us to sit down and shut up, there was a Billie Jean King, or there was a moment where someone would say: ‘No, you don’t sit down and shut up. You fight, and you keep fighting,’ ” said Foudy, a mainstay on the national team from 1988 to 2004 who was a broadcaster for ESPN during the game and the emcee for the CBA signing afterward.
“We always wanted to pass that baton on and make sure they understood that, and so to see them then get it over the finish line, it’s like almost a maternal, proud moment of, like, ‘Whooaaaaa, they did it. They finally got it!’”
They finally got it. So what happened postgame was a photo op with feeling. U.S. Soccer agreed to new CBAs with its men’s and women’s teams in May, guaranteeing not only equal pay but comparable training and travel conditions for the women. The dignitaries who showed up at Audi Field not only included former national team stars such as Lilly, Briana Scurry and others, but U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). Throw in the heads of the players unions for the NFL, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League along with AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, and it’s clear how many people wanted to be associated with this moment.
“Wasn’t quite certain it was going to happen during my career,” said Becky Sauerbrunn, the 37-year-old longtime defender who serves as the president of the national team players association.
But it did. So now, there is soccer — just soccer. What a feeling.
“Contrary to what it may seem like, we don’t love to be in these fights,” forward Megan Rapinoe said. “We’d much rather focus on what we need to, which is winning and winning World Cups and continuing to be the best team we can. That’s not up to us. If everybody else wants to stop this, it’d be great.”
For now, it has stopped, and if it’s possible to get emotional about ink going onto a contract, Tuesday night was it. Think about what a distraction this has been — not just for the women who appeared here Tuesday night and will lead the quest next summer in the World Cup but for those going back decades. When 28 players on the women’s team decided to sue U.S. Soccer in 2019, they not only did so with pent-up passion and legal precision. They did it with a confident flair. The filing date: March 8, which — not coincidentally — is International Women’s Day. The World Cup was only months away.
Foudy remembers discussing that strategy with Mia Hamm, her longtime teammate and fellow member of teams that won World Cups in 1991 and ’99 and Olympic gold in 1996 and 2004.
“I was like, ‘I don’t think we would have done that,’ ” Foudy said. “I don’t think we would have had the courage. We would have thought it was too much of a distraction. ‘Let’s wait till after the World Cup.’
“And yet you could argue that was the best World Cup they ever played. They just dominated that World Cup. So they’re very good at compartmentalizing.”
They’re good at so much, and they matter to so many. Audi Field was dotted Tuesday night with the No. 13 jerseys of Morgan and the No. 15s of Rapinoe, arguably the biggest stars on the current roster, heroes from World Cups and Olympics gone by. But there’s a deeper history that informs what these women accomplished on the field and the fights they took up off it. So the No. 9 of Hamm and the No. 6 of Brandi Chastain — also seen in the crowd — is akin to a Yankees fan wearing the No. 7 of Mickey Mantle or a 49ers fan wearing the No. 16 of Joe Montana.
Sally Jenkins: It took a revolution, but the U.S. women’s soccer team got what it deserved
“I think if you speak to any of us, we always speak of the older players,” Rapinoe said. “… That’s where we learned our tenaciousness on and off the field. That’s just in the DNA and the fabric of the team.”
To varying degrees, they are celebrities and stars. When Rapinoe entered the game in the 65th minute, the 18,869 on hand greeted her as such. It took her all of a minute to create the game-winning goal, a pretzel-twist of a header by Rose Lavelle.
Give her a decade — or maybe even a week — and Rapinoe might not remember that cross to Lavelle. She’ll never forget the ceremony afterward, the fight it took to get to that point and the people who went before her to make it happen.
And here’s the kicker: We don’t yet fully understand what the ramifications of this deal are. Not for FIFA, which oversees soccer globally. Not for women’s sports domestically or internationally. Not for women in all walks of life in all sorts of countries.
“I think the biggest thing that gets me, that I’m incredibly proud of, is that it reverberates way beyond women’s sports,” Foudy said. “It’s not just women’s soccer. It’s not just women’s sports. It’s going to impact so many people globally in terms of women that come up and say: ‘It’s given me the courage to ask for more money at my job. It’s given me the courage ask for this. It’s given me the courage to say, “Huh, that’s not right.” ’ ”
As the ceremony drew to a conclusion, a chant started up from the thousands of fans who remained in the Audi Field stands. It might have been the rallying cry — “Equal pay! Equal pay!” — that became ubiquitous over the past few years. But it also might have been, from some folks, just: “USA! USA!”
Isn’t it amazing that the first of those chants will be considered a relic in the not-too-distant future? Then we won’t chant about labor rights. We’ll just cheer on these incredible women and the country for which they play. | 2022-09-07T10:11:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The USWNT beat Nigeria, then celebrated its equal pay revolution - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/07/uswnt-equal-pay-cba-signed/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/07/uswnt-equal-pay-cba-signed/ |
Jeremiah Armstead’s coach is NBA legend Kenny Anderson, someone who understands struggle
Jeremiah Armstead at Fisk University in August. He is attending the university through a combination of nonprofit donations and a Fisk scholarship. (Fisk University)
“They’d help me wash my clothes, so I’d have something clean to wear,” he said. “They understood and helped me feel like I wasn’t alone.”
“He’s a hero of mine — it’s like a dream,” Armstead said of the coach. “When he put me on the team, I could hardly believe it.”
“Jeremiah is a great young man — he’s very uplifting,” Anderson said. “I hope that I can help to build him up as an athlete. If he continues to stay grounded and humble, he’ll be fine.”
Fisk offered him a partial tuition scholarship, and most of his other expenses, including food and housing, this year will be covered by donations from nonprofit organizations including We Educate Brilliant Minds, Sisters of Watts and the Do Good Daniels Family Foundation, said Armstead. He said he’ll earn spending money by working part time on campus. | 2022-09-07T10:24:28Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Jeremiah Armstead plays basketball at Fisk college for Kenny Anderson - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/09/07/homeless-jeremiah-armstead-fisk-basketball/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/09/07/homeless-jeremiah-armstead-fisk-basketball/ |
A Venezuelan family is instructed by a Border Patrol officer near the Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras International Bridge shortly after crossing the Rio Grande on Aug. 12. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)
DEL RIO, Tex. — They marched in caravans for weeks, past dead bodies while dodging kidnappers and thieves — and now, some of the migrants crowded inside a tiny stucco building just past the Rio Grande were looking at a star scribbled on an envelope carrying their U.S. asylum petitions.
Courtesy of the state of Texas, this meant they qualified for a free bus ride to a place that has been largely unprepared to receive them: Washington, D.C.
“They’re going to give you food,” a Spanish-speaking volunteer at the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition temporary “respite center” said about the state-chartered buses, talking to the migrants who earlier in the week had surrendered themselves at the border to U.S. immigration officials. “It has WiFi, so you can connect with your families.”
So far, more than 230 buses carrying nearly 9,400 migrants, including families with young children, have arrived in D.C. since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) began offering free passage to the nation’s capital in April, with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) following suit in May. Last month, buses from Texas started heading to New York and Chicago, too.
Abbott and Ducey, along with many other Republicans, are focusing increased attention on the record number of border crossings by large groups arriving from South and Central America, and as far away as Senegal. Both governors are using the busloads of migrants as a political statement about what they have called lax Biden administration border policies.
But for many of those who have accepted the rides, any political gamesmanship has been irrelevant. The buses have turned into a welcomed pipeline, given that many already had plans to head east, either to live in the D.C. area or somewhere else another bus ride away.
In the process, their arrival has turned D.C. into “an unofficial border town,” said Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, one of the agencies helping the migrants.
With buses letting off more migrants near Union Station several times a week and D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and the Biden administration at odds over who should do more to help them, the existing apparatus of support is in triage mode, Laborde said.
“It’s been intense,” she said, in between attending to recently arrived migrants staying inside a temporary shelter run by her organization in Maryland that holds 50 people at a time. “It’s something that we are not used to.”
The ‘Norteño Express’
An empty D.C.-bound bus waited outside the Val Verde center, its “Norteño Express” sign facing the shuttered businesses and weathered houses that line the way toward a popular border crossing point at the Rio Grande.
Tiffany Burrow, director of operations for the faith-based center, was inside hurriedly sorting through case folders — each representing someone who had just arrived from a nearby federal processing center. More men, women and children were already inside a small holding area, preparing to board the bus, which could hold about 52 people.
When the Val Verde center opened in 2019, Burrow and her two volunteer staff members helped about 25 migrants a week, offering sandwiches, water and a few hours of rest while helping them figure out how to get where they needed to go.
Now, they can see as many as 1,000 or more per week, Burrow said. Her remote city of about 38,000 residents — about 150 miles west of San Antonio — saw 16,000 newly arrived Haitians camped below the International Bridge last fall because they couldn’t afford transportation out of Del Rio. And there is no infrastructure for them to stay put.
“You all need to understand that there is no overnight shelter here, there is no funding here, and there is no waiting for people here,” Burrow told one group through a Spanish translator. She stood in front of a large wall map of the United States, pointing out destinations to the migrants, who lined up according to where they earlier told federal immigration authorities they intended to go.
“This is California,” Burrow said, guiding her pointer to the state. “Florida? Here.”
Initially wary of the politics connected to Abbott’s bus program, Burrow now considers the free rides a practical way to get as many migrants as possible to their destinations — an expense her agency can’t afford to cover with about $200,000 in donations every year that mainly pay for food, clothing and medicine.
The state-chartered buses offer the migrants a way to get closer to their final destinations — or, at least, out of Texas, where border communities have been overwhelmed, the governor has said. So far, Abbott’s administration has spent more than $12 million on the bus trips, with the governor raising about $303,000 in private donations to help defray the costs.
Once it had enough passengers, the D.C. bus would leave the center for the hour’s drive to Eagle Pass, another border town near where as many as 530 people at a time have surrendered themselves to immigration officials. There, another nongovernmental organization was also helping with travel arrangements and, with the bus waiting outside, mentioning the option of a free ride east to anyone who might need it.
Many arrive in Texas with plans to meet up with family or friends in various parts of the United States, including the D.C. region. Others have no connections in the country, little, if any, cash and not much of an idea of where to settle while awaiting their asylum court dates, which are scheduled in the areas of the country where they say they will live.
But those who board the buses appear do so willingly, with no sign of anyone at the Val Verde center being forced or tricked into going to D.C. or New York — despite claims from Bowser and New York Mayor Eric Adams (D), who’ve each accused Abbott of using the migrants as political pawns.
But there is confusion. For example, each bus stops for fuel or to change drivers about six times before arriving in D.C. Initially, the migrants were told they could get off at the stops if they intended to settle in states along the way, such as Tennessee and North Carolina, or, even states farther away from the route, like Florida and Illinois.
But the routes are no longer predictable due to inclement weather, so figuring out where to get off is a guessing game, said Burrow, adding that most who take the bus now are bound for D.C. or New York.
That includes Joán Rojas, 29, and Angel Zárraga, 25, who arrived in Texas in mid-August with plans to settle in the D.C. area.
The two Venezuelans each said they heard about the free D.C. bus from friends, who had traveled ahead of them and reported back that it went well. But they didn’t know where those friends were staying or whether they could offer any help.
“If he has found some stability, he can help, just to give me something to fight with,” Rojas, an aspiring psychologist who hopes to earn money to support a wife and other family members in Venezuela, said of his contact. “We’ll see what happens.”
No place to sleep
Rojas, Zárraga and a third Venezuelan national sat inside a storefront church in the District’s Park View neighborhood, with no place to sleep that night.
Their bus had arrived in the nation’s capital at around midnight four days earlier, after a monotonous 32-hour journey through the southern U.S. countryside, broken up by meals of preserved beef or crackers in the military MRE dinners handed out during the trip.
After staying in the SAMU respite center for three nights — the maximum allowed — the men were now on their own. The pastor of the church — part of a network of secondary aid in the region — had retrieved them, agreeing to give the men an air-conditioned place in the summer heat to figure out their next move.
“In reality, I planned to go to Florida or New York,” said Zárraga, in Spanish, as Rojas sat in another room trying to reach his friend on a smartphone that still had service from Mexico. “But I heard [from that friend] that, in Washington, they care for immigrants a little more and that they would help.”
Like many arriving Venezuelans, Zárraga began his trip north from Colombia, where in 2019 he had initially escaped from the government-sanctioned violence consuming his country — aimed particularly at young men like him during massive protests geared toward pushing President Nicolás Maduro out of power.
His group passed corpses in the jungle and he nearly drowned in an unexpectedly strong Rio Grande current while crossing with three other men near Eagle Pass. In Mexico, Zárraga said, an immigration official beat him and then smiled after the diminutive Venezuelan wordlessly bore the abuse.
“I couldn’t say anything because they could invent something and deport me,” he said.
The pastor — who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared for the safety of the migrants and his congregants — eventually took in the three men for the night after it became clear they had no other viable options.
Their predicament reflected what immigrant advocates say is a growing problem with longer-term housing and other services as the number of buses grows. Though many migrants have moved on since landing in D.C., an increasing number — approaching 15 percent — are choosing to stay, advocates say.
Alejandra Pinto and her family are among thousands of Central American migrants who arrived in D.C. via buses from Texas and Arizona during the summer. (Video: Hope Davison/The Washington Post)
Clusters of migrants with no other place to sleep after receiving initial support have slept under a pavilion outside Union Station until aid groups are able to connect them with another accommodation.
Others have camped out in the parking lots of the hotels where many of their travel companions have been placed by members of the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, a coalition of groups that along with SAMU has greeted most of the arriving buses.
The coalition and other advocates have pushed for the Bowser administration to use city resources or apply for FEMA funding to provide housing and other services.
The city’s Department of Human Services provides some support, including sending Laborde’s organization coronavirus test kits and helping migrants who want to leave the city get to their next destination.
Bowser has so far avoided dedicating more local resources to the situation.
But, after the Pentagon denied for a second time her request to have National Guard troops take over the aid effort, the mayor said her administration plans “to ensure that when people are coming through D.C. on their way to their final destination that we have a humane setting for them.”
Last month, D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) announced that his office would spend $150,000 to help the migrants through September, in the form of grants to local groups. His office awarded the grants this month to six agencies.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesman said the Biden administration has been communicating with Bowser about additional funding.
What happens over the long term for people who plan to stay is still uncertain, though several aid groups are discussing plans for a more extensive resettlement program, said Laborde, whose Montgomery County site provides three warm meals per day, internet access and a bed in a congregate setting for three nights.
School districts in the area are enrolling migrant children in classes for the fall, but many of those families are either living in hotels or don’t have a fixed address.
Moreover, most of the migrants have not talked to an attorney or case workers about their asylum petitions and, with court dates arriving, are clueless about their next steps, advocates say.
“One of the biggest falsehoods that the mayor and her office is spreading is that people are just coming here as a stop,” said Ashley Tjhung, an organizer with the Mutual Aid Network. “There are so many long-term services that are needed.”
‘Do you know what this says?’
Kennely Maike-Christie, 23, stared helplessly at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement notice in English advising her to appear at the end of the month at the agency’s offices in New York, about 230 miles away.
“Do you know what this says?” she asked in Spanish, as a group of about 10 Venezuelan and Nicaraguan children played in a parking lot near her hotel room in the northeastern area of the District.
Maike — a member of the Indigenous Miskito people on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua — arrived in the District in July on a bus from Texas, where she received the now-wrinkled ICE notice in her hand. She doesn’t speak English, and even her Spanish is limited.
She and her husband, Andy Urbina-Pasquier, 24, left their fishing village with two other relatives after receiving death threats for their activism against Nicaraguan government-sanctioned attempts by land speculators in their oil-rich region to displace their people.
The decision to leave was easy after Hurricane Iota leveled the area in 2020, leaving the water without enough fish to catch.
They all got separated at the Texas border, where the two relatives remain detained because they had no proof of identity. Somehow, Maike’s paperwork said she’d be living in New York while her husband was given an ICE appointment in Northern Virginia.
The couple boarded the D.C.-bound bus when they were reunited inside the respite center in Eagle Pass.
“The military said: ‘If you don’t have family to receive you, go to Washington. The trip is free,’” Urbina said, referring to a member of the Texas National Guard helping with security at the center.
With no jobs, they relied on donations from Mutual Aid Network volunteers who came by three times a day, one of whom was now knocking on their door to ask if they’d like some custard.
“How many?” the volunteer said in halting Spanish.
“Three,” Urbina said, tucking the extra serving away for later before he and his wife dug into the treat.
Their situation was becoming more urgent, he said. After 10 days in the hotel, they were informed they’d have to leave soon.
“We don’t have a trade for work,” Urbina said, apologetically. “We live off fishing.”
A few doors down, Alejandra Pinto, 32, swept the walkway outside her room while her son, 11, and daughter, 4, played with the other children.
She and her husband David Hernandez — a former Venezuelan soldier — took the children out of their country three years ago, leaving behind another son, 9, with lung problems as they headed for Colombia. Hernandez, 28, said after he had refused to obey an order to roust a family suspected of being sympathetic to the anti-Maduro movement, he learned he and his family would instead be “disappeared.”
They left Colombia after job prospects grew worse there, traveling by foot through the jungle, then on the freight train through Mexico known by migrants as La Bestia — “The Beast” — because of the high risk of being preyed upon by gang members, the intense heat and the tendency for people to fall off at high speeds.
Pinto said she learned of the D.C.-bound buses from a church pastor in Laredo, Tex., who helped the family get to Eagle Pass.
In D.C., the family slept outside Union Station for four days before Hernandez’s brother, also a recent arrival, connected them with a Mutual Aid volunteer who paid for their hotel room.
Now, Pinto and Hernandez both work at a construction site, saving up their money to find a more permanent home. Pinto, who recently filled out school enrollment paperwork for her kids, said she could see settling into the region for good. More family members were on their way, including a brother who recently lost a leg in a motorcycle accident now slowly making his way through the jungle, she said.
“I want to elevate myself,” said Pinto, a former office receptionist in Caracas. “I want my children to have stability.”
Outside, a summer storm blew in, dropping hail onto the parking lot — a phenomenon the migrants had never experienced.
“Ice! Ice!” the children yelled in Spanish, as they happily gathered the pearl-shaped rocks while their smiling parents looked on. | 2022-09-07T10:28:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | From border town to ‘border town,’ bused migrants seek new lives in D.C. area - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/migrants-dc-buses-texas/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/migrants-dc-buses-texas/ |
Hotly anticipated exhibitions include Matisse in Philadelphia, Sargent at the National Gallery, and Alex Katz at the Guggenheim
Perspective by Sebastian Smee
“Matisse in the 1930s” is among major shows coming this fall. Above, Matisse's “Large Reclining Nude” 1935. 26 1/8 × 36 3/4 inches. Oil on canvas. (Baltimore Museum of Art/Succession H. Matisse/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)
If this fall’s busy exhibition schedule is anything to go by, the American museum ecosystem is well on the way to a full recovery after the trials of the pandemic. There’s a terrific range of shows, many of them worth traveling to see. Some of the biggest names — Van Gogh, Sargent, Matisse and Picasso — are the subjects of exhibitions that take a fresh look at their work. Underappreciated Old Masters like Murillo and Carpaccio get an overdue outing, and some of the most powerful living artists — Theaster Gates, Alex Katz and Nairy Baghramian — are revealed to new audiences in major cities. Here are my picks for the 10 top shows this fall, but scout around on your favorite museums’ websites — you’ll find so much more.
‘Murillo: From Heaven to Earth’
For several centuries after his death in 1682, Bartolome Esteban Murillo was regarded as Spain’s greatest painter, above even Velazquez. He was most celebrated for his religious scenes, but his paintings of street urchins, beggars, musicians and flower girls appeal more to 21st-century tastes, and these are the subject of this landmark exhibition at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. The show is exclusive to the Kimbell, which is celebrating its 50th birthday, and features about 50 paintings, with loans from the Louvre as well as New York’s Hispanic Society and the Metropolitan Museum. Sept. 18-Jan. 29 at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas. kimbellart.org.
‘Van Gogh in America’
If you want the real thing — as opposed to the “Immersive Experience,” which let’s face it, is a bit of a con — Detroit is the place to be this fall. The Detroit Institute of Arts was the first American museum to acquire a Van Gogh, and it is celebrating the centenary of this notable event with a show telling the story of how early promoters of modern art introduced the Dutchman’s genius to this country. The show is exclusive to the Detroit Institute of Arts and includes loans not only from American museums, but also overseas collections. Oct. 2-Jan. 22 at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit. dia.org.
‘Sargent and Spain’
John Singer Sargent loved Spain. So did almost every French painter of note in the 19th century, from Delacroix to Manet. But where Manet went there only once, returning ahead of schedule (he didn’t like the food, if you can believe it!), Sargent traveled to Spain on numerous occasions over three decades. He clearly took a liking to tapas. The National Gallery of Art has made Sargent’s Spanish work the subject of a show that promises to dazzle. It features landscapes, pictures of Spanish architecture and everyday life, and portraits of locals, as well as 28 never-published photographs, several of which, the NGA says, “almost certainly taken by Sargent himself.” Oct. 2- Jan. 2, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. nga.gov.
‘Nairy Baghramian’
The Iranian-German artist Nairy Baghramian (she was born in Isfahan in 1971 and moved to Berlin in 1984) is one of the most exciting sculptors working today. Using a variety of media — some traditional (marble and wood), others less expected (photography and Plexiglas) — she makes works that evoke the body and architecture. They draw you in obliquely and quietly unravel preconceptions of public sculpture. The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, which recently made Baghramian its Nasher Prize Laureate, is now giving her a solo show, featuring new works about connections between the body and trauma, as well as works by other sculptors in the Nasher’s permanent collection. Oct. 15-Jan. 8 at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas. nashersculpturecenter.org.
‘Matisse in the 1930s’
Matisse entered a creative slump around the same time the global economy did, just after the crash of 1929. But then Albert Barnes of Philadelphia came into the artist’s life, commissioning a mural for his museum in Merion, Pa., just outside Philadelphia (and recently transplanted to the city center). The commission, called “The Dance,” revived Matisse, who found himself returning to earlier aspects of his work even as he pushed forward into bold new territory. This fall blockbuster at the Philadelphia Museum of Art looks to be the most exciting Matisse show all year. Oct. 20-Jan. 29 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. philamuseum.org.
I’ve seen plenty of beautiful artworks. But the Matisse Chapel overwhelmed me.
‘Cubism and the Trompe l’Oeil Tradition’
A few years ago, the Metropolitan Museum in New York received a trove of cubist works from American collector Leonard Lauder. This year, the museum is drawing on that gift as well as many significant loans to propose a new way of looking at cubism, which many consider the most radically transformative 20th-century art movement. The lens is “trompe l’oeil,” which is French for “deceive the eye,” referring to a painting tradition that creates intensified illusions of three dimensionality through perceptual and psychological tricks. This exhibition places cubist paintings, sculptures and collages by the likes of Picasso, Georges Braque and Juan Gris alongside key works in the trompe l’oeil tradition, both European and American. Oct. 20-Jan. 22 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. metmuseum.org.
Alex Katz, who was born in 1927, is now into his eighth decade of painting. He is sui generis — a weird, self-lubricating machine put on this earth to use brushes and paint instead of a lens and film to capture “quick things passing,” as the artist puts it. I think he’s cool. So I’m excited that the Guggenheim is mounting this retrospective, which will fill the Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda with Katz’s paintings, oil sketches, collages, drawings, prints and free-standing “cutout” works. Oct. 21-Feb. 20, at the Guggenheim Museum, New York. guggenheim.org.
‘Theaster Gates: Young Lords and Their Traces’
‘Joan Brown’
Joan Brown, the wonderful Bay Area painter and sculptor who died in 1990 when a museum in India collapsed on her (also killing two of her friends), has not been the subject of a retrospective for more than 20 years. This show at SFMOMA includes about 80 works, in a range of styles. It should reveal the unusual extent of Brown’s influences, which included European Old Masters as well as Egyptian, Chinese, Mesoamerican and Indian art. Nov. 19-March 12 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco. sfmoma.org.
‘Vittore Carpaccio: Master Storyteller of Renaissance Venice’
Vittore Carpaccio, whose career overlapped with the older Giovanni Bellini and the younger Titian, was one of the most original and exciting painters Venice produced. He is an icon in that city, but this National Gallery of Art exhibition is the first Carpaccio retrospective ever attempted outside Italy. Featuring 40 paintings and 35 drawings, it includes such wonders as the Getty Museum’s “Fishing and Fowling on the Lagoon” and the painting in Venice’s Correr Museum to which it was once attached, “Two Women on a Balcony.” Regrettably, the show doesn’t feature some of Carpaccio’s best-known and most ambitious works, most of them too fragile or precious to travel. Nov. 20-Feb. 12 at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. nga.gov.
Titian comes together | 2022-09-07T10:41:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Fall art show highlights include Matisse, Sargent and Alex Katz - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/07/fall-preview-visual-art/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/07/fall-preview-visual-art/ |
Missing archives, less ambitious programming, higher prices: Creators and subscribers say they’re seeing the fallout from television’s big revolution
By Travis M. Andrews
The morning after she gave birth last month, Lindsay Katai was in the hospital’s postpartum room with her new baby when her fiance stumbled on some bad news on Twitter. “ ‘Oh no,’ he said. ‘They removed “Infinity Train” from HBO Max.’ ”
“And that’s how I found out,” Katai said.
The critically acclaimed animated show she had worked on extensively was simply deleted, thrown into a black hole of corporate cost-saving measures, along with several titles on HBO Max. The company, she added, even scrubbed every mention of the show from its social media accounts.
“It’s hard because it used to be your show would air and it could go away forever, regardless if it was on cable or network. … But we thought we were protected from that because of streaming. That was always sort of the consolation — we’re not getting paid as much. We’re not getting residuals. But at least we’ll be accessible for a long time to come. And lo and behold, that’s not the case anymore,” Katai said. “It’s a purely bottom-line-driven decision-making process that’s all about maximizing profits over any kind of artistic voice.”
“I don’t feel great about being a writer right now,” she added. “I don’t feel great about being in the industry right now.”
Just when streaming has finally attracted more viewers than either cable and broadcast TV, its major players are engaged in a long predicted war for subscribers, who are becoming all too aware of rising subscription prices and, both subtly and directly, a change in what programs get made and how long they stick around. Commercials could soon become more common, and services may be bundled (for one low monthly price!), already triggering visions of a future that recalls the dark days of cable.
The list of seismic rumblings in recent weeks is long, as chronicled in the Hollywood Reporter, Variety and elsewhere: Warner Bros. Discovery is cutting shows from its archives and unfinished movies from HBO Max as it prepares to merge it with its sister streaming service Discovery Plus, having promised its shareholders a $3 billion cut in costs. Faced with a plunging stock price and worrisome subscriber loss, Netflix plans to add an advertising-supported model for a lower price and may crack down on password sharing. Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus, which can all be subscribed to in a cable-esque bundle, are raising prices after taking a more than $1 billion hit in the fiscal third quarter. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video just debuted the most expensive show ever made — a Lord of the Rings drama — in hopes to gain ground in a crowded market.
The fear of having your show or movie deleted on an executive’s whim — a growing reality for many, including Katai — is only compounded by the fact that in the post-DVD digital age, viewers may never be able to access the shows again. Showrunners might not even have physical copies of their own work. And that’s not the only downside for creators.
For Doyle, who works primarily on sitcoms, one drawback to the streaming wars is that “It hasn’t been very good for comedy. … The first thing these business guys who are running everything now have run away from is comedy, because it’s harder. You can’t manufacture another comedy the way you can manufacture another Dick Wolf show about sexy firemen or paramedics or cops in Chicago. Those kinds of shows are kind of paint-by-numbers. You can basically recycle the scripts every year.” Plus, he added, most of these streaming services want to appeal to a global market, and comedy doesn’t tend to translate successfully across cultures.
Doyle thinks the quality of streaming shows — comedies and dramas alike — is destined to decline, particularly as these companies need to find a way to cut costs and increase profits.
“The emphasis in the streaming services has been on this premium product. There’s an episode of ‘The Mandalorian’ that [cost millions of dollars] to make. You can’t compare that with an episode of ‘NCIS’ in terms of its budget, in terms of its spectacle,” Doyle said. But if most services are losing money, it stands to reason these sorts of budgets aren’t sustainable. “I suspect that some of the shows are going to get [worse].”
The anxieties that creators associate with working in the streaming revolution have been portrayed in the TV shows themselves. The most recent season of HBO’s dark dramedy “Barry” features a subplot in which Sally (Sarah Goldberg), strikes critical gold (a 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) with a semi-autobiographical TV series called “Joplin,” that she creates and stars in for a fictional streaming powerhouse called BanShe.
No sooner has Sally’s show premiered (minor spoiler ahead) than BanShe’s in-house algorithm decides it’s not a success. The show is canceled 12 hours after its premiere and its episodes are scrubbed from the database. The storyline served as a cutting commentary on the present state of the industry.
And it borrows from reality. On the Ringer’s “The Prestige TV Podcast,” “Barry” co-creator Bill Hader said he had a friend who is woefully familiar with Sally’s experience. The day his friend’s show premiered on Netflix, “he texted me a picture, like, ‘We’re on the homepage!’ ” Hader said. A day or two later, Hader fired up Netflix and couldn’t find the show. “That was the first time I heard, ‘Yeah, apparently the algorithm didn’t like it.’ ”
During Hader’s press junkets for the show, an interviewer criticized the storyline as “ ‘a little too broad, capital-S satire-type thing,’ ” he said. “And I was like, ‘But it happened! It’s happening!’ ”
Help Desk: Find the cheapest way to watch TV
In the revolutionary rush toward streaming TV, much of the old business ways fell aside. Creators, who could once aim for syndication and rebroadcasting fees, “are being paid far less. Far, far less,” Conover observed. The same is true for writers, producers, production crews and animators. And, given that seasons of television tend to be shorter on these services, there’s less work. Headline-grabbing megadeals are rare, but still feed an illusion that streaming networks “are just as big as those old broadcast networks were in the ’90s, except that they pay a fraction of what the creators used to be paid,” Conover said.
When he pitched “Adam Ruins Everything,” during what now seems like cable’s last hurrah in the mid-2010s, “I pitched probably a dozen different places,” he said. “I’m still pitching TV for a living, but now when I go to pitch it, there’s only [a few] places you can go. That’s the monopsony in action.”
The monopsony, Conover said. That’s when a company dominates the buying market for a particular industry. If you sell salami, and there is only one sandwich shop around to buy it, that’s a monopsony. Think of a monopoly, but the other way around. “If there’s less competition for my services, then I can’t get a bidding war going with two companies that want to buy my show.”
Early on, creators were drawn to streaming because of the freedoms it offered, which could arguably lead to more interesting, less predictable shows and films. Netflix, in particular, was famous for not giving notes to its creators.
But one industry vet who has worked in both streaming and network television and agreed to speak with The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to avoid career repercussions, said most services now give “a ton of notes … because they’re risk-averse.”
“My observation is that they’re all trying to develop what I would say is less interesting television,” the creator said. “They all want more networky stuff. The irony to me, and to many, is that networks have destroyed themselves with really bland, cookie-cutting programing over the years and people turned them off more and more. Then streaming came along, especially Netflix, with really interesting stuff. And now I think streaming and Netflix have decided they want their stuff to look more like network. I think in their minds, they think it makes it more accessible. But I think for the audiences, it makes it less interesting.”
In August 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it will merge HBO Max and Discovery Plus into one streaming platform. (Video: Allie Caren/The Washington Post)
Streaming networks also tended to foster diversity, said Erin Hanna, a University of Oregon cinema studies professor. “With the explosion of production, you had more content being produced, so there were more opportunities for creators of color, for queer stories to be told. Groups who have long been marginalized on television, in particular, but in film too were getting to tell new stories and having more of that kind of content available.”
Now those opportunities seem to be in peril, she said, citing Netflix’s controversial 2019 cancellation of “One Day at a Time,” a sitcom following a multigenerational Cuban American family. She also cited a Daily Beast report that stated in the recent HBO Max reshuffling, “as many as 13 people of color previously in charge of developing shows like ‘The Gordita Chronicles’ and the Spanish-language docuseries ‘Menudo: Forever Young’ have been let go, likely influencing the types of shows and movies that are greenlit moving forward,” which resulted in “barely any non-white people left in the upper ranks of content.” (In response to the story, the company highlighted several shows “led by diverse characters” and told the Daily Beast in a statement, “HBO and HBO Max have always shown a commitment to diverse programming and storytellers, and always will.”)
The result is “less diversity in front of and behind the camera,” Hanna said. “There’s kind of a swing back.”
As for viewers? They’re also sensing some of the bloom has come off the streaming rose, for a litany of reasons: There are too many shows, but not enough good ones, and you never know if your favorites will disappear. Prices keep creeping up. With so many services and the broadband requirements to use them, it’s not much cheaper than cable, and the reward is a sometimes fuzzy picture and low frame rates — now complete with ads. And let’s not even dive into the fact that different streaming services work better on different pieces of hardware, be it Roku, PlayStation, Amazon Fire Stick, a smart TV …
The list goes on, which may be why digital piracy is seeing a resurgence. More than 350,000 new members have joined the subreddit r/piracy, an anonymous message board, since January 2021. “Pirating is a must these days,” reads one post.
Will Hare, a 33-year-old marketing professional in Durham, N.C., enjoyed the prestige shows several services put out in the beginning of the streaming boom, like Netflix’s “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black” and Amazon Prime Video’s “Transparent.” So much that he didn’t mind the small price hikes over the years.
But when the pandemic hit and he found himself spending his newly found free time digging deeper into their libraries, an awful lot of what he discovered was, well, “crap.” Then Netflix, to which he’d subscribed since its DVD-by-mail days, defended comedians Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais who were under fire for making jokes about the LGBTQ community. The price hikes suddenly didn’t feel so small.
Finally, Hare said, “I did the math and realized I’m paying the equivalent of a cable subscription now for all these services that I’m just not using anymore.” He began canceling them — even the one he still has faith in, Apple TV Plus, because he had watched everything on its menu that interested him. Now, he and his husband are more mindful of their subscriptions, only keeping ones they’re actively using. They can always resubscribe to a service, after all, if a show comes along that interests them.
HBO Max removes nearly 200 episodes of 'Sesame Street'
Others, though, still embrace both the variety and sheer amount of content on these services — and carefully curate them to save money. “Is there too much content? Sure, but not all content is for everyone and while my son and I share some services, I cut mine down to six services totaling around $56 a month. I was paying over a $100 a month for my package on satellite and I only watched like 24 channels. It just wasn’t worth it,” said Albuquerque resident Donna Jonas, 69, via email. “I like the ability to curate my own content and watch it when I want.”
It’s as if the journey brought viewers all the way back around to wishing for some kind of service that would bundle all of the content providers together under one easy, monthly plan something like … oh, dear, we’re talking about cable. As a character on a prestige 2014 television drama that, last we checked, was still available on its parent streaming network once said: “Time is a flat circle.”
Jeremy Taylor, a 42-year-old Republic, Mo., IT worker, spent years attempting to find the perfect streaming setup. But he’s run into a curious problem: Different devices work better with different streaming services. Apple TV might be better for Apple’s streaming service, while Roku might work better with Hulu. He’s ended up with so many pieces of hardware and their accompanying remotes that “I feel like my wife wants to kill me.”
Like Hare, he doesn’t find his smorgasbord of services cheaper than cable or satellite, and as a big sports fan, he sometimes finds the latter more useful. Finally, he said, there’s just way too much content to choose from.
“It’s almost like an oversaturation at this point,” Taylor said. “You used to spend time scrolling through 750 channels to find the one thing you want to watch. Now you’re scrolling through thousands of pieces of content on 12 devices to do the same thing. At some point you just decide it’s not worth it and do something other than watch TV.” | 2022-09-07T10:42:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Streaming TV is having an existential crisis, and viewers can tell - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/07/streaming-tv-changes-crisis/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/07/streaming-tv-changes-crisis/ |
Driver, 27, dies in two-vehicle crash in Upper Marlboro area
A 27-year-old driver was killed in a crash Sunday morning in the unincorporated part of Upper Marlboro. (iStock) (Prince George's County Police)
Authorities said a 27-year-old driver died after a crash involving two vehicles in the unincorporated part of Upper Marlboro.
The victim was identified on Tuesday by Prince George’s County police as Treyone Clermont, 27, of Silver Spring. The crash happened just after 3 a.m. Sunday in the 3400 block of Brown Station Road, not far from Largo Road.
An initial investigation found that another vehicle was headed south on Brown Station Road when the driver crossed the double yellow line and struck Clermont’s car on the northbound side, police said. He was pronounced dead on the scene. The other driver and a passenger in that car had serious injuries. | 2022-09-07T10:42:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Driver, 27, dies in two-vehicle crash in Maryland - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/man-killed-crash-upper-marlboro/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/man-killed-crash-upper-marlboro/ |
Democrats can counter GOP warnings about ‘armies’ of tax collectors
An alternative tradition in our politics has long helped convince Americans that tax enforcement is good.
Perspective by Joseph J. Thorndike
Joseph J. Thorndike is director of the Tax History Project at Tax Analysts and author of "Their Fair Share: Taxing the Rich in the Age of FDR."
Internal Revenue Service 1040 individual income tax forms for 2021. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg News)
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
That’s the message coming from Republicans as they warn Americans about President Biden’s “shadow army” of gun-toting, freedom-crushing … tax auditors?
“Democrats’ new army of 87,000 IRS agents will be coming for you,” warned House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last month. “How long until Democrats send the IRS ‘SWAT team’ after your kids’ lemonade stand?” wondered GOP chair Ronna McDaniel.
While this rhetoric may seem overheated, it’s effective. According to a recent Morning Consult/Politico poll, voters support every major provision of the Inflation Reduction Act except one: $80 billion in new funding for the IRS.
Indeed, the IRS hasn’t pleased many people since it was first established during the Civil War. Critics have attacked it for being heavy-handed, inquisitorial, bureaucratic and just too big. Those attacks have resonated with a powerful and persistent anti-statist strain in American political culture.
Republicans, in other words, have history on their side.
But history isn’t destiny, and Democrats eager to defend the agency (or at least its funding) might consider tapping into a different long-standing strain of American political culture: the tradition of fiscal citizenship. Like anti-statism, this tradition tends to surface in tax debates, but to opposite ends — to actually encourage tax collection. Fiscal citizenship urges all Americans to pay their fair share to fund the necessary functions of government and at various moments in history it has won out in this debate between American philosophies.
The task of countering Republican rhetoric won’t be easy, as attacks on the IRS have been remarkably consistent over time. Strikingly, today’s criticism of the agency could have been leveled in almost any American era since the Civil War. In particular, critics have shown a penchant for military metaphors, talking about “armies,” “invasions” and the occasional “strike force” to malign tax collection.
In 1862, as Congress debated the creation of the agency, Rep. George Pendleton (D-Ohio) urged his fellow lawmakers not to establish an “immense army of Federal tax gatherers.” Showing that this sentiment was bipartisan, Rep. Roscoe Conkling (R-N.Y.), went even further. “No army that ever marched through the country,” he predicted, “was more hated than the army provided for in this bill.” Strong words, especially with Confederate armies poised for their first invasion of the Northern states, just two months later.
Nevertheless, Congress moved ahead with plans for a new Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), convinced that it was necessary to collect the nation’s first income tax and fund the Union’s Civil War efforts. Lawmakers embraced the rationale of House Ways and Means Chair Thaddeus Stevens (R-Pa.), who knew how to co-opt a metaphor.
“I know that the army of collectors are odious everywhere,” he told his colleagues. But Stevens also asserted that they were “not quite so dangerous” to his constituents or his colleagues “as the army of rebels that renders this other army necessary.” Only creating an army of tax collectors could prevent a Confederate triumph.
The income tax disappeared after the Civil War, only to return in 1913 with passage of the Sixteenth Amendment. But it remained a narrow tax, paid by the nation’s most fortunate few, until the 1940s. Only then, when faced with the extraordinary fiscal demands of World War II, did lawmakers agree to transform it from a class tax to a mass tax.
Perhaps it’s not surprising then that while critics continued to deploy army metaphors to warn ominously about tax collectors, they added a new scare tactic to describe efforts to collect taxes from Americans — one that fit the times — claiming that federal tax collectors behaved like the agents of a fascist police state.
Consider this episode from 1953. On July 29, as Boston commuters were finding their way to work, 280 employees of the newly rebranded Internal Revenue Service were fanning out across the city. These revenue agents were knocking on doors, conducting a house-to-house search for tax delinquents.
Similar searches took place across New England, but everywhere the procedure was the same. IRS workers would knock on the door of every building on a street. When someone answered, the agents would ask whether that person had filed a tax return. If the answer was yes, the agents asked for proof.
“Like most income-tax enforcement techniques, this was a psychological weapon,” Time magazine observed. And the weapon worked. IRS Commissioner T. Coleman Andrews said the agency was collecting $24 for every $1 spent on the canvassing program.
Critics, mostly lawmakers from the canvassed regions, were outraged. Rep. Philip J. Philbin (D-Mass.) called the enforcement blitz “an abhorrent method of tax gouging and snooping.” Indeed, he said, it “smacks of the Gestapo and OGPU [Soviet secret police] methods of the police state.” Other lawmakers, including Rep. Albert Paul Morano (R-Conn.) and Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers (R-Mass.), used similar language to lambaste the program.
But not all Americans shared this outrage. In one poll by the American Institute for Public Opinion, 53 percent of people endorsed the door-to-door hunt for delinquents. Pollster George Gallup offered some choice comments from respondents. One asserted the move was, “the only way to prevent tax dodging.” A second said, “those who’ve paid won’t object,” while a third saw the government as “entitled to the taxes.”
These comments, while anecdotal, revealed something important: While New England politicians were channeling anti-statist rage, a second language existed in which to consider the enforcement action — one rooted in traditions of fiscal citizenship and shared responsibility.
This tradition was familiar to Americans living in 1953, thanks mostly to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Throughout his presidency, Roosevelt emphasized the network of rights and responsibilities that bound taxpayers to the state — and to one another.
Roosevelt always preferred to frame tax issues in terms of personal tax responsibility — even technical issues, like the taxation of corporate profits. He defended new tax provisions as a way to close old “loopholes,” emphasizing the moral failure of those who didn’t contribute their “fair share.”
Roosevelt recognized no moral distinction between legal tax avoidance and illegal tax evasion. “All are alike in that failure to pay results in shifting the tax load to the shoulders of others less able to pay,” he told Congress in a special message on tax reform.
Roosevelt delighted in citing the famous observation by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr: “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” But he followed up with a warning to lawmakers. Too many individuals, he declared, “want the civilization at a discount.”
This sort of language, rooted in notions of shared responsibility, proved powerful while fighting the Great Depression and World War II. And as the Massachusetts example reveals, it continued to shape the thoughts of Americans after Roosevelt died in 1945, helping to fund the Cold War as well. It blunted the anti-statist language wielded by politicians like Philbin, Morano and Rogers and enabled liberal policymakers to expand government services — beginning with Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s and continuing with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” reforms in the 1960s.
This tradition of fiscal citizenship provides a road map for Democrats in 2022 who are worried about being bludgeoned by Republican scare tactics and warnings about hostile armies of tax collectors.
The rhetoric of fiscal citizenship isn’t a magic bullet, of course. Tax collectors will still have a hard time winning popularity contests. Nonetheless, history indicates that even if Americans don’t relish the idea of beefed-up tax enforcement, this rhetoric might convince them to agree with another anonymous poll respondent from 1953 who simply stated: “Everyone should pay his taxes.” | 2022-09-07T10:42:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Democrats can counter GOP warnings about ‘armies’ of tax collectors - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/09/07/democrats-can-counter-gop-warnings-about-armies-tax-collectors/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/09/07/democrats-can-counter-gop-warnings-about-armies-tax-collectors/ |
The real reason we love stories about cunning women falling from grace
Shows like ‘Inventing Anna’ and ‘The Dropout’ expose the cruelty at the heart of modern society.
Perspective by Sarah Horowitz
Sarah Horowitz is professor of history at W&L University and the author of "The Red Widow: The Scandal that Shook Paris—and the Woman Behind it All" (Sourcebooks).
Michael Showalter, Rebecca Jarvis, Naveen Andrews, Amanda Seyfried and Elizabeth Meriwether speak at the Los Angeles finale event for Hulu's “The Dropout” on April 11 in Los Angeles. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Lately it appears we have been eager for stories about women who are up to no good. Witness the streaming series “Inventing Anna,” about scammer Anna Delvey who allegedly swindled many by posing as a German heiress, and “The Dropout,” which explores biotech fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. Both shows are popular and nominated for multiple Emmys.
These are women from the recent past, but by looking further back in time we may see why we find tales about bad women, especially ones who circulate among the rich and powerful, so appealing. A century ago, Marguerite Steinheil was one such figure. Like Delvey and Holmes, she was at the center of a criminal case that became a media frenzy. Then, as now, such a public story about a dramatic fall from grace resonated because it exposed the fraud and cruelty at the heart of modern society.
If Steinheil’s life was the subject of a Netflix series, it might start in 1890, when she was 21, married to a mediocre Parisian artist who was successful enough to enjoy middle class privileges. But Steinheil wanted more. Determined to enter high society, she engaged in lucrative affairs with prominent men. Promising sex, she persuaded many powerful officials and politicians to use taxpayer funds to pay top dollar for her husband’s paintings.
As a result of her sexual transactions, Steinheil came to hold great sway within France’s powerful civil service and arranged for favors for friends and family members. In an era when women could not vote or hold office, Steinheil carved out a role for herself in public life through her liaisons with powerful men.
By the early 1900s, Steinheil cemented her status as a member of the French upper echelon. This was a milieu shot through with paradoxes. The elite held themselves up as moral exemplars, but gave themselves license to misbehave in private. While they held a near-monopoly on political power in a country riven by deepening economic inequality, the government preached the values of liberty and equality. Steinheil embodied these contradictions. She maintained a facade of propriety while using sex to bolster her status. Her maneuverings also revealed that the system was designed to favor the rich and well-connected and that opportunities for social and economic mobility were limited.
In May 1908, Steinheil’s husband and mother were found killed in their home. The sole survivor and witness to the attack, Steinheil proceeded to tell an improbable and shifting set of untruths about what she had seen. At various times she blamed poor Parisians, Jews, Brazilians and North Africans for the crime.
Despite her evident falsehoods, the authorities repeatedly declared that she was innocent of any involvement in the murders and that the perpetrators were undoubtedly common criminals. Their support for her was probably due to her many connections with powerful government officials. Indeed, the chief investigator in the double murder may have been one of her lovers. It also stemmed from a common police practice: protecting the reputations of elites by cleaning up their messes.
Ultimately, the authorities and Steinheil herself chose to uphold a worldview in which criminality was associated with those outside the upper echelon of Parisian society, either because of their race or their class.
Yet from the beginning, journalists and the public were skeptical of her account and many were convinced that she had been involved in the murders. Friends and lovers also told her they would have nothing to do with her until her name was cleared. She was so desperate to resume her life in high society that in November 1908, she attempted to frame her valet for the murders. A few days after he was put in jail, he was ruled out as a suspect and she then accused her cook’s son, who was also arrested. Both were innocent of any involvement in the crime.
At this point, the case monopolized the headlines of the Parisian dailies. The public was furious with Steinheil, increasingly convinced that she was the perpetrator, and enraged that the authorities were so intent on protecting her. Eventually the outrage became so great that investigators caved to public pressure and arrested her.
Steinheil spent a year in jail awaiting trial. During this time, the press furiously discussed her affairs with prominent officials and often implied that they had helped her cover up the crime. These revelations led to an outcry about how government officials had used public money to pay her for sex and had shielded her from scrutiny, all while treating the poor harshly. As one commentator said, Steinheil offered proof that “the law isn’t equal for everyone.” The state had no real commitment to equality, nor the elite to restraint and respectability. In other words, France was a society built on falsehood and selective mistreatment.
Steinheil’s trial in November 1909 was a spectacle that captured the press’s attention and riveted the public. In it, the prosecution failed to make a compelling case against her. Prosecutors had plenty of proof that she hated her husband and that she did not tell the truth about what she had seen on the night of the murders, but no evidence of her involvement in the crime. Meanwhile, the defense portrayed her as so loving a woman that she could never have murdered her husband or mother. As a result, she was acquitted.
Thanks to her successful defense, many grew to believe she was innocent of the murders and that the year she spent in jail between her arrest and her trial was fair punishment for misleading investigators. However, journalists continued to dog her for answers. Facing continued scrutiny, she moved to Britain. The murders remain unsolved to this day.
Steinheil’s story, like those of Delvey and Holmes, follows an intensely satisfying narrative arc: a bad woman’s soaring ambition leads her to fly high until it all comes crashing down in the most public fashion imaginable. Such scandals demystify the world of wealth and power. In each one, the press detailed not just these women’s crimes, but how they were abetted by rich and powerful men.
Such stories are particularly appealing in times of harsh economic inequality and profound discontent about that inequality. Today, the coronavirus pandemic has made the rich richer, and led to a rising skepticism about unfettered capitalism. Similarly, France in the early 1900s saw increasing class tensions, including a period marked by a series of strikes that the government responded to brutally, killing many workers. The tales of Delvey and Holmes force observers to ask whether capitalism itself is a scam, just as Steinheil’s case provoked many to think that the French government’s promise of equality was a racket.
Of course, there are plenty of differences between Steinheil’s case and those of Holmes and Delvey. “The Dropout” focuses on the world of investors, rather than politicians and officials. Many of the men around Holmes are depicted as a combination of gullible, easily swayed by an attractive woman, and all too eager to get in on the next big thing even if it meant they ignored the many signs that Theranos’s product never worked.
In “Inventing Anna,” Delvey navigates new money rather than old wealth in a New York society full of grifters, including her boyfriend, Martin Shkreli, who ran a shady tech company and was later convicted of securities fraud, and Billy McFarland, the impresario of the infamous Fyre Festival.
But these scandals have something in common with Steinheil’s: They allow us to peer into realms of power that are typically hidden from view. Delvey’s and Holmes’s stories provide access to a world where business deals are cemented on luxury yachts and at charity galas, Steinheil’s to one where careers were made in the boudoirs of Parisian politicians.
We’re riveted by these tales about “bad women” in part because we want to know more about the “bad men” who surround them. All three women could only achieve their ambitions through appealing to men who held enormous amounts of power and riches. And these men used their status to satisfy their lust, further enrich themselves, prop up lies and cause harm.
Then as now, women have a lot to gain by being “bad,” but most of the real power and wealth still remain in the hands of men. | 2022-09-07T10:42:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The real reason we love stories about cunning women falling from grace - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/09/07/real-reason-we-love-stories-about-cunning-women-falling-grace/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/09/07/real-reason-we-love-stories-about-cunning-women-falling-grace/ |
Image from “Beautiful, Still,” published by MACK Books. (Colby Deal)
Colby Deal’s “Beautiful, Still,” (MACK, 2022) is all about the the people and community of Houston’s Third Ward. And this book is one of my absolute favorites of the year so far
So many of the books that come my way, or that I see published, are more about the technique or the process of the photographer than they are about the people in the photographs.
Deal’s book turns that trend on its head. In “Beautifl, Still,” Deal’s technique, or process, is an extension of the people and the community, not the other way around.
To put it another way, Deal’s “Beautiful, Still,” is an unabashed love letter to the people in Houston’s Third Ward. Now, this is not to say that there is no technique on display in the book. The photographs are at once classic and progressive, aesthetically.
While flipping through its pages, I’m reminded of work by some of the great masters of yesteryear (Gordon Parks, Eugen Atget, Walker Evens, for example) but at the same time, feel a looseness that comes with a more contemporary, impressionistic, bent.
Sometimes Deal’s photos are descriptive, many times they are purely emotive, always they are dripping with fondness and affection for the people and places they depict.
So, here’s where Deal’s love letter clashes with reality—they are not only emotionally resonant images of a place near and dear to his heart—they are the record of a people and culture slowly but surely being erased by the ever so modern scourge of gentrification.
It is said that time marches on, but at what cost? Gentrification is everywhere, pushing people out from the spaces they’ve carved out for themselves, making way for what? Luxury accomodations? Chain businesses? For the people original to the place, it is an act of erasure, sometimes violent, always sad.
Here's what Garry Reese, in an afterword to the book has to say about all of that:
“These images are an attempt at maintaining the integrity of the space they have claimed, visceral and existential. They reverberate in varying frequencies of belonging. They set their gaze on the rhythms, vibes and musical patterns that make up Black life in a certain section of the Third Ward. Even though the spaces they inhabit have been broken in, hollowed out, and formed over a number of generations to their Black presence, somewhere there lingers doubt. Our history (for I am a Black man), if we are honest, does not lend itself to a solid belief in the “American franchise.” So even with a history attached to a space, there exists a palpable apprehension that something might happen, something that might expel them from the land, because in the end, it is always about the land. Valid and tangible thoughts from a people long unaccustomed to controlling even their own bodies, much less parcels of land.”
So, while Deal’s images are a love letter, they are also a lament. And while they are an emotionally resonant tribute to the people of the Third Ward, they also serve as an interrogation of the unfortunate reality of life’s tendency to shove anything aside that stands in the way of co-called progress.
It’s all a variation of that old school yard game, King of the Hill—the impulse to grab as much as you can for yourself even, and always, at the expense of everyone else. As great as humanity can be, there is always that self-centered and destructive viewpoint—especially in a society that prizes the individual above community.
That’s how the bonds we might have simply because we are all humans is eroded, isn’t it? And yet, as Deal’s book suggests, there is a current of beauty that flows under the surface. That may be a signal of the of the ever enduring human spirit. As much as we try to quash, the impulse to survive and flourish won’t be annihalated.
You can find out more about the book, and buy it, on the publisher’s website, here. | 2022-09-07T10:42:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Photos of Houston's Third Ward - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/2022/09/07/intimate-powerful-photos-houstons-third-ward/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/2022/09/07/intimate-powerful-photos-houstons-third-ward/ |
Center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz charged in parliament that Scholz’s three-party coalition lacks any “strategic thinking” and assailed a decision this week to stick in principle to a long-held plan to shut down Germany's last three nuclear power plants at the end of this year. The government, he said, “may be damaging German companies irreparably.” | 2022-09-07T10:43:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Scholz: Germany well-placed on energy to get through winter - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/scholz-germany-well-placed-on-energy-to-get-through-winter/2022/09/07/c0d197ec-2e8f-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/scholz-germany-well-placed-on-energy-to-get-through-winter/2022/09/07/c0d197ec-2e8f-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Hong Kong therapists guilty of sedition over cartoons of sheep and wolves
Content of the children's books displayed on a TV screen during a news conference at the Hong Kong Police Headquarters on July 22, 2021. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)
HONG KONG — The children’s books featured cartoons of sheep and wolves. But in the brightly illustrated pages, Hong Kong authorities saw a sinister plot against the government — so they convicted the publishers of sedition.
The conviction of five producers of children’s books on Wednesday highlights China’s continuing crackdown on freedom of expression in Hong Kong. The creators, all speech therapists affiliated with a deregistered union, face up to two years in prison. They have been detained for more than a year and denied bail on national security grounds.
Prosecutors alleged the children’s books depicted the authorities as wolves and Hong Kong people as sheep, implying a vulnerable populace at the mercy of a brutal regime. In written submissions, they said the books alluded to political unrest and painted China as “ruled by a cruel dictator.” The cartoons “indoctrinated” readers with separatist ideology, they told the court.
China marks Hong Kong handover anniversary, as doubts hang over city
The backdrop to the case is the political tension in Hong Kong in recent years, fueled by local opposition to China’s encroachment and what many viewed as Beijing’s failure to honor promises to preserve the city’s autonomy. Pro-democracy protests in 2019 were crushed by riot police, before China imposed a draconian national security law that criminalized a range of dissent with penalties of up to life imprisonment. Democracy activists have been jailed or fled into exile.
The five creators — Lorie Lai, Melody Yeung, Sidney Ng, Samuel Chan and Fong Tsz-ho — pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to publish, print, distribute, display or reproduce seditious material under the colonial-era law. They have, however, admitted to depicting social issues in their fables about sheep and wolves in media interviews.
“The purpose of the books was to tell youngsters in a more tactful way … what is going on in society, [and] we submit that this is a legitimate and useful purpose in expressing events in society,” Peter Wong, a lawyer for the defendants, said in an earlier hearing.
In closing submissions, Wong cited interviews in local media in which Lai, one of the creators, said she wished to raise awareness of political events and that “using fables and fairy tales” allowed children to understand more easily.
Under pressure from Beijing, Hong Kong’s schools become more patriotic
In a press summary, judge Kwok Wai-kin wrote that the restrictions on seditious acts imposed by the Crimes Ordinance on rights to freedoms of expression and publication “are necessary for the protection of national security” and public order, and that “they do not impose restriction more than necessary.”
"The seditious intention stems not merely from the words,” but from words intended to cause certain effects in a child’s mind, the verdict stated. “It is patently clear from the structure of each book that the thinking of the children is to be guided in a particular way when the story is being told.”
The defendants are expected to be sentenced on Saturday.
Sedition law was previously used by Hong Kong’s British colonial administration against activists involved in pro-Beijing riots in 1967. It was little seen in the years after the territory’s 1997 handover to China, but since the security law’s passage in 2020, the authorities have arrested about 60 people under expanded sedition provisions, according to Human Rights Watch. In July, Koo Sze-yiu, a veteran activist, was sentenced to nine months in prison for attempted sedition.
In the case of the children’s books, the Court of Final Appeal had rejected the speech therapists’ bid to challenge a lower court’s repeated refusal to grant them bail.
Eric Lai, a law fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said that Hong Kong’s laws are “weaponized by the authorities to repress all the anti-government speeches and forces in society.”
Wednesday’s verdict showed the city’s laws were “rolling back to the early colonial times,” he said, adding that India recently suspended its sedition law pending a review and Britain abolished its sedition law in 2009 as it is “too easy to be used as a tool for political prosecution.”
Beijing’s clampdown on Hong Kong has led to an exodus of residents and fueled growing doubts about the city’s future as an international hub.
Also on Wednesday, the head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Ronson Chan, was arrested for obstructing police officers and disrupting public order. He was intercepted by the police on his way to cover an assignment, according to his employer, local outlet Channel C HK. | 2022-09-07T10:44:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Hong Kong therapists guilty of sedition over cartoons of sheep and wolves - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/hong-kong-childrens-book-sedition-cartoon/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/hong-kong-childrens-book-sedition-cartoon/ |
No more snow days? NYC schools say remote learning eliminates the need.
A city education official told students the change is “going to be good for you”
People sled in the snow in Brooklyn's Prospect Park following a blizzard on Jan. 24, 2016. The storm left 26.8 inches in Manhattan, the second most recorded since 1869. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
New York City’s public school students will be deprived of their much-coveted snow days — perhaps forever, an education official said on Tuesday.
“There are technically no more snow days,” David C. Banks, the city’s Department of Education chancellor, said in an interview with WNYW’s “Good Day New York.”
He explained that the remote-learning technology implemented during the coronavirus pandemic will allow students to continue their studies on days when the snow is too heavy for them to commute to school — when kids might have ordinarily gone sledding with their friends.
New York City public schools first scrapped snow days in 2020 amid year one of the pandemic and continued the policy into the following school year, citing the need to meet the state’s requirement of 180 days of learning per year.
The city’s Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Wednesday.
Ben Blair, the principal of Rogers Park Montessori in Chicago, told WFLD earlier this year that the days off could be good for students.
“I think there’s value in these moments of reckless, joyful abandon,” he told the station. “Whether flopping in the snow or meeting neighbors out on the street shoveling, that human connection that serendipitously happens during a snow day is fantastic.”
New York City just canceled snow days, and parents aren’t happy
At the same time, snow days have been a headache for officials in New York City and other parts of the country who are forced to make tough calls that are often later criticized. Years before the coronavirus pandemic closed schools, officials nationwide had been searching for alternatives to giving students the day off for inclement weather, with some experimenting with remote learning, Edutopia, a publication by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, reported in 2018.
Although Banks said remote learning technology has enabled the transition away from snow days in New York City, some lower-income families have said it doesn’t work for them. In December, five parents sued the city officials, claiming the department supplied them with faulty equipment and offered no technical support. The case is ongoing.
Teachers, meanwhile, have been told to set up a “digital classroom” in which a lesson plan is prepared and ready in case of an emergency closure, a United Federation of Teachers union spokesperson told the New York Post.
On Tuesday, the hosts of “Good Day New York” jokingly booed Banks’s snow day announcement.
“I know,” he replied. “That’s the way I used to feel.” | 2022-09-07T11:08:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | New York City schools cancel snow days because of remote learning - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/07/new-york-snow-days-canceled/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/07/new-york-snow-days-canceled/ |
Bicyclist dies after crash with car in Fort Washington
A bicyclist has died after he was struck by a car along Indian Head Highway in Fort Washington.
The crash happened just after 11 p.m. on Sept. 1 along the busy roadway near Fort Washington Road, according to Prince George’s County police. The bicyclist — who was later identified as Kaleab Yehenew, 31, of Oxon Hill, was riding north on the highway in the center lane when the crash occurred.
He was taken to a hospital, where he died three days later. Police said the driver wasn’t hurt.
Officials said in a statement that “investigators are working to determine the circumstances leading up to the collision.” | 2022-09-07T11:21:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bicyclist dies after being struck by car in Maryland - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/bicyclist-dies-after-crash-maryland/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/bicyclist-dies-after-crash-maryland/ |
Olympic swimmer wins fight to reverse ban on cap made for Black hair
Alice Dearing said in an essay that ‘Finally, there is no “wrong” hair for swimming.’
Alice Dearing, of Britain, exits the water after finishing the women's marathon swimming event at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Alice Dearing was about to make history in summer 2021 as the first Black woman to swim for Great Britain at the Olympics.
Then, bad news: She couldn’t wear the swim cap she wanted to.
Leading up to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Dearing worked with U.K.-based company Soul Cap to promote its signature product — a swim cap designed for Black hair. The year before, the company had applied to swimming’s world governing body, FINA, to approve the cap for international competition. But about a month before Dearing was set to compete in the women’s 10k marathon swimming event, FINA announced it was banning the cap, saying the design didn’t mold to “the natural form of the head,” the Associated Press reported.
“[I]t frustrated me. It sent the wrong message to swimmers and the world, telling us that the sport can only accommodate a certain version of yourself,” Dearing, the co-founder of the Black Swimming Association, wrote in a recent essay for the Guardian.
But on Friday, the swimming body announced it had reversed its decision by approving the Soul Cap for international competition. Dearing, 25, and the company’s owners said it’s one way that officials can make swimming — a predominantly white sport — more accessible to Black people.
Brent Nowicki, FINA’s executive director, told The Washington Post in an email that officials worked with Soul Cap over the past year on the product’s design and that he was “delighted” it had won approval.
“Promoting diversity and inclusivity is at the heart of FINA’s work, and it is very important that all aquatic athletes have access to the appropriate swimwear,” Nowicki said.
In 2017, entrepreneurs Toks Ahmed-Salawudeen and Michael Chapman launched Soul Cap after meeting a Black woman with natural hair who was struggling with her conventional swim cap, the AP reported.
Dearing could relate: “People used to tell me my hair was ‘too big’ for the cap — never that the cap was too small for my hair,” she said in a blog post on the company’s website.
Conventional swim caps have long been an obstacle for swimmers with thick or curly hair, Soul Cap said last week in a statement. Without a cap that fits them properly, some swimmers avoided competitions or left the sport entirely.
In 2020, Ahmed-Salawudeen and Chapman submitted their swim cap for approval to be used in international competition, and in the summer of 2021, FINA rejected their bid, the AP reported. In effectively banning the product from competitive swimming, FINA officials said that the caps weren’t fit for competition due to them not “following the natural form of the head” and that to their “best knowledge, the athletes competing at the international events never used, neither require to use, caps of such size and configuration.”
The rejection “sparked a public discussion around diversity in swimming: about the steps we can take to open up the sport to promote greater accessibility and inclusion at every level,” Soul Cap said on its website.
After the backlash, FINA announced it was reviewing its decision while “understanding the importance of inclusivity and representation,” according to the AP. The governing body also apologized and invited Soul Cap to resubmit its product for consideration, the company said.
That led to the reversal late last week. In her essay for the Guardian, Dearing said she was “relieved and excited” by the news. Hair is “a huge logistical barrier to entering the pool for some communities” and managing her own so that she could swim has been “a difficult and confidence-diminishing part of my career.”
She hopes that’s no longer an issue — not for her and not for future swimmers who want to grow out their natural hair.
“As a black woman and professional swimmer who loves both having her hair braided and wearing it in its natural, afro form, I know just how seismic this change will be,” she said in the Guardian essay titled “Finally, there is no ‘wrong’ hair for swimming.” | 2022-09-07T11:29:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Swimming federation FINA lifts ban, approves swim cap for Black hair - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/07/swim-cap-black-hair/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/07/swim-cap-black-hair/ |
By Haben Kelati
Fairweather is coming to the Black Cat. (Casandra Marie)
Fairweather
Fairweather released its first album, “If They Move … Kill Them,” in 2001. In the two decades since, the D.C.-based band took an eight-year hiatus, released two albums and two EPs, and extensively toured. Its latest EP, “Deluge,” which dropped in June, is a dark, deep and expansive 21-minute project that lives in the “after the flood” world — as in, after the chaos, either public or personal. This makes sense for an album recorded during the most chaotic of times, the thick of the coronavirus pandemic. Fairweather is asking and trying to answer big, existential questions, and the group doesn’t hold back musically. The opener, “Untethered,” is a more-than-six-minute song that crushes the listener with its blunt observations of a crumbling society. Vocalist Jay Littleton hauntingly sings, “All these words will burn in time / promises of holding the line.” On “Pass the Redress,” Littleton sings through heavy and grungy guitars, “Disbelief cannot help dissipate the distress or this shameful ache.” Fairweather is looking straight into the soul of society. Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. (doors open) at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. blackcatdc.com. $15-$20. Proof of vaccination required for admittance.
Melt’s sound is inherently nostalgic. The septet probably fits best into the retro pop subgenre, with its singer, Veronica Stewart-Frommer, having a singing style reminiscent of old times. With members on the trumpet and saxophone, their horns — playful sometimes and soul-stirring at others — add a fulfilling dimension to their songs. On “Waves,” Stewart-Frommer sings about a relationship that didn’t work without hostility. She sings, “I know I’m not coming back,” with a palpable confidence, and the happy horns follow her lead. Melt’s debut single, “Sour Candy,” was a viral hit when it was released in 2017. It’s another song about a sad situation that the band refuses to let feel sad: When the horns drop low and the sax creeps in for an instrumental, it makes you feel as if you’re listening to the could’ve-been lovers’ dance. “Sour Candy” is like almost every song Melt has released in that it begs the listener to ask, “imagine how this would sound live?” Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. (doors open) at 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. 930.com. $25.
Ivy Sole
Ivy Sole effortlessly bounces from their soft and gleaming singing voice to their tight rap verses. This neo-soul singer/rapper tells their stories in both a blunt and a tender way. It’s this ability that makes a song like “The Ways” from their second album, “Candid,” released in February, work. The production is breezy and characteristically unfussy, allowing Sole’s voice to flourish. With an assist from Kingsley Ibeneche, the song tells a sad story of a deep love that couldn’t work because of various circumstances: “What is addiction but the urge for the familiar/ what is commitment but forgoing something new.” Sole’s lyrics are usually introspective but often stop short of full confession. They switch things up on “Chico,” where Sole raps so fast they dramatically lose a breath halfway through while contemplating how unsustainable capitalism is. On “Bamboo,” they sing, “I wasn’t scared to say it but I was scared to shout it.” Sole sings enough about their mind-set for you to know where they’re coming from — but also leaves enough out for you to place yourself in their shoes. Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. at Union Stage, 740 Water St. NW. unionstage.com. $16. A negative coronavirus test taken within 72 hours of the show is required for admittance.
Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin has been making honest and delicately heartbreaking indie pop songs for three albums now. Her latest project, “Pre Pleasure,” which was released in August, lives in that vulnerable space she’s made for herself while allowing her music to expand. There are new and bolder instrument choices, including a stunning orchestra that dramatically closes the album, allowing listeners to bask in its glory while reminiscing on the album they just finished. And her revealing pen remains: On the song “Magic,” she sings, “I feel adored tonight, ignore intrusive thoughts tonight,” as a steady guitar follows her. Jacklin’s ability to make devastating observations about herself into beautiful lyrics is one of her great talents. She moves from differing subject matter with ease on “Pre Pleasure.” Her desires for her relationship with her mother are explored on “Less of a Stranger.” She wishes they were closer, that they could see each other more clearly. “Ever since I left your body, I’ve been a pretty fast swimmer,” Jacklin sings, as succinct and brutal as ever. Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. (doors open) at 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. 930.com. $20. | 2022-09-07T11:34:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 4 concerts to catch in D.C.: Sept. 9-15 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/09/07/concerts-dc/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/09/07/concerts-dc/ |
Snail Mail can’t slow down
Lindsey Jordan survived adolescence as an indie-rock star. But life is still moving fast.
Lindsey Jordan, a.k.a. Snail Mail. (Tina Tyrell)
If you’re younger than the teen you’re listening to, you can feel the fullness of life suddenly placed within reach. If you’re around the same age, you may have located a peer who speaks for you. And if you’re older — barring misguided muso-vampires trying to recapture their youth — you’re probably witnessing someone grow in fast motion, like listening to a plant bloom in time lapse, the sound of life accelerated.
So how does it feel nowadays for Lindsey Jordan, the 23-year-old who began singing open-diary rock songs as Snail Mail back in 2015 when she was only 15? “I feel like I’m in the middle school phase of early adulthood,” Jordan says over the phone from a recent tour stop in California. “It’s awkward, and there’s growth every single day. I have a lot of new emotions, and even the way that I interpret the music that I like [has changed]. The things that give me the chills now are totally different than the things I loved when I was 17. … I can feel myself expanding.”
For Jordan, that expansion of self has been a perpetual thing. She grew up in quiet Ellicott City, Md., and after finding her footing in D.C.’s noisy DIY scene, she appeared well on her way to indie-rock stardom before graduating from high school. As a rookie songwriter, Jordan says, she found quick catharsis in “writing lyrics to describe my situation,” but over the course of penning two highly eloquent Snail Mail albums, she eventually learned that “finding music to match is a really emotional experience, too.”
“It’s like you’re adding a second language to your experience. … There is such an art and a science to it: If you put the powerful lyric in the wrong place, it doesn’t sound powerful. You’re not conveying what you meant.”
On the second Snail Mail album — November’s sterling “Valentine” — Jordan’s voice is a pendulum, swaying between conspiratorial sighs and big notes launched from the back of the throat, sometimes in the space of a single phrase. “My favorite vocal performances of all time are so over-the-top emotional, so it’s kind of instinctive from listening to a ton of Elliott Smith and Jeff Buckley,” Jordan says. “But [live], you also become more conscious of how you’re channeling emotions in a room. I know which things make people react. ‘It has to be sultry right here. And here, it’s going to have to be loud and intense.’ It’s like an energy match.”
Touring for “Valentine” was delayed so that Jordan could recover from a vocal cord surgery late last year, and now that Snail Mail is finally back on the road again, she says she’s doing more than one kind of channeling onstage: “I’m trying to channel everything my ENT and my physical therapist taught me!” So that means whenever Jordan is singing, she’s paying close attention to time, life, body and mind. If the wisdom encoded in a Snail Mail song lies in her awareness of how all those things change, her music’s implicit bittersweetness might lie in knowing that they’ll never be the same again.
Headlining Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. at the Fillmore Silver Spring, 8656 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. fillmoresilverspring.com. Sold out. Opening for Turnstile on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. theanthemdc.com. $45-$65. | 2022-09-07T11:34:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Snail Mail can't slow down - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/09/07/snail-mail-interview/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/09/07/snail-mail-interview/ |
Man, 44, fatally shot in Prince George’s County parking lot
A 44-year-old man was fatally shot early Monday in the parking lot of a convenience store in Prince George’s County, police said.
The incident happened around 12:55 a.m. in the 7700 block of 23rd Avenue near University Boulevard East in the Hyattsville area. Officers responded to a report of a shooting and when they arrived they found the victim — who was later identified as Roberto Santos-Melendez, of Hyattsville — suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead on the scene, police said.
Investigators are trying to determine a motive and find a suspect or suspects involved in the incident. A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case, according to a police statement. | 2022-09-07T12:00:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Fatal shooting of man in Maryland parking lot - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/man-fatally-shot-prince-georges-county/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/man-fatally-shot-prince-georges-county/ |
Most Russians are still sure they are not the bad guys in the war against Ukraine
People in St. Petersburg on Sept. 5 walk past a billboard showing a soldier awarded for action in Ukraine and the words “Glory to the heroes of Russia.” (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)
Russian public support for the war against Ukraine, while sky-high, is less solid than statistics generally suggest, according to a new analysis by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and has fallen in recent months with some supporters saying they are ambivalent, anxious, shocked or fearful about the ongoing military campaign.
Still, as Russian interest in the war wanes, many simply see it as a storm to be weathered before life returns to normal, the Carnegie report found.
And most Russians believe that their country could not be on the “bad side,” while very few believe the country may be defeated, according to the paper by political analysts Andrei Kolesnikov of Carnegie and Denis Volkov, director of independent pollster the Levada Center.
The paper was based on polling from February to August by the center and on focus groups from March to May.
Kolesnikov and Volkov said the view, often prevalent in the West, that Russian President Vladimir Putin has the full support of Russian society is “simply incorrect.” They argued that the true picture is complex.
“Rather than consolidating Russian society, the conflict has exacerbated existing divisions on a diverse array of issues, including support for the regime,” they wrote.
Since the invasion on Feb. 24, “old friends have fallen out; parents and children are no longer on speaking terms; long-married couples no longer trust each another; and teachers and students are denouncing each other.”
“Opinions are becoming polarized. Over time, polarized opinions are becoming radicalized. All of that points to growing conflict within Russian society,” Kolesnikov and Volkov wrote, pointing to sharp differences between the 47 percent who definitely supported the war in June — described in Russia as a “special military operation” — and the 28 percent who mostly supported it.
Putin’s massive crackdown on protests and independent media has succeeded in stemming public criticism of the war — which has been criminalized.
But unease about the war, even among those who profess to support it, underscores potential long-term political risks of a policy led by the president and a small group of hard-liners that appears to rely on militarization of society, indoctrination of schoolchildren, suppression of information about the war and jailing of those who dissent.
Putin thinks West will blink first in war of attrition, Russian elites say
Even among those who said they supported the war, many were ambivalent. The 28 percent who mostly supported the war were more likely to express anxiety, fear or horror about it, according to Kolesnikov and Volkov.
“There are a lot of people who can’t cope with these feelings of fear or feelings of shock,” Kolesnikov said in an interview. “But they prefer to be in the mainstream. There is a psychological block against accusations that Russians are bad. They want to be on the side of good, and in that sense they prefer to use official sources of information, they prefer not to use alternative sources of information, and they prefer to believe the words of Putin and any officials.”
Some supporters of the war were detached, preferring to “stay neutral” or saying that the government knows best.
But Russians ambivalent about the war could become “a reservoir for future discontent” for Putin and his regime, especially if the economic situation for ordinary Russians worsens, Kolesnikov said in the interview.
In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, when many expect Putin to retain office, Kolesnikov and Volkov predict an increasingly authoritarian shift, potentially involving a hunt for “national traitors” and show trials that would foster fear and deter dissent.
“Almost surely, there will be even greater pressure on dissenters, with a range of authoritarian tools and repressive laws,” they wrote.
The 47 percent of strong supporters of the war tended to be dogmatic and proud of Russia’s military actions, and appeared to adopt some of the Kremlin’s most common propaganda, according to the analysis. “It’s not like we are taking anything (that isn’t ours)” was a typical focus group comment. “We’re liberating (Ukraine) from Nazis and fascists” was another.
Those respondents were often men ages 45 to 50. “War is the locomotive of history,” one said.
Many of them, dependent on state television for their news, believe Russia “never invaded anyone” and “only ever defended our borders,” according to Kolesnikov and Volkov.
“No one in the entire world is listening to us. They all think we are the enemy, that we’re the bad guys. How can we debunk all these fakes? We’re doing the right thing in good conscience,” one supporter of the war said, according to the analysis.
Russia blames Ukraine for car blast that killed Putin ally’s daughter
But Kolesnikov said nearly half of Russians who support the war also want peace talks.
“They don’t want more hawkish positions,” he said. “They don’t want the continuation of the offensive. They say, ‘Let’s go to peace talks. It’s enough. We are victorious, but that’s enough. It’s too long.’ ”
Russian state television for years has portrayed Ukrainians as aggressors persecuting Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow fomented a separatist uprising in 2014 and established pro-Kremlin proxies, shortly after invading and annexing Crimea in violation of international law.
Most Russians blame the West for the war and for the hardship caused by sanctions, while any information that contradicts the official state version “is rejected by many as lies, manifestations of Russophobia, or enemy propaganda,” according to the paper.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that the war had united Russian society, not polarized it, claiming that support for Putin was gaining momentum.
He said “unprecedented events and tectonic shifts” had “led to the absolute consolidation of our society around President Putin. This can’t be disputed. It is beyond doubt.”
Peskov said a minority opposed the war, and those who broke the law (for example, by criticizing the law publicly, protesting or making comments on social media) were “held responsible in line with the law. Absolutely normal processes are underway.”
The 20 percent opposed to the war are more likely to be young residents of Moscow or of other large cities who get their news from the internet, not state television. But only 9 to 10 percent of Russians were willing to protest, given the risk of being arrested, losing their jobs, or going to prison. Some saw protests as pointless, believing they could change nothing.
“I went to a rally, and what happened? Did it change anything? Yes it did: I was fired!” one said, according to the paper.
How popular is Putin, really?
Almost 16,500 people have been arrested since the invasion for protesting or expressing dissent, according to the rights group OVD-Info.
For many, the war — initially an unexpected shock — has become routine and faded into the background.
“Fewer Russians are paying attention. Concern over the conflict is waning,” Kolesnikov and Volkov wrote. “The drawn-out hostilities are starting to be seen as something of a second pandemic: a storm that must simply be weathered, after which everything will return to the way it should be.”
In March, about 45 percent of people “definitely approved” of Putin’s actions as president, double the number in January. Around 38 percent “mostly approved,” with reservations, for example, about the low level of pension payments.
“Right now we have to (approve). You can’t oppose them when there is a war on!” one said, according to the analysis. | 2022-09-07T12:08:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Most Russians back the war in Ukraine, but one-fifth don't like it, a new study shows - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/russia-war-ukraine-public-opinion/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/russia-war-ukraine-public-opinion/ |
A Maryland mom who just made the last payment of her daughter’s fedral student loans said she still feels grateful for benefiting from previous programs
Student loan forgiveness advocates rallied outside the White House last month to celebrate President Biden’s announcement to cancel a portion of the education debt held by millions of Americans. (Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Patricia Young made the last payment on her daughter’s federal student loans on Aug. 8.
Young, of Clinton, Md., doesn’t have any regrets about paying off the loans.
Who has student loan debt in America?
She took advantage of the payment pauses enacted during the pandemic to pay off $12,000 in loans interest-free. Although there had been discussions at the time about loan forgiveness, Young said she wasn’t waiting to see if it would happen.
“I just said, let me keep throwing money at the debt and get it down.”
Young’s daughter graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2019 and did postgraduate work at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, graduating last year.
Like many other borrowers who could afford to continue making payments, Young saw a tremendous opportunity to aggressively pay down her daughter’s education debt. Despite the pause, more than 9 million borrowers with Education Department-held loans made payments between April 2020 and June 2022, according to a Department of Education spokesperson.
Now that the loan forgiveness plan has been announced, some regret their aggressive debt reduction. They are taking advantage of a loophole allowing them to claw back their payments and put the refunded loan amount back on the lenders’ books so they can then apply for forgiveness under Biden’s plan.
What borrowers think of Biden’s student-loan forgiveness plan
What’s been killing folks is how student loan interest can increase the loan balance over time. Interest that is not paid through forbearance or deferral gets added to the principal, and then interest is charged on the new, larger balance.
Young said she’s already benefited from the covid emergency relief.
“The one good thing that came out of covid was that they paused the interest payments,” she said. “Well, that gave me time to pay back the money.”
Many people requesting refunds intending to take advantage of Biden’s loan forgiveness are not struggling financially. They didn’t lose their job during the pandemic. They had more disposable income because pandemic shutdowns reduced their spending on eating out or other discretionary expenditures, freeing up money to pay off their loans.
But, as a taxpayer who will be footing the bill for this new loan forgiveness, I appreciate Young’s decision.
“My daughter used the money to get the education. She got a degree. I don’t really feel like I should even go through the process of trying to take advantage of the relief that they are giving people now,” Young said. “I could pay back the money, and it was a blessing that I was able to do it. I was in the position financially that I could pay it back.”
By the way, just because you made payments and are seeking a refund doesn’t mean your loan is eligible for cancellation.
“They would still need to meet the income threshold of below $125,000 for individuals or $250,000 for married borrowers,” the Education Department spokesperson said.
There’s so much discourse over Biden’s loan forgiveness plan. Some people are bitter that borrowers are getting their loans forgiven. Others feel the forgiveness is fair after struggling for years under an oppressive amount of debt.
Young is empathic to both viewpoints. She may not get everything she’s entitled to, but she’s satisfied with the relief she has received.
“For those who do qualify and will have a portion of their debt forgiven, I couldn’t be happier for them because I know what it feels like to have some of that burden lifted from your budget,” Young said.
“The forgiveness is a good start but, in my opinion, the entire student loan process needs to be revamped so that the payments do not become such a burden. But that’s another conversation for another day.” | 2022-09-07T12:13:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Borrower has no regrets paying off student loans ahead of debt forgiveness - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/07/biden-debt-forgiveness-no-regrets/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/07/biden-debt-forgiveness-no-regrets/ |
Fair Lakes has almost everything its residents need
The development west of Fairfax, Va., boasts places to live, eat and shop
By Laura Scudder
Fair Lakes is a development west of Fairfax, Va. “It’s a wonderful place to work and live,” said Tanya Lawrence, a 27-year Fair Lakes resident. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post)
Fair Lakes, a development west of Fairfax, Va., is like a little city. Places to live, eat and shop are within a minute’s drive — if not a minute’s walk — away. And if people are unable to find something to enjoy right in the community, residents say, other opportunities aren’t far.
“It’s a wonderful place to work and live,” said Tanya Lawrence, a 27-year Fair Lakes resident. “Everything you need is right in the neighborhood. Lots of local parks and plenty of pedestrian-friendly places and trails for walking, jogging or biking. Vienna Metro is close by — so public transportation is also conveniently located. And D.C. is just a 30-minute drive … so plenty of opportunity to take advantage of all the wonderful things our nation’s capital has to offer.”
Lawrence works as a Pilates instructor at Club Pilates in Fair Lakes, one of many businesses in the almost 2½-square-mile area.
“I started practicing Pilates several years ago,” she said. “And when the club opened just 10 minutes from my home, I became a member. Later when I learned of the teacher training program, I took advantage of that.”
Lawrence has taught at the studio for three years now.
Brenda Johnston doesn’t live in Fair Lakes but owns a business there. She commutes from Stafford to uBreakiFix, soon to be renamed Asurion Tech Repair and Solutions. When she was looking for a location for her business, Fair Lakes fit the bill.
“I was just looking for a location where I felt like I could be confident and be successful,” Johnston said. “So looking around in different areas, I found myself just attracted to the Fair Lakes area.”
The entrepreneur made the switch from a career in nursing to running a business in late 2016. The transition was intimidating, but the Fair Lakes community pulled her in. And though she’s not a resident, Johnston said she feels a sense of belonging just the same.
“I started immersing myself, visiting restaurants, the retail merchants there, and seeing how customers and the employees — how people — were engaging,” she said. “I was just getting this community feel. I just felt like everybody was so nice.”
Real estate agent Danny Lee of Samson Properties said Fair Lakes’ shopping center, the Shops at Fair Lakes, is the main draw. Chick-fil-A is an area favorite, he said. New stores, including clothing retailer Uniqlo, are planned to join the many established businesses.
The Fair Lakes League, an organization that works with shops and the neighborhood, helps bring the community together in myriad ways. The league hosts free family movie nights and publishes a quarterly magazine, A View From Fair Lakes. It also administers a scholarship program, which awards three $2,500 scholarships to residents of Fair Lakes or employees of one of its businesses, or a dependent of either.
Fair Lakes, like a lot of Northern Virginia’s neighborhoods, has a mix of people from different backgrounds. Lawrence called it “a melting pot of all cultures and ages.”
Lawrence said she can find most things she wants in the neighborhood, but there is one thing it is lacking.
“I love the theater, so I go into the city often to take advantage of the theater and arts,” she said. “I wish we had more of that locally. But I have to admit, I enjoy going into the city as well. So it’s not a big wish, but it would be nice.”
Living there: Fair Lakes is roughly bordered by Reston to the north, Fairfax Station to the south, Springfield to the east and Chantilly to the west.
Most homes in the area are townhouses (prices range from $550,000 to $750,000) and condos (prices range from $350,000 to $450,000), Lee said. There are some single-family houses (prices range from $800,000 to $900,000), usually carriage houses. The homeowners association fees for single-family houses are about $130 monthly; condo fees range from $300 to $500 monthly. The average rent is around $1,600 a month for a one-bedroom apartment and between $2,000 and $2,200 for a two-bedroom apartment.
Six homes are on the market, all townhouses, Lee said. The lowest priced is a four-bedroom, four-bathroom, 1,900-square-foot townhouse for $585,000. The highest priced is a three-bedroom, four-bathroom, 2,100-square-foot townhouse for $730,000.
Schools: Greenbriar East Elementary (grades PreK-6), Greenbriar West Elementary (grades K-6), Katherine Johnson Middle (grades 7-8) and Fairfax High (grades 9-12).
Transit: Interstate 66 is the closest major thoroughfare. The Vienna/Fairfax-GMU stop on the Orange Line is the closest Metro station, about 7½ miles away. The Fair Lakes shuttle — a free service run by the community for residents and employees — serves the Metro station and other stops in the area. Fairfax County’s bus system, the Fairfax Connector, serves Fair Lakes as well. | 2022-09-07T12:13:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Neighborhood profile: Fair Lakes - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/07/where-we-live-fair-lakes/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/07/where-we-live-fair-lakes/ |
It’s a Housing Slump, Not a Crisis
I’m in the process of building a house, so I recently met with the head of a real estate brokerage to discuss selling my current home in about a year. Knowing that I worked in finance, he asked me my views on the housing market because he said he was seeing lot of doom and gloom on the internet.
First, all real estate is local. The housing market where I live in coastal South Carolina is still strong. Although transactions are down from a year ago, that’s because there are very few houses on the market. A lot of people – many of them cash flush and not impacted by rising interest rates -- are moving here from other parts of the country, and I wouldn’t have any trouble selling my house today if I wanted. He agreed.
He also agreed when I told him that you can’t randomly scroll on Twitter these days without running into predictions of an impending housing collapse. Jeff Weniger, the head of equities at WisdomTree investments, recently posted a thread on Twitter labeled “Housing is in trouble” that went a bit viral. The thread was well-researched with charts and data to back up each of his points, such as how the supply of new homes has skyrocketed, as have monthly principal and interest payments on mortgages. Correspondingly, the National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index has tanked. New and existing home sales have dropped precipitously, and affordability has tumbled to 2005 levels.
Some people take these facts and extrapolate them into a thesis, which is that a housing crisis is coming that will be equal to or greater than the one that we experienced in 2008. In fact, judging from what I read online, this seems to be the prevailing view. I suppose some of this is understandable. The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates like never before, and I suppose that in some nightmare scenario higher borrowing costs will choke off demand for credit. But I doubt it will get that far, given how important the housing market is to the economy, accounting for anywhere between 15% and 20% of gross domestic product.
There are two main reasons why we are not going to experience another crisis in residential real estate. The first is that housing is financed much differently than in the years leading up to the subprime mortgage collapse and resultant financial crisis. You had no money down mortgages, “liar” loans, NINJA loans, interest only mortgages, negative amortization mortgages and numerous financial innovations on top of those – all of which were facilitated by poor underwriting standards. Then, those mortgages were packaged together into bonds given top AAA credit ratings. Those bonds were then packaged into high-risk securities called collateralized debt obligations that were also assigned the highest credit ratings. Finally, Wall Street created many hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars of risky credit-default swap contracts tied to all those bonds and CDOs. It was a virtual daisy chain of leverage, and when people stopped paying for mortgages they shouldn’t have been given the first place, there was a domino-like effect that led to a bailout of some of the country’s biggest financial institutions.
Today, there is no market for subprime mortgages or related bonds, CDOs and credit-default swaps to speak of. What is out there is negligible and certainly not a threat to the financial system. I am not much of a fan of regulation, but it’s clear that things like the Volcker Rule, the Dodd-Frank Act and Basel III have made the financial system safer by curbing excessive risk-taking. In fact, it may be nearly impossible to have a housing-related crisis ever again. I recently obtained a construction loan for my new home, and I can assure you that the underwriting standards were the opposite of lax. At the very end of the process, my lender required a 30% down payment instead of 20% out of an abundance of caution.
The second reason is that consumers have massively deleveraged themselves. Almost half of mortgaged properties were considered equity-rich in the second quarter, meaning owners had at least 50% in home equity, according to real estate data provider Attom. Bloomberg News reported that it was the ninth straight quarterly increase, helped in part by an increase in down payments by recent buyers. Nationwide, the portion of mortgaged homes that were equity-rich reached a record 48.1% in last quarter, up from 34.4% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the share of homes that were considered seriously underwater -- where the mortgage is 25% greater that the property’s estimated market value -- dropped to a low of 2.9%.
Here’s something else to consider: the US household debt service ratio has fallen from around 13% at the time of the last housing crisis to less than 10% now, according to the Fed. The amount households are spending to service their mortgage debt has been but cut almost in half, from 7.18% in 2007 to a recent 3.89%. It wasn’t home prices that killed us in 2008—it was the leverage. Sure, it is possible to have a bear market without leverage, but you’re not going to have a generational bear market without leverage.
The other thing that people forget is that real estate is a pretty good place to invest in inflationary environments. It is a traditional store of value. And there are some demographic factors that might push housing higher — a lot higher. Only 48.6% of Millennials own homes, 20% less than Generation X. Like the Baby Boomers, the Millennials are a huge demographic bulge, and they’re not done buying. Sometimes I wonder if housing will do over the next decade what Canadian housing did over the last, which is continue to rise despite the odds.
Let’s not get sucked into a vortex of housing doom. I promise it’s going to be okay. I predict we will have a small correction in prices of about 10% with limited fallout, and then the housing market will resume its march higher.
• Will Housing Prices Just Flatten — or Collapse?: Jonathan Levin | 2022-09-07T12:13:38Z | www.washingtonpost.com | It’s a Housing Slump, Not a Crisis - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/its-a-housing-slump-not-a-crisis/2022/09/07/3bf84a36-2ea1-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/its-a-housing-slump-not-a-crisis/2022/09/07/3bf84a36-2ea1-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Dozens of people have leaped to their deaths from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge since it opened in 1952. Could Cheryl Rogers keep her son from becoming one of them?
By William Wan
Jennifer Corbin, left, and Lt. Steven Thomas, right, of Anne Arundel County Crisis Response, tried to help Cheryl Rogers's son after his two suicide attempts at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. As a teenager, Brandi Care Hicks, center, jumped off the bridge and survived. (Photos by Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
“No, please no,” she thought. “I can’t do this again.”
A call from police soon confirmed her fears. A worker had found their family’s van abandoned in the middle of the westbound span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. As authorities moved to tow it, they looked up and saw Rogers’s 37-year-old son standing on a suspension cable over the water.
When an officer ordered him down, her son responded by walking higher and higher until he reached one of the bridge’s tallest towers. Then he began pacing along the top.
A police car rushed to pick up Rogers and her ex-husband and bring them to the negotiation site that morning on Oct. 3, 2020. As she sat in the cruiser with its siren wailing, Rogers flashed back to the same ride she’d taken just six weeks earlier.
Gone was the goofy, kindhearted jokester who liked photobombing family pictures. Instead, her son now worried constantly that his phone, tablet and TV were hacked and being used to surveil him. He became obsessed with online diatribes about how America was turning into a riotous socialist state. He draped towels over the TV to prevent it from watching him.
Then came the summer night when he took his mother’s truck and drove to Maryland’s longest bridge — a 4.3-mile steel suspension span hanging, at its highest point, more than 180 feet above the water.
In the days that followed, no one told his parents what to do. After he’d spent two weeks in the hospital, his health insurance ran out and he was released, Rogers said.
“Everyone we called told us they can’t do anything. As an adult, he had to make the appointment himself,” Rogers said. “He didn’t think there was anything wrong with him, so of course he wouldn’t call.”
“Mr attention seeker at it again.”
“Shoot the guy.”
“Taze him and let him fall in the water.”
“You wanna jump, you jump!!!...is it ok to ruin the weekend for other people—no!”
Rogers couldn’t understand the reaction.
“Why don’t they care about the human standing on top of the bridge?” she asked. “That he needs help? That he’s in pain?”
Drone footage of traffic crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland. (Video: Ross Godwin)
“For years, the bridge has been almost an elephant in the room. This thing in our backyard that people are drawn to but we couldn’t do anything about,” said Kathryn Dilley, who oversees mental health for five of Maryland’s Eastern Shore counties. “Suddenly, we were all looking at each other and saying why? Why aren’t we doing more?”
Dilley and others began meeting weekly, convening an ad hoc task force to find solutions. “We’re trying to help those on the bridge, but it’s bigger than that.”
“It’s the end point for many failed by the mental health system,” she said. “The question is what are we as a state, as a society, willing to do to help them?”
For Rogers, the question in the wake of her son’s back-to-back attempts was less philosophical, more urgent: What could she do to prevent him from trying to kill himself again?
‘The worry is contagion’
When it first opened on July 30, 1952, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was hailed as an engineering and political marvel — the world’s longest continuous steel structure over water at that time, uniting Maryland’s cities and suburbs with its rural Eastern Shore.
“It’s not that any of it is secret, but the worry is contagion,” explained Sgt. Brady McCormick, spokesman for the Maryland Transportation Authority , which is in charge of the bridge. The agency often dissuades media from reporting suicide attempts on the bridge for fear it could cause future ones. “We don’t want to create the impression that this is a common or accepted place where suicide happens,” McCormick said.
But researchers and advocates have pushed for such data, arguing it’s necessary to understand the scope of the problem and address it.
Over the years, the transportation authority has added cameras on the bridge — which is crossed by about 118,600 vehicles daily on summer weekends and about 68,600 on non-summer weekdays — to more quickly spot those in crisis. It installed emergency call boxes on the bridge and posted signs with suicide prevention information. Eight transportation authority patrol officers now serve on a team that specializes in crisis negotiation.
Sgt. Ed Bartlinski, who leads the team, said he approaches those on the bridge as fellow human beings. “I want them to know I’m there to help. … Sometimes you’re at a loss for words, so I tell them, ‘I don’t know what to say right now, but I’m here to listen.’ ”
Anne Arundel’s first responders have been especially active because those rescued from the bridge are often transported to Anne Arundel Medical Center.
Debra Brannan, a member of the Anne Arundel crisis response system, often meets them at the hospital. “We help with anything we can — picking up belongings, worries about evictions, pets left alone at home,” she said.
She also tries to talk openly with them about their desire to kill themselves. “Suicide is like this cunning and deceitful friend. As long as they carry it as an option in their back pocket, they don’t get better,” she said. “Often, it’s not until they’re willing to give up that option that they find other ways to cope.”
The county’s crisis response teams are unique in having police officers embedded full time alongside mental health clinicians. Lt. Steven Thomas, who leads the law enforcement side, and his officers have driven people who wanted to kill themselves on the bridge to therapist appointments, court appearances and drug recovery centers. His team has traveled as far as Virginia and Pennsylvania to follow up with people. “That time in the car, just driving and talking with them, that’s what lets you build a relationship,” he said.
‘This. Is. It.’
In 2003, Toronto erected barriers at its most lethal bridge, which averaged nine suicides a year. In the decade that followed, suicides dropped to almost zero. When D.C. authorities installed fencing at the Duke Ellington Bridge, which crosses Rock Creek Park in Northwest Washington, suicides decreased by 90 percent, and jumps at nearby bridges did not increase.
A boy tried to kill himself by jumping from a highway bridge. He killed someone else instead.
The idea of erecting barriers on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge dates back to at least 1995. It came up again two years ago after the back-to-back attempts by Cheryl Rogers’s son, when officials briefly discussed installing netting before dismissing it. They cited wind issues and the possibility that people could just leap again from the nets.
Eileen Zeller, who chairs the Maryland Governor’s Commission on Suicide Prevention, disagrees with that assessment.
“We know barriers work, and it’s been talked about, but no one has taken up the reins yet to fight for it,” Zeller said. “We need data, advocacy and stories of real people in order to show the need for it on the Bay Bridge.”
“I didn’t wake up thinking this is the day I’m going to kill myself,” she said of her jump in 1998. “I woke up with a sense of dread — about homework and all the responsibilities in my life.”
“The impact was like hitting concrete,” she said. As rescuers pulled her onto a boat, the pain was staggering.
Many who survive bridge suicides say they regretted their actions the moment they jumped. For Brandi, she mainly recalls the three last words that went through her mind before throwing herself off the bridge: “This. Is. It.”
“I have this amazing life now. I still struggle and that day will always be a part of me,” she said. “But I really feel like if I had gotten help sooner, it wouldn’t have come to that.”
‘Out to get him’
For Cheryl Rogers’s son, the emotional struggles began when he was a child, after his older brother died of a brain tumor.
As a teen, he took medication for depression. In his 20s, he scared his parents by buying a rifle and sitting for hours at his brother’s grave. “The question he kept coming back to was how come his brother died and not him,” Rogers said.
“He stopped using his cellphone. He wouldn’t talk in the house because he worried people were listening,” she said. “He thought everyone was out to get him.”
When police finally brought him down safely, she cried and hugged him and told him, “Everything’s going to be okay.”
At his bail hearing, Rogers’s son begged repeatedly not to be sent to jail. His parents and county crisis workers also raised concerns that jailing him without treatment could worsen his already fragile mental health. But District Court Administrative Judge John P. McKenna was not persuaded.
“What’s the plan,” asked McKenna, according to a court audio recording of the hearing, “to prevent the closure of the Bay Bridge and all those people, their lives being interrupted?”
“I’ll give up my license,” Rogers’s son pleaded. “I’ll just ride with my dad to work. That will 100 percent prevent me from even driving over a bridge or any bridge.”
“That’s not a guarantee I can accept,” the judge replied. “He has a problem that is now the problem of thousands of people. He endangered a lot of people doing what he did. It’s not a matter of punishment. It’s a matter of preventing it from happening again.”
He remained in jail for a month —most of it on an isolated suicide-watch unit, his mother said, with little human interaction, no real mattress, and no shoes, socks or mental health treatment.
“That was the beginning of the end,” Rogers said. “He was never the same after that.”
Anne Arundel’s crisis response team eventually persuaded a different judge to release Rogers’s son into its care, promising to check on him at home several times a week and drive him to mental health appointments.
On Aug. 14, 2021, his parents tried to get him to go with them to a family reunion. He said no. For weeks, he’d been refusing to leave the house for anything except work, worried that the government was looking for any excuse to send him back to jail.
When his parents returned from the reunion, they discovered their son’s body. He hadn’t jumped from a bridge. He’d killed himself at home.
Since his death, Rogers has questioned what she could have done to save his life. If she’d stayed home instead of going to the reunion. If she’d persuaded the judge not to send him to jail. If she’d gotten him more-effective treatment before he wound up on the bridge. If those stuck in traffic had offered support instead of hurling insults.
“It felt like we were fighting this battle, alone and isolated,” she said. “But I want other families to know they’re not alone. There are people trying to help.”
As Rogers mourned, she thought about her son’s desperate pleas in court to be sent home and not to jail. So instead of burying him, she cremated his remains and brought him back to the house they’d once shared.
She wishes she could tell those thinking of going to the bridge what she always wanted her son to know: “That there are people who love them. That they shouldn’t give up on themselves. That there’s always a better way.”
Story editing by Lynda Robinson, photo editing by Mark Miller, video editing by Jayne Ornstein, copy editing by Thomas Heleba and Martha Murdock, design by Talia Trackim. | 2022-09-07T12:13:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Chesapeake Bay Bridge suicides; Preventing jumps after man tries twice - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/chesapeake-bay-bridge-suicide-son-prevention/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/chesapeake-bay-bridge-suicide-son-prevention/ |
A history of presidential portraits, as Biden finally unveils Obama’s
From left, portraits of George Washington, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. (iStock; Win McNamee/Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Theodore Roosevelt griped that his made him look like “a mewing cat.” President Lyndon B. Johnson called his “the ugliest thing I ever saw.” President Ronald Reagan ordered a do-over.
All of the presidents were complaining about their official White House portraits, which are a long-standing tradition. Or they were until President Donald Trump ended the practice of sitting presidents unveiling the official portraits of their predecessors — nearly uninterrupted for four decades — by not holding a ceremony for former president Barack Obama.
Trump has never explained why he skipped the portrait ritual. But on Wednesday, President Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president, will resume the tradition by unveiling the official portraits of the nation’s first Black president and former first lady Michelle Obama at the White House.
The unveiling ceremonies, which began in 1978, are traditionally “bipartisan events with warm greetings and collegial speeches exchanged by the president and their predecessor,” according to the White House Historical Association. The nonprofit group has been funding the official portraits of presidents and first ladies that hang in the White House since 1965.
The presidential portraits in the White House date back to Gilbert Stuart’s iconic painting of George Washington. First lady Dolley Madison famously saved the painting when she and President James Madison fled the president’s mansion as the British torched the place in 1814 during the War of 1812.
In 1814, British forces burned the U.S. Capitol
“Presidents and first ladies typically select their respective artists before leaving the White House,” the association said. But sometimes they aren’t happy with the initial results.
In 1902, Roosevelt detested his portrait by French artist Theobald Chartran so much that he hid it in a closet and then had it destroyed. He complained that it made him look more like a meek kitty than “the powerful president.” He chose artist John Singer Sargent to paint a new one that made him look more macho.
Johnson refused to accept his portrait by noted artist Peter Hurd, who showed him standing in front of the Capitol and holding a book. In the portrait, “Johnson looms like some hulking cow hand,” wrote Time magazine columnist Hugh Sidey. “The mouth that Hurd has painted is firm, even capable of meanness,” and the Vietnam War and Watts riots are reflected “in the furrows of the brow and eyes.”
Johnson switched to Elizabeth Shoumatoff, who had painted the official portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In her portrait, also with the Capitol in the background, Johnson looks “unbelievably pleasant,” Sidey wrote. But between the two paintings, he wrote, those who knew Johnson “will recall with fondness ‘the other one’ — the real one.”
President Richard M. Nixon didn’t have time to sit for a portrait before he resigned in 1974 because of the Watergate scandal. He finally had one done by Alexander Clayton, showing the former president sitting at his Oval Office desk. The painting turned up on a White House wall in 1981, “placed without fanfare,” news services reported.
The Nixon White House plotted to assassinate a journalist 50 years ago
But Nixon wasn’t satisfied with the painting. In 1984, he donated a new portrait by James Anthony Wills, who had painted President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s portrait. “He liked it better,” said a federal official.
The official unveilings of presidential and first lady portraits began in May 1978, when Democratic President Jimmy Carter hosted former Republican president Gerald Ford and Betty Ford. The former president said he saw the final portraits by Everett Raymond Kinstler only moments before the ceremony began. “In my case, considering what Kinstler had to work with, he did well,” he said.
Carter, who had defeated Ford in the 1976 election after Watergate, praised Ford as “a man who led our country in time of crisis and strain and who bought capability and knowledge to heal our wounds. No one appreciates him more than I do.”
Much of the focus was on Mrs. Ford, who had just left four weeks of alcohol and drug rehabilitation. As a crusader for the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, she “has earned the admiration of our nation for her courage and complete candor,” Carter said.
At Carter’s request, there was no public unveiling of the White House portraits of him and his wife, Rosalynn. But Reagan agreed to resume the tradition after he left office in 1989.
Reagan’s portrait unveiling was delayed because he and his wife, Nancy, didn’t care for the first effort by Aaron Shikler, who had painted the official portraits of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy. Nancy Reagan liked Shikler’s painting of her in a red dress, but she thought her husband’s portrait lacked that “twinkle in his eye.”
Shikler had to start over. The final version was unveiled in November 1989 by President George H.W. Bush, who had been Reagan’s vice president. “When the announcer here said ‘Mr. President,’ why I fell back to where I comfortably was for eight years,” Bush quipped. But the Shikler portrait was only a placeholder. In 1991, it was replaced with a new Reagan portrait by Kinstler.
Fragrant armpits, napping aides, corny duck jokes: George H.W. Bush’s wonderful humor
Bush was pleased with his portrait by Herbert Abrams when President Bill Clinton unveiled it in 1995. “I’m inclined to think it’s pretty darn good,” Bush declared. Clinton told the former president, “If I look half as good as you do when I leave office, I’ll be a happy man.”
But Barbara Bush wasn’t thrilled with Charles Fagan’s matronly portrait of her. So 10 years later, she had a second painting done by Candace Whitemore Lovely that showed the former first lady with a photo of her pet spaniel, Millie.
In June 2004, President George W. Bush welcomed Bill and Hillary Clinton when unveiling their portraits. Bush praised Bill Clinton for “the forward-looking spirt that Americans like in a president.” Clinton responded, “I hope that I live long enough to see American politics return to vigorous debates where we argue who’s right and wrong, and not who’s good and bad.” The paintings of both Clintons were done by artist Simmie Knox.
The Obamas unveiled the portraits of Bush and first lady Laura Bush by John Howard Sanden in May 2012. Obama lauded Bush’s “strength and resolve” after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He also thanked him for leaving behind a “really good TV sports package” at the White House.
“We are overwhelmed,” Bush responded. The former president fought back tears as he thanked his father, whose portrait already hung in the White House.
“We may have our differences politically,” Obama said, “but the presidency transcends those differences.” | 2022-09-07T12:14:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | History of presidential portraits, from Washington to Obama and Trump - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/09/07/presidential-portraits-trump-obama-biden/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/09/07/presidential-portraits-trump-obama-biden/ |
Mexico’s Maya Train project divides Maya people in its path
A bulldozer clears an area of forest that will be the line of the Maya Train in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, last month. (Eduardo Verdugo/AP)
It is one of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s signature projects and has drawn objections from environmentalists, archaeologists and cave divers, who have held protests to block backhoes from tearing down trees.
But for the 300 mostly Maya residents of the village Vida y Esperanza, the train will run right by their doors. They fear it will pollute the caves that supply them with water, endanger their children and cut off access to the outside world.
“I think that there is nothing Maya” about the train, said Lidia Caamal Puc, whose family settled in Vida y Esperanza 22 years ago. “Some people say it will bring great benefits, but for us Mayas that work the land, that live here, we don’t see any benefits.”
López Obrador allowed the train project to proceed without environmental impact studies. For more than two years, Mayan communities objected to the train line, filing court challenges arguing that the railway violated their right to a safe, clean environment. In July, the president used national security powers to move it ahead despite court rulings.
López Obrador says the goal of the project is to develop the historically poor southern part of Mexico.
“We want to take advantage of all the tourism that arrives in Cancún, so they can take the Maya Train to see other natural beauty spots, especially the ancient Mayan cities in Yucatán, Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco,” which are poor neighboring states, he said last month.
The ancient Mayan civilization reached its height from 300 A.D. to 900 A.D. on the Yucatán Peninsula and in parts of Central America. It is best known for constructing monumental temple sites.
The Mayas’ descendants continue to live on the peninsula, many speaking the Mayan language and conserving traditional foods, crops, religion and medicine practices.
The 950-mile Maya Train line will run in a rough loop around the Yucatán Peninsula, connecting beach resorts and archaeological sites.
The costs of and income from the train are not clear. The project is expected to cost about $8 billion — but appears likely to rise to as much as $11 billion — while the government calculates it will bring in $9.5 billion in benefits.
López Obrador is counting on luring beachgoers to the ruins and Indigenous towns. It is unclear how many want to combine those two activities or if tourism will return to what it was before the coronavirus pandemic.
In Vida y Esperanza, the train will cut through the narrow dirt road that leads to the nearest paved highway. Unless the army, which is building the train line, constructs a bridge above the tracks, villagers would be forced to take a back road four times as long to get to the highway.
The government tourism agency that oversees the train project says an overpass will be built. But such promises have gone unfulfilled in the past.
The army also plans to fill the underground caves to support the weight of the passing trains, which could block or contaminate the underground water system.
The high-speed train can’t have ground-level crossings and won’t be fenced, so 100-mile-per-hour trains will rush past an elementary school. Most of the students walk to get there.
Luis López, 36, who works at a local store and opposes the train, said “it might bring minor benefits, but it has downsides.”
“The cenotes will be filled or contaminated,” he said, referring to the sinkholes that villagers rely on. “I survive on the water from a cenote, to wash dishes, to bathe.”
Many residents, who rely on diesel generators, would much rather have electricity than a tourist train that will never stop there.
Others support the train project because of jobs it has brought during construction.
Benjamin Chim, a taxi and truck driver who is already employed by the Maya Train, will also lose part of his land to the project. But he said he doesn’t care, noting “it is going to be a benefit, in terms of jobs.”
Archaeologist and cave diver Octavio Del Rio said the train would threaten the understanding of something older than even the Maya. He discovered human remains of the Maya’s ancestors that may date as far back as 13,700 years in another cave network — but it took him and other divers 1½ years to snake through a single cavern system. Collapse of the Guardianes cave near the village would be a blow to research.
“We are running the risk that all this will be buried, and this history lost,” Del Rio said. | 2022-09-07T12:14:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Mexico’s Maya Train project divides Maya people in its path - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/09/07/mexicos-maya-train-project-divides-maya-people-its-path/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/09/07/mexicos-maya-train-project-divides-maya-people-its-path/ |
A constitutional convention would be a nightmare. And very revealing.
A 1787 first-edition printed copy of the Constitution was sold at auction in 2021. (Richard Drew/AP)
Our fragile democracy is already imperiled by authoritarian forces. And things could get much worse if Republicans gain control of Congress.
As the New York Times reports, some elements in the Republican Party — the party that brought us the phony-elector scheme, wants to crystallize the independent state legislative doctrine in law and rejects substantive due process — want to hold a constitutional convention. Russ Feingold, a former Democratic senator from Wisconsin who co-wrote a book about the risks of such a convention, told the Times: “This could gut our Constitution. There needs to be real concern and attention about what they might do.” Feingold points out that the Constitution fails to lay out any ground rules for the convention, creating a recipe for chaos.
Before you panic, understand that it takes two-thirds of the states to hold a convention and any amendment would still need to be ratified by three-fourths of the states. Nevertheless, considering what each party would seek from such an exercise is enlightening. One would seek to inject more democracy into the system; the other would seek a reactionary, authoritarian agenda.
We know this because the MAGA right has told us what it wants. In addition to an electoral system that could have stolen the 2020 election in contravention of the wishes of the American people, the right wants to obliterate the federal regulatory state; to ban abortion nationwide; to wipe away substantive due process (e.g., no protections for abortion, contraception, gay marriage); to enshrine school prayer and other aspects of state-established religion; to do away with limits on gun ownership; and to require balanced federal budgets, which would drastically cut government spending and/or raise taxes. Republican Sens. Rick Scott (Fla.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.) have suggested sunsetting entitlements, including Social Security. Birthright citizenship would likely go by the wayside.
In short, Republicans would seek the fantasy of White, Christian nationalists in which the federal government enforces their values but has little, if any, power to address issues such as climate change, poverty, income inequality, educational disparities or lack of access to health care. This MAGA paradise would bear some resemblance to Robert Bork’s America, as described by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) during the Supreme Court nominee’s confirmation process in 1987:
Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, Blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, and schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution. Writers and artists would be censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is, and is often, the only protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy.
What about Democrats? They might seek to reaffirm rights once thought to be inviolate precedent (e.g., right to abortion, gay marriage); to broaden protection for voting rights, including statehood for the District of Columbia; and to reaffirm the pre-MAGA-dominated Supreme Court’s rulings on religious establishment, the regulatory state and affirmative action (i.e., race can be used as one of many factors). Not very radical.
Certainly, the left would want constitutional guarantees for all sorts of things — from housing to education to health care — and it would be hard to constitutionally define what such rights mean. (Could you sue to get an apartment in San Francisco? A Harvard education?) But if Democrats act on their conviction that we suffer from insufficient majoritarianism, they would pursue these sorts of items: popular election of the president; removal of the filibuster; limited terms for Supreme Court justices (and mandatory ethics rules); a larger House of Representatives; ranked-choice voting; limits on, and full disclosure of, campaign donations; nonpartisan redistricting; automatic voter registration; and a federal holiday for elections.
The ideal outcomes for each side underscore how different, and in some sense, incompatible the MAGA right and the more-democracy Democrats have become in terms of their visions for the country. We can clearly see that the MAGA right pines for a White-dominated theocracy and how strenuously it resists democracy in a pluralistic society that rejects its views.
As attractive as the Democrats’ vision might be, the risk that a constitutional convention might result in a dystopian nightmare is profound. That should confirm Feingold’s warning: A convention is a horrible idea. Things are bad enough as they are. | 2022-09-07T12:14:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | A constitutional convention would be a nightmare. And very revealing. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/constitutional-convention/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/constitutional-convention/ |
In the sandbox also known as academia, it’s the golden age of the grovel
He criticized the New York Times’s “The 1619 Project” so delicately (it is, he said in an amusing understatement, not “primarily” a work of history) that he did not mention its most nonsensical claim: The American Revolution was primarily ignited by a British offer of freedom to persons who fled slavery and joined the British — an offer that came after the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, and after George Washington assumed command of the Continental Army. For his mild impertinence regarding "The 1619 Project," he was denounced as “against social justice.”
So, in four paragraphs of self-flagellation, Sweet almost instantly apologized for the “harm” his “ham-fisted” and “clumsy” attempt to “open a conversation” has caused. What harm? He did not say. Presumably progressive historians would somehow be harmed by hearing the thoughts in this column’s third paragraph. And harmed by his sin against political solidarity: In breaking ranks regarding the sacrosanct status of "The 1619 Project,” he gave aid and comfort to Republicans. The horror, the horror. | 2022-09-07T12:14:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | In the sandbox also known as academia, it’s the golden age of the grovel - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/historian-james-sweet-apology-progressive-academia/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/historian-james-sweet-apology-progressive-academia/ |
Spanking is harmful to children. Why do schools still allow it?
By Joel Warsh
(Washington Post staff illustration/Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Joel Warsh is a board-certified pediatrician in Los Angeles specializing in integrative medicine.
When it comes to parenting, there are few topics with enough data to support one clear, “right” approach: Should I sleep-train “cry it out”-style or try the “fade-out” method? Should I use timeouts or redirection? Based on the available evidence, reasonable people can disagree. But if ever there were a practice with a mountain of research supporting its abolition, corporal punishment is it.
As recently as 20 years ago, physical punishment of children in schools was often accepted by educators as an appropriate method of discipline, distinct from physical abuse. But this perspective began to change as studies found links between physical punishment and child aggression, delinquency and spousal assault later in life. Research has also vividly underscored spanking’s negative effects on children’s social-emotional development, self-regulation and cognitive development.
In 2016, a meta-analysis of 75 of the most rigorous studies on the effects of spanking — representing more than 160,000 children — found that despite its widespread practice, there was no evidence that spanking improved behavior. To the contrary, spanking was associated with an increased risk of negative outcomes, such as aggression, antisocial conduct, mental health problems, negative parent-child relationships, impaired cognitive ability, low self-esteem and risk of further physical abuse from parents.
Researchers also concluded that for adults, prior experience of spanking was strongly associated with not only adult mental health problems and antisocial behavior, but also with positive attitudes about spanking. Spanking is a self-perpetuating cycle. And regardless of force, the brain cannot distinguish it from abuse.
It’s worth noting that the meta-analysis studied only openhanded spanking. The spanking approved by schools involves hitting children with wooden instruments possibly half as large as they are. Hitting an adult with a large wooden board would constitute an assault. There is a reason corporal punishment of adults is banned in U.S. prisons and military training facilities — it is a cruel and unusual violation of an individual’s rights.
For health-care providers, all this has led to clear guidance about spanking. The American Academy of Pediatrics highlights corporal punishment’s potentially deleterious side effects and recommends other methods for managing undesired behavior. You will find similar sentiments from just about every other medical organization.
Yet the practice persists. In addition to Missouri, 18 other states allow corporal punishment of children at school, beginning in preschool. At least 69,000 children were subject to corporal punishment during the 2017-2018 school year (the most recent reported data), according to the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights.
And while the rate of parental spanking has declined to about 35 percent overall, a 2019 survey showed that for children ages zero to 9, 49 percent had been spanked in the past year. It also found that spanking escalated strongly at age 2, peaked at ages 3 to 4 and continued to affect a majority of children until age 8 — not only the ages at which children are most vulnerable but also during the most critical time for their brain development.
In Missouri, the Cassville School District dropped its use of corporal punishment in 2001. So to see it embracing spanking anew is shocking and concerning. Pediatricians, educators and parents everywhere should take a strong stance against the practice. The data demands it. So does our duty to stand up for the care and rights of children.
Discipline should teach, not punish — and its goal should be to build children’s self-discipline, which comes from within, so they are better able to regulate their behavior and become resilient, responsible, respectful adults. Many other forms of discipline — such as enforcing clear, consistent boundaries, using positive reinforcement and modeling desired behavior — do not involve physical harm and have been thoroughly studied as better alternatives.
Schools across the country that allow physical assaults on children must put an end to those policies now, before they cause irreversible damage to their victims — and before they are allowed to perpetuate or greenlight spanking at home. Justifying spanking as “old-school” or “traditional” is unacceptable. Let’s not go back to a time before we knew what was truly best for our children. | 2022-09-07T12:15:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Spanking harms children’s health. Why do schools still allow it? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/spanking-paddling-missouri-schools-corporal-punishment-parents/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/spanking-paddling-missouri-schools-corporal-punishment-parents/ |
DNC weighs Manchin's permitting reform deal
Good morning and welcome to The Climate 202! Today we're watching this mesmerizing TikTok video of a parking lot covered in solar panels. But first:
Democratic National Committee to vote on Manchin's permitting reform deal
The Democratic National Committee will vote this week on a resolution opposing a push by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) to overhaul the nation's permitting process for energy infrastructure.
Although the resolution is not expected to pass, it highlights a growing rift in the Democratic Party over permitting reform, a critical issue on the congressional agenda this fall.
The details: To secure Manchin's vote for a sweeping climate package, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, Democratic leadership agreed to pass separate legislation to speed up the permitting process for energy infrastructure projects.
During its meeting in Washington on Thursday, the DNC's Resolutions Committee will vote on the two-page resolution related to the permitting deal. The first part of the resolution praises the Inflation Reduction Act as a historic climate investment, while the second part blasts the permitting bill, saying it could expedite polluting fossil fuel projects.
“Be it resolved that the Democratic National Committee opposes legislation that undermines the climate and environmental justice leadership of President Biden and Congress, in particular any bill that fast tracks or enables side-stepping of our federal, state and local regulatory, permitting and approval processes for fossil fuel infrastructure,” the resolution says.
In addition, the resolution urges Democratic leadership to hold a vote on the permitting bill as a stand-alone measure. Leadership is planning to attach the permitting bill to a stopgap funding measure that must pass by Sept. 30 to avert a government shutdown.
The resolution was introduced by RL Miller, a DNC member from California and the founder of Climate Hawks Vote, a climate advocacy group. It has garnered support from Michelle Deatrick, chair of the DNC's Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis; Judith Whitmer, chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party; and Janet Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party.
In an interview, Miller said she has “no illusions” that the resolution will pass. Instead, she said she expects the DNC's Resolutions Committee to approve a different proposal from DNC Chair Jaime Harrison that applauds the Inflation Reduction Act but is silent on the permitting measure.
Miller added that she has gotten “some pushback from DNC folks closer to leadership who feel that we shouldn't be passing a resolution unless it reflects a consensus among Democrats.” She declined to say who had pushed back.
Thomas Kennedy, a DNC member from Miami, said that even if the resolution fails, it will send a powerful message that not all Democrats are on board with the permitting push.
“We like to say the Democratic Party is a big tent,” Kennedy said. “And I personally didn't get into politics just to go along to get along. I'm going to take a stance when I feel strongly about something.”
In a letter to Harrison on Tuesday, 51 state and local Democratic officials urged support for the resolution, saying the permitting bill would threaten communities that are already “suffering from escalating heat waves, droughts, fires, storms, flooding, and extreme weather inflicted by the worsening climate emergency — overwhelmingly caused by the burning of fossil fuels.”
Harrison did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, House Natural Resources Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) has been circulating a letter that similarly condemns any effort to link the permitting bill to must-pass legislation.
As of Tuesday, the letter had garnered more than 50 signatures, and Grijalva was preparing to send it to leadership, according to a spokeswoman for the House Natural Resources Committee.
Several Senate Democrats, however, voiced support Tuesday for accelerating the permitting process for clean energy projects, although they cautioned that they had not seen any final text for the permitting bill.
“It's critically important that the permitting process for solar and wind and geothermal be sped up,” Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) told reporters. “So I am always looking for ways to do that consistent with key environmental laws.”
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), co-chair of the Electrification Caucus, said the permitting bill could fast-track the construction of transmission lines that carry clean power to urban centers.
“I've got enough experience with these big engineering projects and transmission lines to know that right now, it takes too long to go through this process,” Heinrich told The Climate 202.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), another vocal climate hawk, said he is open to attaching the permitting measure to a continuing resolution to fund the government.
“I'm about the art of the possible,” Schatz said. “If we can get it on the CR, we should get it on the CR. If we can pass it as a free-standing vote, we should do it that way.”
Outside the Capitol, meanwhile, Appalachian and Indigenous climate activists are planning a rally Thursday to protest what they are calling “Manchin's dirty deal” on permitting. Miller said she plans to attend the rally after the DNC meeting.
Spokespeople for Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) did not respond to requests for comment.
A severe September heat wave is covering the American West this week, shattering records by wide margins, placing 42 million Americans under excessive heat alerts, and pushing California’s power grid to a breaking point, Matthew Cappucci and Jason Samenow report for The Washington Post.
Already, the state’s Independent System Operator has said that California's electric grid is under heavy strain and that rolling blackouts are likely to occur if residents fail to reduce energy use during peak demand hours. The agency declared an energy emergency alert and predicted an all-time historic high demand of 52,258 megawatts on Tuesday afternoon — exceeding the 2004 record of 50,270 megawatts. According to USAToday, California's grid reached peak demand at over 52,000 megawatts after 7 p.m. on Tuesday, hitting a new all-time record for the state.
The current heat is historic because of its duration and intensity, as all-time triple-digit records are toppled daily. Although the extreme temperatures peaked Tuesday, hot conditions are expected to continue through the end of the week and begin to gradually ease Thursday. The heat comes amid a prolonged, extreme drought, increasing the risk of devastating wildfires.
Human-caused climate change has been linked to more frequent, intense and extended heat waves, helping already-severe hot spells become unprecedented events that would have been virtually impossible without global warming. In the past week alone, more than 1,142 weather records have been set across the nation, compared to just 36 cold records.
A record melt in Greenland
Despite a fairly cold and wet summer in Greenland, an abnormally late heat wave over the weekend prompted about 20 billion tons of ice to melt — the equivalent of 7 percent of total ice shed annually — an event typically seen in the middle of summer that can exacerbate the country's already significant contribution to global sea-level rise, The Post’s Kasha Patel and Chris Mooney report.
The incident marked the largest melt event to occur in Greenland in September, according to data sets spanning nearly four decades. Scientists warn that as the planet warms because of human activity, melting seasons could become longer and more severe, hastening the loss of the ice sheet's mass.
Russia to pause Nord Stream 1 gas shipments until repairs completed
While Europe faces its worst energy crunch yet, Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom is preparing to shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany until Siemens Energy completes repairs on faulty equipment, Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Vitaly Markelov told Reuters’s Vladimir Soldatkin on Tuesday.
The details come after the Kremlin said Friday that the key pipeline, which carries up to 59.2 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Europe under the Baltic Sea, would remain shut indefinitely because of an oil leak at a compressor station, sending gas prices soaring once again. Russia has blamed the current energy crisis on Western sanctions meant to hurt Moscow financially over the war in Ukraine.
When asked whether the pipeline would ever resume pumping gas, Markelov said: “You should ask Siemens. They have to repair equipment first.” However, the company said it has not been commissioned by Gazprom to do maintenance work on the leak, nor does it think the repair is reason enough to close the supply route.
Energy Department announces new clean energy appointees
The Energy Department on Tuesday announced the appointment of three officials who will work on clean energy initiatives to help advance the Biden administration’s goals of a net-zero electric grid by 2035 and net-zero emissions by 2050. The new appointees include:
David Crane to be director of the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. Most recently, Crane was the chief executive of Climate Real Impact Solutions, an investor-led group that aims to help accelerate the clean-energy transition.
Jeff Marootian to be a senior adviser for energy efficiency and renewable energy in the office of the secretary. He previously served as a special assistant to the president in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. Before that he was the director of D.C.'s Department of Transportation, where he sought to electrify the city’s Circulator bus fleet and to expand dedicated bike lanes.
David Berrios to be a White House liaison in the office of the secretary. Berrios was the head of community at Swing Left, a group that seeks to help Democrats volunteer in swing districts.
'Doomsday glacier’ the size of Florida is disintegrating faster than thought — Karina Tsui for The Post
Rhode Island streets turn into rivers amid nearly 11 inches of rain — Zach Rosenthal for The Post
Elk were decimated in the Eastern U.S. Now a herd is thriving in Va. — Dana Hedgpeth for The Post
Truss promises ‘bold’ action to deal with Britain's energy crisis — William Booth, Karla Adam, Annabelle Timsit and Jennifer Hassan for The Post | 2022-09-07T12:15:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | DNC weighs Manchin's permitting reform deal - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/07/dnc-weighs-manchin-permitting-reform-deal/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/07/dnc-weighs-manchin-permitting-reform-deal/ |
Chelsea fires Thomas Tuchel after slow start to season
Chelsea’s disappointing start helped cost Thomas Tuchel his job as the team’s manager. (Denis Lovrovic/AFP/Getty Images)
Chelsea’s new ownership fired manager Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday morning, the day after the powerful English soccer club’s latest disappointing result.
“As the new ownership group reaches 100 days since taking over the Club, and as it continues its hard work to take the club forward, the new owners believe it is the right time to make this transition,” the team said in a statement.
The move comes after Chelsea lost to Dinamo Zagreb, 1-0, in a Champions League match Tuesday. That was Tuchel’s 100th match with the club, and it prompted him to say, “At the moment, everything is missing.”
Tuchel, who was hired in January 2021, won the Champions League in his first season but has seen the club drop points in three of its six league games this season. Pressure on Tuchel grew after a 3-0 loss to Leeds United on Aug. 21.
A former Borussia Dortmund and Paris St-Germain manager who won three trophies in 20 months with Chelsea, Tuchel has been critical of his players and had been fined for his behavior this season.
He was involved in an unsightly disagreement with Tottenham Manager Antonio Conte after a draw between the Premier League rivals last month. They clashed in the technical area during the game, then went at it again during the traditional handshake after the final whistle. Pushing and shoving ensued, and although both were shown red cards, Tuchel was deemed “largely culpable” in an investigation by the Football Association. He was fined nearly $40,000 and suspended for one match.
American investor Todd Boehly, who owns stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Sparks, led the Clearlake Capital consortium that bought the club in May in a deal worth more than $5 billion after Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the club following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The new owners oversaw a spending spree of more than $280 million on nine players in one transfer window, but ESPN reported that a rift developed between Boehly and Tuchel over the club’s transfer strategy as well as its lackluster start.
The Guardian reported Wednesday that Brighton Manager Graham Potter is believed to be Chelsea’s first choice to replace Tuchel, with former Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino and former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane also under consideration. | 2022-09-07T12:39:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Chelsea fires Thomas Tuchel after slow start to Premier League season - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/07/chelsea-fires-thomas-tuchel/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/07/chelsea-fires-thomas-tuchel/ |
By Morgan Coates
Wind whips embers from a burning tree during a wildfire on Sept. 6 near Hemet, Calif. (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP)
This summer has been dominated by extreme weather and natural disasters across the globe. There are wildfires in California and typhoons in the Pacific. Europeans baked in record-breaking temperatures. One-third of Pakistan was underwater due to flooding.
A snapshot of images taken over the past 24 hours illustrate the devastation that world leaders and environmental experts say should be a wake-up call for climate action.
More than 1,300 people have been killed and millions have lost their homes in flooding caused by unusually heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan this year, conditions that many experts have blamed on climate change.
Pakistan’s leaders called the floods “apocalyptic,” and pleaded for aid from developed nations — which they blamed for contributing to extreme weather. “I can say without any fear of contradiction, this flood situation is probably the worst in the history of Pakistan,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said last week.
Typhoon Hinnamnor, the strongest cyclonic storm this year so far, hit South Korea this week. Seven people are known to be dead after being stuck overnight in an underground car park.
Flash floods occurred in many areas of Bangkok this week due to heavy rain and the Chao Phraya River overflowing its banks. Thailand’s Meteorological Department issued a severe weather warning.
Flash floods have ravaged Yemen since April, affecting more than 300,000 people.
A prolonged, record-setting heat wave put nearly 50 million Americans under alerts through Labor Day weekend. The power grid is being pushed to its limits.
The Fairview Fire in California has grown to 4,500 acres and claimed the lives of two people so far.
In China’s southwestern Sichuan province, at least 65 people died in an earthquake on Monday. The rescue efforts in this remote region are ongoing.
Susannah George contributed to this report. | 2022-09-07T12:56:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Wildfires, floods and typhoon photos show climate change threat - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/photos-wildfires-floods-typhoons-climate/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/photos-wildfires-floods-typhoons-climate/ |
At season’s end, a look back at the books and literary events that delighted me
When I paused my Post book column during July and August, it wasn’t for two months of summery R & R. First, I wanted to finish a draft of my own book about popular fiction in late 19th and early 20th-century Britain. Second, I owed long pieces — about Oscar Wilde and Walter de la Mare — to two different magazines. Third, and not least, my house needed more bookshelves or — my beloved spouse’s preferred alternative — fewer books.
As a result, I worked harder than ever during my “vacation,” but with mixed results. For instance, my book “The Great Age of Storytelling” now runs 200,000 words, which means it needs cutting as well as the usual polishing and speeding up. I did acquire five handsome bookcases — a gift from a reader who was downsizing — but they are currently in storage in a neighbor’s garage. Exactly where to fit them into this small brick colonial remains an open question.
What bookstores and the literary life contribute to ... life
Despite my obsessive-compulsive work ethic, there were a few welcome interruptions. My wife, our youngest son and I drove to a nephew’s wedding in Rochester, N.Y., listening en route to Jonathan Cecil perform P.G. Wodehouse’s reliably hilarious “Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves.” In fact, the trip left me unexpectedly hopeful about the future. My nephew is Black, his bride is White, and the evening dinner reception was largely composed of their friends. As I looked around the noisy room, I noticed that the various tables, which had unassigned seating, presented racially diverse groups of young people at each, laughing and flirting and enjoying one another’s company.
That doesn’t seem like much, but it felt distinctly heartening, a welcome change from my usual mood of “Change and decay all around I see.” Two weeks later, my three grown sons, as well as one daughter-in-law and three of the world’s cutest grandchildren assembled here for the first time since the pandemic began. When not chowing down, we made afternoon excursions to Brookside Gardens, the National Zoo and the Baltimore Aquarium, at one of which — sigh — we all caught covid. But that’s another story.
Most of the time, though, I passed my days haltingly typing sentences, while occasionally risking heat stroke to mow the grass or help my gardener-wife in her never-ending battle against weeds and flash flooding. In the evenings, I read “Far Away and Long Ago,” W.H. Hudson’s beautifully written 1918 memoir about growing up on the Argentine Pampas in the 1840s, following it up with Mary Kingsley’s 1897 “Travels in West Africa” and H. Rider Haggard’s “She and Allan,” the 1921 novel that brings together the near immortal Ayesha, a.k.a. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, and the big-game hunter Allan Quatermain. At bedtime, Gary Larson’s “Far Side” cartoons soothed an often roiled mind. My current favorite panel shows a car pulled over by the police. There’s a big-nosed dog at the wheel and in the front passenger seat a middle-aged guy, who’s telling the officer, “Hey, I’m not crazy … Sure, I let him drive once in a while, but he’s never, never off the leash for even a second.”
I like unusual books. Here’s what I’d read — if I had time.
People also gave me books. A retired English professor urged me to finally embark on Spenser’s “Faerie Queene,” then stopped by my house with some scholarly works to guide me through it. Two friends, both pillars of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, brought over a long run of the society’s elegant and witty journal, Knight Letter. A fellow member of the Baker Street Irregulars even shipped me several bound volumes of British periodicals from the early 1900s. Tantalizing articles abound. For example, Nash’s Magazine from 1907 features a profile of Maurice Leblanc, creator of the gentleman-thief Arsene Lupin, and a series on the public’s taste in books, with contributions by H.G. Wells, E. Phillips Oppenheim and other notable authors of the day.
By mid-August, I felt entitled to one purely extravagant treat: The stars were right for a quick visit to Providence, R.I., to attend NecronomiCon, that nonpareil celebration of weird fiction. With roughly 2,000 attendees, it’s far more intimate than Washington’s National Book Festival or the comics-focused Awesome Con. There were tours of H.P. Lovecraft’s haunts, B-movie horror films, author readings, a room for gamers, a dealer’s hall (where I bought a medallion inscribed “Cthulhu Waits”), and scores of panels on, for example, the work of Shirley Jackson and Clive Barker and the preservation of pulp magazines. On Friday evening, Robert Lloyd Parry, in the guise of M.R. James, took an enthralled audience through the chilling “Count Magnus.” The next night, beautifully costumed figures both sexy and grotesque sashayed off to the con’s masquerade ball, this year’s theme being Poe’s story, “The Masque of the Red Death.”
Naturally, in between the formal talks and presentations, there was heady conversation with numerous friends over clam cakes, fish-and-chips, shepherd’s pie and Guinness. In a swap with one of those friends, I acquired DuBose Heyward’s eerie classic, “The Half-Pint Flask,” and two scarce titles by Marjorie Bowen (writing as George R. Preedy), “Lyndley Waters” and “The Fourth Chamber.” The writer-professor Michael Cisco generously offered a copy of his wide-ranging and learned “Weird Fiction: A Genre Study” (Palgrave Macmillan) and Peter Rawlik inscribed “The Eldritch Equations and Other Investigations” (Jackanapes Press), his collection of mystery stories, of sorts, set in Lovecraft’s fictional universe. In the dealers’ room, Hippocampus Press — which specializes in Lovecraft and his circle — filled a table with its latest publications, including David E. Schultz’s carefully annotated edition of the nightmarish sonnet sequence “Fungi from Yuggoth.” Best title ever.
Needless to say, Providence’s used bookstores, Paper Nautilus and Cellar Stories, proved irresistible, as was the suggestion, from writer and Post reviewer Paul Di Filippo, of an excursion to Connecticut’s Niantic Book Barn. Among much else, I unearthed a volume of tributes to the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, Robert Graves and Laura Riding’s “A Pamphlet Against Anthologies,” an illustrated catalogue devoted to rarities by Jorge Luis Borges and backup copies of such personal favorites as “Collector’s Progress” by Horace Walpole scholar W.S. Lewis and Stanley Elkin’s heavenly comedy, “The Living End.”
Once back home, I brought the summer to a shivery close by listening to a pair of CDs dramatizing “At the Mountains of Madness” and “The Call of Cthulhu,” both from the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society’s old-timey Dark Adventure Radio Theatre. I’m saving their epic, six-CD “Masks of Nyarlathotep” for my next long car trip. It should be perfect for late at night, when it’s easy to take the wrong fork on a country road and you suddenly find yourself driving through a lonely and disturbingly curious landscape. | 2022-09-07T13:44:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Michael Dirda's summer literary doings - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/07/michael-dirda-summer-literary-doings/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/07/michael-dirda-summer-literary-doings/ |
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 06: Former Foreign Secretary Liz Truss addresses the media outside number 10 after becoming the new Prime Minister at Downing Street on September 06, 2022 in London, England. The new prime minister assumes her role at Number 10 Downing Street after defeating fellow Conservative Rishi Sunak in the contest for party leader. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) (Photographer: Leon Neal/Getty Images Europe)
One is the cost of living crisis. Truss is right to want to bring down the highest tax burden since the 1940s and to be skeptical of indiscriminate government intervention. But cutting taxes alone isn’t enough. Energy prices are set to rise 80% in October, with the prospect of more jumps in the first half of next year. Truss’s early statements have shown she’s alive to economic and social damage that would result in failing to respond to the widespread hardship. The question is how to go about it.
Truss’s second defining choice is whether to pursue the path of confrontation or cooperation with Europe. UK-EU relations are at a low point, which is saying a lot. But it’s Britain’s actions that have set up a collision course with worrying consequences.
Considerably more headaches await the prime minister, including a series of public-sector strikes, faltering social care for the elderly and chronically ill, and sustaining military support for Ukraine. In her first act as head of government, Truss appointed a senior leadership team that’s already the most diverse in history. Truss’s task now is to restore confidence in the government’s ability to manage crises at home while providing steady, stable leadership on the world stage. Not just Britons should wish her success. | 2022-09-07T13:44:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Liz Truss’s Problems Have Already Started - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/liz-trusss-problems-have-already-started/2022/09/07/cd6bbf32-2ead-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/liz-trusss-problems-have-already-started/2022/09/07/cd6bbf32-2ead-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Sometimes, a different tendency kicks in, a “mainstream” bias, in which one side is presented as clearly wrong. That bias is healthy as long as one side is actually wrong.(1)It’s how media talk about politicians convicted of crimes, for example. The media also has adopted this framing in the coverage of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. It’s what has allowed many neutral outlets to state plainly that Trump’s continued claims about the 2020 election are false, rather than describing the claims as contested.(2)
DeSantis Attack on ESG Repudiates Its Superior Returns: Matthew A. Winkler
So Long to Anthony Fauci, Unlikely Avatar of Polarization: David A. Hopkins
(1) It isn’t always healthy; for example, consider how LBGT people were treated when they were considered out of the mainstream.
(2) They are false! But it takes a lot for mainstream outlets to simply say so, or to call such statements lies. And that’s not always a bad thing. It does prevent some types of errors. But too much caution about calling something true or false can cause even more important mistakes. It calls for difficult judgments, and it’s not surprising that many outlets would rather find experts to defer to rather than state it as their own conclusion. | 2022-09-07T13:45:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Trump Judge’s Bad Ruling Might Do Some Good - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/trump-judges-bad-ruling-might-do-some-good/2022/09/07/9b4f4162-2ea9-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/trump-judges-bad-ruling-might-do-some-good/2022/09/07/9b4f4162-2ea9-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
Frass Green captures the pandemic feelings we’re all trying to forget
The band takes the stage at DC9 on Sept. 9
Frass Green’s newest album, “Buried,” drops Sept. 9. (Mike Kim)
Just when it seems the world wants to forget about the covid-19 pandemic, Frass Green wants to remember. Its album “Buried,” dropping Sept. 9, aims to reconnect with the disconnection that, for so many, defined 2020. Singer Joe Antoshak said the goal of the D.C.-based band’s new LP — written in part on a trip to a West Virginia cabin two years ago — is “to capture a point in time.”
“I was trying to make things sound like that trip, which was wonderful and beautiful,” Antoshak said. “It was also super intense and kind of terrible at times.”
Frass Green began in 2016 as a solo project for Antoshak, a fresh graduate of the University of Maryland, recording songs in the cellar of his parents’ house in Aberdeen, Md. Plagued by an onslaught of camel crickets, his gear was covered in insect droppings — otherwise called frass.
“It seemed funny to me to call it Frass Green, which sounds nice,” Antoshak said. “Sounds like ‘grass green.’ But really, it means [excrement] green.”
When Antoshak decided to expand the project in 2018, he posted an ad on Craigslist. Tyler Rippel (bass) and Antonio Peluso (drums) responded first, and the three met at the U Street burger joint Desperados early that December. As Antoshak recalls, it was flurrying — the first snow of the season. Matt Lachance (guitar and violin) replied later: “I’d be down to meet up and jam,” he wrote in his first email to Antoshak, who remembers that first full band practice because, “inexplicably, someone brought Keystone Ice.”
The quartet has since released two breezy albums with fuzzy vocals, melody-driven music evocative of summer road trips and indie coming-of-age movies. But the band’s self-produced “Buried” veers into folk, garage rock and shoegaze — an ode to the complexities of the time in which it was created, and to the maturing of a band with a scatological name.
The album’s final song, “Abigail,” is addressed to a child, a tentative answer to the questions born of hardship — like, say, a pandemic. Antoshak, inspired by the poems of Frank O’Hara but a self-proclaimed “horrible poet” himself, sings the tune’s lyrics in between twangy fiddle and insistent tambourine: “Life keeps moving like a carousel / I don’t think that we should mind it / I guess I think that we should learn to like it.” It speaks to a longing for better times, but also to resilience.
“It’s like telling this child that things are difficult, and life is finite,” Antoshak said. “But you don’t need to be so afraid of that. … You can find solace in that truth, if you allow yourself to sort of feel it.”
Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at DC9, 1940 Ninth St. NW. dc9.club. $15. | 2022-09-07T13:45:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Frass Green captures the pandemic feelings we’re all trying to forget - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/09/07/frass-green-interview/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/09/07/frass-green-interview/ |
FILE - Lainey Wilson performs during Marty Stuart’s 19th Annual Late Night Jam in Nashville, Tenn., on June 8, 2022. Wilson is having a breakout year as she tops the Country Music Association Awards nominations in her first year as a nominee, earning nods in six categories including album of the year, female vocalist of the year and song of the year. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File) | 2022-09-07T13:45:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Lainey Wilson leads CMA Awards nominations in her 1st year - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/lainey-wilson-leads-cma-awards-nominations-in-her-1st-year/2022/09/07/cd3fe856-2ea5-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/lainey-wilson-leads-cma-awards-nominations-in-her-1st-year/2022/09/07/cd3fe856-2ea5-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html |
By Amy Wang and Azi Paybarah | Sep 7, 2022
Barack and Michelle Obama will return to the White House on Wednesday for the unveiling of their official White House portraits.
And we know what you are thinking.
Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post
Haven’t the Obamas’ official portraits already been unveiled?
You may be thinking of the ones in the “America’s Presidents” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, which has the only complete collection of official presidential portraits outside of the White House.
Former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama unveil their portraits at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in 2018.
The Obamas’ Smithsonian portraits, painted by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, were unveiled in 2018 and made a splash for their distinctive styles and bold colors.
Unlike the ones at the National Portrait Gallery, the White House presidential portraits are not typically available for public viewing.
President Jimmy Carter shakes hands with former president Gerald Ford for Ford's White House portrait unveiling ceremony in 1978.
Wednesday’s East Room ceremony will bring back the long-standing tradition of a sitting president welcoming their predecessor — regardless of party — to the White House to unveil their official portraits.
A tradition President Donald Trump skipped.
The White House practice of collecting living portraits of its presidents and first ladies began in the early 1960s, under first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, according to Betty Monkman, a former White House curator.
Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy's official portrait hangs in the Vermeil room of the While House in 2013.
Portraits for John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy were unveiled at a private White House event in 1971 — seven years after JFK was killed — with the former first lady writing: “I really do not have the courage to go through an official ceremony.”
Former president John F. Kennedy's official White House portrait was unveiled seven years after his assassination.
Later unveilings were more upbeat, with presidents wrapping themselves in the warm glow of bipartisanship and self-deprecating humor.
When former president Gerald Ford’s portrait was unveiled at a 1978 ceremony at the White House, he joked: “Considering what [artist] Ray Kinstler had to work with, he did very well.”
In 1989, President George H.W. Bush hosted Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, for their White House portrait unveiling.
Former president Ronald Reagan and former first lady Nancy Reagan at their portrait unveiling ceremony in 1989.
Barry Thumma/AP
Bush, who served as Reagan’s vice president for eight years, joked, “For years our opponents were hoping to see President Reagan’s back against the wall here in the White House. I don’t think this is exactly what they had in mind.”
In 1995, President Bill Clinton glanced at the portrait of the Republican president he ousted three years earlier and said, “If I look half as good as you do when I leave office, I’ll be a happy man.”
Former president George H.W. Bush gets a look at his official portrait during the White House unveiling ceremony in 1995.
Dayna Smith/The Washington Post
Clinton went on to say that the portrait of George H.W. Bush “will stand as a testimony to a leader who helped Americans move forward toward common ground on many fronts.”
In 2004, CNN reported that while President George W. Bush was “facing a bitter re-election campaign,” he hosted his Democratic predecessor, whom he praised for filling the White House with “energy and joy.”
Former president Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton as well as President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush applaud as Hillary Clinton's portrait is unveiled in 2004.
Dennis Cook/AP
Bush said of former first lady Hillary Clinton: “She takes an interesting spot on American history today, for she is the only sitting senator whose portrait hangs in the White House.”
In 2012, President Obama also used the White House portrait unveiling ceremony to show some cross-party appreciation, saying of Bush: “We may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends those differences.”
Former president George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush attend the unveiling of their official portraits in an East Room ceremony at the White House in 2012.
It is unclear when Donald and Melania Trump’s White House portraits will be completed and unveiled, though NBC News reported last year that the former president had “begun participating in the customary process” of having a portrait done.
Editing and production by Kainaz Amaria. Photo editing by Christine Nguyen and Natalia Jimenez | 2022-09-07T13:46:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | White House portrait ceremonies offered bipartisanship — until Trump - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/presidential-portraits-obama-biden-trump/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/presidential-portraits-obama-biden-trump/ |
PGA and LIV golfers will share a course this week, and the knives are out
Rory McIlroy and other PGA Tour golfers are not hiding their displeasure that they will be sharing a course with LIV golfers this week in England. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Players from the LIV Golf Invitational Series have not played on the same course with their PGA and European tour counterparts since July’s British Open, which was won by a golfer — Cameron Smith — who has since left the PGA Tour for LIV. Since the year’s final major, the saber-rattling between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour (its European counterpart) and LIV has only gotten more pronounced, with LIV golfers and the league itself suing the PGA Tour on anticompetitive grounds and the PGA Tour unveiling a host of new features — most of them centered on paying its players more money — to counter the LIV threat.
But this week, 18 LIV golfers are in the field for the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club in England. Yes, it’s going to be awkward.
Rory McIlroy, who has been a champion of the PGA Tour both on and off the course this season after winning the season-long FedEx Cup and becoming the tour’s most prominent anti-LIV voice, will play in the tournament alongside other PGA Tour stalwarts such as Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Justin Rose and Adam Scott. He did not seem all that thrilled about playing alongside the defectors when he was asked about it after winning the season-ending Tour Championship last month.
“I hate what it’s doing to the game of golf. I hate it. I really do,” McIlroy said. “Like, it’s going to be hard for me to stomach going to Wentworth in a couple of weeks’ time and seeing 18 of them there. That just doesn’t sit right with me.”
Defending champion Billy Horschel was even more blunt this week.
“I don’t think those guys really should be here. … The Abraham Ancer, the Talor Gooch, the Jason Kokraks: You’ve never played this tournament. You’ve never supported the DP World Tour. Why are you here?” Horschel told reporters Tuesday, though Kokrak is not among the LIV players in this week’s field. “You are here for one reason only and that’s to try to get world ranking points because you don’t have it.
“It’s pretty hypocritical to come over here and play outside LIV when your big thing was to spend more time with family and want to play less golf.”
Many LIV golfers said a less grueling schedule was one reason they left the PGA Tour for the breakaway, Saudi-backed league. But Gooch took to Twitter on Tuesday night to remind Horschel that Horschel hasn’t really played in too many DP World Tour events that weren’t majors or World Golf Championship tournaments, either:
Fellow LIV golfer Sergio Garcia said he doesn’t really care if his presence and that of his LIV contemporaries bothers anyone.
“I’m sure some guys will be tense about it [because] we’re going to go out there and play; what I’m going to do is support the European tour and that’s all I can do. Whoever doesn’t like it, too bad for them,” Garcia told Golf Digest during this past weekend’s LIV event outside Boston.
One LIV golfer, Martin Kaymer, has decided to skip the BMW PGA Championship because of all the awkwardness.
“Of course, there will be friction there. That’s why I’m not going,” Kaymer told Golf Digest last week. “I don’t need to go to a place where, feel-wise, you’re not that welcome. They don’t say it, but [it’s there].”
The PGA Tour has banned golfers who have played in LIV tournaments, but those golfers are allowed to play on the DP World Tour after an English arbitration judge ruled that the European tour could not punish the LIV golfers until the matter received a full judicial review. That won’t happen until February, and the LIV players are free to play on the DP World Tour at least until then.
In a memo sent to players last week that was obtained by the Golf Channel, DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley addressed the “strong opposition” to the LIV golfers who will play at Wentworth and asked that they not wear any clothing that features LIV logos.
“They will not be given any on course competitive disadvantage — i.e. unfavorable tee times — but they will not be required to play in the pro-am on Wednesday and will not be in TV featured groups,” Pelley wrote in the memo.
The BMW PGA Championship — which is considered one of the European tour’s marquee events, if not its most prestigious — will be crucially important for some LIV golfers because of the Official World Golf Ranking, which does not yet award ranking points to LIV events and may never do so (LIV has applied for OWGR sanctioning, but a decision could be months away). The BMW PGA’s strong field means it will give LIV golfers a chance to stay in the OWGR top 50, which is generally the cutoff point for major championship qualification. (Past major champions receive long-term major invitations, so LIV golfers such as Smith, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau don’t have to worry much about their world ranking, and none of those players will be at Wentworth this week).
Gooch, for instance, ranks 46th in the OWGR, and a strong showing at Wentworth will keep him in the top 50. Otherwise, by continuing to play in LIV events that aren’t recognized by the OWGR, he will continue to sink in the rankings.
Other LIV golfers in the field this week include Ancer, Graeme McDowell, Patrick Reed and Lee Westwood. Rahm said their presence at Wentworth this week means lower-ranked golfers who don’t have the benefit of LIV’s Saudi riches are getting bumped out.
“What I don’t understand is some players that have never shown any interest in the European tour, have never shown any interest in playing this event, being given an opportunity just because they can get world ranking points and hopefully make majors next year,” Rahm told reporters Tuesday.
“A perfect example — a good friend of mine [Spain’s Alfredo Garcia-Heredia] is the first one out on the entry list right now. It doesn’t hurt me, but it does bug me that somebody who has played over 20 [European tour] events this year cannot be given the opportunity to play a flagship event because some people that earned it, to an extent, are being given an opportunity when they couldn’t care any less about the event.” | 2022-09-07T13:46:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | LIV and PGA Tour golfers converge this week at BMW PGA Championship - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/07/liv-golf-bmw-pga-championship/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/07/liv-golf-bmw-pga-championship/ |
8 NOVEMBER 9 (Atria, $16.99). By Colleen Hoover. A novelist and his muse meet once every year, leaving her to question whether his motives are for love or commercial success.
9 UGLY LOVE (Atria, $16.99). By Colleen Hoover. A mutual attraction between two young adults leads to a casual relationship with no commitment, but emotions get in the way.
10 PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION (Berkley, $16). By Emily Henry. Two college best friends who had a falling-out reunite for one more vacation together.
8 ENTANGLED LIFE (Random House,, $18). By Merlin Sheldrake. A biologist explains the importance of fungi to our bodies and the environment.
10 THE BOMBER MAFIA (Becky Bay, $18.99). By Malcolm Gladwell. How a strategy to reduce bloodshed with precision bombing in World War II was thwarted by military leaders.
3 FIRE & BLOOD (Bantam, $9.99). By George R. R. Martin. A history of the Targaryen family.
4 DUNE MESSIAH (Ace, $9.99). By Frank Herbert. The second book in the Dune Chronicles picks up the story of Paul Atreides 12 years after he becomes emperor of the known universe.
8 LORD OF THE FLIES (Penguin, $11). By William Golding. The classic, unsettling tale of English schoolboys stranded on a deserted isle.
9 THE SHINING (Anchor, $9.99). By Stephen King. A writer and his family decamp to an old hotel as caretakers and slowly discover supernatural threats
10 GOOD OMENS (Morrow, $9.99) By Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. A .novel imagining the end of the world and the fallout.
Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Sept. 4. The charts may not be reproduced without permission from the American Booksellers Association, the trade association for independent bookstores in the United States, and indiebound.org. Copyright 2022 American Booksellers Association. (The bestseller lists alternate between hardcover and paperback each week.) | 2022-09-07T14:15:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Washington Post paperback bestsellers - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/washington-post-paperback-bestsellers/2022/09/06/786f949a-2e0d-11ed-a475-6a5c246b3b93_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/washington-post-paperback-bestsellers/2022/09/06/786f949a-2e0d-11ed-a475-6a5c246b3b93_story.html |
The star of Signature Theatre’s ‘No Place to Go,’ an ode to the unemployed, brings his experience of pandemic-induced joblessness to the role
From left, Grant Langford (Sal), Bobby Smith (George), Tom Lagana (Jonah) and Ian Riggs (Duke) in “No Place to Go” at Signature Theatre. (Christopher Mueller)
Bobby Smith was rehearsing for the musical “Camille Claudel” in the spring of 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic nixed Signature Theatre’s would-be world premiere before a single performance. Shortly after, the veteran actor’s starring role in “Fun Home” at Studio Theatre was shelved as well. His part in a production of “The Producers” at Signature also fell by the wayside.
Fortunately for Smith, some of his side gigs as a teacher of acting and musical theater could continue remotely. But for the most part, the performer — beloved by D.C. audiences for his sly wit, playful charm and vibrant vocals — joined the ranks of the unemployed.
“I should be at an age right now where I’m comfortable and I’m not, and that [really] sucks,” says Smith, who turns 60 next spring. “The pandemic put that into reality, and I started thinking about, ‘What am I going to do?’ I don’t know how to do anything else. At my age, who is going to train me to do something else?”
It ultimately didn’t come to that for Smith. After emerging from a year-and-a-half pause from in-person performance with roles in Olney Theatre Center’s “Beauty and the Beast” and Signature’s “She Loves Me,” Smith is starring at Signature again in a musical that hits close to home: “No Place to Go,” Ethan Lipton’s ode to the unemployed that runs through Oct. 16.
Penned by Lipton in the wake of the financial crisis and originally performed by the playwright and composer at New York’s Joe’s Pub in 2012, the satirical, surrealist show follows an office drone named George as he grapples with joblessness when his “permanent part-time” position is relocated to Mars. It’s a one-man show of sorts, with George joined by a three-person backing band as he muses on corporate America and saunters through Lipton’s bluesy songbook.
“As I started to talk with Ethan about it, Bobby was always in my head,” says director Matthew Gardiner, who has worked with Smith on more than a dozen productions. “I just knew that, at the core, he was going to connect with this story and the journey of this character. Ninety-five percent of the show is just him speaking, and entering into that process with an actor that I don’t know feels scary and daunting. But somehow entering into that process with Bobby feels right.”
Explaining why he gravitated to the material, Smith calls the show “odd” but adds that the oddness is what he likes about it: “I think some of the most satisfying things that I’ve done have been the nonconforming pieces.”
The nature of George’s work as an “information refiner” is left purposely vague. The character clocks in and clocks out, plays for the company soccer team, and eyes the last, lonely sandwich in the conference room. Most crucially, the income allows George to pursue his passion for writing.
It’s not a direct parallel to Smith, who considers acting his day job. But work onstage is inherently irregular, and he’s the first to acknowledge that no one goes into regional theater for the money. So Smith has made ends meet by teaching on the side for the likes of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, several area universities and the Talent Machine, an Annapolis-based youth theater company.
“I think, in a good year, I might make $50,000” as an actor, Smith says, before mimicking the sound of a balloon deflating. Slipping into a rural twang, he adds, “People don’t respect you if you’re a performer. They might go, ‘Oh, what movies you done, hon? Are you in any movies?’ But you’re like, ‘No, no, hon. No, I’m not in any movies.’ ”
Smith’s shrewd self-deprecation sells himself short. The Ellicott City resident has racked up 17 Helen Hayes Award nominations for D.C. theater excellence, winning for MetroStage’s “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris” in 2012, Signature’s “Spin” in 2014 and Signature’s “La Cage aux Folles” in 2017. Even as D.C. companies regularly turn to out-of-town talent, Signature has cast Smith time and time again over the past decade while nurturing his development into a hometown favorite.
Although that reputation and rapport made him a natural fit for “No Place to Go” in Gardiner’s mind, Lipton didn’t expect to rubber-stamp the first actor floated for the role. Yet, after performing the part some 150 times over the years, Lipton needed just a glimpse of Smith’s work to deem him a worthy successor.
“I have been involved in a lot of casting conversations over the years, but I have never been in a conversation to try to cast someone to replace myself,” says Lipton, who made some minor updates to the script for this production. “Immediately when I saw him, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s probably the person.’ He had this dryness and warmth and sense of humor to him, a great voice with character, and he had this thing where he let the audience come to him. That’s kind of an unusual quality in musical theater performers.”
Even though Gardiner has theatricalized the typically sparse musical with more ambitious design elements and stagecraft, Smith’s storytelling and vocals still carry the show. While the 59-year-old has rattled off a string of scene-stealing performances in recent years, the production marks his first leading role since Signature’s “A Little Night Music” in 2017.
“I have a lot more fun in shows that I don’t have as much responsibility,” Smith says. “Does that mean I’m lazy? It could. It could mean that, because I just want to come to work and have a good time. When you’re like, ‘Oh, fifth show of the week, I’ve still got three more, is my voice going to last?’ — there’s some neurosis involved. The shows I look forward to are the ones where I know that nobody’s out there.”
To Lipton, that character actor’s mentality is exactly what makes Smith right for the role.
“This piece isn’t about a character who’s trying to be a star,” Lipton says. “This show is about a guy who’s trying to hold on to what he has, so he can fulfill his purpose in the world. And Bobby really embodies that in a beautiful, human way.”
Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave, Arlington. 703-820-9771. sigtheatre.org. | 2022-09-07T14:15:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Signature Theatre's 'No Place to Go' is an ode to the unemployed - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/09/07/signature-theatre-no-place-to-go/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/09/07/signature-theatre-no-place-to-go/ |
My high school paper published a ‘pride’ issue. Then we got canceled.
By Marcus Pennell
Marcus Pennell, left, and Emma Smith — former Viking Saga newspaper staffers — outside Northwest High School in Grand Island, Neb., July 20. (McKenna Lamoree/The Independent via AP)
Marcus Pennell is a college freshman and former student at Northwest High School in Grand Island, Neb.
The trouble started when I changed five letters in my first name.
My birth certificate reads “Meghan.” But my peers at Northwest High School in Nebraska knew me as “Marcus.” Changing my name wasn’t supposed to be a political statement. But our local school board has turned it into one.
As a student at Northwest, I wrote for our newspaper, Viking Saga. In late March, we were told by the board we would no longer be allowed to publish any name that wasn’t on our birth certificate or use gender-variant pronouns.
The Saga’s staff disagreed with the new policy. So with our next issue, we knew we wanted to make a statement. Whether the administration, parents or other students liked it or not, there were LGBTQ kids at Northwest, and taking away our liberty to be ourselves wasn’t going to change that.
For June, we published our “pride” issue. Its only LGBTQ content: three articles and, on the front page, two rainbow icons. Every other story in the paper was dedicated to honoring Northwest’s expansive student life. This included articles about newly offered classes, students in Future Business Leaders of America qualifying for a national contest and the trapshooting team’s successful season.
And then? The school board told us they were canceling our newspaper class starting the next academic year.
Alyssa Rosenberg: Careful, parents. That anti-trans witch hunt could hurt your kid, too.
Zach Mader, the board’s vice president, was quoted in the local newspaper, the Grand Island Independent, saying: “If [taxpayers] read that [issue], they would have been like, ‘Holy cow. What is going on at our school?’”
I’ll tell you what’s going on: discrimination against LGBTQ students. And now, thanks to national media attention, taxpayers all over the country are reading about it.
The cutting of Northwest’s journalism class was an “administrative" decision that couldn’t be debated, changed or questioned. There was no school board meeting, and no official gave us a real reason for the action.
Denying students, LGBTQ or otherwise, the opportunity to write and express themselves is outrageous. The News Media Alliance has found that students who wrote for their school newspaper or yearbook had higher grade point averages and ACT composite scores, and earned better grades as college freshmen than peers who did not participate in any form of high school media production.
The Saga had been publishing for 54 years. This year, we took third place at the Nebraska School Activities Association State Journalism Championship. None of these facts were enough to persuade administrators to continue supporting the newspaper. Instead, they showed that any perspective different from theirs would be silenced.
This is not only a violation of students’ right to education and free speech. It’s also harmful to students’ well-being. Policies that block our ability to write on LGBTQ topics or publish stories that humanize LGBTQ peers only serve to create a more hostile educational environment.
Opinion: I fought for years in court for my basic rights as a trans kid. It shouldn’t have been this hard.
GLSEN, an organization that advocates to improve educational environments for queer youth, reported in their 2019 National School Climate Survey that 59.1 percent of LGBTQ students felt unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation, 42.5 percent because of their gender expression and 37.4 percent because of their gender. The same study stated that 60.5 percent of LGBTQ students who reported harassment were either ignored by the adults at their school or told to disregard the harassment.
Being bullied by peers is one thing. But to be punished by the people who are supposed to be protecting your constitutional right to an education is despicable. Even the U.S. Education Department recognizes the importance of fostering an inclusive environment, declaring that “discrimination based on sex — including sexual orientation and gender identity — isn’t just wrong, it’s prohibited in America’s schools.”
I graduated in May. To the queer Northwest students coming behind me, I want to say: It gets better. I now study at a university where I face zero complications related to my gender identity. According to Campus Pride, at least 425 U.S. colleges and universities have gender-inclusive housing, nearly 800 allow students to use a “chosen first name” on course rosters and ID cards, and nearly 2,000 have policies protecting LGBTQ students. There are places in this country where you can be yourself and be safe — even if it’s not in the halls of your high school.
And to students who would have taken journalism at Northwest this year: keep writing. Even if the adults in the room try to stop you. Even if you think nobody will ever read it or care about it. Expressing yourself through writing is a vital way to expose people to ideas and conversations they never would have considered before.
When our journalism program was cut, I was crushed. But I haven’t given up. And you shouldn’t either.
I fought for years in court for my basic rights as a trans kid. It shouldn’t have been this hard. | 2022-09-07T14:23:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | My Nebraska high school paper was canceled for ‘pride’ issue - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/nebraska-northwest-high-school-newspaper-lgbtq-canceled/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/nebraska-northwest-high-school-newspaper-lgbtq-canceled/ |
The GOP’s threat to the American idea is nothing new
Civil War reenactors gather in Gettysburg, Pa., on July 2 to mark the 159th anniversary of the battle that took place there. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
Last week, President Biden delivered a speech warning of the threat to democracy posed by right-wing extremism. For perspective on the challenges he laid out, consider those the country faced during the Civil War.
By sheer coincidence, I traveled to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to speak to students at Gettysburg College. It was impossible to ignore the parallel between the decisive battle that happened there and the conflict we face today.
It takes no imagination to draw the line between the South’s mythical Lost Cause and the chant to “Make America Great Again.” Indeed, the MAGA movement venerates the Confederacy and managed to accomplish what the South never did: stage an assault on the U.S. Capitol bearing the Confederate flag and organize an effort to stave off the peaceful transfer of power. Both the old Confederacy and the MAGA movement pine for a fraudulent past and dress up base racism in a gauzy wrapping of honor, masculinity and military virtue. And the paranoia about an existential crisis that so many MAGA followers share tracks with the Confederacy’s fear that their way of life (slavery) was endangered by Northern forces.
No, the MAGA movement isn’t advocating for slavery. But it does seek to rewrite the history of race through its fraudulent attack on “critical race theory,” just as Jim Crow defenders sought to refashion the Civil War by erecting monuments to traitorous secessionists. The aim is the same: to exonerate Whites and to recast them as noble victims.
The unfortunate truth about America is that it has always harbored a segment of people who want to redefine the country by race or religion or lifestyle, whether it was the anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant Know Nothings, the Confederacy or its 20th- and 21st-century admirers. Today, this cohort seeks to appeal to “real America” by delegitimizing the voters of cosmopolitan, urban centers. For a perfect expression of this noxious view, see the lawsuit that attempted to throw out votes from states that went for Biden in 2020 and the efforts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of votes from states with large Black populations.
Defenders of democracy have a hard task in face of the constant onslaught of fear-mongering, propaganda, phony history and dishonest right-wing media that shields its viewers and readers from disagreeable facts. Elevating America as an idea, a creed or the last, best hope for self-governance is more challenging that whipping up White resentment, fear of “replacement” and false victimhood.
Nevertheless, democracy advocates dare not shy away from confronting these forces. If left undisturbed, the extreme White Christian nationalism of today will inevitably lead to violence, cruelty and lawlessness.
Abraham Lincoln in his famous Gettysburg Address challenged the nation to undertake “the great task” to “highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Today, we are not asked to sacrifice our lives at Little Round Top or Cemetery Ridge. We must only vote responsibly and reject an entrenched, dangerous mind-set. Surely we can do that much. | 2022-09-07T14:24:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The GOP’s threat to the American idea is nothing new - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/republican-threat-civil-war-democracy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/07/republican-threat-civil-war-democracy/ |
Total time:1 hour 20 mins, plus 8 hours for soaking walnuts
Puebla’s chiles en nogada, widely considered the national dish of Mexico, is traditionally served throughout the country from mid-July through September, and is a patriotic indulgence during Mexico’s independence celebrations. The dish reflects the colors of the present-day Mexican flag – though it was inspired by the banner of the unified, revolutionary Army of the Three Guarantees – in its green poblanos, white walnut sauce and red pomegranate seeds. Originally the poblanos were stuffed and fried in egg batter, as the dish is still served in Puebla. In this recipe from La Casita Mexicana restaurant in Bell, Calif., poblanos are charred and stuffed before being topped with a creamy walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds. The dish is served on warm plates at room temperature.
Per serving, based on 8 | 2022-09-07T14:45:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Chiles en nogada recipe is a classic dish of stuffed peppers for Mexican Independence Day - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/09/07/chiles-en-nogada-recipe/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/09/07/chiles-en-nogada-recipe/ |
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